P.S.: I Love You

Definitely one my favorite moments at the 2010 edition of the Grammy Awards was Bey accepting her golden gramophone with an "I love you" to her "husband" Jay - in front of millions.

I found it refreshingly unscripted; seemed spontaneous, especially for a couple that takes care to manage and guard its public image.

That's what Valentine's Day should be about, right, being able to proclaim your love purely and at high volume;)

A Million Ways to Get It...You Get It?

My family is a "house" divided over the admittedly disturbing, if stunning, "On to the Next One" video. The clip is either an art critic's dream or a satanic ritual in black-and-white.

The diamond encrusted skulls in Jay-Z and Swizz Beatz's collabo clip took me, of course, to Damien Hirst's decadent (macabre?) platinum cast of a human skull encrusted with flawless diamonds.

A writer for The L, adroitly made the added reference to drip painters like Pollock.

But where abstract art lovers see iconography, others see allusions to masonic blood/wine oaths, the evidence of which was first supported by a handful of YouTube video postings gone quickly viral.

It's clearly possible Jay either subscribes or has had serious exposure to teachings/literature/connections related to such, I just am scratching my head at why he would out his "secret society" leanings in a series of music videos to be seen and deconstructed by millions. Hiding in plain sight as a strategy? Build an empire and then set it aflame with populist backlash?

But if he's indeed made vids like "Run This Town" a public declaration, do we have a religious litmus test for rappers?

Regardless of Hov's (anti)theistic proclivities, the Follow the Follower mentality is what irked me initially. Certainly, one should question the ideas that offend. But reading these bastardized 4th-hand interpretations of what Pookie at the corner store said about Jay is just excruciating.

Suddenly, everyone is an expert in semiotics. The information age indeed.

(My as-yet-unconfirmed directing credit goes to artist Sam Brown.)

I Think I'm From Where Dreams Are Made. The Lights Will Inspire You.

First things first.

One Hand in the Air for all of us Born Yankees, we the few New York City natives, who know what it is to walk by skyscrapers and never look up because we were too busy slinging tokens and bus passes, stopping at the deli for a beef patty and a quarter water.

Shout to the barber shop with the beautiful black men getting the edge-up, to the corner where the grizzled elders are politickin as the scent of Nag Champa wafts overhead, to the beauty shops like Harlem Berry where the ablutions happen over the sink. You might have relocated to Houston, W. VA, FL, no matter, I bet you still bleed blue. And I bet that Blueprint 3 is on repeat today.



As the still agile Jigga Man preps his show at the Garden (I see you, Greg!) tonight, benefitting the city's bravest and finest, I wonder where were you on 9/11? I was on Morningside Heights and some of us converged on my friend M's Uptown pad overlooking the George Wash. Smoke billowing even from that vantage point, we prayed, talked, reflected, cried, called out incantations. A Towering loss.

Allow me to reintroduce myself: I'm from the Empire State, most definitely from New York and I go by the name of Black Girl Named Becky. If this is your first visit with me, wipe your feet, welcome. To everyone else who's supported me, I appreciate you. I'm back.

You coming?

Are You Not Entertained?? My 100th Post

What more can I say? In December 2008, with my industry in desperate need of triage and a recession threatening to cramp my creative muscle, I endeavored to revive my long-abandoned blog.

Back in 2005, blogger was still a relatively fresh concept, but three or four years on, with once-hot social networking sites like MySpace already overtaken by newer models like Twitter, Digg, and their ilk, it seemed a little quaint to be blogging.

But I wanted a place to work through ideas in long- or short form, to co-sign creative artists, movements, trends, or just keep up the fashion/culture reporting that I'd been doing professionally.

I was reluctant to publicize BGNB at first, seeing it more as a private notepad, but the feedback when I did share it was always encouraging.

So here I am at a milestone of sorts. I mean, TV sitcoms celebrate when they hit their 100th episode; the centenary birthday is considered a feat in longevity. 100 feels special.

Anyway, I want to thank all of you guys who've been both loyal and unique visitors to the blog. I've loved getting your ideas: "You should write an article about _____"

I heard your complaints too about not updating frequently enough, but I find the posts lack something when I chase the clock.

Can't be your (media)takeout, I'm slow food y'all:) So much of pop culture is in the muck right now, deadening; more than ever we need to be Awake.

For all the site meters, analytics, and so forth, technology can't measure how you respond to a particular post. I encourage you to wield the power of your mouse and CLICK on the boxes if you think something is interesting, funny.

If you feel otherwise - have your say in the comments section! I welcome praise and criticism with equal humility.

Going forward, I'll take a short break. And then plan to deliver more focused content, more of my lens, less knee-jerking.

Finally, I've been called a romantic more times than I want to remember. I'll cop to wanting always to be inspired. I hoard images just like on the inspiration wall pictured here. What's that about?

All in service of living out my dreams. I wish you all the same.
-BGNB

I Hear Your Lyrics, I Feel Your Spirit: O Introduces Jay-Z to Her Book Club

You may have heard that Oprah Winfrey was recently in BK, the Marcy housing projects specifically, to interview the MC cum mogul for an upcoming issue of her eponymous mag.

If you're among the viewers who watched as she nearly disemboweled rapper Ludacris when he appeared on her chatfest promoting the Academy Award-winning Crash, then you were likely shaking your head, as I was, at the news that Winfrey's people had wrangled Hova for an intimate spread.

Umm, could Jay beam any brighter??

What's even more interesting about this image is Winfrey has clearly wasted no time inculcating Jay with her brand of self-help spirituality. Jay is toting a copy of Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth," a recent Oprah Book Club selection.

In fact, I have to admit that while Oprah was late on this, Tolle is the truth. A certain scribe put me on to him years ago and locked doors began to unlock.

Brooklyn. Go Hard.

When you've been sick, flying your flag at half-staff, the right theme music can be crucial to getting your stars and stripes in alignment again. On repeat now is Jay and Santigold trading verses on "Brooklyn, We Go Hard." (Please tell me, wtf's harder than this?)

Could be because BK's Woody Allen is celebrating the 20th anniversary of his landmark "Do the Right Thing" this month. (Spike gets feted with a series of events, including an art exhibit devoted to his first feature-length film, "She's Gotta Have It," beginning on June 25.)

Or that Madewell is partnering with Brooklyn Flea this week, unearthing vintage finds and good eats, but I've been in a Brooklyn state of mind.

Now I don't condone chain-snatching, but that reckless mood once translated to bars puts fuel back in my tank and helps prep me for all that I need to accomplish. Go Hard.



Speaking of Jay, what was your take on his D.O.A.? Sour grapes that he didn't hop on the Auto-Tune early or a rap purist's jeremiad? A certain blogging little ant I know thinks the aging rapper is showing his grey;)

Roc (and Warner) Boys in the Building

Of course you've heard by now that Jay is officially a free agent, having given the salute to Def Jam Recordings, where he served briefly as president and released the bulk of his catalog under the Roc-A-Fella imprint. His Live Nation deal was historic, and now he's shopping for distribution homes for other projects, rumor has it.

It's amazing to me that Mr. Carter still gets the Joe Camel jokes. Hasn't he transcended that? I kinda like married Jay with his hair grown out, lol, and can even take the overdone-geek-goggles. Obviously, the MC isn't impervious to the jabs, as he's alluded to them in song (Used to tell they friends I was ugly, they wouldn't touch me/Then I showed up in that dubbed out Buggy...-"Song Cry" or All the wavy-light-skinnned girls is loving me now..."December 4th").

I always, always thought his talent and intellect trumped his lack of leading man looks. He's just interesting and soft-spoken (not quiet, which isn't an attractive quality for me in a guy) and curious. Strip away the franchise deals, the Hewlett Packard spots, the 40/40 clubs and so on, he'd still be a force just being that dude sitting behind you in an English lit class.

I like this 'power moves' flick of him with cigar-chomping Warner Music Group Chairman and CEO Lyor Cohen (Lyor IS a sexy older man; the only time I've ever seen him in person, he sat behind me at a screening of Ray and I was absolutely star-struck)... Back-room dealing.