"Latinos in US Popular Music" Exhibition

Yesterday I visited the American Sabor: Latinos in US Popular Music exhibition

at Lincoln Center.

The exhibition explores the influence that Latinos had on popular genres of music.

Including Jazz, Hip Hop, Rock N' Roll, and R&B.

From the 1940s to the present, several artists are featured in the exhibit.

The exhibit has five different sections. 

Each showcases how a specific city in the US  

played a major role in Latino music production. These cities include:

LA, Miami, New York, San Antonio, and San Francisco.

The exhibit also includes two videos, various music stations, and 

a juke box and dance floor.

As usual, I did not follow the exhibition rules.  

I took a few pictures..

Under each photo I have added a link to that artist's music.

The history of Reggaetón

Willie Colón & Héctor Lavoe "La Murga De Panama"

Celia Cruz "La Negra Tiene Tumbao"

Tito Puente "Oye Como Va"

La Lupe "El Carbonero"

Celia Cruz & Willie Colón "Usted Abusó"

Selena "Como La Flor"

The exhibition will be on display until July 13, 2013

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"Us - Black Women"

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Yall So Stylish...

Really D. Wade...

If you follow me on Instagram then you already know how comical I find some of Kanye West's fashion choices. 

Bwahahhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!

But when it comes to the way some of these Basketball players dress... I find it anything but funny.

I often wounder who are some of these player's stylists. Or are they just dressing a certain way for attention and shock value? If so, it's working. Because I always look and comment. And am usually shocked that they walked out their houses dressed like that. 

 There are plenty of other NBA players besides D. Wade who try to be "fashionable." 

Perfect example: Russell Westbrook

iCant!

Maybe it's just me, but I really can't get with the idea of men wearing tight pants. 

Instead of wearing pants that fit them.

Shaq, Kenny, Charles, and Ernie are hilarious!
Here is their reaction to D. Wade's "flood pants."

I guess they all want to be fashion forward like NBA sideline reporter Craig Sager...

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Brooklyn & Hip Hop

Brooklyn, the Remix: A Hip-Hop Tour

The mean streets of the borough that rappers like the Notorious B.I.G. crowed about are now hipster havens, where cupcakes and organic kale rule.

By BEN ADLER

Brian Harkin for The New York Times

A mural of the Notorious B.I.G., killed in 1997, in today’s Bedford-Stuyvesant.

For current real estate purposes, the block where the Brooklyn rapper Notorious B.I.G., whose real name was Christopher Wallace, once sold crack is now well within the boundaries of swiftly gentrifying Clinton Hill, though it was at the edge of Bedford-Stuyvesant when he was growing up. Biggie, who was killed under still-mysterious circumstances in 1997, was just one of the many rappers to emerge from Brooklyn’s streets in the ’80s and ’90s. Including successful hardcore rappers, alternative hip-hop M.C.s, respected but obscure underground groups and some — like KRS-One and Gang Starr — who were arguably all of the above, the then-mean streets gave birth to an explosion of hip hop. Among the artists who lived in or hung out in this now gentrified corner of the borough: Not only Jay-Z, but also the Beastie Boys, Foxy Brown, Talib Kweli, Big Daddy Kane, Mos Def and L’il Kim.

For many, the word “Brooklyn” now evokes artisanal cheese rather than rap artists. The disconnect between brownstone Brooklyn’s past and present is jarring in the places where rappers grew up and boasted about surviving shootouts, but where cupcakes now reign. If you look hard enough, the rougher past might still be visible under the more recently applied gloss. And if you want to buy a piece of the action, Biggie’s childhood apartment, a three-bedroom walk-up, was recently listed by a division of Sotheby’s International Realty. Asking price: $725,000.

This is a great article. It goes on to talk about additional Brooklyn rappers such as: Foxy Brown, Gang Starr, Beastie Boys, Jay-Z, Talib Kweli, and others.

Finish reading it here.

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LaTasha Lee & The BlackTies

I really don't have much to say about LaTasha Lee other than, you should listen to her music.
She's that dope!

I was introduced to her music by a friend, who also has her own blog Urban Inspirations.

She wrote a little something about LaTasha's music here. 

And that is how I first fell in love with LaTasha's sound.  

 This is one of my favorite songs from LaTasha. 

Just listen!

Listen to more of her music on Soundcloud and view more videos on her Youtube channel.

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Material Girl: Acid Wash Skinny Jeans

My new favorite thing are acid wash jeans. Though they

have been around forever, I've recently become a fan.

I especially like the acid wash jeans with the bleach look/affect.

Which is crazy to me because normally I like my jeans to be one color, without

all the extras. 

eBay has a nice selection to choose from.

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2 Years & Counting...

Two years ago today I posted my first Blog entry...

What started out as a way for me to share my thoughts and showcase things I like has now become so much more to me. This Blog is a conversation starter, has helped me get writing gigs, to now having people reach out to me to be featured on it. This Blog shows my growth as not only a writer but also as a person.

From making sure there is new content posted every few days to making sure it's visually appealing, in some kind of way my blog has become my little baby. Because it constantly need my attention, and I have to remained dedicated to it.

With the music and clothing posts, my thoughts on certain issues, and my personal stories; this Blog truly is about stuff I enjoy. My thoughts and opinions that are posted on here are really things I discuss with friends. Nothing I post on here is for attention or shock value. It's just me expressing myself through my passion of writing.

When I first decided to do this Blog I told myself I wanted it to grow organically and readers would support it simply because they like the content. I'm proud of myself for not wavering from what my original intent. To this day I still only post things that spark a reaction and grab my attention because I have to stay true to who I am.

In a previous post I wrote about being an inspiration through my writing. It's the best feeling in the world to receive emails from people I don't know telling me how much they enjoyed something I wrote or how I inspired them.

When you share your passion with the world you open yourself up to receive any kind of feedback, positive or negative. So I am very thankful that within the last two years I have received nothing but positive feedback about my Blog.

Thank you for supporting this Blog, reading my articles, and purchasing earrings. I'm working on several new ventures so stay tuned.

"This blog is the Essence of who I am, it's the Essence of Me." -Tamika Burgess

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