Never Can Say Goodbye

The Wall of Magazine Covers (this was only some of the many)

Taken at The old Vibe office location 215 Lexington Ave

A mixture of thoughts filled through me when I heard VIBE was closing its doors. First, I was in disbelief, thinking it was a rumor. The magazine industry along with newspapers has been suffering for awhile and while they may have been hit as well, I couldn't fathom a world without the magazine I'd been reading for nearly ten years. I recently had visited the new office in May while conducting an interview for an upcoming issue, learned about their new magazine, The Most Mag! and saw many familiar faces - happy many of them remembered me.

While the lives of those on staff are the most dramatically impacted by this sad news, it also hit me hard as a former intern of the publication (and several other former interns who have twittered about it or expressed sadness). I can recall being ecstatic that a magazine I'd been reading avidly since 13 would even pick me to be a fly on their wall as an intern but I was picked for Fall 2007. With very few classes that semester and on the brink of graduating it was the perfect ending to my time at Kean University. We were Shirea Carroll's first team of interns and were nervous but still eager to fulfill part of our dream of becoming music journalists. The semester was filled with hard work, lots of lessons, new opportunities and of course some mistakes, but it made us all stronger in the end and sad to leave the guidance of our intern coordinator Shirea and positive career model that Danyel Smith gave off with her mounts of success and always wise words of encouragement and well wishes. We also were surrounded by many other creative great minds on staff that influenced many of us and helped us cultivate our raw talent.

Besides the memories I'm sure many people have whether they worked there, used to worked there, freelanced, or just remember scooping a copy every week is the big question involving media. In my mind if the biggest, most popular urban magazine can fall, who is next?

It's like if you have a favorite table in your house that is so sturdy and one day a leg breaks off. If that can break, then there may not be much hope for anything else in the house. Amidst all the ominous news with the still dysfunctional economy, celebrity deaths, this was just the straw that has broken the camel's back for me.

As Danyel Smith once said on her podcast, Take it Personal that she does weekly with her husband, Elliot Wilson of Rap Radar and former Editor-in-Chief of XXL about the crumbling of print media she addressed journalistic integrity and who can you trust in media. Yes, we have news, gossip and blog sites, but many of those people are not journalists. Not to water down any passion they may have for media or entertainment, but there is a difference between someone with an interest and someone with a keen understanding of how to reach an audience, be biased at times and how to disagree with something without being disrespectful. Yes, journalists do blog, and some bloggers are journalists, but as great as the Internet is, anyone can hop on and pretend to be an expert.

The saddening part is that I've seen people comment on gossip and blog sites talking trash about certain magazines and hyping up gossip sites for their fast and easy news on celebrities. They often complain about magazines' content, the artists they cover and that the magazines are much thinner than before. Some of which may be true. However, do these people think that they may be part of the problem? The lower the sales the less money to fill it with content and the magazine has to make their money somehow so yes, it may be more ads. As far as the artists covered? Blame it on the audience, not the alcohol.

At the end of the day who is accountable? Do most of these sites have the artist or craft in mind or just a juicy story; sadly the later is most often the case. Do they actually choose their words wisely or just want to insult whatever or whoever they are talking about? Is there structure? Are they unbiased? Not to say none of these popular sites check their sources or that I don't go on these sites daily, but unlike the work that goes into fact checking magazines and reputable web sites anyone can feign it. I guess as someone who went to college to study journalism and at one point interned for Vibe and AllHipHop.com the idea of journalism is personal to me although I never had the opportunity to be a full-fledged journalist on a staff. All of this is constant reminder how our society is too obsessed with instant gratification only to be left empty handed at the end.

It's sad to see a staple in entertainment industry leave, but I wish everyone luck and show love top my FA '07 intern crew, Miryam, Claire, Guerdley, Emmanuel, Desiree, Natalie and Sabrina.
Here's a few covers: the first issue I helped work on as an intern, an issue I contributed to, and a few random others

Do You Remember the Time? Michael Jackson Best Music Videos

Any Michael Jackson song made between the early 80s' to early 90s' can most likely be labeled a pop classic. While some of those songs are bona fide stamps of his talent, he's also had amazingly creative music video concepts which always told us a short story. Here are my favorite Michael Jackson videos.

Note: Due to embedding disabled on all Michael Jackson videos on Youtube the link to each video is in the title of each song.



Thriller(1983) - "Thriller" still has never been topped as far as popularity, humor, and overall entertainment. I mean who can beat a vintage Michael Jackson in his prime sporting a red jacket, piping an addictive chorus with a jolt of fear as ghouls strut along with him? This is the number one video.


Remember The Time(1992) - Featuring an all-star cast of Iman, Eddie Murphy and Magic Johnson I've always loved the imagery of this video. The ancient Egyptian inspired royalty concept combined with special effects is what makes this one of his best music videos of all time. Michael serenades Iman as he mysteriously disappears from the guards who want to get him away from the beautiful Queen. He turns into dust and shows off some of his best dance moves since "Thriller".


Scream(1995) - No one expected the pleasant surprise in 1995 of Michael teaming up with his baby sister Janet for the energy infused musical explosion that was "Scream". Expressing their outrage of being constantly in the news and hunted by the press and paparazzi they came together for this instant smash single. The best part of the video is when they breakdown and start dancing in unison. Both happened to be in the midst of their pop icon peak when "Scream" broke through to the top 5 on r&b, pop and dance charts.


Earth Song(1995) - The video depicting the human destruction of the environment, poverty and war is one of Michael's most underrated music videos. Obviously more serious than his usual dance hits it featured good visuals and made more of an action statement than some of his other videos.

You Rock My World(2001) This song had a short time span on radio play and while wasn't one of his solid classics it was a good comeback nonetheless. In 2001 he wanted to remind us he could still rock our world with his a catchy hook and a song bursting with flirtation as this admonition of being attracted to a special lady is reminiscent of "The Way You Make Me Feel", and "Do You Remember the Time".
The video adds a little humor with him checking out a woman with funnyman, Chris Tucker before he belts out into song and dance. In classic Michael Jackson protocol he made sure this music video showed more like a mini movie than just your typical run of the mil video.

Leave Me Alone (1987) Michael Jackson was bashing the paparazzi way before Scream where in 1987 in an eccentric video featuring a roller coaster ride (one can link to the ups and downs that would soon be Michael Jackson's career) he features Bubbles the chimp, himself dancing alongside a skeleton and riding on a small plane as he told the public to "just stop dogging me around"

Billie Jean (1982) - Simple video, but still caught your attention. Jackson proclaims innocence in a song where he repeats "but the kid not being my son" The mysterious former love interest "Billie Jean" makes no appearance in the video as Michael avoids a reporter hot on his trail. He shows off signature moves as he steps from place to place with each spot lighting up.

This video also exposed the world to the "moonwalk", a dance that wasn't entirely his but one that he altered to immortalize into his own. Despite proven fame in the music business the CBS president at the time, still had to threaten MTV with prohibiting some of their popular rock(white acts) from being played on MTV unless they showed "Billie Jean". He became the first black artist played on MTV.

After the radio show, it's the after party....

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
Today we had our second guest, Nafiys "IModel" Blakewood, former cast member of BET's College Hill, season 2 on the show . If you take a trip down memory lane, you'll remember his season the most as the one with "Jon", the wild guy liked to run around naked and with Peaches who caught heat for throwing Jon in the fire (pun intended). Nafiys breaks down why he believes his season was blackballed after its run on BET with no reunions and no invites to any events, what went on behind the scenes, the importance of twitter, modeling, and why he'd be a good match for Miss New York.
(SCROLL DOWN FOR AUDIO OF THE SHOW)



To see more of IModel visit:

www.mrblakewood.com
www.twitter.com/imodel


On the big screen, Alicia recommends seeing - Star Trek and Dance Flick

IN WEIRD AND STRANGE NEWS
Don't Be Surprised if They Ask Where The Cash At! - The European teen who auctioned her virginity for 14,000 apparently owes the German government a cut

You Bee Serious? - Thousands of bees surrounded a NYC Game Stop for hours trapping workers


WHO'S ON TOP OF THE R&B/HIP HOP WORLD
Top 10 R&B/Hip Hop Albums


Also, for commentary on celebrity news check Toni's youtube vlog at:

www.youtube.com/shortisparkle
and be sure to follow http://twitter.com/albyoungmogul one of the most motivated industry go-getters around

And thanks to all who listened! Your feedback is always much appreciated!


WWW.DNATALKRADIO.COM

Reebok Re-up

The more things change the more they stay the same. Some styles and brands stay relevant generation after generation. Everyone has owned a pair of Reebok classics at one point or another (Adidas, too. But that's another blog post for another day). Sure, yours may have been the original white or black ones and now they're showcased in shoe store displays in neon green, pink, yellow, purple and a bunch of other loud colors, but when they called them Reebok Classics I think they were on to something. Atlanta's B.O.B's is just one of the artists featured in Reebok's Classic Remix Collection, which has paired up some of the newwer innovative music artists with a classic song from the 80s with the release of a new shoe. Kidz in the Hall and Kid Sister have also been featured on the campaign with their versions of, "I'll House You" and "I Got it Made". B.O.B's remake won't officially be released until May19th, but here's a sneak peak behind the scenes.

B.O.B. Reebok Classic Remix 30 Sec. Video Spot from reebokclassicremix on Vimeo.

Mic Check

I have more than enough recent albums to keep me busy for awhile; Chrisette Michele, Keri Hilson, Jamie Foxx, Day 26, a few hip-hop albums and many more I need to check out. But there are some artists I'd like to see to put out a new album now. I know I'm greedy, but blame it on the talent. Some of these artists may be preparing for a new release, but these were just a few on my mind today.


Whitney Houston - Don't hate. Ms. Houston still and will always have diva status. Now, we've been getting pump fakes for years with rumors of a new Whitney Houston album, but I heard this time she really is working on putting together an albums soon. Let's hope so; at this rate we won't get another album from her until she's 60. Not a good look.


Justin Timberlake - Sorry Robin Thicke, my favorite blue eyed soul crooner is still JT, but you're very close on the chart. Oh, and on that new album, Justin I want a bunch of ballads with a side of that pop/r&b you do and a song featuring Lil Wayne. Sound good? Great.



Alicia Keys - I was feeling a certain type of way about her with that whole Swizz Beats/Mashonda marriage controversy came to light, but I won't let that get in the way of my love for Alicia's musical style. I know, her last album wasn't that long ago, but I'm in the mood for that intrinsic talent that captures the spectrum of human emotion and love and that's definitely A. Keys.



Mya - She's not been forgotten in the industry at all, but where is the new album??

TGT- Weren't Tyrese, Ginuwine and Tank supposed to have this super R&B trio thing going on? I think all we got was a remix to Tank's song, "Please Don't Go". Stop playing and show us what you got.



Res - This woman has kept me hanging since 2001. After How I Do, she's still worked creatively on music, worked with Talib Kweli with Idle Spacehip, did a song for the Akeelah and the Bee movie, and released an album via Internet only but no official release. I usually don't say this about artists, but since you're keeping us hanging Res, yes, I want a How I Do part 2, no lengthy comments about going in a new direction and artistic expression, but just copy the same formula for me. Thanks.

Wyclef Jean - I need some electic guitar riffing hip-hop, singing, reggae mumbo jumbo and 'Clef is the perfect person, if not the only one who can satisfy my personal taste for this. Please make the first single with someone out of left field like a rocker or someone just so it has a kick to it.

Rihanna - Perfect timing! Maybe around fall or so, if Rihanna releases a new album out. I am very interested to hear, not so much any bitter songs indirectly or directly intended to get at Chris Brown, but how her style changes or stays the same. She definitely has grown a bit from album to album, but not completely morphed into something new; this year seems to have been a growing time for her as a person and her image so I'm love to see how she reflects that on a new album.







And just because I had to take it there: Spencer Pratt. Yes, from the TV show, The Hills, who recently during a radio interview expressed his dismay at the current state of hip-hop and added in he was a hotter rapper than most in the industry, "“I’ve always known that I secretly am the hottest rapper in the game. I’m the white Jay-Z in the game.” For his sake I hope he was joking, but I'm wondering what he'd call his album? The Silver Spoon, Very Resonable Doubt, The Wack Album? You know where I'm going with this. It's not that he's white that's the issue; the white rapper thing is no longer an anomaly or anything for anyone to scoff at it's that he puts himself in the category as Jay-Z and honestly is talking like he's going to save hip-hop when he would have a lot to prove.

More selections to come!

www.dnatalkradio.com

Group Theory

I recently caught up with some old Lost Boyz music, which reminded me as far as hip-hop goes they've always been known but somewhat underrated. They definitely gave us some good songs such as "Renee", "Me and My Crazy World", "Lifestyles Of The Rich & Shameless" and a few more. Which reminded me about the decline of music groups. The group dynamic still seems a working formula for some genres especially, like rock (which it always has), but it's highly underrepresented now. This is no new topic, but just my take on it.

We're in the age of what I like to call "microwavable music". Sure, you get some four course meals here and there with innovative and original artists, but for the most part there are many manufactured artists that don't require much grooming. Everyone has always wanted to make money but now it's the main focus.

Once groups started disbanding and people went solo, it worked for them. So, once it worked for them, whether they were a singer like Beyonce, Bobby Brown, Justin Timberlake, Sisqo, or rappers like Ice Cube, Jadakiss, (I know this is an extremely short list of many and people did this back in the day as well), the solo thing worked for you. You become the more "known" group member, and don't have to divy the money up anymore. You and your former group members claim the group is not broke up and you just wanted to do your own album, but a group album never materializes again once you reach success (unless everyone's career falls off and then you rely on the former success of the group for a "reunion")

Not to say artists aren't genuine or don't have the right to make their own music, but everyone else followed suit with the phenomenon. In this world we all want to be different, but yet fit in somewhere. New artists do what works. If being in a group is what's making the money they want to fit in, if it's being a solo artist that's what will be done. Not to say there aren't still music groups out, there's plenty, but anyone in a group is just a song and an album deal away from going solo.


Anyways, here's a throwback video from the hip-hop group whose most successful reign during the 90s put Cleveland on the map.

I Wanne Be Like T.I.(P)

How many entertainers have uttered the phrase, "I never said I was a role model"? Often this comes after some highly publicized indiscretion or arrest where people cry about how they're not setting a good example. While many shy away from this daunting title, others position themselves to be presented as one and T.I is now one of those artists. After his arrest in October 2007 for attempting to buy machine guns and silencers, T.I has literally been on a road to redemption with his MTV reality, T.I's Road to Redemption, and numerous speaking engagements where he advises young people not to get caught up in the street life. Guess the King of the South is now the King of the Mouth as according to an article from huffingtonpost.com, he's made 262 appearance as of now doing outreach.

A year and change after being arrested for attempting to buy machine guns and silencers at in Atlanta, he was finally sentenced on Friday, March 27th to a year in jail, getting a lesser sentence because of his agreement to perform community surface.

So, here goes: he now has an obligation never to get in trouble again - at least not to the extent where he intentionally does something incredibly illegal as he did last year. I repeat, he must never get in legal trouble again. The sincerity seems genuine and it has to stay that way. Why? Because while it's hit or miss when giving anyone advice, surely he has truly impacted many of the young people he has spoken to and if he somehow gets caught up again after serving his term, his message will be like a VHS tape - gone. I'm staying positive though because he does seem to be sincere in shedding away the mistakes of his past. Let's hope the old him is really dead and gone.




Should anyone consider people who are successful role models for the youth? Not really. Like I said, some people bask in that title and want people to look up to them while others want all the attention but don't want to be seen as anyone's role model. This is probably another blog for another day, but the problem is just because these people are good at one thing in their lives doesn't mean we should expect them not to have problems, drama, or controversy. The sad part is whether they want to be role models or not, many kids do look up to athletes, entertainers and rappers more than those who are business owners, doctors, etc. so because of that the lines do get blurry.