Friday, May 20, 2016

The Don of a New Day



None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Like most people, I have given a great deal of thought to the rise of Donald Trump, yet unlike most, I am not really surprised that we are here. No one ever went broke underestimating the foolhardiness of the populous. As for the rise in Trump’s polling, I am more curious as to why it took so long? Let’s face it, the United Stated is anything, but… In fact, this one of the most uninformed, xenophobic, segregated, altruistic and polarizing societies the free world has ever known.  And, Donald Trump simply underscores those facts. Even when there should be unanimous unity, the residents of the US find a way to be divided and the authority tasked with the only goal of solving the obvious issues, becomes a larger part of the problem. Let’s enter police brutality, as Exhibit A:



FACT: 
More unarmed black people are killed by police officers than any other ethnicity in the county. 

REACTION FROM THOSE AFFECTED:
Black victims launched an on-line campaign, called Black Lives Matter to highlight, combat and subsequently rectify the issue.

LEADERSHIP REACTION:
All Lives Matter. 



The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them. 
Patrick Henry

 Let’s pretend, for a second, that the statistical information is slightly skewed and there are actually other communities that suffer from a similar fate; at the bloody hands of those sworn to serve and protect.  That community’s verbal protest would probably be very similar to that of the black community’s Black Lives Matter mantra. What is incredibly inconceivable is…, a country where 62% of its states mandate a Death Penalty as a solution…, and the same nation that are instigators in a half dozen current world wars, offering an All Lives Matter rebuttal.



FACT: 
Predatory lending of financial institutions caused a massive crack in the country’s economic foundation.

REACTION FROM THOSE AFFECTED:
US residents were forced to accept lower paying jobs, or working longer hours, or have stopped looking for jobs altogether.  Many residents turned to alternative means of survival and most of them aren’t legal. Even the least astute financial analyst will tell you violent crimes rise, when economic opportunities falls.

LEADERSHIP REACTION (this was a 3 point plan)
1.      Bail out the financial institutions that caused the economic meltdown.
2.      Appoint the chief executive hunters, Lawrence Summers and Timothy Geithner, to the current administrator’s cabinet.
3.      Allow those bailed-out institutions to buy back the bad debt and sell it for a higher premium to those most adversely effected.

You may be asking, what does any of this have to do with Donald Trump?  Well if you listen really closely, you can almost hear the chapped lips of Middle America (and beyond) humming the chorus to DMX’s 90’s hit single, “Y'all gon' make me lose my mind up in HERE, up in here.”

Enter Donald Trump to said theme music.

Trump is the American pimp that comes along at the perfect time.  He shows up right after the ole pimp slapped the shit out of his employee because she was riding on a tardy bus that brought her back late from her last trick.  Candidate Trump promises to make street prostitution great again—like the Marilyn Monroe John F. Kennedy days.  He wants to build a better brand of street walkers when whores were worth something to their masters. Then Donald wants to make better trade agreements with steel barrel manufactures, therefore, when the oldest professional’s unviel their naked breasts to the winter elements, the bigger barrels will help the burning flames burn much brighter and more vigorously. 

Donald Trump wants to lower the cost of white wall tires and car windows with diamonds in the back. He will make bigger and better hotels for the prostitutes to rest their mostly blonde heads.  Finally, Trump will do his best to repeal Obamacare, because the last thing a street hooker needs is medical advice from an African. 

Hillary Clinton is about to find out why one of the most loyal Clinton contributors is about to beat her in a general election.

And the only thing worse than standing idle, while her husband was screwing an intern, is pretending you care about the rest of the world that keeps getting screwed, while the price of Vaseline rises more than the apathy of the authority that should’ve addressed the raped victims when we all were in the Bushes.



1 love,
Ray Lewis




Wednesday, March 02, 2016

6-.PAAK



Malibu Anderson Paak Release Date: January 15, 2016
Label: Steel Wool / Obe

“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.” --Plato

There is something that is really, really special about this Malibu LP by Anderson .Paak.  I encourage you to spend the $12 and change; which is a tremendous discount in this era of downloaded noise. 
I believe when it’s all said and done this release will be on the same musical flag pole as D Angelo’s “Brown Sugar”, Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly” or Marvin Gaye’s “Trouble Man”.   

“Malibu” is a 16-tracked, groove gumbo plate of funk, blues, Hip Hop, folk, Jazz, and R&B.  This musical journey will raise the brow of everyone from: Sly Stone, Van Hunt, Bilal, Lupe Fiasco & J.Dilla and when the journey is complete you will only need a wash cloth and cigarette. 
This gem has solved my nightly commuting quandary between The Karen Hunter Show (Urban Radio, Sirius XM) and Bomani Jones (ESPN)—two great shows that I haven’t listened to in 2 weeks. 



The production credits of: Hi-Tek, 9th Wonder, DJ Khalil, Madlib, Chris Dave (just to name a few
) is proof of Anderson’s indiscriminate approach to this amazing 61 minute ride. .Paak's semi-autobiographical depiction isn’t always pretty, but it’s justly poetic.
I can’t begin to pick a favorite track.  However, I am positive that my next speeding ticket can be directly traced to “Without You” f. Rapsody—which has an out-of-this-world sample by Hiatus Kaiyote.  That song should come with a neck brace and an alibi.

The vibe on “Room In Here”, is on some straight, Brut by FabergĂ©; subwoofer in the trunk, early 90’s R&B tip. Then with little warning, The Game grips the mic with his best Nas impression to transform the already brilliant track into this K.Dot-like era. Game’s sophomoric description of some California Dyme who dropped by the studio wasn’t anything new and the song could’ve held its own without him.  His bars was less than necessary but it certainly wasn’t wasted and it definitely added to unpredictability of the journey through Malibu—thus making a near miss incredibly dope.

After 50+ minutes the CD is highlighted with “The Dreamer” (featuring Talib Kweli) which feels like an ode to the Black Panther Party Movement.  I am here to tell you; you could not tie a neater ribbon on this party gift even if Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Mother Theresa collaborated on the invitations.

 Soul music is about longevity and reaching and touching people on a human level - and that's never going to get lost.  --Jill Scott

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