oh my god, I can’t breathe. Really what’s awesome about the “beef” between Common and Drake is that we have two artists who have similarly “diverse” attributes and career experiences, similar achilles ankles, and are both very talented. Common obviously has more hip hop history to draw from, and Drake obviously has youthful buzz. But you don’t get the sense that (even if the seeds of this beef are personal) anything truly ignorant or destructive will happen here.
What will happen though…is amazing parody. Like the Egotrip list of possible Common x Drake duets…
And now this genius moment: Egotrip’s video montage of Common and Drake’s fantasy cover of John Lennon’s “Imagine.”

So awesome.

Related:
Birdman Comments on Drake vs. Common: ‘That’s Not What We About’
Common Unleashes New Drake Diss: “You A B–ch”
Drake Disses Common On New Video: Rick Ross Feat. Drake & French Montana “Stay Schemin”
New Video: Common “Sweet”
Common Confirms He Dissed Drake on “Sweet”…Butt, Is This Really About Serena Williams??

(You may be wondering why the Brooklyn Bridge is covered in denim… the answer lies at egotripland.com)

Jay-Z already heralded the birth of his “smarter faster me” Blue Ivy Carter with the song “Glory”….but as the celebratory news of Hov and Beyonce’s new baby daughter broke over the past two days, so too has the ridiculous speculation of events surrounding it. Not the least of which was the rumor (perpetuated by lines from a new song, “Glory”) that Jay-Z had arranged for the Empire State Building to be lit blue in honor of Blue Ivy Carter’s birth. Turns out the NYC landmark’s hue was actually due to the NY Giants’ playoff game on Sunday. Oh well, we can pretend. In fact, there’s gotta be all kinds of ways we could imagine Jay-Z pulling some strings to publicly celebrate this monumental event with the rest of the world. Here – with the help of our friends at EgotripLand – are a few. Yeah, we can just see it now… Together we came up with 10 other ways Jay-Z could celebrate daughter Blue Ivy’s B-Day.

1. Rent fleet of prop planes to crop dust Tri-state with atomized Blue Nile. Muslim oil merchants rejoice

2. Remove term “poison ivy” from all medical journals and English dictionaries in Western Hemisphere.

continued after the jump…

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Awww! Jay-Z is basking in the glow of being a new dad. His wife Beyonce just gave birth to a baby girl, Blue Ivy Carter, on Saturday January 7….and not only did dad record the most touching ode to his daughter but he even sampled the baby’s first* cries at the end of this song! Wow. For the man who has always been composed and intensely private…this is a true sign of how parenthood can transform you.

Hov’s only message on the post: “Life just got really good.”

New Music: Jay-Z featuring his daughter Blue Ivy Carter “Glory”

(Alternate Stream):

Baby, I paint the sky blue, my greatest creation was you, you. Glory…
I wreak havoc on the world, get ready for part two, a younger smarter faster me, so a pinch of Hov, a whole glass of Bey…
Last time, the miscarriage was so tragic. We was afraid you’d disappear but nah, Baby you magic!
So there you have it, shit happens, just make sure the plane you on is bigger than your carry-on baggage.
Everybody goes through stuff, life is a gift, Love, open it up. You’re a child of destiny. You’re the child of my destiny. You’re my child with the child from Destiny’s Child. That’s a hell of a recipe.

Via LifeandTimes
(*I amended that because Baby Blue could have been recorded any time in the past 2 days. But this is still friggin’ beyond adorable!)

Check out the rest of Jay-Z’s most personal lyrics ever…
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Happy Holidays, everyone! Hee Hee! I complain about the internets and how it’s taken over our lives, but sometimes all that immediacy and proximity makes for HILARITY.
Like the viral video of that crazy wacky guy rapping at the top of his lungs to Kanye West and Jay-Z’s “N—as in Paris” on a crowded New York City subway car….
Not only did we all get to see it thanks to youtube, but Kanye even cosigned the clip by tweeting it!

But who was that mystery fan, in his purple jacket and matching purple bag, going H.A.M. on the train?

We found him! Meet our new pal Terrane Hicks!

MissInfo: So what about “N—as in Paris” got you so…so…excited on the subway?
Terrane: EVERYTHING!!!!!

MissInfo: Um, no offense, but were you drunk or high?
Terrane: No, actually I was totally sober. I am like this all the time. I’m just a hype person.

My full chat with Terrane, Mr. “N—as on the Subway”…
After the jump…
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The last time we left off, Justin Bieber was flowing over Gang Starr’s DWYCK with Hot 97’s morning crew. During a visit to Bootleg Kev’s show on Hot 97.5 in Las Vegas, the Biebster let off some raps from the top to Biggie Smalls’ “Who Shot Ya.”

After the jump, watch McDonald’s latest commercial which features Craig Mack’s “Flava In Ya Ear”…..

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This woman took that Drake and Rick Ross “Free Spirit” song….way way too seriously.

Holy crap. I’m speechless. I guess I had somehow convinced myself that last week’s viral photo of a young women with her eyebrows shaved off and a huge tattoo on her forehead that read “DRAKE” was just a horrible figment of my imagination. Or some cruel photoshop joke played by rival highschool cholas on facebook.

But NO! It’s so real. And thank you, Vice. And thank you Vice writer Kara-Lis Coverdale for christiane-amanpouring this so that we could know what really happened at LA’s Will Rise tattoo shop….when this chick walked in with a mission.

Kevin Campbell tells Vice:

“She was really psyched about it. She had the shitty font all picked out on her iPhone ready to go and was pretty adamant about putting it on her forehead…When I printed up the first image of the lettering, she wanted me to go bigger…“

“My whole deal with people wanting completely outrageous and potentially life-ruining tattoos is this: I’ll ask them three times if they really think it’s a good idea, I tell them what the potential consequences of getting a tattoo on their face might be, and after that, the bad decision is on them. I believe that people get the tattoos that they deserve…
I guess I feel bad that this dumbass got the name of the softest motherfucker in hip-hop tattooed on her forehead. But what makes that any less valid of a tattoo to her?… I lost a little sleep over it that first night, wondering if I wanted to be known as the asshole who tattooed “DRAKE” on some crackhead’s forehead.“

(You can’t see me but I’m hyperventilating at this whole interview.)
More photos of this woman’s epic fail of all fails…
And more of Vice x Kevin Campbell’s awful/awesome commentary…
After the jump
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A proven jack of all trades, Pharrell can now add ‘music supervisor’ to his resume. Together with Hans Zimmer, who scored films like ‘The Lion King,’ ‘Inception,’ and the ‘Batman’ movies, he will be supervising the music for the upcoming 2012 Academy Awards. The two previously worked together on the soundtrack for ‘Despicable Me,’ and will now serve as musical consultants for the ceremony. According to BBC, “Oscarcast producers Brian Grazer and Don Mischer were looking for an opportunity to inject music into the program that touches on Zimmer’s classical flair, and the hip hop, R&B and pop sensibilities that Williams is known for.”

Will you be watching on February 26?

Previously:
Pharrell & Verbal’s ‘Tokyo Rising’ Bonus Footage
Pharrell Says Michael Jackson Wanted a “Superthug” Record
Things I Love: Buddy’s “Awesome Awesome” Video, Feat. Pharrell

Friday’s are made for squeezing every last minute of counter-productivity until you escape for the weekend….and here’s 2:53 seconds of primo procrastination. (Spotted on The Cut)

This guy Rick Genest, is better known as “Zombie Boy”…a legit supermodel who’s appeared in Mugler, McQueen and other runway shows, as well as Lady Gaga’s “Born this Way” video.
But he wasn’t actually born with those incredible full face and body skeleton tattoos…so it’s genius that makeup company Dermablend took him back to his untatted square one to promote the strength of their concealer cream.
It’s also fun to watch Genert scowl his way through the angriest cleansing routine in the history of Pond’s Cold Cream; )

More of Zombie Boy…
after the jump
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Spike Jonze: Mourir Auprès de Toi on Nowness.com.

I don’t think Spike Jonze specifically intended this short film to be for Halloween, but it’s just perfectly timed and themed. He and purse-designer Olympia Le-Tan collaborated on this felt-fabric stop-motion animation short, called Mourir Auprès de Toi (To Die By Your Side). It’s about a beautiful woman and the skeleton she falls in love with. It’s funny and then sad and then hilarious.
Just whatever you do…make sure you watch it through the end credits ; )

I’m already struggling with the usual post-unproductive-weekend Monday stress x brain-drain….but this genius moment totally picked-me-up. Don’t you wish you could make small things this great? My cousins actually saw this screened at the IFC movie theater earlier this year. (Props to one of my favorite fashion x art sites, Nowness)

(recently, my sister pointed out a great old Spike Jonze Ikea ad that I somehow missed. Same awesome odd wistful attitude. I’ll post it after the jump)
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One small step for Cam’ron, one giant leap for hip hop! Thanks to all the twitter pals who sent me this clip (via Breedon and Dipset4eva) from a recent episode of Jeopardy….where Alex Trebek asks, with a straight face:

YES!
I love that some downtrodden TV trivia writer, locked up in a smelly cubicle, rose to the occasion by not only creating a semi-challenging question….but one with a classic visual to go along with the answer!

Joon! Bret! Adam! Come on, slimes, you’re supposed to know this! LOL!

PS: On a more serious note, today marks the one year anniversary of our friend Huddy 6’s (aka Huddy Combs) death. I’m definitely thinking of his warm spirit and infectious laugh today. Thank you to his friends and family (especially, his sister Cherise) for letting us know that at 8pm tonight, there will be a candlelight celebration of Hud’s memory up on 143rd and Lenox Ave (by his mural).

There’s also a new Harlem World mixtape dedicated to Huddy 6…
Download it after the jump…
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