You are currently browsing the monthly archive for July 2008.
[FAUX NEWS vs GOD'S SON]
[Esco being interviewed on The Colbert Report & performing "Sly Fox"]
[Nas addresses a crowd in NYC in regards to FOX NEWS' racism]
[Nasir calling Jesse Jackson "the biggest playa-hater..."]
James Rucker of ColoOfChange.org had this to say:
On Wednesday, Fox got a taste of what can happen when folks who care about racial justice come together and push back. Here’s how it unfolded on Wednesday:
1:00 p.m. Your signature was printed off at a New York City Kinko’s along with 620,126 others–filling 19 big boxes.
2:00 p.m. The signatures were piled in front of Fox’s national headquarters at 6th Avenue and 48th Street.
3:15 p.m. Hip hop star Nas (whose new album had just risen to #1 on the Billboard charts hours earlier) joined over 100 ColorOfChange.org members and delivered the petitions to Fox on behalf of ColorOfChange, MoveOn, and Brave New Films.
3:30 p.m. Fox refused to accept the petitions. (Sometimes, the truth hurts.)
4:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. News of Fox’s racism and the star-studded petition delivery made its way around the world–with stories in Vibe, Rolling Stone, Billboard, USA Today, Associated Press, Reuters, Bossip, Huffington Post, MTV, OpenLeft, and over 200 other places.
11:30 p.m. Stephen Colbert welcomed Nas as his guest on the Colbert Report and dedicated over half of his show to Fox’s racism. The boxes containing our signatures were stacked prominently on Colbert’s set in place of his normal interview table and chairs–and he conducted the entire interview surrounded by petitions! Then, Nas performed his new song “Sly Fox,” which is all about Fox’s racism.
Watch what you’re watching
Fox keeps feeding us toxins
Stop sleeping
Start thinking outside of the box
And unplug from the Matrix doctrine
But watch what you say
Big Brother is watching…
-Nas
99 days left(!) until Bush is gone.
C+
[Broken Halos & Slavename gettin' stuey in the FriscoCity '08]
So Jeimil and I are (slowly but surely) recording a new untitled, Broken Halos record produced by my lil bro Akiyoshi of Dynamic Souls. We recently finished a song featuring our family members Greg “Slavename” Mitchell & Chris “C.W.” Wilson of the furiously talented group/team, OPTIC. The name of the song is “Moral of the Story,” and can be listened to for FREE.99 at our MySpace Page. The song is basically about what life has taught us thus far. We’ve all had some SIMILAR, as well as very DIFFERENT/UNIQUE experiences in our individual lives, and took the time to describe (in one verse each…Me and CDub had to add another 8 bars =P) what our frames of reference look like at this present time. Hope you like. I hate to toot my own horn but, well…*TOOT* (call me Wynton Marsalis), I f*cking love this sh*t. Akiyoshi Ehara is a musical monstrosity of genius gone mad, and that guitar and insane bassline sounds like a soundtrack to the end of Reaganomics (like YEE).
[C.W. & Slavename (of O.P.T.I.C.) are some beasts on the M-I-C.]
Yes… I realize I am slightly (or moreso) retarded. =) With that said, here she GOES…
C.W. (Verse One)
Life lessons, and what it really mean to you / who gon’ tell your story when you pass? Who gon’ keep it true? / Well I’m alright ’cause it wasn’t sh*t else to do, I was jus’ chillin’ with G, ni**a, sippin’ brews / we was talking, but outsiders couldn’t see us through / we was on some “fam I wanna thizzle cuz, what it do?” / “Yadadaimean,” the scene is so obscene, “long legged-beezy, I want the rippa on the team,” / “And-1,” “Slam-Dunk” / Four 15’s in the trunk / Slap now, not later / “burnt,” “ripped” – “Darth Vader” / “Bing-Bing,” “Guap,” “Cheese,” that “X”: GIVE ME / pop 1, pop 3…Rich-City say: “Yeeeeeeeee!” / “What did those guys mean?” “What did they say?” “That’s some wild word play!” / I’ll respond so quick: “Yes maam, I’m from the BAY.” / And to be with the sh*t, you gotta know what to say / Where and when, don’t know who listenin’… / Not a FED or a friend, a lotta ni**as do pretend / if there’s one thing I learned: “Ni**as switch like the wind.” / “Stay ahead of the curve,” “Never go ‘all in’” / Daddy barely taught me sh*t, but a ni**a said this: “Fast money, fast life, fast ho’s: You licked.” / Sh*t…Life has taught me many things: Love, lies & lust bruh, ya under-dig???JEIMIL (verse 2)
I heard gravity callin’ ever since I was crawling / often found myself lost in this space where I was coughing / salt in my lungs, my chest stung, from the heartache my Dad brung to my Mother / I’m her son and I got a ton, maybe two on my backside / Young – had to learn to act right / Me? Naive. / Really thought that might make everything better / make it shine bright like a mag-light… “Yeah, right.” / What happened in my past life? My wheels turned. / Accepted all the negative, like it was earned / Never knew of a better way to live / NOT concerned / Who would do that to a kid who only turned 10 years of age, tears turned to rage, put the pen to the page – figured out a way to pick the lock on this cage / Man, I did it for the CHANGE / Not for the nickels and dimes – the kind that’ll put a ripple in time…SLAVENAME (Verse 3)
Life is just a masquerade, so…Dress up in your mask and play / with a rush of adrenaline, the pump was sprayed / another mother says “Goodbye,” to the child she raised / Life taught me that it’s easy to be taken away / by a friend, up to the Governor of the State / but my Mama always said: “Gregory, stay patient,” and I’ve seen in my life how the world keeps changing / How decisions in the past, play roles in the present day / How us “would-be revolutionaries,” now hesistate / ‘Cause we’ve seen how assassinations make martyrs, / How continued inequalities incarcerate Fathers / and now Mama really aint too far behind him, when she aint got sh*t but the drugs to confide in / I’ve seen many lives get taken by mistake: One irrational decision could be sealing your fate…Huh.SENBEI (Verse 4)
I learned it from my Bachan, homie: “Life aint fair.” / And that’s burned into my doctrine, only lights aint there. / It’s the darkness from the evil that man do / The heartlessness when people turn to wevils / Cant stand you / Damn you / Leeching off this hard work, speaking ’cause my heart hurts, treasonous guitars work to season this bizarre search… / Highest definition brother: “See our movie!” / Livest on a record, cousin: T-R-U-E. / That pop-locking “shock doctrine” / Just listen, he’s spitting a vision of: “‘Pac-talking-while-the-cops-watch-him” / He’s lost in zany thoughts – a seesaw friend / Brain is lost / a train of thought like Shin Kan Sen / And that’s the Bullet-Train in Tokyo, NOT “bullets-maiming-broken-noses, closing-eyelids-of-the-children, killing-closing-choking-throats.” / And the moral of the story is that glory comes with a cost / Oral testimony kicks them (Robert) Horry-esue shots… / At the buzzer – Nothing but net… / Raps are undisputed / Muted? Nothing gets said. Bet. / Wise words: my nerdiness GOES (goes) / Sighs hurt… Lie in dirt until your dirtiness shows / NEVER LOOK AWAY – always stare straight into the horror / Friends get took away and Senbei’s fears are made to order / BUT, another world is on her way / and when the days are quiet – I hear her breathing, deep and FREE, she sighs inside the silence like…*SIGH*
And we don’t need no hook for this shieeeeeeeet…
What’s the moral of YOUR story?
With dummy love and respect (Akiyoshi/Jeimil/OPTIC’s #1 FAN),
Senbeezy.
p.s.
[Come party with us @ La Pena Cultural Center in Berzerkley, CA on Wednesday, August 6!]
COME ONE, COME ALL (IF YOU ARE IN THE AREA)!!!
“Just another Halos song, to ease the hurt at work. The day goes on…long.”
Peace + Balance,
Senbei
["Be a N***er Too" (unreleased)]
[Poster from NYC screening of original video]
I caught the new (now untitled) Nas album when it leaked (thanks Boogz!), but just bought two copies. It seems that although Nasir changed his album title from “N***er,” to Untitled, that the album’s conceptuality has not changed. I realize most of my closest homies know I am huge Esco fan, but I need to say that this album is f*cking incredible to me. I will admit wholeheartedly when I am not feeling his music. There was in fact, a period of time when I stopped listening because he lost me. When I listened to the first track from “Stillmatic,” I knew the Nasty-Man I grew up knockin’ in my Coby headphones had returned. Hip-Hop is NOT Dead. “Nasty Nas is a rebel to Amerika, lyrical professor…keep ya under pressure.”
People afraid of criticism
But I always put myself in a sacrificial position
They been know I ain’t just rappin for fame
I got my old homie half-sister father asking for change
Yep, I get it cash up, this paper don’t matter
They see me from skinny to fatter, when I rap about war
They got a tendency to scatter, they ain’t my backup no more
So now my enemies are at my front door
Cause anytime we mention our condition, our history or existence
They callin it reverse racism
Still to this day the streets torn – my brother Jung’
I’ll always have a seat for him – not behind me, beside me
You’ll always know where to find me
They say the close ones will hurt you
So let’s keep a small circle
On the road to riches and diamond rings
In the land of the blind, the man with one eye is the king
From addressing misinformation being perpetuated on Faux (FOX) News with “Sly Fox,” to likening Soul Food to a Jezzebel-Seductress who will bring his end on the Busta Rhymes guested “Fried Chicken,” Nasir displays righteously how his self-educated/lyrical/5%er/gullygrimystreet poetry (sadly) goes above and beyond the heads of your average Amerikan, regardless of ethnic, race, gender, and/or class identity.
I believe this album to be one of, if not his best. Lyrically he is almost always light-years above the competition, but it is the sonic, melodic, driving force of this album that hooked me in. Nasir has at (many) times, rapped over beats that I may not have picked myself, had I been given access to a pool of producers only someone with the stature of “Illmatic” could access. However, Nas not caring what people think about him has always been one of the biggest reasons I respect his music and his gangster. However (again), this album has some of the freshest syncopated jewels I have heard in a cool minute. Press PLAY below and see for ya’self. Polow Da Don goes hard in the key.
["HERO" feat Keri Hilson (is hot!)]
FAV. SONGS ON “NAS”:
- Queens Get The Money
- You Can’t Stop Us
- HERO
- Sly Fox
- Testify
- N.I.G.G.E.R. (The Slave & the Master)
- Black President
If you are truly a fan of Hip-Hop/Rap lyricism, I can safely say that this album can played the whole way through (excluding the Chris Brown joint – my opinion) without losing you for a second. People don’t have to love, but they can’t hate. Nasir Jones seems to have come to a place in his life, where addressing the implicit and explicit targeting for destruction of his people is at the forefront of his mind. I can’t blame him and hope he continues down this path, ’cause that’d truly make him a “hero.”
Still in musical prison, in jail for the flow / Try telling Bob Dylan, Bruce, or Billy Joel / They can’t sing what’s in their soul / So “untitled” it is / I never change nothin’ / But people remember this / If Nas can’t say it, think about these talented kids / With new ideas being told what they can and can’t spit / I can’t sit and watch it /So sh*t, I’ma drop it / Like it or not / You ain’t gotta cop it / I’m a hustler in the studio / Cups of Don Julio / No matter what the CD called / I’m unbeatable, y’all…
-Nas
[Original Album Artwork]
[New Album Artwork]
Although it seems heaven sent, are we ready to have a Black president? I sure as hell f*cking hope so. Hip-Hop LIVES.
Peace + Balance,
Senbei
["THE WACKNESS" In theaters Now]
Its the summer of 1994, and the streets of New York are pulsing with hip hop and wafting with the sweet aroma of marijuana. The newly-inaugurated mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, is only beginning to implement his anti-fun initiatives against crimes like noisy portable radio, graffiti and public drunkenness.
The Wackness centers upon a troubled high school student named Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck)a teenage pot dealer who forms a friendship with Dr. Jeffrey Squires (Ben Kingsley), a psychiatrist and kindred lost soul. When the doctor proposes Luke trade him weed for therapy sessions, the two begin to explore both New York City and their own depression.
Propelled by an exuberant hip hop score, The Wackness captures the spell of 1994–a time of pagers, not cell phones; a time when Tupac and Biggie were alive but Kurt Cobain had just died. Funny and moving, The Wackness is an offbeat tale of two lost souls stumbling towards maturity.
“The Wackness” was recently released in theaters and Wu-Tang emcee/legend Method Man plays a supporting role as a Jamaican drug dealer. Before you go and call it typecasting, watch the movie and listen to this brilliant interview with Meth in regards to Hip-Hop, Gas Prices, Thuggin’, his apathy to the Presidential race and Military recruiting.
[BlackTreeMedia with Johnny Blaze aka Iron Lung aka the Tical'ian Stallion]
I aint seen it yet, but I’m on my way.
I heart 1994,
Senbei
YEEEEEE!!! IM GOING TO SEE STEVIE (F*CKING) WONDER TONIGHT!!!
["Superstition," Live on Sesame Street]
I jus blogged to say I love you (no homo…phobia),
C+
This last week has been MORE than life-changing. I just finished my 3rd (and final) year coordinating an After-School Academic Intervention Program at a K8 School in the Bay Area. I just returned from Las Vegas (for the first time) from my (stuey) bachelor party. My Bachan (grandmother) just had a heart attack and is in the hospital, but is looking a lot better now and may be able to come home soon (thank God). And lastly, Baron “SaveUs” Davis just signed with the LA Clippers.
BACHAN (Grandma):
The Good – She is doing better each day I visit her. She went from immobile on morphine, while barely able to open her eyes with an oxygen mask on, to sitting in a chair, eating mashed potatoes and watching Wheel of Fortune. She is one of, if not THE toughest women people I have ever known. YEE.
The Bad & The Ugly – She had a f*cking heart attack and I have to come to the REAL realization that she won’t be around forever. She is 80 years old, a diabetic and has smoked Benson&Hedges Menthol cigarettes since she was 15(!). The heart gently weeps at what she might look like today without racism, classism and sexism having had a hand in her life.
LAS (DIRTY) VEGAS:
The Good
-I got to kick it with 15 of my closest homeboys for 4 straight days, some of whom I hadn’t seen in hella milleniums.
-Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao is a f*cking BOSS. I was in the building when he captured his 4th(!) World Title with a 9th Round knockout of David Diaz. He has truly lifted his Pilipino countrymen (and Asian folks in general) on his shoulders with pride and determination. That “Let’s get ready to rumble,” dude gave me muhf*ckin goosebumps.
-It was my first time in Vegas (seriously) and it lived up to all the hype, and more. “Flashing…Lights, lights, lights…”
[The definition of a BEAST.]
The Bad
In a single day, I consumed Beer (2 kinds), Sake, Wine, Whiskey (3 kinds), Vodka (2 kinds), Gin, Rum and lost $50 on the slot machines.
The Ugly
What goes down, must come up. Ughhh…The opposite of awesome. My soul is shivering. =(
BARON DAVIS (leaving to the Clips)
[Got-dam, I'ma miss you. Why does L.A. ALWAYS get the upper hand? Fack.]
The Good
Thank you so much for making us (Oakland Warriors) matter again. You made it cool to be a Dubs fan. When else was Jessica Alba, Snoop Dogg and Owen Wilson coming to Oracle to f*ck with us? Never. Your dunk on Kirilenko in the 2nd Round of the Playoffs will live in Bay Area Sports memory for-e-ver. You are the best Warrior ever and possibly the best Bay Area Athlete of my generation. There, I said it.
The Bad
BoomDizzle opted out HELLA late but at the same time, the Dubs didn’t respond with any kind of reasonable offer to the man who turned their entire franchise around. Mullin, if you don’t go out and do something huge (ala Gilby “Agent Zer0″) Ima buy a #5 Clippers jersey. There, I said it.
The Ugly
Without B-Diddy, Stephen Jackson may take it upon himself to launch 30 3’s a game. Monta may not get the ball, and we may regress to the days of Clifford Rozier. We have been in a “rebuilding year,” since I was 12 damnit. There, I said it.
___
This week was one I’ll never forget (no matter how hard I try). Life is never one-sided and throws beauty, ugliness, order and chaos at you all at the same time. While I DO believe suffering is a fundamental part of life and that you must find meaning in it, that sh*t f*cking sucks son. However, without the sh*tty things in life you generally don’t fully appreciate what you DO have. Come what may, I will try to always remember that “you don’t know what you got ’til its’ gone (Baron),” that Vegas will make or muhf*ckin break you (ask 2pac!), and that I will cherish with all my heart, every waking second that I have my sweet, beast of a Bachan (grandma) on this earth with me.
This one’s for you pretty lady.
All my LOVE,
Colin Masashi Ehara
