Off Beat

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Justin Bieber probably draws an excellent dick on a grease board

Posted by Rodney Carmichael on Wed, May 16, 2012 at 5:55 PM

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  • PEGGY SIROTA/GQ
A great GQ profile on Justin Bieber just hit the web today. In it, the writer Drew Magary uses the word "pederast," which sounds like "pedophile" but means something slightly different. I had to look it up.

It means "a person who engages in pederasty."

Don't you hate when the dictionary does that? Of course I had to look up "pederasty," and when I did on dictionary.com an ad for MySpace popped up, offering the perfect metaphor for the harsh reality Bieber is facing. Which is exactly what Magary's profile of Bieber is all about — you know, whether he'll survive teen pop idol stardom or die there, forever doomed to "Where Are They Now" episodes on VH1 or, worse yet, the life of Macaulay Culkin.

Remember when MySpace was huge and inescapable. Like Justin Bieber? Even if you hated it you had to acquiesce. Now MySpace is running ads on dictionary.com. I think I'll say a prayer for the Biebz tonight. That's when he puts in work — or play — according to Magary, who failed miserably at his mission to turn the well-cloistered, newly-turned 18-year old into a real man (no drinking and no titty bars, say his publicist) but gained some serious insight along the way. Like the fact that Bieber's handlers didn't want him to know that Bieber was probably the culprit behind the dicks drawn on the studio grease board. Or that Biebz admits to having had beer before, but says he's never lost control — because a manchild in his rare position must keep his industry guard up at all times. His struggle to be a real boy has been usurped by his label's mission — and, by extension, ours — to make him a man.

Oh, btw, pederasty, as defined by dictionary.com, is "sexual relations between two males, especially when one of them is a minor." Relax, it's just a metaphor.

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Friday, May 4, 2012

Childish Gambino is scared of ninjas

Posted by Rodney Carmichael on Fri, May 4, 2012 at 11:58 AM

Apparently even the restaurants in New York are on some ironic hipster shit. MTV's Rya Baker took Atlanta-bred comedian/actor/rapper Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino on a fake-date interview (love those) to some joint called Ninja that plays up just about every Asian stereotype in the book — using real Asians! But because they're in on the joke, you're allowed to laugh. In fact, they encourage it.

Anyway, we learn something new about what life was like for Gambino as a bambino. He grew up in Stone Mountain (knew that), and his mom ran a daycare so they had a bunch of foster kids. That explains so much.

He also talks about the broken foot that led to the cancellation of his scheduled Variety Playhouse show in Atlanta in March. (that's been rescheduled for June 10, btw.) Commitment issues come up when she asks him where he sees himself in five years. Rapping? Eh, not so much. Oh, and he likes to take milk baths in his spare time. Some other homoerotic stuff takes place between him and one of the Ninja waiters. But, of course, it's all in fun.

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Tuesday, May 1, 2012

President Obama shouts out Young Jeezy

Posted by Rodney Carmichael on Tue, May 1, 2012 at 3:54 PM

We already knew he loved himself some Janelle Monαe, and had a thang for Luda's soul and Cee Lo's forget-me-nots, but the Prez paid tongue-in-cheek homage to another Atlantan at the Correspondent's Dinner last weekend.


And that Jeezy song he talks about singing to Michelle? Bet money it's this:

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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Maurice Garland and Killer Mike dissect the 'real Atlanta'

Posted by Rodney Carmichael on Tue, Apr 24, 2012 at 1:10 PM


"Atlanta popular culture is getting presented as Atlanta culture." — Killer Mike

Since we're on this whole Atlanta nostalgia kick — ruminating over gentrification, transplants, pre-Olympics and whatnot — you've got to watch this video that writer and occasional CL contributor Maurice Garland did for Fink, a music and culture magazine that featured the homie on the cover this month.

A camera followed him around for a day while he popped in on a handful of local cultural institutions, including Walters Clothing, Stankonia Studios, and Queen City. Of course, cameras couldn't follow him inside the West End strip club formerly known as Montrey's, but the highlight came around the 6-minute mark at Stankonia, where Garland and Killer Mike chopped it up about the differences between old and new Atlanta, why local pop culture shouldn't be confused with the city's historical culture, and whether or not we wax nostalgic a little too much around these parts.

Despite being known for voicing extremist views from time-to-time, Mike has a really balanced view on gentrification, transplants, and the city's progress. It's good convo.

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Monday, April 23, 2012

How Soulja Boy spent 4/20 Day

Posted by Rodney Carmichael on Mon, Apr 23, 2012 at 5:22 PM

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Good God, do I have to blog this?

So you probably already know ya boy Soulja was all over TMZ.com last week after tweeting this pic posed up with a closet full of that greeny-green-green.

His publicist later said he was at a marijuana dispensary in Cali owned by a friend of his. Talk about having friends in high places. Sooo, apparently Soulja Boy was so inspired by the weed — and his uncanny ability to manipulate the gossip blogs into keeping him relevant without actually doing anything newsworthy — that he recorded this "Happy 4/20" song to commemorate his minor triumph. It SUCKS:

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Friday, April 20, 2012

Tupac ain't dead? Suge Knight's trippin'

Posted by Rodney Carmichael on Fri, Apr 20, 2012 at 5:00 PM

Wait a minute. Is this 4/20 or 4/1? Apparently Suge Knight thought it would be cute to play an April Fool's trick on everybody. Either that or he's trying to figure out how he can capitalize off this Tupac hologram business. Whatever. Now he's spreading stale rumors that Tupac might be alive after all. Which would be a good thing for him considering everybody believes he had something to do with Pac's death — especially since Pac pretty much told us so before he died. (Y'all remember "Suge shot me.")

The above audio is from Suge's interview Suge with LA radio station 93.5 KDAY. Which reminds me of my one and only encounter with the former Death Row head.

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Monday, April 16, 2012

Watch Tupac's ghost perform at Coachella

Posted by Gabe Vodicka on Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 1:28 PM

For a case of the icky kind of shivers, check out the video above. It's the much-discussed hologram of the late rapper Tupac Shakur "performing" the song "2 Of Americaz Most Wanted" at this past weekend's Coachella festival alongside the still-breathing Snoop Dogg. It's downright creepy. Critical reaction to the spectral appearance has been severely mixed, to say the least. Keep ya head up, ghosty-'Pac.

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Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Beyonce, you cyber bully!

Posted by Rodney Carmichael on Tue, Apr 10, 2012 at 4:35 PM

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I got 99-percenter problems and a beach ain't one.

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Monday, March 26, 2012

Azealia Banks vs. Iggy Azalea: Who's who for dummies (like me)

Posted by Rodney Carmichael on Mon, Mar 26, 2012 at 4:35 PM

Azealia Banks is the black one; Iggy Azalea is the white one
  • Azealia Banks is the black one; Iggy Azalea is the white one

All these rappers sound the same. Or so it's been said. But sometimes, it's the soundalike monikers more than the flows that can make a complete mess of things. Beyond the neverending plethora of Lil rappers and Yung emcees, Iggy Azalea and Azealia Banks (aka Yung Rapunxel) are two of the female upstarts who commandeered blog rap last year. Their talents for getting noticed slightly outweigh any other skills they bring to the game; and besides rocking similar stage names they both have a brash, sexually-charged style that, when pitted against one another as they have been lately, makes them shoo-ins for a new millennium redux of Foxy Brown vs. Lil Kim.

With the recent announcement that Iggy Azalea is falling through Atlanta this week — and Azealia Banks newly released Iggy diss record "Fuck Up the Fun" (listen below) — there's no time like the present to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, with an off-the-cuff breakdown of who's who and what's what. Just to make sure you know who you're rooting for in the latest ridiculously non-essential rap beef.

1) Both take cues from Diplo: Azealia and Iggy have collaborated with the DJ/producer/tastemaker; the latest being Azealia's newly released "Fuck Up the Fun," which launches a few subliminals in Iggy's direction. Meanwhile, Iggy appeared on "I Think She Ready" off Atlanta duo FKi's latest mixtape, Transformers in the Hood; the song was co-produced by Diplo, Derek Allen, and Atlanta's Heroes x Villians. Still, Azealia gets it by a nose: We're partial to the home team and all, but "Fuck Up the Fun" is hard to hate:

Update: Iggy Azalea's "Murda Bizness" ft. her boss T.I. dropped today. It's the first single from her upcoming album The New Classic.

2) Both love to pop that p-word: Azealia made a song about her "P-U-S-S-Y" (sorry mom); like to hear it, here it go. Not to be outdone, Iggy made a song and video about her "Pu$$y." Iggy wins: Azealia's song is tighter (pun!), but Iggy's video was shot in L.A.'s Rollin' 60s gang turf; who am I to argue?

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Friday, March 23, 2012

Discovering Willis Earl Beal is all about the journey

Posted by Rodney Carmichael on Fri, Mar 23, 2012 at 10:51 AM

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Authenticity. Music critics and consumers alike (interchangeable terms nowadays) have been obsessed with it lately, thanks in part to Lana Del Rey-gate.

There's something about the emergence of folk-blues outsider and XL Records signee Willis Earl Beal that triggers an equal but opposite reaction. His story is compelling in a way that lends credence to his music, as a recent Liberator Magazine feature confirms:

Much like older performers like Blind Willie McTell or Robert Johnson, Beal has been shrouded in myth and legacy because his tale is so intriguing. Not to say that his story is untrue, but when told who he is, and where he’s come from, he registers in a part of the brain meant for long-ago and far away heroes of folk-lore. Blind Willie McTell is said to have known Georgia like the back of his hand, learned from his wandering the state with only a guitar, playing songs for those who would listen. Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul to the Devil at the Crossroads to be able to play guitar as well as he could. It’s with this sort of legend Beal comes to us. “Already my story has been embellished, and I didn’t do it” he claims. It is his story which really makes us want him.

But beyond his life's narrative, whether designed or deconstructed, is his unbranded blues. There's a difference between mining old material and embodying it. And it's in performance that Willis Earl Beal's identity rings true. You believe he's lived it, whatever it is, because you feel it when he opens his mouth and starts to sing like a backwoods Baptist shouter on that fire-and-brimstone shit.

People talk a lot about how the Internet has impacted the business of music and the way it's consumed, but it's the mystique behind the music that's taken the biggest hit. Sometimes, when I stumble across an artist now that intrigues the hell out of me, like Beal, I'm less interested in Googling all the possible facts and label-manufactured lies than I am in hearing the truth. One note at a time.

If you still haven't seen his performance in Berlin yet, you should watch it — the whole 36 minutes — because there's a story here that's totally intangible. But as it slowly reveals itself, tempered with his tall lyrical tales and bucket-full of raw talent, it confirms everything you hoped you knew about him.

Now if I find out down the road that Willis Earl Beal was never a wanderer, but some cat with a generic name whose major label debut went wood back in ’08, that would be weird. But no weirder than his tryouts for Simon Cowell's "X Factor" TV talent show that went viral a while back:

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