My Music!!

So I have some songs that been on constant rotation through my IPizzle. Just thought I'd share some music that you may or may not have heard. I'm not your stereotypical black dude. Hip-hop is becoming boring and stagnant. I still love the old stuff but hopefully something good will come along. Anyways here it goes. Something along the lines of the celebrity playlists on ITunes...

Dave Barnes - Grace's Amazing Hands

I don't know why but I can't stop listening to this song. I love the guitar riffs and he seems passionate about what he sings. John Mayer has said he's a fan of Dave Barnes. I can see why.
http://www.johnmayer.com/blog/john/200607#25


Marc Broussard - Home
Marc Broussard - The Beauty of Who You Are

If you needed a song that sounded like Louisana, Home would be it. His voice is alot different than what you hear on the radio today. My kids love this song.

TBOWYA is a song about a girl of course. This song reminds of the old days when people actually sounded like they meant every word they sang. There's alot of feeling and passion with every word he says.


John Mayer - Clarity

This is probably my favorite John Mayer song. I can't help but bob my head to this song whenever I hear it. I love the horn break at 3:17 mark. My favorite part of the song.

Jack Johnson - Wasting Time

This is just a really laid back, chill kinda song. I could see myself swinging in a hammock with this playing in the background sipping on some lemonade.

Lupe Fiasco - Kick, Push

I don't skateboard but if I did this would be my theme song. I love the flow and the ka ku ka ku ka ku part is sweet.

Black Eyed Peas ft. Justin Timberlake - My Style

Just a fun song. If I'm cleaning the house I have to have this song on!

OutKast - Slump

Song from the Aquemini album. Big Boi and Dre's flow remind me of their first album. The beat is awesome.

Amos Lee- Keep it Loose, Keep it Tight
Amos Lee - Seen It All Before

Two songs from Amos' first album (Amos Lee). Guitar driven and a slow tempo. If I could sing, I would play these at a gig. Starting at the 3:10 mark of SIAB is my favorite part. When he sings "I ain't gonna be yo fool, baby", makes you believe him.

Elliot Yamin - Wait For You

My favorite Idol contestant ever. His hair has changed and so have his teeth, but his voice is still as rich and soulful as ever.

Keith Urban - Tonight I Wanna Cry

I'm not a huge country fan but I love Keith Urban. I don't know if that's cool or not but oh well. My favorite KU song.

I'm sure I could add plenty of more songs but give these a shot. I'll add them to my myspace page (link to the right) so you can hear them. Let me know what you think.

Hallelujah Hollaback!!
MP

Cheap Basketball Shoes

Since I have nothing of intrest at the moment to write about, I decided to post this article about Stephon Marbury's line of affordable athletic shoes. For those that don't know, Stephon plays professional basketball in the NBA for the New York Knicks. As long as the shoes aren't cheaply made, I think it's a wonderful idea. If you don't take time to read it, I won't blame ya. But I do think more athletes should follow this example. Lebron James' shoe cost $150! What 13 year old can afford that? Hell, I'm 30 and I can't afford that!!!


NBA star sells $15 sneakers
New York Knicks guard Stephon Marbury makes sneakers affordable

As a kid growing up with six siblings, Stephon Marbury couldn’t understand why his parents couldn’t scrape together $150 to buy him the hot sneakers his heroes wore in the NBA.
When he grew up and understood how much money that was and how little his parents had, he decided to do something about it.
His solution? A $15 quality basketball shoe worn in games by the star point guard of the New York Knicks, Stephon Marbury.
“Anybody who grew up in a household with a lot of brothers and sisters, they know how it is as far as, you know, everybody wearin’ the same sneakers – hand-me-downs,” he told TODAY correspondent Kevin Corke.
The shoe, which comes in a variety of styles and fabrics, is called the “Starbury.” It’s made by Steve & Barry's University Sportswear, and, while it is inexpensive, it’s not cheap or shoddy. Marbury introduced them last August and has just introduced the Starbury II, still at the same affordable price.
Mark Cuban, the outspoken billionaire owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, called the product "the biggest business story of the year."
Steve & Barry’s has given no sales figures, but it has been reported elsewhere that in little more than half a year, some three million pairs of Starburys have been sold. That’s been enough to inspire Chicago Bulls star center Ben Wallace to join Marbury in wearing the shoes for the remainder of this year. Next year, Wallace will have his own Steve & Barry’s line —the Big Ben.
Growth of the signature shoeMarbury grew up in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, while Wallace hails from small-town Alabama. But they have a lot in common.
Like Marbury, who had six brothers and sisters, Wallace came from a big family – he had ten siblings – and wore whatever shoes one of his older brothers had outgrown. Also like Marbury, he was offended at the exorbitant prices the big shoe companies charge for the signature footwear of the game’s biggest stars.
"Why you want your name associated with a pair shoes nobody can afford?” he told TODAY. “I think that defeats the purpose."
Both players are foregoing big endorsement checks by putting their names on – and their feet in – inexpensive shoes. Once upon a time, all basketball shoes were affordable. But then Nike founder Phil Knight realized that if he could design a special shoe and put it on the feet of one of the game’s greatest players, he could charge a premium for them.
In 1985, he signed Michael Jordan, the promising young star of the Chicago Bulls, to an endorsement deal and brought out the first Air Jordan sneaker. The shoe was red and black with a big Nike Swoosh on the side and was so brash in their design that the NBA told Jordan he would be fined if he wore them in games. Knight gladly paid the fines and in no time at all, every kid in America had to have a pair.
As Jordan matured into the greatest player of all time, fans camped out in front of shoe stores to be the first to buy the latest model Air Jordan, and kids were mugged for their shoes. Jordan himself made more money from Nike endorsements than he did from playing basketball.
After that, every new star had to have a signature shoe, with prices running up to $175 and endorsement deals worth tens of millions of dollars.
Marbury has at times been accused of being selfish with the ball on the court, but no one has ever called him selfish in his personal life. Not satisfied with making an affordable shoe available, he’s also given 3,000 pairs to high school basketball teams in New York City. His new Starbury II’s even come in a women’s model.
Not everyone is happyMarbury has been razzed by other players for wearing $15 sneakers, and there’s been some jibes traded between Cleveland Cavalier megastar LeBron James, the current king of the high-priced shoe market, and Wallace over the shoe’s quality.
The big companies say it’s not built as well as their shoes. But one of the shoe’s designers, T.J. Gray, told a newspaper reporter, "We're building them with the same construction, we're using similar materials.”
And consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who has been challenging James over conditions in the Chinese factories where his shoes are made, singled out Marbury for praise in an open letter posted online at LeagueOfFans.org.Addressed to James, the post said that Marbury "challenged the entire basketball sneaker industry, in part, to present inner-city kids with an affordable (yet still stylish and well-made) alternative to the $150 shoes that you and others endorse."
Instead of taking millions to wear somebody else’s shoes, Stephon Marbury decided to take nothing up front to wear his own. Instead, he gets a royalty on each pair sold. Wallace has the same deal.
To both, it really isn’t about the money, but about the satisfaction of knowing that they’re doing something for kids and families by giving them a well-made shoe with NBA cachet at a price affordable by all.
“You see the smiles on kid's faces,” Marbury said. “I've had so many people come up to me and just . . . it's not even about basketball.”