The Godfather of Hip-Hop

Gill Scott-Heron, the legend of spoken word, is back. This man may have created what we today call rapping through his use of spoken word over jazz and funk beats. Listen to his new album.

Baltimore Skyline

 

A beautiful look at Baltimore's skyline. Photo taken by Andrew Nagl

Lupe Fiasco - Enemy Of The State (A Love Story) - Unknown

Lupe Fiasco - Enemy Of The State (A Love Story) - Unknown

Lupe Fiasco has announced his official return with this new mixtape. Rapping over some of the hottest tracks--from past and present--Enemy of the State definitely is features Lupe's signature wordplay, flow and content. I say download at livemixtape.com.

DARING A YUNG BLACK MAN by Chance McCree

I dare to be different
I dare to want change
I dare to exceed past greatness
Im expected to fail and hoping to exceed
Im expected to fall with my back to this crummy surface we call earth
As I fight through adversity and trouble only thing touches tht is the sole of my shoes
Which only touches jus for a brief second cus soon im soaring over hard times and depression
The worlds is like a baseball game for yung men of color
3 strikes yur out
Strike 1:yur BLACK
Strike 2:yur yung
Strike 3:they leave it up to yu to use those 1st 2 as an excuse to fuck up
So stand up straight yu proud black man
Talk and be proper when yu dnt want to
I dare you to work hard
I dare yu to want excel and push through the battle of life
Excuses are long-term set backs cus soon the excuse wit only carry has a load to stop yu from moving forward
Step up and be wat your suppose to be and not wat expected of yu
Yur expected to “slang rocks” but ur suppose to graduate the 12th grade
Yur expected to be on the news for robbing and killing but ur suppose to be on tv for being rank in top 2 in the nation at the college or unversity yu attend
Yur expected to be known for being a pro ball player but suppose to be known as a great up and coming doctor or lawyer
Lets “grind” on a legal level or show how much “swag” we got in a bussiness meeting or even”trap or die”on a legit company or “make moves” on a corprate stage
I dare yu to look trouble in the eye and run straight witout blinking

Cus I dare to make change and bring a difference!!!!!!!!!!

A Little Something About Race

This post is just a little something I wrote back in October as one of my Facebook notes. It's definitely not perfect but the meaning is evident and my point is made. So enjoy:

In this month's issue of Esquire magazine, author Stephen Marche wrote an article entitled, "Where's Dave Chappelle When You Need Him?" in which he lays out the view that after the election of our first black president, Americans have become afraid to joke about race. The article continues to provide examples and details on the matter which Attorney General Eric Holder, pointed to month's earlier when he told said that America is a "nation of cowards" for not talking about race. I must say that I agree with Mr. Holder and Mr. Marche, in the Obama era the United States has further retreated from race matter--it seems they are scared to touch upon the matter.
Marche makes an interesting statement, when he points out that before Obama black comics loved to joke about what would happen if we had a black president, we all remember that Chris Rock movie. It seems that then joking about the issue seemed easy for black comedians and their increasingly white audiences to digest--after all how likely would it be that a black dude would get elected? Now with the election of Obama, twenty years after Marche says that Morehouse alum Spike Lee's monumental film "Do the Right Thing", "pop culture is in full retreat from the subject of race". Every Saturday night, Americans turn on their televisions to SNL and watch as Fred Armisen does blackface in his portrayal of Barack Obama, as if they cannot find a talented Black comedian like Deeray Davis to do an on point impression of the president. And we all remember when Barack Obama had to disown is own pastor Jeremiah Wright, when he spoke his mind--in his own pulpit--and the media along with those on the right, took a short line out of context and exploited it. Race was still popular then, Obama was even forced to eventually give a speech on the issue. However, in June 2009, Wright claims that Jews were preventing him from speaking with the president, he is virtually ignored. Remember that,? You probably don't because the media gave it virtually no attention, it seems that no one wants to talk about Race, at least while we have our man Barack in office.

Marche calls this the Obama Discrepancy, where race is no longer interesting, but its effects are still felt. We saw it in the irresponsible arrest of Harvard Professor Skip Gates for being in his own home and the lack of major support from the black community for defending him for causing a stir when a police officer accused him of breaking into his home in a majority white neighborhood. It seems the black community has been desensitized by the media about race so much since the election of America's first president of African descent that they were reluctant to even defend Mr. Gates. I can count numerous times when I have heard prominent blacks and many men of Morehouse say that Gates behaved irrationally and that the police had no choice but to arrest him. I suspect that if a police questioned you about attempting to break into your own home, even after you proved to them that you lived there--maybe you would behave as impetuously as Dr. Gates did.

It is indubitable that America has made great strides in racial matters since the days of great leaders such as Martin Luther King, Roy Wilkins and Clarence Mitchell. However, even if we have a black president and now a latino woman on the Supreme Court, Americans must not stop discussing race. How else can we expect to continue to improve the relationships between races here in America, "the great melting pot"? How else can we expect racial injustices that exist today to be ameliorated? We need more than comedians, we need students, bloggers, cnn--fox--anyone who is not afraid to say something.