Hola todos! Welcome to the inaugural edition of music suggestions for the gym. It’s a new year and a new fabulous you. Let’s celebrate by kicking out the tunes. Of course you are welcome to recommend the hot jamz you are listening to. In fact, I insist. I have my own taste in music and you have yours. I tend to go towards indie/hip hop/weird eclectic international stuff but I like a good song, so please share yours with us! Continue reading
Why? Because why the hell not! You don’t have anything better to do, so tell us what you loved (or hated) about the 1990’s. Continue reading
If you were to run your eyes over the lists of best-selling singles and most downloaded songs of the past few years, it would be hard to find many songs that directly mention the late-2000s recession, despite the massive impact it has had on much of the public. This is hardly surprising; political songs rarely chart highly, love is always going to be a more popular song theme than unemployment and one of music’s greatest assets is its capacity for escapism which is much needed by many at the moment.
You could say that there are subtle nods towards the situation, such as the appearance of slightly dystopian or politically charged videos from some of the most popular artists around, less songs dismissive of the poor compared to ten or fifteen years ago, less conspicuous consumerism and lower budget videos, but a lot of these trends can be explained by other influences. Lower budget videos are a direct result of the internet and how we watch videos now (I’ll let “Michael Destiny” explain this one). Continue reading
Now that we’ve heard that Lenny Kravitz will be taking on the role of Marvin Gaye in an upcoming biopic, the interwebz are abuzz about whether or not Lenny is “dark” enough to play the part. This blogger asks the question that if he were a veteran actor would all the talk about “colorism” recede from view? Perhaps. Continue reading
I wrote about the Fresh Beat Band/Music of Death last week and I did not mention the scandal. Yes, there is a scandal. During season one, the drummer, Marina, was played by Shayna Rose. Then, suddenly, in Season 2, she was replaced by Tara Perry. Some fans are super-angry about it.
Why did Shayna leave? Did she go Bananas? Did KiKi pull a Tanya Harding on her? Did she rebel against that horrid blue costume they forced her to wear? I like to think she came to her senses in the middle of a song one day and ran screaming out of the studio. The official line from the show is that she left to get married and pursue other projects. She has not appeared on gossip sites screaming about a conspiracy, so it’s unlikely that there is much of a scandal. Read more…
After promising a release after Thanksgiving, R. Kelly has dropped episode 23 of Trapped in the Closet early. Continue reading
Every once in a while you hear some music news that makes you a little hopeful. Announced this week, much beloved hip-hop impresario, Nas, will be on tour this fall joined by his 90’s “If I Ruled the World” partner, Lauryn Hill. Continue reading
Hello, children. Do you have your dancing shoes and booty poppin’ shorts on? Okay, good. You’re prepared then. Continue reading
Oh, rap brouhahas. Don’t we love them? Well, not if they end in mayhem and destruction, but when they’re full of weird irony, strange competitors, and downright ludicrous taunts — they can be sort of fun, yes? In a “Why is this happening?” kind of way. Continue reading
Hip-Hop’s elder statesman, Jay-Z, and his protégé, Kanye West, have returned to the musical equivalent of the visual motion image, and released their video for “No Church in the Wild.” Is it something of a throwback, conjuring the rage against the machine that was once brought forth by rap impresarios like Public Enemy, or is it a mish-mash of things that’s trying too hard to be both prophetic and timely? Continue reading