From blaming Video Games for gun violence to blaming rappers for rape, it never ceases to amaze me how the fad of generalizing becomes so popular when it never fixes the problem at hand. Do you know what I find funny about the current assault on Hip Hop with labels such as “rape culture” (since Misogyny is no longer the popular word of the day)? I find it funny that while the implications are serious, the people making the most noise do not buy, have never bought, and will never buy the albums of the rappers that they are going in on. Look at it this way, it comes off as if they are skipping over everything else wrong with radio hip hop in order to find the few instances of alleged rape. Bear with me here rape is a brutally terrible crime but what about the other crimes people brag about on the radio?… [Read more]

Hot women, sepia toned cinematography, plastic, and alpha males acting like alpha males… what’s not to love? Check out this awesome video and song Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke and 2 of our 10 best dressed men in hip hop (Pharrell and T.I.). It’s the kind of video that reaches back to a time when boys could be boys, hell even the lyrics would make a feminist cringe but for this guy, it made me smile. Oh and if you’re not at the job and want to see the real version of this video where the birds are fully naked… search for it. Funny how nudity comes off as less offensive when it’s done in an artistic way eh?

The name Jamiroquai is synonymous with that of fast cars and funky disco grooves but they are a band that has created a sound unlike any heard out in the music industry today. With confusion to those unfamiliar with their music, people often assume that the band’s front man Jason “Jay” Kay IS Jamiroquai. Perhaps they’ve seen a few of their videos and one can easily make that assumption but the fact of the matter is that they are such an influential band musically and artistically. Jamiroquai is a derivative of the word “Jam” and the Native American Tribe “Iroquois” mixed together as one word but there is a much deeper meaning to the band’s name as they commemorate the tribe in a few of the songs from their first couple of albums. The centralized Native American theme is a representation on the subjugation of the Iroquois Native American Tribe as a “people” as well… [Read more]

Recently I ran into world class photographer and artist extraordinaire Bayete Ross Smith and we began to talk about Hip Hop, the culture, the music, and whether or not the movement was dead. My argument was that the Hip Hop we cherished since childhood was on it’s deathbed and that we need tor accept that as fact. Bayete disagreed on the death sentence of Hip Hop, reminding me that it was so much more than popular music and personal preferences. He explained it so eloquently I had to share it: If Hip Hop is something you are, you’ll find it thriving. You just can’t expect to get it through mainstream media outlets very much. Connect with the M.C.s, DJs, Graffiti writers/visual artists, B-Boys/physical performers and other creative innovators locally. I find Hip Hop wherever I go. But you have to seek it out. Counter Culture is not always easily accessible. Also in terms of good… [Read more]

On a Hip Hop landscape rife with garbage, poppy songs, unoriginal sounds and bad radio—unavoidable even on Sirius XM—the last place one would expect to see a beacon of light would be the West. People thought hope would come from Atlanta, which has brought us legends like Outkast, T.I., and arguably Jeezy, but the last act to hail from the A was 2 Chainz…  Outside of certain Wu-Tang members, even New York could not win back ears beyond the older gods who hailed from there (Jay Z, Nas, etc.), Chicago could have done it but they gave us a disappointing hellion in Chief Keef. Introducing Kendrick Lamar One day between switching the station from one of the sing-songy Rick Ross anthems about food and women, I heard something amazing. It was a song called The Recipe by the legendary Dr. Dre and a man named Kendrick Lamar… I couldn’t stop listening to it. Replay, after replay, after replay, I played out… [Read more]

New Hip Hop sensation 2 Chainz said the very line I used as the title in his song “Crack” to echo the sentiment used by many supposed ex-drug dealers turned rappers concerning money; if the rap money runs out then the crack money will always be there. It is an interesting admission being that it gives transparency to a world that runs off of drug money, gangsters, and reformed thugs. This isn’t a diss as much as it is truth. One of the original groups to have exposed the money behind the music was N.W.A. who used the drug money from hustler turned band leader Eric “Easy-E” Wright to pay for the studio time and venues needed to get themselves noticed. NWA was not the only group to start out thisway and as their businesses grew it allowed for them to become more and more legitimate. Started in the trap now I rap! People always… [Read more]

Do you know who controls whether or not a man and a woman has an affair? Easy answer – both parties do, at least when the situation doesn’t involve slavery or sexual abuse. So it confuses me to no end when I hear women blame Wyclef Jean for the disaster in life that is Lauryn Hill. This pattern of finger pointing is something that people have been doing for quite some time now and it is not only unfair to the person blamed but shows a dangerous bit of tribalism displayed by the accuser. The pattern I outlined in the intro is part of the reasoning for the Wyclef blame and we can mix in Twilight’s Kristen Stewart because she now suffers from the same public scrutiny that Wyclef has for all these years since the Fugees as a group had split. People pick the unpopular person in the extra-marital pairing and they stone them… [Read more]

“I’m trying to wife you up so I can love you down, I come across town to hear that Ooh Ahh sound…” This short film by Turquoise Jeep is a love story that can touch both men and women not only with the hilarious cast of characters but the real situation of true love and a man going for his. It’s a well done video but what else do you expect from The Jeep? The film features Flint Flossy, Watchyamacallit, Tummy Scratch, Young Humma, Pretty Raheem, Slick Mahoney and a new hottie member Moonrock. It has 2 music videos within it and is specifically about Flint Flossy losing his beautiful Bengladesh girlfriend and becoming depressed about it. If you’ve listened to any of Turquoise Jeep’s videos in the past there is no doubt that you’re a fan – but no worries every character in the Turquoise Jeep family is in this video somewhere even the… [Read more]