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Drink of the Week: Patron SILVER

Keep It Simple Stupid!

SJU TOPS G'TOWN!

St. John's Beats Georgetown In OT
Staff and Wire Reports | The Hartford Courant
March 4, 2009
St. John's erased a 15-point deficit in the last 10 minutes of regulation and went on to a 59-56 overtime victory over Georgetown Tuesday night in New York.

Rob Thomas made four free throws in the final 51 seconds of regulation to tie the score at 51 and force the first overtime in the 91-game series between the schools.

D.J. Kennedy hit two free throws with 1:15 left in overtime to give the Red Storm (15-15, 6-11 Big East) the lead for good at 57-56. After a turnover by the Hoyas, Justin Burrell dunked on a rebound with 10 seconds left to make it 59-56.

The Hoyas' DaJuan Summers missed a three-point shot at the buzzer...

LOG ON TO www.courant.com/services/newspaper/printedition/sports/hc-colhoops0304.artmar04,0,4840565.story

ILLMATIC: 15 Years Later

They called him prophet. Poetry was a part of him. And on Tuesday, April 19, 1994, when 20-year-old Nasir Jones released Illmatic, his debut album on Sony Music’s Columbia Records, true-believer hip-hop heads rejoiced. It felt like revelation.

The journey began three years earlier, with Main Source’s 1991 posse cut “Live at the Barbeque.” On it, the rap world was introduced to an upstart MC from Long Island City’s Queensbridge Houses. Queensbridge, the largest housing project in the U.S., was home to Marley Marl, MC Shan and the mighty Juice Crew, who’d fallen to the Bronx’s Boogie Down Productions in the famous “Bridge Wars” of the late ’80s. The son of jazz trumpeter Olu Dara, Nas was discovered by Main Source’s Large Professor—and was still in his teens when he stole the “Barbeque” single with lines like, “Verbal assassin/My architect pleases/When I was 12/I went to hell for snuffin’ Jesus!”

New York streets were buzzing heavy. 3rd Bass rapper MC Serch signed Nas to his Serchlite Publishing and started shopping for a record deal. Not all of the industry’s honchos were as enthused (Russell Simmons, for example, at Serch’s own label, Def Jam Recordings, turned him down for fear of commercial failure). But Sony Music A&R Faith Newman-Orbach eventually signed Nas to Columbia Records.

With an all-star team of New York beatmakers abetting Large Professor’s production, work began on hip-hop’s perfect album. Nas’s first recorded solo track, “Halftime,” appeared on the soundtrack to the 1992 indie flick Zebrahead, whetting fans’ appetites for what was to come. In the years leading up to the album’s release, overzealous DJs began liberating unguarded tracks via mixtapes and the college-radio circuit. In the face of such early bootlegging, Columbia rushed a short, 10-song Illmatic to stores in ’94—nixing original plans to include more material.

New York purists and the rap press raved, but Russell was right: The album was not a huge commercial success, selling a mere 330,000 copies its first year out. Its cultural impact, though, has proved to be immeasurable, marking Nas’s messiah-like arrival and the beginning of a nine-album, multimillion-selling career. A decade and a half after its release, XXL assembles the people who were there to bear witness.
—ROB MARKMAN
XXL Magazine

Log On To www.XXLMAG.com for the whole story

What The Hell is EMO-Rap?

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

Hip Hop has changed. Kurtis to Curtis to Kanye, hip hop has evolved and is expressing its feelings and emotions in various ways. Emotional Hip Hop has seemed to take over the airways and artists are no longer afraid to express themselves.

Mic Check 1, 2...

Doin' it ACApella

Taken aback for a second interview, Alert/Carter and Associates also known as ACA is definitely on the high rise. As we entered the offices of Jean Alert and Beau-Guy Carter, FORTY MILLION DOLLARS slapped us in the face. No, it wasn’t actual cash, but it definitely caught our attention. Above Mr. Carter’s desk was a phrase that simply read “$40,000,000.” He explained that with money comes false friends and new family. It is up to us to decipher between the stragglers and surround ourselves with real friends, real family and true business. Unfortunately, Beau was in a recent accident where he had to evaluate his surroundings carefully. With his downfall, many of the people he held closest to him left his side. Those who stayed are the people he will continue to further himself in life with. So, once again, the FORTY MILLION DOLLAR question arises. Mr. Carter’s response was, “When we hit that forty million mark, the people that you interview today are going to be the people that’s going to be there later on. That’s it.”
Up and coming business entity Alert/Carter and Associates is a motions picture, sports management and entertainment firm. Separating the business world from the personal, ACA provides a comfortable family environment while exemplifying their hierarchy of authority. Jean Alert stated, “You want them to feel comfortable with you as a friend and also understand we’re here for their best interest in business.” Alert/Carter and Associates provides a full service management company with their public relations personnel Tamar Bazin, who has worked with several people in the fashion industry including the whole Russell Simmons family. Some of the artists Alert/Carter and Associates represent vary from athletes to actors and artists. To name a few, football player Jeffrey Pope from the New York Jets, pianist Chloe Lowe, Actors Shaun B. from hit TV series The Wire and Alexis Diez from TV network BET’s Comedy Central, as well Rhythm and Blues singer/song-writer Corey Gibson. As each artist takes on separate career paths, Alert/Carter and Associates caters to every need for them to successfully propel into and maintain balance in the business world. President of the company, Derrick Loftin and developing executive Jonathan Sykes, find every and any way to make sure the company runs smoothly and their artists stay happy and successful. As Mr. Alert and Mr. Carter plan for the future, they say, “Everyday in every way, I get better and better and better.” Nonetheless, as he comes about progress, his company and artists do too.
Along with the needs of their artists, Alert/Carter and Associates gives back to the community, working with young boys in the public school system, teaching them how to tie ties. Believing success is in business and the arts, Alert/Carter and Associates has brought means of etiquette to young children in the public school system; who are going to be more than just our children, but our future. Jean Alert gives us a quote told to him from up and coming soul singer, Kimberly Nicole. He says, “People aren’t happy because they’re not living their purpose and a part of loving your life is living your purpose and living your purpose is living freely.” After the trials and tribulations of switching companies and no longer managing certain artists in the industry, such as Chrisette Michelle, Jean Alert and Beau-Guy Carter are venturing off into a greater adventure and doing as they please. From prospective works such as an Old School Hip-Hop tour over seas, a new movie in reference to life back in the 1980’s around Red Hook Projects located in Brooklyn, New York and lining up a SEVEN FIGURE deal with a mysterious NBA player, Mr. Alert and Mr. Carter have huge plans for the future. We haven’t been told who the mystery Athlete is yet, but we do know it is someone from the New Jersey Nets basketball team. Stay updated with Alert/Carter and Associates by tuning in and signing on to www.UniversityHustle.blogspot.com.

::By Courtney Johnson, UH Contributor

SLUG: ONES 2WATCH-CHARLES HAMILTON

http://www.myspace.com/hamiltonsmusic
http://charleshamilton.blogspot.com

Picture, for a moment, the future of Hip-Hop – embellished with pink hues, an old school Sega Genesis hedgehog, and syncopated sounds from an offbeat musician playing on a pink Hello Kitty guitar. His name is Charles Hamilton, signed to Interscope and slated to be the next superstar.

|GABB: “How does it feel to be an artist on the come up with a major label deal?”
|HAMILTON: “I try not to pay too much attention to it honestly.”

But while he articulates humble words, the 21-year-old confidently reclines on the couch in his Harlem apartment – removing his pink oversized Skullcandy headphones – with a swagger that can only be explained by his newfound rise to fame. It’s the quintessential contradiction. The mere presence of media in his living room suggests the magnitude of his inevitable stardom.

His ascend began early in 2008. It was after signing a solo artist deal with Interscope that the label prompted Hamilton to fortify his Internet existence. Consequently, initiating the launch of the “Hamiltonization Process” – one mix tape integrated into the blogosphere every two weeks for four months. Each submitted to a different blog site. It’s the first time an artist has gone back underground to suffuse the blogworld.

The “Hamiltonization Process” is the marketing stratagem of Charles himself with help from the Hamilton Administration of course. “I’ve had that plan for years,” he said. “And now I got a chance to execute it and show people exactly how much I think into my music.”

For Hamilton, music is more than just the spoken word. He plays the piano, various percussion instruments, bass and lead ‘pink’ guitar. “There are so many different elements to me, it’s just Hip-Hop is my gateway in,” he said. “I’m a musician before anything.”

Even in the womb Hamilton showcased an insatiable palate for music, flipping around to Michael Jackson’s 1987 Bad album, according to his mother Talice. “I knew Charles has always been gifted musically,” she said. “In terms of creativity it was always there.”

But the new deal forces Hamilton to transition to a more mainstream sound. Yet he still has all the underground components that have kept his style motley and distinctive. “I’m loyal to what I do which is the free music but ultimately I’m a mainstream artist,” Hamilton said. “I’m the first underground artist on the mainstream.”

Now a major label artist back underground, it’s noteworthy that Hamilton can personally respond to feedback from blog supporters and antagonists. Although he sometimes becomes consumed by the antagonistic comments, there is no shortage of praise from his followers. Especially after holding his own during a freestyle cipher with heavy-hitters Kanye West and The Game.

It’s his passion for pink and his fixation with the Sega Genesis character Sonic the Hedgehog that have the blogs buzzing. But it’s not a gimmick, Hamilton said. There is a personal philosophy behind his infatuation with the color. "God is a woman and pink is the inside of a woman's womb and that’s where life comes out of, so wearing pink is a way of showing respect to God," Hamilton explained. And as for Sonic the Hedgehog, well sonic means ‘sound’ and hedgehogs bury themselves underground, so “I’m Sonic the Hedgehog because I bury myself into sound,” he said.

His ideology is unorthodox, but what should one expect from a musical-genius type. If the dawning of a new day in Hip-Hop is feasible, Hamilton may be just the man to rally the troops to victory.

::By Gabby R., www.GabGoLightly.blogspot.com

Ms Olivia: WALK LIKE A CHAMPION

Ms Olivia: WALK LIKE A CHAMPION
By Tewauna Oliver

In an exclusive interview with Olivia, formerly the leading lady of G-Unit, and her manager “Wolf” Johnson UH was able to get the dirt on what really caused the split from G-Unit, her recent trip to Africa, and what her plans are for the future.
The Brooklyn born songstress spent a year at Hofstra University in Long Island, New York, studying Entertainment Law, before transferring to Five Towns College, also in Long Island, to follow her musical dreams. It was here that her potential was recognized, “I didn’t even finish college I went for two years and that’s when Clive came and got me. I wasn’t gonna turn down a million dollars so I went.” She says laughing.

Being the first artist to ever be signed to Clive Davis’ infamous J Records was no small feat and contributed to the journey that only learning through experience could present. Olivia opened up to UH on the adventure that is her life and states, “Everything I’ve been through has definitely been a stepping stone and I think it was for a reason, I don’t regret anything that’s ever happened because I think it was supposed to be that way. I don’t think God makes me do anything just because. That’s how it was planned and I was supposed to learn a lesson from what ever, and you know; I have.”She continues to say, “From the J Records situation I learned how the industry works. I learned how finicky the industry could be and I learned how to handle myself and be strong because you hear all these rumors. Being on the next label it was politics. That’s what happened while I was at Interscope, it was a lot of politics. I learned the ups and downs and now I’m better, I know exactly what I wanna do, how I wanna be, how I want it done now, and what I’m most grateful for is that now I get a third chance. Most artists don’t even get a first, half the artists don’t even get a second. So that’s exactly how I know that I’m supposed to be here and I did everything the way it was supposed to be done because not most people get to the third round and I do.” She finishes with a laugh. Olivia’s manager “Wolf” also reflected on the changes in her career and states, “They were all different situations and that’s the great part about music, it’s not a destination it’s a journey. “

As for the situation with G-Unit Olivia says, “What people don’t know is that 50 and I talked, [a year] prior to me leaving. I wanted to get off the label because there was no R&B sense, it was all just rap and am I really gonna stay in a group with the four of ya’ll for the rest of my life. So we talked about that, but you know the media misconstrues everything and it turned out to be what it was and we all just ended up playing on it and it made it bigger than it was.”

Although the time spent with G-Unit definitely helped to shape Olivia’s career the singer felt like she wasn’t performing the style of music that she wanted. Where she was more into R&B her time spent at Interscope was more hip-hop driven. “You see I had 50 on the songs, I had Banks on the songs and that’s cause 50 thought that the rap would help it sell but I was like I’m R&B that’s why the people love me, because you brought R&B to the group. That’s why we did Candy Shop, that’s why we did Best Friend, that’s why we did So Amazing. But he only knows Rap so he thinks that would be the best way to sell it. He doesn’t know how to sell R&B. I was trying to tell him we have no R&B people to help at the label and you’re doing things as if I’m a Rap artist and I’m not, so that was the issue.”

However “Wolf” provides a little more insight into the issues surrounding the split. “It had to come to an end because we were kind of mixing oil and water. She’s a R&B singer, they’re rappers and it was good in the beginning, great for publicity and all that stuff but at the end of the day it’s a job for us just like it’s a job for anybody else. So at the end of the day when you work you expect to get paid.”

Although there have been lots of rumors circulating around the singers leaving the group the only real issues seem to be monetarily and creatively based. According to “wolf”, Olivia “wrote on Candy Shop and 50 didn’t give her credit for it and he didn’t pay me for it. She wrote on “Best Friend” and to this day he hasn’t given her proper credit or money for those songs and it would be nice it one day he did. I do have legal and tangible proof that she wrote the songs so my day in court will come and everybody will see what it really is. Don’t get me wrong I’m grateful for the time we had together and we had a good opportunity but fair is fair. At the end of the day when someone works hard and goes all out for you they should be compensated not pushed to the side. But history will show everything, it’s no secret that Game left G-Unit, it’s no secret Buck left G-Unit, there’s a reason for that, that all didn’t happen by coincidence. People have to get paid when they render services.”

With the stress of her past behind her Olivia is moving on to much bigger and better things. She recently came back from a trip to Africa where she visited three different cities; Utanga, Lubumbashi, and Katanga. It was on this trip, while performing for close to 30,000 people and feeding bananas to gorillas, that she decided it was time for her to lend a helping hand to her fellow artists in Africa. “I’m building the first big studio in Africa, they have none. So all of the Artists there fly six or seven hours to Brussels or Belgium from Africa to record, so I was like you know what I wanna give back and I love the country cause I’ve been there so many times why don’t I do something. So we talked about it and I picked out the land before I left and we drew up the architecture, I’m so excited. We’ll probably break ground in two months and start the building. It’s going to be called K.O.S, Katanga Olivia Studios.”

Her manager “Wolf” elaborated on the details of the studio for us. “It’s going to be three stages: recording/dance studio, radio station, lounge, and an office that’s the first stage. Once that is completed there will be eight shops where we’ll bring goods and services from Jamaica and America to give them a flavor of what we love… from wears to food and things that we think they would enjoy. The third stage is a theater. It’s going to be 2500 to 3000 capacity seating with a fully equipped green room, and TV station. It’s going to be a very nice project and I’m looking forward to it.”

The new studio isn’t Olivia’s only big move, she just finished recording her new independent album, through Universal records, that has already been released overseas and is expected to drop in the US early 2009. Also according to her manager Olivia has “just hooked up with Tracey Moore one of the most well known and respected acting coaches in acting. She’s taken Olivia under her wing and he’s going to start two months of lessons with her. She’s going to go full force with the music and film at the same time.”

So it seems even though we won’t be seeing Ms Olivia beside 50 Cent, that doesn’t mean we won’t be seeing her. It’s all too often that we see talented singers not make it and weaker singers who are easier to market steal the limelight. It’s time we get and keep real talent in the forefront.

QUEST FOR G!

This commercial is HILARIOUS! Kevin Garnett and the Jabbawockez are in this Gatorade commercial that airs in pieces, but, you can see it in it's entirety here. KG is such a goof! lol

DANGER NEEDS HELP!!!

This girl is really crazy! For the Love of Ray J contestant Danger has her own blogsite. This was one of her recent posts:

The Power of the Female Genitalia
One vagina on the net....and people go crazy talking negativly about me. Is this the same world that glorifys pimps with golden goblets, and loves to watch the Girl's Next Door?? I feel you Janet.
So we are friends right....
And you know I love you.
I want to talk the time out before I leave to go to these events in Hollywood to address a few things.
1. We are all adults. As adults we make choices,
2. And if we are not adults please learn how to be a child before you go and try to grow up too fast. Think before you do. There are consequences for all of your actions no matter how small they are, and the things you choose to do does not only effect you but everyone around you. I would love for children to come and read my page and hear about my trials on earth to encourage them that no matter what you go through and who you are your dreams are still attainable and within your grasp. Just be wise. Make sure it makes sense. Have a plan. And don't let anything or anyone tell you that you can't. If they try to put you down then they don't need to be in your life.
Shit, Josephine Baker became the wealthiest black woman in the world, she performed wearing black face as a child in the minstrel shows, danced naked in Paris, and her own mother didn't believe in her. She flew down and picked her mom up to move her into her Parisan castle, only a few years later. And she used to walk down the street with a Cheetah on a leesh!
3. No, I am not pregnant.
4. I love the attention, I knew I was born to be in film, it has always been my dream.
5. I love all the messages I am getting for you, it makes me smile, it brings me joy. Entertainers are born to entertain so whether you have nice things to say about me or negative things, just the fact that you know who I am, gives me the hope and strength that you will watch me in film.
6. Thank you thank you thank you thank you..
7. I want to know who you are, if I don't respond to your message right away I am sorry, I am still reading all the poems you sent to monicaakadangeress@gmail.com, I want to do something with the ones that move me.
8. I am also inspired to create. I am releasing a short film I wrote a few years ago next week. I am preparing myself for an art exhibition, I will be auctioning off the pieces on my website.
9. I was never a streetwalking prostitute.
10. I am Black and Mexican.
11. I grew up in the bay area.
12. I am off the market, I am not dating so we can talk business, we can talk art, we can talk about the movement, but I am not interested in seeing anyone new.
13. I have always liked women, I keep women as friends now.
14. I am 22 years old.
15. I am going to also have For the Love of Ray J commentary of all the episodes on my other page myspace.com/dangeress
16. If I missed anything feel free to write me and ask. I am an open book!!!
I love you all, you inspire me and give me hope for my life and for the future of existence.
MYAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!