"Singing In The Right Key!" -On Another Note Featuring Kario Key

Man I ❤ how this universe works! Peep how while surfing the internet for inspiration my boy music producer Rich Younglord comes across this Indie/Electro Pop duo on Youtube that strikes a cord in him musically, and he decides "I GOTTA f**k with these cats!" and reaches out to directly to contact them to work with him! They holla back at him in like a day's time and the three hit it off after a few brief convos. Rewind really quick back for a sec. YL hips me to them like "Yo kid, what you think about this group? I'm in love w/ shorty's voice!" and sends me a link to hear some of their stuff. I hear "Runaway" and is instantly BLOWN AWAY! KABOOM! Now I'M all hyped like "YO! I'm FEELIN' this! Yeah man NO question! Rock with these guys!" His reply? "I've ALREADY contacted them!" And exactly WHO are they you're asking? They are Electo Pop duo Kario Key, formed by Berklee College students Lorely Rodriguez ("the Voice" pictured below) & Aaron Kleinstub ("the Sound" not pictured) broadcast their new/ sound collabo live from Boston to the world via Soundcloud and Myspace (remember that?) directly to their grassroots grown fan base. To describe their sound would be to say that it's current yet futuristic at the same time. While her voice and lyrics are timeless! I always anxious to hear what NEXT to come from them...then the NEXT one after that! Can't wait to meet these guys face to face. Well enough flapping my yap, there's some tunes I posted below that I thought best captured their next level sound. Enjoy and spread it! Oh damn almost forgot! Here's there Facebook page here & they're Myspace too here. And of course their Twitter account @Kariokeymusic
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"It's Okay For Grown Men To Cry..." -Especially When S#@t Is THIS Funny! Watch...

Now I've seen some funny stuff in my time but these cast of characters (all attendees of Georgia State U) are ready to take comedy skits to another level! The other day my boy Carlito put me on to these dudes called Dormtainment(.com) that are perfecting their style of group skit comedy and have decided to share it with the world via YouTube. I was gonna post for you guys a hilarious vid once a month but decided "Nah! This s#*t here's MAD funny man! I gotta share!" So here's four of the joints that I openly wept while watching. ENJOY! LMMFAO

"Springer Type $#*t!" -I Apologize For My Guilty Pleasures

Now I don't USUALLY post stuff of this nature on the blog, but when you get a cat fight, two preg chicks scrappin', an ol' crack head, a closed fisted face bash, a thrown fast food booster chair, and a motorcycle crash (no lie) all in the SAME video (?) I GOTS to share S**T like this with the world! Don't blink or stop the video midway through, cause the "hits" (pun intended) KEEP comin' folks! Laugh, be saddened, shocked by it, or WHATEVER! But just first WATCH! Leave your reactions in the comment box PLEASE! Would love to hear 'em.

"Pop That Thang!"- Booty Pop? Really?

Okay I'VE HAD IT! Enough with the fake hair, the fake press-on nails, colored contacts, boob jobs, lip injections...I'm DONE! They've cross the line with this one! I like a woman's gluteus to be maximus like the next man (I lose my breath when I see a NICE one! Doctor's said I have "ass"-matic bronchitis) but this here...this here is just not right by any means! Fellas just watch you'll be just as OUTRAGED as I was! I'm starting an on-line petition NOW! Take action, don't sit on your REAL ass and do nothing!

"Born (Day) To Be Wild!" -Advice On Proper Birthday Etiquette

Can we talk? No seriously I've been think since I've been attending SO many b'day events (besides my own) as of late that I think I have become somewhat of an authority on the proper etiquette one SHOULD have at said events...Right? Okay now let me give you a brief run down on a certain level of "class" one must have when hosting OR showing up at these things. You ready? Okay for starters;

One, If you've been invited give the person a definite answer on weather you're attending or not. "Maybe" just sounds like to them "Something MORE important may come up so..." If they felt you should be there don't leave'em hanging even if the answers "NO, I can't make it."

Speaking of that, DON'T be dumb enough to post pictures to Facebook of the OTHER party you really were at instead. It's bad taste, like 2 week old cake homie!

If the person means SOMETHING to you, and you're showing face, bring SOMETHING! Cards never get old (credit or gift, if it's for me), a bottle of wine, flowers...Something! Don't come empty handed like you homeless, you need CHANGE for real.

If you're hosting a b'day DON'T make things awkward by inviting ALL your old "bang out buddies" aka "jump-off & ons" IE "bed sheet sweets" it's NOT a good look folks. The 2 second convos ending w/ "Give me a min, I'll be RIGHT back..." the game show kisses, and them playing detective, lurking around to see WHO takes your drunk ass home, asking around "So ummm, HOW do you know him/her?" Is NOT the move. Put 'em all in the same room like some "Greatest hits album" is for your EGO and your ego alone. And "alone" you will be, once the $#it blows up! I say NO.

Don't show up at an ex's b'day (drunk) looking to win them back. It's NOT the time for that. Especially when there are FOUR others in the room, looking to do the SAME thang! Play your position, come for a few hrs. to say "Hi" and bounce w/ your pride intact. Period.

Don't attend an ex's b'day and start picking up no.s #. It's just tacky. Whom ever you're meeting there KNOWS him or her somehow right? Unless you guys are Digable Planets ie "cool like that" I say pass. You'll see them again somewhere else.

If the B'day person is really close to you and you care, PICK UP the damn phone! Stop with all that texting BS. Use those rollover mins. to just say "Hey, happy b'day my dude!" Trust me, that lil' bit means SO much more to them.

If you're gonna invite you parents to your B'day gathering, don't introduce to all you "slutty buddies." Parents get a lil' "fire water" in 'em and they start forgetting names and $#it, telling the truth about how they REALLY felt about them. $#it can get ugly.

DON'T get SO wasted! I see this one too many times folks, I CAN'T stress this enough. Who wants pictures of themselves "$#it-faced" all over Facebook, Youtube, or whateva the next day, of what WAS suppose to be a joyous occasion? AWKWARD! You spoil it for EVERYBODY man! Save friends from having to explain the next morning of why the bouncers shoes had to be surgically removed from yo dumb ass. Just cause you got "Kanye'd out on Henny" and started to "skeet skeet" to the window, to the wall...FOR REAL! Apology NOT accepted! You getting TOO old for that now man! Grow up, not THROW up...Chump!

STOP going broke like it's yo last b'day! Who wants to spend their b'day in the dark once the lights get cut off? You'll be using them candles from your b'day cake ALL week Boo! Friends SHOULD be spending on you!

STOP booking out these "Ritz(y) cracker" clubs out! You don't need friends coming, all dolled the f@#k out to celebrate with you, just get turned away, MAD at yo ass! Hearing "Sorry sir, we're at our BLACK man capacity tonight!" Doesn't sound good AT ALL! Especially when I put on "the good hard botttoms" for yo ass! Then you get the "Oh if you're doing bottle service we can get you right in sir. But you're gonna have to put this white stuff on your face when you go in, and tuck the chains in too." Oh HELL NO!

And lastly STOP sleeping with your DAMN Blackberry underneath the pillow Miss! I know you're known to sometimes talk in your sleep, but DAMN girl! WTMFF! Unless you're a private doctor on call (and I never knew), OR you're waiting for your pimp to call, to simply say you've gone over your hrs, I'm NOT feeling that! I have an alarm cock...oops clock, that works PERFECTLY fine! NO excuse to be loose. I know this has NOTHING to do with b'day etiquette but I felt a NEED to mention the $#it...WHAT!?! G'morning!

"Someone Needs A (Taylor) Swift Kick In The Yeezy! -the VMA Awards In Reveiw

I'm not one to really follow these sorta things, I'll let you know first hand that I honestly didn't even know WHO was up for any awards, let alone SEEN any of them. But something inside told me that I HAD to watch this year's VMA awards! And boy did it not disappoint! But before we get into all that, I gotta say watching made me FEEL old. More than half of the "host" for the pre-show I've never even heard of before. I was told that they're "actresses" on that "Gossip Girls" show. Now let me remind you that I'm an over 25 African-American heterosexual male, that barely watches TV. So you naming names is lost to me (hand waving past head motion). Then they've gone an added Twitter into the mix (huh?) which I think is for the birds (pun intended)! Don't get me wrong, technically I HAVE an account (Twitter.com/theMreporter), but ask me how many times I've used it and I'll hold up only a few fingers at best. BTW Pink and Shakira in the same dress? Oops! Now let's move on. Only but ten maybe twenty mins. into the program after Madonna's "Yeah, I tried to seduce Michael Jackson memory" and Janet's "Scream" if you love MJ performance. Ya boy 'Ye has a melt down over Taylor Swift beating out both Beyonce' AND Lady Gaga for Best Female Video (?) Big "WOW moment" for the night. Bigger than any of the performances to be honest. I That moment will be spoken about and Youtube'd FOREVER in time. Trust me MTV is NOT mad one bit at him, simply because now next year this time around folks will be glued to watch. Hoping not to miss anything. So they can stay in the "cool crowd" the next morning. As far as my thoughts on the host Russell Brand...eh?!? He's one funny bloke, but at some point I needed sub-titles because he talks so fast with an accent to boot at times. Bring on Sasha Cohen man. The Tracy Morgan/Eminem skits...lame. the look on Eminem's face when Gaga big ed' up gays...Priceless! Diddy's suit...sharp! The witty "Wait, what did I said?" comment after saying Kanye's name...sharper! Wale acting like the Roots backing up band Russell was a NO. Respect yourself in the morning! Beyonce' s "Single Ladies" performance screamed "I don't believe you, you need more people!" so she brought out MORE people. Lol! THEN the crapper of the night to me, that made me get my hat & coat outta coat check, was funky ass Lil' Mama jumping on stage during Jay-Z & Alicia Keys show closing performance of New York's newest anthem ("Empire State of Mind") Hey Lil Mama isn't past your bed time?

"You Dropped A Bomb On Me!" Ernie Gaines NEW Tune Blows Up!

Hey, do ya'll remember this guy named Ernie Gaines that I had mentioned awhile back in one of my "On Another Note" postings right? Well even if you don't, you WILL start to in a few months time guarantee. To bring you up to speed, not only did he have a leaked song floating 'round on the net titled "Sip It" featuring an intro verse from rap royalty's T.I. killing'em out there, NOW a song he's just recorded like...ummm 2 weeks ago (!) "So Sorry" has made it's way on none other than NYC radio king Funk Master Flex's show! Accompanied by SIX count'em 6 bomb drops! Now wait, before you click off to go looking for some site to download it, peep the "we just messin' around" rough draft video on Youtube. Disclaimer: "This is NOT the actual video!" But yes this IS the actual song. Lol. Give me feedback on the tune.

"Weezy, Yeezy, Sound Uneasy!" - YouTube 'Toon Takes On These Rap Stars...And Wins!

Don't ask how I came across this, but HAD to give it further inspection. Only three words came to mind when I was done, HILL LARRY US! Come give it a look see, but keep the laughter down in your cubicle please. It's already bad enough that you took an extra day off Wednesday for the holiday weekend.

"Easy, Breezy, Cover Boy" -Obama Says "Cover Me, I'm Going In"

I think it's pretty safe to say that Obama's face has been on more bootleg t-shirts, Youtube videos, and 'zine covers than most of your favorite rappers rapper! Lol. these two are the latest newstand staples that have used his mug to sell units.

11/04/08
One of the single most important dates this year! Are you even registered to VOTE yet?

"Janelle Moons Everbody!" -Monae's "Many Moons" Vid

I gotta say man, after hearing SO MUCH buzz about this girl I was sure that she wouldn't live up to the hype folks was gushing about over her. Boy was ever WRONG! Almost ever show I 've managed to see her at (and trust me, it's been a LOT), she consistantly brings the fire! "Straight from the oven" as Grand Ma Ma would say. Here's more proof that she's gonna be the latest star to shine. Peep her fashion steez in the vid...DOPE! Monae' makes the world go round.

"It's Mickey to Rock A Rhyme" -Words From Factz

GRINDIN'! If just HALF the MCs out today,let alone recording artist in general, put in the amount of hard work this cat Mickey does. Then maybe, just MAYBE the music nowadays wouldn't suck so bad! True "factz" ya'll. I'm just sayin' though. Watch & learn.

"The Golden Arch-Enemy" -McFunny Stuff

I know Mickey D's made commercials that catered to African-American demographics, and finally someone called them out about it! And it's about God D#@* time! Thanks for the link Rasu.

"Looking for A New Roommate?" -Apt. Humor

THIS is the one of the reasons why I'm not so big on roommates! Even though this guy wouldn't be so bad to have around...

"Don't Believe Everything You Read..." -Tabloids Live @ Rock the Block Bk

Here's just ONE of the reasons why "Rock the Block BK" last Saturday was such a success! Watch and understand why I LOVE what I do. Sure...I do it for the people, but can't I enjoy the fruits of my labor too. Jesse KILLS it on this one. I'm just glad someone YouTube'd it. Repeat after me, "I will NEVER miss another Jeese Boykins III show EVER!"

(*Watch in HIGH quality)

"AmErykah...Concert Of the Free" -Tonight Doin' It In (the Wingate) Park

Case there was a slight chance you DIDN'T know, Badu will be doing BK at the Martin Luther King Jr. free concert series in Wingate Park this evening. Be advised, there will be ALOT of "incent" burning going on at this particular event, so don't wear your good s#@t out there if you don't like the smell of "incent" (wink wink). And plus, get this, there's to be NO cameras allowed in the park...none. Huh? I guess this is to keep folks from Youtubin' the poor treatment of our folks by the cops handling crowd control. But that's just a theory. Get there EARLY, cause the line goes "On & On"...Get it? On & on? Erykah? First song? Aww forget it.

Erykah Badu
Wingate Park, Brooklyn
Free admission
Gates fly open 6pm show 8pm

"The Revolution Will NOT Be Televised..." - "Rock the Block BK" YouTube'd

"Greatness is among us..."-Unknown

True words spoken. There is SO much talent out there, it's hard to keep track with who's doing what, and who to follow till stardom hits. Well Sat. Aug. 9th ("Rock the BlocK BK") we're hoping to make thing easier be pulling together the best talent in NYC that you've probably sat next to on the train and NEVER knew. Names such as Fresh Daily, Ray6, Jesse Boykins III, Theophilus London, Print w/ Good Day Good Night, Vice Lounge, Ernie Gaines, & Honey LaRochelle are just some of the folks that are pushing music forward right here in your hometown! You can click on their names to peep their myspace pages out, and THANK me later.

"What Goes Around Comes Back Again" Acting Brand Nubian(s)

Seem like EVERY
BODY'S having a reunion these days! Class reunion, family reunion, Spice Girls...well you get it. Anyway, the Brand Nubians have thrown their hat into the "reunion" ring and have decided to come as one (for all), tomorrow out at Brower Park (aka Brooklyn Children's Museum) I'm hoping it's for real this time and I won't get disappointed like when I saw the Youtube video of Dru-Hill. Feel me? Oh, now don't act like you wasn't disappointed too. Lol.

Brand Nubians Live
Brower Park -Brooklyn Ave. near St. Marks
7pm-9pm
Free

"I Have Another Dream"- CNN Obama Speech

Have you seen this Obama speech yet?!? It's like a well cooked meal. It may take long to prepare, but once you sit down to eat, you'll taste why it was worth the wait.

"Who's On First?"- Mrs.Obama Speaks to You

My good friends over at Addy & Ferro in Brooklyn (see links)
wanted me to share this with you and the world, which speaks volumes on how this political race is really getting folks in action and motivated. Well people get ready, there's a "change" coming!

"Cool It Now..." -Feb.2rd Lupe Fiasco @ Nokia Theater

...You Better slow it down." Was the 1st song that popped in my head when I recently went on-line to peep the ticket prices for Mr. "Cool's" concert tomorrow at the Nokia Theater
(Times Square).
At $165-$200 bucks a ticket...each, homey better have EVERY rapper that guest appeared on his album performing with him, AND invite me backstage to share his left-over "groupie luv!"
Sad thing about it is, I had offered to take my homeless cousin (a HUGE Lupe fan) who's sick from cancer, with the bum leg to the show as a dying wish. (Hope you're reading this Lupe.)
But unfortunately, the kid don't have "Superstar" money like that. Guess you'll have to YouTube it baby, I tried. Seriously though, how and when the (F word) did STANDING ROOM ONLY prices for a small room concert get so (F word) high?
Tell me something...He has Prince as his backing band?
He's gonna bring Obama out and do that Soulja Boy dance?
What?!? Guess I'll wait till he's FREE at Summer Stage like the rest of yall. Not cool man. Not cool at all.