EJ's Thoughts

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Mo'Fo' Vacation

The second installment of Mo'Fo's Vacation video is up for your visual enjoyment.

Rhymefest Explains How Hip-Hop Career Helps Him In Politics

Kanye West protégé made it to an April runoff election for Chicago City Council.
By Brian Jacks

Che "Rhymefest" Smith
Photo: Bruno Vincent/ Getty

Move over, Barack Obama and Rahm Emanuel, there's a new face in Chicago politics. And it's probably not who you'd expect.

Rapper Che "Rhymefest" Smith, the Kanye West protégé whose collaboration on "Jesus Walks" earned the pair a Grammy in 2004, is knee-deep in a hotly contested race for the Chicago City Council. The artist received 20 percent of Tuesday's vote against incumbent Willie Cochran, forcing a runoff election for the alderman seat representing the city's 20th Ward.

A lifelong Chicago resident who grew up with West on the city's troubled South Side, 'Fest seems an unlikely political candidate, but the artist contends his musical career outside the political system makes him an ideal choice to be a councilman.

"We could talk on a hip-hop level and we can talk on a community level," Smith told MTV News. "On a hip-hop level, we rappers are always talking about 'hood credibility; we're more 'hood than the next artist is, but what are we really doing to make our community safer, to make people be able to have employment in our communities? We're living under tyrannical conditions. So as an artist, what can I do more than a song-and-dance for the community that has bought my records?"

The artist pointed to such factors as high unemployment and prison recidivism as key issues in his campaign, stating that his experience in the music industry has given him the skills necessary not only to help legislate, but to directly improve the lives of the citizens in his community.

"I think the great thing about the position I'm running for in city council is, unlike a president or a senator, we're on the ground," he said. "We're in the community. We get to [be] hands-on with the people every day. And I think that's where it starts. ... So what would I do as an advocate and legislator for the community? I'd begin with entrepreneur programs. As a brand -- Rhymefest -- and being in the industry, I can teach people how to market and promote and start their own businesses."

Like politicians who bring in celebrity donors to get out the vote, Smith has been able to rely on his own stable of high-profile names to help with his campaign. And he's issuing a call for other hip-hop notables to join his cause.

"[Kanye] helped with his generous donation," Smith said. "He helped to fund my whole field operation on Election Day. Lupe Fiasco helped to pay for hundreds of turkeys where we went door-to-door for Thanksgiving Day. Brother Ali stepped up. [But] Talib Kweli, Common: I need you. I'm asking for the so-called conscious, positive rappers to join me, to help us resurrect all our communities, starting with the 20th Ward in Chicago. I put down the mic to help save a community, and I need the positive rappers to come out too."

Rhymefest's burgeoning political career will face its strongest test when the runoff election is held April 5. But whatever happens, the artist will continue to push for change within his community. "One of the problems that's plaguing America is the individualism attitude," he said. "We really have to step up and be a village again."

What do you think of Rhymefest's political career? Let us know in the comments!

Noureen DeWulf Olivia Munn Olivia Wilde

Lake Meade Progress

I thought the new parks in Suffolk would have been done by now but they are not. I found myself in Suffolk on Saturday so i stopped by The Lake Meade Park to check on the progress. It looks like True Ride is the company doing the work.

Ke$ha To Release Dance Remix Album In March

I Am the Dance Commander + I Commander You to Dance: The Remix Album hits stores March 22.
By Jocelyn Vena 

Ke$ha
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage

Ke$ha has made a name for herself as a party girl who makes party songs. But maybe you find the choice tracks on her debut, Animal, and the follow-up, Cannibal, not quite up to snuff for your dance-floor needs. And maybe that's why the singer has decided to release her first ever remix album, I Am the Dance Commander + I Command You to Dance: The Remix Album, on March 22.

For the album, Ke$ha hooked up with a number of dance DJs and producers, as well as a few notable guests. The track listing includes: "Blow" (Cirkut Remix), "The Sleazy Remix" (which includes an appearance by Andre 3000), "Tik Tok Untold Remix," "F--- Him He's a DJ" (live version), "Animal Switch Remix," "Your Love Is My Drug" Dave Audé club remix, "We R Who We R" Fred Falke club remix, "Take It Off" Billboard remix, "Tik Tok" Chuck Buckett's Veruca Salt remix and her track with 3OH!3, "Blah Blah Blah" DJ Skeet Skeet radio remix.

In addition to the new music, Ke$ha is also set to release the music video for her latest single, "Blow." She tweeted about filming it in late January. On Tuesday, the singer shared that she saw some footage from the video, writing, "Just saw the final cut of my new video for BLOW all I can say is HOT DAMN."

Currently, Ke$ha is on the road for her Get $leazy Tour, which she kicked off last week in Portland, Oregon. She's set to wrap up her tour in Las Vegas on May 7.

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1658529/kesha-remix.jhtml

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Get Zine: OVER & OUT! Issue #1

Brad Westcott's first issue of "OVER & OUT!" has everything you need to fall in love with trains, film, and skateboarding all over again. All 100 independently published and printed right here in the USA. We like that type of thing. Check out some scans and where to find one here.

Source: http://theskateboardmag.com/blogs/austin-mayer/2011/02/25/get-zine-over-out-issue-1/

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'Drive Angry': The Reviews Are In!

Should you hit the road with Nicolas Cage? See what the critics have to say.
By Eric Ditzian

David Morse and Nicolas Cage in "Drive Angry"
Photo: Summit Publicity

"Drive Angry" marks three-straight supernatural films for Nicolas Cage, though each could not be more different. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" was a Disney-driven tale of magical realism. "Season of the Witch" dove into the intersection of medieval black magic and campy B-movie wackiness. And "Drive Angry" literally begins with Cage driving a muscle car straight outta hell with the devil's henchman fast on his heels and doesn't slow down as it splashes blood and fire across the screen.

All three flicks share something else in common: below-average reviews. "Sorcerer's" and "Season" each went on to conjure up lukewarm box-office receipts. Can "Drive Angry" break the spell? Check out what the critics are saying and decide if the new 3-D film is the right choice for you this weekend.

The Story
"[It] may be a bit too slickly self-aware for its own good, but it's also rivetingly paced, outrageously funny and makes retina-scorching use of the new 3D technology. Nicolas Cage is on teeth-baring, eye-rolling form as John Milton (nice), the deceased felon who busts out of hell to track down the Southern death cult who kidnapped his baby granddaughter. Hooking up with mouthy muscle-car-driving white-trash waitress Piper (Amber Heard), Milton sets off in pursuit, all the while attempting to avoid the attentions of Satan's right-hand man, The Accountant (a majestically arch William Fichtner)." -- Tom Huddleston, Time Out

Crazy Nic Cage
"A little respect, if you please, for His Satanic Majesty Nicolas Cage. Nobody goes off the deep end like Nic. Nobody gives better value in bad movies than the sleepy-eyed Oscar winner with a gift for picking bad movies. 'Drive Angry' is a very entertaining B, C or D-movie, an over-the-top and in-your-face grindhouse gore, guns and 'Gun it' picture that's about epic shootouts, bone-snapping brawls, bare breasts and muscle cars. The gunplay is funny and the sex hilarious in this 'Ghost Rider is Gone in 60 Seconds' mashup." -- Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

The 3-D
" 'Drive Angry' is intensely bloody, violent and carries quite a few payoffs that are well delivered. It's also a movie you'd actually want to see in 3-D, unlike so many frauds in the marketplace these days. In fact, Lussier, who directed 'My Bloody Valentine 3D,' shows his growth as a 3-dimensional director by taking 'Drive Angry' to new heights. Seeing it in Real D, the depth was astounding, and Lussier throws a few CGI tricks right in the viewer's face. Even more impressive was his flashback sequence that could easily become one of the most influential in the 3-D age (the way he layers three 'thoughts' at once is mind-blowing visually). In short, it's worth the extra few bucks." -- Brad Miska, Bloody Disgusting

Going Grindhouse
" 'Drive Angry' is loud and busy, and it's rarely boring. But it's also never really good. 'Drive Angry' comes at the tail end of the grindhouse revival trend, and while it's better made than films like 'Machete' or the scores of indie films that followed in Quentin Tarantino's wake, it succumbs to the same problem so many of those movies do: it's a movie about the things that the filmmakers think are cool, and that's never cool. 'Drive Angry' isn't about anything, it's just a series of ideas that struck Lussier and Farmer as awesome, strung together at feature length. There's a lot of balls in Drive Angry, and even some brains, but no heart." -- Devin Faraci, Badass Digest

The Final Word
" 'Drive Angry' is, in the end, a genre romp. It's not aiming any higher than that. But it is made with real skill and style, and there's such knowledge of genre in the way they have built the script and both embraced and avoided certain conventions that it makes me feel like we're just seeing Farmer and Lussier warm up. Hopefully they'll keep working with collaborators as game as their partners in this particular crime, because 'Drive Angry' is a white-knuckle ride worth taking." -- Drew McWeeny, HitFix

Check out everything we've got on "Drive Angry."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1658776/drive-angry-reviews.jhtml

Rozonda Thomas Saira Mohan Salma Hayek