I'm Not Voting For Obama because...

of the soundbites the media have taken out of context and perpetuated about what Rev Wright said...

*in Dave Chappelle's voice*

"SIKE!! Hahahaha!! Gotchu bitches!!!!"

I do support Obama's candidacy because of the issues AND because of what my homie says.

Anyhow...I'm not gonna get too political on this blog because that's not my intentions. In my eyes, it is what it is and I hope the bias coverage that has started to seep in doesn't influence those with strong convictions.

In the words of JJFad, "That's It..."

My Two Pennies: "I.N.D.E.P.E.N.D.E.N.T." from AUC Magazine Mar. 2008

Here's the unedited text:
================================================

"I.N.D.E.P.E.N.D.E.N.T. - Do You Know What That Mean, Mane?"

By now, I know you all have heard (and is probably tired of) Webbie's catchy jingle, "I.N.D.E.P.E.N.D.E.N.T." and it's accompanying video that concludes with a Black woman becoming President of the United States and putting an end to all of the world's major problems. Far-fetched? Very. Good message? No doubt! I find the song very refreshing amongst other tunes that pollute the airwaves these days.

Over the past few decades, we have witnessed numerous other tunes that have become "Women's Anthems" in Hip Hop as well as other genres of music. I think this is fantastic. However, in my opinion, the true meaning and message in these songs usually goes over the heads of the general public and is misconstrued. For some reason, the phrase "independent woman" has erroneously transformed into "I Don't Need A Man." I'm sorry ladies, but that's bullshyt!!

A lot of women wear the badge of "independent woman" with pride when in actuality, they ONLY claim that title by default. Let's face it, men sometimes drop the ball in relationships, thus FORCING the female to be independent and provide for themselves and their children. They have no choice. Trust me, if you had a good man who held up his end of the bargain, you would not be beating your chest bragging about your independent status. Basically, you made a poor decision in choosing a man and put yourself in that predicament.

On another hand, you have women who are educated, financially stable, and can honestly do for themselves who throw around that title. Whoopity Do. You want a cookie? You're SUPPOSE to be able to provide for yourself if you're grown - be it man or woman. I liken that ideology to men who want "brownie points" for raising their damn kids. You don't get extra credit for these things people.

But getting back to the music...

My brother recently asked me if I felt like Beyonce was contradictory in making a song like "Bills Bills Bills", which most considered an ode to golddiggers, and then turn around and make ditties such as "Independent Woman" and "Upgrade You". I explained to him that the lyrics are not conflicting because "Bills Bills Bills" is not about a girl who's just looking for a man to pay her bills. If you listen, you'll discover it's about a female who's tired of her man running up her bills (phone bill, gas bill, car note, etc.) and not putting in. Therefore, the lyrics coincide with those of the other tunes I mentioned. Most women took the song the same way my brother did though and interpreted as a man needs to pay the woman's bill. Not true.

I remember around this time last year, damn near every chick with a myspace page had "Upgrade You" as their profile song or quote. However, many ladies are incapable of upgrading shyt. Flossing their sassy ass attitude, they missed the key elements of which Ms. Knowles was saying. Let's take a look...

Beyonce: "Taking care of home and still fly / That's a good look / I can help you build up your account / That's a good look..."

Translation: Real women take care of their home (read: their man and children).

Beyonce: "Anything you cop, I'll split the bill."

Translation: None needed...that's self-explanatory.

Beyonce: "It's very seldom that you're blessed to find your equal / Still play my part and let you take the lead role / Believe me, I'll follow, this could be easy / I'll be your help whenever you need me / I see you hustle, with my hustle, I can keep you / focused on your focus, I can feed you"

Meaning: In one verse, Ms. Knowles basically explains how relationships SHOULD work and how they can work. Everybody should just play their role.

The bottom line is, with the "I don't need a man" attitude, our families will continue its downward spiral in the era of baby daddies/mamas and poor child-rearing practices. Being able to provide for yourself should be the norm, not a title that's used to exhibit cockiness and vanity. Ladies, just remember that independent means SELF-contained, SELF-governing, SELF-sufficient, and SELF-supporting. But when taken overboard, you'll only find yourSELF by YOURSELF.

my two pennies...

My Two Pennies: "Death Of The Video Hoe" from AUC Magazine Feb. 2008

This is from the AUC Magazine. I write a column in there and I encourage you all to check it out. It's available at selected college campuses across the country or you can go to aucmagazine.com for more info.

Anyway, I know the words in this picture are kinda small so here's the unedited text from yours truly...

=================================================================

Ok...I'm sick of this shyt!! As a music video director, I am utterly disgusted by the name-calling and double standards that society has put in place when it comes to ethnic models who appear in music videos. Why the hell are they labeled as "video hoes"?? To hear these grossly exaggerated generalizations is despicable especially when they're from a race of people who have been plagued with stereotypes for centuries.

Let me ask you a question: Did the young ladies of the Rutgers basketball team deserve to be called "hoes"? Let me answer that for you. NO!! So why is it that so many ignorant fucks out there pass judgment and place labels on these women knowing very little about their personal lives. These women are Sisters, Daughters, and Mothers-just because they're in music videos, why should that warrant the unjust labeling?

Advertisers adhere to the age-old adage that "sex sells" and models in videos are essentially selling the artist and the song. It's the same principle alcohol distributors, car manufacturers, and clothing companies have utilized since their conception. Even when the blond-haired, blue-eyed Barker beauties are parading around Rice-A-Roni, vacuum cleaners, and "new car"s on "The Price Is Right", those models are using their sexy appearance to sell the show. When the sexy ladies of the popular game show, "Deal Or No Deal", open those briefcases, their appearance is a part of the show's appeal. Those women are not called "game show hoes" so why are the women in urban clips called "video hoes".

I think it goes back to black people just hating themselves - forcing them to hate on others like them...but that's a different article in itself. I digress.

Many people who aren't in the industry doesn't realize that these women are on set (at work) for 14, maybe 16 hours a day. In addition, it takes a huge amount of courage and confidence to be in front of a camera while people are standing around watching you. The average person can NOT do it. Many of these women watch their diet and exercise regularly to keep their bodies in great shape and we KNOW that the average American does NOT have gym memberships and fast food consumption is the norm since everybody's always in a rush.

I'll even say instead of blasting these women, more folks should look at their positive attributes and emulate them. Especially the over-weight slobs that sit on their asses all day and watch music videos.

Just my two pennies...

GREATEST VIDEO OF ALL TIME!! part TWO

This joint speaks for itself.

No matter what people say about dude, they can never take away his status as the King of Pop. He revolutionalized (is that a word?) music videos time and time again with his classics.

This one in particular stands out to me because of its concept, special effects, and dance sequences - very ground-breaking at the time. Also, there plenty of familiar faces from Eddie Murphy, Iman, Magic, and even Fatima, famed TV/Radio personality/dancer/choreographer. She's SO HipHop to me....

Anyway, here's MJ's "Remember The Time".



It's still funny that the kiss looked SO staged and unreal though...LOL!!

"Dunn Dunn/Foolish" by Shawty Lo *OFFICIAL"

This is the video that y'all seen the messed up situations in my previous blog. Please don't blame the artists and rappers that give a realistic portrayal of life in these sides of town. Please direct your voice towards the City of Atlanta...

This video (as well as many others) serves as a reflection of what's going on in our communities. Before you pass judgement, please visit these places and talk to the folks who call this place "HOME".

Black Is The New Bitch

Ok...

In reading that title, how does that make you feel? If you find it offensive and disturbing, this post is probably about YOUR sensitive ass.

In recent years, I have found that the bitch-ivity meter amongst the black community in America is at an all-time HIGH. Blacks are really acting like little bitches with their overly-sensitive, non-sensicle rants about any and everything. It seems like all a white person has to do is breathe on a black person wrong and y'all niggas get your panties in a bunch and cry racist QUICK. NEGRO PLEASE!! Get over yourselves.

Just last year during the Michael Richards (Kramer) and Don Imus fiascos, I really thought that racism had been erased and was magically restored by the way some of these niggas reacted. NEWSFLASH NIGGER: Racism has and ALWAYS will exist in the world. Why are you so surprised that these two white niggas made the statements they did???? Did you REALLY think that we had overcome and we are being looked at as equals in a system that has thrived off of our CONTINUED oppression for centuries???? Do you think that they're not many whites that use derrogatory terms with regards to us every day, whether there's malice behind it or not??



Moreso, why does everything warrant a march or a damn protest? I respect Sharpton and Jackson for their efforts over the years and I truly believe that they're sincere with a lot of the things they do, but just because a white person says something off-color about someone black doesn't mean that we should lynch them. I hear Chris Rock and all the nigga comedians use terms like "cracker", "trailor park trash", and slurs directed towards other racial groups yet I don't see those groups bitching up and protesting shows and movies with these entertainers in them.

***SIDENOTE: I'm sick and tired of black stand-up comics always coming on stage using the same tired line, "I see we got some white folks in the audience tonight...*insert lame ass joke about white people here*". Man that shyt is beyond played out. If you don't have anything funny and original to say about them, don't acknowledge them niggas at all. Please. END SIDENOTE***

By now, I know some of you have checked out the blog StuffEducatedBlackPeopleLike.wordpress.com.. It's a carbon copy of the white site and basically it's satirical comedy that pokes fun at generalizations that exist among "educated" Blacks. The shyt is HILARIOUS!! If you haven't, you should check it out...

Anyway, after reading some of the comments that people were leaving, I was appalled at how many "educated" niggas Just. Don't. Get. It. The whole thing is meant to be a funny representation that "educated" blacks can relate to and get a quick laugh at - hence the whole satirical tone of the posts, but folks are leaving comments like the site is destoying the unity that exists amongst blacks or something (Can you hear the irony in my voice?).

It's a freakin' BLOG for crying out loud and bitch-ass black folks are acting like the author is the anti-christ just cause the humor (for the most part) is hitting a little too close to home. Again I say, NEGRO PLEASE.

I'm black and proud of it, but I hope y'all niggas learn to grow the fuck up and stop acting like little kids when someone calls you a name. Shiiiid...matter of fact, you're WORST than little kids cause at least most of them will either let the name-calling roll off of them or just call the person a name back instead bitching and crying about it. Invest that energy in something you have the power to actually change and not the petty bullshyt.

And remember, you're only a "nigger" if you answer to it.

I Like My Gangsta Rap GANGSTA!!

I LOVE gangsta rap.

I'm a fan.

Fanatic.

I grew up on it and my affection for that particular realm of Hip Hop will always have a special, endearing place in my heart. The brashness is attractive and eye-catching...the straight-foward attitude is refreshing in a sea of lames who beat around the bush and look to make everything romantic and artsy...the unapologetic tone of the curse words are stimulating and it let's me know that gangsta rap means what it says. If I could, I'd give gangsta rap a long, passionate, whole-hearted hug...even though that would add to my non-gangsta...I'd do it anyway cause I love it so much.



I still remember my grade school years when my uncle would pick me up from my grandmother's house with my cousins in the pick up truck and we'll listen to the delightful tunes of ICE-T's "POWER" tape. My uncle had a very lacsodasical approach about the profanity. My cousins and I listened to tales of Drama, High Rollers, and Pushers just before we walked up into St. Mary's of Redford (Catholic) Grade School doors. Is that irony for your ass or what? Nope, I call it balance.

Anyway...whatever happened to real gangsta rap????

With all due respect, the cats that say they do it now, really don't DO it for me like the NWA's, Geto Boys, Spice 1's, DJ Quik's, and UGK's. The evidence is clearly seen as today's so-called "gangsta rappers" SEEK mass appeal.

HELLO!?!?!?

I guess I just don't understand how soft the gangstas are these days. The nigga Eazy-E once rapped about reachin' back like a pimp and slappin' a hoe. Please listen to "Boyz N Da Hood" and you'll find Eazy also throwing "a right cross to knock his old ass out", referring to a young lady's father.

What happened to THESE type of lyrics??

AMG once rapped, "Open up your coach bag, bitch, so I can get paid" in the classic "Bitch Betta Have My Money".

"We don't just say no, we're too busy saying, "Yeeeaahh" / About drinking straight out the 8 bottle / Do I look like a muthafuckin' rolemodel / to a kid lookin' up to me / Life ain't nuthin' but bitches and money" - Ice Cube "Gangsta Gangsta"

C'mon...where is the gangsta shyt these days?? Niggas are too preoccupied with making it rain on them hoes. (Check my previous post: "TRICKS UP, PIMPS DOWN?") What the fuck!!

And when it comes to sex...

It's funny to me how in recent years people still continue to come down on rap lyrics. Maaannnnn, the shyt they doing nowadays holds NO WEIGHT compared to what my nigga Luke and 'em was doing.

"I thought I came in her mouth, but I was only peein'" -Brother Marquis of the 2 Live Crew

C'monnnn...niggas don't even have the balls to say some shyt like this in today's climate. Sheeesh!! And they wonder why they can't sell records.

I'mma go out on a limb and even say this: I love 2Pac's music, BUT I blame HIM for these pussy ass niggas frontin' like they're makin' gangsta music. Pac once said something to the effect that in order to sell records, you have to make records for the girls. The girls will buy it and the niggas will flock behind them. REALLY, that was the death of true GANGSTA Rap.

Cats are out there now just tryin' to sell records...therefore, they're catering to the female audience and trying to make that "club banger".

MC Eiht and Compton's Most Wanted didn't give a fuck about a club banger!! Kool G. Rap and DJ Polo didn't give a fuck about a club banger!! They left that shyt for Hammer, Kid 'N Play, Salt 'N Pepa, Rob Base, Young MC and 'em. No disrespect because I LOVE all of those acts but sometimes I just want to hear some raw Gangsta shyt.

Whatever happened to making people cross over to you???? NWA made that hardcore shyt and the white kids that bought records back then ATE. IT. UP. They didn't compromise their shyt trying to get that club single or trying to sell a bunch of ringtones. They just kept it funky. And it worked!!

For the sake of raw gangsta music, I hope more artists go back to their roots and tap into that rawness that made Hip Hop famous and infamous at the same time...

One of the NICEST (hardest) lyricists EVER: Kool G. Rap...



Here's Cube...


Eazy Muthafuckin' E...

GREATEST VIDEO OF ALL TIME!! part ONE

As a film director, on of my most frequently asked question I get from folks is:

What's your most favorite music video of all time?? The answer is...ALL OF MINE!! LOL!! Just playin'...not really...

But nahhh...truthfully, there are several music videos that I would say are my FAVORITE. That's right...SEVERAL. I think music videos is such a fascinating form of visual arts because:

Number One: I LOVE MUSIC!!

Number Two: I LOVE FILM and PHOTOGRAPHY!!

Put 'em together and what do you have?? That's Right...Music Videos...
I also have a great love for Motion Pictures (that's the ultimate goal). but i KNOW that a movie is NOT a movie without its score and soundtrack. Try watching a horror flick with the sound on mute...it's not scarry at all.

Anyway...I don't mean to ramble so much, BUT I'll leave you with one of the Greatest Videos Of All Time.

The group is Public Enemy and the song is "Night Of The Living Baseheads". The year is '89 and the epidemic of crack cocaine was reaching its zenith. Of course this vid had a good message, but foremost, i applaud it for it's creativity and originality. THEY HAD A FUCKIN' COMMERCIAL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE VIDEO for cryin' out loud!! Nobody dares to do such a thing nowadays...

Anyhow...without futher ado...here's P.E. "Night of the Living Baseheads"



Public Enemy - Night of the Living Baseheads

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BAMMM
And you say, Goddamn
This is the dope jam
But lets define the term called dope
And you think it mean funky now, no
Here is a true tale
Of the ones that deal
Are the ones that fail
Yeah
You can move if you wanna move
What it prove
It's here like the groove
The problem is this - we gotta' fix it
Check out the justice - and how they run it
Sellin', smellin'
Sniffin', riffin'
And brothers try to get swift an'
Sell to their own, rob a home
While some shrivel to bone
Like comatose walkin' around
Please don't confuse this with the sound
I'm talking about...BASS

I put this together to...
Rock the bells of those that
Boost the dose
Of lack a lack
And those that sell to Black
Shame on a brother when he dealin'
The same block where my 98 be wheelin'
And everybody know
Another kilo
From a corner from a brother to keep another -
Below
Stop illin' and killin'
Stop grillin'
Yo, black, yo (we are willin')
4, 5 o'clock in the mornin'
Wait a minute y'all
The fiends are fiendin'
Day to day they say no other way
This stuff...
Is really bad
I'm talkin' 'bout...BASS

Yo, listen
I see it on their faces
(First come first serve basis)
Standin' in line
Checkin' the time
Homeboys playin' the curb
The same ones that used to do herb
Now they're gone
Passin' it on
Poison attack - the Black word bond
Daddy-O
Once said to me
He knew a brother who stayed all day in his jeep
And at night he went to sleep
And in the mornin' all he had was
The sneakers on his feet
The culprit used to jam and rock the mike, yo
He stripped the jeep to fill his pipe
And wander around to find a place
Where they rocked to a different kind of...BASS


I just wanted to put the lyrics in there to let y'all see how drugs have REALLY ripped at the core of our community. The shyt that Chuck D spit back in '88-'89 STILL has a grasp on society.

I can go on and on about how the law is set up to crash down on the nigga in the hood hustling as oppose to the muafuckas who's getting the shyt in...but that's an other post.

Either They Don't Know...Don't Show...

"or don't care about what goes on in the hood" - Doughboy (1991).

On February 5th, 2008, I received a shocking reality check. We were on the tech scout for our music video, Shawty Lo's "Dunn Dunn", and one of the locations was off of Simpson Rd.. For those not familiar, Simpson Rd. and the rest of this west side Atlanta community is infamous for low poverty living, drug-infestation, and poor living conditions.



The location was AMAZING (Visually)...being that it matched the hardcore look we were going for. However, I had no idea that people actually LIVE there. It looks like condemned apartments that are just waiting for a bulldozer to come through and tear it down. So imagine my disbelief when I seen a little girl who was maybe 6 years old coming home from school dragging her backpack through the pissy terrain smitten with empty liquor bottles, trashed food, and used condom wrappers. The shyt is sick.

The imagery really left an impression on me so I went back yesterday just to chop it up with the people who were still living there. I talked to a young woman who is raising her 12 year-old son and 4-year-old daughter. She told me that basically, they've been left to rot there. Some of the units are still occupied because they have no place to go. Meanwhile, the furnaces and water heaters have been ripped out of other units causing flooding in some of the apartments. And I do mean FLOODING!! And the water is constantly running. It makes me think about all this talk that's been going on about this drought that we're having and they have water constantly flowing over here and no one from the City of Atlanta is doing shyt about it.



She also told me that the city's sanitary workers haven't picked up the trash in almost four months. FOUR. FREAKIN'. MONTHS. Wow!! I don't know about y'all, but I can easily fill up a few trash bags within a week's time before the garbage man comes to get it. Can you imagine living in an area where you have trash from an entire complex that hasn't been picked up in 16 weeks??

The woman did tell me that they will be tearing the place down in the months to come...thus leaving these people with no where to go. And just keep in mind, it's not just adults living here, but KIDS also. It seems like Katrina in Atlanta and the government isn't doing a damn thing about it because it's not affecting the more affluent Atlantans.

Anyway, I just felt the need to say something and share that...here are some more photos I took while I was there:



In the railing above, you can see that some of the wooden posts are missing, making it VERY easy for a small child to fall through...*smh*



No place for children to be playing at...



Flooded Apartments...



And please believe that places like this exist all over the country...
Are you willing to do anything about it??

Tricks Up, Pimps Down??

It seems like just yesterday.



I had just left school on a chilly November afternoon. It's 1993. I remember vividly the brisk Detroit wind shaking my hooptie as I drove down the freeway. I was a senior in high school so as usual, I couldn't wait to get as far as I could away from that eight-story prison called Cass Technical High School. On a typical day, I would head straight home so I can change clothes and go to work. But this was no typical day.

I was FEENIN''. I mean, like, Really Jonesin'. So I was on a mission to get to Damon's Record Center, who was my reliable supplier whenever I needed my frequent fix for dope lyrics and intoxicating beats. I just wanted to get hiiiigggghhhhh.... Keep in mind, this was 15 years ago when the shyt we used to intake into our ears was much more potent than the watered-down shyt they sell on the streets nowadays.

Long story short...

I got there...got my shyt...and raced to the car so I can take a hit. I ripped off the packaging and popped the tape into the deck. I just sat there in the parking lot soaking it in. It was DOPE!! It was Snoop Doggy Dogg's (before he dropped the 'Doggy') first tape - "DoggyStyle".



When I got home, I locked myself in my room and indulged.

Snoop's lazy yet acrobatic drawl was the perfect match to Dre's rhythmic symphonies. The lyrics were raw and crass, unapologetic to a degree where it was almost a fault. I really knew that when Snoop said, "I don't love dem hoes," he really meant it. I can't fault him for that. Even though the infamous way he exclaimed "Be-yotch!!" was derived from the great poet Too Short, it just seemed so much cooler when Snoop said it.

This was an era in rap music where it was cool to be a pimp. No Doubt. This post is not about the many morality issues surrounding pimps, hoes, squares, and tricks, but moreso a question to the young brothers who were supposedly influenced by these iconic hip hop tunes that some classify as "Gangster Rap". WHEN DID IT BECOME COOL TO BE A FUCKIN' TRICK????

I ask this question with a great deal of sincerity and seriousness because I really don't understand. I don't know, maybe I'm stuck in a different era, but I didn't think we were suppose to love these hoes. Remember Big Daddy Kane and Nice & Smooth's "Pimpin' Ain't Easy"? Ice-Cube's "I Ain't The 1"?? Geto Boys' "Gangster Of Love"??? Hello...Anyone???? Not once in any of these songs did niggas make it rain on dem hoes!! Why is it so "cool" nowadays to throw money in the air and watch it fall on broads' heads and then to the floor? No matter how you look at it, THAT'S TRICKIN'!!

You say, "It ain't trickin' if you got it." I say, BULLSHYT!! Regardless of how much you have, if you trick off your money, you's a fuckin' trick, TRICK!! Case close.

What's the deal with young folks these days? They're makin' songs about buying broads drinks, being in love with strippers, even lacing bitches up with jewlery, clothes, and all types of Burken bags and shyt. What The Fuck!?!? A Birkin bag is like 12K. If you spending that much, it's obvious you love the hoe. When does the simpin' cease? You're sending all types of mixed messages to the youth by saying that you're a pimp or mack or you're swagger is so undenible, the girls just flock to you. No Nigga...their flocking to you cause you're a trick ass nigga throwin' money in the air. It's not your swag, homie. Sorry.

The music I was raised on taught me that you suppose to spit game to a girl and get her with your mouthpiece. And in reality, any decent woman worth talking to should like you for YOU and not your net worth anyway.

Let's cut to the chase. C'mon dog, be real...you're spending money and making it rain cause you want to hit it OR you're an attention whore yourself. That's it. If that's what you're doing, hey, to each his own, but don't deny the fact that you're a trick. Bottom line is, you's a trick, she's a hoe (if she's fuckin' you for cash or "gifts"), and 9 times out of 10, she's probably paying another dude...we'll just call him "the pimp".

Now, don't get me wrong. I've been known to go to a strip club or two in my day and by no means am I saying that I am tricking-exempt. BUT, I've never claimed to be a pimp either and I damn sure don't make it rain.

I'm just sayin', let's call a spade a spade and stop the frontin', Trick.

This public service announcement has been brought to you by Concerned Citizens For The Betterment Of Dilusional Rappers and of course my2cents-sense.blogspot.com.