August 2007 Archives

Before I started watching this show, I thought, "oh wait, is this going to be The Surreal Life-- Rap Style?"

Hmm. Was I right?

Ehh.. sort of.

Basically, little Kevin Hart is hosting this "Rapping With the Stars" show. Eight semi-celebs are teamed up with rappers who act as coaches, teaching them to perform rap songs in front of an audience. Not only do we, the people at home (if you actually give a sh*t) get to pick who's voted off each week, they're judged by the "Supreme Court of Hip-Hop", which, unfortunately, consists of Da Brat, Big Boi (the formerly fat DJ who must've taken up smoking crack as a hobby, 'cuz this dude is SKIIIIIIIINNEEEE) and DMC... that DMC, the only person that I agree SHOULD be on this panel. YEAH, UNCLE RAHIEM IS GONNA TELL THEM MUTHAF*CKAS GRIP UP, GRIP UP! Sorry, I'm still hyped about that song, which is now frequently played on my MP3.

So, to make this easier on myself, I'm just gonna break down each duo, and give my lil' two cents on how I think they did.
But to sum it up-- I'm gonna check in for the next seven weeks. I HAVE to see who's gonna take this.

To all the MJJ haters out there: Look, the man turned 49 yesterday, aight? I gotta show him some kind of love.

Okay, alot of people figure Mike's best video is "Thriller", and "Billie Jean" is highly commended because it was the first video from an African-American artist to be played on MTV. ANYWAY, this is MY favorite Michael Jackson video.

Y'all remember when this first premiered on ABC's TGIF (they preempted Family Matters in favor of the video)? I remember being a lil' kid trying to do the Egyptian dance in front of my television, and my mom looking at me like "Go 'head, baby!" Ha! MANN, that's taking it back!

This video right here is avant-garde, even for Common. But I'm feeling it. Rock on wit' ya white tuxedo'ed self, Common-- let these dudes out here know what's really real.

Let's just hope that last verse wasn't about his past relationship with Erykah Badu.

The uncle you love to hate got out of jail today, y'all. And he's staying with YOU. Hide the good china and your fresh-out-the-box pairs of Uptowns.

I'm usually against the rapper-slash-actor thing, but somebody needs to tell DMC to start checking out some scripts. He may have a lil' underlying talent there.

Aight, Diddy's doing the "Connect Four" thing again like he did during the "fakeout".
I'm getting antsy. Sh*t, I need some Ritalin, some Zoloft, some Jack Daniels, f*ck it, something... STOP PLAYING WITH MY EMOTIONS DIDDY!

But he DID just announce he's gonna make a FIVE MAN GROUP-- but I thought it was going to be this way all along!

AND, THE MEMBERS ARE......

Okay, so the groups created a ballad version of-- what's the name of the song, Diddy? Oops, you don't know? That's horrible-- of "I Want You (Exclusive)." Honestly-- it sounds like something a manic-depressive wrote while locking himself up in this room for 3 days without food or water, pining over a photo of Tyra Banks. Please, guys, gimmie the original version-- I've come to CRAVE it.

AND.... chop, chop, chop goes Brian H.'s head. But the way it was announced, it appeared like Diddy didn't know who he was cutting. I mean, my dude, are you doing "eenie-meenie-minie-moe" in your head, at THIS level?

And Brian H.-- between you and me, HE'S PISSED.

Oh, no. Danity Kane just came on stage. WHY? I mean, I KNOW WHY, for obvious reasons... but let's hope our guys do waaaaaaaaaaaay better than them.

Donnie, Dyshon, Robert, Q, and D'Angelo-- 1st Group to take the stage. They are doing a rendition of N.E.'s "If It Isn't Love." To me, honestly, they sound good.. but as good INDIVIDUAL SINGERS, not as a GOOD GROUP. Meaning, I don't think they're complimenting each other, just themselves. But they DO sound good, make no mistakes.

The Brians, Willie, Big Mike, and Jeremy, sound WAY better as a group to me. WHOO, Big Mike.... you killin' them, my dude!

GUESS WHO GETS CUT?

We just went live, y'all! Making The Band 4, I'M IN THE DOOR!!!

We just went live, our guys came out dressed in suits-- looking very 112-ish, might I add-- and sang an acapella riff of "End of The Road". Hopefully this will be the LAST time I hear this song for a loooooong time.

They look good though, I must say. I'm proud.

But towel-head Sway (whose hosting tonight) has announced that Diddy will be cutting people ALL NIGHT ON. ADD is in full effect tonight, people. Somebody go grab this man a bottle of Ritalin, QUICK!

Yeah, you read that right. If you didn't check last Friday's post, then you missed it when I said that yours truly, SOHH Breezy, would be at MTV studios to witness WHO would make the band. It's crazy as hell outside... everyone's packed outside the Times Square studios like MTV's gonna give out gub'ment cheese or something. But everyone here's excited... as I walked through the MTV studios waiting to get plugged in... I was waiting outiside a door marked "YUNG JOC'S DRESSING ROOM." Hmm... ARE YOU THINKING WHAT I'M THINKING?

Yep-- if he performs that G-d awful "Coffee Shop"... I'm gonna walk out of this taping.

...Big, as in Notoriously B.I.G. "Notorious", a screenplay written by Cheo Hodari Coker and Reggie Rock Bythewood (Biker Boyz) has recently been greenlighted to be made into a film. The Christopher Wallace biopic has George Tillman Jr. (Soul Food) signed on the director, and will be executively produced by Sean "Diddy" Combs and Wayne Barrow (who was recently interviewed this month by SOHH). Mark Pitts (B.I.G.'s former manager), Bob Teitel, and of course, Ms. Voletta Wallace will also serve as producers.

Now, I know what's the burning question on your minds: WHO IN THE WORLD COULD BE POSSIBLY CAST THE PORTRAY THE LIVEST ONE FROM BEDFORD-STUYVESANT? I know I joke around about Sean Kingston being the kid from the "Sky's The Limit" video, but let's be real. Of COURSE the best way to go about this is to get some raw, untapped acting ability, but this dude's got to be.. something surreal. It's not enough just to claim that you listened to Ready To Die and Life After Death religiously. Son is gonna have to dig DEEP within himself AND the history so that he can make eleven-year-olds who know NOTHING about Biggie feel the essence of his spirit [see montage below] as if he never left.

Because Foxy Brown (now infamous for being an ill-tempered bytch as opposed to her lyrics) will soon join the "Knocked Up/Locked Up Wives Club", I decided that she should be featured for this week's Throwback Thursday.

So, here it goes... one of my favorite Jay-Z/Foxy duets:

I OWN THOSE GLASSES THAT JAY-Z'S WEARING, EXCEPT MY LENSES ARE A BIT ROSIER. GUCCI MAKES FLY FRAMES!

I've always been a fan of karaoke. I've been wanting to go to a set REAL BAD and just straight bust out with Papoose's verse on "Touch It (Remix)" or Remy Ma's bars on "Ante Up (Remix)", you know, just mad enthusiasm, crazy adrenaline to rival DMX on his wildest crack binge... just the crowd feeling me, and for 5 minutes I get to feel like a rock star. Who doesn't want that? But unfortunately, my schedule hasn't allowed me to grace the stages of Second on Second or Sing Sing's, and probably won't anytime soon. Neither was I able to plan that end-of-summer karaoke bash that I wanted to go down. Maybe I'll do it for Christmas/New Year's and invite all of y'all in the NYC area.

So, I was sitting at my computer one day, pissed off that I couldn't get to a karaoke bar before the summer's end, and I just suddenly started to search for other people's karaoke clips. Some of them are funny, some are good, and some are just so f*cked up I had to share it it with y'all. So here they are, specifically for your viewing (dis)pleasure...

B.I.G. HAS BEEN RESURRECTED... AND HE'S LIGHT-SKINNED NOW
The first video I'm gonna start with today comes courtesy of Mr. Aktain, also known as Dre. I previously aired two of the interviews that he did, one with BuckShot of Black Moon and one with Keith Murray. Well, he doesn't know it, but I'm throwing up this video of him performing "Big Poppa" at the Knitting Factory's monthly Hip Hop Karaoke jumpoff, where supposedly, he "has a following." Dre was always supposed to take me with him-- but never did. Well you know what? NEVER PISS OFF A CHICK THAT HAS HER OWN BLOG.

I ain't gonna lie, this ain't that bad. Too bad you mostly hear the chickens in the background.

So, I'm finally giving y'all my take on the "Trapped In The Closet" saga.

Honestly, I haven't kept up with this soap opera at all. When I found out that Chapters 13-22 were going to be released, I thought, "well damn, what happened between 7-12?" The last one I remember seeing was the one that ended when R.Kelly (Sylvester) discovered that the cop that had stopped him for speeding on the way home was the same man his wife had been creeping with. But apparently, more scandals, lies and not to mention PEOPLE have been woven into the storyline [see photo below].

GOOD MOOOOOOORNING, FAM! Hope everybody's weekend was tight. I spent my Saturday afternoon wandering around Soho/Noho, in search of an authentic Rolling Stones' "40 Licks" tee-shirt, to no avail. TO ALL Y'ALL THAT LIVE IN THE 718/212 AREA: Do you know where I can find one of those concert tees? I want a real one, though, not just a black tee with the tongue.

Anyway, on to the videos!

I HATE to perpetuate the Kanye/50 Cent STUPIDITY, but I came across this video. Is it me, or do you notice that Kanye's trying to play it cool in the U.S., but when he goes overseas, that's when the 'Ye cockiness we've come accustomed to REALLY comes out? I say this because when I went to the VMA event at MTV, he was like, "I ain't tryna get into no debate with 50, blah blah blah..." but the statements made on THIS show fall far from that. Judge for yourselves.

You know there's more, right?

I was excited when I heard about the release of Keith Murray's new album, RAP-MURR-PHOBIA (Fear of Real Hip-Hop). I don't have it yet, but I will get it very soon. To those of you who DO have it... are you feelin' it so far?

Well anyway, my boy Dre did an interview with him at KOCH Records, shortly before the album's release. I wanted to bring this to y'all sooner, but Dre wouldn't let me get the video until it aired last night on his show, Aktain T.V. It's aight, Dre, you punk, I see you!

But anyway, check out the clip, it's pretty cool. Peep how he responds to the state of "hip-pop" today. Plus, Keith even spits a few bars at the end. Hands down, he has one of the best deliveries in the game.

Ever since I came on here, I haven't thrown up a solid r&b song for Throwback Thursdays yet. But I'm glad this is the first. This song/video is a CLASSIC. What were you doing (better yet, WHO were you doing) when you first heard this joint?

You know everytime you hear this joint you and ya peeps gotta sing LOUD to the top of your lungs: "WHOO CAN LOOOVE YA LIKE MEEE? NOOOBODDDY!" I'm feeling the fact that this is one of the few Keith Sweat songs where he sounds like he's actually SINGING, not whining (i.e. "Twisted".) I love the video's concept of Harlem Renaissance-inspired glamour. And to top it off, it was filmed at the Lenox Lounge (peep the 125th and Lenox street sign at 3:37).
Ahhh... the days when Mekhi Phifer was a video ho are gone now. He was a good video ho, too. Did you catch him? ::Licks lips::

I'm not an extremely choosy chick when it comes to finding a man physically attractive, but if I had to put Fab up against a chick?
I thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiink I would go for the girlfriend. Fab, you just don't do it for me. Sorry.

HIT ME ON MY BEEPER? Isn't this sh*t, like, ten years late?

The old adage forever rings true-- the players change, but the game stays the same.
Ugh. Can you remember when YOU had a beeper? I KNOW YOU WENT THROUGH AT LEAST ONE!

What up, y'all! Hope everybody's weekend was poppin', and geared y'all up for the work week. If you're starting back classes this week, keep ya head up, and if you bring your laptop to class-- feel free to check out this blog during lectures. Why the hell not?

Anyway, to start things off, I got another helping of Chocolate Rain (Reign) for y'all today. I'd like to make a quick comment on the homophone discrepancy; if you go to different sites or newsstories, they spell it differently. I don't even think Tay Zonday knows how HE wants it spelled, especially if you saw his nonchalant appearance on Jimmy Kimmel.

Remember on Friday I said that if Prince re-did this song, it would be a hit? Prince didn't do it, but someone else did.

Check out this clip below. John Mayer's doing his own version of Chocolate Reign that aired on an episode of VH1's Best.Week.Ever. He remixed it to the beat of Nelly Furtado's "Say It Right", and comedian Sherrod Small (the dude on the show that almost ALWAYS has white goo at the corners of his mouth) does his Timbaland impression. Oooookay.
I have one question: Doesn't it sound like John Mayer says, "I'm a cracker" at :32?

The Candy Shop's open! But sorry, we're only serving one concoction today:

"Chocolate Rain." Bon appetit. ::snicker:: [see below]

The first time I watched this video, I couldn't blink for a full minute.

Doesn't this dude Tay Zonday look AND sound like E.T.?! E.T.-- PHONE HOME, N!GGA!!!
At first i thought "chocolate rain" was going to be some euphemism people used when they want to be sh*tted on during sex (similiar to requesting a "golden shower").

But I was wrong... dead wrong.

BAAAAADD BOOOOOYYYYY!!! COME OUT AND PLAAAAAAAYYY!!!

Can't front. Gotta show Puffy AND Easy Mo Bee love for this track... We haven't had flava kicked like this at us in awhile.

Some people say that it was as soon as you heard B.I.G. spit, "N*ggas is mad I get more butt than ashtrays" that they knew it was gonna be a banger. Tha's cool, but I was already open when Diddy did the song's intro from The Warriors [see beginning of the blog]. Yup, even as a youngin', I knew some crazy sh!t was about to happen on this track.

What's so crazy is that this video is a prime example of minimalism-- AT ITS BEST.
Which, is why, I think this is one of the best hip-hop cuts, as well as this is one of the best hip-hop videos. I mean, sh!t, I can even tolerate Puffy channeling Michael Jackon when he grabs his d!ck.

LOADED QUESTION: Who raps your favorite verse on the track?
The best, without a doubt, is B.I.G.'s... but my PERSONAL FAVORITE is LL's.

Damn, I miss 1994.

Hey y'all. Now that I've calmed down from all that VMA hoopla, I'm going to talk to y'all about something I read that pissed me off.

Come on, now. Don't you think not wanting Nas, of ALL people, to perform at the Virginia Tech Tribute Concert is a little harsh? STOP TRYING TO VILIFY RAPPERS FOR WHAT THEY DIDN'T DO!!

Alright. I'm looking at Asian chicks on the stage right now, decorated in glitter and with painted stars on their face. They're tuning their violins, but I hear a sample of "Stronger" starting up. So you know what this means!!

I'ma keep it 100 with y'all, fam... I'm torn between being a member of the press AND a fan right now. It's hard keeping your composure.. it was REALLY hard when Chris Brown and Timbo came on stage.. I've been a fan of Timbaland for YEARS. But I kept it cool. I kept my panties on.

But its REALLY hard... especially wheh Timbaland is DEAD IN FRONT OF ME, filming a introducing Kanye's video.
AND Y'ALL.. I MET TIMBALAND!! I got to introduce myself and tell him how big of a fanI am. He was nice, shook my hand. SO, now, I'm making a rule: NO HATING ON TIMBALAND ON MY BLOG Y'ALL. SERIOUSLY. I mean, I was so hyped when I met him I wanted to say, "Ayo, F*CK SCOTT STORCH", but I didn't want to ruin OUR moment.

I also shook Rihanna's hand-- she was pretty sweet, too.

Kanye's performance was AWESOME. "Stronger" and "Can't Tell Me Nothing" sound AWESOME live, as most songs do when they're peformed live. And YES! He wore those damn shades-- DID I CALL IT OR WHAT?
But best of all, he bought Common out with him and they performed "Southside."

I gotta admit, this was pretty tight. I was feelin' it, no doubt.

The show's over now, and the kids are screaming because the casting director chick is giving away stuff. Hey, lady.... what about BREEZY?!

Let me wrap this up-- we're getting ready to go. Hope y'all enjoyed the posts-- I'll check y'all later.

Keep it Breezy!

P.S. KANYE IS SHORT!!!

DJ Cipha Sounds is outside with CHRIS BROWN!!!!

Chris Brown was nominated for the Best Choreography category. Now, in my opinion, Chris is NOT that hot of a dancer. Y'all don't know how HEATED I was when BET voted him #8 in their Top 25 Dancers of All Time Countdown.

But, let me stop... I'm at MTV now.

I just spoke to three spectatos sitting in front of me, let's call them Brown Hair Girl, Pink Stripes, and Blue Shirt Man.
I pose the question: "Are you all excited to see Chris Brown?"
Answer: "YES!!" from all
Pink Stripe: "Do you know if Justin Timberlake is going to be here?"
Breezy: "No, I don't" (which is the honest truth).
Breezy: "Who do you think is a better dancer between Chris Brown and JT"?
Blue Shirt Man: "I'm a big JT fan, so.."
Brown Haired Girl: "Chris Brown! He makes his own choreography!"
Pink Stripes: "It's two different styles of hip-hop, so that's an unfair question!"

Fam, what y'all think?

ANYWHO...
Chris Breezy just came upstairs, making me feel like LaChesta the Female Molesta (ha ha @ my play on words) for wanting to rush the stage and straddle him. He;s wearing some interesting looking surf shirt. Aloha, baby.
So he announces the BIG award category, which is:

VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Amy Winehouse-- "Rehab"
Beyonce-- "Irreplaceable"
Justin Timberlake-- "What Goes Around"
Kanye West-- "Stronger"
Rihanna-- "Umbrella"
Breezy's Pick: "Rehab" or "Stronger"

KANYE JUST STEPPED IN THE BUILDING!!

WE JUST WENT LIVE!!!

I hope you're watching MTV @ 1:00 PM
In case you wanna see what I look like, I'm sitting in the top row furthest to the right (or left, depending on your vision) and I'm wearing glasses, green & white striped tank, my hair's curly, and I have my laptop in front of me. DO YOU FEEL A CONNECTION TO ME, FAM? Ha, ha, ha. These kids are screaming in my f*ckin' ears, but you can't help but get caught up in it. So:
WHOOOO--- HOOOOOO MUTHAF*CKAAASSSS!!! (But I REFUSE to cheer out loud.)

I know one thing that's p*ssing me off. It's f*cking 100 degrees out here in NYC, so naturally on my way to the press check-in, I stop at Starbucks and get an iced tea.
Problem is, NOW I HAVE TO PEE and I CAN'T LEAVE BECAUSE OF LIVE TAPING. G-DDAMNIT!

DJ Cipha Sounds is outside with the unlucky ones who have to witness the show in the building and I'm excited to see him.

Aight y'all... we're still doing the run-through but I just heard Damien announce the nominees for Best Female Video Artist which are:

Amy Winehouse. Beyonce. Fergie. Nelly Furtado.

Damn... they might as well just give the award away right now.

Wassup y'all! Ya girl Breezy just sat down in the studios and I'm waiting for this ish to start. Now I've just gotten word that Kanyee West's supposed to perform, as well as Ms. Umbrella-Ella-Ella- Ay-Ay-Ay's supposed to be here as well! I know that I spend a great part of my nights hatin', but I'm actually kind of excited...

So, they're still setting up, and I'm watching MTV VJ Damien Fahey run through some stuff. Not much to report right now, but I'm basically gonna be your inside look @ MTV. Like I said, not much to report--- but the kitchen they had all the press sit in was STACKED!!!

KEEP CHECKING BACK... I'm gonna be interacting with the audience, announcing the nominees for the 2007 Video Music Awards, talking about those gay @$$ shades I'M SURE 'Ye will be wearing... yeaaaaaahhhh baby!!!

Aight. I'm opening up the floor for discussion. You can't avoid it this time around.

Just when you thought Diddy couldn't reach any higher level of insanity...

He goes and pulls ANOTHER trick out of his sleeve. And another one, what what.

Wassup, fam! Hope y'all had a good weekend and everything, didn't get into too much trouble. And if you got in some trouble, then I hope you know how to cover your tracks right ;)
My weekend was good, until I learned that there's going to be a third season of Flava Of Love. Which means another Charm School is sure to follow. Ohh, the f*ckery...

To get things poppin' off today, I'm gonna share with y'all an interview that my boy Andre (aka Aktain) did with BuckShot of Black Moon. Andre has a show on Manhattan Neighborhood Network (Aktain TV) and it airs Thursdays at 12:30 a.m. If you don't have MNN, you can peep interviews that he does on his MySpace page [check out his beats too, my favorite is "Skoobi Snax"].

Anyway, peep the interview, which was done at a recent press day held at Dewey's Flatiron Lounge here in the city. Word to me, "Two Turntables and a Mic" is one of my favorite hip-hop cuts PERIOD, but BlackMoon is more known for their classic album, Enta Da Stage.

Enough of me talking.

Are you read for more?

LOOK WHAT ELSE I GOT FOR Y'ALL TODAY!! Some sh!t that just couldn't wait for Throwback Thursday. TWO TURNTABLES AND A MIC! ONE PHAT MC ON THE SET!!
Good video, GREAT track.

If you didn't check yesterday's Throwback Thursday, then you don't know that I have a serious love & respect for the Wu, without a doubt. So imagine how thrilled I was when I peeped this. I just had to share it with y'all.

(NOTE: This clip is 21 minutes, so be careful that ya boss don't walk up behind you when TIIICCCCAAAAAAL is cursin' his a$$ off. Damn I love this muthaf*cka! )

THE ICE CREAM MAN IS COMIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!

I wish these rap n*ggas would get all up in my guts.
Pause. I meant lyrically!
I just came off as some kind of freak/groupie right now, right? I take that back.
(ButMeth, I used to have a wiiicked THING-THING for him back in the day.)

True story-- I used to attend this program at Stuyvesant HS (NYC) with all these white & Asian kids from Staten Island. Back then, these duuuuudes knew NOTHING about rap or didn't care-- but mention Wu-Tang, and they'd kick off verse after verse like they was your mans from in front of your building. I don't care what race you are-- if you from Shaolin, you respect the f*ckin' Wu. Shout out to anyone reppin' S.I. on the board.
Can't hate on the song nor the video. See, these are video girls I can tolerate.

Anyway-- decent video (ITS RELEVANT) and perfect for Summer.

Aight, fellas. Got some eye candy for y'all today.

Can I just say that I'm feeling Eve's look these days?