Beyonce & Lady Gaga - "Video Phone"

Let me just preface this commentary by saying, I love Beyonce and the wonderfully-talented Lady Gaga. Yes, I do! ...again, yes I do! When it was announced that these two ladies would be joining forces and remixing my 2nd favorite track from the Bey's "Sasha Fierce" album, I was more than elated! Even more greater was knowing that there would also be a video for the collabo... what more can you ask, right? ...right??? I have to admit, this whole idea was an epic fail.

First things first, the SONG! Gaga's chorus and additional ad libs don't even fit the theme of the song. It leaves you kinda like, "um, okay... hmmm...*awkward silence*". So I say to myself, perhaps this is going to be one of those songs, you have to see in a video to really get the picture... yet again, I'm left asking myself, "um, okay... hmmm... *ackward silence*".

As expected I assumed Beyonce would gloss over Gaga in this video, after all it is her song, but let's just compare the stats... Beyonce - approx 15 costume changes vs. Lady Gaga - one outfit, that just so happens to match Beyonce's. ....yeah, exactly! It's one thing to focus more on the primary artist, but to "white wash", literally and figuratively one of the greatest divas of eccentricity in our era was kinda a low and deliberate blow, but what can I say, again it is Beyonce's video.

The video starts out with a sexy intro, nothing new here, yet I'm talking to myself yet again, "Riri is that you?" From the hair, makeup, outfit and even the facial expression, Beyonce channeled Rihanna almost better than Rihanna if that is possible. Then we move on Lady Gaga... it was nice to see her a little toned down, but come on now, the few flashes we see of her all she is doing is mimicking Beyonce ala "Beautiful Liar"... I kinda felt like this video was not a real collaboration, more so an attempt to say, "look what I can do!" -- as in "I can make you look less important, relevant and hot than me!".

As I already stated, I love these two women, but ya know, sometimes, it's best not to combine two of the things you love, that's why they say, "there's room for everyone", so perhaps, each one needs to stay in their own bubble of celebrity, because this duo performance let me empty inside... ya know, come to think of it, I should have had a V8!

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Song of the Week - "Whatcha Say" by Jason Derulo

New up and coming R&B artist Jason Derulo, is taking over the music scene with the #1 single on Billboard's Hot 100. Derulo has a refreshingly different style than a lot of the urban music acts out today, and he forging his own path on his musical journey. "Whatcha Say" is following the current trend of infusing dance\pop beats and musical elements into R&B, thus making an all new fusion of genres. It seems this fusion is working in Derulo's favor as he has recently been announced as an opening act for Lady Gaga's "The Monster's Ball" tour. If you search the Internet you will more than likely be able to find a lot of tracks that may possibly be on Derulo's debut album. One of my favorites of these unreleased tracks is "Broken Record" which shows Derulo's crooning ability. With such a huge and successful introduction into the music scene, let's hope that Jason Derulo's music career will crescendo into greater and more successful avenues!

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Life is "Precious" indeed...

"Wow"... is all I can say about indie movie "Precious". I have never experienced being in a movie theather were EVERYONE responded to each of the heart-wrenching and at times overwhelming scenes in this picture. The vocal and physical reactions from the crowd caused me to reach to emotions I never thought I would express in public, let alone to characters on a movie screen. This movie is powerful, intriguing and very necessary.

It sheds light on various subjects affecting many communities, not just the ghettos of Harlem as depicted. Sadly statistics show that across the board, more and more young people are experiencing some form of physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Worst case scenario, the culprit is oftent times a family member or shockingly the parents themselves.


"Precious" is very necessary, because it is far past the time that someone has stood up for the for those who are unable to sand and speak out for those who remain silent. Aside from the message of the movie itself, I must say I am more than impressed with the introductory performance of Gabourey Sidibe, who was able to capture the grittiness of the subject material and also impart the innocent nature of her character in several multi-faceted ways.


Also, look out for the stellar performances from Mo'Nique and Paula Patton who play Precious' mother and teacher respectively. Based on the buzz that has already been generated and from me own viewing experience, we should expect to see several accolades associated with this film.

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...is my work desk doing a little "too" much?

...hey, you gotta find something to keep the day moving! :)

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"Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart" - Alicia Keys

...the wonderfully gifted and talented Alicia Keys is back with another smooth single... I really love when Alicia bridges out of the laid back grooves of her piano-laced signature tracks and does something totally unexpected. This track proves that point, but doesn't fail to give us the quality lyrical content we expect from Keys catalog. Key phrases likes, "tonight I'm gonna find a way to make it without you" brings back to mind moments we've all shared in the game of love and hate - sometimes you have to force yourself to find a way to get through the present situation to finally be "okay" in the end. Be sure to add this latest single to your music playlist, it just may help you through your own moment of sleeping with a broken heart...

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Monster's Ball (Games of Love) [original poetry.]

I remember a time when just hearing the sound of your voice made me feel safe, loved, wanted and needed...

...but the last time that we spoke, when your voice responded from the reciever all I felt was disgusted, hurt, used and broken...

Some would describe you as a monster because you purposely misused my trust, but I was the one who allowed you to tear through my brick wall in the first place,

Sadly I knew you were no good for me, but I still wanted you,
Sadly I knew you would hurt me, but still I needed you,
Sadly I knew we would never last, but still, yes I had to have you,

...so through it all, the real monster, was... me...

I savagely attacked myself by inflicting your aura of instability upon me, and now... I'm left shattered, broken, disturbed, absent - lonely...

...the fact remains, however, for what its worth, I honestly love you, because, in the end, you were the one who freed me from my inner shell, but yet I had to let you go...

...some may say you're a monster, but you'll always be my first, my last, my everything...

...so now I make a promise to myself - "never play with a monster again..."
...never let my insecurity to love influence my stupidity to accept affection for face value...

I deserve so much more than this, but I have to be keep myself worthy for when real love finds me... so maybe I need to start with myself...

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Love is Evil... [original poetry by me.]

...I thought that I would love you... but I didn't even love myself...

...often times as we fall in and out of love, as we breath in and LIVE in this moment, this "love" finally spoke to me...

...filled with emotion, I transposed it, and now my reality is that all of it was sheer vanity from the beginning, it was EVIL, cloudy, unpure...

...I've always been known to be a deep person... but tell me, how far do these craters and fault lines have to bury before the explosion occurs?

...Now I have regained all sensibleness and have come to the realization, if I LIVE for this EVIL, with a love that is unpure, I can only begot love's battle scars, clouded by the smoke and mirrors of happiness...

...am I ready for this? ...am I ready for the first scratch?

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