WHO DAT. SUE ME.

First, a brief thought on the Grammy's.

And the award for Album of the Year goes to Taylor Swift—Fearless.

Really?

Here's what PopEater.com has to say about it.

I know I said I don't like Lady GaGa that much, but she definitely deserved that award. Such a significant amount of the songs on her album The Fame were incredibly successful on radio stations. "Just Dance," "PokerFace," "LoveGame," "Paparazzi," "Boys Boys Boys," etc. And Beyoncé! I Am... Sasha Fierce was an incredible album. "Single Ladies," "Halo," "Diva," "If I Were a Boy."

And now, I'll talk about the Saints.

two-piece cissy strut on the night new orleans finished strong from Justin T on Vimeo.

Above is footage of a couple of my friends and I completely losing ourselves in the celebratory music of a couple of French Quarter residents immediately following the Saints' miraculous victory over the Vikings last Sunday night. Presenting this video is the closest I think I'll ever come to adequately describing the wave of (tear-filled) joy that swept over the entire city right as Garrett Hartley kicked that already-legendary field goal.

Most (I think 85% is a fair estimate) of the conversations I've had over this, the subsequent, week have revolved around this amazing football team. I've discussed the drunken hilarity that is Bobby Hebert and the fashionable men in dresses honoring Buddy D.; the disappointment this city's come to expect for the last 43 years and the extreme astonishment that will follow a Superbowl win (which I'm sure will force the city to completely shut down for several days).

I'm writing this immediately after having attended the Battle of the Saints Songs at the Howlin' Wolf. All the local artists who have put out Saints related tracks this season and some other special surprises (Rebirth Brass Band!) performed their respective songs. Such hits as Leslie Limberg's "Party in the MIA" set to the tune of Miley Cyrus's much inferior song and Baby Boy da Prince's "This is the Way We Live (2009 Saints remix)" were performed to a crowd of screaming WhoDatters. And since I just said Who Dat, I feel like I should mention that nearly all of the artists expressed their disapproval of the NFL's recent claim to that phrase. Puh-lease, NFL, that's like Budweiser saying they own "What's up?" (I guess "WHAAAAZZZZAAAAAAAAAAP" is a more accurate spelling, though.)





WHO DAT?

Fela! (edited to include Spring Awakening)

Fela Kuti was a pioneer of the afrobeat musical genre. This type of music was invented by blending together American jazz, pop, and funk and West African highlife music. In addition to being a multi-instrumentalist and composer of several albums for a career that spanned three decades, he was also a prominent political figure. He was first politically inspired by (and later became a central symbolic figure of) the Black Power movement. He was also a supporter anti-colonialism and pan-Africanism, pushing for a single, united, republican African nation. He tried several times to run for the position for President of Nigeria but was never allowed to because of his socialist political views, which often had him arrested in Nigeria and other African countries.

A musical based on Kuti's life entitled Fela! opened on Broadway this past October. Occasional hip-hopper Will Smith, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and the inarguable reigning king of hip-hop Jay-Z are all producing the musical. "I think that the show had something in it, y'know, there's something in it that it just needed to be recognized by people, but y'know the show stands on it's own. It's really a struggle about pain and passion and inspiration," said Jay-Z.

Below, a live performance by the actual Fela Kuti.



And here, a clip from the musical based on his life.



More information about the Broadway musical can be found on their official website.

27 January 2010 EDIT

After our class discussion today pertaining to ideologies (fighting against them vs. submitting to them) I thought it would be interesting to note that Fela! is housed in the Eugene O'Neill theatre, which also recently housed the winner of the 2007 Tony Award for Best Musical, Spring Awakening. Spring Awakening, based on Franklin Wedekind's play by the same name, is the story of adolescents in 19th century Germany who are sheltered from any knowledge other than that which can be found in the Bible. This structure of parents dominating the subordinate children is shaken when one teen, Melchior Gabor, a professed atheist, teaches his peers about the science behind reproduction and enlightens the boys and girls as to the meaning behind their sexual attraction to one another. Here are two musicals, Fela! and Spring Awakening, with very different settings, characters, and issues, but both of them are directly addressing the problem with submitting oneself entirely to authority.

Below, Spring Awakening's Tony performance, a montage of a few of the more popular songs in the show.

GaGa goes GaGa for the GayGays

lady gaga: news

Lady GaGa has been an incredibly outspoken supporter of gay rights for as long as anyone can really remember. She's openly admitted her bisexuality before—or, rather, her lack of consideration for sexual orientation*—which in conjunction with her readiness to rant about the need for equality very well may be responsible for an increased appreciation for her from the gay community.

On January 16th GaGa hosted "Hands Up for Marriage Equality" in Atlantic City. When asked about her participation in "Hands Up" , she said, "I am honored to be able to continue to raise awareness and money for this cause and these outstanding organizations. Organizations like these are in the trenches every day working on behalf of all of us whether you are LGBT or straight. Equal and full civil rights are supposed to be for all of us.”

I'm a teenager. Most of my peers absolutely worship Lady GaGa. I think her music is god awful. Really the only thing I ever enjoy about it is finding humor in the caricature of "the celebrity" that she has made herself into. I've got a huge amount of respect for her, though, because it's clear that, despite what her lyrics might say, she cares about stuff other than the fame and paparazzi**. She's doing her best to show the world that two women or two men loving each other doesn't constitute a bad romance***.

In the song below, "Poker Face," Lady GaGa's lyrics describe how she manages to make love to a man but pretend he is a woman.

Poker Face - Lady GaGa

* "I mean, I don’t really consider sexual orientation in general. It’s like, people are born the way they are." source
** This is funny because "The Fame" and "Paparazzi" are two GaGa songs.
*** And "Bad Romance" is another song of hers, so that's funny, too.

Things you should know

Artists I like: Sara Bareilles, Fiona Apple, Weezer, The Strokes, Camera Obscura, Vampire Weekend, Rilo Kiley, Giant Cloud, Outkast, Beyoncé, Kanye West, Queen, The Beatles, Black Heart Moon, The Flaming Lips, Mates of State, The Pogues

Artists I hate: Nickelback, Toby Keith, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

And the rest: I'm a freshman political science major at Loyola Universtiy New Orleans. I've lived in New Orleans my whole life, and it's nice, but I'm looking to move to D.C. and transfer to a university there sometime in the next two years to pursue a degree in political communication. I'm going to be the White House press secretary by age 40.

One of my current obsessions is this album (Is This It) and this song ("Someday").

Someday - The Strokes