Crib Notes

Not since N.W.A. dropped “Fuck the Police” 20 years ago has hip-hop sounded this defiant, this jaw-dropping, this groundbreaking.

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HERE, YOU MONSTER!

It worked for Marvin Gaye — sorta.

After his marriage of 15 years to an older Anna Gordy ended in bitter divorce proceedings in 1977, Gaye dedicated to her the double-album with the double-edged title, Here, My Dear. In it, he took creative license to air the dirty laundry leftover from their failed marriage with such songs as “When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You,” “Anger,” and “You Can Leave, But It’s Going to Cost You.”

The punchline? According to the divorce decree, half the proceeds from sales of the album went toward alimony payment — hence the sardonic title.

So today, when a new song from Usher’s upcoming album, Monster, was released, titled “Papers,” the comparison was unavoidable. In the song, Usher sings:

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“I’ve never questioned what my purpose was. I’ve always felt like I was given a gift and I’ve always felt like I’m being led.”

Janelle Monae’s new song, “Come Alive (The War of the Roses)” is being released today via Kia Soul Collective — a group of highly-touted artists comprised to help market the auto brand. The energetic, pop-punk song is also a sneak peek into what’s in store from Monae’s 2010 sophomore follow-up to her Wondaland Arts Society/Bad Boy/Atlantic debut Metropolis: The Chase Suite.

A free download of “Come Alive (The War of the Roses)” is available at KiaSoulCollective.com.

The behind-the-scenes video, shot at Wondaland’s Atlanta homebase/studio, features Monae and her W.A.S. peeps Nate Wonder and Chuck Lightning, as well as her bandmates, including the wig-wearing guitarist Kellindo Parker.

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For Atlanta “Housewives” star Kandi Burruss, the tragic weekend death of her ex-fiancé Ashley “AJ” Jewell has only reminded her of how precious a commodity time can be. She writes about it in a recent blog posted on Hello Beautiful yesterday:

When you’re young you automatically assume that you got all the TIME in the world but then something like this happens and you realize that you’re not guaranteed TIME.

She also attempts to dispel the rumors and negative media portrayals that she feels persisted about Jewell as a result of their decision to expose their relationship on the ongoing season of the Bravo hit, “Real Housewives of Atlanta”:

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Free music. Free food. Free dranks.

See details below the jump:

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UPDATE: The “realest” housewife of Atlanta flies above the drama with new EP; plans to call it quits after Season Three. Read her CL profile (11/10/09).

UPDATE: Ashley “A.J.” Jewell’s murder stemmed from fight over respect.

UPDATE: Kandi Burruss’ ex-fiancé ‘hated’ being on “Real Housewives of Atlanta,” she reveals in her own blog post about AJ’s murder.

Even before news reports confirmed that Ashley “A.J.” Jewell, 34, had been killed late last night in front of the Marietta Blvd. strip joint Body Tap Club, “Real Housewives of Atlanta” cast member Kandi Burruss began receiving countless condolences from fans via Twitter.

Some were shocked, others outraged, and most everyone was saddened that Burruss’ former fiance had died such a sudden, tragic death.

Burruss’ own Twitter message — posted in the wee hours of the morning before she prepared to attend an unrelated funeral service for a recently deceased uncle — was just as heartfelt:

im just in one of those moods where i dont wanna talk, i dont wanna b held & told its gonna b ok. i just wanna cry myself 2 sleep, alone.

It’s the kind of honest reaction fans of the show have come to expect from her. Sure to form, the newest “housewife” on the show has been the anomaly all season. As a former lead singer with the defunct Atlanta R&B group Xscape, she’s the only one among the ladies of RHOA who was a bona fide celebrity long before being cast in the ongoing second season. Yet, Burruss has remained the most down-to-earth on a show where ratings are fueled by constant catfighting and diva-like drama. In a sense, the drama in her life has almost been too real for reality TV.

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“You see a AK-47 before you see a high school diploma.”

Sounds like trappin’ and rappin’, both, came second-nature for the future king of the South.

T.I.’s “Behind the Music” episode airs 8 p.m. Thurs., Oct. 8 on VH1. See another preview after the jump.

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This is just too poetic to be coincidental, ain’t it?

After rumors that Kanye West and Lady Gaga’s “Fame Kills” tour would be canceled in the wake of surging, post-VMA Kanye-hate, Live Nation confirms that “Fame Kills” is a done deal:

The Kanye West & Lady Gaga “Fame Kills” Tour has been cancelled.

The Atlanta date scheduled for December 11^th @ Philips Arena will not be going on sale this Saturday, October 3^rd as previously announced.

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I’ve said it before. I’ll say it again. Señor Kaos is the hardest working man among Atlanta’s true school.

Case in point: Last Saturday, after performing an opening set for Killer Mike and Slaughterhouse at the Loft, dude was working the exit door, passing out fliers at the end of the show. This Saturday, Oct. 3 at East Atlanta Icehouse, he opens for Killer Mike and Rakim for the A3C Festival main event.

Somewhere between his double hustles, he found time to shoot a video for “Automatic Classic” (dir. Mike Moore) and record a tribute to De La Soul with Von Pea (of Tanya Morgan) and Homeboy Sandman, titled “20 Years High & Rising.” It’s the second leak off his new project Walk Softly and Carry a Big Brick, which drops tomorrow via the Smoking Section.

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“I’m so Eastside / drinkin’ liquor / The back of the Civic got that EAV sticker.”

DJ Jesster’s “Flat Shoals Rider” — the perfect way to wake up a mundane Monday. Plus, the bass had my earbuds rattling like four 15’s in the back of a box Chevy, so I had to post.

(Shouts to DJ T Wheatley.)

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Remember that scene from “Chappelle’s Show” when Charlie Murphy recalls the time when the late Rick James came to his brother Eddie’s pad and started jumping up and down all over the leather sofa with his muddy platform boots on, yelling “Fuck yo’ couch, nigga!” Well, that’s HOLLYWEERD to the nth degree. Take the lineup: a self-styled savant who goes by “the Dreamer,” two full-time tat artists (Tuki Carter and Chris “the Love Crusader” McAdoo) from City of Ink, and a jazz-sax journeyman who calls himself the mythical Stagolee. That ain’t no rap group, it’s a band of gypsies. Since materializing out of thin air nearly two years ago, the four-man crew has busily crafted its own unruly narrative. The three mixtapes released in the past 12 months showcase the group’s penchant for combining sweet indie-pop incarnations with self-indulgent fantasy funk. It’s a nutty mix. Yet somehow they’ve managed to turn their wild inconsistencies — from constantly evolving musical influences including OutKast and the Doors to hit-or-miss live performances — into the main attraction. Like a traveling freak show, Hollyweerd piques our curiosity. No matter how odd, we can’t turn away for fear of missing what might happen next. www.myspace.com/hollyweerd.

See the rest of BOA After Dark

(Photo courtesy Joeff Davis)

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The future of hip-hop has a past, and her name is BOOG BROWN. Two years ago, she was just a restless Detroit native and recent college graduate who thought she’d find better opportunity and a good job Down South. So she loaded up her stuff and she moved to “Black Hollywood” — Atlanta, that is. Shopping malls. Music stars. But Brown found herself more at home within the city’s underground scene, where she met such collaborators as producer Illastrate. Already, she’s proven herself to be that rare gem of an artist who can push a genre forward by taking it back to “The Essence,” when, as she raps with a warm, detached flow on her first single, “shit used to be credible/incredible vocab/no amount of swagger hide a wack verse.” The irony, of course, is that she unleashed that salvo, from her anticipated Miss Black America mixtape, smack dab in the middle of rap’s swag capital. Despite all our fair city has to offer an up-and-coming MC, Atlanta needs Boog Brown more than she needs us. We need to remember how it feels to hang onto the edge of every lyric, to pause in the middle of a verse and rewind, to find ourselves transfixed and transformed by the renewing power of a rhyme. Atlanta should be so fortunate. www.myspace.com/bbrownfbgm.

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Back when India.Arie and Donnie were getting their start in Atlanta, there was no such thing as a soul music summit. For the most part, they were it. It took local artists collectives like the Groovement/Earthseed label to help launch them to a national platform.

In the decade since then, soul has taken on a life of its own — growing from coffeehouse open mics to Internet cafes and sites that digitally connect artists and enthusiasts all over the world. But Atlanta’s still seen as a hub, which makes it the perfect host for Terry Bello’s annual International Soul Music Summit.

In its fourth year, the three-day event is a conference, networking event and party rolled into one. Some of this year’s panels include Women, Sex and Music; Media and Marketing; Soul Star – Who is Next; How I Wrote That Song; My Music My Brand, etc.

Participating artists/panelists include Eric Roberson, Natalie “Floacist” Stewart, Mark de Clive-Lowe, Vikter Duplaix, Anthony David, Sy Smith, Joi, Lady Alma, Gordon Chambers, Slakah the Beatchild, Salakida Kali, Kelly Love Jones, Rhonda Thomas, etc.

See a full schedule of events, including nightly concerts at venues including Over Da Edge and Cafe Circa, below the jump. Or visit soulmusicsummit.net. Onsite general registration – $200. Thurs., Sept 24 – Sat., Sept. 26. Renaissance Atlanta Hotel, 590 West Peachtree St. 404-881-6000.

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SEE THE GOODIE MOB PHOTO GALLERY

In the last several years, the state of Georgia underwent a drought so severe it led Governor Sonny Perdue to pray for rain on the steps of the state Capitol in 2007.

Meanwhile, the city of Atlanta continued to suffer from a drought of another kind: It seemed the Dirty South was all wet.

So the torrential rains that fell almost nonstop upon Atlanta in the week leading up to Goodie Mob’s reunion concert seemed like a supernatural sign that the group’s return might wash away the bullshit and bring back the real South — if only for one night.

By the time Khujo, Big Gipp, T-Mo and Cee-Lo stepped to the front of the stage around 9:06 p.m. — after an old-school set by Atlanta DJ Kizzy Rock, performances from Pastor Troy and Youngbloodz, and an intro that spoke to the occasion (”We are Success-N-Effect, some A-Town Playas”) from former Def Jam poet Georgia M.E. — the rains had calmed to barely a drizzle.

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Maurice Garland, author of this week’s CL cover story — A dirty job for Goodie Mob — posted a rare find on his blog mauricegarland.com. It’s so sweet I had to swipe, uh, repost it.

It’s a link to instrumentals from Soul Food, the group’s 1995 debut. This was when Organized Noize Productions (Ray Murray, Rico Wade, Sleepy Brown) was in its prime. Sonically, Soul Food can’t be touched, with influences ranging from Curtis Mayfield to Old Negro Spirituals creeping up in their production.

For those who haven’t purchased tickets for tomorrow’s show yet, shame on ya. Get yours before they sell-out. Otherwise, you’ll be singin’ the blues like Cee-Lo on “Thought Process” come Sunday morning.

$40. 7 p.m. Sat., Sept. 19. Masquerade Music Park, 695 North Ave. 404-577-8178. masq.com. Purchase via Ticketmaster link.

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This was supposed to be the story of the Jackson Five’s first single, cut in Chicago in 1967. But while he was writing it, Jake Austen picked up a trail leading to a tape nobody knew existed: the earliest known studio recording of Michael Jackson and his brothers. — Chicago Reader

“The Jackson Find,” the cover story that appeared in last week’s Chicago Reader (sister paper of CL Atlanta), is a killer piece of investigative music journalism. It details writer Jake Austen’s discovery of what could likely be the first recording by the Jackson Five.

The song, “Big Boy,” is actually an earlier, and possibly better, version than the one released by Steeltown Records in 1968 — one year before their first Motown release.

What you’re about to read is not only a detailed account of the Jackson Five’s Steeltown session but also convincing evidence that by then the group had already been in development with one of Chicago’s most important black-owned labels—an episode previously completely lost to history.

Besides the actual recording, the story uncovers how Joe Jackson was infamous for making side management deals with anyone who he thought could get his boys closer to the top.

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Goodie Mob appeared on Fox Atlanta’s morning show today to hype this Saturday’s reunion show, and they gave the Creative Loafing cover story, A dirty job for Goodie Mob, some love in the process.

They also dispelled rumors that Saturday’s show is sold-out. Hopefully, Mom Nature gets the rain out of her system by then. $40. 7 p.m. Sat., Sept. 19. Masquerade Music Park, 695 North Ave. 404-577-8178. masq.com.

For those either fiending for or unfamiliar with Goodie Mob, peep the video retrospective after the jump:

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Choosing Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me” over Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” for Best Female Video is like picking a chick-flick over free Internet porn.

Either way, as a dude, you’re publicly screwed.

That doesn’t make Kanye West any less of an ass for interrupting 18-year-old Swift’s acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV VMA’s last night. It just confirms that he’s a gay fish, after all.

Speaking of gay, I’m not sure which was more — Lady Gaga’s Carrie-inspired performance or the fact that Diddy was staring at it with his mouth gaped open in awe, as if he’d found the missing muse for his upcoming Dirty Money trio.

Don’t do it, Diddy. The last thing you need at this point in your career is to be caught with blood on your hands.

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Wu-Tang member Raekwon releases Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Vol. 2, the anticipated follow-up to his ’95 album, in two weeks. Here’s the first video “House of Daggers” from the project.

The album, which has been about four years in the making, seemed to be going the way of Dr. Dre’s Detox in terms of long-awaited hip-hop records that never seem to see the light of day. But Raekwon insists he was just making sure he got it right, according to allhiphop.com:

The album, which was originally executive produced by Busta Rhymes, was reportedly complete in January 2006, with RZA added as a second executive producer. Still the project did not see the light of day. In 2007, Raekwon explained that he was determined to set the release up properly.

“I did a lot of hard work on this record,” Raekwon said during an interview. “And I refuse to throw it out and people be like, ‘Yo Rae, I ain’t know your s**t was out.’ Nah, I can’t afford that to happen no more. That happened to me on The Lex Diamond Story. That happened to me on Immobilarity. I’m not going for it on this one.”

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Rap’s obsession with video hoes and gold-diggers got you down?

Then come check out some real hip-hop tonight at Apache Café where the legendary Spinderella (DJ for Salt N Pepa) backs some of Atlanta’s dopest MCs — including staHHr (who’s featured on the latest Doom album), Adrift Da Belle, Boog Brown, CoCo Jones, AynJul, Tiffany Michael and more. Hosted by Ms. Dia of WRFG-FM 89.3 host of “The Show.”

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