American Idol Returns

American Idol is coming back for another season soon, and the judges this year are holding out hope that they’ll find the female winner the show hasn’t managed to produce in the last several seasons.  One reason for this, explains a ratings expert, is that the majority of voters for American Idol performers consists of women — and women are typically biased to vote for men for a lot of reasons:  cuteness is one of them, but attractiveness is another.  Be that as it may, judges Steven Tyler, J-Lo, and Randy Jackson are keeping their eyes peeled for the best female talent they can find, knowing that this year could be the magical one that breaks the recent cycle. (more…)

Hip Hop and Shoes

Since the early 1980s, hip hop and rap music have made more than their fair share of contributions to the evolution of shoe styles.  This goes hand in hand with changes in artists, their musical styles, and industry trends.  For the last 30 years, a lot of bit changes have taken place in hip-hop: lyrical development, jewelry, beats, high fashion, and political and cultural influences have all played a role in getting the musical genre where it is now. (more…)

Conscious Rapper’s Hierarchy of Needs

You might say that “conscious rapper” is a vague, overall term for rappers who don’t get into degrading women, gun violence, and drugs. A conscious rapper is one who raps about key social issues, staying positive, and being empowered. As such, these rappers tend to gain a following of fans who may think of them as heroic figures, placing them on a pedestal that can cause a lot of inner trauma when these stars have an occasional fall from grace.  And it happens a lot. (more…)

The Lolla-Mudslide

For the 20th anniversary of the former traveling music festival, Lollapalooza, now stationed as a three day festival in Chigaco, Illinois, was definitely a success. Despite the mud that dominated the weekend and the rain storms that swept through throughout the afternoon and evening on the closing Sunday, Lollapalooza still had record attendance number, totaling 270,000 over the weekend, a 30,000 person increase from last year’s 240,000. It was very clear that the fans had a certain grit about them when they embraced the downpour and the mud as Foo Fighters and Deadmau5 began to just rock harder once the clouds burst open on Sunday night. Attendance at each show might not have been the swarming 90,000 that it was at the Eminem performance Saturday night, after all, this isn’t Bonnaroo, where festival goers will brave the weather to the point of near death, but those who stayed still enjoyed themselves, as Foo Fighters and Deadmau5 played on through technical difficulties and being soaked to the bone. (more…)

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