Laffy Taffy Really Does Rot Your Teeth

Have you downloaded this album yet? I gotta say, it's one of the best albums I've heard in a minute. I know some people may be able to list ten different albums they can say are the best they've heard in a while or whatever, but this one really has that raw, real, hip hop sound.

Freech Speech & Ro. Blvd. team up to provide the community with some music to confront the minstrelsy in hip hop today, and succeed mightily. Ro. Blvd. produces tracks for other emcees on the album too, such as Plat, Stereotype. There's even a remix to Lupe Fiasco's "Kick, Push."

Each track carries its own weight and merit. I wish I could highlight one or two songs, but seriously each track is that tight that I wouldn't really be doing justice to each one.

The best part of all is that the album is free. You have nothing to lose. So download it. Listen. And nod your head.

You'll thank me later.



Oh yeah, and big up to my man Ed for putting me on.

Mark Warner Decides Not to Run for President

I respect his decision, but I think it would've been cool if he ran.

Democrats Better Win

The Democrats better take at least the House if not the Senate as well. I mean the Republicans have basically rolled out the red carpet for the Dems with blunder after blunder, scandal after scandal. If the Dems can't pull this off then there needs to be a serious re-examination of the entire party from top to bottom.

Not only that, but I think the country needs for the Democrats to take at least the House. The deficits, corruption, incomptence - it's just not healthy. I don't think the Democratic party is the best thing since sliced bread, but I mean as a tax-paying citizen I expect a lot more than this garbage.

What's really pathetic is the sad story of this Foley scandal. Folks knew that something was going on and did absolutely nothing. Nothing. For years.

These are the same folks that impeached President Clinton for lying about getting head from a consenting adult, then they turn around and protect a child predator sending instant messages to teenagers asking "Do I make you horny?" How disgusting!

And let me be clear - when I'm talking about Republicans I'm not saying that all registered Republicans are horrible people or anything like that. The Republican leadership, however, is on some reeeeaaally shakey ground right about now.

What I don't understand is how some registered Republicans accept incompetence from their elected officials. I mean sheer incompetence. Like the whole Iraq war situation. Or the surplus-to-deficit magic trick. Or not being able to even rescue American citizens stranded in a flooded city. What good is the government if it takes days to even REACT with any sort of purpose? And say all you want about the incompetent local government (Dems some they be), but I believe part of our federal taxes go to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for occasions such as, say...a hurricane?! I know there are plenty of Republicans from Christian evangelicals to fiscal conservatives have stopped drinking the Kool-Aid and have realized that the emperor has no clothes. Look, I'll vote for a Repub if I think they're the right person for the job. I would've voted for Bloomberg in NYC last time if I was still registered to vote there. I'd consider voting for John McCain if he ran for president. Now I'm registered in DC, and that means I have no represenation in Congress. Booooo!!! Nor is there statewide office either so the options are limited.

All I'm saying is, I'm tired of this garbage and if the Democrats can do a decent job then they better win.

Niggas

It really bothers me that the word nigger is used as a "term of endearment" amongst our people. The history of the word is so volatile that when it is used it should be handled a sense of responsiblity. Plenty of my friends throw it around and they know my feelings on the matter, but of course I cannot control other people's actions, especially when they do not see things the same way.

What really bothers me is that as Black folk use the word more and more as a "term of endearment" it makes other folks think it's okay to use the word in the same context - and it's not. The folks who say "wassup my nigga" are cool when it's a Black person but are quick to get angry if a White person says it - even if it's in an "endearing" manner. Several years ago Star & Buckwild at Hot 97 caused controversy by going after Jennifer Lopez for saying nigger in a Ja Rule song, and subsequent discussions followed on who does or does not have the authority to use nigger in an "endearing" way and have it actually be accepted as such.

There was one time in high school when an Asian friend of mine said to me "wassup nigga." And I told him I didn't like that. To help him out of his confusion I asked him if he would like it if I said "wassup chink." Of course he wasn't a fan of that idea. After that we had a mutual understanding. But I can't fault him for just trying to emulate what he sees and hears.

Whatever happened to calling each other brother and sister? I remember that being the popular term of endearment at least in the late 80's and very early 90's. Maybe I was just too young to really know what the popular lexicon was. If we continually refer to each other as nigga then isn't that how we view each other? As niggers. There's a slept-on classic scene from Spike Lee's School Daze in which there is a confrontation between the characters played by Lawrence Fishburn and Samuel L. Jackson (before they were stars). Samuel L. tried to tell Lawrence Fishburn and his crew that they were niggers, just like the rest of them, while Lawrence Fishburn ends the scene with one of my favorite lines:

"You're NOT niggers."

While surfing the net I came across a powerful website: www.abolishthenword.com. I invite you to check it out and think on it for minute.

Assume the Position

Here's an interesting tid-bit of the day: NYPD Captain orders police to stop and frisk every single Black man that comes into a particular train station in Brooklyn, NY

According to Commissioner Raymond Kelly, it's a misunderstanding of the directions

Riiiiight....

Chicken Noodle Soup

I've been inside all weekend with a cold. I've been trying to apply the traditional methods of drinking fluids such as organge juice for vitamin C and drinking tea; I've also been eating chicken noodle soup.

Which brings me to the topic at hand: "Chicken Noodle Soup"

When I first saw this video I couldn't believe it. I didn't understand why I saw a bunch of kids dancing like some minstrel show. And this comes out of Harlem?? I really need to move back home before the Harlem that I grew up with is gone.

In all fairness, DJ Webstar just picked up on what kids were already doing, it's not like he made it up himself. Furthermore the general idea behind the song and video is that people should dance and have fun and enjoy themselves. At least that's what I got from reading his interview on NobodySmiling.com. Granted, the kids who came up with this dance in all probability had no conscious knowledge of minstrelsy or even all the stuff that we've gone through in this country as Black people, so in no way is the Chicken Noodle Soup supposed to mimic minstrelsy. However, just because there is no intentional connection between the dance today and the shucking and jivin' we all know and love doesn't mean that abdication of responsibility to memory of those who came before us and shed their blood for our future is valid.

It seems that mainstream/commercial hip hop today in general is becoming a minstrel show, which is not some great epiphany. Little Brother put out The Minstrel Show in response to this unfortunate trend. Several years ago Spike Lee's Bamboozled also sought to address this issue. The most recent strike in the battle against modern day minstrelsy is Laffy Taffy Rots Your Teeth; you should really download this album if you haven't done so already (it's free). "Chicken Noodle Soup" just follows the mistrelsy trend (in my humble opinion).

Although the hook is catchy, the song gets annoying after you hear it a few times. New York hip hop will indeed make a comeback, but not by eating some chicken noodle soup with a soda on the side.