Today's my first Freestyle Friday on my new computer, and I'm glad I could listen to both of these freestyles to christen this thing. Cory Gunz and Joell Ortiz need to be on your radar for next year. Both of these dudes went IN. Cory raps over 'Forever' and 'On to the Next One' and Joell raps over 'Brooklyn's Finest' (he should be up there soon). Do yourself a favor if you like lyrics...
This kid must have gotten the most candy ever on a single Halloween. A costume like that needs to be an heirloom. I know it's a few weeks after All Hollow's Eve, but creativity and overall dopeness must be rewarded. My inner seven year old nearly passed out when he saw this and yours probably will too...
Harlem's Cash has a new mixtape coming out. It's called Cashifornia. If you like slick lyrics, please look no further. I haven't posted a lot of music up this month because I honestly haven't been feeling a lot of stuff coming right now. This track broke me out of a serious music funk. Check out Harlem's Cash spitting over Drake's 'Fear'...
Drake, unlike a lot of artists, isn't afraid to experiment with his sound. If there's one thing I can say about all of these songs, it's that they don't sound like the Drake I started off on. He's using a lot of synth beats. I guess that feature on 'Off That' opened his ears up to the wonders of electronic as opposed to the softer sounding beats he had on Comeback Season. The feature with Colin Munroe is probably my favorite because of the vocals. And even Birdman manages not to mess up the track for Drizzy. Peep all four leaks and look out for Drake's 'Heartbreak Drake 3'...
The policy outlines 11 expectations pertaining to what students should not wear while on campus. Instead of requiring certain articles of clothing, as a typical dress code would, the policy details those articles of clothing deemed unacceptable for students. Some of the expectations discussed in the policy include to prohibit wearing “sagging” pants, women’s clothing and headwear. The policy will be distributed to students electronically through TigerNet and the school website. The policy will also be outlined in the student handbook and discussed in Crown Forums for students.
Okay, so I'm a little late on this one (blame my lack of computer), but it still hits home all the more. Let's get this straight, oh prestigious black college: sagging pants is wrong. The sight of a young man's undergarments based on the lowness of his pants, jeans or what have you, is one of those things that elicits the wrong type of attention. Not only is your behind more prone to drafts (and other forces; my imprisoned brethren can tell you that), you get boxed into a category that few people want to be in, and the ones that are in, don't care: HOOD. To the average non-black person, sagging pants are more or less a flag that say 'CROSS THE STREET'. I can understand your concern at such things, Morehouse.
HOWEVER, Morehouse, where do you guys get off telling your students what they can and can't wear? To me, this is the age old voice of the past negro, telling the present negro that he can't be who he wants. The old guard is essentially trying to dictate the substance and understanding of the new guard. Morehouse, and more specifically President Michael Franklin, what is the last hip-hop record you've listened to? When is the last time you've talked to one of your students (who doesn't have his lips firmly planted on your backside)? Hell, when was the last time you even knew what was relevant in the lives of your students? Not that I'm denouncing your plea to make the black youth of America more workforce-ready, but at what cost does this come? It's like you're the Man, trying to whitewash the students into this 1950's-esque vision of collegiate life, where everyone is in bed by 11 and no boys are allowed in the girls dorms after dark. Get with the 20th century. College kids may not dress the way that you think they should, but does that discredit them as students? Does the learning not get into their heads as easily if they have sagging pants? I don't get it. Stop trying to get the 'black' and gay' out of your students. Legislating tastes and preference is the government's job (oops), not the education system's. Maybe if you weren't looking at college boys' butts (double oops) all the time, you'd know that...
The Kansas City Chiefs have cut RB Larry Johnson, one day after his suspension ended.
The move comes two weeks after Johnson belittled coach Todd Haley in a series of Twitter posts and used gay slurs with reporters in the team's locker room.
A two-time Pro Bowler, Johnson was second on the team's all-time rushing list with 6,090 yards. A group of fans had petitioned the team last week not to allow Johnson to gain the 75 yards he needed break the team's rushing record.
They say that Twitter killed the publicist. I, for one, think the opposite. Twitter is every entertainment and sports publicists worst nightmare. It allows fans, peers and of course the critics to peer into the livelihood and 'inner thoughts' of the people, who up until now, only had voices during press conferences, interviews and award shows. I suppose no one knows that better than you now, Larry. After being the linchpin of the Kansas City Chiefs offense for 5 seasons (only 2 were good fantasy-wise; My team suffered), you've pretty much fallen out of favor, especially with Todd Hailey at the helm of the offense. Now, instead of talking to the coach, or finding new ways to help the team, or just going along with it and praying everything works out, you decided to tweet about it. Big mistake. As a celebrity (I guess we can call you that), people WAIT for you to tweet something controversial. You should have known as soon as you pressed send, that your ass was gonna have a fire under it hotter than the Chiefs jerseys.
Yeah, I know it's your personal Twitter, and it's really supposed to be for you, and people took what you said 'out of context'. I get it. In fact, I think the NFL or any sports league for that matter should have its hand in your tweets or your life OFF the field. As long as what you're doing doesn't affect how you play (I guess you don't qualify because you've SUCKED for the past 3 years), the league shouldn't be able to reprimand you. However, as is usually the case with what should be, that's not the way it goes. Those gay groups that were protesting outside of the Chiefs practice facility had more power than whatever tweets you sent (think Michael Vick and PETA). Had you just said something about your coach and left the word 'fag' out of your tweets, you'd probably still have a job today. In this day and age of information and technology mixing with people's easily-offended attitudes, you can't afford a slip, or a tweet that belies your utter stupidity and supposed homophobia. Then again, you're jobless now. You can tweet all you want; on and off the unemployment line...
SportsCenter doesn't cover anything but football, baseball, and sometimes basketball and hockey. It actually blows how little coverage of anything not football or baseball they have. However, when they do cover something else, you can be pretty sure that it's gonna be either shocking or spectacular. This was the former. I know in every sport there is your fair share of pushing, shoving, pulling and little dirty tricks that the cameras rarely catch, but THIS is ridiculous. New Mexico soccer player Elizabeth Lambert does her best MMA impression on her opponents, and surprisingly gets no sort of punishment. No yellow cards, no red cards. No nothing. Justice, no. But entertainment, YES!! I suppose I could carve out some time for women's college soccer if it was like this all the time...
What's up people? Freestyle Friday time. Get ready to have your ears in heaven with these two cyphers. The first one is from the Clipse, who pushed Till' The Casket Drops back AGAIN. I guess I can't be mad if they keep putting out material like this. Those two have taken drug raps and cocaine wordplay to another high (pun intended). The second one is from an oldie but goodie, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. They break out some of that Cleveland sound with fast, melodic delivery as usual, with a few punchlines in there, too. Check out both of these cyphers and keep it locked to Dear Whoever...
To anyone reading this, this is clearly a touchy subject. So take this letter with a grain of salt, rather than take my rhetoric as me being a proponent of domestic violence. Here goes.
Rihanna, you were never really that much of a pop icon to me. I saw you go from a Bajan dancehall-pop artist (somewhere in the realm of Sean Kingston), to a regular R&B-pop star, to a 'pop icon' (as Mediatakeout and MTV like to call you). I never really minded your career, but I always seemed to have a disdain for your music. Now, when the story and the pictures detailing your domestic run-in with Chris Brown, I was somewhat skeptical. Not only does Chris Brown seem like a soft dude, there were rumors on top of rumors that you were jealous, controlling, and had hit Chris on numerous occasions. No one but you and Chris were in that car when he allegedly (well, now, reportedly) beat you up. However, I'm willing to put money on the fact that Chris' meltdown was not completely of his own volition.
When you think about domestic violence, what do you think of? Exactly. A man beating a woman. However, who's to say that this tenet couldn't be reversed? So many times in society, we place the onus of being the bigger person on the man in the relationship, when the woman is just as responsible for the turmoil. So many times, as a society, we allow sensationalism to cast an improper shadow on people. So many times, we allow double standards to cloud our vision into thinking that the man is always the bad guy. Not to say that Chris Brown was not in the wrong, but where is any investigation on your part in the incident, Rihanna? Who's to say that you didn't provoke Chris at all? I'm sure that ANYONE would get pissed if you were hitting them up while they were driving. Women, and the matriarchal black society that we live in, are so quick to point the finger, that even before anything was proven, Chris was already guilty. In this day and age, if you get mentioned as a domestic abuser (guilty or not), you will never be able to scratch that off your record. Chris Brown may have laid not a finger on you, but will be guilty by association 99% of the time. What's worse is how you've gone about your 'road to recovery', Rihanna.
First of all, if you were so 'ashamed' of what happened, why were you back in the man's arms weeks later? Second off, why were you photographed with Drake only weeks after that? That's an awful lot of switching beds and paparazzi action for someone who's 'scared and shaken'. I'm not saying that you should have been shacked up for 5 months, but I didn't know getting back on the pony was so easy. Another thing, Rihanna. Why were you so quiet and pensive about everything until now? Your album Rated R is set to be released on November 23rd. I suppose your timing couldn't be more correct. Rihanna, so much of this incident seems skewed in your favor. You more or less traded bruises and Chris Brown's career for publicity. Something about that doesn't seem too 'ashamed' to me. Like I said in the beginning of this letter, I'm not a proponent of domestic violence. Violence has no place in a relationship and shouldn't be condoned. My mother told me never, ever to hit a woman. But if the woman is hitting me, when do I say enough is enough? Rihanna, adding to a destructive double standard shouldn't be the price you pay for platinum plaques, and you know it. It's just sad that a performer much more talented than you had to be a victim of that standard...
You just have to watch this to get it. I thought it was hilarious. Who decides to bring a bat to a basketball game. If it was a baseball game, there could be funny puns and jokes (get it? the bat?). Even so, Manu Ginobili still has all of his hand-eye coordination even if he's losing his hair. Check out Manu practicing to be a zookeeper...
Somewhere in the recesses of every mind born after 1969, there is a memory of you, Sesame Street. Whether learning to count with the Count, or hanging out with Bert and Ernie in their tub (PAUSE), or fiending for cookies with Cookie Monster, you were always there for infantile mornings and sick days from school. More important than all of those instances though, was the unavoidable fun that took place while learning. You never pushed the ABC's down our throats or tried to force-feed us numbers. While other shows tried to entertain, you kept us engaged. You never dumbed downed to us like Blue's Clues or tried to preach at us like Face on Nick Jr. or bored the hell out of me like Little Bear.
What's awesome about you, Sesame Street, is the fact that you could meld the interactions of humans and puppets so seamlessly. Never did the prospect of an adult having a conversation with a Mr. Snuffleupagus seem out of the realm of possibility on Sesame Street. Unlike Binya-Binya Polliwog, or other fictional children's show puppets, every character on Sesame street had a personality. They weren't just a bumbling caricature with a funny name. Elmo's voice is immediately recognizable. There is no other Big Bird. Sesame Street, you were a show ahead of your time. No wonder every other children's show bows at your feet. As your viewers get older and we become more and more cynical, it's easy for us to forget how pivotal you were, shrouding it in Ernie & Bert gay jokes and homeless jokes about Oscar the Grouch (word to Dave Chappelle). Just know that at 40, nothing looks as good as Sesame Street does. I'd visit there today if somebody can just tell me how to get there...
PS: Check out some of Sesame Street's best moments at age 40. And I'll give $10 to anyone who can tell me where the REAL Sesame Street is..
I haven't seen a real tearjerker in a while, much less one that deals with so many topics at once. From welfare, to emotional abuse, to incest, to education, Precious looks like it can touch a multitude of people. The use of Gabourey Sidibe, an unknown, for the lead role of Precious is a good look because it allows for flexibility. She doesn't have the weight of being typecasted or any sort of precedent for her to follow. She can express any emotion that comes to her. What also makes this movie for me is seeing Mo'Nique in a serious role. We all know her as the funnywoman, but seeing her in such a different way should be exciting. And let's not forget, my muse, Paula Patton, is also starring in the movie (salivation). Precious comes to theaters on November 6th. Be prepared to weep and feel inspired, people...
The idea of it is ridiculous, but it's inception is nothing short of a masterpiece. Although Ken Block's creation, melding a Subaru WRX STI with a snowmobile, seems a bit far-fetched, when it hits the snow, it looks like a pig in mud. The machine is called the TRAX STI, boasting 500 hp and is for snowboarders who don't feel like using the lift to get to where they need to be. I must say, that they did a bang-up job with it. The thing looks like it runs smoothly and doesn't lose any power to the wheels (treads?) due to its unorthodox set-up. I usually would have more to say, but this is something better seen than described...
It's been a year since that momentous Election Day that saw my Philadelphian brethren walk to City Hall in triumph over the election of Barack Obama. We're not going to mince words here by talking about how much I LOVE President Obama and his presidency so far. We're not even going to talk about why you guys are wrong anymore, because living in the past is soooooo Bush-era. We're just going to focus on the facts. And the fact of the matter is, in the past 9 months since Obama's election, our outlook as a country has gotten a lot brighter. What has Barack done thus far? Well, I'm glad you asked. Check it out:
- A week before he was sworn in, Obama stuffed his bank bailout down the throat of his own party — a $350 billion accomplishment.
- In June he got the Arab world back on our side with his speech in Egypt.
- That same June, Obama introduced Cash for Clunkers program, which has revitalized the auto industry after over 5 years of declines.
- And over the summer and the past two months, he's appointed Sonia Sotomayor, cut taxes by $228 billion, ended the war on medical marijuana, revived the credit markets and stopped the financial collapse.
ALL of that in just 8 months. And let's not forget the little public option bill that will revolutionize the health care industry in America. Seriously, if you can't see the mastery in Obama's performance up until this point, you must be blind or blindly conservative or liberal (Lord knows the man has enemies on both sides). Not to say that we are out of the tunnel in terms of financial ruin or social upheaval, but you have to admit, Obama's done a hell of a lot more in 8 months than George Bush has managed to fuck up in eight years. Obama may never quote the now infamous rap battle I ascribed to his likeness above, but he sure as hell embodies the quote right now, especially for all you critics that have salty looks on your faces now...
Okay, by now, people heads probably think I hate you, just by sheer volume of material I have covering you and decisions I found questionable. Even so, I actually can stand the Blueprint 3. It grew on me, as does most material that's CONSTANTLY in rotation. But I see the lyricism and musical value of your work over the past year.
That said, I was semi-looking forward to watching the video for 'Empire State of Mind'. I didn't watch the previews or behind-the-scenes videos, so the official joint would be completely new. What I waited so long for turned out to be boring, unimaginative and extra-regular. I'll say it now, for the world to hear: RAP VIDEOS SUCK NOW. Where is the innovation, ingenuity and creativity? Where are the plots? Where are the random explosions and near-movie quality stunts? Where are the new ways to blow our money lavishly? Where is anything? All I saw in your video, Jay, and see in any video today is dudes standing around in different places (clubs, colored sets, parking lots), doing some stupid dance in a club, or hood shots (ie: crack houses, projects etc.).
What's worse, is that this was a New York video. NYC hip-hop fans know what I'm talking about; the videos that show random shots of streets and people in the city. Your video is no different. It has the varied montages of life on the NYC 'streets' complete with a Times Square shot for Alicia Keys and numerous other landmarks. Sure, it's a tried and true formula. But at some point, where do artists start to get tired of shooting the same videos? Jay, I know for a fact that you wanted the video drop to coincide with your performance at the World Series. I just wish the video was half as inspiring as the performance (the Yankees BEASTED that game). I suppose this 'new' rap video is a sign of the times, with the recession and all. But, I thought you were the best rapper alive? Certainly the top dog, and the rap king of New York, would be able to dole out some presidents for a music video about New York? If that weren't the case, I'd have no reason to write this letter to Jay, or to the rest of the rap game. In fact, maybe you guys should get a recap some of the crap you've been tossing on MTV and BET lately...
Watch. Just watch. And also, just know that I'd be FURIOUS if I were the kick returner here. Luckily for us, this is the interweb, where nothing is real, and no one lies.. Oops, I lied...
The Ford Motor Company posted a surprise third-quarter profit of $997 million on Monday and said that it had had its first profitable quarter in North America in more than four years. The carmaker also said that, at least temporarily, it had stopped rapidly depleting its cash reserves. It reported positive cash flow of $2.8 billion during the quarter, ending September with $23.8 billion. Through the first nine months of 2009, Ford, the only Detroit automaker to avoid bankruptcy this year, has had a profit of more than $1.8 billion. Still, it has lost about $1.3 billion when one-time items, like a major debt restructuring, are excluded.
Until now, its goal had been to break even or earn a full-year profit by 2011. On Monday the company said in a statement that it “now expects to be solidly profitable in 2011, excluding special items, with positive operating-related cash flow.” It did not indicate whether a fourth-quarter or full-year profit is expected this year, nor did it provide an outlook for 2010, citing continued economic uncertainty.
Now, I won't lie. I think American cars are atrocious, but in the realm of the gas guzzlers, you guys are the only automaker that I can stand. That said, Ford, where did this profit of $997 million just magically appear from? Something about it doesn't make sense. It's one thing to not be in the red anymore (Ford was in fact the only American automaker to stay out of it this year). But it's completely different to post a record sum for a quarter after having been a hair away from bankruptcy only months before. In all honesty, that's an impressive jump. It probably should be noted in some record books or business textbooks because it's dope that they were able to jump out of the hole so quickly. HOWEVER, as we know with 'the Man', his results might be mind-blowing, but his methods are maniacal. Only a fool would believe that Ford attained this new rung of profit by completely legal means, much less NOT through some outdated loophole or random law that allows them to skew their reports. Regardless of my inner ruminations, you guys had a bang-up quarter. I just wish I could believe it as readily as Wall Street did. I guess even the Man gets tricked by the Man at times...
