Why I'm No Longer Anticipating a Jay Electronica Album...

Ok, let the song play in the background as you read this...

Got it playing?

Good.

So, I chose one of Jay Elect's more popular songs here...it also happens to be my 2nd favorite song of his. That's not the point though.

I'm giving up on anticipating a Jay Electronica Album.

Why? Well...because we've been down this road before.

These eclectic artists come out and show these amazing flashes of brilliance and greatness and we're waiting for years on an album that either never materializes or is a struggle disc of epic proportion.

Think about it...

How long have we been waiting on an Andre 3000 album? Hell...an Outkast album for that matter?

How long did we wait on Saigon's album? (Admittedly though, it was heat...when it came out 5 years later.)

How long did we wait for a worthy follow up to Illmatic? (I am... was decent, but it wasn't what we really wanted from him...it took Jay-Z going at his neck for him to come back to form...)

How long did we wait for Lauryn Hill to bring out a follow-up to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill... (Now some of y'all are going to say Unplugged was solid, but lets be honest folks...that's your loyalty talking. We stretched to find personal meaning in some of the songs and simply felt sorry for her...)

We waited for a minute to watch Lupe follow up a pretty decent album, The Cool, with this Lasers bullshit that HE didn't even like...(I still say it was his own fault, but I digress...)

Now we're going to be waiting on an album from Jay Electronica that will more than likely be heralded before its release as the lyrical opus of the decade only to be critically smashed by bloggers and legitimate music critics alike...

More after the break...













Sad thing is...I want Jay Elect to succeed. I want for him to drop a "5 Mic worthy", XXL Rating Grabbing, Multiplatinum Selling, Critically Acclaim, Grammy Award Winning, Internationally Loved, and Underground/Purist respected album SO BAD. I really do...

The thing is...he's going to play himself completely out of position. He signed to Roc Nation, so he's got a label head that's a lyricist and a business man. His creativity probably isn't in jeopardy and he'll get the marketing push that he needs.

So, what's standing in the way? I'd argue its Jay Electronica. He's done interviews stating that he wants to make his album perfect because the stakes and expectations are so high and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...

I know how long it takes to make an album Jay...I also know how long solid artists take to make a good album...I'm sure it takes a little bit longer to make a GREAT album, however when you go almost 6 months without a solid leaked track or a single...something seems shaky fam.

I haven't even heard any mixtape worthy material Jay!

Come on man...

I'll tell you why I'm disappointed after the break...













It seems like a number of the artists I relate to either completely crap the bed when it comes to album time or quit rapping altogether.

I loved Lupe until this last struggle plate that he tried to make excuses for...

I was a fan of Saigon, but had to wait about 5 years for his album...

Raekwon comes through for me from time to time...

Mike Bigga (formerly known as Killa Mike) is my favorite rapper right now...

Phonte of Little Brother was my favorite rapper, then he decided to kind of ease away from spittin and focus on singing. Which is ok because I like his Foreign Exchange stuff too and I understand why he did it. (Side Note: Phonte's solo hip-hop album comes out September 13th. COP THAT!!!)

Andre 3000...I've been a 3000 fan since SouthernPlayalistiCadillacMuzik...I was still listening to him when he started wearing 3 outfits at one time...I was still rocking with him when he started wearing blouses and stuff...Now that he's completely fallen off the face of the musical earth and dropping 2 to 3 pop songs a year and MAYBE a freestyle on someone else's joint...I can't even keep him in my top 5...that's sad to me.

Now there's Jay Electronica...an artist that I respect and who's music I enjoy. When I first heard Attack of The Clones, I became a fan...What The $#%^ is a Jay Electronica? made me want him to keep dropping music...

Now...I'm just a salty ass blogger waiting on an album that may never materialize...

A tissue for my sorrows?

Who Speaks for Me?

First off...listen to the song...

Done?

Good...

Let me ask you a question...and yes I want a serious answer...

Why is it that whenever there's a problem concerning race and black people in this nation the mainstream media goes to the same damn people?

You already know who I'm talking about...

Rev. Jessie Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, Min. Louis Farrakhan, Rev. Dr. Cornel West, and Dr. Michael Eric Dyson.

While I have the utmost respect for Min. Farrakhan, am intrigued by many of the ideas of Dr. West, and find myself at times agreeing with sentiments expressed by Dr. Dyson...truth be told, I don't think any of them can be considered a spokesperson for us at this point.

Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton have proven time and again to be completely out of touch and have put their hands in things that have proven to be fruitless causes.

Minister Farrakhan is an excellent speaker, but I often find myself thinking, "Nah...he ain't just say that" when he makes certain points...

Dr. West and Dr. Dyson...well...they sure are some pontificating negroes...but they're very entertaining. (Google "pontificating" if you need to...no really, do it. Consider it a word of the day type thing.)

So, I come back to the question...why does the media go get the same people every time there's a "race issue" in America?

Well, these are the folks that will give you a soundbite I guess...

More after the break...














If you ask 10 black people if any of the above mentioned people that I named speak for them, you'll probably get hit with the gas face.

HOWEVER...I dare you to ask 10 white people who's a "community leader" within the black community and you'll get at least two of those folks. (More than likely Jesse and Al...)

That bothers the HELL out of me...

Are we incapable of picking our own leaders in 2011?

Ok, ok...I get it...the President is black. Yay. Cue the Jeezy and Nas song...

Racism STILL exists in this country though at every level. This whole "Post-Racial America" concept pisses me off, but I digress...

I'm gonna let you in on something here. Racial issues in this country are met with eye rolls and heavy sighs from a large number of "non-minorities" because we're seen as overly sensitive and racially incendiary. I tend to dismantle their arguments when I run into them...but I SWEAR to you that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton don't help AT ALL. Their participation in the "roundtables" and interviews of the mainstream media lends their squawking a bit of credibility.

So, who do I think should lead us?

I'm glad you asked...













I have my own preferences about who I'd like to see in positions of influence regarding the black community. Then again, most of us do...

I'm sure many of you will disagree...and that's ok...I can understand why too. In fact here's a top 10 list for you. (In no particular order)

1. D.L. Hughley
2. Mos Def
3. David Banner
4. Harold Ford, Jr.
5. Leonard Pitts
6. Mike Bigga (b.k.a. - Killa Mike)
7. Cynthia Tucker
8. Vashti McKenzie
9. Lee Daniels
10. Phonte Coleman

Ok...that's my list.

YES, its rapper heavy.

Why?

I'll tell you after the break.














Chuck D once called Hip-Hop the CNN of the ghetto. Hip-Hop exposes the rest of the world to the things that go on in our neighborhoods, houses, and communities on a daily basis.

Those who are brave enough to share the testimonies of what they've seen in rhyme form have often borne the brunt of misguided, often myopic, criticism.

Rappers in 2011 are what preachers WERE in the 60s and 70s. (Well...the good ones anyway.) They're getting their II Timothy 2:15 thing on...

You know...the verse that says, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth..."

I know some of you will disagree with me...even call it sacrilegious to say such a thing. Check this out though...

The rappers I named are telling the ugly truth in a beautiful way from various points of view.

I guess I said that to say, they are all telling a truth that black people can relate to in one combination or another.

Who do you have to add to the list?

--Bleek

The Last Damn Post I'm Writing About Tyler Perry

"If I don't like it, I don't like it. That don't mean that I'm hatin..." - Common

Ok...watch the video...

Done?

Good.

I am so damn sick of people trying to convince me that Tyler Perry is God's gift to black film making...

Tyler Perry may quite possibly be the worst black film maker in the history of major motion picture productions, yet black people en masse eat this stuff up. Why?

"Tyler Perry puts black actors to work..."

So in 2011, with a black president, we're supposed to accept subpar film making because black actors are working? So, his employing of black actors is a reason to overlook is obvious directorial deficiencies?

You need more people...

"Tyler Perry has a great message with his movies..."

Prayer in a film does not make a good message...

A little bit later I'm going to talk about the messages that Tyler Perry sends that most of us conveniently ignore when watching his films. (Some of you will probably be too pissed off to make it to that point...which proves you're incapable of rationally critiquing his films...carry on...)

"Black people always want to criticize another black man. Crabs in a barrel..."

Oh really? That's your argument? So because I support black actors and film makers on the regular and don't support Tyler Perry, I'm a crab now? Let me ask you a couple of questions then...

Have you ever watched a bootleged Tyler Perry production? If your answer is "yes", then you've officially become a crab because you took money out of that man's pocket.

Did you criticize Halle Berry for having a sex scene with Billy Bob Thornton in Monster's Ball? If you answered "yes" you not only criticized a black actress but you criticized a black film maker (Lee Daniels) as well.

Have you ever criticized any of the following hip hop artists: Soulja Boy, Waka Flocka Flames, Nicki Minaj, Lil' Wayne?

If your answer is "yes," then judging by YOUR standards...you're one of the crabs in the barrel...

Feel free to sit down now...

More after the break...














So...lets analyze for a second exactly what it is about Tyler Perry's films that irk the hell out of me...

The first thing that confuses me and bothers me is the apparent embracing of victimization that many of Tyler Perry's female characters indulge in.

I know black women who've been cheated on, lied to, victimized, and brutalized. Some of them are truly sad and deplorable stories and situations. Some are caused by the actions of a man. Some are caused by the decisions made by the woman. Some are a hybrid of both. None the less, in EVERY Tyler Perry movie I've watched, there is a black woman there who wears her dismal situation and victimization almost like a badge of honor. She lies in the filth of victimization until either a) the love of some random man lifts her out, b) some religious rhetoric causes her to see the err of her ways, or c) a combination of both.

Now, this actually brings up another point. Why is it that a man has to save this "victimized" woman from herself? Why is it that women who watch these films don't see how the films in and of themselves a) glorify a patriarchal damn near schauvinistic view of society, b) paint them as helpless victims, and c) are the most unrealistic shit I've ever seen on a screen in my life.

Here's another question for those of you that haven't cursed me out yet and decided that I'm just a freaking Tyler Perry hater. Why do the source of most of the problems in the character's lives originate with a man or male influences? Its this kind of character/gender role schizophrenia that bothers me.

Men are the root of the "issues" that many of these characters face yet somehow a man is responsible for resolving these issues as the victimized woman somehow recognizes her own internal victory through the strength of a man and his love of God and her unwavering faith that she didn't necessarily have until she met a man. HUH?!

There's one last thing that bothers me though...

Some of you will try to crucify me for it but I don't really care...

There is an almost blatant sense of homo eroticism in a number of Tyler Perry's films. Look at the way many of the male characters are made up in the films. Michael Jai White has more makeup on than any of his female cast mates in Why Did I Get Married? and Why Did I Get Married Too? In his rendition of For Colored Girls... he made Janet Jackson's husband a closeted gay man to add a bit of salaciousness to a story that needed none.

I'm not going to touch him dressing as a woman because honestly, believe it or not, that's not a valid argument here for me...

More after the break...














Here's the big thing though folks...I don't dislike Tyler Perry...

I watch Tyler Perry's plays for the same reason I listen to Gucci Mane and Plies...I don't want to be deep or intellectual all the time. I want to sit back and just laugh, and I'm not ashamed to admit that watching a Madea Stage Play occasionally makes me laugh.

I think Tyler Perry's a MUCH better playwright than he is a film director. I think his plays, and for the most part his films, are perfect for the stage. I think his plays are an integral part of black theater, believe it or now. I think Tyler Perry is playing a pivotal role in keeping the system that fed so many black folks for generations. That system is "The Chitlin Circuit"...the network of small and mid-size areas that supported independent black talent for generations.

I admire Tyler Perry for his hustle. I take pride in the fact that this black man came up from literally NOTHING and now owns his own studio and at the snap of a finger can make a movie happen. THAT is amazing to me folks...it really is.

So why do his films bother me? Its two fold...I've already given you the aesthetic part...Now I'll give you another bit of it...

After the break...













First off, I'm annoyed by Tyler Perry's blatant disregard for the criticism lobbied against him. He should expect that and handle it better rather than being arrogant and purposely misdirecting the criticism.

(Here's an idea!!! Take a damn film class!)

As bad as it hurts to say it, he could take a lesson in handling criticism from Waka Flocka Flames....stop laughing...

When Method Man completely ripped Waka's style, Mr. Flames simply replied that he thought Meth was disrespecting his own. How could he not consider "I Came To Bring The Pain" as crunk muzik? How could he not consider his contemporaries Onyx to be in the same vein?

Damn...

He completely disarmed a number of critics with that one...

Perry on the other hand thinks its about black film makers not wanting to show a certain segment of black life. Perry's idea there is pure and utter bullshit. There have been a number of movies that have spoken to the experience of working class black folks. His most vocal critic Spike Lee having made a couple of them (See: Do The Right Thing, Crooklyn, etc.)

Rather than handle the criticism gracefully he gets high minded and gets all offended. Yeah...way to handle it.

Secondly, I'm made at us...

Who's us? THE ENTIRE BLACK MOVIE WATCHING COMMUNITY.

Most of us run to a Tyler Perry film, but turn around and ignore films like The Night Catches Us, Blood Done Signed My Name, and many others...

I don't get it...I really don't...We defend Tyler Perry because he's a black man and then ignore other black film makers because may challenge us as well as entertain us?

I originally was excited about Ntozake Shange's choreopoem "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuff" being adapted for the big screen. Halfway through Tyler Perry's rendition I wanted to throw up. The power that the women had displayed so prominently in the poem had been stripped from them in Tyler Perry's patented way of making black women victims. When I finally did sit down to finish it I realized that the conclusion was anticlimactic and damn near disrespectful to the internalization of strength that these women characters had come to symbolize in the choreopoem.

When I talked about how disappointed I was, I was met with a number of angry responses...I asked each person if they'd read the book and was met with either a "No" or "Damn, there's a book?"

*sigh*

I'm exhausted with this topic because more than likely I'm talking to a brick wall...

In closing let me say...support your independent black filmmakers...

Let Me Get This Straight...

Ok...

So...Let me get this straight...

The people elected Congress...now Congress is playing politics with the lives of people who work for the government...

Wow...

As per the constitution, Congress is the only body that can technically declare war on another country...

As of the last count I looked at, there are a little over 165,000 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan...all of which will only get a partial paycheck if these politicians in Washington don't settle a budget by the weekend. Did I mention its Thursday?

Not to mention the millions of Americans across the nation who may not see a paycheck because the two main sides can't come to terms on certain things.

It should be absolutely criminal for these politicians to mess with people's lives, in the midst of a recession no less, because they want to play politics.

This simply infuriates and confuses me...

I'll tell you why it infuriates me after the break.









It infuriates me because a nation that's supposed to be "For The People and By The People" has essentially just screwed the people...without the courtesy of a reacharound...

I mean, these Senators and Congressmen are entrusted with the livelihoods of millions of Americans. We've entrusted them to a level that we allow them to be the stewards of our desires and make decisions on our behalf...and they can't even have a sit down to keep us working...

Wow...

Jobs STILL aren't being created, Foreclosures are STILL occurring regularly, and these dumb asses are playing political chicken in Washington. Really?

What bothers me even more is that we can bail out GM (Good move), we can bail out banks (another good move), but we can't bail out our damn selves and pay our citizens because these tards want to play politics with each other. (No Bueno)

Plus we have a Commander-In-Chief that's busier talking tough to Libya and, pretty soon, fundraising to stand up for the every day working man with a government job and people that populate his fighting forces. Wow...

Next up...why it confuses me...









Iran, Egypt, Libya, France, certain parts of Saudi Arabia...

All of those places held their government accountable for not providing for the people. The young people who were supposedly the "Best Educated" and "Most Knowledgeable" generation to date were unsatisfied with how they were being handled by the government. The government had not kept their countries economically viable enough for them to find jobs...They were members of the unemployed/underemployed working class fighting for a seat at the table...

I'm confused because we have a very similar situation in America...and no one is doing a damn thing. We have politicians who have used our future as a down payment for their election in the present and we sit back and do nothing about it.

How does a nation become this complacent?

America...the "land of milk and honey"

A place where with a good education, a little hard work, and some ingenuity, you can make it! (As long as there's a spot for you.)

I guess this is my hop & change huh?

I guess this is what signing up to serve my country gets me? A bunch of whining ass suits in Washington that are willing to allow some people to go deeper in debt to satisfy their own political whims...

Damn shame...

Dear Mystikal...

Dear Mystikal,

I hope this blog post finds you in good health. As a fan of yours since my youth, I've been eagerly greatly kinda anticipating your album for a long time now. You've been out a little over 15 months though and I have yet to hear more than the song you made with Lloyd "Set Me Free"...What's up with that Mystikal?

Sure, I have no idea what you were saying half the time in most of your albums but I bought them all. Why? Because I liked your energy and I thought you were cool. I mean, people didn't but James Brown's albums because they knew what he said most of the time. They bought his albums because they were entertaining. PLUS, when we didn't understand what the hell you were talking about...we kinda liked it.

I remember when "Unpredictable" came out, I went to Starship Music and used my last 10 bucks or so to buy the album. I played it for like 3 days straight. Then my neighbor stole it. I hit him in the head with a rock 2 days later and picked up his CD player hoping to get "Unpredictable" back...but all he had was a Silkk The Shocker cd...I was pissed. Eventually, I stole somebody else's copy of Mystikal. I said all that to say that I'm a loyal fan!

I still have a copy of the "Beware" single on tape somewhere...I think...I'm not sure I'll have to check.

In closing, allow me to say...DROP an album, a mixtape, a single, SOMETHING! Call them dudes from Beats By The Pound and make something jump!

Sincerely,
Bleek

P.S. - Don't get a Pen & Pixel cover...nobody gets those anymore.

The Universal Greeting

Everyday I see this young Iraqi man that works on base...

His eyes are older than he. They sink deep into his skull and warily observe all that surrounds him. They've seen too much, yet still...they long to see more.

He walks with a slow gait and a pronounced limp. A casualty of living in a country that's been at war for his entire life. With the Iranians. With the Americans. Most recently, with itself...

His limp and cold gaze seem normal in this wartorn, forgotten land...his everpresent smile does not.

I would write his name here, but its not important. Whats most important is that I've found out how powerful a smile is.

Lets call him Greg. Greg is a young Iraqi man who's lived here most of his life. He has a wife and a daughter who bring him "great joy". He risks his life to work for Americans. The people who once were considered the enemy in this country are now providing him with viable income.

Politics go out the window when it comes time to put food on the table...

Greg is doing the same thing that most of us who put on the uniform are doing. He is risking his life daily to make a better world for his daughter. He could be killed for working here and he knows it. Yet every day he wakes up before dawn to make his trek here to the base to work 12 hours cleaning buildings.

Relatively tall and rail thin, in a different life Greg would've been a model, a soccer player, or a business owner. This isn't a different life though. This is Iraq. This is Greg's home. He's a veteran of war without having ever chosen a side...and he has the scars to prove it.

Every day that I come from my living quarters to our work area I see Greg. We lock eyes and have a mini staredown. Greg then performs some sort of funny action that makes me laugh, or I'll catch him off guard and make him laugh. None the less, Greg opens our day with a smile.

If you watch the news, you'd be lead to believe that Iraq is not as relevant as it once was. That the danger has subsided. To a certain degree, that is true. The Iraqi Police are well trained and professional. The Iraqi Armed Forces are growing by leaps and bounds.

However for the people who's land we currently inhabit...the danger is distinct and pronounced. Government officials live in fear of sticky bombs placed under their cars. Young patriots who simply want to serve their country are in constant danger of being killed for their service. Young Iraqis who simply want to feed their families even if it means working for the Americans go to great lengths to ensure that their occupation is kept secret.

In constant fear of death...Greg can still smile...and sometimes that's all you need to remind you that you're still human...