Was that the wu-tang style you were using against me?...I've learned so many styles!

Peace Fam,

What a day...huh? Two posts for me in one day whoa...(lol). Anyway since I have been soaking up my various WU cds over the past week or so. I came across an article that some of you may find interesting. Plus I have my own infatuation with kung-fu/martial art flicks. But that is for another day, another convo.

Please take time to remember a master and lengend Bruce Lee.

One
Storme
The Rare Breed

Bruce Lee to get own theme park in China

Bruce Lee to get own theme park in China
Mon Nov 27, 2:30 PM ET

HONG KONG - A theme park with a statue and memorial hall will be built at Bruce Lee's southern Chinese ancestral home of Shunde, the president of his fan club said Monday.
The park will also contain a martial arts academy and conference center, Wong Yiu-keung, chairman of the Hong Kong-based Bruce Lee Club, told The Associated Press.

Wong said he couldn't confirm details of a report Monday in the Apple Daily newspaper that said the park was budgeted at $25.5 million and was expected to be completed in three years.
Wong said he attended the laying of the theme park's foundation in Shunde, near Hong Kong, on Sunday. He said Lee's younger brother, Robert Lee, and actress Betty Ting Pei also attended.
The newspaper said Ting donated a set of nunchucks — a weapon consisting of two sticks joined by a chain or rope — that Lee once used.

Lee, who was born in San Francisco, died of an edema, or swelling of the brain, in Hong Kong in 1973. He was 32. His action films included "Fists of Fury" and "Enter the Dragon."
Wong said he wasn't certain who is funding the theme park

Back in the day when I was a teenager..but I am not a kid anymore...

Peace Fam,

I ran across this on XXL magazine.com. It is the Clipse listing their favorite top ten classic CDs. I assume these are CDs that one can listen to from beginning to end. Some of the comments that people posted on the site are so funny to read. Some had me thinking to myself, (damn-don't take it so personal.) Remember it is their own opinions people! Plus they are NOT listing their favorite artists. It for classic CDs. I must say I am impressed. I love their list, their reasons, and memories that go along with it. It takes me back too. I was just listening to Only built for Cuban Linx today. Well anyway their CD Hell Hath No Fury is in stores now. I heard it was a banga. Sh%*t..for their classic list alone....go cop that! (LOL)

Please enjoy the little excerpts from their listing below.

One
Storme
The rare breed

RaekwonOnly Built 4 Cuban Linx…(Loud/RCA, 1995)

Pusha: “Cuban Linx was great ’cause you had this crew coming out of New York who just set hip-hop on fire, and everybody had their own character, but Cuban Linx was just the uncut raw version. Rae really painted a picture. The album itself was just a cohesive masterpiece. I’m talking bout from production to lyrics. Lyrically, they were trendsetters—they had their own slang, and they rapped it like they didn’t care if you knew it. You had to go find out what it meant. There was no explanation. You could tell they were totally doing them.”
Favorite Track: “Incarcerated Scarfaces

Boogie Down ProductionsCriminal Minded(B-Boy Records, 1986)
Malice: “Oh my God, yes! Criminal Minded. I remember when they came out and it was just underground. There was a couple big heavy dope dealers from New York in Virginia that we just all knew. They came to Virginia and they was cool with us. My man Reggie and Fred—they came with this Boogie Down Productions joint. It had “The P Is Free” on there, and it just wrecked my life. I wanted to be associated with New York, hustlin’, getting’ money, big chains…it was just so damaging to me. And then we have family in the South Bronx, and my cousin Snapper would just talk about what’s hot because New York had everything first. That whole album is crazy. What I need to do right now is revisit that album. I’m sure it will spark the motivation to get back into writing.”
Favorite Track: “Criminal Minded”

Jay-ZReasonable Doubt(Roc-A-Fella/Priority, 1996)
Pusha: “Reasonable Doubt is definitely the best of all the Jay albums. It set a new standard and it gave a face to the whole lifestyle—the whole street culture and the actual lusting for the finer things in life. There was a whole mystique that came along with Reasonable Doubt. I was into all the rumors that came along with it. People were saying like, You see Jay-Z as the face man, they loved Dame Dash as being the brash dude, but Biggs was like the mystery man. Even he played a part in it because he gave a sense of reality. You always heard the stories like, ‘He was in the streets for real’ or ‘he won’t get in the videos.’ It just added to the mystique of the whole Roc-A-Fella situation.”
Favorite Track: “Can I Live?”

Kool G RapWanted: Dead Of Alive(Cold Chillin’, 1990)
Malice: “Kool G Rap was one of my favorites. ‘Streets of New York,’ with that piano, is one of my all-time favorite songs. It’s a nostalgia, I remember where I was at when I got that. I had just got a brand new stereo system, brand new equalizer with the drum machine with the 4 pads on it. I just remember the video where he was spitting like crazy. I remember thinking he was such an ill lyricist.”
Favorite Track: “Streets Of New York”

Dr. DreThe Chronic(Death Row, 1992)
Malice: “I wasn’t a fan of West Coast rap—I didn’t understand it. I didn’t understand the white gloves and the permed hair. But when Snoop and Dre came on the scene with The Chronic, I could understand it and I respected Snoop as an MC. I thought he was insane, and he was so anticipated, just off that album. The music on that album, from beginning to end, you could just ride to that. It made me have a great feel for the West Coast and I really appreciated the sound from that side.”
Favorite Track: “Let Me Ride”

Mobb DeepThe Infamous(Loud, 1995)
Pusha: “That was it man. Young, rebellious, Black angst. It just embodied the ignorance of youth. When it dropped, that was the best thing since sliced bread to me. I was quoting that shit line for line. ‘I use to drive an Ac and kept a mac in the engine/Windows painted black with crack sales intentions.’ I was done. The videos in the Audi, oh my God. The cups of Hennessey. It was something different. It showed a little younger side to the wild street shit. ‘Shook Ones’ was a guaranteed fight started in any club that year.”
Favorite Track: “Shook Ones Part II”

Eric B. & RakimPaid In Full(4th & Broadway, 1987)
Malice: “When Rakim came out, he just changed the climate. Like how snap music came this year and took everything over, Rakim came and made everybody just talk when they rapped. It was just smooth and mellow. He brought a lot of knowledge of self to the table. When I first started rhyming, I used to scream like Run from Run-DMC, and he showed me that you don’t have to do that. You can just talk and get your point across. He just broke through the door and was just cool with it.”
Favorite Track: “Eric B. Is President”

The Notorious B.I.G.Life after Death(Bad Boy, 1997)
Pusha: “It totally showed the growth of Big from Ready To Die. It had so many dimensions to it. And all of them were just great interpretations of whichever lane he was in. If he was talkin’ about some gangsta shit on “What’s Beef,” or he was telling a comedic story on “I Got A Story To Tell.” “Praying On My Downfall”…there were so many great moments. Even if he went the R&B route with R. Kelly—“I’m Fuckin’ You Tonight”—he killed every vein of it. When he was recording it, he must have been like, Man, we keepin’ everything!”
Favorite Track: “What’s Beef”

Public EnemyIt Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back(Def Jam, 1988)
Pusha: “It was politically charged, aggressive, but still, they conveyed it in a way that you wasn’t preachy. They made you appreciate it and love it. It was some of the most militant shit I was hearing and it was great. And they crossed genres—it seemed like everyone was listening to them, not just hip-hop. They took issues head-on, it didn’t matter, they addressed it. This particular album was in their heyday, and I think it was the highlight of their whole career.”
Malice: “I remember walking through school with ‘Black Steel’ on my headphones and thinking that I was gonna do what I wanted and the teachers wasn’t gonna tell me nothin’. Chuck D said he wouldn’t go into the military and the government were suckers, and I just felt so empowered by that.”
Favorite Track: “Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos

HipHop just died this Morning.......

Ladies & Gentlemen,

We got MC Nas in the house tonight and he is gonna tell you a little story about where he comes from...... and how he feels about Hiphop right now.

Peace Fam...I found this over at real talk NY (realtalkny.blogspot.com/). This could be Nas's cd cover. I guess time will tell.

In the meanwhile Nas has been doing his promotional thing lately. He has been out and about..doing interviews etc. He is one of my favorite lyricist. You can say what you want, love him or hate him. He flips verbals supremely.

Something I noticed about him, is that the title of his records always grab you. From "Illmatic, to Hiphop is Dead,"it causes talk amongst the people. The comments can vary. (On a side note: I have even read some people bugging out on his previous release cd's artwork.) Anyway we all know that an album's title is very important to an artist. I mean it is suppose to make a statement to the cd and as a whole. It can be a very personal thing between the artist, and their craft..unless the "man" aka big business comes in, and makes the decision for the artist. However in Nas's case I think it is safe to say he had a lot of input in naming his current cd. I mean he has been in the game for a minute now. That is a big statement to make that Hiphop is dead...culturally speaking. A lot of you all will agree with him, and a lot of you won't. Now once we get past the statement let us look a little deeper beyond the face value of the statement.

"Why would one of the "biggest" rappers proclaim Hiphop is dead?" As I read different little interviews( in between the lines) by Nas it had begun to become clearer, and clearer. There are a number of reasons that all add to the total. One a core group (not just purists or backpackers either....LOL) of Hiphop heads have been mumbling this for quite some time. The game is so unbalanced right now that it's sickening. It seems real mic skills & creativity are no longer respected. Political rap is look on as being corny. Female emcees can only be seen& heard on "click" cuts (help a girl if she tries to do a solo joint now a days and get shine), or either she has to expose an azz cheek or nipple or something. Now everybody has to go 7:30 in a situation or "create" a situation to feed the press engine, because maybe just maybe that will boost cd sales. And because of this unalignment it causes heads to feel frustrated. Where statements like "Hiphop is dead, f*%ck rap, ni99as is wack etc."

One of the main reasons I think Nas feels like he feels is because of the era from which he came, and the era from which most of the "top" rappers(30 & over) & lyricists were born out of. I decided it is that "cut from a different cloth" that Busta spoke on when he won BET's "Best Performance." It is certain statements made by members of the Wu, Jada, Stylez P, Scarface, IceCube, The Clipse, OutKast, DMX etc. There is a vibe of frustration, and I know because I feel it too. Sometimes at more times than others. The youth are not getting the whole spectrum of the culture. Their not even getting the diversity of the styles, and they don't respect it. Could you imagine a person who claims they are into jazz or a jazz musician, and that person never listened to Bird, Coltrane, Ella, Billie or Louie? Or if the person stated they suck, this "old head" etc... How could a person who is contining a culture or tradition be so wreckless (especially if you claim you have love for it)? How could you not respect the person who elevated the culture, and gave birth to your foundation of expression. That shyt would be, and IS FOOLISH. Straight like that.

To reflect on the "era" theory. It goes a little something like this. I say from 1985-1996. Hiphop had a "golden era" a peak era. It was in this era where the music, the culture and mic skill level flourished. You had a balance that has not since been duplicated, and I am not sure it ever will..so maybe it is dead. You could listen, and had a variety of selection of hardcore, party/club, storytelling, comedy, horror, lyrical skills, gangsta, and concscious. Now don't get me wrong..there were certain styles that had their peaks (eg: gangsta) where there was some saturation. However I could still hear a vary of styles on the radio, or at shows. So I guess heads that listened to the music in this era knew how dope it was, (and can"still" be, if we get our stuff together.) There were shows where MCs learned to tighten up their performance skills, because the audience was critical (they were not just expose to your videos or music via the internet), an expected, no they demanded a fire performance or you were getting booed off the stage. Or the crowd was leaving..something was going to give. You had to move the crowd.

So the essence of this era lingers in our souls like when Malcolm first heard Billie Holiday sing live. It is like a persistant itch that alot of my people from that "era" have either by a real love for the culture or bearing witness to the love of the culture from then to now. This love is carried by some industry insiders, writers, activists, mcs/rappers, b-boys, b-girls, djs, graffti/aersol artists..all the true school carry this itch like a virus. It reminds us to never let it go, and that it will be no relief until.....

So we have to keep speaking on it, and building. Because maybe this love we have for Hiphop will be passed on to the next generation. The masses won't get it, but there are a lot of young people who will and who do. It is our burden..each one teach one. So maybe just maybe it isn't dead.

I say it depends on YOU.

One

Storme

The rare breed

Who gives a f#$k about a goddamn Grammy?

Peace Fam,

I would like to take a moment and say RIP to Ed Bradley, and Gerald Levert. May you continue to live through memories, your families, and your legacies.

Well you may wonder what brings the rare breed out? Is it the stew of new music coming from some of our favorite artists...such as Jay, Snoop, Nas, The Clipse, or The Game? Is it the "new industry" disses coming from Jay vs Jim Jones/Dipset, Jim Jones vs Tony Yayo, Jim Jones vs Nas, Peedi Crack vs Julez Santana, Could it be Lil Wayne wanting to make "peace" with the Juve, BG, and Turk?

Nah....it's not none of the above. I mean I have given some thought to these things on different levels. However not enough to hit the keyboards. Sometimes I rather build on things that don't get as much "attention." And one of those major things are females in Hiphop. Since I am a female, and I love this culture as a whole, it is a part of me. I am drawn to speak on it. I know it's a quiet time on the front for females in a "commercial" sort of way. However when I read on Sandra Rose, that Remy(and the girl can spit) had basically stated some things about the BET HipHop Awards and their lack of female representation to the media. It made me raise an eyebrow.

First...I have yet to see an award show that proclaims to showcase this culture...do it in a organized, balanced way. Some have tried(and you could see their vision) just not well executed, and then there are others whose attempts have fallen so short it's like WTF? That was a waste of time. Think do we see any of the different elements? Do we see any underground emcees represented? Do we see different types of Hiphop such as...hardcore, pop/club, gangsta,jazz, lyricism, conscious, reggae/dancehall-Hiphop, reggatone? Freestyle? What about global recognition? Do we see diplays of graffti artwork blessing the atomophere? Dance battles? Where are the honors for activisim? I mean if the Vibe awards can give an award for best video ho..pardon self I mean vixen then I think we can do better etc... I could go on, and on. Maybe the sh*t is too big to contain in a 3 hour show? I mean these are major corporations that are behind sponsoring these events. And what would we expect from them....wasn't it PE who said it best "Who gives a f#$k about a goddamn grammy?" Not too long ago rappers boycotted some of the award shows.

However Remy has a valid point. She felt damn we have made some headway...right? We have our own award shows, and more than one at that. We have made some progress haven't we? Maybe not when you check it from it's raw form. In music you have males, and females who do this thing called rap, and to not have no representation on stage. That is disgusting. I mean that is basic, basic to the core. Damn the female emcees are not even good enough to hand out an award...wow! I mean they need to promote their music/& /face too.

Well Remy I guess they feel you should be thankful that you were in the taped ciphers..just spittin. I mean come on it was a situation where it was a demostration of skills right? Oh by the way I saw some photos of YoYo on the red carpet maybe that counts for something. Let me say I hope she continues to speak on situations like this for all female emcees. Keep reppin' it girl!

Peace

Storme

The Rare Breed

PS: Shout to Busta for winning "best live" performance. He deserved it, and he said some true things when he won that award!