Peace and Blessings,

Apologies for abandoning my responsibilities with the written word last week. As i am sure you can empathize a lot has been going on in my life lately. And it's funny because had you asked me a year or so ago i would have argued that life goes slowly and has more potential to be memorable when you are coming up. Not to say adults don't have significant moments (Hallmark will never let that perception seem true), just that a child could probably tell you all the places they went and characters they met in the past two months, where as we get older that timeline seems to broaden a bit. I'll let you draw the conclusions about why. I just bring it up to say that i am in the midst of some life changes that could put me in a very different place by the end of the year and a lot of that was sparked off in the last couple of months.

This week things are slightly more mellow... translation, i am feeling distracted... So i would like to get a few things off my chest. I have been meaning to stand in my power more. Not saying i am often hypocritical when i challenge you to take responsibility for your actions. Just that i have personally struggled with that a bit. I would say that we are all responsible for our place in life while on the air and then go to my 9-5 gig and not speak my mind. I am in the process of changing that for myself.

Part of that process, will likely include my being more honest with you. For example. The two criticisms that when leveled against me over the years (especially by immediate members of my Hip Hop family) have resonated most deeply with me are that i am egotistical and that i try to tell black people how to be black.

The former made me laugh more than it made me angry. I would scoff at it because i have always found myself to be humble to a fault. Am i protective of the projects that i consider to be my babies? Sure. But i have always been willing to give credit to those who contribute to them. OFF THE TOP was never just 'The Curry Kid show' it has always been about bringing people together, displaying the contributions of artists that large corporate radio ignores and encouraging progress. Add to that one of my close advisors recently said that one of the most selfish things you can do is suffer in silence. That God wants us to be happy and healthy, to succeed beyond our wildest desires. That by us holding ourselves back we are in effect second guessing that vision for us. So i guess if my detractors want to see my success as a product of ego, i can't stop them. However as long as i continue to help others with what i do, than i know what i am doing is on point.

As for the latter accusation... Let me first qualify it to say i am also including those who would suggest i am not black enough to do or say certain things. For the sake of some semblance of brevity i will overlook all the multitiered levels of why these accusations are divisive and do little more than to raise the accusers ego to the detriment of the recipient. With that said, i can only respond to life's stimuli as my heart and soul see fit. When i listen to an album/CD/zip folder like LL Kool J's new project and observe that it is odd to hear him wax on about how Hip Hop Kulture has been trampled on and raped by corporate America over the past 15-20 years (it was only in that time that they felt we were viable enough to abuse in such a manner, the song, in case you are taking notes, is called 'Dear Hip Hop') while the rest of the album is replete with songs about him being a playa, a hustla and being at war with Hip Hop... When i make such an observation its not because i desire to tell him what it is to be black, married with children or Hip Hop. I make the observation because i KNOW Hip Hop is better than that. Brother J, Chuck D and Paris have all been involved in Hip Hop professionally almost as long as LL has. Although only one of the three have a discography prolific enough to rival L's, all have consistently used the power they have been bestowed as MCs to offer a progressive message in their music. Which is something that L couldn't really even say (and even now its a stretch) until this current project. If my detractors need to tell themselves that i am only saying this because i am of a certain ethnic or gender subdivision, they can choose to believe that, all i am suggesting is that i call it as i see it. That as an elder in Hip Hop, as someone who was there BEFORE corporate America was, as someone who has children and a wife that he loves deeply... he is in a position few others are. A position where he has the power to almost literally speak progress into action. So why squander that with references to things his romantic interest's mother doesn't need to know about? (see 'Baby')

Again, the point of this message is that we, as elders, need to step up more. I know we all have struggles to contend with. However if all the future generations see is us selling out, than what will life be like for them as elders? Part of my desire to be more honest with you is to clarify my political perspective slightly. Over the last few weeks i have been a bit caged with my opinion. I have told you it was because as an executive at WGBB, the station doesn't want you to feel that what i say represents the sentiment of everyone. This is only partially true. The other part is that i am still reaching my own conclusion about who to vote for. I have been sincere about the significance of your registering and voting (when i said i didn't want to tell you who to vote for, just that you should vote). However, here is my sincere opinion. I do not trust John McCain or Hillary Clinton because the same azzes they kiss today are the ones they did battle with in the past. Barack Obama is not the best candidate running, but of the two perceived to be the most viable he is certainly the better. That and i am VERY moved by the possibility of a biracial or black president. To me Cynthia McKinney is the best candidate, however i am still wrestling with the 'spoiler' vote thing.

Again, i encourage you to vote for whoever moves you. Do your own knowledge, all the candidates have an internet presence. (In case you are taking notes, Ron Paul and the rest of the candidates i haven't mentioned don't move me, and as much as Ralph Nader does, McKinney/Clemente does more.) With that said, the Green party is working hard to get on the ballot across the country, if what McKinney/Clemente has to say moves you, help them with that. If we are to assume Obama/Biden is the only viable option, i have a few suggestions. Now i trust Obama wouldn't have gotten this far without good advisors and some deal making, but in my humble opinion, here are some other things he (as the other candidates, for that matter) needs to be mindful of:

1. They tried to co-opt Obama's message of change. How can McCain run .. if he represents and is successor to, those who created the problems he claims to want to change?

2. How can McCain run on family values if he cheated on and left his wife when she needed him. Only to marry a sugar mommy? How can Palin be opposed to abortions but let her daughter choose whether or not to have one?

3. How can McCain be a man of the people when the people either can't afford a house or can't afford to keep the one they have, while he can't remember how many houses he has?

4. What is the Republican party's obsession with choosing criminals (McCain also did battle with ethics charges in the past) as their leaders while turning whole ethnic groups of innocent people (if only in public perception) into criminals?

5. Does being born in the Panama Canal region count as being born in America?

6. If they are serious about reducing oil dependence than why the balloon tsunami at the end of the RNC? (RIP to all called home in the tsunami a few years ago.)

7. If what Bush did was so right (that McCain cosigned on it 90% of the time) why was he only at the convention once to speak (via satellite) and in spirit a second time when McCain gave an acceptance speech that seemed plagiarized from one of Bush's acceptance speeches?

8. I seriously hope that the notion that womben would vote for McCain/Palin strictly because the latter has an inny instead of an outy is nothing more than a sexist fear tactic. Because if it has ANY credence it is one of the worst examples of voting against one's interests that we have seen in recent memory.

9. With the talk turning to conservatives wanting to vote for Palin/McCain instead of the actual ticket, am i the only one wondering if they gave McCain the nod expecting he wouldn't be around long just so they could have a leaner meaner MUCH MORE conservative president in Palin?

Again, these are merely some observations i offer you. Now i trust you to do what you as an intelligent and wise elder see as the best move. Whatever you do, do it acknowledging and standing in the power that we all have been blessed with and knowing that what others do is on them. Choose wisely, the ancestors and next generations are watching... No pressure. Lol.

One Love,
Curry Kid



Ps. FYI...

This Saturday's OFF THE TOP will be dedicated to:
2Pac
Dorothy Dandridge


Service resumes on the O Express this week. Get your token now.


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Join Curry Kid as he and WGBB's Program Director (Tom Ross) meet in the WGBB Programming suite. Catch their perspective on the Question of the Week and related issues of the day on OTTExtra. Check it live on Sunday mornings (immediately after OTTR) or later in the week (check AM1240WGBB.com for exact air times).

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Family,

Long time member of the OTTR Extended Family, Ayana Soyini posted the following to another section of this site. In the interest of everyone being able to read and chime in i am reposting it here and will include my response in a separate post.

One,
Curry



"I'll build with you about this a little later...but Hip Hop isn't just about progressive messages...whether we want to admit this or not...it never has been and never will be. I'm not necessarily mad at that. I would just like to see more of a balance as far as what is heavily promoted. Though some artists are political, Hip Hop artists aren't politicians... and sometimes I think that's what you want every Hip Hop artist to be. That is not fair however because ultimately Hip Hop is abut expression...and every person expresses themselves differently. LL has been one of the most consistent emcees in the game and is a LEGEND. From day one Hip Hop has always included party songs along with Black men professing their masculinity often times using the playa/hustler/pimp analogy. To disregard this fact is to not fully understand and embrace Hip Hop as a whole. Whether you like that style or not is not the point as music is very subjective and a matter of personal opinion and taste. But to think that somehow that particular style of music isn't Hip Hop is revisionism and does a disservice to not only Hip Hop but the Black community. That is why you get criticism sometimes I think...because your views can be somewhat narrow minded.



Said with love of course! ;-)"