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Investigation?

By: Jacob Quimby
(Mar. 9, 2006)

On this date in 1997, Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. Notorious BIG, was gunned down at a busy intersection in Los Angles after leaving a Bad Boy Records release party. No witnesses, no leads, no suspects, minimal evidence; case: unsolved. Rest In Peace Biggie, if you can. . .

Cheaters Never Win
By: Jacob Quimby
(Mar. 2, 2006)

I can’t stand liars. I don’t understand lying as a whole. I do believe there are certain circumstances where lying is the only option.

For example: If you have a significant other, and you happen to slip up and share those most intimate moments with someone else, you never tell the truth. Now, I know a lot of my female readers will say something along the lines of “typical man” or “he’s probably cheated.” Here is the truth, because once again, I don’t lie. I have never in my life cheated on a significant other while in a committed relationship. It’s just not something I do.

But I feel that if that was something I ended up doing, I would never tell my partner. This is one time where the truth does not set you free.

The moment you cheat, you have already ruined the relationship for you. If you are any kind of real person, you will be guilt ridden every time your partner tells you they love you. But that’s ok, because that’s your fault. All you do by telling the other person, especially a while after it happened, is ruin the relationship for them as well. Telling them you cheated destroys their image of relationships, kills their ability to trust, and believe it or not, doesn’t make you the cheater feel any better.

My advice: be honest from the get go. Try to always tell the truth, and always try to do what you say you are going to do. But if you cheat, keep it to yourself.

Thank You Mr. Kweli

by: Jacob Quimby

(Feb. 16, 2006)

In a time when most hip-hop fans feel the music is dying and the culture is going down the wrong path, Talib Kweli reminded us why we fell in love with the music in the first place.

Right here and Now: The Official Sukka Free Mixtape, is thirteen breaths of fresh air for the rap game. Talib brings back the poetry side of hip hop with tracks like, Drugs, basketball, and rap where he expresses there is more to the black community and the black youth than just those three things. Ms. Hill, an ode to the Fugees songstress, plays almost like a letter to a close friend. In that he expresses to her “. . . you gave birth to a new sound like Donda West.”

True hip-hop purest are worried. The direction of the music and the culture are going down this new path of braggadocio. It is becoming less important how skilled you are, or what your message is, and more important what car you drive, or how many chains you have. Talib Kweli reminds us that this music is poetry, and you should be treated as such.

This past Tuesday Mrs. Coretta Scott King past away at the age of 78. Widow of Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr, her work with civil rights continued well past her husband’s untimely death. I could sit here and list off all the accolades that make Mrs. King a remarkable person, but most of you already know that, don’t you? Unfortunately you probably don’t. And what is more unfortunate is the lack of coverage her death received.

She died in the wee hours of Tuesday morning due to ovarian cancer complications. CNN did a small homage detailing some of her charity works and re hashing the horrific event in April 1968. MSNBC did a small memorial. The morning shows touched on it and reminded us at the tops of the hour, but that was it. No talk of Mrs. King as a person, what she liked, her passions.

What was even sadder, at least to me, is that it was not even mentioned on BET until there live video countdown show at 4:30 in the afternoon. Even then it was only spoken upon for a moment. We are a lost generation folks. Mrs. King, much like her late husband and most of his constituents were working towards a greater god. A common goal of peace and prosperity. We have lost that dream. Somewhere along the line it became a selfish dream. A dream of wealth a material goods.

Mrs. Coretta Scott King was a woman who dedicated her life to the well being of others and the greater good of the human race. How did we repay her? We reminded the masses of her passing, every hour, on the hour. . . Rest in Peace Mrs. King. I feel you will be missed more than the world knows.

I do not understand mouth jewelry. Have you ever chewed on tinfoil? It stings and it is uncomfortable. Now imagine that feeling all day, because you have chosen to cover your teeth with some sort of precious metal. Have we strayed too far from the initial intensions of hip-hop or has this always been the way? I mean Slick Rick had more chains than Mr. T. More over Rakim had a four-finger ring that bared his name, same with KRS-One from the great Boogie Down Productions (RIP Scott-La-Rock). But on the flip side of that they were rapping the teaching of the 5 per centers, speaking about pride in the community and the uprising of a culture. The “bling” was a bi-product of that, not the product.

Have we come too far in hip-hop? Have these new age rappers lost sight of the education side of rapping, and are completely blinded by their own “bling?” I can not say for sure, but I can say that “grillz” are the most ridiculous fad rap has seen in a while.