Books & Videos for the Hip-Hop Heads

  There was a time when my Hip-Hop snobbery was at an all-time high (I used to be WORSE? Sure was!).  I remember getting into debates about the culture with many a person; and woe to the victim who would mess up and forget the history. With my nostrils flaring and much bass in my voice, I'd scream, "Awww, how you NOT gon' know the HISTORY?!?" Well, we all know that payback is a mutha, so it was only a matter of time before I met my match by running into people who were THERE. I mean, from the very beginning. I got a bunch of cavities from all the humble pie I found myself eating.

  One sister was a co-worker I'd known for about a year who mentioned one day in the break room that she grew up in the Bronx. She recalled going to parties in the park and never expected to see the music spread throughout the world. Another was a brother who I met in church. He turned out to be an MC in a well-respected trio out of Long Island in the early 90's. To hear the stories from someone deep in the industry blew my mind. Since then, I've found that many in my circle of friends could realistically teach a "Hip-Hop 051" course. And I'd be in the back of the class.....struggling.

  So now that I've learned that one can never know too much, I figured it would be cool to share a few things that may help others avoid the humble pie addiction. Please feel free to add to this list; I could use the hook-up.

Wikipedia-"Style Wars"

  Style Wars was my first exposure to Hip-Hop culture beyond the music. Later I was BLESSED to get the DVD, which features a "Where are they now" follow-up to many of the artists from the documentary. *Check for clips of a young Crazy-Legs AND of CAP (definitely the inspiration for SPIT in Beat Street).*  "Style Wars" on Amazon.com

  Wikipedia-"Subway Art" 

Subway Art was devoted soley to Graffiti and features some hall of fame artists; Dondi being one of my favorites. With tons of great "pieces", my high school librarian came close to choking me for repeatedly checking this out. This is a must-have for any graffiti connoisseur. "Subway Art" on Amazon.com

The first time I saw Wild Style, I had no idea who the Cold Crush Brothers, Busy Bee, or Lee Quinones were.  Beat Street was more of a film, whereas Wild Style was more of a DOCUMENTARY to me. The raw footage of MCing, breaking, graffiti, and DJing jumps out at you. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame voted the film in its top ten list of rock & roll films.  Wild Style on Amazon.com.

Wikipedia-Beat Street

C'MON...Beat Street HAS to be on my list if only for the battle between Rock Steady Crew and the New York City Breakers. I can excuse the acting;  my man Ramon needed more classes ( But I was only 14 years old (lol) ). Still I appreciated the exposure that Hip-Hop was getting at the time. And NO, Breakin' ain't never finding it's way on my list. "Beat Street" on Amazon.com

And last but DEFINITELY not least.....

If you don't look for anything else on this list, this is the one to have in the bookcase. The title says it all, and from beginning to end, it's a great read. Each aspect of Hip-Hop culture is examined extensively. From Kool Herc and Bambaataa, to Phase 2, Grandmaster Caz and Crazy Legs, this book combines all the aspects of the previous entries into one book. If you have the $$ it's worth every penny. "HipHop: The Illustrated History" on Amazon.com

I'm sure I've left off a few others, but these were the things that gave me the big head back in the day. Once again, feel free to add to this list. It would be great to see the collective knowledge in one place!

PS- Check THIS out!:www.at149st.com

Rihanna Syndrome

Syndrome:"a predictable, characteristic pattern of behavior, action, etc., that tends to occur under certain circumstances "(Dictionary.com)


   A few days ago I got a text from one of my "Council members" regarding a certain guilty pleasure we have.  It went something like this:


Him-"Man, I can't believe I really like some of these songs on the radio." 


Me- "Dude, we all have our guilty pleasures. I like stuff DESPITE myself.(lol). Some stuff just sounds good (to me). "Ri-Ri" be puttin' out some hits though."


Him-" 'Birthday Cake' is one of my guilty pleasures."


  I'll stop before I bore or lose anyone; but the rest of the conversation was about the recent brawl between the Chris Brown and Drake camps; and how Rihanna must be something else if her two EX-boyfriends were throwing 'bows in a club (and she wasn't even there). I guess it didn't occur to Chris Brown that he was in jeopardy of violating his probation (for putting his hands on her in 2009). The dramatic irony of this mess didn't slip past me.


  Still, that conversation was still on my mind when I noticed that some of us (men AND women) tend to flow from "The Brawl" to "The Sprawl"with regards to Rihanna and her love life. We shake our heads when we hear that she's no longer seeing Drake, but now is dating someone else. Folks almost had a stroke when the Ashton Kutcher thing made headlines. For obvious reasons Chris Brown (and domestic abuse) warrants a completely different entry, and her apparent decision to continue to deal with him is pushing me to scrap this and start down that sad street.


  I chose to call it the "Rihanna Syndrome" because it wasn't much of a surprise when opinions began to fly around the radio shows and internet gossip sites regarding Rihanna's dating situations. It's the age-old double standard when it comes to sex, and popular culture tends to shine a huge spotlight on it. Now, I'm not a big Rihanna fan, but I like "Birthday Cake" because the song is hot (I felt the same about "Rude Boy"-lol). Who she was doing and when she was doing it didn't/doesn't matter. Other friends pointed out that while everyone is in Rihanna's business, the male artists get the "boys will be boys"pass. We all know how it is on the road with the groupies and occasional baby mama(s); but that behavior is shrugged off as The Life. Hell, if Rihanna were a dude some of us would consider her boring. 


  To put it another way, some of us (men) are downright intimidated by a confident, sexually independent woman who doesn't apologize for who she is. If paparazzi had been following us around in OUR twenties....well... you know... Many of us have some college stories that definitely put things in perspective. Just sayin'.


  One last thing, though. I'm aware that Ri-Ri has gotten excessive with the partying, missing flights, missing appearances and whatnot. My comments aren't condoning excessive drinking, drugs, and a disregard for her career. Jay-Z has even reportedly told her to slow down or she's being dropped from the label. Partying is accepted in the industry....until it starts messing with the money. But her love life is not for me to judge simply because she's a star. I don't give a damn about popular opinion. As a woman, she deserves that much respect. But that Chris Brown is another story...

"..here comes the Spider-Man."- smdh

  Every time I see the commercials for this new Spider-Man film, I cringe. I'll admit I'm a creature of habit (as ANY of my people will attest), but this just seems like the execs are trying a little too hard. After all, the last movie was 2007; not a very long time. Just when a brother gets used to the last 3 movies and characters they erase and start over. And as much as I liked the X-Men films, the fact that they turned the timeline upside down was messing with the nerd in me. X-Men: First Class (2011) did it too; but got a pass due to a well-written script (and good acting). Despite what Hollywood believes, you don't always have to change characters or eliminate them altogether. Look, my first comic was Spider-Man, and X-Men was my all-time favorite (The Phoenix Saga, anyone?). My point is this: some of us are already mixing a pitcher of haterade. I have a 44oz  cup from QuikTrip sitting next to me.  
   In my circle of geeks most of the crew is looking forward to Spidey, and I look forward to the discussion afterward. SO, I'm gonna go and see the film (out of curiousity), but this wiping-the-slate-clean stuff has gotten old. BUT I have to admit that I got "cised" when I saw THIS trailer : http://www.imdb.com/list/TB56Gm1AqRw/#play-all   (big fan of Judge Dredd).

What The HELL?

The first question I asked myself was, "What in the hell are you doing?". My only answer was "moving". In other words, this is part of a new way of living/thinking. I've always had big ideas, but rarely acted on them. Time to start moving on my ideas and bring things to fruition. Rather than apologize for who I am (an old, destructive habit), I'm doing the opposite. Celebrating who I am, my interests, likes, dislikes, and my faults. There are a lot of people like me; who don't fit into any particular box, floating in and out of different social circles and interests. This is for me and for you.