John Legend's Johnny Mathis Moment

This weekend while I was in Wellesley, on two separate occasions, in two separate cars, I heard tracks from the new John Legend album, Once Again. Though I had it myself for a few weeks, I hadn't listened to it yet. What I realized though, in those two cars, was that Legend had a crossover appeal that I hadn't realized. The two separate cars were being driven by two young white women -- and both said, "I love John Legend." One even reported that she had seen him in concert in her home town.

I had been thinking about a John Legend, Johnny Mathis comparison since first hearing "Save Room." There's just something familiar and nostalgic about the track. It's the kind of love ballad that perhaps Mathis would have sung. It made me realize that Legend was not just on some R&B, hip-hop shit, but that becoming the king of love pop was his goal. The kind of love pop in the tradition of someone such as Johnny Mathis.

Ok the quality of their tenors are quite different, but there are many other comparisons that could be made on song style, fashion selection, and well, dare I say it. So Mathis was in the closet for a long, long time, and I'm not saying that Legend is, but the speculation is definitely there. Anyway, whatever the case, Legend may be experiencing a Johnny Mathis moment and is on his way to becoming America's heart throb.

posted by lynne | link to this | comment () | trackback (0) |

Hip-Hop is Definitely Dead

So last night I was listening to Nas' "Hip-Hop Is Dead" (via The Rap Up), and was thinking to myself why are both Nas and Jay-Z falling off?

Jay-Z just shouldn't have done a Michael Jordan at all. But considering that Nas is calling his album Hip-Hip is Dead and "Where Y'all At," was straight fire, I was expecting more than a rehash of the "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" performed by the Incredible Bongo Band sample that was used in "Thief's Theme." Moreso, I wasn't expecting a Will.I.Am. production credit (let's not even mention that he's got production credits on a lot of albums this year and that we have to hear him speak goo-goo-gaa-gaa more than we're willing to).

posted by lynne | link to this | comment () | trackback (0) |

Jean Grae @ Wellesly College

posted by lynne | link to this | comment () | trackback (0) |

MySpace Across the Generations

Now I've had a MySpace account for a while now, but I wasn't doing anything there. No time to trick out the profile page, and I just didn't think it was something I needed or would be able to get into. Well, once I updated the page, the friends started coming. I still don't do much there but add friends, accept friends and accept comments.

But in the last week, I kind of got a little laugh out of having a MySpace identity when I became friends with all three of my nieces in one week. Why a laugh, you might ask. Well, one is in her late 20s, another in her late teens, and the other is 16. What the hell am I doing on there with them?

posted by lynne | link to this | comment () | trackback (0) |

tmobile dash

I was playing with this baby over the weekend. It works a little bit like the MDA that I currently use, but it's much sleeker and sexier, and has a smooth feel to it. It also fits easily into the palm of my hand and is much lighter than the MDA. Right now the only drawback for me, is the keyboard.

It's setting out to compete with the Motorola Q and Blackberry.

posted by lynne | link to this | comment () | trackback (0) |

Female Gender Expression in Hip-Hop

Here I am in MA one more time speaking. And this one seems like it's really going to be good. If you happen to be in MA, stop by. Here's the schedule:

FEMALE GENDER EXPRESSION IN HIP HOP
Wellesley College
October 28, 2006
Science Center, Rm. 277

9.00 Opening: General Remarks, Selwyn R. Cudjoe, Professor, Africana Studies.

9.15-10.15 Address: Gwendolyn Pough, Associate Professor, Women’s Studies, Syracuse University “Thinking Through Female Gender Expressions in Hip-Hop”

Chairperson: Corina Morris

10.30-11.45 “Gender and Sexuality in Hip Hop”

Panelists: Jean Grae, Hip Hop Artist
Beth Ford, Assistant Professor, English
Nuri Chandler-Smith, Associate Professor, Northeastern University

Chairperson: Racquel Armstrong

12-1.15 LUNCH (Showing of documentary, “Scene Not Heard”)

1.30-2.30 Address: Lynne Johnson, Senior Editor, FastCompany.com “Empowering Female Hip-Hop Communities Online”

Chairperson: Kristen Rice-Jones

2.45-4.0 “Masculine and Feminine Identities in Hip-Hop”

Allison Bland, Student, Wellesley College
Ossie Merique, Rapso Artist
Lori Lobenstine, Founder, FemaleSneakerFiend.com

Chairperson: Eleanor Griffiths

ART EXHIBITION

“STILL” Ayanah Moor

4.30-6.00 PM

Jewett Art Gallery

CONCERT
Houghton Memorial Chapel
7 PM

Featuring

JEAN GRAE, Hip Hop Artist

Ossie Merique, Rapso Artist

Racquel Armstrong
Karin Firoza

MC: Christina Tilghman

technorati tags: hip-hop | women | female | conference

posted by lynne | link to this | comment () | trackback (0) |

Links for 10.25.06

Madonna's Oprah interview: In quotes
Madonna has appeared on Oprah Winfrey's US chat show to talk about her planned adoption of 13-month-old Malawian boy, David Banda. (BBC News)

Barack Obama Considers Presidential Run
Why is Barack Obama generating more excitement among Democrats than John Kerry? (The Atlantic)

Eisner, Diller Expound on New Media
Michael Eisner and Barry Diller bickered playfully like a media mogul version of "The Odd Couple" during the opening session of the Forbes MEET (Media Electronic Entertainment Technology) conference in Beverly Hills on Tuesday. (Variety)

YouTube Users Beware
YouTube users who post copyrighted material are more likely to become defendants in very expensive lawsuits as the video site makes it easier for major media companies to find and remove their protected property, legal experts said Tuesday. (TechWeb)

Fox to Stream The O.C. Season Premiere a Week Prior to Running on Air
It's been a long summer and fall for fans of The O.C. since Marissa Cooper's life ended tragically just before she was set to head off to college. But viewers hoping to see just how Ryan, Seth and Summer are recovering will soon be able to get a sneak peak of the Orange County-set soap on MySpace. (MediaWeek)

Hip Hop Weekly Arrives At National Newsstands And Supermarkets This Week!
The hip hop community has been buzzing with anticipation for the last few weeks, ever since David Mays and Ray Benzino, the creators of The Source, announced the launch of their new magazine, Hip Hop Weekly. HHW arrives on newsstands this week, featuring a fast-paced and groundbreaking new format that is unlike any other magazine currently on the market. HHW's first cover story is an exclusive report on the split between Game and Dr. Dre, who did not work on Game's new album coming out this fall. (Market Wire)

posted by lynne | link to this | comment () | trackback (0) |

Jay-Z and his Champagne Woes

On the heels of the announcement that Jay-Z has been named a co-brand director at Anheuser-Busch and all the hoopla over at XXL and Gawker about his supposed fake (or just made up) champagne sported in his new video for "Show Me What You Got," comes this (story behind the story)...

Bottled Up
Just When Cristal got kicked out of the party, Hip-hop fixture Branson B. was rolling out his own champagne. So where are his famous friends now? Hey, it's just business.

posted by lynne | link to this | comment () | trackback (0) |

Diddy - Press Play (Album Cover)

Doesn't Diddy's album cover for Press Play

Look like a concept for a Grace Jones album cover?

posted by lynne | link to this | comment () | trackback (0) |

Cool Graphic Designer Wanted - NYC

Full time. For Housing Works. (www.housingworks.org) 1-man department (for now). 55K. Full health, dental. etc. 40 days off a year.

HUGE opportunity to get a diverse body of work seen (sometimes we're designing for charity marc jacobs fashion shows, other times it's a corporate media kit, other times it's signage and rally materials for nationwide AIDS protests, etc.). The biggest HIV/AIDS charity in the US. Works with VP in re-branding the entire organization and its ancillary properties (thrift shops, bookstore, etc.)

If you're responsible, self-motivated, etc. you'll be given the space to be creative and a schedule that is somewhat flexible. Hire to be made in the next 2 weeks, so people should REALLY get in touch ASAP. Looking for innovation/cutting edge, but the person does need enough experience to understand how to properly prepare things for the printer.

Resumes with a portfolio, portfolio link or work sample best.
--
CHRISTOPHER H. SEALEY
Vice President, Marketing and Communications
Housing Works

T 646.957.7057
E sealey@housingworks.org

www.housingworks.org

posted by lynne | link to this | comment () | trackback (0) |

What I Said...

What I've been talking about over at the Fast Company blog:

It Feels Like Acquisition Season - every major media behemoth is scrambling for a Web 2.0 social networking play. MTV is the latest, with it's acquisition of Quizzilla.

Steve Jobs on the iPod .Vs Zune - Newsweek sat down with Jobs as the iPod turns 5 to discuss its impact on design and culture.

Wal-Mart's China Expansion Strategy - Wal-Mart wants to be the leading retailer in China. Can someone tell this company they can't be everything.

When Entertainment and Advertising Clash - How Diddy and BK's YouTube strategy failed. Or did it?

PepsiCo's Healthy Project in the 'hood - How Pepsico plans to get the 'hood eating healthy snacks.

posted by lynne | link to this | comment () | trackback (0) |

AllHipHop.com Raises The Bar

In the latest cover story of Strive Magazine, there's an interview with Jacqueline N. Howell, a fromer associate at Davis & Gilbert LLP who has represented Matthew Knowles (Beyonce's Father), R & B singer Chris Brown, SwishaHouse Records and Nu America Ad Agency, among other entertainment properties. She now serves as General Counsel, SVP of Business Development & Legal Affairs at AllHipHop.com. This could only mean one thing, AHH is ready to do it real big.

A dominant force in hip-hop entertainment online -- having recenlty been lauded with accolades from Black Enterprise, among others -- traffic wise, AHH can not be rivaled. When it comes to site design, functionality, and overall content direction, it's an entirely different story of course. Same goes for its advertising strategy, as they're just not getting the campaigns they should based on the # of eyeballs they're reaching. Perhaps this is just the force they need to get them on the right track and to become the leader they should be.

posted by lynne | link to this | comment () | trackback (0) |

Is Sexism Rampant at The Source?

The title for this post is a question that DiversityInc asked in one of its stories today. It read:

"The Source, the so-called bible of hip hop, is being likened to a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah in a lawsuit trial initiated by its former editor in chief, Kimberly Osorio. Osorio, the magazine's first female editor, was fired last year, she says, after she complained about a workplace that was unfriendly to women employees, the New York Daily News reports. Osorio claims she was verbally abused, sexually harassed and physically threatened. "

For the full story, go to DiversityInc.

posted by lynne | link to this | comment () | trackback (0) |

Update: Airplane Crash in NYC

Cory Lidle, a pitcher for the New York Yankees, was killed today when his small private plane crashed into a residential high-rise building on New York City’s Upper East Side, igniting several apartments before pieces of the aircraft crashed to the ground, a high-ranking city official confirmed late this afternoon. The plane was registered to Mr. Lidle, who was a licensed pilot. (More)

posted by lynne | link to this | comment () | trackback (0) |

Not another 911

Sitting in my office on the East Side of Manhattan, I can hear a swarm of sirens from fire trucks and police vehicles. Originally I heard that a helicopter crased into a residential building on 72nd and York. Searches for the incident turn up sensationalized headlines, like: Aircraft Crashes into into N.Y. Building.

Go to CNN for live updates.

posted by lynne | link to this | comment () | trackback (0) |

two years later...honey magazine

With suede magazine off the shelves and vibe vixen in need of a decent website, the market is prime for a young urban woman's publication to step on the scene. And while vibe vixen is really a pretty damn decent magazine, we have yet to see what it reads and looks like under its new owners' direction.

In the meantime, the internets are abuzz about the appearance of honey magazine's website gearing up for a takeover. The content on the site has been updated within the last two months, and there's a definite relationship with sony music and bright cove video services.

While not the most search engine optimized site -- considering the home page was created in flash and the urls are not search engine friendly (since whatever cms is being used limits the use of titles in the urls b/c it's based on modules) -- it still looks as if the site is set up to create buzz and page views before either a bigger more publicized launch, and possible re-release of the print publication.

Not a bad idea at all, esepcially since the word on the street is that both vixen and essence are developing site launches/relaunches in the next coming months.

According to the information on the website, honey is still owned by Philmore Anderson's Sahara Entertainment or Sahara Publishing, as was reported in Richard Prince's Journal-isms back in 2004. Anderson was formerly vice president/marketing for Columbia/Sony Records, and before that was head of marketing for Atlantic Records and had an Internet music company, according to the report.

What's interesting though, is that the report also mentions: "the auction for Honey, the last of the Vanguarde Media publications being auctioned off in Manhattan bankruptcy court, was won by Sahara Entertainment in conjunction with Black Book Media Corp., another New York firm, which agreed to assume the publication's subscription liabilities, according to the lawyer representing Vanguarde."

The current CEO and President of Vibe Media Group were formerly CEO and President of Black Book Media Group, just before moving over to Vibe. They are principals of Keith Glen Media Group, which is reported to be the parent company of of Black Book Media. All of these companies fall under the umbrella of The Wicks Group.

I feel like there's some mathematical formula to calculate six degrees of separation or some other such equation that comes up with a scenario that will reveal that somehow, at some point, all of these businesses will roll into bed together. I just don't have the time to figure out the equation or do the reporting that's required to make this a real story and less gossip and rumors as so many blogs are wont to do.

Maybe someone else will carry this one a little further -- if they haven't already.

posted by lynne | link to this | comment () | trackback (0) |

Marques Houston - Favorite Girl

Marques Houston's new single, "Favorite Girl," from his upcoming album Veteran.

I happen to be one of those rare above 30-year-old women who happened to like Houston's Naked CD, and even appreciated that album more when I took my niece to the Scream Tour. Of all the acts, Houston was the only one who came across as mature. So of course when I first heard this track I gave it a listen. At first, I wasn't impressed. But then it grew on me. It started to remind me a little of Craig David.

I've noticed the video in heavy rotation on VH1 Soul. But watching Houston with Stacey Dash kind of makes my skin crawl (in a bad way). Thinking about him bagging her, is so totally not plausible. It's like the video with Ray J and Ananda Lewis. Who keeps putting these "young men" in videos with these older women?

Anyway, give the song a listen yourself and tell me what you think.

Marques Houston - Favorite Girl (WM | RM | QT)

posted by lynne | link to this | comment () | trackback (0) |

Fat Joe - "Make It Rain" featuring Lil' Wayne (Video)

Joe’s latest opus, Me, Myself and I (due November 14) not only finds him delivering his best album to date, but marks a milestone and next phase of his career. The project will be released independently on his own Terror Squad Entertainment, which is being distributed through Imperial/ EMI.

Production on the project was handled by close Terror Squad affiliates like Scott Storch, LV and the Runners, while less than a handful of guests such as Lil’ Wayne, The Game and newcomer Murder Capital shared mic time with Joe.

The first single is a thunderous throw down called “Make It Rain.” Scott Storch produced and Lil’ Wayne chipped in on the hook. Joe masterfully controls the verses, flossing his hardcore pedigree while making the club rock and celebrating lavish spending. Acclaimed filmmaker and video director Chris Robinson (“ATL”) directed the clip in Miami.

Fat Joe - "Make It Rain" featuring Lil' Wayne

Watch QT | WM | RM

posted by lynne | link to this | comment () | trackback (0) |

Lupe Fiasco - I Gotcha

Liste to Lupe Fiasco - I Gotcha

Clean | Explicit

posted by lynne | link to this | comment () | trackback (0) |

jay-z - show me what you got

JAY-Z's record label is considering taking legal action against the person responsible for leaking the rapper's forthcoming single on the internet last week. Highly-anticipated comeback track SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT appeared illegally online on Friday (06OCT06).

And bosses at Def Jam have launched an internal investigation following the incident to try and find the person or persons who leaked the track.

A source tells website AllHipHop.com, "The FBI may do an investigation into this. Everything has been under lock and key, so we have no idea how the single was leaked." Show Me What You Got is on the new Jay-Z album KINGDOM COME, which is set for release on 21 November (06).

-- source pr-inside

Listen to Show Me What You Got at MP3.com

posted by lynne | link to this | comment () | trackback (0) |

Saturday Mix: Old Skool Slow Soul Flow

Saturday Mix: Old Skool Slow Soul Flow

powered by ODEO

Syreeta - Cause We've Ended As Lovers
Curtis Mayfield - Between You Baby And Me Love
Womack & Womack - Baby I'm Scared Of You
The Commodores - Wonderland
Roy Ayers - Oh What A Lonely Feeling
Al Green - Love Ritual (Remix)
Kay Gee's - Heavenly Dream
Rufus & Chaka Khan - Your Smile
Weldon Irvine - Morning Sunrise
The Whatnauts - I'll Erase Away Your Pain

get the podcast

posted by lynne | link to this | comment () | trackback (0) |

zoe kravitz all grown up

Lenny Kravitz and his beloved daughter Zoe (looking a lot like her mother Lisa Bonet) hit up the Jean-Paul Gaultier Ready To Wear fashion Show.

Lenny Kravitz - Flowers For Zoe Lyrics

Flowers for Zoe

Love for Zoe

Angels and rainbows

All kinds of things you can call your own

Garden for Zoe

And oceans for Zoe

Jungle gym playgrounds

All kinds of things for you to explore

Flowers for Zoe

Love for Zoe

Angels and rainbows

All kinds of things you can call your own

Yeah yeah yeah

God is for Zoe

And heaven's for Zoe

Oh can you believe

That everything is waiting to unfold ?

You can call your own

You can call your own

You can call your own

posted by lynne | link to this | comment () | trackback (0) |