Is it me, or is “Molly” the new Moscato?

From CNN:

Hip-hop artists claim they know her [Molly]— she’s casually mentioned by 2 Chainz in the Nicki Minaj track “Beez In the Trap,” by Childish Gambino in his song “Unnecessary,” by Kanye West in “Mercy,” by Danny Brown in “Die Like a Rockstar.”

I’m currently reevaluating my love for hip-hop.

- Shervin Bain

If you think that the celebrity endorsements during the 2012 election run has died down since the 2008 celebrity bandwagon, you probably haven’t been paying much attention.

Yep, voting is the new black, and our favorite music artist have definitely been keeping us posted on their endeavors to keep up with the trends. Jay-Z and Bruce Springsteen came together to rally up support for Obama, Katy Perry has been wearing a collection of awkward Obama appreciation outfits, Diddy is still telling us to Vote or Die (but not necessarily in those words for some reason), and even Snoop Lion (aka Snoop Dogg) gave us an insightful list detailing why he was voting for Obama and not Mitt Romney.

Not to be outdone Mitt Romney gained support of music artist from a few differing genres himself. For instance Kid Rock showed up and showed support for Mitt Romney. He spoke on how he was proud when Obama became the first black president but was disappointed that Obama:

“… didn’t do a better job.” - via The Huffington Post

A lot of confusion surrounded some carefully chosen (publicity seeking?) lyrics from Nicki Minaj, when she seemed to imply her support of Mitt Romney, but then later on showed her support for President Obama.

While, music and politics don’t always mix, politics and propaganda (my undergraduate professor would kill me for referring to public relations as propaganda) go hand and hand, and thus, these varying celebrity endorsements have surely influenced a great number of voters.

Long gone are the days when a rapper’s voice on political matters was simply a form of conscience rapping, it’s become much more than that for these music artist—a plea for attention, a CSR/credibility boost, a sincere desire for change? Who knows?

I hope that these artist truly care about their fans and their fans social needs, but sometimes it just seems that these artist go to extreme lengths to prove their loyalty to a politician.

I will say, however, I was so looking forward to a remix to this…

… just kidding!

- Shervin Bain

Roses are red, violets are blue. Don’t take it as an insult, but here’s what I think of you…

At no surprise (at least not to me) Kanye West’s soon to be released G.O.O.D. Music album Cruel Summer has a track titled “Perfect Bitch” that was written about Kim Kardashian.

No offense, buI’m sure she’s been called worse, and I’m sure the tweet will help hype the release of the single and the album, especially considering how much the media is eating up the less than 140 characters Tweet posted by Mr. West.

I’m actually sure that the album will have some good music (see what I did there?) on it, but I suppose it wouldn’t have anything to do with Kanye West if it didn’t have some eyebrow raising behavior in toe to promote it. 

Stay tuned for this one. I’m sure Kanye West has a few more publicity moves up his sleeves…

- Shervin Bain

Okay, I can’t help but chuckle at the Snoop Dogg name change right now.

While name changes aren’t anything new to the music industry, they’re often still surprising, especially when it comes to artist with very established names. Who can forget when Puff Daddy became P.Diddy and then Diddy, and now apparently he is known as “Swag”.

I remember when Prince wanted to be called “The artist formerly known as Prince” and then he wanted people to call him a symbol.

To me it makes sense for artist to have nicknames. For example we have X-Tina (Christina Aguilera) Mimi (Mariah Carey) and I’ve even warmed up to the nickname Mother Monster (Lady Gaga).

For me calling Snoop Dogg Snoop Lion as a nickname would make sense, but calling Snoop Dogg Snoop Lion as an official name is ridiculous. More so, because the idea seemed to come to him when he took a trip to Jamaica and I can only wonder what epiphany he came to while relaxing in Jamaica.

Now, it’s unclear why Snoop Dogg would liken himself to Bob Marley (I’m assuming/hoping it goes beyond his love for marijuana), but for some reason he sees himself as the reincarnation of Bob Marley (especially considering the Snoop Dogg aka Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. was already 10 years old when Bob Marley died in 1981), but for some reason he feels this is a good reason to change his name. It’s almost as ridiculous as when Kanye West wanted people to address him as “Martin Louis The King Jr.” (I for one am particularly glad that no one took Kanye serious with that one).

The name change also comes with a new reggae sound. No longer a rap artist, but a new reggae artist. Admittedly, I gave his latest song a listen, and it’s not the worst thing I’ve ever heard, (definitely more understandable than a Kanye West or Diddy album filled with a mix of auto-tuned ballads) but the whole thing still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

If he pulls this off I will eat my words, but until then, I can’t help but sit back and expect a train wreck from the artist formerly known as Snoop Dogg.

- Shervin Bain

Recently Lady Gaga was cruising through New York when she decided to stop and give some fans a preview of her new single… from her car. I don’t have much to say on this other than it’s brilliant.

I can see this being done as a viral campaign. Imagine, Lady Gaga, driving through your city, stopping randomly and giving all her fans a chance to hear the latest single. Their reactions being recorded and a video made from the compilation. Simple, and possibly very effective.

I don’t think this was done as a promotional effort, which makes me appreciate Lady Gaga more as an artist. She’s clearly not too beside herself to stop and mingle with everyday people.

I’m intrigued with what she will do next. Staying tuned!

- Shervin Bain