Ya Heard: Hip-hop goes inaugural

"Those values upon which our success depends -- hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism -- these things are old. These things are true."

Tuesday's presidential inauguration was an incredible experience for all who witnessed the historic event. D.C. was the stage for history this past weekend and a number of celebrities were on hand to see it for themselves.

Sean "Diddy" Combs was in attendance for the swearing in ceremony and seemed to be genuinely touched by the festivities.

In an Internet video, Diddy says, "One of the most beautiful things about this situation and Barack Obama is it's even had me reflect on myself. It's even had me talk to myself and say, 'I can be greater, I could do more, I could give more, I could have even more of a positive impact.' And I can help more people. I think we should all push ourselves to that point. That's really deep that there's someone out there that inspires me like that. I feel blessed that I'm able to see this moment. ... I want to be greater than I am right now. And I want you to be greater. I want us to be greater."

Hip-hop's first couple, Jay-Z and Beyoncé, was also front and center at many inaugural events. Beyoncé performed at the Inaugural Kickoff Jan. 18 and at the Neighborhood Ball as President Obama and the First Lady danced to Bey's rendition of Etta James' "At Last."

Jay also performed at the Neighborhood Ball and performed his new song "History." Jay explained the new cut when MTV caught up with him following his performance.

"The 'History' record is really about, once again, about making history," Jay says. "But I use different words as if they were women: 'Success. I met success and success was a sister of Defeat.' You know, if you listen to the record it's pretty much talking about trying to find Victory, Victory being a woman, and so me and Victory can make a kid; the kid being History and then History tells your legacy. It's deep, but it's fun. It's not really that complicated."

As for the 44th president of the United States of America, Jay stated, "We have to help him. We have to absolutely have his back. We have to do all we can. We have to do whatever commu-nity service or whatever to help him. This is not an easy job. You don't clap your hands and this thing goes away. He took on a hard job."

A 'NOTORIOUS' WEEKEND

After months of tremendous promotion and anticipation, the Notorious B.I.G. biopic "Notorious" finally hit theaters. The film earned $21.5 million in its opening weekend; finishing third behind new releases "My Bloody Valentine" and "Gran Torino."

The success of the film exceeded expectations and has distributor, Fox Searchlight, in a good mood. Twentieth Century Fox Vice-President Chris Aronson told the Associated Press, "It's a very high-quality film, and it's a compelling look at a compelling cultural icon who, like many cultural icons, left way too early but left an indelible mark on society. The estimated three-day gross for 'Notorious' showed it was more popular than expected beyond African-American audiences. We crossed over, which speaks volumes about his impact as a cultural icon."

The film is actually well put together. Aside from Anthony Mackie being cast as Tupac Shakur, the movie is just about flawless. Jamal "Gravy" Woodard did the unthinkable and actually did a great job in portraying the late B.I.G…Until next week, Peace!!!

Dennis Winn can be reached at 703-200-4928 or YaHeard40@gmail.com.