Revisionist history like a mug. Ren got no shine? Obviously, the Dee Barnes piece in Gawker + F. Gary Gray’s involvement were problems off the camera that weren’t in the film. Composition wise it was very smooth/compelling but clearly influenced by Cube, Dre & Eazy’s widow being Exec. Producers? C’mon not even one mention of “Fuck wit Dre Day”…? Not gonna detest it like Wesley Morris’ review did, but definitely some issues with it. Regardless, like you mentioned, best hip-hop biopic. Granted comp. wasn’t very tough. For someone far more elaborate & eloquent, listen to Caramanica & Reggie Dennis talk about it here: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/08/14/popcast-straight-outta-compton/
Cookout Mix!
We remember those who have served our country. We do that by keeping it as red-blooded American as possible today & by that we mean throwing on the coals, grilling up some red meat & drinking some cheap domestic beer! So for all y’all out there who want a little mix to go along with those activities & the official start of summer 2K15, please DL/stream & bump it in a backyard or public park near you!
HERE’S THE SPOTIFY PLAYLIST IF YOU’RE TOO GOOD TO DOWNLOAD A ZIP FILE (You’ll miss out on Pac Div’s “Back” & Uptown XO’s “Good Vibes” if you go this route!)
PS you’ll notice we’re heavy on some current & past artists (RIP Chuck Brown!) from the DMV, so please check them out more here: Goldlink, Uptown XO, The Godfather of Go-Go. & if you feel so inclined to burn a CD (old school), the mix clocks in at 79 minutes so we good on one of these!
That’s Gold, Jerry! Gold!
Actually Banya was probably talking about plastic if he had ever gotten hip to any of Jerry’s lucrative endorsements. Especially this little gem he did for AmEx. In this second installment of #ThrowbackThursday here on BEZ, peep game at one of our favorite comedians taking on the corporate world.
Beyond the simplicity and awwsomeness of the ad, think back to a time when credit card swiping at the pump wasn’t even an option. That was what was so groundbreaking to me about this commercial. Sure,the credit card readers at the pump had been around prior to the commercial, but it was like AmEx branding themselves as the OG’s to do it & added a little “money talks bullshit walks”. Or in this case drives away in a beautiful classic sports car with gorgeous brunette riding shotgun. And by money they meant a tiny green Roman Centurion encrusted plastic card. “Don’t leave home without it.”
Welcome Back? It’s Throwback Thursday
So to spur more post considering there’s been a dearth on our parts for this page, I’ve instituted a weekly nostalgic reminiscence titled “Throwback Thursday”. Yes, original I know. This week it’s a song. Next it could be an old TV ad, moment, movie, you name it. And no, not all will be inextricably tied to things DC, but our inaugural post on the topic does!
Without further ado, I present Billy Stewart’s “Sitting in the Park”! Beloved by Chicano youth in the 80’s (hence all the drawings of zoot suiters on the YouTube, & if oldies for cruising in your lowrider are your steez check
this mix) & old Chess Records collectors alike, Mr. Stewart serenaded the airwaves with this winner back in 1965. Stewart, a DC native, could’ve been talking about Rock Creek or Fort Dupont or who knows. What remains is how can turn off the charm on this guy? May he rest in power. Tune in next week!
2014 in Review
As the god MC Rakim once said, “It’s been a long time, I shouldn’t have left you / Without a strong rhyme to step to” and by rhyme I’m taking grand liberties to say he meant blog posts. And since y’all humble few who love our blog, just wanted to say sorry for the month plus hiatus. With that being said, WELCOME TO ELAN’S END OF YEAR LISTS!
Top 10 Movies in 2014
Movies are probably my favorite medium and I’m sad to say that I barely qualified for seeing 10 movies in theaters this year. Alas I did & don’t just look at this as Elan saw 10 movies this year and these were it. Give me a little more credit. I’m just a little smarter & more decisive about what I choose to spend my $13.50 on now. So before I give you the list I just wanted to say peace be to the films I wanted to see but either A) never got around to B) were so thinly distributed, I would’ve had to drive 40+ miles to see or C) the film was allegedly released within the 2014 calendar year but you either have to live in New York City or LA to see it in the year 2014. That list is as follows: The Babadook, Interstellar, Dear White People, The Imitation Game, Fury, Beyond the Lights, Love is Strange, Wild, Force Majeure, Inherent Vice, Selma & American Sniper. So without further ado, here are my 10 favorite movies of 2014.
10. Palo Alto
You might not have heard of this one. Hence, the trailer. But look past the at times nowhere going plot, James Franco smugness & the cliched story of alienated & bored white upper-middle class youth. What you will find is the best soundtrack of the year (S/O Dev Hynes aka Blood Orange), gorgeous cinematography & a great dynamic between best friends Teddy & Fred. Believe me when I say this, everybody has had a Fred in their lives. A kid who could charm the pants off everybody but was going nowhere quick. Nat Wolff brought it. Check it.
9. St. Vincent
I thought this movie was gonna be hella corny but I do love Bill. So I coughed up my hard earned bucks and was pleasantly surprised. Half Puerto Rican, half Polish bullies, Bill Murray chainsmoking, drinking like a fish and horserace betting essentially being Bill Murray & a very heartfelt, but not sus ending. Well done y’all.
8. Top Five
Aside from Rosario’s super annoying sidehawk, I loved the Chris Rock as slightly altered version of himself very much.But substitute alcoholism for his refusing the embrace the limelight IRL. Definitely Tommy points to the fact that I saw this with my parents & no they’re not some conservative Bible-thumping folk but it was still awk watching the Houston hotel scene with them. For the record my top 5: Biggie, Hova, Tribe, OutKast & 2Pac. 6th man: UGK.
7. Gone Girl
Well, I read the book so my mind wasn’t totally blown. I mean Fincher is a straight up G already, but who knew Ben Affleck could play a handsome corn-fed dude that people still wanna punch in the face for all his successes? Rosamund Pike is definitely a bright shining star in the making. At 2.5 hours, some people started to bug on that, but look back at the film in its two parts please.
6. The Skeleton Twins
This year, my beloved Cocker Spaniel, Milo passed away at 10 years old. After some grieving, I got an awesome pup by the name of Maggie. It’s been rough, training a pup & all but man it’s all part of that bigger picture of birth & death in cycles. What does this have to do with anything? Well, Bill Hader’s Milo & twin sister Kristen Wiig’s Maggie truly brought it for this one and dealt with all those icky pre-midlife but midlife crises that I anticipate but in such a delicate, artful way that you forget that the film starts so darkly. Plus also come on Milo + Maggie? This movie spoke to me man.
5. Birdman
Not a single fade out/transition the whole film & erratic pacing, OK I was weirded out but then again douchey & egotistical Ed Norton, delusions of grandeur from a wash up playing himself essentially in Keaton & even Emma Stone’s “Daddy don’t love me” routine all came together. The Producers meets….I don’t know still looking for an analogy & still running around the ending 2 months later.
4. Guardians of the Galaxy
“Come and Get Your Love” & Chris Pratt. What more to love?
3. Whiplash
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Miles Teller is better & more polished John Cusack. Call him JC 2.0. The kid has been on a roll since a goofy spot in the new Footloose. Throw in one of the greatest character actors of this generation giving the performance of a lifetime in JK Simmons, a micromanaging, but deliberate first-time director & some of the best & most intense shooting sequences you will ever see on Film & you get my #3 film of the year. Don’t disagree or you’ll get a cymbal thrown at your head.
2. Grand Budapest Hotel
No, I’m no elitist “Wes Anderson is the only true auteur in American cinema currently”, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t say I enjoyed his films. GBH was such a fresh breath of air to such a dreary early spring film schedule. It’s so light that you forget that it’s a film. Whether it was Ralph Fiennes’ snappy wit, Willem Dafoe’s evil or Zero’s trust in everything…or the prison break scene, or the museum scene, or even simply the opening, majestic things happened in this film. That beautiful fictional pink palace. What a treat!
1. Boyhood
Ok, ok, ok. We’ve all heard about the huge gamble Linklater took on Ellar Coltrane & the coolness of the 12+ year making of this film. But that aside, I’ll go to say this is one of the best movies I’ve seen in my life! There’s honestly no flaw I could pick with it. Throw in the fact that I lived in Texas (more spec. Houston) for 3 years & could identify not just geography but types of people you’d find in Texas…man this movie made me pretty emotional. But in the best way, just as you’d like to see for lil Mason. If there’s one flick you see this year it’s this.
Top 10 TV Shows in 2014
I like watching TV. I’m thankful that I had two parents growing up. And this is no fault of theirs but I let TV be my babysitter while they were out at work. I still watch a good amount of TV & while it doesn’t babysit me, it does help me relax after working. But also, at times, it can be pretty thought provoking. Below you will find shows that did one or the other or both. I’m not going to go on a tangent about the so-called golden era of television that just elapsed with the ending of Breaking Bad (Ok I just did a lil bit), but difficult men aren’t the only ones making waves on the small screen. Peace be to High Maintenance. I would totally include but in all honesty I haven’t watched the new season cause I’ve been on the fence about paying for it, but you can watch the free ones here! All that said, these were my favorite TV shows of the year.
10. The League
My little brother found out he has sleep apnea this year. He now has to wear this thing called a CPAP machine every night for the rest of his life. To soften the blow, I reminded him that Ruxin, one of his favorite TV characters also proudly rocked a CPAP. Good riddance to all this s***sippers.
9. The Mindy Project
I gave up on New Girl. But in that disparity to fill my Tuesday night TV shuffle when I wasn’t going up on trivia or wings with the boys, I tuned into TMP. Rarely do I adore a sitcom, but Ms. Kaling has definitely got something going on! Good for you Glen Coco’s to the all-star supporting cast as well.
8. Mad Men
Has it been better before? Yes. Future two-time divorcee DD is still kicking ass and taking names. Who could forget the whole Shirley’s roses debacle? Mad Men still got it and I anxiously await Season 8…errr the second half of Season 7.
7. Shameless
The most dysfunctional but functional family on premium cable TV is still holding it down. Bipolar disorder, cirrhossis, nor crazy girlfriends will bring down the Gallagher clan. Tune in next month to see what’s in store for the gang.
6. The Newsroom
This season alone I have declared Aaron Sorkin both the greatest and worst screenwriter of my generation. I guessed right on numerous last season twists & turns & then the penultimate episode had to ruin Don for me. All that said, America is no longer the greatest country on earth. But we (HBO subscribers & piraters) are much smarter because of quixotic fictional men like Will McAvoy. Good night.
5. House of Cards
Talk about starting off with a bang. To be fair, they followed up very nicely throughout the course of the season. Due to its structure & the fact that they released it last winter makes this show feel eons old. But I’ll take a blind fury binge of Frank Underwood doing Frank Underwood things instead of having to wait every week (shots fired network TV!).
4. Silicon Valley
Dudes named Big Head, prostitute price negotiating, tech dorks, Amanda Crew & a tragic death to a principal character IRL yet finding ways to make it keep working & while getting you to laugh? Home run HBO. Home run!
3. Fargo
Don’t be a hoser (wait this isn’t Canada, eh?) just because it’s popular. Billy Bob is in rare form. Never before has someone’s thinness made them more dastardly & dark. For those who couldn’t just stomach taking a movie & adapting/tinkering for TV, grow the f up, it’s 2014! All-star performances everywhere.
2. Louie
Couldn’t find the clip, but when junior high Louie buys weed off the uber paranoid & perfectly played weed dealer Jeremy Renner, I wanted to say there is no competition (Fab voice). But then the Long Island episode with Chuck’s girlfriend & Jerry Seinfeld >.
1. True Detective
C’mon seriously, didja really expect anything else? Cry me a river about it failing the Bechdel test or the red herrings of Rust’s philosophies, at the end of the day this is one of the greatest pieces of medium I’ve EVER SEEN. Season 2 can only let us down at this point though right?
Top 10 Longreads of 2014
I read books. But I don’t read a book just because it came out that year. No keeping up with the Joneses on my reading list. However, I do actively seek, read & like to think about longform journalism pieces that I have come across many places within a calendar year. Thanks to Pocket aka the greatest app of all time, Longreads, Longform, Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook & general word of mouth, it has never been easier to find good pieces out there. The biggest issue is filtering through all that other muck. So…these were my favorite longreads of this year (in no particular order).
1. My Vassar College Faculty ID Makes Everything OK – Kiese Laymon
One of my favorite living writers out there. All the feels in this one.
2. Wrestling With the Truth: The True Crime of ‘Foxcatcher’ and ‘Serial’ – Wesley Morris
Have you ever read criticism where you’re riding with every statement they’ve made word for word and at the end you’re just like “Dag, why didn’t I write that?”. That’s how I felt about this piece especially on his review of ‘Foxcatcher’. Wesley Morris has the gift!
3. Is There Hope for the Survivors of the Drug Wars? – Monica Potts
David Simonesque social commentary IRL.
4. The Strange & Curious Tale of the Last True Hermit – Michael Finkel
How does one live in a tent in Northern Maine for 20+ years? Read & find out.
5. Lil Kim’s Body Politics are More Than Just Explicit Content – Claire Lobenfeld
I tend to hold personal essays with some contempt, but then again the forum is right for this one. And what words does Claire have to relate. When music can be your savior and you can capture those feelings, you are triller than most.
6. The Front Lines of Ferguson – Rembert Browne
Very important read. I should call my mom right now. Rembert, can we be true best friends IRL?
7. Brooklyn’s Baddest – Sean Flynn
In the Big Apple, a story of unearthing one bad apple who spoiled the whole darn bunch. NYC in the 70s & 80s sounded like a wild place. Thank goodness men like Scarcella no longer “serve & protect” us.
8. The Undefeated Champions of Defeat City – Kathy Dobie
In case all you thought that happened on the other side of the Walt Whitman bridge was guns, drugs & crime…THINK AGAIN! Unbelievably inspiring piece.
9. The Case for Reparations – Ta-Nehisi Coates
“Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole.”
10. Searching for Tomorrow: The Story of Madlib and DOOM’s Madvillainy – Jeff Weiss
The best that music journalism has to offer. Excuse me while I put “Sickfit” on repeat.
10 Things I Liked & Didn’t Like in 2014
I LIKED
- Saying “Or Nah”
- Greater awareness towards domestic violence/sexual assault/rape
- Kawhi Leonard in the Finals
- Black Lives Matter & Anti police brutality movement
- Homicide: Life on the Street
- Trivia & wings GOING UP ON A TUESDAY
- The dancing bear at the Sochi closing ceremony
- Serial
- Donald Sterling getting banned from the NBA
- Riding my bicycle again
I DIDN’T LIKE
- Being normcore, but the word normcore existing.
- Violence/Tragedy in the world (Malaysian Airlines 370, Air Algerie, Air Asia, war in Ukraine, Israel/Palestine, Nigerian terrorists, ISIS, Taliban attack in Peshawar, Mike Brown/Eric Garner/Tamir Rice…)
- Rolling Stone magazine
- My cholestrol levels
- Cromnibus
- Macklemore at the Grammys
- The Fappening
- Hatewatching but watching the Newsroom
- Kim Kardashian existing
- Imagine Dragons
Favorite Rap Songs of 2014
As the self-professed music appreciator of our little crew, I do love all genres of music. However, it would be disingenuous of me to make a Top __ list of all genres seeing that a majority of the music I listened to this year was rap. And no, I am not just some backpacker YouTubing cyphers & talmbout the golden era nor am I a crossover-only Top 40 lover. I’d like to consider myself a representative of both worlds. I’ve decided to craft a list of 25 of my favorite rap songs from this fair year. The only criteria I really had was that they had to be released in this calendar year & I limited one selection per headlining artist, so features can appear multiple times. (call it the Nate Dogg-Young Thug rule). So without further ado, here was the rap music I lived for in 2014.
2014 was a big year for Puffy. Oxymoron got many bumps in the whip but none more than Hoover St. Just wait till that beat flips.
24. Wish I Had It – Kevin Gates
“Light skinned and I fight good just like Muhammad Ali / Jab nasty, hook good, just like Muhammad Ali”. Last time I fw a rapper closing a bar with the same punch as the last was Project Pat.
23. Bicken Back Being Bool – YG
Mustard ain’t been paid yet (allegedly), but Keenon Daequan Ray Motherfuggin Jackson (YG Mom voice) had a monster year & you could enjoy MKL while “smoking on a bigarette & eatin’ a bowl of bereal”.
22. Mean the Most – Bishop Nehru & MF DOOM
I love DOOM! But he is mentoring & passing that knowledge & ill beats to the unbelievable 18 year-old phenom, Bishop Nehru. WTF 18?!?!? TF am I doing at 24?
21. Stop-Start – Mike WiLL Made It (Perf. by Gucci Mane, Chief Keef & PeeWee Longway)
Trap at it’s finest & most polished excellence.
20. Sanctified (Feat. Kanye West & Big Sean) – Rick Ross
I pity that I never gave Hood Billionaire its proper due, but maybe it was because I was stuck on Mastermind and obvi this stand-out. So Rozay, two albums in one year? TOO AGGRESSIVE
19. Lifestyle – Young Thug & Rich Homie Quan
AFAIK THUGGER & RHQ ARE RICH GANG! Anthem of the summer and not to mention the amazingly awesome people #ShuttingItDown in Ferguson.
18. Chi-Raq (Feat. Lil Herb) – Nicki Minaj
With a hook lifted from one of my faves of 2012, the Queen of Rap spit greasy & had her hitter G-Herbo come in and knocked it out the park! Expect big things from Lil Herb next year.
17. Bad to the Bone – Your Old Droog
Not Nas.
Fact: The Warriors were on their franchise-best 16 game winning streak when singing this song. Then they got banned and eventually lost to Memphis.
15. Move That Dope (Feat. Pharrell, Pusha T & Casino) – Future
Little Future might not have his parents together, but he’ll be able to look back and see everything’s gravy when you “and twenty girls do yoga naked”.
14. PRhyme – PRhyme
Legends.
13. About the Money (Feat. Young Thug) – T.I.
Tip ain’t king of the south anymore and hasn’t been for a minute, but can we please crown Thugger as 21st century Nate Dogg? Need a hook? Make sure to have two cups stuffed.
12. Lonely & Cold – Apollo Brown & Roc Marciano
Don’t sleep on Apollo Brown. He’s been chopping up serious heat for a while now.
11. Seen It All (Feat. Jay Z) – Jeezy
Hova’s hottest verse since he dropped the hyphen. Then again, course ish goes down when there’s a billie in the elevator.
10. 10 G’s (Remix) (Feat. Birdman & Gunplay)
Spitta being Spitta. But real gem is Don Logan snapping on his come up.
9. Shame (Feat. BJ The Chicago Kid) – Freddie Gibbs & Madlib
Better than the OG version 2 years back. Piñata slapped.
Cole excels at crafting music out of very ordinary life. Like losing your virginity. Salute.
And to think it was all good a week ago (week ago). Mark my words, my future wife needs to shmoney dance with me at our wedding.
6. Heavenly Father – Isaiah Rashad
What More Can I Say? TOP. DAWG. ENTERTAINMENT.
5. No Flex Zone – Rae Sremmurd
The homie PaulyC on point:
4. Close Your Eyes (And Count to F***) (Feat. Zack de la Rocha) – Run the Jewels
Mike & Jaime did it again! Welcome back to earth Zack!
3. IDFWU (Feat. E-40) – Big Sean
I would fw Ariana Grande doe.
Notice no catch up right? 0-100 = beat of the year. Aye Diddy…
“You ain’t sell out a show until you sell one out in Mississippi”
DROPS MIC
bezdc 
