Indo and Oregano

I can’t think of another rapper that I don’t like that I talk about more than Lil’ Wayne. I guess in some bizarre way that means I actually do like him. And I suppose I do. If for nothing else I like him for the discussions that his mere presence sparks. And this weekend was another instance where the dreaded rapper with the lean cup and more tats than even I can take got my blood pressure up. It lead me to this revelation.

I understand his appeal completely; similar to how I now understand the appeal of MIA. My problem is that their appeal has little to do with their fundamental abilities. By fundamental abilities I mean lyrics, creativity, and that amorphous ‘niceness.’ The qualities I was taught to respect as a youth in The Bronx. Qualities exhibited by Rakim, KRS, Kool G Rap, Ice Cube, Big Daddy Kane, Common, Chuck D and the usual cast of lauded characters. However, the game is different today. Now these basic skills are simply not as important. What one needs to succeed is the ‘package.’ The total package in a Lex Luger sort of way. And it makes sense. Hip-Hop as a business has grown exponentially since the late 80’s to now. The simple days where a genre breaking lyricist like Rakim could thrive despite his lack of media savvy is over. Now you need swagger. A story. It is more about packaging your comprehensive human brand. And that is why this is the time of Lil Wayne, Jay, 50, and MIA.

Arguments made by purists like myself fall on deaf ears:

Arguments like compare these lyrics,

Okay start straight shots and then pop bottles
Pour it on the models, shut up bitch swallow
If you cant swallow, shut up bitch gargle
Straight up out the water wit my Mark Jacob's goggles
I’m fresher than a muf**ka, yup I’m a muf**ka
No I wouldn't take ya girl but I sure'd take her tongue from her
Could you tell I love woman, like no other woman
Oh I’m sorry sweetheart, I thought you were my other woman
Lil Wayne‘Pop Bottles’

With these

I done burned some of the most fattest MC's like chromium percolinate
It's not even tangible for them to understand or hold the weight
It takes soul to make a crowd animated
Prince stated, ‘can’t wait 'til we get off that label’
Man I waited twelve months for the perfect opportunity
To thump (thump) bump (bump) something love for my community
I'm moving on all you punk Bambino bastards
Your style's depleted like muscles without amino acids
I blast kids with mass times matter
Forever clinging to endeavors defined, clever words
thus waiting never, frustrating verbs to rip
My rap ratings eradicate
For me to take rhythms and mate 'em with rhymes in mating season
Creating shit never before made it
I'm making hybrids
Pharoahe Monch, ‘Questions’ from The Equinox

This my friends, is as KRS says, ‘The difference between Indo and Oregano.’ Not only a great lyric from the greatest of all time but a truly appropriate metaphor or analogy. Both Monche and Wayne could be mistaken for one another by an uneducated consumer. (Not physically of course but in so much as they are both MC’s.) Similar to Indo and Oregano. Each serves a very distinct purpose. Depending on your needs picking the wrong one will ruin your experience. (Although I have never sprinkled weed on my pizza.). Replacing oregano for Indo is the same as replacing Wayne for Monch. The former is easier to produce, harvest, and distribute. You can move the former in significantly larger quantities to the public than the latter.

No matter what witty comparisons one comes up with the truth remains. The two products should not be confused. They each have value whether your needs are clandestine or wholesome. But comparing the two on virtually any level will lead to an intellectual dead end.

My personal recommendation is when you want to get high I suggest you roll up an ‘L’ of that Monch. That oregano will make you sick.

So to all of you who believe Lil Wayne is the greatest of all time and grow weary of this old fart’s stories about the glory days, I understand. I won’t stop, but I understand. But let’s make a deal. Let’s stop comparing Indo to oregano.

Toni Morrison endorses Barack. Just as the Kennedy's did today

Toni Morrison's Endorsement Letter of Senator Barack Obama-

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/01/28/614795.aspx

Here's her full endorsement letter:

Dear Senator Obama,

This letter represents a first for me--a public endorsement of a Presidential candidate. I feel driven to let you know why I am writing it. One reason is it may help gather other supporters; another is that this is one of those singular moments that nations ignore at their peril. I will not rehearse the multiple crises facing us, but of one thing I am certain: this opportunity for a national evolution (even revolution) will not come again soon, and I am convinced you are the person to capture it.

May I describe to you my thoughts?

I have admired Senator Clinton for years. Her knowledge always seemed to me exhaustive; her negotiation of politics expert. However I am more compelled by the quality of mind (as far as I can measure it) of a candidate. I cared little for her gender as a source of my admiration, and the little I did care was based on the fact that no liberal woman has ever ruled in America. Only conservative or "new-centrist" ones are allowed into that realm. Nor do I care very much for your race[s]. I would not support you if that was all you had to offer or because it might make me "proud."

In thinking carefully about the strengths of the candidates, I stunned myself when I came to the following conclusion: that in addition to keen intelligence, integrity and a rare authenticity, you exhibit something that has nothing to do with age, experience, race or gender and something I don't see in other candidates. That something is a creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom. It is too bad if we associate it only with gray hair and old age. Or if we call searing vision naivete. Or if we believe cunning is insight. Or if we settle for finessing cures tailored for each ravaged tree in the forest while ignoring the poisonous landscape that feeds and surrounds it. Wisdom is a gift; you can't train for it, inherit it, learn it in a class, or earn it in the workplace--that access can foster the acquisition of knowledge, but not wisdom.

When, I wondered, was the last time this country was guided by such a leader? Someone whose moral center was un-embargoed? Someone with courage instead of mere ambition? Someone who truly thinks of his country's citizens as "we," not "they"? Someone who understands what it will take to help America realize the virtues it fancies about itself, what it desperately needs to become in the world?

Our future is ripe, outrageously rich in its possibilities. Yet unleashing the glory of that future will require a difficult labor, and some may be so frightened of its birth they will refuse to abandon their nostalgia for the womb.

There have been a few prescient leaders in our past, but you are the man for this time.

Good luck to you and to us.

Toni Morrison

Oganized Konfusion - Somehow Someway

from one of the best albums of the 90's

Friday Randomness

sometimes you just need a little Doug E Fresh in your life

•I am down for this Economic stimulus package. Because I am a small business owner I like the Republican pro-business agenda. The rest of it (the agenda) can take a flying leap. Except for parts of the foreign policy. I am not a hawk but doves like Kucinich make little practical sense
•How great would it be if Tom Brady came out on bad leg like Phillip Rivers
•I Hate the Pats
•Tiki, how you feeling now huh, huh, huh?
•The Clintons can officially get the Bozak
•Didn’t it look like Barak wanted to step to Hilary during that CNN debate?
•Edwards won but is still a loser. Go home to your wife pretty boy
•Let’s be real it is this Clinton that people think they are voting for
•For all my Wired fans with HBO Demand (the rest skip this) what Marlo did to Prop Joe just ain’t right. Marlo is moving from outlaw hero to straight bully. I don’t like it
•Who won the Roy Jones fight?
•Three great words – Doug E. Fresh

Ghostface Killah speaks to his MySpace fans

um, I would like to get 'goosed' out but those days are over Tone my man. Plastic is out. Gotta adapt god.

Chubb Rock - Treat'em Right

Chubb Rock is our featured artist this week even though he is a no good con man who has hustled more than one person you know including your boy Swifty

Chubb Rock - Ya bad Chubbs

Chubb Rock - Just the Two of Us

this looks like Prosepct Park
Big up to Que Psi Phi
Chubbs, you stil owe me $750 you f***** crook
good song though

The Disco Market Correction

The current malaise facing the music business is nothing more than what Wall Street would call a market correction. “A market correction is sometimes defined as a drop of 10% to 20% over a short period of time (wikipedia).” Over the past three years this is what we have seen in terms of CD sales. A 15-20% drop in sales in consecutive years after over a decade of steady increases. Fear note for, “True fortunes are made during times of economic distress or financial corrections (about.com).”

This is not the time for proclamations that the sky is falling. This is the time to be shrewd and use the current lull to make wise investments and get ahead of innovation. To do that we must understand the cause for the years of profit and the last few years of doom and gloom.

A wily old vet once explained to me the true dilemma that we are facing. Briefly this was my lesson. During the days of disco labels and artists were generating an unprecedented amount of money. Not solely album sales but by astronomical single sales which was a new phenomenon. Seemingly one day in the early 80’s the party was over and disco records were being bulldozed in baseball stadiums (Disco Demolition Delight). Record labels sounded the same alarm we hear today. They were massive layoffs and panic. Then one day at MIDEM Phillips debuted the compact disc . Immediately the answer to the disco demise was staring them in the face.

Fast forward a few years and the compact disc age is born. And with it a way to replace all those lost dollars. Simple business really. Increase margins by raising prices and decreasing costs. CD’s were cheaper to manufacture but because of the novelty of the technology they were able to charge 50-60% more for a CD than for an LP. Better still there was a marketing campaign launched that convinced LP owners that they needed to replace their analog records with a more durable CD. So for the first time you had people re-purchasing content at higher price points.

The next twenty years saw the spectacular success of this new technology. The margins also lulled record labels into changing their business models to focus on this piece of plastic as its primary revenue stream. This also created a new generation of millionaire artists whose wealth was similarly based on the plastic disc. The hole in the plan was that the digital nature of the CD made it ripe for piracy in ways that were logistically impossible for vinyl or cassettes. Pirated copies made for pennies on the dollar that displayed no degradation in sound quality. Then came the MP3 and more comprehensive broadband access.

This unfettered access led the consumer to ask why am I paying $18 for a product that is so easily reproduced. The shroud of the dark side fell and consumers realized the hustle that the business had been running and all hell broke loose. So the twenty years of fairy tale profits for so many has begun to unravel. The music business like the universe itself is attempting to correct itself and achieve a balance. The pendulum now swings in the direction of the consumer. Gleefully pushed along by visionaries such as Steve Jobs, Google, Kazzaa and Napster.

The next compact disc, the next disco wave is brewing. Some may say it is already here with iTunes but the truth is that in order to make money with iTunes margin you need to be…iTunes. They are other opportunities and investments out there. The question is who is going down with the Titanic and who is going to find the 2008 Phillips.

No respect for Black people

who's willie lynch?

In this country we are taught to have little or no respect for Black people.
Big statement. Let me get specific.

Last week there was big hub bub in the golf world because a reporter said something to the effect that the only way to stop Tiger Woods was, well here is the quote:

Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman during coverage of Hawaii's Mercedes-Benz championship on January 4. She and host Nick Faldo were bantering about how young golfers might challenge the ever-dominant Woods.
Faldo said, "To take Tiger on, well, yeah, they should just gang up for a while until ..."
"Lynch him in a back alley," Tilghman interrupted with a chuckle.

As if that is not stupid in and of itself. Golfweek Magazine covered the story and put a noose on its cover. This decision by Golfweek was all the rage on PTI and Around The Horn yesterday. Incidentally the editor got canned for it today.

What I found even more infuriating was Tony Kornheiser’s comments during yesterday’s PTI. Now let me say I love PTI and Tony so I am not attacking him but the sad state of sensitivity in this country. Tony’s position was that the image was meant to be provocative and thought provoking, so in essence as a journalist he was cool with it. Michael Wilbon, Tony’s black co-host, and one of the best Black journalists on TV took the intelligent and enlightened position that there is simply no place for that image given its history and even more recent events all around the country stemming from the Jena 6.

I am not sure if Tony is Jewish or if Kornheiser is a Jewish name but I wondered if they were talking about a Jewish golfer and Nick Faldo had said. ‘In order to stop him they should round him up and throw him in an oven,’ would there would be the same level of journalistic tolerance from respected journalists like Tony. And then to follow up there was a picture of a man’s wrist with numbers tattooed into the wrist, or a railroad car packed with emaciated men, women, and children on the cover of Golfweek Magazine. That image would have never made it out of the art department.

But an image of a f&&&ing noose goes to print! Then a day after the coverage the editor gets canned. Insulting.
But it gets worse. In PTI’s analysis Tony referenced the Jena 6 and asked Wilbon for clarification on the pronunciation of ‘Jena.’ Back to my analogy, everyone knows how to pronounce Auschwitz, right? Of course you do. Because the Jewish holocaust is a real tragedy. A crime against humanity. Perhaps the worst.

The Trans Atlantic Slave trade? The African Holocaust? Jim Crow inspired terror and lynching? Something we should all just ‘get over.’ An embarrassing moment in US History. No need to rub our nose in it. That is how it is spun. Spun so well that an intelligent man like Kornheiser can’t see it.

It comes down to the essential problem. There is far too little value placed on Black life. Especially as compared to other ethnic groups whose back was broken to build this company. Jena 6 is just some news item that gets a cursory glance. A noose is a provocative image. Many (including Wilbon) were even saying the commentator didn’t deserve to be suspended. And I am sure there was much hand wringing about the decision to fire the editor today.

Shame on you if you are not outraged by the comment and subsequent publication.
Shame on you if you attempted to defend their position.
You know what that noose means? It means men being hunted like animals. Hung. Burned alive. Castrated. Paraded through the streets. There is no place in a civilized society for a casual reference to that period.

Period

NaS - Unauthorized Biography Of Rakim [Unreleased Video]

peeped this on nahright.com

Revelations and Randomness

1. That Lupe record is not bad at its core. There are some top notch rhymes on there. The songwriting is inaccessible so it's hard to even get to it. And all the dumb sh+t he says just makes it difficult to find the energy to dig for those gems.

2. Fabolous is the best lyricist for a 'commerial' rapper (whatever that means).

3. Obama should be just as popular in the immigrant community as he is some Black communites. He is essentially a first generation immigrant. Pay attention my Korean, Senegalese, West Indian, Russian, Chinese, Mexican and Canadian brothers.

4. Kanye only beat 50 by 200-300k, right? Hmmmmmm

5. I would not want to be at a major right now. EMI layoffs. I heard Warner is on the road to Chapter 11. Although being at a small operation like ours still ain't no picnic.

6. Why is OJ still front page news?

7. The Wire is better than advertised. Go to HBO On Demand and be a week ahead.

8. I still ride for the Knicks. Yeah Jamal!

T.O. spoof

whatever T.O.

Tips for new parents

I have two little duns and no one (that means you Rob) gave me any advice. They just sent me into the fire. I understand but damn you could have helped a brother out.
The truth is there is no way to really prepare you for the arrival of the rug rats but I will give you a few tips.

I encourage all my fellow parents (Steph) to add on.

1. Get a DVR. and digital cable. On Demand and DVR will save your sanity. These kids have no idea what it is like to wake up at 7am on Saturday to catch the Superfriends. This is an On Demand generation.

2. You won't sleep for 2-3 months. no getting around it. deal with it

3. Eat right. No sleep will make you vulnerable to sickness

4. they are way tougher than you think. Miles must have busted his ass a dozen times a day until he was two. Never seriously hurt. Even the girls. Savannah takes her lumps too.

5. They are never as cold as you think. No need for 3 blankets and the "Bundle Me."

6. These names are your friends: Backyardigans, Dora, Diego, Jakers, Boots, Baby Jaguar, Snook, Word World

7. Sesame Street is as good as it was when we were little

8. Just have to shout Backyardigans again. Eb and I love it as much as Miles. Alvin Ailey dancers do the choreography!

9. A little crying is ok. They'll live

10. The jungle gym is not as dangerous as you think. This from a dude who lost his two front teeth in a monkey bar incident in the 70's

11. There is a ton of things to do in the city. Don't believe the hype

12. These places are your friends: YMCA (cheap classes, free pool and gym), Music Together (Rene is the man), Brooklyn Botanic Garden (perfect for the warm weather), Children's Museum (can be a little ghetto but don't worry), Prospect Park (great playgrounds and if you go into the center plenty of space for them to run around, duck pond, waterfall), Starbucks (perfect place to chill and send emails when they fall asleep in the stroller), the park on Washington and Lafayette and the park on Washington and Greene.

13. Don't be like me and get neurotic about activities. Playing with race cars and tickle fights are as good an activity as there is. Eb taught me that.

14. Just sit and look at them for a few minutes a day. All the headaches will wash away. Guaranteed.

15. Get as much sleep as you can. Don't stay up all night playing PS2 or watching Netflix. Be in bed by midnight if you can. But get your PS2 on. Read a book. do something or it will feel like Groundhog Day.

16. Books: Sci fi is good. Gets your mind off things. Romance works for the Mrs.

17. Date night. don't forget about that fine thing that carried your babies.

18. Become a foodie Learn to cook. It will save you a ton of cash.

19. Take help when it is offered.

20. Give Thanks

Jeru Da Damaja - Ya Playing Yourself

Jeru The Damaja - Come Clean

Vote for Obama because he's Black...it's OK

Write this down and remember who said it first. This election will play out like a more civilized OJ Trial saga. Barack will be OJ, and the Republican brand will be Furman. My analogy is flawed but my point is this election will be the same thinly veiled referendum on US race relations that the OJ trial was.

Closeted racists will use this as a way to come out.
Black Nationals will wear their defense of Obama on their sleeve.
Progressive non Blacks will use his bumper sticker to declare their enlightenment.
Bourgie Blacks still looking for acceptance will criticize Obama to prove their commitment

I started this post last week and since then some of the sickness I saw coming has arrived. Charles Rangel and Bob Johnson have recently come out against Obama and the MLK comments.

Charlie Rangel has been mortgaged, bought and sold so many times over the years I take what he says with a big grain of salt. His issue is about power. Obama is on a stage that Rangel, Al, Jesse, Dinkins, and Young always dreamed of. And Obama has his own machine and his own cronies. He will not kiss the ring. To put it simply – ‘haters in the house.’

Hilary on the other hand realized long ago that buying the Rangel machine would make the Clinton name an urban myth in the Black community. Thing is, that works for my pop's generation, not for mine. That old guard are revered but have produced little tangible results. Except for Jesse and Al. They put in work.

I support Obama. He represents me. I like his commitment to health care. I like his dove-ish but realistic stance on Iraq. After the damage George Bush did to the American brand I think Obama is what we need. Is he perfect? No.

Hilary is not terrible. I just don't trust her. She is too embedded in the system.

I also support Obama because he is Black. Yeah I said it. And there is nothing wrong with that. The idea of a Black man being president would do so much for the psyche of our young boys and girls that yes, it is a major factor. Just as Huckabee would mean a lot to Evangelicals or Hilary to women or Giuliani to Italians. It is a part of the discussion no matter how you cut it. Sometimes you have to stand up for a cause, for a moment in time.

If a woman used this argument in support of Hillary I would not argue. In fact, I think Hilary’s best strategy is to make all women ask this question.

This is how the game works, so let’s stop dancing around it. It is all about carving your niche and hoping it’s big enough.

Scared of more crazy Muslims smashing into buildings vote for the bigot – Giuliani. He shares your distaste for people of color.

Traditional conservative – Romney

Maverick do-gooder – McCain

The ones who lose are the ones with no identity. Edwards’ rhetoric about being the champion of the little guy falls on deaf ears

Richardson is in my opinion the most qualified but he has failed at distinguishing himself from the white noise.

The dude from Law & Order, Thompson, is just that – the dude from Law & Order.

Ron Paul, Kucinich and the like just can’t catch a buzz.

The bottom line Obama is the first viable Black candidate in our history. He represents a post Civil Rights America where a bi-racial kid who went to Harvard is no big deal. We are far removed from the fire hoses and the segregated water fountains. That fact is tremendous. It goes a long way in healing this country’s violent history. And I am with that. And there is no problem if you are with that too.

O for where art thou (Tony) Romeo?

I'm out sick today so to keep my mind off the fact that I can't go 5 steps w/o losing my breath I will blog.

After all 5 bozos on Fox NFL Sunday picked the Cowboys the G-Men and Eli did the damn thing. Great game.
Here a few random thoughts

- Rom(e)o chose to go to Mexico with Nick Lachey's sloppy seconds like a man. So take the criticism like a man. Whether that had much to do with his loss is questionable. Those 1st two dri ves proved their #1 seed.

-I ask you this, do you think Tom Brady went to Mexico on his week off? That is the difference. Period. Brady was probably watching film and running drills with Wes Welker.

-T.O. please. Kill the waterworks. You are the most arrogant dude in the league. Don't try to get Ralph Tresvant on us now.

-Brandon Jacobs is a monster

-but not as scary as Marion Barber. All respect due

- I love Favre but it's time for the fairy tale to end

- I hate the Pats but godamn. They are so focused. I just don't see them slipping. Brady looks posessed in those interviews. It is actually scary.

- and a final shout to Eli for winning one for the little brothers.

The NY Times misses the point on the Radiohead physical sales figures

Radiohead came out and did 300,000 this week. The Times misrepresents this as a sign that plastic is not dead. I don't agree.

As popular as digital sales are and are becoming let's not get ahead of oursleves. Plastics' market share is so huge it will take a few years for us to see some parity.

The way the article reads it may give a ray of hope to the dinosaurs of our industry.

Do not be fooled Doug Morris et al. Radiohead, Jay, Alicia, Mary, they will still sell cd's. That is not where the battle lies. The issue is that mid level groups (100-300k in sales) will become even bigger drains on the ledger. And developing acts will soon bypass your entire model. They will opt for a digital label with better margins and less equity. Hobbyists and micro-stars will focus on social networks and build a live touring base tht will trump your model with even more zeal.

Radiohead is special. And that uniqueness cuts both ways. Not everyone can put an album for free. Most people wouldn't care. And even less people can do 300 in their 1st week. They are models best used for inspiration not duplication.

HEAVY VEE - I DON'T NEED A HOOK - OFFICIAL VERSION

It's all about Heavy Vee
Go 'head big girl

New line of ROger Clemens T-shirts - 'Stop Snitching and Go To Jail'

damn my ass hurts from that b-12 shot

Anyone care enough to listen to that phone convo with The Rocket and his snitch. If you tried to watch PTI on ESPN News last night you had no choice.

What a bum Clemens is. The way he tried to set his boy up was so cowardly. Taping phone convos like Linda Tripp. And for all you legal analysts who can't tell. Homeboy was telling Roger he will do what Barry Bonds pushaman did for Double B. Go to jail for his boy. While Barry's dude did it for contempt Clemens' guy will do it for perjury. In both cases the low guy on the totem is down to fall on his sword. And it both cases I think you guys were juicing, but can still go to the Hall.

I am just waiting for Marc Ecko to weigh in. It's just not baseball news until we hear from 'he of the 8xl T-Shirt.'

and in other sports news the BCS proves itself worthless. Clearly OSU was not the team that should have been there. They would not have made it through a playoff. USC, Georgia, Hawaii should have been the last seed. Kansas. Wake up college football your brand can't take this type of beating forever. Playoffs mean more $ for everyone. Look at the pros, March Madness and the Bowl Subdivision...idiots.

And oh yeah 'Fired Up, Ready To Go' President Obama. Let's put this race to bed today.

Lupe endorses Clinton

Barack: and then he said he felt it was a bigger statement for a woman to win
Luda: what an idiot. you think this T-shirt is too big?

Never before have I encountered an artist who appears to be doing everything he can to make me despise him.

Okay so he disses Tribe, forgets lyrics, then tries some weird 8Ball and MJG defense. I was told to let that go. Okay

Comes to my event and pisses of my people with diva like behaviour. Hey, he is an artist right? I was told to get over it and I did.

But now he disses my man Barack. He has all the right in the world but I have the right to say that it is a wack move. And while you (Jimmy Blags) rightfully defend his right to be a dick. He doesn't even have his facts right.

From SOHH Read below:

"I'm not voting for anybody," Lupe told SOHH. "I don't believe in voting on that level. But I want Hillary [Clinton] to win," he says. Surprisingly, the Chicago emcee does not support the junior United States Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama.

"Obama doesn't really impress me like that," Lupe told SOHH. "It's not a shot at him but some of his agendas, the bombing of Iran and all that stuff.* He ain't gonna do nothing but perpetuate the nonsense that all the Presidents before have done, and what Bush is doing now. It's to the point now where the world is so twisted and so messed up that we need somebody to come in."

"I think Hillary will set an example for women all around the world and hopefully effect some change, as opposed to another man pushing for agendas and pushing policies," Lupe said. "I think even if she don't do anything, just the statement that it makes--that the United States is run by a women--would be so phenomenal for the world."

[*Editors note: While all the major Democratic candidates--including Clinton, Obama and Edwards--say they would not remove military option off the table, when it comes to Iran, none have said they support the bombing of Iran.]

Does he simply not see what it would mean for a Black man becoming president?

At some point we are going to have call him a dick and move on.

And I tried three times to listen to 'The Cool.' 3 tracks are decent. tops
I agree with the Village Voice review

The Fugees - Nappy Heads

in a Fugee mood today.
Enjoy and remember

ready or not

ohh la la la

Back at it again

Happy New Year to all!

While I prepare a real post check this out from the Times and this from Wired

Peace