8 posts tagged “hip hop”

Ryan

Check out the interview that bossip did with Ryan Leslie. And his new video How It Was Supposed To Be

Ah hell, just check out Ryan Leslie TV to see the magic.

This is one of my favorite songs on the album. He is the real deal. I think I have a little crush on ya boy.

So yesterday while sitting at work and working hard (as if I do anything else) my friend calls and asks if I want to go to the Glow In The Dark Tour. I of course say yes and I'm glad I did. This show was 100 times better than the Heart of the City show.

The concert was at the Nokia Center which was smaller and more intimate than the Hollywood Bowl. The crowd was soooo young and predominantly Asian but everyone was respectful in the crowd and 100 % about the music.

Now to the acts...

We walked in while Lupe was on stage. His set was basic since he was first but his energy was impressive. I thought all the teeny-boppers were there to see him b/c they knew every word.

Then N.E.R.D came out (Pharrell could get it, LOL) and they too had a basic set but completely identified with the crowd and even incited a potential riot by telling fans to ignore security and jump out in the aisles. They played their hits plus a new song that was cool. I ended up meeting another friend in the lobby for a drink. This probably was the closest I have been to a Rave.

Next up was Rihanna. She really was in tune with her Rock side. Her outfits were cute and she sang most of her hits. It would have been nice to see Dream or Ne-Yo come out and surprise the crowd but she held it down. Her hair cut is continuing to look boy-ish. She reminded me of Tinker-bell/Peter Pan but her energy and vocals were on point. Being the only lady on the tour must be hard so she made sure the ladies in the audience got to sing their couple of  "Guys ain't S*it" songs since all the other guys on the tour were belting out lyrics about their hoes and getting brain.

After a substantial delay, Kanye came to the stage and the reason for the delay was obvious in his elaborate stage set up. It was set up as if he had landed on some planet and during the show he interacted with his female digitized voice rocket. Kanye's energy superseded that of all the previous performers and left Jay-Z's Heat of the City Tour performance in the dust. He was full on sweating and definitely left a part of himself on that stage.

Kanye sang a tribute to his mom and Lupe came back out towards the end to perform a song with him. Then when leaving, the ushers were handing out a book that I browsed through. It's like a self help book that Kanye apparently wrote with some other author in that genre but in honor of his mom. It seemed like it was done in an effort to show his mom that he completed a book and was able to share with his fans the lessons of life that he had learned. Great take away gift.

At the end of the show I realized that the actual glow in the dark effects weren't as prominant as I expected but the meaning of the tour seemed to be for us individually to glow in the dark or be our brightest and overcome in times of hardship, struggle and darkness. Kudos to you Kanye.

Chrisette.michele

You know when you hear a certain song and you instantly fall in love with the sound, and then you hear more from the artist and all of a sudden it seems like that artist is singing the soundtrack to your life?

This has only happend to me a couple of times with artists like Lauryn Hill, Mary J. Blige and Alicia's first album but the new soundtrack to my life is now in stores courtesy of Chrisette Michele.

This girl is no joke. I know she's been out for a minute but her first radio single didn't really get me hooked. Her new video, "Be OK" is the new single girls anthem.

I would recommend you make room on your iPOD for other songs on the album like "Best of Me" and "Your Joy" as well.

How excited am I to hear that Lauryn is being considered to play Bob Marley’s widow Rita Marley in a new movie. The real Mrs. Marley released the movie rights to her book No Woman, No Cry, based on her life with Bob and will serve as the executive producer and play a large role in casting. Rita announced that she would love for Lauryn to play her in the movie. Apparently Ben Harper is being considered to play Bob.

It would be great to see her back and hopefully not crazy (sorry Lauryn, but you did put that funky clown make up on for a performance in Amsterdam).