In spite of this picture, the most important thing to remember today is that Obama is not alone. We cannot expect him to solve all our problems and make the world a better place without buying into his vision ourselves. As he’s mentioned numerous times, “be the change you want to see in the world.”
If you want things to be better in your life, in your family, in your neighborhood, in your country, or in the world, you have to take responsibility. Be smart. Be positive. Be caring and be there for other people. We can do this, but we have to pull together and demand the best from ourselves and each other.
With the latest video off Buff1’s excellent There’s Only One album, Buff took it to the streets, literally, and put his money where his mouth is by putting food where theirs are. Great stuff from one of my favorite MC’s and one of the nicer dudes I’ve worked with in the industry. Shout to Buff and the whole AML & A-Side families.
Seeing a video like this reminds me of all this f**kery we’ve been dealing with here in the Seattle hip-hop community in the wake of the tragedy at Chop Suey last week. If you’re unaware, you can read the basic details here.
I don’t really feel like writing an entire essay on the issue, but one of my biggest problems with the aftermath has been how people within our community have handled it. I know every hip-hop head is used to defending the culture from the moronic comments and accusations that pour in after any violent incident (in this case, from the Slog comments), so we’re automatically programmed to respond in the usual fashion: it’s not hip-hop, it’s society.
Yes, completely true. Absolutely. Problems like this are indeed a reflection of the worst aspects of our society, and the blame can be spread out to every participating member…from gang member up to President. I agree with this.
My problem is that many of us in the hip-hop community, myself included…at times, don’t react strongly enough against the negative parts of our own culture. We know damn well that when artists are presenting themselves as ‘uber-gangsters’, it directly affects us, especially the next generation. There’s a difference between rapping about the violence you see in your hood and glorifying it. There are far too many artists, in every scene around the country, glorifying ignorance, stupidity, violence, misogyny, homophobia, and countless other negative traits. Aside from the fact that 80% of the music is straight trash from a quality standpoint, we do ourselves a disservice when we condone this.
As a listener, participant, and DJ in this culture, my tastes have changed over the years, and quite frankly, at 26, I’m too old for this. I’ve been doing my best to showcase the positive side of hip-hop since I started college radio in 2000 and every year, I’ve taken that more and more seriously. As we enter 2009, I’ve been a DJ for almost a decade now and we’re in our 4th year of Sound Session on KUBE, a 100K-watt Clear Channel station. Think about the reach we have each week. I’ve always strived to provide quality music on my shows, mixtapes, and now blog posts, but that’s just not enough anymore.
I need quality music and quality messages. I need quality artists and quality people.
I’m going to hold myself to a higher standard in 2009 and beyond, and I hope other members of our community do the same. Remember what Barack said? “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Every day that I get older, I think more and more about life as a whole and what I want for this world, specifically the next generation. I can’t imagine having a kid and trying to explain to him why we allow these morons to pollute our culture.
Outsiders know they’re wack. Outsiders know they’re stupid. We know they’re wack. We know they’re stupid. Why do we condone it?
Improve yourself this year and demand better from everyone around you. I’m not religious in the least (I’m spiritual, big difference), but it’s true: “do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” Help people. Get involved. Make a difference. It doesn’t have to be something huge, just make an effort and you’ll be amazed how quickly things will change.
Buff bought some sandwiches. Maybe you can do the same the next time you see someone homeless asking for some change. Better yet, go mentor a kid from a troubled neighborhood. Teach him how to fish. Feed him for a lifetime. You’ll see your perspective change.
I promise to step it up this year too, but not in that played out “grind” sense. Who cares if you “get on your grind” in 2009 and become a better artist/DJ/writer/athlete/etc.? Be a better person.
What can I say…I was bored and needed to get out of the house. Seeing as how its been snowing for 10+ hours now and the roads are completely covered, I’m guessing there won’t be an episode of Sound Session tonight. I’m hoping to have some cool stuff to post up in the next few days to make it up to y’all. We’ll see.
(Pardon the language, but I never did get the chance to use one of my favorite pics of the year)
Alright, there are two things that are slightly bugging me right now, at least enough that I felt the urge to blog ’em. Welcome to the rant.
Issue #1: The buzz around the net about the new Common album is off the charts. Unfortunately, I’m seeing damn near nothing but negative reviews. What album are y’all listening to? You really wanted him to make a 3rd album in a row that sounded pretty much the same? Eff y’all, Universal Mind Control is heat. My dude Dru suggested I do some reviews every now and then, but working 2.5 jobs kinda kills that. Here’s my track by track faux review:
“Universal Mind Control” – you’ve heard this. Either you like it or you hate it. If you’re fun, you like it, it’s your jam when you hear it in public, and you can’t let it finish without attempting some horrible popping and locking. If you don’t like it, your Jansport might be too tight.
“Punch Drunk Love” – Dope. Kanye + Skateboard + Com? Say no more. “Am I crazy”?
“Make My Day” – Love this record. So bouncy, so melodic. [Thugnificent] stop hatin’, get money [/Boondocks].
“Sex 4 Sugar” – Fair enough, swing and a miss.
“Announcement” – Nice ode to Biggie and P kills his verse. Nobody at Geffen/Interscope will tell me why they pulled the video down, so I’ll have to ask Com on the 13th. The animation was dope.
“Gladiator” – FLAMES. Hard ass beat, crazy horn sample, classic Com battle rhymes. Absolutely insane in concert too. “Are you not entertained?”
“Changes” – Good positive joint inspired by the late stages of Barack’s candidacy. Would fit right in on Be or Finding Forever.
“Inhale” – Smooth. Crazy synth and percussion. Ill record.
“What A World” – Com kills it with the old school flow and them Chester French boys add some Freddie Mercury-esque swag. All that’s missing from the beat is Pharrell’s “sexy breath” style adlib in between the hook and verses. Could easily be a Kenna song…and that’s a good thing.
“Everywhere” – Reminds me of the new Foreign Exchange record. Great way to end it, but I would have let this one ride out for like 8 minutes and let the beat/melodies go crazy.
So look. 9/10 songs are good and one isn’t. That’s 90%…that’s a A-. You messageboarders, bloggers, and Debbie Downers in general need to calm down. If you want to hear Resurrection again, go put in your CD.
*bangs gavel*
Issue #2: The political pundits (worth about as much as hip-hop pundits) are getting all worked up because Barack has been hiring people associated with both the Clinton and Bush administrations, and they’re wondering what happened to “change.” First off, the people he’s picking are very qualified and are all excellent choices. Secondly, these people are respected across party lines, which was a huge theme of Barack’s campaign. When I worked for them, the official mantra was “respect, empower, include.” You can’t change things for the better when you alienate half the people in the country. This is the beginning of a new way of politics, perhaps not ‘post-partisan’, but moving towards that. And it’s certainly a HUGE ‘change’ from Dubya’s (mis)management style.
Thirdly, Barack has been set up for these attacks since day one. Regardless of what he does, people will try to criticize him because they are, rightly so, fed up with government. However, let’s not forget how we got here and who was at the helm. We’re at the lowest point in American history since the Great Depression. Literally every day for the past 2 weeks I’ve heard of either personal friends losing their jobs or seen large business make massive cuts. Finally, at the first of the month, CNN sent out the hilariously titled “breaking news” that we were in a recession since last December. Thanks for the update fellas.
If Barack picked a team of brand new faces, he would be ridiculed for selecting unknown commodities when we’re in such dire straits. When he picks a balanced and diverse group of accomplished and, gasp, intelligent appointees, people flip because they aren’t “change-y” enough. Miss me with that, please. Anyone want to let these people actually get in office for…I dunno…a week…before trying to tear them down? Barack’s not going to be able to fix things completely in 4 full years and you already want him solving the world’s economic crisis 2 months before he’s sworn in? Wow. We really do live in an “instant gratification” culture. Speaking of which…
*pops dinner in microwave*
Ok, I should wrap up this rant. Before I do though, I need all you conservatives, particularly the bombastic, comically dimwitted talking heads on the “news” to do one thing. Shut. the hell. up.
Really now, these people shouldn’t even be allowed to speak about issues. You lost your rights when you voted for George Bush. TWICE! This is like getting driving erratically and crashing your car, only to tell the ambulance driver to be more careful as he’s taking you to the hospital. No. You can’t say anything right now. Just sit in the back and let the adults try to fix the problems you created.
If your beliefs and policies have brought America to its knees, I refuse to sit there and let you talk about what ANYONE should be doing. Do you let Shaq coach your free throw technique? Do you let Soulja Boy help you with your bars? Do you let Chris Webber handle your clock management down the stretch in a NCAA Championship game (still bitter)? NO! So why listen to former Bush sycophants whine about what we should do to fix any of the myriad of problems they helped create. Like George himself said:
Don’t get fooled. These people have no ground to stand on.
Anyone who knows me in person knows that I’ve been talking about this for a while. As a media studies major, it’s hilarious to watch how predictable the media has become, on both sides. Every time you think it can’t get any worse, an agency like Fox News stoops to new mindblowingly low levels of journalistic integrity. They literally write the headlines they want to see and then just report them, regardless of what actually happened. It’s often said that “history is written by the victor,” and while that will always be true, we now have another form of manipulation blending the lines between fact and fiction.
If I can dictate what happens tomorrow, I don’t have to do anything today. I just make it so. Scary.
By the way, the hour of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report is by far the best thing on television. If you’re not watching these programs on a nightly basis, you’re missing out on the smartest humor out there. I pity the fool.
I wanted to post this a few days ago when Jay Smooth initially tossed it up, but [Inspectah Deck] life is hectic [/Deck]. It’s a pretty interesting take on an old subject. Peep it. Of course you can also just hit people with the classic:
Is it wrong that this kinda gave me goosebumps? Not to get too cheesy, but this video that a Seattle-ite named Matt Harding put together is not only dope visually, but also shows how small the world really is. We’re all basically the same.
After being convinced to do a silly dance in front of the camera on one of his vacations, Matt decided to start doing it every place he went. Soon, Stride Gum heard of the story and started financing all his trips, and this video is the end result. Makes me want to travel. I think my next adventure is going to be a Japan/China/Australia trip next year. Time to start planning.
Peep more dope shots from Craig Wetherby here. Seattle people might still be able to see them displayed over at Goods, where they had a nice exhibit about a month ago. Not sure if they’re still up though. Either way, get familiar with Craig. Dude is nice with it.
