I was a little skeptical about Kush Kloud Klan when I first heard their name but they quickly made a believer out of me with this mixtape.  This trio out of Atlanta have an old school southern hip hop vibe to them.  They remind me of Goodie Mob or the 2001 group Dirty if you are old enough to remember them.   They are definitely a group to watch out for in the up coming months.   Check out their first mixtape Kush Klouds.  Kush Klouds

Review by Manda J

A few weeks back, I was gifted with a pass to attend the screening of “The Help”. I was über excited as this was my second must see movie for the summer (the first being Transformers). As an avid reader,  I am the type of person who hates to see a movie after I’ve read the book because the movie gets so twisted, so I was a little leery and apprehensive about the movie. But after watching “The Help“, I was proven wrong.  Based on one of the most talked about books in years “The Help” stars Emma Stone as Skeeter, Viola Davis as Aibileen and Octavia Spencer as Minny as women in segregated Mississippi during the 1960’s.  They become friends and secretly begin to write accounts of women who serve as help to families in the town.

As an African American, I’ve seen dozens of movies or read plenty of books about segregation and slavery but this movie really brings out another side. The movie let’s you in on conversations from the white women, and heads of the house about black cooks & maids and you realize that these women who sacrifice their own homes and families weren’t even viewed as people.  They’re lives were not taken into consideration but their sole purpose was to serve and raise their employers children. The so-called “help” became so important in the children’s lives that the children turned to the help over their own mothers who birthed them.

Overall, the movie was excellent, and proves that people can change.  Davis, Spencer and Stone do an excellent job of getting you to see each of their sides and empathize with the help without using cheap woe is me tactics. Bottom line: Go see this movie!  It is in theater’s August 10, this Wednesday, don’t miss this one!

G.O.O.D. Music artists Pusha T and Cyhi Da Prynce graced the DMV with their presence for the Heineken Red Star Access Tour.  This event was an intimate evening of good hip-hop music hosted by the beautiful Adrienne Bailon (who is also sweet as pie!)  The only way to score tickets was by following @DCtoBC on Twitter who gave away 100 tickets to select individuals.  Every ticket winner was also allowed to bring a guest and was treated to delicious light fare and free Heineken all night!

The evening was fantastic and Heineken allowed guests to take as many pictures and videos as we’d like.   So here’s a video of Pusha T performing “So Appalled” “Popular Demand” and “Grindin”.

More videos of the night are after the jump!

Cyhi Da Prynce performs “So Appalled” and “Sideways” (I even got a shout out for Maryland & a dap!)

Pusha T

Pusha T

New music coming from one of the best to do it in the DMV, Uptown XO. Monumental 2 coming soon.

By @Urbansocialight

I was really upset at the BET Awards because, per usual, I had some hope of them having some semblance of a reputable award show, yet again I was completely let down. I have to applaud Kevin Hart for trying to be a good host, he started off strong and the skits were very funny.  Indeed , there were also great performances from many artists including Mary J. Blige & Anita Baker,  Jill Scott, Cee-Lo & Marcia Ambrosius, Alicia Keys & Bruno Mars, Chris Brown, Mary Mary and Patti LaBelle who also received the Lifetime Achievement award.  But the stand out performance came from Kelly Rowland, who shut haters up with a sexy performance, where she proved a woman can sing without being half naked (*gasps*).  Her vocals were SO on point!

Let’s just highlight the pitfalls: poor sound, too many repeat performers, the HORRIBLE Fan Fav mix-up, Kevin Hart missing for an hour, Debra Lee’s outfit, Shirley Caesar’s outfit, the cursing censor being asleep on the job, in summary, to quote our Twitter page: “Technical difficulties is an understatement”.  The gospel and Lifetime Achievement performances can’t be the only saving graces EVERY YEAR! That’s why they do the Stellar’s and the Celebration of Gospel and a thousand other positive award shows (Shout out to the CMT Awards).  I think that this will be the last year I’m participating in this coonery that like’s to pose as an award show.

That being said, I was extremely upset at the Reuter’s headline, “Stars with criminal pasts honored at BET Awards”.  Are you bloody kidding me? Our entire society glorifies criminals and drug addicts (i.e. Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, “Celebrity Rehab”, etc.)  Equally as many rock stars have been arrested as rappers.  Hell, Steven Tyler (whom I love BTW) has been arrested and no one wrote an article “Drug Addict and criminal Steven Tyler to be the new Idol judge”.  The title alone is racially charged dribble and Reuters’ should be ashamed.  If you are into hogwash read here.

Question of the Day: What did you think of the 2011 BET Awards? Reply to us on Twitter and we’ll RT the best tweets! (@CrabzInaBarrel)

Our own Manda J sent me this clip of this spoken word artist  Janette..ikz (pronounced “Genetics”).  This woman is TheTruth.com  (as Tamar Braxton’s husband Vince would say).  Hailing from Long Beach, California Janette…ikz is a part poetess, part singer, part singer and a whole lot preacher.  Our non-religious readers are warned this poem is laced  with Biblical text but hopefully it transcends religions.  This piece is called “I Will Wait For You”.

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Genetics-Janetteikz/112000052151727 

Booking: bookgenetics@gmail.com

Turnz – The Level (Mixtape)