"Def Jam...tells you who I am" - Public Enemy
Tonight, I got the chance to watch the 2009 VH1 Hip Hop Honors...Def Jam Records 25. So for those who didnt see it, wanted to see it or saw it and didnt really feel it (and how couldnt you), Ima break it down with the real. You already know I got issue with the way some of this shit was done.
Being a real hip hop head, I was kinda hyped up to see the show. I mean think about it, from 1984 until the day the show was taped Def Jam (as was stated in the program) is the longest and most established rap label of all time. The catalogue has got to be the best collection of music outside of the complete Motown, The Beatles and Michael Jackson. With a line up that reads like the New York Yankees of Rap, Jay Z, LL Cool J, Ludacris, DMX, Ja Rule, Chrisette Michelle you would expect one of the greatest shows ever created and broadcasted. Well Ima give you the Good, Bad, and the Ugly of it all.
First of all.... THE GOOD.
Public Enemy - Chuck D still got it, the energy was high and the funny part about it (which could be listed under the bad) was they were the second act to perform. Flav did his usual and even though he has done many reality shows from The Surreal Life to Flavor of Love 1, 2, and 3 his real love is the stage, and he was all over it.
EPMD - Even though they only did one verse of "The Crossover' it was hella good to see these guys on stage again and gettin so much love from the crowd. During the performance you could see Russell Simmons' face and he had that "Damn, we need to put those cats back out" look on his face. PMD still rockin a fisherman's hat and it was all Business As Usual.
ONYX - Yes, these dudes reunited for the event and did their biggest hit "Slam" and went clean off. Freddro Starr, Sonny Cheeba, and Sticky Fingaz threw down like they had just released that song and hadnt been on TV Shows from Moesha to Law and Order. And when Sticky did his verse standing on top of a speaker just sent it over the top.
Method Man and Redman - The Cheech and Chong of Rap did their hit song "Da Rockweiler" from the Blackout cd and were really on some high energy, the only thing that pissed me off was since the song was so short, I would have perferred to hear "How High" either as a capper of as the main joint... but I digress. Reggie Noble still knows how to command the stage and the mic. He shoulda done a solo song too. LOL
The vignettes were hot and they put a lot of historic perspective to what the idea behind the label, the hustle in the label, and who and what made it as successful as it is.
THE BAD
The Gym Class Heroes and the Legendary Roots Crew were the "house band" and even though they held it together, IMO it was overkill. GCH should have just made an appearance and got ghost. I do understand that alot of the early Def Jam songs were guitar driven, but dude was way extra....sheesh
Tracy Morgan...VH1 needs to find another host for these joints. Nothin about him says hip hop except his New York accent and if you ask me I think its overdone. He tries to hard. I would have rathered LL Cool J being the host, especially since he was the labels first HIT artist, but he sorta had to be there to host...which brings me to this.
NO SHOWS! No LL Cool J, No Slick Rick, No Kanye, and No Jay Z. You mean to tell me that your biggest and best known acts dont perform. LL was in a video clip, recounting how he got in with the label. It was a humorous story and laid the foundation for the night (cause it showed hellafied hustle and perseverance) The shitty part was that Black Thought from The Roots and Eminem performed Radio. WTF!!!! Fabolous performs "I'll Be" with Foxy Brown (who looked like she had a breast job and robbed Lady Gaga off stage) and Wale does Kayne's "Touch The Sky"...I was waiting on him to jump on stage and holla..."Wale, Ima let you finish, but I had the greatest version of this song of ALL TIME...I know wishful thinking. If you can get Proffesor Griff and the S1W's, Ghostface Killah, and Ja Rule to come out of witness protection then why not have Jay, LL, and Kanye to show their faces, and Slick Rick was just honored by VH1 last year or year before last so I know they still had a contact number....
Warren G and Trey Songz doin "Regulator" it really is a classic with NATE DOGG on it, not Trey Songz... and Rick Ross doin "Hustlin'" like it came out yesterday. White folk are so gullible. He really had them rockin like he just released that song and nobody knew that was his first single.
THE UGLY
The outfit Foxy Brown had on...dont get me wrong I have been appreciating Inga's style and her figure since day 1, but she needs to sue whoever ruined the best set of breast in hip hop, (whether it was a plastic surgeon, a baby, or some wack dude) and whomever decided to put that ugly ass outfit she had on. The top looked like a matador cape on top of a BBW swimsuit with a Daffy Duck feather skirt.
Rick Ross' outfit... when you that big and that dark, you shouldnt wear red, and definitely not a floppy red Kangol hat either. He looked like Grimace from McDonald's evil twin or something.
VH1 played the guess who card to the hilt too. How many times did they mention Rihanna?? Where was she? NOT THERE...thats her label too. Chris Brown was nowhere close to being in the building. Whats up with that VH1? You pulled a BET crackhead move with that one. Then they kept movin Rick Rubin in the balconey. First he was sitting next to Russell Simmons, then he was sittin next to Lyor Cohen, and Kevin Lyles moved next to Russell. Then they had him sittin in between Chris Rock and some former EVP chick. What in the hell was Chris Rock doin sittin on the first row anyway. What the hell was up with Eve and her outfit? Lil bitty black dress that rode up erytime she took a step.
All that aside it was a good show...
Posted by the Insomniaq, chillin in a B-boy stance
Morning family,
Last night, I was witness to a true once in a lifetime event. Industry Influence 22 (aiight it happens once a month, but not like this) was totally off the chain. There was the usual hobknobbin and networking goin on, and Go DJ EF Cuttin on the ones and twos...but the moment of the night was when "The Biggest Mama" Mia X showed up and showed out for the spotlight section.
Mia (a personal friend for at least 21 years) told her story... from New York Inc. (Shout out to Denny, Mannie, Wop, and Shorty) to her recording The Payback with Diamond and DJ Bigg Cheez (Psychoward DJ's), to her non commital relationship with Master P and No Limit Records. Did you know that she was a major part in over 60 MILLION records sold worldwide? A true showstopper out that 7th Ward. How many female emcee's can say that huh?
She went on to discuss her future plans, she has a reality show with R&B Singer (and my cousin) Monica, a show of her own that she is developing where she goes out and finds those with talent. This isnt an American Idol type deal but the twist is... these folks are addicts. She wants to get them treatment, get em clean, and offer the oppty to record a song and maybe get outta that rut they are stuck in. She also, spoke on her activism as the need for Federal Aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina and the way tables turned when other tragedies in other parts of the country had "disasters" and what they felt like when they needed help...
Mia also spoke on her place in Hip Hop and how she and the genre broke up several times but she always went back to it..now thats love. My highlight of the event was photographing a mini No Limit Reunion with Mia, KLC and Moby Dick (from Beats by the Pound) and Mr. Serv On. And even though I have connections with all of them that span at least 15 years, its always like the first time with them. Now if I could only get them in front of my camera on a location and shoot some images, I can kick off this book project just the right way... Shouts out to Wild Wayne and Sess 4-5 for continuing to put on these events and helping in the progress and archiving of New Orleans music, culture, and legacies
At anyrate pictures to come...
photo courtesy of fotogrphx photography ©2009
"March 8 to 5...aw ya damn bastards" - Edwin H. Hampton
Today is a sad day in the city of New Orleans, one of its greatest Mardi Gras legends is no more... Edwin H. Hampton, founder of the St. Aug Marching 100 has passed away at the age of 81 after a lengthy illness. He has been the band director at St Aug since 1952 the year after the school opened.
I personally didnt go to the Aug (even though I always get associated with them), but my younger brother did and played in the band, So in an indirect way I had some interaction with him. "Hamp" as he was affectionately known has lead the band in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in New York, the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California. The band played at Pope John Paul's visit to New Orleans in 1987, at least 8 US Presidents and numerous Super Bowl appearences. But most importantly (to New Orleanians) the big boy Mardi Gras parades...Endymion, Bacchus, and Rex...
My fondest memories of Hamp were definitely the Good Friday fish fry at the school. It was always crowded and he always took the time out to speak to everyone there, even if you had a mouth full of food (or vice versa). He will definetly be missed by the Saint Augustine High School family, alumni, his beloved band members, and the 7th ward. He will miss all of them too. Its gonna be kinda strange goin to the Aug / 35 football game in a couple of weeks and not see him with that scowl on his face, but the legacy of Hamp will live on... This second line may be bigger than the one for Michael Jackson...LOL. I gotta be there for that one, and I dont even much like second lines like all that.
Posted by the Insomniaq..i might have to pick up my horn to see if I still got it
[to Batman] Come on, I want you to do it, I want you to do it. Come on, hit me. *Hit me!* -Heath Ledger as the Joker - Dark Knight 2008
There are actors and actresses that put on a performance that embodies a career, one way or the other. You got Denzel Washington in Training Day, Jamie Foxx in Ray, Robert DeNiro in Ragin' Bull, or on the other slope Eddie Murphy in the Adventures of Pluto Nash and The Govenator in Kindergarten Cop (its not a tuuuuuumer). The one that will forever stay in the forefront of my mind is the Heath Ledger in the Dark Knight.
I have seen the Dark Knight about 8 or 9 times now. I first saw it at the theaters so I got the first hand big screen experience that had me as well as others awestruck. Now if you are a comic book head (i used to be real deep into em), you would know that Ledger played The Joker so close to the bone, that if you didnt know it was an act, that dude was really a crazed clown faced super villian.
As I watched maybe around the 3rd time, I noticed that he took elements from the comics Joker as well as the overtly campy Ceaser Romero from the TV series and Jack Nicholson's version from the original movie playing opposite of Michael Keaton. The Dark Knight's arch enemy was a dark, cold, and calculating son of a bitch, with no conscious, no compassion, and without a doubt no fear. The character in the 60's TV show was so corny that you just had to laugh at him and speakin of laughs, I found that in Heath's character. Along with the dark heartedness of Nicholson's Joker. It was the best rendition of any comic book villian ever, with Jim Carrey's Riddler a distant second. (Unless Johnny Depp, gets cast in that role for the next installment). Ledger rolled the best attributes of his predecessors (and probably mixed in a couple of prescription / non prescription street grade narcodics into one).
Its a shame that the talented Australian has died, cause I could actually see him reprising that role in a later Dark Knight epic. There will never be another person to play this part. He put his stamp on it and anyone that dares to play it will fail greatly. No one will ever be able to recreate the "disappearing pencil gag", stuff a grenade in a bank managers mouth, or pull off robbin all the gangsters in Gothem of their money and tell em that they can have it back for a "small fee". While talkin to Det. Stephans he said, "Do you want to know why I use a knife? Guns are too quick. You can't savor all the... little emotions. In... you see, in their last moments, people show you who they really are. So in a way, I know your friends better than you ever did. Would you like to know which of them were cowards? " or explaining his physical appearance...or when he had a knife to the inside of Gambol's mouth, "Wanna know how I got these scars? My father was... a drinker. And a fiend. And one night he goes off crazier than usual. Mommy gets the kitchen knife to defend herself. He doesn't like that. Not-one-bit. So - me watching - he takes the knife to her, laughing while he does it! Turns to me, and he says, "why so serious, son?" Comes at me with the knife... "Why so serious?" He sticks the blade in my mouth... "Let's put a smile on that face!" Even though I know someone wrote these lines, Ledger OWNED them, he had me wondering if he was really The Clown.
This has got to be one of the greatest performances ever caught on film. It ranks IMO with Gene Hackman in the French Connection, Marlon Brando in The Godfather, and every rappers favorite Al Pacino in Scarface. All memorable because they were characters that were so "lifelike", torn, and had such strong personalities that you really forget you are watchin a movie. Well I'm glad the Dark Knight is on DVD and I got a copy (I wont never open it, cause its gonna be worth something one day....you watch). Im also glad that the Academy of Arts and Sciences (the people that hold the Oscar awards) recognized a great performer and awarded him posthumorously with the Award for Best Supporting Actor (I think he was the lead actor anyway, Bale just happened to be the title character). Well done my good man and may your eternal rest be a peaceful one...at least you got to live down that Brokeback Mountain shit (no homo)
Here's my card....LOL!!!!
PENCIL GO BYE BYE
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Congratulations Nigga! Good Post
