gimme my 2 NOW!

ahhh....
a milestone.
somehow the "devil's workshop" (my engineer crazy steve calls this place that) has managed to get about 100 stories from me.--

i can say for myself that 60 are real good and maybe 20 shoulda been saved for a book. but methinks that overall? if it wern't for these blogs i all these adventures i go on would just get lost in the sauce and gone forever.

so this is a two-fer...

a re-cap of my 10 favorite blogs--no order-- (is there such a thing as a directors commentary for something written? lol)


10. #4-The Worst Band In The World 12/9/2005

16 Kudos


recap: the roots put on their first performance for their brand new label, Def Jam. What should have been a no brainer (the roots and karaoke normally go hand in hand) turned out to be the worst performance in the band's 20 year history. The task was to present a Jay Z tribute with kweli and jaguar wright. everyone sans kweli forgot their lines. everything was a blur. matter of fact the only highlight of that performance was executing a dare backstage with guest pianist robert glasper (blue note) on if he could sneak in cartoon songs in his orchestral interpretation of jay's stuff. (he snuck in "the smurfs" theme on PSA and no one was the wiser....including the camera man who swore kamal was playing it).

since then: we now overdo Hov lyrics in our show just to overcompensate. actually we are past that and now we just make contests out of the fun part: his loud ass declarations at the top of his songs (i am the champ of these quotes) and who can cram em all into a 16 bar time frame. We are still on the label.

this was the first major detailed blog i did and set a standard for which i am now regretting i set lol....stories of failed attempts, showing my blood and cuts, and getting wiser at the same time.
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9. #37 It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday 2/15/06

342 kudos

recap: all the death i had to deal with was expected death. like my grandparents dying at 85 years old after a fruitful life. this marks the first time someone close to me was taken in a premature manner. In his short 30+ years James "JDilla" Yancey managed to singlehandedly transform my entire life and effect the way i listen to music. from who and what i listen to to HOW i listen to it. All the praise bestowed on all the work i do in my life is based on the lessons he taught me. and now we all have to say goodbye.

since then: well....this is truly the first time i think the left of center has ever been rocked by a death like this. dilla is now a ubiq figure, with cats preaching the dilla gospel everywhere (he IS the best beatmaker of all time). his beat cd's have become staple lessons in hip hop folklore. and i can't do a concert without 5 cats showing me yet another dilla shirt. his truth marches on.

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8. #37 "You Are Not Niggers" (C) Larry Fish from School Daze

151 kudos

recap: if there is one country that i have constant conflict with everytime i visit? its italy. the point of these blogs are to give you a peak and what my world is into. not to start an unintentional lynch mob. i shared what occurred on my trip there (lots of tension between "eh bob marley!"---lol did he even have a fro? and the natives

since then: i lost a handfull of fans from this country i got responses like these:

http://www.myspace.com/serpico138

this cat tried to kick knowledge

yo douche, I hate to break it to you but the invaders of italy from africa were not from the sub saharan region which is where your slave ancestors are from. The invaders of Italy were of arab and eastern asian decent and of lighter skin, very similar to, hey what do ya know, the color of southern italians! You can draw similarities between the two. Southern Italians can easily be mistaken for iranian or syrian persons. Why you are experiencing is what us in reality call afrocentrification. Yes Africans have done some great things, but most occured in northern africa, where you draw none of your relation from. African Americans try to take credit for everything they possibly can. Ok, ok, African Americans are awesome, but your ancestors in southern Africa probably didn't do much for modern society. Egypt, Carthage, etc. Arab decent, you can honestly stake your claim with them, besides Rome conquered them both. The slave trade came from the still primitive southern africa. Either way, good music, I'm not gonna hate on your people cause I all humans are scumbags in my book.

http://www.myspace.com/29elementz

this cat thought i should turn the blind eye to the Bob Marley comments---as if they were complimenting me

so...
when i red this post, the first thing that i thougth is "oh my god!, it's unbeliavable", then i tryied to understand..
Many posts says something like "10 people don't express the thougth of a nation", or "For a single experience of ?love, he can't be tell that all italian are stupid, otherwise we cuold think that every american is supid-based like Bush", can we think this? is it rigth?
I love this coulture and his music, and the first thing that i've learned from american hip hop is to abstract some terms or expression...i've never translated nigga as black..but as man..am i wrong?
So, before get angry, i think that u got to know deeper italy and italian...
When people calls u "Bob Marley", i think that were no reasons to insult you..it's like a "strange welcome committee"...if yahmeen wasn't black, they will call him "Moira Orfei" (the boss of the biggest italian circus)...is this better? is this wronger?
About Vatican and other thing behind the Churc...watvh em like monuments..see "Il colonnato di Bernini", not the house of the Pope, take a look on the painting, architecture and so on..think that the vatican was empty..
Can I suggest u something?
Search on google images for Moira Orfei, watch it, and i hope u laugh on this episode...

If u come back in italy, call me..i'll let u see another side of the italy...the ones i prefer...


http://www.myspace.com/mightymacallan

some cats bitched out with alias profiles to speak from a soap box--all the while still being white at the end of the day

People staring at you...wow...a brother looking like a grizzly bear wearing Diana Ross' wig...that must be racism...I really feel you...shit's heavy...

hahah nah seriosuly did you feel it only here? I mean, I know you've been to japan a few times...wasnt' people staring at you there? I mean...I'm an average looking italian man and I had the whole crowd turning their head whwnever I entered a shop or came across some old men while walking...and you didn't feel observed?

I reckon that some people tend to look down on different looking or speaking persons and that sucks...however....racism is not an hotel maid staring at a black mountain with a 'fro...come on be serious...being on a mixed relationship I'm fighting against prejudice and racism every day, and yes, I do see that in shops, on the streets, I can see people behaving differently with different races...but that does not happen frequently and I'm kind of surprised that you collected so many episodes in less than a week...

My ultimate thought is that you went way too far with the bitching, all these compalints are kind of metrosexual...I mean come on!

That beat on Star is still damn dope but you didn't showcase great knowledge with this post...

and more denial pours in

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=58251351&Mytoken=C308AE1F-532B-4F4C-94F5EEE5B833A78081404257

TOO BAD POST AHMIR!
JUST THINKIN, IF YOU ONLY LOOKED AT PEOPLE IN THE EYES ONCE IN A WHILE, I'M SURE THEY'D BE MUCH MORE FRIENDY TO YOU. IF YOU SPOKE TO THEM DIRECTLY AND NOT THROUGH DAWN, WELL, THAT WOULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE, BELIEVE ME. WHETHER YOU BLACK OR WHITE, GREEN OR YELLOW, NOBODY WILL EVER SHOW AFFECTION UNLESS YOU THROW THEM A SMILE ONCE IN A WHILE. NEITHER IN EUROPE NOR IN AMERICA.
TOO BAD.
HAVE FUN NARCISSUS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism)

one cat came so sideways with his response i couldn't tell if he was pro or anti me

http://www.myspace.com/rovat

hi.... i'm fabio from Rome ITALY

just yesterday I was watching fade to black... and I was admiring you for your style and the way in which sounds. i'm a fan of the Roots from many time.... aaahhh sincerely u have successful one to lose that magical aura that you carried yourself behind with least words.... sometimes a word is most important of whichever other gesture. it is true that Italian for the majority are bigoted and closed people mentally, this depends also on one adverse geographic position and too much marked a Christian education. but they do not exist only that kind of persons in Italy! there is also people to which not import nothing of yours fucking niggers hair or of your way to make a bullshit.... there is people who are happy of being able to ear to you to play. but you this, from good American people u are do not succeed it to understand... "an Italian has laughed of my hairs" goes them to bomb all... you are the true racist indeed worse... a nazi! as your people... u are more than white of me...! with this I close. sorry for my bad English... but you know... we are ignorant people!

bless

Fabio Fioravanti


well i guess the lesson learned here is sweep it under the rug and take it. why should i make the world uncomfortable by reminding them why i am so uncomfortable?

this was probably the most venomous blog out of the 100. cats STILL comment on this shit daily.

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7. #48 Doh!!!!!!!!!!

212 Kudos

recap: rushing to the afterspot at a DC show i ran into a club, set my serato up. and was about to start my record when suddenly....the club manager tells me i am at the wrong club.---add in "night at the roxbury"/"what is love" long island-esque atmosphere and a abbot and costello "whose on first" confusion. and you pretty much get a funny blog and a typical night in my life.

since then: i get the address info for myself....NOT from yahmean anymore. lol

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6. #49 And Another One......


203 Kudos.


recap-the first night i met proof was one of my favorite nights ever in detroit. he was there for many a fun historic moment providing commentary in the way that only HE can do it. the funniest of all was NYE of 1998 (the night Tariq made "New Years At Jay Dee's on The Roots Come Alive) when Me, Dilla, Frank (of Frank and Dank) and Proof were looking for shelter from the bulleted blue sky of east detroit.--

since then-well?...since then...im certain proof and dilla done made some crazy shit way up there.

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5. #63 720 Degrees To Whitney.....aka the Lupe Fiasco review from two pop culture nerds.

recap: me and one of my favorite okayplayers Brainchild (we got similar taste in music--well sometimes) were about to speak on Lupe's brand new album but we got distracted and went off on a whitney IM tangent. this blog cracks me up.

since then: whit is getting her life together which is unfortunate cause there was waaaaaaaaaay more faux pas i coulda added to list.


4. #75 Award Touries day 9: CotamsterDAMN!

recap: for all of you that wanted to know but were afraid to ask about amsterdamn. this is all you need.

since then?-never again........will i rock orange on orange.

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3. #77 One Monkey Don't Stop No Blog/Amy Winehouse Is The Shit

186 Kudos

recap: everyone from my okayplayers to my ex wants to chastise me for "late bandwagoning Amy". but the deal is i been up on Amy since me and the roots did Giles Peterson's Worldwide BBC show and he gave me a copy of Frank. i thought it was "aight". i still stand by my statement that she found her true calling on the music i grew up on: Doo Wop. and i wanted the world to know about it. i sent this album to 25 journalists i love and respect. i blogged til the cows came home. i dont own a label and i can't do much about your demo.....but damn if i know the coolhunters and tastemakers of the earth still listen to what i gotta say. and i was placing all my eggs in this basket. i championed this album because i GENUINELY like this music. (you shoulda seen the email and voice mail insults i got from ESTABLISHED cats like "how come you dont go crazy of my product like that????")

since then: i have to say that out of all of my rookie endorsements (jill, erykah, d, bilal, amel, little brother, PPP, and anyone else i gave a quote to on the first bat out) i am amazed that the one artist i SWORE they wouldn't get absolutely blew up. if i believe the heads of Universal correct....they borderline told me i saved them millions in marketing with this blog and my giving the album to the right critics. i also see evidence on other boards and general people everyday telling me "if it wasn't for you i wouldn't have even given her the light of day" comments.

see all you "anti bandwagoners" (they are the ones who are on the "i been down since Frank" ---dont mind them....they dont wanna share toys....personally i want everyone to take this toy and give it away again and again)----i endorsed this girl cause she needs it.

i will also take this moment to say that Universal also went too far in their mission to break her wide open by misquoting me

all in these ads and billboards it says

"this is the album Lauryn Hill wanted to make"

--now agreed....this is the album she woulda killed for (ghead close your eyes....you can hear her sing "more than just friends" cant cha?)

but i wouldn't have said that.

now meanwhile......the real quote was Christina Agulara. because its true. she told me she was going to make a throwback record of doo wop flavor. well....she did second best which was a disc of stuff she liked (early 90s flavored hip hop) and a second disc of stuff im sure Ron Fair wanted her to get insurance on.

regardless.....the way the fonts look on that add makes it look mean spirited, and Uni can't see that this can only lead to a backlash.---we dont want that.

there is room for all!

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2. #82 I Feel Like Bustin Loose

recap: ?uesto and Biggie go at it.


since then: a GAZZZZZZILION mofos gave me more hate mail than the italy blog.
not because of the corny jokes....but because they never got a questo doll.

folks

it was a hard decision:

i had 50 dolls and i know a GAZILLION people.

so in true Santa Quest style i made a list and i checked it twice and you know the rest---(i shoulda checked it three times cause a certain recently engaged supermodel stole one from under my nose......and you WILL return it Clepto Smurf ; (.....)

and noone ever called me of doing Big voiceovers.

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1. #99 Never Scared

recap: The organizers of a virginia concert failed to tell us our token quota appearance was for the 400th anniversary of a town that legalized slavery. its like asking jerry seinfield to host the 100th anniversary of Hitlers bday.--

since then: i got the support of the people!

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and now to leave you with a treat.....this is how i spent my memorial day kids!

here is to another 200 blogs from el ?uesto!