Curators of Cool.: October 2010

10.30.2010

Every Halloween I think of this video

*DEAD* @ Bushwick Bill's flying midget punch at the 3:52 mark.

10.29.2010

10.27.2010

The monotony of life is getting to me.

I honestly feel like I wake up and do the exact same thing everyday. On some Groundhog's Day shit for real. I feel like I'm sleeping and I need to wake the fuck up.

Excitement, where art thou?

10.25.2010

I finally got to watch Kanye's new movie "Runaway" the other night. I have mixed feelings on it. First off, the opening scene was dope as fuck. The track that accompanies the scene, Dark Fantasy, is ridiculous.

How you say broke in spanish? Me no hablo...
So much head, woke up in Sleepy Hollow

Damn.

If you'd like to watch the movie, it's available below.

As for the rest of the movie, I understood the parallels that Kanye was trying to dry between his own life/career and the Phoenix. I thought some of the dialogue was corny, well I guess just one line in particular, "First rule in this world baby, don't pay attention to anything you see in the news." I dunno why, I just hated that line. Maybe it was the "baby". I felt like the music, the colors, the camera angles, the locations, they all told the story perfectly. There was almost no need for dialogue.

I loved how the colors and the music matched perfectly.
Besides the opening scene, I think my favorite scene was the dinner scene. The way the soul sample for "Devil in a New Dress" comes in and in walks Kanye in his beige and black tux with a fine ass Phoenix on his arm. Leave it to Kanye to always raise the bar. Everybody in the room got a female with them and this nigga walks in with a fuckin' PHOENIX. *blank stare from everyone*

I'm still not very crazy about the song "Runaway". I like the message and the lyrics, but the delivery is still a little off to me. However, I love the elegance and the flare that the ballerinas display and how precise the whole piano scene is.

I liked the foreshadowing shown by the silhouette of Kanye and the Phoenix against the clouds right before the love scene on the roof. Kind of like the calm before the storm. The music from "Lost in The World" grows with passion as Kanye and the Phoenix make love for what will be the last time before he awakens to find her gone.

The last scene brings us full circle as Kanye is now sprinting back into the very forest he found the Phoenix, once again engulfed in flames, but this time taking flight instead of crash landing. The Phoenix gives one last sorrowful glance towards Earth before blasting off into the sky.

Overall, I'd say it was a great work of art. It shows how far ahead Kanye is of not just hip-hop, but music as a whole. The man is a visionary, a true artist. Not a recording artist, and artist. Kanye has a way of telling a story as it's never been told through any medium that is made available to him. I look forward to hearing his new album My Dark Twisted Fantasy.

random thoughts:
- I didn't realize how much of a banger Selita Ebanks is before watching this. I mean, duh, I knew she was a VS model but wow, she's stunning.
- I dunno if the "home" scenes were shot in Kanye's actual house but I loved to minimalism of the living room.
- Did that giant Michael Jackson head creep anyone else out?
- Kanye isn't a racist. Everyone (including myself) thought the fact that all of the guests at the dinner scene were white, and that all the servers were white, was racially charged. In a post-movie interview with MTV, Kanye told Sway that the scene writer for that segment was a white female and she used the two different races purely for the contrast.
- I loved the British Nicki Minaj at the beginning. But then again, I love British accents.
- I don't really care for the name "My Dark Twisted Fantasy" for the album, but as long as the music's good right?

10.24.2010

Who remembers this?

This reminds me of when NERD first got big. They were droppin all these #guddagudda ass beats. Shit blew my mind. Whatever happened to Fam-Lay? I guess with a name like that you don't stick around very long. Check out Pharrell rockin' cargos and a polo in the projects. Juxtaposition my ass.

10.22.2010

RZA

I've been really gettin' into RZA lately [PAUSE]. I never really fucked with Wu-Tang until I started to listen to more of Ghostface's stuff, then more of Raekwon's stuff, now I'm slowly getting into RZA's stuff, mainly his production. Shit is craaazy. I really like the whole kung-fu/far east asian sound to a lot of his beats.

CONGRATULATIONS.

The Rangers have come a looong way. World Series bound. Texas or eat a dick.

the unknown

it makes me scared and excited all at the same time. more on this later.

10.21.2010

LOL

10.19.2010

Realest shit I've heard in a minute.

I usually don't fuck with gritty rap like this.. But there's way too much passion and pain in these lyrics for me to overlook it. I've listened to this at least 15 times now.

and ya' momma low 'diiine
she just doin' everything to hurt me right now
why? cause i don't love her like i used to
so to get back at me she know she gotta use you
and i dunno what else to do
she don't understand that this shit will bruise you too.

damn.
Let that man see his "chaaald!"

Sometimes

I feel like God makes small gestures to remind us he's there. They don't hafta be things like saving us from a horrible car wreck or anything life-altering. Just little things. Today, as I was walking home from the gym, I get to the parking lot and I thought I saw someone waving out the corner of my eye. I almost dismissed it as someone possibly waving at someone behind me, but for some reason I looked over, and it was a cute little old man. Just waving his little heart out with this big ol' smile on his face. I couldn't help but to smile and wave back. This man didn't know me, and I sure didn't know him but that small little gesture, the genuine happiness and kindness that he displayed by simply waving, that really made my day. I think God does things like that to make sure our hearts don't grow cold from how cruel the world can sometimes be.

Thanks.

10.18.2010

11.09.10

Man on the Moon II finally lands in stores. I'm soooo excited. It's crazy how a year ago, I was this man's biggest hater and now I'm probably one of his biggest fans. G.O.O.D music in this bitch wussuuuuup

Massive Attack.

People ask me

why i dont blog that much. well, why i dot write that much. Lately, I've found that its easier for me to describe how I'm feeling via music and pictures. Is that weird? I mean I can just fill up a page with words but I would be writing just to write. I think I just get that itch to write every once in a while. I wish I was ALWAYS inspired like my dear friend Morgan but for people such as myself, I kinda wander in and out of "my zone". So there's your answer.

tankgirl.

this is so dope to me.
the bottom one kinda reminds me of the cover for the new N.E.R.D album "Nothing".
The whole army helmet profile view.

Phoenix

it appalls me how some people CAN'T BE ALONE.
How are you going to find a healthy relationship with someone else if your relationship with yourself is lacking? Love yourself first, everyone else can wait.