TUNEAGE: JAY ELECTRONICA

Ok,sooooo I had an epiphany. Since high school, I have been a sympathy fan.

What's a sympathy fan you ask? Its liking someone because they affiliate with artists you love and/or the darling of the sub-culture that you're a member of.

Who am I sympathy fans of? Talib Kweli, Ryan Leslie, John Legend, and some others

I know, I know, they are awesome and all that jazz, but I can't get into them. I will sing like one song I like from them and that's the only thing I have to defend them against people that aren't into their music.

Example:

"OMG! But 'Get By' was an epic story of the survival tactics of those at the bottom of the socioeconomic totem pole. It pierces the heart yet gives hope for the future. What rapper besides Talib Kweli can do that???"

LoL

So the next person on the list was Jay Electronica. All the artists I love shout his name and the love of my life Erykah Badu had a kid by the dude, so I should love him right? Welllll.....all the songs he was featured on, I didn't see it. But then...THEN...I heard THIS....

Big shouts to my homie Chevalier, that almost bashed my head in for not being a Jay E fan. This is that fye!!!

Hop on this whilst you're at it..

I-DIGS : WHY HELLO MY WINTRY LOVER

I LOVE SNOW!!!

As a child of the East Coast, snow not only meant staying home from school (yipee! No to knowledge! ), but it also meant sledding, snow angles, and snow (wo)men.

I snuck to Philly two weeks ago for a show by my fave batch of dancers, Eleone Dance Company and took Andre with me. We were ushered into the city by a snow storm.

Geeeeez, my hometown looked soooo purrty!!!

This of course did not stop us from meeting up with our fave Spelman sister Jenn (who had NO idea I was surprising her in Chicago in a few days) and snatching up some steaks. Take a look at our travels...

CURLY GIRL DIARIES- 0027

My hair has been quite the snore lately. I've been doing my bi-weekly Amla treatments. I don't know if its the amla, but my edges that ran away from me in the front of my head on the left side, are growing back!

I've been attacking these stupid fairy knots daily to keep from too much breakage. I still can't believe that just 2 years ago, I had a ceaser! Wooohooo me!

A new style has been added to the rotation tho. you can call me Copper Cottontail!

I-DIGS: KWANZAA

I LOVE KWANZAA!!!

No, no,no....not the cheesy dashiki, speaking KiSwahili Kwanzaa, but the meditation on the seven pillars.

I have been dilligently meditating and carrying each principle with me daily and intend to do so on rotational basis throughout 2010 until they are ingrained in my everyday life. I have been more focused and introspective.

I charge all of you to hop on and join me in keeping Umoja, Kujichagulia, Ujima, Ujaama, Nia, Kuumba, and Imani boiling in your spirit. ( eesh...I sound so neo-soul right now! LoL )

I will break down each principle once Kwanzaa is officially over and offer you the mantras I focused on each day, along with the mantras of others I've linked with on Twitter. (who knew right?)

TUNEAGE: KELIS

People REALLY don't give Kelis her just do!

She is the originator of the swag (eek, cant believe I just said that) that these lame blipsters (Black Hipsters) are walking around with. She had "The Rihanna" first. She was the first to scream on the track.And of course she's the one thats tattooed on his arm. LoL

All jokes aside, when Kelis' first single dropped, I felt a kinship with her. She was a "different" Black girl like I was. She made me more confident in my sartorial decisions down to rocking my fro. Not to get all emo, but Kelis truly impacted my life in a major way and I will always be a fan!

Last night, the boys and I were talking about her. No Kelis convo can be had without mentioning the awesomry that was the "Get Along With You" video.

And just for shits+giggles, here's another one of my fave Kelis jawns.

BTW: If you never heard it (because it wasnt released in the US) make sure you get your hand on Wanderland, it was her BEST album!

INTRODUCTION: LE STUY

Hello World,

Sooooooo, I was having some self talk about the blog and I decided that I wanted to add another label of posts to the blog.

Introduciiiiiiing...... LE STUY

I have my own place now and I'm OBSESSED with interior design, so I want you guys to follow me as I zugze up the place! I live in Stuyvesant Heights (Bed-Stuy), Brooklyn, thus the title. Check back for a house tour video soon.

TUNEAGE: MAJOR LAZER

I'm sure by now, you guys can tell that I'm a party girl.

:: cuing "a party aint a party til its ran all thru" ::

Besides the host of banjee Atlanta goon tunes, there are two songs that are a requirement for me to fully go in as necessary in a partay. Take a listen...and if you aren't dancing 45 seconds in, you are obviously dead.

Major Lazer is actually comprised of two of my fave producers Switch and Diplo. They went to Jamaica for a while and Guns Don't Kill People, Lazers Do was born.

Here's the official Major Lazer story:

Major Lazer 'Hold The Line'. A3 Music TV. Major Lazer is a Jamaican commando who lost his arm in the secret Zombie War of 1984. The US military rescued him and repurposed experimental lazers as prosthetic limbs. Since then Major Lazer has been a hired renegade soldier for a rogue government operating in secrecy underneath the watch of M5 and the CIA. His cover is that of a dancehall night club owner from Trinidad and he enlisted the help of long-time allies and uber-producers, Diplo and Switch, to produce his first LP. His true mission is to protect the world from the dark forces of evil that live just under the surface of a civilized society. He fights vampires and various monsters, parties hard, and has a rocket powered skateboard.

BRAIN FOOD: WHAT WOULD DUBOIS DO?

Give back to the neighborhood in which you live!

Let's face it guys, most of us in Bed-Stuy are gentrifying this jawn. So the LEAST we can do is give of ourselves as the original soul of our 'hood is eroding away.

I'm going to Philly on Saturday, but I will be sending some clothes by someone, you should too!

TUNEAGE: SHAUN ESCOFFERY

My Sundays are reserved for brunch, gospel, and soulful house. I'm a child of the late 80s/ early 90s so house music has always been apart of my life.

When I was living in the A (Atlanta), I randomly met this DJ in Papi's, my fave neighborhood Cuban eatery. He gave me his mixtape and insisted we link up once we both move to NY. The linking never happened,but since Ive moved here, I start every Saturday or Sunday with it on repeat.

A chance night at the Freedom Party, (used to go to EVERY Friday when I just moved. Quite possibly one of NY's best weekly parties) the DJ played one of my fave songs from the mixtape and said the name of the artist. In my tipsy stupor, I forget the name by morning. My search was even profiled here.

Today, I woke up to this on my Facebook page:

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! Here comes the Suuuuuuuuun!!!!!!

And for good measure, feast your ears on another banger from the mixtape.

TUNEAGE: SHAFIQ HUSAYN

He's 1/3 of the amaYzing Sa-Ra Creative Partners crew, but on his solo album Shafiq En' A Free Ka, I oddly don't miss Om'mas or Taz.

Get the wax out of your ears and get your life.

BRAIN FOOD: BORN TO USE MICS

Michael Eric Dyson. Illmatic. Nasir Jones.

If you love me, you will have this sitting on my stoop on December 28th, when it drops.

THAT.IS.ALL.

FYI: I DON'T THINK BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL..THINK WE'RE BEYOND IT

TUNEAGE: SADE

This woman needs NO introduction. February 2010.

This is her first single, Soldier of Love from the album of the same name.

Here are some more of my fave Sade jams.

I-DIGS: LAST RIHANNA VID (FOR THE MONTH) PROMISE!

Let ME criticize MYSELF B***h!

CURLY GIRL DIARIES- 0026

Hey Mrs. Ida B Hey!

But seriously, for a strong two weeks, I was doing an ode to my fave anti-lynching jounalist, Ida B. Wells. I'm really into the updo and my friends have been getting life from it, so its a new staple in the rotation.

#OMG FACTS

I'M TRIFLIN'

My friend Brandon just got in my arse about my random blogging. I know I used to update you guys daily. I know I said I would be more frequent. But today, I set up a blog schedule. YES, Anal Annie has set up a blog schedule. So if a day goes by and you don't hear from me, feel free to flood my email inbox with explicatives.

Do you love me again? ::puppy dog eyes::