Category Archives: music

Tremendous Repeat: Play That Song Again and Again…

Posted on by
524

Do you remember iTunes? Me neither.

But apparently before Pandora was the king of the jungle, I’d fire up my iTunes at work and keep my day grooving. Well it turns out that my Pandora was taking up too much bandwith at work and it caused IT to say phooey to Pandora. So it’s back to the iTunes.

Well, out of curiosity, I decided to see what my most played songs ever (we’re talking over half a decade here) on my iTunes are. And I figured, what the hell, it’s Friday. It might be kind of cool to see what OTHER people have as their most played songs (assuming you listen to music). And if you don’t, I feel sorry for your mudda. No Menace. And no Madame Noire hater commenters. #shotsfired

Anyway, here are my 5 most repeated songs (in order) ever on my iTunes. (And some of these have repeat totals in the thousands)

1. Psapp – Cosy In The Rocket

This is the theme song from Grey’s Anatomy. When I tell you I love this song, I mean I want to hug and kiss and hold and cuddle the music on this song. Seriously, the music on this has such a hypnotic feel to it I get lost in it every time. And I STILL have no clue what in the fuck they’re talking about on it. I just know its gangsta. I wish I could produce a song like this. In fact, I don’t think I’ll stop trying until I make something that hits me the way this did the very first time I heard it.

2. Phyllis Hyman – Be Careful (How You Treat My Love)

I remember the first time I ever really listened to Phyllis Hyman. It was at my boy’s crib some years ago. He played her big hit “You Know How To Love Me” and its a good song but it didn’t really draw me in. I’d heard of her but I wasn’t all enthralled. So one day, I was in Tower Records (remember those?) blowing money fast and I saw this compilation, so I picked it up. The next day I was driving to New York and I put it in as I left my street.

Do you know I listened to this one CD on the entire 4 hour drive to NY. AND on the way back. This song? It made a fan, a believer, and a sad sap out of me. Her voice is so beautiful I can’t believe I never discovered it before. And the way she sings on this song nearly brought a tear to my eyes. Shit sounds authentic even if she didn’t write it. You betta…bee-eeee-eee careful how you treaaaaaaaaaaaat my loooooooooooove. Hands down one of my favorite songs ever. This is the second most played song on my iTunes and only because I intentionally stopped myself from listening to it.

This song also made me really really sad that she took her own life. Then again, that fits in right nice with my other favorite singers who have tragically met their end or got head in the whip one too many times.

3. Jefferson Airplane - Somebody To Love

Between the drugs, white rabbits, and peace signs, I love hippie sh*t from the 60′s and ’70s. Most of it was just so fun and drug oriented. Not that I’m into drugs or anything. Just say no! However, Jefferson Airplane was that hot drug music way before Cam’ron and Dipset flooded the market. They were the Clipse before Malicious’s niece felt that chinchilla. Of course the difference being they were using it and the other ninjas are distributing but we’re just splitting hairs. Hell the album this song came from was called Surrealistic Pillow. If that ain’t a drug induced album title, well slap me silly and call me Susan. My name is not Susan. RIP Whitney.

All I know is that I love this song and Grace Slick’s voice works really well with their sound. Viva white rabbits and San Francisco!

4. Blue Oyster Cult - (Don’t Fear) The Reaper

This is an old school rock song from the 70′s. Talk about a weird ass group but this song knocks hard as hell. It has a very subdued sound to it but its some quality good gangsta music, trust me. It reminds me of drinking Long Island Iced Teas with my homey C-Breeze sitting under some trees down in the West Indies…word life. I don’t know how many of you boho’s out there are anti rock ‘n roll but this is definitely a good song to have in the repertoire. Sounds like something Babyface would have written if he wasn’t black, was high, wasn’t into R&B, and was into strange pseudo-weird rock ‘n roll.

See, just like Babyface.

5. Rick James featuring Smokey Robinson – Ebony Eyes

Two things to say with this song: 1) I do not like Smokey Robinson, at all. I can only think of like 2 of his songs that I like, maybe 3 and they were all with the Miracles. 2) I remember hearing this for the first time like five years ago. I’m so ashamed.

When I tell you I can’t get enough of a particular song…well, I suppose that would mean I can’t get enough of a particular song. This song would be one in particular that I can’t get enough of…particularly. “And I bet you didn’t know thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat…ebony eyes…” This is the kind of song you sing to a woman you’re really feeling but since its so goofy feeling you can mess it up and have all kinds of fun with it. You should own this song.

Actually, you should own every song I tell you about. All my choices are topshelf homey. No bottom shelf here.

I am Panama Jackson.

Love me.

So what’s on your most played songs list? Happy Friday motherlovers!

-VSB P aka THE ARSONIST aka MR. GO IN ON MADAME NOIRE aka GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRL HE A 3

Make sure you check out both the video AND comments section for the first episode of Liz’s production for Madame Noire, Ask A Black Man. The comments section alone is worth the price of admission.

Also, peep the 2nd episode of WTF Iz Rong w/ Panama Jackson where he waxes philosophical about philosophical things. Shamone.

 

Ain’t Nobody Coming To See You Otis!

Posted on by
235

See the guy at the bottom right? Nobody EVER came to see him. That's Otis.

Whether it actually happened or not, the most hilarious line that David Ruffin ever said in his life came courtesy of The Temptations movie as Otis Williams (who nobody was coming to see) had him removed from a venue after he ran up on stage during a show -much to the delight of fans – after having been kicked out of the group.

Honestly, some nights I pray that it actually happened that way. That David Ruffin, what a card. That line has been used in so many different ways by so many different people at this point its almost ironic that Otis Williams is the one responsible for it even existing as it was his book and his version of the life story of The Temptations that got the book turned into a movie. Oh irony, you are so sweet. Of course, it would be Otis who has the last laugh since everybody else is dead now (except Dennis Edwards) so when folks go see The Temptations, they are kind of coming to see Otis. Irony is sweet again. Or never stopped being sweet…something.

Anyway, I was reminded of this as I watched the David Ruffin episode of Unsung on TVOne a few weeks back. Let me tell you, for all of the complaining we do about programming on our Black stations, when we do get a good show, its a really good one. Unsung is in that number. Moving on…the David Ruffin episode was great even if it wasn’t that revealing to somebody like myself who calls The Temptations his favorite group of all time.

Well, one of the segments of Unsung that also occurred in the movie is the point where David felt like the group should be called David Ruffin & The Temptations, much like Smokey Robinson & The Miracles and Diana Ross & The Supremes.

And you know what, I agree. It should have. Let’s break down some vitals here. The ONLY person who really should have had any beef with this is Eddie Kendricks. While David clearly became the voice of the Temps, Eddie WAS the original voice (that folks knew)…but if we’re going straight off of numbers and actual factuals, well, they never really hit the top 10 until David started singing. And nearly every hit that they had from 1965-1968 when he got the boot, was lead by David. His voice became the marquee voice. Of course other songs like “Just My Imagination” (one of my actual favorite songs of all time…ever) is Eddie’s song (but David was gone) and clearly everything after David left (and soon after Eddie left) has the Dennis Edwards stamp on it.

But while David was there, he had a case. It happens all the time, especially in singing groups. There’s always that one cat who stands above the rest. Usually the only thing keeping folks together and egoless is the fact that they see the greater goal of success through unity and/or they are family or started out together and even that’s no guarantee. In relation to the Temps, it was all a working relationship and the Temps didn’t “matter” per se until David started singing lead on the hits. And when he did, the world took notice. That’s no shot to Eddie, Paul, Otis (who nobody was coming to see) or Melvin. I love them all, especially Paul Williams. But the fact is, David more or less took them “there”. Same thing with Diana. Smokey is a different story since he wrote and produced all of the Miracles songs anyway. You could replace anybody in that group and nobody would notice.

But real talk…that kind of happened with the Temptations. People noticed David and Eddie being gone. Otis has been touring off the Temptations name for eons with a rotating group of singers. The name holds more weight than any of the singers. But back then in the mid-to-late 60s, David was the main reason for their success.

Now, of course, it was all ego and unnecessary grandstanting. Otis made it clear that no one man was above the group. True and false as that may be, if that’s the group mantra then so be it. And they proved successful without David once Dennis showed up (and he could have made the same claim really…their biggest sellers happened with him as lead). But David did have a point. Of course, his excess and complete douchebag nature regarding the group was as much of an issue as anything. And he did create the David Ruffin & The Temptations “thing” without consulting anybody else. That is uncivilized.

But if you remove that piece of it and take the Temps at face value when they were at their most potent, then David Ruffin could have rightfully made a case to Barry Gordy that his name should be the marquee.

Especially since wasn’t nobody coming to see Otis. And hell, back in the day it was originally Otis Williams and the Distants, etc. Otis had his name out front and nobody was coming to see him, so if somebody WAS actually coming to see David then ipso facto, David had a claim. That’s all I’m saying.

So whatcha sayin?

Should it have been David Ruffin & The Temptations?? And was anybody actually going to see Otis? He wants to know.

-VSB P aka THE ARSONIST aka MR. I NEVER WENT TO SEE OTIS, DID YOU EVER GO TO SEE OTIS? aka GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRL HE A 3

Bonus TwitVid: Peep the first installment of WTF Iz Rong With Panama Jackson -

When You’re Mad?

Posted on by
195

I love the entertainment industry.

Girl, seeing you all mad just makes me want to jump your bones. Nevermind that I spent all of your savings. Yousofine!

Where else can you live out your wildest dreams and be the person you always wished you could be despite obvious physical and aesthetic limitations or the constant failures of reality.

Such is the case with Ne-Yo (who also provided the most baffling character ever in Red Tails, a truly sh*tty movie. Seriously, who signed off on that role? Damn you George Lucas).

It’s no secret that I watch videos incessantly. Hell, I can spend a whole day just watching MTV Jams and vh1 Soul. This past weekend, I resawed Ne-Yo’s video for the song “When You’re Mad”, some six or seven years after its debut.  It’s not a bad song, though I do think that the song’s message will be wildly misconstrued and result in some poor sap getting his ass straight mollywopped by his girl for smirking when she’s truly pissed off.

Of course, that would require anybody to actually care about Ne-Yo and I suppose that’s another beast altogether. Real talk, go see Red Tails and understand why Ne-yo should never matter.

I’ll get to the premise later. Let’s start with Ne-Yo.

I remember a long (!!!) time ago when Mr. Cheeks video for “Lights, Camera, Action” came out. In the beginning of that video, when Mr. Cheeks enters the club, the “cheeks” lights go off and all the strippers know that he’s in the building. You see, in his video, Mr. Cheeks is akin to the president. When Cheeks shows up, the cheeks show up. Get it?

Me and my boys used to get a kick out of the video because the video hoes really sold the idea that Mr. Cheeks was indeed that important. Unrealistic? Of course, but in Mr. Cheeks video, he gets to be God. You have to love the opportunities that come to people who probably aren’t nearly as cool as they come off in videos.

Ne-Yo, bless his heart, is not an attractive man. Yet, in his videos, he gets to be the hearthrob; he is the man that women covet and for who’s back his woman has to watch. Usher he is not, but in his videos, he can be Denzel and his flock a gaggle of 30-50 year old black women.

I don’t care what anybody says, America is a great place.

This song, “When You’re Mad” is about how Ne-Yo can’t help but be carnally turned on whenever his girlfriend gets upset with him. He just wants to tear her up when she gets that little wrinkle-nosed face going on because he has ticked her off. Throughout the video is a montage of women with various pissed off faces and demeanors that I suppose (it is a video remember) make Ne-Yo feel rather randy. I’ll admit, it’s a rather “cute” video. It made me chuckle a time or two at the various reason his woman chose to be pissed at him.

However, I think the video seriously understates how “mad” a woman just may be and an appropalate course of action. And if you’ve seen the movie Trippin’ you will know that appropalate is indeed a real word.

Y’alls is some real dubiostic types.

(By the way, yes, again, I realize that its just a video. Thanks, MGMT)

What it seems to me is that his girl isn’t actually mad, she’s more just ticked off. Temporarily to boot. There is no mad going on here. His girl sees him taking pictures with “fans” and gets upset. Basically, his girl is jealous that he gives other women attention. Sucks for her…I mean doesn’t she realize she’s dating Ne-Yo. International superstar Ne-Yo?????

*crickets*

Like I said. It’s his video.

Thing is, there is no real just cause to be pissed so usually, a smile, a chuckle, and a “baby, why you trippin, you know I only love you” would suffice in most of these instances. Followed by a, “hey, you want me to keep getting you nice things? You do. Then I suggest you shut the fuck up.”

Then again. She isn’t mad.

Has anybody here ever dated somebody and either you or they got royally pissed??

*hands shoot up across the globe*

Was your first thought ever to really smile and then try to jump their bones? No? Me neither. When I get truly pissed, which has only happened a few times…I see red. It ain’t no lovely lush blues and yellows that inspire my loins.

Wow. I’ve said some pretty suspect shit in my day, but I think, “lush blues and yellows that inspire my loins” might just top the list.

Cry for me Argentina.

Now, I realize I’m being a stickler for details and accuracy here and I know its just a fun song intended to explain to women how them being upset with men makes men all turned on and shit. I’m just afraid some poor little kid is going to see this video and think that when his girl gets mad at him, it is totally okay to turn to an imaginary camera, chuckle twice, then look at her and go try to lay the ass-smackdown on her. He just might catch an eye-jammy.

This just brings up another point. There is a big difference between a woman being upset/slightly ticked off and her being mad or truly pissed. The former is usually a very temporary thing and can be resolved with a well timed, “baby, why you trippin’. Girl you know I-I-I-I love you. I will give you the sun the moon the stars the sky and the mountains…I’ll give you the worrrrrrrrrrrld. Baby, smile for me so I can see Heaven in your eyes.” You know, something along those lines. Basically, small little petty shit that most humans are bound to irrationally fall victim too from time to time. It happens to everybody.

The latter however, which would be the “mad or truly pissed” part, well thats a little different. If you have truly pissed off your woman, it’s gonna take more than a “girl i love you” to appease her. You must have done something like showed up with a box of condoms and one was missing. Despite the fact that you are truly just a juvenile male and used one to hang from your next door neighbors doorknob, you will be in trouble. Or maybe you didn’t show up when you said you were going to show up and your girl was stuck in the middle of Ohio all alone or some shit. Those things will not be resolved shortly.

You know, I don’t feel like discussing this anymore.

Bottom line, I’m concerned for the kids who will watch these videos and be influenced negatively since videos and music dictate our lives and I’m concerned about marriage in America.

So ladies, question, can a little sexual attention take you out of your upset or angry stupor? We’re trying to save relationships here. Help brothas out. Or was Ne-yo trying to get men killed with that message he was sending to both men and women?

Brothas have you ever just laughed at your girl being mad and tried to jump her bones successfully? And ladies, would you be upset with your man if he tried to get all carnal on that arse after a spat, or does it just depend on how pissed you are?

-VSB P aka THE ARSONIST aka MR. NE-YO I AM NOT aka GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRL HE A 3

Peep the flyer for the party in DC this Saturday, also serving as the official afterparty for The Musicianship Diane Grainger Tribute featuring Afro Blue (cop tickets now! I’ll be there)…holla at ya hustla! RSVP for free admission before 11pm!

 

 

 

The Curious Case of Nicki Minaj

Posted on by
221
I don’t know what the f*ck I’m doing either. Who IS this white man? Everybody knows I’m a motherf*cking monster! Roman, where are you? I quit.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

And yes, that implies that Nicki Minaj had the power. She was on Shonuff status until Bruce Leroy (basically her own ridiculous antics and hubris) came in the door wavin’ the .44, all we heard was what the f*ck is wrong with Nicki Minaj.

Not since the Great Lauryn Hill FreeFall of the early 2000s have we seen one person go from being heralded by many (hate her or love her, she had songs all over Billboard, one of the best verses of the year in “Monster” in 2010, was the darling of YMCMBYMCAURBYOLO, and had pop culture on lock…AND she had an album that outsold Kanye West) to being given the “ewl, Nicki, we’re over it, bring me more Adele” treatment. But that’s where one Onika Maraj sits right now. And it’s fascinating. Mostly because it speaks as much about fandom and fame as it does about her.

To be fair, it’s all her own fault. I don’t know what it is about artists and this belief in their creative vision above all else. Look, I’ve arted plenty of sh*t in my day. Granted, I’m not one iota on the level of a Madonna, Lady Gaga, or Nicki Minaj, but I’ve also never been so far gone in my thoughts or conviction that I couldn’t be talked down off the insanity ledge. At the end of the day, pop stars need fans. That’s the root of “pop”- fandom. Why these artists risk all of their fans by creating confusing art work, music, and images is beyond me. Then again, that could be why I’m typing this from an orangutan’s layer because my wireless stopped working when my next door neighbor moved. Or went to prison. It’s one or the other.

Anyway, so Nicki Minaj was on top of the pop world and working her way into becoming a Black Lady Gaga. Young white kids knew Nicki. And still do obviously. And then she starts getting weirder and weirder. But she’s made it through an album cycle. It’s time to release new music.

She drops “Roman In Moscow”. And no, you don’t remember it. It sucked. Then came the video banned by BET “Stupid Hoe”. Another clunker. It was perhaps unfairly banned by BET but for once I’ve got to give the station credit for taking a stance that wasn’t all the way stupid. Granted, it’s BET. But moving on. The true test turns out to be YouTube where folks actually don’t like it, despite its sexual innuendo and Nicki wearing nothing. Sounds like a win. Except it wasn’t.

Then comes the motherf*cking Grammy Awards where she shows up with enough sacrilege to make Mel Gibson jealous. Seriously, what’s with Black women artists and trying to piss of Catholics? Don’t they know that Catholics are the real Illuminati!!! Didn’t anybody read the DaVinci Code?? Oh yeah, everbody did. So again, what’s with Black women artists trying to piss of Catholics? It’s bad enough that Lauryn Hill chastised the pope IN THE VATICAN! Then Nicki decides to run thru the Grammy’s with more questionable religiuos symbolism than two Satanists trying to build a Baptist church.

And here’s the interesting thing: people probably wouldn’t be so down on her antics if the music was any good. Ask R. Kelly or Chris Brown. You can piss on little girls and beat chicks senseless but as long as you keep spitting that hot fire like Dylan you can stay winning. But her performance at the Grammy’s for “Roman Reloaded” was so terrible that you were forced to listen to the song which, badaboom badabing, sucked more donkey nuts than Donkey Kong at his mistress’s house.

The backlash was swift and vengeant. No clue if vengeant is a real word or not. I got no red lines though, kimo. I feel by this point most people were kind of in their “take her or leave her” mood. See, she’s a musician first and her music sucking makes it hard to want to deal with her nincompoopery. Plus, she’s a pop star so while she’s on the way up, she’s also part of the disposable crew of artists. A pop artist’s only hope is to transcend music to such a point that people forget that you haven’t released music for eons but they still love you. She ain’t there yet.

THEN comes the ultimate slap in the face. “Starships”. It’s one hundred percent pandering. Not only does it sound like EVERY OTHER song that’s been on the radio in the past year (think “Buy U A Drink” by T-Pain, except the opposite of how good that song was) except it isn’t good and sounds like a forced attempt at reclaiming radio. It may work. Like I said, it sounds like every other song out there. But it prompted Peter Rosenberg to call her a sellout. And he’s right. Then again, as a pop star your goal is to sell out.

Have you noticed that I’ve only mentioned hip-hop once in this entire thing? I just noticed. That’s the biggest disappointment about her. Not that we’re all clamoring for a hip-hop siren of sorts, but she was dope. Now I couldn’t care less if Nicki Minaj dropped off the planet and never picked up a microphone again; her music has been the step right past lackluster and her persona has become annoying and uninteresting.

She’s trying too hard and we can all tell. She wants that pop success while maintaining her fanbase of 12-year old girls. Except when you go so far left, nobody can follow along. Next thing you know, you’re where Nicki is right now.

A fading pop star.

Nicki could stand to take some lessons from Lauryn Hill’s book. At least Lauryn really seems to have lost (and regained) her mind. Nicki is just making bad decisions. On purpose. Maybe she needs to piss on a little boy. Or beat up Drake. Then record a duet with him. Or something. But she needs to figure out who she wants to be.

Maybe Pink Friday track 6 was a request, not just a song.

Nicki Minja? Give thee any f*cks? Did you and did you lose thine f*cks?

Talk to me.

-VSB P aka THE ARSONIST aka MR. HOW DO YOU DO THAT SH*T aka GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRL HE A 3

Peep the flyer for the party in DC this Saturday, also serving as the official afterparty for The Musicianship Diane Grainger Tribute featuring Afro Blue (cop tickets now! I’ll be there)…holla at ya hustla!

 

Feeling Bad For Bobby, and More Thoughts About Whitney Houston’s Funeral

Posted on by
234

1. There’s absolutely no rhyme or reason to the way I react when hearing about a person dying. None whatsoever. It’s completely unpredictable, completely arbitrary, and completely dependent on… whatever the hell it’s dependent on. I have absolutely no clue, and I’ve stopped trying to figure it out. There have been times when a one paragraph long news story about some random area murder induced tears and haunted me for weeks, and other times when family members have passed and the only time I got worked up was when I forced myself to get worked up because I felt bad that I hadn’t.

This “reaction unpredictability” extends to celebrities as well. I felt nothing when Michael Jackson — a person who I was a huge fan of — died, but the deaths of Amy Winehouse — a person I was “eh” about — and Patrice O’Neal still resonate with me. I still can’t listen to “Rehab” or watch “Elephant in The Room” without getting chills.

Knowing how unpredictable I can be about this should make me immune to surprise. I mean, If I’m capable of any reaction, there shouldn’t be a reaction that surprises me. Despite this, I was (and still am) surprised at how affected I was by the news of Whitney Houston’s death (When first clicking the TMZ link to the news of her death, I literally stared at my monitor with my mouth agape for two minutes and could see my heart beating through my shirt) and how interested I was in the goings-on (and the public’s feelings about the goings-on) of her funeral.

Although I wasn’t able to catch the first hour and a half or so (I started watching when Stevie Wonder was singing), I sat there captivated like I was watching the 4th quarter of game seven of the NBA finals. And, as if this captivation wasn’t enough, I logged on to Twitter and Facebook to basically give myself a sensory overload.

I don’t know what any of this means, or why I even felt the need to share it. I don’t know. I do know that it’s been (over) a week and I’m still surprised that I still don’t feel any different.

2. There have been myriad different accounts of the events that led to Bobby Brown leaving (or getting kicked out of) Whitney’s funeral, so I won’t go into any of them. I will say, though, that I feel worse for him than for anyone else who was in Whitney’s life. Losing your ex-wife (a woman I’m sure he still loved and may have still been in love with) is bad enough, but being the popular scapegoat for the decades-long spiral leading to her early death has to be a bitch of a burden to carry. History will not look kindly on him. Regardless of what he does for the rest of his life, his primary legacy will be that he, to put it bluntly, killed Whitney Houston.

Now, whether this legacy is actually fair is another question. We assume that Bobby was the bad influence, but while Whitney was America’s Sweetheart, she wasn’t exactly an angel herself. Also, as influential as Clive Davis was reported to be in her life, who’s to say that he didn’t have a hand in her downfall?

Obviously, this is all speculation. None of us know exactly what led to Whitney’s substance abuse problems. And, since none of us know, perhaps we should place a collective moratorium on “Blame Bobby.”

3. I happened to be at my parent’s house when the funeral was being aired. When R.Kelly came to the podium, all three of us said “Wait. Is that R.Kelly???” at the exact same time. No bullsh*t.

And (in my best Forrest Gump voice), “That’s all I’m going to say about that.”

4. I know many people had an issue with some of the “So, America, make sure you’re recording so you can see how these exotic-ass Negros celebrate the dead” -ey comments from some of the non-black members of the news media covering the event. In particular, Piers Morgan sounded like he was covering at an event at Jurassic Park.

I didn’t have a problem with this, though. I mean, aside from random Nike commercials and Tyler Perry movies (which white people don’t watch anyway), this probably was the first time many of them had seen a homegoing at a black baptist church, and I think most of the non-white reporters found the proper mix of reverence, respect, and curiosity.

Also, aside from the celebrities involved, Whitney’s ceremony wasn’t all that atypical. Seriously, if you substituted “random white co-worker who seems out of place but makes up for it with a poignant speech” for “Kevin Costner,” “aunt who does her thing on the organ even though she tends to forget words to certain songs” for “Stevie Wonder,” and “neighborhood family who no one wants to fight because there’s like 25737848 of those motherf*ckers and you know if you fight one, you’ll have to fight them all” for “The Winans,” this funeral was probably exactly like any other baptist funeral any one reading this has ever been to.

5. I’m not sure if the fact that I simultaneously ”experienced” the funeral with over a thousand others on Twitter — all with their own running commentary about the event — was a good or a bad thing. Actually, I’m pretty certain it’s neither. It’s not disrespectful or distant or progressive or indicative of anything, either. It just is. That’s just the way we deal with things today. While other generations had their own forms of collective consumption, we just do it in real time.

6. So, ever since a certain post I wrote a few weeks ago, I’ve been more willing to let certain people take a look at articles I write before I submit them, just in case they pick up on something that I may have missed. Don’t fret. You’re not going to get a neutered Champ or anything. This is something I’ve always done. Just do it a little more often now.

Anyway, last Friday, I let one of these friends see an article I wrote for Ebony about Chris Brown. That article contained a somewhat off-color joke about Tyler Perry. Her response:

“I dont usually discourage Tyler Perry jabs, but this m**therf**er just flew Whitney Houston’s body to her family in his private jet. HE ALWAYS DOES THIS SH*T. Like, whenever I want to take a shot at him, he adopts some orphan or saves a kitten or some sh*t and makes me feel bad afterwards. Anyway, you should probably leave that out.”

I (reluctantly) listened.

—Damon Young (aka “The Champ”) 

***Oh, check out the Chris Brown piece I just referenced — “The (Biggest) Problem with Chris Brown isn’t Chris Brown” — if you get a chance. (#teambreezy, beware)***

Also, don’t forget about the VSB/Urban Cusp discussion on Black Identity & Culture in Mass Media panel coming up on Wednesday, February 22, 2012 from 6-8PM at the Washington Post Buildling. It’s going to be a dope conversation, I promise. Plus you can hang with Panama Jackson and throw things at people. It’s free and food will be provided. Not like half chickens or nothing, but finger foods and whatnot. See you there. Peep the flyer below.