Playboy Tre Finds Jesus...

...and drinks a Bud in his holy presence.

Goodie Mob Reunion Show: September 19th @ Masquerade Park

Here it is, the first visual from what is about to be the show of the year, hands down. The show will will be at the Masquerade Park and there couldn't be a better venue. Its an outside park that holds 3,000-4,000 people. I was just there tonight for the Snoop Dogg/Slightly Stoopid show and man...it reminds me of the old Birthday Bash concerts at Lakewood. Spread the word, post on your blog, twit pic, email, all that there...tickets go on sale this Saturday via Ticketmaster.com or all Ticketmaster outlets. "After the Braves game...where ya' headed mayne"

Shouts out to Shameless Plug

Does Race Still Matter?

Just had this random though and it was too much to type on twitter so...

I was wondering if race still mattered to any of ya'll out there, especially some of my younger readers. I was having a talk with a friend about a year or so ago and they were telling me about how their younger cousin wanted to go to the prom with a white dude and how folks in the family didn't quite know how to take that. That sparked a discussion about how to the younger generation, race probably doesn't matter as much as it did in mine or the generation before because hell, most people born in the late-80s/early-90s and beyond have all grown up getting exposed to same shit for the most part. Yeah, some kids may have watched Fresh Prince and videos on MTV on a wide screen color TV while others watched on a not so big TV, but they saw the same shit at the end of the day. So in alot of cases they have alot in common.

I mean even look at things now, for the most part cats from all ethnic backgrounds are damn near dressing the same and have alot of the same habits and interests. Most of them get lumped into the "urban" demographic by marketing companies. And if they're not "urban" they probably dress/talk/act like the cast from The Hills or one of these other reality shows. I mean really, the only difference I've been seeing in people has been class based. Have and havenots, smart-asses and dumb-asses.

The thing that sparked this random thought was a blip I just saw on CNN. Tonight Ann Coulter and Al Sharpton are going to be on Larry King Live tonight. What they're going to talk about? I have no clue, Obama and Skip Gates I suppose. Maybe Michael Jackson too.

But seeing that got me the thinking, maybe race only still matters to our elders who were raised at a time when racial tension was very high. Now, I'm not sitting here acting like racial tension doesn't exist among people my age and younger, but really, the only overt racial tension I see among people in my generation and younger comes from dumbasses hopping on World Star Hip Hop leaving "fuck all niggers" comments or posting stupid ass videos talking straight non-sense.

Forgive me for sounding naive, but it seems like racial barriers are close to non-existent amongst the younger generation in this country. Really, its the older cats that always try to keep it alive because its all they know and its what they capitalize off of. As much as Al Sharpton goes around crying foul about race in America, dude makes money from the conflict and gains fame from sticking his nose it. Do you really think dude wants to see racial harmony in this country? Hell no, he'd go broke if Blacks and Whites started getting along. Same goes for Bill O'Rielly getting on the air selling Black fear.

If you don't get what I'm saying, hear this. Where are the younger Al Sharpton's? Where are the younger Bill O'Rielly's? Is there a hipster version of Rush Limbaugh out there anywhere? If you know of them, please let us know. I'm not saying that I want them, because I most definetly don't. I'm just noting that our elders seem to be the only ones still tripping.

What do you think?

The Freak Beat presents: Splashdown

Shouts out to my dude Zone3 for sending this mix over. We only have one month of summer left, so if you plan on having anymore pool parties you need to download this mix and just let it ride. Nothing but Miami Bass and Bootyshake music from front to end. Peep the tracklisting.

intro / mc shy-d - splashdown
s-express- theme from s-express
newcleus- jam on it
gigalo tony - i’m a gigalo
2 live crew - if you believe in having sex
kilo - she got me eating pussy
2 live crew - one and one
get some crew - shake them titties (titty beats)
jamie jupitor - computer power
afrika bambatta - planet rock (dj magic mike remix)
egyptian lover - egypt egypt
mc shy-d - i wanna dance
king amir - samir’s theme (madskillz miami bass remix)
afrorican - just let it go
freestyle - dont stop the rock (baile funk mix)
danny d & dj wiz - keep groovin
inoj feat 69 boyz - time after time (lil jon remix)
da disco dip - disco d (rip)
dwizz - toot that
dj magic mike - take the red pill, take the blue pill

DOWNLOAD: The Freak Beat presents: Splashdown

Random Jam: Memphis Bleek feat. Jay-Z, Lil Cease and Geda K "1,2 Ya'll" (2002)

"No disrespect intended, but if you offended, can't take it back handle yo' business"--Jay-Z

Whenever I get excited about something i whipser to myself "I'm dancin'" like Jay-Z did before he absolutely ripped his verse on this song. So, me saying that to myself just now is what made this song pop into my head. This is easily one of my favorite Roc-A-Fella tracks out of their whole catalog. The casual listener probably doesn't know about this track eventhough it appeared on two albums.

This beat is 100% Brooklyn and that's why I fuck with it so hard. I can appreciate NYC shit when its at its absolute best. The first time I heard this song it made me feel like I was walking around those parts in '88 with a high top fade and plenty of gold around my neck. This shit is hard, that's all I can really say about this song.

Plus, just like Dennis Edwards' "Don't Look Any Further," any song sampling ESG's "UFO" is damn near guaranteed to be dope...almost.

Michael Phelps as "Himself"

By now you've seen this Michael Phelps Subway commerical on TV. That is, if you watch mundane programming like ESPN and Law & Order re-runs (sorry, I have vices too). For the most part the commerical looks harmless. Two of America's sweethearts enjoying America's favorite sandwich...

But as my brother pointed out to me, peep the music playing in the background. Are we the only ones who find it ironic that for Michael Phelps first endorsement since his visit to the Bong Bong Room that they choose Sly Stone's "Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself."

Its as if Subway and all others involved in this spot are subliminally asking us to "forgive" Phelps for smoking weed and letting down his fans. Not that I cared in the first place, but something tells me that if this was one of the ReDeem Team members getting caught with a blunt in his hand we wouldn't be seeing them in a spot like this.

Am I reading too much into this? Because hell, this is the same dude that caught a DUI four-years prior. I guess that makes the song choice even more appropriate since the hook goes "thank you for letting me, be myself AGAIN." On top of that I find even more funny that of all artists they chose Sly who's known to have hit a bong or two in his day...if not yesterday.

I guess we can't say race is too much of a factor in circumstances like these anymore. After all, Kobe is getting commercials again, six years after his tryst in Colorado...eventhough the commercial doesn't really feature him, but a puppet instead.

But yeah, maybe I'm tripping. All Phelps did was smoke weed and drink and drive. We all make mistakes right? Even role models.

"Bitch I'm Broke" > "Trickin If You Got It"

I swear I just found out who sings this damn song last week. I heard it a few times, but never bothered to really investigate. Up until today I thought this was some group that might have been signed to Neyo's label with Slim on the hook. Come to find out its this group called Mullage (pronounced: Mool-laage). I ain't gonna lie, the song jams, that's not disputible. Very melodic, sounds good. But the tricking shit, nah shawty. I mean, I know how to show a lady a good time (or at least they act like they having a good time) but I'm not with the tricking business. In case you are confused as to what tricking is in my book, here's how I look at it:


Tricking IS when you just giving a chick money for no reason, or hell, simply paying for p*ssy period. Paying rent her rent when you don't live or eat there. Paying her car note when you don't drive or ride in the car. Falling for that ol' sad puppy face shit whenever she says she don't have no money.

Now, for all you hardcore pimp playa ass "fuck a hoe" niggas out there, tricking IS NOT going out with a woman and not getting any ass afterwards. Every night don't end with a bang homeboy. If you take her out to dinner and a movie, and you eat and watch the movie too, that's not tricking because you are getting something out of it too. If ya'll go to the comedy show, amusement park, art exhibit, etc and you pay for both the tickets, that's not tricking either, because again, you're getting something out of it too. However, when you start spending major bread on some ol' "let me impress her" type shit, even when you are partaking, yes you are entering tricking territory. Stupid trick territory actually.

I'll admit, I've been on outings where I might've spent a little too much, but it wasn't because I was trying to impress, its because I was just having a good ass time and just wanted to keep the good times rolling.

Tricking isn't always monetary either, it has to do with respect and ethics too. Like, if I'm out with a young lady, I'm not with that taking phone calls from other dudes while we're out, in my face. Go "to the ladies room" with that shit, its ok, I don't mind, because I will probably be texting another woman while you're taking calls from your fan club. Hell, that's what ya'll be doing anyway, haha. Sorry, it is what it is. So, yeah, if you are tolerating disrepect like that, or on any level...that is tricking also.

On the flipside of all of this, ladies, its 2009 and shit is rough. I'ma really need ya'll to at least ACT like you gonna chip in from time to time. Most likely, I'ma have us covered if you try to pay, but you know what, it is nice to be out with a woman who at least offers to chip in from time to time and even better when they actually do. You know what though, fugg it, if I'm paying for the whole meal, got dammit yo'ass need to be covering the tip. Realistically, I'm not gonna ask you to do that unless I feel that you are abusing my gentleman-ness. But still, bring something to dinner other than your appetite, please. Oh yeah, cut that going to the bathroom when the check come shit out too. If you do that, yes, the check will be sitting in the exact same place, untouched when you comeback, fugg outta here. Oh yeah, you know what else gets on my nerves is when...ok, I'ma stop while I'm ahead before I start name dropping (don't worry baby, I'm not talking about you)

But yeah, enough of that, only reason I'm posting this vid and talking ish is because it gives me a excuse to post one of the most eloquent songs of all time, "Bitch I'm Broke" by Cody Chesnutt. Its from his 2003 album The Headphone Masterpiece. Anyone know where buddy is now? Granted his stuff sounded like it was recorded in his bedroom (because it was) but I enjoyed it.




And let the record state, I'm not a cheap bastard, not at all. I enjoy the company of women. But I'm not a trick either. It is tricking if you got it...unless its your wife.

Now, enjoy the rest of your day as I anticipate a bunch of unanswered phones calls and texts as a result of this post, haha.

UNN x GrindTube: Killer Mike Interviews Buckshot (of Black Moon)

UNN just dropped off this vid of Killer Mike interviewing Buckshot while he was in town for Hip Hop Appreciation Week. In this clip they speak on some of the fashion trends that Black Moon helped usher into Hip Hop and 80's themed styles that the kids are rocking today. You also get treated to some footage of Buckshot performing.

RELATED: Killer Reign Supreme Over Nearly Everyone

R.I.P. Vernon Forrest

This has been one death filled summer, damn.

Condolences go out to the family of boxer and Atlanta-citizen Vernon Forrest. He was killed last night down in Mechanicsville after two people robbed him at the Chevron on Whitehall street...

This is crazy because I'm at this gas station quite a bit. When I used to work at Rolling Out it was the only one in the area before you hop back on the highway. Plus, if you hang out at Slice, 255 or any of the other spots on Peters and Walker St in the Castleberry District you're most likely hitting this gas station up for gum and Black N' Milds...at least that's what I go there for.

In all my years of going there I never really felt threatened for my life. Annoyed by the cats outside constantly begging for something, yeah. But fearful of being robbed, not really. But then again, I'm not pushing a Jag.

The area surrounding it however is a completely different story. Its always was been hood down around there, but cats really started wilding out around 2005 when they closed down the McDaniel-Glenn projects. So the last four years have been on edge to say the least. Like I said, I'd been in the area quite a bit, and been OK. But still, its not an area where you go chasing down folks who just robbed you...strapped or not. Unfortunately, according to what's being reported, Forrest chose to do that and paid the ultimate price for it.

Please let this be a lesson to all of us. When/if you get robbed, man, just let them have it. Now if you in your house and this type of thing happens, shooting back? Yeah, I can understand. But if you're able to leave a robbery in an area that you don't even live in, alive? Yeah, let them have it. Like the homie @one66soul said, Forrest probably should've did like Cee-Lo did on "Gutta Butta" (3:31 mark)



But yeah, R.I.P. to Vernon Forrest.

For what its worth, you may remember he made a cameo in Archie's "We Ready" video. He starts appearing at the 1:38 mark.

Random Jam: Jamiroquai - "Manifest Destiny" x "Morning Glory" (1994) and "Everyday" (1996)

Not quite sure of why this song popped up in my head, but it may because of a talk I was having with a friend about CNN's Black In America and Tavis Smiley's America I Am exhibit. We was pretty much talking about the way that Black history is presented in this country and the impact it has on your mind well into adulthood. From the time we're in school, Black history always starts with slavery...

They don't tell you anything about the Moors or that Africa was very much indeed civilized and practicing monarchies of their own. For the most part schools just tell you European slave ships came to the coast bearing shackles, rounded us up and that we've just been fucked up ever since. Kinda like how Chris Rock joked about how in school the only Black person you ever learn about is Martin Luther King.

But yeah, talking about slavery is probably what made Jamiroquai's "Manifest Destiny" pop in my head. I was in 9th grade when The Return of the Space Cowboy came out. They used to play the video for the title track on BET's Video Vibrations all the time. That's the only familiarity I ever had with him at the time. Granted I really liked the video and song, but back in '95 I was all about some Outkast, Goodie Mob, 8Ball & MJG, Spice 1, Wu-Tang, 2Pac and Biggie.

I didn't get put onto the actual album until my freshman or sophomore year in college when I was smoking out with with my big homie Bill. He was playing "Manifest Destiny" and I instantly recognized the beat because it was the same as 2Pac's "Who Do You Believe In," one of my all time favorite Pac songs and quite possibly the strongest track to emerge from that plethora of bootleg Makaveli CDs. It was another Pac song produced by Johnny J by the way.

Of course, I ain't say no dumb, young nigga shit like "THIS THAT 'PAC! Buddy sampled 'Pac." I just sat back and enjoyed the song and relished in the fact that I learned something new that night. As I said before, I was pretty high the first time I heard this song and was just in love with the beat the same way I was with Pac's version. But Bill proceeded to tell me about the song and that Jamiroquai was singing about slavery and how he was ashamed of his forefathers for such an heinous act. I dug the song even more then because it was the first time that I heard such a message in a song, and because Jamiroquai didn't approach it with a "white guilt" angle, because then it would have been corny.

But yeah, I know I kinda went all over the place with this one...just check out the song and enjoy.

While writing this post I started reminding myself of my other Jamiroquai favorites and figured I'd share them in case you hadn't heard them before. Fellas, if you have a nice young lady at the crib and you're trying to "seal the deal" I guarantee if you play this song at night that...yeah. Just let the song do the talking for you player:

"Everyday" (1996)


But you have to follow up with this the following morning:

"Morning Glory" (1994)


Thank me later.

Goodie Mob Reunion Show Announced - September 19th

Goodie Mob outside The Loft after Bun B's show - August 19, 2008 (photo by Maurice Garland)

The Atlanta Hip Hop Gods have spoken and it is official. Goodie Mob will be having a reunion concert on September 19th at a yet to be named venue. The homie Jabari Graham hit me earlier today to give me the good news. I didn't think to post anything because we was just talking as homeboys, plus, the venue hadn't been announced yet. But shied, my ngh Rodney over at Creative Loafing threw it up, so fugg it, me too!

But yeah, this show as well as some other tricks up my sleeve and the sleeves of other folks I know will undoubtedly bring back the "Atlanta" we all know, love, cherish and miss so much. Keep coming around these parts for all the info you may need on this show as the date nears. Damn I'm excited about this.

RELATED: Dungeon Family Reunion x VIBE photoshoot video|Dungeon Family Day|Goodie Mob Reunited

Skip Gates x Dave Chappelle

All of this talk about Skip Gates being arrested in his own home reminded me of Dave Chappelle's classic skit about not wanting to call the police...even when his own home has been broken into.

Acey Duece - "Every Trend"

Savannah's finest and 4th Ward's cleanest Acey Duecy is at it again. This time he goes in over Young Money's "Every Girl" and shoots a middle finger at all ya'll copy cats.

Yelawolf's Gummo Stars at Lenny's Bar Photos and Re-Cap

"Fuck the money, we never got paid right...the money will come, but now we do it all for the stage lights..." -- Yelawolf, "Stage Lights"



Forgive me for taking so long to get around to posting about this. But the homie Yelawolf has been cranking up his own night at Lenny's Bar for the last three months. Its called Gummo Stars and it goes down every first Friday. If you've heard Yela's music you know what kind of vibe to expect. One minute you might be in there squaredancing to Johnny Cash...the next you're bouncing to Cool Breeze's "Cre-A-Tine."



I got a chance to fall through the most recent one he did and it was a pretty cool night...









Pill hit the stage and did a couple songs from his The Prescription: 4180 mixtape















Hollyweerd also hit the stage and I must say, their live show has gotten alot better from when they first started 2 years ago.









As usual Yela did his thing...he even had a beer chugging contest in the middle of the show.









I dunno man. I'm about ready for my dude to blow the fuck up man. For real. I don't know what the hold up is. As a fan and friend of dude, I just wanna see dude win already. Of course I know he don't give a damn about "blowing up" he just wants to give his fans dope music to jam too, which I can't be mad at.



Anyways, if you slept on his last project, Arena Rap, here are a couple more cuts from it that he performed at the show.





Yelawolf - "Candy and Dreams"





Yelawolf - "Back to Bama"



And here's some more photos from the night, let me know what you think:

Random Jam: Beastie Boys - "Gratitude" x "Pass The Mic" (1992)

Yesterday it was revealed that MCA of the Beastie Boys has just been diagnosed with a form of cancer near his throat, resulting in him having to get surgury to remove it thus cancelling a couple of their upcoming tour dates. Didn't quite get around to posting anything about it yesterday, but I did want to show some love and support by sharing a couple of my favorite Beastie Boys songs.

"Gratitude" has always been one of my favorite songs, period, and with the news of MCA's cancer, the words hit that much harder now. Really, you have to be gracious for the good things going on in your life, everyday, because you never know when things will take a U-Turn. Check after the jump to peep one of my other all-time favs, "Pass The Mic," which also appears on their 1992 album Check Your Head.

Love Is

Saw this license plate riding through Mechanicsville earlier tonight. Its actually a damn shame. I'm not knocking porn, its for grown people to partake of. But I have to ask...when did it become cool to be so public about it?

I hear folks have damn near philosophical conversations about porn now, out in the open. And no, I don't mean as in cats talking about the early psychological problems some porn actresses may have had in their childhood that led them down such a road. I'm talking about cats speaking on ass sizes and money shots like its politics.

That porn shit aint meant to be talked about everywhere, I'm sorry.

This person felt the need to say they love porn and tell it to every person driving behind them. Thanks for the memo player. Hope they're ok...because "loving porn" ain't something to be proud of like that.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

GLC feat. Cory Mo and Mistah F.A.B. - "Let The Pimpin' Commence"

"Don't try stalking me...that shit is embarassing" - GLC


GLC feat. Cory Mo and Mistah F.A.B. - "Let The Pimpin' Commence" (prod. by Cory Mo)

Here's some pimp shit coming from the differnent area codes courtesy of GLC, Cory Mo and Mistah F.A.B. Folks are asking where this song will be appearing, Cory Mo told me that it will be on all three of their upcoming mixtapes so expect to hear this song pop up again in the future. Songs like this remind me of back in the day when cats from different parts of the country would really collab and sound organic, instead of these ProTools Posse cuts we get nowadays. For real, hearing this brought me back to when I used to be able to go in the store and buy random compilations like Southwest Riders or the Nothing To Lose soundtrack and find some jammin ass songs. Enjoy.

UPDATE: Shout out to Burn One for remindng my cluttered brain of where this beat came from.

Spree Wilson - "Word"

Take a minute and check out this fresh-ass video from the homie Spree Wilson. One of the more creative vids I've seen in a while. This may sound weird, but this video actually made me smile. I was actually sitting here watching it like, damn, I'm really enjoying this, like I was at Disneyland or someshit. He got a kick out of that when I told him.

He told me that the video was inspired by Jean-François Coen's video for "La Tour de Pise" (translation: The Tower of Pisa). Except here, Spree and director Phillip Sportel go all around Atlanta from Ben Hill to Decatur to snatch these images. It came out very, very dope. Hope you enjoy it.

He's currently living in the Big Apple now, so all of my NYC peeps, make sure you look out for him.

Track produced by No I.D.

"No Excuses" - President Barack Obama Adressess the NAACP

Damn, where was I last night? Oh yeah, I remember. Plotting my next move.

But yeah, apparently Black folks were MustSeeTV last night. You had Obama adressing the NAACP and CNN showed the sequel to their Black In America series as well. In case you missed President Obama, here is the clip.

Let The Story Begin - Making Of Jay-Z's "D.O.A." with No I.D.

Anyone that follows me on Twitter or talks to me often enough knows that I'm not the biggest fan of this song. But, my man Decatur Dan scored an interview with No I.D. aka Young Yoda and had Zach Wolfe shoot it. Enjoy.

Donnis - "Cleremont Lounge" (freestyle)

I can't sit up here and front like I know Donnis' music like the back of my hand, but most of the stuff I've heard from buddy, I've enjoyed. Here's a Motion Family directed clip of his rendition of Bubba Sparxx, Killer Mike and Cool Breeze's classic "Clermont Lounge." Granted, the chick in this video is slightly above the Clermont's standard, but its still a cool looking video. This vid could quite possibly be the last piece of footage to be shot there as both the Clermont Hotel and Lounge are up for foreclosure.

P-word alert for all the ladies out there.

Zach Wolfe's XXL x Grand Hustle Footage

Zach Wolfe and the super cam are at it again. In the first vid he's able to make random grunts and quips from Gucci Mane, Shawty Lo and OJ-aye! Da Juiceman actually look interesting. In the second one he caught up with Lil Duval and Yung LA prior to Birthday Bash. Nothing special being said here, I just like the feeling of looking through the lense.

Make sure you stop by his spot for some breif back stories from these videos.

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

Counting Sheep At Church

Yes. I'm going to attempt to blog about everybody's favorite topic, religion.

Monday night I went to New Birth (NBMBC) to check out a special invited guest speaker. His name is Ravi Zacharias. He is a world rekown Christian apologist and evangelist. Google him.

Anyways, he spoke at NBMBC and the topic was The Good, the Bad and the Power of the Media. Overall dude was good. I wasn't necessarily blown away because he didn't say anything that my dad father hand't told me before. I'm convinced that I've inherited my natural skepticism, story-telling and occasional long-windedness from him. All good though.

But yeah, Zacharias broke his "danger of the media" down into three areas:

Problematic Induction-meaning that most info is presented in the form of a lie
Devestating Seduction-meaning that overt sexuality in the media, mainly pornography, tears households apart
Inevitable Reduction-meaning that media reduces your intellect to the point that you either don't believe in anything any more or trust the television to tell you what to do.

I came to the lecture ready to take notes, but when I looked at my notebook at the end of the night, I realized that I hardly took any. Why? Because I already kinda knew what dude was talking about. But, still, overall, the lecture was cool.

Afterwards they opened the floor for questions from the crowd and that's when I realized...

People in the Body of Christ are sheep, for real. These folks asked the dumbest questions possible. I know that sounds mean, but I'm sorry, they were dumb ass questions. Half of them were asking questions that Zacharias already addressed in his lecture. I'm assuming that his vocabulary threw them off, making them think that he was "deep" when really he was saying very basic things that anyone with two eyes, two ears and a brain in between them should already know. The other questions were so dumb that the panelist themselves had a hard time answering them, because, they were so asinine that they were beyond answer.

These people were basically going up there wanting to be told what to do. Which is what happens when you only go to church on Sundays or only crack open your Bible when you're at church. It ain't like when you go to church on Sunday that you get to raise your hand and ask a question or make a comment. You're basically just sitting there listening to one dude talk for two hours. If you don't read for yourself at home or on your spare time, you're going to become a sheep the same way that people who sit at home and watch TV all day become sheep.

But yeah, back to what I was saying. The people in the crowd who were mainly NBMBC members showed how sheepish they were last night, which was a let down. This was one of the few settings at church where people could actually spark dialog and none really went down, because not many had anything thought-provoking things to say.

But, one of the main things I kept hearing audience members ask and speak on was "how can I spread the gospel" or "how do we bring back wholesome television" or "how do we get rid of evil" i.e. sex and violence.

I wanted to get in the question line and make suggestions to these folks, but I couldn't because by the time I got up to get in line, one of those three-piece suit with the ear piece wearing brothas smiled and said "no more questions."

But, since I'd been talking a couple of people ears off all day about what I saw last night, I figured I'd share it here...

If the body of Christ really wants to make an impact on society they have to sharpen their tools and change how they do things:

First, they need to stop selling every damn thing. Everything in the body of Christ is FOR SALE. While all of the "evil" stuff is FOR FREE. Case-and-point. I can't lie, I don't make it church EVERY Sunday. Sometimes I don't wake up in time, other times, I just don't feel like going and I'll read at home. Everyonce in a while I'll watch it on the internet via StreamingFaith.com.

Now say if I didn't catch the service on Streaming Faith for whatever reason. Would I be able to go back and watch it? No. Why, because its only streamed. I can't email a link to anyone or anything, its gone. I can't download it and email it. Its not embeddable to put on my blog or others. If I didn't see it, its gone. Well, not completely...I could spend about what $5-$10 on the CD/DVD of the service at church.

On the flipside of that, the media content that the church says is destroying and perverting the youth is available 24/7-365 FOR FREE EVERYWHERE. If I miss the online premier of the latest NSFW music video at 10pm tonight? That shit is gonna be waiting on me when I get home. Ready to be embedded, emailed and tweeted. And its going to be sitting there every day after that.

I've seen that some churches are making their sermons available for MP3 download, but just like iTunes, they are for sale. On the flipside of that (not trying to call the man the devil) I get at least 2-3 new FREE Gucci Mane or Lil Wayne songs emailed to me daily.

The only thing free about church is the actual act of going. Everything else cost. I feel that if they want to make this impact that want to make so bad, they have to get with the times and stop selling everything all the time. I'm mean even Jesus himself wasn't cool with that (Matthew 21:12)


Secondly, I heard people blaming the media for what's wrong with the world, due to the images and messages they put out. The only suggestion they could come up with for combating this was to protest. Protesting only goes so far in my mind. At the end of the day, you need money to fight any kind of war, whether it be intellectual or physical.

If the church has a problem with Trojan condoms, Victoria's Secret or whoever else having commercials playing at times that their kid may see it, then they need to start buying advertising too then. Some may feel like that's "feeding the devil" but I disagree. Protesting the TV station, or even the companies advertising don't do nothing. All they do is find another way to get the message out. If they want to make and impact, start using some of the money they generate via tithes, offering, book sales, DVD sales and conference ticket sales and start buying up some advertising spots. It ain't like they have to pay taxes on their income.

Granted, I've been in the media for less than a decade, but I've gathered that media companies are loyal to whoever is paying the bills at the end of the day. If Def Jam is buying ads at a magazine, then dammit, you're gonna see some Def Jam artists all throughout the magazine. If Gospocentric Records or whatever church decided to start buying ads at some of these mags, I doubt that the higher-ups in the organization are gonna be like "nah, go'on somewhere. we don't accept that Jesus money."

The third thing I gathered from attending this lecture is that alot of people in the body of Christ confuse being "good" with being "christ like." Every other person that went up to speak complained about not enough "wholesome" or "good" or "christ like" television being available. The truth is, there's plenty of that stuff available, but no one, including them, watches it...because its usually corny as hell. Or shied, just flat out loony and terrifying.

I think I'ma stop now. I started on this blog yesterday and forgot whatelse I was going to say. Plus, the third thing, I probably need to develop my thoughts a little bit more before I speak on it.

But, I'd like to hear what you have to say, if anything at all. If ya'll know of some places doing the things I mentioned, by all means share the knowledge. Peace.

Random Jam: Kriss Kross - "Alright" (1993)

I don't know why, but this song was in my head when I was getting dressed this morning. This song used to jam. Hell I may even rememeber the first time I heard it. I think I was on the way to Panthersville Stadium to see my older cousin play football and I was in the car with one of his friends and my aunt. By the way, where is Supercat?

But yeah, this is one of my three favorite Kriss Kross songs. I don't care, them dudes used to jam, ya'll can front if you want.

Malik Lee: Your Financial Advisor

I just got this from my homie David over at FreshBehavior.com, figured I'd share it with ya'll:

Allow us to introduce Malik Lee, financial advisor. Malik has a real passion for helping individuals gain financial knowledge to start or continue achieving their goals. So if you are a novice or pro, let Malik assist you in reaching your financial dreams.

Be on the lookout for more from Malik, this will be an ongoing webisode series.

Krizz Kaliko "Misunderstood" video

I ain't gonna lie. I'm not all the way into the Strange Music camp like I should be. I've known that Tech N9ne has been one of the coldest MC's on the mic for a while now. Even interviewed him once and he was cool as hell. But even he understood that him and his camp's image could be a turn off. Oh well, that's been my loss. This man is the #1 selling independent artist in the country and its for a reason obviously.

His partner-in-crhyme Krizz Kaliko just dropped a new video for his single "Misunderstood" and I swear this man jumped in my brain, took my thoughts and wrote a song about it. I really like this song and the video is well excecuted. Do yourself a favor and check it out.

Gucci Mane Covers Rolling Out

Peep the story written by Jacinta Howard, pretty cool concept. Video after the jump.



Rolling Out: Gucci Mane-The Doctor of the Streets

Philadelphia Private Pool Club Kicks Out Minority Kids Who "Might Change the Complexion"

I don't even have anywords for this. This is absolutely sickening.

B.o.B-"Put Me On" video

New video/Reebok commercial from B.o.B

Previously: Eastside Pride: B.o.B Get His Own Reebok Sneaker|B.o.B Rocks Foot Locker at South Dekalb Mall

B.o.B and Spree Wilson Headlining URB Showcase at A3C Festival

Shouts out to the homie Spree Wilson sending this news over. In case you don't know everyone has been buzzing about the A3C being so tight-lipped behind their festival this year, and this is the first bit of news. Spread the word.

R.I.P. Steve McNair

Steve McNair on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1994

Sad news today. Steve "Air" McNair died from a fatal gunshot to the head in downtown Nashville. There are alot of reports and rumors going around via the news and Twitter. I hope and pray for the best for his family and all of those effected by this tragedy. I'm not going to be disrespectful of the situation and speak on things that I do not know of.

But, I would like to share that McNair was truly an inspiration to me.

With him coming out of Alcorn State University--a HBCU in Lorman, Mississippi--odds were stacked against him with naysayers saying that he wouldn't be able to succeed at a pro level, especially in the quarterback position. Hell, him playing quarterback at ASU was actually a result of him bucking at Division I schools telling him that they wanted him at their school and on their team...but not as a quarterback. They wanted him to play defense...something that a lot of Black quarterbacks coming out of high school are told. A lot of them bite the bullet and accept a defensive role and put a lid on their quarterback career. But not McNair. Instead of taking what the Division I schools wanted to give them, he chose otherwise and went to a Black college and made history.

I was only 14-15 years old during his senior year at ASU where he threw for 6,000 yards, 53 touchdowns and finished 3rd in the Heisman Trophy race behind Rashaan Salaam and Ki-Jana Carter (where are they now?). But seeing Air McNair succeed was one of the first and only things (other than watching A Different World and visiting Morehouse in 8th grade) that even put the thought of going to a Black college, if college at all, in my confused, rebellious mind.

Years later when I was accepted into Fort Valley State University, McNair continued to inspire me. With every game he won, he proved that you can go to a small Black college and still compete on the grandest of stages. That really meant a lot to me. Seeing him win MVP trophies, Pro Bowl selections and go to the Super Bowl during my sophmore year in college (almost winning it) was the icing on the cake. Even though I've always been a lifelong Steelers fan, McNair was my guy.

So, when I heard that he was shot...killed...dead. I was devestated. I never met the man, but, I actually cried a little. Dude was really an inspiration to me for real. Once again, keep McNair's family and all those effected by this tragedy in your prayers.

R.I.P. Steve "Air" McNair

Dungeon Family x VIBE Cover Shoot video footage

If you've been visiting the site for the last month or so, you know the story behind the above video. I was on twitter on Monday, June 1st and saw that a someone (who I still don't want to put on blast, because they wasn't supposed to be doing it) was sending out twitpics of what was supposed to be a surprise Dungeon Family Reunion/VIBE Cover Photoshoot. Now, I had already knew of the story being written because I had a couple friends who were interviewed for the piece, but the photoshoot was a surprise. Of course, when I saw the twitpics I snatched them and put them on the site, "fanhood" like a mah fuggah. Within seconds they were all over the net.

Of course I wanted to find out more of what was going on and since I saw that the homie Spree Wilson was actually down there I hit him up to see what was up... When I got in contact with him he told me they was wrapping up and headed over to Stankonia which was right across the street from me. He also told me that he is super cool with Linda Hobbs, the writer of the story, that he was the only person allowed to record at the site and scored some Flip cam footage of the photoshoot and spoke to everybody (except Andre 3000) and wanted to give to me to put on the site.

By the time we hooked up for the footage exchange and walk over to Stankonia, his phone started blowing up with someone on the other end from VIBE saying "TELL YOUR FRIEND TO TAKE THOSE TWITTER PICTURES DOWN." I'll tell you now, I'm not one of these ruthless blogger niggas out'chea. Since VIBE has showed me nothing but love through my career, I promptly took them down. BUT, as you saw, I still put up the pictures I took at Stankonia and made no mention of VIBE's shoot, out of respect...even though the cat was let out the bag.

VIBE also asked that me and Spree sit on his Flip cam footage until around the time the story came out. Cool. But shied, as you've probably already heard, VIBE went out of business on Monday. Because of that, what was supposed to be two-part story, will only have the first half see the light of day. So, I'm just gonna assume that they don't give no damn about me putting this video up.

So...here it is, Spree's footage from the shoot, edited by me. Hope you enjoy. Yeah, the vid is 11 minutes long, but I know DF fans aren't from the information overload/short attention span generation, so, yeah.

Oh yeah, shout out to the homie Michael Jordan and his The Underwriter blog. Apparently his "30 Reasons Why Atlanta Is Dying Off" post he made a while back struck a nerve, which is why Rico Wade shouts it out at the end of the video. Mike said that a Dungeon Family reunion would be the only thing that could save the city. Mike also felt that my November 2008-February 2009 blog hiatus was the #12 reason why Atlanta was dying off. Hopefully these are signs that the city is coming back.

PREVIOUSLY: Dungeon Family Day | Big Boi Explains His Lucious Leftoot

Proton x SMKA-"Fuck The Economy"

Been a little minute but Proton is back with some new music produced by SMKA. This track will be appearing on SMKA's 808 Experiment: Vol 2. I was at the photoshoot for this song a few weeks back. The beer keg was the star of the show. Peep the gallery after the jump.

My (Brief) Thoughts on Drake's "Best I Ever Had" video

Fugg it. I'm temporarily entering the Drake matrix. Been tweeting about it all day, so fugg it. A lot of women seem to be complaining that the video has a lot of pretty, big-breasted girls in it who add absolutely no significance to the "message" in the song...whatever that "message" was supposed to be. A lot of dudes seem to love the video because it has a lot of pretty, big-breasted women in it who add...shit, they just nice to look at, period. People who don't care about the pretty, big-breasted girls just think that the video is wack period.

Here is my interpretation. Coach Drake likes pretty, big-breasted girls because they are pretty and big-breasted. He coaches them to do whatever he desires, not really caring about anything else but how they perform for him. Hense, they don't know how to do nothing but stretch and look pretty. So, when these pretty, big-breasted girls go out in the world to actually do something that requires skill, they fail and fail miserably.

Anticipated Reaction: Unpretty, small-breasted girls enjoy seeing pretty, big-breasted girls get beatdown by women who use their skill/brain/talent to defeat women who rely on only their looks. Thus strengthening Drake's influence over the ladies because "he cares" while at the same time giving dude a excuse/reason to have some bad-ass females prance around in his video.

"Message": Looking pretty will only get you "stretched" in life. Using your brain will stretch your life's span.

Fin.

Now, enjoy the pretty, big-breasted girls...its really not that deep.

RELATED: Drake x Jaspects x Danny at The Loft

Killer Mike Says:

Folks think I be tripping when I say folks be sleeping on or stealing from my guy Killer Mike. MTV knows whats up though, so they let him speak on what he's been saying for years while your favorite rappers stay aloof of what's really going on.

“I don’t wanna hear none of that bullshit from none of them niggas,” Mike said. “I dropped I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind II last year. If you wanna hear hardcore hip-hop, go to the store, go get I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind II. You can listen from the first Biggie sample to the last song on the album, ‘Good-Bye,’ it’s hardcore hip-hop. I don’t wanna hear that bullshit, these niggas who got millions of dollars talking about bringing shit back. They ain’t bringing shit back. It’s here — you looking at it."

“Buy me,” he continued. “When that Killer Mike drops, hardcore hip-hop will be back for the second, third time. You know, the same guy that said ‘Rap Is Dead’ three years before Nas said it. I’m here. Fuck with me. Jay dropped ‘D.O.A.’ and everybody went crazy. And I love Jay. A week before that, I dropped ‘Man Up.’ Go listen to that song and go listen to ‘D.O.A.’ ”

Spotted at OnSmash via MTV