Considering this record was a middle school favorite, I've felt a little conflicted about the beef Noel Gallagher had with Jay performing at Glastonbury. But, after watching Hov's entrance to the festival (where he obnoxiously half-sings "Wonderwall"), I applaud his poking fun at the incident. I also appreciate that even though he butchered the record, he simultaneously gave it a nod. And he brought out a guitar?! LOL, well done...
Watch Jay's full, mashed up, guitar-heavy set at GlastonburyHERE
performed yesterday at the46664 Concerthonoring Nelson Mandela.
I don't know why the woman who couldn't breathe well a few days ago is running down the stage, but I love her music, and we can only hope she gets better...
Showtime's new seriesSecret Diaries of a Call Girlis really smart - in it's writing,and for using Amy'sYou Know I'm No Goodinstrumental as the theme song.It airs afterWeeds, so naturally, I was already tuned in when it premiered. Not sure if it's as good as my other Showtime favorites...
"Once you improve health in a country, it really changes everything," Gates said. "Parents don't need to have this many children to be sure that someone will support them in their old age. And so population growth goes down. You can feed, you can educate, you can provide jobs."
As Gates moves to a full-time role at the foundation, he embarks on what may be described as his second life. His first life was at Microsoft, bringing computers to the masses. His second life is just beginning: as the world's leading philanthropist.
I'm not IN LOVE the creative for the other clips, but I was at the show where the live footage clips were shot. She sold me that night, and now I'm just glad our golden girl is getting a little shiiiine.
And lastly, if you haven't heard it yet...
Nas'"Sly Fox"just blew my mind. Thanks to Mega for the heads up.
I had a huge BET Awards summary written last night, but all day long, something kept preventing me from posting it. I think the hesitation started this morning when I had an epiphany...
The best moments of the BET Awards
were delivered by artists who are NOT current.
Bold statement, I know. Perhaps I'm having an old head moment?
Alicia Keys' performance was great, but then she brought out SWV, En Vogue and TLC. The veteran girl groups didn't even sound that great, but the impact in the room was palpable. And after Alicia did the Waterfalls dance with Chili and T-Boz, all the ladies came back to the stage and shared an amazing moment together. In my mind I thought, "This is what BET should be about."
The Al Green tribute was phenomenal as well: Jill Scott, Anthony Hamilton and Maxwell burnt it down.Anthony Hamilton has always had superb pipes, and I used to love Maxwell- where has he been!?!? After they all sang for him, Al Green thanked "The Academy of the BET awards" (hilarious) and performed two of his incredible classics. The whole crowd was moved.
Everything else (Rihanna, Jeezy, Chris Brown, T-Pain, Keyshia... even Kanye and Wayne!) was pretty much what we all expected.
Am I wrong?
Maybe I'm just reminiscing on music from when I was younger, but I don't think these young dudes can touch an artist like Maxwell. I'm not saying that lip-syncing Usher, dancing Ne-Yo and gyrating Chris Brown aren't extremely talented (because they clearly are), but please just watch this man's performance from last night and tell me he doesn't have a different level of artistic sophistication:
The Ting Tings are a spunky duo from the UK, and quite frankly, you have to see them live. I did - last week at Bowery. Jules De Martino (drums, guitar, vocals) and Katie White (vocals, guitar, bass drum) rule for different reasons. Maybe because they're both so ridiculously cool?
Performing the song that first caught my ear, "That's Not My Name":
Performing their iTunes ad record, "Shut Up And Let Me Go":
At about 2 minutes in, they'll show you why they're so COOL...
the drums, the drums, the drums, the drums.
Just when you think they can only do upbeat records, Katie slows it down and shows off her voice on "Traffic Light."
Ice-T's feud with Soulja Boy could not have arrived at a better time. Right before our very eyes, their bickering match (between Old Head and New Blood) illustrates the extreme divide in hip hop culture better than I EVER could articulate it in words. And we've all heard the arguments: Old heads can't accept that hip hop is constantly changing, and the new generation allegedly waters down the art form for money.
Ironically, the same analogies can easily be applied to pop music as well.
In aFaderarticleon Swedish artist Lykke Li, Nina Persson (of The Cardigans) and solo artist Robyn made some comments on pop that I think are really profound:
"[Swedish people] are also great collectors- whether it is art or music or design. We have a knack for taking the best elements of things and making them our own... Also, our definition of ‘pop’ music has always been a little different than a lot of other people’s. Weirder, perhaps.”
According to Robyn, another Swedish artist that’s currently huge in Sweden and hip in America, the tradition of Swedish pop music is not so much about a particular aesthetic, but an attitude. “We don’t tend to think of pop music as something different, or lesser, than, say, rock music or hip-hop,” she says. “Somehow pop music got a bad reputation in a lot of the world. I don’t think Swedish musicians tend to look at it that way. We have a lot of respect for the notion of pop.”
Since a negative stigma is often attached to American pop music, I wanted to explore these comments further. Much like hip hop, ourpop is often accused of pandering to the ignorant, open ears of the mainstream masses. As a result, it's argued that the quality of music is diminishing, and inevitably, listeners are becoming turned off. I constantly hear people whining that music isn't good anymore! Meanwhile, these Swedish artists want to try something new, and keep pop fresh. Lykke Li even talked about the indie explosion in a different interview, saying that the influx of good, indie artists IS the new pop. I agree. To them, it's about art, not money - nor should it be.Call me a purist if you want, but maybe if this resurgence of quality music keeps the market competitive, we might be able to look forward to more innovative artists in the near future.
Speaking of competition-inspired quality, I would love to see more out-of-the-box, "indie" sentiments in hip hop. Really showing off that MC muscle, you know? Like:all these dudes who started remixing "A Milli"?!?!It was annoying at first, but how cool would it be to adopt that model as a reoccurring trend?Imagine a producer publicly throwing a beat at the hip hop community every so often, openly challenging everyone to let the best MC win.But duh, that would never happen outside of mixtapes; production costs money, remember? Capitalism over all.
I started The Labyrinth a year ago, today. 365 days later, music is still the backbone of this blog, and the title of each post is still borrowed from some of my favorite song lyrics.
Since time continues to pass by faster and faster, I decided to take a moment and reflect on what I've written here so far. But once I started looking at past posts, I realized that I wanted to reveal what songs I took my titles from (in case you didn't know the source), and revisit why my favorites make me proud. My topics might be all over the place, but I'm pretty sure that's why I like blogging.
The post that first birthed The Labyrinth was provoked by the passing of close friend's mother.
Form The Alliance From: Big Pun "New York Giants" Sometimes being eclectic makes me feel marginalized, so when I see people promoting diverse interests, I point it out.
Let That Bitch Breathe From: Jay-Z "Success" TayZonday'sChocolate Rain, the YouTube era's impact on the music industry, and taking a look at artistic social commentary that's ridden with subtext.
You Gotta Read The Label From: Gza"Labels" While transitioning jobs, I started to get sentimental - but happily chucked a deuce at the same time.
Seeing creativity blend into society is always refreshing. Other cool random stuff, too.
Tryin' To Take My Life Away andWho You Callin' a Witch? From: 50 Cent "Many Men" and Queen Latifah"U.N.I.T.Y." Race and gender issues in the Democratic primary: Eddie Murphy's jokes from the 80s revisited when 50 Cent discusses the potential assassination of a would-be black president. In the second post, Hillary battles possible gender-bias and misogyny.
Something really creepy happened to me one night, and as a result, I was forced to examine the power of fear.
Two More Blocks... From: Jim Jones "Two More Blocks" Conspiracy theories or facts? A study relating incarceration to prisoners' geographical origin that I found at MoMa was both beautiful and interesting.
A Little Bit In Love With You From: Lykke Li "Little Bit" I can't JUST quote hip hop artists. In this post, I first shared Lykke Li's music, and also paid homage to MGMT and Santogold using the film The Holy Mountain as inspiration for their videos.
I Want Something Un-Ignorable From: The Ting Tings "Shut Up And Let Me Go" Stepping my current events game up, I discuss iTunes, movies, and music videos - all while playing with great colors.
Not Dr. Ruth, Call Me Dr. Knockboot From: Nas"Dr. Knockboot" I showcase my contribution to Vh1's Ask Weezy content while simultaneously proving that Wayne is smarter than he looks. EvELLEution at it's finest.
Social change is spreading: A black man might be president, a movie star raises her kids with open minds, and movies are being made to ignite awareness in us all.
YES, I'm aware that the song has been his Myspace song for months. NO, I didn't know what "hyphy" looked like until 2 weeks ago when Wentworth (my friend and Cali immigrant from home) demonstrated it for me. She did her thing too, but that's because she's "got soul."
Also from the sunny state of California, allow me to introduceThriving Ivory...
The song is "Angels on the Moon."
I'm not really into the video,
but the lead singer is dreamy
and the record is strooong!
They came in to perform for us,
and his voice is amazing.
You Oughta Know about them ;)
And lastly,Sam Sparrois blowing up on iTunes in the UK. I'm not surprised... his sound is similar to other funky, electronic-sounding contemporary artists emerging from Europe. He's a little metro, so please try to see past that in his video for
Why are we in Iraq again? Oh yeah, because "they" (Iraqis) allegedly had something to do with 9/11. Well, kinda/not-really. But since "they" pray to a different dude than many Americans, we were easily swayed by the fear of what we didn't understand. Ugh.
My mom is in Iraq right now.She's a photo-journalist and has been there a few times since the war started, this time around in a benign part of the country- Thank God. She sent me an email on the Iraqi football team winning some game, and said that U.S. soldiers are celebrating alongside the Iraqi people:
Not to say it's all sunshine and cupcakes over there, but I think Uncle Sam wants us to think it's worse than it really is (for obvious "us vs. them" reasons... SMH). Meanwhile, fear of "the other" will continue to divide us unless we start paying attention.
Speaking of which, I saw a link on Mr. Brink's away message today regarding 9/11 being a premeditated, inside demolition job. If you're still confused and bewildered like me, you should definitely check it outHERE.I also mentioned the movieZEITGEISTa few weeks ago, and that same demolition argument was discussed too. Hmm.
Another gem from my mother- ThisARTICLEis about a wedding in Newburgh that turned into a 100-person bloody brawl. And the fact that I was born in Newburgh makes it EVEN better!
Both pieces of news from my mom were pretty random, but yet a Wayne line was able to capture them perfectly.
Listen to"Hardbody" at 2:12 and you'll know what I mean :)
I normally don't letSoundscan influence me,but I think catching a W this big is important news. Kanye beating 50 their first week was a huge deal last year- if only for the spike inalbum sales.But this... This is something we need to take note of. Even if you don't like him, you've got to accept thecultural impact...
"This is history in the making... Now shut the fuck up, and let me make it."
SBrAdiOHeaD: son Zilla: i know SBrAdiOHeaD: wayne really did a milli Zilla: i heard last night Zilla: how SILLY does soundscan look SBrAdiOHeaD: soooooooo wierdddd im like that doesnt even look righttt Zilla: i knowwww
I went to seeAdele at Highline on Wednesday night. She killed it:
Performing "Crazy For You"
Performing "Chasing Pavements." Crazy goosebumps at 3:20!
Governor was at SOBs on Thursday, and since he was always one of my favorite Atlantic artists, you know I had to go check him.
Talented as ever. Handsome as ever. Thanks to Credle for coming!
Featuring Governor, "Hello" was a record on T.I.'s KING album:
And "Forgive Me" was off of Governor's own Son of Pain album:
I was listening to Son of Pain while trying to relax on the beach a few years ago. Just as I started to drift off to sleep, the lyrics from "Forgive Me" jumped out of my ipod and woke me up. It was then, in that moment, that I had a necessary, cliche epiphany. I realized:Changing a man is impossible.And it was Governor's candid descriptions that helped me see that.
So I got to thinking... If you're with someone and you love them, you probably shouldn't want to change them in the first place. Right? Because you adore them for who they are, as they are. Helping them to grow and evolve is one thing, but changing them is quite another...
Considering this record was a middle school favorite, I've felt a little conflicted about the beef Noel Gallagher had with Jay performing at Glastonbury. But, after watching Hov's entrance to the festival (where he obnoxiously half-sings "Wonderwall"), I applaud his poking fun at the incident. I also appreciate that even though he butchered the record, he simultaneously gave it a nod. And he brought out a guitar?! LOL, well done... 
.jpg)
