connecting*the*dots

(originally uploaded by Richard Liriano)

Russel Simmons responding to criticism of Hip hop lyrics on 4/16/2007:

“My response to Sen. Obama is that you have to talk about the poverty and ignorance that creates such a climate that the poets can talk like that. People who are angry, uneducated and come from tremendous struggle, they have poetic license and they say things that offend you,” Simmons told ABC News. “You have to talk about the conditions that create those kinds of lyrics. When you are talking about a privileged man who has a mainstream vehicle and mainstream support and is on a radio station like that you have to deal with them differently.”

Russel Simmons responding to criticism of Hip hop lyrics on 4/23/07:

“We recommend that the recording and broadcast industries voluntarily remove/bleep/delete the misogynistic words ‘bitch’ and ‘ho’ and the racially offensive word ‘nigger’,” Simmons and Benjamin Chavis, co-chairmen of the advocacy group Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, said in a statement.

“These three words should be considered with the same objections to obscenity as ‘extreme curse words’ “

Russell Simmons spotlighted in BusinessWeek on 10/27/03:

“Any company that wants to tap into the youth market today has to pay attention to Russell,” says Frank Cooper, the head of multicultural market development at Pepsi. “He is one of the principal architects of hip-hop culture. It’s a market that is massive and that is global.”

Enough with the corporate perspective; let’s hear from a Hip hop head:

Not all Hip hop artists play the industry to make their dough, so an all out ban on particular language is senseless — it truly is all about context.

So maybe a good place to start would be applying pressure in the signing process of record industry itself, where A&R people tend look for the next hotness explicitly in terms of whether it’ll sell or not.

If these folks were actually held to a standard beyond simply bringing in artists that will sell in the current market, we wouldn’t have this problem — misogynous and degrading rap would fall back to indie distribution models… at best.

But it’s not like Hip hop culture hasn’t been aware of this problem for a long time now:

[…] My optic presentation sizzles the retina.
How far must I go to gain respect? Um.
Well, it’s kind of simple, just remain your own
Or you’ll be crazy sad and alone.
Industry rule number four thousand and eighty,
record company people are shady.
So kids watch your back ’cause I think they smoke crack,
I don’t doubt it. Look at how they act.
Off to better things like a hip-hop forum. […]

(originally uploaded by counterclockwise)

Bloomington, Indiana

UPDATE: I just found a video clip of this work w/the artist’s description on WC:

From the Artist:

“This piece is part of a line of work I have been developing over the last year or so, which is called “Urban Impressionism”, in which represent 3D objects in 2-Dimensions through shadows. These shadows are created at a particular point of day, or night, and later stenciled and spray-painted in order to resemble real shadows. Through this process I am able to discuss light and form, in an unconventional way, placing it directly on the streets of the contemporary urban “cityscape” that surrounds us.

Ideally I hope to create a moment of magic or illusion in which the spectator or passer-by questions the space around him/her, through the shadows that are either naturally cast or artificially created. This particular piece incorporates text to politicize a very important issue for many of us today — the end of the war in many regions of our globalized world.

PS. I noticed that on the site, the piece had been mistakenly tagged as a “chalk” piece… The piece itself is was stenciled on the floor using a shadow cast by a light post at night, and later carefully sprayed with a ‘camouflage black’ can.”

Andy, Micah, Blake and Will are all local independent filmmakers and forward-thinking netizens. Something really interesting is going to come out of this collaboration.

They’re open to ideas for a production company name. Any thoughts?

(via swissmiss)

Artists: Mos Def - Immortal Technique - Eminem

=============

[Mos Def - talking]
Man, you hear this bullshit they be talkin’
Every day, man
It’s like these motherfuckers is just like professional liars
YouknowwhatI’msayin? It’s wild
Listen

[Hook - Mos Def]
Bin Laden didn’t blow up the projects
It was you, nigga
Tell the truth, nigga
(Bush knocked down the towers)–[Jadakiss]
Tell the truth, nigga
(Bush knocked down the towers)–[Jadakiss]
Tell the truth, nigga

Bin Laden didn’t blow up the projects
It was you, nigga
Tell the truth, nigga
(Bush knocked down the towers)–[Jadakiss]
Tell the truth, nigga
(Bush knocked down the towers)–[Jadakiss]

[Verse 1 - Immortal Technique]
I pledge no allegiance, nigga fuck the president’s speeches
I’m baptized by America and covered in leeches
The dirty water that bleaches your soul and your facial features
Drownin’ you in propaganda that they spit through the speakers
And if you speak about the evil that the government does
The Patriot Act’ll track you to the type of your blood
They try to frame you, and say you was tryna sell drugs
And throw a federal indictment on niggaz to show you love
This shit is run by fake Christians, fake politicians
Look at they mansions, then look at the conditions you live in
All they talk about is terrorism on television
They tell you to listen, but they don’t really tell you they mission
They funded Al-Qaeda, and now they blame the Muslim religion
Even though Bin Laden, was a CIA tactician
They gave him billions of dollars, and they funded his purpose
Fahrenheit 9/11, that’s just scratchin’ the surface

[Hook - Mos Def]
Bin Laden didn’t blow up the projects
It was you, nigga
Tell the truth, nigga
(Bush knocked down the towers)–[Jadakiss]
Tell the truth, nigga
(Bush knocked down the towers)–[Jadakiss]
Tell the truth, nigga

Bin Laden didn’t blow up the projects
It was you, nigga
Tell the truth, nigga
(Bush knocked down the towers)–[Jadakiss]
Tell the truth, nigga
(Bush knocked down the towers)–[Jadakiss]

[Verse 2 - Immortal Technique]
They say the rebels in Iraq still fight for Saddam
But that’s bullshit, I’ll show you why it’s totally wrong
Cuz if another country invaded the hood tonight
It’d be warfare through Harlem, and Washington Heights
I wouldn’t be fightin’ for Bush or White America’s dream
I’d be fightin’ for my people’s survival and self-esteem
I wouldn’t fight for racist churches from the south, my nigga
I’d be fightin’ to keep the occupation out, my nigga
You ever clock someone who talk shit, or look at you wrong?
Imagine if they shot at you, and was rapin’ your moms
And of course Saddam Hussein had chemical weapons
We sold him that shit, after Ronald Reagan’s election
Mercenary contractors fightin’ a new era
Corporate military bankin’ off the war on terror
They controllin’ the ghetto, with the failed attack
Tryna distract the fact that they engineerin’ the crack
So I’m strapped like Lee Malvo holdin’ a sniper rifle
These bullets’ll touch your kids, and I don’t mean like Michael
Your body be sent to the morgue, stripped down and recycled
I fire on house niggaz that support you and like you
Cuz innocent people get murdered in the struggle daily
And poor people never get shit and struggle daily
This ain’t no alien conspiracy theory, this shit is real
Written on the dollar underneath the Masonic seal

(I don’t rap for dead presidents
I’d rather see the president dead
It’s never been said but I set precedents)–[Eminem]

[Hook - Mos Def]
Bin Laden didn’t blow up the projects
It was you, nigga
Tell the truth, nigga
(Bush knocked down the towers)–[Jadakiss]
Tell the truth, nigga
(Bush knocked down the towers)–[Jadakiss]
Tell the truth, nigga

Bin Laden didn’t blow up the projects
It was you, nigga
Tell the truth, nigga
(Bush knocked down the towers)–[Jadakiss]
Tell the truth, nigga
(Bush knocked down the towers)–[Jadakiss]

(Shady Records was 80 seconds away from the towers
Some cowards fucked with the wrong building, they meant to hit ours)– [Eminem]

Common is playing Guilford College next Saturday, March 31st.

Day one.

I am not angry; I am anger.
I am not dangerous; I am danger.
I am abominable stress, eliotic, relentless.
I’m a breath of vengeance.
I’m a death sentence.
I’m forsaking repentance,
to the beast in his hench men.

Armed forces and policemen
that survived off of oils and prisons until there cup runneth over with lost souls.
That wear over-sized caps like blind-folds
Shiny necklaces like lassoes
Draggin’ them into black-holes
And I may have to holla out to Fidel Castro
To get my other brothers outta Guantanimo

And the innocence on death row?
It’s probably in the same proportion to criminals in black robes
That smack gavels
That crack domes
That smack gavels
That smash homes

Justice is somewhere between reading sad poems and 40 oz of gasoline crashing through windows
It is between plans and action
It is between writing letters to congressmen and clocking the captain
It is between raising legal defense funds and putting a gun to the bailiff and taking the judge captive
It is between prayer and fasting
Between burning and blasting
Freedom is between the mind and the soul
Between the lock and the load
Between the zeal of the young and the patience of the old
Freedom is between a finger and the trigger
It is between the page and the pen
It is between the grenade and the pin
Between righteous and keeping one in the chamber

So what can they do with a cat with a heart like Turner
A mind like Douglass
A mouth like Malcolm
And a voice like Chris?!

That is why I am not dangerous; I am danger
I am not angry, I am anger
I am abominable, stress, Eliotic relentless
I’m a death sentence
For the beast and his henchmen
Politicians and big businessmen
I’m a teenage Palestinian
Opening fire at an Israeli checkpoint, point blank, check-mate, now what?!
I’m a rape victim with a gun cocked to his cock, cock BANG! Bangkok! Now what?!
I am sitting Bull with Colonel Custard’s scalp in my hands
I am Sincay with a slave trader’s blood on my hands
I am Jonathan Jackson and a gun to my man
I am David with a slingshot and a rock
And if David lived today, he’d have a Molotov cocktail and a Glock
So down with Goliath, I say down with Goliath

But we must learn, know, write, read
We must kick, bite, yell, scream
We must pray, fast, live, dream, fight, kill and die free!

UPDATE: Thanks to StaceyZ for a handful of transcription corrections.

At 4pm, The Holy Ghost Tent Revival is on. Come on down!

Up next, Matt Hill Band.

Come on down!

Democracy by any other name.

(via neatorama)

UPDATE: Okay, I’m getting a ton of search hits looking for the lyrics to this… song? So here it is. Don’t say I don’t love you:

Allo
Hello
Allo
You people all have hands
They are all normal hands
Five fingers
Und some hair
But mine are very bare
Do you know why?
Do you know why?
I’ll tell you why
I’ll tell you why

My hands are bananas
Your hands are bananas
My hands are bananas
Your hands are bananas

(Girls)
Frau Spots
Un Frau Stripes
Frau Spots
Un Frau Stripes
Frau Spots
Un Frau Stripes
Frau Spots
Un Frau Stripes and also Frau Spots

Ooooohhh
Ooooohhh
Ooooohhh

John has never had chili
No, no, never had chili
John has never had chili
Ever in his life

He doesn’t like chili

Doppelgänger
Doppelgänger
Doppel, doppel, doppelgänger

Keep the monkeys away from my hands
Keep the monkeys away from my hands
Keep the monkeys away from my hands
Keep the monkeys away from my hands
Keep the monkeys away from my hands
Keep the monkeys away from my hands

We are ze monkeys
We are ze monkeys
We are ze monkeys
We are ze monkeys

Eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben, acht

Now clap like this!
(clapping)
No, clap like this!
(clapping)

Beware ze Milky Pirate
Beware ze Milky Pirate
Beware ze Milky Pirate
Beware ze Milky Pirate
Beware ze Milky Pirate (buffalo)
Beware ze Milky Pirate (buffalo)

Circley square
Squarely circle
Circley square
Squarely circle

Do you want the banana?
(Girl) Uh-huh
Do you want the banana?
(Girl) Uh-huh

Okay

[…] “After four days of networking, dodging vendors, collecting goodies, and possibly mating, the librarians are tired and ready to return home.” […]

Hilarious.

Haunting.

(via The Wooster Collective)

Electric Six, Gay Bar.

I’m changing up the format this week to introduce a song that might be buried in the subconsciousness of many of you out there; I know it was for me.

The backstory:

In 1969, Mister Rogers appeared before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Communications. His goal was to support funding for PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, in response to significant proposed cuts. In about five minutes of testimony, Rogers spoke of the need for social and emotional education that public television provided. He passionately argued that alternative television programming like his Neighborhood helped encourage children to become happy and productive citizens, sometimes opposing less positive messages in media and in popular culture. He even recited the lyrics to one of his songs:

What do you do with the mad that you feel?
When you feel so mad you could bite?
When the whole wide world seems oh so wrong
And nothing you do seems very right
What do you do?
Do you punch a bag?
Do you pound some clay or some dough?
Do you round up friends for a game of tag?
Or see how fast you can go?
It’s great to be able to stop
When you’ve planned the thing that’s wrong
And be able to do something else instead
And think this song
I can stop when I want to
Can stop when I wish
Can stop, stop, stop anytime
And what a good feeling to feel like this
And know that the feeling is really mine
Know that there’s something deep inside
That helps us become what we can
For a girl can someday be a lady
And a boy can be someday a man

The chairman of the subcommittee, John O. Pastore, was not previously familiar with Rogers’ work, and was sometimes described as gruff and impatient. However, he reported that the testimony had given him goosebumps, and declared, “Looks like you just earned the $20 million.” The subsequent congressional appropriation, for 1971, increased PBS funding from $9 million to $22 million.

(via neatorama)

Thank you, Michael Wesch.

(via BoingBoing)

Alan is a good friend of the family — a former colleague of my father at Kean University and a fellow NYC multimedia head from back in the day.

He’s also quite the eccentric.

This can only get more interesting.

The Super Bowl — another year, another reminder that I’ll never see my Jets on this stage in my lifetime. Oh, well. At least we can eat and drink like it’s Thanksgiving and watch Peyton Manning get hit a bunch of times!

Prediction #1

We will not see a Super Bowl ad as iconic as this Mean Joe Greene Coke classic:

(Man, watching that brought me back to feeling like the little kid I was in 1979)

Nor will we experience anything close to as revolutionary as this gem from Apple:

(Damn goosebumps!)

Prediction #2

In less than 18 hours, we’ll be stuck watching the equivalent of this K-Fed advertising crap:

Prediction #3

Final Score: Colts 26, Bears 23

• Manning manages the game with his usual efficiency
• The Bear’s defense bends, but doesn’t break, causing timely punts and red-zone FG attempts
• Adam Vinatieri kicks four field goals, Robbie Gould hits two
• Manning connects on one long touchdown pass to either Harrison or Wayne
• Mark Anderson busts through the Colt’s O-line for a safety, after the Bears pin the Colts deep
• Joseph Addai runs in one score, after a long, sustained drive
• Rex Grossman hits Bernard Berrian for a late TD and converts a two-point attempt to pull within a FG
• Peyton Manning and Joseph Addai manage to grind out enough first downs to send the Bears home losers

MVP: Peyton Manning

I’m really torn about rooting for Peyton Manning.

On one hand, I want Manning to win so the media will finally stop generating noise about his inability to win the big game. That meme is driving me insane. Another reason is Tony Dungy, who’s a class act and after the nightmare he and his family went through last year, no one deserves a championship ring more.

On the other hand, I’ll never forgive Manning for staying in school his senior year and making the Jets draft Keyshawn “Just Give Me The Damn Ball!” Johnson.

The invite!

I almost forgot.

If you’re in Greensboro and know me in the slightest, feel free to stop on by for the game. I’ll provide the 50″ LCD wide-screen, you bring food and beer for yourself… and me. ;)

And if I don’t see you later today, have a super Sunday!

For more on the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Terrorist “hoax” go to BoingBoing.

R.I.P.

Andy just put together a very compelling, personal account of his experience to DC and back last weekend.

Check it out.

(view the movie)

Synopsis:
In this symbolism-filled short, the reasons for war are told through a young boy and old man. Beware your benefactors. And benefactors beware.

Chuck Hagel may be late to the table on his position against the Iraq war, but he’s damn sure speaking from his soul and showing true leadership.

I have to admit, I was pretty cynical about his dissent in 2005 regarding American’s rights to openly criticize both the war and this president. Who knows, his tenor could still be a political ploy… but I’m leaning towards the position of highly doubting it.

Rock on, sir.

Last Monday, Ed Cone posted a letter from Nelson Johnson regarding Smithfield Packing’s refusal to give its employees Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day off. A handful of comments down the line, Smithfield’s unconscionable operating tactics were exposed.

Now, for the company PR:

UPDATE: Here’s a shot from Smithfield’s waste facility, featured in Jeff Tietz’s Rolling Stone article, Boss Hog: