RASTAMOUSE

There's bit a lot of whoo-haa about the new children's animated show that launched in the UK several days ago, called 'Rastamouse'.

The show airs on CBeebies - the show seems to be a hit with the kids and then there's been a bit of a mixbag reaction from the concerning adults about racism and cultralism, etc

Rastamouse originally started as a children's book, were written written in rhyme with a Caribbean accent, by Genevieve Webster (an author and illustrator) and Michael De Souza, a Rastafari swimming instructor!

The show features an all-mouse Reggae band named "Rastamouse and Da Easy Crew" who also indulge in crime fighting (a bit like Batman... more like 'Josie & The Pussycats'). The stories show how people can get on and solve problems, such as those who commit crimes show remorse and explain why they did what they did, and promise not to do it again, then all can be 'easy' again.

Just because Rastamouse wears a Rasta hat, sports dreadlocks and has a Jamaican accent (voiced by Reggie Yates, a current Radio 1 DJ and actor/presenter), there's nothing racist about it!

I think, we as a 'second' generation (I think that's what we are) growing up in the western world aren't exactly used to seeing other cultures portrayed so freely on our TV screens - we grew up with the likes of 'He-man', 'Sherah', 'Postman Pat', 'Fireman Sam', 'Family Ness', 'Penny Crayon', etc... you get the drift, and it has probably thrown a few people off a bit.

We can't be outraged at the fact that there is an entire show teaching children the diversities of culture around us, with good values that teaches kids the difference between right and wrong, especially since many people would be outraged at the fact that in living in the 21st century, in this 'day and age' that we didn't have one before!

This may even spawn a TV series about 'Femi the Nigerian Jungle Cat' or 'Fei Ying the Chinese Panda'... the animated world is our oyster!!!

MH MATTRESS MUSIC: ALBUM REVIEW

Marques Houston – Mattress Music | Album Review by Tolu Akisanya
Read at Soul Culture

29 year old R&B singer/actor Marques Houston recently released his fifth solo effort, Mattress Music. The album is exactly what it says on the ‘tin’; a project for “serenading”, with tracks like ‘Explosion’, ‘Noize’, ‘Waterfall’ and ‘Made a Mess’… you get the drift.

Mattress Music miraculously is just a 3-man producing/writing crew; Marques Houston, Eric Cire and Chris Stokes, his team from when he released his first solo effort ‘MH’, back in 2003, and actually works pretty well for them all. However, I believe, if Marques was be more willing to work with different producers and writers, he could easily produce an album that help him achieve global/mainstream recognition and put him in the ranks with Trey Songz and Ne-Yo.

The track ‘Explosion’ is pretty basic and didn’t fully capture me on first listen, with lyrics like “lick lick lick lick lick lick lick lick lick lick you all over” you get a taste of what I mean [pun intended].



The album tries too hard to be the effortless ‘baby-making/slow-jam’ genre of music as previous albums. However, as I got further into the album, I couldn’t figure out if I was still listening to MH or if my iPod had somehow jumped to a Trey Songz single. MH seems to have developed the deep lip-pout, deep-voice, style of singing [that’s my technical term for it] that Trey does so well. It even goes as far as ‘Kicking & Screaming’ sounding like a sample of Trey Songz ‘LOL Smiley Face’ – by this point I’m fully confused.

‘Mess’ may be the most explicit track on the album; hearing it made me spit out my morning coffee. Not exactly appropriate for 8am on a Tuesday morning. While there are strong songs on the album, there are a few tracks to avoid such as ‘Swag Sex’ feat Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em.

Although not my favourite album from Mr. Houston, I do not think this album will adversely hurt career, however nor will it launch him into international stardom.

Memorieeeessss....

NELLY 5.0 : ALBUM REVIEW

Nelly – 5.0 | Album Review by Tolu Akisanya
Read at Soul Culture

The sixth studio album by Nelly, 5.0 is probably not as strong as his debut album but is still very much enjoyable. Featuring the likes of Chris Brown, Plies, T.I., T-Pain and Akon, the album begins with Nelly once again claiming to be ‘No. 1’ – but after being away from the music scene for so long, and not having conjured up a number one hit single for several years, I find it a bit over-confident and a little delusional for him to still be trying to hold on to this title.

However, Nelly’s collaborations on the album won’t do him any harm; he reunites with Diddy on ‘1000 stacks’ and again with Kelly Rowland on ‘Gone’, which revisits the magical collaboration that worked so well with ‘Dilemma’ back in 2002. The track uses all the key elements that made the last track a hit, and does not fail. This track could easily be a chart-topper.



‘Move That Body’ could have easily been the best track on the album, however 30 seconds into it and it becomes a concoction of melodies and beats, as it tries too hard to be a club track. For me, I think that there is way too much going on here. This combination of T-Pain and Akon, who feature on the track, should have been a club dream. But sadly it fails. Similarly ‘Broke’ is not a strong track and should perhaps be avoided if possible. The track is very immature and even reflects in the production and lyrics; It took all my strength not to skip the track when Sophie Green sang “I don’t want no broke ni**rs, no, no”. It’s woeful!!!

‘Liv Tonight’, with Keri Hilson, is a super dance track, that took even me by surprise with its European dance style; sounding more like it was re-mixed for the ‘Ministry of Sound’ compilation CD, or on the Venga Boys album, instead of being produced/inspired by Will.i.Am (the pioneer of hip Hop/dance mix). A part of me feels uncomfortable that this track even features on the album, however I found that I couldn’t stop myself from bobbing my head the sound of the beat.

At 36, Nelly seems to have almost lost a part of him during the years, he will never be the same artist who once captured our hearts with his playful charm that got us hooked with ‘Country Grammar’ or trying to pulling our clothes off (not literally) with ‘Hott in Herre’, The album brings us a slightly older, maybe wiser Nelly, but at times I felt a little lost and that maybe Nelly can’t decide to be a grown up or to fall back to what is safe and re-claim former glory…

You decide... But whilst you do that, here's some good old Nelly...





one more...

CHINGY SUCCESS & FAILURE : ALBUM REVIEW

Chingy – Success & Failure | Album Review by Tolu Akisanya
Read at Soul Culture

Success & Failure is the fifth studio album from the St. Louis rapper Chingy, since his debut album and hit single, “Right Thurr”, which helped put him on the musical map. Chingy has since, however, been M.I.A. His last few albums seemed to pass the music industry unscathed.

Although billed as an album, Chingy claims that Success & Failure is in fact a ‘mixtape’; a throw-together of old tracks, a taster, I guess, of what is to come. If that’s the case then be sure to be incredibly disappointed.

With this new album, I wasn’t sure if Chingy was hoping to reclaim his status as a feel-good, club-track, pop-rap artist, prove his critics and “haters” wrong about his talent or pocket some extra change since being dropped from his label, either way, I think he failed.

After listening to the first track (after the intro) I was not impressed. After so many years away from the music scene, it sounded as though Chingy hasn’t made any musical growth since his debut album. As an older artist – Chingy turned 30 earlier this year – I expected something different from him, a new direction, an insight into his ‘what makes Chingy’, but instead got exactly where we left him.

“Iced out”, featuring 8ball, is an accolade to all the jewels, girls and money he has – a track I would have expected from the likes of 20-year-old Soulja Boy, a or back during the ‘ringtone’ era of rap music. Rapping about cars, jewels and girls is a bit immature for someone who has been in the game for as long as he has.

“Thurr Dey Go”, “Git It Boy” “All I Know”, continues in equal manner; the combination of trumpets, easy beats, over use of rrr’s, and southern slang become tiresome… even repetitive. The music game has changed so much, that it is impossible for Chingy to even consider competing against modern artists such as Drake, Rick Ross, T.I. and Nicki Minaj.



The rest of the album suffers from predictability, is unimaginative, and unoriginal, as he tries to recapture the young rap audience that has moved on to other gimmicky acts, such as Flo-Rida and T-Pain.

“Anythang” may just be the best track on the entire album – that says a lot – all in all, the album is a major let down, from a former Chingy fan. die-hard fans will be pleased Chingy stayed ‘safe’ and stuck with what he knew, but five albums deep into the game, this is just not good enough.

Soooo... *cough cough* Here's so good old Chingy for nostalga sakes :)

DONELL JONES LYRICS : ALBUM REVIEW

Donell Jones – Lyrics | Album Review by Tolu Akisanya
Read at Soul Culture

Hearing that the prince of R&B, Donell Jones had released a new album, conjured up an array of emotions, that ranged from thrilled to nostalgia… and may have even created an impromptu sing-song session of his past hits; you can’t help but be taken back to classics such as ‘In The Hood’ ‘Where I Wanna Be’ and ‘You Know What’s Up’.

When listening to Donell Jones’ new album Lyrics, one of the first things you hear, is the self-titled statement of being the “rebirth of Hip Hop & R&B” …now, on listening to entire album this maybe a far cry from the truth.

Lyrics is Donell’s sixth studio album, which he wrote and produced mostly by himself, and is consistent with his previous albums; romantic and sexual circumstances and situations coupled with smooth vocals, XXX melodies and soft beats.

Some of the tracks on the album may have sat well during the turn of the millennium (late nineties to early ’00s), however 10 to 15 years later his sound is all too familiar, and dare I say it, a little dated – and may struggle to compete against the likes of Trey Songz, Chris Brown and the younger talent producing music for today’s market.

For his loyal fan base, the album gives you a sample of his musical greatness and a taste of how R&B used to be, back in its golden ages. One of my instant favourites, ‘All About Sex’, is reminiscent of the Donell we know and love, and is actually a romantic ballad, no just about sex, but admiration to the one who is mentally and physically in-tune with you, even re-hashing up the word ‘tenderoni’.

Tracks ‘What’s Next’ and ‘Can You Burn’, goes a little too far with ‘trying to keep up with the times’, sounding more like home-made European dance mixes, inspired by ’80s pop. Very different from what we are used to hearing from Donell Jones – obviously taking influence from the influx of R&B stars dipping their musical toes in to the ‘dance’ genre to expand their audience. These tracks remain ‘unclassified’ with my emotions.

Although I was a little disappointed with this album, a part of me will never always remember the great music he brought us and what he did for R&B - and hopeful he’ll bring that to us once again.

ALEJANDRO'S LIKE A PRAYER

I'm a huge fan of Miss Gaga, and after watching her last video [Telephone, with Beyonce] I was super excited and eagerly anticipated the release of her next video.

Alejandro is that.

However... In another epic short film - this video is approximately 8 minutes long - I found myself... i dread to say, a little bored. Noooooo!!! Say it isn't so!

The video, to me, felt a little dated...

Fair enough, vintage and retro are all the rage now, however this video felt years old.

It could have passed for a video in the early nineties. I'm not exaggerating! Now, obviously the quality, etc, is ten times much better than our previous decade, but, the video felt very familiar, as though i had already seen it...

When Gaga appeared on Larry King she did comment on the video saying that is a "celebration and an admiration of gay love" - hmmm... slight understantment, isn't it Gaga?! The video, which premeiered on 8th June 2010,is made entirely in black and white, by Steven Klein [who I love by the way...!] is a message of religion, a twist of military-theme and homoerotism (is that a word?!)... It was like a concoction of Madonna videos in from the late 80's to the early 90's - through her erotica 'phase' - in fact the exact statement that came into mind was "Did they cut and paste old Madonna videos and put it together and pass it off as this one?!?!"

Anyone remember 'Erotica', 'Human Nature', 'Like A Prayer', even 'Vogue' - Its like Klein went from filming one of those videos straight to Gaga :/

Now, with a large majority of non-fans claiming that Gaga is a rehash of Madonna for the millennium i suppose this video will not do her any favors, nore convince anyone otherwise.

See for yourself.

I may be wrong, check out the videos of Gaga's predicessor... ?

JUSTIFY MY LOVE VIDEO click here

EROTICA click here

[FEATURE] CELEBRITY DATING DIRECT, FORMERLY KNOWN AS VH1

Former member of R&B group TLC, Chilli is reported to become a reality star… 

TLC’s Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, ex-girlfriend of R&B star, Usher, who has a child with producer Dalla Austin, is working with VH1 on a reality show called ‘What Chilli Wants’, featuring the star’s search for love, with the help of relationship expert Tionna Smalls.

 

 My first thought was “Nooooo Chilli Don’t do it! For the love of God, don’t do it!!!”

 

Chilli is the latest celebrity to land a reality show trying to find “true love” ... 0_o 

HA!

 

I remember back in the day when celebrities were known for being… well, talented, the world was graced with incredibly gifted and entertaining people; who sang, danced and kept us smiling.

 

But as the years went on and time passed and the world has become incredibly more celebrity-engrossed and media savvy; the once gifted stars of the last decade or so, have been replaced with wealthy socialites, size-zero celebutantes, and reality stars.

 

Former favorites, Salt & Pepa, Brandy, Hulk Hogan [former WWE wrestler], Tommy Lee [former drummer for Mötley Crüe and Methods of Mayhem], Pamela Anderson, Carmon Electra, Denise Richards [actress], Tori Spelling [actress], even Playboy owner Hugh Hefner have all resulted in signing on to become reality stars to reinstate their stardom from the clutches of demise.

 

Although reality has always been a form of entertainment for many years, [I believe that] the public really began to pay attention to reality TV hit when MTV thought to throw a medley of people together in one awesome house to create ‘The Real World’, which then created an explosion of reality shows such as ‘Big Brother’, ‘Pop Stars’, ‘American Idol’, ‘Fear Factor’, ‘Survivor’, “Temptation Island’, ‘The Apprentice’. Which lead to reality shows for “real people”, such as ‘Laguna Beach’, ‘The Hills’, and eventually onto celebrity reality shows, ‘The Anna Nicole Show’, ‘The Osbournes’, ‘Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica’, although not specifically in that order, but you get my drift.

 

Reality TV eventually branched out to become the twenty-first century’s form of celebrity dating.

 

In 2006, when ‘Flavor of Love’ first aired, the rapper (formerly of Public Enemy) had twenty suitors (all female) to compete in weekly tasks for Flavor Flav’s (ahem) heart, and then eliminated one by one until only one final suitor remained. The show also helped spin off a string of similar VH1 "Love" shows, such as ‘I Love New York’ and ‘Rock of Love.

 

Now, the people (if you wish to call them that) in these shows are all odd, fame-hungry, questionable people [including the men who appeared in ‘I Love New York’], who are humiliated, disgraced and ridiculed, just for their search for their fifteen minutes [of fame].

 

‘I love New York’ is one dating show spin-off dating reality show with the former contestant from ‘Flavor of Love’, Tiffany “New York” Pollard (she was infact a finalist in two consecutive seasons of ‘Flavor of Love’). In both seasons of her show, Tiffany failed to secure a love interest/soul mate.

 

‘For The Love of Ray j’ is yet another dating reality show, this one featuring Ray J (brother of R&B singer Brandy) that aired in 2009.

The winner of Ray J’s show was 26 year-old, Joanna “Cocktail” Hernandez; however, the relationship soon came to an end when rumors circulated that Ray J and Tila Tequila were together. Also late last year, a contestant from the show, Monica “Danger” Leon reportedly spread rumors questioning Ray J’s sexuality as well as proclaiming to the media tat she was in fact ‘pregnant with Ray J’s child’.

 

*sigh* Am I on my own when I say that reality TV has become a misnomer and even ironic, as many scenes are infact “scripted” or “planned”, where the producers are trying so hard for ratings they carefully calculate and devise scenarios, challenges, events, and settings to encourage particular behaviors and conflicts. (ahem, The Hills – but still love this show though). It’s now become a load of old saturated nonsense. 

 

Chilli may not have been the strongest vocalist in TLC, but look at Madonna, she doesn’t but somehow she has become an icon, with great styling, producers, backing singers and few babies. There are other ways to get back on the scene…  consult your manager Chill!

 

For someone as gorgeous, smart, classy and respected as Chilli to fall into the pitfalls of Reality TV, not only does it immediately make you lose respect for her, but also makes you consider just how bad her life is to result to this. I seriously think we’re in trouble here. The audience (who would even old enough remember her) are already over-saturated with constant celebrity-endorsed adverts, publicity-stunts, multi-million-pound-magazine-deals, fake celebrity relationships for column-inches, internet based gadgets, blogs, tabloids AND un-reality celebrity TV, I think it’s safe to say… are “over it”.