NP: "I Love My Bitch" - Busta Rhymes

On my mommy's lap and ready for Halloween.

She's so cute, I can't stand it.

My new musical obsession(s)

Nobody 'round here knows who Amy Winehouse is and that's unfortunate. She recently butchered "Beat It" on the Charlotte Church show, but don't hold it against her. When sober (or at least not totally wasted), she's incredibly dope.

Peep the video for "Rehab," off of her latest offering Back to Black:


Anybody who has had the great (mis)fortune to sit through one of my rants about what's wrong with music knows that a big pet peeve of mine is the whole "white girl trying to affect soul" shtick that usually consists of relentless belting and abuse of one's chest voice. That's not a concern with Winehouse, she's the real deal. Remember when Fiona Apple first came out and every critic noted that she had the voice of an old black woman? That's Amy, only without the pretentiousness (not knocking Fiona, I love her, but c'mon...When the pawn blah blah blah and so forth for 72 more words). I downloaded Amy's first album, Frank, on iTunes and I've fallen in love with "Fuck Me Pumps" ("Don't be mad at me, 'cuz you're pushing 30 and your old tricks no longer work. You should known from the jump, that you always get dumped, so dust off your 'fuck me pumps'"), "Stronger Than Me" ("You should be stronger than me, you've been here seven years longer than me. Don't you know you're supposed to be the man...I feel like a lady and you're my lady-boy." ), "In My Bed," which uses Nas' (who you know I love) "Made You Look" as the backing track. I'm upset I didn't know who she was until now.

I like John Legend's second single off of Once Again, "Stereo." It's about a groupie-ho. It's no...oh, say..."Billie Jean" or "Dirty Diana," but it's not bad. I'm surprised since John Legend usually bores me terribly ("We're just ordinary people...I'm totally devoid of melody...I'm just going to whine while you listen to me...at least I don't go off key" or something like that). "Save Room" (the album's first single) sounds a little bit like Ben Harper to me and was produced by will.i.am (who I usually loathe, just not lately).

I caught the Emily King/Floetry show last night at SOBs. I'm convinced that, despite the fact that the show went on for several hours, Floetry only did five songs....that lasted 45 minutes each. I do enjoy the ladies in smaller doses, though. Emily didn't disappoint, of course.

This is top secret, but....I've discovered that I have a soft spot in my heart for bad, embarrassing emo. I guess that's no worse than my intense and ongoing love for Immature/IMX and Another Bad Creation, right? Don't hold it against me. The rest of my taste in music is impeccable.

See ya soon.

I'm not dead.

It's cold outside and that makes me sad. I have a little bit of news and whatnot.

Soon you'll be able to find me blogging at Arabisto.com. I was approached by the site's founder, Nadia Gergis, and I'm thrilled to be writing alongside her other bloggers. The aim of the site is to be sort of a Drudge Report and Huffington Post of the Middle East. It's cool, visit 'n stuff.

My mama's birthday was on Friday, so I came down to visit her. It was a low-key sort of thing, my mom's not big on her birthday, but it was nice to see her. I can't express effectively just how fiercely I love my mother. Of course, we don't always agree, but there's nobody else in this world that I trust and need as much as her. And anybody who messes with her is eternally on my shit list. Know this.

(Incidentally, Dave's birthday is today, so happy birthday to him. He's totally legal now.)

I read The Translator by Leila Aboulela while on the train. For those of you who are unfamiliar with her, she was the winner of The Caine Prize for African Writing. I previously read Minaret and Coloured Lights is next on my list. She's really dope, you should check her out. Although I'm not personally too keen on the whole hijab thing (as I've mentioned before, nobody in my father's Muslim family wore one until quite recently), it's refreshing to see an authentic representation of characters who choose to wear it of their own volition. If you're interested in more hijab debate, check out The Washington Post's point/counterpoint.

I saw my best friend (it's been a while). Aww, my Tasha!

Oh, um...I'm seeing someone these days. I'm quite fond of him :)

That's all. See you soon(er than later).

We're Everywhere

Last night I had the pleasure of catching Emily King at The Bitter End in the Village. Emily's forthcoming album, East Side Story, is slated to be released in early 2007 on J Records. From her bio:

Emily King may be just 21 years old, but this girl is a throwback
to another era. The music on her J Records debut, East Side Story, reveals roots
that are deep and ambitions that are grand. "I think music is such a
revolutionary thing, and that's what it should be," she says. In conversation,
King's words are packed with references to the wide range of great artists that
inspired her - the Beatles and Nas, Sarah Vaughan and Radiohead, Michael Jackson
and Neil Young. "Every record that I've ever heard has been an influence on me,"
she says.
As the daughter of two singers - one Italian, one African-American
- who performed internationally as a jazz duo, King was exposed to music, its
challenges and its rewards, from an early age. She always knew she would follow
in her parents' footsteps. "I had a hard time in school," she says, "because I
already knew what I wanted to do, so I was like, let me just get started."

It bugged me out how much she looked like my mother. She looks more like my mother's daughter than I do and I'm a freakin' clone of my mama. Everything - the nose, the complexion, the smile - it was freaky. Shuk-mei is my witness! More importantly, it was a great show and she's really talented, so I wish her all the success in the world.

In other Afro-Italian news, did you know that Prince's soon-to-be ex-wife is half Italian, half Egyptian? Dude, I'm SO in! What did I say? Look for me as his next ethnically indeterminate side-kick (I'll be significantly thinner and in flats). I'm an idiot for not figuring it out once I learned that the non-profit she runs is called Gamillah Inc.