DC ExtraTime Flashback: Outkast's Road Rules Invasion

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

In many of our ExtraTime posts over the years, we've featured the times where MTV Reality and music have collided -- most recently when a former teen pop star who once hung out with a New Orleans Queen of The Challenge finally won a Grammy this winter. A few years ago, we told two stories of how two musical groups from different genres used guest cameos to boost their profiles before eventually taking over the charts.

In 2004, Florida punk-pop band Yellowcard played in the background of old-school challengers smashing hotel rooms on The Inferno and contributed music to that season's opening titles before the biggest year of their career. Five years later, the cast of Real World Cancun helped coordinate Spring Break appearances in Mexico by emerging dance music duo LMFAO before "Get Crazy" became synonymous with Jersey Shore and "Party Rock Anthem" took over 2011's playlists.

This latest tale of a music act appearing on an MTV Reality series doesn't involve an emerging artist getting their big break towards getting global recognition, but is a story that was lost in time and took until a return of two of its members to The Challenge a few years ago for us to dust off this story. As this flashback is being posted, it has been a decade & a half since one of the most-notable albums of the 21st century, which was released by one of the co-subjects of this post.

Here - and unlike Yellowcard, LMFAO and a then-unknown Lady Gaga who had Lauren and Whiten work on her stage outfit on a 2008 episode of The Hills, the artists featured here were more well known at the time than their later counterparts in the pop, rock and dance genres. This was before they released two albums in one that propelled them into the mainstream and brought the South to the forefront of hip-hop. And the cast who share top-billing on the marquee would ultimately produce four Challenge champions, including the only Challenger ever to win four straight titles.

When you have a renowned cast of a past and pioneering MTV Reality series get to perform in front of a group that was ready to become the biggest stars in the world, then you have the story of when OutKast Invaded Road Rules.

DC ExtraTime: Post Malone Meets an MTV Original

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

For hip-hop fans, the summer of 2018 has no doubt been an unforgettable one. It began with in June with Kanye West releasing Ye (and him performing on Saturday Night Live tonight), Nas dropping Nasir, and Drake shutting down social media with his latest release of Scorpion to record numbers. We then saw Eminem drop Kamikaze and laid a smackdown on Machine Gun Kelly, which came after G-Eazy ignited a beef with MGK. And, obviously, there was the tragic news of Mac Miller's untimely death - which came after he dropped his last album Swimming.

As for the whole year, it has been a breakthrough one for the man who was born as Austin Richard Post, who now refers to himself by his last name and stage name, Post Malone. He was born in Syracuse but spent most of his life down in in the Dallas area when his dad became a concessions manager for the Cowboys. He had his first try at music when, with his Guitar Hero experience, he got to try to be a guitarist in a band, but didn't score the gig when his guitar strings broke. Malone then expanded his palette to being a DJ, soft music and hip-hop while he was in high school, where he was given the senior title, "Most Likely to Be Famous."
   After a short stint in college and using a name generator to adopt his stage alias, Malone moved out west to join a video game player friend to L.A. to form the group BLCKVRD and began recording tracks together with several friends. One of them was "White Iverson," paying homage to NBA great Allen Iverson, which then made it to his SoundCloud account... one million plays later, he was being pursued by the big labels, with the Republic label ultimately winning out. Soon, Malone got to join Kanye on the single "Fade," landed an opening gig on Justin Bieber's world tour and dropped his debut album, Stoney.

That 2016 for him was just the opening act to the worldwide breakthrough Post would ultimately enjoy in 2018, starting with a good appetizer in opening single "Rockstar." It spent eight weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and offered the segueway to sophomore album Beerbongs & Bentleys, which not only debuted at the top but also set streaming records with 79 million listening on Spotify when it dropped last April, and two more top 10 singles in "Psycho" and "Better Now."
   When I watched Post Malone at the Coachella festival - and who appeared as the last act in the Saturday livestream of Week 1 before Beyonce's epic performance, he epitomizes the feeling of being that everyday guy of those our age of being millennials in someone who loves to drink and smoke and still have a good time. Him being able to just be laid-back compared to his contemporaries, blending other genres and approaching his songwriting from an introspective point of view, and a style described as "laconic," has given Post a unique spot in the hip-hop world.
   And then, there's Malone's summer of 2018: after he took to the stage with true rockstars Aerosmith at the VMA's last month, the plane he took from there to London had their tires blow out at takeoff, but rerouted back to New York and landed safely. Earlier this month, his old home in the San Fernando Valley outside Hollywood was robbed when robbers' attempt to grab him by the throat just missed when the rapper moved out. And a week later in the early hours of Saturday, Sept. 8, his white Rolls-Royce car collided with another car in Santa Monica, and again Malone was spared from his third bout with bad luck. He's obviously lucky to still be here.

IG @SyrusMTV

Post nearly had another event add to these past few months but something not related to him cheating death: he and Drake nearly became part of a track on Lil Wayne's newest album that dropped yesterday, but it barely didn't make the final track list. But earlier today, Post's adventures brought him to Las Vegas as the town's famous pool parties draw near to its conclusion for the season. One of them who had the opportunity to rub shoulders with the "Rockstar" of 2018 in hip-hop was Real World and Challenge original Syrus Yarborough. Sy knows very well the opportunity to hang with someone like Post, as he was featured in Eminem's "Without Me" back in 2002.
   And earlier, Syrus added to the long list of those he's gotten to hang out with when he and Post Malone met up. He's not the only big name hip-hop artist to meet up with the Extreme Challenge champ this year, as Sy also hung out with another rapper who's become big in the past year, Lil' Pump during this year's Spring Break down in Cancun.

View this post on Instagram

Party w/ Post Malone in Vegas #LikeArockstar #Lit 🔥 #SyLifeStyle #SyThePartyGuy . . . . #GoodVibes #Sunny #Rage #Drinks #Blunts #Bottles #Vodka #Summer #2018 #Fun #PicOfTheDay #Music #Swag #Reality #TV #TheChallenge #RealWorld #MTV #LivingMyBestLife

A post shared by SyrusMTV (@syrusmtv) on Sep 29, 2018 at 3:05pm PDT

- I AM DC
#DCBLOG

DC ExtraTime: A Party Under the Electric Sky

BY DC CUEVA                     

■ @DC408Dxtr  @ TW / IG / YT

Last weekend, two parts of the world became the epicenter for multiple events that brought hundreds of thousands to their neck of the woods spanning pop culture, sports and music (the three things that revolve around the world of this very blogger).
   In England, thousands descended upon Windsor Castle and St. George's Church in the county Berkshire - an hour east of London - for the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, as the world watched an American actress tie the knot with a member of the Royal Family. Hours later in London itself, Wembley Stadium hosted the most prestigious day in English football as the FA Cup Final saw Chelsea defeat Manchester United in a titanic clash of Premier League powerhouses.
   Across the pond, Las Vegas took on the role as the capital of the country for several reasons. This year's darlings of American sports, the Vegas Golden Knights, clinched the NHL's Western Conference title as a journey of being the newest major sports franchise continued in magical style. Just hours after they posed with the Clarence Campbell Bowl, the MGM Grand hosted the 2018 Billboard Music Awards, as Ariana Grande, Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello, Christina Aguilera & Demi Lovato took the stage, Salt N Pepa and En Vogue brought everyone back some 25 years earlier, and noise levels reached its zenith when BTS performed a year after they were introduced to America on the BBMA's - and ultimately scoring their first #1 album in America.
   And a half-hour's drive up the way from the Strip, the Las Vegas Motor Speedway hosted the latest installment of what is one of the largest music festivals in the United States, and the rite of summer to the ever-increasing legion of fans of electronic dance music, or EDM. It's the one they call the party "Under the Electric Sky" -- the Electric Daisy Festival.

The Look: Rory Kramer's Dare to Live

Following is an excerpt from DCBLOG's Pulse for The Challenge XXX Episode 7 from 

earlier today, reposted in the interest of readers who don't want to scroll down.

BY DC CUEVA                     

■ @DC408Dxtr  @ TW / IG / YT

If you're one of those who got to stick around after this past week's Challenge, then you got to see something that hasn't been on much on MTV's 10 Spot until last year: a music-themed show. Last year, the channel welcomed its first high-profile music series in several years in the live performance show Wonderland, and next weekend its iconic series Unplugged will return with pop star Shawn Mendes taking the stage. And this past week's VMA's helped usher in the countdown to the return of an old friend, as next month, Total Request Live - TRL - will be revived for the YouTube generation from the same iconic studios in Times Square that hosted its original incarnation starting in 1998.
   This past Tuesday, I added my 23rd non-Trifecta MTV show to the list in a show executive produced and hosted by someone who loves to live wild and takes advantage of every moment to its fullest. And it also features that same inspirational element that was also the calling card of the show's producers, and one I enjoyed years ago and was written in one of my past Look posts, The Buried Life.

Rory Kramer has become one of the most in-demand people in the visual portion of the music industry. After having struggles with depression and overcoming all types of adversity, he found a solstice in pursuing what he does best and what he loves doing: combining his passions for video production, music and thrill seeking, as well as celebrating life and all it can offer. MTV's presser describes Rory as "a professional life liver who dedicates his time to capturing life's precious moments," and he has established himself as a leading music video director as well as an all-around good guy, too. I also have respect for him from having watched the videos he's helped out with.
   Renowned in the industry, those like Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Avicii and others have sought Rory to film them at major festivals, concerts and helping to direct official music videos with everyone he has crossed paths with. This includes The Chainsmokers, where Rory was there at the beginning of the rise of Drew and Alex from an up-and-coming EDM act early last year to one whose lyric video for "Closer" garnered nearly 2 billion views as that song with Halsey catapulted them to worldwide stardom and the success they've had ever since. That off-the-wall style has helped to build a strong fan base for Rory who appreciates his work and his journey.
   Dare to Live aims to capture that passion for music and thrills with his unique filming style, as he will take some of music's top artists off of the stage and into an outrageous, thrill-seeking adventure that's designed to take those he gets to meet a chance to get out of their comfort zone and enjoy the moment with him. If you think that The Challenge freaks out many of MTV's most well-known home grown stars, then wait until what Rory has up his sleeve with those he calls his friends. At the same time, it also brings music fans an intimate look at the musicians off-stage, some who have grown astronomically into superstars in the past year or so.

In the opening of the pilot episode that aired last week, Rory talked about what has brought him here: "Who am I? I’ve been trying to figure that out for the longest time. I’m someone who was lost in life, who struggles with depression, and realized I needed to change my life. So I quit my job to pursue making videos and now I’m free. I’m a professional life liver. I’m a son, brother, uncle, and a friend. I’m out of control. I’m the guy from the Avicii video. I’m someone who can eat an ice cream cone in eight seconds. I’m doing what I love, traveling the world, capturing moments for some of the dopest musicians. But the best part? I’m gonna take them on these crazy adventures wherever we are."
   The opening hour of this four-week mini run (two airing back to back each week) featured two really awesome pairs of siblings who have had success, both a few years ago and the other fairly recently. First, Rory came to the South to meet up with the group who made "Black Beauties" a pop-culture staple thanks to its presence in the Mannequin Challenge videos, Rae Sremmurd. Instead of asking people on the street to stand still for 30 seconds to the beat of their #1 joint, Rory took the brothers, Swae and Swil, to the wilderness where they got to hang out with friends of a different sort: crocodiles and then going for a ride in an air-boat in the swamps of the South.
   Then in the back-end, Rory flew to one of Johnny Bananas' favorite hangout spots, Lake Tahoe, to hang out with Krewella, a female EDM duo from Chicago and of Pakistani descent. There, sisters Jahan and Yasmine faced a bigger task than what the guys in Misissippi had to take on: cliff diving into one of America's greatest natural wonders. And if the task of having to face a creature was one thing, then having to dive into the water is another, especially when Britni's now-ex Chuck recently got injured doing that earlier this summer while she was on Dirty 30. This was so scary that one of the girls even plugged their nose when they took the dive... they survived that task easily.

Also slated to join Rory for their moment are Shawn Mendes, Martin Garrix, Iggy Azalea, Steve Aoki, newly-minted VMA Best New Artist Khalid, and the TCS guys as they mark a year since "Closer" made them stars. And at this past week's premiere party, the Biebs even surprised the big man as he now joins the MTV family. And along with Siesta Key, this isn't the only new MTV show which I will be planning to live tweet and/or follow this fall, and we'll be explaining which new shows I plan to watch in these installments of The Look when their time comes around soon.

- I AM DC

DC's View: Music World

By DC Cueva

@DC408dxtr

With the American Music Awards taking place tonight as I write this on Sunday, November 24, it's safe to say that music is one of the good handful of things I'm most into, along with sports, television and social media. I've been avidly following this world since back in high school (this goes back to the late '90s) and, though I'm not a musician myself, something always gets to me every time I something with a rhythm on the radio, my ipod or on TV.

Unlike some music fans who are into just one or a few genres, I am into the entire musical spectrum, able to handle pop, hip-hop, rock, R&B, EDM, even some country, classical and jazz too. Every time a multi-genre music event takes place, whether I'd be a music awards show (Grammy's, AMA's, VMA's & Billboard), a festival concert or even just the weekly radio countdown shows or viewing videos on my ipad, it always makes for appointment viewing or listening for me. Tonight is one of those nights with the AMA's, which I'm gonna be tuned in tonight. Often times when we have family parties at our house, including what we'll be having on Thanksgiving coming up on Thursday, we would typically put on music DVD's: any one of my parents' music DVD's from Earth Wind and Fire, Mariah Carey or Journey, or the Live 8 & Live Earth DVD's that I have with a ton of artists.

For myself, the way I consume & get my music has evolved over the years. I've devoted three iPods to my regular music listening - my iPhone and 2 iPod Shuffle's, a new 2GB & old 1GB - with which to rotate my listening around. I did have a CD player that until this year I put inside a CD bag that I wrapped & carried around my body when I go places, but I recently retired it after my recent Vegas trip since I used it only twice. I do continue to buy CD's for the principal reason that I can transfer to MP3's easily, along with buying digital tracks if I'm not into getting a full album just yet while also keeping an eye on that bank account.

For my radio listening, though I listen to sports and to podcasts a lot, I'm probably one of the handful who, for his music listening, would prefer a top 40, contemporary hit radio format over other music radio. Yes, pop radio. To me and a lot who work in the music industry either in radio or those who handle the charts, it's the most accurate barometer of what's the most popular music right now. This format has been around since the '60s and is . No music radio format features all of the biggest artists and the most popular songs of the moment like contemporary hit radio. And in a given market, no other station features the best of pop, rhythmic, hip-hop, rock, R&B, EDM and a couple country tracks too, like pop radio stations. When I go to the iHeartRadio or Radio.com apps on my iPhone, or if I travel out of the Bay Area, I would generally check the pop radio stations first over all others.

For you would think that because I'm a huge music fan that I've been to a lot of concerts, but I've been to just one. That would be in 1998 at a now-defunct radio station concert in San Jose where top 40 acts performed. I literally don't remember who performed that night since it was a long time ago, but it's safe to say that I'm well overdue to go to another one. Shouldn't be that far off. But then again, of course, there was that night nine years ago in 2004 when I met Linkin Park. I devoted a blog post to that ultimate fandom moment of mine and it still ranks as a top 5 moment in my life.

And I can't mention about my music relationship without mentioning about my brother in law. He is a part-time DJ and does some music composing on the side. In fact, three of the Vegas trips I took in '07, '09 and '11 were DJ gigs that he hosted. And because in every instance told him to bring along speakers and his DJ rig, we obviously took the long road from the Bay Area to Las Vegas. In '07, he was asked upon to DJ an event at the Flamingo, then in '09 he DJ'ed at Planet Hollywood following the Pacquiao-Cotto fight, and in '11 he DJ'ed a party at Tuscany.

Lastly, you all want to know, which artists are my favorites and what's in my iPod? Well, of course, because they're my favorite band, Linkin Park has the most tracks of any artist on my iPod including all of their albums. But aside from Chester, Mike & company, I've got a lot of the staples of top 40 radio on my iPod: Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Jason Derulo, Eminem, Imagine Dragons, JT, Pitbull, Drake, Maroon 5, Adele and even 1D (sometimes people have their guilty pleasures, right?). And among them, those are among my favorites right now along with a whole slew of others. I can thank getting the NOW That's What I Call Music CD's and checking the current charts for helping me get my fill of what I should my music mix with. And because I'm into a lot of music, it's hard for me to single out some favorite track as well. I'm that deep of a music fan who's into everything, even including production music that's used in television and movies, as well as some classical & jazz if I'm in the mood.

Okay, so that's that. There are a good number of television events that I always look forward to watching, and music awards shows are one of them. And it should be another fantastic night of music coming up tonight with artists who I'm looking forward to watching, as always. It's one of the very few nights where I have to cut out of watching Sunday Night Football, even with this big Manning vs. Brady matchup, for events such as this. So, time for me to grab that popcorn & get set. Talk to ya on twitter when I live tweet the big show coming up shortly.

- DC