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Rising Up, The Best Song of ’08. (so far)

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I just finished reading Robert McKees book Story yesterday.

The major take away is that when people sit down for a movie,
that they don’t want necessarily want a happy ending, they
want to be emotionally satiated.

Man listen. Thats how I felt when I saw the new Roots video.

First of all. The hook. “Yesterday I Saw a B-Girl Crying”. Man,
for every moment in the last twenty four hours where I felt, pity,
pressure, anger, rejection, that song just made it moot. It was like a
facial and a good sermon. Feel me?

Second. The Drums. They sound like Elvin Jones meets Go Go.
That break beat is like water splashed into hot Friday night fish
grease. You can hear how much of visionary ?uesto is on this one.
You know how when you listen to a Doom song, and you hear and
appreciate the individual elements that went into the composition.
Thats what this song reminds me of. Its melodic, boom bappy and catchy.

Third. Thanks to its powerful and pure herbal ingredients like Asparagus Adscendens, Mucuna Pruriens, Withania Somniferous, etc., is very helpful generic cialis prices for all kinds of high risk businesses, located around the world. In most industries, a couple of months after the initial clinical trials were conducted, it was discovered that its affect on angina was minimal, generic soft viagra but had a very noticeable improvement of erectile dysfunction. Licorice root is the excellent blood purifier herbs buy cialis online that can help you to prevent occurrence of acne. Later lifestyle free from stress and health injurious practices is basic need to keep at bay ED permanently. midwayfire.com levitra pills from canada Chrisette Michelle. I want her to win. She is beautiful.
She is atypical of what the music industry says is An
acceptable Black woman. In the video, she is in her element.
Shining. This video and song is evidence that a win
and happen.

Fourth. Rik Cordero is a beast. The color saturation,
the jam session feel, the tight shots all come together
to make us feel like we are in the room with The Roots & Crew.

If there is ANYONE with an mp3, please send it. I will stream it
if I have too. Seriously.

Call jet blue. Get me to bk’lyn.

Of N*ggas, Mice and Men: NYOIL vs. Nas

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NYOIL Video Courtesy of Rafi/Oh Word

Have you ever thought about why the word n*gga ignites
an unbelieveable amount of controversy? (no randy kennedy).

It ranks right up there with OJ and Bill Clinton.

The word n*gga is complicated because our relationship
to this country is complicated.

Think about it, who else, other than African Americans
can say that they are this countries oldest residents
BUT most recent citizens?

Our relationship to this country is complicated
so our relationship to our language, the words
in our language, will be complicated as well.

Think about it. Folks love to say that Black people are
lazy, but if we were, why were you brought here to work
for free?

I began thinking about these issues while reading
Robbie’s piece on NYOIL’s song What up MY
WIGGA WIGGA, and Nas’s song You Can Be a N-gger Too.

There is a major issue and a minor issue going on here.
The major issue is whether Nas has the right to take poetic
license with the word N*gga. This tension has always been
apparent in art. *Richard Wright thought Zora was too
n*ggerish (I couldn’t resist yall) and many folks think that the
Holocaust should not be made fun of, while others think that
its a perfectly accepable form of entertainment (The Producers
anyone?). NYOIL speaks at Unkut about Nas, the song,
and N*ggas in general. He writes,

Does he realize that when Robert Schwartz decides to stop being a nigger all he has to do is change his look. maybe trade in the bapes and backpack put on a suit and he?s right and exact. When Robert Yung decides he?s no longer a nigga he can be whatever an person of Asian decent can be in the country stereo types not withstanding. When Robert Rodriguez decides to stop being a nigger he can become a proud man of Latin descent. However for Robert Jenkins who?s grandparents where NIGGERS, blown over by fire hoses and beat within an inch of their lives, when the term meant what it will
always mean despite his attempts to make it a term of endearment.

I don’t agree with all of it because it fails to grasp the nuances
of our history here. HOWEVER, its nice to see cats trying to
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of ’89 stopped by and said hi.

The first question is whether Nas is biting NYOIL?
The second is who made the better song?

Based on the comments section, the conclusion is that
based on both the hook and the beat the songs are
substantially similar, but Nas’s is better.

The responses are interesting in that they range from
“NYOIL is just a mad rapper”, “Nas is just going to make
another mediocre album“, “NYOIL is right, Nas has been
everything that these records labels have wanted him to
to be” to “Nas is just being playful with linguistics” and
“Why didn’t nobody trip when Old DB came out with N-gga
Please”. (My response to the last one was, Ol D B wore his
ignorance like a badge. Big Baby Jesus. Come on Ock?
We weren’t surprised or conflicted over him naming an album
N*gga Please. It was par for the course).

The most poignant moment in the post is when NYOIL asks
Nas “When is he going to stop being a N*gga and start being a
man”?

I would take it one step further and ask when will all of us
will stop being a man, woman, n*gga, Black, White, Mexican,
Asian, and start being a, capital H, Human.

*In particular, a number of those that were associated with her in the growth and influence of the Harlem Renaissance were critical of her later writings, on the basis that they did not agree with or further the position of the overall movement. One particular criticism, much noted, came from Richard Wright in his review of Their Eyes Were Watching God.

“. . . The sensory sweep of her novel carries no theme, no message, no thought. In the main, her novel is not addressed to the Negro, but to a white audience whose chauvinistic tastes she knows how to satisfy. She exploits that phase of Negro life which is “quaint,” the phase which evokes a piteous smile on the lips of the “superior” race.” [9].

Is Blogging Journalism?

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~~~>Post Length – Long, but tolerable

Rafi of Oh Word just posted on the lack of Journalism
in Hip Hop Journalism. He goes on to critique several
Hip Hop blogs, one of which is The Smoking Section.

Full disclosure I am cool with both Gotty of The Smoking
Section and Rafi.

Gotty has never claimed that TSS was a home to HH journalism.

In fact ,old boy is quite pragmatic in terms of keeping, hip hop,
journalism and page views all in perspective.

For instance, when Gotty and I recently discussed my
Saul/KRS Sell Out post, we agreed that even though
Primo was on the Smirnoff sponsored track with KRS,
it wouldn’t be proper for me to bring Primo into the
critique because he never held himself out to be a
Righteous dude.

I jokily mentioned to Gotty how he would probably accept cigarette ads
and then I caught myself, acknowledging that the name of the site IS
The Smoking Section. Duh.

When I mentioned this Primo clause to Filthy he reminded me
that Primo was always gully friendly, as he has worked with everyone
from Freddie Fox to MOP to NAS. You don’t GET more street then
M.O.P. It ain’t gonna happen.

If you read Rafi’s post, it isn’t personal attack on any
blogger. It is about the lack of investigation in Hip Hop
Journalism in general as he cites the fact that The Smoking
Gun has broken two major hip hop related pieces in the last month.

I would push Rafi a step further to critique the erosion of
investigative journalism and investigative anything over the
last 20 years. His post reminded me of two things.

First a piece by Nick Davies on the rise of
Public Relations and the erosion of investigate
journalism around the world. Nick uses the Iraq War
as a test case. He measures the erosion by the fact
that newspaper journalist’s are expected to accomplish
as much as they did 20 years ago in a fraction of the time,
which of course raises issues of sustainability.

You crunch all those numbers for all these companies and you come up with something that is really important ? essentially, your average Fleet Street reporter now is filling three times as much space as he or she was 20 years ago. Turn that round, look at it from the reporter?s point of view: we only have one third of the time to do our job. That?s terribly important.

He also speaks on the PR machine as it relates to the war. He writes,

While we?ve been losing our jobs, somebody else has been getting more and more jobs. Which is the PR industry. There was an invisible moment at some point in the last decade when the number of PR people in this country finally exceeded the number of journalists.

When I started on local papers, if you wanted to write a story about a hospital you phoned the hospital you talked to the hospital manager or a doctor. Now you deal with a PR. Across the public sector ? and across the private sector. All corporations now defend themselves. And charities and even terrorist groups! Everybody has PR people.

Whereas you should have a system where journalists, working honestly and independently, make what used to be called news judgments and say this story is important, this angle needs to be expressed, this research needs to be done….

And it isn?t just about press releases. It?s about deeply manipulative behaviour. Most of the men and especially young ones live in the state of having permanent stress. viagra france Don’t forget that acquiring instant challenging tab sildenafil and stiff erection entails getting sufficient flow of blood to the penis. Propecia is a medicine used by males of different age viagra sans prescription group. The reviews that we https://www.unica-web.com/archive/2019/english/GA2019-minutes-3.html viagra sales online got for the pill were excellent and outstanding that people started calling it as magic pills, as when this medicine bestowed the results, the lives of people from around the globe. So for example, PR companies work very assiduously to set up front groups. These are phony grass-roots groups. There are so many phony grass-roots groups in the US that they have a nice little term for them, they call them Astroturf, because they?re not real grass.

A classic example of an Astroturf group is the Iraqi National Congress, the INC. The INC didn?t just emerge out of nowhere, it was invented and created by a man called John Rendon…”

Nick’s comments on the PR game hit me particularly in the spine
because I have been considering launching a full blown PR
hustle. I figured, I have written bios, I understand music, marketing
and the law, I can work on getting in contact with artists, so why
not? Well, Nick’s words have me thinking about how, if this is a
choice I make, which SIDE of the force I am going to be on.
That is the realness.

The second thing it reminded me of was of a few posts from the
tech bloggers world about the lack of original thought in the
blogosphere. Doc Searl, of The Linux Journal, lays out
why orginal thought is difficult. He writes,

  1. Writing original thought-provoking blog content is a challenge. It takes time, thought and effort. The problem, however, is many bloggers are often short of time, which means it is difficult to come up with insightful thoughts…
  2. Many bloggers just want to be part of the conversation before it moves on. You see a hot story and you?re keen to jump in but not willing to simply leave a comment on someone else?s blog…
  3. Writing original content often provides a low return on investment. Let?s face it, traffic is what drives many bloggers, which explains why checking your stats on a regular basis is a key part of blogging…

The title of this MADE ME feel good because, if anything, THERE
is ALWAYS original thought here at Model Minority. Sometimes
too much thought according to some……

I found it affirming because it appears that formal journalist,
hip hop bloggers and tech bloggers seem to be asking themselves
the same question, which is how do we classify the material that
we are writing?

Speaking of investigative journalism, the war and
pr, did you see this? The Pentagon’s Hidden Hand?
Its more like The Matrix meets 1984 courtesy of your
tax dollars.

BLOG UPDATE 9:59am
I just came across a Times article on the tension
between sports teams and sport bloggers. I think
I am on to something here.

Last month Mr. Cuban sought to ban bloggers from the Mavericks? locker room, but the National Basketball Association intervened, ruling that bloggers from credentialed news organizations must be admitted.

Mr. Cuban then decided to let in any blogger ? ?someone on Blogspot who has been posting for a couple weeks, kids blogging for their middle school Web site or those that work for big companies.?

Tension over sports blogging is one of the strains between sports franchises, leagues and reporters to have emerged during the digital age.

Me and The RZA Get Busy

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Being bitten by the writing bug is interesting. I run into
other Black movers and shakers on Friday or Saturday
evenings and they glaze over when I say I am going
home to write.

Its bugged out because this morning I created a
substantial addition to the “Crack Essays” file.
My eyes opened before the alarm went off at
6:30am this morning. I am not a morning byrd.
I am a grumpy byrd pre-Peerless. So, awaking
on a Saturday before the alarm is monumental.

The other side of the glaze over is the sense of reward I feel
when I sent Filthy a draft and he responds with
“M” this is incredible and I be like. Damn? Word?

All of these things are on my mind when I read about
the RZA and his work ethic. He speaks in an
interview, saying,

People you put your trust in, from women to partners, and then they forsake you. Even the Wu-Tang Clan, when Wu-Tang Clan pulled out of the Rage Against The Machine tour, it broke my heart, because I recorded the Wu-Tang Forever album with democracy. I let everybody do what they wanted to do. The other albums were more like how I wanted it, and it came out better, people say…… When they started backing out, it really hurt me and shit, so I backed out. It generally arises in the over age people, which is also seen increasing in the middle age people in today’s world. kamagra found available in hard and sildenafil canada soft tabs (available in 2 different doses). To enhance india viagra generic the erectile performance Yohimbe bark extract is the herbal supplement that can be taken. So, as you see, there are tadalafil overnight many treatments available for those of you suffering with ED. Mistakes Men Make in Bed & How to Avoid Them Here is a list of six (6) foods things that ought to by no means be fed to a bird or caution will need to be taken in the planning of the meals. 1. levitra canada price purchased that I feel like I did everything for Wu-Tang. … That?s why, when Bobby Digital came out, I started chilling. I started having a good time. But then when they forsake me?and some brothers did, some brothers didn?t?if you have four people who aren?t into it, it?s not going to work. (via Grand Good)

The RZA’s statements struck me for a few reason’s.
One it reminds me of how every crew has a visionary
and how the visionary has to reconcile
that vision with what the crew seems to be capable of.
It reminds me of how the crews with the greatest
potential fail to reach it because of infighting.

It reminds me of my new found writing discipline and
how I run into folks and they look at me like an alien-byrd
when I talk about writing on a Friday night.

============
============

There are a serious of Boom Bap tasty treats
floating around these internet’s.

Kate Richardson analyzes the new Roots video by
Rick Cordero through a feminist theory lens.

In an interesting excerpt she writes,

At first it seems as if Cordero might be taking the video in the pleasant hug-a-loser direction, but that sweetness is but an introduction to the birthday girl sitting on the floor and opening each dude’s gift as he stands above her, holding it at his crotch. One guy brought her a sausage! How sweet!

Cordero shoots the sequence in a more or less shot/reverse-shot pattern, but despite this lukewarm attempt at representing the female perspective, the sequence still comes off as uncomfortably misogynistic.

Ivan at HHIR has an video interview up of Mary and Jay.
At about 2:30 in Jay speaks about the package
that distinguishes he and Mary from the thousands of
others that have record deals.

Mary mentioned that she has no problem letting
people see the sad sh-t. On its face, that may seem trite
and a complete cliche. But, think about how many times
a day you don’t tell someone something because you think
they may reject you, or keep it to yourself out of fear.
We feel Mary because she lets it all, for better or for
worse, hang out.

Having spent 3 hours this morning writing about my family
and crack, I will tell you that there is no OTHER more vulnerable
feeling, other than being naked in front of someone for the first time,
than telling the truth because you can’t hold it back any longer.

Jay mentions that what distinguishes him from other cats
is work ethic, god given talent and real life experience.

Say word.

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Doc Zeus has a retrospective of the Pen and Pixel era up.

Man them sh*ts were horrible. But its hip hop just the same.

Like that drunk uncle who is both irritating and embarrassing,
yet still yours.

We used to see these ads in The Source and squint with
the sour lemon head face at how bad they were.

Silk the Shocker, Mercedes, Master P. All bad.

Master P wants to apologize for some sh-t.
Apologize for those album covers blood.

=========
=========

Why are we scared of hard work?

You encounter any visionaries lately?

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New York, Wealth and Taxes: A Teaching Moment

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Why does Warren Buffet, the #1 ranked man on Forbes Richest
list pay 17% in taxes on his income whereas his receptionist pays
about 30% of her income.

Good question?

The answer? Wages are taxed differently than investments.

If you are earning $10-20K/month in income from
stocks,rental income and other investments,
which is being taxed at 15%, you may not
be that pressed that your $2,500/month salary
being taxed at 30%.

But, if you are earning $9.72/hour at Macy’s and
being taxed at 30% that is a whole other ball game.
The article goes on to address the discrepancy saying,

One might wonder how Mr. Buffett gets away with a tax rate of only 17.7 percent, while a typical millionaire is paying so much more. Most likely, part of the answer is that Mr. Buffett?s income is made up largely of dividends and capital gains, which are taxed at only 15 percent. By contrast, many other top earners pay the maximum ordinary income tax rate of 35 percent on their salaries, bonuses and business income.

There was a piece in the New York Times on how 1% of the
population earned 30% of the adjusted gross income.
(The AGI is used in the calculation of an individual’s incometax liability income and
includes wages, interest income,dividend income, income from certain retirement accounts,
capital gains, alimony received, rental income, royalty income, farm income, unemployment
compensation, and certain other kinds of income).

The top 1 percent of New York City tax filers now receive more than a third of the city?s adjusted gross income, according to an analysis released today that looked in part at tax returns. That means for every dollar earned by the top fifth, only 11.5 cents is earned by the bottom fifth. This is the biggest gap in all the states, and like those in the rest of the country, it has been growing for the last 20 years. (Though the disparity is growing fastest in Connecticut, as an article noted today.) The top 1 percent of New York City tax filers, 32,000 tax returns representing 82,000 New York City residents, received 37 percent of the city?s adjusted gross income ? which includes wages, business income and capital gains, among other earnings. They earned 20 percent of wages, 59 percent of dividends and interest, 70 percent of business income and 86 percent of capital gains.

When you have extreme concentrated wealth and extreme
concentrated poverty within 20 miles of each other, this is
bound to happen without strategically implemented
policies on wages, housing and education. What surprised
me was that the comment section indicated a lack of
understanding of Capitalism?

  • 5.

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    April 9th,
    2008
    5:11 pm

    I think it has less to do with income inequality than a substantial number of extremely wealthy individuals that for whatever reason decide to make new york their home.

    ? Posted by David

  • 29.
    April 9th,
    2008
    9:19 pm

    So why don?t poor people just move somewhere else?

    ? Posted by Ben

Then, of course there was a redeeming moment with this comment:

  • 14.
    April 9th,
    2008
    6:06 pm

    It would be enlighting if the 1% with 37 % of AGI
    what percentage of the tax revenue they paid    ?
    I bet not more than 10%

  • ? Posted by joez

Learn what your tax bracket is here.

What this chart doesn’t indicate is that different types of income are taxed at different rates. Why do we call them taxes anyways?

What if we called taxes dues instead? Would they better reflect
what they were? Would they be easier to pay?

Yes, this is a little sneaky. Some conservatives may even call it Orwellian, and they ought to know. But the word ?dues? also plays into the psychology of group identity, and that can work to the benefit of conservatives and liberals alike. Consider that ?tax? comes from the Latin for ?appraise? with punitive overtones of ?censure? or ?fault,? as if wage-earners have done something wrong by their labors. ?Dues,? in contrast, is rooted in social obligation and duty.

So this will be an uphill struggle. But we need language to remind us that this is our government, and that we thrive because of the schools and transit systems and 10,000 other services that exist only because we have joined together. Instead of denouncing taxes, politicians would do better to appeal to the patriotic corners of our hearts that warm to phrases like ?we the people.? ?Taxation? is a throwback to the time when kings picked our pockets. ?Paying my dues,? a phrase popularized in the jazz music world, is language by which we can stand together as Americans.

I like it. Without taxes we have no cities, I like cities so I accept taxes.

Speaking of taxes and wage earners I found this great comment on
the subprime bailout from an article on the need for the regulation
of global financial markets.

  • 5.
    April 2nd,
    2008
    10:44 am

    The Wall Street titans want free market profits and
    socialized losses    . Huge compensation has been paid in
    recent years on ?profits? from phony mark-to-market prices
    of derivatives. These idiots need to be reigned in before they
    destroy everything.

  • ? Posted by T.F.

Do, do, do, do, do, thats the Audio Daily Double/
n*ggas need to fall off just to save me the trouble yo.
~Doom, Doomsday

nail—><---head. ===
===

You pay taxes this year?

You already spent that rebate, hunh?
And it ain’t even mailed yet. LAME.

Why don’t people understand the wage/investment
tax distinction?

Guess its my/our job to teach, hunh?

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