June 2008 Archives

In my quest to procrastinate on things I should be taking care of, today I decided to switch up my Muxtape. The theme is CRUSHWORTHY: all the songs I love to listen to when I am in the middle of one of my schoolgirl crush obsessions moments.

I am a pro when it comes to having a crush. Trust.

Go listen.

A few days ago we installed the second round of additions to the WIRED SCIENCE Facebook application (which I discussed first here). We gave the application more elements (10 elements, instead of 5), more compounds (55 compounds instead of 15), and I redesigned the quiz algorithm (and added one more question). Take the test again or install the app to see the new additions.

Although I just added the final touches to the application, the show is out of season and will not be coming back to PBS. The series was canceled, which is unfortunate, because the show had great potential to reach a younger audience for PBS ("young" meaning older than the Curious George crowd but younger than the older demographic). In addition, it had great social media potential (in my eyes), but needed some time to get off the ground (i.e. another season). Either way, we are in the phase of evergreening the site, shutting down the blog, and slowing things down.

The show's cancellation has me asking myself, where do social media strategies go when they're no longer needed? So far, the results of our most significant strategies are:

• a blog with over 200 entries and 600 comments
• a twitter account with 1200+ followers
• a facebook fan page with almost 600+ fans
• a facebook application with 12,000 installs

The Facebook application is especially interesting to me because it's the gift that keeps on giving. Since launch, the application has been averaging 100 new installs per day. This is with no paid promotional activity whatsoever. I don't expect this to stop anytime soon, because I don't think we will reach a ceiling going at this (slow but) steady rate of installation (considering the number of users on Facebook). I designed the application to be viral enough for it to self promote. I suppose I could turn those activities off if I wanted to.

For the blog, we have decided to stop all posting, write our goodbyes and leave commenting open for a few weeks. We will then shut down all comments, and leave the blog up for the sake of Google and reference.  I am not sure what to do with the Twitter account. It essentially was a machine for the blog and site updates, but with no more site updates, what else is there? I suppose the Facebook fan page can stay in place, however we'll probably put up a notice about the show and site saying farewell.

 I feel like I am divorcing or "putting out" a community I spent months building and nurturing. Now that we don't have the time and resources to support it, what's the best way to properly memorialize it? Any thoughts on what we (or any media entity using social media) should do in a situation like this? If situations like this are concerning for TV shows, should we even bother with such strategies, and just let the fans do it organically on the web?

Another week, another deck from The Exchange crew. This week our theme is Touch, giving you the songs that make you want to reach out and touch that special someone.

The Picklist:
George | Put it in Your Mouth - Akinyele
Marcia | Crown Royal - Jill Scott
Ouxu | Crush on You - Lil' Kim feat. Lil' Cease
OJ | I Pop - Trick Daddy
BK | If I Had You - Frankie
Eyejammy | I Wanna Do Somethin Freaky To You - Leon Haywood
Sam | Feel Like F**kin - Plies
Jen | Seems Like You're Ready - R. Kelly
Liz | Slowly - Tank
Cye | G-Spot - Wayne Marshall

Don't Take My Word For It:
Download the stack.
Stream it on Muxtape.

About My Pick:
"Slowly" by Tank. I love Tank. When Jamie Foxx came out with his last album, I said it sounded like a Tank album. Come to find out they're BFF's of some sort. Force of Nature was my album jam for one of those summers in college. I am a sucker for an R&B man singing his heart out, and Tank came through for me with this track. I might have to give Force of Nature a spin today!

I was tagged by Lis and Tiffany to do a meme:

"List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're not any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying now, shaping your spring summer. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they're listening to."

In my iTunes I keep a "50 Most Often Played Tracks" that keeps track of the songs I listen to the most often, that have been added within the last month. That being said, WEEZY took all the top spots with Tha Carter III, so I just pulled one track from his album. The rest are high on the list:

Top Down - Swizz Beats
This track is super great. I was put on to it by Clarence, and I have been loving it ever since. Nice opening. Nice hook. Nice production. Sounds awesome in my car.

La La - Lil Wayne
My most played track off Tha Carter III. Clearly I love this song, my blog tagline is a line from the hook. I love the first verse in its entirety, and I like how the hook comes in.

Official Girl - Karina Pasian
This is the first track I have ever heard by this artist, but I think she's a cutie. Cute song about putting a guy in check because he won't make her his official girl.

Play Your Part (Part 2) - Girl Talk
You are extra late if you're not all over Girl Talk by now. Weezy over Red Hot Chili Peppers never sounded so good. The whole album is fresh, but this track is my favorite. Pop, lock and drop it.

More Than Friends - Estelle
Estelle tries to tell her would-be man that she needs/wants to escalate their relationship to the next level. (Are we noticing a trend here?) I like Estelle's vocals on this track, and the lyrics are kinda clever, though I feel like she's begging. I don't beg. Her dude sounds wack anyway, I think she should move on.

Put On - Young Jeezy ft Kanye West
Let's be honest, I skip Jeezy's first two verses more than half the time on this track. Kanye's verse is where it's at, mostly because of his opening four lines, and AutoTune. 'Ye sounds great on AutoTune, I don't care how hard so-called music lovers complain about the technique. The verse has me worried about 'Ye though, like I think dude needs a hug or something.

Heat - Mariah Carey
This is a hidden or an import track from her last album. I like it due to MC's attitude. She's going on about some chick having the audacity to think she won't get down over her man. "You think I won't come out these heels and make it clear, I ain't the one." Tell it, Mimi!

Summer Throwback Bonus:
Head Over Feet - Alanis Morisette
This is throwback from my high school days. Specifically, this was my jam the summer between Freshman and Sophomore year when I was going hard in basketball summer league. My summer was all about basketball, watching the Olympics, and Alanis Morisette. I didn't really get the lyrics back then, but I think I understand them now.

I was gonna put these on my Muxtape, but I am too lazy to burn my iTunes tracks and then rip them again. DRM on iTunes, FTL. I also won't tag anybody else (laziness again, FTW), but you can raise your hand if you're feelin lucky.

P.S. This is not a music blog, but you wouldn't know that based on my posts as of late.

Welcome back for the second installment of The Exchange (explanation here for the late folks). This week our theme is Teenage Love Affair.
The Playlist and Who's Who:
George | Can We Talk - Tevin Campbell
Liz | My Heart Belongs to You - Jodeci
Eyejammy | She's Playing Hard to Get - Hi-Five
Kate | Treehouse - I'm From Barcelona
Ouxu | Crazy Love - Brian McKnight
Panama | Let's Chill - Guy
Cye | Knockin the Boots - H-Town
OJ | Kissing You - Total
Marcia | Computer Love - Zapp & Roger
Blazey | Playground Love - Air
Jen | Weak - SWV
Sam | You're Unbelivable - EMF

As always:
Download the set here
Stream the set in your browser over at our Muxtape

About My Pick:
I went for My Heart Belongs To You by Jodeci mostly because of the passion. Every vocal on this track is pure passion. I love that about love, and about love songs. Granted, at the time this track was released I knew nothing about love (this is arguably the case now, as well!), but it was definitely one of my favorite songs to lip sync late at night, in the dark, in my bedroom, with my headphones bangin.  

For those who didn't catch it on my Twitter, Flickr and Facebook accounts, Very Smart Brothas.com was featured in The Metro News yesterday in three markets (Boston, NYC, and Philadelphia).

Today I am happy to introduce to you a weekly podcasting-ish/mixtape collabo project that I am apart of. It's called The Exchange and it's composed of me and 11 of the freshest people on the Internets. Every week we pick a theme, submit a track, and put it all together for you and yours.

Who are the 12 Freshest People On The Internets?
Glad you asked. For the record:
Sam
Marcia
Kate
Ouxu
Cye
Eyejammy
Jen
OJ
Liz
Panama
Brandon
George


Why is it called The Exchange?
Because it's a dope name, and because we are all friends (and/or friends of friends) strewn across the world but we all connect digitally, daily, in many different locations online.

What's the first edition?

Say My Name.

What's the tracklist, and who chose what?
Sam | Jazzy Belle (remix) - Outkast feat. Babyface
Marcia | Black Stacey - Saul Williams
Kate | Helen - The Cave Singers
Ouxu | Mary Jane (All Night Long) - Mary J. Blige
Cye | Saigon Meets Just Blaze - Saigon
Eyejammy | Mona Lisa - Slick Rick
Jen | Renee - Lost Boyz
OJ | Makeba - Aceyalone
Liz | Poor Georgie - MC Lyte
Panama | Hey There Delilah - Plain White T's
Brandon | Adam - Me'Shell Ndegéocello
George | Mona Lisa - Nat King Cole

Where can I cop your freshness?
You can download the zip file here. When Muxtape gets some Ack Rite, we'll have a link for you there.

ETC.
Big thanks to Marcia and my superfly homegirl Jen for organizing and executing this for everyone.

That's it for this week. Go forth and listen.

Although it wasn't quietly kept on my Twitter stream, yesterday was my birthday. I just wanted to take the time to thank all my followers on Twitter that sent me Happy Birthday tweets. Lately I have been pretty amazed at how your own personal Twitter families are at times an instant cheerleading section. On graduation day I had a similar effect. Anyway, below is a screenshot of all the tweets I caught (click to view more detail). Bare in mind Twitter broke down about 8 times yesterday and it has been eating tweets, so if you don't see yourself in the crowd, blame Twitter!

I tried to thank everyone individually, but if I missed you, please forgive me!  Know that you all rock and made my birthday full of social media fun :)