#MsLMstatus: Jazz Artist Esperanza Spalding Beats Out Drake & Justin Bieber For Grammy Best New Artist Award (February 13th-19th)

I did not watch majority of the Grammy’s or when Esperanza Spalding received her Best New Artist award but this is by far the best story of the night! With pop culture favorites like Justin Bieber and Drake in this category, many people though that either of them would win the award. At the end of the day Esperanza Spalding came through and shocked the world! To be honest I have never even heard of her never mind any of her music but I will definitely be checking it out. Esperanza is #MsLMstatus not only because she won the Best New Artist award but she is also the first ever Jazz artist to win the award! In these times of commercialism, image over content and not so soulful, soul music it is really refreshing to see the underdog come out on top. Especially, room a genre where the roots and soul isn’t fabricated or thrown in your face with marketing dollars! Congratulations to Esperanza Spalding! #MsLMstatus #MYOL

#MYOL News: Martin Sitcom Coming to MTV 2! (February 13th-19th)

In these days of releasing massive amounts of content on the web and looking for instant gratification I believe my generation and the people that are younger than me need to understand and embrace “classic” things. Martin The Show is CLASSIC! No doubts about as more than 10 years later MTV2 has picked up the show to have re-runs be televised on weekday mornings at 9a/8c to 12p/11c beginning on Monday, 2/21! These days so many artists, performers and brands are in a rush to release content, which makes the impact of what you put out less influential. I say take the time to put out content that will last for a long time and Martin did that! #MYOL

#MYOL News: Lil Wayne Breaks Record for Receiving Most Facebook “Likes” in 24 Hours (February 13th-19th)

Social Media is a subject that I often touch upon when it comes to #MYOL News. There are many different ways the world and economic markets within it benefit and suffer from Social Media. For example, last week in #MYOL News I wrote about Egypt’s leader President Mubarak stepping down due to the protests and outrage of what was being seen all over the world due to viral video and social media. This time #MYOL News is recognizing Social Media in a whole different realm. These days its rare to run into someone who doesn’t have a Facebook account. People of all ages are on Facebook now and its influence on today’s society is monumental and even ridiculous at times. “Likes” on Facebook have never been something that were important to me personally or as a critic for people and brands who are promoting for that reason. Lil Wayne has changed my mind on that as he broke the record for receiving over 1 million likes with 24 hours. I’m not sure if that is a personal fan page put up by Wayne or not but in these days of Social Media being so influential it is great outlet for celebrities to interact with their fans. Hip Hop has made history again, big shout tout to Wayne who’s influence obviously didn’t depreciate during his time in jail. A plan that was executed to perfection by Wayne, Baby and the Young Monety/Cash Money label! #MYOL

#MYOL News: Kobe Bryant, 1st Athlete To Receive Hollywood Star! (February 13th-19th)

Whether you are a Kobe Bryant fan or not, there is no denying that he is the best scoring guard since Michael Jordan. Contrary to MJ, Kobe is very much involved in the pop culture/celebrity world naturally as he is the star player in the land of stars. Los Angeles has proved to be a perfect fit for Kobe, even though he has not made thr jump at being a real actor (yet) he is relevant throughout the entertainment market in LA. This has been solidified as Kobe Bryant has become the only athlete in history to get a celebrity star on Rodeo Drive! Definitely #MYOL news as Kobe has managed to surpass much of the expectations pot o him on the floor in the last three years and still be a mainstream brand after his infamous “rape” case. Above is a new short film entitled “Black Mamba” which is Kobe’s alter-ego. The film stars Kobe, Bruce Willis, Kanye West and Danny Trejo so check out Kobe’s acting skills. Although he’s the 1st athlete to get this honor, he should definitely stick to basketball and stay away from acting, rapping or anything else in entertainment.

#MsLMstatus: Tyra Banks Becomes Student of Harvard's School of Business (February 13th-19th)

I can’t lie, I’m not a big fan of Tyra Banks personally (as a person but she is fine!). There is one thing that I’m not though, a hater. Tyra has taken her career as a supermodel and turned it into a brand that has been relevant for over a decade. She has done everything from movies, talk shows, ANTM, clothing, fragrance. She is truly #MsLMstatus! This time she is taking her brand in a different direction as she is going back to school. I really admire this move, especially at this point in her career as a majority of people know her for her looks and super-model influence. Her decision to go back to school and Harvard at that is very empowering and I hope it motivates a lot of young females who look up to her to really put a value on education and follow her footsteps as undergrads or postgraduates.

Hip Hop History: RIP Big L (Lamont Coleman); My Favorite MC of All-Time (February 13th-19th)

May 30, 1974 – February 15, 1999

I need y’all to excuse me for a second as I get real emotional anytime I speak upon the passing and legend of Big L as he has been and probably always will be my favorite rapper of all-time. I’m not saying I think he is the best of all-time but he is definitely my favorite. Its real sad that his career had to get cut short, especially being murdered but his legacy will live on together. I think L is my favorite MC ever for many reasons. First, his rhyming style is used by every one who was around his era by emphaszing the two-word  at the end of the lyric significantly! For example “In a street brawl I STRIKE MEN/quicker than LIGHT-NING/you seen what happen in my last FIGHT-FRIEND/IGHT THEN” which is something that is protocol these days in Hip Hop! Even though L didn’t start it, he definitely took that style and patented it. Another reason I love L as an artist is because I was living in Harlem during the summers in 95’-00’ and even got a chance to meet L on 125^th street when I was 11. I let him know I was a big fan and even spit him some lyrics from his song “M.V.P.” and the #1 message I remember from that conversation was him telling me “stay in school”. RIP Big L, he’ll never be forgotten, his influence is etched in stone and as the years go on he should be celebrated more and more. Big shoutout to Lord Finesse, AG, Showbiz and the whole DITC that continue to carry L’s legacy along with their presence in the Hip Hop world. Also, RIP to Party Arty and shoutout to AG (Berri Family-Beast Boyz & 950 Plus). To all the younger cats that are reading this and don’t know much about Big L watch every video here and go search for more because he was truly Hip Hop!

Hip Hop History: Jay-Z and Eminem Dominate Hip Hop At Grammy Awards (February 13th-19th)

2011 GrammyAwards

Hip Hop Winners

            Best Rap Solo Performance – Eminem “Not Afraid”

            Best Rap Performance By Solo Or Duo – Jay-Z  “On To The Next”

            Best Rap Collabo – Jay-Z/Alicia Keys “Empire State of Mind”

            Best Rap Song – Jay-Z  “Empire State of Mind”

            Best Rap Album - Eminem - "Recovery"

Jay-Z and Eminem dominated the Hip Hop category in this years Grammy Awards!

Hip Hop History: Dip Set Producer Araab Muzik Kills MPC At Club Battle (February 13th-19th)

As soon as I saw this video, I was reminded of the scenes in the movie Juice when  Q (Omar Epps) was in the DJ battle in the club. That movie took place in NYC in 90’s where the DJ was highly respected and DJ battles were the norm. Fast forward about 20 years and producers have taken the position of importance that DJs use to occupy. Araab Muzik is a well-known producer on the NYC scene as well as the national Hip Hop scene as he produced bangers like “Whistle”, “Salute”, most recently “Sour Life” and many other tracks for the Dip Set family. In this video he shows off his skills live in an MPC battle, which is monumental in itself. I’m not sure how long the MPC battles have been going on, specifically in NYC but AraabMuzik could seriously exploit this type of event and be the Lane Maker who sets the pace for these viral MPC battle videos. The idea of it is crazy and I hope to see these type of batlles groe all across the country but I’ll tell you right now I don’t think anybody out there is really seeing Araab! #Salute

Hip Hop: Perfectionist - Meek Millz x Rick Ross Signs MMG To Warner Bros! (February 13th-19th)

I started blogging at the beginning of this year and since then Rick Ross has not missed being in the #MYOL Blogumentary – Hip Hop News for one week! That speaks for itself and although and am  a fan of some of Rozay’s music, I’m honestly not the biggest fan. No matter if you like Rozay’s music or not you cannot knock his hustle. In Hip Hop, he’s is the #1 artist today and that means no singing/harmonizing/auto-tune just straight bars and good music. If you keep up with the weekly postings you would know that Meek Millz and Wale have recently signed to Maybach Music Group making them an all-star team with label mate Maspike Miles as well. This past week Rozay signed a seven-figure deal with Lyor Cohen and Warner Bros. Before Rozay signed the deal he drop yet another banger called “Perfectionist” featuring the new signed Meek Millz where they do the Jada/Styles P back and forth every couple bars. The beat is by Alchemist so you already know, press play! 

NBA: 2011 All-Star Weekend (February 13th-19th)

NBA All-Star Weekend

         Rookie Challenge MVP – John Wall

         Skills Challenge – Steph Curry

         Dunk Champion – Blake Griffin

         3pt Contest Winner – James Jones

         All-Star Game MVP – Kobe Bryant

So this past weekend I did not catch much of the NBA All-Star festivities and from what I heard, I didn’t miss much. I did get to catch the Rookie Challenge where John Wall was MVP with a record-setting 22 assists including one to the only other MVP candidate and Slam dunk Champion Blake Griffin; an alley-oop pass he bounced off the floor! Crazy, check the video above! The Skills Challenge is always a cool event which displays skills from some of the best guards in the league, Steph Curry won that event. As I (and 98% of the world) predicted super-human Blake Griffin would win the Slam Dunk Contest. He had a couple of ridiculous dunks but its so sad to see how commercialism is killing the game of basketball as Griffin won the contest on a dunk which he could do at any point. The creativity level on the dunk was a zero but because he jumped over the “shiny KIA product placement” car the hype behind Blake made it seem like it was a great dunk. Lets be clear, it wasn’t! In my Pre-All Star game blog article I predicted that the game this year could be one of the best of all-time. I was right! With Kobe and KD as the closest things we have seen to Michael Jordan type scoring, the West was simply unstoppable. Both of these players can really shoot and score in anyway they please, anytime they please. In a game where there isn’t much defense being played anyway it caused the east to have to close out on shooters for the west. Kobe Bryant took home the MVP with 37 points, 14 rebounds while Kevin Durant assisted his MVP teammate with 34 points. On the East team, its leader Lebron James showed and proved as he had only the second ever triple-double in an NBA All-Star game with 29 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Amare Stoudemire also added 29 points. In a way I was right, individually Kobe, Lebron and KD had legendary nights but as a whole teams were just averaged. Back in the Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and MJ era the All-Star game was a time to have fun but also time to show that your conference is the best in the league and that you are the best player in the league. The best players in the league showed why they are the best in the 2011 All-Star game!

NBA: Happy Birthday MJ, Greatest Basketball Player Ever! (February 13th-19th)

February 17, 1963 – Present

NBA: D-Wade 92 Foot Alley Oop Pass To LBJ, Greatest Play Of All-Time? (February 13th-19th)

This probably the greatest, most efficient basketball play of ALL-TIME! ALL-TIME! (Kanye Voice)

NBA: Lakers Honor Jerry "The Logo" West With Statue At Staples Center (February 13th-19th)

Many people who aren’t die-hard NBA basketball fans don’t even know who Jerry West is. Its unfortunate that legends who have paved the way and influenced the game as we know it today aren’t even relevant to majority of today’s basketball fans. Not only is Jerry West one of the best basketball players of all-time but he is literally “The Logo”. The default player for the NBA logo is Jerry West and once again he was honored, this time by his former NBA team as player the Los Angeles Lakers as a statue has been put in the Staples Center. During the ceremony sports icons like Magic Johnson, Chick Hearn, Oscar De La Hoya and Wayne Gretzky were in the building. A 14-time All-Star who averaged 29.1 points a game in the postseason, West’s No. 44 jersey already hangs in the Staples Center rafters.

NBA: League Worst Cavs Beat 2-Time Repeat Champion Lakers (February 13th-19th)

I love basketball more than any other sport because I have been in love with it since birth and for the reason that on any given day the worst team in the league has a real chance to beat the best team in the league. I feel like in other mainstream professional sports like Baseball, Football and Hockey that really bad teams having a chance to beat the best team in the league happens less often. This is where the phrase “that’s why you play the game” comes from. On paper it would look like the Cleveland Cavaliers would have absolutely no chance to beat the 2-time repeat world champion Lakers by overall record alone. Then when you go through individual players on the roster and the amount of talent in each position is far better for the Lakers from 1 to 12. But this one night the Cavs were ready to play and the Lakers weren’t point blank period. The effort of the worse team overcame the talent of the better team and that is something that can happen any night in basketball when you give it all you have or just don’t come ready to play. So if you apply this theory to life, which side are you on? Either way if you’re the champ or the underdog, it’s a must that you bring you’re A game when its time to go! #MYOL

#Pointgod Watch: Rondo 12th Career Triple-Double v. Heat, #1 In East (February 13th-19th)

It is clear that Rajon Rondo is the leader of the Boston Celtics. When the Celts are healthy and Rondo is on his A game, the green are unbeatable. In the last meeting against the Heat, Rondo did it all from guarding Lebron James, setting the tempo defensively and distributing the basketball to run the Boston offense perfectly. The #pointgod watch isn’t just about numbers because when a great point guard is on the floor he can severly affect the game without always scoring in big numbers. This is what Rondo did against the Heat with only 11 points but added 10 assists and 10 rebounds for 12^th career triple-double in the most important game for the Celtics to date as the were fighting for 1^st place in the East Conference. Rondo is no stranger to #poingod watch either, I’m sure he’ll continue his excellence after the All Star break.

#Pointgod Spotlight: D.Rose Scores Career-High 42pts v. League Best Spurs (February 13th-19th)

If there was any doubt that Derrick Rose is either in the MVP race or the leader in the race, this is the icing on the cake. As of this week the Chicago Bulls are ranked 3^rd in the Eastern Conference and 5^th overall in the league. The Bulls’ success is because of their leader and franchise player Derrick Rose as he has carried them to become a potential championship threat in the NBA Playoffs this year.  This has all been done with out consistent play from the expected starting frontcourt of Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah. If you’ve read the #pointgod watch before you’ve heard all of this info when it comes to the Rose lead Bulls. With this performance D.Rose is definitely leading the pack in the MVP race as he scored a career-high 42 points along with 8 assists, 5 rebounds and only 1 turnover against the NBA best San Antonio Spurs. As a #pointgod, Rose has had the responsibility of running his time as well as being the clear cut #1 option for scoring on the floor. He’s already been on the #pointgod watch before, don’t be surprised to see him again!