Apparently April is Sexually Transmitted Infections Awareness Month. That doesn't take a dictionary or Google search to figure out what the deal is. While people are becoming more aware of the wonders of contraception (though condoms have been around since the 1600s) there are still those of us who aren't safe with our sex practices. Either due to misinformation, negligence or simple apathy, people still put their bodies on the crap tables with sex. The good people over at Sensis Condoms are trying to eradicate at least one reason for STI's, which is a condom being put on the wrong way. By placing tabs on either side of the base, it's virtually impossible to mistake which side is the right side. Whatever your stance on sex, remember to stay safe and protected, people...
The last scene in this trailer makes me want to see this movie all the more...
One thing I've always wondered about police movies is what the deal was with all of the officers not out there taking bullets. What about the dudes with badges who push pencils instead of cruisers? Ironic that I'm posting this after my campus police post, but this police movie deals with those guys. 'The Other Guys' is directed by Adam McKay, the same director from 'Anchorman,' 'Talledega Nights,' and 'Stepbrothers,' all ridiculously stupid, but hilariously smart at the same time. They also all happen to star Will Ferrell, as does 'The Other Guys'. If not for the hilarious quotables that look to be in the movie, watch it for the fact that Samuel L. Jackson is in it. Few people realize it but Sam is an acting genius. Hopefully, the movie is genius too...
Everyone wants to be the best at something. Be it dominoes, criminal litigation, flagpole sitting or, writing in my case, excellence is something people will eternally strive for. The pursuit of excellence drives everything in life. Why do something if you don't aspire to excel? That's the spirit that an athlete like Michael Jordan embodied and is the same spirit exemplified in this Nike Sportswear t-shirt. Yes, it's simple. Yes, it's open for wide interpretation what exactly the wearer is the 'Michael Jordan' of. Yes, it's even an arrogant statement to wear the shirt. Even so, the concept is dope. It'd probably be a good idea to write what you're the MJ of in the box. That's actually a pipe dream waiting to happen. Check the shirt out and figure out what you're the Michael Jordan of, so maybe you can rock the tee too. #shoutout to Freshness Mag for the flicks...
Without a gun and a badge, what do you got?? = Great words from Eazy-E
DISCLAIMER: Do not take this post as my disdain for college law, security or police. I, by all means, am a law-abiding citizen; just a cynical one who sees the folly in modern law enforcement.
Picture this scenario (cue dramatization music):
A typical Saturday evening in a typical college town. The town is slightly rural, but with a burgeoning minority population that is riddled in crime and angst. The students are well-educated, yet somewhat sheltered, and looking for something fun to get into on the weekend. They all go to (insert fraternity, sorority, organization, group of friends) house party, where there is alcohol being served by a responsible adult, to students over 21. Although the party is growing in size and rowdyness, it is still under control due to a stringent door policy, and the attentiveness of those throwing it.
All of a sudden, raucous is heard upstairs while the party is blaring downstairs. Police and campus security have entered the house and are now forcing the students out of the house. The bouncers that were supposed to be protecting the door and students are now doing the same and in a much more aggressive fashion. Curses, yells and threats are given and received from the police. Upon exiting the house, one sees 12 squad cars and a paddy wagon outside and 20-30 officers armed with guns and tasers. It's something out of a John McClane movie. The police continue their threats and cursing at the students, even though they've all left the house and are wondering what the issue was. Word comes in that there was a shooting down the street. The police and campus security fail to adequately inform the people in charge as to the nature of their action. In fact, they threaten arrest to those asking questions, while fumbling over their reasoning, citing their superior's orders. The night comes to a close with 6 kids getting arrested for what the police called 'disorderly conduct'. (END Dramatization)
Now, campus security, I realize that story may have been a bit awkward for you, but it's a story that happens way too often, and even more often gets misconstrued by law enforcement. Campus police, or public safety, or whatever you want to be called, there have been too many times that I've seen you overstep your boundaries. Whether it is entering a domicile that you weren't invited into, using excessive force to subdue a student, being lackadaisical or neglectful while on the job, or just being plain old unqualified for your job, I've seen it all. They don't call you rent-a-cops for no reason. That said, why is your presence always unneeded when you do show up, but never present when needed? Why is your first thought at a rational question to accost, and hopefully arrest the person asking? Why do you fraternize with students on some occasions and take advantage of your position at other times? If these questions are getting too heated, then, by all means, arrest me. Just know that free speech, no matter how scathing is my right as a law-abiding citizen and student.
I won't get into where the above story came from (the people involved know what happened), but those events could happen anywhere, on any slightly-small liberal arts college campus. Campus Police, it goes without saying that students, administrators and yourselves are working towards a common purpose, to create a safe, enriching environment for students. I commend that and hope to work toward a similar end. However, when you guys go from enforcing the law to adding your own interpretation and following it blindly, there is a problem. People without college education can see that. Why can't you? Do the badge and uniform give you such a great feeling of power, that you forget what life without them is like? If so, I hope you sleep well at night. Your inferiority complexes and abuses of power are sickening. Until Campus Security make the campus secure in a way that doesn't infringe on students' rights, this is the song stuck in my head:
Yeah... The moment you've been waiting for has finally arrived. Drake put out the video for the first single from 'Thank Me Later,' entitled 'Over'. If you were listening to the radio for the past month, you've already heard the song. The visual does it some justice. In terms of cinematography, the video is DOPE. The camera angles, lights and projections behind Wheelchair Jimmy were great, and matched the song. The actual content of the video was about as dry as a freestyle written on Drake's Blackberry. No, it's not that Drake will flop, but the video seemed like much ado about nothing. In fact, I would've rather there not been a video with how plain this turned out. Regardless, the stans, music channels and blogs will still bump the video. Let's just hope the album sells, because if Aubrey can't go platinum, no one can...
Save yourself $12.50 and just watch the trailer...
Now, I've never been one to chastise or berate another for their artistic work. That's just hating. Yet, at the same time, I'm well within my rights to give my critical analysis of a work. That said, there is one body of work that lately has drawn all of my ire, and that is you, Tyler Perry movies. Since 2005, when 'Diary of a Mad Black Woman' hit the silver screen, I've been privy to your taking over of black cinema (if there is such a thing at this point). Tyler, my problem with your movies stems from one statement: THEY ARE ALL THE SAME. Whether based in Atlanta, Chicago, NYC or Bumblef*ck, Colorado, all of them follow a somewhat similar storyline:
Act 1: Everyone is happy and reminiscing about a theme (marriage, family, unity, etc.), though there's a bit of tension. Act 2: Some random family member, friend or closet skeleton makes itself known. The family or group of friends act accordingly depressed. Act 3: One of the women is being abused, treated badly or misunderstood by her overly masculine, chauvinist and dim-witted husband. The skeleton from Act 2 rears its ugly head and reminds everyone of the true meaning of the theme from Act 1. Act 4: The woman meets a lowly, yet caring, kind, charming, smart, and supportive black man who happens to be single and takes a liking to her. Act 5: The man and woman get married. A fat female relative provides comic relief. The man from Act 3 gets beat up or run out of town by fat female relative. Act 6: Everyone eats soul food and dances to R&B from the 70's and 80's.
The End
My question is simple: How did Tyler Perry write and direct 9 movies using that formula? At some point, didn't he think to dig into another recess of his mind to find a different premise? All of you TP movies are more transparent than the plastic wrap on your DVD cases. The characters are transparent, with each person taking on at least one negative characteristic of black cinema, be it ignorance, adultery, drug use, wrath, or what have you. Even worse is your portrayal of black men. In one of your movies, there are three types of black men: A) the well-meaning, but aloof husband, B) the adulterous, abusive, chauvinistic, uber-masculine husband, and C) the supportive, understanding, charming (maybe on the down-low) bachelor. If one were not to watch one of your movies, the male roles can be summed up as such: C replaces B in an abused woman's life, while A watches and provides comic relief. And that is the peak of black cinema today. (crickets)
I know in today's world, it's great to see you, a black director, producer and writer, gaining numerous accolades (and the 5th biggest paycheck in 2009) for your work. But where do artistic integrity and variation come into play? Your movies have such positive direction, but do the job in such a negative fashion. 'Why Did I Get Married Too?' was a $12.50 snore and borefest by most semi-knowledgeable viewers. The trailer essentially told the whole story, which isn't saying much. Tyler, it's not that I think you should stop making movies and TV shows. It's that I think you should dig deeper into the gamut of black personality and character to make a movie that's as uplifting in its delivery as in its theme and soundtrack. It goes without saying that you'll probably be raking in another check from this last movie as you read this. Just know that the leanings and wallets of black people are as fickle as one of the female characters in your movies. Write, direct & produce accordingly...
What's up people, it's Friday aka my favorite day and I've got freestyles on deck. The first one is from AC, making his 2nd appearance in as many weeks. This time he rhymes over Dirty Money's 'Hello, Good Morning' beat, and he rips it! He's got bars to spare in this cypher and hopefully more to come when his mixtape, 'Send the Scouts Out' drops. The second one is from Freddie Gibbs, who I wasn't impressed with as and XXL Freshman. That said he flows hard in this video for VladTV. Freddie shows his rapid-fire flow and gets at Vlad for not building with him earlier. The third freestyle is by Skeme. Now, Skeme was a name unknown to me before hearing this freestyle. Please believe I will be looking out for more from him. Skeme does it all over the 3 minute freestyle; punchlines, metaphors, you name it. That's it for this Friday. Haven't been posting this week, but I got you guys over the weekend...
Let me say this before I go on: I hate reality television. A) It's barely reality. In fact, the only things that might be real are the names and locations. Other than that its scripts and typecasting. B) It encourages people to lay down their scruples and shame in lieu of some fast cash and 5 minutes of fame. Aspiring actors and models see reality TV as a highway to fame when it's really a deathtrap. C) Reality TV turns people into leeches. Heads really walk around talking about Real & Chance, or Hot Wangz or whoever like these people's lives matter in the long run. Not to say that they're insignificant, but do they really deserve 40 minutes of our time on Sunday nights? I think not.
One of the main culprits of the reality TV takeover is you, VH1. You started out as a music channel, slowly switching your programming up to music specials, to specials with musicians in them, to specials about musicians and their ridiculous lifestyles, to plain old lifestyle TV, the worst of which is reality TV. Your latest foray is 'Basketball Wives,' a show documenting the trials, tribulation and hardships scripted drama, lack of substance and idiocy, of some of the National Basketball Association's best and brightest mediocre yet fame-hungry players. You guys picked a doozy of a concept this time. Not only will there be tons of rich, yet ignorant black people (on the network that refuses to show hip-hop or R&B consistently), you found a way to include basketball!!
But seriously though, VH1. Is this the best you could come up with? After quality (sarcasm) TV like Flava of Love and For the Love of Ray J, you guys take Shaq's ex-wife, Dwight Howard's crazy baby momma, and the exes/significant others of Michael Olowokandi (bust), Antoine Walker (compulsive gambler) and Eric Williams (joruneyman/benchwarmer) and make a reality show about it? Along with being a ridiculous premise, you guys got 'wives' with the depth of a kiddie pool, and inject storylines about groupies, loneliness and money. I'm sorry, VH1, but that is the saddest excuse for a reality TV show ever. If you think I give two flying f*cks about where some trophy wife goes to get her quiche every Tuesday, you're sadly mistaken. As a matter of fact, I'd be hard pressed to find any half-sentient human being who would seriously watch this. Actually, on second thought, this show is probably going to have skyrocketing ratings. You guys have successfully mastered the art of peddling pointless bullshit and making exorbitant amounts of money doing it. At this point, it'd be more surprising if no one watched it, than if people did. Ahh well, VH1, I guess if this venture fails, we can go back to watching I Love New York #7 and hope this year's Hip-Hop Honors doesn't suck...
I've been liking kid's movies a lot more recently. After watching 'How to Train Your Dragon' I started looking at more animated flicks coming out soon. One of them is Despicable Me, casting Steve Carell as the world's greatest villain. The movie's soundtrack features Pharrell. It's been a long while since we've heard from Skateboard P in the music department. He's been jetsetting and being a worldwide fashion icon, which you can't even be mad at. The new track, also titled Despicable me has P using autotune (a little late on the fad, eh?). Even so, the beat is bananas and Pharrell lays down some lyrics about being a bad guy. The movie comes out July 9th, and you can grab the track below...
I understand the Apple craze. I myself am a proud Mac, and will probably be just that until (you know it's coming) Microsoft steps it game up. Since Apple put out the iPod, it seems like we're moving closer and closer to a society run by Apple (and Google). And the people leading the line to Apple iWorld are the Apple fans, or this year, the iPad stans. The video above is a perfect case of brand loyalty gone wrong. The guy is the first in line for the iPad and was the first for the iPhone. Is it that important to you guys to be 'early adopters'? Is saying you have something that everyone (I hope not) has in a few months worth your time and overpayment? I hope it is, because not only will you be $500 poorer, you'll soon realize what we Luddites (look it up) have known since Steve Jobs stepped on stage a few months back: the iPad is a huge iPhone, with no camera. Point. Blank. Period. At least there's a silver lining. We get to see how many nice-looking, but mostly useless applications the world can conjure up in the next month. These guys put their iPad in their truck. Hopefully insurance covers it...
Everyone likes Jay Electronica now. After basically being the underground rapper that everyone knew but no one knew, three great songs, a Twitter account, and a relationship with a budding nudist, turned him into another 'Next Big Thing' in hip-hop. One of those songs, 'Exhibit C,' might very well be Jay Elec's crowning jewel to this point, so it's only right it get immortalized in t-shirt form (go figure). Streetwear brand X is the Weapon capitalized on the hip-hop quotable on this piece, for sale here. I wonder how long until Jay gets a pair of sneakers...
Stop. Before you think this is a disparaging, hating-ass letter, think about this. Since 1980, you've coached Duke University into 4 National Championships, 11 Final Fours, 12 ACC Regular Season Championships and 12 ACC Championships. That basically means for the past 30 years, you've probably been the most dominant coach in college basketball (there, I said it). That's easy to hate on, especially if you're one of the squads, coaches or fans that have been getting the business from Duke. In fact, that's only the first reason that people dislike Duke Basketball and you, Coach K.
The second reason is that your players have bad NBA careers. I mean, for a program with as many accolades over the past 20+ years, shouldn't there be a few stars at the next level to show for dominance in college? Elton Brand, Carlos Boozer and Grant Hill are cool. But JJ Redick?? No. Chris Duhon?? Chill. Shelden Williams. Please. Dahntay Jones Ehh.. Sorry Coach K. Your recruiting is less based on who the best player is and who can fit into your system. No isolations. Just off-ball screens and long sets to free up shooters. That's why LeBron James and Shaun Livingston decided not to go to Duke. They realized they'd have no place at Duke. Smith, Scheyer & Singler could have okay NBA careers, but they don't seem like they've got much for teams.
Coach K, there were at least 5 times in the past month I thought your team should have lost to a team that was a little more talented and athletic. Lo and behold, Duke won not because of talent and athleticism, but because of superior coaching. I can't knock you for that, even if the Duke logo makes me sick. You won this championship with a tried and true formula. Why should you try and take it to the NBA and have some overpaid schmuck screw it up? I'm still hoping you don't win the NCAA next year. I can respect you though, especially when you say stuff like this:
We have great kids who go to school, who graduate. If we're going to be despised or hated by anybody because we go to school and we want to win, you know what, that's your problem. Then you have a problem, because we're going to go to school and we're going to try to win. You don't like it? Keep drawing pictures. Just keep drawing pictures. Try to do them a little bit better than that, though.
I'm always looking for new shoot-em-up movies with pointless action and violence. For even 2 hours, it's great to suspend my disbelief of the laws of physics, human physiology, ballistics, and intelligence for mental junk food. This one look like it's going to crap testosterone. 'The Losers' is about a group of government special ops (yawn) that know too much (double yawn) and have to fight back at the government (yawn x 3). Of course there's the traditional eye candy role, by my queen Zoe Saldana. While the premise is overused, it looks like it will be just entertaining enough to drop 12.50 on...
Umm... If the state of black culture could be put into cartoon form, there'd most likely be lying rappers, misguided youth, a dramatic fight about what 'black' truly is, trifling religious leaders and conflict between the young and old guard of black America. It'd be a hell of a show, filled with social faux pas and underhanded satire on what's truly plaguing us as a culture. It'd even have a riveting underground hip-hop soundtrack and have amazing voice acting from special guests all the time. Oh, wait a minute, that show exists, and it's coming back on May 2nd. The Boondocks returns for its 3rd season after a long hiatus, and from the trailer, it's looking like pure hilarity. Check it out and mark your calendars...
That's a great question, isn't it?? DJ Ski Beatz's collaborative effort of a mixtape has ostensibly been pushed back from its March 30 release date. Ski chalked it up to sampling woes on Twitter, but in all honesty, shouldn't they be working on those while they're working on the album? Rather than give us a date (which was a pushed back one in the first place), I would have just kept the date tentative, and when I knew it was done, start talking about the work. All this does is water down whatever response you would have gotten. I'm still copping the tape, but delays are no way to please your fanbase. Maybe they should have been clearing the samples instead of making videos about it...
It's funny how with one piece of news, hip-hop can look like it's reviving itself. Not that a hypothetical collab bringing the likes as (long breath) J. Cole, Asher Roth, The Cool Kids, B.o.B. Wale, Diggy, Charles Hamilton, Blue, and yourself, Lupe, would merit that kind of happiness. It's just that the last time I've seen a musical work in progress with so many dope names on it was.. never. Aside from Ski Beatz' tape (which still hasn't come out) and Young Money, no one's putting out good mixtapes or albums with a gang of MC's. It's all about the solo act, and pretty mediocres one at that. I remember when putting out a compilation meant everybody brought their A-game and not just their wallets. Then again, no one can really complain about that with you, or most of the artists slated to appear in the work, tentatively entitled "All City Chess Club." If there was ever a time for group and posse cuts a la 'Triumph,' 'Flava in Ya Ear,' '4,3,2,1', and 'Banned From TV,' it's definitely now. Hopefully your collective and Ski Beatz' situations work out. One thing though: What happened to Child Rebel Soldiers?? All this talk about collaborations and we're missing an epic one. Get to work on that after LASERS...
Hey, it's Freestyle Friday!! The weather's beautiful out, so I'm keeping it short. The first cipher is by B.o.B. on the Tim Westwood show. He rocks over Mafia Music and some Wacka Flocka beats, and almost loses his rhyme 4 times in it (guess it's bound to happen). The second one is from Joell Ortiz, where spits a 5 minute long written, and drops jewels bar after bar. He rapped from his Blackberry, but it was so hot, that Green Lantern made him run it back for the fans calling in. Happy Friday people!!
