IS MAURICE GARLAND DEAD?

Yo, before I even start this, let me say that THE HOMIE is a good friend. I consider good writers, especially local ones, to be La Familia, no matter where you're from or what you believe. I'm all for some Hip-Hop writers' renaissance shit, where we all stay in contact when it's possible, just to trade ideas and bounce shit off of each other, or at least keep bullshit from spreading and infecting the culture we've helped create.

I was so throwed when I checked Garland's blog, REZIDUE, and saw an image of a big, metallic canister of ether above one of his posts. My first thought was, "Damn; who pissed of M. Geezy?"




Then, I read the post. He went in on himself, on some Little Brother, "Can't Win for Losing" type shit, describing and detailing how his name came under attack on the hate-infested internet. Garland kept it 100 and told the truth - he had recently been "ethered", or became an "LOL-COW," as they call it, on the extremely popular Hip-Hop blog, NAHRIGHT. And it all happened when he decided to co-sign the Cunninglinguists as a respectable act in Hip-Hop, on a post about Nas's alleged Nigger album commercial. For the record, I have to co-sign as well. Shout to my homie Chuck Babb, who's down with the Cunnys.

The beautiful thing here is that Garland went against the rules, and he just might end up on top of this whole fuckfest if he pimps the game. I mean, if you wanted to make a joke out of my name (which might be hard, since I'm Michael Jordan), I'd use it to my advantage as well. It goes with the greatest rule in public relations: There's no such thing as bad publicity. But it also goes against the biggest rule in business: Never acknowledge the competition. The point is, it's a gamble either way.

For the record, don't you dumb-asses out there get any dull ideas and try me like that. No disrespect to Garland, but I'll thrash you on some totalitarianism type shit. Plus, I have famous friends, like Garland, whose name may get to platinum status - all on the backs of haters. I will be completely unsurprised when dude flips this into some fame shit and makes internet haters into unlikely cheerleaders. Ain't it ironic?

Pay your respects.