With less than a week till the most important Election of the 21st century so far. Obama’s presence is alreadly being discussed across the Atlantic Ocean with our European brethren/Sisthren of African descent. Will there be a Presidential candidate that is the equalivent of what Sen. Obama is here in the U.S. The French might be next in line…or are they ready? Peep the article below
Paris – Black Europeans are delighted that Democrat Barack Obama appears poised to make US political history but few dare hope that one of their own will match his achievement any time soon.
For some, Obama’s achievement in becoming the first African-American with a real shot at the White House, has simply underlined how far Europe’s minority populations are from winning a seat at the top tables of power.
“Here the whole system gets in the way. In France, people are much more conservative,” said Haitian-born Massaryk Duclos, whose Paris store sells a range of T-shirts emblazoned with Obama’s image.
Nearby, a dreadlocked friend with an Obama badge pinned to his US-style baseball cap ahead of the November 4, US presidential elections snorted at the very idea of a French black candidate. “It’s not the same culture here,” he laughed. Click here for the Full story
It’s cold…at least where I am here in MD. Soooooo, I wanted to think about warmer climates, this being the hip hop site that is; Why not combine the two. Warm Weather and good hip hop music. I’m taking it back with this one, this is for my rap city heads(I don’t think Yo! MTV raps was up on this) The west coast collective Heiroglyphics, Classic song ‘You never know’
Now with all the pseudo 80’s stuff going on now and days…I can’t fake, it makes me reminsce about my younger days. For some reason my generation absorbed a lot in the 80’s/early 90’s because across the board we remember a whole lotta stuff. I’m going to be dropping videos from my child hood all the way up to eeehhhh I’ll say high school, mostly elementary/middle though.Get your stone washed denim jackets out! All my 80’s babies this is for yall, oh and dem older folk too LOL. Here’s the one, the only…AL B. SURE.
If you are unfamiliar with this site…in the oh so famous words of Clinton Sparks ‘Get Familiar!’ This is fashion, fashion and more fashion and from the streets. People that personsify an excellent sense of style, who are cutting edge. The Sartorial List
I was watching CNN International this morning and I saw the show GPS with Fareed Zakaria(yes I’m a CNN junkie) One of his guests was Queen Rania of Jordan. She has long championed women’s rights, educational issues and is dedicated to educating people about Muslims, Arabs and bringing general understanding of the ‘Middle East’ Here’s her official website
Okay if yall don’t know about Joy Denalane peep some of the older posts on international hip hop. She got profiled on there. Let’s see, I found about Joy back in August ‘06′ on Okayplayer(props to Okayplayer) I heard some tracks off the then unfamiliar to me artist. I was like ‘damn, she can sing’ then I left it alone…fast forward about 6 months. One of my homegirls had posted something about Joy on her myspace page. I was like oh! Yeah, lemme check her out again. I ain’t gonna lie, I did a quick search, found the album Born and Raised and it changed my outlook!! I burned it to a CD and had the joint playing in my car straight for about 3 months, plus it was on my MP3 player. I took it another step further and downloaded her German live album ‘Mamani Live’ played that out as well! I don’t even speak German!! Question here is of course Why hasn’t she blown up? Artists make there way across the Atlantic Ocean on numerous occasions. What’s up! Since copping Born and Raised, Mamani Live and paying for the original Mamani album(yes a German language CD, I dropped money on) I’ve been telling absolutely everybody about her. Like ‘Yo check this out’(pun intended) I let them hear the album and honestly everybody has said the same thing. ‘She’s nice, why isn’t she out over here?’
I know Q-tip explained it so eloquently saying ‘Rule # 4080…Record company people shady’ but are you serious, if you haven’t peeped the two videos yet, please do. I’m quite sure there are plans for her to make moves over here but when she does people are going to be a little disappointed as to why they are just hearing about her.
She can definitely do well over here, first because she can sing and second she’s ‘different’ her background will instantly draw people in. Most people don’t care where you’re from especially on the R&B tip as long as you can put out quality music. After finally coming down from European high consisting of Germany as well as France, one, there are artists, clothes, even food us Americans are missing out on and second, what we do over here is big and prevelant over there! You just don’t know how big hip hop/R&B/Soul/Reggae is until see it’s impact in a foreign country. I hope Joy Denalane’s music will reach the American people soon because she is too talented for our country to miss out on completely.
I’m watching Iconoclasts on the Sundance Channel right now. It’s the season premiere with none other than Bishop Desmond Tutu and Sir Richard Branson(What a duo!!) They were talking about a group of basically real life super heros. They started this organization called The Elders, whose main purpose to speak up and intervene diplomatically in conflicts around the world. That’s power!! I’m talking Nelson Mandela, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Former President Jimmy Carter, basically taking wisdom and saying what your grandparents said ‘Stop all dat foolishness, sit down and act like you got some sense’ What a wonderful concept injecting wisdom from world leaders into major events because they can say literally ‘We’ve been there’ Respect to the utmost!!!
If yall don’t know, you’re about to. I have no idea how I found out about Amanda Diva but its been woooo probably like two years ago now. She is doing the dag gone thang! I love supporting my people and especialy sistas(yes the way it’s spelled) like her. She has an online show Diva speak TV that I check just about every week. Honestly she inspired me to get my blog up and running. She was on Def Poetry, had a satellite radio show, she is hip hop to the core. Oh! She paints, sings, raps, does the poetry and is HILARIOUS. Peep her blog
Here is the latest episode of her online show Diva Speak TV and one of my favorite songs from her. Enjoy and don’t forget to support the sista, she’s an independent artist and you get her stuff straight from her myspace She represents what hip hop is and what hip hop should be, inspiration, fun and straight from the heart!
