Because I Can't Get Enough of Her

She makes me smile. I read somewhere Beyonce said listening to Adele is like hearing an angel. I agree with her completely.

You Got Me...

So the Russell Simmons announcement about returning to Def Jam was an April Fools joke. I HATE those jokes. I always get got. Rarely on the up and up.

The King Returns

Credit: Global Grind

Russell Simmons is returning as President & CEO of Def Jam, the groundbreaking hip-hop label he created almost 30 years ago. The mogul has forever changed music and now he is going back to his roots. And as his first move he appointed his brother, Rev Run, as the Senior Vice President of Artist Development. Russell will actually be running the day to day operations and overseeing all of the artists. He is going back to business.

I am so excited to see what comes of this. Congrats Russell Simmons!!

Tradegy of First Position

This video just made me laugh so hard while sitting at my desk in my nearly silent office, I had to post it. I was laughing so hard, I had to put both hands over my mouth to not disturb my co-workers who were on conference calls all around me. Little kids crack me up! There is nothing funnier than watching a small child try to figure out how to control their body movement. It is as if, for years they are just accidentally walking in the right direction. They really don't have a clue what they are doing.

Enjoy!

Two Wrongs Make a Right

Hadn't heard this song in a long time. I LOVE this video. It was actually directed by Kerry Washington. Love the feel and look of it. Not to mention the song. This video makes you want to get dressed and hope to be invited to a party as cool as this. Kanye, Alicia Keys, guy who plays Antwon Fisher, Serena Williams, Common, best cocktail party ever! (Minus the stalker ex in your bedroom.)

I love Adele, more like obsessed with, and I simply adore everything about John Legend. Making this clip amazing!

Goodbye to an Icon

Credit: Everett

When I heard that Elizabeth Taylor died this morning, it literally took my breath away. And I wasn't exactly sure why I was that bothered by it. So, I wrote a note to my friend and asked her why she thought I was so upset, and she said, "because you are ALWAYS affected by these types of things Keosha!" And she was totally right. I am quite a sensitive person, but I also can respect the breath of influence someone like Elizabeth Taylor has on our culture and society. She was much more than just an actress.

I am a fan of older movies, so I can appreciate her acting accomplishments, but she was also an original diva. She was old Hollywood. The glitz and the glamour and...the husbands. Eight men called her their wife. She was obviously an amazing woman. She was the first actor (male or female) to be paid $1 million for their work. She changed the way business was being done in Hollywood.

As I went through the dozens of pictures of Liz Taylor online this morning, I was able to see the history of her life, so were photos from her films or red carpets, but many were of her with the men in her life. She definitely faced some tragedy, like the death of her husband Mike Todd, but she also seems to live a pretty carefree life.

The influence she had on style is beyond anyone else. She was fabulous for 60+ years!! Flipping through the pictures of her fashion style through the years says it all because she did it all! You don't even have to be someone who knows much about jewelry to know that this woman's collection was unmatched. Mostly given to her by her twice married husband, Richard Burton. That man knew how to pick out (and sometimes, even design) some jewelry. Men everywhere should take notice!

The was truly an icon, a legend. She will live on forever!

Rest in Peace Elizabeth Taylor.

Top Albums

Can't give much explanation for why I love them, just do. These are the albums that will always be in heavy rotation in my house.

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill: Wish it was one of many solo albums from her. But if this is all she could give us, we should just say thank you and run. She is amazing.

Jagged Little Pill: Every single song on this album is amazing. Loved this album in 1995 when it was released, love it even more now that I have a little life experience under my belt and her lyrics are SPOT. ON.

Back to Black: Amy Winehouse is amazing, she is on the list because she is amazing. But, like many artistic geniuses, she is tragic. God gives them a gift that is almost too big for this world or for one soul to handle. So, many of them become self-destructive and eventually, well, destruct. I love her and I think she has serious talent and just hope she doesn't leave us too soon like, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, and many others.

Greatest Hits: Lenny Kravitz is always on my list, strictly out of principle. But I had to choose Lenny's Greatest Hits because I love all of his albums. I became the obsessed fan I am today when he released the 5 album, but it is impossible for me to choose between, Let Love Rule, Mama Said, and Are Your Gonna Go My Way. Impossible. So, I love them all.

Thriller: This is the GREATEST album ever recorded. Michael Jackson is the greatest artist that ever lived. He not only shaped pop music, but music itself, period.

A Love Story: A Girl and Her Career

Bad Robot Productions

Before I could celebrate my 27th birthday, I spent days trying to figure out what turning 27 meant without kids and without a ring on the finger. Luckily, I remembered it is not 1962 and my sister is married with two kids, so pressure released immediately. I am an East Coast city girl, and I am focused on my career. I am a part of a generation that is allowed to be career-focused. We work hard AND we play hard, the balance our parents were never able to find. Not that we have "the balance" down either, but I don't think we really care that much at this age.

Getting a new Netflix envelope in the mail is like receiving a gift, mostly because I never know what is coming next. My Netflix queue is just about the only unorganized list in my life. This time it was "Morning Glory" with Rachel McAdams. She plays a very ambitious 28 year old who moves into a nearly impossible job. With all odds against her and dealing with VERY difficult personalities and egos, finds a way to succeed.

SPOILER ALERT:


 
There is a scene near the end of the movie, where she literally runs out of a dream job interview and across Central Park to get to her love. It was a very typical scene in a movie, someone tearing out of the most important situation of their life and running across the city to find the love of their life before they board a train or plane or into the arms of someone else. The only difference for this girl was she was running to take her career back. She had created a family with these difficult egos at this broken job and had made something real out of it. She went back to claim it. It sounds completely corny, but I was so motivated by this. My career is #1 right now, until the time comes for it to be #2 or #3 or #4. But that day, is not to-day.

Why So Blue???

W Magazine

For my 27th birthday, my friends planned a big night o' celebration. We met at a fab dim sum restaurant, Ping Pong, in Chinatown for drinks and dinner (definitely recommend the Lemongrass and Lime cocktail!) and then headed to the E Street Theater to catch an indie flick. I had mentioned once to one of my girls the new Ryan Gosling film, Blue Valentine. I had heard about the NC-17 vs. R rating controversy and wanted to see what it was all about, but I didn't think this was the movie they would choose for my birthday fête.

It was a decent love story, but far from a feel-good movie. Ryan Gosling is rather easy on the eyes, so it made the movie easy to watch. At times, it felt like you were sitting in the living room of a couple who was arguing and was a little uncomfortable. My friends had a lot more trouble with the film than I did. I could see the controversial areas of the movie that the MPAA had issues with. There were several very graphic sex scenes, but were more "animalistic" than sexy. As if that wasn't enough to make the audience tense up, the movie came very close to hitting on one of the most controversial topics ever, abortion. You could see and hear people in the theater begin to squirm in their seats. But, all in all I still loved the movie. I thought it was a much more "real" story of two people's lives together, as opposed to a typical "Dirty Dancing" style love story.

In the end, Ryan Goslings bedroom eyes were enough to get through the 90 minutes of the film. As what usually happens at indie theaters, the previews get you pumped for your next visit to the theater. We made plans for the animated shorts festival in a few weeks.

Adele...Rolling in the Deep

Adele.tv

I am a sucker for the British soul singer. I believe Amy Winehouse's Back to Black is one of the top 10 albums of all time. The retro-feel is "timeless" and that sultry voice gets me every time. I have a very wide attraction to music. But I listened to Amy's album on repeat for about 6 months straight. It was by far the most played album on my iPod since I bought my iPod 5 years ago. The only thing that has come close to it since, is Jay-Z's Blueprint 3, which was mostly because I was doing a lot of traveling at the time.

UNTIL...the release of Adele's 21. There was so much hype leading up to the release mostly because it was released in Europe weeks earlier and was killing. But it more than met expectations in the U.S. and on my iPod. I fall in love with music, the same way girls fall for men, there is a spark. Adele lit up my world with her amazing song writing, or what someone I met on Fat Tuesday called, depressing songs. I guess it depends on where you meet the music. Adele's amazing lyrics and smooth tones, if heard as you are scraping yourself off the "pavement" from a bad breakup, could be bad news. But, if you are looking at that last heartache from a distance, damn does she hit the spot.

At first glance, you think "Someone like You" is as good as it will get, until the beat of "Rolling in the Deep" hits your chest. The strong, hypnotizing beat gives me a down south, almost bluesy feel until it grows into the "singing at the top of your lungs" chorus and then you know, Adele now owns your soul. The beat is so strong and encompassing, I felt like that scene in "Beetlejuice" at the dining table and everybody is dancing uncontrollably to the "Banana Boat" song, Adele just takes over. And then the album progressed to, "He Won't Go" and it was official, Adele would be on repeat until further notice. This song has such a strong R&B feel. It is unfortunate that I can't quite understand what the song is about. Not sure if I am supposed to support my new friend in "sticking it out" with this guy or if it is NOT quite worth her time.

Only thing better than Adele's amazing music is her fabulous British wit. I admittedly LOVE a British accent. So I am slightly biased, but she gives good interview! Her Chelsea Handler interview was one of the funniest I've ever seen.

So far in 2011, I am dying for Bruno Mars, Marsha Ambrosius, and Rihanna (for pop fun!), but Adele is ruling my world.

Four Women

BET Videos

One of the most inspirational things I have seen on TV in years.