Redman visits Karmaloop Headquarters

One of my favorite artists gets into some mischief as an employee at the clothing line Karmaloop.  Check out this comedy.  Redman's new album "Reggie" is in stores now.

New Video: The Clipse - "Life Change" Feat. Pharrell & Kenna

I love this joint. It's one of my favorites from "Till The Casket Drops". Kind of late to put this video out now, but better late than never. 

The Sexy Women of Entourage

...and Gary Busey.


Some of the women that have appeared in episodes of Entourage have decided to do a music video to discuss their groundbreaking performances. Kinda funny.  Oh yeah, and Rosa Acosta's in this too. Check it out!


The Sexy Women of Entourage from SPIKE on Vimeo.

A Tribe Called Quest...

One afternoon in my early years, my older sister put up a poster on the door of the adjacent bedroom next to mine. It was a poster of a hiphop group that I thought was just called "Quest".  As I kept running back and forth into her room while being verbally assaulted (like all little brothers do), I kept taunting that she should go and tell Quest to keep me away from her. After about the 15th time that I've made this insult to her, she gave up and educated me on who these 3 guys on her wall were and what they stood for.  No, it wasn't the other 3 white guys that were on her wall at the time.  She played me a record by the 3 black ones called "Can I Kick It?". At the time, I wasn't interested at all, and just felt the beat was cool. But as I got older and started getting picked on in one of the four public schools I was sent to in my elementary years, I somehow managed to hear another record.  This record, in particular, had a woman singing my EXACT feelings of that time while riding the school bus home: "I really know how it feels to be stressed out, when you're face to face with your adversities. I really know how it feels to be stressed out, we're gonna make this thing work out eventually". I would get hype every single time this song came on the radio. It made me feel good about myself despite my differences with the rest of my peers.


At this point, they weren't "Quest" to me anymore....they were A Tribe Called Quest. 


After stealing my sister's copy of their album "Beats, Rhymes & Life" where that record came from, these 3 black guys spoke to me in a certain way and became my favorite hiphop group of ALL time. Wu-Tang came later into my senses, but as far as everything in relation to the hiphop genre, A Tribe Called Quest was the pinnacle of what it means to be a young black male that didn't want to kill anyone and had an everyday struggle. I watched attentively every performance they had on television, and I managed to watch a concert by them as a birthday present at a party.  It was one of the most fun experiences that I've had by myself (AYOOOO HOLD UP!). These people were a major integral part in my style of performing hiphop and they are a huge influence to me.

This group was the reason that I paid nearly $300 for custom made shelltoe kicks from a guy in Canada.

Last summer, I went to a free concert at Central Park where Q-Tip was the headliner.  Through a friend of mine, I've managed to get inside for free as well as having a backstage pass.  I've met a lot of people there such as Diddy, Chester French, Chanel Iman and others.  However, I was more excited that I had met one of my favorite actors, Michael Rapaport.  I asked him what he was doing these days, and he explained to me that he was there taping a documentary on A Tribe Called Quest.  I was too excited about this. After all, this is the Nazi kid from "Higher Learning"!

I was totally shook in meeting Q-Tip, who had his mother with him in the trailer backstage.  The diversity of the entire venue, from seeing the Asian Americans jumping up and down to "Award Tour" to seeing Diddy bang on the walls of the trailers and dancing on stage to the music, it was a moment that attests to the legendary status of the group.  


Now after a year of waiting, I noticed that Q-Tip took his Twitter today and stated that he is not in support of the A Tribe Called Quest documentary, due to certain requests of the band that weren't met by the filmmaker.   The film will premier at the Sundance Film Festival next month, and I felt it was odd for this to happen.  Upon more Googling, I realized that a trailer has leaked online of the documentary...



Whether this is the type of representation that the group wants to portray in the autobio pic of their history or not, I still would love to see this.  However, judging from the scenes of the fights and the animosity shown in the trailer, I can see why Q-Tip may not be on board for this one. As a fan, I hope that this gets to be seen on a national scale.  Time and time again in films that are supposed to represent the hiphop community, we're subjected to seeing images of black men being involved in guns, drugs, and especially death.  The story of this group needs to be seen so that the mainstream media can actually understand that not every rapper is out to kill but to entertain and educate.  What better way than showcasing the group that is hailed to be "the most intelligent, artistic rap group of the 1990s""?  But if it is not in the best interest of all of the members, I completely understand all the same.  Let's see what comes of this in the later days...

Rest In Peace: Leslie Nielsen

I'm going to keep it SO real for ya'll...

This man's films have been a HUGE influence on me as a young kid. Watching the Naked Gun series, the Airplane! movies, as well as his hilarious but underrated Dracula: Dead & Loving It with Mel Brooks (also one of my favorite guys ever) really developed my own sense of humor.  They used to call him eccentric in his demeanor and his idea of being lost and confused by the environment around him, but in all honestly he was a muthafuckin GENIUS!!! And I can't begin to describe how upset I was when I heard the news that he died last night due to complications with pnuemonia. Even though he was 84 years old and lived a long, prosperous life, I still can't imagine the idea that he's gone forever. I knew he was living nice and quietly in Florida, but that was all that was really said about him after the movies.  Plus, he was probably one of the few white guys who backed up OJ Simpson during his craziness in the mid-90s.  He is a legend in my mind and a true comedic actor.  I seriously hope he gets an award, atleast an MTV Award or something.  This generation needs to understand what his type of physical comedy and his signature delivery when telling jokes.  He was one of a kind, he was fearless, and talented.

Rest In Peace good sir.  Just know that your influence was brought onto a rapper named Redhead. Who would've thought, right? Exactly, and I won't call you Shirley.

Redhead @ Concrete Loop 5th Anniversary Party

I was recently invited to attend the 5th Anniversary party for Concrete Loop back on November 11th. Why the long delay? Getting these pictures, of course. I never brought a camera over there, so I was in New York for about a day and a half. My purpose was to come to the event to re-strengthen my relationship with the website and a few others in the industry.  Shouts to everyone that was there such as Sway Calloway, Goapele, Keri Hilson, Angel, Christine, Laban, Gregory, Brian, Steff Nasty, Jim Jones, Necole, Rae & Gabriel and others.


Here's some shots

My Halloween Costume...

Check me out...paying homage to the movie "Hostel" with some subtle flare

Shouts to Keisha, who came as Candy Corn, and my homie Craig who was a baby...

Shouts to this girl who came as Rihanna...so wrong!!

"Student Bodies" - Film

Before there was "Scary Movie", there was Student Bodies...


Old school ish for you, 1981

Click the poster and watch for yourself

Kanye West - "Runaway" Short Film

Speaking of Kanye West since I made a post about him awhile back, I managed to catch the MTV premier of his short film "Runaway".  It's the story about a phoenix that falls to earth and becomes Kanye's girlfriend until eventually, she has to come back to her planet.  First off, I applaud that a rapper would even get the idea of doing a short film like this, and I feel that this definitely puts Kanye in the light of becoming an icon. This hasn't really been done by a black artist since Michael Jackson, and this is a great way to solidify that notion. 

My analysis of this movie is pretty simple.  Kanye is driving home through the woods and finds The Phoenix crashing down from the sky. He later picks her up and makes her his girlfriend, and teaching her how to live in this world.  The Phoenix, played by the beautiful Selita Ebanks, represents an outcast to a world that she barely understands.  The usage of color and cinematography fully makes it visually beautiful and the symbolism gives it an extra flare. She's trying to figure out how to adapt to society with the guide of someone who sees her for who she is and not her outer appearance and perception (she's half human, half bird). However, the other members do not respect her and despite offering bread to them to show compassion, she is refused based on who she is. A dinner guests insults her in comments to Kanye, so he had to get up to giv e a "toast to the douchbag". The part about the turkey is supposed to show The Phoenix’s upmost disdain for society that they’ll destroy something similar to her for their own personal gain (or health, for that matter). She screams so loud that the rest of the people have to leave because they feel no compassion for what they’ve done (except Kanye who stays). It’s a cutthroat society and its a dog-eat-dog world. 

Kanye later takes her to a parade where "all of the lights" are flashing with a giant sculpture of Michael Jackson's head. It is Kanye's attempt to show The Phoenix his lifestyle and this is what he lives and breathes for. A little kid runs to the parade happy and full of smiles, but leaves in a red hoodie while running slowly.  Despite the allure and the appeal of these lights and the flashy world, it can consume you and make you become a puppet in an elitist cult that neglects anything out of their perception.  By the end of the film, The Phoenix feels that she can't be in a world that doesn't understand or respect her, so she burns and travels home while Kanye is struggling to get her back. 

This part makes me wanna get into bestiality, haha

Tiny Apartment w/ 24 rooms

Spotted at the lovely Tash Leake's blog.  This is pretty crazy

Tickets for Heineken Inspire - Washington DC in Washington, DC from ShowClix Ticketing

Tickets for Heineken Inspire - Washington DC in Washington, DC from ShowClix Ticketing

The Clipse, D Nice, & Rick Ross

Kanye West = Super Passionate

This is an old interview that Kanye West did back in 2007 with Tim Westwood. At the time, Kanye was explaining his reaction for losing an award to Justice's video "We Are Your Friends" (which I happened to have remixed).  At about 4:56 into the interview, he goes into this tanget and I believe that this is the epitome of who he is as an artist and a person.  I feel that this is the type of interview where if anyone were to ask who Kanye West is, they would play this clip.  I feel its hilarious and inspiring to watch because he was so serious and so animated about his craft and pop culture. So many quotables.  Okay, I'll stop bigging it up and let you decide:


Watch this at 4:56


Kanye West on Radio 1 with Westwood part 3
Uploaded by timwestwoodtv. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

Lloyd Banks - "Start It Up" (Feat. Kanye West, Fabolous, Ryan Leslie & Swizz Beats)

This is my favorite song out right now...I LOVE THIS JOINT!!

Michael Jackson's "Ghost" - 39 Minute Video

Very poorly promoted, but the longest running music video to date (1997).

"Children Of The Corn" - film

This has been my inspiration at this recording session right now.  Maybe it will inspire you in some twisted way...

Adrian Grenier does a film w/ 14-year old Paparrazi

For those that don't know this about Adrian Grenier, he's not only an actor that is the star of the HBO series Entourage, he's also an accomplished independent film director.  His upcoming film is called Teenage Paparazzo. The idea from this movie came when he was approached by paparazzi a few years ago and realized that one of the cameramen was a then 14-year-old named Austin Visschedyk. Astonished and curious as to why a kid this age was so enthused with chasing celebrities around with a camera for money, Adrian decided to film a documentary about him, his job, and also to examine how their relationship has changed after becoming a paparazzo for a few months. As the taping of the film continues, Adrian soon finds the importance of taking responsibility for his influence on Austin and children like him that are drawn to the allure of celebrity stardom. The film has recently debuted at the Sundance Film Festival this year with critical acclaim, and will premiere on HBO on my birthday, September 27th, 2010 at 9PM. 

In this YouTube clip, Adrian is seen figuring out how to work with a photographer's camera while Austin is instructing over fellow paparazzi about techniques and the photography industry. One guy in particular isn't having it and questions Austin's knowledge due to his age and experience. Meanwhile, Adrian questions the man about the reasoning of being a paparazzi. 

I found this to be very interesting because it examines the complicated morals and ethics of those involved in the entertainment industry when it comes to children, and how society puts celebrities on a higher pedestal than themselves when they are essentially just the same. I applaud Adrian Grenier on his efforts to bring this story to light and I hope that it does well when it premiers on television. 

VMA's 2010

I managed to catch the re-run of the MTV Video Music Awards today, and I thought it was pretty interesting. Lots of great performances and funny moments. Shoutout to Chelsea Handler! I'm glad that Justin Bieber won Best New Artist and I was glad to see B.O.B. perform his 2 singles.  Usher had probably one of the best televised performances in a long time.  I won't even mention the Taylor Swift/Kanye West performances; they pretty much spoke for themselves. 


But here's a funny pic, I wonder what the caption of this would be...

Joy Daily Radio Interview (Video)

This is an interview that I did along with the homies Product, King Kan, and Carty-Yeah.  This night was actually hilarious and it defines how hard we individually "grind" in order to get to a point in life where we feel we're successful.  Joy Daily is a journalist that has interviewed countless artists and celebrities in the hiphop world and hosts an underground radio show in New York City. Product knew Joy from their days in high school and set up a time where himself, King Kan, and Carty would appear on the show as guests to talk about the DC hiphop scene.  They invited me to come along with them due to their support of my work, and I'm very appreciative of that. We drove for nearly 4 hours in Product's two-door Scion (5 people deep, mind you) to get there.  There were even times where Kan and Corey (The 5th passenger) were arguing about who get to sit in the middle of 2 others in that tiny ass car where everybody's reduced to sardine status.  Lucky for us, we stopped at gas stations and stocked up on junk food and energy drinks. Myself, I copped this one and THIS SHIT RIGHT HERE?!? Greatness. I think I drank it too fast and caught heartburn from it...

I never tried the drink before, but it tasted more like spicy red Kool-Aid, and it's carbonated. Anyway, the show started at 10pm and we got kind of lost along the way on the Jersey turnpike (No GPS, just an IPhone navigation courtesy of Kan).  We left the car somewhere on 9th avenue and ran as fast as we could to the studio. The guard initially didn't want us to get in because the show was almost over, but they spared us, and Joy was gracious enough to extend her time to accommodate us despite another show starting right after hers.  We appreciate that immensely!  


Here's the video, but let it start at 1:21:20 and catch the co-host screaming "Oh my God, guests!!" followed by a resounding shout of "Men!" from the blonde.  Classic status. 

Jay Pharoah

This is a young 22 year old comic by the name of Jay Pharoah that just recently signed to 'Saturday Night Live' due to his amazing skills of impersonations of celebrities.  I remember seeing this guy on BET whenever they do those totally contrived and off-balance skits of him being a postman delivering "The Package" to the BET Awards every year. What I didn't know was how talented and hilarious he actually is.  Here is a montage of his skills of impersonating Denzel Washington, Will Smith, Eddie & Charlie Muprhy and others. 

Mutemath - "Typical" video...One of my favorites ever

This is one of my favorite music videos, and it kind of revolutionized how music videos from rock stars were made.  The entire video is shot in reverse and taken frame by frame. I appreciate how hard it must've been to tape this, especially for the drummer to learn his technique backwards so he can play it on cue in the clip!





What do you guys think?

Inception-Inspired LEGO Scenes by Alex Eylar

Spotted at Mechanical Dummy

Oldie from me, "Food For Thought" (Plus my thought process on it)

This was actually a song that I recorded way back in November of 2007 called "Food For Thought". The day after I released the record online, I wrote a blog explaining its origin and concept (way before there was a blogspot like this). This will be a re-introduction to that.  Click Play and you'll catch it.





Basically, I was out in New York with a couple of friends one day.  One of my friends was talking to somebody else and they were speaking in a lot of slang to each other.  They were like "oh, you're getting some bread now? Word, you better be hungry for this opportunity because there's mad cake to get right now".  Then I started laughing because it hit me that our generation uses food in slang A LOT.  It was wild to me, so I asked myself why do we even use those terms anyway?  So I gave dap to my friends, went back to my spot, and like the true dork that I am, I sat back and researched all of the kinds of terms that we use that reference food.  Then I put them on index cards and lined them up on my table and just looked at them to find the connection of them all.

Then it hit me....about all of these terms were used as a way of achieving "success".  Things that we WANT as opposed to what we NEED.  Success is subjective, meaning it depends on how you look at what is success, but that's the meaning of these terms.  Thats why these terms refer to things as money (dough, bread, cheese, lettuce, cream), sex (honey, beefcake, butter pecan chocolate deluxe...hahaha ghostface is great), and so forth.  So I sat back and figured these things out more, I realized that all of these things are stuff that we want and can get, but too much of a good thing can lead to terrible consequences.

For instance, what happens when you get too much money? It gets stolen, you can get killed, you'll lose it,  you'll fight for it, you'll lose respect for those who don't have it, etc.  What happens when you rely on sex too much? Your girl/boy cheats on you, you can get killed from social diseases, you'll fight for it, you'll lose respect for those who ain't giving it up/get any, etc.  Then what happens when you have so much pride in your country as an American...or "the land of milk & honey"?  You'll fight with other countries about who's the best, you'll eventually get sick of your own government and their actions, and could later be involved in your own genocide.   It's like junk food....it tastes GREAT when you want it (Burger King is my weakness), but too much junk food can be unhealthy for you, so you don't really need it.   I can understand now why gluttony is considered a sin.


So in regards to this record, I documented 3 different scenarios for the verses.  The first verse being about how people lust for money, until later it gets stolen and get killed for it.  One line says "Introduced the 2 sets of sour grapes, both of which are poppin' when we celebrate, but groomed to have a different taste".  What that means is that there are 2 types of sour grapes in the room...one is the wine that we drink when it's time to rejoice on a good job, and the other type is the jealous people that don't like you rejoicing in your own splendor.  Thats how I followed with "And one set tried to marginalize the butter acting twisted, claimed we needed fiber so he grabbed the biscuit".  You know how jealous people are: "Man ya'll ain't shit with your little money! Whatever son. That ain't even real butter, thats margarine." Haha!

The 2nd verse is about women and sex, so you see all kinds of slang terms for that much.  It documents the kind of women that look good and are seemingly down for you, but are vindictive and have they're own agendas behind your back.  They talk on their big "blackberries" conducting "half baked schemes" till eventually you find out that they're chilling with one of your best friends with both taking advantage of you.  That's not cool at all.

The 3rd verse is about America.  They say that America is considered a gumbo where all different kinds of people are in one pot together happily.  I disagree. I believe that its a tossed salad.  Yeah, we're all in that pot, but the lettuce stay on one side, the tomaotes are on another, and all the other things are with each other but the pot is their home.  The people do not get together for much unless its for tragedy or when money (yet again) is involved.  As this verse goes on, you'll see that I say "when the steaks is high, then you'll see who turns chicken, turns missin when shit is bananas, yeah that's some living".  Are our people really together as Americans or is some just gonna leave you out to dry when we're under attack or the very epitome of "freedom & unity" is questioned?.  Genocide comes along and I say with pride that if something goes down, I want to make sure that my future kids are alive to tell the tale and continue my legacy , and I will sacrifice myself for the sake of them.  Hey, Jesus did the same thing, so it must not be so bad.

So I ask you guys....the food may be desirable....but watch what's good for you.

Wow, this is long.  And the song is only 4 minutes.  I guess I gotta go easy on people next time.

Dev - "Booty Bounce"

Caught this video on TV earlier today, and I dig the colors and concept of this. I think my folks would love this joint.  What you think?


Dev "Booty Bounce" Dir: Ethan Lader from ethandirector on Vimeo.

BJ Everett, Jared Evan, etc. @ Break'n Through showcase

My fellow artist BJ Everett had a showcase a couple weeks ago at Red Bull Space. I wasn't able to make it but I caught the footage and she did her thing. This is a video of someone who took photos of the entire showcase and placed them in a stop-motion montage film. Pretty fly!

Arsenio Hall Goes Off!

Spotted over at Aziz Ansari's blog. 


Back in the 1990s, Arsenio Hall was the shit! This was recorded around 1994 when Arsenio had some protesters from a gay rights organization.  They were disrupting the show because they felt that Arsenio Hall refused to have guests on his show because of their sexual preference.  This was at the height of his popularity when there were rumors of his relationship with his best friend Eddie Murphy. 

I'm Not a Bad Person

Basically, the last few months have been quite an interesting turn in my life.  Because of these situations, I've looked at life slightly different and my attitude has been affected in my interactions with friends, family, and business partners.  I would like to take the time to apologize as I get myself together and iron everything out.  Let me explain what's going on briefly...


I have (or what I used to have) what I would like to call a "Kinda-Sorta". She's a woman who's not your girlfriend, but damn sure acts and very well could be, but we have not figured out if we would pursue being friends or otherwise.  This is a woman that I've known for years since my time in college. She's shy, enthusiastic, pretty, and interesting. Everytime I come into the city, I'm greeted with open arms by her. I take her out to dinner, she feeds me my own food in her mouth, she sits on my lap at times, we play around, etc. I show a lot of interest, but we're just Kinda-Sortas. There is no definite title.  So, about a week or so ago, I leave out to go to the bar with a few of my friends to get twisted and do ridiculously hilarious things (as always the plan on a weekend).  I reach there and I see my Kinda-Sorta, drunk and giggly at the bar.  I find this strange, simply because she's a homebody that never goes out to do something like get drunk....not to mention, she was with another dude.  I chose to talk with her the next day about it, and she basically said that she didn't even know that we were "talking" to begin with.  This is where the Kinda-Sorta title turns into bullshit.  I feel that once you put food in my mouth on a one-on-one dinner date, it pretty much says everything.  But then again, how can I be mad? There's no title!! She's still a good friend, but it made me learn something:


I have to be more direct with people, or I will get played. 


Pretty simple to remember, right? So I thought...


Earlier this week, I had to travel over to New York to pick up my bags of clothes from my aunt's house while riding with my dad.  Through a LONG story, I had to pick up the clothes because I was being "subliminally" kicked out of the apartment due to a situation where I brought a friend over to the place for a business meeting while she was out of town. She subliminally and constantly told her sister that there's "so many bags in the room" and the idea that her granddaughter was going to move into the room for her next semester at college.  Turns out, the granddaughter's not even GOING to move in to the room! Surprise, surprise.  Picking up the clothes from her apartment is not the thing that got me upset; I mean c'mon, it's not MY apartment. But I thought it was funny that she had not once told me to pack up my shit out of the apartment at all, or even told me about the bags being a hazard. Due to the situation from beforehand, I'm looked at by the majority of my aunts and uncles as the irresponsible nephew who betrays trust and hangs with potential drug dealers and criminals (where did that come from??). 


So, on top of my uncle being seriously diagnosed with cancer and my home studio equipment being reduced to a piece of shit on tinfoil, my attitude had drastically changed to being a more assertive person.  I've sat down at this very laptop every day writing new music, emailing songs to officials, doing any & every show that I can get a slot in, texting & emailing my constituents in regards to getting my music into lucrative deals, and also trying to use the stupid equipment to send rough drafts of new ideas I've developed that makes me sound like I lived in Osama Bin Ladin's cave for 6 years. 


However, I do understand that all of these unfortunate things happen for a reason, and it's all just a phase as a part of life that I have to continue to make myself a better person, and even better "hustler".  I don't like to use the term "hustle" because what I do is perfectly legal and my product is not given away aimlessly. I take pride in my work and I owe it to everyone who reads this blog to be entertained with quality.  In this current industry, I feel that you deserve that much.  Please bare with me to everyone that I may have made upset, annoyed, or frustrated due to my behavior. 


I'm not a bad person. 

Ratatat - "Drugs" Music Video

New music video from Ratatat's new album "LP4".  Pretty fly!


Drugs

RATATAT | MySpace Music Videos

Phoenix - "Fences"

This is my joint!!!!

Kanye West performs new song, "Mama's Boyfriend"

While everyone was clamoring over the Teflon Don, the Louie Vutton Don was over at Facebook Headquarters in California premiering new material from his 5th album.  One word to describe this? Damn!!!

New Trailer: "The Social Network"

This is the trailer for a brand new movie called "The Social Network" that is set to hit theaters sometime later this year.  It is a story about Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin, the founders of the social networking website Facebook.  It features actors such as Jesse Eisenberg (from "The Village") as well as pop star Justin Timberlake.

Mary J Blige enrolls to Howard University!!

It has just been confirmed that Grammy Award-winning R&B superstar Mary J. Blige has just now joined the class of 2014 at my alma mater, Howard University! She dropped out of high school as a junior and got her GED. She announced this news recently on a taping of "Good Morning America", accoridng to dcfab.thefabempire.com/./

First of all, I'm extremely proud of her for continuing her education despite her success. It's very important to be aware of the significance of doing this act, and that's pretty hot.  What would be her major? I have no idea, but I assume it would be Business.  If she's taking online courses, that would be cool but it would have to be later on. She has to attend classes on the first year of school.

The comedy of this situation should be noted. I would pay money to be in the vicinity where Mary first discovers "historical" landmarks such as the Weed Bench, the Booty Wall, the Valley, and other various things. Would she get stalked in class by her classmates for autographs? Would she drink the wrong punch at a Gresham Place party? Would she run away from the rats and mice in the Cafe or steal those Chick Fil-A nuggets from the Punch Out? Damn right, we love those nuggets. They're my kryptonite.

Or maybe she'll have an active roll in the HUSA organization, or even Entertainment Power Players? What if she joins a sorority? I'd like to see her stomp around as an AKA or Delta with her jacket on doing those weird ass finger salutes. Imagine how Yardfest/Homecoming would turn out? Interesting ish, indeed.  Howard knows that there were quite a few entertainers both current and past that walked the halls and did the shows, but this situation adds an entirely different dynamic.

When I was at Howard University, there were quite a few rappers and singers prominent there that gathered attention.  There were R&B singers like Brandon Hines, and then there were rappers like Malik-16 (Rap City), Quadir aka Q-Boogie (Green Lantern), and myself to name a few ;). We all were treated with dignity, admiration, and respect when we showcased our talents in several arenas as if we were "mini-celebrities" ourselves.  The addition of Mary J. Blige into an environment where the bouginess and the socially dependent/independent run amuck will make a drastic change in the self-esteem of the student population.  I just want the students to leave her alone if you think that getting a record deal from her is gonna work out for you. You know she's known to punch a nigga every now and then, as well as embarrass you in front of all of your friends.  Play your positions, fellow Bison. 

BET Awards 2010 - My Favorite Moments

The BET Awards was on and poppin tonight, as well as Entourage :). Everything was star-studded and the performances were great this time around.  Shoutout to Erica at HerDailyFix.com for having an appearance out there, as well as a few other cohorts of mine. Shouts to NecoleBitchie.com as well.  

First of all, Kanye West's performance was real fly. I was digging the mountain backdrop and the hilariously huge chain of his that he rocked while performing his single "Power". I pretty much destroyed my headphones while bumping this song on my Zen.  The Zen is my personal harddrive that carries songs, pro tools sections, photos, videos, and all kinds of material that I need.



Another favorite performance of mine comes from Usher, who performed one of my current favorite songs on the radio "There Goes My Baby".  Real smooth transition from the hoopla that was going down with Queen Latifah changing into the chick from "Set It Off" every 10 minutes.  I guess she did that because she felt more black people would appreciate that as opposed to her walking around with a curling iron with Alicia Silverstone beside her.



A very big highlight for the night, as most people would tell, was the Michael Jackson tribute performed solely by embattled R&B/Pop star Chris Brown.  This was a very special performance since he was allegedly banned from doing this last year. Isn't it funny that Jay-Z, Beyonce, and Rihanna were not present at the show? :/ Anyways, during the segment for Man In The Mirror, he started to cry and couldn't even finish the set. I wonder if this set will bring him back into the limelight or just be the result of more ridicule and scrutiny. I prefer the former, but you can never tell with people these days.



Another great performance I must add was put together by Janelle Monae, who was one of three artists involved in a tribute to Prince for his Lifetime Achievement Award.  I must say, Janelle is a brilliant artist and I love how she tore this performance down. As you can tell, Prince was pleased as the rest of us. A good choice that he picked to do the tribute, indeed. I do wished that he would perform after, but I guess he was a little too shocked about some others who came on stage...

One performance that never quite made it to television in full form was of newcomer emcee J.Cole, an artist thats signed to Jay-Z's Roc Nation imprint.  I met J.Cole once at Howard Homecoming in DC and he couldn't be more humble and honest, so it was a good look to see him at this show doing not only his verse from "A Star Is Born" but also a brand new verse at the end with a live band. 

What did you guys think about the BET Awards this year? Good parts? Bad parts? What was THAT nigga wearing? Post some comments and see what's good. 
          

ENTOURAGE - Season 7 Premiere Tonight!!!

Tonight is a very special night (Sunday, June 27th). I've been waiting for this day for the past year.  While you guys are finished watching the 2010 BET Awards, remember to turn to HBO on 10:30pm for the season premiere of the 7th season of "Entourage".  This has been my favorite show since its debut on July 18, 2004.  If you watched the last season, there were a lot of things that went down that may get spoken more about on this season.  The 8th season will be the last one (as spoken of by Jeremey Piven on the David Letterman Show earlier this week) and that there are talks for a possible movie as long as the fans want it.  I, for one, would LOVE to see Vincent Chase become the movie star that he's destined to be. After all, the last movie that I recall seeing him in was "Drive Me Crazy" with Mellissa Joan Hart, and we're all glad that he didn't stick with that cotton-candy type of role.


Things that happened in Season 6 that you should know about when seeing Season 7:

• Vincent Chase is set to fly to Italy to star in a new movie after being in a serious slump from getting fired off "Smoke Jumpers".
• Johnny Drama was thinking about taking a break from acting after feeling under-appreciated, then finally decides to get back into acting when he realizes the TV network gave him a holding deal to star in his own show whenever they developed it. He went to Italy with Vince after the audition.
• Lloyd is officially an agent working for Ari Gold after working 50 out of 100 days of Ari's challenge. Though they had a tumultous relationship when he tried to work for Davies, Ari Gold bought the agency company and sticked to his word. 
•  Ari Gold is now the head of the biggest talent agency in the world after buying it for an estimate of $65 million.
• Turtle, despite him staying faithful to his girlfriend Jamie Lynn from "The Sopranos", had broken up with her. She went to New Zealond to star in a new television series, and he traveled on the plane to visit her. Before take off, they talked on the phone and discover that she may be the one that wants to see other people instead. Thus, Turtle is stuck riding on the 14-hour flight for nothing...or maybe not?
• Eric has proposed to Sloan and they're now engaged after he dumped the crazy chick Ashley, who wanted to look through his phone, his emails, and all kinds of privacy. 

Please be sure to watch Entourage at 10:30pm tonight on HBO.  If you're like my broke friends who don't have cable, then you can watch the episode (as well as the other episodes of the seasons) on HBOGo.com

Ron Artest - "Champions" Video

The man from Queensbridge reppin the Los Angeles Lakers blesses us with an impromptu video for his single "Champions".  Honestly speaking, this isn't bad at all. I support this song!

TOO MANY PEOPLE KNOW ME....

This past weekend was so interesting, and somewhat explains my life and how I get down.  Usually, I would go on a drinking binge out in the streets of Washington DC and just meet up with some nice lady friends for the win.   This past weekend was no exception. I took my homegirl out for a date at a cool Italian restaurant where we basically talked about the Lakers being the 2010 NBA Finals (Shouts to Ron Artest, the REAL MVP of Game 7), how we were the only black people in the place and can't even pronounce the food on the menu, and her hilariously high pitched voice that makes her standout as well as her beauty. After respectively dropping her off at her place, I went down to have a few more drinks in the city.  Around this part of town, a lot of people that I knew in college continue to work in the bars and restaurants as waitresses or bartenders.  This tells you what a Bachelors degree can get you in 2010 post-recession.  I ran into a spot that I never been before and noticed that I knew one of the waitresses, and invited her to hang with me after her shift at midnight. 

Now this is where it gets awkward...

As we're walking over to my favorite spot, she gets bombarded by a group of dudes that she knows and one dude in particular decides to strike a conversation with me.  You ever get caught in a situation where someone's talking to you like you're the best of friends and you have NO clue who he is?  As he was talking about everything random under the son like scholarships, Puerto Rico, and margaritas, I could only reply with "Yeah", "Right", and "That's whats up".  This conversation lasts for over 10 minutes and I'm internally calling for ol' girl to let us get the hell outta there.

Afterwards, I linked up with the homie "Marcus" and my homegirl "Nicole" (the names have been changed to protect the intoxicated).  These 2 are experienced bartenders on their own right, so when you're in a weekend situation with these two, expect to be twisted like nobody's business. We ended up in a hotel party on Pennsylvania Ave (a couple blocks away from the White House) where it was more of a kickback (meaning, I ain't paying no damn $20 to your spot? Niiiiice).  We were the only ones around in a $2000 rented hotel rooftop, stacked with every single type of liquor and mix you can imagine, flowers all over the floor, blue and red tinted lights, and a jacuzzi filled with rose petals. 

 This was like "Coming To America" on crack.  THERE WAS A PHONE IN THE BATHROOM, SON!! As we were enjoying ourselves, more guests came to arrive and what have we here? ANOTHER person that I vaguely know that knows me; a young woman that I met while doing a show.  She takes the time to talk to me about how she loved my work and wanted to do a drinking contest with me.  Much respect for the appreciation of my work, but I'm the designated driver, and I'm not gonna jump off the roof anytime soon.

After dropping everyone off, I came home after 5am, only to sleep for another 5 hours and wake up to head into Northeast DC for the "New Voices Talent Search" which features judges such as Antonio and Aaron Reid (LA Reid's sons) and the Simmons sisters (Angela & Vanessa).  The purpose was to search for new talent for a possible deal with Def Jam.   I didn't participate in this event (and probably wouldn't with a 20% hangover from last night), but I came to introduce myself to everyone since I knew the press rep. Shouts to Byrd for hooking me up! Everyone was real cool and laid back, and most of the performers were hot, and others were.....uhh....interesting.

Shouts to everyone that came out to the event and held it down.  It was a great experience to watch and see how industry professionals critique upcoming artists and their craft.  I can't wait till the world sees what I have in store! 

***P.S. Check out the new episode of "The Boondocks".  I'm at a LOSS FOR WORDS at this one.  A certain film director and producer is going to be really upset at this.

Boondocks - Episode 8 - "Pause"

"The Hard Times of RJ Berger"

If you thought that I wasn't going to talk about this show, you're sadly mistaken.  I watched this show after seeing Game 2 of the finals (Go Lakers, but they was slummin' like hell on that game) and I was dying on the couch with my 2 homies Cass and Jason.  We were quoting lines from it all evening until it was time to head out. The premise of the show is what stuck out (no pun intended, and no homo) to me.  This is the quintessential show that really tells that the geeks and the nerds are cooler than what most people perceive, but in a hilarious context.  Props to MTV for this one.  I hope the rest of the season is as funny as its pilot.


"The Hard Times of RJ Berger" comes to MTV every Monday night at 10pm.

The Hard Times of RJ Berger - MTV Shows

Martin Bashir interviews Diddy

If there's one thing you should know about Martin Bashir: He does NOT play games with you.  You might remember Mr. Bashir from his infamous special where he interviewed Michael Jackson at his Neverland Ranch and basically painted him as a confused, borderline psychopathic rapist.  Apparently he's got some questions for Diddy that even made the otherwise charismatic mogul looked stunned and vulnerable. 

Pics from my Cruise thru the Caribbean

Sorry for my long delay in posts. I was gone out of the country for a week on my first cruise ever. Let me tell you, it was so exciting! Myself and 10 others went to 7 different islands.  From San Juan (Puerto Rico), we went to St. Thomas, Dominica, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Kitts, and finally St. Maartens.  I don't think you guys noticed that there's so much history in all of these places, and things are CRAZY cheap out there, especially liquor.  I saw a 4.5 liter of Absolut for $200, and a 6 liter bottle of Belvedere for $400.  You do realize that 3.7 liters of something is a gallon, right? One could kill themselves with stuff like that.


I have several photos, which I placed on my official Facebook page.  Visit http://www.facebook.com/redheadpg for more and be a friend!


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2139266&id=8903719&l=9ad9f343ef

Damien Walters

WHAT?!?!?!?

Just saw "Nightmare On Elm Street" 2010...

Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay on the posts, been quite busy around these times.  I've managed to see the new Nightmare On Elm Street flick with my date for the night, completely crowded theater. Mind you, this is in Washington, DC.  I avoided taking her to my usual spot in MD, which is the Magic Johnson Theater, because it's a pretty ghetto, loud atmosophere full of obnoxious teenagers running around.  But over where we were in the "nicer" area of the city, we've experienced some of the same obnoxious talking, "Ooooh Freddy gonna cut you up, bitch!"  But they, the scissor-handed child molester does bring out the worst in people.


My opinion about this flick? I'm a big fan of the original. I have the DVD in my possession, but I'm not a huge movie geek where it has to appeal to my standards in order for it to be a good film.  But not only was this 2010 version just "okay" to me, they really took all of the cool shit from the movie out! I mean c'mon, this is Nightmare On Elm Street.  You mean to tell me you're gonna cut out Johnny Depp's death scene? You're gonna half-cut the famous Bathtub scene? You're not gonna make the mother as an alcoholic, but a damn flight attendant?


That's some of the things you should know about this without spoiling it for you. They did added some pretty cool elements within this new one, but you can tell that this is the age of depressed teenagers that slice their wrists while watching Twilight Part 39 and needed to accommodate that crowd. *Sigh*  The scares and suspense was a good balance, but I wanted to see more action and less plot development.  They really explored the "child molestation" aspect of Freddy, which was lightly touched on in the original but went deeper into the second. The new actor who plays Freddy did an impressive job with the little resources he was given, so I applaud that.


Over all, I give this movie a solid 3/5.   Here's Complex Magazine's index of all of Freddy's exploits, including his famous one liners throughout the films.