Thursday, July 2, 2009

Drake - Best I Ever Had Music Video **

Let us know what you think about the new Drake video. Kanye West directed the vid; Do you think it's "D"licious or "D"gusting? Or perhaps it's just whatever...



Read more...

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Vegas Baby!

Well...

Back from Vegas and I have no idea where to begin! I had such a good time its not even funny!! I drank every night, partied, gambled...it was crazy. Jet lag is killing me now though...


Warning- this will probably be a little long and very haphazard as I have so much to say and so little time to do it (gotta catch up at work...). I'll make a more organized post on the fun stuff (clubbing/sexing/drama) later!

In preparation for my trip...I did some research. Looked up clubs that played my kind of music, looked up ideas on how much money to take, what to wear...everything. Most of those guides were slightly off though, so here's mine (pics included).

Initial Prep:

Dont believe the hype- several websites told me that $500 bucks would be enough for Vegas. I didn't plan on gambling, so that took away a big chunk of necessary cash. My hotel had a pretty cheap buffet and a McDonalds right downstairs, so that also helped. I was on a $100 dollar a day budget. I didnt need clothes nor do I ever buy souveniers! So you figure $50 to get in the club and buy two drinks, $50 to eat for the day. Sounds ok? Well...no. I mean I wasnt stupid, I brought $1000.00 instead but...uh...the hotel actually took a $400.00 deposit and I did indeed end up gambling Next time Im bringing $1400.00 for spending and $1000.00 for gambling. You live and learn.

FOOD/Drink

OMG! Vegas has some of the most amazing food available. Wolfgang Puck has like 5 restaurants (I was too poor to eat at any of them...maybe next time) and I saw at least one of Bobby Flays restaurants. The buffets though; amazing! The first day we got really drunk and headed over to the Rio hotel to hit up their world famous Carnival World buffet. DELICIOUS! Its $17 for lunch and $24 for dinner but you can stay and eat as long as you want. We went around lunch with the intent of staying through dinner. They had EVERYTHING. Its as long as a football field and has 10+ cuisines from around the world. Good eating!


Rio's Carnival World Buffet!

My hotel (Harrah's) also had a pretty good buffet- Flavors. They had a nice mix of cuisine for a decent price (15 bucks I think). They also had this early morning special (1 a.m. to 6 a.m.) for Steak and eggs for 5.99! We did that every day after clubbing. In fact...most places had a cheap steak and egg or steak and shrimp/lobster deal going on daily! Be aware of that!

Also try the Paradise Buffet in Old Las Vegas. It was about $16.00 but sooooo good. Crab legs, shrimp, roast beef (so good!) and steaks cooked on a grill in front of you the way you like! Huge array of desserts as well as tons of meat and vegetables! Great place!

In terms of drinking...yea...there are several ways to beat the system here. One: find a liquor store (do NOT purchase in or near your hotel, they will rip you off). Get a bottle of cheap shit and make it last. Two: go play the penny slots. I won about $100.00 bucks in total and as long as you're gambling, people will bring you drinks! They are stronger in Old Las Vegas (Ill discuss later) so if you can get there, do it.

Partying

I'm into Hip Hop/Reggae/R&B/Reggaeton, so this is biased towards those. The first night, we couldn't figure out what we wanted to do. A friend didn't bring the right clothes for the club so he couldn't go. I ended up going to this club called Poetry which is in Caesars Palace (where Hangover was filmed!). It bills itself as *the* black club (in that they only play hip hop/R&B etc) and I had a good time. I got in for free because I put myself on the guest list (others paid $30...put yourself on guest lists!) and I met this nice guy who I hung out with over the course of the next few days. Its kind of small and very crowded but the music was good!

The next night we decided to go back to Poetry because T-Pain was supposed to be revealing a new artist there. They were giving women free champagne until midnight and so I had about 30 by then and was messed up. Jet lag kicked in at about 1 a.m. Vegas time so we all left and headed home! Never did find out if T-Pain actually showed!

The third night we were planning to head to Prive in Planet Hollywood because Lil Jon was going to be there but out of sheer laziness I headed across the street to the Mirage Hotel to try out Jet Nightclub. AMAZING! Probably one of my favorite clubs. They played a mix of music(a lot of Michael Jackson due to his passing) and while it was packed (at least 1000 ppl in there) there was room to walk and dance comfortably. It was just me and a friend and we bounced from corner to corner of the club. They have HUGE shots in there and we probably drank a little too much. Good times all around! They apparently have other rooms to party in but we were too drunk to care!

Jet Nightclub in the Mirage

On Sunday, we went to Pure which is also in Caesars. AMAZING. It is a huge and beautiful club. White furniture with color themed lighting and a beautiful rooftop view. Unfortunately for us, we got stuck on the rooftop because a Kardashian had rented out the bottom of the club for a birthday party or something. It was probably like 98+ degrees (at 10 p.m. lol) but it was good. We drank too much (paid for it the next day) but had a good time dancing and enjoying the view.


Pure Nightclub- Rooftop View!

Beautiful huh?

On Monday half of us had spent the whole day in bed puking our guts up and nursing horrible headaches. We did not go out...Monday was not a good day...

Sightseeing


Things you have to do:

-Sirens of Treasure Island


-Bellagio Fountains
span>


-Fremont Street (Old Las Vegas) - amazing sights and sounds and good drinks. The gambling odds (I hear) are also better. My brothers and I were winning some nice dough [pic]. Pretty good when you think that I only put a dollar in to start!

-Walk the strip (wear tennis shoes)

Gambling


DO IT! Even if you don't think you will like it...you can play penny slots so you wont lose much money! I recommend Caesar's Palace or Golden Nugget (Old Las Vegas) as they have a pretty diverse amount of machines. Something for everyone in there! Also..find the Monopoly Super Grand Hotel Machine! Great fun !!

This was kind of haphazard because I have so much to say but so little space! Hopefully you get the jist of where I'm going here and I'll probably talk more about my trip and post my actual pictures (haven't uploaded yet!) in the coming days/weeks!



Read more...

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

New Letoya Luckett Video - "She Ain't Got Shit On Me!"

Balladeer Letoya Luckett has finally released an uptempo song for us. She's been the go-to Summer Ballad singer since her 2006 chart-topping release "Torn." Now she's stepping up to the "fast track plate," and she may hit a home run with this one. This is definitely a hot video and song for the ladies. It's already gaining lots of buzz all over the internet, and that's good news for Letoya's forthcoming album, scheduled for release later this year.

Have a look at the video here:

*The timing's a bit off towards the end, but there's no denying this track is fire*

"You're a puppy on a leash, time to come back home.
I done let you out to play, but you ain't playing fair.
You done met this lil' stray, bringing flees 'round here."

Also, check out Letoya's new album cover:


Rate and Be well,
Read more...

*Highlights* - O The Anticipation!!!

So of course every time Trey Songz releases something, I'm super hype. Take that for what you will...


Trey Songz released ANTICIPATION last night on his blog See Further Than I Am. I encourage reading what he has to say about it before downloading so, I'm not giving you the direct link to the download. Read his post and get the link yourself. It's like asking a child to eat the icing before the cake. You can't go wrong and it's a smile with every bite. RAWR!

Very honestly, even taking away my absolute adoration for Trey, this most recent free download-only mixtape is fantastic. On UStream last night after the release, Trey Songz said that this album is one that is true to what he and his producer, Troy Taylor, do and what they want to do without having to deal with record label politics and antics. If this is how he wants it done, I'm going to say that Atlantic Records needs to start listening up and loosen up on that choke chain because when you let real artists' minds to roam free, you get real art.

There was not ONE track on that album that I needed to replay to give a second chance because every track was BAM BAM BAM! The beats are great. The lyrics are excellent. The voice, smoooooth. The delivery of all three in the same package, bong BONG! SUBLIME. Crazy props to everyone that worked on this album. Get at the liner notes and show them love.

Some of these tracks, you can really hear the return to great R&B. It is coming back. Yo Side Of The Bed, definitely for the fans of ballads from the 90s. Hearing the guitar whine really brings you back even if you didn't appreciate that kind of music then. Listen to the lyrics. Beautiful, personal, and universal. Don't tell me you don't feel it. If you want a newer sound, She Ain't My Gurl featuring another talented young cat, Sammie. (Remember him? He's baaaack and grown) The song taps into the new kind of issues of the heart. That side piece love. Of course, what's a Trey Songz album without the cut songs. There are plenty of those. I've been bumpin' to Trey's falsetto in You Belong to Me for a few weeks now and I still love it. But On Top is one that has got me going right now. Trey has that extra something to make it sound like a personal affair every time the track plays.

I played through the WHOLE album 3 times before I realized it was 4am and I should PROBABLY get to bed (not like that was a bad idea after hours of playing Trey Songz....mmm yes). When was the last time you heard an entire album that is this good?

I can't wait until Ready drops on August 4th. "Can't help but wait," right?

Enjoy yourself with ANTICIPATION!!!

Join me and other fans on UStream with Songbook Entertainment's CEO, Troy Taylor, tonight at 10pm EST to discuss this album. All are welcome!

Let me know what you think of the album!

My love for this album:

Read more...

Monday, June 29, 2009

2009 BET Awards Review

After over two months of anticipation, commercials, and hype, the 2009 BET Awards aired last night nationwide. With Michael Jackson's death occurring just 3 days prior to the live broadcast, BET expectedly and willingly burdened itself with an attempt to revamp a show that had likely been planned "down to a T" for months. Unfortunately for BET and the viewing audiences, it seemed that any organization and structure that might have once existed went AWOL. The 4 hour broadcast succeeded in making me shake my head in disapproval time and time again.

The show opened with a tribute to the Jackson 5 "sung" (and I use the term lightly) by 80s-90s R&B group New Edition. Bobby Brown and his groupmates had the dance steps down perfectly but vocally they were out of commission. It would have been a better opening to have Boyz II Men +1 or a lineup of individual male artists - Neyo, Mario, Ginuwine, Tyrese, Usher - do the tribute. 

Next came the big MC intro skit by Jamie Foxx, and while he certainly grabbed all of our attention and likely had you laughing, I couldn't help but notice how poorly the sound system was performing. Unlike at most award shows where there is a nice crowd mic-stage mic-hand mic balance, the hand and crowd mics were at a much lower volumes than they should have been. Consequently, instead of hearing Jamie's jokes followed by uproarious laughter, all you heard was a muffled, in and out crowd reaction that made it seem like Jamie was falling flat. Even so, the hype and energy was so high for this awards show that all was forgiven.  The house crowd and we home viewers were anxious to move along towards WHATEVER the climax of the show, dedicated to Michael Jackson, would be.

Well, throughout the night we witnessed a lot of mediocre performances, missed stage cues, dead air time, mic issues, lack of comedy, and long-winded speeches. Over time, these shortcomings in production decisions and technical problems drained every ounce of excitement that had existed at the top of the broadcast. Watching the TV became almost a burden of the heart where viewers were left waiting for greatness - something to pay proper tribute to Michael or be the "water cooler topic" for work. Sadly, the closest thing we received was an unexpected and touching speech from Janet Jackson, expressing her grief, gratitude, and love of the community's support. We appreciated her brief appearance, and it provided a last minute boost in energy for the program. Jamie Foxx and Neyo then ended the broadcast with a sweet sounding, emotional duet that complemented the somber yet thankful mood Janet inspired.

So why are so many calling the 2009 BET Awards show a major fail? It's simple. There was nothing in the show that lived up to the hype: no singular powerful MJ tribute, no historic or shocking performances, horrible sound editing, and a ton of just plain mediocrity. But what do you expect? Right now a good number of the artists being promoted and GIVEN success are little more than mediocre. This awards show was ultimately a testament to the fact that you can't create Greatness from a pile of sub par and misused ingredients.

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS:
- "Blame it on the Alcohol Performance" - Jamie Foxx
- 16 y.o. Keke Palmer schooling the wannabe female singers with her short a cappella tribute to MJ
- "Sheneneh and Wanda" movie trailer - Martin and Jamie (this needs to happen)
- Mary Mary & Queen Latifah performance of "It's the God in Me"
- O Jays tribute medley - Tevin Campbell, Tyrese, Johnny Gill, and Trey Songz)
- O Jays performance - sounded remarkably better than many of the younger groups on the show
- Eddie Levert's accidental slip up - "Dancing and Sh*t"
- Jay Z's D.O.A. performance - Undeniable swag, lyrical strength, and stage presence. Very little bleeping needed.
- Acting done by Ving Rhames, Tyrese, and Taraji P. Henson prior to announcing the winner for "Best female R&B."  We were all watching in horror (praying AGAINST a ghetto mess), not knowing whether it was all an act or if Ving and Tyrese were getting ready to throw down on national television.  

SHOW LOWLIGHTS:
- Opening performance by New Edition was not successful vocally. At all
- Every return from a commercial break - Dead air
- Not announcing the nominees was in poor taste. It took away from the "awards" aspect of the show, robbed the viewers of the moment of anticipation, and did not show respect for the non-winning nominees
- Don Cornelius' long winded speech during the O Jays tribute. No one was paying attention and his story dragged on for far too long
- Drake & Lil Wayne performance - Drake's torn ACL confined him to a stool, Lil Wayne's lyrics had so many curses that he was being bleeped on practically every other word. I actually muted my TV on this performance because it sounded like a drawn out train wreck. Combine all that with the underage, 12-14 year old girls dancing on stage to "I wish I could F#*k every girl in the world," and you have a CERTIFIED SOURCE AWARDS HOT MESS.

DIM LIGHTS, The mediocre:
- Keri Hilson's performance was visually stimulating, but vocally underwhelming. She switched mics too often and each mic was at a different sound level, making her performance sound disjointed and manic at times.
- Soulja Boy's "Turn my swag on" - typical and nothing special
- Beyonce's "Ave Maria" was beautiful and sweet, but it seemed more like a clipping from her tour than a unique and crowd-pleasing showcase crafted for the BET Awards/MJ tribute
- Ciara singing a ballad instead of performing an energetic MJ tribute. Again, it was sweet but just time-filler. A ballad would have been better suited for Chrisette Michelle, Letoya Luckett, or KEKE PALMER!
- Neyo's throwback icon medley featuring Keith Sweat, Guy, and B.B.D. - Once again, the dance steps and visual were there, but vocal aspects were lacking.
- Jamie Foxx's hosting - At one point we forgot he was even there.

With so many low and dim elements in the BET broadcast, there was no way this awards show could do justice to MJ or even be cited as one of the better BET awards.

Do you agree with me? Am I just wrong?

Be well,
Read more...

Sunday, June 28, 2009

*Highlights* - PUMP IT!!!

So I'm looking to joining a gym. Really about time I did that.

A friend of mine suggested the 24 Hour Fitness gyms. Derek Jeter partnered up with 24 Hour Fitness and opened up a few spots in NYC. The newest one should have opened up this past Friday in the SoHo area but it got pushed back to sometime next week. Patience...patience...

I went to a different 24 Hour Fitness location instead to check out their set up and see if I want to shell out the money there or back at the Houston Street YMCA (which is hella expensive, too...almost a G a year.). And you know what? I like it! I really really like it!

I like that most of that facility is above ground. At the Y, everything was in the basement. I like my windows and I don't like feeling confined. The machines are good. They have a mat area and punching bag. The showers are nice. The lockers...like WOW. The lockers are awesome!!! My friend who is already a member, she really enjoys the personal training sessions. She even said that her experience with the trainer was the highlight of her gym experience. I hope they have a pool. That's pretty key to my decision.

24 Hour Fitness is an international gym and there are locations in a lot of states and right now there is a 7-Day FREE TRIAL!!! CHECK IT OUT!!! I mean it's free. What's there to lose except a few pounds?

YAY for good gyms!!!


Read more...

*Highlights* - On the LOOKout: The "Ready" Jarell Perry

The music industry has been shaken by the death of Michael Jackson. People of all ages are analyzing the legend's life in an attempt to understand what made him so successful, so international, so inspiring. Well, any Michael Jackson fan knows that his strengths were numerous and talent incomparable, but one essential ingredient to his success was Drive, the Drive to be the best and understand the business.

Recently, I've come across two artists who, although in the early stages of their careers, are truly showing they have, in abundance, the same crucial ingredient as MJ. For that reason alone, their chances of gaining the public's ear and attention are far greater than most.  Artist # 1 is...

Jarell Perry
A 2009 graduate of UCLA, Jarell Perry has an undeniably smooth voice that can definitely entrance audiences. There's a reason he was selected to sing the national anthem in front of thousands for UCLA's '09 graduation ceremony. Let's not dwell on the vocals however, because, while they are remarkable, what really draws attention to Jarell is how professional he is at just 22 years old and ready to be propelled into the spotlight.



The mark of a successful artist is determination and poise, and Jarell has both. Throughout his four years in college, Jarell took advantage of the California music scene, performing often at local campus and community venues, and building a solid fan base. He also successfully launched a great YouTube channel, MySpace, and personal website/blog that give his fans updates on his journey to stardom and musical appearances.

Furthermore, Jarell Perry is swiftly becoming a masterful songwriter who succeeds in bringing new perspectives and expression to the old concepts of love and relationships. One creative lyric that caught my ear came from Jarell's song "Got Me Open" featuring the rapper "Miggz": "I was ice cold, and I didn't even see it. Still you stuck around, melted me down, to a human being."

Some tracks you should definitely check out are "Indestructible," "Change Your Mind," "Back Together," and "Miracle." Nearly every one of his tracks could make the Billboard top charts with the right production finishing; solid production is one of the few things that some of Jarell's tracks lack. The only other advice to offer Jarell is to diversify the melodic lines he explores in his songs; that way his songs won't end up sounding "familiar" and will always showcase their creative originality. Even still, Jarell is constantly writing new material and exhibits a true desire to continue learning and growing in his craft.

To put it frankly, Jarell Perry has "it" together! With over a dozen studio recordings available for download already, this young singer/songwriter is prepared with both talent and product to take on the industry and claim his spot. He is not waiting around for some "dream manager" to take the reins of his career. No, Jarell has assembled his own team and is trailblazing a direct route to the national stage all on his own. Chances are industry professionals are already taking note of Jarell's firm grasp on personal marketing and branding, so it may not be long before we start hearing his tunes on our radios.



MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/jarellperrymusic

How confident am I that Jarell will have a significant breakthrough soon?
Read more...
 
Add to Technorati Favorites