MamaPop™

Hammer Pants Flash Mob FTW

The early 90s were a weird time in the U.S. We were emerging from the ickiness of the 80s and the 90s spread in front of us, full of possibility and the promise of a new millennium. The optimism of the that time was a breeding ground for trends like Hypercolor (why have a shirt that's just one color when it can be multiple colors depending on who's fondling your boobs?), wearing clothes backwards (Reagan's gone! I'm totally Krossed out!), and, of course, Hammer pants (it's the 90s! Let's get billowy!).

Hammer pants were brought to us by super-positive rapper MC Hammer, whose career became a cautionary tale of quick fortunes when, just six years after the mind-boggling international success of his album Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em, he filed bankruptcy due to being $13 million in debt.

YOOOO LET YOUR INTERNET BE GREAT!!!!!!!!!111TWELVE

 In a perfect world, Kanye West would follow MamaPop closely, fuming or laughing with us whenever we give him a hard time. In reality, we can only imagine that the image to the left is what Kanye might see if he was a loyal MamaPop reader.

You Can Find Me in the Picnic...

...bottle fulla punch...and maybe some prosciutto-wrapped melon. This picture just made my day.

Mother Lover

From last night's SNL: Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake do it again... and by "do it" I DO mean "DO IT":

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

UPDATED VIDEO from Hulu.com shoud work!

Eminem Gets Clean, Makes Peace With His Mother

I have to admit that reading about Eminem's 20-pill-a-day prescription drug habit was not all that surprising to me. I mean, he's rapped extensively about doing drugs, canceled tours, had stints in rehab, gone on hiatus, his new album is called Relapse...gee...I just...damn, it's all so SUBTLE, Eminem. Why won't you be straight with your fans?

Following his first stint in rehab in 2005, the rapper, 36, tells VIBE he nearly overdosed after an acquaintance gave him unidentified blue pills, which a doctor later told him were actually methadone. "My doctor told me the amount of methadone I'd taken was equivalent to shooting up four bags of heroin," Eminem says, noting that had he known, "I probably wouldn't have taken it. But as bad as I was back then, I can't even say 100 percent for sure."

But this quote did surprise me:

"It never once hit me that drug addiction runs in my family. Now that I understand that I'm an addict, I definitely have compassion for my mother. I get it," he says.

Eminem Kicks Assonance

I'm sorry about the title. I tried to resist. I failed.

Eminem's Relapse is ready to release on May 19th.

His first single, We Made You, has already made the rounds and you've already seen the video. Though the track, as expected, displayed his unparalleled verbal skills, I was kinda bummed out because who really cares about Slapsticky Goofy Eminem? I suppose it's probably necessary to take a breather and be silly here and there if you're the one who's Eminem. You probably need to make fun of celebrities and bust some silly rhymes from time to time so as to not slit your wrists. But as ee cummings once said about "everyone else", we are not Eminem. I don't care what Eminem needs to live with himself. That's what drug addictions are for. I want Crazy Eminem Who Doesn't Give A Fuck.

Because, yeah, Eminem scoped out whole new realms of assonance (he kicks assonance). He does shit with words that, if you care about language even a little bit, make you pause your iPod and say "Wait. Did he really just do that?". I don't think there's an argument against his fundamental brilliance. If I hear someone sassing Eminem, it's usually because they don't like rap or white rappers or crazy people.

But here's the thing. Sick rhymes need sick content. Marshall loses ground when he's being silly. I want Crazy Eminem Who Doesn't Give A Fuck. And then over the weekend I heard this. Go check it out and get ready to nod your head like you just got stoned because Dre brought some plants to the studio.

Then let's review 3 AM after the jump.

Kanye West Track Selected as Official Soundtrack of 2009 NBA Playoffs

YOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! SOME PEOPLE ARE LETTING KANYE BE GREAT!

Notes for Jimmy Kimmel: This Probably Should Have Been a More Uncomfortable Interview Topic

Here are two topics I don't care too much about: Jimmy Kimmel and Lil Wayne. They both seem like perfectly fine guys, but from an artistic standpoint, nothing that either of them has ever done has really appealed to me.
But one aspect of Lil Wayne's recent appearance on Kimmel's show really has me skeeved out.

Biggie Smalls Tells Lil' Kim to "Just Do You" Plus Thumbs Down On Notorious Movie

In an interview with RapRadar, Lil' Kim was asked if she thinks Notorious B.I.G. would've been pleased with Notorious, the recently released film about his life.

Lil' Kim has been very vocal about her opposition to the film. However, she was now asked to speculate about Biggie's potential opinion of the film, had he not been shot dead in 1997 (and what I mean to imply here but will make explicit to fully illustrate the scope of Lil' Kim's stupidity: dead people do not really have opinions about movies).

Lil' Kim first assured the interviewer that she is "a very spiritual person". This is one of my favorite distinctions. People will tell you they're spiritual as opposed to religious, meaning that their unorthodox God thinks it's totally dope when they flash their tits in everybody's eyeball or when they spread their legs to flash that animal print. Get money! Usually, when someone assures you that they're very spiritual, they're getting ready to tell you some crazy shit that doesn't make any sense. Lil' Kim did not disappoint.

"I know for a fact he's not happy." Lil' Kim is not here talking about her opinion of what Biggie might think. Lil' Kim knows what Biggie does think for a fact. She knows this because, via her super potent spiritual powers, Biggie told her in a dream.

I'm totally serious. Lil' Kim goes to sleep. And then Notorious B.I.G. talks to her in dreams. AND THEN, Lil' Kim presents this dream content as representative of what Biggie thinks. Sometimes when I write, I make things up. But I swear to you that I did not make this up. Biggie Smalls tells Lil' Kim factual stuff in her dreams. And it's all made possible by her highly spiritualized nature. I know I'm being redundant. It's like I don't believe myself. I'm trying to convince myself that Lil' Kim really said these things and meant them and didn't expect us to laugh until we cried.

Roxorloops Beatboxes His Way Into Your Heart

Doods. This is just amazing:

A little fun for your Sunday afternoon.

This kid is from Belgium, and has apparently won a few beatboxing championships with those mad, mad skillz. More about him and additional video on his MySpace page.

Diddy Faces Off with Kanye on the Interwebs

Well, not officially. But I've noticed that there seems to be some hint of competition between the two artists and their approaches to social media tools.

I Might Actually Be Done with Kanye Now, Too

Throughout Kanye West's history of being the resident MamaPop douche, I've sort of stayed out of the conversation surrounding his persona, his behavior, his very unique Kanye-ness.

Joaquin Phoenix Isn't Crazy If He's Val Kilmer

Do you remember in Oliver Stone's Doors movie when Val Kilmer is Jim Morrison and he's all fat and gnarly and he's watching the news? The news is all filled with various forms of pathetic devastation and it's too much for Val Kilmer's Jim Morrison's fragile psyche and a tear trickles down his cheek like that Indian who's all bummed out about littering. Val Kilmer's Jim Morrison mutters "I'm having a nervous breakdown." Remember that? Well then tell me this then. Is that or is it not Joaquin Phoenix?

I cracked the code. Joaquin Phoenix is NOT crazy. It's not even him. It's really just Val Kilmer's portrayal of Jim Morrison playing Joaquin Phoenix playing a rapper. He's just warming up to play the governor of New Mexico.

The Most Awesome Joaquin Phoenix Interview Ever

"Joaquin, I'm sorry you couldn't be here tonight," quipped Dave Letterman after one of the most bizarre interviews I've ever seen - even for Joaquin Phoenix.

Phoenix, Rick Rubin, and Alan Moore (the latter authored "Watchmen and "V for Vendetta") should start a hairy man club. Phoenix sat in his contrasting suit and scruff and fielded the majority of Letterman's questions with monosyllabic responses; Letterman admonished him: "I'll just come to your house and sit and chew gum" (Phoenix stuck it under his desk), and asked the actor-turned-"rapper" about his relationship with Ted Kaczynski. I thought the interview was very cringe-worthy, but despite Phoenix's best efforts, now more than ever, I'm totally not buying the New Joaquin.