This is the the big one y’all, SNEAKER PIMPS in NYC. Get your crispy I.T.’s out of their airtight plastic bags because this is the joint that we all live for. Perfoming live will be the IronMan Tony Starks b/k/a Ghostface Killah, the Clipse, the BeatNuts, CLARK KENT and Funk Faggoty on the decks.
Art installation by DAVE WHITE and my niggas STASH and FUTURA.
One word.
BANANAS.
Friday, October 13th
SNEAKER PIMPS – NYC
Avalon (formerly Limelight)
6th Avenue @ West 20th Street
doors = 8pm
Oh, so now you humps are gonna turn your back on me?!? If I was BYRON CRAWFORD you’d still read my shit, but NOOOOOOOO! I can’t say anything mildly inappropriate because you all are too pussy-whipped to handle the truth. Face it, this is Hip-Hop Honors week and if anybody wants to pop their collar by doing something that isn’t Hip-Hop related they will draw the ire of this site.
When the news first broke that someone had crashed a single engine Cessna plane into a high rise building on Manhattan’s upper-east side I thought that maybe this was GOD’s way of killing off a few privileged white folks simultaneously. Manhattan’s upper east-side contains what may be the city’s priciest real estate and we all know that only rich white folks like to fly around in little deathbird airplanes. Later on I found out that the pilot was Yankees journeyman reliever COREY LIDLE. No wonder the entire league is mourning his death, he’s pitched for EVERY team in the league.
COREY LIDLE had the whole baseball off-season to go out and kill himself and a few of his friends. There’s the always popular speeding sportscar accident. The aquamarine version of that is the ill-fated fishing trip. Hell, he could just go hunting with DICK CHENEY. But to kill himself in this manner during Hip-Hop Honors week shows a blatant disregard for the achievements of the Wu Tang Clan. Shame on a nigga named COREY LIDLE!
This reminds me of when THURMAN MUNSON got picked off base by the big guy up in the sky. I knew THURMAN MUNSON, I respected THURMAN MUNSON, and you, COREY LIDLE, are no THUMAN MUNSON.
If Hip-Hop has any chance at bringing a lasting and positive influence into the lives of people there has to a return of the mindset that knowledge rules supreme over nearly everyone. I understand that is a wild cliche, but its more truth now than it was in previous years. As a nation we are becoming dumber and dumber. S.A.T. scores are tumbling across the board. If it weren’t for Asian kids we’d be a nation where our next generation is borderline retard.
Hip-Hop has defined the cultural values for American youth for more than a decade. The Hip-Hop music that currently dominates the airwaves of commercial stations is derived from simplistic monosyllabic nursery ryhmes or it tells the story of material aquisition as the benchmark for social mobility. If the kids that listen to and live the Hip-Hop lifestyle are to become viable, responsible adults we will need iconic artists to redefine their values. Books over bling sounds too simplistic, but ultimately without a reduction in the consumerism ethos of these artists we won’t see any progress. At least JAY-Z could maybe write a song about why New York City schools are so miserably underfunded by the State. ‘Dear Summer School’ or some shit.
For VH-1’s Hip-Hop Honors week some NYC public school students may end up hopping trains and buses to get to school because they don’t have transit cards. The city’s schools chancellor JOEL KLEIN has mandated that all students register for their transit cards. The thinking is that many kids receive these passes and they don’t use them. This costs the city millions of dollars since the crooks at the Metropolitan Transit Authority invoice the city for each card they issue. I have a more novel idea, the city should take over the MTA and discontinue the flow of patronage cash it brings to upstate politicians. Charging kids money to get to school is essentially like levying another tax on their parents.
DALLASPENN dot com is for the children.
DALLASPENN dot com is HIP-HOP.
Get your shit together party people because it’s officially Hip-Hop week here in NYC. I ain’t mad at VH-1 either for spearheading these events although I admit to be a little piqued at why B.E.T. wasn’t given jurisdiction on this Hip-Hop thing. Then again you know how shit goes down when Black people do it on their own budget… handmade banners, suspect refreshments, and nobody is ever on time…
Yeah, come to think of it, I’m glad the T.I.’s at Viacom put VH-1 in charge of this whole production otherwise this shit might not get settled until sometime in November after Thanksgiving. A few more events have been added to what is already a week chock full of goodies. I am going to list for you some of the free events as well as some of the exclusive one-off shows. Peep game…
On Saturday, October 14th there are three museum events that are all worth your while. From 10am – 6pm the MAGIC JOHNSON Theatre on 125th and FREDERICK DOUGLASS Blvd will host the first installation of the Hip-Hop Culture Centre. This project needs your support by way of your presence. Can you imagine a museum space in NYC dedicated solely to the preservation of Hip-Hop culture? When I traveled through Paris I was amazed at how them French niggas have a museum for everything. They value culture and art like that and I do as well. If Hip-Hop is important to you and you think it can still be a force for positive change I kindly ask you to visit this installation. The more people that attend this will determine if the city funds this project or not. Your attendance is your vote.
Another museum exhibit will be at the Brooklyn Museum of Art from 11am – 6pm titled ‘Graffiti Basics’. Several artists will teach you the finer points of permanent marker and aerosol artistry. The Brooklyn Museum of Art is on Eastern Parkway and Washington Ave.
The Museum of the City of New York has been hosting an installation called ‘Black Style Now’ and I haven’t visited this joint since I take umbrage with the notion of ‘Black Style’. We have to be careful sometimes that we don’t reinforce supremacy in a passive manner. I just so happen to be Black and my style like many Blacks is mega-universal. I can dress, talk and display mannerisms to allow me to adapt to any circumstance. ‘Black Style’ is far too limiting for a brother from the mothership.
I feel like I need to remind you that on Saturday, the 14th, EPMD will be doing a show at B.B.King’s on West 42nd Street. I got the dope corduroy ‘LO fisherman’s cap with the embroidered tackle lures on it. Holler at your boy when you see him in the streets.
First off, I have to show love to the people at VH-1 that read my site on the regulack and invited me to work the red carpet for the 2006 Hip-Hop Honors Awards show. When you see the broadcast of the show you will be treated to a view of one of the truly historic Hip-Hop concerts. The performances were all sharp and there are some dope surprises tucked into the show. Tune in to VH-1 on October 17th @ 9:00pm. You won’t be disappointed.
As far the red carpet was concerned it was a super charged setting filled with so many artists and personalities that I can’t recount them all. There are a few people that stood out in my mind so let me give you the scoop on them…
MASTER P was unavailable, but KING TEE pitched in to do my cameraman work at the last second. Without his help I wouldn’t have been as on point as I was. You need several sets of eyes to help you navigate the swirl of activity on the carpet.
ESKAY from NAH’RIGHT is a beast! He had a designated spot of the carpet right near the stage. It looks like that XXL/Harris Publishing machinery has found out what most of us on the internets knew already.
DON DIVA Magazine held it down right alongside me and occasionally stole my shine, but they were veterans on the red carpet and they were smart enough to bring their product with them.
MUSIC CHOICE video show was on my other side and they were cool too. The lesson I took from them is that I need to step my recording equipment game up. Next year I come out the gate with a DP dot com flagged microphone.
RAKIM ALLAH, the God emcee, is one of the classiest artists ever in the world of Hip-Hop. I hope for nothing but continued success from him. This dude is unpretentious and cool as all shit.
FAT JOE keeps it realer than most all day, everyday. He spent some good time chatting with us and even gave me a few drops for this websites upcoming podcasts.
ICE CUBE also kicked it with me for a hot second second and dropped some real street knowledge on what Hip-Hop needs to do to remain relevant art form into the next generation. ICE CUBE is a superior performer too. Wait ’til you see his stage show.
MC LYTE is still my girl. I haven’t seen her in a loooooooong time and she still remembers the kid. Bigger than all that is the fact that he looked great and hasn’t aged a bit. She also killed it onstage.
KWAME is my dude from way before this rap shiite so you know he gave the website some sick drops.
You can’t play with my YOYO. This is my rappin’ baby mama. She was dimed out like a mother.
True to form, REMY MA was a hot mess.
The BEASTIE BOYS weren’t as cool as I imagined…
A funny moment was WONDER MIKE from the SugarHill Gang looking to get some sound bites in with the press corps. I used that time he was standing around to fix my equipment. Instead I should have asked him what it felt like to be famous for stealing someone’s rhymebook?
WENDY WILLIAMS is a biiiiiig bitch, but she is totally hittable, as my dude ZILLA would say.
The original gangster ICE T and his hot piece of azz wife showed some love to the kid too. I ccould have totally stuck my tongue down her bulbous breasts.
The RZA and GZA were dope enough to give me some sick drops on my microphone. When I redo my ‘KILLA BEEZ FOR LIFE’ mix CD I will include those joints.
All in all it was a great day and the show that VH-1 produced was incredible. I may have to give Viacom a pass from my wrath for a few weeks, or until the next coonfest FLAVOR FLAV program they create.
“I AM HIP-HOP, WE ARE ALL HIP-HOP”
– KRS-1
