Movie Trailer: The Great Gatsby Starring Leonardo Dicaprio (Video)

As you should know by now, my favorite book of all-time is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It’s a classic tale of status, wealth, ambition, and (most of all) love. The 70s film version starring Robert Redford will always be cool, but now Baz Luhrmann has decided to give the jazz age story a new 3D sheen. Will it work? Who knows. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as the titular Gatsby, Tobey Maguire as Nick Carroway, and Carey Mulligan as Daisy. Check out the trailer above.

Why I Wrote GUESTLIST (Part Two) #GLIST

A few weeks ago, before the release of my novel GUESTLIST, I was having drinks with the lovely and amazing Emily Cavalier of Mouth of the Border and the conversation shifted to the topic of my novel.

Ms. Cavalier asked the question that everyone asks: “How much of it is autobiographical?”

“Twenty percent,” I said.

But you know, even that’s not true. GUESTLIST is most assuredly not autobiographical. The novel is not about me. And, despite what some will inevitably think, I am not any particular character in the story. In fact, the entire storyline is complete fiction.

With one exception.

And that exception, Dear Readers, is what inspired GUESTLIST.

Sometimes I Get Emotional Over Fonts #GLIST

The hilarious Yolie the Jew posted a series of hand-stitched and framed Kanye West tweets that have been made, and are being sold, by an Etsy user named Supervelma. While the tweets are amusing in and of themselves (HuffPo cites the “persian rug with cherub imagery” as “strangely perfect”), there was one that really spoke to me, and it’s the one pictured above: “Sometimes I get emotional over fonts.”

As you should know, my novel Guestlist is coming out in February. What you may not realize is that I’m basically in charge of every aspect of the novel’s design, from its cover to the paper stock to the type of font used for the interior. That last element is something I agonized over for weeks. I even asked my graphic design friends, via Twitter, which font would be the best one to use. In the end, I opted to go with the tried-and-true Garamond.

Music Video: Mago – “Dominican Otis (Otis Freestyle)”

Asesinato musical, masacre lirical en cualquier instrumental.

Translation: Musical murder, lyrical massacre on any instrumental.

That’s the M.O. of Dominican hip-hop artist (and Vagabonds associate) Mago. In the above clip, Mago goes hard over everyone’s current favorite beat, courtesy of Kanye West and Jay-Z.

Music Review: Jay-Z and Kanye West – Watch The Throne

Let’s talk for a minute about hype. Public Enemy once famously implored us not to believe it. After all, hype is used to cover up shortcomings in that which is being hyped. There should be no pomp and circumstance—the work should speak for itself, right? Ultimately, children, hype breeds disappointment.

At least, that’s what most dissenters would say. In my opinion, however, the purpose of hype is to get people excited about a project. And that’s exactly what happened with Watch The Throne, the new album from Jay-Z and Kanye West. (The duo have dubbed themselves The Throne, a moniker I refuse to use.)

But the hype also brought a ton of criticism. In fact, people criticized the entire album before listening to it, mind you, saying it would only be a purely materialistic affair, a slap in the face to people who, in this economy, have virtually nothing. It was also said that the album wasn’t being done for the love of hip-hop, it was done so that Kanye and Jay could “win.” And I loved that such sentiments were usually backed up with qualifiers like, “I love these niggas and have supported them their whole careers but …” Fuck outta heah with that noise. Please just listen to the goddamned music.

Throwback Photo: Illest MF Alive

Jay Fingers and Hype Williams, on the set of “Big Pimpin’,” 1999.

Cuz I’m movin’ in slow motion, slow motion …

Video: Jay-Z and Kanye West – “Otis”

By this point you’ve already seen the video. But as today has been a Throne-worthy day on the blog, I figured I’d post it, too. Directed by Spike Jonze, the video for Jay-Z and Kanye West‘s “Otis” is as fun and arrogant as the song for which it was created. I approve 100% of the Maybach’s mauling so that it could become the now-infamous Throne-mobile (which, according to Minya, will be auctioned off for famine relief).

You know what really stands out to me? Jay just looks like he’s having a lot of motherfucking fun. For once, he dropped his cool and just let loose. Having fun LIKE A BOSS! Look at Kanye whipping the Throne-mobile around LIKE A BOSS! Plus, they got hella cute ethnically ambiguous broads in the back! BOSS! (I know that last statement’s gonna ruffle some feathers—ha!)

And just for the record, Aziz Ansari steals the show.