IDMG

Trust In Me



There are certain people whose names are an incantation. Speaking them evokes something magically intangible and instructive about the effort of being here. The joy, the sorrow and the precious fleetingness. The personal eternity defined by the journey from the cradle to the grave. There’s an air of sparkling danger about these names. They’re carried in your pocket like a rabbit’s foot, a gentle devastation doubling as a charm. Bessie. Billie. Nina. Etta. These names aren’t tragic. They’re the blues. They’re jazz. They’re the manifestation of soul. They’re what happens to us when we hear a whistle blow in the distance or walk home alone under the cloak of a mellow rain, making eye contact with every stranger, announcing our essential fragility though it may appear to be a fuck you.

This was Etta James.

She was not polite. She was not a “lady” because she knew that ladies can’t do what they want to do: like sometimes love too much,… Continue

Years from now, when music nerds and historians discuss hip-hop in the early 21st century they’ll talk about how rap changed dramatically in the first decade of the new millennium. They’ll note the cross-pollination between electronic, dance, pop and hip-hop music. They’ll say that the nerd supplanted the gangster as the dominant archetype and they will undoubtedly mention artists like Pharrell Williams and Kanye West as influential figures who were, in large part, responsible for the paradigm shift. But, if they’re sharp and they really know their shit, they’ll give some of the credit to Alain “DJ-A-Trak“ Macklovich and Nick “Catchdubs” Barat and the label they founded, Fool’s Gold Records.

In 2012 the juxtapositions of ‘hood and hipster, niche and mainstream, indie and major, are commonplace and almost, well, normal. However, this wasn’t the case a few years ago when Fool’s Gold was born. Back then Mims made a hit song about why he was hot (without… Continue

Bruno Mars is in the clear. Yesterday, the Grammy-winning pop singer was cleared of a felony cocaine possession after meeting the agreements of a plea deal struck approximately one year ago.

On Wednesday, a state court judge in Las Vegas dismissed the case against Mars, 26, which began when the "It Will Rain" star pleaded guilty to cocaine possession on February 16, 2011. He was fined $2,000 and ordered to undergo drug counseling and perform 200 hours of community service. Mars was arrested in September 2010, when he was found with 2.6 grams of cocaine following his show at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

"Bruno earned the dismissal," Mars' lawyer told reporters. "He exceeded the expectations of the court."

The Grammy Awards have gone seven years without an official host, until this year. LL Cool J will do the honor of hosting the 54th Annual Grammy Awards, which will air on Feb. 12 from Los Angeles.

LL Cool J has hosted "The Grammy Nominations Concert Live!! - Countdown To Music's Biggest Night" since its inception in December 2008, and this will be his first time hosting the annual Grammy Awards telecast.

"I'm thrilled to be part of Music's Biggest Night," LL Cool J said, via statement. "I will always have fond memories of my first Grammy Awards and to now be hosting the Grammy show, in the company of so many other incredible artists, is a dream."

The MC joins previously announced performers and current Grammy nominees Jason Aldean, Kelly Clarkson, Foo Fighters, Bruno Mars, Nicki Minaj, and Taylor Swift. Aldean and Minaj…

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Are Rihanna and Chris Brown keeping a secret relationship? A new report suggests that the pop star and singer/rapper, who ended their relationship after Brown assaulted Rihanna in early 2009, have been privately hooking up for nearly a year.

According to Us Weekly, multiple sources have confirmed that the pair have been casually meeting up, even though Brown is currently dating model Karrueche Tran. "They can't get enough of each other. I don't see it ending well," says one industry source quoted for the piece.

However, a rep for Brown tells Us, "He and Rihanna are just friends… He's not cheating." A rep for Rihanna did not comment for the story.

In Feb. 8, 2009, Brown was charged with two felonies stemming from a brutal attack on then-girlfriend Rihanna that took place in his car. Both singers were scheduled to perform at the 2009 Grammys later…

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You know the protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has gone mainstream when the headline of the Drudge Report on Wednesday morning reads, "Hands Off the Internet!"

Numerous Internet companies engaged in a "blackout" protest Wednesday against two anti-piracy bills, SOPA and its counterpart in the Senate, the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). The bills are supported by the RIAA, MPAA and countless other creative and business organizations.

A handful of leading Internet sites are showing that fear is a great motivator. The logo on Google's home page is covered by a black rectangle. Following the link takes the reader to an "End Piracy, Not Liberty" page with information on the bills and an online petition.

At Wikipedia, a black welcome screen asks the visitor to "Imagine a World Without Free Knowledge" and warns that Congress is…

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Music publications this week are reporting that Jay-Z has penned a poem swearing off the use of the word "bitch," in honor of his newborn daughter Blue Ivy Carter.

The first publication to report the poem's existence, Rolling Out, cites no publication source for the poem and could not be reached for comment. Sources close to the rapper have declined to confirm or deny its authenticity.

A day before the re-opening of his NYC night club, 40/40 Club, Jay-Z told The Daily News that the "poem and story are fake."

The only release from Jay-Z since Blue Ivy's birth, the single "Glory (feat. B.I.C.)," was dropped via the rapper's website Jan.9. "Glory" made Billboard history as Blue Ivy became the youngest person ever to appear on a Billboard chart -- the song features her coos and cries.…

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