"there ain't enough dancing that'll get us out of bondage"
     - Black Thought of the Roots
 
What a busy weekend. Almost no sleep (til brooklyn! remember that?)  until Sunday evening. I had to work the 3rd shift on Friday night. I got a chance to build with a brother who owns a book store (All Shackles Off in Norfolk, VA --- corner of Azalea Garden and Princess Anne Road -- behind the bank of Hampton Roads) .
 
We discussed black academia and hip-hop. Two of my favorite subjects. We talked about particular scholars such as Thomas Sowell, John McWhorter and Cornel West. We even tore down Michelle Malkin.  We discussed how we need more scholars in more fields that are on our side instead of dividing us. Of course we praised George M. James and folks like him. Without him we would not be doing what we do.
 
We were getting into the topic of the 50 Greatest MCs. He bugged out when i told him that i don't think there should be a list like that yet. I feel that there have not been 50 Great MCs yet. I also pointed out that Tupac and Biggie are not great MCs. I explained that Tupac was not really a good writer when it came to hip-hop music. His lyrics were simple and displayed no wit. Tupac's lyrical height was during his years with Digital Underground when his lyrics were much more complex and conscious. I also stated that Biggie did not record enough material. He asked me what my criteria was. I explained that they had to influence the culture positively. They would have to birth several MCs, change rhyme patterns and flows, and cause heads to go back to the lab. I explained Tupac spawned many wanna be's but they did not try to steal his rhyme style, just his image as a street thug. I also explained that Tupac is overrated. I said the same thing about Biggie. He was in shock. I told him i dug Biggie's flow because he had a nice storytelling style but he did not have much subject matter to be considered a great MC.
 
We got deep into NWA. i will have to post that some other time. It was just dope to meet a brother on the same wavelength and just build about the same things we enjoy.
 
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got off of work at 7:30am and headed home. Took about an hour nap . I was planning on taking two hours but my daughter kept getting up. i had a capoeira seminar to conduct for a local organization. It was work. Not physical but mental. Its a shame what we are doing to our children. I have never seen a bunch of 11 to 14 year olds tire so quickly. we were not even 10 minutes into our stretches and exercises, i had a bunch of them fall out and ask to sit for a second.
 
About two were obese. One of them had a smartmouth. He developed a nice relationship with the grass after doing so many push ups. Some of the others were either smart mouthed, too tired, and too whiny. A few did well. But overall, the group was not what i was used to. I see this happen alot. We allow our children to get lazy and complacent. X-box's, Playstations, and game boys are killing us along with the fast food diets and unhealthy lifestyles. Dr. Laila Afrika calls it Nutricide.
 
I got home in time to shower and head out to my gig. It was a birthday party for this 85 year old woman. I got there on time and set up lovely. Then things fell apart. One of the birthday woman's inlaws had trouble with is equipment. Me being the samaritan that i am, decided to help him. Bad move. in doing so, he burnt out my amp. So no music. That was the first time this has happened to me. I was so upset. Luckily he had an amp that i could use. And i could only use one speaker.
 
Luckily for me (or was it Ogun?), my client did not arrive until almost 8pm (two hours after the whole thing was suppose to start). Most of her family were New Yorkers and we had a good time. She suspected nothing and even tipped me. I was like "word."
 
i did not get into bed until 2am that night.
 
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We got up early to catch the 11:40am showing of Fahrenheit 9/11. Good show. We rolled deep as usual. I cannot front, the part with Lila Lipscombe made me cry. It was heartbreaking. You have to be a parent to understand. In one way i felt bad for her but in an another i felt like she controlled the destiny of her son. She admitted to telling her children that the military is a good option especially since jobs were hard to come by in her town of Flint, Michigan. So in a way, she sealed his fate.
 
Overall, i learned nothing from the movie. For us so called conspiracy buffs, we had all the info already. I irked my wife by sounding out the names of the collaborators as Michael Moore said them. i even had my boss call me and apologize for thinking i was lying when i said those names, dates, places, etc. I did not gloat. But a friend of mine , who happens to  be white, said "damn, He's been saying this all this time and it took a white guy to make you believe it. That's a shame."
 
I do advise that folks see it. It is needed. But i will say this: if folks took the time to read and analyze things, this info would be old news. But we are so busy shaking our asses and trying to keep up with the Joneses (whoever they are, i would like to kick their collective asses), we let things cruise by us.
 
Michael Moore left much to be desired. He missed some elements like how we gave Saddam chemical weapons to fight Iran and then turned around and sold weapons to Iran. He missed how these things were around during the Reagan era. He needed to debunk that whole "Reagan was great" myth. How James Baker got in trouble during the Iran Contra scandal. Also how the key players in Operation Desert Storm are the key players in the Iraqi debacle. I can go on and on.
 
We already know how stupid our big eared president is (and he is ours because we did not take to the streets like all those white folks did). I don't need a movie for that. My brother pointed out that the target was not us however, but the 85ers. i have to agree with that.  a friend of mine called his movie "Noam Chomsky for dummies."
 
Oh, i will email my man Ordinary Joe. he needs to see it.