Hot EMUSIC Tracks 2007

This might well be my last post for the year 2007. Below is a list of my 40 favorite tracks that I downloaded off EMUSIC. This list includes Hip Hop, R&B, Chicano rap, and Hip Hop from other countries. Most of the albums the songs were on were released in 2007, and a few (like Madlib) were released in 2006, but I downloaded them all last year. Where I could, I put the name of the song, the artist, and the name of the album the song is on. Check them out,search for them on the site, download them.

Aduna Bi - Adama- Nomadic Wax -African Underground: The Depths of Dakar
African Rhythms (Remix) -Blind Alphabetz-Luvolution
Amerikan Gangster (featuring e.infinite)-Public Enemy-How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul?
Ari Ari (Rock) - Bombay Rockers, Overseas-Bombay Rockers Crash & Burn
Belly Of The Beast-The Lords of the Underground-House of
Change-Blind Alphabetz-Luvolution
Cry Me a River-Diomay-French Dirty South Mixtape
Did What We Had To Do (Clean)-Statik Selektah-No Holding Back
Don't Watch TV All Day (test) -SIAFU (Infinito 2017 and Thaione Davis)-Morning of the Conquest
Fear Don't Live Here (Mixtape mix) -Molemen-The Biz Mixtape
Hail Mary 2006 -King Kan-Hail Mary 2006
Half a Chance (feat. Chino) -Angie Stone-The Art of Love & War
Inner G Feat. Ras Kass, Canibus & Kurupt-Killah Priest
It Lives On-Shape Of Broad Minds-Craft Of The Lost
Just a Lowride-Cuete-Heat Under the Seat
Keep on Callin' (feat. Akon) -Joell Ortiz-The Brick
Mein Sound- Fler-Various Artists-Wir nehmen auch Euro
Mii Hood (Remix) -AUBURN-Same GiiRL
New Bombay-Madlib-Beat Konducta Vol. 3 & 4: In India
Pick-a-Part-Aceyalone, Jah Orah-Aceyalone- Lightning Strikes (Non-Explicit)
Primetime-Blitzkrieg & Tigerstyle-Blitzkrieg-The Rhyme Book
Rising To The Top-KRS-One & Marley Marl
Sensi Party-Wise Intelligent-The Talented Timothy Taylor
Smithereens-El-P-I'll Sleep When You're Dead
Smoke If You Got 'um-Aesop Rock, Rob Sonic-Rob Sonic-Sabotage
Spit It Clearly-Dilated Peoples, The Alchemist-Dilated Peoples-The Release Party
Spread The Word-Young Sicc-Spread The Word
Survivor-40 Cal feat. Akon-Survivor
Sympathy-Gmf -Grand Mother's Funck-At The Funckyard
The Ultimate-Boombox ATX- Feel The Boombox
Toppa Di list-Sean Paul & Wyclef Jean-Various Artists-Sidewalk
Trilla - Gorilla Zoe feat. Rick Ross-Gorilla Zoe-Hood Nigga Diaries
Veni Vidi Vici-Diamond Diggy feat. Donat-Diamond Diggy-Veni Vidi Vici
Vibe-Dogg Pound feat.Snoop Dogg Tha Dogg Pound-Dogg Chit
Wait On Me-Guru feat.Raheem DeVaughn Guru-Jazzmatazz 4 The Hip Hop Jazz Messenger "Back To The Future"
Werd Up!-Willis-Various Artists - Ubiquity- Rewind! 4
White Kids Aren't Hyphy-MC Lars-White Kids Aren't Hyphy
Who Am I?- Da Truth feat. Tye Tribbett-Da Truth-Open Book
Who Discovered It?-Flocabulary-Hip-Hop U.S. History

Happy New Year everybody!

RIP PIMP C


Damn...I had to just think this one through a bit. I can't believe it happened. My condolences to his family and friends.....Beats and Rants has a bio, and TMZ has the full story.

WILD STYLE,THE 25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION OUT NOW!!‏


Filming on location in the South Bronx in 1982, director Charlie Ahearn captured a rare look at the true origins of hip-hop culture with his groundbreaking film WILD STYLE. Featuring appearances by such legendary and influential old-school giants as Grandmaster Flash, Fab 5 Freddy, Cold Crush Brothers, Rock Steady Crew and Chief Rocker Busy Bee, this groundbreaking film is recognized worldwide as the premier hip-hop film and was inducted by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the 10 best rock 'n' roll movies of all time. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of this captivating time capsule, Rhino will release a special edition of the DVD expanded with new extras including a mini documentary, footage of a 20th anniversary concert, interviews and unreleased photos. WILD STYLE will be available October 23 at all retail outlets and www.rhino.com for a suggested retail price of $14.95.

The DVD contains a digital transfer from the original 16mm film with commentary by director Ahearn and Fab 5 Freddy. Several extras debut on the special anniversary edition of WILD STYLE including a mini documentary featuring interviews with Fab 5 Freddy, Lee Quinones, Busy Bee, Lady Pink and Ahearn plus footage from the 20th anniversary concert held at the original amphitheater, a "Bongo Barbershop" DJ battle in the Bronx featuring Grand Master Caz, a new musical short with Busy Bee titled "Busy On The Beach," scenes from the 25th Anniversary Wild Style Reunion Show and an expanded gallery with unreleased photos.

The film follows the exploits of maverick tagger Zoro (real life graffiti artist Lee Quinones), whose work attracts the attention of an East Village art fancier (Patti Astor) and is commissioned to paint the stage for a giant Rapper's Convention. An authentic documentation of the early days of hip-hop in the boroughs of New York, everything in WILD STYLE is real -- the story, style, characters, and most of the actors, are drawn from the community.

The film shows many early hip-hop personalities in action before they went on to acquire national acclaim. Chief among these is Fab 5 Freddy, who hosted Yo! MTV Raps from its inception and plays the brash rap promoter Phade in the movie. Producer/director/writer Ahearn credits Freddy for the film's vision of hip-hop as a unified culture. WILD STYLE may not have been the first movie featuring rappers, but was the first to link graffiti, break dancing, DJing and document the birth of hip-hop nation.

DVD EXTRAS:
A documentary short featuring footage from the 20th Anniversary concert and
new interviews with: Fab 5 Freddy, Busy Bee, Lady Pink, Charlie Ahearn
Bongo Barbershop featuring Grandmaster Caz
Busy Bee interview
Expanded gallery with unreleased photos

Rolling Stone has Wild Style as the #7 music video of all time on their website.

Check out the official website for Wild Style, the movie!

Quote of the day!

"You cannot make a powerful Afro American culture if you're going to base it on what hustlers and pimps think about the world."

-The Source 12/90 pg.39

Sexy rap videos suspected to be damaging to young girls

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Watching rap music videos that are overly sexy and violent can lead to alcohol abuse and promiscuity among young black girls, according to a study into sexual stereotypes in rap music footage.

The research was based on a survey of 522 African-American girls aged 14 to 18 who were asked how often they watched rap videos, questioned about their sex lives and asked to provide a urine sample for a marijuana screening.

U.S. researchers found young black girls who spent more time watching rap music videos were more likely to binge drink, have sex with multiple partners, test positive for marijuana and have a negative body image.

Check it out on Reuters and EVIP List

The 'ideals' of thug culture are destroying black Americans

Somewhere along the way, a cadre of young black men and women began glorifying violence, misogyny and thuggishness, accepting incarceration as inevitable, resigning themselves to lives on the margins of mainstream society. They created a thug culture that has been commodified — celebrated in music and movies, sold to poor adolescents in wretched neighborhoods as well as affluent teenagers in upscale communities.

Check out the rest in the ATL Journal

Lupe Fiasco:Hip Hop 101?

On the one hand, I sometimes find it funny how people obsess over trivial stuff like Lupe Fiasco messing up one line from Electric Relaxation in the VH1 Hip Hop Honors show honoring Tribe Called Quest.

On the other hand, I find it strange that Lupe's, who grew up listening to gangsta and dirty south rappers, became more of an artist like Tribe Called Quest and not the gangsta rappers he grew up listening to. Strange.

Hip Hop DX:"*Update* Lupe Fiasco Clears The Air On Hip Hop Honors

Happy Birthday to the Black Panther Party!



The core of the organization at its inception in 1966 were close friends Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, and Richard Aoki in the city of Oakland, California. The three had been witness to a radical ferment in the Bay Area and the United States, taking part in protests against the Vietnam War and having an interest in the American Civil Rights Movement.

Like many people of color of their generation, Newton and Seale had been frustrated by the doctrine of nonviolence as espoused by mainstream civil rights leaders such as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as the inaction of the white-dominated radical groups. They looked instead to the black nationalism of Malcolm X as well as the discipline shown by its paramilitary organization, Fruit of Islam. They also looked to proponents of armed self-defense within the civil rights movement, such as the Deacons for Defense and Justice as well as exiled former NAACP chapter president Robert F. Williams for example, and they were particularly inspired by Williams's book Negroes with Guns.

Contemporaneous to this rise in America's domestic radicalism was an interest in Marxist-Leninist Third World liberation movements, across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Seale, Newton, and Aoki held a great interest in the philosophies and writings of Mao Tse-Tung, Ho Chi Minh, Frantz Fanon, Che Guevara, and Steve Biko.

After doing a stint in prison for assault, Huey Newton returned to the campus of Oakland City College where he had matriculated. He became fed up with the intertia of the Afro-American Association, the student group to which he and Seale belonged. Seale and Newton discussed the need for militancy in the face of an oppressive system. The two came to an agreement over the specifics, and the 10 Point Program and Platform was born. Continued on Experience Festival!

The great hip hop debates


This week was a week of the great hip hop debates. First, there was the special Hip Hop vs. America, and then there was also the Congressional Hearing on hip hop. I haven't had a chance to see the BET special; its on the BET website. I did see the Congressional hearing on hip hop, which though it didnt accomplish much, was very interesting.

One thing about these debates was two artists who were prominent in the debates; Master P and David Banner. Master P has been written off by alot of writers who want to prove how "down" they are as somebody who is more or less irrelevant and washed up. However, in the Congressional hearing I did like how he emphasized that all the music he put out in the past that was negative he was sorry for; he realizes the responsibility he has as an artist. Though his popularity is questionable, I think that he is by default the only person who could represent his stance; I dont really hear or see any other artists making such a claim. Good for him.

David Banner was also at the Congressional Hearing and I thought he represented really well. He's at the forefront now of the "Dirty South" music scene, and he is known for straight strip club music, songs like "Like A Pimp" and "Play". I say that he is known for that; you'd have to hear all his music to know what he's about; he does note the conflicts of his genre in some of his songs. These conflicts came out in his testimony; that of commerce vs. positivity.

Many of the politicians were very judgemental of David Banner; its like they want so badly for him to put out a "positive message", but then he tried to say that he's got pressure from his fans, record execs, and then there is the issue of making money. The politicians I feel needed to get off their high horses, after all, they can be brought like David Banner can be brought; and their actions are far from clean, as much as David Banners actions are far from clean.

Though David Banner's music may leave much to be desired morally, I really dont think its the politician's place to urge David to make "positive" music. Dave made a good point,clean the streets and we will make clean music. But the moral conflicts that affect David Banner's choice of the music he makes are no different than the moral conflicts that pervade the politicians and their choices.

Whatever the solution to the "problem" of hip hop lyrics, what I took away from this long and drawn out hearing is that though there are lots of interesting and colorful theories and opinions that hip hop feminists, conservatives, intellectuals and psychologists can bring to the table, there simply isn't and will never be a political solution to this issue. These politicians have no place in dictating or influencing culture. Period.

Hip Hop Activist Beat Down By Police on Capitol Hill



Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., president of the Hip Hop Caucus, was attacked by six capitol police yesterday, when he was stopped from entering the Cannon Caucus Room on Capitol Hill, where General Petraeus gave testimony today to a joint hearing for the House Arms Services Committee and Foreign Relations Committee on the war in Iraq.

After waiting in line throughout the morning for the hearing that was scheduled to start at 12:30pm, Rev. Yearwood was stopped from entering the room, while others behind him were allowed to enter. He told the officers who were blocking his ability to enter the room, that he was waiting in line with everyone else and had the right to enter as well.

When they threatened him with arrest he responded with "I will not be arrested today." According to witnesses, six capitol police, without warning, "football tackled" him. He was carried off in a wheel chair by DC Fire and Emergency to George Washington Hospital.

Rev. Yearwood said, as he was being released from the hospital to be taken to central booking, "The officers decided I was not going to get in Gen. Petraeus' hearing when they saw my button, which says 'I LOVE THE PEOPLE OF IRAQ.'"

Rev. Yearwood is expected to be charged with Assaulting a Police Officer this afternoon.

Stay tuned for more on how this case plays out. All we can say is, is this really what democracy looks like?

For Future Generations,
The Hip Hop Caucus

Thanks to Davy D for getting this out!

Jay Eff Kay-America Suicide Notes Vol 1

Political and "experimental" rap is not easy to pull off. Wise Intelligent and Public Enemy do it well with their firm black radical/Nation of Islam/5% beliefs. Other rappers like Talib Kweli and Mos Def are political but don’t put their music out in such a way that makes you think they are. The problem with political rap is that it can be boring. Hip Hoppers don’t like to be preached to, and its like pulling teeth to really get something like voting or protesting done if the audience doesn’t give a damn in the first place. Back in like the early 90’s or so there were groups like The Consolidated, The Goats and the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, which put out good albums and did good shows, but they produced nothing more than a collective yawn from hip hoppers. The reason they were not successful was not that the music wasn’t good, it was just too serious, and nobody but a very small audience cared. Presentation is everything, and rapper Jay Eff Kay raps and reflects on politics and life in the crazy suburbs and shows and proves that you don’t have to be from the hood to be wild and crazy; Middle America is crazy enough!

Jay Eff Kay is wild, and he’s what I would describe as Eminem if he only had a brain! When I heard Eminem’s song “Mosh”, hyped up to be such a political song because it was anti-Bush and was supposed to coincide with the 2004 presidential election, I was disappointed by how mediocore it was! Jay is somebody who did everything he thought he was supposed to do. He went to college, got a job, but then he got fed up and decided to rap. Jay had a high paying job too, but rather than beating the crap out of his boss, he uses music to unleash all his rage that experience produced. He can talk political, but Jay doesn’t just talk politics. His album is divided into the 3 acts: the superego, in which he talks about politics and current events; the ego, which has some personal reflection on who he is and where he’s been, and the id in which he goes wild with songs about sex and wanton violence.

Jay Eff Kay has metaphors and tons of punchlines and a wicked sense of humor. I’ve listened to tons of MC’s, but Jay is one of the rare instances of a rapper so in tune to current events, who can spit it all out in one song and make it sound interesting. He touches on the religious right, immigration, Amy Fisher, Facebook, paranoia in the age of terror, and everything that defines living in post 9/11 America. My favorite song has to be one called “Den of Rats”, in which Jay raps about the corporate takeover of the world. He makes the point that the political parties are all the same and they are owned by the same companies and people. Though I like everything Jay raps about, the music is good but the production is alright. With every change from id to ego to superego, the music changes and fits his every mood.

There’s an audience for this music, and if given a chance this album could do really well. For anybody who’s ever been pissed off at the system, or anybody who’s pissed about everything going on in the world today, this is for you. Vulgar, cynical and sarcastic, this is good music.

Check Jay out on his website. He's also on Myspace!

Jay Eff Kay at The Tank, NYC

Public Enemy:How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul?

I think it’s the truest thing to say that this hip hop generation, which was born when Public Enemy first came out in 1987, looks at Public Enemy the way that people my age (I started college when PE’s second album came out) used to look at the Last Poets. Despite Flavor Flav and his antics on the VH1 channel, I think the kids today would listen to PE and have that reaction when I first heard the Last Poets and think “What Is This?” I couldn’t accept this brand of rap at first even though it was a major influence on Public Enemy and many other artists of the time. Rap has changed in many ways, but when you listen to this album you realize that Public Enemy has not changed.

I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. I started listening to Public Enemy back in 1987 when their classic album Yo! Bum Rush The Show came out. At the time, this album and the group was the cutting edge of hip hop. Chuck D is quick to remind people on this album that they have been 20 years in the game. In 1988 they dropped the bomb on the Hip Hop nation, “It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back”. This was hands down the most influential record in rap history. So much changed after this record came out, and it ended a lot of careers of artists who came before. Of course I had to buy “Fear Of A Black Planet” the day it came out. That was in 1990, and I remember they did a memorable concert that year for the Howard University Homecoming.

Then along the way PE started trying to “expand” their audience. They had always put rock music in their music like Chuck D’s favorite rap group RUN DMC, but with the record Apocalypse ’91, they took things to a whole other level. I like rock music, but I think going on tour with Anthrax was okay, but they just got swept up in all the commercialism that went with that. Also, the crowd that liked PE started to change, and a bunch of people wearing “X” caps to advertise the Malcolm X movie would’ve sat well with me if I knew that these kids really knew who Malcolm X was and weren’t following some fashion trend. It was starting to look bad; the fall of PE was inevitable.

After Apocalypse ’91, shortly after I graduated from college; and moved on to focusing on buying into some of the newer stuff that was coming out. I didn’t buy the next album; I hated the title and the first single. I didn’t bother buying the next album, or the one after that. I got the “He Got Game” soundtrack from a friend who gave it to me. So this album is the first PE album I have brought(through Emusic) in like 15 years.

This is my impression of this album. It sounds like PE was in a time capsule for like 10-15 years, came out and released an album. The old days of the Bomb Squad production team and their layers of sound on top of sound is long gone. Now, the production that is used includes simplistic funk music sampling used by rappers in the early 90s, rock guitars (of course!), generic rap beats and tracks and even some techno/industrial sounding stuff. Maybe the emphasis is their message, or maybe it comes down to the simple fact that anybody who is still listening to PE doesn’t really care about the production; and it’s a given that PE wont be calling Timbaland or Jazze Pha for ideas! My problem with this approach is that for me, it simply doesn’t work!

What about PE’s politics? PE has not strayed at all from what they used to say in the old days of rap. The black male is still under attack, black men are still part of the prison population, and PE is still harassed by the Feds. Maybe there is some things I don’t know about this album, but why does PE seem so oblivious to the realities of 9/11 America? Why say the same old things when its not the same time or the same situations? Then there’s Flavor Flav. He raps as though “Flavor of Love” never happened. Maybe this album was made before “Flavor of Love” #1, but I thought before I listened to this that Flav had some explaining to do, but I heard nothing. Flav is a very good rapper, and he has some classic songs under his belt, like “911 Is A Joke” and “Can’t Do Nothing For Ya” from the House Party soundtrack. I would’ve loved to hear something like that on this record.

But on a lighter note, one thing can be said about PE’s aging pro-black message. Even if you’ve grown and you aren’t thinking about these type of issues PE addresses like you did in the past, PE is still here to say that all this is still relevant and important. That’s why I could stick with PE; despite the mistakes Chuck and Flav have made, you will still have to respect their conviction. Some might say that especially Flav is phony and a one man minstrel show, but I really think that these guys are for real.

So who will buy it? I think that there will always be a market for PE; aging rap fans who remember when listening to PE was “cool”. Most of these people can’t like today’s rap no matter how much they try; for them T.I. might mean “Totally Ignorant”. There’s many other types of PE fans, and there will always be PE fans all over the world who, despite the simplicity and inconsistency of their music, message and actions, will always want to hear PE remind everybody how messed up things still are for black people in America.

Favorite songs: "
How You Sell Your Soul..." sounds like that ol'school PE I was used to, one of the better songs on the album
"Black Is Back"great to hear a James Brown sample being used, and its great to hear a rapper say Black Is Back; I havent heard that in a long time.
"Harder Than You Think" I like the guitar and the soulful feel of this one
"Amerikan Gangster"liked the guest rappers flow
"Escapism"-like the funk sample in this, Chuck does a spoken word routine where he touches on the Iraq War, black males being under attack, and knowing your history.
"See Something, Say Something"-favorite beat on the album, Chuck raps about the Panthers and black politics of back in the day and how PE fits into that and its relevance for today. He also gives an interesting twist on what a "snitch" is.
"Eve of Destruction"-great song that wraps up the album; kinda sounds like a techno/industrial/rock spoken word piece.
Download off EMUSIC, or buy from Amazon. Check out Public Enemy's site.

This week....

What I hope to do this week is complete my personal project of doing reviews of three albums; the latest by Public Enemy, Wise Intelligent and Jay Eff Kay. So check out this week as I review the albums of these three prolific, political yet entertaining artists.

FAQ: How far does the new wiretap law go?

Just before leaving town for a month's vacation, a divided U.S. Congress acceded to President George Bush's requests for expanded Internet and telephone surveillance powers.

What does the new Protect America Act actually do?

The new law effectively expands the National Security Agency's power to eavesdrop on phone calls, e-mail messages and other Internet traffic with limited court oversight. Telecommunications companies can be required to comply with government demands, and if they do so they are immune from all lawsuits.

It also says, as George Washington University law professor Orin Kerr notes, that 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants are not needed for Internet or telephone "surveillance directed at a person reasonably believed to be located outside of the United States." What that means is that the National Security Agency can plug into a switch inside the United States (when monitoring someone outside the country) without seeking a court order in advance.

Read the rest on CNET!

D.C. graffiti scheme to use former inmates

WASHINGTON, July 19 A new clean-up program being instituted by the District of Columbia's Department of Public Works is planning on using former inmates to eliminate area graffiti.

The D.C. City Council has earmarked nearly $2 million in city funds to pay the former prisoners to remove graffiti from sites around the nation's capital, The Washington Times said Thursday.

Check out the rest on Earth Times!

N-G-R, NETYR, NIGER, NEGRO, "NIGGER," NIGGA, THE ORIGIN OF A SACRED WORD

The racist (white supremecist) term "Nigger", a derivative of the original name for God, "N-G-R"(pronounced "Net-ger") is continually used and taken to insult. The term "Nigger" has its origins in the sacred and divine title for "God," and came from the Egyptian WORD FOR GOD. That word is "Net-yer" or "Net-ger" from which the English terms "nature" and "nurture" came from. The idea of God being nature and nature being God, comes from the African and Egyptian idea of what God is which shows down to the similarities in the terms used to describe aspects of the Godhead.

THE SACRED "N" IN THE AFRICAN AND AFRO-ASIATIC LANGUAGES

The letter "N" is one of the most important prefixes in the African, Afro-Asiatic, Indo-Negroid, Negro-Australoid, Melanesian, Australian Aborigine, Austric, Kong-San (Bushmanoid) , Sudroid languages. In fact, the sacred "N" as in "Ni-han" (Rising Sun) OR "NG" as in "ChaNG," (ChaNGo in Manding-Congo) , "Ndong" in Vietnamese (Ndongo (Angolan Kingdom) in African Manding-Congo languages) is also found
in both Chinese and Japanese. In fact ancient Chinese, Vietnamese,South Indian, SriLankan, Melanesian, Australian Aboriginal and modern Japanese show strong similarities to Bantu (proto-historic Sahara, Niger-Congo) , languages (see "African Presence Early Asia," by Ivan Van Sertima and Runoko Rashidi) See also the works of Clyde A. Winters also go to http://community.webtv.net/nubianem (HISTORY
TIMELINE) and http://www.cwo.com/~lucumi/runoko.html

The letter "N" is also the word that denotes any title pertaining to human beings. In fact in Bantu or Niger-Congo and Cushic languages, the letter "N" is found as the first letter in many names. For example the name "Ndaba," = "counsil" while the nam! e "Ndaba ningi" is the first name of Africans in region thereof.

HOW THE WORD FOR GOD, "N-G-R" (Net-ger) became Niger, Negro and "Nigger"

The ancient Egyptians called their Pharaohs "N-G-R" (Net-ger)because the Egyptian Pharaoh was seen as a representation of the sun and the Sun God. The original Pharaohs who were pure Black Africans SAW BLACK SKIN AS SACRED AND A DIRECT BLESSING FROM THE SUN GOD, ATEN. In fact Blackness and black skin became associated with God
and the sun. BLACK PEOPLE WERE POWERFUL, CULTURALLY ADVANCED,MILITARILY SUPERIOR, BLACK/DARKBROWN IN COMPLEXION, STRONG STATURE, TALL AND DESCRIBED AS A "HANDSOME" RACE , (SEE HERODOTUS, "THE HISTORIES, DESCRIPTIONS OF "ETHIOPIANS" OF AFRICA AND SOUTH INDIA).The recognition of the Pharaoh as a living God and the black skin as a blessing spread worldwide to other cultures. In fact the term "Net-ger" became the Ethiopian "Negus" or "Negashi."

In the Sudroid (Indo-Negroids of India) languages of India, which are part of the Cushite branch of the African languages, the term "Naga" denotes original or first. In fact, in ancient India, the people with the blackest skins were respected and held to high esteem, unlike today where the racist (white supremecist),colonialist and alien concept of "varna" or castecolor racism places Sudroids, Indo-Negroids, Black Tribals, Dalits, Negro-Australoids and other BLACKS AT THE VERY BOTTOM OF iNDIAN SOCIETY. See www.dalitstan.org/books/sudroid

The term "Ngola" (Angola) means "King" in the Angolan languages. This term was mistaken by the Portugese to mean the DESCRIBE "Ndongo," the kingdom.

The first people to corrupt the term "N-G-R" were the Roman invaders of Egypt who may have heard the term used to describe the leader of Egypt or Nubia. The term "Niger" was later used to mean any Black/Negroid person that the Romans saw in Africa or anywhere else.

The Romans tried to invade Nubia during the early years of the Christian Era. Then, Nubia-Kush was ruled by a ! line of Queens called "Ka'andak'es (Candace). One such queen and her son defeated the Roman army at Aswan,(see http://community.webtv.net/paulnubiaempire) Egypt and burned the Roman Fort. AND CARRIED THE BRONZE HEAD OF ROMAN EMPEROR AGUSTUS TO THE CUSHITE (NUBIAN) CITY OF NAPATA. The Romans colonized and spread the Latin language to Europe. Due to this linguistic influence, the Latin term "Niger" became "Negre" in French and "Negro" in Spanish.

The English colonialists and slave entity borrowed the term "Negro" from the Spanish. The term for Black people in England before Shakespeare was "Moor" or "Black-a-Moor. " The English slave owners degraded and defiled the entire name by turning the Negro into a slave and turning the original term "Ned-ger" or "God" into the racist (white supremecist) term "Nigger." One can say that they have insulted the sacred name for "God" and have oppressed the original people created by God. This phenomena is due to their own sense of inferiority.

LIST OF NAMES FROM THE ORIGINAL TERM FOR "GOD" AND "NEGRO/BLACK"

N-G-R (net-ger) Ancient Egyptian for God

Net-tyr (Net-ger) Khemitic/ancient Egyptian = God, Sacred, Nature

Net-tyr (Net-ger)

Negus (Nee-goos) Ethiopian term for "Emperor."

Negashi (Nee-gah-shee) Ethiopian term for "Emperor or King."

Niger: Roman/Latin term for Black or Negro

Negre: French for Negro or Black

Negro: Spanish for Black

"Nigger" racist (white supremecist),corrupted term used to insult, degrade, enfuriate.

Nigga: (pronounced "nig-gah), used as a term of endearment by some youth; rejected by others as sounding too close to the racist (white supremecist) term "Nigger."

Netzer (as in Nazerine) Hebrew for "root, original)

Naga (South Indian and African term) (Black Negro tribes of India and Africa - Sudan to Nigeria) = original

Nagaloka - The Black Negro, Negro-Australoid, Indo-Negroid/ Sudroid lands and people in Asia (India to Indonesia) ! (see mor e from the book, "Nagaloka,' by M. Gopinath (Dalit Sahitya Akademy, Bangalore, India) also see "A History of Racism and Terrorism, and Overcoming," at www.xlibris.com

Ndaba (Manding-Congo/ South Africa) = A counsil of wise people,
kings, chiefs, ect.

Ngola (Manding-Congo) = "King/Lord"

Nkosi = God (Zulu, South Africa)

Ngosi = blessing (Ibo, Nigeria)

Nyamekye = God's Gift (Akan, Ghana)

Nile (Egypt, Sacred River)

Niger (West Africa; Sacred River)

Niger (country in West Africa)

Nigeria (country in West Africa)

Nugarmatta: Term used by Africans of Ghana Empire to call themselves (see writings of Ibn Buttata -- National Geographic Magazine

So this is the true story and origins of the "N" word. NEVER FORGET THAT THE WORD "NIGGER" CAME FROM THE KHEMITE/EGYPTIAN TERM FOR "GOD" AND THAT WORD IS "

Summer Job Drop: African American Teens Suffer as Unemployment Jumps

In June, African American teen unemployment grew to seven times the national rate, according to the U.S. Labor Department's monthly jobs report. The Employment Policies Institute warned that mandated wage hikes will only worsen this trend.

White teen unemployment is at its highest in two years, according to the Labor Department's statistics. While overall unemployment held steady at 4.5%, teen unemployment made a significant jump, rising steadily to 15.8%, its highest since September. Most significant, however, is that African American teen unemployment has jumped up to 31.2%.

Decades of economic research demonstrate that mandated wage hikes eliminate entry-level jobs, putting particular pressure on minorities and the low-skilled. A study from Cornell University shows that young African Americans typically bear almost four times the employment loss of their non- black counterparts after a minimum wage increase. Specifically, every 10% increase in the minimum wage results in an 8.5% decrease in employment for young black adults and teenagers. Research from Dr. David Neumark of the University of California, Irvine supports these results.

SOURCE

The raucous world of black celebrity blogs

This is a good article on that whole black celebrity blog phenomenom. Did I spell that right? Anyways, I like all the blogs mentioned, except Media Take Out, that site is popular but nothing but straight up lies. Anyways, check it out....

BOSTON: Angel Laws, a 22-year-old college student in Jacksonville, North Carolina, merely wanted to poke fun at a celebrity. For the entry titled "Guess Who: Messed Up Feet Edition" on her gossip blog, Concrete Loop, Laws posted a photo of a pair of weathered bronze feet wrapped in strappy black sandals and hinted at the person's identity by commenting, "I guess all those years on the runway take a toll on the feet." Unfortunately for Laws, the owner of those feet, the model Iman, happens to read Concrete Loop.

Iman responded to the item on her MySpace page by uploading an image of herself and her husband, the rocker David Bowie, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's recent Costume Institute gala. For this event, Iman wore a white pantsuit with white shoes. In the caption, Iman wrote, "Decided to cover my feet up as Concreteloop would post how ugly my feet are."

Welcome to the raucous world of black celebrity blogs. Sites such as Media Take Out (mediatakeout.com), Concrete Loop (concreteloop.com), and Young, Black and Fabulous (ybf.blogspot.com) are among the 10 most searched gossip blogs among Yahoo users, according to the Yahoo Buzz Index. They're joined by Crunk & Disorderly, Bossip, Cake and Ice Cream, and others, most of which have arrived in the past two years. The sites were created by gossip fans frustrated by the fact that their favorite mainstream gossip blogs - and magazines - seemed to limit their coverage to superstars such as Beyoncé, Halle Berry, or Will Smith, and paid little attention to celebrities such as Sanaa Lathan, Chris Brown, or Tracee Ellis Ross.

Check the rest out on IHT!

The Pack and "Hyphy"

I've been promising for a long time to do an entry about the "Hyphy" group The Pack. Now this Hyphy thing at first I thought it was merely a bunch of Bay Area rappers trying to revive their careers, but when I picked up the latest issue of Murder Dog I found out that this is big in the Bay!

That brings me to this group called "The Pack". I've had this CD since January and I am finally doing my review of it. Being in Washington DC, I can tell you right now that hyphy isnt to popular here. Its not on the radio, and people dont take it all that serious. The average kid will look at you crazy if you talk about hyphy. I mostly get any Hyphy off Emusic, thats my #1 source, which has the whole Thizz Nation catalog. One funny rap that I found which talks about Hyphy is MC Lars "White Kids Ain't Hyphy"

But anyways, The Pack is the real deal, hyphy wise and even just as a rap group. These guys look like the bad azz kids I see hanging out at the local Mickey D's. Their music is about as Hyphy as it can get. Some of their songs remind me of that ATL bass music I heard on the radio when I went to Freaknik back in '94. They got mad energy, style (they made Vans cool!)and talent.

On their first EP entitled Skateboards 2 Scrapers, we are introduced to the Pack with such songs as Vans, Shining, and Freaky Boppas. Throughout the CD there are nice tracks with slow beats and they bump. The "Shining" track reminds me of the old school Electro stuff. Freaky Boppas would sound great in the club! Too Short lends a rap to the Vans Remix. The lyrics are pretty raw, so if you are offended by the use of the "B Word" and the "N Word", this group isnt for you.

The success of the EP has led to them being able to put out a full length album. They are the next generation of this Hyphy thing, and after E-40 and Too Short retire, they will rep the Bay Area to the fullest.

Check out the video for "Vans" on YouTube! Their website is The Pack Online!

Black Power: Music of A Revolution

Going to the local B Daltons, I was just browsing when I came upon this gem of a CD. I dont always buy CD's; matter of fact in the last couple of years I have brought no more than like 10 CDs. But this one was hot; its called Black Power:Music of a Revolution and it was put out by Shout Records.

This 2 CD set puts together various anthems of the civil rights/black power movements of the 60s. Not only that, it also includes quotes by such black power leaders as Huey Newton, Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael (sorry, no MLK on here)

Although I have most of these songs in my collection, the CD is so well put together and how could I pass up a collection that has H Rap Brown, The Watts Prophets, Gil Scott-Heron and The Last Poets! Much of the soul music on here are the artists most relevant songs, such as Marvin Gaye's "You're The Man", Earth Wind and Fire's "Mighty Mighty" and The Staple Singers "Respect Yourself".

This should bring back alot of memories to the old heads who marched with King or hung with the Panthers back in the 60s, but also I would hope some of the youngsters of this generation would get this to hear music that best describes what the prior generation had to go through.

It's sad though how the apathy and destruction of today's generation contrasts with the activism and outrage of the last generation, and thats what I like about this collection, that it shows how unlike today, music really meant something. Check it out! Buy it on Amazon or directly from Shout! Records.

Barack Obama, Malcolm X and Al Qaida

It didnt get that much press, but there was some odd news blurb about one the of the leaders of Al Queda praising Malcolm X and asking Black Americans to join and support Al Queda. Thing about this was despite the seriousness of this news item (after all, we are a country at war against these people), I only found it on very few sites after doing a search for the story. Im not questioning the realness of the story or the validity, but why not the exposure? The only sites that I found this story on were mostly right wing sites like World Net Daily. Again, Im not questioning the validity of the story, I just find it odd that a statment by an Al Queda leader directed towards black Americans to join their fight was not given much exposure.

Funniest thing is that some right wing bloggers on Investors Business Daily and the American Thinker are trying to discredit Barak Obama because he is a black man who did not respond to this. On the Investors Business Daily site, they ask "Why the silence when al-Qaida's second-in-command urged African-Americans to join the holy war?" It's like, if someone with a black face doesn't tell all black America that terrorism is wrong and we shouldnt listen to somebody who we dont care about anyways, then we will all think, "Hmm, maybe I should drop everything and join these people." Do Republicans honestly think that ALL black people listen to Barak Obama?

This attempt on a very small scale to discredit Barak Obama for me brings up the notion that just because Barak is black that somehow he represents, speaks for, and is a leader to ALL black people. It's like, the implication is that he has to say something because he is black, and we have to listen because he is black!

This lumping together of black people is nothing new. Watching conservatives and these right wing extremists coming up with ways to discredit Obama is funny because so many of these people rely on prejudiced,stereotypical, backwards thinking about black people and it shows in what they write.

New Track!Common!

Here's a new track from Common off his upcoming Finding Forever album. It's called "The People" and it's produced by Kanye.

LEAVE MUMIA ALONE!

The case of death row prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal, now a quarter of a century long, is heading to a climax this Thursday in a hearing before a three-judge panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. It is a hearing that could result in a new trial for the Philadelphia journalist and former Black Panther, or possibly in a new date with the executioner.From Counterpunch

"If there's one thread that runs through this case, it's racism," Abu-Jamal's lawyer, Robert R. Bryan, said afterward.

A federal judge overturned Abu-Jamal's death sentence in 2001 but upheld his conviction. Both sides are appealing that order. Prosecutors want the sentence reinstated while Abu-Jamal is fighting for a new trial.

The appeals panel is weighing three issues: whether the trial judge was racially biased, whether the judge erred in instructing jurors on the death penalty, and whether the prosecution improperly eliminated black jurors.

From Chron!

http://www.hiphopproject.com/

Ol' school Party Fliers...

Check out the gallery of old hip hop fliers on Toledo Hip Hop!

BEST OF 2006 (at least in my opinion)

The whole concept behind Nas' album Hip Hop Is Dead set off a bunch of reactions and debates in the hip hop world and pissed off alot of artists like Young Jeezy.

I've come to the conclusion that hip hop is what it is depending on what people are looking for and where they are looking. Hip hop is dead if your only sources for it are mainstream radio, BET and VH1 reality shows.

The mainstream hip hop which they are talking about the same old stuff is what is pushed by major corporations. For other types of hip hop music you might want to try a site I always promote, EMUSIC.

Here is a list of my personal favorites from that site:

My personal favorite is "The Death of Willie Lynch" by Black Ice. Black Ice is part spoken word artist, part MC. On songs such as "The Ugly Show" and "Take Ya Time" (ft. Musiq Soulchild), Black Ice mixes social commentary with real street stuff. On "Take Ya Time", Black Ice raps about how women should wait for having sex, and on the Ugly Show, Black raps about the whole New Orleans/Katrina fiasco. Who says that rap can't be positive?



This great album by Jay Dee aka J Dilla was a compilation of the passing producers unreleased joints. It does sound dated, but this should be getting more radio play still. This record has real hip hop jams like EMC2 with Common. Most of it will sound like the sound of the 90's. They even have D Angelo on this album, and it sounds so new.

The essence of hip hop is the freestyle and for those who like freestyles you all should check out 4ourty 4our Freestyles, a collection of some hot freestyles by artists capable of doing it. The best freestyles were by Canibus and Supernatural.

I don't expect radio to play MF Grimm, but with such songs as American Hunger, he addresses issues related to black youth and how they are affected by racism. He seems real popular with backpackers and young white lefties, but he is the embodiment of anti-corporate, straight up NYC street rap, but he can still talk to a more broader audience than Saigon or Papoose.

Akir to me is a hot MC that reminds me alot of Talib Kweli. On his record called Legacy, He has many radio songs or songs that could be hits, but he's just too real, and he can actually rap unlike the artists on the radio and he raps about real stuff you can relate to.

I've gotta give props to M1 of Dead Prez for putting out a solid record, Confidential! Check out the song "Dont Put Down Your Flag". For obvious reasons, you wont hear him on the radio! But it is more than worth hearing.

I know many people have a problem with the Holy Hip Hop movement, also known as Christian rap or gospel rap. People say that its fake, and that religion and rap cant mix. However, with MCs like R Swift (Revolutionary Theme Music) and Rob Hodge (Born King), it's getting harder to ignore the HHH movement! Pigeon John is thought by some to be more or less a Christian rapper, but I think that he's been doing what Lupe Fiasco is trying to do now. He's a hot MC, he's talented, very laid back, but no radio airplay! Check out "Welcome to the Show".

Another movement in rap is the Chicano rap movement. The Mexican rappers of Los Angeles and San Diego are practically taking over and picking up where Death Row records left off. The formula is simple; the textbook is Dr Dre's "The Chronic", the godfathers are Frost (formely Kid Frost) and Mellow Man Ace (the first Latino rapper with a hit) and the innovators are Jay Tee of N2Deep and Cypress Hill. Two impressive MCs in this are Shadow (Hustle by Blood) and Wicked (formely of Eazy E's Latino supergroup Brownside) (One Out of Many). Check out their records for some Cali livin'.

My personal favorite is the album by the group 40 Watt Hype (Strong Feet On Concrete). This truly impressive Latino/salsa/hip hop/funk group put out a brilliant album. This genre bending, innovative album is just too good for radio.

In conclusion, I like what Nas is saying, but its not so much that hip hop is dead as it is that nobody is buying real hip hop, but its available! The limited exposure that real artists get is the real problem, and points to bigger issues that are bigger than hip hop itself.

Political-Violence at Washington DC "teen" club nights

A senseless act of violence:Girl, 17, killed by stray bullet from skirmish at a NW Washington DC club

It is really sad what happened to the teenager who was at a club in Washington DC. Its a club called Club 1919 that I had frequented a couple times back in the day.

Aside from the fact that this is another senseless murder done at an event where people just wanted to have a good time, this club will follow the same fate as other clubs in DC.

In DC, clubs that play go-go music just seem to be magnets for youngstas who just want to act like gangstas and shoot up anybody who "disrespects" them.

In the end, everybody will lost out because this will bring the scrutiny of the police and DC City Council. They hate the whole DC go-go scene and want it to be done away with.

Its sad that people just dont know how to act, and they just need drama to make their lives more "exciting".

Hip Hop - DJ's - Mixtapes and the RIAA Raids

Rascism, Power & Drama-What's Really Behind the RIAA Raids By Davey D

As stated earlier, many are starting to suspect that there are deeper implications to the RIAA Raid. DJ Drama's sister Aishah Shahidah Simmons who did the incredible documentary 'NO' lays out some compelling thoughts in the essay 'Thirty Strong And A Gun To His Head…Pay Attention?' following my remarks that all of us need to think about.

As I noted in my first reports on this incident- The raid on the offices of DJ Drama and the Aphilliates WAS NOT about mixtapes, this is about inserting power. Please bear in mind that over the past year, many deejays from all around the country have been quietly organizing and weighing their options while assessing their collective power. For example, last month several hundred deejays met at a highly publicized West Coast Summit. Already we have TJDJs, The pioneering DJs who are down with Tools of War, The Core DJs, The Heavy Hitters,The Big Dawgs, The Beat Junkies Nasty Nes and the RappattackDJs and The Bum Squad DJS all running profitable businesses and working in a collective fashion. Some of these DJ Collectives have been behind the scenes organizing to demand Health Care and other provisions from the industry. When folks got together in LA, it was to start demanding more work opportunities. In all these DJ collectives, they have been asserting that they 'run the industry' because the deejay has the ability to make or break records.

Read the rest on Thug Life Army!

The RIAA vs hip hop, and how a mix CD works

With the arrest of DJ Drama by the armed wing of the major record companies, the RIAA, I still cant believe that after all this time the RIAA just doesnt get it. So, if any of you people at the RIAA are reading, I need to just let you know what the purpose of a Mix CD is, and I want to address the problem that I know you have with them. I want to show you that Mix CDs are not such a bad thing.

First of all, the oddest thing is that DJ Drama's CDs are sold on the most legit music site on the net, EMUSIC, and in real music stores. So I just dont understand where you all are coming from, having the man jailed and taking his equipment; whats wrong with you all? His stuff is not sold by shady characters in the inner cities who get their stuff from illegal bootlegging operations. DJ Drama is not a bootlegger himself. So what is your problem with him?

Say if I download from EMUSIC one of his CD's, like Hood Music. I will hear something I like and I will go to ITunes and I will buy it. What you all are afraid of is that I will just download only what I hear on DJ Drama's CD and the artist won't get paid.

As it is, none of you really know the hip hop culture, so none of you truly understand that the DJ is the one who breaks new artists, introduces listeners to new rappers and MC's and the artist and this type of DJ have an understanding that the DJ can use their music and he wants to be promoted by him.

I guess another problem the RIAA has is that in this social circle, the record company executives are the outsiders. They want to suck the artists dry by calling all the shots in how an artist is to be promoted and pushed, because in the end it comes out of the artist royalties. Not only that, but the record companies are afraid that really the artists could just rebel against them and cut them out entirely; after all, if the artists can take care of their own distribution, promotion, and recording; why would they need any of the big record companies the RIAA supports?

The arrest of DJ Drama shows the lack of respect that the RIAA has for hip hop culture. When will the RIAA stop treating hip hop artists like they are the "dumb kids in the special ed class" and recognize them for the businessman and artists that they truly are?

Ol school-Book on MLK stabbing in Harlem

The book "When Harlem Killed King" is a book about a day in 1958 when Dr. Martin Luther King went to Harlem and was stabbed by a crazy woman who thought that MLK was a "communist". Believe it or not (but it doesnt suprise me!) the crazy woman was black.....

The book goes into every detail of that day; how MLK choose the site of Harlem department store as oppossed to a neighborhood book store called the National Memorial African Bookstore, which sold books with names like The Damn White Man (couldnt find that on Amazon, I tried). The reasoning was that a book like this pointed to the beliefs of the book seller, and Martin Luther King was about loving his neighbor, not hatred. However, Lewis Michaeaux, the owner of the bookstore felt snubbed. He voiced his discontent at the book signing. This conflict points to MLK's conflicting with the black radicals who were active in his day. However, though Lewis and his group voiced their dissatisfaction with being ignored by MLK, they didnt go so far as to plan to kill the man, like the right wing crazy Izola Curry.

Nobody in this book for me was as interesting as Izola Curry. This was the woman who stabbed MLK in the chest with a blade and were it not for a team of talented black doctors, MLK would not have made history. The interesting thing abut Izola was that she hated groups like the NAACP. She claimed they were communists and she thought that communists were after her and trying to ruin her life. She also hated white people as well, so she wasnt one of those weirdos like those black Republicans today who love white people and condemn black people for being lazy and "irresponsible". She simply hated everybody.

The book goes into detail about Izola Curry:

Like plenty of others in those days, Curry believed the NAACP was controlled by Communists. But in her increasingly deranged state of mind, unlike paranoids like J Edgar Hoover, she sought no evidence of such a connection. She simply assumed as much. She assumed that Communists were running things in every civil rights organization. pg. 49

How she felt about MLK and the black church I've heard expressed from the lunatic black republican fringe:

She expressed extreme bitterness about two things:Communism and the Negro Church.She detested Negro preachers. She felt they were flimflam artists who pimped the community. She believed that boycotts and protests led by Negro ministers were a sham and that rather than follow them into protests, Negroes should appeal directly to Congress to change racial laws. Thus in Curry's mind, MLK was a young minister pimping the community for the benefits of Communists.pg 52

I found this character to be the grandma of the all crazy right wing lunatics like Lashawn Barber,Frances Rice, the Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson, and some dude who calls himself "The Notorious GOP".

There is so much more to this great book and this one day, and all the history and circumstances that surrounded that day. It only made MLK stronger and he continued on his mission to change history. This great book can be brought on Amazon and Book Ladder.

Record review: Ras Kass "EAT OR DIE"











Ras Kass 2007 to me is different than Ras Kass 1996. Before, he was the MC I knew for deep thought provoking material like "Soul On Ice" and "Nature of the Threat". But,a brotha gotta eat(hence the name of the CD), so Ras Kass is a lil subtle, not really putting out that deep Chuck D type stuff. He's more about NWA (Niggas with Attitude), not really NWO (New World Order). This record he put out is kinda a mixtape, kinda a freestyle mix, but its all Ras Kass!

Review of each song: Intro: This has samples from various drug flicks, echos, and a british voice talking about drugs, and another voice talking about guns. Drugs and guns, the Ras Kass of 2007!

Mange ou Maurir: Ras is doing his bit of boasting and talking about crack, along with a sample of the movie American History X; this sets the tone that its all about money and murder on this CD!

Eat or Die: This song is a real banger here; talking about robbery, sex, hustlin' to get paid no matter what. HOT!

KOTW-Songs got a cool chorus, talking about being the hottest MC in the West Coast in some lines. I think this is the song that set off his beef with rapper THE GAME. It's alright.

She Choosin-Alright song that talks about being at the club.

It's A Beautiful Thing-Very NYC East Coast type beat; I like this because this song got the hottest lyrics!

Better feat Jay 211-Ok beat, wasn't really feeling it, rhymes are typical of Ras Kass, and another NYC beat. Alright.

Whip It-An alright song with a sample of Rick Ross. Not really feelin' it.

Brains In the Mud-Ras is talking about shootin' in the chorus; kinda tight.

Realness freestyle-Ras freestyles are off the hook! HOT!

The Perfect Woman-You can skip this one. Wasn't really feeling it.

Medusa (featuring Nas)-I expected this to be a duet with Nas, but it turns out to be a sample of Nas on the chorus. Chorus was funny, though.

Capital P (w/Mobb Deep)-Average. Mobb Deep just arent as good as they used to be.

Get It In (featuring Alchemist)-Finally, a really hot beat on this CD by Alchemist! This is a real pick up for this CD.

Transferred (featuring 40 Glocc and Spider Loc) This was the song that reminds me of Ras Kass 1996; where he is talking about the plight of the black male. Plus, I always wanted to hear 40 Glocc and Spider Loc, hearing about them so much around the net. Excellent track!

All Day (featuring TQ)-This is hot, had me nodding my head, and he's basically rhyming about being locked up and not having anything to do all day. Nice beat.

Playboy (featuring Lloyd Banks)-Why is Ras Kass not a member of G-Unit by now? With all the features by Aftermath and G-Unit soldiers, and the beef with THE GAME, I guess its a moment of time?

My Blog (featuring Whoo Kid, Coach PR)-Too funny; makes fun of Myspace gangstas and people (females especially)posting pics on sites that aren't them.

Homey, Lover, Friend- Talkin' about that ghetto luv!

Fed Up-Ras's final is just letting off steam about how both white folks and black folks are messing up his career, so who can he trust?

Staying on the IPOD: Eat or Die, Jungle Love, Its A Beautiful Thing, Transferred, All Day

Check out the CD on EMUSIC and AMAZON!

Ol school: Queens Reign Supreme

I am almost finished reading this excellent book "Queens Reign Supreme;Fat Cat, 50 Cent and the Rise of the Hip Hop Hustler" This is an awesome book which covers the whole history of the mid 80's drug kingpins and how their enterprising intertwined with the history of hip hop.

This is the untold story which surprised me; sometimes hip hop history books tend to sugar coat the realities of the cities from which hip hop came. For me this whole history was very revealing in that the early 80s hustlers were rubbing elbows with the likes of Kurtis Blow and Russell Simmons.

When you get this book, you get a very detailed history of how RUN DMC started and the birth of Def Jam records. All this leads up to the Irv Gotti and the beginning of Murder Inc. records. Throughout there is a very tangled web where the streets and the hip hop industry intertwine; and its laid out in such a way that puts it all together. You'll be thinking, "I remember reading about this event or hearing about when such and such happened" and this book shows what the ultimate end was. Once you read this book, you'll find out about major players on the NYC streets in the 80's (such as Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff'), why 50 Cent's song "Ghetto Quran" is so controversial, and what started the whole beef between Ja Rule and 50 Cent in the first place.

Without going into too much detail, Id have to say that if you pick this up on Amazon, it will prove to be a very welcome addition to any hip hop library.

Not only that, once you read this book, the recent drama surrounding Kenneth "Supreme" Mcgriff will make much more sense.