While I have a hard time accepting Macklemore as the best rapper in the universe or Justin Timberlake for supposedly having last year’s best R&B song, there’s something about Lorde’s Grammy win that irks me even more.

It’s not that I have anything against Lorde. She’s unique, talented, and she’s still a kid after all. “Royals”, her chart-topping ode to those who will never live the life of pop music royalty, sounds like the musings of a typical, newly self-aware 17 year-old girl just coming into herself. When I first heard the song last summer, I was taken back by the idea of a pop singer taking shots at mainstream rap’s addiction to materialism, not because she was wrong in her criticism, but because the teenage pop vocalist didn’t strike me as the ideal spokesperson of the “anti-bling movement”.  Still, part of me found it slightly refreshing that a song with substance was climbing the charts.

As Royals rose in popularity, Lorde faced accusations of racism as some took issue with her lyrics that were believed to target African American artists.  She denied it, proclaimed her love of rap music, and said the song was merely a commentary on pop culture’s obsession with riches and fame.  Drama averted.  All was well again and the song continued to gain momentum.  I generally hop all over this type of story but for some reason, this one just didn’t pique my interest.  Being a Hip Hop head, heated discussions about excessive materialism in rap are old news and the pop tune wasn’t breaking any new grounds in my world.

Then the song shot to #1 on various urban radio stations across the nation, the same ones that promote the kind of music Royals trashes. Well alrighty then.  Welcome to Bizarro World! With Justin, Robin, and Macklemore holding top chart positions as well, Lorde was in good company.  Coincidentally, Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop” poked fun at rappers’ obsession with the finer things in life a few months before Lorde did.  Do I detect a pattern here or am I just imagining things?

So the song’s playing all over the place.  The video has three quadrillion views on YouTube.  Young and old people are singing it.  Rappers like Rick Ross and Wale are hopping on official and unofficial remixes. It’s annoying as hell but Lorde deserves her 15 minutes of fame.  Then out of nowhere, the Go Go version drops.  WHAT THE? Well….good for you Lorde.  Keep rising to the top.

Man…this music business is something else.

With all this success, her Grammy win was inevitable.  But my problem isn’t with sweet little Lorde who’s just living out her dream.  My problem is with this manipulative industry that plays artists like pieces on a chessboard. It ignores the talents of some and promotes that of others to fulfill God-knows-what agenda. It took a 17 year-old girl from New Zealand to bring attention to a problem that’s been plaguing rap music for years while a 1000 rappers who have been trying to do the very same thing for the last two decades have been overlooked, silenced, and even mocked for being relics of a bygone Hip Hop era.  Even the mainstream rap industry who’s quick to ridicule conscious rappers for being too preachy welcomed Lorde and her “positive” message with open arms. The moral of the story is that the only way to make music with substance acceptable to the masses is to deliver it in a delicate little package over sparse kick drums and finger snaps. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before Taylor Swift drops an anti-police brutality song.  Lorde knows we need it.

But then again, Darius Rucker won a Grammy for best Country Solo Performance so I guess we’re even.

10.  “The Worlds End”

The plot boils down to four guys getting completely wasted in order to stop the apocalypse.  It is one of the most mature films out, “Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy”. Even  “Hot Fuzz being packed with action and “Shaun of the Dead being very quotable, the emotional bond between the main characters in “The Worlds End” is stouter, richer and more full bodied.  This film captures the action and comedy that has not been seen since “Ghostbusters”.  The film also captures the feeling of what it’s like to grow up and grow apart from those you care about.

9. “World War Z”

With director Marc Forster last big budget effort being the worst James Bond movie ever everyone figured “World War Z” would be a disaster. However, the trailer of the film had an impressive tower of CGI zombies as the main selling point. Brad Pitt topped off an exciting and, most of all, scary undead surprise. The film was able to catch the audience off guard not only in the quality of the movie but in how it plays with scale, both large and small.

8. “Spring Breakers”

At first it was really hard to take James Franco serious playing such a weird role. Which is unusual of Mr. Franco to play anything but weird roles. The Film had misleading marketing that got people to see a better movie than what they expected.  ” Spring Breakers” is about people who talk a lot about being bad and what happens when they meet the real deal.

7. “Dallas Buyers Club”

“I prefer to die with my boots on,” Matthew McCaughey’s Ron protests as he goes against doctor’s orders. Jared Leto is searing and heart wrenching as Ron’s unlikeliest  of sidekicks.  The character in the film is battling HIV-AIDS.  Intuitive in all the right ways, “Dallas” flaunts its star’s most important performance to date

6. “12 Years a Slave”

This is a film in which everyone should watch at least once in their lives. We need to be reminded that not too long ago our country was filled with hate and acts of prejudice crimes. The story of Soloman Northup’s jouney from freedom to slavery and back again is almost unbelievable. It is hard to believe that it’s a story that is based on truthful events and a real person that went through these troubling times. Chiwetel Ejiofor portrays the character perfect with every stab of physical and mental anguish on his face. It is hard to deny him being worthy of any awards given to him for this role.

5. “Iron Man 3″

This is the third film that mascot Robert Downey Jr has played as the flamboyant Tony Stark. Which was able to gross around 1.2 billion in the box office. Marvel brought together a group of lesser known heroes and made such a success.  The film is the actually the big test that came immediately after the final exam that was the “Avengers”.

4. “The Hunger Games, Catching Fire”

One thing is for certain that fight to the death is not just for teens any longer.  Newcomers like Finnick and Johanna add interest, and the brewing revolution shot darkly through director Francis Lawrence’s lens does not hurt either. The good thing, even though there is newcomers the core characters Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Haymitch and Effie are back at it again. They say the film “Catching Fire” beat “The Hunger Games” at its own game.

3. “The Wolf of Wallstreet”

With his last film “Hugo” people were considering that Martin Scorsese had lost his edge with making great movies.  He definitely shut the critics up with this film.  This is the 5th film Scorsese has collaborated with Leonardo DiCaprio on and some say this is the best of all the other films. The film does run a bit long, and it could be seen as unintentionally glamorizing the reckless behavior it actually decries. It’s still the most potent jolt of pure cinema you’ll see this year

2. “American Hustle”

When first seeing the previews for “American Hustle” it drew my attention because of the cast being in full 70’s mode.  Their hair and makeup and clothes had to match the era of the 70’s.  The fans of David O. Russell will find plenty to love in the third of the directors unofficial trilogy called, “East Coast People Being Loud”. The first two movies of Russells Trilogy was “The Fighter” and “Silver Lining Playbook”.

1. “Gravity”

The question you must ask your self in regards to this excellent movies is, how do they make such a spectacular visual and pulse pounding thriller but yet, one of the most heartfelt and genuinely moving stories of the year.  We do know one thing, that the director  Alfonso Cuarón directed an excellent science fiction movie.  Sandra Bullock and George Clooney both are shown dangled like puppets in a closed box to simulate the motion of spinning off into space.  Great movie a true must see.

Hundreds of #sneakerheads in the #DMV and enthusiasts from as far as Ohio and NYC took over the Verizon Center to buy sell and trade exclusives deadstocks and other accessories-

Premium Pete and Dallas Penn even came through the building to show support-

We definitely want to give a big shout to Sports Zone for staying connected and true to the sneaker community, as well as brands like Inkkas, Grey Classic, and Sole Saver that are working overtime on that independent grind-

Exclusive Interview with Nike’s Phil Knight

{Source}

This is a story about the rapid evolution of a technology that has forced the American legal system to play catch up. Cody Wilson, a 25 year old University of Texas Law student, is an advocate for the open source production of firearms using 3D printing technology. This makes him a highly controversial figure on both sides of the gun control issue. MOTHERBOARD sat down with Cody in Austin, Texas to talk about the constitution, the legal system, and to watch him make and test-fire a 3D-printed gun.

Check out our podcast with Cody here: http://bit.ly/VICE-Podcast-Cody-Wilson

Produced By Erin Lee Carr
Edited by Chris O’Coin

Read more on MOTHERBOARD here: http://motherboard.vice.com/read/clic…

To find out more about what the ATF says about 3D-printed guns, read this: http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/the-…

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Here’s another track of off his first installment off of his Slide Show series, The Set Up:

After giving everyone a Background Check and explaining his Transition, CallMeDrop gives us a bit of his perspective during a session with Wise at Depth Charge Studios

For those that haven’t heard the tape yet stream or download [HERE]

s/o to the homie Jay Dex for the ill visual as usual!

Give Drop your feedback on his FB Fan Page or give him a shout on Twitter

Published on Nov 11, 2012
Impressions of the IBUg festival of urban art and culture 2012 in Glauchau (Germany), where nearly 70 urban artists from all over Europe (Germany, France, Switzerland, Scottland) and Argenitinia redesigned an abandoned factory. After the week-long creative phase the former slaughterhouse presented itself as an impressive work of art and showed the whole spectrum of contemporary art with graffiti and wall painting, original space concepts, objects and installations, video animation and multimedia performances. The results of their work was shown to among 5000 visitors on three days together with a colorful program of short films, lectures, discussion, tours, art and design-market, fashion shows and music.

Spezial:
The Opium Theatre

Hip Hop:
+ Schowi (Stuttgart, http://0711entertainment.de/kunstler/…)
+ DefZone (illcandevilz/IBUg)
+ Okle (illcandevilz/IBUg)

Electro:
+ Franz! (Muna, http://www.muna.de/)
+ Konglomerat (Weimar, www.facebook.com/daskonglomerat)
+ Mopedgang (Glauchau, www.mopedgang.de)

Visuals:
+ Jakkeline und Maria (Weimar, Konglomerat)

Artwork:
+ Loomit (München, www.loomit.de)

SITE: http://www.suprafootwear.com
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Drizzy Season has officially begun. He “Started From The Bottom” and now he’s here. But what do we make of the new Drake?

Check out more of The Truth with Elliott Wilson here

Life+Times | Twitter: http://full.sc/REKTYT
Life+Times | Facebook: http://full.sc/REKOV9

Listen to Drake’s new track – “Started From the Bottom”

Red Carpet Coverage for the 2nd HIB | Hip Hop Inaugural Ball 2013

Hosted by Miguel Masters @itsthatsmith

Featuring Interviews by:

Lala Anthony – @lala | HIB Host | Actor
Terrance J – @TerrenceJ | HIB Host | Actor
Angela Simmons -@angelasimmons
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson – @MichaelEDyson | Academic | Author | Radio Host
Eric “ELEW” Lewis – @elewrockjazz | Pianist
Charles S. Dutton | Actor | Producer
Dikembe Mutombo | Humanitarian
Velisha Butterfield-Jones – @valeisha | WEEN [Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network]
Rev. Yearwood – @RevYearwood | Hip Hop Caucus, President & CEO
Dr. Ben Chavis @DrBenChavis | HSAN, President & CEO

Additional Pics via The Jasmine Brand ]]> http://www.inthestreets.tv/itstv-2nd-hip-hop-inaugural-ball/feed/ 6