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  • Man On The Street – Chris Brown, His Supposed Blackballed Graffiti, And Wal-Mart

    Money Mike wrote about Chris Brown and his claim of being blackballed based on the fact that he walked into a Wal-Mart and didn’t see his new album, Graffiti stocked on the shelves. He went on a tirade through his Twitter account about how the manager of Wal-Mart didn’t know why his album wasn’t stocked and then re-tweeted many responses from fans who talked about their efforts to buy the album.

    And then, his Twitter account went poof.

    I decided to take this into my own hands and went to my local Wal-Mart to see if Brown’s album was stocked on shelves or if he was indeed being “blackballed”.

    Before I decided to look for myself, I asked the Wal-Mart employee if he know about Brown’s claims of being blackballed by the store. I think I made him uncomfortable as his response was that he wasn’t racist and he didn’t know what I was talking about. Hmmm. Maybe he didn’t know the term blackballed.

    Since I didn’t get much help from the Wal-Mart employee, I went to the CD racks and looked myself. I glanced at the first rack which had the newest CDs like Alicia Keys, though there was no Robin Thicke to be found so unless he was sold out, he should get on Twitter right now and claim that he was whiteballed, I mean blackballed. And then I looked at the second rack and found Brown’s album. So at least at this Wal-Mart, Chris Brown and his Graffiti were not blackballed.

    Chris Brown's Graffiti
    Chris Brown’s Graffiti

    Before I left, I wanted to know if the reason that there was a full stack of Brown CDs was because they had just sold a bunch and had to restock the shelves.

    I went back to the employee and asked him how many of Brown’s CDs were sold today. Here’s how the conversation went:

    Me: How many of Chris Brown’s Graffiti were sold today?

    Employee: Well, let me check in the system.

    Me: Ok.

    Employee: It looks like we sold one CD today.

    Me: Only one?

    Employee: But somehow two were returned.

    Me: So you’re saying that you sold a negative one Chris Brown CD today?

    Employee: Yes.

    Me: And how many Rihanna CDs?

    Employee: Not negative one.

    Me: Ok then.

    Ok, maybe that conversation never happened, but you know it was believable.

    There you have it. Chris Brown isn’t being blackballed. He just can’t sell any albums.

  • R’NR HOF Announces 2010 Inductees: World Goes “Huh”?

    The Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame just announced it’s 2010 inductees, and they are…(drumroll please)…Iggy & The Stooges, Genesis, ABBA, Jimmy Cliff and The Hollies.

    *Rubs eyes* Say what?

    Yes, folks. In a class that included the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kiss and LL Cool J, this is what that lovely nominating committee was able to come up with.

    I’m sorry, but if Jann Wenner isn’t playing favorites OR someone isn’t getting paid under the table, then I don’t know how else to explain this one.

    I don’t know a whole lot about The Stooges (or Iggy’s music, really, beyond “Lust for Life”), but he seems to be widely regarded as a pioneer. He can slide.

    Genesis? Groundbreaking prog-rock band. Very theatrical and musically complex. Then they regrouped and turned out some of the most irresistible pop nuggets of the Eighties, not to mention a string of stellar solo hits by Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins and Mike + the Mechanics. They should be in (and I just read that Phil Collins is unable to drum anymore. What happened?).

    The Hollies? Aren’t they the “all that I need is the air that i breathe and to love you” band? Can you name one member of The Hollies? Do any bands today cite The Hollies as an influence? Can you name one groundbreaking or even critically acclaimed album by The Hollies? I didn’t think so.

    Jimmy Cliff: “The Harder They Come” is a fantastic album. Might be the best reggae album of all time not recorded by someone named Marley r Tosh. But what has Jimmy Cliff really done besides that? “I Can See Clearly Now”? Seriously. The R&R Hall of Fame needs ONE reggae musician and that musician is already inducted. And I say this as a black man of Caribbean descent.

    ABBA: The textbook definition of a singles band. Granted, they were able to create tons of ear candy, but does anyone who is not Swedish and/or gay own anything by ABBA outside of the obligatory greatest hits compilation? If we’re gonna induct ABBA, why not induct Olivia Newton-John? Or Andy Gibb? Will Britney Spears wind up in the Hall of Fame one day? (God, I hope not). And if we’re inducting legendary singles acts, where the hell are Daryl Hall and John Oates??

    I’ve defended the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame to tons of people over the years, but I think I’m beginning to see the light. Anyone who says that these 5 artists are the most deserving of the list of bands that were nominated seriously has rocks in their head.

  • New Releases 12/15/09: Wrapping ’09 Up with Some Soul

    The release schedule has slowed to a trickle, so…I don’t have a lot to write about this week. That might make some of you happy. Anyway, here’s what’s coming out today.

    Alicia Keys “The Element of Freedom”- Even when Alicia Keys does wrong, she does no wrong. Neither of the two singles released so far-“Doesn’t Mean Anything” and “Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart”-have exactly set the world on fire, but she still finds herself at the top of both the Pop & R&B charts with “Empire State of Mind”. A Jigga-less version of “Empire” appears on this album, in addition to a duet with Beyonce, meaning that Alicia has now joined the list of artists who have joined forces with both members of the Carter household.

    Alicia’s a weird one for me. I like her, but she’s yet to make a studio album that I enjoy all the way through. She’s still prone to clumsy lyricism, for one. With that said, though, her good qualities outweigh the bad ones and I have no qualms adding this to my collection.

    Robin Thicke “Sex Therapy”: This appears to be the John Legend “Evolver”-type album for Mr. Thicke, AKA the “Robin Thicke Sells Out” record. “Sex Therapy” includes guest appearances from the likes of Jay-Z (yet again), The Game, Snoop Dogg and annoying new female rapper Nicki Minaj. Now as someone who generally likes his R&B to be guest rapper-free, this concerns me. But the first single and title track is the “Let’s Get it On” of 2009, and I might be able to forgive having to sit through another record with the D-O-Double G if Robin gives us a couple more baby-makin’ anthems.

    The only other release of note is “Lucy”, an EP by Julian Lennon and James Scott Cook. This is a charity record, benefiting several Lupus research foundations. The titular “Lucy” was a schoolmate of Julian’s. A drawing he made of her famously piqued Julian’s dad’s interest and resulted in the Beatles classic “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”. Lucy passed away from lupus-related complications last year, so the song “Lucy” is, in part, a tribute to her. The album artwork also includes a reproduction of that original drawing-which I’m sure will be of special interest to Beatles fans. It’s Julian’s first music in something like a decade, it’s cheap, and it’s for a good cause. Pick it up, why don’t you?

    For a full list of this week’s releases, be sure to check out Pause and Play .