More stuff I’m digging this week:
- Conan spending NBC’s money
- Five year-old drummer doing System of a Down
- Parks & Recreation + Questlove + Wu-Tang
- Kind of like the Jersey Shore meets Pokemon (NSFW)
- And finally, a Jersey Shore compilation

Have a great weekend. Go Jets!

The VMA discussion is still so hot right now…VMA discussion. So peep it, and my comments (#9) at Noah’s bliz-og.

The 50 vs. Kanye battle ain’t over either. And though Kanye seems to have taken an early lead, The Battle of Billboardsburg is on.

Lastly, a couple more entrepreneurs are making news. The new Crotchepreneur and old Didd-E.

I’m sorry but Kanye’s immaturity is exceeded by his creativity, willingness to take risks, and determination to set the bar higher and in a new place. Here’s yet one more example: “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” alternative video with comedian, Zach Galifianakis.

Plus, you know I DVR’ed 106 & Park last night to watch see Kanye and 50. What became apparent was that BET would not have treated this “Clash of the Titans” episode any differently—other than the Stuart Scott opening it was just like they do when they have 2 artists guests that have nothing to do with one another: Video, then Fiddy came out and talked on the couch, then a video, then he performed, then more videos, then he left…if it weren’t for Kanye. Kanye came out, did two performances and not his biggest hit (Stronger, which is game changing in itself) but combo of Can’t Tell Me Nothing and the Good Life and then a slower joint, Big Brother, which as it was about to wind down, Jay-Z came out, and they did the Encore chorus together. Then Kanye and 50 came out together, they gave each other props, and the show ended with an I Get Money/Can’t Tell Me Nothing mashup.

In the end, it was starting to believe that Mister West has a chance of being, as he said, the new Prince. A girl was even hysterically crying as she met him. But it seems there’s some other competition for the guys (and I’m not talking about Kenny Chesney).

Vegas may have been a little too much of a distraction for organizers and artists because from the very start, it can only be described as a trainwreck. (And even if that’s an unoriginal description, I promise you it’s accurate.) I will not spend time talking about the disappointment that was Britney’s performance. Watch it here – before lunch if you’re smart. It really should have been show-stopping.

She was followed up by an awkward Sarah Silverman, of whom I’m a huge fan and who may have been creating this uneasiness as a genius comic device – but other than a few sweet zingers (“if Amy Winehouse isn’t Jewish, someone should tell her face” and “isn’t it so cute how 50 Cent is still alive”) it was really an uncomfortable two minutes (feeling like 10).

Then other than a pretty ridiculous (in a good way) performance by Chris Brown, I don’t really know what happened. And I didn’t black out. The presenters seemed equally confused. Fergie wasn’t there to receive the Best Female award and Shilostache La Buff thought Ludacris was going to come up and accept it for her – which seems insane given the category even if he was responsible for the verse that was responsible for getting anyone to fork over 99 cents for Fergalicious.

Honestly, I really don’t know who won anything other than the guys with eye liner in the Friends and Enemies suite. Timbaland’s really the only dude who has his shit together, so maybe he should be called The Maestro. Peep the Twittering I did last night of some of the most noteworthy occurences. And note, none of them had to do with category winners. Of course, MTV “knows” that people tune in for the celebrity drama, fashion, lifestyle. But maybe it’s time to rethink that because even if setting Britney up for failure was the “buzz-building” idea all along, they may lose their audience (as well as artist support). (Though there’s no substitute for hearing JT say play more damn videos while on stage with The Hills girls.)

Kanye’s complaining of course that he didn’t win anything or get to perform on the main stage, but he really should be happy he didn’t have any part in the “main” production. The suite shows were the only source of originality and slightly interesting and lively musical excitement. Now I can focus my attention on a truely intelligent marketing scheme…Kanye vs. 50, and tomorrow’s release of both their albums. A rivalry which hopefully won’t get violent like this one, which I’m calling Rocklee 2.

Perhaps Independence Day plans are being made (last minute obviously) and summer’s finally kicked into gear – get your BBQ on people.

Here we go:

This is not too funny, but this was the hot topic of discussions: A burger eating competition at Fatburger in Jersey City coming up on the 28th. If you eat a whole, fully loaded Triple Kingburger (we’re talking 1.5 lbs of meat alone here) you win a undisclosed prize, a fatburger gift certificate, tshirt and picture on the wall. My friend Cox is training: “I think I’m ready – i want to be imortalized in Fatburger history. 4 yrs ago I did eat a 40oz burrito and washed it down with a 21 oz iced tea so hopefully this should be a walk in the park.”

The secret to Chipotle’s success has been identified not by accident, rather by planned marketing. I’m curious to hear how everyone feels about this move?

The hot dog eating record was broken by Joey Chestnut of California. Take that Kobayashi.

Otherwise, there’s been some heated Sopranos debate, which Tim Goodman
recaps and offers his opinion. Solid stuff.

And lastly, an MTV Cribs parody you may actually find novel and comical by Michael Gondry.

Please submit link to comments if you think people are missing out on immaturity from the week! Thanks.