This Weekend. Whoa.

El Centro with @beigehaze & @PerryPrinciple - http://instagr.am/p/KC-YSOwASD/ Mazel Tov. @ Local 16 - http://instagr.am/p/J-JbwCLHcI/ Power Hour Remains with @FullCupLover - http://instagr.am/p/J_Y2LqrHTu/

This weekend was just........man.

Happy Founder's Day, Morehouse

145 years of Legacy, Brotherhood & Swag. Not too shabby.

Remaining “G" Until the Moment You Expire by Kyle George

Last week on Twitter, @CheapSeatFan posed the question: 400 Degreez or Ghetto D? I mean, both were classic albums but the overwhelming favorite was 400 Degreez. This led to my man Kyle sending me a paper he wrote back at Morehouse about the song Ha. And it's actually pretty dope read. Check it out in its entirety below:

Kyle George

February 23, 2009

CSE #2

HAAS 210

Dr. Wilson

Remaining “G" Until the Moment You Expire

The idea of “realness” is depicted in an unique, and in some ways, sarcastic manner in Juvenile’s entitled song “Ha,” hailing from his 1998 album, 400 Degreez . This song gives an accurate testament to the fallacies within the mindset of black males in urban communities. The satirical “realness” in the song relates specifically to the misconceptions of success in the minds of young black men in the projects of New Orleans, Louisiana. The major themes found in the song relating to “realness” are: the male’s domestic role, drug dealing, and the idea of toughness.

Juvenile uses the term “ha” at the end of every statement to pose a question to the character being described throughout the song. The subjects of infidelity and the absence of black fathers are introduced in the first verse of this song. Infidelity is prevalent in the lines, “That's you that can't keep yo' old lady ha/ cause you keep fuckin’ her friends ha.” This statement holds true to the idea of being a so called “player,” or a man who finds difficulty in staying loyal to his monogamous relationship. Juvenile questions the male’s priorities by stating, “That’s you wit that bad ass Benz ha…. You got served a subpoena for child support ha.” This depicts the strong reality of a male having expensive possessions such as a Mercedes Benz, when they have failed to provide financial support for the children whom they have fathered.

Juvenile also describes the perception of drug dealing as a means to gain success and respect in this environment. The mentality of a young black male who aspires to sell drugs as a way to gain notoriety is illustrated when Juvenile proclaims, “You know who got that fire green ha /You know how to use a triple beam ha/ Shit ain't hard as it seems ha.” Juvenile is stating that just because a person may know a drug supplier or know how to operate a scale for measuring the substances does not mean they are built for that particular lifestyle. Further questioning this reasoning, Juvenile continues, “You want to run the block ha….You countin money at the end of the night ha….You duckin them people ha.” To speak to an urban crisis, a young man aspires to govern his block by being the superior drug dealer, which is rewarding financially; however, now they are faced with the challenges of dodging the police and jealous individuals that may want to rob him of his possessions and power. This previous statement is also in line with the theme of living up to the expectations of being a “G.”

Juvenile speaks to the idea of being “real” by questioning the toughness of an individual, “You don’t go in the projects when its dark ha/ You claim you thug but you ain’t got no heart ha.” According to Dr. Wilson, one of rules of hip-hop culture is “keeping it real,” which means not to portray false images about your situation and be true to yourself. In Juvenile’s example, this individual has not been “true” to who they are by claiming they are a “thug,” yet are scared to visit the projects after nightfall. This element of the song provides an idea of the survivalist reality in which they are apart of.

---

Pretty good read. And just to refresh your memory...

Atlanta Next Week....Finally.

I'm finally making it back to Atlanta next week. Although it's for work and only a couple of days (Tuesday & Wednesday), I'm mad excited to make it back down to the A. If we consider ourselves friends you probably have my phone number, BBM, Twitter, whatever. If you don't, no worries. I can be easily found at these places:

• Tin Lizzy's
• Morehouse
• Moe's & Joe's
• Probably Tin Lizzy's again

And that's pretty much it.

I'm only in town for a few days so hit me up if you're down for a light to moderate [to extreme] rage session.

Scrap Easy feat. Whitney - My Way [Video]

My man Scrap Easy is an up-and-coming rapper from Philly and he was also a classmate of mine back at Morehouse. Cool ass dude and he's worked hard for everything. Check out the video and hit up Scrap for more joints.
And it's available on iTunes. Don't loaf.
Purchase My Life on iTunes.

It Was All a Dream...

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His struggles to end racial inequality and discrimination have gotten the nation and the world where we are today. Even though we have a long way to go for equality, his leadership and determination cannot go unrecognized. Dr. King's legacy was even one of the reasons I chose to go to Morehouse for undergrad. Even though the above quote is my favorite MLK quote, we've all heard and been effected by at least parts of the famous I Have a Dream speech. Here, in its entirety is the 1963 speech:
It was all a dream.

First Homecoming Liiiike...

We about to get real unprofessional...

Music of the Moment - August 2, 2009

Honestly, I've been away from hip hop for awhile for a number of reasons: nothing new, too many gimmick rappers and it just hasn't been that interesting. But this is different. I wrote about my brother Godlove Benjamin awhile back when he hit me with some pictures he took. Not only his G one of the realest dudes I met during my time at Morehouse, but he's also nice on the mic. Listen to these joints now because in 10 years you're going to wish you had. Oww.

[Note: And on top of the brotherhood, loyalty and intellect, he's his own personal photographer. Who's fuckin with that??]

Drive Slow, Homie/Tell 'Em Why You Mad, Son

Today was a pretty wild day.

I woke up to a blinking clock after a power outage in the middle of the night, so of course I was late for my early class. [Blown.] Then I get there to see that I got an A on a test that I was sure I failed. [Hype.] Then I found out that my consecutive 1:00 and 2:25 classes were cancelled due to a Morehouse visit from Ben Bernanke. [Extra hype.] Once I get there with Stew and Mike and we made it through the secret service, they told us that we wouldn't be able to leave once the joint started. [Blown. And we left.] So Mike gets the idea that we should get on Rock Band back at my crib. Of course I abided, so we ditched campus and Mike and Stew were gonna ride over and meet me at my crib. So they get here and Stew walks in shaking his head. I look at Mike and he's doing the same thing. I was like, Tell 'Em Why You Mad, Son. Apparently, on the way to my crib the boys got pulled over by a Georgia State Trooper. The trooper claimed they were going 75 in a 50...and they weren't. The worst part was, the speed limit was 55!! But despite all of that, our band The Boomsookas killed Rock Band for about 3 hours.

But even though he's gonna beat the case like Rocky, I guess the moral of the story is, "If Ben Bernanke comes to speak at your school, GO." But if you decide to skip it, drive slow homie.

But it could have been worse. Mike could have pulled over and this happened:
Oww.

Music of the Moment - February 22, 2009

Been mad busy with Marketing Symposium/Volunteer stuff, but everything's been going well. James Andrews [Beast.] and Steve Stoute [Beast.] were the keynotes and they killed it today. And don't forget about Morehouse Grad Coltrane Curtis. [Also a fucking Beast.] Symposium was a major success because of the hard work from the e-board and all of the individuals and companies that came out.

Now onto the music. Most people know that Steve Stoute spent time as Nas' off-and-on manager during the 90's but what most people don't know is that James Andrews also had a hand in cultivating Nas' career in its early stages while he was working with Columbia. It goes to prove something that I've been seeing a lot since I've started looking for post-grad work: The marketing world is SMALL. So I figured with the connection with Nas that these two have, I would make today's MotM be a Nas joint. Not necessarily a classic, but one of my favorites. Ow.

Man, I might as well throw a classic in there.

Yup.

Biggest Games of the Year

LSU/UGA. Penn State/Ohio State. Oklahoma State/Texas.

All huge games this weekend.
LSU and UGA are fighting for their National Championship lives as the loser of the game is probably out of the hunt for good. It's not likely that either team would recover from a second loss at this point. The game should be close but LSU's defense, that did not show up against Florida, WILL show up at home against Georgia. Knowshon about to get Know yards on Saturday. That was a good one, huh?? Plus, scheduling LSU in Death Valley at night is pretty much asking for an L. The Tigers have a .773 win percentage at home which is pretty fucking good
I have Alabama on Upset Alert against TENNESSEE. Normally, I hate Tennessee but anybody is better than Bama. Anyone.

As for the Big 10 showdown, I'm going with Ohio State even though it will be a close one. I also have Texas over Oklahoma State in a high scoring contest.

And my last pick of the day is Morehouse over Albany State??? Damn. Why schedule Albany State for homecoming?? Oh well. Go Tigers.

[Note: LOL at Kirk Herbstreit's son crying when Lee Corso pulled him on tv hahaha]

This Weekend Was a Little Better [Thank God]

So last weekend was one of the worst football weekends of my life after both of my teams fucking lost. But this weekend was different.


LSU rebounded from getting murdered beat by Florida by squeaking past South Carolina in Columbia. Big win going into this weekend against those bamas at UGA. And my Bears had another impressive win against Adrian Peterson and The Vikings. We really needed this one after losing to the Falcons last week.

The biggest surprise in the NFL this weekend has to be the "new and improved" Cowboys getting pwnd by the RAMS?!? Yeah, those Rams.

And last but not least, Morehouse lost to Clark...but we know they cheated.
Hey, at least it's Homecoming '08!!

Morehouse vs. Clark 2008

We need to beat Clark today. There's no other way to look at it. Watch out for a big game from my boys Achille Hendje (89) and Jeff Cargile (29).

Sorry Clark, you lose.