Thursday, April 19, 2007
Friday, March 02, 2007
Interesting indeed
I told you ima use this as an archive rite?
Here is an article i got from AG
Sales of Rap Albums Take Stunning Nosedive
Thursday , March 01, 2007
Associated Press
NEW YORK —
Maybe it was the umpteenth coke-dealing anthem or soft-porn music video. Perhaps it was the preening antics that some call reminiscent of Stepin Fetchit.
The turning point is hard to pinpoint. But after 30 years of growing popularity, rap music is now struggling with an alarming sales decline and growing criticism from within about the culture's negative effect on society.
Rap insider Chuck Creekmur, who runs the leading Web site Allhiphop.com, says he got a message from a friend recently "asking me to hook her up with some Red Hot Chili Peppers because she said she's through with rap. A lot of people are sick of rap ... the negativity is just over the top now."
The rapper Nas, considered one of the greats, challenged the condition of the art form when he titled his latest album "Hip-Hop is Dead." It's at least ailing, according to recent statistics: Though music sales are down overall, rap sales slid a whopping 21 percent from 2005 to 2006, and for the first time in 12 years no rap album was among the top 10 sellers of the year. A recent study by the Black Youth Project showed a majority of youth think rap has too many violent images. In a poll of black Americans by The Associated Press and AOL-Black Voices last year, 50 percent of respondents said hip-hop was a negative force in American society.
Nicole Duncan-Smith grew up on rap, worked in the rap industry for years and is married to a hip-hop producer. She still listens to rap, but says it no longer speaks to or for her. She wrote the children's book "I Am Hip-Hop" partly to create something positive about rap for young children, including her 4-year-old daughter.
"I'm not removed from it, but I can't really tell the difference between Young Jeezy and Yung Joc. It's the same dumb stuff to me," says Duncan-Smith, 33. "I can't listen to that nonsense ... I can't listen to another black man talk about you don't come to the 'hood anymore and ghetto revivals ... I'm from the 'hood. How can you tell me you want to revive it? How about you want to change it? Rejuvenate it?"
Hip-hop also seems to be increasingly blamed for a variety of social ills. Studies have attempted to link it to everything from teen drug use to increased sexual activity among young girls.
Even the mayhem that broke out in Las Vegas during last week's NBA All-Star Game was blamed on hip-hoppers. "(NBA Commissioner) David Stern seriously needs to consider moving the event out of the country for the next couple of years in hopes that young, hip-hop hoodlums would find another event to terrorize," columnist Jason Whitlock, who is black, wrote on AOL.
While rap has been in essence pop music for years, and most rap consumers are white, some worry that the black community is suffering from hip-hop — from the way America perceives blacks to the attitudes and images being adopted by black youth.
But the rapper David Banner derides the growing criticism as blacks joining America's attack on young black men who are only reflecting the crushing problems within their communities. Besides, he says, that's the kind of music America wants to hear.
"Look at the music that gets us popular — 'Like a Pimp,'," says Banner, naming his hit.
"What makes it so difficult is to know that we need to be doing other things. But the truth is at least us talking about what we're talking about, we can bring certain things to the light," he says. "They want (black artists) to shuck and jive, but they don't want us to tell the real story because they're connected to it."
Criticism of hip-hop is certainly nothing new — it's as much a part of the culture as the beats and rhymes. Among the early accusations were that rap wasn't true music, its lyrics were too raw, its street message too polarizing. But they rarely came from the youthful audience itself, which was enraptured with genre that defined them as none other could.
"As people within the hip-hop generation get older, I think the criticism is increasing," says author Bakari Kitwana, who is currently part of a lecture tour titled "Does Hip-Hop Hate Women?"
"There was a more of a tendency when we were younger to be more defensive of it," he adds.
During her '90s crusade against rap's habit of degrading women, the late black activist C. Dolores Tucker certainly had few allies within the hip-hop community, or even among young black women. Backed by folks like conservative Republican William Bennett, Tucker was vilified within rap circles.
In retrospect, "many of us weren't listening," says Tracy Denean Sharpley-Whiting, a professor at Vanderbilt University and author of the new book "Pimps Up, Ho's Down: Hip-Hop's Hold On Young Black Women."
"She was onto something, but most of us said, 'They're not calling me a bitch, they're not talking about me, they're talking about THOSE women.' But then it became clear that, you know what? Those women can be any women."
One rap fan, Bryan Hunt, made the searing documentary "Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes," which debuted on PBS this month. Hunt addresses the biggest criticisms of rap, from its treatment of women to the glorification of the gangsta lifestyle that has become the default posture for many of today's most popular rappers.
"I love hip-hop," Hunt, 36, says in the documentary. "I sometimes feel bad for criticizing hip-hop, but I want to get us men to take a look at ourselves."
Even dances that may seem innocuous are not above the fray. Last summer, as the "Chicken Noodle Soup" song and accompanying dance became a sensation, Baltimore Sun pop critic Rashod D. Ollison mused that the dance — demonstrated in the video by young people stomping wildly from side to side — was part of the growing minstrelization of rap music.
"The music, dances and images in the video are clearly reminiscent of the era when pop culture reduced blacks to caricatures: lazy 'coons,' grinning 'pickaninnies,' sexually super-charged 'bucks,"' he wrote.
And then there's the criminal aspect that has long been a part of rap. In the '70s, groups may have rapped about drug dealing and street violence, but rap stars weren't the embodiment of criminals themselves. Today, the most popular and successful rappers boast about who has murdered more foes and rhyme about dealing drugs as breezily as other artists sing about love.
Creekmur says music labels have overfed the public on gangsta rap, obscuring artists who represent more positive and varied aspects of black life, like Talib Kweli, Common and Lupe Fiasco.
"It boils down to a complete lack of balance, and whenever there's a complete lack of balance people are going to reject it, whether it's positive or negative," Creekmur says.
Yet Banner says there's a reason why acts like KRS-One and Public Enemy don't sell anymore. He recalled that even his own fans rebuffed positive songs he made — like "Cadillac on 22s," about staying away from street life — in favor of songs like "Like a Pimp."
"The American public had an opportunity to pick what they wanted from David Banner," he says. "I wish America would just be honest. America is sick. ... America loves violence and sex."
Here is an article i got from AG
Sales of Rap Albums Take Stunning Nosedive
Thursday , March 01, 2007
Associated Press
NEW YORK —
Maybe it was the umpteenth coke-dealing anthem or soft-porn music video. Perhaps it was the preening antics that some call reminiscent of Stepin Fetchit.
The turning point is hard to pinpoint. But after 30 years of growing popularity, rap music is now struggling with an alarming sales decline and growing criticism from within about the culture's negative effect on society.
Rap insider Chuck Creekmur, who runs the leading Web site Allhiphop.com, says he got a message from a friend recently "asking me to hook her up with some Red Hot Chili Peppers because she said she's through with rap. A lot of people are sick of rap ... the negativity is just over the top now."
The rapper Nas, considered one of the greats, challenged the condition of the art form when he titled his latest album "Hip-Hop is Dead." It's at least ailing, according to recent statistics: Though music sales are down overall, rap sales slid a whopping 21 percent from 2005 to 2006, and for the first time in 12 years no rap album was among the top 10 sellers of the year. A recent study by the Black Youth Project showed a majority of youth think rap has too many violent images. In a poll of black Americans by The Associated Press and AOL-Black Voices last year, 50 percent of respondents said hip-hop was a negative force in American society.
Nicole Duncan-Smith grew up on rap, worked in the rap industry for years and is married to a hip-hop producer. She still listens to rap, but says it no longer speaks to or for her. She wrote the children's book "I Am Hip-Hop" partly to create something positive about rap for young children, including her 4-year-old daughter.
"I'm not removed from it, but I can't really tell the difference between Young Jeezy and Yung Joc. It's the same dumb stuff to me," says Duncan-Smith, 33. "I can't listen to that nonsense ... I can't listen to another black man talk about you don't come to the 'hood anymore and ghetto revivals ... I'm from the 'hood. How can you tell me you want to revive it? How about you want to change it? Rejuvenate it?"
Hip-hop also seems to be increasingly blamed for a variety of social ills. Studies have attempted to link it to everything from teen drug use to increased sexual activity among young girls.
Even the mayhem that broke out in Las Vegas during last week's NBA All-Star Game was blamed on hip-hoppers. "(NBA Commissioner) David Stern seriously needs to consider moving the event out of the country for the next couple of years in hopes that young, hip-hop hoodlums would find another event to terrorize," columnist Jason Whitlock, who is black, wrote on AOL.
While rap has been in essence pop music for years, and most rap consumers are white, some worry that the black community is suffering from hip-hop — from the way America perceives blacks to the attitudes and images being adopted by black youth.
But the rapper David Banner derides the growing criticism as blacks joining America's attack on young black men who are only reflecting the crushing problems within their communities. Besides, he says, that's the kind of music America wants to hear.
"Look at the music that gets us popular — 'Like a Pimp,'," says Banner, naming his hit.
"What makes it so difficult is to know that we need to be doing other things. But the truth is at least us talking about what we're talking about, we can bring certain things to the light," he says. "They want (black artists) to shuck and jive, but they don't want us to tell the real story because they're connected to it."
Criticism of hip-hop is certainly nothing new — it's as much a part of the culture as the beats and rhymes. Among the early accusations were that rap wasn't true music, its lyrics were too raw, its street message too polarizing. But they rarely came from the youthful audience itself, which was enraptured with genre that defined them as none other could.
"As people within the hip-hop generation get older, I think the criticism is increasing," says author Bakari Kitwana, who is currently part of a lecture tour titled "Does Hip-Hop Hate Women?"
"There was a more of a tendency when we were younger to be more defensive of it," he adds.
During her '90s crusade against rap's habit of degrading women, the late black activist C. Dolores Tucker certainly had few allies within the hip-hop community, or even among young black women. Backed by folks like conservative Republican William Bennett, Tucker was vilified within rap circles.
In retrospect, "many of us weren't listening," says Tracy Denean Sharpley-Whiting, a professor at Vanderbilt University and author of the new book "Pimps Up, Ho's Down: Hip-Hop's Hold On Young Black Women."
"She was onto something, but most of us said, 'They're not calling me a bitch, they're not talking about me, they're talking about THOSE women.' But then it became clear that, you know what? Those women can be any women."
One rap fan, Bryan Hunt, made the searing documentary "Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes," which debuted on PBS this month. Hunt addresses the biggest criticisms of rap, from its treatment of women to the glorification of the gangsta lifestyle that has become the default posture for many of today's most popular rappers.
"I love hip-hop," Hunt, 36, says in the documentary. "I sometimes feel bad for criticizing hip-hop, but I want to get us men to take a look at ourselves."
Even dances that may seem innocuous are not above the fray. Last summer, as the "Chicken Noodle Soup" song and accompanying dance became a sensation, Baltimore Sun pop critic Rashod D. Ollison mused that the dance — demonstrated in the video by young people stomping wildly from side to side — was part of the growing minstrelization of rap music.
"The music, dances and images in the video are clearly reminiscent of the era when pop culture reduced blacks to caricatures: lazy 'coons,' grinning 'pickaninnies,' sexually super-charged 'bucks,"' he wrote.
And then there's the criminal aspect that has long been a part of rap. In the '70s, groups may have rapped about drug dealing and street violence, but rap stars weren't the embodiment of criminals themselves. Today, the most popular and successful rappers boast about who has murdered more foes and rhyme about dealing drugs as breezily as other artists sing about love.
Creekmur says music labels have overfed the public on gangsta rap, obscuring artists who represent more positive and varied aspects of black life, like Talib Kweli, Common and Lupe Fiasco.
"It boils down to a complete lack of balance, and whenever there's a complete lack of balance people are going to reject it, whether it's positive or negative," Creekmur says.
Yet Banner says there's a reason why acts like KRS-One and Public Enemy don't sell anymore. He recalled that even his own fans rebuffed positive songs he made — like "Cadillac on 22s," about staying away from street life — in favor of songs like "Like a Pimp."
"The American public had an opportunity to pick what they wanted from David Banner," he says. "I wish America would just be honest. America is sick. ... America loves violence and sex."
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Article i got from the Yuinon- credits to Vessel
Is Hip-Hop in Perpetual Adolescent Mode?
“… plus they get to see a Lil Jon, it’s ludicrous if you think you’re gonna see ‘em read a little John …”
- The Ambassador from Come Back Home / Album: The Thesis
Lil Bow Wow, Lil Romeo, Lil Wayne, Lil Kim, Lil Mo, Lil Jon, Lil Scrappy, Yung Joc, Yung Dro, Yung Wun, Yung Jeezy, Young Buck….who am I missing? Okay, fill in the rest, insert your locals here. Question to ponder is hip-hop stuck in a state of permanent “adolescence?” Now some might think, “it’s not that deep” it’s just a nickname that has nothing to do with age, or physical stature. At least in the case of some of the “lil’s,” most of the males were teens or pre-teens when they came out. As for the females, the “LiL” is like a moniker synonymous with “shorty.” Bow Wow has since dropped the “LiL” as is likely for others, but for these “yung” brothers, they came on the scene in their mid-to-late twenties! Now I know that’s not OLD by any means, but can a correlation be made as it relates to the current state of hip-hop and the names of these, young, I mean grown rappers?! If Janet can assert that 40 is the new 20, while others are saying 30 is the new 20, and those tracking the baby boomer generation are saying that 60 is the new middle age, what does this mean, if anything for hip-hop?
This is noteworthy for me, because I’ve long asserted that hip-hop is contributing to the prolonged adolescence of African-American men, heck women too in many instances as they follow the distorted lead of their male counterparts. In what other, non sports related profession do key figures ponder retirement at 30? This is a tragic proposition if one truly understands the artistic process, not to mention the mental rush of knowing that you can have access to millions of minds in a week via a CD release. I posit that Jigga, Dr. Dre, Eminen and the like, all of whom have either pondered or been in “retirement”, recognize the juvenile nature of their content as grown men and feel, guilty, like they should be talking about things of more substance. They are struggling to become grown as artists but their lives won’t let them.
"When I was a child I spoke (rhymed) as a child, I thought as a child, I reasoned like a child but when I became a man
I put a way childish things." – I Corinthians 13:11
Their counterparts in the industry like The Roots, Common, Talib, Mos Def, and a few others have distinguished themselves as artists who are at LEAST trying to deal with weightier issues than: ice, sex, guns, violence, drugs, self, and what have you and therefore they can forseeably tour well into their 30s and 40s and NOT as a part of some old school throwback show. If the Rolling Stones, (whose Bigger Bang tour was the highest grosser of 2006 with 437 million. Dag! That’s almost half a BILLION. A hundred mill plus for “each Stone”) The Eagles, Streisand and The Who among others can tour into their 50s and 60s and pack out STADIUMS, why not hip-hop? Have the MC’s exhausted all they have to say?
What I’ve observed is that many post collegiates, and young professionals who grew up with hip hop, feel that it’s now “beneath them” and doesn’t speak to their reality (not that it ever did if you want to be really honest) and they either “graduate” to something more “apparently” sophisticated like neo-soul or jazz, or wax nostalgic about hip-hop’s bygone “golden era.” However, there are many “fans”, who like their adolescent MC heroes, (who are really their peers) are also still stuck in mental adolescence and still turn out to see them in concert.
"Everybody hates rappers and say these labels are crooks, but why we let the consumers off the hook?"
– Corey Red from Crashin’ Da Party / Album: Crashin' Da Party
I saw this firsthand a couple years ago when Maji and I went to deliver Chuck D a copy of The Prequel at an “old school” show here in Detroit. We were tripping, even ran into old friends who are STUCK, in late 80’s mode, still sipping on whatever, still breaking their necks to gawk at whatever’s passing by in some tight Guess, oops my bad... Apple Bottoms. It’s hard to front like you’ve matured when you really haven’t. From an artistic standpoint, if there’s any semblance of pride, you’d think one would feel conflicted about telling women to “back that thang up” at 35, when they’re married with children? But you gotta give the people what they want right? Why not help them grow up?
Hip-hop has long betrayed it’s mantra of keeping it real and is now content to keep it fake. Kinda like pro wrestling. Years ago, the WWF, (World Wrestling Federation) came clean and acknowledged what everyone already knew, that it was all fake. To avoid confusion and endless debate about credibility, they decided, “let’s just call it sports entertainment.” WWF became WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) So now at 23, with fakeness acknowledged, Wrestlemania, the WWE’s biggest event is still thriving. Is this a parallel, a formula for success, fakeness = popularity, profit, success? Hmmm. [The irony of the WWE champ being a white rapper to boot is too comical not to note here]
None of this is to say that we can’t allow hip-hop to function like other genres (music and otherwise) and truly be a source of entertainment, nor can we expect anything but more of the same from unregenerate people. It’s just that given the stakes, still high, (urban centers in crisis) we cannot let hip-hop talk out of both sides of its mouth and big up itself as the “voice of the hood”, and use “corporate co-option”, CIA control, etc. as excuses for its immoral content. Are the individuals puppets without choice, extremely clueless, in denial, or all the above?
"Rappers too dumb to recognize they killing their own, yall phony, and everything yall representing is wrong!”
– Jack from The Block / Album: Genocide
Couple cases in point. I recently saw a screening of a documentary called "Beyond Beats and Rhymes" which looks at how hip-hop has cultivated a warped image of African American manhood. One of the most telling points of the film was how inarticulate and mentally scatter brained Jadakiss and Russell Simmons were. One is a skilled, albeit profane, lyricist (makes me wonder if he had a ghostwriter for his song Why?); the other is the prototype of the one positive aspect of hip-hop constantly trumpeted before its critics, entrepreneurship (as if this exempts it from responsibility). Both were surprisingly clueless and rambled in response to the questions posed to them about the current state of hip-hop. I chalk this up to a combination of cluelessness and denial. Even if there was a ghostwriter for Why, we know that Jadakiss, like everyone at some point in their own way, ponders the deeper meanings behind the state of the world he lives in. Yet his “feed my baby” defense of the rest of (the majority of) his lyrical content was completely disconnected in his mind from the many questions he pondered in his own song. In Russell’s case it was denial more so than cluelessness. As an “elder,” (dressed in pink) he has clearly seen the growing influence of the music he helped nurture from infancy; however, his pride won’t let him admit that its influence is NOT all good.
Another example is The Source, which recently asked has “hip-hop” become a minstrel show? The answer is a resounding yes, and The Source (as the self-proclaimed bible of hip-hop music culture and politics) is partly responsible for creating and maintaining the minstrel show. Their denial is a part of why this won’t likely change soon. Lastly there is Nas. A relatively respected, and undeniably gifted MC, who now proclaims that “hip-hop is dead” but yet doesn’t fully acknowledge how his Nas Escobar era and questionable content on the album itself helped to kill it. Past singles like I Can, which like Jadakiss’ Why come off as “moments of clarity” between blunts, amid albums and careers of fence-straddling and contradictions. I guess this is why the scriptures teach us that;
"A double minded man is unstable in ALL his ways." – James 1:8
And that there will be some who are;
“... ever learning but NEVER able to come into a knowledge of the truth." – 2 Tim. 3:7
This duplicity on the part of the shapers of secular hip hop comes with too heavy a price when you ubiquitously put such juvenile lyrical content into the mix with an unchurched generation from largely broken homes, dilapidated urban schools, and the absence of accessible leaders and role models. Reality becomes inseparable from entertainment, life begins to imitate art.
If you were reading closely as to my reasons above and the examples I gave, you might’ve noticed that I had no example of the current state of affairs being attributable to MCs being “puppets”. Yes, I can concede that the culture’s been infiltrated by corporate greed and those who’ve commodified gangsterism, thuggery, and misogyny and sold it back to us, but like in all things, God’s great gift of free will, volition, still remains. And the aforementioned “conscious artists” like Common are examples of that. Chuck D. said in the same documentary, that the problem is that “we haven’t had men, in hip-hop as MCs.” I was like ooooh, nice jab Chuck!
"Chain Hang Low" is the debut single from St. Louis-based 15-year-old rapper Jibbs. His hit is built around a chorus reworked from the children's Cartoon Blue's Clues theme "Do Your Ears Hang Low?" which is itself a variant on the minstrel show song "Turkey in the Straw" and "Zip Coon". This has generated controversy among urban music writers and scholars, but of course Jibbs claims innocence of the tune's origins, "I was unaware of that and so will the many KIDS who will buy it and cheerfully sing along to it." It's no surprise that Jibbs is ignorant to our history because we are definitely not teaching it. Which is why the saying, " Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it" rings painfully true.
"We not men, we boys in grown bodies…steady dying for lack of knowledge, forever partying, my people lost, we’re walking in false bliss."
- Temple of the Mad Prophets from Medicine / Album: Current Events
Real MEN would not allow themselves to justify being pimped by corporate labels that subsequently export a global image of themselves as new jack minstrels, but boys blinded by the love of money, rabid for worldly success will. "…for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil." – I Tim. 6:10
I appreciate Chuck for always “keeping it real” but as a believer, I have to expand his description to say that hip-hop hasn’t had godly men. Even the conscious artists like his own Public Enemy have seen the futility or the “ceiling” of their best efforts at promoting knowledge of self and economic empowerment as panaceas. Seen what Flavor Flav is up to lately? Ahem, my point exactly.
"... having a form of godliness…" - 2 Timothy 3:5
”... ever learning but never able to acknowledge the truth…” - 2 Timothy 3:7
”... I am the way, the truth, the life...” – Jesus in John 14:6
"... Sanctify them with the truth, thy word is truth." - Jesus in John 17:7
What does all this mean for us as believers in this era where hip-hop’s global influence is undeniable. If MCs, and label execs. “got saved tomorrow” by the droves will we, as a Body be ready to embrace, befriend, encourage and disciple? Our role as believers and arguably “gatekeepers”, (those who “spit life”) albeit disenfranchised from the industry to truly function as such, is as follows: to understand the warfare in the spiritual realm, to “stay on our knees, so we can stay on our toes” (Jack – from No Fear; The Brix) keep it real with secular hip-hop even if it has long ceased to keep it real with itself, not grow weary in well doing in our respective ministries as a result of lackadaisical church support, agnostic ambivalence, resistance, etc. and foremost, continue presenting CHRIST as the remedy for all that ails our urban, suburban, and global woes.
Hopefully the “religious counterpart” as it relates to “adolescence” and hip-hop for us is not that we ‘outgrow’ it ourselves and abandon it for ‘real ministry’. Kind of like a burgeoning minister who “cuts his teeth” on youth ministry until he can fill a vacant pastorate. Only God and those who grab the steel to rep Him truly know if they truly see themselves as ministers, or merely entertainers and if they dread opportunities to build, life on life, as Lecrae or Quan would say “after the music stops.” Hip-hop is only a ministry tool for us, and our allegiance is not to it, but to Him who transcends culture for redemptive purposes, even as He imparts gifts to those within a culture, His remnant, to reach others in that culture, in any dispensation.
So as long as it is profitable for labels and rappers to be “adolescent” with their content, nothing will change, hip hop will stay stuck, and the harvest will remain ripe with much work to be done. So those in the trenches, remain. But those who might feel (or begin to feel) “too old” to RAP, or for whom it IS, “just a season”, we still need you as our HHH elders ready to avail yourselves to serve and mentor the “yung bucs” and help them to avoid the pitfalls of the ministry/industry, church/street conundrum and help them grow, help prepare them and local churches for the harvest that awaits The Body when the secular artists and fans alike, are ready to grow up, to put away “childish things.”
- vessel Yuinon Local 313
02.07.07
“… plus they get to see a Lil Jon, it’s ludicrous if you think you’re gonna see ‘em read a little John …”
- The Ambassador from Come Back Home / Album: The Thesis
Lil Bow Wow, Lil Romeo, Lil Wayne, Lil Kim, Lil Mo, Lil Jon, Lil Scrappy, Yung Joc, Yung Dro, Yung Wun, Yung Jeezy, Young Buck….who am I missing? Okay, fill in the rest, insert your locals here. Question to ponder is hip-hop stuck in a state of permanent “adolescence?” Now some might think, “it’s not that deep” it’s just a nickname that has nothing to do with age, or physical stature. At least in the case of some of the “lil’s,” most of the males were teens or pre-teens when they came out. As for the females, the “LiL” is like a moniker synonymous with “shorty.” Bow Wow has since dropped the “LiL” as is likely for others, but for these “yung” brothers, they came on the scene in their mid-to-late twenties! Now I know that’s not OLD by any means, but can a correlation be made as it relates to the current state of hip-hop and the names of these, young, I mean grown rappers?! If Janet can assert that 40 is the new 20, while others are saying 30 is the new 20, and those tracking the baby boomer generation are saying that 60 is the new middle age, what does this mean, if anything for hip-hop?
This is noteworthy for me, because I’ve long asserted that hip-hop is contributing to the prolonged adolescence of African-American men, heck women too in many instances as they follow the distorted lead of their male counterparts. In what other, non sports related profession do key figures ponder retirement at 30? This is a tragic proposition if one truly understands the artistic process, not to mention the mental rush of knowing that you can have access to millions of minds in a week via a CD release. I posit that Jigga, Dr. Dre, Eminen and the like, all of whom have either pondered or been in “retirement”, recognize the juvenile nature of their content as grown men and feel, guilty, like they should be talking about things of more substance. They are struggling to become grown as artists but their lives won’t let them.
"When I was a child I spoke (rhymed) as a child, I thought as a child, I reasoned like a child but when I became a man
I put a way childish things." – I Corinthians 13:11
Their counterparts in the industry like The Roots, Common, Talib, Mos Def, and a few others have distinguished themselves as artists who are at LEAST trying to deal with weightier issues than: ice, sex, guns, violence, drugs, self, and what have you and therefore they can forseeably tour well into their 30s and 40s and NOT as a part of some old school throwback show. If the Rolling Stones, (whose Bigger Bang tour was the highest grosser of 2006 with 437 million. Dag! That’s almost half a BILLION. A hundred mill plus for “each Stone”) The Eagles, Streisand and The Who among others can tour into their 50s and 60s and pack out STADIUMS, why not hip-hop? Have the MC’s exhausted all they have to say?
What I’ve observed is that many post collegiates, and young professionals who grew up with hip hop, feel that it’s now “beneath them” and doesn’t speak to their reality (not that it ever did if you want to be really honest) and they either “graduate” to something more “apparently” sophisticated like neo-soul or jazz, or wax nostalgic about hip-hop’s bygone “golden era.” However, there are many “fans”, who like their adolescent MC heroes, (who are really their peers) are also still stuck in mental adolescence and still turn out to see them in concert.
"Everybody hates rappers and say these labels are crooks, but why we let the consumers off the hook?"
– Corey Red from Crashin’ Da Party / Album: Crashin' Da Party
I saw this firsthand a couple years ago when Maji and I went to deliver Chuck D a copy of The Prequel at an “old school” show here in Detroit. We were tripping, even ran into old friends who are STUCK, in late 80’s mode, still sipping on whatever, still breaking their necks to gawk at whatever’s passing by in some tight Guess, oops my bad... Apple Bottoms. It’s hard to front like you’ve matured when you really haven’t. From an artistic standpoint, if there’s any semblance of pride, you’d think one would feel conflicted about telling women to “back that thang up” at 35, when they’re married with children? But you gotta give the people what they want right? Why not help them grow up?
Hip-hop has long betrayed it’s mantra of keeping it real and is now content to keep it fake. Kinda like pro wrestling. Years ago, the WWF, (World Wrestling Federation) came clean and acknowledged what everyone already knew, that it was all fake. To avoid confusion and endless debate about credibility, they decided, “let’s just call it sports entertainment.” WWF became WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) So now at 23, with fakeness acknowledged, Wrestlemania, the WWE’s biggest event is still thriving. Is this a parallel, a formula for success, fakeness = popularity, profit, success? Hmmm. [The irony of the WWE champ being a white rapper to boot is too comical not to note here]
None of this is to say that we can’t allow hip-hop to function like other genres (music and otherwise) and truly be a source of entertainment, nor can we expect anything but more of the same from unregenerate people. It’s just that given the stakes, still high, (urban centers in crisis) we cannot let hip-hop talk out of both sides of its mouth and big up itself as the “voice of the hood”, and use “corporate co-option”, CIA control, etc. as excuses for its immoral content. Are the individuals puppets without choice, extremely clueless, in denial, or all the above?
"Rappers too dumb to recognize they killing their own, yall phony, and everything yall representing is wrong!”
– Jack from The Block / Album: Genocide
Couple cases in point. I recently saw a screening of a documentary called "Beyond Beats and Rhymes" which looks at how hip-hop has cultivated a warped image of African American manhood. One of the most telling points of the film was how inarticulate and mentally scatter brained Jadakiss and Russell Simmons were. One is a skilled, albeit profane, lyricist (makes me wonder if he had a ghostwriter for his song Why?); the other is the prototype of the one positive aspect of hip-hop constantly trumpeted before its critics, entrepreneurship (as if this exempts it from responsibility). Both were surprisingly clueless and rambled in response to the questions posed to them about the current state of hip-hop. I chalk this up to a combination of cluelessness and denial. Even if there was a ghostwriter for Why, we know that Jadakiss, like everyone at some point in their own way, ponders the deeper meanings behind the state of the world he lives in. Yet his “feed my baby” defense of the rest of (the majority of) his lyrical content was completely disconnected in his mind from the many questions he pondered in his own song. In Russell’s case it was denial more so than cluelessness. As an “elder,” (dressed in pink) he has clearly seen the growing influence of the music he helped nurture from infancy; however, his pride won’t let him admit that its influence is NOT all good.
Another example is The Source, which recently asked has “hip-hop” become a minstrel show? The answer is a resounding yes, and The Source (as the self-proclaimed bible of hip-hop music culture and politics) is partly responsible for creating and maintaining the minstrel show. Their denial is a part of why this won’t likely change soon. Lastly there is Nas. A relatively respected, and undeniably gifted MC, who now proclaims that “hip-hop is dead” but yet doesn’t fully acknowledge how his Nas Escobar era and questionable content on the album itself helped to kill it. Past singles like I Can, which like Jadakiss’ Why come off as “moments of clarity” between blunts, amid albums and careers of fence-straddling and contradictions. I guess this is why the scriptures teach us that;
"A double minded man is unstable in ALL his ways." – James 1:8
And that there will be some who are;
“... ever learning but NEVER able to come into a knowledge of the truth." – 2 Tim. 3:7
This duplicity on the part of the shapers of secular hip hop comes with too heavy a price when you ubiquitously put such juvenile lyrical content into the mix with an unchurched generation from largely broken homes, dilapidated urban schools, and the absence of accessible leaders and role models. Reality becomes inseparable from entertainment, life begins to imitate art.
If you were reading closely as to my reasons above and the examples I gave, you might’ve noticed that I had no example of the current state of affairs being attributable to MCs being “puppets”. Yes, I can concede that the culture’s been infiltrated by corporate greed and those who’ve commodified gangsterism, thuggery, and misogyny and sold it back to us, but like in all things, God’s great gift of free will, volition, still remains. And the aforementioned “conscious artists” like Common are examples of that. Chuck D. said in the same documentary, that the problem is that “we haven’t had men, in hip-hop as MCs.” I was like ooooh, nice jab Chuck!
"Chain Hang Low" is the debut single from St. Louis-based 15-year-old rapper Jibbs. His hit is built around a chorus reworked from the children's Cartoon Blue's Clues theme "Do Your Ears Hang Low?" which is itself a variant on the minstrel show song "Turkey in the Straw" and "Zip Coon". This has generated controversy among urban music writers and scholars, but of course Jibbs claims innocence of the tune's origins, "I was unaware of that and so will the many KIDS who will buy it and cheerfully sing along to it." It's no surprise that Jibbs is ignorant to our history because we are definitely not teaching it. Which is why the saying, " Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it" rings painfully true.
"We not men, we boys in grown bodies…steady dying for lack of knowledge, forever partying, my people lost, we’re walking in false bliss."
- Temple of the Mad Prophets from Medicine / Album: Current Events
Real MEN would not allow themselves to justify being pimped by corporate labels that subsequently export a global image of themselves as new jack minstrels, but boys blinded by the love of money, rabid for worldly success will. "…for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil." – I Tim. 6:10
I appreciate Chuck for always “keeping it real” but as a believer, I have to expand his description to say that hip-hop hasn’t had godly men. Even the conscious artists like his own Public Enemy have seen the futility or the “ceiling” of their best efforts at promoting knowledge of self and economic empowerment as panaceas. Seen what Flavor Flav is up to lately? Ahem, my point exactly.
"... having a form of godliness…" - 2 Timothy 3:5
”... ever learning but never able to acknowledge the truth…” - 2 Timothy 3:7
”... I am the way, the truth, the life...” – Jesus in John 14:6
"... Sanctify them with the truth, thy word is truth." - Jesus in John 17:7
What does all this mean for us as believers in this era where hip-hop’s global influence is undeniable. If MCs, and label execs. “got saved tomorrow” by the droves will we, as a Body be ready to embrace, befriend, encourage and disciple? Our role as believers and arguably “gatekeepers”, (those who “spit life”) albeit disenfranchised from the industry to truly function as such, is as follows: to understand the warfare in the spiritual realm, to “stay on our knees, so we can stay on our toes” (Jack – from No Fear; The Brix) keep it real with secular hip-hop even if it has long ceased to keep it real with itself, not grow weary in well doing in our respective ministries as a result of lackadaisical church support, agnostic ambivalence, resistance, etc. and foremost, continue presenting CHRIST as the remedy for all that ails our urban, suburban, and global woes.
Hopefully the “religious counterpart” as it relates to “adolescence” and hip-hop for us is not that we ‘outgrow’ it ourselves and abandon it for ‘real ministry’. Kind of like a burgeoning minister who “cuts his teeth” on youth ministry until he can fill a vacant pastorate. Only God and those who grab the steel to rep Him truly know if they truly see themselves as ministers, or merely entertainers and if they dread opportunities to build, life on life, as Lecrae or Quan would say “after the music stops.” Hip-hop is only a ministry tool for us, and our allegiance is not to it, but to Him who transcends culture for redemptive purposes, even as He imparts gifts to those within a culture, His remnant, to reach others in that culture, in any dispensation.
So as long as it is profitable for labels and rappers to be “adolescent” with their content, nothing will change, hip hop will stay stuck, and the harvest will remain ripe with much work to be done. So those in the trenches, remain. But those who might feel (or begin to feel) “too old” to RAP, or for whom it IS, “just a season”, we still need you as our HHH elders ready to avail yourselves to serve and mentor the “yung bucs” and help them to avoid the pitfalls of the ministry/industry, church/street conundrum and help them grow, help prepare them and local churches for the harvest that awaits The Body when the secular artists and fans alike, are ready to grow up, to put away “childish things.”
- vessel Yuinon Local 313
02.07.07
Article i got from the Yuinon- credits to Vessel
Is Hip-Hop in Perpetual Adolescent Mode?
“… plus they get to see a Lil Jon, it’s ludicrous if you think you’re gonna see ‘em read a little John …”
- The Ambassador from Come Back Home / Album: The Thesis
Lil Bow Wow, Lil Romeo, Lil Wayne, Lil Kim, Lil Mo, Lil Jon, Lil Scrappy, Yung Joc, Yung Dro, Yung Wun, Yung Jeezy, Young Buck….who am I missing? Okay, fill in the rest, insert your locals here. Question to ponder is hip-hop stuck in a state of permanent “adolescence?” Now some might think, “it’s not that deep” it’s just a nickname that has nothing to do with age, or physical stature. At least in the case of some of the “lil’s,” most of the males were teens or pre-teens when they came out. As for the females, the “LiL” is like a moniker synonymous with “shorty.” Bow Wow has since dropped the “LiL” as is likely for others, but for these “yung” brothers, they came on the scene in their mid-to-late twenties! Now I know that’s not OLD by any means, but can a correlation be made as it relates to the current state of hip-hop and the names of these, young, I mean grown rappers?! If Janet can assert that 40 is the new 20, while others are saying 30 is the new 20, and those tracking the baby boomer generation are saying that 60 is the new middle age, what does this mean, if anything for hip-hop?
This is noteworthy for me, because I’ve long asserted that hip-hop is contributing to the prolonged adolescence of African-American men, heck women too in many instances as they follow the distorted lead of their male counterparts. In what other, non sports related profession do key figures ponder retirement at 30? This is a tragic proposition if one truly understands the artistic process, not to mention the mental rush of knowing that you can have access to millions of minds in a week via a CD release. I posit that Jigga, Dr. Dre, Eminen and the like, all of whom have either pondered or been in “retirement”, recognize the juvenile nature of their content as grown men and feel, guilty, like they should be talking about things of more substance. They are struggling to become grown as artists but their lives won’t let them.
"When I was a child I spoke (rhymed) as a child, I thought as a child, I reasoned like a child but when I became a man
I put a way childish things." – I Corinthians 13:11
Their counterparts in the industry like The Roots, Common, Talib, Mos Def, and a few others have distinguished themselves as artists who are at LEAST trying to deal with weightier issues than: ice, sex, guns, violence, drugs, self, and what have you and therefore they can forseeably tour well into their 30s and 40s and NOT as a part of some old school throwback show. If the Rolling Stones, (whose Bigger Bang tour was the highest grosser of 2006 with 437 million. Dag! That’s almost half a BILLION. A hundred mill plus for “each Stone”) The Eagles, Streisand and The Who among others can tour into their 50s and 60s and pack out STADIUMS, why not hip-hop? Have the MC’s exhausted all they have to say?
What I’ve observed is that many post collegiates, and young professionals who grew up with hip hop, feel that it’s now “beneath them” and doesn’t speak to their reality (not that it ever did if you want to be really honest) and they either “graduate” to something more “apparently” sophisticated like neo-soul or jazz, or wax nostalgic about hip-hop’s bygone “golden era.” However, there are many “fans”, who like their adolescent MC heroes, (who are really their peers) are also still stuck in mental adolescence and still turn out to see them in concert.
"Everybody hates rappers and say these labels are crooks, but why we let the consumers off the hook?"
– Corey Red from Crashin’ Da Party / Album: Crashin' Da Party
I saw this firsthand a couple years ago when Maji and I went to deliver Chuck D a copy of The Prequel at an “old school” show here in Detroit. We were tripping, even ran into old friends who are STUCK, in late 80’s mode, still sipping on whatever, still breaking their necks to gawk at whatever’s passing by in some tight Guess, oops my bad... Apple Bottoms. It’s hard to front like you’ve matured when you really haven’t. From an artistic standpoint, if there’s any semblance of pride, you’d think one would feel conflicted about telling women to “back that thang up” at 35, when they’re married with children? But you gotta give the people what they want right? Why not help them grow up?
Hip-hop has long betrayed it’s mantra of keeping it real and is now content to keep it fake. Kinda like pro wrestling. Years ago, the WWF, (World Wrestling Federation) came clean and acknowledged what everyone already knew, that it was all fake. To avoid confusion and endless debate about credibility, they decided, “let’s just call it sports entertainment.” WWF became WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) So now at 23, with fakeness acknowledged, Wrestlemania, the WWE’s biggest event is still thriving. Is this a parallel, a formula for success, fakeness = popularity, profit, success? Hmmm. [The irony of the WWE champ being a white rapper to boot is too comical not to note here]
None of this is to say that we can’t allow hip-hop to function like other genres (music and otherwise) and truly be a source of entertainment, nor can we expect anything but more of the same from unregenerate people. It’s just that given the stakes, still high, (urban centers in crisis) we cannot let hip-hop talk out of both sides of its mouth and big up itself as the “voice of the hood”, and use “corporate co-option”, CIA control, etc. as excuses for its immoral content. Are the individuals puppets without choice, extremely clueless, in denial, or all the above?
"Rappers too dumb to recognize they killing their own, yall phony, and everything yall representing is wrong!”
– Jack from The Block / Album: Genocide
Couple cases in point. I recently saw a screening of a documentary called "Beyond Beats and Rhymes" which looks at how hip-hop has cultivated a warped image of African American manhood. One of the most telling points of the film was how inarticulate and mentally scatter brained Jadakiss and Russell Simmons were. One is a skilled, albeit profane, lyricist (makes me wonder if he had a ghostwriter for his song Why?); the other is the prototype of the one positive aspect of hip-hop constantly trumpeted before its critics, entrepreneurship (as if this exempts it from responsibility). Both were surprisingly clueless and rambled in response to the questions posed to them about the current state of hip-hop. I chalk this up to a combination of cluelessness and denial. Even if there was a ghostwriter for Why, we know that Jadakiss, like everyone at some point in their own way, ponders the deeper meanings behind the state of the world he lives in. Yet his “feed my baby” defense of the rest of (the majority of) his lyrical content was completely disconnected in his mind from the many questions he pondered in his own song. In Russell’s case it was denial more so than cluelessness. As an “elder,” (dressed in pink) he has clearly seen the growing influence of the music he helped nurture from infancy; however, his pride won’t let him admit that its influence is NOT all good.
Another example is The Source, which recently asked has “hip-hop” become a minstrel show? The answer is a resounding yes, and The Source (as the self-proclaimed bible of hip-hop music culture and politics) is partly responsible for creating and maintaining the minstrel show. Their denial is a part of why this won’t likely change soon. Lastly there is Nas. A relatively respected, and undeniably gifted MC, who now proclaims that “hip-hop is dead” but yet doesn’t fully acknowledge how his Nas Escobar era and questionable content on the album itself helped to kill it. Past singles like I Can, which like Jadakiss’ Why come off as “moments of clarity” between blunts, amid albums and careers of fence-straddling and contradictions. I guess this is why the scriptures teach us that;
"A double minded man is unstable in ALL his ways." – James 1:8
And that there will be some who are;
“... ever learning but NEVER able to come into a knowledge of the truth." – 2 Tim. 3:7
This duplicity on the part of the shapers of secular hip hop comes with too heavy a price when you ubiquitously put such juvenile lyrical content into the mix with an unchurched generation from largely broken homes, dilapidated urban schools, and the absence of accessible leaders and role models. Reality becomes inseparable from entertainment, life begins to imitate art.
If you were reading closely as to my reasons above and the examples I gave, you might’ve noticed that I had no example of the current state of affairs being attributable to MCs being “puppets”. Yes, I can concede that the culture’s been infiltrated by corporate greed and those who’ve commodified gangsterism, thuggery, and misogyny and sold it back to us, but like in all things, God’s great gift of free will, volition, still remains. And the aforementioned “conscious artists” like Common are examples of that. Chuck D. said in the same documentary, that the problem is that “we haven’t had men, in hip-hop as MCs.” I was like ooooh, nice jab Chuck!
"Chain Hang Low" is the debut single from St. Louis-based 15-year-old rapper Jibbs. His hit is built around a chorus reworked from the children's Cartoon Blue's Clues theme "Do Your Ears Hang Low?" which is itself a variant on the minstrel show song "Turkey in the Straw" and "Zip Coon". This has generated controversy among urban music writers and scholars, but of course Jibbs claims innocence of the tune's origins, "I was unaware of that and so will the many KIDS who will buy it and cheerfully sing along to it." It's no surprise that Jibbs is ignorant to our history because we are definitely not teaching it. Which is why the saying, " Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it" rings painfully true.
"We not men, we boys in grown bodies…steady dying for lack of knowledge, forever partying, my people lost, we’re walking in false bliss."
- Temple of the Mad Prophets from Medicine / Album: Current Events
Real MEN would not allow themselves to justify being pimped by corporate labels that subsequently export a global image of themselves as new jack minstrels, but boys blinded by the love of money, rabid for worldly success will. "…for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil." – I Tim. 6:10
I appreciate Chuck for always “keeping it real” but as a believer, I have to expand his description to say that hip-hop hasn’t had godly men. Even the conscious artists like his own Public Enemy have seen the futility or the “ceiling” of their best efforts at promoting knowledge of self and economic empowerment as panaceas. Seen what Flavor Flav is up to lately? Ahem, my point exactly.
"... having a form of godliness…" - 2 Timothy 3:5
”... ever learning but never able to acknowledge the truth…” - 2 Timothy 3:7
”... I am the way, the truth, the life...” – Jesus in John 14:6
"... Sanctify them with the truth, thy word is truth." - Jesus in John 17:7
What does all this mean for us as believers in this era where hip-hop’s global influence is undeniable. If MCs, and label execs. “got saved tomorrow” by the droves will we, as a Body be ready to embrace, befriend, encourage and disciple? Our role as believers and arguably “gatekeepers”, (those who “spit life”) albeit disenfranchised from the industry to truly function as such, is as follows: to understand the warfare in the spiritual realm, to “stay on our knees, so we can stay on our toes” (Jack – from No Fear; The Brix) keep it real with secular hip-hop even if it has long ceased to keep it real with itself, not grow weary in well doing in our respective ministries as a result of lackadaisical church support, agnostic ambivalence, resistance, etc. and foremost, continue presenting CHRIST as the remedy for all that ails our urban, suburban, and global woes.
Hopefully the “religious counterpart” as it relates to “adolescence” and hip-hop for us is not that we ‘outgrow’ it ourselves and abandon it for ‘real ministry’. Kind of like a burgeoning minister who “cuts his teeth” on youth ministry until he can fill a vacant pastorate. Only God and those who grab the steel to rep Him truly know if they truly see themselves as ministers, or merely entertainers and if they dread opportunities to build, life on life, as Lecrae or Quan would say “after the music stops.” Hip-hop is only a ministry tool for us, and our allegiance is not to it, but to Him who transcends culture for redemptive purposes, even as He imparts gifts to those within a culture, His remnant, to reach others in that culture, in any dispensation.
So as long as it is profitable for labels and rappers to be “adolescent” with their content, nothing will change, hip hop will stay stuck, and the harvest will remain ripe with much work to be done. So those in the trenches, remain. But those who might feel (or begin to feel) “too old” to RAP, or for whom it IS, “just a season”, we still need you as our HHH elders ready to avail yourselves to serve and mentor the “yung bucs” and help them to avoid the pitfalls of the ministry/industry, church/street conundrum and help them grow, help prepare them and local churches for the harvest that awaits The Body when the secular artists and fans alike, are ready to grow up, to put away “childish things.”
- vessel Yuinon Local 313
02.07.07
“… plus they get to see a Lil Jon, it’s ludicrous if you think you’re gonna see ‘em read a little John …”
- The Ambassador from Come Back Home / Album: The Thesis
Lil Bow Wow, Lil Romeo, Lil Wayne, Lil Kim, Lil Mo, Lil Jon, Lil Scrappy, Yung Joc, Yung Dro, Yung Wun, Yung Jeezy, Young Buck….who am I missing? Okay, fill in the rest, insert your locals here. Question to ponder is hip-hop stuck in a state of permanent “adolescence?” Now some might think, “it’s not that deep” it’s just a nickname that has nothing to do with age, or physical stature. At least in the case of some of the “lil’s,” most of the males were teens or pre-teens when they came out. As for the females, the “LiL” is like a moniker synonymous with “shorty.” Bow Wow has since dropped the “LiL” as is likely for others, but for these “yung” brothers, they came on the scene in their mid-to-late twenties! Now I know that’s not OLD by any means, but can a correlation be made as it relates to the current state of hip-hop and the names of these, young, I mean grown rappers?! If Janet can assert that 40 is the new 20, while others are saying 30 is the new 20, and those tracking the baby boomer generation are saying that 60 is the new middle age, what does this mean, if anything for hip-hop?
This is noteworthy for me, because I’ve long asserted that hip-hop is contributing to the prolonged adolescence of African-American men, heck women too in many instances as they follow the distorted lead of their male counterparts. In what other, non sports related profession do key figures ponder retirement at 30? This is a tragic proposition if one truly understands the artistic process, not to mention the mental rush of knowing that you can have access to millions of minds in a week via a CD release. I posit that Jigga, Dr. Dre, Eminen and the like, all of whom have either pondered or been in “retirement”, recognize the juvenile nature of their content as grown men and feel, guilty, like they should be talking about things of more substance. They are struggling to become grown as artists but their lives won’t let them.
"When I was a child I spoke (rhymed) as a child, I thought as a child, I reasoned like a child but when I became a man
I put a way childish things." – I Corinthians 13:11
Their counterparts in the industry like The Roots, Common, Talib, Mos Def, and a few others have distinguished themselves as artists who are at LEAST trying to deal with weightier issues than: ice, sex, guns, violence, drugs, self, and what have you and therefore they can forseeably tour well into their 30s and 40s and NOT as a part of some old school throwback show. If the Rolling Stones, (whose Bigger Bang tour was the highest grosser of 2006 with 437 million. Dag! That’s almost half a BILLION. A hundred mill plus for “each Stone”) The Eagles, Streisand and The Who among others can tour into their 50s and 60s and pack out STADIUMS, why not hip-hop? Have the MC’s exhausted all they have to say?
What I’ve observed is that many post collegiates, and young professionals who grew up with hip hop, feel that it’s now “beneath them” and doesn’t speak to their reality (not that it ever did if you want to be really honest) and they either “graduate” to something more “apparently” sophisticated like neo-soul or jazz, or wax nostalgic about hip-hop’s bygone “golden era.” However, there are many “fans”, who like their adolescent MC heroes, (who are really their peers) are also still stuck in mental adolescence and still turn out to see them in concert.
"Everybody hates rappers and say these labels are crooks, but why we let the consumers off the hook?"
– Corey Red from Crashin’ Da Party / Album: Crashin' Da Party
I saw this firsthand a couple years ago when Maji and I went to deliver Chuck D a copy of The Prequel at an “old school” show here in Detroit. We were tripping, even ran into old friends who are STUCK, in late 80’s mode, still sipping on whatever, still breaking their necks to gawk at whatever’s passing by in some tight Guess, oops my bad... Apple Bottoms. It’s hard to front like you’ve matured when you really haven’t. From an artistic standpoint, if there’s any semblance of pride, you’d think one would feel conflicted about telling women to “back that thang up” at 35, when they’re married with children? But you gotta give the people what they want right? Why not help them grow up?
Hip-hop has long betrayed it’s mantra of keeping it real and is now content to keep it fake. Kinda like pro wrestling. Years ago, the WWF, (World Wrestling Federation) came clean and acknowledged what everyone already knew, that it was all fake. To avoid confusion and endless debate about credibility, they decided, “let’s just call it sports entertainment.” WWF became WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) So now at 23, with fakeness acknowledged, Wrestlemania, the WWE’s biggest event is still thriving. Is this a parallel, a formula for success, fakeness = popularity, profit, success? Hmmm. [The irony of the WWE champ being a white rapper to boot is too comical not to note here]
None of this is to say that we can’t allow hip-hop to function like other genres (music and otherwise) and truly be a source of entertainment, nor can we expect anything but more of the same from unregenerate people. It’s just that given the stakes, still high, (urban centers in crisis) we cannot let hip-hop talk out of both sides of its mouth and big up itself as the “voice of the hood”, and use “corporate co-option”, CIA control, etc. as excuses for its immoral content. Are the individuals puppets without choice, extremely clueless, in denial, or all the above?
"Rappers too dumb to recognize they killing their own, yall phony, and everything yall representing is wrong!”
– Jack from The Block / Album: Genocide
Couple cases in point. I recently saw a screening of a documentary called "Beyond Beats and Rhymes" which looks at how hip-hop has cultivated a warped image of African American manhood. One of the most telling points of the film was how inarticulate and mentally scatter brained Jadakiss and Russell Simmons were. One is a skilled, albeit profane, lyricist (makes me wonder if he had a ghostwriter for his song Why?); the other is the prototype of the one positive aspect of hip-hop constantly trumpeted before its critics, entrepreneurship (as if this exempts it from responsibility). Both were surprisingly clueless and rambled in response to the questions posed to them about the current state of hip-hop. I chalk this up to a combination of cluelessness and denial. Even if there was a ghostwriter for Why, we know that Jadakiss, like everyone at some point in their own way, ponders the deeper meanings behind the state of the world he lives in. Yet his “feed my baby” defense of the rest of (the majority of) his lyrical content was completely disconnected in his mind from the many questions he pondered in his own song. In Russell’s case it was denial more so than cluelessness. As an “elder,” (dressed in pink) he has clearly seen the growing influence of the music he helped nurture from infancy; however, his pride won’t let him admit that its influence is NOT all good.
Another example is The Source, which recently asked has “hip-hop” become a minstrel show? The answer is a resounding yes, and The Source (as the self-proclaimed bible of hip-hop music culture and politics) is partly responsible for creating and maintaining the minstrel show. Their denial is a part of why this won’t likely change soon. Lastly there is Nas. A relatively respected, and undeniably gifted MC, who now proclaims that “hip-hop is dead” but yet doesn’t fully acknowledge how his Nas Escobar era and questionable content on the album itself helped to kill it. Past singles like I Can, which like Jadakiss’ Why come off as “moments of clarity” between blunts, amid albums and careers of fence-straddling and contradictions. I guess this is why the scriptures teach us that;
"A double minded man is unstable in ALL his ways." – James 1:8
And that there will be some who are;
“... ever learning but NEVER able to come into a knowledge of the truth." – 2 Tim. 3:7
This duplicity on the part of the shapers of secular hip hop comes with too heavy a price when you ubiquitously put such juvenile lyrical content into the mix with an unchurched generation from largely broken homes, dilapidated urban schools, and the absence of accessible leaders and role models. Reality becomes inseparable from entertainment, life begins to imitate art.
If you were reading closely as to my reasons above and the examples I gave, you might’ve noticed that I had no example of the current state of affairs being attributable to MCs being “puppets”. Yes, I can concede that the culture’s been infiltrated by corporate greed and those who’ve commodified gangsterism, thuggery, and misogyny and sold it back to us, but like in all things, God’s great gift of free will, volition, still remains. And the aforementioned “conscious artists” like Common are examples of that. Chuck D. said in the same documentary, that the problem is that “we haven’t had men, in hip-hop as MCs.” I was like ooooh, nice jab Chuck!
"Chain Hang Low" is the debut single from St. Louis-based 15-year-old rapper Jibbs. His hit is built around a chorus reworked from the children's Cartoon Blue's Clues theme "Do Your Ears Hang Low?" which is itself a variant on the minstrel show song "Turkey in the Straw" and "Zip Coon". This has generated controversy among urban music writers and scholars, but of course Jibbs claims innocence of the tune's origins, "I was unaware of that and so will the many KIDS who will buy it and cheerfully sing along to it." It's no surprise that Jibbs is ignorant to our history because we are definitely not teaching it. Which is why the saying, " Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it" rings painfully true.
"We not men, we boys in grown bodies…steady dying for lack of knowledge, forever partying, my people lost, we’re walking in false bliss."
- Temple of the Mad Prophets from Medicine / Album: Current Events
Real MEN would not allow themselves to justify being pimped by corporate labels that subsequently export a global image of themselves as new jack minstrels, but boys blinded by the love of money, rabid for worldly success will. "…for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil." – I Tim. 6:10
I appreciate Chuck for always “keeping it real” but as a believer, I have to expand his description to say that hip-hop hasn’t had godly men. Even the conscious artists like his own Public Enemy have seen the futility or the “ceiling” of their best efforts at promoting knowledge of self and economic empowerment as panaceas. Seen what Flavor Flav is up to lately? Ahem, my point exactly.
"... having a form of godliness…" - 2 Timothy 3:5
”... ever learning but never able to acknowledge the truth…” - 2 Timothy 3:7
”... I am the way, the truth, the life...” – Jesus in John 14:6
"... Sanctify them with the truth, thy word is truth." - Jesus in John 17:7
What does all this mean for us as believers in this era where hip-hop’s global influence is undeniable. If MCs, and label execs. “got saved tomorrow” by the droves will we, as a Body be ready to embrace, befriend, encourage and disciple? Our role as believers and arguably “gatekeepers”, (those who “spit life”) albeit disenfranchised from the industry to truly function as such, is as follows: to understand the warfare in the spiritual realm, to “stay on our knees, so we can stay on our toes” (Jack – from No Fear; The Brix) keep it real with secular hip-hop even if it has long ceased to keep it real with itself, not grow weary in well doing in our respective ministries as a result of lackadaisical church support, agnostic ambivalence, resistance, etc. and foremost, continue presenting CHRIST as the remedy for all that ails our urban, suburban, and global woes.
Hopefully the “religious counterpart” as it relates to “adolescence” and hip-hop for us is not that we ‘outgrow’ it ourselves and abandon it for ‘real ministry’. Kind of like a burgeoning minister who “cuts his teeth” on youth ministry until he can fill a vacant pastorate. Only God and those who grab the steel to rep Him truly know if they truly see themselves as ministers, or merely entertainers and if they dread opportunities to build, life on life, as Lecrae or Quan would say “after the music stops.” Hip-hop is only a ministry tool for us, and our allegiance is not to it, but to Him who transcends culture for redemptive purposes, even as He imparts gifts to those within a culture, His remnant, to reach others in that culture, in any dispensation.
So as long as it is profitable for labels and rappers to be “adolescent” with their content, nothing will change, hip hop will stay stuck, and the harvest will remain ripe with much work to be done. So those in the trenches, remain. But those who might feel (or begin to feel) “too old” to RAP, or for whom it IS, “just a season”, we still need you as our HHH elders ready to avail yourselves to serve and mentor the “yung bucs” and help them to avoid the pitfalls of the ministry/industry, church/street conundrum and help them grow, help prepare them and local churches for the harvest that awaits The Body when the secular artists and fans alike, are ready to grow up, to put away “childish things.”
- vessel Yuinon Local 313
02.07.07
Monday, February 26, 2007
Monday, February 19, 2007
Monday, February 12, 2007
Ordinary Sunday Afternoon
Shout out the original Last Days Fam,
Kitron
Ark-bonafide
Landmarq
Kleezyasteez
Baggs
BRainTrain
Last Days Stand UP!!
Look out for the first release this year.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Nicolay Interview
If you into good old hip-hop,classical production,the people that make it and the processes they follow to bring it to life, you'll enjoy this!
Its an interview with Extraordinary-Producer Nicolay i got from 3sixteenfabrications.
Enjoy!
Nicolay is the Netherlands-based producer of one of the most critically acclaimed albums on the underground hip hop circuit in 2005 – “The Foreign Exchange.” You’ve also heard his work on some Little Brother tracks (“Light It Up”, a hot track that appeared on the B-Side of LB’s “Whatever You Say” single) as well as the beat for “The Williams” with Supastition, which ended up winning the Okayplayer unsigned artist competition. One of the most remarkable things about his projects is the fact that he’s completed them all without ever meeting with his collaborators.
It was only fitting that Nicolay and I would end up connecting through the internet (Instant Messenger, of course) to talk some more about his musical beginnings, his projects, and where he’s going with his career.
-Andrew
Tell the people out there a little more about where you’re from.
I've grown up where I have been living now for a good 25 years, which is Utrecht, the Netherlands – in Europe. I enjoyed a warm and loving upbringing, and discovered my love for music because my mother would just continuously play music - from Nina Simone to classical music and back. So from early on, I was exposed to a lot of music, and it was definitely my moms that schooled me that way and encouraged me to learn play an instrument.
What did you start off on?
I started off on the classical or Spanish guitar when I was around 11 or 12. I took lessons it on for a couple of years, but I eventually wanted to get an electrical guitar too just to rock. Me and a few buddies wanted to form this band so we could play Prince stuff, you know… but there were already two guitar players so I kinda had no option but to buy a bass.
Oh man. That hurts for bass players like me to hear.
(Laughs). I became a dedicated bass player though - and that was my main thing for several years while i would still play guitar on the side.
Was it hard to switch back and forth? I know some musicians find it hard but others seem to do ok with it… like Ben Kenney who played electric for the Roots but switched back to playing bass for Incubus.
Not really…not for me anyways. I am just as much a bassist as a guitarist as a keyboard player. I just do whatever to get my point across
How long did you play in a band for?
I played in several bands (too many to mention) from then on up to like 2001 - a good ten years all together. The majority of the stuff we played would be funk and R&B type stuff. The last band I played in was on some 80s synthesizer funk stuff a la Zapp…and prince would always be a big influence in any of those groups. Plus I always had my own band…right now we're more or less contemplating whether we can breathe life into that one again.
Tell me about that...
Well, "Nicolay" was also the name of the band that I toured with for about 3 or 4 years. We would play R & B, hip hop and soul type stuff and open up for artists like Boyz II Men, K-Ci and Jojo.
Thats dope. What happened to that band?
I had to let it go because I made the choice of focusing on production work. Another reason was that we couldn't really get a foot between the door as far as making records was concerned - so i changed my focus.
I see. What kind of production work did you start focusing on?
I wasn't making beats yet – I’m referring to production in terms of studio work and recording. I was doing work for the band I was playing for, and it wasn't until 2001 where I decided to drop all things regarding live playing and bands and that was because I was doing more and more production in the hip hop sense. I couldn't combine it anymore...
Not enough time? Was it a musical shift?
Not enough time. I never shifted - music is music.
I bet a lot of people who are catching you for the first time don’t know that you have such a deep history in music making before becoming a beatmaker.
And that's cool. I felt I had to make a brand new start anyway because the activities I had been involved in up to 2000 simply didn't pay off. People over here [in the Netherlands] weren't trying to hear us, so in that sense maybe I did make a shift - but not musical. It was a geographical shift.
More in a sense of doing whatever it would take to allow people to hear your music.
Exactly.
It’s funny. Supastition tells me that the recognition that you are getting now has been "a long time coming." I can see why he says that now.
People hear "long time coming" and think... yeah, cat’s been doing it for like five years now but I've been in and out of music since the late eighties so. I am just thankful that the way I do finally come out is so strong.
"...moments like that are pure happiness - the moment you realize you're onto something."
How did you get started with beatmaking? What was your setup like?
Exactly the same as it is now…well, almost. It's basically a computer (laughs). I'll let you in on a secret. One of the first things I did was the beat for [Little Brother’s] "Light it up" - but I didn't have that vocal hook yet. By that time I was heavy into 9th Wonder's stuff. We had just about heard like ten joints from him and I was blown away
That's when I thought... I need a vocal sample! (because of what he did in "Whatever You Say") So I just started looking around - and I had this Supremes thing lying around. It just fit in tempo and key and everything.
Moments like that… moments like that are pure happiness - the moment you realize you're onto something.
How has your musician's background affected your beatmaking?
I think it plays a big part because I studied music for 7 years at the Amsterdam university so I’ve got a lot of music theory that's in my head for good. That does not necessarily make me better - far from it – but I think it does play a big part in what I do musically.
What I do musically is basically stuff I'd like to hear. I mean, even in "Light it up" which started out as a more "Premier" approach if you will, I ended up adding keys to make the sound more thick and broad... and that's what usually happens.
I personally started out playing piano, which was a good instrument to allow me to learn about the "big picture" in that it combines melody, harmony and a bass line if you will. do you feel like playing different instruments and playing in an actual band helps you to see the big picture better when you're creating a beat?
Let's say it did give me an advantage starting out producing - just knowing how harmonies work and what bass notes you might want to put under a certain chord... what would be a natural progression.
But in the end, it takes talent whether you have a musical background or not, right?
Talent, persistence, and good ideas. The musical background helps me a lot, but I know some ridiculously talented cats that don't have that background at all.
These days, anyone with a computer can be a "producer." How do you feel about that?
Anyone has the potential, just like anyone could become an architect, but the line is not drawn at owning a computer and some software. The line is drawn at the talent - the ear for music.
Their work will eventually be shown for what it is, right?
Man... I’ve heard stuff by cats in these big studios with all the budget in the world, and it was literally wack as !@#$. Having a computer or not or having a big studio or not, those are not the decisive factors. Look at RZA doing the entire first Wu-Tang album on that small sampler with four pads.
Do you feel the word "production" is misused these days when cats can whip out a beat, ship it to an MC and call it a day? What are people missing these days from producers of old?
Well, they both are different words nowadays, just like the word "album" doesn't mean what it used to mean anymore. A producer in the traditional sense - Quincy Jones, George Martin - would be involved in everything from the song writing to the collaborations to the mixing to everything. In hip hop and contemporary R & B, a producer is the guy that does the track and that's usually it. It's just a semantic shift.
Do you think that hip hop would benefit from producers with a greater vision for the feel of a track and how it would fit into the album as a whole?
Well let's not generalize. Some cats are not to be underestimated…Kanye West, 9th Wonder, possibly Lil Jon…I think I can name a lot of names of cats that are involved way more than just do the beat, thank God.
"If it wasn't for the internet I'd be playing oompah at a farmer's wedding right now."
The internet is one of the major reasons that you've been able to get your sound out of the netherlands and into the global hip hop community. Tell me about that.
THE major reason…the only reason. If it wasn't for the internet I'd be playing oompah at a farmer's wedding right now. Every project I have been involved in has come about through the internet. See, I guess you could say that Little Brother discovered me.
Were they the first group that spit over your beats or were there any local cats?
They were the first recording over one of my beats – “Light It Up” and “Nic’s Groove.” Those two were the first session in 2001. It started because Phonte had heard the “Light it up” beat and the beat that would become "Be Alright." After that, I just literally kept sending and sending - the beat for “Nic's Groove,” “Happiness,” “Let's Move,” all those.
What’s the story behind little brother discovering you?
That was the story - both Phonte and I would hang at the Okayplayer message boards, discussing music and what not. That's where I heard his stuff and he heard mine, we got into contact, and it was a wrap!
When did you guys come up with the idea for "The Foreign Exchange"?
That was way later. At first, we just did a couple of tracks for the sake of doing it. Then, after we had about 5, the idea of a "Nicolay vs. Little Brother" EP started to rise - but Pooh decided that he wanted to do something that fit more with his personal style… and some of the tracks i was doing at that time didn't fit into that.
So it was me and tay from then on…that's when ‘Tay came up with "Foreign Exchange."
How long did it take to complete that project?
I’d say a good 1.5 to 2 years.
Wow. People are constantly blown away at the chemistry between you and Phonte on the album…and the fact that you guys never met up in person and that the entire album was constructed over the internet makes it even more impressive.
That's not how we experienced making it…we just liked what we came up with. It just felt natural what we did, and convenient. I would just send a track, and he would return with vocals. Like Phonte said, it's not about being all up in each other's face, as long as you knock em out of the park
With so many artists having to subject themselves to making a certain kind of music (what your label tells you to do, or what your marketing agent tells you to do) it must be nice for people to feel the stuff that you want to do.
That's why our way worked. We had no label, no budget… just us and some friends. We finished it ourselves, finished the artwork ourselves, and presented this complete package. It was up to us getting with a label, there simply was no money involved. It was all love.
You've got a lot of great stories to tell. How did you and Supastition hook up for "The Williams" - which went on to win a spot on the prestigious Okayplayer true notes vol.1 album?
Man, it was the same thing basically. Supa had heard what I did with Little Brother, so he reached out. Now, "The Williams" was supposed to be on his album, but i always felt it was a really strong cut with potential. So when that whole Okayplayer thing came about, people were urging me to send that one in. We did, and the rest is history.
Any upcoming projects that you want to take the chance to plug?
Yeah, me and ‘Tay are working on Darien Brockington's solo album. He's the cat that sings lead on "Come Around.” That one is gonna be a beautiful album, man. Work by me, Symbolyc one, Vitamin D.
Any shoutouts?
Shoutouts to Phonte Pooh, 9th, Doh and the rest of the Justus league, Supastition, Soulspazm, Beatfanatic crew, Slopfunkdust, Oh So Nappy, FWMJ, Strange Fruit Project, Garden Seeker fam, the Lawn, Okayplayer…
The internet…
Shoutouts to the internet…the planets and the stars... and the love between a man and a woman.
Word up. Thanks for taking the time out to do this!
It was my pleasure. Shoutouts to Jazzy Jeff! Don't forget that one. Shoutouts to King Britt. Man I'm not gonna stop…
I think I might have to shut down instant messenger to shut you up (laughs).
Basically. Shoutouts to Instant Messenger!!!
-Andrew
One of my favourite crews is splitting up peoplel!!!!!
The Krew
Little Brother without 9th Wonder?
Last year sometime i posted pictures of these dudes and mentioned they were one of my favourite crews, now they are splitting up!
Read on from HHG>>>>>>>>>>>>
9th Wonder and Little Brother Part Ways; Rapper Pooh Clears Up Little Brother Rumors
"First, I want to say that Little Brother has not been dropped from
Atlantic," Rapper Pooh told HipHopGame. "At this time we are in the
process of negotiating our release from the label due to a difference in
philosophies."
"We asked to be released," Manager Big Dho added. "I think we may just
put the album out on Asylum to close our deal, but it's definitely a
wrap for us at Atlantic. We weren't happy with how things were going and
we decided we wanted to leave and on their end, they decided that they
didn't want to deal with that either."
"It's no big deal though," Dho added. "Nobody on our end is mad or has
any ill feelings towards their company."
"It wasn't a situation where they decided to drop us due to lack of
sales," Pooh said. "If that was the case, they never would have opened
up the budget for us to record Getback ."
Getback, Little Brother's third album, is close to completion but has no
release date yet.
"We as a group just felt that it was not in our best interest to remain
in a situation where our needs were constantly being overlooked. We
didn't have an A&R for The Minstrel Show. We don't have any type of
relationship with our current A&R. There are just a lot of internal
issues that ended up working against us."
Pooh also addressed the rumors regarding producer 9th Wonder's
involvement, or lack thereof, in Little Brother's Getback. "Little
Brother has decided, in the best interest of the group, for Little
Brother and 9th Wonder to part ways. There are no hard feelings and no
beef. This is just a decision that had to be made so all three of us
could move forward and continue to provide the world with dope music.
Little Brother's latest mixtape, And Justus For All, mixed by DJ Mick
Boogie, will be available for download February 13. "The decision to
release And Justus For All via download was a decision made by us. After
the Drama situation, we felt it was in the best interest of all of us to
just give this mixtape away with the current climate of the mixtape
scene."
And Justus For All will be available for download February 13. More
details on where to download it will be given closer to the release
date.
Reported by Brian Kayser
Last Days Fam Video Coming soon in 2007
Watch this Space and keep yo eyes glued to yo screens for the New Video from Last Days coming at ya faster than a Japanese bullet train!
Canaan, Last Days is Here!
Bestta Rekagnize!
Canaan, Last Days is Here!
Bestta Rekagnize!
Monday, January 29, 2007
Last Days Fam
Have you heard of Last Days Fam?
Check out Last Days Fam Hear........>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX0Z00LR55s
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Check out Last Days Fam Hear........>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX0Z00LR55s
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
My blogchive
Since this blog doubles up as an archive, i might as well put this up for future reference.
10 Steps to guarantee failure
In the hustle and bustle of this technologically packed world you may decide you really don’t want to achieve any lasting success in your lifetime. Sure, you can find a lot of strategies and tips here that can help you increase your success rate. But what about the people who are perfectly happy not achieving anything? Is it fair that I keep pushing and prodding if someone is content leaving behind a legacy of debt and mediocrity? hmmm…maybe not. So this is for all the people who want to have goals but not achieve them.
1. Make your goals vague - When setting your goals, use adjectives such as “more” and “some.” Goals like “I want to make more money” or “I want to lose some weight” virtually guarantee your progress will be minimal. Be as wishy-washy as possible. And while you’re at it, you might want to set a goal of getting a job doing something.
2. Make your goals difficult to visualize - A good way to do this is to keep changing your mind on the details of your goal. If you are thinking a goal such as: “I want to own a red, blue or yellow Corvette or just a Mustang”, then you are definately on the right track. If you kept that goal planted firmly in your mind, you are virtually guaranteed you’ll never go above a used Hyundai.
3. Think and speak negatively about your goals - Try using words like “I can’t” and “It’s too hard”. Goals such as “I can’t get a promotion, It’s too hard to take on more responsibility” will certainly keep you at the bottom of the food chain. If you can put it in writing or work up enough courage to tell your boss directly, he or she will almost definately avoid promoting you from that point on. Who knows, you might get lucky and get fired! It’s worth a shot anyway.
4. Avoid planning incremental steps - It’s likely that if you have made it this far you are already following this rule already! Take a goal - even a specific goal like “I will double my income by this time next year”. Then simply leave it as-is. Don’t write down any tasks or steps you’ll need to complete in order to achieve it. Just consider the goal a wish and nothing more. Creating a step-by-step plan will only confuse matters because it’s all too easy to take action on simple steps. Action in the direction of your goal would lead to success and you definately don’t want that.
5. Don’t Do - Talk - Because talk is easier than action, this step one of the easiest steps for you to take. Try to fill up as much of your day with socializing as possible. Talk about all the things you will do someday or that you were gonna do. Just make sure you don’t mess it up by doing anything productive. Action is your enemy. Embrace your excuses!
6. Wait until you are motivated - Let’s face it, it’s much too difficult to go jogging or open a mutual fund account when you simply don’t feel like it. So just wait. Waiting gives you the peace of mind that someday, you might do something. But not yet, the timing isn’t right and you aren’t motivated anyway.
7. Don’t set a date - Setting a date when you expect to achieve your goal is too much pressure. Who needs it? Definately not you if you want to avoid progress. You know that goals with dates get done, so by not setting a date you avoid making a commitment. You can keep putting off stuff. Even though people may ask “When are you ever going to get around to reaching your target?”, you have a wild card. By not having a date, you can put off actually doing anything.
8. List why it’s impossible - Now we are getting into the mental game of failing. This is quite possibly your greatest weapon against achievement because it destroys hope and optimism. So as soon as possible, set aside some time to create a long list of how impossible your goal really is. No matter what your target is, I am sure you can come up with plenty of reasons why it’s impossible. Be creative, make up some if you have to (i.e. “It’s impossible for me to lose weight because I was kidnapped by space aliens and injected with a fat-serum.”) Bonus: You get extra points if you can come up with an excuse using UFOs, ghosts or the Bermuda Triangle.
9. Don’t research your goal - You’re the kind of guy or gal who likes to “wing it.” Reading about how others have succeeded achieving a goal similar to you is just a waste of time. Instead of standing on their shoulders, they should be standing on yours! Sure, they might have overcome unbelievable odds to get from homelessness to CEO or 450lbs to a 180lbs - but they were probably just “lucky” anyway. Don’t read anything that promises to help you get to your destination.
10. Think of anything except your goal - Here’s another mental strategy that will put you on the fast track to failure. Think of anything except for your goal. Why visualize success when there’s plenty of clouds, teddy bears, and TV reruns to think about? And while you’re at it, take action on these flights of fancy instead of your goal. I know what you’re thinking…you’re thinking “I wonder if there are any green teddy bears out there?” Now you’re getting it! Focusing on your goal for long periods of time can be difficult and challenging. Thinking about unicorns is easy and fun. Take the easy path, that’s the only way you can fail in record time.
10 Steps to guarantee failure
In the hustle and bustle of this technologically packed world you may decide you really don’t want to achieve any lasting success in your lifetime. Sure, you can find a lot of strategies and tips here that can help you increase your success rate. But what about the people who are perfectly happy not achieving anything? Is it fair that I keep pushing and prodding if someone is content leaving behind a legacy of debt and mediocrity? hmmm…maybe not. So this is for all the people who want to have goals but not achieve them.
1. Make your goals vague - When setting your goals, use adjectives such as “more” and “some.” Goals like “I want to make more money” or “I want to lose some weight” virtually guarantee your progress will be minimal. Be as wishy-washy as possible. And while you’re at it, you might want to set a goal of getting a job doing something.
2. Make your goals difficult to visualize - A good way to do this is to keep changing your mind on the details of your goal. If you are thinking a goal such as: “I want to own a red, blue or yellow Corvette or just a Mustang”, then you are definately on the right track. If you kept that goal planted firmly in your mind, you are virtually guaranteed you’ll never go above a used Hyundai.
3. Think and speak negatively about your goals - Try using words like “I can’t” and “It’s too hard”. Goals such as “I can’t get a promotion, It’s too hard to take on more responsibility” will certainly keep you at the bottom of the food chain. If you can put it in writing or work up enough courage to tell your boss directly, he or she will almost definately avoid promoting you from that point on. Who knows, you might get lucky and get fired! It’s worth a shot anyway.
4. Avoid planning incremental steps - It’s likely that if you have made it this far you are already following this rule already! Take a goal - even a specific goal like “I will double my income by this time next year”. Then simply leave it as-is. Don’t write down any tasks or steps you’ll need to complete in order to achieve it. Just consider the goal a wish and nothing more. Creating a step-by-step plan will only confuse matters because it’s all too easy to take action on simple steps. Action in the direction of your goal would lead to success and you definately don’t want that.
5. Don’t Do - Talk - Because talk is easier than action, this step one of the easiest steps for you to take. Try to fill up as much of your day with socializing as possible. Talk about all the things you will do someday or that you were gonna do. Just make sure you don’t mess it up by doing anything productive. Action is your enemy. Embrace your excuses!
6. Wait until you are motivated - Let’s face it, it’s much too difficult to go jogging or open a mutual fund account when you simply don’t feel like it. So just wait. Waiting gives you the peace of mind that someday, you might do something. But not yet, the timing isn’t right and you aren’t motivated anyway.
7. Don’t set a date - Setting a date when you expect to achieve your goal is too much pressure. Who needs it? Definately not you if you want to avoid progress. You know that goals with dates get done, so by not setting a date you avoid making a commitment. You can keep putting off stuff. Even though people may ask “When are you ever going to get around to reaching your target?”, you have a wild card. By not having a date, you can put off actually doing anything.
8. List why it’s impossible - Now we are getting into the mental game of failing. This is quite possibly your greatest weapon against achievement because it destroys hope and optimism. So as soon as possible, set aside some time to create a long list of how impossible your goal really is. No matter what your target is, I am sure you can come up with plenty of reasons why it’s impossible. Be creative, make up some if you have to (i.e. “It’s impossible for me to lose weight because I was kidnapped by space aliens and injected with a fat-serum.”) Bonus: You get extra points if you can come up with an excuse using UFOs, ghosts or the Bermuda Triangle.
9. Don’t research your goal - You’re the kind of guy or gal who likes to “wing it.” Reading about how others have succeeded achieving a goal similar to you is just a waste of time. Instead of standing on their shoulders, they should be standing on yours! Sure, they might have overcome unbelievable odds to get from homelessness to CEO or 450lbs to a 180lbs - but they were probably just “lucky” anyway. Don’t read anything that promises to help you get to your destination.
10. Think of anything except your goal - Here’s another mental strategy that will put you on the fast track to failure. Think of anything except for your goal. Why visualize success when there’s plenty of clouds, teddy bears, and TV reruns to think about? And while you’re at it, take action on these flights of fancy instead of your goal. I know what you’re thinking…you’re thinking “I wonder if there are any green teddy bears out there?” Now you’re getting it! Focusing on your goal for long periods of time can be difficult and challenging. Thinking about unicorns is easy and fun. Take the easy path, that’s the only way you can fail in record time.
"Knowledge by Intuition"
This dude has got an interesting way of viewing things
".............
There are certain things you must know immediately -- directly -- in order to have the tools you need to begin learning other things.
I'm convinced that many of the things essential to a Christian world view are things all human beings already believe without being told: the idea that human beings are special, valuable, made in the image of God and have transcendent value; that there's purpose in life; that man is not only valuable, but twisted, sinful, and guilty and deserves to be punished; that God is real and has made an orderly universe and designed it for a purpose. These are a few things off the top of my head, essential parts of the Christian view of the world that I believe every person already knows deep down inside.
Some of these things I mentioned are known through the faculty of intuition. When I say "intuition," I mean something very particular. I don't mean female intuition--a type of insight into a circumstance. I don't mean a hunch about something. I mean a way of knowing which is immediate and direct. It's knowledge you start with, knowledge that's already built in. Our founding fathers called it "self-evident" truth.
This kind of truth isn't a result of reasoning to a conclusion, so intuitional knowledge doesn't require a defense. Some people are uncomfortable with this notion. It seems like cheating. Philosopher J.P. Moreland has pointed out, though, that if you can't know some things without knowing why you know them--if you don't have some things in place to begin with--you can't know anything at all. You can't even begin the task of discovery. Aristotle said that some things can't be proved, but without them you can't prove anything.
There are certain things you must know immediately--directly--in order to have the tools you need to begin learning other things. For example, how is it that you know--and you're going to say that only a philosopher would ask this kind of question--how is it you know which body in the room is your own? How do you know that you inhabit the body you normally call yours?
How does Greg Koukl know he inhabits and possesses the body that's sitting right now behind the mike in the KBRT studios? I don't reason my way to this knowledge. It's something I know through introspective awareness. I'm introspectively aware of the fact that I'm unified with this body.
If you tell me to prove it, you'd be making an odd request. Maybe an evidence might be that when I will my hand to move, then it's the hand of this body that begins moving, not the hand of the body across the room. That might be an indication to me which body is mine. But it seems unreasonable for me to have to offer such evidence, because my knowledge of which body is my own is immediate, an intuitive awareness that gives me truth about the world.
I use this bizarre example for a reason. The answer to the question of which body is our own seems so obvious one wonders why even ask the question? That's the point. We ask the question because we're trying to get at the foundation of knowledge and not take anything for granted. But it seems like a foolish question, because it's so obvious which body is ours. We know the answer directly. We take it for granted, and we think it's foolish to even question it. That's the power of intuitive knowledge. I think we know many things like that.
Part of the tactical approach I take as a Christian apologist that capitalizes on the fact of intuitional knowledge is a concept I call "Back of the Book." I know things that are true about people I've only just met, but they don't know I know. I know some of their secrets, in a sense. How do I know them? Because God has revealed, in the Bible, things that are true about every human being. I've read the "back of the book"; I know how the story ends. I've peeked into the person's private file, and so can you.
Because the Book tells us true things about every human being--awareness of God's existence, the sense of our own value, a knowledge of our own sin and guilt, etc.--we can appeal to those things knowing we're touching a nerve. Even if a person denies these things are true, I know he's lying to himself. In his heart of hearts he knows it, and in unguarded moments the truth comes out from his own lips. How does he know it? Through intuition.
During our "Science and Faith" conference last week, I fielded this question: How do we know there's purpose in the universe? How can I prove it? My response was that purpose isn't something we argue for; it's something we're already aware of. Even the person challenging me believes that human beings have purpose, even if he's not immediately aware of it.
How do we make him see it? I ask him a question which causes the intuition to rise to the surface. For example, if somebody challenges about purpose in life, I'll ask him if he's ever talked anyone out of suicide. Has he ever deplored a young person's "untimely" death? Has he ever called such a thing tragic? A child dies of a disease. A car full of promising high school seniors out for a night on the town gets hit by a train, and they all perish. Has he ever called such a thing tragic?
Virtually everyone, when faced with a potential suicide, will try to talk the person out of it. Now, here's the question: Why? Why talk someone out of suicide if life has no purpose? Everyone, at some time or another, has shaken his head at the tragedy of an untimely death. Why is it tragic when a six-year-old dies of leukemia, or a car load of high school honor students perishes at a railroad crossing? Why is that tragic? Because an untimely death is one that happens before its time, before a certain purpose is accomplished?
divider
Now the question you must ask yourself is this: "What religious view makes sense out of the idea that human beings have purpose?
divider
Our reactions to these things--suicide, untimely deaths, etc.--are spontaneous, immediate, and intuitive. Deep down inside we know that each person's life is meant for something. It's not just that they have personal aspirations. A very young child dying of leukemia doesn't have aspirations. We consider it a tragedy for a different reason: The child did not accomplish what she was--watch this--"meant" to accomplish. We're not sure about the specifics of her purpose, but we're sure some purpose was intended, ergo the "tragedy" of the "untimely" death. We're so sure of transcendent human purpose that we try to stop people from killing themselves and "wasting" their lives.
In the same way, we consider it tragic if someone makes a conscious decision (as opposed to being pressed into poverty by circumstance) to be a bum, begging and living under a freeway in cardboard boxes. The more libertarian among us would no doubt acknowledge a person's "right" to live as he wants, but even the libertarian has a nagging sense that this life is being wasted. By contrast, we look at someone like Mother Theresa or Jonas Salk, and we applaud them for having accomplished something wonderful, having fulfilled something of their purpose in life.
My point is this: How do those observations make any sense if there's no purpose in life? If we have no purpose outside of us, then in what sense is it a waste when a child is struck down in its infancy? In what sense is it a waste when young high school students are killed in an auto accident? In what sense is it a waste when someone with tremendous gifts wiles away his life sitting under a tree or a freeway abutment? Why is that a waste?
If I presented these questions to you outside of a religious context--that is, if you weren't trying to second guess me and protect yourself--your immediate response would be, "It's obvious! Human beings ought to fulfill their potential. If someone kills himself, he's wasting his life."
But why would any suicide be tragic, if there were no purpose to life? If there's no purpose, then there's no tragedy, no waste. Yet we intuitively know these things are tragic losses. Therefore, our lives must have some purpose waiting to be discovered and lived.
This is one extended example of all kinds of things we're aware of, things we know intuitively. We haven't thought them through, but our language gives us away.
So, when somebody makes a statement like, "Prove to me there's purpose in life," my answer is, "You already know there's purpose." He may not know what the purpose is, but he already knows human life is meaningful. We all know that. We know it intuitively.
Now the question you must ask yourself is this: "What religious view makes sense out of the idea that human beings have purpose? Maybe a handful of them do, and then you have to go further to decide between them. But some religious views don't seem to make any sense out of life at all, and those must be false, because they don't explain the world as it really is.
You see what I've done? Instead of arguing for a Christian point of view, I start with an intuition and I ask questions to get a person in touch with their own intuitive knowledge. Then I ask them to make sense out of it. As a Christian, I don't have that problem. I can make sense out of it. The Bible explains it. The truth it describes fits the real world and resonates with our own deepest intuitions about life........."
Gregory Koukl
".............
There are certain things you must know immediately -- directly -- in order to have the tools you need to begin learning other things.
I'm convinced that many of the things essential to a Christian world view are things all human beings already believe without being told: the idea that human beings are special, valuable, made in the image of God and have transcendent value; that there's purpose in life; that man is not only valuable, but twisted, sinful, and guilty and deserves to be punished; that God is real and has made an orderly universe and designed it for a purpose. These are a few things off the top of my head, essential parts of the Christian view of the world that I believe every person already knows deep down inside.
Some of these things I mentioned are known through the faculty of intuition. When I say "intuition," I mean something very particular. I don't mean female intuition--a type of insight into a circumstance. I don't mean a hunch about something. I mean a way of knowing which is immediate and direct. It's knowledge you start with, knowledge that's already built in. Our founding fathers called it "self-evident" truth.
This kind of truth isn't a result of reasoning to a conclusion, so intuitional knowledge doesn't require a defense. Some people are uncomfortable with this notion. It seems like cheating. Philosopher J.P. Moreland has pointed out, though, that if you can't know some things without knowing why you know them--if you don't have some things in place to begin with--you can't know anything at all. You can't even begin the task of discovery. Aristotle said that some things can't be proved, but without them you can't prove anything.
There are certain things you must know immediately--directly--in order to have the tools you need to begin learning other things. For example, how is it that you know--and you're going to say that only a philosopher would ask this kind of question--how is it you know which body in the room is your own? How do you know that you inhabit the body you normally call yours?
How does Greg Koukl know he inhabits and possesses the body that's sitting right now behind the mike in the KBRT studios? I don't reason my way to this knowledge. It's something I know through introspective awareness. I'm introspectively aware of the fact that I'm unified with this body.
If you tell me to prove it, you'd be making an odd request. Maybe an evidence might be that when I will my hand to move, then it's the hand of this body that begins moving, not the hand of the body across the room. That might be an indication to me which body is mine. But it seems unreasonable for me to have to offer such evidence, because my knowledge of which body is my own is immediate, an intuitive awareness that gives me truth about the world.
I use this bizarre example for a reason. The answer to the question of which body is our own seems so obvious one wonders why even ask the question? That's the point. We ask the question because we're trying to get at the foundation of knowledge and not take anything for granted. But it seems like a foolish question, because it's so obvious which body is ours. We know the answer directly. We take it for granted, and we think it's foolish to even question it. That's the power of intuitive knowledge. I think we know many things like that.
Part of the tactical approach I take as a Christian apologist that capitalizes on the fact of intuitional knowledge is a concept I call "Back of the Book." I know things that are true about people I've only just met, but they don't know I know. I know some of their secrets, in a sense. How do I know them? Because God has revealed, in the Bible, things that are true about every human being. I've read the "back of the book"; I know how the story ends. I've peeked into the person's private file, and so can you.
Because the Book tells us true things about every human being--awareness of God's existence, the sense of our own value, a knowledge of our own sin and guilt, etc.--we can appeal to those things knowing we're touching a nerve. Even if a person denies these things are true, I know he's lying to himself. In his heart of hearts he knows it, and in unguarded moments the truth comes out from his own lips. How does he know it? Through intuition.
During our "Science and Faith" conference last week, I fielded this question: How do we know there's purpose in the universe? How can I prove it? My response was that purpose isn't something we argue for; it's something we're already aware of. Even the person challenging me believes that human beings have purpose, even if he's not immediately aware of it.
How do we make him see it? I ask him a question which causes the intuition to rise to the surface. For example, if somebody challenges about purpose in life, I'll ask him if he's ever talked anyone out of suicide. Has he ever deplored a young person's "untimely" death? Has he ever called such a thing tragic? A child dies of a disease. A car full of promising high school seniors out for a night on the town gets hit by a train, and they all perish. Has he ever called such a thing tragic?
Virtually everyone, when faced with a potential suicide, will try to talk the person out of it. Now, here's the question: Why? Why talk someone out of suicide if life has no purpose? Everyone, at some time or another, has shaken his head at the tragedy of an untimely death. Why is it tragic when a six-year-old dies of leukemia, or a car load of high school honor students perishes at a railroad crossing? Why is that tragic? Because an untimely death is one that happens before its time, before a certain purpose is accomplished?
divider
Now the question you must ask yourself is this: "What religious view makes sense out of the idea that human beings have purpose?
divider
Our reactions to these things--suicide, untimely deaths, etc.--are spontaneous, immediate, and intuitive. Deep down inside we know that each person's life is meant for something. It's not just that they have personal aspirations. A very young child dying of leukemia doesn't have aspirations. We consider it a tragedy for a different reason: The child did not accomplish what she was--watch this--"meant" to accomplish. We're not sure about the specifics of her purpose, but we're sure some purpose was intended, ergo the "tragedy" of the "untimely" death. We're so sure of transcendent human purpose that we try to stop people from killing themselves and "wasting" their lives.
In the same way, we consider it tragic if someone makes a conscious decision (as opposed to being pressed into poverty by circumstance) to be a bum, begging and living under a freeway in cardboard boxes. The more libertarian among us would no doubt acknowledge a person's "right" to live as he wants, but even the libertarian has a nagging sense that this life is being wasted. By contrast, we look at someone like Mother Theresa or Jonas Salk, and we applaud them for having accomplished something wonderful, having fulfilled something of their purpose in life.
My point is this: How do those observations make any sense if there's no purpose in life? If we have no purpose outside of us, then in what sense is it a waste when a child is struck down in its infancy? In what sense is it a waste when young high school students are killed in an auto accident? In what sense is it a waste when someone with tremendous gifts wiles away his life sitting under a tree or a freeway abutment? Why is that a waste?
If I presented these questions to you outside of a religious context--that is, if you weren't trying to second guess me and protect yourself--your immediate response would be, "It's obvious! Human beings ought to fulfill their potential. If someone kills himself, he's wasting his life."
But why would any suicide be tragic, if there were no purpose to life? If there's no purpose, then there's no tragedy, no waste. Yet we intuitively know these things are tragic losses. Therefore, our lives must have some purpose waiting to be discovered and lived.
This is one extended example of all kinds of things we're aware of, things we know intuitively. We haven't thought them through, but our language gives us away.
So, when somebody makes a statement like, "Prove to me there's purpose in life," my answer is, "You already know there's purpose." He may not know what the purpose is, but he already knows human life is meaningful. We all know that. We know it intuitively.
Now the question you must ask yourself is this: "What religious view makes sense out of the idea that human beings have purpose? Maybe a handful of them do, and then you have to go further to decide between them. But some religious views don't seem to make any sense out of life at all, and those must be false, because they don't explain the world as it really is.
You see what I've done? Instead of arguing for a Christian point of view, I start with an intuition and I ask questions to get a person in touch with their own intuitive knowledge. Then I ask them to make sense out of it. As a Christian, I don't have that problem. I can make sense out of it. The Bible explains it. The truth it describes fits the real world and resonates with our own deepest intuitions about life........."
Gregory Koukl
Dont remember where i got this
If there is one single factor to consider when contemplating the future of South Africa, it is the relentless flood of human detritus washing over our porous borders. Illegal immigrants enter SA at the rate of 10 000 per month, and the number is increasing. Unskilled, grindingly poor and desperate, they come in their thousands to settle in shanty towns around our cities, in our parks and abandoned city buildings.
With no means to sustain themselves, and egged on by an unyielding, daily course of state-sponsored anti-white propaganda, they invariably turn to crime. Emboldened by how easy it is, they graduate from burglaries and shoplifting, to ever more violent house invasions, hijacking, armed robberies and murder. Those rare few troubled by their consciences, quell it by eagerly swallowing the “we’re just taking back what the White Man stole from us” mantra, and adorn themselves with the remissible mantle of modern day Robin Hoods. Guilt inducing screeds in the mass media endlessly remind us that the Azanian 40% unemployment figure is a direct consequence of Apartheid. Openly racist ANC flunkeys issue veiled threats, imploring whites to “share the wealth”, warning darkly of fearful consequences when the black masses “run out of patience”. Bright-eyed, bushy-tailed sunshine propagandists will have us believe that crime is “to be expected in a transforming society”, urging whites to “hang in” and “sit it out”, while soothingly rattling off the latest regime-sponsored crime fighting plan.
So it was back in the closing stages of the previous century. A populist outburst of the “gatvol” phenomenon in 1998/9 compelled the then Commissioner of Police, George Fivaz, to partner with former SAB head Meir Kahn. Fivaz and Kahn configured a bold plan, promising an embattled public medium and long term relief from crime. Restive tax payers bought into it. Nothing ever came of it- with tail between the legs, Kahn & Fivaz quietly disappeared, but the illegals kept coming. In 2000, Jackie Selebi took over from Kahn, and with great fanfare announced a “far-reaching three year plan” to renovate the SAPS from top to bottom. An article from that time reads: “in March 2000, we were treated to a military-style blitz, live on television on inner city Johannesburg. Impressive? No, it is simply more of the same. Policing in SA during the past 5 years is a history of hastily convened fire-fighting campaigns orchestrated by panic-stricken personnel at police HQ in Pretoria”.
The next spike of “gatvol” revolt came during the 2004 general elections, with the shifty, opportunistic DA & FF+ seizing crime as a platform to ensure their place at the banquet table of public funds. Foam-specked speeches promising (amongst other things) 150 000 new cops on our streets drove voters into an optimistic frenzy as they bought into this false hope.
The elections came and went. Unsurprisingly, nothing ever came of the 150 000 cops. But the illegals came and came.
The latest ‘gatvol’ spike, driven by Safety & Security minister Nqacula’s callous, openly racist remarks for whining, whingeing whites to either suffer in silence or leave, was consummated by the Jeppestown massacre, where the deaths of sixteen people served as catalyst. The public mood turned ugly as it became clear the unprecedented surge of violent crime could be attributed to unusually virulent, racist propaganda as broadcast by the ANC regime-controlled SABC, during June 16 uprising celebrations this year. Suddenly, a usually docile, naïve SA public connected the dots and a picture of politically driven criminal genocide became apparent to all.
Not only was the ruling regime condoning violent, racist hate crimes and woefully failing it it’s constitutionally obligated duties, it was actively aiding and abetting it. Consider that:
• Full-time members of the SA National Defence Force, as well as members of the SA Police Service & Metro Police Services, are brazenly, and in full uniform, committing crimes of hijacking, armed robbery, house breaking and even murder;
• Criminals are regularly aided by cops in escaping from police detention and from prisons, dockets are “lost” or sold for thousands of Rands, allowing murderers & rapists free roam;
• In spite of a massive upsurge in violent crime, which includes the most sickening forms of babies being raped, women and children tortured and disembowelled for muti while alive, the SA Police Service has shrunk dramatically;
• Corruption is endemic in the entire structure of state, from the highest levels of the presidency (Zuma) down to the most junior officer;
• The Marxist ANC regime, along with its allied COSATU unionists and the SA Communist Party, not only refuses to shun crime and corruption, but shamelessly and publicly embraces perpetrators such as Alan Boesak and Tony Yengeni;
• Several leaders of these terrorist gangs are on record to have openly instructed their followers to “steal from & rob only whites”, justifying it by alleging that it is not actually theft, but a morally justified, legitimate form of repossession
The ominous parallels with Zimbabwe
The former terrorist movements of the ANC, PAC and AZAPO, have on numerous occasions publicly admitted to using their AK-47 toting military wings for committing crimes (including bank robberies and cash heists) so as to fund elections & other political objectives. Clear evidence of major upsurges of robbery became evident in the prelude to all three major SA elections, viz: 1994, 1999 and 2004.
South Africa’s Presidency not only refuses to condemn the Zimbabwean tyrant Robert Mugabe, but is actively propping up the vicious, openly racist dictator through financial, moral & material aid. Mugabe regularly visits South Africa, and receives standing ovations when appearing as keynote speaker to the SA parliament. Persistent rumours abound that the Mbeki regime has acquiesced to looking the other way when heavily armed, well trained Zimbabwe army bandits slip into South Africa for purposes of carrying out bank robberies and cash heists. The stolen loot is exported back to finance the bankrupt Zimbabwean regime’s high living lifestyle. A noteworthy case is the Jeppestown massacre, where the identities & nationalities of the 8 surviving robbers have been suppressed by court order (SA Police requested the court order, offering the excuse that the identities of the detainees may jeopardise their investigations)
Since the SA and Zimbabwe regimes share a common cultural fixation to the issue of land ownership (they disdainfully view white ownership of land as a form of neo-colonialism) hard evidence and statistics prove that an unusually high number of farm attacks & other violent crimes are being carried out by Zim nationals. The Mugabe regime, well versed in carrying out genocidal campaigns, cut its teeth by the 1981 murderous ethnic cleansing of tens of thousands of Matabeles through its infamous North-Korean trained Fifth Brigade. It has in the past five years set up secretive training camps in Zim, where militias are trained, most notably the so-called “Green Bombers”.
These militias were then unleashed upon white Zim farmers, as well as on MDC-supporting rural populations. The local Zim police refused to intervene when farmers & workers were attacked & murdered by militias, yet acted very hastily when the odd farmer dared to defend himself with lethal force.
Local crime intelligence sources who wish to remain strictly anonymous, have admitted to the “Green Bombers” being active in South Africa, with specific focal points for acts of terror being the SA provinces of Limpopo (Northern Transvaal), Mpumalanga (Eastern Transvaal) and especially Gauteng (former Pretoria / Witwatersrand / Vereeniging region). Gauteng is statistically (Source: TLU & AgriSA) the most dangerous region - specifically the peri-urban north western sections of Honeydew, Muldersdrift, Lanseria, and western sections of Hekpoort and Magaliesburg. What makes South African farm attacks remarkable, is the extreme level of violence and torture used.
In most cases, little or nothing is stolen from victims. Black perpetrators often lie in wait for their victims for many hours. In cases where victims actually survived, they testified to inordinate levels of racial abuse. Blacks have also fallen victim to farm attacks, but what is crystal clear is that they are never tortured and rarely murdered – yet with white victims, this is the consistent rule. Increasingly, this kind of terror is being seen in urban attacks against whites, in the form of house invasions.
In a chilling parallel to Zimbabwe, white South African farmers and home owners using justified lethal force against armed attackers, are instantly arrested and disarmed. When taking the aforesaid into account, one needs to consider the following:
Preparing for Uhuru
• The only form of rural defence was the commando system, akin to the United States National Guard. The ANC regime has ordered the disbanding of ALL commando systems across South Africa, and are replacing it with SA Police members, many of whom were cadres in the former terrorist military wings. This not only serves to leave white rural communities utterly defenceless, it also places in their midst questionable personnel who openly admitted that as members of Mkhonto We Sizwe and APLA, they never handed in their weapons and bombs;
• Desperate measures by crime-weary, mostly white residents in urban areas, such as erection of boomed-off & access-controlled areas, have been vigorously opposed by ANC appointed municipal officials, and in the majority of cases, such structures have been declared illegal and torn down;
• The ANC regime has initiated a de facto civil disarmament, introducing draconian gun ownership laws, which saw the rejection rate of new firearms rocket to 95%. It also engineered the collapse of the small arms retail industry where 80% of dealers were forced into bankruptcy as a result of the almost total ban on the issuing of new firearm licenses;
• In the case of existing gun license renewals, SA Police officials are to physically inspect the premises (home or office) of the licensee, to see where the weapons are kept;
• In paranoid raids bordering on comical farce, it has even raided military museums & associations, confiscating antique weaponry & artefacts, including WW2 vehicles on display;
• Children from predominantly black rural schools are increasingly being issued with questionnaires by their black teachers, where they are tasked to provide drawings of the roads & buildings of white-owned farms they reside on. They are required to also answer questions relating to the movements of farmers, how often farmers have contact with neighbours, whether the farmers are armed, have radio networks etc. Significantly, they are urged by their teachers to keep quiet about the existence of these questionnaires, especially from view of white persons;
• An ANC-authored document written in the pre-1994 days (available on the web) states inter alia that “our mothers who work in the kitchens and homes of the whites, are our eyes and ears, and our sons who work in their gardens are obligated to find out the location of white people’s safes: it is imperative that we enter their houses and seize especially the weapons and the money”. In every single home invasion and farm attack, these are the very first items demanded by criminals / terrorists;
• The ANC regime legislated several draconian laws relating to banking & finances (Financial Intelligence Centre Act or FICA) which is an Orwellian intrusion demanding proof of physical address and employment details of anyone who holds a bank account. This was introduced under the ploy of fighting commercial crime, but is wide open to totalitarian abuse;
• Last year the Marxist regime enacted the 2005 Electronic Communications Act, forcing all cellular & fixed line providers to install expensive eavesdropping equipment, and to register all contract & prepaid mobile handsets & SIM cards with verifiable ID documents & proof of address- since millions of squatter camp inhabitants own cell phones but cannot provide proof of address, it becomes clear who this bill is aimed at. The law also compels Internet Service Providers (ISPs) with similar monitoring & spying obligations;
• Earlier this week, the 2006 Prohibition of Mercenary Activities etc. bill was enacted, in a move designed to neutralise any South African citizen employed in foreign security or direct military service;
• Yet another shocking bill is in the works: the Films and Publications Bill is a de facto censorship law that will force the media to first submit stories lined up for publication, to the regime’s department of Home Affairs for pre-publication censorship, approval and a host of other restrictive interventions.
Control, control, and yet more control. All while this regime claims they cannot control crime. They cannot control squatting, protect property rights or carry out even the most rudimentary elements of good governance. They cannot control unbridled illegal immigration. Or so it appears.
The ominous parallels with Nazi Germany
At this point, we must pause and ask – why all these controls? What exactly are they planning for us? The unpalatable truth is that this is all by design. Foreigners from continental Africa are, with the explicit blessing, and by invitation, flooding into South Africa to join the feeding frenzy on the carcass of the white minority. They are annexing our land and expropriating our birth right. The ANC has taken our collective white body, driven stakes into the ground, and have tied us down to it, directly in the path of a marching colony of army ants. By removing our civil defences, they are dripping honey over this prostrate body, and the ants are arriving. First, a small handful. Then fifty, a hundred, three hundred. Soon, we will be covered with thousands of hungry, flesh-devouring ants. The 350 000 people murdered in the past ten years represents a section of our collective body which is one arm completely nibbled away, from the elbow downwards. Yet the immigrant ant armies keep coming. They are now unstoppable.
Nature dictates but two rules for any creature in mortal danger – fight, or flight. Fight, we can no more. Life is ebbing out of us, but we still have enough strength to free ourselves and run for our lives. And run, we’d better.
Today, it was breathlessly announced that police in Gauteng alone have arrested 36 000 criminals in the past six weeks alone. Joyful news, if it can be believed. Yet the media is strangely quiet about the at least sixty-three thousand criminals that will quietly be released between now and Christmas.
Are you going to buy into this latest gimmick to lull you into a false sense of security? Will you foolishly, like the umpteen times in the past, cast away your nagging doubt and creeping sense of dread and stick your head back into the quicksand?
In South Africa 2006, there is an ominous sense of despair and angst in the air. One can sense it almost constantly – the fear, stopping at a robot, pulling into your driveway, locking and unlocking your fortress-like home. Avoiding eye contact with the black hawkers at the intersection or with the workers sitting on the bakkie in front of you, reassuringly touching the cold steel of the gun you keep in reach, and feeling their hateful stares burn into you while you wait – staring back viciously-or praying- for the light to change. Preferring to stay home instead of visiting that restaurant, lest it be robbed, or you get hijacked en route. Not playing music, lest you not hear the breaking glass, the terrified screams of your family members, or the sound of splintering wood. Letting the dogs sleep inside the house, for fear of having them poisoned…waking up with a start in the middle of the night, listening...to the sound of your heart pounding.
Foreign visitors stepping off planes at our airports instantly sense this feeling of…dread, mixed with a forboding, almost tangible evil. An octogenarian survivor of the Nazi death camps visited SA recently from Israel. He instantly recognised this strange vibe in the air – it reminded him of a certain time, and a certain place.
The place, Nazi Germany. The time, 1936. He calls it the stench of genocide in the making.
For us, as it was for them then, the cattle trucks are being prepared. For us, as it was for them, the ovens are being fired. The Nazi regime warned the Jews. Told them, in no uncertain terms – leave, just go! We don’t want you here! Just like Minister Nqacula has. They beat them, and smashed their shops. They burned their synagogues, and expropriated their property. They contrived to do every thing possible to make life unbearable for them – unfair, racist, discriminatory laws, restricting and limiting ownership. They humiliated and disrespected them at every turn. Some wisely left. Others clung to hope, and to their fine possessions and lifestyles – this too shall pass, they murmured optimistically…
So, white boys and girls of South Africa. I apologise for sullying your mood. It would however be remiss, perhaps even criminal of me, to deceive you, or offer false hope. When do we reach the nexus in time that distinguishes an emigrant from a refugee? For your own sake, you need to leave. Ideally to the US, Europe, Oz or NZ, but if you cannot, Namibia or Botswana are not bad second choices. But leave, you MUST. If you’re still in doubt, try again to connect the dots spelled out here.
If you’re still not worried about your future in South Africa, never mind. You needn’t be worried – you have no future, simple as that.
The Uhuru Guru
01 September 2006
With no means to sustain themselves, and egged on by an unyielding, daily course of state-sponsored anti-white propaganda, they invariably turn to crime. Emboldened by how easy it is, they graduate from burglaries and shoplifting, to ever more violent house invasions, hijacking, armed robberies and murder. Those rare few troubled by their consciences, quell it by eagerly swallowing the “we’re just taking back what the White Man stole from us” mantra, and adorn themselves with the remissible mantle of modern day Robin Hoods. Guilt inducing screeds in the mass media endlessly remind us that the Azanian 40% unemployment figure is a direct consequence of Apartheid. Openly racist ANC flunkeys issue veiled threats, imploring whites to “share the wealth”, warning darkly of fearful consequences when the black masses “run out of patience”. Bright-eyed, bushy-tailed sunshine propagandists will have us believe that crime is “to be expected in a transforming society”, urging whites to “hang in” and “sit it out”, while soothingly rattling off the latest regime-sponsored crime fighting plan.
So it was back in the closing stages of the previous century. A populist outburst of the “gatvol” phenomenon in 1998/9 compelled the then Commissioner of Police, George Fivaz, to partner with former SAB head Meir Kahn. Fivaz and Kahn configured a bold plan, promising an embattled public medium and long term relief from crime. Restive tax payers bought into it. Nothing ever came of it- with tail between the legs, Kahn & Fivaz quietly disappeared, but the illegals kept coming. In 2000, Jackie Selebi took over from Kahn, and with great fanfare announced a “far-reaching three year plan” to renovate the SAPS from top to bottom. An article from that time reads: “in March 2000, we were treated to a military-style blitz, live on television on inner city Johannesburg. Impressive? No, it is simply more of the same. Policing in SA during the past 5 years is a history of hastily convened fire-fighting campaigns orchestrated by panic-stricken personnel at police HQ in Pretoria”.
The next spike of “gatvol” revolt came during the 2004 general elections, with the shifty, opportunistic DA & FF+ seizing crime as a platform to ensure their place at the banquet table of public funds. Foam-specked speeches promising (amongst other things) 150 000 new cops on our streets drove voters into an optimistic frenzy as they bought into this false hope.
The elections came and went. Unsurprisingly, nothing ever came of the 150 000 cops. But the illegals came and came.
The latest ‘gatvol’ spike, driven by Safety & Security minister Nqacula’s callous, openly racist remarks for whining, whingeing whites to either suffer in silence or leave, was consummated by the Jeppestown massacre, where the deaths of sixteen people served as catalyst. The public mood turned ugly as it became clear the unprecedented surge of violent crime could be attributed to unusually virulent, racist propaganda as broadcast by the ANC regime-controlled SABC, during June 16 uprising celebrations this year. Suddenly, a usually docile, naïve SA public connected the dots and a picture of politically driven criminal genocide became apparent to all.
Not only was the ruling regime condoning violent, racist hate crimes and woefully failing it it’s constitutionally obligated duties, it was actively aiding and abetting it. Consider that:
• Full-time members of the SA National Defence Force, as well as members of the SA Police Service & Metro Police Services, are brazenly, and in full uniform, committing crimes of hijacking, armed robbery, house breaking and even murder;
• Criminals are regularly aided by cops in escaping from police detention and from prisons, dockets are “lost” or sold for thousands of Rands, allowing murderers & rapists free roam;
• In spite of a massive upsurge in violent crime, which includes the most sickening forms of babies being raped, women and children tortured and disembowelled for muti while alive, the SA Police Service has shrunk dramatically;
• Corruption is endemic in the entire structure of state, from the highest levels of the presidency (Zuma) down to the most junior officer;
• The Marxist ANC regime, along with its allied COSATU unionists and the SA Communist Party, not only refuses to shun crime and corruption, but shamelessly and publicly embraces perpetrators such as Alan Boesak and Tony Yengeni;
• Several leaders of these terrorist gangs are on record to have openly instructed their followers to “steal from & rob only whites”, justifying it by alleging that it is not actually theft, but a morally justified, legitimate form of repossession
The ominous parallels with Zimbabwe
The former terrorist movements of the ANC, PAC and AZAPO, have on numerous occasions publicly admitted to using their AK-47 toting military wings for committing crimes (including bank robberies and cash heists) so as to fund elections & other political objectives. Clear evidence of major upsurges of robbery became evident in the prelude to all three major SA elections, viz: 1994, 1999 and 2004.
South Africa’s Presidency not only refuses to condemn the Zimbabwean tyrant Robert Mugabe, but is actively propping up the vicious, openly racist dictator through financial, moral & material aid. Mugabe regularly visits South Africa, and receives standing ovations when appearing as keynote speaker to the SA parliament. Persistent rumours abound that the Mbeki regime has acquiesced to looking the other way when heavily armed, well trained Zimbabwe army bandits slip into South Africa for purposes of carrying out bank robberies and cash heists. The stolen loot is exported back to finance the bankrupt Zimbabwean regime’s high living lifestyle. A noteworthy case is the Jeppestown massacre, where the identities & nationalities of the 8 surviving robbers have been suppressed by court order (SA Police requested the court order, offering the excuse that the identities of the detainees may jeopardise their investigations)
Since the SA and Zimbabwe regimes share a common cultural fixation to the issue of land ownership (they disdainfully view white ownership of land as a form of neo-colonialism) hard evidence and statistics prove that an unusually high number of farm attacks & other violent crimes are being carried out by Zim nationals. The Mugabe regime, well versed in carrying out genocidal campaigns, cut its teeth by the 1981 murderous ethnic cleansing of tens of thousands of Matabeles through its infamous North-Korean trained Fifth Brigade. It has in the past five years set up secretive training camps in Zim, where militias are trained, most notably the so-called “Green Bombers”.
These militias were then unleashed upon white Zim farmers, as well as on MDC-supporting rural populations. The local Zim police refused to intervene when farmers & workers were attacked & murdered by militias, yet acted very hastily when the odd farmer dared to defend himself with lethal force.
Local crime intelligence sources who wish to remain strictly anonymous, have admitted to the “Green Bombers” being active in South Africa, with specific focal points for acts of terror being the SA provinces of Limpopo (Northern Transvaal), Mpumalanga (Eastern Transvaal) and especially Gauteng (former Pretoria / Witwatersrand / Vereeniging region). Gauteng is statistically (Source: TLU & AgriSA) the most dangerous region - specifically the peri-urban north western sections of Honeydew, Muldersdrift, Lanseria, and western sections of Hekpoort and Magaliesburg. What makes South African farm attacks remarkable, is the extreme level of violence and torture used.
In most cases, little or nothing is stolen from victims. Black perpetrators often lie in wait for their victims for many hours. In cases where victims actually survived, they testified to inordinate levels of racial abuse. Blacks have also fallen victim to farm attacks, but what is crystal clear is that they are never tortured and rarely murdered – yet with white victims, this is the consistent rule. Increasingly, this kind of terror is being seen in urban attacks against whites, in the form of house invasions.
In a chilling parallel to Zimbabwe, white South African farmers and home owners using justified lethal force against armed attackers, are instantly arrested and disarmed. When taking the aforesaid into account, one needs to consider the following:
Preparing for Uhuru
• The only form of rural defence was the commando system, akin to the United States National Guard. The ANC regime has ordered the disbanding of ALL commando systems across South Africa, and are replacing it with SA Police members, many of whom were cadres in the former terrorist military wings. This not only serves to leave white rural communities utterly defenceless, it also places in their midst questionable personnel who openly admitted that as members of Mkhonto We Sizwe and APLA, they never handed in their weapons and bombs;
• Desperate measures by crime-weary, mostly white residents in urban areas, such as erection of boomed-off & access-controlled areas, have been vigorously opposed by ANC appointed municipal officials, and in the majority of cases, such structures have been declared illegal and torn down;
• The ANC regime has initiated a de facto civil disarmament, introducing draconian gun ownership laws, which saw the rejection rate of new firearms rocket to 95%. It also engineered the collapse of the small arms retail industry where 80% of dealers were forced into bankruptcy as a result of the almost total ban on the issuing of new firearm licenses;
• In the case of existing gun license renewals, SA Police officials are to physically inspect the premises (home or office) of the licensee, to see where the weapons are kept;
• In paranoid raids bordering on comical farce, it has even raided military museums & associations, confiscating antique weaponry & artefacts, including WW2 vehicles on display;
• Children from predominantly black rural schools are increasingly being issued with questionnaires by their black teachers, where they are tasked to provide drawings of the roads & buildings of white-owned farms they reside on. They are required to also answer questions relating to the movements of farmers, how often farmers have contact with neighbours, whether the farmers are armed, have radio networks etc. Significantly, they are urged by their teachers to keep quiet about the existence of these questionnaires, especially from view of white persons;
• An ANC-authored document written in the pre-1994 days (available on the web) states inter alia that “our mothers who work in the kitchens and homes of the whites, are our eyes and ears, and our sons who work in their gardens are obligated to find out the location of white people’s safes: it is imperative that we enter their houses and seize especially the weapons and the money”. In every single home invasion and farm attack, these are the very first items demanded by criminals / terrorists;
• The ANC regime legislated several draconian laws relating to banking & finances (Financial Intelligence Centre Act or FICA) which is an Orwellian intrusion demanding proof of physical address and employment details of anyone who holds a bank account. This was introduced under the ploy of fighting commercial crime, but is wide open to totalitarian abuse;
• Last year the Marxist regime enacted the 2005 Electronic Communications Act, forcing all cellular & fixed line providers to install expensive eavesdropping equipment, and to register all contract & prepaid mobile handsets & SIM cards with verifiable ID documents & proof of address- since millions of squatter camp inhabitants own cell phones but cannot provide proof of address, it becomes clear who this bill is aimed at. The law also compels Internet Service Providers (ISPs) with similar monitoring & spying obligations;
• Earlier this week, the 2006 Prohibition of Mercenary Activities etc. bill was enacted, in a move designed to neutralise any South African citizen employed in foreign security or direct military service;
• Yet another shocking bill is in the works: the Films and Publications Bill is a de facto censorship law that will force the media to first submit stories lined up for publication, to the regime’s department of Home Affairs for pre-publication censorship, approval and a host of other restrictive interventions.
Control, control, and yet more control. All while this regime claims they cannot control crime. They cannot control squatting, protect property rights or carry out even the most rudimentary elements of good governance. They cannot control unbridled illegal immigration. Or so it appears.
The ominous parallels with Nazi Germany
At this point, we must pause and ask – why all these controls? What exactly are they planning for us? The unpalatable truth is that this is all by design. Foreigners from continental Africa are, with the explicit blessing, and by invitation, flooding into South Africa to join the feeding frenzy on the carcass of the white minority. They are annexing our land and expropriating our birth right. The ANC has taken our collective white body, driven stakes into the ground, and have tied us down to it, directly in the path of a marching colony of army ants. By removing our civil defences, they are dripping honey over this prostrate body, and the ants are arriving. First, a small handful. Then fifty, a hundred, three hundred. Soon, we will be covered with thousands of hungry, flesh-devouring ants. The 350 000 people murdered in the past ten years represents a section of our collective body which is one arm completely nibbled away, from the elbow downwards. Yet the immigrant ant armies keep coming. They are now unstoppable.
Nature dictates but two rules for any creature in mortal danger – fight, or flight. Fight, we can no more. Life is ebbing out of us, but we still have enough strength to free ourselves and run for our lives. And run, we’d better.
Today, it was breathlessly announced that police in Gauteng alone have arrested 36 000 criminals in the past six weeks alone. Joyful news, if it can be believed. Yet the media is strangely quiet about the at least sixty-three thousand criminals that will quietly be released between now and Christmas.
Are you going to buy into this latest gimmick to lull you into a false sense of security? Will you foolishly, like the umpteen times in the past, cast away your nagging doubt and creeping sense of dread and stick your head back into the quicksand?
In South Africa 2006, there is an ominous sense of despair and angst in the air. One can sense it almost constantly – the fear, stopping at a robot, pulling into your driveway, locking and unlocking your fortress-like home. Avoiding eye contact with the black hawkers at the intersection or with the workers sitting on the bakkie in front of you, reassuringly touching the cold steel of the gun you keep in reach, and feeling their hateful stares burn into you while you wait – staring back viciously-or praying- for the light to change. Preferring to stay home instead of visiting that restaurant, lest it be robbed, or you get hijacked en route. Not playing music, lest you not hear the breaking glass, the terrified screams of your family members, or the sound of splintering wood. Letting the dogs sleep inside the house, for fear of having them poisoned…waking up with a start in the middle of the night, listening...to the sound of your heart pounding.
Foreign visitors stepping off planes at our airports instantly sense this feeling of…dread, mixed with a forboding, almost tangible evil. An octogenarian survivor of the Nazi death camps visited SA recently from Israel. He instantly recognised this strange vibe in the air – it reminded him of a certain time, and a certain place.
The place, Nazi Germany. The time, 1936. He calls it the stench of genocide in the making.
For us, as it was for them then, the cattle trucks are being prepared. For us, as it was for them, the ovens are being fired. The Nazi regime warned the Jews. Told them, in no uncertain terms – leave, just go! We don’t want you here! Just like Minister Nqacula has. They beat them, and smashed their shops. They burned their synagogues, and expropriated their property. They contrived to do every thing possible to make life unbearable for them – unfair, racist, discriminatory laws, restricting and limiting ownership. They humiliated and disrespected them at every turn. Some wisely left. Others clung to hope, and to their fine possessions and lifestyles – this too shall pass, they murmured optimistically…
So, white boys and girls of South Africa. I apologise for sullying your mood. It would however be remiss, perhaps even criminal of me, to deceive you, or offer false hope. When do we reach the nexus in time that distinguishes an emigrant from a refugee? For your own sake, you need to leave. Ideally to the US, Europe, Oz or NZ, but if you cannot, Namibia or Botswana are not bad second choices. But leave, you MUST. If you’re still in doubt, try again to connect the dots spelled out here.
If you’re still not worried about your future in South Africa, never mind. You needn’t be worried – you have no future, simple as that.
The Uhuru Guru
01 September 2006
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