Hip Hop is Hypocritical about Sex or Merry Xmas.

A few weeks ago we discussed the Video Vixens, Hip Hop and D'boys.
I learned a few things about what you all think about women, hip hop and sex.

• Video Vixens and strippers are some of the most determined, focused and driven women you know.
  
• Some of you people believe that it is more morally corrupt for a woman to have sex with rappers and write a book about it then for rappers to sell crack, rap about it, and have baby-oiled up women clappin' @ss in their videos.
  
• Others of you think that that the video vixens shouldn't write their books because they have children.
• And finally, a few of you think that the rappers are entitled to be able to mash with women, and not have their confidentiality breached.
  

I must say that I was surprised by some of the responses.

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Anyone got that NFL channel?

I really wanted to catch, at least the first quarter of the Cowboys game last week.

They Go So Hard. Just Sweet inspiration, I tell you.

Speaking of sports, you think the Knicks can get AI? (clearly I wrote this before he went to the Nuggets).

I know there are salary cap issues, but AI and E. Curry could be a dominant combination.

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Er. My folks over at the Smoking Section got Bigged up in this months source.
It seems like '07 is 'bout to be a break out year

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Warm wishes to you and yours this holiday season. I have some treats up the sleeve. A letter to black girls, a letter to black parents. Oh. And my Nas review. I might just go ahead and get that poppin' today.

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Krix Ex, Me & Rakim.

Kris Ex bigged me up in this month's XXL for my What if Rakim Had the Internet post from last June.

On June 10 of this year, Hummingbyrd, the mind behind a blog called Model Minority (modelminority.blogspot.com), asked, “What if Rakim had the Internet?” Among the answers she provided to her own question, Hummingbyrd stated that if Rakim had the Internet in 1990, his Long Island–based DJ and producer, Eric B., could have e-mailed beats to West Coast fire demon Ras Kass; video-sharing site YouTube would have made MTV obsolete; there would be a Web-based distribution network for hip-hop artists; and hip-hop publications, such as the one you’re reading now, would not have become the premier outlet for rappers to air their grievances with their peers. “I think that people like us,” wrote Hummingbyrd, “who adore music from the backpack, boom-bap era, would have a constant cycle of music to listen to and tours to attend.”

Shits. Hot right!?!?! I remember beefing w/ gotty and a couple of cats at his sight about this very topic.

I am working currently working on a summary of what I have learned from Y'ALL about the Karin/Carmen/Video Vixen's.

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Peep the bullets fly during the Sean Bell Shootin.

I wonder if Ray Kelly will resign before May.

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That new Nas is so nasty. I am officially a Nakel stanlesha.
Jesus.

Is it legal for them to be married, cute and so talented?

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Im bloggin from Oakland next week family. Gyyyyeah. O7 here we come!

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Angelina is really not a womans woman and needs to sit down and get some therapy. How you gone admit outloud that you don't like hugging people. Life is too short to a.) be going through it like that b.) to be advertising it.

Although she keeps up with mom Marcheline Bertrand, Jolie said she doesn't allow many people into her inner circle.

"I don't trust anyone," Jolie admitted.

"I don't think it's a good thing. This is going to make you think that maybe I should get some therapy, but trust is such a bizarre word. I'd like to say that I trust my mother, but I also don't know if she might do something that she thinks is in my best interest.

Still, "I trust Brad will never do anything," she said.

But after a few moments, Jolie then added, "I don't know. I don't trust anybody completely."

Jolie said she won't wear emotions on her sleeve - because it wouldn't do her any good.

"It's not going to accomplish anything to cry. It's not going to help you to get a hug!" she said.

"I'm not a hugger. People make fun of me. It's something that I have a hard time with. If someone hugs me, I hold my breath. Snuggling, cuddling, hugging, crying . . . all that stuff makes me very uncomfortable."

Except when it comes to her kids, the star said.

"Oh, I love hugging my kids," she quickly added. "It's a different thing because you feel such a genuine grab from them."

Plus she playing a BLACK WOMAN IN HER NEW MOVIE. Smacks teeth rolls eyes, listens to Lord Willin', louder! When we get to play white women. Let me KNOW something yall?

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Wow.

I Thought He Had A Gun.

All of you who know me KNOW I LOVE my brother. On December 28th 2003 my brother was allmost Sean Bell.

I am suspiciously close to my brother.

He is largely responsible for my b-girl dom as he bought me Marly Marl, MC Lyte and LL Cool J tapes when I was a young buck.

He is the only person that I will joke with about OUR crazy a$$ed momma with
and not catch feelings. I have not written about Sean Bell because he reminded me of December 28th 2003.
However when I saw this, I knew I had to put something down.

December 27th 2003, I was home in Cali, with my new engagement ring.

Blinging and Happy.

My brother, my neice and I went to the movies at the Metreon in Frisco to see Bad Santa.

6am. The next morning. My momma phone rings.

The police, had broken a flash light over my brothers head.

They beat him while he was handcuffed to a fence in an alley.

Apparently he was in East Oakland, and he ran.

You never run from the Oakland Police unless you are sure you are going to get away for true.

Im like. What? We were just at the movies. They trippin' for real.

Trust.

We go to Highland Hospital at 6:20am. The sky was turning pinkish orange. The sun was rising. They wouldn't let us see him.

If I knew then what I knew now I would have called Jim Zimora at the Chronicle, somebody at the Tribune, Chris Thompson at the Express.

I imagined that the media folks who would be interested in hearing about how the police beath the teeth out my brother, opened his head up witha flash light and THEN decided that they would not let us see him.

Only recently have I been able to look back and see how I went through every day with my brother, even though I was 2500 miles away. How, to a certain extent I checked out of my relationship with BBC and how it affected our engagement. Sh*t, thats life though, right?

From Jan 2004-May 2004:

• I was on the phone w/ John Burris's office, trying to find out if they would take his case.
• I wrote internal affairs, and requested an investigation.
• I wrote the Feds, asking for them to investigate a civil rights violation.
• I was a writing a$$ED cow!
• I eventually found a wonderful organization in San Francisco called the Ella Baker Center for Justice. If you or your loved one finds your self in a po po related pinch, contact them. They are a godsend.

It wasn't until May 2004 that I got my hands on the police report.

I was sitting in my aunties living room in San Jose.

I remember it being a warm late May morning.

She bought be a poppiseed bagel and coffee.

I came to those words in the police report.

I thought he had a gun.

I thought he had a gun.

I thought he had a gun.

When I heard about Sean Bell. Those 5 words came to mind.

Five simple, innocous, yet powerful words. 5 words that serve as a defense to, what
would normally be considered murder.

All I could think about was the fact that my brother is a softpaw.


That he was handcuffed to a fence.

Fortunately, years have passed and

He has recovered and is doing well.

I am grateful that he lived through it.

He very well could have been Sean Bell.

My heart and spirit goes out to the Bell family.

What I will allways remember most about December 28th is that sensation of
"This sh*t can't be happening because I JUST SAW HIM'.

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That was a personal M.Dot post.

We all have these stories, I would imagine.

I guess it was just time for me to share mine.
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What Does Sex Have to Do With It? Carmen, Video Vixens and Hip Hop.

Even Meylssa Ford Drives a Honda Accord
-Game "You Wont Get Far"

We always hear about rappers f*cking video vixens and women in general. We see video vixens in rap videos and on the cover of King, Smooth and Black Men. Little black and brown girls want to grow up to be video vixens.

But we never hear from the vixens themselves.

At least not until Karrine Stephans wrote her book.

The Madonna Whore Syndrome
To a certain extent, the message being sent is that is theat the vixens are like children, they should be seen and not heard. Which brings me to Carmens book.

A couple of weeks ago I reading Eskay's post where he called Carmen a slore (slut + whore) and a spooge receptacle, I began to wonder:

a. If Carmen is a "slore" then what does that make Jay, Nas and AI?
b. If they are not worthy of any fancy derogative names then the inference is that n*ggas can f*ck but women can't. However, if men are f*cking, and presumably hetero, then are are f*cking women. Talk about circular reasoning.
c. A major component of rap music is about getting at and snatching someone elses girl. d. And that it is worth noting that having sex with Nas, Jay Z and AI constitutes a new version of promiscuity that is worthy of a new adjective.
e. What would a rap video be without the The Vixens? f. That it is interesting that same kind of venom isn't reserved for n*ggas that sell crack and THEN rap about it.

Get off my D*ck and tell ya B*tch to Come Here
-Eazy E.

a. Its clear that it is acceptable for black and brown women to parade around in videos, a$$ cheeks glisten', looking available, sexy and expendable.
b. It is acceptable for Nelly to run tip drills.
c. But. Let a sista mash with a couple of these cats, then she is a slore. Let her write a book about it, then she is a slore who wants to make money off her "sloredom".

Yo honey-dips, summertime, fine Jheri drippin
See you on Pickens with a bunch of chickens how you're clickin
I catch shootin strong notes as we got close
She rocked rope, honey throat smellin like Impulse
Your whole shell baby's wicked like Nimrod
Caught me like a fresh-water scrod, or may I not be God
Ice Cream- Ghost Face

d. Which brings me to pimps. Its ironic that this a is a culture that values pimps, men who make money off of women who sell sex. But reserves the right to be derisive towards women who makes HER OWN money of her sexual exploits.
e. This is Especially deep in light of the fact that a substantial component of hip hop is men talking ABOUT THEIR sexual exploits.
Carmen is pretty. She grown. She can mash with whom ever she wants. While it reasonable to expect that that people "will talk". It is important to note when the name calling starts, and whether the men are criticized along the same lines as the women.
Why does it constitute sloredom that she mashed with the above mentioned?

Sex and the Big Picture
Sex has allays been a currency in Western culture and it arguably allays will be. That this notion arises in hip hop gives us an opportunity to talk about it within the context of a frame work that we are familiar with: Hip Hop.

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That one has been on my mind for a couple of weeks.

Watchall' think?

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The Fourth Quarter is Poppin' Right Now.

Life has me in a mental head lock right now. I threw BL a suprise B-day dinner.

Shout out to All My Sag's.

Jonezy, when is your B-day party?!?!?!?!??!

Im wrestling w/ finals. I made candied yams for the first time.

OJ acting up. Kramer Actin up.

I am thinking of getting a Ph.D. in Human Sexuality/Therapy, cuz t-giving brought out the family drama and the sex drama for n*ggas.

Peep the lainks. This cat from BLACK PLANET has linked to me.

Deep Hunh. Jay Z performed at BAM on Saturday.

I miss yall. Where yall been? Wachu think of the new Clipse.

I listen to it EVERY DAY.

I got some posts in my brain, that Im trying to maintain, till I get some free moments to holler.

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I ain't fagot my peeps.

I will see yall w/ some fly social commentary by the end of the week.

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Now I Know Why The Brooklyn Dodgers Broke So Many Hearts.

You all know that I have a love.hate.love.love. relationship with Oakland.

I read last week that the A's were moving to Fremont.

That. Wasn't THAT bad.

You see the A's for me is like McDonalds to other people. For example many people eat at McDonalds because they have an emotional connection to it. It reminds them of fun times they had w/ their mommas or daddies when they were younger.

Thats what the A's represents to me. Fun times. Youthfulness. A Wide Blue Oakland Sky.

Not only are they moving, but they may but they may be changing their name.

Nothing is sacred.

***Inner voice comes on in my head***
Inner voice: Mdot.!!
What? Don't you see I am typing in my blog.
Yes I see you are, but you know this about economics and not about sentimental value. You know better than to mix emotions with real estate transations girl!?!?!?!! I know, I know. But I frequently talk about the Town on my blog and I just wanted to let people know what was going down.
You know that the A's were not going to stay in Oakland. Besides. The Giants play in Jersey and the Jets play in Queens and they are both NY teams.
But the A's represent something for people to rally around and feel united about. NY has hella different teams and sports for people to rally around. There you go being sentimental again. It is an economic issue.
I know its economic. You are a VOICE IN MY HEAD. I clearly created you.
Smart @ss!
I know you are just trying to get me to see the big picture, I feels you. Its just deep that they can move and change they name and become a whole new team in front of our eyes.
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I never really knew why people tripped so hard off the Dodgers leaving BK.

Now I understand. As a lil kid going to school in East Oakland, we were rewarded with a trip to the see the A's for earning good grades on our report cards.

It not just the A's thats flipping the script.

Many of our cultural institutions are changing.

1. CBGB's is closed largely because all real estate is a potential condo in Millionaire City.(Manhattan)
2. Tower Records Closed. Tower was not apart of a larger conglomerate. Only corporations that are subsidiaries are larger companies are equipped to survive in 21st century New Media economy. Tower was important to Indie cats b/c they would stock JUST about anything and would stay open latee. In fact, Tower is largely responsible for my B-Girl-dom as I would visit the store on Durant in Berkely on the late night after having some LaVals pizza (which is closed too). Just perusing the HH section. Reading the latest Rap Sheet or Source. Just chilling.
   
3. Robert Christgau got fired from the Village Voice. How are you gonna take one the freshest white dudes that teaches me sh*t out hip hop out the game.
   

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It is up to us to invest in our insitutions. No one else will do it for us. And if we don't. We cannot blame anyone else but ourselves for their demise.

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Borat: The Good, The Bad, The Cultural Learnings.

I saw Borat last night.

The over the top humor was different.

The fact that he opened it up with jokes about his sister being the town ho' made me think," I'm progressive, but I may end up walking outta this one."

• He goes into the deep south and exposes Classic Americana Racism. In fact he did such a good job of it that he is being sued for misprepresenting himself to the folks that he interviewed for the mockumentary.
• The comedic timing of the jokes was on point.
• I don't know how to feel about the Jewish Jokes in the begining. Apparently he has been given a pass in Big Media, because he, Sasha Cohen, is Jewish. So implicity he is allowed to make fun of Jewish folks.
• I guess that's like black people and the word n*gga. If you are OF it, then you can use it. At least that is one theory.
  

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We Fligh High by Jim Jones sounds is like a Harlem Zombie song. It is so hypnotic. I hear it in my head when I doing the most average sh*t
I became obsessed w/ finding out the name of the song sampled at the begining.

I found it and that ish is hot.

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Beat Street Records is 'bout to close.

Peep this vid on YouTube.

That whole Fulton Mall area bout to be a Spring Street. Please believe.

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Houston Gunshop owner tells fools to get gats and buck at "The Katrinians". I.Have.Nothing.Else.To.Say.About.That.

GIBSON: Jim, look at this. We've got some facts and figures about Katrina evacuees. They are suspects or victims in over 20 percent of Houston crimes this year. The number of people applying for gun permits has risen 25 percent and of the 250,000 evacuees who came to Houston, about 120,000 remain. Jim, is there something specific about the Katrina evacuees that makes you so worried or is it just crime in general and they are getting stuck with the blame?

PRUETT: It's another rock in the pond, John. What's happening is we had a criminal problem before there were other people preying on us and now this is just even more and so it's not specifically about the evacuees. I think about 15 percent of our population here in Houston is made up of law-abiding citizens who came here with their kids, their families, who wanted to rebuild their life. They settled in Houston, Texas, and they remain here. They are Houstonians now. It's a beautiful thing because it's a wonderful city and we welcome them. However, whenever they get on TV and they are quoted as saying when the FEMA money runs out, then we're going to turn to crime, then this is something we got to pay attention to. And the best way to do it is to be armed.

GIBSON: Jim, what kind of gun do you carry?

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Jay Z the Brand.

This article affirms the fact that 'ol boy is 'bout to give the winter some.

Carter is a curious figure. A former drug dealer from New York, he has a mercurial talent for rhymes (which he never writes down, but carries in his head) - even being described as "America's urban Shakespeare". Some of his best linguistic play refers back to events in his own life, with his signature languid delivery making even the most complicated rhymes seem easy. In "Kingdom Come", the title track from the new album, he makes a neat, knowing nod to his return to rap after life in the Def Jam boardroom, likening the switch to Superman's telephone-box transformation - "I take off the blazer, loosen up the tie, step inside the booth, Superman is alive."

As a wordsmith, Jay-Z elicits such high regard that in a Rolling Stone profile published last year, even British novelist Zadie Smith got in on the act, praising his ability to produce "'ecstatic' hip-hop, the kind of urban-lifestyle fantasies that are so joyful they feel like gospel". She went on: "But the greater part of him, for me, is his strong streak of Tupac-like truth- telling" - referring to rap's most famous fallen hero, Tupac Shakur - "[with] raps that aren't about the dream life of urban African- Americans but concern their real, lived experiences."

Zadie got in on the act. Um. I would like to witness a Zadie/J conversation.

"Was that Chris Martin's track, the last one?" someone finally asks. The song, "Beach Chair," begins with a beautiful string harmony, which is crashed by a big bassline before Jay-Z starts rapping. It also features a vocal hook from Martin. It's a sure- fire hit (and, considering the Coldplay singer's regular line in ballads, something of a surprise).

Carter is determined the album should offer more than feel-good party tracks, however. "I think politics are what is missing from hip-hop at the moment," he says. Indeed, the searingly political track "Minority Report" goes someway to addressing this imbalance, with Jay's voice cracking as he rails against President Bush's inaction in Katrina-struck New Orleans. Over a sonic background of rain, intercut with news reports, Jay raps about women and children on rooftops, and Bush's much-derided fly-past in Airforce One. The media also come under scrutiny, as Bush's attitude is juxtaposed with press attempts to get a better shot of the misery.

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We fly out, we stay out, we baallllliiiin. Bawwwwwwlin. Speaking of Jim Jones. Yall know there is a Jim Jones documentary out.

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I had a classic moment on Friday,
We were in the Loisada trynna take it back to the Old School and go to Nuyoricans. But the line was down the block like it was a club and you KNOW Nuyoricans is as big as a Starbucks bathroom. So we jetted to Benny's Burittos. My homie from Cali arrived late and went to stand on line for the restroom when who but QTip walks in.
She's throwin the girls at him, making small talk. I can't hear them from where Im sitting but Im cheesin and Im making all kinda kissy noises and faces, b/c he can't see me but she can.


He ordered his food and bounced.

Only in NYC dude.
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Doom. Grim. Forest Whitaker and Toni Morrison, all in one God Loving Blog Post! I Love America

Grim made the cover of the Voice.
I ain't know he was heavy in the streets like that. Peep the details.

Things got worse. On a snowy January day in 1994, shortly after getting his hair cut in Harlem, Carey stepped into his stepbrother Jansen Smalls's car en route to a meeting with an Atlantic Records representative, who was courting Carey for a record deal. But just as Smalls turned the ignition, bullets riddled the car, puncturing Carey's left arm, gut, neck, and lungs. Smalls was killed instantly.

"It was a blizzard, and snow was all over the windows, so I couldn't see much," Carey recalls. "There were several different people shooting, and the whole car was annihilated. I don't know who shot me. I was dealing, and when you get to a certain plateau, everyone knows you, though you might not know who they are. They think that doing something to you will benefit them, whether it's for a rep or financially."

This is the second time in two weeks that I have heard Black men talk about "breaking up" their artistic relationship and how they are coping with it.

Where is the documentary on Broken Rap Groups. EPMD. Pete Rock and CL. Tribe. MC Pooh & Too Short. The Alcoholics. I can see it now.

So-called "dis tracks" are commonplace in rap music, of course. But "Book of Daniel" is different. When Carey isn't threatening Dumile, he's appealing for reconciliation. "Come home, Zev," he pleads near the song's end. "I can't act like I don't have no love for him," Carey says now. "I care about him so much that it caused the conflict that we have today. The more I speak about him, the more it becomes to the world like I'm bitter toward his success. He was bound to be successful, but the plan was for him to direct that success toward the others. If our plan is to get up over a wall, and I push you up and help you get over the wall and you don't throw a rope for me, then it's going to be an issue."

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Robert Colescott, an artist that resides in Oakland, has a show at the Kravets Wehby Gallery at 521 West 21st street.

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Im such a dork.
I had no idea that the dude in Borat was Ali G.

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Holy Sh*t.

There is a production of Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye.

Why am I just now hearing about this?

Eleven-year-old Pecola can articulate only her own desperate hopes of course, not the sociological and psychological toxins they signify. It is Ms. Morrison who explores the cultural pathology behind them with lyrical grace in her impressionistic novel, which unfolds Pecola’s sad story from a variety of perspectives. The complex narrative is faithfully translated to the stage in the Steppenwolf Theater Company’s adaptation of the book, which is being presented by the New Victory Theater at the Duke Theater on 42nd Street. (Because of its sexual content, the production is aimed at “teens and young adults,” the press materials say.)

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Armond White is a fool!

We don't agree all the time. But this fool is funny as h*ll on paper. What he had to say about Forrest Whitaker in The Last King.

“Boo!” Forest Whitaker says in The Last King of Scotland, the newest boogie man movie. This one purports to have a historical basis, showing how the late Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, charmed a gullible white medical student (James McAvoy) into being his personal physician and advisor. But the result is still another scary black man stereotype. How did Samuel L. Jackson let this role get away?

This ruse inadvertently points to the film industry’s multiplicity of black screen effigies who are either junkies, thieves, convicts, murders, rapists, liars, philanderers, etc. By scaring the daylights out of his white sidekick, Whitaker’s showcase comes off as little more than a super Training Day: King Kong Idi Amin.

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Where is Robert Christgau? How we gone have Nas, Jay Z and the Clipse, but not the old school white homie to write the dope music critiques????

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If You Hate PoPo. Vote. If You Love Popo. Vote. If You Are A Baby Momma Vote. If You Like Listening to Baby and Weezy. Vote.

If you got family in the pen. Vote.

If you got to college. Vote.

If you care about abortion. Vote.

If you hate abortion. Vote.

If you wish Tupac was here. Vote.

If you like my blog. Vote.

If you hate minorities. Vote.

If you thirsty for the new Jay Z. Vote.

If you went to see Borat. Vote.

If you watch the Wire. Vote.

If you got family in Iraq. Vote.

If somebody in ya family sell crack. Vote.

Vote. Vote. Vote. Vote.

Allright People, Lets Go See Prince in Vegas for New Years or Spring Break.

Prince is in Vegas. I almost er, Oh'd.

LOS ANGELES - Prince fans, fire up that Little Red Corvette and head for Las Vegas: the purple one will be performing there every weekend starting Nov. 10.

The diminutive rocker will play Friday- and Saturday-night shows at 3121, a nightclub inside the Rio hotel, according to a Wednesday news release by P R Plus, a Vegas firm representing the club.

Tickets for the 21-and-over shows cost $125 and will be available beginning Nov. 2.

Prince will also host Wednesday-night concerts at the club by other artists.

The Grammy winner, who once changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol, will perform at the club indefinitely, a P R Plus representative said.

Prince joins a growing contingent of songsters who have settled in Vegas hotels as regularly featured acts, including.....

All my Cali homies.

All them New York Yankees.

Lets meet. ***gets in huddle. Goes to Jet blue to check out tickets.***

Wait we need housing too.

Sh*t somebody got a time share.

Right!

Get @ me, readingiswhite@yahoo.com.

I am serious as a crack addict.

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Letting MTV Raise Your Kids Will Make You a Grandma at 32.

Bill Cosby has a point.

You can't blame the man.

In theory, Parents raise children. MTV sells advertisments. PS2's entertain and Mc Donalds is an occasional snack.

Yet, we know that in reality, hella kids get a couple meals a day from Mickey D's, they stay glued to they PS2's and MTV/BET is a built into the livingroom baby sitter.

That being said, Bill does have a point. However, I think that it would be more constructive if he instructed folks on how to be better parents in ADDITION to ripping them for poor parenting.

Cosby, 69, was critical of black parents, saying they don't involve themselves enough in their children's education and don't know what their children are doing. "We've got parents who won't check the bedrooms of their children to see if there's a gun," he said. He chided teachers for not offering clear explanations to children who ask why courses such as English and algebra are necessary. "If you teach English and you can't answer this child, then you're in trouble, and we've been in trouble," Cosby said. "We can't answer these children, because nobody's given them any goals."

For True. There needs to be a Black Parenting Guide Because letting MTV and McDonald's raise your kids is only gonna make you a grandma, of some really fat kids, at 32.

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I am very excited about the new Jay Z.

I haven't bought a Jay album since reasonable doubt.

I like the sophisticated happiness of Show Me Watchu Got, and the Subliminal and sometimes overt jabs on Lost Ones. And its Jazzy too.

Damon apparently feels like a hypocrite after the break up. He don't "love" the game anymore.

That Dame talks about what it meant to be a sort of dispute resolution mentor to street dudes, and how they can no longer say "Lets work it out like Dame and Jay" is hyper revealing.

Where do we see Black men, in pop culture talk about lets work out our differences like so and so?

Sh*t. You win some, and you win Some.

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One of my favorite Hollywood couples breakin up.

I knew it was too good to be true.

I betchu it was the Oscar.

See, thats why Julia married her camera man. I ain't mad.

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The town is the 24th MOST DANGERIOUS city in the nation.

Thats something to be proud of.

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Call Mutumbo a Monkey and Get Banned from the games.
Thats interesting.

God I heart the intersection of race and sports.

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There is nothing wrong with being "Hollywood" or "Industry".
My best friend is industry. Irony intended.

But Calling cats w/ day glo hats
and shoes to match, "THE Fresh Prince Look" is is hella bootsie.

Er. Maybe.

It just seems contrived.

To me the more accurate description is "Japanese Hip Hop flav meets Harlem".

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So. We had a hella warm Halloween. I stayed true to self and DID not go out. But actually ran errands and washed clothes. Yeah. I am an adult. And after this post, I am actually gonna work on my summary.

Who knew that getting up at 7 and having coffee on a WEEKDAY could facilitate so MUCH productivity.

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This is What Happens When You Give Athletes Guns.

President of the NBA tells Players to Leave the Gats at Home. No. I am not making this up.

Only in the NBA could the commissioner go from defending the widely criticized new ball to criticizing the players' right to defend themselves. Actually, given the angry reaction to the synthetic leather basketballs, maybe the logical next step for David Stern was to get guns out of the players' hands. You know, in case things escalate.

Yeah Well. Some players DO BE having gats.

Carrying guns is one of those Things That Only Seem Bad When NBA Players Are Doing It. You know, like going from high school straight to the pros. Fine for baseball, hockey, tennis and golf, but a danger to our society when it involves basketball. The New Jersey Nets' Richard Jefferson pointed out the double standard when he dealt the Dick Cheney card to the Newark Star-Ledger. "Shoot, our vice president shot somebody in the face," Jefferson said in the aftermath of the Jackson incident. "A dude gets punched in the face and fires off shots and all of a sudden it's, 'What's an athlete's things with guns?' Shoot, people go on hunting trips with semi-automatic weapons. Is there a need to take an AK-47 to shoot deer? Which one is worse?" Next time you're driving around town keep an eye out for how prominently guns are featured in the billboards for the new James Bond movie, "Casino Royale." The gun has always been part of the whole Bond image: tuxedo, martini (shaken, not stirred), Walther PPK. A gun is even incorporated into the 007 logo. What kind of message does that send to our kids?

Oh. But this the beauty of double standards in pop culture. My momma say, if its good for the goose its good for the gander. Remember when Paper magazine tried to get bell hooks to cosign on disrespecting hip hop AND lil Kim. She was like. I am not gonna talk about kim w/o mentioning the American pop culture as a whole. Why single her or hip hop out [ Especially in Paper Magazine].
I think that the author, is a man after my own heart.

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Naomi done got arrested. She needs to get on Mary's anger management plan.

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ADD and Autism caused by babies watching TV. Muy interesante.

Lo and behold, Waldman and colleagues found that reported autism cases within certain counties in California and Pennsylvania rose at rates that closely tracked cable subscriptions, rising fastest in counties with fastest-growing cable. The same was true of autism and rainfall patterns in California, Pennsylvania and Washington State. Their oddly definitive conclusions: "Approximately 17% of the growth in autism in California and Pennsylvania during the 1970s and 1980s was due to the growth of cable television," and "just under 40% of autism diagnoses in the three states studied is the result of television watching due to precipitation."

Someone needs to study children who don't watch television and compare them to children who do.

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Your daughters tied up in a Brooklyn Basement- Biggie
Mexicano's are kidnapping fools on the reg in Tiajuana. And expecting paper. How very wild wild west of them.

The businessman's abduction marked another episode in a two-year crime wave that has turned this border city into one of the kidnapping capitals of the world.

The targets, typically middle- and upper-class businessmen or their sons, often are snatched in broad daylight by organized crime rings masquerading as commando-style federal police squads. It happens outside their homes and on busy streets. One man was grabbed as he left a circus with his kids.

American tourists are rarely targets, so the kidnappings don't get much attention across the border. They usually aren't reported to police, many of whom are working with the criminal rings, according to federal and state authorities. Estimates of the number of kidnappings this year in the Tijuana area range from 77 to 120, according to business groups, civic leaders and private security firms. The year before, they say, there were 60.

Tijuana may now have the most kidnappings in the world outside of the Middle East, said Thomas Clayton, chairman of Clayton Consultants Inc., a global private security firm. "Tijuana is going crazy," Clayton said.

Did you peep how they DONT kidnap Americans.

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Oh. Waste 10 minutes of your life watching these political campaign videos. I did.

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Why. Is. It. 80. Degrees. In. Oakland. Today?

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The Source, Sexual Harrassment, & NYC JUSTICE.

Kim Osorio was awarded 15.5M in her sexual harassment case against The Source. Guess, The Source cats were too arrogant to settle. They should have paid attention to what has happened in sexual harrassment cases on wall street. Settle. Settle. Settle.

Shout out to Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond for the text over at the Village Voice.

Women working in hip-hop often have an even tougher time reconciling that divide. Getting a paycheck for marketing products and artists that often instigate violence and portray women as only good for sex can leave staffers at all levels feeling played. That was—and is—the case at The Source magazine, according to former editor in chief and current plaintiff Kim Osorio, who found herself explaining how her former bosses sexually harassed her from a witness box in courtroom 14B at the Southern District of New York.

Well all turn the other cheek and/or take it up the a$$ at some point at work, otherwise, there would be way more work place fatalities.

But the angel on her shoulder got in her ear. "People would ask my opinion on how they portray women and just the blatant usage of the N-word—among other expletives," she remembers. "I would be like, 'Oh, you know, well, it is what it is. This is the culture now.' Deep down in my heart I knew that it wasn't right. . . . I felt a lot of internal conflict."

RARELY, do people who benefit financially from pushing the HOP, talk transparently about how they reconcile the contradictions pervasive in HH.

Hip Hop is pervasivly homophobic, yet there are a ton of gay folks that eat off the HH industry. And they don't speak up.

Hip Hop is pervasivly anti-woman, yet there are a ton of women who eat of the industry. And they don't speak up. For that Matter.

And in a similar vein, The Republican party is notorious for being anti-gay marriage and for using gay marriage initiatives as a divisive issue during election season. Yet. Gay republicans don't speak up. Peep what Frank Rich had to say in the Times a couple of weekends ago. When I was reading this article, I kept thinking, that, this is what Black people go through all the time. In terms of working someone where people like you are Blatantly and Subtly dismissed and discriminated against on the reg.

If anything good has come out of the Foley scandal, it is surely this: The revelation that the political party fond of demonizing homosexuals each election year is as well-stocked with trusted and accomplished gay leaders as virtually every other power center in America. “What you’re really seeing is the Republican Party on the Hill,” says Rich Tafel, the former leader of the gay Log Cabin Republicans whom George W. Bush refused to meet with during the 2000 campaign. “Across the board gay people are in leadership positions.” Yet it is this same party’s Congressional leadership that in 2006 did almost nothing about government spending, Iraq, immigration or ethics reform, but did drop everything to focus on a doomed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

Apparently, The Source thought that its readers were dumb too. In all fairness. The readers of The Source run/ran the gamut of brilliant to "look at the pretty pictures". Which is arguably the case for all magazines. However it is one thing for a main stream, mag to think that way about heads, but to hear that The Source does it too. Its like dayum, yall expectations was that low for cats!!?!?!?!?

"We were getting ready for our International Issue and I wanted to write something like, 'Look forward to next month—we'll be hitting you with the diaspora,' " Sonya recounts. "These muhfuckaz was like, 'Niggaz don't know what diaspora means so we gotta take that out.' I was like, 'You don't think muhfuckaz would wanna look it up?' "

I love how fools would speak, but only anonymosly. Oh what it must feel like to be insulated from accountability. Thats what I want to be when I grow up:)

Evan, a music video director and hip-hop documentarian who admits he's shot his fair share of "guy up against his car, a girl shaking her ass for no apparent reason" music videos to keep the lights on.
Evan didn't want to be identified since he works for a major hip-hop artist's label and feared recrimination. "By any means necessary," he continued.

Life imitating art. Life imitating art. Life imitating art. Not an excuse.

But the art-imitating-life defense is hard to swallow as these stories trickle down to consumers through agents that aren't of the culture. "For people who did not really grow up in that lifestyle, it's almost like being on a movie set," Fiona says of her primarily white former co-workers. "Like, it's not your reality, it's not your responsibility. You don't hear gunshots. . . . You're not dealing with baby-daddy drama issues. You know what I mean? Your reality is so different so it's easy for you to go to work and do something like that and feel totally disconnected from its actual effect on society."

Aw. Being Disconnected from its actual effect on society.

At least she saying something now. Lawsuits do be bringing out juicy tidbits of facts and gossip hunh!!!?!?!?

Her comments about being disconnected made me think about the beauty OF BEING disconnected.

What if all Po Po in the hood had to live in the hood that they worked?

What if all the people that work w/ 50 actually had to live where 50 lived in Queens we he got shot?

What if Teachers had to live in the neighborhoods where they taught?

What if the Senators that voted for the war were required for their children to actually go an fight in it.

What if all politicians were required to send their children to public school?

It. Would. Be. A. Different. World.

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Yes. I think I am a cold piece of work for talking about THE SOURCE, GAY REPUBLICANS AND SEXUAL HARRASMENT ALL in the same mother loving post. Gyeeah. Long live green t!
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