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Okay so I said some shit on Facebook a week or so about not buying Beyoncé new album but I'm gone buy that shit. "Who run the world" grew on me. I still think that "Best I never had" song is garbage, but everything else I've heard so far I like, particularly "1+1," and "Dance for you," both have been on repeat since they leaked. "Party" featuring Andre 3000 was okay, I mean I haven't deleted it from my iTunes yet, so I guess I'm giving it a chance to grow on me too. 'Rather die young' I must say I'm feeling that too.
Beyoncé was not lying when I read somewhere that she pushed her vocals on this album. We all know the girl is a performers performer and can sing, but we also know girls who can sings as well her. I can't imagine seeing the songs I've heard thus far done better on Youtube. Now "End of time" is confusing. When the song starts I want to like the beat then, the song keeps going and all I can think is this must be one of the songs that was inspired by her travels and what's with the breakdown in this song and every other one of her up tempo songs, its like she puts a dance break in all of them.
The real deciding factor for me was album art. I'm not gone lie. I'm a 'new image' geek that way. I can't wait to see all the pretty pictures in her album packaging, plus I forgot to get Jill Scott's new one during the first week and I don't pay non sale price for CDs so I need this Beyoncé album art to hold me over until Jill Scott goes on sale again.
I'm just putting this out there but I'm going to see Beyoncé when she makes it to Chicago this time around anybody reading this who wants to go let me know! 12:59a.m.

Didn't know this was out there...

...till I goggled my name in search of old writing samples/clips from college and The Chicago Defender. Hmm, for the make-up artists take on how things went down click here. 10:11p.m.

Gaze Keepers

Kwesi Abbensetts has adopted a tumblr blog and keeps his perspective simultaneously fresh and dark. Love it, he inspires me so.

The guy in the photo(s) is Harold Green an amazing Chicago bred poet. He's awesome and whoever this photographer Nicolette Stanton is, is as well. Will be looking her up later tonight.

Can't remember where I found this but this is the into to a fashion editorial, the pic says photos by Ee Berger. Gotta look her? up to.

This is from The Sartorialist, can't you tell :)

Just thought I'd take a second to show what I see, images that sparked me within the last couple days/weeks.9:10p.m. Listening to Left Side Drive -Solange.
Click photos to enlarge.

100th Scan

click image to enlarge
According to my computer and scanner today, actually a couple minutes ago, I scanned this photo from Afar magazine and it was the 100th scan to my computer, just thought I'd share, guess I'm feeling some sort of connection, for lack of a better word.
Anyway what also happened today was the confirmation of the model for the first Fashion Editorial shoot for The Magazine!!! Confirmed the make-up artist yesterday and just realized today that if she wants she can have her own beauty page, not just runway trends in make-up but possibly a "how to" on achieving the look on the model in the editorial?! Just thought of that. I will be running that by her tomorrow. Tired from retail hell but still feeling good feeling great, how are you?11:30p.m.

Special Sauce Sunday: Featurette Brianna Mccarthy

So um yea, the work speaks for itself. Brianna Mccarthy is the artist behind these gorgeous images above. I was clicking through one of my new favorite blogs, The Moptop Maven.blogspot.com, when I came across one of the sketches above. Brianna was the topic of the post I scrolled upon and I could instantly see why. I linked on her to her self titled blog, briannamccarthy.blogspot.com (google her for more info) to discover more and more work of the same caliber as knew I’d not only have to give her the special sauce feature, but I’ll be purchasing some work for my hallway, whenever I get one…12:06p.m.

Nicki/Blackbook Magazine

Say what you want about Ms. Minaj (I do) but this girl is made for cameras. I haven't seen a bad editorial featuring her yet. Well there was that one Ebony magazine did, but even that wasn't exactly awful. Anyway she kills in this Blackbook spread, minus the black and white photo that doesn't look like her in the least, although the photo is still nice.





Other than that I'm still on the logo for the month of February, I am very aware that my days left in this month are numbered and am considering leaving the idea to someone I can just pay, because Illustrator and my idea are at this point getting the best of me. 2:35p.m. Now if only I could figure out how will will do it for pennies.

Selling Stickers

PronouncedLove.com
imaniwaddy.com
Wednesday evening a friend put me on to this guy after just meet him that day. All I can say is it not just one one thing with this guy, its a cycle. I'm still discovering. 9:05p.m.

Eye catcher, breath taker.

The first image of J 'Quasi" King I saw yesterday, on filmmaker Nikyatu Jusu's blog. This was just the beginning...
The photo of the man below started and debate between the boyfriend and I on how this was achieved, make-up or photoshop. We looked up Risha Rox, the makeup artist and was blown away. The amount of creative talent out here is mind boggling. I mean I'm not even sure what to say, all I know is that if this is the least bit cool/interesting to you, google them/hire them/intern for them, something.
Other eye catcher breath takers


Click here for the website of photographer J Quazi King. He also has a flikr.

P.S. Fool For You by Cee Lo Green featuring Melanie Fiona was downloaded earlier and is still on repeat. Here's the link as provided by Concreteloop.com today, but I saw it/heard it first via Maestro Knows yesterday.8:40p.m.

Special Sauce Sunday: Featurette Amel Larrieux

So Friday night I headed to a popular nightclub here in Chicago to see my favorite singer perform live. It was my second time seeing Amel Larrieux perform live, the first being a couple years ago, February 2007 I believe. Despite the fact that I wish I'd shared my spare ticket with someone more deserving I was extremely happy when Amel began her performance right after midnight hit.
I don't know about her other fans, but I assume like me, their first time hearing her was on the radio back in 1995 when she was part of a duo called Groove Theory, and the hit song playing in regular rotation was Tell Me. I got my copy of that CD by ordering it, along with a couple more from one of those rip out and mail in club forms that were in every magazine blaring the get so many for a penny irresistible deal of the decade. I never paid attention to the fine print but at such a young age when the club membership bill came in the mail I was happy for a piece of mail with my name on it, but had no intention of sending them the penny or anything else.
I have no idea what album I played first on my cassette/single CD boom box but I know that Groove Theory's only release is the only CD I still play to this day.
Some years after that Amel went solo and that album was Infinite Possibilities. I admittedly did not buy this album when it came out, but only because I was poor and barely out of 8th grade. But from this CD do remember some television interviews of hers and the video for the single "Get Up", both grabbed my attention, but the interview stuck with me, and I wish I could say what about it did, but I have no idea, can't remember. I do remember thinking the video was strange and don't remember seeing it on the Box to often.
Aside from my constant need to hear the song "Keep Tryin" from the Groove Theory album, to get me through many difficult moments of youth, Amel was pretty much out of sight out of mind. Then out of nowhere she was on the radio again with the most beautiful song that no one knew the correct words to, except for me by the third time I heard it. The song was "For Real" and I was on edge waiting for the album to come out. Bravebird came out in 2004, while I was in college. By then I had money enough to go get it the day it came out. The only person I could share the excitement with was my friend Senyo who drove me to Best Buy and got the album as well, if I remember correctly I had to resist the urge to purchase two copies. The album was a smash hit in my eyes and ears but much to my surprise Amel released another album while I was in college. Two years later "Morning" came out and off to Best Buy I was again to support my favorite singer and her and her husbands record label Blisslife. This time I drove myself, I still had money and was doing well enough to have a car... the same car I have today...but anyway this CD is probably my least favorite. I can't listen to it all the way through like I do the others, however there are two standout songs from the album that I listen to on repeat and a that solidified Amel's spot as my favorite all over again, "Weary" and "Gills & Tails."
Then the unthinkable happened, Amel released another album, the very next year but I didn't hear about it immediately, I don't recall seeing it in Best Buy and I missed the new music Tuesday to get it even if it was there. I was hurt, until the next day when I realized it was a Jazz album. Don't get me wrong Jazz is fine with me but being back in my usual poor form and with the Internet, YouTube etc. the all consuming furor that usually overcomes me at album drop time just wasn't there. But that same feeling was back and in full effect as I waited patiently for over an hour for her cheating short performance to begin this past Friday. Despite the constant and growing annoyance from the person I shouldn't have brought with me I must admit again that I was in complete and total bliss during the short performance. However the time I saw her years ago is what I'd call a show.
Amel's daughter Sky Larrieux on the keyboards.
Amel has done a couple collaborations, been featured on a couple soundtracks and if I remember correctly was in a Coke-Cola ad campaign years ago with other and more popular artists. Her music is categorized as neo-soul which fits but her voice is unlike any other artists in the genre and though the content of her songs from the lyrics to the beats fit the category there is still something different about Amel Larrieux. Where most the other neo-soul singers can sing each others songs of course with their own twist, none of them can attempt an Amel Larrieux song. Maybe it's that there is so little of her personal life out there or maybe it because her song's don't seem to speak to anything we may have heard or would like to assume about her, whatever it is, the music is magic, at least for me.11:49p.m.

Lists 2010: Advertorials

3:56p.m.

Lists 2010: Editorials

Since it's the end of the year and I'm being hit with many best and worst and top so on and so forth list, I'm putting out one or a couple of my own. Today is some of my favorite fashion editorials from various magazines. This list started as a Top Five, however I decided to post more than five so it became some of my favorites. It's set up as cover of the magazine issue, then the editorial(s) from that issue.







































































Strays from different issues of Complex. I think this is all 2010.







Shot by Ruben Afanador
















Since it's the end of the year and I'm being hit with many best and worst and top so on and so forth list, I'm putting out one or a couple of my own. Today is some of my favorite fashion editorials from various magazines. This list started as a Top Five, however I decided to post more than five so it became some of my favorites.






Wow, this has to be the longest post ever, and the post that took me the longest, glad thats over. Up next, favorite advertisements, this wont take or be as long for sure.
6:04p.m.