MTV2 will be rebranded to strengthen their reach with 12 to 24 year old males but, apparently, they’re already pretty much focused on rock and hip hop. It’s a two-headed, more of the same with a different name strategy. However, the 2headeddog site looks appropriate with games and some videotapes of freestyles, among other things. The site was originally launched without overt references to MTV2 in a teaser campaign.
February 04, 2005
Quick Takes
P. Diddy has turned down an offer from Warner Brothers of $30 mil for 50% ownership of Bad Boy Entertainment. “Sources” say it was due to disagreements over valuation, which does make a lot of sense. I don’t think he’ll be able to pull a Russell Simmons with this one, but you never know. If nothing else, P. Diddy is relentless.
On Saturday, Voice of America radio and the Smithsonian Institution will celebrate Black History Month with a live broadcast of Hip Hop Connection followed by a poetry slam. In related news, Nascar is also celebrating Black History in order to increase their African American fan base.
Sponsors of Snoop Dogg’s Snooper Bowl, a charitable youth football event, are mostly holding firm in the face of recent allegations.
Super Bowl ads for Olympus’ new digital music player will feature poplockin’ and other styles choregraphed by Hihat who is known for working with such artists as Missy Elliot and Jay Z.
Speaking of Jay-Z, he’s countersuing R. Kelly for the singer’s crackup on tour. Although Jay-Z claims that Kelly’s original suit is intended to deflect attention from his upcoming trial, lawsuits are a traditional way for businesses to attempt to cover their losses when things go bad. Maybe it’s a little of column A and a little of column B.
New York’s historical Hit Factory will close, in part, due to the shiftings needs of musicians and the increasing prevalence of home-based and other more intimate studio settings.
Antonio Banderas will star in Take The Lead, a film about a ballroom dancer who volunteers to teach in the NY public schools and whose students inspire him to combine ballroom and hip hop-related dance styles.
A principal at IS 109 in Queens Village is using hip hop with positive lyrics, combined with the opportunity to create a cd (last year) and a music video DVD (most recently), to inspire the school’s students.
February 04, 2005
Fashion: Ron Artest, Damon Dash, J. Lo
Ron Artest will make his fashion debut in a print ad campaign for Rocawear. As Pacer Stephen Jackson says about this photo, “that’s a real nice picture.”
Later this month Damon Dash and Gordon Parks will be honored by the Fashion & Arts Xchange for their respective contributions. Whoa, does this represent a thawing of relations between the generations?
More on NY Fashion Week where Jennifer Lopez will close the show.
February 04, 2005
Ossie Davis Passes
Ossie Davis was found dead today in his hotel room in Miami Beach where he was working on a film entitled Retirement. Although I shudder to think of the headline puns to come, maybe editors will keep it in check in honor of this great actor and activist. His wife, Ruby Dee, was in New Zealand at the time of Davis’ death, also working on a movie. Davis and Dee have long been celebrated as an influential couple and I know this will be a hard time for her and the many family members, friends, associates and admirers he’s left behind. My best to you all.
February 04, 2005
Rosa Parks Lawsuit Continues
The lawsuit over an Outkast song entitled Rosa Parks has entered a negotiation stage. Outkast are no longer named in the suit, only the record labels. The lawyers say they only want the best for Ms. Parks and one of them cried about it. But I find the whole thing ridiculous and frivolous, as well as demeaning to Parks’ legacy and truly dangerous to artistic liberties. I don’t get the wrong done here. I really don’t.
February 04, 2005
Jeff Chang’s Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop
Jeff Chang is a hip hop author and activist and probably a lot of other interesting things that I don’t know about. He’s got a new book out called Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop on the "History of the Hip-Hop Generation." Although I have some questions about the concept of a hop hop generation, I’m sure Jeff’s book will be excellent, cause he’s no slouch. His book tour starts any day now, so don’t sleep. Well, power nap if you must, but be sure to check it out.
Available from Amazon:
Jeff Chang – Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop
February 04, 2005
Marc Ecko Addresses the Game Industry
An excellent report from IGN.com’s Hilary Goldstein regarding Marc Ecko’s opening presentation at DICE 2005 in which Ecko discusses how he thinks the game industry can move beyond hardcore gamers and bring in the masses. Ecko’s career has been built on hip hop fashion and he is currently working on a graffiti game with Atari called Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure.
Goldstein includes a brief explanation of Ecko’s five influential trends to consider:
Popstalgia
Instant Gratification
Marketing of the Apocalypse
Customization
Democratization of Design
It’s well worth checking out his description of these concepts, even if you’re not interested in games. Goldstein points out that Ecko is worth listening to because he’s an outsider and said that about half the industry audience seemed to be visibly rejecting his statement while the other half was as “attentive” as anything he’d seen at the conference. Goldstein also rightfully points out that the bottom line will be execution. What he doesn’t point out is that, if one looks at the history of outsiders who started in rap music and then went on to success in other areas, one sees entrepreneurs who understood how to take what an industry deemed to be a niche and mainstream it. They don’t always succeed, but they sure don’t go away just because of an initial failure.
GameSpy’s Dave Kosak brings in a bit more about Ecko’s background in his take on Ecko’s presentation (I’m not faulting Goldstein, his piece is clear and focused). Regarding Ecko, Kosak says,
“He’s used to being the outsider. When he was trying to sell his tee-shirts to chain stores, fashion industry executives rankled or told him he didn’t know the business and didn’t know what he was doing.”
I’ve read so many variations on that story about people who now eat multiple lunches at the tables reserved for slow moving corporate execs, it’s not even funny. Kosak says that the talk generated a lot of discussion among GameSpy editors and Goldstein described half the crowd as attentive, so it sounds like he will be listened to, at least for the moment, no matter how well his first game does.
Speaking of failures, because I’m running Mac OS with Internet Explorer, I’m greeted at the IGN.com site with a popup window that tells me that there are “known problems” with using the site while running this combination. Fine, thanks for telling me. I’ve made my choice. But don’t pop up a window with the same statement every time I go to a new page. My browser is set to accept cookies. Set one and leave me alone. It makes you look like amateurs. And I’ll be spending more time over at GameSpy.com, thank you very much. Well, except when I’m looking for Goldstein’s byline.
