Some people love him. Other people hate him—or, at very least, view him with disdain or suspicion. They think he is an egotistical rock star with a messianic complex, while his fans find him to be a confident, vocal activist and charismatic entertainer. It doesn’t really matter, because Bono celebrated his 50^th birthday yesterday with plenty of accomplishments to be proud of, despite what the Bono-hating naysayers might say.

Since U2 formed in working-class, war-torn Ireland in 1976, they have sold over 150 million records, been awarded 22 Grammy Awards, inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame and performed for countless special events, including President Obama’s Inauguration and the Rose Bowl—to name just a couple. Rolling Stone magazine has named Bono one of the greatest singers of all time and Spin magazine recently called U2’s seventh album, Achtung Baby, the #1 best album of the past 25 years. U2 has also toured internationally since 1979, each year offering a bigger, bolder theatrical stage production. On their Zoo TV tour during the early nineties, they had two cars suspended, crashing together above their elaborate, somewhat garish, stage. The following Pop tour featured a giant lemon that all four members of U2 could fit inside. The stage for their current 360° tour is a remarkable sight to be seen. It even set a world record for the largest concert stage structure ever created. U2 never does anything small and that is largely due to the unwavering passion of their now 50-year-old front man. Most rock stars at his age are checking out, losing relevance and living in obscurity. Not Bono; he may be 50, but he’s not going to slow down any time soon. There are presidents and government officials to meet, powerful political groups to rally and poor people in other countries to help. As long as Bono has something to be passion about, he’s not going anywhere. He may even stick around for another 50 years.

The best living rapper still has a pocket-full of street credibility...somehow.

In 2008, Jay-Z arrived at the British rock’n'roll-centric Glastonbury Festival as the first ever rapper to ever headline the notoriously raucous event. Critics called the decision ” a disaster,” “tragic,” and even went as far as to deem Glastonbury forever “contaminated.” And to make matters worse, Noel Gallagher, the lead-singer in the British pop-rock quintet Oasis, established himself as the antagonistic voice of dissenters as he referred to the festival’s guitar-rich history, and said in a BBC interview, “Jay-Z? No Chance.” But, if it was such a bad idea to have a rapper at a rock show, why is that Jay-Z is scheduled to headline Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival this friday?

To say the least, Jay-Z managed to pull out of the Glastonbury show as hip-hop’s most internationally popular live performer. Maybe it was his cover of Oasis’ “Wonderwall” that led to his momentous success; but, whatever the case, he now intends to bring hip hop into every venue imaginable. This summer he plans to show up at Tennessee’s Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, the Summer Sonic Festival in Japan, and even Germany’s Rock Am Ring, which all seem like the logical next step for the first hip-hopper to top the performance list at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Southern California.

Notice the Hip-Hop Name at the Top of the Ticket

Paul Tollett, Coachella’s founder and operational mastermind cited Jay-Z’s long list of hits, street credibility, and Twitter-worthy showmanship as the reasons for choosing the famed hip-hop star. However, he did also mention that it isn’t just that Jay-Z is capable of headlining such an immense venue, but that there aren’t that many hip-hop performers who could handle the job. So, fortunately for hip hop as an entire genre, there is at least one performer worth seeing live: Jay-Z.

Technorati Tags: coachella, glastonbury, Jay-Z

Is it Usher? Kanye West? or T-Pain? Nope, just ATG

As he introduced himself to the world, it wasn’t difficult to pinpoint ATG as just another run-of-the-mill rapper. Though he himself claims to be the newest breed of rapper/singer to enter the game, his aviator-sporting- polo-wearing-self looks just like Kanye West, and sounds exactly like T-Pain (thanks to his heavy use of an auto tuner). Nevertheless, his single “Drunk Sex,” which was inspired by Jeremih’s “Birthday Sex,” has been popular enough for him to make a part 2 with C-Ride, and a part 3 with Kirby Maurier, which will have a music video that he plans to turn into a movie.

ATG demonstrates how to save yourself from his albums

Alongside “Drunk Sex,” ATG dropped another single called “Light It Up,” produced by T-Nyce from Toronto, and a mixtape titled, “Mr. Do It All.” He has also been busy producing a track called “Freak,” by an up-and-coming R&B diva named LauldeJ. But, as he shamelessly advertises his twitter, myspace, and youtube accounts, it is difficult to call this man a hip-hop artist, and easier to label him a bubble-gum rapper. Since flash and reputation are all that really sell on mainstream airwaves, it isn’t a surprise to find another fresh-to-death narcissistic rapper. But, the unique thing about this ATG he consider’s himself brand-name, and not just somebody out to make music; in other words, he’s not an artist, just a rhyming billboard.

Technorati Tags: ATG, birthday sex, c-ride, drunk sex, jeremih, kanye west, kirby Maurier, rapper, t-pain

Rob Troy with The Ant Farm ad agency in L.A.

Rob Troy, the executive creative director at The Ant Farm – a high-profile ad agency in Los Angeles – managed to reach new heights of advertisement efficiency as he succeeded in using a commercial to inspire an emotional connection between the gamer and the game. In this case, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, a game that would sweep up the competition in its modern combat genre, had the passionate lyrics of marshall mathers (aka Eminem), to help it make a lasting impression; after all, just the breath-taking visual effects, or the wicked arsenal of weapons couldn’t move 15 million units all alone. Without Mr. Troy’s commercial vision, Activision Blizzard probably wouldn’t have gotten near their current reported earnings: $1 billion.

The goal was a hard sell: draw in a larger audience than the original by guaranteeing a bigger and more bad-ass experience. At the M16 game marketing conference, Troy and his team revealed their reasoning behind their brilliant publicity generator. They explained how they began collecting artwork, animated scenes and portions of the script several months before the game’s November release, which they then strung  together into a series depicting furious combat. They speculated that many American gamers would feel like they were defending the Land of the Free, since much of the action is set on U.S. soil.

Some of the footage used in the ad depicted a massacre

Considering the record-sales of the game, it’s plain to see that this somewhat stereotypical assumption was indeed, 100 percent correct.

Technorati Tags: activision, ant farm, blizzard, call of duty, eminem, modern warfare 2, rob troy

Makin' noise in Illinois

The swell of tween-age girls that flocked to see Justin Bieber live on Wednesday night made some think it was 1964, and that the Beatles were actually playing the Rosemont Theatre; unfortunately – however disappointing it may be – the famed Illinois venue wasn’t actually hosting the premiere pop act of all time, but merely just presenting the newest Plastecine pre-pubescent to ever whine through an auto-tuner. His name is Justin Bieber, and with the help of Usher and milions of impressionable fifteen-year-old girls, this Canadian sensation has managed to take present-day Justin Timberlake, and cram him into the body of a mop-headed fifteen year old.

In interviews, Justin has listed a couple of his most memorable moments from the past two years, which included performing for President Obama, and his encounter with Beyonce Knowles as a presenter at the Grammy Awards. He mentioned a recent Range Rover that he’d received from Usher – wrapped with a bow and pre-loaded with Usher’s newest album Raymond vs. Raymond – and how his mother is too afraid to drive with him, but that his manager lets the young pop-hopper flex his driver’s- permit skills.

Hip Hop's finest, stayin' cool at radio Disney

As cob-web-covered acts like the Jonas Brothers age beyond the tween-pop spotlight, a new billboard-boy is strung up to the puppet strings. Prepare to see a lot of this little fella in the future; ask anyone younger than 25 – he’s the coolest thing since frozen yogurt.

Technorati Tags: beatles, justin timerlake, justine bieber, rosemont theatre, usher

The Original Hip-Hop Heads

Since its conception in 1979 with the Sugar Hill Gang’s Rapper’s Delight, hip hop has dramatically changed from the days of the Fresh Prince, to a mega-culture that took over the nineties, and finally to the culture of violence, bling, and womanizing that it is infamous for today. And, while the mainstream sensationalists that consume the genre appear to some as the death of hip hop – namely, Nas, who dropped an album in 2006 titled, “Hip Hop is Dead -” some aren’t quite yet ready to start digging the grave.

Devin Cole, a third-year political science student from Tampa, is one of those people. He doesn’t believe that hip hop is dead, he just thinks that it may have lost its direction, and he despises the fact that the meaningful songs from yesteryear have been completely replaced by the swagger-saturated anthems of present-day.

Paul Porter, the co-founder of Industry Ears and former music programmer for BET and Radio One, also agrees that hip hop is still alive, just not quite kicking; however, his concern for the future of music has inspired him to found Industry Ears, a non-profit organization that strives to ensure well-balance media – which couldn’t be more appropriate in a time where conglomerates run a major portion of all media outlets, convincing the public of what they like to hear.

Are you sure it's dead, Nasir?

As it stands, it seems more important for people to consider things for themselves, rather than worrying about the health of hip hop; art lives in the people.

Technorati Tags: culture, dead, death, Hip Hop, mainstream

Jay-Z with his famed baseball cap

Jay-Z, the chart-topping emcee and CEO of the entertainment company Roc Nation, transformed The Pepsi Center into a hurricane of hip-hop on Monday, in an event that truly was the cherry atop his legendary career as a hip-hop revolutionary. Shawn Corey Carter, who is known to millions of fans as either Jay-Z, Jigga or Hova, kept the entire stadium rhyming right along with him as he filled the airwaves with an extended list of hits.

As only Jazzy could, the famed rapper opened like a shaken bottle of cristal, exploding onto the stage with “Run This Town,” “On to the Next One,” D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)” and then the somewhat-aged classic, “99 Problems.” HE complimented himself as he brought in backup singer Bridget Kelly to handle Alicia Keys’ hook in “Empire State of Mind,” and displayed video clips of Barack Obama brushing off his soon-to-be-presidential shoulder as the rapper erupted with “Dirt Off Your Shoulder.”

Young Jeezy apparently needs to step up his game

Jay-Z shared the stage for a short guest appearance by Young Jeezy. But the crowd was rather disappointed by his failed attempt to live up to a radio-sheened reputation; fortunately for him, Jay-Z decided to add his own flair to the struggling rapper’s “Mr. President,” which managed to save the entire song. The short verse was highly-concentrated hip hop, and certainly deserves to be quoted for the benefit of all those who didn’t have a chance to catch the man spitting fire in the snow-covered state of Colorado. It went as follows: “Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther could walk/ Martin Luther walked so Barack Obama could run/ Barack Obama ran so all the children could fly/ So I’ma spread my wings/ You could meet me in the sky.”

Technorati Tags: Hip Hop, Hova, Jay-Z, Jigga, Pepsi Center, Roc Nation, Shawn Corey Carter

Orianthi & Santana Performing Together

If you were to take a look at the Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 greatest guitarists to have ever lived you will see a serious lack of female presence. Although women have been on par with men in all other areas of music, for some reason when it comes to guitar playing women have simply not been able to master the skills needed to make the top 100… until now, for now we have rock goddess Orianthi.

Australian Orianthi Panagaris was discovered by Michael Jackson and played as his lead guitarist for his final “This Is It” concert tour. She has since gone on to play with guitar legends such as Santana and Steve Vai and stood her ground without breaking a sweat. Orianthi has also played at the legendary Crossroads blues festival.

Orianthi's Debut Album Believe

Her debut album Believe has a pop feel to it fused with extraordinary guitar soloing. Her hit single “According to You” was Single of the Week on iTunes in October 2009 and features a music video displaying her guitar solo with a close up on the finger board.

Whatever the case has been until now, Orianthi has broken all barriers with her unique guitar playing and her skillful ability to mold herself into any genre. She is without a doubt the future of female guitarists worldwide.

Technorati Tags: Australian, Crossroads, NAMM, Orianthi, Paul Reed Smith, PRS, Rock Goddess, Rollling Stone, santana, Steve Vai

The Legendary KRS-One

KRS-ONE, the legendary old-school emcee, activist, and overall hip-hop pioneer, is scheduled to headline the 2010 International Hip-Hop Festival at Trinity College, to celebrate the fifth year of this weekend-long festival of featured performances, lectures, graffiti artistry, and a break dance battle – judged by Trac2 –  for a cool $1,500 grand prize.

Lawrence Parker (aka KRS ONE), whose name stands for “Knowledge Reins Supreme Over Nearly Everybody”, had three Billboard Top 100 singles, and has etched himself into hip-hop history as a preacher of peace, and a critic of violence in hip-hop. He received a BET Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008 for his work with the Stop the Violence Movement, which he established in 1988 as a response to the excessive violence that is so prevalent in the hip-hop community. He also established The Temple of Hip Hop, which is a national organization intended to maintain and promote hip-hop as a genuine political movement and culture. It was created on the Trinity campus to support the mission of the festival. It encourages socially conscious songs, and encourages radio stations to play more socially-aware hip-hop.

Graffiti artists will have a chance to showcase their talents at the festival

In addition to KRS-One, The reMINDers, Nomadic Massive, Anita Tijoux, DAM, Shokanti, Wagëblë, Flex Mathews, DJ Nio, DJ Boo, Self-Suffice, Zee Santiago, Readnex Poetry Squad, and DJ H20 are all going to play at the celebration.

Technorati Tags: emcee, festival, Hip Hop, KRS one, trinity college

Cover of K'naan's Album Troubadour

Recently in Canada singers from varying genres gathered together to form a mega group named Young Artists for Haiti to do a rendition of singer K’naan’s inspiring anthem Waving Flag. Wavin’ Flag is a hit single from K’naan’s latest album Troubadour. Featured singers included artists such as pop icon Avril Lavigne, rap sensation Drake and jazz prodigy Nikki Yanofsky who is now world famous after singing the Canadian national anthem at the opening of the Vancouver Olympics earlier this year.

Young Artists for Haiti Logo

The production for the song was clearly meticulously developed and extremely well done courtesy of Canadian music producer Bob Ezrin. The singer’s voices are well suited to their allotted lyrics and sing in their own unique style which gives a very natural flow to complete this heartfelt inspiring song.

All proceeds from songs by Young Artists for Haiti (which can be purchased on iTunes) will go toward benefit relief efforts for the children and families who are in dire need of basic living necessities after the earthquake that killed and orphaned so many on January 12, 2010.

Technorati Tags: Canada, Canadian singers, Haiti, iTunes, K'naan, Troubadour, Wavin' Flag, Young Artists for Haiti