#MsLMstatus: RIP Etta James (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012) (MUSIC & BLOG)

I'll admit I'm not your typical blogger who can just write simply because I want to and the catalyst behind the decision to start blogging was because I saw back in 08' that it was they game was starting to shift toward as DVDs got replaced by websites. At this point in my blogging "career" (call it what you want) I don't get much time to sit down and write. Honestly, I don't feel it is one of my strongest talents when it comes to my brand but it is effective and clear. I thrive on clarity and it is one of the main reasons I am writing/blogging and its something that I want my fans/followers/colleagues to understand. Inspiration, is the motivation behind my writing. I could write a short paragraph for all 25+ postings a week but each wouldn't be sincere at this point my ... "career". With clarity and inspiration, blogs like this where I get to reflect and pay homage to legends like Jimmy Castor, Jam Master Jay and Etta James.

Ms. James' prime in her singing career was far before my birth but as many people say, "great music never dies". She faced a number of personal problems including drug and alcohol abuse. Although her music was the public attraction to Etta James, her struggle was what poured out over the songs the were recorded. Take the classic "At Last" which is just one of her many hits that endured her soul and stuggle. She persevered through her addiction to become a pioneer in American Music History! RIP Ms. James, here is just some of her accomplishments:

-Style spanned a variety of music genres including blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, soul, gospel and jazz

-Regarded as having bridged the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll, and is the winner of six Grammys and 17 Blues Music Awards

-She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Grammy Hall of Fame in both 1999 and 2008

-Rolling Stone ranked James number 22 on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time and number 62 on the list of the 100 Greatest Artists.

#MsLMstatus: Estelle - Thank You (VIDEO) (Jan 15th-21st)

RIP Jam Master Jay (January 21, 1965 – October 30, 2002) (VIDEO & WIKI))

         Jason William Mizell better known by his stage name Jam Master Jay, was an American musician and rapper. He was the DJ of the influential hip hop group Run-D.M.C. and helped define the sound of the band, the style of the black hats and Adidas shoes that came to be the band's trademark. During the 1980s, Run-D.M.C. became the biggest hip-hop group and are credited with breaking hip-hop into mainstream music. Mizell was born in Brooklyn, New York. At the age of 3 years he started playing trumpet and played bass, guitar, and drums in various bands prior to discovering turntables. He moved to Hollis, Queens in 1975 with his family where he soon discovered the turntables and started DJing at the age of 13. He caught on quickly because of his musical experience and after a year of DJing he felt that he was good enough to play in front of people. He first started playing at parks and later played at bars. He also began throwing small parties around the area. Once he got a pair of Technics 1200s he improved rapidly since he was able to practice at night with headphones on when he was supposed to be sleeping. Mizell became a DJ because he "just wanted to be a part of the band".  Prior to joining Run-D.M.C. he played bass and drums in several garage bands. In 1982 he hooked up with Joseph "Run" Simmons and Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels just after they graduated from high school and agreed to DJ for them because he wanted to be part of the band. On Run-D.M.C's album Raising Hell, Mizell played keyboards, bass, and live drums in addition to his turntable work. Mizell remained in his childhood neighborhood in Hollis, Queens his entire life.

Funk Musician Jimmy Castor Passes Away At Age 64 (June 23, 1940 – January 16, 2012) (VIDEO & WIKI)

James Walter "Jimmy" Castor  was an American pop and funk musician. He is best known as a fun disco/funk saxophonist, with his biggest hit single being 1972's million seller, "Troglodyte (Cave Man)". Castor started as a doo-wop singer in New York. He wrote and recorded "I Promise to Remember" in 1956. Castor then replaced Frankie Lymon in The Teenagers in 1957 before switching to the saxophone in 1960. He had a solo hit with "Hey Leroy, Your Mama's Callin' You" on Smash Records in 1966. Castor also played sax on Dave "Baby" Cortez's hit "Rinky Dink." He formed the Jimmy Castor Bunch in 1972 and signed with RCA. As leader of The Jimmy Castor Bunch in the 1970s, and also as a solo artist, he has released several successful albums and singles. The group reached the peak of their commercial success in 1972 with the release of their album, It's Just Begun, which featured two hit singles: the title track and "Troglodyte (Cave Man)," which was a large hit in the U.S., peaking at #6 in the Billboard Hot 100. The track stayed in the chart for 14 weeks and was a million seller by 30 June 1972, and received a gold disc award from the R.I.A.A.

#MYOL News: Understanding SOPA & Why You Should Be Concerned (VIDEO & BLOG) (Jan 15th-21st)

Last week I posted "Don't Let Facebook Control How You Express Yourself" Blog due to not being able to post any to my Facebook account. In the post I expressed my dislike for the lack of creativity in a lot of start-up brands and entreprenuers who are dependent on Facebook as a promotional outlet. I still feel the same, especially when they constantly hit the social networks with consistently unprofessional, misspelled material, etc. I approached it that way because I though someone might have reported my postings because they were a hater. Come to find out, SOPA was the driving force behind not being able to post to Facebook at that time. The SOPA bill could have had a major effect on the internet and the digital age forever if it did pass last week. This fight isn’t over but I think it raises the question, if you couldn’t have an internet presence anymore how strong would your brand really be? In Spanish, SOPA is nothing but soup. Both literally and figuratively, I eat soup and I love to eat. I plan to eat regardless, I know you understand.

-#HMIC (@TheOtherJayMYOL)

#MYOL News: T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle [Episode 7] (Jan 15th-21st)

R&B: Ne-Yo – Tell Me That You Love It (Jan 15th-21st)

Hip Hop: Fred The Godson - Over My Dead Body (Freestyle) (VIDEO) (Jan 15th-21st) #BX #NYC

Hip Hop: Nipsey Hussle – Forever On Some Fly Shit (VIDEO) (Jan 15th-21st) #LA #WestCoast

Hip Hop: 8Ball & MJG ft. Big K.R.I.T. – We Buy Gold (Jan 15th-21st) #Memphis #MISS #3rdCoast

Hip Hop: Moufy ft. Slaine, Smoke Bulga, Edo G & Termanology - Boston Lights RMX (VIDEO) (Jan 15th-21st) #Boston #FarEast

Hip Hop: Kali ft. Reks & Novel (Prod By Statik Selektah) - Exhale & Put Em Down (Jan 15th-21st) #CAL #MA$$

Exhale ft Reks & Novel (prod. by Statik Selektah)

Hip Pop: Nicki Minaj – Stupid Hoe (VIDEO & BLOG) (Jan 15th-21st)

Let's be clear, I am a Nicki Minaj fan. A fan of her business mind, her ability to stay outside of the typical Female Hip Hop MC, making her own lane with the Hip Pop genre as her forte and of course those crazy curves!  Many fans of Nicki Minaj don’t know her back when she was featuring on many of the NYC Hip Hop DVDs like S.M.A.C.K., The Come Up, Cocaine City and many more. Back in those days Nicki branded her self as a female MC from Queens, NYC and she shopped a lot her music to labels, radio stations and many other outlets but they paid her no attention. As a graduate from La Guardia High School, one of the most prestigious performance arts school in NYC, Nicki was apt to playing different roles and letting her explore her multiple talents and personalities. Barbie is the most notable personality that Nicki often refers to in her current music and because of a lot of people overlooking her in NYC until she signed to YMCMB she has made a conscious effort to stay outside the box of the typical NYC female MC. She has done a great job at that and has proceeded to break many Hip Hop and Music records with her first album, Pink Friday, which is now double platinum.

Since 2012 began I have been posting the Hip Pop category and this is the first time I’m going to elaborate on why I decided to do this. If you think about the top “pop” stars in the world like Rhianna, Black Eyed Peas & Fergie, Justin Bieber, Pitbull, Nicki Minaj and many more. Much of their style comes from a Hip Hop foundation and even in the persona’s Hip Hop is a constant reference. At one point when Vanilla Ice was hot, he was actually a Hip Hop artist with a Hip Pop persona. At that time in the game that type of music and brand could not survive due to how real Hip Hop was at that time. Nowadays, there are all type of scandals that are public with top rappers in the game whether it has to do with sexuality, fake identity, snitching, etc. Basically fans and the industry need to realize it is 2012 and the genre of Hip Pop is the biggest in the world. It will continue to grow and get even crazier, but it needs to be documented so when all is said and done it will not be categorized with Hip Hop. Hip Hop is a genre that originated from the soul and it had a message, positive or negative, it had a message that you could understand and that the struggle could relate too. No matter how big Nicki Minaj or the Hip Pop genre many grow, fans still want to relate to artis on a personal level. Not just on an MTV documentary or with tracks titled “Super Hoe”, I just hope Nicki Minaj realizes the opportunity she has to make a clear distinction between Hip Hop and Hip Pop. Right now, the game and aspiring female MC’s need her to get back to Hip Hop.

NBA: Danny Ainge Willing To Break Up Celtics Big Three (BLOG) (Jan 15th-21st)

Since his reign as GM Danny Ainge and his staff have brought the City of Boston an NBA Championship, 2 NBA Championship Appearances, acquired 2 Future Hall of Famers (KG, Ray Ray) to assist Celtics Captain/2008 Finals MVP Paul "Truth" Pierce and given Rajon Rondo an opportunity to become on of the top PG's in the league. As many people say, "all good things must come to an end". Although no moves have been made as of yet Celtics GM Danny Ainge has publicly considered breaking up the trio that has been the backbone of the Boston Celtics for the last couple of years. The Big 3 has revolutionized the game. At the time of the trade for Ray Allen and the signing of Kevin Garnett the NBA had never seen a potential championship contender put together so fast in the off season ever before. With the pass-first mentality of Rajon Rondo and the physical, no nonsense presence of Kendrick Perkins and help from veterans like James Posey, Eddie House, P.J. Brown and more the Celtics won the NBA title first year together. Ainge and The Big 3 are the catalyst behind major moves that have occurred in the league within the last couple of years that have never been seen in the NBA before. Lebron/Bosh joining Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat, Carmello Anthony joining Amare Stoudamire and the New York Knicks, Chris Paul joining Blake Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers. 

Its almost as if franchises are no longer looking to build a young team from the ground up to win championships, unless you are OKC Thunder or Memphis Grizzlies. So with Ainge and The Big 3 setting the tempo for the future, the question that arises is now that The (Original) Big 3 is on the way out, what does the future hold for The Boston Celtics? I could understand Ainge contemplating trading Perkins last year and even breaking up The Big 3 this year, but I hope its for the Boston Celtics to be a championship contender and not just another team in the league with an all-star on the roster. He killed the morale of the team by trading away the heart of the team in Kendrick Perkins and the #1 scorer and cheerleader off the bench Nate Robinson for Jeff Green and Nenad Kristic, two players not playing this year. Perkins was needed as an inside presence against the constant attacking of Lebron & Wade to the hoop in last years 2nd round series. Once again during a short training camp, lockout season with older players Ainge comes through again and shakes the morale. Boston knew The Big 3 wouldn't last forever but the city is a title town and it hadn't received an NBA Championship since Larry Bird was in his prime. Lets not make it that long again Mr. Ainge. 


- #HMIC (@TheOtherJayMYOL)

NBA: Top 5 & 10 Daily Plays of the Week (VIDEO) (Jan 15th-21st)

NBA: Mr. Big Shot Hits Game Winner v. Defending Champions (VIDEO) (Jan 15th-21st)

NBA: Lebron v. Kobe; Heat v. Lakers (Part 1, 2012) (VIDEO) (Jan 15th-21st)

NBA: Blake Griffin Dunks On Kris Humphries (VIDEO) (Jan 15th-21st)