Aug 25 marks the 10 year anniversary of Aaliyah’s tragic death in 2001. Aaliyah would have been 32. So, in light of the modern-iconic urban songstress’ legacy let’s snap back to a classic track from her unforgettable 2001 release, Aaliyah. Press play, and rewind to a finer time… relax, and think back to all the things Babygirl could have grown up to be – but more importantly, the lasting impression of her current legacy.

The subterranean silk sleeper swag comes through best in the bombastic “I Can Be.” Beautiful, minimalistic piano plays off of Aaliyah’s lyrical sighs and echos before the raw industrial beat drops. Synths and guitars conversing like a 21st century futuristic dialogue between Charlie Brown’s wahh-wahh teacher’s bipolar selves, heavy deliberate bass beneath the precisely calculated snare and rasp of the delayed hi-hat, all building around the airy one minute/definitive the next vocals; all building to a subtly superlative peak before the track cuts.

Aaliyah Dana Haughton
(January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001)

Pop is pastiche at its finest; sometimes you need nothing more than to collect the right pieces and be the sound canvas. Half of Pop is creating the story, the other half is capturing the stars in that momentary align when the stories converge to recognize themselves

BlinkkIt: “When Yeezy met Ziggy”

It’s a god-awful small affair
To the girl with the mousy hair
But her friend is nowhere to be seen
Now she walks through her sunken dream
To the seat with the clearest view
And she’s hooked to the silver screen

But the film is a saddening bore
‘Cause she’s lived it ten times or more
She could spit in the eyes of fools
As they ask her to focus on

Sailors fighting in the dance hall
Oh man! Look at those cavemen go
It’s the freakiest show
Take a look at the Lawman
Beating up the wrong guy
Oh man! Wonder if he’ll ever know
He’s in the best selling show
Is there life on Mars?

Watch this space: If you open your ears, there’s no need to speak; just close your eyes, and blink the beat.

Nicki Minaj aka Onika Maraj aka Young Money Mistress aka #yougetthegist released the video for “Moment 4 Life” yesterday, which is the third single from her debut album Pink Friday. The clip takes stage as a modern fairy tale, featuring Mr. Young Money himself, Sir Drake, as Minaj’s knight in sullen armor.

Once upon a time there lived a king named Nicki. One day, while sitting on her throne, she received an enchanting visit from her fairy Godmother. She would remember that moment for life.

The video is very Nicki Minaj, very “Moment 4 Life,” very Pink Friday, very Drake, very Young Money – very veneer.

We meet Nicki in the boudoir of her own castle, she is the everything – the King, the Queen, the fairy Princess, the Fairy Godmother, and her own favorite company even in a crowd of guests. Yet at the same time, she’s not entirely any of those things. What’s interesting is that Nicki’s fairy tale is void of struggle or hardship: there is only the eternal eleventh hour with no looming midnight fall. There is no fragile glass slipper, only an unbreakable diamond stiletto. There are no evil stepmothers or sisters, just the soft-spoken Aubrey Graham. There is no infernal blaze or funeral only the fireworks overhead a royal matrimony.

Right now we meet Nicki at the helm of her career, she is her own everything – she is the King cover woman, she is Rolling Stone’s Queen of Hip-Hop, she’s the Princess of Pink Friday, and the matriarch of the Barbz Army; from Roman, to Nicki Minaj, to Onika, to Martha, to Rosa, to Nicki Theresa she represents a million faces – but seemingly all facades. She has built an entire empire off the costume and caricature – the influence of which, though debatable, is not to be denied. She continues to build on the mystique here; and reiterate that she’s no longer just an empress, but that she is expanding an empire from behind the mirage.

Minaj’s perfect world, consists of no reality – it is an alternate universe; in reality she came from a broken home, but here everything is whole – even if it is just a fleeting scene. Nicki’s moment is now, if she could stretch it forever what would she capture – a place void of that hardship and struggle, where you can bypass the bitter life and go straight sweet. There is no peaked career – or new-now-next hot hip-hop Queen Bee to Minaj her into a has-been, only an endless sea of Barbz. There is no iceberg to sink the Young Money ship, only Wayne’s troop and an ocean of possibilites. There is no competition in the realm of female emcess, just the boys – and she’s one of them. There is no fall of Roman’s empire, just a sky overhead from beneath the tiara, and behind the lenses of rose-color sunglasses.

Pop is just this: it’s a teenage dream, it is fantastical and false, it is narcissistic and naive, it is aspirational – even if it is illogical. This moment was necessary though; because what goes up must come down – and no matter how high the pilot, fly has yet to overcome Pop physics. Minaj remains on the brink of “it,” and with each passing single, feature, video, performance – anything – we seemingly edge closer to her core being, and peel away another layer of her artifice in pursuit of the artist’s identity. That journey is also becoming an endless rainbow ribbon from the pocket of a jester – but there’s only so much magic left to mask the matter. Eventually, the star will fade and another one will inevitably come to take Minaj’s place – but for this moment she’s captured “it” and all of whatever “it” means to be on the cusp. Maybe that’s the key, to remain forever on that bubble – because you can only break it once you make it… so if Nicki can remain “almost made,” her forever can’t fade…

At the end of the day this moment is still the nothing before you become a real made “something;” when you have nothing you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Once you become that somebody, all that’s left is to become a nobody. Perception versus reality is funny, because the perceived value can’t be depleted if it doesn’t exist – you can’t make something out of nothing, but you can make nothing out of something; and you can’t really perish if you never truly peaked… I’m really tryna make it more than what it is, cuz everybody dies but not everybody lives

Watch This Space: Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it… the moment isn’t always what it’s made out to be

She’s so Nicki… she’s a star… but she shines, shines, shines behind pillared bars thinking, “If Onika’s heartache’s missing in my life – then why do these fears come at night?”

Nicki Minaj’s “Moment 4 Life” is up for Best Collaboration at this year’s Video Music Awards. The show airs, Sunday, August 28 at 9 pm.

The YouTube/MySpace Star of the 2000s: ringtone rappers, polyphonic popsters, internet indie rockers, and hard-driven hipsters… you basement dwelling vlogophiles are the most beautiful dirty richest of all.

We do the dance right; we have got it made like ice cream topped with honey – but we got no money…

You do the dance right (to the bank), you’ve got it made like ice cream topped with honey (or just iced-out chains), but you got no money (debatable). To the handful of you who are making something out of nothing and generating wealth riches from webcam stardom: kudos – this playlist is for you

Soulja Boy – Superman that HEAUX OH! (The “Won’t Someone Please Think of The Children?!” Remix)

Me plus you (I’ma tell you one time) [x3] <– or three
When I met you girl my heart went knock knock
Now them butterflies in my stomach won’t stop stop
Justin Bieber - Talent… lyrical deft… the trickle down effect in action #ohhighsouljaboy

Esmee Denters – “Outta Here” #youbethejudge

It was back in ’99, watchin movies all the time
Oh, when I went away for doing my first crime
And I never thought that we was gonna see each other … and then I discovered MySpace
Sean Kingston – #friendswithinternet #seekmethroughthescreen

It starts in my toes and I crinkle my nose
Where ever it goes I always know
that you make me smile
Please stay for a while now,
Just take your time, where ever you go
Colbie Caillat – Oh, young love lyrical romances… pass the strawberries and dot-com bubbly

Lily. Allen.

Fear not, all isn’t lost in the MySpace generation; for the ten thousand Tila Tequilas there is Lily Allen: the reason, that just so happens to rhyme with silly.

#watchthisspace

Chocolate Rain
No one wants to hear about it now
Chocolate Rain
Wish real hard it goes away somehow
Chocolate Rain
Zoom the camera out and see the light

LectroLips: legally one part Anthony Edwards, one part Leo Tarring; sonically one part Depeche Mode, one part Daft Punk, a splash of 80s discotech, rolled around in glitter synth, sprinkled with startrails, served on cosmic vintage and you’ve got the pastry Euro-Pop sounds of Ant & Leo – say ello. They hail from across the pond with distinct sounds of heavy drum machine percussion, aerial synths, arcade FX to fight The Arcade Fire, and vocoder tones reminiscent of a late-80s danceteria. The duo released their 5-track EP “Exempt from Classification” late last year and it is an ace spin for anyone looking for a fresh twist on a sweet pop standard.

The EP finds itself lost in trance nation; pristine production blends ambient effects, echoing vocals, rollercoaster reverb, and a steady bassline in “Ordinary Conversation.” The track begs for a niche in a gapless LP, with its heart of an 80s beat, and soul of a 70s endless disco wonder. Sounds of cascading crescendos, new wave tempos, and liquid vocoder-laden I don’t want ordinary conversation, I can’t for music to begin call over the bridges like a starry-eyed surprise.

Personal favorite is the robo-candy-coated “This Record Sound.” The track plays like a Studio54 staple: from the kitschy dime-a-dozen pickup lyrics “My love is killer, and it is going to hunt you down; I’m like a tiger, baby can’t you hear me growl?” you can’t help but imagine hearing at the bar – over some vodka tonics, and possibly some equally-enticing, yet likely contraband lines – to the sheer energy of champagne glam disco dance scenes. The song builds from cold vocals, into steady strobe synth layers and four-on-the-floor beats; the tempo maintains beneath ascending effects, before the beautiful fade at two minutes. Suddenly, but seamlessly, the track cruises into stratospheric with aural layers aligning like stars in intergalactic sonic suspension. Your body tastes just like this record sound: delicious; I like to discoteque on a Friday night on the dancefloor; our bodies break a sweat on a Friday night on the dancefloor: dance we shall, body DJ.

LectroLips are a candy-coated escapade through music before the age of artificial sugars, served on a vinyl platter in a Splenda kind of world. Ant & Leo put together a medley for the contempo cosmic dancers, where they can daydream and nightscape to their electro-pop hearts’ content. Two funky white boys making Euro-dance music, rocking tanks, ties, denim, and Don Draper-originals, sounding well-good all the while… well, that’s just exempt from classification – yet just the cause and remedy for Saturday night fever.

DOWNLOAD: LectroLips – “Exempt from Classification” EP

#watchthisspace

Transatlantic treats on Parade this humpday – literally! A one Mister Brolley Genster dropped this spicy-in-a-safe-way (read: passable, but seems to still be missing the Ginger) English Muffin on my virtual doorstep this morning.

Meet Parade: the latest set of girls allowed entrance into the realm of Euro-sugarbaby pop melody makers – delve

Snap: Tastes Like – Mild Spice Girls base, a hint – a hint – of Hammer Pants (because a hint is still too much), add a light layer of Ke$ha glitter filth, balloons, wrap with Miranda Cosgrove/Selena Gomez/Demi Lovato/Victoria Justice/ambiguous-brunette-tween-star-of-your-choice wardrobe, Katy Perry (the hot-and-cold adidas-house-party/teenage-dream swirl), set on a United Colors of Benneton photo shoot, add some general US-friendly UK Pop veneers – and voila! You’ve got the ‘Loudest’ Parade of teen pop stars since the last girl group that came through… While it’s here, just sit back and enjoy the ease of it all… and the double-black-diamond deja vu of instant nostalgia gone Groundhog’s Day #storyofpoplife