Michael Jackson – This Is It – Directed by Spike Lee from 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks on Vimeo.

Michael Jackson – This Is It

Directed by Spike Lee

via KanyeUniverseCity

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Practicing for a show this weekend…and we can’t stop watching this!!

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When I was cleaning out my stuff in the Bay I came across an old issue of The Source featuring an interview with an Aquemini-era OutKast.  In it, André talked about how people were accusing him of being gay because he wore bead necklaces over his basketball jerseys.  Today we have another artist who has proven to push the visual boundaries of musicianship, and since Lady Gaga is queer-identified, the rumors have spread that she’s actually a dude.  Oh, homophobes…always a step ahead!

But of course an artist’s gender or sexual orientation is never a reason to not like them or their work, and so the other argument that I’ve been hearing against Gaga is that she just does too much.  Like, you know…it’s not that she does it, it’s that whatever it is that she does, she does so much of it that it exceeds the allotted amount of muchness that one is normally allowed to do.  Now, don’t get me wrong…there are certainly key moments in history when someone is actually “doing too much“…and yes, it’s understandable that for some, having anime eyes that cry blood might be a lot to process.  But for real, people????  Do we really want to live in a world where artists have to constantly fear being accused of “doing too much?” If it’s not the artists who are pushing the way we listen to music, view fashion, or interpret art in general, then who?  WHO, I SAY??  Look, I know some of the naysayers are older people, but I’m convinced that most of the Gaga haterz are people of my generation who have been raised in such a mundane and manufactured pop culture environment that they’ve been convinced that rapping a line or two about being an alien suffices as “weird.” Because if that’s all it takes to be weird, then I must be nutso insane.  And I really hope I’m not.  Like I reeeeeeeeeeeallly.  Hope.  I’m.  Not.

On a final note, here’s a brief history of artists who might not have fulfilled their destinies had YouTube comments existed during the time of inception.

For real, Michelangelo?? You’re gonna paint ALL them angels?  That’s just doing to much.

For real, Egyptians?? You’re gonna build a giant statue of a lion with a person’s head that people can’t even live in?  That’s just doing too much.

For real, Michael? You’re gonna be chased by claymation tourists, turn into a claymation rabbit to escape, only to then engage in a desert dance-off with that rabbit?  That’s just doing too much.

Not to say that Lady Gaga is equivalent to Michelangelo, Michael Jackson, or the entire ancient Egyptian civilization, but you get my point.  A shawl made of Kermit the Frogs is small potatoes.

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We quite literally wouldn’t have made it here without our fellow Brooklyn-based-Cali-transplant KJ Butta.  Besides providing one of the most comfortable couches I’ve ever crashed on while we were looking for our spot upon our arrival from our epic road trip, he is also the owner of the dopest, most inspiring collection of 80′s media, including but not limited to an actual Captain Eo DVD. But even more fantastically, he’s one of the greatest DJs on both coasts, and can be found many a night at the Meatpacking District’s POP Burger.  Definitely one of our most supportive friends, and any given night you can hear him throwing the good peoples that you might normally hear in a club, such as Bambu, Blue Scholars, and even that one crew iLL-Lit.  Here’s a new mix he wove together entitled Good Breakfast Eatin’ and it’s setting my morning off right.  Your turn.

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[KJ Butta "Good Breakfast Eatin'"]

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This year marks our first Halloween in NYC.  The day’s never been that big of a deal, since I don’t need a government sanctioned day to dress up like a monster and ask strangers for candy.  However, it DOES give me a chance to listen to delightfully kitschy songs in the house without my roommates looking at me like I have some kind of necro-fetish…normally, I keep that shit to myself (ohhhhhh how I crave your hot bod, Eleanor Roosevelt).  So this weekend as you shop for your costume, iron it all out, get all dressed up, go to the club in it, get Patrón spilled all over it, and wake up Sunday morning wondering why you have it on backwards (not so awkward if you dress up as Kriss Kross), allow for this compilation to be the razor sharp mix for your first bite into the Big Candy Apple.

Freaky Funk
1. Mos Def “Boogie Man Song”
2. North American Hallowe’en Prevention Collective “Do They Know It’s Hallowe’en”
3. Parliament “Dr. Funkenstein”
4. Jimmy Castor Bunch “Dracula Pt. 1″
5. Fela Kuti “Zombie”
6. RJD2 “The Horror”
7. Gorillaz “Last Living Souls”
8. Gnarls Barkley “The Boogie Monster”
9. OutKast ft. Kelis “Dracula’s Wedding”
10. Michael Jackson “Thriller”
11. Sade “Haunt Me”

Download Freaky Funk

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“Study the greats, and become greater.”

While so often in pop culture the message is “I’m better than you,” it’s enlightening to see that Michael was about “we’re better than this.” Here’s a dope interview discussing Michael’s artistic influences, doctrine, and some glimpses at the early moments in his life that inspired him to be the greatest artist of all time.  Consider it a second Sunday Sermon.

Via Pinboard.  Part 2 after the jump.

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Over the course of the past two weeks we’ve been consistently posting the best Michael Jackson videos we could find on the web, to bring glory and honor to his memory.  I’m going to ruin all of that right now.

Via @sheenashe of Chainsaws & Jelly

And don’t forget Steeeeeeevie!  You only need to watch the first 30 seconds of this one:

Guy to the far left: Wait…did she just say…

Guy in the middle front: Dammit!  I forget my suspenders for one night and she dresses me up like Prince Akeem…WTF???

Guy next to the guy to the far right: All of you shhhhhhhhh!  We’re getting paid Titanic money, son!   

Enjoy the rest of your Monday.

sincerely,
the drizzletron

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via The Av Club

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I know what you’re thinking: What better way to start of your Wednesday than with a terrifying image of one of your childhood favorites gnawing on the throat of an old white man?  

Bagels.  Sesame bagels, toasted and with cream cheese are a better way to start off your Wednesday.  

Anyway, as we explore deeper into the spoken word throughout history that has inspired us and the world, I wanted to bring to our attention a song that has completely and utterly defied the myths that spoken word, a) can’t sell records, b) can’t make people dance, c) can’t be about cool shit like werewolves.  Oh yes people, I’d like to bring to our attention (as if it hasn’t been enough already) — “Thriller.”

Here we have a song that, a) was the title track to the largest selling album EVER, b) associates with one of the most famous dance moves and dance videos of all time, c) is hella about cool shit like werewolves!  

The infamous spoken word segments that lace the intro and outro of Michael Jackson‘s “Thriller” come courtesy of Vincent Price, an actor famous for his roles in horror films.  Considering that the entire song already clocked in at 6 minutes, it’s phenomenal how Price managed to recite poetry over the track twice and maintain the energy throughout.  Price originally recorded an extended poem which was eventually cut down for the album version.  Here’s the whole thing:

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[Vincent Price "Thriller Out-takes"]

So it’s true people…the biggest song ever, which inspired the biggest video ever, sung by the biggest earthling ever, was anchored by the WORD. word?  Worddddd.

Without that part, it just seems…off.

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*i know i’ve been posting forever amounts of michael jackson stuff, and i realize it’s been my way to mourn.  wahhh! let me be!!

I must admit, I wasn’t the biggest Michael Jackson fan. In fact, for the majority of my life, I thought about Michael the same way I thought about most other musicians that my parents would play on their oldies stations in the minivan — Phil Collins, The Carpenters, that “Circles in the Sand” song… The first Michael Jackson tape I ever owned didn’t even have him singing on it…it was an MJ cover tape by Alvin and the Chipmunks, and when I was 8 I’d spend hours meandering the hallways of my house with my Sesame Street bus boombox and “Man in the Mirror” on knock.

But even with that memory, I can’t say I was necessarily a fan. Like many other 80′s babies, I didn’t have the mental capacity to appreciate Thriller — the universe’s biggest album ever — as a shriveled fetus. Thriller dropped November 30, 1982. I was born on May 24, nine months later. Yes, there’s a 1 in 9 chance I was conceived to “Human Nature.”

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