New Video: All of the Lights - Kanye West (**must see!**)

I'm in love with visualizers. A few weeks ago, a friend and I were watching visualizers (yes, as an activity...). I said visualizers would make a dope music video, she suggested doing it with images.

Two weeks later (yesterday), this video comes out.

Mind blown. Life is crazy... and I need to meet Kanye.

Video Preview: Monster - Kanye West feat. Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj, & Bon Iver

I'm hype.

Releases to Notice...

RECENT

Mixtape: Friday Night Lights (free download)
Artist: J. Cole
Release date: November 12, 2010
Songs to hear: Blow Up, Higher

Comments: I haven't listened to it... yet! But I've been bumpin Higher and Blow Up for a minute now (Blow Up is the reason why I can sometimes be found mean-muggin when I'm walking around... ha!). Plus, I love J. Cole. And Wale is one of the featured artists. Thus, I predict good things :)

Bonus: peep this article.

Album: The Lady Killer
Artist: Cee-Lo
Release date: November 5, 2010
Singles: F*** You

Comments: Once again... I haven't listened to it yet! I know, I'm being a slacker. But Cee-Lo's a really talented and seasoned artist, so I'm very hopeful. Bonus points: seems like the album's received some great reviews + the F You video is so clever.





















Album: Nothing
Artist: N.E.R.D.
Release date: October 29, 2010
Singles: Hot-n-Fun (feat. Nelly Furtado), Party People, Hypnotize U
Favorites: Perfect Defect, Sacred Temple, Hot-n-Fun

Comments: Well... certainly not their best effort (the reviews don't seem too positive), but I think I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for N.E.R.D. Bottom line - you should listen to it at least twice and then feel free to take it or leave it.




UPCOMING

Album: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Artist: Kanye West
Scheduled release date: November 22, 2010
Singles: Power (feat. Dwele), Runaway (feat. Pusha T), Monster (feat. Rick Ross, Bon Iver, Nicki Minaj, Jay-Z), All of the Lights (feat.... uh... everyone!)
Favorites: Dark Fantasy, Lost in the World, Runaway, Monster.... okay, basically everything.


Comments: With the advent of GOOD Fridays came a restored excitement/love for Mr. West. But let me just point out that my love never disappeared. Not even during his 808's & Heartbreak days (though I'll admit, I did have to smdh a little bit...). Anyway, when Kanye comes back... he REALLY comes back. A 30+ minute film featuring new dope music? Weekly releases? Great promotional techniques! ... oh, yeah, and good art too :) Anyway, I support this 102%, with a 2% margin of error. Get on the bandwagon, just embrace it.

New Song: Chain Heavy - Kanye West feat. Talib Kweli & Consequence

Download it (and the rest of the Good Friday tracks) for free at www.kanyewest.com/goodfridays

New Song: Looking for Trouble - Kanye West feat. Pusha T, CyHi the Prynce, Big Sean, & J. Cole)

Download it (and the rest of the Good Friday tracks) for free at www.kanyewest.com/goodfridays

New Video: Runaway - Kanye West

He's really back.


Full Length Film Version (34 minutes)







Video Version (4 minutes)






Also, check youtube.com/KanyeWestVEVO for the extended video version (8 minutes) and the clean full length version (34 minutes).

New Song: Take One for the Team - Kanye West feat. Keri Hilson, Pusha T, and Cyhi the Prince

[Love it... but did he really have to come at girls who wear Victoria's Secret Love Spell? C'mon son, that used to be my favorite scent in like 8th grade!]


Download it (and the rest of the Good Friday tracks) for free at www.kanyewest.com/goodfridays

New Song: Don't Stop - CRS (Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, Pharrell Williams)

Download it (and the rest of the Good Friday tracks) for free at www.kanyewest.com/goodfridays

New Song: Lord Lord Lord - Kanye West ft. Mos Def, Raekwon, and Charlie Wilson

New Video: Power - Kanye West

Well... I really wish this wasn't the post I'm using to make my comeback, but it's relevant/brand new so I kinda have to do it, right?





I really wanna tag this with a "womp" but for now... I just won't say anything...


*Updated August 6 @ 3:09 pm*

Here's the unedited version (can't decide which one I like better)




Also, I think I've changed my mind. I don't hate it / it's not "womp" worthy. I just wish I had known in advance that it wasn't gonna be a full video. But I guess that's my fault for being out of the real world for most of the summer... Slowly but surely, I'm making my way back in.

Directed by Marco Brambilla, here's a word about the video (thanks UnderGround Charizma!):

"Well, it's a video portrait of Kanye. It starts with a very tight shot introducing him that's kind of a reinvention of a neoclassical painting. It pulls back from the shot, without any cuts, and we reveal the video canvas, populated by all these characters who are depicted in various stages of undress and decadence. The iconography comes from Roman iconography, Renaissance iconography, and it connects to the sexuality of the music as well. As we reveal the setting for it, there's a feeling of a moment of transition for him. A fall from grace, if you will. It visualizes power, and him as the icon as power, and then at the end of the piece it challenges the power that I set up at the beginning. It's an elliptical piece of storytelling:

Here comes the end of my teenage years... 2000-2009.

War. Hurricanes. Tsunamis. Deaths. Depression. Scandals. Music. Politics.

I feel like we've seen so much in the past 10 years, I don't think I could even try to recall all of the significant events.

(Image via Flickr)


Everybody's been putting together lists (see: Complex's Best of the 2000s) to commemorate the biggest achievements, the biggest disasters, and the biggest stories. A lot of these lists make me think about how much attention we give to unimportant "news." Remember when Paris Hilton was arrested in 2006? Remember how it was all over CNN and other major news networks? Why do we pay such a ridiculous amount of attention to what are actually fairly insignificant stories? Don't get me wrong -- I'm definitely not immune to this entertainment-hungry disease. It comes from the countless hours I've spent watching TV, reading magazines, surfing the internet, and listening to the radio -- I'm now trained to keep up with the little tidbits. I know my fair share of celebrity news. And it's definitely not always a bad thing to know what's going on -- commemorating Michael Jackson's life after his death this summer was absolutely necessary -- but sometimes it's a bit extra. Why are people hawking celebrity twitter pages to stay up on all the drama and "beefs"? Why is it even relevant?

Okay, so maybe I'm just complaining. But I do think it's kind of ridiculous that, of a list of events/stories/moments/discoveries/people from this decade that I could potentially create, the majority would be fairly silly stuff. Kanye acting up on MTV? Rihanna's new haircut? Paris & Kim's sex tapes? Janet's wardrobe malfunction? The explosion of horrible (... okay, horribly, entertaining) reality TV shows? Jennifer/Brad/Angelina? Britney Spears (in her entirety)?

It's hard to know where to the line between acceptable & unacceptable, so I'm not going to try to do it. I know I'd be making exceptions for particular stories and people. But, I hope that as I live out my 20s in the next decade, that I will be able to pay attention to more that goes on around me. Especially things that directly (or indirectly) affect me.

2 Vidoes & A Link: Foreign Exchange, Consequence/Kanye/John Legend, & Drake

I Wanna Know - The Foreign Exchange
:)







Whatever You Want - Consequence, Kanye West, & John Legend
[This has been my song for a minute! but the video doesn't really live up to what I was expecting/wanting. I feel like that girl is about to break her neck. But I suppose it's whatever...]




What the Grammys & Drake have to do with each other after the break!

Video: Common Interview + my thoughts!

1. Love this man. *sigh* ... If only I was from Chicago.. I'd rep so hard. Lupe, Kanye, Common? Favorites. <333



2. Also, Jay-Z, Wale, J. Cole, and N.E.R.D. are gonna be up here on October 24th. I WISH I COULD GO!!!!! :( Only tickets I can find are mad expensive.. Wahhhh..



3. Lastly, good luck to the Brown football team tonight as they take on Harvard. Sad I can't go, but I'm gonna be trying to constantly be getting updates!



:)

VIDEO: Forever - Drake, Kanye, Lil Wayne, Eminem

This is my song. I didn't actually watch the video though so I don't even know what it's like!

Also, I approve of The Blueprint 3 overall. My songs: Hate, Off That, A Star is Born, So Ambitious, Empire State of Mind, Venus vs. Mars. Def not my songs AT ALL: DOA & Run This Town...

Ha.


I still gotta listen to the Kid Cudi album though.
Mad busy & unmotivated. Stress stinks.

He did it for THE GLORY

BREATHE IN, BREATHE OUT and get ready.
Here comes my official Kanye post.





I'm sure by now most of you have already heard about what happened with Kanye West at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night. In case you haven't, let me recap it for you!

19 year old Taylor Swift is announced as the winner of the Best Female Video VMA and she's up on the stage giving her acceptance speech, talking about how she's always wanted to win VMA, when all of a sudden Kanye appears onstage, takes the mic from her, and basically says - I'm really happy for you, I'm gonna let you finish, but... Beyonce had one of the greatest videos of ALL TIME. Now, Taylor is standing there looking disoriented, the camera shows Beyonce looking embarrassed/stunned, and I guess Kanye is kicked out or something. Alright. Now let's address this.

A lot of people are surely thinking "Man, Kanye... how could you be so HEARTLESS?" Others are probably shaking their head and saying "He's got a big EGO... such a big EGOOOO..." Uh huh. I feel y'all, I really do. But I'm really not surprised. Here's why:

1) It's the VMA's. Something crazy always happens, or else no one will watch it. It's a horrible awards show in general, so junk like that gives it a lil hype. Now people will most certainly be tuning into the reruns.

2) It's Kanye. What the hell do you expect? He's one of the boldest dudes out there. He's confident/cocky/arrogant/self-assured/(whatever you wanna call it) enough to do stuff like this. I'm sure sometimes he truly thinks to himself "you CAN'T TELL ME NOTHING!" So clearly he was comfortable going up onstage (uninvited...) to state his mind instead of blogging it, making some official statement, or writing about it in a song like most people do.

3) I think he was kinda right (to an extent!!!!) ... LOL. Idk about one of the best videos of all time, but Single Ladies was a bangin/epic video.

4) He had been drinking all night (not an excuse/reason, but I'm just saying...) They say there's an open bar backstage or outside or some mess... and we all know he was all over that. He was shown on the red carpet with his chick Amber Rose & a pretty full bottle of Hennessy or something. Other pictures later show Amber inside with the bottle to her mouth (DRUNK AND HOT GIRLS, eh? Right.. lol), and even later showing Kanye handing a close-to-empty bottle to Joe Jackson (... sigh... that dude...). I guess he was in the partying/drinking mood. He probably rolled up to the show screaming "It's a CELEBRATION, bitches!!!! Grab a drink, grab a glass... after that I grab yo ass..." (there's actually a picture of him grabbing Amber's. Ha. Funny.)






It really was a messed up thing to do, and I do feel really bad for Taylor Swift. Her video was really cute & it's nice to see someone so young doing so well. Kanye was in the wrong...

But that being said, I'm still not surprised / I understand. Maybe the fame and all that catches up with people sometimes and they mess up. Actually, EVERYONE messes up. I mean, constantly living the GOOD LIFE and being blinded by all those FLASHING LIGHTS must make you a little crazy sometimes right?

He summed it up pretty well himself in "Can't Tell Me Nothing":

"... I feel the pressure, under more scrutiny
And what I do? Act more stupidly.
Bought more jewelry, more Louis V.
My momma couldn't get through to me.
The drama, people suing me.
I'm on TV talking like it's just you & me
I'm just saying how I feel, man.
I ain't one of the Cosbys, I ain't go to Hillman..."

I'm also sure y'all have heard that Obama called him a jackass (was supposed to be off the record or something). I'm sure people will get riled up about that. Whatever.





At least he apologized/talked about it immediately instead of going into hiding for a few days before someone could make up some super BS statement to put out.
Here's his apology on Jay Leno. (There's also one on his blog, but I haven't read it yet)






I think he really should've taken time after his mother passed away. Everything going on in his life is messing with his head... and making his life worse. I'm praying for you Kanye!

And a final congrats to Taylor for winning. I do actually like the song & video.

Lastly, RIP Patrick Swayze. Sorry I couldn't speak more on that topic, but it truly is very sad.



Leave your thoughts/comments/disagreements/whatevers!

Top 20 Favorite Common Songs

(Yay! Pictures that I actually own!)

From the March 9th concert in Providence, RI - Best birthday present ever.

I think it's entirely TOO HARD for me to pick my favorite song by Common Sense aka Lonnie Lynn Jr aka Common. I've been trying for a while. I've said Forever Begins was, for a while at least, just because I can listen to it at any time & keep it on repeat. I swear, I played it so much I nearly killed it when I first got Finding Forever.

So here I am at nearly 3am contemplating this & trying to figure out what the greatest Common song is and I can't really do it. I'm stuck with a 3-way tie for first... But here is a TENTATIVE list of my top 20 favorite ones. And this is just off the top of my head so I'm probably missing some good ones.

(Once again, let me just say that this is MY top 20 list... and of course, there will be differences in opinion).

1. Forever Begins

Sampled "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" by Paul Simon <- great song

1. Faithful - with John Legend & Bilal.

This is good for playing when you just wanna hear some nice music, but it's also good for when you're actually listening to lyrics/focusing. This. is. IT...

"I was rolling around, in my mind it occured: What if God was a her? Would I treat her the same? Would I still be running game on her? In what type of ways would I want her? Would I want her for her mind or her heavenly body? Couldn't be out gettin bogus with someone so godly. If I was with her, would I still be wanting my ex? The lies, the greed, the weed, the sex?"

1. They Say - Common + Kanye + John Legend = perfect for me...

"They say life is a game so I play hard, writing for my life cuz I'm scared of a day job..." I'm mad they have this video labeled as KANYE WEST though. Hm..

4. So Far to Go - with D'Angelo

Sampled "Don't Say Goodnight," one of my favorite Isley Brother's songs :)

5. Break My Heart

(this is where the numbering/order gets a little fuzzy... I'm not really sure about it!)

6. The People - with Dwele

4th one on the list so far from Finding Forever? Okaaaaay, get em..

7. Be

Short & sweet.. "... never looking back or too far in front of me, the present is a gift & it just wanna BE"

8. Come Close - with Mary J. Blige

Such a cute video, definitely on my list of favorites. I think people sleep on this song. I could be wrong, but from what I see/hear, they do. This is a really good one.

9. The Light

Samples "Open Your Eyes" by Bobby Caldwell... LOVE THAT SONG! And of course, this is probably one of Common's biggest songs (?) Yay. Love it.

10. Punch Drunk Love - with Kanye West & Pharrell

"Hey baby? Am I crazy? Or was you giving me the eye? ... You say maybe? Well you crazy. Because I know I'm too fly..."

This cd (Universal Mind Control) wasn't necessarily all that, but this is my song. Was my ringtone over winter break and after Rock the Bells I was compelled to do it again.

11. I Used to Love H.E.R.

YESSSSSS. I honestly don't even have anything else to say about it!

12. I Want You - with will.i.am.

Another Finding Forever song :) Cool video too.

13. Testify

Yup yup. Another good video (or 9 minute short film, haha).

14. Go - with Kanye West & John Mayer

3 of my favorite people together. This was probably my favorite Common song back when it first came out.

15. The Food - with Kanye West

Live version > studio version I believe.

16. The 6th Sense

Love this cd, Like Water For Chocolate. Great.

17. I Am Music - with Jill Scott

Okay, everyone HATES on Electric Circus... but Come Close & this song are so good that I don't even really mind.

18. Funky For You - with Bilal & Jill Scott

"...long as it's funkaaay..."

19. G.O.D. (Gaining One's Definition) - with Cee-Lo

20. Announcement - with Pharrell

From Resurrection: 1

From One Day It'll All Make Sense: 1

From Like Water For Chocolate: 3

From Be: 7

From Electric Circus: 2

From Finding Forever: 4

From Universal Mind Control: 2

New Song: Run This Town by Jay-Z + Kanye West + Rihanna

Download it HERE.

I personally don't really like it: Rihanna's voice is annoying in it and it's not really that great. But that's just me. What do you think?

*Update*

Okay I listened to it maybe 3 times and I officially don't like it. Rihanna has never been all that good to me, she's just had a couple of cool songs that I listened to when they were big/new. I don't ever think "Oh hey, I'm bored, let me go listen to a Rihanna song.." The last Rihanna (solo) song I listened to was in February... :( And that's only because I liked her back when she was new/had more hair/seemed more innocent. But WHATEVER. Her voice is just mad annoying on this track & she takes up most of the song, to be honest.

Now, about Jay-Z: I knew I wasn't crazy the other day when I said he wasn't all that. I've never really been into Mr. Carter that much... he's definitely had great songs & good albums, I probably would've been a huge fan if I listened to all of his old cds. I'm not saying he sucks but he isn't doing that much for me right now and I'm comfortable enough to say now that I don't really care much for him. And that I don't expect his cd to be all that.

Overall: a big thumbs down & a "womp womp" ... This is the 2nd womp related to Rihanna and also the 2nd one related to Kanye. Is that a sign? :/

NEW VIDEO: Make Her Say (Poke Her Face) by Kid Cudi ft. Kanye West & Common

The video is here now! Yay!
& My bad for the name mistake last time... I didn't know it was officially called "Make Her Say" now.. Whatever. All I know is, my man Common is looking good (as usual!). Remember: No one else could've pulled off performing in basketball shorts & a tshirt :)

*PREVIEW* New Video: Poke Her Face (Make Her Say) by Kid Cudi ft. Common & Kanye West

I didn't really like the song when I first heard it but it's growing on me... Maybe Kid Cudi in general needs to grow on me too. Hm... Anyway, it looks like it could be cute/good!

New Song: Whatever U Want by Consequence ft. Kanye West & John Legend

I'm slackin on my BET awards response... but soon enough!!

Anyway, new song: Consequence + Kanye + John Legend.

Download it HERE.

Listen to it / watch the random video I made here: