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- » Name: Amanda Bassa
- » Location: VA
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- » Weekend P.S.A.
- » Move, Bitch!
- » Art Against Gentrification
- » Freedom Ain't Free
- » All I Do Is Bust My Gun
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The Undisputed Truth
Weekend P.S.A.
In case you haven’t heard, I don’t have much of a life lately. I wake up, go to work, do some work, pretend to do some work while getting up to date on what’s going on in the world, go home, attempt to write, get tired, then go to sleep. It’s absolutely thrilling. Seriously, it is. Not only am I boosting my work experience credentials, but I’m getting some money in my pockets again. Too bad it’ll be dwindling by the end of next month, and too bad it’s sitting in a bank so I can’t actually feel the satisfaction of having a fat wallet, but it feels good to know that I can at least afford a plane ticket for a vacation. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still pretty broke and trying to finish up college, but I’m feeling satisfied that I can buy myself a legitimate, healthy lunch every now and then and not have to pinch pennies for the rest of the week.
…At least for now. I’m sure it’ll change soon enough. Gotta love an economy that’s not in good shape.
Anyway, since I take my money very seriously and try not to spend frivolously because I’m not a CEO of some company and don’t have much disposable income, I tend to be rather cautious about purchases and where my money ends up. This may be part of the reason that I don’t buy very many albums – if I pay ten bucks for some music that I could have used to buy myself a grilled chicken salad or something physically beneficial to me, end up eating like shit for the rest of the week because I feel guilty that I spent ten bucks on something I could have downloaded for free and therefore should compensate for my ten dollar loss by not spending much on food, and then see the artist on TV a week later rolling around in a Lamborghini Diablo after getting bailed out for a DUI charge? I’m not going to be very satisfied with my purchase and where my money went. Not to mention what kind of record label execs end up with most of the profits. But that’s another story for another day.
My point isn’t actually about illegal downloading or supporting artists or anything like that this time around. I spend a lot of time on computers these days, and to keep myself sane I’ll look at something not too serious every now and then. A lot of this involves online shopping sites, small-scale local news publications, and mainstream news publications. It also leaves me a lot of time to research anything that comes to my mind. Lately I’ve been in a political kind of mood, and I’ve been paying attention to a lot of the world’s various injustices and thinking of ways to stop them, as well as prevent future occurrences.
Just so you know, that’s a pretty surefire way to give yourself a headache. The world is a rather fucked up place these days, and when you think about it too long, it really makes your head hurt.
Anyway, I’ve realized that a lot of people think a good solution to the world’s ills is to just donate to charity or dedicate their lives to some non-profit organization that they discovered. I’ve also realized that a lot of these places aren’t exactly what they seem. How do you know where your money is going? If you’re working for them, do you know the person who is in charge of the organization personally? Do you know what they truly stand for? In most cases, you can do some pretty simple research and unearth any dark secrets about these organizations (or corporations, figureheads, etc.). But in some cases, you may simply never know what these people did with your money. And when you think about it, that's pretty scary.
I was reminded of this when I read this news story from CNN about how a fake website/organization was created to fool FARC into releasing some hostages: http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2008/07/18/fake-aid-group-web-site-helped-dupe-colombian-rebels/
And this was the Colombian military that was making this shit up. Not that this is anything new, but it’s a good reminder to be careful about things that seem to have good intentions. I’d love to believe that I didn’t really need to tell anybody this because we’re all sensible enough to keep our eyes open, but I’ve seen far too many people fall for all types of scams. That’s why these things continue – if they didn’t work and nobody fell for them, they’d probably stop wasting their time trying to get people to buy it.
So, let this be the lesson/reminder for the weekend – don’t end up like the FARC and let somebody play you to their advantage, and don’t take things (especially things that deal with your money) at face value. Anyone can make a website and get it to look convincing. The internet’s a crazy place, and it doesn’t seem to be settling down anytime too soon.
Have a safe weekend DX…here’s to hoping that those gas prices drop sooner rather than later!
Move, Bitch!
There are a lot of things about driving that I love. There are a lot of things about driving that I hate. The love outweighs the hate, but the hatred runs deep.
Sidenote: the next person I hear saying “hi, haters!” may catch the backhand.
Anyway, lately I’ve been doing a fair amount of driving, and that won’t change anytime too soon. And now that the weather is nicer, more people are taking to the streets in vehicles that only have two wheels. Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s a large part of me that wants to pull a Trinity stunt and re-enact that Ducati scene from whatever Matrix movie it was. That looks undeniably exhilarating. And you see, bikes like that can actually go the speed limit. That’s key here.
If there was one rule of the road that I never have been able to understand, it was the fact that bicycle riders (those without motors attached to their two-wheeled apparatuses) are inclined to ride in the road rather than on the sidewalk. I could understand in Europe, maybe, where the cars are the size of bumper cars and are therefore not very intimidating. But in America? Let’s think about who would win in each scenario...
Gas guzzling Hummer H2 vs. bicyclist?
18-wheeler vs. bicyclist?
Bicyclist vs. pedestrian?
The bicyclist vs. the pedestrian is pretty much the only semi-fair match up. I can’t stress how absolutely irritating it is when you’re driving in a 40mph zone and traffic slows down to 20mph or so because there is some 50-year-old on a bike, decked out in highlighter-yellow gear in broad daylight as if we couldn’t see them already, riding down the right lane when there’s a sidewalk with nobody walking on it right next to them.
"Tree hugging ass bitch please!" Get in a motor vehicle, let out some emissions, stop interrupting the flow of traffic, and get out the way!
Why in the world would you not get on the sidewalk? I just don’t get it. Unless someone is seriously DUI, you won’t turn into road kill. If you hit a pedestrian with your bike, they’ll probably just get a few scrapes and bruises. Not to mention, they can simply just step out of your way. Most sidewalks end with a ramp nowadays, not a curb, so you won’t even have a very bumpy ride. Those sidewalks are like roads paved with gold for a bicyclist, yet some of these belligerent bastards still insist on getting up in the roadways where they can’t even get close to keeping up with the flow of traffic.
What possibly bugs me the most is that, and this is strictly my opinion here, these bike riders come off conceited as hell. The other day I saw a fairly old woman holding up traffic in a downtown area on a bike, even though she was right next to a sidewalk, wearing one of those highlighter-colored vests that had a “SHARE THE ROAD” sign taped to the back of it. That shit makes me want to just give them a friendly tap with my bumper sometimes. Share the road? You pretentious pain in my ass! Try sharing the sidewalk!
Yes, I realize how hypocritical I sound right now. Hush.
But for real, these people are so cocky. Never mind the fact that I see them blatantly ignoring traffic laws (stop signs, red lights, etc.) just because they’re not in a car but think they can use the same roads as a car does, but they shoot you bad looks when you come up behind them too fast or get a little close to them. Son. The lane is only so big. You got a couple feet of wide open space if you just get on the other side of the curb that you’re practically clinging to for dear life as fed-up drivers zoom past you so that they can get to work. So what the hell are y’all glaring at me for?
Maybe I just have a severe case of road rage (just ask the various people who have given me the finger or gotten into swearing-matches with me on the roads), but this is just one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard of. If you can’t go the speed limit, stay off the roads. Even though I can’t stand y’all, I’m saying this for your own good. And my own sanity. That is all.
Oh, and one last little sidenote…a few months ago I used to see this guy in one of those electric wheelchairs out on the road. I only ever saw him in this one right turn lane around the way. But I can’t even hate on him…that shit was hardbody. Even if it only went 10mph.
Art Against Gentrification
There’s two things in life that I can undoubtedly appreciate: a good cause, and some decent graffiti upon the brick walls of a building. Yeah, it’s illegal, but some graffiti is absolutely amazing and dammit, it should be seen and appreciated. So when I stumbled upon this article a few days ago, my interest was immediately piqued:
http://torontoist.com/2008/07/fauxreels_regent_park_portraits.php
Even if you don’t read the article, peep out the pictures. In short, what was going on was that the neighborhood in question was part of a “revitalization” project…meaning that its residents would get kicked the fuck out when their buildings were torn down to build new, fancier housing that would attract a new crowd of people.
You know, the typical story of gentrification that is affecting a hood near you.
So anyway, this guy named Dan Bergeron had the idea to get pictures of some of the residents who were going to be displaced, and then create painted murals depicting the people on the walls of the buildings that are to be torn down. Sure, this won’t stop the buildings from being ripped down, but it is at least causing people to think about what’s going on in a different view.
As the article states…
“Bergeron's project is all about displacement, the people who live in Regent Park being upended while their community is changed without them. With the portraits, Bergeron says, "the community has a face," and he means it literally—they make it so that "people become part of the physical building" even as the buildings, bordered by Gerrard East, Dundas East, Sumach, and Sackville Streets, are steadily cleared of people.”
To put faces to the residents that will be forced out of the neighborhood via art is an interesting approach to the situation. It instantly made me think of graffiti and what that could do as far as positivity is concerned (as well as that guy going around spray painting “vote” pieces around cities for the upcoming election). Then, I came across this piece, which deals with graffiti here in the DC metro area:
http://dcist.com/2008/07/11/murals_dc_celebrates_community_empo.php
The Midnight Forum, a DC non-profit which is “empowering youth through hip hop” has partnered with Jim Graham, the Columbia Heights/Shaw Family Support Collaborative, and Bell Multicultural HS to begin a legal graffiti initiative in the district that would be aimed at the youth. Things like this make me smile.
The program, Murals DC, is essentially covering illegal tags by allowing the kids to create murals of what are considered more appealing things (like the Cluck U chicken?!) over the normally less appealing tags. Now sure, if I was getting my tags painted over I may be a little disappointed, but in this case I gotta give it up for the kids. Encouraging art skills in the youth within a controlled environment, giving them something positive to do on their spare time, making the city they live in look a little more appealing to the eye, and getting the city council to support something like this? That’s a pretty good look right there.
It’s nice to see that the often ignored, most criminal, and sometimes denied element of hip hop is doing some good for our children. And to think, people were saying hip hop was dead! And since all of this put me in a sharing mood, here’s a mixtape from Southeast Slim, whose area of DC is dealing with some gentrification issues of its own. The tape is called “That Dope” and features an appearance a name that most of you are probably familiar with by now – Wale.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/qhbxve
Props to Southeast Slim for repping his city hard, peace to DC and the surrounding areas, and props to everybody that's out getting involved in their communities, voicing their concerns and opinions, and making sure that people are listening.
Freedom Ain't Free
Tonight I probably won’t be doing what most of you will. There will be no alcohol involved in my evening. No sparklers, firecrackers, bottle rockets or roman candles. No lying on a blanket under the night sky seeing the fireworks’ reflection in the eyes of someone close to me. No cookouts. It’s just another Friday night for me. Aside from the fact that it’s a huge hassle to make it into DC on the 4th, I just can’t imagine being able to be all festive and happy when I have to make my way through security checkpoints and hear the helicopters flying over my head with a sickeningly frequent consistency. Especially after I read things like this news story from MSNBC entitled “FBI might use profiling in terror investigations”:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25501088/
Shouts to Dallas Penn for bringing that one to my attention.
I really hope everybody reading this takes the time to check out that article. What’s sad is that this is probably nothing new to any of us.
“The Justice Department is considering letting the FBI investigate Americans without any evidence of wrongdoing, relying instead on a terrorist profile that could single out Muslims, Arabs or other racial and ethnic groups.”
Does this really need to be stated? They’re considering it? Does the Justice Department not realize that the FBI has been doing this for some time now? Have we forgotten about the Patriot Act?
A few years ago, on this day, I took myself and a few family members from out of town into the district so that they could see the DC fireworks. It is something worth seeing at least once, I must say. I hadn’t been to see them since 9/11, but I knew there would be some security I wasn’t used to. So, I’m walking down a street with my fam and we see a checkpoint. No big deal – we’re not doing anything wrong, right? Most of us get through with no problem. However it took one of us in particular an excessively long time to get through the line. She was wearing a hijab, had an accent, and obviously wasn’t just an “American”. In actuality she wasn’t an American at all, she was visiting from out of the country, but the guards at the checkpoint really wouldn’t have had a way of knowing that unless she told them or showed ID, so that’s pretty much irrelevant in this setting. They searched her bag inside and out, while I watched other people with bags just as big (if not bigger) walk right through while somebody merely peeked into their stuff. Needless to say, it was rather embarrassing. Mostly because we were trying so hard to show my family members a good time while they were in DC. One of them flew across an ocean to get here, only to be singled out and treated differently (not in a positive way) than everybody else. So much for Southern hospitality. And I’m sure I don’t even have to say what the basis of their reasoning was for giving her so much more hassle than anyone else around.
They didn’t find anything and eventually let her pass through the checkpoint. And I haven’t been to any of DC’s 4th of July celebrations since. I’m over it.
“Immediately after 9/11, hundreds of Muslims and Arabs were detained, deported and monitored as the government urgently sought information that could prevent another attack. Despite efforts to repair and nurture relationships with those groups, Muslim- and Arab-Americans still complain of being singled out by federal security practices.”
Yeah, that’s a quote from the same article that I linked at the beginning of the post. They pretty much admit that unjust profiling was going down before. And yet, they still feel the need to announce their plans to do so now. The difference being that some people in our justice system believe that simply profiling people based on their race, religion, beliefs, etc. is the right thing to do now. As if our country wasn’t filled with enough prejudice and racism already.
If you ask me, this is all motivated by fear. And every time the leaders of our government take one more step towards infringing upon another one of our dwindling civil liberties, the terrorists win. According to dictionary.com, the second definition of “terrorism” is “the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization”. A terrorist, according to WordNet, is “a radical who employs terror as a political weapon”. Since 9/11, America has redefined “privacy”, blatantly profiled its own citizens, ruthlessly attacked nations for reasons that, at this point, seem rather fuzzy, and has employed color codes to make its citizens feel safer. Why? All to defend itself against terrorism. All to lessen the fear of being attacked by the terrorists. Who, for the record, are probably in their caves, smoking a hookah, laughing hysterically at the antics our country has exhibited since “terrorism” became the new sensitive word in Washington.
Fear.
A fear, originally of violence, that has distorted itself into a fear of peoples and cultures whose beliefs don’t align with our own. A fear that was instilled onto the American public, by various forces such as the media, in order to manipulate us into agreeing with the injustices performed against us by the government after 9/11. We were frightened to the point that many of us didn’t mind the fact that somebody may be listening in on our phone calls for no good reason at all. That every book you check out of the library could be tracked. All because somehow this would stop the scary terrorists from getting to us.
Well, Bin Laden is still out there, the world isn’t too happy with us, we’ve lost far too many soldiers in a war that was flawed from the start, and in many ways, we’re far worse off than when we started.
I, for one, am sick of this. I am not, have not been, and will not be ashamed of my roots for the sake of not getting fucked with by law enforcement and federal agents. I love this land, it’s an amazing place, but the people running it have formed a cloud that is creating a constant shadow over the beauty of this land. And not much, if any, good has come from it. Our leaders seem so concerned with simply maintaining the power and control that boosted our national ego as we basked in “superpower” status, that their greed and superiority complexes have thoroughly skewed their perceptions of reality and what is truly good for the citizens they rule over. I’m disgusted that the deaths of so many people on 9/11 formed the basis of the excuse to invade our privacy and assume our guilt before assuming our innocence. Today is supposed to be a celebration of independence, but I can’t help but feel slightly trapped. Feeling that simply who I am is enough to incriminate myself in the eyes of others.
I hope the Justice Department is listening. I hope someone in that group of people knows that we won’t just sit back and let them treat us like dirt and assume our guilt based upon superficial factors or where we choose to go on vacation*. They say they won’t read personal e-mails or tap into phone calls based solely on our backgrounds, but at this point why should we believe them? We know they have the technology to do so quite easily, so who is to say that they aren’t? Once they know they want to take you down, chances are they can find something to take you down for. That’s why we have laws about things like the fact that you can’t have anything hanging from your rearview mirror, right? So they can pick and choose who gets pulled over? I mean, really.
Aside from merely speaking your mind and getting people to listen though, remember that a large, and easier said than done, step in maintaining your personal freedom is to live a righteous life. No, I’m not trying to preach, I’m just using logic. This isn’t foolproof, but if you do not commit crimes or give people an easy reason to take you down, then they pretty much can’t. Fuck the police, we have to watch our own backs these days. And the best way to do this is to just stay out of trouble. Be safe. Be aware of what information about you is kept on record. Be aware of your surroundings. Know the laws that are in effect in your area. Read. Read a lot. Read about anything and everything, and then use that knowledge as your most powerful weapon. But whatever you do, don’t give anyone easy and thoughtless reasons to take you down easily. You never know when someone has their eye on you and you could be next.
I love this country, and I love the ideals that we are supposed to stand for. Which is exactly why some of the things I’ve seen happen in the name of “patriotism” make my blood boil. So I will celebrate our independence today, even if my celebration takes the form of demanding back the liberties I feel I have lost in the last six years. Because that is patriotism. Standing up for our rights in a democratic society that should be giving us the full freedom to do so without fear of being singled out due to twisted fears and the prejudices that come along with them. I wish you all a safe 4th of July and hope that you can take the day off that most of you have and spend it with your loved ones, while having an excellent time on a gorgeous summer day.
*"Among the factors that could make someone subject of an investigation is travel to regions of the world known for terrorist activity, access to weapons or military training, along with the person's race or ethnicity." I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.
All I Do Is Bust My Gun
va dude, this one is for you.
Well, damn. I wasn’t sure I’d ever see the day, but the Supreme Court ruled that DC’s longstanding gun ban is unconstitutional. Gotta love that something this monumental happens in the heat of the presidential campaigning, but anyway…
This calls for some celebratory music. So, to honor this monumental event, I compiled some of the most gat-tastic tracks I had on my hard drive at the moment. Two guns up! (And yes, dopeboyz, I used some of the tracks you so lovingly provided to the public).
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5924X0D5
“All I do is bust my gun!”
…That may be what critics of the ruling are afraid of. But from one Virginian to…well, the rest of you - worry not. VA is for (gun) lovers, and you don’t see us having that many problems. Well, that is, if you ignore the Virginia Tech incident and the psycho kid who shot up that police station out in the NoVA boonies. And the sniper. But I doubt he got his guns in VA itself, so maybe he doesn’t count. Meanwhile, the laws here in VA are more strict on things like knives and window tints, and ironically I’m much more afraid of getting carved like a Thanksgiving turkey by a random passerby than I ever am of getting shot out here.
Which brings me to my point – DC residents? Stop stressing, strap up, and enjoy your constitutional right. That is, if Fenty really lets it happen. OK, so the ban is unconstitutional, but that doesn’t solve it all. Now the questions are piling up. When can you begin to buy guns? What kind of guns will you be able to buy? To open carry, or to conceal? Semi-automatic? If we allow them to be taxable items, could DC citizens run up in Congress with them and finally use an effective way to get their representation?
…Kidding, of course.
See, in places where guns are outlawed, people still get shot. So obviously something isn’t working. What happens is that the people with bad motives that are determined enough to get their hands on one just turn to the black market, while law-abiding citizens are left without any firepower because they don’t want to catch a charge for copping an illegal firearm. Then you have a situation where the innocent are rendered pretty defenseless against the psychos that hit up the black market. I mean shit, look at TI. If he can get that big of an arsenal on the downlow [||](?), pretty much anyone else can, too. I’d personally like to have the option of having the right to a fair fight by being prepared in case somebody pulls a gun on me. Gun vs. no gun = a hard fight to win. Gun vs. another gun = a pretty fair fight. And after all, isn’t that the basis of the American dream? Everyone has a fair shot at winning?
…or so they say. But that’s another argument for another day.
By the way, I don’t own a gun. Perhaps in the future, but for now I’m just talking shit here. And I by no means endorse shooting things up while you’re listening to that music I gave you. It’s merely mood music, to be enjoyed peacefully. The ambassador is all about the peace. Kind of.
Anyway…DC, it’s about damn time. So start brushing up on your shooting skills, hit up those ranges, and don’t end up looking like this girl:
Internet Killed the Magazine Star
If anyone was wondering where the hell I’ve been, I got a new job. And it’s pretty much ruling my life right now. What a way to spend the summer, right? Even though most of the time it keeps me very occupied, there are a few times throughout the work week where I can’t do anything except sit around shooting the breeze while something downloads or whatever. Sometimes I can hop on the internet and peep a select few unblocked websites, and sometimes I just can’t touch my computer at all. So I’ve found myself reading not only a lot of random websites that I normally would ignore, but also some print magazines.
Is it just me, or have a lot of music-related magazines fallen off? Not only music magazines, but a lot of magazines in general. Sports magazines, cooking magazines, tabloids, you name it. Sure, sometimes things just get a little wild amidst the staff at various print publications (just look at the changes XXL has gone through in the past year or so), but I don’t even think it’s the things like the seemingly random exit of YN that are the biggest issue throwing magazines a curveball. So what am I getting at?
Timeliness.
Kind of like the way I haven’t written a blog here at DX for something like two weeks, which surprisingly seemed to agitate quite a few of you (thank you for caring!), and therefore I have climbed a bit on the ladder of wackness and end up being late on damn near every subject I speak about – magazines face the same thing. Think about it – you can read about pretty much anything going on in hip hop here at DX (or to be fair, at almost any other hip hop site on the net), so once you pick up a magazine, the news within it is probably pretty dated. Even worse? You have to pay for that dated news that lies within the magazine. Well, assuming you didn’t just steal the joint from 7-Eleven when people’s backs were turned.
The only thing that magazines seem to have going for them are editorial pieces, features, and interviews that aren’t necessarily time sensitive. That last Blender interview with Lil Wayne that I mentioned a few blogs ago was straight comedy, and I was kind of glad I read it. But if you’re paying close attention, you’d realize that I not only mentioned the article in that piece, but I also linked to it. You could read an interview for free that you would have to pay to read in print. So why the hell are people still buying magazines? I know when I buy one, I have a damn good reason for doing so. And it’s a pretty rare occurrence.
For the record, I get Blender for free at the crib. Go figure how. I surely did not pick up an issue of that just for that interview. If I wanted to read that Weezy interview that badly, I’d just stand in the store and read it, then put the magazine back. Yeah, I’m cheap and have too much time on my hands. Or at least I used to…
Anyway, since I’ve now thrown in the random word fart that seems to happen in every post I put up these days, let me get back to my point. The internet is now giving readers just as good quality material as the magazines try to sell you. And all for the ridiculous price of…well, nothing. Unless you count the fees you pay your internet service providers, if you even have to worry about that! Now that free Wi-Fi has become about as popular as organic pomegranate seeds simmered in a green tea reduction sitting on the biodegradable plate of a skinny jean-wearing twenty-something in a free-trade coffee shop that has “go green” bumper stickers on their Honda Fit, it seems that nobody is complaining about their high-speed internet bills anymore. Man, the trends in America are something else right now. I hope free Wi-Fi is one of those business tactics that ends up sticking, though.
Last random sidenote of this post: “organic” food needs to go. It hurts my wallet. And I’m sorry, but a “certified organic” lemon really tastes the same as a lemon that was for some reason not worthy of that title and is therefore half the price. I mean, really? Come on.
Fact of the matter is a lot of you are probably reading this blog for next to nothing. You could walk to a public library, log on the net, and read this for free. You can find news, interviews, opinion pieces, album reviews, and amazing photography in mere seconds with a few clicks of the mouse. No matter how hard magazines try, they just can’t keep up. Until magazines are putting out daily issues, much like a newspaper, the phrase “hot off the press” loses its significance. Hell, even newspapers seem like they’re having trouble keeping up with the immediacy that the citizens of developed countries have come to demand. People want to know what’s going on in that particular instant. By the time something like the Washington Post can print it, chances are that cnn.com has already run the story.
As technology progresses, we just get more and more impatient. And the internet just keeps on winning.
Let's Connect, Politic...Uh Oh
It’s been a while since I’ve graced this part of DX with some words, and you can blame the world of office jobs for that one. More on that later – maybe. After sitting in front of a computer all day at work, the last thing I want to do is come home and be on the damn thing even more. I’m sure some of y’all feel me on that one.
Random side note before I get into things…Props to the gulliest blogger “evar” Dallas Penn for his latest Internets Celebrities video entitled “Checkmate”. Not only is the video damn good, but Rafi and DP (and Cas behind the scenes) found themselves on the NY Times website, the front page of YouTube, and suddenly being interviewed by random old white guys. It's up to almost 500,000 hits! Most of all I just love the fact that they’re spitting some knowledge disguised as comedy, and they’re getting a lot of love for it. Peep the video if you haven’t yet – it’s probably a million times better than the last thing you watched on YouTube.
But probably the most significant thing to note that has happened in the past week or so was the securing of the democratic presidential nomination by Barack Obama. Not only was he the first black man to do it, but he’s the first man with a Muslim sounding middle name to do it as well. Because we all know that there’s people out there that swear he’s a closet jihadist, or whatever the technical term of bigotry that’s being thrown around by uppity media folk to describe Rachael Ray’s "paisley scarf" is these days.
By the way…I understand it was for business purposes, to cater to the ignorant, and ultimately fatten them up and lead them to their deep-fried obesity-induced demise, but fuck Dunkin Donuts for wimping out and pulling that ad over some biased misconceptions. And fuck ‘em for selling me stale donuts the last time I was there. If I’m going to clog my arteries, I at least want it to taste like it was worth it.
But with the mystery of who would ultimately rep the democratic party out of the way, the focus is now shifting towards who he’ll pick as his partner in campaign crime. And of course, Hillary Clinton is now kissing ass to get that spot. Well, not even so much her as much as her squad of supporters. It’s like they forgot all the shit that she was talking about the guy just a short while ago. That’s some bitchassedness right there. Act like Obama is all evil and shady and then go and endorse him. But such is politics, I suppose, and my opposition to the shady tactics of it is probably why I’ll never find myself being Senator of some state or running for President my damn self, despite my interest with politics and government in general.
So why exactly would all of her supporters want her to team up with the former opposition? I can only think of two plausible reasons, personally. One being that the desire for a democrat to be President is so high after eight years of royal republican fuckups. See, a bunch of Hillary supporters still probably won’t fully support Barack, no matter what Clinton says. I mean the woman did get a lot of votes in the primaries. A hell of a lot of votes. Combine those votes with those that Barack got, and the duo would seem unstoppable. And as much as I’m dying to see the Republicans lose control of the White House, because I’m just rebellious like that, I’m not sure I’m down with the vote hoarding approach. I mean, I’d rather see Obama run with somebody that I’m sure he’ll mesh well with in office. I feel like those two need to work out some tension between themselves first.
Second of all, perhaps all of her supporters really did believe that random ass shit that she was spewing out of her mouth about how Obama is just going to go and get himself assassinated. And sure she apologized or whatever, even though it ended up striking me in a similar manner to the apology of Michael Richards (word to Wale) on Letterman’s show. But maybe in that head of hers, she’s still thinking that he really will get off’d as quickly as grocery prices are rising, and that if she’s the VP, she’ll end up being the President in due time anyway. But that’s just pretty twisted right there.
Plus shit, I bet there’s still a bunch of male chauvinist types on our soil that don’t want to spend the next four years having a woman exert power over them. Fuck what you heard, America really hasn’t come too far in a lot of aspects of social issues. And considering how the world feels about America recently (except maybe Israel), I’d say that even McCain needs to watch his back.
Speaking of Israel, it has threatened to attack Iran if uranium enrichment for weapons isn’t stopped. Now I like to think of things in a logical manner, and the illogicality of bombing somebody for making bombs is damn near short-circuiting my brain right now. And that’s not even including the fact that if that actually went down? Well…I don’t even have to say who would really be footing the bill. And to think, just days ago Obama spoke to AIPAC stating his unconditional love for Israel. Don’t get me wrong – he’s still probably our best option for office at this point, but even if he wins? It’s still going to be a long four years ahead of us.
And anyway, did anyone ever stop to think that maybe if we just left Iran alone, they wouldn’t care about attacking us in the first place? Not every Iranian is studying to be an Al Qaeda operative, you know, and attacking them won’t stop terrorism forever. It’s just going to make more crazy desert cave dwellers even more pissed! Hell, we probably could have pacified Saddam Hussein by giving him a lifetime supply of Doritos. Just like you make your friends, you can also make your own enemies. It’s time for America to get the fuck out of the Middle East and start focusing on our own oil reserves.
Once again, it's going to be a long four years ahead of us, even if this year's democratic nomination was a monumental one. And I'm not so sure that having Clinton run with Obama will make things any easier for us. If our economy is truly a capitalist one, a President isn't going to singlehandedly fix it. The heat is on in Washington, in more ways than one. It's hot as hell outside! And on that note, I'm off to consume some overpriced ice cream. Until next time...
More Good Summertime Listening!
Last post I stated that this summer would be a good one as far as music is concerned. And it took all but a week or so for me to get some proof about my predictions.
First and foremost, if you haven’t already found out, the Mixtape About Nothing is now up for free download to the public. Wale definitely took a unique, creative approach to this mixtape. Even better? There’s less random talking and shit than there was on 100 Miles and Running, which happened to be my biggest complaint about that tape. And on top of that, he really is talking about something on this tape. Props to him for the track entitled “The Kramer”, which starts out with audio of Michael Richards’ infamous tirade and goes on to examine Wale’s thoughts about the n-word in today’s society. A creative, lyrical way of approaching a sensitive and serious topic.
Anyway, enough yapping about the tape. Go download it!
http://10deep.com/WALEMIXTAPE/
There’s a button towards the bottom left of the player that says ‘download’. Just click it. And then don’t forget to stop by Wale’s myspace or Elitaste and let the kid know if you’re feeling it or not. And say thank you for the free shit. The economy sucks and he’s still throwing free, quality music at you. Aw. Thank you, Wale.
Another project that I’m highly anticipating is the collab project between Immortal Technique and DJ Green Lantern. Not only has Technique’s sound matured significantly, but the content seems as brutal as ever. June 24th is the release date, and considering the promotion that has been going down and the fact that tracks have actually been leaking, I think it’s finally serious this time. You can actually reserve a copy via pre-order on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, so if that’s not a sign that he’ll actually put it out, I don’t know what is.
Been living in a cage and haven’t heard any of the new material? Here, peep out one of my favorites from the small handful of tracks that have leaked thus far – “Payback” featuring Diabolic and Ras Kass.
http://www.zshare.net/audio/120283346486b7bb/
Perhaps even more than the music though, I’ve been impressed by the non-musical projects that he has been working on recently. In case you didn’t hear, it was recently announced that he was holding a writing contest for high school students. Sure, the money you could potentially win is nice, but even nicer is the fact that we have somebody who is trying to bring out the best in the youth. Critical thinking, writing skills, and learning the power of the word. That’s worthy of some props right there. If you are in high school (or are a graduating senior), know somebody that could be qualified for the contest, or know somebody that knows somebody, etc., you can find more information here:
http://immortal-technique.com/The3rdWorldContest/
I strongly encourage anybody that is qualified to participate. You have nothing to lose with this one, and a nice amount of satisfaction to gain. And for those that don’t qualify but still want to participate in something positive, there’s always the “Police State Chronicles” project that stemmed from the Sean Bell verdict that I had mentioned earlier. It is so refreshing to see an artist constantly work towards the greater good. I feel like I don’t see that too often these days. Despite how you may feel about his political views or his music, you have to at least give him and the people that work with him the props that they’re due for putting so much time and effort into the things they truly believe in and care about.
And taking it back to the DMV for a second, if anybody missed the Illmatic remixes show this past week, my boy Judah hooked it up in the inbox today. You can download the remixes for free, featuring production by some of DC’s finest including Kev Brown, Oddisee, and Judah himself.
http://www.zshare.net/download/12847479d827654e/
Add all of this to great summertime treats such as the Paid Dues and Rock the Bells festivals, and I'm almost ready to say I have a new favorite season.
Summertime
I can’t speak for where any of you reading this may be located, but where I am it’s finally warm and sunny and feeling like summertime. Some people get lazy during this time and sleep all day or kick it at the pool, but apparently the rappers of the DC area have remained on their grind.
My man Judah hit me up the other day and graced my inbox with the latest project that he’s produced on, and it’s none other than Marky’s mixtape, “Homework 4.3”. Man, it feels like just yesterday that the kid Marky got signed. Anyway, since I’m lazy these days and 2dopeboyz beat me to posting this, I’ll just hit you with the track list, cover art, and download link via them.
The district’s other freshly signed emcee is still working hard as well. On top of scoring that coveted spot on this year’s Rock the Bells lineup, Wale has finally released the tracklisting for his “Mixtape About Nothing”, which makes me think it may actually drop when he says it will this time around. And if you thought that was all that was going on, you’d be mistaken. The video for “W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E.” finally dropped…
And as a nice finishing touch to it all, the homie Modi hit me with the latest from X.O. and Wale: the remix to “Rid’n”.
http://www.zshare.net/audio/1261208803ff73cb/
Also just heard about a good event for anyone in the DMV...This Thursday, May 29th, at 9pm at the Rock and Roll Hotel, Kev Brown and Oddissee are involved in a very interesting show as part of an Illmatic Remix Party. Yep, the Nas album. They'll be remixing the album and then performing the remixes. It'll cost you $20 to get in.
So anyway, enjoy some new music to bump in your ride with your windows down and the breeze blowing on your face. Does anybody else love that part of summertime as much as I do? If so, you should have no problems finding new, fresh music worthy of being blasted at full volume. There are some damn good releases coming up. I guarantee it.
When They Reminisce Over You
I may not have grey hair yet, but man, I feel old these days. My birthday was last week, so I’m finally out of the “teen” category. I get random muscle cramps and things that shouldn’t be happening to a 20-year-old (nevermind the fact that I’m in serious need of a workout). I don’t understand the fads that the youngins fall for these days. I just started a crucial 9 to 5 job in the most stereotypical of office environments. Oh, and I watch TV.
Wait…what? What does TV have to do with it, you say?
For the first time in about two years (no exaggeration) I came across 106 and Park on BET this evening. I got distracted by some food and thus didn’t have a free hand to keep changing the channel (I sound like such a fat ass right now). So fuck it (c) Bill O’Reilly*, I watched it for ten minutes or so. They proceeded to play the throwback joint of the day (flashback, old school joint, whatever they’re calling it)…and tell me why they played Ciara’s “1, 2, Step”. Is it just me, or does it feel like that joint just came out last week!?
After sitting there for a while feeling a little dumbfounded and borderline geriatric, I realized that if you’re currently a freshman in high school, that song probably does feel ancient to you. “Old” is one of those words that involves a large amount of relativity. Albums don’t come packaged with an expiration date on them like a gallon of milk would. There’s no explicit date that music becomes officially “old”, or goes bad, or reaches its expiration date. You can pinpoint the day an album is released or the day it leaks. You can even put a pretty concrete timeframe on when the “golden era” of hip hop began and ended. But how do you know when a song goes from just being a regular song, to being an “old school” joint?
Maybe it’s just one of those questions that comes to me that I tend to overthink, but it reminds me a lot of that “how does an album reach classic status” debate. It’s hard as hell to answer. To some of you reading this, music released in the mid-90’s may feel old. To others, music from the late 80’s may constitute your catalog of old school music.
Dammit though, I’m not that old at all. I refuse to call any Ciara track a flashback of any kind. That shit only came out three years ago or so! What happened to giving us a flashback worthy of the name? What happened to old Onyx, Biz Markie, Slick Rick, Pete Rock, or Pharcyde videos? Are they all just outdated now? The supply and demand aspect of these video countdown shows is disappointing in relation to both elements of the concept these days. They supply what the people demand, and it’s kind of sad when the old classics like these fall out of consideration. But then again, I’m just an old fart that needs to get with the times now, right?
*The remix? Fuckin' thing sucks!