Mos Def – Shook Ones
Posted: October 15th, 2007 | Author: dex digital | Filed under: blog | Tags: blog, jena 6 | 42 Comments »No, this is not a remix. This is a dedication. This one goes out to all you shook-ass, fake-ass, forgot-where-you-came-from-ass rappers, DJs, and “industry” wanksters:
So as most of you know, a little while back, we all (we meaning the entire community here) put out a little Jena 6 podcast. What most of you don’t know, however, is that while we were speaking out about this issue, a lot of scared rappers were hiding their heads in the sand. Scared to death, scared to look.
Sway asks Mos if he reached out to anyone – and Mos says he reached out to everyone. Me too. I actually hit a lot of people up personally about this issue. A few thousand emails went out to some people with a voice, and with a few exceptions, these shook ones were too scared to say anything.
How are you too scared to say something? How are you too broke to drop some cash on this, but you got enough for a private jet? How are you too busy to make a three-sentence post on your Myspace so your fans can see that you at the very least have a conscience? And yes, this goes for indie rappers as well as majors.
I don’t know. Maybe the old “rappers should be socially responsible” thing is played out and I just didn’t get the memo. Thanks to Vince for bringing this up.
I agree with Def. There aint no boogie man in the cave. America is Al Quada. We are the worlds terrorist fighting humanity. I dont believe Bin Ladden knocked down those towers at all man. Watch Loose Change and you’ll se the truth man. 911 was the biggest magic show the world had witnessed. And for those who believe in the war on terror you need to wake the fuck up. Bush is “snake” and so are all his fucken “snake” buddies in the white house.
P.S.
Am I the only one writing these fucken comments on this cite? WTF? Were is everyone?
Def wasn’t talking at all about 9/11 or the WoT!
I watched KRS-One perform recently during the ‘07 VH1 Hip Hop honors. He mentioned Jena 6 during an old school tribute to the movie “Wild Style” so he deserves some props for that but still..
Iain – not in this video. I think Miles might be thinking back to this video.
vince78 – Yeah, KRS isn’t the most real-world-political dude I’ve ever met. Very nice and humble dude (if you have a chance to hear him speak, by all means, go!), but it doesn’t seem to be his thing. And I can understand that people want to stay in their comfort zone, but it’s just that some decisions seem so easy to make, you gotta wonder who is behind them telling them not to.
Miles – haha – I think I read somewhere that something like one tenth of one percent of people actually interact online – the rest just grab what they came for and move on. Plenty of people on here, just a lot don’t talk much. As things grow, that should change – in the meantime, invite more people to see what’s good over here!
We are the worlds terrorist fighting humanity.
In too many ways, you’re correct. I wish yours was an unpopular sentiment.
Ah ok, my bad.
So, the Jena 6. There was a full half hour report aobut it in the U.K. on a programme called Panorama. But more than highlighting racism, it was highlighting what people are doing about it. In particular, political figures. Now one guy that was getting mentionend a lot was the Democratic candidate Barack Obama. Now, according to this programme, Obama seemed to be too ‘white’ for the black people (he would make statements against racism and never actually march with black people), and too ‘black’ for white people (simply because of his skin colour). It’s also important to note that Obama’s heritage included a white and black parentage and also that some said ‘he doesn’t have any slave lineage and so he doesn’t really understand the history’. I live in the U.K. and I’m just wondering if any of this stuff is true i.e. society’s perception of Obama.
Peace
:)
P.S. Don’t aobut Jena 6, but Dr Cornel West: http://www.hiddenbeach.com. There’s a real player article there about him and also his own page is http://www.hiddenbeachmedia.com/index.php?option=com_artist&Itemid=35&id=43
I hope you find to look at them both
Peace
:)
word
*P.S. Not about Jena 6, but tackling issues such as racism and 9/11, Dr Cornel West.
*I hope you find time to look at them both
YO , I did not know Mos was that deep…brother man inspires me.
mos is one of the realest cats out there, and here that’s shown once again.
Mr U – yeah, for some reason most of Hidden Beach’s catalogue doesn’t do it for me. I had heard the Unwrapped collection a couple years back, and it’s just too damn vanilla for me. But, to be fair, there’s very few people that can actually improve on an instrumental like that.
That Cornell West thing, though. I can respect the dude for doing what he is doing, and this is the first time I’ve heard his voice. I just feel like he would sound a lot better backed by some more interesting music. That 9/11 track certainly has potential, but hell. Someone should get those acapellas and do a proper remix project with the dude. I’d play that.
Barack, though. I can’t comment too much on the dude because mainstream politics in general has me feeling kinda uninspired. Nothing about the dude has totally blown me away nor turned me off him like that. But maybe someone else can comment on this.
I can recognize the public sentiment about the dude though – we’ve got such a screwed up, completely binary view of race in the States that anything that doesn’t readily conform to predetermined “norms” confuses us. Yeah, I’d like to see the dude get more involved with things that are “easy wins” for people of color in the states – racism, etc. I was surprised to hear James Rucker say that Hilary had done a better job on the Jena thing than Obama.
For the record, though, I think it’d be absolutely hilarious to have the dude on the Mixtape Show.
I can see where Cornel West is coming from. I bust out laughing though when he said, “since 911 the whole country has been niqqarized’” That’s my niqqa right there– the prophetic pimp. It’s pimpalicious b*tchez. Seriously, the more I learn about 911 the less I understand about it. I can recommend a book on it though written by Mahmood Mamdani & it’s called, “Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, The Cold War, & the Roots of Terror” If you can understand what he’s talking about you’ll be one light year ahead of the game
As for my take on Barack though– I’m not really feeling him. I could give a damn what color my president is. This issue about his race is just a distraction. Unfortunantly, there is a portion of our electorate that is easily swayed by this. Knowing that, the media dictates which issues regarding his campaign will be key talking points & unfortunantly it’s his Black mama & Gray daddy. Anyway, there’s a couple of reasons why I’m not feeling him. I guess this guy believes in “clean coal” which is a ridiculous concept in itself. Also, his foreign policy is like imperial margarine. For instance, he says that all options are on the table– including the use of nuclear weapons. Therefore, there’s no way in hell/purgatory/etc. that I’d vote for somebody like that. Instead, I’m gonna vote for a white boy named Ron Paul. Especially if he wins the nomination & picks Dennis ‘the Menace’ Kucinich to be his running mate
Haha. yeah it probably would. Thanks for clearing that up and yeah, I guess Cornel WOULD sound better with a good backing.
Vince, cartoon characters runnig for president, whatever next?! Haha man, I agree with you on that one about Obama.
whoa, slow down U. Democracy works only when the electorate is informed. So, here’s your ‘cartoon character’:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=dOeaNN4DG2g
Also, pay attention to the other candidates when asked to raise their hands
I got allot comments from some people that didnt march for them..some where like why is everytime a person that is known for for acting we have to break our backs and march for that ..some people said what kind of example are we putting out there for the youth..my answer to them was i never said that he shouldnt have some type of punishment but 88 years is too much..and cornell thats my boy right there..mixtapeshow keep up the good work..
Major props and kudos to the mixtape show for being this aware. I found out about the Jena 6 earlier this summer by word of mouth before the media and Sharpton. I am not surprised that not just the hip hop artists “buried their heads in the sand” but other mega media stars, from sports to you name it. It is like Katrina in that the colored people who can afford to help out out become invisible. Although many can promote products/concepts for our consumption that are not in anyone’s best interest except theirs and the entities that writes the checks.
How any of those teens were even charged with the crime of attempted murder places the judicial system in the clear light of day, where “babylon makes the rules”
The “solution” to cut down the tree that was not the center for all this but the measuring stick of how far we have not come in these united states in the 21st century. This also speaks to the reality that too many folks in this country prefer to stick their heads where the sun don’t shine. Let’s just make money by calling ourselves and each other names, kill ourselves slowly or quickly… … you finish this sentence because it’s decades, no, centuries of major BS that keeps repeating itself in a feedback loop.
Blacks get even less respect where/when it counts because of the self perpetuating negative stereotypes that is driving part of pop culture.
U– I don’t know Steinbeck. I don’t know much about Roosevelt & his New Deal. Here’s what I find remarkable though: the pharmaceutical giants have arguably the most powerful lobbying groups in Washington D.C. & thus often dictate many of the outcomes regarding our healthcare $y$tem. Not much has changed in terms of Veterans care since it’s tragedies are hidden so well now that if you watch tv it looks as if we truly honor their sacrifice when the reality is that they’re still getting sh*tted on (that Walter Reed situation only scratched the surface.) Also, we pay federal taxes on our wages which appears to be illegal according to our constitution! I’m also paying into a social security system that will be completely dried up when my time comes to retire. Here’s another one, after Katrina a lot of my people were disenfranchised once it came time for insurance companies to issue checks– which resulted in people losing their homes & having to start over from the real ground zero. The worse part is that the majority of our presidential candidates running for office are merely puppets with no real plan available to address these & other problems we face as a nation (including racism.)
most deaf is an idiot, and so are all of you who agree with him. Do some research instead of believing the first thing you hear. Loose change is all based on speculation and opinion anyway, the same as Fahrenheit 9-11, which i’m sure you all believe to. I’m also sure if a rapper or some other famous idiot made a song or a movie about “YOU” and how ignorant “YOU” are, “YOU” would honestly believe that “YOU” were that ignorant. I can not stand you MTV, hollywood followers who would rather listen to someone who has no clue about anything in the world, besides how to rhyme a couple lines, than study and research the facts yourself and then form your own opinions. YES i know you all watch and believe in and someday hope to live in the unreality of mtv and hollywood hip hop world. If anything is fake, its your views of US and World history and politics. I hate you all. God bless.
And another thing…the only REAL racist people left in this GREAT country are BLACK PEOPLE who continue to make racism an issue. DROP the 200 year old slave saga and live in the world of today. YOU keep yourselves segregated by continuing to play the race card when in reality there is no racism left towards African-American people. You’ve used it all up to get the advantages that you have over every other race.If anything there are more black people that hate white people than vice-versa. so who are the racists, really?? just get over it….read the bible….read the part about FORGIVENESS!
All your doing is keeping people like jesse jackson and others like him rich and wealthy while your pretending to be the poor hated black people. do yourselves a favor and take yourselves OUT of that scenario instead of keeping yourselves in it….didn’t bill Cosby say some stuff like this??
I am not racist…despite what you may think… there are people from every race who have caught up to the rest of the world. God Bless you all…don’t hate
Dear Erika:
In the spirit of hate, I humbly ask that “YOU” provide “U.S.” mere mortals with the knowledge necessary in which to discern between what’s fake (ig. Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) & what’s real (ig. “Nature of the Threat” Ras Kass) I know you’re probably busy bringing down your wrath upon those who are well deserving of it. Therefore, if you find my request too time consuming may I present you w/ an alternative: Instead, you could elaborate on WHY you find the documentary “Loose Change” to be so inaccurate..
Understand that we only wish to make an informed decision considering your opinions before deciding to follow you over a cliff, okay?
Thankz a lot Aye-Whole.
Dear Erika (pt.2):
Your advice is truly appreciated. I dearly value your lessons on forgiveness. Although reparations are not a necessary requirement, historically it has been the choice approach for healing an entire race of people who have been.. as my neo-conservative comrades would say, “Victimized” So, with that said, I can’t help but ask– Is patience a virtue?
I’m assuming you’re the forgiving type so with that in mind I hope you don’t consider the following statements blasphemous. I just feel compelled to challenge your awesome state of denial. Some astro-physist’s believe in parallel universes with multiple dimensions– & that’s fine with me. However, I have a problem when 1 of them decides he (or in your case– she) decides they are the reigning authority regarding the social landscape relating to this particular planet– especially when most of this person’s lifespan is spent hovering a planet called Mars.
“Denial is a defense mechanism in which a person is faced with a fact that is too painful to accept and rejects it instead, insisting that it is not true despite what may be overwhelming evidence.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial
well let me start here…after reading my previous comments regarding race and racism, I will admit they were awfully straight forward and somewhat harsh. I do apologize to anyone who has been offended by these comments.
Vince, from there let me say this…people like “ras kass” only prove my point of who are really the racist ones in the world today, and that people like ras continue to keep black people down in that same old ditch. When you start viewing yourself as equal or better than equal then that is when you will become equal or better than equal. Rich and successful black people don’t play the race card, look at people like Oprah and Robert Johnson. Now think of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, why are they rich and famous? because they keep racism alive and thrive on it.
My immortal opinion is that we are all American and should be banded together by that fact alone, not separated by what race we are inside our own country. Racism is stupid, flat-out, and honestly, Vince, when you factor in the rest of the world, e.g. (not ig which abbreviates inspector general) the middle east, they don’t hate white Americans or black Americans differently, they hate ALL Americans equally. I only believe that because of this fact that we, as Americans, are now threatened by them (terrorists, which yes are REAL) that we should be getting over the old, outdated and over abused argument of racism in this country. Yes i will agree that unfortunately there are some hick country southern people and others who are still racists. On the other hand though you must admit there are a lot of black people just as racist against white folks too.
Now, next, patients is a grand virtue, Vince, in which i practice daily, some days more than others sure, but i do my best. I have no problem with admitting what happened to black people up into even the sixties and early seventies was wrong and for lack of a better term, it flat out sucks. I would never wish that kind of treatment and segregation on any people. If i was put down for years and years, and finally allowed to speak my mind freely and with out consequence, yes, i would speak out against the wrongs that had been committed against me and let everyone know what i had been through, but there comes a time when that will start to do more harm than good, it is again my opinion, that that time has come in regards to this whole race issue.
As for loose change, which i have watched, both editions might i add, every accusation proclaimed in the film can be negated by either, science, physics or flat out facts. If you want to watch a film with some meaning and truth behind it watch An Inconvenient Truth, at least it is real, not put together by three teenagers in there bedroom, with artificial content picked up off of some wiki site on the internet.
So Vince i ask you….what is it that i am so viscously denying? What fact is so painful to me that i can not accept it? and how long did it take you to look up that quote in which you forget to mention the author? also, based on the 3 hour gap in the times at which your responses were posted i can only imagine how difficult it was to look up the meaning of such extravagant wording seeing that you misspelled “thankz”, though i must say you do have rather good grammar…
Alright, my jaw is starting to hurt from preaching so much, thanks for listening, though next time I may be forced to charge a fee for interrupting my wrath bringing time. Top of the morning to ya…
ErikK
oh ya, P.s. i feel you on Obama, i dont think he is fit to be king, i feel the same about hilary too. really though its slim pickens in 08 that is for sure.
oh one more thing i just noticed the link to wikipedia, my bad.
Dear Erika (pt.3):
Oops! All jokes aside, I apologize. I hope you’ll forgive me for the poor grammar, (ig.) You can understand that right– seeing as my forefathers were stripped of their original language & all?
I’m looking over your respones though & together they make no sense. The timeliness of my replies is of no consequence because 1st, there is a portion of my life that doesn’t involve this keyboard & 2nd, this is not a REAL-TIME battle of wits (just ask the moderator.) If it was, you’d already be suffering from something like an inverted elbow joint & if flung hard enough– a compound fracture, right as you tried to roll Al Sharpton’s name from your forked toungue. That’s real talk– stemming from the nonsense you probably wrote while sober– which makes it even worse because there’s no consistency in it. For instance, WHY have you not yet FULLY ELABORATED on your previous postings (eg. Loose Change) or the others which you now claim to be apologetic about? Don’t you know that the path too atonement involves many steps? Also, how can you preach hate & God all in the same breath devil?
You should’nt allow these contradictions to surpass your potential (e.g. death & destruction) I figure that a man with your grasp of the english language can fully appreciate this advise as you should appreciate the ideology of a presidential candidate named Mike Gravel, right?
No (of course not.) Well, perhaps I should write in a language that you can readily understand. Remember them glory days when Rush Limbaugh WAS a prominent broadcaster? Those were the days when he had an entire nation marching to the drumbeat of his oxycontin induced rants sounding something like Don Imus wearing a holy pillowcase, before he was exposed by the world for the racist that he really was/is? Think about it, all that time (even now) & he’s STILL in denial– sounding just like you & his stereotypical talking points. Gotta hate those stereotypes, huh?
http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/10/02/limbaugh/
You say that we should band together but do you honestly think I or anyone else would turn their back on a person like “YOU” considering what “YOU”ve already stated? You write & therfore probably talk/walk or crawl on your belly as a snake does but you can’t even do that right cause your mechanics are all f’d up (e.g. You don’t practise what you preach fool!) Make me sick just thinking about it: “..study and research the facts”
Even though I can’t stand people like “YOU” I’m really glad “YOU” decided to stick your neck in a lion’s den. You’re getting me in shape for that big rally on Nov.3rd (that’s WV sissy.) I’m hoping you’ll be there too. Matter of fact, if you decide to show up & haven’t already done so, please shave your head so I can pick you out of the crowd easier. I’ll be in Charleston at the Capitol Building 10am sharp. Oh, & bring the most expensive video camera in your inventory
i hate black people!!!!!! BUSH IS THE GREATEST PRESIDENT OF ALL!!!!!*note from admin: this is erik posing as vince78
man vince that harsh, be cool
no you be cool RUSH LIMBAUGH FOR PRESIDENT ‘08!!!!!!!!!!*note: this is erik posing as vince78
Note: I deleted a few comments where Erik was pretending to be Vince78.
I’ll give you a chance to explain yourself, Erik – what gives? I mean, argue all you like, but resorting to childish antics like that isn’t exactly the way to convince people.
i like the link dex and its true, so why was i not allowed to state my opinions and personal views in the first place with out someone questioning, or should i say arguing them? please feel free to direct that link towards a few others on this message board
Hmmm. Just to tell you Erik, An Inconvenient Truth is NOT the Truth. I don’t want to start ANOTHER argument but it really is a scriputre of lies. In fact so much so, it was banned in U.K. Geography lessons as a learning resource. Just to give you an example, Al Gore preaches about how the ice caps will melt in 1000 years. The actual figure is 10,000. I think the only reason these figures are embellished are so that people will buy into that franchise of Al Gore’s. I am sorry to find that someone with your calibre and command of the English language has fallen into this trap. Like you said, reasearch the facts…
Peace
1st up, like to mention something that probably doesn’t reach most here, but it scares and perplexes the shit out of me..During the time after Katrina, authorities in N.O. feared looting/murders etc. They brought in Blackwater security forces and confiscated all legal weapons (meaning firearms people planned on protecting themselves with, and were justified in doing so by the constitution). Mean while the “G’s” of the city were free to rape, rob, and kill who they wanted, and they did. The guns taken will never be returned to their owners. They were either destroyed, or used by the police. Taking guns from law abiding citizens and leaving them with gangsters must’ve sounded like a great plan. It’s not on the news because they don’t tell us things that might piss off anyone who’s in a position to stop them. If they took guns right out of peoples hands, when we’ve been promised that right since birth, what good are the rest of them? [in case erik's wondering my source, NRA]
Now onto the commentary I’ve so missed. I gotta say this has been entertaining. It’s hilarious when people get so worked up over the internet, like you have some new found voice anyone gives two fucks about. (just to keep it clear I’m talking about erik) I keep thinking something to myself though, nothing changes. No matter who’s elected, or what race of people you surround yourself with, or what site you copied your amazingly profound, fucking “eye- opening” quotes from. Who gives a fuck, really? Rich people (white + black alike) are staying rich, and poor people (white + black alike) are staying poor. Everything wrong with the world is getting worse, for the simple fact that no one challenges shit. The people you surround yourself with seem to have a huge impact on every thought you have…you can’t say this or that cause your boys might think it’s homo and question it, so you MUST say “no homo” after every sentence; your moms isn’t gonna like her, so don’t bring her home. Fuck your boys and fuck your mom, do you.
NO ONE kinged Jesse and Al and said, “these are the voices of black America.” Fuck these whack ass people on the news, steady talking about what SHOULD change and not doing shit about it while they secretly spend every ones money who seems to be depending on them aka buying into the bullshit. Sharpton will do anything to get his shiny ass head on tv just like any other human would for a buck. It’s all the same, just masked by trickery to the average person that you may be benefiting from it.
I’m black(+ white + a few other things), and from my experiences, blacks are more racist than ANY white person I’ve met in my life. 9 times out of 10 it’s not racism, it’s fear of the unknown. Be real and stop defending cats you can’t speak for. We’re even racist against our own for having lighter pigment, better jobs, more extravagant things, etc. I’ve heard the phrase “don’t hate” so many times it’s ridiculous. These people have no grip on reality. Can you imagine hating some one for what they have?(what they went out of their way to look cool buying) Or what’s worse THINKING that some one is hating you for what you have, when reality bites, they don’t give a fuck about you or your shit.
What about the fact that we all inherit our beliefs from our parents or who ever we were brought up around? When you see something for so long, you start to believe it’s right. Black kid grows up in the ghetto, he talks it, walks it, and lives it, all for people to call him ignorant. He gets pissed and thinks “it’s cause I’m black” No, idiot, it’s cause your dumb ass sat there and did what everyone around you was doing because you were scared to be different in front of them.
Erik, when some one agrees with some one else, it’s not always because we’re dick riding and love em so much (granted i think Mos is one of the most intelligent people in the business, yet i don’t agree with every single thing he says on a daily)..it’s because we’ve formed our own opinion about it and it happens to be similar so we’re all just trying to come together for the same cause. It may not be something you support, but who gives a fuck. We’re entitled, as are you. I just want to know, which is it?..don’t hate? or you hate us all? And why does your jaw hurt from typing? Are you in one of those chairs and have to use your breath to dictate keystrokes?..I’m lost. By the way, we don’t elect kings in this country. Maybe you should head over to England.
Sara– You made a good point about Black leadership & it’s a HUGE problem. Amazingly, a lot of people have trouble recognizing it. We have a problem in America. The problem is that there are too many puppets masquerading as our representatives & you can find them in the NAACP, the Dept. of Justice, the U.S. congress, the White House, etc. It’s not just a race of people who are being mis-represented either. Discrimination seems to have only a few boundaries in this country– a person’s class, gender or cultural persuasion also lends prefrence to unjust prejudice.
I just got back from the march in Charleston. It was definetly an experience. I didn’t notice any skinheads lurking around but perhaps it was for the best since the march turned out to be a peaceful protest. It’ll take some time to get all the pictures developed (I captured more than a hundred exposures.) I also plan on capping that with a short summary from what I’ve learned– things which our major media outlets have failed to inform me of.
Also, since this is a blog inspired by music, I just wanted to let you know that there was a musician there (don’t ask me his name.) He was flowing on the platform of Charleston’s capital building which is pretty impressive in my opinion. I wasn’t really feeling it personally, but at least he showed up in support of Meagan Williams, unlike some other rappers we’ve become all too familiar with.
vince – let me know when those pictures+commentary are online. Have you checked out flickr?
erik – you didn’t answer my question, so I’ll reiterate: what made you think posing as another member and posting was a good idea?
I never seen that flickr site but it looks straight. Good looking out. Hopefully I’ll have time to get them pictures tomorrow & maybe write the summary by (I don’t know) the weekend.. but if not, no sweat cause here’s something something straight from the source:
http://www.blacklawyersforjustice.org/
I understand you all the way.
[...] been following this blog for at least a couple months, you’ll remember that Vince78 mentioned he was going to the march for Megan Williams in Charleston, West [...]
It’s been a fuck of a long time since this whole thing, but I just want to say that it’s pretty apparent most black “role models” like mainstream rappers and sports figures and the like don’t stand up for their own people when push comes to shove. I’m hispanic, and if this shit happened to hispanic kids you would see every major hispanic leader in this country AND their white cronies out there.
Maybe justice is color blind