Have We Outgrown Hip Hop?

Caution. Kids at Play:
Have We Outgrown Hip Hop?
                      TRUTH Minista Paul Scott

“Back in the day when I was young/I’m not kid anymore “
Back in the Day-Ahmad


When Hip Hop legend, “Knowledge B. Born,” headed to the stage to finally receive his Hip Hop Lifetime Achievement Award, he clutched in his right hand a speech written in graffiti that he had wanted to deliver for years. He planned to put the entire audience of rap superstars on blast for destroying the culture he helped create. But when he looked into the faces of a room full of rich kids half his age.who were either half asleep or busy textin’ ,he just crumbled up his notes , said “ya’ll keep doin’ your thing.” and left the stage. Leaving the crowd whispering amongst themselves, “who was that old dude....”
‘
Recently, when Rakim went on stage to receive his BET " I Am Hip Hop Award ," I hoped that he was gonna diss the entire front row of rappers with a fraction of his talent. I thought maybe the “microphone fiend: was gonna kick a freestyle battle rhyme and dare any one of the no talent bums to come up and snatch the mic from his mighty hand. Needless to say, it didn’t happen. Another missed opportunity in the annals of Hip Hop history. At that point, I had to face the sad reality that many of my generation have avoided.

Maybe, we have outgrown Hip Hop.

Perhaps the saddest lament over the state of Hip Hop was Common’s, “I Used to Love H.E.R.” that talked about the sad relationship between Hip Hop purists and the gangsta rap that dominated the charts at the time. However, that was almost 18 years ago and many of us who divorced ourselves from Hip Hop have kissed and made up several times since then.

But like the classic break up line says., “The problem isn't you. The problem is me.” Maybe we are just too old to be listening to the kiddie porn that is passing for Hip Hop, nowadays. At some point the thrill of sneakin’ into your Pop’s secret drawer and peepin’ his Playboy mags wears off and you want a real relationship with a real woman.

Now, I admit there are days when I want to lock myself away from the world and play video games while smackin’ on a big box of Fruit Loops, but unfortunately, I don’t have that luxury. Neither do most folks over 25. Life is moving fast and deals that will affect my life are being made every second with or without my input. So I either have to roll with them or get rolled over.

But Hip Hop, is like Neverland, where you never have to grow old and if you are not careful you can get stuck there and be a 60 year old man poppin’ Viagra while watching " 106 and Park." And this “don’ t -wanna -grow up Toys R Us Kid” mentality is reflected in the rap of today. Instead of those black and white Parental Advisory stickers, in 2012, most Hip Hop Cd's should come with big, yellow “Caution. Kids at Play “ signs.

Today the rap industry is run by spoiled little brats with a million bucks but 50 cent brains. Somebody has, indeed, spared the rod and spoiled the child.

But the question that has always plagued Hip Hop is, who do you blame ?

When confronted, many Hip Hop apologists fall back on that classic line, “Don’t Blame rap . Blame the parents. “ But does this also apply to the Fathers of Hip Hop? Maybe they have acted more like deadbeat dads than the head of the Hip Hop household? This is the only society on the planet where the children are leading the elders.

Last year, columnist Bomani Jones addressed this issue in an article , “A Look at Chuck D’s Open Letter,” where he wrote , “ it’s disingenuous for much of the older crowd now to try and ride to hip hop’s rescue after we definitely had a part in getting to where we are.” But the sad part is that many old school cats are defending rap music with the same excuses that were used 20 years ago. They are defending the lyrics of Chief Keef the same way they did Snoop Dogg in ‘92. But Snoop never grew up to convert his misogynistic lyrics into words that would uplift the community. He only produced a legion of Snoop puppies . So Chief Keef will only produce a tribe of ratchet rappers if left unchecked.

This is not entirely the fault of the rappers ,either. Society has played a major role in the ghetto man-child mentality.

My generation was bombarded with the idea that “Black men in the America would not live to see 24.” So when we reached the ripe old age of 25, we had no game plan. Even much of the now revered “message music” of the 80’s was just repeating the nihilistic predictions for Black men. Few songs actually challenged the socio-economic factors that made such a dire prophecy believable. Even the ones that did offer such an analysis are now considered “old school.”

Rapper Mista Spot on his song , “Classic, “ questioned why you never hear the term “Old School Rock “ or “Old School Country” but their songs are forever immortalized as ageless music which can be enjoyed by their grandchildren. The same should be said about some Hip hop.

But maybe Rock and Country fans respect their music more than we respect Hip Hop. What record company would dare lump Mick Jagger and Justin Bieber in the same category and throw them on a track together? Rolling Stones fans would start bombin’ radio stations.

It must be remembered that it was the wrath of rock fans that led to the demise of Disco.

In 1979, 90,000 outraged Rockers almost destroyed Comiskey Park in Chicago at the infamous , Disco Demolition Night, where some deejays decided to blow up in stack of Disco records to protest the genre. Even today you can still catch people rockin’ the “Disco Sucks” T-Shirts. Since Ratchet Rap” is the Disco music of Hip Hop, what if thousands of real Hip Hop fans started rockin’ “Ratchet Rap Sucks” T-Shirts? and destroying CDs?

At the least , it would make a rapper think twice before releasing another immature , wack Cd.

Will the Hip Hop mental midgets hit an intellectual growth spurt before the culture is totally destroyed.

I don't know. But one thing is certain.

Like the classic Quincy Jones song says, in the end ,“Everything Must Change.”

Even Hip Hop.

TRUTH Minista Paul Scott’s weekly column is “This Ain’t Hip Hop,” a column for intelligent Hip Hop headz. For more information on the No Warning Shots Fired lecture series , contact info@nowarningshotsfired.com or visit
NoWarningShotsFired.com. Follow on Twitter @truthminista

The Great Rap Debate

The Great Rap Debate: Can Real Hip Hop Still Move the Crowd? TRUTH Minista Paul Scott “Some of you been tryin' to write rhymes for years/but weak ideas irritate my ears “ Move the Crowd-Eric B and Rakin Recently, The People’s Broadcasting Service sponsored the first Hip Hop Nation presidential debate between candidates, “B. Serious” and “Roger Ratchet .” When the moderator asked B. Serious for his thoughts on violence in rap, the artist gave an eloquent analysis on the exploitation of self hatred and stereotypes by the industry . However, when the moderator asked Roger Ratchet , the rapper ,angrily, accused him of dissin’ him with a trick question and had his goons give the poor dude a vicious beat-down, thus ending the debate... Following the first presidential debate between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, many commentators said that the Prez took an L because he didn’t go hard enough . They argued that he didn't use his arsenal of intellectual weapons to drop bombs on the challenger. However, the same can be said about those who rep real Hip Hop when dealing with those who promote ratchet rap. The art of debating is a time honored tradition as, historically, many of the issues facing civilizations have been settled by verbal confrontations. The course of history has been changed by events like the debates over whether the world was flat or round ,centuries ago , and more importantly the 21st century debate over whether Kanye West’s Graduation Cd would outsell 50 Cent’s Curtis. Thanks to Youtube, some great debates have been preserved ,such as Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture) and George Lincoln Rockwell’s “Black Power vs White Power " debate, Dr Frances Cress Welsing ‘s challenge of Dr. William Shockley’s racial inferiority myth or the classic debate between Dr. John Henrik Clarke and company and Dr. Mary Lefkowitz’s crew over the validity of Afrocentricity. Hip Hop’s version of debating came in the form of rap battles, as you couldn't call yourself a real “MC” “ (Master of Ceremony”) if you couldn't move the crowd. Some of the classic battles were Busy B versus Kool Mo Dee and the Cold Crush Brothers vs Dr. Rock and the Force MD’s. But as the days of lyrics are gone, so are the days of battlin’. Today ,battles are decided by gunshots or juvenile fisticuffs at Hip Hop Award Shows. And for many , instead of elevating the consciousness of the audience, “moving the crowd” means seeing how fast people run for the exit when a fight breaks out in the club. Although, there have been hundreds of discussions about Hip Hop over the years, there has rarely been a confrontation between those who are really trying to save the culture and those who are determined to destroy it. For the most part, Hip Hop “debates” have tended to be scripted . Back in the heyday of “gangsta rap” it was easy for a Death Row artist to diss an elderly C. Delores Tucker, as the industry was glad to promote the idea that if you opposed murda music, then you were an old fogey and out of touch with the younger generation. Even when challenged by senior citizens the gangsta rappers rarely debated themselves, instead they relied on “Hip Hop intellectuals” to serve as their mouthpieces while they sat back and said “um...yeah...what he said..” But today, even the people who used to pump NWA ,24/7 , hate rap music . Also we're , obviously, not dealing with a generational but an intellectual gap as the days of the teen rap video programs have been replaced by Hip Hop reality shows about the everyday lives of rappers who are about six weeks short of a middle age crisis Unfortunately, the average supporter of ratchet rap is walking around with a confident swagga , while the fan of real Hip Hop is walking around with a “Kick Me, I’m Conscious” sign taped to his back. It's time for those who want to bring back real Hip Hop to either go hard or go home! Currently, there is a controversy over whether “real Hip Hop “ is represented best by the lyricism of legendary lyricists or the low level, lackluster, lethargic nonsense that dominates the airwaves. Therefore, the question must be posed, “ can Hip Hop still move the crowd not just physically, but mentally and spiritually? Those who appreciate real Hip hop must stand up for truth and stop accepting the big lie that people like wallowing in the cesspool of ignorance. I believe that the masses are ready for change and if it ever came down to a debate between those who want a return to powerful lyrics that touch the soul and those who love the minstrel music , the lyric lovers would win ,hands down. But those who want to save Hip Hop need to quit goin' out like suckas and get ready to rumble ! Sadly, there will always be those who insist on trying to find “beauty in the hideous,” like Talib Kweli said on the Black Star CD back in the day. For those nincompoops who defend the nonsense, the challenge is there . There are folks like me who ain't afraid to stand up for truth and won’t back down because we understand that the battle is not for a trophy or some award, but for the minds of our children. However, like EPMD said on “You Gots to Chill, “ "If you think about battlin’ you better come prepared/come with your shield and your armored gear...” TRUTH Minista Paul Scott’s weekly column is “This Ain’t Hip Hop,” a column for intelligent Hip Hop headz. For more information on the No Warning Shots Fired Lecture Series, contact info@nowarningshotsfired.com or go to NoWarningShotsFired.com Follow on Twitter @truthminista

Breakin' 2 Chainz: Why Do Smart Rappers Make Dumb Raps ?

Breakin’ 2 Chainz:
Why Do Smart Rappers Make Dumb Raps?

TRUTH Minista Paul Scott


“Sophisticated ignorance/write my curses in cursive”
Otis-Kanye West and Jay Z

When the controversial rap superstar , “2 Shackles” granted an interview to an investigative journalist at the New Jersey Times he agreed that it would be no holds barred. When the reporter grilled him on everything from his recent baby mama drama to his beefs with rival rappers he addressed each question without flinching. Even when she pulled out a copy of the mugshot from his most recent arrest, he just smiled and autographed it for her. But when she asked him about the allegations that he had an extremely high IQ and graduated from college ,magna cum laude, he stormed out of the office knockin’ over chairs and mumblin’ something about “birthdays and big booty guhs.....”

If you go strictly by what you hear on the radio ,nowadays, you would swear that Hip Hop was made up of people with low IQ’s and short attention spans. The music that once prided itself on being the “Black CNN” now sounds more like a pornographic version of Sesame Street. Sad thing is that some of today’s rappers are ,actually ,intelligent. Now, I’m not claimin’ that they are rocket scientists but they aren’t the bumblin’ buffoons, that you here on the radio, either.

So the question becomes, why do the smartest rappers make the dumbest raps?

Malcolm X once said the difference between a clown and a wise man is “the clown never imitates the wise man but the wise man can imitate the clown.” However, on a three minute song on the radio, it’s kinda hard to tell. the difference.

Case in point is the hottest rapper in the game right now, 2 Chainz. Some may find it hard to believe that the rapper who gave us such songs as “Birthday Song” and “No Lie” is actually Tauheed Epps , a gifted high school student who , in 1996, got an athletic scholarship to play basketball at Alabama State University . Thus , putting him in the company of such , athletic ,scholar entertainers as Paul Robeson. However, it would be easier to find your favorite rapper's Illuminati membership card than it would be to find an actual record of 2 Chainz’s academic prowess. So the story goes that he was either an academic genius who graduated in three years with honors or a college dropout who only attended a couple of semesters at an institution of higher learning. However, the fact remains that he is far more intelligent than the music that he makes. If you ever listen to a n interview when 2 Chainz briefly breaks out of character and reverts back to Tauheed Epps , you can tell that you're not dealing with a dummy.

So why the charade?

One can make the argument that the rappers of today were not the first to make dumb music. Back in Hip Hop’s early years , there were songs by The Rappin’ Duke and Bobby Jimmy and the Critters. But raps by artists like Biz Markie were seen for what they were ; commedy. The songs were just an occasional break from the more lyrically complex Hip Hop of the time. No no one in his right mind wanted to hear “Pickin’ Boogers” all day, everyday on the radio. But today the airwaves are flooded with mentally challenged music that has dumbed down the culture.

The defenders of commercial rap are always quick to point out how Hip Hop is the most influential art form to ever grace the planet and how it has impacted countries around the world ,socially and economically. However, when you hit them with a socio-economic analysis of the music, they accuse you of “thinking too deep” and all of a sudden the great culture of Hip Hop becomes merely “entertainment for kids”, like some Saturday morning cartoon. But the critique must be done.

If we break down the meaning of “2 Chainz, “ we will see that in order to enslave a people it takes two chains; one physical and one mental. Of the two, the most powerful is the mental chain as taught by scholars such as Dr. Na’im Akbar, author of the book, Breaking the Chains of Psychological Slavery.  Because even when the physical chain around the wrist is broken, the mental chain around the brain remains.

The emancipation from mental slavery has always been the hardest task for those trying to free a people. who have been, as the scripture teaches, “destroyed for a lack of knowledge.” This is made more difficult when those who “reject knowledge” and dumb themselves down are portrayed to the youth as models of success.

However, all youth are not going for the okie doke. Recently, the group , Watoto from the Nile ,released a video called , “Letter to Nicki Minaj” which features a powerful scene where “Harriet Tubman” removes the chains from Minaj’s wrists,symbolically meaning that the chains will eventually drop from her brain. (Good luck with that one.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD8JrLFTPSM


It is no accident that the deeper we entered into the information age, the dumber the music became. It was once said that if you want to hide something from a Black man, put it in a book. But today, you don’t even have to take the bus to the library as the information is literally at the tip of your fingers. So, the mental chains had to become reinforced. The music industry has been involved in a “brain drain” where they take our best and brightest artists and turn them into ratchet rappers.

While it may be argued that teenage rappers like Chief Keef are too young to know any better that's no excuse for rappers like 2 Chainz who are old enough to be their fathers. They have made a mockery out of the saying “with age comes wisdom.”

It’s time for us to break the chains. Hip Hop artists must be pressured to stop the musical mumbo jumbo.

Like KRS said on Still # 1
“Many of you are educated/open your mouths and speak...”


TRUTH Minista Paul Scott’s weekly column is “This Ain’t Hip Hop,” a column for intelligent Hip Hop headz. For more information on the No Warning Shots Fired lecture series contact info@nowarningshotsfired.com or visit
NoWarningShotsFired.com Follow Twitter @truthminista

NWSF Announcement: Black Culture Bailout Tour Comes to NY

TRUTH Minista Paul Scott will bring the Black Culture Bailout Tour to New York City next weekend. He is scheduled to take part in the Great Debate #4 "Is Hip Hop Good for Black Folks" 3/15 in Harlem NY.

http://nowarningshotsfired.blogspot.com/2009/02/blog-post.html

Last February, Scott started the Black History Bailout Tour (now the Black Culture Bailout Tour) to raise awareness about the need to preserve black culture in the "Obama Age" when many people are saying that we are living in a "post racial America."

For more info on the Black Culture Bailout Tour contact (919) 451-8283
info@nowarningshotsfired.com

Hip Hop's Judgement Day

Hip Hop's Judgement Day

Paul Scott





For everything there is a season; a Day of Reckoning; a Judgement Day. Now it's Hip Hop's turn.

On March 15th in Harlem NY, some of the greatest Pan_ African thinkers will gather to put to rest once and for all, the matter of, "Is Hip Hop Good for Black Folks ?"

While the issue of the positive and negative nature of Hip Hop has been discussed for over 20 years, rarely has this topic been entertained from an Afrocentric point of view. Therefore, most Hip Hop discussions have never ventured far beyond the topics of "dirt words" and "young men pulling their pants up."

Consequently, the view of Hip Hop through an Afrocentric prism has been clouded by the European concept of morality and its many contradictions.

While some may blame the failure to tackle this issue on black youth, in actuality, the reason for this breakdown in communication is multifaceted.

First, while writers such as WEB Dubois wrote extensively about the duality of race and the idea of being both African and American, simultaneously, they never had to deal with members of a "Hip Hop Generation," who have to struggle with the concepts of being "Hip Hop," African and American even when these concepts are diametrically opposed to each other.

Secondly, the elders of the community greatly underestimated the cultural impact that Hip Hop would have on the world during the early days of its conception. What many people considered noise or just a temporary fad in black music in the early 80's,within a decade had morphed into a cultural juggernaut that began to eclipse both the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. What was thought to be a passing phase had now begun to shape the perception of African people, globally and had moved from the arena of entertainment to become a major social, economic and political force.

Thirdly, although many in the black community misjudged the longevity of the pseudo-culture, corporate entities latched on to the Hip Hop movement and turned what began as two turntables and a microphone into a multi -national billion dollar business. While during the early 80's there was a possibility to appeal to the consciousness of the early practitioners of the art form, by the mid 90's the seductive lure of Capitalism had made the success of such appeals improbable.

Perhaps most troubling is the fact that the Pan African community has not held a plebiscite to construct an official position to define Hip Hop from a Pan Africanist point of view. Without a solid consensus, there was no scale available to weigh in the balance the deeds of Hip Hop artists versus the key attributes of African culture/spirituality . It was allowed to become all things to all people and since the majority of those
financially supporting the art form were white middle class Americans, Hip Hop began to reflect either their world view or their warped perceptions of what it meant to be black in America.

In 2009, the black community finds itself at a crossroad. Where we go from here culturally, economically and spiritually depends on the outcomes of events like the Great Harlem debates.

On March 15th, we raise the issue, Iis Hip Hop good or bad for black people?"

The answer we give will determine the destiny of a generation.

(The Great Debate 4 " Is Hip Hop Good for Black folks" is sponsored by CEMOTAP and will be held at 3PM March 15th at Salem United Methodist Church . For more information contact (347) 531-8936


TRUTH Minista Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com

The Failure of Hip Hop Journalism

The Failure of Hip Hop Journalism:
Rewritin' Hip Hop History

Paul Scott




To hear some Hip Hop journalists tell it, there was a time when Hip Hop magazines were the vanguard of the Revolution. Not since David Walker's "Appeal" were there such powerful writings that shook the foundations of the system. Some believe that if it wasn't for Hip Hop journalists , slavery would have been back in effect after the Reagan administration.

However, contrary to popular belief, the Source was never "The Negro World" nor was XXL ever the "The Messenger."

This is not to say that Hip Hop magazines have not had their shining moments. XXL's first couple of issues showed promise that something new might have been on the horizon and the Source did give the early conscious rappers a voice in its early years. But that had more to do with the fact that Hip Hop, itself, was going through a brief conscious era more so than the Source shaping the direction of Hip Hop. The writers were merely reporting what was happening in Hip Hop not plotting a new "vanglorious" course.

Today the Source does have a few interesting articles especially in its "Ear to the Street" section, however, this is an exception to the rule. For the most part Hip Hop journalists give the same rehashed stories over and over again regarding beefs, street credibility and the obligatory paragraph about a rappers love for weed.

The goal of Hip Hop magazines has and always will be to sell subscriptions, not to lead black folks to the promised land. For the most part, the mission of Hip Hop journalists has been to give pseudo black culture to mainstream America in small doses at a time.

In other words, the cat who buys a Hip Hop magazine in 2009, is the same dude who bought that Alfonso Ribeiro "Learn How to Breakdance" book back in the day.

This is not to say that the writers of 20 years ago were any different than most Hip Hop artists whose end game strategy was to gain acceptance by the mainstream and to prove once and for all that rappers were people, too.

To suggest that there was ever a period when Hip Hop journalists/artists ever consistently put fighting the power before fighting for profit is a myth that has been repeated so much that it has become part of the official Hip Hop canon. Of course, there were some writers who used their skills as tools to empower the masses. Even today a few still exist such as Davey D and Rosa Clemente, however they have found ways to move the crowd , mostly, outside of mainstream avenues. Also, there are a few Hip Hop artists who have used the art to deliver political commentary to the streets such as Pittsburgh's Jasiri X.

While some would write about "The Poor Righteous Teachers," back in tha day, few wanted to be one, as assimilation into the mainstream was more lucrative. This is the true side of Hip Hop journalism that few want to discuss, therefore we become victims of historical amnesia.

Hip Hop history becomes problematic when, like the rest of American history it becomes revisionist. Those who are entrusted to record historical events tend to give themselves or their causes greater roles than they actually deserve. Therefore, many who see as their crusade to return Hip Hop back to a "Golden Age" are trying to time travel back to an age that never really existed to that degree.

If we are ,truly, trying to move Hip Hop forward, we must first dispel the myths of the past.

First of all, Hip Hop journalism has never been revolutionary in and of itself. We must remember, as much as we try to extend the time period, out of the almost 30 years since Hip Hop was first put on wax, the period of "conscious Hip Hop" was relatively short, barely lasting four years. What ever conscious Hip Hop of that era was, it was not able to engage itself in a protracted struggle against the powers that be. At best the writers did the best they could to enlighten the masses within the narrow confines imposed on them by those who had a vested interest in keeping young urban America in the dark.

While some writers consider themselves "underground Hip Hop journalists" they face the same contradictions as underground Hip Hop artists. As Huey P Newton said "movements are driven underground" through some form of political repression. The writings of true revolutionaries are quickly labeled as contraband by the oppressors, therefore you would not be able to buy them for $4.99 at your local grocery store.

We must also remember that conscious Hip Hop began to lose it's "pro-blackness," as soon as it began to gain acceptance by the mainstream. What could have been a force to teach unadulterated black history/culture to the youth soon became just another way for white kids to live the hood life vicariously through Hip Hop. They could drink of the rivers of blackness without experiencing the after taste. Although, we may wax nostalgic about the pro-blackness of the Hip Hop journalists during '88-92, just like the writers of the Harlem Renaissance , they were never allowed to reach their full potentials because of the influences of outside forces. (Read "Crisis of the Negro Intellectual by Harold Cruse.)

Despite all the new prognostications of Hip Hop journalism's sudden growth spurt into collective maturity since the last election, it still is well below the intellectual level that it should have reached during its 20 years of existence . While some refer to the shallowness of today's Soulja Boy -esque Hip Hop as ring tone music, today's Hip Hop writings can be best described as "text message journalism." Thus, it has not evolved much from where it was two decades ago,

Out of all the things Hip Hop magazines coulda/shoulda done to advance the culture, their crowning achievement was promoting the East Coast/West Coast Beef.

If Hip Hop is to move forward the scribes must see the past as its was and not through rose colored Gazelles

As the saying goes, "those who don't learn their history are bound to repeat it."


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

NWSF Exclusive: The Real X-Man

NWSF Exclusive: The Real X-Man


Everybody's lookin' for a hero. While some are waiting for Wolverine, Cyclops or one of the other X-Men to save the day, No Warning Shots Fired.com recently caught up with another X-Man who is on a mission to save the planet through Hip Hop; Pittsburgh artist Jasiri X.

Jasiri X started rappin' in the early 90's when rap was still in its conscious phase. His first rap was based on Eldridge Cleaver's book "Soul on Ice." However, he says after that as Hip Hop became less conscious, so did his music.

X says that he made a turn around in '96 because of personal situations and his studying of books such as "the Isis Papers" (Dr. Frances Cress-Welsing), "Stolen Legacy" (Dr. George GM James) and "Message to the Black Man" (The Honorable Elijah Muhammad). It was also during that time that he began to listen to the teachings of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and shortly afterwards he joined the Nation of Islam.

Jasiri's first big break came when he read about the Jena 6 situation in the Final Call newspaper. This inspired him to record the anthem, "Free the Jena 6" for his Myspace page. The song was discovered by radio personality Michael Baisden and the rest is history.

Jasiri X is busy these days producing a weekly radio/video spot called, "This Week with Jasiri X." The spots feature X rappin' about news events from the previous week.

When asked about the current state of Hip Hop in 2009, X says that "these are the best of times and the worst of times."

The positive thing is that the internet has leveled the playing field so voices like his can be heard. The negative side is today's music lacks substance and is more about getting attention, producing what Jasiri calls "reality TV music." However, he is confident that good music will stand out even in these times.

What does the future hold for Jasiri X?

He says that peeps should be on the look out for his upcoming cd, "The Autobiography of Jasiri X," which will be released Summer of '09.

So, true Hip Hop heads can rest assure that wherever there is evil, injustice or wack Hip Hop, Jasiri X will be there!

To reach Jasiri X visit his website at http://www.jasirix.com/ or email jasirix@gmail.com



Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com

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

Scared Spit-less

Scared "Spit" less:
Why Hip Hop Fears the Powers that Be
Min. Paul Scott


The date is September 11, 2007. The conference room of
the Hyatt Hotel is packed as 50 Cent and Kanye West
engage in a debate over who’s CD will out sell the
other. Although, Kanye West has been known to kick a
serious rhyme or two, it’s not about that this go
round. It’s about who is going to get it poppin’ at
the club next weekend and which CD is going to shake
up the world. Half the crowd is screaming G-Unit,
while the other half is throwin’ up the Rock-a-fella
diamond. But in the end who wins the competition for
Hip Hop world supremacy? The Conservative Think Tank
meeting across the street devising ways to silence
black voices....

For the last few months, there has been a buildup
surrounding the same day release of the Kanye West and
Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson CD’s to rivale that of the
Ali/Frazier fight. I am expecting any moment to see
Don King on TV talking about how "magnanimous" the
event will be.

The obvious question is that with Hip Hop being under
the gun since the Don Imus "nappy headed ho" thing
last April, why isn’t Hip Hop more interested in
devising a counter attack?

Am I missing something?

In Atlanta, right now, the powers that be are pushing
for laws banning saggin’ pants at the same time the
talking heads are trying to blame Michael Vick’s dog
fighting rap on DMX.

So why do Hip Hop artists choose to major in the minor
instead of tackling the hard questions ?

The answer is simple. It’s called fear.

Men ain’t supposed to be scared of nuthin’.So in the
larger than life, testosterone driven world of Hip
Hop, of course, this is over exaggerated,

This is not to say that black men don’t have the right
to be a little edgy. Just look back at our history.

It was not unusual for rebellious black men in the
19th and early 20th centuries to be hanged in front of
their wives and children. Not to mention the
COINTELPRO Program of the 60's in which those who
dared to speak out had their lives snatched.
It must be noted that those assassinations were not
for the victims but to plant a seed of fear in
generations to come so that if they even thought about
rebelling against authority, visions of black
mutilated bodies would flash before their eyes.

This is the historical source of our fears. No one
really wants to be a martyr, especially amongst a
people who don’t have such a good track record in
honoring their heros.

Or maybe the rappers are scared of "revolutionary
career suicide" to borrow from a phrase coined by Huey
P Newton.

America has shown very little tolerance for those who
have been blessed with the treasures of capitalism who
use their fame and influence to challenge the very
system under which they gained their wealth.

Do the rappers of today really want to suffer the same
fate as Paul Robeson who was blackballed for being a
"Commie", Billie Holiday who was banned for singing
about that "strange fruit" hanging from southern trees
or Craig Hodges of the Chicago Bulls who was
blacklisted for rockin’ a dashiki to the White House ?

Hip Hop has not been spared the wrath of the
establishment as rappers such as Professor Griff,
Sister Souljah, Ice T, Ice Cube experienced "Hip Hop
high tech lynchings" during the late 80's/early 90's.
Who wants to risk losing a fleet of sports cars and
houses in the Hamptons when it is much easier to bury
your head in a bag of weed and pretend that all is
right with the world?

Recently, it was revealed that the government has a
program called "Talon" that was keeping an eye on anti
-war activists including members of that peaceful,
turn the other cheek religious group, the Quakers.

Now if the Feds kept a file on that dude on the
oatmeal box, what kind of file do you think that they
have on the brotha on the cover of a CD burnin’ a
flag, raising his middle finger and yellin’ F**** the
Police?

Also, while Hip Hop headz were quick to wear T-Shirts
that said "Free Pimp C" and "Free Lil Kim", how many
are going to sport t-shirts that say "Free the Jena
6"?

Despite all the tough talk that rappers spit at each
other, when it comes to speaking truth to the powerful
decision shapers most have a fear of Bill O’Reilly
grabbin’ them by their collars in a back room and
saying:

"Listen, we can handle this like gentlemen or we can
get into some real street stuff...’

But that ain’t everybody. Some of us are not afraid to
speak truth to power in 2007. Durham NC rapper Big
Swagg, hook master Mr. Cox and yours truly, the TRUTH
Minista have teamed up for "Drums of War" a Hip Hop
diss track aimed at those who are dissin’ Hip Hop.
(You can download it at
http://www.hiphopstrikesback.com )

Let this be the "Fight the Power " of 2007! The new
anthem that is going to make Hip Hop stand up! The
song that is going to shake the very foundation of....

OK, I’ll be happy to just give Bill O’Reilly
nightmares about a group of "gangsta rappers" tying
him up and making him watch 48, uninterrupted hours of
BET.

TRUTH Minista Paul Scott’s blog is
http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com He can be reached
at (919) 451-8283 info@nowarningshotsfired.com