mrDaveyd | Hip-Hop and Politics

On Aug 21st George Jackson Died, Nat Turner Rebelled & Bradley Manning is Sentenced

August 21, 2013 By mrDaveyd

George Jackson

August 21st is a crazy day today.. First it marks the 43rd anniversary of George Jackson being killed in San Quentin by prison guards.. His death and the movement he sparked to change conditions inside prison is a catalyst for Black August..

Jackson was a prisoner who became an author, a member of the Black Panther Party, and co-founder of the Black Guerrilla Family prison organization. He achieved global fame as one of the Soledad Brothers before being executed by prison guards in San Quentin Prison. He was man who fought to change the conditions of prisoners which were best articulated in a book which contains a collection of letters and essays called ‘Soledad Brother‘ and Blood in My Eye which was completed just days before he died. The latter book focuses on Jackson’s philosophy and understanding of the Freedom struggles at that time..

http://vimeo.com/27870164

Nat Turner and FEAR of slave revolts has resulted in deep-seated suspicions of Black people that are alive and well today

Today also marks the day that Nat Turner led a slave rebellion in 1831 in Virginia..55 whites were killed.. 100 African who were enslaved were killed.. 56 were executed.. Nat’s actions led to new laws forbidding the educating of Blacks and as well as our right to assemble

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wub3XUoQAgQ

Today we just Bradley Manning who blew the whistle on gross government wrong doings was sentenced to 35 years in prison…

Meanwhile a half way a round the world, a brutal tyrant who the US supported for over 30 years Hosin Muburak was just ordered release from jail..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFFkcCh-pCc

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News Tagged With: Bradley manning, freedom, George Jackson, Nat Turner

3 Dope Female Emcees Who Should Respond to Kendrick Lamar’s Outta Control Verse

August 21, 2013 By mrDaveyd

I know everyone is still talking about the verse heard around the world uttered by Kendrick Lamar on Big Sean‘s Outta Control song. Since then damn near everyone has offered up a response from Papoose to Joel Ortiz to Lupe Fiasco to B.O.B. and everyone in between. Most took issue with Kendrick claiming he was the King of New York. Others objected to him suggesting he would lyrically ‘murder’ them..He ignited something and everyone was put on notice to step their game up..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdcNoGmt7Ws

Unfortunately whats’ missing in all these exchanges are the voices of some of our sisters. Ideally it would’ve been nice to see some of the better known emcees like a Jean Grae, M.I.A. MC Lyte, Nicki Manaj, Lil Kim, Medusa etc respond to Kendrick but he didn’t name check ’em like he did everyone else.. Perhaps Kendrick avoided saying the names of these female emcees because they really would’ve cut him down to size…Maybe the self-proclaimed King of New York should be replaced by a a Queen..

Here are 3 female emcees along w/ 3 honorable mentions who should respond to Kendrick and let him know what time it really is…

Nitty Scott MC

Many people got hip to Nitty Scott MC when he amazed folks during one of the BET ciphers..She put folks on noticed by letting them know ‘mamma was home and cats better get their bars up and their flows right’..

Since then she’s rocked a bunch of songs and as far as many of us are concerned, she’s killing it.. Yes indeed Nitty needs to jump in the outta control fray and send Kendrick home without his crown..

Nitty ScottMC ‘Bullsh#t Raps‘..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHyIMj1OCCE

Now in all fairness maybe Kendrick didn’t call out Nitty because he had done a song with her and already knew she could bring heat if tested..

Nitty Scott MC w/ Kendrick Lamar ‘Flower Child’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46j_q1Wr0jY

Snow Tha Product

Snow tha Product lives in Texas but originally hails from the Bay Area-San Jose to be exact. When she raps she always on beast mode letting everyone know that got flows and rhymes for days designed to chop folks up..

From what I gather Snow is constantly being tested because of her gender, her ethnicity (she’s Mexican) and because she’s not from one of the big cities like LA or NY and rolling with a big baller type clique. As a result its been easy for some to write her off only to find that she responds with serious heat. It’s obvious that Snow has no intention of backing down to no one..

Lately she’s been making noise doing songs with artists like Tech N9ne, Trae thsa Truth and Lupe Fiasco.. She’s also one of the few females emcees scheduled to grace the stage at Rock the Bells. It’d be nice to see her jump in the fray and put Kendrick on blast…

Snow Tha Product ‘Holy Sh#t’

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

Snow Tha Product ‘Unorthadox ‘
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pWKoIgGUeQ

Farrah Burns

Farrah Boule Burns is one of my favorite emcees who could easily go Outta Control against Kendrick and do it with seven different personas as shown in the video below..Her wordplay is nice. Her flows diverse as she lives, eats and drinks Hip Hop 24/7.. The only crown Kendrick will be holding is the ones to replace his teeth after she lyrically knocks them out…Do not sleep on this sista..Nas didn’t as he recently shouted her out for this remake of his song.. She is definitely a Queen in New York..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Amp-jQfZP9E

I Love the way Farrah flipped rhymes over this classic jam…

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

***Just as I put this article out, folks pointed me to Sa-Roc and Alyssa Marie who both responded directly responded to Kendrick.. Sadly this got by me, but its not too late to add theirs song to this article.. So peace to Sa Roc for holding it down big time and peace to Alyssa Marie and shame on me for missing them both.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42hyPkw0IyI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDr0JpgN72M&feature=youtu.be

Honorable mentions…

Ruby Ibarra ‘Game Up’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K-hAty8kek

STaHHr Noire

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4OsR0aDzzA

Narubi Selah ‘Hookless‘

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxUGjuPQ4A8&feature=youtu.be

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News, 3 Dope songs Tagged With: Farrah Burns, Female emcees, Kendrock Lamar, Nitty scott, Outta control, Snow Tha Product, Women rappers

Ice T Set to Help Launch a New Reality TV Show Called ‘Life After Prison’

August 20, 2013 By mrDaveyd

Rapper turned actor Ice T is continuing to make moves from actor to producer/ executive producer for film projects. Last year his film Art of Rap received rave reviews and helped lay ground work for Ice T to take on other projects.

This time around he’s embarking on doing a reality show with a social justice tip called ‘Life After Prison‘. Ice T explains that a good friend of his, a former gang member and ex-felon named John Boy Watts approached him about doing a TV show that focuses on helping those who come out of prison get back on their feet and stay out of jail.

John Boy who is the star of the show is shown presiding over 6 ex-felons who live in a house where their efforts to stick to the straight and narrow are chronicled. John Boy is shown dispensing wisdom and guidance. Ice T agreed to be one of the executive producers noting thatprison impacts everyone directly and indirectly and that we should not ignore the plight of those locked up. He said everyone deserves a second chance..

From the trailer it looks like a Big Brother Reality type show which is likely to raise eyebrows. After all, the jury is still out as to just how effective these types of shows can be in addressing complex issues. The fear is they tend to oversimplify complex and systemic issues and boil it down to individual exploits.

Currently there is a lot of talk about the prison industry, its short comings and outright mistreatment of inmates. This has been heightened by scholars like Michele Alexander and book the New Jim Crow and most recently Attorney General Eric Holder who is pushing to lessen mandatory minimum sentences.

There are also array of campaigns ranging from changing the sentencing guidelines and profit motive around mass incarceration and private prisons to the California prison hunger strike which has just entered its 7th week. It’ll be interesting to see if any of these pressing issues are addressed within the scope of this new TV show. If not, hopefully they address the fact that there severe shortage of resources to help returning inmates to get back on their feet and stay out of jail.

In any case Prison Reform is a major issue and hopefully this Reality TV show doesn’t obscure the reality of folks on the ground fighting to change things. With the United States leading the world in the number of people incarcerated, our human rights record for the treatment of prisoners under fire and more than half our prisoners on lock down for non violent offenses, we can’t afford to have issues around prison over simplified to the point we lose focus even as this show successfully shows folks a path to success.

The early buzz on Life After Prison is that its good and surely needed.

Below is a trailer to the upcoming show..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV3kslv-aHM

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News Tagged With: Ice T, John Boy Watts, Life After prison, Prison

Controversial Video Re-Enacts Murder of Trayvon Martin, Demands We Oppose Stand Your Ground Laws

August 20, 2013 By mrDaveyd

Trayvon Martin

Below is a new video to bring attention to the horrors of Stand Your Ground Laws which now exist in at least 26 states.. This is an eerie re-enactment of what took place the night Trayvon Martin was racially profiled and later shot and killed by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman. It includes the infamous 9-11 call Zimmerman placed to police as well as words from witnesses after the shooting.

The PSA is from the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence which is urging Americans to “Stand up to ‘Stand Your Ground'” laws many of which are products of ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council ) efforts. ALEC in many places are heavily financed by the far-right wing Koch Brothers.

For more information visit http://www.csgv.org/standup to sign a petition to your state legislators calling on them to oppose “Stand Your Ground” laws.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUKzDANF6QU

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News Tagged With: George Zimmerman, stand Your Ground, Trayvon Martin

DJ Disco Wiz Hip Hop’s First Latino DJ Breaks Down History of Early Days

August 20, 2013 By mrDaveyd

HKR August 19 2013: As we celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the First Jam thrown by Hip Hop pioneer Kool Herc, we’ve been reaching out and talking with a number of other fore-fathers and fore-mothers to this vibrant culture we call Hip Hop. One of the people we got to build with is Bronx legend DJ Disco Wiz who many consider to be Hip Hop’s first Latino DJ.

Wiz back in the mid 70s teamed up with his best friend Grandmaster Caz to form the Mighty Force Crew.. Caz would evolve that crew to become the Cold Crush Brothers. In the early days Wiz and Caz would go to battle the man who inspired them.. DJ Kool Herc.. They would later go on to battle the man who nurtured and mentored them Afrika Bambaataa.

Wiz chronicles much of went down in those early years in a book called ‘Its Just Begun The Epic Journey of DJ Disco Wiz Hip Hop’s First Latino DJ‘.. To say the least the book is incredible and is basically written in 3 parts. One talks about the early days of Hip Hop. Two, talks about the rough and tumble street culture that gave birth to Hip Hop and how Disco Wiz was involved. Three, speaks on how he survived the challenges after prison on the road to redemption.

As we noted in our interview, Hip Hop was not born in a vacuum. It was born out of the pain and hardships many were enduring at the time. The triumph people had in the backdrop of that hardship and Hip Hop flourishing as a culture is what makes it so special

Wiz’s take no prisoners honesty about his involvement in the street hustles, his eventual incarceration, his battles inside prison and the long road to overcoming bad habits, shaking an addiction to cocaine both as a user and seller and two bouts with cancer, is what makes him remarkable and his book an absolute must read.

We cover that and so much other ground in our compelling Hard Knock Radio interview with DJ Disco Wiz

Click the link below to Listen

hkr-08-19-2013 DJ Disco Wiz Mixdown 1

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News Tagged With: DJ Disco Wiz, Hip Hop, Hip Hop History, Hip Hop Pioneer, Mighty Force Crew

Raymond Kelly Ups the Ante on Stop & Frisk, Black Officers Reject His Logic

August 19, 2013 By mrDaveyd

Raymond Kelly

Over the weekend NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly upped the ante with assertions that Stop and Frisk is needed now more than ever..He along with Mayor Bloomberg are appealing last week’s historic ruling which demanded the practice be modified and monitored.

Kelly also maintained his claim that Stop and Frisk was saving lives in Black and Brown communities. This is in spite of overwhelming evidence showing that people in those communities don’t want it.

Raymond Kelly also rejected the idea of police wearing cameras claiming that they would raise more questions than answer. He cited examples like domestic disputes and getting confidential information from informants as to whether or not officers should use cameras.

Kelly’s assertions were disputed by Noel Leader who is the co-founder of 100 Black Officers Who Care.. He appeared on the NY based TV Show Here and Now and talked about the outrage many are feeling around what he described as ‘illegal’ stop and frisk. He also rejected the notion that police wearing body cameras would be a hinderance as suggested by Kelly.

It was pointed out by former police Captain Reginald Lyles who is also African-American here in Oakland, California, that the logic being used Kelly and Bloomberg is similar to the logic used to lock up American citizens of Japanese descent during World War II.. He called it Apartheid logic..I definitely have to agree with perspective..

Check out the segment below featuring Leader and longtime activist Erica Ford..

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/video?id=9208430

Although Leader didn’t get into this aspect too much other members of his organization have spoken out about how they themselves as Black and Brown police officers are frequently stopped and harassed by fellow officers.. This was highlighted last year in the Village Voice in an article called Cops By Day, Targets by Night.

LAPD Chief William H Parker

It doesn’t take much to understand what Commissioner Kelly and Bloomberg are ultimately trying to do with this policy. It’s to make sure that people from targeted communities, no matter who they are frightened by the police. It’s a throwback to the bad ole days of policing in Los Angeles under Chief William Parker who militarized the police force and had a policy of making sure officers made contact with Black teens so they would know early on, who was in charge of the city. His policies were adopted by police departments all over the country. They were enhanced by his successor Chief Darryl Gates. Below is a brief documentary on Parker so folks can better understand some of this invasive policing action under the heading Stop and Frisk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2yFsx5vCLU

In closing we wanna give a shout out to another Hip Hop artists who has stepped up to use his talent to bring attention to Stop and Frisk…Most of us know about 10 Frisk Commandments from Jasiri X and Elon James.. Below is an incredible song and video from NY based artist Awkword who gives us an up close and personal view of what Stop and Frisk is like..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RtncRj4yUc&hd=1

We also have a joint from Bronx based Rebel Diaz called Stop Stop and Frisk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-duTrV9hSg

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News Tagged With: Chief William Parker, Raymond Kelly, Stop and Frisk

Russell Simmons Apologizes, Working w/ Harriet Tubman’s Family to Do Documentary

August 18, 2013 By mrDaveyd

So two days ago music mogul Russell Simmons shocked the world when he announced that him and Dreamworks and a number of other media partners had formed a new movie company called All Def Digital... A few hours after that announcement Russell then tweeted that folks should peep a new project that he found ‘hilarious’. That project was a ‘sextape diary’ of freedom fighter Harriet Tubman..

In what was deemed a parody with the actress playing Harriet Tubman, dressed up to look like Aunt Jemima. Tubman is shown seducing her slave master while another slave hiding in the closet films her having wild and wanton sex.. She then is supposed to Blackmail the slave master unless he allows her to run the underground railroad..Needless to say folks flipped out and went after Russell like there was no tomorrow..

Within two or three hours Russell had all copies of the video removed and has since been apologizing. Yesterday he sat down with TV One’s News One Network to explain his position. You can peep that story at http://newsone.com/2683757/russell-simmons-harriet-tubman-interview/

Russell also announced that he has since been in touch with descendents of Harriet Tubman, personally apologized to them and agreed to work with them on a documentary about her life..Below is the News One Interview..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnwDKcpc1RE

As Russell gets underway with working on this documentary, folks may wanna familiarize themselves with Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad.. Here’s a couple of pieces that folks may find helpful..

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

Here’s a documentary on Harriet Tubman called Quest for Freedom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1zYjh8UA60

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News Tagged With: Harriet Tubman, Russell Simmons, slavery, Underground Railroad

3 Dope Songs from From Nigerian Emcee Aina More

August 18, 2013 By mrDaveyd

Aina More

Meet Aina More.. She is a UK based Nigerian emcee who gets down.. Below are 3 Dope songs from her

Aina More ‘Sirens’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtF_K_4iEqg

Aina More ‘Jaburata’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a99FppTvpHw

Aina More ‘Incredible’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JDPbzqTIyo

Aina More ‘Omo Ele’

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News, 3 Dope songs Tagged With: 3 Dope Songs, Aina More

Today Is Marcus Garvey Day: The First Black Holiday… We Remember Him

August 17, 2013 By mrDaveyd

Today August 17th is considered the first National Black Holiday.. It’s in celebration of the life and work of Marcus Garvey. Many people know the name but aren’t quite familiar with his work and how far reaching it was.. Garvey led the largest Black movement in US History.. . Many are not familiar with his organizations the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League.

Many are not familiar with his shipping company the Black Star Line and his desire to have Black folks return home to Africa. Many are not familiar with the full tenets of the philosophy of the Pan-Africanism he preached. Many are not familiar with him being so feared by the US government, that he was deported.. .

Garvey’s tireless work sparked a global movement which inspired a global mass movement, known as Garveyism. It would eventually inspire others, everyone from Malcolm X to Nelson Mandela and from the Nation of Islam to the Rastafari movement.

Here is Malcolm X speaking on him

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-0l-tW–7w

Today in Oakland (Aug 17 2013) there is a big celebration at Bobby Hutton Park in West Oakland.. This will be a particularly big celebration because earlier this week, Liberty Hall, which was once owned by Garvey was threatened to be knocked down by gentrifying developers. The community pooled its resources and brought the building and are continuing to run a variety of top-notch job training and media justice programs already housed in it.

Below is a documentary about his life..called Look For Me in the Whirlwind..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnmZF5Z2riE

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News Tagged With: Black Star Line, Look for me in the Whirlwind, Marcus Garvey, Pan africanism

Robin Thicke Launches Pre-Emptive Lawsuit on Marvin Gaye’s Estate to Protect ‘Blurred Lines”

August 16, 2013 By mrDaveyd

So singer Robin Thicke has been making a lot of noise this summer with his hit song ‘Blurred Lines‘ . Many upon hearing it thought it sounded remarkably similar to a hit song done damn near 30+ years ago by the late Marvin Gaye. The name of that song was ‘Got to Give It Up’..

In order to avoid a contentious lawsuit, Thicke and producers/ song writers Pharrel Williams and rapper T.I. decided to do what some are describing as a pre-emptive lawsuit against Marvin Gaye’s estate. According to what was written in the Hollywood Reporter…

The suit claims the Gaye family is alleging that “Blurred Lines” and Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up” “feel” or “sound” the same, and that the “Gaye defendants are claiming ownership of an entire genre, as opposed to a specific work.”

As for Funkadelic, there’s said to be claimed similarity between Thicke’s hit and Funakedlic’s “Sexy Ways.”

“But there are no similarities between plaintiffs’ composition and those the claimants allege they own, other than commonplace musical elements,” states the lawsuit. “Plaintiffs created a hit and did it without copying anyone else’s composition.”

The suit goes on to note that the intent of producing the song the way they did was to evoke and era and being nostalgic of a song and having it reflected in a composition is not copyright infringement.. The Gaye Estate sees it otherwise..They see it as a straight bite of the original.

This is an interesting tact because for years many have argued that creativity in music has been somewhat stifled due to lawsuits claiming that melody, riff or phrase whether redone or sampled belongs to someone else and thus lots of money must be paid to the label.

On the other hand the way that music made is by building off of whats come before where you add your own twist and take..In short its reworking of the song. It sounds like Thicke and company are trying to lay down ground work to ensure they don’t get caught up in a situation that often winds up being all about exploitation then it is honoring and preserving the work of an artist..You can peep a copy of the lawsuit below

Read the lawsuit here.

Here’s Marvin Gaye‘s song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp7Q1OAzITM