A Picture is Worth... Part 2

So I've had a couple of discussions about this shit right here and I have also read a couple of commentaries on it as well. I just want to know what do yall think this picture is saying?

Again, we need to be critical about the images that are fed to us by people like Mr. West and Lady GaGa. These are two huge celebrities right now, we buy into their images constantly. When a star is presented to their public, they are not just presenting to us their music, they are presenting their way of thinking, their personality, their style and their mistakes. People like Kanye and Lady GaGa are influencers on our generation, pop culture, our world and our society. When we start to think about images such as this, not as what are they trying to sell us but how are they trying to sell it to us, that's when we can start to hold the images we see in the media accountable. In this image, we see a female body, that falls into what a typical acceptable body looks like in mass white culture. We also see a black man, who obviously falls into the background of this image and is used to contrast Lady GaGa's overly white body. Seemingly, she is being saved from some sort of evil. In the context of feminism, the last thing we need is another woman being saved, especially by a man. However, in the context of feminism and race, the last thing we need is a white woman being saved by a ignorant, blinded by love, man-monster, which Kanye is in this picture. This picture enforces the myth of black bodies for sacrifice of the white dream. Kanye is unimportant, Lady GaGa is the perfect, innocent, white woman.

Open Letter to Ise Lyfe

I feel so inspired. You did that to me. I’m trying to remember a time when I had this feeling, I can’t. A time separate from studying theories and really getting down to the nitty gritty of what people think and feel. Its been a long time since I’ve gotten so passionate. Its been a while since I’ve still felt so passionate after the event was over.

You said, “Knowledge is strength. Wisdom is power.” I’ve always felt that I had power. However, I know now, that this is real power. Power to get my out of my comfort zone and actually tell people how powerful the event was last night.

I love hip hop. I feel like that statement is over-used, that it doesn’t encompass my passion for the institution and the music of hip hop. The political clout and power that hip hop is unique and unmatched by any other institution, at least in my knowledge. I don’t just love to listen to it, I love to research it. I’ll spend hours on end immersed in finding out the foundation of hip hop, why it is profitable, the power that it has, its principle players, and important periods of influence.

For a while now, I’ve been trying to find a way to incorporate my two passions; feminism and hip hop. Last night and right now while writing this, I cried because I have two so conflicting passions, passions that I love with my whole life, my being, and that I trust with my future. My ultimate dream is to start, build, own a series of center that, by using hip hop, helps stop the rape of black womyn. I have been struggling to create an outline for what this would look like and how it would function. Thanks to you I can actually see a plan, I see a role model, I see hope and the fact that I can fuse two of the most conflicting identities available to human kind, feminist and hip hop head. I see there actually can be an innovative take on education, without being in the confines of a classroom. I feel we need that to breakthrough, to those who reject or don’t have access to a classroom. I had never seen anyone use hip hop to directly teach a group of people. You were saying everything that I wish I had the platform and the bravado to say. I was impassioned to be even more critical of the images that I saw across my computer and television screen and the power that those images have.

Even today, I still feel empowered, more beautiful, more confident. Thank you. Thank you for doing what you do, thank you for who you are. Thank you for your gifts to me and to the world. Thank you for caring.

A Picture is Worth...

What message do yall think this picture sends, especially from someone who is a victim/survivor of domestic violence?

In the picture she seems to be afraid, hiding from something, in a dark place, and with her clothes off. She is not in a position of strength or power in the picture, with the words Wait Your Turn plastered across. She looks like a victim. Definitely not sending a good message, combined with the fact that the world watched her go through this ordeal. But, hey, that's just my opinion.

Drake, Mr. Carter, The Other Mr. Carter, and Mr. West

How many times have us hip-hop fans discussed whose the hottest emcees of all time or even the best rappers right now? Countless lists have been formulated since the beginning of hip hop to chronicle what fans should be listening to, who we should be listening to, what everyone else is listening to, who not to listen to, and who everyone isn’t listening to and shouldn’t be. Numerous publications, respected in hip hop and not, have put together lists like these for the purpose of everything from organization to duty. The lists we put together in conversations with other hip hop heads at home to the hair salons and barbershops, are all dictated by exposure. No one can know about you if there’s no label behind you pumping thousands of dollars to ensure your career and their pockets. If you want people to listen to you, make them think that a whole lot of other people are listening to you. This seemed to be the formula of success for every other emcee except The Original Mister Carter and his soon to be successor Drake. Anyone who knows the story of Jay-Z probably knows that he was one of the first people to start their own record label, in a time when labels were infamous for ripping off their clients. Whatever you think about their lyrical skills and their maybe over-rated hyper-hype no one can not sit up and take notice to the ruthless and uncanny ability to spark buzz like Jay-Z and the rapper formerly known as Aubrey Graham to the teenage-now-grown-up set. Anyone who follows hip hop would be foolish not to include Drake and Jay-Z on their hottest MC’s list. Both artists have been featured on the other’s records. But are these two really enemies? If not in real life, maybe in the ring of rappers and emcees? Or on the front line of lyricism? Or perhaps on the behalf of buzz? No rapper or emcee before or after Jay-Z is able to captivate as much buzz as his larger than life, rock star persona, except maybe Drake or maybe even the other Mister Carter, D’Wayne Michael Carter Jr. Drake along with Lil Wayne are poised to become Jay-Z’s successors whether he likes it or not and some people are more than ready for him to give up claim to the mic.

Drake on the other hand is just getting started and hip hop fans are itching for him to get started. He has yet to release his debut album and continues to garnish teasers with mixtapes. His most popular one, So Far Gone has garnered attention from Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Lil Wayne; his mentor and label boss. According to Fader.com, “On his own records, he abandons Southern double-time to push genre boundaries more like Kanye, rapping over chopped-and-filtered snatches of Coldplay, Lykke Li and Peter Bjorn & John. The differences only get starker if you compare Drake’s bio to his project-raised, tattooed and codeine-addicted mentor. Though born in Memphis, Aubrey Drake Graham was raised in Forest Hills, an affluent enclave of Toronto that is about as far in mood and geography from New Orleans as you could get without a land bridge. Before he ever considered being a rapper, Drake was a child actor, portraying athlete Jimmy Brooks on the Canadian teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation. His father, Dennis Graham, was a drummer for Jerry Lee Lewis, and he is nephew to both legendary bassist Larry Graham and Teenie Hodges—a guitarist best known for co-writing some of Al Green’s ’70s classics who’s played with everyone from Talking Heads to Cat Power. The more you know about him, in fact, the harder it seems to know exactly who Drake is. There is something almost chameleon-like about his talent. If his appeal can’t be contained to a one-liner like “Wayne protégé,” it’s only because he invites a whole series of comparisons: to Wayne’s inventiveness, Kanye’s art-school eclecticism, Jay-Z’s braggadocio and Lloyd’s post-Kelly singsong. He has the lyrical teeth to skewer you if you mistake introspection for weakness.”

In today’s hip hop game it is almost a necessity to be from an impoverished background with experience in gunplay and cocaine. The number one reason why rap battles in the mainstream ensue are because one person lies about where they are from or their background and another person calls them out on it. The glamourization of the “hood lifestyle” is on the is a huge problem and hip hop and has people everywhere wanting to be something they are not. Just look at the example of Rick Ross who raps about cocaine and guns, and yet is a former corrections officer. However, there are two examples where this is not true. Kanye and Drake, both come from middle class families where they weren’t exposed to the harsh realities of life. “Drake does not seem particularly pressed to play down the middle class and Jewish half of his biracial upbringing and frequently mentions his mother’s central role in his life.”-Fader.com One may wonder, though, if Kanye and Drake’s limitless life, transfers to limits in their lyrics. The two are known for the boisterous lyrics in which they show their bravado. One might expect for Drake and Kanye’s lyrical content to be something for the ages. Instead we get a kind of dumbing down from their educated selves and even Lil Wayne who attended college for sometime like Kayne. One might want to tap them on their shoulder and tell them that hip hop can be educated too.

Drake is not only a rapper but also, and annoyingly a crooner on most of his hooks. He has a do-it-yourself approach to his music, his production and refreshingly, his image. Drake, Kanye, Lil Wayne and Jay-Z all fall in the overrated set. Despite that, Drake has signed one of the biggest record deals ever, signing a contract with Lil Wayne’s Young Money for over a million dollars. “That deal is the end result of what has been described as one of the biggest bidding wars the music industry has seen in ages. No one party is willing to share all the details, but Atlantic Records and Interscope’s Jimmy Iovine were certainly both in the mix, and at one point, Universal Motown president Sylvia Rhone apparently threatened Drake with legal action to prevent him from going elsewhere. In the end, he signed directly to Aspire, a company co-run by his manager (and Young Money CEO) Cortez Bryant, with major label distribution through Universal Republic. Although his Wikipedia entry and various news items list his label as Cash Money/Universal Motown, Drake is quick to say, ‘I went through Universal Republic because I don’t fuck with Motown. At all.’ The details are more than academic, since the Universal affiliation is what allows Lil Wayne and Young Money to own a piece of the project. But even though Wayne has been touted as an executive producer in previous interviews, Drake indicates that putting a YM logo on the disc is more of a nod to his mentor than a structural reality. Kanye—according to the people around Drake, anyway—is so open on his talent that he is more amped to work on Drake’s project than his own, dangling the possibility that he might step in as executive producer.”-Fader.com

All four artists can be named the four hardest working emcees in show business. Their names have been on everyone’s lips for a while now in their ever sweeping takeover of the hip hop game. “‘Forever’ may be for the album or possibly a forthcoming soundtrack, a Kanye collabo in which he and Drake bring out the best in each other, elevating their respective rap games in a way that’s only happened with Drake and Wayne on tracks like “Ransom.” It’s the kind of verse that lends real credibility to his fans’ claims that Drake is the best lyricist on the set in 2009. Despite the obvious implication, he does not seem inclined to substitute one mentor for another, preferring to develop the sound for the album himself, drawing beats from his engineer, “40” Shebib, and other members of his crew, loosely known as October’s Very Own.’-Fader.com

However, one can only glimpse into the probably friendly rivarly between all of them. The recent releases of all four were some of the most anticipated and talked about. The Carter 3 versus The Blueprint 3 versus So Far Gone and 808s and Heartbreak. Hip hop breeds competition even among friends. When you feature on someone’s track you better be sure to bring your best or risk being slaughtered on your own song. Jay-Z seems to be coming in first off the heels of his latest release. The Washington Post called him “hip-hop's undisputed alpha male”, albeit in a full out diss to his newest installment of the now completed Blueprint series. Spin says that the Blueprint 3 is posied “to create a world-historical event horizon” with its release. Nothing is more prominent about Jay-Z, not even his artistry, than his skill in exuded pride, confidence, even cockiness and conceit. Any line that you could probably quote from him is for sure expressing his dire love with himself. With his sway, his teasing to bring back Versace shades, and his incessant laziness, seem to suggest that not only does he feel he is number one but that he will always be number one. Not only does he believe he is the greatest alive, he knows that he is the greatest ever; we all know those who agree. But one must wonder if he really feels he is the best why the need to constantly behave in a way that cries so desperately that the fact needs to be proven, namely to the most famous new school to come about in a while, if not ever. On “What More Can I Say, Jay-Z says, “Add that to the fact I went plat a bunch of times. Times that by my influence on pop culutre, I supposed to be number one on everybodys list, We'll see what happens when I no longer exist, Fuck this” You got the Entertainment Weekly proclaimed JV squad Drake and Kid Cudi court the youth vote. Drake, and even though Wayne has been in the game for a while now, we never quite saw him like this with CashMoney; Wale, both who have worked and been listed as proteges of Jay, and LA mixtape kings, Nipsey Hussle and Jay Rock. Is it because he is feeling at least slightly threatened? One would think it weird if he weren’t. Why? Jay is living off money it would take at least a thousand regular people to use in two lifetimes. The crown? Me think so. If a talent is able to surpass Jay what would become of him? He’s supposedly tried so many times to quit the game and as most musicians can relate to, it is his livelihood. And he wouldn’t dare think of giving up his career, the one that saved him from death or a life sentence without a fitting escape. He respects hip hop too much, or at least he says he does. But one has to wonder how can he respect it, when he has obviously gotten bored doing it. He seems to be secretly, embarrasingly, and probably shyly trying to compete with his earlier works or at least before 2006’s Kingdom Come. “There's never been a nigga this good for this long, This hood, Or this pop” The problem is he doesn’t want anyone to know it, so he remains complacent and cocky. Never letting his faithful fans get a glimpse of his vulnerabilities. If he only knew, it would bring us closer and give him what he’s been waiting for; a epic exit from the game. “On The Blueprint 3, Jay aims to rectify that by reconciling his two divergent worlds: the rode-hard history of the Brooklyn housing projects he came up in, and the yachting-
off-the-Amalfi-Coast-with-Gwyneth celebrity Narnia he inhabits today. Even if it lacks the raw power of his earlier work, the album succeeds at its larger goal — reaching maximum commercial blast radius while maintaining its street bona fides.” -EW

These days, you can’t read an article without his age being mentioned and it serves as a reminder to no one more than Jay-Z himself. No matter how much I may be tired of his assertions of being “the new Sinatra”, hip hop doesn’t tire of this recycled but never old formula from Jay. Perhaps ABCNews said it best, “Perhaps that's what rap needs to reinvigorate itself — someone to pull the genre out of its money-clothes-cars-and-girls sinkhole.” He tried to be the savior but he’s one of the reasons it needs saving. One must pause and wonder if the laziness was fueled by this obligatory last album owed to Def Jam. One would also wonder if he would sacrifice his artist integrity like that, but either way he’s and always will be wildly successful. “
After been beat out by his known worshipper, Lil Wayne for the Grammy of Best Rap Album, after performing with him, the complexity of hip hop’s biggest star is sometimes confusing. Its as if he features in their songs to soothe his ego. "Wayne's scorching, I’ll applaud him, if he keeps going, i'll pass the torch to him"
In the December 2006 issue of Complex Magazine, Lil Wayne stated “‘I'm better than [Jay-Z]... I'm 24 years old. (...) I'm 13 years deep with five albums and 10 million records sold, I don't like what he's saying about how he had to come back because hip hop's dead and we need him... What the fuck do you mean? If anything it's reborn, so he's probably having a problem with that. You left on a good note, and all of the artists were saying, 'Yo, this is Jay's house. He's the best.' Now he comes back and still thinks it's his house... It's not your house anymore, and I'm better than you"[85]. On the track "Watch What You Say to Me" Jay-Z makes an attack on Lil Wayne, rapping, "I hear you baiting me lately / I've been doing my best just to stay hater free / Still watch what you say to me / Sooner or later I take you up on your offering / Put you all in your place / Like I'm replacing your father / You're talking to the author / The architect of the Blueprint/ My DNA in your music / Motherfucker, you stupid? Watch what you say to me.". Eventually, the beef was resolved between them, and the two of them recorded tracks together like "Hello Brooklyn 2.0," "Mr. Carter," and "Swagga Like Us.’”

Allmusic's Steve Huey describes Jay-Z as a "a street hustler from the projects who rapped about what he knew—and he was very, very good at it...detailing his experiences on the streets with disarming honesty".[17] Multiple aspects of this lifestyle are explored: "Can't Knock the Hustle" details Jay-Z's hustling talent, "Cashmere Thoughts" and "Dead Presidents II" explain his financial goals and other tracks like "D'evils" and "Regrets" detail how hustling negatively affects the mind. Huey summarizes the album's subject matter saying: “He's cocky bordering on arrogant, but playful and witty, and exudes an effortless, unaffected cool throughout. And even if he's rapping about rising to the top instead of being there, his material obsessions are already apparent [...] the album's defining cut might [...] be the brief "22 Two's," which not only demonstrates Jay-Z's extraordinary talent as a pure freestyle rapper, but also preaches a subtle message through its club hostess: Bad behavior gets in the way of making money. Perhaps that's why Jay-Z waxes reflective, not enthusiastic, about the darker side of the streets.[17]”

A Different Opinion

Okay I am ready to write this blog. I have been doing hours of research. I was doing a project for school project on freshman entering college, but as I was doing research for that something deeper peaked my interest. The Advanced Placement system, a system used on high school campuses to help students get a head start on college work. A student takes a class with an accompanying test, if they pass the test they will receive college credit which looks great on college applications and can help save money to be used on college tuition. This system can give an unfair advantage to Caucasian students. Even though the main opinion in this article is one against this unfair advantage, I myself have taken the maximum of AP classes offered throughout my education which is a mediocre number of four, despite this I will present both sides to this situation. The UC system is the most prestigious name is public universities. So, after the elimination of affirmative action in 1998 underrepresented minority applicants enroll at a UC at considerably lower rates than others students, and the gap has widened noticeably in these 5 years. Now since the removal of affirmative action UCLA and UCB have enacted a holistic approach to getting pass the restriction and admit more minority students. It used to be one admission representative would look at one part of an application now all admission representatives look at the entire application which helps admissions officers to see the "whole person". I wonder if this is because of the well publicized scandal with UCLA and UC Berkeley not having enough African-American students or do these universities really want more diversity at their campus. One part of unfair advantage that has not been acknowledged by UCs are the flaws in the AP system. About 60% of high school students are minority, but only 30% taking AP exams are students of color. What really astonished me while I continued to research was that there were lawsuits against Berkeley and College Board.College Board is such a huge business is education; they have sort of a monopoly on high school students. To hear that their validity and credibility were being questioned was amazing! The plaintiffs argued that giving extra points to AP classes was not fair because it gives an unfair advantage to white students because they are the ones who predominantly take AP classes. Even if you want to take a AP class you may not be able to because not enough of the students at your underprivileged school may not be qualified. Each high school in the San Francisco district is allocated the resources to offer two AP classes each year if it chooses, according to district spokeswoman Elaine Koury. If a school wants to offer more, at least 20 interested students are needed for the creation of each additional class.``It's not an issue of `Here are our AP resources and we're giving them all to (a few) schools,'' said San Francisco school board member Jill Wynns. ``If you have eligible kids who want to take AP and you have enough of them, your school gets AP resources.''The number of AP classes offered by San Francisco's high schools vary widely. At academically rigorous Lowell High School, the combination of a large student body and hundreds of students hungry for AP credit means the school offers dozens of AP courses each year. Having Advanced Placement credit is something that is considered as an extra asset to an college application not a necessity.Though, at schools like Berkeley your application won't even be seriously considered if you have no AP credit. Now if you want to take the AP test without the valuable accompanying AP class you may, but only a very small percentage pass the AP test when doing that, which means alot of wasted time and effort."Such students can still take honors courses and try to pass the AP exams, but without formal class preparation, passing the tests can be harder. During the 1997-98 academic year, according to state records, 32 AP exams were taken at Balboa, even though the school offered no AP classes. Ten of the test-takers received a score high enough to qualify for college credit. At Lowell, 1,613 AP exams were taken, and 1,463 received a score high enough to earn college credit.I myself took a AP test without taking the class, I did not pass. I can only wonder if all this trouble has been brought on by the so-called "reverse discrimination" lawsuit. This was a lawsuit in 1978 against Regents of the University of California by Bakke. This man had been rejected my UC Davis' medical school on three occasions.He claimed that he was more qualified than the minorities that had been admitted for quotas in his place and suffered reverse discrimination. My question is how did he know that if there were no quotas for minority students would he have been admitted then? For that matter on what basis was he denied and after the lawsuit was he then admitted?

In conclusion, of course I believe affirmative as it was originally but it should be based on economic class or acknowledgement of hardship.It should not be based on hardship because there are advantaged and disadvantaged people in every race.There should be a reason other than race that a person receive extra help like a notable setback.

Clik the title to learn more

The Politics of Being "Mixed"

Ok, I am not African. I am African-American aka regular ol' Black. Now I do have a firm belief that all black people are the same no matter where you are from, but I also recognize the differences between the two cultures and also the divide. People often mistake me for African and don't believe me or are surprised when I tell them that I am African-American. They say I look too "exotic" to be African-American. I get a lot of people who think I am Egyptian, Ugandan, Ethiopian, Eritrean, etc. I am proud to be who I am, but I also appreciate the African heritage as one that is my own. One aspect of the divide that I feel is an internal problem, is the one that 1. Africans know what country original ancestry is from, while African-Americans do not because of slavery. 2. People fear, create, and perpetuate stereotypes about the unknown. For example, I have been told many times that Africans believe that African-Americans have had a lot of luxuries afforded to them and that we don't appreciate what we have, as well as us being ghetto. 3. Ignorance. For example, I've heard African-Americans that believe we have no culture and have no appreciation for America. First, allow me to say that American Black culture is one of the most influential and culturally diverse in the world. Hip Hop is just one example of this. Also, of course of country has problems; name me one that doesn't. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't love your country, just as Africans show pride for their country. America is a great country and we should love this country and our culture within it as well as the entire continent from which our ancestors came. 4. Seperatism. I love diversity just as much as the next sane person, but when the appreciation of diversity doesn't actually appreciate diversity but tears us apart instead, there is a problem. There is nothing wrong with being proud of what African country you are from, but when you make that pride into a way to belittle others who are not from that country, that is when I question the integrity of that pride. It pains me to see people that always want to be something than what they truly are. It pains me to see the "exotic" girl that doesn't look like everyone around her is labeled beautiful just because of that. It seems as if the farthest you are from "regular ol' black" that's the most proud and beautiful are, which I believe is also a part of the good hair/bad hair, light skinned/dark skinned complex comes from.

A-typical Lil' Wayne Rant

So I wrote a note earlier today basically cussing out all the Lil’ Wayne fans(besides those who he is their favorite rapper) and saying that Lil’ Wayne never raps about anything of substance. Well I had to eat my words...because of a comment left by Calvin. Calvin said that Lil’ Wayne actually rapped about Hurricane Katrina AND joje Bush. Well hell! I guess if Lil’ wayne knows what is going on in the world; he cannot be all-bad. But his album is still exactly what I expected.(I haven't listened to the songs Calvin was talking about, and people keep telling me to listen to more music from his mix tapes)but love him or hate him. Lil’ wayne is becoming one of the biggest rappers EVER. He is definitely changing the game with his new, inventive, metaphorical rap. Now he definitely has his shortcomings...as does any rapper. Especially of his age...at this stage in hip-hop...who used to rep cash money oh so hard. But what reason is there really to hate him so?...as so many people do?...Lil’ wayne will never be my favorite rapper...I just can't get with his flow...but I do like most of his songs...don't get me wrong though. I still holdfast to my bandwagon theory. That everyone is hopping on the Wayne wagon...just because he is popular...WELL FUCK YOU MINDLESS IDIOTS! Is it possible that Lil’ wayne has hip-hop on his back? Is it possible that he is the best rapper rite now...or ever? Well in my opinion he is a definite candidate for the title...he had the most anticipated album. I even rushed to get that shit...do not ask me why...and about 10 of his songs is killing the radio rite now...and to top it off...Lil’ wayne appears ahead of his favorite rapper/idol/mentor on most peoples Best Rapper List. (As does Kanye)...seems like jay is doing a little too much mentoring. His his album was cool. So I cannot hate.

But in a final note...just hold out for a LITTLE while longer you wayne haters...he's getting too huge too fast AND crossing over to the white people too...soon he'll be overrated. Then then again, that did not hurt Kanye too much.