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  • BET Awards Action…It’s Fantas…Wait A Second…


    Hey, anyone notice that the Soul Train Music Awards didn’t happen this year? Well, after last year’s debacle, during which damn near NO ONE who won an award showed up, the organizers decided to pull the plug on the show after two decades.

    Well, one definite reason the Soul Train Awards’ power faded was because of the advent of the BET Awards. Since it’s inception in 2001, it has become the place where R&B, rap and gospel’s elite united to be honored. Add in the fact that they honor the film, television and sports world as well, and…well, I think the rest of this paragraph kinda writes itself.

    Anyway, this year’s nominees were announced today, and the leading nominee is…

    …(squints)…

    …T-PAIN?!!!!!???!!??

    Yup, Tallahassee’s finest (forgive me, Tallahasseans, I know no better) received five nominations, and not a one for his own work. Thank Kanye West, Chris Brown and Flo-Rida for the plethora of T-Pain love. Man, he has got the easiest job of anyone in the music industry. Dude doesn’t even have to sing.

    Anyway, the other multiple nominees were pretty standard: the aforementioned West and Brown, plus Li’l Wayne, Mary J. Blige and Alicia Keys, among others. Pleasant surprises included the love shown Erykah Badu, who got a pair of noms, plus the presence of British export Estelle in the Best New Artist category. Also nice to see Raheem DeVaughn get a pair of noms, and they recognized Chaka Khan, who’s made arguably the best R&B album in the past 12 months (Although they tossed her in the “BETJ” AKA “Old Fogey” category).

    A head scratcher included the entire Best Female Hip-Hop category. Any category in which Kid Sister and Li’l Mama are among your finalists should probably be scrapped sooner than later.

    Still,this promises to be an interesting show, with performances from Usher, among others,and the lifetime achievement award set to go to Rev. Al Green. The show airs live on June 24th, and you can find a complete list of nominees here: http://www.bet.com/specials/betawards08/

  • Vital Idol: It’s On Like Donkey Kong

    We’re down to the final three and I feel much like I did last year. All three contestants are strong, yet none of them seem like can’t miss prospects. When Fantasia won Season 3, I felt like if she hadn’t been on Idol, but had received some of the same publicity, record companies would be lining up at her door ready to sign her. I think all three of the contestants this year are capable of being decent recording artists, but has anyone seen CD sales recently? Decent just doesn’t cut it. I hope I’m wrong as all three contestants are very likable, but I can’t say that I’m going to be looking out for their album come release date like I was when Kelly Clarkson and Ruben Studdard released albums.

    I wouldn’t go as far as to say American Idol sucks (though my partner in crime would), but let’s just say that this hasn’t been their best year. Declining television ratings say so as well.

    It’s time to get on with the show.

    – Before we go on, was it just me or were Simon, Randall, and Paula pushing heavily for a Big Dave Archuleta and David Cook final? Poor Syesha wasn’t getting any R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me. Sorry, I got a little carried away.

    – The threesome do Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now and Big Dave Archuleta wasn’t feeling comfortable on that dance floor. I think he’s going to have nightmares about dancing for about the next fifteen years.

    – Speaking of Fantasia, she’s back and singing live. She has bright red hair, tight pants, is screaming her head off, and is shaking that junk in the trunk while singing Bore Me. Simon looked confused, especially after the ending of the song was an ode to the JB’s and Funky Good Time.

    – Ryno introduces each contestant, shows a 5 minute video package of them going home, and then another 2 minute video package of how they got here. Let’s just say that I’m doing lots of fast forwarding on the DVR.

    – If you’re going to base your vote on the video packages, David Cook wins hands down. His was most compelling, including a story about how he was just supporting his brother at the Idol auditions and he was pressured to try out.

    – Ryno says that Big Dave Archuleta is going to the final next week as is David Cook. That means Big Rube is going to celebrate Syesha home. Ashley Banks did good y’all.

    – I just saw David Cook whisper to Big Dave Archuleta, “It’s on like Donkey Kong.”

    Next week it’s the final that the judges wanted.

    Until next week, I’m out like gout.

  • Revisiting: Darius Rucker

    Hootie & The Blowfish were one of those bands that I always wound up buying records from, but couldn’t figure out *why* I bought them. Because, let’s face it, Hootie’s material was pretty forgettable (in an enjoyable bar-band kind of way). A greatest hits album from those guys is generally all you need.

    I must admit that I was quite intrigued when I found out that Darius Rucker, the band’s lead singer, was releasing a solo album. I was even more intrigued when I found that he was abandoning Hootie’s generic rock/pop sound to embrace a funkier, more soulful vibe.

    The album that resulted, 2002’s “Back To Then”, wasn’t a superb album. Hootie sounded a little at sea sharing mic space with the likes of Lil’ Mo and Snoop Dogg (who will apparently rap on *anyone”‘s album. However, there are a couple of songs on the album that soar enough to make it worth a purchase-especially nowadays, when you can probably find it dirt cheap.

    I’d known for a while that there was a video for “Exodus”, the album’s second single and my favorite track on the album by a fairly wide margin. I couldn’t find it anywhere, until the song popped into my head last night and I decided to check (again) on Youtube. Check the video out. You might be surprised at how good the song is.

    For the record, I think that’s Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon (AKA Fancy from the Jamie Foxx Show) in the video, and Musiq Soulchild and Kenna (who’s gonna get a spot on his own in this blog soon) sing background vocals. The video, if I’m not mistaken, was shot in South Africa. What a beautiful song. Of course, after this album flopped, darius went back to Hootie and THEN started making shitty Burger King commercials.