LA Loses Two Hip Hop Icons-The Nation Loses a Freedom Fighter

May 5, 2006 By mrDaveyd

LA Loses Two Hip Hop Icons-The Nation Loses a Freedom Fighter

By Davey D

original article-May 05, 2006

Davey D The city of Angels is in mourning as it has lost not one but two iconic figures within a week. In fact both passed away on the same day Saturday April 30th.

The first was DJ Dusk a well known member of the Universal Zulu Nation and an incredible DJ whose most recent exploits had him spinning every Thursday night at Rootdown at a club called Little Temple. Over the years Dusk made a huge impact for not only being an incredible diversified DJ who could spin everything from Salsa to Hip Hop to Reggae, he also made inroads on the radio. I believe he got down at Pacifica’s KPFK. He was one of those deejays who kept himself rooted in the community and tried to make a difference.

The circumstances surrounding Dusk’s death speak volumes to the type of man he was. The way it was explained to me, was He had a gathering of close family and friends at his home and was walking a woman back to her car when an out of control driver sped towards her. The woman was destined to be hit when Dusk leaped to her rescue. He pushed her out the way and tucked his head down to take the full impact of the vehicle which he knew would hit him. He was dragged for about 80 yards as the driver tried to escape. Luckily an alert passerby swung their pick up truck in front of the driver and prevented him from leaving. I’m not too sure about what sort of charges if any will be levied on the driver.

Last night (Thursday) all sorts of folks including Dusk’s family came out to the Little Temple to pay respects. People tried to stay upbeat, but in reality it was sad. It was sad to see his family experiencing such a major loss. It was sad to see those close to him holding it together, putting on a brave face, but inside mourning and missing Dusk greatly.

Ironically, the last time I saw Dusk was three weeks ago when he put together the annual tribute for DJ Rob One another iconic DJ from LA who passed away from brain cancer 5 years ago. Lots of people from all over including Hip Hop pioneer Prince Whipper Whip flew in from Michigan to pay tribute. The loss of Rob One, although 5 years later seemed to still be fresh on a lot of people’s minds. Dusk was the perfect host as he meticulously pulled old mixtapes and drops for the late DJ and played them for the audience. He wanted to make sure that a cat like Rob who meant so much to so many people would not be forgotten. He wanted to make sure that that those who attended would strive for the excellence that Rob One came to represent.

I’m sure no one in their wildest dreams would’ve thought we’d all be back at Rootdown paying tribute to DJ Dusk. It’s a sad thing and just underscored the importance of us not to take anything for granted.

As I sat at the bar listening to them play two of Dusk’s mixtapes… ‘Top Ranking’, a classic reggae and dancehall CD and ‘La Musica’ a classic Salsa CD, it hit me just how harsh this past year has been in terms of untimely deaths.

First it was J-Dilla, then it was Professor X and later on we lost Proof. We just lost Big Hawk down in Houston. We lost Taurus aka T who was hype man for The Coup. Atlanta rap star T.I. had his van shot up and lost one of his peoples. On top of that we lost LA Hip Hop pioneer Mixmaster Spade, Crip Founder turned Peacemaker Stanley Tookie Williams, C. Delores Tucker who fought to clean up the filth in the music industry, Rosa Parks the mother of the Civil Rights Movement and Coretta Scott King the first Lady of the Civil Rights Movement and widow to Martin Luther King. It seems like we were just talking about losing comedian Richard Pryor and heck it just a year ago I recall getting that painful phone call from Red Alert telling me that Justo Faison who was the deejays biggest advocate was killed in a car crash. Thats an awful lot of people who have meant something to us to be passing all within a year. Sadly I know I forgot a couple and I didnt include those who were close family and friends, like my cousin Michael who was like an older brother.

Again Im laying all this out so that we take this to heart and strive to make the most out of life and try and make life for those around you betterPlus I think its important that we always take time out to reflect on those who pass. I mean really reflect and not become so hardened that we see these passings as routine. I also think we need to be honest with ourselves about whether or not we actually gotten over the passings of people from a few years back.

Ill be honest its going on 10 years and I still think about 2Pac. I recall missing Rob One when we were at his tribute. The death of Jam Master J is still fresh in everyones minds. Many still mourn over Biggie. Those loses are still being processed by many of us and it gets harder and more complicated because we get hit with all these others

As we were sitting here dealing with the passing of DJ Dusk I got word that another LA legend passed away. Michael Mixxing Moore who used to spark the airwaves with his trademark Militant Mix on a number of radio stations including KKBT. This brother was all about taking Hip Hop and using it as a tool to spark social change and bring consciousness to those who needed it most. He wasnt the first to play speeches over break beats and dope Hip Hop instrumentals. But he was among the first to do it with an unmatched focus and determination to wake folks up at a time when radio was starting to dumb people down.

Im not sure what lead to Moore’s passing. Dude was only 46 years old and I hadnt spoken to him in quite sometime. I know I got hit up on Myspace and asked to be his friend. That was on Thursday or Friday of last week and in retrospect Im not sure if it was Mike or one of his peeps. I just recall getting his email and I said soon as I get back to LA, Im gonna give dude a call. He was a big part of LA history and just never got his props. By Saturday he was gone.

Because of Moore’s militant, uncompromising stance on important issues, he wont get the shine that others will get. No one should forget him getting a helicopter and dropping flyers calling out KKBT and accusing them of being racist during the Summerjam back in the early 90s after he had a huge falling out with them. No one should ever forget the passion in that exuded when he spoke about wanting to wake folks up. He was a mentor to many including DJ Mark Luv who heads up LAs Zulu Nation chapter. Damn I wish I could find copies of his militant mixes. He made his mark and should not go unnoticed. May he RIP.

damusmith-225 Lastly we need to make a moment of silence for an activist who set the standard and never wavered from speaking truth to power. Damu Smith out of Washington DC may not get the accolades and praise that we have given to some of our fallen Hip Hop heroes who have passed on, but Damu was a giant figure among giants. He was known all around the world.

The work that he did and continued to do up to his recent passing where he advocated for Peace and Justice with his organization Black Voices for Peace is such that it helped elevate us all. In fact when you look at what Damu Smith stood for damn near all of his life, youll note that he championed causes that have led to so many untimely deaths. Damu was about spreading Peace and promoting both spiritual and physical health.

He was the type of cat who was knee deep in the battles along the environmentalist front. Talk about beef. He was the type of cat that fought tireless in places like Louisiana and Mississippi and throughout the south demanding that unscrupulous companies not use our neighborhoods as toxic dumping grounds. He wasnt some tree hugging hippie type. He was focused on getting rid of the dangerous toxins and chemical plants that was directed at many of our communities. Damn I wish I could run down everything this cat did. This man was an incredible organizer. And when he spoke he lit up the room. Damu was one of those cats who really set the standard because he walked the walk and talked the talk and he was humble. There were very few contradictions and discrepancies with him.

The sad part about Damus passing is that because of the dumbing down we have going on in urban radio and throughout a lot of urban media in general, he wont be given a moment of silence. No deejays are gonna play his speeches or talk about his life. Hell be one of those unsung heroes who one day well realize we came this far because of the work he put in You can peep more about Damu Smith here: www.damusmith.org/

So many deaths in so short a time I cant help but think and feel that God is asking for each of us to step up our game. Weve lost so many of our heroes to violence. We gotta do more then say RIP and play a few tribute songs. We lost so many to bad health and disease, and yet many of us are continuing down the same unhealthy paths that have taken our friends and loved ones. Many of us are not spiritually fit. We say we love the people who died but how many of us take the time and effort to carry out the sound ideals and solid effective work of those we so admired? All this is a jarring wake up call. Either we wake up or start doing the right thing or well soon find ourselves doing a lot more tributes…

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Hip-Hop’s Betrayal of Black Women

April 26, 2006 By mrDaveyd

Hip-Hop’s Betrayal of Black Women

Filed Under: April '06-Articles, Essential Hip Hop Articles, Hip Hop Articles 2006, Political articles Tagged With: Common, Davey D Hip Hop Articles-Hip Hop's Betrayal of Black women, Eve, Hip Hop news-Hip Hop's Betrayal of Black women, Hip Hop news-Jennifer McLune-Hip Hop's Betrayal of Black Women, Hip-Hop's Betrayal of Black Women, Jay-Z, Jennifer McLune, Kevin Powell, Talib Kweli, The Roots

Fights Break Out in Lemiert Park Between Black Minute Men & Immigration Activists

April 25, 2006 By mrDaveyd

Fights Break Out in Lemiert Park Between Black Minute Men & Immigration Activists

by Davey D

Yep you read the title right Black Minute Men. Below is an article illustrating the type of bullshit going on in LA that is making this Black-Brown situation spiral out of control. Yesterday cats were in Leimart Park boxing each other over this immigration issue. Ted Hayes a well known homeless activist, showed up with a couple of hundred people including Minute Men to lead an anti-immigrant demonstration. Of course all the media showed up and have been salivating at the jaws for this to happen- Black folks trying to smash on Brown folks in LA.

Fortunately a large number of brothers showed up to counter this thing and let it be known Hayes and his Minute Men aren’t speaking for the Black community. That’s when the fighting broke out. Hayes started leading a chant of ‘Communists Go Home’ while holding a big banner saying Crispus Attucks Brigade. He also said some thing about we been hear since slavery and therefore have amoral obligation to stop alien invasions. Now these cats are running around planning a big anti-immigration rally for Thursday. The Minute Men themselves haven’t even organized such a protest-just these Negroes.

In addition to all that the Clear Channel station that ran the ‘Kill Tookie Hour’ are now doing a big promotion called ‘Weening Yourself Off Illegal Aliens“. They dedicate an hour a day to people calling on clowning Mexicans complete with spliced speeches and people using fake accents. Of course Ted Hayes and company are now heroes to the same station that regularly clowns the homeless and Black people in general. What people won’t do for some fame and glory.

Meanwhile Black owned but white run Radio One have barely touched this issue here in LA preferring to stick with their policy of only dealing with Black folks and not the Latino community which makes up 40% of Southern Cali. At least KJLH owned by Stevie Wonder has been on it. Props to Yo-Yo who has been hitting this hard and doing her best to make sure bridges are being built and that people like Hayes don’t cast a wide shadow over all of us… She’s planning a big Cinco de Mayo event and trying bring a lot of artists out to show support. Also Brother J of X-Clan and Fidel Rodriguez of Divine Forces Radio [KPFK] and also Julio G of KDAY have been out there repping hard. Also tens of thousands took to the streets in San Francisco last night. Large numbers of Asian/Filipinos in particular came out.

Thank God Fred Hampton Jr. and Immortal Technique stayed in LA for a full week and toured the place and saw for themselves what’s really going on and all the power dynamics that are at work. Thank God they’ve been aggressively speaking out on this and calling people out for their faulty analysis. As Technique pointed out ‘Juan who is selling oranges on the freeway is not taking away jobs from nobody. Look to the government shifting jobs overseas’. The hi-tech computer jobs in Silicon Valley are being out-sourced to India while other big corporations are applying for guest worker passes claiming that US worker are too dumb to work many of the jobs we as Black folks are blaming Latinos for taking.

As Chairman Fred pointed out, Black folks should not be playing the role of Buffalo soldiers for white power interests who are obviously enjoying the shenanigans of having Black folks run around sounding off worse than any Klansman.

The perceptions and misinformation floating around LA is crazy. Case in point. I attended a meeting last week with Black and Brown press folks. Many of the Latino media folks were wondering why the silence with Black stations like KKBT.. They were shocked to know that while Black owned it’s white run from top to bottom and that the day to day silence is the call of the PD and GM. That revelation helped clarify things immensely.

I’m encouraging folks to peep the Fred Hampton Jr. interview if you haven’t already. Also be on the look out because a lot of Spanish speaking rappers are getting together to record a song about this issue..

http://odeo.com/audio/1051579/view

Where’s P-Diddy and HSAN on this issue? Did they address this over the weekend during the Summit? I heard Russell speaking on Sudan.

Call your Congressman and call your local rapper and let them know how you feel about this issue.

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Filed Under: April '06-Articles, Essential Hip Hop Articles, Hip Hop Articles 2006, Political articles Tagged With: Davey D, Davey D Hip Hop Articles-Black Minutemen fight at Lemiert Park, Fight Break out at Lemiert Park, Hip Hop news-Fight Breaks Out at Lemiert Park, lemiert Park, radio One, Ted Hayes, YoYo

An Open Letter to the Hip Hop Community About Immigration

April 20, 2006 By mrDaveyd

An Open Letter to the Hip Hop Community About Immigration

by Adisa Banjoko

original article-April 20 2006

Below is a speech I gave in Watsonville, CA on April 17^th 2006. I was invited to come down and speak by the Watsonville Brown Berets. Fred Hampton Jr. of the P.O.C.C. and Immortal Technique also represented HARD that day.

It was an amazing display of racial, political, religious and Hip Hop unity. There were b-boy circles, tons of performers, spoken word poets and vocal performers. Mexican, Black, Asian, White, Arab and Native Americans all came together in peace. There was no violence and no threats of violence. I must commend the Berets on making everyone feel welcome, secure and for running an efficient schedule. I dont have the official numbers but I estimated about 700 people to have been in attendance.

With me representing the west, Fred Hampton Jr. representing the Midwest and Immortal Technique repping the east- it was an unprecedented display of nationwide unity on the issue of justice for immigrants and justice for the youth. I was honored to have been a part of this event. I hope more people do their homework and research on the Brown Berets, the Black Panthers and why unity between Black and Brown is so important in this these times. My speech was entitled Keys to the True Unification of Black and Brown Peoples. Big shout out to Anas, JR, Mike Perry, Tomas, Scape Martinez and my man Apakalips from the Universal Zulu Nation. The beauty and power of this day will live in my heart forever, inshallah.

Peace,

Adisa Banjoko

www.lyricalswords.com

As Salaam Alaikum,

My name is Adisa Banjoko. I am the author of Lyrical Swords Vol. 2: Westside Rebellion. It deals with Black and Brown unity. It deals with a lot of political and social issues that we face every day. I speak in a lot of places. Some times its prisons, sometimes its universities. Today I am honored to be here with the Brown Berets. I am honored to be here with the beautiful people of Watsonville.

I came today to talk about peace and unity. Peace and unity is something that we absolutely have to have in this moment, dealing with the Bush administration and the things we face today. The Black people of America cannot do it alone. The Latino people cannot do it alone. The Arab cannot do it alone. The Muslim, the Christian and the Jew cannot do it alone. The Buddhist cannot do it alone. We have to be unified in this moment.

Peace and unity are both byproducts of knowledge. Meaning that when I fist got into knowledge of self, as an African American, I was only focused on that. It took me a moment to learn about the beauty of the Mayan people, of the Aztec people, of Cesar Chavez and Delores Huerta.

I had to do that to be a true humanist. You have to read about humanity! If all I read about is me, and all I care about are the struggles of the Black man- then Im going to have a very small window [to see the spectrum of life through].

We have to take the time to defend one another. We cannot be afraid to defend one another. I am here defending you. Defending what you stand for. Defending your rights. This is your land. I wont pretend that its not. I stand here today as a descendent of slaves. I descendent of SLAVES.

I am Muslim. But the Dali Lama was here in the Bay Area just the other day with Hamza Yusuf from the Zaytuna Institute. They built upon the peaceful nature of both of these faiths. My faith has been demonized by the press.

Since 911, many people from Saudi Arabia, many people from Pakistan, many people from Palestine, Iran and Yemen were harassed. They were sent to prison and abused by this Bush Administration. This was because of their faith, because of their race.

We must make America live up to its words on paper. Not just for my sake. Not just for your sake. Its for the sake of all people who walk on this soil. We deserve this justice. We are not asking for anything that is not already on paper. We are not asking for anything we dont already know that belongs to us here. It belongs to us here!

When you look at the ghettos across America, were very lucky to be on the west coast. Out integration levels are much higher than in other places like NY. The Blacks and Latinos dont always mesh [out there]. Thats tragic.

But thats why the Bay Area is so special. Thats why we have to seize this moment right now. Thats why we cannot hesitate to defend one another in this moment. My father is originally from New Orleans- from the Magnolia projects. My mother is originally from Monroe Louisiana.

But when my father came to the Bay in his youth, he grew up in the Mission District. As a young boy I was always around Delores Park. I was always around 24^th and Mission. I was always around my Latino peoples.

I dont have another frame of reference for Latino peoples than my brothers. I have no other frame of reference. Its the first brotherhood I knew.

Whether you are Mexican, Nicaraguan, Panamanian, Brazilian, Puerto Rican- we are all in the ghetto together! Oppressed by the same people. Struggling to get the same knowledge- that they hide from us in the schools. Struggling, to not be abused by the police. Struggling to find work and provide for our families, for our children and be safe.

Unity is the key. Arab unity. Black unity. Latino, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist Jew. The realest of us. THE REALEST OF US! We are all attacked by this administration. But there is another enemy.

Before I get to the other enemy I must mention that these people who attack usWho dont like events like thisThis is why todays event is so important. These people dont respect our history and they dont want our children to know it. They dont want your children to know their beautiful history- of Aztlan. They dont want my children to know the beautiful history of Africa.

But this other enemy- they are people within BOTH of our cultures. We have to work against the people who look like me- but they are against Black and Brown unity. We need to work against the people who look like YOU- but they are against Black and Brown unity. Because they can hurt this more than the Bush Administration, more than right wing republicans. More than any of them! We need to cleanse our own people, of the bigotry, and the fear [that causes distrust in our hearts].

I will take it on, on my side. But I need you to take it on, on your side so we can be truly united. I spoke just a few weeks ago at San Quentin Prison. I was on the exercise yard and I spoke to every group of people on the yard. Two minutes after I left there was a fight on the yard between Black and Brown. This is unacceptable.

I was just talking to them right before it happened. I said Yall need to be going back to the Brown Berets and yall need to be going back to the Panthers. Understand that I was speaking on the same soil where George Jackson and Jonathan Jackson were killed. We need to get back to that [ way of living together].

But a lot of the conflicts that do happen between Black and Brown happens because of drugs. It deals with crack, it deals with meth, it deals with ecstasy. It deals with things that dehumanize both of our people. Drugs have been used to destroy Black and Brown people.

We have to keep our children out of gangs. We have to be dedicated to that. We have to keep our children knowing that there is more beauty in knowing about Aztlan than knowing about the blunts. We have to let them know there is more beauty in then knowing about Africa, than knowing about crack, and thizzin and going dumb. We need to get smart in this moment.

We need to get smart in this moment! We need to fight in this moment! We cannot be afraid in this moment!

Cesar Chavez, Delores Huerta the Brown Berets the Black Panthers are better than any drug they can try and feed our children.

We have to be open enough to learn about other faiths. I do my best to read about other faiths all the time. I am a nonviolent man of God. I follow a Prophet of Peace. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. But I am not afraid to die for this. Im not afraid to die for anybody in this room. Im not afraid to die for the truth that Malcolm, that Martin that all of these freedom fighters before us- [loud applause roar]. If they did not do it, WE would not be here today. Lets be honest about that.

But yo, nothings going to hold me back, or block me. They gonna have to pop me to stop me. This is why Im here.

The corporate media machine does a great job of brainwashing our children. Of having our children wish that they were in jail. Of having our children on dope and violent against one another. They make it easy for them to fight against one another. We have to start taking the time privately and publicly to start squashing that.

An organization that I represent is called Project Islamic H.O.P.E. Its based in LA and led proudly by Najee Ali. If you go to www.islamichope.org you can see that hes working with the Mayor of Los Angeles to host a beautiful Black and Brown unity conference (June 3rd 2006).

I hope everybody goes to that. One day will not solve this. We have to make sure we are working tomorrow. We have to make sure we are working next month. We have to make sure that we are reading and reaching out.

I was just talking to my brother, Anas, on the way down. He said Look we have to utilize the internet. All of the organizers before us never had the ability to use the internet as a tool to organize. Just to find out our respective histories, let alone have direct contact. We have to use all levels of technology and all levels of online and offline strategies.

But you know brothers like Davey D promoted this event real hard. He was one of the ONLY people who went down to LA and supported yall in that march. Im sorry that more African American leaders from the old guard havent supported you. I dont know whats going on with them. I dont know what it says about their original intent that more of them did not step up and openly support you in Los Angeles.

But I am here. The young Muslim leadership is here. The young Black leadership is here. This is our time and I am with you. My people are with you. I promise you that. My man Apakalips from the Universal Zulu Nation is with you. Shamako Noble from the Hip Hop Congress is with you. Artists like Paris, T-Kash, Aya De Leon, Immortal Technique, Dilated Peoples, Nate Mezmer, Self Scientific. Follow those artists! Support those artists! They love you. They are rappin for you right now. You must support them.

Dont let your kids watch BET. Dont let your kids sit down in front of MTV. We have to be honest about this. Right now my man D Labrie from East Oakland is gonna spit this piece called Black & Brown. I told him I was doing this event, he kicked it to me over the phone and I had to have him come down and let you hear this. Thats my time. ALLAH U AKBAR! God is the greatest. May God bless ALL in this room so we can unite and fight every day.

Adisa Banjokos next lecture is entitled Lyrical Warfare: Hip Hop,Religion and Politics in the New Century, at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania on Monday April 24^th @ 7 PM. Rapper One Be Low will be ripping the mic at the close of the lecture. For more information email pr@lyricalswords.com .

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Filed Under: April '06-Articles, Essential Hip Hop Articles, Hip Hop Articles 2006, Political articles Tagged With: adisa Banjoko, Brown berets, Davey D, Davey D Hip Hop Articles-Adisa Banjoko's Open letter to Hip Hop about Immigration, Fred hampton Jr, Hip Hop, Hip Hop news-Open letter about Immigration-AdisaBanjoko, Immortal technique, Open letter to Hip Hop, westside rebellion

Breakdown FM-Rick Rock & the Federation Going Beyond Hyphy

April 3, 2006 By mrDaveyd

Rick Rock & the Federation Going Beyond Hyphy

by Davey D

original article: April 03 2006

Listen to Rick Rock and Federation Interview on Breakdown FM

Last week the Bay Area was treated to good news when E-40’s new album My Ghetto Report Card debuted on the Billboard charts at number one. His new single Tell Me When to Go is a bonafide hit that is lighting up radio station and night clubs from here to New York, throughout the South and even spots overseas are checking out the buzz and everybody is asking What does it mean to be Hyphy?

There is no doubt the Bay is on fire. Currently there are bidding wars amongst major labels for acts like Mista F.A.B. and Rick Rock and the Federation. T-Kash who is signed to Pariss Guerilla Funk label is finding that his new politically charged album Turf War Syndrome is one of the most sought after and heavily added on the college radio circuit. If thats not enough the Paris produced Public Enemy album Rebirth of a Nation came in at number 33 on the Billboard charts which is great for a small indie label. Lastly we have super producer Rick Rock and his group the Federation who are currently enjoying major radio play in cities like New York with their new smash 18 Dummies. Now with that being said and done the 64 thousand dollar question is Will the Bay Areas Hyphy Movement catch on and become a nationwide thing that sticks?

According to super producer Rick Rock aka the King of Slaps who along with his group The Federation put out the first Hyphy record 5 years ago, The Bay will become a nationwide stop only if people make a firm commitment to step their business game up and do good music. He emphasized the point that while Hyphy is the in thing right now, its going to take more than a bunch of songs that have the words Hyphy and other related lingo in the hooks to keep the momentum going. He elaborated by pointing out that the Hyphy Movement has gotten the music industrys attention and helped opened a lot of doors, but Bay artists will have to stretch out and constantly challenge themselves.

You have to keep putting paint where it aint, Rick Rock said. You have to come with something different. It does no good to drive down the street and hear the same Hyphy record with all different artists. Its what I call the Das EFX Syndrome. Rock was referring to the rap group Das EFX who came out with a unique triple time rhyme style that got widely mimicked to the point it hurt their careers.

Rock noted that his group is trying to stay ahead of the curve by taking innovative steps and pushing the musical envelop. Case in point, he dipped into his rock-n-roll roots and teamed up with drummer Travis Barker to do a song. Rick noted that he has always been a rock fan and the beats he creates is influenced by bands like Metallica who he considers one of the best groups of all-time.

Rock explained that Barker had heard some of the Bay Areas Hyphy songs and felt that it was natural cousin to in terms of energy and drive you hear in hardcore rock. He was anxious to get down with the Federation cats and the rest they say is history. To hear lead rappers Goldie Gold, Stress and Doonie Baby spitting on fiery lyrics over Barkers drums and Ricks amped up hyphy oriented music is something that will undoubtedly change the game once its released.

Its these types of steps that are going to help keep the Bay Areas profile elevated. Its also going to take folks who are hungry for the spotlight to sit back and stop hating on one another. Regional infighting based upon who is getting recognized is what has crippled the Bay and other burgeoning regions in the past. These were points that were emphasized by Federation members Doonie Baby and Goldie Gold. They noted that theres enough room for everybody to eat and share the spotlight.

Rock who also noted this point said its time for a lot of folks to sit down and have close door meeting to 1-Get a clearer understanding of what to expect with all this increased industry attention. 2-Learn how to better handle the business expectations major labels and other outlets will have of local artists entering into the game .3- How to operate in a hater free environment. In other words as the Bay tightens up on its business and beats it will be national factor that enjoys the spotlight for years to come.

Listen to Rick Rock and Federation Interview on Breakdown FM

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Filed Under: April '06-Articles, Breakdown FM Interviews, Essential Hip Hop Articles, Hip Hop Articles 2006 Tagged With: bay Area rap, Breakdown FM, Davey D, Davey D Hip Hop articles-Rick Rock and the Federation-Beyond Hyphy, Hip Hop, Hip Hop news-Rick Rock and Federation on Breakdown FM, Hyphy, Hyphy Movement, Rick Rock

New Proposed Indecency Bill Threatens Rap Music Industry

March 31, 2006 By mrDaveyd

New Proposed Indecency Bill Threatens Rap Music Industry

by J.D. Cooke

Washington News Wire

original article: march 31 2006

WASHINGTON DC-Last week’s intense debate on the plight of this nation’s immigrant population led to massive rallies and student walkouts in many cities throughout the country. The largest occurred in Los Angeles and Detroit where 500 thousand and 200 thousand took to the streets respectively to protest the bill HR 4437 that would make it a third class felony for anyone caught administering aid to those who are in this country illegally as well as for those caught without the proper pare work and visas.

Up until now the focus has been on the nation’s Hispanic population which now numbers more than 35 million. They have been the most visible and most outspoken on this divisive issue, however, if Congressman Richard Desour (R-Indiana) has his way, the protesting Hispanics may have unintended ally in the form of the music industry, in particular those who are proponents of gangster rap. He says that criminal behavior in the recording industry has tore away at the moral fabric of the American public.

Desour has quietly introduced what some are describing as a far reaching amendment to HR 4437 that would do the following;

1-Make it a felony punishable by fines up to 250 thousand dollar and up to 2 years in jail if one advocates, promotes or admits to the commission of violent crime in a commercially released recording.

2-Disallow anyone who has a felony or is incarcerated from being signed, employed or affiliated by a major record label. In language similar to the one found in HR 4437, anyone caught harboring or providing gainful employment to a convicted felon in the music or broadcast industry will be charged with a felony.

3- Clears the way and makes it easier for parents, victim’s right groups, church organizations and Civil Right groups to sue artists and hold them liable for song lyrics that are deemed criminally prone and can be proven detrimental, pernicious and undermining to local and federal laws.

Initially this provision was written so that it would make it easier for consumers and the aforementioned groups to go after the deep pockets and resources of the record and broadcast industry. However, recording industry lobbyists were successful in working out a compromise and having the language specific to them removed from the proposed bill.

Desour’s office noted that in exchange for the compromise, the Recording Industry would set aside funds and pledge other types of resources to help fight the tidal wave of illegal immigrants.

Broadcasters agreed to refrain from using their airwaves to promote, marches and rallies and to no longer provide an on air platform for organizations that help illegal immigrants. Both the Recording Industry and Broadcast Association agreed to vigorously enforce immigration laws at concerts, award shows and other industry related gatherings.

4-Desour’s amendments would make it easier to apply hate crime provisions to artists, record label owners and broadcasters who allow the recording and dissemination of racial and sexually oriented disparaging epithets.

Broadcasters were unsuccessful in winning a compromise on this provision. Disparaging words like ‘nigger’, ‘bitch’ and ‘fag’ which are commonly heard on the airwaves and in recordings will be added to the current list of seven dirty words that are prohibited from being broadcast in public space.

In a strange and somewhat ironic twist, radio broadcaster’s have hired high powered lobbyist Simon Dennis to represent them. They believe the proposed amendments reach too far and would have long range unintended economic consequences and stifle free speech.

Dennis accused the 7 term congressman of being culturally insensitive and a borderline racist. He noted that it was unfair for the Congressman to try and ban word ‘nigger’ which he claims is a universally used and accepted term in African American dialect especially if its pronounced and spelled with the letter ‘A’ at the end and not the letters ‘Er’

“It’s an important part of Black and Hip Hop culture”, Dennis said. “Today its actually a good thing to call someone a ‘nigga’ because it means you are a friend. It’s the community turning a positive into a negative. That should be celebrated, not criminalized. To disallow the N word’s usage via the airwaves could prove to be economically disastrous because Black and urban Rap listeners would tune away in droves”.

Simon pointed out the recent decline in ratings by Los Angeles based urban radio stations which once dominated the LA radio market as Top 5 positions are now not even in the Top 10. He argued that these stations in anticipation of this bill voluntarily restricted the use of N word on their airwaves and now the ratings have dropped precipitiously.

Despite the broadcast industry’s compelling arguments all signs indicate that Congressman Desour will push to make the use of the ‘N’ word in both recordings and broadcast as part of the Hate Crime provisions. In other words, use of the N word in a criminal context within a song can get you slapped with a hate crime which carries mandatory punishments.

Famed author, photographer and Hip Hop pioneer, Ernie Paniccioli’s of the newly formed The Universal Federation for the Preservation of Hip Hop Culture reacted to the legislation placed before Congress; “From what I read, this bill seems far reaching. Many of us who love, respect and strive to protect this culture we call Hip Hop are in total favor of cleaning up the airwaves and making sure our house is in order. Many of us do not approve or support the use of the ‘N’ word in public space, however, we are not in favor of only criminalizing the artist while allowing his oppressive colonialist of a master who runs the record label to be given a pass.”

Long time Hip Hop journalist and radio host Davey D said; ” I’m concerned that while this bill is an attempt to clean up the airwaves, and the music industry in general, it will most likely be used selectively against Hip Hop artists and may even be twisted to go after artists like Dead Prez or The Coup who say harsh things about the political system.”

To support these first two provisions of his bill, Congressman Desour referenced a newly released report that was put together by law enforcement officials who oversea the Hip Hop Task Force that is currently based in New York City and the main focal point of a soon to be released motion picture. The task force’s exhaustive two year study concluded that there is a direct correlation in the rise of gang activity, drug dealing and other violent crimes with the high visibility and ultimate rewarding and endorsement of rap artists who have a criminal path.

“When young people witness artists like Snoop Dogg, Youngster Jeezy, Nas and other gangster rappers being coddled by the music industry it sends out the wrong message”, said HHTF spokesman Lynn Franks. “It leaves young people with the impression that the only way you can be successful in the music industry is to first be a career criminal”

Franks went on to point out that the HHTF discovered that many record labels were secretly orchestrating and encouraging their artists to engage in criminal acts and behavior as a way to spark controversy which in turn would lead to increased record sales. The report discovered that if an artist actually served jail time, then their album sales would shoot through the roof, because of the heavy promotion and endorsement by both the record labels and broadcasters who used their incarceration as a key selling point.

Franks also noted that many gangster rappers were communicating secret messages to fellow gang members and criminal enterprises around the country in recordings using coded street lingo, by adapting certain nicknames or wearing particular clothing and fashions.

During a press conference Franks asserted; “One popular artist from Atlanta named Youngster Jeezy calls himself ‘The Snowman’. His name and his lyrics are really street lingo advocating for people to steal cars. There’s been a huge spike is grand theft auto throughout Jeezy’s native Atlanta since he started releasing albums”.

Currently the HHTF is trying to build a case against Jeezy saying that his lyrics were premeditated.

Franks went on; “There are two popular rappers out of Houston we been studying. Gangster rappers Paul Jones and Mike Wall has recorded numerous songs where they encourage to purchase false teeth filled with diamonds and other expensive jewels that they nickname ‘grills’

Our study concludes that Wall and Jones and many of these other rap guys who are wearing these so called grills are actually smuggling diamonds filled while smiling for cameras. When these rappers describe the jewels they have in their mouth, they are actually sending secret messages to fellow diamond smugglers about the type of stash they are delivering”

Franks also pointed the hit song ‘Tell Me When to Go’ by popular artist E-40. “Here you have a young man who is blatantly advocating that young men and women participate in perverted sexual activities. When he instructs listeners at the end of his song to ‘Ghost ride the Whip’ . This is Bay Area street slang for bondage and S&M of the most dangerous type. Using whips while participating in sex acts is not only quite dangerous and can cause serious injury, but it’s also a violation of the law in 37 states. Because Mr 40 has such a young audience he can be in big trouble with the law where bondage sex is illegal”.

ACLU spokesperson Harry Thompson said that they fully intend to challenge the Constitutionality of this law should it pass along with the other provisions of the Immigration Bill. However, he acknowledges that in today’s political climate it will be along hard struggle. He encourages people to call their representatives and Senators to oppose Congressman Desour’s New Indecency Bill HR 3312.

To see a full copy of this Draconian bill Click Here:

http://p076.ezboard.com/fpoliticalpalacefrm11.showMessage?topicID=164.topic

Filed Under: Essential Hip Hop Articles, Hip Hop Articles 2006, March '06 Articles Tagged With: Davey D, davey D Hip Hop articles-New Proposed Indecency Bill Threatens Rap Music Industry, Ernie Paniccioli, Hip Hop news-New Proposed Indecency Bill Threatens Rap Music Industry, HR 3312, HR 4437, Richard Desour, Simon Dennis, The Universal Federation for the Preservation of Hip Hop Culture

Breakdown FM-Professor X was Vanglorious

March 18, 2006 By mrDaveyd

In Remembrance of Professor X

original article-March 18 2006

Check out this special Tribute Mix we did in Memory of the Late Professor X .

Special Shout out to Paradise the Architect of X-Clan

odeo.com/audio/904888/view

By now folks may have heard the news about the sudden passing of Professor X of X-Clan.. I got off the phone with Brother J who was the lead rapper of this legendary group who delivered the sad news. We believe he died from spinal menegitas.. Tonight there will be a special tribute to Professor X on Divine Forces Radio 90.7 KPFK starting at 10pm if you are in Los Angeles. Brother J will be on as well as Paris..

The passing of Professor X is sad indeed.. For those who are unfamiliar with Professor X please read the statement released by Afrika Bambaataa… X was the guy who coined the phrase “Van Glorious This is Protected by the Red, The Black and The Green“…What’s so sad and crazy is that nowadays when you talk about Professor X to today’s younger Hip Hop audience, they immediately think of the guy from the comic X-men..

Professor X aka Lumumba Carson was a good cat..who will be missed…

Davey D

———————————————————

Professor X Was Vanglorious
by Wendy Day

I received an email from Afrika Bambaataa and Yoda today saying that Professor X had passed. I rushed over to allhiphop.com to see what happened to him. They confirmed Lumumba Carson passed from Meningitis. I am devastated.

In 1992, I started Rap Coalition out of pure disgust after seeing how my favorite rappers were treated– specifically, Eric B and Rakim, and X-Clan. In the late 80s and early 90s, these were my favorite rappers.

Lamumba Carson was great because he stood for something. He had something to say and he said it. He was the son of New York based (now deceased) activist Sonny Carson (how difficult it must be to be the son of someone so driven, focused, and important to humanity). Lumumba always rose to the occasion.

I always avoided meeting Professor X and Brother J (who, together, comprised X-Clan and heavily promoted the organization Black Watch), out of fear that they may not be what their image portrayed. At that point, I had met so many of my rap heroes and been disappointed in the past because of the diachotomy between image and reality (a painful lesson for someone devoting a career and life to helping her heroes for free).

I found that J and Lumumba were serious about what they were accomplishing. And while I found Professor X to be human with all the human frailties (thank God!), over the years I have found both of them to be exactly who they portrayed themselves to be–strong Black men, loving and caring for a race of people often too tired to fight for themselves. They were not hypocrites like soooo many others.

Like most rappers, and certainly like the majority of rappers from their generation, they did not make much money from their art form. In fact, they had the further degradation of watching others become wealthy on what they built, and on their art form (a BIG @#%$ you to Lou Maglia and 4th and Broadway).

I just spoke with Lumumba for the first time last year. I had received an email that was making fun of him because he listed himself on eBay, and was auctioning off “a day with Professor X” to the highest bidder. How he must be struggling financially to do something like that, I thought to myself. I became the highest bidder. The fact that I could barely afford to pay my rent at the time did not enter my mind. I was determined to buy a day with Professor X.

He ended the auction before the final deadline (doesn’t matter, I would have won regardless) because of the hateful emails circulating on the web about him putting himself up for auction. I was disgusted by the reaction. It was a f*cking lunch date with Professor X. Had it been Justin Timberlake for a charity, no one would have said @#%$. But a hungry man was not supposed to eat this way, I guess.

Somehow others who have made a career from (read: pimped) Hip Hop had the right to say what was acceptable or not for one of the Legends. All of a sudden, people making money critiquing what others create had the power to say what was the proper way for Professor X to make income. It pissed me off beyond words. I received disrespectful, opinionated emails from self-appointed authorities asking me why I supported such a gimmick. I got emails from fake-ass Hip Hop “journalists” spewing negativity and condescention without having all of the facts. I was disgusted with our community for not supporting Professor X and everyone else like him who needed our support and got jeers instead.

Lumumba called me. He knew who I was. He was excited that I had been bidding on his post. I had the opportunity to tell him what he meant to me. I told him how he influenced me to go down the path I am on without ever having met me. Now THAT’S power. He shared with me some of his industry expereinces and his hopes and dreams.

The price for Lumumba was high on eBay. Not high financially, but high in negative reaction, high in lack of support, and high in the realization that this unforgiving industry has no love for those who have come before when the @#%$ VH-1 cameras aren’t running. I think my last bid was under $100. I would have bid $1,000.

We quietly disrespect our artists for not being Billionaires, and then we disrespect them if we perceive them to “sell out” (read: earn a living). They can’t win. We bemoan artists today for selling misogyny, crime, violence, and materialism, but we didn’t support the ones who had a positive message once they were no longer perceived to be “hot!”

And God forbid they try to earn a buck on eBay selling the opportunity to spend time with them before they pass.

I wanted to spend a day with Lumumba. He would not take my money. We spoke at length about the industry and Afrocentricity. We discussed his father and his legacy. We discussed a lot. It was the first, and last, time we spoke.

I never got my day with Professor X. But what I did get was far more priceless. I got the real Professor X, and he is and was what he always said he was. He was REAL. And he loved people. Especially Black people. He will sorely be missed!

Please understand if the next time you see me I am stomping in my big black boots.

http://www.wendyday.com

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: Afrika Bambaataa, Black watch, Breakdown FM, Breakdown FM-Professor X was vanglorious, Davey D, Davey D Hip Hop articles-In remembrance of Professor X, davey D Hip Hop Articles-professor X was Vanglorious, Hip Hop news-Professor X was Vanglorious, In Remembrance of Professor X, Paradise, Professor X, Wendy Day, X-Clan

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

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

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