The Justin Beiber Nomination, and My Problem with BET.

OK, here's my question: "WHY ARE BLACK PEOPLE SO UP IN ARMS ABOUT JUSTIN BEIBER'S BET NOMINATION?". While I'll admit that I was a little shocked to hear that he was nominated, I'm certainly not going to gather my pitchfork and call an angry mob over it. I think that by getting so upset about the whole situation black people are only making themselves look VERY RACIST. Real talk. Now, I do understand where SOME people are coming from; maybe BET could've used JB's spot to promote another black artist who needs the exposure, but I don't think that BET should become so exclusive that we neglect to recognize ALL of the artists with talent, in respects to each award category. If it gets to that point, then white people will soon be complaining about BET in the same way that we complained about MTV when they refused to play black videos. Make sense? Good. But there is one more thing that I'd like to talk about in regards to BET. A lot of people credit BET with promoting black artists who don't get a lot of mainstream exposure. 100% true. But what about our "Rihanna's", "Lupe Fiasco's", "Janelle Monae's", and "B.o.B's" who can BARELY get spots on shows like 106 & Park because their music doesn't fit in with the rest of the music on the channel? I think THAT'S a REAL problem that should upset people. BET mainly caters to the hip-hop and rap culture these days, and I think that's very sad since black music is MUCH MORE than that. Maybe we should be focusing our energy into making sure that ALL of OUR artists get recognition on OUR channel instead of criticizing others (like Beiber) who are able to cross over into our (occasionally hostile) waters.

Can Someone Tell Me What's With All the Gaga Comparisons??

As some of you may know, Christina Aguilera's music video for "Not Myself Tonight" premiered on April 30. I've seen the music video, but for purposes of time I'll keep my opinions to myself. But what I WON'T keep to myself about are the countless comparisons that people have drawn up between Aguilera's video and Lady Gaga's videos, mainly "Bad Romance". To be nice and keep it simple at the same time, I'll say this: "ARE YOU GUYS SERIOUS??!". How come people compare EVERYTHING that's different and "out-there" to Lady Gaga these days?! It's as if people think that Lady Gaga invented being different or eccentric in the music business. Really?! People like Boy George, Grace Jones, and Madonna (all of whom have had Gaga compared to them) have been "doing" different things for YEARS before Gaga was even a thought in her own mind. And the most ridiculous thing about this whole situation is that Christina Aguilera's been rocking the electric blonde hair and making a unique image for herself WAY before Lady Gaga. So why are we not comparing Gaga to Aguilera?? But hold on and let me backtrack. Gaga surely didn't create individuality, but she definitely did help bring about a new "wave" of creativity in music, and I can't fault her for that. But when there are only two shots that the two music videos seem to share, (both stars wore Carrera Aviators, and Aguilera did seem to be wearing a Bad Romance-esque "jewelry bikini" type thing that looked similar to an outfit I saw in Bad Romance) there is no justification in websites saying that Christina "copied" Gaga. Let's get real people.