Black Crayon

Black Crayon

Friday 29 October 2010

ROLL WITH M.E.

So last night was Roll with M.E. a roller disco in Birmingham bringing all 5 uni's together under one roof for a night of fun. Needless to say, it was live!!! I felt to skate but by the time I could, I was worn out BUT that's not to say I can't skate... I'm sort of a pro, but I just don't see myself making a living off roller blading ¬_¬


Bet none of you were buying into that lie... Anyways, here's a few pics from last night.


Enjoy.










BC.

Thursday 28 October 2010

Jasmine Mans goes in on Nicki Minaj...

(Nicki Minaj)
 (Jasmine Mans)


Jasmin Mans, a sophomore student and poet performed her piece about Nicki Minaj, at the University of Wisconsin’s 2010 Stomp Da Madness poetry event.

 
"You have turned your G-spot into a land-mine"

"And you can’t seem to write a rhyme for your broken daughters
Slaughter, bent over back, ass cracked, bitch slapped, in videos
There is nothing pedal bike pretty about broken
Do you know what this media is trying to do to you?"

 "I think NYC is making you forget you come from Queens"

"You are being stabbed in the back
Inserted with a wind up string and a tag?"
Was Jasmine straight hating?
I honestly enjoyed the piece, the girl is very talented and creative, her flow, her words, were just on point. Her piece highlights some of the things going wrong with women in the media.

Before Nicki Minaj started this "Barbie" sh*t, her music was definitely good, but as an artist, you do have to grow right? Does her change in music style signal "sell-out"?

Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of (some of) Nicki Minaj's music.
Maybe this piece was a way of encouraging Nicki and possibly other female MC's to rap about more positive things for other young girls/women out there.

All Hip Hop featured her on their site and said:
"This is some powerful material here. Poet Jasmine Mans, a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin, is not a rapper, but she has the intellect of a scholar and the bars of a battle MC. But, her poetry contains venom, yet reads like a cautionary letter. She's got some humdingers like, "Don't let them rape the Assata out of you." and "They will Lauryn Hill you"..."

Whereas, Necole Bitchie featured her also and said:
"In the last ten years, most of the girls that came into the rap game used their sexuality to attract consumers but people were okay with that because for every Foxy Brown & Lil Kim, you had a Missy Elliot or Lauryn Hill to balance it out.
Amongst the men, the expectations for some rappers are lower, because for every Plies, Gucci Mane, Waka Flocka Flame and Soulja Boy (no disrespect to any of these artists), you have a Common, Jay-z, Kanye West, J Cole, & Drake which gives the rap game balance.
With Nicki being the only female rap artist that has that type of commercial success in 2010, people expect her to be everything they want out of the female rap game."

If you wanna see the transcript for this video click here.

Make sure to check CEO's recent post on this issue (of female MC's and sexual themes) and comment - it's definitely an eye-opener!


"People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy."- Oliver Goldsmith
Dee

WW2


BC.

Wednesday 27 October 2010

W


The way my lil' cousin has grown up... I don't like it! 

>.<


But you can't keep the young from growing old.


BC.

Tuesday 26 October 2010

Snow Day


Being hungry and having to go and buy food while the whole country is sort of at a stand still because of poor weather condition is really not the one...

Comments and criticism welcome :)

BC.

Tilly


Photographers know how hard it is to take photo's in a dark place, but I think this pic came our alright.

What you think?

Please leave a comment :)

BC.

Chanel Iman is...

 Amazing.

 (Chanel Iman for Rosa Cha)
See the rest here.

Not forgetting Doutzen Kroe...


See More Here.

Dee

Anita





There originally was a lot of colour in this shoot. Had the idea to change the clothes and make it black and white. Seeing as she had the bright coloured earrings and her nails and lipstick, I thought i'd bring this out and sort of, make it a bit vibrant. The way I see it, instant attraction to the photo.


Comments welcome.


BC.

Perfection

There's no denying perfection and genius when its seen. But when you have that image, you know...

I'm self motivated most of the time but like all people striving for perfection and greatness, I find inspiration and do my research.

A great and world renowned photographer is Matthew Rolston. Have a look at the site, I'm sure you'll look at images in amazement.

I appreciate good art, good images and I believe if im doing anything similar, then why would I settle for anything less?  Anyways, have a look at these pics taken from Matthew Rolston's website.





I think the above is sheer genius. 
The cast of 'True Blood'


As much asI hate her, She looks amazing in this photo. 
Lady Gaga


Anyone that gets to photograph the legend in an actual shoot and not for a newspaper deserves respect. 
Michael Jackson


The lighting in this just suits her perfectly. Gives her that grieving widow or even a dark bride look. Amazing.
Jennifer Hudson

Leave a comment... Thanks! :)

CEO.


Monday 25 October 2010

Kanye Explains...


Kanye is one of those complex, creative artists, that we won't always fully understand.
In ways, that is a good thing, in others it is bad.


Kanye sat down with Sway, of MTV and explained some meanings behind his film.

On the scene with Michael Jackson float (pictured above):
The hood, what it does represent to me … in relation to the Michael Jackson thing is not the KKK but the concept of cult, because it’s multiple people with this hood on. It’s me taking [the phoenix] to my world and saying, ‘Let me show you what my world is about.’ ”
The greatest, biggest pop-cultural figure of all time, arguably bigger than Jesus Christ, is Michael Jackson.
“If you saw the kid in the beginning, he’s running and running at top speed holding his torch, and his torch represents his thoughts and ideals. At the end, after he’s been cultivated, he has the hood on now and he’s walking extremely slow. That’s basically how people think. It’s the way society has set people up to be able to control them, slave mentalities.”
“[By] just creating this mentality by cultivating the ideals … you could just make people just stand in their own mental jails. What happens when someone isn’t in a mental jail?”

What in the John Lennon is this?
Jesus & MJ...in the same sentence...not right at all.
There is no connection, very poor comparison.
Jesus = the holy Son of God. MJ = a globally known artist/legend.
People are making excuses for the statement on their blogs...you can interpret what he said in any way you want but in no way should Jesus be compared to a human!!
Absolute nonsense.


On meaning behind the Phoenix:
Even before the parallel of the crash in my career and the rise from the ashes, even before that parallel I was feeling this idea of this Phoenix. Thinking about it, I wanted Every girl I have ever been in a relationship with to feel like a piece of her was being represented and even for my mother to feel like she was being represented when she sees this and just for females to connect with the different emotions. And also a representation of creativity and being different. Like that point “the world knocks the wings off of the Phoenix and turns them into stone”. The whole thing is, I won’t [let society] turn me to stone. There was this line “I sold my soul to the devil, that was a crappy deal”, when I say that, I am saying “when I allow other people’s ideas to interfer with what I know is true to myself, that’s the devil. People talking mess on the blogs, that’s the devil, or people calling me names. Me thinking twice about what it is that’s really in my heart because of what people’s reaction will be, is me selling myself to the devil.

I personally think the Phoenix idea was very creative and Selita Ebanks played the part very well, she really showed the beauty of what a Phoenix is.
In regards to Kanye's comment the selling of his soul to the devil...
A line like that is bound to create rumors...

Kanye has his reasons for what means what in the film. Some, only he may know.
It was beautifully put together, I must say.
But some of his statements weren't. B.S.
He's a great artist, with great music...now with a great film?
Jezebel featured a very interesting and detailed analysis of the short film. I advise that you check it out!
Anyways, Kanye plans to take "Runaway" to Broadway! Good luck.

By the way, have you seen his permanent diamond teeth/grillz/whatchamacallits?

 Post your views of the post in the comments below :)

 
"There's no retirement for an artist, it's your way of living so there's no end to it." -
Bono
Dee

Sunday 24 October 2010

Kanye West - Runaway (Full Movie)


Alternative Link (full screen :))

Kanye West's "Runaway" premiered yesterday night.
Very interesting. Selita Ebanks looks gorgeous - as usual.
The video is very artistic and on first looks, alot of it doesn't seem to make sense...
With that being said, I'll leave you to make your own judgements (in the comments).

DeeDee

Thursday 21 October 2010

Why I hate the MOBO's

Before I start can I just say, I'm not wrecking the MOBO's and not sending for any of the artists or the creator. I'm just stating my view. 

So the MOBO's is an awards show for black artists on the UK music scene. Erm sorry, last time I checked two thirds of NDubz was White. I mean well done to them for winning multiple awards over the years but I just feel like I'm being lied to. It's like going to a black panther meeting and seeing someone in the front row with a white mask/hood up.

I think they should change their Lil motto thing or their mission statement because clearly it's not an award for black UK artists but rather an award for UK artists no matter their denomination. 

Now, artists get on the stage of the MOBO's like they've reached the peak of their career and that the MOBO's is their last accomplishment on their list before they die. 
WRONG
The MOBO's are not that big. Hopefully one day they will be but artists should take their MOBO's home, throw it in a box and figure out a way to break into a wider industry. 

Artists are too comfortable and think they're so good and have bars for days in which the label can't drop them for. Well sorry, without naming guys, you can get dropped quicker than pennies. No artist should sit back and relax, break into markets and get to a level in which can be classed as music industry domination. Why settle for a MOBO when Grammy's are better? Heck, a bloody MTV moon man shatters any glass moulded into a MOBO award. 

Don't be so lazy and make my ear bleed with GOOD music. None of that crap you were spitting in your previous albums but on another track. Some of us aren't stupid and won't buy your recycled lyrics. 

That's all I have to say.

MOBO's stop shitting on the representation you're giving out even if it's just to me and artists grow a set of balls and brave into other industries. If you did it once, you can do it again especially since you have financial backing. 



CEO.

Wednesday 20 October 2010

Female MC's/Rappers






Female rappers don't get the same recognition that men do when mc'ing or rapping. To be fair I'm not bothered. But to some this is a major issue. But the way I see it is that when females rap or mc, they can't say the same things a guy says without having loads of females looking at them in disgust and shaking their heads calling them bad role models and negative influences. For example, Nicki Minaj can rap but not necessarily the same things that Lil Wayne says because she has to appeal to a market that is the same as Weezy's but also ones that can accept her lyrics and not shun them.



Trina is a rapper that many may know but her music isn't largely popular in the UK because a lot of her music is seen as derogatory, vulgar and overly sexual. The most famous one that I recall being in the UK was "Here We Go" featuring Kelly Rowland.
Did you also know that she was in the "One Minute Man" video by Missy Elliot featuring Ludacris... But really. Let's be honest. Who knew her then??







Lil Kim. We all know her. But her music is pretty much in the same boat as Trina although her music is more popular. If anyone remembers from the Notorious film, Kimmy raps to Biggie after some majorly sweaty sex (super sweaty!! N Biggie didn't even do anything... Either call him a pimp or a lazy bastard) and he tells her no no no. You gotta rap about sexy stuff.
This is because women want to hear about love and passion and not getting ducked down by the towns ballers and crack dealers, because this is not what women are portrayed.






Anyways, Young Gattas killed Ami Miller. Fun to watch.


CEO.

Tuesday 19 October 2010

Sidney Starr - Beautiful Liar.


I'm not gonna entertain the Chingy or Kat Stacks business into detail, cause that's not what this post is about.
The woman you see up there, was a man. A post-op transgender woman.
Hard to believe right?
Anyways, her name is Sidney Starr and she is a dancer, famous for other business in the media eye.

I was going to post a definition of "transgender", but there were too many different definitions.
Which obviously means that doesn't seem to be a globally recognised definition of what a transgender is. To be honest, I'm not necessarily sure myself.

What I'd like to know is what transgender people recognise themselves as...

Check this reaction vid below:

Anyways, if you wanna hear/see Sidney in motion:


Dee

Monday 18 October 2010

So everyone... I had nothing controversial or smart to talk about... So here I am... Telling you about my past week.


October seems to see the birth of a lot of people and somehow they are happy about this... :/ (Born in Feb), but whatever the case may be, it was my friends birthday the other day and so i thought... hey... nothings happening this week, i'm going to take my camera. So.... here's the outcome!




Apart from the pics... It was just uni ¬_¬ so yeah... pretty dead...


Hope you like the pics!


Enjoy


CEO.

Whip My hair




Love the new video for Willow Smith's "Whip My Hair".
It's age appropriate, exciting and energetic.
The dancing, outfits, hair and setting was perfect.

Some choreography...do you think they would have made it/were appropriate for the official vid?





DeeDee

Sunday 17 October 2010

Postsecret

I read PostSecret every Sunday (it's updated on Sunday, every week) and I found some of the postcards pretty interesting...one in particular.

 
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." - Plato


Dee

Wednesday 13 October 2010

'You are who you hang around with'?

We've heard the statement "you are what you eat" countless times, but what about "you are who you hang around with"?

What sparked this post: Bitchie Life.

To an extent, your friends are a reflection of what you are, because birds of a feather, do flock together right?


(Left to Right :  Lala Vasquez, Kim Kardashian and Kelly Rowland)

Most close friends, usually have things in common.  It could be: hobbies, similar personality, fashion sense etc. which would draw you in to hanging around with that person.
Let's take the three ladies up there as an example....what do they have in common? 
All I could think of:
  • They are all celebrities
  • 2 have been/are in marriage.
  • 2 have supposedly had plastic surgery.
  • 2 have been involved with sport figures/athletes.
  • They've all had magazine covers...I think
(If you can think of anymore, comment and I'll be sure to add it)
But obviously, although they may seem v. different, they must have other common things they share...

Differences:
  • One has a child.
  • One has a sex tape and a supposed long list of people she has hooked up with/dated.
  • One can sing.
  • One appears to be an "attention whore".
  • One has posed nude more than once.
  • One is a TV personality.
  • One has a business...
And the list goes on...

Anyways, it's like having a friend who's a slut, but may be a such a sweet and friendly girl inside and you're totally the opposite.
You may be completely different, but just being friends with her could damage your reputation/how others see you.
Being labelled as something you're not, definitely doesn't sound like fun.
For example, when I saw Serena Williams and Kelly Rowland hanging around with Kim K, I thought what the hell are girls like them doing with Kim Kardashian?
(Justin Beiber and Kim K having lunch together was defo a WTF moment.)

Attitudes are contagious, good and bad and whether you know it or not "they're rubbing off on you" (Jack Canfield).
If you surround yourself with ambitious, high achieving, go getters then it's most likely going to benefit you in the end.
"Successful people surround themselves with successful people. Plain and simple." - Jack Canfield. Just as lazy, unambitious people hang around with other people like themselves.

I've definitely had to get rid of rubbish friends, cut the ties with friends who I personally didn't feel would benefit me in anyway/were any good.
Because, friends influence you in so many ways, both good and bad.
All I wanna do is live my life, happily! Without drama. Without people who carry around a negative label.
I wanna reach my goals, achieve my dreams and become successful without lowlifes dragging me down.
Surround yourself with positivity and it'll definitely pay off!

My mother always said, be careful of the friends you choose, she definitely was right.

What's your take on this topic?

"Friends are like melons; shall I tell you why? To find one good you must one hundred try." -- Claude Mermet

DeeDee

Long time, no blog.

I haven't blogged in a bit!
Been very busy really, plus I went Oostende, Belgium this weekend!
Pictures will be up soon :)

Anyways, check my next post :D

DeeDee

Monday 11 October 2010

Sex Sells


Depending on how you see it it could be a bad thing or a great thing, but at the end of the day, sex sells. It's everywhere and unavoidable but hey, that's the society we live in today. 

In the media industry be is music or fashion, it's all about you're image and that's not really what this world is like. I watch dove adheres and see nude yet normal people. Fair enough the people on there are "normal" but at the same time, how many people would watch, enjoy and realistically rate that advert if they weren't nude? I would almost be as annoying as that go compare guy. I deviate for a second, can someone do me a favour and run him over for a hot second. The guy that tries to replace him will think twice. 

 Anyway, back to topic. Many people shy away from the sex in the media and say they'll never stoop to that level but my view is that, if it allows you to progress in your profession or move up a ladder of some sort, go for it. That's not me saying be a porn star or degrade yourself for a penny or two, that's me saying do what you want to do with the heart that you are doing this for yourself to get to a point where you don't have to do it unless you're comfortable with it.  

 The other day somebody and I were joking around and he asked if someone paid me to do a nude shoot, would I do it?

Answer: I'm being paid to do a job. Sometimes we are asked to do some things we don't necessarily agree with or are against (I'm not saying I'm against nudity as long as I'm not naked!) but you know what, suck up your pride, do the job, walk away with your head high because that one job today could bring you billions tomorrow and by then, you'd have no regrets and even be thankful for the opportunity.

And if it doesn't work out for you, you live once. This will just build you up in life. 

This sounds like one of those deuces moments but I hate that song so that's air. 

But to end this mini rant/post do what you have to do for you as long as you can take it and live with your decision.  

CEO.

Wednesday 6 October 2010

ACS

So as a fresher, everyone wants to join societies, make friends and find their footing... Usually within the first month, but naturally such is harder for some more than others. Being black, I thought being ACS president would have a positive outcome on my future. You know, looks good on your cv and that. Maybe I could have made a change and improved aspects of the uni and socialising techniques especially amongst African-Caribbean students, but it's only when you get to university that you realises ACS is not what it seems...

To become president at my university, you'd have to have known pretty much everyone in the uni (everyone black certainly) and worked you way up the ranks amongst those people. Now this isn't in terms of smarts or intelligence but rather how much wasteful spending you do going to raves, "buying out the bar" and the amount of 'garms' your student loan can get you. All this forsaking the fact that if you aren't eating at one next girls house then you'd be starving and really inside your thanking God that the student loans company pay your tuition otherwise your parents would be surprised to see you home a few years early. 

Rant done, ACS president really isn't really a respected title. I dare someone to ask me who my current president is.. And that's not just because I don't care but the fact that not many other people do. In some uni's it's not even a society that receives funding of any sort whereas other uni's have meetings amongst leaders and founders. 

Obama stands for change, you're asking what that has to do with anything? Nothing. But that's not point. Some of these societies collect money from students, put a few DVDs on in a meeting or js a cold hall (whatever you want to call it) and call it an event. I download more DVDs than you could even count. Please don't mock my intelligence. 

For the safety of others, I'm just going to continue not going to ACS meetings, events and other social gathering coordinating by our beloved ACS presidents of past, present and future and just read my books for my sake!

Let me leave you with an image to look at...



CEO.

Sunday 3 October 2010

Black Crayon & Magnus Ent.

So, 22nd September. New academic year. FRESH MEAT! lol... Nah, big things are happening this year especially in the West Midlands. Last year 1st years didn't have as much fun as they would have liked to so this year Magnus Entertainment have made it their mission to make it enjoyable for all years. With Black Crayon covering the events you know they are bound to be great so if you're in the area... Don't miss out!


Heres a couple of the pics from the event.












CEO.