I just watched this shit Caligula for the first time. It made no fuxin’ sense. This might be the OG Watch The Throne. The films highlights were betrayal, murder, and faggotry for the streets.
Helen Mirren been bad tho’.
Archive for the ‘Hollyweird’ Category
Watch The Throne…
Sunday, August 14th, 2011GATTACA Rap For Ya’ Earholes…
Saturday, August 13th, 2011
Editor’s note: The Complex mag crew asked me to give a sentence or two about my impressions to the Watch The Throne event. It looks like I OD’d on the hype and TWote too much. Here’s what I said…
I’m calling this album Gattaca Rap. In the new iteration of the classic future dystopian flick we will see Jay-Z reprising the role of Ethan Hawke and BeYonce cast as Uma Thurman. KanYe West of course plays Jude Law since his DNA is all over this record.
‘No Church In The Wild’ featuring Frank Ocean
Jay-Z is as awkward in this genetically modified world as Ethan Hawke was, but just like Hawke escaped from Earth so did Jay-Z escape from the Marcy Houses to another world outside of Brooklyn. But maybe it was the planet of Brooklyn where Jay-Z has always belonged? Maybe Jay-Z doesn’t need to be circling around Saturn since his vehicle of choice is a Maybach anyhoo? I wanted to hear him craft verses that explained what the rare air of outerspace smelled like, but Jay-Z is still too preoccupied with a mortal imagination. Albeit a wealthy one, still hardly one belonging to a god who can hold a supernova star in his hand.
‘New Day’
KanYe West isn’t limited by his imagination, although he is burdened by his tragic Midwest upbringing for attempting to put a gilded hood ornament on a rocket ship. It’s called doing too much. There are times when his flourishes are truly fantastic (MBDTF) and there are moments in Watch The Throne where I have no idea what he is musically doing to my ears. I’ll blame myself for not having the right DNA hexcode to truly understand KanYe. Maybe, just maybe, this album has such a cosmic sound that I got lost in the translation.
‘Welcome To The Jungle’
Watch The Throne means everything to some people and nothing to others. I’m finding myself exactly in the middle, loving some of the tracks for Jay-Z’s honesty and Kanye’s musicality and skipping over half of the songs that I just don’t get. I wanted this album to be an instant classic for me, but after taking the piss test at Gattaca Aerospace Corporation my genome must have been deemed invalid? It’s like I got to the launch site too late to ride on the spaceship, but I still watched the liftoff. Whoever made it onto the spaceship is having a good time I suppose while I’m stuck here on Earth with the other invalids. My only consolation is that the hype machine powering this spaceship will run out of gas before it reaches Mars.
‘Life Off’ featuring BeYonce
No Church In The Wild stays on the loop tho’.
I’ma put 2.5/5 Blackstronaut Tangs on this spaceship.
Lifestyle In Londontown…
Tuesday, August 9th, 2011
Here’s a mini-doc of lifestylers in London town. Based on the ‘Lo-Life movement started here in NYC these kids are trying to replicate the images of Polo clad street soldiers.
The film is interesting because these kids are totally image driven without understanding the actual backstory or the living history. They shout Thirstin’ Howl and Rack-Lo tho’ so they have some of the history in place.
Lo-Down In London from Broken Antenna on Vimeo.
I think these dudes are learning that love and loyalty is more than just the clothing you put on. It’s the armor you wear as soon as you leave your flat, or your project apartment. If you didn’t put on your armor you might not make it back home.
Without going thru the fire with your brothers you wouldn’t understand why these garments mean so much to certain people. Folks got hurt for wearing ‘Lo in a city that was desperately teetering between the haves and the have nots. That day might return again. Make sure you have your love and your loyalties in order.
I CAN HAZ BODEGA?
Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011
I.C. NYC Episode 5 is our homage to all the nature shows we’ve watched on PBS. I knew I wanted to hear a British voice as the narrator. A Richard Attenborough type. Authoritive. Declarative? Englishitive. This is where my buddy Ash stepped in. He even read the script without seeing any of the images beforehand.
Big shouts to Robbie from UnKut who I asked to read the script prior to Ash. Robbie’s Aussie British accent and incredible speed at speaking (easily 100 words per minute) means we’ll need to use him for a different I.C. nature doc. Maybe the ghetto hummingbird?
‘Bodega Cats’ was inspired by a Flickr group of the same name which posts pictures of bodega cats throughout NYC. Our intrepid intern Donna Ostrowsky did most of the shooting and sundry legwork to capture these images. The film is a slight departure from typical I.C.s movies but I still think you will enjoy it.
No Judgements, Simply Rest In Peace…
Saturday, July 23rd, 2011
I’m not going to try and codify or explain why Amy Winehouse was so mercurial and still so important to music.
Especially since Jay Smooth found the perfect mindstate to celebrate the artists who have inspired us thru their music.
Thank you JaySmooth for these thoughts. Thank you Gil Scott-Heron. Thank you Amy Winehouse.