Most of us are familiar with the Jay-Z & Kanye West “Throne” takeover, which in itself practically attained an all-inclusive zenith of hip-hop history. For Jay and ‘Ye purists like myself, there’s no question as to whether or not “N*ggas in Paris” was the main attraction of both the Watch the Throne album and tour. The entirety of the song – the concept, the hype, the in-your-face bombastic beat – epitomized the Throne in its grandiose of imperial hypnotism.
I wonder if Bey practices Tai-Chi… #kanyeshrug Even if they don’t understand the flow… #heypapi #litrally
I don’t like Football. I, like the other 3 million extra people tuned into to the Super Bowl just for the halftime show. And to see Madonna. On the eve of her 12th album, if you study numerology you’d understand that significance, and her re-entry into American Pop Culture, this was her magnum opus on stilettos and gold. But the response was anything but celebratory.
Live fast, die young… #badgirlsdoitwell… Maya Arulpragasm – like the Mayans – had it right… even when wrong:
Good music speaks volumes… rather than impose analysis, step back and expose linguistic artistry… why critique that which has achieved perfection at its own masterful conception… listen, look, and linger in fantastic rhythmic reality: lyrically speaking
As much the Four Evangelists as they are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Britney, Jay-Z, Kanye, and GaGa – our proud and prestigious pillars of Pop – stood tall and held rapturous court this year as the cause and cure for our ailing culture…
The modern music industry’s Mitochondrial Eve returns with a fervor to prove – once again – that despite all patriarchal restrictions and destruction: she who bears the womb… the forever battlefield, and said burden… is she who is best equipped to commandeer the cultural revolution. Who rev the world? Girls.
I’m sitting here about to get my next tattoo at a popular tattoo shop in downtown Atlanta. This next tattoo is the one with the most meaning. It’s maktub. Maktub is Arabic for ‘it was written’. A strong, spiritual sentiment that eludes many to think of faith and destiny, all heavy religious concepts automatically once the denotation is learned. I picked up the phrase from one of my favorite books, The Alchemist. But I’m getting it tattooed on me. So, a religious thought is becoming a fashionable trivial decoration on my body. This trend is not rare in our society. I’m participating in seemingly the bastardization of a sacred world. Making things that are of God be also in vogue, no matter what the eventual results may be. Even when those results are most commonly breaking the sacred and holy.
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Little Robots: How Our Generation of Young Business People Are Trying to Kill Themselves Before 2012
Just like any other year, 2011 was a musical hodgepodge. We had our queen bees and our wanna be’s, our good, bad, ugly, uglier, and everything in between. I don’t want to give too much away, but let’s just say this year brought the tears, the pain, the Acid, and the rain. And then of course, there was “Ni**as in Paris.” On that note, I’ll leave you with the music. Ladies and Gentleman, the Soundtrack of 2011:
If Miami had a beat, Urban Noize produced it. After years of tirelessly remixing tracks by the best artists in Urban and Pop Music, the Miami-based twin producer duo has perfected their version of the Mash Up.
