still in a reggie watts haze. this particular video isn’t very funny, but i watch it CONSTANTLY. the song he constructs is perfection. i can’t begin to wrap my brain around how many amazing improvisational songs he’s released into the ether; i’m so glad somebody captured this one.

i just stumbled upon a new video by E-40. there’s nothing particularly special about it - just dudes and dames having fun with ultraviolet light in the club.

but doesn’t that night club seem….sparsely attended? like, it feels like they rented out a club & lured a few people with vague promises of you tube stardom and chicken fingers.

i seem to remember a time where “the club” in a video felt like the actual CLUB.

you can’t convince me that all of those people were just packed in at club vision/the velvet room/the tunnel/the kit kat club or whatever, and somebody thought, “hey, let’s turn on some of these cameras we have propped up everywhere.”

being in the club used to be so effortless, y’know?

you know what? ty segall is playing the EARL tonight. i think i’m gonna give him a try.

and here is why even when i give up on nelly furtado, i never REALLY give up on nelly furtado. sure, this song sounds like a rihanna knock off, but let’s remember that nelly had that nasally honk sound down way before ri-ri was asking the dj to turn the music up. the most important thing, however, is the “drop” - everyone and their slightly clueless mother is shoving a dubstep break into their songs. nelly furtado? she dropped a JUNGLE beat, son. that’s my girl.

i’m not a fan of whatever this “dubstep” is. from a former club kid standpoint, that shit is the biggest cocktease. there’s a huge build up, then it breaks into half time and deep bass and that’s it? no beat to dance to? what’s wrong, kids - scared of a little syncopation? huh - i’d have to be high to fully appreciate it? GTFOHWTBS. you’re wasting my time.

photo by nat b.

it was scheduled to start at 8:30. usually this means the opening act starts at 8:30 but there was none listed, so i got there about 8:45. the show started at nine…and ended promptly at ten. that’s including the encore. considering dude has released 3 full length mixtapes, and this is his first US tour, you’d think he’d play for hours. but he didn’t need to. and frankly, i’m not sure the crowd would have been able to take it - it was like beatlemania in that bitch. everybody singing at the top of their lungs, including the ad-libs. girls screaming. SCREAMING. FOR AN INTERNET DUDE. a internet dude who’s just cocky enough to put his cover of “dirty diana” at #2 on the set list - then cut it short.

mr. weeknd (aka abel tesfaye) can sing, though. that was evident. he might need to work with a singing coach to get some breath control, but he hit all of the high notes. he also hit a few james brown steps and michael jackson spins. he has clearly been practicing in his bedroom for his rock’n’roll moment.

i don’t think he was prepared for the amount of love. you could tell he was in awe of a packed (sold out!) theatre, everybody there to see him and cheer him on. the crowd was having a blast. lots of couples dirty dancing. the weeknd’s music is very sexy; i’m pretty sure there were quite a few vehicles rockin’ in the parking garage after the show. hell, i almost messed around & did a body roll in public. by the end of the show, there was a bra on the stage - only one, because none of the other ladies were wearing them.

photo by millie d.

the audience was so young, guys. i mean, tesfaye was born in 1990 (the year i graduated high school hahahahasnortsnortwaitwhyamicrying) so the crowd was as it should be. i guess i was the inappropriately aged creep there. but you know what? seeing those kids so happy made me happy. (also, maybe the weed smoke that was everywhere as soon as the lights went down played a part in my happiness.) hearing those songs made me happy. those weeknd mixtapes pretty much defined my 2011. hanging with millie & natalie made me happy. and i will take all of the happiness i can get right now.

i don’t know if you are aware of what’s happening on the music charts, but i am. in fact, i’m very aware of what’s happening on big champagne’s ultimate chart, mostly because it’s my job to work on it. anyhoo, these two english boy bands came out of nowhere (Actually, they came out of England. - Killjoy Ed.) and they’ve stormed the chart. seriously - they were in the top ten within two weeks. both of them. and during those two weeks, the only thing i could remember was that one group had a video where they were on the beach but one member wasn’t chiseled enough to go topless. “aw,” i thought. “there goes the chris kirkpatrick.”

since it’s my job, i took a moment and watched one video by each group. they are TOTALLY DIFFERENT, guys. and that’s not sarcasm.

ONE DIRECTION:

…was grown in the fertile fields that is X-Factor, one of those singing competition shows i never watch. (real talk - i’ve never seen a minute of them. not even american idol. wait, last season i watch the first episode of the voice, but then my senses kicked it.) they had all tried out individually, but brain trust nicole scherzgfljkrgfhuithjgbfsxlhbnger suggested they form a group. voila! it’s pretty pop, right? straight up disney channel commercial break. just what you think of when you think boy band.

but what’s that? you say you love boy bands but you need more abs? no problem. i’ll just run them through the Ibiza-fier and…

THE WANTED:

boy band in the clluuurrrbbbb!! disney after dark, son. i’m not sure how i got them confused - one direction looks like a boy band, the wanted looks like a photo shoot.

which one is better? oh, i’m not qualified to answer that question. i prefer to work one-on-one with pop singers…which is why i’m currently obsessed with this young english kid, conor maynard:

white kid aping an r&b singing style? that’s my wheelhouse.

just heard the recipe, the new single by cali rapper kendrick lamar, and okay! i’m down. dude is a member of the black hippy crew out of LA, which wouldn’t mean anything to me except last month i got the full length by schoolboy q, another black hippy member. i’ve been bumping it quite a bit, especially this banger, hands on the wheel:

yes, all they seem to talk about is weed & pills & chicks, rinse, repeat. but the production is nice - a touch o’the trip hop. also, i’m just happy that i get what a new rapper is doing right now. between riff raff, lil b, and spaceghost purrp out there being touted as the next level, i had given up on enjoying any new hip hop. some time ago i started to make my peace with the fact that rap is hell bent on being a young man’s game and after a point, there’s nothing there for me. so it’s great to immediately enjoy some rap again. somehow i’m thrilled to listen to the black hippy kids spin unbelievable yarns about wine, women, and song.

last night i had a very vivid dream about the upcoming childish gambino show. i was trying to see three concerts in one night - including a drake show, for some reason - after doing a set myself. i was totally sure it could be done because all of the concerts were in downtown atlanta, which didn’t look like downtown atlanta, of course. it looked like the downtown area of the fifth element (i think). anyhoo, i was frantically racing to the venue where childish gambino was supposed to be performing. they were waiting on me and everything! i had to get there!

then i woke up.

tonight, i returned home from a comedy show & fired up the ol’ tumblr, only to find the following message on donald glover’s page:

This past Saturday I fractured my foot on stage in Tampa during a performance and was rushed to the emergency room.

The doctors say that if I stay off of my foot for a couple weeks and wear this boot, there’s a good chance they can avoid surgery and start performing again soon.

I’m really upset by the timing of this. CAMP tour will go on, but dates will be postponed. All tour dates affected by this will be rescheduled. HERE. All tickets will be honored for whatever date they’re moved to. In some cases there will be more tickets available because the venues will be bigger, if that’s any sort of silver lining.

I apologize for this and I hope to see all you guys very soon.

well, shit.

first of all, i hope donald is okay. he’s a sweet guy and i hate to think of him in pain.

second of all, hey all my peeps in your late 20’s. you’re not as young as you think. be careful out there.

finally, DAMMIT. i was really looking forward to this show. i mean, my subconscious was even excited about it.

sigh.