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  • At The Wrecka Sto’ 10/30/07: Party Like It’s 1999

    Ah, it almost feels like the glory days of the music industry are back. Seven or eight years ago, if The Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears were releasing albums on the same day, record executives would be pissing themselves with anticipation and it would practically be raining money.
    Nowadays, not so much.
    Britney still has some cachet. The “Gimme More” single has been surprisingly successful. Actually, it’s her highest charting record since her debut single, “…Baby One More Time” back in 1998/1999. In addition, her new album Blackout has gotten some very good reviews (although most reviewers are quick to point out that the quality of the album has very little to do with Britney herself). Despite all her efforts to sabotage it, Brit-Brit’s career might not be over just yet.
    On the other hand, BSB, who were the first act to break the million-in-sales barrier in the first week with 1999’s Millennium, are probably done for. Losing Kevin Richardson, who really did nothing but smolder visually, doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. But their sound is passe, their 2005 “comeback album” fell slightly short of a million copies sold, and something tells me this new album might be their sayonara and to expect members to start popping up on “Dancing With The Stars” in the next year or two.
    Not to say these are the only two artists with albums in stores today. You can grab The Eagles’ first studio album in nearly three decades today-but only at Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club stores (or through walmart.com). You’ll have a much easier time finding the new efforts from VMA-winning metal band Avenged Sevenfold and Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan’s solo project, called Puscifer. New albums also arrive today from jazz/soul specialist Will Downing (his first since being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that has left him wheelchair bound) and alt-rap/country artist Buck 65.
    On the re-issue tip, soccer moms everywhere can rejoice in the first hits compilation of Andrea Bocelli’s more pop-oriented work, while eyeliner clad Eighties freaks will dig a series of expansive Joy Division re-releases that hit stores today. Speaking of eyeliner (among much other make-up) there is an Insane Clown Posse hits collection arriving in stores today, and somehow it seems appropriate to end my listing of this week’s key releases on that note.
    Get a complete list of today’s new releases here:

  • 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)