She Hides in the Melody

What better way for a teenage girl to reintroduce herself than with a soliloquy from footballer Vinnie Jones. Um, yeah, okay. Of course we Americans would call him a soccer player best known for his hilarious turn in Eurotrip. Joss Sone named her latest album the Introducing of Joss Stone because as she says the album is the first that is “truly her,” granted I though she was saying pretty much the same thing about her last album after debuting with an album of cover songs. But anyways.

Even though the album is supposed to reintroduce us to Joss Stone, the album doesn’t sound that different from her past album with Joss goring through neo-soul and Motown era R&B tracks with Aretha Franklin type vocal gymnastics. The biggest changes happened behind the scene. First, unlike her last album that sported seven different producers, there are only two credited on the latest outing, Stone and Raphael Saadiq.

With Saadiq being a master of neo-soul (some credit him as starting the trend), the blame most likely fall on the shoulders of Stone herself as the songs tend too far into the hip-hop genre making the songs sound like all the other bland pop songs littering the radio these days. Maybe a little worse as some of the song fall flat in places. The hip-hop flavor is sometime saved by masters of the genre like Common on Tell Me What We’re Gonna Do Now and Lauryn Hill even comes out of hiding for Music, giving a much more inspired verse than the much ignored Fugees reunion song.

The other big change is that Joss took complete reigns of writing the songs, which in this case is not a good thing. Joss is an incredible singer but much like the karaokers on American Idol, her strength is not creating melodies on her own and does a much better job when she has a template to work off of. So much like post-Idol albums where the karaokers have to sing their own songs, Introducing Joss Stone fall flat, albeit Joss’s voice does save thing a little unlike the karaokers who are unable to get a record contract without appearing on a reality show. Maybe it time too think about hooking up with ?uestlove for a second Soul Session.

Song to Download - Arms of My Baby

Introducing Joss Stone gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Coming Home

Today marks the fourth anniversary of combat in Iraq and I’m sure everyone has seen the numbers so I won’t reprint them here, and if you haven’t seen the numbers, it’s time to trade in your subscription to US Weekly for Newsweek. I really don’t want to get into the debate over troop withdrawal and troop surge. I’m sure no matter what side of the political spectrum you lie on, you are hoping that all are troops return home safely. Recently I have been listening a lot to John Legend’s latest album, Once Again, and stuck at the end, after almost an hour of love songs, is the moving song Coming Home about a soldier stuck in the middle of the war. I did a YouTube search and there were a couple of tributes to the troops using the song as a backdrop. Here was the first one on the list and I would like to send it out to all the troops in harms way; hopefully you’ll be coming home safe:

I Ain't No Hood, No Crook, No Robber

Back in 2000, Musiq Soulchild rode the wave of neo-soul with the likes of Jill Scott, D’Angelo but straddled the line between old and new with songs like Just Friends (Sunny) where you could play at any house party, Love which could have fit in well with heyday of soul in the seventies, and Halfcrazy, a song they you just want to put on when you are all alone with the repeat on when going through relationship problems. But after releasing three albums in just over three years, Musiq went on hiatus for four year, in the interim; he brought back the Souldchild surname which dropped for his third album.

Musiq is back not a moment too soon as the R&B genre has been overtaken by raunchy lyrics and over exaggerated hip hop beats. His fourth album Luvanmusiq is much like his predecessors where the singer effortlessly goes between new and old school. As for the new there is B.u.d.d.y. which may be this first song from Musiq that could fit in at a club as it has a very danceable feel to it. But the highlight of the newer sound is Betterman (not a Pearl Jam cover) produced by Raphael Saadiq with it’s driving bass line that will make you either bob your head or clap along, possibly both, and heartfelt lyrics from Musiq himself, who wrote all the album aside from a co-writing credit from Ne-Yo on Ms.philadelphia.

For those who like to kick it old school, head towards the end of the album with Lullaby and Greatestlove along with Thequestions earlier in the album. These two songs that you will want to put on when you are with your special love whether it is in front of the fireplace in the winter or underneath the stars on your porch in the summer. With the return of Musiq, and the rise of John Legend and Anthany Hamilton, hopefully we are on the verge of another neo-soul era that will make the radio safe for those that prefer romantic songs over the sleazy ones.

Song to Download - Betterman

Luvanmusiq gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

57 Channels and Only This Is On vol. XI

Quote of the Week: People ask, are we ready for a black president.? Why not, we just had a (expiative deleted) one. (Chris Rock, Late Night with Conan O’Brien) 

Song of the Week: You Could Be Happy - Snow Patrol (Smallville) 

Big News of the Week: Look at all these rumors, surrounding me everyday, I just need some time, some time to get away. It seems like every year the “who will get another season and who won’t” discussion starts earlier and earlier. It got into full swing this week as someone posted that Veronica Mars was canceled. That was then retracted minutes later but that didn’t stop people from thinking the show wasn’t coming back for a fourth season. 

Now I fully understand that Veronica Mars is definitely on the bubble, but I have a hard time believing someone who writes in the “gossip” section of an internet site. Making me believe even less was the “Exclusive!” tag in front of the post. Whenever I see exclusive anywhere, I usually take it to mean, “I wanted to be the first even though it may not be true.” There in lies what is wrong with all these gossip writers, they care more about being first than being right. This individual gossiper is one of the worst as they have been wrong when it comes to executive decisions than right yet there is no accountability. Nor do we ever know who the “sources” are. Not only do we not know who the sources are, we don’t even know why they are reliable. 

Of course this begs the question how some that is wrong so many times have “reliable” sources. Now onto a rumor that I actually hope is true. Word from a just as unreliable source as the one who “broke” the Veronica Mars story is that Knights of Prosperity may actually get a second season despite being unceremoniously pulled from the schedule two weeks ago. This unreliable source says the head honcho over at ABC loves the show so much they will give the show a second chance hoping that it will pick up viewers in the second much like The Office. Keep in mind this is from a completely unreliable source, but if this is true, ABC should keep in mind that in that second season, The Office has the hilarious My Name Is Earl as a lead in so they better have something great in the pipe to help the Knights of Prosperity find an audience and I’m not talking about the proposed Caveman show and definitely keep it away from In Case of Emergency, According to Jim and the George Lopez Show. Even though it is still currently off the air, you can still stream every episode of Knights of Prosperity over at ABC.com. 

Lost: A surprisingly solid episode this week considering I figured the “shocking connection” a year ago and hate the whole Desmond seeing into the future storyline. Like I predicted, Claire and Jack share the same father, leading to yet another castaway with daddy. But Claire was disturbingly attractive with the dark hair. And back on the island, Charlie lives another day. Yippee. But once again, the best part of the episode happened away from the beach as Locke is back to his ambiguous ways. Not entirely sure what his motive is with bring the C4. But more intriguing was that Eye Patch Man let it slip that Not-Henry isn’t “Him.” I’m still putting my money on Penny’s dad being the “Him” behind everything along with all the other daddies of the castaways leading back to the whole daddy issue thing. Check out the latest episode over at ABC.com.

Smallville: I’m totally surpised that the wedding went off as planned, I never thought Lana would go threw with it ever since they got engaged. But it was nice to see evil Lionel back in full force. I always thought that Lana wouldn’t actually come to term, but now I’m not so sure. But I am beginning to think that the big mystery behind her pregnancy is that she is a test subject for a biologically engineered meteor freak.

Pick of the Week: Bring it On: All or Nothing, Sunday, 8:00, ABCFamily: Okay so it is a slow week, but I got a press release along with some pictures for the movie which is apparently the third in the franchise, granted I totally missed the second. Those Heroes fans that like the show but are disappointed that Claire’s cheerleading team got disbanded and since stopped wearing her cheerleading outfit, this movie is for you as it stars Hayden Hayden Panettiere as, of course, a cheerleader. Also along for the ride is Beyoncé’s sister, Solonge Knowles as her rival. And for all of those missing Claire in her cheerleading outfit, below is a picture to tie you over (over at my sister site, Scooter McGavin Takes Pictures, you can view all the promo pictures I have including one I posted today that is most likely to get you visit from Chris Hansen) along with the press release:

 

BEFORE SHE HAD TO SAVE THE WORLD, TV’S HEROIC CHEERLEADER HAYDEN PANETTIERE HAD TO “BRING IT ON: ALL OR NOTHING” SMASH HIT DVD MAKES ITS BROADCAST DEBUT ON ABC FAMILY MARCH 25th The Film Also Stars Solange Knowles-Smith (“Johnson Family Vacation”)

Burbank, CA (February 26, 2007) — In the third film of the “Bring It On” series, the sassy yet spirited cheerleaders bust out with hotter moves, hotter music and hotter dance sequences when “Bring It On: All or Nothing” airs Sunday, March 25 (8:00 – 10:00 PM ET/PT). Life is good for Britney Allen (Hayden Panettiere), making her the envy of all girls at Pacific Vista High School. She’s beautiful, captain of the cheer squad, has the perfect boyfriend and is the front runner for homecoming queen. All comes to a halt when her father’s job moves them out of their posh neighborhood forcing Britney to join the squad of her rival, Crenshaw Heights High School. Despite Crenshaw Heights’ tough head cheerleader Camille (Solange Knowles-Smith), Britney proves to be a force to reckon with and secures a spot on the squad. Britney and her new squad work vehemently together to prepare their routine to audition for an opportunity to perform on television with pop star Rihanna (as herself). In a heated competition, Britney finds herself in a cheer-off between her new squad and old -- but only one can be #1!

March Madness 2007 Update

Well I certainly hope no one took my March Madness advice because I had the worst first round ever. It was so bad that I’m currently sitting in the 11% of all Yahoo brakets. On the bright side I only had one Elite 8 teams and one other Sweet 16 teams bounced so far (Notre Dame, Old Dominion). I actually had a year once where I only lost one game on the first day, but that one lost was a Final Four team which just ruined any chance of winning despite having the best first round score (darn you Stanford). But I’ll pretty much have to run the table to take home any money this year. Maybe this year may be the best time to start up a second chance bracket. But anyways. If your braket is as cooked as mine, you could always participate in Band Madness, with a whopping 512 bands taking on each other. And at least it is St. Patrick’s Day so I have a socially acceptable way to drown my sorrows, time to cue up the Traditional Irish Folk Song.

In other news, Congratulations to Dara for winner her second consecutive Lyrics Quiz putter her in a tie for most wins ever at three. I’m sure being subscribe to this blog is something that has helped her to victory by being one of the first to learn when each post is uploaded helps. So to keep up with her, be sure to click on the orange button on the top of the sidebar and subscribe to your favorite feed reader. And if you don’t have a favorite, I highly recommend Bloglines.

She of course won the Rock and Roll Edition of the Lyrics Quiz. The Hall recently released their list of 200 must have albums. I haven’t talked about them up to know because every time I looked at the list, I’d see something that really irked me (Celine Dion in the top 100, more Dixie Chicks than Johnny Cash, No Paul's Boutique, etc.). But I have since calmed down and here is that list in its entirety with the must own albums that I actually own in bold (42 by my count):

1. BEATLES – SGT. PEPPER’S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND
2. PINK FLOYD – DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
3. MICHAEL JACKSON – THRILLER
4. LED ZEPPELIN – LED ZEPPELIN IV
5. U2 – JOSHUA TREE
6. ROLLING STONES – EXILE ON MAIN STREET
7. CAROLE KING – TAPESTRY
8. BOB DYLAN – HIGHWAY ‘61 REVISITED
9. BEACH BOYS – PET SOUNDS
10. NIRVANA – NEVERMIND
11. PEARL JAM – TEN
12. BEATLES – ABBEY ROAD
13. SANTANA – SUPERNATURAL
14. METALLICA – METALLICA
15. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN – BORN TO RUN
16. PRINCE – PURPLE RAIN
17. AC/DC – BACK IN BLACK
18. ROLLING STONES – LET IT BLEED
19. DOORS – DOORS
20. GRATEFUL DEAD – AMERICAN BEAUTY
21. SHANIA TWAIN – COME ON OVER
22. WHO – WHO’S NEXT
23. STEVIE WONDER – SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE
24. FLEETWOOD MAC – RUMOURS
25. PINK FLOYD – THE WALL
26. ALANIS MORISSETTE – JAGGED LITTLE PILL
27. NORAH JONES – COME AWAY WITH ME
28. EMINEM – MARSHALL MATHERS LP
29. OUTKAST – SPEAKERBOXX-LOVE BELOW
30. DR. DRE – CHRONIC
31. BEASTIE BOYS – LICENSED TO ILL
32. GUNS ‘N ROSES –APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION
33. DIXIE CHICKS – WIDE OPEN SPACES
34. MILES DAVIS – KIND OF BLUE
35. EAGLES – HOTEL CALIFORNIA
36. DEF LEPPARD – HYSTERIA
37. SOUNDTRACK – GREASE
38. MARVIN GAYE – WHAT’S GOING ON
39. BEATLES – WHITE ALBUM
40. SOUNDTRACK – SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER
41. JIMI HENDRIX – ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?
42. BEATLES – REVOLVER
43. BOSTON – BOSTON
44. BON JOVI – SLIPPERY WHEN WET
45. U2 – ACHTUNG BABY
46. WHITNEY HOUSTON – WHITNEY HOUSTON
47. LED ZEPPELIN – LED ZEPPELIN II
48. DAVE MATTHEWS BAND – CRASH
49. ROLLING STONES – STICKY FINGERS
50. GREEN DAY – DOOKIE
51. LED ZEPPELIN – HOUSES OF THE HOLY
52. JONI MITCHELL – BLUE
53. ELVIS PRESLEY – ELVIS AT SUN
54. AEROSMITH – TOYS IN THE ATTIC
55. LAURYN HILL – MISEDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL
56. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN – BORN IN THE U.S.A.
57. 50 CENT – GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN’
58. AC/DC – HIGHWAY TO HELL
59. NOTORIOUS B.I.G. – LIFE AFTER DEATH
60. VAN HALEN – VAN HALEN
61. GREEN DAY – AMERICAN IDIOT
62. BLACK SABBATH – PARANOID
63. EMINEM – EMINEM SHOW
64. JEWEL – PIECES OF YOU
65. COLDPLAY – RUSH OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD
66. MEATLOAF – BAT OUT OF HELL
67. USHER – CONFESSIONS
68. KID ROCK – DEVIL WITHOUT A CAUSE
69. GEORGE HARRISON – ALL THINGS MUST PASS
70. BILLY JOEL – STRANGER
71. EAGLES – HELL FREEZES OVER
72. VAN MORRISON – MOONDANCE
73. REM – AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE
74. PHIL COLLINS – NO JACKET REQUIRED
75. METALLICA – MASTER OF PUPPETS
76. FAITH HILL – BREATHE
77. JOHNNY CASH – AT FOLSOM PRISON
78. JOHN COLTRANE – LOVE SUPREME
79. PINK FLOYD – WISH YOU WERE HERE
80. MICHAEL JACKSON – OFF THE WALL
81. MARVIN GAYE – LET’S GET IT ON
82. BOB SEGER – NIGHT MOVES
83. PAUL SIMON – GRACELAND
84. LINKIN PARK – HYBRID THEORY
85. PRINCE – 1999
86. DEF LEPPARD – PYROMANIA
87. JANET JACKSON – CONTROL
88. RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS – BLOOD SUGAR SEX MAGIK
89. DIRE STRAITS – BROTHERS IN ARMS
90. TUPAC – ALL EYEZ ON ME
91. MATCHBOX TWENTY – YOURSELF OR SOMEONE LIKE YOU
92. RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS – CALIFORNICATION
93. LED ZEPPELIN – PHYSICAL GRAFFITI
94. NELLY – COUNTRY GRAMMAR
95. CREED – HUMAN CLAY
96. CLASH – LONDON CALLING
97. CELINE DION – FALLING INTO YOU
98. NEIL YOUNG – HARVEST
99. SOUNDTRACK – DIRTY DANCING
100. DIXIE CHICKS – HOME
101. TOM PETTY – FULL MOON FEVER
102. VAN HALEN – 1984
103. SOUNDTRACK – TITANIC
104. CROSBY STILLS & NASH – DÉJÀ VU
105. TLC – CRAZYSEXYCOOL
106. BECK – ODELAY
107. KENNY G – BREATHLESS
108. NWA. – STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON
109. SEX PISTOLS – NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS
110. BEATLES – RUBBER SOUL
111. RADIOHEAD – O.K. COMPUTER
112. SIMON & GARFUNKEL – BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER
113. DIXIE CHICKS – FLY
114. METALLICA – AND JUSTICE FOR ALL
115. MICHAEL JACKSON – DANGEROUS
116. MARIAH CAREY – DAYDREAM
117. SOUNDTRACK – TOP GUN
118. ELTON JOHN – GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD
119. POLICE – SYNCHRONICITY
120. NO DOUBT – TRAGIC KINGDOM
121. ROLLING STONES – BEGGAR’S BANQUET
122. R KELLY – R
123. TOOL – LATERALUS
124. OASIS – WHAT’S THE STORY MORNING GLORY
125. BOB MARLEY – EXODUS
126. JOURNEY – ESCAPE
127. CHRISTINA AGUILERA – CHRISTINA AGUILERA
128. JAY-Z – BLUEPRINT
129. ALICIA KEYS – DIARY OF ALICIA KEYS
130. SOUNDTRACK – O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU?
131. CARS – CARS
132. ENYA – DAY WITHOUT RAIN
133. NATALIE COLE – UNFORGETTABLE WITH LOVE NATALIE COLE
134. SOUNDTRACK – FOOTLOOSE
135. LIONEL RICHIE – CAN’T SLOW DOWN
136. SARAH MCLACHLAN – SURFACING
137. BONNIE RAITT – NICK OF TIME
138. METALLICA – RIDE THE LIGHTNING
139. SHERYL CROW – TUESDAY NIGHT MUSIC CLUB
140. FRANK SINATRA – IN THE WEE SMALL HOURS
141. EARTH WIND FIRE – GRATITUDE
142. ZZ TOP – ELIMINATOR
143. WILLIE NELSON – RED HEADED STRANGER
144. JOHN LENNON – IMAGINE
145. TONI BRAXTON – TONI BRAXTON
146. ETTA JAMES – AT LAST
147. ELVIS PRESLEY – ELVIS PRESLEY
148. CAT STEVENS – TEA FOR THE TILLERMAN
149. SMASHING PUMPKINS – MELLON COLLIE & THE INFINITE SADNESS
150. DAVE BRUBECK – TIME OUT
151. JANET JACKSON – JANET
152. QUEEN – A NIGHT AT THE OPERA
153. OZZY OSBOURNE – BLIZZARD OF OZZ
154. WILL SMITH – BIG WILLIE STYLE
155. PRINCE – SIGN OF THE TIMES
156. PUBLIC ENEMY – IT TAKES A NATION OF MILLIONS TO HOLD US BACK
157. BOB DYLAN – BLOOD ON THE TRACKS
158. GEORGE MICHAEL – FAITH
159. BOYZ II MEN – COOLEYHIGHHARMONY
160. DESTINY’S CHILD – WRITING’S ON THE WALL
161. JAY-Z – BLACK ALBUM
162. AVRIL LAVIGNE – LET GO
163. FUGEES – SCORE
164. MADONNA – LIKE A VIRGIN
165. LED ZEPPELIN – LED ZEPPELIN
166. STEVIE RAY VAUGHN – TEXAS FLOOD
167. STONE TEMPLE PILOTS – CORE
168. ORIGINAL CAST – PHANTOM OF THE OPERA HIGHLIGHTS
169. JETHRO TULL – AQUALUNG
170. TUPAC – ME AGAINST THE WORLD
171. DAVID BOWIE – RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST
172. SHAKIRA – LAUNDRY SERVICE
173. SOUNDTRACK – FORREST GUMP
174. AL GREEN – CALL ME
175. CURTIS MAYFIELD – SUPERFLY
176. LIVE – THROWING COPPER
177. GEORGE BENSON – BREEZIN’
178. WHITE STRIPES – WHITE BLOOD CELLS
179. LYNYRD SKYNYRD – PRONOUNCED LEH-NERD SKIN-ERD
180. SADE – DIAMOND LIFE
181. FLEETWOOD MAC – FLEETWOOD MAC
182. PAUL MCCARTNEY & WINGS – BAND ON THE RUN
183. BEYONCE – DANGEROUSLY IN LOVE
184. ANITA BAKER – RAPTURE
185. NAS – IIIMATIC
186. BARBRA STREISAND – A STAR IS BORN
187. EARTH WIND FIRE – THAT’S THE WAY OF THE WORLD
188. ANITA BAKER – RHYTHM OF LOVE
189. JAY-Z – IN MY LIFETIME VOL 1
190. LL COOL J – MAMA SAID KNOCK YOU OUT
191. STEELY DAN – AJA
192. WILLIE NELSON – STARDUST
193. ARETHA FRANKLIN – SPARKLE
194. ANDREA BOCELLI – ANDREA
195. BOB DYLAN – BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME
196. LUTHER VANDROSS – NEVER TOO MUCH
197. U2 – ALL THAT YOU CAN’T LEAVE BEHIND
198. RUSH – 2112
199. OUTKAST – AQUEMINI
200. GRAND FUNK RAILROAD – WE’RE AN AMERICAN BAND

Lyrics Quiz: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Edition

This past Monday, five new artists were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and so with this month’s Lyrics Quiz I thought I would look back at the past inductees. I have taken my favorite Hall of Famer from each induction class and taken a lyric from my favorite song of theirs in order of their induction. Since there have only been twenty-two ceremonies, I back loaded the most recent inductees. As always leave your guesses in the comment section, both song title and artist. If you are correct, I will un-bold the lyric and give you credit. The person with the most correct lyrics will be added to the Winner’s list on my sidebar. Now on to the lyrics:


1. Oh let our love survive or dry the tears from your eyes. Let’s don’t let a good thing die when honey, you know I’ve never lied to you. (Suspicious Minds - Elvis Presley; guessed by Rosemarie)
2. Ah things ain't what they used to be, no, no. Oil wasted on the ocean and upon our seas, fish full of mercury. (Mercy, Mercy Me (The Ecology) - Marvin Gaye; guessed by Rosemarie)
3. I may not always love you but long as there are stars above you, you never need to doubt it. I’ll make you so sure about it. (God Only Knows - The Beach Boys - guessed by Kristi)
4. Thirteen month old baby. Broke the lookin’ glass. Seven years of bad luck, the good things in your past. (Superstition - Stevie Wonder; guessed by Rosemarie)
5. Laughing on the bus. Playing games with the faces. She said, “The man in the gabardine suit was a spy.” I said, “Be careful his bowtie is really a camera.” (America - Simon and Garfunkel; guessed by Kristi)
6. There ain’t no room for the hopeless sinner who would hurt all mankind just to save his own. Believe me now. Have pity on those whose chance has grown thinner ‘cause there is no hiding place against the kingdom’s throne. (People Get Ready - The Immpressions; guessed by Tony)
7. The judge said, “Son, what is your alibi? If you were somewhere else then you won’t have to die.” I spoke not a world though it meant my life. I’d been in the arms of my best friend’s wife. (Long Black Veil - Johnny Cash; guessed by Tony)
8. I hear hurricanes a blowing. I know the end is coming soon. I fear rivers overflowing. I hear the voice of rage and ruin. (Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival; guessed by Rosemarie)
9. Old pirates, yes, they rob I; Sold I to the merchant ships. (Redemption Song - Bob Marley; guessed by Kristi)
10. Heard you told him, yes baby, that you'd love him till the end of time. Well you know, that's the same thing that you told me, well, it seems like just the other day. ((Ain't it) Funny How Time Slips Away - Al Green; guessed by Tony)
11. Did you exchange a walk-on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? (Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd; guessed by Dara)
12. I have been around the world, lookin’ for that woman/girl who knows love can endure. And you know it will. (Southern Cross - Crosby, Stills, and Nash; guessed by Kristi)
13. There she stood in the doorway, heard the mission bell. I was thinking to myself, “This could be Heaven or this could be Hell.” (Hotel California - The Eagles; guessed by Slaygal1981)
14. Sometimes it’s like somebody took a knife, baby, edgy ands dull, and put a six inch valley in the middle of my skull. (I'm on Fire - Bruce Springsteen; guessed by Dara)
15. If you wanna hang out you've got to take her out… If you wanna get down, down on the ground. (Cocaine - Eric Clapton; guessed by Kristi)
16. Left alone with big fat Fanny, she was such a naughty nanny. Heap big woman you made a bad boy out of me. (Fat Bottomed Girls - Queen; guessed by Slaygirl1981)
17. Who’s the black private dick that’s a sex machine to all the chicks? (Theme from Shaft - Isaac Hayes; guessed by Monique)
18. Do I have to tell the story of a thousand rainy days since we first met? It’s a big enough umbrella but it’s always me that ends up getting wet. (Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic - The Police; guessed by Dara)
19. I asked if she wanted 2 dance and she said all she wanted was a good man and wanted 2 know if I thought I was qualified, yeah. And I said, baby don't waste your time, I know what's on your mind. I may be qualified 4 a one night stand. (I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man - Prince; guessed by Dara)
20. You say you want diamonds on a ring of gold. You say you want your story to remain untold. But all the promises we make from the cradle to the grave. (All I Want Is You - U2; guessed by Dara)
21. Now Watergate doesn’t bother me, does your conscience bother you? Tell the truth. (Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd; guessed by Dara)
22. My brother's doin’ fast, on my mother's TV. Says she watches too much, it's just not healthy, All My Children in the daytime, "Dallas" at night, can’t even see the game or the Sugar Ray fight. (The Message - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five)
23. Yeah we’re runnin’ a little bit hot tonight. I can barely see the road from the heat coming off of it. Reach down in between my legs, ease the seat back. (Panama - Van Halen; guessed by Dara)
24. Try and understand, desire is hunger is the fire I breathe. Love is a banquet on which we feed. (Because the Night - Patti Smith; guessed by Dara)
25. September's coming soon. I'm pining for the moon. And what if there were two side by side in orbit around the fairest sun? (Nightswimming - R.E.M.; guessed by Dara)

On a side note, I’d be remised to mention that this is my 700th post here at the 9th Green. Hooray for me. Although though it looks, for the second straight year blogiversary came and went with myself forgetting once again. Of course I am a guy so I tend to forget things like that.

I Told Ya I Was Trouble

Imagine, if you will, that Christina Aguilera, didn’t live her formative years at the Happiest Place on Earth, instead in the outskirts of London, that she wasn’t pressured to fit into the teen pop genre and instead of dressing like a pin up girl, like she has recently, she actually had tattoos of pin up girls on her arm, then she may have ended up much like Amy Winehouse. Certainly another comparison you will here is to that of Lily Allen as both British ladies blew up in their native land in recent years without anyone stateside knowing there name. Then there’s the whole biting black music. But where Allen mixes modern day hip-hop and reggae, Winehouse instead goes deeper making contemporary songs that are heavily influenced by jazz, soul, and R&B girl groups from the sixties.

Despite the old time feel to all the songs, her second album, Back to Black (her debut Frank hasn’t gotten released stateside) starts off with a song that definitely is a modern tale. Now I cannot confirm if Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan have been listening to Rehab on a loop for months, with lyrics like, “They tried to make me go to rehab but I said, no, no, no” and tales of making it to the check in counter only to leave, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they had. But the reason why Winehouse is drinking isn’t to keep up the Paris Hilton lifestyle; she instead seeks the comfort of the bottle because she is in fear of losing here man a theme that comes up quite frequently on the rest of the album.

This is best represented on Me and Mr. Jones (not to be confused with Billy Paul’s Me and Mrs. Jones) where the love/hate relationship with her man goes on high where she takes him to task for making her miss the Slick Rick concert but says, “Side from Sammy you're my best black Jew.” And this girl likes her shout-out, aside from Slick Rick, and Mr. Davis Jr., she also give love to Ray (Charles), and Mr. Hathaway whom I assume she is referring to Donnie, not Anne’s dad. Marvin Gaye also gets some love as Tears Dry on Their Own is built around Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.

The best of this set though is You Know I’m No Good, a great romp with a funky baseline and horns that come in and out at exactly the right times. And we American get an extra treat with a bonus version of the song featuring Ghostface Killer (granted you could have found the song on his More Fish album), and really, anyone down with the Wu is down with me. Now Lily Allen may have made the better album (see my review: Sun Is in the Sky, oh Why, oh Why Would I Want to be Anywhere Else), and has had the more buzz here, but this should be a battle to look forward for years to com.

Song to Download - You Know I’m No Good (featuring Ghostface Killer)

Back to Black gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

We on Award Tour: 2007 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Yesterday when I was talking about all the great events that happen in the middle of March I left out one very important even, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. You may not agree with some of the inductees, but undeniably you will get some unforgettable, sometimes surreal, performances and this year was no exception. Well the biggest exception is that for the first time ever you could watch the ceremony live on either VH1 Classic, which re-airs the whole thing in its entirety this Friday at 8:00 or stream over at AOL.com where you can currently stream the event on demand. For those that don’t have the time to devote the four hours to the show can watch the usual VH1 butchered show this Saturday at 9:00, because who doesn’t want to spend St. Patrick’s Day in front of the television. Now onto my thoughts:

- Of course the show is emanating from New York City instead of the actual Hall, here in Northeast Ohio. Not that I’m bitter or anything.

- The show starts off with Jann Winner of Rolling Stone talking about one of the co-founders of the Hall who passed and get a proper tribute of the guy from two time inductee Stephen Stills as well as a performance by Aretha Franklin for some reason. We also get your token In Memoriam package which obviously goes beyond just those inducted as they included the dude from Molly Hatchet. But why was a roadie for the Grateful Dead included?

- The first inductees were The Ronettes. A little before my time as I mainly associate them for contributing a song to the Dirty Dancing Soundtrack and one of them did a song with Eddie Money, who got a shout out. One person that didn’t get a shout out was their producer Phil Spector who they went out of their way to not mention. Making that even odder was after they performed Paul Shaffer read a note from Spector, who is rumored to be the reason the group hadn’t been inducted yet, congratulating them. Only at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Well maybe until Big Head Barry gets inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

- One thing we don’t get to see is on the edited telecasts is the intermissions in between induction. The first is a montage of memorable moments from past induction, the best part are the estranged moments of band members that probably haven’t spoke to each other since they broke up. Other intermissions are filled with individual performances which one being one of my personal favorite from 2004 with the all-star jam for While My Guitar Gently Weeps featuring a rancorous solo by Prince who ended it with throwing his guitar behind him then just walks off stage. Can we induct Prince every year? C’mon, you can at least put him in with The Revolution and The New Power Generation.

- Holy Zach del la Rocha sighting! Dude been in an Axl Rose type hibernation since breaking up Rage Against the Machine. And it looks like during the interim he has been growing one silly afro. He’s there to induct Patti Smith, another artist I never really got into. The only Smith story I have was I once gave a presentation on racism in popular culture and played her song Rock and Roll (Expletive Deleted) during it. And wouldn’t you know she played that very song saying it was her mom’s favorite song to vacuum to. If only there were a camera on the Rev. Al Sharpton when the chorus kicked in as I would have liked to see his reaction.

- Speaking of Sharpton he was there to once again to eulogized inaugural Hall of Fame inductee, James Brown. Luckily a Christina Aguilera tribute didn’t follow. I would have liked an actual musician to have done thins instead of Sharpton milking his friendship of Brown yet again. But anyways.

- The moment that everyone has been waiting for of course failed to live up to the hype. I’m speaking of the Van Halen induction that didn’t actually feature either of the band’s namesakes and more surprisingly absent was David Lee Roth who is never one to turn down a public appearance. According to Scott Weiland, whose Velvet Revolver inducted the band as well as handled the performance, invited Roth to sing one of their earlier songs, but balked when the band wouldn’t agree to perform Jump because of that whole, they don’t have a keyboard player thing. Almost as surprising is they actually let Sammy Hagar perform backed by booted bassist Michael Anthony, who actually gave a shout out to Gary Cherone during his acceptance speech, and Paul Shaffer and the CBS Hall of Fame Orchestra. Nice to have the two members currently not in the band are the only ones to actually show up.

- Jay-Z is up next to induct Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Oddly for a guy who is highly touted for never writing down his lyrics, Jay never looked up while reading his speech, from his Blackberry. I like how Mele Mel called out the younger generation during his speech, although it will undoubtedly fall on deaf ears as the new generation can’t hear anything with their massive diamond earrings in their ears. Great performance too adding some theater to the program but I wish they would have spent longer on each song instead of jumping around.

- Last in this year are R.E.M. who get the induction treatment from Eddie Vedder who correctly calls out Mike Mills for hid Elvis type suits in the mid-nineties. I’m sure many of the longtime readers may wonder what my favorite song of all-time in, and you are likely to get a different answer at different times you ask, but one song that comes up quite frequently is the band’s Nightswimming. R.E.M. is also one of the few bands that I’ve created a personal Best of CD for my collection, which I will certainly share the track with everyone one of these days. I was a little disappointed with the band’s song selection as I would have like them to focus on their nineties work aside from Vedder joining them for Man on the Moon.

- The show ends with a couple of collaborations with Smith joining R.E.M. for I Wanna Be Your Dog, a jab at the Hall for not letting The Stooges in yet. That was followed by most of the inductees and inductor (Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5 were conspicuously absent although one of the guys who was in their performance was bouncing around) closing the show with Smith’s People Have the Power.

- Tune in late this year to see if acts like Beatie Boys, Metallica, Sting, Madonna, or Janet Jackson can get in with their first year of eligibility or if multiple finalist like The Stooges or the Dave Clark Five finally get in.

It's March Madness Baby! 2007 Edition

It's my favorite time of the year, St. Patrick's Day, my birthday, Peeps (during the occasional March Easter), spring training, Shamrock Shakes, and most importantly March Madness. One of my very first ever posts was the rules to follow, a year where I had my best finish ever (check out: It’s March Madness Baby!) I’m a little worried about this year because I’m breaking three of my rules: Rule 2: Never Beat on the Big 10 (I have both Ohio St. and Wisconsin going to the Sweet 16); Rule 3: Duke Always Makes it to the Sweet 16 (I have them out in the second round, granted if I were a man I’d bounce them in the first round); Rule 4: The MAC Is Always Good for a Win (I have Miami losing to Oregon in the first round).

Speaking of the MAC, how sad is it to lose on a last second banked three? I guess that is for the best because seeing Akron in March Madness could be one of the signs of the apocalypse. Seriously, how long has it been Zips? As a whole it wasn’t a good year for mid-majors with only six at large bids, the lowest number in years. So much for the George Mason run from last year helping them out. This is a shame, because the first weekend is much more exciting watching Cinderellas win a couple of games than see the sixth and seventh teams in from the ACC inevitability lose and most likely lose big. Oh well, here are my picks:

St. Louis
Finals: Florida (1) vs. Oregon (3)
Upset Special: Old Dominion (12)

San Jose
Finals: UCLA (2) vs. Southern Illinois (4)
Upset Special: Gonzaga (10)

East Rutherford
Finals: Georgetown (2) vs. Texas (4)
Upset Special: Texas Tech (10)

San Antonio
Ohio St. (1) vs. Memphis (2)
Upset Special: Long Beach St. (12)

Final Four
Florida over UCLA
Memphis over Texas

Finals
Memphis over Florida (75-72)

Aside from March Madness, the month sees the second best sports moment of the year, fantasy baseball draft. If you would like to join one of my leagues (I’m running both an NL Only and Full leagues), shout me a holla, my e-mail’s on my Blogger Profile page or just leave a comment. Drafts are on the next Tuesday and the one after that.

57 Channels and Only This Is On vol. X

Quote of the Week: My father isn’t a racist, he is just stupid. (Stan, South Park)

Song of the Week: It would have been Summergirls by LFO as sung by Gary on Knights of Prosperity but that episode didn’t air without any warning instead replaced by a repeat of According to Jim which leads us to:

Big News of the Week: ABC: The new Fox. In a move that really didn’t shock anyone, ABC pulled the funniest new show of the season, Let’s Rob Mick Jagger, off their schedule. What stings more is that the less funny and lower rated In Case of Emergency remains on the air which screams they are doing so because they know they will get more out of DVD revenue if it full of never before seen episodes. Surely these are moves that would make the Fox executives proud. And it is moves like this that may make me considering boycotting the network much like my boycott of the evil empire.

Okay that ban may wait because ABC has a long way to get to the quantity of great shows Fox canned before the series hit the double digits numbers of episodes (by my count there was The Lone Gunmen, Undeclared, Firefly, A Minute with Stan Hooper, Keen Eddie, Wonderfalls, The Jury, The Inside, Point Pleasant, Reunion, umm, did I miss anything?). ABC says that the show is not canceled, but it wouldn’t be the first time a network has said this before only for the show never to be seen before. Although if ABC brings it back and gives it the post-Dancing with Has Been’s and Never Were’s all will be forgiven. Maybe.

Granted in the perfect world, NBC would pick up the show and plant it in-between My Name Is Earl and The Office (which would be a much better fit for the show than in-between According to Jim and The George Lopez Show), but the TV Gods hate me so that will never happen. Want to see why I’m so upset, ABC still has (as I write this) all the episodes available for streaming over at ABC.com.


Heroes: With the debut of new heroes, Shape Shifting Chick, I realized my biggest problem with the show, I like the secondary heroes more than the main ones, If they dump Thought Hearing Guy, Multiple Personality Chick, Osmosis Dude, Future Paining Guy for the Invisible Man, Nuclear Guy, Internet Girl, and Shape Shifting Chick the show would be much better. Speaking of Osmosis dude, please, please, please let him be dead. Unfortunately this will most be how he got the scar Future Hiro was talking about.

I’m also beginning to think Ando is the real star of the Japanese tandem. Although I get a feeling that Ando is working more for Sulu to keep taps on Hiro and before the end of the season and will pull some WWF style heel turn by hitting him in the back with a steel chair after ripping off his shirt to reveal another one underneath that read “I (Heart) Sulu, But Only in a Platonic Way.” With the show going on hiatus, we got a bunch of big reveals and cliffhangers, aside from Peter’s haircut and Mohinder on the ceiling; we finally got a glance of Linderman. It was nice that the character was played more low keyed as opposed to some comic book villain. But we were only left with more question about the guy like what exactly does he know and how does he know it.

The other big reveal was that mama Petrelli and the Haitian were in cahoots. I always thought that she knew more than she let on but I never saw that coming. And much like Linderman, we were left wondering what exactly does she know and how does she know it. Anyway, after a bumpy start, Heroes is finnaly kicking into high gear. Now let’s hope that Peter doesn’t make it to the next episode. Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com.



Australia’s Next Top Model: after seeing the premiere episode I know now how important Mr. and Ms. Jay are to the American version because the show is just boring without them. What worse is I happened upon the winner making me care even less about this version.



Lost: Yet another boring flashback - Sayid regrets his time in the Republican National Guard, we et it, move on - as least the island story was a good one. Surprisingly even though they just teased a couple of episodes ago, we actually got to meet the eye patch dude this week. Somehow Sayid know he’s an Other and there was another Other there which led to the surprising death of the black chick. What exactly is so big going on that the two are willing to kill themselves instead of taken capture. And if the war between Dharma and the Others is true, how did the original hatch workers survive without being wiped out by the Others? Did the Others let them be because they new the button needed to be pushed but didn’t want to do themselves? Next week we are promised a “surprise connection” between two survivors. Well unless it is Jack and Claire being half-siblings as that won’t be too surprising since I predicted it back in May of last year (see: Toss Up: Lost vs Veronica Mars week 15). Check out the latest episode over at ABC.com.



Survivor: The one tribe continued its winning streak, yawn. At least they are switching up the tribes next episode. Check out the latest episode on Innertube.




Promo of the Week: Wondering how I knew that Summergirls would have been on Knights of Prosperity? Well depite being taken off the air, Eugene Gerkin is still updating to his YouTube channel. Here’s is that video of Gary singing the song:



Pick of the Week: March Madness, Thursday 12:00, CBS. The greatest two days of the year, from noon until midnight we get the first round of the NCAA tournament where most brackets are won or busted. The brackets are announced later tonight and be sure to check back tomorrow as I share my initial picks.

How’d I Get Stuck in this Dead End Job when I Can Rap?

It seems like anyone who sells over a million records these days gets their own record company. Seriously, do we really need to hear music hand picked by the dude from Fall Out Boy? Despite some high profile failures, the Beastie Boy’s Grand Royal comes to mind, record companies still hand out imprints to young artists but every once in a while an artist led label can be a success, most recently Kanye West whose G.O.O.D. Music (Getting Out Our Dreams) label going three for three with two releases by John Legend and Common, whose breakout album Be was released on the label.

The latest Kanye endorsed artist is Consequence who was featured on both of West’s album. But long before hooking up with the current carrier of the backpack rapper torch, Consequence hung out with the originators of that scene, A Tribe Called Quest (Q-Tip and Consequence are cousins), showing up on over half of the tracks of Beats, Rhymes, and Life. What he did in the eight years during the interim? I’m not entirely sure, but if his debut album is any indication he was struggling with getting a day job and following his dream of becoming a rapper.

In fact Don’t Quit Your Day Job sounds like Spaceship from The College Dropout expanded into a concept album. The album starts out with a jobless Consequence and his nagging mother, who was voiced by a horrible voice actress and really takes away from a skit whenever she appears, not that I’m a fan of rap skits in the first place. In the middle, Consequence deviates from struggling rapper theme to a trio of songs about girls, including the unfortunate first single Callin’ Me, that just fall flat.

Near the end of the album is the completely out of place Grammy Family, a failed single from last summer that was originally featured on the DJ Khaled mixtape and with Kanye West and John Legend, Consequence is ironically the only one on the track sans Grammy. Those two show up elsewhere on the album, West on The Good, the Bad, the Ugly which could have been the best song on the album if it weren’t for the weak hook. While Legend shows up Feel This Way and features the pianist so much they might have gave him top billing on the song. But with such a high pedigree and some help from some heavy hitters, the album just doesn’t live up to its potential.

Song to Download - Job Song

Don’t Quit Your Day Job gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

In or Out: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Edition vol. 3

Next Monday the latest crop of inductees are getting a spot reserved at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in honor of that, AOL has a list of twenty-five potential future inductees from the late eighties and nineties for people to vote on. Oddly when I voted, each and every artist had a no vote. Here is the last of three posts, ten each post. I’ll have two different ways of deciding. First whether they will actually get in and if I had a vote, would I vote that artist in. Like I said, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction is next Monday and for the very first time (at least that I’m aware of) VH1 Classic will be covering it live starting at 8:30. You can also catch VH1’s usually butcher cut down version the following Saturday at 9:00. Now onto the list:

(Check out vol. 1)
(Check out vol. 2)

Joan Jett (already eligible)
Will Get In: Yes
Would I Vote: No

Every once in a while the Hall likes to induct artist solely on the strength of one song, most recently with Percy Sledge. Joan Jett could definitely fall into this with I Love Rock and Roll. The thing with Jett is that if you look at her whole career, with the Runaways and the Blackhearts, she may be Hall worthy, but either individual band or she by herself is not and unfortunately, the Hall doesn’t induct people for their involvement with other groups.


Nine Inch Nails (eligible 2019)
Will Get In: No
Would I Vote: No

I never got on the NIN bandwagon, much too electronic for my taste. As for the Hall, the group really only had two hit albums, not really screaming Hall worth. Although Trent Resnor may be able to sneak in because he was pretty innovative at the time being the first electronic hard rock outfit.


Alanis Morissette (eligible 2020)
Will Get In: No
Would I Vote: No

I guess she was included because she has the highest selling debut album ever. But if you look at who she took the title from, Hootie and the Blowfish and Boston, you have a band that won’t likely get in (although I’d vote for Hootie) and a band that has been eligible for a while without even being making it to the nomination phase. Plus she was a one trick pony as a token angry chick that has fallen into obscurity after getting over her anger issues.


Oasis (eligible 2019)
Will Get In: No
Would I Vote: No

A lock for the UK Hall of Fame but unless the band has a late career resurgence but just doesn’t have the resume to get in stateside. They only had two relevant albums here, both of which had some missteps. Everything since has been for the most part rightfully ignored although you can find some gems in their later catalogues like the sorely overlooked Stop Crying Your Heart Out.


Destiny’s Child (eligible 2023)
Will Get In: No
Would I Vote: No

Plenty of great songs by the group but their first three albums were spotty after the single and their last album was absolutely horrible. And that may be their last album with Beyoncé focusing on her solo and acting career. Well until they both wane and the girls get back for the inevitable reunion tour. But as is, the group is far from being Hall worthy.


So those were the twenty-five artist that were mentioned in the AOL list. Next are five artists that didn’t make that list but are worth discussing. The first two were purposed by Russ while the last three are groups that I wanted to bring up.

Soundgarden (eligible 2013)
Will Get In: No
Would I Vote: No

The Hall, much as time has been, will not be kind to the Grunge era. Nirvana is in, Pearl Jam barely gets in, but I doubt another Grunge era band gets inducted wether it is deserved or not. Yeah, Soundgarden was one of the few bands from the era that successfully transitioned in the post-grunge, alternative phase and I much perfered Superunknown and Down on the Upside opposed to the rest of their catalogued but if I were to vote for a third band from the Grunge era, I would give it to Alice in Chains.


Smashing Pumpkins (eligible 2018)
Will Get In: Yes
Would I Vote: Yes

Speaking of that the post-grunge alternative years, arguable there wasn’t a bigger band during that time that the Smashing Pumpkins. That should be enough to get the Pumpkins into the Hall and possible a fist ballot vote despite, like most double albums, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness would have been better as a single disk and they turned into a rock and roll cliché when a touring band member overdosed while in the company of the drummer.


Dave Matthews Band (eligible 2019)
Will Get In: Yes
Would I Vote: Yes

The biggest touring band of our era, two classic albums (Under the Table and Dreaming, Before These Crowded Streets) and even their worst album (Everyday) is still listenable. The Hall doesn’t seem to like the jam bands aside from The Greatful Dead, which doesn’t look good for the chances for Phish, but Dave and the boys should get in.


Sarah McLachlan (eligible 2014)
Will Get In: Yes
Would I Vote: Yes

McLaughlin will most like get in solely because of Lilith Fair but the music part of her is definitely there too. Sometime she is an afterthought because she does take a while between albums but is versatile going from an angelic song like, well, Angel yet can be very haunting like on Possession.


Public Enemy (eligible 2012)
Will Get In: Yes
Would I Vote: Yes

Forget a second about Flavor Flav’s recent reality television exploits, because PE were one of the most influential rap groups of the late eighties with two album that any hip-hop fan should be ashamed not to have (It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Fear of a Black Planet). I’ve said this many times before talking about potential inductees, but we cannot easily predicted rappers odds on getting in until we see hoe they treat the first wave, but it would be egregious not to have PE in. Plus who doesn’t want to see a Flavor Flav on the wrong side of fifty on stage one more time?

Don't Download These Videos vol. XI Kanye West Edition

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately and they all happened to be from Kanye West. So I though I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form so here they are courtesy of YouTube. I advise you to watch them before you read my reviews if you don’t want me to spoil things. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available, if not the link goes to YouTube where you can watch the video in full screen). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Classic - Kanye West, Rakim, Nas, and KRS-One



Holy KRS-One sighting! But it may not been a good idea for Kanye to sandwich himself between the Rakim and Nas as it only amplifies his deficiencies as an MC. Although it is nice to see DJ Premier of Gangstarr fame get back to producing rap records after taking time out to helm the latest Christina Aguilera record.


Wouldn’t Get Far - The Game and Kanye West




I’ve never been a big fan of The Game (or is it juat Game, I’ve never figured that out), the only song off his first album that was any good was the Kanye produced Dream and once again on his sophomore outing the Kanye produced Wouldn’t Get Far is the best off of it and he was smart enough to get Kanye to spit a verse to make it even more listenable. As for the video, it a funny spoof, although take out the intro, it basically your token rap video. For a better spoof, check out The Roots What They Do which sadly even being almost a decade old, still hold up for today’s videos. And was that Hoopz from Flavor of Love in the video?


Throw Some D’s - Rich Boy (not safe for work)



Speaking of token rap videos, before I get into the last Kanye video, I have to set some things up by showing this video. Yeah it is your token rap song that sounds like virtually every other rap song recorded this decade with an interchangeable rapper (don’t try to differentiate Rich Boy from Yong Joc, Nitty, J-Kwon, T.I., Mums, Jibbs, etc.) rapping about materialist things like cars. Now I’m not entirely sure what the “D’s” he speaks of (rims?) but…


Throw Some D’s (Remix) - Kanye West (Not safe for work or for anyone with a high moral standing)



… I certainly know which “D’s” Kanye is talking about. Now the title say remix, but let’s be real, this is a parody straight out of “Weird Al” territory. Not that there is anything wrong with that. But I doubt Al would ever write a line like, “She ain’t pregnant but about to have twins.” And I wonder how many times the shout out in the song will send Brittany in and out of rehab. (Scooter’s Note: this video is for humorous purposes only and neither he nor anyone at the 9th Green condones buying breast implants, in fact as the religious people we are, we much prefer the God made breast as opposed to the man made ones.)