Remember When Malcolm X was an Emcee? We Pay Tribute to Our Black Shining Prince

Remember the days when Malcolm X ( El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz) was an emcee on everyone’s Hip Hop records? Folks back in the days would always sample him and have his words of wisdom be apart of the soundtrack..I recall the early days of Hip Hop when deejays like Afrika Bambaataa would rock Malcolm speeches over break beats. Not only did it sound funky but it helped raise our consciousness..

During the so-called Golden era You had everyone from Poor Righteous Teachers to Paris to 3x Dope to Gang Starr to Public Enemy all rocking Malcolm samples..I recall when KRS One mimicked the infamous Malcolm X pose where he was holding a gun looking out the window, ready to protect himself after his home had been firebombed. Many say KRS kicked things off when he featured Malcolm X in his My Philosophy video … I miss those days..

Remember when Malcolm was sampled so much that he wound up being on the cover of the Source Magazine? Say what you will, the powers that be worked overtime to remove Malcolm from our collective consciousness..It’ll be interesting to note how many newscast make mention of his birthday today… or how many urban radio stations that’ll quickly disperse info on Kanye and Kim dating but will be silent and omit Malcolm’s birthday or any activities related to it, in their daily banter..

I say on this birthday lets do more than give a shout out.. Let’s return Malcolm back the forefront of Hip Hop consciousness…

If you happen to be in Oakland today.. head on over to San Antonio Park for the annual Malcolm X Festival

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7o3zVD7rx0&sns=tw

Many have got it twisted in thinking Malcom X somehow softened or lightened up in his final days.. This speech given in 1965 one month before he was killed is anything but soft.. He stays sharply focused and unwavering in his fight for freedom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac3WliIKNPI

Here’s a couple of Malcolm Music mixes you might enjoy

J-Dilla Meets Malcolm X (Davey D remix)

North Carolina rapper K-Hill

Drummer Keith LeBlanc‘s classic and one of the earliest records paying tribute to Malcolm X

Malcolm X Meets Gang Starr -(Ballot or the Bullet)

Malcolm X Meets Public Enemy (the Govt Has Failed Us)

Intv w/ Immortal Technique during Malcolm X

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Malcolm X: His Life and Legacy (Documentary)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD4Kex-uHWM&feature=related

• Malcolm X: Make It Plain PBS Documentary
• Malcolm X 1992 Full Uncut Movie
• Malcolm X; Secret recording w/ the FBI
• Killer Mike w/ ice Cube.. The Pressure
• KRS-One My Philosophy

Rapper Being Held on $1 Million Bail for Making a ‘Terrorist’ Themed Song

Cameron D’Ambrosio aka Cammy Dee

Just reading this story about a teenager being held in prison for 1 million dollars bail for posting up rap lyrics deemed offensive on Facebook.. Here’s whats in the NY Daily News..

A Massachusetts high schooler is facing federal terror charges for posting to Facebook rap lyrics mentioning the Boston Marathon bombing and the White House.

Cameron D’Ambrosio, 18, of Methune, was picked up by feds at around 1:40 p.m. Tuesday after a friend saw the lyrics and called the principal of Methuen High School, who called police, the Valley Patriot newspaper reported.

“Ya’ll want me to…kill somebody?” the lyrics said, according to the Boston Globe.

“A Boston bombing wait till you see the [expletive] I do. I’m a be famous rapping, and beat every murder charge that comes across me!” the message said….

The teen, who appeared in a handful of self-made YouTube clips rapping under the handle “CammyDee,” was charged with communication of terrorist threats and being held on $1 million bail.

According to posts on YouTube and Facebook, D’Ambrosio lived in “da hood” of Methuen and appeared to have a strong interest in “gangs, violence and a criminal lifestyle,” the Valley Patriot said.

His Facebook page contained satanic images and a picture of his face on a “Wanted Dead or Alive” poster.

Read the rest of the story HERE or you can check out another story HERE

Now there’s a lot to unpack here..Over the past few years we’ve had militias and armed Tea Party folks show up to the White House lawn with guns talking reckless about President Obama and nothing happened except maybe the IRS looked at taxes and you see where that’s gotten us/

No matter what this kid has said we’ve heard and seen images that are far more ‘politically charged’. For example shortly after 9-11, with the Patriot Act on the books and the term enemy combatant defined, we had artist like Paris do an entire album called ‘Sonic Jihad’ smashing on President George Bush and his Post-9-11 policies.. Who could forget this infamous album cover of a plane flying into the white house..That’s just for starters.. Since Paris there’s been a slew of songs that have referenced the World Trade being blown up. Some have made the case that George Bush ‘knocked down the towers’… We seen an explosion in ‘terrorism’ shows ranging from 24 to The Cell to the recent movie ‘Olympus Has Fallen‘, where the white house is attacked and destroyed by terrorists.. If someone saw the scripts to those movies or caught wind of the dialogue, would they be carted off to jail and held with 1 million dollar bond?

During the Democratic Convention some guy showed up and drove around Charlotte with a effigy of Obama being hung.. There was no arrests or anyone sent to jail, even though it was disturbing and highly offensive.If this is happening now, whats gonna be the rules everyone has to follow to avoid jail time? Don’t reference a recent bombing? Don’t talk greasy about the President unless you’re a deranged Senator or Congressman or Tea Party member? Will the net of jailable offenses be expanded to include forbidding one to talk about the military or police?? Will we start have folks define ‘terrorist threat’ any expression of anger toward authority figures and lawmakers?Meanwhile if you’re a rapper like Chief Keef sporting a 2 million dollar bill, you can talk about stabbing a woman for not given you head or be a rapper who’s actually shot and been accused of killing someone like Snoop Dogg and Gucci Mane and be not only handsomely rewarded but celebrated. Seems like with each passing day the Obama administration are pushing the envelope to see what liberties they can snatch away with.. This is especially scary when you consider that we’ve killed 4 Americans with drones without any sort of due process..To me that’s an act of terror, but thus far no one has been punished for that..Lets keep our eyes on this story..

After I posted this article some folks sent me a video of the cops in Salem harassing folks who went to the court to find out whats happening in this case.. This is the police being over the top..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5gpIWRMo3s&feature=youtu.be

A Rare Speech from Lauryn Hill.. She’s Dropping Lots of Jewels

This speech from Lauryn Hill given back in 2000 is nice, timeless and very refreshing..She seems to be light years ahead of her peers at such a young age.. as she talks about her spiritual growth, the music industry, being independent, being in service to your community, love and conquering the enemy within..

What stood out for me is her speaking about the importance of being righteous vs being right and how we can expect resistance whenever we root ourself in truth.

I imagine she still has a lot more to say..Its a shame the judge decided to make an example of her and remove her from her kids and make her endure the trauma of jail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1cq0bhSrq4

 

Our Thoughts on Michele Obama & Fantasizing about Ballers and Rappers

Michelle Obama gave a speech over the weekend at Bowie State saying that too many Black kids fantasize about being ‘ballers and rappers’..Her exact quotes were as follows…

Today, more than 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, more than 50 years after the end of ‘separate but equal,’ when it comes to getting an education, too many of our young people just can’t be bothered,”

“Today, instead of walking miles every day to school, they’re sitting on couches for hours, playing video games, watching TV. Instead of dreaming of being a teacher or a lawyer or a business leader, they’re fantasizing about being a baller or a rapper,”

She concluded that many Black kids think getting an education is acting white… Her quote was “reject the slander that a black child with a book is trying to act white.”

Damn Michelle who the hell wrote your speech??

A few things to think about.. First lets just go on record and note, those ballers and rappers that many fantasize about, played a key role in getting Michelle and her husband into the White House, not once but twice..From Lebron James to Jay-Z to Will I am to Common to Beyonce who the First Lady famously asserted was role model for her daughters, were all up in the mix during their campaigns and subsequent inaugurations..These rappers and ballers went out and engaged their fans, by doing songs, concerts and special appearances  to go to the polls and vote in what we are now seeing to be record numbers..

If we really wanna keep it 100.. I saw Diddy and Jigga hanging out at the inaugurations in 08 and not prominent scholars like a Cornel West who actually went and campaigned in 60 + cities for the president. We’ve seen countless pictures of rappers all up in the white house..Why wouldn’t a kid fantasize about being a rapper or baller when its them hob nobbing with the Obamas not his teacher or preacher?

Second point.. For the love of God, lets dispel with this 25-year-old cliché first uttered by Spike Lee back in the late 80s at the height of the crack epidemic about Black kids not wanting to read because it would make them appear white.. People who are trying to do the tough love thing have been running with that quote for far too long and it has no bearing in reality.

In the age of Youtube, the Internet and other forms of technology we have all sorts of cross pollination taking place. You have some kids in the hood rocking skinny jeans and skateboard gear made popular by white kids and in the burbs you will see white kids rocking a hat to the side and sagging pants made popular by their Black counterparts. Slang and patterns of speech are damn near universal at this point in time. In short if we’re going by style of dress and surface mannerisms one can question about what does it mean to be Black or white?

If we wanna talk about Black kids reading books and stereotypical perceptions behind that, we have to couch that in the context of disparities in education and how that plays out on the ground.

President Obama and Common

The fact is many of the ballers and rappers who kids MAY fantasize about are actually moguls in their own right with lots of money and perceived power which many have come to understand is the result of them having hustle, a willingness to grind and intelligence to navigate the systems before them.. Whether its Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Common, Rick Ross, Kobe  or Beyonce, you name it all have made it abundantly clear their success was the result of them grinding ..

Its been made clear their mogulness has been the result of them soaking up game and learning the business aspect of the worlds they enter. As Jay-Z once famously rapped..I’m a businessman, I’m a Business, Man If that hasn’t been made clear, its up to people like Michelle Obama to highlight that aspect vs deriding one’s ‘fantasy’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyvMMBNuXMY