Kanye West is having The Best Week Ever! He has been everywhere promoting his new album Graduation which just hit stores on Sept. 11th. He performed on the MTV VMA's, had an in-store in NYC and in LA, and made an appearance on the Emmy Awards. That same night fellow chart topper Justin Timberlake had a show at the Staples Center and Kanye surprised the crowd and performed "Stronger" Check out the clip here:
Gander On!
3.5 out of 5
"Pound for pound I'm the best around", 50 cent claims on Curtis his third LP and second made specifically for the adolescent children who buy his records and still believe that rappers kill each other (oh and the toothfairy).
But why does he actually believe this? It might be because he sells the most records. But this doesn't make him the best just as it doesn't make "Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em" the best rap CD of all time. And just as Hammer couldn't do hard (and failed trying) 50 can't do smart or well-rounded for that matter as all the songs on Curtis are about killing, sex, and how much money he has as you would expect from a 50 cent CD.
Maybe then its how much he can switch his style up (and watch the money pile up?). On Curtis 50 tries various different flow patterns other than his normal and ridiculously pathetic fake southern flow but the problem is that none of them work well.
So why the rating after all the hating? Well the production on Curtis is very good and saves Curtis Jackson from comming out like Michael Jackson. The Shady Aftermath team once again does an incredible job in salvaging this album by varying the style of beats to keep the listener interested and by keeping the songs short and blending them together like a mix-tape (why we liked 50 in the first place) so if you don't like one song you won't have to wait long.
Also as with other top-selling artists 50 cent pulls out an A-list mix of guests who all outshine 50 but in doing so make the album better such as Akon on "I'll Still Kill" and the JT/timbo callabo "AYO Technology" (Oh and 50, you lose all credibility when you let a former boy band member write some of your verses).
Though 50 cent on Curtis is a shell of his former self we still have to give him credit for ending Ja Rule's career (thank god) and for "Get Rich or Die Trying" one of the better LP's of this decade and on Curtis it takes a Tony Yayo cameo on "Hands Up High" to remind us of when 50 was good and why we liked him. Shit-talking and punchlines.
See 50 you were never a great rapper (so let's just forget about the best talk) but on your early shit you were funny as hell as you made it impossible for anyone with any self respect to listen to Ja's music, and we loved you for that. And while your handelers may keep telling you how much "They luv da kid" unless you become hungry like that again, or (gasp) show some artistic growth, it won't be for long.
Gander On!
This short video of Clay performing Sexy Back has been circulating the internets that last couple of days and we finally decided it was bad enough to post. Clay's dancing looks more like a cat cleaning itself than it does dancing. Be careful, if you watch it once you'll have to watch it again.
Gander On!
So...let me get this right, people still make music videos? And MTV shows these videos? Where? I have seen JT rocking the small screen lately...on HBO promos. Oh, the VMAs are in Vegas? I'm on board.
MTV will air a two-hour Video Music Awards program on September 9th, not live from The Palms in Las Vegas. Even before TiVo we would have no problem missing the initial broadcast, as a re-air would appear routinely. However, this year Music TeleVision will "remix" the show and broadcast these episodes on-air and online.
The nominations were announced today. Justin Timberlake and Beyonce each scored seven nods. Hopefully this exposure will get their careers moving. A new category was also announced: Most Earth-Shattering Collaboration. This humdinger of a category could turn into the "Survivor Series" of the music world. I'd love to hear who our readers think were left off the list. Also, post your picks in the comments sections...
Below are MJs picks for the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards:
Best New Artist
Amy Winehouse
Female Artist of the Year
Beyonce
Male Artist of the Year
Justin Timberlake
Best Group
The White Stripes
Quadruple Threat of the Year
Jay-Z (Sleeper pick: Bono)
Video of the Year
Justin Timberlake - "What Goes Around...Comes Around"
Gander On!
Gander On!
In this video a Man dressed like Justin Timberlake Dances through the streets on some interesting looking crutches and a skateboard until he ends up right back where he started. We've seen this dancing thing before with Christopher Walken in the Fat Boy Slim "Weapon of Choice" video and the entire time we watched it that was all we could think of. It's still cool to watch though and the songs not bad either. Enjoy!
Gander On!
It's been a while since we posted anything from Justice. After all a whole week dedicated to him over at the vice mp3 blog was enough for a while. Our boy is back though with a much needed remix of Justin Timberlakes "Love Stoned." Classic Justice synth and dirty bass mixed with JT's vocals is a perfect combination. Maybe they should do one of those Jay-Z R. Kelly things and do a whole album together. You can listen to the track over here at Hype Machine. We'll post a download link as soon as we get it. Gander On!
It's like a mix between a Conan Sketch and a bad Muppet's Movie. That about sums it up.
Gander On!
The boys from Poison have released the first video off of their recently released cover album "Poison'd" for "What I Like About You." What we like about this video is the kids singing along in the pages of the yearbook until we realize that the lip sync is off on some and they pretty much repeat the same scenes over and over. Cover Albums are bullshit anyway, you need money and can't write new music cause your brains all fucked up from years of drug and alcohol abuse. Here is how we know Poison has really gone to shit, and by shit we mean broke, they have teamed with Walmart to release a bonus single only available on the Walmart version of the cd. That single, drum roll please..... Justin Timberlake's "Sexy Back." So much for reviewing a video.
Gander On!
