Sunday, September 30, 2007

the choice is yours

“It’s just going to be useless,” or “It does make a lot of sense”?

I hate to be a cynic, but this may not work out as well as they think. People might like some jobs, trustworthy police, and a mayor who isn't a jackass. Again, I could be wrong and this event could set Philly on a course back to respectability.

You know what would be appreciated, some call-ins from the listeners.

The show starts tonight at 8. I promise nothing but heat rocks from the both of us. Be sure to turn your shit up to 11 when we come on. And if your shit don't go up to 11, get yourself a new system. You know what time it is.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Video Friday returns.

I got away from this for a while due to being incredibly lazy. But, since there is nothing going on in the world, I have some videos.





That's just the state of mind that I'm in. Oh, and I lied. There is plenty going on in the world. But you already knew that.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Anger in the Nation

Blam. If only every hip hop writer/activist could express themselves so clearly. And what makes someone a "hip hop" activist, anyway? Based on what I know, they just seem less effective, and that is not a distinction to be proud of (Vote or Die, anyone?).

Do something with this case, please.

In other news, entertainers are morons.

Thanks to Rock the Dub for the link.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Everybody Rise.


We start next Sunday, so you'll have to wait a bit. Podcast our show, tell your friends and your mom. Thanks to Microsoft for the squiggles underneath the title.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Whoa.

This needs to stop. Now. Dudes have been wearing their clothes like this since at least... uh, '92 or so? Now they want to anyalyze where your life is headed if your pants sag? Next time I'm home, I will try and get fined. What'll they do then. They're just mad 'cuz they're stylin' on 'em. Enjoy the view:

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Now let's say you owe...

He didn't have to, but this is awesome. And the shoutout is of course greatly appreciated. And if you scroll down to the Plies video, you'll see one of the most interesting discussions I've seen on a rap blog in a while. Sort of disrupts your idea of what an average rap fan thinks about.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Sunday, September 9, 2007

lobster and scrimp: a reply to Josh Cohen

To the editor:

First! Nullus.

As a former writer for Phoenix as well as an incredibly amateur blogger, I was very confused by Josh Cohen's article last week. Based on the title, I was hoping to read about the supposedly potential threat many journalists feel from blogging, where people who report on news firsthand are no longer as valued as those who tag articles they feel their readership will enjoy. Instead, what I read was something that felt like the very thing Mr. Cohen was raving against in the first place: blogging to Be Heard. Many of the ideas/problems that he claims blogging to stand upon could also be argued to be prevalent in normal opinion writing for a newspaper. There are many things I have read in the Phoenix in my time here that could be considered intentionally contrary, and I imagine to some I have been the writer of some of those columns. The whole point of opinion writing, in my estimation, is that you want to be heard in some way; that is why you are making your thoughts available to public criticism. The idea that writing for a newspaper is somehow nobler than my cute little blog assumes that the Phoenix is some pillar of excellence in journalism and that people who keep blogs do so because they cannot hang with the big boys who work with paper. Frankly, this is a pretty elitist view.

One of the joys of blogging for me, besides the piles of ducats, is that there is no pressure to always come up with something groundbreaking or profound every two or three weeks. I can post links to articles I have read or old rap videos I used to love. I am not confined to a box of constant "serious" or "mature" commentary that involves politics or social issues. It allows my admittedly small readership to see the full scope of who I am and to have a conversation with me about things I enjoy. Also, Mr. Cohen's complaint of constant commentary struck me as odd because when I wrote for the Phoenix, there were days that were filled with constant, short opinions shared by people after reading my column as well as emails. The difference with blogging is only that these conversations, held in person when I wrote for paper, are now just words underneath a post. I will say my one complaint about blogging is that comments seem very impersonal and stripped of context on the internet(s). However, to say all Swatties left my column thinking, "I agree here... I am skeptical of this point..." is a bit of a stretch. I am surprised Mr. Cohen did not take advantage of the ability to delete offensive or unproductive comments, though this could be seen as a bit of a dick move. I also find it interesting that while Mr. Cohen rails against the form, he seemed to enjoy using footnotes a great deal, though it makes following a column quite difficult. Of course, he could be doing this as a satire, and I am just a dense fruit fly. It just seemed very self-serving.

Kudos to the editor for completely contradicting Mr. Cohen right beneath his column by encouraging people to write for the sake of being heard. And for those interested, peep the manuscript every so often right here.

Keep schemin' and dreamin', snappin' and trappin'.

Well..

“I had seen reform candidates running against incumbents in African-American areas. It’s hard. Reform is not the most compelling issue to people who don’t have a job.”

If this article is any indication, he should be assed out very soon. But the next time should be a doozy. For the record, I told you so.

Friday, September 7, 2007

How can Hip Hop be dead

If Wu-Tang is forever?

I got millions of thugs on salary, bitch

So Kid Wave (or Nazz to some) performed at VA Tech yesterday, much to Bill O'Reilly's disapproval, I am sure. And Noz wrote a very well thought out piece on the whole "Read a Book" controversy, which is the biggest backfire I think BET has suffered in a long time. Oh wait, there was that whole "Hot Ghetto Mess"/"We Got to Do Better" fiasco. But I want to get back to Noz's piece. He makes a very valid point that a lot of this debate centers around destroying something a group of people like by intentionally stripping it of context. I agree with his thoughts on the flexibility of language being restricted, but I can easily see how some people will get uppity about how flexible rappers can be. To add to his point, a lot of these TV hosts (Tony Harris was not being a journalist in the clips below) try to make the story matter to viewers by bringing up the tired idea that the lyrics are so strongly affecting the kids. Now, in some cases, they are right, the lyrics do have an effect on the kids. Except that isn't the kind of news they want to hear. They want to tell adults that kids/grown ass men in Philadelphia kill each other because of something Lil' Wayne said. Doubtful. Maybe it's because Philly is economically assed out and there are no jobs for people. And I can think of a few songs where rappers who are normally called out for degrading their people say uplifting or challenging things, no matter how unorthodox. But that's not really the point. If you don't like what a rapper, or any musician has to say, that's is perfectly fine. But don't just say they should be banned. And don't just complain to the artist. Complain to those you know, those who will care about what you have to say. If you make a legit argument against the artist's choice of topics, then your friend may be inclined not to follow them as closely, and that rapper just lost a fan. And that's bad business, especially in a landscape of "reality-flavored cheeseburgers." Also, one song does not and should not define an artist. So if you hate "Bia Bia," that's one thing. But it's a stretch to say anything he's ever done is terrible and offensive without knowing an artist's catalog, or even a fair amount of songs. If someone who liked the Beatles introduced me to them by playing "I Am the Walrus" (which I hate), it'd be a dick move to write them off as some two-bit English douches people called "artists" because they were hard to understand. It's the same with rap. Things need to be looked at holistically, and in the case of music, this is best done by, get ready, listening to albums. Get a full picture and then reach a decision, and then communicate why you don't like the music being made, don't just yell that things need to stop and expect all bad things that happen to women/minorities/the poor in rap music to stop. Crap isn't that simple. Deal with it. All right, I'm out.

Wear some damn deodorant.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

hmmm...

Thoughts?

Fuck a school lecture, the lies get me vexed-er

Hopefully, you all can read this and realize contrary to what the media has been telling your parents, Hip Hop can actually do something for people. Even "radio" artists. Though I doubt I'll be buying his album, shout out to Kanye for helping kids in his city. For real, you don't wanna be my age and can't read and write, begging women for a different place to sleep at night.

Monday, September 3, 2007

Excellent moderation.





Why is CNN using the same tactics as Fox "News"?