Happy Thanksgiving and such....

So if u haven't noticed, posting will be light around here for the next few days (as if they could get any lighter? hey its been a busy month!)... I'm the pastry chef of the family so I'm gonna be BUSY tomorrow, aside from eating myself into a coma of course....the depressing thing is that now a days the only cakes people want from me are the ones that come out of the oven *sigh* but whatever! I hope all of you guys out there that read RhythmicWords have a very safe, a very fulfilling, and a very BLESSED Thanksgiving!!!! throw back a turkey wing for me! Lord knows between alcohol and sweets my ass probably wont even get to the turkey...Congrats to Alicia for sellin all those units and yanno...breaking Mary's record *hiss*..ANYHOO! im off u guys..HOLLA!

'Work That' By Mary J Blige

Heres rumored second single and the very first track on the Growin Pains album (In stores 12-18-07), the song is called 'Work That'. My thoughts on the song? I love it, not head over heels about it, but its definately a grower. I think its perfect to open up an album to tho...I love the upbeat and positive vibe im getting from this album, who needs a self help book when u got Mary and a few uptempo tracks???

Mary J Blige - Work That

No Desperate Housewives for This?

Last night, the 63563567356735th American Music Awards (or as I affectionately refer to them as, the poor man's Grammys) aired last night and went on for an excruciating 4 hours. If it was so bad, why did i watch u ask? What the hell else was i going to do? and plus any award show with Mary on stage in 5 inch hell boots dancin her lil heart out is an award show im tuning into thats why!

The show started out with everyones favorite musical mistake, Fergie..she opened the show and performed damn near every song from her album The Dutches. She was onstage with Wil.I.Am (now is it just me or does he LOOK like he smells like a public restroom at your local park?), and he soon went into his own song that no one knows. They both shared the same set with Nicole Scheroiznsoanfxinger of the Pussycat Dolls, where she performed some shit nobody knows, nor cares about her song "Baby Love", now I KNO yall heard her crack at the end right? Helen Keller would have even went DAMN GIRL!

As the show started, host Jimmy Kimmel did something thats been rare with host when it comes to music award shows in the past few years, be funny. He grabbed Jordin sparks and Kelly Pickler from the crowds and they all began crankin dat soulja boy, and ofcourse Soulja Boy came out himself to juice some more time on his 15 minutes of fame..so where does that leave him? at about 14:56 minutes..4 seconds of fame left soulja! go adopt someone and put it to good use or something...Now onto the actual awards!...Ive never cared for the fact that the American Music Awards only have 3 nominees in each category! as if they needed any more reason to exclude GOOD artist from being nominated, that way they can say "theres just simply not enough room to nominate them!!! OOPSIES!..sorry bout dat Jill!" *rolls eyes* ...Justin Timberlake walked away with quite a few, the American Idol kids won a bunch (except for Fantasia ofcourse, but atleast she wasnt takin out back and put to sleep like Ruben Studdard), Rihanna won Best R&b Soul because yanno..she OOZES old motown...even she was like WTF? smh.... Not to be outdone Beyonce made them give her an award and ANY award would do, yall KNOW that big artist find out if their getting awards or not ahead of time, if they get nada some dont show OR the they get LIED TO just so they will (Kanye West anyone?).... hence her getting international artist of the year or some shit (lets keep it real, they could have gave her best long weave in a short form video and homegirl woulda been up there misty eyed..or maybe it was just Miss Ushers new cologne?)

As the show went on I nodded here and there from lackluster performances from the likes of Chris Brown, Maroon 5 and others and from the B- list of presenters that came and went through out the night... One of the FEW saving graces of the night came from Miss Alicia Keys, although her performance bumped up the UGLY factor for the evening, the performace was full of life and very active, even tho Alicia has about as much business dancin as Condaleeza Rice has attending a Wutang concert, i enjoyed it none the less... BUT! u ALLLLLLLLLLLLLL KNOW..what took the cake for me? right?

WHERE WERE YA!?!?! WHERE WERE YA!?! WHERE WERE YA!?!?!

yes...the Queen herself, Miss Mary J Blige! mother went on stage in her catsuit and her "come get it if u dare" boots and did the damn thing!..no back up dancers! no choreography! no voice lessons no bells and whistles! JUST MARY and her shades reppin, i thoroughly enjoyed it!...The way she was lookin i didnt kno if she was about to perform or cause havoc in Gotham City for Batman, GET IT SELENA KYLE! MEOWWWW!!!.... now was it just me or did Mary give off an old school Whats the 411 vibes?? I was expecting KC to come out OOOOOH YEAAAAA!'n any minute, LOVED IT!

Another performance that stuck out in my mind was Lenny Kravitz...its really good seeing him do his thing again, minus his Players Ball perm..and wasnt the song just precious? a string section? i swoon! now everything else from the show was pretty much a blur or i tuned it out due to its overall wackness...so enough with me..ON TO THE PICTURES!

Chris Brown performing "Kiss Kiss"...as if i needed anymore reasons to call him Remedial Roy..smh

Beyonce Performed "irreplaceable" with Sugarhill...as if i needed anymore reasons to hate this song...smh

awwwwww look at these 2 in action, if u didnt kno any better u would swear up and down that they actually sounded good

The beautiful and ALWAYS bubbly Natasha Bedingfield presented an award with the Hamburgler, who appears to be wearing his little cousins shades..seriously, i think theyre cutting off circulation to his brain..

Usher presents Beyonce with her award for the night..they both tried to sound out the engraving that was on it, and if u watched the show u kno they failed miserably... If u look closely u can see a bead of sweat on Beyonces forehead

I ADORE how much Kirk is smiling with his eyes, Tyra would be proud...Lyfe, much like myself, is wondering what the hell he's doing there and Solange.....*sigh* Solange throws a smile at Satan her dad for calling in one of his favors to the big wigs so they would let her useless ass present something she'll never recieve

And heres Fergie pretty much summing up my overall feel of the show..and well for her...

My sentiments exactly girl...

Rhythmic Roundup...

The always radiant Keisha enjoys her babyshower with fellow total member Lickemlow Pam, Brandy and others. Knowing that Kima is holding down security at the front gate, why wouldnt she? [Talk of the Town]

Heres Mary's Official Tracklisting, now THIS is more like it... [Rap-Up]

While were on Mary, listen to her show Adam and the rest of the Maroon boys how its done on the "Wake Up Call" Remix [Urban Review]

What is a metrosexual? REALLY?? chances are its not your uncle Leon that always matches his socks with a sassy church shoe at every family function like u thought. [Sugar N Spice]

Alicia isn't throwing on a flanel Tshirt and trading in her indian remy for a K.D Lang cut anytime soon [Does this come in pink?]

G's up, Pencils Down..The funny folks over at The Real give their humor to the strike [The Real]

Mary Covers The Advocate

Mary is looking absolutely radiant on the December cover of the Advocate, absolutely flawless...I always love when Mary snaps fo da kids. Its about time she starts realizing her core audience and start gallivanting to the gays and not so much stompin it out on the cover of The Sources and XXLs..(after all, i know it was the gays that helped push Love @ Life to platinum, SHE OWES US!) *kanye west voice* VIBE DOES NOT CARE ABOUT MARY J BLIGE!...or atleast Mimi Valdez didn't, yall remember that cover? *shivers* it gave me cold sweats...but anyhoo its GOOD to see the Mary publicity machine get its gears goin'. Now only if she decides on a final release date and stop fuckin with my emotions...

Alicia Keys expected to Debut at Number 1...

According to Billboard.com, early sale estimates that Alicia will debut at number 1, besting Celine Dion (Well..duh) making it her fourth consecutive number 1 album starting from her debut, putting her behind only Britney Spears and DMX. Billboard is saying that Alicia sold 160,000 copies in its first day of release..g'on girl

Now this concludes my Keys marathon of post ive been doing lately, what can i say? its my blog and i haven't really given a shit about anyone else *shrugs*..altho my prayers ARE with Kanye and his family, Chris Brown album Sucks (possibly better than he does), Nova pretty much sums up my thoughts on Jayz's, Tweets album sampler reminds me of her Its Me Again album (so its going to be crappy), and Im IN LOVE with the new Erykah Badu song "Honey"...that is all

'Like You'll Never See Me Again' Video

Alicia Keys - Like You'll Never See Me Again [New]
Uploaded by Yannicklord

This video is just too precious, it reminds me of "if i aint got you" but prettier and without that horrible cat fur jacket she was rockin, shit was horrible...Alicia and Common make an ADORABLE couple, even tho im sure they will deny rumors about any relationship EVER until the day they die...Alicia betta g'on and have that mans baby shoooooo, OMG THOUGHT! yall know how common is when he gets a taste of the musician snatch (MMmmmHMmm @ his Erykah badu phase)...just think how his music would be if he started bangin Alicia! FIERCE...his ass would probably be wearin fedoras and every song on his album would have a Nina Simone sample...wait, all that and not even 1 kiss? WTH

Rhythmic Review: Alicia Keys - As I Am

I'm a fan of Alicia Keys, and have been since she first came on the scene in 2001 with cornrows, unflattering clothes and a piano seat glued to her ass. While Ive enjoyed both of her past Albums, one of the main things that has made me more critical of her music, more so than others over the years, has been the over hyped, larger than life, Messiah of Music type praises shes received. Songs in A minor was indeed a GREAT album, but did it reinvent anything? no. Did it bring anything new AT ALL to the game? no. Now if u consider a girl with commercial looks singing songs that were everything BUT commercial, than yea, i guess. But was that reason enough to put her on a pedestal? i don't think so..but again, don't get me wrong, miss Alicia is VERY talented and I know she has nothing to do with anything that critics say and who they've compared her to..but that's just how Ive felt...in the past

Going into As I Am I had BIG EXPECTATIONS for the album. I regularly visited the Krucial Keys Blog where Alicia, as well as those from her camp, would routinely update readers on how the album was coming along, and let them tell it, As I Am was going to be something for the history books. While this album isn't perfect, i truly believe that its Alicia's BEST album to date, with a sound that seems more of her own rather than overly inspired and slightly mimicked sound of Soul Legends of the past. I blame this on Alicia's growth and a better understanding on who she is an artist to take chances and experiment with different sounds and genres that are all somehow cohesive more so than her past albums that stuck to a more Soul/R&b formula. The Musical Horizon has been broadened on this effort with Production and collaborations by the likes of Linda Perry, John Mayer and Floetry's main bish Marsha Ambrosious, each bringing in different vibes and sounds that molds with Alicia's and her production partner Krucial Key's beautifully.

Unlike a Britney album, u can't possibly forget to give credit where its justifiably DUE and that's to Alicia and her superb writing skills. Each song is as beautiful as the last, with issues such as good love, bad love and love in general being tackled in a way that doesn't make u get sick of LOVE! One of my personal favorite tracks on the album include "Tell You Something", with its amazing melody change, "The Thing About Love", with its honesty and simplicity (and slight coldplay vibe..am i the ONLY one who feels this?), and most of all my favorite of the bunch "Teenage Love affair". This song jogs the memory of one of Alicia's most soulful and addictive songs to date, the Kanye West produced, "You Don't Know My Name" from her 2003 album Diary of Alicia Keys. Unlike that album, As I Am doesn't suffer from any low points or any real tracks that give a "filler" impression. While the first half of the album isn't nearly as superior as the second half, each track manages to coincide fluidly with damn near perfection. No Alicia isn't this generations Roberta Flack or Aretha Franklin (still waiting on those to be honest, that is if lightning will ever strike twice) but with an album like this, i can NOW finally see how some believe the hype





I give As I Am 4 1/2 Gold records out of 5...because i cant think of anything else witty to give it *shrugs*



AS I AM In Stores November 13th

Theres powerful niggatry at work here...

Now i snatched this pic from my sister in blogatry Fresh, and i just had to throw my 2cents in on what i think was goin down...but i really wanna to know one thing...Was Rihanna Posessed by Stinkmeaner's spirit too?

Caught out There...

I had a few of my friends ask me about my thoughts on Kelis getting dropped from Jive Records earlier last week and to all of them i simply replied "it sucks" but it wasn't until yesterday when my good friend baron asked me the same question and i gave an actual answer that was worth the asking.

I was always a BIG fan of Kelis (and i say was, because there has been a gradual decline in my love for her sound) from the very beginning of her career, since her debut album Kaleidoscope that dropped in 99. Back then she had a fire, a creativity and a uniqueness that couldn't be ignored with a sound that was light years ahead of its time, considering back then the Neptune beats were actually innovative and inspiring. With songs like "Game Show", "Get Along with you", and my personal favorite "Suspended" there was a type of method to her madness (or musicianship) that made her quirky out there personality even more endearing and refreshing! As her career went on Kelis suffered from a gradual decline in what i believe was the control of her career. In 2001 she gave us Wanderland, which was basically more of the goodstuff she gave us on Kaleidoscope, with a few missteps here and there, but it was still a solid effort that surpassed MORE than half of the shit that came out that year. The only difference was, her then label, Virgin didn't think it was worthy enough to be released in the states! Maybe after the initial BUZZ "caught out there" received they kinda noticed her sound was TOO creative and her personality was entirely TOO refreshing. Whatever the case was, over the course of less than expected album sales, push backs and no stateside releases Kelis was stifled and forced to conform to a LESS creative sound and LESS refreshing personality...

Segue into 2003's TASTY! with a few pounds and a few layers of clothing shed, Kelis washed out the cotton candy pink hair dye and got some stilettos and a bikini and let us all know how her "Milkshake" brought all the boys to the yard. While i couldn't deny the catchiness of the song and the infectious hook, i always felt this was Kelis' jumping the shark moment. A single that was meant for someone who NEEDED it because they didn't have any actual talent, or an album like kaleidoscope in their catalog, to fall back on or look to for inspiration. Maybe this was what Kelis felt she needed to do to sell a record, maybe this is what the label wanted and thought it would sell like hotcakes? none the less the song was a huge success and a career best for Kelis. The album itself had its cute moments and received contributions from other producers, instead of being all Neptuned out like her first 2 albums. Experimenting and branching out never hurt anyone, especially when the outcome was the Raphael Saadiq(fucking genius) produced track "Glow". With 2006 came Kelis' album Kelis Was Here on Jive records, with various producers lending a hand, from Ceelo to Wil I Am to Polow da Don, but oddly enough this album came off uninspiring, bland and overall unnecessarily eclectic that was so forced it made u wonder what happened to the women that made ingenuity come so naturally. Some people are meant to conform and cater to the NOW, but Kelis has always specialized in WHATS TO COME and to sell herself short will eventually not work in her favor, as we've witnessed. What i would love to see from Kelis is her doing whats good to her, and I don't think working with the new hottest producer or trying to make the next best club banger is it.

Maybe I Should consider a career in Law inforcement?

New release date for 'Growing Pains' + Tracklisting

Mark the calender bishes

1. Work That
2. Grown Woman
3. Just Fine
4. Feel Like A Woman
5. Stay Down
6. Talk To Me
7. Shake Down
8. Till The Morning
9. Nowhere Fast
10. Roses
11. Fade Away
12. What Love Is
13. Work In Progress (Growing Pains)
14. Hurt Again
15. Smoke
16. Come To Me (Peace)
17. Mirror feat. Eve
18. Sleep Walkin'
19. Sky Cap

Now heres the RUMORED tracklisting for the upcoming album...thoughts? I think its a bit too long so hopefully this is just something thats being thrown around..i PREFER an album with 14 to 16 tracks AT MOST...short, sweet and to the point..a long album can overstay its welcome and can tend to bore u after awhile

Mudd Mouth Manny's Interesting morning...

R&B singer and producer T-Pain was arrested this morning (November 2) in
Florida by Leon County Sheriff officers for outstanding warrants in
Tallahassee.

According to reports, T-Pain, born Faheem Najm, is
charged with a non-moving traffic violation and driving with a suspended
license. (Source)

So Does this mean he's NOT going away for life??? ugh, next time JESUS BE A PLANTED KILO OF HEROIN!

Beyonce wants to continue to snap fo da kids

According to DigitalSpy in the UK, Beyonce is rumored to be changing the direction of her upcoming album, too bad she hasnt changed the date to Spring 2011 (i figure by then i'll be able to stomach seeing her ALL OVER the TV ...maybe). The new album was once said it would be heavily produced by Timbaland, but i guess Beyonce womp womped that idea for something more "International sound" compared to her R&B influenced last 2 albums...Heres whats to be expected...

"It will rival anything the likes of Britney and Rihanna have done recently. Beyoncé and her team can see where mistakes were made on the last album."It was very American, very R'n'B and stripped back. They want to go for a more international sound this time."

Now heres my 2 cents on what went down...Beyonce took a listen to Britney's new album over the past week and had a conversation with management, dont quote me on this but im pretty sure it went alil something like this...

Beyonce: "This album is CRAZY, is it mine?..."
Management: "uhhh, huh?"
Beyonce: "What? this album is hot, which means it has to be mine right? i mean, we ALL kno it aint Kelly's"
Management: "Beyonce...thats Britney Spears New cd, not yours"
Beyonce: "..."

Now again, i could be wrong..but i think the remainder of the conversation went alil somethin

like THIS...

Personally i feel this is a SMART move on Beyonces behalf...her first album was FORGETTABLE to say the least and had very few highlights aside from "Crazy In Love" (now be honest, whens the last time u were bumpin Dangerously in love? see) and B'day showed she cant luck up on another Crazy In Love. Beyonce has a better chance of being a Gay Icon than ever being a Mariah Carey or a Mary J Blige, in the long run (I kno i ride Marys bra straps and im a big Mariah fan, BUT they are arguably legends in the game and after 15 years PLUS they continue to BREAK RECORDS). Sure Beyonces hot as fish grease NOW and u may not be able to see her being irrelevant in the near future, but look at Brandy...in the never say never days did u honestly believe in a matter of years Brandy would have to Off someone on the 101 to get a headline in the news? Think back only 4 years ago, Beyonce was MUCH MUCH hotter then..the candle is dwindling FAST and she needs to make moves that will solidify her future in this music game, and i believe this is a good move to do that...

'Growing Pains' Album Cover

Now pardon me while i convulse on the floor from fierceness overload, excuse me....

...Ok all better...I snatched this from Fresh over at C+D, forgive my tired Michael Kors impression but...ITS CHIC...ITS NOW...ITS HIP!...ugh Mary ur sickening, but what would i be without you?