Every woman wants a sensitive man and lately it’s not hard to find one of the ‘it’ guys in hip-hop spending time in the booth playing the vulnerable card. For some, this sensitivity bit might appear to be a recent trend in keeping it real. But if the new comers ever run out of tissue, they should do their homework and tap into the old school.

Here’s the formula: Listen: Old School, Learn: New School

1. Listen: LL Cool J “I Need Love”

Learn: Kid Cudi, “Day N Night”

If the lonely stoner would have opened up a lil like LL and admitted he needed love, maybe he could put down the Mary Jane and leave the house for something other than a swisher. If he’s lucky maybe he will find love with a lady with similar ”interests.”

2. Listen: Tupac, “Do for Love”

Learn: Bow Wow, “Outta My System”

If Bow Wow would have just signed up to be a “sucker for love” like Pac, he wouldn’t have got caught up and lost CiCi. Admitting you’re a sucker from the beginning would have saved him alot of time and heartache. He should have just embraced his sensitive side.

3. Listen: The Roots, “You Got Me”

Learn: Kanye ” Paranoid”

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If Yeezy had the Roots in heavy rotation, he would know that when someone has your back, paranoia is the last thing on your mind. Him and Amber Rose should sit down and bump the track together. Being down for one another is half the battle.

4. Listen: Whodini, “One Love”

Learn: Drake “Successful”

Drake should wax on Whodini’s life lesson about love and all the luck you need just to find it even once. This way he can avoid all the groupies that want to get in his rented Phantom. Less groupies= smaller bills=more successfuuuulll.

5. Listen: Slick Rick, “Teenage Love “

Learn: Diddy, “Angels” (Dirty Money)

When Puff feels sad about his bad relationship choices, instead of calling on the Angels he should listen to Slick and keep in mind that love is tough for everyone. Even though he is no longer a teenager, “Daddy” could use a lil love cuz his new Emo style is a red flag that he might want to step it up and buy Cassie some flowers.

*****Note to the new school******

Dear MC,

Life is hard. The economy sucks. Sales are down. Girls don’t respect you cuz your chain ain’t heavy. We understand. Everyone needs to let it out. It’s OK to feel hurt, and it’s nice to know that the game is opening up to MCs who are in touch with their feelings. But please, please, let’s not make it habit. Club bangers are still a must.

No need to make all the songs cry…

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How do you redeem yourself after making audiences suffer through a 4-hour movie about a Cuban dude on a t-shirt? Make a twenty minute porno, that’s how.

Well, that was probably Steven Soderbergh’s intention but since he’s a real director with a real rep, he probably realized that wouldn’t be a good career move. So he made a real movie with a real porn star—in this case, know-no-limits Sasha Grey. You might’ve seen her in The Root’s “Birthday Girl” video. Her Myspace says she like’s Godard, so she’s one of those “hip” porn stars doing porn for art’s sake.

Soderbergh’s film is called The Girlfriend Experience and between this and the film where Megan Fox may or may not appear naked, it’s shaping up to be enh spring/summer/fall/year. Again, it all really depends on whether or not Megan will, in fact, be naked.

Back to the film. In it, Grey play’s a high-class hooker, kinda like that chick NY Governor Eliot Spitzer got caught with. Her character charges an absurd $2,200/hour for all the hang-ups and sex of a real relationship. I couldn’t imagine paying that much for sex so this movie’s akin to some far-out fantasy shit, like Gattaca or something. What I can afford is a movie ticket—I think. Or I can just stream some of chick’s porn for free. A good actress, she is.

Trailer below, courtesy of hulu.

- Devin Chanda

Looks like this summer’s going to be off to a boom-bap bang. Concert promoters Guerilla Union have just announced the line up for Rock the Bells 2009, and it looks like just with years past, they have another winner on their hands.

Check out the line up and tour stops below. Dates and venues to be announced soon. 

Truth be told, I’ve only seen a few episodes of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, and as it was exactly what I expected it to be. Fallon bombs his opening monologue, smiles nervously to the camera and has the interviewing skills of semi-retarded house cat.*

*Although Mary HK Choi claims that a cat of such intellect is too charming for Fallon. 

The show’s one saving grace however has the been its house band, The Roots. The crew has managed to make ice cold lemonade out of the lemons that Fallon tosses out on a nightly basis. And last night was no exception. Flanking musical guest Public Enemy as the backing band, The Roots delivered a lively rendition of “Bring The Noise.” Black Thought even came in to drop a verse. 

But it’s not the first time that PE’s pulled off some sick collaborations. Check out these other musical team-works.

“Bring the Noise” feat. Anthrax    

“Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos” w/ Rage Against the Machine 

“He Got Game” feat. Stephen Stills 

“Soul Power (Black Jungle)” Wu-Tang Clan feat. Flava Flav

“Machine Gun” Portishead featuring Chuck D. 

Just in time for Valentine’s Day (tomorrow for the unaware), we decided to share with you SOME of our favorite slow jams. Enjoy… And Happy Valentine’s Day! Be safe!

Emil Wilbekin, Editor-In-Chief

*EXCLUSIVE* Michael Bivins – “Welcome To My Heart!” *EXCLUSIVE*

Mary HK Choi, Features Editor

Alison Krauss – “When You Say Nothing At All”

Cam’ron – “Hey Ma”

Shahendra Ohneswere, Senior Editor

The Pharcyde – “Passin Me By”

Bob Marley – “Stir It Up”

Stir It Up – Bob Marley

Aixa Weekes, Fashion Editor

Method Man and Mary J. Blige – “You’re All I Need”

Donny Hathaway – “Love, Love, Love”

Ethan Alter, Staff Writer/Researcher

Moulin Rouge soundtrack – “Come What May”

George Gershwin – “Someone to Watch Over Me”

Kenyatta Smith, Market Editor

Ryan Leslie – “Valentine”

Valentine – Ryan Leslie

Beyonce – “Halo”

Halo – Beyoncé

Minnie Ripperton – “Loving You”

Rashaun Hall, Online Editor

The Roots’ “Coming To Break You Off”

Anthony Hamilton – “Charlene”

Seems like Nat King Cole has been busy lately. Apparently, he’s spent the last several months in the studio with some of hip-hop’s most brilliant artists, such as Nas, The Roots, Just Blaze, Cee-Lo, and will.i.am, who have all brought their distinct styles to some of Cole’s most memorable recordings for RE: Generations (Capitol/EMI). This collabo will also feature some of the biggest names in Latin, reggae and rock, creating a colorful mash-up of two centuries.

Capitol/EMI will release RE: Generations in March of ’09; here is a peak at the track listing.

TRACK                                             FEATURING

1.  Lush Life                                            Cee-Lo
2.  Straighten Up and Fly Right              will.i.am & Natalie Cole
3.  Day In Day Out                                  Cut Chemist
4.  Brazilian Love Song                           Michaelangelo L’Acqua & Bebel Gilberto
5.  The Game of Love                             Nas & Salaam Remi
6.  Walkin’ My Baby Back Home              The Roots
7.  Hit That Jive, Jack                              Souldiggaz & Izza Kizza
8.  Calypso Blues                                    Stephen & Damian Marley
9.  More and More of Your Amour         Bitter:Sweet
10. El Choclo                                          Brazilian Girls
11. Pick-up                                            Just Blaze
12. Anytime Anyday Anywhere               Amp Fiddler
13. Nature Boy                                       TV On The Radio

-Candace Johnson

If the domain of music videos were to have a ruling monarch, then it was surely Hype Williams who laid claim to the throne during the late 90s. In the era of flash and booties that followed, the natural heir was Hype’s understudy, Little X.  Now, the one rockin’ the crown is Filipino filmmaker Rik Cordero. Creating visuals for the likes of legends such as The Roots and indies including Joell Ortiz, the versatility of his vision has been comprehensive to say the least. GIANT caught up with the director as he shot his latest project and one of his biggest singles yet, “Arab Money,” by the equally prolific Busta Rhymes.

GIANT:  What do you make of the “Arab Money” dance?

Rik Cordero:  I didn’t really know too much about the dance—I just knew how they invented it on the Tim Westwood show. Then I went on Youtube and I saw instructional videos to really teach you how to do it.  It’s funny—it’s a craze. I think Busta has always been known to push the boundaries of creativity and I think this is the first time there is a full-blown dance that he created. He didn’t do it as a gimmick—he was just vibin’ out and it happened. I think it’s dope that a guy who’s been in the game so long is able to generate something fresh and just have fun with it.

GIANT:  What is the concept of the video?

RC: The concept is basically Busta and Spliff Star walking through this lost, deserted city, and they come upon a really wealthy prince who lives in this mansion. As soon as they walk in, the prince showers them with gifts and brings them into his world. The prince and all his friends are these wealthy people from somewhere like Dubai.

GIANT: How will the concept come together?

RC:  (Pointing to the green screen) There’s a mansion right there (laughs). I’m not known for a lot of effects work, so this is my first official stab at doing something like this. I think it works for what the resources are.  We’re not doing it because we’re lazy—this is what we have. For me, it’s not gonna look like something you’ve probably seen before because I’ve never done it (laughs). It’s definitely gonna have a different kind of feel. I think it’s gonna be surprising to a lot of people how we pull this off.

GIANT: How are you staying respectful of the Arabic community?

RC: What we’ve done is really stayed away from any stereotypical Arabic influences. Obviously, there are lyrics that can be taken offensively, but I think in hip-hop, it’s more metaphorical. You’re always making metaphors for things in other cultures. You’re not making fun of it but just identifying it, and that’s what Busta does.

It’s not trying to go over the top with a bunch of people in turbans, trying to offend the Arabic people or Islam. It’s similar to how we approached Nas’s “Be A N***** Too” video. We could have easily just went over the top with it, but it became more than that—it became a visual metaphor of people united. For this, it’s just celebrating how well the Middle Eastern culture is doing in places like Dubai where there’s also a heavy Western influence. And what’s cool is Busta does have ties to the Arab community who support him and know him personally. He’s really respectful of the culture. The guy has met the King and Prince of Saudi Arabia.  It’s just cultures coming together. He just made a song identifying—not mocking—the culture.  It’s celebrating what some of these guys actually do, like being great businessmen.

GIANT:  How have you been able to elevate yourself to the top of the music video game?

RC: I don’t know about that, but give me a couple years. It’s really about being able to contribute something to the culture and being a hip-hop head who really has been inspired by these artists—whether it’s the artists that are coming out now or artists that I grew up on like Nas, Busta, Q-Tip, The Roots, or KRS-One. These are guys that I’ve shot and just been like, “I can’t believe it.” And they know they’re in good hands because it’s more than just a job for me—this is what I do, this is what I think about, this is what I feel. This is more than just a job, so I’m always gonna do more than what’s expected because I really do care about these artists.

When I was a kid, they did so much with their music and made me feel a certain way when I was at home DJing, trying to rock a party, or in the car with a bunch of friends. There’s nothing like that feeling.  When you get in the business, you lose that sometimes because it just becomes about work. But whenever you meet these guys, it all comes flowing back to you.

Some of these guys, like Nas, are good friends.  He invited me to dinner a couple weeks ago and I met Kelis. He didn’t have to do that—he didn’t want anything from me. I wasn’t like, “Yo, when are we gonna do your next video?” It was just straight up respect. I didn’t say anything the whole time, and I was like. “Yo sorry, I’m not much of a talker.” He said something like “A good man listens before he speaks”—just some real insightful shit. It’s cool because when you respect an artist like that and try to just be real cool individuals, it makes everything worth it. It makes going that extra mile when you don’t have a whole lot of money to work with worth it. And the smart ones know that. They stick with you and do things like take you out to dinner (laughs).

-Devin Chanda