RiFF RaFF is the rap game’s most lovable goon, always finding ways to stay excited, positive and interested in whatever’s happening in the culture. He’s also a movie buff, so we figured it’d only be right to ask him what he thought of Baz Luhrmann’s new film, The Great Gatsby, which got some less-than-stellar reviews from critics prior to its release last Friday. Going into its second weekend in theaters, Gatsby is set to maintain a stronghold on box offices, so we e-mailed RiFF RaFF some questions about the film to let fans know if it’s worth seeing. Here’s what he had to say…

On what he expected going into the theater:

“I skipped breakfast so that i could get $100-worth of movie theater Triple Liquid White Cheddar Popcorn and sit down and sleep thru half of the new Theoraldo Decapricorn movie.”

On whether he read The Great Gatsby before seeing its movie adaptation:

“i only read newspaper comics & the backs of cereal boxes.”

On who he saw the movie with:

“I went with a couple friends.”

On whether he ever sees movies alone:

“yea i like to concentrate on myself while throwing wet gummy bears at the screen.”

On his favorite character: 

“Gatsby, cuz i shoulda played him. It’s time for RiFF RaFF to showcase how he is #1 Ranked in Movies.”

On if he ever wishes he could have Leonardo DiCaprio’s swag:

“I don’t say the word ‘Swag,’ but i wouldn’t want anyone else’s style except for mine. Everyone knows that RiFF RaFF is the best-dressed.”

On his favorite part of The Great Gatsby: 

“When i got up to get nachos with the melted cheese and jalapeños.”

On what he’d say to someone who hasn’t seen the film:

“Go watch it and imagine if Jody Highroller played Gatsby. #EveryThingIsBetterWithJody.”

The post RiFF RaFF Reviews ‘The Great Gatsby’ For XXL appeared first on XXL.

Kanye West is about to make a huge cameo in a sequel to one of the biggest blockbuster hits in 2004.

Hollywood.com has learned the rapper is filming his scene for Anchorman 2. The movie, which is officially titled Anchorman: The Legend Continues, is set to be released in December.

West was spotted in downtown Atlanta a few days ago with Christina Applegate and Paul Rudd. The witness, who saw the trio on set, tells the website, “he was quite afraid of heights and required an umbrella for shade most of the time he was on the roof.”

West’s role in the film has not been announced, but of course, we can let the speculation begin. He will join a top-notch list of cameos including Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Sacha Baron Cohen, Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson and Nicole Kidman.

[via Hollywood]

UPDATE: Photos have surfaced of ‘Ye on set. Check them out below.

The post UPDATE: Check Out Photos Of Kanye West On Set Of ‘Anchorman 2′ appeared first on XXL.

Tonight marks the season finale of original FX series The Americans, a show framed around two Soviet sleeper spies living in the suburbs of D.C. in the Cold War era, starring Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys. It’s recently been renewed for a second season, so if you haven’t seen it make sure to catch up on it via Netflix, Hulu or your neighbor’s cable box. To update you on what’s happened so far in the show’s first season, and to share with you his worthy opinion on it (as a Russian-American who may or may not be a Soviet sleeper spy), we got the always-hilarious Lakutis to review the show for us. Lakutis, a rapper on Heems’ (Das Racist) Greedhead label, released an EP through Mishka last year (download here) and is currently working on its follow-up. You can also peep his Tumblr here. 

When I first saw a commercial for The Americans, I remembered 2010, when everyone was going crazy about Anna Chapman, one of about a dozen or so Russian spies busted by the FBI after living under assumed identities in the U.S. Chapman, born Anna Vasil’yevna Kushchyenko, was the hot one and got a lot of press at the time, even the cover of the Russian Maxim. It turns out The Americans is in fact inspired by this network of sleeper agents dubbed “the illegals,” which is funny as hell the more you learn about both.

One thing borrowed from the real “illegals” that makes the show interesting is that the spies are assigned to live as a married couple and even have kids together, but the similarities kind of end there. The real “illegals” were by most accounts awful spies—an acquaintance of one even remarked how weird it was that a purported Philly native would have a “thick Russian accent.” Meanwhile, the spy couple on The Americans speak perfect English and are constantly doing some OD crazy spy stuff and getting beat up without so much as taking a day off. In fact, everyone on the show speaks terrible Russian with the exception of the double agent Nina, played by the smoking-hot Annet Mahendru (who’s fluent in Russian, German and Hindi). The difference is so stark, that when she speaks Russian it feels a lot like when your roommate with a job comes home to you and your other loser friend, who have been smoking weed and farting all day with zero ventilation, and opens the window. You forgot just how bad it all was until someone reminds you that there’s a real world out there. The “illegals” were a bunch of inept Russians who could barely mask their origins. The “Americans” are so completely, absurdly American that it’s a constant struggle to believe their (mostly) unwavering support for their motherland.

The potential of a show with such a great premise lies in the opportunity to create friction with culture clash. I’m reminded of the tavern scene in Inglorious Basterds, where the characters are found out as imposters because one of them holds up three fingers the American way instead of the German way. Once, when I worked in a restaurant, one of the waiters asked the two new Russian waitresses why they didn’t put a top bun on their staff lunch burgers and they replied that it was “too much bread.” Russians, as a rule, eat their sandwiches open-faced. These are the types of moments, that when added up, form a large part of the immigrant experience, and it’s a shame that this show squanders the chance to delve into these subtleties and potentially educate American viewers about themselves, Russians and the nature of culture itself. Yes, I understand that the point is that they are theoretically so well-trained as to be indistinguishable from the real thing, but what kind of cheap shortcut is that? Also isn’t that where the art and the suspension of disbelief should come in?

Still, for all its faults the show does have some things going for it: Philip and Elizabeth’s constant renegotiation of just how real their marriage is; Noah Emmerich’s portrayal of Stan Beeman, the FBI agent with the dark past (complete with facial tick); some of the zanier missions the couple go on (complete with ridiculous mustaches and outfits); and the aforementioned Annet Mahendru, who can actually act and speak Russian. There’s a lot of potential in this show, and it’ll be interesting to see where the finale leaves us. I’m definitely not in love with The Americans yet, but then I didn’t really like the first season of The Wire either (cue hate mail).

The post Lakutis Reviews The First Season Of ‘The Americans’ appeared first on XXL.

In the 1950′s, women were seen and not heard—not a pretty place for women to be, even though the looks were definitely en mode.

For this XXLusive, my elite glam squad and I envisioned the stars of VH1′s “Mob Wives” in a rockabilly, retro-glam, 1950′s style. It was interesting to contrast the demure, seen-not-heard look with three of the most spirited women on television today.

Once again shot by internationally-renowned photographer Scott Church, the mastermind behind the “Black Ink Crew” and “Love and Hip-Hop: NY” shoots for XXL, the behind-the-scenes video by Michael Donati of TJ Pictures captures all the laughs and all the energy of a typical shoot with us…and even made a breakout star of Angela “Big Ang” Raiola’s Pomeranian puppy, Louie.

But the most touching moment of the shoot came courtesy of Big Ang’s grandson, Salvatore: he and his mother—Ang’s daughter Raquelle, a typical Sicilian-American beauty, and a reminder of the stunner  her mother was in her younger days—dropped by the Drunken Monkey to see how the shoot was going. The precocious Salvatore wanted a picture with his Grandma, who was enjoying some Baked by Boddington cupcakes (although he didn’t seem to be a fan of the pistachio and carrot cake flavors). Without prompting, he reached out for his grandmother, said “Grandma, I love you,” and gave her a big hug.

Other highlights of the shoot included Renee Graziano’s exposition on Joan Collins, a.k.a. Alexis Carrington, and Karen Gravano’s assertion that her rockabilly hairdo “made her look like a bull.”—Bernadette Giacomazzo (@bgiacomazzo)

Check out the video here:

CREDITS

Creative Director: Bernadette Giacomazzo (www.bernadettegiacomazzo.com)

Assistant to Ms. Giacomazzo: Amanda Elsheikh (@amandalindseyy)

VISUALS

Photographer: Scott Church (www.scottchurch.net)

Assistants to Mr. Church: Alan Davis and Gena Lee Pacheco

Videographer: Michael Donati of TJ Pictures/ www.tjpictures.net

GLAM SQUAD

Hair by: T. Cooper for Andis using Agadir (@tcoopermua)

Assistant to Ms. Cooper: Tracina Dilligard

Makeup by: Tishonna Ferguson (@TishSoFab)

Assistant to Ms. Ferguson: Nicole Boddington

WARDROBE and ACCESSORIES

Stylist: Signature Style by Sigourney Salley (@Sigourney_Style)

Assistants to Ms. Salley: Shenique Marquez, Alonzo Richboi Henderson and Kendraya Mitchell

Atelier: Bettie Page Clothing — NYC (www.bettiepageclothing.com)

Jewelry: Michael Maddaloni for Maddaloni Jewelry (www.maddalonijewelersonline.com)

Cupcakes: Baked by Boddington (nicole@bakedbyboddington.com)

The post The Cast of VH1′s “Mob Wives” Go Retro-Glam with Scott Church appeared first on XXL.

Take a first look at the SHOWTIME docu-series, ALL ACCESS: MAYWEATHER VS. GUERRERO before it airs on tonight (April 10) at 10PM ET/PT.

The post Here’s a Teaser to Episode One of Showtime’s All Access: Mayweather vs. Guerrero appeared first on XXL.

Photo Credit: VH1

This week’s episode of “Love & Hip-Hop” proved that anyone can get into the music business…and anyone did.

First up is Erica Mena. Now, the angriest of the Angry Birds certainly has a voice to yell…but that doesn’t mean, of course, that this same voice can be used to sing a beautiful tune. Yet, she managed to impress even the ever-doubtful Yandy, who—earlier in the show—agreed to get Rich fired from being Erica’s manager (of course, Yandy also admitted that her reasons were less-than-noble…she still feels some kind of way about the whole Jim Jones situation…). If you’re interested, you can get “Where Do I Go From Here” from iTunes and all other retailers. I, however, will spend my hard-earned 99 cents elsewhere. Who could blame me?

Next up, we have Tahiry. Unlike Erica, who received mostly positive reviews for her song, Tahiry got all but skull-dragged up and down Twitter for her rap(!) song, “Devil,” that she, of course, would like her more-famous-and-rightfully-so ex, Joe Budden, to do the remix on. Aside from the fact that the song (with or without Budden) makes Vanilla Ice sound like Immortal Technique, the previews for next week suggest that Tahiry and Joe’s current girl, Kaylin Garcia, come to fisticuffs when word gets out that Budden will do a verse on the song. Even sadder still, that fight is the most exciting part of the song. (As an aside: Tahiry is 34? Damn, girl.)

Then we have Raqi and Jen the Pen. A brief back history: Prior to this show, both Raqi and Jen had more than a little bit of experience in the world of radio (“With WHOO KID! And 50 CENT!” said Jen the Pen ever-so-emphatically). Because Jen needs a job, Raqi had the great idea of having the two of them co-host a radio show on the world-famous Hot 97 in NYC. After a fortuitous meeting with Ebro (the program director), the duo did a trial run of their proposed show with Dipset soldier Vado (who is rumored to be dating Angela Yee of The Breakfast Club, which is on Hot 97′s rival station, Power 105.1). It takes the all of four seconds for the whole interview—and the show—to go to Hell in a handbasket, as Raqi makes insinuations about Vado’s, ah, assets. Needless to say, Jen and Raqi’s friendship went down in a blaze of glory (or shame, take your pick), with Raqi insinuating to Jen that even her devoutly-Muslim baby-daddy had sent her sexually explicit text messages.

And finally, we have Yandy’s video that she made just for Mandeeces. In an effort to say something nice (as I think Yandy’s going through enough off-camera drama as it is on account of that “alleged” sex offender of her partner…SMH!), I’ll simply say that Yandy has a great body. And God bless her for it.

Until next week, cats & kittens… —Bernadette Giacomazzo (@bgiacomazzo)

The post “Love & Hip-Hop: New York” Recap: Let The Music Play appeared first on XXL.

When it comes to Bounce music, Mannie Fresh is a true New Orleans OG. Here the former Cash Money beat machine is featured in a short documentary about the history on New Orleans Bounce music, and the Sissy Bounce movement involving gay rappers.

The post Mannie Fresh Featured New Orleans Bounce Doc appeared first on XXL.

Kendrick Lamar was the musical guest for last night’s Saturday Night Live. Hosted by Maroon 5’s Adam Levine, he performed two good kid, m.A.A.d city tracks “Swimming Pools (Drank)” and “Poetic Justice.” He also appeared in a Digital Short by the Lonely Island called “YOLO.” Watch them below.

“YOLO”:

“Swimming Pools”:

“Poetic Justice”:

Props Pitchfork

The post Watch Kendrick Lamar on “Saturday Night Live” appeared first on XXL.

It’s that time again. This weekend brings WWE’s 26th annual Royal Rumble and like every year, this one is sure to bring in some big names and even bigger surprises. Aside from the other major bouts on the card, most notably the WWE Championship match that pits The Rock against CM Punk (c), all eyes are on that epic 30-man rumble.

To determine just who everyone thinks will win this year’s over-the-top-rope elimination challenge,XXL reached out to a few avid wrestling fans within in the industry (rappers and tastemakers) to get their predictions on Sunday night’s main event.—Ralph Bristout (@RalphieBlackmon)

The post Rappers & Industry Tastemakers’ Royal Rumble Preview appeared first on XXL.