TOAST 2 THAT / ALL THE BUZZ ON THE HOUSE

The late '90s brought an influx of new and talented young faces—Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, N’Sync, Jessica Simpson, Mandy Moore and Christina Aguilera. Of all the acts to come out of the teen pop explosion, Aguilera was the best. Though she was never as popular as Spears (she always trailed Spears in the popularity race), she reigned supreme in the class of ’99, so says the Grammy’s (the singer won Best New Artist over Britney Spears at the 2000 Grammy’s). She was young and gorgeous with a range that rivaled the late-great Whitney Houston. She was in a league of her own and everyone knew it.

Despite the massive criticism, Stripped managed to debut at No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot 200. Shortly after the album’s release RCA records released ‘Beautiful,’ a soulful ballad, pinned by former 4 Non Blondes front woman Linda Perry. The song resonated across the globe and became a world-wide anthem for the bullied, ridiculed and unwanted. As time progressed people discovered that despite Aguilera’s image, she was nevertheless a musical force to be reckoned with. Despite its lead single, Stripped was filled with big ballads, gospel choirs, bluesy tracks and sexy baselines. Critics said that the record was musically scattered—lacking focus, but fans loved it. It was during this era that X-tina was born—the antithesis of Britney Spears and everything bubble gum pop. It was clear that this was Aguilera’s musical direction—and she owned it!

Aguilera waited four years before she released her next album, Bionic. The singer described the album as a glimpse into the future—citing the birth of her son and a rejuvenation of her playful side. In May 2010 the singer released the lead single from the album, “Not Myself Tonight” and radio welcomed it with open arms. But there was another blonde bombshell on the scene. Her name? Lady Gaga. She was fresh and new and pop fans gravitated to her like white gravitates to rice. To the dismay of many fans, radio ditched Aguilera’s single—a single that they had embraced just months before. The album suffered and though it hit No.2 on Billboard’s Top 40 chart, it dropped from the charts just weeks later.

What was interesting about Aguilera’s now infamous Bionic era was the lack of urgency shown by Aguilera and her camp when Bionic was being defeated. Pictures began to surface of Aguilera noticeably larger and seemingly unfocused. The media and the blogesphere pounced. Bionic was laid to rest just five months after its release date. In the early months of 2011, Christina Aguilera announced that she and her husband of five years were filing for divorce. Again the media pounced, but fans knew that something was drastically wrong. During that year Aguilera experienced a series of setbacks, she fumbled (no pun intended) the words to the National Anthem at the biggest sporting event ever—the Super Bowl, and after a rousing tribute to Aretha Franklin during the 2011 Grammy ceremony the singer nearly tumbled off stage (she later claimed that the train of her dress was caught in the heel of her stiletto). Though Aguilera’s mishaps became the laughing stalk of the music industry, fans across the world were in near-mourning status. Following the Grammys, there would be a new dawn for Aguilera and her army of “fighters” and it would come in the form of a new and fresh reality singing competition—The Voice. Aguilera served as the only female judge on a panel that included R&B/hip hop sensation Cee-Lo Green, rock/pop bad boy Adam Levine and country crooner Blake Shelton. It was this show that saw the return of X-tina. On the show, Aguilera did was she does best—she polarized primetime viewers. For some, she was what talent competitions were lacking—a diva with unparalleled range who loved hard and coached even harder. But for others, Aguilera came across as a know-it-all privileged pop star—on Twitter, “bitch” became synonymous with Christina Aguilera. Though The Voice did little to repair the singer’s tarnished image, it did galvanize her fanbase. She reminded the folks that may have jumped ship to cruise with Gaga and Katy Perry that she was still pop’s HBIC and a flop album was not going to stop her reign. It was entertaining to say the least—watching fans and foes debate Aguilera’s outfits and choice of words every Monday and Tuesday night. As a critic of the show, I saw the world talking about Christina Aguilera again. Whether they loved or hated her, Aguilera was on the forefront of everyone’s brain and plastered on the cover of every tabloid in America. And in true pop diva form—Aguilera rose to the occasion. The spark that fans thought was gone forever had reemerged—X-tina was back! By the time the live shows began for The Voice season two, Aguilera had a new body and a new attitude.

We are now on the eve of Aguilera’s fifth studio installment and her fans are on pins and needles because out of everyone, they know this next Christina Aguilera era is her make or break moment. She is in the middle of two extremes—if Aguilera manages to come roaring back, she has solidified herself as a music legend. If she doesn’t, I’m afraid it may be over for the little diva with the big voice—her accomplishments will fall by the waste side and like Lauryn Hill, she will be forced to feed off of her previous success for the duration of her career. Sure Aguilera has a wider fanbase than most, but it isn’t enough to sustain her—she needs casual listeners to hear her music and connect to it. The truth is, Aguilera has never been America’s sweetheart—she’s no Beyonce (but it’s ok). The masses will never purchase her music just because they like her. They’ve always purchased her music because they connected to her voice and because she’s damn good at what she does. But in order for Aguilera to make the comeback that everyone’s expecting she must be ferocious, she must not hold back because if there is anything we have learned about Aguilera over her illustrious 15-year career is that she is at her best when she’s fighting.

By: Tim Harris

You will hear about it today and it will more than likely dominate the news cycle in the coming weeks. Today, at approximately 11:50 a.m., President Obama will address the nation from the East Room of the White House. This time, the President will be calling on Congress to extend the Bush tax cuts for those individuals and families making less than $250,000 a year. If you follow politics this is déjà vu, because it was less than two years ago that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, and the Executive branch were squabbling over this very same issue. In 2010, Republicans won—President Obama signed a bill that extended unemployment benefits and the Bush-era tax cuts for all Americans.

History of Bush Tax Cuts

In 2001, after President Clinton left office, the United States had a budget surplus. Our then-president, George W. Bush and his administration were like kids in a candy store. They couldn’t contain themselves and blew through the cash like Weezy and Birdman. The Bush administration implemented a prescription drug program to lessen and, in some instances, eliminate the cost of prescription drugs for seniors—a good thing. Bush also used Clinton’s surplus to fund an unwarranted tax break for the entire nation—an okay thing (who wouldn’t like to pay a little less in taxes). But then, following the attacks of Sept. 11, President Bush waged war against Iraq, sending thousands of troops and billions of dollars into the pint-sized country with the expectation that we would find “weapons of mass destruction.” You know the story—we didn’t!

A combination of two unfunded wars, massive tax cuts, and a reckless Wall Street brought the nation’s economy to its knees. But don’t be fooled. Republicans will try to over-complicate this argument by using terms like ‘uncertainty’ and ‘small business.’ However, the argument is as simple as this—we can no longer afford to give handouts to the super-rich. For 11 years we have subsidized the incomes of our nation’s top earners—and while we watched their incomes rise by over 120 percent, middle class families saw their wages barely increase. Another simple fact—the top ‘1 percent’ have seen their tax rate drop to a 60-year low over the past 10 years. If we use the Republican argument that tax breaks for the wealthy create certainty and certainty creates jobs, then after 11 years of record low tax rates, our economy should be overflowing with jobs—right?

Unfortunately, we never saw the jobs. Now, Republicans are making us the same promise—if we let the rich write their own rules, make as much money as they possibly can then somehow those dollars will trickle down to the rest of us. It helps to know that every modern day president that has taken on a recession during their tenure has raised taxes in order to offset spending cuts—from FDR (Democrat) to Ronald Regan (Republican).

President Obama has proposed a reasonable plan with proven results. We must raise revenue—that’s a fact, but the president’s plan to do so is identical to the economic blueprint of President Clinton (you know the plan that made everyone richer and created 23 million jobs). Honestly, as an American, you have wonder if the neo-Republican Party thinks we are a nation of idiots. I mean, if I had a choice—I’d go with the plan that has proven itself to work. For the anti-Obama folks, save your rebuttals, instead I want you to really examine the Republican platform—dissect the meaning behind words like ‘small business’ and what it means in relation to the tax code and then make an educated decision on who to vote for in November—please, 98 percent of us are counting on you.

This year, the BET awards brought out all the stars—even “The Carters” decided to descend from the highest heights of stardom and show their lovely faces. But even with the multitude of A-list rappers, musicians and actors, BET still managed to fall short when it came to the production and execution of last night’s star-studded event.

The show’s opening number was arguably the best of the night. I say arguably because the performance didn’t quite resonate until Kanye West appeared in his rarest of forms. Dressed in all white, the controversial rapper walked confidently down the hood of the Lamborghini Murcielago that was plastered on a tall, all white staircase. Like many of the performers from last night, the rapper knew his audience—his opening number, “Mercy” has remained the go-to song for urban radio platforms throughout the entire summer. West dropped jaws when he decided to stop the backtrack and give a chilling a cappella freestyle—this set precedent for the show and made rappers like Nicki Minaj  look like inexperienced amateurs. After one of the most disappointing openings in BET history, courtesy of Samuel L. Jackson and a seemingly inebriated Spike Lee, West took home the first award of the night for Best Group Performance —rightfully so. In a surprise skit, West brought out his boss and seemingly close friend, Jay-Z, to accept their award. Of all people, it was uptight Jay-Z who broke the ice at last night’s ceremony, purposely interrupting West during his acceptance speech, reminding everyone of when West famously interrupted country star Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech at the 2009 VMAs.

If there were any questions about whether the ceremony was really live, they were dispelled by whoever was controlling the mute button.  It was as if the person on duty was ‘so over’ keeping up with the expletives that he or she began bleeping out entire verses—making BET look both lazy and ill-prepared (Thanks, Debra Lee). After a rousing opening, BET slowed things down when R&B legend Usher took the stage for a sexy rendition of his hit, ‘Climax.’ Though his outfit was a bit questionable, the singer was restrained yet powerful during his performance—he reminded us that while Chris Brown is the best overall entertainer in his generation, he lacks the range and lung capacity to compete with “Ursher baby!”

Big Sean took home the most important award of the night for Best New Artist. I take this category very seriously because it is important that award shows get it right. Thankfully, BET did! Though Big Sean was competing against some really talented artists, his career was, by far the most promising. Midway through the show, Lady Gaga … I mean Lil’ Kim …. I mean Nicki Minaj took to the stage. The outrageous star looked exceptional in a body-hugging lace cat suit and gave a show-stopping performance of her hit “Bees in the Trap.”

There were some stand-out appearances last night, including DMV’s own Wale. The breakout star and Prince George’s County native won the award for Best Collaboration for his duet with R&B crooner Miguel. The star made no qualms about putting on for his city—shouting out the DMV twice during his acceptance speech. Melanie Fiona was the next star to grace the stage. The songstress went rouge by doing the unthinkable (insert sarcasm)—standing on stage with just a microphone, piano and a spotlight. The singer left her lungs on the stage after belting out a pitch perfect rendition of her ballad, “Wrong Side of the Love Song.”

It was a long time coming, but finally the man that everyone had claimed to be waiting for took the stage—D’Angelo. With all the anticipation leading up to his performance I was on pins and needles, hoping that the “How Does It Feel” singer would deliver. D’Angelo, one of the pioneers of neo-soul, delivered the most feel-good performance of the night. You could see it on the faces of the audience, including Beyonce and Solange Knowles, who both stood on their feet for the singer’s entire performance. At the conclusion, music lovers across the country were left wondering ‘what ever happened to real music?”

Beyonce took home the BET Star for Best Female R&B. Honestly, when Bey’s in a category, who can compete with that? The singer did take the time to pay tribute to R&B music—in rare form, King B took a swipe at one of the kids from Mindless Behavior by name dropping Lauryn Hill as an inspiration, after the group mindlessly took a swipe at the hip hop legend by alluding to the singer’s recent tax evasion charges. Though I was happy to see Wale take the stage, the lack of chemistry between the MMG family made their performance look like a bunch of randomness. I would have been happier seeing the DMV star go solo for this performance.

The Frankie Beverly & Maze tribute was one of the best of the night, especially being able to see hip hop widow Faith Evans powerhouse the stage—another reminder that, with the absence of artists like Evans,  real music is dead.

The most anticipated performances of the night were of those participating in the Whitney Houston tribute. In grand fashion, Mariah Carey emerged from backstage and, in the beginning, almost made the tribute about her. Something must have clicked with the multi-octave diva, because she temporarily deviated from her self-indulgence and actually shed a tear for the fallen diva. Everyone around me was expecting Carey to sing, but I knew that would have been a complete overreach by the singer, vocally. After Carey gave her emotional speech the camera panned to R&B diva Monica—she sang a soul-stirring rendition of ‘I love the Lord.’ Though Monica did a great job with the song, her rendition didn’t stand a chance against Houston’s, leaving the audience wanting more. The next performer surprisingly gave us just that—more! Brandy, a die-hard Houston fan, took the stage to sing one of Houston’s more popular hits—‘I’m Your Baby Tonight.’ Brandy’s voice, though thin at some points, (particularly in her full-voiced upper register) resonated beautifully. Her tone was deep and rich, and even with choreography her voice never faded. Her tribute to Houston was by far the most impressive. As for Cissy Houston, her tribute was emotional, so much so that it brought many folks, including Souljah Boy to tears.

Everything beyond the Whitney Houston tribute was randomness; with exception of Chris Brown winning the Viewers Choice Award (I would have killed to see Jay-Z’s face after trying to sabotage the poor boy’s career). Here’s how I would have scored last night’s event on a scale of 1-10:

Performances: 9.0

Production: 5.0

Hype/Advertising: 9.0

Distribution of Awards: 9.5

Overall: 8.1 (B-)