Saturday, November 30, 2013
Two Strangers Passed Increasingly Angry Notes On A Delayed Flight
VIA: The only thing worse than flying on Thanksgiving? Listening to other people’s flying-on-Thanksgiving stories. If only they were all as good as Elan Gale’s, a shaggy-haired producer for The Bachelor who got into an epic note-passing conversation with a middle-aged woman on the same flight as his. Gale tweeted, “Our flight is delayed. A woman on here is very upset because she has Thanksgiving plans. She is the only one obviously. Praying for her,” before later sending a glass of wine with a note reading, “Hopefully if you drink it, you won’t be able to use your mouth to talk.”
That’s when the real fun began. Here’s the whole livetweet EXPERIENCE.
R.I.P. Paul Walker
TMZ is reporting that actor Paul Walker, 40, best known for playing Brian O'Connor in the Fast and Furious films, died in a fiery car crash in Santa Clarita, Calif. earlier today. Their sources say he was there for a car show to support the Philippines typhoon relief effort when the driver of his Porsche GT somehow lost control, causing the car to slam into a tree and burst into flames. Both Walker and the still unnamed passenger were killed. The story is still developing, and has yet to be confirmed.
SOURCES CONFIRMING THE NEWS BELOW:
Unlock Code To Purchase Limited Edition Nike LeBron 11 in NBA 2K14
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VIA: If you've already gotten your copy of NBA 2K14 for Playstation 4 or XBox One, it's time to get started in season mode using your custom player. (Access only available on these two next-gen systems, not PS3 or XBox 360.)
A nike.com landing page has popped up giving you the opportunity to pre-order an unknown colorway of the LeBron 11 - as long as you have the correct access code from 2K14. How exactly do you get that code? The steps are as follows:
How To Become Eligible:
-Register in-game with a 2K Sports online account.
-Create a custom MyPLAYER in-game.
-Complete at least 60 season games and earn an elite player ranking.
-Accept Nike Endorsement Path and be one of the first fans to create a Signature Shoe in the Innovation Kitchen.
-Earn the opportunity to purchase by becoming a Nike superstar in-game.
How To Order With An Access Code:
-Once eligible, you will see an in-game congratulatory message from LeBron James inviting you to purchase this limited-edition LeBron 11.
-You'll be emailed a unique 16-digit access code. Visit www.nike.com/2K14, use your access code to unlock the order page, and pre-order your shoes. Limit one per access code.
-Nike will ship the shoes when they arrive in March 2014.
-Pre-orders are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. A unique access code does not guarantee Nike will have the shoes in stock. Nike reserves the right to deactivate access codes or ban users at any time if fraudulent activity is detected.
Nike LeBron 11 2K14
650884-674 Multi/Multi
$220.00
Kanye West’s adidas Deal Reportedly Worth $10 Million
VIA: Kanye West had a monumental falling-out with Nike over their marketing of his sneakers, and is about to get his revenge by signing a $10 million deal with rival Adidas.
Kanye designed a range of sneakers for Nike, but sources tell us relations soured because he “only got 10 to 20 cents on the dollar for sales of his sneakers from Nike, and he only had a small personal stash to give out to his friends.”
Nike was the subject of one of Kanye’s rants during his recent shows at the Barclays Center. He said, “And with Nike, last conversation I had with them I said, ‘When are the Red Octobers coming out,’ and they said, ‘We’re not sure.’ Then I talked to my man down in Miami that runs the store and they said Nike was pressuring them saying if you want the Red Octobers you have to take all these trash-ass shoes. Nike was pressuring them trying to leverage off some s - - t that I made.”
Kanye complained he didn’t get decent royalties from Nike because he’s “not a professional athlete.” He also said, “I’m gonna be the first hip-hop designer and because of that, I’m gonna be bigger than Walmart.”
Kanye’s rants have been filling a lot of column inches this past week, after he compared himself to Shakespeare, Warhol and Marina Abramovic, and described himself as “The No. 1 rock star on the planet” while ranting about Lenny Kravitz while on stage at Madison Square Garden.
Justin Timberlake – TKO (Remix) f. J. Cole, A$AP Rocky & Pusha T
Well damn… how about this for a surprise? Out of left field, J. Cole, A$AP Rocky and Pusha T join Justin Timberlake on the official remix of JT’s The 20/20 Experience (2 of 2) single. All three artists do what they do best, and Cole even offers an official response to Kendrick Lamar’s “Control” verse. Listen below.
Friday, November 29, 2013
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Em Just Posted This On His Instagram!!!!! I Want
#RAPGOD Black on Black For Black Friday. Available at Midnight for 24 hours only.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Nike Kobe 8 'What the Kobe' - Release Date
VIA: Nike's 'What the' concept continues with the Kobe 8 'What the Kobe,' a final, over-the-top colorway of Kobe Bryant's eighth Nike signature model.
Like the Zoom Kobe VII before it, this year's 'What the Kobe' features a medley of colors and patterns referencing past Kobe 8 releases. The left shoe takes a largely blue and red approach (complete with Mambacurial-style branding on the medial side), while the right shoe mixes together red, turquoise and volt.
The Nike Kobe 8 'What the Kobe' will release on Friday, December 6
Who The Hell Am I: I’VE GOT THE ANSWERS KANYE!
VIA: Words by Andreas Hale
Kanye West is a train wreck.
Scratch that.
Kanye West is one of those Hollywood Fast & Furious seven-car pile-ups that you simply cannot take your eyes off of even though it’s so blatantly done for shock value. Except that Kanye West thinks he’s smarter than any Fast & Furious film and demands you treat him as such.
That sounds about right.
As if his mind numbing rants, knocking up Kim Kardashian with “Baby ½ Compass” and overall shenanigans didn’t drive that point home before. Well, his series of interviews – specifically his #YouAintGotTheAnswersSway rant on Sway In The Morning and incessant rambling and inability to directly answer a question on The Breakfast Club – pinned the tail on the fashion forward jackass. To lay it down as flat as possible: I’m sick of Kanye West and his egomania.
Before we get started, let me make a few things very clear. I am not a Kanye “hater.” Rather, I just really (really) dislike some aspects of his personality. I think he is an excellent artist and my byline is beside his 5-mic review in The Source for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. I was a fan of his artistry from the first time I heard the Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes sampled “This Can’t Be Life” off of The Dynasty: Roc La Familia album. He merged the underground and the mainstream together in a way that was downright admirable at a time when hip hop was stuffed with cream puff tunes from tough guys (oh, hello 50 Cent and Ja Rule). He helped rescue the music from the strait jacket of crap music. For that, he is appreciated.
With that being said, I have always felt that he is overrated. While most credit him for the success of Jay Z’s The Blueprint, I have always sided with Just Blaze’s contributions “U Don’t Know,” “Song Cry” and “Girls, Girls Girls.” But that is a 50/50 argument where I wouldn’t argue with anyone who enjoys Kanye’s productions more than the work of Just Blaze or Bink. Nevertheless, he’s an incredible producer and artist. However, as a lyricist, I have never bought into his perceived greatness. Sorry kids, if I have to round up my 10 greatest emcees, Kanye doesn’t make my lyrical kickball team. That doesn’t take away from the brilliance of The College Dropout or MBDTF (his best albums IMHO), just a note that it was more musical aesthetic then actual lyrical substance that sold those albums. But Yeezus was a vanity project that, to me, was a bunch of noise and chest thumping. I don’t like it, never will like it and you can’t make me.
I say that to say this, the monster that we have created has bought into his own hype and truly believes that he is the smartest guy in any room. Not a music studio but a fashion studio. And, you know, fashion is like the most important thing in the world to Kanye West.
They say money and fame changes people. I believe that money and fame just makes you more of what you already are. The signs were there from his previous interviews and various idiosyncratic episodes (does anyone remember the “walk where we wanna walk” episode of MTV’s Punk’d?), we just didn’t care to pay enough attention. He’s always been called a walking contradiction with a penchant for showing out like a selfish child who believes earth owes him something, but I’d like to refer to him as a walking hyperbole. Now, more than ever before are his statements completely asinine and borderline offensive. Here’s a few taken from his New York media blitz…
“The first time rappers rapped with each other on a God level was ‘Swagga Like Us.’ After that, all of the songs are like ‘Swagga Like Us.’ I’m showing us how to work together.”
Apparently, Kanye never heard “Buddy (Native Tongue Decision),” “Scenario,” The Symphony, “Affirmative Action,” “Self Destruction,” or “Flava In Ya Ear (Remix).” And, you know, if Kanye weren’t here rappers would be killing each other. Thanks Mr. West.
“Kim [Kardashian] is Marilyn Monroe”
False. Marilyn Monroe was an actress who won a Golden Globe Award for her performance in “Some Like It Hot.” Your wife played in a Tyler Perry movie and starred in a homemade sex tape with Ray J.
“I’m more like, a Walt Disney or something…”
Word? Walt Disney? Until you create something that is the equivalent of the cartoon mouse that remains relevant for a century, drawing that obscure parallel is unnecessary. Say “I want to be” rather than “I’m like” because you aren’t like anybody but Kanye West.
“In your mind you think Nike is as big as Apple almost…to the hood, because of Jordans and because of me and Don C because we started wearing retro Jordan’s when the soles were falling apart…”
For Kanye to even suggest that he made Jordans popular almost completely forsakes the concept that Michael Jordan even existed. Were Kanye and Don C the first people to rock retro Jordans? You can’t take full credit for repurposing an idea.
When you say that you are a cross between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., what exactly do you mean Mr. West? Suggesting that you are Steve Jobs, Michaelangelo, Howard Hughes, David Stern and Andy Warhol draws absolutely no merit.
Furthermore, his proposal that we are slaves to brands is terribly off base. Slaves would suggest that we are bound to these brands with the inability to escape without facing dire consequences. The more appropriate term would be sheep or conformists or lemmings or followers.
If you haven’t noticed, Kanye West is terrible with analogies and references that pertain to anything he is doing. He’s a great art student who would have failed a college English course.
And therein lies my problem with Kanye West. His lack of humility is astounding, even by his own standards. Honestly, I don’t think he knows what the hell he is talking about half of the time.
We all have that one friend that constantly blurts out things that don’t make much sense and it takes a more intelligent person in the room to say “dude, what the f*ck are you talking about?” They are considered fearless by others because they’ll say anything that is on their mind without rhyme or reason. You know, like “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people” because that’s just how they feel at that particular time. But when you ask them to explain exactly how George Bush doesn’t care about Black people, they are at a loss for an explanation and will get pissed off that you would even dare to question their reasoning. This is only because they are being challenged. That’s what gets under their skin. Don’t question him. Just agree. This is also the same person that believes that all of their ideas are phenomenal. Don’t you dare say that any of his momentous concepts are flawed and slam a proverbial door in his face because he will hunt you down and do anything he can to tarnish your name.
If you give that individual a bunch of money, fame and a platform you will now have Kanye West.
What Kanye West fails to understand is that every single venture he has participated in has been a byproduct of his music. Fashion designers don’t owe it to him. Nike doesn’t owe him anything. If they want to work with him, so be it. Maybe, just maybe, these people don’t want to work with you. Could be your personality. Suffice to say that you rub people the wrong way with your condescending approach to life. The way Kanye came at Sway by suggesting his clothing ideas were more grandiose and that Sway didn’t have the answers was his way at thumbing his nose at everyone he feels is beneath him. And I mean everyone is beneath Kanye…except God. But, hell, Yeezus allowed God to have a guest spot on the album.
The most influential rock star of all-time is a narcissistic douche. That’s far from a role model that I’d like our children to look up to and simulate. The primary takeaway that has merit is that you should never bottle up your dreams and marginalize yourself based on how others may pigeonhole you. However, don’t be an asshole about it.
Kanye treats himself as a victim of his own success and expects everyone to give him what he wants because he is Kanye. Ralph Lauren and the various other names that he dropped didn’t build their empires overnight. Kanye shouldn’t expect all doors to open when he says so. He has proven himself in music but still has a ways to go in fashion.
Nevertheless, he acts like he doesn’t need our attention but he’d die without it. Putting a ring on Kim Kardashian’s finger personifies the life of Kanye West. He portrays himself as a pariah but purposefully makes moves to garner attention. However, he is unable to accept any of the criticism that comes along with it.
If life were a message board, Kanye West would be the king of all trolls. He lacks tact and humility and those are things that I, personally, value in someone who wants to change the world. To aspire to be like Malcom X, Andy Warhol, Walt Disney and Steve Jobs is one thing. But to say ‘If anything, that’s a compliment to them!” is atrocious and I just can’t subscribe to that narrative.
It ain’t everyone else that’s to blame, it’s you.
But I’m just a critic, who the hell am I?
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Kanye West Spazzes Out On ‘Sway in the Morning’ (Full Interview)
VIA: Not even 24 hours after getting testy with Charlemagne on The Breakfast Club, the Kanye train is at it again. This time taking his “frustrations” out on Sway during an interview on Sway in the Morning.
After a highly positive intro courtesy of Sway, talks of Ye’s early production and his creative “genius” when it comes to live shows, things take a turn for the worst after Ye is asked about his entrance into the fashion world… “Why don’t you empower yourself, and do it yourself?” Sway asked in regards to releasing the Red Octobers himself. Ohh lawd, did the mood change after this. Kanye completely lost his mind and goes the fuck off on Sway, smh.
Kanye: How, Sway!? You ain’t got the answers, Sway! I been doing this more than you! You ain’t been doing the education! You don’t have the answers, though, because you tryna give me advice about something. You ain’t spend $13 million a year tryna empower yourself…What’s the name of yo clothing line? We don’t know… I just told you I lost the money ’cause I didn’t have the knowledge of how to do it the right way!
Sway: Okay, so you don’t have money to do it. That’s yo answer. You ain’t gotta turn up, man. This ain’t no fucking show, man.
Things cooled down after a few minutes but damn… talk about unnecessary. Anyways, the full interview (courtesy of hhnm) can be heard below.
If you can’t take another 30-minutes of Kanye, the spazz-fest is available separately below.
