home

MTV Music Awards: One Direction and Lil Wayne

While we were watching Obama last night, the MTV Music Video Awards took place in LA. In case you are wondering what you missed: Best New Artist went to the latest incarnation of the British Invasion boy group, One Direction, who were contestants on the British version of the X Factor, were then signed by Simon Cowell's record label and became Mega Stars. You can watch their live performance here.

[More...]

One Direction also won Best Pop Video for What Makes You Beautiful, beating Justin Bieber and Rihanna. They were very gracious in their acceptance speech. Simon still has that 6th sense or whatever it is that lets him spot what will put teenage girls in a frenzy. Here's their 2010 X Factor boot camp performance -- really good, and they were all only 16 to 18.

One Direction went on the X Factor as individuals, and were going to be bounced when the judges decided to put them in a group, mentored by Simon. They made it to the finals and got eliminated in the top 3. it was probably the best thing that could have happened to them. The winner of that season, Matt Cardle, didn't fare nearly as well -- his label didn't renew his contract. Here's Simon on the groups phenomenal ascent, in the UK and the U.S.

On to Lil Wayne, who showcased really saggy pants during his performance of Yuck No Worries with 2Chainz. I loved them.

I hope he doesn't go to Flint, MI or Delcambre, Louisiana wearing them.

At least he can go to Riviera, Florida, where the judge overturned a ban on saggy pants. But just six weeks ago, Spirit Airlines kicked a passenger off the plane because of his drooping pants.

In June, an Ohio judge threw a man in jail who appeared in court with saggy pants. He stayed there three days. The same happened to a man in court in Autauga County, AL.

Last week, a North Carolina teacher was suspended after she slapped a student over a saggy pants dispute in June.

But the award for the most absurd comment goes to the Mayor of Dunn, NC, who's trying to get an ordinance passed against saggy pants because he says they are dragging down the town's image:

Saggy pants "is part of a culture that breeds drug sales, drug addictions, crime and murder," Robinson said. "

Who makes Lil Wayne's clothes ? Trukfit. Is it a marketing deal? Of course. More here and the style is here.

Trukfit is an earnest, up and coming company with a great philosophy:

Whoever designed its website deserves a bonus. Really nice job --it's creative, interesting, and makes you just want to keep clicking through. It's even got a blog section that is both well designed and has interesting posts.

Lil Wayne has 8 million followers on Twitter. Trukfit has 40,000 followers, but I bet it grows fast. According to the comments tonight, the fans loved Lil Wayne's Trukfit outfit.

< DNC Thursday: Obama's Big Night | Friday Open Thread >
  • The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news

  • Contribute To TalkLeft


  • Display: Sort:
    Wow... (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by turbo6 on Fri Sep 07, 2012 at 09:29:25 AM EST
    All it really took was a few paragraphs to remind me why I haven't watched an MTV awards show since the late 90s.

    I remember when MTV used to be cool. When they actually played music, concerts. Now any exposure of music is in snippets during dramatic breaks in "Teen Mom" or "Jersey Shore".

    The digital age revolutionized music, but destroyed it in many ways. Everyone who thinks they can sing, rap, play an instrument has a YouTube account. While the concept has fleshed out some pretty talented people, it also has brought us Justin Bieber, Rebecca Black, and infinitely more horrendous pseudo-talents.

    Before all this, people paid their dues for recognition. Or were discovered by some fluke, while singing in a mall in Ohio. Now its about about how many hits your YouTube gets, or what connections you have, or how well you do on American Idol. Undoubtedly, the results are just not the same.

    Sure, we have some genuinely talented mainstream modern artists, Adele comes to mind. However, when her song is followed by a Kesha song you are quickly reminded of how awful modern music is.

    Key word "mainstream"... (none / 0) (#4)
    by kdog on Fri Sep 07, 2012 at 09:44:02 AM EST
    mainstream is about creating hype and marketing and profits...the artist is almost inconsequential.

    There is so much good new sh*t out there it is ridiculous...satellite radio is a great source to find it, as well as the old standby, your local live venues.  MTV sucks, the "M" has become false advertising.

    Youtube and self-publishing has a lot of potential for artists the corporate suits see no profit in marketing...the Beiber examples you mention are more of a case of poor musical tastes than an indictment of the medium, imo.

    Parent

    MTV (none / 0) (#7)
    by ScottW714 on Fri Sep 07, 2012 at 11:33:27 AM EST
    Is a shell of what it used to be, but I bet you have access to one of my favorite channels, mtvU.  Better than the original MTV IMO.

    They also have:
    MTV2
    MTV Tr3́s
    MTV Hits
    MTV Jams
    MTV K
    MTV Chi
    MTV Desi

    Not sure about the rest, never saw them and I think they are mainly in other languages.

    Parent

    Mega Stars? (none / 0) (#1)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Fri Sep 07, 2012 at 08:25:52 AM EST
    That's a stretch, IMO.  Maybe in the UK.  

    The only reason I even know of One Direction at all is because there was a rumor that Kate Upton was seeing one of them and their tween fans were up in arms over it.  Complete with talk of suicide and death threats for Kate if it was true (its not).  

    No, they are mega... (none / 0) (#8)
    by magster on Fri Sep 07, 2012 at 01:45:03 PM EST
    ... the original Magster has posters adorning her room. So too, do her friends. And my niece in Cincinnati bought a concert ticket last month for a concert in the summer of 2013.

    Parent
    So, the Beibs (none / 0) (#9)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Fri Sep 07, 2012 at 07:29:00 PM EST
    is yesterday's crush?

    Parent
    Have the authorities.... (none / 0) (#2)
    by kdog on Fri Sep 07, 2012 at 08:36:31 AM EST
    no concept of "reverse psychology"?  They more they piss and moan about saggy pants, and pass laws against saggy pants (sign of the apocolypse, btw), the more kids wanna let them sag.

    If they really wanted to end the fashion trend, outfit the police in saggy pants and the kids will stop tomorrow;)

    Seems Like They Think... (none / 0) (#5)
    by ScottW714 on Fri Sep 07, 2012 at 11:27:58 AM EST
    ...pulling up pants will be the end of their troubles.  Just old crusty white people who apparently are offended when people don't wear their clothing 'properly'.  This has been going on since clothes were worn I bet.  The first person to not where an animal skin was probably a kid or two and they were shunned by elder I would imagine for the breakdown of the caveman society.

    And if the idiots would use logic, they would realize a lot of low pant wearing criminals have been caught because they can't run as fast.
    HERE   HERE   HERE

    Not that baggy pant wearers are criminals, but the ones that are, aren't out running cops.

    Cop:

    "They go to take off and either they have to use their hands to hold their pants up or several times the pants just fell down around their knees and they had to stop running," Matheny said. "They spend all day thinking of ways to beat the police and then they go and put these pants on. It really handicaps them."

    "It's hilarious to me if you think about it," he said. "This is what they do for a living. It's like when the big thing was not tying your shoes and we had kids running out of their shoes."



    Parent
    Too true.... (none / 0) (#6)
    by kdog on Fri Sep 07, 2012 at 11:30:59 AM EST
    saggy pants should be embraced by the old & crusty, it makes it that much easier to slap chains on the undesirables who run afoul of the law.

    Parent
    There seems to be some debate over the origin (none / 0) (#10)
    by Mr Natural on Sat Sep 08, 2012 at 08:44:41 AM EST
    of the sartorial saggy. Google away.  

    Meanwhile, here is a pretty sad looking children's book title:

    http://cheezburger.com/6345362432

    Parent

    FWIW, it ain't saggin' that dismays the most... (none / 0) (#11)
    by Mr Natural on Sat Sep 08, 2012 at 08:49:37 AM EST
    It's autotune - a digital signal processor which has allowed a lot of photogenic, if abysmally untalented, American Idol types to become 'stars.'

    but No Direction sang live on this vid (none / 0) (#14)
    by DFLer on Sun Sep 09, 2012 at 09:51:27 AM EST
    and well and in pitch.


    Parent
    Today's processors work in real time. (none / 0) (#15)
    by Mr Natural on Sun Sep 09, 2012 at 10:36:56 AM EST
    i.e., live.

    Parent
    it is very hard to set tuning processors to work (none / 0) (#16)
    by DFLer on Sun Sep 09, 2012 at 04:08:40 PM EST
    transparently. These boys CAN sing. That's all I'm saying. I doubt they use live tuning processing in this case.

    Parent
    meant to say (none / 0) (#17)
    by DFLer on Sun Sep 09, 2012 at 04:12:13 PM EST
    "to work live" transparently

    Parent