Jazmine Sullivan - Kiss From a Rose

I first watched this ages ago, but thought I'd revive it - especially as I decided that from this day forward, my TWO favourite female vocalists are Jazmine Sullivan and Marsha Ambrosius...can't no one flow the way these ladies flow! My GOSH! (bit of a slow build on this Seal cover, but skip to 3:20 and BAM! Fireworks!)

Marsha A - Butterflies

MXX All Star, Black Milk, Little Brother and Talib Kweli @ Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland July 4th 2009 (review)

Talib Kweli @ Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland July 4th 2009, originally uploaded by Tilly Cooper.

The Montreux Jazz festival has become famous for being the music haven situated in such a pretty part of Europe you almost imagine the landscape and cows getting jiggy with it too. So nowadays, the fans who make the annual pilgrimage to this fab spot can expect it all - jazz, pop, rock, latin and other festival-worthy genres, not to mention the chart-worthy names who undoubtedly understand that it's the one fest that'll tranform even the most half-baked tour intinerary.

The inclusion of hip-hop night is no less indicative of the event's top credentials, and the first weekend was a pick 'n' mix of underground rappers who, despite their lack of commercial kudos, dazzled the crowd with their various sets.

First up was MXX Allstar, a Wu-styled Swiss collective who rapped in French, but with the enthusiastic bravado of their English-speaking predecessors. As a warm-up act, they tried their darndest to keep the crowd entralled with their theatrics and frontman switchovers, and while they received a few cheers at best, this was only by virtue of them being on stage at an early 8:30pm.

When Black Milk made his arrival around 10pm, you'd think he was the headline act judging by the rapturous response to joints like "Give the Drummer Sum" and "Hold It Down". He was definitely an engaging figure, even paying tribute to Jackson, but he left any OTT flourishes to his simple band. That said, he proved a hard act to follow, and despite charismatic displays from Phonte and Big Pooh of North Carolina's Little Brother who were the third act of the night, Black Milk just usurped them to the award for best showmanship of the night.

Nevertheless, Little Brother worked the crowd with their old and new gems, and while the crowd seemed slightly oblivious to their international reputation as the best things out of the south of U.S.A, Phonte was more than happy to give them the LB 101, and throwing in a hilarious tribute to MJ in the process.

Last but not least was Talib Kweli, the 11th hour fill-in for Mos Def who was scratched off the schedule with little explanation. But the other half of Black Star put on a strong set, considering his admission that he'd only been called in 2 days prior to the show. A live band might have been a nice addition though, as his DJ wasn't quite enough to keep his moment on stage enjoyable enough to prevent many revellers slipping out of the venue to catch some of the other shows taking place that evening. But he still managed to cap off a brilliant hip-hop weekend that definitely lived up to the Montreux hype.

10 great things about Switzerland

Switzerland mosaic , originally uploaded by Tilly Cooper.

1) The annual Montreux Jazz festival - woweee! I feel like this is Europe's best kept secret - it's a big thing over there, and they invest alot in making it the ultimate event of Montreux - the hip-hop show on July 4 was great (Black Milk, Little Brother, Talib Kweli - Mos Def was AWOL for some reason), and outside, the party wasn't even TRYING to wind down - trust me, there was food, ice cream, sangria, flowing well into the night...I'm SO there next year!

2) The people - Ever so friendly and lovely. I felt very, very welcome considering I've been to a couple of European cities, and it's not uncommon for my "blackness" to be the topic du jour - but not in Swissland! And they weren't arrogant either - take note Parisians! Mmmmm hmmmm! Even when we got lost (and ended up in Frisborg - long story - there was alot of love....awww man....I love y'all Swiss folk!)

3) The cleanliness - Switzerland is tidy. neat. fresh. tidy too. Wowzers...makes London look like such a yucky squalor (which it is, well - central London anyway)

4) The towns - quaint and blissful (except for the church bell which rang every hour on the hour outside my hotel room....hmph)

5) The food - I didn't go indigenous except for breakfast, but I enjoyed the best steak and chips at the Tavern Les Brasseurs in Geneva (it's just across from the train station). Utterly blissful

6) The dogs - Most people who know me know and I'm a dog lover, and I saw some of the most unusual looking pooches out there...muppet-looking pooches. Adorable.

7) The distance - It's only an hour and a half from London people. From City Airport straight to Geneva...booyah!

8) Swiss International Airlines - I think this might be the best airline after Virgin (if not the best). The stewards and stewardesses were refreshingly friendly (yea, remember the days they weren't always screwface? Memories), the in-flight snack was good and the leg room was ASTOUNDING.

9) The chocolate - I didn't eat as much as I could have, but when I did...to quote the classic Campbell's saying - it was mmm mmm good!

If you can, get to Switzerland folks - I got a flight for £100 and I stayed at the Hotel-Restaurant de L'Aigle in Villeneuve and for a double room, it worked out to be about £38 a night...re: transport, that's a bit pricey, but you can get a Regional Pass which includes a couple of free days travel - and if you stay near Montreux, you'll be given a Riviera Card, which lets you use buses for FREE! Blap!

Switzerland!

AHHHHH! I flopped. I was supposed to comfortably lock down my French for tomorrow - but it's all good - I just downloaded an app for my Blackberry and I feel alot more better now that I'll be able to say classic phrases such as:

Vous faites des repas vegetariens? - Do you have vegetarian food? (this is for the travel buddy)

Je voudrais un the au lait - I'd like a cup of tea with milk

Je voudrais l'addition sil vous plait - I'd like the bill please!

Au secours! - Help! (Just incase I roll down a mountain)

Je veux contacter mon ambassade - I want to contact my embassy (Just in case I get some Yankee hateration)

And finally...

Mon pneu est a plat - I have a flat tire (cause you just never know lol)

MJ back in o' day

Thanks to the Cocoa Diaries, I saw the other part of this unauthorised interview series and man...I can honestly say I never knew this Michael (I was born in 81, Thriller was out in '82, but I remember seeing the video in...perhaps '86 - so I basically grew up on the Bad album, which came out a year later)

It's like a HEATWAVE!

My GOSH people. London is HOT! And when I say hot, I'm talking about my flat being so roasty that keeping the fan on constant, abandoning the PJs, and consuming Fruit Pastelle Ice lollies every hour (on the hour) aint doing it! Nope! Not at all! I'm glistening up in here!

But - I'm not going to complain because when the weather gets a little nutso like this, it gives social commentators like me plenty to chew on. Like...it's funny how the sun's come out and all of a sudden brothers are trying to spit their A-game. (Bear in mind, B-game is for the clubs - "Can I buy you a DRANK?"- C-game is MSN/Twitter/Facebook - "I like your profile picture" - and Z-game is the infamous "Have I seen you somewhere before?". All of them make me ill). Hands up, I rarely get approached on road as my various headwraps (or afro concoctions) seem to scare off the man dem (although there was that one time when the Mos Def-looky-likey tried his luck- I guess he thought, I'm conscious, she looks conscious...we could write poetry together. Bah! LOL)

But man, today, within the space of 30mins (I kid you not) and I had one dude actually trying to STOP me with the kind of flattery that'd only tickle Mrs Insecurity, while brother number two had such a pseudo-New Yorker accent, I simply wanted to slap him. In the right eye.

Heat + testosterone = shame, a waste of my time and the perfect blog material. (Although, just a little footnote - I didn't actually shut these brothers down - that'd just be plain rude...I smiled, walked away, and starting drafting this blog in my mind (giggle)

Dwele's MJ Tribute

I saw this a couple of days ago and just decided to post it as I can't stop watching it! :-) The only other time I've seen someone build up a track from scratch was when I was in the studio a few years ago with Bilal in London, as he worked on a new joint with every neo-soulers favourite bass player Pino Palladino. Don't ask why I was there...

Okay, I tell you :-)

I managed to secure a day hanging out with the dude for an interview for the New Nation (RIP), and yea, he was pretty eccentric - but I never knew how multi-layered tracks were done until Bilal showed me the light.

But I digress. Dwele was the man the minute he dropped the Rize EP and while I don't pine for his tunes as much as I did back in the day, he's still dope and this tribute is dope-ness-ess to the enth degree.

MJ

MJ, originally uploaded by Tilly Cooper.

Hmmmm....

So I've had over 24 hours to come to terms with the news, and yet I'm still in denial.

I spent the whole day on a shoot in Ladbroke Grove singing MJ tunes (or at least trying to...there was alot of "duhduhduhduhduh"ing cause we actually didn't know the words to Liberian Girl and most of Black & White, but who's watching that? LOL

Like most people, I've connected Michael to childhood/adolescent memories - for me, I remember being seven-ish years old and watching Thriller for the first time @ my Auntie's house in Texas...

I remember the MTV debut of Jam (and was overly zealous by the fact Kris Kross were in the video!)

I remember trying to do the Smooth Criminal lean (how did he DO that?!?!)

Then there was the Black & White video, with the Home Alone kid.

Even when the allegations dropped we never believed. Why? Because we knew there was more the Michael than his eccentricity and his repressed childhood...as far as we were concerned, this dude was the distant cousin that we never met and we didn't really need to.

I remember when I was 8, I told the kids in the neighbourhood that I was related to Michael...and they believed me too after I showed them my shabby-but-not-so-bad moonwalk. Oh, to be a JACKSON! LOL

I was never a hard-core fan, like those folk that used to faint @ his gigs...and I'm probably one of the few people that actually liked the Invisible album (Heaven Can Wait, Butterflies, Break of Dawn - seriously soulful joints!!!), but even in my sporadic fan-dom, the respect was there.

But the one thing that's struck me, and I know this might seem abit controversial given the freshness of the news, is that I can't believe he actually TRIED to prep for 50 gigs. I see it two ways: there was either a serious addiction to celebrity (in order to not "disappoint the fans", who imo would have loved him regardless if he toured or not) or he was so hard on his luck that he was trapped in a deal that eventually costed him his life.

Whatever the case, all the details will slowly filter out over the next weeks/months/years and I'll be watching, listening but most of all, remembering...

Michael Jackson has DIED!?!?!?!

WHAT????

I'm shocked. Extremely.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8119951.stm

Mary Ellen Mark's Circo Franzatti, Mexico City, Mexico, 1997

Scouring through the legendary Mary Ellen Mark's catalogue, I came across this image which I found disturbingly funny in a "Pulp Fiction I can't believe you just shot him" type-way. Couple of elements here - the lack of colour gives the clown a bit more of a chilling quality, especially as the gun he's pointing at the girl doesn't look like a prop AT ALL. He's dressed in dark clothing, and she (poor baby) is the innocent in white who looks like she's being held hostage.

I'd love for Mark to give me the back story...

Photojournalist Glenna Gordon

Based in Kampala, Uganda, Glenna's shots provide an insightful commentary on African life. (Thanks for the tip-off Phi!)

You can check out her blog here and her site here....

Tara Darby, Hackney and community

I headed up to Dalston this morning for a meeting with a lovely lady about a project I'll be getting involved with soon. But before all the chitchat I was quite taken aback by this part of Hackney. I rarely, rarely venture there and have always been put off by it's reputation of being a bit of a nasty place, but yet, I was suddenly in the midst of quite an arty commune at the Cafe Oto that reminded me of NY's East Village (and I LOVE the East Village!)

Next door was a space which was hosting an exhibition from snapper Tara Darby, a committed Hackneyite who's documentated her hood in "We Are Only Human". The pictures were fantastic, moving, intriguing - and it made me realise that for the entire eight years I've been living in West London, I'm not really connected with my community. I know the local guy who owns the salon wear I get my eyebrows waxed; then there's the other dude who likes to rip people off @ Snappy Snaps; recently I started saying hello to the security guard at Sainsbury's; and there's the handsome light-skinned fellow who works at the London Underground ticket office who I actually think is from South. Strangely enough, I feel more in tune with Brixton, where my church is, then West - but then, I lived all over South for many years, so perhaps that's it? Hmmmmm....

Well, now I'm on a bit of a mission...I want to get connected with the locals...I need to feel the heartbeat of my neighbourhood!

Step one - Buy local papers to see what's up.

I now have my very first copies of Kensington & Chelsea News and Hammersmith & Kensington Times....! Oooooooh, progress!

Step two - go to local shindigs... like, perhaps, Neighbourhood Watch (I'm sure there must be a Neighbourhood Watch group 'round here! Hmmmmm....I'll let you know how that goes :-)

Dina Goldstein's Fallen Princesses project

KG introduced me to the work of this snapper from Vancouver, and I must say, she's got me gushing over this witty project. She explained on JPG that she wanted to show the realities of the "princess" fantasy many young girls dream about, and she did a heck of a job @ it - Rapunzel needing chemo? Snow White's a housechick? Ahhhhh Dina! BIG UP ya CHEST! :-) There's actually a project that I want to develop which isn't quite like this, but it's ALL about the irony. I just need a studio and some volunteer models, but I'm gonna put the call out soon....very soon....

Soulja Boy Tell 'Em - iSouljaBoyTellem

I know. Don't shoot me. I listened to it and reviewed it, like any professional journalist would do. I gotta eat (hmmph).

And the album was.....(fill in the blank, no crude adjectives please - keep it clean)

Sister Fa: Hip-hop gets serious - The Independent June 19 2009

First hip-hop lady of Senegal, apparently. Her album ain't too bad, but now that Afri-Hop is going to new levels thanks to the likes of K'Naan et. al, my expectations are high, and I think she has a bit of a way to go before she's a true lyrical challenger. She raising awareness about women's rights in Senegal, and tha's sort of political stance in hip-hop that I love :-) Features out today and just here...

"Nobody touched my Rumaki"

I was just watching an episode of The Simpsons and Homer and Co were celebrating the Springfield Isotopes winning the championship. They get a lil buckwild with the Duff in Mo's Tavern, and Mo looks a lil dejected that "nobody touched his Rumaki" until Homer sweeps up the entire tray.

Forgive me, but I paused.

What the HECK is Rumaki????

Had to google it. A Hawaiian appetiser apparently. Obama MUST have had it.

Now, I must try it.

Ooooh curiousity....you got me again.

Homecut

Geez louise, rice & peas, I took my sweet time checking this out!!! BIG UP VS - it's sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick.

I'd describe this as laid-back groovyness like a cup of chai tea latte.

http://www.myspace.com/homecut

Never enough

Never enough, originally uploaded by Tilly Cooper.

Today I was walking along Oxford Street and I saw a young couple arguing about something or other. She was annoyed, he was frustrated. A moment of that uncomfortable silence followed as they waited to cross the road. Once they were on the other side, He offered to take her hand. She declined. More silence. He looked crushed.

I'm learning more and more from observations, conversations, et. al that relationships can be challenging. People disagree. Egos box for supremacy. Pride can make a sucker of us all. And women....wow, we can ask for alot, and it never seems enough.

Earlier, I saw this woman sitting @ the beach at the Southbank. I found it interesting that she had her back to her flowers, as if she rejected the cliche gesture. I wonder if it was enough. :-)

Skepta - In the Country

For those that don't know, or probably don't care to know, grime bros Skepta and Wiley tried to manufacture a bit of beef to help shift their LPs that came out at the beginning of the month. Most would have seen those boxing posters all over the place...Yea. About those posters. Hmmmmm.... Side glance...Wiley, please hit me up next time for some pics, cause in my humblest of opinions...those shots were SHABBSTERS!


Anyway, Skepta has dropped this diss video In the Country in response to Wiley's claim that Skepta was "just a king when you roll through Barnet" LOL. In a nut, Skeps tune is basically about Wiley not reppin in the Ends no more because he apparently lives in Hertfordshire or something like that (can ya blame him? )but what cracked me up is that Skeps apparently records bits of the video outside Wiley's house to expose him - I was quite shocked actually....not so much about his brazeness, but because if that is his yard, I didn't realise Wearing My Rolex earned Wiley THAT kind of change...That's MTV Cribs levels!!!

BTW, on a scale of 1-10, this diss lies at a paltry 3. (Pretty Boy could have a least mean-mugged in the video, gosh)

Rwanda, 1994 - Survivor of Hutu death camp (by James Nachtwey)

I NEED to meet James. He will teach me to see.