UPTOWN BABY! ANDRE HARRELL LAUNCHES TALENT SEARCH!

Andre Harrell has always been a trailblazer. Be it as one half of early 80s rap duo Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, where the pair rocked sharp suits as opposed to the obligatory jeans, sports jerseys and baseball caps. And then in the mid 80s-mid-90s as president of Uptown Records, an imprint on MCA, which kick started the whole ‘ghetto fabulous’ movement and assisted in ushering in  the mainstream’s unapologetic love affair with black culture as we currently know it, from the music, the fashion, the lifestyle and the swag.

The label also changed the music industry forever by introducing acts such as Mary J Blige, Jodeci, Guy, Heavy D and the Boys and Al B Sure, who, aside from becoming a success in their own right and carving their place in music history, became a blueprint for countless acts who followed. Uptown was also where Teddy Riley’s New Jack Swing sound first began to thrive. Andre is also responsible for giving Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs his start in the music industry when he hired him as an intern at Uptown Records in 1993. And contrary to urban myth he didn’t fire him, that was Uptown’s then General Manager Mark Siegel – but that’s another story for another time.

But back to Andre, who also bought us blue-eyed soul crooner Robin Thicke, and his most recent carnation as CEO of the relatively new Harrell Records, where acts include r&b male quintet Hamilton Park.

The primary reason for doing this interview is he is currently on the look out for some more acts to add to his stable. Which is why he has embarked on a fantastic and innovative global talent search project with Blazetrak, a web platform that provides direct video access to the world’s top professionals. From now through to November 30th, 2011 Andre will be accepting auditions via Blazetrak.com from artists and aspiring producer/songwriters. He will personally review each and every submission, and all entrants are guaranteed a video response/critique directly from Andre himself. Then, after reviewing all the entries, on 10 January, 2012 he will announce the winning recipient of a record deal or production/publishing deal. Already, the talent search is gaining some serious buzz, with multiple tweets going out from Diddy, Mary J. Blige, Jermaine Dupri, Russell Simmons and Robin Thicke on Twitter. Here’s what Andre had to say about the project, his history and impact in the music industry and the many artists and figures whose careers he is responsible for kick-starting. Continue reading “UPTOWN BABY! ANDRE HARRELL LAUNCHES TALENT SEARCH!” »

R.I.P HEAVY D

Wow! Isn’t life a funny thing? Heavy D’s passing, after collapsing from respiratory problems outside his Beverly Hills home on Tuesday night (8 November, 2011), shocked so many. As well as the fact that it was so untimely, being he was only 44, I think it hit even harder as this year, after being out of the spotlight for a while, he has been in the public eye more than in what’s seems like forever. There was the BET Awards just last month (his first televised performance in 15 years!), where he smashed the stage to bits, proving he was still very much the smooth showman we all grooved with back in the day,  by dancing and rapping up a storm! And even became a trending topic worldwide on Twitter for his troubles.

Next he pops up in the latest Eddie Murphy and Ben Stiller movie Tower Heist, which came out in the UK  last week. Then there was his trip to London, again last week, for what I am assuming was the first time in a while, where he visited the Tim Westwood Show and gave what would become his last interview, among other things. I remember him tweeting while he was here that he was watching a particular film on UK television and I tweeted back, asking him what he was doing in London, as I was keen to arrange an interview. He never replied, so sadly this didn’t happen.

Also, just two weeks ago I got an email out of the blue about interviewing Andre Harrell, respected music industry trailblazer and former CEO of Uptown Records, where Heavy D and the Boyz got their start in the late 80s, as the first act on the label. They went on to become one of the most popular hip hop acts of the 90s and Heavy went on to enjoy a fruitful solo career, featuring on tracks by the likes of Michael Jackson (Jam) and producing for artists as a varied as Jay-Z and Lenny Kravitz. He also moved into acting and appeared in flicks such as Life (alongside Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence). But not many know how much Heavy contributed to the growth and success of Uptown, and  that it was he that helped a young Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs get his internship there, the one which put him on the road to success. This in particular got me reminiscing about the self-dubbed ‘overweight lover’ and revisiting his videos on Youtube, as Andre had a lot to say about Heavy and how Andre ensured he wasn’t looked at in a stereotypical way in the industry because of his size, which is where the dancing and sharp suits came in. I was trying to pick one video to slot in to the article, but there were too many to choose from so I had to narrow it down to two in the end.

My favourite song of his is probably Got Me Waiting, which I used to rewind to death on my CD player back in the day! The big man, who not only entertained us with his own music, also bought us the group Soul IV Real, who will also be etched in music history just for their Heavy D featured hit single Candy Rain.

The huge sense of  loss felt by fans and celebs (many who were also fans) has been reflected in the number and nature of tributes issued on his behalf since  the news broke. Hip hop website Rapradar.com posted a long list of tweets which came from rap world, which spoke volumes.

Click here for tribute tweets from the rap world

But the fact that tributes also flooded in fast from outside of the rap stable, and from some seemingly unlikely sources, showcases how how far the love of Heavy D spread. For example singer Joey McIntyre, from boyband New Kids On The Block, who to all outside of his core fanbase would not be the first person you would mention when you said the words: ‘Heavy D’.  But following Heavy D’s passing, this dude went past tweeting and wrote a WHOLE blog post on how much Heavy D affected his life, and how much he will miss him as an artist and some one he was lucky enough to have met on a few occasions and have a genuine connection with. That’s serious. The group’s Donnie Wahlberg also gave  his own tribute by sharing a picture of him and Heav back in the day with his Twitter followers.

You would assume that when someone dies, people will automatically have something nice to say about them because it is the ‘right way’ to express things in such circumstances. But with Heavy D you get the impression that these are the same really nice things people thought and said about the guy when he was alive.

R.I.P Dwight Arrington Myers bka ‘Heavy D’! You will always be a true hip hop legend!

ALFONSO RIBEIRO

NOW
Alfonso Ribeiro (now 38) is best known for playing preppy rich kid Carlton Banks on the hit TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, especially with audiences outside of the US. The show, fronted by rapper/actor Will Smith, ended back in 1996. Since then Alfonso has appeared in another TV sit-com fronted by a rapper, this time LL Cool J in In The House. Here he played a character very similar to Carlton (Maxwell Stanton) from 1995-1999. Continue reading “ALFONSO RIBEIRO” »

THE MYSTERIOUS CITIES OF GOLD

Here are my memories of The Mysterious Cities of Gold: Continue reading “THE MYSTERIOUS CITIES OF GOLD” »

X-FACTOR USA AND THE NEW SINITTA????

I’ve been watching X-Factor USA, on and off, in between keeping up with the UK version. This week I tuned in to see the first live shows, which was also the week each of the judges (L.A Reid, Simon Cowell, Nicole Sherzinger and Paula Abdul had to eliminate one of their own acts, just like Gary Barlow, Kelly Rowland and co had to  in the UK versions, a couple of weeks previous. Continue reading “X-FACTOR USA AND THE NEW SINITTA????” »

BEYONCE Vs NEW EDITION

Beyonce’s new music video Love On Top debuted a few days ago, and before the full version even hit the ‘net, peeps were saying it appeared similar to  the video for New Edition’s 1988 single If It Isn’t Love. As a big NE fan who actually remembers their vid when it first came out (showing my age again), I too thought exactly the same thing, due to the dance studio location, formation of dancers with mics and old school choreography.

Continue reading “BEYONCE Vs NEW EDITION” »

FIVE FAVE OLD SCHOOL HORROR FLICKS

With Halloween approaching, it got me thinking about how the classic horror film doesn’t really exist anymore. I haven’t seen the latest Brit flick Demons Never Die yet, but haven’t heard great things about it to be honest.

Alas, gone are the days when it used to be a proper event whenever a scary movie was about to drop in the cinema. From Nightmare on Elm Street and its sequels, Friday 13th and Child’s Play, it was enough to get everyone (old and young) excited at the prospect of being scared sh**less all in the name of entertainment!

To this day a lot of the classic horrors are a lot more frightening that the newer ones, even with the advent of the Internet, HD, improved 3D, GGI and other technologies. For me the best flicks from this genre were either the ones which were just damn right disgustingly gruesome or the ones that weren’t that scary but had a good enough storyline to keep you entertained and cause the odd heart jump in all the right places. And if you were lucky you got both.

So, in saying that…I Miss The Old School take a look at the the top five old school horror flicks (in our humble opinion of course) of all time… ‘Of all time!’ *Kanye voice*

Continue reading “FIVE FAVE OLD SCHOOL HORROR FLICKS” »

BACK TO THE FUTURE NIKES ON SALE!!!!

Spotted this article and pics over at www.sandrarose.com today, and nearly wet my pants with excitement!

It said: ‘Yesterday, Nike announced the release of 1,500 limited edition pairs of Nike MAGS, the futuristic trainers that Marty McFly wore in the hit 1989 film Back to the Future.

According to Nicekicks.com owner Matt Halfhill, who was flown out to LA for the shoe unveiling Thursday, the cartoonish trainers comes with a battery pack and the Nike logo lights up like the ones in the movie. But unlike the movie version, the shoes are not self lacing.

Continue reading “BACK TO THE FUTURE NIKES ON SALE!!!!” »

BEYONCE VMA PERFORMANCE HONOURS MJ DAY BEFORE BIRTHDAY

What a classy lady Beyonce is? Her way of revealing her long-anticipated pregnancy was so cool and sophisticated and done in a way that only she could pull off. How cute was it, the way she threw down her mic after her live performance at the VMAs and then rubbed her lil’ bump!? Aww!

But aside from the very happy baby news – congrats to Bey and Jay btw – it was her actual performance that made Bey the undisputed star of the night on all accounts. Granted her offering this year may have been a lot more understated than we are used to from the singer (probably due to her now carrying junior), but for me it was right on the money. And lot of that was down to the fact that it appeared to be a bit of a homage to the late king of pop Michael Jackson, on the day before what would have been his 53rd birthday. Continue reading “BEYONCE VMA PERFORMANCE HONOURS MJ DAY BEFORE BIRTHDAY” »

SLUSH PUPPIES

Ask the Glee kids how it feels to receive a fresh cold Slushie to the face, and they’ll more than likely stop believing and lose hold of that non brain freeze feeling. Continue reading “SLUSH PUPPIES” »

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