MARIAH CAREY "E=MC^2" - A Review.

I have spent the last three months anxiously awaiting the release of this new CD from Mariah Carey. I am not a life long fan or anything. In fact I would describe most of her music in the past as hit or miss. At least in my opinion. Sometimes I've found her music to be really good and enjoyable, sometimes completely dismissible. Her last CD, however, I thought was incredible; one of the best CDs of this decade.

I felt like at long last the product was the equal of the artist's talent. Finally. I felt like Mariah was hitting her stride. So, there was a great deal of expectations attached to E=MC^2. At least personally. While it doesn't qualify as a total reversal of fortune or anything like that, I don't feel it is a progression from or even the equal of The Emancipation of Mimi. It's good, but not great.

Admittedly, it's been growing on me the last few days, but in no way shape or form am I blown away like I was when I was in Tokyo for golden week three years ago and I walked into Tower records in Shibuya and first heard The Emancipation of Mimi. But when it soars, it is impressive. I like the dirty south electro-funk groove of Side Effects which features a guest spot by Young Jeezy more than anything else on the disc.

Another standout track is the Japan-only bonus track, 4Real 4Real which features Mariah's homegirl, Da Brat. Hopefully that will see life on U.S. shores like the Japan-only cut from the last CD, Don't Forget About Us, eventually did. Migrate featuring T-Pain and I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time will both be joining Touch My Body on the airwaves. Migrate is hot, however, the latter is yet another song that samples DeBarge's Stay With Me. I feel the same way about this cut that I feel about Sowelu's cover of EWF's September on her CD, Naked. If you're going to traverse such well-travelled terrain, whether it be a cover of a time honored classic or a sample of one, you better knock it out of the park. Good just won't cut it.

I think O.O.C., noteworthy, and I like the ballad, Thanx 4 Nothin', more than the others, although I think this CD would've benefitted from having a ballad or two cut. EOM was very well balanced, E=MC^2, like many of Mariah's past CDs, relies a bit heavily on ballads.

You're not only competing with memories of a song that touched a lot of people, you're competing with every other cover or sample of something that means a lot to a great many people. Speaking for myself, I'd rather just listen to the original. Quibbles aside, nobody is going to feel bad about adding E=MC^2 to their music collection. All of the tracks are good, Mariah's voice is still unmatched in pop music, the production work is top shelf and there are a few tracks that are brilliant. Just don't expect it to match Ms. Carey's last release, because, in my opinion, it doesn't.

Jay-Z And Beyonce Get Married.

People.com, MTV and TMZ are all reporting that Jay-Z and Beyonce got married yesterday. Finally. After approximately two years of rumors and hearsay they couple are finally Mr. & Mrs. Carter, tying the knot before a small group of family and friends under a tent on the roof of their Manhattan residence. Further adding to the speculation, People.com said DJ Cassidy, who reportedly played the reception, let it fly a week ago that he was "really excited" about Jay-Z and Beyonce's impending wedding.

The super-private couple even tried to throw fans & media off their trail by writing songs and verses about their break-up, see Lost One from Jay-Z if you don't know. On Tuesday, April Fool's Day, they got a marriage license in Scarsdale NY., by sunrise Friday morning a tent was up on their building's roof and then Jay-Z's mom showed up, as did Beyonce's family, Chris Martin & Gwenyth Paltrow, KanYe West and Beyonce's former Destiny's Child bandmates, Kelly Rowland & Michelle Williams.

Presumably, Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo were there since N.E.R.D. has been in New York all week and Jay-Z's protege, Rihanna, since they are a very tight knit group. Pictures of flowers, 5,000 wild orchids imported from Thailand, AV equipment and candelabras showing up also appear on the people.com website. TMZ has photographs of the waitstaff on the roof of the building as well as of Beyonce's parents arriving at the Tribeca residence of the two pop music icons and right now MTV is reporting the wedding news on-air.

Chris Brown: Rihanna's "Just A Friend".

Undoubtedly feeling refreshed after his Caribbean vacation, Chris Brown was in Los Angeles Saturday for the Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards where he addressed the rumors he and Rihanna are dating. According to Mr. Kiss-Kiss, he's single and Rihanna is just a friend. I wonder if he meant just a friend in the Biz Markie sense of the word, or if he knows who Biz Markie is (that's an age joke). Big coinky-dinky, Rihanna, was also at the event, but the 20 year old pop Goddess dodged the press line. They both need to stop and just admitted it already.

Source: Yahoo!

LUCY LIU: Eye Candy of The Day.

At 39 years old, Lucy Liu still looks absolutely amazing and is still one hot mama. From Ally McBeal to Cashmere Mafia, From Payback to kill Bill Vol. 1, she’s always been exciting and fun to watch on screen. With Cashmere Mafia getting whacked by ABC, I hope it’s not long before she’s back on the small screen so I can get a weekly dose of the native New Yorker.

Olivia Munn in Complex.

G4 TV Attack of The Show hottie Olivia Munn is interviewed in Complex this month. The Geek-boy dream girl also does a movie tribute photo shoot that perfectly balances nerdy and cool.

Complex.

Rihanna + Chris Brown + Jamaica = So Busted.

I was reading that fun, hip, “insanely addictive” celebrity gossip blog Popsugar this past weekend when I saw a post they had about Chris Brown & Rihanna getting their swerve on in Jamaica last week. The post was complete with photographic evidence of the two getting loose in a pool. I guess those matching tattoos they got a few months ago weren’t “just for fun” after all. There have been incriminating photos of the two of them before but nothing that packed as powerful a punch as frolicking in a pool on a romantic vacation together in the Caribbean. The romantic rumors that began last September are apparently quite true, but I’m sure they’ll stay mum on it ala Jay-Z and Beyoncé. Hit the link below for all the sweet details

PopSugar.

Amy Winehouse: Where Did It All Go Wrong?

I’ve been having a difficult time putting my head around Amy Winehouse’s troubles. I used to think that it was all an act. You know, that she was crafting some kind of image, the way most of today’s rap stars do. Guys from upper-middle class suburban families - Dad’s an investment banker, mom is an English literature professor - talking about guns, drug deals and their hoes to score a few million record sales. They walk around singing “Good Times” but in reality they’re a Huxtable. You’ve seen them before. You know you have.

I first heard Amy Winehouse four years ago after she released her debut CD, Frank. Frank was kinda jazzy and bluesy in spots. Not overly raunchy with the exception of the single F**k Me Pumps. Still, that track was a ways removed from Me & Mr. Jones (Fuckery), Wake Up Alone and the collection of songs on her compelling sophomore effort, Back To Black. However, we have seen many artists change their style up musically. So that’s nothing new. The big change from Frank to Back To Black was with the artist herself.

I’d like to mention that all the images above and below are linked. This allows someone the opportunity to see the videos as well as larger images for the sake of comparison. So as I was saying, in all the videos, publicity shots, television appearances and record Jackets that I saw of Amy Winehouse circa that Frank CD, she was beautiful, voluptuous, sexy, well groomed and without a tattoo anywhere.

Compare the woman in the video for F**k Me Pumps or the video for Stronger Than Me and the woman on The Frank CD cover to the woman in the video below. Three years later not only do we have a completely different person, but the Amy Winehouse we have today is literally dying right before our eyes. She says all her songs are autobiographical. If that’s truly the case, then maybe the life is sadly imitating the art or, perhaps, this is who she really is and her musical talent is allowing her to liberate the true Amy Winehouse.

Maybe she was always sick and like a snake shedding it’s skin she peeled away the old Amy Winehouse to reveal who she truly is. Perhaps in the past she just had a better hold on her demons than she does today. Maybe she no longer wants to subdue a darker side. After all, there are a few drug references in F**k Me Pumps and she’s always expressed an affinity towards “bad girls” and the seedy, tough side of life. Take note of the lyrics as you what the video for Stronger Than Me. Lyrically, I guess nothing has changed that much, perhaps I’m the only one having difficulty reconciling this.

However, I trust my own eyes, comparing images of the woman before with what we see today, it’s is hard to connect the two women. It’s a drastic transformation. Which is what makes me wonder, what the hell happened? A little voice in me wonders are am I just being naive, like the college professor mom you see screaming on TV when her little baby gets caught with a smoking gun? You know what I mean.

Amy Winehouse isn’t the first artist to lose them self in a character, in the artistic expression of their own creative genius but, hopefully, she will be the last. As of this moment, she is back in a London rehab facility, hopefully she will get the help there that she so obviously needs.

Rachelle Leah in Complex.

I’ve got to get at the folks at USPS because since I’ve moved, I gotten everything I usually get in the mail - bills, bills, junk mail, bills, bank statement, more bills - but what I have not gotten is my still currently subscribed to issues of Complex.

Because if I had got my copy of Complex, I would have been seen this layout and said something about it. Well, as the saying goes, better late than never. You all can hit the link to see more of the Spike T.V./UFC knockout.

Complex.