The 2011 Video Music Awards, A Recap
For the night’s performances, click here.
In its third decade of existence, MTV has reached a crossroads with its audience. Once thought of as a groundbreaking vehicle for musicians to promote their albums, the channel has trimmed down the thing which made it great down to a blink or you’ll miss it dream for an insomniac. Not exactly the most promising way to get through an awards show sans host but somehow MTV did it.
Watching the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards sure as hell didn’t feel the same as watching them in 1999 or 2001, back when the awards were as close to a non-snooty version of Grammy award as possible. Somewhere between the wave of reality television shows and numerous musicians denouncing the awards because of the wave of reality television shows, an area known for a win went amiss – actual shock.
The 2011 MTV Video Music Award Performances
Last night in LA LA, MTV rolled out the black carpet (ouch BET) for the 2011 Video Music Awards and they weren’t without the usual calamity of mayhem and chaos. From Lady Gaga dressing in drag and staying there for the rest of the night to the big shocker that Beyoncé is indeed, pregnant, the awards did have a few “must see” moments.
To keep it short & sweet, here are the performances from last night’s show including Adele, Beyoncé, Chris Brown, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lady Gaga, Lil Wayne, Ne-Yo, Pitbull & Young Giant.
Jay-Z & Kanye West To Perform At VMAs
Well, the VMAs just got exciting. Reports from VIBE & E! have all but confirmed the surprise performance of Jay-Z & Kanye West at tonight’s VMAs. While most were probably going to avoid watching the ceremony given the fact that MTV hasn’t cared about music on it’s airwaves for about three years now, this last minute addition could reel in some viewers.
The Throne Facing Posible Lawsuit Over “The Joy”
http://twitter.com/#!/numerogroup/status/106069506408976388
Sample clearances are common standard & practice in hip-hop. The genre was essentially built upon the back of smokey Staxx recordings and cuts from James Brown, drum stabs & more. Soul singer Syl Johnson may not be the most known figure in music but when it comes to lawsuits over sample clearances, he’s a legend.
In 1993, the singer sued Cypress Hill over the uncleared sample of “It’s Because I’m Black”. Now, the veteran soul singer is going to find a hefty pay day from Kanye West & Jay-Z over “The Joy”. Originally thought to be a bonus cut on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, the Curtis Mayfield sampled production from Pete Rock wound up as a bonus on Watch The Throne and discredited Johnson’s vocal use.
On The Cover: Jay-Z & Kanye West Cover RESPECT
As one of hip-hop’s most venerable figures, Elliott Wilson or YN as he’s affectionately referred to doesn’t hold back his tongue. So even though The Throne aren’t doing press rounds for their colossal album, leave it to YN to give Watch The Throne the qualifier of “Most important album in hip-hop history” on the latest cover of RESPECT.
Lofty? Yes but YN’s no dummy as he follows it up with feature articles about some of the game’s best & brightest including Yelawolf, Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean & more.
The genre’s best mag sees its fourth issue under new management hit shelves on September 6th.
S1 Recreates “Excellece”
Respect the craft. Dallas producer S1 already has one strong Kanye West production to his credit in “Power” and here he recreates the second half of “Murder to Excellence” from Watch The Throne.
Is Eminem Really The King of Hip-Hop?
Rolling Stone magazine, probably the godfather for all things music journalism has composed a survey using varying means of data to determine who rules the roost in the world’s most progressive genre of music. Through nine categories: Album Sales, Awards, Album Reviews, Social Networking, Touring, YouTube & Billboard Charts (R&B/Hip-Hop/Rap), RS determined that Eminem was the undisputed king of hip-hop with Lil Wayne, Drake, Kanye West & Jay-Z rounding out the top five.
The full Master Ranking list can be seen below but we beg the question – is Eminem truly the best in his genre? When it comes to universal appeal it could be argued that Em takes top crown but the debate can rage on endlessly for days. Kanye has put out more respected albums, Jay-Z is obviously the richest and Lil Wayne may put in the most studio effort and all of them could possibly own the crown. But what say you?
Pusha T – Amen (f. Kanye West & Young Jeezy)
Flex got his hands on this and premiered it on NYC airwaves. Slated for Pusha’s upcoming Fear of God: Let Us Pray EP.
Stream below, download links after the jump.
Video: Jay-Z & Kanye West – Otis
How do you define decadence? Gut a Maybach and act like you’re having the time of your life. Yes, that’s pretty much the treatment for Jay-Z & Kanye West‘s ode to “Otis”. The Spike Jonze directed clip serves as Watch The Throne‘s first visual effort and as grand as it may be, don’t you wish they actually had a Maybach with a bumper sticker that read “What Would Hova Do?”
Since it’s release Monday morning, The Throne has been talked about and dissected, so much that even Brando’s stamp of approval got some side-eyes. Oh well, because that’s exactly what Janye wanted – an event that sucked up hip-hop into it’s own blinged out vacuum.
Review: Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch The Throne
When it was purposely billed as an event last November, Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was a reminder that the plateau the former Roc-A-Fella producer turned all-world rapper and tortured soul could be shared by few. Critics took aim with sniper’s precision at how overtly produced the album was, contained features from all across the board and introduced Bon Iver into a landscape which had shunned auto-tune and embodied everything by lavishness and the posturing of a defiant rioter in the streets. West was definitely angry throughout his solo effort but it’s that dichotomy that somehow makes him more relatable even as he gets absurdly richer by the second and what makes his big brother Jay-Z more comparable to Will Smith in that he took an already set method and tweaked it to his own benefit.
If there is a solid knock on Shawn Carter then it will be that he’s calculated and doesn’t take risks, at all. He’s a “business, man” for all the right reasons, says the right things and rose from the crumbs of Marcy to become a haughty figure in entertainment who could call the President (!) on a whim and change Oprah’s opinion on rap music. If Kanye is the risk taker supreme, an outlandish figure who may be one of the few unpredictable stars left in popular music then Jay is the man who reels him in, even when a Hitler comparison may draw the ire of the mortals beneath him.
Although they are two solo artists in nature, there’s a chemistry between them – evident in the fact they’ve collaborated with one another through an eleven year period in which fans were treated to “Takeover”, “Never Let Me Down” and more recently the grand macabre that was “Monster”. Seeing that fusion work for an entire album in an age where the world lives in a virtual co-op, no more evident than Miami’s Big Three and a joint partnership between the two artists and the tandem of Apple & Best Buy spells doom to the age of competition. Despite wildly paranoid listening sessions and more, Watch The Throne arrives with two rappers, one with more of a point to prove than the other attempting to live up to a standard of hype only they could imagine.
Day & A Dream 