Outta Control

Peace,

There's been alot going on, so on this day of Build/Destroy, it's my will to touch on a number of things that caught my eye over the last couple of days. Walk w/me:

- Iraq sure turned out to be Bush's Vietnam, didn't it? To make matters worse, he won't move with 2 of the main recommendations made by his pop's homeboys (aka The Iraq Study Group), lest he appear to be capitulating to the demands of those who slouch away from fighting for the freedom of people the world over (good mimicry, right?)

- My beloved city of Power Allah (Philadelphia) is outta control. The city is on record to have more murders than days in the year, & of course most of the casualties are young Black men. Earlier this week, there was a shooting outside the fist movie theater opened in North Philadelphia in 60 years, & a 17 year old was arrested for attempted murder. This may come off as conservative or whatever, b.u.t. we have very serious environmental & cultural issues when a 17 year old takes it into his own hands to take someone off of the planet. No amount of marches or symposiums will handle this issue, & while music itself is only one aspect of the landscape, a steady diet of "Murder Murder Kill Kill Homicide"

- On this subject, two weeks ago, there was an article done in the New York Times Sunday Magazine regarding the No Child Left Behind (Also known as the Poor Ghetto Children Still Left Behind) act, expectations, and socialization. The article highlighted studies done that point to a child's early socialization being the biggest factor in preparation for school. Specifically, the studies focused the amount of "utterances" that children hear that assist them in wiring their brains for language & idea comprehension, and the amount of affirmative vs. Negative or disparaging statements that children hear. While all of the issues in education can't be thrown out due to this study, I can't help but think about all of the young girls that I see out in the street who spew out negative comments to their children on a daily basis. Inadvertently, they could be wiring their children for failure. With that said, think about all of the negative that our babies hear on a daily basis, that can possibly impact their psychology and view on the world.

- HH is increasingly becoming outta control (in a real way). From violence at events (BARS Awards & Mixtape Awards), to the petty (b.u.t. funny) disputes that are popping up everywhere (see: young buck & gillie vs. lil wayne), the streets are beginning to affect the industry in a negative fashion. The new rift that is developing is based upon ageism, and developed out of the NY vs. the South "pork" (cause it's worse than beef).

Case in point 1: Weezy's diatribe regarding Jigga. In a sense, the fans and the magazines are to blame (along with the drugs) because they allowed him to continue with this "greatest rapper alive" garbage for a couple of years now. It was only a few years ago that he wanted to be on DJ with Jay-Z, so why the turnaround? The inference that Jay had to come back to "save" HH, when in the eyes of Wayne it's doing just fine as it is.

Case in point 2: Jeezy's diatribe against Nas. This one's a little deeper, & points to the framework for how people understand HH. To Jeezy, he IS HH, so how could it be dead? Hip Hop for him (and others of his ilk) getting paid & telling his story (In that order). to him, it has nothing to do w/ the 4 Elements or consciousness or anything else (outside of being a "real nigga"). In a way, I can't blame him, if only for this reason: Let's say that the most influential time for you to hear HH is between 11-15 years old. If your 32, the most influential artists would have been Run-Dmc, LL, Rakim, BDP, and so on. If you're 25, then the most influential artists would be Dre, Snoop, Biggie, Jay, & Pac, as they were the biggest artists during that time frame.

Now, the artists that I named as influencers for the younger crowd all looked up to the artists I mentioned earlier(Even 5-0 says that his favorite rapper is Rakim), b.u.t. took the music (as well as resulting culture) in another direction that made no mention of the foundation . For example, how many young people know that Jay's "Aint no Nigga" took the beat from an EPMD song? Or that BIG's interlude on Life After Death was a direct knock-off of P.S.K.? Or for a more modern example, how many kids (or adults) knew that Jay's "Girls, Girls, Girls" was a old-school chorus? By the time the kids got the music, there were no traces of the culture, only the music and money.

Case in point 3: Lupe Fiasco. In one of his responses to a negative review of his album, he mentioned that he didn't own one tribe album. If you so-called savior of beats & rhymes doesn't know the basics, then what do you expect out of the others?

All of yall get a grip. It ain't what it was, and never will be, as all things must change. If they want HH to be alive, put out good HH.

- Damon Dash is seeming to be outta control. On Kays Slay's satellite show earlier this week, Larry Davis called in from the injustice and stated the following, among other things:
1) Dash is a liar
2) Dash stole the SP logo from Beans
3) Dash is trying to get paid off of LD's life story without his permission
4) Jay left him because he doesn't do good business
5) Dash drained Rocawear

now, while only they know the true story, I'll say this: It's kinda odd that Dame doesn't get down with anyone anymore. No Beans, no Nore, no Jay, no nobody. I kinda looked at it like he got the bum deal, b.u.t. it appears that he may have been giving out the bum deals. He doesn't even seem to be involved in any Diplomat business, which is strange unless they know something that the general public doesn't.