All epically great music videos should contain at least eight of the following:

- Political incorrectness

- Weird juxtapositions

- Obscure and symbolic (NOT direct) references to at least one taboo sexual perversion or drug

- Mythical archetypes turned into high camp

- At least one prominently sparkly thing, even if it’s a B&W video (remember those Flock of Seagulls videos? That, but maybe less).

- Sunglasses. Or some type of interesting spectacles.

- Some tie-in with the lyrics, but not so much it becomes over-literal and fussy.

- Creative storyline (think Common and Mary J. Blige’s “Come Close to Me,” where Common proposes marriage to his deaf girlfriend he’s just had a fight with, by standing on her lawn drawing a cue-card rebus to go with the song lyrics)

- At least one tastefully tongue-in-cheek phallic or sexual symbol (my favorite: Devo’s “That’s Good”… that repeated cartoon of a french fry going into a doughnut)

- Twisted, campy references to classic films, novels, comics or anything that permeates our cultural consciousness

- At least one caricatured angry authority figure (parent, teacher, cop etc) (The Kinks, “Come Dancing”… Beastie Boyz, “Fight for your Right (to Party)”… this was more popular in the 80’s I think…)

- Exaggerated gestures and facial expressions (think anything Van Halen), or, conversely… studiously understated “cool” gestures (think Digable Planets, Snoop Dogg)

- Art that comes to life (optional)

- Food that comes to life (optional)

- Musical instruments that come to life (optional)

- Musical instruments that combust (please, just one is enough per video)

- At least one child, often cast into an ambiguously appropriate and ironic adult role (I love Jill Scott’s video for “Gimme,” where she’s a sexy nurse followed by sick children who suddenly can get up and dance)

- Awesome choreography (ALL MJ videos)

- References to insanity (Bjork “Violently Happy,” David Bowie “Look Back in Anger”)

- Irony, even unwitting irony

- Big hair, no hair, long hair, blue hair… some kind of hair extreme going on

- Disturbing visual imagery (optional, depending on song)

- Humor (less optional)

- Both of the above at once

- Dreamlike, smooth transitions between scenes

- Special effects only to fit the mood/narrative.

What is NOT necessary for a good music video:

- Booty close-ups

- Gratuitous sexuality

- Gratuitous and overdone special effects

- Maudlin, heavyhanded political memes and themes

- References to drugs and top-shelf sexual perversions without the slightest trace of irony

- Excessive instrument/hand close-ups

- Anything where the band plays on a beach, on top of a tall building, a mountain, a boat… (yawn… cliché alert… although I did love U2’s “Gloria” and Duran Duran’s “Rio” videos back in the 80’s)

- Choppy, jarring transitions

- Zooming in and out repeatedly (excuse me, some of us are epileptic)

- Words superimposed unnecessarily on footage, as if to provide visual Cliff’s Notes to the action (you’ll see a lot of this in French and African videos…)

- Excessive food references (I am still haunted, to this day, of that horrible Wall of Voodoo video from the 80’s where everyone is drowning in baked beans… not to mention INXS’s “The One Thing”)

- Any, any, any form of pixelized or other cheesy image fades… except when done to create a mock 80’s effect.

- Too many women in one video… destroys the narrative effect

- Humans morphing into ferocious wild animals… biggest video cliché on the planet (think Sade)

- Sentimentality or over-seriousness about romance… unless you’re making karaoke videos (think Alicia Keys)

- Any form of leopard-skin print clothing, Greek columns (unless used ironically, as in Soft Cell’s magnificent, insanely perfect video for “Tainted Love” which contains just about every video “DO” listed above)

- Any visual imagery so completely disgusting or disturbing that people can’t even watch it. That differs for everyone… for example, I think Aphex Twin’s “Rubber Johnny” and “Come to Daddy” videos are fantastic, but they disturb me too much to watch them. I get nightmares.

- Over-selfconsciousness, narcissistic imagery (most rap videos…)

- Over-fixation on the symbols of luxury and wealth (ditto, although many 80’s videos were guilty of this distraction from good-video content as well)

- Over-repeated samples

- Distasteful focus on death or body functions

- Meaningless, weird or random stock photo footage that doesn’t fit the mood of the song

- Footage that is very obviously stock footage

- Special effects that can quickly be named by anyone who knows the editing software

- Destroying more than two cars, three guitars, or one building… kids are starving in Africa, man. Do you really need to blow up four guitars??

- Obviously underage girls (or boys) in sexually compromising situations

- Cheesy metaphors for sexual body parts (think Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back”)

Anyone want to add to this list?

R&B TASTE TEST VOL 7

verse simmonds, jim jones, beyonce, lady gaga, mary j blige and more

I GOT MINES IN 2009 VOL 7

red cafe, sheek louch, joel ortiz, freeway, beanie sigel and more

www.myspace.com/djleggs

www.twitter.com/djleggs

Check out the official album cover for Mary J Blige’s latest effort Stronger With Each Tear (formerly titled Stronger). She looks gorgeous with such simplicity and emotions on her face. I say, great cover. The new album hits stores on December 21st. In the meanwhile, be on the lookout for the video for the record’s new single I Am, which will be debuting any day now.

100 Percent – a song sung by Mariah Carey was supposed to serve as the lead single for the movie Precious, but it was later replaced with a Mary J. Blige song, I Can See In Color due to the fact that director Lee Daniels wanted to focus on Mariah’s acting and not her voice. Can’t wait for the soundtrack – hopefully it’ll have the same standards as Waiting To Exhale Soundtrack or better…

Download Mariah’s 100 percent here and Mary J.Blige theme song to Precious, I Can See In Color here . Listen to both and let me know which song do think is more suitable as the theme song to Precious.

Here is the offical cover art for Mary J. Blige new album Stronger With Each Tear which hits stores December 21.Mary looks nice on this cover hopefully she delivers on this album

Mary J. Blige has unveiled the cover art for her next album Stronger With Each Tear (December 21st).

Loves it.

Mary J. Blige – I Am The One

Hosted By: DJ 2Mello, MixtapeKings, Miami-Kaos

Tracklist:

01. It’s Mary (DJ Sean Intro)
02. My Influences
03. Be With You [Feat. Lauryn Hill]
04. Love Don’t Live Here Anymore [Feat. Faith Evans]
05. Rainy Days [Feat. Ja Rule]
06. I Can Love You Better [Feat. Lil Kim]
07. Love Is All We Need [Feat. Foxy Brown]
08. Sincerity [Feat. DMX and NAS]
09. Mary Jane [Feat. LL Cool J]
10. Round and Round [Feat. Big Pun]
11. Whats The 411 [Feat. Grand Puba]
12. Love Is All We Need Pt 2 [Feat. Nas]
13. We Ride
14. I Love You [Feat. Smif N Wessun]
15. When I’m In The Zone
16. No More Drama [Feat. Notorious BIG]
17. You Don’t Have To Worry [Feat. Craig Mack]
18. Your Child [Feat. Ghostface Killa]
19. Enough Crying [Feat. A.P.]
20. Best Friend [Feat. 50 Cent]
21. Fade Away [Feat. Lil Wayne and 50 Cent]
22. Deep Inside [Feat. Mobb Deep]
23. Not Today [Feat Eve]

The mixtape grind is continuous and if you let up you lose momentum. DJ 2Mello knows this and shows and proves with another exclusive Mixtapekings.com project. This time out the box he brings that exclusive Mary J. Blige and those classic 90s remixes from the Bad Boy days.

Pre-Order Now @ MixtapeKings

Shakira (32l.)  niestety nie zdobyła żadnej statuetki.

Zobacz kto jeszcze zawitał i jak wyglądał na American Music Awards 2009 !

Rihanna (21l.)  i jej niezwykła suknia. Piosenkarka nie była nominowana w żadnej z kategorii ale zagrała świetny występ !

Kate Hudson (30l.)  oczywiście nie śpiewała.

Jennifer Lopez (40l.) również zaliczyła udany powrót

Carrie Underwood (26l.)

Tym razem to nie Nicole (42l.) wygrała tylko jej mąż, muzyk country, Keith Urban (42l.)  który dostał nagrodę w kategorii Najlepszy artysta Country.

Selena Gomez (17l)

Alicia Keys (28l.)

Jej zespół The Black Eyed Peas zdobyło aż dwie statuetki : Najlepszy zespół, duet lub grupa pop-rock  oraz Najlepszy zespół, duet lub grupa Soul-R&B

Demi Lovato (17l.)  prawie bez makijażu

Leona Lewis (24l.)

Kristen Bell (29l.)

Mary J.Blige (38l.)

We’re late as hell with the AMA pics but better late than never.  No write up necessary given that most of you probably seen the show.  We’ll just post a few pics.  What did you think about RiRi’s outfit?

More pics when you

Michael Jackson se convirtió en el gran ausente de la noche, pero no por ello dejó de ganar cuatro premios de los cinco a los que estaba nominado recogidos por su hermano Jermaine Jackson. Eso sí, la cantante de country Taylor Swift superó el éxito del fallecido cantante al marchar a casa con cinco galardones de los seis a los que estaba nominada (incluido el de “artista del año”).

Los American Music Awards (AMA), premios de la música estadounidense concedidos por los fans, cobraron vida anoche, en una gala celebrada el 22 de Noviembre que no estuvo exenta de sorpresas. Por ejemplo, Lady Gaga destrozó su escenografía e incendió el escenario durante su actuación.

Me dio la sensación de que en esta edición hubo mucha más actuación en vivo que otros años, en algunos casos algunos iban seguidos, incluso. Janet Jackson,  Shakira, Kelly Clarkson, Alicia Keys (que subió dos veces al escenario) y Jay-Z, The Black Eyed Peas, Rihanna, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer López, Whitney Houston, Eminem, Green Day y Adam Lambert (que cerró la gala) fueron algunos de los que se subieron al escenario para dar espectáculo, sin menospreciar la presencia de los presentadores que también hicieron por amenizar la gala.

Volviendo a los premiados, otros de los alabados durante la gala fueron Black Eyed Peas y Jay-Z que se llevaron dos premios cada uno. Como era de esperar Crepúsculo se llevó el AMA a Mejor Banda Sonora.

Otra de las anécdotas de la noche fue la caída de Jennifer López, a quien le vino bien tener el trasero asegurado puesto que después de saltar tras subirse en las espaldas de uno de los bailarines no cayó cómo se suponía debía caer…

Eminem seguro que no ha dormido bien esta noche pues aún estando nominado a cuatro AMA, finalmente se fue con las manos vacías.

Si quieres ver la lista completa de ganadores no tienes más que pulsar sobre el enlace que te llevará al listado.

Wait up; you’re the one?

OK, I got these girls quite hype
Only thing on right now like a night light
Why my brother Wayne rockin out like a white stripe
I’ma kill the game, I’m the young money white Knight
Yep, plus I’m lookin for the right type
Cautious of a flood, so I always lay the right pipe
West put me on the mark… ??
Plus I go hard for the women that I might wife
I put the ring on the index finger
So if you wanna keep your girl, please don’t bring her
I bet that I’m the type of guy that she got a thing for
And you would block me but this aint Jenga
Yeah, and she’s someone I would work with
That’s what I can tell from what she showin on the surface
I’m aint sayin I’m requestin anyone that’s perfect
But I just need a woman that will make it all worth it

Last Nights 2009 AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS were by far the most entertaining they have been in years! I mean, where do I start? At The Beginning …

JANET JACKSON, baby sister of the King Of Pop, opened the show with an eight minute medley of her most popular classic hits, including her New joint Make Me. As always, Janet’s performance was great to see. However, the extra pounds she’s carrying made it difficult for her to execute her dance routine with the same precision she once did back in the day. Not that all hope is lost. She just needs to tone it up a bit & she’ll be right back where she needs to be.

Shakira; I liked her performance. But at times I was confused trying to figure out whether or not she was trying to stomp the yard. I don’t know, whatever she does always seems to work for her.

Black Eyed Peas are always on that High Energy Shit! If you aint ready to get up & aerobicize with them, I don’t know. I just didn’t know what to make of Will.I.Am’s hair. He had this James Brown/Elvis Presley thing that seemed to work for him. He’s another one who ALWAYS makes it work for him. He’s eccentric & I love it & it exemplifies what real Hip-Hop is all about- Telling your truth in your Own skin.

Jay-Z & Alicia Keys were BRILLIANT! I’ve had a Love/Hate Relationship with Jay since the inception of his career. Which is actually great if you think about it because most artist don’t have the longevity to hold the public’s interest to even matter to them. But on this joint I really feel like Jay can usher us in to Adult Contemporary Hip-Hop. You know, where you can be a grown man & still rep & celebrate the culture you helped build, without having to imitate some adolescent school boy. And adding Alicia to this mix was nothing short of Genius, seeing how that’s what she is! She adds s gritty edge + ‘hood sophistication which is making this a Huge crossover success. No other singer could have pulled this off & come up with the same results.

Rihanna made her “return” last night to the music scene, as ABC continually reminded us. She did great, she looked great ( I still could have done her hair), but I still feel as though she could have given us more. After her ordeal, she laid low in the cut and chilled. Then, when she finally spoke on it two weeks ago, I expected her to be able to move on in such a way that her return would be triumphant! Nah. She came with it, but something just didn’t connect. She needs to regroup, refocus, & REALLY come out swinging!

Lady Gaga- Man listen, I am really starting to feel her as an artist. But ya know, … I just never really know what to expect from her. Not that we should and that’s what sets her a part from the rest. She gives it 110% each & every time. But I must say that as a christian woman, I just always feel in the need of prayer around her. Grab your holy water & crucifix ’cause her presence makes me uneasy … but I like it!

J-Lo (crickets) (crickets) (crickets) Personally, I didn’t know she had anything New in rotation. The song is cute, but she just isn’t that “IT” girl any more. She used to be a “Fly Girl” on the hit Fox 5 variety show “In Living Color”. But last night, I saw her dancing with the stiff movements of someone battling arthritis. And when she fell …..
Good Night, that’s all she wrote.

Mary J. Blige- SUPERB! No propaganda, no frills, no bells & whistles. Just good old fashioned, solid, pure r&b singing. Mary has stood our test of time & has solidified her position as forever being the Queen Of Hip-Hop Soul!

Whitney Houston- LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! Whitney came back sounding Great & looked absolutely Stunning. May not have hit the high notes of her past, but she’s definitely not where the Haterz & NaySayers want her to be!

Eminem & 50 Cent performed, which was great to see … And that about it! I mean really, they did their thing. No Drama, No Extra Curricula Activity. They came to do what they promised, got their check & bounced.

Alicia Keys performed solo. Still BRILLIANT! Beautiful inside & out, nothing you can take away from her.

Timbaland ft. Nelly Furtado & So-Shy- (Takes Deep Breath) Tim, at one time was on some real health & fitness. Last Night, he looked like his cohort, Missy Elliott in her 1997 video “I Can’t Stand The Rain”. That’s about it. Nothing to see here. Keep it moving.

Adam Lambert- Okay, this SonBytch pissed me off. Gay or Straight, sometimes you just gotta know when to reel it in a little. Not everything is for everybody. Women & men Crawling around on the floor. Women in chains. For real Adam? For Real? He had this Elvis Presley meets Boy George thing going on that gave me a HeadAche. Totally inappropriate. Totally crossing a line. Small wonder “Boy Presley” did not win American Idol.

….. And that’s my recap. Good Day. God Bless. I’m Going Home.

-”The BklynBandette”. Mr. Hollywood’s Co-Defendant!

The American Music Awards were last night on ABC, and a whole lotta question marks were going on. From Janet Jackson’s opening to Adam Lambert’s rather “Rated X” performance, the AMA’s were entertainment and comedy at its best.

Janet Jackson opened with a medley of her hits, good performance. Check the vid below…

Lady Gaga never disappoints in giving bizarre performances and outfits, check her performance of the song “Bad Romance”..

Rihanna performed the “The Wait is Ova” and “Hard”…

And J.Lo was quite hype for her new song”Louboutins”(produced by Tricky Stewart, womp 4 this song). Minus the song and her falling 3:04 mark, its good to see J.Lo back in the music game performing.

For all that missed the closing performance, peep Adam Lambert’s performance, and pay attention to the 1:10 mark because its clearly not made for ABC tv.

The AMA’s also featured performances from Kelly Clarkson, Eminem, Green Day, Jay-z and Alicia Keys performed “Empire State of Mind” (ugghh this song, we get it NY!), and Mary J. Blige had a very simple, yet strong performance.

By: Sarah J

Do I really need to be fancy with the title here?

Here is a recap of last night’s festivities from BET news … http://www.bet.com/Music/news/musicnews_americanmusicawardsrecap_11.23.htm

PERFORMANCES

The 2009 American Music Awards crammed over 15 top-notch performances into three hours, making for some must-see TV. The late Michael Jackson won four awards, but the night’s biggest winner was Taylor Swift, who acknowledged the King of Pop in her acceptance speech: “Music has never been openly about competition and to even be mentioned in a category withMichael Jackson, who will be missed and loved forever, is an unimaginable honor,” said the 19-year-old country music star.

Plus, Janet Jackson opened the show with a medley of her greatest hits, Whitney Houston was presented with the International Artist Award, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys channeled Ol’ Blue Eyes, Timbaland and Nelly Furtado reunited onstage, Eminem and 50 Cent “Crack[ed] a Bottle,” and Jennifer Lopez tumbled, but did not crumble in her “Louboutins.”

Alicia Keys and Jay-Z

Lady Gaga

Mary J. Blige

Nelly Furtado