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.
Live fast, die young… #badgirlsdoitwell… Maya Arulpragasm – like the Mayans – had it right… even when wrong:
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…
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.
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.
FAMEKILL$, a conceptual mixtape presented by GREATeclectic & Swiper Bootz which, intertwines the music of Kanye West & Lady GaGa is finally available for free download now.
Graduation is that “October Song” masterpiece: a piece of art that needs no external interpretation because it is complete in and of itself. At the most superficial and benign level, Kanye is Alec Trebeck and Graduation is Jeopardy: a series of answers engaging you to question. It is a fact that when immersed in the surreal, people’s ability to make sense of the world around them is increased. The fragmented fantastical enhances our ability to connect themes and build structure — when given fantasy we are best equipped to perceive reality. Thus is Kanye’s Graduation. An artist of West’s caliber is beyond “this world;” his ability to connect words, ideas, art forms, the abstract and concrete is unreal. Nowhere is this more present than in his masterful encapsulation of modern life – above and below: Graduation.
The Carrie Bradshaw Syndrome: Is Narcissism Directly Connected to Quality of Art?
I love “Sex and the City.” I’m just going to throw that out there right now, because it is true and there is no point in denying it, especially within the context of this article. I am a gay man so it may not come as a huge surprise to many, though there are many gay critics of the show, especially of the Brooklyn hipster persuasion (don’t be offended, you know it’s true). Though I enjoy the show’s many episodes and movies (the second one not so much), there are certain aspects of the show that I find irritating, based mostly on the fact that they exaggerate aspects of New York City life dramatically. Being a former New Yorker, I can safely say that my days and weeks were not filled with gallery openings and fabulous dinners at chic new restaurants. Life in New York was hard, albeit fabulous, despite my limited means.
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