![B.o.B. - Nothing on You [Official Video]](http://theurbanian.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Picture-1-310x150.png)
Lindsay Lohan Sues E-Trade for Baby Doppelganger
On February 7th, 2010 the Lohan family was gathered around the tube for an eventful Superbowl Sunday, domestic disputes, and drug use. Dina Lohan had made a hellacious tray of hour d’vours as usual while Mike, as usual, pestered Lindsay about drugs and sex. After having heard enough psycho-babble from her Dad, Linds went to the bathroom and came back in right as E-Trade’s notorious cute-talking-baby Superbowl commercial came on.
Cute talking baby, check. E-Trade investment information, check. Milk-a-holic cohort baby named Lindsay, che–wait, what? Lindsay’s heart sank, she collapsed in the living room. Her Blackberry detonated in her purse, quickly overflowing with messages from her lawyer Stephanie Ovadia confirming that that the baby was in fact, a depiction of Lindsay herself, a milk-a-holic. It had to be.
“They used the name Lindsay,” Ovadia said. “They’re using her name as a parody of her life. Why didn’t they use the name Susan? This is a subliminal message. Everybody’s talking about it and saying it’s Lindsay Lohan. Ovadia also affirmed the actress has the same single-name recognition as Oprah or Madonna.
However, after a little dumpster diving on the Internet we’ve learned that less than 200 people per year are named Madonna. In fact, 1 in 12,500 people in America are named Madonna and 1 in 2,400 people are named Lindsay. So statistically speaking, all the other coke-head Lindsay’s can snort a line of relief as America’s favorite ginger teen-starlet of yesteryear takes the heat on this one.
Alright, so maybe the family room game watching scenario was a little contrived, but nonetheless, it could have happened! Because this isn’t a joke. All of the aforementioned quotes from Ovedia, Lohan’s lawyer, are in fact true. Lindsay Lohan is suing E-Trade for $100 million in damages. $50 million in exemplary damages, and $50 million in compensatory. Lohan’s crackpot lawyer claims E-Trade did not seek Lindsay’s approval for the usage and characterization, and in doing so should be punished. To the tune of $100 million.
Silly yes. Absolutely fucking ridiculous, certainly. Shocking, well, not really. Given the fact that Lohan’s career is circling the drain as we know it, what better way to stir up some press then suing over someone using the name Lindsay in a negative light? E-Trade hasn’t announced an official response yet, rightfully so, they’ve probably all taken a day off to celebrate some easy P.R. and high-five the marketing rep for having chose Lindsay as the name for the milk-a-holic.
Contact Kenneth, the author of this post, at k@theurbanian.com or @kennygw on Twitter.
.
Our Oscar Wrap-Up
The most famous never-ending award show, The Oscars, was held last night, and of course it left the world with many things to talk about.
A surprise visit by Neil Patrick Harris to kick things off was pretty awesome. Once he left though, it went rather dismal. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin failed to live up to the hype and were just not funny. Most of their opening monologue was more awkward than funny. And it wasn’t the funny kind of awkward.
Finally those two disappeared and we were hit with the first award of the night. Christoph Waltz took home Best Supporting Actor. He was the most deserving winner of any category and definitely put out the best performance of 2009 out of anybody.
Then, the show went into a whirlwind of awards nobody cares about. However, something happened during the Best Short Documentary award presentation, which is being referred to as the “Oscars Kanye Moment.” When Music By Prudence was named the winner, Director Roger Ross Williams hurried to the stage to start his acceptance speech. A few sentences in, a lady comes out of nowhere and starts talking. Williams just stood there trying to hide his anger while everyone in the audience had WTF expressions on their faces. Salon.com has interviews with both people, where they each give their side of the story. Turns out they each had different creative direction for the film.
Another well-deserved win came for Michael Giacchino when he took home Best Original Score for Up. Those who watch Lost are well-familiar with Giacchino and his mastery of beautifully simplistic scores.
Sandra Bullock took home Best Female in a Lead Role. This win for her seemed more like a “you’ve-paid-your-dues” victory. It’d would have made for a better story if Gabourey Sidibe won.
Coming into the ceremony a lot of people saw it as a race between The Hurt Locker and Avatar. The competition was even more highlighted due to the fact the two directors, James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow, used to be married (and boy has Cameron downgraded since then). Whoever won, it would just be a big “fuck you” to the other.
Avatar’s lack of a story seemed to end up being a problem as the momentum of The Hurt Locker’s strong plot seemed to carry it through the awards. The movie ended up winning six of the nine nominations it had. This of course, gave Bigelow the last laugh.
Bigelow’s win in Best Director made her the first woman to win the award. Although it’s kind of crazy a woman has yet to win the award, you can’t help but wonder if it was a “political win” for Bigelow.
Personally, I felt like Inglourious Basterds was the best film of the year, but I knew it would have been snubbed from everything except Supporting Actor. The film is so historically incorrect, it’s a stretch that voters would have cast their vote for it. I previously said Bigelow’s win might have been a political move because Quentin Taratino may have truly deserved it. But with one of the strongest directed films by a woman in a long time, the Academy may have felt they better finally give the award to a woman.
Overall, the show was extremely boring. The attempts to better draw young crowd by having the likes of Miley Cyrus and Kristen Stewart present totally failed. Cyrus messed up her lines and Stewart looked as cracked out as ever. Then during the horror film tribute they showed a shot from Twilight. Uh…
The show was exceeding airtime so did manage to end in hilarity. Tom Hanks basically sprinted out on stage, yelled that Hurt Locker won Best Picture, and then the credits rolled. It was extremely awkward, therefore providing more laughs than Baldwin and Martin provided all night.
One final note: Sacha Baron Cohen was a candidate to host the ceremony the Academy decided against it in fear of Cohen being too wild and out of control. Cohen was also set as a presenter and they decided against his presentation plan at the last minute and Cohen removed himself from the show. If the Academy really wants to bring in viewers, it’d be by letting Cohen host. It would be phenomenal.
—–
You can contact Brad at brad@theurbanian.com or follow him on Twitter.
Mixtape Monday: The Crowd Control Tour Edition
Due to our involvement in The Crowd Control tour, which it makes two stops this week in Michigan, this week’s Mixtape Monday involves mixtapes from the artists on the bill.
First up is 88 Keys’ Adam’s Case Files. This mixtape was a prelude to his album, The Death of Adam. The mixtape features guest spots from Kid Cudi, Guilty Simpson, Mr. Bentley and Izza Kizza.
Listen to Wasting My Minutes ft. Kid Cudi and download the tape.
Next up is Kidz in the Hall, which is the duo of Naledge and Double-O. These two guys are a couple of the most slept-on hip-hop artists. Their songs on The Professional Leisure Tour are some of the freshest songs to come into the genre, yet they still haven’t made the impact that they deserve. What’s really great about this mixtape is that its less of a mixtape, and more of a free album. Everything on here is original, and an amazing prelude to their album, Land of Make Believe, which drops tomorrow (March 9).
Listen to Jukebox and download the tape.
Finally, we arrive to Izza Kizza. We’ve highlighted The Wizard of Iz before, but frankly, this mixtape is so good it really deserves a second push anyway. One of the reasons to really love this mixtape is because it has a classic hip-hop feel to it. Izza Kizza’s flow is strong, and the production outstanding. It also features guest spots from Lil’ Wayne, Colin Munroe, David Banner, and Birdman.
Listen to It’s Goin Down ft. Lil’ Wayne & Birdman and download the tape.
—-
Please note: we understand Donnis is a part of this tour, however he will not be performing the Michigan dates due to prior scheduling before this tour was put together. ~@bkmacdonald
Kidz in the Hall Ticket Giveaway
That’s right, Kidz in the Hall, 88 Keys, and Izza Kizza are stopping in Pontiac at the Crofoot on March 11th for a night filled of top-notch hip hop music. The best part of it all is that admission is only $12 Pre-sale or $15 the day of.
And who says you’d have to? We’ve got a spot on the guest list for you and a friend. To enter the giveaway it simply takes following us on twitter @the_urbanian, and clicking below to retweet this story:
RT @the_urbanian Kidz in the Hall Ticket Giveaway @thecrofoot Thursday Mar. 11 http://bit.ly/bblXc1
By doing so, you’re automatically entered, and on Wednesday the 10th at 6 p.m. EST, we’ll announce the winner via Twitter.
The Crofoot is located at:
250 West Pike Street
Pontiac, MI 48341-1751
(248) 451-7930
Sage Francis Spoofs “Superbad”
We recently posted up details on the new and extremely intriguing Sage Francis album slated to drop May 11. With a new album, most artists embark on a tour to help promote said album. Francis sticks to the formula and will tour the U.S. and Canada in May and June. What separates Francis from other rappers in this scenario, is the amazing promo video for the tour he shot with B. Dolan. The two parody a scene from Superbad, and the result is extreme hilarity. The two pull it off rather nicely and show off their surprisingly good acting skills as well. Below is the video and tour dates.
Cambridge, MA – Middle East – 5/12/10
Burlington, VT – Higher Ground – 5/13/10
Portland, ME – Port City Music Hall – 5/14/10
Ottawa, ON – Ritual Nightclub – 5/15/10
Toronto, ON – The Opera House – 5/16/10
Detroit, MI – Alvin’s – 5/18/10
Chicago, IL – The Bottom Lounge – 5/19/10
Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall – 5/20/10
Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue – 5/21/10
Columbia, MO – The Blue Note – 5/22/10
Denver, CO – Gothic Theater – 5/24/10
Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge – 5/25/10
Missoula, MT – Badlander – 5/26/10
Edmonton, AB – The Starlite Room – 5/28/10
Calgary, AB – Distillery – 5/29/10
Vancouver, BC – The Biltmore Cabaret – 5/31/10
Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo – 6/01/10
Portland, OR – Berbati’s Pan – 6/02/10
San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore – 6/04/10
Santa Cruz, CA – The Catalyst – 6/05/10
Los Angeles, CA – HENRY FONDA THEATRE – 6/06/10
Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up Tavern – 6/07/10
Pomana, CA – The Glass House – 6/09/10
Tempe, AZ – The Clubhouse – 6/10/10
Tucson, AZ – Club Congress – 6/11/10
Albuquerque, NM – Sunshine Theater – 6/12/10
Dallas, TX – Granada Theatre – 6/14/10
Austin, TX – Mohawk – 6/15/10
Houston, TX – House of Blues – 6/16/10
Orlando, FL – Club at Firestone – 6/18/10
Atlanta, GA – The Loft – 6/19/10
Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle – 6/21/10
Washington, DC – Rock and Roll Hotel – 6/22/10
Baltimore, MD – The Ottobar – 6/23/10
Philadelphia, PA – Trocadero – 6/24/10
New York, NY – Webster Hall – 6/25/10
Catching Up with Jared Evan
It’s been awhile since we published our interview with Jared Evan. Whenever that happens we try to run a quick catch-up post with our past exclusive artists. Evan just released a new video for Feeling Like a Song, so now seems like a good time for that.
Along with the new video, news surfaces that he’ll be re-releasing his smash mixtape, Radio In My Head. It’ll be an extended version, so we can’t wait to see the new tracks that will be on it. He’s also recently done an interview with DJ Booth. The times seem very busy for the emcee who we felt deserved to be on XXL’s 2010 Freshman List. Good to see that he’s still on the grind and we look forward to what he has in store for us.
B. Dolan “Fallen House, Sunken City” Review
B. Dolan’s Fallen House, Sunken City arrives to the hip-hop community in the midst of the aftershock that is Waka Flocka Flame’s earthquake-of-a-statement that lyrical rappers don’t make money. Although Dolan’s title for his album has nothing to do with Waka Flocka Flame’s comments, it is quite ironic a lyrical and poetic rapper drops an album with that title just a bit after that debacle.
Lyrically powerful is the best descriptive statement to tag B. Dolan with. What further makes this album stand out is the fact the majority of the beats are built around powerful drums. This ups the ante on Dolan’s aggressive delivery. The album is completely fast-paced in both production and flow. This is an album that will need many listens. A lot of power is contained within in just 47 minutes of music. People may need to listen to this album several times to just garner a basic understanding in what Dolan is spitting.
The album starts off with Leaving New York, which plays the opposite roll of Jay-Z’s Empire State of Mind. From the start the listener is able to understand Dolan and his sentiments, outlining what to expect from the rest of the album. The album continues to move through the listener’s ears like a hurricane. The standout track has to be Border Crossing. With a haunting and marching-band-esque beat, Dolan handles it far better than most rappers probably would. “Caught up at the border between the living and the dead,” is an intriguing lyric and can relate to several different things in the world we live in today.
This album serves as the first big wake-up call to hip hop in 2010. With just a few solid albums released thus far, Fallen House, Sunken City is a refreshing and uplifting listen. Even if you want to believe Waka Flocka Flame’s comments about lyrical rappers, it’s an album like this one that shows the true worth to lyrical rappers are the messages they convey to the public.
Listen to Border Crossing.
—-
You can contact Brad at brad@theurbanian.com or follow him on Twitter.
Artist Spotlight: One EskimO
Merged between the worlds of animation and music we find the U.K. band, One EskimO. Similar to the Gorillaz, One EskimO is more than just a band, but an animated story.
The story revolves around the central character of One EskimO, an adventurous and determined young man seeking his place in the universe. He is accompanied on his adventure by his bandmates, Giraffe, Monkey, and Penguin. Every hero needs his villain, in this case Mr. Top Hat, a mysterious stranger who, like a puppet master, pulls unseen strings to drive the characters’ destinies.
The concept behind all this started with Kristian Leontiou. He was already a prominent U.K. artist as his solo debut album sold over 200,000 copies. Even with success, he felt unfulfilled and set out to do something else creatively. That’s when he met up with drummer Adam Falkner and they decided they wanted to create a magical world of their own. Once they brought in bassist Jamie Sefton and guitarist Peter Rinaldi, the band was completely formed. And as you can see, the animated story is much like how the band was formed in real life.
With influences across the board, the sound of One EskimO delves into all genres. The sound contains a basic rock root, with branches of soul, R&B, pop, and some leaves of ambiance. Leontiou and Falkner definitely accomplish what they were setting out for.
Their debut album is 12 tracks of beautiful bliss- both auditory and visually. What’s really great about the album is that it comes with the animated tale of the band. Often at shows, they’ll have video screens showing the animation they have to every song.
Kandi
UFO
Here’s the trailer for the animated film:
For more information you can hit up their Myspace or follow them on Twitter.
—-
You can contact Brad at brad@theurbanian.com or follow him on Twitter.
The Cataracs, We Thought They Were Black
Before you jump to racy conclusions, know that the title of the Cataracs’ latest mix-tape is I Thought They Were Black. That said, the sound stems from Guetta’esque club goodness, meets Posner pseudo-hip-pop, meets more wester-coast’er banger freshness. After you listen, the answer to your question of ‘How the hell haven’t I heard of these guys yet?’ is, well, we don’t know, but that’s what we’re here for.
With a handful of EP’s and album available already on iTunes, you can grab some of their older content, or start off with their latest I Thought They Were Black by clicking on the mix-tape icon to the right. So in short, they’re performing at SXSW, they’ve proliferated west coast charts, and are named after a medical condition in the eye that is treated with marijuana.
[DOWNLOAD] The Cataracs – I Thought They Were Black
Learn to love.
The Cataracs – Ice Cream Paint Job [feat. Dorrough]
The Cataracs – GI Joe
The Cataracs – Like a G6 [Feat. Dev and Far East Movement]
Contact Kenneth, the author of this post, at k@theurbanian.com or @kennygw on Twitter.
Turin Brakes New Album/Video
Turin Brakes, an acoustic-heavy band hailing from Balham, London, officially released their new album Outbursts today. Their largest commercial success to date was a song released back in 2002 entitled Painkiller that made it into the top 5 on the UK charts. The new album has somewhat of a melancoly, radiohead-esque tone to it, and boasts some really solid tracks including Sea Change, Rocket Song, Mirror, The Letting Down, and Outbursts. Upon first listen, it’s smooth and steady, but I’d be lying if I said I was completely satisfied. I’ve been waiting for a while for this duo to come out with something that’ll grab more attention on this side of the world (as they’ve spent the better part of their career promoting and playing in the UK/Europe). Time will tell.
In the meantime though, please enjoy their recently released video for Sea Change.
Turin Brakes on MUZU
