Bastard Swordsman

Onyx & The Mad Face Invasion: The 20th Anniversary Of “Bacdafucup”

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 00:16:00 -0400

The first time I ever heard an Onyx song I didn’t even know it was them. Back in 1991, my boy Vanguard (who’d later produce tracks for O.C. and KRS One) gave me a mixtape with no tracklist. The only song I couldn’t identify was a track I assumed was called “Ah, And We Do It Like This” because it was repeated in the song’s chorus. Back in those days this was a common occurrence so I thought nothing of it. The next Fall, my younger brother tells me that his boy (Jam Master Jay’s nephew) let him hear this dope ass song called “Throw Ya Gunz” by a group named Onyx on his walkman. He’s raving about it and I just dismiss it as hype.

A few weeks later, my brother comes home with a tape that looked like a promo sampler and I heard “Throw Ya Gunz” for the first time (it’s also one of the greatest clean versions in Hip-Hop history). My brother wasn’t exaggerating after all! The ChySkillz produced banger had a kinetic energy I hadn’t heard since the DJ Muggs produced “Jump Around” hit blared through my headphones. I played it over & over again wondering when it was finally going to drop. Three weeks later the song hit college radio & the video aired on BET’s Rap City. Chaos ensued.

“Throw Ya Gunz” spread like wildfire on the airwaves, starting on college Rap shows then to mixshows and regular rotation on the major radio stations. The video went from being played just on “Rap City” to playing on almost all of the BET video shows except for “Video Soul”. As the song got more popular, a backlash occurred coinciding with when it finally was released commercially in late November 1992. Due to pressure from parents groups and others still reeling from the recent Warner Bros./Cop Killer Controversy & the L.A. Riots that happened the previous Spring, BET opted to blur out the guns in “Throw Ya Gunz”.

By the holiday season, they had pretty much stopped showing the video at all. Around this time, MTV decided to interview Onyx as part of a segment about the violence in Rap music. Shortly after audiences saw and heard the passion Sticky Fingaz & Fredro Starr had, “Throw Ya Gunz” hit #1 on the Billboard Rap singles chart and rose as high as #81 on Billboard’s Hot 100. Keep in mind that BET was no longer playing the video & MTV’s video policy prevented them from ever even airing it.

Sales of Onyx’s single “Throw Ya Gunz” was steady for four months up until their debut album dropped on March 30, 1993. What many forgot was an underground black & white video for the B-side of “Throw Ya Gunz” called “Da Nex Niguz” was on a promo VHS circulated by The Source magazine. This served as an unofficial single & video even though it never aired on either BET or MTV. Onyx didn’t have a new single & video until “Slam” was released in May 1993. If you thought “Throw Ya Gunz” was popular? “Slam” blew it out of the water.

“Slam” aired on both MTV and BET, it was extremely radio friendly and it dropped right around the time of the 1993 NBA Playoffs. The NBA began playing it in arenas and even added it to their new promotional campaign. Next thing you knew, Onyx had their second #1 Rap single that reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned them a Platinum plaque from the RIAA. Onyx essentially went 6 months with one official single and no video airplay for 4 months but the single still climbed the charts. Try that today and see if you go Platinum & get magazine covers and a Marvel comic book!

It was around this time that I remembered that on “Throw Ya Gunz” they went “Ah, Ah, Ah! And we do it like this!” and I went searching for music under Onyx with that title. I found out that Onyx was signed to Profile back in 1990 with Run DMC and Jam Master Jay took the young Queens emcees under his wing. Now they were on JMJ Records under the Def Jam umbrella with a Gold album approaching Platinum.

Onyx’s transformation and grimy sound orchestrated by ChySkillz, Jam Master Jay, Jeff Harris & Kool Tee completely changed the landscape of Rap in a short time. Hardcore Rap had crossed over and the rest of the Rap world followed suit.

How influential were Onyx? Shortly after the bald headed, screw faced, hollering emcees brought slamdancing and mosh pits to Hip-Hop shows Run DMC had reappeared after years of hiatus with bald heads in similar dress to Onyx rhyming in a more aggressive manner. Da Youngstas shaved their heads bald and adopted a similar look and vocal delivery to Onyx as well (this all happened in March 1993, look it up).

LL Cool J shaved his head bald and adopted a sound similar to “Throw Ya Gunz” on his debut single “This Is How I’m Comin’” from his new LP “14 Shots To The Dome”. LL Cool J’s “How I’m Comin’” became a #1 Rap single on the Billboard charts. Next, Run DMC’s “Down With The King” became a #1 Rap single. Da Youngstas “Crewz Pop” was a huge single as well but it’s lasting legacy is showing just how large Onyx’ influence became in just 6 short months time. Soon cats were shaving their heads bald, hollering on their demos and Black folks were moshing at shows.

In addition to known acts adopting many aspects of Onyx’s style due to their now Platinum success, copycat groups began releasing albums. One of these groups was Epic Records’ bald headed grimy shout rap duo who spelled their song titles just like Onyx did, Hoodratz. Their album “Sneeke Muthafuckaz” dropped in August 1993 and yielded two singles (“Bootlegga” & “Murdered Ova Nuttin’”). It was obvious that their debut single was spun off of a 27 second skit on “Bacdafucup” so fans paid them little attention. Onyx’ sound & aesthetic was also prevalent on Run DMC’s Gold comeback album “Down With The King”, Boss’ “Born Gangstaz”, Da Youngstas “Da Aftermath” and LL Cool J’s “14 Shots To The Dome” amongst many other projects released that year.

Onyx also rarely gets the credit for resurrecting the Rap/Rock hybrid sound that Run DMC pioneered on their collaborations with Biohazard (most notably the “Slam” remix and the title song for the soundtrack of the film “Judgement Night”). Onyx dropped a third hit single in “Shiftee”, it broke the Billboard Hot 100 (peaked at #92) and became the #2 Rap single on the Billboard charts.

Onyx also dominated Def Jam’s pay per view event Phat Jam even though it was loaded with big name acts. Their set length lead to Redman’s set getting cut for time ultimately leading to the infamous fight when stage technicians cut the sound during his performance. The techs had to change the stage for Run DMC’s show closing set and Redman had to perform after Onyx who had whipped the crowd into a frenzy beforehand.

When The Source listed the Top 100 Rap albums of all time years later it included “Bacdafucup” in it’s list. “Bacdafucup”’s impact has gone mostly forgotten in recent years and truth be told it might be considered the second best of Onyx’ first three albums (“Bacdafucup”, “All We Got Iz Us” & “Shut ‘Em Down”). The fact remains that the afficial nastee niguz with the baldheads who hollered when they rhymed, jumped around on stage while pushing each other around and stage dove into mosh pits at Rap shows helped to change the entire landscape of the Rap game.

Everybody wanted to sound grimey after them. They made it okay to be bald and not to water down your sound in order to move units. They lead and others followed. Jam Master Jay did the same thing he did with Run DMC that made them successful with Onyx and then he did it again with Run DMC for their comeback album.

Onyx had the all intangibles to become stars, they made timeless music and they gave a great live show. If you could do all of that and stand out during a Golden Era of Hip-Hop then your place in Hip-Hop history can never be denied. 20 years later, “Bacdafucup” still stands the test of time while most modern Rap released on major labels sounds more disposable than adult diapers.

One.

The Redbox Diaries: An Anatomy Of Film Addiction

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 13:30:00 -0400

Hi, my name is Steve “Dart” Adams & I’m a film addict, I suspect that I first became addicted to movies sometime around 1981. See, back then cable as we know it didn’t exist. Instead of being consolidated under one single provider, everyone was free agents in the Pay TV game as different companies in each region provided these services. In Boston, circa 1980 there was a company called Star TV or Starcase. They transmitted a signal from the top of Prudential Tower and you could subscribe to this service, receive a transmitter box and watch uncut Hollywood movies from the comfort of your own home.

As a young child I saw movies like “Escape From New York”, “The Man Who Saw Tomorrow”, “Superman”, “The Blues Brothers”, “The Shining”, “Jaws” amongst other films that all warped my fragile little mind. I was intrigued by how movies could make you feel different things and even affect your mood from early on, but just as I’d gotten hooked on movies something began to fuck with my supply. Rampant piracy due to people in the Boston area that found various ways to descramble the signal without even needing a transmitter forced the Pay TV provider (then called Preview) to suspend business back in early 1983.

By March 1983, I was going through movie withdrawals. I needed a fix bad but my section of the South End/Lower Roxbury still wasn’t wired for cable (although many of our neighbors were). I soon found a new connect, my dad. My brothers and I would spend weekends with our father in Dorchester and he had cable. Well, not only did he have cable but he had a huge top loading VCR and several computers. My dad was a computer programmer, a music lover and a film buff. It’s from him that I learned the difference between a serious film and some mediocre movie.

I saw “Star Wars” for the first time at my dad’s house. I saw “Scarface” for the first time when I was 9 on VHS with my brothers and my dad. We watched “Billy Jack”, “A Man Called Horse”, “Westworld”, “Planet Of The Apes” (watching it with him I finally REALLY understood what “Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes” was about), “Space Is The Place” and more (including several Blaxploitation/grindhouse films from the 70’s). I was the only 4th grader I knew that had seen “The Godfather” and “The Deer Hunter” or had any interest in seeing “Once Upon A Time In America”. My friends were far more interested in seeing “Ghostbusters” (which incidentally, I was taken to see instead of “Once Upon A Time In America”). Another great thing happened in 1984, we finally got a VCR.

At the time, videostore chains began to sprout up around the city but none as prominent as local movie rental chain Videosmith. I further developed my taste in film and videos through choosing rentals and taking into account the actors, director, producers, film poster and the preview trailers I saw at the beginning of other flicks we rented. Between going to the movies with my big brother & sister, stays over my dad’s on the weekends and renting the occasional movie my film palate had become so sophisticated at a young age that I ending up hating movies that most kids my age loved like “The Goonies”. I preferred films like “Blade Runner”, “Dune” and I thought “The Empire Strikes Back” was the best part of the original “Star Wars” trilogy. I wasn’t a regular ten year old.

Right before I turned eleven, my big sister came back home from Wellesley University and one of her school books contained the history of Black cinema from the 1900’s through 1984. I read that book from cover to cover and as I was turning 11 I learned about Spike Lee’s debut film “She Gotta Have It”. This ultimately became my introduction to the world of independent film as Spike Lee, Jim Jarmusch and others made film that made me more aware of movies made outside of the traditional Hollywood system. I immediately noticed how independent films seemed to be more character based, not relying on special effects, stunts or gimmicks to keep the viewer engaged.

Spike Lee, Robert Townsend and Keenan Ivory Wayans all led a new resurgence of independent Black film as in 1987 Robert Townsend entered the fray with his film “Hollywood Shuffle” followed by Keenan Ivory Wayans’ debut “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka”in 1988 which ultimately led to the so-called Black Film Explosion Of 1991 that I wrote about previously on Bastard Swordsman (Hollywood Shuffle © Robert Townsend). Another key occurrence happened that further spurned my film addiction in early 1991, I finally got cable at home.

The 90’s ushered in several other key influences to what can now be termed as a fully blown film addiction. Sure, I had access to several different movie channels 24/7 through the A & B trunks of my Cablevision subscription (back then the only thing digital about cable were those numbers that appeared on the cable box) but it was MTV that was pushing the envelope this time. Between 1991-94, MTV ran an animation themed show powered by independent directors called “Liquid Television” which was highly influential and ended up sparking many young mind and beginning several careers.

In December 1992, MTV furthered opened a Pandora’s Box by finally listing the names of video directors. By 1994, the field of excellent, young, innovative video directors was brimming over with talented individuals like Spike Jonze, Hype Williams, Malik Sayeed, Lionel C. Martin, Michael Lucero, Michel Gondry, Diane Martel, Sophie Muller, Tamra Davis, Mark Romanek, Jake Scott, Joseph Kahn, Chris Applebaum, Jonathan Glazer, Brett Ratner, Chris Cunningham, Anton Corbin, Stephane Sednaoui, Wayne Isham, Marcus Raboy and the list goes on. So many of the music videos from this era were responsible for sending cats to film school it was ridiculous.

What further pushed my film addiction was the Golden Age Of Video Directing just happened to coincide with the independent film boom that began in the 90’s. Influential films were released all throughout the 90’s like Richard Linklater’s “Slacker”, Quentin Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs” & “Pulp Fiction”, Alison Anders’ “Gas, Food, Lodging” & “Mi Vida Loca”, Abel Ferrara’s “Bad Lieutenant”, Robert Rodriguez’ “El Mariachi”, Kevin Smith’s “Clerks”, “Mallrats” & “Chasing Amy”, Boaz Yakin’s “Fresh”, Larry Clark & Harmony Korine’s “Kids”, Harmony Korine’s “Gummo”, Bryan Singer & Christopher McQuarrie’s “The Usual Suspects”, Jim Jarmusch’s “Dead Man”, The Coen Brothers’ “Fargo”, Todd Solondz’ “Welcome To The Dollhouse” and Wes Anderson & Owen Wilson’s “Bottle Rocket” to name a few.

I had began working with a production company called MCET (it was located in Cambridge near MIT) my senior year in high school (1994-95) that created educational live television and also taped other segments to air during their live programming. It was here where I began acting, finally got my hands on my first camera and began writing treatments, scripts & screenplays. After high school, instead of attempting to enter film school or find a college that offered anything in that direction I opted to go to Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD. When I got back to Boston in the Summer of 1996, I came right back to MCET. Shortly after I turned 21, I decided to stop working with them to focus on lecturing & taking classes at Harvard Extension School.

In the Summer of 1998, I’d left school and I got a job working overnight at a Super Star Market. After only two months I left there and applied for a job at Tower Records. I originally applied for a position on the music floor but I was given an audition working on the video floor which I passed with flying colors. I was then thrown into the pit with a bunch of film experts that specialized in every possible facet and genre of film you could imagine. I learned more about movies interacting with these people on a daily basis over the next 9 months than I did over the past 3 years on my own.

Working on the Tower Records video floor allowed me the privilege of three free film rentals (but for one night only) at a time and 35% off of CD’s, VHS’ and DVD’s. I could also special order movies that weren’t currently in stock which came in quite handy at times. During this stretch, I remember myself and about 6 other employees with our mouths agape as we watched the trailer for Vincent Gallo’s “Buffalo 66” during the previews for another movie we were watching in the store. I remember helping people find movies from their childhoods that they only could recall details of key scenes or bits of dialogue from. I convinced my store that it was time to rent DVD’s like the Blockbuster Video down the street did.

After my time at Tower Records was up I spent a short stint at a Hip-Hop clothing store called Hip Zepi USA (RIP) before landing a job at a movie theater, the infamous Loews Theater Cheri. I learned so much about the film industry and it’s relationship with movie theaters while I was there. I discovered how theaters choose what to carry, how they phase out films that under perform and replace them with other movies plus I got to see a few projectionists work up close. The time I worked at movie theaters was also interesting because the industry was dealing with censorship issues post the Columbine High shooting so several film releases had been delayed.

I saw the public’s initial reaction to “Fight Club” and it wasn’t anything like the praise heaped upon it today. People walked out of the theater during it (I loved it), to put that in perspective the only movie we got as many complaints about was “Random Hearts” starring Harrison Ford and Kristin Scott Thomas. Mind you, we screened crap like “The 13th Warrior” while I was there. I was also present when DreamWorks screened “American Beauty” in my theater for the Boston premiere. I met Kevin Spacey & Thora Birch (didn’t recognize her) and I heard DreamWorks execs bitch about everything from the theater being tiny to how filthy, offensive and “indie” “American Beauty” seemed (they’d never seen it). I, of course, loved it.

Several people on staff at the movie theater either wrote or directed so we’d talk film all the time. Once we got the reel for the new Micheal Mann film “The Insider” early and we decided to stay behind after the theater closed and watch it. It was more than 2 and half hours long and while it was a good film and well written it had little to no action. We all unanimously agreed that it was going to flop hard. And it did. For the record, “Fight Club” flopped but is considered a classic, “American Beauty” was a huge hit and also considered a classic while no one remembers “The Insider” was even made. I also remember seeing Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of the Joe Connelly book “Bringing Out The Dead” flop. That one hurt.

I eventually left the theater (where I was promoted to being in charge of the box office & being the closing usher/security) to work at Newbury Comics during their holiday season. They hired me with the promise that I’d become regular staff after the holiday season was over. I discovered that I wasn’t when I saw the goodbye cake before the end of my shift on January 2nd, 2000. Nice. I was pissed off but I swallowed it and instead applied for a job literally 50 feet away at CD Spins, a used CD & DVD store where my movie expertise would come in handy (The movie theater, Tower Records, Newbury Comics & CD Spins were all less than 5 minutes from each other walking). They hired me and my film addiction was about to get even deeper.

I started out my CD Spins training at the old Cambridge location in Harvard Square on Church Street. Shortly after being there, the talk turned to film and my manager Jay asked me if I’d ever seen the Guy Ritchie film “Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels” yet. I shook my head no and Jay exclaimed “Dude, you gotta see that shit!”. He then trusted us to mind the store while he went to Tower Records in Harvard Square to buy the DVD. He brought it back and we watched it right there in the store. Needless to say, I’ve been a Guy Ritchie film fan ever since. I also worked at CD Spins’ South Boston warehouse amongst thousands of CD’s, CD based videogames and DVD’s that needed evaluation and pricing. I was pretty good at my job and I only got better being immersed in music and film.

Beginning in early 2000, video & DVD rental stores began to gradually lose more and more revenue due to rampant internet piracy, P2P sites, overseas film bootleggers and a mail DVD rental subscription service called Netflix. I worked at CD Spins at the warehouse and several different locations before settling at a location on Winter Street in Downtown Crossing (which was across the street from the same Hip Zepi I worked at the previous Summer) until that Fall. By then, the box stores and video stores were on a downward spiral and the dotcom bubble had burst back in March. Shortly after George W. Bush became president the shit had hit the fan. Jobs were suddenly scarce and stores were shutting down.

To feed my film addiction, I copped cheap VCD’s from Asia as I couldn’t afford to buy just one $19.99 DVD that I waited months for when I could get 4 $5 VCD’s for Asian films that wouldn’t find American distribution for another year. I copped “Battle Royale” on VCD in early 2001 after reading Quentin Tarantino rave about it in a film magazine. I was the only cat I knew with it for about 6 months before other people began catching on and copping films online from Asia either on VCD or regionless DVD’s. During this time, video stores were losing more and more revenue and they were putting a hurt on our pockets so my brother and I determined that a Netflix subscription was more cost effective.

In late 2001, we began renting films from Netflix and arranging our queue expertly so we received new releases on the Tuesday they came out. With a 5 at a time rental plan and us watching & returning DVD’s quickly we ran through a disgusting amount of movies a month. Many of these films ended up landing in my Cult Films Of The Internet Era lists during my runs on Poisonous Paragraphs and Bastard Swordsman. I would’ve done another one but Tumblr won’t allow me to resize uploaded pictures so I can’t. Once I began blogging in 2006, I had quite a sizeable list of films to share with folks.

I was putting people onto “The Ring (Ringu)” back in 1999 when I was still working at Tower Records. I was putting cats onto Korean films like “Shiri” before anyone stateside (who wasn’t Korean) knew about it. I was one of the first dudes to own a copy of “Ong Bak” back in early 2003 & I played it for people in my crib for about a year. I sold more than 50 copies of it and spread it all throughout Boston (It wasn’t available on DVD in America until Summer 2005). British crime dramas like “Essex Boys”, “Gangster No. 1” & “Layer Cake” had me for an advocate. French action films like “Brotherhood Of The Wolf”, “The Nest” & “District B13” were all on my radar early as well. It’s almost like Pokemon, but with movies instead.

I’d already been blogging for more than a year by the time I first discovered Redbox in Fall 2007. I even wrote about it on Poisonous Paragraphs that October when I declared it was the wave of the future. Now in addition to streaming Netflix in my crib I rent from Redbox and I’m part of the streaming service which is in beta. Hypebeats line up for sneakers, film junkies line up at Redboxes.

I came up with the idea to do this piece a couple of weeks ago when I saw that the film “Searching For Sugar Man” was in a Redbox about 2 miles away in a train station so I hopped a few trains before midnight just to rent it and watch it that night. I decided that it would be a good idea to get to the bottom of why I was at a Shaw’s Redbox at 3 AM getting “Zero Dark Thirty”. I guess it could be worse, I could be out purchasing drugs instead. *Scratches self repeatedly*

One.

New Edition’s “Candy Girl” Turns 30: A Retrospective (Deluxe Edition)

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 08:29:00 -0400

We all know about New Edition being five cats from Orchard Park Projects in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood. We all know about their career being kicked off 30 years ago with a hit single called “Candy Girl” but there’s so much more than that to the story. These five teenagers announced to the music industry and the world that there was (still) talent in Boston. Not only were they from Boston but so were the men that produced the album and sold more than a million copies of it.

New Edition were the first Boston cats to bring a Platinum plaque back to the projects (in theory, in reality the RIAA never delivered them as it had to be reported to them by Streetwise Records or their publicity department first). They also kicked off a rush of record labels scouting, evaluating and signing the talent that performed at local Boston talent shows for years to follow (i.e. 9.9, Picture Perfect, The Superiors, etc.). In addition, record labels began looking for young singing groups nationwide due to New edition’s breakout success. Let’s start at the beginning…

The story of New Edition can’t be told without mentioning the Boston connection that resulted in them recording an album in the first place. Back in the early 80′s, Boston area producers/musician Arthur Baker often collaborated with other local producer/musicians Michael Jonzun, Maurice Starr & Gordon Worthy. They’d even previously recorded material as a group called Glory on NYC’s Posse Records. Individually, Arthur Baker was in a group called Planet Patrol with John Robie who had a hit called “Play At Your Own Risk” on NYC label Tommy Boy Records back in 1982 while Jonzun Crew also had a hit on their hands with a a song called “Pak Man (Look Out For The OVC)” released on their label Boston International Records.

Arthur Baker would bring his Boston homies to the attention of Tommy Silverman of Tommy Boy who first heard the record as they were all a part of the same DJ record pool. The song would later become redone & re-released on Tommy Boy as “Pack Jam” to avoid being sued by Bally/Midway (Michael Jonzun maintains he didn’t know about the video game Pac Man, at all). “Pack Jam” became another big hit for Tommy Boy and soon Arthur Baker & his boys Michael Jonzun & Maurice Starr had already making hits for years for NYC labels using their trademarked “Boston Funk” sound that people outside of Massachusetts all referred to as “Electro”. They were always looking for acts to put on & write material for. Arthur Baker was already in demand in New York and beyond at this time, Maurice Starr decided to mine for gold right there in Roxbury.

New Edition were already pretty well known up & comers on Boston’s talent show circuit after adding Ralph Tresvant, Ronnie DeVoe and getting direction and choreography from Brooke Payne. They entered Maurice Starr’s Hollywood Talent Nights contest and won round after round before making it to the finals at The Strand Theater, ultimately coming in 2nd place. Starr liked what he saw and wanted to record with them so they were signed to Arthur Baker’s label Streetwise Records for $500 and a Betamax (not even a VCR).

They went into the Roxbury studio on Linwood where Jonzun Crew operated Boston International Studios (built with money Michael & Maurice earned from producing both credited & uncredited hits for The Sugar Hill Gang, The Furious 5 & The Sequence for Sugar Hill Records) back in Fall 1982 and began recording the album “Candy Girl”. In late February 1983, “Candy Girl” hit the airwaves and took off instantly. Before you knew it, “Candy Girl” was everywhere. How popular was “Candy Girl”? It knocked George Clinton’s “Atomic Dog” off the top of the Billboard R&B charts and it had been there for close to a month at the time!

“Candy Girl” hit #1 on the R&B Chart, #1 in the UK (it was the first #1 hit in UK history that featured Rap) and it rose all the way up to #46 on the Billboard Chart. The video was mainly shot in Boston’s South End/Lower Roxbury area as it begins at the steps of the long demolished Dover Street elevated station and takes you to the John Hancock Building, Commonwealth Avenue Mall and the old Lunchonette that used to be near Dover Street Station. The record was in constant rotation on the airwaves. The album “Candy Girl” was released on March 15th, 1983 while the lead single was still hot and climbing up the charts. Just as “Candy Girl” had ascended to #1, Maurice Starr & Arthur Baker released the second single from the album “Is This The End”. Album sales continued to pick up.

“Is This The End” had the feel of an old The Corporation produced Motown Jackson 5ive ballad from a decade earlier. Proving that they were no one hit wonders, the Roxbury Five’s second single rose all the way to #8 on the Billboard R&B Charts and peaked at #85 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Suddenly, Don Cornelius came calling and they debuted on “Soul Train”. The school year was about to end and New Edition would begin to tour the country (and other countries) to promote and sell their hit album “Candy Girl”. The B-Side “She Gives Me A Bang” has since gone forgotten even though it was one of the 5 songs from the album that got burn on the radio. Once the Summer hit, New Edition began to tour and ride the success of their two hit singles. Their energetic live performances and tight choreography made them stand out and garnered them even more popularity. Towards the end of the summer they dropped a two sided single which would also make noise, “Popcorn Love”/“Jealous Girl”.

“Popcorn Love” reached #25 on the Billboard R&B Chart and just missed breaking into the Billboard Hot 100 (it peaked at #101) but these three songs helped to push the “Candy Girl” album. In addition, “Jealous Girl” became an extremely popular ballad. So much so that it often got played on air instead of “Popcorn Love” and New Edition decided to perform it on “Soul Train”. It had a Temptations meets the Jackson 5ive kind of feel to it. Teenagers were forming singing groups all across the nation and performing New Edition songs at talent shows, going as far as to even use Brooke Payne’s choreography in their performances after seeing them on TV. Before you knew it, the pride of Orchard Park Projects even had girl groups in New York singing love songs about them. New Edition had opened the eyes of the music industry and inspired young people in Boston and beyond to pursue their own dreams.

After all of the television appearances both stateside and abroad plus close to a year of touring, New Edition landed back in Boston with nothing to show for 3 hit singles and a Platinum selling album but 5 royalty checks for $1.87 each. New Edition’s parents lawyered up and sued Streetwise Records, ultimately freeing them from their previous contractual obligation to Streetwise Records. A bidding war for their services/contract began and was won by MCA Records, New Edition signed with a new management company who installed Jump & Shoot Productions as their new production team (which would create a new set of label issues & management woes for the next 3 plus years).

In July 1984, New Edition would prove that they were here to stay releasing their self titled debut on MCA Records. This time, they went double Platinum and the RIAA was notified so they received their plaques. Arthur Baker would go on to produce a ton of hits for acts as diverse as his own group Planet Patrol, Freeez, New Order, Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force. Maurice Starr & Michael Jonzun had some more success with Jonzun Crew and writing/producing for other acts (both Planet Patrol & Jonzun Crew released albums in late 1983 on Tommy Boy) but Maurice Starr really struck gold when he groomed a group called Nynuk from Dorchester who later became New Kids On The Block.

In conclusion, New Edition’s legacy is undervalued even by many of their fans. They are both the direct and indirect reason for the signing of youth groups throughout the mid to late 80′s, the R&B/New Jack Swing/Hip Hop hybrid sound of the early 90′s and even the boy band explosion of the late 90′s. Who can ever forget the evolution from “Candy Girl” to “New Edition” to “Heart Break”? Bobby Brown changing R&B forever by becoming a crossover superstar making edgy music with his albums “Don’t Be Cruel” & “Bobby”? Where would R&B be today without Bell Biv Devoe opening the door for groups like Jodeci to make raunchy Hip Hop influenced R&B that could also crossover to the Pop charts with their 1990 LP “Poison”?

Would Sean “Puffy” Combs have had the same willingness to launch Bad Boy without seeing Mike Bivins succeed at MCA with his Biv 10 imprint when he introduced Another Bad Creation & Boyz II Men to the world? Would future R&B groups be as willing to do side projects/solo albums if not for the Platinum success of all six members of New Edition? Without New Edition there’s no New Kids On The Block, meaning no Boyzone, Take That, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, 98º, B2K, LFO, etc. (and no TRL). If not for New Edition, the entire music industry and Black/R&B/Pop music as a whole would be different. 30 years later, they’ve survived bad records deals, shady management and defections (or voting outs) to still be standing and influencing the present generation of groups today. Now it’s time for their damb biopic, y’all know where to find me for that.

One.

The Improbable Ascent Of Christopher Wallace (1972-1997): From Unsigned Hype To King Of New York

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 19:19:00 -0500

In the March 1992 issue of The Source, Matty C who ran the Unsigned Hype column picked a demo tape of straight up gutter street rap from some Brooklyn cat named Biggie Smalls over some looped up beats as his DJ 50 Grand did cuts. It didn’t even contain any fully structured songs but that raw demo tape was still easily head and shoulders above anything else that was submitted to him at the time. Bear in mind that in March 1992 the Second Golden Era of Hip-Hop was just underway.

Story goes that anyone else that heard this very same demo tape was instantly floored by the emcees’ presence, flow, voice, rhymes and delivery. Hip-Hop was just coming out of an era where Pop Rap was overly dominant and gimmicks and image were important. Biggie didn’t dance. Biggie wasn’t handsome (Heartthrob? Never). Biggie was just immensely talented, so much so that he was undeniable from the first listen. Over the next 5 years this underground rapper from Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn would have the most dominant run of any emcee in Hip-Hop history during one of it’s most competitive eras.

From his first guest appearance on Heavy D’s posse track “A Buncha N*ggas” to his first single “Party & Bullshit” off the “Who’s The Man” soundtrack and his guest appearances to follow, BIG’s verses managed to even set him apart from the rest of the growing number of supremely talented emcees of the era which included everyone from Treach to Nas to Jay-Z to Big L to Raekwon to Ghostface Killah to Snoop (Doggy) Dogg.

In each of Hip-Hop’s golden eras there’s always a new influx of sonic and lyrical innovators that ultimately create an ultra competitive environment that leads to great music being churned out regularly. Biggie Smalls began as one of those innovators back at the outset of this new era in 1992 and by the time it was all over and the smoke had cleared, he was crowned the undisputed King Of New York.

Big listened to Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic” & Wu Tang Clan’s “Enter The 36 Chambers” and knew where he had to go thematically and sonically with his debut album. He was going to speak to that man or woman who was struggling with day to day life in the inner city and he was going to strike a chord with them and make music that reflected his experiences simultaneously. Biggie went into the lab with all of these things in mind as he crafted his bars for “Ready To Die” (which was originally going to drop on MCA until Sean Combs was fired).

Sean “Puffy” Combs landed a situation with Arista Records for his burgeoning label Bad Boy Records. Notorious B.I.G.’s album was highly anticipated after the radio airplay & charts success of the lead single “Juicy” and the buzz his mixtape bars created (although he hated doing them) and the streets were on fire because of the incredible DJ Premier produced B side “Unbelieveable”.

Notorious B.I.G.’s debut album “Ready To Die” dropped in September 1994 about 5 months after Nas dropped his damn near perfect classic debut “Illmatic” on Columbia Records. Keep in mind that Nas was essentially touted as the lyrical reincarnation of Rakim by The Source at the time. They did a cover story about the making of Nas’ album and it even received the coveted 5 mic rating in The Source. “Ready To Die” got 4.5 mics in The Source in comparison but then the streets had their say in the matter.

The Notorious B.I.G. singles “Juicy”, “Big Poppa” and “One More Chance” far surpassed Nas’ “It Ain’t Hard To Tell”, “The World Is Yours” and “One Love” in street buzz, radio airplay and sales numbers. When “Ready To Die” hit store shelves, it instantly captured the imagination and attention of not only hardcore Hip-Hop heads but it also managed to crossover and eventually win the hearts and minds of casual Rap fans as well. Biggie’s grimy street tales even resonated with those who resided in the suburbs. In the end, “Ready To Die” became for the East Coast and New York what Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic” was for the West Coast and Los Angeles.

Biggie’s sheer lyrical brilliance and street credibility coupled with his overwhelming commercial success (thanks to Sean “Puffy” Combs in his role as executive producer, general counsel & overseer) aided in his once thought improbable ascent to the throne. Christopher Wallace, not Francis M.H. White, had now assumed the mantle of King Of New York all off of one album. All while Nas and the Wu Tang Clan were all hotter than volcanic lava fresh out of the microwave oven after 15 minutes on HIGH.

Big was so ahead of the game that if you pay attention he and Puff shout out “Junior Mafia” on “Juicy”. At the time he began mentioning them on record they’d be in the studio unaware he was referring to them. BIG told them “You’re Junior Mafia. You’re going to be my crew”. The ambitious entrepreneur would soon branch out with Un Rivera, secure a deal for their joint label Undeas then make & release Junior M.A.F.I.A’s “Conspiracy” album.

Undisputed classic Rap albums like Mobb Deep’s “The Infamous” and Raekwon The Chef’s “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…” were blaring out of Acuras from Pasadena to Medina at the time but none of that stopped The Notorious B.I.G. from completely sweeping the 1995 Source Awards. “Ready To Die” was still moving units. “Conspiracy” was moving units. Biggie was on top of the mountain when his competition was the stiffest it’s been since Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G. Rap, KRS One, Ice Cube etc. were all at their peaks circa 1989 and the inevitable backlash had just begun.

Biggie started out as the quintessential hardcore grimy raw backpack emcee. His songs and verses circulated around on mixtapes (even though Dream Hampton told me on Twitter that BIG didn’t “get” mixtapes and felt they were stealing from him) between 1992 and 1994 up until his album dropped which helped to spread his legend. After he began to experience success and overshadow his talented contemporaries and peers a mini backlash had already begun (i.e. “Shark N*ggas” on Raekwon The Chef’s “OB4CL”).

Once “Ready To Die” exploded and BIG began to appear on every third radio hit as Bad Boy Records began to dominate the entire urban music landscape with it’s influence, the backlash suddenly kicked into overdrive. What followed soon afterwards were shots and things that could be perceived or misconstrued as shots that came from artists like De La Soul, Jeru The Damaja, O.G.C. and The Roots in either their rap bars, songs or their music videos.

At the particular time, most of these acts were perceived to be at the opposite end of the Hip-Hop spectrum in 1996 as the fallout from the signing of The Telecommunications Act was just beginning to take effect. Biggie suddenly went from one of “us” in the army jacket, jeans & timbs to the dude in the Versace shades that rapped on those damned Total and 112 songs which got played on the radio 30 times a day. He indirectly became the guy responsible/or unfairly blamed for all that “Jiggy shit” you couldn’t escape in late 90’s urban music since everyone copied everything Bad Boy did at the time.

The whole playa/Big Willie/Don image that Sean “Puffy” Combs had created for The Notorious B.I.G. had caught on a little too well. Soon, even R&B artists were emulating it. Before long all of urban music fell under Big’s influence and if you were an underground cat or a backpacker you peeped game and your first instinct would be to address it. That being the case, we STILL all acknowledged that Biggie was the nicest cat in the game. Even in a Coogi sweater, Versace shades and gators as opposed to smoking a blunt in an army jacket, black jeans & some Timberlands.

We tend to forget exactly how tumultuous and ultra competitive the Rap game was circa 1996. The underground was still part of the fabric of mainstream Rap music but the industry was slowly pulling apart at it’s seams. The dispute that began between Suge Knight and his vendetta against Bad Boy Records turned into a supposed East Coast/West Coast feud as evidenced by 2Pac’s disses to Biggie, The Dogg Pound’s 1995 song & video for “New York, New York” and the Capone N Noreaga response “LA, LA” featuring Mobb Deep & Tragedy Khadafi in early 1996.

As someone who read a dog eared New York Times with the Death Row Records roster on the cover back in January 1996 as a 20 year old freshman at Morgan State University in Baltimore I can attest to this. Fist fights would break out in my dorm when one person played Biggie and the next room over immediately blasted 2Pac and vice versa. In addition to that, the underground emcee was slowly losing his place in the increasingly jiggy mainstream Rap world and that created a different kind of friction in the Rap world. In September 1996, 2Pac was gunned down at the age of 25 in Las Vegas and Hip-Hop suffered the first of several wounds that it would never fully recover from.

Biggie’s debut single from his upcoming album “Life After Death” (which was originally supposed to be released in October 1996 but it would’ve interfered with the release of Lil’ Kim’s “Hard Core” which he executive produced and released on Undeas in November 1996) was officially released on December 13, 1996, exactly 3 months after 2Pac’s passing. “Hypnotize” was already a hit on the radio before it was even available commercially. There wasn’t a place you could go without hearing it blaring out of speakers. At the same time the push for “Life After Death” began in January 1997 the Shiny Suit/Jiggy Era was in full swing. Puff Daddy & Mase’s “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” & Notorious B.I.G.’s “Hypnotize” were #1 & #2 on the Billboard charts before “Hypnotize” finally took the top spot.

When we finally lost Biggie on March 9, 1997 he was about to take the entire world over. His album “Life After Death” was about to drop on March 25th. Puff Daddy & The Family’s ‘Hell Up In Harlem” album was waiting in the wings with an #1 single and several guest spots from Biggie on potential hit singles. He was the central figure in the Bad Boy empire and he had laid out a plan to bring forth a supergroup called The Commission featuring himself, Jay-Z, Lil’ Cease and Charli Baltimore (Wu Gambinos & The Firm, I’m looking at you). He was looking into breaking into television and film plus he had a clothing company on the way called Brooklyn Mint.

The passing of Christopher Wallace is one that hits me hard personally for several reasons. First of all, due to what’s happened with the music industry since Biggie’s passing we will never again have an underground raw street rapper emerge minus the hype based on his pure talent alone get signed to a major label, make his way through the ultra competitive underground then into the even more competitive mainstream Rap world during a golden era of emceeing.

Not only that, but he dominated that era loaded to the gills with greats and legends through his talent, creativity and lyricism alone. There wasn’t any hype with Big, it was all earned. No asterisks will go next to his name in the Hip-Hop history books. The same way you go and ask great producers who the best was and they constantly answer with “Dilla” it’s the exact same way with Biggie. If you try that “He only had two albums” argument with me as to why he shouldn’t be considered in the discussion for the greatest emcee ever that just proves that you didn’t fully experience the years of 1992-1997 in Hip-Hop to me.

In conclusion, all I can say is RIP Christopher “Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace. The Rap game never fully recovered from your loss and things were only compounded with the deaths of 2Pac, Big L & Big Pun. Now Rap is no longer about the things that made it great when you and many other mic titans clashed between more than 15 and 20 years ago. From ashy to classy. From hustler to legitimate businessman. He would’ve been on the top of MTV’s Hottest MC In The Game list multiple years in a row back when it would’ve really counted.

One.

Dart Adams On MTV's Hottest MC's List (And Everyone's Reactions To It)

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 21:30:00 -0500

This past week has been chock full of Twitter and Facebook debates about MTV’s latest Hottest MC’s In The Game list. Every passing day they reveal more of the list and we get the (often unhappy) reaction of the artist picked, the (often unhappy) reaction of the fans and then we have everyone’s take on both the list and the reactions of the individual artist’s place on said list. Not only that but now we get to hear/read people’s take on other people’s take on someone’s reaction to the aforementioned list. Iyanla, fix my plate…

MTV’s Hottest MC’s In The Game list is merely a manmade device. A synthesized event fabricated to serve several specific purposes. Let’s first delve into why this era needs this kind of thing in the first place? Let’s face it, Rap is at it’s lowest creative and lyrical point ever on the mainstream level. There hasn’t been a legitimate Golden Era since the Underground/Mainstream divide occurred back in 1997 so the overwhelming majority of rappers that get any push or mainstream attention are, for lack of a better term, “strugglerappers”.

The people that initially formed the idea to have this list beginning with Sway Calloway are from an era where Rap music went from being part of an underground subculture to outselling Country music and selling out large arenas. They’ve each lived through both Hip-Hop Golden Eras. They all know that the Rap they’re forced to cover nowadays is underwhelming thus it’s harder than ever to get fans genuinely excited about the music. Especially the now cynical and jaded Hip-Hop head that grew to loathe the Rap played on the radio & in clubs plus has almost washed their hands of mainstream Rap altogether.

How do you not only get casual Rap fans, serious Rap fans, underground Hip-Hop heads, backpackers & haters to all join a discussion about Rap when it’s THIS down? Simple. Let’s make a list where we debate who the “hottest” or most “relevant” rappers are at this time where skill, talent or creativity no longer determines who gets the most love or props. This will incite reactions from EVERYONE. We already know we’ll get the clubgoers & radio listeners but we’ll also get butthurt reactions from rappers that feel slighted. We’ll get reactions from fans & stans alike, and even rants from those so-called backpackers that claim to not care. It’s a bonanza!

I’m from a time when all we had to do to get a bunch of Rap fans to get excited about Rap was to hear someone make some great Rap music. THAT’S IT. Since there are no more Rakim’s, Kool G Rap’s & Big Daddy Kane’s all over the radio that’s simply not a viable option. That approach is out of the window. 85% of the BEST Rap albums every year (at least) are released independently and rarely get any attention from mainstream Rap outlets, blogs, publications or radio so basing anything around skill or talent is ultimately a waste of time (and ad dollars). That being the reality? We’re currently left with trying to squeeze blood out of cinderblocks.

Every passing day this week is another holiday for MTV. A gang of pissed off Rap fans on one side. A gang of Hip-Hop heads up in arms about Future being on any list or receiving any kind of praise whatsoever on the other. The heated debates rage all throughout Facebook and Twitter which lead to numerous page views all over the Rap blogosphere & a gang of viewers on RapFix Live. The ASAP Rocky rant. The Kanye West rant. The Danny Brown diss track. MTV is fucking winning right now. If you ask them they’ll say that they’ve created dialogue, compelling content and given the fans something to get excited about. I say “But mainstream Rap still sucks a Louis Vuitton bag full of rabbit dicks so…” *Kanye shrug*

And this is what we’re left with. The culture alone isn’t enough to generate the level of excitement MTV needs. Let’s be real, if Sway, Rob Markman & Renaud Jean-Baptiste Jr. were at a roundtable discussing how great Ka’s “Grief Pedigree” album is no one would watch. Quality music simply isn’t the draw anymore so you need to adapt and figure out a new way to get people to pay attention. Whether the reaction is positive or negative at least you’re reacting (and watching/reading). Sad but true.

I don’t care to argue the list because to be honest? I CAN’T. I just watched this one segment where Rob Markman ran down all of Drake’s hit songs that he was featured on recently. I never even heard any of that shit before. I’ve been busy playing CZARFACE, Demigodz, Oh No, K-Def, Uptown XO & waiting on the new Alchemist produced Durag Dynasty album. I honestly couldn’t give you any of Meek Mill or Big Sean’s bars. I remember hearing some godawful song at an event recently & asking some girl who it was and she said “Future”. Fuck I look like arguing a list featuring a gang of rappers I don’t give a damn about? I’m not even qualified to adequately hate on it!

These lists happen every year and every single year cats react the same way. Every rapper rant just leads to more page views. Every backpacker rant about “Why don’t they showcase emcees that don’t suck?” just shows that you don’t overstand what’s going on here. The point is to bring in viewers and create the most buzz in order to keep those numbers up. If MTV thought that people wanted to see lists that appealed to so-called Hip-Hop heads they’d exist by now. Or did you all forget that Sway Calloway is a bigger Hip-Hop head than 99% of the underground Hip-Hop loving fans complaining are? These are the cats all over the radio, the cats getting the most burn in the clubs and the ones selling music in 2013. Deal with it.

In conclusion, it’s a waste of time to react to MTV’s “Hottest MC’s In The Game List” because all they’re doing is talking about the rappers that ARE the hottest cats in this strugglerap heavy era. All it does is feed the monster. You want the other side of Hip-Hop to be covered by mainstream media outlets? Demand it. Make it plain to them that you’ll support it with the same exact fervor & passion you use to bitch about their “Hottest MC’s In The Game” list.

You can either do that or just completely ignore the list altogether thus forcing them to find a new way to synthesize an event that results in equal or greater site traffic, viewership numbers or Facebook & Twitter buzz. We all know that won’t happen, though. These cats at MTV had a job to do and they succeeded at it. My job is to ensure that the culture survives this unfortunate era. Miss me with arguing about a gang of cats that make my ears bleed. I’d rather focus on the best Hip-Hop/Rap music out instead. What about you?

One.

It Ain't Over! © Teddy Riley

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 18:10:00 -0500

On the afternoon of February 28th, 2010 I made my first post on my new Tumblr which I had named Bastard Swordsman. I had a three year run at Poisonous Paragraphs (2007-2010) and as of January 1st, 2010 I was writing on the collaborative blog Bloggerhouse with Eric of When They Reminisce and Travis of Wake Your Daughter Up. You might be thinking to yourselves, why did you start another site when you already had one? I shall explain in detail…

I’d shut down my old site (or just stopped posting on it as I was sick of Blogger) after exactly 3 years and 734 posts over 1,096 days and decided that I wasn’t going to be the digital version of John Henry anymore. I was going to shoulder the load with two other guys that wrote and posted almost as frequently as I did. I figured this way I wouldn’t burn myself out (as I’d done constantly in years past), all I’d need to do was post all of my regular Poisonous Paragraphs features on Bloggerhouse instead. That didn’t go as planned, either.

Shortly after I’d moved over to Bloggerhouse (which was converted from When They Reminisce) a website restructuring was done. Gone was the black background and the white page. Gone was the original font (which I loved). Gone was the wide writing field. It was now a grey background with white words over it and looked even worse when you put words in bold. I thought it was ghastly but I ran with it since 3 out of 4 of us loved it (including the tech guy, Owen). I’m an aesthetics guy so if things don’t look a certain way I envision in my head it drives me insane.

I’d also noticed that when I tried to compose something, due to the site being heavily rewritten what I composed looked totally different when I posted it. As wack as Blogger was, if I pressed return after a line there was an obvious line break there. If I added an image, it looked the way I wanted. Everything I posted needed someone to go in afterwards & alter it after I complained but it only made it look worse. That was just one issue I had…

I was the guy who did the long, drawn out thinkpieces on Bloggerhouse. I’d write a deep 2500 word treatise on some Hip-Hop related subject and post it on Bloggerhouse at 3 PM EST but by 6 PM, it’d be on page two. By 8 PM? It was on page three, buried by single posts of videos, MP3’s or a link to a new mixtape. That drove me insane. There was a reason I never did posts like that on Poisonous Paragraphs, I refused to feed into the short attention span/instant gratification/on demand landscape.

After two months of that I knew that if I wanted to keep my sanity I needed to start another site I could write on. One with no coding. No headaches. No bullshit. Something that was so simple even Gucci Mane could use it. I decided to give Tumblr a shot. It was easier to use than Kat Stacks if you had a YMCMB chain on. I knew exactly what I would call my new site, the backup name I had for Poisonous Paragraphs in the event that it was taken, Bastard Swordsman. On February 28th, 2010 I made a test post. About 4 hours later, my brand new site would serve a completely different purpose for me.

Rumors started swirling around Twitter that Keith “Guru” Elam was in a coma. He was in a hospital in need of surgery and he wasn’t doing well. I dismissed it as a rumor. There was NO way that Kieth Elam could be in the hospital on the verge of death and NO ONE in Boston knew. If anything happened to anyone last named Elam, it was news. That would certainly be the case with one of it’s favorite sons…RIGHT?

About 90 minutes later, after making some phone calls and a gang of exchanged texts with different people it turned out that these weren’t rumors after all. Guru WAS in the hospital fighting for his life. The man responsible for finally succeeding and giving every emcee in Boston the hope that they could do the same could leave us & the reality was that not that many people knew about Gang Starr’s early history outside of Boston that weren’t in the Boston Hip-Hop community for more than 25 years.

I then began running down Gang Starr’s career on Twitter, all of it’s incarnations from Big Shug, Suave D & The Guru Keithy E on down to DJ Premier, Guru & the modern day Gang Starr Foundation. I didn’t stop there. I began to run down Boston’s Hip-Hop history and it’s run of talent signed by major labels all throughout the 90’s for an entire week straight. In the middle of it, I wrote a memorial piece about my friend Eddie “Smacks” Jackson who died of a heart attack while rhyming onstage. Bastard Swordsman had taken on a completely different energy from the beginning.

My site had essentially become a dedication to the hard work, determination and life’s work of one man who took a leap of faith at a time when we seemingly had NO hope in Boston and look at what he ultimately accomplished? He kept the door ajar and eventually a legion of Adidas rocking, three throwing, truth telling cats kicked the door off it’s hinges. Bastard Swordsman is essentially dedicated to Keith “Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal” Elam. Or did you think all of the Gang Starr themed post titles over the past 3 years were a coincidence?

That being the case? It’s time for a new direction. It’s time for a new energy. I’m in effect cutting off my dreadlocks and starting anew this Summer with a new site. I’d like for it to be it to be on Tumblr but if there’s an even more user friendly blogging site than this around then I’ll be using it next. This is the 80th post on Bastard Swordsman, the 100th will be the last. I’ll tell you the name of the new site this summer but I’ve left clues in the previous 79 posts. One in particular. Can anyone figure it out? Doubt it.

One.

The State Of Black Film: ALONGWAYTOGO © Gang Starr

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 06:20:00 -0500

One year ago today, George Lucas executive produced a film about the Tuskegee Airmen and their service in the European theater during World War 2 called “Red Tails”. It was released through Lucasfilm & 20th Century Fox with the cast being anchored by big name actors Cuba Gooding Jr. & Terrence Howard. Many film experts and enthusiasts hoped that audiences would go see the film in droves strictly because George Lucas was involved or because it was a World War 2 film (which are always a good draw). If this film was a hit, it could potentially lead to a resurgence of studio films with Black leads. See, what had happened was…

After “Red Tails” underperformed at the box office, many were quick to cite race as the reason people didn’t go to see it en masse regardless of how much publicity or media attention it received (Lucas made sure it was promoted) or the reason why those that saw it generally didn’t give it rave reviews. Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? Initially, “Red Tails” had a budget of about $25 million dollars. It was based on a story by John Ridley and featured additional writing from Aaron McGruder (“The Boondocks”). At some point, Lucas attempted to attract investors but none wanted to touch a film with an all Black cast and little chance to achieve monetary success so George Lucas put up almost $35 million dollars of his own money to ensure the film was finished, got a promotional budget and wide distribution.

“Red Tails” had it’s special effects handled in-house by Industrial Light & Magic so they were superbly done but there were several other issues with the film and it’s cast. Much has been made of the fact that the cast was all Black but let’s go deeper than just the surface. The cast is anchored by A list actors (the very bottom of the A list but A list nonetheless) Cuba Gooding Jr. and Terrence Howard but who else in this cast was a legitimate draw? Andre Royo? Method Man? Ne-yo? Tristan Wilds? Nate Parker? Marcus T. Paulk? Michael B. Jordan? Elijah Kelley? David Oyelowo? No disrespect to any of these men but collectively that cast listing reads like a basic cable TV film rather than a major studio Hollywood film.

As for the film’s promotion and commercials were concerned? The special effects looked great but the first run trailers that aired on TV during sporting events and prime time programming only had two names you knew in the cast (none of which were flying the planes), used quick cuts, Dubstep and told you that it was rated PG-13. In these initial 30 second spots that was enough time to be skeptical about the film’s quality regardless of it having George Lucas’ name attached (even amongst the short attention span having younger generation). A PG-13 World War 2 film? Even World War 2 video games come with a Mature Audiences Only tag on them. Even the second long form trailer failed to significantly increase fan anticipation.

Once critics go a hold of it, they general were underwhelmed. It was supposed to be an epic and inspirational story of overlooked and unheralded American heroes that put their lives on the line to ensure that all Americans enjoyed the freedoms they didn’t even have the opportunity to experience. It instead was a underwhelming PG-13 war film with mediocre acting, forgettable dialogue, fuzzy historical accuracy in regards to key events and serious issues in regards to sub plots and pacing. Oh, but the special effects were top notch (but the dialogue during fights scenes and flight sequences was damn near godawful). All that being said, it could’ve skated past purely on George Lucas’ cosign and his media blitz/promotional campaign, right? See, what had happened was…

George Lucas hoped to get “Red Tails” out to a good opening weekend, this meant it had to top $20 million dollars and from there it would have a shot at a long theatrical run. It ended up raking in just under $20 million ($19. 1 million to be exact to open at #2 in the box office) but it suffered a 45% dip the second week after the first wave of fans were underwhelmed with it and it’s buzz dropped so significantly by it’s 3rd week in theaters it had stopped making any significant money and by it’s 6th week it went from over 2500 screens to less than 500. The film itself cost less than $30 million to make and it’s promotional budget was more than $30 million. In the end, “Red Tails” failed to crack $50 million at the box office even though it was in theaters for a total of 140 days.

After “Red Tails” failed at the box office, many wanted to fall back on the excuse that audiences couldn’t or didn’t “relate” to “Black Tails” because of the Black main characters or they couldn’t wrap their minds around the concept of a Black hero. Others wanted to coax audiences to not stay away from “Red Tails” because it’s a “Black film”. Question, when did we EVER need to tell White people to not stay away from anything “Black”? Let’s focus on the real issue, “Red Tails” was a flawed film. I saw it with my brother that’s ex-Air Force and a World War 2 fanatic. I once minored in History and took several World War 2 classes at Harvard. I ‘m also a writer and I know a good film when I see one. I winced SEVERAL times during my first viewing of “Red Tails” and I winced more when people made excuses for it’s overall mediocrity.

Let’s take “Glory” for example. It was released in December 1989 and while it has Matthew Broderick on the film poster the film was carried by Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman portrayals who at the time weren’t the beloved mainstream culture icons they both are today (far from it). Audiences didn’t make “Glory” a huge hit at the box office but it brought home 3 Oscars and make a killing in rentals and sales (it also generated more than it’s $18 million dollar budget at the box office though it started in limited release). Everything about “Glory” lived up to it’s perceived epic status and Denzel Washington won the Golden Globe and the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. You can’t settle for less than excellence when tackling serious subject matter or it will fail miserably.

Let’s discuss the current state of Black film now, shall we? We presently have an extremely limited choice of quality Black film at the major studio level. If it isn’t a Tyler Perry production then it’s either a Tyler Perry film clone or a film that falls within the same parameters. That’s ultimately my main issue, major studios narrowcast the Black experience thus we not only don’t get adaptations of Octavia Butler books seen as viable properties but we’re not even allowed to make the Black equivalent of films like “Brick”, “Juno”, “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist”, “The Perks Of Being A Wallflower”, “Rachel Getting Married”, “Moonrise Kingdom”, etc. Unless, of course, we make them independent of Hollywood…

Think about this for a moment, when George Lucas was looking at a way to gauge how well his film was doing or would do he looked at the success of 2011 hit “The Help”. There is so much wrong with that. For one, “The Help” had an infinitely better ensemble cast and much better writing. “The Help” spread at first through an organic word of mouth campaign before the media attention began to snowball. What started out a film with a $25 million dollar budget that generated that much in it’s opening weekend and ultimately made over $200 million at the box office. “The Help” ultimately won multiple awards and even though it was seen as controversial by many in the Black community it was a quality film that resonated with people. In the end, George Lucas managed to accomplish NONE of this with “Red Tails”.

If I look back on the notable recent Black films of this era that stood out to me personally as not being formulaic Hollywood “Black” fare, some of the following films come to mind: “Premium” (2006), “Blackout” (2007), “I’m Through With White Girls” (2007), “A Good Day To Be Black & Sexy” (2008), “Medicine For Melancholy” (2008), “Black Dynamite” (2009), “Pariah” (2011), “I Will Follow” (2011), “Middle Of Nowhere” (2012), “Beasts Of The Southern Wild” (2012) and the recent released “LUV” starring Common, Michael K. Williams, Dennis Haysbert, Charles S. Dutton, etc. It’s no surprise that all of these films were independent. By that same token, let’s go back and look at some Hollywood films that featured a majority Black cast from this same time period…

That includes the following films: “Stomp The Yard” (2007), “This Christmas” (2007), “Miracle At St. Anna” (2008), “Notorious” (2009), “Next Day Air” (2009), “Lottery Ticket” (2010), “Taken” (2010), “Just Wright” (2010), “Jumping The Broom” (2011) , “Red Tails” (2012), “Think Like A Man” (2012) and “Sparkle” (2012). Not many of these releases are must own DVD’s and I left out 13 Tyler Perry directed films that fit this criteria made between 2007 and 2012 for obvious reasons. If it wasn’t for the influence of Tyler Perry it would be safe to argue that “This Christmas” and “Jumping The Broom” wouldn’t even be on this list. Although the T.D. Jakes produced “Jumping The Broom” made 6x it’s budget at the box office it was available on DVD only four months after premiering in theaters. That’s just odd…

As far as films with Black leads are concerned, Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Will Smith and Jamie Foxx remain viable lead actors to open films around and Morgan Freeman, Don Cheadle, Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock remain in the mix but who is the next Black actor on the horizon who can join this list? Most importantly, where’s his or her vehicle to do so? Who’s making the next “Glory”? Where’s the film role that will launch Idris Elba, Anthony Mackie, Derek Luke, Chiwetel Eijiofor, Michael Ealy or Laz Alonzo into the same position that they are in. Where’s their “Ray”? I think I already know the answer to the very question I’m asking here.

Let’s go back to 1971. This was a very pivotal year for the film industry as two independent films changed the film industry forever and they were released a little more than a week from each other, these two films were Melvin Van Peebles’ “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song” and Tom Laughlin’s “Billy Jack”. Both films had a counter culture appeal and spoke directly to the changing times in addition to most films being made independently in order to better keep their integrity and better resonate with audiences that clamored for what Hollywood couldn’t (and refused to) make for them. Guess what happened next?

Melvin Van Peebles’ “Sweetback” made over 100x it’s initial $150,000 budget at the box office and Laughlin (who previously made the 1967 grindhouse/exploitation classic “The Born Losers”) put $850,000 into “Billy Jack” and it made an eye opening $32 million dollars at the box office and both 1971 film went on the become two of the most influential films of all times and started a snowball effect which resulted in the Blaxploitation/Grindhouse film explosion. Between both films and soundtracks monetary successes, they ended up getting re-released in following years and finding even larger audiences. Eventually, Hollywood was forced to throw their hats into the ring. The people had spoken.

In July 1971, after the success of “Sweetback” and “Billy Jack”, Gordon Parks (“The Learning Tree”) released a genre defining film called “Shaft” which became Richard Roundtree’s star turn. Between the film and it’s iconic soundtrack (sense a pattern here yet?) the film mad more than 25x it’s initial $500,000 budget at the box office and saved Metro Goldwyn Mayer from going into bankruptcy. By the same token, the “Shaft OST” became the best selling release in the history of Stax Records (which clearly more than just Black people bought). From the success of these films, the nature of Hollywood changed almost overnight as by 1972 there were a gang of films appealing to these audiences. This also happened again approximately 20 years later thanks to Spike Lee, Keenan Ivory Wayans and Robert Townsend.

In conclusion, it’s been a year since “Red Tails” and it’s failure has left Black film in Hollywood in essentially the same place it was before. The good news? It didn’t fail because of racism. It failed because it was mediocre. The bad news again? Hollywood doesn’t care about fairness, reciprocity or racial equity. The good news again? We already knew that. Here’s more good news, we now have the technology and means to make our own films outside of the Hollywood system so we have no excuse to not get out there and actively change things again.

Think about it. A Black woman essentially wrote “The Matrix”. A Black man came up with the entire idea of “Underworld”. Three different Black men directed “From Hell”, “King Arthur” and “Rise Of The Guardians”. That being the case why are we putting limitations on our own creativity or our voices? Be fearless. “Black Dynamite” and “Kick-Ass” both went into the Sundance Film Festival with no distribution and they both left there with deals and sequels to both are forthcoming in the future. No more complaints. No more excuses. It’s time to finally take action…or yell “Action!”.

One.

Dart Adams' Top 100 Hip-Hop Albums Of 2012

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 18:00:00 -0500

2012 was a pretty good year as far as Hip-Hop releases were concerned. There were a great amount of excellent slept on albums that were completely overshadowed by mainstream projects this year that deserve some shine. I went back through the hundreds of albums I’ve heard over the past calendar year and meticulously picked my top 100 albums from this previous calendar year.

The following 100 selections are all purely my personal opinion, please keep in mind that I heard hundreds of albums this year via major labels, indie labels, self distributed LP’s, crowd source funded LP’s via IndieGoGo or Kickstarter and this list only represents a fourth of the Hip-Hop that’s currently in my iPhone 3GS (it’s 32 GB and it was free. It’s a defacto iPod Touch) from these past 365 days of 2012. If your album isn’t on this list that doesn’t mean I didn’t hear it and enjoy it. Besides, let’s be honest. NO ONE can make this list besides me. Don’t trip. Or do. It’s a free country. For now, at least….

1982 (Termanology x Statik Selektah) – 2012

7even Thirty – Heaven’s Computer

9^th Wonder x Buckshot – The Solution

Aesop Rock - Skelethon

Ab-Soul – Control System

Action Bronson x The Alchemist – Rare Chandeliers

Action Bronson x Party Supplies – Blue Chips

Actual Proof - Black Boy Radio

The Alchemist – Russian Roulette

Alias x Fakts One - Second Chances

Apollo Brown x Guilty Simpson – Dice Game

AWAR – The Laws Of Nature

Bambu – One Rifle Per Family

Beneficence - Concrete Soul

Big K.R.I.T. - Live From The Underground

Billy Woods - History Will Absolve Me

Blacastan - The Master Builder Part II

The Black Opera - Entermission

The Black Opera – Overture

The Black Opera – Libretto: Of King Legend

Blu x Exile – Give Me My Flowers While I Can Smell Them

Brother Ali x Jake One – Mourning In America & Dreaming In Color

Bumpy Knuckles x Statik Selektah - Ambition

Casual x J.Rawls – Respect Game Or Expect Flames

Chino XL – Ricanstruction: The Black Rosary

Clear Soul Forces – Detroit Revolution(s)

Copywrite - God Save The King

Craig G - Ramblings Of An Angry Old Man

Curren$y - The Stoned immaculate

Curren$y x Harry Fraud - Cigarette Boats

Danny! - Payback

DJ Premier x Bumpy Knuckles - Kolexxxion

Domo Genesis x The Alchemist – No Idols

El P- Cancer 4 Cure

Evitan (Dres & Jarobi) - Speed Of Life

Freeway - Diamond In The Ruff

Game – Jesus Piece

Gangrene – Vodka & Ayahuasca

Gensu Dean – Lo-Fi Fingahz

Georgia Anne Muldrow x Madlib - Seeds

Homeboy Sandman – First Of A Living Breed

Honors English – State Of The Art

House Shoes – Let It Go

JJ DOOM – Key To The Kuffs

Joey Bada$$ - 1999

Journalist 103 – Reporting Live

JR & PH7 - The Good Life

KA – Grief Pedigree

Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d city

Kev Brown – Random Joints

Killer Mike x El-P – R.A.P. Music

Koncept - Awaken

La Coka Nostra – Masters Of The Dark Arts

Large Professor – Professor @ Large

Lil’ Fame x Termanology - Fizzyology

Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Part 1

Macklemore x Ryan Lewis - The Heist

Main Attraktionz - Bossalinis & Fooliyones

Masta Ace x DOOM – MA_DOOM: Son Of Yvonne

Masta Killa - Selling My Soul

Melanin 9 - Magna Carta

Mello Music Group - Self Sacrifice

Meyhem Lauren - Mandatory Brunch Meetings

MHz – MHz Legacy

Moka Only x Ayatollah - Bridges

MURS x 9^th Wonder – The Final Adventure

MURS x Fashawn – This Generation

Nas – Life Is Good

N.B.S. - The Dispensary

Nottz - In My Mind EP

OC x Apollo Brown – Trophies

Oddisee – People Hear What They See

Oh No – Ohnomite

Planet Asia – Black Belt Theatre

Pace Won x Mr. Green - The Only Number That Matters Is Won

Purpose x Confidence - The Purpose Of Confidence

Quakers - Quakers

Quartermaine – Quarter Life Crisis

Rapsody – The Idea Of Beautiful

REKS x Statik Selektah – Straight No Chaser

REKS x Numonics – REBELutionary

Rick Ross - God Forgives, I Don’t

Roc Marciano – Reloaded

Rustee Juxx x The Arcitype - Victorious Impervious Champions

Sean Born – Behind The Scale

Sean Price – Mic Tyson

Sene – Brooklyknight

Schoolboy Q – Habits & Contradictions

Soul Khan - Wellstone EP

Skyzoo – A Dream Deferred

Strong Arm Steady x Statik Selektah - Stereotype

Stu Bangas x Vanderslice – Diggaz With Attitude

Substantial – Home Is Where The Art Is

Theory Hazit x Dert – THR3E

T.I. – Trouble Man: Heavy Is The Head

Torae – Off The Record EP

Typical Cats - 3

Vinnie Paz - God Of The Serengeti

Wu-Block (Wu Tang x The L.O.X/D-Block) - Wu-Block

One.

Unchained Melody (Dart Adams On "Django Unchained")

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 18:12:00 -0500

I’m a film nerd. You might know me mostly as a music historian & a Hip-Hop writer but I’m a writer period. I fell in love with the medium of film at pretty much the same time I fell in love with the written word and Hip-Hop culture, at the age of 3. Between 1978 and now I’ve immersed myself in film watching multiple genres of films spanning numerous countries. When I began to realize what I liked in regards to film, I discovered that my favorite genres were Kung Fu films, Samurai films, Westerns (especially Spaghetti Westerns) and so-called Blaxploitation films where the hero looked like me for a change.

I discovered at an early age that many of my favorite Martial Arts/Kung Fu and Samurai films were made by directors who were big fans of Westerns thus the influence was obvious. I also discovered that, in turn, many of the directors of Westerns were big fans of and heavily influenced by later Kung Fu films and Samurai films which showed in later Western films (ever seen the series’ “Kung Fu” before?). Growing up a film fan I discovered two amazing Akira Kurosawa jawns that changed the way I viewed film forever, the 1957 “Macbeth” translation “Throne Of Blood” and the 1961 Western influenced Samurai revenge tale “Yojimbo”.

By the time I was 12, I knew I wanted to be a writer/director. It had already been established in my young mind that I would be a filmmaker one day, but my father explained to me that great directors and filmmakers had vision and a voice. If I didn’t possess these things then I’d lack the drive and determination necessary to tell stories that resonated with people. I noticed that some films instantly resonated with people and they identified with the hero right away. Everyone wanted to be like the lead character and emulate their cool, bravery or invest emotionally in their quest/journey. While Bruce Lee was Chinese, everyone drew inspiration from him. Such is the true power of the medium of film.

Influence is an amazing human phenomenon. The books, film and music I experienced during my formative years have largely helped to make me who I am today. One of the most influential films ever made is Sergio Corbucci’s 1966 epic Spaghetti Western “Django”. The lead character Django as played by Franco Nero was such an influential figure that between 30 and 100 unofficial sequels to “Django” have been made in the past 45+ years. I’ve seen elements of “Django” in films from America to France to Italy to China to Japan. Even notable anime characters like Kenshiro from “Fist Of The North Star” and Brandon Heat from “Gungrave” are modeled after him.

Sergio Leone’s “A Fistful Of Dollars” was made in 1964 but it wasn’t screened in the United States until January 1967 (a full year after Corbucci’s “Django” had premiered stateside), subsequently the rest of Leone’s “The Man With No Name” trilogy were each released throughout the same year and became extremely popular. These films (1966’s “Django” included) also influenced the way films of every genre were made. Ennio Morricone’s music, Clint Eastwood’s stoic deadpan cool and Leone’s pacing stuck in the minds of those who saw it, especially those that grew up to make film one day.

In 1971, Melvin Van Peebles singlehandedly pioneered the independent film movement by releasing the highly influential “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song”. It was the first time that many Black audiences experienced seeing a hero stand up to the establishment and come out on top, both the filmmaker himself in real life and the main character Sweetback onscreen. The film’s content and it’s incredible soundtrack both resonated with audiences and it became the highest grossing independently released film of the era, generating more than 100x it’s initial $150,000 budget at the box office. What happened next was an explosion of independent grindhouse films and films that were made for and marketed towards Black audiences (whom studios didn’t even recognize existed until after “Sweetback” became a huge success).

An influx of films starring Black leads that contained themes of Black empowerment during the time of the Civil Rights Movement were made. Some of the most notable include the Western influenced films “The Legend Of Nigger Charley” (1972), “The Soul Of Nigger Charley” (1973), “Boss Nigger” (1975), “Mandingo” (1975) & “Drum” (1976). I saw all of these movies at a relatively young age and they all stuck with me. When I watched Westerns, the cowboys often killed Natives. In these films, the slaves/former slaves would beat the shit out of their oppressor & team up with Native Americans to fight off White men. They also used and emulated elements of Western influenced Asian films as well as popular Spaghetti Westerns that came before it.

I was born in 1975 with siblings 6 and 8 years older than myself so I was aged up in a sense. These films heavily influenced the way I approached the heroic portrayal of my lead characters and they spoke to me at a time when I didn’t see many heroic images of people that looked like me on a silver screen so they hold a sense of pride for me personally. For those that grew up watching these type of exploitation/grindhouse films during their formative years, it shaped their filmmaking forever. Quentin Tarantino was born in 1963 and these films dropped between the ages of 9 and 13, when you first begin to find your personal voice, direction and you begin to develop taste and assert your individuality.

I saw “Django Unchained” for what it was, a film made by Quentin Tarantino that was the lump sum of his accumulated influences spanning his favorites film genres during his formative years that he can now formulate into a cohesive film project. There was nothing I either heard or saw onscreen in “Django Unchained” that strayed very far from the Martial Arts/Kung Fu, Samurai, Western/Spaghetti Western, Grindhouse/Exploitation or Blaxploitation films I’d seen between the ages of 3 and 37. That’s exactly why this film worked so well. It was essentially yet another Tarantino homage to his collected influences in music and cinema.

Pardon me, but hasn’t BET been playing “Roots” for a week straight now? Did we forget about “The Learning Tree”? Did “Man And Boy” never happen? Did “Sounder” never exist? Spike Lee claimed that “Django Unchained” was exploitative and he’d never make a movie like it. I find that odd because I’ve written quite a few screenplays over the past 20 years set during between the pre-Civil War Era and Reconstruction for the same exact reasons Tarantino decided to make “Django Unchained”. Why wouldn’t a Black director make a film set during this period? Especially one featuring a freed Black man asserting himself in a world where he’s seen as 3/5ths of a human being? Why the hell not?

The word “nigger” is uttered 109 times during “Django Unchained”. Care to go back and count the amount of times it was used in the “Nigger Charley”/”Mandingo” franchises and weigh the different contexts they were used in as well? Context is everything in the usage of words and phrases and the sheer amount of usage. As I watched “Django Unchained” I took careful stock of the overall context of the words usage, the malice behind it and it’s justification in context of the genre films that it was inspired by.

Take this fact into account if you will, N.W.A. used the word/colloquialism/derivative “nigga” a total of 42 times on “Straight Outta Compton” back in 1988. In 1990, they dropped an EP called “100 Miles And Runnin’ EP”. In these 4 songs (and one skit) they used “nigga” a staggering amount of 105 times (“Straight Outta Compton” had 13 tracks in total). However, on N.W.A’s 1991 LP “EFIL4ZAGGIN” the word “nigga” was heard/uttered a grand total of 249 times over 18 songs. Now let’s take the context of the times into consideration, shall we?

When N.W.A’s career started out with “N.W.A. & The Posse” in 1987, they had a mostly Black audience. Once “Straight Outta Compton” exploded and they began getting more & more exposure they accumulated a larger White audience and sold more and more records. As they acquired a larger crossover (read: White) audience they consciously decided to push the envelope and say “nigga” even more frequently. The more they used the word, the more records they sold (fans even bought their back catalog) and the more popular they became. Quite the moral conundrum…

By 1991, when N.W.A. reached critical mass following Ice Cube’s departure the buying audience that accounted for their consistent multiplatinum sales was 80% White by the estimation of Ruthless/Priority Records. That being the case? The good ship Hypocrisy has set sail long, long ago. Or did everyone completely forget the past 45-50 years of Pop culture? Let’s finally focus on the content and quality of the film in question for a change and why it was made.

Takashi Miike’s 2007 western/martial arts/action film “Sukiyaki Western Django” was an homage to films spanning multiple genres that influenced him during his formative years (Miike was born in 1960), this includes all of the films I’ve previously mentioned that influenced Tarantino as well. In addition, Tarantino (who is also a fan of Miike and sees him as a kindred spirit writer/director) also appeared in this ambitious film that wears it’s many obvious influences on it’s sleeve from the implementation of literature like “Tale Of The Hieke” to the film “Django”. Word to Mercedes Zaro. It’s no doubt that being involved in Miike’s “Sukiyaki Western Django” influenced Tarantino to do the same 5 years later.

I personally didn’t understand people’s initial wariness and trepidation in regards to seeing “Django Unchained” given my film background. Quentin Tarantino has exhibited a consistent ability to pore through his influences from Elmore Leonard to classic Rock/Soul/R&B to anime to Spaghetti Westerns to Asian cinema to grindhouse features to ultimately arrive at masterpieces with all the best elements of these varying film genres contained therein. What previous film did he make that made you think he was gonna fuck this one up? “Reservoir Dogs”? “Pulp Fiction”? “Jackie Brown”? “Kill Bill”? “Death Proof”? “Inglourious Basterds”? I’ll wait…

As I watched “Django Unchained” I shared in the feeling of seeing a bunch of hard work, culling together of basic ideas and themes, the agony of hoping certain elements gelled together and planning and writing in hopes you picked the right cast to make it all work for the audience and resonate with them happen in real time. Every time, I write dialogue or help someone else write a scene I relive that feeling time and again. I personally find it inspiring whenever a fellow film nerd/writer/director who shares my same influences executes their vision perfectly. It gives me hope for the future that I can find an audience for my stories.

Let’s address the core reason that some folks (Black directors included) had issues with “Django Unchained”, because it’s a film they wouldn’t dare make or couldn’t make themselves. Mario Van Peebles made “Posse” back in 1993 and paid homage to the long overlooked historical proliferation of Black cowboys in America and the legendary actor Woody Strode. It wasn’t until 1997 that John Singleton addressed the historic Rosewood massacre of 1923 on film.

The same year, a TV movie starring Danny Glover called “Buffalo Soldiers” about US Cavalry Troop H/10th Calvary Regiment that were active during the Civil War through Reconstruction and fought chiefly in the Indian Wars and Spanish-American War aired on cable (but not theaters). Why haven’t Black writer/directors explored this time period since? Who’s at fault for this? Is it writer/directors/producers becoming discouraged that films like Danny Glover’s Toussaint L’Overture biopic can’t find significant funding or the fact that the biggest Black names in Hollywood won’t band together and make it happen but Tyler Perry can masquerade as both Alex Cross AND Madea with relative impunity?

Do we fault the executives at film studios that claim no one will support or frequent these films? I prefer to fault the writer/directors that don’t take advantage of the current times and do what Melvin Van Peebles did more than 40 years ago during an analog age in a digital one where it would be even easier to write, shoot, promote an independent feature film & produce a soundtrack album simultaneously. Did y’all already forget how “Black Dynamite” was made back in 2009? You don’t try to get signed in the music industry anymore. You build your name and brand until they approach you and partner with you. How is the modern film game in a digital age any different? Now’s the time to force their hands.

“Django Unchained” found a way to blend action, humor, excellent pacing and engrossing dialogue in a Spaghetti Western/Blaxploitation inspired action film to create an experience that worked on multiple levels. It worked as a revenge film. It worked as an homage to classic films/influences. It worked as a straight up popcorn film. It worked as a film for cinephiles and film nerds. It worked as a movie that will generate a shitload of sales, rentals and streams once it hits Blockbuster, Netflix & Redbox. There was so much quotable and memorable dialogue from this film that I found much of it analogous to the present day film and music industries.

Quentin Tarantino’s inner circle consists of several writer/directors and film nerds/cinephiles such as Robert Rodriguez, Eli Roth, Takashi Miike, Rob Zombie and RZA. They often meet and discuss films, often deconstructing all of the elements of landmark film from varying genres. They delve into every aspect of these films, the film posters, trailers, music/score, editing, pacing, special effects, dialogue, etc. You can criticize Tarantino all you want but you can’t deny that he respects the filmmaking process. He is a tireless worker, a diligent student of his craft and he constantly is able to match his same high level of quality because he pays equal attention to all of the crucial aspects of his productions.

In closing, Quentin Tarantino & Robert Rodriguez teamed up to make the double features “Death Proof” & “Planet Terror” as homages to the grindhouse films they grew up watching. His friends RZA & Eli Roth then worked on “The Man With The Iron Fists” for years as an homage to the Kung Fu/Wushu films from the Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest they both grew up with that helped to shape the entire oeuvre of the Wu Tang Clan. If you’ve been paying attention, Quentin Tarantino’s career has always followed this same pattern of making films that were homages to his greatest influences.

Tarantino was involved in the creation of Takashi Miike’s 2007 “Sukiyaki Western Django” and after he and Eli Roth finally climbed the mountain he considered his World War 2 epic “Inglorious Basterds” (heavily influenced by the 1978 Italian World War 2 themed exploitation film “The Inglorious Bastards”) he searched for another project to bring to the silver screen. This was it. A revenge story inspired by the Blaxploitation films he loved (he wasn’t alone in that) and the highly influential film “Django” starring Jamie Foxx in the lead role at a time when Black films with Black leads in heroic roles are scarce.

Spike Lee got mad about “Django Unchained” for being made but his own World War 2 film (“Miracle At St. Anna”) was mediocre after he called out Clint Eastwood for not featuring Black G.I.’s in his superior World War 2 films “Flags Of Our Fathers” and “Letters From Iwo Jima”. In addition, Spike Lee’s last film “Red Hook Summer” was a great disappointment despite his rant about how horrible Hollywood films that depict Black life are. At least we have Ava DuVernay. The problem isn’t with “Django Unchained”. The problem is who’s willing to step up and do what needs to be done rather than cry about things after the fact? What exactly are you all afraid of, anyways? It’s time to pack up our shit and finally leave Candie Land…

One.

8 Comic Books That Should Be Adapted To Cable Series'

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 16:17:00 -0500

I actually decided to do this list before I wrote the other pieces that came before it on “Bastard Swordsman”. Then the whole “Rap Radar vs. Hot 97/major leagues vs. minor leagues” debacle happened and the Newtown, CT tragedy occurred making posting this list drop on my priorities list. Now that I’ve done a few end of year lists I figured it was a good time to post this one up.

I’ve been seeing the success of certain shows based on book and comic book properties over the past few years and the type of shows that flourish on networks like SyFy, A&E, HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, USA, TBS, TNT, Starz, AMC, etc. then I came up with a list of comic book series’ that I think could be adapted to series’ on cable networks based on what’s been successful in recent years.

If any of these properties end up being picked up after I wrote this jawn I reserve the right to sue for a finder’s fee. Or you can just PayPal me and I’ll keep quiet. I kid. Kinda. Here’s the damb list:

100 Bullets (1999-2009)

“100 Bullets” was a long running, award winning series from Vertigo that lasted 100 issues written by Brian Azzarello. The plot involved intertwining tales with a lot of moving parts around each story arc where the mysterious Agent Graves offers a wronged person in dire straits a gun and 100 rounds plus the opportunity to get revenge.

Not only that but Graves guarantees the person will not be punished for taking revenge and the authorities will look the other way. All you need to do is read any of the trade paperbacks to wonder why it hasn’t been seriously considered for adaptation yet.

DMZ (2005-2012)

Brian Wood’s (“Channel Zero”) epic 72 issue run of Vertigo’s series “DMZ” is about an embedded reporter trapped inside New York City after a civil war broke out in America. The United States Of America is at war with what call themselves The Free States. The Free States are based in Montana but have the majority of their forces in New Jersey. They battle the US armies chiefly in the now abandoned island of Manhattan which has now become a demilitarized zone (DMZ).

The series follows the exploits of embedded reporter Matty Roth as he feverishly attempts to covers the war and his interactions with the 400,000 people that remain on Manhattan Island. If “Walking Dead” can hit big for A&E and TNT can find an audience for “Falling Skies” then the post apocalyptic feel of a civil war ravaged Manhattan with a topical theme could surely fit on a cable network as well.

Scalped (2007-2012)

Back in 2007, Jason Aaron brought Vertigo a tale loosely based around Leonard Peltier’s controversial case called “Scalped”. The central plot involves the residents of the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation in South Dakota, one of the most impoverished places in the entire United States. This reservation is inhabited by members of the Oglala Lakota nation and it involves the fallout from an incident where two FBI agents were shot and killed back in 1975.

The main character of “Scalped” is Dashiell Bad Horse, son of Gina Bad Horse who was one of the people involved in the 1975 incident. The reservation is now run by the infamous Lincoln Red Crow and crime, drugs and corruption is running wild. Think “Breaking Bad” meets “Dexter” meets “The Killing” set on an Indian reservation as Bad Horse tries to solve the mystery of what really happened back in 1975 as he attempts to take down Red Crow and an obsessed Native American hating FBI agent tries to tear the entire reservation apart. A&E or AMC can replace their canceled series’ “The Killing” and “Breakout Kings” with this.

Northlanders (2008-2012)

Once again we see the name Brian Wood and the imprint Vertigo. Is there a damb glitch in The Matrix? In any event, with all the excitement generated by the adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s “A Song Of Fire And Ice” novels into the show “Game Of Thrones” on HBO it makes sense to look into “Northlanders”. A translation of the 50 issue run involves historical events that occurred during the Viking Age spanning from the 8th Century to the 11th Century A.D. featuring different protagonists.

If you combine the Dark Ages feel of Showtime’s “The Borgias” with the gore and intrigue of period pieces like “Spartacus” on Starz and the Middle Ages appeal of HBO’s “Game Of Thrones” it’s easy to imagine how audiences would potentially respond to “Northlanders”. It could potentially fit on HBO, Showtime or Starz.

Morning Glories (2010- )

Image’s first entry is the popular (and confusing) “Morning Glories”. The story involves six gifted students that enter their first year at the highly prestigious Morning Glory Academy. No one is exactly sure what’s going on at the academy but there is a bunch of betrayal, secrets, death and the supernatural at play. Nick Spencer’s “Morning Glories” reads like a mix between “Twin Peaks”, “Supernatural”, “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”, “Angel” and “Degrassi: The Next Generation” if people killed each other regularly. Either SyFy, AMC or A&E should seriously consider adapting this property.

The Activity (2012- )

Nathan Edmonson’s Image title “The Activity” is about five person team working for the ISA (Intelligence Support Activity) branch of the US Army Special Operations Unit all over the world. In a climate where people play videogames like “Call Of Duty”, “Battlefield”, “SOCOM” and watch shows like “Homeland”, “NCIS”, “Burn Notice” and “Covert Affairs” regularly it wouldn’t be a tough sell. If you pay attention to how well Cinemax has done with the first two seasons of “Strike Back” and their new series “Hunted”, an adapted version of “The Activity” would fit there perfectly. It just seems obvious to me…

Thief Of Thieves (2012-)

Wanna talk about an easy slam dunk of a sale? Let’s discuss Image’s new 2012 series written by Robert Kirkman of “The Walking Dead” fame’s ongoing series “Thief Of Thieves”. It has elements of the George Clooney/Brad Pitt franchise “Oceans Twelve/Thirteen” combined with TNT’s recently canceled “Leverage” and USA Network’s popular series’ “White Collar” and “Burn Notice”.

The story is based around a master thief named Redmond who wants to quit at the top of his game but his friends, associates, rivals, family and law enforcement simply won’t allow it to happen. News is that AMC has the rights to the property and it’s currently in development as I type this.

The Massive (2012- )

Dark Horse Comics was smart to pick up the new series from Brian Wood (“Channel Zero”, “DMZ”, “The Couriers” & “Northlanders”) about a former paramilitary mercenary turned pacifist environmentalist who leads a team of volunteers that try to help the world in any way possible in a world where extreme weather and a rash of environmental disasters have submerged much of the major cities globally and plunged the United States into the Dark Ages.

Callum Isreal is the leader of the conservationist/environmentalist group Ninth Wave who has two ships, The Kapital and The Massive navigating the seas looking for fresh water, food and fuel so they can help the remaining people of post apocalyptic Earth after The Crash.

Callum loses his main ship The Massive and spends more than a year searching for it in a world where being a pacifist that sticks his neck out for others is becoming more and more questionable as pirates abound, society has broken down and morality is a thing of the past. I’d like to see HBO or Showtime take a crack at this one because it’s gonna cost serious money to make/produce.

Also in contention: Image’s “Saga”, Valiant’s “Harbinger”, Image’s “Clone” and Image’s “Comeback”.

One.

Everybody's Crazy © Nas

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 11:22:09 -0500

We are in an exponential age, which means that things can potentially degrade and deteriorate at an alarming rate as well as progress, grow and spread. Integrity is at an all time low. Hypocrisy is at an all time high. It’s extremely tough to to stand up for your beliefs if you’d like to keep your job & benefits in an economy where we’re still in a recession and possibly even approaching a fiscal cliff. In order to survive and serve the all powerful bottom line people are willing to sell their own souls and disregard the well being and health of the common man just to fill their own bank accounts. So what if people and stupider than ever and more obese than ever? Look at these fourth quarter earning projections! Our shareholders will be pleased…

Due to this, pretty much everything has gone to shit over the past 15 years. Advances in technology in a rapidly changing world could have potentially made things better for all of us. What instead happened was corporations and special interest groups made sure to exploit everything, ensure their own survival and try to put the clamps on everything they possibly could to keep power and control in the midst of a rapidly changing world climate. We now exist in an unnatural, unbalanced state.

One where we feed cows corn that they can’t digest and genetically engineer skinless chickens on steroids to feed the populace. One where we flood the inner cities of America with high fructose corn syrup and illegal drugs. One where supposed Chicken McNuggets are actually made with pink slime as opposed to chicken and Taco Bell taco filling is only 36% beef. One where we claim to want to fight cancer but forgot to mention that one of the biggest causes of abnormal cell growth is constant exposure to electromagnetic fields which are radiated by electrical or electronic objects.

Now that laptops and handheld devices such as cellphones, music players and personal tablets are so widespread good luck with that. Let’s not forget that we add more towers to get better cell service and more and more wireless electronic devices so EMF exposure is far more widespread now since the 90’s when the connection between EMF’s and abnormal cell growth were first discovered. Now we’ve also discovered that fast food also contributes to abnormal cell growth and high fructose corn syrup and sugar is linked to obesity. In short, corporations make their money by slowly killing the same people they seek to make money off of. That’s pretty backwards if you ask me.

The mass media exists to keep the populace informed, right? Wrong. It’s a business. Profit is made by selling the most ad space and not by producing the most well informed and intelligent viewers. In radio it essentially works the same way. After the Telecommunications Act Of 1996 was signed which allowed for corporations to buy up all the independent voices in radio what happened on television was Viacom needed to ensure ratings. Music sales were down and it was harder to sell ad space to video shows after the advent of the internet so Viacom networks focused on original programming and reality television. After 2005, the introduction of YouTube and Dailymotion closed that door forever.

Now Fox News, CNN & C Span add in elements of tabloid television shows TMZ, Extra, Entertainment Tonight and similar shows on E! and Bravo in order to appease a wider fanbase of potential viewership. Things are so upside down that the shows most 18-34 year olds get their fix of world news and politics from are on Comedy Central (“The Daily Show” & “The Colbert Report”). It makes sense that hypocrisy runs rampant in a world where MTV doesn’t focus on music, The Learning Channel has no educational programming, Cartoon Network airs live action shows, G4TV no longer airs any tech or gaming shows and the History Network is all about “Ancient Aliens”.

On April 20th, 1999 an event occurred that should’ve changed this nation forever. There was a massacre at a high school in Columbine, CO where 15 people were killed and 21 were injured after two troubled teenagers acquired a small arsenal of firearms rather easily. The fallout resulted in people scrambling to find fault in contributing factors such as pop culture, violent video games, television & film, music, comic books, widespread diagnosis of ADD & ADHD leading to mass prescriptions of anti-depressants to youth and bullying.

In the end, the government put enough pressure on several facets of media that lead to censorship of Hollywood films (several were delayed in excess of a year following the Columbine massacre) and even rating systems imposed on video games. Films like “Fight Club” were delayed by 6 months back in 1999 for fear it celebrated anti social behavior and displayed subversive themes. DreamWorks was nervous about releasing it’s film “American Beauty” and the Tim Blake Nelson modern adaptation of Othello called “O” was shelved for over 2 years because of the Columbine massacre.

The least headway was made on gun control laws thanks to the widespread power and influence of the National Rifle Association (NRA). Since 1999, there have now been over 30 school and campus shootings in the United States alone. Do the math. There should be far less than that. It implies an increase rather than a decrease in the frequency of these events. The most recent event occurred in a Newtown, CT and among the 26 victims that lost their lives 20 were children between the ages of 6 and 7. This is yet another American tragedy in a growing list of ones that never should have happened.

Whereas with the Columbine High massacre in 1999, there were so many obvious factors to potentially spread the blame among such as “Doom”, Marilyn Manson, subversive teen culture and the list goes on and on. Following the Virginia Tech massacre in April 2007 many tried to spread the blame between mental health issues, American gun culture and subversive films like “Oldboy”.

In this particular case, nothing makes sense. There is nothing to finger to explain or rationalize how this happened other than mental health issues. The world feels like it’s going to hell in a handbasket but let us not forget that while we express outrage that young children were killed in a small Connecticut town with a population below 2000, hundreds have been killed in Chicago and more homicides are happening right now.

Is America’s inherent violent nature to blame? Is our gun culture which has been embedded since the inception of our nation to blame? In all of the facets of corporate run popular culture & entertainment it’s based around some form of violence or another, usually gun violence. There are numerous police shows, forensics shows and detective shows on television where they typically investigate murders or killings caused by handguns. Most action games involve the usage of firearms or some form of artillery. America has 89 guns per each 100 people as of 2011 and many people began buying more guns out of fear of Barack Obama becoming re-elected (and he was) and they would lose many of their freedoms in the near future. Let’s see how that works out over the next four years…

In conclusion, I have no answers. I never professed to have any. To be honest, I have no idea if what I just wrote even makes any real sense. I just had to write something as catharsis to help myself work through things that were rattling around in my own brain. As a writer and a creator of media, I often stay abreast of any events that might result in the censorship of art. I also try to keep tabs of how out of whack things are. I can’t help it being a child of the 80’s when I feared nuclear war was going to turn the world into an irradiated wasteland almost every day between the ages of 5 to 13. When I was 9 years old, scientists at the University Of Chicago set the Doomsday Clock at 11:57 PM. You tend to never forget things of that nature.

I grew up believing that safety was an illusion. I developed a cynical view of the world and it’s workings at a fairly young age. I studied the nature of things closely and noted that most of the motivations behind those in power were to maintain their money and power at the expense of the well being and health of the masses. Given what’s happened in the world recently I feel like a complete asshole for being so concerned about Hot 97 and Rap Radar when there are so many things that are far more important going on. Don’t get me wrong, though. I’ll never stop calling out those that put the bottom line above my culture. Ever.

One.

Execution Of A Chump © Gang Starr

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 04:04:00 -0500

Back on December 5th, I was on Twitter and I saw a tweet from Brian “B.Dot” Miller of Rap Radar run across my timeline via an RT that seemed extremely hypocritical to me so I decided to add my two cents to it and RT it myself. It ended up looking like this:

RT @bdotTM: mainstream rap music sounds like this: swag, molly, rich, flexin’ (repeat). [But y’all don’t really promote shit else so….]

I was very amused by B.Dot’s complaints about mainstream Rap considering that his site Rap Radar upholds the status quo and the overwhelming majority of drek posted on said site falls under that exact description and is posted by B.Dot himself. What followed were a few RT’s of my RT and a discussion amongst some fellow tweeters that also felt that B.Dot’s comment was hypocritical and found it humorous. I didn’t think anything else of it until a couple of days later when B.Dot suddenly developed a conscience and made a post about the state of NY Rap radio on Rap Radar.

I was going off on Complex’s terrible “25 Rap Albums From The Past Decade That Deserve Classic Status” that morning and I spent the afternoon rehashing the career of my late fellow Bostonian Patrice O’Neal on Twitter so while I saw a debate raging on my timeline I really didn’t go too deep into it although the gist of it was B.Dot called on Hot 97 for not playing more New York Hip-Hop. Considering that I’d been calling out Rap Radar for not supporting Hip-Hop period from day one I found the entire exercise to be ridiculous. It was like the pot calling the kettle a “nigger” in my estimation. I ultimately decided to actually follow the debate closer.

I decided to read B.Dot’s half hearted post where he took Ebro the Hot 97 Program Director to task for not playing “at least 5 local records into their daily mix”. Really? That’s all you want? That’s your main issue with NY Rap radio? I read on and B.Dot pulled yet another hypocritical move by focusing on Ebro’s characterization of NYC underground Hip-Hop as being in the “minor leagues” in his discussion with Peter Rosenberg, host of “The Cipha Sounds & Rosenberg Show With Kay Foxx” and the “Real Late Show” on Hot 97.

I read on as B.Dot went off on Hot 97 for their inability to “showcase more local talent during the course of a full business day”. The same B.Dot who regularly ignores a gang of local Hip-Hop talent and fails to showcase it daily to instead post music that falls under the same umbrella that he just criticized two days previous. He then characterized Peter Rosenberg’s “Real Late Show” (the show that actually supports much of the local Hip-Hop that B.Dot himself ignores) as having “the dreaded, Sunday 12am- 2am time slot”.

Hold on, what other NYC Hip-Hop radio show occupied that same “dreaded” time slot? Oh, I remember…the Stretch Armstrong & Bobbito Show on 88.9 & Hot 97! The greatest and most influential Hip-Hop radio show of all times that aired in that same time slot on Hot 97 and spread nationwide and overseas via tapes in a pre-internet era when it was on WKCR. If B.Dot actually knew anything about Hip-hop or NY radio he would’ve known that. Actually, what Hip-hop head doesn’t already know that? Surely not one that should be criticizing NY’s Rap radio lack of local artists (that they don’t support in the first place).

In the closing paragraph of B.Dot’s supposed “Moment Of Clarity” he wrote this telling passage “This is bullshit. Hot 97 embraces artists only after they’re successful—or have money behind their songs.”. Well, I’ll be damned! Did B.Dot just criticize Hot 97 for not supporting up & coming rappers considering that he’s said on multiple occasions that Rap Radar doesn’t do it, either? When pressed about the issue he typically passes the buck and claims that there are other sites that do that and it’s not part of what Rap Radar does. In fact, he’s used analogies similar to the same one he criticized Ebro for using in the past to explain why there’s no support for underground or indie Hip-Hop on Rap Radar. Let’s go back to that for a moment, shall we?

A few days later, B.Dot posted Sean Price’s response to Peter Rosenberg after getting wind of Ebro’s comments complete with an iTunes purchase link to “Mic Tyson”. Just one issue with that, where was this same support of “Mic Tyson” back on October 30th when “Mic Tyson” first dropped? Oh, that’s right! On that day, rather than support any of the numerous indie Hip-Hop/Rap albums that dropped that day Rap Radar instead chose to promote MMG artist Meek Mill’s “Dreams And Nightmares”.

That means that Rap Radar chose to overlook Sean Price, Craig G, MHz, The Black Opera, Audible Doctor and Journalist 103 on that day. B.Dot decided to post Sean Price’s reaction to his “minor league” characterization by Hot 97’s Ebro when his own poor track record when it comes to supporting underground and indie Hip-Hop is made known with every passing Tuesday. This makes Brian “B.Dot” Miller look like an opportunist and a hypocrite simultaneously. Makes you begin to question the motives behind his sudden campaign to bring balance to Hot 97’s airwaves, doesn’t it?

In B.Dot’s initial “Moment Of Clarity” post he wrote the following passage in regards to Hot 97, ” Instead of being innovators, Hot has followed the playlists of other regions. Locals are now forced to play second string to outta town rookies like Trinidad James and Chief Keef”. Shortly after posting these words, both Chief Keef and Trinidad James make appearances on Rap Radar next to Bow Wow, Future, B.o.B & Taylor Swift and even an EDM duo YMCMB recently signed.

I didn’t find New York emcee Meyhem Lauren’s recently released “Mandatory Brunch Sessions” anywhere on Rap Radar after B.Dot’s post but I DID find multiple posts featuring Trinidad James (posted by B.Dot himself) whom he just used as an example of who radio is “forced” to play in lieu of New York Rap from local emcees. What gives? Well, that’s to be expected considering B.Dot pretty much ignored Action Bronson until he appeared on “Last Call With Carson Daly” last fall. I guess “Dr. Lecter” wasn’t enough on it’s own?

By now, the entire Rap Radar vs. Hot 97 debate was raging all over Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and the blogosphere. Many were congratulating B.Dot for taking a stand for NYC Hip-Hop but there were a bunch of us that weren’t buying it at all. I judge people by their actions as opposed to what they say. If you take a position and you follow it up with actions that contradict your previous position or stance then the only logical conclusion to draw is you’re an insincere or disingenuous person. Some laymen would typically categorize a person who fits these criterion as a “fuckboy”. I know I do.

In B.Dot’s second “Moment Of Clarity” post which occurred four days after his initial post (in which span of time he did nothing significant to support local New York Hip-Hop through his own actions) he offered the following tidbit about Rap Radar (in addition to passing the blame again and not shouldering any personal responsibility per usual), “If you’re visiting this website, chances are you’re a hip-hop nerd. Myself included”. Is that right? Most people that would categorize themselves as such would actually act as if they gave a fuck about Hip-Hop. In reality, most Hip-Hop nerds regularly critique the radio and it’s practices and have been doing so in excess of a decade. Not just four days ago.

You can’t call someone else out for not doing that which you’re not willing to do yourself. That’s just common sense. In that same span of time, Peter Rosenberg brought the issue to that fuckboy Hot 97 Program Director Ebro, let his feelings be known and even had callers express their feelings to him live on the air. Here’s the thing, I remember Peter Rosenberg from back in his college days in Maryland writing about Hip-Hop and interviewing greats for Roger Gastman’s magazine “While You Were Sleeping” and as an extended member of Low Budget Crew.

I know where Rosenberg stands in regards to Hip-Hop already. He’s been consistent in his position and convictions for more than 12 years now. He does what he can to support indie and underground Hip-Hop. He not only talks the talk but he actively puts action behind it. I’ve criticized B.Dot directly for his constant complaining about constantly being under fire for not supporting a wider array of Rap/Hip-Hop on Rap Radar for years.

What has he done? Fall back on the same tired excuse that it’s not Rap Radar’s place to do so. But he wants someone else to do it? I learned early on that I should be the change I’m attempting to enact. If I wasn’t willing to embody my beliefs and statements and back them up then I probably should shut the fuck up and have a seat.

B.Dot has shit on indie & underground Hip-Hop repeatedly over the years but now that it’s convenient for him and his brand new position now he wants to mention it. Let’s assume that B.Dot has always felt this way about NY radio and Hot 97 for years but held his tongue. In which case, he’s a huge coward. Let’s instead take the position that it took B.Dot until December 5th, 2012 for his tolerance level for bullshit to finally be peaked. That being the case then how come B.Dot’s actions nor his most recent posts on Rap Radar don’t reflect that? If B.Dot hasn’t previously supported the numerous New York emcees in his backyard then he should’ve began doing so. He hasn’t.

B.Dot and Rap Radar has overlooked quality New York Rap at every turn in 2012. I can find 10 posts featuring Lola Monroe from this year alone but when I search for any mention of Torae I get only 4 (none since 2010) total posts. Torae has released “For The Record” & “Off The Record EP” since then but he hasn’t warranted any mention? I searched Skyzoo and I found only 8 posts (all made between 2010 and now).

I searched Homeboy Sandman and I found only one mention (from 2010). Homeboy Sandman has released 4 total projects since 2010 (that all were extremely well received) but somehow this top New York emcee hasn’t popped up on Rap Radar’s radar? Ka (who might’ve made the album of the year) wasn’t even mentioned ONCE. Roc Marciano racked up 10 total mentions going back to 2010 and NONE even mentioned either of his albums “Marcberg” or the recently released “Reloaded”. Very telling indeed.

By the same token Trinidad James has racked up 10 posts on Rap Radar in the span of a week. A WEEK. It took Sean Price more than a year to be mentioned that much and he’s a legitimate legend with a career that goes back to the mid 90’s. The proof is right there in the search bar. Rap Radar treats underground NY emcees like they’re minor leaguers but B.Dot wants to call someone else out for doing the very same. But we already knew that. After all, we’re not stupid. Are we? I mean how many cats gave B.Dot props for his halfassed attempt at raging against the machine when he is actually part of it himself?

I find that if you’re going to speak out against something that you should have some semblance of credibility, otherwise everything you say holds no weight. Anyone I know that has issue with the radio made it a point to actively combat it, whether it’s through blogging, starting an online radio station or working in PR and digital marketing. They saw a problem and they acted. They didn’t just complain then do nothing about it.

In Brian “B.Dot” Miller’s case he decided to go at Hot 97 when he hadn’t actively done shit to counteract their lack of support for NY Hip-Hop and Rap since the day Rap Radar first launched back in 2009. Afterwards, still nothing. That makes him a hypocrite. When the subject of offering balance on Rap Radar was brought up he’s shrugged it off and stuck to his go to cop out that he and Elliott Wilson are merely there to “document the culture” and there are “other blogs” to break new artists and accommodate the underground. He then turns around and criticizes radio DJ’s for not doing so without acknowledging that the reasons Hip-Hop blogs rose were because of people becoming disillusioned with the fuckery involved with Rap radio in the first place.

You all know where I stand. You’ve known since 2006. I’ve been a backpacker officially since 1991. When the post Telecommunications Act split happened in Hip-Hop I noticed that the radio started falling off and losing it’s balance way back in 1997. My position has never wavered in more than 15 years in regards to what’s happened to mainstream Rap or the culture of Hip-Hop. I’ve never been a hypocrite. I’ve never displayed cowardice. I’ve never once failed to call out bullshit when I see it. I call bullshit.

The Rap industry already has far too many fakes, cowards, chumps and fuckboys in positions of power helping to maintain the status quo. It’s time to stop accepting excuses, cop outs and letting people slide when they don’t live up to what they portray themselves as being. If you’re going to crusade for Hip-Hop then do so. If you’re going to just sit back down and collect a check although you acknowledge shit is fucked up then you might as well have never written or said anything in the first place. Hip-Hop was created as rebel music. Hip-Hop cannot thrive in an environment powered by fear, hypocrisy, cowardice and complacency. In short, no fuckboys are allowed. Either lead, follow or get the fuck out of the way and sit down. That’s my word.

One.

Even 25 More Cult Films (Of The Internet Age) According To Dart Adams

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 07:28:00 -0500

I’ve gone 9 months without making yet another cult films of the Internet Age (1996-) list now. Seven months previous to that I resurrected a series I began way back on Poisonous Paragraphs in 2007. Over these past 5+ years I’ve listed close to 500 films of every imaginable genre and before it turns 2013 I should add another 25 jawns to the scroll. I used to watch a gang of films before in the old Netflix mail days and on the internet simultaneously back in the early days of Poisonous Paragraphs. I watched slightly less films during the Netflix streaming era after ICE took down most of the websites that made watching films that were still in the theater possible and even fewer when I began writing for other sites regularly.

Due to those aforementioned factors, it took longer than it normally would to reach 25 films that would qualify for my latest list, even with the proliferation of Redboxes (who are teaming with Verizon and entering the streaming media arena in early 2013). With all that said here’s my list of the next 25 cult films of the Internet Age (1996-). I’ll try to do a few more of these before I finally bring an end to Bastard Swordsman (no blog I start will ever last longer than 3 years). Let’s do this already:

The Wave (2008)

“The Wave (Die Welle)” is based on a true story involving a popular teacher in Germany that conducts a class about how the Third Reich was able to indoctrinate so many so quickly that eventually spiraled out of control. You really need to see this film and experience it for yourselves.

Outrage (2010)

Beat Takeshi is to Yakuza films what Kool G. Rap is to Hip-Hop. He finds brand new story angles, layers and themes within the Yakuza film genre to explore then executes them each perfectly. The game of passing the buck doesn’t just happen in the corporate world, but in the world of organized crime people end up dead.

Twelve (2010)

This is one of the movies that makes the list because it airs on cable late at night. I’ve seen it about 10 times in the past year at odd hours (I don’t sleep) and there are a gang of elements in this film that make it a quintessential cult film. From the cast to the themes “Twelve” is one of those flicks that you end up watching at 2 AM and you stay up until the wee hours of the morning because you need to know how it all ends. I need to write my “poor rich kids with problems” screenplay. It’s a rite of passage.

Viva Riva! (2010)

“Viva Riva!” is about an ain’t shit hustler and womanizer that lives in the Congo and takes down scams and get rich quick schemes but stumbles on cache of gas in Kinshasha where it’s in short supply. He runs afoul of the wrong people and faces the wrath of thugs and corrupt law enforcement along the way. What else happens? Watch and find out.

Catfish (2010)

I’m sure by now you’re familiar with the popular MTV show based on this documentary that many of us didn’t believe was a documentary at first. I thought to myself as I watched it in total astonishment that this had to be one of those staged faux documentaries, it just had to be. Isn’t it? The more & more people I introduced it to had different theories about it’s veracity but so much happened in it that if it were fake? They deserve even more credit for it.

Snow On Tha Bluff (2011)

“Snow On Tha Bluff” is an actual faux documentary as opposed to a real one. It’s so “real” that you actually begin to wonder if it’s actually fake or staged or not. I felt the exact same range of emotions that I felt while I was immersed in “Catfish” that I did while I was watching “Snow On Tha Bluff”. I haven’t wondered if the events I witnessed were real this much since I saw “Street Thief” years ago on Netflix. Don’t sleep on it.

Jiro Dreams Of Sushi (2011)

If you love what you do o aspire to greatness in that particular field, whatever it may be then you need to what this extremely inspirational film. As a lifelong Hip-Hop head and fan that grew up in the culture and all of it’s different disciplines I can say that this is one of the most topical documentary films I’ve seen since “Still Bill” and “Bill Cunningham New York”. It’s impossible to not watch this and be inspired.

The Pruitt-Igoe Myth (2011)

“The Pruitt-Igoe Myth” is easily one of the most powerful documentaries I’ve seen that tackles the subjects of institutional racism, White flight, the psychological aftereffects of second class citizenship and the failures of state and government in respect to looking out for some of it’s constituents. Watch this documentary and you’ll in awe, St. Louis’ Pruitt-Igoe failure will never leave your psyche afterwards.

Phase 7 (2011)

I learned so much about social issues that affect Buenos Aires, Argentina and it’s populace that I didn’t expect to while I was simply watching a science fiction film I expected to be a cross between “REC” and “Attack The Block”. What I saw was far more character based and entrenched in real life as a husband tries to keep his 7 month old pregnant wife and himself alive in a Buenos Aires apartment complex during an outbreak as his neighbors become increasingly problematic. Watch it.

Limelight (2011)

Canadian businessman Peter Gatien was the king of New York nightlife at the height of decadence. Once we entered Guiliani Era New York combined with the explosion of rave culture and Hip-Hop becoming the most dominant and popular music form during the late 90’s, Gatien’s Limelight and The Tunnel club venues became targeted by law enforcement. What happens next is a modern day witch hunt made in America.

Sound Of My Voice (2011)

This is a unique hybrid science fiction film and psychological thriller about a young aspiring journalist and a substitute teacher that discover a small cult and they seek to expose it’s leader as a fraud so they each go undercover and join the cult. I’m not go to reveal anything else, please see it for yourselves.

Margin Call (2011)

Do you want to see a prime example of why America is going downhill? Watch this film. The rich and the few sold out the entire country just to save themselves and their shareholders. They knew what they were doing was wrong and detrimental to the entire American economy but they did it anyways. Excellent cast and writing, based on true events.

Knuckle (2011)

This is a documentary that both saddened and intrigued me simultaneously.It’s essentially about three families of travelers that reside in Ireland and the UK (Joyces, Quinns & Nevins’) that fuel and perpetrate a feud that’s raged on for more than a generation and resulted in deaths amongst these three families. They revolve around threats recorded on video cameras and filmed bare knuckle boxing matches amongst the three hated families. Oh, have I mentioned that they’re all related and intermarry amongst each other to make it that much more sad and bizarre?

Puncture (2011)

“Puncture” is based on the real life of Michael David Weiss, a young Houston lawyer and drug addict and his law partner and friend Paul Danzinger. After a nurse infects herself with a contaminated needle, Weiss and Danzinger dig and discover that it’s a fairly common occurrence that leads to the death of several health care workers. They take on the case, partner with a manufacturer that makes safety needles that can save people and decide to introduce them to the health care community only to meet overwhelming resistance. Watch as a couple lawyers from Houston set out to reform American health care.

Anonymous (2011)

I’m a Shakespeare fanatic. I have about 20 of William Shakespeare’s plays in book form and while I attended Boston Latin School I had to read many of them at an early age. I feel in love with his writing aesthetic and mastery of verse, tempo, rising action and humor. He was easily the greatest playwright to ever pen verse. The question is, did HE ever put a pen to paper? Shakespeare historians have had the worst luck in finding any proof of his formal education or any documents written or even signed by him other than his plays. If you can stomach Elizabethan dramas and love history? Watch this.

Young Adult (2011)

“Young Adult” makes me feel so much better about where I currently am in my writing career and life in general. Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman team up once again to make a quotable film that spent a great deal of time on an iPod Classic being watched. Mavis Gary is a 37 year old “success story” that leaves the big city and goes back to her small hometown and what happens next needs to be seen to be believed.

God Bless America (2011)

“God Bless America” is NOT for the faint of heart. If you couldn’t rock with extreme parodies like “Super” or films with topical social commentary and a gang of violence like “Red State” than you should avoid “God Bless America” like the plague. If you can handle it? Watch it as soon as humanly possible. By yourself, preferably. I want you to still be respected by your family and friends. I watch this jawn during breakfast. I’m a professional, don’t try that at home.

The Ides Of March (2011)

Hi kids! Do you like hybrid political psychological dramas based on books you didn’t know existed that was loaded with an amazing cast and had top notch writing? NO? What the hell do you mean by “no”? Watch it anyways. It has George Clooney and Ryan Gosling on the film poster.

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

“Moonrise Kingdom” is a Wes Anderson film set in New England during the mid 60’s with a stellar ensemble cast and is loaded with Wes Andersonisms. If you’re a Wes Anderson head like I am, then you’ve already seen it. If you aren’t you should watch it anyways. I should warn you to not Google too many things mentioned in this film as they’re usually made up. Wes has one hell of an imagination.

Cosmopolis (2012)

What can I say? I love nihilistic Cronenberg films based on novels that open on my birthday. Juliette Binoche AND Samantha Morton in the same film? Did I cast this jawn? I loved it but you might very well hate it. I loved “Southland Tales”, after all.

Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

I love films that don’t fit in the typical movie mold. “Safety Not Guaranteed” is a comedic drama (or a dramatic comedy) centered around an interesting classified ad left in a Seattle newspaper, a writer for a magazine that decides to investigate it and a young intern whom he sends to answer the ad, go undercover and get him the story. I just now realized that this and “Sound Of My Voice” both have undercover investigate reports and time travel angles in common. Watch it. I learn so much about myself when I do these lists.

Lawless (2012)

Imagine “Boardwalk Empire” set in Virginia and adapted from novel form into a screenplay by a highly influential singer songwriter that was in developmental Hell for so long I compared it to a show that it was actually in development before it began airing. Watch it.

Savages (2012)

Do I even have to explain this one? It has all the prerequisites. Insane ensemble cast. Based on a novel of the same name. A gang of violence. Hot women. Quotable dialogue. Directed by Oliver Stone. Are you watching “Secret History Of America”? Why the hell not? You get it, already.

Beasts Of The Southern Wild (2012)

This film isn’t based that much in reality (or is it?) but there’s so much symbolism in it that you’re going to have to watch it multiple times to piece everything together. It’s insane how a film that isn’t about our world at all can be set in our world but say more about it indirectly than other films do directly. Did that make sense to anyone else besides me? I just read it back five times and I’m deciding to roll with it anyways. Watch this film.

Middle Of Nowhere (2012)

What’s a cult films list without an entry from Ava DuVernay? “Middle Of Nowhere” is a film about a woman who leaves medical school to tend to her husband while he’s incarcerated. I love Ava DuVernay’s films and you know what I love even more? That you can download the screenplay from “Middle Of Nowhere” and read it for yourselves before choosing to see it. There are 36 theaters within 20 miles of me and none of them are currently showing it but I’m putting this out there for you all once it’s available to watch via On Demand portals or rental through Netflix, Redbox and Blockbuster.

One.

How Touré Failed Hip-Hop AND America (Deluxe Edition)

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 15:00:35 -0500

On July 13th, Touré wrote a piece that was published by The Washington Post titled “How America And Hip-Hop Failed Each Other”. Touré’s piece quickly made the rounds through the Hip Hop blogosphere. I personally read it from AlLindstrom.com via Twitter and I have to say that I have more than a few issues with his article. In regards to much of the data that Touré used regarding the war on drugs, the incarceration rates, unemployment rates and the books he brings into the discussion to help hammer home his conclusion none of those were the problem. Oddly enough, where Touré’s entire piece fell apart was when he discussed anything regarding Hip-Hop. Let me explain why…

Basically Touré’s entire article hinges on how Hip-Hop went from having a majority Black audience in the mid to late 80’s when it was largely Afrocentric and fairly conscious/uplifting to possessing a mostly Caucasian audience that reveled in criminal/gangsta archetypes by the mid 90’s. Touré attributes this changeover directly to America’s war on drugs began by Richard Nixon but kicked into overdrive by the Reagan administration and it’s by products and aftereffects. My issue is that while the FBI’s antidrug funding increased exponentially and crack’s growing presence in the inner cities obviously affected the culture of Hip-Hop those outside influences weren’t the key reasons Hip-Hop’s overall aesthetic and core fanbase switched between the 80’s and 90’s.

Let’s get to the meat of the issue here. The switchover Touré is referring to his article actually did occur. I saw it happen firsthand and I lived through all of it. Why did it happen? Not exactly for the reasons that Touré alludes to, they were far more organic and internal than he led many to believe. A great deal of the factors that resulted in the changeover of Rap’s audience are so obvious I wonder how Touré could’ve possibly overlooked them.

Between the years of 1986 and 1993, Hip-Hop had this change in core fanbase, overall aesthetic and direction which Touré wrote about. What happened within the world of Hip-Hop itself during those years holds the key to everything. The first part of this timeline includes the first Hip-Hop Golden Era which spanned the approximate years of 1986 to 1989. During this era advances in sampling technology, production techniques and a new focus on lyricism all emerged spearheaded by several visionaries and pioneers in Hip-Hop production and emceeing.

During this era emcees like Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap and Afrocentric/conscious/trailblazing groups like Boogie Down Productions, Public Enemy, Stetsasonic, Ultramagnetic MC’s, Gang Starr, Jungle Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul amongst others all came into prominence. What we tend to forget is that hardcore/gangsta acts like Schoolly D, Just-Ice, Ice T, N.W.A., Geto Boys and many others were already popular during this same era as well. This is where the naturally fickle nature of urban music reared it’s ugly head.

In urban music (such as Hip-Hop) generations occur in 3 to 5 year segments. If a particular style or sub genre of Hip-Hop is hot in 1991 it will fall off sometime between 1994 and 1996 in most cases. Take into account the rise and fall of once super successful acts like Fu-Schnickens and Das EFX for example. The first Golden Era of Hip-Hop came to a natural end after 4 years and settled into crucial space that gave rise to the second (and last) Golden Era of Hip-Hop which lasted between 1992 to 1996 (some include 1997 while I contend it’s part of another era entirely). During the years of 1990 and 1991 the changeover Touré attributes to outside influences other than byproducts caused by internal cultural turmoil occurred.

We’ve entered 1990, the Afrocentric/Conscious Era of Hip-Hop music is already on it’s last legs. A perfect indicator of this change is the group X-Clan and the Blackwatch Movement lead by Professor X (Lumumba Carson). In 1990, their album “To The East, Blackwards” was successful enough for individual group members to record solo albums between 1990 and 1992.

By the time X-Clan released their sophomore album in 1992, interest in the group had dropped significantly and shortly thereafter they broke up. What happened in 1990 that initiated this change? The answer actually lies back in 1989 with a string of initial crossover hits that led to an explosion of factors in 1990 and Touré somehow missed all of them completely (which is odd given you’d think he’d research these things before he wrote them).

How exactly did Hip-Hop’s fanbase gain so many White fans between 1989 and 1992 anyways? Let’s examine that issue by looking at Hip-Hop itself. In 1989, several crossover hits that ended up on Rock & Pop radio, got aired on MTV’s “Yo! MTV Raps” and gained popularity with young kids that weren’t initially Rap fans were made. Among them being Biz Markie’s “Just A Friend”, De La Soul’s “Me, Myself & I”, Young MC’s “Bust A Move”, Tone Loc’s “Wild Thing” & “Funky Cold Medina” and MC Hammer’s “Turn This Mutha Out”.

All of these songs and more people across the country getting cable and access to “Yo! MTV Raps” plus in January 1989 “The Arsenio Hall Show” began airing. Arsenio Hall brought Hip-Hop into America’s homes as frequent musical guests every weeknight and he even allowed them to sit on his couch & speak their piece. This led to a perfect storm come a wave of Rap hits in 1990 that changed Rap’s destiny forever.

In January 1990, MC Hammer released the inescapable pop Rap hit “U Can’t Touch This”. It became one of the first Rap songs to hit the #1 spot on the Billboard charts. In July 1990, Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby” became the next #1 Rap song to hit on Billboard. Between the success of MC Hammer’s “Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em” and Vanilla Ice’s “To The Extreme” they brought Rap to a wider audience then ever before possible thanks to spins on Rock and Pop radio plus the support of MTV. The success of these two albums forced many Rap artists and Hip-Hop labels to attempt to make crossover hits much in the same fashion.

In addition to MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice, Salt N’ Pepa crossed over with a softer sound and the Platinum hit “Expression”. “Expression” pushed their album to Platinum sales and soon other female rappers (most notably MC Lyte & Queen Latifah) switched up to lighter fare in hopes of moving more units and gaining mainstream appeal. This lead to much internal turmoil in the Rap world as rappers began to call each other out for attempting to “sell out”. As would be expected, there was a backlash against what was deemed “Pop Rap”.

In addition, more things happened to widen Hip-Hop’s appeal to segments of the population that weren’t previously Rap fans in 1990. In April 1990, the fledgling Fox network began airing a Hip-Hopcentric comedy sketch show written mostly by brothers Keenan Ivory Wayans & Damon Wayans. They introduced Hip-Hop acts to the American audience every week by featuring them as music guests to close the show. Kid N’ Play starred in the film “House Party” which became a box office hit and made them mainstream stars. They even gained a Saturday morning cartoon the next Fall (alongside MC Hammer’s “Hammerman”).

Touré even overlooked that in 1990 Will Smith’s Quincy Jones produced show “The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air” began airing on NBC. It quickly became a ratings hit and made Hip-Hop all the more palatable to mainstream audiences. Between the combined popularity of “Yo! MTV Raps”, “The Arsenio Hall Show”, “In Living Color” and “The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air” White audiences where being bombarded with Rap and flashes of urban/Hip-Hop culture. At the same time Digital Underground’s “Humpty Dance”, Candyman’s “Knockin’ Boots” and Monie Love’s “It’s A Shame (My Sister)” had also become huge crossover Billboard hits in 1990. Hip-Hop was everywhere.

So how did we get from MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice dancing onstage in sequins and endorsing every product under the sun to everyone being “hardcore”, “keepin’ it real” and representin’” by 1993? It’s pretty simple. Beginning in 1991, labels began to seek out “alternative Rap” groups or “alternative Rappers” to cater to these fans that would be turned off by harder more aggressive Rap.

What happened next? Acts like P.M. Dawn emerged and became successful. P.M. Dawn’s success led to Arrested Development getting signed. By then, a huge segment of Hip-Hop fans and artists became very irritated with Hip-Hop/Rap’s recent Pop leanings and there was a great backlash against it that had been brewing since January 1990 but finally came to a head in January 1992.

The event that is often cited as the tipping point when the Pop Rap Era ended and the second Hip-Hop Golden Age began is the January night in 1992 where P.M. Dawn did a set at Sound Factory and previously Prince Be said some less than flattering (and downright stupid) things about Public Enemy and KRS One in recent interviews with the music press. KRS One, the BDP crew and several affiliates and artists that supported him rushed the stage, tossed Prince Be off and KRS One rocked “I’m Still #1” for a frenzied audience. The backlash against Pop Rap and Alternative Rap had reached critical mass and ushered in a new Golden Age of Hip-Hop as numerous seminal and classic Hip-Hop releases would drop in succession in the following months.

The cover of issue #39 (December ’92) of The Source declared 1992 “The Year Of The Underground”. From that point on if you weren’t hard, reppin’ the streets, keepin’ it real, smoking blunts, drinking 40’s, playing ceelo, selling crack, bustin’ guns or just keeping it raw or gutter you were seen as not being down with “real Hip Hop” by 1993. This was a complete 180º from the Pop leaning Rap that pervaded the charts and airwaves between 1990 and 1991. Every action has an equal or opposite reaction, after all.

Touré completely glossed over these occurrences in the world of Hip-Hop making it seem as if these changes in Rap and it’s culture occurred almost overnight and they were directly affected by the government’s so called “War On Drugs”. Don’t we all remember White kids ironically reciting Del’s “Mistadobalina” or doing the East Coast stomp as “Scenario” played at the end of 1991? I sure do…

Inexplicably, Touré didn’t even think to mention how the Time Warner/Cop Killer Controversy or the LA Riots in April 1992 affected records labels staying away from signing conscious rappers and Rap groups in the following years (case in point, Paris’ “Bush Killa” LP being released later as “Sleeping With The Enemy” on his own Scarface label after being dropped by a major post the Time Warner boycott).

The fallout resulting from the reaction to Body Count’s single “Cop Killer” post the LA Riots ultimately had a lot more to do with the lack of social commentary in Hip-Hop or conscious Rap in later years than any of the external factors Touré listed in his article, especially after the Telecommunications Act was signed in February 1996 (Touré DID research this, right?). If you were an outsider to Hip-Hop culture and weren’t a fan through this tumultuous time you’d simply take Touré at his word, seeing as how he’s the expert. That would be dangerous and ill advised to say the least.

Let’s finish with Touré and his constant mentions of Katheryn Russell-Brown’s “criminalblackman” theory (from her 1998 book “The Color Of Crime” pictured above) and it’s application to how Hip-Hop artists (and by extension all Black men) are viewed. The thugged out image that pervaded Hip-Hop actually began as an adverse reaction to the Pop Rappers in gaudy sequined outfits that supposedly sold out the culture in the previous couple of years. Beginning in late 1991 and early 1992, Rap songs began to cross over without having to diluting it’s sound (i.e. Black Sheep’s “The Choice Is Yours (Revisited)”, ATCQ’s “Scenario”, Del’s “Mistadobalina”, EPMD’s “Crossover”, Das EFX’s “They Want EFX” & Dr. Dre & Snoop Doggy Dogg’s “Deep Cover”).

From 1992 to 1996, Hip-Hop went in the opposite direction with it’s sound, look and overall aesthetic (as I previously established it always did naturally). That’s NOT to say that corporations and labels didn’t exploit this supposed “criminalblackman” image, focus on it, leading others to adopt it and reap untold fortunes from it. In conclusion, Touré admirably found a way to simultaneously simplify and complicate the shift of Hip-Hop’s fanbase and focus during a crucial phase “at the same damn time”. For that he failed.

One.

Sat, 27 Oct 2012 19:00:00 -0400

I’m sure you’ve all seen Elliott Wilson’s video about whether or not Kendrick Lamar’s new album “good kid, m.A.A.d city” is a classic album that deserves all of the hype, praise and attention that’s currently being lavished on it. I’m sure you’ve seen the Facebook and Twitter debates about the same subject. There have been quite a few opinion pieces and articles written either about whether or not Kendrick Lamar’s new album is a classic or if we need to be years removed from an album to see it’s legacy and aftereffects before it can be deemed a true classic. Others say that a true classic is indisputable. There’s a serious hole in this way of thinking in my opinion and here’s why…

Since about 1997 (the same year the mainstream and underground/indie Hip-Hop began it’s progressive divide and eventual complete separation) it’s becoming increasingly harder to have undisputed Hip-Hop classics in the eyes of Rap fans beginning with the release of Lateef & Lyrics Born’s “Latryx: The Album” and Company Flow’s “Funcrusher Plus”. The truth is that there have been scores of classic indie Hip-Hop albums released over the past 15+ years that the overwhelming majority of Rap fans and listeners have either never heard or even heard of. This has effectively destroyed the old “a classic Hip-Hop/Rap album is indisputable” argument forever and ever amen since cats can barely recognize classic material when they hear because at the mainstream level these releases are so few and far between. Remember what Eddie Murphy said about a hungry man being fed a cracker back in the days in “Raw”?

We are currently in a separate but unequal Rap Jim Crow/Hip-Hop Apartheid Era in regards to coverage and attention given to current Hip-Hop/Rap releases that might be just as good if not possibly even better than Kendrick Lamar’s excellent “good kid, m.A.A.d. city” is. The truth of the matter is Kendrick and his TDE compatriots have built themselves up to this by being excellent between 2009 to now. I’m sick of hearing about this being Kendrick Lamar’s “debut” album. Bullshit. “O(verly) D(edicated)” wasn’t a mixtape and you could cop “Section.80” on iTunes. Calling “good kid, m.A.A.d. city” his major label debut (as if THIS is the album that validates him) is like calling Rian Johnson’s “Looper” the film that finally validated him. I saw “Brick” and “The Brother’s Bloom”. He was already nice as a writer. Now let’s get to the real issue surrounding this argument, shall we?

After years of being a Rap media and popular blog darling (all the blogs that appear in each other’s blogrolls and get high Alexa ratings), Kendrick Lamar’s career has become the perfect storm leading up to him getting the co-sign from Dr. Dre. That occurrence made it completely safe for XXL and The Source to put him on covers and now give him the rating that “Section.80” probably deserved but didn’t get because he was still just an “indie blog rapper”. Case in point, what did The Source and XXL rate Skyzoo’s “A Dream Deferred”? I consider this project to be just as good as “good kid, m.A.A.d city” (which I also loved). Have ANY recent indie Hip-Hop albums received as high praise from the Rap press lately?

Killer Mike x El-P’s “R.A.P. Music” got an XL because it was “too short”. I wonder what “Illmatic” would’ve gotten in that case? Let’s go back and review the ratings and lack of attention given to some of the best indie Hip-Hop album to drop thus far in 2012: The Alchemist “Russian Roulette”, OC & Apollo Brown “Trophies”, KA “Grief Pedigree”, Brother Ali x Jake One “Mourning In America & Dreaming In Color”, El-P “Cancer 4 Cure”, Gangrene “Vodka & Ayahuasca”, Houseshoes “Let It Go”, Homeboy Sandman “First Of A Living Breed”, Oddisee “People Hear What They See”, Oh No “Ohnomite”, Rapsody “The Idea Of Beautiful”, REKS x Statik Selektah “Straight No Chaser”, REKS x Numonics “REBELutionary”, Bambu “One Rifle Per Family”, Skyzoo “A Dream Deferred”, Sean Born “Behind The Scale”, Sene “Brooklyknight”, etc. What excuses were made for them ALL not receiving equal attention, praise or coverage?

What excuses can we expect for Sean Price’s “Mic Tyson” or Roc Marciano’s “Reloaded” after they drop as to why they more than likely won’t receive any of the love Kendrick Lamar’s album is currently getting regardless of how good they are? Unless Jay-Z and Kanye West cosigns either one of them no major Rap publication will magically grow the balls to call either one of these albums a classic potentially. Shit, they won’t even come clean with giving any of their PREVIOUS releases that same tag although they obviously deserve it. Anyone who actually heard “Monkey Bars”, “Jesus Price Supastar”, “U N Or U Out” or “Marcberg” knows better than that.

Elliott Wilson often writes and says “Support Our Culture”, the problem is that our Rap publications and blogs (Rap Radar included) don’t do that at present. When you use the word “culture” that means the full diaspora of Hip-Hop music from the majors to the indie releases. Hip-Hop is all inclusive, word to the Universal Zulu Nation. It began in the South Bronx in New York but Hip-Hop is a worldwide culture. By that same token why won’t these same cats support great music regardless of how much money is behind it? Meek Mill’s lackluster album will get ALL the attention this Tuesday and cats like me will actually be the ones supporting our culture by promoting Sean Price’s “Mic Tyson”, The Black Opera’s “Libretto: of King Legend” and Craig G’s “Ramblings Of An Angry Old Man” since those that supposedly uphold the culture refuse to do so.

When Lil’ Fame & Termanology’s “Fizzyology” or Apollo Brown & Guilty Simpson’s “The Dice Game” both drop we both know that there’s automatically a glass ceiling in place and they’ll only get up to a certain rating and they’ll only receive up to a certain amount of hoopla, press or fanfare regardless of how good the albums actually are due to the fact that they’re indie releases. The big problem? They know this as well. As do the fans. This is the main reason that modern Rap fans have NO clue what a “classic” even sounds like. For the last 15 or so years we’ve been stuck in this holding pattern so people are afraid to call an album a classic because they think they don’t exist anymore. Very wrong. LOOK DOWN. Towards the underground.

In conclusion, we are in an unfortunate era of Hip-Hop in regards to the unequal respect and coverage given to indie Rap. Why is this an issue? Because between 85-90% of the best Hip-Hop released every year ultimately comes from indie channels and via indie labels. If these albums aren’t getting the shine they deserve the entire artform and culture are being done a disservice. The fans and the Rap listening public are being underserved as well. I’ll make one final point before I bounce…

Back in December 1992 in The Source’s end of year issue they gave the Album Of The Year award to Pete Rock & CL Smooth’s “Mecca And The Soul Brother”. The album didn’t even sell Gold and by the time the issue hit stands and was being read you couldn’t go anywhere without hearing Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic” which went on to dominate 1993. “Mecca & The Soul Brother” was regarded as classic material by heads immediately upon it’s release. Look at all the classic material that dropped in 1992 in retrospect making it easy for fans to recognize an “undisputed classic” 20 years ago. Fast forward 20 years and now cats think classic material is an endangered species when it really isn’t. Support our culture. ALL OF IT.

One.

The Middle Children Of History present Final Fantasy VII (1997)

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 21:07:00 -0400

The life cycle of the Sony PlayStation gaming system began on September 9th, 1995 but it was almost two years into it’s existence when one of the games that ultimately helped it become the best selling game system on Earth was released in North America. The English translation of the ground breaking and highly influential game “Final Fantasy VII” was released on September 7th, 1997 in North America (US & Canada).

“Final Fantasy VII” was initially released at the top of 1997 in Japan to critical acclaim and sales success. The main issues involved the high minded concepts and storylines contained in “Final Fantasy VII” and the often tricky process of translating them into english effectively. In the end, the characters, their story arcs, the game’s story and the overall feel of it drew in gamers on a level we hadn’t seen a console based RPG do before. Let’s first go back to the beginning and break down how that came to be. Afterwards, we can explore the game itself then it’s lasting legacy and influence on games of the past 15 years.

Production for Squaresoft’s “Final Fantasy VII” began back in 1994, the game was initially slated for release on the SNES system. Nintendo released the N64 system in Japan in 1996 which changed everything. The Nintendo 64 was a cartridge based system with limited parameters for how big a game could be. Square instead opted to release their ambitious project on the Sony PlayStation seeing as how they employed CD-ROM’s as opposed to cartridges. “Final Fantasy VII” used fully rendered characters, pre-rendered backgrounds, 3D graphics during playable modes and incredible cinema sequences. The Sony PlayStation was the perfect home for it.

The pre-release promotional push behind “Final Fantasy VII” was insane but it was one of the rare releases where the product itself lived up to and even surpassed the hype behind it. The game itself was a perfect storm of near perfection. From the promotional graphic design, packaging and instruction book all the way down to the art direction of the game itself.

The battle system and battle screen and the materia based skill systems were so ingenuous that players who picked up future “Final Fantasy” incarnations were disappointed that they didn’t resonate with them as well as the old materia system did. The game’s story and music also made for an environment that allowed the gamer to suspend belief and become totally immersed in it.

The game was about a former mercenary for the government who becomes a hired agent of an eco-terrorist organization that was referred by an old friend from his childhood days. The game starts out in the city of Midgar, (which anyone who lives in the inner city can relate to) and relates to the different sectors of Midgar. The main character works with a team of freedom fighter called AVALANCHE lead by a man with a gun for an arm named Barrett. AVALANCHE is trying to shut down a series of reactors located in the city owned and operated by the Shinra (or Shin-Ra) Electric Power Company. The reactors generate something called Mako energy, which is in turn hurting the very planet they live on.

The game has many different themes that all intertwine together seamlessly like a Steven Soderbergh film (albeit a Soderbergh film that takes 40 hours to watch, but still). Nothing is what it seems and it isn’t a straight forward game. You discover that your original mission and goals were just the tip of the iceberg. Your main character isn’t even who he thinks he is. Your biggest inspiration is your main enemy and sometimes your allies are your enemies (and vice versa). There are so many esoteric and high minded concepts contained in this game that it was a quantum leap in gaming simply in terms of a gaming experience, story telling and character development.

“Final Fantasy VII” was one of the first games that planted the seed in the heads of gamers that had never seen such an involved and engrossing story in an RPG before that they could possibly write a complex game premise, develop it and execute it. That’s not to say that there weren’t some confusing pieces in “Final Fantasy VII” which could easily be attributed to inaccurate translations from Japanese to English. Those occurred rather infrequently which is amazing given what an undertaking the translation of this game’s text had to be.

As I reflect on the 15th anniversary of “Final Fantasy VII”’s release it has to be mentioned that not only is this game the best selling and most iconic game of the entire “Final Fantasy” franchise, it’s also attributed with being one of the key reasons the Sony PlayStation ended up being the clear winner amongst all the other 5th generation gaming consoles.

There were gaming systems that employed the CD-ROM format way before the Sony PlayStation (first being the TurboGrafx-16 back in 1990) did, but none were able to supply the quality of games and get them promoted and into stores worldwide they way they’d managed to do. It’s like I tell people all the time, being first in business is extremely overrated. Word to Hydrox cookies.

“Final Fantasy VII” started out as a Sony PlayStation exclusive release. As of September 7th, 2012 it’s also been released as a PC game and made available on the PlayStation Network as a downloadable game. It’s also become regarded higher and higher on the greatest of all times list as time progresses. The fact remains that every “Final Fantasy” game released following “FF7” has been compared to it and each has fallen short to some degree, even with greatly improved graphics and more powerful design engines at the disposal of the developers.

I can tell you from personal experience that I stopped buying “Final Fantasy” games after the 9th game dropped in the series in 2000 and didn’t play one following “Final Fantasy X” (when they dumped the Active Time Battle system). I know a number of gamers that have played “Final Fantasy VII” over and over again at different intervals over the past decade plus.

Every time I played “Final Fantasy VII”, I named my characters after someone in Hip-Hop. I’ve named Cloud everything from ZEPHYR to SEEN. I’ve only named Barrett KASE2. Tifa has been named everything from LADY HEART to CLAW and Aerith is always LADY PINK. I’ve used names of prominent people from every discipline in Hip-Hop you can think of over the years. At one point in time I even named Yuffie everything from Kuttin’ Kandi to DJ Kaori.

As I wrote this piece I decided to stay away from going in depth about the story, character development arcs, the deeper meaning behind the game’s themes and what not. I wanted to purposefully avoid touching on the obvious aspects of the game because all of these elements can best be experienced by playing it for yourself.

There is a reason why “FF7” has become the Gold standard by which modern RPG’s are judged in terms of gameplay and overall atmosphere. From the overall game aesthetic down to the music, Summons animation sequences and long running cinema transitions it’s a hard game to top that continues to inspire long standing feelings of nostalgia in those that first played it 15 years ago.

One.

Revenge Of The 80's presents Street Fighter (1987)

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 11:10:47 -0400

August 30th, 1987 was the day gaming as we knew it was changed forever. On that day, Capcom released the first “Street Fighter” cabinets in arcades all across this great nation of ours. “Street Fighter” was a quantum leap in the fighting game genre. It employed a one on one, single combat against several opponents format (like “Karate Champion”, “Karateka” & “Yie-Ar Kung Fu”) combined incredible sound and graphic design with brand new gaming concepts that instantly grabbed the attention of gamers worldwide.

Within a week of release, “Street Fighter” had become so popular that it almost rendered the revolutionary fighting game “Double Dragon” obsolete in arcades (keep in mind that “Double Dragon” had only been out about 6 months at the time).

The initial release of “Street Fighter” saw the release of two different cabinets, the regular edition that featured a joystick and three buttons (which were red, white & blue). The deluxe edition cabinet, which ended up in bigger arcades in large markets and major cities had a joystick next to two huge blue rubber buttons. The best gamers in each arcade were drawn to this game and the challenge it presented.

You’d attempt to do the move with the controller but how hard you punched the blue or red rubber pad determined the strength of your attack. Your attack strength fell into one of three categories, jab, strong or fierce. This added a brand new element to the gameplay which implemented more strategy than gamers had seen previously in a single combat fighting game. Especially when gamers began to challenge each other using Ken or Ryu, it created a new level of sophistication that future fighting games would also utilize in later years.

“Street Fighter” had a simple story, but it was revolutionary. A fighter travels the world challenging competitors from different countries with different styles and special moves until he becomes King Of The Mountain. Simple enough, right? Why did it resonate with gamers so much? The answer is also simple. Rather than just confining the main character to a single city, it allowed them to travel the world to face multiple opponents (5 countries and 10 opponents to be exact).

Also, adding special moves which required precise timing and manual dexterity to pull off that reduced your opponents power bar by a third was a mind bending move. The Hadouken (fireball), Shoryuken (Dragon uppercut) and Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku (Hurricane kick) all paid off with brilliant animations and the character saying the attack name as it was executed. Sure the voice acting and integration was primitive, but the game’s impressive sound more than made up for it. They added to the overall gaming experience like no previous fighting game had done up until that time.

The main characters, Ken and Ryu were essentially the same character so if you were player one or two you were on equal footing when you challenged someone that was already playing (you could only beat the game as Ken by first beating and taking over for whomever previously was Ryu). Since you each had the same special moves, it was all about strategy and manual dexterity. You had no ground to stand on to complain about what character you were using nor the controls if you lost, they all sucked the exact same for everyone who played the game.

“Street Fighter” had a high playability factor due to the fact it took multiple plays and studying others playing it to devise the best strategies for defeating the games 10 opponents in the most efficient way possible. This eventually bred a culture surrounding the game that led to the future tournament editions seeing as how only the best players stuck with the game given how frustrating and difficult it initially was .

Gamers spent many man hours and quarters figuring out how to best beat Retsu, Geki, Joe, Mike, Birdie, Eagle, Lee, Gen, Adon and Sagat. Sometimes, they’d try to employ the old “Hadouken and back up to the corner of the screen and block until time runs out” method to discover that the programmers designed Adon and Sagat to make doing that as difficult as humanly possible.

For those of you that weren’t of arcade frequenting age in 1987, I’d like to let you in on a little secret. Arcade game controls were nowhere as quick or responsive as you think they were. This game was relatively hard to play and special moves were tough to pull off even for experts that toiled at that godforsaken cabinet for hours at a time trying to perfect each attack and the timing of them.

“Street Fighter” (and to some degree “Double Dragon”) completely revolutionized the way gamers and especially game planners and programmers approached future fighting games. However, ‘Street Fighter” didn’t achieve it’s status until the release of “Street Fighter II” in 1991. After it’s sequel was released and became super popular due to improved sound, graphic design, speed, voice acting and extremely responsive controls the floodgates opened. Companies rushed to capitalize on this new audience of rabid fighting game fans.

SNK responded with “World Heroes”, a “Street Fighter” clone where you traveled throughout time as opposed to the world fighting opponents. Two of the original game planners of “Street Fighter” launched fighting games for SNK (“Fatal Fury” and “Art Of Fighting”) that became huge franchises. These titles were followed by “The King Of Fighters” and all of them were ported to the SNK Neo Geo. In 1993, SNK launched the first game of their “Samurai Shodown” series which was essentially “Street Fighter” with weapons. This game went on to inspire several more weapon based “Street Fighter” inspired titles in the following years.

Beginning in the early 90’s, several “Street Fighter II” inspired games launched including “Mortal Kombat”, “Virtua Fighter”, “Tekken”, “Battle Arena Toshinden”, “Killer Instinct”, “Eternal Champions”, “Primal Rage” and “Darkstalkers”. The corner turned in 1996 with the introduction of “Soul Edge’ (the precursor of “Soul Calibur”) and the “Dead Or Alive” series. Every subsequent fighting game made afterwards (yes, this also includes 1989’s NES beat ‘em up “River City Ransom”) was in some way inspired by 1987’s “Street Fighter”.

In conclusion, button mashing fighting games are now an established staple of the gaming experience. Several different titles that cater to every kind of gamer are readily available. It all started 25 years ago when Capcom introduced a loud, hard to control, extremely frustrating but highly strategic quarter muncher that a special breed of gamer obsessed over.

Where “Street Fighter” fell short, “Street Fighter II” expounded on it and ultimately triumphed. Try to dig up the original 1987 “Street Fighter” ROM on MAME to see exactly how tough of a game it was if you think I’m exaggerating. I’m not…

One.

The State Of Hip-Hop: Rap's Mid-Life Crisis

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 19:39:00 -0400

Rap is currently in a strange space it has never occupied before. There are a wide assortment of relevant artists still signed to majors with careers that span more than a decade. From the introduction of the first Rap records in 1979 to the first legitimate wave of classic Rap albums in 1984 the landscape of underground and mainstream Rap has never before experienced such a phenomenon. Hip-Hop was originally a young person’s culture but it’s going to turn 40 next July. That means it’s currently going through a mid-life crisis.

In previous generations of Hip-Hop, the older emcees were essentially herded out of the game by the younger, hungrier, more lyrically and technically advanced emcees of that era. New Schoolers like Run-DMC ran off Old School crews like The Funky Four Plus One, Crash Crew and The Furious Five. Next Schoolers like Rakim, Kool G. Rap and Big Daddy Kane forced New Schoolers like Kurtis Blow and Busy Bee to tap out and ultimately even surpassed other New School legends like Whodini and The Fat Boys.

This continued on as a rash of younger emcees constantly entered the game making legends step aside and forcing many others to hang it up altogether in increasing numbers as the first and second Golden Eras of Hip-Hop progressed. When you have cats like Treach and Snoop Dogg to contend with what’s really the point of continuing anyways? Let them have it. It’s their time…

It was almost the natural order of things in Hip-Hop, an urban culture where new generations manifest themselves every three to five years (as opposed to every 20 years due to cultural shifts or advances in the technology used to make music). Suddenly something odd began to happen during the mid to late 90’s. Emcees that already had relatively lengthy careers began to hang around (such as LL Cool J) and others that are still around today began solo careers (such as Ghostface Killah).

Today we have groups like The Roots in the 20^th year of their careers still signed to a major and cats like Jay-Z (whose career on wax began in 1990), Nas (his career on wax began in 1991) and Common (his debut LP dropped in 1992) still releasing chart topping albums with songs that instantly enter the rotation on mainstream Hip-Hop radio. Nas’ new album “Life Is Good” was just the #1 selling album on the Billboard charts not too long ago.

Busta Rhymes recently signed with YMCMB to release his latest major label album and his career with Leaders Of The New School began back in 1990. Veterans like Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and Fat Joe still record and it isn’t beyond reason for them to possibly produce radio hits in 2012. All of this in a Hip-Hop climate where late 90’s MCs like Jadakiss and Styles P to early 00’s cats like Ludacris and Fabolous are considered “old school” in comparison to newer rappers that presently have the ears of modern Rap audiences.

Underground Hip-Hop is rife with 15 to 20+ year veterans still recording quality material and touring the world. They are among the biggest draws at yearly Hip-Hop concerts and festivals worldwide and they regularly make the best albums each calendar year as well. Let’s not forget that they still manage to put on much better live shows than their younger counterparts in most cases.

In a group of elder artists that includes members of the Wu Tang Clan, Hieroglyphics Crew and Boot Camp Click, Redman, Pharoahe Monch, M.O.P., Large Professor, Cormega, The Beatnuts, The Alkaholiks, Blaq Poet, AZ, El-P, Ill Bill, J-Live, Talib Kweli, Elzhi, Yasiin Bey, Lewis Parker, Roc Marciano, De La Soul, MURS, Chali 2na, Evidence they’ve all amassed a loyal fan base of consumers who will buy their new material, support them and go see them when they tour and come to their town religiously. We are in a previously unseen era in Hip-Hop history in that particular regard.

Adding to this anomaly where newly relevant artists occupy the same realm as 20+ year veterans is a visible generational gap in approach and presentation of the art form. Now young rappers with a completely different value system in regards to the Rap world interact with those that still cling to the old tenets of the culture. Pete Rock was incensed at Lupe Fiasco for his lackluster take on his classic song. Lord Finesse, in turn, sued relative newcomer Mac Miller for recording over his instrumental then using it to promote his now burgeoning career two years after the fact.

On one hand I’m all for Lord Finesse suing Mac Miller purely from a Hip-Hop standpoint. But from this same exact “purely Hip Hop standpoint,” suing a rapper over spitting on your instrumental for his mixtape is extremely anti-Hip-Hop. Bringing litigation into the matter is extremely corporate, especially since he didn’t sue Joey Bada$$ who also spit over a Lord Finesse instrumental on “Funky Ho” for his mixtape “1999.” This lawsuit could potentially set a dangerous precedent where the entire mixtape culture could take another major hit just like it did back when the Internet first became prominent.

I totally understand why Lord Finesse would look at the big picture from a business and personal/financial standpoint. It’s the smart thing to do, especially if Rostrum Records just decides on a settlement and pays him a large sum of money. My issue from a Hip-Hop and a litigious standpoint is this could potentially start a wave of producers suing rappers, rappers suing other rappers and ultimately recording artists from outside genres suing them both. It’ll be just like the second Hip-Hop Golden Era all over again…except not in a good way.

We are currently in previously unexplored territory in regards to Hip-Hop’s history. There are lot of questions in front of us. What is the future of this culture in the face of an overly corporate landscape? On one side we have a post Internet Era fanbase as well as rappers/emcees that don’t share the same cultural views as either the still relevant on the mainstream Rap veterans OR the underground Hip-Hop vets that are still make excellent music year in and year out.

On the other side, we have a great deal of older, still capable emcees and producers that aren’t going to go silently into that good night. They previously usurped the wave of emcees and producers that came before them and if this generation wants to rightly claim Hip-Hop for itself and become the new torchbearers of this culture they must first understand that they’re expected to do the exact same thing that their predecessors did.

One.

Sun, 15 Jul 2012 13:22:00 -0400

Much of the Hip Hop world was outraged over Lupe Fiasco’s single “Around My Way (Freedom Ain’t Free)” which was pretty much the same beat as Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth’s tribute to their fallen friend Troy “Trouble T-Roy” Dixon of Heavy D & The Boyz “T.R.O.Y. (They Reminisce Over You)”.

There are some that don’t think it’s a big deal, provided Pete Rock & C.L. got their proper credit or compensation for the beats usage. Given all of the red tape surrounding the making of “Around My Way (Freedom Ain’t Free)” you’d think Lupe and his producer just would’ve made another beat entirely to avoid all of this potential bullshit from jump.

Others instead feel that “T.R.O.Y.” is one of a few sacred Hip Hop songs and classics that are exempt from being remade or being sample due to it’s place in Hip Hop culture (even though people have rhymed on the instrumental before in the past). “T.R.O.Y.” began as a song that two sons of Mount Vernon made in tribute to a beloved friend that was embraced by the entirety of the culture to the point it was played at funerals and weddings alike. This is both a generational issue and a philosophical issue at the same damn time. Are there still really rules in Hip Hop or are we just kidding ourselves?

I came up in Hip Hop culture as a member of a generation that remembered Hip Hop before it had records or was played on the airwaves. It was usually performed live in a party setting and the Hip Hop or Rap I heard at the time in recorded form was on tape and it was of a live party or a battle held in a club setting. Back then it was common practice to rework popular song lyrics into a new routine. DJ’s would backspin parts of popular songs so the emcees could rap over them. The initial Rap records essentially jacked popular Funk and Disco songs to provide music for the initial Rap records.

Take Arthur Baker & Joe Robie building on Kraftwerk’s “Trans Euro Express” and ultimately creating the classic “Planet Rock” for example. Eventually, producers began to emerge making more original songs after sampling technology and techniques evolved between the years of 1986-89. After a while Hip Hop began to amass a back catalog of sample based songs that would be considered classics. Among these classic records are tracks that are deemed so meaningful that to remake them or even to use the same sample it used is regarded as a violation of basic Hip Hop Law. Unfortunately? Not all of us remember these days…

Unless you were around to dig for records and experienced when Hip Hop had a built in mentorship program where you were expected to learn at the feet of elders in the game where you essentially learned “the rules” of Hip Hop and it’s culture then you might be completely confused as to why Pete Rock was enraged over the usage the beat for his song “T.R.O.Y.”.

I still can’t forget the day my cousin Nanzette called my brother Dave from Mount Vernon trying to hold back tears to inform us that Troy had passed in a freak accident 22 years ago. I’d idolized Heavy D. & The Boyz growing up through my Mt. Vernon family so to me that song is absolutely off limits.

When Diddy sampled Edo G. & The Bulldogs classic “I Got To Have It” for Mary J. Blige’s “Love & Life” album in 2003 and put 50 Cent on it (“Let Me Be The 1”) Boston and New York had some serious exchanges over the usage of what is seen as the Boston anthem (but just a classic outside of Massachusetts). Edo. G even addressed it on record shortly afterwards but y’all didn’t even know there was a controversy behind it, did you? Now let’s get to the crux of the problem, shall we?

The same samples have been flipped by different producers on numerous occasions, some claim that some sample sources shouldn’t be toyed with while others feel that two producers won’t make the same beat out of the materials so why not? When you take a recognizable beat that is deemed an undisputed classic by some and a sacred song by others you aren’t allowed to use said beat then add elements that diminish it.

In many cases, you’d receive grief just for rhyming over the original instrumental on a mixtape. In the case of “T.R.O.Y.”, it’s a song that a great deal of us wouldn’t even fathom that someone would touch because it’s a given that you don’t use, rework or attempt to update it. However, if you came up in the post ’97 Internet Age of Hip Hop then these standards or rules simply don’t work with/aren’t respected in modern Rap.

Whereas Pete Rock, Grap Luva, 9th Wonder, Kev Brown and many others producers that came up in the same fashion I did in respect to the observance of the supposed rules of Hip Hop felt this was an affront to Hip Hop culture there are others from the same generation that feel that nothing is off limits but it’s up to the individual producer and emcee to still treat the original song or source material with respect if they chose to take that task on but make sure that it’s comparable to the original recording.

I can respect that opinion, I cannot (and refuse to) respect those that outwardly dismiss the notion that there are, in fact, NO guidelines, boundaries, rules or proper etiquette/protocol in Hip Hop in respect to these issues. It’s like the old saying goes “Ignorance of the law is no excuse”. It’s just troubling to think that in 2012 we need to explain things that should be long established by now…

In closing, Lupe Fiasco and the dumbass producer of said ill fated song made the following mistakes. First, they used a beat that could possibly be deemed as Hip Hop sacrilege for using. Secondly, it was too similar to the original iconic production and the changes made to said song tainted what’s regarded as one of the greatest beats ever (which was disputed for years between Pete & Large Pro as to the discovery of the sample but that’s a separate issue in of itself). Third, that Lupe Fiasco himself didn’t know enough or have enough wherewithal to decline rapping over the “T.R.O.Y.” beat in the first place.

RIP Troy “Trouble T Roy” Dixon, Dwight “Heavy D” Myers & Keith “Guru” Elam. Three of my personal heroes growing up…

One.

Len Bias & Reggie Lewis: The Greatest NBA Superstar Duo That Never Happened (Deluxe Edition)

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 12:00:00 -0400

25 years ago, the Boston Celtics picked local college star Reggie Lewis with the second to last pick in the 1st round of the 1987 NBA Draft. Reggie Lewis was a Baltimore product that was the 6th man on what was considered the greatest high school squad of the 80’s. He played 4 seasons under future coach of UConn Jim Calhoun @ Northeastern University (1983-87) and led them to 4 consecutive NCAA tournament berths. No one else has achieved that feat since.

The year before, the Boston Celtics were on top of the world. They’d just won the 16th world championship in team history (40% of the NBA’s total championships at the time) and they drafted Len Bias with the 2nd pick of the 1986 NBA Draft. With a once a generation talent like Len Bias entering the Celtics fold and landing in a once in a lifetime situation in Boston, the Celtics had ensured they’d be championship contenders for at least the next five seasons. Or so we all thought at the time…

Len Bias had already signed a lucrative endorsement deal with up and coming Boston area sneaker company Reebok and Larry Bird himself was going to pick him up from Logan Airport & bring him to Hellenic College where the Celtics trained. Before any of that could even happen, Len Bias died tragically & unexpectedly in his dorm room at the University Of Maryland. This event not only changed the future of Boston’s NBA franchise but the entire league as a whole.

Keep in mind that respected coaches like UNC’s Dean Smith and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski have both gone on record in recent years saying that Len Bias was widely considered the best all around player in the entire ACC during the 1980’s. If you look back at the caliber of players the ACC produced in that decade it’s akin to being called the greatest emcee in New York during the first Golden Era of Hip Hop. Len Bias even used to regular outshine a young Michael Jordan back when he played for North Carolina. Let that fact marinate and realize that Jordan entered the NBA early as well…

Len Bias was going to a veteran team with a Hall Of Fame caliber coach who was once a Hall Of Fame player in K.C. Jones and 5 future Hall Of Famers alone in it’s eight man rotation. He would’ve played and defended multiple positions and with his work ethic, unselfishness, shooting touch, court vision, passing ability, speed and athleticism he would have brought a new dimension to the Celtics’ offensive & defensive game plans. Can you imagine Larry Bird running a fast break with Len Bias on one of the wings?

How would Len Bias living alone have changed the entire NBA? First off, the 1985-86 Boston Celtics roster was the first Celtics roster of the decade that was majority White (previously Bird was the LONE White Celtics starter for years as Kevin McHale & Danny Ainge were both reserves) roster and Len Bias would’ve easily changed the team’s perception amongst national audiences with a long postseason run and possible repeat as NBA champions.

Imagine if Len Bias was on the Boston Celtics roster during the 1987 NBA Finals wearing Reeboks as a key factor in another championship season in Boston as a rookie during the NBA On CBS Era? Now let’s revisit the 1987 NBA Draft in this same continuing scenario…

Since the Boston Celtics would’ve won the 1987 NBA title that would give them the final pick of the 1st round. Regardless of if the Celtics picked 22nd or 23rd, Red Auerbach and the Celtics brass were enamored with Northeastern star Reggie Lewis from seeing him play at Matthews Arena for years and at basketball clinics in the Boston area. Between his talent and his character the Celtics couldn’t pass him up. Lewis and Len Bias had many things in common, they were both from Maryland, both were highly coachable, selfless, athletic, explosive and deft shooters that played and defended multiple positions. They both exemplified everything it meant to be a Celtic.

Len Bias was 6’8” and built like a power forward but played a finesse power game. Reggie Lewis was 6’7” and possessed the frame of a tweener guard/forward and played a smooth, quick finesse/slashing game. Both had sneaker deals endorsing Reebok (and would’ve become it’s first two legitimate superstar endorsers in history). Together under the tutelage of K.C. Jones, Red Auerbach, and the original Big Three of Bird, Parish and McHale the sky would’ve been the limit on their potential. Let’s fast forward a little bit.

Between 1987 and 1991, the class of the NBA’s Eastern Conference were the Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons and later the Chicago Bulls. Had the aging Celtics possessed both Len Bias & Reggie Lewis in their 8 man rotation they could’ve had epic battles with the Detroit Bad Boys and the Bulls young core of Jordan, Pippen and Horace Grant during this era instead of just fading away due to advanced age and fatigue caused by a thin, unreliable bench during several extended playoff runs.

Remember that Len Bias had epic clashes with Michael Jordan back in the ACC and Reggie Lewis used to give both Jordan and Pippen fits on the regular in the late 80’s and early 90’s before his untimely passing. Reggie Lewis is the only player to ever block Jordan four times in the same game and when Jordan passed his assignment to Scottie Pippen even he had trouble guarding him. Imagine if Jordan and Pippen (or Horace Grant) drew the assignment of having to guard both Bias and Lewis?

Back in 1990, Spike Lee was the guest editor of an issue of Spin. In said issue, he put a caption reading “Sellout” under the image of a Black man in a Celtics jacket. If Len Bias & Reggie Lewis were the exciting young face of the Boston Celtics franchise then would Spike still have done so? Would Chuck D have dissed the Boston Celtics in the song “Air Hoodlum” in 1992 if both Len Bias and Reggie Lewis rocked kelly green? I highly doubt it. Shit, I even bet the Celtics would’ve been popular outside of Boston just like they’ve been the past 5 years in the 90’s!

The Los Angeles Lakers were the class of the Western Conference for close to a decade, amassing NBA rings in 1980, 1982 & 1985. Had the Boston Celtics contained the tandem of Len Bias & Reggie Lewis in addition to the original Big Three and they’d have to contend with both the powerhouse Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls regularly in that same era between these three teams the 1987 and 1988 back to back Laker championships probably wouldn’t have happened.

Not only would the perception of the Boston Celtics franchise in the 80’s and early 90’s amongst both casual and diehard NBA fans have been different but also among the Hip Hop generation. Imagine playing “NBA Jam” both in the arcade and at home on Super Nintendo or Genesis using the Celtics featuring Len Bias and Reggie Lewis? Those two could’ve potentially changed the way the franchise was viewed 20 years sooner.

Together Bias and Lewis could’ve potentially given Reebok an opportunity to takeover Converse’s waning fandom & stop Nike’s momentum due to Michael Jordan’s on court dominance. Imagine if Bias vs. Jordan would’ve become the next Bird vs. Magic or if Bias and Lewis would have faced Jordan and Pippen regularly in the Eastern Conference Finals during the NBA on NBC era? They could’ve been as popular in the hood as the Pistons, Lakers, Bulls, UNLV, Kentucky, UNC or Michigan Fab Five were at the same time.

The way basketball historians regard the Showtime Lakers, Bad Boy Pistons or Dynasty Bulls would have been different if the Celtics had Len Bias playing alongside Reggie Lewis at least until the ’92-’93 season when Lewis tragically died months after collapsing during the 1993 NBA Playoffs in Game 1 against the upstart Charlotte Hornets (whom Reggie tore apart singlehandedly).

As we all know, the deaths of Len Bias in 1986 and Reggie Lewis in 1993 both plunged the Boston Celtics franchise into mediocrity until the 2007-08 season. What we don’t know is how much different the entire present day culture of NBA basketball could’ve been like had they both lived and played together. Rest in peace to both Len Bias #30 and Reggie Lewis #35.

One.

Bastard Swordsman

Onyx & The Mad Face Invasion: The 20th Anniversary Of “Bacdafucup”

The Redbox Diaries: An Anatomy Of Film Addiction

New Edition’s “Candy Girl” Turns 30: A Retrospective (Deluxe Edition)

The Improbable Ascent Of Christopher Wallace (1972-1997): From Unsigned Hype To King Of New York

Dart Adams On MTV's Hottest MC's List (And Everyone's Reactions To It)

It Ain't Over! © Teddy Riley

The State Of Black Film: ALONGWAYTOGO © Gang Starr

Dart Adams' Top 100 Hip-Hop Albums Of 2012

Unchained Melody (Dart Adams On "Django Unchained")

8 Comic Books That Should Be Adapted To Cable Series'

Everybody's Crazy © Nas

Execution Of A Chump © Gang Starr

Even 25 More Cult Films (Of The Internet Age) According To Dart Adams

How Touré Failed Hip-Hop AND America (Deluxe Edition)

Classic Material © Leaders Of The New School

The Middle Children Of History present Final Fantasy VII (1997)

Revenge Of The 80's presents Street Fighter (1987)

The State Of Hip-Hop: Rap's Mid-Life Crisis

Rap Is An Art, You Can't Own No Loops © Keith "Guru" Elam

Len Bias & Reggie Lewis: The Greatest NBA Superstar Duo That Never Happened (Deluxe Edition)