[HOT]
R.I.P. MCA
The massive outpouring of grief online after news that Beastie Boy Adam Yauch had died May 4 was a great gauge of the Beasties’ widespread influence and impact. It also showed that the Beasties were truly a “group.” Blogs and TV shows looking for the perfect “MCA song” to play in tribute were out of luck — every Beastie’ song was a collaboration and none ever did anything of particular note in music without the others. It was also funny to read the cyber-scolding of The Onion for its headline, “Following Death of Adam Yauch, Grieving China Frees Tibet.” It’s always funny when it’s not your guy …
[WARM]
Trophy Wife
Beyonce has won 16 Grammys, three American Music Awards, seven BET Awards, 11 Billboard Music Awards, three Kids’ Choice Awards, a Channel V Thailand Music Video Award and six Swedish Grammys (or Grammis). Even her perfumes have won awards. Now Mrs. Z has a journalism award to add to what has to be the biggest trophy-case in the Western Hemisphere. The New York Association of Black Journalists awarded Beyonce first place in arts and entertainment magazine writing for an Essence piece called “Eat, Play, Love,” about how a break from music changed her life. Next up, Beyonce enters the Baseball Hall of Fame and wins $100 million for being the 100 millionth customer at the Olive Garden.
[HOT]
Flagrant Foul
New York Post sports columnist Phil Mushnick used his expert Hip Hop knowledge to make a funny about Jay-Z’s influence on one of the MC’s flashier purchases — the New Jersey Nets. The basketball team becomes the Brooklyn Nets next year and Mushnick felt the new black-and-white uniforms were too gangsta. He wrote that Jay-Z should just go all out and call the team the “New York N——-s” (with just enough dashes for the “N-word,” not even the mildly more acceptable “Niggas”) and the cheerleaders should be the Brooklyn “B—-ches or Hoes.” Mushnick claimed it was just his trademark humor and that Jay-Z is the “racist.” (We were hoping the Nets would play up the modern Brooklyn hipster angle and outfit the team with long beards and gingham, while the cheerleaders would simply lounge on the sidelines and make fun of everyone else.)