BEYONCE'S PERSONAL RESPONSE TO KANYE (PSYCHE!)

Okay, so it's not really Beyonce. But this woman really has her voice and facial expressions down pat, though! From Crunk + Disorderly

KANYE WEST IS TIGHT WITH CLEVELAND

Kanye West, along with Taraji P. Henson and Saana Lathan, will be doing guest spots on The Cleveland Show, a spin-off of Family Guy, the Illest Cartoon Ever.

I'm down with this.

(SOURCE)

Paris Fashion Week 2009: Kanye West And Crew At Comme Des Carcon Show

My good friend Antoinette hipped me to this shot from Jak & Jil Blog. Yes, that's homeboy and his crew at the Comme Des Carcon show.

Say what you want about Mr. Kanye West, and his ego, but I like a brother who keeps his mind squarely focused on the abstract. I also like the fact that he redefines so-called hardcore rap fashion and embraces and endorses change and makes no apology for his taste in clothes and art. But his detractors seem to want to give him a hard time for it. Recently, a rumor involving Kanye wanting to do bi-porn hit the internets and Kanye posted a disclaimer on his blog, attributing the rumors to hackers who got into his My Space and gmail accounts:

YOOOO WHY WON'T YOU LET ME BE GREAT!!! I HAD THE TWO GREATEST DAYS OF MY LIFE AND WHEN I GET BACK FROM THE LOUIE SHOW I READ SOME SHIT CLAIMING I SAID I'M DOWN TO DO PORN AND SOME BISEXUAL PORN!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE THE AVN WOULD POST FIRST PEOPLE BELIEVED THE TWITTER/STEVEN COLBERT THING, ROLLING STONE EVEN PRINTED IT!!!! NOW SOMEBODY HAS BEEN HACKING INTO MY MYSPACE AND SOMEBODY'S ACTUALLY HACKED INTO MY PERSONAL GMAIL ACCOUNT AND HAS BEEN EMAILING PEOPLE FROM IT... HEY WORLD I NO LONGER HAVE A GMAIL! I FOUND OUT I HAD TWELVE UNAUTHORIZED SKYPE ACCOUNTS UNDER MY NAME!!! THIS ALL IN THE PAST FOUR DAYS. WELCOME TO KANYE WEST WORLD! .... IT'S NOT OFFICIAL. I JUST GAVE THE PERFORMANCE OF MY LIFETIME FOR OUR NEW PRESIDENT ... THEN I FLEW TO PARIS AND THEY DEBUTED MY NEW SHOES THAT I DESIGNED WITH LOUIE VUITTON WHICH WAS A DREAM COME TRUE. PLEASE I BEG YOU, GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!! PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LET ME BE GREAT!!! WHO HAVE I HURT SO BAD THAT THEY WANT TO DESTROY ME? WHO HAVE I EVER SPOKE ABOUT SO NEGATIVELY?

Why Can't You Let Me Be Great?! You gotta LOVE a motherfucker who has the temerity to make such a statement in the blogosphere, especially in this, The Age of Snark. And I will say this: Not since the heyday of Prince has there been a major black artist who gives you the unexpected, isn't afraid of innovation and evolves with each recording project, like it or not. So thanks, Kanye for at least having the BALLS to be different. It takes a real man to pull it off.

That said, I also have a bone to pick. I don't think that he makes it easier on himself by being so dramatic about this shit. A lot of forward-thinking rock and pop stars like Prince, David Bowie and even to some extent, Michael Jackson, didn't give a good goddamn what people thought about bisexual and gay rumors, and although there was some strong evidence against them in some cases, I believe they had fun with it. In fact, I'll bet they even encouraged it. The women ate that shit up. Maybe it's harder for him since he's in the rap game, which is historically homophobic and relies on a strict set of paramaters when it comes to defining and portraying one's manhood. But perhaps it's time to bust out of that box and breathe some new life into a genre that hasn't really evolved or shown any substantial innovation since the advent of gangsta rap, in my opinion. If you're going to portray yourself as someone who doesn't follow the status quo, then just relax and go with that shit. Your audience as a whole might not like it, but most of them will eventually accept you for what you are as long as your producing good art. I've been quite bored with the last 10 years of the same shit said over and over and over and again, so it's great to be surprised once in a while.

So do what you do and chill, man. You know peoples are gonna get all ill about colors and clothes that be fitting. What did you expect? Stay true to you, and those who get it, will, and those who don't, will fall by the wayside. In time, perhaps, they'll look back and acknowledge that you was ahead of the game. And if they don't, fuck them.

BONUS BEATS:

Concrete Loop gots some dope pics of Kanye and Marc Jacobs debuting some fresh Louis Vuitton sneakers.

How It's Done Part One: Kanye West Rocks The Louie V.

Kanye West gets all ferocious and shit in a classic Louis Vuitton tux with a faux-fur stole at Flaunt Magazine's 10th Anniversay Party. A reminder brothers - get your ass together and wear joints that fit. And for those who can't deal, fall back and stay back, cause I'm moving ahead.

Gossip Re-up

Could it be that Britney's recently televised glorified commercial was faux real after all? Did her mental issues seep through what amounted to a PR coup? Choire Sicha thinks so. The Daily Beast

Speaking of PR, you know sometimes it's hard to lend credence to some crap, but I feel that I must pass this on. And as difficult and riduculous as it might seem, the only way to get it out would be to just spit it out. Sigh. According to Kim Kardashian's camp, the UN has offered her an ambassadorship to Africa. Obama's probably thinking, "I gotta find a way to silence these ignorant-ass fameho's before they make it hard for me." I agree. Nip this shit in the bud. Bossip

Kanye thinks that Beyonce is not only a living legend, but is greater than Tina Turner. I don't know where to put my feelings about this. Then again, maybe I do after all. Singersroom

Also from Singersroom: The good news is, however, that soulstress Syleena Johnson will release her new album, Chapter 4 earlier that expected. It's scheduled to hit digital outlets December 23.

2008 American Music Awards: Some Of It Was Ill, Some Of It Made Me Ill

Sigh. I guess I'm not all that impressed with awards shows nowadays, considering there are so many of them, but The 2008 American Music Awards, in particular, has further weakened my already shaken faith as far as the credibility of these shows go. Then again, we're talking about the AMAs, which is sort of akin to watching the MTV Video Awards, in that awards are given based on popularity, and, I suspect in some cases, ratings, but I still want to rant about it, alright? I mean, I like Chris Brown and all; he's a very talented dancer, does okay in the acting department, and can sing just as well as any of the other young jacks that saturate the Power-pop stations, but the guy won Artist of the Year, Favorite Male Artist, Pop or Rock, AND, this is the one that I find particularly insulting, Favorite Male Artist, Soul/Rhthym & Blues Music. Just yesterday, I posted a bunch of throwbacks and bemoaned the current state of Soul/R&B, but I also pointed out that there are some younger and not-so-young artists that still carry the flame, so to speak. Some that come to mind are: Raheem DeVaughn, Erykah Badu, Dwele, Jazmine Sullivan, Musiq Soulchild, Raphael Saadiq, Solange, Leela James, Liv Warfield and Algebra, to name a few.

Granted, perhaps some of those I've listed did not have an album out at the time of consideration, but come on, now, they barely get any radio play to begin with. The real travesty is that Chris won over Ne Yo, who wasn't even nominated, and lost at last year's AMAs to T Pain(!), who's best known for collaborating with everyone from L'il Wayne to fucking Liza Minelli. That said, I have tremendous respect for Ne Yo as an all-around entertainer. He writes, sings, dances and acts. Like John Legend, his music and lyrics also tend to be a bit more layered, and at least manages to communicate something other than the usual insipid sex-u-sex-me-canned-computer studio slop that's mistaken for R&B today (at least bring real handclaps back into the mix, please!). Perhaps the Grammys, which sometimes manage to get it right, will reward those who I feel rightly represent a dying genre. Right. As Homer Simpson would say, I was being sarcastic.

Sometimes, I feel as if maybe I just refuse to embrace the inevitable changes that have sucked the soul out of Soul music. It's all about the visuals and the spectacle of watching someone perform a superhumanly complex feat of Cirque Du Soleil type sexually acrobatic dance moves structured to distract me from the fact that they cannot sing well at all. Well, consider me not fooled, Pussycat Dolls. Although the Rihanna, who won for Favorite Female Soul/R&B and Chris Brown (PR Coup ALERT!) might have passable chops, I wonder how good they would sound accompanied by a simple piano, sans dancers? Live? I know that my rant will not likely change anything, so I might as well deal with it and find some of the good things about this show. And there were some. Can't post You Tube clips cuz they've been removed, though:

Alicia Keys sang Superwoman with Queen Latifah and Kathleen Battle

Bey-sasha wiggled her thickness, as per usual, but nobody does it like she does.

Christina Aguilera, drenched in female drag, reeled in the gayz with her performance.

Kanye kept things focused on the future

Ne Yo solidified the new template

And Annie Lennox should seriously consider a duet with Ms. Keys. For real.

As for me, I'll try to Keep Hope Alive.

Gossip Re-Up

I want nothing more than to sit with Kanye West and pick his feverish brain for 5 hours. And I mean that as a compliment. Who else would encourage porn pokers to stand proud? Necole Bitchie.
And sorry, but I'm having a hard time believing the woman who claims that Tyler Perry stole her idea for Madea. That was my Aunt Lula he was referencing. He's being sued for copyright infringement. Eurweb
You'll also never convince me that designers pull crap like this. Never.
Huffington Post