368 Music Group presents what I find to be a likeable bit of R&B with this release from Mr. Raheem DeVaughn. If you live in the Bay, he will be on a stage near you this weekend (Jan. 11 at Chrisette Michelle in SF & Jan. 12/13 at Avant in Oakland) & he will be playing the Detroit Opera House for a “Night of Neo Soul” with LaLah Hathaway and more on Jan. 20.
Paramore has got a little bit for us to snack on now, building an appetite for more to come from the self titled album scheduled for release April 9. Can you get excited about one song in less than 60 seconds? You can decide Now & let them know if you are planning to pick this up later (single on iTunes January 22nd) @paramore.
The season’s energetic colors and eye-catching prints adorning fresh fall dresses and smart winter suits at Fashion Rio’s 22nd edition were clouded by storms of objection emitted from brightly painted protesters representing the Afro-Brazilian and indigenous majority in Rio de Janeiro last week.
AFP reported the activists from labor rights group Educafro were not just demanding spots on the runway, but more opportunities for black and indigenous people to work in general. A main difference between a lack of diversity on runways in Brazil vs the same lack of diversity on catwalks in the US and Europe? – Brazil’s black and indigenous population make up more than half of their 194 million people.
Photograph: Chris Rank/Polaris
I realize the title implies I am calling TMZ a journalistic entity, but I feel even gossip rags and bloggers should be less lazy about commenting on the facts and possibilities surrounding this situation. When a woman files a police report alleging rape or sexual assault, she has a lot to prove. In the case of accusations against “Cee Lo Green” (whose mother named him Thomas DeCarlo Callaway) the alleged victim is fighting an uphill battle due to information from TMZ (who broke the story) that Cee Lo supposedly admitted in a phone conversation meant to bait him into admitting the crime. MDMA (better known as ecstasy) is reportedly the drug Cee Lo referred to in the conversation, leading people to speculate it must have been the only alleged drug used by either party that night.
Now, additional reports are surfacing, claiming Green had a “long history” with the alleged victim who was reportedly interested in obtaining expensive gifts. Although TMZ reports the two met in February of this year (9 months ago), Daniel Levine of thecelebritycafe.com claims this “long history” included long-distance dating for a year and a half (twice the amount of time TMZ reports they knew each other).
I (like everyone else reading about this situation) have no idea what actually happened, but I do know bad, misogynistic assumptions due to terrible “reporting” when I read them. I also know that media outlets and blogs are not capable of acting as crime experts, detectives, judges or even a jury. Each and every article I have read about the possibility of an assault in this case states that illegal drug MDMA does not normally cause black-outs or losing consciousness as a “side-effect.”
Let’s review some of what should be common sense facts for those reporting on this situation:
1) If this woman called Cee Lo (after filing a police report, and on the behest of the police) and he mentioned MDMA, it doesn’t necessarily mean that was the only drug (besides alcohol, who Notre Dame names the most popular date rape drug on college campuses) in play that night. He could have given her a cocktail with MDMA and something else to help make the night even more exciting. Maybe there was no ecstasy involved at all, and that was just a story Green used to sound more innocent than he is (to think, the man in the situation could actually be lying!).
2) A quick Google search for “ecstasy and date rape” let’s the curious online student of sexual violence know that MDMA is quite popular when it comes to designer drugs and sexual assault. Perhaps the date rapers know something from experience the scientists do not.
3) Illegal drugs are not regulated – there is no “regular” way illegal batches of ecstasy affect human brains. To say MDMA does not “generally render people unconscious” (as TMZ did when they broke the story) in a case where alleged sexual assault occurred is irresponsible and quite frankly, disgusting. Like most illegal drugs and substances that affect the brain, ecstasy affects each person differently.
4) Fainting is a known “side effect” of MDMA.
5) Memory loss is a known “side effect” of MDMA. AskMen.com warns that large doses can cause “dissociation in vulnerable individuals” due to the brain reacting to an increase in stimulation caused by the drug. Trauma expert Belleruth Naparstek explains that dissociation, especially during a traumatic event, can lead to memory loss of an entire event,
“But there are forms of dissociation, especially during times of extreme threat to life and limb, where a person drops into a classic, mammalian, survival-based, freeze state, and all memory of the event is gone, because they were barely “there” at the time.”
6) TMZ’s report from today alleges the singer meeting his out-of-town accuser in February of this year constitutes them having a “long history” which they paint as cutting against the credibility of her sexual assault allegations. The between-the-lines assumption by the misogynist media is that this woman, because she knew her famous accuser for more than one night, is a money-obsessed whore who potentially had sex with Cee Lo in the past and could not have been sexually assaulted in July because of it. Less than a year of knowing a person who you are not exclusively dating and does not live in your state equals a “long history” now? Is TMZ using Kim Kardashian’s marriage as the litmus of what constitutes a long relationship? Perhaps TMZ is asserting wives also can’t get raped during their marriages because of this “long history.” Are first dates the only dates eligible for sexual violence now?
I will end by summing things up in easy to understand questions and answers:
*Did a woman file a police report against the man best known as Cee Lo Green for sexual assault?
- Yes.
*Is it possible the illegal drug MDMA, better known as ecstasy was involved the night in question?
- Yes.
*Is it possible other drugs (besides alcohol) were involved the night in question? – Yes.
*Is it possible MDMA helped cause the accuser memory loss and dissociation about the night in question? – Yes.
*Is it possible alcohol helped cause the accuser memory loss, a black out and/or a loss in consciousness during the night in question? – Yes.
*Is it possible the woman is lying about the sexual assault she filed a police report about? – Yes.
*Is it possible Cee Lo is lying about the sexual assault he is accused of? – Yes.
*Is it possible people using journalistic misogyny are painting the alleged victim as a gold-digging slut (as usual) in the court of public opinion, and by doing so are delegitimizing all police reports claiming sexual violence involving people who knew each other before the alleged assault? – Yes.
These accusations make The Lady Killer as a concept seem much more sketchy.
with love,
Lady T
It’s like a dream, and I’m a rapper. Afterschool, I spend time at Hellfyre Club. I like donuts – I’m in a parking lot – I’m tripping. The Busdriver is teaching me about genitals and pampers and chia pet dander. I understand that I need this lesson. He tells me he’s Werner Herzog and I believe everything he says – I’m mesmerized. He takes me to a special tutor (Open Mike Eagle) who tells me he’s P.T. Anderson – a genius diaper salesman who farts fairness. Nocando has multiple personality disorder of the filmaker variety – apparently the hoes like John Singleton, but who knows how the policeman would like his ice pick?
I wish more people would take Hellfyre Club lessons.
Simple visuals punctuated with tight editing to an infectious beat showcasing some of the LA underground’s finest lyricists.
Allow professors brrapture and Electric Teeth to give you a refreshing lesson in hip hop deconstructionism with a Danny Brown XXX text:
Danny can get away with murder lyrically – perhaps a combination of the fact that he has busted teeth and sounds so totally and uniquely ridiculous. Enjoy!
xoxo – Lady T
…but he is one of my favorite new rappers, coming up and getting respect: Kendrick Lamar. So I was wondering what kind of F**cking Problems K.dot had.
To be fair, I only listened to this track once.
But when you listen to this song, if you listen really close, with like, your third ear (similar to your third eye, but located inside of your brain)…you can hear in the background chicks singing on the chorus & throughout, “dirty dicks, dirty dicks, dirty dicks.” This song & songs like it just make me think of disease these days. My face was in a tight ball signaling yucky disgust the entire time. If you have a f**cking problem, you probably also have a problem with your dick dripping (not pee) every once in a while and those are NOT the kind of problems you want women thinking of when you are some dude rapping on a track, right?
Can’t imagine liking the A$AP version better, but who knows.
xoxo – Lady T
I hate hearing dicks talk about their sticks, vocalising my complaints often – so how do I like hearing about what Awkwafina thinks about her vag, you ask? Well, I laughed as I was supposed to and I can appreciate the cute lines…but in the end, I was a bit frustrated and to be fair, it’s not Awkwafina’s fault. Of course my pissed off pussy is going to give her vag style points for making her cunt the subject of a song, and who doesnt like SNL style music video compilations? But, her vag creating the cream for the other vag’s with the gun and the pile of money smelled a bit like a cock to me which is always disappointing – does the imagery of her burly bodyguard painting her nails and her declaration that her vag is better than any penis even things out? I’m not sure. But, I like her and prefer her vag to Iggy Azalea’s Pu$$y any day.
xoxo – Lady T
“Fight night! Round 1 of the debate is finished.” By Michael Greaney via VisualNews.com
@PharoaheMonch called the first debate last night the “Presidential rap battle” & it is a good analogy – dudes talking about how great they are with pre-written words meant to sound like they are ‘debating’ live & of course no females are invited to take part (the wives and daughters of the candidates are there for hugs after, of course – forget including Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein & running mate Cheri Honkala who might actually have brought different points to debate about rather than political style points to prime time television). Just like in a rap battle, we are meant to decide who we like to look at and listen to better while hearing the same empty nonsense over and over again & just like when you watch an awards show – the most talented people you actually want to hear and see perform are on the outside, without the bling, being effectively hidden from the masses.
The world is a phony place these days. From fake food to fake hair to fake nails to fake help to fake boobs to fake journalists to fake butts – we are a world and certainly a nation that expects and accepts a high level of fakery on a daily basis. Political campaigns seem to embrace a level of fraudulence that can annoy even the most artificial people – and if they are fake about simple things like who follows them on Twitter, how can they be real about what they would do if elected?
Obama and Romney made of Play-Doh by Ian Williams via VisualNews.com
This morning, @BarackObama’s camp was firing shots at fakery over Twittter, calling out “the real” Romney who they claim did not show up to battle rap at the debates last night. Here are 3 examples:
1) “The man onstage last night — he does not want to be held accountable for what the real Romney’s been saying for the last year.”
2) “When I got on stage, I met this very spirited fellow who claimed to be Mitt Romney. It couldn’t have been Mitt Romney.”
3) “The real Romney has been running around the country for the last year promising $5 trillion in tax cuts that favor the wealthy.”
Obama’s campaign team obviously thinks it important to continue the debate from last night over Twitter today, but how real is @BarackObama’s Twitter following? Statuspeople.com is here to help, claiming the President’s Twitter account is followed by many fake or inactive followers. Here is the #ZIF breakdown:
@BarackObama (verified account) 20,515,399: 18% fake + 31% inactive =
49% zombies vs. 51% “real” followers (10,462,853)
the Vice President:
@JoeBiden (verified account) 177,765: 15% fake + 44% inactive =
59% zombies vs. 41% “real” followers (72,883)
What Americans saw during the debate last night may not have been the “real Romney” (who clearly doesn’t feel he has anything to prove over Twitter today) – but how real are @MittRomney’s Twitter followers? The #ZIF breakdown:
@MittRomney (verified account) 1,273,313: 18% fake + 34% inactive =
45% zombies vs. 48% “real” followers (611,190)
his VP running mate:
@paulryanvp (verified account) 344,919 = 21% fake + 32%inactive =
53% zombies vs. 47% “real” followers (162,111) – (I must note that a few weeks ago when I started researching for this post, only 7% of Mr. Ryan’s followers were ‘real’ – kudos to his camp for figuring it out.)
And what about the Green Party presidential candidate? Is she full of Twitter fakery, with more zombie followers than real ones? @JillStein2012′s Twitter following may be a small one (13,552) but of those followers, Statuspeople.com claims 76% of them are “real” – giving her the highest percentage of active followers.
Perhaps, like many hip hop artists we love, you will choose to support none of the candidates this election year. Perhaps you have been waiting for more “information” trickled down from what we are still calling “debates” (they should be called “Ruling Class Conversations” or “Simple Talk with the Republicans and Democrats” something more descriptive of what is actually going on there) and whatever propaganda the news outlets have in store. Regardless, in the meantime, when you sign into your Twitter account and see annoying political retweets on your timeline, let it be a comfort that you can know the facts about the level of fake attached to each campaign account.
Want to check out my level of fake (@infamousladyt), or find out how fake your favorite rapper’s accounts are? (like @kanyewest for example, who can boast an embarrassing 60% fake followers) – check out Statuspeople.com.
If that doesn’t interest you, try eating a Thug Waffle instead & remember that the only candidate who will allow for the kind of sour treats Flatbush Zombies are talking about is the Green one, Jill Stein who supports the legalization of cannabis and slams the Obama administration for attacking medical cannabis patients across the country.
xo – Lady T
Speaking like a President from the bullets point of view, Pharoahe Monch lays down this beautifully produced and perfectly political banger. In the midst of feigned excitement over 2 party politics, this first single can give hip hop fans confidence about the platform of the Pharoahe’s anticipated album PTSD.
For Pharoahe Monch fans, the single ends the story of this personified bullet begun with the tracks Stray Bullet and When the Gun Draws (video below).
During a time when I can’t seem to get the voices of presidential hopefuls out of my head due to millions of dollars in campaigns and constant news coverage, it is nice to be able to play tracks like these loud and hope the beats get stuck to drown out the propaganda. Been a fan of Mr. Monch and his anti-establishment stylings since the days of Soundbombing & will be happy to check the full album when it drops. Until then, show your support by purchasing the single on iTunes.
Follow the man on Twitter @pharoahemonche
Kisses & Bullets - Lady T
I know you want that meat, but you should stick with the Veggies. The pink slime is overrated. Don’t pad the pockets of the beef industry – instead, plant a garden and get that money.
Casey Veggies – Get That Money (Prod. By Polyester)
Sleep dropping out of weekend eyes and the news dropping doesn’t bode well for some of those who rely on the Internet for music and money – the Recording Industry Association of America won a victory over music downloading when the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from the Boston University student Joel Tenenbaum who has a $675,000 verdict against him for downloading and sharing 30 songs online. The case will not be dropped, and neither will the amount of the penalties, which seem to be too unusually cruel to be constitutional. Mr. Tenenbaum may have been counting on FB stocks to take a monstrous leap and help him pay those bills, but the social media brand has opened its second day on the stock market with reports of a 13% drop. FB founder Mark Zuckerberg also dropped his bachelorhood Saturday by marrying his longtime girlfriend Priscilla Chan. His bride is reported to like, “cooking and soft things,” a statement which makes me annoyed at the Associated Press. For existing.
Other things that dropped and sound unfortunate? Whitney’s last single. Call me what you will, but I will choose to remember one of my favorite vocalists of all time pre-Bobby only. A time before American Idol and all the fake extras that never did suit Ms. Houston in my opinion strung throughout a track I won’t Celebrate to. Ever.
Whitney Houston & Jordin Sparks – Celebrate
Drop me a line or drop a comment on this post if you feel the need.
Donna Summer died today after a battle with cancer. RIP
I work hard for the money, and everytime I do this classic track playing on repeat inside of my head makes me feel just a little bit better about it.
Before I was a Pissed Off Pussy, back in the days when I was just a kitten I admired Ms. Summer’s style in her 1984 release Cats Without Claws. The album was a part of my mom’s album crate and although it didn’t do well on the charts, it inspired me to willingly embrace unique styles and Donna’s huge voice.
Donna worked hard and we will miss her. A few producers worked hard so you can enjoy an updated take on her classic disco sounds. Much respect to Donna Summer and her musical legacy. She was a voice for women and their plight and she was a goddess on the mic.
Donna Summer – She Works Hard For The Money (PakTraxx DubStep Remix)
Donna Summer – She works hard for the money (DjPaRe Remix 2008)
