Little M.I.S.S. Frustrated sez: Click THIS!

I watched the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards this past Sunday night, not because I really wanted to, but because my cable has been shut off and there’s only so much Family Guy I can take on a weekly basis. Like many (or maybe it was just me) I was admittedly impressed with the performances, a little underwhelmed by the fashion, and completely caught off guard with the award recipients. Well…specifically one award recipient. As we all know in this day and age how talented you are doesn’t always outshine how pretty you are or how easily you take your clothes off. Talent doesn’t pay the bills anymore, and apparently it doesn’t win you any awards either. Taylor Swift is all of 17 years old, has sold out numerous venues, made appearances in movies, and has messed around with that one Jonas brother, and while yes she has a bit of talent, I’ll be damned if that talent is worthy of the Grammy Awards highest honor: Album of the Year.

First off, lets take a look at the people she was up against, specifically the powerhouse combo platter that is Beyonce and Lady Gaga. In that threesome alone Taylor didn’t stand a chance. If we were going off record sales, endorsements, showmanship, lace front wigs, and glittered headpieces, there would be a different winner. Personally I think Lady Gaga deserved that award more than any of the nominees. She’s changed the face of not only music, but fashion, and performance, and whether you love her or love to hate her, you KNOW that (insert dirty word here) puts in WORK.

Aside from the Lady Gaga’s and Beyonce’s who seemed a little more deserving, I can’t help but think of one name who made this possible for Taylor. The one arrogant ass wipe that made her star shine a bit brighter. Can you guess who I’m thinking of? KANYE WEST. The now infamous MTV Video Music Award moment that shocked millions, made it to daytime, prime time, and the 11 o’clock news, and caused Kanye to go into hiding, has obviously given Taylor Swift the sympathy she needed to win Album of the Year. Yes, I said it: SYMPATHY. Lets be honest for a moment shall we? How much exposure was Taylor getting BEFORE Kanye snatched a mic from her hand and shouted from the rooftops Queen Creole had the greatest video of all time? Now lets examine how much sympathy she received in the aftermath. Can you see what I see? Hell, I’m not the only person who’s sitting on a laptop wondering about this travesty. There are polls dedicated to gathering public opinion on whether or nit Taylor was deserving enough of Album of the Year. POLLS! Kanye Shrug for sure.

I’m in no way shape or form a Taylor Swift hater. I have her album. I’ve vibed out to her song ‘Forever & Always’ many times, especially when I find myself having a self loathing emo moment. I even enjoyed her episode hosting Saturday Night Live. No, I am no ones hater, but I am a consumer, and avid music listener and lover, which I feel gives me the balls I need to say she didn’t deserve that award. There were people who sang better (and on pitch), had better sales, and a put in work this year. They didn’t win an award because someone ripped a mic out of their hand and made them cry. But then again that’s just my opinion. Right?

Sarah Jane Owen of Sydney Australia

Christmas is over, and so is the New Years festivities that came soon after. It’s finally 2010, and all I have to say is WHERE DID THE TIME GO?! 2009 flew by in a flash, it was the year of Kanye West inspired interruptions, recessions, Chrianna Gate, the appointment of a black president, of course new heights in creativity when it comes to one of my favorite accessories: the sneaker. Sneaker Freaker Magazine has compiled a list of the best sneakers of 2009 straight from the feet of the supreme sneaker heads who rock them on the regular, in their live feature “Fiender’s Keepers: Best of the Best 2009″.

Amanda Lopes

2009 was the year was undoubtedly the year of sneakers being linked to famous faces, with Kanye West leading the pack by creating not one, but two pairs of highly coveted kicks, collaborating with heavy hitter Louis Vuitton and designing his first pair of Nikes, the Air Yeezy. Long lines and $1,000 Ebay listings later, everyone’s favorite loudmouth is only the tip of the iceberg.

NYC's own Kari Cruz of UNDRCRWN

Notable sneaker enthusiasts such as Producer/DJ A-Trak, Gareth Skewis of Pointer, and Ben Campbell of Melbourne Australia, counted down their favorite kicks of the year, the list encompasses higher end brands such as Lanvin, to the more tried and true companies such as Adidas and Nike. But let’s be real for a moment, a list just wouldn’t be a list without the ladies, and Sneaker Freaker has included some Very Important Female Sneaker Head’s we know and love, and some we’d like to know a little better.

Cecilia Sims of Saigon Customs

Cim Froeling of No Boy's Allowed

Sydney Australia’s resident femme sneaker head Sarah Jane Owen proclaimed her love for her Brooklyn bagged Air Jordan ‘Icey Pack’ kicks, while a M.I.S.S. favorite, photographer Amanda Lopez and UNDRCRWN’s Kari Cruz keep it simple in their ongoing admiration for Van’s classic Checkerboard Slip-On and the all white Supercorsa. Sometimes it’s too difficult to pick JUST ONE favorite of the year, so the Netherlands own Cim Froeling of No Boy’s Allowed selected three, while Cecilia Sims of Saigon Customs chose a shoe she designed for a client dedicated to the late great Michael Jackson. Although the picks from the worlds greatest sneaker enthusiasts most often began with Nike, Adidas, Vans, or ASICS the topping to the jaw dropping selections of coveted kicks came from our very own Liz Baca who brought us the features more refinded selection, that being luxury brand Chanel’s sneaker, and letting us all know that “lux brands are the new Quickstrike”

M.I.S.S. Liz Baca loves Chanel

Michael Jackson's influence will live on for generations

The Fashion Meets Music column is a new addition to the M.I.S.S website. We compile a list of style icons; Modernists, Eccentrics, Classics, It Girls, Rebels, etc., who impress us with their panache and decide on a weekly feature. The collision of fashion and music has always enamored me because the complete package of sound and style can elevate a live experience and inspire you to dazzle in an outfit. We even included two of the most desirable men alive; David Bowie and Pharrell Williams. However, I think its safe to say that 2009 was undeniably the year of the Avant Garde with Lady GaGa serving as its commander-in-chief. Thankfully, her stylist, Nicola Formichetti kept us faithful followers up-to-date with her performances and the genius designers behind the daring stage/everyday combinations that have caught the international fashion press abuzz as well as notable designers. The woman met  Queen Elizabeth!

Lady GaGa in Alexander McQueen

Pants were left behind and exaggerated shapes pushed forward. Especially in the sharp angular tailoring in the shoulders of jackets courtesy of Christophe Decarnin at Balmain, whose muse was 80’s luminary; the late Michael Jackson. Fashion in the Pop star world definitely became more tough and quite glittery. Accessories mirrored the look of body armor or came studded. Sparkly biker jackets and shiny micro-minis were all over red carpets and fashion editorials. Pink known for her edgy approach to, well, everything, and earthy Colombian songstress, Shakira both arrived at the MTV Video Music Awards in the same diamond chain embellished Balmain leather dress! Even the ladylike and mild mannered Beyonce transformed into Sasha Fierce dripping in Thierry Mugler and Alexander McQueen. Rihanna definitely stepped up her Pop star status with her daring outfits mixing well known designers pieces like Rodarte’s leather diamond laser cut leggings with independent designers like A-Morir by Kerin Rose’s Barracuda sunglasses in the “Run This Town” video. What do you think of her new video? I was feelin’ it until she jumped on a hot pink tank and straddled the cannon in a Mickey Mouse helmet. Oh RiRi.

Pink and Shakira in the same Balmain dress! Who wore it better?

Rihanna in her new video, "Hard"

I was raised by a SoCal mother who would escape to Mexico on the weekends, listened to Led Zepplin, and has the backstage passes in our photo albums to prove it. I’m a rocker at heart. I don’t think I was more excited than the mega return of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Karen O. Hands down the best show I attended this year; opened by Philly’s darling with the dirty mouth and M.I.S.S favorite, Amanda Blank. Karen O’s costume designer, Christian Joy created the visual splendor that she paraded in with her yoga-like stretches while belting out hits like “Heads Will Roll” and  ”Y Control” compelling me to ‘dance until I was dead’ Oh! Too easy. The giant eyeball bouncing about the stage reminded me of the Mishka “Keep Watch” leggings I was rockin’ this year which got just as much fanfare as completely appalled/disgusted looks. Other women who rock that we featured were, The Gossip’s lead singer Beth Ditto, 60’s French Ye Ye Girl Francoise Hardy, artist/fashion designer/Sonic Youth’s lead bassist and singer Kim Gordon, the adorable Katy Perry, and my personal favorite (whom I would probably have a Wayne and Garth “we’re not worthy” moment with if i ever met) Gwen Stefani.

The Almighty Karen O

Then there are the musician/designer collabos that set the internetz on fire. Kanye West and Louis Vuitton put out a few version’s of a high priced sneaker. Miley Cyrus and Wal-Mart recently teamed up for a capsule collection. The Kings of Leon (swoon) teamed up with the Paris-based creative collective, Surface to Air, on a flannel heavy collection of mountain-man staples. Kim Gordon came out with the Mirror/Dash collection at Urban Outfitters. The most enduring style stars that have developed their global brands the best have to be, Pharrell Williams at Billionaire Boys Club and Gwen Stefani at L.A.M.B. What were some of your favorite collaborations? And did you purchase anything?

Gwen Stefani and her Harajuku Girls

I hope everyone has a fabulous New Year donning their prettiest sparklers, even if your in your PJ’s! Carrie Bradshaw killed it with her sequin hat a la the Sex And The City movie. So looking forward to the next one! And looking forward to discussing more of our fashion inspirations. Peace out 2009!

The cover of Kid Sister's new album

Kid Sister’s debut album Ultraviolet dropped yesterday, and she can definitely be the companion doll to My Buddy, A-Trak. A-Trak is the executive producer on the album, but unlike many other critics of her sound, I will not credit the glory of the album strictly to the producer and his artfully used samples. No, this is Kid Sis’ gem, and she doesn’t even need to rely on the popular single “Pro Nails” with Kanye West, who apparently, is going to let her finish.

Let me first touch on “Pro Nails” for a tic, as it WAS the single that granted Kid Sis all of her Myspace fame. The video featured breakdancing hand puppets and a sample of Three 6 Mafia’s “Good Googly Moogly”. The track was a hit and there were quite a few remixes of the original version. It was supposed to be the lead track on her album, which was supposed to be released last year under the name Dream Date. Word was that Kid Sis didn’t like the direction of the tracks, and wanted to start over. That’s the PR version of the story, I’m sure. Instead we have Ultraviolet, with a cover designed by Dust La Rock, and it was well worth the wait.

The album definitely has a different feel than what we normally see from female rappers – as a matter of fact, it is best described as ClubVerse, as it is definitely in its own genre. The tracks are HEAVILY influenced by the house music that made Chicago famous. Nods to the house genre include repetitions of the lyric “the bass, the bass, the treble, the treble” on “Life on TV” and the XXXchange-produced “54321”, which could easily be one of those Madonna remixes by JellyBean Benitez. The songs contain samples or interpolations of samples of “Don’t Go”, “Love on a Real Train”, and “Boogaloo Anthem” by Funkmaster Ozone, which was used “with kind permission.” A lot of the tracks sound like Jock Jams, but I mean this in the nicest way possible. Everyone got amped by Jock Jams, and they WILL get amped by this whole album. There are virtually no pauses between each song, so the album plays like a mixtape, with every song as danceable as hell.

Kid Sis has the flow of rapper Twista on some tracks (on “Big N Bad”) with exaggerated drawls of sing-songy vocals in between her sped-up verses. She sings on a lot of the tracks, and her voice is pretty good, if not purposely comical at times. The Kid actually has something to say, and there are a handful of hilarious lyrics laced throughout the whole album, including:

“We keep it Big (Tom Hanks)/We Keep it Bad (MJ)”
“Karl said ‘Kani?’/Yes you can!”
“Doing my laundry with pockets of change/Famous in a Hyundaiiiiiii”

Standout tracks include “Let Me Bang 2009” produced by XXXChange, which isn’t the version that I’ve heard before (and not my favorite version, sadly), “Switch Board” with DJ Gant-Man, which is a BANGER (reminiscent of Bmore Gutter), and “You Ain’t Really Down”, which sounds like a Teddy Riley jam performed by En Vogue. I mentioned this to Kid Sister on her Twitter page (follow her here), and she RT’d, replied, and said “Couldn’t have said it better.” The track “Control” is also amazing, with her brother Young Josh from Hollertronix on the track vocals – but if you are really a Kid Sis fan, you have probably been rocking out to this for a minute already. I predict the general population will jump on “Daydreaming” featuring Cee-Lo, because it was produced by Brian Kennedy for Team BK (who crafted the song “Disturbia” for RiRi), and it has the same sound as “Disturbia”. It probably has the most mass appeal on the album, although it is personally not one of my favorites.

If you need some music to keep you going once the snow and the S.A.D. hits, get Ultraviolet by Kid Sister. Especially if you gotta work out your “Coca-cola shake with an onion in the back” after Thanksgiving dinner (hey! Apparently it worked for Kid Sis, who was once reportedly over 215 pounds). This album is going to give me a soundtrack for Randi’s Workout Plan – I’m definitely going to let my “wrist and my knuckles bang” to this album for the remainder of 2009.

Kanye West meets Etta James

“You make me smile with my heart…”

What happens when a jazz legend meets a hip-hop artist/producer?

The song “My Funny Valentine” was recorded on over 1,300 albums and performed by over 600 artists.   However, it was Etta James’ rendition appearing on the 1995 album Time After Time that Kanye West chose to sample for his song  “Addiction” – which was on his 2005 album Late Registration. While both songs tackle clearly different subject matters, they have both become fan favorites. I have love and respect for each song; I can’t pick a favorite. Do you have a favorite version?

Click the DivShare icon to download these tracks!

The Glamorous Life: Kanye West Glow in the Dark Tour Book

There’s a lot that can be said about Kanye West. Although as of late the pop stars light has become somewhat dim due to criticisms surrounding his public outbursts, no one will ever be able to dismiss the fact that he’s one talented dude. Taking a much needed break from the spotlight, recently West has been seen canceling his Fame Kills tour with Lady Gaga and put a permanent stop to his highly anticipated line of clothing Pastelle, but lucky enough for his fans, admirers, and haters, the King of All Things Awesome is setting up for the release of his book “Kanye West: Glow in the Dark”.

The Glamorous Life: Kanye West Glow in the Dark Tour Book

The Glamorous Life: Kanye West Glow in the Dark Tour Book

The book comes equip with over 400 photographs spanning about 280 pages chronicling West’s last tour. In addition to all the pretty pictures shot by Nabil Elderkin, the book also comes with a CD of unreleased music, and interviews with Kanye and the tour collaborator Spike Jonze who also happens to be the director for “Where the Wild Things Are”. Being released October 20, 2009 at literary retailers everywhere, if you’ve got the $50 USD to shell out on this lovely picture book, I say do it. If anything it’ll be a great conversation piece!

The Glamorous Life: Kanye West Glow in the Dark Tour Book

The Glamorous Life: Kanye West Glow in the Dark Tour Book

London Girl

Estelle is a singer/songwriter/producer from London whose red carpet style gets more interesting with time. Perhaps it was Brooklyn, New York (where she currently resides), or working with the production staff for her album Shine. The roster included Swizz Beatz, John Legend, Kanye West, Mark Ronson, Cee-lo, Wycleff, to name a few. The album Shine was great, front to back. She drew in many industry nominations, which meant, plenty of red carpet coverage. Let’s take a look:

Estelle in Bernard Chandran

She worked this brilliant blue from Bernard Chandran while performing, “American Boy” with Kanye West.

Shoulders Back

OK ladies, shoulders back.

Working the shoulders, at least they are pulled back

Here Estelle pulls together an ivory Dolce Gabbana for the Brit Awards, it’s a beautiful dress and I love the classic makeup! The red lip is divine. Not sure if it’s a favorite, but she is certainly holds her own in this daring shape. The space/mod look over at the Grammys was another fun approach to shape, some glittery fun, and lots of lashes, maybe some different footwear?

Estelle rocks the white glove

Piecing it together:  Acne baroque peplum dress, white glove, geometric earrings, chunky bracelet, clutch. All you need for this. This look doesn’t feel overdone, again she plays up the eye makeup. And who is getting her eyelashes to extend like that? Amazing. Again, with the shoes.

Say Yes To The Dress

Here we go. Not sure what’s going on on the left, but I do know what’s up on the right. When in doubt, Louboutin. Satin slingbacks from L’Wrenn Scott for Christian Louboutin are perfect with this sequin and tulle strapless Marchesa.  Piece  it together with this mother of pearl and ebony wood ring from Isharya, Swarovski embellished earrings from Erickson Beamon, a clutch like this one from Celestina, and finish off with just a flash red from Nars.

We put you guys on to Trini songstress Joy Jones back in June, and now I’m back just to make sure you were paying attention!

She has just released the video for her new single “Over” and it is nothing short of spectacular. The slightly electronic hymn lilts over a sparse background. Directed by Coodie & Chike, the directing team responsible for Kanye West’s breakthrough video for “Through The Wire” they provide a simple and raw video that captures  heartbreak up close.

The morning after the MTV Video Music Awards, lets recap. The red carpet was sparkling with many stars opting for silver metallic dresses. Favorites rockin the trend were Katy Perry, Leighton Meester, and Kristen Cavallari. Speaking of rockers, Pink stormed in on a fire truck with husband Carey Hart minutes after Shakira walked the carpet wearing the same leather studded mini dress. All was well, and as the show moved inside, the opening tribute to the late Michael Jackson was incredible. Janet’s dance sequence while performing “Scream” evoked the sentiments of a sister saddened by loss, but empowered through their passion for music and dance. Did anyone catch Lauri Ann Gibson and Cris Judd dancing? K-Fed was busy working out.

Not to be detered by a belligerent Kanye West interrupting her acceptance speech for Best Female in a Video, Taylor Swift delivered a beautiful performance of “You Belong With Me.” The night belonged to the ladies, Beyonce proves again that she is the baddest lady in the game and her performance of “Single Ladies” was on point. Pink performed “Sober” with a heart shaped pastie without stepping one toe on the stage. Only Pink can make swinging from a trapeze look effortless. Lady Gaga brought her aggressive avant garde persona to the stage with “Paparazzi” sure it was shocking, but hey, it’s entertainment.

As we were looking at the fashion last night it was clear that metallics dresses were everywhere, loved the color choices from Beyonce and Amerie, and the little black dresses were well played with accessories and shoes. Just a few comments, the DJ AM tribute from Kid Cudi, Wale, and UCB should have been on the main stage and where was Rhianna? Congrats to Matt and Kim for Breakthrough Video. Here’s our roundup of some of the best looks of the night, and a few of the worst for good measure.