Russell Simmons’ Open Letter to President Obama: Don’t Forget Our Plight

Your Black World Reports

 

I listened to your speech last week at Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network’s 20th anniversary dinner, talking among friends and close supporters. This was an annual African American dinner, a very important one. While I know that any Democrat would have fulfilled their promise to come back if they had won the ’08 election, I also know the significance, and the special burden it poses on you, as the first African American President, at the same time.

Still, I woke up the next day feeling uneasy, not because you didn’t take issues of direct significance to the black community head-on — like the fact that one in three black children go to jail once in their lifetime or that black people have an unemployment rate double the amount of white people — but because nowhere in your deep and thoughtful remarks did you talk about the elephant in the room that affects ALL Americans, irrespective of color: the growing ranks of poor Americans, Americans struggling not just to meet their mortgage payments but to eat, sleep under a roof, educate their kids and pay their basic bills.

MC Hammer Reinvents Himself in Silicon Valley

 

Is it possible for the music industry to learn something from an artist who hasn’t had a hit song since the mid-’90s?

In the case of MC Hammer, it just might.

To many in the music industry, Hammer is a has-been rapper who squandered a fortune and eventually faded into musical irrelevancy. But in Silicon Valley, he’s a respected entrepreneur, investor and adviser with a reputation as a savvy early adopter of new technology.

That’s quite an achievement in a region that views most celebrities with suspicion.

Tupac Shakur’s Lost Jailhouse Interview

 

Your Black World reports

The late Tupac Shakur Spent a lot of time in jails and prisons before his death.  In the interviews below, he candidly discusses life as a prison inmate, the inspiration for his music and life as a young black male in America.  Check it out.

Black At Ya – By Vigalantee: Tell Us What You think

Wiz Khalifa on BET: Promoting Black Male Dysfunctionality?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

 

As a fan of hip-hop, I couldn’t help but appreciate the talent of the rapper Wiz Khalifa out of Pittsburgh.  Fresh off the release of his new album, “Rolling Papers,” Wiz appears to be on the top of the hip-hop world.  The first thing I thought about when I heard Wiz Khalifa’s style is that he sounded remarkably similar to artists of my generation, namely Snoop Dogg and Too Short.

Click to read.

Should the NAACP Promote Negative Hip-Hop Artists?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

Last night, I was up watching last year’s Hip-Hop honors on Vh-1. I knew that it wasn’t live, since the rappers T.I. and Gucci Mane weren’t in jail. In fact, I find it interesting that I had to count and remember which artists were incarcerated out of the bunch, since it seems that hip-hop has now made it cool to go to jail, at least for a little while.
As a fan of hip-hop, I enjoyed the music being performed by various artists. I couldn’t, however, help but be disturbed by trends that become more and more apparent to me as I get older. At one point, there were three "interesting" songs performed in a row, one by an artist by the name of "Bone Crusher," a second performed by Gucci Mane and a third performed by the Ying-Yang Twins. Bone Crusher rapped about "popping the trunk" and killing another "n*gga" who spoke to him disrepsectfully. To be more precise, the lyrics were as follows:
Let a choppa go PLOOOOOOWWW! to yo melon
Now the plasma is oozin outta yo cerebellum
AttenSHUNNNNN! F*ck n*gga, now you swellin
You ain’t talkin hardcore, now is ya? Lil’ b*tch!

Click to read.

Worshipping Biggie and Pac: Why We Need to Let That Go

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University 

As the son of a preacher, I know how to avoid sacrilegious statements when I see them. I don’t use God’s name in vain, and I don’t make nasty jokes about Jesus. But if hip-hop had a bible, it would start with the commandment that "Thou shalt not compare any living rapper to the great Biggie and Pac."

If you even briefly mention that any artist in America comes close to "the great ones," you are quickly slapped with a "shut yo mouth" by hip-hop heads who tell you that you’re out of your damn mind. There is no living artist, at least not under the age of 30, who dares compare himself to Biggie and Pac, who’ve effectively become the God and Jesus of the hip-hop world.

Let’s be clear: these artists were legendary in their talent level and deserve massive amounts of respect. But the idea that they are better than every hip-hop artist since is likely due to our stunning capacity to practically worship dead artists rather than a truly fair comparison of musical impact. Since Tupac Shakur died, he has been transformed into a visionary and a saint, when the truth is that he could be just as trifling as Lil Wayne, TI and the other artists who are living today. I was a huge fan of both Biggie and Pac when they were alive. I listened to Pac every morning before heading to campus, and I bumped Biggie when I rolled in my hooptie. They were like Burger King and McDonalds or Coke and Pepsi: two dominant versions of virtually the same product (gangsta rap). I never chose one over the other, because both of them were great.

Click to read.

Company accused of selling a gateway drug for black teenagers

from TheGrio.com 

You see it all over television, celebrities endorsing "syrup," which is a combination of cough syrup with codeine and soda, two ingredients that can make for a lethal recipe.

Stores in Southeast Texas are now carrying the products that bear the names "drank" and "syrup", but with a different twist.

Drank and Sippin Syrup are two examples of a new anti-energy drink that is supposed to provide "extreme relaxation." There is nothing harmful in these products, in fact one of the main ingredients is Melatonin, a natural substance that helps you sleep.

18-year-old Jackie Robinson says he just started drinking this anti-energy drink because of the slogan, "sippin syrup."

"I ain’t gonna lie it really do," said Robinson Wednesday afternoon as he sipped his drink outside a Beaumont convenient store. "It probably attracts a lot of people from the name too."

 

Click to read.

Visit Your Black World for the latest news

Your Black News: First Twins on Death Row?

Two 25-year-old brothers from Orlando, Fla., could become the first twins in the nation to be sentenced to death. They are accused of killing two people during a robbery. Dante Hall is currently on trial. His twin, Donte, has been convicted and a jury recommended that he get the death penalty.

> Full Coverage

Hip Hop: Vigalantee’s New Release

Vigalantee has just dropped his new album, Miracle Reloaded.  Click here to check it out.

Your Black Hip-Hop: Jasiri X Weekly Newscast — Hip-Hop Style!

YourBlackWorld.com

Hip-Hop Emcee/Newscaster, Jasiri X returns with his weekly Hip-Hop newscasts. For this week, current events include the Iraq-shoe incident, Gov. Blagojevich’s pay-to-play endeavors, mass-media tying Obama to the Illinois scandal, Chicago Police carrying M4s, and the failing economy:

Your Black Brothers: Would Sojourner Truth Appreciate Lil’ Wayne’s Music?

Would Sojourner Truth Want To ‘Lick The Rapper?’

By: Zekita

One morning while riding in my car I decided to venture away from my regular News programming on the radio and turned to one of our local Hip Hop and R&B stations. It wasn’t long before the commercial for some debt creating pay-day loan went off and my ears, mind, and soul was being violated by rapper lil’ Wayne’s song ‘Lollipop.’ As I listened in disgust to the monotony of his lyrics (similar to many I had heard in some contemporary rap songs today) about how some women wanted to ‘lick the rapper’ amongst other things, my eyes began to tear up from those degrading and humiliating lyrics. [...]

And then I thought back to the glorious African American women like Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Nzingha, Yaa Asante, and Mary McLeod Bethune. I turned my thoughts to these women and I wonder. [...]

I wonder if Harriet Tubman feels like all 19 of her potentially deadly trips were traveled completely in vain. I wonder if Sojourner Truth still feels like a ‘woman’ [...]

More At Your Black Brothers

Your Black Hip-Hop: Jasiri X Weekly Newscast — Hip-Hop Style!

Hip-Hop Emcee/Newscaster, Jasiri X, returns with his weekly Hip-Hop newscasts. For this week, current events include  the failing economy, George Bush’s confessions, the ongoing Plaxico Burress fiasco, the Detroit 3 Auto-Bailout, Chicago workers sit-in, Clarence “Tom Us” questioning President-Elect Obama’s citizenship, and more:

Your Black Hip-Hop: Jasiri X Weekly Newscast — Hip-Hop Style!

Hip-Hop Emcee/Journalist, Jasiri X, returns for a second season, with his weekly Hip-Hop newscasts. This week’s current events include, O.J. Simpson, Plaxico Burress , the Mumbai attack, Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, and more:

[For the week of November 23 - November 29]:

Your Black Hip-Hop: Rev. Wright Reflects On Hip-Hop

New York-based Hip-Hop artist, NYOIL, pays a visit to the 2nd annual State of the Black World Conference, and engages Rev. Dr. Jeremiah E. Wright Jr. in dialogue about the present state of Hip-Hop. Featured are also, veteran Hip-Hop journalist,  DaveyD, X-Clan member, Paradise Gray, and Hip-Hop artist/news-anchor, Jasiri X:

Your Black Brothers: Hip-Hop Star VIGALANTEE: More Than A Rapper…

VIGALANTEE: Hunting for Souls
By: Tolu Olorunda
Staff Writer – YourBlackWorld.com

Vigalantee (born Roger Suggs) is no stranger to the underground Hip-Hop scene. Born in Chicago, Vigalantee has always been a fan of Hip-Hop – though a critic, when necessary. In addition to his musical career, Vigalantee is also an arduous community-organizer and activist, whose youth program is touching many young lives across the city of Kansas. As the name suggests, Vigalantee is hunting for more than nice beats or dope rhymes. As a young man, trapped in between the perils of inter-racial animosity and intra-racial hostility, Vigalantee knows how critical it is for young Black kids to find worthy role-models in the communities that shape their destinies.

Vigalantee grew up in Chicago, and experienced, firsthand, the much-referenced tales of gang warfare. Concerned with the emotional toll this reality wreaks on a child, his mother sent him to a relative’s home in Georgia. Vigalantee describes this as the unraveling of another “extreme” living condition [...]

More At Your Black Brothers

Hip Hop Commercialized? Buffoonery or something more complicated?

By Dr. Boyce Watkins

www.BoyceWatkins.com

I am not a huge fan of Lil Wayne.  I don’t hate him, I just don’t love him.  His music doesn’t make me move, but it doesn’t make me sick.  The thing that challenges my ability to love Lil Wayne is the environment within which he is operating.

Lil Wayne can be considered, by some, to be a modern day minstrel show:  gold chains, diamond grills, 10,000 tattoos on parts of his body that have no business being tattooed, you name it.  He engages in the stereotypical rock’n roll/hip hop lifestyle: guns, drugs, alcohol and random women.  I fear for Lil Wayne, because at this pace, he might be dead before he turns 35.  Lil Wayne makes Tupac Shakur  and Eazy E look like conservative school kids.

Lil Wayne impacts the world in which he lives, sells records by the boat load and impacts far more young men than he probably should.  It’s not that he chooses to be a role model, he just is one. But when we see Lil Wayne and express justifiable disdain for his behavior and persona, there is certainly more to be said.

You see, Lil Wayne is a product.   The corporate executives pulling the strings and making the decision to sign deals with Lil Wayne also see him as a product [...]

More At Your Black Hip-Hop

Your Black Education: The Gift of Canibus: Hip-Hop and Anti-Intellectualism

The Gift of Canibus: Hip-Hop and Anti-Intellectualism

By: Tolu Olorunda

Staff Writer – YourBlackWorld.com

“History is a weapon being used against us/

Humanity has been abused before but few remember/

… Turn the radio and TV off, think for a second/

Technology is a blessing but it’s also a weapon/

A weapon of mass destruction giving global instructions/

Teaching us how to hate but does it in a way that we love it/

Take my beloved rap music, erase the beat/

Consumers act like they’re afraid of intelligent speech/”

- Hip-Hop artist and philosopher, Canibus, in One Ought Not To Think.

Canibus, like the herbal supplement, Cannabis, is as subjective to the user, as the value of Hip-Hop music is to the listener. In the course of this essay, I, a Canibus fan/student, seek to make a case for the artist otherwise known as Germaine Williams. Though a marginalized figure, Canibus is an Emcee; an artist; a lyrical scientist; a philosopher; an educator; a history lesson, and an infinite source of inspiration to those wrestling with dominant forms of anti-intellectualism being wielded against music lovers. I personally believe Canibus to be a rare mineral resource in an industry engulfed with misogyny, homoeroticism, opulence, hollowness, illiteracy, and cronyism. Since 1996, Canibus has struggled to keep Hip-Hop’s demons at bay. But, truth be told, that struggle remains a contentious one, even till this day. To be sure, Canibus is not a name fluttered on the lips of Black and Brown kids; but perhaps this reality further reinforces my claim, that his wit, perspicacity and voluminous vocabulary is perceived more as a threat, than an accomplishment, in the Hip-Hop realm of existence. Canibus teaches us in – perhaps his most lucid track to date – Poet Laureate II, that Hip-Hop music’s demise lies in its inability to grapple with the ongoing battle being waged between the quest for power, and a declining zeal for poetically-inspired rhymes [...]

More At Your Black Education

Your Black Hip-Hop: Kanye West & Ludacris Receive Harsh Reviews

Ludacris “Theater of the Mind” (Island Def Jam)

For some odd reason, Ludacris feels the need to prove himself on his latest studio CD.

“Theater of the Mind,” the rapper’s sixth album, is full of trash talk as to why he is rap’s “MVP.” But talk is cheap.

Ludacris is not only a platinum rapper, he’s also a major success in film, TV, on the Web and even in the food industry (the rapper opened a Thai restaurant in Atlanta). He’s also known as one of the game’s best lyricists.

But he disappoints on “Theater of the Mind” by trying constantly to prove it with boasts that are boring and empty, devoid of the cleverness we’ve come to expect from Luda [...]

Read More

The concept isn’t difficult to grasp. Kanye West’s mother died suddenly one year ago, and a few months later, the superstar rapper and producer broke things off with his fiancé. West spent two weeks in Hawaii recording what he calls a “pop” album.

The production is minimal and chilly in a way that recalls Junior Boys or early Depeche Mode. The basic beats were created using the old school Roland TR-808 drum machine.

The vocals — overwhelmingly sung, not rapped — have almost uniformly been processed by the pitch-correction software AutoTune. All this is intended to create a sombre soundscape that reflects West’s emotional state, and on paper, the math is simple and appealing. In actual practice, however, things go horribly wrong [...]

Read More

Your Black Brothers: H.E.L.P. Seeks To Fight Illiteracy With Hip-Hop

Schools, out-of-school programs, tutors, mentors and juvenile detention educators are discovering a “sound” approach to reading instruction. H.E.L.P. (Hip-Hop Educational Literacy Program) is a line of supplemental instructional materials for language arts intervention and enrichment.

Co-founded by Hip-Hop artist, professional educator, and arts advocate Gabriel “Asheru” Benn, this innovative approach allows teachers, educators, mentors and caregivers to tune in the pervasive popularity of the Hip-Hop genre. H.E.L.P. uses high-interest reading and real-world relevance to improve literacy while bridging demographic, cultural, language, and achievement gaps:

[Princeton Professor Dr. Cornel West Endorses The Program]:

Teacher-created, student-tested and standard-correlated workbooks integrate the five essential components of effective reading instruction as identified by the National Reading Panel. Resource guides and professional development training facilitate effective use of the materials to engage reluctant readers, promote cultural responsive topics, address multiple learning styles and accommodate differentiated instruction.

Carefully-selected, clean song lyrics from well-known Hip-Hop recording artists are the sound foundation for H.E.L.P.’s creative reading and writing activities. Positive character-building messages, poignant social issues, literary devices, historical references, metaphors, rhymes, and broad vocabulary within the songs all provide cross-curricular opportunities during powerful language arts instruction in one-on-one, small group and classroom environments [...]

Read More

Visit The Official H.E.L.P. Website

Watch The H.E.L.P. Infomercial

Dr. Boyce Watkins Smacks Soulja Boy For Slavery Comments

Technorati Tags: soulja boy,hip hop,rap,rappers,slavery,slave masters

Your Black Hip-Hop: Soulja Boy Praises Slave-Masters

They say ignorance comes in all shapes and sizes. No truer words have ever been uttered. For anyone still in doubt over the role Commercial Hip-Hop plays in desecrating the minds of the young, read this immediately!:

Then came Soulja Boy Tell Em. I [Toure from BET] asked him, “What historical figure do you most hate?” He was stumped. I said, “Others have said Hitler, bin Laden, the slave masters…” He said, “Oh wait! Hold up! Shout out to the slave masters! Without them we’d still be in Africa.”

My jaw, at this point, was on the ground.”We wouldn’t be here,” he continued, having no idea how far in it he’d stepped, “to get this ice and tattoos.”

Wow. Never mind that diamonds come from Africa. Never mind that there were many generations of pain in between leaving Africa and getting diamonds. Never mind that the long-term cataclysmic effects of subtracting about tens of millions of young, strong people from Africa over the course of a couple of centuries is a large part of the reason why Africa now appears so distasteful to you. Never mind all that, Soulja Boy. You put country first.

Source

Poor thing… If only he was aborted.

Your Black Hip-Hop: Jasiri X Weekly Newscast — Hip-Hop Style!

Hip-Hop Emcee/Journalist, Jasiri X, returns with his weekly Hip-Hop newscasts. This week’s current events include: Gov. Palin’s incompetence, the “Ashley Todd hoax,” Robocalls, Jennifer Hudson’s tragedy, Black-on-Black violence,” lynching in Texas and more:

For the week of October 19 – October 25:

Your Black Scholar: Exclusive Interview With Dr. Cornel West On Obama, Colin Powell, Hip-Hop & More

STICKY POST — SCROLL DOWN FOR LATEST ENTRIES:

Interview with Princeton Professor and acclaimed scholar, Dr. Cornel West, by Tolu Olorunda.

He is, perhaps, the most well-known public scholar the universe has to offer. Alongside that, Dr. Cornel West has also been celebrated as, America’s leading public intellectual. Judging from his scholarly work, dedication, perseverance, intellectual curiosity and diligence, one can certainly confirm the role he plays as a distinct leader of his peers. Dr. West has continuously proved to be a multi-generational force for good. Through the publication of books, Hip-Hop albums and television specials aimed at young adults, Dr. Cornel West has impacted and transformed a whole generation of love-starved and directionless people. His wit notwithstanding, Dr. West’s ability to interpret the harsh conditions of the financially-disempowered is parallel to none. I had the distinguished pleasure of engaging in dialogue with this esteemed scholar on a wide swath of issues affecting our daily lives. I spoke with him on issues including, the presidential campaign of Sen. Obama, Gen. Colin Powell’s endorsement, the role of progressives in an Obama administration, “Hope on a Tightrope,” Hip-Hop, the next generation of Black public intellectuals, and much more:

Thanks for joining us. What has Dr. West been up to lately?

Oh, I’ve been on the moon. I did 15 events for Brother Obama in Ohio, this past weekend. I did 12, the weekend before that. I’ve been to Seattle, Alabama; teaching full time. I’m blessed though, brother.

How does it feel being a surrogate for Sen. Obama’s historic presidential run?

Well, it’s a good thing, because in the end, it’s really about empowering everyday people, and he’s a major vehicle for that. He’s got some genius and inspiring people that give him a sense of possibility and hope. So, it’s a beautiful thing. But there’s always a tension there because I still got to speak my mind. So, I got my criticisms of the brother; but the most important thing to do, is a full-court press to get people out to vote, and to make sure that we contribute to this democratic awakening that’s taking place. This greed out here is running amok, man.

On the subject of greed; you’ve often talked about the melting of the Ice-Age. Do you feel the Democratic platform addresses poverty in a substantive fashion?

Well, it doesn’t address it as much as I would like [...]

Click To Read The Full Interview

Your Black Scholar: Exclusive Interview With Dr. Cornel West On Obama, Colin Powell, Hip-Hop & More

STICKY POST — SCROLL DOWN FOR LATEST ENTRIES:

Interview with Princeton Professor and acclaimed scholar, Dr. Cornel West, by Tolu Olorunda.

He is, perhaps, the most well-known public scholar the universe has to offer. Alongside that, Dr. Cornel West has also been celebrated as, America’s leading public intellectual. Judging from his scholarly work, dedication, perseverance, intellectual curiosity and diligence, one can certainly confirm the role he plays as a distinct leader of his peers. Dr. West has continuously proved to be a multi-generational force for good. Through the publication of books, Hip-Hop albums and television specials aimed at young adults, Dr. Cornel West has impacted and transformed a whole generation of love-starved and directionless people. His wit notwithstanding, Dr. West’s ability to interpret the harsh conditions of the financially-disempowered is parallel to none. I had the distinguished pleasure of engaging in dialogue with this esteemed scholar on a wide swath of issues affecting our daily lives. I spoke with him on issues including, the presidential campaign of Sen. Obama, Gen. Colin Powell’s endorsement, the role of progressives in an Obama administration, “Hope on a Tightrope,” Hip-Hop, the next generation of Black public intellectuals, and much more:

Thanks for joining us. What has Dr. West been up to lately?

Oh, I’ve been on the moon. I did 15 events for Brother Obama in Ohio, this past weekend. I did 12, the weekend before that. I’ve been to Seattle, Alabama; teaching full time. I’m blessed though, brother.

How does it feel being a surrogate for Sen. Obama’s historic presidential run?

Well, it’s a good thing, because in the end, it’s really about empowering everyday people, and he’s a major vehicle for that. He’s got some genius and inspiring people that give him a sense of possibility and hope. So, it’s a beautiful thing. But there’s always a tension there because I still got to speak my mind. So, I got my criticisms of the brother; but the most important thing to do, is a full-court press to get people out to vote, and to make sure that we contribute to this democratic awakening that’s taking place. This greed out here is running amok, man.

On the subject of greed; you’ve often talked about the melting of the Ice-Age. Do you feel the Democratic platform addresses poverty in a substantive fashion?

Well, it doesn’t address it as much as I would like [...]

Click To Read The Full Interview

Your Black Life: Wynton Marsalis Riffs On Jazz, Race & Financial Crisis

Jazz legend, Wynton Marsalis, has a new book coming out. “Moving to a Higher Ground: How Jazz Can Change Your Life,” is Marsalis’ way of encouraging empathy in a growing narcissistic world. Promoting his new book, the trumpeter payed a stop to Stephen Colbert’s show yesterday. Marsalis took time out to share his views on race, the contributions of jazz to our society, the Wall Street bailout deal, and more:

Watch Video At Your Black Life

Your Black Life: Sister, Can You Spare Some Class: Black Women In The Media

Sister, Can You Spare Some Class: Black Women in the Media
By: Tolu Olorunda
Staff Writer – YourBlackWorld.com

Who can argue with prophetic leader and political prisoner, Mumia Abu Jamal’s assessment that “Black women are the most disfavored of all the nation’s women?” Only a fool would. Black Women, historically, have had to endure the horror of living in a world that screams hatred from its four corners. Like piercing swords drilling a hole into one’s soul, many Black Women are subjected daily to inhumane attacks from the left, right, front, and back angles of society.

[...]

In addition to coming to grips with the rampant racism exhibited in many White feminist organizations, financially-disempowered Black Women also face the firey scorn of well-to-do Black Women who hypocritically blame them for the criminal conditions in which they exist. With such precedent, I ask again, who can argue with prophetic leader and political prisoner, Mumia Abu Jamal’s assessment that “Black women are the most disfavored of all the nation’s women?”

Full Article At Your Black Life

Your Black Hip-Hop: Jasiri X Weekly Newscast — Hip-Hop Style!

The fire-breathing Hip-Hop Emcee, Jasiri X, returns with his weekly Hip-Hop newscasts. This week’s current events include, the financial meltdown, Sarah Palin’s abuse of power, John McCain’s “erratic” behavior, and much more.

For the week of October 5 – October 12:

Your Black World Headlines: 10/15/2008

Ethiopia’s Wallowing In Famine

Blacks Less Equipped To Save For Retirement Plans

Swazi Monarchy Outlaws Civil Rights Meetings

Alicia Keys Leads American Music Award Nominees

Colin Powell Gets Down To Hip-Hop In Africa Show

Your Black Brothers: Brother, Can You Spare Some Class: Black Men In The Media

Brother, Can You Spare Some Class: Black Men in the Media
By: Tolu Olorunda
Staff Writer – YourBlackWorld.com

On October 15th, Comedy Central is slated to premier a “satirical fake news show” called, Chocolate News. David Alan Grier, most famous for his many characters in the ‘90s hit sketch comedy series In Living Color, will be the host. The show is reported to be a cultural spin-off of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report, but judging from the released trailers, Comedy Central is aiming for a much different objective. The scene is an all too familiar one. The trailers feature Grier, like past Black comics before him, dressed up in feminine outfits, yelling at the top of his voice, acting erratically, and operating in an incoherent shuffle. It is as though this long national nightmare, of which President Ford spoke, is far from over.

In early 2005, Chappelle’s Show, Comedy Central’s most popular series at the time, received a set-back from production because Dave Chappelle, star of the show, had come to a sobering conclusion that he did not wish for his soul to be purchased at the price of corporate America’s offer. As the legend tells itself, Dave Chappelle turned down $50 million – the allotted price for the third season – and escaped to South Africa for a “spiritual retreat.” Comedy Central, uneasy about the kind of message being sent to Black boys and girls across the globe, initially spun Chappelle’s departure into a battle with the flu, but subsequently reoriented it to suggest a meltdown of insanity and eccentricity.

Dave Chappelle, upon a return to The States, informed TV icon Oprah Winfrey, that he was motivated to halt production of his ultra successful show because it had grown increasingly “socially irresponsible.” In response to the growing concern from within the Black Community, vis-à-vis his many overtly stereotypical sketches, Chappelle remarked that he didn’t want “black people to be disappointed in me for putting that [message] out there. … It’s a complete moral dilemma.” What an unusual and unprecedented act of solidarity and candor…

Click To Read Full Article

Your Black Hip-Hop: Jasiri X Gives Weekly Round Up — Hip-Hop Style!

Hip-Hop artist, Jasiri X, ‘raps up’ the September 28 – October 4 week — Hip-Hop Style!:

Reposted From Your Black Hip-Hop

Your Black Hip-Hop: Vh1 Hip-Hop Honors: A Farce & A Scam

By: Tolu Olorunda

Staff Writer – YourBlackWorld.com

The corporate hacks at Vh1 are at it again. Yesterday, as I’m told, Vh1 aired its annual Hip-Hop ceremony, Vh1 Hip-Hop Honors. For those unaware, “Hip-Honors” is described as a yearly celebration of Hip-Hop pioneers and its many Godfathers/Godmothers. If Vh1 had its way – as it seem to do – Snoop Dogg, Eazy E, Ice Cube, Missy Elliot, Russell Simmons and the Wu Tang clan would fit that mold. It would come as a shock if Lil’ Wayne is not honored next year. This annual exercise of miseducation is a farce at best. The categorization of “New Schoolers” as Hip-Hop pioneers notwithstanding, more insulting is the level of mistreatment rendered to actual Hip-Hop pioneers, at such events. In 2006, following that year’s “Honors,” a group of venerated Hip-Hop scholars and historians broke their silence in calling out the bosses at Vh1 who, through the help of their subsidiaries, have conducted a whitewash of Hip-Hop history and denigrated its true inventors.

In a report published on the Hip-Hop online magazine, HipHopGame.com, DJs Jazzy Jay, Tony Tone and Disco Wiz described inexplicable instances where Vh1, in favor of granting VIP passes to the most prominent rappers at the time, treated Hip-Hop heavy weights such as Kurtis Blow and Tracy 168 like “bums and party crashers.” The report furthermore noted that Vh1 had the unimpeachable gull to limit the number of guests Afrika Bambaataa (Hip-Hop’s Grandfather) could invite. If this is true, as I believe it to be, it should come as no surprise that Vh1 executives have attempted to attribute the ’90s to be the “Golden Age” of Hip-Hop, and ultimately, the age of its inception.

This year, the irony couldn’t be starker. Whilst Vh1 was busy expressing great delight in “honoring” their distorted version of Hip-Hop’s pioneers, the landmark of Hip-Hop creation, 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, was being auctioned to a real estate developer for $ 7 million. Neither Vh1 nor its uncertified group of Hip-Hop advisors displayed the most minuscule amount of regret over it.

As a true Hip-Hop pioneer once noted, “The moral of the story is that these people don’t know sh–.”

Reposted From Your Black Hip-Hop

Your Black Hip-Hop: Kanye West Arrested At Airport On Felony Charges

Kanye West was arrested Thursday morning at Los Angeles International Airport on suspicion of vandalism.

Apparently the Chicago-based hip-hop superstar mixed it up with a still photographer, and a $10,000-plus camera wound up in pieces.

For Kanye, the news gets worse because a TMZ.com cameraman named Erik says he videotaped this whole exchange, prompting the rapper’s bodyguard to grab his camera, tear off its microphone and viewfinder and smash them on the ground.

Source

UPDATE:

Kanye West and his road manager Don C. were arrested Thursday morning at L.A.X airport. Both men were charged with felony vandalism in an incident involving paparazzi.

The rapper and his friend were waiting at security for a flight to Hawaii when an altercation with a photographer and videographer ensued. West and Don C. have since been released from police custody on $20,000 bail.

Reposted From Your Black Hip-Hop