Aren't You Glad The Lakers Didn't Listen To Kobe Bryant?

The Lakers Celebrating in Game 4 as they swept the Denver Nuggets

Last year Kobe requested very vocally that he wanted the Lakers to go after Trading for Jason Kidd, but the Lakers would not pull the trigger on the deal because the Nets wanted Andrew Bynum....shortly after a controversial video surfaced where Kobe was quoted as saying "Bynum, ship his ass out" when asked about the Jason Kidd trade.


Fast forward to This Year. Bynum has a break-out year! And the Mavs trade the house for Jason Kidd and just minutes ago the Mavs were eliminated in the 1st round 3 games to 1 by the Hornets, who havent won a playoff series since 1998.

Todays Lesson?? Shut Up and Play Basketball Kobe!

Kobe Bryant great player
Awful evaluator of talent

But don't trip Kobe because Michael Jordan is just as awful at evaulating talent.....

He drafted Salami, I mean KWAME BROWN with the Number 1 overall pick in the 1999 NBA Draft! And we all know how well that worked out!

Kudos!! Barak the New Ghandi?

This is a comment left my always eloquent friend that goes by the blogger name "Blacknintendo". It is a reply to my last post "Presidential Race Update". It was so Right On that I had to repost it. Good looking my nigg, keep em comin!!!

In a country where racism is firmly lodged into the body politic, a black man running for president scares those whose daily lives depend on such iniquity. When these people make decisions from this standpoint, they wouldn't want to turn the mirror on themselves publicly or people would see their greatest insecurities on display. I have been researching secret societies, and global agendas for some time now, and the overall myth of supremacy of melanin deficient peoples (King Arthur, propagandized images of Socrates and Plato, Issac Newton, George Washington, the Pope, Rupert Murdoch, Bill Gates, etc.) is as tightly controlled as the circumstances of the Cold War, the Kennedy assassination(s), and this whole al-Qaida puppet show. Barack Obama is the new Ghandi, in that he can affect change by doing absolutely nothing dubious or otherwise objectionable, and turning the mirror on those who claim moral superiority based on this myth of white supremacy. Once they can see that the myth doesn't hold up to the truth, they (like anyone who has been lied to about who they are) will resort to drastic measures as a result of their foundations being shaken. With all of that being said, this is only the beginning.

Well said my friend. Well said.

Presidential "Race" Update: The Mud Slinging Continues...

If you haven't been living under a rock or without a TV, Newspaper or a freind that talks about politics then you are probably aware that distinguished Sen. Obama is winning the Democratic Primaries. Obama's campaigns has with standed all of the Clinton campaigns mud slingin, from them playing the race card (which hasn't worked), insulting his character, and trying to paint a picture that he is an elitist who doesn't sympathize with the poor and working class. And Sen. Hillary Clinton does sympthize with poor and working class?? C'mon now, that right there lets you know her campaign is desperate and will use any tactic no matter how irrational. Well as the "race" for the Democratic nomination in the Primary Election comes to a close Clinton is doing her due diligence executing her final act of mud slinging before all the votes are in and the candidate is selected. And rather than chime in on her latest exhibition into dirty politics Im going to let Michael Moore do it for me. These are few exerpts from a letter Michael Moore posted on his personal website today on why he is voting for Sen. Barak Obama...an interesting read from one of America's most interesting film makers.

My Vote's for Obama (if I could vote)
by Michael Moore

Friends,
If you live in Pennsylvania, can you do me a favor? Will you please cast my vote -- and yours -- on Tuesday for Senator Barack Obama?

I haven't spoken publicly 'til now as to who I would vote for, primarily for two reasons: 1) Who cares?; and 2) I (and most people I know) don't give a rat's ass whose name is on the ballot in November, as long as there's a picture of JFK and FDR riding a donkey at the top of the ballot, and the word "Democratic" next to the candidate's name.

Well, that sounded good last year, but over the past two months, the actions and words of Hillary Clinton have gone from being merely disappointing to downright disgusting. I guess the debate last week was the final straw. I've watched Senator Clinton and her husband play this game of appealing to the worst side of white people, but last Wednesday, when she hurled the name "Farrakhan" out of nowhere, well that's when the silly season came to an early end for me. She said the "F" word to scare white people, pure and simple. Of course, Obama has no connection to Farrakhan. But, according to Senator Clinton, Obama's pastor does -- AND the "church bulletin" once included a Los Angeles Times op-ed from some guy with Hamas! No, not the church bulletin!

This sleazy attempt to smear Obama was brilliantly explained the following night by Stephen Colbert. He pointed out that if Obama is supported by Ted Kennedy, who is Catholic, and the Catholic Church is led by a Pope who was in the Hitler Youth, that can mean only one thing: OBAMA LOVES HITLER!

Yes, Senator Clinton, that's how you sounded. Like you were nuts. Like you were a bigot stoking the fires of stupidity. How sad that I would ever have to write those words about you. You have devoted your life to good causes and good deeds. And now to throw it all away for an office you can't win unless you smear the black man so much that the superdelegates cry "Uncle (Tom)" and give it all to you.

How sad for a country that wanted to see the first woman elected to the White House. That day will come -- but it won't be you. We'll have to wait for the current Democratic governor of Kansas to run in 2016 (you read it here first!).

There are those who say Obama isn't ready, or he's voted wrong on this or that. But that's looking at the trees and not the forest. What we are witnessing is not just a candidate but a profound, massive public movement for change. My endorsement is more for Obama The Movement than it is for Obama the candidate.

That is not to take anything away from this exceptional man. But what's going on is bigger than him at this point, and that's a good thing for the country. Because, when he wins in November, that Obama Movement is going to have to stay alert and active. Corporate America is not going to give up their hold on our government just because we say so. President Obama is going to need a nation of millions to stand behind him.

Finally, I want to say a word about the basic decency I have seen in Mr. Obama. Mrs. Clinton continues to throw the Rev. Wright up in his face as part of her mission to keep stoking the fears of White America. Every time she does this I shout at the TV, "Say it, Obama! Say that when she and her husband were having marital difficulties regarding Monica Lewinsky, who did she and Bill bring to the White House for 'spiritual counseling?' THE REVEREND JEREMIAH WRIGHT!"

But no, Obama won't throw that at her. It wouldn't be right. It wouldn't be decent. She's been through enough hurt. And so he remains silent and takes the mud she throws in his face.
That's why the crowds who come to see him are so large. That's why he'll take us down a more decent path. But the question I keep hearing is... 'can he win? Can he win in November?' We know it's possible to hear the words "President McCain" on January 20th. We know there are still many Americans who will never vote for a black man. Hillary knows it, too. She's counting on it.

Pennsylvania, the state that gave birth to this great country, has a chance to set things right. It has not had a moment to shine like this since 1787 when our Constitution was written there. In that Constitution, they wrote that a black man or woman was only "three fifths" human. On Tuesday, the good people of Pennsylvania have a chance for redemption.
Yours,Michael Moore.

Read The Full Letter At : http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=225

Lost One

This song just came up randomly as I was listening to my I-Pod on Shuffle. This is without a doubt one of my favorite Weezy songs as of late. It holds a special place close to my heart because I been in that place where Wayne is talking about when he wrote this song. And everytime I hear it, it just hits me in the soul and takes me back to that place.

Quotes:
"Sorry for the trouble that I put you and your heart through
God knows that I'd do anything for a part two, or to
be prayin' for the day you come back to me, sayin' that you forgive me
Give me another chance, I'm needin' it like a kidney
I don't wanna advance, give me back her hands
Give me back her touch, I don't ask for much
but I fucked up, I know I fucked up, I admit I fucked up
but everybody fuck up, now this other nigga lucked up"

"and your boyfriend is not like me
Ma you even went and got a teardrop like me
I remember we would sit at home all day
You called me "Butta", I called you "Babe"
My momma asked about you, my partners did too
I know your daughter will be so amazin' like you
and I know you probably wish you never met me, and I just wish you never forget me
and let me say, please don't worry 'bout the women I have been with
No engagement can amount to your friendship
and I hope that nigga know he got a queen, and all I can do is dream .. DAMN!"

Hasn't Lost A Step

CHECK OUT THE REMIX WITH BUSTA RIGHT BELOW!



This song goes hard!!!! And its on some real shit. Mary J encourage these young sisters, pushing them in the right direction. I just went to the Mary J Blige & Jay-Z Concert (which was amazing) on Wednesday and I have to say she hasn't lost a step....She still going strong, the Queen of Hip Hop Soul is "Just Fine" after all these years! Much respect.

Viva Las Vegas!

So Im sitting at work on Friday and I get a call from my boy King Sol and he's like "We going to vegas in an hour". I was like "What, I thought you said we wasnt going?" Which he did say on Tuesday. And he said "I changed my mind, Vince is going to get the rent-a-car right and I'll be at your house in an hour". So I left work, hit the house, packed my bag and showered and set off for my last minute Vegas adventure with a couple dollars in my pocket and big dreams!

Imagine my surprise when these niggas pulled up in the Kia Rondo. What fuck is a Kia Rondo??
I never even heard of a Kia Rondo, thats how thirsty we were, we rolled up to vegas in a fuckin' Kia Rondo. Only thing we could say to defend the Rondo was $30/day was a price you just can't beat.

A little something to hold me over for the 4 1/2 hour car ride. Needless to say I was laughing the whole way there, easily the funniest car ride to vegas ever.

We just got to vegas at like 4am on saturday morning and look at Vince in the back with the energy drink, goin hard! That boy aint playin' he's focused man.

After that long bumpy ass ride in the Kia Rondo (that damn Rondo had the tightest damn seat belts ever, them shit was strangling us all) we had finally arrived @ our destination hotel Monte Carlo, now its time to hit the slots!!

Us finishing our first 18 oz. Yard Margarita's @ 1:28pm

We finished 9 more margarita's between the 3 of us @ 2:38pm, then we hit the mall.

After a breif trip to the mall it was back to the Slots, but this time would be different. The slot maching got hot! And we aint talking about Lark Voorhies on Saved By The Bell hot, we talking about Jessica Alba , Stacey Dash hot, Smoking hot!!!! First Vince started winning then I started winning, then Vince then Me, We took this machine for all we could.

This maching right here paid for our entire Vegas Trip and sent us home with some nice parting gifts as well. This had to be the hottest slot machine in Vegas that weekend. We literally pulled G-G-G-G'z out that machine. Though we blew alot of the money by not stopping while we were ahead we still made a killing.

After we won all that money we was like now its time to hit the club so we went to Triste which is located in The Wynn. When we got to Triste is was super crackin, line around the corner, I mean crackin! We finally made our way to the front but they said they were only letting ladies in or dudes that came with ladies, no groups of dudes. And they wasn't playing we saw a group of 11 girls and 11 guys walk up and when the girls asked if the guys could get in with them the security guard laughed in their face and walked away. So obviously we were a tad bit discourage but we were thirsty so we staying in line for almost 2 hours. Then the girl in the picture above showed up with a group of her friends and told my boy Solomon that he looked like Q from Making The Band and then she said she was on the list and we could get in with her.

Then we hit the bartender!!! Patron shots, Long Inslands, Hennessey and Cokes, Myties, Adios's...Goin' hard round after round. Here's a few random picks above.

Vote Obama!!!!....Me @ about 5 am still drunk in the club, little did I know that in just a few hours that I was going to be tortured by a vicious Hang-Over that would have me feeling like shit until about 7pm Sunday Night!!!

Partied Hard on a last minute Vegas trip, got blunted, got waisted, came up on the slots, drove home Hung-Over in the Kia Rondo with notes in our pockets.....SUCCESS! Can't wait to go back in June (Maybe before Wink* Wink*)

Hip Hop 1: The State of Rap Music Today: Awful & Disheartening!

As anyone who has been reading this blog or even remotely knows me, I am a connoisseur of music in general and especially first and foremost in my heart a hip-hopatarian. One of those hardcore die-hard hip-hop fans that was born into the hip hop era, and through out my upbringing hip hop has been one of many things that contributed to shaping the very fabric of my being. So consequently I have a lot feelings about hip hop from past to present, feelings about where it is today as an art form and what looms for hip hops future. I thought I would be able to write one great blog that would sum it all up but I as I set out to write this blog I realized that to truly write on the complex multi-dimensional medium that is hip hop it would take a series of blogs to truly get everything out that I had to say. And so we begin...

Rap music is sad at this point I must say! Nas may have proclaimed emphatically that “Hip Hop is Dead” most recently in 2006 but Common was already mourning Hip Hop's demise in 1994 with "I USED TO LOVE H.E.R"

“But once the man got you well he altered the native
Told her if she got an energetic gimmick
That she could make money, and she did it like a dummy
Now I see her in commercials, shes universal
She used to only swing it with the inner-city circle
Now she be in the burbs lickin rock and dressin hip
And on some dumb shit, when she comes to the city”

“Stressin how hardcore and real she is
She was really the realest, before she got into showbiz
I did her, not just to say that I did it
But Im committed, but so many niggaz hit it
That shes just not the same, lettin all these groupies do her”

From “selling out” to the “oversaturation of the industry” where everyone who can rhyme a few words feels like they're qualified to become a rapper. All of these things have contributed to propelling hip hop to where it is today, a sad shell of its former self. Oh how the rap game has fallen far from grace....

Jay also had something to say about the state of hip-hop as he explained perfectly in 2003’s Miss You(Remix)

"Big we missing you, Pac we missing you
We feel your presence just not in the physical
All across the world, blocks is miserable
Y'all left a void it's a lot of little you’s
But they not original and they not identical
They just studied your flows and they watched your interviews
That's when hip hop if it's not ten of you
Then it gotta be more, y'all left your paws
Footprints on the game, hood ain't been the same
Feeling ain't been in music, hooks ain't been the same
Pac they use your name in vein
But I guess that's the issue
And it proves how much, niggas really miss you"

I am beginning to wonder, if there some correlation between the demise of hip hop and sudden rise in the amount of black people wearing skinny jeans and dressing like Emo’s. Is yesterday’s throwback jersey wearing, fake chain sporting hip hop fan tomorrow’s skinny jean wearing, tight shirt sporting Emo????

I can say that I started to see this trend emerge about a year or so ago. I go to Up Against The Wall a hip hop clothing store out in Los Angeles pretty frequently and I started to notice that the clothing selection started to look more and more like something you would see in Hot Topic or like something from the wardrobe selections of a member of Fall Out Boy or My Chemical Romance.

But Hey, It could just be a coincidence that we got black people dressing like Emo’s and white kids in Milwaukee on myspace wearing dew rags and staking caps referring to themselves as “gansta ass niggas”…

But I have to say that the demise of rap is unquestionably in the hands of the artists themselves, rap music is so sad at this point that there is only a few rappers that are even kinda sorta making rap still remotely interesting…..






50 cent’s last album was exactly what he said it was on Hot 97 Radio earlier this week “A Dud” and with him busy counting his Vitamin Water money, I suspect that the “Get Rich Or Die Trying” 50 Cent is long gone.













Ludacris hasn’t been out in over a year and his last album which dropped in 2006, didn’t really make the usual Luda impact. It was nice but not the usual spectacular effort we’d come to expect from him.









Lil Wayne is dope and very creative, his mixtape songs and guest appearances are great but his last few singles have been lackluster. And the self proclaimed Best Rapper Alive hasn’t really put out a “great” album in since The Carter (2004)






Jay-Z is making this list merely due to the lack of available candidates, his last two albums really exposed to me that he isn’t the rapper that he once was, but still a better listen than Souljah Boy, Yung Joc, Rick Ross or Flo Rida. I don’t wanna bash Jay-Z because that’s my boy, I’m a huge fan but the material speaks for itself, his hearts just not in it the way it used to be.







Outkast is certainly keeping it interesting despite the fact that they haven’t dropped a full length album in I don’t know how long.








Kanye West has just dropped arguably the best rap album of the year and is constantly hitting us with classic records, he’s by far the “hottest” rapper out based on quality of full-length albums, hit songs and records sales (and really the only one in second hasn’t released a great full length album since 2004, Weezy). Kanye West himself is a great story considering how many labels played his rap skills to the left.







Common dropped “Finding Forever” last year which was great album though songs like “Party Like A Rock Star” by the gone never to be seen again boyz and “Pop Lock and Drop it” got twice as much radio and video airplay.








Lupe Fiasco just dropped his 2nd album with little promotion as usual, looks like his label is destined to let his sophomore album share the same fate as his debut album…400K and out.







Talib Kweli dropped one of his best albums in years last year but his label didn’t do much to help. I heard 1 or 2 singles, saw one video and that was it. Booooo Warner Bro’s for not giving Talib a chance to make it interesting by giving his music the necessary exposure to have the opportunity to breathe some life into a dying (better yet) Dead Rap Game.







And lastly we got Joe Budden, his Mood Muzik 3 mixtape is classic but his album got pushed back several times, now he’s not even on Def Jam anymore. So who knows when’s the next time we will see a full length Joey album.









Shit even Might Mos Def is singing now, WTF








And out of all these artists most of the so-called “Hit” records from last year were dominated not by Hip Hops heavy hitters, but by half-talent over produced no-rapping ass one hit wonders that struggles to move over 500,000 units even with 5000+ spins a week reaching an audience of 41 million listeners.

Examples: Shop Boyz, Souljah Boy, Mims, Lil Boosie, Hurricane Chris, Jim Jones, Huey, Rich Boy, DJ Unk & Plies....All sub-par and all secured Billboard Number #1 Hits and a place among the Top 15 most played songs of 2007.

In case your wondering, TI and Kanye West just missed the Top 15 Most Played but they were in the Top 25.

I think the failure of rap is a collective failure for everyone involved. The A&Rs for bringing these disgraceful artists to the labels, the Labels for signing and OKing the budgets to produce this nonsense, the Executive Producers and Label Heads for saying the music they are producing is satisfactory and putting it out. And lastly the rappers themselves for creating this transparent bullshit music. They don’t even deserve the title of an artist, there ain’t nothing artistic about saying “Its so hot in the club, I ain’t even got no shoes on” C’mon now, you have to have been able to think of something better to say than that. Rap is fucking wack, it’s a sad day. As a Hip-Hopatarian I am deeply saddened by the state of Rap music.

Jay-Z & Mary J. Blige: Heart Of The City Tour

This is where I'll be on Wednesday, April 16th, The Jay-Z / Mary J. Blige: Heart Of The City Concert in Los Angeles @ the world famous Hollywood Bowl.

I would definitely pay to see either of them in concert seperately, Im huge fan of both of them and have been for years. So the fact that I get to see them both perform in one night only sweetens the deal.

9 Reasons Why I Will Never Go To A Beyonce' Concert...EVER!!

I really don't need to do much of an intro, this video speaks for itself "The Beyonce Experience" Enjoy



Im Not Paying For This. Case Closed.

Hip Hop, Love, Money, Teachers...Def Poetry @ Its Best

I was in a Poetic mood and wanted to post some Poetry that really hit my soul. Enjoy.

Def Poetry Jam

Hip Hop

Sick & Tired

Favorite Quotes from this poem:

“Sick of people acting like slavery doesn’t effect the present states of black in this country, when Slavery was erased with a 450 year head start for everyone else”

“Tired of master p speaking on behalf of hip hop when he represents nothing but everything that’s wrong with it”

“Sick of George Bush acting arrogant about his ignorance”

“I wanna drop kick minorities (people of color) who vote republican”
Black ice on Def Poetry Jam

Favorite Quotes from this poem:

“America makes you an opportunist and at the same time institutionalize you, so that fact that these brother get this big record deal, big money and then they go to jail shouldn’t surprise you, that’s what lies do, most of these guys do have raw talent, just infantile education, so the business feeds them weed and exstasy, and a little bit of paper to provide some pacification, from all the bullshit frustration they serve you, meanwhile they corrupt your perception of the what the real is, see they taken all our businessmen and made them into drug dealers, taken all our messengers and made them rappers, flappin they jaws afraid to admit their treason, took all our soldiers for the cause and made them killers for no reason“

“ They still flooding our streets with thugs, drugs and killing they just using these record labels to do it, taking our hard earned demos, puttin us in limos tryin to fuck up our direction, and most niggaz is trained to chase money and pussy so we fall victim to our own erection, and ignorance is bliss and niggaz take pride in not knowing, and not growing”

Money (first appearance on Def Poetry Jam)

Money
This Type Love

A Love Like This
Taylor Mali - Def Poetry Season 1 Ep. 2 - "What Teachers Make"

What Teachers Make

These are the types of Teachers we need teaching our kids. Teachers that are truely passionate about teaching and those that hold the kids to a higher standard and implemement accountability not only for the students but for the parents as well. This is what our schools lack (especially those in the inner cities) and I pray the next wave of young teachers can find that passion within themselves, or get out the way and let the real teaches guide the children of this nation. Because the kids in these schools, in these classrooms today will be the leaders of this country one day and that day will come sooner than you think.

6:30am: A Morning I Wont Soon Forget

So this morning my mom woke me up at like 6:30 and told me she was going on a job interview. She had been telling me for some time that she head received a poor review at work and had been having problems with her new boss, this fat ass old horny white man as she described him, and wanted to find another job before she was let go. But she never really said much more than that until today.

She told me that her new boss used to be a consultant that they brought on, and once the old boss (who mom got great along with for years) had a stroke he convinced the upper level management to push the old boss into early retirement. And the consultant was hired in his place. And that’s when everything went all bad my mom says. Some of the Female employees started to complain about sexual harassment, money started to come up missing, checks started to get forged, some one started stealing the donation money, etc...Shit just hit the fan! Mom works at a non-profit organization that helps children with behavioral problems and mental issues. Giving them food, housing and one-on-one counseling. So these rich white folks are always giving donations to the non-profit. The organization had got the police and they said the FBI involved but even with their involvement they still had no idea who was stealing money and forging checks, tens of thousands of dollars were coming up missing and uncounted for.

One day my mom (getting her Angela Lansbury on) went into the system and started investigating and since she knows the accounts payable (the department she works in) system better than anyone and better than they realized she discovered that the signatures on some of the checks had been forged, so she reported it to her boss. The next day when she arrived to work, she saw that someone had been on her computer and tried to void out those forged checks but just messed everything all up. This was the first sign this was an inside job. The second sign was that only a select few knew where the donation money was kept, so for it to have been stolen it had to be an inside job. As time went on the stealing and embezzling got worse and sloppier.

Soon after my mom reported the check fraud, she received a poor score on her the evaluation of her performance, this was sign to her that they didn’t appreciate her whistle blowing. She said that after that her boss and other members of the staff began watching my mom closely, sometime just blatantly starring at her watching her every move. As my mom started to get the uneasy feeling that with all stealing and the embezzling going on the house was very close to coming down. And she felt like “when it does finally come down they are gonna look for a escape goat to pin it on , and it sure the hell aint gone be me. If I go to jail who gone pay my rent?” this is an exact quote….true story…lol…so that prompted my mom to started looking for a new job which brings us today. At about 8:00 am my mom returned home and told me that she had got the new job. She had to accept a slight deduction in pay but she was like she really had no choice because she had to leave her current job before the house came crashing down.

Crazy shit, thats some ol' Enron type shit or some "Dick and Jane" type shit, If you ever seen that movie with Tia Leoni and Jim Carey.