HustleKnockin'

I'm Back... BlogWorld & BlakRoc

BlogWorld & BlakRoc

Okay, so I'm back... You miss me? So what have I been up to these many weeks?

Well, one of the things I’ve been doing in my time away from blogging is compiling notes from my experience at Blog World Expo 2009. [Yeah, some 'blog-free vacation' right? Well that’s how I party. these days Sue me.]

But honestly, I got some much needed respite and head-start on reorganizing some things.

For starters, I actually don’t know if I’ll be blogging daily anymore. Maybe every other day or 5 days a week. I’m trying to get back into book writing mode; and to be honest blogging gets in the way of that... er um, more than just a little bit.


I can't speak for anyone else, but it's just too hard to write something fresh and cohesive 7 days a week. I admire those folks who can, but I'm not one of them. Between writing books, trying to resurrect and restructure a publishing model in the face of a failed economy and publishing industry and trying to find paying writing gigs to support the previously mentioned, blogging's kind of a pain some days...

But we'll see. iIll write when I can and do my best not to waste your time with what gets posted here.

Anyways I’m writing this entry, I’m finishing up another listen of the BlakRoc Project, courtesy of Dame Dash’s new BlakRoc label—and the innernuts. It’s a combo of The Black Keys—an indie screechy blues band—and assorted rhyme-slinging vets including: Mos Def, Ludacris, NOE, Billy Danz, Pharoahe Monch, RZA, Raekwon and more.

It’s not bad, actually.

Stay Off The Flowers finds Raekwon in rare form, and Jim Jones actually sounds coherent and conflicted. Singer Nicole Wray continues to be exquisite. And Hope you’re Happy finds Billy Danz just reminding me just how black-rock has been MOP when they’re in the pocket.

If you like angry 16s stompin’ on electrified post-Zeppellin-esque blues riffs then BlackRoc might be for you. Though to be honest, right after this I scrolled down to The New Danger— the first Black Jack Johnson album; and to be real with you: BlakRoc doesn’t hold a candle to Mos, Dr. No and ‘nem. Pure funk, pure black rock. There’s just a soft, thinness to BlakRoc that I can’t quite explain. It’s like all the pieces are there, but the puzzle still ain’t finished yet.

Not that you need to reinvent the wheel; but while BlakRoc has been fun little listen to for the last few weeks or so, I'm itchin' to have my copy of The New Danger be re-discovered and re-remembered as a defining album and what should’ve been the evolution of at least 2 genres.

Oh yeah, I was supposed to be talking about BlogWorld, wasn’t I? My ADHD is kicking in again.

Check back in a few for some BWE freshness…

PS: That BLAKROC review wasn't a plug or paid for in anyway. I just got my hands on a copy and thought you might wanna know about it. When it comes to paid-for content, as a general rule, I just don't. Will explain in a future post.

talk soon.

Required Reading: BLACK POWER INC.

Hope you're having a good Sunday y'all... (Like that J Moss piece? Hope so. Cop that album, for real. it still sounds good, especially this time of year.)Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm heading out to doisome shopping—hitting some joint called SugarPlum" in SoCal. Don't ask--it's not my idea, anyway.

Meanwhile, here's a review I wrote a while back for one of my favorite books ever. I found myself re-reading this book recently as I struggle to get back to my own writing...

Consider picking this one up--it's worth it!

--------------
BLACKPOWER INC.: The New Voice of Success
By: Cora Daniels
218 pages  ($24.95 US/£16.99 U.K./$34.99 Canada)
ISBN: 0-471-47090-2
Publisher: Wiley & Sons
www.coradaniels.com
 

Today, economics is the new politics and business is the final frontier of the civil rights movement. And in BLACK POWER, INC., Cora Daniels shines the light on how the new school of Black businessfolks—mainly 40 and under—are taking civil rights to the next level not only by acquiring power and position within top companies, but by also starting their own businesses and reinvesting in their own communities.

According to Black Power, you won't find too many “happens to be black” execs among the new breed. They’re qualified, educated and streetwise. They're also not apologizing for their heritage/ethnicity in order to gain acceptance; instead they're using the insights and perspectives that come with being black to their advantage; and screw anyone who as a problem with it. But as Black Power notes, there are still more than a few faces in high places working to keep black professionals down and out. But Daniels and everyone she interviews make one thing clear: we ain’t havin’ it.

Daniels, an award-winning journalist and staff writer for FORBES magazine does a thorough job of getting candid insights from numerous top Black professionals on a variety of issues ranging from diversity to black empowerment to the generation gap to the importance of innovation, networking and integrity and more. One of my favorite quotes comes from Shawn Baldwin, 36, founder and CEO of Capital Management who tells Daniels, “The first step for black folks is realizing that there's not going to be a leader and there's not going to be any movement—unless you count economics.”

While I'm hiphop to the heart, one of the things I like most about Black Power is that it looks at black businessfolks beyond the typical Russell Simmons/Sean John profiles or “meet the latest emcee/athlete/actor with a clothing line” pieces. Now to be sure, there's a look at music and entertainment leaders, but Daniels smartly focuses on black folks across a variety of often overlooked but increasingly opportunity-rich industries like technology, packaged goods, automotive, banking and finance, manufacturing, just to name a few.

In BP’s “Dissed By Diversity” chapters Daniels discuss institutionalized racism, specifically the traditionally topic taboo of how corporations use diversity initiatives to keep black folks out by counting white women and other non-blacks as “minorities.” to And in “What does this mean for Wall Street?” Daniels looks at how the increasing number of black professionals starting their own ventures is impacting traditionally white companies and industries that have been unwilling to adapt and be more inclusive.

And as a woman Daniels uses her “Sistas Unite!” chapter to not only give black female professionals their props but to discuss the inequities and barriers professional sistahs face while dealing with, well, everyone.

Overall, Black Power Inc. is a great read—Daniels writes with flow, honesty and optimism. It’s packed with insights, advice and smart writing that everyone from high schoolers to CEOs can feel. As with her Fortune work, BP Inc. shows Daniels to be really good at breaking down complex issues while avoiding a lot of the “they’re so racist!” whining that others get caught up in. If it were up to me, Black Power Inc. would be mandatory reading for every black person and every businessperson in general. Pump the black fist.

Hey, Lebron: Real Kings Have Crowns

Lebron James needs to shut up and play ball.

Power turns people out, simply and plain. The more you got, the warped you're liable to get. And Lebron's lookin' pretty flimsy these days.

He's gone from man-child legend in training to spoiled brat in less that 5 years. Hailing from Akron, the NBA's power brokers, marketing gurus and media hanger-ons have anointed him the league's golden child goose. Not "golden child" like Steve Nash or Dirk or Larry Bird in the 80s per se, but all involved know where their future is; and it's resting on the shoulders of a 6'8 260lb two-guard whose "King" nickname sounds as much like a prayer as it does a marketing ploy.

 All the King is missing now is a kingdom. And he thinks New York is the place he oughta be ruling.

"I think July 1, 2010, is a very big day," James said when the Cavaliers were in New York. "It's probably going to be one of the biggest days in free-agent history in the NBA. So a lot of teams are gearing up to try to prepare themselves to be able to put themselves in position to get one of the big free-agent market guys."

New York, NY. Lebron's already packed up and ready to move. No doubt he's got a corner of Trump Towers picked out for him.

Screw Cleveland—the team that drafted him, the team that cuts his (ample) checks every month, and the team that's signing and trading everything but the furniture to win isn't enough for Lebron. Not Cleveland—the city that's loved him and cheered since he was 15. Cleveland's not a crown or a kingdom worthy of 'bron bron.

Nope.

Lebron wants to be a billion dollar global icon. He's been plotting his marketing hustle for the last couple years now. And you just can't do that in Cleveland.

Be nice if dude won a championship before talking about blowing town.

Be nicer if he showed enough respect for the team that treats him well, pays him better and the city that's worshiped him since childhood to not openly flirt with other teams about the future.

Be nice if Lebron had enough respect for Charles Barkley—a hall-of-famer/Top 50 great and former global icon himself to not call Barkley "stupid" for criticizing him.

Call me old but I agree with Chuckster; ‘bron bron needs to shut up and play ball.

Cleveland kisses Lebron’s butt like Yankee fans do Derek Jeter’s. (Jeter's got 3 rings by the way.) Granted, Cav ownership hasn’t made the greatest moves to get dude help, but they’ve done the best they could given the limited availability of money and tradable talent from season to season.

Now, I don't know about you, but if I went to work everyday cock-teasing other companies that've shown an interest in hiring me down the road, I'd get fired asap—reprimanded, at least.  And I know–the NBA isn't like working at McD's or anywhere in the "real world", but enough's enough.

For a guy who hasn't won a title but has been worshiped by no matter what he does, the least LBJ could do is play out his contract and try to get a ring for the team he's on. Oh, and stop insulting Hall-of-Famers and championship winners for saying what most are too afraid to say.

I was a Lebron guy, but not anymore. There isn't a crown big enough for this guy's overinflated head. I ain't feelin' the cat no matter where he ends up in 2010. And in honor of that I give you this:

Obama Ettiquette: How to Properly Categorize Pres. Obama's mistakes:

I decided to go old school on y'all and channel my inner Dr. Jack Badofsky for this one:

Here's 37 Ways in which you can properly label and catalog Pres-Elect Obama's actions, mistakes and accomplishments:

1. Barack won because voters weren’t just pro-Black, they were “pro’Bama.”

2. Whenever Barack screws up, the media can call it a “Doh’bama!”

3. When he tosses the first pitch next season, he’ll be “Throw’Bama.”

4. If he brings the troops home, he'll be "G.I. Joe'Bama."

5. When Michelle and the girls hit their periods together, we can say "Flo’Bama".

6. If Barack gets caught smoking we can say "Dro’Bama".

7. If he visits NYC, we can say "Ayo’Bama!"

8. Looking ahead, if Barack gets a second term we’ll get "Mo’Bama."

9. If Biden follows Barack as president it might be thanks to "Joe’Bama."

10. If Barack grows his hair out it’ll be "Fro’bama."

11. For the next 4 years racists and Republicans get to yell “No’bama!”

12. If my taxes get cut I’ll have some extra "Dough’Bama."

13. If he goes Hollywood like Fred Thompson, he’ll be "Show’bama."

14. Frat boys can now call him "Bro’Bama."

15. Outkast's new joint is called, "Mighty O"(Bama)

16. It's not TV. It's HBO'Bama.

17. Californication. Now on Sho'Bama.

18. When Barack’s running late he’ll be "Slow’Bama."

19. If he tries to change too fast, Republicans will call him “Woah’Bama.”

20. Rush Limbaugh will disregard Barack as "So’Bama."

21. When the first family goes on vacation it’ll be on-the-low’Bama.

22. Fox News can slant their coverage by leading with “Yo’Bama”

23.  Bill O’Reilly’s stupid commentaries will now be Billo’Bama.

24. If Barack gets caught with an intern it’ll be "Ho’Bama."

25. If he gets tough with foreign leaders, it'll be "Let-'Em-Know'Bama."

26. If Michelle gets her HRC on and tries to run -ish, it’ll be a "Co-Bama administration."

27. If Barack can’t fix the economy we’ll all be “Po’Bama.”

28. If Barack decriminalizes weed he’ll be “Grow’Bama.”

29. When he can't answer a question, he'll be "I-Dunno'Bama."

30. In honor of Joe, the Plumber:  Ohio'Bama. (Now go get your license, get an actual job and use your real name, Wurzelbach!)

31. When he gets mad he'll be "P.O.'Bama"

32. If he turns out to be a liar, he'll be "Faux'bama"

33. If DJ Premier ever spins at the White House, it'll be "Primo'bama."

34. Insteada apple pie, for dessert, it's now "Jell-o'Bama."

35. If he ever saddles up it'll be "Rodeo'bama."

36. All his speeches can be  "video'bama."

37. On Valentine's Day, he'll be Romeo'Bama.


This is just the beginning of having the dude around for the next 4 years. So let's “Go’Bama!”

Company Cancers...pt. 2

==============KNOCK THE HUSTLE 2 EXCERPTS======================= ++++++++++++++COMING WINTER 2008++++++++++++++++++++++++

Some people are A#*@%?!'s—just thinking about them makes you curse a blue streak. And some days, it takes everything inside you not to beat them into a coma.

“Get Carter”

While at BBDO Chicago, I worked with a guy named “Carter.” He was your classic office A#*@%?! He wasn’t in management; he was just from New York. Even though he was in Chicago and had been for some 5 years, Carter constantly justified his A#*@%?!-ish behavior with a dismissive “I’m a-New-Yorker-so-get-over-it.” In his world, being an A#*@%?! was a sign of inner-strength and self-confidence. Carter was your classic late ‘90s Gen-X copywriter: Long hair, pale, fancy coffee sipping, obnoxious, judgmental, narrow-minded, Howard Stern loving, obscure indie-flick referencing, Village Voice-quoting punk. Basically, he was a slightly taller, louder David Spade, only with talent.

Carter regularly insulted female coworkers about their weight. He insulted colleagues’ wardrobes. He insulted people’s taste in music. Knowing that she’d just returned from her beauty salon appointment, he told a secretary she that needed to dye her hair again because her roots were showing and she looked old. When an account exec died in a horrible skiing accident Carter spent days trashing the guy and his girlfriend, also a fellow coworker.

 

Writers: A Call For Submissions!

A Call For Submissions!

Los Angeles, CA - Starting its fourteenth year, The Guy A. Hanks & Marvin Miller Screenwriting Program will be accepting applications from July 15 to September 15, 2007.

This program was established by Drs. Bill and Camille Cosby at the University of Southern California 's School of Cinema-Television. Unaffiliated with USC, the Hanks-Miller Program is geared toward increasing the pool of qualified African-American writers in the entertainment industry. The Program has single-handedly brought more successful African-American writers into the entertainment industry than any other program of its type.

Black Blogs... Getting their due?

THE RAUCOUS WORLD OF BLACK BLOGS

BOSTON: Angel Laws, a 22-year-old college student in Jacksonville, North Carolina, merely wanted to poke fun at a celebrity. For the entry titled "Guess Who: Messed Up Feet Edition" on her gossip blog, Concrete Loop, Laws posted a photo of a pair of weathered bronze feet wrapped in strappy black sandals and hinted at the person's identity by commenting, "I guess all those years on the runway take a toll on the feet." Unfortunately for Laws, the owner of those feet, the model Iman, happens to read Concrete Loop.

Iman responded to the item on her MySpace page by uploading an image of herself and her husband, the rocker David Bowie, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's recent Costume Institute gala. For this event, Iman wore a white pantsuit with white shoes. In the caption, Iman wrote, "Decided to cover my feet up as Concreteloop would post how ugly my feet are."

KTH EXCERPTS!!! N'joy

(You Can’t) Knock The Hustle

A realist is always hated in a society of
sanctimonious hustlers, which is what America is.
—Gore Vidal

My hustle of choice: the advertising and marketing industry. Been in it for 15 years. Now the best way to explain marketing is this: Hold up your hand, either one: Go ’head, get it up—I’ll wait (lol)... Okay, now think of your hand as the marketplace:

My Book Fair is tomorrow!!!

Tomorrow's the big day! (For me at least.) My Book Fair is tomorrow! OCTOBER BOOK FAIR starts at 9am and goes thru 3pm at the CHICAGO CULTURAL CENTER in downtown Chicago on Randolph and Michigan Ave.!!!

if you're not busy catching up on sleep, the kids, the games,work, etc. stop by. I'll be signing complimentary copies of KNOCK THE HUSTLE and speaking along with 30 other top authors from Chicago!

it's gonna be pretty cool.

details below (the fair's formal press release, so I'm sharing):

Soooold!!!!

MORE MUSINGS on the ad industry's bogus deal fallout…

• With all this big money they're forking over, it looks like the budgets for all those breakthrough Black History Month commercials we always look forward to each and every February will dry up, huh?

• Looks like all the agencies in the other cities are finally off the hook, now doesn’t it? (You can breathe easy, gang... You were oh so scared, I can tell... Yeah, Whateva.)

• Looks like I was wrong. If you have enough juice “Blondes, Brunettes, and Redheads plus gay versions thereof” really can pass for diversity.

• Payola schemes don't have to be as sophisticated as those in the record industry or even on WallStreet. When it comes to Madison Ave, plain old Cash payouts still work fine.

Stanford Likes KTH, too!

look what i found?! Stanford University's Library folks actually dug KNOCK THE HUSTLE! Gave it a nice little review in their newslettler. And it didn't cost me a thing. Didn't even know it had happened, in fact.

At any rate, here's the review.

Does this make me more legit, now?

Organic Journaling?!

Okay, i'm not sure what the hell to call what she's doing. but my buddy leslie Stewart is got bizarre pass-it-on/pay-it-forward communal live action thing on her hands...

You take a journal. you write in it. you live and write some more. then you pass it onto somebody else. they live and write and whatnot. then pass it on. the person left with it when it's finished mails to her and she blogs the whole thing.

or something insane like that.

read and weep. then get out of your cubicle and join in.

I smell sponsorship. And leslie hates sponsors. but this one's too good to pass up.

Bean Soup Times digs KTH, too!

Bean Soup has a good circulation in Chicago. over 80,000 actually. So screw the Reader and New City and URB for that matter. They don't have to like KNOCK THE HUSTLE.

Why?

Because Bean Soup Times and underground pubs like that are diggin' it enough to review it.

So there.

LOL.

review below.

Amazon says...

Actually it's RAWSISTAZ--one of the larger black reader sites around. Here's there take on a certain book:
-------
RAWSISTAZ.com
Now You Know, July 26, 2006
Reviewer:The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers (RAWSISTAZ.com) - See all my reviews
Now you see it and now you don't. Can you survive in Corporate America and still keep your self-respect? Well according to KNOCK THE HUSTLE by Hadji J.S. Williams, if you know the game you can survive, however, if you're clueless then join the club, you have been played.

Now this is what you call an original analysis of the "American apple pie:" for those of us who want to make it big and become wealthy in a one package deal. Mr. Williams breaks it down very methodically that if you think you have the upper hand on your career and income, you better take the blinders off and blink again.

Gil Scott Heron gets locked up. Again.

here's a bad story, courtesy of eurweb.com...

*In Queens, New York, activist Gil Scott Heron was sentenced to two to four years in prison for violating a plea deal on a drug charge, reports the New York Post. The 56-year-old musician, poet and singer – best known for his 1970s anthem “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” – violated the deal by leaving the drug treatment center he was placed in, the New York Post reported Thursday. Heron, who is HIV positive, said he left because the in-patient rehab clinic stopped giving him his HIV medication. The prosecution also noted Heron once left treatment for an appearance with singer Alicia Keys.

This is pretty heartbreaking for me. Especially considering that I’m a former spokenword poet. Bet y’all didn’t know that? Yeah. I gigged around Chi-town and other spots for a while. Coming up, Pops had a couple of Scott’s album’s at the rest… between G. and some other cats, I got to writing when I was about 5 or 6 years old. Never stopped. Didn’t grab a mic until my early 20s stopped by late 20s. Anyway…

Is BET in Trouble?

BET is a sinking ship.

I ain’t trying to throw salt in the game, but Bob Johnson didn’t spend 18 years with his wife building that channel up and walk away from it like it he don’t know it; $3 Bill or no trey. He's a hustler but Hustlers got ego. They don't leave unless the gettin' is good. And BET shoulda been gettin' good, but it wasn't.

No, I think he cashed out for a couple reasons (besides a nasty divorce.)

Bob saw the writing on the walls. He saw the sag in the thongs.

Tired of Booty Black Flicks?

It’s super bob to the rescue!

Bob Johnson, founder of BET is starting up a movie studio dedicated to black family flicks. No lie. So the braintrust who brought you classic TV fare like:

Cita’s World…

endless reruns of The Parkers…

The parade of screaming comics coonish-yelling-the only-3-differences-between-whites-and-blacks-they-can-think-of-while-ripping-off-Richard-Pryor aka ComicView…

weekly airings of Trois

and of course, that bastion of black womanhood, BET: UNCUT…

Oh, did I mention that BET shows music videos?

And here’s the best part: Bob’s not waiting to be bought out by a conglomerate like he did with BET in 2000. No, this time, he’s partnering with the founders of Miramax right out the gate.

Full story below:

Was this guy the answer?

On the one hand, I’m sorry to see anyone go. On the other hand, I’m a little frustrated, that something like this gets celebrated. I’m not sure why. Equality is never as one-sided as Black and White…
And maybe that’s what bugs me about it. That it actually takes a client, a so-called “suit” to push for something as innovative as inclusion and diversity, but only because it “makes good business sense.” And that our industry, which swears to be the most creative thing this side of Hollywood couldn’t get any more milquetoast if it tried.
Ironically, nothing’s gonna change until you get more Sam Thurm out there.
Or until people stop debating whether not equality has anything to do with business sense, “giving back” or political correctness and accept it for what it is:

Right.

With all that said, the business community lost what seemed to be a pretty good guy this week.
Remember business ain’t everything.
Go home and kiss your family and hug somebody you care about and thank God for breathing.
The buildings will probably be here on Monday.
You’re not promised tomorrow.

Would you like some white bread with your beer?

Okay, so I'm chopping it up with a buddy of mine the other day. Can't say he's my boy or my partner. Or een my dawg. maybe if it were 1999. but it's not and he's white. So he's just my buddy.

He'd be my bro if he were about 25; but he ain't so, buddy it is.

We joke like that. known him since college. Anyway...

He's in the beverage game. more proof that he's white. he says beverage. a lot. why harp on the "white" thing? because he calls me up, we talk about liquor--he's in the marketing biz--he tells me that some big dumb white client he works for is struggling to move cases.
again. he ads, "these guys are too white for their own good."

Finally, after Ted Ferguson bud guy.. umpteen incarnations of blonde vs. brunette jokes
SNL vs. Mad TV styled bits, somebody besides me, unprompted just says it.

They're too white for their own good.

So this is what teens want...

While on NPR last week, Deborah Patton of VNU Media fixated on the infamous "youth conference". after a little digging, i found out what she was talking about.

It's called What Teens Want. Should be called, WHAT MARKETERS WANT TEENS TO WANT. Beleve me, that's all this unholy hell of a farce will amount to. It takes place in NYC July 13.

www.whatteenswant.com for more.