I love HIP HOP

With the death of Heavy D, I began to reflect on my love for Hip Hop. I started to think about the first raps I can remember. I can't even recollect who it was, but I knew I loved it. See, hip hop has been in my life since I can remember.

I was born in 1982 in Chattanooga, TN. I grew up on East 3rd Street. If anybody from Chattanooga reads this, they will know 3rd street is like 20 miles long. But, my house was just up the block from Notre Dame High School. Back then East Third had a reputation for being a little rough. My first couple of bikes as a youngster were stolen pretty quick...hell, I remember some crackheads stole my grandma's water hose. SMH!!!!

The streets were street, and the music began to become a reflection of black people's struggle. One of my favorite television shows growing up was YO MTV RAPS! I loved that show. It was hosted by FAB Five Freddy. Back then Fab Five was the man.

Back then  you had a few hard core groups like N.W.A, but the main types of rap you would hear were sounds that you could dance and groove to. Every rap video would have a dance. And my boy Heavy D was the overweight lover that could groove. I remember I would go to the kitchen, make some kool aid, get me a cup and then find the television. I would sit my cup of punch down on the table next to the television and start dancing with the videos. During commercial breaks, I would take a sip of juice, towel off my sweat, and start dancing again when another music video would come on.

Man, it makes me recall the days of the group Kid and Play and their movies that starred unknowns like Martin Lawrence. The fights on the playground in elementary school of who was a better rapper MC Hammer or Vanilla Ice? Queen Latifah making songs about not calling women bitches and hoes. Dr.Dre and Ice Cube when they was just some guys off the block. Go back and look... Ice Cube was rocking a jerry curl. MC Lyte, Digable Planets, a Tribe Called Quest, Sugarhill Gang, Public Enemy,  Big Daddy Kane. The list goes on. These guys were just a part of my beginning stages of finding love with Hip Hop. Me and my cousins loved hip hop so much back then that one of my first dogs was a white cocker spaniel whose name was Eazy-E.

As we progressed into the 90's, I finally got my first rap cassette. Wrecks N Effect was the group. They had a few hits, and I would wear that tape out. Rump Shaker was their classic hit. You can hear that saxophone sliced and placed into Jay-Z's song Show me What you Got from the album Kingdom Come...See, I been listening to rap so long, I knew Jay Z had bought the saxophone section from the Rump Shaker song and placed it into his own song...pretty dope Jigga.

About in the fifth grade, I moved from a predominately all black neighborhood to an all white neighborhood. Talk about culture shock. But, I adapted, especially when it was time for recess. In the mornings my mom would drop me off to school for before care around 6am so she could get to work on time. I met this kid by the name of Brandon York. Brandon was this lil white kid with red freckles and red hair. Every time I would come to school I would always see him sitting there listening to a tape player. One day, I didn't feel like playing super nintendo, so I asked him what he was listening to that day? His response, "Snoop Doggy Dog"!

Now, I'm sure some parents and older folks reading this will think...In the fifth grade you were listening to SNOOP DOGGY DOG!? And the answer is yes! I listened to it. That tape, was a classic for my generation. That tape had grandmama's singing SNOOP DOGGY DDDDDDDDDDDDOOOOOG! BOW WOW WOW Yippe Yo Yippe Ya...DEATH ROW IN THE HOUSE! haha....

From Murder was the Case to Gin and Juice, wow...that tape was a classic. I can only shake my head and laugh that the whitest white boy introduced me to Snoop Dog. The irony of that is comical. But that's hip hop, it doesn't judge. Think about it, a white boy by the name of Emniem may just go down as the greatest MC to ever pick up a mic.

Hip hop became a reflection of the times. From Notorious BIG, Tupac, Puff Daddy, Wu-Tang, Red Man, Method Man, Master P, Outkast, Mystikal, Eminem, Jay Z...Its amazing to look back on those years and realize how the rap game has evolved. Who would have ever thought Jay-Z would be part owner of Brooklyn Nets? Tupac would have college professors lecturing about his lyrics? And Snoop Dogg would go from being on trial for murder, to being on daytime talk shows like the View and Ellen?

I guess I love Hip Hop because it defines an attitude of rebellion. The rapper often time chronicles his times from poverty to fulfilling riches. He tells the listener that he doesn't care what you think of him. He doesn't want you to give him approval. He doesn't want your respect. Because by the time you finish listening to the entire tape/cd you were like damn...This guy is fighting to survive. He earned my respect because he's hussling to make his life better. Instead of robbing, stealing, and slanging dope often the rapper is using their talents to have a life of rhymes instead of a life of crime.  Biggie says it best in his song Juicy:

I love you hip hop because you gave my generation a voice. I'm not talking about this crap rap. I'm talking about real raps about the streets, about the struggles, about life, death...Thats hip hop. I think sometimes, I'm gonna outgrow hip hop. I'm lying to myself. What I've realized is that my hip hop will just be a new genre called mature hop. I love you hip hop because you looked in the mirror and said the poor will survive. I will be strong. I will dust the haters off and be a winner.

My hip hop ain't just raps, its reality.

Scared to Compete

"You don't deserve anything! You earn everything you got! Nobody's gonna give you anything!" 
Boys and girls across the world are hearing these words in different languages from athletic coaches, teachers, and parents.

When I think of competing, one of the first people that pops into my mind is Arnold Schwarzenegger. Many people consider Arnold to be the greatest bodybuilder to have ever stepped foot on earth. He's also pretty good at making action movies. Arnold even made his way into the Governor's mansion of  California. Not shabby for a guy from Austria that wasn't even his father's favorite son. See, Arnold's dad thought that he was conceived from an affair. When you read Arnold's story, one thing comes to mind. What motivated him to become the man that he became? Mr.Olympia, Terminator, Governor...

Oprah Winfrey grew up in poverty. She was abused early in her childhood and sent to live with her father because her mother didn't want to raise her. What motivated her to become Oprah? A black woman that just so happens to be worth a billion dollars?

Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States. His father died in an automobile accident before he was even born. His mother eventually remarried. In regards to his stepfather, President Clinton states, "He remembers that his step father was a gambler and an alcoholic that physically abused his mom and half brother." What motivated him to become the 42nd President of the United States?

I sat back and thought about it for awhile. And I decided that these people were successful because they embodied the following characteristics:

1) Playing the game. 
We're all scared to fail. But I would bet that most successful people fear not being able to compete more than losing. What's worse... Playing the game and losing? Or standing on the sidelines and watching everyone else play the game?

2)A person that works hard with good talent can become more successful than the person with average work ethic and excellent talent.  
 I remember watching an interview of Michael Jordan. And the guy interviewing him asked him if he had ever played against a basketball player with more talent than he had? Jordan smiled, and said yes. He had played against alot of guys with more talent than him, but for whatever reason they never made it. In his words, those guys either just didn't work hard enough, got caught up living a hard knock life, or it just wasn't meant to be...

3)Presence
Its not measurable, but you know it when you see it. When these people walk into a room, you wonder who they are.

4)Persistence
Even in defeat a true winner gets off the ground and dusts themselves off. One of my professors told me once while I was applying to schools that you might get letters telling you no, but that I only needed one school to send me a letter saying yes. That holds true in all aspects of life. One door may close but if you're patient another door will open up that may lead you to greater heights.

5)Never took an opportunity for granted
When presented with an opportunity to better themselves, they made the most of it.

6)Faith in a vision
Even when no one else believed in their dreams, they saw their path.

7)Making money wasn't their main motivation,  their main motivation was to achieve their full potential. 
Money comes and goes, but what's better than having someone walk up to you one day and say..."You're one of the best that ever did it."

8) A desire to compete. 
A passion for your field of choice. A desire to work hard when no ones looking. Thats what we love as a human race. Survival of the fittest.

So it begs to be asked about American society...

1) Are we working hard enough?


2) Are we more consumed about choosing a profession to make money, rather than finding a profession that we have a passion for? 


3) Do we have vision? 

I wonder these things because we're a beautiful country. We're a country where people of modest means can work hard and become successful.

Bill Clinton. Oprah Winfrey. Arnold Schwarzenegger...

But are we going to keep our place as an innovative society? Are we becoming complacent?

Its obvious that we're scared to compete.

Crude Examples
-In little league sports everyone gets a trophy these days, even if you come in last place.
-A person that does poor work often gets paid the same amount as a person that does excellent work.
- No child should left behind...What if that child chooses not to put in the effort to do their school work?


Accountability...Are We Scared to Compete?

These are questions I'm just asking out loud.. What do I know..

Yo Momma!

There was a show on MTV a few years ago called Yo Momma. It was hosted by an annoying little man by the name of Wilmer Valderrama. 

I call him an annoying little man because...Well, because he dissed Mandy Moore. Who disses Mandy Moore? COME ON MAN?!!


I mean you hate on Mandy Moore, and then on top of it, you tell Howard Stern the king of FILTH about your love encounter with Mandy Moore. The cute girl that falls in love, but abruptly dies from an illness in the classic chick flick A WALK TO REMEMBER?! 

Wilmer? WTF! 


Completely off topic...


Now back to the topic. Wilmer Valderrama hosted Yo Momma, which was a pretty popular MTV show. The basis of the show was to get a group of people to battle one another with jokes. Think of it as the poor man's debate team. 


In real debates you have McCain vs Obama debating taxes and gun rights. 

In poor man debates you discuss who has better rims, who's girlfriend is..well a hussie, and the ultimate diss of all.....WHO's MOMMA IS UGLIER! WHOoooooooooooaaaa!!!!!!!! NO HE DIDN"T TALK ABOUT MY MOMMA?!

Now, this all seems very childish, but I must admit I'm pretty childish at times. And I got enjoyment out of this show primarily because I grew up going to a predominately black inner city elementary school. I don't know what you were doing at your elementary school. But, at my elementary school you had to be good at at least one of four things as a boy. 


1.) Can you play basketball? I mean if you're black... You better know how to at least dribble. 
2.) Can you get a girl to check the yes box when you ask her to be your girlfriend? Pimping ain't EZ!
3.) Can you battle another kid in YO MOMMA jokes?
4.) Can you beat another kid up in the bathroom during bathroom break without the teacher catching you?


Look at the list, which ones were you good at in elementary school?


I remember as a kid going home and practicing my YO MOMMA jokes. Literally, I practiced telling YO MOMMA jokes... Looking at the mirror with a sheet of paper, with written jokes, imagining what the other kid would say. And returning fire with a better YO MOMMA line!


Looking back on this is pretty damn comical. Hell, I can still tell a few jokes. You wanna hear?

-Yo Momma so fat, when she went to the kitchen she slipped on the floor broke her leg and gravy poured out. 
-Yo Momma is so skinny, she can hang-glide on a Dorrito Chip. 
-Yo Momma so stupid, she tried putting M&M's in alphabetical order. 
-Yo Momma faster than Nascar, heard she burned four rubbers last night...


Now seriously...You can laugh at some of those jokes, but now I'm 28 years old. And as I reflect, I'm wondering how in the heck I memorized those jokes in the third grade. Which brings me to the following questions. 


I know, I know... I ASK ALOT OF QUESTIONS... But think about these really quick.


Of the following two holidays, which do you celebrate with greater happiness? Which one do you spend more money on? And if you live away from your hometown, which holiday do you actually go back home to celebrate? Only One ANSWER CHOICE IS ACCEPTABLE!


a) Father's Day
b)Mother's Day 





When I was in elementary school, a teacher overheard me battling a fellow peer in YO MOMMA barbs. YO MOMMA FAT! YO MOMMA UGLY! YO MOMMA STUPID! The teacher took us both aside, and told us both to shut up and stand on the wall. 


Then she walked to another teacher and her statement was, "Ain't it a shame, they ain't got nothing to say about they DADDY!" 


Why? 


Because in my community, you didn't hurt a kid's pride by talking about his father. You hurt his pride by talking about the one parent he knew...His momma!


After all the jokes fade away. And you grow up and reflect on it, I think its pretty damn sad that this has become so many kids reality. We laugh and joke about yo momma this, and may even buy a few t-shirts that say yo momma. 


But take a few moments and really think about the reality of this situation. Its an epidemic. More and more young people are growing up without a male remodel in their lives. Its the new family dynamic. Its the new norm. 


Imagine this situation. A young man with alot of potential decides to make the wrong decision. Now unfortunately, he's standing before the judge for sentencing. The judge says, "Son...I'm giving you probation and community service. I want to say that you seem to have alot of potential. But you need to grow up...and become a MAN." 


Well judge, those are pretty good words, and sound advice... 


Except for the fact that this guy ain't got a clue how to be a man, because he's never known a man. 


Think about it...


You'll quickly realize that Yo momma jokes suddenly ain't so damn funny anymore.