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STR8 VIDEOS: ADELE- “SOMEONE LIKE YOU”

LexAve — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 03:50:58 +0000

It’s been a minute since I’ve updated the blog, but just few moments ago I watched Adele’s “Someone Like You” and least to say I was in tears. Just listening to this song is emotional enough, the visuals here are simplistic yet so raw and appropriate for such a heart wrenching sad love song.

The black and white gives it a more authentic feel and not to mention the majority of the video focuses on Adele’s beautiful face with the streets of Paris (I think) in the background. The look in Adele’s eyes…it’s like looking into her soul and at that moment it reads nothing but sadness. Kudos to the director for portraying such a deep emotion with simple yet captivating visuals. The end of the video leaves me heartbroken. Overall the video captures the essence of a love lost and feeling numb.
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STR8 VIDEOS: FRANK OCEAN- “SWIM GOOD”

LexAve — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 02:59:04 +0000

Woman Down! Frank Ocean commits murder in his latest video “Swim Good.” Ever since he premiered “Novacane,” fans have yearned for more and it seems like Ocean is ready to give. Earlier last week, he delivered “Thinking About You” and now “Swim Good.” Great visuals consist of a panda bear mask, popcorn, monk-like ensemble, a beach, waves, samurai sword, an orange and black Lincoln town car and images of a beauty superimposed through out the video. What does it all mean? Press play…trust you’ll enjoy.

frank ocean [swim good] from christopher francis ocean on Vimeo.

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STR8 GLOSSY: MARY J. BLIGE COVERS EBONY MAG

LexAve — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 02:33:47 +0000

Check out the Queen of Hip Hop Soul, Mary J. Blige, gracing the cover of Ebony magazine’s October issue…on stands now! In the cover issue MJB sets the record straight those rumors, her demons and her soulmate. Below find a few magazine scans of the issue.
Sidenote: I’m not going to even address that horrible and non-flattering photo of MJB on the cover. I mean…look at her face…she just looks pissed and annoyed. Lol.

After skimming through the piece, MJB brought up a topic that’s been the conversation of my friends and I. Didn’t MJB put out better material and heart felt songs when she was “not” happy? Don’t you miss you the old Mary? It’s no question that depression, heart ache and just being in a negative space at times brings the most creative and chart topping songs. And Mary has come a long from those “Be Happy” and “Going Down” days. She’s now happy, both spiritually and emotionally. Do we really want to see MJB back in chaos and pain?

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STR8 TALK: BEYONCE’S BABY BUMP BOOST RECORD SALES

LexAve — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 04:06:13 +0000

You might recall a while back Beyonce’s “4″ album made a lackluster debut on the charts. Well thanks to her flaunting of her new baby bump, King Bey not only made Twitter history but her record sales got a major boost. According to Billboard.com,

Other obvious gainer thanks to the VMA show is Beyonce, who announced she was pregnant during her performance of “Love On Top.” Her “4″ album returns to the top 10 on the Billboard 200 with 39,000 (jumping 12-7; up 87%) and “Love” debuts at No. 10 on Digital Songs with 113,000 (up 803%). This marks the first time the “4″ album has posted a weekly sales increase since its arrival.

Luckily for Bey that baby bump boosted her back to the top on the charts. Now that The Carters are adding a new member to their empire, only more success and mayhem will follow. But is this surprising at all?! After they’re hip hop/pop royal couple. Either way congrats to the parents to be and Happy Belated Bday Bey!
Here are some flicks of the pair kicking it in Crotia with the crew.

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STR8 VIDEOS: NICKI MINAJ ft. RIHANNA- “FLY”

LexAve — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:50:49 +0000

Not only did our favorite MC Barbie take away the Video Music Award for Best Hip Hop Video last night, but she also debuted her new dramatic, post apocalyptic video for the song “Fly,” featuring Rihanna. The video is full of disaster, plane wrecks, couture get-ups and whole lot of mean mugging for the camera.

Realtalk…I could’ve done without this video. Nothing but just another photoshoot brought to life. And what’s with the latex bodysuit and ninjas…where do ninjas fight in all of this. Shouts to the director and Barbie team for thinking this one through! NEXT!
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STR8 SNITCHIN’: CONGRATS TO JAY-Z x BEYONCE! BABY ON BOARD!

LexAve — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 01:54:46 +0000

After all the speculation and gossiping…the rumors are now finally true! The Carters are expecting their first born. Check out Beyonce Knowles showing off her baby bump on the black carpet of the MTV VMAs. Though the pair didn’t actually confirm the news, Beyonce was photographed embracing her bump and MTV News went to Twitter to confirm the baby bump.

Congrats to Jay-Z x Beyonce! This ought to slow the hardest working woman in show biz.
UPDATE!
Beyonce hit the VMA stage to perform RnB hit “Love on Top” and said to the crowd, “I want you to feel the love that’s growing inside me.” Soon after her performance, she dropped her mic, unbuttoned her glittered blazer, and unveiled her growing bumped and rubbed her belly, while Kanye West congratulated a beaming and papa to be Jay-Z in the audience. CLASSIC MOMENT!
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STR8 TALK: “WATCH THE THRONE” KING ON THE CHARTS BUT HIP HOP’S BLUEPRINT?!

LexAve — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 19:01:46 +0000

Words by LaVisionary
Edited by LexAve

It’s easy to sit and judge the craftsmanship of an artist, and thanks to Twitter just about anybody can stand on their soapbox and do so these days. On August 8th, 2011 at the stroke of midnight Kanye West and Jay-Z dropped an album with more hype than the ‘08 elections x Raven Symone’s weight loss combined. The amount of hype and anticipation prior to its release, made critics wonder- will it live up to the hype or fail? With 436,000 copies sold so far, “Watch the Throne” has out beat the hype, to say the least.

The joy of “Watch the Throne” is grounded hip hop but also crosses over other genres. Given the influence that Jay-Z and Ye’ possess respectively, they have branched out and given hardcore hip hop fans a glimpse at life beyond the invisible hip hop barbed wire. On the 16 track (deluxe version) album, the duo dabbles in classical, dubstep and samples from some artists and songs neither you nor I have likely heard of. The mystery is what makes this entire album worth it, you never know what to expect when the next track comes on. That especially goes for the three minutes of silence before the Illest Motherf**ker Alive song. Yeah, we couldn’t figure that one out either. Illuminati? Probably not.

To critique each and every song would be unfair and almost impossible, so let’s just comment on the album in its entirety. “Watch The Throne” has nestled itself upon a pedestal that mere mortals won’t be able to reach. If anything, this album should be classified as motivation (sans Kelly Rowland) to other rappers on the come up and already in the game. A Blueprint of sorts for all those College Dropouts that haven’t quite found their niche. Yup, this is the album that can school them all.
Best part of this album, is the production…hands down-second to none. The lyrics are on par as well. Ye’s production style is splashed all over the album, but Jay-Z’s popular 90s swag is interlaced throughout most of the tracks. Some may say Kanye out shines Jigga on this album, but if you think about it, at this point in Jay-Z’s career he has little to prove. He’s had his shine and built an empire. Now it’s time to sit back and enjoy the riches and galore. Ye’ recovered from a few celebrity scandals and still lives up to the bar he set for himself with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. These two have created “grown folks” hip hop music; countless metaphors, double entendres and enough hidden punch lines to confuse any battle rapper.

Needless to say, these two gentlemen have crafted an album that will be recognized as a classic for years to come. “Watch the Throne” folks, and pay close attention to these kings! Oh yeah, not to mention “Watch The Throne” was the first hip hop album to release before it even leaked…if that doesn’t major, don’t know what does!
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STR8 GIVE-A-WAYS: POWER 105.1 PRESENTS FABOLOUS, J.COLE, KELLY ROWLAND & MORE…

LexAve — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 04:31:22 +0000

It’s time again for another GIVE-A-WAY! Str8NYC is giving ONE lucky reader a pair of tickets to see Fabolous, J.Cole, Kelly Rowland, Big Sean, Meek Mill, Estelle, Wale, and Ace Hood at Governor’s Island on Sunday, August 21 courtesy of Power 105.1.

HERE’S HOW TO WIN:

Follow @Str8NYC on Twitter and in 140 characters or less tell us why you should win tickets to see Fabolous, Big Sean, Kelly Rowland and friends at Governor’s Island on Sunday, August 21. Be sure to include #POWERLIVE at the end of each tweet for a chance to win. The winner will be selected at random and will win 2 tickets to the #POWERLIVE show.
Winner will be announced via Twitter and Facebook on Saturday, August 20. Hurry and get tweet us up!
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STR8 VIDEOS: JAY-Z x KANYE WEST- “OTIS” (FULL)

LexAve — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 19:26:10 +0000

After much anticipation, Watch The Throne’s “Otis” is here…in full swag indeed. Check out Jay-Z and Kanye posing as “besties” in their new Spike Jonze directed music vid. Don’t expect to see anything of grand scheme, except of course Hov and ‘Ye straight saw & burn a brand new Maybach and turn it into a tricked-out “Thunderdome” cruiser. Followed by the duo doing doughnuts in a parking lot with a gaggle of models packed in the back. Just a lil’ glimpse into their mogulin’ carefree life.

Get More: JAY Z and Kanye West, Music, More Music Videos

Love seeing these two bro-loving hard…but is that the real deal off screen? Hmm…
ON DECK or OFF DECK?!
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STR8 EXCLUSIVE: JUICYMAG LAUNCH PARTY IN NYC…

LexAve — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 18:56:50 +0000

On Tuesday August 9, 2011 in a swanky Manhattan loft Juicy Magazine celebrated the launch of JuicyMagOnline.com with countless supporters, readers and friends. The event was filled with notable attendees including WBLS radio personality Egypt Sherrod, R&B singer Mashonda, multi-faceted artist Amanda Diva, Billboard editor-in-chief Danyel Smith and many other popular NY celebrities and tastemakers.

The evenings tunes were provided by DJ Rashida and cups were filled by event sponsor Alize. With the help of Carol’s Daughter, Harris Publication and Alize, this event was able to come alive and allow Juicy Magazine to enjoy the hard work they put into launching their online publication.

Editor-in-chief Paula Renfroe and web editor Shirea Carroll shared a moment together at the launch party to thank guests for attending and showing their continuous support as this magazine continues to reach new heights. Committed to providing readers with hair care and beauty tips along with a plethora of juicy celebrity news, Juicy Magazine and it’s online counterpart are a strong force in the magazine publication industry and is a perfect match for the fly, confident and sexy urban woman. Are you a Juicy girl?

Peep ya gurl LexAve and galpal Gangstargirl…definitely Juicy girls!

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Words & Photos by LaVisionary
Special S/O to Syreta J. Oglesby of SJO PR