All the single ladies' anthems

Girl anthems. Love 'em, hate 'em,  dance to 'em--you can't deny their brilliance.

There have been a lot of great female anthems in my life time. Before I continue, I think it's fare we define a female anthem. I was going to totally bullshit this part by creating my own definition, but I thought it might be worth actual research.

Here's what my friend Miriam has to say about anthem:

Pronunciation:

\ˈan(t)-thəm\
Function:
noun
1 a: a psalm or hymn sung antiphonally or responsively b: a sacred vocal composition with words usually from the Scriptures
2: a song or hymn of praise or gladness
3: a usually rousing popular song that typifies or is identified with a particular subculture, movement, or point of view

 

So, we could say that a female anthem is a pop song that sings praises of the vagina race and rouses up in its members a sense of price and empowerment.  A couple of the great ones that come to mind are:

Just a Girl, by No Doubt

Video, by India.Arie (a personal fav)

Independent Women, by Beyonce's Destiny's Child...

Actually, miss Sasha Fierce has put out a lot of good anthems recently, such as Me, Myself, and I; Irreplaceable; Ring the Alarm; If I were a Boy; the almighty Single Ladies and anything else jay-z some broke down njigga could give her inspiration for.

But isn't that what makes a great female anthem, really? 

I mean yeah, feminism is great and all but it always sounds better  in the form of gettin' in the ass of all the broke down, good for nothing, sorry ass scrubs in a lady's life (Chilly, T-boz, and Lefty always knew what was up).

From R-E-S-P-E-C-T, to Womanizer, to even Smell Yo Dick, there's nothing like a chick (who may or may not be able to sing) powning a good for nothing dude in a melody over a good, maybe addictivly catchy beat. With that being said, I think we can all agree that the number one female anthem just has to be Call Tyrone, by the great Erykah Badu.

Ms. Badu was a breath of fresh air for me as a young girl trying to figure out what she was suppose to be and, like every other girl in America, looking at media images of women to figure it out. It started out bad, because I had no chance of fitting any of the molds I was seeing, until Erykah showed me that things could be different: I could be Black but not a video hoe, sophisticated but still reppin', and have odd choices in hairstyles and still look cool(?) .

I digress. Call Tyrone is the shiznet, whether your chillin' on a friday night, hanging with the girls and hatin' on men, or just in the mood for a good female anthem, give it a listen. I leave the lyrics for your own enjoyment:

I'm getting tired of yo shit

you don't neva buy me nothing.

And every time you come around

you gotta bring Jim, James, Paul and Tyrone.

Now why can't we be by ourselves sometimes?

See I've been having this on my mind for a long time--

I just want it to be you and me like it use to be, baby

but you don't know how to act

so matter fact

I think you better call tyrone

(Call Him!)

And tell him come on 

help you get yo shit

(C'mon, c'mon, c'mon)

You need to call Tyrone

(call him!)

and tell him I said c'mon...

Now every time I ask you for a little cash

you say no but turn right around and ask me for some ass.

Ho! Now hold up listen partner I ain't no cheap thrill

cus Ms. Badu's always coming fo'real

you know the deal

nigga.

Every time we go some where

I got to reach down in my purse

to pay your way and your home boy's way

and sometimes your cousin's way.

When we all went out to eat

you made me ride in the back seat

and that ain't right child.

That ain't right child.

You need to call Tyrone

(call him!)

and tell him come on help you get yo shit.

You need to call Tyrone

(Call him)

But you can't use my phone.

Take my pills, pay my bills, I'm here to let you know

that what I feel is real.

Day to day life with you is no thrill.

It's getting late

no time to hesitate

you need to go home so I can meditate.

Om....

Om.....

Lite my cone, sing my song

I don't give a damn if I'm right or wrong.

Day or night

wrong or right

Tell your boys to find anotha place to watch the fight.

Don't make me go get Big Mike.

So tell yo boys at the liquor store

that you gonna need a place to go

I don't care but you gotsta leave

you can tell 'em you broke up with me

I wanted you to massage my toes

but you'd rather play dominoes

So baby get up off yo knees and hands

and gone and tell it to the preacher man.

But first I think you need to call Tyrone

(call him!)

and tell him c'mon help you get yo shit.

You need to call Tyrone

(call him!)

Hold up--but you can't use my phone.

If nothing else, give us a Dolce & Gabbana ad to look at. Let men become over sexualized objects for once.
 

Hometown Glory....

Round my hometown, memories are fresh

round my hometown, oh the people I've met

Are the wonders of my world

Are the wonders of my world...

Adele couldn't have crooned truer words. I have lately been swept with a confusing mix of emotions, ranging from astonishment, pride, jealousy, anxiety, anticipation, and excitement when it comes to thinking about my hometown. I am overwhelmed  by the sick amounts of talent coming from the 716, and while I started off, as many kids do, happy to step outta my dinky Western New York pond, shake myself of its scum, and dive into a bigger ocean, I now can't help but to be incredibly excited and proud to come from Buffalo, NY and to particularly be a graduate of Nichols.

The journey  to this revelation started last August when Lulu, a classmate of mine, tossed me the myspace link to "Passion Pit, Mike Angelakos's band!" Angelakos was a senior at N-high when I was a freshmen and had been one of the school heart throbs for the longest. We shared the stage, we shared the halls, and every other morning meeting or so Mike and his oh so cool senior comrades would makes us laugh and steal our hearts. Fast-forward about 4 or 5 years and he's still at it, except this time its on an international level. It seems like almost over night his band has blown up, landing a spot at the CMJ Festival in NYC this past fall to headlining an a national and international tour this winter, releasing a CD on Frenchkiss Records, and recording another one to be released this Spring. However, it was only until I experienced the religious experience of a concert earlier this month that I truly became moved by this story. For those of you who get a chance, I recommend you participate in the Passion of the Pit in some fashion, live or recorded.

The next step to my enlightenment came one late afternoon while I was Facebook surfing/stalking as a way to kill time between classes. I stopped on the page of a girl I went to school with form Kindergarden to 8th grade and discovered she's dating Pat Feeley, a skinny kid who had been a part of her gang for as long as I remembered. Turns out Pat became the lead singer of Crush the Everlasting. While the music may not be revolutionary, I was impressed by Pat's vocal and lyrical skills, things I never thought he or any other typical St. Joe's guy would pursue. Boy was I wrong...

But that didn't really set in until I rediscovered Sean Seabass Heidenger's facebook page, the final straw. Sean's class was a year ahead of mine and not the favorite of anyone. Still, he and a few of his buddies sometimes amused us with their band No Mo' Napkins, which you could call  the crude, spoiled, over priveledged, sometimes unfunnily ignorant,  younger brother of The Lonely Island,  but this wasn't all Seabass had up his sleeve. Napkins often opened for local band hero at the time Cute is What We Aim For, and today I found out Seabass stuck with Cute, and currently works as their Road and Tour manager, sometimes contributing to their songs. Not to mention that at the same time Seabass was No Mo' Napkining and "Cute is what we mothafuckin aim for"ing it up, he was also creating his own fasionline; Dazzle Me Formal. Back then I thought the dirty dazzle was just the name that his cocky senior class came up with for a party to be cool, but it's much more. It's a legit line, supported by Cute and Crush (who play with Cute and have their own tour) and run by Seabass and his local friends.  Dazzle has been getting hits and recognition from the Buffalo community and national and international scenes as well.

 Enough. I can't handle anymore. While it's easy to get jealous or regretful that I didn't become bffs with the super skinny boys, the older artsy seniors, or the douchebag upperclassman, I can't help but to feel encouraged. Buffalo kids spend a lot of time beating their city and situations down, and consequently get caught up believing nothing cool comes out of it, and therefore nothing cool will come out of their lives for being from it. So we do things like run away, shake it off, denounce it, and go somewhere else to make things happen, but these guys are all examples that you don't need to do that. Even though Mike's band started in Boston, the music in his heart which led to the formation of the band started in Buffalo. 

On a more relateable scale, I think everyone needs to know, wherever they are, that you can do what you want as long as you put the work in and believe in it. I think all of these guys just have a lot of heart, and it's paid off well.

The world is small, so play your cards right and you could win a hand.

K kids, its 3:45. I'm off to bed so that tomorrow I'm ready to work and figure out how to make dreams happen.  A tip of the hat to the dirty buff. G'nite.

What did the five fingers say to the face....

Well well well. The pictures have finally surfaced and the results are in: Rihanna's face is JACKED up.

While I already didn't need to hear about Chris Brown and this guy to know the safest place for a woman is NOT in a house with a man, the emergence of the police report photos really makes me want to know exactly what transpired.

I know, I know, what had happened was Chris Brown beat Rihanna's ass, but what was the actual scene that ended with the lovable, dancing, half-singing, spearmint gum chewing Brown turning this into this?

Hmm, I don't know, but I'm sure it has something to do with apimpnamedslickbackism. Begin at 2:47 if you will.

"Some niggas can't cross bridges, you can't go upside a bitch's head"

Yes you can Chris Brown, yes you can. 

But seriously....I hope that with all this public attention people actually start talking about domestic violence....It's kind of a problem.