Music Debate – 50 vs. Kanye *UPDATED* September 13, 2007

Seems like everyone is getting in on the hype between two of Hip Hop’s biggest rappers. From MTV, BET, Rolling Stone, The LA Times, and even Amazon.com are all contributing to the hype & debate over who will out sell the other.

Yesterday, on 106 & Park, 50 & Kanye both performed. Both giving great performances, but clearly Kanye shut it down while performing ‘Big Brother’, song tributing his relationship with Jay Z, and then Jay Z comes out singing ‘Encore’. Great moment. It made me feel like the fan that I am of both Kanye & Jay. The Roc was definitely in the building. Peep performance below

Kanye West Big Brother & Encore Jay-Z live
Uploaded by geronimos87

When asked why you should go out and get their albums each one had 10 sec to sell their album. From what the first day of sales show Kanye is in the lead with more than 850K, leading by more than 200K albums than 50. Hear their answers below

50 Cent and Kanye West interview live @ 106&Park
Uploaded by geronimos87

Yesterday, Amazon went ahead and even put up a bar graph to show the difference in sales percentage. See below

Today the top selling album is Graduation and in 3rd place is, Curtis.

I haven’t heard the full Curtis album yet, but I heard Graduation and it is a GREAT album.  Lyrically and with musically, Kanye definitely showed us that he is not going anywhere any time soon and that he takes this music shit very seriously.

I would love to quote him on Champion, which is a hit song.  Saying “Lauryn Hill said her heart was in Zion.  I wish her heart still was in Rhyming” matching it with a sultry voice that I swore was Lauryn’s until you hear the woman sing the hook.

Then you have I Wonder, a jazz sound paired with a sick beat.

Good Life, I didn’t think this was a possiblity.  T-Pain is my guilty pleasure artist.  As much as I don’t want to like his music, I end up lovin all his songs from I’m Sprung to Bartender.  And even Plies shit.  Of course, you know I’m having this in Top Played List

Flashing Lights, 1 of the HOTTEST songs on the album.  And definitely for the Chick getting ready for the club!  Keepin’ your head boppin’ and your foot tappin

The Glory, sounds like a Jackson 5 track mixed with some gospel inspiration

I am not discriminating on the Curtis Album when i hear it I will give my mini reviews on certain songs.  So don’t think I am bias… YET!

 

 

Music Debate – 50 vs. Kanye September 5, 2007

It’s less than a week to the debut of each man’s new albums. I’m going to listen to the albums and give my 2¢, but in the mean time…

• How do you think each man will do on the 11th?

• Do you think 50 will suffer b/c his video was leaked?

• Or do you think Kanye will suffer because his album was leaked?

• How do you think will do better?

• Do you even fu¢kin’ care?!?

TO BE CONTINUED…

~f@ke

Lauryn Hill Speaks… Well, sorta August 20, 2007

I was speaking with my boy, Subtitled Opus, & we were talking about Ms. Hill & her past performance @ Wingate Park 2 weeks ago. We both heard mixed reviews. We I speak with my other friends, everyone seems to know this or that, but all of the facts about Ms. Hill are sketchy.
•Pras said there won’t be a Fugees Reunion, due to Ms. Hills schedule/ attitude (something to that factor)
•She has an album coming out in 2008
•Rohan left her
•She has 5 of his children (It’s four- check her Myspace page to see)

I found this interview on youtube posted on August 2nd and I thought it was juicy, kinda.

Many rumors are circling her name. There are plenty of fans who are expecting the old Lauryn hill from 10 years ago to re-emerge and do the Hollywood shuffle like she’s never left the stage. Let’s all remember that she was WAY different when she did the MTV Unplugged set 6 yrs ago. There’s no way she is going to be the Old Lauryn. We have to allow her to experiment, yes on our dime & time. Why, you ask? Because if you are a true fan of someone you are a fan of their musical talent. Being a true fan entails you to expect that artist to try new things. Sometimes artists/ musicians are too talented. You may hear a song they wrote sung by someone else. Not getting off the subject., Ms. Hill is making a comeback having only had 1 solo album and 1 Fugees album under her belt.
Whatever drove her to getting back on the stage and in the studio we ALL have to appreciate, because she is giving us SOMETHING, which we all know is better than NOTHING.
And I will say this last thing before I depart…

Ms. Hill and Dave Chappelle are a lot alike. How ironic that he was the one who got the Fugees to reunite. But what I mean when I say they are alike is, because with their great gift of talent, with the fame and success, they could not handle the transition that their lives would go through. Both of them deserted a undoubtably successful careers. And we the fans are very critical in how we rate their performances after leaving us screaming for more. But we have to support the Black artist – at least the ones who have something worth hearing. As crazy as Lauryn maybe we have to give her a chance to get comfortable back in the limelight and expect the rewards to be promising when she gives us beautiful music. – I hope I don’t have to eat my optimistic words,

~f@ke

NYC Is The Placed To Be August 19, 2007

So after years of living in the NYC a.k.a the Melting Pot. I made my way over to one of the most popular clubs in the city on it’s most acclaimed nites, Wednesday.

APT, located on 13th Street off of 9th Ave, in the Meat Packing District. With a line with a wait of 10 – 20 mins, depending on how crowded it is inside. We got there after 2 am & it was so crowded you could feel the heat seeping outside on an Mid – August nite. Luckily, we just hopped to the front of the line, but we still waited. Seeing the almost forgotten R&B Singer, Maxwell (minus the hair & rocking a pair of specs), Baby Lover – R.Kelly rolled in with his entourage (adding another 10 mins to our wait), Ali Shaheed Muhammed – from A Tribe Called Quest, who happened to be meeting his friend, Q-Tip who was guest spinning.

Apt has two floors. The first floor looks like a loft apartment, different colors and decor for each room. The second floor ( the lower level) is where it’s at!! Wednesday nites are usually Dj’d by Rich Medina. If you don’t know about this guy, you have to here him. He has been dj’ing for well over 5 years. Know in the Independent, Afro Beat, & House Music sector. You can find plenty of mix cd’s with Medina spinning. I’ve loved the guys work for a couple of years now. Him and Mark Ronson have came a long way.

So we get downstairs, after Security @ the door tells us we can’t go downstairs, because it’s reached its capacity. And it’s so hot that when you brush up against people to get through the crowd, you are greeted with an arm or back drenched in sweat. Good Party?? You think!!!

Q-Tip had the crowd jumping. Spinning 70’s Classics, Old School Hip Hop, Afro-Beat, and of course House Music. And the rest is history. If you want to go to a hopping party on a Wednesday Nite. If you want to go to a party and dance your ass off on a Wednesday Nite – Go to APT.

Q Tip spinning w/ Rich Medina

Me & Ali Shaheed Muhammed of A Tribe Called Quest

Check out Rich Medina’s Myspace Pg for Upcoming Parties in the Tri-State Area & some of his music!

~f@ke

Kimora Lee Simmons August 10, 2007

So, I see the verdict is out on the new reality series. So far I’ve seen that it’s 50/50 out there in the blogging world about the 1-hr premiere of Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane.

I enjoyed the show. Honestly, I thought the shit was going to be saturated, but it was good. I love that she showed that she is just that… Fabulous. And she does it flawlessly. From being a Mom, to a Boss of successful female urban clothing line, Baby Phat. And also having a beauty line & the newly developed BARBIE!!!! (Take that, Bitchez!!!) What Black woman have we ever seen get a Barbie created after them? Umm, NONE!!! Yes, there are the Afro-American Barbies, but the are made based on a region, there is a theme behind those Barbies ( I worked @ FAO Shwarz in H.S., so I know 1st hand that there were no black women who had a Barbie made after them). Whether you think, it’s sleezy or not. There are NO Black Dolls out there created from successful women or men for that matter.

On the premiere episode, they show how Kimora is discussing what she expects her Barbie to look like. And when she meets with Mattel, she emphasizes to them who she does not want a “Kimora” doll, she wants the word ” Barbie” attached to her doll, because… had it been a white woman in there discussing a Barbie they would have the Barbie name at the end of the Dolls name. She also emphasized how she wanted the doll to have darker skin. The Kimora Lee Simmons Barbie® is apart of the Adult Collections, which are the collectors editions. The doll is about $90.00.

On the show, Kimora is filmed juggling being a mother to 2 daughters and a boss of a multi-million dollar company. She introduces her company as all being young. And continues to say that yes, they may not have the experience, but someone gave her an opportunity and she is doing the same thing – giving her Baby Phat staff a chance. I commend her for saying that. Yes, she maybe demanding, and assertive, but the way she interacts with her staff ( @ least on the 1st episode) showed her as a somewhat down-to-earth-boss. Sometimes with the celebrity status and the money, you might get a straight-up Bitch of a boss.

I liked that her daughters made her a cupcake as a treat for her photoshoot. And as messy as it looked she ate that mamma-jamma ( I thought she wasn’t gonna eat it, lol). And when she had the meeting with Mattel, she took her daugthers with her (when you got it like that you can do that) and as she was discussing business, her daugthers interjected – not in a rude ‘Mommy I want this’ whining rant, but in more of an assertive-just-like-my-mommy tone, on what they thought their mother’s Barbie doll should look like.

Those of you can say, oh she doesn’t really care for her daughters, but I think otherwise. The fact that her daugthers are that intellectual to hear adults converse and have an opinion and be able to articulate themselves, AND!!!! Kimora address her daughters with motherly attention and not brush them off like they are a burden to her is what all Mothers should try and do. It annoys me when you see mothers with their children and when the child asks for something, they get yelled @ b/c their mother is soooo busy with whatever she is doing. Then don’t take them with you!!!

My other favorite part was when she confronted her Ad guy and he’s all stressed out b/c her lawyer says they went over budget and he is telling her he didn’t. And he says something like, he has not quit b/c of her and she says ‘well, if you want to quit, then, quit. But then you will be a quitter’. Now, are those inspiring words or what!?!?! LOL But later he comes to her home and tells her what the budget actually is and she is all mellow yellow.

~f@ke

The 38th Annual Comic-Con Event July 28, 2007

This year the 38th Annual Comic-Con Event was held in San Diego, CA. The 2-Day event was sold out and full of lots of teasers, but much to look forward to. Comic Con is everything comic releated with people wearing costumes & all. From Anime comics to cult favorites, like Star Trek & Star Wars. Giving the fans live press conferences on upcoming movies and even a special screening of the 300 movie, with 10 special guests winning a 300 themed X-Box 360. Here’s what I gathered so far:

There was talks about the Get Smart Movie. The Director was quoted saying that he envisioned this movie being a “Parallel Reality” & a “Comedic Bourne Identity”. I loved the Get Smart TV Show when I was little, so I hope they stay true to the humor.

There is another Batman movie being added to the collection-
Dark Knight
Starring Heath Ledger as The Joker & Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dewers

See trailer here
This site has the authentic Gotham City Police Report on the Joker. But there is no set release date.

Another trailer to check out this trailer for the Shoot ‘Em Up movie set to release Sept 7th, 2007. The plot goes as follows: A man named Mr. Smith (Clive Owen) delivers a woman’s baby during a shootout, and is then called upon to protect the newborn from the army of gunmen. And the main bad guy is Paul Giamatti (Sideways, American Splendor, Lady In The Water) as Mr. Hertz.

My favorite bit of news:
The Watchmen Comic will be made into a movie and will be out in theaters on March 6, 2009. Here is the official movie site here you can read the full synopsis and the cast list on the website.

& here is the first movie poster below

Unisoft has began discussing a licensing deal with NBC to create a vdeo game based on the hit TV series ‘Heroes’

The United States Postal Service released comic book stamps (July 26th, 2007). USPS will offer the stamps as a sheet (20 stamps on a page) that will retail for $8.20 (.41¢ each). The stamps will feature Marvel Superheroes such as Captain America, Elektra, Iron Man, Silver Surfer, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Sub-Mariner, The Incredible Hulk, The Thing and Wolverine. On the sheet of 20, 10 will be the individual characters and the other 10 will be famous comicbook covers. See below for the actual stamps & click here to purchase them

~f@ke

Modern School House Rocks Video?? July 20, 2007

Someone please help me understand WTF this is supposed to be? I just saw this and I didn’t know whether to laugh because it’s funny or be angry.

Is this supposed to capture the youth’s interest and make them turn over a new leaf??
With hooks like:
“Read a book. Read a book. Read a muthafuckin’ book”
“Drink some water”, “Brush your teeth”, “Buy some land”, “Take care of your kids”

I tell ya what, this is one of the dumbest, ignorant things I’ve seen BET show yet. And I blame the assholes who allowed this to come into fruition. The concept to voice your opinion is cool, but coming from a ‘ghetto’ stand-point is only going to make the issues at hand seen as light-hearted problems, instead of taking them seriously.

This is a prime example of what f@ke is, this fucking stupid mockery of our culture that they hand delivery to our doorsteps and then the deliveryman expects a generous tip.

If you haven’t noticed I’m beyond disgusted with this video. And I’ve taken it for far more than probably than I should. But it’s summer and kids are home and of course watching MTV & BET and to think that there are some kids watching that laughing and think that it’s cool, just rubs me wrong. Sorry…

See for yourself & tell me what you think/feel…

“Read A Book” Written, performed and Produced by Bomani Armah
Video produced by Six Point Harness

There’s more fuckery over @ BET.com

~f@ke (INDEED)

Batty Man Rapper Story Told- E! True Hollywood Style May 24, 2007

I don’t know who remembers a few years back it was BIG talk in the Hip Hop community that there was a gay rapper. He came out of nowhere, really. Just popped up and said “Hey!!”. Well after 4 or 5 years the truth was told to Allhiphop.com.
It looks as though the whole thing was a hoax, sham, fraud.
Ivan Matias, is the man behind the hype. He is a known ghost writer, who one day called up the local radio station, Hot 97, and started messing with Funk Master Flex. Well, a few of his friends egged him on and he pursued with the joke some more. Being able to spit a verse on the Angie Martinez show the next day. Getting a good response, Matias took it a step further and contacted a childhood friend and using him as the model for Caushun, the Gay Rapper.
Apparently what went wrong was Caushun, real name Jason Herdon, was supposed to learn the 16’s and use the fame as a gay rapper for his 9-5 as a hair stylist. With fame came greed and Caushun manipulated the situation in a greedy way. Taking the money for 15 seconds of fame. All he was supposed to drop off the demo cds to the radio stations and learn the verses on his off time. He had only memorized 2 verses. All the while he was boosting clothes and got arrested. He was doing Kimora Lee Simmons hair and let it slip that he was the “gay rapper”. Kimora had a record label and signed Caushun, but he was eluding from the fact that he was just the shell to the real act. So Kimora gets him bailed out, puts him up in an apt or whatever and all the while he is saying Matias, his manager is this horrible person. So when he was asked to go into the studio he always had excuses, because he does not know how to really rap.
Get the full story here Allhiphop.com
I wanted to make a note to this interview, because it was a vital interview as far as the Hip Hop culture goes. Like they said in the interview, we all know that there is a lot of underlining homosexuality going on in the music industry and when we think about the Hip Hop community you don’t want to think that homosexuality is an element of our culture. But when Caushun came to the scene, Matias ruffled far more feathers than I think anyone expected.
There are those rumors that float around those few rap names, Queen Latifah, Puffy, Bird Man & Lil’ Wayne, currently I’m hearing rumors about LL Cool J and Busta Rhymes. So, it is there. But personally, I think that if I were to hear a gay man rap about gay issues it would take away the essence of what I grew up in. I did not grow up in a culture that spoke about it. I guess the ‘Gay Rapper’ story was a moment in time that awoke a lot of us to the fact that in this day and age people’s sexuality is just as open and common as asking someone what’s their zodiac sign. Personally, I don’t care. But when you ask what’s someone’s zodiac sign usually you want to see how compatible they are, how crazy they are, or pass pre-judgement because I know someone who was born the same week as them.
In all actuality it doesn’t matter at the end of the day. What someone does in their past time has nothing to do with you or me, but yet we take such interest in it.
It’s like another article I read in the Village Voice last month and they interviewed lesbian women who were the masculine one, AG’s or aggressives, and their portrayal on what it meant to be a lesbian in an urban society (Girls to Men). These women made reference to rappers as a portrayal to how they would treat their girl and clown the other AGs. This article was an eye opener, because I never knew that minority lesbian women had a society. And it was surprising to know that they are still searching for a place to call home, if you know what I mean. Gay men seem to have it all together. They have their ‘houses’, their boys, and their nite life. In this article, it looked as though most of these AG’s were still searching for that niche and they were looking toward the degrading manner of rap lyrics as a motto to follow daily.
I thought that these articles were very revealing on many social levels. And if you are a true Hip Hop head then I suggest you read it. You’ll see what I mean. But only if you really and truly are a Hip Hop connossieur. After you read these two articles you will see how much the times have evolved.
-f@ke

DVD Review: Pan’s Labyrinth May 16, 2007

Yesterday (May 15th), Pan’s Labyrinth was released on DVD. I rushed out to go pick it up. Since it was a gorgeous day yesterday, it gave me a reason to get me and my daughter pretty and head out to the city. I went to Best Buy in Chelsea and it was sold out by 6pm. So I made a pit stop at Jamba Juice and proceeded to stroll over to Union Square to Virgin Mega. They were stocked. Picked up the DVD and my day was complete. Picked up dinner and by 9:30p we were sitting in front of the Big Screen TV and began watching this Award Winning Film.
Now let me begin with all the praises this film received from the film critics and press worldwide, because if I don’t then I wouldn’t be giving this film a chance.
Winner of 3 Academy Awards, Best Cinematography, Best Makeup, and Best Art Direction. Best Picture at the National Society Film Critics. At the Goya Awards, The Spanish equivalent to the Academy Awards, they won for Best Cinematography, Editing, Make Up & Hairstyles, New Actress for Ivana Baquero (Ofelia), Original Screenplay, Sound, and Special Effects.
At this point I would believe that everyone has heard or saw the coming attractions for Pan’s Labyrinth. I saw the trailers and heard some reviews from co-workers and average people who’ve felt this film were noteworthy.
I have enjoyed the films that Guillermo del Toro has directed in the past (Blade II, and Hellboy). And I think he is a great director.
Guillermo del Toro written and directed Pan’s Labyrinth. I saw a few minutes of the movie when it was in theaters and I thought that the movie was really interesting. I was also intrigued from the movie trailers that I saw.
I will start by saying I did not think that the movie met my expectations. I expected this grand ol’ movie about fairies and fauns and mystical creatures. Where the costumes and makeup were out-of-this-world!! But… That is not what I saw in this movie.
Don’t get me wrong this movie has some wonderful affects and the costume for the faun and the pale man were SICK! But the storyline is what disappointed me.
I like fantasy movies. So, I was really hyped about getting the DVD ( I didn’t go to the theater to see it, b/c I just had my daughter and didn’t want to ruin the experience for myself and other moviegoers).
The movie has a double storyline. The movie starts out telling you about a Princess from the underworld. The princess becomes curious and goes to the surface, where the brightness from the sun blocked out her memory and she forgets who she is and where she came from. But her father, the king believes that her spirit will one day return to the kingdom.
The story takes place in post-Civil War Spain in 1944. The young girl, Ofelia, is traveling with her very pregnant mother, who is pregnant with Captain Vidal’s child. Ofelia’s new stepfather. Now Captain Vidal, reminds me of Hilter or someone really evil. He has that look about him and he carries himself that way. Per the Captain’s request Ofelia and her mother are to be with the captain at the rural home which is the base for the captain and his troops. The captain is placed in this countryside home because of the Republican rebels that are causing resistance.
Ofelia finds a piece of rock on the road which looks like it belongs to something, it ends up belonging to a stone statue of a face. When Ofelia puts the rock into the face it awakes a bug of some sort. The bug flies away and she later see the same bug at the countryside house. This bug comes into the room that Ofelia and Carmen are sleeping in. The bug transforms into a Fairy and gestures that Ofelia follow it. The Fairy brings Ofelia to the Labyrinth and the Faun appears and explains to Ofelia that she is the spirit of the Princess of the Underworld and that she has to perform 3 tasks before the moon is full in order for her essence to remain true and all the creatures to return to the underworld.
While living at the countryside, there is a bit of conspriacy going on. One of the maids is also a rebel spy. And she gets the doctor who is caring for Carmen to go and check the injured rebels. Captain Vidal finds hints of the rebels and finds antibiotics which he later associates with the doctor.
While these two stories are unraveling, I hoped that there would be more dialogue with the Faun and the Pale Man. A bit more details or more of Ofelia in the Underworld. Unfortunately, del Toro focused on the Captain and the Rebels, I guess to give you more of what was going on in the real world and paint a picture where there was so much dark things going on that you hoped Ofelia would return to the Underworld.
I expected something like the Chronicles of Narina. You know where the movie begins in the present day, and then they end up fighting a battle in Narnia. And at the end they wind up back in the present day. Pan’s Labyrinth does not follow that format. It is heavily based in the darkness of the war and how wicked Captain Videl is. It shows the conspiracy and the risks that the maid goes through to stay true to the rebels.
Overall, if you really want to see this movie, borrow it, rent it, or watch it on Pay-Per-View, but do not buy the DVD. I felt a bit cheated, because it did not fulfill my expectations.
-f@ke