Kanye West is truly one of a kind, especially in hip-hop. We all know he probably has the biggest ego in the world of entertainment but sometimes it is hard to blame him. Despite his arrogant ways and how he carries himself in the public eye, the man has a damn-near flawless music catalog. I consider him to be a musical genius and easily one of the best rappers of all-time.
On his new song “New Slaves” Kanye goes against the grain of what is popular in hip-hop today and discusses real issues of the present and the past. He opens the song by saying “my momma was raised in an era when clean water was only served to the fairer skin“, in this line Kanye is talking about segregation during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.
What I loved most about this song is how Kanye is basically calling out rappers (including himself) who celebrate material things like diamond chains, fur coats, and Maybachs in their music. I feel like he is pointing out how hip-hop is becoming free advertisement for this big brands but in the same breath he is admitting to knowing this and is refusing to change.
Kanye did phenomenal job with the production on this song, as he incorporated what sound like African drums to further emphasize the concept of “new slaves”. It is not common for an artist of Kanye’s notoriety, especially in hip-hop, to speak on such issues and debut them in such a rebellious way. This song and the way Kanye debuted it just feels like a huge middle-finger to the entertainment industry. I love it.
But nothing about this song has me more excited than the possibility of Kanye performing it tonight on SNL.
Ben Affleck is coming off of 2 great movies (The Town and Argo) that have changed his reputation in Hollywood after movies like Gigli and Daredevil. If Ben can do anywhere close to as good of a job as his buddy Matt Damon did on Jimmy Kimmel Live then this will be a grand episode of Saturday Night Live.
Is there anyone more hated as a person and loved as an entertainer than Kanye West? I cannot think of one but I do know Kanye is not making it easy on himself going on rants about the struggle of being a celebrity. I am a fan of Kanye so I hope he performs some new music to offset his egotistical absurdity.
Last season Andy Samberg and Kristen Wiig left SNL after 7 years and now this year Bill Hader has announced that he will be leaving after 8 years. Fred Armisen is rumored to also leave this season after 11 years on SNL along with Jason Sudeikis, who has been on SNL for 8 years. Next year Seth Meyers will be departing to replace Jimmy Fallon on NBC’s Late Night, which like Saturday Night Live will be executive produced by Lorne Michaels.
Many Americans are battling with obesity and bullying is becoming a bigger problem in our schools but do people like Mike Jeffries care? Hell no, people like him care about revenue and building their brand. And how can their brand build with fat, ugly, and lower-class people wearing the brand?
In his 2006 interview with Salon.com Mike Jeffries said: “Those companies that are in trouble are trying to target everybody: young, old, fat, skinny. But then you become totally vanilla. You don’t alienate anybody, but you don’t excite anybody, either.” So what he is saying is that marketing your brand for everyone is a bad thing? I call bullshit. There are brands that are fashionable, affordable, and accessible for people of all classes, body types, and genders.
This story reminds me of the rumor of Tommy Hilfiger being racist:
Fortunately the Tommy Hilfiger rumor was proven false. Mike Jeffries will not be so fortunate because he candidly says Abercrombie only wants “attractive” consumers while he–at the age of 61 and after probably tons of botox treatment–is hideous. But my intent is not to bash Mike Jeffries, my intent is to point out the thought patterns of executives of big businesses. They don’t think of their consumers as people, they see them as free advertisement. Mike Jeffries wants to walk outside and see Abercrombie clothing on people that look like the models he pays. But what Mike Jeffries and other executives don’t understand is that they aren’t paying the consumers, the consumers are paying them.
It is crazy to believe that this man is basically rejecting certain people’s money but we are talking about a company that basically hires models to not wear their clothes. As a fat guy, I have never even walked in an Abercrombie & Fitch store but I still feel like I have a complete life. I really hope Mike Jeffries’ comments did not have any negative impact on anyone.
I love my Chicago Bulls and it is hard not to admire the heart they have played with this post-season with injuries to so many of their keys players. Going into the playoffs we all were aware that Joakim Noah would not be 100% with his plantar fasciitis but he showed his heart and helped lead the Bulls past the Brooklyn Nets after a long 7-game series. By the end of that 7-game series with the Nets, Joakim seemed to be closer to being 100% but the Bulls lost Kirk Hinrich to a calf injury and Luol Deng to a bad reaction to a spinal tap (plus Derrick Rose has missed an entire year).
In the 4 game series against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Miami Heat were seemingly toying with the Bucks. I say this because if you watched those games, you would notice that in the first half the Bucks seemed to be legitimate competition to the Heat but in the second half the Heat would pull away and just embarrass the Bucks. The Heat have a bad habit of playing down to the competition but with the talent on their team they are usually capable overcoming their misjudgments.
In game 1 of the Bulls/Heat series the Bulls were the better team, they came out with more heart and focus than the Heat and the Bulls were the aggressors throughout that entire game. Looking back it is easy to say that the Heat underestimated the Bulls but these teams are far too familiar with each other for me to believe that. I think the Bulls were running off of adrenaline from an emotional game 7 win over the Brooklyn Nets after facing so much adversity and they just plainly outplayed the Heat.
Game 2 was the difference maker in this series, the Heat led by as much as 46 points. The Bulls lost composure in game 2 with Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson both being ejected for shouting at the referees. The Heat stayed focused and the talent on the Heat stabbed the Bulls in the heart. In game 3 Joakim Noah lost his composure again by shoving Chris Andersen and Nazr Mohammed lost his composure by getting ejected for pushing LeBron James to the floor. Game 3 was a close game throughout despite Noah’s and Mohammed’s blow-ups. The Bulls stayed focused but the Heat shut down Nate Robinson and the Heat’s bench players (especially Norris Cole) stepped up in a big way.
The Bulls are tired, they are playing basically with a 7 man rotation and 3 of their best players have yet to play a minute in the series. Game 4 the Bulls looked exhausted and the Heat looked championship-bound. I am expecting the Bulls to come out with energy and heart and putting up a hell of a fight but–as much as it hurts me to say–it won’t be enough. The Heat will win game 5 and move on to the Eastern Conference Finals and end the Bulls’ season.
Last night was the 8th season finale of one of my all-time favorite sitcoms, How I Met Your Mother, and I wish the show would just end already. 8 seasons is a long time, but it is even longer when it has been 8 seasons supposedly telling a story of how a man met his wife.
The ceiling for this show has always felt about 7 seasons to me; 5 seasons of Ted searching for his wife and 2 seasons of incorporating the wife with the group. But instead we have had 8 long seasons of Ted making dumb, naive relationship decisions, and for some reason he is telling them all to his children. From the jump I have loved the premise of the show because it was such a unique way of telling a love story in sitcom-form but the show-runners have failed because it is taking them 8 seasons to get to the love story.
So, at the end of the 8th season Ted has yet to meet his future wife and he is still in love with Robin. Haven’t they done this already? Yes, several times and that is why I am getting kind of tired of the show. The show-runners seem to be running out of ideas and are seemingly walking in circles. I think they noticed that they were beginning to walk in circles again with the Barney-Robin-Ted love triangle but they corrected that quickly by making Barney and Robin get married thus Ted would have to meet his wife at their wedding. Oh and they have finally introduced us to Ted’s future wife (we think).
I love How I Met Your Mother, as much as I am bashing it now I am waiting anxiously for season 9 to begin because they ended season 8 with so many cliffhangers. Apart of me doubts that this is Ted’s future wife, I mean just think about how many curve-balls the show-runners have thrown our way. I just knew Stella was the future wife, then I definitely knew Zoey was the future wife, and I have thought Robin will be the ultimate curve-ball as Ted’s future wife several times, but I guess I was wrong. That is the one thing this show succeeds at endlessly is keeping its’ viewers guessing.
The reason why I worry so much about How I Met Your Mother is because LOST has ruined me when it comes to TV shows. I always expect the worse because of LOST, and How I Met Your Mother often gives off the same vibe that LOST did and that is that the writers are just winging it and nothing in the story is planned ahead of time except for the obvious. I still have hope–little hope–that this show can end with dignity but I am glad that season 9 will be the final season.
It is no secret that LeBron James is probably the most overly-criticized athlete in the history of sports. LeBron has had to battle with high expectations since high school and through his 9 year career in the NBA. Yet he is 28 years old with 3 NBA Finals appearances, 1 NBA championship, and 4 MVP awards. I am personally guilty of criticizing LeBron but it has always been justified because he is a superstar and arguably one of the 10 greatest players in NBA history and he has had a few blunders in his career but today I am on his defense.
LeBron James is good friends with Kevin Durant and they are both superstars in this league but Kevin Durant is much more respected by the media and far less scrutinized than LeBron James has been throughout his career. Russell Westbrook’s season ended in the 1st round of the playoffs when he tore his MCL thus leaving Kevin Durant as the lone leader and consistent scoring option for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Now that the Thunder find themselves down 3-1 in their series against the Memphis Grizzlies people are saying that there is too much weight on Kevn Durant’s shoulders. So Kevin Durant is getting sympathy for being the only superstar on a team full of average-to-mediocre talent? LeBron was in that same position in Cleveland but instead of sympathy he got scrutiny.
Kevin Durant is 24 years old and lost in the NBA Finals with a team consisting of James Harden and Russell Westbrook, together those are 3 of the best 15 players in the NBA and they lost to LeBron James’ Miami Heat in 5 games. LeBron James was 22 when he and the Cavaliers lost in the NBA Finals to the San Antonio Spurs in 4 games. But instead of having superstar-caliber talent on his team, LeBron was surrounded by players like Daniel “Boobie” Gibson, Eric Snow, Drew Gooden, and Donyell Marshall. I’m sorry but Michael Jordan would struggle winning a game in the Finals with that roster; especially at 22 years of age.
I say all of this to say that although LeBron may deserve heavy criticism at times, he shouldn’t be the only superstar that is held to such high standards.
Kendrick Lamar is one reason why lyricism has become somewhat popular in hip-hop again. Kendrick has released 3 pretty incredible mixtapes and has gradually improved with each project. All of that gradual growth came to fruition when Kendrick release a masterpiece of a debut album in good kid, m.A.A.d city. good kid, m.A.A.d city is a conceptual album based on what seems to be a day in the life of an average teenage boy in the crime-ridden city of Compton and all of the tough situations he finds himself in.
“Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” is the first track on the album and one of my personal favorites. The way Kendrick plays with his flow and has fun with the song while delivering a thought-provoking message along side a very catchy and almost-addictive hook is just genius.
This video is even better than the song because it seems to be celebrating the death of “Molly”. “Molly” is the colloquial term for a purer form of the drug “ecstasy” and it is unfortunately becoming a trend and is being celebrated in hip-hop. Kendrick Lamar has long been an advocate against drugs and he continue his advocacy in this video by wishing death upon this new trend of a drug.
The only negative about this video is the weak product placement to shamelessly plug Dr. Dre’s new product the “beats pill“.
Oh, and by the way, is Mike Epps ever not hilarious?!
The NBA playoffs have been pretty awesome thus far–to say the least. Rivalries have ensued, unlikely players have stepped up, flaws have been pointed out, and injuries of star players.
This season has shown me one thing surely and that is that the 90s era of the NBA is officially over. Steve Nash, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett have all looked like shells of themselves all season. Now that Kobe is injured with his Achilles it is only natural to wonder if his career will be shortened due to that and the Lakers’ dominance is seemingly over. Now I’m watching this Spurs/Warriors semifinals and how old the Warriors are making the Spurs look–and the Spurs have always played like old men.
These playoffs are all about Steph Curry right now and his emergence as probably one of the best shooters the NBA has ever seen. Unfortunately for the San Antonio Spurs, Steph Curry and his Golden State Warriors have outplayed them for 3 of the 4 games of this series despite the series being tied 2-2. This Warriors team just looks like too much for the Spurs with players like Klay Thompson, Jarrett Jack, Harrison Barnes, and Steph Curry who are lethal with a long-range jumper but can also take the ball off the dribble and take it to the hole. The Spurs have 3 Hall-Of-Famers on their roster and one of the greatest coaches of all-time but in the NBA playoffs it usually comes down to who has the best player wins and Steph Curry is definitely playing like the best player in this series.
I am not yet ready to put the final nail in the Spurs’ casket because they have had one of the best records in the NBA for the past 3 years and they were just in the Western Conference Finals last year but they are old as hell. The Warriors have also pointed out one thing about the Spurs and that is that their depth is overrated. The Spurs have been considered one of the deepest teams in the NBA but when Manu is missing every shot and Andrew Bogut is locking Tim Duncan down this series becomes Tony Parker vs. the World, Tony Parker isn’t that nice.
The unsung hero for the Warriors has easily been Andrew Bogut, who has had the challenge of guarding arguably the greatest power forward in NBA history; Tim Duncan. Without David Lee many predicted that Tim Duncan would have a cake walk and would be able to dominate the Warriors’ bigs but the injury-plagued Andrew Bogut has stepped up and made every shot Tim Duncan takes a struggle.
These two teams have had several battles since the emergence of the Miami Heat’s super-team with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. The Miami Heat’s style of play is to spread the floor with shooters to allow LeBron James and Dwyane Wade to penetrate the defense and either take a high percentage shot or pass the ball to an open shooter. Dwyane Wade and LeBron James are two of the most explosive players in NBA history from baseline-to-baseline. Their ability to get to the basket and shoot the mid-range jumper has solidified their places in sports history and when they joined forces it was thought that there would be no competition for them.
During the summer of 2010 while the Miami Heat constructed their super-team, Derrick Rose proclaimed that he wanted to be the MVP of the NBA and the Chicago Bulls hired a veteran defensive-minded assistant coach–Tom Thibodeau–as their head coach. The previous year the Bulls were 41-41 but now being led by their rising star and new head coach the Bulls ended the season with the best record in the NBA at 62-20 and they were ranked as the top defensive team in the NBA. The new defensive identity of the Chicago Bulls along with the explosive style of play of Derrick Rose made them one of the elite teams in the NBA.
During the 2010-2011 regular season the Bulls and Heat met 3 times and the Bulls won all three, so a Bulls versus Heat playoff series was in high demand. The hatred for the Heat was at such a high volume that season and the Bulls seemed to be the Heat’s only true competition in the Eastern Conference. The demand for a Bulls versus Heat playoff series came fruition as the two beasts of the East were set to meet in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Bulls started the series off with a game 1 victory but the Miami made adjustments and won the last 4 consecutive games of that series and were looking like a championship-caliber team.
The Heat fell to the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals in 6 games.
The following season the Bulls and Heat seemed to have grown a dislike for one another but still had a mutual respect for each other on a competitive level. Throughout the 2011-2012 season the Bulls and Heat had 4 physical battles of which each team won 2 and it only seem natural that they would meet for another Eastern Conference Finals battle. But the rematch never took place due to the Bulls being eliminated in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals by the Philadelphia 76ers after losing Derrick Rose to a torn ACL and Joakim Noah to a high ankle sprain.
This season the Bulls and Heat have taken to completely different paths to get to the playoffs. The Bulls have struggled throughout the season with Derrick Rose missing the entire season with his ACL injury and several other Bulls players that battled with multiple injuries. With all of the injuries and the absence of their star player, the Bulls still fought for the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference and they fought even harder to advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals. While the Bulls struggled, the Miami Heat were cruising. The Heat dominated all season, they even going on a 27-game winning streak at one point and went 4-0 in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Despite how they got here, they are here for what I hope will be an instant classic of a playoff series. This Bulls team may be limited with players but they have more than enough heart and fight in them. The Heat are the clear favorites–and the deserve to be–but they have played the Bulls enough to know they must bring their best effort in order to withstand the Bulls’ physical play.
This movie looks like a stereotypical Sci-Fi fan’s wet-dream from the director of 2009′s District 9; Neil Blomkamp. From the trailer, Elysium looks action-packed and star-studded. I would have ranked it higher on this list if it was not for the guy with the sword–there should not be swords in the future, I mean do you see the other weapons in this trailer?
9. The Hangover Part III
Release Date: May 24th
The third and final part to a series that really should have never been a series. The first movie is a classic, one of the best comedies of the past 15 years but that just wasn’t good enough was it? Nope. They had to make another one that was just like the first one. But I’m kind of excited for this one because the group is going back to Vegas and Carlos is supposed to make an appearance. I hope the series ends on a good note.
8. White House Down
Release Date: June 28th
No offense to the great Morgan Freeman but I refused to watch Olympus Has Fallen until I have first seen White House Down. Why? Because I do not want to insult Jamie Foxx’s performance as president by supporting his competition.
In his last movie he was a slave, and in his next movie he will be Spider-Man’s nemesis. From slave, to president, to villain; that’s just honorable. I think Jamie Foxx has a chance to be the best president in a movie since Chris Rock. Yeah, I said it, Chris Rock!
But seriously I am excited to see this movie because let’s face it, Roland Emmerich is one of the best directors for disaster movies.
7. Fast & Furious 6
Release Date: May 24th
Why is there a 6th part to the Fast & Furious series? Because it is going to be awesome on top of awesome! I have no idea how they are doing it but these movies may not have the greatest actors or storylines but they are pretty damn entertaining.
And who isn’t interested on seeing how Letty survived and where the hell she was hiding? Seriously.
6. Kick-Ass 2
Release Date: August 16th
How can Christopher Mintz-Plasse out grow McLovin? I don’t know, but playing a villain named “The Mother Fucker” is a step in the right direction.
Just when I thought Chloe Grace Moretz couldn’t be much more of a bad-ass, she proves me wrong with her ability to kick ass–literally and figuratively. She is only 16 and this is like her 30th movie.
I also want to see this movie to see how smooth the transition is from Nicolas Cage to Jim Carrey as the creepy-adult-vigilante who hangs out with a group teenage vigilantes.
5. This Is The End
Release Date: June 18th
In the event of an apocalypse, I know Hollywood is burning down first, so I always wanted to see the apocalypse in the celebrity’s perspective. And thanks to Seth Rogen, I am about to see it.
Do I really have to breakdown how incredible this movie looks and will be? Danny McBride, Emma Watson, Rihanna (deceased), Seth Rogen, Craig Robinson, Jonah Hill, and several other pretty cool celebrities.
But I think Aziz Ansari would be an ideal survivor during an apocalypse though, at least before James Franco.
4. Only God Forgives
Release Date: July 19th
Did I just see Ryan Gosling drag a man through a hallway by the teeth? YES I DID! I loved Drive, and to see Ryan Gosling reconnect with Nicolas Winding Refn gives this movie promise, on merit alone. But to see these visuals just has me ecstatic.
“Do you want to fight?” WHO SAYS THAT!? An ass-kicker, that’s who!
I can’t wait to see this movie.
3. Star Trek: Into The Darkness
Release Date: May 17th
This looks incredible! Almost as incredible as Zoe Saldana looks.
The 2009 film was a great way to build on what I am guessing will be a lengthy movie series. Judging by the trailer this film will force growth upon Kirk as a young captain by throwing a multitude of scenarios his way of which he has to make a tough decisions for. There is so much intensity in this trailer, I am expecting non-stop action from this film.
Good Luck, J.J. Abrams.
2. Man Of Steel
Release Date: June 14th
Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan are about to give birth to one hell of a movie people! And what makes it better is that it is a Superman movie. I have seen just about every Superman movie and none of them have come close to the level of any of the good Batman movies. But this one looks like it can contend with Batman Begins and how Christopher Nolan used it as the foundation for one of the greatest movie series of all-time.
I have very high expectations for this movie and I’ll be surprised if it doesn’t exceed them all.
1. Iron Man 3
Release Date: May 3rd
I am excited to see this specific superhero film the most because it is going to put a different spin on how superheroes are perceived–similar to The Dark Knight Rises. In the wake of the chaos from The Avengers movie, Tony Stark is kind of stressed out. His stress is emphasized throughout this trailer with his inability to sleep and the country’s constant need for him to come to its rescue. We are beginning to see that Tony Starks is regretting his vigilante efforts as the pressure is beginning to outweigh the glory.
