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New York, 6:15 PM
Sun Nov 8
10 posts in the last 24 hours

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    Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?

    Why Does Obama Want to Pay Hip-Hoppers for Their Violent Sex Talk?

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of Motoko Kusanagi Motoko Kusanagi
    05:50 PM

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    I'd like to nominate "Personality Crisis" as the song that best defines NYC for me.

    Jay-Z is frat-boy rap. Sinatra is frat boy crooning. #jayz
     Reply
    Motoko Kusanagi was starred Motoko Kusanagi was unstarred
    Image of GreatOdensRaven GreatOdensRaven
    01:09 PM

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    I dig this song a great deal, but I keep coming back to one question when asking if "Empire State of Mind" joins or replaces "New York, New York": What happens when Jay-Z is 60?

    Sinatra nailed "New York, New York" in his latter years despite his age (64) and that the song wasn't originally written for him (Liza Minnelli). Would anyone wants to hear Jay-Z perform this song in his 60s, or hear someone else try it?

    It might be cliché these days, but "New York, New York" has proven it's staying power. The jury's still out on "Empire State of Mind." #jayz
     Reply
    GreatOdensRaven was starred GreatOdensRaven was unstarred
    Image of RachelSklar RachelSklar
    02:16 AM

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    I can't believe no one has invoked the Beastie Boys here. Compare and contrast: "Big lights will inspire you" with "Dear New York this is a love letter/To you and how you brought us together/We can't say enough about all you do/'Cause in the city we're ourselves and electric too." Like, come ON.

    Also, have to say it: Zeke Turner was way ahead of the curve on this last week: [www.mediaite.com]

    But it's still a pretty great hook. #jayz
     Reply
    RachelSklar was starred RachelSklar was unstarred
    Image of Foster Kamer Foster Kamer
    03:29 PM

    @RachelSklar: Zeke was right at the curve, but I wouldn't say he was ahead of it on this one. The tipping point was City Hall. Jay-Z rapped about running New York in front of Mayor Bloomberg, who was booed. I'd say that's a moment. A VMA, a World Series Performance, and a good video is one moment short of the curve. #jayz
     Reply
    Foster Kamer was starred Foster Kamer was unstarred
    Image of Foster Kamer Foster Kamer
    11/07/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    GUYS. I know who Ty-Ty is. Come on. #jayz
     Reply
    Foster Kamer was starred Foster Kamer was unstarred
    Image of Baroness Baroness
    11/07/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    I honestly and unironically enjoy Keys' soaring vocals on this. Fuck haters saying it's trite. She's singing of the beauty, glamour and inspiration NYC does have for the unjaded. I was jaded, away from NY for a long while. To return is to be exhilarated anew. And I love this romantic, hopeful optimism in Alicia's part.

    Jay-Z is still bragging about turning nice girls into whores. I'm feeling mightily over praising guys like this merely for their massive success. Ultimately not my thing I guess. #jayz
     Reply
    Baroness was starred Baroness was unstarred
    Image of SpyMagician SpyMagician
    03:09 AM

    @Baroness: The thing is her voice sounds processed to hell. It does not sound human or heartfelt. It sounds calculated. #jayz
     Reply
    SpyMagician was starred SpyMagician was unstarred
    Image of Aaron Altman Aaron Altman
    11/07/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    Hey, here's an idea - stop trying to define New York City with one fucking song! #jayz
     Reply
    Aaron Altman was starred Aaron Altman was unstarred
    Image of heywhat heywhat
    11/07/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    Jay-Z is so overrated. He was lucky enough to be the last guy standing after Tupac and Biggie were murdered. I will give Jay this, he is a master at marketing and publicity. He's also ruthless (check his list of enemies which include Dame, Beans and Biggs, people he used to call his family before he threw them under the bus).

    Oh, and Ty-Ty is his childhood friend. #jayz
     Reply
    heywhat was starred heywhat was unstarred
    Image of TopLevelExecutive TopLevelExecutive
    12:34 PM

    @heywhat: Amen. This is why you'll never see me asskissing this rhyme-jacking dude or making him out to be the GOAT. These fans of his obviously have no clue what hip hop is, but are simply jumping on the bandwagon of one rapper who, for all intents and purposes, is part of the reason why its run into the fucking ground. #jayz
     Reply
    heywhat promoted this comment TopLevelExecutive was starred TopLevelExecutive was unstarred
    Image of JRS-One JRS-One
    11/07/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    Neon McDonald's arches are the most recognizable trademark behind Alicia Keys' piano scenes. Those big lights really will inspire you... Or at least get you a hankering over a Filet-O-Fish. #jayz
     Reply
    JRS-One was starred JRS-One was unstarred
    Image of dippitydoo dippitydoo
    11/07/09

    @JRS-One: McRib! #jayz
     Reply
    dippitydoo was starred dippitydoo was unstarred
    Image of Aaron Altman Aaron Altman
    11/07/09

    @JRS-One: Mc DLT. #jayz
     Reply
    Aaron Altman was starred Aaron Altman was unstarred
    Image of Magister Magister
    11/07/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    The Sinatra song is aspirational, it's about someone dreaming of going to New York to become a success, while a cursory listen to the Jay-Z rap is that it'd appeal to those from the city, but I don't know why a kid in Peoria or someone who recently moved to town would want to crank it. It's not about them.

    IOW: The Jay-Z thing might play better with natives, but the city's economy and its place among capitals relies a great deal on convincing folks to move to town.

    Plus, there's a lot of chest-thumping.
     Reply
    Edited by Magister at 11/07/09 4:51 PM Magister was starred Magister was unstarred
    Image of randomnessish randomnessish
    11/07/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    I went to a basketball game at Columbia University once, in their dinky little high school-sized gymnasium. They lost. At the end, they played "New York, New York," as if they were in some huge stadium like Yankee Stadium. At that moment, I knew the song had gotten old. #jayz
     Reply
    randomnessish was starred randomnessish was unstarred
    Image of randomnessish randomnessish
    11/07/09

    @randomnessish: That being said, it's not like I want to rap about Ty-Ty's at the end of every Yankee game. #jayz
     Reply
    randomnessish was starred randomnessish was unstarred
    Image of badasscat badasscat
    11/07/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    You're not a real New Yorker if you think any song other than Ace Frehley's "New York Groove" is the defining song of the city. #jayz
     Reply
    badasscat was starred badasscat was unstarred
    Image of MyNameIsChris MyNameIsChris
    11/07/09

    @badasscat: You're close but the original by Hello is the classic. #jayz
     Reply
    MyNameIsChris was starred MyNameIsChris was unstarred
    Image of Phyllis Nefler Phyllis Nefler
    11/07/09

    @badasscat: GOOD CALL. Back when the Giants used be able to score touchdowns that song always rang out at Giants Stadium. #jayz
     Reply
    Phyllis Nefler was starred Phyllis Nefler was unstarred
    Image of Hockeymom Hockeymom
    11/07/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    I still like Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind" the best. #jayz
     Reply
    Hockeymom was starred Hockeymom was unstarred
    Image of SarahHeartburn SarahHeartburn
    11/07/09

    @Hockeymom: It still jerks my tears here in Yurp, 3500 miles away. But I vote for JZ. Enough already with the old chestnut (and to be fair, Tony Bennett should have had the hit instead of Frank. HE'S from Astoria, after all. #jayz
     Reply
    SarahHeartburn was starred SarahHeartburn was unstarred
    Image of Phyllis Nefler Phyllis Nefler
    11/07/09

    @Hockeymom: I have a distinct young childhood memory of my father listening to the song, stopping it, rewinding it, over and over and over, and then I realized that he had written down all the lyrics on a little notecard. Awwwwww #jayz
     Reply
    Phyllis Nefler was starred Phyllis Nefler was unstarred
    Image of VoxPopuli VoxPopuli
    11/07/09

    In reply to Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?
    Or we could go the Grandmaster Flash route.
    I can't find the "New York, New York" video on YouTube, so I'll link to the video I found here. (The wardrobe alone is worth the click through):
    [www.dailymotion.com] #jayz
     Reply
    VoxPopuli was starred VoxPopuli was unstarred
    Image of The One The One
    11/07/09

    @VoxPopuli: You are awesome! I hadn't heard that song in decades! #jayz
     Reply
    The One was starred The One was unstarred
    Image of eatsshootsleaves eatsshootsleaves
    11/03/09

    In reply to Why Does Obama Want to Pay Hip-Hoppers for Their Violent Sex Talk?
    Before we start breaking out the examples of squeaky clean hip-hop, let's just remember that hip-hop can be about having to strong arm a ho and also still be REALLY GOOD. Art is about many perspectives. #hiphop
     Reply
    eatsshootsleaves was starred eatsshootsleaves was unstarred
    Image of City_Dater City_Dater
    11/03/09

    In reply to Why Does Obama Want to Pay Hip-Hoppers for Their Violent Sex Talk?
    Hip-hop. Over.
    As soon as 'mainstream' theater people get excited about some aspect of popular culture, it's a safe bet that no one else cares about it anymore. #hiphop
     Reply
    City_Dater was starred City_Dater was unstarred
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