Monday, February 28, 2011

Oscars 2011; Review

It wasn’t a bad Oscars but it certainly was the worst and most disappointing and might I add dullest Academy award show ever.
I really do not have a problem with the awards/recipients in itself, but it’s a show innit? It would have made absolutely no difference if the award recipients were announced online and we all moved on. The idea behind a "show" is to keep whomever watching entertained right? Im guessing the shows writers/ producers had a different definition of the work "show"
The red carpet invent was not worth watching to be honest. In my own opinion I think social networking is partly to blame for this. What’s exciting about watching stars on the red carpet and what they have on when I probably saw a picture on twitter already? Just saying.
Anne Hathaway and James Franco, who were the hosts, were such a pain to watch. James looked so distant and uninterested and the drag bit was not funny at all. Did I miss the meeting where it was agreed that men dressing as women would be considered funny? (Tyler Perry please take note) As usual, Anne Hathaway tried to cram as many dresses as she could into the show but it still didn’t hide the fact that she was probably high off of something.
The most entertaining part of the night overall was Kirk Douglas’ (Michael Douglas’ dad) brief moments on stage. It was very original and really funny. He should have been the host if you ask me. Even though he looked like he was about to kick the bucket right there on stage.
 Christian bale and his hobo beard forgot his wife’s name on stage. I’m taking bets on how long they would last.
I would never understand why Halle berry even came on stage to do anything. If I could guess I think it was just a way to keep colored folk calm due to the fact that there were barely any blacks nominated for anything. Makes you wonder though; if black people keep doing Madea, Big mamma and shenene/Wanda type movies we might be out of the Oscars for a good minute. Just saying.
Somehow it feels like that’s all I can remember from the Oscars. Oh wait Sharon stone looked like cruella from 101 Dalmatians. Was that a dead bird on her chest?
Scarlet Johanssen would look good in a garbage bag so nothing new there, while Madonna at the after party, looked like she was about to shoot a fish net commercial.
Natalie Portman won best actress for black swan, Colin firth won best actor for the king’s speech.
Seriously don’t bother watching the re runs not unless you are an insomniac , trust me you would definitely fall asleep.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Charlie Sheen: Crazy or Crazy?

It’s funny how reality and make believe can merge sometimes, and the result can be really interesting to watch.
Not sure how much of my followership/readers actually watch the show; "2 and a Half Men". Those that do would agree that it’s a really witty and funny show. Not that any less would be expected from the creator of the The Big Bang Theory, Chuck Lorre.
The show centers around a hippy type bachelor named Charlie (played by Charlie sheen) whose selling point is his wild sex escapades and heavy drinking and every other bachelor type debauchery in existence. In the last seven years the show has been on TV, Charlie sheen has totally embodied his character to the point where the show is no longer cool or should I say funny to watch.
The current season has been a total pain to watch, the drinking, pornstar loving and drug using Charlie sheen now looks so old and constantly hung over not to mention all of his hair is almost all gone. Apparently it takes 4hours of make up to get him TV ready these days!
The 3 times married actor has been charged with everything from assault, drinking, vandalization, drug use, you name it he’s probably done it.
Sometime at the end of January, he was rushed to the hospital for severe abdominal pains after a night of hard partying and production on the show had to be halted. The thing is it costs about 350,000 to 400,000 USD to produce an episode. The production company ordered that Charlie pay a mere third of that cost but here’s a guy who pockets an estimated 1.25 million USD an episode so no biggy.
The only reason why CBS didn’t pull the plug on the doomed show back then was because it was still one of the most watched shows on TV. Needless to say last night the plug was officially pulled on the show after Charlie called a radio show from his hotel in the Bahamas and said some harsh words about chuck Lorre and alcoholic anonymous.
Here are excerpts from the show:
I was shackled and oppressed by the cult of AA for 22 years… Newsflash, I’m special. The only thing I’m addicted to right now is winning. My success rate is 100 per cent. I finally extracted myself from [AA’s] troll hole and started living my life the way I want to live it. It’s vintage, outdated and stupid and it’s followed by stupid people. I hate them violently. They will come at me.
Debate me on AA right now. I have a disease? Bull****. I cured it right now with my mind.
He continues with:
I’m not fair game. I’m not a soft target. There’s a new sheriff, and he has an army of assassins… My motto now is either you love or you hate and you must do so violently. I don’t live in the middle anymore. That’s where you get embarrassed. If you love with violence and you hate with violence there is nothing that can be questioned.
He also wrote an open letter to TMZ:

One thing is, the show has made a boat load of money for the production company over the years and I am almost 100% sure it would be back on air in no time. We all know how tolerant Hollywood is of these crazy types and I won’t be surprised if a reality show is the outcome of all of this. For petes sake Lindsey Lohan is still booking modeling gigs like it’s no big deal.
Another angle is the Chuck Lorre factor: CBS is banking heavily on Lorre and if they have to cut Charlie or end the show altogether to keep Lorre I am pretty sure they would do it knowing that it would be hell to renegotiate with Lorre if he decides not to work with Charlie anymore. So they might just decide to take the money and close the show for good.
It would be interesting to see how it all plays out in the end. Unless there is a “crazy clause in Charlie Sheen’s contract, CBS cant even shoot episodes without him, not unless they are going to keep paying 1.2 million big ones per episode whilst he stays home.
One thing I have learned though is, after God, Hollywood is the next most forgiving person. Just ask Kiefer Sutherland (24) or Lindsey Lohan or better yet just watch celebrity Rehab.

Monday, February 21, 2011

R n B: A Dying Breed....

A few days ago someone asked me to name a few black people in music who are somewhat relevant today. Off the top of my head I said, Jay Z, Diddy, Lil Wayne, Usher, Nicki Minaj, Kanye West and Beyonce. It was then it hit me that of the seven people I mentioned, there are five rappers and just two singers!
So I asked myself, “Is rap the only surviving black music genre still surviving today”? What happened to all the black people who were into soul and R n B? What happened to Brian Mc knight, Dru hill and Anthony Hamilton, Boyz 2 Men, Whitney Houston, Monica, Brandy and all those soul/ R n B singers
Why is it when we think about black people in music, we have mostly rappers on our minds?  Ok , I know you are about to say Keri Hilson or maybe Keisha Cole or R.kelly, let me ask you this do you know these people have albums they released in the last 4 months?. So if they are so “relevant” how come you didn’t know. Keri Hilson has just one good song on her album and if she didn’t shoot a video for that song, God knows people would wonder if she is still in music, now that the marathon features have all but slowed to a trickle. Keisha Cole? Oh please! I don’t even know the title of her last offering. R. Kelly dropped a retro-soul/ R n B album titled “love letter” in Dec. 2010 (bet you didn’t know that) needless to say, the album sold as many copies as Blackfaces’ album.
Even the ever popular singing talent show: American Idol is on its 10th season, has only ever produced one black singer; Ruben Studdard, who has had only one relative hit song to his name ever, and is currently nowhere to be found.
Oh! Maybe you are thinking Mariah Carey? Well sorry folks, she’s half Irish-American, half Venezuelan. So she doesn’t count. Or maybe Alicia Keys? Fail! The only reason anyone new she had an album out was because of “Empire state of Mind” which she did with jay Z; another rapper. Anyone knows how many copies the album sold?
How many of Rihanna’s hit songs didn’t feature a rapper? Why do you think she has to keep doing crazy and risqué? Well that’s the only way she can keep her current audience interested.
Even back home in Nigeria, every singer is switching to pop music. From P square to Tuface, to the junk Samklef put out (don’t get me started on that). Well that’s the best alternative right now. Just do a song with that o so popular euro- pop kick and you are guaranteed to sell a few records. Or worst case scenario, call Terry G or Timaya and go ti le ti le on the beat!
In my opinion, there are a couple of reasons behind the steady decline in black singers: First off, life has changed so dramatically since the 80s and 90s. Young people who account for 75 to 80 percent of album sales are too fast paced for all the lovey duvy, R n B contains. This is evident in the fact that Gucci mane and his Ice cream tattoo would outsell Keisha Cole anytime any day. I am sorry but I don’t think I relate to R.kelly telling me about how his woman cooks him dinner and has rose petals on the bed when he gets home from work. Sure everyone wants romance at some point but there’s so much going on in our lives right now that I would rather hear about popping Moscato in the club or hear how Nicki Minaj murdered Lil Kim on a song.
Another possible reason could be that most of these male singers eventually ended up with some white girl or some exotic chic from somewhere weird. So maybe the average black woman who is your major fan base can no longer relate to Seal because they feel like “what’s he talking about when he’s with some white lady…” I’m just saying!
Could the reason be that the entire world is just getting more and more dumbed down? And no one wants any long drawn out song? Black and Yellow repeated 4 times is enough jor! Or hustling repeated 5 times is alright.
Could it be that R n B song materials/contents are all played out? Like seriously how many ways can you sing about love? How many ways can you sing about sex? How many ways can you sing about a break up or heart break? Or maybe listeners have realized that weather Jasmine Sullivan or Chrisette Michelle or Amerie, they all sing about the same thing and sound alike.
As much as I love rap music, 75% of what’s out there is really meaningless. Would I be wrong to say meaningful music as a whole is a dying breed? Isn’t the fact that Soulja Boy is still in music, enough proof of this?
Maybe I am wrong anyways but riddle me this, asides Beyonce and Rihanna (God knows we can’t call RiRi an R n B singer anymore) and Usher’s 2008 album, who was the last R n B artiste to sell over a million units of his or her album? Till we figure that out I guess we would have to be content with Terry G and Soulja Boy. Sorry!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

OLEKU: The Return..

Hello all, it’s been a swell day for me so far. My favorite team won their game and finally the “revamped” OLEKU video would be hitting the net in a couple of hours.
It’s important to note that I really like the OLEKU song in itself and I even liked every remix I heard. So here I was waiting for the video to drop and praying and hoping it was worth the wait.
At about 9pm I got a checked my TL and a friend of mine had posted something about the video. I went on YouTube to check it out and my day went downhill from there.
After watching said video, I had to check what date the video  was posted and go hunt for the old one to be sure I wasn’t being duped. There is absolutely no difference between the previous/leaked video and this one. I mean absolutely no difference!
Ok, maybe I am just a pain in the a$$ or whatever but seriously, asides the few wordings that stated what Ice prince was rapping or what Brymo was singing, there’s nothing spectacular or “new” about the new video. The girl in the white shorts still did those weird moves, M.I still showed his Ribena colored tongue, Brymo still pursed his lips in a way that I am guessing was supposed to be sexy, while some random-ers who showed up early on in the “leaked” video were moved to the tail end of the video.
So let’s get down to this whole leak thing. I do not believe in any way that the initial video was leaked. This is my own personal opinion so feel free to believe what you want. The video showed up on a couple of sites that I wonder how they got them if it really was a leak. Secondly why would anyone want to leak the video anyway? Do we even know the reason why albums and songs or movies are leaked? Albums/movies are usually leaked when the anticipation for said movie/album is so great and fans get antsy. This is evident in the fact that these leaks are never sold but are given out for free. Why do you think these days, artistes release a couple of tracks from the album before the actual release date? Reason: To wet the appetite of fans and generally cool them off till the real thing drops.
So when I hear OLEKU video leaked, I am completely lost, because it’s not like we were actually jonzing for an OLEKU video in the first place. Be honest OLEKU was not and would never be as big as GONGO ASO. 9ice released the video when he felt like and as much as we would like to say it didn’t measure up to the massiveness of the track in itself, everyone was fine with it. We all moved on.
Fact is if OLEKU didn’t ever have a video no one would have cared less. The song was so big that nothing he would have done by way of a video would have measured up. To be honest I would rather he did a remix with some big shots to keep the track fresh pending the release of his album.
I am left wondering if a change in costume and a few words flashed across the screen amounts to a new video. I am also wondering what exactly the end game here is.
I know a lot of people would get sentimental about the video and all, and say “oh it’s ok” well good luck to you. I would rather watch the old one. Thank you.
It’s one thing to do a sub-par video, but it’s another thing to then come out and say the video was leaked, it’s a totally different thing to come out with some edited junk as the new video. Kai Nigerians!!
P.S feel free to cuss me out. That’s what the comments section is for. Thanks.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

SKYLAR GREY?

One person that’s got the internet buzzing since the just concluded Grammys is Skylar Grey. To be honest I didn't know much about her but after some digging I found some material that might jog your memory.
At the just concluded Grammy award, she was the singer who performed alongside Eminem right before Dr Dre came on looking like the incredible hulk and a deeper look into her showed that shes actually been around for a good minute or two
She used to go by the name Holly Brooke which is her birth name. Do you remember the song “where did you go” by Fort minor? (The hip hop group formed by Linkin Park member; Mike Shinoda). Well she was the female voice on the hook of that song.
In recent times she’s worked with Diddy (I hear he’s back to puffy now) on the song; “I’m coming home” produced by Alex Da kid, who I hear is her mentor/manager and is signed to his wonderland music label. She’s also worked on a song on Lupe Fiascos highly anticipated LASERS album, titled “Words I never said”
She and Alex Da Kid co-wrote all three versions of “Love the way you lie” she also wrote castle walls for T.I which featured Christina Aguilera and was on T.I’s NO MERCY album
I do not know why or what caused the name change but I really don't think it was a good idea. Its good to know shes getting some buzz at the moment and performing at the Grammy's before you drop and album is a big deal, just ask Drake. I'll definitely be on the look out for her album when it drops.
In other news I hear Bieber fans hacked Esperanza Spalding’s Wiki page and wrote all sorts on there. Apparently they were pissed that Beiber didn’t win the “best new artist award. I didn’t expect him to win anything at the Grammys. Fact is the people who pick the winners of these awards are music professionals and execs, so it’s no surprise when they pick rock or jazz acts over pop or rap acts. I’m pretty sure there’s no 50cent or Birdman on that board so if some old man decides he would rather listen to Kenny G over Drake, well sorry!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

The 53rd Grammy Awards Show

Music’s biggest night kicked off with a fabulous red carpet event and if you didn’t get a Grammy invite I’m guessing we can pretty much conclude that your showbiz career is officially over.
From Willow Smith looking like a hobo, to Kathy Perry’s grandmother getting support from a totally bedazzled walking stick to Jennifer Lopez and marc Anthony looking very awkward, not to mention Eva Longoria looking hot, bankrupt or not. The most amazing red carpet entrance was undoubtedly lady GaGa’s incubation egg thingy! It feels like she tops herself every time. She was in this silver looking egg that was carried shoulder high by attendants dressed in gold. Talk about making an entrance
Anyways, here are the highlights:
The show opened with LL cool J coming on stage to announce the first set of performance amidst his lip licking. Christina Aguilera made up for the super bowl junk by delivering a mind blowing performance, that I am almost tempted to say she’s one of the best singers out there. She was joined by the super slim Jennifer Hudson (is it just me or did her head get bigger?), Yolanda Adams and 2 others I can’t remember now, all performing Aretha franklins songs. Not one weak link on there, and it was a fantastic opener.
Best pop song by a group/Duo award was won by train for the song hey soul Sister *shrugs*. The recently gay Ricky Martin introduced the incubating GaGa for a very eerie performance of her latest single “born this way”. Can you believe she still came in the egg? All I could do as the performance progressed was hope she didn’t ditch her already scanty clothes. Thank God she stayed clothed all through. But seriously people, lady GaGa can’t sing period! Hey! Did she end the performance with waka?
After some country chic came on to perform a song about cows or something about farm life/love, Muse, an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon came on to perform and thankfully it brought some life back to the Grammys.
B.o.B, Janelle Monae, and Bruno Mars came on to perform, starting off with a slowed version of “Beautiful Girls” followed by Bruno Mars performing “Grenade” in some retro black and white version, then Janelle with the sexy hair performing “Cold War” and I’ll say she was the best of the trio.
Best female country vocal award went to the random chic, who performed earlier. Her name’s actually Miranda Lambert for The house that built me. God knows I have never heard that song or the country girl before.
Usher and Justin Bieber have a very “touching” moment about when they first met which was an opener for their performance. Lots of samurai clad drummers doing acrobatics whilst the one with the amazing hair performed “Never say Never”. Oh there goes Jaden smith doing some rap thing. Ok so maybe Bieber can sing sha. Old man Usher returns to perform OMG better than the super bowl version. Same dance moves though. So where’s Willow Smith in all of this?
Hey! What’s that badly dressed chic from NCIS doing on here? She’s not even dressed any better. I though the NCIS thing was an act.smh. Best rock album went to Muse for The Resistance. Thumbs up!
Best pop album award went to Lady GaGa for the “Fame monster” and as usual her dress was a topic on its own. It was a black a$$ and boob plastercine number. She took her time to say all the thank yous in the world. She deserved the award of all those nominated
One of my favorite bands Mumford and sons performed little lion man with the whole banjo thing, and it was totally amazing followed by the Avett brothers and good old Bob Dylan and all 3 acts were totally rocking. Only at the Grammys baby!
Best country album award went to Lady Antebellum for Need You Now. Not like there’s much talent out in the country side but someone’s got to win right?
Cee-lo green came on to perform “F**k you” with some Muppets and Gwyneth Paltrow. Let me just say the performance didn’t do the song justice but the surprise was that Gwyneth Paltrow can actually sing? I won’t be surprised if she decides an album is the way to go next.
The Grammy for Song of the year went to Lady Antebellum for Need You Now. Even though some people might argue that the band is not a country band, rather it’s a pop band with country instruments thrown in once in a while but seriously I would rather they won than Miranda Lambert. Whatever happened to “Love the way you lie”? Enough said.
Rihanna fought off bronchitis and laryngitis to perform “love the way you lie part 2” with Eminem. (No Chris Brown to halt her performance with blows this time)The performance had the crowd going nuts. Finally we got to see Dr Dre on stage after so long and honestly it wasn’t something of note, unless you count his extremely white shoes
Esperanza Spalding beat out Justin Bieber and drake to claim the best new artist award. It’s very refreshing though, it’s not often to you see a genre like Jazz winning this award. Or maybe I am just secretly happy Bieber didn’t win.
No surprise in the Best rap album category, Eminem took that one with Recovery. Short and to the point acceptance speech. He didn’t look excited or surprised. Geez! he’s got a couple of those gramophone things at home already. No biggy.
Rihanna and drake performed a reggae/Caribbean inspired “what’s my name” with some hell fire theme and a lot of waist breaking moves from RiRi. Lovely performance. Drake was over excited. Cant blame the brother.

One of the most coveted awards Record of the year went to Lady Antebellum, for Need you Now.  Beating out even Jay Z/Keys “Empire State of Mind”, and Em/RiRi’s “Love the way you lie” . I have my reservations on this one to be honest. Even B.o.B and Bruno Mars was nominated for this one too. Need you now was performed at the Grammys in 2010 so it’s not exactly “fresh” or should I say 2011 material. *Sighs*
Album of the year went to the Arcade Fire for the Suburbs. Like seriously did you hear anything during their performance? These Canadians sef. I guess ill go get the album and see what the fuss is about
Anyways that’s how it all played out tonight. This year's show has 16 musical production numbers, compared to just nine awards being handed out over the course of a ceremony slated to run three hours. The big winner on the night was Lady Antebellum and the best performance in my opinion was RiRI’s. #OKBYE
click here for a complete list of winners

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

SUPER C SEASON: REVIEW


Super C season is finally upon us and the album in 3 words; WORTH THE WAIT!
I have to say the 2 some years the album took in its making was absolutely evident with the body of work and production that went into the album. Major production work was done by TY mix, while Dr Frabz, Sarz, Ikon and Terry G handled a number of tracks. The album was Mastered by Dr Frabz
First off, I know a number of people would start to compare M.I 2 to  Super c Season, but seriously, don’t bother. These 2 albums have little or nothing in common. Naeto C’s approach to rap is way more laid back, champagne popping, let’s hit the club type whilst M.I takes you on a journey through life and his experiences in a braggadocios Manner. Phew! That was a mouthful.
Super C Season opens up with the title track, Super C season, and it’s obvious Naeto C intended to make a statement to the world that he’s really has got bars to spit. With lines like “I’m insane, Amy winehouse, you want a drink? I got a wine house. From then on its from punchline to punchline and the track itself it’s a dizzying opening track and it definitely captures your attention
The album tempo is dropped considerably with “True (Dem no fit do am)” with Omawunmi. Naeto C takes time to remind us why he’s way different from all the others and no one can do it like he can. As usual Naeto’s bounce on the beat is super addictive and Omawunmi went hard on the hook.
I have to commend Naeto C for not just throwing the played out “ako mi ti poju” on the album but rather he dropped the extended mix version with Dagrin and if that’s not pure genius, then I  guess I don’t know what genius is. Now I can’t skip that song.
By far my favorite track on the album is “carry your shoulder”, its just such a super track. Naeto says “all that bad belle needs some milk of magnesia” and all I can say is yes boss! I dare anyone to make a beat that Naeto can’t murder. Plus I am now totally convinced that the Ibo language is so sexy.
The tempo drops again on the next track “Ride tonight” which features So Sick. On this one he sings about a girl who’s driving him crazy and ask her if she would ride with him (who wouldn’t want to). Even on parts of the track where Naeto sings a few lines he actually does it like a pro and to say I was stunned would be an understatement. Bro man can sing! Autotune or not!
Its up up and away with the next track with Terry G the king of the rave. “Skimpololo” is your regular party/lets have a wild party at the beach with lots of sweat track. Nothing new here folks, its terry G and YQ, what more is there to be said. I am not a big fan of Terry G but you have to admit you can’t throw a rave without a Terry G track.
Next is the Dr Frabz produced “duro” ft YQ. No introduction here. One of the biggest tracks of last year. Enough said.
The surprise of the album to me, is the very ibo themed love song with Waje “afurum Gi nanya”. Here we have naeto C singing in Ibo! Yes folks singing in ibo, and the ever so talented “Waje” killing the hook. Would definitely be looking out for the video to this one. Once again is the ibo language sexy or what?
“5 and 6”is another love song and its so groovy! Plus there’s that sexy ibo language again. ( I know you are wondering what I am on about with the ibo thing, but try listen to the album first). This hook is top notch and is done by Naeto himself. Loving this one
Another number track follows: “10 over 10”. I remember playing this song at a party I had over here and even the white folks loved it. Once again Naeto C does a great job on the hook.
The next track is for the Rap heads but still has a nice head bumping feel. It was produced by TY mix and has that Kanye West sampling type thing going on. Lovely joint to kick back and smoke a joint to. *coughs*
“Share My blessings” is arguably one of the best tracks on here. Asa was not playing on this one and to be honest I wish Naeto would have gone in harder but I’m guessing he was overwhelmed by Asa. Not saying he sucked on the track though but he was noticeably weak in some points. Plus it’s a HUGE deal scoring Asa on your album. It’s such a great track that only a wahala person like me would notice anything wrong with it. Thumbs up TY Mix!
VooDoo is another one for the hip hop heads. Lots of strings and deep thoughts go into this one and all I can say is WOW! Naeto talks about the basic struggles in life, bad decisions, hypocrites and poor judgement. Smells like a classic to me.
“C me finish” is such a lovely track but I fear it would be overlooked on the album. Its location on the album might be a gift or a curse but well see how it all plays out.
“Ride with me”, “ex girlfriend” and “Gidi is mine” are well placed bonus tracks because they would not fit at all in the album, but even at that Naeto C was not playing on anyone of them.
All in all it’s a superb album, one that I would rate 5 stars out of 5. Even on tracks where Naeto C sings his own hook he still holds his own. A big plus for the album is the non existence of all that skit rubbish thank God. I have to admit though I am surprised I didn’t see Ikechukwu on the album but I reserve my comments on that.
Wow! This is probably my longest post yet and well deserved. Naeto C has succeeded surpassing his debut album and he would probably be relevant for many years to come. Yes Boss!
 UPDATE: 10 over 10 official video .....comments?

Sunday, February 6, 2011

SUPER BOWL XLV 2011

So it’s my first super bowl experience and it’s really something to watch. Americans sure know how to make a big deal out of everything.
 I have to take a take a trip to the store to get some "game day food" and men! it’s packed in here. People buying all sort of junk food. I am guessing there’s some law that says calories and fat don’t count on super bowl Sunday.
 There’s people buying enough soda and beer to feed the whole of china, It is estimated that more than 49.2 million cases of beer would be consumed by Americans. There are people buying that nasty looking Guacamole thing, and chips, chips, chips. Not to mention chicken wings and all sort of dipping sauces.. Americans!
Anyway, eventually I settle down to watch a game I know absolutely nothing about, with people who know so much about the game I am tempted to ask if they do anything else but chronicle the lives of young men clad in brightly colored tighte-tights
First thing that goes wrong is Christiana Aguilera singing the US national anthem and getting it all wrong.
I know you are about to ask how I know the anthem, well I don’t I’m just telling you what people said apparently she sang  "what so proudly we washed, at the twilight's last reaming" instead of the correct words, "o'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming."
The Game begins and I am doing my best to cheer at the right time and act pissed when I ought to, and also trying not to support the wrong team (can someone please tell me what I am doing here?). Finally my prayer is answered and its half time the Green and yellow people are ahead with 21 points/goals/scores/basket while the white people have just 10 points.
Half time rocks! I am expecting a superb show from the Black Eyed peas and Usher. At least they wouldn’t mess their own songs up. Little did I know that’s wrong wordings would be the least of my problems. Black eyed peas start off with “I gotta feeling” as expected and its way way below par.
They move on to Boom Boom pow and it just makes me realize how watery this platinum selling group’s lyrics are. Like seriously what is boom boom pow? To make matters worse fergie sounded like she had a dead frog in her windpipe and she had swallowed some broken glass to help force it down. All I can do is stare with my mouth wide open. Folks it gets worse; she decides to do a duet type thing with Slash (former Guns n Roses guitarist) and it sounded like the frog was chocking on the broken glass whilst passing gas at the same time.
After what seemed like eternity, the group is back with “let’s get it started” followed by “pump it up” and believe me when I say it was all a pain to watch that includes the futuristic looking people doing some weird choreography and will-i-am’s hair and shine shine cloth
By the time usher comes on to perform “OMG” with will-i-am, I am all but done. What’s with all the dated dance steps usher? geez! He even did that spin around thing from “my Boo” with Alicia keys!
When usher was done spinning, (sorry biebians, no Justin bieber today. Wait till Feb. 13th), they perform “where is the love” and some random song I don’t even know. I look around me and everyone is either getting a beer or taking a leak so there’s no one to share my grievances with. (I got you guys so no worries).
The game resumes after the torturous performances and I am falling asleep. Don’t get me wrong I love a good game but seriously, why are they celebrating after they fall down? And why don’t they kick the ball as much as possible? I mean its FOOTball innit? And how do they score this thing? One time its 3 points/goals/baskets, the next time its 6!
Finally the game ends and I am busy writing this post already, all around me people are celebrating and as I no wan carry last, I join in, all the while trying to figure out who won. For all I know the team with the lowest number might turn out the winner.
To be honest, the whole experience sucked, I didn’t even get to see any nipple/wardrobe malfunction. Not to mention the fact that the Guacamole is starting to make my stomach feel funny or is it the smell of this oyibo beside me? smh
Oh lest I forget the Green and yellow people won.
But why is there purple confetti?

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Sell It!

Credit: Splash News

  Whilst its below zero temperatures in other parts of the country, I am slowly roasting in the humidity and heat that is Florida and listening to my “Loud” by Rihanna album.
Question: is it just me or are her albums getting more and more risqué by the year? What or who or how did this change come about?
Credit: George Pimentel
When ‘’Pon the replay” dropped in 2005, she was just a 17year old with cute dance routines, who would have thought the reggae inclined singer would in a few short years become the crazy hair-style per minute, fashion forward, rockstar she is now.
  Even after “A girl like me” hit the stands in 2006, no one would have guessed she would go on to do a song like the infamous “disturbia”. But wait a minute, at 17 I wasn’t sure who I was or where I was headed. Most of us were pretty much just doing what everyone else said we should or we were just imitating some older sibling or family member or friend.
That being said, I don’t agree with people who say she’s some illuminati puppet or jay z pulled her off the straight and narrow. I think I would be right if I said what we are seeing now is just the real RiRi or at least a side of her personality
In a recent interview, where she was asked what spawned the change, she said she had a sit down with Def jam execs after her second album and said she was tired of the cookie cutter image and blending into the murk of RnB singers out there so she wanted to create a new image, one that would stand out and you can’t deny she is doing just that and it was a well thought out move
Regardless of how talented you are, if you have no personality to back whatever your craft is, you are basically just wasting your time. Every single showbiz person out there who is very relevant today has some personality thing going on: kanye west, Lindsey Lohan, Lady Gaga, Charlie sheen, jay z, Diddy..and the list goes on. My advice, if you are not ready to sell your or a personality, get a bank Job and sing on Sunday in your Church
 Majority of the RnB singers out there, both male and female are struggling to stay relevant due to this same ‘’blending’’ in factor. Examples? Kelis, keisha Cole, Chrisette Michele, lloyd and others. They can release a million and one albums and I guarantee you they would just be “yet another RnB singer”
On the other hand, the Lady GaGas, Ke$has and RiRis of this world would keep selling albums, not because they are such great vocalists but because they are very different from the rest. For petes sake what the hell does Lady Gaga sing? Yet she has a staggering number of views on YouTube and sells albums by the millions.
The reason Whiz Kid; regardless of all his autotuning junk, would still outsell a lot of talented singers in Nigeria when his EP finally hits the stand.
The reason Britney spears, who’s been really quiet lately would do something drastic right before she drops her femme fetal album.
Feel free to call it hype folks but me, I call it; selling your personality. Simple!
So for those of you who wonder why Rihanna is what she is now, remember it’s a dog eat dog world out there and you have to do all you can to stay relevant. At least now no one can say she’s a Beyonce wannabe anymore.
From ‘pon the reply” to “Girl like me” to “umbrella” to “Disturbia” to “S and M”..RiRi is just living a movie!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

No Mercy?

  It’s been a quiet and reflective few days for me. A close friend with so much potential, countless number of second chances and opportunities lined up for him, lost his way and ended up in a bad place (figuratively speaking) and would probably be there for a good minute
 The situation parallels the life of rapper T.I; and I can’t help but wonder if it’s a function of bad choices or just plain bad luck or maybe winchi winchi people!
 T.I had the world at his feet after his Trap Muzik album dropped in Aug 2003, but as usual, less than a year after the album dropped he was sent to jail for violating his probation for a drug related offence committed in 1997.
  He was allowed a work release program in no time
 Not like that would change anything about the talented rapper who earned a litany of probation violation in several counties in Georgia and Florida. He appeared before a court in Atlanta for threats to a man in front of a Night club, he was arrested in Florida for assaulting a deputy sheriff in Florida and didn’t complete his court mandated community service and was consequently arrested again. The exact thing happened again in Georgia for driving on a suspended license for which he did not complete his community service
 His 3rd studio album fetched him 2 Grammy nominations and 5 billboard music awards and T.I was doing it big. Sadly, in 2007, he was back to his old tricks as he was arrested again for possession of firearms and was sentenced to house arrest pending this court hearing.
T.I wrote most of his Paper trail album during his house arrest stint which was evident from the deep soul searching type songs on the album and I thought we would actually see a genuinely changed T.I.
 “Whatever you like” dropped during this time and the track still remains T.I's most successful single till date, jumping from number 71 to number 1, which is the highest jump a single has done on the Billboard.
 When the album finally dropped in September of 2008, T.I was coasting, with a host of smashing singles and appearances including jay Z, Rihanna,  Kanye West, lil wayne and more, We all hoped T.I was on the straight and narrow.
 He began his sentence on March 27th 2009 and was released on March 26th 2010
  A few months later he was arrested for drug possession and associating with a known felon alongside his newly wedded wife Tiny, and it was back to the same old T.I.
 What makes this even worse is the fact that he dropped a very fantastic album after he was sent back to jail to serve an 11-month sentence but sadly the album has been totally shunned.
 I listened to the album in its entirety and believe me there is no bad song on there. Trust T.I to deliver some head bumping, driving and catchy tracks, with some high profile features, but the question is, how much can you do to promote your album from jail? Unless you are Lil Wayne of course!
 His endorsements with Remy martin, Axe body spray and Chevrolet have all but fizzled out.
His night club, Club crucial in Bankhead, Atlanta has lost most of its appeal.
The social networking site “streetcred” which he endorsed, has been shut down indefinitely and everyone is pretty much tired of welcome back and farewell concerts/parties
 At this point I don’t expect much from T.I when he gets out of jail. Some have said his album; "No Mercy" is his swan song but I disagree, he would still put great albums out but I just feel he would never be all that he should have been. With a string of successes checkered with sentences and violations, T.I is definitely “Biography material” can’t say the same for Bieber (I digress) but till he gets out; FREE T.I!