http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4OI-SGiNmw
We caught up w/ Chuck D of Public Enemy, the day we got the tragic news about music icon Don Corneilus killing himself.. Chuck gave a history and rundown about Don and his show Soul Train.. We also talked about the irony of this happening on the first day of Black History month
Harry Burkhart, a German national upset about the immigration status of him and his mother was said to be in court the other week for his mother’s hearing yelling “F— the United States!”
This same Harry Burkhart was just arrested, accused of setting more than 50 arson fires in Los Angeles including one at the popular Hollywood and Highland Entertainment Complex.
In typical fashion we are now hearing news story after news story talking about the mental illness Burkhart may be suffering. We’re hearing stories about how he was agood man gone bad. We should show some sort of sympathy because he’s upset about having his family torn apart….
Harry Burkhart
Oh yeah three other facts y’all should note.. 1-Burkhart just arrived in the US on October of 2011.. His visa is set to expire at the end of January.. 2-He’s wanted for questioning in Germany for arson fires he’s accused of setting there..3-Burkhart’s mother is wanted for 19 counts of fraud back in Germany.
Is this a case of a distraught young man who loves his mother and acted out? is this a case of a young man who momentarily lost his way? Should we really be upset after all he didn’t kill anyone he just lit a few fires? Damaged property can be replaced. The love a man shows for his mother is universal and should be embraced and upheld-right?
Imagine if you would for one second, if those 50 arson fires was set by an undocumented Brown man-lets call him Julio. Let’s say 50 arson fires were set by Julio Gonzalez, upset that his wife, parents or kids were immigration legal limbo and set to be ousted from the United States. Could you imagine the outrage? Could you imagine the scorn that would come across every news station about the ‘evil ways of Brown folks?
We would have law makers climbing over themselves demanding we build more walls along the border and we would be empowering the police and any other law enforcement officer to check the papers of anyone fitting the description. Brown and immigrant communities would be under siege and sadly far too many of us would cheer. We would be asking are there any more Julio’s out there setting fires?We would be looking into Julio’s background trying to see if he was gang member and if his actions were part of a larger plan.
Brown students or farm workers from immigrant communities are always seen as criminals even if they are lawfully here..
No one would dare suggest that we show sympathy and understanding to Julio for ‘monetarily losing his way because immigration laws were tearing his family apart.. And don’t let us discover that the object of Julio angst was wanted in her home country for criminal activity like Burkhart’s mother. Don’t let us discover Julio or his family member was wanted in Mexico or El Salvador for 19 counts of fraud.
Terrorism? Yes, Julio would be considered a Domestic terrorist if he set 50 fires in a big city like Los Angeles and you could bet some overzealous Congressman like a Peter King would be demanding we hold hearings about the community Julio came from and whether they represent a threat to society.
In the case of Burkhart.. No one is asking aloud if Burkhart’s actions are connected to a larger plot? After all, we had the firebombing of Mosques in NY at the same time as LA was being set ablaze-coincedent or connected?
Burkhart is a German national.. Can we connect him to the growing Neo-Nazi movement here in the US? Can we connect every German both here and abroad to Nazism? Should German Americans be concerned that the heavy arm of the law will see each person of German decent as potential arsonist? Do we start looking at Germans as Anti-American?
As this case unfolds one should keep in mind the way we have come to view the case of Burkhart and hows its being isolated and framed. He’s a troubled young man who has mental problems. Contrast that with the words we’ve heard used to describe undocumented farm workers, street vendors or undocumented students pushing for the Dream Act to be passed-They and anyone who even looks like them are seen as lawbreakers who should be swiftly and harshly punished removed from our land. They are seen as threats to society while Burkhart is not..
Something to Ponder..
Davey D
With 2012 upon us, we wanna encourage folks to seriously take some time to invest and make room in the cypher and at the proverbial Hip Hop roundtable table for our sistas who hold it down on the mic. There have been far too many discussions about where are the female emcees and why don’t we see and hear more of them, when in reality they are all around us..
Its up to each of us within Hip Hop to insist that promoters make sure that women are included in their line up.. We’re not talking about a token opening act, but a fair amount woven in the main line up.. Its up to us to insist that radio deejays including myself are consistently playing women emcees in our offerings. Male emcess…How about inviting more females to spit a hot 16 on an epic song?
B-fresh photography
It’s up to each of us who claim to love Hip Hop to be familiar above and beyond a casual name drop. We should know folk’s music. We should know the release date of albums. We should know when and where folks are touring. They should be apart of our discussions and debates. We should allow room for the diversity of expressions and not fall back on the tired stereotype of all female emcees sounding the same. We should also follow the leads of our sisters understanding there is much we can learn from them and whole lot of flava we can soak up to improve help improve ourselves.
As males within Hip Hop we should not limit our attraction or engagement to female emcees based on overt displays of sex. yes we know there are the Lil Kims and Foxy Browns who made their mark going that route, but just like we’ve had male groups like 2Live Crew who brought that to the table, we dont limit the male experience within rap to that group, hence whey should we limit our sistas?
Below are 3 great websites that’ll hopefully get people familiar with female emcees in 2012. One of them, Hip Hop Sisters is run by Hip Hop legend MC Lyte. The other one Femmixx focuses on female Hip Hop producers as well as deejays and emcees.. That’s run by Tachelle Wilkes.
Another site The Illest Female Rappers, focuses on independent female rappers..while the Womyns Hip Hop Movement focuses on a soon to be released compilation put together by DJ Kuttin Kandi dedicated to ending domestic violence..
Folks should be familiar with Momma’s Hip Hop Kitchen which focuses on Health, Nutrition and Physical Activity using Hip Hop Culture.. They are celebrating their 5th year and currently they’re looking for artists to be down with their upcoming Be The Cure event in march.
Since Hip Hop has as its 5th Element Knowledge, we urge folks to get familiar with http://crunkfeministcollective.wordpress.com/ They bring attention to a lot of issues that are of importance to the Hip Hop Generation coming from an unapologetic, uncompromised feminist perspective. They dont take no mess from nobody..
Over the holidays I put together a youtube playlist that has over 100 female emcees. Its by no means a definitive list, but hopefully it’ll turn folks on to some artists they can add to their repartoir. You can access that playlist below or by clicking this link
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4DA130E1819B4915
In 2012 lets push the envelop, do some serious crate digging and be the change we say we want….
Skillz really out did himself on this years Wrap Up 2012.. he brought up hella incidents I completely forgot about.. props to him for being the official time keeper for our generation…I forgot about homeless guy with the Golden Radio Voice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSn0XUkzheE
We sit down with the Black Panther of Hip Hop Paris who talked to us about his new album ‘Acid Reflex’ and the upcoming 2008 elections…
Listen to the Breakdown FM Interview Here:
The Black Panther of Hip Hop, Paris return to the fold with a new album called ‘Acid Reflex’.He explains that the title represents the type of reaction he and so many others are having to these corrupt and vicious times. He describe the current political and social climate as acidic.
Paris who is a successful entrepreneur and trained economist kicked off our interview by giving an assessment of the recent Wall Street crash. He noted that everything comes in cycles and that unfortunately people are able to get preyed upon and frightened because they forget pasts tribulations. Paris laid out some of the recent economic downturns including the ones in 1987,the mid 90s and late 90s during the infamous dot com bust.
He explained that times will get worse and we can expect to see further consolidation, more job layoffs and the fall and bankruptcy of bell whether companies. He said the best thing people can do is to be more frugal and hold on to what they got. he explained that a simple act of not buying 5 dollar coffee everyday from Starbucks will move us in the rightdirection. He noted that consumer confidence will have to be increased to help drive the economy.
We also talked about the types of approaches one should take to hold government accountable. Paris is not a big fan of protests especially when we have to run around getting permits and permission to do so. He explained that we have to find ways to make the government afraid of the people. This is a country that only respects and reacts to violence.
Paris also talked about the importance of voting. While he is very clear that voting will not solve our problems, it will give you leverage in a system that you have to engage and oftentimes confront. Political leverage in lots of situations is necessary. He acknowledged that there is no one turnkey solution.
During our interview we talked in great detail about the Presidential campaign of Barack Obama. he says he does not agree with many of Obama’s positions because he comes from an activist progressive orientation.Paris played a key role inCynthia McKinney‘s reelection bid in 2005. He went on to note that in 2008,that politic has not caught on to a point of being electable and henceanother strategy is needed if you wish to win certain races. He feels its impossible for Obama to take certain stances, however there are great differences between him and the Democrats and McCain and the Republicans. He cited the Supreme Court appointments as one key issue to be awareof…
In our interview we set things off by talking about Black-Brown unity and listening to a new song off the ‘Acid Reflex’ album called ‘One Gun’ which addresses this troubling issue.
We also talked about Education as being key to us resolving our problems. His albumwhich drops on Oct 28th will have an education and housing contest attached to it. People purchasing an album with a ‘Golden Ticket’ will win 10 thousand dollars which will go for college or housing.
We ended this interview by talking about why Paris started off connecting the Black Panthers and Nation of Islam and how his travel to Cuba where he met and had dinner with Fidel Castro and Asaata Shakur influenced his life and political outlook
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Second we already know that Pac and Biggie were under constant surveillance by police. We certainly don’t need to talk about the rogue Rampart Police division in LA and their admitted street gang affiliations..
Lastly and perhaps most importantly keep in mind as you read this article where Alicia Keys says that she believes the government has hand in some of thse rap conflicts and that she wishes to start recording more political songs, that Alicia Keys was under surveillance by the government several years ago when the Republican Convention came to town. Do y’all remember that? Her, Jay-Z , P-Diddy and LL Cool J were all under surveillance with the supporting documents from the actual agencies (NYPD) that have been since released and declassified confirming these assertions.
At the time these surveillances took place NYPD stated that Keys and her co-horts came under surveillance because they participated in a protest rally around the time of the Republican Convention. They feared that artists of her caliber would bring more people out and hence they became a security threat. In addition the fact that they may have openly talked about civil disobedience or anarchist type actions served as a trigger. Folks need to sit back and marinate on that for minute.
Once you digest that keep in mind that Alicia Keys says she’s been reading books by and about the Black Panthers and other Freedom Fighters including Assata Shakur. Couple that with the fact that she’s been to China and just got back from Africa and she is now speaking out and saying she wants to start doing political songs and you can see and understand that she may soon start catching heat.
This morning on Fox 5 News in new York, anchor Reid Lamberty took the extraordinary step to call Alicia Keys ludicrous for making such remarks after he reported the story. He then went on to quip that even rapper Ludacris would find her remarks ludicrous. He then went on over the objections of his co-host to try and explain how when and where and how gangsta rap was invented. The biggest irony to this is that it was on that very same Fox News 5 that I first heard about Keys being under surveillance by NYPD back in 04. How soon they forget…
Davey D
NEW YORK – There’s another side to Alicia Keys: conspiracy theorist.
The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter tells Blender magazine: “‘Gangsta rap’ was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other. ‘Gangsta rap’ didn’t exist. ”
Keys, 27, said she’s read several Black Panther autobiographies and wears a gold AK-47 pendant around her neck “to symbolize strength, power and killing ’em dead,” according to an interview in the magazine’s May issue, on newsstands Tuesday.
Another of her theories: The bicoastal feud between slain rappers Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. was fueled “by the government and the media, to stop another great black leader from existing. ”
Keys’ AK-47 jewelry came as a surprise to her mother, who is quoted as telling Blender: “She wears what? That doesn’t sound like Alicia.” Keys’ publicist, Theola Borden, said Keys was on vacation and unavailable for comment.
Though she’s known for her romantic tunes, she told Blender that she wants to write more political songs. If black leaders such as the late Black Panther Huey Newton “had the outlets our musicians have today, it’d be global. I have to figure out a way to do it myself,” she said.
The multiplatinum songstress behind the hits “Fallin”‘ and “No One” most recently had success with her latest CD, “As I Am,” which sold millions.
————————————————————–
Below is an excerpt from the Blender article where she made her comments about gangsta rap… You can peep the entire article here;
http://www. blender. com/articles/default. aspx?key=21056&pg=0
On As I Am, during the fem-powerment jam “Superwoman,” Keys belts out the caucus-ready refrain, “Yes I can,” and, indeed, there’s something Obama-esque about her. She’s of biracial parentage, raised by her mom, Terri Augello (Italian-American, actress), after her dad, Craig Cook (African-American, university chef), left the scene. She has tapped her mixed heritage to bridge multiple constituencies: She can duet comfortably with Ludacris, John Mayer or a holographic Frank Sinatra (as she did at this year’s Grammys). “I’ve always been good at maneuvering between worlds,” Keys says. Like Obama, she won a crucial Oprah endorsement early on when Winfrey built a whole episode around Songs in A Minor. And she preaches a uniting, post-racial vision of humanity. (Remember those “I Am African” ads with Gwyneth Paltrow and David Bowie wearing face paint? They were for the AIDS charity to which Keys is an ambassador.) In her music, themes of optimism, fidelity and self-actualization are so broadly, rousingly articulated that nearly anyone can feel their own stories are being belted back at them.
Keys’s first mature musical love, after she’d taken down her New Kids on the Block posters, was Marvin Gaye. “He talked about everyday things: life, the street, the struggle-I was like, Wow, you can just write about what’s happening,” she says. Nevertheless, Keys scrubs her lyrics of contemporary references and slang so they’ll sound more like the ’60s and ’70s sounds she reveres. Her insistence on authenticity verges on the reactionary (“there was so much more good music 40, 50 years ago”), but from the way she sidesteps the TMZ vortex and still manages to sell “tonnage,” there’s something refreshingly uncynical about her, too.
There’s a knock on the hotel-room door, and a minder enters with a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich: lunch. We’ve been talking about Keys’s early jones for the Notorious B.I.G. “My favorite Biggie song is ‘Me & My Bitch,’” she says, licking a stray globule of jam off her finger. “That title doesn’t make you think he’s speaking about the love of his life, but he is. She throws his shit out the window, she flushes his drugs down the toilet-she’s crazy! But if you grew up like that, then you understood, that was love in that world. ”
We ask what other gangsta rappers she liked. And that’s when Keys drives a steamroller through the wall.
“‘Gangsta rap’ was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other,” she says, putting down the sandwich. “‘Gangsta rap’ didn’t exist. ”
Come again? A ploy by whom?
She looks at us like it’s the dumbest question in the world. “The government. ”
Add another line to her résumé. Alicia Keys: piano stroker, budding actress… and conspiracy theorist? This is the side of her that doesn’t square with the media-trained pro-the side your mom probably doesn’t know about when she hums “No One” on the way to Walgreens. This Alicia pores over Black Panther autobiographies (“I’ve read Huey Newton‘s, Assata Shakur‘s, David Hilliard‘s …”). This Alicia says Tupac and Biggie were essentially assassinated, their beefs stoked “by the government and the media, to stop another great black leader from existing.” This Alicia wears a gold AK-47 pendant around her neck, “to symbolize strength, power and killing ’em dead.” (“She wears what?” her mom asks Blender. “That doesn’t sound like Alicia. “)
No matter how many records she sells or Super Bowls she opens, Keys still doesn’t feel she quite belongs in the mainstream. She likes to think talent transcends prejudice, but she knows that if her skin were darker, she’d have a much harder time crossing over. “I’ll always be an outsider,” she says.
This might surprise the Grammy committee: Last year, the New York Police Department declassified documents revealing that they’d put Keys under surveillance prior to the 2004 Republican National Convention. The department released a statement explaining that they’d targeted “those openly talking of anarchist actions.” Keys, who had spoken publicly against President Bush and donated $500 to the Democratic National Committee that year, was suddenly labeled an enemy of the state. “Hell,” she says. “Someone’s gotta be an anarchist. ”
Comments like these, even said in jest, reveal the sawed-off passions and intelligence roiling beneath Keys’s genteel surface. But, while she idolizes Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin, proclaiming that “some of the greatest artists did their best work when they got political,” she has recorded no “What’s Going On” or “Respect.” Now, she says, she’d like to find a way to balance the two Alicias. “If Malcolm or Huey had the outlets our musicians have today, it’d be global. I have to figure out a way to do it myself,” she says.
She takes a step in this direction on As I Am. She’s said that “Go Ahead” is a Dubya body slam: “What have you given me but lies, lies, lies?” she snarls. But unapprised listeners will hear it as a shimmying rebuke to a dirtbag boyfriend. “Honestly,” she says, “it’s easier for me to write about relationships.” And it’s difficult to imagine her releasing a more explicit song about politics, never mind an anarchist one, given the resistance she provoked when she tried a different kind of explicitness. Recently, she recorded her “most sexual song yet”-until now, she’s alluded to sex only obliquely in her music and frequently championed chastity. “I’m discovering my sexual side. I recorded this song-it’s supersimple: just piano, Rhodes keyboard and a kick drum. It’s so sensual. It moves you,” she says, referring to movement south of the heart. But when she played the song for Jeff Robinson, her manager, he reacted like a squirmy dad: “He popped out of his seat halfway through. He said, ‘We do not record songs like this!'”
A black Mercedes sedan glides through Copenhagen’s narrow, rain-flecked streets, taking us to the Falconer. This is when Keys tells us the singing-on-a-pyramid story. In late 2006, she was exhausted. A deadline had been set for her new album, and she was pinballing between tour dates and movie sets-playing Scarlett Johansson’s homegirl in The Nanny Diaries and a lesbian hitwoman in Smokin’ Aces. “Alicia never liked to say no,” Jeff Robinson explains. “She wanted to please everyone.” When your manager thinks you’re working too hard, you know you’ve got a problem.
“I felt empty,” Keys says. “But the last thing you wanna come off as is a damn crybaby. What the fuck you crying about? I thought you wanted this!”
“I used to say, if you’re not gonna be a bitch, I’m gonna be a bitch for you,” Erika Rose says. “She needed to get back her inner bitch.” But instead, Keys held in her feelings-loneliness, frustration, anger.
Rose remembers the moment Keys finally broke: “We were at a photo shoot, and she got this look in her eyes I’d never seen before. It was not good. She asked everyone to step out of the room, and I stayed with her. There was this lone tear coming down her face. It was five years of accumulation just starting to crack the surface. That’s when everything started to unravel. ”
“As her mom, I’d like to say I knew everything that was going on with her,” Terri Augello says. “But there came a time where she couldn’t tell the difference between talking to reporters and talking to her mother. It hurt me to see. ‘”
Finally, in a maneuver reminiscent of Dave Chappelle, Keys booked a flight to Egypt. She didn’t tell her label she was going AWOL, just bought a ticket, and 48 hours later she was in a first-class cabin, headed to Cairo by herself. She floated down the Nile in a boat, toured ancient temples, swam in the Red Sea and, yep, climbed to the top of a pyramid and started singing. “The strength of a place like that,” Keys says, “the stone, what it took to build, the time-it’s infectious. ”
“When she came back, I could see a change in her,” Robinson says. “She was at ease. Now when I do something that pisses her off, she doesn’t hold it in. She smacks me in the face. ”
At the Falconer, Keys heads for a second-floor makeup room. We’re asked to wait downstairs. Shortly, walkie-talkies crackle to life: Alicia would like some grilled salmon for dinner. Francis is dispatched. Also: Alicia is ready for us now.
When we enter, she’s wearing a white terry-cloth robe with the hood pulled low, like a boxer prepping for a bout. In an hour, she’ll take the stage, belting her way through a hard-swinging set and shouting, “I’m feeling y’all, Copenhagen!” We tell her it looks like she’s getting ready to pound someone tonight.
“I like that,” she says slyly. “Sometimes I think everyone’s too damn nice. ”
Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner
In honor of Women’s History Month we recently sat down and interviewed one of the industry’s most powerful people-Wendy Day of the Rap Coalition. It was through Wendy Day that acts like Master P and Cash Money got their respective deals. It was through Wendy that artists like Slick Rick were able to get their lopsided contracts broken. A long time artist advocate, she’s the person that major labels love to hate because she’s committed to thoroughly lacing people with the ins and outs of the industry game.
Her website rapcoalition.org is required reading for anyone entering into the business as it contains a wealth of information ranging from the money breakdown when you sign a recording contract, to the politics of getting airplay. There’s information on how to copyright your material, how to start a record label as well as what to look for in a manager. Thousands of people flock to her site or read her columns in publications like Murder Dog where they soak up the information and go out into the world better prepared.
Originally Wendy was based in New York where she attempted to lay down foundation to start an artist union and unite the various factions within New York. She later focused her attention in the south and has been in Memphis and now Atlanta for over 5 years building coalitions and helping the Third Coast maintain their dominance in the rap game.
Back in the days Wendy was and can still tell you how to go about getting signed. Far too often she wound up having to help folks get unsigned because of the unfair contracts the industry puts before hungry artists. Nowadays she’s all about helping folks not get signed, but how to make more money on the independent tip. There are far too many success stories that have come from her camp to name off..
In this two part interview Wendy Day breaks bread on a variety of topics and shows us how to avoid industry pitfalls. We start off talking about the typical recording contract that many up and coming artists find themselves locked into. The most problematic are production deals where the producer is the middle man between the artist and label. In theory the money and resources are supposed to trickle down. In way too many cases they simply don’t and that’s when Wendy gets that frantic phone call from an artist trying to escape a bad situation.
Wendy explained the dynamics of how a street savvy hustler type cat from the hood can get got and ripped off in the music biz. She explained that far too often people enter into the music business not fully understanding or appreciating that many of the big time execs they come across come from gangsta backgrounds themselves. She noted the only difference is that these industry gangstas went and got law and business degrees so they appear legit, but they are definitely about their hustle at the end of the day. many succeed in making artists believe that they are being granted a big favor when they get signed, when in reality they are often times being pimped big time.
On a side note, folks may wanna take a look at the book Ruthless written by former NWA manager Jerry Heller. While the information and juicy stories about Ice Cube and Eazy E may be the thing that immediately captures your attention, the real jewels are when Heller talks about his background and all the power house people he came up with and what they have always been about. That book should be required reading as well.
In our interview Wendy lays out the true meaning and ramifications of RECOUPARATING and how that process keeps artists forever in debt. People need to truly understand what that word means and how it gets applied to ALL artists who sign to these major labels. It amounts to modern day share cropping.
We discussed whether or not industry conditions have improved now that we have high profile artist CEOs like P-Diddy, Jay-Z and others who are signing acts and running labels. Sadly Wendy noted that they have not. The average recording contract even by some of the new artist music moguls have not changed. She talked about the role capitalism plays in this industry and how it gets a lot of people caught up.
We also talked about the need for an artist union and why one doesn’t presently exist. She said lack of unity and ego have prevented this from occurring. In addition some artists are just so desperate to get on that they will literally sell their souls and not heed much of the advice given to them that will in the long run help them benefit.
We concluded our interview by comparing the way the rock industry works vs. the rap industry and the challenge we face in getting local airplay when the major labels are pushing a national agenda.
This is an interview you have to listen to if you’re trying to get into the game. This is our 3 part Wendy Day Interview
Wendy Day pt 1
Wendy Day pt2
Wendy Day pt3
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
I wonder if New York’s esteemed city council will also exclude artists like Just-Ice, Schoolly D, Kool G Rap and the late Notorious BIG? Is gangsta rap based strictly on your music or your actions? After all, there are quite a few pioneering rappers who were straight up thugs when they got off the mic.
Also will the council move to ban rappers who had sexist lyrics? Personally, I think the violence, disdain and pimping of women is much more problematic then gangsta rap. See what happens when you let others control, define and redine your culture?
Should New York’s Proposed Hip Hop Museum Include Gangsta Rap?
www.eurweb.com/story/eur27861.cfm
Aug 04 2006: If the New York City Council has its way, the worlds first hip hop museum will not include the presence of such important rap acts as NWA, Tupac Shakur or Snoop Dogg.
According to NME.com, council members and organizers are arguing over whether a section on gangsta rap should be included in the overall retrospective of hip hop and its roots in the Bronx.
Scheduled to open in late 2008 or early 2009, the facility has received $1.5 million from the New York City Council. The legislative body, therefore, feels it should have a say in what types of artists should be on exhibit.
“We’re not talking about gangsta rap,” said Bronx council member Larry Seabrook according to the BBC. “We’re talking about hip hop. Anybody can be a thug.”
Adam Matthews, senior music editor of The Source, offers a different opinion on the inclusion of gangsta rap. He tells NME: “You have to consider the statistics. As hip hop has become progressively violent, the streets have become safer.”
Seabrook, meanwhile, hopes that the museum will eventually expand into a larger hip hop complex that will include a studio and a theatre.
Lebanon-Deconstructing the Lies-Hip Hop Speaks
It’s good to see Hip Hop artists and activists alike taking a stand and offering keen insight into the situation in Lebanon.
Last week we heard from Lebanese Rapper Clotaire K who is shown holding the sign.
We also heard from Cali producer Fredwreck who gave an incredible breakdown of the situation.
pt1
pt2
During the Hip Hop Political Convention in Chicago an Amendment was put before the body regarding the Middle East Crisis. Part of what was proposed that the US follow International Law as well as its own laws with regards to how weapons provided to another country (Israel) will and WILL NOT BE used on civilian populations.
Our country’s refusal to call for a ceasefire is unbelievable especially when you keep in mind that many of the same players in Bush’s innercircle who have influence in this conflict including our Vice President Dick Cheney stood proudly and firmly AGAINST the armed struggle waged by the Nelson Mandella’s African National Congress during South Africa’s Apartheid Regime. We should also never forget that Israel’s government during that horrible time, freely sold weapons and gave that wicked white Apartheid Government nuclear capabilities. This was inspite of the worldwide economic boycott and sanctions against South Africa.
This week long time B-girl and activist Mona Ibrahim aka Dragon Lion comes through and kicks the science on this situation. Her background and understanding of this situation is deep. Some of these talk shows need to reach out to Fred, Clotaire and Mona to be a part of those roundtable discussions to offer up fresh new takes on things..
LEBANON: DECONSTRUCTING THE LIES
by Mona Ibrahim aka Dragon Lion
Aug 01 2006: I don’t even know where to begin. So much to say. Though what Israel is
doing is absolutely horrifying, it is by no means surprising. In fact, it
is completely in line with the unjust nature in which Israel has conducted
itself since its colonialist inception. It is completely in line with the
nature of an apartheid imperialist country such as Israel. Let us not
forget Israel’s history of oppression. This is just one of many examples of
that. For those who don’t know or those who need a reminder you can check
this link, www.dying2live.com/did_you_know.htm
And to see a listing of some of the over 70 plus United Nations Security
Council Resolutions violated by Israel, the most UN resolution violations by
any country in the world, you can check this link:
www.doublestandards.org/unres.html
Now on to the media. It is torturous to listen to mainstream American media
as it is so absolutely twisted. I cannot even count the number of times
that I have heard so called “educated” commentators from various political
and social backgrounds insist, “Israel has a right to defend itself.”
Hmmmmm……let us rewind back to the so called beginning of the current
assault on Lebanon. Two Israeli soldiers are kidnapped by Hizballah and
this means Israel has the right to inflict mass punishment upon the entire
country of Lebanon? Hmmm….does not sound very rational to me. In fact,
it is a brazen violation of international law (look up Geneva Convention IV,
Article 33).
Lebanon is NOT Hizballah. Hizballah holds power in the South of Lebanon and
yet all of Lebanon is being punished for the actions of Hizballah. Two
Israeli soldiers are kidnapped and that justifies the killing of over 600
Lebanese civilians, many of them children, the destruction of Lebanon’s
civilian infrastructure, and the displacement of half a million Lebanese
people? To say this is brutally disproportionate and horrifically unjust is
a gross understatement. So how can these so called “educated” commentators
justify such blatant,
austere injustice?
As Irish Labour Party President and spokesman on foreign affairs Michael D.
Higgins TD states,”The response of Israel, supported by the most powerful
country in the world [the US], is outrageous both in terms of the killing
and injuring of civilians and the destruction of civilian infrastructure,
which is occurring in such fashion as to even make impossible the delivery
of humanitarian relief by the United Nations and its agencies. Such
destruction is something which should not surprise the international
community. Israel has followed this policy for decades in Gaza and the
occupied territories of the West Bank. At the heart of the policy lies the
principle of collective punishment of civilians, the denial of human rights
and the destruction of a way of life. In full knowledge of this, the
European Union has remained silent, refusing to implement the human rights
clauses of its own agreement with Israel despite being called on by the
European Parliament to do so.”
I would like to now take the time to quote Israeli military leaders to
highlight their brash cowboy mentality:
Maj. Gen. Udi Adam, head of Israel’s Northern Command, said, “This affair is
between Israel and the state of Lebanon. Where to attack? Once it is
inside Lebanon, everything is legitimate — not just southern Lebanon, not
just the line of Hizballah posts.” Israel’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan
Halutz, told Israel’s Channel 10, “If the soldiers are not returned, we will
turn Lebanon’s clock back 20 years.” No further comment on this as their
very own words speak volumes…
I must say now that I personally do not believe that Hizballah is a
terrorist organization; in my eyes they are a legitimate resistance group,
but regardless of whether one believes that Hizballah is a terrorist
organization or not, there is still no justification for the destruction of
an entire country based on one group. What about the right of an oppressed
and occupied people to stand up and defend themselves? Let me say that
again because it seems the mainstream media cannot seem to grasp this very
basic human right–What about the right of an oppressed and
occupied people to stand up and defend themselves?
How many people truly know the origins of Hizballah? Hizballah was formed
in 1982 in response to Israel’s brutal invasions, yes invasions, plural, and
occupation of Lebanon. How quickly people forget. Over 20,000
Lebanese were killed during this occupation. And what about the massacres
at the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatilla for which the Belgian
International Courts sought to prosecute former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide as he was the
Israeli Defense Minister at the time of the Sabra/Shatilla massacres in 1982
and largely responsible for the massacres. Yet people want to
throw around the word “terrorism” so selectively. For the most part when
oppressed people (most often people of color) are defending themselves
against colonialist, occupying forces, they are almost always dubbed
“terrorists.” Yet the pernicious actions of an oppressive, colonialist,
occupying force are self defense? Even an idiot can see that this makes
no sense. It really is ridiculous yet sadly many people buy into this
egregious distortion of truth.
Another misconception I would like to address here that has been circulated
in the media is that Hizballah started this and there was no provocation
from Israel. That is the most asinine, unintelligent, overly simplistic
BULLSHIT. Israel’s partial withdrawal from Southern Lebanon in May of 2000
was not the end of its occupation of the region. Israel has continued to
violate Lebanon’s sovereignty long after 2000. Let us not forget that the
Shebaa Farms region is still occupied by Israel and many Lebanese political
prisoners still linger in Israeli jails many of whom have been denied a
trial. To this day, Israel still refuses to provide to Lebanon, through the
UN, a list of the 400,000 landmines Israel planted during its occupation of
the region.
Thus, Hizballah has very legitimate beef with Israel, meaning Israeli
military is fair game considering that it is in fact the Israeli military
facilitating Lebanon’s occupation, violation of human rights etc.
Hizballah’s attack on Israeli soldiers and kidnapping of two of those
soldiers is not a terrorist act as they were attacking military not
civilians–an occupied region kidnapping military from the occupying
force is not a terrorist act–take the time to examine international law if
you don’t believe me. Richard A. Falk, Professor Emeritus of International
Law and Practice at Princeton University and Honorary Vice President of the
the Society of American International Law said in response to Israeli
soldiers being kidnapped by Palestinians in Gaza: “An Israeli
soldier is part of the Israeli military capability, and I think given the
whole context of a belligerent occupation that has not abided by
international law, that has not followed the resolutions of the United
Nations, that has not abided by the Geneva conventions, that this has to be
viewed as an act of war and that it is in the context of what Israel
itself regards as a relationship of war. My best judgment…is that it is
not intrinsically a violation of international law. If he¹s subject to
torture or is executed while in captivity, that would be a violation
of international law. But to capture a soldier is not in itself in
violation of international law in this context.” I believe Falk’s
assessment can be extrapolated to the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers by
Hizballah as Lebanon too has been a victim of Israeli occupation.
So now let’s examine the grotesque double standards perpetuated in
mainstream media. First let me make very clear that I do not advocate the
murder of innocent civilians whether by Hizballah or Israel. Now onto
hypocritical media: Hizballah bombs Israel in response to Israel’s bombing
of Lebanon and kills some innocent Israeli civilians and they are “inhumane
monsters” according to the media yet Israel kills almost 20 times that
number of Lebanese civilians and they are merely asserting their right to
defend themselves against Hizballah, a group that was formed in reaction to
Israel’s occupation and oppression of the Lebanese people. This makes no
damn sense. So why are people believing such flagrant lies spewed by an
ignorant media clearly pushing a very specific agenda.
This same double standard has historically been used by colonialist,
imperialist nations to demonize legitimate resistance movements across the
globe. Remember the Mau Mau’s in Kenya who fought against the malicious
occupation of their land by the British, the FLN in Algeria that fought the
violent French colonization of their land, Nat Turner and the Maroons who
resisted the holocaust of slavery; they too were all dubbed “terrorists”
when they were merely defending their basic human rights of self
determination, sovereignty, and freedom. The same unwarranted label of
“terrorist” has been placed on legitimate resistance groups that fought
colonialist, imperialist powers throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America, and
the Middle East. And look at mainstream media’s portrayal of Northern
Ireland in their struggle against the British occupation–instead of
recognizing their right to resist an occupying force, the mainstream media
dub resistance groups in Northern Ireland as “terrorists.” The list
of such audacious examples of double standards goes on and on…
Israel’s actions against Lebanon are not merely about the two kidnapped
soldiers; the kidnapping of the soldiers was a convenient trigger for them
to proceed with a strategic plan they have had in mind for a long time.
Things are not simplistic. Please take the time to read alternative forms
of media. Educate yourselves. The US and Israel love to bring up
international law when it benefits them but they throw international law out
the window in their own policies towards the rest of the world. This is
deplorable to say the least. As Irish Labour Party President Michael D.
Higgins TD wrote,
“The refusal of the US to agree to talks with Syria, or to an immediate
ceasefire, is reprehensible. Its policy in supporting the continuing loss
of life and destruction of civilian infrastructure in Lebanon by Israel as a
collective punishment of the Lebanese people for having Hizballah in their
midst is such a breach of international law as merits bringing it before the
international courts.”
But of course the US and Israeli governments, as proven by their history,
think and act as if they are above international law. And the world is
sitting idly by and allowing it. No more…WE MUST ACT…
To read all of Michael D. Higgins TD article,”Is this the Beginning of the
End of International Law?” click here: www.medialens.org/board/
In Solidarity and Struggle,
Mona Ibrahim
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Op Ed: Common vs Drake? Hip-Hop beef needs a funeral and a proper burial
Common vs Drake? Hip-Hop beef needs a funeral and a proper burial
by Brother Jesse Muhammad
Brother Jesse
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to pay our last respects to a ‘friend’ that has been dear to many musical artists, fans and readers….that ‘friend’ is HIP-HOP BEEF.”
What forward-moving purpose does Hip-Hop beef serve? Can someone please educate me? I was a little thrown aback by the recent beef that spread quickly throughout the Internet and radio shows involving Common and Drake. Frankly, I found it pretty weak for Common, an artist I respect, to engage in such nonsense.
He supposedly took shots at Drake in his song “Sweet” from his newly released album The Dreamer, The Believer. I wasn’t impressed with the song; too much cursing. I wasn’t that impressed with the album either (I’m still listening to it though to see if my opinion will change). And now it continues with Drake supposedly clapping back in the song “Rich Forever” and as expected Common getting in more lyrical jabs in the song “Stay Schemin.”
Drake
No, I’m not siding with Drake. I don’t even listen to him much at all. I got his album along with Nikki Minaj’s just to see what all the hype was about. They didn’t move me. I just think they are doing an excellent job of mastering their moment.
Getting back to the eulogy for Hip-Hop Beef: I love Hip-Hop culture and trust me I’ve enjoyed true lyrical battles in our history but this mudslinging, name-calling, backbiting, buffoonery and randomly picking out other artists just for the heck of it has outlived its usefulness and has become a destructive force. The new trend now is grown men and women using Twitter to take shots instead of sitting down in person to solve our problems. I even read where Young Jeezy said one of his friends was killed due to an exchange of words on Twitter.
When it comes to Hip-Hop, I always sit and wonder who calculates when a beef should start? Who should be targeted? How long it should last? What dirt should be unveiled? Do some artists start beef to make up for poor record sales? Are they thirsting that bad for publicity? Is their marketing and lyrical engine that weak that they need to start a beef to save their careers? If an artist has millions already, why waste time attacking people? Is it out of greed? Is there really a winner in a beef?
Nobody in Hip-Hop can deny that The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has been the most critical in putting an end to a lot of the beef in the genre. Back in 1997, Min. Farrakhan gathered a group of Hip-Hop artists at his home in Chicago to call a truce between East Coast and West Coast rappers. In attendance included Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Common (his name was Common Sense then), Tha Dogg Pound, Willie D, Fat Joe and more.
In 2001, Min. Farrakhan was the keynote speaker at the Hip-Hop Summit in New York hosted by Russell Simmons.”Every time you use your rap song against another rapper and the magazines publish your words, the people that love you then turn on the people that you have spoken against. Then, the one you spoke against speaks back against you and his group becomes inflamed against you. When you are a rapper and you understand your leadership role, you must understand that, with leadership comes responsibility. You did not ask for it. It is imposed on you, but you now have to accept responsibility that you have never accepted,” Min. Farrakhan said to the packed room.
He added, “Your potential to change reality is so great that, if you learned the skill of words and how to use words; if you learned how to say what it is you want to say, but say it in a way that gains universal respect, then the rap would evolve to an art form that will never be replaced. It will evolve to be that form that will set the stage for the next phase of its evolution.”
In 2003, Min. Farrakhan sat down with Ja Rule in the midst of his heated feud with 50 Cent. In his conversation with Ja Rule, which aired on MTV and BET, Min. Farrakhan told Ja Rule not to give in to the pressure of his listeners who wanted him to keep dissing 50 Cent but rather “teach them that there’s more to life than beef.
“A war is about to come down on the rap community. When you and 50 throw down, it goes all the way down into the streets. The media takes the beef between you and 50 and they play it, they jam it, they keep it going. Why would they keep something going that could produce bloodshed? There is a bigger plot here, Ja, and this is what I want you and 50 and our hip-hop brothers and sisters to see,” said Min. Farrakhan.
Where would Hip-Hop be if they had fully implemented the guidance of this wise man? As for the beef, let’s throw some dirt on the coffin and pay our last respects.
(Brother Jesse Muhammad is a staff writer for The Final Call Newspaper and an award-winning blogger. Follow him on Twitter @BrotherJesse)
Peep article Here: http://jessemuhammad.blogs.finalcall.com/2012/01/common-vs-drake-hip-hop-beef-needs.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk9oRpAZEGc