Black Woman STILL Walking

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"What These Bitches Want From A Nigga??" - DMX

Sorry, just felt like saying that...

Ok. This is a short documentary that's been floating around the intranets for a minute now. It's a topic that many of my female counterparts have spoken with me in disgust about on many occasions. Here's the scenario:

Black Girl walks down a street minding her own business. She encounters a few Black Boys hanging out talking about shyt that Black Boys talk about - Girls, sports, Girls, politrix, Girls, music, Girls, cars, Girls, their busta ass homeboy, Girls, what I'mma do when I get my money right, Girls, etc....you know the typical shyt. Oh yeah, did I mention Girls? Anyway, Black Girl walks by Black Boys and a couple of them make comments about her body parts...all of them check out her ass as she passes by. Black Girl ignores their comments to the best of her ability. Black Boys talk amongst each other about the Black Girl focusing their conversation on physicalities. Black Girl feels disrespected. End Scenario.

This scenario plays itself out time and time again at the workplace, on the train, in the mall, in the club, on the beach, at the bar-b-que, in the classroom, at church, at the zoo, everywhere countless times a day.

I feel the women in the video make a valid point about being harrassed (if it gets to that point), but the question that lingers in my head is what about the alternative. What if guys didn't react that way and ignored the sistas as they walked by? Better yet, what if dudes paid the sistas no mind, but showed their interest (disrespectful or not) to white women or women of other ethnic backgrounds?

Speaking in general, women seem to go that extra route to make themselves more attractive on a daily basis with the goal of being appealing all the time. That leads me to believe that they wish for their effort to not go without being appreciated. Obviously some brothas who may be lacking in the manners department go about it the wrong way, but if they didn't at all, what effect would that have on the female psyche? Would they in turn feel undesireable?

***WARNING: HARSH REALITY CHECK COMING IN 5...4...3...2...1...***

NONE OF THE CHICKS IN THE DOCUMENTARY WERE EVEN DIMES!! Not that it matters (although it maybe does) but, it would've been nice if Tracey Ross would've had a couple of knockouts that she interviewed. Truth be told, dudes tend to switch up their approach (read: game) depending on what the woman looks like. I'm not saying that gorgeous women don't fall prey to the immaturity and lack of respect that some dudes have, but I think that there will be a difference in the dynamic.

My Good People, what do YOU think?

***SIDENOTE: "What These Bitches Want From A Nigga??" was actually the working title of this post...aren't you glad I changed it? LOL!! I'm silly like that. Sue me. END SIDENOTE***

A Heartbreak Fa' Real

I hope y'all join me over at PresidentialTelevisionAndFilm.ning.com.


Damn.

I guess all good things must come to an end.

"The Cosby Show" and "A Different World" back-to-back on Thursday nights...

The days when hardcore rappers didn't water their music down with R&B to sell records to the bytches...

Living carefree, wearing your play clothes all day, and not even having the mental capability to even fathom the thought of paying a damn bill.

Don't you miss those days? Yeah...*eyes watering up*...me too. But as I said, *sniffle*...all good things must come to an end and such is the case with Mr. Kanye West's stellar onslaught of bangin' ass albums.

Since 2004's "College Dropout", I was an instant fan of Kanye's. From the beats that transcended being mere "beats" and more like intricate masterpieces of composition, to his content and subject matter that spoke to my personal experience more than other shyt out there, to his lyrical passion. It was a far cry from him being a lyrical genius, but certain lines displayed a potential that could only grow. Not to mention the videos that accompanied the disc. "Through The Wire",
">"It All Falls Down" (with the lovely Stacey Dash), the three "Jesus Walks" joints, "Workout Plan", and the rare "Two Words" - all of which were dope in their own right.
***SideNote: Please click those links to re-experience the dopeness of those videos. EndSideNote***

"Late Registration" picked up right where "Dropout" left off at and "Graduation" completed the trilogy.

But now in the year of 0 to 8, Kanye releases "808 And Heartbreaks". This album has to be the most asstastic shyt I have heard since there was a white group calling themselves the Young Black Teenagers. Honestly, some of Kanye's songs of the past have been a bad song "for Kanye" being that his music is dope 93.5% of the time. But not this collection of uninspiring, lackluster, just plain BORING play of songs.

The voicecoder or autotune shyt needs to be laid to rest if your name isn't T-Pain. Not saying I condone his usage, but that's HIM. I accept that and he manages to make it work no matter how much we may front. Sure he stole it from the Teddy Riley's, Roger Troutman's, Cameo's, etc., but they stole it from Stevie Wonder (who is arguably the greatest artist of all-time). Being that Stevie KNOWS his voice isn't the GREATEST (c'mon now...he's a musical genius...he knows what his voice sounds like) he's opted to use that shyt too. Don't front.

But, what I'm asking is this. Did Kanye just decide to make an R&B/Alternative album and attempt to sing in the process? Like fa' real?? Is this the SAME dude that was LIVID a few years ago because folks didn't recognize him as an emcee/lyricist??

Maybe I'm wrong for being a Kanye fan and actually appreciating his flow. This singing shyt is WACK!!

Now...

I don't mean to get too personal, but being that music has been my mother, father, brother, sister, wife, girlfriend, booty call, bestfriend, associate, and even the nigga on the block I just see occassionally...I like to think that I know when it's being good or bad to me. I also know that history says that great artists make some of their greatest music when life's trials and tribulations are weighing heavy on their souls. We've seen it too many times for me to give examples.

In the past year, Mr. West has definitely gone through more than his fair share of life's unfortunate dealings. And although I hear the pain in his music, I'm sorry, it just doesn't make for great (or even good) songs for him.

Really, I think I saw all of this falling into play but purposely ignored it last year. When I first heard "Stronger", I immediately skipped past that joint within the first 20 seconds. And THEN, he released it as a single and it garnered rave reviews from his international audience. The video (although directed by Hype) was wack to me. *thinking to self, DAMN, I hope Common's not going down that same road after "BE"with his new joint*

Although I haven't heard for myself, the word is out that Common's new joint is pretty wacktacular itself. Again, I haven't heard so I can't speak for myself...but I'm just sayin'...

Maybe I'm just trippin' on my man Kanye.

But. What do y'all think????

Un-Shameless Plug

"As a young and dumb man, gun in the waist
Sold crack to those who couldn't take the pain
And had to numb it with base
Couldn't drink the henny straight, I needed somethin' to chase
Nowadays I throw shots back, leavin' nothin' to waste
Life is like a treadmill, niggas runnin' in place
Gettin' no where fast, a whole year done past"
-"It's Like That" - Jay-Z

Greetings My Good People!!

I have bad news...and good news for ya. Which one do you want first?

Ok, y'all don't care? Aight then, I'll give you the bad new FIRST!!

As some of you may or may not know, I've been blogging on blogger for almost a year now. I've enjoyed the interactions and comments from everyone and I hope that you left feeling...well...SOME kinda way after reading one (or some) of my posts. Writing and sharing information and thoughts is something that I love to do as time permits and I really appreciate those who have checked in on ya boy to see if I've posted something new. With that said, I won't be posting as much on here as I use to.

*boooo's....chants of outrage...and jeers comes from everyone*

Here ye, here ye. Hold up muthafuggas, y'all know I only posted every now and then on this joint anyway!!

Calm y'all asses down.

I started this blogger site at the top of '08. And since I'm all about progression and shyt, I'm moving on to another site. A bigger and better site. Hence, the GOOD news. And I hope that ALL of you will join me there. I'll still post occassionally over here, but the new site will have everything you loved over here and much more.

With that being said...

I invite you all to join me at:

PresidentialTelevisionAndFilm.ning.com.

Hey, what can I say...I just celebrated my biological New Year and it's time I make some progressive changes. Tickets are free and I know y'all like free shyt so come along for the ride.

Also, with the new site, you can set up your own page, create your own blogs, add pictures, videos, notes, or just plug your own shyt...I don't care.

So, c'mon and join me at PresidentialTelevisionAndFilm.ning.com. and invite ya friends!!

Also, take words to prophet Shawn Carter and make sure you're not just "runnin' in place."

See you over at the new spot!!

ATL HipHop Meets Politics

As some of you may know, today Georgia had a run-off election stemming from the close race for U.S. Senate between Rep. Saxby Chambliss and Dem. Jim Martin. I casted my vote earlier today at a relatively empty poll station which only took five minutes of my time.

Although the numbers aren't all in as of now, I believe that Chambliss has a sizable lead. I did see some people in the streets rallying to get others to vote today, but the energy and and urgency of the citizens seemed kind of blah.

One thing I did find notable though was three of Atlanta's most prominent artists campaigning for Jim Martin yesterday at the capitol building. With all the negativity that seems to surround HipHop (and these artists in particular), it's good to see T.I., Young Jeezy, and Ludacris come together and represent themselves as the men they are. All three of the artists are known throghout the community for their philanthropic activities, but to come together and take a political stance is commendable in my opinion.

The importance of this race is that the Democrats can possibly become fillibuster-proff in the Congress if Martin gets in.

Gov. Sarah Palin (whom I thought I wouldn't have to see for a few years) was in the 'A' also yesterday campaigning for Chambliss. The messed up thing is, is that if he wins, I can see how some people will still champion this broad even though she would have had very little to do with a Chambliss victory. Gotta love (and by "love" I mean "hate") politics.

photos from Getty Images