Friday, April 27, 2012

BIG K.R.I.T. - 2000 & Beyond

Off KRIT's Big Krit Wuz Here from 2010 (seems like such a long time ago). Lyrics are below.


Tricks and hoes, bitches and stripper poles
Shake it for dollar signs, let me see from behind
The ghetto's a fairytale, pimps and jezebells
Dealers with chrome rims with products for you to sell
Chemistry in the kitchen, alleys with rubbers in it
Tires go round and round, windows heavy tinted
Kush is scented inside, pull me over
Now they talkin bout a K9. Black man face down
Charge it to game, bums warm their weary souls over open flames
Junkie can't find God watch him find his vein
Preacher walk by like he ain't seen a thang
Pass the collection plate
Niggas thought shit was gon' change on election day
Healthcare H1N1 nasal spray
Got me scared to hit the block
Wear my flag as a mask, tote a Glock, in 2000 and beyond

In 2000 and beyond x2

Poor folk scrape dollars and spend the last of their income tax
On impalas with the S-S, church gives awards to the best dressed
Pastor drive a bentley, got me thinkin, I was the less blessed
Cause I let a middle man, he was cappin what I'm askin'
I dont understand, how you fit that many rings on a healthy hand
Tired of deception, but I pay his kid's tuition cause I'm tryna get to heaven
Ain't it crazy, scared to have a baby
How can I protect it from the same streets that made me?
Concrete gladiator blood shed overflow
In real life some places Russell Crowe will never go
Pimp tight flossin, look at what it cost me
Peace of mind no sleep late night tossin and turnin
Waitin' on the end, pray to god forgive me for my sins, in 2000 and beyond


In 2000 and beyond x2

As a child I was cold with a chip on my shoulder
Grandma told me be careful cause ther're sharks in the water
They will kill you, let the good Lord steer you
Don't worry bout the government
Cause baby they dont feel you
Martin Luther King had dream, we was right there
I wonder what he saw when up and had nightmares
Quite scared, all the work he had done
Couldn't stop what we've become, in 2000 and beyond


In 2000 and beyond x2

Friday, April 20, 2012

Gotta Support the Kids...

There's a community library that serves the area that my job is in called the Village Learning Place (VLP). After they gave a pitch to the brass at my job for support, a couple co-workers had the great idea of working with some of the students in the VLP's LINK program to produce a journal of their writings and art.

A great idea!

From that point several of my co-workers took the lead in organizing a schedule for staff to teach these kids everything about publishing a journal and taking their original writings and creating a published journal called, The Village Review.

The entire process took several months (maybe even a year) and culminated this past Tuesday at a ceremony that recognized the kids and their works and where they were also presented with printed copies of their journal.


I attended the ceremony because I (along with another colleague) played a small part (one training session) in teaching the kids how to use social media (mainly Twitter and Facebook) to raise awareness about the work they had done, their journal's eventual printing, and the ceremony they would be having to recognize this great work they'd put together. The kids put a lot of themselves into their writing and it was cool to learn how many of them used social media and the ways they thought that they could promote all their work. Naturally, they all wanted to alert athletes and celebrities but you'd be surprised how they also quickly grasped the concept of how alerting local officials and organizations could help them and the LINK program in the long-run.

The ceremony was small in terms of attendees but every person that was there had a vested interest in the kids' work or had supported the initiative in some way. There were reporters there from the Baltimore Messenger and apparently the Baltimore Sun as well. The main coordinators on both sides (my job and the VLP) made remarks, each child was recognized and presented with a copy of the journal, my colleagues and I were recognized and (to our surprise) presented with thank you cards and mugs from the kids.

The best part was that each child gave a remark about what putting together this journal meant to them. The kids seemed genuinely proud and happy that their works were being recognized. Hopefully it inspires them to read more, write more, and express themselves in positive ways.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

THROWBACK!! Another Bad Creation (A.B.C.) - Playground

All I gotta say is, "it's the Mizzark, chillin' in the pizzark. I gotta break, cuz my mother said be home by dizzark!"


Real talk, me and my boys wanted to be these dudes when we were young and this was hot. We all wanted to ride go-karts, have high-top fades, dance, and have that pint-sized swag, lol. I wonder what happened to these kids and I wonder how bad Michael Bivins roughed them off for their money.

"Mix-matched boots, pants inside-out, a fresh Starter cap, and go-karts with your name on the front!"

Thursday, April 12, 2012

THROWBACK!!!! Warren G feat Nate Dogg - Regulate

REGULATORS, MOUNT UP!!!!

Video: Gods'Illa ft. Maimouna Youssef - You Don't Have To Be A Star

Shot out (again) to the homies from back in the Suitland High School days. I'm not sure how long the video has been released but I'm glad Gods'Illa decided to shoot a visual for this song. Not sure if I like this joint or Sal's Pizzeria better.


It's great when you can support people's music because it's good and not just because you know them from back in the day.

Monday, April 9, 2012

THROWBACK!!! Monie Luv - Monie In The Middle

Monie sure did have some boy problems when she was young.


I've been on a real streak with these throwback posts lately. I think Imma chill for a little while.

The Weeknd - Outside

"I expect to see a blogpost on this tomorrow!"

Friday, April 6, 2012

Politics As Usual???

It was a nice day on Tuesday so I decided after my mid-day workout that I'd walk to Subway to get some lunch. As I was walking to Subway to grab a sammage I was approached by a woman that I initially thought was homeless (whoopsie) who handed me the flier below.


The woman then said to me "making history together" in a somewhat uninspired tone, thanked me, and walked away. My first impression of the flier was "why is this black man on the flier with the President?" Then I flipped it over and saw the following image:


If you can't make that out, on the left side it shows all the names that were on the Baltimore City primary ballot (Tuesday was primary voting day in Baltimore City) with Barack Obama's name checked along with C. Anthony Muse's. On the right side it lists the composition of the 112th Senate and highlights in red that there are zero black members in the U.S. Senate but that we make up 12% of "US Demographics" (I assume this means population).

It was at this point that I just shook my head, realizing that this was a blatant and obvious attempt to race-bait my vote. I got a little insulted by it actually. I was insulted because a flier like this assumes a few things like: 1) if I'm Black I support Barack Obama, 2) I will vote for any Black man "aligned" with Obama (and by "aligned" I mean Photoshopped onto a flier with him), and 3) THAT IT'S THAT EASY FOR YOU TO GET MY VOTE!!!

He may as well have just said on the flier: "You black, I'm black, Obama's black, vote for me!" That's what the flier boiled down to for me.

When you consider that there was no mention of what this man stands for, no one-liners about his platform, or even a website address for me to visit to learn more if I actually wanted to, what this says to me is that it's acceptable to go into a community and race-bait their votes because you assume they don't know any better way to pick their political candidates. And coming from a Black man running for a public position in the Obama era, that's pretty insulting to a person even if that person doesn't have a college degree, a white collar job, a mortgage to pay, or any of the other things we assume come with being "better-off" in this country. This flier actually made me NOT want to vote for him and to tell others to think a bit deeper about why they would vote for him.

Even with all that said, it's not C. Anthony Muse's fault that this kind of political tool is very well tried-and-proven in garnering the votes of poorer, less educated voters. It's just a "tool of the trade" I'm sure and it's up to US to hold our candidates to better measures than promotional materials like his. But by choosing to use it you're effectively saying "I don't expect any better from you than to see me and Obama and as a result, hand me your vote."

I can't wait for the day (if it ever comes) when ALL people will take the time to think deeply about who they're voting for and why on both the local and national levels. The assumption that you don't have to give me any information as to what you stand for on a flier or a website where I can learn more about what you stand for is insulting to me and those who actually put some real thought into who they vote for. And it's the main reason why I did't vote for someone like C. Anthony Muse (at least not in this election) even though I'm sure to him it's not insulting, it's just a means to an end or a "tool of the trade" and once he gets in office he gon' "look out" for us. Yeah, I'm sure that's exactly what's going to happen.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Video: Stalley - Party Heart

Why Tity Boi aka 2 Chainz is not in this video is the question that needs to be answered. This is definitely one of my favorites off Rick Ross's "Rich Forever" mixtape and it's now on Stalley's "Savage Journey to the American Dream" mixtape. Stalley's been mentioned here before and maybe after I listen to his latest mixtape I'll have something else to post about him. We'll see.

Monday, April 2, 2012

THROWBACK!!! Ahmad - Back In The Day

"Back in the days when I was young I'm not a kid anymore. But some days I sit and wish I was a kid again"


Back in the Day by ice1906

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Movie Clip: Cleopatra Schwartz

Disclaimer: There is a millisecond of a woman topless in the video. You have been warned.

Taken from 1977's Kentucky Fried Movie. The best part of this is that even though today is April Fool's Day, this is not a joke, lol.


LMAO at "she was six feet of black dynamite. He was a short, Hasidic Jew" and the crappy "special" effects.