JAY-Z FADES TO BLACK

the new left eye

My friend/colleague Elizabeth Mendez Berry pens a fantastic piece on Jay-Z and The Black Album for the Village Voice. Can I get a what what?

And oh yeah, here's a little something I wrote on the God MC.

sammy's the smart one

Interracial interactions make white folk stupid. Ok, not exactly but they do tax people's mental capacities - so says Dartmouth Univ. researchers.

Top 10s in Development

Albums
1. Rufus Wainwright: Want One
2. Andre 3000: The Love Below
3. Jay-Z: The Black Album
4. Lyrics Born: Later That Day
5. Styles of Beyond: Megadef
6. 50 Cent: Get Rich or Die Tryin'
7. Lifesavas: Spirit in Stone
8. Bubba Sparxx: Deliverance
9. V/A: Bay Area Funk
10. V/A: Dis Jointed

Singles
1. Beyonce: Crazy In Love
2. Andre 3000: Hey Ya
3. The Neptunes; Frontin’
4. 50 Cent: In Da Club
5. LA Carnival: Blind Man (Cut Chemist Remix)
6. Killer Mike: A.D.I.D.A.S.
7. Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra: Che Che Cole Makossa
8. Method Man and Ghostface Killah: No Friend
9. DJ Shadow: Right Thing (Z-Trip Remix)
10. Mr. Lif: Live at the Plantation

forlorn am I

I originally wrote this to a friend in an email and realized - "hey, it sounds like something people write in a blog, accompanied by some kind of abstract yet poignant photo." Not that this is at all a bad thing but sometimes, I'm just too damn self-conscious about it all. Anyways, here goes:

"I find myself always getting more philosophical in winter's approach. I think there's something about that chill in the air which triggers some kind of mnemonic switch from my childhood when winter was mysterious and ominous but full of promise in a certain way too...alive with the anticipation of holidays and all the trimmings that come with it. For some reason though, I feel more alone in this season which I suspect has to do with how distant I've felt from my family the last 10 years. Winter makes me think of the comfort of someone else's hearth but not my own. I think part of me is infatuated with the idea of winter but that secretly, I just wish spring would come. And here it is, only mid-November...alas."

down with the mao mao

Apparently, Chinese American rapper Jin is catching heat. Almost literally.