COMING THIS SUMMER...

The Scoop Feb. 15th 2009

Bloggers what's goin' on. Yes it has been a minute since I've reported to you from the field and for that I apologize. Lots of stuff poppin' off these days..A-Rod is an admitted "juicer" (yeah like you didn't see that coming.), Lil Wayne won 4 Grammy s AND was interviewed by Katie Couric. Niccccceee. Looks like we got our stimulus package as promised by President Obama. Now if the accounting on this one could be a little more existent than that last bit of money we blew in Vegas ala A.I.G. Then there's been the infamous Grammy night scuffle between Chris Brown and Rihanna.
Now..I am usually not one to weigh in on things like this but, while it is 100% true nothing should ever bring you to strike a woman, she must have said or done something completely "out of pocket" to this guy.
He's 19, well 25 in entertainer years, so he is already prone to making the wrong choices without a squad of 5 map holders, 2 make up artist, a publicist, and security. He is involved with one of the hottest women in the history of the world..ok..that's a little pressure. And he just so happens to be the reincarnation of a long lost pre-cosmetic surgery Michael Jackson...NEXT!
Moving on, there's the next match at WWE Armaggedon. Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson Vs. Rick "The Boss" Ross. I gotta admit, this one is entertaining. You have to love how they are taking perfectly choreographed turns at getting pumped up, only to get beat down..only to get pumped up again. Nice. The cartoons produced by G-Unit's computer geeks are humurous. They definitely succeed in making Ross look like a lethargic puppet. The Ross rhymes in response to Fifty's records in all honesty, keep you listening more, as he is a lyricist that proves he is no easy contest. Fifty makes up for lyrical short coming by doing some very dastardly things on video. You can Youtube it or Google it.
One things for sure, while it's fun to watch, on some G shit, both of them are in a position where "street-wise" someone has to make a move. If not, their reputations will sustain damage. That's it for now. Shout out to my boy Vince over on the west coast. Itunes LP coming this summer. Shout out to Menace as well. Be cool Blog World. I'm out.

Rebirth of A Nation

I woke up early, feeling good. How long has it been since anyone of us have truly been able to say that. As I drank my mug of coffee and smoked my cigarette, I felt motivated. I clicked on the New York Daily News and gazed at pictures from yesterday. Yesterday. It was more than a historic day that transformed our world and lives. It was more than a day that ushered out the, and brought in the new. It was a rebirth.
I spoke with my dad on the phone after the inauguration, who said that he'll never forget the fat white women that told him he could not eat with his Navy buddies at the same table in a restaurant. He said he'll never forget his grandmother telling him as child, when you walk in town, make sure you step off the curb when white people pass you by. He said he'll always remember the two red necked crew men on board his ship that tried to hang a colored sailor below deck, and how he fought them both to help a fellow naval crew man.
He said he looked back at his time served in Iraq during the first Gulf War, and was proud that he lead young men, and served his country. He said that there were times that he was not sure he would get home to see my mother, my sisters, my brother, me. But he did.
My father has always been a patriot in the truest definition of the word. He has always believed in "fighting the good fight". He has always longed to be Clint Eastwood in "The Big Red One" or Henry Fonda in "Tora,Tora,Tora". (you HAD to watch these movies growing up in my house) But there was always something that would not grant his request validity. He was a black man. He was colored. He was a Negro.
Because of these labels, he was always never good enough to be patriotic. He had no right in the eyes of many to feel that sense of spirit for his country.
I thought of my birth mother always telling me as a child, "you were born Black, so that means you have two strikes against you already." I thought of how she placed me in private schools and worked two jobs to ensure that I would not be just another nigger on the street. How she would go out of her way to cultivate my sense of knowledge of things more far reaching then what you can only see in the hood. How she yearned for me to have the ambition to become a doctor, preacher, lawyer, or anything that was supposedly not for "us" to strive to become.
I thought of my own life. I thought of no matter what I did sometimes, whites would still view me as "one of those people". How no matter how much I showed intellect, I would still be seen as "not as smart". How no matter that I am able to remember the Pythagorean Theorem or Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven", I had no right to be cultured to anything other than break dancing or basketball. How even to this day, including hours after our 44th president was sworn in, I would still get awkward "he doesn't belong here looks" at my supermarket out in West Hampton L.I.
But I must say that today I feel ambitious. Today I feel unstoppable. Today, Lincoln was MY president too. Today I feel relentlessly optimistic. Today, I finally feel that I am truly American. Thanks Obama. I owe you more than just one.

Just Saw Notorious

So I know you've read or seen a thousand reviews of the motion picture "Notorious". And yes, the trailer comes on TV every 12 seconds. But I have to say it is definitely a good movie. I tried to be unbiased while watching it. I tried to just watch it as if I never knew Big or the characters in the movie. I tried to watch it and forget that I was a witness, first hand to watching this dude take NY and the world by storm.
Honestly put, the movie captivated me. It made me realize a lot that I had forgotten, and somethings that I never thought of. Gravy's portrayal of Big was on point. I don't think anybody could have done a better job. I mean down to that congested breathing "thing" Big had when he spoke to you, Gravy nailed it. Derek Luke was ok as Puff, but to me he did not make me feel like he was Puffy. I think the only one in the world who can play that part is Diddy.
The D-Roc character was ok, but I can't lie it bothered me that Homie in no way reminded me of D-Roc. Angela Bassett did a great job as Voletta Wallace, as did the young woman who plays Faith. The character of Kim was in my opinion played well, but they showed sides of Kim that were more intimate they any one outside of a few people know.
As I said earlier, it took me back. It took me back to the first show in life I ever did. I was on a bill with 30 to 50 emcees for some event given by Rock Steady Crew. This kid from BK that I had heard of here and there was also on the bill. I remember him in that green army jacket, and that he had like twenty goons with him. I remembered being up at Bad Boy with him getting high. So high that it took 4 of us to pull him off the black leather couch in the lounge. I remember us talking in Miami and it being the first time I ever seen him laughing.
I remember getting the call at 415am from L.A. and the voice on the phone saying, "they got your man..Big Chops is dead." Go see this movie.

Looking Back At Three Eras Of Hip Hop

Blog world what’s up! Yeah I’m no longer a virgin in the wonderful world of cyber commentary. I got some cool responses for my last blog and figured, ok..we can do that again. Enough with the ice breaking. So..I noticed this week I have for some strange reason been stumbling on to a lot of things that, if added together formed a bit of a hip hop retrospective for me. For one, I noticed Mtv’s homage to the YO! Mtv Raps years. I forget which of my Mtv channels is airing this ( there’s like 1000 different spin-off channels courtesy of Viacom) but one of them is playing past episodes from it’s initial air date all the way up to it’s last episode. After that, I noticed that on my Youtube alert, which is a nice addition to my newly designed Google home page, someone out there actually posted the pilot of a little known show called Graffiti Rock. Now..whenever I ask anyone, "Yo ’member that show Graffiti Rock?" it is usually followed by a blank puzzled expression and an abrupt "Nah man". Anyway..the show was fashioned much in the way of American Bandstand (wow..you may not remember that either) but it encompassed break dancing, music, and a slang breakdown. After that, I turn on VH1 Soul and they are playing ole school videos in their regular rotation with current vids. (If you don’t have VH1 Soul you should get it where available.) I have to say it was amazing to see the transition of hip hop in the last 30 years. One thing that stuck out was vids these days lack so much of the theatrical aesthetic that earlier video directors relied on. True, we were not using green screen then, and true..rappers budgets were no where near what major labels or even some indies dedicate towards promotions now..but this forced people to think outside of the box. Perfect example..I saw one of my all time favorite vids "So Whatcha Sayin" by EPMD. The usage of symbolism never occurred to me back when I was coming home from school and watching Video Music Box (New Yorker’s will know what I am talking about.) And then aside from that, was the emphasis on the performance of the artist. I mean Parrish Smith & The Green Eyed Bandit made you wanna go grab up a fisherman hat and do your best to mimic them. Another vid that comes to mind was Slick Rick’s "Children’s Story". The song itself was a tale told to deter youth from walking down the wrong path. It spoke of the consequences of doing something that on the surface seems to be a solution, but in the end would do you more harm than good. In order to portray what Rick was saying, the director made it a comical take on a robbery gone wrong. (I did not get the implementation of the midget, but it worked out anyway.)
Fast forward to the mid 90’s where I was treated to Onxy "Throw Your Guns". While it can be said the videos were now starting to reflect more of our environment, the theatrics were still there. There was still an emphasis on the artist performance. It felt like Sticky Fingaz was in your face telling you it’s "either your money or your life". Another one of my all time favorites by my man O’shea Jackson aka Ice Cube, "Wicked" came on. The video to this very day is an adrenaline fueled 3 mins. of twisted entertainment. It depicts Ice Cube, backed by The Red Hot Chilipeppers, in this sort of post apocalyptic L.A. while showing scenes of L.A. during the time of the L.A. riots. The effects, the cutaways, the camera angles all make you not move from in front of your screen.
Fast forward to the next millennium. The Bling became king man! In at least 3 videos I watched, the format followed suit. It was car, chick, paper followed by chick, paper, car which was not to be out done by paper, car, chick. I asked myself where are the theatrics? What happened to the performance? where was the entertainment other than things I could see any night I hang out with my peoples. And then it dawned on me..oh my God, we’ve become OURSELVES!! Was it that we craved so much to relate that we’ve taken away peoples option to actually choose their reality?
Don’t get it twisted..I love the assortment of numerous fine ass vid chicks that fuel my imagination at 2 in the morning. I love being able to see the latest whip, so I know why I enjoy capitalism. I need to be constantly reminded of the equation money = anything or one you want. All I am saying is..wow did it change! And now if you’ll excuse me I am going to imagine myself with every chick from that R. Kelly "Flirt" remix video. Give me about 20-30 mins...okay 2.

Pics Of The Day

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