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  • Friday Throwback – Juicy

    I’m going to piggyback on Money Mike’s post about the trailer to Notorious, the movie about Biggie Smalls. I’m not convinced that it’s going to be good, but thankfully, good actors like Angela Bassett and Derek Luke are involved. I’m also quite worried about how the movie will handle the situation with Tupac.

    My introduction to The Notorious B.I.G. was through his song Juicy. I don’t remember hearing him on the remix to Mary J. Blige’s Real Love out here on the West Coast. There was a certain familiarity to the song because of the Juicy Fruit sample, as if the song had been on the radio forever when I had only heard it for the first time. And everyone loves a rags to riches story, and Biggie told that story so well with witty, yet very real lines. I also loved how he littered his rhymes in this song with pop culture references (Robin Leach?) without sounding corny.

    – It was all a dream …

    – Big’s look worked for him. Had he been this good lookin’ dude with all the floss, you wouldn’t have had to listen to him.

    – I love the back and forth between showing him at the pool living the life, and then flashing to the jails.

    – Please dismiss the text in the right corner that says, “Sisqo Unleashes Hip Hop’s Sexiest Videos”. It was a long time ago y’all.

    – “Super Nintendo/Sega Genesis, when I was dead broke, man I couldn’t picture this.” I wonder what Big would have to say about PS3s, Wiis, and XBox 360s.

    – That is really Biggie’s mom in the video too.

    – And if you don’t know, now you know.

  • Notorious: The Trailer

    Being a Brooklyn kid only 2 years younger than the Notorious B.I.G. would have been if he was still alive, I’m looking forward to the premiere of the movie “Notorious” in January. The trailer, which you can find here only increases my excitment.

    I’ve gotta take my hat off-it looks like the folks behind the movie did a good job. Gravy isn’t exactly a Biggie lookalike, but he got the voice and mannerisms down pat. Angela Bassett was a great choice as Voletta, Biggie’s mother, but I don’t hear an accent in her voice, and anyone who’s heard Ms. Wallace speak knows that she has a heavy, aristocratic Jamaican accent befitting her career as a schoolteacher. Hell, even the chick who plays Faith looks ridiculously similar to the actual Faith.

    Anyway, check the trailer out and let us know if you like what you see.

  • Out There!- “Stay The Night” by Benjamin Orr

    Ric Ocasek is probably the most recognizable member of legendary rock group The Cars thanks in part to MTV giving him a lot of exposure during the early 80s and the fact that he’s also married to a super model. Most rock fans know that the guy who really gave the band substance was Benjamin Orr.  Originally born as Benjamin Orzechowski (which is as good a reason as any to change his last name), he was the bassist who also happened to share lead vocal duties and write many of the hits.  If you listened to the tunes without knowing the band’s history, you would think that all songs were sung by one guy.  When I was young and learning about rock & roll, I always assumed Ric Ocasek sang lead on every song. It wasn’t until years later that I realized Benjamin Orr actually sang lead vocals on many of the songs I assumed were sung by Ocasek. Many of the Cars biggest hits including Let’s Go, All That You Needed, and their biggest hit Drive (peaked at #3 in 1985 on the Billboard Top 100 chat) were sung by Orr.   He was the band member that brought the ladies to the shows.  With his moppy blonde hair, dimpled chin and baby face rock star image, he was the best looking guy in the band.  It was a shock that most of the videos that showed on MTV featured Ric Ocasek instead of Orr.

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