Nasty Nas, the lyrical genius is back! Nasir Jones has definitely came a long way since his earlier days in the game. His first album Illmatic is highly praised among the hip-hop community and he has been dubbed as one of the greatest rappers to ever grace the mic. Now with the release of his 10th studio album Life Is Good, which has been stated to be a “break-up” album, people get a closer look at Nas as he has matured over the years. On the cover of the album you can see Nas sitting down with his ex-wife’s (Kelis) wedding dress on his lap, but don’t feel sorry for his divorce because like the title says, life is good. Nas regards this album as absolute perfection. In an interview with Fuse he stated, “It’s nine songs on there. The intro makes it ten but it’s only nine songs. I think it’s a perfect record. It’s a perfect record. I couldn’t say that before but there are so many different dynamics to it.” Critically, this album has gotten some rave reviews. It has 4.7 out of 5 stars on Amazon. The Queens Bridge native is definitely living a better life now. “Back then, I said, ‘Life’s a bitch.’ Today I say, ‘Life is good.'” Amen.
Track List:
1. No Introduction (Produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League)
2. Loco-Motive feat. Large Professor (Produced by No I.D.)
3. A Queens Story (Produced by Salaam Remi)
4. Accident Murderers feat. Rick Ross (Produced by No I.D.)
5. Daughters (Produced by No I.D.)
6. Reach Out feat. Mary J. Blige (Produced by Salaam Remi, Rodney Jerkins, DJ Hot Day & Nas)
7. World’s An Addiction feat. Anthony Hamilton (Produced by Salaam Remi)
8. Summer On Smash feat. Miguel & Swizz Beatz (Produced by Swizz Beatz)
9. You Wouldn’t Understand feat. Victoria Monet (Produced by Buckwild)
10. Back When (Produced by No I.D.)
11. The Don (Produced by Salaam Remi, Heavy D & Da Internz)
12. Stay (Produced by No I.D.)
13. Cherry Wine feat. Amy Winehouse (Produced by Salaam Remi)
14. Bye Baby (Produced by Salaam Remi & 40)
Bonus Tracks for Deluxe Edition:
15. Nasty (Produced by Salaam Remi)
16. The Black Bond (Produced by Salaam Remi)
17. Roses (Produced by Al Shux)
18. Where’s The Love feat. Cocaine 80s (Produced by No I.D.)
19. Trust (Produced by Boi 1da) (iTunes Bonus Track)
20. The Don (Don Dada Remix) (Produced by Salaam Remi & Heavy D) (Japan Bonus Track)
By now we have all heard about the shooting at the Century 16 theater in Aurora, CO. I can’t even begin to understand why someone would do something like this. How does hurting and killing people make sense, ever? Life is too short as it is, why would anyone want to make it shorter? This is something I cannot understand no matter how hard I try. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved and affected by this senseless tragedy. I will be observing a moment of silence and thought for all the victims tomorrow morning, Sat. July 21st, at 12:30 A.M. Please join me in doing this.
Now that I have let my personal feelings out, here is what I know about what happened:
At about 12:30 A.M. local time the suspected gunman, identified as 24-year-old James Holmes, stood at the front of one of the Century 16 theaters at the Aurora Mall where “The Dark Knight Rises” was playing. Witnesses reported that the gunman entered the theater through an emergency exit door and threw a gas canister before opening fire. The suspect first fired up toward the ceiling, as if to scare people, and then started spraying the audience. Police, ambulances and emergency crews swarmed on the scene after frantic calls started flooding the 911 switchboard. Authorities had confirmed 12 deaths Friday morning, but there are reports that a 13th victim has died. Officers found Holmes near a car behind the theater. He surrendered without resistance. Police recovered four guns at the theater – one shotgun, two pistols and what is believed to be an assault rifle. Authorities also recovered a gas mask. The suspect also had a bullet proof vest, ballistic helmet and military SWAT clothing. Authorities were testing unidentified explosives in his vehicle, though their exact nature is unclear. The suspect’s vehicle was parked at the rear of the complex, near the emergency exit where he was reported to have entered from. There’s no evidence of any other attackers. There was also no immediate word of any motive. Police were at Holmes’ Denver-area apartment and confirmed that it was apparently booby-trapped and had evacuated other residents of the building. Police saw what looked like “buckets of extra ammunition” and some kind of chemical inside his home. It could take hours or days to safely enter the apartment.
I truly hope that someday things like this become a thing of the distant past.
There are so many out there to choose from: American Idol, The Voice, and The X Factor are the biggest right now. But which one is your favorite?
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality show singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by Fremantle Media North America and 19 Entertainment. It began airing on Fox on June 11, 2002, as an addition to the Idol franchise based on the UK show Pop Idol, and has since become one the most successful shows in the history of American television. It was the most watched TV series from 2005 to 2011 in the Nielsen ratings, and it is the only program to have been number one for seven consecutive seasons. The concept of the series is to find new solo recording artists where the winner is determined by the viewers. Winners chosen by viewers through telephone, Internet, and SMS text voting were Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, David Cook, Kris Allen, Lee DeWyze, Scotty McCreery and Phillip Phillips. The series employs a panel of judges who critique the contestants’ performances. The original three judges were record producer and music manager Randy Jackson, pop singer and choreographer Paula Abdul and music executive and manager Simon Cowell. The judging panel is currently pending, with Jackson the only one confirmed for season twelve. Other judges who have been a part of the show are songwriter Kara DioGuardi, talk show personality and comedian Ellen DeGeneres, singer/actress and record producer Jennifer Lopez, and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler. The series is emceed by radio personality Ryan Seacrest and originally co-hosted with stand-up comedian Brian Dunkleman (for the first season). The series was described by a rival TV executive as “the most impactful show in the history of television.” It has also become a recognized springboard for launching the career of many artists as bona fide stars. As Entertainment Weekly puts it, “It’s given us Kelly, Carrie, Daughtry, and J. Hud.. Idol rules the reality roost because the winners of Fox’s ratings juggernaut actually do go on to greatness. And Taylor Hicks? He’s the exception that proves the rule.”
The Voice is an American reality talent show that premiered on April 26, 2011, on the NBC television network. Based on the reality singing competition The Voice of Holland, the series was created by Dutch television producer John de Mol and is executive produced by Mark Burnett. It is part of an international series. The Voice immediately proved to be a hit for NBC and in May 2011, the network is currently airing the second and has renewed the show for a third season. The second season premiered February 5, 2012, immediately following NBC’s broadcast of Super Bowl XLVI.
The X Factor is an American television music competition to find new singing talent; the winner of which receives a $5 million recording contract with Epic Records. The show is produced by SYCOtv, a partnership between the show’s creator Simon Cowell and Sony Music. It premiered on September 21, 2011 on Fox. As part of the British The X Factor franchise, the show’s format has numerous differences from rivals such as American Idol. The competition is open to both solo artists and groups and has no upper age limit. Each judge is assigned one of four categories—boys between 12 and 29, girls between 12 and 29, individuals 30 and over, or groups (some of which may be formed from rejected soloists after the audition process). Throughout the live shows the judges act as mentors to their category, helping to decide song choices, styling and staging, while judging contestants from the other categories; they also compete to ensure that their act wins the competition, thus making them the winning judge. The original judging panel consisted of Cowell, Cheryl Cole, Paula Abdul, and L.A. Reid, with Nicole Scherzinger and Steve Jones as co-hosts. However, Cole was dismissed after just two sets of auditions and was swiftly replaced by Scherzinger, leaving Jones to host the show by himself. In January 2012, it was announced that Abdul, Scherzinger, and Jones had all left and would not be returning for the second season. On May 14, before auditions began, Britney Spears, and Demi Lovato were confirmed as the two new judges.
July 20th. Millions of fans have that date circled on their calendars. That is, of course, that day that ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is released upon the hungry public. Like so many other people I have been waiting for this movie with bated breath. I am a fan of the first two and am looking forward to Christopher Nolan’s final Batman film. That being said I do have some concerns. I feel that the film is starting to fall victim to the problems that plagued the last Batman franchise. The main issue being that bigger is better. This is not always true, especially with superhero movies. In this third film many new characters are introduced, maybe even too many to do them all justice. We already have Bruce Wayne/Batman (Christian Bale), Alfred (Michael Caine), Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), and Lucious Fox (Morgan Freeman). Now we add into the mix Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard), John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), and Bane (Tom Hardy). That gives us 8 characters to follow, and more importantly that makes 8 characters that have to develop within the 2 hours and 34 minutes that the movie will run. That’s a lot to cram into a movie, especially if they still want action scenes. I hope they pull it off! I am not expecting it to be as good as ‘The Dark Knight’, but I’m hoping it lands between that and ‘Batman Begins’.
Now for the buzz (spoilers). I have heard that there are some good set scenes, like the opener which is a daring aerial maneuver in which Bane kidnaps a scientist by hijacking his plane from the skies above. Also, there is the collapse of Heinz Field during a packed football game. I have also heard that Bruce Wayne gets a new love interest in Miranda Tate.
So who the heck is Donald Schultz? Well, Donald Schultz cannot simply be described with just one word. This South African native is a world-renowned venom expert, photographer, writer, and extreme adventurer. At the age of 13, Donald started out as an intern at the world-famous Fitzsimons Snake Park where he received a sound schooling in herpetology. This was just a stepping stone for what was to come in the future. Donald would spend extensive hours studying snake behavior, which eventually helped him capture snakes. His love and passion for snakes gave way for the creation of Donald’s Eco Tour company. This tour specializes in wild animal eco tours with special attention to the conservation of our planet’s wild life. You even might have seen Donald on Animal Planet’s popular series Wild Recon and Venom in Vegas. Currently, Donald is on assignment for Nat Geo Wild. This extremist is not slowing down any time soon. Rumor has it he will be working with Qubeey soon. I wonder what he will be doing??? Your guess is as good as mine.
Smart phones and tablets are the hot thing right now, technologically speaking. So I thought I’d write about one of the new tablets on the market, the Google Nexus 7. This is the first Nexus-branded tablet, so that means Google was closely involved in its development to ensure the best Android experience. It’s the first device to come stock with Android 4.1, also known as Jelly Bean, which has a bunch of new software features. It’s not the first tablet with NFC but it’s the first tablet anyone’s ever heard of with the feature.
The hardware is great; it weighs 12 ounces and the back panel’s material feels both leathery and rubbery. The buttons are in reasonable places. It uses a standard microUSB port for charging and syncing. Here’s a weird one; they left out a rear camera. There’s a front-facing camera for video chatting, though. And the screen is very good. It’s not too pixel-dense, but it is a great screen. It’s comfortable to read books on.
The iOS, Jelly Bean, is a lot like Ice Cream Sandwich (version 4.0). The major changes are: Project Butter, Google Now, and Google Play. Project Butter is an initiative to fix one of Android’s biggest problems: it doesn’t track your finger very well. There has consistently been a lag and a slightly unnatural flow to the touchscreen interface that made it feel clunky and slow. Tracking on Jelly Bean is much improved. Google Now is a dashboard-like app that isn’t really like anything else on any other platform. You tap the search bar or hold the home button to get there. It’s like a very fancy search app; you can search with voice or text, but below that are several little “cards” that constantly and naturally update to show you things you want to know, like weather, traffic, public transit schedules, sports scores, and more. Tap the search bar, and it shows you when your nearest subway train is leaving, or what the weather is where you are right then. It will be on all Jelly Bean phones as well.
There are at most a handful of apps designed for Android tablets. When you use an Android tablet, you’re using the same apps as on your Android phone, just…bigger. Apps designed for phones work, but not well; there’s too much empty space, they look awkward, they don’t take advantage of the larger screen size. And there are definitely no apps that suggest the 7-inch form factor can do things a 10-inch tablet can’t. The Nexus can display a Twitter feed, a little bit bigger than your phone can. The new Chrome browser seems like a great browser, but with the top bar of tabs, the navigation bar, and the on-screen control buttons, you get about three inches of vertical space when you hold it in landscape mode. In vertical mode you have to do tons of horizontal scrolling—not a great option, either.
Google Play is the new name for the Android Market, which now has magazines, music, movies, and TV shows in addition to apps. The app selection, as mentioned, is lousy and Google is missing several key partners in media so the TV, movie, and music selection has giant holes. The magazines in Google Play are mostly flat PDFs.
The Nexus 7 runs around $200 for 8GB, $250 for 16GB, both with Wi-Fi only. Neither have expandable memory. The memory is kind of low, but the tablet is also extremely cheap.
The Nexus 7 is the best of its breed. But aside from reading books, it’s pretty clear that a 7-inch tablet is not preferable to a larger one. Google could even things up a little bit by really doubling down on apps. This thing needs apps! I don’t mean to be too harsh on it, it is a good gadget. It does a lot of things, it’s sturdy and well-designed, it’s fast and cheap and easy to use. But it is limited in what it can do. So, if you want a good tablet to read books on the Nexus 7 is a good choice, if you want to play games and use apps then I’d wait a while until they start developing more apps for it.
Akon’s new single “Throw Dat D” recently hit the radio airwaves off his new mixtape Konkrete Jungle. The song has actually been posted up on YouTube for over two months now. It currently has over 110,000 hits. This goes to show Akon is not slowing down any time soon. His new album Stadium is still in the works and is scheduled to be released on September 11th. It is also rumored that he is partnering up with Qubeey, so just a heads up fellow BuzzBashers! “Throw Dat D” has gotten some good responses over on YouTube, but just keep in mind this song is definitely not for children. It has some pretty explicit lyrical content. You all have been warned! Check out Akon’s single here.
It was recently reported that Usher’s stepson, Kile Glover, is still in critical condition from the jet ski accident that occurred last week. Kile and a 15 year old girl were on an inner tube that was being towed by a pontoon boat in Lake Lanier when suddenly a jet ski crashed into them. The 15 year old girl has not been identified and her condition is unknown. A 38 year old man was driving the jet ski and it was reported no alcohol was involved. Kile was taken by helicopter to the Children’s Healthcare at Egelston Hospital in Atlanta. Kile was pronounced brain dead on Sunday. His family reported to CNN, “We know God’s in control, and are leaning on our faith in Him and His word at this most difficult time. We firmly believe in the power of prayer and ask that you all continue to pray and lift Kile up, as it’s the best way we can all support him now.” It saddens me deeply that this child is in such a critical state. I can’t imagine what it would be like as a parent to go through this very difficult time. Let us all pray for Kile and keep faith in God’s will.
No, that is not a statement on my blog’s popularity… it’s the name of a band. This hot new band is starting to make some noise, and pretty soon you will be hearing a lot more of them. The band consists of Austin Schreck on the guitar and Ian Lowe on drums. The band started up back in 2010 and has been steadily gaining steam ever since. They have a rock sound infused with a bit of blues. You can find video of them on YouTube and their music is available for download from BandCamp. You can also find out more about them on their Facebook page. If you like rock then I encourage you to check them out.
I have heard that this duo will be rolling into Qubeey studios this week to film a music video that will be aired on the new Famous in Iowa channel, which they will be starting during that very same trip.
Who remembers a 90’s TV show that used to come out on Nickelodeon called All That?! Gosh, talk about some serious flashbacks. Well the buzz for today is that a former star from the show, Angelique Bates, has gone from being an actress to a rapper. Angelique came out in the first two seasons of All That starring alongside Kenan Thompson in the skit Cooking with Randy and Mandy. She came out in other skits as well, but this one is the most prominent in my head. For those of you who have actually watched All That would remember what I’m talking about. Think long and hard… it involves CHOCOLATE! In the skit, Randy (Kenan Thompson) and Mandy (Angelique Bates) were two chefs who were obsessed with chocolate and would use it in every single one of their recipes. It was CHOCONIFICENT, as Chef Randy would say. But anyways, enough with the flashbacks and back to the buzz! Angelique Bates is rumored to be shooting a brand new music video at Qubeey for one of her singles. You can listen to her music via MySpace and YouTube and you can also follow her on Twitter. I Wonder what’s in store for the aspiring rapper. We will just have to wait and see to find out!
BuzzBash 