VIDEO PHONE..Beyonce and Lady Gaga

I will keep this uber brief. The video for Beyonce's latest single off of "I Am...Sasha Fierce" is out. There has been much buzz surrounding this video and all the Internet is a-fire with it. It was supposed to be released last week I believe, but for whatever reason it got pushed back.

See it here


Also...my short run down of my thoughts on what I believe is one of the most creative videos Beyonce has done. Before anyone gets their undies in a bunch I said creative videos that Beyonce has done..not most creative in general. If you look closely, you'll see that she has drawn inspiration from a lot of places which I am always pleased when artists do this.

1. The leather gloves that Beyonce is wearing towards the end of the video (where she is wearing the white t-shirt and beanie) are available at Target for $17.99. I bought them last month..I'm sure she didn't get those from Target, but just in case you were intrigued by them
2. I want to learn the chair dance that B and Gaga do at the end. It's pretty fierce..I'm going to have my best friend (who has been dancing practically all her life) to teach me.
3. Lady Gaga is helluh FIERCE in this video. She is about to BLOW and go to the next level. With her sophomore project already in the pipeline, and the release of her newest video last week for "Bad Romance," this was a good look for the Lady. She'll go from selling out mid-size venues to arena shows in a matter of months. Especially with this boost from Beyonce which stamps her as the next pop-diva superstar.
4. The guys wearing the cameras on their heads miming the "video" shooting of B in the beginning remind me of Shania Twain's "Feel Like a Woman" video. Which was inspired by another music video which I cannot remember at the moment. If you remember please post in the comments section as I would love to post it for others to see.

Leave love.....thanks :)

If I was a Rich Girl..

"If I was a rich girl...I'd have all the money in the world, if I were a wealthy girl."

So we're all well aware that we are in a recession. Part of my writing this blog is to sound off about what it's like to be graduating from college into a recession.

But I thought it would be interesting to share with you a list of random things I would do if I had oodles of money and could take some time off before I made my triumphant entry into the work force or grad school. I tweeted a lot of these on Sunday and subsequently blew up my followers timelines.....

1. Buy a tent and camp out in front of Madison Square Garden for a month.

Part "Survivor" part social experiment, part greatest publicity stunt of life (not to toot my own horn or anything like that), who wouldn't want to follow the adventures of a girl from suburban Baltimore living in a camping tent outside of one of the most famous concert venues/sports arenas in the world. I could totally blog about it (I figured my parents would be nice and not cut off my iphone service, so I could blog from that). I'd get to meet some interesting characters, maybe see some stars during concert load-ins. Everything I would ever need would be blocks within reach so that would be pretty cool too. I think there's a McDonalds across the street..or around the corner so there goes my lunch and dinner. I figure I could make some kind of fort that would publicize what I was doing, and maybe some tourist would feel sorry for me and give me a few bucks or buy me a sandwich.

Only thing is I'm one of the girliest people I know. I love my creature comforts. I like heat in the winter, I like my blowdryer and my chi flat iron. I like clean showers and clean bathrooms. I also like to look nice every now and then. I think it would be pretty hard when one is living in a tent. Oh well..I'd suck it up for 30 days.

2. Record the best mash-up album of all times

I have a lot of crazy ideas for albums in my head. Like tons. This album would be some type of crazy mashup concept album. Not too sure what the concept is quite yet but walk with me for a minute...

Imagine an orchestra...let's say the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra..cuz I put on for my Terps. So the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra would provide a soundtrack, there would be mad flute solos. Well because I'm a trained flutist..so yea I would do a bit of soloing and then put some people from my former studio on as soloists as well. And then there would be covers of Jay-Z songs sung in an operatic style. I've always thought that Jay-Z needs to redo some of his music with some opera singers and an orchestra, so no time like the present. Ooo and some of the songs would sound like they were recorded underwater, like you were in an aquarium.

I would tap the best of College Park to make cameos, because like I said I put on for my Terps. So DK, Black Diamond, Sugar Junkie, J.Ferb, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, the Generics, Pandimonium, all of them would be on there. Get Task Productions and the Neptunes on it..it would be EPIC. I think I would go as far to tap in some DMV all stars too..Wale, Tabi Bonney, Phil Ade, some gogo bands. And being that I am from Baltimore there would be a club music inspired track.

It's rather ambitious of me I know, but I just think back to producers who have made amazing concept albums and have tapped in some of their musical buddies. People like Quincy Jones, Babyface (he's more of a songwriter though right?), Pharrell/The Neptunes, ect. I don't claim to be a producer but I seriously hear some pretty awesome music in my head and why not have it recorded?

3. Travel to Australia and hang out at the Sydney Opera House

This one is a bit more believable. If I had a couple thousands dollars to fly across the ocean and crash land in the "land down under."

I fell in love with the Sydney Opera House during the summer of 2000. During the Olympics I saw that magical place flashed across the screen and was in awe of its beauty, its size, its grandeur.

It would be beyond amazing if I traveled to the Sydney, hung out around the Opera House everyday and then got hired as a tour guide because I went on the tour so many times. Again, this would be a pretty awesome blog as well. The adventures of C-Hoops Down Under mate!

4. Teach Kids in the Hood about Mozart

Ok, ok I know some of you may read this and go 0_O? Seriously though I really want kids in the hood to know about classical music, and orchestras, and operas. I want to teach a music class to middle schoolers where I linked popular music with classical music, and especially jazz.

In order to really go further you have to understand where you came from, and you can really trace some popular rap songs back to classical and especially jazz influences.

For one thing Orf's "O Fortuna" from Carmina Burana is used sooo much. It's in Nas andPuffy's (he was Puffy then, not Diddy) hit "Hate Me Now," that whole track was influenced by that one sample. Also..how many kids are in love with Beyonce? A lot right? Well that whole Carmen Hip Hopera she did on MTV back in the day is based off of one of my all-time favorite operas, Carmen. That story, while not exactly rated G is a really exciting one. One that I believe would capture the interest of kids who are 12 years old in an inner-city.

Maybe it shows a bit of my own personal ignorance by saying "kids in the hood," but my point is this: it's bad enough that music education is being taking out of areas where kids need an escape from being force-fed information for standardized testing; why not make music education something that relates to their tastes?


Well, this runs the gamut of what I would do after I graduate in 6 weeks if I had a bunch of money and didn't have to worry about repaying student loans, and car insurance, and all that fun adult stuff.

If anyone wants to finance any of these fine ideas (really, I'm forreal here) feel free to contact me.....