Wednesday, October 28, 2009

BET Hip-Hop Awards Cyphers

Here are my favorite cyphers from last night's BET Hip-Hop Awards ceremony.


Nicki Minaj - She's SOOOO Bizarre that I can't stop watching her. Even though she had a prop (hmmmm) she still Harley Quinn'd her cypher and commanded your attention. You've gotta love that.

Joe Budden - Hands down, he NAILED it! That was the calmest SLAYING I've ever seen. Best freestyle of the night.





Eminem - He gave the best freestyle of his cypher. Period.




You can check out another cypher with KRS-ONE, Wale, Nipsey Hu$$le and Gsan by clicking the link below
Hip-Hop Awards Cyphers

Friday, October 23, 2009

TwiZza - Shake



The southern slayer himself, TwiZza, has released the 1st single, "Shake," from his upcoming mixtape, Slaying Season and it is an addictive banger.

Pounding drum beats, raging synth runs, record scratches, and, surprisingly, light bell taps, propel the song into a fervor as TwiZza and fellow emcee, Bunk, and singers, Sam Dallas and Dee Jay, create a dance floor extravaganza.

TwiZza is, without a doubt, the star of this explosive dance record. His sound is simply undeniable. He rides the beat like a pro and commands your aural attention as he raps of his lyrical (and sexual) appeal; "My mixtape hurry up and buy it / Ain't a muffy can slay a hoe cuz him like shine / And you love me long time cuz I'm still in your ear / Big Twiz been the shit, baby / Come on over here."

The only drawback is the chorus. The way it's sung, at times, makes it stand out awkwardly from the rest of the song (I have to admit, it took me a while to get used to it). Nonetheless, I doubt anyone who listens will be able to keep themselves from singing it repeatedly as they "Shake, shake, shake, sha-shake" what their momma gave them.

TwiZza's got my attention and I'm intrigued to hear what the rest of his mixtape will sound like. Until then I'll be content to shake it, whine it, twerk it and grind it to the dancefloor...Guuuuurl!

Check out "Shake" at TwiZza's MySpace
http://www.myspace.com/twizzamusic

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Fashions New Breed Of Kings

For their November issue GIANT magazine has assembled 5 of Red Model Management's hottest and newest black and latin models for a dark, edgy and sexy editorial titled, "League of Extraordinary Gentleman." These boys are the stars of the upcoming BET reality-based series, Model City, which will air on their new station, Centric. Model City will follow the lives of these models as they work to make their way to the top of the fashion industry.

Seasoned models, Ibrahim Baaith, Wendell Lissimore and Nelson Nieves have been stomping international runways and posing their asses off in editorials and campaigns for years now (hence their multiple photos) and in the process they've stolen my model loving heart...and my loins. Newer models, Zeric Armenteros & Derek Keeton (who's been bubbling under for a few years) have just recently signed to Red and are working to establish themselves and attain the same, if not more, success in the fashihon industry as their model brethren.

These men are the new and the now of fashion. All hail the new breed.




The ZIPPERS!! The ZIPPERS!!





Chiiiile if that shot was ANY lower!!! ;-]











It's like he's just lying there waiting for me to lick his nipp...I won't go there. Ooooh look at those SHOES!! Oooh cool necklaces!





I LOOOOOVE this entire outfit!!!







I MUST have that necklace...NOW!!

Friday, October 16, 2009

Nelson Nieves - The Finished Strip(Tease)

It's finally here! Nelson Nieves' editorial for the October issue of the French gay lifestyle magazine, PREF, has finally hit the internet. I must admit that I was hoping for more...fashion...style...NUDITY! But, at least, the photos showcase the beauty that is Nelson.





Wardrobe to the set! I need juuust a little more dick imprint...Thanks!








OR-GAS-MMMMMMM

A Voyage To Atlantis, By Way Of Love



"She's my lady, now and ever / Ooh, how can I know? / Can we go all the way, together / Ooh, let it be so."

My father once told me that no one really knows if their relationship will work. He didn't even know if his relationship with my mom would last. As he put it, "One morning I woke up and realized that we were still together. We made it this far." I appreciate him for being honest enough to admit that "you just don't know."

Can I go on my way without you? / Ooh, how can I know? / If I go on my way without you? / Ooh, where would I go?


I don't think anyone goes into a relationship thinking that it's going to end...but for some, it does. Love, despite it's amazing strength, is not enough to make a relationship last. You need a HELL of a lot of other IMPORTANT things, too. But love, itself, is resilient. It lasts...even when you're heart is breaking...even when you know your relationship is dying. And for some, even the ones that don't want to admit it, it lives on long after the relationship has died.

"So we'll say our last goodbye / And we'll make it this time / Set sail with me / To a paradise out beyond the sea / Atlantis is back to you / I'll always come back to you."

I never "set sail," again. My time at sea, in that relationSHIP, had come and gone (Now I just chill on the beach and stare at hot guys). But for others the love is still there. So, for you, I present you with The Isley Brothers' "Voyage To Atlantis."...set sail, baby.



Check out a live version of the song below.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Big Boi Is Back!



Big Boi has released a new song from his upcoming album Sir Luscious Leftfoot: Son of Chico Dusty titled "Shine Blockas" featuring fellow ATL emcee, Gucci Mane (...sigh). The track, which samples Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes song, "I Miss You," is a sweet sip of southern flavor that mixes grand organs, lush strings and tender xylophones with the south's signature drum & bass patterns and record scratches.

Big Boi's confidence is on high as he raps lines like,"Boy Stop! / Sir Luscious Leftfoot's on fire / Trying to block my shine just ain't gon' happen, so don't try / Everytime I get on this microphone I like to spit / And get hit up after hit / This penmanship is so legit."

It's defintitely a smooth banger and Big Boi's sure to have systems bumping, heads nodding, and Cadillac's (From Atlanta to Savannah and all around) riding to his record. To download the song just click the link below.

Big Boi ft Gucci Mane ~ "Shine Blockas"

Monday, October 12, 2009

For A Friend Of The Family

Thank you for just being there, for my father and our family. Even in your mistakes you taught me lessons and I thank you for it. You helped me understand the beauty of art and I love you for it. I hope you're somewhere laughing and drawing

Rest In Peace, Calvin.


Joi - Jefferson St. Joe - Joi

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Friday, October 9, 2009

Sean O'Pry - i-D Magazine Eyes This Undeniable Beauty

This man is beautiful in ways that I can barely comprehend. He's just...stunning. Absolutely...STUNNING....*drools* I...I can't even type. Just read the article in the images...*continues staring*













*Side Lipton: I LOVE the fact that O'Pry is southern boy from MY states own Kennesaw, GA. I feel that much closer to him.*

I Love You, Ginuwinely...I Love You Only.




For some odd reason I thought of this song last night and now I can't get it out of my head. "Only When Ur Lonely" wasn't Ginuwine's biggest, or maybe most well remembered, single off of his debut album, The Bachelor. But it is a great song about a man who's, sadly, fallen in love with a fickle woman and who's heart is suffering because of it. "My heart got broken when my heart got opened / Repeatedly, you said you needed me / You cheated me."

Harnessing bass heavy synth booms, electro static, angelic bells and chimes and a haunting harmony, producer, Timbaland, fills the mid-tempo track with a melancholy mood that's undeniably alluring. It compliments Ginuwine's sadness as he sings of his lover's refusal to commit to him, alone, "When I close my eyes / Only you I see / With another man / This is killing me / I don't wanna die."

"I am your man / But only when ur lonely." A love like that isn't fair...but the way Ginuwine's vocals pour over the track like bittersweet nectar sounds so right.

*Side Lipton: Ginuwine looks like a chiseled Golden God of Sex in this video. Those S-Wave sideburns, juicy S-Curl and "G" earrings are WORKING...in a gender rebel/pretty boy kind of way. And did you look at those lips and eyes???*

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Vanity 6 - Make-Up



I had no idea that 80's girl group, Vanity 6, created the slinky electro track, "Make-Up." I thought NY choreographer/performer, Jonte, was the originator. But alas it was Prince (the songs producer) and his femme fatale protégés who first presented this minimalist track to the public on their eponymous 1982 debut, Vanity 6. The song, comprised of only simple drum patterns and synth rumbles, blips and runs, is an ode to a woman's (or man's) love of wearing make-up...and wearing little to no clothing for his or her man (Rrrrow!).

This just goes to show that Prince is THE ultimate QUEEN!!

Check out both of the songs below.






*Side Lipton: Thanks for the music history, Josh.*

Chanel & Jourdan Get Cute and Candid For Teen Vogue

The Teen Vogue cover editorial with Chanel Iman and Jourdan Dunn has finally surface on the web and it is absolutely lovely. The girls look soft and radiant as they pose and strut on the pier of the Catalina Beach. The dresses are ultra fun and chic and the overall styling is perfection. Check out the editorial below.











Teen Vogue also provides a great article about the girls and their struggles in the industry, both with racism and each other. The girls get candid as they speak of their (forced) rivalry with each other and how it nearly destroyed their friendship.

"I could sit here and tell you, 'I love Jourdan! We've always been the best of friends!'" she says. "But we haven't. Until recently, we barely even spoke. We went from being superclose in the beginning," she says, "to dead silence if we saw each other backstage at a show." Not even a hello? "If we did say hi, it was hi, and that's it."

"It's competition," Jourdan says. "There aren't a lot of us, but instead of sticking together, we're pitted against each other. People will say things in Chanel's ear like, 'Jourdan is taking your spot,' and then they'll say to me, 'Don't trust Chanel.'"

A large part of the problem stems from the ridiculous idea that there's only room for one. Chanel says, "You're being told, 'So and so is only booking one black girl. It's either you or Jourdan,' So we'll be sitting in the lobby looking at each other like, 'Okay, I want this job, and she wants it too. Which one of us is going to get it?'"

...It was, in fact, a Vogue shoot that brought Chanel and Jourdan back together. "We said, 'Why are we fighting? It doesn't make any sense,'" says Jourdan. "The only way to improve the situation is to come together," adds Chanel.


With all the recent rumors flying around about rumblings between some of the industries top black models it's soooo great to hear that some of them are choosing to stand together rather than stand alone or worse, against each other.

Check out the full editorial and article
HERE

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Jourdan Dunn Does A Pregnant Strut Down JPG's Runway



Yesterday Jourdan Dunn, who is 7 months pregnant, shocked the fashion world by making a surprise appearance in Jean Paul Gaultier's Spring 2010 runway show. For his show Gaultier transformed the model into a pregger warrior queen with mahogany toned leather arm bands, military boots, a semi-sheer green dress, and spirla quilted baby bump protector. To give her an even edgier look Gaultier marked Jourdan's name down the front of her chest and wrapped a bullet holster around her waist. If there were ever any questions about her future in the industry, post-pregnancy, then Dunn just answered them. This b**** is here to stay. Work, mama!!!





Saturday, October 3, 2009

Chanel & Jourdan Cover Teen Vogue



Rising top models, Chanel Iman & Jourdan Dunn, have nabbed the November cover of Teen Vogue. The girls look absolutely radiant as they turn up their megawatt smiles for legendary photographer, Patrick DeMarchelier, on the Catalina Beach Club of Atlantic Beach. It's the perfect mix of sun, warmth, beauty and style. Work, girls!!!

Friday, October 2, 2009

Henry Watkins Turns Sophisticated Geek for Republica



Red model, Henry Watkins, gives us his best interpretation of Tyra's "Smizing" in the Republica's Fall/Winter eyewear camapaign. The silver glasses are geek chic and Watkins is the definition of handsome in the photo.

...God, he is soooo CUTE!!! I just wanna squeeze his cheeks and watch him giggle.

Check out the rest of the campaign
here.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Wham! - Everything She Wants

Everytime I hear this I just wanna dance around in a dark club filled with multi-colored strobe lights while wearing neon green booty shorts, glow in the dark sneakers, a fanny pack and a wife beater that says "Tasty Cakes"........