The other day as I was watching the idiot box, also know as the television I came across an interesting debate on Bet’s show Meet the Faith. The topic for that show was “Black Genius.” I found this extremely interesting, since I often debate with this same issue in my head on how there is a fine line between brilliance and insanity. A lot of times musical artists are challenged to constantly create hits, and if their debut album is exceptional there is even more pressure to reproduce that same work for their sophomore album. Some people simply cannot handle this! A classic example is with beautiful songbird Lauryn Hill. Her debut album, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” surpassed everyone’s expectations making this album a classic, while she also had her fans yearning to hear the second album. Hill however had her fans waiting for quite a while to drop her next album, and when it was released it did not exude the same persona as the previous album. Many fans were shocked and thought has she lost her mind. But if you truly listened to the album you could hear Lauren’s cry for help with every lyric that she sang. The question is where does the line between brilliance and insanity cross. A lot of times when the pressure becomes to much to uphold these artists will go on a hiatus from society and technology as a whole. They express themselves through poetry, writing, drawing or any form of creativity where they don’t have to conform and can simply be themselves. Its okay to go on a hiatus at times, but its also important on how you recover from that mental and spiritual cleansing. Hill is not the only artist to have had some type of breakdown. Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston have had their share of troubles when pressure was put on these two song birds to constantly blow out the best songs for their high vocal cords. And we can’t forget when Ms. Badu and India Arie shaved their heads bald as if their were trying to express a statement to the world that they will not conform to society. We have to understand that in addition to having stress from record labels and pleasing their fans that these artist are still HUMAN. And that in addition to providing hits for their fans they also have normal lives where they can get sick, as well take care of their families.

Lauryn Hill’s new song entitled “Lose Myself” lets us know a piece of how she feels when she says the following:
“i used to do it for the love a long time ago
and all i ever wanted was love
i used to love without fear a long time ago
and all i ever wanted was love
then somebody came around and tried to hurt me
tried to make me feel like i was unworthy
took pure love and tried to make you dirty
truth was, that he never did deserve me no
i had to lose myself
so i can love you better”

Lauryn Hill – Lose Myself

State your claim and let us know how you feel about there being a fine line between brilliance and insanity with our musical artists today.

This is Fergie’s 5th single off her album, “The Dutchess”. The video is hot and very animated. Check out our pick of the week.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DGRGy-jv-c&rel=1]

From lyrics to the hook to the beat, all these components make a song. Out of the votes that we received from last week’s poll (What makes a song good?), 71% believed that the lyrics are what makes a song good.

A lot of songs sometimes have positive messages or “food for thought” but is everyone really listening for that? Since the majority believes that lyrics are important, why do we have songs like “Soulja Boy” with lyrics such as “supersoak that hoe” or Gucci Mane “Freaky Gurl” climbing the billboard charts? Obviously, it has to be more than the lyrics that make a song good.

MCs like Common and Talib Kweli have been out for years, but they could not get any airplay until now. Producers like Kanye and Will.i.am, are behind the beats and production of these artists’ tracks. Talib Kweli’s new single “Hot Thing” can now be heard almost every hour. Before that, I have never heard a Talib Kweli song on the radio other than “Just to get by”, (which was also produced by Kanye West.) We can not deny that the beat was hot on that song, but did anyone pay attention to the lyrics?

“We keeping it gangster say ‘fo shizzle’, ‘fo sheezy and ‘stayin crunk’, its easy to pull a breezy, smoke trees, and we stay drunk, our activism attacking the system, the blacks and latins in prison, numbers of prison they victim black in the vision, shit and all they got is rapping to listen to…The TV got us reaching for stars, not the ones between Venus and Mars, the ones that be reading for parts, some people get breast enhancements and penis enlargers, Saturday sinners Sunday, morning at the feet of the Father, they need something to rely on, we get high on all types of drugs, when all you really need is love”.

Is this song remembered because of its lyrics? These days, if you got a good hook and a hot beat, it can get you the number one spot. So people, be honest, do lyrics really matter?

The Jigga man has announced his American Gangster Tour starting in November. This is a 5 date tour to support his new album “American Gangster”.

Tour dates for the “American Gangster Live” tour:
11/6 Los Angeles: House of Blues
11/7 Chicago: House of Blues
11/9 Baltimore: Ramshead
11/11 New York: Hammerstein
11/12 Philadelphia: Fillmore

Linkin Park will release their new single, Shadow of the Day on November 12, until then here is a peek of their new video.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_eEE12R8Gw]

To update you folks on more Nas’s news about his controversial album title…Nas has decided to change the name of the album from “Nigga” to…guess this one, “Nigger”.

Def Jam says that they have no intentions of releasing an album with that title nor do they have a scheduled date for an album from Nas, other than his Greatest Hits album that drops November 6.

Nas told MTV news, “It’s now called Nigger, and it is set to hit stores December 11 …I’m a street disciple. I’m talking to the streets. Stay out of our business. You ain’t got no business worrying about what the word ‘nigger’ is or acting like you know what my album is about without talking to me. Whether you in the NAACP or you Jesse Jackson. I respect all of them. I just want them to know: Never fall victim to Fox. Never victim to shit they do. What they do is try to hurry up and get you on the phone and try to get you to talk about something you might not know about yet… If Cornell West was making an album called ‘Nigger’, they would know he’s got something intellectual to say,” Nas continued. “To think I’m gonna say something that’s not intellectual is calling me a nigger, and to be called a nigger by Jesse Jackson and the NAACP is counterproductive, counter-revolutionary…I wanna make the word easy on muthafuckas ears. You see how white boys ain’t mad at ‘cracker’ ’cause it don’t have the same sting as ‘nigger’? I want ‘nigger’ to have less meaning than ‘cracker.’ With all the bullshit that’s going on in the world, racism is at its peak. I wanna do the shit that’s not being done. I wanna be the artist who ain’t out. I wanna make the music I wanna hear…We’re taking power from the word.”

Let us know how you feel about this one.

Alright, so we all know that there are a lot of MCs/rappers/singers out there that don’t get the recognition and respect that they deserve. You know that this artist is the best thing out there but they can’t get any airplay or record sales. So, who is on your list for the most underrated artist?

Ok, it’s out. The trackslist from Jay-Z’s upcoming album “American Gangster” which if you didn’t know is inspired by the film of the same name starring Denzel Washington. Jay has some guest appearances on the album including Nas. He also has a track with Lil’Wayne…this should be good.

1.Intro
2. Pray
3. American Dreamin
4. Hello Brooklyn 2.0 f. Lil Wayne
5. No Hook
6. Roc Boys (And The Winner Is…)
7. Sweet
8. I Know
9. Party Life
10. Ignorant Shit f. Beanie Sigel
11. Say Hello
12. Success f. Nas
13. Fallin
14. Blue Magic (Bonus Track)
15. American Gangster (Bonus Track)

American Gangster drops November 6.

Whatever You Like – Nicole Scherzinger and TI

The mood for this week is flirtacious. In light of Homecoming season and anything else that may be going on in your life that makes you feel spectacular why can’t a person feel flirtacious at times. Confidence is key and when you are able to look in the mirror like “damn I got it!” why not show out and show off around town from time to time. Nicole’s hot new single makes everyone want to strike a pose!! Ladies put on your stilettos and fellas don’t leave the house without being fresh..maybe someone will whisper in your ear “Whatever you like.”

The 2007 BET Hip Hop Awards was held on October 13, 2007. BET will air the taping on Wednesday, October 17. Listed below are a few of the nominees and winners. Was your favorite artist a winner? Who should have won? What artist did not deserve the title? Let us know.

Lyricist Of The Year
Lil Wayne
Common (Winner)
Jay-Z
T I
Kanye West

Producer Of The Year
Kanye West
Swizz Beatz
Polow Da Don
Timbaland (Winner)
Mannie Fresh

Best Hip-Hop Collabo
Birdman & Lil Wayne – “Stuntin’ Like My Daddy”
Diddy ft Keyshia Cole – “Last Night”
DJ Khaled ft Akon, T I, Rick Ross, Fat Joe & Lil Wayne – “We Takin’ Over”
Fabolous ft Ne-Yo – “Make Me Better”
UGK ft Outkast – “International Player’s Anthem” (Winner)

Best Live Performance
T I
Lil Wayne
Ludacris
Kanye West(Winner)
Common

Best Hip-Hop Video
50 Cent – “I Get Money”
Chamillionaire ft Slick Rick – “Hip-Hop Police”
Common – “The People”
Ludacris ft Mary J Blige – “Runaway Love”
UGK ft Outkast – “International Player’s Anthem”
Kanye West – “Stronger”(Winner)

Best Hip-Hop Dance
2 Step (UNK)
Aunt Jackie (Jason Fox)
Chicken Noodle Soup (DJ Webstar & Young B)
Pop, Lock & Drop It (Huey)
Crank Dat Soulja Boy (Soulja Boy) (Winner)

MVP Of The Year
Lil Wayne (Winner)
Jay-Z
Kanye West
T.I.
Common

Track Of The Year
“Party Like A Rockstar” – Shop Boyz (Winner)
“I Get Money” – 50 Cent
“Big Things Poppin’ (Do It)” – T I
“Can’t Tell Me Nothing” – Kanye West
“A Bay Bay” – Hurricane Chris

Rookie Of The Year
Rich Boy (Winner)
Plies
Hurricane Chris
Lil Boosie
Mims

Hustler Of The Year
Jay-Z
T I
50 Cent (Winner)
Lil Wayne
Diddy

DJ Of The Year
DJ Drama
DJ Enuff
DJ Irie
DJ Khaled (Winner)
Tony Neal

CD Of The Year
T.I. Vs TIP, T.I.(Winner)
Kingdom Come, Jay-Z
Release Therapy, Ludacris
Finding Forever, Common(Winner)
Hip-Hop Is Dead, Nas