Live-Blogging "I’m From Rolling Stone": Episode Two


Ghostface is not from Rolling Stone.

We’re back. The recap from last episode was all journo’d out, with headlines and everything. This must be how they drive up ratings. (Snap!) Alright, so here we are at the Rolling Stone offices — Joe Levy is handing out assignments. Colin, the long-haired ‘SC student, is going to interview “indie” band We Are Scientists. Krishtine is going to “hook up” with El-P at the Def Jux showcase. She sounds excited. I’m still in doubt that she knows who El-P is. Russell gets the plum assignment, talking to Lupe Fiasco and Ghostface Killah, and Krish looks on jealously. Uh-oh — drama. Did MTV have Joe snub Krish? Is this reality TV, or just great TV?

Lupe Fiasco is basically the awesomest. Skate-rap? Not a viable genre, he says. Russell jumps in a garbage can to impress him. Lupe is lolling like crazy. Man. Colin is already in troubs. A minute late to his interview, the band wants him to check the “levels” on his tape recorder, he’s got no questions, the band looks annoyed, etc. One would think with a Rolling Stone interviewer and MTV cameras in the background, these guys would take it seriously. Or would they? Hard to know if they made We Are Scientists sign a waiver. We’ll see how El-P treats Krish.

Not well. She’s trying to charm him and giggling a lot. Hip-hop head, huh? At least ask about Aesop Rock or something. So far, Russell is the only one asking intelligent questions. He asks Ghost about ODB and things get real sad. Colin’s assignment? 200 words on We Are Scientists for the RS blog. That means, basically, one solid paragraph with a decent quote from the band at the end. “We’re looking forward to getting home and finishing off the next record,” would suffice. He seems pretty stressed, though. Too bad he didn’t interview Interpol.

The gang’s all at the local kareoke bar, and Tika has a fantastic voice. Colin takes the stage next and OH GOD. Guy must be quite the hit at USC parties. Alex the editor tells Colin to condense to two grafs (I was off by one, fair enough) and more importantly, calls them “grafs” and not “paragraphs.” I call them grafs too! Authenticity! She tears Krish apart. The “hip-hop celebrity” responds by calling her editor a “ponce” for making her *gasp* edit. Uh, welcome to journalism, K. But now it’s time for lunch with Nelly Furtado, a former Rolling Stone artist to watch. This must’ve been right when Loose came out and subsequently exploded. She’s nice enough. Speaking of nice, the RS offices are fantastic. What, print journalism, dying? Nah.

Another solid ep, although this MTV hyper-condensation stuff — super-short episode, only like 15 seconds of Ghostface talking — is more frustrating than tempting. I want to relate to these kids, I really do, but I need more than 2 minutes of screen time with Colin if we’re going to be bros. Which means I’m going to have to watch again next week.

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I’m From Rolling Stone is a TV show about MTV pseudo-Real Worlders trying to make it in rock journalism. We’re going to point and laugh. For more, click below.