Music & Me: New Amerykah, Pt. 2: Return of the Ankh

I'm not gonna GUSH about how much I loves me some Erykah! I dig the skin I'm in, but she takes it to a whole other level!

Originally I had planned to go to a store and buy the album so i could have the cover art and liner notes, etc. Then as her CD was caaaaaallin me, I looked it up on iTunes and discovered that it came with a digital booklet, HURRAH! I downloaded, took a deep breath and began to listen. That was an hour or so ago... and I am still listening, only on the second go round, but here are my thoughts... FYI, I WROTE these down on a notepad as I listened...

Music & Me: Can I Get a Window Seat?

Some of you may or may not know that Erykah Badu has an album coming out tomorrow.
First of all let me say the cover art is DOPE! I mean that! I'd like a poster of it to frame & hang!

courtesy of rnbmusicblog.com

Over the weekend, the incomparable Miz Badu released her video for Window Seat. I watched it with my mouth open WIDE!

The video is filmed in fuzzy old school news footage style and consists solely of Erykah walking through Downtown Dallas removing her clothes. In the end, she is "assasinated" and the words "GROUP THINK" appear in her purple/blue blood as she is there completely naked on the ground. The camera pans around & comes back & she is wearing nothing but a Rick James-esque braid wig, like the one below... only nuder lol:

Here is a youtube link I found for it. Or you can go to http://www.erykahbadu.com/ and see it there then check what I have to say about it below, ok? ok!

The video begins with the news report from the day Kennedy was shot in Downtown Dallas and ends with spoken word from Badu about Group Think and assasination of "what they do not understand". In the song, she is saying she wants to get away, but only if she will be missed. In the video, she is stripping down her layers and killed once she is bare. Hmmmmm...

*sidnote* on Twitter over the weekend she explained that this video was shot in one take, guerilla style... and people were really IGNORING her sans one man that was picking up the clothes she dropped and folksoff-camera shouting at her. But hardly anyone ON CAMERA is paying her any mind. It was an interesting implied commentary on society, I think.

I can dig it. I can't wait for the album to drop tomorrow, but I need the CD, cover art and all, so I will be brick & mortaring it at some point tomorrow lol. I admit I wasn't digging the anger of the first in the New Amerykah trilogy, but I do own it out of support for someone I see as a great artist!

Now with all that said, I too fell victim to the male mindset because when she was in her skivvies my first thought was "DAAAAAAANG, shegottadonk!" And to watch her move made me feel good about what I got goin on over here, empowered even, because it looked so majestic moving in semi slow motion, but I digress. Great video, great concept and SHAME on those that cannot discuss anything else about it other than her backside!

So, what say you all? I'd love to hear what you think...

GOP, You're DESPICABLE!

I just read in the Huffington Post that the Republican members of Congress are refusing to work after 2 PM because Health Care Reform was passed thanks to reconciliation. Reconciliation has been used in the past by the GOP to pass three tax cuts which lead to a LARGE deficit during the Bush Administration. This is the first time that reconciliation has been use to pass a bill such as this healthcare bill. Clinton vetoed 2 reconcilliations during his terms in office to prevent a deficit.

Remember the Debt clock was shut down twice. Once during the Clinton Administration because it was ticking in REVERSE! and once during the Bush Administration to make room for ANOTHER digit!

Now, with all that said, what is WRONG with this country? People weren't this adamant about sending our children off to die in a war based on incorrect information. But they are threatening people's lives because they are pro life or against a bill that helps keep people alive. Does anyone else see the irony in this? Ok, so it's just ME? cool!

Not knowing all the nuances of the bill, the one thing that I CAN side with the detractors on is that health insurance is mandatory. If you don't want to have health insurance... I don't care as long as I don't have to foot the bill. On the flip side, if you cannot afford healthcare and need a little help from your fellow Americans I'm all for it. I'm also all for the revisions being made to the healthcare system that for SO long has been denying SO many coverage, or offering them coverage at EXORBITANT rates or denying them appeals and such. But what about these self-serving, selfish people that are threatening people's lives over a few dollars that they won't even miss?

WOW, I digress... ok... where was I? oh yeah...

GOP, STAND UP!

This is not a neighborhood pick up game. You cannot just take your ball and go home! You have a responsibility to AMERICA to work together to get things done. You can't just fold your arms and stand in the corner pouting. This is way immature, and way way stupid. You refused to play ball, so they played without you. It's been happening to the Dems for a while now, so how does it feel? I also want to know how it feels to see your constituency acting like lunatics. The refusal of the Republican party to take a FIRMER stance on the foolishness is repulsive. It's equivalent to a child TEARING through a store climbing on things, smashing things, going nuts. And the mother comes over & says quietly to him: "I know you are upset, but this is a no-no." Ummm that's not gonna work. Sometimes you have to grab the child's arm & lead him firmly out of the store to the parking lot and raise your voice so they KNOW you mean business... SHAKE HIM if you have to, but for goodness sake get control over your child!

But how can I expect such behavior from a group who themselves are acting like children? The funniest part about all of this is that it was originally John McCain's threat that if healthcare reform passed due to reconciliation, the GOP would withhold consent to continue meetings. Yet, John McCain himself seemed to have forgotten that and gave his consent for an Armed Services Committee meeting. HA!

Democracy is once again being held back thanks to the GOP... Goofy Old Pouters. Get over it! :-P

Miami Miami MIAMI!- a very summed up summary

Let me start by saying that I have been to Miami/South Beach a FEW times. My girl has been before, BUT only with her family. And her cousin had never been. So I was really excited about them really EXPERIENCING South Beach! So, with that said, let me continue where I last left off:

Friday night, we CRASHED... I crashed majorly hardT and woke up early Saturday fully dressed &; in make-up. Shame Shame SHAME!  I washed my face immediately when I woke up, and then went right back to the futon for more sleep! Once everyone else got up, we put on some clothes & headed to breakfast. Cafe Millano was AWESOME and inexpensive. I had the best Eggs Benedict i had ever had in my life... ok so it was the ONLY eggs benedict I'd ever had, so?

Then it was BEACHTIME! We were sprawled out on the beach for HOURS... enjoying the sites and sun

 As LOVELY as it looks, the water was WAY cold!

Just a FEW clouds in the sky.

Moon over Miami!

After a few hours in the sun, we head back in to shower, change & EAT! BBQ Beach was on point! Despite not having any cornbread, our waiter made up for it in adorable looks and GREAT personality. We went to a rooftop party that was a lil bit boring so we took pictures & vamoosed to Ocean Drive. My friend's cousin had never been to Wet Willie's so we took here there. She didn't even come CLOSE to finishing her drink! We sat out & people-watched some more and called it a day. In between we met some great people & such, but because I am giving you all the VERY summed up summary, I won't bore you with all of that...

For Brunch on Sunday we went to Big Pink & got HORRIFIC service... *sigh* SUCH a disappointment because it was suggested that we go there... :( The food was just ok & it gave us enough fuel to get to Bayside to shop. We attempted to take the bus there, but it was taking too long, so we hopped a cab. Onthe way there, I was called by a friend of mine offering us tickets to Jazz in the Gardens, Tom Joyner's event. But we weren't prepared for that so we graciously declined. I was a little disappointed we couldn't got, but that was well made up for later...

We had fabo gelato by the water & perused the stores. I got a text from my friend saying that my R&B boo, Eric Roberson, would be doing a set at a venue on South Beach that evening. I was OVER THE MOON! We continued to shop & laugh & such... and then hopped a bus back to South Beach where we made friends with a blind guy that was happy to hear that we were so happy... lol

We perused Lincoln Road and had sushi near the fountain... GREAT TIMES! We got all jiggy fly & went to B.E.D. for our last night.

Peep the sweet feet!

The AWESOME promoter for the event gave us sweet seats for one of the most EARGASMIC shows I've ever experienced... Eric Roberson intimate & acoustic?!?!?!?!! *fans self*

This was the setup: And babyyyyyyy, when I tell you that thing was ah-may-zen!?!? Trust & believe I am not lyin or exaggeratin! That guitarist was great!

A PERFECTLY awesome ending to a PERFECTLY awesome vacay...

VACATION SHOUT OUTS

Shouts out to The Nassau Suite Hotel for the awesome upgrade & the cool staff! But most of all for the room that felt so much like home that we called it that!

There was a BIG living room too, but there are people in all the pics, so I left those out, HA!

And let's not forget the GREAT food:

Bar-B-Que Beach

Caffe Milano

Bongo's Cuban Cafe

Sushi Siam

T-Mex

Groovy's Pizza

And last but definitely not least D Mo, Erro & Ingrid B. for helping us end the vacation with a BOOM, POW, BANG!

Bienvenido A Miami!- A Picture Blog

So, I'm here now! and Apparently Miami looks goooood on ME!

Friday the girls and I put our sweet feet to the street.

And we have seen some sights!!!  Good, bad and uglay!

THE GOOD: A new shirtless bonus:

We met some guys on Ocean Drive that were WAY younger than us, but WAY into us.... so cute... sounds like my LAST trip to Miami... *giggles*

THE BAD:

Operation Desert Storm??

THE UGLY: 

orange leather skin???

We've scooped up some prime people-watching real estate and took in the energy!

No plans for the day & that's just fine with us! Maybe the beach, maybe Bayside... *shrug* Who knows, who cares... I'm on vacation #1. Day 1- IN THE BOOKS...  Day 2 starts... NOW!

Hey Cookie, Where are the curvy women?

So I get an email from Neiman Marcus about CJ by Cookie Johnson. I had heard that Mrs. Magic Johnson was designing jeans for women with hips and backsides, supposedly. But when I open the email, that's NOT what I see! Who are these stick figures? So I click on the ad, hoping to see "curvy women" on the website... but NOPE... more sticks in jeans. FAIL FAIL FAIL! Seriously, where are THIS chick's curves???

The "New Face" of Terrorism?

She called herself "JihadJane" and she recruited people via internet and by flying all over the WORLD to meet with them... and so on and so forth. She went "undetected" for so long, why? Well according to the awesome blog: Stuff White People Do because people failed to see "the wolf in white sheep's clothing". Because she had blonde hair and blue eyes she remained under the radar. Her name and appearance made her an unlikely suspect for a terrorist act because she didn't look like a "terrorist"?

What does a terrorist look like though? Apparently just non-white. The Nigerian underwear bomber wasn't labeled a "new face" yet he also looked nothing like the 9/11 terrorists who apparently are the "old face" of terrorism or THE face of terrorism?  So I guess anyone non-white with a muslim or arabic name can EASILY be identified as a terrorist. And in JihadJane's case she was a muslim so I guess that's why she was slapped with the terrorist label but not the IRS airplane guy or the Pentagon shooter?

What say you?

Lil Mama Moment: He Said, She Said...

In case you missed it because you were doing something more interesting like painting your toes, picking your nose or watching paint dry, Black history was made at the Oscars. Mo'Nique won Best Supposrting actress and was the first Black woman to win the statue for a movie written and directed by Black people. But one great moment in Black history was overshadowed by pure shenanigans from a Mrs. Garrett look alike with a big yap and an agenda, apparently. Now the reason I call it a Lil Mama Moment is because she jumped up on stage like she was supposed to be there & like Lil Mama was caught up in the excitement of the moment... Plus, I don't like KW lol

SHE SAID: What happened was the director and I had a bad difference over the direction of the film that resulted in a lawsuit that has settled amicably out of court. But there have been all these events around the Oscars, and I wasn’t invited to any of them. And he’s not speaking to me. So we weren’t even able to discuss ahead of the time who would be the one person allowed to speak if we won. And then, as I’m sure you saw, when we won, he raced up there to accept the award. And his mother took her cane and blocked me. So I couldn’t get up there very fast.

The movie was my idea. I live in Zimbabwe. Roger had never even heard of Zimbabwe before I told him about this. And you know, I felt my role in this has been denigrated again and again, and it wasn’t going to happen this time.

I SAY: SIT DOWN, TRICK! If things were settled amicably then, why would you not: know who was going to be "allowed to speak"? or be invited to anything having to do with the Oscars? or allegedly be blocked in by his mother?

I am not even going to get into her living in Zimbabwe or WHY! But to insult this guy and say he had never heard of Zimbabwe is basically calling him uneducated. In which case, why would you even want to WORK with him? this whole thing reads like a crazy old cat lady rant!

HE SAID: Only one person is allowed to accept the award. I was the director, and she was removed from the project nearly a year ago, but she was able to still qualify as a producer on the project, and be an official nominee. But she was very angry — she actually removed herself from the project – because she wanted more creative control.


I SAY: That was exactly how it looked. And even if she IS telling the truth, her actions just seem fishy. Either way, it was VERY poor taste on HER part to jack the mic. But very noble of him to smile and acquiesce.

Whoever was right or wrong, lying or telling the truth, Kanye or Taylor Swift, Lil Mama or Jay-Z... the whole thing was a confusing mess! I hope they can work this out MORE amicably!

Naomi Campbell- Rich Girl!

Hall & Oates had a little ditty about Rich Girl's back in the day that went a little something like:

You're a rich girl, and you've gone too far

'Cause you know it don't matter anyway

You can rely on the old man's money

You can rely on the old man's money

It's a bxtch girl and it's gone too far

'Cause you know it don't matter anyway

Say money but it won't get you too far,

Get you too far

High and dry, out of the rain

It's so easy to hurt others when you can't feel pain

And don't you know that a love can't grow

'Cause there's too much to give, 'cause you'd rather live

For the thrill of it all, oh

And Gwen Stefani also had a tune about it that went a little something like:

If I was a rich girl (na, na....)
See, I'd have all the money in the world, if I was a wealthy girl
No man could test me, impress me, my cash flow would never ever end
Cause I'd have all the money in the world, if I was a wealthy girl

Think what that money could bring
I'd buy everything
Clean out Vivienne Westwood
In my Galliano gown
No, wouldn't just have one hood
A Hollywood mansion if I could
Please book me first-class to my fancy house in London town

And as Naomi Campbell avoids another assault charge, I'm starting to believe that she is INDEED a Rich Girl and that money IS getting her FAR away from reality. While not all of the Hall & Oates lyrics apply to Naomi, the Gwen Stefani song fits her to a tee. No one can test her, not an assistant, not a limo driver, not a police officer... Hold on wait, she assaulted the police and didn't do any time?? In 2008, she assaulted TWO officers in Heathrow Airport and got off with a little fine and 200 hours of community service. Had this been NayNay Campbell from The Bronx assaulting the po-po, she'd be AGGRESSIVELY subdued and in jail for-e-verrrrr, for-e-verrr!

But no no no, this is The Grande Diva Naomi Campbell, Queen of the Catwalk and La Bella Boheme Du Monde (not to mention, arguably, the most recognizable BLACK face in fashion). Though her charges were dropped because the limo driver refused to press charges, what message is this sending? Get rich, act a fool, maul a lesser-than, and stroll off into the sunset. With a life like this, how could you not attack anyone that annoyed you, did you wrong or just had a dumb look on their face? When I grow up, I don't want to be rich, I want to be Naomi Campbell!

Trying Some New Things

I did a lil bit of a redesign.... it needs some work, but I'll keep it for now.

I'm doing something with an RSS feed and not sure how it's gonna work out because I am new to this web 2.0 lol...

Let me know what you think or how YOU can help a sister out... lol

Grown Folks Music: Raheem, Raheem, RAHEEM!

In case you didn't know... Raheem DeVaughn's newness dropped today: The Love & War Masterpeace. I haven't bought it YET... *looks over at my Mac waiting for me to submit my iTunes password for purchase* But I plan to when this is posted. I had to tell you I how I felt about it FIRST before I died of the vapors! WHEW!

So the first thing that struck me were the Cornel West interludes... MAJOR! So I assumed what I was about to hear was going to be some militant, power to the people, uplifting R&B. And I did, but that is NOT ALL! "Bulletproof" is the "What's Going On" of our generation, CLEARLY. "Nobody Wins a War" is real, true, and touching and it features some AMAZING TALENT including: Jill Scott, Chrisette Michelle, Dwele, Anthony Hamilton, Bilal, Algebra AND THEN SOME! And "Revelations 2010" with Damian Marley is as thought-provoking as it is mellow. However, it's barely 8 AM and what I heard between those songs was nothing short of deeeeeeep down lovemakingmusic. A few songs I had to skip, because I felt like I wasn't in the right relationship to have it in my spirit especially not this early in the morning! I feel my body temperature creeeeping up just thinking about what I heard. *tries to focus* Ok.... wait.... *takes a sip of water*

Alright where was I. Oh yeah, RAHEEM HAS DONE IT! ok? ok! I was listening to the album at Centric TV and I was digging the love vibe of the first few songs. Then, it got dowown! Right around "B.O.B" I had to start limiting my previews to about 45 seconds. I looked at the track listing & decided against listening to "Bedroom" because my head was still spinning from what he said in the minute or so of the song prior. SO I decided on "Microphone" because, I figured it was about music and performing... BOY WAS I WRONG! WOW was I wrong!

So in conclusion let me say, BUY THE CD! BUY IT NOW! But listen to tracks 10-13 with caution. It is sure to cause Female Hysteria (please click & read the second paragraph... NOW). Good job, Raheem, good job! But I am going to have to reserve songs 10-13 for my wedding night! lol