GOOD NIGHT, MISS DONDA WEST. REST WELL, YOUR MEMORY IS ALREADY CHERISHED.
AND GOOD MORNING, KANYE.
TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.
KEEP LOVE ALIVE, BIG BROTHER. WE ALL WILL HAVE TO WALK THROUGH THAT DOOR ONE DAY... IT'S INEVITABLE.
CHECK THIS NEW IDEA OF HIS:
AND GOD BLESS DONDA WEST:
Dr. Donda West, Kanye West’s mother, suddenly died last night, individuals close to the rapper confirmed.
The cause of death was not released immediately, but she was reportedly in the Los Angeles area when she died. Early reports suggest Dr. West's death may have been the result of some form of surgical procedure. Those reports have not been confirmed.
She was 58 years old.
A representative for the rapper told AllHipHop.com, "The family respectfully asks for privacy during this time of grief."
Kanye West chronicled his love for his mother in “Hey Mama,” a song from his 2005 album Late Registration.
In the song, Kanye raps, “(Hey Mama), I wanna scream so loud for you, cuz I'm so proud of you / Let me tell you what I'm about to do, (Hey Mama) / I know I act a fool but, I promise you I'm goin back to school /I appreciate what you allowed for me
I just want you to be proud of me (Hey Mama).”
West eventually performed the song in front of his mother and Oprah Winfrey on the TV host’s highly rated show.
Although she was renown as Kanye West’s mother, Donda West had achieved much on her own.
She served as the Chair of the English Department at Chicago State University, but retired to act as Kanye's manager. She was an English professor for 31 years.
Earlier this year, she released a book called Raising Kanye, which chronicled her journey of raising her son.
In an interview with AllHipHop, Dr. West said she learned from her son and vice versa.
"Looking at Kanye has made me a more courageous individual, and I already saw myself as being courageous. I believe that Kanye has broken through and gone to levels and done things that I haven’t been able to reach yet," she told AllHipHop.com. "I have 28 years to his senior so I have a lot of experience. I’ve learned to speak my mind regardless of the consequences. I’ve learned a lot having raised Kanye and being his mother."
The word of Dr. West's death has traveled fast through word of mouth, in particular her hometown of Chicago.
“'The city of Chicago is hurting for Kanye West and his family. We know how much he loved and valued his mother and we just ask other cities to join us in prayer for Kanye,” said Kendra G, a Morning Show co-host at Power 92 in Chicago.
AllHipHop.com will provide more information as details are revealed. Our condolences go out to Kanye West and the family of Dr. Donda West.
WWW.ALLHIPHOP.COM
~~~
To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
~~~
A Hero and A Saint: JIM MORRISON
A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself.
Actually I don't remember being born, it must have happened during one of my black outs.
Blake said that the body was the soul's prison unless the five senses are fully developed and open. He considered the senses the 'windows of the soul.' When sex involves all the senses intensely, it can be like a mystical experience.
Death makes angels of us all and gives us wings where we had shoulders smooth as ravens claws.
Drugs are a bet with your mind.
Each generation wants new symbols, new people, new names. They want to divorce themselves from their predecessors.
Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.
Film spectators are quiet vampires.
Friends can help each other. A true friend is someone who lets you have total freedom to be yourself-and especially to feel. Or, not feel. Whatever you happen to be feeling at the moment is fine with them. That's what real love amounts to-letting a person be what he really is.
Hatred is a very underestimated emotion.
I am interested in anything about revolt, disorder, chaos-especially activity that seems to have no meaning. It seems to me to be the road toward freedom... Rather than starting inside, I start outside and reach the mental through the physical.
I am the lizard king. I can do anything.
I believe in a long, prolonged derangement of the senses to attain the unknown. Our pale reasoning hides the infinite from us.
I like any reaction I can get with my music. Just anything to get people to think. I mean if you can get a whole room full of drunk, stoned people to actually wake up and think, you're doing something.
I like people who shake other people up and make them feel uncomfortable.
I think in art, but especially in films, people are trying to confirm their own existences.
I think of myself as an intelligent, sensitive human being with the soul of a clown which always forces me to blow it at the most important moments.
I think the highest and lowest points are the important ones. Anything else is just...in between. I want the freedom to try everything.
I'm interested in anything about revolt, disorder, chaos, especially activity that appears to have no meaning. It seems to me to be the road toward freedom.
If my poetry aims to achieve anything, it's to deliver people from the limited ways in which they see and feel.
It's like gambling somehow. You go out for a night of drinking and you don't know where your going to end up the next day. It could work out good or it could be disastrous. It's like the throw of the dice.
Listen, real poetry doesn't say anything; it just ticks off the possibilities. Opens all doors. You can walk through anyone that suits you.
Love cannot save you from your own fate.
Music inflames temperament.
People fear death even more than pain. It's strange that they fear death. Life hurts a lot more than death. At the point of death, the pain is over. Yeah, I guess it is a friend.
Sex is full of lies. The body tries to tell the truth. But, it's usually too battered with rules to be heard, and bound with pretenses so it can hardly move. We cripple ourselves with lies.
Some of the worst mistakes of my life have been haircuts.
The appeal of cinema lies in the fear of death.
The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask.
The most loving parents and relatives commit murder with smiles on their faces. They force us to destroy the person we really are: a subtle kind of murder.
The time to hesitate is through.
There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors.
There are things known and things unknown and in between are the doors.
This is the strangest life I've ever known.
Violence isn't always evil. What's evil is the infatuation with violence.
We fear violence less than our own feelings. Personal, private, solitary pain is more terrifying than what anyone else can inflict.
When you make your peace with authority, you become authority.
Where's your will to be weird?
Whoever controls the media, controls the mind.
all quotes by Jim Morrison
~~~
BILL MAHER: SEXIST, RACIST INTELLECTUAL.
KARRINE STEFFANS SAID "HE JUST WANTS A GIRL WHO HE CAN SAY SHE'S GOT A FAT ASS AND ALSO PUT HER DOWN MENTALLY. THAT'S WHY YOU NEVER SEE HIM WITH A WHITE WOMAN OR AN INTELLECTUAL WOMAN."
ALL SUSPICIONS CONFIRMED!
AND MARILYN MONROE WAS -WAY- SMARTER THAN THEY MADE HER LOOK:
A career is wonderful, but you can't curl up with it on a cold night.
A sex symbol becomes a thing. I just hate to be a thing.
An actress is not a machine, but they treat you like a machine. A money machine.
Before marriage, a girl has to make love to a man to hold him. After marriage, she has to hold him to make love to him.
Being a sex symbol is a heavy load to carry, especially when one is tired, hurt and bewildered.
Dogs never bite me. Just humans.
Dreaming about being an actress, is more exciting then being one.
Fame will go by and, so long, I've had you, fame. If it goes by, I've always known it was fickle. So at least it's something I experience, but that's not where I live.
First, I'm trying to prove to myself that I'm a person. Then maybe I'll convince myself that I'm an actress.
Hollywood is a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.
Husbands are chiefly good as lovers when they are betraying their wives.
I am invariably late for appointments - sometimes as much as two hours. I've tried to change my ways but the things that make me late are too strong, and too pleasing.
I am involved in a freedom ride protesting the loss of the minority rights belonging to the few remaining earthbound stars. All we demanded was our right to twinkle.
I am not interested in money. I just want to be wonderful.
I don't know who invented high heels, but all women owe him a lot.
I don't mind living in a man's world as long as I can be a woman in it.
I don't mind making jokes, but I don't want to look like one.
I have feelings too. I am still human. All I want is to be loved, for myself and for my talent.
I have too many fantasies to be a housewife. I guess I am a fantasy.
I knew I belonged to the public and to the world, not because I was talented or even beautiful, but because I had never belonged to anything or anyone else.
I restore myself when I'm alone. A career is born in public, talent in privacy.
I'm very definitely a woman and I enjoy it.
I've been on a calendar, but I've never been on time.
I've been on a calendar, but never on Time.
I've never dropped anyone I believed in.
If I'd observed all the rules, I'd never have got anywhere.
If I'm a star, then the people made me a star.
It's all make believe, isn't it?
It's better to be unhappy alone than unhappy with someone - so far.
It's not true that I had nothing on. I had the radio on.
It's often just enough to be with someone. I don't need to touch them. Not even talk. A feeling passes between you both. You're not alone.
Men are so willing to respect anything that bores them.
My work is the only ground I've ever had to stand on. I seem to have a whole superstructure with no foundation but I'm working on the foundation.
No one ever told me I was pretty when I was a little girl. All little girls should be told they're pretty, even if they aren't.
Sex is a part of nature. I go along with nature.
The body is meant to be seen, not all covered up.
The thing I want more than anything else? I want to have children. I used to feel for every child I had, I would adopt another.
The trouble with censors is that they worry if a girl has cleavage. They ought to worry if she hasn't any.
There was my name up in lights. I said, 'God, somebody's made a mistake.' But there it was, in lights. And I sat there and said, 'Remember, you're not a star.' Yet there it was up in lights.
To put it bluntly, I seem to have a whole superstructure with no foundation. But I'm working on the foundation.
What do I wear in bed? Why, Chanel No. 5, of course.
all quotes by Marilyn Monroe
~~~
AND I'LL THROW IN SOME BETTE MIDLER FOR GOOD MEASURE... SHE'S FUNNY. UP UNTIL I SAW HOW SHE FEELS ABOUT RAP, LOL:
After thirty, a body has a mind of its own.
Cherish forever what makes you unique, 'cuz you're really a yawn if it goes.
Group conformity scares the pants off me because it's so often a prelude to cruelty towards anyone who doesn't want to - or can't - join the Big Parade.
I always try to balance the light with the heavy - a few tears of human spirit in with the sequins and the fringes.
I bear no grudges. I have a mind that retains nothing.
I feel like a million tonight - but one at a time.
I made a pact with myself a long time ago: Never watch anything stupider than you. It's helped me a lot.
I married a German. Every night I dress up as Poland and he invades me.
I never know how much of what I say is true.
I try not to drink too much because when I'm drunk, I bite.
I wouldn't say I invented tacky, but I definitely brought it to its present high popularity.
I'd make a wonderful Lady Macbeth. I'll wear a pair of platform shoes or something.
I'm working my way toward divinity.
If I could be granted a wish, I'd shine in your eye like a jewel.
If sex is such a natural phenomenon, how come there are so many books on how to do it?
It's the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance.
My idea of superwoman is someone who scrubs her own floors.
Rap is poetry set to music. But to me it's like a jackhammer.
(LOL, OKAY, SHE'S AN ELDERLY WHITE WOMAN, I'LL LET IT GO)
The worst part of success is to try to find someone who is happy for you.
The worst part of success is trying to find someone who is happy for you.
WORTH REPEATING TWICE!
When it's three o'clock in New York, it's still 1938 in London.
Writing a book is not as tough as it is to haul thirty-five people around the country and sweat like a horse five nights a week.
all quotes by Bette Midler
~~~
AND SOMEHOW IT MAKES SENSE TO GO FROM HER TO HIM:
With anticipation levels surrounding Ghostface Killah's forthcoming The Big Doe Rehab fast approaching a boiling point-- particularly since we no longer need divide our anticipation between Big Doe and the Wu-Tang's 8 Diagrams-- Ghost has gone and added some kindling to the fire. Album details, people! Have a look.
First, of course, is that classy cover art you see up there, set to adorn copies of Big Doe that Def Jam delivers on December 4.
Next, the tracklist, reprinted in full below. Of note: Kid Capri-featuring first single "We Celebrate" (not just "Celebrate", as reported prior), which samples Rare Earth's "I Just Want to Celebrate"; Raekwon-boosted "Yolanda's House" and "Shakey Dog Starring Lolita" (an epilogue to Fishscale standout "Shakey Dog"!); a pair of tracks featuring Ghostface's tourmates Rhythm Roots Allstars; a track called "I'll Die for You" and another called "!".
Then, naturally, there are the guests, including the aforementioned along with Ghost's Wu associates Method Man (as you know), U-God, Masta Killa, and Cappadonna, plus Ghost's posse and More Fish co-stars Theodore Unit, Beanie Sigel, Styles P, and more.
And while Ghostface and the Wu seem to have settled their beef, Ghost apparently isn't the only one upset with the way camp Wu is being run. Billboard.com points us to a MissInfo.tv interview with Raekwon, who revealed his own misgivings. "Bottom line," said Raekwon, "it's a lot of business that's fucking up the creativity." Is that why we haven't seen a second Cuban Linx yet? Guess we'll just have to wait and see.
here's a quick, updated roundup of recent happenings:
* Ghostface doll: available now
* Ghostface book, The World According to Pretty Toney: due January 8 from MTV Press (moved from previously reported December 4 date)
* Ghostface's Walk Hard collaboration with Jewel, Lyle Lovett, and Jackson Browne: soundtrack in stores December 4, film in theaters December 21, collab's very notion still blowing minds
* Ghostface-boosted Beatles-interpolating track: set to appear on Wu-Tang Clan's 8 Diagrams, out December 11 via Loud/Universal/SRC/Wu Music Group
* Ghostface, Rakim, Brother Ali, and Rhythm Roots Allstars on the Hip Hop Live! tour: happening now, dates below
Phew!
The Big Doe Rehab:
01 At the Cabana Skit [performed by Ghostface Killah and Rhythm Roots Allstars]
02 Toney Sigel a.k.a the Barrel Brothers [ft. Beanie Sigel and Styles P]
03 Yolanda's House [ft. Raekwon and Method Man]
04 We Celebrate [ft. Kid Capri]
05 Walk Around
06 Yapp City [ft. Trife Da God and Sun God]
07 White Linen Affair (Toney Awards) [ft. Shawn Wigs]
08 Supa GFK
09 Rec-Room Therapy [ft. Raekwon and U-God]
10 The Prayer [performed by Ox]
11 I'll Die for You
12 Paisley Darts [ft. Raekwon, Sun God, Trife Da God, Method Man, and Cappadonna]
13 Shakey Dog Starring Lolita [ft. Raekwon]
14 ! [performed by Ghostface Killah and Rhythm Roots Allstars]
15 Killa Lipstick [ft. Method Man and Masta Killa]
16 Slow Down [ft. Chrisette Michele]
Hip Hop Live! dates:
11-08 Denver, CO - Ogden Theater *
11-09 Aspen, CO - Belly Up *
11-10 Kansas City, MO - Beaumont *
11-11 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue *
11-12 Chicago, IL - House of Blues *
11-13 Bloomington, IN - Bluebird Theater *
11-15 New Haven, CT - Toad's Place *
11-16 New York, NY - Nokia Theater *
11-17 Baltimore, MD - Sonar *
11-18 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club *
11-21 Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero *
* with Rakim, Brother Ali, Rhythm Roots Allstars
YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH GHOSTFACE:
Ghostface Killah has always been an interesting character in the Hip Hop game. His personality has been as compelling as his jewelry collection. As he explained the night we spoke, he’s an artist and in a game where everyone is painting pictures, he describes his paintings as much more complex and unique. With each paintbrush stroke as a rhyme written, Ghostface has managed to create history as a solo emcee and as a member of the legendary Wu-Tang Clan.
Now, his latest work, The Big Doe Rehab is on its way to hit store shelves this winter. Controversy is surrounding him. Rumors of internal turmoil and beef amongst Wu-Tang members have been buzzing like killer bees and it was time to get to the bottom of it. HipHopDX sat down to get answers to a lot of questions surrounding Ghost, the Wu and the release of The Big Doe Rehab and 8 Diagrams.
So, what’s in store?
Much like many painters, this emcee has always tried to reinvent himself in different ways, be it nicknames, rhyme styles, flows or even topic choices. But, like many other artists, he always has that patented style that most people want to see. For those who want that good ol’ Ghostface back, he’s ready to give it to you.
“This one is real street,” he said of his next studio album The Big Doe Rehab. But, that’s not the only revelation he gave us. During the opening night of The Hip-Hop Live Tour, Ghostface gave DX the lowdown to break it all down before hitting the stage. After sitting down to take some press photographs, he finally got down to business and all of this, without biting his tongue once.
HipHopDX: So, what can people expect from the upcoming Wu-Tang Clan record, 8 Diagrams?
Ghostface Killah: You’re supposed to expect what you’ve been expecting from Wu-Tang. I wasn’t there at the finishing touches of it. I came in late in the game, like in the fourth quarter and laid down five what-cha-ma-call-its [verses]. But, I never really got to hear everything they had put together. RZA said that he got it, so whatever you hear is based on RZA.
DX: Obviously there’s been a lot of talk about why you weren’t as much a part of this album. Can you shed some light on those issues?
GFK: Yeah. [There is] a lot of shit why I didn’t come in. Motherfuckers owe me some money. That and a lot of other shit that’s going on. That’s why I didn’t come in. But, then I came in for the sake of my other brothers. It’s not just a RZA thing. It’s a Wu-Tang Clan thing. I’m not going to fuck around and let everybody suffer based on me not going in. But, we know now. I’m just moving right. That’s all.
DX: A lot was made about the Wu-Tang extending some sort of peace offering by changing their release date so that it doesn’t drop on the same day. How did you take to that?
GFK: Naw. Me, personally, B, I’m Ghostface, man! Yo, I don’t give a fuck if whoever drop on the same day. Know what I mean? It wouldn’t help me. Well, it might have, could have helped me. But I been had my date. I had my date since the summertime [around] May/June. So, for brothers not to make their date on time and to keep pushing it back three or four or more times and try to wind up on December 4 - it’s like, "‘C’mon man. What you doing?" It was that type of vibe that was going on. But, it’s all good, though. They pushed it back. Steve Rifkind or whoever pushed it back. But, that was on them. I ain’t asked nobody to do nothing! That’s what it is.
DX: With the next album, you mentioned that you weren’t too involved. With the past couple of Wu albums, fans have expressed that it has not been the same. There’s that pressure to drop another album just like Enter The 36 Chambers. Well, how do you speak to fans to let them know that it will never be the same?
GFK: I wish we could go back, but you can’t ever go back. There’s no way. It’s gone. You can’t make 36 Chambers over again. You can’t make [It's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx] or Ironman again. Times have changed. My thought process has changed. When we came in the game, we were just grimey dudes who ain’t had nothing. That’s the attitude you would get on wax. No matter how hard we try, it’s never gonna be the same. Fans gotta understand that. I was thinking about doing a skit telling them that. But they don’t really know. I don’t care if it was six months that passed, that was time that passed. Things change over a period of time. Things changed from just a second ago! They just gotta learn how to accept it, take you for who you is and grow with you. After I start throwing these little dirty darts, I’m gonna have to start throwing mature darts speaking on men and women. It can be positive or a fucked up situation, but you have to address certain issues. That’s what I got in store for the future. I can’t talk about me selling crack and doing all of that other shit and I’m not really doing it. I’m 37, so you gotta have people to grow with you and you take them there. It’s not what you do but how you do it. It’s how you do it so they don’t think, "Oh, he soft! He getting’ weak now!" I’m still learning as I go on with this game.
DX: So, will we see a lot of this maturity on the new Big Doe Rehab album?
GFK: On this Rehab album? This shit right here, yo - I just went back. I went back. When I was just talking about the maturity thing-I wasn’t talking about this album. I went back on some real grime ball shit because brothers respect violence, man. Sometimes, you gotta give them what they want. Hip Hop ain’t been the same since back then so that’s what I’ma give them on my tape.
When I talked about maturity, there’s gonna be a time when you are gonna hear Ghost probably talking about a female who got a baby and she go out every Friday or Saturday and brings a man to the house, even if it’s once a month. That’s 12 months in a year and she had sex with 12 guys. That’s not right. Learn how to take care of yourself. You gonna give the baby cereal every morning, instead of cooking! That’s how the kids come up with diabetes and all that with nothing but sugar! Get up and be a woman! Or, I’ll be getting on the guys not taking care of their kids and beating on women, because the woman is the reflection of the man. How he carries himself at home, that’s how she’s gonna reflect to the babies when he’s not home. If he’s one to yell a lot, then she’ll be yelling a lot. [I’ll be] going into those realms and shit like that. Just cool out shit. That’s what it’s gon’ lead to. Still raw situations, though but it’s how you do it.
Both The Big Doe Rehab and 8 Diagrams are ready to hit stores this winter. For now, fans can catch Ghostface along with Rakim and Brother Ali on the Hip-Hop Live Tour, which is being presented by Dodge and FlowTV. The tour will be going on until Thanksgiving and it matches these three emcees up with The Rhythm Roots All-Stars, a live band that sounds as ill as the actual record, live.
this place is dope. AND CANADIAN! :)
~~~
KANYE WEST ON '60 MINUTES':
AN INTERVIEW WITH DONDA WEST:
By: Nia B
Having a son reach the plateau of Kanye West has been an invigorating experience for Dr. Donda West. An English Professor for 31 years, one can only imagine what it’s been like to witness Kanye drop out of college and become one of Hip-Hop’s biggest superstars. As a single mom, she instilled in her only child the courage and creativity that many have come to respect. In shielding Kanye from the possibility of getting into trouble growing up on the Southside of Chicago, there was one thing she couldn’t keep him from, and that was Hip-Hop.
Dr. West has profiled her journey of rearing Kanye from a boy into a man in her new book Raising Kanye. Not only does Dr. West break down why her son is who is today, she also speaks on the misconceptions about him and teaches a few life lessons along the way.
In the spirit of Mother’s Day, Dr. West took some time out from her duties as a part of Kanye’s management team to elaborate on how she feels about some of the decisions Kanye has made throughout his career, her opinion on Hip-Hop and why sometimes some things are better left unsaid.
AllHipHop.com Alternatives: What motivated you to write Raising Kanye?
Dr. Donda West: I wrote the book because a lot of people had urged me to write something single mothers would want to read. There are sides of Kanye that not too many people know about. Kanye has a persona and a person. In the book, I talk a lot about the person Kanye West. His story is bigger than mine. I came to believe that maybe there is something that I did as a parent that might be interesting enough for another parent to consider.
AHHA: How has Kanye’s career impacted your life? What’s different for you now as a result of his success?
Dr. West: Where I live, the job that I have, the concerns that I have, and my love for Hip-Hop. Those are just a few things.
AHHA: You’ve been able to stay in tune with Kanye’s life by being knowledgeable of Hip-Hop and its culture. How did you achieve that and how were you able to create such a personal relationship with Kanye?
Dr. West: I came into Hip-Hop with someone pulling me into it because I didn’t understand it. Therefore, I didn’t appreciate it the way that I do now. My relationship with Kanye has always been a very close one. So naturally, when he showed interest in Hip-Hop I wanted to see what he was interested in. As his mother, I wanted to see if there were areas that I needed to monitor and I also wanted to connect with my child so I could understand what he was thinking. I wanted to challenge him to see if he was thinking in an analytical and critical way.
AHHA: As the mother of a Hip-Hop superstar, you’ve watched Hip-Hop grow. What do you think about its current state?
Dr. West: There is a lot going on at the moment in terms of language, and it being politically and socially conscious and whether or not it reflects an understanding of what it means to be Black. Then there is another level of it that shows a generation that is highly involved by creating metaphors to question the system to change and calling for change. It definitely has two sides in my opinion. One side is being questioned right now and another side is going to take us to another level.
AHHA: In chapter five of your book, you address respect and how Kanye’s respect for you is so infectious that it spreads to his peers. How do you feel when you listen to his music and hear [b***h] or [hoe]?
Dr. West: I feel very different now as opposed to when I first heard it. I don’t think I’ve become insensitive, but I’m not offended by it. I don’t think that Kanye uses words like that irresponsibly. I’m a person who taught rhetoric for 31 years. Sometimes, there happens to only be one word to describe what you’re feeling. With having said that, there was once a time that I went to Kanye and said, “Can you just not use the B and H words?”
I have even heard girlfriends refer to each other like that in certain settings, and I wasn’t offended. In general, it causes me some concern. You’ll never know if someone just has issues with their self-esteem, and therefore that word is just on their list to negatively reflect themselves. Or when someone is just using it rhetorically then it’s not negatively impacting them either way. There are two sides to every quarter. Hip-Hop is constantly evolving. It’s still provoking thought to what you feel about it.
AHHA: With the recent Don Imus situation, do you think rappers should refrain from using the B and H word - or is too late?
Dr. West: I have mixed emotions about it. Don Imus is not Snoop Dogg. You can’t compare them. Whether rappers should take the word out, I’m unsure. If you would have asked me a year or two or ago, I would have said definitely, but I am not sure what I think now.
AHHA: Reflecting on when Kanye was in car accident a few years back, how did you feel when you saw your son in that state?
Dr. West: There was an energy that I had to submit to make sure that everything was going to be alright. I had to keep going. There was no time to break down and feel hopeless. That couldn’t have fit him. Of course, when I first got the news I was thrown for a loop, but I didn’t give any other thought to it except that fact that he would be ok.
AHHA: What’s been your proudest moment as Kanye’s mom?
Dr. West: Before College Dropout even dropped, Kanye looked at me and said, “Mom, when are we going to give back?” That’s when the foundation was born, the Kanye West Foundation, and the program we have now Loop Dreams that we’re putting in the boys and girls club. That made me feel good, because I instilled in him a person that wanted to give back and was concerned with how he could help someone else. That was one of my very proudest moments. Sometimes, there have been very personal moments with the gifts that he has been able to shower me with to represent his love.
AHHA: You’ve transformed from being in the classroom to being his manager. Do you miss being in the classroom?
Dr. West: No actually I don’t, because I look at life as being the opportunity to educate. I was in the classroom 31 years. Now, with the foundation and the opportunity that comes along with it, I am still in the arena of education. Eventually, I will miss it because it was something near and dear to my heart.
AHHA: In the book, you talked about not having a maternal instinct until you were 27. Have you ever thought about what the world would be like without Kanye?
Dr. West: It’s something to think about the world not having a Kanye West, it would be like the world not having a Quincy Jones. For me, I cannot imagine my life without Kanye. I don’t say it because he became a Hip-Hop superstar, but within the same vein that most mothers would say it.
AHHA: When you see Kanye in the news when it’s positive, you smile, but when it’s negative how do you feel?
Dr. West: I can’t think of much that I’ve saw that is negative that I’ve regarded very highly. I understand how the media works sometimes and what its purpose is when they over sensationalize, and how people feed off of negative things. I sometimes wish it concentrated on the positive things that he does, but then again that’s how the media is and how it works. I don’t have time to be upset by the media. I can’t think of anything I can do to change it.
AHHA: Let’s talk about Kanye’s arrogance versus confidence?
Dr. West: I think that Kanye is a very confident young man, and as an entertainer he is very self-assured. I remember his kindergarten teachers telling me, “He doesn’t have a problem with self-esteem does he?” I know him as a person and the persona. I often called Kanye the Muhammad Ali of Hip-Hop. You had some fighters that were humble and meek. Then you have some who could fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee. I’ve always liked that about Muhammad Ali and I like that of Kanye West as well.
AHHA: What’s your opinion of Kanye making the statement he did about President Bush during the Hurricane Katrina telethon back in 2005? Where you scared for him?
Dr. West: No, I wasn’t scared from him. I had some friends who were afraid for a brief moment. I don’t see an upside to fear. Whenever I feel afraid for a split second, I try to use that energy somewhere else. I don’t have time to be afraid because that prevents me to not being there for him and represent him effectively.
AHHA: In the book you spoke about how you missed the telethon and ended up finding out what Kanye had said from a friend. How did you end up missing the telethon?
Dr. West: I was in New York in and out of a series of meetings, and went to get some rest. I didn’t know what time his segment was going to be aired. If I did, I would have been glued to the TV, but I missed it because I was resting and mediating. But certainly, I was able to hear what he had said over and over again.
AHHA: What’s it been like to learning things from Kanye, and how has it made you a better person?
Dr. West: Looking at Kanye has made me a more courageous individual, and I already saw myself as being courageous. I believe that Kanye has broken through and gone to levels and done things that I haven’t been able to reach yet. I have 28 years to his senior so I have a lot of experience. I’ve learned to speak my mind regardless of the consequences. I’ve learned a lot having raised Kanye and being his mother.
AHHA: How do you think Kanye deals with rejection? We’ve seen him at award shows speak out when he feels that he was slighted several times.
Dr. West: I don’t think that Kanye has any problem with not winning an award. If he feels as though he was tight, someone else might have been better or equally good, and they’ve gotten the award. It’s been times when people have voted for the same person over and over again. It’s not a matter of him always having to win but of course, he always wants to win. He recognizes that other people are great, and he recognizes that by collaborating with them.
I do think that he has trouble trying to decide what he thinks is political and what’s unjust. At times many of our friends thought that he should have won an award when someone else has gotten it. He hasn’t always responded well to that. I’ve always figured I don’t think that I am the right person to ask that question. I really feel that there is a gracious way to lose. It’s not a bad thing to be gracious about it, and I encourage it. But I also feel quite frankly that if you show me a good loser, I’ll show you a loser.
AHHA: Where there any aspects of Kanye’s life that you decided to keep out of the book?
Dr. West: No. There were things that I hesitated about putting in the book he encouraged me to put them in the book. A book can only be so long, so detailed, and there will be other books, so I won’t say that every little thing is in this book. Someone called it a tell-all book, but I couldn’t mention everything - but there is nothing that was left out because it was some big secret.
AHHA: What were some of the things that you hesitated on leaving out the book?
Dr. West: I hesitated on talking about my no-no’s. For example, letting him ride the [the subway] in Chicago; I wondered how he might have felt about that now. I didn’t want to put anything in the book that he might have had a problem with. As it turns out, he didn’t have a problem with some of the things I mentioned, he just wanted me to flesh it out and explain why I had a problem with it. I wanted the book to be real. Do I put in the book that he sucked his two fingers until he was eight? I wanted to tell the complete story, but not in an unhealthy negative way. There were some stories I could have gone into more detail, but it’s 228 pages and I didn’t want it to be longer.
AHHA: I commend you for admitting some of the things that you did in the book, for example, giving up smoking weed when you found out that you were pregnant and then finding Kanye with a nude magazine - and then later on an X-rated porno tape. Not all parents like to admit things like that and typically keep those types of stories private.
Dr. West: One thing about Hip-Hop is you have to keep it real.
AHHA: Overall, why do you think that people should read the book?
Dr. West: People should read the book because it references what can happen when you do everything you can to raise a young man – in directly there are a lot of ‘how-to’s’ for a lot of individuals. Most mothers I know really love and care for their sons. I was fortunate to have both parents who were really experienced when they got to me. I want people to learn about how Hip-Hop has evolved.
It’s about Kanye the person rather than Kanye the superstar. You can get a different perspective on the N-word. There are also controversial topics that the media didn’t talk about. My ending statement would be, “It’s a good book.” You have to say that. If you feel that way, you’ll see that. It’s a true story. It’s about how it’s impacted society, and I’m 58 and I love [Hip-Hop] music. We can close some of the generational gap to advance our society if people would only understand it.
~~~
AND NOW SOMETHING FROM MY BOY OG MANDINO:
Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.
Always render more and better service than is expected of you, no matter what your task may be.
Always seek out the seed of triumph in every adversity.
Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again.
Do all things with love.
Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.
I am here for a purpose and that purpose is to grow into a mountain, not to shrink to a grain of sand. Henceforth will I apply ALL my efforts to become the highest mountain of all and I will strain my potential until it cries for mercy.
I have never heard anything about the resolutions of the apostles, but a good deal about their acts.
I seek constantly to improve my manners and graces, for they are the sugar to which all are attracted.
I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars.
It is those who concentrates on but one thing at a time who advance in this world. The great man or woman is the one who never steps outside his or her specialty or foolishly dissipates his or her individuality.
Love doesn't sit there like a stone, it has to be made, like bread: remade all the time, made new.
Obstacles are necessary for success because in selling, as in all careers of importance, victory comes only after many struggles and countless defeats.
Sound character provides the power with which a person may ride the emergencies of life instead of being overwhelmed by them. Failure is... the highway to success.
Take the attitude of a student, never be too big to ask questions, never know too much to learn something new.
The only certain means of is to render more and better service than is expected of you, no matter what your task may be.
The person who knows one thing and does it better than anyone else, even if it only be the art of raising lentils, receives the crown he merits. If he raises all his energy to that end, he is a benefactor of mankind and its rewarded as such.
There is an immeasurable distance between late and too late.
To be always intending to make a new and better life but never to find time to set about it is as to put off eating and drinking and sleeping from one day to the next until you're dead.
To do anything truly worth doing, I must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in with gusto and scramble through as well as I can.
Tomorrow is only found in the calendar of fools.
Treasure the love you receive above all. It will survive long after your good health has vanished.
Work as though you would live forever, and live as though you would die today. Go another mile!
You never know what events are going to transpire to get you home.
THE O.G. OG MANDINO
HOLY FUCKING REAL TALK, SON!
~~~
He who awaits much can expect little.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Ultimately, literature is nothing but carpentry. With both you are working with reality, a material just as hard as wood.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Music is well said to be the speech of angels.
Thomas Carlyle
worth repeating today.
~~~
WE'RE GOING TO END WITH THE HELLISH ANGELIC MUSIC FROM THE KING OF RAW ROCK: HANK SHOCKLEE!
The Bomb Squad's Hank Shocklee is widely known for exposing the future of music. His slaughtered samples and layered tracking was the only thing plausible to match Chuck D's booming voice on seminal Public Enemy albums. With timeless work also with Ice Cube, Slick Rick and Keith Sweat, it was Shocklee's understanding of the past that allowed the ear of the golden era to so brilliantly forecast the future.
This proved to be pivotal in creating the source music for American Gangster. Shocklee helped sprinkle the patina in the music, set between 1969 and 1973 with original compositions made to sound like dusty relics from glory years of "blue magic." The sonic icon also produced the Anthony Hamilton hit single "Do You Feel Me?" in an old world studio in Brooklyn. Will the motivation of another nation bring Hank back to Hip Hop for second go-round? Whatever the case, one of the kings of boom bap gets technical about his technique.
HipHopDX: Was your hand in American Gangster geared towards the soundtrack or the score? To my understanding, it’s been a bit of both…
Hank Shocklee: We have to differentiate from the score. I did the source music. Anytime you hear somebody put a song in a movie, a record that you know, that’s considered source music. Normally what happens in those situations is that people go look for records to find and put in a particular movie, especially when it comes to a period piece. When I was contracted from the music supervisor, Kathy Nelson, I suggested to her that we do something a little different, which is instead of finding music, we could recreate our own music. This way, you have original pieces, but vintage sounding pieces. What that does is give the film director a lot more to work with, because you have all the components broken out. You can have the bass guitar in the left speaker, the drums somewhere in the back, the horns and pan them. You can do something that’s really, really cool. Now you have that in 5.1 sound with records that sound like ‘70s Funk records. That’s something that you don’t have because you don’t have access to the original tapes with that. I feel that that lent itself, to the movie, a three-dimensional feel. Now there can be a seamless integration between the source music that you hear and the score.
This is where the lines got blurry. People think I did the score. But [Marc Streitenfeld] did the score. He scored Gladiator; he’s Ridley Scott’s man. What I did was I gave him pieces so we could blend the score into the source music with a seamless integration. It just heightened the attention for the viewer. Now you’re drawn into the film as opposed to things just cutting in and cutting off, so to speak.
DX: You coordinated The Juice Soundtrack. Have you manipulated the source music before?
HS: I’ve always been into film. I just never wanted to take up scoring and stuff like that. It’s a lot of time, very time-intensive, and with very little gratification. So I didn’t really want to do that. But every now and then, somebody will come to me with a project that I think will be interesting. When this project was brought to me, I immediately thought it would be interesting. I’m not really interested in being a Hollywood scorer, but the fact about it is that this film allowed me to take the music that I love, which is early Soul, Funk and Blues. I’m known for doing Hip Hop. I’m known for finding and sampling these records and making new records from them. Now I get to do it in reverse. I get to create those records with my Hip Hop sensibility. I think that the coolest thing it was, was doing that, and the hardest thing. It’s easy to make things sound good in this day and age. It’s hard to make things sound bad. What I mean by bad, I mean recreate tape hiss, you have to recreate the noise and buzzing from amplifiers and things of that nature. If you notice, those early ‘70s records, they were not very clean as records today. Thus, that’s a challenge in of itself not only from a creative standpoint but from a sound mixing perspective. It’s very difficult to [find] engineers and musicians that understand that process. Bands that I was around growing up taught me a lot of those tricks that they would use in recording. These were things that I knew and used in my Public Enemy productions.
DX: The Anthony Hamilton record “Do You Feel Me?” which you produced has been a hit on our website. That is a tangible example of what you’re talking about. In addition to source music, how was it creating an entirely new song for his and your catalog?
HS: The song itself, the demo was brought to me by the music supervisor. She had ran through Diane Warren’s catalog, and she was looking for a song for Anthony. Painstakingly, we couldn’t find anything. We knew we wanted him to recreate an older song. But nothing seemed to work. We didn’t want to do something that everybody has recorded before. We didn’t want to do something that was played out. We didn’t want to do something that you’ve heard all the time. In the ‘70s, everybody’s using the same records in each film. Thus, the music supervisor found the song “Do You Feel Me?” in Diane Warren’s catalog. This song was recorded by a female vocalist, and it was recorded modern. So it had drum machines, a [Korg] Triton keyboard; it was done with all the sounds that everybody uses in today’s songs. To me, the challenge was to reinterpret that song into something that sounds very vintage, recording it the same way cats recorded back in the days.
DX: Common and Mos Def have used Electric Ladyland Studio in New York to channel the ‘60s Bohemian vibe. Did you use a vintage studio to boot?
HS: Of course! I went to Brooklyn and used the Daptone Studio. I wanted those musicians because those guys do a lot of Afrobeat records. If you listen to Afrobeat records, they have the same sensibilities as early Soul and Funk. A lot of members from the group Antibalas did some of the tracking for it. The beauty of going to Daptone Studio is the fact that they still record in a vintage way. There’s not many places in the city that do. We recorded everything onto a one-inch 16 track. You can’t even find [that] machine anymore. We used the old MCI Board which is something that nobody ever uses. The last time I saw an MCI Board was when I was recording Public Enemy’s Yo! Bumrush The Show, which was in INS Studios. I also worked there with Keith Sweat on his first record. That just goes to show you how long ago.
DX: On a personal level, what did it mean for you to be working for Def Jam again, 15 years later?
HS: It’s funny, because things come around again. I didn’t even think about it. When I was doing it, I was doing it for the [film]. Then, when they said L.A. Reid wanted to pick up the soundtrack, I said, “That would be amazing, ‘cause that brings me back home again – after all these years.” Even from that perspective, the thing that I thought was most amazing was me actually working with live musicians again. I think that is an art that has been lost. Everybody is more drum machine and sample-oriented now. Very seldom do I hire a band. It gave me the perspective on working with a band.
DX: One of my favorite films, another period piece, Crooklyn featured The Crooklyn Dodgers in its soundtrack. To some, having Hip Hop in an early ’70s film was an anachronism. As the original producer, tell me about Public Enemy’s “Can’t Truss It” appearing on the soundtrack and its significance…
HS: It’s funny, because once you see the movie…the movie takes place from 1969 to 1973. So that period, you have to be accurate. The one thing you don’t want to do is you don’t want to see a cell phone in a [period piece]. [Laughs] Because it wasn’t invented then. You still gotta be accurate to the piece. In the end, Frank [Lucas] does some time. He does like 17 years. He’s coming out and it’s 1991. In 1991, “Can’t Truss It” was one of the number one records of that time. Thus, that’s why that worked in that particular scenario. I do believe that everything has to be based upon the movie that you’re trying to portray. I think it’s important to be as historically accurate as possible. I commend Jay-Z on doing the “inspired by” [album]. If you look at it, Blues, Funk, Soul, R&B, all that stuff is the early beginnings. So it’s only quite natural and fitting for somebody to do an “inspired by.” I’m just happy that it was Jay-Z who decided to do that. In its strange way, I think it works out great for everyone. It gives people and kids an understanding of the history, and it also gives them an understanding of how the history is being applied today.
DX: Jay-Z turned a lot of heads when he and Rick Rubin collaborated on “99 Problems.” Along with Rick, you were and are the sound of Def Jam’s heritage. Do you feel the possibility of doing that blockbuster single or album yet again – not as Hank Shocklee, but as The Bomb Squad, yet again?
HS: Oh, yeah! I’m definitely interested, man. A lot of people look at me as a producer, some people look at me as a pioneer, a legend, many different ways…but I look at myself as a fan. I’m a fan of the music. To me it doesn’t matter about time and place. It’s about whether it’s hot or it’s not. I don’t look at things as most people do. I look at things as based upon…I’m a fan of the new sound just as much as I’m a fan of the old sound. I’m not one of those elitists that will [criticize] the sound of today. We move on. The only thing that I see missing from today is the area of experimentation. We’re not experimenting enough – like we could be, like we did back in the days. The other thing is originality. We should all be striving to not sound like the next, but to sound different and apart from. Those are the only two areas that I miss from the golden age of Hip Hop. The thing that I would love to be able to do is work with a group or person – I personally [prefer] groups to artists. I want to experiment, give them their own voice, give them a sound that’s separate and different from anything else that’s out there right now. You don’t have to conform to anything.
HANK SHOCKLEE IS SINGING MY SONG.
MINDBENDER LOVES YOU ALL
AND FOR REAL, PEACE TO KANYE WEST. I CAN'T IMAGINE HOW INSANE THE WORLD IS RIGHT NOW FOR A MAN WHO JUST LOST HIS MOTHER MOMENTS AFTER HE CONQUERED THE PLANET.
"TOP OF THE WORLD, MA! LOOK, I MADE IT!" - AND THEN THIS.
"I HEAR YOU, MOM... YEAH, YEAH, I DON'T WANT TO BE BROKE WHEN I'M 31"
TRUER WORDS WERE NEVER SPOKEN.
TIME TO BE OF SERVICE AND CREATION FOR THE WORLD... CAN I HELP YOU?
LOVE, MINDBENDER SUPREME
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