CANNES - THE NEW BET AWARDS????

Just a quick trivia.....can someone tell me when did the Cannes Film Festival become the new black hang-out?

All the pictures I've seen this week are images of rappers, sport athletes making an appearance on the red carpet. Where are the film makers? Where is Terence Howard? Where is Chiwatel Ejionfor? Where is Forest Whitaker?

They actually deserve to be there, ehhhhhhhh Diddy on a yacht?????????????????!

BADGE OF HONOUR: NATTY

At Renaissance Man, we are really feeling COLDTOWN by newcomer NATTY.

If this is your first time hearing about this brave talent, he's 24-year-old currently based in London UK. He's the son of an African mother and Italian-English father. He has been described as a "reggae-lite, soul-tinged singer-songwriter". His musical roots are still unclear but we already feel his consciousness through his breakout single ColdTown which was released earlier in the month.

I just think it's refreshing to see an artist of his genre get positive support from a major record label. Times are indeed changing.

BEYONCE: BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE

When B-Day dropped sometime in 2006, I was slightly disappointed because I felt Ms Jay-Z wasn't pushing the boundaries or herself far enough musically. The same format was written all over the tracks which strangely were all recorded in less than 2 weeks.

I must confess I did tune off her music until yesterday when I heard a song tilted "Beautiful Nightmare" as of press time, I do not know if this is from an upcoming album or movie soundtrack or whom produced it, I just think this is the kind of music the superstar should be aspiring to. This is crisp, fresh and increadibly catchy.

There isn't a video for the song but thank Goodness for the millions of creative people on YouTube - here is a slightly-low budget promotional video.

Enjot the song.