The Triumphant Scoop to Famine: F*ck You!

The One Campaign, a grassroots campaign and advocacy organization committed to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease, debuted their worldwide campaign about two weeks ago. Titled "The F-word", The One Campaign is backed by more than 2 million people whom are all committed to the fight against famine and preventable disease, particularly in Africa.

Though the commercial begins as a plague of spontaneous Jersey Shore meets Jerry Springer profanity, it's message proved fully to be the opposite. Collecting attention via an air of tasteless candidacy, glorious F-bombs dispelled from the mouths of various celebrity's including Idris Elba, George Clooney and Jessica Alba later revealing the true F-bomb to be the word Famine.

For famine to still exist in an ever expanding world of high-tech gadgets, I-phones, Billionares, and plenty of Millionaires, The One Campaign's play on the real 'F-word' proves relevant. Reviving Africa should no longer be a lost cause in 2011.

Key note: Famine is Man-made, now let's put an end to it. Watch the video below.

One luv,

The Scoop!

Nigerian Dream Land: Eko Atlantic.

There's a lot cooking up in Africa these days, and it's way more then those yummy Maafe, Benin, and Jollof rice meals that the locals always whip together. As ever so vast, undeveloped and mineral rich as the lands in Africa remain, the city of Lago's, Nigeria however, has taken innovation and commerce to a whole new level. Entitled Eko Atlantic, the contrary of this new city will stem from being built entirely on sand and not only consisting of  thriving business, residential, shopping, and entertainment districts but also attractive tourist destinations and becoming the new financial hub for Africa. In addition, and most importantly, it's sandy foundation will fight flooding and restore land lost to coastal erosion in Lagos. All structures will be built on sand taken entirely from the seabed of Bar Beach. Comparison quotes dip deep into mythological folklore and is best being described as, "Rising like Aphrodite from the foam of the Atlantic." Eko Atlantic will also purify it's own water and generate it's own power which can, and subsequently will, open new doors for green energy solutions to tread their way into Africa.

Environmentally fresh and favorable to Africa's future, Eko Atlantic's ground work began so quickly that it could be up and running as early 2015. Unsurprisingly, their construction blueprint has pin-pointed the cities of Manhattan, Dubai, and Singapore as successful role-models. Familiar traits that could explain why all the elitist criticism hasn't fallen far from it's baseline. Class conscious but with an opportunistic, open-minded and free-flowing edge, New York City could actually stand as Eko Atlantic's most qualified role model for shaking off these elitism accusations. Labeled by some as just a "ritzy little refuge for the rich", Eko Atlantic developers admit that lower class Lagosian's will have just as much impact on the city's long-term success as it's "rich" inhabitants. Just as in any city, the lively hoods of the locals is all of everything that will keep Eko Atlantic alive, level-headed and free of self-inflated capitalism.

Eko Atlantic Breakdown

• Districts(6): Business District, Marina, Ocean Front, Harbour Lights, Avenues, and Eko Drive.
• Underground parking and transport.
• Tram system.
• Major Banks and Supermarket chains.
• A Shopping Mall twice the size of The Palms(currently Lagos' largest mall).

 Check-out more Eko Atlantic Images below. Photo's courtesy of www.ekoatlantic.com:

For more information on Eko Atlantic, you can check out their official website here.

 The SCOOP!

TRIUMPHANT: Sister Souljah and Jada Pinket Smith chat-it-up at LA Times Book Festival.

Hollwood mover and shaker Jada Pinkett Smith chit-chatted it up with Bestselling Author, Activist and MC Sister Souljah this past Saturday at the LA times Book festival. A true Souljah fan, our very own Tony Triumph was one of the first few to check-in via the live chat hosted by Souljah's publisher, Atria books. Presumably 30 minutes late, Souljah arrived on stage in her usual modest pigtails and announced, "Peace, hows everybody feeling? It's good to see you LA!" Then she continued, "Thank you for waiting, they were trying to get me a chair that makes me feel alright." Similar to the way she often describes her own self through novel cameo's, Souljah looked homely but quiet comfortable. 

As many readers know, she is responsible for publishing perhaps the most well constructed novel to ever hit the urban fiction market, The Coldest Winter Ever. In fact, alot of the early success of The CWE was the result of an early manuscript read by Jada Pinkett leading to a quality book review as well as many supporters. In the 2011 urban writers market we can't name one writer who doesn't admire this woman's strength of story telling.

Using the LA Times Book Festival as apart of her promo trail for her new book Midnight and the Meaning of Love, her web chat fans seemed highly disinterested in the new book and instead flooded her with endless query's in regards to a long-awaited sequel for The CWE. Though she openly spoke about traveling to Japan, her depiction of Midnight and even the hit VH1 reality show "I Love Hip-hop", unfortunately no questions were answered in regards to Winter Santiaga or The CWE.

For those of you unfamiliar with The Sister Souljah Movement and it's effect not only on African-American's but also America as a whole please educate yourself here. Sister Souljah is just about every aspiring authors favorite author having pinned 3 bestselling novels: No Disrespect, The Coldest Winter Ever, and Midnight: A Gangster Love Story. Hopefully the same success follows for latest work Midnight and the Meaning of Love.

Her solid roster of books not only fulfill a void in black literacy but also provokes food for thought in such a critical matter that it will give you the chills. In 1992, Sister Souljah released her one and only album, 360 Degree's of Power, through Epic/SME Records moving 27,000 units. 

To watch Sister Souljah and Jada Pinkett Smith's live web chat click here.

Peace!

*Opening photo courtesy of GettyImages. 

A Photo Can Speak a Bajillion Words #17:

The Head that moved my heart.

Title: "Echo" by Jaume Plensa.
Location: Madison Square Park, NYC. 23rd and Broadway.

Ideal. Surreal. I thought this head were Real.

Masterful. Mesmerizing. Upwardly Inspiring.

I'm sure Artist Jaume Plensa has inspired a whole new wave of artistic enterprise through such a perfectly befitting and noteworthy Spring presentation. Symmetrically perfect, picturesque and smack in the middle of Manhattan this giant head is made up of some of the most well balanced characteristic's to ever go within a single piece of art. Entitled, "Echo" and backed by Madison Square Conservancy’s groundbreaking Madison Square Art (a public art program), this exhibit was inspired a dreaming 9 year old girl with inspiration also stemming from a Greek nymph by the name of Echo.

On display until mid-August, "Echo" upwardly distracts peace-seeking onlookers from the usual noise pollutants of city life. A synonymous retreat to both tourist and NYC natives alike.

Doesn't Plensa's "Echo" remind you of the Sphinx guards from 1984's timeless film, The Neverending Story?

Enjoy!

Peace and Inspiration,

TRIUMPH

Special Feature: Small Worlds Celebrate a BIG day..

Go Brooklyn, go Brooklyn....

Biggie Smalls Day 2011. 

I remember the 'Biggie Era' clearly, arriving home after school, bopping into my big cousins room, anxious to hear him recite every single lyric to "Juicy" and "Get Money". Everybody wanted to be like Puff Daddy, Mase had all the chicks, Lil-Kim was everybody's 'girlfriend', and Biggie was just(excuse my french) the shit!  I was thrilled at the fact that homeboy not only held it down for the big fella's but also never ever failed to live up to his dapper lifestyle. He carried himself like a Godfather, one to always take care of his people. Most unforgettably is Biggie Smalls cruising backwards in Bentley's with Puff Daddy while smoothly spitting the lyrics to songs like "Hypnotize", trimming us all with the spirit of admiration. "How he do that? Was he and Puffy really riding backwards like that?" Some of us sat around on stoops and disputed the reality's of his "Hypnotize" music video for hours. While his rap skills remain unquestionable he can never seem to shy himself away from an obvious comparison. Pac' or Big? Big or Pac'? I was in Elementary school at the time so I figured all the hoop-lah surrounding the beef was just a bunch of child's play. Without a doubt, I had guessed wrong. Gifted artisans with untouchable Shakespearean flows were truly out to kill one another, or were they?  It had only been months since the legendary Tupac had been gunned down, despite the ongoing mystery that he could have still been(or still is) alive. Now the whole world would have to sit and watch those jam packed streets of Brooklyn, NY wave farewell to an unbelievably successful talent. Fighting for an understanding as I sat on momma's floor and peered up at a TV in our Baltimore home I asked, "but I don't get it ma, how did he die?". "He's gone Tony, they got em'."She said.

Notoriously murdered 14 years ago from today, his influence will always be sharp enough to keep him in a legendary lane. We can't seem to forget his name, which is why I call him the Michael Jordan of the rap game. Boy I tell ya', Hip-Hop just ain't been the same.




Holla,

Triumph

Famewhoring: A new Aphrodisiac....

....and the death of a legitimate celebrity.

His name, those ego's, her indescribable desire for that trendsetting glam shot on a mainstream blog. The anxiety of becoming a celebrity has consumed society like spoiled milk.

Please, give my kindest regards to your infatuations while they support our desires for the smoothest ride to a legendary status. How the hell are 'celebrity's' being born a mile a minute? The pot's a simmering and Mrs. Narcissism has a fresh batch of her 'self-righteous soup' boiling over. Ragged reality show stars run the town now, and the real VIP's know it. But hopefully the self-righteous soup sippers don't get too excited, because if nobody watches the sex tape that they're hoping, praying will turn them famous then bye-bye to all of those next-top-Kardasians. And now that there are more then enough of them for us to pick and choose whose reality show we wish to watch, whose album we wanna buy, and whose twitter rants we wish to follow, the real stars are going broke quicker then they dare to know whats really good. Talk about a shift in power! You've gotta' be kidding me. And don't forget about the mirages of D-list celebrity's from these numerous reality shows that have inspired regular folks to perform endless publicity stunts. Things that deliberately screw-up their perfectly moral lives in efforts to make a name for themselves, just like their new idols.

Well, self exaltation lives on in 2010(and beyond) like never before. Day and night, night and day, the fame obsessed don't seem to be resting their wanders. Headlined by fabulosity, red carpet photos and those obnoxious, ego-centric status updates splash society's interest like a stampede. Andy Warhol couldn't be more of a prophetic genius as we all sit and watch his catchy terminology stampede into a modern prophecy.  Transitions into celeb living looks as if it's so seamless. With society like a fuel guzzling SUV, there's plenty of gas to go around via the media giving us plethora's of ways to 'fill-up' and support the cause. Twitter heads and Facebook junky's aren't always the common contenders though, glamorous club kids make statements all on their own. I attest, I was once one. Aspiring models, movie stars and and America's next-top-whatever's appreciate the artistry of this vain movement. Clueless to the misdemeanor crimes that they're committing on the mentality of society, these idiotic hordes are using what they 'think' they've got to get what they 'wish' they had. Clearly, were going after more then just our piece of the pie. There's a new orgasm running this town with hardly any of us getting turned down. Mrs. Narcissism flips us upside down, burns ours morals to the ground and then lays us out to drown. All of this, just to be the talk of the town.

Well, to each it's own.

Triumph

Kanye's Shower of 'Power'.

Power- it is energy, authority, force, and momentum. Divinity. For musician Kanye West, "Power", the latest installation to his growing movement of controversy, possesses every element of a dominating capacity. This video, or should I say painting is becoming a movement, the talk of the town. Quite indifferent, the properties within this artistic piece barely holds any actual "movement" to begin with. Visitors of NYC's 'Boom Boom Room' probably found the Power video to speak quite a similar volume to the enchanting 'Civilization' painting which rests abode the posh elevator inside of The Standard Hotel. 'Civilization' is an eye-catching, theatrical painting which cast a dreamy effect of heaven and hell upon it's viewers. It was ultimately created by Marco Brambilla, the same visual artist and director behind 'Power'.

We spent hours in hair and makeup and then all of sudden at 5 o'clock Kanye decided to change the whole direction and make the painting resemble Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel.

 Flocks of people support 'Power' while plenty hate it, and some even curse it stating that Kanye West has completely lost his mind through this peculiar portrayal of  his "demonic supremacy". 'Power' reminds me of one of those magical, mystical paintings that rest above a fireplace in someones million dollar home with a huge set of eyes that follow you around the room no matter which way you go. Full of mystery, this 'Power' piece could without a doubt live inside of the Clash of the Titans movie or a Harry Potter epic.

 If you haven't seen the video you can peep it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L53gjP-TtGE

Truly, this video is symbolic and controversial and for those of you who have studied ancient and Greek mythology, it is subliminally devoted to a strange celestial influence. My sentiment of "Power" was that it is timeless and visually enchanting but as a whole, spooky as all hell. His lyrics never got much attention from me so I would've never thought to prepare myself for a presentation of this nature for this song. Yet in terms of this song and related performances, I knew exactly what the video would give in observation to that semi-diabolic opening performance of his at this years BET awards. You can view my story on that here: http://www.triumphantdiscovery.com/2010/06/2010-bet-awards-spectacular.html

Well by the time Friday evening scurried along I was helping host a trendy little loft party in Soho. It was only a few hours after I had seen 'Power' for the first time and began writing the above segment. That night I ran into fashion model and friend, Mari Malek who eventually declared to me that she took part in the actual video production two months ago. She was more then happy to share with me her first hand insight of the video production, what it was like working with Kanye and her views on the 'Power' music video. Wine in hand, we projected our conversation atop of the 'Power'-ful house party jams.

Triumph: You guys saw the 'Power' video, right? Please tell me that you saw it.
Mari: Yea, lol. I was actually in the video. I was one of the flying goddesses.

Triumph: Oh wow, really? When did you shoot that?
Mari: Yea we shot it about two months ago. It was crazy.

Triumph: Did you cast for it?
Mari: Yea. Kanye pretty much booked us all based upon our own individual looks and uniqueness. It was nine models total. Including myself, Diandra Forrest and Jessica White.

Triumph: Oh wow, I would've never guessed that you and Jessica were in the video. I couldn't recognize any of the featured models. The only one I was able to recognize was the albino young lady, Diandra. How was it working with him? Was he cautious as to not allow any of you all outshine him?
Mari: No, not at all. He was so on-point and professional with everything. He was actually walking around pre-approving everything and everybody before we shot. He's a perfectionist, I had no problem working with him.

Triumph: Now in the midst of all of this controversy surrounding the video, are you happy you aren't one of the more 'recognizable' creatures?
Mari: Well, no not really because their were a lot of us- like I said nine total, and we had no idea how the final outcome would be. Nobody had no idea what was going on. When they booked us we were told that we would be portraying Egyptian goddesses. We spent hours in hair and makeup and then all of sudden at 5 o'clock Kanye decided to change the whole direction and make the painting resemble Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel. And Kanye actually liked Diandra's hair the way it was when she came to set so he had her playing Hathor, she had on those horns as you can see. When the 5 O'clock switch came Jessica and I became the flying, possessed models but they still made Diandra keep on her horns.The other models were the goddesses of love or assassins.


Triumph: How do you feel about the way that you were portrayed? You know, with the implied nudity and all?
Mari: Well I am a model and at the end of the day we were meant to look however the client choose for us to look based upon whatever the concept was.

Triumph: How was it shot? You worked off of a green screen right?
Mari: Yea, we each shot our parts individually. Kanye was the creator, he represented power and so did the women. He was immortal, then he became mortal. That's why the man and the woman at the end were trying to kill him.

After a decent 20 minute conversation I decided I'd had enough information for a good story and tried changing the subject.
Triumph: So, how was you all's day? What did you do earlier?
Mari: *Laughs* Talked about this damn video, all day!
*Group laugh*

Peace, Power and Positivity!

Triumph

Aziz Ansari, "This is BP, yea- F*ck you, BP!"

On the night of the awards show I remember telling my mother, "Mom, I think I'll always love these awards shows, they're always so refreshing!". MTV's 2010 movie awards was just that.

Aziz Ansari did a fantastic job showing us that he was more then nutty enough to host this years annual award show. MTV's traditional spectacle featured tons of candid outtakes, clownish enactments, and hilarious video's performed by Mr. Ansari himself. Joining our host were other familiar comedy stars such as Les Grossman, Ed Helms, Ken Jeong, Will Ferrell, the legendary Betty White and even Jennifer Lopez.

Diddy, T.I, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Scarlett Johansson and others stylishly showed up to present awards.

Christina Aguilera, Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg brought us to our feet with a few of their own radical music performances.

Yet the ultimate, most refreshing 10 seconds of my evening dawned when Aziz shined light on a situation not so comical: Aziz Ansari say's, "F-ck you, BP!", I knew it would take a comedian to say it first. This particular act began as a freestyle rap about the hit movie Avatar, but when Aziz exchanged his lyrics for an attack at BP oil some of his dialogue became unsuitable for TV. Appropriately, I applauded. It went a little a something like, "From what I hear, the moral of the story is, it's a bummer when nature gets destroyed 'cause of greed, which reminds me of one more thing, Fuck you, BP!". The funny song prolonged when Aziz faced sideways to perform a hilarious sexual gesture and continued, "This is BP, yea- f*ck you BP!".

Check here for the official clip: Aziz Ansari's Avatar Rap.

The MTV movie awards was all lovely, including Aziz's outtake, but I sincerely urge ALL of my readers to speak-out against this British Petroleum(BP) Oil spill. With all of it's mediocre and illogical clean-up efforts, it disgusts me that more isn't being done to solve this problem. The greed, politics and lack of promptness in this situation is truly frustrating to thousands of people worldwide. It is a catastrophic low regard to the future of the gulf coast, which I hope and pray wont abolish the future of that region. Some of my momma's root stem from Louisiana, this just isn't pretty. :(

Follow all of the oil spill coverage here: CNN BP oil spill coverage.

Stay bright and remember, GO Green!

Tony Triumph





*Video and Photo's courtesy of MTV.*

Maintain that good ole' Membrane

Maintaining your Brain and Avoiding set-backs, while we stabilize our mental system, and dwell in a major city. "A spacious combination of resourceful information".

People, people, people. Darn us good ole' people. We and our actions are the most inconsistent vessels on this planet. With that mere statement be known, you'd expect most adult folk to behave or control situations in a way that would protect us from our own defects and successfully twirl us through our ladder of objectives, up a social circle, secure business contacts or succeed by way of any other reason you discover yourselves dealing with individuals. But in this day and age of friendship fall-outs, break-ups, miscommunication, burned bridges and plain ole' devalue of one another, a mishap of these matters in some lifestyles could bring about a crippling halt to the goals of your personal life or career path. Most times we find it inevitable to avoid the stresses and frustration of having to deal with a situation before it throws your life off track and leaves you with the worst feeling of unease after one of these occurrences. Am I right or what?

But why does an on-going relationship seem so scarce? Do people find it appeasing not to be in it for the long haul? Is that appealing to you?--Well, not to me. Unfortunately it makes us all seem like the person on the scene who doesn't easily conform, get along with. The person whose soul has the deepest pit of emptiness and is least connectible to. In big cities, is it due to the opportunist that we are? Or maybe it's by the distractions of so many ways of free intoxication? Avoidable toxins and poisons that seemingly allow distraction into relationships. Do I smell too many Vodka and Cranberry's within your drunken reactions? Reactions to situations that wouldn't have dared been the outcome before drinking hours. Enduring the corruption of others in your quest of gaining their acceptance. Relying on other's approval while you ignore your own needs of stability and seek some sort of validation. Are you focusing more time on our nightlife and event happenings rather then focusing on your actual life long goals?

Well, let me tell you. The core to it all is maintaining a clear focus over your entire entree of affiliations. First and foremost, a "friendship" is an existence that will always need our detailed attention. Your detailed attention will prevent it from becoming your derailed rendition. As with an"associate"? As tedious as it may seem, the needs of this form of connection will forever need your undivided protection. Listen up ego-obsessors, I'm going to break it down for you. Clearly, the "A" in associate stands for everything from accessory and accessibility to advancement and advantage so we won't sit here and convince you not to waste your time holding associates to the same high standards as "friends".Yet I will say that by natural default, operating with folks on the sole basis of association rides the fine line of separation between allie and enemy. Most know that with the gain point of anyone claiming you as their "friend", thoughts of backstabbing and betrayal are immediately thrown out of the window. Then not overlooking the fact that certain relations need your extra sprinkle should flicker these friendships onto a greater cause and allow you to discover things about an individual that you never ever would have expected to benefit from. Highpoints and pro's of this twindling venture. Yet with "associates", this co-existence resumes a role of offering various reasons to the overall cause of you all's bonding and sometimes provides unexpected mishaps all due to the untimely expectations of these bonds, thus allowing negative results to rage being that we barely know what is acceptable for one another. Association is more so a weak bridge to understanding chemistry which floats above a deep sea of misunderstanding, chance and opportunity from a business, personal attraction or socially fulfilling perspective. These business, personal attraction and socially fulfilling perspectives are the main three effects that will coincide with your affiliations fate while on this "associate" level. I call association the "fork in the road". A test that checks for early signs of compatibility and so forth. The bridge where emotions collide and endless relationship possibility's are on the forefront. Unless you walk around in life, completely content with having un-obligated connections with other citizens, then you will cross the bridge of association at some point. So my point is to be careful crossing the bridge, or else you'll end up down the road to creating an enemy by default from an instant mental misconception over your lack of understanding of one another.

Another key to my story is picking your preference of affiliation and preserving the relationships that you create as the delicate plants that they resemble. Nah, I'm not advising you to be all cookie cutter BFF with everyone that you meet- that's just plain corny. I'm telling you to literally nourish your relationships like plants, therefore water them with your genuine love, which should flow life through your alliance's and develop your bond's strength. Nourish them, with sunshine which equals daytime hours to encourage expansion, and to see you in a "real" light. Nourish them, by dwelling in different soil, so that entering obnoxious and agitating nightlife scenes never becomes familiarized with 'hanging out'. Nourish them, by trimming weeds of new circle members, so that you knock-out each of those toxic, bad seeds. Nourish them, that is if you truly do care about the proceeds of your unpredictable associations future.

Above anything else, simply finding the time to be straight up with an individual will unselfishly bring about the detail of honesty and my most prized, "Respect". It'll furthermore bring about shine to any true character within us without us even trying. Not being straight up about your feelings or not providing people with genuineness will only led to gossip and betrayal. Seriously y'all, our acquaintances only want to be understood, try it you'll see.

Truth be told, in order to make it anywhere out of the ordinary in life (meaning those of us have dreams of becoming well-known or gaining stardom in some field) we had better have some sort of positive communication with individuals. Challenging allies and winning arguments may be appeasing to the ego but it certainly doesn't deliver promotion. At the beginning of the day we may all work and play in different industry's, but at the end of the day, we all will dance in the same field of roses.



~Be careful crossing that bridge,

Tony Triumph.