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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The Blinding Light

Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

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The Blinding Light

I just watched a video post of Joe Buddens discussion with DJ Vlad of Vlad TV, at Serius radio. For those of you that are not "in the technological know", an incident occurred between an acquaintance of Joe and a rapper named Ransom. The incident was recorded and posted on sites such as World Star Hip Hop, Vlad TV, and AllHipHop.com and as many digital images these days made its way to being posted on Youtube.

The video shows Ransom and members of his neighborhood journeying to the house of Joe's associate with the intent of making someone an example. It shows Ransom and his goons clearly driven to distribute retribution. It shows these men on a quest to get to someone’s house, where they feel no matter what this crazy world may present, is a safe and sacred haven. It shows them ready to disrupt what is safe and sacred.

To make a long story short, the individual the men sought after was not present. His brother opens the door and explains this to the lynch mob in front of the house he lives in. Clearly agitated, one of the men slaps the brother in his face..in the threshold of his sacred home. There are three sides to every conflict..yours, theirs, and the truth.

The men went to retaliate for an earlier incident, which was a reversal of this one. Ransom allegedly was confronted by Joe Buddens and some of his goons in front of his home..on his block..where he and his child find serenity and comfort. Ransom as many black men that have grown up in poverty stricken urban war zones, immediately and unconditionally felt the need to guard his reputation with his life. (Which just so happens to be the 3rd law in Robert Green's 48 Laws Of Power.)

After these two things went down, Joe posted a vlog in which he declared Ransom the "winner" of this conflict. He expressed how he felt nothing from nothing leaves nothing. He stated that although his declaration to concede was being given..there really was no winner. To be winners in the public's eyes would require sacrifices on both sides that would alter lives of many people directly, and indirectly. It would require bullets flying..mothers crying..and inevitably people dieing.

After being sucked into the black hole of hip hop media coverage, alot of thoughts came to me. I listened and watched being as unbias as possible. Yes, I am a Joe Buddens fan in a sense, but this was a real nigga situation that made its way to every blaring computer monitor in the world. It was something that for the people involved, does not disappear when they are logged off. While the millions of viewers of these clips move on..this scenario lingers, creeping towards a destructive culmination.

Lighting my 4th Newport, I thought of who wins in these situations..who really wins. I thought of Vlad's defense for airing the footage, which he stated was journalism. I thought of how to Vlad, feels he has hands free of blood because he washed them in a pool of society's obligation to know all that is insignificant to their own lives. I thought of how the only stories on the news that made the timeslot of 11pm to 11:10pm, where a triple shooting in my hometown, and the on going conflict in Gaza.

Who really wins? I thought of how fortunate as a person I was to have known Christopher Wallace and Tupac Shakur. How when personal beef escalated in to a fabricated war of coast. How so many voices, that to the public have no face, helped enrage two men. How there were forces that saw opportunity in controversy and conflict, and pushed the envelope until..a major motion picture of a promising young man's life cut short by violence is opening this coming week. How the other young man's voice is featured as a collaboration with a current artist, to give you the feeling that even in death..he is still here. No. No he is not.

The prospect of success and power can become a blinding light. I say that to say..it takes people and makes them ready to give and offer anything for the assurance that it will not only come to them, but grow in and with them..if only they ignore the price. When Viacom's vice president of programming discusses the line up of shows this season with BET and MTV personnel, they do not take into account the repercussions of showing Bret Michaels search for his Rock Of Love. They do not take into account showing the life of Keisha Cole's dysfunctional family finding wealth. They do not take into consideration what showing Real and Chance's buffoonery will do to susceptible impressionable minds.

The unseen people on the top don't care that John Travolta and his wife are morning the death of life they created..they only care that you get an update, and that they get ratings. Ratings equals cash..cash equals exspansion..Exspansion equals power. Who really wins? One may be able to counter that you, the viewer does. That you win because now you have more knowledge of things in your culture. That you win because now you have something else to discuss on the phone..in the car..at dinner. You have an escape from the topics that plague you.

One could say that people have the ability to decide for themselves to participate in things or not. That you have the freedom to choose the information you consume, digest and process..you know that whole, "don't shoot the messenger mentality". One could also say that if this were not what our society craved, it would be given something different. PBS wouldn't need donations. Verizon would buy commercial time on their channels instead.

But the truth is..man likes mayhem, man craves power and lots of it. It's the Darwinian Theorization at work. Money and influence have replaced clubs and spears. Money and influence provide the "green zone" for the survival and flourishing of the strongest of our race..race meaning humanity. The people in charge at AIG knew bonuses meant more than the market collapsing. Former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan knew the strong, of which he is a member, would continue to get stronger..and that collateral damage is to be disregarded. Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld knew to erase morality from their being, the minute we entered Iraq. War is young men dieing, and old men talking.

Who really wins? The reality on going is that the blinded strong have so far. The people who have chosen to give mind, body and soul over to these luminated phantoms have. The innocent bystanders and unavoidable casualties for the sake of admittance to the club have been losing. And while it can be said that somewhere in this world, there's a Tibatan monk that feels he is winning because he knows something deeper than Maybach music and Kanye's new Louis V sneaker..he doesn't have money or influence enough to start or stop a military conflict should it come to his place of serenity.

I'll leave you guys with this..we got the 700 billion dollar bailout. But there is at least 25% of that money distributed that is completely unaccounted for. And oh yeah, there is 2.5 trillion in D.O.D money that has vanished into thin air. The department in charge of accounting for the Pentagon..well that was destroyed on 911.

Who really wins...I'm out.