Back at the Evergreen State College, hip-hop with a message was huge in the 1990′s.  Blackstar, the group that Mos Def formed with Talib Kweli, was blasted out the dorms heading into the new millennium.  Mos Def (aka Dante Smith) has released a few albums since his popularity of the late 90s, but he has also been busy with making his share of films in Hollywood.

Take a trip to Netflix or imdb and you’ll find out that Mos Def is a fairly prolific actor who studied film at NYU back in the early 90′s.  He also appeared in “The Hard Way” with Michael J Fox (1991) and starred on the short lived “Cosby Mysteries” (1994) but, what really caught my eye was the “Hip Hopera“, “Carmen“, which was produced by MTV in 2001.  I remember watching MTV pump the musical like it was the sequel to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller“.  The latest Destiny’s Child video, “Survivor“, was even set to premiere after the television “masterpiece“.  Well, the music sucked and, although Mos Def did a good job, he couldn’t save this poorly conceived idea to make the modern day version of “Carmen“.  It was like a generic time capsule of the early 21^st century rap music videos as a long form musical.  What I did enjoy was the MC’s work on “The Dave Chapelle Show“.  It felt magical and his performances were awesome.

2004 was a good year for Mos Def musically.  He released the critically acclaimed album, The New Danger, which featured the band Black Jack Johnson. Even though it was not a straight hip hop record, it brought Bad Brains and Living Colour together and that, alone, is pretty sweet.  In this coming year the rapper is scheduled to come out with a new CD, but it is more likely that a new Mos Def movie or television program will hit the streets before that project is released.  Smith’s ex-wife, Alana Wyatt, recently wrote a tell-all book about him, which makes some scandalous accusations about the artist, who prides himself on being “conscious“.  I have not read it, but I’m sure it was made to exploit the character and career of the performer by someone that could never have created masterpieces like 1999′s “Black on Both Sides” and 2007′s “Be Kind Rewind“.  With his latest release being the film “Cadillac Records” and, without a new record out in stores to promote, it seems as if Mos Def will simply go on tour for the hell of it.  This time through, I was able to catch Mos live at The Moore Theatre to see what his current stage show was all about. (more…)

Popularity: 3% [?]

Ya Ho Wha 13
Dec. 15, 2008
Nectar Lounge
Seattle, Wa

A man somewhat resembling an elf plays his guitar with an eagle feather, singing freestyle verse about the altar of life.  The drummer, named Octavius Aquarian, sucks into the microphone between rapid drum fills. Sunflower, adjusts his bass strap after leading a measly Monday night Nectar crowd through a breathing exercise.  How and why such a flashback inducing session of music went down on an uber-cold Seattle night is the stuff of legend, the moss that grows on myth.  Come with me, back 40 years to “The Source“; to Los Angeles. (more…)

Popularity: 5% [?]

WEEN’s latest offering is the sixth live recording that the duo has released since 1999. “AT THE CAT’S CRADLE, 1992” is a juicy nugget of Ween goodness which, features an audio disc of a 21 song live show, recorded at The Cat’s Cradle in Chapel Hill, NC, as well as a 21 track bonus DVD.  It’s just Dean, Gene, and  a Yamaha Digital Audio Tape Deck and is charged with all the energy, chaos, and, apparently opium, that you would expect from classic Ween. I think it was a great idea for them to release this, and the DVD was a lot of fun to watch. (more…)

Popularity: 5% [?]

I got a phone call last week from our writer O.G. asking me if I wanted to kick it and watch some movies.  I needed to take a break from some work I’ve been doing on another site, where I had been constructing a guide to producing the “sexiest” Hotornot.com photos, so I encouraged him to come over.  He had rented two films, one of which was the story of The Germs and punk rock icon Darby Crash entitled, “What We Do is Secret“.  I had been wanting to see the film so I was really excited to finally get the opportunity to cross it off my list.

The film that I watched that day was both captivating and thought provoking.  The story revolved around a group of rebellious young adults that were working to redefine and challenge social boundaries for the benefit of, not only their own, but of future generations as well.  During the unstable political and social climate of the 70′s, their efforts produced a backlash and they were viewed as social terrorists who were corrupting the minds of the youth.  They pushed forward, despite any dangers that they were creating for themselves.  To tell the story, the filmmakers constructed the film in a truly unorthodox format by interspersing revealing, interview-style segments between the riveting  dramatic sequences.  The story continues to build with chaos, violence, and conflict until it ultimately concludes with inevitable death.  Unfortunately, the movie that I am referring to is not “What We Do is Secret” but rather the 1971 pseudo-documentary “Punishment Park“.  Not only is “Punishment Park” the other dvd that was rented that day, but it is also the film that we watched after realizing, only 15 minutes deep, that the “story of The Germs” was next to unwatchable. (more…)

Popularity: 9% [?]

Monsterfresh.com should be back up and running in full force in the next couple of days but, meanwhile, I haveused my expertise in the realm of the SEXY to reach down and help those out who may be less versed in the craft and these essential skills.

I know some of you love the Hotornot. com but you might need some help with your profiles.

Your pain is felt, and so here are a few different guides to help you with your dilemma. One of them is for the Men out there and the other 2 are for the ladies.

(more…)

Popularity: 4% [?]