08.05.08
A Day on the Set of a Hip Hop Video Part II
First things first, I gotta bit of footage at the bottom of this entry. Make sure to check that out. Now on with the entry!
The champ has successfully voyaged back to Boston in treacherous conditions. What treacherous conditions? The Megabus that I was on began having serious odor problems. The smell was so bad that the driver stopped the bus, cracked the overhead escape doors, and emptied the contents of the toilet basin onto the side of the highway. At least that’s what I think he did when he went outside to the rear of the bus. When he came back on, the smell began to dissipate. It was like the bus relieved its own bowels. Regardless, everybody on the bus was thankful and all the coughing and sounds of disgust stopped.
This was probably an omen telling me that I’m going to have a shitty day tomorrow. I know. Optimism, Slim. Optimism.
The reality is I’ll be back at my desk waging war against the email I’ve accumulated over the last few days. No more hangin’ out with the friends on the set of the video or boisterous laughing in restaurants. No more navigating the streets of Brooklyn at obscure hours searching for an open bodega. No more holding a clipboard in one hand and a cup of vodka cranberry in the other. For a day, I felt like I was part of something truly important. Something that would actually matter in a few years and not just be a means to a pay check. I know. I’ve complained about that before. I won’t burden you with that now. However, I’ve uploaded a video that shows a very small amount of what was going on over the weekend. Enjoy. This is not the official Behind the Scenes footage. There are real Behind the Scenes videos coming over the next few weeks from True2Life Music. This is just a Slim Jackson exclusive. Holler.
08.04.08
A Day on the Set of a Hip Hop Video Part 1
The video shoot was poppin and pizzlin for “Poppin on TV” by True2Life Music. I haven’t even made it back to Boston yet, but figured I would put together an entry recapping the events of the video shoot. I’ve stumbled a few times writing this entry because I’m extremely tired, so bare with me. Let’s begin with Sunday morning.
Given that everybody went to bed after 4am Saturday night/Sunday morning, you can imagine how tired I was when I heard an alarm go off at 730am. The silencing of the alarm was followed by foot steps, then lights. It was time to get ready for the video shoot. I’m usually one of the first people to be moving around, but I was definitely last. After I shuffled to the shower and got myself fresh, it was off to the whip and onward to the video shoot.
When we got there, the doors hadn’t been opened and a few of the models and the stylists/make-up artists were waiting outside. At this point, I was still wiping the sleep out of my eyes. Things looked blurry, and I just wanted a red bull. So after getting a red bull, I was ready for action…though still tired. A good portion of the morning was focused on filming the models for different segments. Actually, a good portion of the day overall was dedicated to that. It was interesting being on the set of the video. The make-up artists were hard at work fixing everybody up. The video and production screw scrambling around to make sure everything was in place. The random cat passing through the studio to say hello before walking away as if it owned the place.
The toughest part about this day was the heat. As more people came by the video shoot, the temperature and humidity incrementally increased. I won’t lie, there was sweat trickling down my back at one point. Me and Poland Springs became very good friends for the day. Everybody else seemed to be friends with Poland Springs as well. It was evident that the heat was having an impact, given that some of the smiles turned to frowns and people avoided too much movement whenever possible. This was literally and figuratively a hot video.
I spent a good portion of the day standing by the production crew watching the screen. If it wasn’t that, I was walking around with the Flip camera getting some candid behind the scenes footage. I don’t think there was a moment when I was in the studio where I wasn’t really doing something that had a purpose. I had a lot of conversations with a lot of different people about a lot of different things. My brain is still processing all of that. As a matter a fact, I’m going to stop writing for now. I’ll probably have a 2nd entry for today as well as a behind the scenes video of sorts courtesy of my Flip cam.
08.02.08
Slim Jackson Heads to NYC for Music Video
I’m headed to NYC for the making of the video “Poppin on TV” by True2Life Music, a hip group composed of the duo Jackie Rob (Concise and Kwords) and Slangston Hughes. These are personal friends of mine who are soon going to be big in the hip hop industry. I’m hoping to put together a pretty thorough blog entry that captures all of the events of the weekend; well, the events they clear me to talk about. If you are in New York City and want to be part of the video being filmed on Sunday, please feel free to comment on this entry. I will email you the details once you provide your info in the form that pops up. This will definitely be a weekend to remember!
07.20.08
DMX. I’m Going to Help You Find a Job…
C’mon Earl. You gotta get it together. Over the last few months you have been in court for a variety of new and old offenses. You don’t even dress yourself in clean clothes. I know you’re 37 years old, and you haven’t made a rap song in what seems like forever. You still need to take care of yourself so that you don’t look like a bum in all your mugshots. Seriously Earl, you look like one of the individuals I see sleeping in the park everyday on the way to work. How do you go from this…
Crisp and Clean DMX
To this…
Bum Ass DMX
I couldn’t even help you get a manual labor job with you looking like that. I know you gotta have some money left. I find it hard to believe that after all the CD sales and movies you’ve appeared in, that you’re more broke than MC Hammer. I mean, did you really spend all your money on houses, drugs, and pit bulls? We know you didn’t spend it all on your entourage. You seem to only be getting arrested by yourself. And now I gotta read that you just used a fake name and skipped out on a medical bill at a hospital! What’s going on with you?! I knew something was off with the way you used to be all angry and bark recklessly (Nothing is wrong with barking though. I do it sometimes myself for a pretty well-known reason.). I hope you haven’t resorted to doing that for money in the streets. I’m sure people wouldn’t even recognize you if you did. Do you have any explanation for yourself?
Sometimes I get a lil confused Slim...sniffle.
Confused? Will you stop staring at me with that blank ass look on your face! Shower, shave, put on some deodorant and clean clothes, and a very small amount of cologne. Earl, we are going to turn your life around. We need to get you back on the right track before you end up on a VH-1 celeb-reality show. Perhaps you already have. Nonetheless, get dressed Earl! Today we are going to find you a job!
07.16.08
Slim Jackson’s Review of the New Nas Album
I’m not usually one to do a review of hip hop albums. I’ll be honest, I’m not one that usually runs out to buy them every Tuesday neither. I don’t linger on the Internet surfing underground rap websites or listen to the latest mixtapes and free styles…unless someone volunteers to provide me with such. I’m a regular Articulate Black Guy that typically doesn’t get involved in high level music discussions. My ipod is filled with the likes of Kanye West, 50 Cent, Rick Ross, Jeezy, Weezy, and a combination of other commercial and semi underground things. I primarily listen to music when I’m working out, trying to get amped, or driving. Music is my Red Bull. Plain and simple. But every now and then, I come across an album that truly makes me nod my head, contemplate, and listen without having to be in a car or at the gym. The new Nas album has exactly that effect. Until recently, I hadn’t been a big fan of Nas…yes, I said it. Go ahead. Get all the gasping out. I’ll wait for you….
Breathe! Take it slow. One…..and two…and three….
Prior to this album, I couldn’t really vibe with his beat selection and rhyme style despite the ferocity of his content. He is one of the all-time greats. No doubt about that. But similar to a garden salad at a well known buffet, his music did nothing for me. Go ahead and gasp some more…
Do you need water? OK, good….
His new album has changed the way I view his music. His beat/melody selection has impressed me 10 fold compared to previous tracks. His word usage is creative, current, and most importantly, potent. On top of this, the most commercial and radio worthy song on the album still carries a strong and positive message (Hero). Nas has managed to tie together today’s political and social atmosphere with a fresh approach to defining meaningful music. It’s like he gave a small adrenaline shot to the heart of hip hop. Even if it doesn’t last forever, it was nice to see a temporary revitalization. He was willing to perhaps sacrifice sales so that he could talk about something other than ass, titties, rims, cocaine, guns, or a zombie-ish ignorant dance (yoouuuuuuuu know exactly what I’m talking about)…and it works.
If you just want a bunch of catchy hooks over tight beats that lack substance, then this album definitely isn’t for you. Keep snapping your fingers and downloading ringtones. The new Nas goes against what we have gotten used to. He dared to be different, and produced what most likely will be a chart topper. It’s worth the 15-20 bucks or whatever your currency is. By the way, does somebody wanna pick me up a copy?
Just Kidding. Articulate Black Guys don’t download music for free….
Or admit to it in blogs.
06.25.08
Kobe, Tell Me How My Ass Tastes?
Though I wish I could have gotten to this post earlier, I gotta take some time to reflect on the Shaq freestyle relating to Kobe Bryant. After I picked myself up off the floor and wiped the tears of laughter from my face, I was both amazed and disappointed at the same time. I scoured the internet for news stories and commentary and found out that Shaq lost his Sheriff badges for spitting that…garbage.
Yes, this was one of the worst freestyles ever. However, it is one of the funniest things I’ve seen Shaq do in a long time. You gotta love the big guy. He can say and do what he wants. He’s a 7 foot tall machine with enough money to make people “taste his ass” if he really wanted (yuck). Shaq’s biggest mistake in this freestyle was dropping the notorious endearing version of the N word, meant only to be used by people who look like me. You’ll never see the word in one of my blogs, I don’t wanna give people the wrong idea. After all, I am an articulate black guy. Nonetheless, it’s quite humorous and borderline ironic that he would lose his sheriff badges for making “racial slurs”. I suppose if we are to employ equal treatment, he must be admonished for his actions. After all, if this was a white person it would have been extremely ugly. I think we are still recovering from Kramer’s outburst at the comedy club. *shutters*
“Kobe, tell me how my ass taste” should have been followed with “pause”
Perhaps the best line of the whole thing. An excellent hook that is better sung by Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, or any other member of the Boston Celtics. Regardless of who says it, it’s funny. He really kicked the man while he was down. This still falls way beneath that which 50 cent did to Young Buck (See my other entry). But moving on, Shaq then proceeded to unleash the bitterness that has been brewing within in regard to Kobe dropping dime and shedding light on the obvious fact that he has been sliding off on wifeykins. Superhead (Karrine Steffans) even mentioned that Shaq was quite the sweaty individual in the sheets. All Kobe did was confirm whatever 95% of realistic people already knew about his affinity for women. But damn Shaq, can we get a pause on the ass tasting comment?
Hip Hop continues to make headlines, if you wanna call this hip hop related. For the purpose of categorizing my blog entries, I will refer to it as that. On a positive note though, nobody has gotten shot, stabbed, shanked, choked, swiss cheesed, or hit with a blunt object…yet. Then again, I don’t even know if this is considered a beef. The media has to spin stories like this to keep us entertained. Besides, who wants to hear that SARS has made it’s way back to the United States anyway?
06.22.08
Male Rappers Sometimes Have Too Much Estrogen
Over the last few months, there has been a lot of soap opera stuff going on in the wonderful world of music, particularly the hip hop world. Now before people who are “true fans” start buzzing and saying “This dude Slim don’t know what he talkin’ about, where’s the credibility?”, I don’t claim to be an industry critic or anything remotely close. However, I am truly humored when I see something play out the way that this 50 Cent and Young Buck situation has. I recently heard the leaked tape where Buck was crying and asking to be let back into G-Unit. I also heard the diss track that Buck put out shortly after 50 released that taped conversation to the world.
Their situation is no worse than that of what we see on Facebook or Instant Messenger. One person lashes out publicly in an away message or status, another person retaliates, then someone takes it to the next level, then someone gets angry and takes it even further. Then everybody is checking their newsfeed to see the latest updates. In this particular “childish” situation, Young Buck ultimately loses out. When I see his picture on the internet, I pity the man. He suddenly looks a lot more vulnerable and emotional, almost as if he needs to be held (pause). Had he not went on stage at a show, hopefully under the influence of drugs, dissing 50 and everybody he is associated with, he may have been spared the public humiliation. The man seriously sounded like he was preparing to use “sanitary products” within a few days.
Buck’s diss track of 50 sounds more like a last ditch effort to save his career. He basically parallels 50 to a snitch and b*tch for recording the conversation, and to some level I agree…more so because he released the tape publicly. This man often reminds me of a little kid, or a vicious school girl. 50 is a Mean Girl. He’s always starting trouble, and always trying to embarrass the hell out of somebody. He can dispose of friends at will and pick up new ones at the same rate. I mean the man records every conversation, partially so he can embarrass someone need be necessary. How proactive can you be? It’s like saving AIM conversations and emailing them to yourself in case the other person ever pushes you over the edge. Yes, I’ve done it. You have too! It’s humorous though, with all their gun talk, that this is how they choose to handle their situation. I think they both have a bit more estrogen that the average man. Hair dryers don’t count as guns fellas. Can’t we just all get along?
06.06.08
I Should Buy Illegal Guns
I was listening to a rapper’s album that was leaked this morning. I had some thoughts after the first few tracks. I was hesitant about whether I wanted to make that the subject of the day, so I decided to hold off for a bit. However, on the way to the train station, the radio was kind enough to give me an even beefier topic for today’s discussion. Maybe I’ll even get to that rapper’s album about nothingness in the process.
We all know that hip hop stars and other celebrities live by a different set of rules. This morning they were talking about Pretty Clifford…you know…”T.I.” The dude gets caught in a federal gun seizure operation on camera. One of his people even agrees to testify against him (that person is prolly already swiss cheesed up). Somehow, the man goes from a possible 12 years in Prison to 1 year. On top of this, he managed to ink a 3 movie deal with Screen Gems. They are even willing to coordinate filming around his prison sentence. I don’t know. Maybe it’s because money can buy anything; or, maybe its because of his swagger and light-skinnedness (And maybe I’m hating). Either way, it reasserts the idea that:
Ignorance + Violence + Felony Conviction = $$
Its funny though, because I’m sure I could do a lot less and walk away with double or triple the jail time and a lot less money.
I guess this doesn’t apply to all rappers. I haven’t heard from Shyne or Mystikal in a while. For that matter, I can’t even remember a Shyne song and the only Mystikal song I remember is “Shake it Fast”. Shouts out to all those fledgling rappers who will commit crimes in anticipation of a record deal, but will just end up in prison and forgotten. We will miss you…or not. And my train…just…stopped.
