"But You Caint Use My Phone" certainly made me put my phone down

   The newest body of work by Ms. Erykah Badu. The Grammy-Award winning Neo-Soul Queen has not released a full project since "New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)"(2010). She has certainly remained relevant with appearances on tracks, concerts, never-ending DJ gigs, magazines spreads and interviews. "But You Caint Use My Phone" is a reminder of who she is musically and what she can do.
     This mixtape was preceded by Erykah's cover a recently popular Drake song "Hotline Bling", which she has titled "Cel u Lar Device" Listen HERE.

    This mixtape is an upbeat, funky, sultry ode to phones and a direct reference to her 1998 hit "Call Tyrone" most popular in it's live version this song something Ms. Badu and her band freestyled while on tour for her first album "Baduizm" and quickly became a fan favorite. The intro and title track to this mixtape "Caint Use My Phone (Suite)" is a melodic mix of phone sounds and instrumentation from "Call Tyrone" as she plays around with popular line from the song "But you can't use my phone". Each song being a phone reference, she also samples Usher's "You don't have to call" and New Edition's "Mr. Telephone Man".
    Notable tracks include "Phone Down" a very modern, trap music sounding track on which Badu insists she "can make you put your phone down", and the perfect end to a project of this sort "Hello" featuring who Billboard and millions of people note as one of the greatest rappers of all time and Erykah Badu's first Baby-daddy, none other than Andre` 3000. With the sounds of birds chirping incredible bars and vocals alike, this duet and love song is an uplifting, love-reminding, Neo-soul revival of sorts and the #1 reason to give this entire project your ears. Other features include Drake and Erykah and Andre's son Seven who's verse on "What's Your Phone Number" is reminiscent of "Thank Me Later" Drake, whom he cites as a hug inspiration.

The True Meaning of Thanksgiving

Hair-inspiration and overall #BlackGirlMagic inspiration Franchesca Leigh has teamed up with MTV Decoded to bring us another hyper-informative video:

Everything you know about Thanksgiving is wrong ft. Franchesca "Chescaleigh" Ramsey.
Posted by MTV on Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Enjoy the holiday !

Chi-what? Chi-where?

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

HOLLA-Ween fashion post

This halloween I not only dressed as cruel de'vil, I turned 23 years old! Here's my costume/Birthday outfit.

Straight Outta ... Well you already know

     Finally, ya girl Kearmonie took that trip to the movie theaters to see the latest Critically acclaimed BioPic "Straight Outta Compton". Telling the story of one of the most impactful Rap groups of all time, Titled after their iconic debut album, and having dominated the box offices 4 weeks in a row S.O.C. is a must see.

     The film opening up with soundbites of scattered radio commentary and song lyrics we meet, who I personally declare as our protagonist, Eric "Eazy-E" Wright, introducing us to the lifestyle he led before "blowing up". We then meet Dr. Dre and then Ice Cube through their run-ins with gang violence, police brutality and trouble at home for a simple yet effective opening sequence.

     What is revealed in those moments could have been a half-hour to 45 minutes long, as this film comes across rather rushed. You blink once and next thing you know they are on a national tour. Granted, most films are only 120 minutes long, the run time of this one being 150 minutes(2 1/2 hours), yet this film was more of a timeline, a re-telling of a lot of information fans of Hip-Hop especially those who were alive and experiencing the culture during the era in question(unlike myself) already know, and still remember vividly.

     A lot of subject matter is danced around, such as Eazy-E's promiscuity, infidelity, and all of his children. Not one of his kids a depicted in the film, or so much as mentioned; nor are the mothers of his children or other women he was seriously involved with during the height of his career. His involvement with multiple women is snarkily hinted at but not ever shown. It is hard to believe he was infected with HIV by being with one woman during the entire time. Also regarding Eazy-E, his departure from NWA(followed by a solo diss track or two) is not depicted; maybe a minuscule bit of information, but the truth is never obsolete. What else is cleverly left out is Dr. Dre's assault changes, and most importantly the woman he reportedly assaulted, who was not only his girlfriend but also an artist signed to his label who's music Dre had produced the majority of. We are given a glimpse into the life of Dr. Dre, the depiction of his career could arguably be more necessary for this film than his personal life, but the way the two have overlapped is not shown. Going back to before the fame, we do not learn how these brothas got their names or how they even fell in love with hip-hop music, we meet Dre as he is already a well known underground DJ, not how he got the name Dr. Dre or how he became established; and Cube is already an MC involved with another group.

    Enough of the negativity though, this film is beautiful. The colors, the lights, the sound, the close-ups. The depiction of the rawness and severity of what these men went through just by being young, black men, in the hood; and all that fueled their music was remarkably illustrated. This film did it's job in playing up the drama the way film and television seems to be doing these days, giving the viewer what they want, in the most cinematic way possible. What I personally felt was overdone, is the interweaving of the Rodney King incident/trial. I feel that was an obvious element used, not just to tell what year/era we're in, but to amplify all that N.W.A. stands for and the fact that the fight is not over. This is not to say that the members of the group were not greatly effected by the case and the riots that followed, but the use of it all does not add to the film, nor take away from it, its just there.

     Straight Outta Compton, is an intense look back on one of the most iconic and influential rap groups of all time. Despite feeling as if this film failed to inform me on anything that I did not already know, I was impressed, and I teared up about twice... well maybe three times.

     Oh, and one more thing that I cannot overlook, The man I am declaring as the lead actor, having portrayed who I have already declared or protagonist, Jason Mitchell(Eazy-E). That man was incredibly charming, funny, and an incredible actor. Mister O'shea Jackson, the young man who portrayed Ice Cube and who just so happens to be Ice Cube's son, got Top Billing(his name is the first to pop up in the credits and while searching the film online) but we'll see how that all changes when award season comes around. #NoShade

Once again with Beauty of the Black Woman

Outfit: Sparkle and Fade Ribbed racer back tank dress paired with Sam Edleman 'Becker' Calf hair slip on shoe

For more from #BOTBW visit their Facebook page

What did happen... Miss Simone?

   As many of you know the highly anticipated biographical documentary about legendary soul singer Nina Simone's life, career, and legacy has been released on Netflix this past week.

    We are in an era of cinema of telling and retelling, we are in love with film adaptation of existing stories such as novel, plays, and comic books; and we are obsessed with the unveiling of hidden truths. The biopic, historical film, and documentary family of film is flourishing in recent years with films such as Amy, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, and even the television film Whitney. We as viewers have the urge to know the truth behind the smoke and mirrors of celebrity, what makes the icon who they are/were, and we want to feel the deep connection to the people we idolize though we do not know them. We also want to be apart of that drama. Are films of the biographical genre exploitative? Why yes, of course. These films are uncovering personal trauma and deep emotions for the sake of entertainment and are, in the name of entertainment, playing up the drama stylistically. In Cinema every time we create a film we are creating a new reality even if it is showcasing a reality already in existence. Cinema creates a new world for viewers to become consumed by and to believe in through and through for those 90-120 minutes.

     Upon watching "What Happened, Miss Simone" I knew very little about Nina Simone. I knew that she was a legend for her sultry voice and piano skills. I recently had learned briefly of her battles with mental health through the indie film "Dear Nina", but still did not know much.

     This film is a beautifully composed tale of Nina Simone's life and experiences using archival footage from past interviews and performances, photos, and current interviews from people who were close to Nina including her only child, her daughter. The interviews from Nina herself were pure gold, they are the stem to this film as she is telling her passions throughout life, her ideals and philosophies, her mission, the career she wanted to pursue and how things turned out. We learned of her tumultuous relationship with husband and manager from archival interviews with him, and of course we were very much informed of her battle with mental health and her diagnosis with Manic Depression/Bipolar Disorder. What seemed to be unbenounced to many of her fans was that Nina Simone had dreams of becoming a classical pianist, the first Black Woman Classical Pianist. However she was denied a scholarship to the Curtis institute of music. In order to pay for schooling and support her family she had perform at night clubs, which eventually catapulted her music career.

    Overall, "What Happened, Miss Simone" is a beautiful look into Nina Simone's life and career, a moving, chilling, and inspirational story. I highly recommend watching it.

Keith Haring Exhibit at the TBD Art Gallery

Keith Haring Exhibit at the TBD Art Gallery from Kearah Armonie on Vimeo.

Nearing the end of the exhibition I visited TBD(https://www.facebook.com/tbdxles) for their Closing Reception and Celebration of Keith Haring's life and legacy. None of the materials used in this short (footage/music) are for promotional use.

Why you should watch "The Act of Killing"

The Act of killing follows former “gangsters” who are responsible for aiding a Genocide during the 1960’s in Indonesia. At this time they helped the military in killing thousands of presumed communist. Their government was in complete military control at the time and the details of this genocide have been overlooked at the time. However, the act of killing is not a simply retelling of what has happened we following these gangster as they recruit actors, extras, design a set and props and put together reenactments of the killings they did to create a film. They are more than willing to reminisce and reveal the many ways they’ve killed people, this film they are creating also seems to have pleasant comic relief with strange dance sequences and cross-dressing. We even get a character profile of who seems to be the most charismatic of the criminals we meet, Anwar Congo. Congo has the most camera time and his personal reflection is manipulated at the end to help viewers come to a conclusion, an element used in many documentaries. 

      What I think makes this film so critically acclaimed are those many elements, this film is very layered and we a given true raw stories, that a graphic, and represented visually, and the “characters” are open. However, the story itself is disgusting. The men we meet clearly lacked morality and seem as if they still do. Many times Anwar has said “I did it because I had to”, He describes the best ways to kill someone without seeming remorseful. Though, as the actor in recreating the killing for their film he felt terrified as if he was really going to be killed there is no way he could possibly feel what any  the “communists” he killed ever felt. When the other militia men reminisce on burning down villages, and raping young women I felt the urge to vomit and cry; which is exactly what Anwar did in that very last sequence. This film is where the exploitation of documentary film is exemplified. Here we have murderer willing to admit their murder, this film is structured beautifully but in reality this is a terrible story. There is no answer to this, no “right” way to go about it. All stories and narratives are important to be told, and in terms of film it is incredibly innovative that we are hearing from the “bad guys” instead of historians or “experts” who have done a lot of research.

"Don't Believe the Hype!: the Story of The Modern Day Bohemian" is back !! or something like that

"The Documentary photographer" a DBTH short from Kearah Armonie on Vimeo.

      In society “artist” is not a job description, it is not a lifestyle, instead it is considered a hobby. Art is not something you are supposed to purse in college or even in life as a career. If you tell someone what you do and the answer is something solely artistic they would probably ask you again, probably ask you what your profession is; as if job title stands alone from whom the person truly is. “Don’t believe the Hype: The story of the Modern Day ‘Bohemian’”. Bohemian: a slang term used to describe a person, as an artist or writer, who lives and acts free of regard for conventional rules and practices. Stemming from the word describing people of Bohemia (ancient Czech Republic) who were thought to be Gypsies. Although this word seems like a slur, there are people who identify as such. Artists like myself and people I associate with are just doing what we love but also face harsh criticism because of it. DBTH is going to challenge these cruel interpretations of who young artists are and what we do. Profiling and following the lives of musicians, poets, actors, etc.; including 5 main people or groups/collectives this film is going to be a 45 to 60 minute journey, filmed over the course of 6 months.

 Help FUND this project here : http://www.gofundme.com/kearmonie