Archive for the ‘Social Upheaval’ Category

Blood In, Blood Out…

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

bloods

Remember when everyone in rap music was down with the ‘Bloods’ streetgang except Snoop. That shit drove me fucking bananas. I know all these dudes aren’t banging on other dudes [ll]. I mean, sure some of these rap dudes are banging other dudes but… I digress.

There was this little vignette in time when Lil’ Wayne, Juelz Santana, Game, Fat Joe and a few other rap stars were claiming the Blood set. Since I’m on this whole SlaughterHouse x rap vampire shit this week I thought I could keep shit popping with the ‘blood’ theme. Where has all the love in mainstream rap music gone for gang culture?

Someone in the recording industrial complex decided that rappers with a jail stint on their resume were more marketable than say, someone who managed to accomplish nothing while in his parent’s basement for the past 10 years. Even if the dude in jail ended up spending his time as a MayTag. This turned out to be a very poor marketing strategy as opposed to say, simply producing great music.

No one has more street cred than Detroit’s Trick Trick. No one will also have more unpurchased albums in the Auburn Hills BestBuy. The days of gimmicky artist programs has hopefully wound itself down in the label offices. Lyrics have returned to the top of the heap. KanYe is murdering every single feature he touches. Raekwon is going to punch everyone in the mouth and SlaughterHouse is, well, SlaughterHouse.

bloods

Just because rappers have stopped espousing the rotating prison door lifestyle doesn’t mean that we don’t have a generation of Black and Brown youth dealing with those realities on the daily because they thought that this would be the way they would a) become adults, b) develop courage and c) achieve their dream of being in the music business. Most of these kids will never know the doors that have been shut to them because they have been to jail.

Gang culture going out of style in rap music makes sense to me because rap is so much a part of American pop culture that all trends are recucled and re-sold constantly. There hasn’t been a decline in young people going to jail though. Poverty in America is still the first and foremost creator for crime and decay. The idea that kids will be joining the ranks of the Bloods and Crips less isn’t the answer.

Kids will just create a group that mirrors their values and matches whatever cartoon they are watching. Trust me on that one. The damage that was needed to be completed has been set up. See how many of your friends will come under the control of the government (state property) if they aren’t already. In the meanwhile, the youngest listeners and viewers are being visually programmed to wear their kid sister’s dungarees (no Kid Sister).

Wu-Tang NEVER told me to go to jail.

Wu-Tang is for the kids.

bloods

What I Learned At School Today…

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

schoolhouse rock

I always see those ads on the subway for the bootleg colleges that promise to teach students shit like information technology, phlebotomy and eBay (WTF?!?!) and I think to myself that anyone who goes to one of these schools is a loser.

It turns out that one person isn’t taking the loss from a horizontal position though. She has decided to sue the fake college for not helping her find a job. Next time she should just go to law school.

Now that America no longer produces tangible goods the need for people to support the operations of manufacturers is removed. Information technology is useless if you are only going to be counting poor people. We know poor folks don’t have the right information so they definitely can’t have the proper technology (natch).

Pretty soon we will only have two types of career professions here in America.

Criminals and lawyers.

And you won’t be able to tell the difference between the two.

Signifying Monkey In Handcuffs…

Sunday, August 2nd, 2009

gates

“Hey! They told me they call you a nigger when you ain’t around!”

It’s 6am and I just came home from the most epic of nights. Manhattan, Brooklyn and some stops in between. As I was about to upload the day’s video footage I read a comment from ctorre telling me to respect the gangsta of Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. becuase he wrote some academic book on the trickster – The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African-American Literary Criticism

The trickster character is prevalent in most mythology as the character at the crossroads pointing in several directions all at once. The signifying monkey was supposed to be a guide to gauge your moral and mental capacity in order to decide your fate. Professor Gates sure could have a used a signifying monkey in his house the evening he got pinched. He has been looking down from the ivory (ivy) tower for so long he forgot that he got in there as a janitor.

Here’s some blurb on Gates book that tells me he should have owned the filter in his brain to keep him from talking sideways shit to a man with a gun in his home…

“Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s original, groundbreaking study explores the relationship between the African and African-American vernacular traditions and black literature, elaborating a new critical approach located within this tradition that allows the black voice to speak for itself. Examining the ancient poetry and myths found in African, Latin American, and Caribbean culture, and particularly the Yoruba trickster figure of Esu-Elegbara and the Signifying Monkey whose myths help articulate the black tradition’s theory of its literature, Gates uncovers a unique system of interpretation and a powerful vernacular tradition that black slaves brought with them to the New World. His critical approach relies heavily on the Signifying Monkey–perhaps the most popular figure in African-American folklore–and signification and Signifyin(g).”

If he had really studied ZORA NEALE HURSTON’s incredible novel ‘Their Eyes Were Watching Gods’ he would have realized that his battle was in another place at another time. I still don’t believe this professor has any inkling what the majority of Black males have come to understand as the normal police procedures but we will see whet lessons he develops from this experience. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Black males are inmates in prisons across this nation for non-violent crimes.

Can we get these men a signifying monkey?

gates

Putting The Pee In Politricks…

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

pee

^ Only in Africa could this beverage be better than water.

Yo, on the reals…

Eff the two douchebags visiting the president to come up on free beers. Neither of those dudes, Professor Gates or Sargeant Jim Crow deserve the honor. They are both douchebag bigots. Here’s my TWitter thread from 5am…

“Obama is a swagger jacker. I started the internets popularity of BYOB BBQ’s. Now Obama has a Bring Your Own Bigot beer party. Biter.”

“The cop is an authoritarian bigot. He thinks everyone should kneel down to police badge and gun [ll]. PrA’li a fag.”

“The professor is an intellectual bigot. He thinks everyone should respect his degrees and academic shit.”

“And let’s be absolutely 100 percent clear on this one fact. The professor and the police officer BOTH hate the SAME Blacks.”

“Lets not think that race doesn’t have a pretext in the discussion however. Most of us don’t get hung up on that issue though primarily.”

“Both parties were dewshs for different reasons. One, because he had a gun and the other because his uzi weighs a ton.”

“Lastly, their choices of beer sucked the ass that dewshbaggs only know how to suck. No Heinekin Darks or Negro Modelos for these asshats?”

pee

A Dry Eye In The House…

Monday, July 27th, 2009

santos

These guys Bajah + the Dry Eye Crew have opened for the Roots @ Highline.

Sierra Leone rap superstars. Get familiar.

If the $5 buck pricetag is too steep for your steez you should peep them for FREE outdoors @ Lincoln Center on August 6th.

Download Bajah + The Dry Eye Crew’s “Kings of Salone” mixtape at OKayPlayer