MEDIA BLAST-PART 1: I-TUNES, YOU GOT SERVED,HIP-HOP T-SHIRTS, AND MARGARET CHO ON EMINEM

Apple's iTunes is offering a new cool service to go with all their other cool services. Available for download are now the top singles (according to Billboard from 1946-2003. For either sheer curiosity or actual music research, having all these charts collected in one place is phenomenal. There is a catch: Apple doesn't have rights to ALL the songs in these years, so, for example, the #1,3 and 9 singles of 2001 are not listed. I'm sure this is probably temporary though as Apple has aggressively been going after as many songs as they can to load up to iTunes. Some surprises that emerge from browsing this list.

• Britney Spears' "...Baby One More Time" was only #5 in 1999? And Cher's "Believe" was #1?
  
• Bryan Adams had the #1 single in 1991 with "(Everything I Do) I Do For You". Go to a Ryan Adams concert and request it. I double dare ya. (Also, in that years, Color Me Badd had the #2 hit with "I Wanna Sex You Up": to the...tic toc, oops, they did stop.
  
• Wait, Wilson Phillips had the #1 hit in 1990 with "Hold On"? Does ANYONE remember this song?

You Got Served is one of those films that for anyone who remotely feels any loyalty to hip-hop...you just want to cringe when you see the ads and trailers. At this point, when have we not seen the story of some plucky bunch of urban underdogs trying to come from behind to beat the odds? Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo anyone? This all said, our good blogging buddy Julianne Shepherd writes a funny, insightful review of the movie. You already know she's kicking off to a rollicking start when this sentence ends the first paragraph: [The film] was cobbled together by a writer and editor who are clearly hoarding the last stash of legal ephedra in the country.

I've been crazy derelict in not posting something about this earlier but the folks at Footlong Development (what up Asad, I ain't forget you!) have been producing some hot, hip-hop-themed t-shirts for a few months now and I've been fortunate to see most of their designs first-hand. For the hardcore head, all of these shirts harken back to the heady days of the early '90s (you know, when hip-hop was good - zing!). So far, in my humble opinion, their two best designs have been:
BDP: DUCK DOWN, DE LA SOUL: FROM THE SOUL and PUBLIC ENEMY: REBEL WITHOUT A PAUSE

Wicked mon. (shout out to Jazzbo for reminding me about these guys)

I have nothing but love and respect for Margaret Cho, who's become not just Asian America's most prominent popular icon (one of 'em at least), but also one of our most public intellectuals. She's witty and articulate and passionate and while I usually am 110% behind everything she writes about pop culture and politics, her recent posting about Eminem neglected to properly do its homework. I actually don't disagree with much of what Margaret has to say about Eminem - lord knows, I've put Slim Shady on blast for being a homophobic misanthrope too, but I'm guessing she isn't aware of the whole, ugly history behind The Source Magazine (whose current Eminem witch-hunt helped spark Cho's thoughts on the rapper).

Is Eminem a racist? Well, probably, as much as any other white boy from his background would be and that's worth noting, BUT The Source's character assassination is irredeemably disingenous, calculated and hypocritical. Those aren't "brass balls" they have clanging over there, Margaret dear, they're flat and flabby, unworthy of being called cajones. It's just the last in a long line of shameful editorial conflicts of interest that The Source has engaged in and potentially their last since the magazine is rumored to be flirting with financial disaster.