Hip-Hop Media Training

Usher, Has Chris Brown Taken Your Spot?

Fri, 02 May 2008 05:52:21 -0800

Chris Brown will tell you that Michael Jackson is his biggest influence, but it was Usher who came to mind when you first saw the then 16-year-old budding R&B, hip-hop, pop star pop-locking across a high school gymnasium in his debut video "Run It!" nearly three years ago.

Busta Rhymes makes the best hip-hop party record, no competition. When I'm at a club and "Whoo-Hah," "Pass The Courvoisier" or "Touch It" comes on, it gets crazy. ...

Janet, Mariah And Madonna Fight For The Diva Crown

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 17:43:13 -0800

Well, what do you know? I looked up Madonna's new single "4 Minutes" on a competing site that sells MP3s and it said, "Customers who bought this song also bought this album" and it pointed to Janet's Discipline. Underneath Discipline, it read, "Customers who bought this album also bought this item" and--you guessed it--Mariah's "Touch My Body" was at the top of the list.

Great video. Good job MC. ...

Kanye West Sees "Flashing Lights"

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 09:03:29 -0800

You know that saying, Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it?

Well, it's the second thing I thought after watching Kanye West's video "Flashing Lights."

I interviewed Kanye once--in 2004, the week before College Dropout came out. ...

Aretha Franklin's Grammy Wrath Is Out Of Control

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 02:15:53 -0800

Aretha Franklin just received a MusicCares Award last week from the Grammys.

She deserved it. A sweetheart friend of mine pulled some strings for me to get a ticket, but I was ultimately unable to attend when a dear relative passed away days before the event.

After years of being out of shape, Timbaland gets a trainer, buffs up like 50 Cent and finally builds up the confidence to take his shirt off in one of his videos.

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 01:10:03 -0800

Things have been rough for Janet since she flashed Super Bowl XXXVIII viewers in 2004.

Let me rephrase that.

Things have been rough for Janet since Justin Timberlake helped her flash Super Bowl... ...

Pimp C Remembered In Bun B's First Interview After Tragedy

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:30:27 -0800

The news earlier this week of the death of Pimp C from the hip-hop group UGK shocked me like everyone else. ...

Michael Jackson: Remember The Time

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 01:33:46 -0800

You can't blame kids for just wanting to download singles for .99 as opposed to buying an entire album. Why bother? They really don't need the other 16 tracks on the CD. ...