Don’t forget about your homework for the weekend — keeping up on the latest music news.
Jay-Z announced the second leg of his tour for his new album, Blueprint 3. (No Florida stops are included.) The record may just be a “blueprint,” but no doubt it’s a plan to lay the foundation of yet another successful project for Jigga.
Hip-hop artist/producer Q-Tip has premiered a new video on YouTube for “Life Is Better,” a smooth, funky-jazz duet featuring Norah Jones. The song, from Q-Tip’s 2008 critically-acclaimed album, The Renaissance, celebrates the history of hip-hop starting with Kool Herc all the way through to current chart toppers like Jay-Z and Kanye. The video is animated with a cool effect that makes the two artists look like drawings (still shot at right). Check out the video after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Enjoy a dose of music news and videos to kick off the weekend.
Surprise! Kanye’s all talk and no show and cancels his American tour with Lady GaGa. But maybe you can catch him at Taylor Swift’s next concert.
With the Loafies on Tuesday, I am getting ready for a little awards show action. What better way to prepare for my acceptance speech (I’m winning a Loafie for something, right?) than to watch the MTV VMAs?
My favorite part of any awards show is the red carpet, generally…but this is the VMAs so I know the best is yet to come, so briefly, here are my thoughts on the red carpet arrivals:
• Lady Gaga is Phantoming it up in that mask. And I have to say I feel that Kermit has actually downgraded from Miss Piggy, as we are not certain that Gaga ( right) is technically a Lady.
• Shakira and Pink are in the same dress. This is a disaster, seriously, whose dress is that? Who let that happen? Some poor assistant at a New York fashion house is about to join the unemployment line.
• Alicia Keys looks adorable! I am in love with that dress. That woman is the picture of sophistication lately.
• Now, onto the show where we will discuss Kanye’s diss, Gaga’s bleeding, Pink’s Boob and more…. Read the rest of this entry »
A weekly bulletin about who’s playing on late night TV; set your TIVOs or DVRs if you’ve got an early bedtime. See a day missing? No musical guest that night…
The Jay Leno Show, NBC (he’s baaacckk!)
Monday, September 14: Jay-Z with Rihanna & Kanye West (likely performing their single, “Run This Town,” pictured right)
Wednesday, September 16: Miley Cyrus
Thursday, September 17: Bruce Hornsby & Eric Clapton
The Late Show with David Letterman, CBS
Monday, September 14: Cage the Elephant (rerun, July 30)
Tuesday, September 15: Care Bears on Fire (August 26)
Wednesday, September 16: John Fogerty (September 3)
Friday, September 18: Gary Mule Deer (August 20) Read the rest of this entry »
What a fabulous week.
It’s not often you get to visit your old town, have your pops treat you to a delicious P.F. Chang’s dinner, then finish it off by seeing your favorite basketball team inch one step closer to the NBA Finals. It’s even more rewarding when your team beats the greatest player on the planet to do so.
Living only an hour or so from Amway Arena, I could not pass up the opportunity to see Orlando’s playoff run in person. My father and I had planned on going to the game together but as he started a new job the following morning, it was time to go solo. He was sorry he missed this one as it was a game worth quitting over.
Prior to game time and after leaving dad, I stopped off at my old watering hole, Wally’s, one of the last great dive bars in Florida. At Wally’s, you’ll hear the jukebox play everything from Prince to Patsy Cline, from Johnny Cash to Jay-Z. It’s the kind of place where everybody knows your name… likely because they’ve had to call your ass a cab as you stumbled out of there. Read the rest of this entry »
So, admittedly, I’ve been slacking in bringing you updates about my week up in D.C., which I promised to do as recently as this past Monday. Been too busy standing around in uncomfortable shoes, I guess. I don’t have great photos from either “An Evening with Jay-Z,” a one-off unofficial celebration show Jay put on at an intimate theater Monday night — no cameras allowed, d’oh! — or from the swearing-in ceremony itself, which turned out to be a total shitshow for our ticketed section. We just barely made it inside the Capitol grounds, and even though could hardly see much except for a video screen (partially obscured by a couple trees to boot).
But Tuesday night, we made it to the Neighborhood Ball, which was televised live on ABC and featured performances by Jay-Z (again), Mariah Carey, Will.i.am, Mary J Blige, etc., and appearances by Diddy, Leonardo Dicaprio, Jamie Foxx, etc. The highlight of the entire night, though, had to be the First Couple, and the First Dance, a romantic twirl to a special live performance of “At Last” by Beyoncé. You can scope tons of photos from Monday and Tuesday here, thanks to my wife, Rachel.
And then, there was last night: a private ball for ex-Obama staffers only, with speeches by the President and Vice President, and hour-long shows from both The Arcade Fire and Jay-Z (again, again). To say this event was sweet would be a drastic understatement.
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