HustleKnockin'

Review: Shut Up, Dude by Das Racist

The Three Smirkateers

Das Racist’s Shut Up, Dude.

 So my latest earworm is Shut Up, Dude, the mixtape from a crew called Das Racist. An unnamed source turned me on to them a month or so ago and it’s been downhill ever since.

Now I say unnamed source because I plan on killing this guy for getting these SOBs embedded into my head and when his body turns up on the news I want to have some chance of getting away with it. So the less I say now, the better.

I’ve tried like hell—deleted this mixtape on three different occasions, even tried putting in Barbs Streisand to drown out the resulting little voices in my head. But to no avail.

The only that’s gonna get Das Racist and their infernal Taco Bell/Who's That/I don't give a- jingles out of my head once and for all is to review this thing and get someone else hooked on it. So let the virus begin...

*inhales*

 

I hate smirkers.

I hate cats who wanna laugh at something but don’t want to be invest in doing so because it might expose their own shortcomings; so instead they try to do it on the sneak. They smirk. You know the type: The “dry wit” comedian who acts like they don’t care whether or not you laugh knowing damn well that’s the only reason they’re behind a mic is to make you laugh. The rapper with the lazy, detached semi-flow who swears he’d be great—if he only cared about what we was doing as much as you care about listening to him. Smirkers…

Which brings me to a three-man NYC click of Queens-born Himanshu Suri and San Francisco-born Victor Vazquez and Ashok Kondabolu better known as Das Racist:

They’re smirkers.

And on Shut Up, Dude their debut mixtape, Das Racist serves up 17 tracks of smirk all over, under, around and thru this thing called hiphop. But when you’re told to check out 3 upper class Ivy League educated non-black guys who named their crew after a little black kid’s snaggle-toothed mispronunciation of “that’s” from an infamous Dave Chappelle skit what else should I have expected?

So why pay ‘em any mind at all?

Because, much as I hate to say it… beneath their smart-assed non-sequitors, literate sub-reference-y 
punchlines and their kinda-sorta-don’t-care-maybe delivery Das Racist are actually kinda dope. If Drake, Russell Peters and MF Doom started a crew they might spit like these guys. (And knowing Doom, he might give the DR boys his mask and let 'em take the stage on his behalf just for the hell of it.)

Now, I’m gonna skip Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell one cuz it’s at least 2 years old and it’s the weakest song on the tape. It’s also been glorified to death by hipsters, critics, and fans.

I came up digging Leaders Of the New School so when I heard Who’s That?? Brooown!!!, I didn’t know whether to smash my iPod or throw my hands up like “Ooooh, they flipped it!” it’s also one few times I’ve heard a dope Yarbrough and People reference, not that anyone under the age of 25 would get it.

Fake Patois is on some Russell Peters –ish—a smartass indictment of Black rappers co-opting Jamaican dancehall culture to seem more real, courtesy of a group that’s arguably co-opting black music to wrist slap black artists. The only reason you’re not outright offended by this is cuz DR’s patois is better than the MCs they make fun of. (Like I said, smirkers.)

Other standouts include You Oughta Know, Chicken and Meat, Shorty Said, Nutmeg, and Don Dada, which are so thick with references and energy that Das Racist proves themselves to be no Northern State in skinny jeans. (then again I haven't seen them topless, so who knows.)

Ultimately Shut Up, Dude is an infuriating listen because you can hear actual talent and flows. You’ll hear the smarts that had to have gone into constructing at least some of their rhyme patterns. You can also hear the creativity and, in many cases, the balls out laziness that went into some of their beats. And ultimately, Das Racist left me very Andy Kaufman-esque and wondering if these dudes are serious or not.

In the last year or so, Das Racist has garnered a crapload of buzz and now count MTV and Pitchfork as champions along with numerous major labels hovering ready to pounce.

And who knows.. Maybe Das Racist will actually care enough to try and drop something good—on purpose, I mean. If they do... Then, well... who knows. Maybe I'll be able to share a laugh with them insteada wondering whether or not they're laughing at me or themselves or a culture that needs more help than it does ridicule.

But listen for yourself. Maybe I'm wrong...

(Okay, now, finally… I can delete this bloody album.)

Brain Candy... must... have... brain candy...

I know… Iron Man. I haven’t forgotten that I totally blasted the last flick. Don't remind me.

But you know what? I’m actually looking forward to this one. For starters, I dig Don Cheadle and it’s nice to see him get a little popcorn money for once—especially in this economy. (That inflated ego 800lb gorilla crap only works with white actors. Terrence never got that memo, I guess.)

Anyway, count me in when this one drops.

Back In The Day...

I'm working on a project with Ahmad. Looks like I'll be helping promote his new project, The Death Of Me, which will drop in June 2010 on WeCLAP/Syntax.

So who's Ahmad, you ask?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eQSxp8Pi_0

That's who. Ahmad's a seminal MC from California who's dropped classic songs like this. He's also done some amazing underground stuff as part of a now-disbanded crew once called 4th Avenue Jones...

Once I get back up and running in January, I'll tell you all about it. 2010's lookin' lovely already.

Everyday Process is on Fiiiiiyyyyaaaaahhh!

Okay, I finally decided to stop complaining about the lack of exposure music that I believe in doesn't receive; instead I'm gonna share more and more of it. I reviewed these guys recently and just wanted to share a little more of their goodness.

First up, "Fire" from their exceptional (in my opinion, at least) Outtadisworld:

This one is from Process of Illumination + Elimination, Everyday Process' near-epic debut from back in 2005. It's called "All Day Cypha" and features some serious back and forth spit-game featuring heavyweights labelmates Lecrae, Ambassador, R-Swift, Flame, and Phanatik.

Listen to the lyrics—you'll be pleasantly surprised, I think.

Roman Polanski: Hollywood's Latest Bogus Martyr

Roman Polanski:
Hollywood's Latest Bogus Martyr
By: B. Canseco

First Rob Lowe bones Mommy and Daughter on videocam/damn

Woody rapes Soon Ye/Even R Kelly's pee thinks Hollywood's crazy

Mackenzie gettin' on with pops/when this ish gonna stop?

Maybe I exhausted all of my ranting on Twitter before I got around to an actual full-on post on the subject, but there's something about this Roman Polanski fiasco that still igg's me.

Now it's not that he blew the country to avoid prosecution. I actually kinda get that. I've been a lot of criminal elements in my life. And based on all I've seen there's really only 3 types of folks who wanna go to jail:

1) The delusion guy who thinks doing time is cool and/or easy.

2) The guy who, for whatever reason, has convinced himself that his regular life is so rotten and so without a future that jail can't be any worse.

3) the guy who's been "institutionalized"—he's been in and out of jail so many times that he actually enjoys jail and missing it when he's out.

Now Roman Polanski doesn't strike me as any of those types, so his fleeing for 30 years makes sense in a perverse way. Then you gotta factor in his knowledge of his crime. Guys in gen pop didn't start shivvin' and shankin rapists and pervs when OZ got popular. I'm guessin' that little rule of thumb's been around for as long as we've had prisons. So RoPo understands what would've been awaiting him soon as he got his prison unis.

No, what's really got me here is the  range and breadth of Hollywood supporters championing Polanski like he's Tupac or somebody. Hollywood legend and pioneering studio head, Harvey Weinstein actually wrote an op-ed piece defending Polanski using really bad logic. he went so far in his support to say, "Whatever you think about the so-called crime, Polanski has served his time. A deal was made with the judge, and the deal is not being honoured."

Now, Harvey... the "so-called crime" is called rape. As in "get that ting out of me, i don't want it there and I told you 'no' before you did it." It's called 'sodomy' as in "ouch! i don't want it in my butt stop doing this." It's called quaaludes and wine. it's called lying and fleeing prosecution after cutting a deal for timed served.

Harvey Weinstein, you can produce great movies. But you can't produce a moral compass focused enough to realize that raping a 13 year old is wrong and wrothy of punishment? Screw you, Harvey Weinstein.

Whoopie Goldberg? Are you kidding me? Whoopie went on national TV and said, "well, it's not 'rape-rape'..." then added that times change, we don't see 13 year olds like we used to, and a whole host of batcrap-crazy drivel.

Debra Winger? Debra "who" Winger? I know she hasn't done much since The Big Chill and Legal Eagles, but wtf? Is this the best you can do for a cause celeb? (Hey Debbie, can Roman babysit your kids/grandkids?) Adrian Brody? Well I can almost understand Adrian; after all besides The Piano, what has Brody done really? maybe Polanksi's his meal ticket.

Michael Mann... And I loved HEAT and Manhunter. But Michael Mann supporting a pedophile like Polanski?

There's a lot of real tragedies going down. In my hometown of Chicgao you've got kids gunning each other down like it's a video game. We've got innocent men rotting in prison for crimes they didn't commit. We've got rape victims who need to be championed for this very reason. Go champion them.

But Roman Polanski? This is who you ride for, Hollywood?

Dude fled a 13 year old girl half a quaalude, got her drunk on wine, forced oral sex on her, then missionary sex, then flipped her over on her face and sodomized her till he climaxed in her butt. This is the guy you wanna get all Tupac over?

Hey, Chinatown was a really good movie, but it wasn't "bone-an-8th grader" good. In fact, I think that's how we should measure success in Hollywood now. Not by awards or sales but by the amount of crap we allow you to get away with. So far, Roman's got a lead on everybody.

If you have a good opening weekend, you can cheat on your spouse. if your album goes platinum you get to carry an illegal weapon. But if you get an Oscar or gross $100 million at the Box Office, then you get the under-aged victim of your choice.

That's pretty much what Hollywood's saying here. And given the number of folks supporting Polanski, it's hard to argue. Hollywood Pedophile Lovers is getting longer and even more distinguished as of this writing. So far we've got such confirmed luminaries as:

• Martin Scorsese
• Woody Allen
• Debra Winger
• John Landis
• Monica Bellucci
• Darren Aronofsky
• Tilda Swinton
• Jonathan Demme
• Asia Argento
• Terry Gilliam
• David Lynch
• Wonf Kar-Wai
• Alfonso Cuaron
• Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
• Wim Wenders

All these and over 100 more, mostly directors from Hollywood, France and Europe have signed a petition in support of Roman Polanski's freedom from prosecution. Here's the Petition.

Why won't the NFL Investigate Tom Brady or Ben Roethlisberger allegations?

Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger + the NFL’s hypocrisy
By Black Canseco

I like the NFL, mostly. It’s high-end football entertainment. But like all pro sports, with multi-billion dollar international brands comes liberal doses of hypocrisy. Such is the case with NFL poster-children Tom Brady and Big Ben Roethlisberger.

As you’ve probably heard by now 2 photographers who crashed Brady’s exclusive wedding to (not sure why she is one, but whatever) supermodel Gisele Bundchen have accused Brady’s security detail of shooting at them during the wedding—with Brady’s knowledge.

Now the NFL has decided that despite its policy about guns, bad behavior, etc. that it will not investigate, much less reprimand Tom Brady. (This wouldn’t be the first time a Patriot got away with less than a thorough investigation of their alleged behavior.)

But now the question here is:

WHY THE HELL NOT?

Two people have accused your most marketable player of being involved in shooting at them and you don’t care whether or not it’s even true? Now, many contend that these paparazzi were (1) trespassing on private property (2) they’re making up the shooting to get even with Brady and his crew for being less than gracious when showing them the door.

I get that—it's possible, probable even. This wouldn’t be the first time someone’s accused an athlete of something that wasn’t true. However, as we’ve found with Plaxico Burress, Adam Pacman Jones and others, the NFL takes gun allegations against its athletes seriously. So why not investigate and find out if these allegations have any merit? I mean, how hard can it be to find out whether or not 2 guys got shot at in broad daylight—at a wedding involve to super famous people? Either these photogs are lying, or Tom Terrific was getting his John Gotti on.

Apparently NFL Commissioner Goodell has decided that Brady’s above reproach and doesn’t deserve to be questioned either way—akin to SuperBowl-winning QB Ben Roethlisberger.

As you’ll recall, back in August 2009, a 31 year-old hostess accused the Steelers’ QB of raping her a year earlier when Roethlisberger was vacationing at the Lake Tahoe (NV) hotel she worked at.

Once again Roger Goodell said there would be no NFL investigation into the claims. And again, I understand, sorta. These accusations surfaced a full year after the alleged event took place. There don’t appear to be any witnesses to corroborate her story. And she filed a civil suit, not criminal charges (as the statute had lapsed.)

I get it. Her story’s shadier than Marshall in his prime.

But still, this is a rape allegation. That’s r-a-p-e, folks. Short of guns and maybe pedophilia, you’d think the one thing the NFL wants to be 100% sure about is that the faces of its brand aren’t running around raping random women.

Now again, maybe the accusers in these cases are outright deluded liars and just out for money, glory, or looking to take down a famous person. Maybe. I’d go so far as to say “probably” given the facts to date.

But when the NFL says it’s not even worth considering looking into and the sycophants the make up a good 90% of the sports media go along with this, it’s easy to wonder why some athletes think they’re above reproach… especially when they’re not.

And what does this say about Goodell's judgment? Does the NFL's behavior policy only apply to non-superstars? Non-QBs? Non-white players? Whatever the criteria, one thing's becoming apparent: The biggest rule breaker in the NFL just might be the guy charged with enforcing them.

PSA: Protect The Insurance Companies!

As a general rule, I don't like Will Ferrell. Not a bad guy, just never got into his brand of humor. But his Funny Or Die venture's been doing some good things... if nothing else pushing the space of deliverable content forward. Not sure if they're making much loot over there beyond VC paper and banner ads, but hey--somebody's gotta go out on a limb and see if it works.

Anyway, Will just gave a reason to reconsider my thoughts on his sense of humor. Enjoy:

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Black Eyed Peas Just topped Everyone You Like.

The Black Eyed Peas Make History with the
Longest Successive stay at Top of the Billboard Hot 100 Chart

Now of course chart position doesn’t equate to great music; but one thing’s for sure, the more folks hate will.i.am and his fam, the more they seem to keep it movin. And now, thanks to the bangers “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling” the BEP crew has put together the longest reign in Billboard Hot 100 history—20 weeks in a row. That includes Jay-Z, Michael Jackson, Elvis, the Beatles, Madonna... Everybody you ever liked or respected, the BlackEyed Peas just put together a run that's longer than theirs.

Let the gag reflexes begin. Oh yeah... that icky stuff you’re re-swallowing on the way back down just might be your pride. Sooner or later these cats will have to get their due.

I don’t know about you, but the only thing I’ve ever done for 20 weeks straight is gain weight.  Now I don’t profess to be some great BEP apologist—I kinda lost interest after Esthero left. But one thing’s for sure: they make catchy music and will.i.am’s one a hell of a producer. And unlike most of what passes for hiphop or urban music these days, I wouldn’t mind my little ones listening to their stuff. (Most of their stuff anyway.)

So congrats to the 3 men and the little lady. Keep doin' what u do.

Here’s the link for the full story.
http://dipdive.com/news/8284

Now I could play one of the songs that are responsible for this latest takeover, but that'd be too easy. Plus I'm kinda tired of those songs—they're on every 10 seconds out here in SoCal. So instead, I'll share one of my fave BEP joints with you. The much-under appreciated, Joints+ Jams from Bridging The Gap.

Van Jones Strikes Back...

Just wanted to share this open letter from Van Jones that's been floating around for a day or so...  As you'll see the former White House Special Advisor on Green Jobs is taking the high-road and offering his full support of the Obama Administration, which as you notice from my recent outburst on this topic, is more than I'd do for folk that left me hanging out to dry. (Which is why I'll never end up in politics on any level.)

Regardless, do your thing VJ.

==========

Dear Friends:

My family and I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of love and support that we have received over the past week or so. I resigned from the White House on Sept. 6, and I have remained silent since then–in keeping with my promise not to be a distraction during a key moment in the Obama Presidency.

Over the past several days, however, many people have been asking how they can help and what they can do.

The main thing is this: please do everything you can to support both President Obama and the green jobs movement. Winning real change is ultimately the best response to these kinds of smear campaigns.

I ask everyone to:

1. Support President Obama’s efforts to fix our nation’s health care, energy and education systems. His victory last fall did not represent the “finish line” in the fight to renew America; his election was just the “starting line.” This autumn, it is time to make history again–with victories on health care and clean energy.

2. Sign up to support groups that are working for green jobs.

As others seek to vilify or marginalize the movement for a clean energy economy, the leading groups deserve increased support. This is the year to ensure that the clean energy transformation creates good job opportunities for everyone in America.

3. Spread the green jobs gospel. The ideas and ideals of the green jobs movement are grounded in fundamental American values–innovation, entrepreneurship, and equal opportunity. My true thoughts can be found in my book: The Green Collar Economy. Check it out from the library–or order a copy and share it with a friend. See for yourself why clean energy and green jobs are good for our country.

4. Stay connected and speak up for me via your favorite blogs (e.g., Huffington Post, Grist, Jack & Jill, etc.), on message boards and all of your favorite social networking platforms (Twitter, Facebook, etc.). Supporters have set up a couple of them, to help you stay engaged, including: I Stand With Van Jones and I Love Van Jones.

In due course, I will be offering my perspective on what has happened–including correcting the record about false charges. In the meantime, I must get my family affairs in order and sort through numerous offers and options.

I want to be clear that I have nothing but love and admiration for President Obama and the entire administration. White House staffers are there to serve and support the President, not the other way around. At this critical moment in history, I could not in good conscience ask my colleagues to expend precious time and energy defending or explaining my past. The White House needs all its hands on deck, fighting for the future.

Of course, some supporters actually think I will be more effective on the “outside.” Maybe so. But those ideas always remind me of that old canard about Winston Churchill. After he lost a hard-fought election, a friend told him: “Winston, this really is just a blessing in disguise.” Churchill quipped: “Damned good disguise.” I can certainly relate to that sentiment right now. :)

Nonetheless, we must keep moving forward. Let’s continue our work to make an America as good as its promise. These are historic times. And we have a lot more history to make.

Sincerely,

Van Jones

I'm off for the weekend...

I need a break, y'all. gonna go swimming.

will blog some fresh goodies for you starting again on Monday.

Have a good one and God Bless you one and all!

B.E.T. Exec Quits... And airs BET's dirty laundry.

In case you haven't heard, not everyone in the Black community likes BET. In 2008, Andreas Hale,  one of BET's biggest critics became a BET employee. In 2008, one of the lead voices of the venerable HiphopDX.com took a gig at BET. Well a couple days ago, Mr. Hale resigned. And promptly fragged his now-former employer with the following email.

Give it a read, and you'll understan why I'm posting it.

====
9/8/2009

To friends, colleagues and those that should know,

As of today (September 8, 2009) I am no longer the Executive Editor of Music at BET.com.

Upon entering the position at BET I said that I needed one year to see what really went on inside the belly of the beast. I needed 365 days to sleep with the enemy and infiltrate the system. One year to see if they REALLY wanted change at BET.

As someone who has been critical of BET for many years, it surprised many that I would leave my post at HipHopDX last year to take a position at BET. But it was an opportunity I absolutely had to take. I could no longer be critical of this company without accepting the opportunity to change it when given. Although I was hired to bring about change, I was systematically shut down. I wasn’t hired to make noise, I was hired to be silenced.

The truth of the matter is that everything that you thought was wrong with BET is true.

Over the past year I’ve seen a lot to reinforce my position that BET is too far gone in the negative to turn into a positive. We have all always thought the worst, but to actually see it in action is another thing in its entirety. The unprofessionalism, the tom foolery, the favors, the misappropriation of resources, the bad ideas that reinforce negative stereotypes, the emasculation of men, the meetings that break down in full fledged cursing battles, the unpaid overtime, the tears from employees scared for their underpaid and overworked positions and ultimately the unwillingness to change are all harsh realities that I’ve witnessed firsthand.

That is not to say that there aren’t some good people who have sat in the offices of BET. Unfortunately, the good people are not in positions of power to instill any change. Instead, they work their fingers to the bone just to keep their jobs in this harsh economic climate. The other good people ran out of the door as soon as an another employment opportunity presented itself. To say BET was a revolving door would be an understatement.

I came in with a plan to provide balance and to deliver good music to the masses and help make BET relevant again - at least in the dot com world. Those attempts were shut down by out of touch executives who run a dot com but could barely turn on a computer. By those who judge their metrics by page views over absolute unique visitors (that‘s ad sales talk). By those who simply don’t understand the internet

They brought me in because of my track record but never once took a look at my body of work. If they did, they would have known that I was the pen behind editorials such as “BET’s Coon Picnic” or were aware of the many times I have been critical of their award shows and programming. All they knew is that I played a major role in making a once unknown website into a online media outlet that surpassed theirs and they wanted a piece of the action. Too bad they never researched who I really was.

During my tenure I worked long hours and sometimes succeeded at bringing in decent content to try to reflect the change I wanted to achieve. But it wasn’t without opposition. While some interviews and content initiatives were able to make it through, many others were either shut down or met with ridicule.  I offered ideas to incorporate the blog world and to spotlight new talent before MTV did. Those ideas were met with comments such as “This isn’t HipHopDX” or “You don’t know what you are talking about.

BET is not about the quality of your work. Rather, BET is about the relationships you have with powerful people within the company. BET is not about challenging. Instead, BET is about accepting and saying “yes.” If you have known or followed me over the years, you would know that these are things that simply are not in my character and ultimately resulted in my removal.

For the artists and labels that I have worked with for years, I tried. I did whatever I could to achieve that balance many of us wanted to see happen.  To the writers who wanted to writer for BET, I made anattempt but was never given a budget to work with

Upon my arrival, I was told I would be given a staff. Not true. I had a staff of one to carry out daily operations on a website. I fought tooth and nail to accomplish the minimum (an embeddable player and a site people could navigate) and was constantly brushed off. It was a position that was set up for failure. But I endured as long as I could

Alas, I have been removed from my position after infiltrating the system and the timing was perfect. I wasn’t let go because the site’s numbers were down. Not because I didn’t work hard. Simply because of a personality clash with an individual whose proverbial ass I didn’t kiss enough. Again, not about the work you do but about the relationships you keep and the sides you take

I’d like to thank BET for covering the cost of my relocation to bring me to the great city of New York/New Jersey. I’d also like to thank them for putting me in close quarters with people who think like me and will hopefully work with in the near future. I’d also like to thank them for providing me enough controversial content that I observed firsthand and will make for many tales to be told.

I said it and I meant in: One year to either make changes or move on. I left HipHopDX on September 16th 2008. Today is September 8, 2009. Eight days short of a year. Most thought I wouldn’t even last that long. But in that year I’ve had my greatest fears about Black Entertainment Television affirmed.

There is so much wrong with BET that I’d rather not break it down in a single email. It is pretty good fodder for a book don’t you think?

As of today, Andreas Hale is a free agent.

Andreas Hale
AIM:Halejackson

Email: Andreas_Hale13@yahoo.com
----------

Now Andreas Hale will never work for any Viacom owned company again. Not without a gag order of some sort worked into his employment arrangement. But no matter. What we got here is a BET insider saying what BET outsiders have always feared is true:

BET is bad on purpose.

More to come...

News: Rapper Apologizes for his Ego (seriously)

Newsflash: Rapper Apologizes for his Ego

In hiphop I’ve seen every cockeyed bass ackwards promotional stunt imaginable: Strippers, cars, jewelry, getting shot, inflating prison records, sextapes…

But I got an email from Pro, a young dragon emcee who decided to apologize to his critics for the ego and I’m badder than you rpose that packed his last album—they controversial yet acclaimed BlackOut.

That’s right, Pro is apologizing for his ego and vowing to tone it down next time out.

If you don’t know PRO, you should. He’s one of the most energetic and talented spitters out there. In the world of Christian hiphop PRO’s one of the best.

But again, Pro has his critics. You see, in Christian hiphop you’re supposed to uplift God in your rhymes, not yourself. Christian emcees don’t rhyme about what they have or how great they are—at least they’re not supposed to. The goal is to uplift God, show how grateful you are for your ability, overcoming your struggles, etc.

It sounds limiting but it’s really not—not for the really quality emcees, anyway. Great music and good stories should cross genres.

Anyway, Pro sent out this joint off his upcoming album Redemption. (Love the title, too.) It’s called "I’m Sorry." Give it a listen—you’ll be surprised. I know I was. Here's the link:

Download Pro- Im Sorry

And as a bonus, here's another song from Redemption... Bo Down feat. Brotha Tone. This one's nice as well. The liner notes for the song are as follows: "In today's society, Jesus is portrayed as so many things.  Often he is seen so much less than what he is...King!  The heart behind the song “Bow Down” is to refocus everyone on the majesty of Christ.  We must fight to see him bigger, better, and greater than anything we could ever imagine, even ourselves.")

Download 04 Bow Down

Here's the cover art he sent as well:

Dope cover, actually. REDEMPTION is scheduled to drop in September. If you want to hear some of his older music/learn more, check him out at:

Pro on iTunes
www.myspace.com/mynameispro
www.mynameispro.com

Ledisi: Turn Me Loose!

Happy Sunday, y'all! Man... strange life I lead sometimes, I tell ya.…

For years one of my favorite artists in hiphop was the bay area crew known as Blackalicious. Now if the name sounds familiar, Blackalicious (comprised of Chief Xcel and Gift Of Gab) is responsible a string of quality releases including classic albums Nia and Blazing Arrow; both of which feature one of the most dexterous emcees in decades in Gab and some of the most soulfully sophisticated and layered production this side of vintage RZA or the good Dr. courtesy of Chief Xcel. (Still waiting on Detox, tho!)

Here’s a sample—two of my fave Blackalicious joints:

Feel That Way:

Deception:

Well in the last few years, thanks to a mutual acquaintance, Chief Xcel and I have become pretty good friends. Chief always keeps me abreast of what he’s up to—he’s a real studio rat, btw.

Late last year he was telling me about a project that was keeping him really busy… “Yeah man, it’s gonna be hot…. I like working with her—she’s a beast on the vocals… You ever heard of her?”

“What’s her name?

“Ledisi.”

Ledisi... “Beast on the vocals” is an understatement. I’d been listening to Ledisi off an on for a couple years on the strength of recos from other friends… She never disappoints. Ledisi’s got one of the biggest, rangiest, most fluid voices you’re gonna hear anywhere in any genre.  She’s like our generation’s Cassandra Wilson but with a little more gospel flavor.

Her last album, 2007’s Lost & Found was a best R&B album Grammy nominee while she’s been a Grammy nom for best new artist…

So, to answer his question, yeah I’d heard of her.

Well Ledisi’s got a new album dropping next Tuesday—8.18.09 called:

Ledisi: Turn Me Loose. (Cover looks good, no?)

Xcel's produced a number of tracks for the album and he's really happy about 'em. So I'm happy for my friend. And while I don't know Ledisi personally, she seems like a nice person who's immensely talented. So I'm pulling for her success. Lost + Found is truly one of my favorite albums to relax to—it's real grownfolks' listening. I'm expecting TML to have some adult energy to it and some purposeful soul—two things music is sorely lacking these days.

By the way: Another thing I like about Chief is his integrity. As happy as he’s been with the progress on her album, he wouldn’t leak a single track for me. I mean not even a sample. Now imagine a top-flight hiphop producer with a hot artist and refusing to leak anything.

I know, “stupid” right? Yeah…

Anyway, until the official release date of 8.18.09, I’ve had to resort to Ledisi's label site (here) along with iTunes for my new Ledisi fix. And again, all I can say is, she ain’t playin around this time. Based on the 3 singles I've heard so far—Higher Than This, Everything Changes, Goin Thru Changes— not to mention the top shelf producers she's got to go along with Chief (think: Jimmy Jam + Terry Lewis, Ralpahel Saadiq) TURN ME LOOSE has all the signs of a fall classic.

I can't wait.

This Townhall Debate Needs An Enema!

Okay, when I heard about this pic a while back, I thought it was a joke. A web rumor...

I was wrong.

This needs to stop.

Lemme just say that I hated Bush. I really thought he was one of the worst, most counter-productive presidents in decades. But I never advocated his murder, physical harm or anything beyond verbal confrontation. I challenged his intelligence but never his humanity. I questioned Bush's compassion and common sense but never his citizenship. I questions his leadership and his courage but never his manhood.

This hateful BS with the joker, sending out swatiskas, racial slurs, thinly-veiled and overt death threats...

This ain't got nothing to do with healthcare. This is about folks who hate a country that's no longer totally stacked in their favor. This is about people who are so invested in homogenized whiteness and a mythical meme of America's inherent and innate godliness that they want to bury anyone who questions it. America's increasingly multicultural, increasingly lower-class, economically speaking... This isn't the White upper-class, geo-politically sheltered America that so many angry people so fondly misremember.

no.

This is an America this fully aware that Christopher Columbus didn't discover it. This America knows the native americans weren't godless savages. This America knows its country's flaws. This America calls BS when it sees it, even when it means calling itself out.

This American's still in denial about a lot of ugly truths. And so be it.

But you guys with the guns, birth certificate theories, border paranoia, and other assorted latent biases need to stop. Just "cayate" and stop it already. Please. You're hurting your own cause.

Then again, I take it back—keep it up. Show the world how stupid you are and how worthless your fight is. We'll win by default.

Dont forget the tar + feathers!!!

Just Enough Rope to Hang Themselves:
Lynching Jokes Still Ain't Funny
By: B. Canseco

Lynching has never been funny. Not when it was Jews. Not when it was blacks. Not when it was Native Americans. Throwin' a rope around someone's neck and forcibly hanging 'em till their neck snaps just isn't Letterman material.

So why do white people—white public figures in particular—still take this route?

Remember when Golf Channel anchor and white woman extraordinaire  Kelly Tilghman suggested someone lynch Tiger Woods? She just thought it was the funniest thing ever. And you can tell by the fact that she laughed at her own joke. Now, much as I dislike Woods, I have no interest inshowing up at his next event with a coil of twine and a special request. Personally, I thought that’d be the last time a public figure told a bad lynching joke. (As opposed to the “good” lynching jokes.)

But leave it to Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) to bring back the rope jokes. Rep. Todd held a town hall of his own two days ago, and here's what he said:

Nothing helps cooler heads prevail in a heated discussion about healthcare then having white republican congressmen joke about lynching. [INSERT KNEE SLAP HERE.]

Now you can say, "Oh, BC... this is old news." But it's not really.  For starters, it's only a few days old. Secondly, when are folks gonna get that there's a big divide going on here. Can you imagine somebody politi-joking about the Holocaust? I'm gonna go out on a limb her and suggest that the next host onn the FoodNetwork to equate oven-roasted chicken with ovens at Auschwitz will be the first and the last.

This is just one more reason to avoid the Republican party.

Sad part is how many people at this townhall are laughing at Akin's lynching jokes like this is okay. At least Tilghman's on-air partner had enough sense to look at her like she was crazy, whether he secretly thought it was funny or not. But no, not these fools... They laughed like this was a friggin Jay Leno bit.

And what's sadder still is how the republicans continue to miss opportunities to reach out to disparate communities on issues that matter to them. I mean, who's hurt more by our failing healthcare system than black and brown communities?

Too your pandering to angry white people with petty race-infused humor is getting in the way of broadening your coalition. I'm starting to think that it's no accident that over 90% of the Birthers and seemingly 90-plus percent of these townhalls are White attendees.

Now folks can vote this Akin guy out when he tries to reup in 2010 or so, but as for the folks in the audience... Well, these fine folks are our neighbors. Our coworkers. Our fellow Americans. And in their world, lynching is funny. In their world, Obama's not a real citizen. In their world, Obama's not worthy of their acknowledgment as president. In their world, healthcare is for those who can afford it and those who can't can die off and make room for the rest. In their world, the browning of America is something to fear, loathe and fight against.

And to joke about getting rid of by any means necessary.

Call me alarmist, but if I start seeing rope anywhere it's not supposed to be I won't be wait around for an explanation or a punchline.

Send In the Clowns....

This is pretty infamous, by now. Almost, dare I say, "classic." It's a spoof from the 2009 Country Music Awards...

Best part about it? It looks not much different from this:

And a Little like this:

point is... all these things are starting to look the same.

Aye Mami! Sotomayor's a Justice now!

Sotomayor Gets Sworn In...
And Nobody Cares.

It’s Tuesday already and not one network’s mentioned the fact that Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in with next to no fanfare this past Saturday.

Sotomayor’s swearing in was such a non-event that all the senators and congressfolk who stood shoulder to shoulder against her nomination were back to bashing Obama’s healthcare plan by Sunday. All that hoopla… all that race-baiting and “wise Latina” bullcrap… All that noise and her critics went away just as quick as they came like nothing happened.

DJ Tony Toca didn’t show up the boriquen beats on the Ones and Twos to rock as I hoped he would’ve. Kid Frost didn’t come out of retirement to bless the joint with La Raza. She didn’t take a couple Puerto Rican flag and flip it into a justice’s robe.

In fact, she wore a pretty boring, yet professional looking pantsuit and a dull, very librarian-eque looking hairdo. In short, newly appointed Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor showed up looking like, well a vet with 17 years of bench experience being sworn into a lifelong appointment. (She even took her vows in English with no discernable accent.)

Funny thing was watching a woman be sworn in as a rookie justice by a guy she outguns by 5 times over. Sotomayor’s been a judge for 17 years, while Bush’s boy John Roberts had a grand total of 2 years bench experience before being given the keys to the Supreme Court. (I’m sorry, but John Roberts as Chief Justice is like UPS naming one of its driver’s CEO after a couple years behind the wheel. Also, that a white guy with minimal judicial experience can cake-walk to the top slot on the highest bench in the land with little opposition while Sotomayor gets raked over the coals for offhanded comments just shows that “wise Latina” or not, a whole lotta white people still harbor a whole lotta stupid.)

Speaking of which, just what did you guys think was gonna happen?

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Oh yeah... That.

So besides the wise latina bumrush, were people expecting Sotomayor to show up ready to be sworn in in some booty shorts, crackin’ gum and press on nails yellin’ “Aye papi”?

You know, I just looked out my window and near as I can tell, all the black and brown folks that were locked up on Friday aren’t roaming the streets on some Sotomayor driven pardon today. And at last count: all my crazy white American flag waving, Rush Limbaugh parroting John McCain votin’ neighbors still have their guns.

A big flood of Latinos didn't show up clowncar-style to take over the capitol bldg.

Che Guevera’s birthday hasn’t become a national holiday.

And corporations are still over-charging under-serving and cashing their bailout checks…
 
Puerto Rico hasn’t been become its own nation. It hasn’t even been annexed to Cuba.

Our nation’s colleges and office spaces are suddenly overrun with masses of unqualified black and brown folks under some Sotomayor activist affirmative action thing…

Fact is, Sotomayor—like her biggest cheerleader President Obama—is a moderate in revolutionary’s clothing. Her rulings, which all her critics ignored, are based not only in law, but in a relatively conservative and literal interpretation of the law. In short, Thurgood Marshall ain't suitin' up again no time soon. So calm down. (Or "cayate" as the kids say.)

In honor of Justice Sotomayor's appt... I give you...."

Put on the Hammer and you will be rewarded...

There are certain acts in hiphop lore for whom the culture owes a collective, "my bad" to. Hammer is one of 'em.

When it's all said and done, Stanley Burrell was realer from Day One to Day Forever than 99% of the cats who've ever repped hiphop culture. Seriously. And we owe him a major apology.

Hammer was dope.

I said, MC Hammer was dope. Not just good for an older guy, or dope for a dancer, but was just straight up dope.


He never claimed to be anything other than a dope dancer who knew how to rhyme—think about all the dumbass dances we got now; and as bad as all these dances are, can't none of these cats flip bars on par with grampa burrell. Hammer claimed to be a showman—and promptly put on better shows than most live rock bands. He claimed his community—then hired damn near everybody.

Hammer claimed to be universal—and promptly sold tens of millions of albums worldwide with the same sound he was slinging out of trunks in Oakland parking lots after rippin' clubs apart on the dance floor.

Dude was 3 times dope.

And now, thanks to the best cutmen in the game today, Mick Boogie, you can download this truly dope high-end mix of some of MCH's classic hits, hosted by Mr. Burrell himself:

DOWNLOAD HERE

Here's the back cover:



What's crazy is as nice as this tape is, it's just a primer for Hammer's career. Then again, it's hard to capture everything Hammer was and is on a few tracks. Still this is fun stuff. Give it a listen.

AMAZON DIGITAL PRESENTS: KNOCK THE HUSTLE!

Happy Monday, all!

Just a friendly reminder that KNOCK THE HUSTLE is now available as an e-book for KINDLE, iPod (like the pic?) and Blackberry. Just CLICK THIS AMAZON LINK HERE.

If you want to read cool reviews, synopsis, etc. check out THIS LINK HERE.

Nike just does diversity... kinda.

I'm working on an open letter to W+K founder, Dan Weiden on his ingenious solutions  to solving diversity in Corporate America, specifically the ad industry in the age of Obama. (see here for DW's luvly speech: Dan Weiden of Weiden talks culture at 4A's)

Until my missive is goes up, I offer you this timely diversity spoof, which comes courtesy of HighJive @ MCC.

In case you're having problems accessing the speech's audio file, here's a synopsis, courtesy of Adweek.com:

Dan Wieden Makes Impassioned Diversity Pitch at 4A's [Adman challenges industry to finally face the issue head on]

-By Andrew McMains

Dan Wieden

SAN FRANCISCO Speaking plainly, directly and at times profanely, Wieden + Kennedy's Dan Wieden today used the platform of the American Association of Advertising Agencies to urge agencies to finally address the relative lack of diversity in the industry.

Wieden pointed to an outdoor camp for at-risk youth he helped create in Oregon as a concrete example of what he has done to introduce minorities to the art of filmmaking and the possibility of working in advertising. At the same time, he acknowledged that his agency is still predominantly white, though its percentages of African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians have increased in the past six years.

The issue of diversity "continues to gnaw at me because, like it or not, in this business I essentially hire a bunch of white, middle-class kids, pay them enormous, enormous sums of money to do what? To create messages to the inner-city kids who create the culture the white kids are trying like hell to emulate," said Wieden, one of the featured speakers on the last day of this year's 4A's Leadership Conference. "But if you go into the inner city, odds are these kids aren't even going to see advertising as a possibility, as an opportunity for them. Now that's fucked up," he said.

Wieden added: "Don't get me wrong. I'm not bringing this up today because I think Wieden + Kennedy is doing this phenomenal goddam job at rectifying the situation. I think we've made some progress. But we've got miles and miles to go before we sleep."

African-Americans, Asians and Hispanics today represent nearly 18 percent of Wieden's Portland, Ore., office and about 24 percent of its New York office, up from about 6 percent and 10 percent, respectively, since 2003, Wieden said. To achieve those increases, the independent agency has utilized Howard University's Center for Excellence, the Minority Advertising Training program and outreach specialists like Partners in Diversity.

"I repeat, though, I'm not bringing that up just to brag. If I had any common sense, I would avoid this topic like the plague," Wieden said. "But I thought, maybe, just maybe it might be more inspirational to hear from someone as screwed up as you are. And you are screwed up, aren't you? I mean, look at this room: how many black faces do you see here?" Roughly a half-dozen of the 150 or so attendees remaining in the audience in the waning hours of the conference could be described as people of color.

Wieden pointed to his camp, Caldera, as a manifestation of his own soul-searching on the issue of diversity. The sleepover camp, which opened in 1996, offers arts and environmental activities to adolescents in the hope that they will "find their voice," Wieden said.