I Just Can't Stop Loving You

In light of the Thriller 25th Anniversary Edition being released this month, I have to show love to my favorite artist of all time. But first, watch the promo...

When I was little, I was obsessed with Michael Jackson.

Yes, yes, I know... we all were, but I literally used to watch Moonwalker multiple times a week on VHS. I loved (and still love!) Michael. Heck, even my senior yearbook quote was from "Bad": (Well they say the sky's the limit/ And to me that's really true/ But my friends you have seen nothin'/ Just wait 'til I get through!) Ask Rhiannon Campbell, she'll tell you... I wanted to meet MJ more than anyone in the world.

Even now! If I met him, I'm not sure if I'd cry my eyes out or pee my pants, but I'm certain that liquid would be released from my body somehow.

Speaking of peeing, AND in true Zilla fashion, I feel the need to bring up an important point: WHY, America, did we quickly forgive R. Kelly for having relations with/peeing on a 13 year-old girl (you've seen the video!) and yet we still can't forgive the KING OF POP for allegedly molesting young boys? Oh, I get it...

"WHO'S BAD?" MATH:

EVIDENCE + GIRL= all's forgiven.

NO EVIDENCE + BOY= burn in hell.

No, we're not a homophobic society at all (see: "If You Don't Like What I'm Sayin', Then Won't You Slap My Face," LOL). But I digress. Back to the movie.

Now that I think about it, my favorite parts of Moonwalker explain my personality quite well.

MAN IN THE MIRROR

No message could have been any clearer: "If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change."

SMOOTH CRIMINAL

God, he was just SO cool. I wish I could be that cool one day.

DIRTY DIANA

He proves he can still have sex appeal while rejecting the irresistible groupie... this only made me love him more! And look at his curly head of hair!!! Rarrr.

I don't even know what else to say...

I just imagine what it must have been like to work his records, and I have no words.

Slow Like Honey and Heavy With Mood

In case you wanted to know, the album covers from Erykah Badu's "Honey" video are listed below. Thanks Jackie!

De La Soul "Three Feet High and Rising"
Funkadelic "Maggot Brain"
Grace Jones "Nightclubbing"
Minnie Ripperton "Perfect Angel"
Outkast "Hey Ya" (The video for this song is sampled during the break in the "Honey" clip.)
Ohio Players "Honey"
Diana Ross "Blue"
Erik B & Rakim "Paid In Full"
Earth Wind and Fire "Head To The Sky"
Rufus featuring Chaka Kahn
Olivia Newton John "Physical"
Nas "illmatic"
The Beatles "Let It Be"
Rolling Stones Magazine Cover
Labelle "Chameleon"

When Was The Last Time You Danced?

So much good music is coming out in the next few months, I can hardly contain myself! Mariah, Erykah, Wayne, Panic... and now these dudes are dropping too?!

Yup, Ceelo and Danger Mouse are back.

"Run" for your life.

And YES, I'm totally jacking Eskay today, but a marching band playing Flashing Lights?!?! Had to do it:

Atlanta Georgia Dome Battle of the Bands 1/26

Little known fact: Zilla use to have serious flag skills in high school color guard, but please don't tell anyone... that's just between us ;)

Remaining with the Kanye theme, I have to bring up one of my favorite hip hop comedians, Crazy Al Cayne. Not only are his parodies hilarious, but they allow him to comment on issues related to the evolution and reality of hip hop culture through the vehicle of comedy.

Here is his (throwback!) parody of Kanye's "Slow Jams":

I interviewed him over a year ago...

Full article coming soon!

I am trying to get my journalistic swagger back, but don't think I'm quitting my day job!

Oh yeah! How's the new job?!?

Although I don't know what goes on in the men's room, I do know that audio from VH1 Soul plays in the ladies room. Some ladies tell me they'll leave (without even peeing) if the song is no good, and others claim to linger if they're finished and enjoy the tune.

That, alone, should demonstrate how happy I am :)

Doin' It, and Doin' It, and Doin' It Well

Raheem DeVaughn's Love Behind The Melody

has kept me vibing all weekend.

It would be pretty stupid to ignore this one.

Besides music...

I've been eager to see what's going to happen with some other stuff too, like The Presidential Primary, for example.

Barack Obama delivered another, better, rockstar speech:

And as Super Tuesday approaches, the race is on - no pun intended.

See the LEADERBOARD here.

In the less serious world of televison, Mark Wahlberg resurfaces with the new HBO drama, In Treatment. Within the show's innovative format, Gabriel Byrne (I love him) plays a therapist 5 nights a week. All the dysfunction starts Monday night and I can't wait to scrape the episodes off my DVR.

In addition to that show, I must also admit how excited I am about Making The Band 4 starting on Monday as well. I met the boys a few weeks ago at 1290 and the corny excitement I felt during Season 1 came flooding back!

But everyone's entitled to a few guilty pleasures if you ask me ;)

Industry Rule #4,080

Oh, how symbolic.

Remember these???

Termanology "The Music Industry"

f. Royce da 5'9, Crooked I, Consequence and Akrobatik

Wearing These Scars For Everyone To See

Bozworth recently did a great job of showing some love to ladies who are currently on the come-up in music, but she accidentally left out one shining star: Leona Lewis.

Leona comes to us from the UK (via their version of American Idol, X-Factor) and is now signed to Clive Davis' SonyBMG. Her single is kind of like H... I'm super addicted to it for no good reason:

Leona Lewis "Bleeding Love"

Now... when I say "no good reason," I really mean that since I'm not "in love" with anyone, I see no reason why the song resonates with me so strongly. But maybe I'm over-thinking it... Leona is beautiful, has an insanely dope voice, and as FDR said, the song itself is "well-written" and "impossible to hate on."

Enjoy! xo

Cool For Thought

A new friend is building a clothing company that has amazing vision.

Check out "The Way" tee by munchiebrain.

Last week, I was lucky enough to see Mary J. Blige perform LIVE at the VH1 Storytellers taping. Not something you see every day... Thanks Vin :)

Don't know how I feel about the Kelly Rowland f. Travis McCoy song, Daylight. I like the collabo in theory, (and not to sound like Diddy) but I think the video could have been more "sexy" LOL. I'm serious.

Mariah has a new album coming... and PS, I read that news on tha best kept secret in blogworld,
Tha Mission

Still haven't seen it posted anywhere else!

Don't call it a comeback:

Hillary continues catching Ws and so do the G-Men!

And Lastly...

Happy Birthday to the King of Civil Rights!

I wonder... What would Dr. King think about a black man and a white woman running for president? And also, what would he think about the potential name of Nas' new album?

Do the dishes.

Candy-Coated Rain Drops

I don't know what got into me, but I went on a 90's video binge:

New Kids On The Block 

"Step By Step"

Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch 

"Good Vibrations"

Mr. Big 

"To Be With You"

Snow 

"Informer"

Ini Kamoze 

"Here Comes The Hotstepper"

R.E.M. 

"Losing My Religion"

Soul 4 Real 

"Candy Rain"

Color Me Badd 

"I Wanna Sex You Up"

Blind Melon 

"No Rain"

LL Cool J 

"Momma Said Knock You Out"

Guns N' Roses

"November Rain"

Mr. Big taught me about romance, Color Me Badd taugt me about sex, and Blind Melon taught me about ODing on drugs, *sigh* 

I really loved him too :(

You Gotta Read The Label

So I come back to my desk one day at work, and I see this:

Note-Assisted Diagram: "Allan has milk. Allan needs cereal."

Since it was pretty self-explanatory, I reached into my cereal cabinet, filled the empty cup on the right, and gave myself an invisible pat on the back for helping a co-worker in need :)

But silly memories aside, I now realize that I'm going to miss a lot of cool people at Atlantic.

Change is good, though...

I think I finally feel comfortable posting this:

Wish me luck as I attempt to continue my evELLEution. XO

"People lined up to see the Titanic sinkin'/

Instead we rose from the ashes like a phoenix!"

You Are What You Eat, You Eat What You Can...

The FDA is saying that meat and milk from cloned cows is safe for us to eat:

"FDA scientists studied the chemical composition of meat and milk from clones and decided that it's identical to what's on the market already... But opponents of cloning pointed to other data in the report, showing that the cloning process creates many animals that cannot survive."

Read the full NPR story here, but WTF... are they serious?

A few months back, a family member (who had recently lost a large amount of weight) told me she learned a lot from a book called The China Study. 

To briefly summarize, the book urges us to rethink meat as being the primary source for protein, and in turn, suggests healthier, animal-free alternatives. Why, you ask? Because drugged animals and the processed crap we eat allegedly gives us lots and lots of CANCER and other diseases.
From what I read, the studies that the PhD author conducted to prove his points were quite convincing, as were his credentials. I ended up changing my diet for a few weeks... but it became increasingly hard trying to maintain those extreme changes (even though I really have no excuse for my poor nutritional choices in the first place).
But what are we supposed to believe? How SHOULD we be eating?
If it's not organic and "pure," does what we eat inevitably end up knocking years off our lives? If so, I don't think I want to eat FAKE COW! But in reality, how many years are we talking about here? 

Even a Broken Clock is Right at Least Two Times a Day

Brandon Jacobs is hilarious.

And I<3NY.

Re-live it all here and catch the best part at 2:35 in.

Claymation Couldn't Mold a Better Mind

I saw that Eskay posted about her, and I suddenly became overwhelmed with happiness. Jean Grae is my favorite female emcee, BY FAR. After discovering her in college, I was blown away... She can't be touched by any lady in the game, and honestly, she has better verbals than most of the dudes out there too!

I'm posting the track because it's just, well, appropriate today ;)

Jean Grae- "Love Thirst"

And this one, "Give It Up," is even better... it might make your day:

If you're not familiar with her, don't think she just does lovey dovey tracks... it was actually Hater's Anthem that first made me love her. The hook is just phenomenal, LOL.

Okay, carry on...

What's a Girl To Do?

AC just sent me this... It's so fiery I had to post it immediately... 

Bats For Lashes- "What's a Girl To Do"

Don't get A.D.D. either... make sure you watch it at least :40 seconds in!

As I Recall, I Know You Love To Show Off

Kanye posted a still shot from the "Flashing Lights" video...

Too soon to judge, but it looks like this could be another "shootin' starrrrrrrrr." 

Added bonus? Estelle f. Kanye West "American Boy"

...And if you didn't know about Estelle before, watch her video for "Wait a Minute (Just a Touch)":

Gotta Keep The Devil Down in The Hole

So yeah...

After an eventful New Year's Eve, I spent all New Year's Day being lazy, catching up on the last episodes of my latest obsession, The Wire. To my surprise, Episode #51 (the 5th season's premiere) was available On-Demand. I have no idea why HBO does that, but I couldn't help myself and had to watch it. Although the episode was somewhat uneventful overall, a lot of seeds were planted to ensure that this final season will "serve" us with a lot of action.

If you haven't seen the premiere, don't read further!

McNulty's fallen out of love and back to being angry and drunk...

And I admit it, I'm so glad to have him back!

Herc is working with Barksdale's lawyer?!?... I'm not really sure what he's doing, but I think it will be pivotal down the line...

Marlo's acting up in the co-op... I foresee him and Cheese having issues- TICALLLL.

I still love Chris and Snoop!  

And I can't wait to find out why Chris is researching Sergei...

Slim Charles? Besides Omar, he might be my favorite character.

Unfortunately, Carcetti has proven to be a hypocrite, choosing the future of his career over Baltimore's citizens.

Omar didn't make an appearance... When will he return? And in what capacity?

Michael is my dude. This is HIS season. Too bad he's so young, smh... I love him.

Guess who caught a big promotion?! Carver... oh boy.

R.I.P. Bodie... we miss you and still can't believe you're gone. (I love him too).

The Wire is easily one of the best shows on television right now.  I completely admire the writers' ability to delve into important topics like law enforcement, education and now, the media.  Adding all the daily inter-workings of a newspaper staff into the plot is much better than the docks were in season two, and just like I thought about being an investigator (in S1), a politician, and then a teacher (in S4), I now get my thirst for writing quenched.

Here we go... I fucking love this show.

Cool For Thought

Obama defeated Edwards and Hillary in Iowa...

I don't mean to frown upon a good thing, sound surprised OR be naive, but can I ask if maybe voters are more SEXIST than they are RACIST when it comes to choosing a leader?  Could it be?!?  LOL.  Disregarding the candidates' campaign platforms and strategies for a moment: you've got a black man, a white man, and a white woman.  This is a democratic country, but we are definitely not without male-dominating principles, especially when it comes to positions of power!  I'm aware that this argument can be heavily debated, but just admit: We think Hillary in the White House, and in turn, we think Bill.  Just asking, anyhow.

If you want more election info, go here... I found it helpful.

Kanye started blogging again :)

I have to admit that I was relieved and happy when I saw his return to the blogosphere.  After the passing of his mother, his blogs stopped abruptly; a pause that lasted nearly two months.  Like I brought up in my first post ever, death really makes you re-assess your priorities in life.

Hov's Apple deal? Is this really real?

Female Pakistani Prime Minister Assassinated?

Learn why she's important here.

Apparently we're too stupid as a society to listen to music and understand what it means... 

We now need visual references to explain what an artist is talking about within their videos.  I'm not complaining though!... I've held the belief that people are mindless sheep and that music and television are the vehicles for social change for years now:

Ice Cube's new video Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It reminds me a lot of Matchbox Twenty's Look How Far We've Come.  Watch them both, it's worth it:

Alright... I think I'll get off my soap box now.  Enjoy the weekend! xo

The Clock Went Back From 3, to 2, to 1...

2008 is HERE.

But before I could fully acknowledge that fact, I needed to first reminisce on 2007.

This past year was pretty real...

I learned a lot, saw a lot, experienced many "firsts"...

Below is my last minute effort to recap the year:

MUSIC CATEGORIES

BEST CONCERT:

The Scream Tour at MSG (only because Jay, Ye, Puff and 50 were all on stage at the same time... let's not attribute it to Ciara's not-so-groundbreaking performance) Honorable Mention: Weezy at the Beacon Theater and Rock The Bells

BEST ALBUM:

Amy Winehouse "Back To Black"
Honorable Mention: Robin Thicke "The Evolution of Robin Thicke," Kanye West "Graduation," and Lupe Fiasco "The Cool"

BEST MIXTAPE:
Lil Wayne- The Drought is Over 2 (The Carter 3 Sessions)

Honorable Mention: Jim Jones- Harlem's American Gangster

BEST SONG (For all walks of life):

Mark Ronson "Stop Me"
50 Cent "I Get Money"
Jowell Y Randy "No Te Veo"
Fall Out Boy "This Ain't a Scene"

WORST SONG:
Colbie Callait "Bubbly"... that shit kills me! I had to leave a store the other day when it came on, smh.

SONG I HATED BUT ENDED UP LOVING:

Lil Boosie, Webbie and Foxx "Wipe Me Down"

BEST VIDEO:
Kanye West (Dir: Hype Williams) Stronger, because it's based on one of my favorite movies, Akira
LIFE CATEGORIES

BEST PARTY:
Vincenza's Birthday on the Dream Hotel rooftop

Honorable Mention: BET Awards After Party in LA

BEST MOVIE:

300 on Imax

SO GLAD I MET:
Ms. Ventura (AKA Bozworth)

DRINKING BUDDY OF THE YEAR:
Milly, my personal bartender... it may not have been often, but when it was on, it was on!

HIGH POINT OF THE YEAR:
Running in Fort Tryon park during the Spring and Fall *sigh*

LOW POINT OF THE YEAR:
The week of 9/24

MOST AMAZING SPORTING EVENT TO BE AT:

Game 3 of the ALDS, Yankees vs. Cleveland... field level seats

BEST HOLIDAY:
Cinco de Mayo

BEST RESTAURANT:
La Esquina... yummmm

BEST DECISION MADE THIS YEAR:

To finally start a blog :)

Honorable Mention: (1) Deciding to watch all episodes of The Wire that I had never seen AND (2) getting a real camera to start taking photos again

TV SHOW OF THE YEAR:
Weeds on HBO and Damages on FX

MOST LOYAL FRIEND:
Mr. Russell

SOMETHING IMPORTANT THAT 2007 TAUGHT ME:
I need art and creativity in my everyday life

So that's all folks!

Take a deep breath and enjoy each day... before we know it, another year will have passed, and we'll be reflecting yet again.  xo