Sorry Drake, but Breezy got you again!

So in the battle of the light-skinned R&B cats, it's no secret Drake and Chris Brown have been feuding. Whether we are hearing about them throwing bottles with broken glass flying at Tony Parker in the club, to them dissing each other on wax, it's safe to say, these two don't like each other.

Last year, Drake announced he was going to do an entire duet album with Aaliyah. This got mixed reviews, as many R&B fans, and Aaliyah faithfuls wondered how this could happen considering she died twelve years ago. Then Drake released a track with her vocals, and it was met with lukewarm reviews. He also received scathing criticism from both Timbaland, whom Aaliyah often had produce her projects, to her family. Her brother Rashad, publicly spoke out on Twitter saying that Drake had not reached out to anyone in the Houghton family. He also noted that he found it disrespectful for Drake to continue with the project, having received no inside support.

From that moment on Drizzy went on a very weird, stalker-ish journey of posting songs with Aaliyah samples. He had her tattooed on his back, and he stayed referring to her in numerous interviews, as if they were star-crossed lovers and it's well-known, they never met.



So, over the weekend, playing off of the hype of his highly anticipated album, X. Chris Brown dropped the single and video for the track, "Don't Think They Know". My stomach turned as soon as I saw that it was featuring Aaliyah. Here we go again. But dare I say, the track isn't bad. In fact, I could totally see this song, getting lots of airplay and charting well. And, it appears Chris is using this song to bring unity to the blood/crips never-ending saga in Los Angeles. Check it out!



Breezy definitely trumped Drizzy on this one. It looks like Drake will have to go back to his Dark room and listen to some more Aaliyah records, because this one Breezy track trumps all of the emo songs he tried to get people to like last year. It's not even close. Like Aaliyah sang, "If at first you don't succeed, dust yourself off and try again." Drake will have to take those words to heart.

AUBREY....WHEELCHAIR JIMMY.....DRAKE.....DRAUBREY

So, leave it to fellow Blogger, Mike C. to literally tweet exactly what I was thinking this morning on the bus ride in to work. I haven't so much as perused a Drake track in at least a year. It is no secret that I fell WAY off the Drake bandwagon, right around Thank Me Later. A former co-worker was shocked to find out that I never even purchased Take Care. And, the sad part is I predicted this would happen. When record labels were in a bidding war over signing him four years ago, and he finally settled on Young Money. The now defunct, All Things Fresh fan site, which at the time, I was a frequent member of, posted the news even before major media outlets got wind of it. I knew then, and voiced it on the site. Since the site is no longer up and running, I will paraphrase what I posted.

"R.I.P. to the artist formerly known as Drake!"

Other members on the site came down on me hard; they said I had little faith in Drizzy. They said that I was jumping the gun and wasn't giving it a chance. Look. I may not be a rocket scientist, but I trust my instincts more than anything, and I knew he was going to "rap down to his colleagues." You sign to a label full of what-ifs. All of whom have not panned out, except for Nicki Minaj, who is determined to be a pop star, and mediocre loves company. So Drake or Aubrey chose "loyalty to Lil Wayne" over just flat out good business sense, and to me he's paid for it. Substantively he has. Now, I'm sure he and his minions couldn't disagree with me more. After all, he's richer than ever and featured on everybody's wack ass song from T. Dot to L.A. But name one relevant hip-hop track Drake has released since So Far Gone? I'll wait.

So, in the spirit of nostalgia, I'm taking a look at Drake's catalogue, specifically, the Pre-Young Money catalogue in deciding which one was his best. After all, Drake did rap, "...some of you will be saying the old me is better than the new me." Yep. Agreed, Drake.

Here we go...

WHEELCHAIR JIMMY - THE BEGINNING



I am slightly embarrassed at the fact that I am a fan of Degrassi Jr. High. I never watched the original, because that was a little before my time. But, by the time they decided to bring the show back, I was probably in college at the time, and I found myself checking it out. The show is actually pretty decent, but I digress. Drake, known then as simply, Aubrey Graham, played a character on the show named Jimmy. And, in probably one of the shows best episodes, he gets shot by a pretty disturbed kid at school and ends up in a wheelchair. On the show, Jimmy goes through a myriad of emotions due to this, but finally comes back to himself at a talent show where he decides to rap about his situation. To everyone's surprise, he's pretty good. Now maybe this was the outlet Drake needed to finally decide to do this rap thing, but soon thereafter, rumors of a mixtape began circulating. What's funny is you can find old behind-the-scenes videos of the cast, and talks of the mixtape were met with lukewarm feelings. People seemed to be polite without saying, "Why the hell do you want to rap?" Luckily for Aubrey, he stayed the course,

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT - 4.4/5



I actually didn't listen to this mixtape until after I'd heard his latter two. However, I did peep the City is Mine track on Fuse circa 2008. I thought it was solid, but not anything to write home about. But after listening to this mixtape, I remember it being in heavy rotation for months. Typical of a first mixtape ever, Drake sounds hungry, excited, naive and he hadn't established his style yet. What I do like about this mixtape, is the fact that he features so many of his Canadian colleagues, including the much underrated R&B songster, Voyce, n/k/a Aion Clarke. These two should've never fallen out, because they made pure magic together. What a lot of people don't know is that Drake used to be in a collective group of hot artists in Toronto. Some in the group featured him, Melanie Fiona, Voyce among others. Well, considering that they were on the whole "starving artist" vibe, and Aubrey was on a tv show, they basically kicked him out of the group. Clearly, this was a blessing in disguise. While the original mixtape was supposed to be sold, and only a few thousand copies were made to be bought and autographed for those who cared to support. Local radio got a hold of several of the tracks and soon people in Toronto were giving "Drake" a chance. This mixtape has a few standouts: "Special" featuring Voyce with the Stevie Wonder sample is really nice. In fact, this song sounds like an LL joint. It has that smooth R&B meets smooth rap feel to it. The tracks "Money (Remix)" and "AM 2 PM" featuring fellow Canadian rapper Nickelus F go hard. Having someone else on the track that has an AZ flow, forced Drake to step his game up. (There is a theme here, you either rap up or rap down to your competition). Of course "City is Mine" has to get an honorable mention. After all, this is the cut that sort of put him on the map. His lyrics back then are a stark contrast to his lyrics now.

"This the record that my back pack underground fans get to skippin..."

Or, even more stark is on "Video Girl" when he says he doesn't want to see his beautiful black women shaking their ass in a rap video. I'll leave that alone. This mixtape is when Drake and Trey Songz first worked together, but they don't hit their stride until the next mixtape. Super standouts is "Thrill is Gone" which has a very jazzy hypnotic chorus. Also, my personal favorite, "Come Winter" which has two parts or moods to the song, both of which are better than any commercial track he's done. This was a solid first effort and is a worthy listen even today.

COMEBACK SEASON 5/5



Janet Jackson once revealed that the first time she heard her brother, Michael's "Thriller" album, it was in the car. He picked her up and they just drove around listening to it. I find this to be an amazing way to listen to a record. So, how fitting, my first listen to "Comeback Season," was in the car. I knew from the intro, that Drake wasn't playing. It's something about receiving that first bit of criticism or hate for something you suddenly have a big passion for. I imagine, he had mixed reviews after Rooom for Improvement, and came harder and more polished for Comeback Season to show people that he was for real. He succeeded. Hands down this is Drake's best project. I even give it a slight dip above So Far Gone, slight. I don't see how anyone could have an issue with this mixtape. Everything, from the production, the samples, the bars, the features, hell, even the cover pic is the best look I've seen from Drake! Back to the music. "Closer" featuring Andreena Mill with the Goapele sample is pure perfection. First of all, I love the original song! That beat is sick and Drake, legit, put some great bars to this track. To me, this is when I felt he hit his stride, or got his swag, whatever you want to call it. This single was HUGE in Toronto! Deservedly so. His manager at the time, convinced him to put his money behind probably the only semi-commercial track on the mixtape, "Replacement Girl" featuring Trey Songs. They did a video for this track and everything. Drake has that early Hov flow on this track. That fast rapping, quick-witted style that Hov originally had. This is a radio song, but still enjoyable. He lends a freestyle to the Kanye-produced Barry Bonds track, but his lyrics on the Alicia Keys sampled "Going in for Life" establish him more soundly. You see the style developing, the clever, tongue-in-cheek flow that he becomes known for.

"If Hov is Jordan, I guess I'm cool with being Pippen.."

Then, just when you think you know where Drake is going theme-wise, he switches up with the Slakah-the-Beatchild produced "Share", which was way too short in my opinion. Suddenly we have almost an underground hip-hop feel to this mixtape. He further propounds this point with tracks like "Don't You Have a Man" featuring Little Brother, "The Last Hope" featuring Toronto's Kardinall Offishall and Andreena Mill, and my absolute favorite, "Think Good Thoughts," featuring Phonte' of Little Brother and Elzhi of Slum Village. I don't know if it's the 9th Wonder production with that Anita Baker sample or just the flow of this track, but I never get tired of this song. Honorable mention, intro on the track, Drake says:

"They claim that us rappers are materialistic, they say that we lack substance."

*cough* Even the southern sounding, "Must Hate Money" with Rich Boy is official. By this point in the mixtape, you are in hip-hop euphoric overload!

Now, I know what some people will think. Why haven't I discussed his singing? Because Aubrey's immersion from Wheelchair Jimmy to Drake didn't include his crooning skills just yet. Yes, he was solid without the emo monochromatic songs he's become known for today. In fact, he seemed content to let other people sing. Tracks like, "Asthma Team," "Do What U Do," featuring the Clipse, and "Easy to Please," featuring Richie Sosa, Drake appears to almost have a chip on his shoulder. As if to say, aww, you all thought I was playing with this rap shit? However, before the listener can go all Onyx on someone, he switches it up again with the laid back, "Faded" and even gets romantic with the Robin Thicke track, "Teach U a Lesson", where his bars fit so perfect, you would think he was originally on the track. Even the closing track, "Man of the Year" where we see the first collab with Lil Wayne, doesn't ruin the feel of the mixtape. It's solid, consistent and with substance. Damn Drake, what happened?

SO FAR GONE 4.9/5



So, this seems to be when everyone else caught on to Drake. This is the mixtape that had labels bidding for him. This is what put him on the Young Money tour, and even garnered him his own tour. This was a personal stretch for me because I am just not here for Lil Wayne. Like, at all. But I surprisingly tolerated him on this mixtape and even found this one in heavy rotation. So Far Gone, if I may borrow from Mike C., is when Drake and Aubrey met up on wax. Now we meet this introspective, somewhat emotional, sensitive rapper who also sings. I had to play this a lot with Comeback Season to remind myself of the Drake that I had begun to really like. 40's solemn beats, Drake's monotone melodies, somehow it worked. The fact that he even chose to tap samples from Swedish indie-rock star Lykke Li, and the infamous, yet underground Santogold, I knew this was going to be a different record. Off top, "Successful" was the track on the mixtape, that everyone was talking about. That haunting beat, (again provided by 40), with Trey singing about money, cars, clothes and hoes. The only thing not perfect about this track is Lil Wayne. His bars are just weak on this track to me. The song with Drake, Trey and Drake's dad on the answering machine was enough. 40 managed to create a solid track that featured Drake, not Draubey, yet it had the same feel as "The Calm", "Houstatlantavegas" and "Lust for Life". The one song that feels slightly out of place is "Let's Call it Off" with Peter Bjorn & John. I never could understand why this was even on the mixtape, other than Drake digs the song. As eclectic as "A Little Bit" and Unstoppable" are, they both fit on So Far Gone. Almost every great LP has a string of tracks that are so perfect, you may even just listen to those set of tracks. On So Far Gone, it starts with "November 18", the Houston-ode that really put UGK, DJ Screw, Lil KeKe back on people's mind. Then we slide into "Ignant Shit", which is probably Weezy's strongest bars on this mixtape. I don't know if it was because Drake came so hard on this, but Lil Wayne didn't disappoint on this Hov/Isley sample. Keeping the same melody, we go into the ultra-smooth slow track, "A Night Off" featuring Lloyd.

I have to laugh mentioning this track. All I can hear is Joe Budden doing a YouTube video playing this song over and over talking about, if he was single (he was with Tahiry at the time), he would play this loud in the V (car) and pick up chicks at the club. The same dude who made Lil Wayne step his rap game up, is providing a sex tape-esque soundtrack for guys to pick up women? That's funny to me. Next, we have the star of the mixtape. Just in case you were still unsure about whether Wheelchair Jimmy could actually spit, "Say What's Real" is pretty convincing. Drake saved his best bars for this track and unapologetically spits almost without breathing at one point. I remember riding down Lakeshore Drive and hearing this song blasting out of like three different cars.

"Don't ever forget the moment you began to doubt, transitioning from fitting in to standing out."

"Cause I just see my ex-girl, standing with my next girl, standing with the girl that I'm fucking right now."

"So if you find the Blackberry with the side scroll, sell that motherfucker to any rapper that I know."

Yeah, bars for days on this one. Just when I think the run of great tracks is over, I find myself singing along with Lykke Li's and then Drake's vocals on "A Little Bit", which flow quite well together. No need to be embarrassed if you find yourself singing the chorus dreamily out of the blue. It is a very catchy song. However, it is the bass-heavy Boi-1-Da-produced "Best I Ever Had" that got Drizzy on the radio. Whether you dig this track or not, it is very well produced and had girls from coast to coast rocking sweats and pony tails. It also had guys telling their girl, "you the fuckin best," without getting slapped. To round out this stretch of perfection is "Unstoppable" featuring Santogold. This was another track that Wayne stepped up for. The beat was perfect to throw 16 bars on, it was energetic and before long, many up and comers were dropping their own freestyle to this song. Then, they realized that this was another one of those Drake said about 1000 words in three minutes without breathing and there were several epic fails.

"Even when I'm laying on my back, I'm never backing down."

Not to go into a track-by-track of the mixtape, "Uptown" with Bun, literally put him back on the map.

"Hardly home but always reppin, you hardly on and always second."

This is another blast at ignorant levels in the car song. "Sooner Than Later" and "Bria's Interlude" highlight Drake's singing skills, with Drake upstaging Omarion on the latter track. And we get the full effect of Draubrey on "Brand New" which also garnered some radio play. But, for me the final track, which was added almost 24 hours after the mixtape was released on the OVO site, is the track that sums up where Drake should've headed on his first album. The Coldplay-sampled, "Congratulations," which I would listen to sometimes to get amped up when I bowled on a league.

"I'm still myself, suicide bars, I kill myself, charge it to the game, I'll bill myself, and I don't feel y'all, but I feel myself."

"I hug and kiss the drum kick, I put the beat in my back pocket and just sit, but you could never be my ass, pause..."

I was going to give thoughts on Thank Me Later, but with the exception of "Fireworks" and "Light Up," I hate to say it, but that album just wasn't very memorable.

I will give honorable mention to the DROUGHT IS OVER: FRIENDS WITH MONEY mixtape, which featured a lot of the tracks from his official mixtapes, and it also featured this little gem:



In all, the perfection that was Comeback Season makes this Drake's best project. If we were judging straight up Drake tracks, this wins, but it also wins across the board. If we're judging Draubrey, then So Far Gone wins, but it comes in a close second to Comeback Season overall. All of these efforts were solid, promising and the direction Drizzy should've gone in before he sold his soul to Young Money. Maybe one day, this talent will make an appearance again, until then, I'll just press play on the nostalgia!

G.O.O.D. v. YMCMB

.

So before I could wipe the sleep out of my eyes good this morning, Twitter was in a frenzy over a new Pusha T record. Pusha T, half of The Clips, now signed to Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music label dropped a new track: Exodus 23:1. Now the biblical nerd in me immediately searched the verse to see what this track may or may not be about. The New Living Translation for Exodus 23:1 states:

“You must not pass along false rumors. You must not cooperate with evil people by lying on the witness stand.

The King James version translates:

“You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

I thought, who's passing along false rumors? Who's the liar? Who's cooperating with evildoers? Then before I could get to work, the word out was that he was low-key dissing Drake and Young Money, because of a line Drake said on the Amen track with Meek Mill:

“G.O.O.D ain’t good enough, and your hood ain’t hood enough” – Drake

Then Lil Wayne tweeted:

Fuk pusha t and anybody that love em

(Those are his typos and all) So, I listened to the track. The track itself is cool. It's not overwhelming or bad, it's just cool. But I couldn't help but pay attention to Pusha T's tone on the record. It's clear, he ain't feeling those Young Money cats. And so it begins, you already know, Weezy or Drake, or Tyga or whomever feels like it from YMCMB will respond. If I may, I'm putting my money on G.O.O.D., it's just undeniably more talent on that side. As Bernie Mac would ask, "Who you wit?"

The Old Me is Better than the New Me...

That line was echoed from Drake on his groundbreaking mixtape, "So Far Gone". I believe the facetiousness of that line was to say, he hoped people wouldn't change on him as fame continued to claim him.

Well I'm calling Aubrey out. We didn't change, but you sure did! I somewhat gave him a pass on Thank Me Later, because it's his first album. Now, new tracks are leaking and it's all this 40-produced, melancholy, EMO, girl-why-can't-I-trust-you bullshit! Now let me be honest, Drake was asking that question on his mixtapes, but he did it with (forgive me for using this over-used word) swag! He had a hunger, a killer instinct on a track. He was a rapper, not this constantly emotional lava lounge singer he's turning into now!

I feel like he's turned into the "Can't Buy Me Love" dude, where he's the geek that gets a peek into the cool kids world, but now he can't handle it. He can't keep up the act. If all of those glorious mixtapes were an act, then he's a better actor than I gave him credit for. The best 16 he's done since So Far Gone, were the bars he laid on Kanye's "All of the Lights Remix"! Next thing I know, pictures of he and Rihanna kicking it in T Dot are popping up all over the place, and I realized that Drake is still at that age where he is attracted to destructive chicks. I like Rihanna's style, but it's no secret she's a maneater! Thus, we get songs like "Marvin's Room," and "Trust Issue's". How funny both have to do with the desperation of getting over/past the demons of a woman. He better take a page out of Chris Brown's book (Umm, not the violent one), and chuck up the deuces!

This is a slippery slope for me. I like that he doesn't come off completely misogynistic and whorish like most rappers. Yet, at the same time, he doesn't have to play the crying game either. He needs to find a happy medium. Balance. Hip-hop is already on shaky ground. Too many garbage rappers, with these okey doke, stereotypical raps. I feel like when Drake came along, people put hope in him that he would change the tide. However, there is still a lot of bad music out there, I just don't want him to be a contributor to it.

Listen to Trust Issues here.

My Two Favorite Videos Right Now!

So in the past week, two videos that I have come to love have dropped.

First up is my boy Drizzy Drake! I'm not going to lie, when I first heard his second single, "Find Your Your," and I knew that Kanye produced this track. I thought, "this sounds like a leftover track from 808's & Heartbreak. It made me kind of unsure about this one. Drake's voice obviously sounds better than Kanye's, but the whole "hey, hey, hey's," he repeats through the song, the melody and beat is very 808'ish. To be honest, I kind of went on a "Is Kanye trying to sabotage Drake" tirade. However, the video made me change my mind about the song.

I like the fact that it was shot by Anthony Mandler.
I like that it was shot in Jamaica mon!
I like the plot/storyline in the video.
I also like the underlying theme of Finding Your Love even if it kills you! Deep, but interesting concept.



Today, Alicia Keys dropped her long-awaited video for the best song on her Elements of Freedom album, which also happens to be written by Drake, co-produced by Drizzy and 40, "Unthinkable"! I had this song on repeat even before her album dropped. As 40 usual does with some of his songs, (e.g., Successful) the beat for this song is haunting. You want to hear it again and again. Drake smashed the lyrics and Alicia delivered it as only she can.



What I love about A. Keys vid, is how they were able to push the issue of interracial dating through like 7 decades. I mean it was eye-opening to watch that scenario play out from the 50's to the present day. Kind of makes you think about why it's still taboo to date outside of your race. The song fit that theme perfectly.

So Far BLOWN!!!

I am still sitting here at 4:58 a.m. with the yellow House of Blues wrist band on my wrist. There are no words for the numerous amounts of things that took place tonight that led to the most anticipated Hip-Hop/R&B show to take place in the city since Glow in the Dark. So because so MANY things occurred, let's go with a play-by-play.

9:50 p.m. - My friend Cathy picks me up so that we can go to the show.

10:12 p.m. - We arrive at the House of Blues, there is a mile long line ALREADY, and the ramp to the HOB parking lot is CLOSED.

10:24 - We finally find a lot about seven blocks away for a cheap evening price of $19.

10:36 - We finally arrive on the other side of the House of Blues where the restaurant is so we don't have to wait in the super long line.

11:12 - I down my second shot of Patron with salt and lime and start feeling nice. We waste a chicken finger appetizer so that we can get in the V.I.P. line for the show.

11:31 - I trip up the stairs as I anxiously climb them to get into the concert hall.

12:02 - I take a third shot of Patron for good measure, all the while hysterically cracking up my friend and neighbor sitting at the barstools where we have a fantastic view of the stage.

NOW THIS IS WHERE THINGS GET SKETCHY AND WHAT ULTIMATELY LEAD TO THINGS ENDING THE WAY THAT THEY DID.

12:45 - The main floor of the venue is just about full, with a plethora of people standing all around both sides, both sides of balconies full. Still NO SHOW.

1:26 - A lesbian couple decided to make out about two feet in front of where I am sitting. Oh yeah, and still NO SHOW.

1:44 - I scream out to 40/40 when I see him yet again. Hopefully the show will begin soon. Crowd starts to get antsy and tired.

2:03 - The show starts with a weird DJ combination and city shout-out.

2:09 - Opening act, some small Lupe Fiasco looking dude, who is sing rapping. GARBAGE!

2:15 - Another opening act, some dude from Cleveland who sings while another guy raps. He practically gets booed off the stage. MORE GARBAGE!

2:22 - Another opening act, local DJ spins, uses his own beats. He's decent, but by this time, the crowd really wants to see Drake.

2:31 - Some Puerto Rican rapper hits the stage with a hype man, and two strippers booty popping off some Miami-bass GARBAGE. This is when my buzz officially left the building.

2:40 - Curtains close, then reopen as local artists Ben-Won hits the stage. He sings six songs, of which only one is a song that actually gets played on the radio. A local DJ shouts out Derrick Rose and Marcus Jordan who both are in attendance.

2:52 - The actual scheduled opening act whose names made the ticket, "Sly Polaroid" hit the stage. I don't know if this is the whole group, but there was like ten dudes on stage. They do about five songs, and several times, booing erupts from the crowd. The only people into them are a few westside hoodrats. At this point, I am sure that something bad is going to happen if Drake doesn't hit the stage. Also at this point, I get molested by some drunk dude standing behind me smoking Black-n-Milds. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

3:13 - Future da Prince, Drake's DJ comes out to try and hype the now overly-tired and greatly irritated crowd. At this point I am livid! I don't want to see anymore people - Just Drake! (In my Jack from Will & Grace voice)

3:18 - Future talks to the crowd, does a minute on the turntables and it changes the energy somewhat, but we are WAY PAST READY for DRIZZY.

3:21 - Drake appears on stage, the crowd goes wild, and then his set begins. The LOVE is ridiculous. Every man, and woman seem to know every line and pause he utters. 40 smiles as the crowd screams, "I see my next girl, standing to my ex-girl, standing to the girl that I'm f*cking right now!" I even heard a guy singing Brand New like his life depended on it. The crowd is finishing every line, every note, my anger has completely dissipated and the love fest is in full swing.

4:08 - Drizzy's set is coming to a close. He is doing Best I Ever Had and all of a sudden, I feel about two people fall on me. I turn around and there are two idiots fighting. Yeah, and NO SECURITY. So the fight escalates. Two more guys join in, ending in one of the guys knocking him out with a barstool. Then two guys jump in the fight from the main floor. These ninjas were fighting like they were trying out for the UFC. Needless to say, Drake's set got interrupted and the crowd expressed their displeasure immediately. Future joined in and decided to encourage the crowd to tell the fighters to get the f*@k out. We obeyed.

4:12 - Drake comes back on the stage, although the fight isn't quite broken up yet. He launches into "Every Girl," and the crowd is right there with him. By then though, the jig was up. People were scared and mad that the set was interrupted.

4:20 - I am standing on Dearborn and Hubbard when a ring of gunshots unloaded. My friend and I start briskly making our way to the lot where we parked.

4:32 a.m. - I am sitting in her car cruising down Lake Shore Drive in a daze, because I can't believe the show ended like that!

This is what happens when a show is poorly managed. You don't make a bunch of people wait FIVE HOURS to see the headliner!!! Furthermore, you certainly don't throw a bunch of no-name, talentless opening acts on the stage to add fuel to the fire.

I LOOOOOOVE Drake! I really do, but if he comes back to the Chi, and it's at the House of Blues or some other too small venue - I'm not going. If the management/promoter isn't reputable - I'm not going! He sold that joint out, even the skyboxes were full, which means he could have sold out the Chicago Theater or some place like that. I know he isn't signed, but would the record industry WAKE UP! Seriously, last night, there was another concert with Keyshia Cole and The Dream, and he still sold out the HOB.

I sincerely hope that the fight incident doesn't taint his image of Chicago. We really are good people, and before that fight, the night was EPIC!



Sorry that my pictures aren't the best (camera phone), but it is hard to live life and be the camera girl too. (Shouts to MikeSee)

I want to shout out Lupe Fiasco for coming through and reminding those who forgot that we actually have REAL hip-hop artists from this city.

Also, I want to offer a suggestion to the promoter. Don't put acts that have no cohesion with the headliner on the show. For example, you wouldn't expect to see Souljah Boi opening at a Nas concert!

To Drizzy...Chicago thinks you're THE BEST WE EVER HAD!

Miscellaneous Randomness! The Mid-April Edition...

So here it is the middle of April and it is still cold outside. In fact, Sunday before last, which I believe was Palm Sunday, it was FREAKING SNOWING outside!!! I was incredulous to say the least. The irony that I live in Chicago and I am adverse to cold weather is not lost on me. This year though, the weather has been RI-DAM-DICULOUS! One day, it is a warm breezy seventy degrees and the very next, it is 35 and snowing outside like it is December. I'm officially over it already.

So lately, on the bus, I have found that my patience bar is at an all-time low. The Chicago Transit Authority has now gone environmental and for some months now have had Hybrid buses on the street. These large monstrous, yet environmental buses have "touch" back-doors. Yet, every single day someone gets their non-reading arse on the bus and stands there like an idiot at their stop as if the back doors are supposed to magically open on their own. Nevermind the fact that in BIG BOLD letters, it specifically says "PRESS HANDS HERE TO OPEN"! I mean seriously folks, a child could figure this out. It amazes me how everyday, people do the same dumb crap. Reading truly is fundamental.

So Da Bulls (in my Southside of Chicago Irish voice), are in the playoffs. YAY! However, they are playing Boston in the first round. Shall I plan the summer vacay now? Seriously though, I have a hunch that this series won't be the sweep that people think it will be. If my hunch is right, then Boston is in for quite the windy ride against the Chi!

On a political note, can you believe these uber-conservative Republicans throwing these (dare I say) TEABAGGING parties??? I mean I don't know if anyone else is oblivious to the double entendre here, but if we are dealing with idiots, they will be showing up to the party with an entirely different idea than protesting the raising of taxes. What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall at one of those mix-ups...LOL! If we don't raise some taxes, then our great-great-great=great grandchildren will be still paying for our debt. Speaking of which, the Obama's paid almost 900K in taxes last year. GEEZ LOUISE! Talk about practicing what you preach.

Music News

I am still amped about the I AM tour coming to the States. Rumor has it that when the tour hits the U.S., Mrs. Carter will be touring with Mr. Carter! Can you imagine that? That freakin show will be sold out in like 5 minutes.

SIR DRAKE!


Yes, I am still on that Drake Mixtape. Right now, he is the only cat out there who is both rapping and singing well. No disrespect to Ye and Weezy, but they need to stick to that initial career of JUST rapping. Drake has an ill flow, with a Hova swagger, although he is killing Mr. Carter in the substance. Then he flips it, and will sing a la Joe/Kenny Latimor-ish and it kind of blows you away. This kid will be around for a while, I am just feeling his swag right now. A friend of mine couldn't get into him because she's not into light-skinneded (ugh) dudes...I will be so glad when black people stop being so color-struck. Truthfully what does complexion have to do with talent? And we say slavery is over with...

This whole Keri Hilson v. Beyonce, Ciara, Pussy Cat Dolls or whoever is just too ridiculous to really be addressed. Get on first. Get established first. Get platinum first. Achieve stadium status ON YOUR OWN FIRST! Now that, that is out of the way. Her album is nice, not awe-inspiring, but radio friendly, clean your house while listening to it kind of record.

I have also been blazing that N.E.R.D. "Seeing Sounds" records. If you don't have this record - go out and buy it, trust, it is such a worthy purchase! Gotta love those Star Trak boys! That Jada record review will be next.

Oceans 7


So, it is no secret, I am like addicted to YouTube. I need to cut back on watching it at work (yeah I know), but Jermaine Dupri has a channel on YouTube called Living the Life. Those who regularly watch it are called Lifers. What has become interesting is this Oceans Boy clique he has put together. The Oceans 7 are:
Jermaine Dupri - The General
Johnta Austin - Johnny Sinatra
Usher - The Light
Bryan Michael Cox - The Texas Ranger
Tyrone (JD's Asst.) - Intynational
Trey Songz - 007/11
Nelly - Moe(?)

These guys are typical men, they are truly an explicit male version of the View. The things they discuss are hilarious, crass at times, but definitely entertaining. Check them out.