Reppin' for "Rap" arations

Reppin' for "Rap"arations:
Survivin' tha Hip Hop Holocaust

Paul Scott



"But then again I got a story that's harder than the hardcore cost of the holocaust. I'm talking about the one still goin' on. "

Can't Trust it-Public Enemy



I turned on the TV one evening just in time to catch the middle of a rant by an irate reporter fussin' about how something or another was the worst atrocity to happen to mankind. I thought that baby girl was about to have a total mental meltdown as she passionately argued about people in tha hood dying because of years of being abused and how that it was time for decent Americans to stand up and demand amends...I was just beginning to think that white America finally got it and they were about to apologize for the horrors of the 400 year treatment of African people in this country. But naw, she wasn't talking about the Transatlantic Slave Trade, she was just sharing her gripes about Hip Hop...

Every since the media found out that Hip Hop CD sales were down a few years back and their cash cow was finally running out of milk, there have been numerous shows about the "evil empire" of Hip Hop and how it is destroying the moral fabric of this country (as if a country built on slavery and cotton picking had any moral fabric to start with) . Talking heads from Paula Zahn to Anderson Cooper transformed themselves into hip Hip Hop historians, like they were really walking around in 1982 with boom boxes and Kangols.

The Don Imus comments of 2007 only added fuel to the fire of anti-hiphopism, as the culture was now the reason for racism. But if Hip Hop is really the scourge of society that white America claims that it is, then shouldn't somebody, somewhere be breaking a brotha off a lil somethin'?

It is time that we hit the entertainment industry up for some "Rap"arations.

While some folks who have dedicated their lives to securing compensation for the descendants of our enslaved ancestors may consider this statement almost sacrilegious, there is a strong connection between the two struggles. Just as our ancestors were stolen from Africa and exploited by slave traders, Hip Hop was stolen from Africans in America and exploited by CEO's of major corporations. Our failure to teach our young people about this correlation has been one of the major drawbacks in our addressing the Hip Hop dilemma. Our children have no knowledge of the complexity of the Black liberation struggle, so when we use words like "mentacide", "colonialization" and Maafa, we might as well be talking Greek instead of Swahili.

Our people, in general, also lack a thorough knowledge of history so it is impossible for many to conceptualize the scope and severity of the Maafa and that impedes their ability to connect the dots between the past and the present. However, with a knowledge of our history one would be hard pressed to ignore the relationship between the atrocities of 1619 and the condition in which we find ourselves in 2009.

Either the Hip Hop Holocaust is part of the legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade (Maafa) or just another phase of a holocaust that never really ended. Even the most hard core Hip Hop head cannot deny the fact that the corporate exploitation of Hip Hop has had a devastating on African people world wide. From the gun shots flying through hoods across the country courtesy of impressionable young Brotha's who think that killing a Black man is a rites of passage in St. Louis to the five year old Sista in South Philly who thinks that all she will ever be is someone's bitch to Brotha's and Sista's in Sierra Leone who think that "nigger" is a universal term of endearment based on the bootleg CD's that took the round (middle passage) trip back across the Atlantic, our people are suffering while white men in business suits get rich.

We demand "Rap"arations!

While the major focus of the demand for "Rap"arations will be, of course, focused on the entertainment industry, in reality, there are many people "eatin" off not only the exploitation of Hip Hop but also the death and destruction in the Black community. From the malt liquor companies who used rappers to push their "genocide in a bottle" (40 oz Malt Liquor) in the 90's to the blood diamond merchants on the African continent making millions from tha bling, they all owe us "Rap"arations.

Even the clothing companies who have made young Black children think that in order to be hip, they have to wear $200 sneakers that cost $12.50 to make are liable. How many young Brotha's and Sista's are in the grave right now because they refused to give up the $400 jacket to a stick up kid who just had to have it?

Time to pay the piper!

The argument that many white folks keep parroting for not paying reparations is that "no one alive now has suffered from slavery." This is not true in the case for "Rap"arations, as there are victims of the Hip Hop Holocaust in 'hoods across the planet, from the mother of three trying to make it on her own while her man does a 20 year bid to the father who saw his son take his last breath courtesy of a drive by from a Brotha who was acting out a rap video. We have all been touched.

Give it up or turn it loose!

The black community should demand "Rap" arations from the Fortune 500 companies that have made their fortunes from the suffering of African people. The victims of the Hip Hop Holocaust should contact the mega corporations like Viacom, Universal, EMI, Time Warner etc to demand that they issue former apologies (admissions of guilt) for the role that they have played in the destruction of the black family. These corporations should give substantial reparations to health, education and other social programs to help remedy the damage that they have created.

This is 2009 and we ain't talkin' about 40 acres and mules, we're talking youth programs and schools.


Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com. http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com/ He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 info@nowarningshotsfired.com

NWSF Flashback 1995: Are You Still a Slave?

This is another skit that we did back in 1995 on cable program, "The Scoop from the Stoop." We posed the question, "Are you still a slave?"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnqKhURU0uU

NWSF Flashback Clip 1995

This is a link to a skit that we did back in '95 about Black History on the cable show "The Scoop from the Stoop."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Wu9KKgiIVQ

After Obama: Is Black History Month Still Necessary ?

After Obama: Is Black History Month Still Necessary ?

Paul Scott



Next month, Americans will celebrate what may very well be the last Black History Month. The annual observance, which was originally referred to as Negro History Week was first started by Dr. Carter G. Woodson in 1926. The purpose was to celebrate the contributions of African Americans to American history. However for many, the need for the knowledge of black history is no longer be relevant after January 20th Inauguration.

Since the last election, many are questioning whether it is still necessary to have a month set aside for one specific racial or ethnic group when supposedly a black president signifies that we are truly one America. Therefore, some are seeing Black History Month as a case of living in the past; not recognizing the uniqueness of the African American experience. The deeper we go into the Barack Obama presidency, the harder it will be to convince many Americans that bringing up the pains of the past will be beneficial to this society as a whole.

If we are not careful the study and appreciation of black history, itself will become history.For many white Americans the past is something that they would rather forget when it comes to black people. Who could blame them as the stories of black men getting lynched, black women being raped and black children getting blown up while they attended church services do not make for good dinner table conversations nor bedtime stories. So for them the eradication of Black History Month would be a way to ease their white guilt.

Unfortunately, there are many blacks, as well, who would like to bid Black History Month farewell. For some African Americans black history has been seen as a stumbling block; just another barrier that has kept them from enjoying their piece of the American pie. Many black people strive there whole lives to detach the word "African" from "African American."

The problem of having to be black and American,simultaneously, has plagued African Americans since the Emancipation Proclamation. It is a paradox that WEB Dubois described as "a double consciousness" that black folks had to have in order to survive in a white dominated society.

During the early 20th century, the issue was bitterly debated by those who wanted inclusion into American society like Dubois and his Talented 10th and those who wanted separation like Marcus Garvey and his followers.

Later, during the 60's and early 70's there was a constant ideological war between the Civil Rights activists and the Black Power activists that personified itself in the forms of Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Dr. King believed in a dream where all Americans would be treated as equals and Malcolm X envisioned a nightmare where African Americans would forever be treated as second class citizens.

However, since the election of Obama it seems that those who wanted to be totally immersed in Americana have ,at least for the moment ,won the argument.So is the study of black culture still needed when the color barrier is being perceived as a thing of the past?

We, as African Americans, are in real danger in 2009 of losing our "blackness." We are on the verge of becoming what black historian St. Clair Drake referred to as a "Creole" culture; neither totally black nor totally white. Or to borrow a term from the newly elected president, a culture of "mutts."

Black History Month is still needed but the concept must be upgraded to meet the changing needs of the African American community if it is to remain relevant.

First, Black History Month must find a way to capture the imagination of the young Hip Hop generation. Today many African American youth who can quote the lyrics of any rap artist are totally clueless when it comes to the contributions that their ancestors made to society. Therefore the entertainment industry has made Hip Hop into a pseudo culture that can not trace its origins prior to the early 80's. Unfortunately many young people cannot discern the difference between black culture and Hip Hop. This is also do to the failure of school systems to make the teaching of black history a priority. Educators must see the importance of teaching black youth about their history year round. With the rich legacy of African people it is an insult to try to cram it all in during the shortest month of the year.

Secondly, Black History has depended too heavily on white corporations to tell the story of the African American experience. These corporations have used black history month more as a marketing scheme to get the black dollar than an earnest attempt to share the beauty of blackness with the world. Black people are the only people who depend on other races to tell their story in a truthful manner. African Americans must develop a "black history bailout" to save our history from going bankrupt at the hands of white corporations.

Finally, Black History Month must become what it was really never allowed to be; a celebration of black history not just African American History. We are constantly fed the false notion that African people had no history before they were brought to the West on slave ships. Therefore what is posing as Black History has been merely a history of emancipated slaves.

Contrary, to growing popular opinion, Black History Month is needed now more than ever as our social stability depends on it. As Marcus Garvey once said "a people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots."



Paul Scott , the "Hip Hop Truth Minista" writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com/ He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 or info@nowarningshotsfired.com

News and Observer "Crack Heads" Column

Barry Saunders of the News and Observer has a column out today about CrackHeads Candy.

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1377387.html

As I told Saunders during the interview, we need to start a "Crack is wack; and so is your candy!" campaign.

So, I'm asking the No Warning Shots "Firing Squad" to fire off a couple of emails and phone calls to the street "dealers" at FYE and king pin "suppliers" at Crackheads telling them to remove the product from in front of our children, immediately!


Contact:

Crack Heads Candy Company

http://www.crackheadscandy.com/contact/


FYE contact info (or call your local store)
http://www.fye.com/contactus.htm

Congress to Abolish Black History Month

Congress to Abolish Black History Month

From Staff Reports
January 19, 2009



WASHINGTON DC (NWSF News) -In a surprising bipartisan move, last week, Congress passed legislation to abolish Black History Month. If the bill is not vetoed by the newly elected president, Black History Month could soon be history.

The reason for the legislation is that after the election of this country's first black president, many Americans no longer believe the celebration of black history is necessary. Some even have gone so far as calling for a ban on the teaching of black history because they say it is divisive.

Although many white Americans, especially the Right Wing, have questioned the validity of a month set aside to honor one racial group, there are many blacks, as well, who would like to bid Black History Month a adieu. For some African Americans black history has been seen as a stumbling block; just another barrier that has kept them from enjoying their piece of the American pie. Many black people strive their whole lives to detach the word "African" from "African American."

"Ain't no need to be talking all that black stuff. That's just another way to divide us," says Carletta "CJ" Walker, owner of New City Beauty Salon in Atlanta. "We need to stop living in the past."

The problem of having to be African and American, simultaneously, has plagued African Americans since the Emancipation Proclamation. It is a paradox that WEB Dubois described as "a double consciousness" that black folks had to have in order to survive in a white dominated society.

During the early 20th century, the issue was bitterly debated by those who wanted inclusion into American society like Dubois and his Talented 10th and those who wanted separation like Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association.Later, during the 60's and early 70's there was a constant ideological war between the Civil Rights activists and the Black Power activists that personified itself in the forms of Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Dr. King believed in a dream where all Americans would be treated as equals but Malcolm X envisioned a nightmare where African Americans would forever be treated as second class citizens.

For many young African Americans, black history has been replaced by a Hip Hop pseudo culture that has long abandoned any connection to black culture. Instead it has embraced a false ideology that music and fashion could end 400 years of oppression. Some of the rappers are even claiming that they are no longer black but they are "Hip Hop."

"I don't care what color a dude is. As long as he keeps it gangsta, he's cool with me," says New York City aspiring rapper Tyrone "T-Boogie" Johnson. "How is learning about black history gonna get me signed to a contract ?"

The disconnection of the youth can partially be blamed on an educational system that has helped to promote institutionalized white supremacy under the guise of preparing African American children to be able to make it in the real world. Any attempt to add Afrocentric studies to a curriculum by black teachers is often met with dire consequences.

CG Woods, an 8th grade social studies teacher in Jackson, Mississippi, recently was suspended without pay for instructing his students to read "How Europe Underdeveloped Africa" by Walter Rodney.

Some say that the lack of appreciation for black history is due to the fact that what is usually celebrated every February is not black history at all but the relatively brief history of black people in this country; a history of emancipated slaves. Few have paid attention to the rich history that African people had prior to 1619. This is mostly because the white corporations that have become the major sponsors of black history events have confined any discussion of black history to the boundaries of America.

Perhaps the people most affected by the end of Black History Month will be African American businesses, especially black book stores. Shaka Nzinga, owner of Black History, Inc, the world's largest distribuor of Afrocentric material has already announced that he will close his doors at the end of February unless business picks up.

Although, some African Americans have decided to allow black history to fade into obscurity, there are a few activists across the country who are not going out without a fight. They have started the Black History Bailout Campaign. The group is asking the black community to come up with their own socio-economic stimulus package as a last ditch effort to save black history.

Although the activists hope that the movement gains momentum over the next few weeks, as of yesterday the only people protesting in front of the Capitol were an elderly man with a Marcus Garvey sweatshirt and his young grandson holding up signs that said,"

"A people without knowledge of their history is like a tree without roots."

Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com. http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com He can be reached at info@nowarningshotsfired.com

Candy For Crackheads?

Candy for Crackheads

Paul Scott



It's no secret in North Carolina that folks in Durham have a severe case of "thug-o-phobia."

They see gang members behind every tree and under every bush. Even a friendly wave to your homie could be considered a gang sign.

So, it should be no surprise that before you enter into Northgate Mall you are greeted with an anti-gang sign posted on the door.

No gang signs. No bandannas. No doo rags...

Yeah we get it already!

Not to mention they have a curfew, whereby, kids under 16 have to leave the mall by 6PM on the weekends unless accompanied by an adult.
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/105715/

So, I'm in one of the spots where the kids hang out, the FYE cd store, looking for some discount old school Hip Hop when the nightly alarm comes blastin' through the mall intercom system warning every person under 16 to head for the nearest exit or they are going to send in the SWAT team, or somethin'.

Now, I look nowhere near 16 but since I have on my official "No Warning Shots Fired" gear, I grab my Biz Markie CD and head to the checkout so there will be no mistakes.

As I'm standing there, I see a box that says "Crackheads Candy," with the catchy subtitle "We're all addicted to something."

Needless to say, I'm intrigued.

Upon further inspection, I notice that it is a box of chocolate covered coffee beans. I suppose if you eat enough of them, you start acting like a crackhead. According to the company's website a box of Crackheads has as much caffeine as six cups of coffee, 7.5 cans of Red Bull and 11 cans of Mountain Dew.

http://www.crackheadscandy.com/candy-info/

I feel like jumping up on the counter and yellin' :

"Am I the only person in this store that sees something terribly wrong with this?"

"You mean I can't wear a red or blue baseball cap but I can get some crack head candy to go with my Lil Wayne cd?"

But instead I head to the nearest exit before some taser happy security cop mistakes me for a 9th grader.

Apparently, the candy just recently became available in the Bull City but was given the thumbs down on CNBC's, "The Big Idea" a while back.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-1GshalNr4

The product is put out by some dude named John Osmanski, a former biomedical engineering student.

Apparently, the boy genius thinks that the definition of a a crack head is "a comedic term meaning someone was acting goofy, crazy, and/or odd."

Wrong Einstein. That might be what it means in the 'burbs of Milwaukee but in Durham a crackhead is someone who is addicted to a substance that has destroyed communities nationwide since the 80's.

I can't be the only one who has seen this stuff. Where is the outrage?

Do you really want your children going to school wired off of crack head candy?

If Young Jeezy would have put this junk out he'd be still spinnin' around Bill O'Reilly's "No Spin Zone" as we speak!

Do we give Osmanki a ghetto pass because he's a clean cut lookin' college kid and not a thugged out brotha from tha hood?

Osamaki's website says that he already has some crack candy dispensers coming to a convenience store near you. I guess he can cut out the street level dealers that way.

I can't wait to see his commercial. I guess he's gonna have Willie Wonka dealin' crack to the Umpa Lumpa kids.

Crack is nothing to joke about nor is it something to build a candy empire around. Too many people have had their lives destroyed because of "the rock."

To borrow from the immortal words of pop diva, Whitney Houston..

"Crack is wack!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytJpZguSy2U

Paul Scott, the Hip Hop TRUTH Minista" writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com/ He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 info@nowarningshotsfired.com

NWSF Bullet: Blame it on the Movie?

According to news reports out of Greensboro, there was a shooting at the premier of "Notorious," the Biggie Smalls story, last night. Both Fox 8 and the Greensboro News and Record are reporting that the star of the movie Jamal Woolard was at the theatre, The Grand 18 Four Seasons Station cinemas , when the shooting occurred.

http://www.myfoxwghp.com/myfox/MyFox/pages/sidebar_video.jsp?contentId=8267900&version=1&locale=EN-US

The News and Record is, also, reporting that the theater has suspended showing the movie.

http://www.news-record.com/content/2009/01/17/article/shooting_erupts_at_notorious_movie

Now let me say from the jump, I still think that the Notorious BIG was overrated in the big scheme of things and that life many times does imitate art.

However....

It never ceases to amaze me how those rich white movie executives pump billions of dollars into pushing movies and music that promote black on black violence 24 hours a day and then folks act surprised when the chickens come home to roost?

Also, there is always a fear that anytime black folks gather for anything (especially when music is bumpin') that there is gonna be trouble.

This paranoia has nothing to do with "Notorious" because this perception goes all the way back to the days of Krush Grove.

These aren't black folks who ultimately determine what images are given to the masses. These are old white men sitting in a board room somewhere. And they are more than happy to sacrifice the lives of a few rappers or movie goers if that means that they can make a few million bucks.

So before we blame "tha hood" we need to point the finger at Hollywood.

NWSF Bullet: There's a Riot Goin' On

I was listening to Rev. Al Sharpton's "Keepin' it Real" show today with guest host Eleanor Tatum of the Amsterdam News. They had JR of the Block Report on talking about the murder of Oscar Grant by Oakland's Bay Area Transit and the rebellious aftermath.

Things were going kinda smooth until Ms. Tatum and some of the callers started parroting the old line about how "we" shouldn't burn down "our" own property.

That's when the discussion got a tad bit heated.

Brotha JR pointed out that the rebellion took place downtown and "we" don't own property there.

That exchange kinda reminded me of Malcolm X's House Negro/Field Negro analogy when he talked about how the house Negroes "would give their life to save the master's house quicker than the master would."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zUIjP4KWok

Come to think of it. If black folks don't own any property than they can't really burn down what they don't have can they?

JR went on to say that the media only covered the Grant story because of the rebellion. But what really shut it down was when he told Ms. Tatum that if it wasn't for O-Town settin' it off they wouldn't be having that conversation.

At that point there was a collective, "ooooooh" resonating from hoods across America.

Needless to say JR didn't get to say goodbye...

Let's face it.

Historically, black folks have gotten much more attention from yellin' "Fight the Power" than from singin' "We Shall Overcome."

Ask any black activist and he will tell you that the only time that the media care about what black folks think is when there is the threat of someone raisin' the roof.

If you are not either in a position to start a riot or call one off, the talkin' heads really don't give two cents what you think.

Also, look at how many government programs were started after the rebellions of the 60's and after the Rodney King verdict in the early 90's.

Although, politicians are quick to say there is no money for the poor, have you notice how quickly they find some funds when they smell smoke?

Back in the 60's Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) said:

"A lot of people in the in the bourgeoisie tell me that they don't like H. Rap Brown when he says 'I'm gonna burn this country down.' But every time Rap Brown says that, they get a poverty program."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzREY649PWA

You might not agree with those kind of tactics but you can't deny that the squeaky spinnin' rims get the grease...

As Run DMC once rapped:

"Don't ask me because I don't know why. But it's like that and that's the way it is.

TRUTH Minista on WVON (Chicago) 1/16

I'm scheduled to be on WVON's (Chicago) Matt and Perri Show at 8:10AM EST 1/16 to discuss my article "Notoriously Overrated: What was so Big about Biggie Smalls."

To Listen:

http://wvon.com/home.php

NWSF Bullet: Martin, Barack or Biggie ?

There's something important happening this weekend. Something of great importance to African Americans.

Let's see...

Martin Luther King's birthday weekend?

No..

The weekend before the inauguration of the first black president of the United States?

Naw..

Oh, yeah. "Notorious ," the Biggie Smalls movie comes out!

I don't know about you but I can't remember the last time I have seen a movie hyped up this much. You can't go five minutes without seeing the Notorious trailer during commercial breaks .

It doesn't even matter which channel you're watching, either. Even the Country Music channel.

"The Conway Twitty Story will return after these messages...."

"NO...NO...NOTORIOUS!"

Now, I've seen my share of black movies over the years but I can't remember "Do the Right Thing" gettin' this much attention.

Especially, since most of the white suburban ticket buyin' public don't know Christopher "Biggie Smalls" Wallace from Kris Kross.

Am I suggesting the release of Notorious is some grand conspiracy to divert our attention from the Inauguration?

Nope. But one has to wonder why the marketing execs chose this weekend. It's not like folks haven't known that Obama was gettin' sworn in on January 20th for months. Also, MLK Day has been the third Monday in January for a while now.

Maybe Fox Searchlight Films thinks that black folks will either go see the movie after the MLK Day Parade or will catch the flick on their way to DC for the Inauguration.

Sometimes our priorities are just jacked up.

I guess while the rest of the world is anticipating "change" this weekend, Tyrone will be at the concession stand waiting for his...

Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com

NWSF Presents "The Black History Bailout Tour"

Since the election of America's first black president some are saying that there is no longer a need for Black History Month. Therefore, No Warning Shots Fired.com is launching the "Black History Bailout" lecture tour by TRUTH Minista Paul Scott.

The tour will start February 1st 2009.


To bring the tour to your city contact info@nowarningshotsfired.com or (919) 451-8283

NWSF Bullet: Mind Playin' Tricks on Me ?

To hear some people tell it, black folks suffer from a combination of hypersensitivity and paranoia. This prevents us from seeing events clearly and causes us to over exaggerate events that effect us. Stuff like police brutality, lynchings, slavery...

In other words, we are not trusted to believe our own eyes.

Well after watching the video of the cold blooded murder of Oakland's Oscar Grant by Bay Area Rapid Transit officer (BART), Johannes Mehserle, that took place on New Year's Day, you can only come to one conclusion no matter how much you speed it up or slow it down:

Murder!

I'm just waiting for the spin doctors to come up with 1000 reasons why the murder was justified. I admit that is going to take a lot of spinning but stranger things have happened.

CNN is running a piece that talks about poor little Mehserle getting death threats. The story also reports that BART is saying that there is the possibility that the officer, who has been on the force two years, may have mistaken his gun for a taser...

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/07/BART.shooting/

Talk about reaching.

Reportedly, BART spokesman , Linton Johnson said that there is more to the story than what was captured on the camera phones of the people who were at the scene. However, BART is not releasing the footage from surveillance cameras.

Well, Davey D and the folks at the San Francisco Bay View are doing their usual outstanding job at getting to the bottom of the story.

Check out their version below:

http://hiphopnews.yuku.com/topic/998

We send our condolences out to the family of Oscar Grant.

Black Like He: Will Obama Change Hip Hop?

Black Like He:
Will Obama Change Hip Hop?

Paul Scott


Hate it or love it, the one good thing that can be said about commercialized Hip Hop of the thuggish variety (gangsta rap) is its resilience.

The day after a nuclear holocaust, the only things that will be left on the planet will be roaches, Spam and Snoop Dog.

Since its "official" coming out party in the form of NWA's "Straight Outta Compton, a generation ago, the longevity of lyrics spoutin' tales of drug slangin, gang bangin' and bling blingin' boggles the mind. While other forms of music have come and gone over the years, "gangsta rap" remains as strong as ever with the original members of NWA and its immediate offspring still crankin' out cds like they did almost 20 years ago.

Although, the early fathers of conscious Hip Hop warned the gangsta's about the legacy they were leaving for the future generations of black youth, the thugs had the last laugh as their words have been immortalized while the lyrics of the conscious have faded into obscurity.

Commercial Hip Hop has survived two Bushes, two wars and 9/11. Even when the winds of change were blowin' like Hurricane Katrina, Hip Hop stood firm in its policy of socio-political apathy. I still can't figure out, for the life of me, how the rappers got past the Million Million Man March's Day of Atonement without atoning back in '95.

But the question facing Hip Hop in 2009, is "can it survive four years of Obama?"

Since, its inception, "gangsta-ism" has promoted itself as being a reflection of what was going on in economically depressed communities. The gangstas have always prided themselves as being more realistic than their alter egos such as Public Enemy with their Utopian ideas of a pro black paradise. Even their harshest hata's had their criticisms betrayed by their own statistics of the drugs, crime and unemployment that plagued "da hood."

It was assumed at the genesis of the gangsta that the societal problems disproportionately affecting the black community would force even the hardest, grimace faced rapper to, in time, become a reluctant revolutionary. But actions ranging from the Rodney King beating to the shooting of unarmed black men like Sean Bell failed to produce anything more than the one obligatory F*** the Police cut on a few cd's.

Even the benign neglect that Black and Latino communities suffered over the last decade only seemed to feed into the escapist fantasy world of the ballas who preached that if you dropped out of high school to slang rock or hustle a demo, you too could live the life of the hood rich and ghetto fabulous.

Even though time has gone by, are the masses of black people, collectively better off than they were 20 years ago?

Maybe, Hip Hop hasn't changed because black life hasn't changed measurably since 1989. The oppressed are still oppressed and the condition of the permanent underclass is still permanent.

It has been the job of the media giants of Capitalism to cram the collective suffering of black folks into a bottle and sell it to mainstream America for $14.99.

But with the election of Barack Obama, the forecast for black folks has gone from gloomy to sunny. Now whether, this is a crack pipe dream or reality remains to be seen. But like the old Sprite commercial used to claim "image is everything."

Can the thugs, playa's and ballas answer the challenge of the "spirit of the new black man" that is embodied in Obama, a spirit that has the audacity to make change instead of just writing lyrics complaining about how bad things are?

For the most part, the view of black men by America has been myopic. Hip Hop has capitalized off of the idea of the average black man being a somewhat uneducated victim of society "doin' what he's gotta do to survive."

But now here comes a Harvard educated black man with just enough swagga to captivate the imagination of America and enough of a community activist background to give him street cred. He may even puff on a Newport every now and then to appease a Hip Hop generation trying to come to grips with its own vices.

How will the anti-intellectual nature of Hip Hop adapt when Knowledge really reigns supreme over everybody to a degree that the Blastmaster ,himself, never thought possible.

Forget Cool J, ladies love Obama. I remember watching the election night coverage, last November and seeing black women in a state of ecstasy like they were at an Usher concert. Suppose, instead of wanting some thug luvin' from 50, sistas started givin' some love to the educated rapper? Instead of wanting to hear some nasty lyrics whispered in their ears in the back of the club, black women in '09 will be in the back of the library begging a bookworm to, "Quote something from the Harvard Law Review to me, Daddy."

Economically speaking, we are approaching a time when throwin' C-Notes at strippers and spending hundreds of dollars poppin' Champagne while black children, globally, go to bed hungry, will no longer be in vogue. We are entering an age when the Marxist philosophy of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" will become the flava of the month.

As the formerly indestructible wall of Capitalism continues to shatter into a thousand pieces and the new president leads America into something closely resembling Socialism, one dreads to think about the fate of those who once proudly touted their bling in front of their poverty stricken fans even during the height of a recession. In the very near future, the snatching of gold chains will become less about dissin' and more about making a political statement over the evils of materialism.

The one thing that the changing political climate will do is force rappers to leave Never Never Land and finally grow up. In, 2009 we will be facing grown man decisions that only grown men and women can make. Hip Hop must either roll with the coming tide or get swept away by it.

Like a song writer once said, eventually, "everything must change."

Even Hip Hop.

Paul Scott, the Hip Hop TRUTH Minista writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com. http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com/ He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 or info@nowarningshotsfired.com

NWSF Top 10 Articles of 2008

Best of 2008

The Dark Side of Black History
http://nowarningshotsfired.blogspot.com/2008/02/dark-side-of-black-history-time-to-tell.html

Confessions of Fox's Black Boogeyman
http://nowarningshotsfired.blogspot.com/2008/03/confessions-of-foxs-black-boogeyman-min.html

Crisis of the Nigga Intellectual
http://nowarningshotsfired.blogspot.com/2008/04/crisis-of-nigga-intellectual-how.html

Mayberry Revisited:
http://nowarningshotsfired.blogspot.com/2008/05/mayberry-revisited.html

The Mis Education of Black Children
http://nowarningshotsfired.blogspot.com/2008/08/mis-education-of-black-children.html

Open Letter to Trina:
http://nowarningshotsfired.blogspot.com/2008/09/open-letter-to-trina.html

Jay Z Stumpin' for Prez
http://nowarningshotsfired.blogspot.com/2008/10/jay-z-stumpin-for-prez-politics-of-hip.html

From Goddess to Gangstress
http://nowarningshotsfired.blogspot.com/2008/12/from-goddess-to-gangstress.html

Notoriously Overrated:What Was So Big About Biggie Smalls ?
http://nowarningshotsfired.blogspot.com/2008/12/notoriously-overrated.html

White Daddies, Pink Caddies and Black Bastards
http://nowarningshotsfired.blogspot.com/2008/12/white-daddies-red-caddies-and-black.html

No Warning Shots Fired 2009

I want to thank all of you who supported NWSF.com in 2008. In 2009, we are looking to do bigger and better things including:

The No Warning Shots Fired.com Lecture Series

A Black History Month Lecture Tour

NWSF Invasion Tour of Hip Hop Panel Discussions

NWSF Newspaper and Magazine Column

"The Firing Squad" Radio Segment

If you are interested in making any of the above happen in your area contact:

(919) 451-8283
info@nowarningshotsfired.com

or

NWSF
PO Box 3474
Durham NC 27702

NWSF Bullet: Playin' the Played Out Race Card

I have always hated the term "playing race card." The accusation usually comes out of the mouth of a white America that holds the Queen of Hearts, the Jack of Diamonds and all the rest of those suckas.

But I have to admit that when I heard the comments that were being made about disgraced Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich's, nominee for Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat, Roland Burris, on CNN, I yelled, "I'm so tired of you people playing the darn race card" before I could catch myself.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/31/senate.appointment/

Now don't get me wrong. I am a firm believer that racism, bigotry and white supremacy still make the Euro-centric world go round but in some cases playin' the proverbial race card cheapens the value of the whole deck.

This is one of those cases.

Now, nobody is hatin' on Burris because of his credentials; former Illinois Attorney General, nice suit. But it was clear from the jump that anyone who the fallen angel chose to be Senator would face more scrutiny than a tone deaf American Idol contestant wearing a "I hate Simon" t-shirt.

So why put Burris in that predicament?

Maybe, Blagojevich thought that in this new era of change it was only right that there be a black Senator in congress to champion the rights of poor and oppressed people, everywhere. To fulfill the dream of the Right Reverend Martin Luther King Jr when he said....

Aw, who am I kidding?

This was the manipulative action of a typical white male egotistical maniac using black people for personal gain !

There are thousands of cases of racial discrimination all around us, everyday, where black folks are being denied opportunities or being persecuted for merely being black at the wrong place at the wrong time.

There are also many black political prisoners still being held today for standing up for the rights of African Americans.

If we are really concerned about "the race card" we should be championing the causes of black political prisoners like Dr. Matula Shakur and Mumia Abu-Jamal.

These are examples of people who truly did not deserve the hand that they were dealt.