While on vacay in Miami, His Airness kept both his palate and his jumpshot wet with a quick game of beer pong. MJ, while we applaud your attempt at some harmless alcohol-fueled enjoyment, we do have to note that your elbow’s over the table. #DoesntCount
Top 5 Tracks On MIA’s New Album #Matangi
The queen of paper planes, Tamil dance beats, and subversion-on-wax returns. We don’t do feature length album reviews per se, but Pitchfork’s got you covered. In the meantime, here are the top 5 songs we think you should hear, hosted by Spotify. For devoted M.I.A fans and newcomers alike, this album won’t disappoint.
- Bad Girls – By now everyone knows that bad girls live fast, die young, but at least they do it well. Take note Miley Cyrus.
- Y.A.L.A – A response to Drake’s Y.O.L.O mantra (you only live once), which proclaims “Y.A.L.A” – you always live again.
- Double Bubble Trouble – A laid-back hybrid of Reggae and Dubstep.
- Sexodus – an entrancing exercise in seduction, with the sound of helicopter propellers diffused through the soundwaves.
- aTENTion – a tribute to Autotune, and the now-classic Bone Crusher war chant, “Never Scared.”
Mixtape of the Week: Californiaman’s #GoldenStateOfMind
Mixing 70s and 80s blue-eyed soul, Stockholm, Sweden’s Californiaman strays off-topic at just the right times. Look out for interjections from Kendrick Lamar, Donny Hathaway, D’Angelo, and surprise – the Chicago Bulls starting lineup theme (“Sirius” by The Alan Parsons Project)? Yup, you read that right.
Hilarious Facebook App Autogenerates Statuses For You. #WWIS
You ever wondered – if Facebook could read your innermost thoughts and post statuses for you, what would it say? Well look no further. The What Would I Say app’s got you covered.
Users simply log in with their Facebook account, and the app generates posts based on their previous history. And it’s for a good cause – you can even donate to typhoon relief in the Philippines. Here’s our Top 5, in no particular order:
#KanyeWest – The BBC Radio 1 Interview, With Zane Lowe
The International Asshole, at it again.
#TheSexyPlaylist
For lovers everywhere. Use carefully.
#Happy4th: A Guide to Independence Day in New York City.
So the bad news is, July 4th falls awkwardly on a Thursday this year. This could potentially mean entering the office on Friday with the remnants of last night’s Tequila-driven hangover. If that’s your thing…
The good news is that Uncle Sam’s bday celebration will be continuing steadily on into the weekend, with four solid days to enjoy Independence Day. To cover all bases, there’s something for everyone from foodies to Hipsters. #Happy4th
Stay tuned for more updates throughout the weekend.
Thursday, July 4th
What’s a 4th of July to-do list without Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest? Ladies competition starting at 11:25 AM and men at 12 PM.
If you can get an invite, head over to Reed Space’s LES Pool Party at Thompson LES. Becka Diamond is taking the first shift on the 1s and 2s, with DJ Cougarskin’s late 90s/early 2000s, R & B, and electronic music sets closing the show.
Sixpoint Brewery and mysocialist.com host a tribute to good indie music, and even better beer at Ripper’s Rockaway Beach.
For all those looking for some entertainment a little further Uptown, the folks at Papermag have let it slip that Marcus Samuelsson will be cooking up three special types of Franks — “the midsummer (topped with shrimp salad, chili sauce and crispy onions), banh dog (with sriracha mayo, cucumber, carrots, and cilantro) and mac (dressed with cheese sauce, jerk bacon beans, cornbread crumbler, and pickles).” From Thursday to Sunday.
Free burgers, hot dogs, and roast pig at South Street Seaport’s The Iron Horse.
Rumor has it that there’s a taping of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” at Greenhouse from 10 PM to 2 AM.
Friday, July 5th
Headlined by Jay-Z’s former touring DJ Neil Armstrong, the Freedom Party features an unusually eclectic variety of music – hip-hop, R&B, rock, reggae, soul, new wave, house music, salsa, merengue, electro, afrobeat, and more.
$20 for 2 days isn’t bad if we might say so.
Saturday, July 6th
Who ya gonna call? Playing at Williamsburg’s Nitehawk Cinema on Saturday morning.
Courtesy of the homies at The Brooklyn Good Guys. Head over to Brooklyn’s Herbert Von King Park, and be sure to bring canned food along with your kickball shoes.
Theophilus London will be playing Prospect Park at 7 PM. Gratis.
Sunday, July 7th
Before there were Almost Famous and Jerry Maguire, there were Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Say Anything, all directed by Cameron Crowe. Brooklyn’s Habana Outpost will be showing it outdoors starting at 8 PM.
Top 5 Most Controversial #EdwardSnowden Memes
Just to do our part in chiming in on the privacy and surveillance debate, these memes reflect the wide range of popular opinion about Edward Snowden’s whistleblowing. After Snowden leaked classified documents detailing the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs, his actions have drawn the ire of some like New York Times columnist David Brooks, yet gained praise from public figures as influential as Ron Paul and Michael Moore. President Obama has remained somewhat hands-off.
Our opinion? Neutral, but you have to applaud a guy so committed to doing what he thinks is right :p.
#RooftopPartyPlaylist
Something spacey and eclectic for gazing out over the skyline of New York City.
Spotify Playlist: #SchoolsOut
With the school year ending (college, law school, med school , the School of Hard Knocks), we thought it was only right to do a “School’s Out” playlist. Especially if the season’s got you feeling as elated as this kid:
If you’re anything like our editors in their late 20s…looking back on your school days, you probably have a hazy mix of memories of summer vacations, playing beer pong at campus parties, and at some point, maybe actually doing a piece of homework or two. At any rate, we thought the “School’s Out” theme would best be captured with some classic songs like the Beastie Boys, “Fight For Your Right to Party,” Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall,” and Alice Cooper’s, “School’s Out for the Summer,” along with some of our favorite 90s nostalgia, and party cuts.
To truly capture the 90s, we even threw in Celine Dion’s “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.” And lastly since most of our playlists are hip-hop and indie themed, we had to top things off with a few current hits. So sit back and enjoy. Hopefully you’ve grown up since the days when you were as immature as these guys:
princeakeem.com 