I Never Let You Down

T.I.'s F*ck A Mixtape is out now. It's his first release since he got home and some of it is pretty damn good. Download it.

I'm Purty Clever

In high school, I loved Mo Thugs' "Ghetto Cowboy". I wouldn't say it's aged particularly well, but it's still pretty great. It's just so corny, it's good. The video takes the ghetto cowboy theme and runs with it, but what's most amazing is the censorship in this version. It cuts out "shoot", "barrel of fire", "robbin'" and "life", which by my estimation, makes it the cleanest clean edit in the history of song.

Two Times, Two Times

With the World Cup just around the corner, it's international friendlies week in world football. Yesterday and today, I watched the US fringe players put in a lackluster performance against the Czech, and caught bits and pieces of France v. Costa Rica. One game I wish I would have watched because of its Arsenal ties, was The Netherlands taking on Mexico. The Dutch won 2-1, behind Robin van Persie's brace. Man U's latest addition nabbed the lone Mexican goal.

Check out RvP's two goals. He had some decent deliveries to set up both shots, but the second one is truly a thing of beauty. It's nice to see him settling in after coming back from his long-term injury. I know it's a big "if", but if Robin van Persie could just stay healthy for a full season, I really believe he could be considered a top, top class player, right alongside the Messis, Ronaldos and Rooneys of the world. I know that's a bold statement but the man is as gifted as he is injury-prone.

Tip On In

Janelle Monáe's "Tightrope", featuring Big Boi, has to be one of my favorite songs of 2010. Both artists bring their A-games here, rolling out their lyrics over a spastic, horn-and-handclap-driven beat to perfect effect. I'd even venture to say that Monáe outshines Leftfoot with her last verse. It's crazy. And the video doesn't disappoint either. It's fun and weird, and there's just something cool and hypnotic about a bunch of people in tuxes strutting and gliding.

I first heard Janelle Monáe on Big Boi's Got Purp? Vol. 2, and again on OutKast's Idlewild, where she played the typical female R&B singer role, belting out hooks and background vocals in slightly impressive but generic fashion. It's nice to see that since then, she's come into her wild and genre-bending own. She's creative and refreshing and unafraid of carving out her own path. Her Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase) EP was bizarre and ambitious, introducing her audience to a world of androids, Afrofuturism and energy, but most importantly it sounded good. While I haven't fully delved into her follow-up effort, The ArchAndroid (Suites II And III)-- I'm ten tracks in and it's pretty damn solid-- it has been getting great reviews (currently sitting pretty with a 90/100 on Metacritic). I don't expect her to shatter any album sales records or anything like that, but I do hope she sees some commercial success so she can continue doing what's she's doing.

World Of Entertainment

Because everyone and their mothers (myself included) are going nuts over the new Nike ad, I decided to post the behind-the-scenes clip instead of the actual commercial. It's not overly interesting or insightful but it's worth a quick watch. I had no idea the ad was directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu of Amores Perros, 21 Grams and Babel fame. That's kind of awesome.

The End

Now that David Villa has signed for Barcelona, everyone's attention is Cesc Fabregas and his possible move back home. I know my favorite player is destined to play for Barca again one day, but I am just hoping to put that day off for as long as possible. Before the end of this season, I thought that day was at least two, maybe three years away. Now, it seems like that day could be tomorrow.

If Cesc leaves Arsenal just when he is entering his prime, it would kill Arsenal's chances of winning a trophy next season, and it would kill me. Cesc is Arsenal, and for him to leave now... I just don't know... What I do know is that if Cesc moves before the World Cup, which I am currently greatly anticipating, it could ruin the tournament for me. Don't get me wrong, I'd still watch Fabregas and support him for both country and club-- Barcelona is actually one of my favorite teams-- but there's just no replacing him at Arsenal, no matter how they spend his transfer money. He's one of, if not the best young midfielders in the world and for him to leave the team and manager that made him into the player he is today, that would say a lot about the current state of the Gunners. Ugh, I don't want to think about it...

And not to entirely gloss over the David Villa signing, it is a great move for Barca. Villa is a perfect fit for them, and with the support of Iniesta, Xavi, and Messi, a huge upgrade over his supporting cast at Valencia, I'm guessing he'll win the Pichichi next season. Villa might be my second favorite player behind Cesc, so it hurts me to see him leave Los Che but I knew it was coming. I think I even posted about it last year, wondering whether or not I would even follow Valencia after the Davids leave. (David Silva, another favorite, is still being linked with a move to Juventus and Real Madrid. If those rumors carry any weight, I hope he goes to Juve.) So yeah, we'll see how things go in La Liga next season. Barca is a team I enjoy watching and I never had love for Valencia so much as I liked their two best players, so I'm guessing my Spanish allegiance will swing-- just don't call me a front-runner.

This isn't a great compilation, but watch David Villa do his thing:

I'll Be Home Tonight

Excellent new song and video from Kweli & Hi-Tek, with some help from Estelle. While I like a lot of Kweli's music, I think he's a little predictable and over-rated. He's just really hit or miss for me, so it's no surprise that here I think Tek's beat and Estelle's contributions easily outmatch Kweli's verses. Still good though.

From James.

High Speed

Adidas' latest promo is only partially World Cup-related, centering around the release of their newest boot in the F50 series. This commercial features three of my favorite players: Messi (the best player in the world), David Villa (my favorite striker in the world) and Zidane (arguably the best player of his generation, head-butts and all), but there's another ad that focuses our attention solely on the boot, which is just as good. While neither of these commercials quite capture the spirit of the Puma campaign, they are pretty impressive from a special effects standpoint. And if these commercials are a bit of a letdown for you, it's hard to knock Adidas when they unveiled the adizero speed boots with matching Formula 1 race cars.

I'm Going On

I'm getting amped about the World Cup and in a way, I'm actually pretty excited about all the soccer commercials, too. Nike and Adidas usually roll out impressive ad campaigns and this year Puma seems to be stepping it up as well. Sponsoring several African nations and players, Puma put out this commercial which uses Gnarls Barkley's "Going On" to capture all the joy and hype of the South Africa-hosted tournament.

And as one of the hundreds of Arsenal fans who came around on Eboué this year, I figured I'd post his Puma advert, too.

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