I approve: Kanye (part XVII)

Kanye may not be tough. He may not have street cred. And he may not wear enough Phat Farm. I don't care. He rocks the Vuitton hardcore enough for me. Despite what the haters say, and there are a lot of them, I still believe he is one of the greatest hip hop producers/lyricists/fahionistos in the business today. Oh, and he's a Rocafella, so you KNOW he's legit.

But enough about my unrequited love affair with arguably the most untouchable hip hop icon (although I hear he's now single...) Let's discuss his Glow in the Dark Chicago performance. The MOMENT I heard K was going on tour, I got on his website to get tickets. Having already seen him once before in row 78 at Mizzou Arena (yes I still have my ticket and referred to it for row number), I was determined to get a better seat. Seeing as how this tour was predicted by Rolling Stone to be "the greatest live performance since U2's show more than a decade ago," the tickets were not cheap. So, I did it. I signed up for Kanye's fan club. And got VIP tickets. For the Chicago show. The tickets were around $170 and they guaranteed a spot within the first 20 rows. What was I thinking? I ordered tickets through a potentially shady website, that may or may not get me a spot in the first 20 rows, let alone a seat at all. For all I knew, some 14-year-old girl in Ohio was now $150 richer and on her way to buy 1,000 bonnebell lipglosses. Oh well, I still had my faith. And a printable receipt, thank God (or insert other spiritual leader).

to be continued.

I approve: GLOW IN THE DARK TOUR KICKOFF IN SEATTLE!

News on the street (e-street, that is) is that the Glow in the Dark tour is mind-blowingly phenomenal. It obviously takes A LOT for skeptical music reviewers aka HATERS to actually be stroking Mr. West's ego, so this show must actually rock. Apparently, Kanye takes creative stage design to new dimensions–literally. Props to Ambika for blogging about this before I got to it. I'm slipping, man.

Taken from RollingStone.com...

"Kanye West, Rihanna, N.E.R.D. and Lupe Fiasco all turned in stellar sets to begin the “Glow in the Dark” Tour, what will likely end up as one of 2008’s most talked-about bills. All of Kanye’s openers were given thirty minutes to do their thing at Seattle’s KeyArena last night, and Lupe Fiasco kicked off the night with a fast-paced half-hour into which he crammed parts of eleven songs, including the hits “Kick, Push” and “Superstar.” (Matthew Santos, who sings on the latter track, appeared for three songs at the end of Fiasco’s set.) The stage was bare for his performance, but Fiasco made up for it with vibrant physical energy and a very red dress scheme shared by his backing singers and DJ.

N.E.R.D. — Pharrell Williams‘ rock ensemble — played second. Fronting two drummers, a bassist/keyboardist, a synth player and guitarist (as well as a small handful of hangers-onstage who helped hype the crowd at climactic moments), Williams and co-vocalist Shay threw themselves into performances of “Lapdance,” “Brain,” “Rock Star” and “She Wants to Move” (the latter featuring a brief jam on Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust”). After the set was finished, Pharrell returned to the stage to apologize for his use of profanity in front of a young child seated in the front row.

No apologies were necessary from Rihanna, whose stage set-up included light-up speaker stacks that glowed yellow, pink and aqua. The singer and her dancers’ clothes were basic black accented by pink and lime neon; the entire presentation was very new wave, down to Rihanna’s bright pink lipstick. The show was tightly choreographed but never felt laborious, and she got some traction doing “Hate That I Love You,” a duet with Ne-Yo on record, by herself. She also introduced “Umbrella” by saying, “I remember going up to Dream” (R&B phenom The-Dream, who helped produce and write the song) “and saying, ‘If you give this record away [to someone else] I’m going to kill you.’”

The headliner took his time, playing eighteen songs in an unbroken ninety-minute set. Half of the songs came from 2007’s Graduation, five from 2005’s Late Registration and the rest from 2004’s The College Dropout. Kanye stood alone on a stage that was made out to look like a spaceship, complete with a giant video backdrop that flashed psychedelic fractal patterns, bursting stars and moonscapes. Ostensibly, Kanye was trapped aboard a rogue ship piloted by a female version, dubbed Jane, of 2001’s HAL 9000. Kanye began with “Good Morning,” then touched on “Through the Wire,” the thematically inevitable trio of “Flashing Lights,” “Spaceship,” and “All Falls Down” and hit his climax for “Hey Mama,” during which he bowed forward on his knees and delivered an emotional monologue about following one’s dreams. The song that came immediately after Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” blasting over the PA before Kanye-in-space got his strength back to deliver “Stronger.”

In fact, Perez Hilton even gave his praise to Kanyeezy.

A talking spaceship named Jane? I wouldn't expect anything less of Mr. West.

I approve: Shawty Get Loose

I will admit that though I like to think of myself as a *slight* hip-hop snob (exceptions: "Low" Flo Rida) I have recently become OBSESSED with Lil' Mama, Chris Brown and T-Pain's new joint "Shawty Get Loose."

Lil' Mama rocks the role as the lyrical headliner. Though there are few notable lines, I did sorta liked this one-

"L.I.L You betta ask somebody
I been on my grind since butt-touch-potty"

haha, since butt-touch-potty. classy. However, it doesn't even matter what she says, because the beat is catchy enough to make me want to shake something regardless the lack of actual lyrical content.

Chris Brown takes the hook with his smooth and synthesized vocals. T-Pain kinda sucks. Check out part of his rap...


"NAPPY BOi!!!!
WHAT IT DO(do)
TELL iT TO DA PAiZZiAN
YOU ALREADY KNO
TELL EM' ON THE MiZZiAN
SHAWTY KEEP MESSiN WiT DA LiZZAMZ
iMMA HAVE YOU LOOSE ON DA FLO
U GON BE STEPPiN WiT A KiZZiAN"

Even though I don't understand a word (on or off the paper) I still love "DA PAIZZZIAN!"

With the release of this new single Lil' Mama has clearly rebounded from her painful Wet 'n Wild "Lip Gloss" and has upgraded exponentially (to Dior Addict gloss, perhaps?) Her performance in the music video has also somewhat rationalized her previously inexplicable role as dance judge on MTV's "Randy Jackson's Best Dance Crew." She's mighty flexible.

watch it here

I find it hard to believe that there isn't any copyright infringement regarding this video, seeing as how the video obviously got its inspiration from Michael Jackson's "Scream" video, featuring Janet.

Scream

I approve: The Hood Internet

thehoodinternet.com is a website that mixes alternative favorites with rap/hip hop songs.

They (I believe the company consists of two guys that run the site and do the mixes) take big names in alternative rock such as Spoon, the Shins, Modest Mouse, Rilo Kiley, The Go Team!, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, etc. and combine them with rap industry big whigs like Notorious B.I.G. (RIP), Jay-Z, Kanye West (!), Lil' Kim, Missy, the Clipse, Ghostface, etc. There are also more obscure artists featured in both genres, if that's your thing.

These particular mixes differ from their inferior counterparts in that they are actually thoughtful and artistically melded...each track is done individually so it's not just both songs playing over one another.

The website offers its most recent downloadable mix-tape here.

Tracklist:

1. Intro
2. The Pack vs Crystal Castles | I'm Shinin' Like A Crystal
3. Dizzee Rascal vs Cyndi Lauper | Girls Just Wanna Fix Up
4. Rhymefest vs !!! | Put It On My Chk Chk Chk
5. Rick Ross vs CSS | Push It To The Alalimit
6. Birdman & Lil Wayne vs Black Rock | Stuntin' Like Black Rock
*7. Rihanna (feat. Jay-Z) vs Menomena vs M83 | Cyborg Umbrella
8. Trillville (feat. Cutty) vs The Knife | Some Cut Like A Knife
9. Omarion vs Mylo | Drop The Icebox Pressure
10. Tag Team vs LCD Soundystem | Great! There It Is
*11. Lloyd vs Feist | My Moon My Shawty
*12. Crime Mob (feat. Lil Scrappy) vs The Shins | Rock Yo Sea Legs
13. Swizz Beats vs Deerhoof | It's E.S.P., Bitches
*14. Lil Wayne vs Modest Mouse | Fire It Up, Firemouse
15. Lil Mama vs Marnie Stern | Absorb The Lip Gloss
16. Mos Def vs Battles | B-Boy Battles
*17. The Game (feat. Kanye West) vs The Go! Team | Wouldn't Grip Far
*18. Snoop Dogg (feat. R. Kelly) vs Architecture In Helsinki | That's That Whirlwind
19. T.I. vs Fujiya & Miyagi | What You Know About Transparent Things
*20. TLC vs Led Zeppelin | All My Scrubs
21. Timbaland (feat. Nelly Furtado, Justin Timberlake) vs Hot Chip | Give It To My Boy From School
22. Destiny's Child vs Justice | Lose My Waters Of Naza(b)reath
*23. Ghostface Killah (feat. Jacki-O) vs Spoon | The Ghostface Of You Lingers
24. Khia vs Dan Deacon | Snatch Da Crystal Cat Back
25. R. Kelly (feat. T-Pain, T.I.) vs Broken Social Scene | I'm A Flirt (Shoreline)
26. UNK vs LCD Soundsystem | North America Walk It Out (UNK Soundsystem)
27. Outro

the starred ones are my personal favorites.

There's plenty more where those came from, so check the site out at thehoodinternet.com for new mixes every week.

I approve: Kanye West's "Glow in the Dark Tour 2008"

I am paying any amount to see this.

If you are interested in seeing what will potentially be the best live hip-hop performance of the year, then listen up.

Kanye, Lupe Fiasco, N.E.R.D. (read: Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo and Shay Haley) and Rihanna are scheduled to perform in Chicago this May 23rd.

Both Kanye and Lupe are from Chicago (mayne) and have never performed together on their hometown stage. Also, since Pharrell will be present, the trio can perform songs from their new hip-hop supergroup CRS (Kanye, Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell) The group raps over Thom Yorke’s “The Eraser” on “Us Placers.” It's sick.


oh, and Rihanna can sing "Umbrella." If only Hov would join the tour...