DL Hughley--a traitor to the race? But, what's race?

Not really sure what to think of this. I grew up on DL Hughley, so I"m used to his brand of comedy. I don't think he should have told this Rutgers joke on Jey Leno perhaps though.



Here's DL reaction to a protest against him in Fort Worth Texas



I don't know if I'm for free speech, honestly. I know that I got some shit to say, and I want to be able to say it, but I wish some people could just shut the fuck up.

Here's my short list of people who should shut the fuck up:

1. George Bush--Just shut the fuck up already. Spend these last few months of your reign on the free world trying to beat level 3 in Pac Man. He's the type of guy to try to get one last hurrah in before he bounces. Ehem, Iran. Cough.

2. Miss Jones (Hot 97 personality)-- Bitch, shut the fuck up. And you know I mean it, cuz I never call women bitches to their face. I can't take your cackling, chicken head behavior on the radio anymore.

3. The Street Pharmacists on my corner-- Sorry, I don't want to buy hard drugs from you at this intersection. And yeah the chick next to me who looks like she could be my moms, is my moms. And she don't want none either.

4. Everybody, sometimes-- Sometimes, everybody need to shut the fuck up.

Old School Video of The Week--"Jesus Walks"

Okay, this video ain't that old, and I'm not big on the white Jesus myth. But hey, it's Easter, and moms made macaroni pie. What better way to commemorate the rising of Christ than this video? (maybe some gospel, perhaps)

Some random shit that needed to be said. By me, anyways...

1. I'm not a fan of reality television, but I watch the hell out of it. I peeped how at the end of VH1 commercials, a quiet voice says, "Watch and Discuss". Reminds me of the old popcorn scent in the movie theater trick. Subliminal messages y'all, watch out!

All that aside, I watched Making the band 4 this weekend. And I REALLY want to smash out that chick Aubrey of Danity Kane. The one with the silver pum-pum shorts. I would also give honorable mention to D. Woods, who would also get it. It is simply part of a man's nature to survey a group of women, and pick who you would/would not smash out. Which leads me to say that Shannon looks horrible with that blonde hairstyle. I would've smashed her in that redhead 'do.

What brought me to this conclusion about Aubrey though was minute 2:04 of this video below. As Lennon once said, Imagine.




2. The black nihilist in me makes it difficult to accept the Obamania sweeping the nation. If he is even 10% as genuine as he comes off, then we will have a better leader for this country. Peep his extremely well-crafted speech on race, given yesterday:



3. Lebron James will be the best player. Ever. If it isn't Kobe.

Fuck Jordan with his elitist ass. I heard he used to fuck Janet Jackson at every All-Star game. Props for that. Should've fucked her at the Super Bowl that year.

4. Nothing can look, smell, taste, and feel better than a woman. A nagging woman, however, sounds like Lee press on nails on a chalkboard.

5. Family is the most important thing. To me.

6. The hood NEEDS to stop smoking Dutches and Newports.

7. As sick as I am of these so-called rap beefs, Papoose REALLY went in on Fat Joe in "A Fair One". That section about Joe reppin the South now instead of the BX is, well, true. Shit was a bit long(7 minutes plus), but this is how beefs should go down. On wax, not Photoshop.



8. Eliot Spitzer. Ha. Karma is a bad bitch, ain't she? I would've smashed Kristin, if she wasn't a WHORE. And a whore who charges 4 G's. Bananas. But, playing Devil's advocate, I guess a $10 DC prostitute isn't the most appealing sight to see.

9. Buddha was black. Yeah, that Buddha. Had cornrows and everything. Check for yourself. And just because someone is accredited by fucking Harvard, Yale, or Princeton, doesn't mean he/she is not a scholar. Maybe what their research proves is that these institutions have largely based their assumed superiority on a web of lies meant to support white supremacy.

10. Haile Selassie I is a direct descendant of King Solomon and David. He ruled Ethiopia, the only African nation to not be conquered by Europe. Ever. More on that later...

Selling The Dream! Are promoters of Hip Hop showcases taking advantage of MC's?

I came across this ad on Craigslist and was really bothered by it. So much so, I decided to blog about it.

"If you are a real rapper a real singer a real comedian and real poet.come to the sultana lounge located in williamsburg brooklyn on 160 n.4 street bedford ave.event hosted by chocolate thai.music by dj keith.to perform is $30.to come and enjoy the show $15.for more info call"

I understand the get money mentality and all that. I understand brothers are out here grinding and hustling and what not. Some things just aren't what's up though. I kind of feel like the guy from "Shame on you" in writing this but the truth of the matter is that these showcase promoters have gotten out of control. I can understand an Open mic, you pay your little $5 or $10, get on stage and do your little 1,2 thing. It's gotten kind of crazy with the showcases though, I mean I've seen promoters charging dudes up to $500 dollars to perform at a showcase. Sometimes they'll pay some old washed up rapper like Tracy Lee of "It's party time" fame to host the show. Like he can do something for your career they'll try to charge you because he's there.They say things like, A&Rs will be there with ink in their pens and, "if you're serious about your career" to G you out of your hard earned money. Sometimes they'll give you tickets you can sell and make your money back from, sometimes not even that is done. In the event that the artists are given tickets, most of the time the tickets go to friends and family that have already seen them perform a million times. They end up paying $500 to perform in front of their friends and family and a club full of other rappers with their friends and family. The promoters like to call that exposure. I beg to differ, a lot of times the people that come with the artist aren't fans of music like that. They're there to support a friend or family member. A artist can perform live on 42nd street and come off better than rocking at these showcases. Most of these promoters don't promote to music fans because they feel it's a waste of time. They believe everyone is trying to be an artist so their aim is to capitalize off of that, which is but isn't cool. If I put up an ad that read, "Come rap for a room full of rappers" how many niggahs would reply to that? Beyond that, the showcases are garbage. The promoters will book any act that has the money to pay to perform. That usually leads to a line up of garbage acts who have money but no talent. In the event that a Hip Hop fan pops up at one of these shows, they're usually thoroughly disappointed, then when they're invited to the next show they think it's going to be trash and don't show up. I can agree with a lot of promoters on the note that a lot of artists are lazy and don't promote. These artists will just show up, perform, and go home. At the same time they're promoters, their job is to promote. The artists job is to perform and give a good show. Since the promoters are the ones seeing 100% of the profits, what's the incentive for the artist to promote?

A note to artists out there, DON'T DO IT!, don't support these promoters. Spend your money where it matters and that's not on these showcases, trust me, you'll thank me in the long run.

Old School Video of The Week--"The Points"--Panther Soundtrack

What ever happened to the best rappers actually getting on a track together? I came up on shit like "Symphony", "Down the Line", "Scenario". In honor of BIG, I had to rock another joint with him on it.

The Greatest Rapper of All Time...

Real recognize real. I can honestly say that BIG never, NEVER spit a wack verse. EVER. How much of Biggies rhymes gon come out our fat lips. As many as we can spit out.

One of my favorite groups, The Dugout, did a Biggie tribute last year, and they have reposted it for y'all.

The Dugout's Biggie Tribute

Free Download--StarPower's "The Petting Zoo"

This mixtape sounds much more like an album to me. Simply fantastic lyricism over some really ill beats. StarPower of The Dugout is by far one of The Barber's favorite emcees, and I'm always geeked to get new material from him. I reposted his blog with the link to the FREE album.

************** **************** ************ ******************************

The Petting Zoo--written by StarPower, produced by Bullion

copy and paste this link, then follow the simple instructions:

http://www.zshare.net/download/755142891f6b3e/

Though I know it's worth at least $10, its creation was an act of salvation for me. I dealt with some issues I didn't know I needed to deal with through these songs, which were all created in one day. The reason I was able to do that, was I didn't worry about any of the typical album or song pre-conceptions; I didn't dwell on song structure, content, revision, or anything like that, b/c I never intended to make a whole c.d. It was all unplanned in that way. I just sat down and wrote until I was exhausted, or I grabbed an old rhyme and worked it in, and then made the decision to record all of it 'as is,' also in one day. As it turned out, as a whole, it sounded pretty cohesive.

No doubt, that was helped by the fact that all of the beats were provided by a producer I've never met, a continent away, who didn't make the beats for me, or even for anyone to rap over at all. And the fact that he made them all from sampling Beach Boys songs, gave them a certain kind of emotion that probably subconsciously dictated what I was writing. In all, there are 12 songs, none longer than 2 min 30 seconds, because that's how the producer made the tracks (told you it wasn't your traditional music). You mayhave heard some of it on MySpace, Facebook, or at a show but most of it has been stashed away. I have a bunch more brutally honest, wickedly candid, songs and stories for you to listen, dance, think, and nod to. Songs about the aftermath of cheating, erectile dysfunction, the significance of your wardrobe, fleeing the government on a giant chronic leaf, media influence and more. These are words you need in your life that you won't get from anyone else. And I'm giving 'em to you for free. All I ask is that you spread the word if you feel it, and hopefully you might wanna even buy my debut album, "Problem Of The Day" (available at Itunes, Cdbaby.com, and my coat pocket).

Old School Video of The Week--Beat Street Battle @ The Roxy

If you want to know what I'm about, peep this right here. I used to watch Beat Street EVERY day. I mean EVERY day.

Pimp C may have died from an overdose

News sources have revealed that Chad Butler, better known as Pimp C of UGK, may have died from a combination of sleep apnea and an overdose of cough syrup. Much respect to Bun B for appearing on Fox News and speaking so intelligently and candidly on his fallen brother.



I can't help but think that rappers(and urban culture in general) are really going off the deep end with this drug shit. Sure we are powerful beyond measure, but we are not invincible.