Then:

KFC Popcorn Chicken using MC Hammer’s “2 Legit 2 Quit”
This commercial ran during the early 90’s on american television. It puts Hammer in a back stage stand-off. Hammer refuses to go on stage for some reason, then someone holds out a box of popcorn chicken to Hammer. Hammer takes a piece, flicks it up, catches it in his mouth and says “Now that’s popcorn”. Hammer then takes the stage performing “2 Legit 2 Quit”.

Now:

An open letter to Sanjaya Malakar:

Congratulations on catching America’s ears…and eyes.

Over the past month, you’ve wowed the world with your original performances. And, your ever-changing hairdos have made you almost as famous as KFC® Original Recipe® Chicken and Colonel Sanders himself.

On behalf of Kentucky Fried Chicken®, I want to serve up to you a tasty offer. If you don a bowl hairdo during one of your next nationally televised performances, KFC will grant you a free lifetime supply of KFC Famous Bowls®. We’re sure America will be as ‘bowled-over’ by your take on this classic look as they are by our KFC Famous Bowls.

From wavy to Mohawk to now the classic bowl – who knows, your bowl cut could start a trend as big as KFC Famous Bowls, which consumers ranked as THE most memorable new product of 2006.

In addition to free KFC Famous Bowls for life – if you sport a bowl cut, KFC will cut a check in your name to Colonel’s Scholars, a charity providing young people with much needed college scholarships. We’re confident that helping students afford college is something that even the toughest of judges would stand and applaud.

Your Fan,
Gregg Dedrick
President of KFC

Join the legacy. [Thanks, tipster Sonia!]

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At a time when a desi male singer is in the news for all the wrong reasons, it’s good to remember that there’s such a thing as the art of the song, and nice to come across a desi brother who is honing his craft like a devoted apprentice: slowly, steadily, and with growing success.

Sachal Vasandani, 28, has been singing on the New York jazz circuit for a few years now: he’s performed with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Wynton Marsalis, and he has a regular early-evening gig at Zinc Bar in Greenwich Village. That’s where Manish heard him almost two years ago now, which resulted in this post; and the fact that it’s taken this long for Sachal to drop his first album, which comes out tomorrow, and that the disc features the same core trio (David Wong on bass, Quincy Davis on drums, and Jeb Patton on piano) that Manish heard that night, tells you a lot about the consistency and hard work and constant plugging away that it takes to develop your sound and make your move in the real music world, as opposed to freakshows like American Idol.

The album is called “Eyes Wide Open” and is out on Detroit label Mack Avenue. It’s really an album of songs, by which I mean, songs with lyrics, verses and refrains, melody and exposition — this is not free jazz, in fact it’s not even what most listeners would consider edgy, and that centrist disposition makes it eminently accessible, perhaps more so than some heads would be willing to cop to liking. Three of the compositions are Vasandani’s own; the remainder divide among standards and covers from sources as diverse as Sade and Iron & Wine.

I sat down with the brother recently for a story that you can find here. It will give you the rundown on his life story and all the usual profile elements. Here’s a little excerpt that will give you an idea of his approach and sensibility: Continue reading →

It looks like everyone’s favorite Canadian (after Alex Trebek, Michael J. Fox, and the late Peter Jennings) is having a bit of trouble with the mother tongue. It’s been getting her quite frustrated (thanks for the tip Mona):

Napanee, Ontario native Avril Lavigne is showing appreciation for her fans around the world, and looking to sell a lot more albums, by recording her new “Girlfriend” single in eight different languages.

While some detractors aren’t convinced that Lavigne has mastered English yet, her annoying single can now be heard in Mandarin, Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Italian and Portuguese. Lavigne even went so far as trying to record it in Hindi, but the language was too difficult to match the song’s western rhythm, said manager Terry McBride in a Canadian Press interview following his keynote address at Toronto’s Royal York Hotel as part of the Canadian Music Week conference. McBride said that Portuguese was the hardest language to learn, next to Hindi, and that the singer spent hours studying foreign language recordings before going into the studio to record the song. [Link]

Obviously Lavigne, an icon of the punk rock movement, didn’t have the right Hindi tutor. I’m sorry but am I the only one offended here? Don’t be tellin’ me that Mandarin is any easier than Hindi. Why do Indians always seem to get shafted? Why did she have to make the Hindi version of her song match the white man’s “western rythym?” So let’s watch the video together and imagine it in Hindi. Lavigne, you’ve let us down this time.

Falak is the name of a Pakistani-Canadian rock band out of Toronto. You can check out their Myspace page to listen to some of their tunes and read their blog entries. Searching the name “Falak” on Youtube will turn up a bunch of clips of their music videos and live performances. At face they sound like a typical hard rock band destined to obscurity. However, MTV Pakistan recently banned them…but not before they had already been airing their video over there for a while (since December).

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

So….just wanted to let you all know…that FALAK’s first video is officially airing in Pakistan. It’s a bit scandalous for North American television though….so don’t really know when you can expect to see it here….maybe when these fascist pigs try exercising real freedom of speech …

In the meanwhile, remember, CNN is bullshit…. [Link]

The ban of course will generate some attention for them. Why the ban? Watch this video, titled Yadein part II:

So I ask the question to SM’s readers because I am still trying to decide. Is this art/expression, or does it lend a rock-and-roll mystique to something else…

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One of the sources of creative vitality in Third World popular cultures is the uncanny ability to seize on local or global events and use them as symbols or metaphor, or simply to re-purpose names and words from the news for the purpose of entertainment that, by virtue of this method of assembly, is never completely innocent and certainly not mindless.

Also evidenced, not coincidentally, in the best hip-hop, this instinct to appropriate the signifiers of large and possibly uncontrollable events and redeploy them in the service of local meaning results in a constant renewal process in which, as one signifier runs its course, another emerges to supplant it, bringing with it new nicknames for objects in regular use — minibuses, beer bottles, bank notes, lengths of cloth — and new jokes and new dances and new fashions.

With “Bird Flu,” her new single, your girl M.I.A. taps into this endlessly rich seam. Vaguely mysterious, unpredictable, global in scope and potentially catastrophic, the bird flu that moved across several continents in 2006 was perfect for semiotic appropriation. Especially since birds, especially poultry, in various stages of ecstasy or distress have long been inspiration for dance moves — the Funky Chicken and the Dirty Bird come to mind. So it’s a chicken stuttering across a dusty village street that sets, in the video, the rhythm for the song, and much dancing, declamation, and additional avian imagery ensues. No connection to the “real” bird flu, and yet, all the connection in the world.

It’s a cool song, but before we rush to celebrate its originality I want to share with you another Bird Flu song that actually predates homegirl’s. Continue reading →

I’ve blogged earlier about how India tends to attract B-list musicians, ones no longer at the peak of their popularity but often with some emotional connection to India. Here’s another example — Ricky Martin will be performing in India next month (HT to Hilal)

Do I have enough gel in my hair?

However, this concert is a bit different. It’s a private performance at a “high profile shaadi in Jaipur“. The match between former Menudo star and “Mumbai-based industrialist Neeraj Raja Kocchar” (the father of the groom) was made by DJ Aqeel, fresh from spinning disks for the well heeled at the World Economic Forum at Davos. Apparently slightly past their prime international pop stars are the new status symbol for extravagant weddings — who knew? Now I know what to get the tycoon who has everything.

I was also surprised to read that this wasn’t Martin’s first performance in India. In 2005, he performed a benefit for children with HIV/AIDS at the Taj Mahal as part of his ongoing engagement with the issue of children’s rights:

Martin, however, is no stranger to India. He has visited the country several times, most recently to record the string arrangements for his first English-language album in five years, “Life”. Martin, a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, has long been a strong advocate of children’s rights and protection through his Ricky Martin Foundation. He also backs groups working to prevent child trafficking and prostitution in several countries, including India. [Link]

Martin rescued three young girls from the streets of Kolkata from a life of prostitution… [Link]

Social activism. It’s not just for Bono and Madonna and Peter Gabriel and Bob Geldorf and … any more.

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