this is… The Neighborhood
the Story within the Story
Rules of Engagement – A Star is Born Rd VII An Artists Collaboration
If this gets bad, it gets bad for all of us.
– Rules of Engagement 2000
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from Miami Florida, Childs Welcome Back. Missed You
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Intro
Came across a question on Quora, that read “What’s the difference between Teamwork and a Collaboration?” I will try to return to Quora with a response, if i do not lose track of it again.
Teamwork is working or pitching in on a project together, but the plans or guidelines are generally in place, and the ultimate benefit is delivered to a central person or organization. A true collaboration, is when each Artists creates and delivers, something of themselves, perhaps a song or a painting or a poem, then the pieces or works of art, are spun together, and while the work of each artist remains individual, the completed production becomes, The Show.
On Sunday, December 6, The Final Four will square off in Round VII the artists collaboration round. Each Nominee selected their own team, the only criteria was, they had to be The Neighborhood Artists or have made a contribution if they only passed through. Each collaborative faces, not just their toughest performance, but the most demanding week since the start of the competition, as judging eyes will be on them all week.
Collaborations have always been in motion here. A very public posting of the early community building plan, collaborations are front and center. But many times, plans derail and becomes teamwork, as an artists may simply give permission to use a song, but has taken no other interests in the performance. This deep into a popular and ground breaking online show, with 7 talented artists already fallen, An Artists Collaboration in The Final Four on The Neighborhood stage, while the world is watching, would be a travesty if not executed as expected of an ensemble of such brilliant artists.
Rules of Engagement
Scoring for the first time in the competition, there will be an even split of power among the Voting Panels.
Public Vote: 25%
Judges Panel: 25%
The Inner Council: 25%
Producer: 25%
On Sunday, Dec 6th at 7PM PST (Monday 4AM CET) the Nominees and their special guests performers, will take center stage and deliver An Artists Collaboration. The Public Voting Booth opens simultaneously, remaining so until 10:00 AM PST Monday the 7th. Immediately following certification of the public vote by the Chair of the Council and the Lead Judge of the Panel, all scores are turned over to the lead Judge, who will carefully calculate all 4 scorecards , however long it takes, then presents the results to the shows Producer, and I will deliver them to you.
In Falling Star: Send in the Clown – the elimination episode – normally, only the losing artists gets booted, sometimes very dignified and sometimes, we send in the clown. But Round VII is different. After the presentation of The Top 3 via thepublicblogger FB Page, the losing Artists will immediately be thrown from the stage and the collaborative team they built….. will suffer the same fate
Only The Lives We Live existed as a Social Media/Blogosphere based Reality Show. When James D. Foster was announced the winner, he was greeted with an incredible Facebook parade. But its predecessor has deepened the game and raised the stakes; On December 30, the viewing audience, will not simply be presented a winner, but will have front row seats in an online coliseum… as the world’s newest Star is Born.
- Kendall F. Person aka thepublicblogger, Creator of The Neighborhood and Producer of the Shows.
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click photo to enlarge
Hip-Hop
N.W.A. cover art by mastry81693
Hip-hop reflects the truth,
and the problem is that hip-hop
exposes a lot of the negative truth,
that society tries to conceal.
It’s a platform where we could offer
information, but it’s also an escape.
– Busta Rhymes
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from Miramar Florida, a Young Woman we predict big things for, Morissaaa with Raw Then Tic
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Hip Hop
by Kendall F. Person
Salt-N-Pepa 2014 courtesy of Daniel Gregory
I am a child of hip hop. I was in the eighth grade when Rapper’s Delight by the Sugarhill Gang shifted the ground beneath our feet. We did not know it then – no one did – that it would change the game in the industry so drastically. So completely. It would make millionaires out of former bangers, and a billionaire out of one particular entertainer. It would alter the scope, the sound, the feel and the vision of the music industry, in a way, that rock and roll once did.
Many believed that rap was only a fad. Even some stalwarts in the music business bet against it, and lost everything they had. It survived ridicule, it detached itself from violence, and it connected the whole world in a way that few musical sounds have been able to do, till this very day.
tupacshakur by kickz8
Heavy D & the Boyz would emerge as the next ground breaker in an ever-changing game. His infusion of backup singers laid over his contagious lyrical flow, was proof of rap’s staying power, as now the genre was growing, conquering and dividing. Along with The Father MC (love him or hate him) they laid the foundation for what is considered hip hop today. The Father MC, however, was undone by trying to out dual Heavy D. He surrounded his lyrics with a superior backup group, that overshadowed his music and Jodeci became a million album selling group.
NWA proved the depth of rap groups, by each member going their own way, giving birth to solo giants that are Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and the late Eazy E. With a mere three notable exceptions (The Beatles, The Eagles and New Edition) no other popular group has disbanded and produced so many successful solo acts. Perhaps, poetic justice that Dr. Dre would become the first billionaire hip-hop rapper.
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The Beastie Boys by Ste.Merrigan
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In the late 1980s, when rap had securely established itself as a cultural icon in Black America, but just before it crossed over into a worldwide phenomenon, I attended a rap festival at The Coliseum in Oakland, California. It was the largest spectacle of rap music on one stage and the tickets would fly off the shelves. Run DMC headlined the bill, with a powerhouse supporting cast of LL Cool J, Whodini and the Timex Social Club. It was a spectacular showcase of music and one of the most memorable concerts I have ever attended. While Run DMC held down the fort, with LL Cool J and Whodini delivering masterful performances, what I remember most is 18,000 African-American fans on their feet, grooving, swaying, trapped in the grasp of the backwards baseline of a song called Paul Revere, performed by a trio of young, white rappers, known as The Beastie Boys…who blew the roof off the coliseum.
It would be well over a decade later before Marshall Mathers, better known as Eminem, would solidify the rank of white rappers, of the best there ever was, color be damned, but it is The Beastie Boys that behold legacy.
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Cypress Hill
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Cypress Hill were not just of the first Latino hip-hoppers, but they were also the coolest. Well before marijuana was legal, their music saluted bud smokers everywhere, without making it seem rebellious. And while Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez have songs in the genre and would be considered the most popular, it was the emergence of Los Rakas that its niche was fortified within the genre.
Los Rakas are Panamanian-Americans, and if the irony is lost, Panama is not only where the diasporas cross, but literally serves as a land bridge, connecting North to South America. Their music blends hip-hop, tejano, rap, and calypso so effortlessly, its as if the genre had already been born. Only The Fugees come close in describing their original vibe. And only Selena eclipses their place in musical history.
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Tupac, along with his darkness, would bring a poetic brilliance to rap, inspiring the University of California’s flagship campus, Berkeley to offer classes based upon his art. Queen Latifah would become a leading lady, years before the emergence of Lil’ Kim and Nicki Minaj. Ice T and LL Cool J would have staying power long after they ruled the rap stage. MC Hammer would add entertainment, with Master P and P Diddy producing their own wealth, expanding their empires, well beyond rap’s reach. And of course. the reigning maestro, Jay-Z has taken the hip hop brand to a whole other planet, recently eclipsed, however, by the billionaire Dr. Dre.
And while hip-hop lives strong on the main stage, it still thrives in the underground – where it began – and on December 1, The Neighborhood will countdown The Top 30 Songs, with the number 1, opening the Season-ending Show and will wear the mantle as the 2015 Best Song of the Year.
– this is… The Neighborhood
Falling Star – 7th Artists Gone
from Philadelphia PA, welcome FIQ & VVS with Moving On, the theme song of A Star is Born
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Sometimes, it is the little things that get us in the end. A see-saw battle on the various scorecards, saw Kelly Lewis and Charles Okpere locked in a pitched battle for survival.
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But in the end, it would come down to a strategic move, that one camp simply would not take.
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The only remaining Nominee without a proxy on the Judge’s Panel – trapped outside the inner circle – would cost her dearly in the end. And for that, the tie breaker would fall in Lagos Nigeria’s favor. And Kelly Lewis would be thrown from the stage.
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A Star is Born – Round VI RAW
Tonight, we have only one question to ask each artists. I was 43 years old when mine came into focus. We all have one to make and the size is irrelevant, but to not make one… a mistake.
So tonight we ask the question to Charles, Ned, Kelly, Oscar and Rebecca, the 5 Nominees still standing for Best Performance of the Year:
The Question
What is Yours?
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Oscar Alejandro Plascencia, La Puente CA, Poet
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Rebecca Lemke, Lahoma OK mommy blogger
What is my contribution?
I’d say it’s nothing special.
I change diapers, clean spit up and negotiate nap times with my spawn (who I am convinced will be a lawyer someday, and he can’t even talk yet).
Oh, and I write the occasional story about my kid spraying the delivery man with milk.
My contribution is my story. An honest look into my everyday existences.
I’m “just a stay at home mom”.
My life is not glamorous or perfect, but it is real.
I write about my life as a 19 year old wife and mother.
I show what life is really like when you choose the unpopular path, the path that few people support because it isn’t “normal”.
I give a vulnerable, inside look about the struggles I’ve faced, like my challenging past, being pregnant in college and our time in the neonatal intensive care unit.
I’ve shown our everyday milestones and revealed the most hilarious and candid moments of raising my son.
On a timeless scale, and considering the whole wide world, where will your contribution find its home?
Initially I would have answered that its home is with other mothers, but I have been shown this to be too small of a range.
My contribution has found its home in the hearts of people who can identify with my story.
Other women of all ages, mothers and fathers, teenagers and those
Bubba
struggling with mental health and well-being. This isn’t an exhaustive list, and there is always someone who manages to surprises me with a follow or like that I would have never anticipated.
These are my thoughts, but ultimately I prefer to leave it to my audience to decided what my contribution is. I appreciate that so many people have found my writing worthy of their attention and time.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me!
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Kelly Lewis, Los Angeles Poet
Here I stand at a crossroads
Staring off into the distance,
As I wait patiently and listen
Loyally, for the next episode
Commanding are rules to role
I struggle with the instructions
It’s the bane of self-destruction
Governing beyond my control
I let the true stories unfold
Taking a path of insistence
Though there’ll be resistance
Accepted in confusions hold
Baring the secret of horrors
Twisting the preferred reality
Toeing the fine line of fantasy
Hidden behind each closed door
Extending around the globe
Reaching into hearts and souls
Where kindred spirits do roam
Together in a place called home
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Ned Hickson, Florence Oregon Humorist
Tonight is about being “RAW.”
Fortunately, this isn’t “Hell’s Kitchen,” so there won’t be any Chef Ramsey yelling at everyone about their under-cooked chicken or lamb. Tonight is about revealing ourselves in a way that is unrehearsed, real and raw. To get as close as I could to that, what follows are my answers — unscripted, unrehearsed and uncut — to the two questions each of us was asked about our art.
It’s not flashy. Or smooth. Or even that funny.
But it is real, honest and as close to being “live” as I could get.
Bloody hell…
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Charles Okpere, Lagos Nigeria, Writer
All I am out to offer humanity; are moments of brilliance
I don’t think I would tag myself for the world to tag me …I feel mankind and humanity in whole does not care what and how you treat her.
That being said, I stand for only inspirational vibes; that does not basically need to come from me but from everyone and everything around me …and it compulsorily does not need to be from only humans and nature would also be where I get plenty of inspiration too.
You know that process of being mentally stimulated to feel or do something creative. Inspirational activity coming in all forms; from originality, individuality, imagination, insight, innovation, inventiveness, artistry, creative talent, creative skill, expressiveness, vision, brilliance, wit, genius and the list goes on and on.
All I am out to offer humanity; are moments of brilliance given on a platter where every idea is put on the table and dissected properly, so something different from the status quo is created.
Working hand in hand with individuals who inspire and who do possess superpowers to carrying a force that inspires from every angle. And all we do together and for each other is; encouraging , motivating and influencing elements that gives every stimulus of creativity a lift or boost. We all have the ability to inspire, no matter what our background and ‘fights’ are.
As inspiration comes by genuine people, stepping out of their comfort zone and reaching for the stars, the most important thing is also having the ability to carry people along. Whether it is trying to make the world a better place or being innovative with technology. We all know someone who did at least one thing that inspired us. It could be someone who gives back to the community or a mentor providing genuine support.
It’s interesting to me how many interesting people suffer from not knowing what to do when knocked down countless times. I, as an interested participant of mankind and humanity, am very interested in helping people reduce the interestingly common cognitive distortion of labeling themselves “useless”.
Old debate goes on and one, still unanswered dark deeds still abound. Can good exist side-by-side with evil and neither be unchanged by the other?
As I ponder these and other unanswerable questions that should lead humanity to live on and not just exist alone; In the end I renew my pledge to serve, without compromise the values that uplift humanity and mankind, trusting that this world of ‘duality’ serves a Divine purpose, even at the end of my stay on it.
I don’t think I have to always repeat an obvious fact, but I would on this special occasion; “We don’t live in a world that is split into two halves, we are brothers that should be watching each others back; stop questioning my worth and let’s try build empires together.” I am not better than you so please stop trying to prove to me how you could be better than me in every way.
Life; Very simple I feel it should be, but this complications I see aren’t nature but hand works of humanity itself. Would there be solutions? Would there be peacemakers? Would there be life savers and lots of humorist and people that make us laugh instead of the unnecessary tears that humanity has suffered in recent times?
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The Polls are Now Open. VOTE up to 2 Artists that you Believe deserve to make THE FINAL FOUR. Polls Close Monday @ 10:00AM PST/1:00 PM EST and 7:00PM CET
Falling Star: Send in the Clown 6th Artists to Fall
Six days, was all the time there was. But recording My Heart was a priority for the parties involved and all were zoned in to get it done.
The Fantastic Five
Six days is all they had and not only did they come through, they did so representing other nations with flying colors.
Six days is how long the Nominees had to figure the best way to host a nation in The Neighborhood’s Celebration of The Arts. Six days to record the National Anthem – the request made of AnewDuo – fitting because they were hosting their own nation (USA) in Round V of A Star is Born. But 6 days was not enough, for the Anthem or anything else, so Anew(Duo) the contemporary gospel group accepted the option to play the video that first introduced them here, and quietly folded their hand and walked away.
No need for the clown, they left the building long ago.
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