hip hop is dead: esco killed it

"I killed it, you killed it, we all killed it." - Nas

Every time I hear the phrase, "hip hop is dead", what I really hear is, "i killed hip hop". It's the kind of dazed wording a psycopath would use after killing a room full of people. He wouldn't stumble out of the room with blood on his hands and say "i did it". Instead, he'd be dazed, confused, mumbling, "they're all dead". And that's exactly what our beloved lyricist from Queens Bridge is doing by naming his latest album "Hip Hop Is Dead...The N". It's not just an analysis of the culture, it's a confessional of sorts. No, Nas alone didn't kill hip hop, he had plenty of help. Consider the likes of Jay-Z, P. Diddy, Suge Knight, 50 Cent, Jimmy Iovine, Hype Williams, beef, r&b samples, clothing lines, ghost writers, video vixens, and Madison Avenue--there are plenty of others equally as guilty who won't be professing their guilt any time soon. The truth is, for years hip hop culture has been compromised. The artistry has taken a back seat to marketing the sensational--east coast/west coast feuds and despicable displays of capitalism. Meanwhile women and the preservation of life have continued to be devalued on a street level. Hip hop isn't even rebellious youth culture anymore. It's what grown ass millionaires use as an excuse to be gaudy. Welcome to the hustle n' no flow era of the culture. Today's hip hoppers still rep where they're from, but they are far more divided by age beefs than geography. (30 plus vs. under 30, or those old enough to remember hip hop before the blinging started, and those who aren't) Staring at it all is the 33 year old rap phenomenon Nas. Now that he's parted his lips to mumble hip hop is dead, will those same parted lips give us another classic album to stimulate the rebirth of the culture?

"Yeah, Hip-Hop. The sh*t was exciting. But it ain't the ghetto secret no more. Kids everywhere know it. And that's what we want - we want it to be heard. But now it's really corny. And I still love hip-hop, but it's like, the way the game is now, it's like, f*ck rap, get money. I don't think nobody cares about respect as an artist, because at the end of the day, everybody is just chasing the paper. So f*ck it." - Nas (xxl magazine interview)

If Illmatic was a climactic moment in hip hop, then It Was Written was the beginning of the end. Don't get me wrong, the growth of Nas's pen on his second album was crazy. The flow style was more complex, the lyricism was elevated, and the concepts were definitely a notch above Illmatic. The problem is, hip hop had changed. Illmatic was dope and didn't do numbers. By '96, doing numbers meant r&b samples, a famous r&b singer on your hook, a street alias name, and rampant materialism in the lyrics. Nas, like Big and Pac during the same era, went there whole heartedly and found fame and success. Nasty Nas quickly became Esco or Escobar, miming the ruthless Colombian drug czar Pablo Escobar. But the problem is not so much what this new turn in hip hop did to Nas, because Nas was able to go to that place while maintaining a high level of creativity in his art. The problem is what it did to an entire generation of future rappers. The advent of rappers as these big street millionaires involved in illegal dealings killed the notion of the street poet from around the way. Personas were now primary, and skills were secondary. Backpackers did their part to fight this notion, but lost. With magazines, videos, and television projecting these images to the masses, it's really easy to see how the Frank White's and Esco's of '96, gave birth to the crack rap of today. No wonder Esco is feeling guilty.

"I feel like a black militant taking over the government / can't turn my back on the hood too much love for 'em" - Nas (taken from from the song "Black Republicans" off the "Hip Hop Is Dead...The N" album)

When Tupac was alive, he was the most polarizing person in hip hop. You either loved him or hated him, no in between. Today, I think Nas occupies that space. Ever since he claimed hip hop is dead, a new pissed off Southern rapper has been sounding off each week. Many are taking Nas's declaration as an East Coast diss to the South for rising to the top of the rap game. While other Nas haters include young rappers who consider the QB emcee too old and in need of a retirement. Then there are the choruses of "Nas lost" that echo across the internet because of Nas's decision to work with the man who once slept with his baby's mother. How does Nas bark back-- by continuing to repent his sins. The way Nas says he's sorry for the commercial sound and drug selling lyrics in the Esco era is by releasing a very personal underground sounding double album like "Street's Disciple", which much like Illmatic, was critically praised, despite limited record sales. The way Nas says he's sorry for posing for hip hop fashion ads in the mid 90's is by his refusal to do any advertising what so ever today. And the way Nas says he's sorry for all the wack beef records that "Ether" influenced, is by deading his personal beef with Jay-Z and signing at Def Jam in the name of unity. But for all of Nas's nobleness, and attempts to rectify his wrongs, there's only one way he'll ever be able to forgive himself for his part in hip hop's death--by delivering another classic album.

On December 19th, "Hip Hop Is Dead...The N" will provide us with a ton of answers. We'll learn whether over 30 emcees will be relevant in 2006 and beyond. We'll learn if this album feels like a hip hop version of Revelations, or Genesis. And we'll learn if Nas is still lyrically capable of carrying an album that presumably features the top producers in the game. The countdown has begun. Nas may have had his part in killing hip hop, but he's also been one of the few bright spots to rest our hopes for the culture on. So Esco, there's no need to feel guilty anymore kid, it's okay. We forgive you.

60 Things That Killed Hip Hop:

A&R's
mic ratings
beef
black on black crime
mtv cribs
big name video directors
cristal
rolls royce
size 4XL white tee shirts
guns
the "i don't write my rhymes down" myth
video vixens
tell all books
r&b samples & hooks
car detailing
platinum plaques
weed
scarface the movie
corn rows
keeping it real
hot 97 FM
drug dealers
napster
madison avenue
moguls
the ipod
ghost writers
name dropping
studio gangstas
alias names
representing record labels
radio singles
release dates
rapper endorsed clothing lines
the forbes money list
the 40 o.z.
ring tones
double albums
super head
wendy williams
the red carpet
gang banging
the n-word
high school drop outs
the hood
suburban america
radio
dj's
superstar producers
diamonds
guest appearances
sagging
throw back jerseys
tatoos
egos
pro tools
myspace.com
mp3's
wack concerts
the sound man
sell outs
biting
seven album record contracts
no publishing
breakups
album leaks
playa haters
stans
BET uncut
and finally
money

moment of silence

1941 - 2006



1966 - 2006

We'll miss you Ed, you too Gerald.

VOTE NO ON PROPOSAL 2!

catch 22

they catch ya if ya
shooting the shit
or shooting pain in your wrist
they even catch ya if ya shoot and ya miss
but if ya shoot and ya hit
someone black like a pac or a chris
they’ll all sit
while the hands on the clock all twist
they catch actors
for tax evasion and hip hoppers with guns
cuties with ganja
look they even caught martha
insane
they’ll catch ya in the white house getting brain
from head doctors
but they still can’t catch the tower droppers
it’s dumb
to think amerikkka’s dumb
they run the country through fetch
throwing diseases that we all gone catch
these are my theories
they’re not far fetched
they’re far Left, far from Right but not wrong
they want us black not strong
they’d rather catch us in a crack house blown
or spinning chrome in a lac
long as it means another lien on our home
i bleed in my poems
the blood of generations in litigation
state cases
then off to overcrowded state places
what do ya do
silence ensures ya will lose
speak out
they medgar evars ya
you’ll die with no clues
that there’s a catch 22
i’m on the run in an emmit smith jersey
try and catch 22

decipher my logic (freestyle)

who's the mystic
my life is all spit i'm liquid
lougies of life harked from my throat
prolific
meditate eight hours straight
it's so holistic
glow in the dark
sorry you too slow you missed it
my bravery
Nat Turner'd slavery
Gil-Scott and Umar's DNA in me
a king's reflection
lives in my mirror it's clearer
with each breath i breathe out
death comes nearer
call me sushi
i'm yellow tail raw no hooptie
imported whips, wine marinates my lips
nationally known
flown to the mics we bless
speakers blown
we blow till the mics compress
jedi knight
mysteriously led by right
euthanized wrong by penning poems on red eye flights
pheromones strong
tribal i don't need cologne
magnetic aurora
ladies think i'm leading'em on
sugar free
zero estrogen in me
achilles hill covered by a suede Timberland tree
rooted in pain
the block is hot who do you blame
the guns that aim
or governments who fund the game
i flicker the flame
with slicker nouns i'm licking the verbs
the sicker i roll
the quicker i'm inflaming the herbs
the bombest chronic is a dope cat exhaling his words
the weakest shit is poets selling crack instead of their words
decipher my logic
nah, i ain't trying to get brolic
but either man up or step your ass out of the closet
a crystal sphere
i rub it til the future's clear
look at me now, it's obvious the truth is here.....

eternal (2pac: 1996 - forever)

"I'm gonna be so far from where i am right now in four years...........god willing i'm alive." - 2pac (august 96')

Numb was the feeling. It felt dark and silent. It stung so bad our under developed emotions couldn't quite deal with it, so we just sat there. Me and a couple of the fellas. Drinking and drifting off, deep into space. The only voice in the room, 2Pac's. Every so often, the music would get turned down as we watched another news flash. Same heartbreaking news, just on a different channel. "Famed rapper, Tupac Shakur, dead at twenty five." Then Pac would speak again. "Will I survive until the morning to see the sun/ lord forgive me for my sins / cause here i come." Songs we had listened to a thousand times over, were being HEARD for the first time. And felt in a way they had never been felt before. The weight of those lyrics seemed to sit on our backs, cutting off all circulation, simply adding to the numbness.

We'd still be numb when the video for "I Ain't Mad At Ya" debuted a few days later. The video depicted the late rapper being shot, dying in an ambulance, and going to heaven. Ironic? Indeed. Then the rumors began to circulate about 2pac being alive. I remember this kid from Florida telling us the theory in such a compelling tone, that we were all sitting around smiling like, "could it be"? He theorized Pac survived the shooting, and for his safety, was snuck out of the hospital, pronounced dead, and put on a plane heading out of the country. I think he mentioned Cuba or something. Looking back it all sounds pretty far fetched, but at the time, we WANTED to believe, so we did.

"Remember me as an outcast, outlaw / another album out, that's what i'm about more / getting more to the day i see my casket bury me a G / while the whole world remembers me / until the end of time" - 2pac

I also remember when the Makaveli album dropped. The first words on the album were "Suge Shot Me", whispered in a voice that sounded like Pac's. Then on the song "Hold Your Held", there was a cryptic message hidden in the song. Twelve seconds in you hear Pac whisper, "Look and see me". Another voice whispers, "I see you". Then Pac whispers back, "I'm Alive". Add in the fact that Makaveli was based off of Machiavelli, a political theorist who advocated faking one's death to fool his enemies and, well, let's just say those alive theories began to seem very real. There were also number theories that revolved around the number seven. For instance, Pac was shot on the 6th, and died 7 days later on the 13th. Pac was 25 when he died, 2+5 = 7. Pac died at 4:03 p.m. 4+3=7. There were tons of them, and well, at the time, we ate it all up.

It's weird. When most people die, you see them one last time, and you never see them again. Not 2pac. Not only did two videos featuring 2pac drop for the Makaveli album, but in 1997, he seemed to be everywhere. As a person whose relationship with Pac was only through music and the tv screen, it really was as if dude was NOT dead. Two movies starring 2pac made their way to the big screen, Gang Related, and Gridlock'd. And both movies were accompanied by a soundtrack that also featured 2pac. To top it off, later that year his mother released a double album of lost songs titled "R U Still Down". Then the bootlegs began to surface. First it was Makaveli 2. Then what seems like endless volumes of 2pac material began to surface on the streets in every city. I read somewhere that all those bootleg albums unofficially sold around 20 million copies. According to Afeni Shakur, Pac left well over 250 unreleased songs, so suddenly it became apparent to me and everyone who loved Pac. He wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

In subsequent years came more albums, picture books, dvd's, poetry books, live concert footage, and interview cd's. There were tee shirts, wax portraits, and murals. Even a couple of unreleased videos popped up. It was as if every time you thought 2pac was gone, he kept fighting to live. And he keeps winning that fight. 2pac is the best selling hip hop artist of all time, with well over 35 million record sales and counting. Mind you, he's released more music in his death than he ever did in life. A full length documentary about his life, appropriately titled Ressurection, was nominated for an Oscar. And in Stone Mountain, Ga., the Tupac Amaru Center for The Arts sits on a 3 and a half acre plot, giving interested children a chance to participate in the arts. A lifesize bronze statue of 2pac stands in front of it, greeting all who enter.. So what does it all mean?

It means 2pac was more than a man. And far more than a rapper. Tupac was an idea, and ideas don't die. Although 2pac was only famous for five years, the impact he left on the world is immeasurable. As a flesh and blood anti-hero, muscular with wild eyes and flashes of brilliance, 2pac wooed us all. He eloquently represented our most menacing nightmare, and our fondest dream. He was all things, to all people. But mostly, he was beautifully flawed, like all of us. That human element is what made him this universally loved figure. He spoke to our pain, our insecurities, and our hunger to be rich, and powerful, and fight back. He spoke to ideals like unconditional love, loyalty, and honesty. The rebel we all wanted to be, he became, and continues to become. Ten years later, and I'm not numb anymore. But not a day goes by that I don't feel like I was robbed, of something irreplaceable. The reason I write, is because of 2pac. The sheer amount of work he created in his short life is simply remarkable, and continues to inspire me. After he died, I could no longer wait for him to say what needed to be said. He put the pen in my hand, and basically said it's my turn to say it. So each day, I keep trying. And each day, millions of others use 2pac's legacy as a reason to keep trying as well. Look around, it's pretty obvious. Tupac Lives! One luv.

PERSONAL PAC FAVORITES

ALBUMS - "ME Against The World" & "Makaveli"

SONGS - "Death Around The Corner", "Who Do You Believe In", "Pain", "So Many Tears", "High Til I Die", "Point The Finger", "Ambitionz Of A Rider", "White Man's World", "Staring At My Rearview", "Words Of Wisdom", "Thug Style", "What's Next", "High Speed", "R U Still Down"

VIDEOS - "I Get Around", "California Love", "Strictly For My Niggaz"

QUOTES - "I didn't invent Thug Life, I diagnosed it" - 2pac, "Why lie when I can dramatize" - 2pac

MOVIES - "Ressurection", "Juice", "Gang Related"

DVD's - "Live At The House Of Blues", "Tupac Vs.", "2pac 4Ever, "Ressurection"

BOOKS - "Ressurection", "Got Your Back, "Tupac Shakur: From The Editors of Vibe"

POEMS - "The Mutual Heartbreak"

straight from the horse's mouth

It's been years since we've seen them in the same video and there are no plans for them to perform together in the near or distant future, yet the members of Outkast maintain that they are not broken up. Andre 3000 took it upon himself to clear up the rumors, phoning in to MTV News on Tuesday night to dispel the demise of the group.

"We want to keep it on the low so expectations won't be a certain way. But we're still doing music." — Outkast's Andre 3000

"Yesterday I got a phone call from Big Boi and he said that on some hip-hop Web sites that the headlines were reading something to the effect of, 'It's Official: Outkast Is Broken Up,' or something like that," Andre said. "And man, we're looking at it like, where is this sh-- coming from? I was on 'TRL' today to release a new video, and I meant to say something [about the situation] on the air. But the way they had the questions set up, I didn't have a chance to do it."

Andre says that the rumors are not just on the Internet, but very much in the streets.

"N---as hit me in the street like, 'Yeah man, I heard the bad news. Sorry to hear about that,' " Andre continued. "I'm like 'Man, what are you talking about?' Everything is still tight, most definitely."

Fueling the rumors of the 'Kast's separation have been the fact that both Dre and Big are appearing in separate videos for two solo songs ("Idlewild Blues" and "Morris Brown," respectively) to promote their upcoming film and video instead of releasing visuals for the cut "Mighty O," which features both of their raps (see "Missing Outkast? They've Already Lined Up Three 'Idlewild' Singles"). Dre blames that on not being able to find the right way to present "Mighty O" in a timely fashion.

"Really, we were supposed to shoot the 'Mighty O' video, but we were shuffling around with too many treatments and it got too late," 3000 explained. "The record company and film company felt that it was probably better off to help sell the movie to go with these songs ["Idlewild Blues" and "Morris Brown."]. But originally we were supposed to come out with just one single."

In addition to the hailstorm of Internet rumors, there was a May feature story in Entertainment Weekly that painted the twosome going in separate directions musically and personally. More recently, some radio shows and news outlets started to report that Outkast had turned down an invitation to be on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" because the group could not match up schedules.

"Really man, this album, it's been a whole bunch of crazy rumors. [One said] we turned Oprah down and all this type of stuff which was totally not true," Dre added, audibly registering his disappointment in the falsehoods that have been spread.

"We went to Oprah because we were pumping this 'Idlewild' film and soundtrack. They sent her a copy of the movie. But the [film's] release dates kept being pushed back and Oprah's show is dormant during the summertime, so there was no chance for us to do it. Next thing we see on the Internet is, 'Outkast turns down Oprah.' They make it seem like we're jumping on the bandwagon with 50 Cent and Ludacris and some people boycotting, which is totally not the case' " (see "Oprah Says She Doesn't Have Beef With Hip-Hop ").

Despite Mr. 3000's public affirmation that he remains a part of the legendary duo, he says there are still no plans for Outkast to tour or even perform one song together live.

"But that's not even new news," he said of his lack of interest in performing live. All that has been going on for years. ... Big Boi knows I'm in no position to be thinking about hitting the stage. ... I'm just more focused on producing and writing like I been doing and staying in the studio."

So what is Dre coming up with in the studio? Could it be material for a traditional studio album from Outkast?

"We're holding it under wraps," is all he would say. "We want to keep it on the low so expectations won't be a certain way. But we're still doing music."

Dre and Big are trying to decide what the next single from the "Idlewild" soundtrack will be, but they are leaning toward a song called "Hollywood Divorce" which features Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne. Dre says if they do choose that track, you'll see him along with Big in the video.

things fall together

THE BAD NEWS: "Game Theory", The Roots highly anticipated first release on Def Jam Records was leaked to the internet a month and a half before it hits stores. THE GOOD NEWS: It's the best album the group has released in years!

Let me start by saying, I'm not an OKAYPLAYER, so consider this an unbiased opinion. Don't get me wrong, I always liked The Roots. Their first three albums were beautiful moments in hip hop. No, those albums weren't political, controversial, or extremely conceptual, but they were solid as hell. Good music, nice flows, you know, solid. I even consider "Things Fall Apart" more than solid, to me it's an undeniable classic. What happened to The Roots after that, well, that's where it gets weird. Hip hop is one of the few genres of music where, the better people get at it, the more they feel a need to get away from it, or to somehow extend its boundaries. (Or maybe it's the more people evolve as musicians and people, the more they get bored with hip hop, see Andre 3000). The Roots are no different. "Phrenology" and "Tipping Point" were two albums that could be labeled "experimental", or "wack", depending on who you talk to. For me it felt more like they were being defiant. As if to say, "we know yall want that boom bap sh*t, but allow us to be artists while we give yall this other sh*t." So we waited. Well, actually, I didn't. I kind of wrote The Roots off as dope live performers who COULD create something good if they wanted to, but chose not to. I stuck a fork in'em and moved on.

Then something happened. Unlike some, I'm not gonna give the credit to being on Def Jam, or being under Jay-Z for that matter. I give the credit to hip hop. Hip hop demanded a return to greatness by The Roots. Hip hop always demands that of a worthy few. Hip Hop demanded Rakim to come back in the late 90's. Hip hop demanded Nas to return to defend his throne in the new millennium. And yes, hip hop demanded The Roots to be more than Jay-Z's back up band of choice, so The Roots got real. And Black Thought got real like I've never seen him. I think Black Thought is dope. My problem with him has always been, he busts a rhyme, you nod your head, and you smile with approval. But one minute after he's done rapping, you have no idea what he was talking about, even though it sounded so good. Why? Maybe because he hardly ever writes rhymes to a tight knit concept, "What They Do" being one of those rare times. Or maybe because The Roots don't rely on memorable hooks as much as they do melodies. Whatever the case, this song writing deficiency has left Black Thought an after thought when people mention their top emcees, even though he's unmistakably ill with his. Well, on the new album, Black Thought is flexing a pen that just might shut all of his naysayers up. And the return of Malik B. seems to be that secret intangible that makes this Roots records, a true return to their glorious past.

"Game Theory" is appropriately dark. No, it doesn't make you want to cut your wrist. But it's somber in a way that begs you to sit back and think. It's the hip hop album you'd expect from Kurt Cobain. Not quite straight forward hip hop, but not so far from the essence that you can't just sit back and nod to it, and relate to it. Stand out cuts include "Game Theory", "In The Music", "Long Time", "Clocks With No Hand", and "Don't Feel Right", which previously didn't feel right to me, feels better in the context of the album. The Roots are older, and this music definitely feels older and more mature. I applaud them for stepping out of their box, without stepping away from hip hop to make this album. I hate using the classic word, but off a few listens, yeah, I think it has all the ingredients of a classic, but time and the fans will ultimately tell. Although this album is leaked, do cop your official copy from stores when it's finally released. Hip hop is good for demanding greatness, and terrible for supporting the more creative side of the genre. So definitely support. As for The Roots, I guess they are living proof that sometimes things have to fall apart, before they can fall back together. Peace.

double standards

After years of rumors surrounding steroid use, Marion Jones is back to her winning ways.

Marion Jones, Barry Bonds, and Lance Armstrong all have something in common. All are/were considered the top athlete in their sport. All have also been plagued by rumors of steroid use. Although none of the three have tested positive for steroid use, they have all been hounded by rumors, and first person accounts from people who used to be in their inner circle, so-called "ex-friends", who claim they did indeed use steroids. Yet, where as Marion Jones and Barry Bonds have been villified in the media, Lance Armstrong has been celebrated. Just last week, he won yet another "Best Male Athlete of The Year" honor from ESPN. Jones, whose performance started to slip after the birth of her son in '03, had been banned from certain meets on the European circuit because of the speculation. And Bonds, for all of his home run hittng ways, continues to be the target of a federal investigation of steroids in baseball. Even though the steroids issue has to be bigger than one player, all the attention lies soley on Bonds.

QUESTION 4 THE DAY Is this simply an example of racism in its highest form? Or, is there a better explaination for the disparity? You tell me!

today

today
by hardCore

you were there this morning
staring through my window
bright round and yellow
ready to burn yesterday's bad memories from my eyes

i slept under your warm smile
adjacent with death
cocooned in last night's dream
about past life's love

flashes of
ocean
a forgotten island
tribal drums
a sea serpent
mountains
thick forest
rain
and yes

her

all so tangible
before me

a thousand haikus
tatooed on the inside of my eyelids
begging to be forgotten
less quickly than i usually forget

i only remember the god speed rhythm
past the voices
and familiar faces
fighting demons
to join angels
who left me
one

with the blowing wind
that tips over the vase
breaks my sleep
jump starts my heart
and opens my eyes

to you

word of the day: karma

*sound of Shaq's evil laughter echoing across the hillside*

"boycott sal's!"

All you blue chip high school athletes starting with the class of 2007, listen up. I'm calling for an all out boycott of Division-1 universities by all black athletes. Why? Because for far too long, our college athletes have been exploited, and unfairly compensated for all they bring to the NCAA. Instead of taking those four year scholarships to prestigious white universities, I think it's time to set a precedent, by being the first class of blue chippers to choose historically black universities across the board.

What do you get by performing at the highest level for a big time athletic program?

An all paid four year scholarship. Mind you, your athletic requirements to keep that scholarship will severely cut into the time it takes to truly be a student-athlete. And although coaches bend over backwards to keep the failing athlete passing, nobody bends over backwards to make sure the B athlete makes A's. Oh yeah, you'll get the glitz and glamour of seeing your face on tv, and maybe even on video games. The papers and magazines will write about you, Sports Center will show your highlights, and you may win some big award. All which will come as a great benefit to you when you realize you don't have a suit for the award ceremony, because every time you go to the ATM for a withdrawal, it keeps saying insufficient funds. The fact remains, unless you are one of the few fortunate ones, chances are, when you finally leave college, even if you leave with your degree, you'll leave broke, in search of a way to feed yourself. Yes my friends, this is the thanks you get for your all the money you made your university.

What does a prestigious white university get by you performing at the highest level on the field?

Millions in ticket sales, merchandise, television deals, and licensing. Your coach gets a hefty salary, a shoe deal, and immediate consideration for the next big job on the college or pro level. The univerisity also continues to brand itself by using your name and accomplishments to seduce the next blue chip athlete into their web of deception. And when you finally leave college with your degree, you will leave a university that has built athletic facilities, lecture halls, and purchased planes, with all the money YOU generated during your time there.



( Ty Willingham, unjustly fired by Notre Dame after the third year of his five year contract, despite a ten win season and a trip to the Gator Bowl )

So class of '07, '08, '09, '10, you're probably wondering, what's the alternative?

The alternative is simple, black institutions of higher education. If all the best athletes started to choose HBCU's, suddenly you'd see HBCU's in the Final Four, in the Fiesta Bowl, in the College World Series. This would generate a huge amount of revenue for schools, many of which are barely able to keep their doors open. It would make the black coach a significant part of the college athletic experience. And where the best athletes go, so will the television dollars, the licensing money, and the shoe deals. Imagine Grambling St. being a bigger football power than USC, on a consistent basis. The more big name black athletes choose HBCU's, the quicker you'll see marginal talent representing what used to be athletic powerhouses. Suddenly the Big 10 wouldn't mean anything, and the SWAC would mean everything. On an academic level, all the new revenue would help grow HBCU's into huge institutions that are every bit as big and nice as the state universities are today. The growth in these schools would create jobs for black professors, and black administration. That's how powerful you are as today's college athlete.

How long does the boycott last?

In theory, it should never end. Why not make our institutions rich with the very best instead of spreading our most talented thinly across institutions that don't have our best interest in mind. But this is a boycott, so I guess it would be okay to end it if certain terms were met.

1) Athletes should be paid a scale wage, and they should receive bonuses based on the amount of revenue they generate through the success of their particular sports team.

2) In cases of all merchandise that feature a particular player's name and/or number, the said athlete should receive no less that 50% of the total sales.

3) Thirty percent of the overall shoe deal done with universities should be put in a trust fund, and held for athletes pending their graduation date.

4) A Diversity Council should be put in place to ensure fair hiring practices of not only black administrators, but also black coaches.

5) A percentage of all of the annual money netted by the athletic department should be donated to inner city schools.

6) The age ban on entering all professional ranks should be lifted.

7 A Vocational Program should be set up to help former college athletes who don't make it to the professional ranks, find jobs.

When and if all these demands are met, the black athlete would make a return to what we currently refer to as big time college athletics. But before we can get to that point, we must address the point we're at right now. And right now, black athletes are being exploited. So before you sign your letter of intention, think twice black athlete. Ask your friends to think twice. It's finally time we consider what's right for us as a whole, rather than always doing what's best for us as individuals. Too many of yesterday's big time college stars, have ended up broke, on the street, with nothing but memories. One luv.

10 questions

10) Does Billie Holiday's life fortell how the Whitney Houston story will end?

9) Why would the Root's name their new single "Don't Feel Right".........when it doesn't?

8) How come you always hear a huge buzz surrounding women who pose for Playboy, but you never hear anything about them afterwards?

7) If all the rappers are making drug dealer music, who's going to make something creative or something regular folks can relate to?

6) If you slid a white sheet over Bill Cosby's head, would it make him sound any more uninformed than he already does?

5) Is there a correlation between a black man cutting his mustache and rumors about his sexuality?



4) Wouldn't shooting yourself in the head be a lot better than joining up with these fools?

3) Isn't it hard to believe that back in the day this lady was actually a very pretty woman?

2) If Bonds and other hitters did use steroids, did they really have an advantage if the pitchers were using illegal substances as well?

1) Will "Hip Hop Is Dead" be proof that hip hop actually isn't?

the is iz

the ground is shaking
you shook
the epicenter is you
the sun is gone
the sky is black
you still thinking it's blue
the weed is bad
the brew is weak
niggas sniffing on glue
the cows are mad
the pigs are sick
chickens claiming the flu
guess what, Rosa Parks is dead
Coretta Scott too
uncovering evidence and clues
but we burying Proof
when broke
i often dream about what i would do
with a check for 50 mill
dave cut his in two
they saying detroit is bad
like every where else ain't
saying africa is starved
like every where else can't
lost for words
i find myself listening more
got a flow
but lately the kid don't care to pour
pain is exciting
trying to heal makes me a bore
the masses are sleep
why wake'em
why not let'em all snore
i say i'm done
yet and still the kid writes more
a genius or lame
will somebody tally the score
you get oscars for being black
and boned on the floor
you get shit for being black and blown to bits in a war
3 dollar gas
2 dollar niggas robbing for mo'
i've ran out of prayers
north pole about to run out of snow
from mitchcon, ameritech, and dte
to state farm, blue cross, and sbc
they screaming "only ten dollars" and i paid the fee
for an unmixed and unmastered burned cd
is it shame on them for selling it
or shame on me
for backing negligence
intelligence, i hope it's in me
what you got, an incurable STD
cancer or AIDS
prognosis got you afraid
wallgreens, the biggest drug dealer i know
even nancy reagan's hooked
i told her, "just say no"
waking up to the sun used to be the bomb
now it's feeling played out like blackplanet.com
the flesh is prison
an inmate, i do time slow
scratching days off the wall like i'm ready to go......

back in the day moment #27

When I was a kid, if you wanted to know the exact time and temperature, you had to dial a number. How crazy is that!!! I remember how it would go down. A storm would come through and the lights would go off. Not long, just long enough to mess all the clocks up in the house. So my folks would tell me or my sister to, "call time". Now, I was like every other little kid. I could tell you what time it was just by what was on TV. It was pretty easy for me to turn to Different Strokes, and figure out, since they had gotten to the "message" part of the show, that meant it was roughly about seven minutes to the top of the hour. My logic didn't work for my folks. They wanted the exact time. Mind you, this was before cable tv, and that station with the program guide that always posts the correct time. This was before everybody had a cell phone, or a laptop that kept the exact time for you. This was back when wind up wrist watches were the norm, and everybody's wrist was about 5 minutes off from the next man's. So what did we do? We "called time". The time number was usually a number to a bank or a local tv station. When you called, you got an automated voice that told you the exact time and temperature. I remember having the number memorized, so I guess that means we must have been resetting our clocks a lot. I know I'm not the only one who remembers doing this. Anyway, "calling time", back in the day moment #27. One luv.

revolutionaries' day

Happy birthday Malcolm X.

Happy anniversary Last Poets.

Happy anniversary 3rd Eye Open.

The revolutionary spirt of Malcolm lives on!

writing revolution

"i don't wanna write this down,
wanna tell you how i feel right now" - mos def

Nobody wants to write anything down anymore, or so it seems. I know I'm guilty. The only time I use a pen these days is when I'm confronted with a bill from a company that doesn't have online billing. In which case, I have to physically write out a check, including my signature, which now resembles something the creators of the Palmer Method would never recognize as their teachings. A pen is as foreign in my hand as a good idea is in the head of emperor Bush. But that's another story. It seems we are in the midst of a writing revolution my friends. One which has more people than ever writing, although, nobody seems to be physically writing.

The last time I wrote a letter? Hmmm. I think it was in '97. It was one of those, "you gonna lose your booty privileges if I don't get a love letter", love letters. Before that, I think it was '88. And maybe one in '87. In my entire life I've probably written less than 5 letters by hand. In each one, my writing style was somewhat formal. I even remember looking up examples of a letter before writing them. How things have changed. Nobody looks up an example of an email before you send one, because all that formal crap has been thrown out the door. On the average day, I send off a hundred electric (e) mails easy. Some are just phrases. Others, one line sentences. While others are long and thought out, consisting of several paragraphs of edited copy. We've all become masters of this new form of writing. Tone of voice is the one thing we've all learned to be careful of with emails. Jokes don't always come off as jokes. And sarcastic statements tend to sit there flat on the page, making the sender seem less like a person with charisma, and more like an a**-hole. So in our quest to communicate as clear as possible, we created emoticons like (lol) and (rofl). These emoticons allow us to convey complex emotions without explanation. This is especially affective in modes of communication with quicker response times like, two-ways, text messages, and instant messenger. I don't think people today have more to say than people of past eras, but technology has bridged the distance gap that makes us feel alone and distant. So not only does everybody have some device or form of staying in touch with his fellow man, we all have plenty to say-- I mean, write.

The blog world is the biggest example of the enormity and regularity with which people are writing these days. Some of these blogs are maintained by people whose full time job is do nothing but blog. In other words, these are people who do nothing all day but WRITE. Writing has become a past time that is considered, FUN. The only thing better than reading a provocative blog is responding, provocatively. We all have thoughts and opinions. Before these opinions went unsaid, unshared, and unheard. because the only uniformed way of sharing them was the editorial page of a newspaper. But now the physical ease with which we type on a keyboard invites us all to join in on the conversation. Typing, although a skill, isn't as painful as writing by hand. In grade school I had a callus on the middle finger of my writing hand from writing with pencils. I hated the feeling, which made me hate writing. Even typing on a type writer back in the day was painful. But as technology improves, we are finally able to communicate through the written form, at a rate much closer to the speed at which we think.

Technology isn't the only reason we're writing more. Lifestyle is important. And the hip hop lifestyle begs us to write like no other. The emcee is the most celebrated aspect of hip hop culture. Few people want to be the b-boy, the graph artist, the dj. But everybody wants to be the emcee, why? Maybe it's because the essence of emceeing is writing, and everyone feels they too can write. When I was a kid, we all had little rhymes and stuff that we did for fun. Well, today, it continues but on a whole other level. Kids aren't writing for fun, they are writing to get rich, as a way out of the hood. The degree of intensity with which young people write now is so different from back then. Everybody has a rhyme. Some are better than others but everybody has one. I have a little cousin who is quiet who I never would have thought of as the type of little kids I'm talking about. But sure enough, at a family gathering, I look over in the corner, and guess who's busting a self written rhyme? She is. When I thought about it, it made me smile. We perceive the youth of this country as fat spoiled kids whose brains are eroding as they watch TV and play PlayStation all day. Yeah, that is true for some. But many others are spending their spare time writing. No, it's not always with a pad and a pen. Often times it's on a computer. But they're still trying to unlock new ways of conveying their thoughts and emotions. They are creating witty rhymes as a means of exercising their brains. Today, writing it down means typing it in. And tomorrow, it may mean speaking into a device that types it for us. Whatever the case, not only is technology and lifestyle revolutionizing what we write, when we write, and where we write. It's also revolutionizing HOW we write it. One luv.

so what

I will return to the blog world next week. Peace.

crazy

10 biggest lies about us

1. The Tale Of Tarzan

This is the belief that African people were totally uncivilized until whites came in and conquered them. False.

2. Free Whites, Black Slaves

20 Africans landed at Jamestown, Virginia, in August 1619, a year before the arrival of the Mayflower. They were free. When the pilgrims arrived, they came with indentured servants, i.e. white slaves. Some of the first whites were slaves.

3. The Immaculate White Creation

The belief that America was the exclusive creation of Europeans. Africans were actually the first explorers of America. When
the first Spanish and French explorers entered America, they noted that Africans were living among the Indians.

4. Sambo in Wonderland

Although the shiftless shuck and jive Sambo image has been exploited, most slaves responded to slavery with tremendous resistance, often resorting to the ultimate rebellion, suicide.

5. The Great Emancipator

The Emancipation Proclamation did not free the slaves, nor was it intended to. That document was written in a way that it left 95% of the slaves in bondage. Our people were actually freed by the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified on December 18,1865.

6. The Black Family Myth

Believe it or not, according to plantation records, most blacks during slavery grew up with a mother and a father. In fact, all the way through Jim Crow, census reports show the black family was every bit as stable as those in White America. This dispels the myth that the majority of our people came from families ripped apart by slavery.

7. The Missing Economic Gene

There is an overwhelming belief that there is no black business tradition. By the American Revolution, there were scores of prominent Black business leaders, including Samuel Fraunces, owner of New York' s Fraunces's Tavern, the favorite watering hole of George Washington, and James Forten, who employed 40 workers, Black and White, in his Philadelphia sail factory.

8. Fairy tale of White Generosity

The majority of black slaves reached freedom because of internal giving within the race, not white generosity. By 1831 there were more than 43 Black benevolent or mutual aid societies in Philadelphia alone, runned by free blacks.

9. Crabs in a Barrel

We have been generalized as a people who continually try to pull each other down. False. In every era of our history, you'll see prominent black leaders and businessmen who had full support of the people.

10. Myth of the Absent Black Worker

We have been labeled as a lazy people. However, the wealth of this country was founded on what Abraham Lincoln called "the 250 years of unrequited toil" of Black men and women.


(paraphrased from: Bennett, Lerone Jr, 10 biggest lies about black history. , Ebony, 05-01-2001, pp 86.)