Beyonce-Hate: A Sure Sign Of Insecurity

If you remember my previous post about how Beyonce Knowles must be stopped, you know that Beyonce is giving way too much unwarranted overconfidence to thousands of devoted fans, as evidenced by the clusterf*ck of “Single Ladies” videos on YouTube in people who shouldn’t even be in the same room as a unitard.  On the flipside of that, there are a select few women (and some closeted males…aka ol’ Pretty-Ricky-G-string-lookin’-boys) who still hate on the chick.  Let me be clear…you will not catch me rockin’ to any of B’s albums on my iPod.  Not that she can’t sing or that her music isn’t good or that I’m just too damn gangsta for it; it just doesn’t appeal to me as a grown-a** man (check your playlists, fellas).  However, I give her mad props for putting the whole R&B/pop music game in a headlock, marryin’ “up”, and staying the f*ck off TMZ, for Christ’s sake. 

In my humble opinion, nothing tells you how insecure a woman is than her feelings toward Beyonce.  While the majority will just go ahead and give her props, there are still a handful who will still go so far as to pontificate on the many failings of Beyonce.  A few months ago, as I was ragging on subpar sister Solange’s George Washington Carver haircut, an angry Solange fan commented on the post, going on and on about how Solange writes for Beyonce and sings better (lol) and so on and so forth.  I was talking about hair and wasn’t really comparing the two sisters, but the Beyonce-hate was in full effect.  Please detach the Haterade I.V. from your arm before you OD.  She doesn’t write her own music allegedly…who does, really, and if they claim to, what proof do you have?  So she wears a weave…who doesn’t?  Keep it 100.

Quite simply, some people just don’t know what to do with B.  They can deal with Ashanti because she kind of resembles a snapping turtle…oh, and she also makes crappy music.  They can deal with Mariah because she dresses like 10 pounds of sh*t in a 10 ounce bag…and because she’s married to Nick Cannon.  They can deal with Whitney because…you get the point.  Haters can’t deal when they’re not given anything to hate on specifically, so they just pretend things are wack that really aren’t.  The moral of the story is this…ladies, men like a confident woman who can point out when another chick is doin’ the damn thang.  So you won’t indulge our Booty Talk-inspired girl-on-girl fetishes…we’ve come to terms with this.  Next best thing is simply giving props where they are due.

50 Cent: Give Life Up.

So this…this is what they want, huh?  “Have a baby by me, baby, be a millionaire”?  This is your hook?  Thanks, Fif.  The community definitely needed  that.  Sidenote…how many tubes of lip balm do you think need to be present to please Ne-Yo on a video set?  Just sayin’…

I Know Way Too Much About Every Living Celebrity (And I Hate It)

So I just heard that terrible excuse for a song “Papers” by Usher.  I know R&B singers think we want them to chronicle their lives for us and “keep it real” on every song, but I think I’m okay on all that.  Just record something for the club, something for that late night creep and a few ballads for the chicks about normal stuff.  Divorce papers?  Anti-sexy.  Your testimony about how you went and proposed to a hair-doin’ chick that already had three babies by two other cats?  I may vomit.

Actual Line: “To all my fellas up in here, if you had enough and you’re ready to sign say…”

I’m not saying anything.  Ursher, that was YOU, playboy.  If another cat already had two by her and didn’t say “Okay let’s work it out for the kids”, then I think I’d keep my million-dollar joy juice to myself, not to mention the wedding ring.  Now it’s divorce, so let’s see what the damage gon’ be…

I hate that I even know any of this, though, to be honest.  I can’t even listen to this dude’s music anymore.

I’ve discovered the major difference between old school celebrity and modern celebrity.  We know way too damn much about every person since 2000 who has ever picked up a mic, jumped in front of a camera, or did anything publicly at all, including just being the offspring of somebody who did something.  Whereas before the Internet, people never really paid attention to the Enquirer or took gossip rags seriously, you’ve got Bossip and TMZ just ruining lives and hyping the BS 24-7.  Sure, back in the day, celebs damn near went crazy behind the scenes.  Rock Hudson, Phyllis Hyman, the list goes on and respect due.  I think today, though, celebs are more over-exposed than a Chi-town ho in the wintertime.  Look at Beyonce and Jay…you never hear anything about what’s going on with them.  Far as we know, they’re the Black Cleavers and never fight or fall out.  That’s how it should be.

Love this couple. Why? Because I don't know a damn thing about them for real.

 Back in the day, I didn’t know anything about celebrities.  Mr. T was just B.A. Baracus.  Jasmine Guy was just Whitley Gilbert.  Nowadays, a conversation between my wife and I abotu an actress goes like this:

A: “You know that’s Diane Lane right?”

Me: (blank stare)

A: “Married to Josh Brolin…”

Me: (blank stare)

A: “Josh Brolin…Brand from the Goonies?”

Me: “Word, hell yeah! The Goonies, that’s what’s up, my man…”

A: “But you still don’t know who Diane Lane is?”

Me: “She ever make anything that would at all concern [ninjas]?”

A: “Good point…maybe if you consider Hardball…”

Me: (“stop it” face)

Basically, I choose not to retain any information about actors beyond the roles they play on film or TV.  It just ruins everything.  I thought Payback was a dope movie and Mel Gibson got street cred from me the same way Rob Deniro gets undue street cred for playing a mobster 17 times.  Then, Mel went and got arrested talking some craziness.  Bruce Willis was the man after Die Hard, but after the Demi/Ashton thing…would John McClane let that fly?  I don’t think so.  Somebody woulda got punked and it wouldn’ta been Bruce…yippee-ki-yay muthaf****z.

Ayo John McClane, WTF?

With rap it’s different because the artists often let beef spill over into their music and a lot of the culture is based on rivalry and who-said-what.  It’s like the WWF minus all the rednecks, throw in a hearty helping of Negroes.  Though beef often produces some of the worst records I have ever heard in my adult hip-hoppin’ life, I like rap beefs because they don’t have any bearing on anything.  Nobody talks about all the illegitimate hip-hop babies or who got their kids taken from them or who called who a “fire-crotch”.  Britney Spears on the other hand needs to be slapped for being out there performing and living life when Kevin Federline has her kids.  Kevin Federline.  I don’t wanna see any shows, performances, new albums, radio spots, any of that until you get custody of the babies you pushed up outta yourself.  Get it together.  And as you can see, I’m extremely judgmental without all the facts which is like most people watching from the outside in.  Knowing this, you would think some of these people would have the good sense to at least smooth the sh*t over and make it look better.  At the end of the day, here’s my preference…let your work speak for itself and paparazzi…simmer down.  The main thing is it’s become harder and harder for celebs to keep a personal life with TMZ employees falling out of hedges, climbing over fences and recording their every move.  It’s up to us as consumers to stop feeding into the bullsh*t and basically say collectively: “Let me know when some sh*t really jumps off”.

And now for one of the sorriest excuses for an R&B song I’ve bothered to listen to all year (I did this just for this post, so y’all should feel blessed):

The New Bullsh*t: Jay-Z As Satanist

Apparently, the media is bored.  No rappers have been shot recently, no significant beefs going on, nobody’s outdone the Octomom yet, etc…so when there isn’t any news, news-makers make it up.  The new fabrication tainting the web and occupying Bible-beaters and conspiracy theorists alike is that Jay-Z (as well as Kanye and Rihanna both by collaboration and association) is a Satanist.  For those who have missed the bullsh*t being slung around the web thus far, I’ll write it again…the new rumor is that Jay-Z is a Satanist.

Y’all sound real stupid right now.  Am I the only one that remembers the following conspiracies that materialized into absolutely nothing?:

1. Liz Claiborne is a racist.
2. Tommy Hilfiger is a racist.
3. Luther Vandross died (before he actually did).
4. The company Timberland is owned by the KKK.

A few of many that I never bought into (I prefer facts and affirmation straight from the horse’s mouth) but were widespread, never proven, and eventually forgotten about.  The saddest part is that Jay-Z is one of the most articulate Black men with the most visibility in mainstream media, in rap or elsewhere.  He is a highly successful, innovative, and prolific artist and philanthropist with a body of work that few rival in terms of consistency.  Since Jay doesn’t give us too much to criticize, it’s only natural someone would find it necessary to weave a quilt out of pure bullsh*t.  Some say he’s sold his soul to the Devil for success.  OK, have you heard any of his albums?  It doesn’t take Lucifer whispering in my ear to make me or anyone else go pick up a Jay-Z album.

Hov's new homie: "So, Jigga, you think you could get me tickets to a Nets game or what?"

The video for “Run This Town” allegedly has some actions and images that could be construed as related to Satanism and/or membership to an “occult order (probably Freemasonry)”, according to Vigilant Citizen.  First, Freemasonry is not an occult order, but since it is a relatively secretive organization, it’s an easy way to get people scared and riled up.  The association between Freemasonry and Satanism was linked and then publicly discredited due to the writings of Leo Taxil, a libelous late 1800s writer who himself announced that his own claims relating the two concepts were fictitious, even going so far as to thank the clergy for giving his claims publicity.  Someone clearly has not done their research or is reading what they want to read and presenting it as fact to others who are too lazy to do the research for themselves.  Regardless, all of this is hearsay and based on opinion, presented by people who clearly have their own personal vendettas and vested interests.

The aforementioned site goes into depth talking about Jay-Z’s Rocawear line and some symbols used in it, saying they are directly related to Freemasonry, though many of the symbols also appear on money, which is a large part of the subject matter of Jay-Z’s music.  The icing on the cake is that the site also takes quotes from Mobb Deep’s Prodigy, a rival of Jay’s who (surprise) is the first to speak out against Jay-Z and his alleged connection to “the beast”.  I guess he’s still pissed about Jay-Z outing him as a ballet enthusiast.  This from a member of Mobb Deep who, on a recent (2006) album titled Blood Money, posed with rhyme partner Havoc in front of a giant pyramid, which the writer of the article describes as “blatantly Masonic” in reference to the symbols used in Rocawear clothing.  The Freemason organization is relatively secretive, so would a member really go so far as to place these symbols on clothing for non-members to wear?  Methinks not.

Rihanna throwing up the rock & roll symbol...don't remember anyone claiming Avril Lavigne was a Satanist.

Another perceived yet poorly thought-out “issue” is Jay’s use of the term “God” in reference to a human being, describing it as part of a “Luciferian belief” that men can be gods.  ”God” is actually quite popular in New York slang and hip-hop and is more related to Five Percent Nation ideology than Satanism, which is an obscure reference and seems to grab at straws for lack of concrete information.  The Five Percent Nation is an offshoot of the Nation of Islam and is in no way related to Satanism…quite the opposite actually.  Rap groups Brand Nubian and Wu-Tang have long been associated with the Five Percent Nation and referred to one another and Black men and women in general as “gods and earths”.  If Jay-Z wanted to come out and be a Five Percenter, I don’t think there would be all that much push-back.  It’s not as unusual a belief system as one might think and there is much validity to their beliefs.

Quite simply, folks, the Internet being what it is, you can find any information to prove or disprove any theory you could dream up.  Any time someone is at the top of their game and successful, there will be detractors.  Michael Jackson died amidst a swirl of rumor and negativity, as did many iconic figures.  We have to be smarter than this, people.  It’s music.  There’s so much more that matters in life.  If you’re so devoted to Christianity, shouldn’t your faith be stronger than to put this much stock into something as frivolous as perceived subliminal messages and imagery?

And just because I like to toy with peoples’ insecurities, cue up Reasonable Doubt …and play it backwards.  Welcome to the secret society, all we ask is trust..mwahahahaha…!

Before The Fall: Nicholas Ryan Gant

I’m always proud to see my fellow Howard University Bison out there making moves and doing what they love, but when what they do is excellent, I get amped.  Nicholas Ryan Gant is a Howard alum who’s killing it right now on the independent music scene.  Nick’s been at this thing for a minute and the work shows.  His new project entitled “Border Breaker” is available now on iTunes, so go cop that and get familiar!!!  Seriously, like right now.  Support good music by turning off the radio, attending live shows and spreading the word about talented artists who are really putting in work to provide classic, quality music.

Do Better: Trey Songz

 

Everybody wanna be from Cali...

Ayo Trey,

I know a lot of fellas out there are a little salty with you over the chest-out pseudo-D’Angelo album cover which they will be forced to see inadvertently every time they’re in their girlfriend’s glove compartment looking for that Gangsta Grillz mixtape.  I’m not mad personally.  Do you.  I don’t buy CDs…neither does wifey.  All about the track-by-track download.  The hook you threw in on “Love For Money” with Willie Da Kid, Gucci Mane, Yung Joc, etc though was straight crack and I definitely respect the mixtape/hip-hop-hook-man grind.  Also appreciate you reppin’ for the skinny dudes.  My beef is this…with the live performances…you’re reachin a little bit, my dude.  I commend anybody who can get onstage or in the studio, do what they love, feed their family and so forth…I’ve never been a hater.  Clear them plates, homie.  My thing is that you have to know your spot on the R&B food chain. 

Warren G: "Damn I miss my Dogg..."

I guess it was the appearance last night on VH1’s Hip Hop Honors tribute to Def Jam that had me feeling some kinda way.  Being from Cali, the song “Regulate” by Warren G and Nate Dogg holds a place dear to my heart and what-not.  I have known it by heart since it came out and I’m just waiting for somebody to be gangsta enough to karoake it with me.  So I definitely had the gas-face on when I saw Warren G come out with you in tow to perform it.  First, Nate Dogg is in a whole other category of singing…not to say anybody’s better than anybody in this case, just that bruh, you are no baritone and it showed.  It was basically like Warren came to do a performance and you were there for karaoke.  Reachin’, my man…reachin’.  And come on VH1…Nate Dogg has had some health issues, but he’s not dead and is still apparently making music.  What up with the replacement?  And was there nobody who was more of a match vocally for the song?  I’d be interested to find out what was up with that.  I need them to know music, but Trey, you been f*ckin’ up for a minute, homie…

2009 BET Awards.  Johnny Gill.  Tyrese.  And Trey Songz?  Come on…I know Tyrese got bumped down a few notches due to Baby Boy (which in my book is one of the most unintentionally hilarious movie of all time) and Waist Deep (yeah, this was just horrible), but he’s still the brotha from the Coke commercial that made it hard for yellow Negroes nationwide to get a date for a couple years.  And Johnny Gill’s strongfaceded self has been giving us hits for a long time (watch Johnny go in on this video…aren’t you scared he’s gonna break something in this?).  So while I wouldn’t call the two other singers “legendary” per se, it’s kinda like an Arena football player being chosen to start in an NFL game.  Slow your role, playboy.  Consider Jodeci…you didn’t ever see Devante or Dalvin jump out there and try to compete with K-Ci or JoJo.  Consider Destiny’s Child…I almost think Beyonce recorded her parts of the songs in a higher volume than the other members, but either way Kelly, Michelle, Farrah, Letoya, LaTavia, LaFawnduh,Florida…none of those heffas in that group ever tried to out-sing her onstage or otherwise.

Everybody knows they used to put Dalvin and Devante's microphones on mute.

I guess in both cases, you have to blame whoever put these shows together for not knowing music well enough to know that neither match-up was really a fit.  That being said, best of luck to you.  Link up with Mario or Ray J or one of those caliber of artists and we’ll talk…or rather my little sister might be able to get with it.

Sincerely,

Mr. Front-Free

PS: And by the way, cuz…if you would…stop making songs like “LOL “…there is no way in hell any grown man is putting a song with that name in his iPod and no way in hell anyone will be bumpin’ that a year from now.  Like I say to all new R&B artists, let’s keep the disposable music to somewhat of a minimum and put a little more thought into creating classics.

Hip-Hop & Oprah’s High-Horse

I have been observing the recent hoopla over Oprah interviewing Jay-Z and I’m looking at her a little bit sideways, personally.  A lot of people are excited about the interview and considering it a big accomplishment (for who I am not sure), but I’m not really drinking the Kool-Aid, so to speak.  So finally a rapper is famous enough and ratings-worthy enough to get a seat at Oprah’s figurative table?  Though I’m sure some Oprah disciple will try to rip me a new one via e-mail or the comments section because people read what they want to, let me clarify beforehand that I’m not taking away from Oprah’s success.  I don’t watch the show or support her personally, but her story is very important and inspiring to many.  However, for lack of a better (i.e. not from a comic book movie) quote, with great power comes great responsibility.  While some would take her public denouncing of hip-hop as using her power responsibly, my thought is exactly the opposite.

The problems in our community that hip-hop often tends to mirror are not going to be resolved if those in Oprah’s generation and those of her stature (the closest thing today to DuBois’ Talented Tenth) continue to distance themselves from the youth and what’s important to them. You’ll never get through to anyone unless you lower yourself to their level and start speaking their language.  It definitely doesn’t help when the majority of your audience is white and you use your forum to make blanket judgments about hip-hop, something you have obviously not taken the proper steps to understand.  However, it seems to me that the Jay-Z interview is a start (or a stunt).

To be honest, the interview in O Magazine was actually good.  It was a simple conversation where Jay-Z, who’s probably the best person to do this, did his best to explain things like the allure of drug-dealing, violence in hip-hop, and the use of the N-word (which Oprah had to “agree to disagree” with him on).  This week, he appeared on Oprah and taught her how to rap, strangely having to explain to her that “the Chi” is a nickname for Chicago (*dubious face*…come on, Sofie).

My feelings toward Oprah have been mixed for a while.  The whole Ludacris debacle, where she (during an interview with the actors of Crash) threw a jab at Ludacris’ lyrical content and then edited out his rebuttal by airtime, was disgusting.  Even Bill O’Reilly has sat down to speak with Dame Dash and Cam’ron, despite his criticism of hip-hop being much sharper than Winfrey’s and his usual penchant for d*baggery.  To O’Reilly’s credit, at least he was giving the artists a chance to speak for themselves, though I don’t know how effective these appearances were one way or another.  Regardless, I’ve got to give the man G points just for sitting across from Dame and Cam and having it out.  Oprah wanted to make her point to Ludacris (which was totally unrelated to the show’s topic) and just move on without allowing him to defend himself and his work.

I look at Oprah distancing herself from hip-hop the same way I looked at her opening the school in Africa.  While of course it’s awesome of her to open a school anywhere, there were kids in need right in her backyard.  She complained at the time that when asked what they needed, American kids would ask for money, iPods or sneakers, while the African kids asked for school uniforms.  So what…there is a reason for those differences and it lies within American society’s general materialism.  Books are provided in the American public school system and not all schools even require uniforms, so the circumstances differ but that doesn’t make kids here less worthy or less deserving of help.  This is your backyard.  You don’t even have to leave Chicago.  You are an African-American before anything else.  Perhaps if it were opened in Chicago, the school would have been better run, being closer to Oprah herself.

Again, I’m hoping the Jay-Z interview was a step toward creating understanding and bridging the gap between the hip-hop generation and older people who may not “get it”, regardless of race.  If we put the responsibility on rappers to be more responsible with their message to the kids consuming hip-hop culture, shouldn’t we also put the responsibility on people in Oprah’s case who serve as default ambassadors for Black people, to educate their audience…or at least humanize hip-hop by allowing it to speak for itself?  Jay-Z addressed it in the interview, but I think it deserves some real discussion in front of the same audience she denigrated Ludacris and his music (our music) in front of.

Read the O Magazine interview for yourself.

I will be making some changes to the blog to accomodate its growth pretty soon so I’m starting sort of a campaign to get readers of the blog connected to it on Facebook and Twitter so as to stay updated, so take some time and click the link in the upper right hand corner to follow the blog on Facebook and/or follow @shakg on Twitter.  And tell your friends!  Many thanks.

The Way-Back Machine: Good R&B Videos

Remember back when R&B videos actually looked like R&B videos?  It seems like in recent years, too many R&B singers are trying to be rappers when they grow up, while the cats back in the 90s were trying to be Donnie Hathaway, The Dells, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, etc.  Even in the lyrics, you hear references to playerhatin’, Cristal, American Express black cards, and all manner of nonsense you usually jsut expect to hear in a Yung Berg song or something.  While art imitates life, this trend just succeeds at instantly diminishing a song’s ability to be timeless.  No one’s going to know or care what “swagger” is in twenty years and a lot of these disposable songs are just going to be forgotten about…not that many of them shouldn’t be.  I just really don’t want to see any more jewelry or Bentleys in any more R&B videos.  What happened to…

• Singing in the rain/snow/sleet/drizzle?
• Singing on the stoop of a Sesame Street/Huxtables Brooklyn brownstone with your homies?
• Singing in the wind with a silk shirt?
• Singing with like two super-strength Duke texturizer kits in your hair?
• Singing in an abandoned (but surprisingly well lit) museum/concert hall/cathedral, etc?
• Singing on the yard of a Black college amongst a group of people while looking at girl/guy of interest and nobody else seems to hear or see you singing?

These all worked for my generation.  You didn’t need a concept to the video, there didn’t have to be a story, and the video didn’t ever have a damn thing to do with the song.  And I know damn well Tevin Campbell never picked up a football…the theme of the video was always random because the song was good enough to stand on its own.  Maybe I’m just getting old and cranky, but I miss the old R&B.  Not to say that I don’t like R&B now, because I do.  I just wonder if I’ll feel the same way about today’s R&B that I feel about R&B in the 90s.

Anybody remember Az Yet?  Anyone?  This one came out in ‘97.  Note typical 90s R&B staple: all-white outfits in one scene.  Goes without saying that they killed this Peter Cetera/Chicago cover.  This song made you feel like if you had enough buddies together all harmonizing together a cappella, it would eventually have to sound good.

Subway & 702 gave us this classic in 1995.  Nothing says 90s R&B like singing in front of abandoned project housing and being (sort of) grown in matching outfits.

And because the 90s R&B wasn’t all ballads, Allure f/ nas “Head Over Heels” from 1997…wonder what happened to Allure, like how do you go from videos and a decent debut album to working at BCBG or sitting behind a desk all day?  I liked Allure though…can we get a TV One special on some of these groups?

The Kanyeezy Apologeezy

"What would Big Mama think?"

I just want to clear some things up in addition to addressing the Kanye apology on Jay Leno.  Some people took offense at my post yesterday regarding the Kanye West/Taylor Swift incident, mostly due to their failure to read the material I wrote.  This is a blog…I am not a journalist…I’m not here to just tell you what happened or to give some diplomatic response that doesn’t represent how I really feel.  Life’s too short to mince words.  At no point did I deny the fact that Yeezy’s actions were (in my own words) “rude as hell“.  The point of me writing it was to get people to lighten up about it.  It’s the bloody VMA’s for Pete (Wentz)’s sake…nobody won a Nobel Peace Prize.  If you were deeply upset about it in your heart of hearts, I suggest re-evaluating what’s important to you in life…seriously.  It’s not that deep.  Taylor Swift, Kanye, and of course, MTV will be eating mighty healthy off of this for the next several years, so take entertainment for what it is and save the emotion for real life. 

That being said, Kanye isn’t a dude known to be insincere.  He says what’s on his mind generally, much to others’ dismay, but he still kicks the real regardless.  Beyonce is a better artist in my opinion, but the VMAs is based on the fans and I think ‘Ye may have lost sight of that in the moment as he was channeling hte late ODB (while just kind of making a “dirty b*stard” of himself).  It’s not a BET award…and MTV’s core following is a little younger than Kanye or I could relate to.  And clearly there are those in middle America and beyond who relate more to Taylor Swift than to Beyonce.  I get it and I think ’Ye does as well.  I’ve never seen a Kanye apology, though, and I don’t know if we ever will again, but I can’t do anything but respect it.  You don’t win any street cred in the hip-hop community by getting choked up, so I don’t think there was anything to gain from Kanye just apologizing for the sake of doing it.  Chances are his audience isn’t tuning into Leno on the regular, nor would they stop buying his albums because of this, so I can only categorize this as a real-a** moment for West. 

As for Leno, I’d be remiss not to mention that the “what would your mama think” question at the end of the interview was a low blow, as a particularly astute friend of mine was wise enough to point out (thanks tpp).  This was nowhere near that serious that anyone but Kanye needs to ask himself that question.  Clearly a ploy for ratings and Leno should be ashamed of himself.  Let’s keep it on the level here.

Bumrush The Show: Kanye West vs. Taylor Swift

F*** ya feelings

I’m officially changing this girl’s name from Taylor Swift to Taylor Not-Swift-Enough.  If I’m accepting an award and Kanye West jumps onstage with me, there is no way he’s getting my microphone.  This is what this man does…this ain’t new, baby!

As much as it pissed my wife off last night, I was dying laughing last night at Kanye showing his natural a** at the VMAs.  First of all, let’s take our emotions out of it for a second, folks.  It’s just entertainment.  And let’s not act like the VMAs is the Grammys…didn’t MTV just have Sacha Baron Cohen fall on Eminem’s head with his a** out?  But Kanye’s a monster for being “disrespectful”?  Come on now.  Kanye plays a character…it may be a character who’s intimately close to the real Kanye, but he knows it’s expected of him to show out.

Second, Taylor Swift should be happy to be included in a Kanye bumrushing.  It’s almost a rite of passage.  At least Black people know who the hell she is now.  I was clueless…still am in a way, but this is an opportunity to cross over for her!  Use your moment!  Real talk, though, the best way to turn this around is to be a good sport about it…maybe even collaborate with Kanye.  Let’s be about our paper, please.  I mean, do you really think she would have gotten the love she received at the end when Beyonce let her come back out if Yeezy hadn’t jumped his rude a** up there?  Be for real.

And for real…let’s not act like Beyonce didn’t come out and really show people why she deserved the award more than Taylor Swift or Britney Spears’ wack a**es.  Step your bodysuit game up and we’ll talk.  Not everybody can pull off a routine like that.  Janet didn’t even go as hard as B did on the real.

All in all, yes that was rude as hell.  I’m sure teenyboppers everywhere were in tears.  Am I personally mad at dude?  No.  It’s all entertainment and I was entertained.  Taylor Swift is still getting checks and will get many more because of this.  Now let’s stop actin’ like Kanye’s next joint will not be copped..and promptly.

PS: Haven’t yet checked the blog-o-verse yet, but I already know somebody’s gonna be mad about Lady Gaga thanking “God and the gays” in her acceptance speech, but please…stop before you start.  Getting up in arms over that only does two things: (1) makes you look like a bigot and (b) sells at least another record for Lady Gaga.

Mad at this?  Check out my response to the Kanye West apology on Leno here.

[Sorry...I had a clip of the incident, but the jerks at Viacom removed it...so here's this...LOL]