Books, Hip Hop culture, and everything else in between...

oh yeah.. some relevant ish
i ran into a fellow poetess on the internet.. she is mad cool.. check her familia out..
her daily journal (she loves to leave out the fleshy details...) is on point with thousands of personality tests that she does on her self..her name is Alfie...

oh yeah my wife Yetunde will kill me if i don't big her up.. she has her own business. check aqui it is all natural. now IT WILL NOT HEAL YOUR SKIN PROBLEMS. it's just that it is all homemade natural stuff...
she also has an online journal . man we all do.. but here it is for ms. naijawoman

anyone else?

some good ass questions:

1. why don't "black" radio play Les Nubiennes....?
2. is it really "black" radio if almost all of it's advertisers are white?
3. why don't Jesse Jackson give it up?
4.why doesn't know one konw that weldon Irvine passed away?
5. why is it that no one is refuting Rep Cynthia Mckinney's claims instead of attacking her character or political party? (Big up Rep Mckinney, we got your back)
6. how come ain't no one sweating JAGUAR?
7. when will my daughter get off the breast milk!!!???? (had to throw that in there..)
8. do people actually think that Fabolous is dope? (why the hell does he spell his name in EVERY SONG?)
9. anyone like the NEPTUNES "rock star?" ( i do)

that's all folks

posted by Brother OMi @ 4:06 PM 0 comments links to this post

(i know i am slow...) part IV

I ran into the DJ room to check up on the sisters from the N.A.A.C.P. they were working and having a good time. this one sister named Stephanie was really serious about her work. she was actually checking people's wristbands. for a minute i thought she would check mine.. but she did not.

I noticed this one sister who i joked on earlier (NO, i did not flirt, i joke with EVERYONE...male, female, old, young, ugly, fine..etc) kept popping up where ever i went. she wore this tight khaki's. she kept licking her lips. i had to laugh or was i imagining things. in the meantime i plugged the Uhuru Cultural Center's Afrikan ensemble's performance the next day at Military Circle Mall. we were going to play capoeira.

i headed back to the food court of the building to find out what was going on with the battle. i headed near some lockers and saw some youngbloods b-boying again. i went into the cipher and started rocking some nice footwork. they had to give it up. i was feeling this time.. someone was playing some James Brown...."President" as a matter of fact save our money, just like the mob...!Q damn, James Brown was so gangsta back then...

i went into some dope floor rock. (you might need a dictionary for this)... i rocked a nice handstand freeze. tapped my chest with my right hand. then i went into a chair...then i turned it into a nice baby... they HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO GIVE IT UP...

as i stood to catch my breath...this white cat who looked just like my man in American Pie (the cat who drank the sperm in the beer and who got pee'ed on in part II) started talking to me. you can tell he was high.

"hey dude, you rasta?"
"nah," i responded looking puzzled...i was not wearing a tam.
"i saw your wristband" he pointed out. I could tell he was high on something. he was talkinga mile a minute. "i thought you was rasta, i can preach rasta, dude. man i can preach rasta..."
"this is RED BLACK AND GREEN, man, " i answered sarcastically "THE BANDERA YA TAIFA"
"oh, you right dude," he responded as if he really knew, "but i can preach rasta"

at that point he went into his whole life story. he got to the point in which he was able to explain how he got to the spot he was standing at RIGHT THEN AND THERE.
he was talking so fast and i was glad he was...all i could pick up behind all the loud music and his escasty backed jargon was "NAgs Head, " "Palm Beach" and "Rasta."
i was praying that someone would come and save me from this cat, even Jesus.. or HAY-SOOS or whatever those Xians call him nowadays. i was itching for a brawl actually, but this cat was just being nice. he was not hostile. he had a glass jaw, too i can tell. i knew i could take him. then he asked me "where is the techno music?"

i offered to take him there. as i walked away from the cipher, the young lady with the tight khaki's popped up again... she smiled and licked her lips again. i just shook my head.

i got him to the spot and he eagerly shook my hand. "THANKS DUDE.. i thought you was rasta... but you know i can preach rasta right? man i can preach rasta?

"aight man..." I said cutting him off. "take it easy..." i was glad he was out of my hair. Betsy, my trustworthy camera was still in my bag...not yet , woman , not yet.
as soon as i rounded the corner, there she was again. this time she did not actually see me. i walked behind some tall basketball playing cats. so she did not see me

ROUND III finally came .

it was in the main room of the North Cafeteria.
Chase Chad of the NEPTUNES and Lee Harvey of N*E*R*D was there (he is mad stuck up...i wanted to put on a ski mask and show him the fifth element of hip-hop) they were judging as well. so we had about 6 judges.

it was CREW NAME and BOCA.. it was intense...
to be honest, my scores were originally ties. cause both crews gave it their all. NOT until Ready Rawk, this pinoy cat from VA beach, did a handstand freeze, then started to bounce on his hands.. while bouncing on his hands he started to kick his legs back and forth. he looked like he was going for a rebound upside down....then while doing all that. he put his left hand in the air and started swinging it.. he looked like he was butchering someone for a rebound upside down.. then he SWITCHED ARMS and did the same thing... OH IT AIN'T OVER. he dropped to his right forearm supporting his entire body which stood straight up AND BOUNCED AGAIN while swinging his left arm...
the crown flipped....

the winner was CREW NAME .. for $500...!!!!

mad daps were exchanged even though a few minutes before that both crews were cursing each other out and grabbing crouches and doing those air "blow jobs"
once again i have to give all the crews props. ROUND II was done IN THE DARK with some gay music that was provided but the sound men. we could not set up DJ PROBLEMATIK at that time.

at that time i Pulled out BETSY ... the first cat i took a picture of was JUNELL. then i went to work. i asked some b-boys to do some freezes for me. they were happy to do them. i took some pics of some artwork that was out there. some cat, who had no name on his artwork did some neat tags on a desk. he had a decent pic of CHe Guevara on there.

soon as i get them scanned i will post them...

i headed over to the Urban Safari section to watch some poets get on there. this cat named LAW was freestyling. he was killing it.
then i saw Jey ONe come in with his stuff. i have not seen this cat in like a year. he and i and few other brothers (Problematik and Seek ONe) had an internet radio show a few years back. I hung out with him as he spun some early 90's hip-hop. it was dope

then guess who pops up shaking her thing to the Smif N Wessun "Sound Boy Buriel" track? yup, shorty with the tight khaki pants...i had to laugh again. but i did a quick evade manuever while giving this one brother i knew some dap... i was even able to take some pics of Jey One with his trademark middle finger...he need to bronze that ish.

i headed back out and learned that the Fuzz band was playing.. i love them so... check them again

it's funny cause i always sat that most back up singers are stuck up . the Fuzz band has SOME BEAUTIFUL back up singers. ONE OF THEM ACTUALLY WAVED at me. i was like "you talking to me" and she nodded... i had to laugh. but of course i waved back..

after a quick prayer, they started rocking. Cabana Blaq, their lead singer can sing...damn he got skills. at one point on the DL, the band started playing that Bobbi Humphries joint.. you know the one Tip sampled for "Sucka Nigga" ? i think me and this one cat were the only ones to pick it up. i played the "air bass" and he peeped that. he was like "AHHHH! you hear that." i was like "YUP"

then i ran over to see SEED is perform. this band is my heart. HANDS DOWN if it was not for them i NEVER WOULD HAVE MET MY WIFE. so i had to show some love. and they bring the funk!!!

i ran into my girl DIISHA (pronounced DA-ISHA)... so we danced. I don't know where she got her rhythm from cause before she did not have it...

when they were done, i talked to my man Dog face (he plays the congas) he was interested in playing capoeira. we caught up for a few minutes and had to leave cause of 5-0...

i ran into my man Evidence .. he was locked up for like two years. i used to write him. it's ill cause we ended up going to this afterparty at this cuban cats house on 26th st.

but more on that later...

posted by Brother OMi @ 2:56 PM 0 comments links to this post

ALL SKOOL part III

after the 2nd round we had two crews left (i know i said it before) : Crew Name and B.O.C.A. it was going to be very close. BOCA only had three members and Crew Name had four. but both were out to take names. they all knew each other and at one time, they were just one crew. But i guess internal politics guess the best of all of us.

i walked around a little bit more.. More white folks were asking if i needed any help...

posted by Brother OMi @ 12:50 PM 0 comments links to this post

ALL SKOOL Part II

after Round I of the B-boy battle, I walked around running into people i have not seen in awhile. THere was Ben .. this cool cat who used to run hamptonroadshiphop.com (it's not there anymore so don't go looking...) It was good to see him. he moved to Ohio (of all places...)

I went to this other DJ room, where they played Hip-hop. this one cat (you can find his stuff here ) had some computer monitors that he bombed. it looked cool. i took mad flicks of that. I kept running into sisters who gave me the eye. I would just smirk (hey, i got a chance to act stuck up. i am a ROCK STAR like the Neptunes...heh heheh )

I ran into Yusef... a good friend of mine who moved back to Pittsburgh after he graduated. he cut his locks (something alot of people have been doing lately). He seemed real happy. It's been about a year since i have seen him. we did the usual small talk:

"yO! how you been!"
"cool. aight. peace. dope (fill in what you would say here --------)"

i wanted to sit down and build with him for a moment , but all kinds of people were asking me all kinds of things. IT WAS THE BADGE that read "ALL SKOOL PERFORMER" only a few of us had that badge. even though i was not performing anything really (i wanted to do some poetry at Urban Safari's function at ALLSKOOL) and i was going to B-boy for a moment) but i got one anyway...

"Yo I Self! where is this at?"
Yo, Dan Tres, where can i find this ?"
"Yo have you heard my new CD?"
"Hey you still want to write for us?"
"Yo, is Tanika single? hook me up.."
"Yo, who was that shorty you was talking too...?"


(these are just some of the questions that were asked)

i hung out with DJ Midday (man i am so cool) for a while. we discussed his upcoming mix cd release.. he said it will be on June 10th.. i think. things started to get packed at the point. I was asked to come back and frisk people. i had to laugh at that. i worked security before. but i only had to frisk people ONE time. it was ill cause we had a young lady frisking the females but some women came to my line. i kept saying "hey i don't mind..."

after that i went into a b-boy cipher... as i came in the youngbloods had no choice but to give an older god props. i had to show them HOW TO b-BOY.. you know the top rock, floor rock and then a freeze. the whole package minus the power move (i let the young bloods do that...) mad APPLAUSE... !!!! i cannot front, it keeps the blood flowing. and it feels good to konw that even at 29 , i still got it.

i had my camera, Betsy. althought she is on her last leg, i still use her. she has a few months left in her. but i waited to use it.

Frodo Baggins moved Round II of the battle at 9:30... we were running behind on Round I so we only had to time to finish it up and not continue into the next round. THe cat in charge of ALL SKOOL refused to extend the ROund III time so we had to jump into the next round....

TO BE CONTINUED...

posted by Brother OMi @ 8:10 PM 0 comments links to this post

all around the world and back again....all i want is peace of mind...

man allskool was HOT



It was not only the fact that the best artists of VA were there, but i ran into so many people that i have not seen in so long. anyway, before i go ANY further ...here are SOME of the people that were there:


Urban S.A.F.A.R.I. check www.oyaxclusive.com

infectious check www.infectiousorganisms.com

seedis check www.seedis.com

the FUZZ band check www.cyberfuzz.com

Rahzel the Godfather of NOize check www.okayplayer.com


and many others.
such as DJ Problematik (zulu!!!) , Jey ONe. it was mad fun



(this carrot juice my wife made is

posted by Brother OMi @ 2:38 AM 0 comments links to this post

had to change up.. it was a repeat. sorry

posted by Brother OMi @ 5:01 PM 0 comments links to this post

here is some old stuff from March (please bear with me, i will be jumping back and forth... like in those confusing movies):

02 Mar 2002
I could not wait to get off of work. It was our born day celebration (for Yejide and I). She was born on March 1st. This will be her first one. It will be my 29th. I still feel like I am 19. We invited a lot of people.
3:18pm
I get home to see Yetunde and Yejide waiting on me in the kitchen. Yejide went into a fit of laughter. She tried to bury her head in her mother's breasts. She is at the age where she believes that if she can't see me, then she is hiding. I find that to be so funny. We may find that to be childish, but many of us continue to use this idea. You know that out of sight, out of mind thing we love to kick around?
Anyway, Yetunde had finished baking a cake. Actually, she baked two cakes. She is a wonderful cook. "Akoye Sankofa and Lah are coming over to work on the computer before the party starts," she said, "how was work?"
"Glad it's over," I replied, "that's cool that they are coming over early. We get a chance to bug out."
I was very excited about the party. Gatherings at our house are big events. We normally get over 40 people. The food and vibe is great. This one would be better since it was in honor of me! Or should I say us?
8:15 PM
The party was in full swing. We went ahead and poured libation and I went to opening up the presents. Yejide was given so many toys. It was great. My library was made a little big bigger. Eugenio took pictures with Problematik's digital camera. Technology ain't no joke! We listened to some very wack CD's to get people's opinions. (They will remain nameless...but if you want to know who, email me!) Then we watched Spunk get booed for 60 seconds at the 1st annual ODU MC Battle. After that we watched Bishop Eye of the Jhunippuz Elite make a fool out of himself. We joked on Brandon aka Frodo Baggins on his 137 mile per hour speeding ticket. He did not get locked up either. JUST IMAGINE, a 19-year-old black man in a 2002 Beemer doing 137 miles and hour and he did not get locked up! I guess we are making some progress.
After everyone ate, the brothers and I went to the attic to play some Capoiera Angola.
Pele accidentally kicked Rasheed in the eye. He could not play anymore. Pele was hit in the lip with a water bottle (don't ask how that happened....) but he was able to play. People did not start piling out until about 11:15pm. A few brothers stated around so that we could watch MAATKARA on scifi.com. Modern Technology ain't no joke.
I said that already, right?
3 Mar 2002
My actual born day. Yejide woke me up that morning. She is so cheerful in the morning. I guess all that sleep and nursing would keep a child content. She, like her mother, is so beautiful in the morning. They both make me very happy. I could have stayed in bed with both of them all day. (We will have to work on removing Yejide from our bed. This is getting real old. Mom and dad want to get busy again...)
My dad called and we talked for a minute. Trying to get an email address from him was like trying to take Yejide off the breast, DIFFICULT. So his nephew took mine. I hope he can figure out how to send an email.
I stayed at home and then headed to Norfolk State University with Yetunde and Yejide for the Divine Techtonics open mic. A few of us were slated to play capoeira for the crowd. I could not wait. Atumpan was performing. L.evation was featuring (you know that it was going to be funny... we call L.evation Mr. Smoothie and all).
Yejide was clapping the whole time. We started late (as usual), but Hamza performed. He did a great job. Man, that brother is straight fire. Atumpan came afterwards. Akoye Sankofa told a story in my honor. I wanted to cry.
Then we came. Man, Pele and I looked sharp. We played Angola first. On my second go around, Pele slipped so I had to slip. It still looked sweet. But I really wanted to rock this move. Cerrone and Eugenio played okay. Once again Cerrone was funny in his clumsiness. We did a great job (I shouldn't brag huh?). The crowd loved us and would not stay in their seats.
What a birthday...!

04 March 2002
Return to the plantation. You know my 9 to 5. But it's a living so I should not complain, it could be much worse. When I got home, we got a chance to see Yejide take some real steps. She can make it to about 4 or 5 steps before she gives up. She only does it with people present. When it's Yetunde and I, she acts as if we will always pick her up. She has yet to grow any teeth. When she smiles she looks like someone's cute grandma. It is so funny.
I wish Xavier was here to see it.
Mentu Hotep and his queen came by. I have not seen that brother in months. He brought me mad presents. He got me a Darth Maul figure (collector's item ya'll) and Star Wars Trivia. Oh, it's on. Unfortunately, there are not too many Star Wars buffs in our circle. It's just Mentu, Style , and myself. We will work it out. They brought Yejide a another bike-thingy. Which is cool. Now she can have one for going outside with and one she can use in the house. How convenient!
That night, Elevation asked me to go to a Creative Writing Class at Norfolk Preparatory. He scheduled me a week before, but I had just recovered from a stomach virus and did not want to pass it on. I had performed at Norfolk Prep in December. The crowd was difficult. The world-renowned poet Tim Siebles read his stuff to the deafening noise of the Norfolk Prep crowd. People brought their newborns to a Christmas/Kwanzaa show there. I was mad at them for not paying attention. So I had to represent. I quickly caught their attention. They were quiet the whole time I was on stage.
This time I was supposed to do some poetry and speak to a small class. It was very intimate. There were about four teenage males there. The teacher pretty much let Cleveland and I do what we want. So I started off with a freestyle. I had each student give me a word and rhymed for about 6 to 7 minutes. Then we started discussing books. I gave them quick excerpts of my life. They were very enthused. They actually enjoyed my poetry. One of the students was a bass player for a local group, so we immediately connected. They asked if I had any material. I felt bad at that point. Since I am still working on my chapbook with it's many delays.
I went home very content. Working with young people fortifies my resolve in helping with the liberation of our people. It is good to be reassured that our young people are not as bad as certain individuals and organizations will have us thinking. The downside of it all is that the school system really sucks. Norfolk Prep is for young people that are having academic problems in school. I don't find that this approach really helps the situation. A few hours each night of school instruction will not remedy the time they could spend in day school. Then again, day school hours are meager compared to the school hours of private schools and schools outside of the country. Yet what can we expect if we pay our teachers crumbs. I explained to each of those students that our teachers are one of our valuable assets. We need to respect them and appreciate them. I talked about the many teachers that helped me along the way. It actually turned into a serious discussion. The students even agreed with me.
05 March 2002
Yetunde had to speak at a Natural Beauty Lecture hosted by the Black Student Alliance at Old Dominion University. I went with her to watch Yejide. I had to drop off a flyer I designed for the Latino Student Alliance for a function they are having on March 30th, 2002. While there I ran into Frodo and a friend of his. We talked for a minute.
I headed back to the lecture to find a heavyset sister discussing hair care. It was ironic to see a sister discussing perms and weaves at a Natural Beauty lecture. Then they had my wife (who wears locks) come up and discuss the advantages of going natural. Yes, I laughed about it, too. The heavyset sister agreed with my wife about how important it is to eat healthy since this will effect your hair and skin, yet she gave no tips on how to do that or pointed out how it effects it.
When Yetunde went up to speak, Yejide started one of her "where is my mommy going" fits. So I took her outside. Frodo was out there with his partner. He wanted me to read this letter he was writing to the school paper about hip-hop culture. I was impressed. I told him that I really liked it and I am glad he represented the culture. That is when I learned that he is the president of the ODU Urban Dance Club, a group that promotes B-boying. Originally the name was the ODU B-boy Club. They had an office and everything.
Down the hall from us was a bible study. Matter of fact, to get to the Bible study, you had to pass by us since we stood in the hallway talking. So when we would find someone who looked lost, we asked them if they were looking for the bible study. Frodo began asking me questions about the Bible. This being an issue I never pass up. I asked him if he read the scriptures I gave him the other night (at my house we discussed how numerous scriptures in the bible state that we are gods). He said he did and he actually debated someone about it. He said he was successful.
We talked about the Bible for a minute (we were very loud and many people who walked by us cringed at our statements). They left after a few minutes. I sat in the seminar for a minute and then headed to the Student Activities offices. I ran into Frodo again. This time he was with Vizion, another ahki from our Zulu Nation chapter and vice president of the same organization Frodo is in charge of. We discussed how certain idiotic organizations paid $16,000 to bring Mr. Cheeks to ODU. I could not believe it. We joked about that for a minute. We discussed reading and even threw around some book titles. I noticed the time and had to head back. When I got there, Yetunde was packing up.

06 March 2002
Wednesdays are capoeira nights for us. We play at the Uhuru Cultural Center. A few brothers and I take young people between the ages of 4 and 8 and instruct them. We ask for donations and give them all to the center. When class is over we play for another hour or so. It is real fun and family like. Some days we play real rough and full contact, and sometimes we just play to impress.
Capoeira is an amazing martial art. You have to play it in it's entirety. It is African in every sense. You can't help but to feel camaraderie even with the opponent. Brother Jay brought a whole mob of young folks. They were funny in their own little ways.
It's amazing how quickly children take to capoeira. They suck it all in. They are eager and waiting to learn the next movement. I wish I could show them much more, but I am still young in capoeira.
Brother Jay picks up young brothers in his neighborhood and takes them under his wing. He is like an unofficial mentor. Many of these children have bright futures. Yet their environment is known to quench their fire. It is our duty to help.

07 March 2002
I stayed home with la familia. I was supposed to go to Etymology, an open mic at ODU, but I decided to stay at home with Yetunde and Yejide. It's been awhile since we just all stayed home. I actually went to bed very early. I finished up an article for this on line women's magazine. I finished it a week before, but never proofed it. So I edited the piece and sent it. Once again, technology ain't no joke.
Yejide is getting so big. She is so funny. Yetunde received some old pictures of her when she was child in Nigeria. Her aunt in London sent them to her. Yejide looks so much like her! Then again, I always felt that way. Yetunde was such a pretty child. She looked so regal in her garb and mini-purse.

posted by Brother OMi @ 7:06 AM 0 comments links to this post

i must say this before i GO to work...

much respect and condolences to Left Eye's family. BUT she was not all that. call me cruel, call me uncaring. a loss of life is tragic especially under the circumstances in which she met her demise. BUt let's not toot the horn too loud.

She did nothing to better our predicament. okay she had a few good hit songs. the group broke up anyway.

Why didn't everyone cry when Dr. Betty Shabazz die? why didn't know one cry with Phoolan Devi was murdered?

WAKE UP PEOPLE?

did you know that Weldon Irvine passed away ?

I love ya'll for real (african people) .... but we focus on too much nonsense. at this point in history, we cannot waste time pussyfooting over nonsense.
we have a nation to raise ya'll. BUlletproof love to Assata SHakur, Sundiata Acoli and Dr. Mutulu Shakur

also to Fred Hampton Jr, who is now amongst us...

posted by Brother OMi @ 7:02 AM 0 comments links to this post

oh yeah

Who am I ?

some call me I Self Ra...
some call me Dan Tres OMi...

my son and daughter call me Daddy
my mother calls me Danny

and i been all around the world and back again all i want is peace of mind

do me a favor... check out my wife's page http://taiwosoaps.0catch.com/

she has her own businesss. yeah, put food on our table...

posted by Brother OMi @ 6:57 AM 0 comments links to this post

the first one... the Genesis

here i go:

I write too much.. i am currently writing my Chronicles of a Hip-Hop Dad , my daughter's journal, and various other projects. I also host a yahoo groups listserve. Not to mention my poetry. I will post some of these in the future...

it is early. i am currently listening to the BUsh Babees featuring De La Soul and Mos Def

"I've been all around the world and back again, all i want is peace of mind"

today i have a BUSY day..

Just a day in the life...

8:00 am work on the plantation
2:30 pm capoeira in the park with my cronies
5:30 pm I have to host a b-boy battle

the rest of the night: PARTY at ALLSKOOL concert

WE GET LOVE....

posted by Brother OMi @ 6:54 AM 0 comments links to this post