Nice little video here featuring Mos Def, Lenny Kravitz, Tim Robbins(???), & The Preservation Hall Jazz Band performing a song they put together for the relief effort. The video will tell you where to go if you wanna help.
Showing posts with label Mos Def. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mos Def. Show all posts
Monday, August 23, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Life Moves Fast
A new commercial for Palm is beginning to air during the NCAA Tournament. In addition to being an all-around good ad communicating the available features being used with ease by a woman on the move, it's all being delivered to a Hip Hop backdrop. Mos Def's "Quiet Dog" plays as the soundtrack, and his album cover even pops up as the Palm owner browses past her music list.
This is not just a good example of Hip Hop's ever-expanding reach to the consuming masses. It is also an example of marketers' realization of this fact and explicit decision to utilize the music (and culture) to reach their consumers. A song is not chosen for a commercial at random. It is a well thought out decision along with every other aspect of an ad. The music is important because it feeds into the overall message and image being communicated.
The message here is that "Life Moves Fast". Use the Palm to make sure that you "Don't Miss A Thing". This message is underlined with the up-tempo Mos track which the woman is walking to the beat of; and is communicated by her physically moving while checking messages, and finding a place to buy shoes for the event to which the dress code was just told to her. The features that the Palm provides, and the ease of use ensures that Palm owners won't "miss a thing".
The image of the Palm user - underscored again by the song - is a younger, trendy, professional, and social person who desires a versatile, reliable device to help organize and coordinate life's needs. This is the modern hip hop fan. This is the target market of Palm. Is this not what you expected?
This is not just a good example of Hip Hop's ever-expanding reach to the consuming masses. It is also an example of marketers' realization of this fact and explicit decision to utilize the music (and culture) to reach their consumers. A song is not chosen for a commercial at random. It is a well thought out decision along with every other aspect of an ad. The music is important because it feeds into the overall message and image being communicated.
The message here is that "Life Moves Fast". Use the Palm to make sure that you "Don't Miss A Thing". This message is underlined with the up-tempo Mos track which the woman is walking to the beat of; and is communicated by her physically moving while checking messages, and finding a place to buy shoes for the event to which the dress code was just told to her. The features that the Palm provides, and the ease of use ensures that Palm owners won't "miss a thing".
The image of the Palm user - underscored again by the song - is a younger, trendy, professional, and social person who desires a versatile, reliable device to help organize and coordinate life's needs. This is the modern hip hop fan. This is the target market of Palm. Is this not what you expected?
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Taxi
My Internet connection is hit or miss this morning for some reason. And, I'm about to get dressed and head out to watch the first games of the NCAA Tournament.
But, before I do I wanted to throw up the song I'm listening to over and over, and will probably play a few times in my car today. This one is from producer Ski Beatz' new album 24 Hour Karate School and features Mos Def and someone named Whosane. It's called 'Taxi'. This one here has me really hyped to see what else Ski has to offer on the album, If 'Taxi' is any indication, it's gonna be classic.
But, before I do I wanted to throw up the song I'm listening to over and over, and will probably play a few times in my car today. This one is from producer Ski Beatz' new album 24 Hour Karate School and features Mos Def and someone named Whosane. It's called 'Taxi'. This one here has me really hyped to see what else Ski has to offer on the album, If 'Taxi' is any indication, it's gonna be classic.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Trophies
It's not really worth complaining about the Grammy Awards. It might as well just be the Billboard Awards - if you didn't sell a million albums (or whatever today's equivalent to a million is) you won't get noticed.
I usually prefer to tune out altogether, but since the wife likes to watch the performances, I ended up seeing most of it last night. I didn't see any Hip Hop categories televised. What a surprise!! There was one Hip Hop performance which the network edited the shit out of - not just words either. Entire portions of the performance, sometimes a full five or so seconds long were silent as we watched. What a waste.
This morning, I read about some of the Hip Hop and R&B awards that were given. Eminem won 'Best Hip Hop/Rap Album' for Relapse. It seems all he had to do was release something, anything. The album was good in my opinion. You will see it on my 'Best of 2009' list a few posts back. So, I don't have a problem with it being nominated. But it was nowhere near the best. Both Mos Def and Q-Tip were among the other nominees. I named Q-Tip's The Renaissance as my favorite album of 2008 - What the hell are the parameters for being nominated anyway? Why wasn't this included in the awards at the beginning of 2009? Mos Def's The Ecstatic was one of my favorites of 2009, and I would definitely rank it higher than Relapse. I doubt they even listened to the albums before giving it to Eminem. Bottom line, fuck this popularity contest they pass off as a legitimate award show.
Willie D said it best, so here's a Geto Boys classic to enjoy.
I usually prefer to tune out altogether, but since the wife likes to watch the performances, I ended up seeing most of it last night. I didn't see any Hip Hop categories televised. What a surprise!! There was one Hip Hop performance which the network edited the shit out of - not just words either. Entire portions of the performance, sometimes a full five or so seconds long were silent as we watched. What a waste.
This morning, I read about some of the Hip Hop and R&B awards that were given. Eminem won 'Best Hip Hop/Rap Album' for Relapse. It seems all he had to do was release something, anything. The album was good in my opinion. You will see it on my 'Best of 2009' list a few posts back. So, I don't have a problem with it being nominated. But it was nowhere near the best. Both Mos Def and Q-Tip were among the other nominees. I named Q-Tip's The Renaissance as my favorite album of 2008 - What the hell are the parameters for being nominated anyway? Why wasn't this included in the awards at the beginning of 2009? Mos Def's The Ecstatic was one of my favorites of 2009, and I would definitely rank it higher than Relapse. I doubt they even listened to the albums before giving it to Eminem. Bottom line, fuck this popularity contest they pass off as a legitimate award show.
Willie D said it best, so here's a Geto Boys classic to enjoy.
Friday, January 8, 2010
The Making Of The Ecstatic
Here is some footage I just watched of the mighty Mos Def creating his album The Ecstatic (one of my top releases of 2009). I like seeing all this behind the scenes stuff for the making of albums. For years I wished that I could see video of some of my favorite artists in the studio creating their album. In the last few years, with the Internet as an easily accessible forum for this content, a lot more of these are popping up. Some are better than others with the footage collected. This one isn't the best I've seen, but it's definitely worth watching.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Black Thought And Mos Def Rhyming '75 Bars'
"You in a battle tellin' me you not ready like you figured I'ma bear witcha" - Black Thought
Apparently this went down before or after the taping of the BET cypher they did (see it here if you haven't already http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlw3WIct0Qg). It's cool to see a great MC openly praising another great MC's work like this here. Word for word though?? Damn.
My top ten list is pretty damn cluttered, but Black Thought belongs on there. Tell me that after seeing this shit, you don't want to immediately pull out your "Rising Down" CD and give this joint it's 200th + listen. No need to get up. The video link is posted below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBq3dZwQD-A
Apparently this went down before or after the taping of the BET cypher they did (see it here if you haven't already http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlw3WIct0Qg). It's cool to see a great MC openly praising another great MC's work like this here. Word for word though?? Damn.
My top ten list is pretty damn cluttered, but Black Thought belongs on there. Tell me that after seeing this shit, you don't want to immediately pull out your "Rising Down" CD and give this joint it's 200th + listen. No need to get up. The video link is posted below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBq3dZwQD-A
Monday, October 19, 2009
Mos Burger
I'm loving this Current TV special right here. The series is called Embedded. I believe it just started this month, but if you go to current.com you could probably find future episodes as they become available. I was put on to this from a few other sites though - I hadn't heard of Current TV or the Embedded series before now.
This particular episode follows Mos Def on tour in Japan performing songs from The Ecstatic as well as some joints from past albums. The special includes much more than footage from the various concerts and preparation for the performances. In fact, the majority of the special really centers around Japanese culture and the way they incorporate western influences into their society and own proud traditions. The appreciation by the Japanese youth of hip hop culture specifically is woven into all aspects of the documentary making for a really interesting look at just how far this Bronx-born art form has reached.
This look into Japan and hip hop is fascinating as it all comes through the eye of Mos Def and with the backdrop of his incredible music. It's good to get a person's take on it from the standpoint of an MC and just as a travelin' man (pardon the pun)in general, experiencing the world.
I do feel that some of his views relating to Japan vs. The USA were clearly absent of some important facts that would do well to quell his arguments, especially in the first half of the video. So, I have to address them here. Appreciating Japan doesn't mean you have to basically call America inferior (not that America is without its problems). He talked about the fashion in Japan being superior to what's found in America, and marvelled at some of the clothing he found in a certain store. He talked down about American fashion, seemingly right after the store owner was interviewed specifically stating that the style comes from older American fashion that was tweaked in order to make it new and exciting again. He said that Japan's culture was way up here (holding his hand up) and they were looking down on America like "how are you down there with your Big Macs?" Meanwhile, if he would go outside and look to either side on the block he was standing on, I bet he'd see the golden arches somewhere in the distance (or closer). Or, ask the Japanese what they think of Disney cartoons, or Tokyo Disney, the Disney Land-modeled theme-park in their country. Answer: By and large, they fucking love it.
Mos went to a baseball game there and said that the Japanese love baseball more than we do (kind of implying, imo, that there is something wrong here since America invented the game)- judging by the crowd, and unified noise. Maybe true. But, on the other hand, if you go back to his earlier statement that Japan is about as large as California, the claim may start to unravel itself a little bit. A small country with a very homogeneous group of people, versus a very large country that is largely heterogeneous in many different ways. The homogeneity of Japan may also lend itself to what appeared to me to be his feelings of a drop in racism while in Japan. Yet, further research will reveal some questions about this. White (or, rather light) is still seen as right over there too, sadly. A trip to the cosmetic aisle of a store in Asia with all kinds of products to lighten skin and appear as fair as possible can attest to this.
I'm not saying that Mos Def is completely wrong or that I'm completely right (let it be known that I have no counter argument of our lack of high-speed bullet trains in this country), just that his comments were limited to the limited information he had on the subject - his own direct experiences and how he perceived them at the time. I want anyone that came across this special through me to see the arguments from other angles too, or I wouldn't feel good about posting it. But, I digress. It's his TV special and he can say what he wants.
While I disagree with his perspective on some things, I can still respect his viewpoint, and can definitely appreciate some of the other great things that this special has to offer. Mos' feelings on hip hop, moving forward artistically, and his overall philosophy on life among other things are interesting to hear out of his own mouth. You'll have to watch to understand the title of this post, I guess. It's nearly an hour long, so make sure you have the time - it's definitely worth it though. Oh, and be sure to check out The Ecstatic (if you haven't already - or, again if you have), easily one of the best hip hop albums of the year and another gem in Mos Def's hip hop career.
This particular episode follows Mos Def on tour in Japan performing songs from The Ecstatic as well as some joints from past albums. The special includes much more than footage from the various concerts and preparation for the performances. In fact, the majority of the special really centers around Japanese culture and the way they incorporate western influences into their society and own proud traditions. The appreciation by the Japanese youth of hip hop culture specifically is woven into all aspects of the documentary making for a really interesting look at just how far this Bronx-born art form has reached.
This look into Japan and hip hop is fascinating as it all comes through the eye of Mos Def and with the backdrop of his incredible music. It's good to get a person's take on it from the standpoint of an MC and just as a travelin' man (pardon the pun)in general, experiencing the world.
I do feel that some of his views relating to Japan vs. The USA were clearly absent of some important facts that would do well to quell his arguments, especially in the first half of the video. So, I have to address them here. Appreciating Japan doesn't mean you have to basically call America inferior (not that America is without its problems). He talked about the fashion in Japan being superior to what's found in America, and marvelled at some of the clothing he found in a certain store. He talked down about American fashion, seemingly right after the store owner was interviewed specifically stating that the style comes from older American fashion that was tweaked in order to make it new and exciting again. He said that Japan's culture was way up here (holding his hand up) and they were looking down on America like "how are you down there with your Big Macs?" Meanwhile, if he would go outside and look to either side on the block he was standing on, I bet he'd see the golden arches somewhere in the distance (or closer). Or, ask the Japanese what they think of Disney cartoons, or Tokyo Disney, the Disney Land-modeled theme-park in their country. Answer: By and large, they fucking love it.
Mos went to a baseball game there and said that the Japanese love baseball more than we do (kind of implying, imo, that there is something wrong here since America invented the game)- judging by the crowd, and unified noise. Maybe true. But, on the other hand, if you go back to his earlier statement that Japan is about as large as California, the claim may start to unravel itself a little bit. A small country with a very homogeneous group of people, versus a very large country that is largely heterogeneous in many different ways. The homogeneity of Japan may also lend itself to what appeared to me to be his feelings of a drop in racism while in Japan. Yet, further research will reveal some questions about this. White (or, rather light) is still seen as right over there too, sadly. A trip to the cosmetic aisle of a store in Asia with all kinds of products to lighten skin and appear as fair as possible can attest to this.
I'm not saying that Mos Def is completely wrong or that I'm completely right (let it be known that I have no counter argument of our lack of high-speed bullet trains in this country), just that his comments were limited to the limited information he had on the subject - his own direct experiences and how he perceived them at the time. I want anyone that came across this special through me to see the arguments from other angles too, or I wouldn't feel good about posting it. But, I digress. It's his TV special and he can say what he wants.
While I disagree with his perspective on some things, I can still respect his viewpoint, and can definitely appreciate some of the other great things that this special has to offer. Mos' feelings on hip hop, moving forward artistically, and his overall philosophy on life among other things are interesting to hear out of his own mouth. You'll have to watch to understand the title of this post, I guess. It's nearly an hour long, so make sure you have the time - it's definitely worth it though. Oh, and be sure to check out The Ecstatic (if you haven't already - or, again if you have), easily one of the best hip hop albums of the year and another gem in Mos Def's hip hop career.
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