Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Hip Hop Weekly: Issue No. Ten

In my last post I said I was going to do a punk-rock fashion retrospective and I am still going to do that, but in the meantime, I picked up another issue of HipHop Weekly and I wanted to go over it a little.

Previously I reviewed another issue of HHW and said that for the most part I liked it. Since that last issue, it looks a little more polished, but I still think that it devotes far too much ink on rap artists that nobody gives two figs about. I know that might sound strange given that the magazine is called "HipHop" Weekly, however, the truth is if someone wants to read about some MC on the come up, they can buy a magazine like XXL that is 100 percent devoted to boring crap like that.

HHW is positioned on the newstand next to magazines like Star and National Enquirer so it should stay focused on bringing the hot gossip and images that we haven't yet seen on a million different blogs devoted to black celebrities.

On that note, one of the best articles of this issue was the cover story on the beef between Cam'ron and Jim Jones. Now granted, I haven't been all the way up on the rap gossip scene lately, but I hadn't heard about their fallout until I read this story. And it's well written, too. Like any good he-said-she-said gossip story, not a stitch of it may be true, but it sure is entertaining to read.

^^Dipset Divide! Their Tension Reaches a Boiling Point: "Me and Cam'ron Haven't Spoken to Each Other in a Year."--Jim Jones

There were a bunch of different fashion-related articles, but because TrendyNation is a big fan of Kelis, I scanned her two-page spread:



^^Unfortunately, the photography/styling (no credit listed) for these two images is a tad rough and then, too, the writer forgot to identify the flats she is wearing in one image and the purple bag she's holding in the second. Well wait. I'm looking at the bag image again and there's some small print on the side that reads "Kelis: Retina" so maybe that's the name of the bag. Anyway, check out the tee-shirt she's wearing with all the wrestlers on it--cute! Think she's making a statement about the current state of rap feuds or she just liked the way it looked?

Finally, there's an article in which the writer takes quotes and interprets what the celebs are truely saying. I liked this one 'cause it was related to the ongoing controversy over whether or not Jay's manhood is compromised because he wears sandals:

^^The actual quote is from a spokeman for Frye shoes and it reads: The perception of men in sandals is changing. If it's good enough for Jay-Z, it's good enough for every man." You can click on the image and enlarge it to read the writer's interpretation of the quote. I didn't think it was all that compelling.

And that's all folks. And by the way, the magazine for which I did the Dame Dash interview is out so in the next couple of days, I'll get it scanned and post it here.

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