Fear of a Brown Blogger

THE INFAMOUS...

2007-02-06T00:05:00.000-08:00

So long blogger. Ninoy Brown is taking "Fear of a Brown Blogger" to its new home:

http://fobbdeep.com

Please update your blog roll. Expect the same content as here, but with additional commentary from another writer, who will simply be known as Mark.

WINTER MADNESS

2007-02-01T21:03:00.000-08:00

After all the overblown hype surrounding the "bomb" scare in Boston, I've come to the conclusion that many Bostonians are moronic.

While the city of Boston and other fear laden Americans might not share my cynicism on the matter, at least the two white guys being charged for wasting the resources of Boston are able to exhibit some humor on the situation.

I was really close to making the drive out to San Francisco to cop one of those Mooninite Aqua Team Hunger Force promo light boards just because they looked kind of fresh. Now I'm thinking of trying to come up on one to pay a traffic ticket.

Luckily, while the monetary situation around these parts aren't as nice as I would like, artists are nice enough to offer some of their works for free:

Since Adult Swim generates some of the same fans that Stonesthrow receives, why not share that Chrome Children Vol. 2 has been uploaded on their site for $free.99? Get it right here.

For those still in the mood for getting free shit, DJ Eleven has come out with a pleasing, yet melancholy, follow up to his Summer Madness mixtape with Winter Sadness, which can also be downloaded for nathan. (c/o Fader)

The remix to Nas' "Where Are They Now" have been popping up all over, but O-Dub kindly melded all three versions together into one mega-mega mix.

POST 9/11 LIVING

2007-01-31T20:32:00.000-08:00

The new face of terror

Interesting news today as Bostonians became a city of shook ones as a marketing scheme used by Cartoon Network to promote the upcoming "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" movie turned into a bomb scare.

BOSTON - More than 10 blinking electronic devices planted at bridges and other spots in Boston threw a scare into the city Wednesday in what turned out to be a publicity campaign for a late-night cable cartoon. Most if not all of the devices depict a character giving the finger.
Peter Berdovsky, 29, of Arlington, was arrested on one felony charge of placing a hoax device, and one charge of disorderly conduct, state Attorney General Martha Coakley said.

I find it odd how nobody noticed these things until today.

Turner Broadcasting said the devices had been in place for two to three weeks in Boston; New York; Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; Atlanta, Georgia; Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Austin, Texas; San Francisco, California; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Someone please notify the officials not to panic and that the urban invasion of Space Invader isn't taking the form of violent aggression.

*Oh snap, folks are on the ball when it comes to making a profit on this type of hysteria. I knew I should have made a trip to the Bay and driven around to get my hand on one.

THE MINSTREL SHOW

2007-01-31T00:38:00.000-08:00

Celebration of Black Culture?

A day or so ago, my brother told me about a group of college students in Texas who decided to do their part in celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr.'s legacy on his birthday by dressing up in dressing up as stereotypical caricatures of African-Americans, with featuring Aunt Jemima, fried chicken, and malt liquor.

MLK Party at Texas College Called Racist

The students apparently did not know that dressing up in Blackface was racist. I guess this reveals how much ignorance is still prevalent in our country.

A graduate from Texas College who says he started the party is quoted as saying, "I know for sure that they weren't being racist. They were just having fun."

The typical response someone acquires when bestowed with white privilege. The idea of race never crosses the individual's mind, and exploitation of another racial identity becomes just another joke.

What makes this situation all the more shocking is that it wasn't just an isolated incident in Hobunk, TX, but also took places in other universities: Clemson University and University of Connecticut.

The Smoking Gun has pictures (which were posted on Facebook.com) of the parties:

Texas College
University of Connecticut
Clemson University

Somewhere MLK's body is slowly rolling over.

To answer Junichi's question, if this is the type of thinking that emerges from stereotypical representations on a cartoon for kids, then I fully support the Cartoon Network's decision.

ITS THE RETURN OF THE GANGSTA

2007-01-31T00:17:00.000-08:00

Why is it that Andre only raps on other people's remixes?

First there was the remix to "Walk It Out", and now he's up on Rich Boy's remix to "Throw Some D's". And on both tracks, he shines far and above all the other artists, even though he comes off a bit weaker on the "Throw Some D's" remix.

Noz has some words on the topic too.

SUPER DISCO HYPHY

2007-01-29T12:58:00.000-08:00

DJ B. Cause, from 4 One Funk, has been doing his thizzness infusing hyphy acapellas over funky rhythms. I've always found the two to blend very well, considering the funkiness of hyphy, even though its beats wouldn't exactly place it in the same vein of funk infused rap that g-funk gave to us in the 90's. But hyphy is funky.

So, now B. Cause has unleashed a new mix, giving a disco sensibility to hyphy tracks with "Super Disco Hyphy"

Here's a couple tracks from the mixtape:

Federation - Hyphy (b cause lookin up to you remix)

The Pack - Vans (recurring spaceship re-chop)

The Team - Getting Hot (smerphie's furnace/synth re-mix)

The tracklisting for the rest of the mix:

MISTAH FAB - GHOST RIDE IT (VIDEO)

2007-01-29T11:15:00.000-08:00

So, this is the MTV Jam of the week on MTV 2 (a channel that has progressively appeared more and more like MTV 1). Fabby Davis Jr looks to be getting some strong push from Atlantic so far, hopefully they won't pull a Little Brother on him.

On the video version, Sean T had to tweak the beat up a little due to sampling issues. Also, I found it funny was how they had to blank out "Get out the car."

I never really was a fan of the song, but I did appreciate its comedic value.

*I guess Pilly Wonka beat me to it.

MIXUNIT.COM STREAMING MIXTAPES FOR FREE

2007-01-24T17:41:00.000-08:00

Interesting...

SAN QUINN VIDEO - "HELL YEAH"

2007-01-24T14:58:00.000-08:00

No direct YouTube clip, but you can check out the video in its entirety at San Quinn's Myspace page.

*Edit: The video is now viewable on YouTube.

The video's about a year overdue for those, but it will be a good look if it gets play on MTV or BET.

First this, and the video for FAB's "Ghostride It" getting MTV Jams airplay next week. The 2007's poppin' off quite nicely for the Yay.

On a side note, Bol, do so me re sea rch before you speak, before you get ethered by Krish.

ANDY GRIFFITH RALLIES AGAINST THE PATRIOT ACT

2007-01-23T16:14:00.000-08:00

Some interesting words on the idea of warrantless domestic spying:

Who woulda thunk it? Sheriff Andy Taylor hates America and supports the terrorists.

FREE DJ DRAMA AND DJ DON CANNON: THE CONSOLIDATED VERSION

2007-01-19T00:43:00.000-08:00

By now I'm sure a majority of those following the blogging circuit now about the player hating move made two days ago by the record industry against DJ Drama and DJ Don Cannon (who, according to the hard hitting investigative coverage of Fox Atlanta's news reporters, are indeed djs).

As of right now, Drama and Cannon have been released on bail.

Kelefa takes a closer look into the sub-culture of mixtapes.

Jeff Chang's take on how the mixtape game might be affected by new policies that the RIAA might put into place.

Davey D: Its not a war on mixtapes, but about inserting power.

Jay Smooth's made the crossover to the vlogging game; he tells the RIAA to stop snitching.

Different Kitchen offers more linkage to other coverage on the incident.

Hip-hop mixtapes have existed on a very blurry line. Its existence lies upon a symbiotic relationship of promotion for a full length album an artist may have released. And for dj's it is their way to market and expose themselves to the masses.

The "For Promotional Use" label that dj's slap on the cd's are usually placed there for legal reasons. We know for a fact that many of these "promotional only" cd's or tapes are sold, with money going inside the pockets of the artists who distribute the product that usually has the music of other artists.

The effects of this are striking, as online music stores, such as MixUnit.com, have taken mixtapes off their shelves. It will be interesting to see how this case unravels and if it will have the same deleterious effect upon hip-hop music and its artists as copyright infringement, in respects to sampling, has made.

In an era where I probably listen to more mixtapes than I do albums, I'm hoping if anything comes out as a result of this, it will be that artists find new and more creative ways to market, release, and create new music.

...JUST BOUGHT A CADILLAC

2007-01-16T22:21:00.000-08:00

As long as they keep coming with tracks like the lush sounding "Throw Some D's" by Rich Boy and Polow da Don, I'll stop myself from shaking my head when I hear the South unnecessarily respond to Nas and proclaim, "Hip-Hop Ain't Dead It Lives in the South."

Its too unfortunate that I didn't discover this song until late '06.

Rich Boy & Polow da Don - Throw Some D's (c/o Fader)

BEFORE COMMON AND WILL.I.AM...

2007-01-15T19:36:00.000-08:00

Today the media celebrated in diversity today, showing whites and people of color holding hands and hugging. Isn't mulit-culturalism such a swell thing?

Don't let them fool you. Everything isn't all gravy. And the issue of race in America isn't as easily explained as Crash might have lead you to believe.

For today, to preserve the memory of MLK, read and listen to his words of insight and reflect on their symbolism in the state of affairs today.

"Letter from Birmingham Jail"

Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence

King on War and Peace

For those who aren't hesitant to let the NSA and the rest of the government continue with warrantless domestic spying, don't forget about the acts of domestic terrorism with which the Feds took part during 60's and 70's, and especially against MLK:

From the Church Committee Reports, the Cointel-Program against Martin Luther King, Jr.

And to for more on the Cointel-Pro operations by the FBI in their war against Black America: watch this video. (via Adisa who's always dropping knowledge)

JT THE BIGGA FIGGA, VP OF DOGGHOUSE RECORDS

2007-01-15T18:28:00.000-08:00

Snoop's been known to help out up and comers, and now he's taken it a step further by offering to let artists distribute their albums on his Myspace site.

Along to help others eat is one of the hardest hustlers in the game, JT the Bigga Figga, the new VP of Snoop's Dogghouse Records (peep the JT in Snoop's band members section).

From the Siccness forums:

thanx to those that stayed in my ear this for yall too. real dudes need real chances and snoop know it aint me wit out bringing the bay wit me first and foremost.

THE CLEAREST PATH TO PROFIT FOR ALL MY GRINDERS IS 2 STEPS AND PLEASE LISTEN.

WWW.PAYPAL.COM AND WWW.PAYLOADZ.COM YOU MUST REGISTER AND THEN SET YOUR PRICE. THAT SIMPLE NO MIDDLE MAN DIRECT SALES. IN YOUR POCKET KNOW WAITING.

I RUN SNOOP ONLINE DISTRIBUTION ON HIS MYSPACE PAGE AND I HAVE NEVER SEEN SO MUCH TRAFFIC IN 1 SPOT. YOU CAN PUT YOUR ALBUM COVER UP AND HAVE YOUR PAYPAL LINK AND COLLECT OVER 100 DOWNLOADS IN 3 OR 4 DAYS OR EVEN MORE JUST BY 1 BULLETIN TO OVER 500,000 FRIENDS. THIS SHIT IS CRAZY HOW INDEPENDENTS ABOUT TO EAT CAUSE IM TELLIN IT ALL.

SO YALL GET YA KNIVES AND FORKS OUT ITS EATING TIME!

WWW.MYSPACE.COM/SNOOPDOGG

PEACE.
CEO 1ST AND FOREMOST OF GET LOW RECORDS.

Thats a real good look.

HALLELUJAH HOLLA BACK!!!

2007-01-11T19:22:00.000-08:00

I saw the premiere episode of "The (White) Rapper Show" last Monday but for whatever reason didn't get the inspiration to blog about it until now. Of course there was a lot going on in my mind while watching the show, from Dasit telling MC Serch not to cuss at him cause he wasn't his father (of course we know how Serch feels about white rappers), to a little white girl who admitted to being inspired by Vanilla Ice (God bless her soul), to a dildo being shoved in the face of one of the contestants, to one of the other girls finally understanding (after having to wear a giant medallion with "n-word" inscribed) that dropping the "n" bomb is offensive.

It was all a lot to process.

But I do wonder about one of the most enigmatic characters on the show. The self proclaimed "King of the Burbs," Mr. John Brown. Dude isn't even a rapper, he's an enitity. And, he said he's bringing forth the ghetto revival. Though, we really didn't get a good idea about how his manifesto for the ghetto revival would take shape, but I'm sure he's got something. I mean, he's the king of the burbs and all. But I would like to know if this revival will take the form of an insurrection, just as the abolitionist of the same name had attempted to spark against slavery.

As for the show itself, I've heard a lot internet nerd boy backpackers on message boards proclaim the death to hip-hop culture as a result of the show. I guess they don't see the irony and satire that the show is presenting in regards to race.

Atleast there's Jus Rhymes, the kid getting his Ph.D in ethnic studies at USC. Hopefully he'll teach the kids (especially on the show cause as we can see, they need a lot of assistance) a thing or two about race and hip-hop. Check his submission for the show.

MAC DRE'S LIKENESS BANNED FROM SCHOOL

2007-01-09T18:04:00.000-08:00

Being that I have, for now, relocated to the Central Valley, I've been bombarded by news reports of city and school officials further dividing the generational gap between them and the youth. First their was the overreaction of law enforcement officers in downtown Modesto in response to the lack of coordination with an even that was being promoted as a "hyphy" event. Ghostridin' has been more sensationalized than ever, and now Riverbank Unified School District is deciding whether or not to ban Mac Dreezy's name from the schools.

Mac Dre on Riverbank's list

Riverbank school officials are targeting a new name in an effort to deal with an old problem.
Riverbank Unified School District board members will vote tonight on whether to add the name Mac Dre to a running list of names and labels students cannot wear at school.
Mac Dre was the founder of Sacramento-based Thizz Entertainment. He was gunned down two years ago in Kansas City after a performance and was said to be associated with use of the drug ecstasy.
Few students wear clothes displaying the name, so making it against the rules hasn't caused a stir on campus, said Robert Searway, 17, a senior at Riverbank High.
Some believe the name Mac Dre is tied to inappropriate behavior.
"It's associated with taking drugs," said Superintendent Joe Galindo.
Mac Dre coined the slang "to thizz," which is the state of being high on ecstasy.
"When we find something on campus that is inappropriate, we add it to the (dress code) list," Galindo said.
School officials could not explain what prompted the latest proposal. Assistant Principal Sean Rickey, who enforces the dress code, said that and other questions will be answered at tonight's board meeting.
District officials can make changes to the code at any time that go into effect immediately, Galindo said.
Like most valley high schools, Riverbank students cannot wear hats, bandanas, miniskirts and strapless tops.
In addition, Riverbank High School offers a list of terms consideredunsuitablefor school. It includes "eight ball," "Joe Camel," "Nor Cal," "Rolling Hard," "Sol Beer," "south pole" and "vato loco."

"I'M AN ADDICT FOR SNEAKERS"

2007-01-06T22:51:00.000-08:00

I consider myself a fan sneakers, though not quite the connoisseur that some of my friend's might be. Being a fan of something that perpetuates materialism and the exploitation of third world bodies, it eats away at my consciousness.

Though it is always cool to see a network news program cover the subculture of sneaker freaks, as ABC World News did with their segment on the hype surrounding limited edition kicks. Watch the video.

Spotted at Hypebeast (though I still don't believe them).

Also, spotted at another Hype____ site, Hypediss linked up an ill photo gallery of pictures of Chicano "placas" in Los Angeles from the 1970's. Peep it here.

The photo essay documents the culture of Chicano gang graffiti with images of walls as well as offering images of field guides used by Los Angeles law enforcement to interpret and the graffiti. This was a time before the introduction of crack and the evolution the street gangs into a more highly violent and organized social network.

GREG TATE'S EULOGY FOR J.B.

2007-01-03T02:18:00.000-08:00

"Eulogy for Black Caeser" by Greg Tate

Eeeeeeyow. Gud gaad. Aintit fonkeenah? James Brown knew how to freak the tribal speak and the tribal feet alike—the tribal neckbone and irrepressible tribal hambone too. Being a poet, a boxer, and a onetime Pentecostal supplicant, the Godfather knew a thing or two about being hit with the spirit and hit with the quickness; he also knew how to hit back, how to respond in kind in a New York minute. Bold, Black, and Beautiful things just happened faster in the world according to Brown. Tempos, terpsichore, tantrums, tangents, even jail time. They didn't call him Mr. Dynamite for nothing. Word is that when the Hardest Working Man in Showbiz did his three-year bid, he stayed industrious, organized a choir, ran the kitchen and laundry detail. Sit-down time for Black Caesar? Fuhgeddaboudit. And unlike so many of our fallen fighters whom dust and base cocaine dropped to the mat in the '80s and '90s, JB came back up as superbaaad as ever. Lest we forget, he transitioned to another world tour by straight stealing Jesus' thunder on Xmas Day. He wasn't ever a puny human to begin with anyway, so don't act surprised.

Full article...

I couldn't have written anything better about the godfather of soul than the godfather of hip-hop journalism.

FAB DISCUSSES GHOSTRIDING ON FOX NEWS

2007-01-03T01:12:00.000-08:00

Amid more national and even international attention, fears about the growing trend of ghostridin and related fatalities continue to be sensationalized throughout mainstream media. And now we have Mistah FAB who was brought into Hannity & Colmes to discuss the Bay Area regional tradition:

I think FAB handled himself quite well considering he was only put on the show so that Sean Hannity could try to humiliate him, with chauncey-ass, white-liberal Alan Colmes there to provide some sort of progressive view that these colored people who introduced the trend into suburbia are to blame. FAB kept his composure and tried to discuss the socio-political abandonment that lead the youth begin the regional trend.

Hannity blames FAB's advocacy of ghostridin with his song and video, and FAB counters that it is an urban form of being "extreme" that should be done in a controlled environment. Hannity is deaf to what FAB even said and continued the never ending use of the "rapper as a role model" card.

They show some tidbits of the video for "Ghost Ride It," which look cool, even though the song is still pretty wack.

But my highlight was watching them actually play the footage of that white kid ghostridin his car in the midst of middle class track home territory. Unfortunately the end of this particular clip was cut out, which showed an obviously staged car jack with some random dude in the empty neighborhood proceeding to jump in the car and driving off.

*I'll post up a higher quality video when and if someone YouTubes a better one.

REST IN POWER: GODFATHER OF SOUL

2006-12-25T01:56:00.000-08:00

James Brown, passes on at age 73.

Definitely not what I hoped to hear about coming home from midnight Christmas mass.

I guess I lied when I said that the last post was going to be it until next year, but this passing is way too monumental for fans of modern music to overlook.

TIS THE SEASON....

2006-12-21T10:30:00.000-08:00

What my friends and family will be recieving in their stockings this year

... for the oversaturation of year end wrap up lists. With further perpetuation from F.O.B.B.

But first off, mad props to Krish for doing big things. I'm sure you kept it treal and showed those square-ass square-bears at Rolling Stone that you weren't going to take shit from a bunch of hegemonic white liberals that are out of touch with what music really is. I think this deserves a "T.B.I.B."

So now, to showcase some egotistical shit, thinking that people actually give a fuck about what music made it to my short list this year, allow me to present my albums and songs of the year.

Since I'm too lazy to create a brief synopsis for why I chose each album or song (though I will say that Lily Allen got plus points for showing love to hyphy shit), let me say that each selection obtained repeat status on my stereo and they also left an imprint for me in a year that a great deal of shit wasn't able to do. We can toss out that half-assed halftime report I had, because I think I just made the post to have something to blog about on that particular day at work. The selections aren't ranked either, as I think its a waste of fuckin' time to try to figure out whether or not an album should be in spot 7, 8, or 9.

10 Albums of '06 [1]:

Lily Allen - Alright, Still
Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury
The Coup - Pick a Bigger Weapon
Ghostface Killah - Fishscale
J Dilla - Donuts
The Roots - Game Theory
San Quinn - The Rock
Shinsight Trio - Shallow Night Blurry Moons
Snoop Dogg - Blue Carpet Treatment
Thom Yorke - Eraser

10 Songs of '06:

Cham - Ghetto Story
J Dilla feat. Common & D'Angelo - So Far to Go
Lil Wayne & Robin Thicke - Shooter
Nas & Jay Z - Black Republicans
Oh No feat. Dudley Perkins & Georgia Anne Muldrow - T. Biggums
Project Pat - Raised in the Projects
Ray Cash - Bumpin My Music
San Quinn - Hell Yeah
Traxxamillion feat. Too Short & Mistah FAB - Sideshow
Amy Winehouse - I'm No Good

There ya go, fuck giving an explanation as to why I chose these, I already spent too much time trying to narrow down the lists to ten selections. But one more album needs to be recognized for having the best album title of the year maybe even of all time:

[1] If you're asking yourself, "Only one Bay selection!?" It just goes to show how the area had their good share of songs, but failed tremendously in releasing cohesive albums. Also, attention all Bay rappers: stop leaking your shit and releasing 20 million singles before coming out with an album (Mistah FAB should pay close attention), by the time the album comes out, I will likely become very hesitant to purchase it.

-------------------------------------------------------------

For those of you that actually frequent this blog or actually care, shit will be changing in '07. I mentioned it in this post, but a new layout and domain looks like it really coming into fruition, along with another contributing writer.

Be on the look out for fobbdeep.com ~~(or whatever domain we get)~~.

I'll be out 'til the next year.

Merry Chrismakwaannakuh!!!

WE'RE #1

2006-12-10T23:49:00.000-08:00

"U.S. Has the Most Prisoners in the World Due to Tough Laws"

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tough sentencing laws, record numbers of drug offenders and high crime rates have contributed to the United States having the largest prison population and the highest rate of incarceration in the world, according to criminal justice experts.

A U.S. Justice Department report released on November 30 showed that a record 7 million people -- or one in every 32 American adults -- were behind bars, on probation or on parole at the end of last year. Of the total, 2.2 million were in prison or jail.

According to the International Center for Prison Studies at King's College in London, more people are behind bars in the United States than in any other country. China ranks second with 1.5 million prisoners, followed by Russia with 870,000...

Commenting on what the prison figures show about U.S. society, King said various social programs, including those dealing with education, poverty, urban development, health care and child care, have failed.

"There are a number of social programs we have failed to deliver. There are systemic failures going on," he said. "A lot of these people then end up in the criminal justice system."

Read the entire article...

RAP O CLAP O

2006-12-10T22:55:00.000-08:00

Joe Bataan, representing the Afro-Filipino, average sort of guy, with one of the first hip-hop songs to reach the charts, "Rap-O Clap-O":

If you didnt pick up that November issue of Wax Poetics, make sure to get yourself a back issue. And dont forget about O-Dub's bonus interview with Bataan, cause Oliver's always making sure to show love for the godfather of Latin Soul.

I just found out that Joe Bataan will be doing a show on February 11 in San Jose. Since I will have been relocated up to Northern California by that time, its a pretty sure thing that I'll be watching this performance.

GHOSTRIDE IT

2006-12-06T22:44:00.000-08:00

"Pimp My Ride" video game appropriates ghost ridin' the whip. See the clip.

As, Flav would say, "Woooow."

The Bay is back?

Or a regional trend getting played out?

I seen the "get low," but whats the deal with all the other dance moves?

***Bonus track: Rappin' 4-Tay - Charger

A TIME BEFORE FERGIE

2006-12-05T19:27:00.000-08:00

Let me begin this by begrudgingly acknowledging that Fergie has now reached such a prominent status in pop culture that she has surpassed the popularity of the group in which she was placed to help market said group. When I was googling an image of the Black Eyed Peas, the picture above was one of the few I could find that didnt have Fergie as the centerpiece, used to sell the group to a mainstream audience. This places the Black Eyed Peas in a position of great irony since they made their jump over the shark when they decided to possessively invest in whiteness and include Fergie into the group (musically speaking of course, cause I'm sure they don't mind all the cabbage they've thus attained).

If you can imagine, there was actually a time when BEP made music that came from the soul and wasn't made to cater to the likes of eleventeen year old white girls. They made head bobbin' music that communicated to us to clap our hands as we listened to the movement from the joints and jam.

I'll hold off on any more of my thoughts and feelings on the musical path that the BEP have now taken, instead I want to focus on a time that makes you think, "Damn, what the fuck happened to them?" A time before they were in such a visible light so as to spark a huge debate about Filipina gender representation in music videos.

Even before "Behind the Front" existed an album entitled "Grass Roots" released under a group that called themselves ATBAN Klan. From Eazy-E.com:

In 1988, a group of hip-hop dancers from downtown Los Angeles called themselves Tribal Nation. Still in high school, a few of the members, inspired by the East Coast rap movement of A Tribe Called Quest, KRS-One and Public Enemy, began writing their own raps in addition to dancing to other people's. They eventually broke off from Tribal Nation to form their own rap crew, A Tribe Beyond A Nation, or the ATBAN Klann. According to group member Will OneX, "A Tribe Beyond A Nation is a state of mind." Simplified the concept is: A Tribe is about staying true to your roots--knowing yourself and Beyond A Nation means to go out and be successful without getting caught up and trapped by it.

Composed of will.i.am (then known by a more militant name, Will One X), Apl.de.ap, and two other cats, ATBAN Klan came at a time in when g-funk and music to drive-by were the hegemonic sounds that were most pervasive in West Coast hip-hop radio. "Grass Roots" would be the only album created by ATBAN Klan under Ruthless records, and apparently they only released about 100 cassettes (which means $$$ for those of you with a copy).

In listening to these tracks, one can easily identify the influence of jazz that many inspired many in the Native Tongues era, although very aesthetically West Coast. The influence of the LA independent hip-hop scene care of the Project Blowed/Good Life Cafe shines through within the tracks. A pleasant vibe reminiscent of a Nonce-ish aura is felt on "World's Gone Mad" and "Rain On Me." "Open Your Mind" showcases the emcees on the braggadocious tip, telling us that their fresh stylistic raps will take us to another dimension. And, "Focus On You," demonstrates one of those classic laid back chillin in the park cuts.

It might just be me, but the thickness of Apl's fresh from the Philippines accent in these joints make his delivery much more ill. Though it might be that Will wrote his verses for him.

I have to give a shout out to my homie DJ Norm Rockwell (of San Diego) for hooking me up with these tracks.

ATBAN Klan - World's Gone Mad

ATBAN Klan - Rain On Me

ATBAN Klan - Open Your Mind

ATBAN Klan - Focus On You

-------------------------------------------------

While some may have already retreated from anything related to the BEP, I say they're missing out. Will.i.am, provided nothing but heat on "Doctors Advocate," and this track he did with Common is amazing:

Common - I Have a Dream (produced by will.i.am) (c/o Nah Right)

Where does all of leave us?

FREE THE BLACK EYED PEAS FROM FERGIE!!!

VERDICT IN THE SUBIC BAY RAPE CASE

2006-12-04T14:17:00.000-08:00

U.S. Marine convicted of rape in the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines: A U.S. Marine was convicted and sentenced to 40 years in prison Monday in a landmark rape case that was hailed as a victory for women's rights and Philippine independence from its former colonial power.
In a decision televised live nationwide, three other Marines were acquitted of complicity after a long emotional trial that resurrected controversies linked to the U.S. military presence in the Philippines.

The case has tested a joint military pact which paved the way for U.S. counterterrorism training credited with helping local forces make gains against Muslim extremists in the country's south. Leftist groups have staged regular protests outside the U.S. Embassy, claiming the American servicemen were getting special treatment that undercut the country's sovereignty.

Full article...

Unfortunately and unjustly the three other Marines and the driver were aquitted of their complicity. Not to mention the continued exploits of American imperialism under the Visiting Forces Agreement.

US Marines' Gang-rape of a Filipina: A Violation of a Woman’s Right ...

THE GHOSTBUSTERS... THEY THE POLICE

2006-12-01T19:07:00.000-08:00

It had to be done.

I guess FAB gets the prize.

More behind the scenes pictures of FAB's "Ghost Ride It" video shoot on the BART-Siccness forums.

BEHIND THE MUSIC: J DILLA

2006-11-29T09:03:00.000-08:00

Fader has an ill piece on some of J Dilla's most endearing tracks as told by the artists with whom he collaborated.

If you're looking for that perfect Christmas gift for the J Dilla fan, you can actually purchase a c opy of the poster for the above image at JDilla.org.

KEYS OPEN DOORS

2006-11-28T18:18:00.000-08:00

*In no way is Fear of a Brown Blogger condoning or advocating the use of cocaine.

As a matter of fact, by watching this, I hope that it dissuades viewers from experimenting with the drug.

"And I ain't never had to sell crack,
Hov did that so I never had to go through that"
-Casual

R. UMALI - LIVE IT UP

2006-11-27T20:14:00.000-08:00

Fellow Fil-Am Roscoe Umali is doing big thangs. Check out his video for "Live It Up" featuring E-Feezy and J Black (via Siccness):

Siccness video link

Roscoe Umali - Live It Up feat. E-40 & J Black (audio)

-------------------------------------------------------------------

I also updated my Pacquiao vs Morales: Part 3 post with my experiences at the fight.

FREE HUSALAH

2006-11-27T15:58:00.001-08:00

Out of all the artists associated with Thizz, Mob Figaz' own, Husalah is one of the few that really seem to hold on to the true "dont give a fuck" spirit" of the Furl and still possess the lyrical ability and charismatic delivery to keep listeners tuned. Unlike this guy, who only possesses the former. Of course there is also Fab, but he's already been given his fair share of shine within the confines of this blog.

Just pop in Treal TV 2, skip over the reused and scrapped together parts, and you'll catch Young Hus as one of the most entertaining artists to appear in the cult series (next of course to M.D.). Giggin and actin a fool. His unrelentless energy was one of the few reasons Treal TV 2 was even worth watching over again.

Unfortunately, for Hus, summer 2006 came with a conviction that would see him locked up for several years for... what else? intent to hustle a couple kilos of 'caine [1].

Husalah, drenched in dookie chains with flat top that would make Kid jealous:

Luckily, we live in an era where making a rap album in prison aint no thang. And we likely wont be prevented from hearing more hedonistic Bay rap from a Muslim-convert drug dealer, like Hus.

A couple joints that (correct me if I'm wrong) were completed prior to being locked up:

Husalah & B Luv - Cuttin It Up: "Fuck going dumb, we go yankee!"
* (As featured in Treal TV 2)

Husalah - Sleepin With Da Fishes (Boom Clack): From the Mob Trial 2 album, as presented by Andre Nickatina, featuring Husalah and Jacka.

Husalah - Zestways (A Lotta Fun): This track is from the summer released, Demolition Men mixtape "Animal Planet" which showcased the skills of Husalah and Jacka. I was lucky enough to pick this up at Tower Records clearance sale in La Jolla a couple weeks ago.

[1] "Dope, Rap, and Religion", SF Bay Gaurdian article on Young Hus

I GOT 2 HOT ROCKS IN MY POCKET

2006-11-26T20:38:00.000-08:00

^^^Didn't get the memo about all-over prints

But I'll give them a pass. Though they would fall into Game's "Bathing Ape shoe rapper" category, he still let them on the "One Blood" remix. Idiot. He probably figured he wouldnt be able to name drop as much with too many enemies.

So, Clipse done defeated the sophmore slump and made an album that easily makes it into my short list for the year. Hell Hath No Fury was well executed, arranged, and produced. In an era of oversaturation with crack-rap, Clipse, along with Ghostface, have demonstrated themselves to be the paragons in the field. Good thing the crackas at Jive finally let them put this out.

I hear folks complain about the length of the album, with only twelve tracks. Personally, I'd rather get twelve solid tracks than twenty with eight that are skippable. For the most part, brevity has proven to be a more of a good thing within hip-hop.

Since if you really wanted the album before this Tuesday (or wanted it for cheaper than cheap) you'd be able to find it elsewhere, here's two standout cuts for me.

Clipse - Momma I'm Sorry

Clipse - Chinese New Year

MICHAEL RICHARDS DONE F*CKED UP

2006-11-20T16:06:00.000-08:00

After George, Kramer used to be my next favorite character on Seinfeld.

Richards goes on a racist tirade at the Laugh Factory

There goes his career.

-----------------------------------------------

Edit:
Jay Smooth, and Dan Charnas, with the Definitive "Racist Kramer" post

UPSKI ON THE YOUTH VOTE

2006-11-17T08:17:00.000-08:00

(Via Jeff Chang)

"William Upski Wimsatt: Youth Vote Did it for Dems"

The secret weapon in last Tuesday's historic election was a constituency Democrats barely bothered to recognize: young people.

Continuing a trend begun in 2004, this year's election may have produced the highest youth mid-term turnout ever. Early estimates suggest that 10 million voters under the age of 30 made up 13% of the electorate. They helped Democrats in close elections sweep into office in 25 states.

We know because our organization, the League of Young Voters, turned out 150,000 young voters who made the difference in races in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, California, and Florida. We were just one of dozens of independent, under-the-radar, youth-led efforts to inspire and turn out young voters.

Young people are progressive on issues such as abortion, gay marriage, and immigration. Most think the country is on the wrong track, and oppose the war. They vote Democratic by a 2 to 1 margin. So why are young people overlooked by political campaigners and pundits? The answer is what we call the myth of youth apathy.

continue reading...

From the article: "We think young people have never been apathetic. They have been skeptical."

PACQUIAO VS MORALES: PART 3

2006-11-15T16:01:00.000-08:00

Brown and Brown Unity

This Saturday will mark the third installment of the battle between Manny Pacquiao and Eric Morales, two heroes within in their own communities. Thus this Saturday will also mark another installment of the perpetuation of racial tension between the Mexican-American community and the Filipino-American community. Nationalistic pride will reign heavily during the bout as flag wielding fans from both sides will be cheering on their respective boxing hero.

I can't speak for Morales, but Pacquiao has become such an iconic figures in the Philippines (as I have spoken about numerous times) that calling him a "national hero" wouldn't even describe his stature in the Philippines and his effect on the Filipino people. Dude has real clout in the P.I.'s. He's respected and revered. And I have even heard of many stories about how much he has inspired and sparked the interest of many in the Philippines to seek their own boxing careers. He is undeniably a huge influence in the islands, as well as within the diasporic Filipino community throughout the world.

The atmosphere of the arena during a Pacquiao fight has been described to me as "overwhelming" and "adreneline pumping," especially for those within the two representative communities. Luckily, I will be able to get first hand experience of the emotions that will overtake the fighters, but most importantly, the spectators.

While I am all for more unity among communities and the need for cross cultural coaltion building, this Saturday I will be on the side of those who hope more moments like this:

More power to Manny this Saturday, cause his victory isn't as much for him as it is for us. Lets watch and listen to Manny try his best at singing to his people (Though I don't know if I would consider him making this song more of a form of giving back more than as a form of added torture by the establishment of the Philippines).

Manny Pacquiao - Para Sayo (For You)

---------------------------------------------------------------

Follow up - 11.27.2006

I was originally going to do a follow up post on the eventful occassion that was Pacquiao's annihilation of Morales on November 18, but I got sidetracked. But, the atmosphere of the event was so overwhelming and such a cultural experience, I could not leave it left alone.

So here's a few words on my own ethnography of the event that has since placed Manny in the top of the list as one of the top pound for pound boxers.

As arrived at the Thomas and Mack Arena at UNLV, I was greeted with news crews from The Filipino Channel getting pre-fight reactions from a crowd of mostly Filipinos, upon which a lone bald headed cat with white stunnas began chanting "Yeee!!" and proceeded to start giggin' and getting hyphy. And what follows one youngster getting hyphy, but his entourage and others joining in on the celebratory ceremony. This would just be a precursor as to what would occur after the fight. (Though it wasn't as hyphy as what one in the Bay might be used to, or even what the Modesto PD had rallied against.)

Upon entering the arena, tension, thick enough to be cut with a knife, filled the arena as Mexicans clashed with Filipinos and vice versa. I had to maneuver my way through the swarms of spectators carrying their national flags in support of their respective fighter.

Chants of "Manny! Manny! Manny!" were met with "Fuck Manny!" Tattooed Cholos confronted tattooed Pinoys, though no physical contact would ensue at this time, as each showed their own "mark-ass buster" card by yelling at one another, "Come here so I can beat your ass!"

While the racial tension created an unsettling feeling for a person always eager to build cross-culturally, the unity among the Filipinos was inspirational. (I'm sure Mexicans felt the same way, atleast before Morales got mollywhopped.) Filipinos greeted each other as relatives. Social bonds appeared to have existed for an eternity, even though most in the arena were strangers to one another.

Within the viewing arena Filipino and Mexican flags were ubiquitous. The occassional lucha libre mask would also be seen. Chants of "Mexico" and "Manny" came in waves. And we even started up our own satirical "USA" chant that eventually caught on throughout our section of the arena.

A middle aged Mexican man behind me shouted, "I love the Filipinos, they're good people, but Manny will still get killed."

In front of me was a young Filipino guy, early twenties, that likely had recently immigrated to the United States. With his thick accent he shouted out some of the more entertaining lines I would hear throughout the night.

"They dont know, in the Philippines, Manny is a gangsta... Homebooooooyyyy!!!"

"Morales bakla, bading, bading, bading." (Showcasing the homophobic and masculine defining characteristics that exist within the Filipino community)

When Morales appeared on the screen, I responded with my WWE inspired chant of "You suck, you suck, you suck."

Upon which the same guy in front of me looked back and said, "What you dont know I know bout that, homeboy? Thats WWE, homeboy. Kurt Angle. John Cena, you cant see me (this was followed by the shaking of his open palm in front of his face)."

Keep in mind, dude had one of the thickest accents I haver ever heard, this side of the Pacific.

This all occurred before the fight. During the fight, the aura of the place was insane. Filipinos were shouting as if it were another People Power movement protest at EDSA. As Manny finally gave Morales the blow that would knock him down the final time, causing Morales to shake his head in defeat, all the Filipinos became exstatic. Hi fives and embraces among the Filipinos filled the arena along with the deafening cheers. Strangers became brothers and sisters as we all became unified under this single battle.

And while our community celebrated, the Morales fans, most of the Mexicans, exited the arena quietly, heads sunked with their Mexican flags tucked under their arms. I felt for them, especially as I saw a lone kid with his Mexican flag in the hallways being harrassed by the angry bragging of a group of Filipinos celebrating the victory.

As a whole, it was a beautiful time and place to be a Filipino. Only if we could get the same number of people in our community to be just as eager and riled up to scream and protest when the President of the Philippines proclaims a state of emergency in the country.

GHOSTRIDING: ALMOST OFFICIAL

2006-11-14T16:14:00.000-08:00

I support anti-global warming measures and everything, but "carbon neutral"? Call me ignant with my vocab and my knowledge of harmful green-house emmitting gases, but out here in Cali "ghostriding" is the word of the year.

Big ups to Anonymous, whoever you are, who left a comment on the last post for notifying me about the near mainstreamization of the word "ghostriding" into the New Oxford American Dictionary. Among the list of runners up for the 2006 word of the year included words such as CSA (community-supported agriculture), dwarf plane, funner, Islamofascism, most important:

Ghostriding: the practice of exiting a moving vehicle and dancing either beside it, or on the hood or roof, while the vehicle is in motion.

Full article

LINERIDER

2006-11-13T19:40:00.000-08:00

Hands down, the hottest thing on the internet isnt the Jay Z leak or "Black Republicans," but is the addictive as crack, Flash "toy", called Line Rider. I spent a good portion of this morning at work trying to recollect everything I learned from my senior year in physics to create my most elaborate designs, which ended up being nothing more than creating a loop. YouTube has thousands of clips of skillfully crafted courses (This one and this one have to be the illest). These dudes should either pop their collar for creating such masterpieces or step outside their mom's basement.

Try it out: Linerider.com

To appease some of you that might come here to get your Bay rap fix:

Mistah FAB - Hyphy 101 (produced by Sean T): Fabby Davis continues to deliver goofy lyrics to show these hard headed thugs how to have fun. But f'real though, FAB needs to stop leaking songs and release an album already because by the time he does release an album, I'm sure I'd have already heard all the tracks.

Lyrics Born & Mistah FAB (produced by Trackademics): The Cool Collar Scholar laces up a track for another amalgamation of hyphy/thizz and "backpack rap." (Spotted at the Fader blog)

Keak da Sneak - Stunna Shades On: Yet another song about the stunna shades. Off the latest Keak release, "Thizz Is Allindadoe," an album that follows the formula of many other Thizz releases, using recycled (or months old) songs. This is one of the few unheard tracks, and its actually decent considering the oversaturation of stunna shade themes.

Clipse feat. E-40 - D Boy (produced by Clinton Sparks): Standard crack rap track, in which Clinton Sparks loops a Forty Water verse from "White Girl" for the hook.

ASIAN-AMERICANS = VOTE OR DIERS

2006-11-12T19:41:00.001-08:00

I already gave a shout out to the youth vote for doing their part last Tuesday.

Now its time for the Asian-Am voters to be recognized for doing their part in the political process, as this article from the LA Times illustrates.

"Asian American voters flex muscles"

Tuesday's election marked a watershed moment for the community, with more than two dozen Asian Americans running for state office. Nineteen candidates won, giving Asian Americans a record representation in Californian public office with a total of 20 elected officials. (Before the election, there were 17.)

According to the article, in Los Angeles, my Filipino brothers and sisters did their thing being the largest Asian-Am ethnic group in the city to weild their political power.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Non election news:

Jay-Z album leaked. Letting it sit in. Not quite as impressed as I would like to be. Look for it yourself.

But the Nas and Hova collaboration. Ill shit son. Check it. But only if you can sit through an annoying ass idiot yelling throughout the whole song.

RIP GERALD LEVERT

2006-11-10T13:34:00.000-08:00

R&B Star Gerald Levert Dies Of Heart Attack

IMITATION IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF FLATTERY

2006-11-09T15:57:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of Discobelle

Old track, but still worth posting again.
Aries Spears - Impressions

FIGHT FOR THEIR RIGHT TO EQUITY

2006-11-09T01:31:00.000-08:00

Cause my Lolo never lived to see justice prevail:

Justice for Filipino American Veterans

PEACE OUT MA'FUCKA

2006-11-08T23:00:00.000-08:00

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

This piece of news almost made my day as much as finding out that the House of Representatives gained 30+ seats for the Crip colored politicians. And now it seems like the Bloods also got a beat down by Tookie's set in the Senate. I can see my homie Jay P. doing his celebratory c-walk as a response to the country's rejection of the Iraq War.

Don't let them fool you though, just because Rumsfeld's gone, it doesn't mean Bush is going to something positive and put in someone that can enact some real changes.

So, now that the country has begun to get a clue about Bush's Iraq foreign policy, lets hope Congress steps it up and begins its investigation into Bush's abuse of power, rather than being the same weak-hearted, Democratic Congressional majority that voted to give the Son of a Bush absolute power to begin a pre-emptive strike and a three year long imperialistic occupation.

In other election news:

Ward Connerly is still a self-loathing Uncle Tom.

Good shit, Youth.

While, the Nation began to show some common sense, what the fuck is California's deal? Props 86, 87, and 89 all went the way of the elite. It just shows us how much money has really played such a big roll in the way elections end up.

DOUCHES OF THE WEEK

2006-11-04T14:45:00.000-08:00

I normally don't have a currently have an on-going "douche of the week" post, but this week has brought two notable figures to everyone's attention as being the biggest jackasses/assholes/douchebags, for the week atleast. Kanye West and Ted Haggard.

Kanye has already had his fair share of backlash from the blogesphere, so I'm sure if you're reading this right now, you've likely already heard of the dick move he made at some unimportant award show in Europe. Unfortunately because of YouTube's tighter constraints, the video his since been pulled, but thankfully these guys had an IFilm upload of it:

Get over yourself, fool!

I remember watching Jesus Camp thinking this evangelical dude looks like a fuckin mark ass prick. Personally, I could care less about what Ted Haggard does in the privacy of his own room and what his sexual orientation may be. But, when you openly decry and condemn a sexual orientation as a nationally known preacher and is then revealed as having sought the solicitation of a male prostitution and being a consumer of methamphetamines, thats when the word "hypocrisy" becomes too small of an adjective to use. This is the guy who gives Dubya spiritual advice each week. Though I guess that with this whole incident, looking at Mark Foley's thing and all the millions of other controversial dilemmas ailing the poor right wing, it shouldn't be any surprise that they would all put themselves in these types of situations, especially with such wacked out guidance from this character. When Rush Limbaugh is mocking Michael J. Fox's symptoms from parkinsons desease, its a shock to me how people still want to associate themselves with a political side that is filled with a bunch of punkasses.

Luckly, amidst all this madness, we have Ghostface to make sense of things for us.

THE HULKSTER GETS DOOKIE WIT IT

2006-11-03T17:55:00.000-08:00

Let me see you show your grill, brother!

I know I talked shit about her song, but having this picture even taking place almost makes up for how wack Brooke's song was.

And to see the Hulkster showing his love for the Yay, peep this (to make it easier on y'all, after watching the clip from the 00:56 mark and go ahead fast forward it to 04:19):

A new slap Zion I with a fresh verse from the Furl:
Zion I feat. Mac Dre - Ride On Out

Track taken from DJ Rick Lee's Mac Dre tribute mix from Wednesday on KMEL. Hear the whole mix right here.

WU TANG IS FOR THE KIDS

2006-11-03T00:26:00.001-08:00

Freshman year of high school, I was an impressionable young Filipino kid trapped in a city and school where I was on a mission to attack the wack. Turlock, CA. Not a city conducive for igniting growth and subversive ideals. But I had my own Book of Gospel to teach me the truth, it was actually two books, with a couple chapters composed by some of the disciples. The first was Enter the 36 Chambers, and the second was Wu Tang Forever. And for this young follower, those compositions forever altered my perception of what music could be.

The Wu was like a new aged group of prophets who sought to make noise, not knowing that the noise they would make would generate a breed of followers who would emulate their independent ethos. The Wu was what made Def Jux, Rhymesayers, Rawkus, and a slew of independent labels and gropus what they would eventually become. Thier sound was identifiable, and it would also be mirrored and reprocessed by countless others. The Wu also embarked on a global domination that would have the dorkiest of white and Asian kids rockin their brand of street wear and leaving carvings of the infamous "W" logo wherever they could.

I felt special in Turlock, and it was in part due to these nine emcees. I represented to the fullest, being the first kid in my school to be rockin' my Wu Wear shirt with my Wu Wear skully. They were the reason I saved up money from my paper route to cop a pair of Air Force Ones from Eastbay (stores in the region wouldnt even come close to selling AF1's until Nelly came out with his dumb ass song)and Timberlands from the Gilroy outlets (and you know I had to rock the Tims with the laces only in the 1st, 3rd, and 4th shoe lace holes). And if this seemed natural for you, picture yourself in the Bible belt region of California where kids only listened to gangsta vato-lowrider music or country.

These five YouTube clips are from a MTV Ultrasound documentary that came out around '98/'98, (I forgot what year), about the Clan. This made its debut during the pinnacle of Wu Tangs existence, proceeding the success of Wu Tang Forever and other solo releases (not to mention the neverending list of their affiliates). It was a period where I really didn't care about anything else if it wasn't Wu related. The Ultrasound documentary was the shit to me during that time, and I had been searching for it for the longest time on YouTube, but luckily some good soul was able to actually get it up for the rest of us to be able to reflect to a back when it was all about the Killah Bees.

(Just to let you know: There are a couple times where the videos overlap, and I believe that it is missing one part where Ghostface talks about how important "All That I Got Is You" was for other people and how it made big dudes in prison cry.)

EDUCATE THE ELECTORATE

2006-11-02T17:16:00.000-08:00

After taking a second look at the Paris Hilton picture above, the slogan should be changed to "Educated Vote Or Die!". So if you haven't already done so, make sure to read up on all the ballot measures before you rock your vote.

TheBallot.org

FactCheck.org

CA General Election Official Voter Information Guide

This is one of the most crucial midterm elections, and after taking a damned four years for the rest of the country to wake up and realize that the invasion of Iraq was brought under false pretenses, it actually looks like things might be going towards the side the progressives in America. It doesn't appear that both houses of Congress will end up with a blue majority, it does appear as if atleast the House of Representatives will. Its been a rough four years of having a GOP run government, but we might start end up seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. More and more people seem to be opening up to the idea that Barack should paint the White House black. And Vermont is even on the verge to elect the first socialist senator. So I'll cross my fingers for a chance to see a Congress exist that will impeach the current president under REAL issues.

Unfortunately, until change actually happens, we will be forced to be continually stripped of our civil liberties.

Until next Tuesday, let's watch the disproportionate mud slinging political ads by the Republicans, and hope that the electorate doesn't get fooled by all the fear incititing commercials.

WE STILL MISS YA CUDDIE

2006-11-01T17:14:00.000-08:00

It 2 years ago from this date, and the sad thing is, he wasn't able to live to see how much bigger he is now.

DIA DE LOS MUERTOS

2006-10-31T18:13:00.000-08:00

"Lets get it, lets get it, lets get it, lets get it"

Yes, that was my Halloween costume.

But lets give it up for our culture that gave a 4th grade boy, from the elementary school that I was at today, the idea to dress up as a pimp. Fitted in a red velour jump suit, a blinged out dollar chain, and a red feathered pimp hat. I chuckled, not believing that his parents would have let him go as a caricature of someone who solicits prostitution. Hell, it could have been his interpretation of a rap star (which seemed to be one of the biggest Halloween/black face minstrel costumes seen this year, a la Flavor Flav and a slew of other instant commodified culture in a box costumes).

So I had to confirm my guess, and proceeded to ask the student what he was dressed as. And proudly, he responds to me, "I'm a piiimp."

Funny thing is, his teacher tells me the boy is a quiet kid who hardly ever gets into trouble, with conservative Mexican parents who wouldn't seem like the type to let their kids go to school dressed up in this type of costume.

What does this say about our culture? And I haven't even touched all the slutty Halloween costumes that are produced for children.

LINKAGE 10.30.2006

2006-10-30T15:30:00.000-08:00

O'Reilly's pompous ass on David Letterman: Part 1 & Part 2. He actually admits the Iraq war was about oil.

Hurry up and get your fixings of YouTube, cause all the clips that have probably brought a resurge in viewership for many shows will be taken down.

The NY Times does a tribute piece on "Apache" (c/o Different Kitchen, who kindley linked me here)

Sidenote: "Apache" was actually the song that introduced me to what an actual break was. Back in my freshman year of high school, when me and my friends would have "Planet Rock" on repeat during our Friday night bboy sessions, I was totally unaware of what a break really was until I heard this track on a bboy video. I scoured Napster to locate the track and "Apache" became the next most overplayed song during our sessions, along with "The Mexican" and "Its Just Begun." Make sure to make your way to Soul Sides for some more material on "Apache".

And a case of when "wacky videos happen to great songs" (Soul Sights):

"The Doctor's Advocate" is now officially leaked. I'm giving it my first listen as we speak. Nope, I'm not going to put it up for you, but since I'm sure if you really are looking for it, you'll be able to find it yourself. (Here's the new K-Fed though, not that anybody really cares.) If you can't find it, Discobelle has a couple tracks. The Nas and Just Blaze track is pretty ill. Though the name dropping on the album seems to be a lot worse than the last album. Jay Smooth summed up The Game's position in hip-hop:

Game is the Luc Longley of emcees: nobody's mistaking him for an all-star, but he knows how to play his role on a winning team, and he delivers his usual 10 points and 8 rebounds here.

ZION I, FAB, TYRA, AND OTHER BAY RELATED ISH

2006-10-27T10:14:00.000-07:00

Video for the Zion I, Grouch, & FAB slapper, "Hit Em":

(Courtesy of City of Dope)

*Here's a higher quality version of the video.

Some o.g. Fabby Davis ish, from his debut album Nig Latin: video for "He's Sicc"

Peep FAB in the SF Chronicle

Spotted this Craigslist listing at the Siccness forums:

The Tyra Banks Show is looking for teens who "Ghost Ride The Whip" and who have tape! We are looking for people who have GREAT tape of them gost riding the whip and we of course want the crazy clips of GRTW going wrong. Tyra wants to talk to teens get hyphy!

I'm hoping middle aged white guys named Jonathan are restricted from submitting entries.

Some recent knocks:

The Federation - My Rims

I actually miss hearing Bay rappers doing cliche interpolation tracks like this, flippin "Night and Day." And I'm not talking about using songs by Corey Hart or Ray Parker Jr. "My Rims" is suppose to be on the upcoming album Its Whateva, whenever it gets released. Though XXL already gave the album a XL rating.

The Pack - Im Shinin

After "Vans" came out, I wanted to give the Pack a chance, and hoped that these kids from Berkely would actually come out with some decent tracks. For the most part I was wrong, and they delivered half ass songs, with beats that sounded recycled. Well, I guess they've proved to me that they can make another decent song. Too bad, so far, they're only batting 2 for 20 (or however many tracks of theirs were leaked.

Kaz Kyzah - I Go

I heard this track a couple months ago, but never posted it. Kaz Kyzah loops a Biggie line and makes it Bayish. So here you go.

RED RIBBON WEEK

2006-10-26T07:30:00.000-07:00

Being that I work within the school system down here in San Diego as a substitute teacher, I have been able to acquire a great deal of knowledge regarding trends with the youth. I'm still not up on my game with what the latest news is on the current state of Nickelodeon or what manga all the cool kids are reading. But I do know that kids love to read books about a guy named Captain Underpants, and yes, Choose Your Own Adventure books are still reppin'.

What I have also learned from my experiences, is that some third graders know how to throw up gang signs (although they don't necessarily know what they mean) and that snap music is more popular among elementary school kids than hyphy music. Dont get it twisted, every now and then, I do encounter a first graders who like to chant "go stupid, go dumb, dumb, dumb... tell me when to go." And I've even had a fourth grader show me how to do the thizzle dance. Moments like these nearly bring a tears of joy to my eyes. In the Bay, I'm sure its more of a common thing to see, but when I see this in San Diego, it shows me the reach of Bay Area music. I guess I could give props to the radio stations down here for showing a growing support for artists like the Federation, DB'z, Frontline, Keak, etc., but the radio stations down here are still wack.

But still, for every seven year old that recites a Mac Dre lyric, there's a bout twenty more seven year olds that won't stop snap dancing in line. Even in high school, with the exception of La Jolla High School, I dont think I have ever had an assignment in the past nine months where I didn't see a tall tee drenched sophmore with an Ipod, walking to class, leaning and rocking with it as he does the "matrix" snap. So sorry Bay Area, Atlanta's got you so far. Hopefully things will change.

Aside from learning about which regional music has a stronger hold on the youth of San Diego, I am also more aware of certain annual events that some of my peers might have forgotten since graduating from high school. We had Crack Week earlier this year, but this week is actually Red Ribbon Week the drug prevention and education initiative coordinated by the National Family Partnership (in conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Agency and it's neverending war on drugs). So in commeration of the week that teaches kids how to use drugs [1], I bring forth a few public service announcements:

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles tell us not to be a turkey:

You're right Pee Wee, crack is wack:

The commerical with the most classic line of all anti-drug commercials:

If you're still a curious cat and are interested in smoking that wacky tobacky, educate yourself with this accurate report on the effects of drugs:

[1] While I might joke about how much more I learned about drugs through programs such as DARE, I actually think drug education programs (taught properly, of course) would be a very effective and should exist, in such the way that sex education should exist in schools to make students aware and knowledgable of consequences and preventive measures so that one doesn't get burned.

$14.5 MILLION FOR KIM OSORIO IN SOURCE LAWSUIT

2006-10-24T22:26:00.000-07:00

By now, if you've made your daily rounds in the hip-hop blog circuit, you probably heard or read about this this morning. But it bears posting here as well.

From AllHipHop

The Source Magazine, Dave Mays and Ray "Benzino" Scott must pay $14.5 million dollars to former editor-in-chief Kim Osorio, after a federal jury in New York found she was fired in retaliation for complaining about sexual harassment and gender discrimination on the job.

Osorio claims she was subjected to verbal abuse and threats of physical violence while working at The Source Magazine.

Continue Reading...

NY Daily News starts off their article with "The Bible of Hip Hop is out a lot of Benjamins." Hah... "Bible of Hip Hop."!?

ALL OVER PRINTS = THE NEW POLKA DOTS

2006-10-22T19:58:00.000-07:00

The cycle of fashion fuck-ups always re-emerge

Wait, before you go out and waste that $300 on that hoodie with ridiculous looking patterns printed all over the fuckin' thing, lets think back at how dope folks used to think polka dots used to be. Somehow, for whatever reason, the design caught on to become somewhat iconic as urban street wear. It became the thing to rock, especially if you were a back up dancer, but we even had Eddie Winslow and the Fresh Prince sporting it on prime time tv. We even had the the biggest supporter of the design, Kwame, who even dedicated an album to the print's adventures. But eventually, and thankfully, the appeal to such a dumb ass design that must've emerged as a result of some of that shroom and acid poppin that the re-incarnated Daisy Age of the early 90's faded away and became erased from our conscience, just like the "Method & Red" show.

All over print's make even the dumbest look even dumber

The most recent fashion fuck up that I can think of that can illustrate how absurdley goofy the all over prints are would be the infamous every team sports clothing that kids with no sensibility to sports and teams would wear. We all wanted to yell at them and tell them to pick a team ands stick with it. We all know that they weren't proving anything by wearing a jacket with every team logo embroidered on it.

Now we have kids rockin' these ridiculous looking printed shirts and hoodies that shout out to the world that its only going to be rockable for a few more months. Wearing prints of ugly ass ice creams, diamonds, and the now overused brass knuckles only speak volumes about how much you want to fit in to the in crowd. Don't worry boys and girls, we'll have the good folks at Complex to tell us what the latest fashion fad that we need to follow is. And don't trip, that new "it" fashion brand/design will be released by the fuckers (though I will say that they are smart mother fuckers) as a limited release. So you can go ahead and spend that extra couple of bills to let these bastards exploit you.

And now its even gotten to the point that folks other than Lupe type, Hypebeast folks, only rock the design. We've got Lil Weezy's Carter adminstration, Chris Brown, and the kids from The Pack lookin like idiots wearing this shit. To quote the kid who stunts like his daddy, "It's outrageous."

Let's hope The Pack don't make a song about their Bape sweaters [1]

Good lookin on Ian at Different Kitchen for pointing in the direction of Don't Believe the Hypebeast, a funny ass blog that takes jabs at the current state of "urban street wear". But what the fuck is urban streetwear nowadays than, rich hegemonic types who try their best to keep it hood by rockin grills with their Bape or Ice Cream hoodies? Just ask Serg.

Just when I think things were already bad, DBTHB shows me these.

To continue with capitalistic consumer themed post, ProHipHop breaks down the interesting placement of the Armand de Brignac champagne in Jay Z's new video "Show Me What You Got".

Unrelated, but worth sharing: A time when Biggie and Tupac were still cool.

[1] Unfortunately, I've heard a song from some other youngins who actually profess their love of Bape hoodies and theirs isn't fake because it zips all the way up.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S DAY

2006-10-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

Why do people even celebrate Columbus Day anymore?

"Columbus and Western Civilization" by Howard Zinn

"They never mention this in history class
Cause o'fays are threatened when you get the real lesson"
-Ras Kass, Nature of the Threat

Justice for Leonard Peltier and for all indigenous people's of the world!

Freedom from dumbass Presidents.

And in other non-colonial/mass genocidal news, but nonetheless, an opportunity to exploit Black culture:

The continued commodified exploits of the Furl and another opportunity for drunken white frat boys to be rockin minstrel costumes for Halloween. And for an additional six bucks, cop it with some stunna shades.

JESUS BOOT CAMP CLICK

2006-10-08T19:45:00.000-07:00

"I want to see them laying their lives down for the Bible"

I posted the trailer for Jesus Camp a little over a month ago and was finally able to watch the film that has been winning "scariest film" awards at various film festivals. The film has garnered much media attention the past couple of weeks due in part to its controversial representation of the Christian Evangelical movement in America, the brainwashing of the youth, and its influence on right wing political agenda.

Interestingly enough, the attention given by the media has shown mixed reaction from the Evangelical movement on the film. Pastor Ted Haggard has lambasted the movie for its demonization of the Christian right, while Becky Fischer, the children's pastor in the film, has praised the film's portrayal of her Christian youth camp. In the film, Becky Fischer points out the terrified reactions that secular progressives might have when seeing the fanatacism of the children in her camp, but notes that it shows the power and importance of her Evangelical movement towards the youth.

Throughout the film, I was one of those secular progressives watching with a "what the fcuk is going on with these wackos" look on my face, as seven year olds are on their knees crying and repenting for watching Harry Potter and reading about warlocks, a white boy reflects on his decision to be saved when he was five years old because he "wanted more from life," and an entire ministry follows the female pastor and begin to speak in tongues. The way the children become taught to have only one way of thinking and believing, rejecting nearly anything to do with science and all that has to do with evolution, is frightening. These children are told of the importance of their generation and how they are the key to bringing Christian salvation to the sinful world of non-believers who will all be condemned to hell if they do not become "born again."

"Their" generation is to spread the word of Jesus. Though, at times it seams as though, the words of peace and acceptance spoken by Jesus become overlooked for a more condescending and condeming belief. This belief also aims to assure a stronghold on American politics for the Christian right and to institute their religious beliefs within government.

One of the fundamental ideals that this country was built upon was the need for the separation of church and state. When the church and state become too intertwined, tyranny of (a) certain religion(s) may take power and suppress all that don't hold on to the same beliefs. Take a look at countries that do not have such a secular state (ie: Afghanistan, Iran, etc) and see how oppressive the insitution becomes when the separation of church and state are not clear.

While there is a specificity of Christian and Muslim religions in the discussion of religion and secular governments, it goes beyond the two groups. Religion can serve a positive role in society, but one must see the dangers that exist when religious dogmas become perverted, corrupted, and imposed upon a population.

The indoctrination of children, who are never allowed to socialize with other youth, who may hold differing views, due to homeschooling, is all the more frightening when they are being shaped to follow the path of the reactionary right. A wing of hypocrites who fail to even hold onto their own moral high grounds. If the movie shows the viewer anything, it should illuminate us to hold a more cautious eye towards this wing and the influence that is yielded over it from a group that seeks only to desingrate the civil liberties of the country.

"We're being trained to be God's army" - Levi, kid with the ill duck tale hair cut

CoupTube

2006-10-02T21:20:00.000-07:00

Arguably the best "conscious" hip-hop group rockin' it right now. Funky melodies and revolutionary lyrical content blend so well when Pam the Funktress and Boots Riley put everything together.

The Coup - Dig It

The Coup - Funk

The Coup - Me & Jesus the Pimp in a 79 Granada Last Night

The Coup - Fat Cats & Bigga Fish

A more recent video,

The Coup - We Are the Ones

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And, go vote right now for the BARS (Bay Area Rap Scene) Awards. Mike T says its rigged. I say vote for "Super Hyphy" for song of "da" year.

"Tell Me When To Go" might have been the crossover jump that we were all waiting for, but "Super Hyphy" was the joint folks in the Bay were slappin' the trunk endlessly until MTV gave hyphy air time to "TMWTG". Over a year old, I still can't get sick of the song. And Traxxamillion brought such an infectious beat, he decided to even recycle the same bass line and more on "On Citas". And that song was still fiyah. While "TMWTG" brought a slew of sub-par remixes, with one decent Bay all star collaboration, nothing can fcuk with the Thizz remix of "Super Hyphy".

While we're all in the voting mood, vote for Touchblue's entry into San Diego Asian Film Festival's Michelob Light Flicks 2006 commercial competition. Objectively speaking (and not cause these dude's are my homies), the other commercials are wack in comparison to theirs. So vote right here. And make sure to vote for "Something for Everyone" directed by Touchblue.

LITTLE SUPERSTAR & HOLIDAY RAP

2006-09-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

By now, everybody has seen the ingenius clip, simply titled as "Little Superstar".

But when I first watched the clip, I knew that the blasting synths coming from the cassette player sounded very familiar. Fortunately, I was directed to the legendary Netherland duo MC Miker G & DJ Sven's classic record "Holiday Rap", a rap remake of Madonna's "Holiday". The track was a huge international hit in the 1980's, so I'm sure I heard the song somewhere as a youth, and it remained in the back of my conscious until a resurrected Bollywood movie resurrected "Holiday Rap".

So for your enjoyment, a performance of "Holiday Rap":

And a bonus mp3 treat:

MC Miker G & DJ Sven - Holiday Rap

INEVITABILITY IS A BASTARD

2006-09-23T12:01:00.000-07:00

Brooke Hogan feat. E-40 - About Us (remix) [produced by Traxxamillion]

We all knew the day would come. But not so soon, and not this way. We all were waiting for the day that "hyphy" would become accepted by the mainstream and become a commonplace subgenre leaving snap music and screwed & chopped in the halls of hip-hop history. But not this way.

In a way, I agreed that E-40 shouldn't have been the one introducing the growing Bay Area phenomenom to the rest of the nation? A youth related culture, being introduced by a 60's baby? As the Roots would say, "It don't feel right". Though, I still had faith in the man. But now, I must question the reasoning to the decision to make this song.

Traxx, props on the beat, shit slaps. You got paid. But I still shake my head to the whole situation, and not in a a "going dumb" type manner.

And to Brooke. Much respect to the Hulkster. But whats with your daughter, brother? She didn't need to adulturate this. Atleast so early in its infancy into pop culture.

The madness to the inevitable intercourse between respectable Bay hyphy artists with shitty pop/r&b singers doesn't only exist with the cocaine complected. Miscegenation occurs with the "Pinoy" boy bands too, thanks in part to Next Phaze [1] and Clyde Carson.

Why Clyde? I thought things were going so well. Hyphy Juice is blowing up, and you even have that Black Wallstreet deal [2].

Next Phaze feat. Clyde Carson - Hit It Up

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[1] Respect to the Pilipino representation. I actually know several people that actually enjoy their music. But wack tracks need to be held back.

[2] You've already made one misstep since the signing, just don't get caught up in this mix.

GUARDIANS OF OAKLAND

2006-09-21T16:44:00.000-07:00

(street date: 10.10.2006)

My introduction to the potentials of a Zion I and Grouch collaboration came on Zion I's "Mind over Matter," with the track "Silly Puddy". Amp Live's eerie spaced out production and Zion MC and Grouch's self-reflective lyrics gave the listener a lucid dreamstate feeling. It was in this song and then on Grouch's "Moves That Make Me", followed by Zion I's "Flow" that demonstrated the strong chemistry of the team to make some fresh ass hip-hop. With each additional collaboration, I began hoping for some more.

Luckily, the self appointed "Heroes in the City of Dope" will be dropping their first full length lp in a few weeks. With Zion MC's hard hitting versatile delivery and Grouch's complex simplistic lyrics, I have my hopes for this album. From what I've heard from the sampler to what appears to be the lead single featuring Fabby Davis, "Hit Em", backpackers might be able to get a solid album, something which I haven't come across in the scene in a while.

Zion I & Grouch - Hit Em feat. Mistah FAB

"Heroes in the City of Dope" sampler (courtesy of Eric K. Arnold & SF Gate)

Zion I - Silly Puddy feat. Grouch

Bonus mp3 that some Zion I purists might decry... A clubbish, hollar at a shorty joint, from Traxxamillion's recently released, "Slap Addict":

Traxxamillion feat. Zion I - Top Down

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Fuck Rapidshare and their 1 download an hour limit and their 2 minute wait. Its Zshare from now on (or until I finally have my own place to host mp3s). I salute Zshare for allowing me to preview mp3s prior to downloading.

Bonus links:

An interview with Mac Minister

New hot fiyah from San Quinn (by way of Fader, by way of Catchdubs)

And tomorrow's my last day of this office job, then I'm off to get my Tom Berenger on and start substitute teaching again. What does that mean? No more 8 hour shifts with only 45 minutes of actual work to do, thus less consistent posts. The past 2 months have been the busiest this blog has ever been, but I'll do my best to update when I have the chance.

MORE ON CSUS' HYPHY BAN

2006-09-19T16:20:00.000-07:00

Let's watch ~~square-crow~~ "Modesto Bee" online editor, Brian Ramsey, do his best to report on the university's decision to ban the E-40 concert.

And to answer your questions... Yes, Turlock is that square.

VOTE OR...

2006-09-18T17:07:00.000-07:00

Wackos like this Vernon Robinson get elected.

Holy shit. North Cackalack Republican, Robinson must really be on one to put out such a racist, disgusting, and crazy campaign ad:

(source: Election Central)

Fear. Its whats for dinner.

BANKSY PRESENTS... BARELY LEGIT?

2006-09-17T10:03:00.000-07:00

Went to Banksy's "Barely Legal" art show yesterday. Among the crowd of pseudo-revolutionary/white liberal LA hipsters arriving in their Priuses, there was also art pieces taken away from their urban guerilla art context and put into an abandoned warehouse turned art gallery. Though, on Friday night, Branjelina showed up to purchase half of the canvased pieces, to reclaim their self-importance in the progressive community and feel good about themselves (it ain't just a new trend with rappers).

Apparently PETA type folks' trousers are in a bunch due to the pink elephant (it actually appeared to be more red) that everybody is aware of but does nothing about (ie: poverty). Boing Boing breaks down this outcry against the painted pachyderm. But, what about the cockroaches being forced to spend 3 days alongside doctored images of Paris Hilton? Personally, I had mixed feelings about the elephant (not so much with the use of non-toxic paint) but more so of the public exploitation of her as on object with which to gawk. I'm sure most people were totally unaware of what Banksy even meant with the elephant, as I didn't see any cards going around (the day I went) that told of its message. Would that be part of the artistic illustration that Banksy tried to carry?

The most poignant piece of the show.

After getting over the fact that I was one of the few people of color, other than most of the security guards (my theory is that the one white security guard had to have been Banksy), I began to self-debate about the legitimacy of his urban guerilla art in the confines of a sterilized gallery. I couldn't look at a piece and think of how much stronger it would be situated on a busy street, which was what made his art that much more brilliant. Although, already discussed since the days of Basquiat, maybe even longer, I wasn't a art history major, Banksy's anarchistic [1] techniques seems very opposite to what I saw at the show. Commodities being sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars, sponsorship by Ebay, and an almost artificial underground aura with the use of the warehouse, among other things. Maybe it was his way of sticking his middle finger to the uber-chique LA crowd that would pay endless amounts of money, not knowing the irony of buying a painting of an art auction with individuals bidding on a painting with the words, "I can't believe you morons actually buy this shit".

And what of the income generated from this event? I've read of Banksy being totally against advertisement and merchandising of any kind. Commodifying a statement can at times be used to help bring a political message to a larger audience, though it can also become lost in the midst of the public shock value. But who knows, though, he might just be the Abbie Hoffman of the 2000's, an anarchistic individual, so aware of his iconic status within the counter-culture that he knows he could take a shit on a video reel and someone would buy it.

Photos and photos

And for those who want video footage rather than pictures, BBC news coverage:

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[1] Chomsky on Anarchism

BANKSY PRESENTS...

2006-09-15T07:49:00.000-07:00

Its a weekend of subversive art from the newsworthy, Banksy.

The location (just announced today on his website):

Hunter St, Los Angeles.
Fri 15th, Sat 16th, Sun 17th Sept 2006. 12-8pm.

And apparently thats it. No mention of an exact address or anything.

CSUS OFFICIALS GO DUMB

2006-09-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

As I was preparing to leave Turlock this morning, one of the headlines on the front page of the Modesto Bee grabbed my attention:

"Hyphy fear cancels concert"

California State University, Stanislaus, officials canceled a concert Saturday featuring Vallejo hyphy rapper E-40 and Sacramento hard-rock band Papa Roach after hearing safety concerns expressed by law enforcement.
Stanislaus State officials said the event was called off because of what they said was potential violence associated with the hyphy movement. The Warriors Welcome Back Concert was scheduled for 6 p.m. at the university's amphitheater.

"Heavy concern expressed by the law enforcement officers was the key factor in the decision to cancel," said Stanislaus State President Hamid Shirvani.

Fear strikes again and prevails in Small Town, USA. And I wondered why nothing ever happened in Turlock.

One more quote from the article that amused me:

A Sept. 1 university news release announcing the show called E-40 "one of the Bay Area's finest groups."

209 GONE HYPHY

2006-09-12T23:55:00.000-07:00

Two Sundays ago, promoters in the city of Modesto held a club for the under agers. Promoted as a "hyphy" event all over Myspace, the function ended up maximizing the 300 people capacity of the venue, thus leaving a plethora of youth to be left outside, congregating with nothing else to do. What ends up happening?

These articles might answer your question:

Brawl: 'Hyphy' or a lot of hype?

Downtown brawl still a puzzle

Brawl nips shot at 'best community' for kids list

Examine Sunday brawl and learn lessons from it

Police will attend meeting on melee

To sum up what happened: Bitter high schoolers use the streets of downtown Modesto to get dumb at. Someone gets their purse snatched. Cops are called in, in great numbers. Cops overreact and start attacking minors. 17 minors arrested. Cops blame hyphy culture; community activists blame the cops.

As much as I can assume that young fad riding "thizz kids" from Central California shared some of the responsibility to the irresponsible behavior, from what I've read and heard about the incident, the ~~overseers~~ officers clearly overstepped their boundaries.

Today, I arrived in Turlock to visit the family, and on the front page of the Modesto Bee is this article:

Parents, teens decry officers' response

My favorite part of this article has to be a quote from one of the defensive police officers:

"A promoter told me this hyphy stuff is just short of having sex," Wasden said. "Parents, you need to know what's being promoted to your children."

Several parents applauded Wasden's words about responsibility, even as many teens laughed at his definition of hyphy. The teens countered that hyphy is nothing more than a dance during which kids "get loose." One woman compared it to punk rockers who head bang.

Though, I would disagree with the "nothing more than a dance" explanation by the teens, the statement by the officer clearly shows his lack of understanding of youth culture, which is definitely a problem when trying to find solutions to the effects of youth idleness.

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When I go on my trips back home to Turlock to visit the family, I rarely have the opportunity to see what the nightlife is in the neighboring town of Modesto. While I have been to a few bars in Modesto, I never have the opportunity to do a full on ethnography about the local scene and to see how much the "hyphy movement" has spread to the region. So, I have never witnessed anything like this while I've been out in Modesto. It is without a doubt, though, that hyphy has left its footprint in the soil of the 209, as Bay Area rap has done for the past 15-20 years.

*In somewhat related news, Inside Edition aired their own piece on ghostriding the whip lasst Friday. Although I had to miss it because the San Diego channel fcuked up and aired an episode from the previous week, apparently our good friend Jonathan Lovecchio and the Middle Aged White Men Crisis Posse were in full effect in the segment.

BRILLIANCE

2006-09-09T17:46:00.000-07:00

Re:entroducing

2006-09-08T11:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was tuning in to Hark Knock Radio, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that there was going to be an interview with DJ Shadow. (listen to podcast) DJ Shadow discussed his upcoming project, The Outsider, the reasons for his shift in musical direction, as well as his own hyphy experience. I've read my fair share of recent Shadow interviews, and while I praise his new directional shift, if I didn't hear or read the word "reinvention" in one of his new interviews, I'd be happy.

While Shadow was out discovering the formula for his reinvented sound, Keak da Sneak was formulating his own hood theory of relativity, as told by Mass Appeal.

After the whole MTV-"Vans" fiasco, which I was somewhat guilty of overhyphing (though I still smell that anti-Bay bias), Eric K Arnold offers his piece on the controversy.

Speaking of kicks, US authorities intercept one of the largest counterfeit-merchandise schemes in US history. Over 600,000 pairs of Nike knock-offs were seized.

And it looks like KMEL is doing FAB wrong due to radio politics. (via Davey D).

In unrelated news:

Senate debunks Bush's claims of links between Saddam and Al-Qaeda. Like I've been saying since 2002, my enemy's enemy isn't necessarily my enemy's friend. Though even with this report, my pessimism is still telling me Americans will still be too ignorant to believe this information. But who knows, lets see if Fox changes things up and don't actually add to the misperceptions about Iraq.

And for your enjoyment: "J. Dilla Blends" mixed by DJ Food Stamp

15th Annual FPAC

2006-09-08T00:43:00.000-07:00

Check it: This Saturday and Sunday... 15tha Annual Festival of Pilipino Arts & Culture @ Pt. Fermin Park in San Pedro, CA.

For more info: FilAm Arts

Us Against the World

2006-09-07T11:34:00.000-07:00

It has been 10 years since one of hip-hop's greatest faced the bullets that would ultimately end his life seven days later (enter Tupac 7 day conspiracy theorists).

Each generation is left with a single moment that supposedly shapes what that generation becomes defined. These moments range from the assassination of JFK, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and most recently 9/11. The moments are poignant due to the imprint that is left in the memories of those that are conscious of the events as it had taken place. Tupac's death might not have left the same political and social impact as some of the aforementioned events, but for much of the hip-hop generation, it is one of those moments that still and will forever remain in our conscious.

I can still vividly recall the moment when I learned that Tupac was shot. It was the beginning of my 8th grade school year, and I was mowing the lawn the lawn for my parents. Nearly finished mowing the lawn, I see my older brother pulling up to our house in the 1987 Ford Tempo GL (that gangster ride was my first car). Broham parked the car right by where I was, and yells out from the car, "Tupac's been shot!" The first thought that ran to my mind was, "Oh shit, not again." I finished the yard work, with the news stuck on my mind, but also thinking about how Tupac would recover just as he had done before and that he'll come back stronger and angrier than ever.

Unfortunately, seven days later, I was wrong, and the man that shaped much of my ideas as a youth was gone. As much of a big Tupac fan as I was and still am, I'll admit that he was not the most talented rapper lyrically or even flow wise. But, the power that made and still makes his music resonate was the ability that he possessed in igniting thought among a population that much of the "conscious" rappers today fail to capture. If it hadn't been for Tupac, I probably would not have gained the desire to learn more about the struggles of the Black Panther Party, the incarceration of Mumia, Assata, Geronimo Pratt, and countless other revolutionary voices. His anti-authority stance and disses against C. Dolores Tucker appealed to me as a youth stuck in a very uptight small suburban-rural city. Although I maintained a very conservative political stance throughout my junior high and high school, up until community college professors allowed me to fully see how the power structure in America really existed, the lingering "fuck the system" mentality was always in the back of my head.

We shouldn't get it twisted though, as Tupac music wasn't even close to being free of mysogenistic and homophobic lyrics. What he yelled in his songs were a reflection of the patriarchic and sexist society that he was raised. Although they were inspirational in how much of my political ideals were eventually formed, it wasn't Public Enemy, NWA, X-Clan, or Poor Righteous Teachers that directly pushed me to be against our oppressive system. It was Tupac who had the most direct influence, with his rebellious middle finger salute yelling, "Fuck the world" while still telling the kids to "Keep your head up."

So 10 years have passed (murder still unsolved), there is still the cultural war against rap music, along with full scale institutional programs targeting hip-hop artists as well as more problematic programs that target the youth, with which the hip-hop generation is composed. And just like the aftermath of Katrina and with the approaching 5 year anniversary of 9/11, it seems as if America has become intent on moving on a downward spiral away from progress.
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Random tidbit of information, the image of Tupac that I used above as actually taken from an image I took from Google that was being hosted by our favorite right wing neo-conservative Pilipina pundit, Michelle Malkin.

"Jesus Camp" Trailer

2006-09-07T10:19:00.000-07:00

Bush and the rest of the neo-cons are inciting their rhetoric of fear with their war against Islamic-fascism. But right now, I'm worried about the Christian-fascists in America.

Though, what's more frightening than that trailer itself is knowing that one day rat-tail boy and the rest of the kids will one day become old enough to vote.

(spotted at Jay Smooth's Insane Asylum)

"Thats Hot"

2006-09-05T09:42:00.000-07:00

Banksy adds his own mash-up [1] flavor to Paris Hilton's self-indulgent debut album.

A couple of links: BBC news article, images of the manipulated cd insert, and of course a YouTube clip.

In other news, RIP, Steve Irwin .......
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[1] Taken from Poplicks.

Work Break 8.31.2006

2006-08-31T09:29:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, there was a hip-hop panel entitled, "Roots of the Hyphy Movement." Moderated by Adisa Banjoko and featured Mistah FAB, Tamara Palmer, Traxamillion, and Eric Arnold, the panel attempted to break down this cultural trend/subculture in the Bay Area. Knowledge gets dropped. Listen to the audio. (Courtesy of Adisa)

It's official, 50 Cent is a elephant rider. What did I say?

Chappelle: "So glad I left"... Dude should've atleast left the show walkin' it out.

Shirt off a plane (I try)... I guess the right to free speech doesn't count for anything in America anymore.

Pinoy Pod: "San Francisco Chronicle's Podcast channel for Filipinos in the Bay Area and beyond"

And still on the podcast tip, but for NOLA, Diplo mixes it up with regional music of the Mississippi Delta. (listen to the other podcasts devoted to other regional music Mad Decent Radio)

One of the best things I've seen on YouTube since the Dallas P. and Rafi K. brought us the cinematic masterpiece that was "The Ghetto Big Mac":

Destro feat. The Baroness - "Get Money"

Its bigger than "Bebot"

2006-08-30T15:30:00.000-07:00

I offered a brief criticism about the video for Black Eyed Pea's "Bebot," but mine was more crticial on the wackness of BEP and the forced multi-cultural portrayal of culture. But, other than posting up the open letter to "Bebot," I never really put in my own 2 cents on its problematic representation of gender and sexuality.

I whole-heartedly agree with the open letter that went around the internet a week ago and believe that this type of dialogue is necessary, especially for a community that is continuously attempting to define itself within the mainstream. For people to respond back to the letter as academics being overanalytical, one must see that it's bigger than the BEP video. The discussion regarding the representation of sexuality is one that is rooted in our culture's own and American society's own sexism, mysogeny, and homophobia, but this does not grant certain artists the ability to bypass their own social responsibility. BEP and Xylophone should be aware of this responsibilty especially when what they are trying to do is showcase and bring to the mainstream positive images of Filipino-Americans in the media.

That goes another one of my very brief responses. But here's a blog that was directed to me by the homie, Mark, that is dedicated to the dialogue on "Bebot":

About Bebot - A Collective Review

On a separate note:

An article by the San Francisco Chronicle on the nation's only Filipino-American performig arts space, Bindlestiff.

Ali Bombaye

2006-08-30T14:05:00.000-07:00

New music from my favorite pigment-challenged Muslim rapper, Brother Ali:

Brother Ali - Original King

It's suppose to be on the upcoming 2006 Scribble Jam compilation. Also it appears as if his new album, The Undisputed Truth, won't be released this year as I hoped, but it has instead been pushed back to spring 2007.

Track courtesy of Rhymesayers Entertainment.

T-Town does something to make me proud

2006-08-29T16:12:00.000-07:00

Turlock blocks Wal-Mart from invading with a Supercenter store.

1 Year Later...

2006-08-29T15:33:00.000-07:00

And all's not forgotten.

Anniversary doesn't sound right to me. A day of mourning and remembrance would be more appropriate.

This 1 year mark also puts the citizens of New Orleans in a tight situation as many reach the deadline to reside in FEMA provided trailers, though many will still be left without a home to return to.

Ex-FEMA Chief, Michael Brown, blames the administration

Though as Bush speaks on the 1 year mark, he,

Delivered his remarks at an intersection in a working-class Biloxi neighborhood against a carefully orchestrated backdrop of neatly reconstructed homes. Just a few feet out of camera range stood gutted houses with wires dangling from interior ceilings. A tattered piece of crime scene tape hung from a tree in the field where Mr. Bush spoke. A toilet seat lay on its side in the grass.

Democracy Now! takes a look back.

Links from Davey D:

Kanye vs. George Bush
The Great Katrina Land Grab
Hurricane Katrina: 1 Year Later with an interview with David Banner

XXL drops game on how certain rappers responded musically to the disaster.

takin it back to the 7th grade

2006-08-29T14:06:00.000-07:00

Da Youngsta's - Hip Hop Ride

Black students ordered to move to the back of bus

2006-08-24T17:12:00.000-07:00

"La. school district investigating complaints bus driver ordered black students to back of bus"

Iva Richmond, whose 14- and 15-year-old children were on the bus, told The
Associated Press that they previously had a black bus driver, but their bus
assignment changed this year.

When school started this month, the white driver told them she had
assigned them seats, with the black children at the back of the bus, Richmond
said. Richmond said she complained to a local principal, who told the driver
that if any children were assigned to seats, all would have to be.

Early last week, the driver assigned black students to two seats in the
back of the bus, an arrangement that had some of the smaller children sitting in
the laps of older children, Richmond said.

"All nine children were assigned to two seats in the back of the bus
and the older ones had to hold the smaller ones in their laps," she said.
Entire story...

What year are we in?

Must Read Meth Interview

2006-08-24T11:08:00.000-07:00

"He mad"

Part 1
Part 2

So he's irked due to criticism he recieved due to the snorefest that was Tical 0. Okay, atleast he's taken that aggression and actually released a pretty decent new album.

Work Break 8.23.2006

2006-08-23T14:29:00.000-07:00

Got my Starbury's on cause they are cheap sneakers

Noz offers a breakdown of the Dungeon Family dynasty.

"Its a punk rock shoe with a logo on the back"... LA Times article on the crossover appeal of Vans to the "urban" crowd, care of the "Vans" song. (courtesy of TrendyNation) Personally, I've moved on to the Starburys.

Method Man calls Rick Rock one of his favorite producers.

That KTVU segment on the hyphy movement was a little too flowery for me, but atleast there are other outlets that are more structured to get the hip-hop movements direction rolling. Too bad the Bishop has given up hope on hip-hop's social impact.

But Bill Cosby still uses hip-hop as a scapegoat. Whats new?

I know using fear in smear campaigns are the norm during election times, but this is preposterous, they might as well have had clansmen posted up complaining how coloreds are destroying our country.

What happened to the rap group?

2006-08-22T21:42:00.000-07:00

Reese One and Basik as Bleu Collar

I find myself getting more and more engulfed by this phenomenon becoming known as hip-hop blogs. It might have something to do with my summer office job that has placed me in front of a computer for 8 hours each day, which, if you haven't guessed, is the reason why I've been updating this shit on a nearly daily basis. The tediousness of office jobs can drive someone crazy, but luckily the internet and the blogesphere [1] have allowed me to separate myself from the redundancy of sorting mail and creating filing folders for new vendors.

I have especially found the blogs at XXL Magazine to be some of the most entertaining, as it consolidates different personalities together to put them all under one umbrella blog location to check out. Its the site for numerous blog beefs and blog etherings [2].

Yesterday, Noz put up a post questioning the extinction of rap groups. "Where did the rap group go?"

One answer can lie within the Bay Area, that has for the past year given us several groups that have the promise of achieving great hieghts: The Federation, The Team, Frontline, and the Mob Figaz, to name a few [3] [4]. The Dirty South has groups, but as much as I find snap dancing entertaining, I don't really see a long standing presence in hip-hop for many of them.

Though, while I still have love for the groups from the Bay, I have to give it to Los Angeles for being the home base for one of hip-hop's best kept secret, Bleu Collar (not to be confused with Seattle's Blue Scholars, another really dope group). The duo, composed of emcees Basik and Reese One, has had their fair share of shine in the independent route, doing shows with the Living Legends (when Basik refers to Eligh as his couin, its actually literal). Basik has been around for quite some time in the underground scene releasing 2 solo joints, Apex Predator and At the Mercy of the City, and had used his relationship with the Living Legends to tour and build his own fan base. Prior to hearing about Bleu Collar, I never heard much about Reese One, and honestly I still don't know much about him, but from what I know, he got his start at the Goodlife Cafe and built with the Project Blowed.

As a duo, they released their self titled lp, which was one of my personal favorite releases of 2003. With production assistance from Grouch, Eligh, and Mums the Word in addition to their laid back LA style, impervious lyrics, and hedonistic storytelling, the album made for some of the perfect summer music. Songs like, "Making Rounds", "Bank to Bank", and "Slide to the Left" create that vibe that makes one want to just chill out and sip on a 4-0. This album was the prototype that showed me how to stay finely balanced between staying g'd up and backpackish.

If you've seen them live, then you know how well this duo can rock a show with their energy and dynamic stage presence. Its not just their stage presence that keeps their cult following growing, but its also in their added chemistry. Its evident that both individuals shine in their own light, but with the back and forth rhymes, that brings back a nostalgic feeling of the "double trouble" style rap, it shows everyone the teamwork that is missed from rap groups. (and not just two rappers who happen to make music on the same album). The relationship that Reese and Basik have is exactly how every rap duo should coexist, with each rapper feeding off the other rappers energy and rhymes.

Check out the interview they had last month at DubCNN.

Some audio (but more at their site):

Bleu Collar - Making Rounds (from self titled lp)

Bleu Collar - Bleu Collar Is Dem Boys (from their self titled mix tape)

Bleu Collar - Good with the Ladies (from Los Angeles Designer Music Vol. 1)

On a side note:

The Pack's "Vans" song premiered on 106 & Park today. Its even on their list of videos that you can vote for to be on the countdown. So whats the deal? BET and MTV are both owned by Viacom, so is it still banned on MTV? Was it all really a publicity stunt? And last but not least, why am I devoting so much time and energy to The Pack?

If you were wondering why that Lupe video isn't loading anymore, blame it on the idiocy of Atlantic records.

And an interview with Traxamillion at DubCNN.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] That word is humorous to me.

[2] Another humorous idea if one were to think of it, its almost as great as arguments that breaks out on message boards.

[3] Although the line-ups of some of those groups do need some work. Stressmatic needs to go and Locksmith needs to find a better partner.

[4] "What no Pack?," I can already hear it being asked... These kids still have yet to prove to me that they're hungry enough.

An Open Letter on Bebot

2006-08-22T12:22:00.000-07:00

To Apl.de.Ap, Patricio Ginelsa/KidHeroes, and Xylophone
Films:

We, the undersigned, would like to register our deep
disappointment at the portrayal of Filipinas and other women in the new music videos for the Black Eyed Peas song, Bebot. We want to make it clear that we appreciate your efforts to bring Filipina/o Americans into the mainstream and applaudyour support of the Little Manila of Stockton. However, as Filipina/o and Filipina/o American artists, academics, and community activists, we are utterly dismayed by the portrayal of hypersexualized Filipina hoochie-mama dancers, specifically in the Generation 2 version, the type of representation of women so unfortunately prevalent in todays hip-hop and rap music videos. The depiction of the 1930s dime dancers was also cast in an unproblematized light, as these women seem to exist solely for the sexual pleasure of the manongs.

In general, we value Apl.de.Ap's willingness to be so openly and richly Filipino, especially when there are other Filipina/o Americans in positions of visibility who do not do the same, and we appreciate the work that he has done with the folks at Xylophone Films; we like their previous video for The Apl Song, and we even like the fact that the Generation 1 version of Bebot attempts to provide a history lesson about some Filipino men in the 1930s. However, the Generation 2 version truly misses the mark on accurateFilipina/o representation, for the following reasons:

The video uses three very limited stereotypes of Filipina women: the virgin, the whore, and the shrill mother. We find a double standard in the depiction of the virgin and whore figures, both of which are highly sexualized. Amidst the crowd of midriff-baring, skinny, light-skinned, peroxided Pinays some practically falling out of their halter tops there is the little sister played by Jasmine Trias, from whom big brother Apl is constantly fending off Pinoy playas. The overprotectiveness is strange considering his idealization of the bebot or hot chick.The mother character was also particularly troublesome, but for very different reasons. She seems to play a dehumanized figure, the perpetual foreigner with her exaggerated accent, but on top of that, she is robbed of her femininity in her embarrassingly indelicate treatment of her son and his friends. She is not like a tough or strong mother, but almost like a coarse asexual mother, and it is telling that she is the only female character in the video with a full figure.

We feel that these problematic female representations might have to do with the use of the word Bebot.We are of course not advocating that Apl change the title of his song, yet we are confused about why a song that has to do with pride in his ethnic/national identity would be titled Bebot,a word that suggests male ownership of the sexualized woman the hot chick.What does Filipino pride have to do with bebots? The song seems to be about immigrant experience yet the chorus says ikaw ang aking bebot (you are my hot chick). It is actually very disturbing that ones ethnic/national identity is determined by ones ownership of women. This system not only turns women into mere symbols but it also excludes women from feeling the same kind of ethnic/national identity. It does not bring down just Filipinas; it brings down all women.

Given the unfortunate connection made in this video between Filipino pride and the sexualized female body both lyrically and visually, we cant help but conclude that the video was created strictly for a heterosexual mans pleasure. This straight, masculinist perspective is the link that we find between the Generation 1 and Generation 2 videos. The fact that the Pinoy men are surrounded by hot chicksboth then and now makes this link plain. Yet such a portrayal not only obscures the real message about the Little Manila Foundation; it also reduces Pinoy mens hopes, dreams, and motivations to a single-minded pursuit of sex.

We do understand that Filipino America faces a persistent problem of invisibility in this country. Moreover, as the song is all in Tagalog (a fact that we love, by the way), you face an uphill battle in getting the song and music video(s) into mainstream circulation. However, remedying the
invisibility of Filipina/os inthe United States should not come at the cost of the dignity and self-respect of at least half the population of Filipino America. Before deciding to write this letter, we felt an incredible amount of ambivalence about speaking out on this issue because, on the one hand, we recognized that this song and video are a milestone for Filipina/os in mainstream media and American pop culture, but on the other hand, we were deeply disturbed by the images of women the video propagates.

In the end we decided that we could not remain silent while seeing image after image of Pinays portrayed as hypersexual beings or as shrill, dehumanized, asexual mother-figures who embarrass their children with their overblown accents and coarseness. The Filipino American community is made up of women with Filipino pride as well, yet there is little room in these videos for us to share this voice and this commitment; instead, the message we get is that we are expected to stand aside and allow ourselves to be exploited for our sexuality while the men go about making their nationalist statements.

While this may sound quite harsh, we believe it is necessary to point out that such depictions make it seem as if you are selling out Filipina women for the sake of gaining mainstream popularity within the United States. Given the already horrific representations of Filipinas all over the world as willing prostitutes, exotic dancers, or domestic servants who are available for sex with their employers, the representation of Pinays in these particular videos can only feed into such stereotypes. We also find it puzzling, given your apparent commitment to preserving the history and dignity of Filipina/os in the United States, because we assume that you also consider such stereotypes offensive toFilipino men as well as women.

Again, we want to reiterate our appreciation for the positive aspects of these videos the history lesson of the 1936 version, the commitment to community, and the effort to foster a larger awareness of Filipino America in the mainstream but we ask for your honest attempt to offer more full-spectrum representations of both Filipino men and Filipina women, now and in the future. We would not be writing this letter to you if we did not believe you could make it happen.

Respectfully,

Lucy Burns
Assistant Professor
Asian American Studies / World Arts and Cultures,
UCLA

Fritzie De Mata
Independent scholar

Diana Halog
UndergraduateUC Berkeley

Veronica Montes
Writer

Gladys Nubla
Doctoral studentEnglish, UC Berkeley

Barbara Jane Reyes
Poet and author

Joanne L. Rondilla
Doctoral candidate
Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley

Rolando B. Tolentino
Visiting Fellow, National University of Singapore
Associate Professor, University of the Philippines Film
Institute

Benito Vergara
Asian American Studies / Anthropology, San Francisco State
University

Taken from The Wily Filipino

The Soledad Brother

2006-08-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

(9/23/1941-8/21/1971)

35 years ago from this date, the state of California conducted the state sanctioned killing of political prisoner and freedom fighter, George Jackson.

George Jackson: Black Revolutionary

Remembering the Real Dragon - An Interview with George Jackson May 16 and June 29, 1971.

A Tribute to the Three Slain Brothers by George Jackson (pdf file)

Rest in Power, George Jackson.

Free Mumia Abu-Jamal. Free Leonard Peltier. Free Assata Shakur. Free the Move 9. Free Jose Maria Sison. Free all political prisoners.

"Daydreamin"

2006-08-20T23:15:00.000-07:00

Lupe Fiasco - Daydreamin feat. Jill Scott (video by way of Nah Right)

It's interesting to hear how people are really polarized in their sentiments regarding Lupe. It feels as if you either have to stress that he's either the forthcoming savior of hip-hop or you stress that he's just a highly overrated skater rapper who really isn't any good at skateboarding.

bonus mp3:
Gunter Kallman Choir - Daydream

(another) One for Dilla

2006-08-18T17:18:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned a couple posts ago, the new Roots album, entitled Game Theory, is arguably the best work that hip-hop's most prolific band have put out since Things Fall Apart. I've been able to sit with this album for nearly a month already and can still listen to it with the same joy that I was able to conjur when listening to TFA during my sophmore year of high school. While I could do another album review this week, I'd rather not. Instead, I'll do another tribute post to J Dilla inspired by the Roots' own tribute track from Game Theory, "Cant Stop This", 'cause ain't nothing ever wrong with sharing the brilliant work of James Yancey.

The Roots - Cant Stop This

Of all the intstrumentals from Donuts, it was "Time: Donut of the Heart" that struck me automatically and had me leaving the beat on repeat, reminiscing over the soundtrack of my life that J Dilla had provided for me. The use of the Jackson 5 sample is so damn infectious. So when I first listened to Game Theory, heard Black Thought say his heartfelt piece on Dilla, and then heard the beat drop for "Can't Stop This", chills hit my spine as if I felt the presence of Jay's spirit hit the room checking to make sure his beats still made heads bob.

J Dilla - Love feat. Pharoahe Monch

J Dilla's last artist-driven record,The Shining, comes out next week, August 22 (buy that shit). Love was recently released on a limited edition picture vinyl ep that will probably be going on ebay for a good price (this dude's already trying to slang his for more than $40). Unfortunately I slept on getting my own copy and damn near every spot is sold out of the ep. This cut shows us Jay and Pharoahe Monche on top of their game. This sould music does sound good.

J Dilla - Cant You See

"Can't You See" is a track off another upcoming posthumous release titled Jay Loves Japan and illustrates the versatility of Jay's capabilities are demonstrated . Reminiscent of some classic Wu bangers, this track could have easily been placed on the Ghostface's classic album, Supreme Clientele. It is a shame to know that Ghost and Jay won't be able to provide us any new collaborations, especially given how nice their tracks on Fishscale sounded.

Oh yeah, pick up Game Theory on August 29th.

Not big on dunks, but I'd rock these

2006-08-18T15:15:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Stonesthrow

KTVU, Fox, Gets Hyphy

2006-08-17T15:33:00.000-07:00

Following suit of KPIX, another Bay Area news station does a story on hyphy.

Looks like a busy week for square-bear, white kids (or middle-aged men) to get their spotlight on their connection to the movement.

When the Levees Broke

2006-08-17T11:05:00.000-07:00

When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts

As the world watched in horror, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29, 2005. Like many who watched the unfolding drama on television news, director Spike Lee was shocked not only by the scale of the disaster, but by the slow, inept and disorganized response of the emergency and recovery effort. Lee was moved to document this modern American tragedy, a morality play witnessed by people all around the world. The result is WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE: A REQUIEM IN FOUR ACTS. The film is structured in four acts, each dealing with a different aspect of the events that preceded and followed Katrina's catastrophic passage through New Orleans. Acts I and II premiere Monday, August 21 at 9pm (ET/PT), followed by Acts III and IV on Tuesday, August 22 at 9pm. All four acts will be seen Tuesday, Aug. 29 (8:00 p.m.-midnight), the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

More info...

national conspiracy against hyphy...

2006-08-16T22:00:00.000-07:00

Ghostride Authority

Yesterday Good Morning America ran a piece on ghostriding the whip. I wasn't able to catch the live broadcasting, but they have some of the footage (not sure if its the entire segment) on the website, along with an article. I'm still waiting for someone to youtube the entire segment. The piece was entitled, "New Teen Dance Craze: Ghost Riding the Whip."

What I got from the report:
-The 30 year old white dudes, from Tennessee, pictured above are the legitimate authority on ghost riding a whip.
-You can only ghost ride to "Tell Me When to Go" and anything else wouldn't be real.
-E-40 is at fault for all the ghost riding related injuries and/or deaths that have come about due to his song.
-White people ~~are stupid~~ like to appropriate things, create their own interpretations of it, and flip it into some of the stupidest shit.

Taken from the article:

A group of teens from Nashville, Tenn., who made a ghost-riding tape acknowledged that it probably wasn't that smart, but that they would do it again.

"Ghost ride was started not to see people succeed, but to see people fail," Jonathan Lovecchio said. "They want to see people run into trees, run over their foot."

Ghost riding appears to have taken off as a result of popular rapper E-40, who has a song where he repeatedly chants, "Ghost ride the whip."

"Whip" is slang for car. E-40's song is the backdrop for many of the ghost-riding videos on the Web.

"We would have never done this without the song that we were playing," Lovecchio said. "If you don't play that song, you are not a ghost rider."

Honestly, who wrote this shit?

Also, according the Pack's website, MTV has banned their video for "Vans". I'm not sure what the deal is with this, but from what I've seen, it looks like the Vans company hasn't really had any problems with the song. It also appeared as though the company and the group had some sort of sponsorship argeement set in place. There really isn't anything too objectionable in the video, other than the product placement, that would deem it to be too explicit for television. So might MTV's decision to ban the video be due to free advertisement for Vans? But if it does have to do with advertisement, what about "Pass the Courvosier", "Air Force 1's," or "Holiday Inn"?*

I smell an anti-Bay Area bias going on with the media.

*So here's a better run down of what really went down with the banned Pack video.

Washington's Interest in Israel's War

2006-08-15T09:47:00.000-07:00

Seymour Hersh, best known for uncovering the My Lai Massacre during Vietnam, published a new investigative piece for the New Yorker charging the Bush administration to have ulterior motives in supporting Israel's attack on Hezbollah, most notably a pre-emption for a strike against Iran. I meant to post this story yesterday, but I believe its still important enough to put up for those that still haven't had an opportunity to read it.

"Annals of National Security" by Seymour M. Hersh

In the days after Hezbollah crossed from Lebanon into Israel, on July 12th, to kidnap two soldiers, triggering an Israeli air attack on Lebanon and a full-scale war, the Bush Administration seemed strangely passive. “It’s a moment of clarification,” President George W. Bush said at the G-8 summit, in St. Petersburg, on July 16th. “It’s now become clear why we don’t have peace in the Middle East.” He described the relationship between Hezbollah and its supporters in Iran and Syria as one of the “root causes of instability,” and subsequently said that it was up to those countries to end the crisis. Two days later, despite calls from several governments for the United States to take the lead in negotiations to end the fighting, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that a ceasefire should be put off until “the conditions are conducive.”

The Bush Administration, however, was closely involved in the planning of Israel’s retaliatory attacks. President Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney were convinced, current and former intelligence and diplomatic officials told me, that a successful Israeli Air Force bombing campaign against Hezbollah’s heavily fortified underground-missile and command-and-control complexes in Lebanon could ease Israel’s security concerns and also serve as a prelude to a potential American preëmptive attack to destroy Iran’s nuclear installations, some of which are also buried deep underground.

Israeli military and intelligence experts I spoke to emphasized that the country’s immediate security issues were reason enough to confront Hezbollah, regardless of what the Bush Administration wanted. Shabtai Shavit, a national-security adviser to the Knesset who headed the Mossad, Israel’s foreign-intelligence service, from 1989 to 1996, told me, “We do what we think is best for us, and if it happens to meet America’s requirements, that’s just part of a relationship between two friends. Hezbollah is armed to the teeth and trained in the most advanced technology of guerrilla warfare. It was just a matter of time. We had to address it.”

Continue Reading...

"Idlewild" reflections

2006-08-15T00:54:00.000-07:00

I consider myself a huge Outkast fan (with them coming a very close second to ATCQ as my favorite hip-hop group), but after listening to the new album/soundtrack, I would have to say my sentiments regarding Idlewild fall pretty close to Tom Brehain's (although I enjoyed The Love Below).

After hearing that they would indeed be releasing a follow up to their last effort (which cannot be legitimately called a real Outkast album), I was actually anxiously waiting to hear what new shit they'd be bringing. My hopes would be that this would be the hip-hop album to look for come summer time. Mighty O was leaked/released, and the first thought that came to me was, "Fuck yeah, Dre is actually rapping." And then came Morris Brown (I dug it) , then Idlewild Blues (eh), and then half the album became readily available to anyone that frequents various hip-hop blogs. I became greatly disgusted by the high expectations that I placed Outkast, and am now with the consensus out there thats pleading with Andre to stop his poor excuse of a Prince impersonation.

I was one of those fans that dismissed the cries for Outkast's return back to that Southern ATL slumpish style as conservative calls for their music to be non-progressive. One thing that I have always appreciated from the duo has been their progression with each new album. Though it appears over time that they chose to create and abuse a formula for what they had been doing. Folks can blame Badu for Andre's transformation, but Common was able to make Be after the release of Electric Circus. Thus, I see what has happened to Outkast as more of a conforming to non-conformity attitude towards making music.

Don't get it all twisted though, there were a few enjoyable selections in Idlewild, particularly Big Boi's contributions. Whenever Dre is able to drop a verse, its almost always pleasurable. Atleast half of the album is listenable. My personal favorites include: Mighty-O, Morris Brown, N2U, In Your Dreams, and my personal favorite, Hollywood Divorce. Hollywood Divorce is easily the best track out of the entire album, though controversey is rife in the song with folks claiming Lil' Weezy used a ghost-writer.

Its all good though, I'm just a single blogger... Just because I don't like something, it don't mean that I'm hating. And Big Boi and Andre have nothing to worry about because they've reached a point that only a select few in the music industry (and even less in hip-hop) ever reach. They can take a shit on a record, call it experimentation, and every hipster out there that doesn't listen to hip-hop, except for Outkast and maybe Kanye West, will go out and buy the album the day it comes it.

Alls not lost with summer 2006 hip-hop music though, there is still Game Theory, which is is arguably the best Roots release since Things Fall Apart.

Manifest Destiny Trail

2006-08-14T21:08:00.000-07:00

You can take your Sims, Counterstrike, or whatever fuckin games computer geeks play nowadays, its all about the classics. And this site has all the games that let those of us in the Apple II generation relive our days in the computer lab at elementary school.

Virtual Apple has to be the greatest thing on the internet for nostalgists since Retrojunk.

If by having played these games and remembering what an Apple IIE looked like, would it be characteristic of a non-80's baby?

Before the Music Dies

2006-08-10T11:35:00.000-07:00

Taken from the website:

With outstanding performances and revealing interviews, Before the Music Dies takes a critical and comedic look at the homogenization of popular music with commentary by some of the industry's biggest talent such as Erykah Badu, Branford Marsalis, Dave Matthews, Elvis Costello, Bonnie Raitt, Questlove (from hiphop group the Roots), and many more. Using historic footage the film looks at the evolution of American music and the artists who created it and pulls back the curtain (in a very creative way) to expose the sad truth behind today's "artificial" music stars.

Work Break - 8.8.2006

2006-08-08T10:43:00.000-07:00

I hope he didn't get that shirt from AC the PD

The Pack's "Vans" video is finally here (youtube clip now up)

Eric K Arnold traces back the history of rap's pimpology roots.

Rock the Bells reviews: So-Cal and Nor-Cal

Damn... Del's got problems... no wonder he's always out of it during his performances.

It was about time somebody made use of the soundbite that showed everybody just how powerful a Youtube clip could be:

Killer Mike - The Juggernaut (via FiftyOne:FiftyOne)

So when's the new Killer Mike coming out? This dude is another truthspeaker. Its actually refreshing to start hearing more and more rappers speaking, hopefully its not just a trend with only a few folks.

At work, all I listen to is NPR (via KPBS), KPFA, and podcasts of Mistah FAB's Yellow Bus Radio... check out his interviews with Husalah, Yukmouth and E-40.

"Too $hort was a movement"

2006-08-07T16:27:00.000-07:00

Davey D conducted an interesting interview with Too $hort last Friday on Hard Knock Radio. Short Dogg speaks on his own contributions to the Bay Area rap game, his relationship with 2Pac, thoughts on backpack rap and rappers, the legacy of other Bay artists, the emergence of the "West Coast sound", and more.

Listen to the entire interview.

Since we're on the topic of a rapper from the City of Dope, the good folks at Oh Word killed it last week with their week long salute to crack. In case you missed it.

c'mon, america... i thought i had more faith in you

2006-08-07T16:13:00.000-07:00

I guess I was wrong. Have half of America been keeping their heads buried? I suppose it shows us that 50% of America only watches Fox News. So much for an informed public.

Half of U.S. still believes Iraq had WMD

Pacquiao entering the political ring?

2006-08-07T00:11:00.000-07:00

What did I say?

Manny Pacquiao, the other day, admitted that he needs to think twice or thrice whether he would make the big jump from the boxing ring to the political arena next year.

"I really need to think about it. But as of now, I haven’t made a decision yet," said Pacquiao, who arrived in Manila last Friday after spending a week with his family in Gen. Santos City.

Talks about Pacquiao’s possible retirement from boxing, and his plans to run for vice mayor of Manila in May 2007 moved around town Thursday, creating excitement for some and apprehension for others.

Fanning the reports about Pacquiao’s political plans was his filing of a transfer of residency from Gen. Santos City to Manila where he owns a condominium unit.

Pacquiao quietly went to the Commission on Elections office July 5 to file the transfer of his residency. Ali Atienza, son of Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, accompanied the boxer to the Comelec.

If he runs, it’s almost impossible for Pacquiao to lose.

Continue reading

I really am unsure about what political ideals Pacquiao has, but let's just hope he's not another Joseph Estrada or Fernando Poe Jr. Also, I still have yet to see or hear about him publicly criticize GMA for her own corruption charges and her abuse of human rights, so unless he becomes all Muhammad Ali of Philippine boxing on us, I'll hold on to my hesitation in supporting his political endeavors.

Got my Furls on but they look like sneakers

2006-08-05T13:29:00.000-07:00

Mac Dre - Furls #1

Phili Fili Pilipino...

2006-08-04T20:20:00.000-07:00

BEP collaborated with the folks at Xylophone Films to make not one but two videos for their song "Bebot". The videos attempt to show different generations of Pilipino-Americans. The first one is set in 1930's Stockton, showing the farm working "Manong" generation doing their thing. The second video is on some house party/bbq with a bunch of Pilipinos tip, with a stereotypical Pilipino mom in the mix. Hella Pilipino "celebrity" cameos. Check the Kid Heroes website for more info on it.

I was and still am very reluctant to post this video just due to the fact that I have my own personal gripe with Black Eyed Peas ("sell out"/"fell offs" are just too elementary of terms to use). Not to mention, the song is cheesy as hell. But due to the fact that I know they funded the video themselves and are doing it out for the Pilipino-American community, I can't hate on them too much. Oh yeah, they got Native Guns in the video, make sure to pick up their new album "Barrel Men," its dope.

Also keep your eyes open for Charmaine Star and Nump.

Here's Generation 1:

And Generation 2:

The Forgotten Veterans

2006-08-04T13:29:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine, Marnette, wrote a piece, for VoiceofSanDiego.org, on the continual struggle of Pilipino-American veterans fighting to recieve recognition for the sacrifices that they had offered the United States during WWII.

Peep it:

The Forgotten Veterans
By MARNETTE FEDERIS Voice Staff Writer

Friday, Aug. 4, 2006 On assigned days, Joe Esloa is in charge of unlocking the Filipino American Senior Citizens office at a senior center in Mira Mesa. He looks on at a small group practicing traditional folk dances in another room, and laughs as he remembers the days when he too would dance.

"But not any anymore, I’m a little too old," Esloa said in his native Tagalog.

When Esloa was still young enough to dance, he kept his legs busy during World War II, hauling fish and salt to the mountains near his town in the Philippines. He was the supplier for guerilla groups fighting against the Japanese, who had occupied the entire country.

After the war, Esloa joined the New Philippine Scouts, a unit working with the U.S. Armed Forces. Members were trained for combat, but their focus was on rebuilding in the Philippines and Japan, which were destroyed during the war. Esloa remembers constructing bridges and other structures in Okinawa until the Scouts was dissolved in 1949.

"Training wasn’t so bad," he said. "You learn discipline and love of the country."

There are many veterans like Esloa who gather at senior centers and community meeting places around San Diego, sharing war stories and battle scars. But amidst the chatter at the senior center in Mira Mesa, there a unique element: the uncertainty of the actual status of these men. They've never been recognized by the U.S. government as veterans of World War II. They talk about disability claims that have not been approved, visa petitions for adult sons and daughters still in the Philippines, and friends who have recently passed on without the full benefits once promised to them.