K’Naan? Can’t even prounce the name. Don’t know about gimmicky foreign acts, but Movits! has me intrigued about the greater non-US music world.

I recall your Foreign Exchange from some montrhs back and couldn’t remember their name. Now I can Youtube’em. Liked the Little Brother stuff I heard.

But then they wanted to sell more records. I can’t knock the hustle, of course.

But the art suffered. Greatly.

As you said - the stuff is still catchy. Will.I.Am is a talented producer and this is what he chooses to do with his skills.

Doesn’t mean I have to like it, though.

And yes, Justin Timberlake is the essence of Pop. Tinged with Blue-Eyed Soul, but Pop to be sure. (Remy Shand is probably huddled in a corner somewhere, bitching about how he should have had Justin’s career, but I digress.) Timberlake did get The Clipse onstage at the MTV VMAs though, which is something I never expected to see.

There is still a whole lot of Good Hip Hop out there. Way too much to spend much time thinking about what the Peas could be. I recommend:

– Mos Def’s new album, “The Ecstatic,” has our boy Dante back to something close to his best.

– K’Naan is a Somalian refugee that now lives in Toronto and has two albums that are well worth your time, “The Dusty Foot Philosopher” and “Troubador.” I saw him open the Black Star/Pharaoh Monche/Jean Grae show and he held his own. Plus, dude brought back Chubb Rock.

– I cannot recommend The Foreign Exchange enough. The whole band is great, but Producer Nicolay (Laid back style, I want to describe it as “Classy Urban”), rapper Phonte Coleman from Little Brother (You’ve got all of those CDs, right?), singer Yahzarah (a product of DC’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts, fantastic voice) are standouts. Go get “Connected” and “Leave It All Behind”. LIAB is my favorite CD of 2008. Grown folks’ Hip Hop - a ton of lovey-dovey stuff, but the quality can’t be denied.