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Tag: Keri Hilson

  • 2010 Hip Hop Honors (Not So) Live Blog

    Hip Hop Honors
    Well, I guess you can say we’re not technically live since I’m on the West Coast, and also, since this show was taped over the weekend. But it’s as live as it can be!

    This year is focused on the dirty south and I can’t say that Southern flavored hip hop is my cup of tea, but celebrating culture is celebrating culture and I dig.

    And really, what does it say about the rest of music television that VH-1 is the station that reps hip hop culture? Uh, BET when are you ever going to pick up that punk card?

    – Craig Robinson came out and was shouting for a minute and dude is now out of breath. He’ll never be able to emcee with his lack of breathing.

    – And the first person celebrated tonight is, um Uncle Luke? And helping us celebrate Uncle Luke is, um Kid Rock? Akinyele is thinking to himself right now, “Ok, I may get invited to this thing one day.”

    – If Luke’s gonna be true to the game, someone’s gettin’ nekkid on stage tonight right?

    – Hey, Trick Daddy! I almost forgot about you bruh. You better thank VH-1 tonight.

    – I was hoping that Asian dude from 2 Live Crew was going to show his face.

    – Game’s doing a pretty good job on My Mind’s Playing Tricks On Me. Maybe that’s what he should do for real now. Just be a hip hop karaoke artist. Hey, Game, my kid’s birthday is this weekend. You think you can do some B.o.B.?

    – Here to honor Jermaine Dupri is Kris Kross! Wait, no? You can’t bring Kris Kross out here for this? What about gettin’ Da Brat out of jail for this?

    Hell naw!
    – Who had a “Hell naw!” moment when you heard Jermaine Durpi was dating Janet Jackson? I know that I did.

    – Ok, I lied. Kris Kross is here. Or at least Kris, or is that Kross? Whatever. The dude that wasn’t the light skinned one is here. He did Jump! and everyone exploded. He did another song. Silence.

    – Lil’ Romeo not so Lil’ anymore. Maybe that’s why he dropped the Lil’?

    – If Romeo is on here, I want to see the rest of the Miller brothers. I want to see Silkk and even C-Murder. Wait, we can’t see C-Murder. My bad.

    – I really liked this write-up of Master P’s family life on his Wikipedia page. I’d put money on P being the author.

    Master P has a wife called Sonya Cassandra Miller. P.Miller would call him self ‘Jed Clampett’ and he would call wife, Sonya Miller, ‘Ellie May.’ Master P’s love was limit. Sonya and Percy had 6 children, boys: Percy Romeo Miller, Vercy Miller [young V] Mercy. girls: Tylyana Miller, Italiana Miller, and Itali Miller. But Master P fell out with Sonya and married another women and had two kids, Cymphonique Miller, and Veno Miller. But their mother and Master P fell out so P.Miller got back together with Sonya.

    – I think the only song that’s going to make the crowd jump from P is Make Em Say Uhh. Maybe Shaq can make a cameo.

    – Why is Trina giving a midget a piggy back ride? Wait, that’s no midget.

    – By the way, I was right about Make Em Say Uhh. Crowd was waiting and anticipating.

    – I think my man Lil’ Jon’s been going on some dates with Jenny Craig. On the other hand, Bone Crusher looks like his Aunties were Nell Carter and Shirley Hemphill.

    – At least we now know Keri Hilson’s voice is helped in the studio. Why she decided to sing live tonight, the world will never know.

    – How come whenever I see Missy Elliot on stage, I want to see a huge black plastic bubble suit?

    – And are the odds long that Magoo shows up to help honor Timbaland tonight?

    – You know, if we give Timbo and David Banner some jheri curl wigs, they could pass as members of Full Force.

    – Just saw Kelly Rowland. I know Beyonce won, but really, did we vote correctly on who is the prettiest of Destiny’s Child?

    – So first, Uncle Luke gets honored, and now 2 Live Crew gets honored? Is Luke producing this show? At least I get to see my Asian dude.

    – Looks like that Brother Marquis hasn’t done his verse on Me So Horny in a very long time. Actually, dude looks like he hasn’t done much of anything in a long time.

    – Organized Noize produced Waterfalls?

    – Asher Roth is on this show? Again, Akinyele is like, “Man, my odds are getting better every minute.”

    – In what might’ve been the lowest point ever in Hip Hop Honors, DJ Khalid and Rick Ross nearly didn’t fit on the stage together. We almost had a moment.

    – By the way, I don’t even think Weezy would wear a Free Lil’ Wayne shirt. He’d just be like, “Ya, I deserve to be in jail.”

    – Now that this show is over, I think we’ve learned one thing – they’re runnin’ out of people to honor and Akinyele is gonna get his.

    Photo of JD shared via Wikipedia and shared via the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

  • The SonicClash Mini-Review: Keri Hilson

    keri

    Keri Hilson’s debut has been one of the more anticipated recent releases in R&B. The beauty has made a name for herself as a songwriter, and a cameo on Timbaland’s hit “The Way I Are” raised her profile and set the stage for her first official album, In a Perfect World…. Having already spawned three hit singles, my curiosity was piqued. I had to find out what Keri was all about.

    I could’ve done without it. Perfect World is a mixed bag. Hilson has a pleasant singing voice. It’s a thin but deceptively versatile instrument very much like the voice of fellow R&B diva Ciara. The fact that Hilson writes her own material should vault her over the anonymous singers that share her style, but her songwriting is no great shakes. Unlike fellow soul singer/songwriters like, say, Ne-Yo (who co-stars opposite Hilson and Kanye West on the current hit Knock You Down, one of this album’s highlights), Hilson’s pen game is generic, and she hasn’t mastered the one art every great songwriter knows-melody.

    My other issue with In a Perfect World…? Everything sounds super-canned. I have nothing against synth-pop, usually. However, the best of that sub-genre usually has some feeling behind it. Keri Hilson? Not so much. Even Aaliyah had an air of concentrated cool that permeated her records. This album has no soul, and I would think that the average person looking in the R&B section for an album would be looking for some kind of soul, right?

    Keri Hilson’s definitely a talented lady, but maybe just not as talented as the press and hype machine would like us to believe that she is. In a Perfect World…sounds like it was focus-grouped into oblivion, tailor-made to fit onto pop and R&B radio circa 2009. The end result is listening to something like “Loose” or “FutureSex/LoveSounds” with all the character sucked out of it, which leaves you with danceable beats and not much else. And danceable beats alone do not make for a good album. So, ultimately, in a perfect world…, you’d be best off leaving this album in the rack at the record store.

  • Beyonce, T.I. Head List of BET Award Nominees

    beyonceJamie Foxx-who will be hosting- and a slew of other artists were on hand last night to announce the nominees for the 2009 BET Awards, and Beyonce and T.I. turned out to lead the pack with 5 nominations each. Beyonce scored 2 nods in the Best Video category and also was nominated twice in the Best Female Actress category. T.I. picked up nominations for Best Male Rapper and Best Video (for “Live Your Life”) among others.

    Lil’ Wayne, T-Pain and Keri Hilson are right behind with four nominations apiece.

    As usual, I’m left scratching my head at some of the nominations. Why have categories like Best Group and Best Female Rapper if the pools are so thin? The nominees for Best Group are Day26, The GS Boyz (of “Stanky Legg” fame), N.E.R.D., The Roots and Three Six Mafia, while the Best Female Rapper nominees are Trina, Lil’ Mama and M.I.A., who is also curiously nominated for Best New Artist, although she’s already on her second album. Looks like the BET Award nominating committee is sipping on the same sauce as the folks who do the noms for the Grammy Awards.

    Ne-Yo and Maxwell are among the artists scheduled to perform on the show, which will air on June 24th. SonicClash will, as usual, be live-blogging the event.