Kung Fu Grip Jesus

READ

Jesus will give Optimus Prime the business! I'm also betting that David and his slingshot will take out all of the Ninja Turtles, easily! Moses vs. Ken? What??? Moses will murk that Barbie-loving fool, for real!

Seriously, this seems like a cool idea. Lord knows kids don't need to be playing with some of the toys they are making nowadays. The action figures have bigger guns than them fools off Boulevard and the dolls dress like they work for Pimpin' Ken. My only gripe is, damn...whats up with James Caviezel Jesus? Where's the bronze feet and wool-like hair?

Kung Fu Grip Jesus

READ

Jesus will give Optimus Prime the business! I'm also betting that David and his slingshot will take out all of the Ninja Turtles, easily! Moses vs. Ken? What??? Moses will murk that Barbie-loving fool, for real!

Seriously, this seems like a cool idea. Lord knows kids don't need to be playing with some of the toys they are making nowadays. The action figures have bigger guns than them fools off Boulevard and the dolls dress like they work for Pimpin' Ken. My only gripe is, damn...whats up with James Caviezel Jesus? Where's the bronze feet and wool-like hair?

Newt Ginrich Wants A Detroit Experiment

I've never been to any of Detroit's public schools. But from what I've heard from the natives, they're pretty f'ed up. Granted, you can only believe so much of what people tell you, but I think I formed my own little opinion about Detroit's public school system when I read a story on ESPN.com where Detroit-native and current University of Oregon Ducks guard Tajuan Porter said "I didn't even know Oregon was a state" before choosing to go there on a hoops scholarship.

So, in hopes of increasing Detroit public schools' graduation rates and downing their dropout rates, Ginrich suggested that the state "fundamentally replace the Detroit school system with a series of experiments to see if they’ll work."

Among his proposed experiments is the idea that students be paid for maintaining good grades. He suggests that the students be paid what a McDonald's employee makes if they maintain a B average.

Well, that's just BRILLIANT! Pay the smart kids the same wages that a burger flipper earns. That's guaranteed to make them want to strive for more. Who knows, if they excell at extracurricular activities, they just might pull in the same money the nuggets-fryer gets.

C'mon. Really, how does this suggestion stand to improve anything. It will only lead to more disparaging things happening. Smart kids already get picked on for being nerds and what not, imagine the torture they'll have to go through when the bullies find out they got money too. What about the impact this can have on a child's psyche? They bust thier ass all year to get good grades, and get paid the same a person who most likely chose not to take education seriously? And what about the kids that are like me? The ones that didn't really like school all that much to begin with. Telling me that you'll pay me McDonald's-like wages for getting good grades will give even more incentive to dropout. Why go to school and earn minimum wage when I can just go work at UPS or something? They pay more. And what about the kids who don't get good grades, not only will they feel dumb, they'll feel dumb and broke. Dumb broke muthafuckas are known to cause trouble wherever they're at. So, ultimately, paying public school kids for getting good grades will make the situation worse.

What happened to just bribing or tricking kids into being smart by luring them in with prizes. I remember when I was in elementary school they used to give us Ronald McDonald coupons for getting good grades. Remember BOOK IT? When they gave you free pizza for reading books. Why can't they just do that? Hell, I'm cool with giving the kids XBOX's or something, but not money. Paying these kids for doing shit that they supposed to just do ain't the way to go.

Newt Ginrich Wants A Detroit Experiment

I've never been to any of Detroit's public schools. But from what I've heard from the natives, they're pretty f'ed up. Granted, you can only believe so much of what people tell you, but I think I formed my own little opinion about Detroit's public school system when I read a story on ESPN.com where Detroit-native and current University of Oregon Ducks guard Tajuan Porter said "I didn't even know Oregon was a state" before choosing to go there on a hoops scholarship.

So, in hopes of increasing Detroit public schools' graduation rates and downing their dropout rates, Ginrich suggested that the state "fundamentally replace the Detroit school system with a series of experiments to see if they’ll work."

Among his proposed experiments is the idea that students be paid for maintaining good grades. He suggests that the students be paid what a McDonald's employee makes if they maintain a B average.

Well, that's just BRILLIANT! Pay the smart kids the same wages that a burger flipper earns. That's guaranteed to make them want to strive for more. Who knows, if they excell at extracurricular activities, they just might pull in the same money the nuggets-fryer gets.

C'mon. Really, how does this suggestion stand to improve anything. It will only lead to more disparaging things happening. Smart kids already get picked on for being nerds and what not, imagine the torture they'll have to go through when the bullies find out they got money too. What about the impact this can have on a child's psyche? They bust thier ass all year to get good grades, and get paid the same a person who most likely chose not to take education seriously? And what about the kids that are like me? The ones that didn't really like school all that much to begin with. Telling me that you'll pay me McDonald's-like wages for getting good grades will give even more incentive to dropout. Why go to school and earn minimum wage when I can just go work at UPS or something? They pay more. And what about the kids who don't get good grades, not only will they feel dumb, they'll feel dumb and broke. Dumb broke muthafuckas are known to cause trouble wherever they're at. So, ultimately, paying public school kids for getting good grades will make the situation worse.

What happened to just bribing or tricking kids into being smart by luring them in with prizes. I remember when I was in elementary school they used to give us Ronald McDonald coupons for getting good grades. Remember BOOK IT? When they gave you free pizza for reading books. Why can't they just do that? Hell, I'm cool with giving the kids XBOX's or something, but not money. Paying these kids for doing shit that they supposed to just do ain't the way to go.

The Blame Game

Seeing Chamillionare's new videos for the first time today inspired me to try something new. Since the media likes to make Hip Hop look like the cause of all of this countries ills, I figured I'd join the bandwagon and start giving you some kinda-sorta-maybe-possibly Hip Hop related news stories you may have missed. Because we all know, its very easy to miss out on the news when we have important issues like football players fighting dogs and home run kings using steroids dominating the headlines. Here's two for today, enjoy.


"Don't Get Caught"



The L.A. Times is reporting that Dr. Hootan Roozrokh of San Francisco is facing charges after being accused of trying to speed up one of his patient's death so that he get his organs. He must have been influenced by the get money quotations Young Jeezy. Obviously Dr. Roozrokh heard Jeezy's multiple references to slanging O's and figured that he meant organs, not ounces. Dr. Roozrokh is expected to turn himself in later this week. Expect him to show up to the precint with copies of Trap or Die and Thug Motivation, rocking a Snowman t-shirt with a W.W.J.D. (What Would Jeezy Do?)wristband, crying "I heard it in a rap song."


"I'm A Dboy"


CNN.com posts that Al Gore's son, Al Gore III, or as he's known on the streets AG3, has pleaded guilty to felony and misdemeanor drug possession after getting caught speeding in Cali with a bag of weed and pills last month. About four years ago he got caught with weed in Maryland after a cop pulled him over for not having his headlights on. While the plan is to have him complete a drug treatment program and have his plea removed from his record, expect him to blame his drug problems on Lil Wayne. Its obvious that AG3 has been bumping his mixtapes, especially that song "Dying" when Weezy name drops every drug under the sun. This shouldn't be surprising, after all, his mother Tipper is the woman who started the fight to censor music back in the 80's.

The Blame Game

Seeing Chamillionare's new videos for the first time today inspired me to try something new. Since the media likes to make Hip Hop look like the cause of all of this countries ills, I figured I'd join the bandwagon and start giving you some kinda-sorta-maybe-possibly Hip Hop related news stories you may have missed. Because we all know, its very easy to miss out on the news when we have important issues like football players fighting dogs and home run kings using steroids dominating the headlines. Here's two for today, enjoy.


"Don't Get Caught"



The L.A. Times is reporting that Dr. Hootan Roozrokh of San Francisco is facing charges after being accused of trying to speed up one of his patient's death so that he get his organs. He must have been influenced by the get money quotations Young Jeezy. Obviously Dr. Roozrokh heard Jeezy's multiple references to slanging O's and figured that he meant organs, not ounces. Dr. Roozrokh is expected to turn himself in later this week. Expect him to show up to the precint with copies of Trap or Die and Thug Motivation, rocking a Snowman t-shirt with a W.W.J.D. (What Would Jeezy Do?)wristband, crying "I heard it in a rap song."


"I'm A Dboy"


CNN.com posts that Al Gore's son, Al Gore III, or as he's known on the streets AG3, has pleaded guilty to felony and misdemeanor drug possession after getting caught speeding in Cali with a bag of weed and pills last month. About four years ago he got caught with weed in Maryland after a cop pulled him over for not having his headlights on. While the plan is to have him complete a drug treatment program and have his plea removed from his record, expect him to blame his drug problems on Lil Wayne. Its obvious that AG3 has been bumping his mixtapes, especially that song "Dying" when Weezy name drops every drug under the sun. This shouldn't be surprising, after all, his mother Tipper is the woman who started the fight to censor music back in the 80's.

The Irony of It All

(Good thing Mike Vick is a human who plays football. Because if he was a pit bull in dogfighting, he would have been dead 4 years ago.)

Mike Vick is looking more and more like how Caine was looking on Menace II Society when when Bill Duke was reminding him how he "done fucked up." I haven't said too much about this fiasco because I'm not a Vick hater or lover. I'm a Steelers fan, not a Falcons fan. I like the Dirty Birds and like to see them win, but, they ain't MY squad. And alot of you would probably be disappointed in knowing that I kinda have a Clinton Portis approach to this whole dogfighting thing. Plus, you already know that I don't have the best relationship with K-9's anyway.

But one thing I will say about all of this how its ironic that NIKE is choosing to postpone the release of the new Mike Vick sneakers. They were supposed to come out next month, but they've pushed back the release date until this controversy settles down.

Funny. Sounds like Nike is trying to take a stand against animal cruelty. I could have swore that sneakers are made of COWhide and PIGskin. On top of that, isn't this the same Nike that runs sweatshops and pays little Indonesian kids 5 cents a day to make sneakers that sell for $150? Damn, that's animal and human cruelty under the same roof.

The media and FEDs would like for all of us to think that this story and indictment is about illegal activity and animal cruelty. If thats the case, why don't they come down on the horse racing industry with an iron fist? I mean, they gamble and bet on horses the same way the dogfighters do, but for some reason its okay for them. Just like how dogfighters kill the dogs after they lose a fight or get injured badly, horse trainers kill horses after they fail to meet standards or get hurt. And according to these people, horses stand to get hurt very frequently because from the way they are bred, their legs are too small to carry their massive frames. So running, let alone walking and standing is a deadly task for them.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly condoning behavior like hanging and electrocuting dogs. If Vick and company were really doing that, man, that is some demented shit right there. Before they consider prison time as the best option, they might want to put Vick and his boys in therapy. Give them some crayons and construction paper and see what they come up with, because, man, they sound dangerous.

And to play lucifer's loophole (that's another way of saying devil's advocate, get it? get it? no? okay.), can it be said that Vick and them might have done us a good service in doing away with these dogs anyway. I mean, what can you do with a retired pitbull? You can't domesticate them. The news constantly reminds us what happens when pit bulls get near people, mainly children.

The Irony of It All

(Good thing Mike Vick is a human who plays football. Because if he was a pit bull in dogfighting, he would have been dead 4 years ago.)

Mike Vick is looking more and more like how Caine was looking on Menace II Society when when Bill Duke was reminding him how he "done fucked up." I haven't said too much about this fiasco because I'm not a Vick hater or lover. I'm a Steelers fan, not a Falcons fan. I like the Dirty Birds and like to see them win, but, they ain't MY squad. And alot of you would probably be disappointed in knowing that I kinda have a Clinton Portis approach to this whole dogfighting thing. Plus, you already know that I don't have the best relationship with K-9's anyway.

But one thing I will say about all of this how its ironic that NIKE is choosing to postpone the release of the new Mike Vick sneakers. They were supposed to come out next month, but they've pushed back the release date until this controversy settles down.

Funny. Sounds like Nike is trying to take a stand against animal cruelty. I could have swore that sneakers are made of COWhide and PIGskin. On top of that, isn't this the same Nike that runs sweatshops and pays little Indonesian kids 5 cents a day to make sneakers that sell for $150? Damn, that's animal and human cruelty under the same roof.

The media and FEDs would like for all of us to think that this story and indictment is about illegal activity and animal cruelty. If thats the case, why don't they come down on the horse racing industry with an iron fist? I mean, they gamble and bet on horses the same way the dogfighters do, but for some reason its okay for them. Just like how dogfighters kill the dogs after they lose a fight or get injured badly, horse trainers kill horses after they fail to meet standards or get hurt. And according to these people, horses stand to get hurt very frequently because from the way they are bred, their legs are too small to carry their massive frames. So running, let alone walking and standing is a deadly task for them.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly condoning behavior like hanging and electrocuting dogs. If Vick and company were really doing that, man, that is some demented shit right there. Before they consider prison time as the best option, they might want to put Vick and his boys in therapy. Give them some crayons and construction paper and see what they come up with, because, man, they sound dangerous.

And to play lucifer's loophole (that's another way of saying devil's advocate, get it? get it? no? okay.), can it be said that Vick and them might have done us a good service in doing away with these dogs anyway. I mean, what can you do with a retired pitbull? You can't domesticate them. The news constantly reminds us what happens when pit bulls get near people, mainly children.

Other-ground Atlanta

Contrary to popular belief, every artist in Atlanta or the South for that matter does not trap, snap, lean, rock, crank, SupaMan and/or SpiderMan dem hoes. Not that I have anything against any of that, because hell, if I have enough drinks in me and the music is right, I will snap, lean and rock with the best of them. This is coming from a dude who has bounced and ragtopped until I couldn't sweat anymore. But, I doubt that you will see me cranking Supaman's and SpiderMan's on dem hoes. I don't think I have the energy for all of that.

That being said, I went to a show last Friday (the 13th) at the Drunken Unicorn. It featured a crop of artists that you can label "underground." But I don't think that's fair, especially with how that word is just thrown around now. It seems like every person who doesn't have a song on the radio or television likes to call themselves "underground." Even if their "underground" ass is making music identical to what is currently getting played on the radio and television. {turning away from soapbox}

That reminds me of something else. Me and JBoogie were having a discussion about how sound and image plays a big role in how people are percieved. For instance, we both have a mutual friend who said they don't listen to Slum Village or Little Brother because "i dont like that backpacker, concious shit." Anyone that listens to Slum V. knows that they talk about sex and hoes just as much as Daz and Kurupt. Its just that SV rocks Nike Dunks instead of Chucks and they had vibey/lounging beats from the Dilla and Dwele's of the world, and not that G-Funk from Dr. Dre/Warren G/DJ Quik/Battlecat or whoever else you wanna throw in that mix. Anyone who listens to Little Brother knows that, yes, they got college degrees, but they ain't coming at you like Chuck-ONE.

I guess I'm saying all of this to say, um...I dunno.

Anyways, I wanted to share some pics and info from the show I went to last Friday. It kinda turned into an under, er, other-ground Atlanta star party on the low.

[photography sponsored by bad lighting, 3 cans of PBR and a crowded room]

GRIPPLYAS


This was my first time seeing this dude live, but I'd been peeping stuff on his myspace page over the last year or so. The shit is slum as hell (that's a good thing). For the sake of reference, I'll say he reminds me of Devin because of the way he blends humor and sex in his rhymes. He performed a handful of songs, none of them sounded identical to each other and none of them sounded like something you would hear from someone else. He has that vintage-beat machine sound that everybody seems to be trying to recreate nowadays. Right now people are talking about his song "GITYOASSONDAFLO."

PROTON

Same thing here. Got familiar with thier stuff through Myspace about a year ago. They have this song called "Notice Me" that I really dig, I used have it as the profile song my Myspace page. They describe their sound as "Girl and Ghetto Shit." Why their brand of "Girls and Ghetto Shit" isn't being mass marketed, consumed and jumped on, I don't know. Guess it goes back to that Slum Village vs. Dogg Pound stuff I was saying earlier. But anyways, they also have some very original music you should check out.

YELAWOLF


Yelawolf isn't from Atlanta, he's from Gadsen, Alabama. But he pretty much lives/works in the A. I got hep to his stuff a couple years ago. I guess you could say that he was the headliner of the show. He ripped it and ended by performing his song "Run" with B.O.B. He is signed to Sony/Columbia, but he is still out in the streets doing shows at venues like this one and giving out mixtapes for free. I got a chance to hang with him and his people in Gadsen a couple months ago when they was shooting the video for his single "Kickin'." It felt like I was experiencing history or something. KP said "this is the realest video shoot I've been on since Outkast's 'Players Ball'." Everybody that sees or hears him for the first time get surprised because he's white and can rap, of course. Don't know if that's much of a compliment, but oh well. I thoroughly enjoy his stuff. You can download his mixtape at his Myspace page. Its dope. Not just just a bunch of songs thrown together, its actually themed from the cover art down to every track.

B.O.B.


Alot of you have probably heard of this dude already. He's from The DEC and reps it well. I got put on to him when I had to interview him for Ozone last year. He was so new at the time that we did the interview on his way to Atlantic Records where he would sign that day. He's dropped a couple mixtapes and he sends out like, 1,000 Myspace bulletins a day directing you to his page. If you've been, I assume you enjoyed most of what you heard. Alot of people are looking forward to this dude's album. Let's pray Atlantic doesn't give him the Saigon treatment.

MORE PICS

B.O.B. & Janelle Monae
(shameless plug: I wrote the first nationally published articles on both of these artists [B.O.B. for Ozone, Janelle for VIBE])


B.O.B. & The Dreamer
(Dreamer got some jammin' shit too, he does that "Grind" intro that Greg Street plays on his show. Look out for him.)


Zoo Atlanta & Gripplyaz
(I don't care, Zoo Atlanta is one of the tightest monikers to ever come from the city.)



DJ Quiet Storm
(Me and this dude go back. We've lost money together doing parties The Aquarium. Made money together doing parties at Club Mirage. Ran into each other going eastbound MARTA. Gave each other rides home. Now he DJ for the Atlanta Hawks, holds down a show on 88.5 FM every Saturday from 9 to 12 and spins at Slice, El Bar and a couple other spots. He is available for parties and club gigs at an affordable price.)



Wonder
(This is the dude who co-produced T.I.'s "What You Know")



SHOW PICS

Other-ground Atlanta

Contrary to popular belief, every artist in Atlanta or the South for that matter does not trap, snap, lean, rock, crank, SupaMan and/or SpiderMan dem hoes. Not that I have anything against any of that, because hell, if I have enough drinks in me and the music is right, I will snap, lean and rock with the best of them. This is coming from a dude who has bounced and ragtopped until I couldn't sweat anymore. But, I doubt that you will see me cranking Supaman's and SpiderMan's on dem hoes. I don't think I have the energy for all of that.

That being said, I went to a show last Friday (the 13th) at the Drunken Unicorn. It featured a crop of artists that you can label "underground." But I don't think that's fair, especially with how that word is just thrown around now. It seems like every person who doesn't have a song on the radio or television likes to call themselves "underground." Even if their "underground" ass is making music identical to what is currently getting played on the radio and television. {turning away from soapbox}

That reminds me of something else. Me and JBoogie were having a discussion about how sound and image plays a big role in how people are percieved. For instance, we both have a mutual friend who said they don't listen to Slum Village or Little Brother because "i dont like that backpacker, concious shit." Anyone that listens to Slum V. knows that they talk about sex and hoes just as much as Daz and Kurupt. Its just that SV rocks Nike Dunks instead of Chucks and they had vibey/lounging beats from the Dilla and Dwele's of the world, and not that G-Funk from Dr. Dre/Warren G/DJ Quik/Battlecat or whoever else you wanna throw in that mix. Anyone who listens to Little Brother knows that, yes, they got college degrees, but they ain't coming at you like Chuck-ONE.

I guess I'm saying all of this to say, um...I dunno.

Anyways, I wanted to share some pics and info from the show I went to last Friday. It kinda turned into an under, er, other-ground Atlanta star party on the low.

[photography sponsored by bad lighting, 3 cans of PBR and a crowded room]

GRIPPLYAS


This was my first time seeing this dude live, but I'd been peeping stuff on his myspace page over the last year or so. The shit is slum as hell (that's a good thing). For the sake of reference, I'll say he reminds me of Devin because of the way he blends humor and sex in his rhymes. He performed a handful of songs, none of them sounded identical to each other and none of them sounded like something you would hear from someone else. He has that vintage-beat machine sound that everybody seems to be trying to recreate nowadays. Right now people are talking about his song "GITYOASSONDAFLO."

PROTON

Same thing here. Got familiar with thier stuff through Myspace about a year ago. They have this song called "Notice Me" that I really dig, I used have it as the profile song my Myspace page. They describe their sound as "Girl and Ghetto Shit." Why their brand of "Girls and Ghetto Shit" isn't being mass marketed, consumed and jumped on, I don't know. Guess it goes back to that Slum Village vs. Dogg Pound stuff I was saying earlier. But anyways, they also have some very original music you should check out.

YELAWOLF


Yelawolf isn't from Atlanta, he's from Gadsen, Alabama. But he pretty much lives/works in the A. I got hep to his stuff a couple years ago. I guess you could say that he was the headliner of the show. He ripped it and ended by performing his song "Run" with B.O.B. He is signed to Sony/Columbia, but he is still out in the streets doing shows at venues like this one and giving out mixtapes for free. I got a chance to hang with him and his people in Gadsen a couple months ago when they was shooting the video for his single "Kickin'." It felt like I was experiencing history or something. KP said "this is the realest video shoot I've been on since Outkast's 'Players Ball'." Everybody that sees or hears him for the first time get surprised because he's white and can rap, of course. Don't know if that's much of a compliment, but oh well. I thoroughly enjoy his stuff. You can download his mixtape at his Myspace page. Its dope. Not just just a bunch of songs thrown together, its actually themed from the cover art down to every track.

B.O.B.


Alot of you have probably heard of this dude already. He's from The DEC and reps it well. I got put on to him when I had to interview him for Ozone last year. He was so new at the time that we did the interview on his way to Atlantic Records where he would sign that day. He's dropped a couple mixtapes and he sends out like, 1,000 Myspace bulletins a day directing you to his page. If you've been, I assume you enjoyed most of what you heard. Alot of people are looking forward to this dude's album. Let's pray Atlantic doesn't give him the Saigon treatment.

MORE PICS

B.O.B. & Janelle Monae
(shameless plug: I wrote the first nationally published articles on both of these artists [B.O.B. for Ozone, Janelle for VIBE])


B.O.B. & The Dreamer
(Dreamer got some jammin' shit too, he does that "Grind" intro that Greg Street plays on his show. Look out for him.)


Zoo Atlanta & Gripplyaz
(I don't care, Zoo Atlanta is one of the tightest monikers to ever come from the city.)



DJ Quiet Storm
(Me and this dude go back. We've lost money together doing parties The Aquarium. Made money together doing parties at Club Mirage. Ran into each other going eastbound MARTA. Gave each other rides home. Now he DJ for the Atlanta Hawks, holds down a show on 88.5 FM every Saturday from 9 to 12 and spins at Slice, El Bar and a couple other spots. He is available for parties and club gigs at an affordable price.)



Wonder
(This is the dude who co-produced T.I.'s "What You Know")



SHOW PICS

YEAH! (what they said): "Stop Trying To 'Save' Africa"

YEAH! (what they said) is basically me sharing what I've read, and agree with, with you.


READ

taken from Washingtonpost.com

YEAH! (what they said): "Stop Trying To 'Save' Africa"

YEAH! (what they said) is basically me sharing what I've read, and agree with, with you.


READ

taken from Washingtonpost.com

A Few Days that Changed Music

The latest issue of Blender Magazine has a featured called "100 Days That Changed Music". They claim that if you subtract the moments within their list that "you'd have no mp3s, no LSD, no hip-hop."

From what I could see, they did alot of thinking and research to pull it off. Which I respect completely. I've wrote a couple lists like that in my day, and let me tell you, its not the easiest thing in the world to do. However, after reading through the Blender list, I still didn't feel like I could relate to alot of it. I know the world is bigger than my living room, but still.

So...I decided to share a few days that I think music effected my life. Feel free to add and comment.

April 29th, 1995
This is the day that I bought my first tape, with my own money. The album was Mobb Deep's The Infamous. I had plenty of Hip Hop tapes, albums, songs, etc in my possession by then, but most if not all of it was stuff I either dubbed or "borrowed" from older relatives or friends who had parents cool enough to buy cussing music for them. I bought the tape from Camelot Music at South Dekalb Mall. I was surprised that they let me buy it since it had the Advisory sticker on it. But I think this was around the time that people stopped caring about those stickers and just started selling explicit music to whoever had $10+ in their pocket. If you own this album, then you know that it was worth the money.

February 13th, 1996
This is the day I went out and bought 2Pac's All Eyez On Me, the morning it came out. I got the jump on all of my friends at school because I was serving a 3-day suspension at the time. Which meant that I could catch the bus/train to the record store and get it before everyone got off from work/school. I took the long way home so that I could play Books 1 & 2 on my walkman. To this day, I still think that Book 1 is better. Care to argue Dre?

July 19th(?), 1985
My dad took me to the Fabulous Fox Theatre to see my first live concert. It was New Edition, Fat Boys and Whodini. I don't remember much besides the girls screaming when New Edition come out and the lights shutting down when Whodini did "Freaks Come Out at Night." I still have the souvenier banner and hat in storage somewhere.

November 9th, 1991
Ok, I have a correction. This is actually the day that I went out and bought my first tape with my own money. I walked from my cousins apartment to Wal-Mart to buy Ice Cube's Death Certificate* album. He said he heard that the tapes were alot cheaper there than they were at the record store. Cool. I take my 11-year old ass in there, go to the Rap section waaaaaaay in the back, grab the tape, pay for it, and go back to my cousins' crib. When I get back, I rip the plastic off and pop it in the radio. For about 6-hours, we was listening to that tape playing TechmoBowl thinking that Cube had went clean and stopped cussing in his music. Then, one of my cousins older friends came over with his Ice Cube CD that he bought from the record store. When he started playing his, I realized that I had been bamboozled.

September 13, 1996
I had fell asleep on the couch. For some reason, I was very tired that day. So tired, that I called in faking sick to my job (Cub Foods, bagger). I had a dream that a BET News Brief came on saying that "rapper Tupac Shakur is dead at age 25." Come to find out, it wasn't a dream, my sleepy ass just didn't realize what I had just saw. Pac had died shawty, on Friday the 13th at that. Later that night my homeboy Shomari called from his job washing dishes at Picadilly screaming "YOU HEARD ABOUT PAC!" Then he called again later on saying he was parked outside my house and had something that I really needed to hear. When I hopped in he turned the radio up loud as hell and a fie ass piano riff came blaring out the speakers. It was 2Pac & the Outlawz "Made Niggas" from the Supercop soundtrack. Me, him and my other friend Brandon rode down South Hairstion to Memorial Drive and up Candler Rd. playing that shit back-to-back-to-back. Mainly because we thought we owned the last 2Pac song ever to be recorded and released. Boy were we wrong.

The Entire Summer of 1997
These aren't days that I'm proud of, but this is when I had my little klepto stage. Me and some friends had found a way to break the security plastic off of the tapes and CDs at Blockbuster Music. I like to think that I was more than just a common theif, I was stealing with a strategy. I was stealing stuff that I wasn't sure I wanted to spend money on, kinda like how downloading is now (damn, I guess that is stealing). I pretty much stole stuff by Bay Area artists not named E-40, Spice 1 or Too $hort and underground Memphis stuff that didn't fall from the Prophet Family tree. I wound up with some gems like 3XKrazy's Stackin Chips and the Nothing To Lose soundtrack.

August 19, 1999
I was moving into my new dorm room for my 2nd year of college, and my new roomate had spent his summer in Texas. While we were organizing the room, he popped a naked CD into the radio and I heard a jumbled voice saying something like "bitch in the trunk." I didn't know what the hell he was playing, but then I heard organs and a high-pitched voice saying "hollluup, smoke som'men bitch." I asked him, if it was the new UGK and he said yeah. It actually wasn't but, this CD he had would go one to become known as the infamous Dirty Money bootleg. The sound quality was bad and alot of the songs sounded unfinished. But who cared, it was some new UGK, that shit was just gonna have to do. Later that month, my roomate felt like treating himself to the last of my Hawaiian Punch and honey buns while I was away. So I helped myself to his CD.

???? ??, 1987
My father was taking me to school one morning and he was playing a song with some dude asking "How Ya Like Me Know?" I thought it was the greatest thing I ever heard in my life. Then he showed me the album cover and from that point on up to a couple year later, I swore Kool Moe Dee was the coolest mo-fo walking the planet.

July 4th, 1984
The date might be a little off, but, all I know is that I got a whupping for touching my fathers record player. There was a bunch of people in the house at the time too. He was playing "Five Minutes of Funk" by Whodini, and I went touching the needle trying scratch like Jam Master Jay. I don't think I touched that record player in his presence again until I was well into my teens.

January 2nd, 1987
Me and my family had just gotten back from visiting family in Pittsburgh for the holidays. I was unpacking my stuff in my room and some mystery tape ended up in my luggage. I put the tape in the deck and I remember Salt-N-Pepa's "Ill Take Your Man" coming out loud as hell. About a week later my cousin Keith called asking if I took his girlfriend's tape by mistake, I guess I did.

February 14th, 1998
I got this girl to come over my house before my parents go home. I was gonna try something with her. I had a tape made and everything. It had some Jodeci, D'Angelo and shit on there. We got to like 1st or 2nd base and then fucking Mystikal came out of nowhere like THE MAN RIGHT CHEA!!!! The mood was ruined and the girl left soon after. Later that night, I found out why that shit happened. My little brother was just pushing record on the radio whenever something good came on, not thinking to see what was already in the deck.

I could go on and on forever....I think I'll end this list here.

*edit made 7/20

A Few Days that Changed Music

The latest issue of Blender Magazine has a featured called "100 Days That Changed Music". They claim that if you subtract the moments within their list that "you'd have no mp3s, no LSD, no hip-hop."

From what I could see, they did alot of thinking and research to pull it off. Which I respect completely. I've wrote a couple lists like that in my day, and let me tell you, its not the easiest thing in the world to do. However, after reading through the Blender list, I still didn't feel like I could relate to alot of it. I know the world is bigger than my living room, but still.

So...I decided to share a few days that I think music effected my life. Feel free to add and comment.

April 29th, 1995
This is the day that I bought my first tape, with my own money. The album was Mobb Deep's The Infamous. I had plenty of Hip Hop tapes, albums, songs, etc in my possession by then, but most if not all of it was stuff I either dubbed or "borrowed" from older relatives or friends who had parents cool enough to buy cussing music for them. I bought the tape from Camelot Music at South Dekalb Mall. I was surprised that they let me buy it since it had the Advisory sticker on it. But I think this was around the time that people stopped caring about those stickers and just started selling explicit music to whoever had $10+ in their pocket. If you own this album, then you know that it was worth the money.

February 13th, 1996
This is the day I went out and bought 2Pac's All Eyez On Me, the morning it came out. I got the jump on all of my friends at school because I was serving a 3-day suspension at the time. Which meant that I could catch the bus/train to the record store and get it before everyone got off from work/school. I took the long way home so that I could play Books 1 & 2 on my walkman. To this day, I still think that Book 1 is better. Care to argue Dre?

July 19th(?), 1985
My dad took me to the Fabulous Fox Theatre to see my first live concert. It was New Edition, Fat Boys and Whodini. I don't remember much besides the girls screaming when New Edition come out and the lights shutting down when Whodini did "Freaks Come Out at Night." I still have the souvenier banner and hat in storage somewhere.

November 9th, 1991
Ok, I have a correction. This is actually the day that I went out and bought my first tape with my own money. I walked from my cousins apartment to Wal-Mart to buy Ice Cube's Death Certificate* album. He said he heard that the tapes were alot cheaper there than they were at the record store. Cool. I take my 11-year old ass in there, go to the Rap section waaaaaaay in the back, grab the tape, pay for it, and go back to my cousins' crib. When I get back, I rip the plastic off and pop it in the radio. For about 6-hours, we was listening to that tape playing TechmoBowl thinking that Cube had went clean and stopped cussing in his music. Then, one of my cousins older friends came over with his Ice Cube CD that he bought from the record store. When he started playing his, I realized that I had been bamboozled.

September 13, 1996
I had fell asleep on the couch. For some reason, I was very tired that day. So tired, that I called in faking sick to my job (Cub Foods, bagger). I had a dream that a BET News Brief came on saying that "rapper Tupac Shakur is dead at age 25." Come to find out, it wasn't a dream, my sleepy ass just didn't realize what I had just saw. Pac had died shawty, on Friday the 13th at that. Later that night my homeboy Shomari called from his job washing dishes at Picadilly screaming "YOU HEARD ABOUT PAC!" Then he called again later on saying he was parked outside my house and had something that I really needed to hear. When I hopped in he turned the radio up loud as hell and a fie ass piano riff came blaring out the speakers. It was 2Pac & the Outlawz "Made Niggas" from the Supercop soundtrack. Me, him and my other friend Brandon rode down South Hairstion to Memorial Drive and up Candler Rd. playing that shit back-to-back-to-back. Mainly because we thought we owned the last 2Pac song ever to be recorded and released. Boy were we wrong.

The Entire Summer of 1997
These aren't days that I'm proud of, but this is when I had my little klepto stage. Me and some friends had found a way to break the security plastic off of the tapes and CDs at Blockbuster Music. I like to think that I was more than just a common theif, I was stealing with a strategy. I was stealing stuff that I wasn't sure I wanted to spend money on, kinda like how downloading is now (damn, I guess that is stealing). I pretty much stole stuff by Bay Area artists not named E-40, Spice 1 or Too $hort and underground Memphis stuff that didn't fall from the Prophet Family tree. I wound up with some gems like 3XKrazy's Stackin Chips and the Nothing To Lose soundtrack.

August 19, 1999
I was moving into my new dorm room for my 2nd year of college, and my new roomate had spent his summer in Texas. While we were organizing the room, he popped a naked CD into the radio and I heard a jumbled voice saying something like "bitch in the trunk." I didn't know what the hell he was playing, but then I heard organs and a high-pitched voice saying "hollluup, smoke som'men bitch." I asked him, if it was the new UGK and he said yeah. It actually wasn't but, this CD he had would go one to become known as the infamous Dirty Money bootleg. The sound quality was bad and alot of the songs sounded unfinished. But who cared, it was some new UGK, that shit was just gonna have to do. Later that month, my roomate felt like treating himself to the last of my Hawaiian Punch and honey buns while I was away. So I helped myself to his CD.

???? ??, 1987
My father was taking me to school one morning and he was playing a song with some dude asking "How Ya Like Me Know?" I thought it was the greatest thing I ever heard in my life. Then he showed me the album cover and from that point on up to a couple year later, I swore Kool Moe Dee was the coolest mo-fo walking the planet.

July 4th, 1984
The date might be a little off, but, all I know is that I got a whupping for touching my fathers record player. There was a bunch of people in the house at the time too. He was playing "Five Minutes of Funk" by Whodini, and I went touching the needle trying scratch like Jam Master Jay. I don't think I touched that record player in his presence again until I was well into my teens.

January 2nd, 1987
Me and my family had just gotten back from visiting family in Pittsburgh for the holidays. I was unpacking my stuff in my room and some mystery tape ended up in my luggage. I put the tape in the deck and I remember Salt-N-Pepa's "Ill Take Your Man" coming out loud as hell. About a week later my cousin Keith called asking if I took his girlfriend's tape by mistake, I guess I did.

February 14th, 1998
I got this girl to come over my house before my parents go home. I was gonna try something with her. I had a tape made and everything. It had some Jodeci, D'Angelo and shit on there. We got to like 1st or 2nd base and then fucking Mystikal came out of nowhere like THE MAN RIGHT CHEA!!!! The mood was ruined and the girl left soon after. Later that night, I found out why that shit happened. My little brother was just pushing record on the radio whenever something good came on, not thinking to see what was already in the deck.

I could go on and on forever....I think I'll end this list here.

*edit made 7/20

Wrong Beans

There's something about Nancy Grace's voice that just makes you have to stop when you're flipping channels. You know you're gonna get pissed by something she says or does, but you stop on her anyway. Prime example:

Last night, the TV stops on Nancy running her mouth. Beside her mug is a video of a child, sitting on a car floor, with someone's hand squishing her cheeks together. At first I thought it was a missing child alert. But I was wrong.

So, people are using X-pills for pacifiers now, great, juuuust great. Local authorities tracked down the idiots who filmed this video and put it up on youtube. They aren't completely sure if the child is high on X, so they are running tests on her. For now, the adults in the video are saying that they were simply telling the little girl to give blank expressions and roll her eyes in the back of her head--because they were bored from thier long road trip.

I really, deeply, sincerely hope that they aren't lying. I pray that they didn't give a 2-year old some X. I mean, the whole blunt smoking toddler thing was bad enough, but this? Damn.

Wrong Beans

There's something about Nancy Grace's voice that just makes you have to stop when you're flipping channels. You know you're gonna get pissed by something she says or does, but you stop on her anyway. Prime example:

Last night, the TV stops on Nancy running her mouth. Beside her mug is a video of a child, sitting on a car floor, with someone's hand squishing her cheeks together. At first I thought it was a missing child alert. But I was wrong.

So, people are using X-pills for pacifiers now, great, juuuust great. Local authorities tracked down the idiots who filmed this video and put it up on youtube. They aren't completely sure if the child is high on X, so they are running tests on her. For now, the adults in the video are saying that they were simply telling the little girl to give blank expressions and roll her eyes in the back of her head--because they were bored from thier long road trip.

I really, deeply, sincerely hope that they aren't lying. I pray that they didn't give a 2-year old some X. I mean, the whole blunt smoking toddler thing was bad enough, but this? Damn.

REZIDUE REVIEW: Transformers

Its been 21 years since the original Transformers movie hit the big screen, and in my opinion its still one of the greatest films ever made. I was 6 years old when I saw it, and I really think that was the first time a movie made me cry. Don't front, ya'll know ya'll was sobbing when Optimus Prime died. But damn, after looking back at it the other day, Megatron did get in that ass though.

I finally saw the new Michael Bay version after a week of long lines and sell outs. When I saw visuals from the film last year, I thought I was going to hate it. The Transformers' faces looked like crap and their bodies looked nothing like the cartoon/comics/toys that I had as a child. But, I must say, I'm glad I went to go see this movie.

The only have a couple gripes with the film. First is Megatron. The cartoon version of Megatron was one of the trillest bad guys ever, simply because he transformed into a gun. But in this new movie, he's some kind of UFO-fighter jet concoction.

Also, why didn't they let Starscream talk? Hearing him argue with Megatron and talk shit only to scream "RETREEEEAAAAT RETREEEEEAAAT!" was what made the cartoon enjoyable to me. Oh yeah, what happened to Devestator and the rest of the Constucticons? The only piece to him in the movie was Bonecrusher. That was kinda dissapointing. They left out Soundwave too. They tried to pass off some little radio as some kind of representation of him, but I heard the original was pissed.


But, one thing that I am happy the movie left out was lame-ass Hot Rod-Rodimus Prime. If you watched the clip earlier, you'll see he's the reason why Optimus Prime died in the first place. Speaking of Hot Rod, one thing this movie has on the original is that it didn't just drop new characters on you out of nowhere. I remember going to see the original as a child and thinking "who the hell is Hot Rod? who the hell is Cup? who the hell is Blur?" Come to find out, they actually did exist--in the Japanese version.

Overall, the movie was pretty dope. But, nothing will top the original.

REZIDUE REVIEW: Transformers

Its been 21 years since the original Transformers movie hit the big screen, and in my opinion its still one of the greatest films ever made. I was 6 years old when I saw it, and I really think that was the first time a movie made me cry. Don't front, ya'll know ya'll was sobbing when Optimus Prime died. But damn, after looking back at it the other day, Megatron did get in that ass though.

I finally saw the new Michael Bay version after a week of long lines and sell outs. When I saw visuals from the film last year, I thought I was going to hate it. The Transformers' faces looked like crap and their bodies looked nothing like the cartoon/comics/toys that I had as a child. But, I must say, I'm glad I went to go see this movie.

The only have a couple gripes with the film. First is Megatron. The cartoon version of Megatron was one of the trillest bad guys ever, simply because he transformed into a gun. But in this new movie, he's some kind of UFO-fighter jet concoction.

Also, why didn't they let Starscream talk? Hearing him argue with Megatron and talk shit only to scream "RETREEEEAAAAT RETREEEEEAAAT!" was what made the cartoon enjoyable to me. Oh yeah, what happened to Devestator and the rest of the Constucticons? The only piece to him in the movie was Bonecrusher. That was kinda dissapointing. They left out Soundwave too. They tried to pass off some little radio as some kind of representation of him, but I heard the original was pissed.


But, one thing that I am happy the movie left out was lame-ass Hot Rod-Rodimus Prime. If you watched the clip earlier, you'll see he's the reason why Optimus Prime died in the first place. Speaking of Hot Rod, one thing this movie has on the original is that it didn't just drop new characters on you out of nowhere. I remember going to see the original as a child and thinking "who the hell is Hot Rod? who the hell is Cup? who the hell is Blur?" Come to find out, they actually did exist--in the Japanese version.

Overall, the movie was pretty dope. But, nothing will top the original.

Swangin' & Bangin'

Venus Williams won Wimbleton, again, this past weekend. I wasn't near my computer, so I couldn't blog on what I was feeling at the time. But right when I was gonna say what I was gonna say, my boy Walter Crunkite sent me a link to a story at ESPN.com written by Jemele Hill. She pretty much took the words out of my mouth, typed them, and got them published before I did.

Back in 2003, I tried to organize a conference call interview with the Williams sisters and Ms. Gibson. It almost happened. But, Ms. Gibson fell ill while we were scheduling it. Her people said to give her some time, so that she could get better. She passed soon after that.

Swangin' & Bangin'

Venus Williams won Wimbleton, again, this past weekend. I wasn't near my computer, so I couldn't blog on what I was feeling at the time. But right when I was gonna say what I was gonna say, my boy Walter Crunkite sent me a link to a story at ESPN.com written by Jemele Hill. She pretty much took the words out of my mouth, typed them, and got them published before I did.

Back in 2003, I tried to organize a conference call interview with the Williams sisters and Ms. Gibson. It almost happened. But, Ms. Gibson fell ill while we were scheduling it. Her people said to give her some time, so that she could get better. She passed soon after that.