http://statenews.com Copy chief Alexa Schlosser writes about what’s new and interesting in the world of music, movies, fashion and pop culture in her blog Fresh Detective. en-us Gryphon 2.2.3b-tsn (woodward)/Foundry5 Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:11:03 -0400 webmaster@statenews.com http://statenews.com/index.php/blog/fresh_detective/2009/10/hipsterhopper_theophilus_london_impressive_bumpable Theophilus London charmed me with his “This Charming Mixtape” all the way back in January, so why it has taken me this long to convey his freshness with written word is hard to say. Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:11:03 -0400 http://statenews.com/index.php/blog/fresh_detective/2009/10/hipsterhopper_theophilus_london_impressive_bumpable http://statenews.com/index.php/blog/fresh_detective/2009/09/the_fresh_explainer_why_i_wrote_what_i_wrote_about_j_cole_ There will be a brief freshness hiatus this week, but it’s only because I feel the need to explain myself about last week’s post on J. Cole. I didn’t write the blog to stir up controversy, and I certainly didn’t write the blog thinking I would offend anyone. Mon, 07 Sep 2009 22:21:46 -0400 http://statenews.com/index.php/blog/fresh_detective/2009/09/the_fresh_explainer_why_i_wrote_what_i_wrote_about_j_cole_ http://statenews.com/index.php/blog/fresh_detective/2009/09/rapper_j_cole_might_be_doper_than_drake His flow is smooth, his wordplay is clever and his production is impressive. He’s a young, light-skinned black dude and he’s just signed to the label of a major rapper. But he’s not Drake. And it’s not Young Money. He’s Jermaine Cole, also known as J. Cole, and he’s the first rapper on the new label founded by — wait for it — Jay-Z. Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:30:35 -0400 http://statenews.com/index.php/blog/fresh_detective/2009/09/rapper_j_cole_might_be_doper_than_drake http://statenews.com/index.php/blog/fresh_detective/2009/07/ra_ra_riot__vampire_weekend__discovery__great I didn’t count the number of times I heard “oooh baby” on Discovery’s debut album “LP” because I can’t count that high. Luckily, “oooh baby” is my favorite thing to hear ever. But I never imagined I’d get my fix of passionate serenading from indie dudes Rostam Batmanglij (keyboardist from Vampire Weekend) and Wes Miles (Ra Ra Riot frontman). Passionate serenading may be a bit hyperbolic; you won’t hear that there’s nothing wrong with a little bump ’n’ grind (even though I’m sure they would agree there’s not), but you will hear other cheesy things like “Oooh baby you’ve got me goin’ so insane and I just don’t know what’s goin’ down.” No problems here. Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:55:27 -0400 http://statenews.com/index.php/blog/fresh_detective/2009/07/ra_ra_riot__vampire_weekend__discovery__great http://statenews.com/index.php/blog/fresh_detective/2009/06/diplo-switch_collabo_major_lazer_weird_in_good_way The Major Lazer MySpace page lists its style as reggae/Americana/black metal. Yeah, I don’t really think that makes sense either. Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:43:16 -0400 http://statenews.com/index.php/blog/fresh_detective/2009/06/diplo-switch_collabo_major_lazer_weird_in_good_way http://statenews.com/index.php/blog/fresh_detective/2009/06/rather_be_hungover_than_see_the_hangover_again I recently heard “best comedy of 2009” being thrown around and I got a little antsy. Sun, 14 Jun 2009 23:02:31 -0400 http://statenews.com/index.php/blog/fresh_detective/2009/06/rather_be_hungover_than_see_the_hangover_again http://statenews.com/index.php/blog/fresh_detective/2009/06/remix_album_southerngold_more_of_a_hit_than_youd_think I know mashups are not new. And I’m very aware that most of them are pure crap. Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:55:55 -0400 http://statenews.com/index.php/blog/fresh_detective/2009/06/remix_album_southerngold_more_of_a_hit_than_youd_think http://statenews.com/index.php/blog/fresh_detective/2009/06/nike_air_yeezys_are_kinda_fly_kinda_not As a huge sneakerhead and lover of Kanye West’s mashup fashion sense (which somehow manages to be retro, futuristic, gangster, hipster and classy all at once), I’ve been pretty pumped about Nike’s Air Yeezys for at least a minute. I’m the type of person that regularly salivates over new shoe releases on sneakerfiles.com or sneakerfreaker.com or sneakernews.com or any other iteration of sneaker and freshness followed by a dot com, but I hardly ever do any real purchasing. Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:15:09 -0400 http://statenews.com/index.php/blog/fresh_detective/2009/06/nike_air_yeezys_are_kinda_fly_kinda_not http://statenews.com/index.php/blog/fresh_detective/2009/06/rapper_drake_may_just_know_whats_up Aubrey Graham is a Canadian actor who was on a teen TV drama. Aubrey Graham also is a rapper named Drake on Lil’ Wayne’s Young Money record label. And dude is blowin’ up. I’m seeing Facebook statuses on top of Facebook statuses with quotes from his most recent “So Far Gone” mixtape. Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:29:10 -0400 http://statenews.com/index.php/blog/fresh_detective/2009/06/rapper_drake_may_just_know_whats_up http://statenews.com/index.php/blog/fresh_detective/2009/05/cool_kids_go_through_motions_on_new_mixtape_fall_flat Rap duo The Cool Kids have finally stepped up to the mic in the musically rich 2009 and given the Internet an uncharacteristically long mixtape, “Gone Fishing.” Produced by Don Cannon of “Gangsta Grillz” fame (please remember that Lil’ Wayne track) and including the annoying interruptions of “cannon!” and excessive echoed yelling reminiscent of no-talent DJs on bootlegged MP3s, the mixtape is pretty whatever. Sun, 31 May 2009 16:02:38 -0400 http://statenews.com/index.php/blog/fresh_detective/2009/05/cool_kids_go_through_motions_on_new_mixtape_fall_flat