kheaven only knows

I interviewed one of my favourite artists yesterday, also my favourite person to interview, k-os. It was his third album, therefore our third official sit-down interview, though if I added up all the times I have interviewed him at events and red carpets, the number may rival the 10 times I interviewed Kardinal Offishall.

I spend the most amount of time researching for an interview when I speak with k-os because he is not a fan of interviews so I want to make sure I ask him things he doesn't hear often. Or maybe I just don't want to piss him off.

In past interviews, I presented him with some of my opinions on his music, and he often disagrees, which is great because we can then go back and forth with counterpoints. Yesterday was no different. The first "debate" was over his acceptance speeches at awards shows. He doesn't do them. At the Junos, he said "thank you" and left the stage. I asked why he does this and he said, to sum it up, he doesn't like award shows and doesn't feel like people should be telling him "ok this is the time to thank people." He does that on his own terms. So I said "but why don’t you use the opportunity to address concerns or speak out on something, because you're always so vocal in interviews like this" and he responded that he can't just speak out at any given opportunity. If someone sees him on the street and says hello, he can't just start preaching. So we more or less decided to agree to disagree on that.

We also spoke about his beef with Kardinal (not about the actual fight, that's old news, but what it did for Canadian hip-hop music), why he included an Elvis riff on his album (when Elvis has been a cause for debate among the black community; some say he stole music from black artists while others like Little Richard say he paved the way for them), and a whole lot more. I think it was over 20-minutes and I still had questions I had for him that I didn't have time to ask.

You'll be able to see that interview soon.

Also look out for Adrian Grenier, James Blunt and more coming soon!

His name is Lupe

Lupe Fiasco has proven that hip-hop still matters with his CD "Food and Liquor." Just when you think the 50s and the Nellys are bringing hip-hop to a new low with their crud, Lupe will renew your faith in the genre. Think of something in the same realm as Kanye, k-os and Common.

I've been listening to it for about a week, alternating between Lupe's CD and k-os' new disc, "Atlantis." My car rides have never been more enjoyable.

Thoughts on the New Fall Season

I've caught a few of the new shows but so far none have overly impressed me. There is one that will be debuting sometime in the mid-season but I'll tell you about that in a minute. Here are my thoughts on the ones that have started:

The Nine – It's the season's most anticipated new show (says ABC) and with a timeslot right after Lost, how can it fail? Moments ago I caught the first episode and while it was thrilling and mysterious, I wonder where it can go from here. The show's about a bank robbery that lasts two days. The "nine" people inside of course know what happened but we do not. So there's a big mystery as to what could have possibly gone on in there? That is precisely why I will continue watching (I wouldn't stop till the mystery is solved!), but after the show (it's the after party… oops. Sorry) there was a preview of next week's episode. It shows one of the "nine" getting famous while another wants justice from the police! So what!? Tell us what went on inside. I can tell already, I'm going to watch every episode and then complain that I wasn't given enough new information. Much like Lost.

Ugly Betty – nothing genius about it, nothing excessively hilarious funny, but much better than other sitcoms on tv, if you can consider this a sitcom. I'll watch it when I'm home but won't go out of my way to catch it.

Heroes – the season's most anticipated new show (says NBC). A bunch of ordinary people find out they have super powers! So far so good.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip – the season's most anticipated new show besides Heroes (says NBC). Episode 1: two writers save a show like Saturday Night Live. Episode 2: they have a successful first show on the job. So now what? I'm interested to see how they keep me entertained, but I'm not going to move heaven and earth like the cast of Heroes to watch this show.

Kidnapped- no thanks.

Everything on Fox- meh.

The Class- I watched the first episode, didn't laugh. It's like Joey in the sense that if NOTHING else is on, I might watch for 10 minutes but feel guilty about it.

Help Me Help You – I've always been a fan of Ted Danson for some reason. He plays the exact same character he has for the past 20 years on a million different shows, but this time he's a psychiatrist. Works for me; I miss Becker. If you can say that, then you'll like this.

Six Degrees – The show is so basic but so intriguing. Six ordinary people (much like many shows listed above) all somehow connected. Or maybe they're not. I haven't figured that out yet. I will continue watching until I get bored… hasn't happened after three episodes.

And the show that I've been able to catch a sneak peak of but that hasn't aired yet is called Traveler. Oh man, you need to see this show.
There is a preview of Traveler here on ABC's site. I hope some shows fail soon so they can bump this up to start airing now.