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#48 Late Start Strong Finish (Plus Lil Mama & Kanye)

Posted by NWSO • September 14, 2009 • Printer-friendly

Okay, yesterday I woke up to my biggest fear come true—my computer crashed. Luckily after running around the city all day I was able to get that resolved and retrieve all of my information. Today, I woke up to more drama. For the first time during Ramadan I overslept and didn’t wake up till 8am.

I’m sure 8am doesn’t sound “late” to most folks, but if I don’t wake up before sunrise, which was at 6:35am today I can’t eat or drink anything at all until sundown, a full 12 hours and 33 minutes away. This was shaping up to be another long day.

I contemplated the idea of just having a few glasses of water to at least keep myself hydrated for the day, but after I said my prayers I told myself I’d just see how it goes. No point starting off my final week of fasting with a weak action. Let me see if the hunger pangs or thirst got to me before I just up and “cheat.”

Surprisingly, I pulled through with no problem. They say that if you do anything for a certain amount of consecutive days (I forget how many) that it becomes automatic. Your body and mind just adjust to whatever habit it is and it’s not even something you have to think about.

It’s a sharp contrast from yesterday when I couldn’t wait to break fast because I was exerting energy traveling around the city and surrounded by people eating at a potluck reunion. I guess the temptations were overwhelming as I popped my plate in the microwave promptly at 7:09pm. Today, however, my mind was pre-occupied with work and I was in my natural environment without any distractions.

I can’t front and say I wasn’t a little lightheaded towards the end but all in all it was a good and productive day. In fact, I snagged a fun assignment for StreetLevel.com, where I had to compile all the hilarious Lil Mama Photoshopped flicks into one big list. CLICK HERE to check that out and let me know what you think.

I know it’s a little off topic but it’s all everyone is talking about—what do you guys think about the whole Kanye West/Taylor Swift controversy? Is there any excuse for Kanye’s actions? Do you feel he made Black folk look bad? Did you hear about the N-word tirades about him on Twitter? Does anyone secretly think he was right in what he said or should he have just sat down and enjoyed the show like everyone else? Do you think Amber Rose is a bad influence? What was up with Kanye walking the red carpet with a bottle of Hennessy?What were your thoughts when Lil Mama took the stage during Jay-Z's performance?

Speak your piece…

Kanye West Storms The VMA Stage

Jay-Z - New Music - More Music Videos

Tagged as: 2009 VMAs, Alicia Keys, Beyonce, boycott, douche bag, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lil Mama, photoshop, stage crasher, StreetLevel.com, twitter, VMAs

neo the one

kanye is cool ppls but he overstepped his boundaries.... the way I look @ situation is to define it as such and not just outright hate or dislike for another is to take color out of the equation and then ask myself: was what just happened disrespectful and was was it equal opportunity (reguardless of the persons color, gender, sexual preference, etc. would it have happened?)? Kanye being who he is and how he does things (dude has a habit of doing ths before) I'd say yes...

twitter is a dangerous thing... as well as blogging.. i've seen plent of people fired or in law suits over some of the things they have posted so its a touchy gray gray area.... but everyone has a momentary lapse in judgement... some more than others but people should be not so quick to judge.... look @ the situation: treat is as it is and then K.I.M. it...... i know somebody out there just waiting to turn something like this on its head for their own politcial/personal agenda.....

as for lil mama.... jay-z nor keys acknowledged her on satge ( form what i seen in the clip ( and that in itself was statement enough) she shoulda stayed off the stage and not ruin or add content to their act cause it obviously wasnt a part of it....
neo the one

in ref to my statement above i was saying yes kanye overstepped his boundaries but in no way should he be seen as a racisit or called out his name.... call him anything but a %igger
http://ifuxwitit.blogspot.com Janee TMB

I love Henny. It's delicious. Sometimes it makes you do things. Thanks to Jamie Foxx we can now just blame Kanye's tempermental moments on the al-al-al-alcohol or however you spell it. I'm actually #teamkanyeconspiracy so I'm thinking MTV and Kanye have some kind of agreement. There's no such thing as bad publicity and he got lots of it. Seriously tho, how planned did that look? Photographed with Henny on the red carpet? When has he done that before? Then we have the whole gracious Beyonce thing complete with the killer performance. Nice save from the Ave Maria BET experience. And the whole red dresses thing was the ribbon on it. The game be on that WWE wrassling ish.
sylkiifeather

seems like it could have been staged. for kanye to give beyonce her props even though she didnt win...because you know alot of people probably would have wondered how beyonce didnt win that award, so MTV wanted to make sure she got her props anyways...and everyone knows kanye doesnt care what comes out his mouth lol. and then later on for beyonce to allow the chick to speak when she (beyonce) receives an award...just so beyonce could look good. hmmm.

now as for whether or not he was wrong for interrupting her...that is just the way kanye is. we all knew he was rude, so why is everyone getting so upset that he was rude? we already knew that about him. and no im not making this into a race thing...but would anyone have gotten upset if he had interrupted another rapper? or would they just have laughed that off?...like how funny that two black people are beefing. no im not making it into a black/white thing...but in my opinion, everyone seems to be upset more because it was a little white girl. like, more sympathetic towards her because of that. like the big black angry man vs the little white confused/scared girl. people cant be this upset just because kanye was rude...he is always rude lol. im not disputing that it was rude...its just people's reactions that i dont quite understand. nobody cared before...so why now??

lil mama? now that was just funny...the way jay z tried to shoo her away...and how he didnt even acknowledge her presence when the performance was over...wow LOL.
Avah Royal

Lil Man pissed me off when she jumped on that stage with Jay and Miss Keys and Kanye...OUT OF LINE!
M.L.

Lil Mama who is that? LMAO! The chick that had 1 good single. She went on stage to try to save her 10 minute career. MTV Is sinking lower as the day's go by.
M.L.

And Kanye is Kanye. Taylor Swift who is she?
http://teanhoneybread.blogspot.com t. allen-mercado

I missed the debacle, but read/heard all about it. Celebrity is what it is, I don't think Kanye's onstage antics were any more incredulous than Beyonce's save-it's all in a day's work.

Perhaps he is really that obnoxious and she that gracious, it's possible, but I'm not buying it. Do I think he overstepped on the Taylor Swift affront? I'm inclined to say no, if it was a purported rival R&b/rap artist it would have been seen as fair game. Again, all in a day's work.
GV1584

Of course, most of us were thinking what Kanye actually said ( Bey's video should have won hands down) so i don't think he was racist at all, but fact is she didn't win and Kanye should have kept his mouth shut. Yes we all know that he is one of the most arrogant celebs out there but that shouldn't give him a right to do what he did. On the plus side I guess it gave Taylor more publicity! Lol! I know most people hadn't heard of her before this incident! However, anybody who wins an award deserves to have their moment regardless.

I do agree with Sylkiifeather's point of view that it just looks like the big black man against the little white girl. Would it have been such a big deal if it had been someone like, I don't know, Jazmine Sullivan instead of Taylor!? Maybe white people wouldn't have gotten so heated up but the principle still remains...he was wrong. Though I think there were probably some racial undertones in people's accusation of him.

As for the Lil Mama mess...LOL! I was cringing for her! Jay and Alicia were like the epitome of 'cool' up there and then she popped on. Your photoshopped flicks are HILARIOUS!!

Oh and well done for getting through the whole day with no food and water! Food I can probably skip but no water would probably kill me! Lol
Elle

First of all, who the eff is Taylor Swift? If she never made the charts out here she can't be that big of a deal.

Second of all, I know this is America and due to the country's history it is always about race someway, somehow. So sad but true, I am not surprised by the reactions to the whole deal.

Personally though I would take race out of the equation - like others have said already - and just venture to say Kanye did what Kanye does. As much as I like his music (well, before his T-Pain-sounding-808-days but I digress), he was always the biggest Diva the game had ever seen. So I am not surprised. Neither would I be surprised if this whole deal was staged. I mean Beyonce's "Single Ladies" video is dead boring. I don't see how she could win anything for that piece of crap. So the best video ever? Seriously? Come on now.
http://nwso.net NWSO

@GV1584

Yeah it gave Taylor some publicity but people know who she is even if we/you don't. I'll admit I know her name but I wouldn't be able to spot her in a lineup or know what her songs are, but that's just because she's not my genre. BUT Country music is one of the biggest selling genres hands down. If you really think about it, there's way more "country" areas then there are big cities so it makes sense. PLUS, they don't download country albums people actually buy and support the music, so I believe I read earlier today that she was the biggest selling artist of the past 12 months. so she's known to a lot of somebody's somewhere.

And I don't think it's just White folks that are mad at kanye EVERYONE is. The kids on 106 & Park booed him. That category had nothing to do with him and it's not like Beyonce needs another MoonMan award and so what she didn't win the best female video she got the darn best overall video (that's what she won, right?). So yeah should have stayed is butt next to Amber with his Henny and wrote a blog later.

SMH
http://nwso.net NWSO

@ Elle

Same to you I doubt country music is big in Germany. lol

2ndly, 808's is a GREAT album in my humble opinion. LOVE IT. Pure emotion, feelings. Yeah he can't sing, but production was solid and his lyrics were like a NWSO blog put to music

3rdly, hush your mouth, Beyonece's video is the best 3+ minutes of life EVER!!!! lol
Mz. Ashley

I think Kayne should of shut his mouth and enjoyed the show. Sounds like it could be a publicity stunt to me, but who knows...Everyone knows MTV is always gonna hava drama at there awards shows, so it was kinda expected...the lil mama situation though was HILARIOUS!!!!! soo funny... we was watching it and we was like where did she come from? What was she wearing anyways!! Looked horrible! The performance/song was beautiful and then she just ruined it and made it funny!
Mz. Ashley

@NWSO and @ ELLE

for real...that video is the best!!! She looks soooo good and it takes talent to dance like that in them heals girl!
LaLa

Taylor Swift is actually a VERY BIG country star. Country artists always move large units without urban influence simply because their fans buy major cds. We must not forget big stars do exist beyond our community.

Kanye is a hot mess. I think he's just jockin Jay a bit too hard. So hard that he made an ass of himself.

Whether Beyonce actually wanted to let Taylor speak or not, it was a classy move or very good PR. Either way, it was a good look.

Lil Mama was ass #2 of the night. Point Blank. She better be happy security didn't tackle her ass.

Lady Gaga is a psycho.

Pink had the best performance to me anyway. It takes a lot of guts and talent to actually sing that high in the air upside down and flipping around and still sound almost exactly the same as the album. Her performance was damn near flawless and so creative.
Nadine

Taylor Swift is a huge country star, but she's managed to cross over to the pop charts big time. It isn't just country music fans that are buying her albums. She's on regular rotation on Muchmusic (like MTV in Canada), probably the only "country" music they've ever played. Her music is good, and she just has that wholesome girl next door look about her.

Taylor hosted one of the country awards shows earlier in the year (CMT maybe). And the opening skit was all these really out there things that she had dreamed and wanted to do. The last one of these dreams was a rap with T-Pain. The spoof is pretty funny http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So48F5Tt9Tw

Kanye was wrong, but Beyonce definitely showed what a class act she is.
da ThRONe

Kanye thing was Staged!

It had to be since when have people been able to just pop on stage that fast?

And where still talking about it just like they wanted us too. Kudos MTV!
da ThRONe

808's was a waste of a release by Kanye. But with his mom passing I understood.

And if that wasnt stage Kanye has a drinking problem!
LaLa

@ da Throne - I thought about that too. But what would Kanye gain from it besides a bunch of people calling him an asshole? All press isn't good press. It doesn't seem like his apology is helping the situation.
da ThRONe

He is the Ass hole that is his thing. Being a off and on fan of WWE I know that it doesnt matter if your the good guy or the bad guy. You just need to be relevant. Stuff like this keeps Kanye relevant.
Elle

Thank you, ThRONe! My sentiments exactly@808

Oh, Ms. Swift makes country music. Yea, none of that where I live. No wonder I have never heard about her.

If those are the best 3+ minutes ... yea, ok, let me shush.
da ThRONe

@Elle

That was like a stripper training video! Two huge thumbs up!
Angeleyes

@ Elle

I agree with what you say about BeYAWNce's video. It is horrible and she stole the concept.

I don't agree w/ the Taylor comments. She gets a TON of airplay/TV time. Every song/album has been on the top of the charts. So just b/c you never heard of someone doesn't make them irrelevant. Am I a fan? No, but she does have some good songs, and can see why she won.
http://nwso.net NWSO

@Da Throne

Dude, you do realize the celebs are sitting like two feet from the stage anyone of them can just run up. It's celebs, not like the "fans" up in the bleachers so they ain't keeping tight tabs on who's where. Besides they all walking back and forth off stage to get their awards so they wouldn't make it hard. And I doubt Ye was in the middle aisle like pardon me fam, excuse me, let me squeeze by, oops, sorry bout your foot... ah, ok now I can get up on stage. lol

And staged, nah, man, it serves kanye no positive purpose what's so ever in this case. yeah his name is out there but it's out there like Chris Brown, R. Kelly, Pete Rose and anyone else that gets booed and heckled. Shoot, Rihanna almost lost ir did lose some endorsements for her "bad press". Press is press, but losing money to get it is counter productive
Da ThRONe

@NWSO

I dont think anybody can say definitively if it was staged or not.

And if it hurts Kanye so much why do it staged or not?
thagoddess9

Kanye: Bad form all around. He didn't need to disrespect that girl like that, no matter how he felt. It was just stupid. (digression, Katie Perry or Pink shoulda won. Their videos had theme/concept. A whole story. Taylor's too, but not as good as KP and P.)

Beyonce: excellent move. Remember what she said before she asked Taylor to come out...

Lil Mama: annoying. silly and annoying. she really loves NY i guess! LOL

(digression #2) I LOVED Alicia's hairstyle!
The Sphinx

Steve Harvey said it best this morning (re the Lil Mama stage crash): "...the HELL is that?!"
LMAO.
sylkiifeather

i just dont get why all of a sudden people are so up in arms about kanye being rude, when he has always been rude. it cant just be the fact that he was rude...it must be because taylor was looking like this scared pale lil girl, as kanye was being rude. it was like she was defenseless. that was why people got mad. and frankly, she needs to toughen up really. and other people shouldnt feel so much sympathy when this girl has made the decision to be in this industry...for better or for worse. of course he was rude, but nobody cared as much about that before...seeing as people still listened to his music.
GV1584

@NWSO

Believe it or not I did know who Taylor was before the incident. Radios play her a lot over here in the UK. My point about publicity for her came about as a result of the number of facebook updates saying 'who's Taylor Swift' lol

But yeah good points about country music! Basically the issue transcends race and comes down to simple home training! He acted like a kid throwing a tantrum. Anyone with a little bit of common sense would have known that was a bad move.

@thagoddess9 I agree Alicia's hair was fab! She looked so chilled yet so glam!
Mz. Ashley

@sylkiifeather

It was not because she was looking like a pale lil girl...it was because it was her first moon man...she is COUNTRY, MTV does not play country and for this girl to win a moon man was a big deal, something im sure she never even dreamed of because she is not in that category. For Kanye to go and rip the mic out of her hand and basically say that she didnt deserve the award...thats fugged up! I am sure people are still gonna listen to his music even after this, but believe the thought " what an asshole" will pop in your mind while your bobben to the music.

and what is the deal with MTV and no R&B awards? Keri Hilson wasnt even nominated, she should have won something.
da ThRONe

@sylkiifeather

There is an acceptable level of being rude and IMO he hadnt cross it until then. I dont mind him (honestly I prefer him) saying whats on his mind weither its PC or not. But there is a time and a place and when she is giving her acceptance speech isnt either. If somebody did that to his mom (R.I.P.) he would wanna fight so dont do it to her period.
older & wiser

That was not the time nor place to state his opinion, he should have left it for his twitter page!

Isn't there a few seconds delay on live shows? Someone should have cut him off!

Rude, rude, rude!
da ThRONe

And as far as listening to his music. I dont factor a person personailty into my purchase. Its not like Cristal' saying they dont wanna be supported by Hip-Hop (aka wild niggas). I dont care if Tom Cruise is a saint or sinner when Im watching a movie hes in and I dont care if Kanye is a jerk or not when listening to him.
sylkiifeather

@ da thRONe

i never denied the fact that he was rude. of course he was. and of course that was not the time or place. and to be honest...i didnt even agree with what he said (about beyonce's video being one of the best or whateva...that video was boring to me lol). but my point is that the LEVEL of outrage over this is crazy. im truly not getting it. my point is this...you say there is an acceptable level of being rude and that he hadnt crossed it until now. but my confusion is...why now??? i seriously dont get it. why now? so you are saying that taylor swift is more important than any other person kanye has been rude to? im not getting it. my only issue is with the level of outrage...not the outrage itself. (to the point where the president has even called kanye a jacka$$).
da ThRONe

@sylkiifeather

I dont give a damn about Taylor Swift I barely know who she is. But when you interupt a person acceptance speech and grab the mic out of there hand thats to far. I would have knock Kanye on his ass if he tried to pulled that shit on me. Had he got an award or was asked to present one and then said the very same thing he said it would have been all good.
sylkiifeather

i wasnt talking about you in particular. i meant everyone around the country gettin upset. i still dont get it. the level of outrage over a music award. wow. i really wasnt being sarcastic...i was being serious. i dont get it. but i guess thats because i dont try to fit into mainstream america. i guess i like to look at the hidden meanings behind things. maybe its because i studied too much sociology in college lol. idk. but like i said, he was most definitely rude.
da ThRONe

@sylkiifeather

Too many people invest to much into celebs altogether!
sylkiifeather

@ da thRONe...so true.

Im wondering about something else too though. i might not be able to make much sense...its one of those situations where i know what i want to say, but just cant find the right way to say it to make other people understand it lol.........

lil mama is how old? like 19…she cant be that much older than that taylor swift chick. so why is it ok to talk ish about lil mama and call her all types of names…but this lil white chick we (meaning america lol) are so quick to defend? i mean, lil mama didnt mean no harm, isnt she just a confused lil girl too? idk. i guess its wrong for kanye west to disrespect a lil white girl…but its ok for all of us to talk ish about a lil black girl…

and no once again not a race thing...it just came to my mind and i wanted to see if i was just crazy or something lol.
http://nwso.net NWSO

@sylkiifeather

Here's my take. What makes this different than other Kanye moments is most times (except for that European MTV Awards) the rudeness came while the camera was already on him. He was accepting an award and went on his right during a time where the spotlight was already his. In this case, it wasn't.

He wasn't nominated. He was on stage. He had nothing to do with that moment at all. Then on top of that it was a kid. He snatched a mic from a kid, not another adult or someone his own age, but a girl half his age. It was a bully move. Would he have done that if Pink won over Beyonce? Or 50? I doubt it. Beeyatch move.

As for your last comment, you keep saying it's not about race but you keep bringing it up. I think folks would be mad regardless if the kid on stage Ye cockblocked was white or Black.

regarding Lil Mama, people are mad at her because she did what Ye did. It wasn't like she was performing and Jay-Z stood in front on her taking her shine. In that case, they'd be mad at Jay like, "Jigga man why you treat me like animal?"

Ye ain't belong on stage and neither did Lil Mama, they both in the same dog house. Except Ye's is bigger because he was just foul and disrespectful to another human being half his age, regardless of race.
da ThRONe

@sylkiifeather

There is a difference Lil Mama had no business on stage! It was Taylors' moment. I always think race has some under lining with things

Like the situation with Serena. Roger Federer cuss a judge out the next day and there isnt nearly as much buzz as was with Serena. True she was more aggressive but both where in the heat of battle.
sylkiifeather

@ da ThRONe...i guess that is my downfall then lol. i too always think race has some under lining with things lol.

@ NWSO.....i guess i can see what you mean when you say that it was different because most other times the camera was already on him. what i meant when i said i wasnt trying to make it about race was, because i wasnt trying to make this whole discussion turn into something about race...but at the same time i wanted to make my point lol. (yea im just that complicated).

but i guess i still will never understand why this level of outrage over this. im stubborn i guess.
http://twitter.com/chocopina chocopina

while i don't think kanye's outburst was staged per se - like the sasha cohen/eminem scene from last year - i do think mtv probably has a "let kanye do whatever he wants" rule. they know he's gonna be outrageous which is always good for ratings. i mean come on - have you ever seen anyone else down a bottle of henny - direct from the bottle - on the red carpet and inside the venue? hell no. that is why they have green rooms, vip lounges, and such.

i watched the jay leno interview last night and dude almost broke down crying when jay asked "what would your mother have said?". if he hadn't thought about how foul his actions were before he sure thought about it then.

as for lil mama....bish plz. doing america's best dance crew must not be giving her the exposure she wants. but i don't see dude from the boy band and the short choreographer guy bumrushing the stage. i need for her to fall back. i doubt jay z has ever even said two words to her prior to that. i think i read somewhere that jay said lil mama was "t-painin" LOL. in reference to tpain rushing the stage at summer jam when jay did DOA.
Elle

Gawd, I'd soooooo pay to see Kanye pull that ish on a guy like 50 .... better yet, Suge.
neo the one

@ everyone.... did you hear what leaked out that Obama said?
sylkiifeather

yea i read about that...i will leave that alone, for fear of making this even more about race lol...