mrDaveyd | Hip-Hop and Politics

To the East Blackwards-The Story of X-Clan

March 1, 2006 By mrDaveyd

The story of X-Clan
To The East, Blackwards
(1990, 4th & Bway)
by Brian Coleman

March 16 2006

When a young New Yorker named Lumumba Carson became immersed in the hip-hop world of the mid-’80s to help bring the sound to even more of the masses, his family wasn’t happy about it. But it had nothing to do with fears that he was staying up too late, out partying. Lumumba’s situation was a different one, since his father was Brooklyn-based black nationalist leader Sonny Carson.

The pro-black side of my world thought I was stumbling from my mission in life,’ says Lumumba, aka Professor X, today. ‘I wasn’t being appreciated by them. I was torn between two lives.’ Elder Sonny eventually came to realize the power of hip-hop in spreading black nationalist thought, after his son formed X-Clan, who released their funky, intelligent and powerful debut in 1990. Their Blackwatch crew (with Isis, Unique & Dashan, Queen Mother Rage and others) came before the X-Clan, and it was much more than a fan club. X explains: ‘I always watched how music groups became successful and I knew that fanbase was very important. My idea was to make our fan club base into a movement.’

The seeds for the four-member X-Clan ‘ rapper Brother J, DJ Sugar Shaft and producers/elders Professor X and Grand Architect Paradise ‘ were planted when X and Paradise met in the mid-’80s, introduced by Russell Simmons’ right-hand-woman Heidi Smith. At the time Paradise was working a computer job in Rush Management’s first offices on Broadway, and X was interviewing Rush clients there for a radio station in Detroit, also road-managing Whodini.

Eventually Paradise began managing the famed Latin Quarter club in midtown Manhattan and the two friends started a management company called Scratch Me Management, working with artists like Stetsasonic, King Sun, Just Ice and Positive K. Their touch spread over much of the New York hip-hop world during the years 1985 to 1987. ‘We were very serious when we did X-Clan,’ says Paradise. ‘We were really trying to do something new, after being instrumental in the careers of so many other cats. Back then we knew everybody in hip-hop, but once we focused on X-Clan we kind of became reclusive, because we wanted it to work.’

In 1985 Paradise and X had met two young men who would complete X-Clan as a foursome, although they didn’t know it at the time. ‘I first met Sugar Shaft at the Latin Quarter, and Brother J was his best friend,’ recalls Paradise. ‘But back then we hadn’t ever even heard J rap. His affiliation with us was just as one of the young brothers in the [black nationalist] Movement.’ Sugar Shaft was a DJ on the rise back in the early days, and a member of Red Alert’s Violators crew. Brother J soaked in the teaching of elder Black Nationalists and also continued to perfect his MC skills. But J’s skills got pushed to the side for a year or more, because of the fact that X and Paradise were working with so many other top-level MCs at the time. In 1987, Paradise recalls taking J and Shaft to Ced-Gee’s ‘Ultra Lab’ home studio in the Bronx, where they cut a demo for a song called ‘It’s a Black Thing.‘ With the beginning of Blackwatch, put in motion with Unique & Dashan’s debut album Black To The Future in early ’89, their plan to start X-Clan was about to hatch.

After many passes through the A & R maze of Island Records and its hip-hop subsidiary 4th & Bway, X-Clan were signed for a single deal, directly by Island founder Chris Blackwell. Releasing the powerful double a-sided single ‘Raise The Flag’ and ‘Heed The Word of the Brother’ in 1989, the group became actively involved in the much-publicized ‘Day of Outrage and Mourning’ to protest the killing of Yusuf Hawkins in Brooklyn’s Bensonhurt neighborhood in August of that year. 4th & Bway knew they had a firebrand group on their hands, in certain ways akin to the controversial and popular Public Enemy, and they signed them for a full album. To The East, Blackwards was recorded in one month’s time and put on a full-steam-ahead promo track by the label.

Perfectly described by the opening track’s title, ‘Funkin’ Lesson,’ the album mixed bouncing old-school funk samples with pro-black words of wisdom, perfectly and powerfully expressed by the muscularly-voiced Brother J. Professor X offers this distinction for those who grouped X-Clan and Public Enemy, two different sides of the same struggle, in the same boat: ‘Public Enemy should always be protected, so don’t misunderstand me. But their message, what it was and how it was delivered, just seemed so complicated. We felt that blackness was easier than that. If you were a brother or sister in Brownsville, it was right up under your nose. You only needed to talk to your grandmother to know how proud you were supposed to be and who you were.’

Although it didn’t contain any crossover smash singles to push it into sales nirvana, the album put X-Clan at the front of the list of groups addressing black struggles in cities around the world, and for that they are still respected today. Professor X says, looking back: ‘I didn’t think the album would explode like that, right away. I had planned on a two-year development process, over probably two albums. But all we needed was one. Everything that happened back then was much more than we could have ever dreamed of.’X and Paradise lovingly drive their 1959 pink Caddy past selected tracks from their debut:

Funkin’ Lesson

Paradise: We definitely combined our message with some funky music. But that’s a pretty obvious thing, since people don’t respond to @#%$ if it ain’t hot, whether there’s a message or not. We were all about walking the walk, not just talkin’. We just really wanted to be funky and put the lesson in the funk. That’s what the song was about. We were trying to redefine something, and have more culture in the music.

Professor X: I was a funk-head from back in the day. That was my contribution to our earliest music. The George Clinton vibe we brought. I mean, who would have thought that the funk explosion in hip-hop started from a group in New York! At heart we were just some funky niggas, trying to connect anything we were saying politically, to funky music. It was just natural for us. It all fell into line, we all clicked into that George Clinton spirit.

Grand Verbalizer, What Time Is It’

X: The ‘crossroads’ I mention in that song, and in other places on the album, was very important to us. We wanted to give recognition to all those who didn’t know where they were at in life. It was the point in their lives where they were trying to get clear. We were drawing a picture where you were at so you could make decisions. And decisions start at the crossroads, and you’re protected there.

Tribal Jam

Paradise: A lot of people take Brother J for granted as a rapper. A lot of the things that he said were things that we or our elders lived personally. Everything we wrote came from the cultural experience of black people. It was all real. And we used the music to build a strong movement.

A Day Of Outrage, Operation Snatchback

X: The Day of Outrage was the day when the Brooklyn Bridge was taken by 20,000 or 30,000 people, with Reverend Al Sharpton. That song is about how we were there [in Bensonhurst], fighting for the right of recognition. We were also deeply involved in the protests in Crown Heights, later on [in 1991].

Verbal Milk

X: Ah yes, the Pink Cadillac! I mention that on that track, don’t I’ We wanted to tell people to celebrate themselves. When I think of a Pink Cadillac I think of my uncles, who were from South Carolina. Those guys had a Caddy every year. It meant something to them. We were talking about a 1959 pink Caddy because it represented a point in time. Once the elders saw that we were talking about that, they knew that we recognized the transition between a certain kind of negro into a certain kind of black man. We wanted to celebrate the Caddy, too, because we had a little pimp in our crown. We got style from that. It was a metaphor. We wanted to celebrate things that some black people wanted to hide. Corn bread, grits. In every video of ours, Sugar Shaft is eating something. Chicken or watermelon. We love that food and there’s no reason to be ashamed of it, in fact totally the opposite!

Shaft’s Big Score

Paradise: Shaft [who passed away in the mid-’90s] was my best friend. He was quiet and funny and an incredible DJ. Very quite and peaceful. A couple times when I was down he even bought pampers for my kids. Food, whatever. He was amazingly generous and we all really miss him.

X: Each person in the group was a piece of madness, that you’d never believe could get along with the other three [laughs very loudly]. You’d never think we could be in a room together. And that’s why it was magic together, too. Sugar Shaft had such an energy! We had to buy him new Technics turntables every two weeks because he destroyed them, just doing his cuts. They would literally be no good to anybody after he was through. He would sweat so much when he cut, too. He just had so much inward energy. He also cut with his left hand, so he’d have to cross one arm over the other. I think that Shaft’s influence is where the bounce in our music came from. We miss him. That particular track, which features Shaft’s DJ skills, was a very hard track to do, because back then there was no automation. We had to do it over many times to get the punches in there correctly. We heard Terminator X’s tracks and we wanted to counter them, on that level. Because we respected him so much. We all motivated each other in that way.

Raise The Flag

Paradise: That song was actually originally signed to Warlock Records, before 4th & Bway. They loved that demo we did so much that they gave us money right there on the spot with no contract. So we took that money and used it to record an album for the group Uneek & Dashan who we were managing at the time. Warlock ended up signing them and Isis, too, and then we went to 4th & Bway after paying Warlock back. Basically, once we started recording the first 6-7 tracks for X-Clan, we didn’t think that Warlock could do enough with it. We needed something bigger. That was the first studio song that we did. I got that sample from a neighbor of mine in Crown Heights. She heard Run-DMC blaring through my walls and instead of yelling, she wanted to hear more about them, and borrowed the album from me. Then one I day I heard that Roy Ayers ‘Red, Black and Green’ song blaring through * her * walls. She had a crazy loud system that put mine to shame. She was a jazz lover more than hip-hop. So I banged on her door and asked her what the hell that music was.

X: That was our first single, the song we got signed to 4th & Bway for. When the single came out in 1989 it didn’t do good in New York, even though we had stuff like my father [Sonny Carson] putting us on a float during the David Dinkins campaign [for mayor of New York]. After two or three months there was nothing going on with the record. And we went to do a show in Detroit, with I think Kwame and Special Ed, in front of like 5,000 people. It was a talent show, I think. We went out on stage after those guys finished and the place went CRAZY, which was big news to us. So much so that they had to bring in the police to calm things down. I don’t even think that 4th and Bway knew we was that big in Detroit.

Heed The Word Of The Brother

X: We had ‘Raise The Flag’ done and ready to go as a single but we felt that we needed something even stronger to go along with it. That was the beginning of me making enemies at the record company. They didn’t want a b-side and they just wouldn’t do it. So we financed ‘Heed The Word’ on our own, all the way through the mastering. I was right about it and the record company was wrong. It was a perfect example about how they didn’t even know what they had. On that track, other people, like Heavy D and De La Soul, had used that music already. So we made our song even stronger than what they had done. We called the 45 King and he put a string of horns at the end of the beat, and that’s why ours is different.

Paradise: That was the only song that anybody outside of X-Clan ever collaborated on with us, as an outside producer or artist. Mark the 45 King made the beat, and I produced the song. I put in the hook, and the ‘Flashlight’ stuff in the intro.

In The Ways of the Scales

X: That is definitely one of my favorite tracks on the album, if not my #1 favorite.

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Filed Under: Breakdown FM Interviews, Essential Hip Hop Articles, Hip Hop Articles 2006, March '06 Articles Tagged With: Blackwards, Blackwatch, Brian Coleman, Davey D, Hip hop Interviews, Hip Hop news, Lumumba Carson, Professor X, Scratch Me Management, The story of X-Clan, The Story of X-Clan-brian Colemen, To The East, To the East Blackwards, To the East Blackwards-The Story of X-Clan, X-Clan

The Promised Land – Reflections on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Hip Hop Nation

January 15, 2006 By mrDaveyd

dbanner1newparis

original article January 2006

The Promised Land – Reflections on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Hip Hop Nation

by KRS ONE

krsone1smile-225 PEACE AND MUCH LOVE TO ALL GENERATIONS OF HIP HOP KULTURE! We are truly a blessed nation! In these times of war, mass unemployment and social unrest let US become the changes that we would like to see in the world. We are an international culture of new people on the earth. So let US be the civilization that we expect others to be. Together (as a Hip Hop Nation) we truly have a great opportunity to establish peace, love, unity and safely having fun with our Hip Hop activity in the world. And NOT with our “hip-hop” activities in the world, but with our collective unified “Hip Hop” activity in the world we have an opportunity to establish a “True World Order”.

Yeah, I know that there are some that shall (and have already) unjustly criticize our efforts toward peace from “behind the screens”. But civilization building is NOT for everyone, nor can everyone even comprehend the importance of such an attempt. Nevertheless, such an attempt must be made for our own security as adults and as parents as well as for the security of our children and their children’s children’s children. No criticism, debate or unjust slander can ever move US from the fulfillment of our ancestor’s dreams.

Our Hip Hop preservation movement is NOT just about the preservation of Hip Hop as Breakin, Emceein, Graffiti Art, Deejayin, Beatboxin, Street Fashion, Street Language, Street Knowledge and Street Entrepreneurialism it is also and more importantly about continuing our ancestors dreams/visions of true freedom, justice and equality amongst ALL people; this is the world’s true order. WE MUST NEVER FORGET THE STRUGGLE! Our ancestors as well as our children and the future of Hip Hop are depending upon US! TODAY! Either, you ignore this fact or you engage this fact; either way, the choices that you make and the effects of such choices shall come to pass in YOUR own life and prove the character of who YOU really are.

There is never a reason, nor is there ever time, to criticize or debate the movements of others when you are busy working at the realization of your own movement. Its funny to me how some people have so much to say about KRS ONE and his attempts to establish Hip Hop as an international community of peace, love, unity and having fun yet they have made little or no progress at all in that which they espouse as the solution to the social ills of our time. My message is clear; “Rap is something we do, Hip Hop is something we live!” Therefore, how shall we live as Hiphoppas? Sure, we can sit around and brag about the greatness of our ancestors and recount their victories of the past, but when shall we rise to our own victories in the present?

How long shall we reminisce over the glory days of the Civil Rights Movement without continuing the struggles and maintaining the victories of such a movement today? How long shall we romanticize the fact that our ancestors were civilization builders without even attempting to build any such civilization for ourselves today? All of this is a disgrace to the very greatness of our elders and ancestors! By talking about our ancestor’s greatness and not continuing in the footsteps of such greatness do we not betray the very greatness that we are speaking of? It’s better to remain ignorant of your ancestor’s achievements than to know of your ancestor’s achievements and do nothing to continue their legacy! Is this not a traitor to their very ideas? A traitor to the movement? Is this not a true sell-out?

Say whatever you like about KRS ONE (good, bad or indifferent) but one thing is for sure, no amount of criticism shall ever remove or shake him from the continuation of what his ancestors and elders lived and died for. Call me whatever you like; from “a true prophet” to “a false prophet” none of it matters when compared to the real struggle of our people to gain their rightful place at the table of peace and prosperity. And who are “our” people? This begins our reflection on the “Promised Land”.

Ya know, as I see it, the world is not terrorized by religious fanaticism; it is more terrorized by religious apathy. Too many people in the world today are not taking their religion or spiritual practice seriously. Too many people have simply lost their faith. And why? Scandals? Inconsistencies? Poverty? Sickness? All of or some of these may be the cause of such mass faithlessness but from what I see, people loose their faith when they are distant from the knowledge of their God. They don’t really know if their God truly exists or not, and within such distance created by doubt people forget what God really looks and sounds like. So when God appears to them in the form of a man or woman (or other animal), the logic of the World tells them that such an appearance is just a person espousing some really good ideas. “Oh, he was a great man” or “oh, she was a great woman” but never do they assume that they were in the presence of their “lord” and “savior”. And this, I think is the main reason why many people are faithless today; they’re forever waiting on a savior that has already appeared!

Too many people are waiting for their savior to appear in the way that their oppressors have determined when a true savior will always be at odds with an oppressive government that chooses to enslave its own people and contradict its own laws. In fact, this is the reason for a savior; to free humanity from the restraints of ignorance and oppression. Too many people have been indoctrinated in the Jesus story without really knowing anything about the life of the Christ. This is why when their savior appears they don’t recognize him/her; they’re to busy looking for Jesus. Throughout most of recorded history men and women of God alike have appeared to their people with divine solutions and remedies to rid their people of their oppression. But in ignorance, the People themselves reject their OWN savior and even assist in his assassination. As Jesus pointed out; “thou killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent to thee” (Matthew 23: 37).

A savior is a person who saves or rescues. No bells, no whistles, no hype! Just a person who saves others. “Savior: a person who rescues another from harm, danger, or loss (American Heritage Dictionary). A “lord” (throughout history) is a person who has authority, control or power over others. “Lord: a man of renowned power and authority (American Heritage Dictionary). And yes, there are other definitions to “lord” however, when it comes to a spiritual teacher or “savior” this is what someone’s “lord” would be. A “lord” is your master, your chief; the one that you submit to, the one that you deeply respect. Different from “The Lord” which is usually ascribed to Jesus the Christ, “a lord” is someone that you have entrusted your life to. They lead you.

On January 15 th 1929, my “lord” and “savior” Michael King was born. He would adopt the name Martin Luther (named after the German theologian who challenged the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century which resulted in the establishment of the Protestant churches) and after attending Moore House College in Atlanta, Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania and then Boston University were he received his doctorate, Martin Luther King Jr. became Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He is my “lord” because I give him such authority over my life. He is my King! I respect him. I believe in him! He is my “savior” because the only reason I am freely doing what I am doing and freely going wherever I wish to go is because of him and his sacrifices. In all honesty, I could NOT be KRS ONE in the way that I am if it were not for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.! He saved me from White racism! He liberated me from self-destruction! He stood up for me when I could not stand up for myself. And to him I am forever grateful.

His strength has given me strength. His courage has given me courage. His faith has given me faith. His vision has given me vision. In truth, I am living HIS dream! I don’t need to look at a 2000 year old Christian history for instruction when I can simply follow the instructions of MY lord and savior Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who laid his life down in 1968 so that I could live more comfortably today in 2006. Those who have benefited by Dr. King’s sacrifices yet prefer to honor Jesus as their lord and savior will be shocked when Jesus returns to them saying, “I never knew you.” For it was Jesus who said, “This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:12-13).

mlk We can talk all day about revolution and “what we gotta do” but if WE are not willing to exalt to sainthood those who lay down their lives for OUR freedom and comfort then we are truly lost! When are WE going to honor OUR own “lords” and “saviors?” Is this not the beginning of any effective revolution? Why put your faith in the sacrifices of foreign messiahs, saints and saviors when your own father has given HIS life for the advancement of YOUR well-being TODAY? Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. IS THE CHRIST! He is the “savior” of all who believe in him and his words. And as Hiphoppas, we must pay very close attention to the instructions of OUR savior if we are to grow and develop as a truly righteous nation ourselves.

In his famous “I Have A Dream” decree Dr. King said; “In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plain of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with Soul Force!”

This is the essence of any true Hip Hop movement. In fact, it is our belief that Hip Hop is the fulfillment of Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech. When studied closely one can see that Dr. King’s words were directed to his four children and all those of the younger generation of his time. When he said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”, most people assumed that the only nation Dr. King could have been talking about was the United States of America. That one day IT would live up to its creed of “all men” being “created equal” with the “unalienable rights” of “life, liberty” and the “pursuit of happiness”. Indeed Dr. King was talking about America as a nation, but it is clear that he was NOT talking about the America that he was protesting against. He saw a radically different America than even the one that exists today! In fact, after Dr. King’s assassination in 1968 things got worse!

Dr. King’s vision of true racial unity and equal citizenship under the Law never fully materialized for the people of the United States. As much as Americans love to hear about integration and the vision of ONE America with many shades and colors, in real life Americans are more segregated as a nation today than ever before. Despite the enormous advances made by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Thurgood Marshall toward a totally integrated American school system (for example) today, schools that bear their names are known to be the most segregated schools in the United States!

You can limit your analysis of Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” decree to just being the protest speech of the day if you like. But if you were one of the Black or White children that his speech was referring to then Dr. King’s Word is to be understood in the realm of prophesy, prediction and instruction not just (as the average American mind remembers it) as protest words for his time. On the contrary, Dr. King was not even speaking for his time; he was speaking for OUR TIME! Most of what he said in that famous decree was said in future tense. Dr. King said; “one day right there in Alabama, little Black boys and Black girls will be able to join hands with little White boys and White girls as sisters and brothers”.

Most people because of their own prejudices refer to the phrase “as brothers and sisters” figuratively. They doubt that “little Black boys and girls” and “little White boys and girls” can actually be real “brothers and sisters!” And they doubt this because for Black children and White children to become real blood brothers and sisters this means the creation of a new race, a new sect of people. And this concept goes way beyond what most people can actually handle today. As prophesy, Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech calls a new nation into existence. And because he was speaking to the future of those youths (us) born between 1960 and 1970 (generation X) who became the pioneers of modern Hip Hop and instinctively created the alternative multicultural, multiracial, omni-faithed community that Dr. King predicted, it is safe to say that WE are the true citizens of the nation Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed about. HIP HOP IS THE PROMISED LAND!

No where else on earth is there an international culture that is home to all races, classes, ethnicities and religious beliefs other than Hip Hop. No where else on earth is a person truly judged by the “content of their character” rather than by the “color of their skin” than within Hip Hop. Dr. King said, ” One day on red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood”. Nowhere has this happened in the world on a mainstream level except within the community of Hip Hop. As pimped-out, thugged-out and drugged-out as we appear to be, Hip Hop is NOT a racist culture. Our existence as a Hip Hop community fulfills Dr. King’s prophecy philosophically and historically. Within our Hip Hop community a person gains money, power and respect through a display of high skill in one or more of Hip Hop’s unique elements. Here, you are truly judged by the content of your character (your attributes, your abilities, your reputation, who you associate with) not by your race or ethnic origin. Hip Hop is beyond all that.

But just like the original vision of Hip Hop being about peace, love, unity and having fun was betrayed by the very people that it was designed to help, so was Dr. King’s dream also betrayed. Dr. King not only saved Black folks from years of segregation and forgave America and showed America true unconditional love but he also gave America a way out of sin and laid out the foundations for a truly civilized nation. In response, Black folks booed him, President Johnson would call him a “nigger preacher”, the N.A.A.C.P. disowned him and in the end White folks killed him! DAMN!

martinlutherkingpoint-225 As a result, “The Dream” of Dr. King fell upon the ground and both Blacks and Whites trampled over it! Even those of his own “Southern Christian Leadership Conference” sought after the success of their own careers rather than continue the realization of “The Dream”. And let me say right here, that I am not be overly critical of anyone’s efforts. But after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s death it seems that everything went back to the way it was. People from Dr. king’s own camp seem to have forgotten the “Dream”. Proof of this is the simple fact that many Americans especially Black Americans don’t even know who Dr. King is or what he was really all about. Is this the fault of “the White Man” or is this the fault Dr. King’s own Black People?

Why do WE allow illegal drugs to be sold on those streets named after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.? Why doesn’t every Black home have a picture or a word of Dr. King hanging upon its walls? Why have Black scholars allowed Black children to learn of Dr. King as a man who “let the dogs bite him” as opposed to teaching them the deeper meanings and benefits to not using violence as a way to solve problems? Why aren’t ALL children taught about the strengths of non-violent passive resistance? Why are we more interested in Dr. King’s sex life than we are the realization of his “Dream?”

Even further, why hasn’t Dr. King’s final campaign for the relief of poverty and the redistribution of wealth for poor Black people not followed through on after his death? When Dr. King said in his famous last decree on April 3 rd 1968 at a Masonic Temple/Church in Memphis Tennessee; “And also in the human rights revolution, if something isn’t done, and in a hurry, to bring the colored peoples of the world out of their long years of poverty, their long years of hurt and neglect, the whole world is doomed” did any one really hear him. Or is it just a coincidence that long years of “poverty” and “neglect” is also being said to be the cause of terrorism today?

Why is it that the only part of this last decree before his assassination that anyone gets to here is the very end of the decree where he says; “. I’ve been to the mountain top. And I don’t mind. Like anybody I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a People, will get to the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know that we as a People will get to the Promised Land”. Why haven’t we frequently heard the other parts of that famous decree where Dr. king also said; we are asking you not to buy Coca-Cola in Memphis. .not to buy Sealtest Milk. Tell them not to buy .Wonder Bread. .We are choosing these companies because they haven’t been fair in their hiring policies. .I call upon you to take your money out of the banks .we want a bank-in movement in Memphis”. Why we ain’t hearing these messages frequently. What if every MLK day we as a People withdrew our dollar from the companies Dr. King mentions as well as from those companies that advertise on B.E.T. and M.T.V. and on local radio stations that promote crime, lust, deceit and everything that Dr. King stood against and died for. What if we really listened to our lord and savior Martin the Christ? The true M.C.!

For if we really studied the Word of our savior we would also hear him saying to the Black Church in his same April 3 rd decree; “so often, preachers are not concerned about anything but themselves! And I’m always happy to see a relevant ministry. It’s all right to talk about ‘long white robes over yonder,’ in all of its symbolism. But ultimately people want some suits and dresses and shoes to wear down here. It’s all right to talk about ‘streets flowing with milk and honey,’ but God has commanded us to be concerned about the slums down here, and his children who can’t eat three square meals a day. It’s all right to talk about the new Jerusalem, but one day, God’s preacher must talk about the NEW York, the NEW Atlanta, the NEW Philadelphia, the New Los Angeles, the NEW Memphis Tennessee. This is what WE have to do.”

So why we ain’t doin’ it! Well, that answer also rests within that same April 3 rd 1968 decree. Dr. King, referring to Luke 10: 25-37 talked about the “Good Samaritan” and how we must “.develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness.” Pointing out how a priest and a Levite passed a beaten and robbed man on the road and how a Samaritan stopped to help, Dr. King made this point: “And so the first question that the Levite asked was, ‘if I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But then the good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: ‘if I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him? That’s the question before you tonight (referring to the sanitation workers then on strike in Memphis). If I stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to all of the hours that I usually spend in my office everyday and every week as a pastor?’ the question is not, ‘if I stop to help this man in need what will happen to me? If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?’ That’s the question!”

And that’s the answer, “dangerous unselfishness” we must develop this character again. People are “.not concerned with anything except themselves” and this is how crack cocaine can be sold on Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd and the police as well as Black leadership seem to be powerless to such blatantly illegal activity. As a Hip Hop nation we must not disgrace the blood of our ancestors and elders. As Dr. King said in Chicago; “We must make it clear, WE are going to live in dignity and honor, that WE are supposed to live there because WE are GOD’S CHILDREN and if WE are GOD’S CHILDREN he loves us (Hiphoppas) like he loves ALL of his children!”

This is Hip Hop! And either we are going to interpret Dr. King’s Word literally for OUR instruction today or we are going to interpret Dr. King’s words as historical protest poetry placed more in the realm of entertainment than in the realm of true nationalism.

Dr. Martin Luther King’s Jr.’s birthday is celebrated as a Federal holiday every third Monday in January. This year it rises on January 16 th 2006. This is an official Hip Hop holiday. Let us raise the awareness of OUR “lord” and “savior” Martin the Christ in the minds of OUR children. So, in recognition of MLK Day on January 16 th 2006.

Let us fast from spending money on things we really don’t need.
Let us tend to the needs of the poor; wherever and whoever they may be.
Let us watch any of the documentaries on Dr. King with our families.
Let us repent and stop disrespecting Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd.
Let us support all museums and community centers bearing Dr. King’s name.

Let us abstain from illegal drug use as well as alcohol and junk foods.
Let us show mercy, love, care and forgiveness toward one another.
Let us honor our parents, elders and ancestors.
Let us share ideas, food, etc with someone from a different race or ethnicity.

LET US BEGIN TO ACT LIKE THE NATION THAT DR. KING SAW IN HIS DREAM!

To be continued.

Visit The Teacha KRS-ONE and The Temple of Hip Hop at www.templeofhiphop.org

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Filed Under: Essential Hip Hop Articles, Hip Hop Articles 2006, Jan '06 Articles Tagged With: Davey D, Hip Hop, Hip Hop articles, Hip Hop news, KRS-One, KRS-One and Dr Martin Luther King, Krs-One Promised Land, KRS-one's Reflections on Dr Martin Luther King, Martin Luther King, Temple of Hip hop, The Promised Land - Reflections on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Hip Hop Nation

MC Lyte is Still Lyte as a Rock Our Intv w/ a True Pioneer (Breakdowm FM)

January 6, 2006 By mrDaveyd

There aren’t enough words to describe the importance of one of Hip Hip premier emcees MC Lyte. Nor is there enough space in this column to lay out the long list of accomplishments attributed to her. One thing is certain, if theres a Hip Hop Hall of Fame, MC Lyte is definitely in it.

If there’s an official list that lays out Hip Hops top 20 Greatest Emcees of All-time, MC Lyte is definitely on it. When we look back and ask ourselves who made a significant difference in Hip Hop? Who changed the game? Again MC Lyte’s name will be front and center.

We caught up with Lyte not too long ago and spoke to her about all that she has accomplished. We talked to her about the early stages of her career when she introduced herself to the world while still a young teen with a landmark song called I Cram To Understand which dealt with the crack epidemic.

We talked to her about her evolution from rapper to actress to social activism to book author and to business owner. For those who don’t know, long before P-Diddy, Jay-Z or any of todays high profile mega-rich rap stars hit the scene opened up businesses, MC Lyte had her own including the Harlem Cafe restaurant and the Duke the Moon management company with former X-Clan rapper Linque.

Today Lyte now owns a female clothing boutique in North Hollywood California. Her social activism has just seen her launch a successful Hip Hop Week at Spelman College in Atlanta where she lead nightly discussions about negative images in Hip Hop and the ways in which women can change things.

She appears regularly on TV shows including on the WB network. She’s gotten critical acclaim for her work in the movie Civil Brand which focuses on the nations increasing female prison population. But most important of all MC Lyte is back on the scene with new music including popular new joints like Juke Joint and the popular DJ Premier produced track called The Wonder Years. A quick listen lets anybody who had any doubts that after rocking the mic for almost 20 years this Grammy nominated emcee still has all her skillz in tact and will put heads to bed if you step to her on the mic..

Heres a brief rundown of our in-depth interview We started out by laying out the long list of MC Lyte’s accomplishments and we spoke about her new book which is aimed at improving the lives of teens called Just My Take. Lyte noted that it was important for her to set a good example and share words of inspiration with young people who are often overlooked and expected to somehow find answers to important problems on their own.

In part 2 we spoke to Lyte about the negative images found in rap and the way women are portrayed in videos. We spoke about the driving forces behind such imagery. Lyte noted that money is at the root of all this and that many executives are out to make a quick buck, while other decision makers are simply out to keep their jobs with little or no concern about the impact they are having on the community and the rest of the world.

She explained that the exploitation is such big business that when women who wish to show another side and express their intelligence it is somehow perceived as strange and out of the ordinary. She cited the behind the scenes struggles of fellow rap artist Eve who found that her songs which talked about dancing or sex would get highlighted and pushed by the record company while more meaningful songs which focused on important issues like domestic violence would be pushed to the back.

She speculated that such decision making led to Eve focusing her attention on acting. We ended this segment of our interview by asking about her song Georgy Porgy which is considered a Hip Hop classic and whether or not the story she raps about was true. She said it wasn’t, but she understood how one could come to that conclusion. Lyte explained that she came up in an era where it was critical for rappers to talk about something and that she learned to be a good story teller. We spoke about how that is a lost art in today’s world of Hip Hop.

In part 3 of our interview we spoke about Lyte’s decision to do the song Ruff Neck which talks about her love for the Boyz in the Hood and interestingly enough got nominated for her Grammy while her other songs which focused on drug addiction and sexism were by passed. She noted that she wanted to do a song that gave praise to the cats on the block, but she has no desire to actually kick it with Rough Necks. She noted that she hopes that maturity and change of heart and lifestyle has come upon those individuals who she would have applied that label when she first did the song. Lyte concluded that she had no regrets in doing the song even though she understands that it may have been a bit misleading in terms of what she values.

She went on to note that her one regret was releasing battle records like the landmark song 10% Dis that were directed at other female emcees. She regretted the fact that far too often these verbal conflicts were fueled by men who thought it would be financially viable and entertaining to pit the few females out on the scene up against one another.

We also talked about the tradition of artists causing controversy by releasing battle records when they first came on the scene as a way of getting known. She acknowledged that the battle records was a way that artists like Roxanne Shante and Salt-N-Pepa got their names out there,

Lyte pointed out that up to this day many record labels seem to have a problem putting more then one female on their rosters. She explained that Sylvia Rhone who headed up her record label was the only executive to have more then one female artists. She said YoYo, Missy Elliott and herself all shared the same label, but even in that case the label was careful to spread out the time in which their albums would be released thus ensuring that only one woman would be on the scene at a time.

In Part 4 of our interview we changed focus and spoke to MC Lyte about her acting career and her social/political activism. She went into detail about the movie Civil Brand and why she felt it was important to be part of an ensemble cast that focused on the raising prison population amongst females. She wanted to help change the false perception that being criminal and going to jail was a cool thing and a rite of passage.

She also explained that Civil Brand was produced on a shoe string budget and did not have all the expensive bells and whistles that is often attached to movies. She explained that good substance was driving force behind that movies success and that rappers should borrow a page from that philosophy. She noted that over the years the music industry has stopped looking for talent and started focusing image which is not a good thing.

In part 5 of our interview MC Lyte talked about her desire to forma coalition of women to work together within the industry. Currently her and YoYo are working on re-launching The IBWC Intelligent Black Womans Coalition. She also talked about being a role model and the challenges she has when the industry seems to be rewarding and enticing people to go in the opposite direction. She also talked about her new projects including the new albums as well as her businesses and how they came into being.

Below are pts1 and pt2 of our Breakdown FM intv w/ MC Lyte

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GxyhI-QyH0

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Filed Under: Breakdown FM Interviews, Hip Hop Articles 2006, Hip Hop Pioneers Tagged With: Breakdown FM, Civil Brand, DJ premier, hiphop, Lyte, MC Lyte, Missy Elliott, Salt-N-Pepa, Sylvia Rhone

Breakdown FM: Mike Shinoda & Fort Minor Step Into the Hip Hop Arena

December 1, 2005 By mrDaveyd

We caught up with Mike Shinoda who many of you know as the lead rapper for the group Linkin Park. He has embarked on a new project which allows him to completely focus on Hip Hop called Fort Minor and their new album called ‘Rising Tides‘.

Shinoda deliberately downplays his name in connection to this project even though this is his idea and concept. He says this is being done so that fans will focus on and judge the project strictly on the merits of its music. In fact, he went so far as to scratch out his face on much of the artwork. He also noted that he wanted not dilute what they he does as a member of Linkin Park. Ideally people needed to see Fort Minor as a separate project even though Mike is the lead rapper and he works with the groups deejay Mr. Hahn.

Shinoda starts off the interview by reminding us of his long connection to Hip Hop. He notes that he was doing Hip Hop long before he became a member of Linkin Park. In fact he was kicking up dust with the members of the underground rap group Styles of Beyond who he recently signed to his label and are prominently featured in the Fort Minor project.

Shinoda also talks about growing up and being taught how to play piano. He says he later went on to transfer that skill set to sampling and producing. He notes that over the years he and fellow band member Mr. Hahn have developed a technique for producing Hip Hop songs which includes the pair making their own samples which they press onto vinyl and now CD and replay back. He notes this approach gives them the sound and style they want while at the same time saves them lots of money on sample clearances.

Shinoda talks about the reason he decided to do this Hip Hop album minus Linkin Park. For many, this seemed a bit strange considering that the group did a Hip Hop oriented remix album for their landmark album ‘Animation’.

Shinoda explained that the group is not in anyway broken up; however he felt that there were a number of ideas that he had related to Hip Hop that simply would not be appropriate for Linkin Park. He said he would never want to do songs that would not include input from all the members and some of the songs on the ‘Rising Tide’ album are just too personal. It would be unfair to ask everyone to comment or pitch in.

Shinoda cites the song ‘Kenji‘ which brings to light his Japanese heritage and his familys history. Many of us were not aware that Shinoda’s grandparents were forced to spend several years in California internment camps during World War II. They way he breaks things down in this track is absolutely incredible and it is easily one of the most political oriented songs I have heard in a long time.

Shinoda talks about other songs on the album including ‘Cigarettes‘ which he describes as a long metaphor for the way Hip Hop music and culture is mass marketed. He also notes that ‘Cigarettes’ is the favorite song of Jay-Z who is the executive producer.

In our interview Shinoda talks about his close relationship with Jay-Z. They became super tight during the ‘Collision Course‘ mash up album in which they mixed rock and rap. He says that he gave Jay-Z the option to come on the ‘Rising Tides’ album, but the role he really needed him to play was to give him a ‘yeah’ or ‘nay’ on song selections.

Shinoda wrote and produced all of the songs and used live instruments on many of them. He’s a perfectionist and hence needed the fresh ears and honest opinion of someone like a Jay-Z who could tell him what was ready to go and what needed more work.

During our interview we went into depth about the importance of having socially relevant messages in the music. This is what you will hear on Fort Minors album. He says that he has noticed that people really want something different. They are seeking music with meaning that does not sound like the run of the mill cookie cut projects that are currently flooding the market. He calls what Fort Minor does Organic Hip Hop, because of the subject matter and live instrumentation. He also includes groups like The Roots and Kanye West as examples of rap groups that have moved in that direction.

Shinoda concludes this interview by talking about the diversity of fans that the group has and basically how far Hip Hop has reached. He also talks about his approach toward emceeing and what it was like being in the studio with Jay-Z who he confirms does go into the booth with a pen or pad.

You can listen or download this interview by going here:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News, Artist Interviews, Breakdown FM Interviews Tagged With: Breakdowm FM, Collision Course, Davey D, Fort Minor, Hip Hop, Kenji, Linkin Park, Mike shinoda, world war II

Straight Outta Beirut-Hip Hop in Full Effect w/ Clotaire K

October 7, 2005 By mrDaveyd

Listen to our Interview w/ Clotaire K on Breakdown FM:

Breakdown FM-ClotaireK-05

Clotaire K

For most of us the city of Beirut has an interesting connection to Hip Hop in the sense that it often mentioned in rap songs as a way to describe toughness or indicate how violent prone a particular neighborhood is..¦What’s so crazy is that hardly any of the rappers in the US who raise up the name of Beirut have ever traveled there and have very little knowledge of the people or its Hip Hop scene. Sadly, most don’t even know what country Beirut is in-which is Lebanon for those who don’t know.

Recently I got a chance to visit Lebanon and get the 4-11 on the politics that have come to shape this country and its music scene. First, let me say this, Beirut is an incredibly beautiful city. Before I came there I thought it was gonna be nothing but bombed out buildings and folks running around in fatigues ready to bring the drama. There are definitely those areas. And yes, you do see soldiers in the streets carrying machine guns, but other then that, the place is on fire. It’s not what you think.

At the height of Beirut’s infamous wars less then 5% of the city was impacted. Since those dark days, everything has been pretty much rebuilt. The nightlife is off the hook with clubs getting packed around 3am and closing at 7 the next morning. Everybody is dressed with all the latest styles and are amazingly beautiful especially the women. And as I was told prior to arriving, that once I set foot in Beirut, I would not want to leave. That prediction was right. Beirut is easily the Miami Beach or Los Angles of the Middle East-Nuff said.

We sat down with well known local rapper Clotaire K who gave us the breakdown of Beirut’s burgeoning Hip Hop scene. Clotaire K has made major inroads with a slamming album called ‘Lebanese’ which has a lot politically charged lyrics rapped over boomin’ beats.

He noted that he a long with many other middle east rappers have a love for old school Hip Hop from the US, but Southern France is where he spent most of his days. It is also Hip Hop’s epicenter in that part of the world. Clotaire who spits many of his rhymes in French felt it was vitally important to also include music and references reflecting his native Lebanon. The mixture is music that will not only make your head bob, but also let anyone who thinks Hip Hop begins and ends in New York or in the US, that it’s a new day and time.

Clotaire K explained that most people in Lebanon are influenced by mainstream US culture which is imported via TV and videos. Hence rappers like Eminem have huge following amongst the general public. During our interview Clotaire pointed out the irony of Eminem mentioning Beirut in his raps followed by gun shots, yet for all his tough talk has not set foot in the country. Clotaire K noted that if he showed up he would get lots of love from the people.

Clotaire K also spoke about touring and how he’s focused a lot of his efforts in countries throughout South America, Africa and the Middle East. When I last spoke to Clotaire K he had just embarked on a two week tour throughout Egypt. He noted that it was a shame that more US artists have not blessed these places with their presence and while he understand itâs not always easy to touch down in far off lands, US rap artists have left an impression of being paranoid.

Clotaire also noted that for many, Hip Hop is seen as truthful expression that is easily accessible and has allowed people to make important political statements in an overtly politicized region. With regards to him, he says that he was influenced by Public Enemy and has great love for Bay Area rapper Paris who he feels has never been given his full props.

During our interview Clotaire K gives a full rundown about the very tricky and volatile political situation that involves Syria, Palestine and of course Israel. He notes that since the city has been rebuilt, there has been huge separation between rich and poor and that while Lebanon has evolved to this trendy destination spot for the rich and famous, the stark reality is that 95% of the population is poor. Gentrification out of the downtown area seems to be the order of the day and that these are the types of conditions that lead to conflict as well as anger being reflected in the music.

You can holler at Clotaire K by visiting his website http://www.clotairek.com/ or drop him an email at clotairek@clotairek.com

Below are links to our Breakdown FM intv on YouTube

Lastly.. when I met Clotaire K I was apart of the Freemuse Music conference on censorship.. in october 2005… Below is a link to the report they issued on their findings from that year..

http://www.freemuse.org/sw11193.asp

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News, Artist Interviews, Breakdown FM Interviews Tagged With: Arab Hip Hop, Beirut, Breakdown FM, Clotaire K, Davey D, FreeMuse Music conference 2005, Hip Hop, Lebanon, Middle East, Middle East rappers, Rapping

Breakdown FM: E-40 the Ambassador of the Bay Speaks His Mind

August 1, 2005 By mrDaveyd

This is classic Breakdown FM interview we did with E-40 a few years ago…He gives a great run down of the Bay Area Hip Hop scene, We also talked to him about his new businesses which include a burger franchise and new nightclub in San Jose..

E-40 also gives some great history on the Bay and the origins of what he calls mob music. He also talks about the challenges of garnering national recognition and the perception of the west coast. he also talks about the art of emceeing, freestyling and recent collaborations.

Click the Links Below to Listen to E-40

E-40 Interview pt1

E-40 Interview pt2

Below are excerpts of the this E-40 interview

E-40 pt1: owning a franchise, opening a new nightclub

E-40 pt2: national recognition, staying ahead of the game

E-40 pt3: origins of mob music, working w/ Lil jon working w/ jive records

E-40 pt4: creativity, slang terms, battling, freestyles, collaborations

E-40 pt5: The Bay Area scene, E-40 new radio show, perceptions of west coast artists

E-40 pt6: update on e-40 and the family

E-40 pt7: players ball

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News, Breakdown FM Interviews Tagged With: E-40, Freestyle rap, Hip Hop, San Francisco Bay Area, West coast hip Hop

Now that Lil Kim is Free Will She Fight For Other Prisoners?

July 5, 2005 By mrDaveyd

Now that Lil Kim is Free Will She Fight For Other Prisoners?
by Davey D-

Last week during the BET Awards, Lil Kim’s mother and brother came into the press gallery to field questions about her incarceration. They emphasized how unfair it was for her to be locked up and how the justice system is screwed up.

I think it was her brother who pointed out how all sorts of people who have committed heinous crimes do very little time, while Lil Kim got locked down for perjury. It was also pointed out how there are many who done more egregious white-collar crimes and have gotten off the hook.

When the BET press monitors finally called on me, I asked them what sort of plans they or Lil Kim had to do work with prison advocacy groups now that they’ve seen first hand how jacked up the system is. Could you imagine they type of attention some one like Lil Kim could bring to the plight of political prisoners like Mumia Abu Jamal, Herman Bell or 2Pac’s father Matulu Shakur just to name a few of the many? Can you imagine the type of attention that she could bring to the plight of the legions of Black and Brown folks who routinely get railroaded by the system?

Lil Kim’s mother said she was not aware of any plans Lil Kim had in the works and they moved onto the next question. Granted things are still early and the Queen Bee is probably still recovering from her 10 month bid. However, it’s an idea that should be seriously considered. After all, her incarceration was highlighted with a BET reality TV show which netted high ratings.

Many big time celebrities ranging from comedian Kat Williams on down to celebrity gossip reporter and former MTV host Ananda Lewis have spoken out about how the system was unjust and was railroading Lil Kim. Very few of us within the community who have family and friends who have done time, would argue with the assessment. Ideally it would be nice if the spotlight to the criminal justice system doesn’t start and end with Lil Kim.

Now that shes out she has a great opportunity to bring attention to those who dont have a celebratory rap career. Hopefully she wont follow in the footsteps of Martha Stewart, who talked about how unfair the system was and how she lived alongside women who were unfairly locked up, but once she left she went back to being the media diva and multi-millionaire business woman she was prior to going in.

lil kim

If Kim speaks up, she would not be alone in terms of speaking out. In the past there have been a few rappers who have done prison advocacy work including Hip Hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa who back in the early days of his career routinely took a lot of brothers who were getting out the pen and put them to work. Many of them went on the road with him as he attempted to stir them away from their troubled environments. Later on artists like Ice T and MC Hammer did similar things. One of the reasons Hammer went bankrupt was because he had employed scores of people with nice paying jobs who were fresh out the pen. This was in addition to paying for cats lawyer fees and related expenses.

Of course we cannot overlook some of Hip Hops biggest champions of prison advocacy work, The Geto Boys, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Boots of the Coup and dead prez stand out. Many people don’t realize that over the years the Geto Boys along with Rap-A-Lot CEO James Prince have sunk hundreds of thousands of dollars paying for legal expenses in their attempt to get brothers out of prison. While their advocacy work hasn’t been well publicized, it was and is well-known by folks in power who have grown angry with the group for reaching out.

A couple of years ago I spoke with Bushwick Bill about this and he speculated that the groups willingness to underwrite legal fees and try and prove the innocence of those railroaded into Texas jails may be one of the reasons that Rap-A-Lot found itself being aggressively investigated by the feds several years ago. Things got so heated for them that Scarface launched a song putting them on blast and naming one of the chief haters within the FBI who was pursuing them. The song was called Look Into My Eyes. Later on Congress woman Maxine Waters intervened on their behalf to help turn the tide, but not before it set off a storm of controversy that landed on the feet of former Vice President Al Gore. But as Bushwick confidently pointed out their decision to help out folks behind bars is not one they regret or would change if they could do it all over again. What the Geto Boys was doing is ideally what more artists in their position should do, especially when you consider how out of the 2.5 million people on lock down damn near half come from our community.

A couple of years ago when Suge Knight was on lockdown he actually took out ads in several magazines offering to pay lawyer fees and related expenses to help get cats out of jail. In his ad he had noted that there were way too many innocent people on lock down who needed help and he was throwing his hat into the ring.

Michael Franti has not only dedicated entire albums to addressing the Prison Industrial Complex, but for the past 8 years he has done a 9-11 Festival which includes a free concert at Golden gate Park in San Francisco which draws more than 40 thousand people. The festival started off as a way to bring attention to the plight of political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal and has since expanded in both concept and sheer number of people who show up. Over the years everyone from Digital Underground to Talib Kweli to KRS-One have all graced the stages of Franti’s 9-11 festival.

The work of groups like the Coup and Dead Prezs is more than obvious and speaks for itself. Over the years Boots has not only done concerts to raise money for Prison advocacy groups, but he himself was known for doing his own political education classes to help bring people up to speed on impending legislation like California’s harsh 3 strikes law and later Prop 21-the juvenile justice bill, which allows for the incarceration of 14 year olds in adult prisons.

In the case of dead prez, their songs as well as their direct involvement and membership in organizations like the POCC (Prisoners of Conscience Committee) have set the standard for the type of work artists like Lil Kim can either support or be involved in. Both M-1 and Boots are quick to point out that they are organizers first and artists second. In fact during a recent Hip Hop conference at Stanford University, Boots noted that if Hip Hop wasnt the platform being embraced by people hood, he would be doing another genre of music, as long as he could reach the people that need him most.

Now granted Lil Kim may not be ready to do the type of work we associate with groups like dead prez or the Coup. However, it would be ideal if someone like her who has such high visibility and is now having the spotlight put on her because of her situation would consider taking things a step further by aligning herself with those who fight the prison industrial complex and criminal injustice system everyday.

what do you think?

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: Afrika Bambaataa, Bushwick Bill, Criminal Justice, Geto Boys, Lil Kim, Michael Franti, Mumia abu jamal, political Prisoners

Breakdown FM: An Intv w/ Oakland Freestyle King Mistah FAB (Son of a Pimp)

June 15, 2005 By mrDaveyd

We sat down with Oakland’s Freestyle King Mistah FAB who has just released his new album ‘Son of a Pimp‘… Here he talks about Oakland’s New Bay Rap scene and the direction in which it’s headed. He talks about the Bay’s independent hustle and his close relationship with the Late Mac Dre who was a Bay legend.

He also talks about the misconception that some have about street cats being able to flow on the mic. Mistah FAB makes no bones about his ability to rock the mic and take fools out.. If you don’t believe us talk to Jin who went up against Masta FAB and came away clearly understanding this Oakland Emcee is a ‘real problem’.

Mistah FAB also breaks down the meaning behind his album. His dad was a former pimp who died a few years back of AIDs. His mom is a recovering drug addict… and he has seen more then his share of death and hardships over the years. In spite it all Mistah FAB has kept it moving with a whole lot of flair and style.

Download and listen to Breakdown FM Intv

Mistah FAB 2005 Interview

Filed Under: Breakdown FM Interviews Tagged With: bay Area rap, Mistah FB, oakland Freestyle King, Son of a Pimp

Hot 97 Protest…Now Sharpton Wants to Jump in-What’s the Hustle?

March 10, 2005 By mrDaveyd

Now Sharpton Wants to Jump In… What’s the Hustle? Hip Hop Activists Respond…
by Davey D

DaveyD-Raider-frame Today the NY Daily News ran an article about the Reverend Al Sharpton wanting to write letters to the FCC and call for a 90 day ban on ‘gangsta rap’ and anything that reeks of violence and has the potential to spill out in the streets.

This sounds good on the surface and considering what took place last week at Hot 97 in New York it sounds damn near practical… But there’s always a catch and a behind the scenes story to the one being sold to us.

First we have to ask ourselves where Sharpton was over the past few years when these media reform campaigns were first conducted, the most prominent being the ‘Turn off the Radio Campaign‘ that was launched and supported by community activists Bob Law, the December 12th Movement, Chuck D of Public Enemy, dead prez, The Zulu Nation and numerous others community organizations in New York.

A huge tribunal featuring a number of NY City Council members, artists ranging from Hip Hop luminaries like Stetsasonic, Public Enemy and Afrika Bambaataa to legendary R&B crooners Ray, Goodman and Brown who filled a church on Madison Avenue in Harlem in January of 2003 to address the important issue of how Black folks were being depicted in media outlets serving New York.

There were at least a 1000 people in attendance and the tribunal went on for at least 5 hours with community member after community member speaking and airing out their grievances. Sharpton was no where to be seen. Nor was he around to lend his considerable clout in the months that followed when Law worked tirelessly to get this campaign off the ground. Sharpton was not around when the Turn off the Radio Campaign sparked off in other cities like Kansas City, and Cleveland to name a few. Sharpton was no where to be seen when similar efforts were launched in places like Detroit (Black Out Fridays), Seattle, Chicago and most recently Miami.

Al Sharpton

Sharpton was absent from the fight when the huge media reform campaign called the ‘People’s Station Campaign‘ sparked off in San Francisco. Here members of the Hip Hop community including artists and numerous organizations got together monitored the Clear Channel owned Urban Music stations in the area and issued a report to the community and various media outlets. The efforts not only forced change on the big Urban giants KMEL and KYLD, but it was the subject of numerous media stories including a huge front page story penned by author Jeff Chang called Urban Radio Rage How Clear Channel Wrecked KMEL on front of the Bay Guardian.

Many of the issues that Turn off the Radio campaign as well as the other efforts around the country, were similar to the ones raised by the coalition that protested against Hot 97 last Friday at Union Square Park. People have grown tired of the racist remarks directed at the communities of color this station serves. They were tired of the type of degrading music that is constantly being pumped. The recent shooting in front of Hot 97 involving 50 Cent and Game’s entourage was just icing on the cake for the momentum that had already been brewing within the Hip Hop community.

Hopefully people do not forget that what was the real catalyst behind Friday’s March 4th protest was the insidious, racist Tsunami song that Hot 97’s executives allowed Miss Jones and her morning crew to put on the air. Initial complaints to the station were ignored and dismissed until websites like Okayplayer.com owned by the Grammy Award winning Hip Hop band the Roots and WBAI DJ J-Smooth and his blog HipHopmusic.com alerted their readers what was going on.

This in turn sparked more people to come forth as Smooth, Okayplayer and other Hip Hop oriented websites began chronicling the tireless efforts of organizers with the Asian and Southeast Asian communities that had now taken up the fight against Hot 97. Because of the similarities and concerns raised in previous efforts, folks from all backgrounds were able to come together and re-address the grievances at Hot 97.

Protest at Hot 97

Again Sharpton was absent. During the whole Anti-Asian Tsunami incident there were no headline making statements from Sharpton about media reform or restraint. He was absent from this highly publicized fight. No phone calls, no letters, no nothing. He didn’t even come to the first protest at Hot 97 which was attended by City councilmen Charles Barron and John Liu who helped organized this effort along with Asian Media Watch. He certainly wasn’t at any of the planning meetings or any other media reform gathering.

In addition to all this, let’s go back into time when the Turn Back the Radio efforts were underway and we had all these FCC hearings about how many stations Radio station owners could have in a market, you did not see or hear Sharpton raising this issue. You certainly didn’t see him at too many of the hearings. I know because we covered most of them on our airwaves at Pacifica and I spoke at three of them. (Monteray, Seattle and San Francisco)

So what’s this all about? Why is Sharpton jumping in at the 12th hour? Is it because this is the hot topic of the day and he wants to be a part of it? Maybe… Maybe not. The media reform and media justice argument has been around for the past 3 years and have been hot topics. He could’ve ran to the bank with this during his Presidential campaign. But he didn’t. He certainly never had any of the main Hip Hop activists who have been dealing with this from day one come on his Sunday night 3 hour radio show on WLIB which is now home to Air America. We spoke with Bob Law who let us know that not once did Sharpton ever help out with the widespread efforts behind this campaign.

So what’s the motive behind Sharpton suddenly wanting to write the FCC and call for a ban on gangsta rap? Well, he’s seems to be redirecting the argument back to the artists and away from the media owners and executives who are really responsible for giving them air time.

Jeff Smulyan CEO of Emmis

In the NY Daily news article, you don’t see him calling them into question the role Jeff Smulyan, Rick Cummings and Barry Mayo who are executives at Emmis. You don’t see him calling for a meeting with John Hogan, Steve Smith or Doc Winters who are key executives at Clear Channel. You don’t see him calling on Cathy Hughes or Alfred Liggins or Mary Catherine Sneed (MC Sneed) who run things at Radio One. He covers his steps by saying, he doesn’t wanna mediate between the artists and that this is a recurring problem, but he stops short of placing blame where it really belongs on the owners of these outlets. Many of them not only grant platforms to these artists but they also grant platforms to other activities that help promote beef like the infamous Smackfest where they have sistas from around the way smack each other for cash prizes. Everyone knows this hence the protests and objections over the past three years.

This is important to note, because folks who have been organizing around media reform are very clear that artists like 50 Cent and Game have to own up to the role they play in these conflicts, but this is bigger then them. This goes back to those who have final say so as to what gets aired and how they ultimately profit off of these divisions. So now we have Sharpton who has good working relationships with Kathy Hughes at Radio One and Barry Mayo the General Manager at Hot 97 coming to the rescue.

Sharpton was strangely silent and didn’t shoot off letters to the FCC a few weeks ago when members of Game’s entourage brutally beat a deejay (Xzulu) and hospitalized him after an interview they conducted on Radio One’s WYKS in DC. He never asked for a 90 day ban when Radio One banned and then un-banned the Game’s record from being played on the air. Industry insiders are wondering if pay for play tactics were behind that move.

Many see Sharpton’s involvement as a subtle but soon to not be so subtle smoke screen to protect the attacks on his media buddies at these outlets. Today he’s calling for ban. Tomorrow he’ll start focusing on the artists and will do all that he can to downplay the role and responsibility of this executive friends at these stations. Who knows perhaps they will even grant him a weekly show so he can air out these important issues.

My point being is that what sort of ‘off the record’ conversations has Sharpton been having with these folks that he has not been able to come forth and say something like ‘I just got off the phone with Radio One and they agreed to do a 90 day ban, or I just spoke to Barry Mayo and convinced him to do an on air truce and dedicate a day to conflict resolution which is what Pittsburgh radio station WAMO did the other day. ‘.

One would hope and suspect that Sharpton had these conversations with them before making his announcement about going to the FCC. One has to wonder what’s really going on? Did he speak to them and they told him ‘No Way’? I find this hard to believe.

In the words of Public Enemy.. ‘Don’t Believe the Hype’ and ‘Can’t Truss It’ cause we aren’t.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4Yv1ay0CmM

=======================================
Rev. Al airs gangsta ban plan

BY TRACY CONNOR and BILL HUTCHINSON
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

The Rev. Al Sharpton

The Rev. Al Sharpton is calling for a 90-day ban on radio and TV airplay for any performer who uses violence to settle scores or hype albums.

“There has to be a way to step in and regulate what’s going on with the airwaves and with violence,” Sharpton told the Daily News yesterday. “The airwaves are being used to romanticize urban violence.”

The activist minister plans to ask the Federal Communications Commission and the country’s major radio broadcasters to back his proposal.

His call follows last week’s shooting outside Hot 97 radio’s SoHo studios that apparently was sparked by a feud between rappers 50 Cent and The Game.

A member of The Game’s entourage, Kevin Reed, 23, of Compton, Calif., was shot in the buttocks after 50 Cent bad-mouthed The Game during an on-air interview at the radio station.

Bad blood between 50 Cent and The Game continued to boil over the weekend when The Game challenged his former mentor to “Come get me, you little bitch!” during a concert in Long Beach, Calif.

Last night, 50 Cent was escorted through LaGuardia Airport by Port Authority cops “for his own protection” when he arrived on a plane from Detroit about 8 p.m., a Port Authority spokesman said.

Said Sharpton, “We may not be able to stop people from shooting, but we can stop people from profiting from the violence.” Sharpton declined to comment specifically on the beef between 50 Cent, who was born Curtis Jackson, and The Game, whose real name is Jayceon Taylor.

Sharpton said he has no intention of trying to broker peace between the two rap stars, who have both recently released top-selling CDs.

“You can’t deal with this on an artist-by-artist basis,” he said. “I’m not going to become a mediator between artists. This is a recurring problem.”

In a letter Sharpton plans to send to the FCC and broadcasters, he said the outcry against violence among entertainers should be just as loud as the response last year to Janet Jackson’s breast-baring Super Bowl stunt.

“I recall the outrage that the FCC and others displayed in response to the Super Bowl performance of Janet Jackson,” Sharpton wrote. “Yet, when acts of violence happen around radio stations that actually have caused bloodshed, there has been a strange and disturbing silence from all quarters.”

htt p://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/40700.htm

HOT97

An on-air personality at one of Hot 97’s sister stations says he was booted off the air after complaining about a song that features the lyric “Beat that bitch with a bat.”

Paul Porter said his falling-out with KISS-FM came after being told by the embattled hip-hop outlet, “Make up your mind: Do you want to stand up for kids or the company?”

The freelance announcer, who is also a volunteer instructor at a public school in Queens, told The Post that he voiced his concern last year after a 12-year-old student asked him, “Why does Hot 97 play these records?”

The offending song, “Party and Bulls- – -” by rap artist Rah Digger, was a favorite of the little girl’s father – who had recently beaten her mother, Porter said.

“I was shocked that a sixth-grader was so aware, but saddened that I had no answer,” said Porter.

Although the announcer’s complaint led to a new zero-tolerance policy for on-air profanity, Hot 97 just five months later launched a violent on-air contest called “Smackfest.”

That’s where young women compete for a $500 prize by striking one another in the face, not only to try and produce the loudest slap but do the most physical damage – including drawing blood.

These revelations come less than a week after an associate of rapper The Game was shot outside Hot 97’s Manhattan studio by a man believed to be an associate of rival rapper 50 Cent, while “Fitty” was inside promoting his new album.

50 Cent had just said on the air that he was ejecting The Game, a former protégé, from his posse.

Six weeks earlier, the station came under fire for playing “The Tsunami Song,” a twisted “We Are the World” parody mocking victims of the natural disaster that killed more than 200,000 people.

Porter says the Hot 97 DJs told him soon after the shooting that the controversies stem from programming director John Dimick’s inexperience with hip-hop.

Emmis Communications, the parent of Hot 97 and KISS-FM, hired Dimick in November from Jefferson-Pilot Communications in San Diego, where he oversaw country, jazz and alternative-rock stations.

“It’s been a zoo up there since Dimick took over. He doesn’t know what he’s doing,” Porter says one DJ told him.

Filed Under: archive articles, Editorial, Essential Hip Hop Articles, Industry news & Views Tagged With: Afrika Bambaataa vs Hot 97, Al Sharpton, Bob Law, Games beats up DC deejay, Hot 97, Hot 97 Protest...Now Sharpton Wants to Jump in-What's the Hustle?, Jeff Smulyan, Protest, Turn off the Radio, Xzulu

Breakdown FM: Our Interview w/ Kam ‘We Must Save Tookie’

March 1, 2005 By mrDaveyd

We sat down with former LA Crip Gang member turned rapper Brother Kam. Many of you may recall him as one of the first artists to sign up under Ice Cube‘s Street Knowledge Record label.

Kam gave us an in-depth perspective on how the system works especially when it comes to dealing with LA gang members wether they are reformed or not. He says that the end game is to keep people wherehoused and to not rehabilitate them.

He speaks about why LA Crip founder, Tookie Williams, a Noble Peace Prize nominee who is currently scheduled to be executed on December 13th is feared. Kam says his wisdom and ability to turn his life around and survive in the belly of beast has been troublesome to a government and system that seeks to keep Black people in a constant state of confusion and disarray.

He goes deep and explains how the government worked night and day to undermine the 1992 Peace Treaties which came about in the aftermath of the Rodney King Uprisings.

Kam explains how organizations ranging from the Nation of Islam to Bloods and Crios to ViceLords and El-Rukins in Chicago are honeycombed with agents who are there to disrupt.He talks about how many of these agents specialize in behavior science and they honed their skillz during the cold war when they were undermining soviet sponsored governments. He says after the cold war, many of those agents returned home and have been assigned to inner cities.

Kam also talks about why we have not seen or heard from more rappers who like to claim Crip and LA gang culture in their music, but have remained silent around the campaign to save Tookie. He talks about how many artists and entertainers can be brought off for a few peices of silver and the opportunity to be famous.

Kam concludes the interview by speaking about why it is important for everyone who is righteous to link up and get organized. he notes that our enemies although wicked are extremely organized. He also cautions us to not try to out Devil the Devil, but to stand for truth.

To listen to this interview go to the link below. You can either stream this or download it..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ3CF_5hUj4

Stanley Williams is scheduled to be executed by the State of California on December 13, 2005.

Stanley Tookie Williams‘ petition for clemency will be filed with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday, November 8, 2005.

The petition will be available at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time on November 8 at www.cm-p.com/clemency.htm and at www.tookie.com/ . Additional information will continue to be posted on these sites.

written by Davey D

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Filed Under: Breakdown FM Interviews, Political articles Tagged With: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bloods, Breakdown FM, Crip, Kam, Nation of Islam, Nobel Peace Prize, Stanley Williams, Tookie Williams

Categories