Return Of The Gangster, Gangster!

The Hip-Hop Historians are crying and so are the Hip-Hop Purists (and all us other "Hip-Hop" crybabies whining about Hip-Hop being dead). We've lost almost ever battle we've had to try to revive Hip-Hop, but the war isn't over yet. First, lets clear up a misconception that a lot of the fans of current Hip-Hop have. The revival movement in Hip-Hop is not about bringing New York Hip-Hop back, it's about bringing back the skills aspect of Hip-Hop. Back when rappers were all doing "da- bum, da- bum, da-bum, ha, ha", Kool Moe Dee, Run DMC and a few others forced rappers to actually think about what they were saying. Even though I disagree with the idea, some Hip-Hop heads put Melle Mel as one of the greatest of all time because "The Message" changed the landscape of Hip-Hop. They say without "The Message", we'd be left with meaningless songs about partying, which was the main theme in the late seventies and early eighties (and the main theme currently). Most Hip-Hop heads that I converse with don't have a New York returning" agenda, just a "Hip-Hop returning" agenda. I think most would agree with me that artist outside of New York have had a tremendous input on Hip-Hop history. N.W.A. gave the disenfranchised youth of L.A. a voice, Ice-T is a pioneer, King Tee, E-40, Too Short, even M.C. Hammer have all opened up the gates of California to the rest of the world, etching the West Coast into the Hip-Hop history books (which don't exist). Arguably one of the greatest rappers in history is Scarface, a rapper from Houston, TX. You can go on and on with a list of southern artist that have defined Hip-Hop. Three of my favorite groups of all time (all behind Wu-Tang Clan and Mobb Deep, I am from New York) are from the south, Outkast, 8Ball & MJG, and The Underground Kings. I don't even have to go into what T.I., Goodie Mob, Three 6 Mafia (in their own way), Lil Jon, and others have done to put the Dirty South in the Hip-Hop history books. Us Hip-Hop crybabies, like Nas, want more from our Hip-Hop music. Not really a return to the former state of Hip-Hop, but greater substance than there has been in the past years. When any rapper can get away with saying "On some G shit, Us & Cadbury are a perfect fit, we both specialize in smashin the streets with that sweetness" (thanks Jimmy for enlightening us on the reason you all say "no homo"), we should all stop and ask ourselves what is wrong with us as Hip-Hop consumers. So when you hear one of us (Hip-Hop purists, backpackers, Hip-Hop heads, Hip-Hop crybabies, whatever you want to call us) talking about Hip-Hop being dead, I want you to look at Hip-Hop and tell me it isn't dead creatively. And a note to my fellow Hip-Hop purists, don't cry, we still have Ghostface Killah.

Peace, I mean WAR!

A Brave New World!

I was watching Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday, and I realized just how stupid some people are. The topic that they were discussing was the same topic from every show, how much President Bush is fucking up Iraq. President Bush and his fellow idiots, or diabolical madmen, would like the American public to believe that things are getting better out in Iraq. If Americans actually picked up a newspaper, and not the Source, Vibe or XXL (for you niggas out there), they would know that over 100 people died in Iraq just Thursday (explain that Senator McCain). As I've said before, how can America possibly believe that they can defeat the Islamic Extremist, they are willing to die for their beliefs, how many Americans can make that claim. But back to the stupidity of the American public, mainly the people at NASCAR races screaming America is number one. Another fact that most Americans can't or won't get through their skulls is that America is not number one and hasn't been number one in a while. Even though we have the most billionaires (which doesn't explain all of the poor people I know, including myself), the most Noble Prize winners, and the most people on the internet (looking for underage girls, just ask Chris Hansen), we are still not number one in a lot of things. China and India have larger Armed Forces than the "most powerful nation", Israel spends more money than us on the military, even though Israel isn't bigger than New Jersey (but should be used as a landfill just like it), and we have the largest National Debt. Over 25 countries have more doctors, more hospital space, lower infant mortality rates, and higher life expectancies. Our prison system is packed with the most people (mostly, excuse my French, niggas and spics), we are only surpassed by Canada (crazy frost-backs) and South Africa in most rapes, we're 15th highest on the murder rate charts (sometimes I want to help boost that stat), and the worst is that we are 139 of 172 nations when it comes to people voting (listen to Diddy, people). See, Middle America (just as radical as the Middle East), we aren't number one in many categories (even though we have the most overweight people). How can a country that sends still injured troops back into war, actually claim to be the greatest country in the world. When we throw veterans (such as myself) into substandard hospitals or even worst, on the streets, how can we actually consider ourselves the greatest. There's plenty of times I've watched The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Real Time, Bullshit and Hannity & Colmes and laughed, but the issues that they joke about on these news satires are serious (my friend just told me that Hannity & Colmes is real news, could've fooled me, next they'll say the O'Reilly Factor is real news too). I think we as Americans work too hard to be number one at meaningless things, that we forget the important ones. Lets stop trying to be the American Idol, the Next Top Model, New York's lover, or whatever America's watching this week, and try to be "the greatest nation" in the world. On an ending note, why did Oprah have to travel all the way to Africa to find children that want to learn, why aren't many Americans smarter than a 5th grader, and why hasn't everybody learned that Ann Coulter is a stupid cunt (yes, I said stupid cunt).

Peace, I mean WAR!

Momma, I made it!

I was walking by a playground the other day and I notice how different it was from the playgrounds of my childhood. There was a slab of rubber covering the entire playground. Every piece of equipment was made of molded plastic and had rubber bumpers covering sharp edges. I want to give you a tour of my childhood playground at my elementary school back in the eighties. As you walk into the playground, which is surrounded by ten foot chain link fences with a couple of holes in it (it's supposed to keep out the guy in the white van), you see three slides, a set of swings and a set of Seesaws. The first piece of equipment you see is the tall slide, it was the giant slide that all the brave kids would climb up to prove that they had balls. The slides back then had a completely vertical ladder full of slippery bars as rungs (when it rain, you'd slip and bust your chin on one of the rungs) that led to a slab of metal that was the slide. Now imagine a reflective piece of metal on a hot summer day and a bunch of kids wearing shorts. The greatest test of balls, was standing on top of the tall slide without holding on to anything. The slide I saw at the new playground was made of plastic and had rails to keep you inside of the slide. Underneath the exit ramp of the slide was a slab of rubber, unlike my old slide where there was a slab of concrete as you exited. The next apparatus was the swings, a metal contraption with metal seats hanging from it. You would get on the metal bench and your friend would push you as hard as they can and you would try to touch the sky. The brave souls would try to touch the sky while standing on the bench, then the idiot friend would dare you to jump from the bench to the solid concrete below from as high as you can. The swings I saw the other day were the same metal contraption, instead they had what they call safety seats. Safety seats are molded plastic with straps to keep the child in the seat. Under the swing was that same slab of rubber made from old tires. The swings even had locks on them to keep them from swinging to high, there is no more touching the sky. The next playground set was the Seesaws or Teeter Totter, a metal bar with metal benches hanging off of it. Back in my youth, everything was metal and nothing was wrapped with rubber for protection (that's how most of us got here). You would never walk too close to the Seesaw, because a dickhead kid would try to smack you with the seat part of the Seesaw. You would never make fun of the fat kid on the other end of the Seesaw or you would be in the air for the entire recess. But if you had the balls, you would stand up on the Seesaw, while your friends hold the other side down. They would let go and hopefully you would jump off in time not to get hit with the seat. Or the asshole kid would jump off while you were in the air and you would slam to the ground and hurt the family jewels. The Seesaw in today's playground was made of molded plastic or wood and it had safety features. It had a slow lowering mechanism to keep the family jewels safe from that asshole kid. It had locks to keep it from going too high. They even had a Seesaw that you could play on by yourself (what happened to leaving the kid with cooties to stand at the fence doing nothing). This is just part of the pussification of America's youth. My friend told me that the parents at his cousin's school protested against Dodge ball, because it was too dangerous. Dodge ball teaches children about the real world, and that if you don't move or work hard, the asshole boss or president will knock you the hell out with his ball, signifying rules or something. Then I was looking at toys and realized, every generation becomes more pussified than the last generation. The kids before me played with Lawn Darts, Big Wheels and Pet Rocks. During my youth we played with Slip And Slides, Power Wheels and Tonka trucks. The kids in these days play video games, Just think what the kids in the future will be playing with. In the future there may be no interaction between children, no crazy stunts, no overly masculine actions and no shows of machismo. It kind of reminds me of my boy Al's blog entry. Let's stop the pussification of America's youth. Buy a young boy a porno magazine, take a kid to a strip club for his eighteenth birthday, stop the pussification.

Peace, I mean WAR!

I got that ignorant shit you like!

I was reading the usually AP articles and I read one that said that the youth of America (generally considered anybody under 30 these days) gets it news from alternative outlets more than newspapers. The article made me think about where I get my news from. I watch a news show here and there, a little Anderson Cooper 360, a little Hannity and Colmes (even though I hate them both), some Scarborough Country, and maybe a little Nancy Grace (but I never enter the Situation Room {even though Wolf Blitzer's cool}, never check out the O'Reilly Factor, and fuck Ann Coulter). I used to read the New York Daily News and Post every morning, but they put more about Lindsay Lohan than actual news, and the New York Times is just so boring. I don't watch local news because all the prime time dramas come on at 10 o'clock and then The Daily Show and Colbert Report takes up the 11 o'clock slot Monday thru Thursday, and Bill Maher on Friday. I read most of my news on the internet at CNN.com, FoxNews.com, etc., between listenings of freestyles and new songs at NahRight.com (Hip-Hop news is still more important than global events). I think that I'd rather get my news straight from AP (Associated Press for the uninformed), instead of from somebody that sits next to President Bush at a $5000 a plate dinner, how can he not be biased. Most news outfits are ran by multi-millionaires that are joined by their subjects for golfing and instead of giving the viewers facts, they give us pre-scripted press releases. That's why most people would rather listen to comedians joke while stating the truth, than watch news anchors seriously state lies. It's alright that we, as the youth of America, have rebelled against the "mainstream media" (whatever that word "mainstream" means), but I think we are losing something by not entertaining every method of obtaining information. We miss out on why Bill O'Reilly is an idiot, we miss why Sean Hannity is a pretentious cock, or why Ann Coulter is such a bitch. And of course, we need to read newspapers (and books for that matter). In the words of Jay-Z on the intro to Tru Life's "Tru York", "If you niggas is done living in a fantasy world, allow me to introduce you to true life!". Basically, I'm saying, America was made by the people, for the people (not just white people anymore), and we run this, not them, so lets get control back from the idiots.

Peace, I mean WAR!

I try to pretend that I'm different, but in the end we're all the same!

Now onto some real shit, it's the return of the gangster (been vibing on Outkast again). I've been trying to get accustomed to my new "hood", it's slightly different from my old "hood". I moved to Rosedale, NY (which these niglets refer to as Mobzdale, it's a blood thing), and the niglets are different around these parts. Back in The Rock (6th borough to the death), the niglets did their niggerish deeds with more flair and finesse, out here they just follow the trends. I'm going to veer for a second and tell a story of one of my folk. One of my folks is, lets say obsessed (or has a man crush on) a famous rapper. He goes by the same name as the rapper, he emulates the rappers actions and tries to be just like this rapper. Now anybody that knows me, knows I'm a Jay-Z fan, I wish I had his money, his girlfriend, but I would never "swagger-jack" Jay-Z, like my boy has done to his favorite rapper. My family knows exactly who I'm talking about and it's kind of sad that he wants to be so much like this dude that looks like the rabbit from Donnie Darko. This actually further explains the niglets in my new "hood". They all dress like Jim Jones, with tight pants pulled down to their knees, wallet chains with no wallets, t-shirts over thermals, and the new thing, skull chains and belt buckles. Back in The Rock, at least the niglets had their own style (except for a few). I've listen to Tru Life, Nas, Jay-Z and others talking about the way New York dudes are biting other parts of the country, and for a few days I wanted to disagree, but I came to realize that it was a truthful statement. I'm proud to be myself and not a cheap rip-off of a rapper. I'm so tired of the fake Jim Jones', Lil Wayne's, T.I.'s, Kanye West's, Game's, etc. Be your own man, not a little somebody else. Also anyone that needs a good laugh, check this Cam'ron video out.

Peace, I mean WAR!

Save Room for my Love!

My life is in suspended animation at this exact moment and I don't know what I need to get me out of this seemingly perpetual social coma. I can't find that excitement that people seek when they go out to clubs and events. To be completely honest, I don't actually know what people are looking for when they go out to clubs and events. I've never really been a club type of dude, I usually just went because it was one of my folks parties or it was a night when I had nothing better to do. I'd walk in the club, and just play the wall, angry at the d.j.'s choice of spins, or mad that that girls with that dude. I'm not an angry dude, I'm not in an everlasting bad mood, my "ice-grill" is just a defense mechanism that keeps people from annoying me. My grimace is not directed at anything in particular, I just never got into the whole ten dollar drink, bad music, dressing up to impress nobody, fronting for girls that look good in dark lighting, club thing. Most the time, when I'm in a club, I'm more enjoying the music than trying to hook up with a female. I might dance a little bit, but I'm not Deney Terrio (too far back for some), and like most dudes my height, my knees can only take so much. I don't drink that much either, being inebriated hasn't exited me since I was nineteen. Maybe I'm just always looking for a letdown, maybe I'm a pessimist, but I've just never gotten anything out of the club scene. One of my folks once told me that a female you meet in a club is just not a female you want to keep outside of the club, that's her habitat and outside of that she doesn't know how to live (he was the loneliest person I've ever met). Another of my folks (a very unsociable dude) told me that clubs are just havens for ill deeds and raunchy acts. Maybe I'm looking to deep in the whole club scene, maybe it's just people getting together to enjoy music, alcohol, and the company of others. Maybe I need to get out more and stop looking for a deeper meaning to everything. Maybe I over think a lot of the time, and take life and myself way too serious. Maybe I shouldn't be looking so hard for that special whatever, maybe whatever I need will fall in my lap (like when we in Brooklyn at the spot). I apologize to anyone that read this and was looking for something insightful, I just had to vent on this one.

Peace, I mean WAR!