Cuba, Oscar and No Damn Sense

Wassup, Y'all!

11 years. That's how long it's been since Cuba Gooding, Jr. won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his dead on portrayal of egotistical pro football player, Rod Tidwell in Jerry Maguire. The irony of that role was that the subject of Tidwell's catch phrase 'Show me money' is something strangely lacking from the box office receipts of the many movies Gooding has made since. That has ol Ty wondering, that after receiving critical praise for his role as Tre in 'Boyz 'N The Hood' and an OSCAR, how things could go so tragically wrong? Now the brother is filming Hanes underwear commercials with Michael Jordan (who?). What happened to this brother?...

Let me get the tragic facts out of the way first. Of the 23 films ol boy has made since then I can count on four fingers the ones that stood out (As Good As It Gets (good stuff), Instinct (borderline), Men of Honor (good stuff) and Radio (good stuff)). Mixed in there are some heinous joints like Rat Race, Boat Trip, Snow Dogs and his latest, Daddy Day Camp. I left out Norbit since that was really Eddie's hot mess - that was one turrrible movie (though Eddie's ease of doing multiple characters is always impressive...).

Anyway, I bring all this up in the hopes that Cuba's next role, that of 70's pimp Nicky Barnes in Denzel Washington's hotly anticipated American Gangster, which drops in November, is the one that FINALLY brings this brother back to the fold.

I've liked homeboy since his Tre Styles days and I'd like to see him get back some semblance of a respectable career. Granted the brother ain't no Don Cheadle or Denzel or Forest Whitaker or Chiwetel Ejiofor or Djimon Hounsou (don't hate on Djimon, y'all - 'Give us us free!') or ... but he is talented. The brother just needs to figure out a way to say 'hell to tha naw' to any old script that is looking for a southside fool. I know it's tough waiting on scripts to find their way through the fingers of all those previously mentioned brothers (not to mention Will Smith and Samuel L. Jackson) but come on - BOAT TRIP!

Cuba, be patient, brother. Let the game come to you - you have an Oscar baby. Try sticking close to those other brothers I mentioned- they'll pull you out of the wilderness.

Peace@Least,

Tyrone

Jena and 'The Duel' results

Wassup, Y'all!

Today's the big rally down in Dixie Jena, Louisiana which harkens back to the bygone days of the 60's. For the actual factuals of what actually precipitated this movement, check my August 29th post. The good, pre-rally news from Jena is that most of the charges against the six have been "...reduced to offenses such as aggravated battery" and the guilty conviction on second-degree battery charges slapped on the first Jena Six, defendant Mychal Bell has been thrown out by Louisiana's 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal saying that he had been "...improperly tried as an adult. Bell, now 17, remains in custody while prosecutors decide whether to file new charges against him in juvenile court." Hmmmm...that sounds like some good and bad news to me but you have to appreciate the power of public scrutiny...

Seems 50 Cent's album glossy is more than appropriate given that Kanye West's first week album sales crushed Fiddy's by more than 300,000 units. Now the watch is on to see if Fiddy makes good on his promise to retire from the game if his album didn't outsell Kanye's in the first week. How much you wanna bet that ol boy's gonna back out of that ill-advised statement? Me? I'd put about $0.50 on it...

Peace@Least,

Tyrone

Despite Fiddy, Chamillionaire shows the way

Wassup, Y'all!

I've been feelin' Chamillionaire's cut 'Hip Hop Police' off his new album 'Ulimate Victory' for a few now for a couple reasons: 1) That joint is creative and funny and 2) it reminds me of the good old days of hip hop when MCs would tell relevant or entertaining stories with their raps rather than just rapping about being a thug, disrespecting shortys and enjoying the spoils of fame and money. I've also been feelin' Chamillionaire because his latest album has been released without the seemingly obligatory explicit lyrics warning label - an intentional consequence from an artist who seems to finally get it despite receiving derisive feedback from one of his own...

When told of Chamillionaire's choice to release a profanity free album that also intentionally avoids the use of the N-Word, 50 Cent had this to say to Spin magazine back in July: "Let (Chamillionaire) go sell gospel records, if he's so (expletive) righteous."

Man, where to start with Fiddy? This is one arrogant brother who seems to thrive on startin' beefs and stirring controversy to keep his own azz on the musical radar. He's definitely learned the necessary arts of self promotion and product cross promotion but this is also a brother who never seems to mind pushing his fellow artist down to raise himself up and ultimately, that type of behavior is going to catch up with him. It's no wonder that fool got caught a few caps to the body back in the day and it's probably the reason he wears that whack bullet proof vest at his concerts. All it takes is one, y'all.

So it comes as no surprise that Fiddy is back out there and apparently on the brink of 'retirement' due his recent boast that if his new album 'Curtis' doesn't outsell Kanye's West's new album, 'Graduation Day', in the first week he will retire from the game. As of Friday, Billboard "...reported Friday that Graduation leads with 781,000 copies sold over the 603,000 moved by 50 Cent's Curtis, according to projections."

The finish line is this Wednesday and I have to admit that some parts of Ol Ty are wishing that this recent Fiddy boast was more than just another promotion gimmick...

Peace@Least,

Tyrone

You know you're old when...

Wassup, Y'all!
My boy DLT recently made a side comment trying to make ol Ty think that he was gettin' old. To that end, ol boy pretty much succeeded when he told me that (still) foine (tho still weird) shorty Lisa Bonet's *18 year old* daughter, Zoe Kravitz , is featured in this month's GQ magazine. For those of y'all who actually paid attention during the Genetics module in science class you'll agree that Zoe sure can't deny that Lisa and rocker Lenny Kravitz are her parental units. All I can say is 'HOLD UP! Lisa's got an 18 year old daughter!' Man, I guess time is passin me by in the basement...

So naturally that got ol Ty to wonderin' about what else has passed him by while he was looking the other way? Hmmmm...how 'bout the fact that

- Mama Lisa Bonet will turn 40 this year (old girl was 17 when debut on The Cosby Show)

- Little Rudy Huxtable (Keisha Knight Pulliam) is 28!! Man, Luda wasn't lying about being 'all grown up just like Rudy Huuuuxtable...

- Phylicia Rashad (daaamn Phylicia!) is a stone's throw from 60! I see she's doin' that slow aging like Lena Horne...

- Raven Simone? Lisa Bonet's step daughter on the Cosby Show? Ol girl will be 22 in December!

Daaaang - I guess it's time to change the carpet and reupholster the furniture in the basement. Yo DLT! Thanks for nothing, homey!

Peace@Least,

Tyrone