DoA

So, after Jay-Z read my blog entry about Kanye appearing on SouthPark's Fishsticks episode, he released the single "Death of Autotune". Cheers, mate. And after hearing it, the web director at Esquire mag wrote this:
"

Jay-Z's "Death of Autotune": Because Someone Had to Say It

June 18, 2009 at 10:06AM by Eric Gillin

Buzz up!

Dear Mr. Carter,

Thank you for releasing your new single, "Death of Autotune." For the last few years, rap music has sounded more like that awful Cher song "Believe" than the music that once made my mom so pissed she tossed my Amerikkka's Most Wanted record onto the front lawn in the rain. I agree, Shawn, the state of rap is totally embarrassing, and I'm quite pleased you brought the topic up.

Hip-hop has endured all kinds of humiliation over the last thirty years — ­the polka dots worn by Kwame "the Boy Genius" come to mind, as does this rap scene from the movie Teen Witch, and Diddy protégé Mase's ill-advised third comeback record.­ But this autotune thing, as evidenced in T-Pain's entire oeuvre, has been the absolute worst. All of a sudden dudes who can barely rap think they can sing, and everything is a pop song now — these tinny, emotionless affairs, like Kanye West's inexplicable, ubiquitous hit "Love Lockdown."

I don't even know what to make of the fact that Kanye ­— whose last record was entirely autotune —­ produced "Death of Autotune." I'm not going to analyze it that much. Maybe y'all were hanging out and he was like, "I'll produce that shit," and you were like, "Cool." Maybe he likes money and he has a mortgage to pay off. Maybe he's being meta or post-modern. Whatever. Don't care. You're making some salient points in your track, "Death of Autotune," Mr. Carter — namely when you say rappers are way too emotional these days, too many of them are dressed like rodeo clowns, and it's time to welcome real singers back to the recording booth. I thank you deeply for making them.

Sincerely,

Eric Gillin"

Yes, thanks for being influenced.

-J

AXE

While I think Axe deodorant is probably the worst product in the WORLD (unless, of course, you're from "frikkin AWEsome" Long Island), I do like their Dark Chocolate body wash.
My girlfriend says it's in no way an exaggeration, it does smell irresistible. In that case, she's never sitting by me on a bus. (See 37 seconds into the video)

Excellent marketing; quality commercials are like verified news stories on CNN- rare.

-J

Replacing Ronaldo

Man United

have made Ribery bid

Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has claimed Manchester United, Chelsea and Barcelona have all made offers for France playmaker Franck Ribery.

Ribery: A man in demand this summer

Ribery is also a target for big-spending Real Madrid but Rummenigge revealed three of their European rivals have stolen a march in their pursuit of the 26-year-old.

Asked if Madrid had made an offer, Rummenigge said: "No but other clubs have done. Chelsea have lodged a bid, as have Manchester United and Barcelona."

However, Rummenigge insisted the Bundesliga giants were determined to keep hold of Ribery and would not cash in on their prize asset despite all the high profile interest in the player.

"Real Madrid president Florentino Perez and his advisor Pedro Jimenez asked if we were willing to speak with them over a transfer but we rejected the chance and we have no intention of selling Ribery," the former Germany international told Bild.

"We are relaxed and proud that we have one of the best three players in the world under contract. The power lies with Bayern Munich."

He added: "I don't want to talk about sums of money because it is not in our interest. The amount is irrelevant."

"There is always going to be the perception that Bayern Munich are trying to push the price up and that there is a certain value at which we'll have to accept, but I'll say it again: we want to keep Ribery.

"A player has to respect his contract, in his case until 2011. He is on holiday now and then we want to have a successful season with Franck next year."

Earlier this year Bayern general manager Uli Hoeness slapped a £126m price tag on Ribery, in light of Manchester City's unsuccessful £100m offer to AC Milan for Kaka in January, saying: "If Kaka is meant to be worth €120m, then Franck Ribery is worth €150m."

Hoeness later said that £40m would not be enough to buy one of Ribery's legs and with Real Madrid having spent £56m on Kaka and agreeing a world-record £80m fee with Manchester United for Cristiano Ronaldo, Bayern consider £70m to be an achievable fee for the former Marseille player.

From Soccernet.com credit to the journos

-J

Best Mixtape Site I've seen!

By far, the best mixtape site I've seen so far.... definitely worth signing up for>
It's free No junk email You can search their whole archive You can listen to them in their entirety before you download them!!

There is a limit on how many you can get in 24 hrs, three. Which suits me just fine.

DatPiff-"the authority in free mixtapes"

-J