If there is a time more than ever when our little girls need a supershero from Africa to her Diaspora..it surely is Now. Issues from colorism, racism, sexism & all of our many global isms, skisms  etc. & overcoming them has lead to what I call the movement of the global African daughters of  the great warrior, Yaa Asentewaa, who have come to realize their place in finding resloution to our many revolutions. From the ones who once existed in flesh to those who are our current living legends keeping the revolution of  the African woman going forward- like Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Miriam Makeba, Winne Mandela, Margaret Ekpo, Queen Nzinga, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf , Wangari Waathai & many more, to the new generation of writers, musicians, filmmakers, architects, economists, designers, activists leaders & all around cultural curators & creatives finding their creative freedom in honoring the past by building on it with a push forward to the future . A new movement of the people who understand that Mama Africa is our individual & collective responsibility because if Africa burns then we burn with it.  Our supershero, Wunmigirl is amongst the global Africans ushering in a cycle that understands that it has no end because culture should always be in a state of evolving as it revolves around its preservation of history & legacy from past to present, in preparation for the future-The  type of love language spoken by a global village of Wow Wow’s, preparing to take over the world, 1 Global African Nation at a time. Wunmigirl invites everyone to cross over to her side, while asking the listener to exercise his/her individual & collective right to define what is crossing over.

Wunmi Oliaya is the England born girl, who grew up in Nigeria, currently living in Brooklyn, New York- who by the sound of the drum crosses the Atlantic, worlds over & metamorphosing into Wunmigirl -a Global African Supershero saving global Africa from mental enslavement, self doubt, self hate, and injustice with truth & reconciliation raw & unfiltered powered by her gari!  Wunmigirl is the supershero “bobo slayer” at a time when African nations like Queen Nzinga’s Angola have finally decided to make domestic violence a national priority & Winnie Mandela’s South Africa has gone as far as creating female condoms with teeth to fight against the overwhelming rape statistics in the nation.  Wunmigirl bluntly speaks on this taboo topic at a time when global Africans understand that any violence against women & domestic violence  is a cycle that needs to stop by finding a sense of freedom in order to take the first step to change. Our “bobo slayer” & supershero, Wunmigirl opens the global dialogue with her music while other global Wow Wow’s like Carla Selby utilize their creativity in teaching domestic violence victims how to become survivors by giving them freedom to attain skills to pour their creativity into as they step toward freedom.

Freedom is often attained in sacrifice, consequences & rewards without guarantees other than our own level of faith & push to attain the change that we say want to be. This is what our supershero represents as she comes around to save the day by leading her Wow Wow’s to freedom land,where the language of love is the national language of her tribe. We need our global voices who bring our global connection back to its basics.  Our supershero, Wummigirl  with her nation of Wow Wow’s declare “Are you hearing Me Bobo, when I say I No Go, I No Go,Are You Hearing Me Bobo, when I say I No Do, I No Do ”!

From one side of the Atlantic to the other, the language of the soul of a house’s foundation is never lost in its people. From scavengers to aristocrats,  from paupers to kings, from the roots of mama Africa to the fruits of her global African children who protect her land as environmentalist, there has always been a local & global code of ethics & self governance that we never had to make a government or church matter, but rather just a human matter that directly effects forward movement as a people . Much like the sons of Lagos- Seun & Femi Kuti , Wunmigirl comes with the roots of Africa with fury that is determined to rise with a vision of an Africa for Africans. Our Supershero is here to showcase the future of her motherland-Future Africa…from Londontown to Lagos roots…our supershero be for Nija Inside!

Wunmigirl comes with her global tribe, a nation of Wow Wow’s- Global African fashionistas who adorn our supershero’s capsule fashion collections- paying homage to the African roots of our supershero while staying true to her futuristic evolution, which gives offerings of beauty in its natural progression from the root to the fruit! The nation of Wow Wow’s come in all shapes, shades & sizes also representing the natural progression which is uniquely & beautifully Africa-Cutting across the evolution & revolution of the Wow Wow sound & style of Wunmigirl – A journey of an African Supershero whose Wow Wow’s run the world as she keeps it rockin’ globally!

Supershero-Wunmigirl comes with her own language in her vocal drum…she commands global spirits, who invest their souls in a dance of joy cheering for her to win a battle contained in a global love language deeply rooted in the soul of house. Every Supershero must come with a soundtrack. Wunmigirl comes with a Global African soundtrack telling the story of an ALA to the future- contuning the natural progression from the root to the fruit in taking & continuing the rights of passage to superhershero staus! Wunmi, from ALA (African Living Abroad) to the Future of the Global African Supershero is the story we can not wait to to be told, seen, progress & embraced globally manifested in our global African image-representing the new sound of Global Africa – Tortured, Cultured, Seasoned , Styled & Ready for It’s Close Up to Shine!

Wunmigirl is a musician, a designer, an artist, a sister, a daughter, an aunty, a woman & a Grand Daughter of  Africa -a new era much needed & gladly welcomed Global African Supershero commanding & introducing a global love language that allows audiences to embrace an experience that makes them say  ”Wow Wow- that was incredible”!

Wunmigirl is the supershero that gives voice to the voiceless & let’s it be known that there is too much talk talk talk with no one listening!

Wunmigirl came calling for a kick start  for Future Africa & everyone started listening. The pledges came in & the people got behind the journey to the experience. We now join Wunmigirl in her journey from ALA to hearing the sound of our African Supershero after receiving her rights of recording passage in Ghana, West Africa. Refreshed, Rejuvenated, Reinvented& Reformed- the 4 R’s in the spirit of a true Supershero ready for the performance of her well earned right of passage! Wunmigirl is taking us on the journey as she tells our Global African stories in the truth of a new generation dubbed “Future Africa”! From the continent to her Diaspora, Future Africans are looking to Africa as the Future. While many with earned & self imposed titles as historians, intellectuals, experts, elders, leaders, Pan-Africanists & some entitled title seekers lose touch with the forward movements of Future Africa because they are too immersed in the beautiful struggle sound of their own voices, waxing poetic in verbal masturbation about the failures of what was, without much care & solution to what is & what will be! Wunmigirl lets the “Bottom-Line” know that it is full of shit…& that the little girl from London, to Nigeria, to New York, to Ghana & all points in between her ALA journey has attained & accepted her Global African Wunmigirl Wings! A roots honor never lost to be found, but rather awaiting her rightful time of preparation & passage! We are the Future ..This is Africa, Enter The New World…Wunmigirl-Africa’s new Supershero birthed from the queen of Afro-Fusion Wunmi Olaiya!

PHOTO CREDITS: Regine Gigi Romain , TKAFoundation, WUNMI.COM , Delphine Diallo

On November 12, 2011 while visiting Ghana, I was delighted to attend a free tribute concert at Citizen Kofi in Osu dedicated to the memory of Hi-Life Music Legend Mac Tontoh- formerly of globally recognized mega Hi-Life bands Uhuru & Osibisa. Legends such as Ebo Taylor, Pat Thomas, Jewel Ackah, Ben Brako, Gyedu Blay Ambolley along with future legends such as the daughter of Pat Thomas, Nana Yaa played their hits  backed by the talented  band & musical direction of Kwame Yeboah & his band Ohia Be Ye Ya (direct translation:Poverty will be painful) to remember, honor & celebrate the life of Mac Tontoh & his great contribution to world music & putting the music of Ghana on the global map.

As a young girl who grew up with the sounds of these legends of Hi-Life music blasting from speakers from Ghana to New York, I never imagined that I would see all these legends on one stage, in Ghana & for free on my mother’s birthday -the person who single handily introduced me to all these great historical musical legends- whose original vinyl  records I inherited when she moved  back to Ghana. All I could say was Wow! What a great treat of beautiful music from Hi-Life living legends honoring/remembering their brother & fellow legend, Mac Tontoh, who will never be forgotten! I was even more delighted that as I went to take a picture with Pat Thomas, he did a double take & told me how much I look like his daughter & that she was about to perform on stage so I should check out my sister. Well, I am not sure how much we really look alike; however she was just as beautiful as the soulful voice that came through her, so the compliment from her father was well received. I was still on a natural high the day after this concert because I danced my butt off & felt that extra special Osibi fire in my sa, which Mac Tontoh spoke of in my 2008 documentary “Black Star Rising” ! After a couple of seemingly rough unproductive weeks in Ghana, I was energized & in good spirits wanting more. This was truly a beautiful welcome home reminding me why I love my nation & why this black queen will always be empowered by the black star mogya (blood) that runs through me.

The production was a job well done by the organizers, but we need a lot more of this in Ghana in accessibility for all to celebrate, teach & learn about our cultural history through our past & living legends. Thank goodness for social media outlets like Facebook  because otherwise I would have completely missed this once in a lifetime experience since there was little talk about it amongst Ghanaians in general & in Ghanaian media. That same night there was a Daddy Lumba concert  honoring his global contribution to Ghanaian musical culture with all the extra dignitary VIP status along with the heavy price tag that the average Ghanaian couldn’t afford, yet to my surprise somehow a large portion of the audience at the FREE tribute concert to Mac Tontoh were White people & non-Ghanaian tourists, students & business people- Things that make you go HMMM!

As much as I & many Ghanaians globally love Daddy Lumba, his global contribution to the spread & preservation of Hi-Life music does not surpass or even come close to that of Mac Tontoh & Osibisa to be any more worthy of warranting the recognition & attendance of two former presidents or any more worthy than Mac Tontoh of  commanding a large amount of local media coverage recognizing a night dedicated in his honor .  It just makes me think how much we really care about our historical global legacy & why is it that we only seem to respect & see its worth after it is taken away from us, celebrated & deemed worthy globally by others outside of us?  It had to take Disney to retell & bastardize the story of the Ashanti Empire in “The Sword In The Stone“ in order for Ghanaian media outlets, animators & creatives to think to promote, educate, share & pass down the story of Okomfo Anokye to our children so that our legacy will never be forgotten in its pure form by us for us.

I can’t bypass the irony of completely overlooking the man & band who were hands down the reason why the world truly took to Hi-Life music & the power of fashionable Ghanaian musical culture in celebration of the ultimate bleached faced do-rag wearing borga,Daddy Lumba, by the pay to play Ghanaian media & two former presidents who seem to be in some sort of odd love triangle just to agitate & disrespect the sitting president whom they all seem to collectively want to see be a one term president for their own separate interests. The day after both the Mac Tontoh & Daddy Lumba tribute concerts, all you heard about in Ghanaian media was the Daddy Lumba concert & the shenanigans of Ex-President Jerry Rawlings approvingly overseeing his controversial wife Nana Konadu dance with former nemesis & Ex-President John Kufuor.  It seems everything in Ghana has political motivations even the honoring of our legends. It seems like Ghanaian media is more in the business of adverts., sponsorships & playing politics than actually holding up the integrity of true journalism in seeking out stories that are meaningful & worthwhile for Ghana as a nation instead of just who pays them to cover their stories.

Daddy Lumba is definitely a worthwhile story & worthy recipient of the accolades bestowed upon him, but just imagine if there was a tribute concert in honor of  John Lennon of the Beatles the same night as a tribute concert to Coldplay & former Prime Minsters Blair  & Gordon where all over the press about cutting a rug together at the Coldplay concert with no acknowledgement of John Lennon’s tribute the same night. The Beatles told the world “Here Comes the Sun” as they entered the world scene in a globally celebrated  British Invasion the same way Osibisa brought the world a “Sunshine Day” as they entered the world scene with their globally celebrated authentic Ghanaian musical invasion. Cold Play like Lumba are the new generation & new faces of their national culture of music globally, yet we can never overlook the fact that without The Beatles & Osibisa there may not be a Coldplay & Lumba attaining vast global audiences & their contributions are no where near to walking in the shoes or overlooking the legacies of The Beatles & Osibisa even to be able to say that the baton has been passed on to them to run with so to me to have little recognition of Mac Tontoh’s tribute by his nation seemed disrespectful to me particularly on the part of the media.

I was happy to be at the politics free tribute to Mac Tontoh, a night that I will never forget & will one day tell my children about because the legacy of Mac Tontoh & Osibisa is forever. It never seems to fail, just when I am over the unique madness of Ghana/Africa & ready to get out of dodge, I am surprised with the goodness & greatness that always makes me want to stay longer! My ♥ /hate relationship with my Black Star Nation continues as I remain thankful & grateful for all its roses along with its thorns! Forward Ever , Backward Never!

“Come with me on this happy trip back to the promise land ,all will be happy & gay…You’ve been kept down for much too long…Stand Up Please, Say I am free… Don’t Forget You Are Always Welcomed home…WELCOME HOME!!!”

“We must perform like Ghanaian, and for that matter Africans. My advise is that whatever we do, should be African /Ghanaian oriented and that is what will win the trophy for us in the industry,” Mac Tontoh -REST IN POWER!

Slyvia Vanderpool Robinson was a singer, music producer, publisher, record label executive, all around fly mama & music business mogul, who leaves a legacy as the founder of the first rap record label- Sugar Hill Records, which launched the careers of greats such as: Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Spoonie G, Treacherous Three, Funky Four Plus One,& The Sugarhill Gang-gaining world wide exposure for yet another new genre of music exclusively born & bred in Black America. Today Sugar Hill Records is  run by  her offspring- including her son & grandson Darnell Robinson.

“All the other rappers didn’t consider the Sugar Hill Gang to be real rappers. They just got lucky. They hadn’t lived the life, they hadn’t invented anything. They took what people were already doing in New York and Sylvia got her son [Joey Robinson Jr.] to find some kids to imitate what was going on in New York. There wasn’t so much resentment towards the Sugar Hill Gang as jealousy that they got to be the first group out. I think Sugar Hill Gang is the only group that was manufactured–the others all had their own material.” READ MORE

Without Slyvia the world would  not have heard “The Message” &  ”Rapper’s Delight“-the noted first rap hit record  by a hip-hop group, which launched hip-hop globally as an official new genre of music. Sylvia payed homage to her Harlem roots in building a new globally recognized renaissance of Black creativity in music, art & poetry that came with a distinct style & sense of culture representative of Sugar Hill- the exclusive, wealthy Harlem neighborhood that got its name in the 1920s, when the area became a popular place to live for wealthy African Americans. “Named to identify the “sweet life” in Harlem, it was a popular residential area of rowhouses for wealthy African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance, including W. E. B. Du Bois,Thurgood Marshall, Adam Clayton Powell Jr., and Duke Ellington. Langston Hughes wrote about its relative affluence in relation to Harlem in his essay “Down and Under in Harlem“. Read More

Sylvia’s Dynamic Productions  as a producer & singer  were sampled in many of our favorite Songs : Check it out HERE

Here are Thembisa S. Mshaka’s 10 things you should know about Sylvia Vanderpool Robinson

Source: thembisamshaka.com

1. She founded the seminal hip-hop label Sugar Hill Records in 1979 with husband Joe Robinson and Morris Levy. It was actually her second label venture, the first being All Platinum Records, an R&B imprint. Sugar Hill’s roster was home to Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Spoonie Gee, Treacherous Three, Funky Four Plus One, Sequence (featuring Angie Stone), and…

2 .The Sugar Hill Gang. The group is credited with releasing the first commercial rap smash hit, called “Rapper’s Delight”. Some 14 minutes long with no repeated hook, this song was a watershed moment for hip-hop.

3. “Rapper’s Delight” used “Good Times” by Chic as its music bed, creating instant familiarity for the song and a perfect delivery system for rhyming over a beat. For better or worse, Sylvia was a pioneer of sampling and all its uncharted legal territory (just ask Nile Rodgers, composer and leader of Chic).

4. Sylvia Robinson was the woman producer behind two of the genre’s seminal records: “Rapper’s Delight” and “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five. She also produced “Love on a Two Way Street” by The Moments (1970).

5. Before Sylvia Robinson became one of rap’s first moguls, she was one half of the R&B duo Mickey and Sylvia, whose Top 20 hit “Love Is Strange” pushed over a million copies—in 1957.

6. Sylvia also enjoyed success as a solo artist with her racy opus “Pillow Talk” (1973), certainly a precursor to songs like “Love To Love You Baby” by Donna Summer and “Love Hangover” by Diana Ross. That heavy breathing and moaning to music? Sylvia started it.

7. Sylvia’s songs have also been sampled by some unlikely artists: Kate Bush used the drums from “Pillow Talk” on “Running Up That Hill” (1985) as did Fleetwood Mac for “Big Love” (1987).

8. Sylvia’s voice has been sampled too. Moby sampled her vocals on “Sunday (The Day Before My Birthday)” and master beatmaker J Dilla chose to sample her from “Sweet Stuff” for his song “Crushin’”.

9. Sylvia understood that publishing was where the big, long dollars were in the music business. A shrewd businesswoman whose practices were not always equitable, she earned a reputation for underpaying and micromanaging that, according to Dan Charnas, author of The Big Payback, had “Grandmaster Flash split from the rest of his crew over creative differences and lack of payment.”

10. We have Sylvia to thank for discovering multiplatinum crossover rap icons Naughty By Nature. They made a lackluster debut on her Bon Ami label in 1987 as The New Style before moving over to Tommy Boy Records and changing their name.

“Love on a Two-Way Street” is a Soul ballad written by Sylvia Robinson and Bert Keyes in 1968. The song was originally recorded by Lezli Valentine, an artist signed to All Platinum, the record label that Sylvia Robinson co-owned with her husband, Joe..READ MORE.

RIP OUR DEAREST SLYVIA

Sometimes in life what makes my day is to hear of other people’s accomplishments. Today is one of those days. As Ghanaians & people all over the world who respect freedom & the greatness of man to bring about a global mindset toward change & freedom celebrate Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s 102nd birthday &  Founder’s Day In Ghana; I am delighted to hear that the young people of my Black Star Nation are Honoring the Past By Building The Future!

Ghana taking the lead from the Gaddafi led AU’s 13th Ordinary Summit in the Libyan town of Sirte, where African leaders adopted the centenary birthday celebration of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah as a continental event by stating, “We unanimously agreed to celebrate Dr Nkrumah’s centenary birthday & put it on the AU’s calendar of Special Events“, went on to  finally  take action in 2009 to make Dr. Nkrumah’s birthday a national holiday, celebrating the man, his achievements & his strong vision for a united & independent Africa. Dr Nkrumah became one  of Africa’s most prolific leaders who is celeberated all over the world from a memorial in New Delhi, India to a commemorative stamp in Russia & a New York State Senate resolution celebrating his contribution as 1 of the founders of Pan-Africanism. As diginitaries from around the world visit & send well wishes to Ghana in honor of Dr. Nkrumah’s 102nd birthday today, I can’t help but to acknowledge the elephant  not in the room,Muammar al-Gaddafi- the modern day African leader who thru Dr. Nkrumah’s influence spoke publicly in a push to carry out the vision of a United States of Africa. Today, Gaddafi has basically been deposed in the same style of people’s revolution cloaked in a western backed coup d’état that met Dr. Nkrumah. We are now left once again to look toward the future, hoping a new leader will emerge to carry the torch of a United States of Africa.

“It is time to give life to the dream of a united Africa. If we could even make the regional and economic committees at the sub regional levels work, we will see a much faster progress than we are seeing today. Let Africa not deceive herself, nobody is going to move out of the front of the world queue and create space for us to take a place… We have to work together to move up the front of that queue…it was time the continent rewarded Nkrumah’s commitment to see among other things, a united Africa liberated from poverty, noting that African leaders must back their words with action to ensure the realization of Nkrumah’s dreams for Africa.” READ MORE

While politics in Africa continues to disappoint most Africans, the future is bright among the young people who refuse to have the actions  & lack of progress in African politics defer the dreams of the Africa they want to see & build. One of these young people is Ghana’s own Mantse Aryeequaye. I remember meeting & interviewing Mantse for my labor of love documentary entitled Black Star Rising. I met Mantse in Osu, Ghana in 2008 as a young writer, visionary & man about town who spoke about creating pirate radio in Ghana, growing up as a hip-hop head in Ghana & being a part of the MOP (movement of people) in Ghana who were showcasing the vibrancy of the talents & Arts in Ghana…Now fast Forward to July 16, 2011 & the dream of what the future of Ghanaian arts celebration will hold, has not only been mobilized but realized & celebrated as a movement & festival started in a small historic fishing town that will sooner than later find its global fusion in local & worldwide recognition like the plethora of established & emerging global street arts festivals that have sprouted up in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Berlin, London, Paris etc.

The name of the festival- Chale Wote geniusly exemplifies the spirit & style of Ghanaians in every way, bringing us back by taking us forward to our essence in nostalgic future! Chale Wote is the Ga word for flip-flops that all Ghanaians rock & it also translates to man/homie let’s go! The Chale Wote festival juxtaposed the best of Ghanaian fashion, music, art, culture and the new generation of sports in Ghana that is more BMX bike extreme sports than football. The beautifully raw rugged streets of  the small fishing town of (Jamestown) James Town in the capital city of Accra holds so much of Ghana’s history of greatness for producing some of the greatest boxers like the legendary Azumah Nelson-the first African Boxer to be inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame & rising stars like Joshua Clottey, along with Ghana’s Greatest Photographer James Barnor & his Ever Young photography studio. James Town is also home to Ghana’s oldest prison, James Fort,  which held Dr. Kwame Nkrumah & many of Ghana’s freedom fighters as the nation woke up, fought & regained its power against their former colonizers to elect Dr. Nkrumah as our very first president while still being held in prison.

Jamestown is located right on the Atlantic Ocean & is a lively  colorfully boisterous town with many open spaces & beautiful architecture juxtaposed with the dense poverty of economics but not of spirit ,which served to be the perfect location for the Chale Wote  Street Arts Festival!  Big Ups to Mantse & all those who dare to dream, dare to take the chance in lighting a spark that may set the fire of greatness, all those who have no fear of failure because they are too consumed with the desire of creating success, and those collectively brought together their passion to make this beautiful expression of Ghana come to fruition. There maybe some who may call you failures because they are void of the unwavering love in black star souls & are hollow without ability to soak up the idea & manifestation of potential in dreams & actions. I can’t wait to hopefully be there to bare witness to the experience in the flesh & to hopefully be able to contribute on the next go around in April 2012! CHALE WOTE!!!

“The premiere edition of the CHALE WOTE Street Art Festival, held on July 16th, was a success because many people believed in a simple idea. Teamwork and artistic talent make a powerful combination. With only three months to plan and a limited budget, more than a dozen young creative professionals rolled up their sleeves and got to work on the largest free street festival to ever hit Accra. The result: a 12-hour fantastic street maze of live action art stretching from the Mantse Agbonaa to the old Kings Way building—graffiti + street painting, bike/skateboard/rollerblade street stuntin’ parties, art installations, experimental theater, a fashion circus, drumfunkbass music, spoken word, and a live music concert—never before seen on this scale in James Town. The idea began at a Talk Party in Osu back in March. The monthly discussion series is hosted by ACCRA [dot] ALT. “We were tired of talking about change. It was time to take action and generate a viable economy for art in this city. CHALE WOTE is well on its way to making Accra a cultural hotbed and international destination,” says filmmaker and ACCRA [dot] ALT producer, Mantse Aryeequaye….” READ MORE

Photo Credit: Nana Kofi Acquah

Follow The Organizers: Accra[dot]Alt

Photo Credit: KwesiBlack.com

For other photo credits go to : Face2FaceAfrica.com

While everyone & their momma was praising Kanye & Jay Z’s new album, the rest of the world was getting messed up & fighting for our lives.

Once again the internets were all a flutter over the release of Watch The Throne & the stans were out in full praise mode. I expected it, so I was just going to let this week pass & let the stan party roll in silence, but the more I watched the news, heard how 600,000 Somali children could die from starvation, got phone calls from my people in London & realized the madness going on that was being ignored in place of overwhelming praise over an album that had these two rich Black men spitting mediocre lyrics being compared to Civil Rights icons  & hip-hop classics, it just had my mind blown &  I was just over my fellow humans & Black people in particular in our lack of priorities in seeing why we seem to be in an endless cycle that goes more in circles than forward. Jay & Ye are saving so much money in marketing fees because their “stans” volunteer on the daily to help sell their records without any pay, as if they are the ones putting their John Hancocks on the millions of unemployment checks being delved out in a nation that seems to be on a downward spiral, particularly for ethnic minorities & the poor majority

As I watched the video of racist white teens running their car over a Black man in Mississippi just because he was Black, all I could think about was Emmett Til. While all of twitter & other social media were having their own listening party with full play by play commentary for Watch the Throne, all I could hear was Nina Simone’s Mississippi Goddam, as I was incessantly bombarded with “New Day“, which samples Nina Simone’s Feeling Good. I was far from feeling good knowing that the new day reflections for their unborn sons had not come for many Black men in Mississippi like James Craig Anderson, along with the murdered father of 4, Mark Duggan, at the hands of police that set off the riots in North London that same night, the thousands dying in Somalia’s famine from lack of basic nourishment & shelter & the seemingly doom & gloom economic crisis in America that is disproportionately hurting those who look just like hip-hop’s new savior kings Ye & Jay! Perhaps the best song on the album that has any real lyrical substance in reflection of the times is Murder to Excellence ,unfortunately Black excellence in this case is far from Dubois’s Talented Tenth, but rather a celebration of some sort of new Black opulence & wealth , as if we had never been there before & Jay ,Ye & their circle of new money friends invented it.

“On a recent Sunday morning just before dawn, two carloads of white teenagers drove to Jackson, Mississippi, on what the county district attorney says was a mission of hate: to find and hurt a black person. In a parking lot on the western side of town they found their victim. James Craig Anderson, a 49-year-old auto plant worker, was standing in a parking lot, near his car. The teens allegedly beat Anderson repeatedly, yelled racial epithets, including “White Power!” according to witnesses…”READ MORE

2 QUOTES FROM PRIME MINISTER CAMERON (1986 and 2011)

“Things got out of hand & we’d had a few drinks. We smashed the place up and Boris set fire to the toilets.” David Cameron, 1986.

“The looting and arson last night were criminality, pure and simple. Justice will be done and the people will see the consequences for their crimes” David Cameron, 2011- Cameron’s London

“Two nights of rioting in London’s Tottenham neighborhood erupted following protests over the shooting death by police of a local man, Mark Duggan. Police were arresting him when the shooting occurred. Over 170 people were arrested over the two nights of rioting, and fires gutted several stores, buildings, and cars. The disorder spread to other neighborhoods as well, with shops being looted in the chaos. Collected here are images from the rioting and the aftermath” READ MORE

I threw up my hands in seeing any hope that we will all somehow come to the realization that we have to do better, expect better & demand better from those who we support with our hard earned money, be it ourselves, those who we pay to serve & protect us, artists or our elected leaders. It seems very few hip-hop insiders outside of Chuck D & Dream Hampton seem to agree that it is about damn time that hip-hop stepped down from the throne of braggadocio & grew up just a little bit. It is seems many so called hip-hop heads really don’t know the history of hip-hop as blogs & commenters belittle Chuck D’s relevance for speaking out to raise the bar. I fully understand that artists are there to entertain & that is what we pay for, not for them to use their celebrity to uplift people or make political, civil or human rights statements in protests or upliftment of people in anyway, but when artists & their “stans” & critics alike start referring to themselves as political figures, leaders & activists then we all have a right to hold them to the litmus test of their bravado in exclaiming the greatness set by the standards & actions of those who they are compared to.

In Kanye’s case it was the misfortune bordering on some sort of undiagnosed psychosis in delusions of grandeur that made him think to put himself in context with Hitler.  I was floored by Kanye West likening  the “hate” toward him to that of Hitler & a Huffington Post Black Voices article that likened Kanye & Jay Z to Muhammed Ali & Paul Robeson. All I could say was GTFOH & get a clue. Jay & Ye ’s shit talking about their riches, bitches & diamond rings is far from the bravado of Ali & Robeson’s shit talking with a purpose of being recognized as men & equals at a time when Black people were not seen as equals by any means no matter how much wealth we had. How irresponsible to misinterpret history in teaching a new generation who probably have no clue about Ali outside of the fact that he is known as one of the greatest boxers of all time & I doubt that many of this new generation of hip-hop enthusiasts even know about Paul Robeson with the failure of our education system to teach our young people about Black history outside of Black history month & the fact that they are descendants of slaves.

View more LIKE IT IS HERE

“Paul Robeson was the epitome of the 20th-century Renaissance man. He was an exceptional athlete, actor, singer, cultural scholar, author, and political activist. His talents made him a revered man of his time, yet his radical political beliefs all but erased him from popular history. Today, more than one hundred years after his birth, Robeson is just beginning to receive the credit he is due… During the 1940s, Robeson’s black nationalist and anti-colonialist activities brought him to the attention of Senator Joseph McCarthy. Despite his contributions as an entertainer to the Allied forces during World War II, Robeson was singled out as a major threat to American democracy. Every attempt was made to silence and discredit him, and in 1950 the persecution reached a climax when his passport was revoked. He could no longer travel abroad to perform, and his career was stifled. Of this time, Lloyd Brown, a writer and long-time colleague of Robeson, states: “Paul Robeson was the most persecuted, the most ostracized, the most condemned black man in America, then or ever.…” READ MORE

As much as I love the work  of Ava Duvernay & think she is brilliant in her work to get the Black Film Industry united & to attain its global recognition, I couldn’t disagree with her  more in her comparison of Watch the Throne to a militant masterpiece à la Ali & Robeson. We can love our artists all we want in the feelings that they evoke in us personally, but when we give unearned accolades in revisionist history- that becomes a problem for an entire generation both past & present future.

“Watch the Throne — is a Black Nationalist Masterpiece for the New Millenium. Too Much? Because that’s how I feel right now. That’s what I hear. I hear Black Rich Militance, in the best definition of such a term. I hear the audacity of black gazillionaires saying wonderfully black things like, “I arrived/When Fred Hampton died.” Whaa-at?! You did? Okay. Damn.I hear pride. Pride wrapped in Maybach imagery. Things Oprah understandably can’t say. Things Obama surely can’t say. Things that for obvious reasons no true Black Power Players in Film, Sports, Music and Television have really dared speak in public in eons. Robeson comes to mind. He talked the talk. In the 40s and 50s. Ali comes to mind. He shouted the talk. In the 60s. But there’s been decades of silence since then from folks who have “made” it. Tell me who has “made it” to the highest heights and then started speaking the truth about the beauty of us, Black Folk, our souls, our bodies, our brains. Who? READ MORE

When Ali & Robeson spoke of the beauty of Black people  in reaching the highest heights in soul, body & brains it was far from being based soley on riches. This is where our generation seems to be misinterpreting our history & progress because there is more Black wealth in the world than ever, yet global Africans are still at the bottom & we have not gotten that far in our everyday struggle to be equal citizens of the world in basic respect as human beings whose very life & existence are worth as much as any other human being. All the money in the world has not, can not & will not bring us that until we hold ourselves to higher standards beyond materialism  & shit talking. Ali & Robeson used their celebrity, wealth & access to shed a light on a global African struggle that was bigger than just them as individuals, which is a greater part of their legacy than the fights or music that brought them celebrity & riches. It was never an attitude of  I got mine so you better stop “hating” on me & pull yourself up by your boot straps, hustle dope or whatever you need to do to get yours like I did. As Muhammed Ali said after winning the gold medal at the Olympics: “That gold medal didn’t mean a thing to me if my Black brothers & sisters were treated wrong in a country I was supposed to represent“!

Jay Z can never arrive after Fred Hampton died without ever having gone to battle or martyrdom for his people, but  he could very well take over where the godfather of rap, Gil Scott Heron left off by using music as the weapon in the new message to & from the messenger laying a foundation for the soundtrack of the new generation’s global revolution in hopefully finally finding some real resolutions.

Jay & Ye seem to have people so roped in- in a way that defies logic to me because many put down hip-hop & its misdirection & indiscretions, but somehow when Jay & Ye continue the same formula they get a pass & are praised as the second coming  of Ali & Robeson- Huh? Everyone is allowed their personal taste in music, but come on people we are just taking it too far with these two & their twisted logic & demonic imagery that plays right into the whole damn world loving them while saying they are part of the so called  ”illuminati“- whatever the hell that is. I have yet to hear anyone be able to explain what this so called illumanti subculture is & how so many artists we hate to love & love to hate are part of it & should be feared;however it can’t really be that feared if those who are said to be amongst them are the ones we seem to be always showering with praises of taking us all to the next level. The next level of what is what I would like to know. It seems we are all more than happy to be participants in this well staged ,well choreographed dance to nowhere based in false reality. As much as I love Ricardo Tisci & the idea of collaborating high art with hip-hop & fashion ,I realized this is all relative because I couldn’t get past the horrific looking images that jumped at me & were supposed to somehow represent  ”Bold colors and angular lines incorporated symbolically to convey the “masculinity of two of the most iconic rap figures of our time with Tisci’s recognizabl geometrical prints, surreal religious iconography, animal faces and “American obsessions“! OK, whatever that means -I couldn’t get past the 1st image.

By now many maybe calling me hip-hop’s favorite word for deflecting personal responsibility- “Hater”, when it comes to Ye & Jay. As Jay once said I “brush my shoulders off”  to that nonsensical logic because  it is exactly that- deflecting personal responibility in not wanting to hear a dissenting opinion. I do not hate Jay & Ye at all & I actually think they are very talented, which is why I hold them to a higher standard than many others who shall remain nameless. I see what power hip-hop has globally & I would love to see us all use that power in building our nation as Ali, Robeson and so many others did in lending their voices to the Civil Rights struggle.

As Mayor Bloomberg whose policies are partly responsible for so many young Black & Latino young men being prevented from fully participating & contributing to their society gets praised as the great white hope coming to save young African-American & Latino men in New York after 9 years of seeing them as nuisances & invisible men, I can’t help but to wonder where all the Black millionaires & billionaires are who talk about how much they love & want to celebrate those that look like them. I guess you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth , unless you had to get your teeth kicked in by it’s hoof first. Who will step up to the plate for Somalia outside of misleading hip-hop hooray headlines associating something that has no merit in association except in finally taking the time to tell the story. Who will step up for global Africans hurting worldwide who can use a hand up from their own in concrete examples of what can be if we are really about loving & celebrating ourselves instead of always waiting to be saved from ourselves from others outside of ourselves!

“The problems that face young black and Latino men in New York City are deep-seated and diverse, officials who work in minority neighborhoods say. They vary not only from neighborhood to neighborhood, but also from family to family and man to man.So when Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced on Thursday a $130 million plan to help young black and Latino men find jobs, raise families and stay out of trouble, those men — and the mentors who would help them — were tentatively happy, but raised some questions.“I’m glad to see somebody’s actually mentioning the words ‘young men’ and ‘color’ in the same sentence as ‘funding,’ ” said Danny R. Peralta, director for arts and education at The Point Community Development Corporation in the Bronx.Still, Mr. Peralta worried that the money would just graze the surface of the problem. “If you can’t wake up in the morning to some food or if you can’t get some counseling for whatever traumas you’ve been experiencing,” he said, “it is not going to reach you.’Lee Cabrera, 23, holding his son as he looked out on a courtyard in the Harlem River Houses development, said, “There are a lot of homeless kids out there right now.” With three children under 6 and a fourth on the way, Mr. Cabrera said looking for a job was the last thing on his mind. Would Mr. Bloomberg’s plan help him raise his family? READ MORE

By now we have all been bombarded on the internets with yet another so called “Highly Anticipated Album” from Jay &  Ye!  Well the album entitled “Watch The Throne” is still not out & is allegedly going to be out on August 8, as we keep watching the throne & praise leaked single after single. First we heard H.A.M & now “Otis”  & the stans came out in droves praising the usual “I am the greatest, richest & everyone that doesn’t like what I stand for is a hating “Ninja” lyrics that seems to be all Jay & Ye & most of mainstream hip-hop seem to be all about today.

Jay & Ye to me literally dropped “Otis” -the memory  & legacy of a great man , who in his young age lifted his people, his entire nation  & the world to see the soul & substance of Black America at a time when we were seen as second class citizens who didn’t matter & were left to carry the ills & burdens of our nation disproportionately on our back- A time that is not much different from today. I guess I stand alone  with the journalist from the Chicago Tribune in having the yearning desire  for an elevation in music that actually reflects the true soul & life of the fruits of Hip-Hop’s Roots as the voice of the people, who are often forgotten & need & use music for inspiration & hope for a better tomorrow. As some of our leaders call for a call to consciousness at a time when even the blind can see & feel the suffering of the people, there is no time better than now to examine our own consciousness of the reality that surrounds us locally & globally. As global hip-hop artists use their voices in the true essence of hip-hop as the voice of the people , think about who you are supporting & how they represent your voice!

“A snippet of Redding’s 1966 soul classic “Try a Little Tenderness” kicks it off and Jay-Z and West then get busy trading verses about how incredibly large they’re living. “I invented swag, poppin’ bottles, puttin’ supermodels in a cab,” Jay-Z declares. “I guess I got my swagga back.”..West scores points for dropping in a reference to Greek mythology (or is he nodding to the French design house?): “Luxury rap/The Hermes of verses/Sophisticated ignorance/Write my curses in cursive.”…But the references to luxury cars and private jets quickly lose their escapist luster, grossly out of step with a summer in which joblessness and foreclosure are becoming all too common for many Americans. ” READ MORE

No one can deny the talents of Jay & Ye & the dynasty that they continue to build, but as I watch the throne of the glossy flossy emperors with little substance in addressing the needs, trials & tribulations of the people of their Kingdom, I can’t help  but to wonder what the people really want when they ask for change, as they continue to follow & praise the same leaders who come with the same ol’, same ol’, as their loyal followers continue to throw can’t do no wrong praises & roses at their Bentley motorcades as they drive by leaving unrealistic aspirations for a people whose reality can use a lot more inspiration just to get by. Music is a weapon  & it can be used to kill the people or to give them new life in freedom & hope for a better tomorrow. As Nina Simone declared in her Protest Anthlogy & Lauryn Hill took to a new generation called hip-hop:  ”An artist’s duty is to reflect the times. I think that is true of painters,sculptors, poets, musicians. As far as I am concerned it’s their choice,I choose to reflect the times & the situations in which I find myself, that to me is my duty, how can you be an artist & not reflect the times…”

“I look at my environment and wonder where the fire went? What happened to everything we used to be?….Hip-Hop started out in the heart now everyone trying to chart..Come on baby, light my fire,Everything you drop is so tired, Music is supposed to inspire, How come we ain’t getting no higher? Now tell me your philosophy On exactly what an artist should be,Should they be someone with prosperity, And no concept of reality? Now, who you know without any flaws. That lives above the spiritual laws, And does anything they feel just because There’s always someone there who’ll applaud.” (c) Lauryn Hill

The release of “Otis” has brought new light & dialogue to the great man & musical genius who is known worldwide as Otis Redding & we can all thank Jay & Ye for reviving this time in history; However, at the age of 42, call me crazy but I just expect a little higher standard from the man who is no doubt seen as the most powerful  & the global representative of the culture which we call hip-hop. How can we ask our young people to do better  in their lyrical content & what they stand for when the example of their elders leaves little to be desired in being the antithesis of the change that we want to see?  I wonder what Otis would say because the lyrical content in this song is far from trying a little tenderness.

I, like many have been mesmerized & hypnotized by hot beats & mind blowing lyrical flows that gloss over the lack of substance in lyrical content, but there comes a time when we can not help but see the walls of the kingdom crumbling around us in desperate need for renovation.  As Clutch Magazine asks “who’s the blame for misogyny in hip-hop, the artists or the fans?” It’s time for an overhaul in self evaluation because we can’t continue to blame the artists for  giving us what we seem to love to consume. After all it’s a business & we need to start being more proactive & invested in the business of ourselves, our future & our legacy.

“I freed a thousand slaves I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves. Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” Harriet Tubman

If we want to celebrate Otis Redding’s legacy through hip-hop, then let’s stop sitting on the roc or at the dock of the bay wasting time & try a little tenderness because we have dreams to remember as we watch the throne. All the bravado in the world means nothing if a warrior does not move his nation forward in their time of need.

“If there is no struggle..there is no progress..those who profess to Favor Freedom and yet depreciate agitation…want crops without plowing up the ground…they want the ocean without the awful roar of it’s many waters..Power concedes nothing without demand.” Fredrick Douglas-1857

“If we have lost touch with what our forefathers discovered and knew, this has been due to the system of education to which we were introduced. This system of education prepared us for a subservient role to Europe and things European. It was directed at estranging us from our own cultures in order the more effectively to serve a new and alien interest.” Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah – Excerpt of speech given at the Congress of Africanists in Accra, Ghana, December 1962.

Jay-Z x Kanye West – Otis Lyrics

[Otis Redding]

It makes it easier, easier to bear

You won’t regret it, no, no

No, girl they won’t forget it

Love is their home

Happiness yeah

Sq-sq-sq-squeeze her, don’t tease her

Never leave her…

[Jay-Z]

Sounds so soulful don’t you agree

I invented swag

Poppin’ bottles, puttin’ supermodels in the cab, proof

I guess I got my swagger back, truth

New watch alert, Hublot’s

Or the big face Rollie I got two of those

Arm out the window through the city I maneuver slow

Cock back, snap back

See my cut through the holes

[Kanye West]

Damn Yeezy and Hov,

Where the hell ya been?

Niggas talkin real reckless: stuntmen

I adopted these niggas, Phillip Drummond ‘em

Now I’m bout to make them tuck they whole summer in

They say I’m crazy, well, I’m ’bout to go dumb again

They aint see me cause I pulled up in my other Benz

Last week I was in my other other Benz

Throw your diamonds up cause we in this bitch another ‘gain

[Jay-Z]

Photo shoot fresh, looking like wealth

I’m ’bout to call the paparazzi on myself

Uh, live form the Mercer

Run up on Yeezy the wrong way, I might murk ya

Flee in the G450 I might surface

Political refugee, asylum can be purchased

Uh, everythings for sale, I got 5 passports

I’m never going to jail

[Kanye West]

I made “Jesus Walks” I’m never going to hell

Couture level flow, it’s never going on sale

Luxury rap, the Hermes of verses

Sophisticated ignorance, write my curses in cursive

I get it custom, you a customer

You ain’t ‘customed to going through Customs, you ain’t been nowhere, huh?

And all the ladies in the house, got ‘em showing off

I’m done, I hit ya up mana-naaaa!

[Jay-Z]

Welcome to Havana

Smoking cubanos with Castro in cabanas

Viva Mexico, Cubano

Dominicano, all the plugs that I know

Driving Benzes, wit’ no benefits

Not bad huh? For some immigrants

Build your fences, we diggin’ tunnels

Can’t you see? We gettin’ money up under you

[Kanye]

Can’t you see the private jets flyin’ over you?

Maybach bumper sticker read “What would Hova do?”

Jay is chillin’, ‘Ye is chillin’

What more can I say? We killin’ ‘em

Hold up, before we end this campaign

As you can see, we done bodied the damn lames

Lord, please let them accept the things they can’t change

And pray that all of their pain be champagne

Well everything maybe for sale in the worlds of Jay & Ye, but we don’t have to accept that change is beyond our control because when we fight for & bring about real change, we can all drink champagne without the pain-the way Otis intended & delivered.

While your eating the pork in the H.A.M remember that all Rocs no matter how glossy & shiny they may appera are not diamonds! We are what we consume so consume carefully.

“H.A.M”

(with Jay-Z)

[Kanye West]

It was all good just a week ago

niggas feel theyselves and then Watch The Throne drop

niggas kill themselves

What niggas gon do Hov?

This a new crack on a new stove

I’m in the two-door, true that

niggas tellin’ me “You back”

Like a nigga ever left up out this bitch, huh?

and if life a bitch suck my dick huh?

and I bet she fucked the whole clique, huh

By the way nigga, you should fuckin’ quit, nigga

Just forget it, you talk it, I live it

Like Eli I did it, jokes on you muthafucker and I get it

No paper hoe, but you can have some more of me

Or-gy, or are we speakin methaphorically

Historically, I’m kickin’ bitches out like Pam, nigga

Goin’ HAM nigga, me and Jigga

and a nigga still young, wanna have no kids

But I’ve been practicing with some actresses as bad as shit

And a few white girls, asses flat a shit

But the head so good, damn a nigga glad he hit

Got em jumpin’ out the building

Watch out below, a million out the door

I’m about to go HAM

Hard As a Muthafucker,

Let these niggas know who I am

I’m about to go HAM

Hard As a Muthafucker,

Let these niggas know who I am

[Jay-Z]

fuck y’all mad at me for?

You don’t even know what I’ve been through

I play chicken with a Mack truck

Y’all muthafuckers woulda been moved

I swam waters with great whites

Y’all muthafuckers woulda been chewed

I hustle with vultures late nights

Y’all muthafuckers woulda been food

fuck wrong with these dudes

Try to walk around in these shoes

See the shit I saw growing up

And maybe you can take a peek at these boo’s

niggas fantasize about the shit that I do daily like

These rappers rap about all the shit that I do really

I’m like really half a billi nigga

Really you got baby money

Keep it real with niggas

niggas ain’t got my lady money

Watch the Throne don’t step on our road

Bad enough we let you step on our globe

When my nephew died, daddy dead

niggas took the price on my uncles head

Nobody called the cops as my uncle bled

So I feel like I would like to know my uncles bread

Bow down, brother pay homage

don’t spill hate all on my garments

Commes Des Garcon, fuck your fresh

head shots nigga fuck your vests

fuck the pig, no pork on my fork

Peace God cause you know a nigga just went Ham

Hard As a Muthafucker,

Let these niggas know who I am

Yeah I’m ’bout to go HAM

Hard As a Muthafucker,

Let these niggas know who I am

Yeah I’m ’bout to go HAM

Instead of going HAM , I would rather let our future generation know that they can have dreams to remember!

The festering & expected tragedy of famine in Somalia that has now captured the world’s attention & caused the United Nations to declare a famine in two areas of southern Somalia as the region suffers the worst drought in more than half a century has brought me to think about Hip-Hop’s global legacy in world affairs & in being the voice of the people, since many in the Hip-Hop generation only know of Somalia because of global hip-hop artist K’naan & the world attention on its pirates or freedom fighters -depending on who is telling the story.

We have world aid organizations, celebrities & everyday people once again all pleading for money from governments & everyday people since the last famine hit Somalia in 1992, just to once again allegedly throw money at the problem without addressing the roots of the ever evolving problem with the world’s African Foreign Policy.

“Somalia has lurched from crisis to crisis since 1991, when the central government imploded. In 1992, the same elements of drought and war set off a famine that killed hundreds of thousands of people and started a cycle of international intervention that, despite billions of dollars and more than a dozen transitional governments, has yet to stabilize the country.” READ MORE

“The UK Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell, said the response by many European and developed countries to the crisis in the Horn of Africa had been “derisory and dangerously inadequate”…”The fact that a famine has been declared shows just how grave the situation has become. It is time for the world to help,” he said. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that Washington would provide an extra $28m in emergency aid to counter the famine. She said the US had already provided $431m this year in emergency aid to the Horn of Africa, but that was “not enough“…READ MORE

“With famine driving more Somalis to Kenyan refugee camps, social media users rally to financially support victims. But, are the donations really benefiting those in need?The Stream spoke to The Nation’s National Security Reporter Jeremy Scahill about the current situation and the possibility of alleged mismanagement within aide organisations. Almost 380,000 refugees have sought shelter in camps created to house 90,000 people. Those who are not admitted build huts with sticks and plastic bags in shanties outside the camps. Rioting and rape are common within the camps, and Scahill says some Somali refugees are starting to consider their famine-struck homeland safer than the refugee camps which he described as “abominitions.” On Tuesday’s episode of The Stream, we ask: How are organisations using foreign donations, and are Somali refugees seeing tangible evidence of aide?” READ MORE

If we are truly tired of seeing these images, then we need to attack the real problem of the slow genocide of people who have not been allowed to use their own waters/resources to make a living & to feed themselves because of corporate interests/profits & international governments whose so called aid comes with life & death sentences in deciding whether to do as they say or demand freedom to do as Somalis wish. Mother nature is not eating her young-the lack of humanity in humans are! If we want to help Somalia then we must give our voices in attacking the root issues because money can’t buy freedom & Somalia deserves its freedom out of sanctioned enslavement in their own land, just as much as Northern Sudan & all the African nations refighting for their Uhuru-Freedom! We all need to follow the money trail because our few donations will not stop these images of skeletal children that we constantly come together to fight for, but our voices might just give the future generation of Somalis a fighting chance. The Horn of Africa is blowing, who will finally listen?

“Freedom is not something that one people can bestow on another as a gift. Thy claim it as their own and none can keep it from them. We face neither East nor West: We Face Forward” Dr. Nkrumah

As artists from Africa, the Middle East & all points in between like K’Naan, Shadia Mansour, Femi & Seun Kuti, Wanlov the Kubolor, The Narcicyst, Seu Jorge, Nneka, Morgan Heritage, Blitz The Ambassador, & Emmanuel Jal-a war child of Sudan who lived to bare witness to South Sudan being the newly minted 193rd country in a new world , along with so many other global hip-hop artists become the voice for the people of their nation, who often never get a chance to be heard on an international stage; America- the birthplace of the Hip-Hop we know today globally- is a divided nation with growing poverty, broken education system, police brutality & high unemployment most adversely effecting the Americans who birthed Hip-Hop,  yet all we seem to be doing is celebrating your favorite rapper & his favorite rapper- all talking about how gangsta they are, how much swag they have, how hip-hop’s survival depends on whether they decide to take the mic or not, how well they lay the pipe, how much money & material possessions they have, how they have 99 problems but a bitch ain’t 1, money pussy weed and how great they are at all that they do from the point of view of two hip-hop generations.  Yes, this maybe an element of hip-hop’s many evolutions & not all hip-hop from its inception had or has to have a political bend to it; However the legacy of hip-hop that captured the world is that it was the voice of the impoverished & disenfranchised people when they needed it the most. As the late great Fela Anikulapo Kuti said : ”Art is what is happening at the particular time of the people’s development or underdevelopment…people don’t have to smile in bad conditions…Music Is A Weapon!”

“Complex: In the Middle East and North Africa, music, especially rap music, has been used to voice the discontent of the people. As an artist, what are your thoughts?
Khaled M.: In Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya the whole message was anti-establishment. When you are going against the establishment it is hard to have your voice be hard by traditional media. The people learned how to gather, organize, and get information out using social media to circumvent the system. Music especially throughout North Africa has always been popular and accepted by the people because they are used to dealing with oppressive regimes. There are other artist like, Ibn Thabit, whose identity is unknown. He never shows his face in videos for security purposes, but he sends out strong messages about what’s going on in Libya. I think hip-hop is an avenue to inform people who normally would not be in tune with the situation.:”READ MORE

“When asking about their role as musicians in spreading a message, Dr. Das responded, “For us music has always been a potential vehicle for commentary, for criticism, for spreading information. It’s like broadcasting except we’re funkier than CNN. If you’re making some funky sounds, it’s a great opportunity to spread a little bit of information. And then it’s up to people, whether they take it further, whether they research it, whether they sign any petitions, whether they go on a march, or whether they just start talking.  ADF has definitely used their success as a platform for speaking up on issues that affect them and their surrounding communities. As stated by Pandit G., “You use your profile as a platform. We were on the Voice of America in Washington, D.C. You had to go in and it was like going to the airport security. They x-ray everything and check everything. But, to get on that to talk about Mumia and to talk about Satpal on the Voice of America, the leading propaganda organization of this country, I mean you’ve got to do it. You’ve got to do it, but you can’t substitute yourself for real campaigns that are happening. We’ve got a given opportunity to be able to do this and that’s what we use profile for.” Read More

The new Jay & Ye song “Otis “, which samples Otis Reddening’s “try a little tenderness” & Kelly Roland’s “Motivation”  featuring Lil Wayne songs are all I seem to hear about these days & as much as I may love & appreciate them on a strictly musical groove basis, I just can’t help but to look around me & have the desire  for an elevation in music that actually reflects the true soul & life of the fruits of Hip-Hop’s Roots. As Lauryn Hill said you can get the money u can get the power, keep your eyes on the final hour.

“Come on baby, light my fire
Everything you drop is so tired
Music is supposed to inspire
How come we ain’t getting no higher? Now tell me your philosophy On exactly what an artist should be,Should they be someone with prosperity, And no concept of reality? Now, who you know without any flaws. That lives above the spiritual laws, And does anything they feel just because There’s always someone there who’ll applaud..” Lauryn Hill -Superstar

“A snippet of Redding’s 1966 soul classic “Try a Little Tenderness” kicks it off and Jay-Z and West then get busy trading verses about how incredibly large they’re living. “I invented swag, poppin’ bottles, puttin’ supermodels in a cab,” Jay-Z declares. “I guess I got my swagga back.”..West scores points for dropping in a reference to Greek mythology (or is he nodding to the French design house?): “Luxury rap/The Hermes of verses/Sophisticated ignorance/Write my curses in cursive.”…But the references to luxury cars and private jets quickly lose their escapist luster, grossly out of step with a summer in which joblessness and foreclosure are becoming all too common for many Americans…” READ MORE

“ Otis Redding was one of the great American soul singers, who, although only enjoying a short career due to his early death in a plane crash at the age of 26, has been described as the embodiment of soul and one of the most important cultural icons of the civil rights movement. Before his death in 1967, Redding released 40 singles including: “These Arms of Mine” (1962), “Respect” (1965), “Try a Little Tenderness” (1966), and his only number one hit, “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” released posthumously in 1968. In addition he would release 14 albums, among them “Otis Blue” (1965), “The Soul Man” (1966), and “The Dock of the Bay” (1968). Although Redding earned over $600,000 in the last year of his life and owned a 300 acre ranch in central Georgia and a private plane, he remained connected with his Southern roots, helping to establish local scholarship funds and participating actively in the Stax “Stay in School” project.” READ MORE

If we want to celebrate Otis Redding’s legacy through hip-hop, then let’s stop sitting at the dock of the bay wasting time & try a little tenderness because we have dreams to remember as we watch the throne. All the bravado in the world means nothing if a warrior does not move his nation forward. Otis Redding was amongst the influential artists of the civil rights era. A time when the children of Plessy vs. Ferguson inherited Jim Crow’s “separate but equal”  & has become our modern day no child left behind, charter schools pinned against disastrous public schools in specific areas of the nation, mom’s getting arrested for taking a by any means necessary approach in giving their children a fighting chance with the tools of a stellar education -which is not granted in the separated districts where they live, questionable direction in education systems that deny education & even a seat on a airplane to young people because of their hair styles & fashion choices, a heightened time where police brutality is expected with a home trained right of passage as to how to handle it when it is your turn, a time where many would rather take their own lives than face deterioration under abject poverty &  unemployment, a time when the fear of what is to come and hopelessness in the lack of freedom is coupled with a racially polarized political climate dividing & hurting the people of the nation with a national election up ahead, a time reflective of our history & legacy past, when the people needed the music to give them a voice, hope & motivation & the artists whose legacies remain for a lifetime delivered.

“People define themselves by a region with which they connect. But, does the region to which they were born define each person? Not necessarily; this connection can be made through birth in a certain geographical region, but it is also more than that. It is finding commonalities in the values, lifestyle, image, and in regards to music, sound of that region. Otis Redding defined himself by the South. Redding identified himself as Southern not just for his geographical birth, but also by connecting with the many characteristics of the South, including the ever-growing Southern sound. He became a symbol of the South, being a role model for its values, aiding in the uniting of whites and blacks, and influencing numerous artists over the years. The South, often known as Dixie, is characterized by a history of racial tensions. From the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement, one could identify two Souths, white and black. Together, white and black Southerners developed their own culture, valuing religion, music, and food, as well as having a strong pride of place. However, when it came to the history of the South, whites and blacks didn’t see eye to eye. White Southerners were making their own history. Black Southerners were forced to follow the lead of their white counterparts. Because of its adherence to segregation, the South was often ridiculed for being racist, uneducated, and lazy. The 1960’s, however, marked a big change in the South. The beginning of the Civil Rights Movement and the passing of the Civil Rights Act occurred during this time. Southern music began its journey to desegregation as well. The distinct sounds of the South and the story-telling lyrics that joined served as a voice for the feelings and thoughts of individuals during the change occurring throughout the South in the 1960’s. To endure these changing times, black Southerners turned to the music of the South. As music itself started the desegregation process, white Southerners also found themselves drawn to this Southern sound. The bluesy and deep soul searching sound the South was known for provided an outlet for racial tension and a connection to one’s inner feelings. The music of Otis Redding fulfilled those very needs, as he was known as one who “exemplified to many listeners the power of Southern ‘deep soul…”This is a power that touched its listener’s core, setting aside issues of race and emphasizing Southern culture. ” READ MORE

“Born in Macon, Georgia, Otis began singing as a youth when he kept winning local talent competitions. It was a time when racial segregation was strictly enforced, so white people were not allowed to attend. But unbeknownst to Otis, he had two white fans who parked their cars outside the theater and tuned in on their car radios. They later became his managers. They were spurned by the white community as “N-Lovers,” while the blacks accused Otis of being a “White Man’s N.”
Otis tragically died at 26 when his private jet crashed into a Wisconsin lake. He had just recorded his famous Dock of the Bay which was released after his death. I’m sorry Otis Redding died so young. And I’m sorry he did not live to see the changes the Civil Rights Movement brought. But he left behind a legacy of beautiful, haunting songs. And he sang those songs with feeling and passion from deep within his soul.” Read More

“Music is Art…Courage is the most important of all the virtues, Without Courage u can’t practice any other virtues constantly…You can Be anything Erratically…It’s been my blessing to have had some impact -Dr. Maya Angelou/Godmother of American Hip-Hop-Bridging the Gap/ Building the Future! Still We Rise!

CLICK HERE FOR ENGLISH TRANSLATION

“We are living today, in a truly intense time in human history because people have become so exposed to what the world is & how the world works…this means that now people see clearly & vividly all of the tragedies of the world…none of us can hide from knowing the world’s pain as a result more than ever we need real reasons for hope…The Closer We stand 2 one another.. the more we r able 2 realize…that all of our separate individual struggles…in fact belongs 2 1 Singular Struggle !

As much as most people love to hate on BET or we, Black folks worldwide seem to have a love/hate realtionship with ourselves & those who we pay & are sanctioned to represent us in the world ; I never see anyone coming with real solutions & being the change they want to see, so with that said kudos to BET for bringing the music back & showing us a way forward as we honor & commence Black Music Month!

The performances of so many were thrilling & showed a much needed return of our Soul Singers! A few standouts were Jill Scott -back , bold, grown & as beautiful as ever! Ledisi , Ledisi, Ledisi -Wow is all I can say -this true soul singer gets it right every time & she made our wonderful Vanilla Child-Teena Marie- proud from heaven.  Mary J.Blige lacing us with her classic ‘ol skool’ jams & standing toe to toe with the great & beautiful Anita Baker in humility, pride & power, while showing us why she will always be Queen of Hip-Hop Soul was simply Wikked!

The Pattie Labelle tribute was by far the best highlight of the night showcasing the beauty & longevity of our elders in this beautiful God given gift of music that serves one’s soul! Grand Dame of gospel, Shirley Caesar, the incomparable Gladys Knight & ofcourse Miss Pattie herself looked beautiful, dressed for the occasion & once again led by example to show the youngins that class, hard work, perseverance, pride in your appearance, nurturing your talents and being a true artist can bring you the type of longevity in a survival of the fittest type of industry with one too many fly by night entertainers who work on their celebrity more than their craft. Kelly Rowland can shout from the mountain top that she is “Winning” this time around & as the song says “You can’t stop me…Baby I’mma be your motivation“! Kelly has come into her own with the confidence of a woman who is fit & ready for this year to be her year- take no prisoners style- Kudos Kelly -we support you- get it girl!  Sorry King Bey , you  still remain the beloved but we’ve seen all you have to give in your queendom & kingdom of sequince, gold, body suits, grand stage performances & the usual dance steps, but Kelly is giving us something fresh & new that we have not seen from her already & the streets are not only talking but loving it! It’s time for Ebony Princesses to unanbashingly  shine with class, beauty & graciousness in mainstream global media, while adoring their femininity- fit, proud & powerful because the blonding of Black is getting to be a one sided story too often told, which novelist Chimamanda Adichie explains as The Danger of a Single Story!  If we as a culture say we support & love the multifaceted  story of ourselves then it must be reflective in our actions toward change. Love is a Verb!  (Excuse having to sit thru the singing chippendale Trey Songz to get to Kelly-LOL!)

Marsha Ambrosius, Miss “Late Nights & Early Morning’s” powerfully intoxicating Al Green take em’ to church & the bedroom at the same time & have em’ screaming for “Jesus” -performance of Patti Labelle’s “If Only  You Knew“- had me thinking if the world only knew how great & rare singers like Marsha are. The grand Diva of them all Mr. Cee-Lo Green keeps having the best year ever as he comes for the crowns of Liberace & Elton John all at the same time, while showing us just how much soul he has pent up in that round figure of his as he counts & rounds out zeros in dollar bills & Euros too! There is no voice in gospel that can take the crown of  Miss “No Charge“- Queen Shirley Ceaser -she’s been in the game for a long time & she is not giving up the mic anytime soon. At the age of 73, like a bottle of wine she gets better with age just like everyone’s favorite soul diva -Pattie Labelle, 5 decades  in the business later, at the age of 67  she can still out sing, out dress, out class & outlast most if not all the soul singers of today who are half her age. If you are a true lover of music you will always love & need & want Pattie Labelle. We HEART you Miss Pattie!

BET always brings it hard with the gospel because if there is one thing that Black folks know is church & the music of the church, but this time around  the  gospel performance was lackluster & I was not jumping out of my chair exalting “Amen” for being taken to church in my living room as I have with past performances. As far as the fashion- BET really needs to implement a dress code for those grown folks who just refuse to have some pride & class in their apperance & who just can not seem to comprehend that there is a time & place for everything . Well there’s never a time & place for grown men to be showing their underpants to the world, but we can only fight ignorance & ill teachings 1 day at a time- like the global financial crisis it took a long time to get us to this point of self destruction & self loathing -so it may take us twice as long to get back on the right track. It was painful to watch the insanity of grown women who have no friends to tell them that when you are of a certain age & you gain weight in so many places without physical fitness being part of your everyday routine- you can not wear certain things because you only come off looking like somebody’s auntie who refuses to accept her age & weight & who desperately needs to be Free from the uncomfortable packed in snausages look in trying to stuff all that junk in a trunk that is already overloaded. Nia Long looked beautifully radiant &  with a pregnant belly & all was able to outshine, outclass & out dress most of the women in attendance. If that is what pregnancy  looks like , I will do it 100 times over! As for the not so gentle just because you pack a stick between your legs does not a man make -gentlemen, who couldn’t have enough class & self respect to dress appropriately for the occasion -All I can say is just have a look at Idris Elba, his career & how well respected he is in the industry globally- it takes more than talent to earn respect & longevity in career & life.  The way too tight, overly exposed, overly shiny disco ball , blinged out, pants on the ground, everyone rocking the same ridiculous shade of Beyonce blonde that only really works for Beyonce -if that-  is getting old & needs to stop immediately! We need to take some pride back into our culture, our appearance & our lives by bringing back some class & charm!

As for it being Chris Brown’s night-it was well deserved-we forgive so many for so much worse & if we are all God fearing people & so called Christians -then let the young man live & have the chance to make peace with his maker on judgement day! As far as that flub with the viewer’s choice award -I really can’t help but be cynical that BET producers may have done this so called “human error” intentionally with a poor fan left to take the heat just to guarantee press & tongues wagging about the award show  the next day. I hope it is not a fact, but in this media thirsty society that we live in, I don’t put anything past anyone doing the unthinkable or even the unforgivable in selling their soul to the devil just to be a trending topic on twitter. Chris Brown’s talents are incomparable & we do need him in the game because as far as talent & performance symbiotically blending together in greatness of what makes future legends , no one can touch him & he proves it every time. Usher has already lost the crown & can’t seem to find his place in his grown man-ness that grown women of his age want to see, as he belts out passionate grown man music like his Prince like  ”do it to me“. If Justin Beiber is his air apparent then we definitely need Chris Brown in the game!

As far as recognizing that Black Music, Black Entertainment & Black People are global , BET continues to get a failing grade each & every time. No one would even know that there is a BET International with access to the world of Black music & entertainment outside of the 50 United States of America. It is really a shame as the world gets more global, Black people in America always seem to be the last to embrace global blackness, just as Elle Magazine was first to put Alek Wek on a cover while Essence turned her down until after most of their mainstream  competitors showed them that yes- this beautiful Black African is relevant in mainstream America & worldwide , while Ebony Magazine finally found a reason to put her on the cover to tell us all that Black is Back ,as we all wondered when it ever left. I guess when mainstream award shows & radio start awarding & playing more music & films from the African continent & her Diaspora outside of the US, maybe then BET & others who are supposed to represent Blackness will see the relevance! Until then global Africa will keep forging forward with or without you & kudos to bringing back the soul of Black music in America & showing that this year the soul singers are taking back the Mic in truly honoring Black Music Month!

For My Global Fusionists, here are the Nominees & Winners for the International acts that were not worthy of live BET broadcast even if it meant canceling some of the tomfoolery to show BET’s movement toward a more global perspective. We could have done without the usual Trey Songz  multiple shirtless performances & Rick Ross -damn how many times did we really need to hear him perform. The Super Eagle Nation of Nigeria took the award home for best international act-  going to both Mr. “Fall In love”  & newly minted member of Kanye West’s G.O.O.D Music family, D’Banj &  Mr. I took the African Queen global- 2Face Idbia, who both came in dressed to impress as African Kings with global grown man swag!

BET Best International Act(Africa) Winner. If these are the lyrics & sentiments of Future Global Africa then Africa is Winning! Africa is the Future -Don’t Let anyone tell u differently! If ♥ 4 Nation, Family,Craft, Self, Mama Africa & ♥ is a crime Den I Want 2 B Wanted, If ♥ Is A Crime I’m Willing 2 B Hunted,Everytime Dat I Look Into Ur Eyes I See Fire In There, & If U Look Into My Eyes U See Desire In There,Keep D Fire Burning! To Whom Much Is Given ..Much Is Expected… Dedicated to the  Global Daughters of  Yaa Asantewaa…You Are Worthy! There Are Many Ways To The Dream… MUSIC IS A WEAPON!

There’s Been A Lot Of Toasting, Lot Of Guys Hve Been Up To Her But She Told Them She Was Waiting, For The One That God Sent To Fulfill Her Kind Of Craving, A Special Kind Of Loving, One With Luv Dat Undastanding, Come Rain Come Shining, Ppl Started 2 Say Dat She Wanted More Dan Mr. Rite, All Dat She Want Is A Man Dat Sees D Lite, Dey Say She’s A Fool 4 Being Uptight, All Dat She Want Is Good Luv No Be Fight, Special Kind Of Girl Hard 2 Come By, Dis Kind Of Girl Na Him I Want 2 Make My Wife, U R D One, Say No More, Don’t Bother About What D Ppl Say, Cos I Say

[Chorus:]
Everytime Dat I Look Into Ur Eyes I See Fire In There(Fire), And If U Look Into My Eyes U See Desire In There(Desire), Gal If Luv Is Crime Den I Want 2 B Wanted, If Luv Is A Crime I’m Willing 2 B Hunted, Got A Lot Of Respect 4 U Cos Ur Kind Is So Rare(So Rare), It’s Kind Of Hard 2 Imagine But I Know (U R Out There)2ce, If Luv Is A Crime Then I Wnt 2 B Wanted, If Luv Is A Crime I Wnt 2 B Hunted.

[Verse 2:]
She Said 2 Me Do U Wanna B D Last Man Standing, She Said 2 Me Do U Wanna B D One Dem Complimenting, Oh Yeah, Gal I Wanna B Ur Beginning & Ur Ending, Oh, I Wanna B D Only 1 Dat U B Sending, I Can’t Believe She’s Still A Virgin, Lots Of Guys Hve Been Up 2 Her But There Was No Compromising, She’d Been Strong, She’d Been Keeping Herself Until D Day Of Her Wedding, Under D Right Ceiling, With D Right Person, A Person Deserving Of Her Special Kind Of Loving…

[Chorus]

[Bridge:]
Keep D Fire Burning, Burning, Burning, Keep D Fire Burning Keep It Burning, If Love Is A Crime, If Love Is A Crime.See, Everytime Dat I Look Into Ur Eyes I See Fire In There, And If U Look Into My Eyes U See Desire In There, Girl If Love Is A Crime, If Love Is A Crime [Till Fade]

[ These are If Love Is A Crime Lyrics on http://www.lyricsman

It should be no surprise to anyone that the roots of music came from Africa, but many still deny Africa of her contribution to the world, civilization  & the many enjoyable aspects of life that continues to touch our souls generation after generation. Music is definitely one of those aspects of life that touches the core of one’s soul because no matter the moment or feeling of time there is music to heal, rejuvenate , rejoice & to express what our own words sometimes can not. From old legacy to new generation legacy, the roots of global African music lives on from afrobeat, to reggae, to soul, to funk, to pop, to jazz, to hip-hop &  back to traditional African roots music. As the late great orator James Baldwin said -“Know from whence you came. If you know whence you came, there are absolutely no limitations to where you can go.”

African drums are the beginning of global music’s roots to me. African drums in particular are like ravishingly loud silent films because they are able to tell a full story with so much expression that one has no need for words. From Reggae, to bomba, to Cuban Jazz,to rock, to blues, to jazz and all points in between, Africa’s descendants have traveled & settled the world in the foundation of  African elements in all musical expressions in expansions, which can not be denied.  A history of  Global African music that is so irreplaceable  & so loved the world over that nation after nation have dedicated weeks & months in its honor & recognition. As we celebrate Black Music Month this June , let us make sure to remember the roots & culture of Global Black music as we preserve & pass on history as modern day griots.

“The time will come when Americans will give you a paper to tell you that you are a master drummer from Ghana” Mustafa Teddy Addy-Ghanaian Master Drummer

From Africa to the world with love- our historical musical roots!

“ Let us take care of the children, for they have a long way to go. Let us take care of the elders, for they have come a long way. Let us take care of those in between, for they are doing the work. ”— Traditional African prayer   Nyumbani Village, Kenya

“Gil Scott-Heron is frequently called the “godfather of rap,” which is an epithet he doesn’t really care for. In 1968, when he was nineteen, he wrote a satirical spoken-word piece called “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” It was released on a very small label in 1970 and was probably heard of more than heard, but it had a following. It is the species of classic that sounds as subversive and intelligent now as it did when it was new, even though some of the references—Spiro Agnew, Natalie Wood, Roy Wilkins, Hooterville—have become dated. By the time Scott-Heron was twenty-three, he had published two novels and a book of poems and recorded three albums, each of which prospered modestly, but “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” made him famous…Recently, though, Scott-Heron has returned to prominence, having released an album called “I’m New Here,” which has brought him a new, younger audience. It is the result of the British hip-hop producer Richard Russell’s sending him a letter in 2005 asking if he wanted to make a record. As a teen-ager in London in the nineteen-eighties, Russell had seen Scott-Heron perform. He also knew his music from clubs that played rare groove, the British term for obscure, older soul, funk, and Latin records, which hip-hop musicians covet for samples...” Read More

Hey, yeah, we the same brothas from a long time ago
We was talkin’ about television and doin’ it on the radio
What we did was to help our generation realize
They had to get out there and get busy cause it wasn’t gonna be televised
We got respect for you rappers and the way they be free-weighin’
But if you’re gon’ be teachin’ folks things, make sure you know what you’re sayin’
Older folks in our neighborhood got plenty of know-how
Remember if it wasn’t for them, you wouldn’t be out here now
And I ain’t comin’ at you with no disrespect
All I’m sayin’ is that you damn well got to be correct
Because if you’re gonna be speakin’ for a whole generation
And you know enough to try and handle their education
Be sure you know the real deal about past situations
It ain’t just repeatin’ what you heard on the local TV stations
…Sometimes they tell lies and put ‘em in a truthful disguise
But the truth is that’s why we said it wouldn’t be televised
They don’t know what to say to our young folks, but they know that you do
And if they really knew the truth…why would they tell you?
The first sign is peace, tell all them gun totin’ young brothas
That the man is glad to see us out there killin’ one another
We raised too much hell when they was shootin’ us down
So they started poisoning our minds tryin’ to jerk us all around
And then they tell us they got to come in and control our situation
They want half of us on dope and the other half in incarceration
If the ones they want dead ain’t killed by what they instigated
They put some dope on a brotha’s body and claim it was drug related
Tell them drug related means there don’t need to be no investigation
Or at least that’s the way they’re gon’ play it on the local TV stations
All your 9-millimeter brothas…give them somthin’ to think about
Tell them you heard that this is the new word, they got to work that stuff out
But somehow they feel in the wrong way with a gun in their hands
They feel real independent…but they just pullin’ contracts for the man
Five and five will tell you it’s hopeless out there on the avenue
But if they really knew the truth…why would they tell you?
And if they look at you like you’re insane
And they start callin’ you scarecrow and say you ain’t got no brain
Or start tellin’ folks that you suddenly gone lame
Or that white folks had finally co-opted your game
Find More lyrics at www.sweetslyrics.com
Or worse yet implying that you don’t really know…
That’s the same thing they said about us…a long time ago
Young rappers, one more suggestion before I get out of your way
But I appreciate the respect you give me and what you got to say
I’m sayin’ protect your community and spread that respect around
Tell brothas and sistas they gotta calm that bullshit down
Cause we’re terrorizin’ our old folks and brought fear into our homes
And they ain’t got to hang out with the senior citizens
Just tell them, “Dammit…leave the old folks alone”
And we know who rippin’ off the neighborhood, tell them, “That BS has got to stop!”
Tell them you’re sorry they can’t handle it out there
But they got to take the crime off the block
And if they look at you like you’re insane
And they start callin’ you scarecrow and say you ain’t got no brain
Or start tellin’ folks that you suddenly gone lame
Or that white folks had finally co-opted your game
Or worse yet saying that you really don’t know…
That’s the same thing they said about me a long time ago
And if they tell folks that you finally lost your nerve
That’s the same thing they said about us, when we said, “Johannesburg”
But I think the young folks need to know, that things don’t go both ways
You can’t talk respect on every other song or just every other day
What I’m speakin’ on now is the raps about the women folks
On one song she’s your African Queen on the next one she’s a joke
And you ain’t said no words that I haven’t heard, but that ain’t no compliment
It only insults eight people out of ten and questions your intelligence
Four letter words or four syllable words won’t make you important
It’ll only magnify how shallow you are and let everybody know it
And if they look at you like they think you insane
Or they call you scarecrow thinkin’ you ain’t got no brain
Or start tellin’ folks that you suddenly gone lame
Or that white folks have finally co-opted your game
Or you really don’t know…They said that about me a long time ago
If they finally start to tell people that you lost your nerve
That’s what they said about Johannesburg
You ain’t insane…you have got a brain
You haven’t gone lame; you have got your game
Remember…keep the nerve
Keep the nerve
Keep the nerve
Keep the nerve
…I’m talkin’ about peace

“Gil Scott-Heron (born April 1, 1949) is an American poet, musician, and author known primarily for his late 1960s and early 1970s work as a spoken word soul performer and his collaborative work with musician Brian Jackson.His collaborative efforts with Jackson featured a musical fusion of jazz, blues and soul music, as well as lyrical content concerning social and political issues of the time, delivered in both rapping and melismatic vocal styles by Scott-Heron. The music of these albums, most notably Pieces of a Man and Winter in America in the early 1970s, influenced and helped engender later African-American music genres such as hip hop and neo soul. Scott-Heron’s recording work is often associated with black militant activism and has received much critical acclaim for one of his most well-known compositions “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”. On his influence, a music writer later noted that “Scott-Heron’s unique proto-rap style influenced a generation of hip-hop artists”. SOURCE

photo by Terrence Jennings:Mos Def Presents: Amino Alkaline-The Watermelon Syndicate (?) with special guest Gil Scott-Heron-Carnegie Hall-Saturday, June 28

Beginnings (The First Minute of a New Day) Lyrics
Mmmmm
We’re sliding through
Completely new
Beginnings
We’re searching out
Our every doubt
We’re winning

We want to be free
Yet we have no idea
Why we are struggling here
Faced with our every fear
Just to survive

We’ve heard the sound
And come around
To listening
We’ve touched the vine
Time after time
Insisting

We know what life brings
Still we can find a way
From dues we’ve got to pay
We hope we’ll somehow say
That we’re alive

We’re sliding through
Completely new
Beginnings

We’re searching
Our every doubt
And winning
We want to be free
Yet we have no idea
Why we are struggling here
Faced with our every fear
Just to survive
Completely new (x2)
Beginnings
Completely new (x2)
Beginnings