CAGE IS COMING BACK SOON... DEPART FROM ME IS GONNA BE AMAZING!



~~~

AND MY HOMIE BOONAA MOHAMMAD:

http://www.myspace.com/thekingsofkush





Hailing from ancient Nubian descent, the “Kings of Kush” represent a category of storytellers not yet seen. A humble blend of new age poetry and traditional pan-african rhythms, this group represents all that is past, present and yet to be discovered. Consisting of Award winning singer, musician and composer (Toronto African Music Awards, Band of the Year Award, 2000) Waleed Abdulhamid and award winning Spoken Word Artist (CBC poetry face off, Best New Artist, 2007) Boonaa Mohammed, the Kings of Kush provide a blend of innovative acoustical candy. Breaking down generational gaps by bridging hip hop with its ancestry, their originality alone helps secure an uncontested throne.

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DEF JAM AND JANET JACKSON NEVER WAS GONNA WORK OUT.

Sep 22 - Janet Jackson Leaves Def Jam

Janet Jackson is officially a free agent. In his first Darkchild video blog for Rap-Up.com, super producer Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins exclusively reveals that Janet has cut ties with the Island Def Jam Music Group.

There had been speculation that the youngest Jackson was having issues with the label, but we now have confirmation that she has been released from her contract. Janet signed to Island Def Jam in 2007 and released Discipline, her first album on the label, in February of this year. It debuted at No. 1, but sold less in its first week than Janet’s last two albums, 2006’s 20 Y.O. and 2004’s Damita Jo. Jerkins produced the album’s first single “Feedback” and follow-up “Luv.”

“We didn’t get the support from the record company,” he discloses. “[Janet] felt like it wasn’t pushed. I felt like it wasn’t pushed correctly. She just didn’t get her just due as an artist of that magnitude.”

Jerkins also shares his thoughts on Janet’s Rock Witchu Tour and looks to the future. “I could make an album with her, possibly me, Jimmy Jam, and Terry Lewis. Keep it real simple. They focus on what they’re great at, I focus on what I’m great at. We come together and make a classic Janet record.”

Tour
-He states the tour is crazy and that Janet is at such a high level/caliber that these new artists can't compete and need to take notes

Label
-Janet asked to be released from IDJ and she was
-There was no label support with the entire project and states that he and Janet didn't feel IDJ didn't really push/support the singles
-Confirmed Luv was supposed to be the second single.
-Currently Janet is a free agent with no label at the moment.
-To Date "Discipline has only sold 418,000 in the U.S.
-Can't B Good was only released to Urban Adult Contemporary R&B Radio.

Producing
-Rodney has a great relationship with Janet
-He would love to collaborate on an entire album even possibly with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Also states he has expressed this to her.
-Janet wants to wait until the end of the tour before thinking about another label/album
-Lastly he offered Janet to come to his label, Darkchild Records, which is distributed through Interscope.

http://www.rap-up.com/2008/09/22/dar...jam/#more-8237

~~~

Explaining White Privilege (Or, Your Defense Mechanism is Showing)

Sigh.

I guess I should have expected it, seeing as how it's nothing new. I write a piece on racism and white privilege (namely, the recently viral This is Your Nation on White Privilege), lots of folks read it, many of them like it, and others e-mail me in fits of apoplexy, or post scathing critiques on message boards in which they invite me to die, to perform various sexual acts upon myself that I feel confident are impossible, or, best of all, to "go live in the ghetto," whereupon I will come to "truly appreciate the animals" for whom I have so much affection (the phrase they use for me and that affection, of course, sounds a bit different, and I'll leave it to your imagination to conjure the quip yourself).

Though I have no desire to debate the points made in the original piece, I would like to address some of the more glaring, and yet reasonable, misunderstandings that many seem to have about the subject of white privilege. That many white folks don't take well to the term is an understatement, and quite understandable. For those of us in the dominant group, the notion that we may receive certain advantages generally not received by others is a jarring, sometimes maddening concept. And if we don't understand what the term means, and what those who use it mean as they deploy it, our misunderstandings can generate anger and heat, where really, none is called for. So let me take this opportunity to explain what I mean by white privilege.

Of course, the original piece only mentioned examples of white privilege that were directly implicated in the current presidential campaign. It made no claims beyond that. Yet many who wrote to me took issue with the notion that there was such a thing, arguing, for instance that there are lots of poor white people who have no privilege, and many folks of color who are wealthy, who do. But what this argument misses is that race and class privilege are not the same thing.

Though we are used to thinking of privilege as a mere monetary issue, it is more than that. Yes, there are rich black and brown folks, but even they are subject to racial profiling and stereotyping (especially because those who encounter them often don't know they're rich and so view them as decidedly not), as well as bias in mortgage lending, and unequal treatment in schools. So, for instance, even the children of well-off black families are more likely to be suspended or expelled from school than the children of poor whites, and this is true despite the fact that there is no statistically significant difference in the rates of serious school rule infractions between white kids or black kids that could justify the disparity (according to fourteen different studies examined by Russ Skiba at Indiana University).

As for poor whites, though they certainly are suffering economically, this doesn't mean they lack racial privilege. I grew up in a very modest apartment, and economically was far from privileged. Yet I received better treatment in school (placement in advanced track classes even when I wasn't a good student), better treatment by law enforcement officers, and indeed more job opportunities because of connections I was able to take advantage of, that were pretty much unavailable to the folks of color I knew growing up. Likewise, low income whites everywhere are able to clean up, go to a job interview and be seen as just another white person, whereas a person of color, even who isn't low-income, has to wonder whether or not they might trip some negative stereotype about their group when they go for an interview or sit in the classroom answering questions from the teacher. Oh, and not to put too fine a point on it, but even low-income whites are more likely to own their own home than middle income black families, thanks to past advantages in housing and asset accumulation, which has allowed those whites to receive a small piece of property from their families.

The point is, privilege is as much a psychological matter as a material one. Whites have the luxury of not having to worry that our race is going to mark us negatively when looking for work, going to school, shopping, looking for a place to live, or driving for that matter: things that folks of color can't take for granted.

Let me share an analogy to make the point.

Taking things out of the racial context for a minute: imagine persons who are able bodied, as opposed to those with disabilities. If I were to say that able-bodied persons have certain advantages, certain privileges if you will, which disabled persons do not, who would argue the point? I imagine that no one would. It's too obvious, right? To be disabled is to face numerous obstacles. And although many persons with disabilities overcome those obstacles, this fact doesn't take away from the fact that they exist. Likewise, that persons with disabilities can and do overcome obstacles every day, doesn't deny that those of us who are able-bodied have an edge. We have one less thing to think and worry about as we enter a building, go to a workplace, or just try and navigate the contours of daily life. The fact that there are lots of able-bodied people who are poor, and some disabled folks who are rich, doesn't alter the general rule: on balance, it pays to be able-bodied.

That's all I'm saying about white privilege: on balance, it pays to be a member of the dominant racial group. It doesn't mean that a white person will get everything they want in life, or win every competition, but it does mean that there are general advantages that we receive.

So, for instance, studies have found that job applicants with white sounding names are 50% more likely to receive a call-back for a job interview than applicants with black-sounding names, even when all job-related qualifications and credentials are the same.

Other studies have found that white men with a criminal record are more likely to get a call-back for an interview than black male job applicants who don't have one, even when all requisite qualifications, demeanor and communication styles are the same.

Others have found that white women are far more likely than black women to be hired for work through temporary agencies, even when the black women have more experience and are more qualified.

Evidence from housing markets has found that there are about two million cases of race-based discrimination against people of color every year in the United States. That's not just bad for folks of color; the flipside is that there are, as a result, millions more places I can live as a white person.

Or consider criminal justice. Although data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration indicates that whites are equally or more likely than blacks or Latinos to use drugs, it is people of color (blacks and Latinos mostly) who comprise about 90 percent of the persons incarcerated for a drug possession offense. Despite the fact that white men are more likely to be caught with drugs in our car (on those occasions when we are searched), black men remain about four times more likely than white men to be searched in the first place, according to Justice Department findings. That's privilege for the dominant group.

That's the point: privilege is the flipside of discrimination. If people of color face discrimination, in housing, employment and elsewhere, then the rest of us are receiving a de facto subsidy, a privilege, an advantage in those realms of daily life. There can be no down without an up, in other words.

None of this means that white folks don't face challenges. Of course we do, and some of them (based on class, gender, sexual orientation, disability status, or other factors) are systemic and institutionalized. But on balance, we can take for granted that we will receive a leg-up on those persons of color with whom we share a nation.

And no, affirmative action doesn't change any of this.

Despite white fears to the contrary, even with affirmative action in place (which, contrary to popular belief does not allow quotas or formal set-asides except in those rare cases where blatant discrimination has been proven) whites hold about ninety percent of all the management level jobs in this country, receive about ninety-four percent of government contract dollars, and hold ninety percent of tenured faculty positions on college campuses. And in spite of affirmative action programs, whites are more likely than members of any other racial group to be admitted to their college of first choice.* And according to a study released last year, for every student of color who received even the slightest consideration from an affirmative action program in college, there are two whites who failed to meet normal qualification requirements at the same school, but who got in anyway because of parental influence, alumni status or because other favors were done.

Furthermore, although white students often think that so-called minority scholarships are a substantial drain on financial aid resources that would otherwise be available to them, nothing could be further from the truth. According to a national study by the General Accounting Office, less than four percent of scholarship money in the U.S. is represented by awards that consider race as a factor at all, while only 0.25 percent (that's one quarter of one percent for the math challenged) of all undergrad scholarship dollars come from awards that are restricted to persons of color alone. What's more, the idea that large numbers of students of color receive the benefits of race-based scholarships is lunacy of the highest order. In truth, only 3.5 percent of college students of color receive any scholarship even partly based on race, suggesting that such programs remain a pathetically small piece of the financial aid picture in this country, irrespective of what a gaggle of reactionary white folks might believe.**

In other words, despite the notion that somehow we have attained an equal opportunity, or color-blind society, the fact is, we are far from an equitable nation. People of color continue to face obstacles based solely on color, and whites continue to reap benefits from the same. None of this makes whites bad people, and none of it means we should feel guilty or beat ourselves up. But it does mean we need to figure out how we're going to be accountable for our unearned advantages. One way is by fighting for a society in which those privileges will no longer exist, and in which we will be able to stand on our own two feet, without the artificial crutch of racial advantage to prop us up. We need to commit to fighting for racial equity and challenging injustice at every turn, not only because it harms others, but because it diminishes us as well (even as it pays dividends), and because it squanders the promise of fairness and equity to which we claim to adhere as Americans.

It's about responsibility, not guilt. And if one can't see the difference between those two things, there is little that this or any other article can probably do. Perhaps starting with a dictionary would be better.

*U.S Federal Glass Ceiling Commission, Good for Business: Making Full Use of the Nation's Human Capital. (Washington DC: Bureau of National Affairs, March 1995); Fred L. Pincus, Reverse Discrimination: Dismantling the Myth. (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2003), 18; Roberta J. Hill, "Far More Than Frybread," in Race in the College Classroom: Pedagogy and Politics, ed. Bonnie TuSmith and Maureen T. Reddy. (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press), 169; Sylvia Hurtado and Christine Navia, "Reconciling College Access and the Affirmative Action Debate," in Affirmative Action's Testament of Hope, ed. Mildred Garcia (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1997), 115.
**U.S. General Accounting Office, 1994. "Information on Minority Targeted Scholarships," B251634. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, January; Stephen L. Carter, "Color-Blind and Color-Active," 1992. The Recorder. January 3.

SOURCE
http://www.timwise.org/

http://slumz.boxden.com/showthread.php?t=1150919

~~~

IN CASE YOU DIDN'T CATCH IT THE FIRST TIME, THE LYRICS TO 'LOVE LOCKDOWN':

Lyrics:
I’m not lovin’ you, the way I wanted to
What I had to do, had to run from you
I’m in love with you, but the vibe is wrong
And that haunted me, all the way home
So ya never know, never never know
Never know enough, til it’s over love
Til we lose control, system overload
Screamin no no no, no no
I ain’t lovin you, the way I wanted to
See I wanna move, but can’t escape from you
So I keep it low, keep a secret code
So everybody else dont have to know

So keep ya love locked down, ya love locked down x 3
You keep ya love locked down, you lose

I’m not lovin you, the way I wanted to
I can’t keep my cool, so I keep it true
I got somethin’ to lose, so I gotta move
I can’t keep myself, and still keep you too
So I keep in mind, when I’m on my own
Somewhere far from home, In the danger zone
How many times did it take til I finally got through
you lose, you lose
I ain’t lovin you, the way I wanted to
See I had to go, see I had to go
No more wastein time, we cant wait for life
which is wastin time, wheres the finish line

So keep ya love locked down, ya love locked down x 3
You keep ya love locked down, you lose

I’m not lovin you, the way i wanted to
I met no one new, I got no one new
No I said im through, but got love for you
But im not lovin you, the way I wanted to
Gotta keep it goin, keep the lovin goin
Keep it on a roll, only god knows
If i be with you, baby im confused
You choose, you choose
I ain’t lovin you, the way I wanted to
Way I got to go, I dont need you
I been on this road, too many times before
I ain’t lovin you, the way I wanted to

So keep ya love locked down, ya love locked down
Keepin ya love locked down, you lose.



~~~

CROOKED I CALLS LIL WAYNE OVERRATED? OH WORRD?



~~~

I'M TRYING TO FIND THE INSTRUMENTALS OF THIS:



PEACE TO JAKE ONE AND SLUGGO!

~~~

THE KANYE EMPIRE EXPANDS:

Comedy Central has teamed with Kanye West for a project described as hip-hop meets the Muppets.

A half-hour pilot has been shot for the project, tentatively titled “Alligator Boots.” It’s from Jackhole Prods., the production company founded by Jimmy Kimmel, Daniel Kellison and Adam Carolla that also was behind Comedy Central’s puppet-centric “Crank Yankers.”

The project, which is under consideration for 2009, would feature music produced and performed by West and fellow rapper Rhymefest, both of whom are serving as executive producers on the pilot alongside Kellison. West also hosts the pilot; the idea is to have a different celebrity guest host for every episode, similar to the setup on the original “Muppet Show.”

~~~

RAP IS OUTTA CONTROL. JEAN GRAE IS SELLING VERSES ON CRAIGSLIST:

http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/crs/845951471.html

~~~

DIDDY JERKED PETE ROCKN TO MAKE BIGGIE'S FIRST HIT SONG:

http://grandgood.com/2008/09/22/pete-rock-on-not-receiving-production-credit-for-biggie%E2%80%99s-juicy/

Pete Rock has talked extensively (and bitterly) about this before so I’m glad he’s gotten over it. His remix definitely holds its own too.

Speaking of revered emcees you’ve worked with; you knew Biggie too, right?

Yeah. Sean ["Puffy" Combs] brought Biggie over to my house in Mount Vernon way back when. We kicked it and talked all night. Biggie wanted to see my procedures and how I made beats—that’s how we met. There’s a song called “In The Flesh” on The Main Ingredient, and he was present when I made it. I remember, I made it from scratch right in front of him! So when I hear that track nowadays, it takes me back to that exact moment, like, “That’s how I met Biggie!”

You produced “Juicy” but never got credited for it—What’s the story behind that?

Biggie and Sean came to my house one day and the beat was playing on my drum machine. Biggie thought I was making it for C.L. When I told him I was just making it for myself, he immediately wanted it. I said sure, but didn’t think much of it. Then, next thing I know, I heard it playing somewhere. I’m over it now though.

Have any efforts been made to give you proper credit for it?

No, nothing’s been done, but that was back then. Life goes on. I settled and just did a remix for it. Really though, I just wish Biggie was still alive for me to work with him.

~~~

NOTORIOUS: THE BIGGIE SMALLS MOVIE. THE TRAILER:



I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE GRAVY GOT THIS PART. RAP IS OUTTA CONTROL.

~~~

I WAS SICK LAST NIGHT. TOO MUCH WRONG LIVING.
I'M MAKING BETTER CHOICES TODAY.
LOVE,
ADDI