You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January 2008.
Originally a part of Hip-Hop group “Oragnized Konfusion,” Pharaohe Monch has been beastin’ since waaay back in the day. While his last album ‘DESIRE,’ dropped some time ago, I JUST saw these vids recently and recalled how much doper he is than almost everyone. While he hasn’t been able to achieve much commericial success, PM has always maintained extreme underground Hip-Hop noteriety. His cadence and multi-syllable rhyme patterns are incredible, and many unknown emcees like me, all the way to Chi-town’s Lupe Fiasco site him as having a major influence in their rhyme style. He is straight heart, substance, intelligence, street and poetry in motion.
“check, check…mah mic sound nice.”
“When the Gun Draws”
“Push”
“Body Baby”
“Let’s Go” (LIVE)
Pissed on the motherf*cking White House lawn
I threw a rock (Iraq), then I ran (Iran)
Cause I couldn’t stand anymore within the grips of the man
Y’all wanna ask me who’s sane (Hussein)
These biological gasses are eating my brain
Its a political grab bag to rape mother earth
Thirty seconds after they bagged dad (Baghdad) for what he’s worth
Thousands will die now so millions can smile later
This ain’t the Rockford Files n*gga
They stockpile data from satellites
Where you discuss who’s style is greater
In this killing pool you playing it cool like Kyle Jada
When ya’ll ready to rock like Led Zep and Al Qaeda
With weapons of mass destruction an hour later
What’s your identity today?
You on some John F. Kennedy or Timothy McVeigh?
This Henessy done left me with a remedy to spray
For my identity your life is the penalty to pay
Motherf*cker
damn.
C
Well, they did it. I tried to warn ‘em but they didn’t listen. Apparently the Dubs are so much in need of a big man that they decided signing Chris “3 bad knees” Webber is the answer. Now, I don’t like Haters, nor do I like to Hate, but let us TRUE WARRIORS FANS not forget, this is the R.O.Y. crybaby who left our organization in shambles because he couldn’t handle Nellie’s tough love that has proven to make young players (Monta, Biendrins, Azubuike, Harrington) better ballplayers.
I HOPE that this ends up going well for the Warriors. You won’t find a happier person if this ends up working in our favor (esp. come playoff time). My prediction however, is that he will be a Troy Hudson-like bust, become injured and/or disrupt our team’s chemistry. He seems to make whatever team he plays for, an unhappy group of underachievers (sorry bout those years in Philly A.I. You still the man). He has also choked-out at the end of every important game in his life. Hopefully with him being a 15 mins a game role-player, these episodes won’t continue.
For sh*ts and giggles, here is a Q & A with the beloved Warriors Analyst Matt “Dookie-Green-Sportscoat” Stienmetz. =)
CWebb, “what can I say about your career that hasn’t been said about Afghanistan…it looks bombed out and depleted!” (“HATE, HATE, HATE!”) I PRAY your play doesn’t make Nellie look like this:
With love,
Someone who has LOVED the Dubs since we drafted Victor Alexander. =(
p.s. I had to put this up because even though it’s a CWebb highlight reel, it marks the last time the Warriors got any respect around the league until the arrival of our savior Baron Davis. Looking at this makes me realize that I hated this dude so much for leaving ’cause I loved him so much… Real Warrior fans feel me. Peep Mullin, Avery Johnson and Spree goin’ dummy:
I was incredibly shocked to hear the other day, that actor Heath Ledger was found dead in his apartment building at the age of only 28.
(Here he is with his wife Michelle Williams. Remember her from “Dawson’s Creek?” Don’t front blud, you know you watched that sh*t before.)
While I was always pretty indifferent in my feelings for him as an actor (I thought he was wack for being Mel Gibson’s son in “The Patriot”), I never disliked him (I thought he was very brave and being a dope ally to GLBTQ folk for starring in “Brokeback Mountain”) and was/am excited to see how he will portray the Joker in the new Batman movie. Yet, I digress…
While anyone dying, especially a talented young artist like Ledger is tragic and heartbreaking, to add insult to injury a Baptist Church from Topeka, Kansas decided to PROTEST HIS FUNERAL!!! That’s right, a group of fundamentalist Christians came to his final resting place, where his family, wife and two daughters were grieving with “GOD HATES FAGS” signs.
*Having a speechless moment*
…
…
Now I have met some genuine f*cking JERKFACES in my life, but what kind of “Christian” values/morals are there in tormenting the loved ones of someone who has just died??? These people seem to be so afraid of Gay folks, that they are willing to bring incredible pain and suffering to the family of an ACTOR who PLAYED a gay person in ONE of his movies.
These lowly hypocritical scum don’t worship Jesus, they worship Judas. It is insane to me as the grandson of a Christian Preacher who practiced Liberation Theology, that the ideals of Christ could be used in a way to justify hate, violence and many other means of death, destruction and chaos.
I personally believe that too many jerkfaces are utterly DIRTYING the name of Christ (and I’m not even a Christian!) every day in Amerika. The Bush administration seems to believe that “turning the other cheek,” is “un-American.” The Mormon church believes Jesus was born here in Amerika, that Native Americans were white and that brown skin is the mark of original sin. The KKK burns crosses. “Pro-Life” supporters kidnap and murder doctors who work at abortion clinics and vote FOR the death penalty.
It’s not all peaches and cream on the “liberal” side either however. Barack Obama (the candidate who has a shot at winning that I dislike the least) as well as Hillary Clinton, claim to be based in Christian morals and call Martin Luther King Jr. a hero, but both want to send more and more troops into Iraq.
MLK and Jesus would pee on all these fools if they were still alive (actually they wouldn’t because it wouldn’t be the Christian thing to do).
I have nothing but complete and total respect for GLBTQ (Gay/Lesbian/Bi/Transgender/Queer) folks for all the insane, utterly terrifying sh*t they have to face everyday they go outside into the world. My privilege as a heterosexual man in Amerika, leaves me going through my day without thinking once about being destroyed or terrorized because I love my fiance and want to spend my life with her. I am in complete awe of my GLBTQ friends and family for the strength they posses in all this madness. Even (handsome/wealthy/White/Anglo-Saxon/Protestant/DEAD) people who play the role of a gay person in a film, are being targeted by this sh*t!
I grew up with a lot of TERRIBLY homophobic people who are actually good & caring individuals, but fail to realize that THEIR fear makes them scarrier than anything 2 dudes kissing could ever bring about. If you are a so-called “Christian,” don’t make people who actually practice true Christianity (peace, love, understanding) look like crazy jerkfaces.
No homo…phobia.
Colinresponse
R.I.P. Heath Ledger (1979-2008)
Much love and respect to you and your family during these dangerous times.
p.s. If you wanna see some scary/real sh*t, check out the documentary “Jesus Camp.”
p.p.s. This ones for you Jerry Falwell…Church (literally). =P
I LOVE LYRICISM. These are a buncha cats in the rap game that influence me, and that I truly respect in terms of what they say and the incredible ways they say it. Chiggity-check before you wriggity-wreck…
Blu & Exile – So(ul) Amazing
Termanology – Watch How it Go Down
Lupe Fiasco – Emperor’s Soundtrack
Jay-Z – Dead Presidents
Nas – Can’t Forget About You
Wu-Tang – Triumph
Outkast – Da Art of Storytellin’ pt1
Scarface – Never Seen a Man Cry
Notorious B.I.G. – Juicy
2pac – Until the End of Time
Watch How it Go Down,
Senbei.
Yuri Kochiyama resides in Oakland, is my SHERO, and has been a leader, educator, author and activist for more than half a century.
Kochiyama was born Mary Nakahara in San Pedro, California. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Kochiyama’s father was imprisoned the same day. Her family, sent to a camp in Jerome, Arkansas, were among the 120,000 Japanese Americans interned during the second world war. Two of her brothers joined the US Army.
In 1960, Kochiyama and her husband Bill moved to Harlem, New York City, and joined the Harlem Parents Committee. She became acquainted with Malcolm X and became a member of his Organization for Afro American Unity, following his departure from the Nation of Islam. She was present at his assassination on February 21, 1965 at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem, and held him in her arms as he lay dying.
[Here is the Trailer for "Freedom Fighters," about her (and many others') struggle for civil & human rights in the U.S.]
For a great look into her brilliant mind, check out her “Democracy Now Interview ,” with Amy Goodman. It’s good, man.
If you are a person of color, a woman, an activist, or someone who is into truth, love, honor, resilience and other “gay-shit” like I am, pick up her book “Heartbeat of Struggle.” It goes, like Baron to the rim in the 4th quarter.
Food for thought. Gochiso-Sama-Deshita.
Masashi
I had a long discussion with one of my broskis the other day and about the fact that while the “Hyphy Movement,” brought notariety to the Bay Area in regards to being recognized nationally, the 80’s-Baby Yay Rap felt much stronger to us.
Check these vids out, smile if u remember them & take note if u aint heard. Ya heard?
4-Tay – I’ll Be Around (possibly the most positive Bay Area Hip-Hop song ever.)
E-40 feat Suga T – Sprinkle Me (before he had dreads)
Mac Mall – Get Right (One of my personal favs)
3XKrazy – Keep it on the Real (Keak Da Sneak, pre-raspy voice)
Too Short (from his “last album”) – Gettin’ It
Celly Cel - It’s Goin’ Down (stand up Valley-Jo!)
& the Luniz feat (well, everyone) – I Got 5 On It (remix)
HAD to do this post… The other day one of my 10-year-old kids asked me, “Mr E, have you ever heard of E-4o?” and I was like, “little bro…have YOU ever heard of E-40?!?!?!”
Do ya Homework. Nuff said.
Senbei
2 of my favorite Rappers (Jay-Z & Ghostface Killa) have come together like group sex (pause. play. no homo…phobia) to bring us the wu/roc collabmashup, “American Ironman.” The new mixtape from DJ Chong Wizard presents Ghostface as his alter-ego, Ironman aka Tony Starks and Jay-Z as Captain America(?). I’m a big fan of this mixtape and encourage you all to downlaod it for free by clicking this link: American Ironman.
I also, just saw the trailer for the Movie adaptation of Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. (where they been at?), Gwenyth Paltrow and Terence Howard, and it looks 18-maynee (“crazy,” for non-yay-areans).
Marvel/Stan Lee is taking over Hollywood by the second.
C
Martin Luther King Jr. would have been 79 years old today. I try so hard to feel happy on this day every year, but my cynicism usually leaves me feeling a lot of despair in regards to the amount of progress the United States has made since Dr. King’s death. What makes me feel happy is the fact that someone like this can exist. To understand that someone can lead by example in such a powerful way leaves me taken aback. Like all of us, he wasn’t perfect (it was widely rumored that he committed adultry during his marriage to Coretta Scott King), but his good deeds greatly outweigh any negatives committed in his lifetime (and that’s all we as human beings can hope for in this life).
I am often terrified (in a good way) by his bravery. I am a very sensitive person underneath my male/eastbay/working-class/person-of-color persona, and often WASTE valuable time trying to figure out why some people don’t like or have ill feelings toward me. When I DO remember my own heroes I feel deep shame in my own shortcomings, but attempt to use these feelings as a catalyst in working to better myself and my impact on this country/world. To think that someone could have so much love for everyone (including their own opressor) and see that they were destroyed for it, puts both fear and courage in my heart.
The craziest thing to me about both Martin and Malcolm X is that they began as polar opposites, King (a Christian) calling for inclusion and integration and X (a Muslim) calling for segregation and Black Amerika’s secession from the U.S. In the end, through their personal spiritual journeys both King and X came closer and closer to eachother in understanding that they were working for the same goals and began to unite with poor people in the U.S. (and around the world) regardless of their racial background. THIS IS WHEN BOTH KING & X WERE MURDERED.
While I love the idea of King’s “I Have Dream Speech,” I am also fully aware that there are a plethora of levels at which we as a country have not come close to this dream being realized. For this reason, I have decided to end this post with his “Letter From a Birmingham Jail.” It his call to those of Christian faith (the majority of Amerika) to look inside themselves and realize the blatant hypocrisy of Amerika’s systematic racism in a Nation that is supposedly based on “Christian” morals/values. “Who Would Jesus Bomb” Mr. President?
(This is LONG, but worth the read.)
This speech was so prophetic because he was assassinated the very next day. The heart gently weeps.
Song of the Day: “The King of Love is Dead” By Nina Simone
Happy Birthday Dr. King,
Colin Masashi Ehara
I’ll never be forgiven for this, but this is just too crazy not to post. Eric Cartman is bananas.
I heart Southpark because it literally makes fun of everyone and everything. It is also incredibly symbolic in that the four lil’ buddies represent White Amerika.
-Stan Marsh is your average middle-class White Anglo-Saxon Protestant kid, with “liberal,” Christian morals and ethics. He always learns a lesson from what’s taken place in the current episode and explains what he’s learned in the end.
-Kyle Broflawski represents your average Jewish kid, rife with internalized self-hatred, a pushover father, overbearing mother and red, curly Jew-fro. After watching “The Passion of the Christ,” he goes to his Synagogue and asks his congregation to apologize to the world for killing Jesus.
-Kenny represents poor/working-class “White trash.” He dies in literally every episode and nobody cares. His voice is muffled and he is rarely heard or understood. His father is an alcoholic and almost every episode, his mother becomes pregnant again. Tragic(ally true).
-Cartman (oh, Cartman…) represents “conservative,” gluttonous/obese, entitled, racist/sexist/classist/homophobic/anti-semetic, White Amerika (and he does it so well!). He finds joy in other’s suffering and lacks the ability to feel anything for anyone that is the least bit different from him. He believes the world revolves around him and this isn’t helped by the fact that his mother gives him anything he wants, anytime he wants. (And people wonder how economically privileged White males grow up to feel entitled…)
Southpark is amazing and whether you hate it or love it, you can’t help but feel hurt/entertained by how wrong/right it is.
Token & Butters like yee,
C
Sherman Alexie has been one of my favorite authors for some time now and his latest work, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” is poetry in motion. Alexie was born in Spokane, Washington and is of Spokane and Coeur d’Alene heritage. He grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington, about 50 miles northwest of the city of Spokane. This novel is loosely based on his childhood and tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist who leaves his school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white high school.
Junior is one of, if not THE first to leave the rez and faces extremely harsh treatment from both the White students at his new school, as well as his own Spokane people who despise him for “turning his back on them.” The book is both hysterically funny and heartbreakingly painful. It runs the gamut between examining the internalized oppression that has plagued & destroyed Indigenous communities in the United States, to the incredible love and strength that Alexie’s people still maintain and possess because of their familial love and connectedness.
(Here is Alexie speaking about his novel…)
Rife with hilarious & poignant cartoons about family life, basketball, friendship, young love, racism & childhood, this book deeply affected me. “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” has caused me to look deeper into my assimilationist behaviors as someone who is of Native heritage (Mohawk/Iriquois) but does not “appear” so. Because of my ethnic background and ethnically ambiguous appearance, I have spent much of my life working to prove my “Asianness” to those who would question it, at times forgetting that my identity and ancestry is much more complicated and important than what appears on my surface. I am also fully aware that the mission of White Capitalist Genocide against indigenous people is to “breed-out,” Native folks and decimate their livliehood, culture, traditions and beliefs. To deny my own blood (whatever “percentage” that may be) is to allow another indigenous person to be destroyed and disappear forever.
While I was not raised “Indian,” and maintain certain privileges because of my “mixed,” status, fair skin and ethnic ambiguity, I refuse to simply deny a fundamental part of my being because people tell me I don’t “look Native.” I have been told before “Colin, you’re not a real Asian.” “You’re not White, Chink.” “You know you’re not Black right?” “Oh, you’re not Mexican?” (Note: The people who say these things to me are generally White.) I have been told what I am and am not my entire life, and this book (among many others) has reminded me that nobody knows who you are better than yourself. With no road map to guide us, ethnically ambiguous people (regardless of their racial makeup) and people who refuse to stay in the confines of their “category” may feel lost at times, but if Alexie and others like him continue their revolutionary works, maybe someday we’ll have a mahf*ckin GPS system. Holla if ya hear me.
Trying to go the RIGHT direction,
C
“It is through this mysterious power that we too have our being, and we therefore yield to our neighbors, even to our animal neighbors, the same right as ourselves to inhabit this vast land.”
-Sitting Bull
