Kickin' it...

Here's part 1 of the premiere episode of Kickin' it by the good folks @ Nicekicks.

Thank God its Friday....

Haven't had much time to make a post worthwhile lately, so today I'll take it light with a just a video. Since I failed to do my weekly spotlight on Wednesday, here it is today. This is a video for an emcee originally from Baltimore but now reps Rock Hill, SC. His name is Verbatim and you can check him out here.

Questlove is a living legend...

If you didn't already know Pharrell has recruited Questlove to rework that warmed over garbage he released last year "In My Mind". So instead of all those damn quirky synths and shit, Quest is revamping the LP with all live instrumentation. What he has done so far is nothing short of brillant. The latest two tracks are already 1000 times better than the originals. Check out the clip below to hear the live version of "Number One" and watch Quest dumb out to it. Also head over to his myspace page to hear the live version of "How does it feel?" titled as "P and the Yessirs"

Niggas don't skate....

Looks like Jim Jones and his dipshit dipset crew have taken their rockstar persona one step past iced-out skull heads and tight ass jeans. Introducing the DipSkate crew. I know what you're thinking: "niggas don't skate!" and yes in my younger days when I had a very limited scope of the world and what constitutes what is cool or not, I would have agreed. But in today's world, when damn near every black kid in America thinks the only way they will be successful is if they play basketball and football or become a rapper, I'm happy to see rappers endorsing something other than a "wicked jumpshot". Granted, given the Dips previous history (remember Cam's pink fetish), I'm sure this DipSkate movement will end shortly after Jim and his crew find a new trend to jump on. Until then, I'm sure skaters everywhere are adding the Dips, to the list of rappers trying to exploit the skate culture. Move over Pharrell and Lupe.

Part 1 and 2 @ Onsmash

Check my footwork....

Though much of the nation suffered from the recent cold spell, the summer is still quickly approaching. Since it's been awhile since I did an update on kicks/fashion, I figured I'd highlight a few of the kicks I plan on spending my hard earned money on. First are the True Blue Jordan Spizikes that drop May 5th (same day as my graduation). I wasn't really feeling the black colorway that came out earlier this year but these are a must have for the summer.


This is the third colorway released for the Air Assault. The previous two were pretty hot but I'm feeling the yellow and blue Michigan color combo for the summer. The best thing is, you can get a pair of these for under $100.



No summer outfit is complete until there are a crisp pair of all white sneakers on your feet. Most people prefer the classic white on white AF1 and this year I'm gonna have to agree. I'm not a big AF1 fan but this summer I think I might just cop a pair.

Thank you Imus?

Black America we've been exposed. You can thank Black "leaders" Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson for their over zealous crusade for crucifixion of Imus, you can thank Micheal Richards' infamous on stage meltdown or you can thank the repulsive looking bigot pictured above for his repugnant on-air comments. No matter whom you thank make sure to include yourself amongst the people and events that have exposed the real truth. From what I have noticed the Imus controversy and the media frenzy that has ensued has produced two glaring issues that have once again exposed the sensitive topic of race in America. First, the days of white people getting away with saying greasy shit about black people in public has ended and we can now label Imus as the sacrificial pig. Whether you want to believe that the he was only fired because of the loss of advertising dollars or you actually believe that MSNBC and CBS were truly disgusted by the shock jocks comments, the fact remains that he has been punished for his comments and justly so. In an era where the line of political correctness gets finer by the minute, going on a national platform and spewing derogatory comments can result in some serious repercussions.

The minute Imus' comments were plastered across every media outlet in the world Black America cried victim. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson stepped into their phone booths donned their crusader capes and rushed to save the day. But the media and several Imus supporters have managed to deflect the racially charged comments and expose an underlying issue that's been a constant hindrance to growth in the black community; why hasn't Sharpton, Jackson and supporters followed suit with the actions of the late C. Delores Tucker and try to rid hip hop of the misogyny and violence that is so often glamorized by the genre? Jason Whitlock seems to believe that there is no money involved in that fight and no way Sharpton and clan can claim victim by the hands of their own people. Whitlock is right. There is no money involved and no way to claim victimhood. The truth is, what is at stake can not be quantified into a monetary value neither can it be contrived into a plan to show that we have been victimized. The future and destiny of Black America is at stake and we can not blame hip hop solely for its demise. There is a civil war that has raged on within the black community for years and has pitted young vs. old, male vs. female, dark skin vs. light skin. I jokingly spoke about it when Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy, brought the battle between dark skin and light skin to a national stage, but this time it's no joking matter. Black America has been fighting "the man" for so long that we don't know how to handle the internal battles that are crippling our own community. So Sharpton, Jackson and supporters and whoever else has been anointed by the media as the champion for black folks are fighting "the man" mainly because they don't want to expose the internal conflicts that exist in the black community. The problem with that strategy is that these internal conflicts are magnified every time our "leaders" devote so much of their efforts to such a minuscule battle. Fighting "the man" is always going to be a losing battle. Bigots like Imus and Micheal Richards will continue to troll around America spewing insensitive remarks amongst their white colleagues. The true battle exists within the black community and the longer we wait to address it, the further we push ourselves into extinction. I want to thank DP and Jason Whitlock for encouraging myself and others to speak out about the truth behind this Imus fallout.

Greatest Rapper Alive?

Lil Wayne stirred up the hip hop pot a few months ago when he committed hip hop blasphemy by claiming he was now better than his former favorite rapper Jay Z. I've been resisting the urge to do a Lil Wayne post for about as long as the debate about his newly acquired skills has been going on. Partly because I'm sick of hearing him on every damn record under the sun and also because I don't see what the big fuss is. Lil Wayne is a good rapper. There's no denying the fact that he has catapulted himself into an elite group of rappers that have a devout following. Greatest rapper alive? No. Last time I checked Nas, Jay Z, Common and Black Thought were all still alive and breathing. And frankly, there will never be a "greatest rapper alive" because the claim is too relative. But in my book to even be considered in that top bracket, you have to acknowledge the artists' entire body of work. Clearly, Wayne is nowhere close to etching his name into my top 10. His career pre-The Carter is mediocre at best. Granted his last two efforts and everything in between has been entertaining but I'm still not ready to crown him king. The Carter III, as my homie Randy said will be a pivotal moment in Weezy's campaign. Until then I look at Lil Wayne as another rapper in an industry where talentless dirtbags like Jim Jones are praised for trivial and thoughtless records. That's not to say that Wayne is talentless but I need to hear him make some conceptual records. I need to hear his storytelling abilities. I need to hear him rap about something other than being the president of a washed up, desolate record label or about how much money he has or how much weed he smokes. Wayne has the potential to be this generation's Jay Z or Nas but first he has to more than release 50 mixtapes of him rhyming aimlessly on other peoples records. Give me a Reasonable Doubt, an Illmatic, an Only Built for Cuban Linx, a Muddy Waters, I need that classic album before I can really consider Wayne.