Did Saul Williams and KRS Drink the Kool Aid?

As artist we all think about taking the gig that
would pay some bills, but f-ck with our
ability to sleep at night.

This is what I thought of when I hear Saul
Williams say,

"Saul isn't making a Nike Commercial
Nike is Making a Saul Commercial"

Say word?

This isn't a conflict that is foreign to me.
I think about writing erotic Negro fiction approximately
once a day to pay bills. Are you kidding me? Those
books are so what the street wants**. You
show me a subway train at rush hour I will
show you 5 black women reading "Around
the Way Girl Part IV".

According to this excerpt from Grand Good,
KRS's standard for selling out is whether he
changes himself for the corporation:

KRS-ONE: Today, artists like myself or Chuck D or Talib Kweli hold a degree of credibility that’s attracting companies like Red Bull, Cadillac, or Nike. Executives at these companies are our fans. And they are really sick of the state of music. So what they’ve done is spend $250,000 of their own money, in the case of Nike, to create a song with Kanye West, Nas, Rakim, and KRS ONE. We don’t rap about the shoes because they don’t want us talking about that. They just want us to create a song they can play on their website. Authenticity is the new business model and these companies need a product that’s not destroyed by an artist’s shady image.

What is interesting about both of their statements is that
both reflect a lack of understanding about corporations and
capitalism.

First, capitalism, by its very nature co-opts anything
that attempts to subvert it. Meaning, IF you come at it,
it is going to figure out how to make money off
of you. Beastie, right?

Second, a companies only constituents are its
shareholders, and its shareholders alone. Every financial
move made is at furtherance of improving corporate share
value.

F-ck what 'chu heard.

I gasped at hearing Saul say,

" Mc Donalds is making veggie burgers/
Walmart is going green"

I have watch him from afar as he has toiled,
made art, published books, cd's and just did him.
I have always admired his chutzpah.

To me, he was a renegade rebel who said f-ck it.

Now, "Nike is making a Saul commercial".


If you change for cake, so be it. But acting like you
are doing it because a multinational corporation is bending
to your will is an insult to us, the fans.

A corporation may bend its will towards it's
to is its investors, and sometimes they have no
say so ie, exorbitant CEO pay.

Think about Saul and KRS's response in contrast
to the Clipse or any D'boys resolve.

"I need to make this money so I can eat"
"I'm just trying to feed my daughter" ~Biggie

Atleast they are honest enough acknowledge the capitalist
motives behind their behavior and not ATTEMPT to purport
that they are "helping the culture".

Corporations don't care about our music, how n*ggerish
we are or where an emcees next meal is coming from.
Corporations ONLY care about their bottom line.
Both links via Grandgood.

**has started trying to write said fiction.

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TC has a fly assed review of the new AZ over @ TSS.

Let’s talk about underdogs for a second. Like the secondary candidates for a job position or the small college vying for respect in the NCAA tournament with just as much heart to compete with their rivals that dominate the popular vote. It’s always an uphill battle when the odds are against you and you’re always having to show n’ prove. For nearly a decade and a half, lyrical connoisseur Anthony Cruz a.k.a. AZ, has carried the tag of the overlooked MC without merit - even after touching platinum with the failed supergroup The Firm and his own debut album Doe Or Die.

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Spike Jonez actually makes me feel less weird.
That, my dear Watson, is a feat. Peep his Gap commerical below.
via the Hundreds



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WDYU has I LOVE the 90's going hawrd. Camp Lo's
after the jump. Camp Lo is like protoypical B-list
group that knocks. Beatnuts Alkaholics Lost
Boyz Are there more.....

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KRS.
AZ.
Saul and corporations.
All in the same post.

Life es bueno.

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