Crib Notes

CL’s Vibes section has something special in the works: You.

We’re reaching out to readers who are interested in being guest critics by writing mini-reviews of local concerts. All submissions will be posted on our music blog for other readers to see. And the writer of the best mini-review (as judged by our editorial staff) will win a pair of tickets to an upcoming concert in Atlanta and the opportunity to be published in print.

Every week, the winning review will be published on our new weekly CL Vibes backpage, which debuts Aug. 6.

All you have to do is write about any concert that takes place in Atlanta this weekend and submit the review by 8 a.m. Monday morning, August 4 in accordance with the rules below.

Here’s your chance to make your opinion the only one that matters:

-Word count: Reviews must adhere to 85 words

-Deadline: Email entries to music@creativeloafing.com with the subject line “Reader Review” no later than 8 a.m. Monday morning for consideration.

-Editing: Reviews will be edited for content and grammar.

-No profanity: Unless you’re quoting someone else.

-Time span: Reviews must cover live performances that took place in metro Atlanta the weekend (Friday-Sunday) prior to the Monday morning of submission.

-All venues acceptable: All concerts held at any size venue, club, house party, retail location, parking lot, etc. are acceptable.

-Byline: You must submit review with a byline to be considered. All writers will be credited for their reviews.

Here’s a little fine print: Readers do not have permission to use Creative Loafing’s name to to gain press passes from venues/performers. CL reserves the right to refuse submissions under any circumstances.

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Is she singing about her former marriage to Bobby Brown or her former status as pop’s reigning princess?

Whitney Houston leaves it ambiguous on her new Akon-produced song, “Like I Never Left,” which leaked over the weekend. It’s a far cry from the classic material of Houston’s heyday, but it’s also the first song she’s released in five years.

When local urban radio stations V-103 (WVEE-FM) and Hot 107.9 (WHTA-FM) played the leaked song this morning, it received mixed responses from on-air personalities and listeners. The typically diplomatic Frank Ski said it sounded “aged.” But some were just happy to have the diva back. Remember, crack is wack.

Click here to listen and judge for yourself.

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When Rahbi hits the stage for his Strange Fruit III show at Sugarhill (9 p.m., Sat. July 26. 50 Upper Alabama St. www.sugarhillatl.com), you can bet he’ll be suited up in an outlandish costume to go along with his outrageous stage persona. At last year’s Strange Fruit II show (subtitled “Inspire Me, Damnit”), his multiple costume changes included a Napoleonic colonel’s jacket with tails, and a sequined Michael Jackson-esque shirt circa “Motown 25″ unbuttoned to his navel.

When it comes to theatricality, the self-proclaimed prince of glam soul is a royal diva. So in preparation for the show, I decided to tag along with him to his favorite costume shop to see how he planned to visually convey why he is, as he says, “the muthafuckin’ shit.”

Take notes.

Rahbi: This shit is hot!

Rodney: I mean what is it, what would you call that?

Rahbi: See you know what, I ain’t no fashion guru like that. I just know the way I do it is when I put it on does it make me feel good, does it make me feel like I’m fly? I don’t really know all the correct terms and the couture and this and that. No, I don’t go off that. I just put it on, and if I feel like I’m the shit when I put it on, then that’s the right thing. Man, I’m serious. I don’t know about all that.

(more…)

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CL’s Vibes section has something special in the works: You.

We’re reaching out to readers who are interested in being critics-for-a-day by writing mini-reviews of local concerts. All submissions will be posted on our music blog for other readers to see. The writer of the best mini-review (as judged by our editorial staff) will win a pair of tickets to an upcoming concert in Atlanta and the opportunity to be published in print.

Every week, the winning review will be published on our new weekly CL Vibes backpage, which debuts Aug. 6.

We’re previewing the contest by offering a pair of free concert tickets to the winner who writes about any concert this weekend and submits the review by 8 a.m. Monday morning, July 28 in accordance with the rules below.

Here’s your chance to make your opinion the only one that matters. (Read rules below jump.)

(more…)

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It’s official. Danger Mouse and Cee-lo are a couple of geniuses. Or retards.

Check out the new Gnarls Barkley video for “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul,” the two co-directed with Chris Milk (Kanye West’s “Touch the Sky,” “Jesus Walks”). It’s pretty heartless.

After releasing two previous videos from The Odd Couple to little fanfare, “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul” has video-of-the-year written all over it. But maybe I’m just being a fan.

Is it just me, or is this the best video you’ve seen in several years?

Gnarls Barkley recently announced an Atlanta performance w/special guest Janelle Monae. $25/advance. $27.50/day of show. 8:30 p.m. Mon., Aug. 11. Variety Playhouse, 1099 Euclid Ave. www.variety-playhouse.com.

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Jack Daniel’s Art Beats + Lyrics

Lil Wayne sold a million albums in a single week, heartily disproving the notion that hip-hop is dead. Right?

At least, that’s the industry’s rationale.

But if you turn on your typical urban radio station (as I did yesterday) and two out of the three songs played in a set feature the ubiquitous “goblin” (his word, not mine) Lil Wayne, doesn’t that in itself prove that hip-hop is on the decline?

That lack of artistic diversity has provided the perfect backdrop for an event like Jack Daniel’s Art Beats + Lyrics to flourish. The free event/exhibit takes place tonight only from 7 p.m.-midnight at the Foundry at Puritan Mill, 916 Joseph E. Lowery Blvd. To reserve free passes, visit www.jackdaniels.com/ABL.

I crunched it up with co-founders Jabari Graham and Dubelyoo the other night in a warehouse off of Krog St. as they put the finishing touches on some installations in preparation for tonight’s show. We talked about what it took to parlay the original Art Beats + Lyrics into a corporate partnership with Jack Daniels, what happened after that infamous night in 2005 when they painted Atlanta’s High Museum hip-hop, and how they plan to give Special Ed a run for his money in Johannesburg.

Rodney: People still talk in amazement about the second AB+L event held at the High Museum in 2005. It was like you all painted the White House black. What was the High’s response after that?

Jabari: It was a mixed response. Because on the museum’s part, the day of the show they were tripping out of their ass because it was something that they wanted, but they didn’t know how to handle it. They had so much expectation, it was urban, but it was so many people that came out and it was no chaos. So afterward, it opened up because they got a lot of memberships [as a result].

Dubelyoo: Did they ever send a thank you letter?

Jabari: They didn’t send shit.

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David Banner

David Banner represents everything I love — and loathe — about mainstream hip-hop. You can read this week’s CL cover story, “Power Moves: David Banner walks tightrope between politics and profit”, on the rapper who released his fifth solo album, The Greatest Story Ever Told, today.

There isn’t another southern rapper on commercial radio who infuses so much passion and socio-political angst into his music. Yet, he’s also quick to indulge in (and excuse) rap’s obsession with misogyny and crass commercialism.

In an interview with him last week, I asked Banner if he ever feels torn in too many different directions by making music that covers everything from explicit sex talk to sociocultural concerns? His provocative response summed up his penchant for keeping it extra real:

“I think life is a contradiction. How much Hennessy and weed do we smell Sunday morning from people coming from the club the night before? People are walking contradictions and they point so many fingers, and we don’t look at ourselves. I’m just the most honest motherfucker….

“We’re all like that. And we need to tell our kids that Martin Luther King was a womanizer. Martin Luther King liked getting pussy. I don’t know why everybody just wants to make him so perfect? That’s what makes black folks not want to be like Martin Luther King, because they think he’s too perfect…. Naw, tell ‘em that man had a weakness for women.

(more…)

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T.I. has revealed the cover art for Paper Trail — his new album due Sept. 9 — and it’s actually, um, artistic.

The conceptual cover bears the rapper’s image designed from paper scraps.

“We didn’t want to just do a typical cover, especially for my sixth album,” T.I. told MTV News via email. “I wanted to try something a little more different. The illustration for Paper Trail pays an obvious homage to my rekindled affinity for writing my lyrics down as well as displays my commitment to keep my art slanted towards the abstract.”

He’s also leaked two new songs from Paper Trail. “Swing Your Rag” and “What Up” are decidedly more club/street-worthy tunes than his first single, “No Matter What” — which addresses his legal issues and mild-mannered beef with Bankhead representative Shawty Lo. Despite production from his long-time collaborator D.J. Toomp, the bluesy triumph over tragedy song hasn’t gained much traction on radio. (See video after the jump.)

But it’s nothing a club remix from DJ Klever couldn’t fix.
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Last week, ConcreteLoop.com announced that Janelle Monae and company have selected “Many Moons” as the first single pushing her upcoming major label debut EP. She recently filmed a video for the song in L.A., according to the blog.

One year ago, Janelle Monae and Wondaland Arts Society were preparing to independently release her debut EP, Metropolis: The Chase.

One year later, she and Wondaland are prepping to re-release Metropolis: The Chase on August 12. But this time, with Bad Boy’s help.In a short amount of time, she’s seemingly come a long way, “like them slim ass cigarettes/from Virginia” — as Andre 3000 might say.

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FREE FALLIN’: Is it just me or is Tom Petty looking more and more like Jesus these days?

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(Photos by Perry Julien)

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