One to Watch: Baltimore's Rye Rye

HAPPY NEW YEAR FOLKS! I can't believe how quickly 2008 passed us by but I find myself saying that every January 1st about the previous year. 2009 is here and time waits for no man.

Earlier this week I caught up on my WWD reading from the week before since I was out of town. To my pleasant surprise I saw a young brown girl on the cover of the 12.23.08 issue (see below) when I retrieved my mail. Trust me, this doesn't happen very often. Turns out the cover girl is rapper Ryeisha Berrain aka Rye Rye. Miss Rye Rye, 18, hails from Baltimore, Maryland and is actually a protege of British import M.I.A. Rye Rye is the first artist signed to M.I.A.'s Interscope imprint label, N.E.E.T. Kinda cool, right?



Well, as I read on, I learn that Rye Rye has already appeared on a track called Shake It To The Ground which became an underground Baltimore club anthem and MySpace sensation. I have to admit I've only listened to that song and she's no MC Lyte but my interest is peaked because although Rye Rye is a rapper, she might finally bring the Baltimore club sound to the masses if she blows up. I attended college in Maryland for a minute before transferring to F.I.T. and was introduced to Bmore club music and the jaw dropping dancing that goes along with it. (Shout out to anyone reading this who ever went to Hammerjacks in the late 1990's. CRAZY!) It was much faster than the club music I was used to and reminded me of techno, in a good way. Anyhoo, Rye Rye has M.I.A. cosigning for her so I have high hopes.





Apparently the fashion industry has high hopes for Rye Rye as well. In her WWD spread, she rocked everything from American Apparel to Custo Barcelona. Thanks to M.I.A., Rye Rye is up on designers like Jeremy Scott and goes on shopping sprees at Topshop. She often even makes her own clothes according to WWD. And I'm digging her rainbow hued hair (but girls in Bmore were always left with their hair) because it is refreshing in the music industry's sea of copycat locks. Right now it is too early for me to tell whether this Bmore b-girl is a true creative stylista or just a new artist being heavily styled to fit a marketing plan. It's probably a little of both. Still, I am excited about a young lady on the come up in hip-hop who is (seemingly) relying on lyrical skills (plus fancy footwork) and not using t&a to get on.

Stay tuned.

I'm posting my 'Best of 2008' list next!

My All-Time Favorite Hip Hop Moments

This really has nothing to do with style or fashion. Sue me. I was inspired by the VH1 Hip Hop Honors that aired tonight. I couldn’t watch it but a couple of my peeps went to the taping last week and said it was pretty good. I’m sure I’ll catch it later. Hip hop has been with me for most of my life and although I rarely listen to new stuff lately, I have some very fond memories of the genre. Every generation has a golden era and loves to harp on the good ‘ole days, right? I recognize there are some dope artists on the come up - most of whom I’m not up on, but right now I just want to reminisce.

(in no particular order)



2004, Nas and Olu Dara at VH1 Hip Hop Honors, NYC - Since I mentioned VH1 already, I figured I should start with this one. Nasir and Olu Dara crushed stereotypes about Black father/son bonds when they did Bridging the Gap live for what I believe was the first time ever. I darn near cried watching this performance. The love and mutual respect between the two of them was palpable. Nas told us about the complicated relationship with his dad on Poppa Was a Playa so to witness their chemistry as two musicians on stage was incredible.

~1985, Jamaica, Queens - I scored my very first autograph from DMC of Run-DMC while walking with my mother to the store. Living in southeast Queens, I would go on to see the trio countless times later on. (Jay, R.I.P., apparently dated to a girl who lived in my neighborhood.) I was over autographs shortly after that but I will always cherish that first one. D wrote: Go to school don’t be a fool. I know that is beyond corny now but I was a freakin’ kid and that autograph stayed on my bedroom wall for months.

1997 or 1998, Philly - One of my best friends went to the University of Pennsylvania so Penn Relays was a must-do every spring during my college days. I saw the best concert (and I’ve been to some pretty good ones) of my life for all of ten dollars , at most twelve. Jay-Z, Foxy Brown, The Lost Boyz, Redman, The Fugees - there was even a couple of dancehall artists thrown in the mix. The line-up might not seem that hot but the energy each act brought to the stage was the best part. (Tress, help me out on the year. It’s all a blur now, lol.)

Spring 2002, Guinea, West Africa - During my first trip to the motherland, I got into a pretty intense convo with some local dudes about the then Jay-Z and Nas beef. This was such an eye-opening experience for me. Sure, I’d heard/read rappers describe the love they got overseas. But to witness in person the passion these cats in Guinea (a very small, underdeveloped country by American standards) had for the artform was priceless.

Summer 2008, Central Park, NYC - The 25th Anniversary of Video Music Box Concert was without a doubt one of my highlights this summer. And it was free! Anyone who grew up in the NY tri-state area in the ‘80s and/or ‘90s understands the sincere love and admiration I have for VMB. Ralph McDaniels was honored for his contribution to hip-hop and NYC and there were performances from Nice and Smooth, Special Ed, The Lost Boyz (Hey, I’m from Queens.), Naughty by Nature, Chubb Rock (He murdered the stage!), and a bunch of old-school acts my brother would have loved to see. By the way, in the early days of VMB, Uncle Ralph played videos from Madonna (yes, Madonna) to Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam. It wasn’t solely hip-hop.

I have many, many more but I gotta go. What are your fave hip hop moments folks?

P.S. - Why does this post feel so Brown Sugar-ish?

Beats and Rhymes

No iPods here!


I’ve been a fan of hip-hop for most of my life. I wrote this a few months back in the heat of the ‘Don Imus/Hip-Hop is responsible for society’s demise’ hoopla. In the words of Ne-Yo I guess I needed to clear some mental space. Well, after viewing Miss Info’s blog entry earlier this week, I knew I needed to post it. Reading her reflection on an impromtu performance at NYC’s SOBs convinced me to share my feelings in a public manner. This may seem to have nothing to do with style but honestly what genre of music has had a more powerful affect on fashion than hip-hop in this century?

Everyone, everyone - I mean everybody has something to say about hip-hop
lately. Imus, Oprah even my cousin Rufus from Selma, Alabama. (Yes, I really have a cousin named Rufus.) All of this talk actually got me to thinking about the reasons I still love hip-hop. Yeah, I'm just as annoyed and disappointed with many of the happenings in our current state of the artform as most of y'all. And no, this isn't some outpouring about my dysfunctional relationship with the music. That's
been done - to death. I just wanted to share with someone why after all this
time, all these ups and downs, I can't sit still when I hear a song like Redman's Time for Some Action. (If that song isn’t a sho’ nuff’ head nodder, I don’t know what is.)

My brother, who is several years my senior, introduced me to hip-hop. Not by choice either. Back in the early 80s, he really wanted nothing to do with me. But as an aspiring dj whose bedroom was right next to his younger sister's, he had no choice but to allow me to hear everything he was feeling at the time. Let's Dance to the Drummer's Beat is technically not even hip-hop but man that song always makes me think of it because my big bro played it ALL the time back in the day when he was just starting to dj. (It’s all about the break beats.) Our father loved jazz and blues and strongly encouraged my brother and me to appreciate music but had little to no respect for hip-hop initially because he thought "Those kids aren't even playing instruments, they're just talking over other people's songs!" I also think he felt it was a fad that would quickly pass us all by. Well, when my brother and his best friend Will saved their money to buy a set of turntables and a mixer, things changed a bit. See, whenever my father noticed a sincere interest in his children, he supported it. It definitely didn't happen overnight, but in his own way, my brother got our father (I've yet to meet anyone as opinionated and headstrong as he was.) to give hip-hop a chance. My dad saw that my brother spent virtually all his allowance and money from part-time jobs here and there on records and practically all his free-time mixing. I honestly don't think he came to like the music before he passed away but in my heart, I know he learned to respect it. Ain't that a beautiful thing?



HAPPY BORN DAY BENJAMIN - 7.27! (And I love you like cooked food too.)