RUSH TO THE HEAD

Watched the first half of Spike Lee/HBO's When the Levees Broke: A Requiem In Four Acts. I think, for many, especially myself, it brings back a rush of anger and rage to see the complete disaster of Katrina and NOLA all over the again and by that, I don't mean the flooding, I mean the complete breakdown of American social and governmental infrastructure. Because we live in a world so inundated with other bad news (take your pick: Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, a Fergie solo album, etc.), something like Katrina was destined to fade away eventually but this doc brings back much emotion to the surface, in a blink. It's amazing to me that, politically, anyone's survived this but I know it's foolish to think there's anything such as karma in American gov't.

I am glad that Lee took a decidedly un-Michael Moore approach. Oh, don't get me wrong: there's editorializing here but it's done subtly, in the editing process and Lee manages to present a perspective that isn't forgiving on the leaders at the city, state and federal level but it also is more balanced than you might expect.

All respect due to my man Junichi and the Dixie Chicks but if I were to pick an "embedded blogger" gig, there's no question, this would be the tour. I don't want to overstate Jay-Z's cultural importance or iconic status but the fact that he's playing seven dates in Africa reminds me of Ali going to Zaire. Different times, very different people but could you imagine 50 Cent trying to pull off this kind of tour (though, just to be fair to Mr. Jackson, he has played South Africa and Lagos)? I mean, Jay-Z begins in KRAKOW. The most boring legs of this tour are all his "Western" stops (though strangely, no Tokyo/Japan?). And plus, he's doing this under the auspices of the U.N. Could you imagine Eminem getting that kind of blessing?

I don't mean to sound naive here: this is a great PR move for Jay-Z as well but even if this is branding, it's hard not to get just a little excited at the idea of what a Jay-Z show in Tanzania is going to be like let alone Wembley. I'm genuinely looking forward to the Water Is Life documentary that is due to air in November following the conclusion of the tour.

The cover for Lupe Fiasco's album is indeed...a fiasco. This is such an unbelievably bad idea that it makes you wonder how good the music could be based on the packaging. It looks like a bad ad for a Trapper Keeper circa 1984. It makes the cover of the UMCs' Fruits Of Nature look like Straight Outta Compton. And the thing is: I'm definitely interested in hearing what the album sounds like and given that the cover temporarily blinds you, hearing is all you can do with it.
(Source: HHH)

--O.W.