Please don't sign up to be notified about updates to this blog if you don't want a lot of messages, because as you can see I update a lot,and I can post up to ten entries a day. This blog is definitely not for people who don't check their emails everyday.
atlmuzikfanzinc.
JOIN TS25 AND SURF THE WEB AND GAIN MORE TRAFFIC TO YOUR WEBSITE
dlewild (Film)
Artist: Movie Review
Title: Idlewild (Film)
Rating:
Reviewed by: Oyama Caviness
xml
"The A's" dynamic duo strikes again. This time not in record sales, but with their big screen debut Idlewild (Universal Pictures). With the help writer and director Bryan Barner, once again Outkast takes you on a magical ride, this time to Idlewild, GA where two small town friends get caught up in big time gangsta drama. Idlewild tells the tales of gangstas and hustlers in a creative, corky way.
Andre Benjamin and Antwan Patton do not give overly impressive acting performances simply because their characters Percival and Rooster, respectively, are not a far stretch from the Andre 3000 and Big Boi you all know as Outkast. However, a stellar cast with the likes of Ben Vereen, Cicely Tyson, Ving Rhames, and Terrence Howard make Idlewild worthy of any Hollywood accolades it may receive.
The compelling and layered storylines keep the audiences attention throughout the film. Percival, an unpopular, timid musician finds a love who encourages him to reach his true potential and follow his dreams. Rooster, the outgoing, street smart performer who looks out for Percival, maneuvers through grimy gangsta politics while trying to maintain a stable family structure.
Bryan Barber, the mastermind behind many Outkast videos including the award winning "Hey Ya" pushes the visual envelope with captivating "church" (the club in the movie) scenes. Outkast favorites like "Bowtie" and "Church" are performed with uptempo swing choreography from Tony winner Hinton Battle and touched with subtle ATL flava reminiscent of the the "The Way You Move" video. Throughout the film, fast paced scenes are contrasted by slow motion isolation which takes the cinematography to a level in line with the box creativity of Outkast themselves.
Unfortunately for viewers that are not die hard Outkast fans, the musical performances may seem a bit corny at times. These musical elements, which serve as the soundtrack and upcoming Outkast album, are edited brilliantly between scenes which only add to the dramatic storyline. A steamy sex scene between Percival (Andre) and his romantic interest Angel (Paula Patton) more than make up for any disappointments-an added treat Andre 3000 groupies are sure to enjoy.
Overall, Idlewild is an entertaining musical told in a bizarre fashion that only Outkast could manage to pull off.
Hurricane Katrina Survivors, Activist Convene For One Year Anniversary
By Remmie Fresh
Date: 8/28/2006 5:30 pm
xml
Survivors of Hurricane Katrina, community activists and elected officials still reflect, organize and plan action in the aftermath of the tragedy.
In recognition of the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the catastrophe that devastated New Orleans and the surrounding Gulf region, writer/community activist Kevin Powell and other community forces will convene for an insightful meeting of the minds called Hurricane Katrina: One Year Later.
"We are doing Katrina: One Year Later as a way to remember the tragedy of late August 2005, and to stress to folks that all is not well, still, with Hurricane Katrina survivors," Powell told AllHipHop.com. "Families are scattered all over the country, hotels [and] places like New York City have moved to sue survivors for back rent, and New Orleans remains a city still devastated by debris and death."
Katrina survivors, community leaders, elected officials, and other organizations intend to pack Brooklyn's Hanson Place Central United Methodist Church to face the policies, politics and glaring disparities in the aftermath of Katrina.
"People can do something by helping survivors find jobs, housing, or by helping, in some way, to defeat the Bush administration's agenda and the Republican control on Congress," Powell continued.
Additionally, Powell charged that while the Hip-Hop community has done much in the past for Katrina victims, help work was needed for those afflicted by the catastrophe.
"As far as us Hip-Hop heads go, we need to step up again. A number of the displaced Katrina survivors are teenagers, 20-somethings, and 30-somethings," he said. "and we need to understand that a young person like [displaced student] Brandi Kilbourne needs help. To me, Hip-Hop in its pure form is about looking out for each other. Will the real Hip-Hop heads stand up, then?"
But, the challenges are not limited to Hip-Hop as society on a whole must come to terms of what Katrina truly means.
"I say the challenge for us on this one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina is to understand the difference between charity and justice. Charity just means we feel something for a moment, give money or time, then change the channel in our minds. Justice means we are committed in our bones not just to money, material things, status, and all of that, but to helping people who are less fortunate," he concluded.
The Hurricane Katrina: One Year Later memorial service takes place today (Aug. 28) at 7 p.m at the Hanson Place Central United Methodist in downtown Brooklyn.
SOHH NeYo is geigh!?!?! Yesterday I received an email officially declaring that the Def Jam scribe sat down to pee. Here are a few excepts...
The newly famed singer/songwriter has came out of the closet and announced that he is gay. The multi-platinum recording artist sat down for the October issue of Essence Magazine last week and announced the shocking news stating, "Yes, I am gay, and I have always been." After several internet rumors have been circulating around the internet. He also said, "You now this world we live in is full of judgement, resulting in one of the reasons why it took me so long to come out of the closet." Earlier this month, a man by the name of Derrick Johnson claimed that he had an intimate relationship with the singer during there teen years in high school.
The statement went on to say that Def Jam offered dude money to keep his antics behind closed doors and under wraps. As well it stated that he was proud of his limp wrist and "he doesn't care anymore, he was tired of living a lie and is ready to come clean. Quoting, "the music industry can either except me for who I am, or desert me."
The full interview with the magazine is expected to hit stands mid-October.
Within minutes of receiving this reader submitted statement, SOHH.com verified that this isn't anything but an internet rumor. Yes, this is a rumor. What we have verified is that NeYo's background dancers "work it down dick to jaw" to quote Lil Kim. Read more here.
And speaking of accepting people for who they are, Mary J. Blige's new single "Take Me As I Am" seems to have reinvigorated energy around her uber platinum cd, The Breakthrough. When I first heard the song, I thought that it was just good. Mary is on her grown woman and her feel good, SOHH this was her way of saying love it or leave it alone.
(regular old IE is best... ya'll know the drill)
STANDBY="Loading Windows Media Player components..." TYPE="application/x-oleobject">
WIDTH="300" HEIGHT="300" ShowControls="1" ShowStatusBar="0" ShowDisplay="0" autostart="0">
Well, video can really make a radio star in the sense that I actually want to hear this track eventhough Mary's album is losing momentum on my playlist. Mary comes for the job in this new video. I've loved Mary playing numerous roles in her videos ever since "Your Child" from the Mary album. Note to Beyonce, this is how The Blacks prefer their cinematography. What is your opinion of the song and has the video changed your thoughts?
Recently I was thinking that this coming 2007 Grammy season will have a huge impact on Mary's career. Mary had better be the person doing that pose, that I venture to say Michael Jackson made famous in the 1984/1985 era when he was holding eight Grammy Awards, most recently we've seen this Grammy sweep with Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys and of course Beyonce back in 2004. This year is Mary's year. They have go on ahead and officially place their stamp of approval on not only Mary's past accomplishments, but on the direction in which she is moving (i.e. recording with Bono and them). But time will tell. It's way too early to speculate when we are expecting releases from Beyonce, Janet Jackson and John Legend. Not to mention this year's success stories: Chris Brown, NeYo and Jamie Foxx
Monica Ain't Nothing But... Tweet
Do you remember the first time you heard "Don't Take It Personal (Just One Of Dem Days)" by Monica. That album was release July 18, 1995. Back then she was young and sassy yet sophisticated. Then Arista Records executive Clive Davis had done it again. He plucked a young girl from Atlanta obscurity similar to the way he plucked Whitney Houston from all her Newark glory and “packaged” her for a career as golden as her voice.
Back then Monica sang songs that many criticized as being too mature. The rumor mill said that, “There is no way she can be 14.” Three years later (July 14, 1998), Monica released The Boy Is Mine, her sophomore CD. With favorites like “Misty Blue,” “Street Symphony,” “Angel of Mine” and of course the title track, a duet with Brandy. Monica went on to earn a Grammy Award despite how silly everyone thought it was for her to name the CD The Boy is Mine knowing that most of the world considered the chart-topping song to be Brandy’s since it too was the first single from her album which was released a full month earlier (June 9, 1998).
The media perpetuated a feud between Brandy and Monica. Rumors flew that two didn’t get along or that Brandy had her vocals turned up higher than Monica’s on her album’s version of the duet. However rumors or no rumors, feuds or no feuds, they pulled of a flawless performance of the song on the 1998 MTV VMAs.
Somewhere around the new millennium things got kind of… shaky. There was a suicide of a loved one, a baby, a marriage and a little something that was to become the gift and curse of Monica’s subsequent CDs… MISSY ELLIOT! (not in any particular order)
When Monica released “So Gone” from After The Storm I immediately gave both her and Missy kudos. Missy had ushered Monica into a maturity that seemed fitting. Monica spread her wings a bit and let her “urban” sensibility surface a bit more. She was rapping on her first single. She even stopped covering the tattoos (covering them was something I think was more the label’s idea than hers). But After The Storm kinda came and went… like the tide, never making the impact that her nemesis Brandy did with Full Moon — the most perfect album in it’s category in all of 2002. Full Moon is a masterpiece but that is an argument for another day.
(if you blank space, blame YouTube)
All of this should bring us to the present. Monica is set to release her fourth studio album. She has received lukewarm reviews to the first single, “Every Time the Beat Drops.” Her original Sept 26th released date has been moved back a bit so that “Beat Drop” can either marinate or drop off the face of the Earth. I am sure the label will release another single before releasing the album. And if my instincts are correct, she will release one of those horrible Missy Elliot-produced singles. Which one you ask???? Take your pick. They are all mediocre to horrible in that there is no sense of growth. Rather than being a worldly Grammy Award winner, Monica comes off more like a talent show winner at the local Teddy T (ask Dig what the Teddy T is). A good friend of mine made a comment that Missy is stuck where R&B is concerned. Her concoctions for Monica… the Monica…. Clive Davis’ Monica… ain’t nothing but Tweet-esque tracks. Play any of the new Monica and then play Tweet’s second CD… Notice any similarities?
Someone in the comment section said it best, "Monica should try to cultivate Mary J. Blige's audience, rather than let her blueprint be the antithesis of her groundbreaking success." Besides… we don’t see or hear from Tweet these days for a reason. She too should have cut the Missy strings one album sooner.
As many of already know Danity Kane released their self titled debut cd this past Tuesday (August 22nd). I remember checking MTV News for information on the release and there was very little. Here is what they reported...
Danity Kane: Will the latest "Making the Band" act make bank with its debut? The self-titled affair isn't just backed by executive producer Diddy, though: Also sharing their wisdom with the newcomers are Timbaland, Rodney Jerkins, Mario Winans and Bryan-Michael Cox, all of whom spend some time behind the boards.
Not much coverage for a group that has members that toiled for three seasons on the network.
WAIT! Check out my exclusive interview with DANITY KANE filmed at Daddy's House in NYC.
Well yesterday Atlantic Records released a statement championing their first week sales. Here are few excerpts:
Bad Boy Records' red-hot girl group Danity Kane, stars of the hit MTV series "Making the Band 3," have exploded at retail outlets nationwide with their debut album, "DANITY KANE." The multi-talented quintet is the music industry's newest Cinderella story, as Danity Kane is now neck and neck with veterans OutKast and Christina Aguilera for the top spot on next week's national album chart. Danity Kane's first-week sales triumph is unprecedented for a new artist with little radio or video airplay.
Bad Boy CEO Sean "Diddy" Combs commented: "Many people wrote off these girls as just a 'made-for-TV' group, but I believed in their talent from the beginning. The fans have spoken, and with their love and support, Danity Kane's dream is coming true. Sometimes word of mouth is better than radio and video play. This is the best kind of success, one that comes straight from the people."
An out-of-the-box phenomenon at retail, "DANITY KANE," which hit stores just two days ago, sold nearly 90,000 units in its first day of release, selling out at most stores across the country.
Next week we'll be tracking first week sales, trust me.
And speaking of all girl bands, all this DK, DC talk has me wondering what Kelly Rowland has been upto. Apparently she is releasing new music somewhere. Listen to our new joint of the day "Every Thought Is U (Addicted)":
) 
)
