HustleKnockin'

Don't hate me, Hate God...

THE “God Said So” HUSTLE

My male friends say wars are started in the name of God. My feminist friends say women are oppressed in the name of God. My black and brown friends say slavery and colonialism is done in the name of God. My gay friends say homophobia is done in the name of God. My foreign friends talk about corruption and oppression in the name of God. Well guess what?

We’ve all been hustled.

When someone pulls the “God Said So” card in the name of war, politics, business, or whatever, chances are it’s the God Hustle. Want to kill some natives or commandeer land/natural resources? Call it “Manifest Destiny” (God’s will). Want slaves? Say God ordained these specific people to be beasts of burden for the rest of society. Want a republican president? Say God’s a conservative. Want to control someone’s art or music? Call it anti-god, aka "sinful". Whatever the cause, when in doubt: Invoke God.

Lookit, I don’t claim to speak for God, but here’s what I know in my heart: God ain’t broke. God don’t need your vote. God owns all the land and wants us to share it. God loves peace. God loves women. God loves ethnicity. God don’t care which team covers the spread. And God don’t like ugly. (For more, grab a Bible.)

And not to single-out any particular faith but we got way too many huge flossy cathedrals and churches with rich pastors preaching to poor congregations. Now, some of this is outreach; but some of this is hustle. If the church has a cover charge and/or the reverend spends more time with politicians and media than with the congregation, that’s The God Hustle. Quit selling what Christ gave away for free. (Can I get a witness? Please?)

"Ooh, Rev ain’t right! His church ain’t right! Deacon is pimp, you can tell by his ice!"
—Ghostface

Two Weeks Ago...

Two Weeks Ago…
By: Hadji aka Black Canseco

Short ‘n’ Jay once talked about how things can change in just a few days. It’s true. Sometimes you don’t remember where you’ve been until realize where you are…

It’s been about 16 days since God smacked me upside the head… And I gotta tell you, I ain’t been mad since. It’s weird. I feel calm about so many things now. I mean, my list of things to get mad about really went from like 1,000 to like 3, maybe 5, if that.

Morality vs. Ethics... Which side do you take?

Morals. Ethics.... Interchangeable? Do unto others?... How do you get thru life? How do you operate in business? In school?.... Read this then lemme know which is yours.

OFFICIAL KTH EXCERPT:

HONOR AMONG THIEVES?
(Ethics vs. Morals)

Better is a little with righteousness
than great revenues without right.
—Proverbs 16:8

Ethics. Some got ’em, some don’t. Me? No ethics at all. I don’t have any ethics and I don’t want any ethics. Thanks to my business and life experiences, I finally figured out the difference between the two; and the day I did, I tossed my code of ethics out the window. Life’s been pretty good ever since.

I’m not preaching here, I’m just going to offer a few angles up for consideration. So keep an open mind and ride with me for a bit, okay? Cool.

feelin' good. construct bustin' music

we takin' it back like 10, 12 years with this one. feelin' good today. get out your roach-killers and scare the terminites in your floor... wake the neighbors below if you in an apartment... if you got your own acres--make the folks across the street nervous.

oh, yeah, smile while slam those heels into the ground one time.

George Clinton and Mr. Franklin P-Funkin' for the Lawd! SP puttin' it down, too.

Dance and feel good y'all. it's an old song, but always a new day!

Still Here, still breathing!

God Has Kept Me Here For A Reason!

Repeat after me: God has kept me here for a reason. I survived because He has a plan for me.

I survived all my bad relationships, the severe illnesses, the addictions, the consequences, the bad credit, the repossessions, the death of my loved ones.

The disappointment of those who I thought were friends, the negative thoughts, or the lack of
support; I made it because I am blessed!

I release and let go of all past hurts, misunderstandings, and grudges because I am abundantly blessed!

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:

Review: After The Music Stops (Lecrae)

REVIEW:

Title: After The Music Stops
Artist: Lecrae
Label: Cross Movement Records 2006

Sorry Malice, sorry Hov, but Lecrae’s the real reason my favorite emcee is no longer my favorite. As a Christian, I have to say that I’ve almost always hated Christian rap. It’s made me cringe since I was a shorty.

Between Hammer’s Pray, Kirk Franklin’s joints and even Ye’s Jesus Walks from last year I thought that nobody would ever do this thing even close to right. (And of course, you gotta walk the talk, so maybe Mr. West is a stretch—not that I’m throwin’ stones with all the bones in my closet. (But that’s another story.)

Lose the ABM/AM Chip...

Sure, this one applies to me, too. but it's helpful advice to others. And Lawd knows plenty give us right to be annoyed/angry but....(Taken from KNOCK THE HUSTLE)
----

3. Lose the ABM/AM Chip.

Ah, the Angry Black Man/Angry Minority chip...folks are still bringing those things to work. Well in case you haven’t noticed lately: It doesn’t work. You might scare a couple of TRLers and soccermoms, but you won’t scare many businessfolks—they just don’t care enough to be afraid anymore.

breakin atoms and bread and constructs...

TIME TO BREAK BREAD…

ARTIST: Lecrae
ALBUM: Real Talk
LABEL: Cross Movement Records, 2006
(www.lecrae.com / www.crossmovementrecords.com)
STANDOUTS: Tha Church, Crossover, We Don’t, Wait, Who U Wit, Nothin’
REMINDS ME OF: Fire ‘n’ Brimstone with southern bounce. Ludacris with a bible. Holy Rukus.

Ahh, Christian Rap the stepchild of Black Music… You almost smirk whenever someone says it, even today. And as a Christian (a highly flawed one, but one none the less), there’s not a whole lot of hiphop rappers that I get into. Mainly because so much of it has just been bad.

But there’s a generation of spitters and flowers out there that are really nice. Not just “nice for Christian rap,” but nice period. Lecrae is one of ‘em.

Mega Churches... Minor Marketers…

The two most marginalized groups in the marketing industry: Christians and Blacks. I said it, so deal with it. Once I accepted Christ I hit the daily double.

Funny thing about the ad world—it treats devoutly religious folks, Christians in particular like the anti-hipsters. We are kryptonite to their supercoolness secularism. Say Jesus at work and you get "Too Much Information!" Converesely I could talk guns drugs, sex... just like Kanye said.

I get into this in the second printing of KNOCK THE HUSTLE. (Yup there’s a second printing! Coming for the holidays. I swear!) Anyway… besides the marginalization, as consumers, the What-would-Jesus-Buy-ers got a lot of pull. Just ask TD Jakes, Creflo and the rest. They ain’t gotta give another sermon in they life.

Okay that came out wrong. Way wrong.

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.

Hadji on NPR pt.2

I've said once, and I'll say it again: Corporate America makes people soft. squeezably charmin, pillow soft... so soft they get "handlers"... they have "people"...

Corporate People lose their friggin' minds they go so soft.

hadji goes off on NPR!!!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5540573

i got into it with this chick from VNU Media. when i was on NPR the other day. News and Notes with Ed Gordon. She was pretty slimy. actually, just slimy. give a listen.

Teen Consumers and the Trials of Youth Marketing

News & Notes with Ed Gordon, July 7, 2006 · Next week in New York City, a group of global marketers will gather to talk about the challenges of marketing to teenagers. Ed Gordon talks with marketing executives Hadji Williams and Deborah Patton about how marketers sell to young people, and issues of corporate responsiblity.

what if the game got flipped?

I came across this article on stereotypes of a black male--misunderstood, but it's all good. (sorta.)http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Men_Surviving_Blackness.html

Once I saw, I couldn't help but start building on it. So, my comments follow. It just got me rolling a little bit. at once there's hope, then at once, there's not as much. It makes me wish I'd done more with my pen and less for some of my clients'...

maybe there's still time.

get your motor runnin'! or else!

Harley Davidson...vroom, vroom. they got issues.... 

Big Ben vs. K2

I'm a big football head. fun thing about marketing is the way we package athletes as brands. I came across this piece from Bomani Jones, a pretty strong writer out of Durham, NC. He contrasts the manner in which we as a society bashed Kellen Winslow II's motorcycl accident of a couple seasons' back with QB's Ben Roethlisberger's recent wreck.

As a marketer (Big Ben is the more marketable of the 2 being the Super Bowl winning QB), a Christian (Big Ben wears his faith proudly but not smugly), a Black male (Winslow is a brother), and fan of him and his ol' man (K1 was the best pass catching Tight End in modern history), I'm pretty conflicted here.

Image is everything. Marketing shapes us all more than we care to admit to... Read and weep.

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