Track 4 Years Ago a Friend of Mine… I can recall growing up in Memphis in the eighties. There were drug families, not gangs or a number of cliques who professed colors and territories that they didn’t own as their own. There was a moment when the Vice Lords and Gangsta Disciples pitch...
Here I am, a man frustrated with the state, status, complacency of Hip-Hop, listening to an R& B album, ‘Neo Soul’ CD that is almost replacing my desire for finding Rap music that sounds ‘different’. Hip-Hop doesn’t create in me the same emotions it used to. Maybe once or twice, or a few more...
This is a collection of essays that I have been working on for over 12 years. There are also guest contributors. Instead of looking to publish it in book form, I will be posting the work here. Check it out, share it, comment, dislike, but realize Hip-Hop has failed to create and sustain a...
I’m new to jogging, but I usually run about 3.5 miles per day, if I don’t do another workout. As far as sports are concerned, I have a long history and one of the coolest things in sport is when the team enters the arena. Oh, when I jog I start my runs with...
A couple of months ago I reviewed a cd here named Sharpshootaz which was a new release by MLS. If I had to give a cd a rating out of 10, that album would have grabbed an 8 primarily on the strength of lyrics alone. This is a solo performance by Lou Slugga, a...
I had a great conversation with Prof. Gee Joyner about the responsibility of the emcee. (we should have recorded that one) We finally got to a point in the conversation where we basically analyzed the problem of the Black artists and if there is a responsibility that inherently exists because of the skin we...
Salt-N-Pepa: 25 Years in and Still Fly I think in 1979 or 80 I first heard Punk Rock Rap by the Cold Crush Brothers. I’ve written about this before, but I have to restate it, kind of like the movie Brown Sugar, I knew I was Hip-Hop and Hip-Hop was me. At that moment...
Certain artists generate a response that makes you honored to hear what they have to say. As I grow old in Hip-Hop, I’m starting more and more to seek out artists that mesh all of the elements together: dope tracks, lyricism, creativity and inspiration. In mainstream music the heart is missing. You can’t listen...
Hip-Hop has had a black eye for so long that often emcees who drop an LP get love although they are actually pretty mediocre. Now I’m not saying that guys like Wiz, Currensy or Wale aren’t dropping new age gems, but they are not quite there yet in terms of dropping classics. An album...
Winter in Hip-Hop: Track 2 – Intro
Introduction – Track 2 Blacks long to have a leader at the forefront. This possibly stems from the African edict of honoring the elder member of the family. Maybe it is a carry over from Whites selecting the person they chose to work with in slavery, and in dealing with Blacks during the post...
Read more »