Ok y�all. Adam Lambert openly gay singer from "American Idol" kissed a male keyboard player and had a dancer simulate oral sex on him during the American Music Awards performance on Sunday. That�s all over the headlines. Adam admitted that he got carried away but believes there wouldn't be nearly as much of an outrage if he were straight. Maybe he�s right though I doubt it, (look at the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction) but truthfully, so what! Can I just say that gays need to be just as appalled as I am by the presentation of Adam Lambert and most other movies and how they portray them as hyper -sexualized, self-indulgent, degenerate mutants. I�d love to see more gays standing up and speaking for what they really believe in. And when necessary speak out against other gays for their true cause. They can�t speak a good case for family values, equal rights to marriage, adoption and yet applaud these out right excessive antics from the likes of Adam. The argument has been, �well heterosexuals do the same thing on TV, it�s a double standard�. No it�s not, I hate it from straight entertainers just as much, and as of recent, my people (black folk, especially in Hip-hop and R&B) are the worse perpetrators of the same thing! Justin Timberlake needs to TAKE sexy back to where ever he got it from! : There�s something cool about sex just being personal and not cheapened by folks wanting to sell records. It�s long over due to have real dialog about gay life in our country. A lot of our fans are gay, and I love em. Yes I follow Jesus and if asked I�d say that I see their lifestyle as a sin and destined to fail spiritually with use. By the way, I also see many other people�s lifestyles as sinful and destined to fail spiritually as well. I�m even including my own lifestyle before I allowed Jesus to help me out! I also see many �good church going folk� whose lives are just a sinful as anyone else�s. So it�s not a unique judgment that I�m not willing to also measure to others and myself. And by now, it shouldn�t surprise gay or bi-sexual folks that there is and always will be a large section of our population that doesn�t agree with homosexuality. At the least, Muslims & Christians should never agree with this lifestyle as a choice for righteous living. Would I accept a gay person into our church? Of course! Should any Christian or I offer love and help to a gay person? I would to them as I would with anyone else. I know this will sound clich� but some of my BEST FRIENDS have had homosexuality in their life resume�s. But they are now Christians and though they continue to struggle through temptations on a frequent basis, they no longer act on their sinful desires. They �deny� themselves just like I do when it comes to various sins. As far as the bible is concerned, it�s clear on this issue; it�s not even a debate among true Christians. Sure, false jokers, or �liberal� preachers claim it is a lifestyle acceptable to God, but they�re simply wrong according to scripture. And if scripture doesn�t hold a lot of weight to them, then they are not Christians, simple as that. Anyway, in light of this Adam controversy, I thought it be cool to get some dialog going, and hopefully for gays to stand up against this wack representation of their lifestyle. And by the way, I�d rather not hear a bunch of hate responses from my fans saying, �I will never buy another AD or Speech record again�. That tends to happen once an artist expresses themselves on these issues. Or when fans say, �I thought you & AD were different and that you stood for peace, love and unity�. Hello! Of course we do, but since when does STANDING for anything in this world mean not rubbing someone the wrong way. Maybe today I�ve rubbed YOU the wrong way, another day it may be the establishment and we�ll agree with each other on other issues. The next day it may be ignorant black folk, spreading wack ghetto themes to the youth. The key to this dialog is loving others DESPITE their differences in opinion or belief. Not separating the world into those who support everything about gays and those who don�t. (Left or Right, liberal or conservative). Most people don�t fit into these easy categories. Our fans know that we are & I am clearly AGAINST gay bashing, or harm of any gays. I DO believe in everyone having civil rights and the ability to get various benefits just as straight couples do. I DO believe in gays being able to live a life of dignity according to their own beliefs. I�m not a believer in gay marriage, because I believe that marriage is a divine concept that God himself ordains. Therefore, He wouldn�t ordain a same sex union. But hey, that�s simply my belief. I don�t want necessarily lose fans because of it, just like Ellen hasn�t lost my support because of her sexuality and belief. Can�t we all just carve a Turkey or (veggies in my case). Have a great thanksgiving with fam, friends and them other crazy folk that somehow get invited to dinner. Peace & Strength, SPEECH


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Arrested Development and Vagabond Records and Tapes license a new Maxi single to Japanese label Avex with the funky new song, "The World is Changing" from upcoming December album release, "STRONG". The single is featured in popular Manhattan vinyl record store and features a hot remix by Tokyo's DJ Hasabe! The group is excited about the song, despite it's sorta grim message. "We aren't afraid to tackle any issue that stands between progress and ignorance, to me the world is going downwards and unless we all get involved it will crash out of control", Speech says. The video is now up on the groups and Speech's website, plus on Youtube.


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Yo party people! Peep these cool links and enjoy! One of the founders Afrika Bambaataa breaks down the origins of Hip-Hop! You're gonna love it! I always go back to words like these to remind us all what this music is REALLY about! Notice the pure creativity and not being about money! Notice how it was in community centers, it was created by and for the people NOT huge corporations! notice the respect it gives to all musical ancestors! That's what I'm talkin bout! Thats the music I fell in love with. What about you?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8IO2KHjXZg&feature=player_embedded

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Yo party people! Peep these cool links and enjoy! One of the founders Afrika Bambaataa breaks down the origins of Hip-Hop! You're gonna love it! I always go back to words like these to remind us all what this music is REALLY about! Notice the pure creativity and not being about money! Notice how it was in community centers, it was created by and for the people NOT huge corporations! notice the respect it gives to all musical ancestors! That's what I'm talkin bout! Thats the music I fell in love with. What about you?


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Pulse of the Green feat. dead prez, Speech (Arrested Development), Davey D, J-Boogie...

Event Details

 

Time: November 15, 2009 at 8pm to November 16, 2009 at 4am(Location: 1015 Folsom, San Francisco, CA(Street: 1015 Folsom(City/State: San Francisco, CA(Website or Map: http://www.communitree.net(Event Type: hip, hop, benefit, non, profit, green, eco(Organized By: Communitree, Art In Action, Cyphertown, Global Exchange(Latest Activity: Nov 2

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http://animoto.com/play/iiJnfdKYkiCgzAYYTGrw6w?utm...

Come Join us this Saturday!!!

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT LIVE IN CONCERT THIS SATURDAY @ SHERATON ATLANTA HOTEL SEPT 19TH

MONDAY, Feb. 4 (HealthDay News) -- About one-third of hit songs -- including three-quarters of rap songs -- have some form of explicit reference to drug, alcohol or tobacco use, a new study found.

"Overall, 116 of the 279 unique songs (41.6 percent) had a substance use reference of any kind. Ninety-three songs (33.3 percent) contained explicit substance use references," wrote the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers.

Just under 3 percent of the songs mentioned smoking, but almost 24 percent touched on alcohol use, close to 14 percent depicted marijuana use and 11.5 percent depicted other or unspecified substance use, the researchers noted.

The researchers did their study by analyzing Billboard magazine's 279 most popular songs of 2005.

The overall rate of references varied widely by musical genre. One or more references to substance use were found in 48 of 62 rap songs (77 percent); 22 of 61 country songs (36 percent); 11 of 55 R&B/hip-hop songs (20 percent); nine of 66 rock songs (14 percent); and three of 35 pop songs (9 percent).

Of the 93 songs with explicit substance use references, the behaviors were frequently associated with partying (54 percent), sex (46 percent), violence (29 percent) and/or humor (24 percent). In these songs, substance use was most often motivated by peer/social pressure (48 percent) or sex (30 percent).

"Only four songs (4 percent) contained explicit anti-use messages, and none portrayed substance refusal," the study authors wrote. "Most songs with substance use (68 percent) portrayed more positive than negative consequences; these positive consequences were most commonly social, sexual, financial or emotional."

The study is published in the February issue of the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. The research was first presented in November at the American Public Health Association annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

"Children and adolescents are heavily exposed to substance use in popular music, and this exposure varies widely by genre. Substance use in music is frequently motivated by peer acceptance and sex, and it has highly positive associations and consequences," the study authors concluded.

Wow, I have been in my hotel room just getting caught up on movies and I rented a few great flicks, Incredible! A must see for anyone!

Inconvienent truth (global warming) / The smartest men in the room/ and "Who killed the electric car?"

Again, Are 3 necessary movies to see!

SPEECH

Modern Slavery
Human bondage in Africa, Asia, and the Dominican Republic

by Ricco Villanueva Siasoco
This article was posted on April 18, 2001.

When a ship carrying hundreds of people was recently turned away from Benin, Africa, officials suspected that the children on board were human slaves. The incident once again brought attention to the problem of slavery. At this moment, millions of men, women, and children—roughly twice the population of Rhode Island—are being held against their will as modern-day slaves.
Modern Day Slaves

Sometimes referred to as bonded laborers (because of the debts owed their masters), public perception of modern slavery is often confused with reports of workers in low-wage jobs or inhumane working conditions. However, modern-day slaves differ from these workers because they are actually held in physical bondage (they are shackled, held at gunpoint, etc.).

Modern-day slaves can be found laboring as servants or concubines in Sudan, as child "carpet slaves" in India, or as cane-cutters in Haiti and southern Pakistan, to name but a few instances. According to Anti-Slavery International, the world's oldest human rights organization, there are currently over 20 million people in bondage.

Where does this slavery take place? Who are the faces behind these atrocities?
Slave Trading on Africa's West Coast

The slave trade in Africa was officially banned in the early 1880s, but forced labor continues to be practiced in West and Central Africa today. UNICEF estimates that 200,000 children from this region are sold into slavery each year. Many of these children are from Benin and Togo, and are sold into the domestic, agricultural, and sex industries of wealthier, neighboring countries such as Nigeria and Gabon.
UNICEF estimates that 200,000 children from West and Central Africa are sold into slavery each year.


The most recent incident involved the MV Etireno, which was refused from ports in Gabon and Cameroon. When the ship reached Cotonou, Benin, in April, 2001, police began an investigation of the captain and crew. More adults than children were believed to be aboard.
Chattel slavery in Sudan

The enslavement of the Dinkas in southern Sudan may be the most horrific and well-known example of contemporary slavery. According to 1993 U.S. State Department estimates, up to 90,000 blacks are owned by North African Arabs, and often sold as property in a thriving slave trade for as little as $15 per human being.
"There he found several Dinka men hobbling, their Achilles tendons cut because they refused to become Muslims."

—from an ASI report on Sudanese slavery


Animist tribes in southern Sudan are frequently invaded by Arab militias from the North, who kill the men and enslave the women and children. The Arabs consider it a traditional right to enslave southerners, and to own chattel slaves (slaves owned as personal property).

Physical mutilation is practiced upon these slaves not only to prevent escape, but to enforce the owners' ideologies. According to an ASI report: "Kon, a thirteen-year-old Dinka boy, was abducted by Arab nomads and taken to a merchant's house. There he found several Dinka men hobbling, their Achilles tendons cut because they refused to become Muslims. Threatened with the same treatment the boy converted."

In a detailed article by Charles Jacobs for the American Anti-Slavery Group (ASI), Jacobs recounts how a 10-year-old child was taken in a raid on her village in southern Sudan, and branded by her master with a hot iron pot.
Child "carpet slaves" in India

Kidnapped from their villages when they are as young as five years old, between 200,000 and 300,000 children are held captive in locked rooms and forced to weave on looms for food. In India—as well in other countries—the issue of slavery is exacerbated by a rigid caste system.
Civil War Slaves
Many of our images of human slavery, like the one above, date from the American Civil War. However, there are an estimated 200 million people in bondage today.

The International Labor Rights and Education Fund is one organization that has rescued many of these child slaves. The group recalls this scene: "Children work in damp pits near the loom. Potable water is often unavailable and food consists of a few chapatis [bread balls], onions and salt...The children often are made to sleep on the ground next to their looms, or in nearby sheds. After working from ten to fourteen hours, they are expected to clean out their sheds and set up work for the next day."
Shackled laborers in Pakistan

Many of the bonded laborers are shackled in leg-irons in Pakistan. Though much of the debt these cane-harvesters have incurred is real, the practice of exchanging human labor for landowners' loans is illegal.

In a 1992 law passed by the Pakistani government, landlords are barred from offering loans in exchange for work or to hold workers hostage to their debts. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has freed approximately 7,500 bonded laborers since 1995.

By the commission's estimates, there are still roughly 50,000 bonded laborers in southern Singh. Many of those freed now reside in the city of Hyderabad in makeshift camps. Most are afraid to return to their homeland, however, for fear they will be recaptured and enslaved again.

In the Dominican Republic, the collection of slaves for the busy harvest season is more random. The Dominican army, with the support of the State Sugar Council (known as the CEA), "hauls Haitians off public buses, arrests them in their homes or at their jobs, and delivers them to the cane fields," according to Charles Jacobs.

Some of the cane-cutters sign on to work voluntarily. When the number of workers does not meet the harvest's demand, the Dominican army is set into action. The army's captives are forced to work at gunpoint and beaten if they try to escape.
Beyond the Emancipation Proclamation

Accounts of human beings as modern slaves extend beyond those described here, and include young girls sold into prostitution in Thailand and slave chattels in Mauritania. Though most Americans believe slavery was abolished with the Emancipation Proclamation more than a century ago, the horrors of human beings held in bondage flourishes today.

November 21st 2006 marked the day that Jay-Z returned from his proposed "retirement." The expectations were set ridiculously high for Young Hova but if anyone could exceed expectations, the Jiggaman could...right? Apparently not. Although "Show Me What You Got" became a burner in the clubs, some predicted that this Jay-Z album just wouldn't be up to snuff. Then the reviews began to surface. Definitely not up to Jay-Z standards. The marketing push that Jay put behind the album was unprecedented (from Monday Night Football ads to Budweiser commercials and, of course, the Jay-Z Hangar Tour) and resulted in first week sales reaching close to 700k but the critics and the streets began to speak.

"But what may cause the most arguments is that S. Carter seems to be representing Park Avenue more than the Marcy Projects on this album. True, false, or irrelevant?" .. HipHopDX.com (rating 3.5 out of 5)

"The material shows a lack of direction from an MC whose age and position put him in uncharted waters." .. Allhiphop.com (rating 3.5 out of 5)

"Not to abuse the tired cliche of "grown folks music", but this is it, defined." .. Hiphopsite.com (rating 4 out of 5)

"..like athletes, we expect rappers to disappear when they turn 30. We have no use for them as they become older and more comfortable with themselves-- even if their minds are as sharp as ever..But that's Kingdom Come: Jay boringly rapping about boring stuff and being totally comfortable with it" .. Pitchforkmedia.com (rating 5 out of 10)

"Jay-Z is hip-hop, yes, but the dirty little secret that he likes us to ignore is that hip-hop is not Jay-Z" .. popmatters.com (rating 7 out of 10)

Wow..look at that last statement and then plant it alongside the other clips. Does anyone see a recurring theme here? While most of the reviews couldn't argue with how Jay-Z is the "kingpin of the ink pen/monster of the double entendre" the problems arise about Jay's subject matter. Gone are the days of "Sex murder and mayhem romance for the street" and instead we get riddles of "good credit and such." Sadly, in Hip Hop this has become blasphemy. But why has the dream materialized become so incredibly out of touch? Why does Hip Hop have to be hustlin', pimpin' and slangin'? Although Kingdom Come didn't deliver the goods as expected (according to the general consensus), it did tear open a gaping generation gap question that needs to be addressed. Has Jay-Z and artists like him outgrown his audience?

What Jay-Z has become is a dream materialized. Hip Hop has been deeply rooted in the struggle to come up and achieve a dream. But when that dream is achieved does that mean the struggle stops? Obviously so, according to many. See, there's a big difference in struggling for food as opposed to struggling to maintain wealth and health. Hip Hop has never really seen a dream materialize, rather many dreams have been halted abruptly. Just when Tupac and Biggie were hitting their collective strides their lives were ended by a hail of bullets.

The question has always been asked "What If.." and the answer is "Jay-Z."

Jay-Z has become the only artist that has allowed his growth to be caught on record. There were no voids where Jay grew and we didn't see it. Jay-Z has always been in the spotlight. So as he matured, so did his music. And now he's at a point where we have witnessed his growth into a successful black man with more money than you can shake a stick at.

There are two lines in "30 Something" that encompasses the "grown up" part of Jay-Z..

"I don't buy out the bar, I bought the nightspot"

And..

"Young enough to know the right car to buy/Yet grown enough not to put rims on it.."

The former is about just being flat out rich. Nothing more, nothing less. Jay-Z has more money than you (or he) has ever thought of and can now do things that were out of Hip-Hop's collective reach. Instead of purchasing from someone, wouldn't it be better to own it? It's as simple as "why buy a drink for 'x' amount of dollars when I can own the club that has the bar that sells drinks for 'x' amount of dollars?" The math is so simple, yet so complex. Many of us love basketball, so why not own a team? Jay-Z did it, now you see how many others have followed in his footsteps. But wait..don't you need "good credit and such" to own a team?

The latter is about knowledge of wealth. As simple as the line is perceived to be, it speaks in volumes about Hip Hop culture today. Excess, materialism, etc. Jay-Z understands that rims look nice but have no added value for a vehicle and thus can be disposable. But how many of us understand that? I mean seriously..how many of us understand that owning a house is far more important than having a Dodge Magnum on 24's? Rather ironic that we are entrenched in a culture so obsess with money yet has no idea what to do once we have it.

But in a consumer driven economy, the truth is that we are supposed to like rims and spend our hard earned dollars on bullshit. We've all been through it one way or another. So when someone like Jay-Z flips the script and talks about "good credit" do you think that this is what the economy wants to hear? Better yet, do the old owners of rims, jewelry and other excess want you to consider saving your money and your credit so you can one day own a business or a team or a corporation or even them? Hell no!

Mass Media has done a helluva job convincing us that the glass ceiling is closer to our heads than we originally thought. By using Hip Hop as a tool to promote hamburgers, GAP clothing and cars instead of fighting against sexism, racism and other numerous forms of oppression, they powers that be have beaten us at our own game.

So back to this statement..

"Jay-Z is hip-hop, yes, but the dirty little secret that he likes us to ignore is that hip-hop is not Jay-Z"

So who dictates what is Hip Hop and what isn't? Why is Hip Hop not Jay-Z? Is that saying that good credit and financial responsibility are not Hip Hop? It has to obviously be scary to concede to the fact that it isn't Jay-Z and people that look like Jay-Z who make Hip Hop, rather it be the old white CEOs who sit atop their thrones while throwing to us what they think is hip hop. But we are no better because we believe what they tell us.

As much as we would like to believe that we are trendsetters and "exclusive", we are mere followers to the bigger machine. A machine that feeds us these vices and fills our little heads with pipe dreams and such to the point that achieving them isn't even important anymore.

The name of the game today is to go out there and try while looking good without actually achieving. Because if you do in fact "make it", you'll be labeled a sell-out. There's nothing flashy about a jump shot..except that its worth two points (and last time I checked the team with the most points wins). Instead we would rather dribble off of your head, do a cartwheel, and try a 360 layup with nobody defending us. We'd rather bask in the glory of oohs and ahhs and miss the fuckin' rim completely rather than sink a boring ol' jump shot. We love the journey but don't want to see the ending. Because when the proposed "end" comes..what is left? Winning the game is not an option. And this is what they feed to us thru Hip Hop. Scary isn't it?

"I came into a little bit of a revelation recently. I turned 31 and I'm starting to realize that a lot of this Hip Hop/rap thing is for kids. It's a young people's movement. And I know we as adults try to hang onto our youth as long as possible but my point is you gotta know when to let go because when you're 36 and you dress like you're 15 you look fuckin' stupid!" .. Aries Spears

While that line is laugh out loud funny, it does make you rethink where you are as a hip hop fan. If you are young then I guess this may not apply to you (yet). But if you are an 80's baby you have to wonder how true this statement is. While Hip Hop may be rooted in the kids and the young people, it is the old man sitting up there getting his belly fat off of our work. You don't have to "look" rich to "be" rich. Rock & Roll used to be considered a "kids" movement but now you have artists like Aerosmith and U2 still making incredible and timeless music. Do they look like every other rock star?

Just because we grow up does that mean we have to leave hip hop alone and look for the nearest Celine Dion or Earth Wind & Fire album? Or can Hip Hop grow and mature with us instead of without us? Can Hip Hop become rich and successful while taking the struggle to new heights (Sudan Crisis, Water Shortage, AIDS, Electoral Politics, Racism, etc)? I think we can..I can't just leave my culture behind and look for a new one. I'd rather use it for a tool to educate and elevate.

But because of our mere willingness to settle for a dollar and a dream (and a plethora of other reasons) it is enough reason for me to suggest a ban on hip hop. Oh you don't know what I mean by "destroy and rebuild"? Well I guess you won't until the next editorial..and I'm just a critic..Who The Hell Am I? But the better question is..Who The Hell Are You?

"If the prophecy's correct, then the child should have to pay/ For the sins of the father/ So I bartered my tomorrow's against my yesterdays../ I'm both saint and sinner../ I'm on permanent vacay/ Life is but a beach chair/ This song's like a Hallmark card until you reach here." .. Jay-Z

by Andreas Hale
www.myspace.com/andreas_hale

Revisiting The Black Rapper As "Pimp




Timothy Brown
October 31, 2003

The black rapper as pimp has risen to the forefront of American culture. This phenomenon is receiving a lot of criticism from members of the black community who see it as another form of racial exploitation. We most certainly need to be concerned about the way these images continue to fashion our understanding of black masculinity. Unfortunately, in a culture driven by the fixation of the visual, the image loses its complexity and is reduced to a synecdoche. The pimp image is a particular representation of black masculinity that becomes representative of a whole sea of black men who historically have been portrayed as having a voracious sexual appetite.

The sign is reduced to a single narrative instead of a "sign" that is more like the nexus of a tangled history. What is hard to decipher is how the code or sign - black male identity mediated by the commodity - coheres to perpetuate stereotypes about black men and black women, without any recourse to understanding the complex conditions behind it. Commodities function as signs that have an obverse and a reverse. On the one hand, it takes you out of the world of street hustling; on the other, it brings you into a world of corporate hustling; and one can argue that there is a fine line separating the two. First, let me clarify my use of the "sign." A sign can be any form of representation; it can even be what Saussure called a "sound-image," a form of expression that prefigures a word, an image, or an object. In other words, the sign, a video or CD, emanates from the human voice and bodily gestures (that often signify sexual power); it also refers to the human body, a body that derives its value from a system of signification, namely, its social surroundings.

Initially, hip hop, as Tricia Rose noted in her book "Black Noise," was born out of the conditions of deindustrialization in which the lack of jobs and the lack of musical instruction in schools, gave way to the use of pre-recorded music as a new kind of instrument. This was possible because all one needed was a turntable and a way to record tapes. Turntable dexterity gradually began to incorporate the human voice, vocal samples that echoed our social realities. Under these conditions, a young black artist derived his reputation from the streets. Today, the resources of the street are still a useful way to commodify your way to success. What is going on in the streets of black working class neighborhoods? Why is this life style being used as a medium of artistic expression? Why is the basest lifestyle the most sought after commodity?

One must go deep beneath the sign, in order to understand how the phenomena of "rapper as pimp" has made its way back into the mainstream of American culture. First of all, one must recognize the harsh conditions that working class black people are forced to live under. In black neighborhoods, (or, in general, neighborhoods where people are economically impoverished), young black people must hustle in order to survive. In this climate, black folks are making "mad" use of their skills. Black men are carpet cleaners, plumbers, telephone repairers, electricians, cable installers, cooks, DJ's (the kind or workers that you will not find in the yellow pages if you know what I mean). Black working class women are still holding every job imaginable, including juggling a host of temp jobs, in order to take care of themselves, and their children. Unfortunately, in a society that has abandoned its social commitment to the social welfare of its citizens, black youth have turned to "hustlin'" in order to make a living. Although some have managed to utilize "respectable" skills in order to survive, some have simply relied on their biological resources in order to get paid: the human voice and the human body.

Unfortunately, whenever the voice and the body are turned to as resources for survival, they tend to follow a gender pattern in which the voice, associated with the authorial position of masculinity, is counter-posed to the body, the subordinate position of femininity. As, black working class women will turn to strip clubs and prostitution for their economic survival. Black men turn to their voices to command authority and respect (pimping and rapping). The degree to which each gender is empowered through these activities is largely linked to economic necessity and the limited conditions that compel one to exercise some degree of freedom and autonomy. Irrespective of this mind/body dualism, the voice and the body are seen as valuable assets. Artists like Beyonce and Jay-Z help to bridge the boundaries between mind and body, fantasy and reality because they appeal to working class blacks who depend on their primary resources, their bodies and their voices, to liberate themselves from the confines of their conditions.

Why does the market gravitate toward the basest element of our society? This question can be answered by understanding the laws of market culture. Market culture is essentially like crack. The idea is to get you hooked on a drug that satisfies you immediately; that can transport you to another world, a sometimes forbidden world, even the hidden recesses of your mind; and that can constantly keep you seeking another taste. It can allow you to cross borders, while immediately reestablishing them. In a sense, you desire what you abhor. Desire does not have its corollary in a material form, but if the object is "taboo," it might just be worth packaging. White women become curious about black male sexual prowess and white males identify with black male virility, etc. The commodity essentially denies you human worth because you invest your psychic and monetary resources in "things" for the sake of perpetuating a myth. You long for the fantasy but you abhor the reality it signifies. It therefore compels you to invest in a kind of "false consciousness," a belief that the imaginary is "real."

How did rapper as pimp become a vehicle for artistic expression? The success of the pimp image is linked to the success of gangsta rap. During the 80's, rappers made use of their musical talents and creative skills by giving explicit expression to their social realities. The old saying "the medium is the message" not only pertained to the power of the music, but to the life it represented; the two were interdependent. Gangsta rappers did not offer an answer to the social ills that plagued them; they merely said this is how it is, deal with it. Yet, there was some aesthetic value in gangsta rap.

As Robin D.G. Kelley noted in Race Rebels, the gangsta lifestyle was often employed as a resource for artistic and practical needs. For example the repetitive sound of gunfire was often used as a rhythmic, percussive devise; vocal improvisations enabled one to reinvent oneself under condition of limited opportunities; recordings opened up economic opportunities, under conditions of joblessness; and the music provided sources of pleasure and entertainment under repressed conditions. In the video titled, Straight from the Streets, a female gangsta rapper named April wears a hooded jacket, the kind used to conceal a "piece," while rapping to the sounds of sirens and bullets: "I'm a woman. Doesn't mean I'm a sucka." While the video explicitly reveals the violence of the streets, the sounds are converted into an aesthetic form with a pulsating beat. The commodity form is inherently paradoxical: sources of pleasure and economic gain are sought under conditions of violence.

The sign of rapper as pimp is controversial, precisely because it draws us once again to the paradox of representation. The pimp is a sign that
celebrates black male virility in a climate that seeks to emasculate black men. When two divergent forces converge in the form of a commodity for consumptive purposes, they generally signal a crisis in our society. That crisis is rooted in the black community and the dominant society. It's convenient to isolate the black male pimp image. Yet, as bell hooks noted in her critique of gangsta rap, models of masculinity are rooted in the dominant culture. America, for example, has a host of corporate pimps who rely on militarism to prostitute and debase others. Coincidentally, Americans have supported this global pimp culture because it is unable to find the solutions to its own impoverishment.

The successes of artists like 50 cent and Chingy are not merely
representatives of black youth culture, and popular culture in general. They are signs that embody extreme polarities embedded in our society, poverty and wealth, racial and gender divisions, national and global borders, that converge to make our impoverishment a source of liberation and our liberation a source of impoverishment.

Pimp or Wimp?: Why Black Rappers Glorify the Pimp
Mentality



DuEwa Frazier
October 24, 2003


"I don..t know what you heard about me, but you can..t get a dollar out of me. No cadillacs, no perms, you can..t see..that I..m a muthaf----n.. P-I-M-P." These are the words of rapper 50 cent, which my seventh grade students chant incessantly, which I have pondered over many times, from the song "PIMP." The word pimp has become synonymous with the name rapper these days. Whether it..s in a music video, on a television show appearance, or in their lyrics, rappers just can..t get enough of likening themselves to pimps.

We know the word pimp to mean a man who manages the daily work of a prostitute and takes a percentage (if not all) of her or several women..s earnings. We..ve seen the original shaft, actress Pam Grier..s movies or even read the racy, hard edged tales of street and pimp life in books by Donald Goines. We know who pimps are, or rather who they used to be: slick, greased down cats, with lavish attention getting suits, shoes and coats to match their bigger than life hats. And of course we cannot forget about their unforgettable pimp mode of transportation: the Cadillac, or "Caddy" as some folks call it. The men we know to be pimps are notorious for woman beating, drug and alcohol abuse, run-ins with the law, hardened personalities who womanize and seem to be proud of their distasteful interactions with women.

But the pimp life can..t be easy, after all, it is illegal, a sort of non-career for hustlers who made a career out of hustling. That..s why some say, "Pimpin Ain..t Easy." The pimp lifestyle and mentality which centers around sex, a lot of it, with all types of women, with no commitment to any of these women in mind to speak of, reputation as the pimp the man is and bravado, lots of male attitude that says "I..m not to be messed with or taken lightly." But pimping has gotten popular, mainstream even, it..s become a joke and a stereotype relating to Black men, all at once.

Even HBO did a documentary on the pimp lifestyle, profiling rapper Ice-T with his friends who have been pimps for years and the seemingly happy women they pimp. The documentary showed the pimps receive awards, receive recognition and respect for the type of work they do. Why do rappers claim the pimp mentality? Isn..t it enough that they are creative individuals who get paid to write and recite rhymes? And what does "pimping" have to do with the rap game anyway?


Modern day, self proclaimed pimps in the hip hop industry, Jay Z, 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg and others not only have street credibility, street appeal, they now have suburban appeal, Hollywood appeal, which makes them mainstream, highly marketable in a society which worships the almighty dollar and tells us that the American dream is possible, "by any means necessary", and so some of our brothers rhyme, style and profile in the process to take part in the so-called American dream. But the stamp of approval from the mainstream supports our rappers talking nonsense, that..s right. The more self-destructing, mindless, disrespecting and volatile a rapper is, the more accolades, admiration, popularity and press he receives.

No one in mainstream media, in Hollywood, in the music industry is disapproving of the pimp mentality in rap music today. Why? Because record executives, movie producers, and others who control the art, yet don..t create it, are the ones who make money off of our rap artists ignorance. It..s that simple. So if calling yourself a pimp, translates into good old American dream dollars, then that is what is most appealing to a young, up and coming rap artist today.

It is the self degradation and the mindless " big pimpin" lyrics which translate into the new homes, the bling bling, the women, the music awards and the luxurious clothing and notoriety that rappers now receive today.

Back in the day, more self respecting rappers such as KRS-1, Queen Latifah, Public Enemy, Rakim and others didn..t have all the flash and cash that rappers do today, but they held true to who they were as artists as artists of African descent and they still receive a great amount of love and support from hip hop heads today. And I might add the each of the artists above, are still successful , in their own way even if they..re not churning out a new album every couple of months. The women today who rappers choose to give a few minutes of fame to, are talked about (in song lyrics) and even in print media, as though they are expendable, mere property that can be tossed away whenever it (she) is finished being used.

The pimp game in rap music has degraded Black women, women of color in general, treating them as mere puppets in videos and other performances, as women are expected to wear little to no clothing (even if the camera blurs out their body parts), dance and pose in sexually provocative ways. These women aren..t seen as beautiful beings with a mind and spirit to match, they are seen as a pair of large breasts for fondling, long legs that caress stripper poles and warm insides used for the temporary enjoyment of a Black male pimp rap artist.

Why would Black male rappers who..ve achieved such mainstream status, celebrity and whom many of our Black youth look up to, prescribe to a mentality that has put many of our men behind bars, in a casket, caught in a labyrinth of unsafe sex, (leaving them open for HIV/AIDS and other diseases) and also vulnerable to other random acts of violence and being jailed? The answer is simple: Black male rappers, just like many Black people in general, are still searching for an identity which tells them they are valuable, good enough and powerful enough, beyond stereotypes and white fear, in order for them to get a substantial piece of the American dream pie.

Through their diamond watches, platinum bracelets, Hummers and Bentleys, boats, bottles of Cristal and Courvosieur and hundreds of pairs of sneakers and other expensive gear, Black rappers find identity, they find a reason to feel good about who they are as human beings. Rappers are now experiencing that they..re hustle as artists can get them paid regardless as to whether their art uplifts, educates, provokes communal or social change from the many ills which plague the African American and outer communities. The more the Black rapper promotes a pimp mentality, through word and deed, the more he loses of his manhood than he realizes.

So it seems rappers sell their souls to the highest bidder, forgetting that their own ancestors were once pimped, as their language, culture, spirit, land, pride, dignity and families were stolen from them. Slave masters oppressed and divided the Black family in many ways, one devastating way, was by using the Black man as a male buck, forcing him to mate, over and over with other females slaves. Slave masters would in turn have several female women pregnant at once and their children, born into slavery, would be used to work fields and any other labor, in order to bring in a higher monetary gain for the slave masters and their families. The white slave master was the first American pimp.

Black rappers don..t see their own creativity, access and cultural heritage, as power, as value enough to turn a negative path and circumstance around. All they see is cash money and what they believe that their only power is over the very material things that they own, which doesn..t translate into true wealth when compared to the wealth that white Americans, descendants of slave owners who used hundreds of years of free Black labor to build economic growth and stability for their future heirs.

The fore-parents of today..s Black male, platinum rap recording artists, would roll over in their graves if they knew of the irresponsible glamorization of sexual manipulation and misrepresentation of Black women, Black on Black violence, substance abuse and overall worship of money and material gain, in the name of pimping, which these rappers perpetuate.

If Black rappers ever want to reclaim their true identity as modern day Kings, heirs to greatness beyond pimping, the first thing which needs to be done, is for them to shed the weak notion that the pimp mentality gives value to Black manhood.

Copyright © 2003 DuEwa M. Frazier

DuEwa M. Frazier is a writer, poet, author, educator and performance artist. Give her feedback at duewa_frazier@litnoirepublishing.com WEB www.litnoirepublishing.com

MAN KNOW THYSELF by: Marcus Garvey

For man to know himself is for him to feel that for him there is no human master. For him Nature is his servant, and whatsoever he wills in Nature, that shall be his reward. If he wills to be a pigmy, a serf or a slave, that shall he be. If he wills to be a real man in possession of the things common to man, then he shall be his own sovereign. When man fails to grasp his authority he sinks to the level of the lower animals, and whatsoever the real man bids him do, even as if it were of the lower animals, that much shall he do. If he says "go." He goes. If he says "come," he comes. By this command he performs the functions of life even as by a similar command the mule, the horse, the cow perform the will of their masters. For the last four hundred years the Negro has been in the position of being commanded even as the lower animals are controlled. Our race has been without a will; without a purpose of its own, for all this length of time.

Because of that we have developed few men who are able to understand the strenuousness of the age in which we live. Where can we find in this race of ours real men. Men of character, men of purpose, men of confidence, men of faith, men who really know themselves? I have come across so many weaklings who profess to be leaders, and in the test I have found them but the slaves of a nobler class. They perform the will of their masters without question. To me, a man has no master but God. Man in his authority is a sovereign lord. As for the individual man, so of the individual race. This feeling makes man so courageous, so bold, as to make it impossible for his brother to intrude upon his rights.

So few of us can understand what it takes to make a man - the man who will never say die; the man who will never give up; the man who will never depend upon others to do for him what he ought to do for himself; the man who will not blame God, who will not blame Nature, who will not blame Fate for his condition; but the man who will go out and make conditions to suit himself. Oh, how disgusting life becomes when on every hand you hear people (who bear your image, who bear your resemblance) telling you that they cannot make it, that Fate is against them, that they cannot get a chance. If 400,000,000 Negroes can only get to know themselves, to know that in them is a sovereign power, is an authority that is absolute, then in the next twenty-four hours we would have a new race, we would have a nation, an empire, - resurrected, not from the will of others to see us rise, - but from our own determination to rise, irrespective of what the world thinks