Kayne Apologizes, VMA video clips & More Related

Kanye West didn’t even wait until the next morning to apologize for his bizarre behavior during Taylor Swift’s Best Female Video win at last night’s MTV Video Music Awards. And judging by the photos below, it seems Kanye had a bit of liquid encouragement prior to his controversial crash.

West’s apology post read as follows in full: “I’M SOOOOO SORRY TO TAYLOR SWIFT AND HER FANS AND HER MOM. I SPOKE TO HER MOTHER RIGHT AFTER AND SHE SAID THE SAME THING MY MOTHER WOULD’VE SAID. SHE IS VERY TALENTED! I LIKE THE LYRICS ABOUT BEING A CHEERLEADER AND SHE’S IN THE BLEACHERS! …………………… I’M IN THE WRONG FOR GOING ON STAGE AND TAKING AWAY FROM HER MOMENT!…………….. BEYONCE’S VIDEO WAS THE BEST OF THIS DECADE!!!! I’M SORRY TO MY FANS IF I LET YOU GUYS DOWN!!!! I’M SORRY TO MY FRIENDS AT MTV. I WILL APOLOGIZE TO TAYLOR 2MRW. WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD!!!! EVERYBODY WANNA BOOOOO ME BUT I’M A FAN OF REAL POP CULTURE!!! NO DISRESPECT BUT WE WATCHIN’ THE SHOW AT THE CRIB RIGHT NOW CAUSE … WELL YOU KNOW!!!! I’M STILL HAPPY FOR TAYLOR!!!! BOOOYAAAWWWW!!!! YOU ARE VERY VERY TALENTED!!! I GAVE MY AWARDS TO OUTKAST WHEN THEY DESERVED IT OVER ME… THAT’S WHAT IT IS!!!!!!! I’M NOT CRAZY YALL, I’M JUST REAL. SORRY FOR THAT!!! I REALLY FEEL BAD FOR TAYLOR AND I’M SINCERELY SORRY!!! MUCH RESPECT!!!!!”

Cool Black's Mad Commentary: Kanye should be censored by congress.

NEW

Kanye apologizes on the Jay Leno Show the day after the VMAs (9-14-09)

There was some music last night as well. Below is the Michael Jackson open, the Taylor Swift performance about 5 minutes after the Kanye bumrush, the Jay-Z finale and the trailer for the Michael Jackson film.

Not really a fan of Taylor Swift, but I REALLY enjoyed her performance.

You can watch more videos of the VMAs at http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/2009/
And also-
Kanye West's Televised Meltdowns: A Video Compilation

Tyler Perry leads box office for 2nd time in 2009

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Prolific filmmaker Tyler Perry (pictured left) scored his second No. 1 movie of the year at the North American box office on Sunday, leading a weak field of newcomers in what is traditionally one of the industry's slowest weekends.

Perry's latest family comedy, "I Can Do Bad All By Myself," sold $24 million worth of tickets during the three days beginning Friday, distributor Lionsgate said.

The writer-producer-director-actor, whose low-budget films are popular among black women, did better in February with "Madea Goes to Jail," which opened to a personal best of $41 million. But exactly a year ago, Perry's "The Family That Preys" opened to $17 million. The two most recent films starred Perry's alter ego Madea, a pistol-packing granny.

Jay-Z: The Blueprint III REVIEW

I bought Press Play by Diddy because of the hot single (Come to Me with Nicole Scherzinger) and he knows what a hot beat sounds like. I liked and appreciated the album because of the hot beats and the varying different styles.

You don’t buy a Puffy, (you can call him Diddy) album for the lyrical skill. You thought this was a review for The Blueprint III? It is bear with me. The first time I listened to this album that’s who I thought of, Puffy. While the lyrical skill is quite evident I thought the production was all over the place. In other words varied. Variety is cool on a Puffy album because that’s what you are listening for. Something to entertain. While it is hip-hop it’s more “hip-pop” and that’s fine, again I liked the album.

When you buy a Jay-Z album you look for HIP HOP. While Jay has been “mainstream” for years I was expecting a harder edge. I guess the Jay-Z of Reasonable Doubt, Hard Knock Life, Blueprint [1] and The Black Album is gone (gotten old? I didn’t say that).

Now I got that off of my chest, this is still a good album and while only one third of the tracks are HOT (5 out of the 15 tracks) all of it is “listenable”. D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune), released as the first single of the album in June, seems more like a statement than a hot song. The last two songs on the album don’t really work either. Jay-Z has an amusing track Hate (Featuring Kanye West) that at 2:31 can be considered an interlude though not listed as such.

Jay had superstar producers like No ID (D.O.A.), Swizz Beats (On To the Next One), Kanye West (Run This Town), The Neptunes (So Ambitious) but one of my favorite tracks was produced by someone I never heard of (Empire State of Mind) by a producer named Shux. The most prolifically HOT producer on this album wasn’t Kanye, but Timbaland. Timbaland produced the bangers Off That (Featuring Drake) and Venus VS. Mars. But enough of me talking about the production here is track list and what’s HOT.

Because the lyrical skill is still above reproach, for the first time in my reviews, I’m going to provide links to all of the tracks. (*All links go to an external site and I can’t guarantee the accuracy of the lyrics)

1. What We Talkin’ About (feat. Luke Steele (Of Empire Of The Sun))
2. Thank You
3. D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune)
4. Run This Town (feat. Rihanna & Kanye West) HOT
5. Empire State Of Mind (feat. Alicia Keys) HOT
6. Real As It Gets (feat. Young Jeezy)
7. On To The Next One (feat. Swizz Beatz) HOT
8. Off That (feat. Drake) HOT
9. A Star Is Born (feat. J. Cole)
10. Venus Vs. Mars HOT
11. Already Home (feat. Kid Cudi)
12. Hate (feat. Kanye West)
13. Reminder
14. So Ambitious (feat. Pharrell)
15. Young Forever (feat. Mr Hudson)

Jay-Z-Kingdom Come REVIEW

Below is a review I initially published Dec. 22, 2006 4:41 PM

As the Jigga man so aptly put it in the title track from his album "I don't know what life may be in H-I-P-H-O-P without your boy H-O-V."

Yes Hov is back. (For the unititated "Hov" is short for "J-Hova" like Jehovah for he is a "god of rap".) Is this a HOT album? Yes. Are ALL the tracks HOT? No. So what's hot?

Come on
it wouldn't be a Cool Black Review
without me doin what I do
Lettin you know the hot tracks
what is whack
what is hot-not
if the album you should cop
now back to this current review
can a brother get through?

(That sounds better with a slammin' beat in the background. (o_O)

Jay-Z still has the best flow in rap. His flow is flawless. It took me a while to get used to some of the beats though. I would like for them to release this album in acapella like they did The Black Album so I can hear his "flawless flow" without all the instrumentation. The best beats on the album are from super producer Just Blaze. The tracks "Oh My God", "Kingdom Come" and the first single "Show Me What You Got" were produced by "Mr. Blaze" and they do just that…just blaze.

You can usually count on The Neptunes to hook Hov up with a hot beat…not this time the song they produce "Anything" (featuring Usher & Pharrell) just doesn't work. Dr. Dre comes through on "Lost One", but doesn't on "Minority Report". "Minority Report" is Jay-Z's attempt at a "conscious rap" that falls short. 'Report' is produced by Dr. Dre and has the new ubiquitous king of rap hooks Ne-Yo, but it still isn't all that good. The Kanye West produced track "Do U Wanna Ride" (featuring John Legend) is only ok. It's not bad, but it isn't HOT. "Hollywood" is a good radio friendly companion to the radio friendly "Show Me What You Got" is with girlfriend Beyonce. The album closer "Beach Chair" is a subdued laid back track and nice album closer.

1. The Prelude
2. Oh My God-HOT
3. Kingdom Come-HOT
4. Show Me What You Got-HOT

5. Lost One featuring Chrisette Michele-HOT
6. Do U Wanna Ride featuring John Legend -warm
7. 30 Something
8. I Made It-warm
9. Anything featuring Usher & Pharrell
10. Hollywood featuring Beyonce-HOT

11. Trouble
12. Dig A Hole featuring Sterling Simms
13. Minority Report featuring Ne-Yo
14. Beach Chair featuring Chris Martin

Five out of 14 tracks were HOT. Less than half the tracks being HOT sounds bad, but with 2 warm tracks and the above-mentioned "flawless flow" it's still a HOT album.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2009 Retrospect: Okay it wasn't a HOT album, but I still stand behind the tracks I thought were HOT back then.

Ne-Yo-Because of You REVIEW

Below is a repost of a review I previously published on Jun 29, 2007, 4:56 PM

Ne-Yo-Because of You

For a while there it seemed like Ne-Yo was poised to become the next Nate Dogg singing hooks for rap artists like Ghost Face Killah (Back Like That) and Remy Ma (Feels So Good). He could have been construed as the next Babyface writing hit songs for the likes of Mario (Let Me Love You), Rihanna (Unfaithful) and Beyonce (Irreplaceable), but he was also co-starring in movies (Stomp The Yard (Good movie)). I guess doing all that he was also working on this new album Was it worth it? Not really.

The duet Leaving Tonight with Jennifer Hudson is ok, but never really gets off the ground because of the mediocre melody and uneven vocal styles. Jennifer simply outsings Ne-Yo on her vocals. Jennifer is such a powerful singer that it may take someone like the late great Gerald LeVert to match her vocally not an "airy" vocalist like Ne-Yo. Sex With My Ex has all the drum machine and electric synths of a Prince song. This "homage" to Prince does not succeed like other homages to Prince a la Diddy's Last Night (featuring Keyshia Cole) and just falls flat.

The "warm" Say It has an ethereal almost operatic hook and like many of the songs I designated as "warm" could probably be HOT given enough radio play, but right now...no.

The best song on the album is Do You and is already getting air play. It's pretty much alone among a lot of mediocre songs. I think next time he should keep the good stuff at home and stop spreading it around town. As usual here are all the tracks that I think are HOT, warm, or not.

1. Because Of You-HOT
2. Crazy (feat. JAY-Z) warm
3. Can We Chill
4. Do You -HOT
5. Addicted
6. Leaving Tonight (feat. Jennifer Hudson)
7. Ain't Thinking About You
8. Sex With My Ex
9. Angel
10. Make It Work- warm
11. Say It-warm
12. Go On Girl-warm

I reviewed Ne-Yo's better first album, but never posted it. Below are the tracks that are HOT.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ne-Yo-In My Own Words

1. Stay-HOT
2. Let Me Get This Right-HOT
3. So Sick-HOT
4. When You're Mad-HOT
5. It Just Ain't Right
6. Mirror
7. Sign Me Up
8. I Ain't Gotta Tell You
9. Get Down Like That-HOT
10. Sexy Love-HOT
11. Let Go-HOT
12. Time
13. Get Down Like That Remix (Featuring Ghost Face Killah)

Chris Brown: Changed Man

Chris Brown song 'Changed Man': Is it an apology to Rihanna - and an attempt to get her back?
By Jim Farber

August 27th 2009

Is Chris Brown (pictured left) a changed man?

The R&B singer tries to make that argument in a new single, called, funnily enough, "Changed Man."

"Ima make it up to you / and show the world / I'm a changed man," Brown sings. "And everybody hates Chris / They can never understand / so can we love? / can we love again?"

One stanza would seem to have Brown imagining a possible future with ex-girlfriend Rihanna. "This ain't over / it ain't over," he sings. "I remember your touch / God I miss u so much / please believe me / Baby I'm sorry."

Then again, the 20-year-old star allows that simply apologizing won't make up for his past behavior. "Saying I'm sorry / doesn't make it all right," Brown sings. "I know / I know / But I believe that we can make it."

Brown's record company has not formally released "Changed Man" as a single. But the self-issued song has gone viral on line, and has also gotten some play on both satellite and terrestrial radio.

Silvio Pietroluongo, director of charts for Billboard, told AccessHollywood.com that a handful of radio stations across the country have been spinning the single. The most plays come out of Philadelphia's WPHI-FM 100.3 The Beat, which has spun the song 53 times in the last seven days, according to Pietroluongo.

Still, he believes that exposure in certain sectors wouldn't be enough to make a hit. "While 'Changed Man' does move from No. 99 to No. 64 on the latest Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, the chance of it becoming a high-charting hit is slim," he commented. "The amount of stations playing the song is minimal at the moment, and since the track was released without the involvement of Brown's record label and is not considered an 'official single,' sustained airplay growth is unlikely."

Opinions among fans of the song's sentiment have been mixed. One YouTube user wrote, "Beautiful apology … let the world know Chris … still got love for you." But another said, "Rihanna shouldn't go back to him."

The new single isn't Brown's only attempt to clean up his image. The R&B star has granted Larry King his first interview since his infamous February 8th arrest, and E.T. revealed some details about the sit-down, which will air Wednesday Sept. 2nd at 6 p.m. on CNN.

The R&B star spoke to King at CNN's studios in Los Angeles, joined by his mother Joyce Hawkins and his attorney Mark Geragos.

E.T. reports that Brown's mother got very emotional and started to cry during the interview.

Brown was officially sentenced for his assault on Rihanna on Tuesday afternoon.

You can listen to the song below

**Previous related blog entries:

Chris Brown Apologizes For Rihanna Assault In New Video

Chris Brown/Rihanna Re-enactment

LAPD Details Rihanna Beating

Chris Brown drama 2009

Whitney Houston on Oprah Season Premiere

Whitney Houston grants TV interview to Winfrey
(AP)

NEW YORK — After a long absence from music, Whitney Houston (Pictured left) is staging a much-hyped career comeback with an appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

Houston will be Winfrey's first guest as the talk-show queen launches her 24th season on Sept. 14. According to her Web site, Oprah.com, Winfrey calls Houston's appearance "the most anticipated music interview of the decade."

The 46-year-old superstar hasn't done a major TV interview since 2002, when she addressed questions about her drug use from ABC's Diane Sawyer. (Where she infamously stated "Crack is whack"-Cool Black)

Houston is releasing her new album, "I Look to You," on Aug. 31.

She is one of the best-selling artists of all time, but her career stalled as she battled drugs and endured a troubled marriage to Bobby Brown.