What up, what up…once again the olympics are on and I had to put out another International hip hop post. First up I have to shine some light on hip hop soul and this time I’m taking it overseas to Europe. Joy Denalane is her name and the deep souful sounds coming from this German Songstress are hard hitting. I first heard about Joy Denalane through okayplayer and I’ve been hooked ever since.
Since this is a 2 for 1 special, I had to bring it back home to the U.S. and I know this emcee personally, went to college with him Shout out the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, shout out to all the HBCU’S(historically black colleges/universities) He’s out of Camden, New Jersey and his name is Dave Ghetto Just think Hip hop for grown folks. He gives you straight lyrical hip hop music without the chaser. He’s a rapper’s rapper, all I can say is peep the link and you will remember why you love hip hop music. I’m out gotta get back to the Olympics…Women’s 100m is tonight!!
No I’m not talking about the sequel to ‘In the heat of the night’ but the Country currently under seige by the Russian Military. If you haven’t heard about this conflict just turn on any cable news station. Honestly I’m waiting to hear more about this in depth to speak more on it because the social, cultural and politcal issues involved are very detailed. I do understand that this conflict involves the break away part of the country of Georgia named South Ossetia who claimed independence but was and has not been recognized by the international community. The main reason this has been splashed across your local and cable news stations in the middle of the gasp…John Edwards sex scandal is because like the middle east Georgia is in a part of the world that I consider a powder keg. I’m a huge history buff…on some watch the history channel like it’s soap opera tip LOL. World War I started in the Balkins region and was largely due to treaties and pacts made by countries that binded them to one another. Well let’s see you have Russia formerly known as the Soviet Union invade a former ‘block’ nation that is dealing with an issue that is Georgian. Also Oil flows through Georgia, but not only all of that you have the United Nations, The European Union and the U.S. which Georgia is an ally of. You all figure it out, history can be repeated. So the reason for posting this is because I was ironing my clothes for work this morning and I was watching CNN. They were mentioning this conflict and for some reason this popped into my head…not only am I huge history buff but growing up I was a tom boy and being the daddy’s girl to an ex-military NCO(Non commissioned officer) who loved war movies I watched them too. So along with the movies I played war video games. While ironing my clothes I thought about the Tom Clancy video game Ghost Recon In the video game a group of military special forces undertake operations in Eastern Europe in none other than the country of…GEORGIA What’s even more intersting is in the video game it all takes place now! 2008. This food for thought, I will continue to follow this and my heart goes out to the citizens of Georgia and those innocent lives that have been lost at the expense of Global Chess.
This something I wanted to start…talking about ‘those movies’ that just stick with you, become a part of you. Sarafina is one of those movies. You all know what I am talking about movies that connect people, that if I just said Sarafina people would start laughing and someone would quote the movie in their best South African accent. They are movies that you can watch over and over again no matter how difficult the subject matter. For me Sarafina represents my childhood to the fullest, in the sense I when I was 7 years old my mother woke me up and told me to watch a news segment with her…that news segment was the live footage of Nelson Mandela being released from Prision. Even writing it brings back memories of how eye opening that was for me. From that point on I wanted to soak up anything South African, I’ve probably seen all the major movies on South Africa from Cry Freedom(Denzel!!) to various documentaries…how could I forget the classic Shaka Zulu! I want to tackle Nelson Mandela’s Autobiography, but I’ll be truthful that joint is like the Cornel West reader, it’s thick LOL. The more I learned about South African history the more I wished I could have been in the struggle to protest Apartheid but also I understood the parallel or should I say inverse of American segregation/fight for civil rights and the Anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa. Honestly Sarafina aided me in getting to the point I am now with my understanding of world issues especially African Diaspora issues. South Africa is a definite trip in my lifetime. So big up to Leleti Khumalo(Sarafina) and Whoopi Goldberg(can’t forget her)
America’s brownin’, 20 years from now every town’ll be brown and Latin- Nas
I read this article today on CNN.com, here’s the link ‘Minorities the majority by 2050′ Okay, I’m inclined to believe the line from Nas, forget 2050, more like 2028 and if 2050 is the marking point in 20 years the racial make up of the U.S. will definitely include a very visible population of people of color. This article wasn’t telling me anything that I don’t see on a daily basis. I told my friend a while back the U.S. is the ‘new Brazil’ as far as diversity of people. I have one big problem with the article though this quote “The African-American population is projected to increase from 41.1 million to 65.7 million by 2050, going from 14 percent of the U.S. population to 15 percent”
STOP! So in the next 40 years the African-American population will only increase by 1 percent Excuse me but that is crazy! The article also quotes Census bureau information that “The group predicted to post the most dramatic gain is the Hispanic population. It is projected to nearly triple, from 46.7 million to 132.8 million, from 2008 through 2050, the bureau said. Its share of the total U.S. population is expected to double from 15 to 30 percent. “Thus, one in three U.S. residents would be Hispanic,” the Census Bureau said in a news release.” Okay hispanic is not a race or one ethnic group. I could be hispanic if my last name was Moreno and my family was from Cuba but because my family is American born I am classified as an African-American. I don’t know about you all there are a lot of African Americans having babies. Our numbers never move! We’ve been 14% of the population for a long time. Don’t think the struggle is over yall, it’s just taken a new form, in the form of name discrimination, GPA, we have to recognize what’s going on. Oh! I am firm believer that the 14% statistic is bogus as well. I live in the mid-atlantic and there are a lot of African-Americans here, points north, south and definitely west of me. Like Mos Def said “nearly half of America’s largest cities is one-quarter black”
I have nothing but good words to say about this. Gordon Gartrell radio is Phonte of Little Brother(One of my favorite groups ever!) and DJ Brainchild…if you know about Phonte you know what this is, if not I can tell you it’s good music and some hilarious commentary and insight from the one. The only, Phontigga.
I had to follow up my previous post with another international hip hop posting. I’m watching the olympics right now so I guess it was the olympic spirit but keeping with the theme for tonight…I’m gonna keep it straight Aussie.
Her Name is Maya Jupiter, First off I gotta support the women out there regardless of country that are putting out true to the heart/self Hip hop music and keeping the culture alive. Honestly I have no idea how I found out about her, I guess I was messing around on the net and got lost in ‘internet land’. One thing though, I’ve always been about checking for hip hop in other countries, seeing what’s going on in Europe, South Africa, England, all over the world. Hip hop is so huge, I can go almost anywhere and connect with someone just because we like The roots, Jay-Z whomever and it’s not just the music, it’s the whole culture, the history, the energy. Hip hop connects people and it’s that connection that brings out the beauty of the human spirit in my opinion. While I’m on my Aussie ish, check out M.C. T.R.E.Y. Maya and MC. T.R.E.Y. are partners in rhyme and along with their DJ, DJ Nick Toth they comprise the group Foreign Heights. One of the reason I support these women not only because represent hip hop so well, but they walk the walk and talk the talk. They are involved in a number of community programs and Nuff said…check the above youtube vid.
This is my first ENJOY LIFE! Post my enjoy life post is about putting out those places and things a lot of people either have never heard of or just think about in passing thought. The point of this is to put it out there and say GO! Do it! Do the proper preparation and make it happen! As you can see It’s all about Australia!! This is a top place to see on my personal travel list. What can I say, Kangaroos, The movie ‘Shrimp on the barbie’ lol…I’ve always wanted to go to the continent of Australia. When I younger I spun the globe around in my room and I thought ‘Damn that’s far’ …no seriously I’ll be the first to say that it’s definitely not a cheap trip but definitely a trip of a lifetime. For all you all travelers, yes I said travelers not tourists there is always Hostels. So put Australia on your places to travel list, I’m not just speaking about next years summer vacation, I’m talking about your lifetime travel list. Keep your mind open.
“Hip-Hop won’t get better until the people get better
then how do people get better?”- -Mos Def
I was going to post this tomorrow for 411 Monday, which I changed to the above title ‘If ya don’t know, now ya know’ of course paying homage to the late Notorious B.I.G. or as everybody and dey momma call him Biggie. I figured with the previous post this definitely fits well. My answer to Mos Def’s question is Kevin Powell! Some may not know about Kevin Powell, but he is a Journalist, activist and has definitely been out front for the hip hop generation. Kevin Powell has written for Vibe magazine and even appeared on the very first ‘The Real World(the most real in my opinion) I support his platform and I’m not even from NYC. I found a youtube interview with him from last summer. Very well done so check it out
“
If you’re from NYC or even if you’re not please check Kevin Powell’s website, support him, he’s one more voice we will have representing and speaking for under represented people of color in the U.S. Congress. Click HERE!
I found this today while checking a site I frequent for some party/event info. Props to Fusicology.com What I’m talking about is a documentary entitled ‘Free for All’ This documentary is about the 2004 election and the questioned elections in Ohio. I am very adament about the importance of voting and making an intelligent, educated decision in selecting elected officials. So check out the documentary which not surprising is Free to watch, FREE FOR ALL Also there is organization that sprung from this documentary Video the vote Don’t let the media feed you info, think for yourselves and in the words of public enemy ‘Don’t believe the hype’
Well I’m back, got an upgraded look. Well as most people know the Olympics kicked off yesterday/last night. Whatever your time difference is. I got a chance to catch the opening ceremonies and WOW! Props to the Chinese, honestly this is the fifth Olympics that I’ve actively watched, 1992 being the first. This opening ceremony was serious! The most memorable that I can remember when comparing.The fireworks display was incredible…I guess for a country and people who invented fireworks you would expect nothing less. Before get into the blog I want to give my condolences to the Family of Bernie Mac. He died today at the age of 50. I woke up this morning and along with the John Edwards scandal(Definitely another blog) I saw this on CNN. I knew he was hospitalized with Pneumonia and it seemed he was getting better. I hope everybody keeps his family in your thoughts and prayers. We lost a very good one today.
Well this is the official launch so to speak of Yo! Check this out. I will definitely be making changes along the way, learning more and evolving, so I hope you all will continue to read. I will post as regularly as I can. I work full time, I commute so many of yall know what that’s about. In honor of the olympics I wanted to kick my blog off with some people I’ve come across in my internet travels, hearing about word of mouth. All during the olympics I’m gonna shine some light on some people I like from various countries that I think definitely deserve to be in the spotlight. First up I’m turning my attention to our neighbors to the north. I found this dude while searching for the new Kardinal Offishall mixtape. (Props to Hip Hop Canada) I’m posting two videos of his. I’m really, really feelin’ this dude. He can rhyme and I support what he’s doing. I got his mixtape and plan on getting the EP when it drops. His name is Famous hailing from Toronto, Canada aka The T dot. I have to say I been up on the canadian scene since seeing the Rascalz ‘Northern Touch’ video back when Rap City was…well truly Rap City. Peep the youtube vids.
