Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Diesel Time
Maybe you don't need new jeans this season, but there's still an excuse to stop into a Diesel store this Fall. The Italian brand just released images of their new watches, and they're pretty cool - especially the big black digital one that looks like it belongs on the Death Star.
Ralph Lauren Stages a Janelle Monáe Concert
It’s not every day that you walk into a classic American clothing store only to be greeted by a Grammy-nominated singer. But at 8:00 p.m. on September 10, those heading to Ralph Lauren’s SoHo establishment will find soulful vocalist and snappy dresser Janelle Monáe and her band rocking out R & B–electro-pop melodies from the usually conventional window display. The stylish songstress (who favors sleek, androgynous monochromatic outfits) cites Mr. Lauren’s threads among her wardrobe basics, so it’s no surprise she chose the luxury lifestyle brand as her sartorial platform for Fashion’s Night Out. Those who don’t make it in the store before the gig kicks off needn’t panic, the generous people at RL are installing speakers outside—prepare yourselves for a Monáe-style “Neon Valley Street” party!
Monday, August 23, 2010
Jay-Z To Tour With U2 In Australia.
Jay-Z will play for about an hour before the Irish group takes to the stage.
With 10 Grammy awards to his name, the rapper is regarded as one of the most successful artists.
It will be his second Australian visit.
Jay-Z and U2 have combined in the past, thrilling fans by performing Sunday Bloody Sunday in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin last November.
There is no word yet on whether Jay-Z will play his own headline shows while Down Under or whether his hit-making wife, Beyonce, will join him.
An Australian act is also expected to be added to the U2 tour.
Ticket prices have been released for the event at Etihad Stadium on December 1, which go on sale on September 3.
Diehard fans can pay $349.50 for Red Zone tickets close to the stage, with proceeds from those tickets to support AIDS work in Africa.They range from $39.90 for the cheapest seats to the prime seats that will set fans back $299.90.
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Eminem To Return To The 2010 VMAs
You can't throw the year's biggest party without inviting the artist with the best-selling album of 2010. Especially if that guy happens to be Eminem, whose history with the MTV Video Music Awards is long, legendary and full of the kind of eye-popping moments that make the VMAs the must-TiVo event of the year.
Slim Shady will bless the show's stage on September 12, where he is nominated for eight Moonmen for his smash comeback album Recovery,the best-selling non-country release of the year.
Em joins an already star-packed roster of performers that includes Kanye West, Justin Bieber, Drake, B.o.B and Florence and the Machine, as well as in-house DJ Deadmau5 and host Chelsea Handler. The list of presenters already includes Ke$ha, Nicki Minaj, Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Trey Songz, Ashley Greene, Selena Gomez and Ne-Yo.
Over the years, Eminem has given some of the most iconic performancesof the modern VMA era, none bigger than 2000's Night of the Living Shadys. During that show, Em began his run through Video of the Year-winning hit "The Real Slim Shady" out on the streets of Manhattan, surrounded by an army of clones dressed exactly like him. The brigade then marched into Radio City Music Hall as Em finished "Shady" and then busted into a visceral "The Way I Am."
Even when he wasn't performing on the show, Eminem — who ranks sixth on the list of all-time VMA winners — has made his presence felt over the years, as he did in 2002 with his infamous run-in with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Kanye West "Power" Remix Features Jay-Z & Swizz Beats
If you're putting together a remix of a song called "Power," it makes sense to hand over the first few verses to Forbes' top Hip-Hop Cash King. That explains why Kanye West invited Jay-Z to bless the remake of the first single from his new album.
"Is this thing on? Oh, I thought they silenced us, 'Ye. Power to the people," Jay says before dropping into his first verse on the song, which Funkmaster Flex aired in part on New York's Hot 97 and then posted in full on his site Thursday (August 19) night.
"We livin' in that 31st century/ Futuristic fly sh--/ The penthouse is the projects and everybody flies private," Jigga raps, taking the tune a century ahead of Kanye's original. "New watches, you know what time it is, watch us/ They can't stop us, the prophets, beyotches," he adds, before Yeezy lays down the song's now-indelible chorus.
But Jay's not done yet. "Rumble young man, rumble/ Life is a trip so sometimes we gon' stumble/ You gotta go through pain in order to become you/ But once the world numbs you you'll feel like there's only one you/ Now you got the power to do anything you want to/ Until you ask yourself, 'Is this what it's all come to?' "
Giving some sage advice to his younger charge, Jay adds, 'F--- all these labels/ F--- what everyone wants from you," warning that they're trying to "Axl Rose you/ Welcome to the Jungle." The Chairman follows up with a reference to the philosophy of renowned late author, womanizer and pugilist Norman Mailer, explaining that his man is "in search of the truth/ Even if it goes through Taylor Swift."
By the time it's Kanye's time to shine, he's ready to brag about how "Power" has already created its own universe. "Now when I walk in, everybody do the 'Power' clap/ Clap, clap, clap/ Fresh for the club, I just took a half an hour nap," raps the tireless MC. Then he alludes to the time he spent off after the Swift incident at last year's MTV VMAs with the line, "My socket was out the plug, now it's time to get the power back."
After pondering the abuse of power, 'Ye says while we can't all become "American Idols," we can at least "grab a camera, shoot a viral/ Huh? Take the power in your own hands/ I'm a grown man, doin' my grown dance." Considering his video for "Power" is like a moving painting, it's fitting that the Louis Vuitton Don drops an art history reference, ending his verse with the line, "I don't stop until I see the end, my vision is clear, b----/ I'm on my Van Gogh, I don't hear s---."
West gets a bit uncharacteristically political in his next verse, sending prayers out to those who lost family members in the Pakistani floods while praying that the U.S. keeps troops out of Iran and doesn't get tangled up with North Korea. Swizz Beatz drops in to pump West up a bit more, and then Yeezy brings it home with an extended verse in double time over his background singers, who slide into the iconic chorus from Snap!'s 1990 club banger "The Power."
Showing he still feels like a king, Kanye drops references to the crucifixion and compares himself to both NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon and NBA superstar Michael Jordan. "But I be feelin' like Jordan when I'm recordin'," he says, elongating the end of each line, " 'Cause every time I record, I duck to slap the boards."
But don't think he doesn't have a sense of humor about his public image. "I don't know what these rappers gon' do afterwards/ Prolly spaz like I might do at the awards," he says, admitting that the remix is another realization of one of his life's dreams.
"Now Jay my big brother and Bey my 'lil sister."
Art Wars
Bravo's Work of Art might be over, but the competition between the contestants definitely isn't.
Two of the show's artists are facing off in New York gallery openings just a few days apart.
Underdog Abdi Farah won the competition with his final collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings entitled "Luminous Bodies." Inspired by a scene between Yoda and Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, his mysterious pieces represent the body's ability to move beyond the physical.
And even though Farah may have claimed his first-place prize of a show at the Brooklyn Museum, he's not the only success story.
Second runner-up Miles Mendenhall also scored a solo exhibition of his black and white graphic prints at Half Gallery (which, in a convenient twist, is co-owned by Work of Art judge Bill Powers).
Is it any coincidence that these two exhibitions are happening at the same time in the same city? We don't think so. So, in this throwdown between the artists, whose show would you rather see?
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