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Pop Rock Nation

Category: News

music-news-from-breakups-to-the-lastest-buzz

  • …And The Winner Is…

    So, with the CMTs just past and the American Music Awards in just a couple of weeks, the music award season is in full bloom.
    The cutoff period for consideration for the Grammy Awards was September 30th. This means that albums with a release date ranging from the first week of October 2006 to the first week of October 2007 can be considered, with the later period of releases included because they ship to stores during the last week of September.
    Grammy has become a bit hard to predict over the course of the past couple of years, and the muted list of this year’s releases makes things even easier to predict. Parity will be the name of the game here, with no surefire Norah Jones, Dixie Chicks or OutKast release to clean up at the ceremony. However, there are a couple of folks that I think will be smiling hard when the nominations are announced in mid-December.
    KANYE WEST: He’s been nominated for Album Of The Year for each of his first two albums, and (in case you’ve been under a rock and have not heard his complaining) he lost both times (to Ray Charles and U2). “Graduation” has had the biggest balance between critical cred and sales (1.7 million in two months of release), so this could be the year Mr. West finally receives his big trophy (although it would be highly ironic that he would win for his weakest album…) His competition??…
    BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: “Magic” snuck in just under the deadline, and…well, Bruce is as much of a gimme in Grammy world as any other artist. It’s Bruce’s return to rock after the well-received “Seeger Sessions” & ‘Devils & Dust”, and “Radio Nowhere” is his most catchy single in two decades. I see Record and Album Of The Year nominations in Springsteen’s future, with an outside chance at winning both awards.
    AMY WINEHOUSE: She’s almost a lock for Best New Artist (unless the stench of bad press from her assorted substance issues follows her). “Back To Black” is one of the year’s biggest surprise successes, and, despite her problems, she’s quite obviously a real talent. Besides, how much of an entertainment lift would the Grammy telecast receive based on a performance by the wildly unstable Winehouse?
    WILD CARDS: Paul McCartney and Joni Mitchell both went over to Starbucks and scored fairly successful albums. Grammy has a history of awarding veterans. It’s not out of the realm of possibility to see either of these legends up for Album of the Year, where anything from Linkin Park to the Dreamgirls Soundtrack Album could be up for this. Two things that will NOT be nominated are the two biggest selling albums of the year so far-Daughtry and the High School Musical 2 Soundtrack. “HSM2” is way too kid-friendly, and Grammy has never been kind to grunge-lite. Daughtry will get a Best New Artist nomination (where Winehouse, Lily Allen, Robin Thicke and Colbie Caillat all have a chance at getting nominated), but that’ll be the extent of it.
    Speaking of “Dreamgirls”: although Beyonce’s “B-Day” is no longer eligible, several singles from the album are, and I’d be completely stunned if “Irreplaceable” didn’t end up with a Record of the Year Nomination. Other potential nominees: Springsteen’s “Radio Nowhere”, West’s “Stronger”, Fergie’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry”). On the R&B side, look for big mentions for Thicke, John Legend (whose “Once Again” is eligible this year although it seems like the album has been out longer) and the strong comeback effort by Chaka Khan.
    With a month to go before nominations are officially announced, lots of speculation will ensue, but I’m pretty confident that my picks will end up coming out of the presenters’ lips.

  • The T.I.P, Of, um…Not So Smart

    First of all, congrats Red Sox. As much as it pains me as a Yankee fan to do so…
    Now, on to T.I.. Former drug dealer. Platinum-selling, Grammy-winning rapper. Budding thespian. IDIOT.
    See, T.I.’s done some jail time. Actually, he is a convicted felon. As such, he is not allowed to own or purchase firearms. So, what does he allegedly do? He allegedly gets his bodyguard to attempt to broker the purchase on his behalf.
    (In Charlie Murphy voice) WRONG!!!
    I guess the bodyguard squealed to the Feds, T.I. got busted and he spent two weeks in jail before being released last Friday.
    Now, I don’t particularly care for the guy’s music. I think all those people who call him a great MC are smoking some extra-powerful stuff, since the guy sounds like Mushmouth from Fat Albert half the time and really hasn’t shown a lot of lyrical versatility. Take away the braggadocio, threats and the songs about the ladies and you pretty much have nothing. So if he gets sent up the river, it won’t break my heart too much.
    I’m a bit flummoxed, however, as to why someone who is at a peak in his career would do something so stupid. Man, if you have enough money to post 3 million dollars bail, surely you MUST be able to afford proper security, right?
    Granted, we know how the mainstream media likes to shit on young black men and paint them all into a criminal corner, but damn, T.I., you ain’t helping the cause too much. I’m sure that once your lawyers clear you to talk, you’ll mention something about being set up and blame it on the “hip-hop police”. And granted, I’m sure there is a section of the police department out there designated to go after rappers. But why hurt your own cause? No one’s gonna go after you if your nose is clean. Are they arresting Kanye? Jay-Z? Nas? Common? Shit, they didn’t lock Ice-T’s ass up yet, and he made “Cop Killer”! If there was a task force designed to go after MCs, don’t you think they’d have gone after Ice with a fine-toothed comb, not to mention everyone in his family?
    Ultimately, people like T.I. give the critics against young urban culture more fuel for their fire and serve to add to the public’s negative stereotypes when it comes to black youth. Folks now would be wise to forget about this loser and stop buying his records.

  • N****, Please!!!!

    So, Nas has incurred the wrath of Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and…uh, no one else, honestly, by proposing to name the title of his new album “N****r” (for those who are blissfully unaware, it’s the infamous “N-word”). Now, it’s not like I don’t have a problem with it (because I am apparently one of the few young black men who is bothered by the prevalence and overall acceptance of a word whose usage could once be compared to getting spit in the face), but what bothers me more than the proposed album title are the people who act like this is some sort of revolutionary, artistic act and NOT a publicity stunt:
    First of all, Nas is far from the first album to use the “N” word in it’s title. Old Dirty Bastard’s last studio album was called “N*gga Please”, and damn near every Richard Pryor album in the Seventies used the “N” word in it’s title. If we go back and watch Sanford & Son and Jeffersons reruns, the word is used with some regularity, and I don’t think the attention was paid as much then (back when the word was much more of a fireball) than it is now. Considering all these albums sold relatively well, I can’t imagine that this would even become a censorship issue. No one is going to refuse to stock Nas because of his album’s title.
    Which brings me to my second point, it’s just an album title. No one decides whether to buy or not buy an album strictly based on it’s title. What will ultimately decide the album’s fate is the music included within. Nas bounced back last year with the excellent “Hip-Hop Is Dead”, it would be a shame to see him succumb to a silly gimmick when he is undergoing a creative renaissance.
    Check out Nas’s official website at Def Jam here (although it doesn’t look like it’s been updated in a minute)