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Yeah, NahRight. Wrong.11/8/2013 You'd never believe this shit, but there is a such thing as journalistic integrity. When you're credited or recognized for having it, you've usually shown that you are careful to only report facts, able to remain as objective as possible, and those kinds of things. One major no-no is taking money for your content without stating to your reader that you're doing exactly that.
Hey, bills. They've gotta be paid and all; I get it--I get it. But there is a long-standing model for how you do this. Major newspapers, magazines and websites have been doing this for much longer than blogs have existed. All you basically do is have some way of alerting your reader that what they're laying eyes on has been purchased. Why does it matter? Simple, really. When you buy something, you own it. If you own something, you control it. If you control the message, you usually don't follow anyone else's rules, although there's no rule saying that you couldn't follow them if you wanted to do such a thing--it'd be weird and strangely altruistic, but pretty awesome as well. Of course this doesn't happen often. So when a hip-hop blog, which was once the premier source for quality underground and mainstream music, decides to just all of a sudden start dick-riding Moet & CHandon, well, it's kind of depressing. Not just because it's written in a very lame manner by the well-respected founder of the website, but mostly because never once does he come on out and say he's being paid. And really, is this bottle really that nice? Not that I'm an authority on Champagne bottles, but really. It's pretty loudly out of place, and by linking to Moet's Instagram account--twice--Eskay is damn near pulling a hamstring bending over to touch his toes for the brand that's quietly backing him up on this (I mean financially, of course). Now, have I ever written about new alcohol products or packaging designs? Maybe. Hell, I'm drinking wine now, so I'm not exactly of sound-enough mind to recall, thanks. But have I ever been paid for doing so? Nope. As someone who attended media tastings and knows what these folks ask "journalists"(bloggers) to do in return for their invitation to the free food-n-drank event (and future invites, ahem...), I can tell you that Eskay is doing exactly what a publicist or marketing rep wants him to do just by the language and links. NahRight is too big of a brand (or at least I thought it was) to be doing this kind of stuff for free. Eskay may be reckless by drunkenly putting overpriced bubbly ads, cloaked as content, in between posts about rap artists Hopsin and Roc Marciano (I know..., "Who?," right?), but yeah, I guess I'm hating or something... Anyway, read the post here; tell me if you think I'm just tripping. Better yet, tell Eskay in the comments of his blog. He could use the feedback (not as many comments these days), and I wouldn't count on my comment passing approval... The Dope Show: Art Beats + Lyrics10/27/2013 Here's a rumor that would certainly be sucktastic if it turns out to be true. Art, Beats & Lyrics, the annual traveling show that started in Atlanta and now includes several other major U.S. cities (NY, LA, DC, … St. Louis?), will end after this 2013 show. Without having spoken to my friend Jabari Graham, a promoter who started the show six years ago with Atlanta artist Dubelyoo, I can't confirm it, but I hope that it's either a wickedly clever promotional play or a vicious lie. Either way, at least it looks like we'll have something new from the same team. Yae-yaeeee!
Anyway, here are some pics of amazing art created by ATL residents, throngs of people enjoying free Gentleman Jack cocktails, and two music legends--DJ Quik and Teddy Riley--performing live. On Site: Choose ATL10/23/2013 Did you know there are still people moving to Atlanta for "the music industry"? Seriously. Like, "rappers," people who "can sing," and even folks who make "beats" and have "groups," "managers," and "labels." But truth be told, while entertainment still draws lots of career-seeking creatives to ATL (from music to the increasing frequency of major film productions like The Hunger Games, Anchorman 2 and Dumb and Dumber To) , and the local art scene is spitting that hot fiya (as my man Maurice Garland recently pointed out), the best evidence and biggest reason to get excited about Atlanta is the long-awaited discovery of the city by the tech startup scene. And that's where Choose ATL comes in.
Ha! Just kidding; I contributed to Mayor Kasim Reed's campaign (which, let's just be real, is not in danger of failing) because the man has done a great job, especially when you consider that Mary Norwood seemed to have a good chance to beat him when he first ran (causing Lisa Borders to bow out to give Mayor Reed the clear path to victory), and now she's content to take a city council position, because duh. Since he's done well in his first term, creating a working relationship with Governor Nathan Deal and bringing ATL's budget from -$10 million to +$100 million (thanks, Shirley!), I think Mayor Reed deserves another four years at least. I also love the fact that he's brought a gang of next-generation Atlantans into his cabinet, which has helped get more of my peers into prominent roles in city and county government. Without naming them just now, I will say that seeing friends and fellow A.U.C. alums at his reelection fundraiser party at the old Luckie Lounge (now Suite Food Lounge) means a lot. I speak from no part of racial preference when I say that I love seeing the black intelligentsia representing proudly at a political event in Atlanta. The same way I love to see the white/Indian/Native American/Asian/Latino/miscellaneous intelligentsia representing. I love it when smart, responsible people take part in the political system; at the very least it cancels out those who might support the ATL version of Ted Cruz. Truth be told, I can't vote for Kasim anyway, since I live in East Point (and we won't even get into East Point's local politics right now...). But I support what he's done and I hope to see him run Atlanta for another four years of progress, especially if we can see the housing market continue to climb, the tech/entertainment/design sectors continue to invest in the city, and the school system get its act together. Support Mayor Reed. And get ready for Kwanza. Or Ceasar. Or me. UPDATE: My check must not have bounced! Here are freshly received photos of Mayor Reed and I. See him A) peeping the MJ business card; B) embracing me in appreciation of the sheer awesomeness of the MJ business card; and C) proudly posing for a photo with that "I'm Kasim Reed, and I approved this business card" look. Politics.
There is more than one scene in Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave that's not easy to watch, but like many movies about some of humanity's most historically evil times, there's one that will stand out for most people. Without giving it away, I'll say that it's something that also happened in D'jango Unchained but not quite to the same degree, although I say that while taking nothing away from Quentin Tarantino's film.
People will immediately compare D'jango and 12, and for good reason. Both seem to be opposite sides of the same cursed coin minted from the blood/cotton money that is still owed to the descendants of slaves to this day. However, in one of these films, a character that is not based on any known historical figure kills almost every person involved in his bondage. In the other film, which is based on a true story (reportedly fact checked for historical accuracy by none other than Beer Summit attendee/Harvard professor/pseudo Obama friend Henry Louis "Skip" Gates), the hero receives no such satisfaction. No spoiler alert necessary--all one has to do is look up the story of Solomon Northup. Pay Homage: It's National Boss Day10/16/2013 I am not here to recap the desolate and dry reality of this pitiful excuse for a carnival. I will not discuss how I was gypped (ha! because carnivals are run by gypsies!) for an extra dollar because they charge for two people if an adult has to accompany a child that's too short to ride an attraction by his/herself. I won't even revisit the fat woman on the concession cart who tried to charge me $5 for a caramel apple when the sign right in front of her said it was $4, and she still tried to stick to her spoken price.
I will merely turn this blog post over to my special correspondent, The Booger Bear, who will narrate a slide-story of images taken yesterday at Downtown East Point's carnival. The journalism is in her facial expressions, and the story is clear: East Point's carnival SUCKS. Pumpkin Beer Today, Gone Tomorrow10/9/2013 My favorite beer-drinking time of year is "pumpkin." With that truth comes plenty of side-eyed glances, but it also usually comes with delicious flavor and a rabid hunt for whichever bar, beer store or growler shop still has the dark orange brew available by bottle or tap.
What sucks is that this year it was all sucky, and therefore everybody's tastebuds got all jacked up and thrown out of whack. Take, for example, this Paste Magazine pumpkin beer ranking. And hey, Paste represents Atlanta, so I love them. But there are some numbers on this board that are so ridiculous that you remember that whoever wrote it gets drunk off pumpkin beer, if you will. So I wanted to share some trill thoughts on the subject. In less than an hour, Boardwalk Empire returns for its fourth season, and with the addition of Dr. Valentin Narcisse, a character played by the venerable Jeffrey Wright. I had the pleasure of interviewing him recently and was allowed to screen a few episodes, which after viewing I can say with some certainty that the 1920s-era gangster series may finally have found its way with viewers expecting a perfect blend of The Sopranos and The Wire.
Wright's Dr. Narcisse is the black gangster that any Prohibition-themed storyline deserves. As someone who's own family certainly prospered from the years when bootlegging alcohol netted a small fortune for those bold enough to disregard the law, I can tell you that Irish, Italian and Jewish Americans were far from the only ones involved in the trade, and were not the only ones whose intelligent gangsterisms were ultimately greater strengths than their gun-slinging talent. Where Chalky White, the show's black gangster-in-residence before now, used a more pronounced tough guy approach to asserting his authority, Dr. Narcisse's superior intellect and style of speech give him the appearance of a highly cultured and learned individual, providing a stark contrast to what Boardwalk's audience had experienced from its black gangsters before. Without giving anything away (so that I can keep getting HBO hookups), here are three quick things to watch for during Dr. Narcisse's debut tonight: Death People will get killed. Hope that's not a spoiler. Harlem This season will bring us to the time when jazz was getting its cultural bearings within American culture. Singing, dancing, and immaculate style comes into play in a whole new way than had been seen before. "Libyans" For some reason, Dr. Narcisse refers to African-Americans as residents of the same country Qaddafi used to run. If anybody out there knows from what school of pan-African thought this comes (Marcus Garvey perhaps?), please enlighten me and the rest of us. Boardwalk Empire's fourth season starts tonight, Sept. 8, at 9pm EST. Check out the trailer here. AuthorThis is where Michael B. Jordan shares his thoughts on the world with the world. Share yours back. Archives
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