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The Internets Made Me Do it…

Monday, July 20th, 2009

You might have heard about the little party that Combat Jack and I threw for the internets. We gave the party for Nah’Right. Not JUST eskay, but for the community that he has created. The same goes for OKayPlayer.com and everything that site has done for Hip-Hop and the culture since it came online over 10 years ago. On terrestrial radio MINYA OH gives information on real world celebrities and their trials and tribulations, but to the online community Miss Info is an internets celebrity.

These were some of the folks that we wanted to salute for the 1st Annual Bring Your Own Blogger BBQ, but mostly we wanted to big up you, the internets. The people that use inter-connected networks to exchange news, views and information. Y’all are the internets. If you have a Facebook, a MySpace page, a Twitter account, an AIM screenname or anything that floats on the worldwide you have an inter-connected network. And if you have access to two or more inter-connected networks you are now an INTERNETS.

The BBQ was for the people who weren’t scared of the ‘S’ on the end. They aren’t scared to use it. They embrace it. The are the folks from the future that we are talking too. And they all brought us the most valuable thing they had to give. Their time. Folks could have been ANYWHERE else in Brooklyn, fuck it, the world for that matter. But the internets came through a little radio station in Brooklyn and spent time with us for a few hours. That was big. In my mind time is money. So because I consider myself to be very valuable so is my time. And since I fux with you internets you should feel the same way about yourself.

With that premise we jumped out the window with the BBQ plan. We knew who we were, the internets, but we didn’t know where we would get down with it. Combat Jack went into his Blackberry rolodex and started hollering at fellow online personalities who talk about the importance of inter-connected networks. At each turn we were stymied and stifled by sponsors. Mountain Dew DID NOT EVEN have a 6-pack of cans for this event. I would have turned them down tho’ since the event was called BYO-B, not C.

I thought I might have some free bottle of liquor to help the spaceship take off properly since my dad’s old company is based here in NYC and I have seen them giving free shit to Jeff Staple and LRG. Those folks aren’t internets like we are so my sponsor request was denied on Friday at midnight.

to: dallas.penn@gmail.com
date: Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 11:35 PM
subject: Re: BYOBlogger BBQ

Dallas, I was unable to provide a sponsorship or donation through my suppliers. It has to fall under a charity with a 501 3C.
————————–
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld

This meant that I had to go to the ATM and withdraw $500 to get people nice and smoothed out. If my phone is shut off this week don’t sweat it because I will back on by Friday the 31st (payday). I opted not to buy the cheapest shit I could find because that would surely not look good on our record in the future. I went in with Bacardi Gold, Limon and this new Dragonberry shit. Dragonberry for the motherfucking win. I pulled in Svedka vodka on the co-sign of RYAN HOBBS. He is one of the Go-In Brothers who threw a rooftop party last year on Bedford Avenue that popped hardbody.

I mixed up two separate punches and created back up bottles so that the juice containers could simply be refilled when they were tapped. My punch mixes are not for the amatuers in the game. You need to drive slow when I am in the building or else ypu might find your car swerved on the side of the road. More on that later. If you are doing a bar-b-cue and you don’t invite me that is fine, but if you don’t use my punch recipes you are losing. Don’t be a loser…

DP Rum Punch
Arizona Fruit Punch and Mucho Mango. Apple & Eve organic peach mango juice. Bacardi. And more Bacardi. The Dragonberry Bacardi is dangerous. You will never see it coming, but it will get you. And then you will be caught out there.

Arnold Palmer On Acid
Apple & Eve organic lemonade (What’s with the organic beverages?!? I see you Combat Jack.), Snapple lemon iced tea. Schweppes ginger ale. Svedka vodka. This was the HGH punch for the day. I’m doing this one again with a premium vodka and ginger beer.

Now the party wasn’t ready to fly off yet because the grill wasn’t fired up, but that was in the capable and sturdy hands of 40 Diesel who did some hood star Emeril shit and was giving people meat like it wasn’t nothing. Fools were eating and drinking and talking mad shit. It was going down party people, but I was missing the most important element. I needed some music to give the crowd the vibe that would take us all the way to 1am. That was supplied by my G from forever and the most flamboyant producer, GudTyme. Guds has been on tour with groups like the X-Ecutioners and the homey Rob Swift. Without Guds jumping in the projet from the very beginning we would not have had the momentum we needed to get to the finish line. No Guds = no J.Period. Guds made the music happen. We had liquor, food and music. Now all we needed was the internets. And then just like that here they came…

I can’t remember in my mind’s eye everyone who came through the BBQ. There were sooo many talented people inside of that piece. Creators, and consequently consumers. We all buy each other’s shit, good and bad. We are each other’s customers. I was hell’a philosophical that night. Maybe it was the sunset over Manhattan’s tremendous skyline. Maybe it was realizing that all the sleepless nights I spend in the lab putting posts on DP.com and other sites has allowed me the access to speak with people who are literally my heroes. We are all creating the life we imagine for ourselves by sharing our talents AND our information. Can you imagine how powerful the internets could be if everyone lived like this?

A special shout goes out to the internets that swerved off the road. This dude enjoyed the party like none of the rest of us did. Combat Jack said that is was the rum punch. I think that 40 Diesel maybe put something extra on the grill. Whatever it was cousin was done in lovely. I admired dude for enjoying himself that much. If I can make some call Earl at the end of the night and not during the party then I have done my job. For your information, this brother was taken home but not just one, but TWO pretty young ladies. Earl FTW.

I need some time to soak up this entire weekend, from losing my bank card and liquor sponsors on Friday to the epic BBQ, to a historic day at Jones Beach for Rock The Bells, to now walking out the door to my day job @ 730am this morning. I’ll get back on the internets with you some time later. In the meantime and in between time enjoy some of these links that are featuring the 1st Annual BYOB BBQ…

Rule 4,080’s Joey2Fresh hung out all day and caught the day and night scenes of the BBQ

B.Y.O.B BBQ (Day) at PNC Brooklyn 7.18.09
B.Y.O.B BBQ (Night) PNC Brooklyn 7.18.09

UrkelBot Brian from PNC Radio’s Bar Exam show and 2Fresh2Cool.com made this Vimeo from scenes of the BBQ

Internets! Stay logged on and locked in.

It’s only just begun…

Posted in 40 Deez, 5 Elements, BeYONCE's Hair, Black Bullshit, Blipsters = Hipsters, Crappers, Fanboy Ish, Ghetto Celebs, iNternets Celebrities, Ninjas, No Boutros Boutros... Ghali, Sneaker Fiends United, Social Upheaval, T.O.N.Y., Wig Owners | 25 Comments »

The Thing About Skins…

Sunday, July 12th, 2009

Editor’s note: Switching gears but staying on track is what we do here @ DP.com all day every day. The following drop comes from a fellow reader, a friend and a baseball roto-league afficionado. When GYASI ROSS isn’t kicking my A in fantasy league baseball he’s busy trying to rebuild a nation. Take a moment to read his thoughts on the state of Native Americans…

We’ll all gladly admit that Native people have come a long way in a very short period of time. At the beginning of the 20th century things were an absolute disaster. The Skin population within the United States was only about a quarter of a million people, our families were messes largely because of forced adoptions and boarding schools, and our lands were being auctioned and pawned off en masse via allotment. Bad stuff.

Yet, in the span of barely 100 years, a few tribes went from dirt poor to obscenely rich, and many more transitioned from dirt poorer to stable. Tribes have also largely addressed the most basic issues – food, shelter, clothing – and are now able to focus on loftier goals – politics and education, for example. Still, all that glitters is not gold.

This is Part 5 of “The Thing About Skins,” but oddly enough, it is the introduction to the series. Supposedly this series contains a few thoughts on what has occurred as a result of Skins’ recent success in the world. While this may not be, as Paul Harvey so profoundly posited, “the rest of the story,” it is, at least, more of the story. Questions and observances if you will. I am not a scholar, a politician or a preacher – I don’t know all the answers. But I am a curious person, as I think most of us are. So I’ll ask some questions about assumptions that I (and hopefully a few other people) hold.

We’ll start with the assumption that Skins’ prolific mating habits are a good thing. I mean, it has to be a good thing that there are a lot more Skins in the United States than there were 100 years ago, right?

Well, let’s see.

According to the 2000 census there are more than 4.1 million self-identified Skins, “alone or in combination” with another race. That’s probably a bit high. Now, we can probably split that number in half for the “grandmother was” stories (many of these say that they’re Cherokee or Blackfoot. Why us?). After that, we can probably subtract another 100,000 or so “East Indians” who mistakenly identified as “American Indians/Alaska Natives.” Finally, we have to add a few people. There are some folks who always thought that they were white – they were adopted into white families and their parents never told them that there really was, in fact, a reason they felt so satisfied when they ate fruit cocktail or meatball stew.

So we’re probably really dealing with about two, maybe two-and-a-half million Skins.

Despite the inflated numbers, there’s still a lot more of us than any time before the Civil War. And the number’s ever-growing – and when I say “ever,” boy do I mean “ever!” Now, much like Whitney Houston and my beautiful mom, I believe that children are our future.

Yet, Skins are a dynamic people – not at all relegated to the past’s strictures or conventions. One consequence of being a dynamic people and loving procreation, however, is that Skins have mimicked and perfected the United States’ love affair with single-parent families (just as a shorthand, 63 percent of Native children are born to unmarried mothers, compared to 25 percent for white women. Only black women, ethnically, have a higher percentage of unmarried mothers, according to the Child Trends Data Bank, “Percentage of Births to Unmarried Mothers.”). Consequently, many of these beautiful Native children, who are of course the future, are raised in homes that simply cannot provide an ideal amount of support for them.

Now, I’m not saying that Skins historically were the most monogamous people – some tribes were, and some tribes were not. That’s not the point. Also, obviously Euro and Christian values play a large part in what we consider “conventional.” My suspicion, however, is that there was a time, married, monogamous, or not, where the success, well-being and love of the child was worked-toward and invested-in. It didn’t matter if the parents were married, monogamous, or not. And my suspicion goes further, based upon conversations with folks who know a lot more history than I do, that there were actual consequences for deadbeat daddy-ism (or deadbeat mommy-ism, but I imagine that this was a rarer phenomenon).

To wit, I – like most of my close male friends – grew up with a single mother. Our wonderful mothers, almost unilaterally, absolutely loved us. We were their little princes and they essentially raised us to be their husbands – to make up for the absence of a man in the home. My uncles provided the discipline (belts, willows and all that). In theory, this sounds beautiful – you’ve heard it before, “I grew up close with my family because of abandonment, poverty and dysfunction.” Sounds sweet, right?

Still, the practical truth was that it sucked not having a dad around for many reasons, and I have to think that it’s not ideal for other kids as well. Now I’m not saying everybody should run out and get married (God forbid – I’m certainly not!). But it does seem like the idea of making Skin kids just for the sake of making more Skin kids may be just setting them up for a difficult life.

A fair question, then, would seem to be, “Is the Skin population boom really an altogether good thing?” It sounds cool to say, “Yes, the more Skin kids, the better” – but is that really the case?

I’m just not sure that we have the same investment in our children that we once did – especially we Skin men. Yeah, we’re bridging some population gaps and we can certainly be thankful for our peoples’ resurgence – it shows that we’re physically healthy. Yet, I’m not positive that the way to true equality and access to opportunity for Skins is by bombarding the world with gobs of kids, without true supervision, mentorship and parenting.

What do you Skins think?

GYASI ROSS is a member of the Blackfeet Nation and his family also comes from the Suquamish Tribe. He is a lawyer, a warrior, a teacher, an entrepreneur and an author. He is co-founder of Native Speaks LLC, a progressive company owned by young Native professionals which provides consultation and instruction for professionals and companies, as well as young adults. Gyasi is currently booking dates for his presentation, “The Best: An Indian Theory of Existence.” E-mail him at gyasi.ross@gmail.com.

Posted in 5 Elements, Social Upheaval, Straight Laced, The Guest Room, When I Reminisce... | 3 Comments »

Prime-Time Minstrel Programming…

Sunday, July 12th, 2009

Editor’s note: The following drop was submitted to DP.com from a fellow reader and Internets Celebrity RobAck. Even though the Black Entertainment Television awards program aired several weeks ago (a literal eternity on the internets timeline) I thought that the ideas he presented were valid and worth reading, ESPECIALLY though since RobAck is secretly the target audience for this channel. He is 18yrs old and on his way to engineering college. Oh and yeah, he’s a white. I’ma let RobAck tell it…

Within 30 minutes of watching the bastardization of hip-hop and hip-hop culture perpetrated by BET, I felt the need to hate, er, I mean “blog”. I guess I should write some sort of disclaimer before griping about BET, letting you all know that I am indeed white, so take this whole post with a grain of salt if you must.

So today was the 2009 BET Awards. It was impossible to involve yourself in any major media outlet today without being exposed to some sort of coverage of the awards. But, what wasn’t covered is that fact that the year 2009 marks the 10 year anniversary of Robert L. Johnson selling BET to Viacom. Black Entertainment Television is currently owned by a white man. Tragedy? Maybe. Irony? Yes.

Regardless of my fascination with music, I never really connected with any music channel – VH1, MTV, BET, Fuse, etc. A little MTV Jams here or there to stay ‘Hood Fab’, but other than that, I disconnect myself from mainstream music as much as humanly possible. In my youth, I never had cable, but there was some BET Satan child that my step brother and I could get after school if we positioned the bunny ears correctly and wrapped them with the perfect amount of tin foil. I don’t remember much of what I saw, but I remember feeling guilty about seeing it. Old school kinda shit before internet porn when you had to sneak a freak to Taxicab Confessions and make sure your remote’s “last” button would quickly redirect to Doug or some shit. Not until recently have I had any real connection to the channel whatsoever. I have cable now and I’ve studied the channel closely on the rare occasions I’d watch it. I realized soon why I felt guilty during those after-school rap out sessions with my bro. I didn’t feel guilty because of the music, the images or the lyrics, but rather because those things were attached to a people as a whole. Black people.

I know BET has made some weak-willed attempts to become more P.C. with Sunday morning Christian shows and whatnot, but still, the majority of BET airtime is filled with rap videos. Rap videos that show partial nudity, misogamy, materialism, violence, and encouragement of all those ills. Before you claim I’m giving the old person spiel that rap will turn your sweet little Jimmy and Jill into hustlers and prostitutes, see where I’m coming from.

All those negative things I mentioned are indeed a part of hip-hop culture, for better or for worse, but that’s a whole ‘nother issue. The issue here is that those things aren’t being associated with hip-hop culture, they’re being associated with black culture.
^ Editor’s note: Would the congregation kindly say chuuuch. Amen.

In the beginning, BET aired Soul, Funk, Jazz and Gospel music. In fact, it wasn’t until 9 years after BET’s launch that Rap City first reared it’s ugly head. Well what happened? Hip-hop had been a driving force in American culture long before 1989. Business happened. MTV was crushing BET in ratings, and they needed a new vision. Since then, the image of Black people, on television at least, has been almost irrevocably associated with rap music.

Watching the awards last night, I couldn’t help but try and imagine I had never met a black person in my life. I tried to associate everything I saw or heard with black people as a whole. That may be excessive, but that’s the kind of responsibility BET holds. That channel is FUBU. For black people, by black people (even though we know the latter is far from true”. When you create a television channel with a whole race of people in the title, you better be up for the job of making sure the image of those people isn’t negative. BET failed.

Really, really bad.

Imagine the outrage if MTV became WET (pause). White Entertainment Television. All white people would be seen as snotty cornhuskers from The Hills or sadistic pretty boy assclowns who prank people too much. I mean, shit. People would be pissed. Well, white people would be pissed. I make this hypothesis because, in recent years, BET has virtually mirrored MTV’s line-up. 106 and Park to their TRL, and a slew of reality shows like College Hill or Harlem Heights.

The truth is, nobody can uphold the type of responsibility that comes with a completely black television network, or a completely white one for that matter. Even though the days of slave ships and cotton fields are gone but Phillippe P. Dauman and Viacom are still looking for ways to drag black people by their “Big Ass Chains”.

Posted in Black Bullshit, iNternets Celebrities, Ninjas, Social Upheaval, The Guest Room, white, Wig Owners | 12 Comments »

Str8 From The Lab…

Saturday, July 11th, 2009

The Internets Show a/k/a the DP.com podcast is back on the web.

Have a listen, put it on your iPod.

Throw it in the bag.

Ugggh.

Posted in 5 Elements, 5000, Black Bullshit, Crappers, H.A.M., Hollyweird, iNternets Celebrities, Lust = Love, No Boutros Boutros... Ghali, Social Upheaval, T.O.N.Y., Weird Science, When I Reminisce..., white, Wig Owners | 2 Comments »