Jay-Z Tells Chris Brown To Beat It At the BET Awards

So there’s a rumor tweeting around the internet that was started by one of Chris Brown’s sparring partners dancers claiming Hov killed a planned Michael Jackson tribute by the woman-beating singer at BET’s poor excuse for an awards show last night. With Brown recently pleading guilty to assaulting one of Jay-Z’s top earners, Rihanna, it seems plausible enough and is creating quiet a stir on Twitter, with one misguided soul starting a “twitition” to have Jay banned from the MTV’s equally horrendous shit show. However, at this point, there’s a better chance of seeing Chris Brown performing clean-up on the side of the rode than Hov not appearing at the VMAs.

Bonham’s Auctions Off Some More Art

On Wednesday, Bonham’s is auctioning off a collection of post-war and contemporary pieces of art and design at Vision 21 in London. Art sales are still pretty abysmal, so it’s a chance to blow a little less money on Damien Hirst’s music merch and Supreme skateboards, an Eminem oil painting, work by Murakami, as well as a bunch of prints and paintings by Banksy, FAILE and the others highlighted after the jump. Read more »

Swastika Graffiti Is Not A ‘Hate Crime’

Although the local media in Colorado Springs will likely be disappointed, since nothing exciting happens there, this swastika stenciled graffiti on a sidewalk accompanied by the words “No Smoking” isn’t a “hate crime,” far from it actually. ABC affiliate, KRDO, wasn’t so convinced and hit the streets for answers looking for explanations, but maybe they should have considered investigating current events instead. With the FDA recently acquiring fascist-like powers to regulate tobacco—that could lead to really edgy packaging—and early anti-smoking propaganda campaigns by the Nazis, it’s both culturally relevant and historically accurate.

Invader Squares Off for ‘Top 10′ Album Exhibit

Over the weekend, Rubik’s cube twiddling artist Invader opened his latest show at Jonathan Levine Gallery in Chelsea. Entitled “Top 10,” the exhibition featured the Parisian street artist’s favorite album covers rendered by nearly $5k worth of his signature plastic toy puzzles. Check out a sampling of the work after the jump or see the show in person through July 25th at 529 West 20th Street, 9th Floor. Related: video of the Rubik’s cube pieces under construction. Read more »

Michael Jackson Twitter Tributes

In addition to killing media coverage of Iran and Farah Fawcett, the death of Michael Jackson also maimed some major websites like Google News, the LA Times, and especially Twitter. Honoring the King of Pop’s ability to dominate the trending topics and asphyxiate the popular micro-blogging platform, a graphic designer created this “Michael Jackson is over capacity” illustration, a parody of the micro blogging service’s Fail Whale. Looking for something a little more interactive? There’s this tribute that spells out the lyrics to the singer’s hit “Bill Jean” using tweets.