We're getting close to the end of this chapter, my brothers and sisters. And what I will tell you is that we need some motivational mottos for the coming year. We've still got Republikkkans on that racist b.s., Israel and Palestine are still beefing and the media is still hyping the recession. But there's good news all around, if you can sift through the seasoning salt.
Me? I'm taking the next 48 hours to determine what will stay and what must die in my own cypher. In the meantime, while I get my green on, here is a list of possible mantras that you might hear me drop once the ball in Times Square falls. Feel free to use anything you like in your own dialog with other progressive peoples. Add one if you wish!
THE UNDERWRITER'S AULD LANG SYNE IN 2009:
Time to shine in 2009 (Be a star)
On the grind in 2009 (Don't wait for anything; go get it)
Smoke some Pine in 2009 (Why not?)
Vintage wine in 2009 (Spoil yourself)
No Calvin Klein in 2009 (Pause. Nolo.)
Grow some spine in 2009 (Where your heart at?)
Free your mind in 2009 (The rest will follow)
Please stop lyin' in 2009 (Real talk.)
Gon' get mine in 2009 (Get yours!)
First class flyin' in 2009 (As long as you're paying)
Fly design in 2009 (Swag is dead)
Not left behind in 2009 (Stay ahead of the curve)
Style divine in 2009 (Do it like Jesus would)
Deserve to dine in 2009 (I gotta eat)
Lead the blind in 2009 (Dumb rappers need teachin')
No mo' cryin' in 2009 (You can complain, but who'd listen?)
Beat Ben Stein in 2009 (Get money!)
Get off the vine in 2009 (Gossip and rumors are for girly boys)
Read, then sign in 2009 (Don't get jerked!)
Don't rewind in 2009 (The movement moves forward, not in reverse)
Clean vagine in 2009 (Because feminine hygiene rules)
Fresh behind in 2009 (Gentlemen: wash your draws)
This could go on forever. The point is that 2009 does not have to be lame as hell. Power to the people, wisdom, success, health, strength, honor and happiness to you and yours. And be safe out there on Wednesday night, whatever you do.
I tell you, oh my brothers and sisters, the times, they are a'changin' around this beeaieyach. So let me begin by saying that I hope you had a great Thanksgiving, and I hope that you're not only thankful for that gluttonous meal you ate Thursday afternoon with your fat-ass family, but you're also in the spirit of giving something to those who might be in worse need than you this winter.
Keep in mind that I'm not a fan of baseless charity; I prefer that people find something that they love and want to see bettered through personal investment. Deserving a gift is the ideal. But let's be fair; we're in a recession and there are hungry and cold people out there who may have fallen through the cracks under Georgia Bush's reign of terror on the American government. Prayer helps, but action is necessary in these times. Let's all pitch in.
Speaking of Georgia, since it is one of the states that I represent through my honorary position as Senator to the southern tri-state area of Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia, and I do most of my business in Atlanta, let me keep it ultra gutter and tell you what's really hood in the city that made me. Here, as food for thought, are the top 30 reasons why the City of Atlanta is pretty much dead. Listen to me now; believe me later on.
THE UNDERWRITER'S TOP 30 REASONS WHY ATLANTA IS DYING OFF:
1. Shakir Stewart's death (R.I.P.) 2. T.I. going to jail 3. Luda going Hollywood 4. Gucci Mane in jail 5. Young Jeezy cooling off 6. Soulja Boy 7. Jermaine Dupri running a club & destroying Janet's career at once 8. L.A. Reid in the Hamptons 9. 1/2-ass Janelle Monae project management by Bad Boy 10. Lil' Jon M.I.A. 11. Hot 107.9's A-Team fired; replaced by Ricky Smiley 12. Maurice Garland M.I.A. since 11/5 13. Gyant gaining fame 14. No clear cut female rap queen/leading lady 15. Jax death (R.I.P.) 16. DJ Drama still in legal limbo 17. Killer Mike fadeaway 18. Usher in career limbo 19. Dallas Austin on permanent vacation 20. Alfamega 21. Kaya becomes Club Vision, then torn down for Trump condos 22. The death of Freaknic (R.I.P.) 23. Mike Vick not coming back 24. Traffic 25. Price of a$$ & foreclosures ^; local economy & city budget down 26. Continued water (& weed) drought 27. Polow Da Don recent brick marathon 28. Still no Real World Atlanta 29. Chicago's comeuppance 30. No alcohol sales on Sunday except clubs & restaurants
To be certain, there is only one hope...
The Dungeon Family. The first shall be last and the last shall be first. Anybody who has been here since the mid-90s can tell you that even moreso than Dallas and Jermaine and only second to LaFace, the DF made Atlanta cool, so only they can reinstitute the groove and save the city. If that fails, expect me to speak to you from New York or Los Angeles in 2010.
Fortunately, there are three OutKast projects and one GOODie MoB. album on the way. Thank God. Shout to the homie Dallas in town for Turkey weekend.
[Listening to Viva La Hova, the new mash-up of Jay-Z and Coldplay, trying to stay in a positive mood for the greatest day ever. GET LIKE ME.]
Out of all times to pass away, I believe that those who have either lost or will lose their lives before Wednesday of this week are victims of cruel, tragic timing. Appropriately and respectively, I'll begin with my thoughts on the unthinkable Hudson family incident, because the funeral was held this morning and you're probably already tired of hearing about it. I don't know if I'm more afraid of the fact that a human being could do something so ugly, so publicly, or if this is the new normal.
Times like these, when real people die from real bullets--especially when said real people are innocents--make it difficult to listen to some of my favorite gangter rap songs because the lyrics come a little too close to reality for comfort in this case. For what it's worth, I don't blame Hip-Hop or rap, or drugs or guns for what happened to Jennifer Hudson's family. I blame the lack of intelligent minds in abundance. But our world culture has to change quickly if we're going to stop thinking about doing crazy shit like this, much less making rap songs about it. We've got to adjust right now, especially with this first chance in history to truly change the world. While we're at it, there are a few people who deserve recognition and respect, who gave it all they had but somehow did not reach today like you and I.
To begin, I'll be honest and say that I'm completely flattened by the apparent suicide of Shakir Stewart, the Executive Vice President of Def Jam Music Group, who I've known personally for 11 years. I met pretty much everybody who was ever in a position to cut a respectable check in Atlanta back when the music business was really booming, like around the mid-90's, when I started interning for So So Def. I always liked to believe that Shakir was just lucky enough to beat me by three years to Atlanta because he was blessed with perfect timing, but the truth is that he was made for the job he was given, therefore he excelled. He was the deadly combination of an intelligent hustler who was somehow always a few steps ahead. One thing I remember him saying a lot is "Work hard; play hard." My thoughts are now with his family, the rest of his friends, family and co-workers from the LaFace/HITCO days, and especially L.A. Reid--he pretty much hand-picked Shakir to be his successor in the game, and now he's gone before fully reaching his potential, which was still probably two years away. I absolutely believe that Shake would have signed the next artist to sell 10-million albums. Seriously, I don't hate or fear death, but I hate this. And that's all I have to say about that.
And by now, we all have heard about Senator Barack Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Payne Dunham, a.k.a. "Toot", who unfortunately left life behind for a higher existence, just hours before her grandson would be chosen by the people to lead the nation and become the most powerful man in the world. Not much more to say except "I'm sorry," which isn't enough or even appropriate, since I have nothing to do with it.
None of these stories are more tragic than the next, and none are to be forgotten. All serve to show that it is always darkest before the dawn, and things will always worsen before they change for the better. To you and yours, I offer my best hopes for a peaceful day and a glorious Wednesday morning, when we will together see the dawn of a bright new day while remembering to take an extra moment to remember those who we wished could stand with us as we celebrate the arrival of the future.
Wow. And to think, I was just telling everyone a week ago that the new Travis Barker/DJ-AM mixtape, FIX YOUR FACE, is my current favorite CD for the house. By some incredible stroke of luck or gift from God, both men SURVIVED a plane crash yesterday. I was so blown away that I didn't even want to post it, because it seemed like a story out of a graphic novel. It's crazy to think that they could have easily died in the crash, like the other four passengers, R.I.P. Seriously; wow.
Did the Hip-Hop angels intervene? Were they rewarded with their lives because both men represent the ongoing effort to use Hip-Hop culture as a means to a unified end? Did their recent musical effort justify the allowance of their lives? I think so, oh my brothers and sisters, but don't misunderstand that assume that I'm saying that the other four deserved death because they didn't drop a mixtape last month. I just believe that these two are obviously important to the world. And I think that somebody upstairs realized that they needed to be here, like Kanye, after his crash, or 50 Cent and The Game, after being shot.
Think about it. Hip-Hop is survival music. It exists to strengthen the minds of those who will not only listen but actually hear the message of death defiance. Now, nobody can say that they don't know the struggle of survival--sheeit; they both fell out of the sky and allegedly extinguished their own flames. Say whatever you will about the mixtape, but you can't convince me that Barker and AM don't have a purpose.
So with this post, I salute Travis Barker and DJ-AM, and I offer my condolences to the families of those who were lost in the tragic crash. So what they're white; they're also our brothers, and we should be giving thanks to God for their survival, because it symbolizes the entire culture's defiance in the face of what some would assume to be certain death.
[You've gotta agree: This dude is an orator of the highest order. When he shines, it's brilliant.]
TODAY:
After a horrible post-GOP performance, it seems that the dust is finally setting and Senator John McCain is going back to his position in the race, which is, of course, loser. THOSE GOOD OLD POLLS are swinging back towards the Democratic ticket. Most likely, if I had to guess, I'd say that dangling Governor Palin around for the female vote is finally starting to look like political prostitution, and McCain's bravado is slowly starting to smell like bullshit.
To say that I'm happy that Senator Barack Obama got his _____ back would not be sufficient. I was seriously starting to doubt the wisdom behind his campaign, because there is no excuse, even when playing it safely out of the way when the other team does something stupid, for a person running for POTUS to let his gloves down before the championship belt is secured, or you can get KTFO by a random right cross.
If you truly deserve something, and you know it, you'll fight for it if necessary. And I was always told that once you've been hit, you have the right to defend yourself. You can choose not to return fire--again, a personal choice--but until you respond forcefully or at least defend yourself, you are liable to be assaulted over and over until you just give up and walk away from the fight, embarassed and still being kicked and beaten as you stroll home to hide your face for a week or two.
Who wants that? Especially when the two fighers are horribly mismatched and there's no way that McCain could beat Obama at a debate? I'm not saying that Obama was quitting or giving up before this week, but it was becoming extremely disheartening to watch a champion seemingly throw the fight, especially when everyone knows that he can win, and it actually is possible, if he really, really, really wants it bad enough to go for it with everything in the bank.
I don't want to face November 5 without knowing that on this day and for the rest of the campaign, whether I cover it daily on this blog or not, I did what I thought was right and spoke what needed to be said. And if McCain wins by a landslide, I won't say anything. I won't protest and I won't whine. I'll keep working like I am today, because a McCain presidency would be no different from the current one.
But if it's close, and McCain wins by one of those Bush #43 margins, I'm going to be superpissed at Senator Obama, the Democratic Party and America, but I'll still get over it and I'll probably be content with writing my first magnum opus, depositing the check and comfortably fading into suburban life. Doesn't sound bad, huh?
Of course it does, when you consider that I could be getting ready to do the type of work that people do when they care about where they're going in life or what type of fuckery will happen to them if they sit on their asses and play satisfied. I hate just throwing out random Che Guevara information, because people don't even know why he was so influential. The guy actually worked, as in performed physical duties alongside the average Cuban men and women, at least one day a week, setting a precedent for others to join him in national service. Sure, it was kind of mandatory in a communist state, but leading by example is always better than leading by microphone, book or blog.
I'd rather be inspired by my POTUS to doing something important so that my kids, whenever they appear, don't inherit a world as dicked as the one I own today. McCain is not about to get his ass out in the community to do anything other than speak or kiss babies. Obama has already been in the field, where they say it's real. I want him to win, because it's going to take more than just his speeches to lead the country into rebuilding, redeveloping and reinventing ourselves on the world stage. It's going to take all of us, and I don't see John McCain making a significant number of people move, especially when he can barely lift his arms. Honestly, I say that with no disrespect intended, but the truth is just that fonky, oh my brothers and sisters.
So really, who cares if Obama is black, or not white, or neither and both at once? Do you really--seriously--want a strange ass woman and this septuagenarian to win, when they proclaim to be the embodiment of everything for which the GOP currently stands? How can things change if Bush isn't even interested in helping his former rival by showing a little more interest? That's how I know McCain won't win, because it's not even being properly setup. All signals point to change, and that's not a Republikkkan term, no matter how they try to steal it.
Enough for now. Gotta read a few chapters of the book and get some rest. Tomorrow, let's talk about this nasty BIDEN/CLINTON EXCHANGE RUMOR that I keep hearing, shall we? Personally, I don't buy it, but I do expect an October Surprise of some type.
Anyway, we'll deal with that bridge to nowhere when we cross it.
Posts
