SXSW 2012

Austin, Texas, the self-proclaimed “Live Sound Capital of the World” host one of the biggest festivals titled South by Southwest (SXSW). SXSW incorporates technology, film and music is a span of three weeks. Though the technology and film sections of the festival bring in thousands from across the world, it’s the music portion that steals the show. 

In a land of Indie, up incoming artist, this year, a few big names stole the show. Shady 2.0 showcase included new G-Unit artists Paris and Kidd Kidd, plus Action Bronson, Black Hippy's Schoolboy Q, Don Trip and Big K.R.I.T. and Shady Records signees, Slaughterhouse. Yelewolf, another, on the rise superstar signed to Em’s label had to cancel his appearance due to injury. Oh, and I forgot to mention that hip-hop moguls 50 cent and Eminem were there.

50 cent performed his Get Rich or Die Tryin’ album in its entirety.  According to MTV.com:

Throughout the week there had been whispers of an Eminem guest appearance during Fif's set, and Marshall Mathers confirmed those rumors on the second song of the night. Fifty rolled right into "Patiently Waiting," spitting his first verse and within seconds Em burst onto the stage, delivering the hook and his verse, casually decked out in jeans a baseball cap and his signature hoodie (MTV.com, 2012)

Eminem and 50 weren’t the only big surprise during this year’s SXSW festival. Lil’ Wayne also had a big show up his sleeves.  He surrounded himself with those of his YMCMB camp. During the show, Lil’ Wayne announced the signing of Mystikal.  Mystikal, once signed to No Limit under the leadership of Master P is trying to revive his career after a prison sentence.

The signing of Mystikal is odd to be. His style doesn’t fit the YMCMB camp. However, it’s another way for the business minded Lil’ Wayne and Birdman to step out of the box and add a different flavor to their already well established record label.

References:

Nadeska, Alexis. (2012).Lil Wayne Brings His YMCMB Family To SXSW. MTV. Retrieved March 17, 2012, http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1681216/lil-wayne-sxsw.jhtml

Nadeska, Alexis. (2012). 50 Cent and Eminem Join Forces At SXSW. MTV. Retrieved March 18, 2012, http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1681280/50-cent-eminem-sxsw-2012.jhtml

Image from sxsw.com

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AIDS: Not Only In The Movies

I recently watched a film about a gay con artist living in the era when HIV/AIDS was first discovered. The film’s title “I Love You Phillip Morris” indicated by title to most viewers a film about the founders of a cigarette mogul. The film was not about that at all, impressive marketing strategy.

Jim Carey’s character was in and out of prison and quite the promiscuous fellow, especially for his era. Towards the end of the film, we find out that his character had AIDS but his lover did not. At first it spoke to me about the fact that the HIV virus is not so easily transmitted and is essentially a predominantly weak virus. Other viewers would question why Carey’s characters’ lover never caught the virus considering all of the intercourse they were presumed to have had (including some very graphic scenes). I didn’t question it, but others most likely did.

Also, Carey’s character is a con artist, and he actually fakes his own death in the state of Texas in order to get out of prison once again. (I hope I am not ruining the plot line for anyone, but see the film. It’s well done). One of the lines that resonated the most with me was one about how the state of Texas didn’t once actually test Carey’s character for HIV, Assuming his promiscuous gay lifestyle and the fact that he was in prison put him at high risk in the eyes of the majority of medical practitioners first studying HIV/AIDS in the era when the virus was fairly new and still extremely mysterious to the medical field. I found the irony in the brutality behind this statement. I also questioned why his lover actually had to hear through the grapevine that he had acquired the virus and was in a critical state. Wouldn’t you think that the lover that he was known to have co-resided with would have been among the first to be notified? Scary indeed. This piece of the plot line both confused and angered me. This referenced the fact that medical practitioners and original CDC reports associated such a stigma with homosexual men in the U.S. that they didn’t even bother to notify his lover. Of course this may have been something that they simply omitted from the film or changed at the last second for dramatic affect, my sociological ‘antennas’ on the lookout for the discourse (or lack thereof) of medical practitioners regarding HIV/AIDS were fully functioning.

Even though the movie was fictional in every sense of the word, it carried some heavy socio-political messages about HIV/AIDS, both masked and obvious. 

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