A Miami-based pornographic production company has reached a settlement agreement to pay Florida A&M University $105,000 in regards to the “Big Rattler 77” sex tape.

FAMU president, James Ammons, waved the settlement agreement papers above his head claiming victory over RK Netmedia during a press conference held in Lee Hall on April 7.
“Today, we’ve made history as a flagship university,” Ammons said. “We are very proud to announce that we have reached a settlement with RK Netmedia, Inc., regarding a pornographic video called 'Big Rattler 77,' which we believe damaged the good name, trademark, and reputation of Florida A&M University.”

The video was posted on an RK Netmedia owned Web site, Daredorm.com. The video has since been removed.

A document provided by the University Relations office stated that the $105,000 settlement will be used to fully fund two scholarships and pay $15,000 in attorney fees. The production company has also agreed to issue a press release offering its regrets and apologies for releasing the video.

“In addition, RK Netmedia, Inc., has agreed to exercise a reasonable and good faith effort to prevent and stop any and all other persons from displaying the video.”

Ammons said the board of trustees approved the settlement today and that he expects the joint consent agreement to be accepted by the court.

RK Netmedia was reported to receive an annual income of $5 million according to Manta.com, a Web site that compiles information about small businesses.

“There were extensive negotiations through RK Netmedia’s lawyers,” said attorney Richard Mitchell of GrayRobinson Law firm. “We congratulate them for working cooperatively with us. As soon as we filed a complaint, we entered into good faith settlement negotiations. I think this is a home run. We got everything we asked for.”

FAMU’s General Counsel Attorney Avery McKnight said that the settlement will also include the eight actors who were paid $10,000 for the rights of the movie.

“The settlement that we reached with RK Netmedia is a global settlement and will also include the Jane and John Doe’s one through eight,” McKinght said.

Ammons made it clear that the lawsuit was a necessity to salvage the university’s reputation and that by receiving the settlement FAMU will serve as the precedent for similar issues that will be resolved.

“This settlement is historic for FAMU and for all other colleges and universities around this nation,” Ammons said. “The timely resolution of this lawsuit not only benefits FAMU and its students but creates a legal precedent and a landmark opportunity for other state and national universities to legally protect their name, trademarks and reputation.”

Matthew Richardson writes for The Famuan, the Florida A&M University student newspaper, which originally published this article. Article courtesy of the Black College Wire.

On the question of ‘tolerating’ artists like Chris Brown and R. Kelly—both now notorious for abusing women:

I remember being mad about "Mad At Miles," Pearl Cleage's brave and brilliant account of Miles Davis's brutalities towards women. I wish it was simple, that I was simply mad at Miles for whooping Cicely Tyson's behind, our Cicely our queen, no I was mad at the conflict and the confusion it caused me. You see, I had to contend with "Kind of Blue" and "Sketches of Spain." Miles made music of the Gods, not to mention he was the hippest, sharpest dressed, defiant, hypnotically striking, dangerously sexy man to ever put his mouth to metal.  Miles was a giant, a Black mans hero, a genius and a monster.

Now, I am mad again. Mad at Chris Brown. Chris Brown, the bright smiling young Black boy who when he danced, you dare not turn away. Happy Chris, who shined through all the sludge of thug glamour. Chris has that star thing and a sick work ethic. Chris Brown heir apparent to Michael Jackson, who couldn't perform at his memorial because the swollen, black and blue, face of Rihanna was still too bloody fresh in our minds. Our new pop prince beat down the princess and all the kings horses and all the kings men didn't come to put anything back together again.

Again, there is the conflict, no easy condemnation. Chris Brown is a broken Black boy. A boy who watched his mama get beat, a brilliant boy catapulted on stage. A boy whose got numerous adults on his payroll who could decide to spend 5K a day on a stylist but not $250 per hour for therapist? So many people are satisfied with his public apologies, especially young girls (many thought Rihanna must have done something to deserve it-- sigh). Chris says he's taking anger management courses. Does Chris need to manage his anger or does he need to heal from it? Chris needs intense professional help, he needs healthy accountable adults that are committed to his well being and not his balance sheet.  Rihanna deserves so much healing too and our young girls deserve a prince to sing to. So I guess that's why Chris is charting and garnering magazine covers so swiftly after his fall (and would his rise be so swift if Rihanna was say, Taylor Swift?). Truth be told the 'I Can Transform Ya" video is fire and his latest single "Crawl" is pretty much pop-perfection. Chris Brown is this generation's great entertainer and he beats up women.

And then there is R. Kelly. He also makes me mad. I remember when the brilliance of R.Kelly hit me, cause I didn't get it at first (too distracted by the visuals I guess). But I started listening to his music, his hooks, R.Kelly can sure write some songs. He spans all genres and generations, "Step in the Name of Love" gets even your cranky old auntie sliding at the family cookout and "I Believe I Can Fly" is a pre-schooler's anthem, not to mention the countless hits he gave to the hip-hop generation. His repertoire is ridiculous and his crimes towards women, reprehensible. R.Kelly's transgressions suggest that not only does he prey on young girls, but he enjoys humiliating them. Seems like all those folks buying tickets to his concerts are satisfied with the acquittal and have long forgotten the disgusting and degrading images of that girl being urinated on, or maybe it's just not that cut and dry. R. Kelly is truly gifted and he is a pedophile.

All of this is maddening because it brings up more questions and paradoxes then resolutions and concrete positions. I turned to Facebook to get a quick consensus and while some very clear opinions where expressed, many questions were posed. Do celebrities live in an alternate universe that makes them immune to justice? Does creative genius forgive all sins? Should someone's art be judged separately from their character? Is society too tolerant of abuse against women and children? What about a second chance? Should celebrities that abuse women be financially rewarded? Is it only conscious over 25 years old who are outraged? Does our tolerance reflect our values? Have we been historically, thoroughly taught that the lives of Black girls and women are not worthy of protection, that sexual abuse and violence should be expected and absorbed into our collective DNA, that we are built to take it?

So what's a couple punches between a dope beat?

"If we rejected art based on the artists' imperfections, transgressions and sins there would be a great many artists whose work we would not enjoy" was the comment of one of my wiser friends Florence Tate. "James Brown was a woman beater we're still enjoying his music right?" another commented. True that. But isn't also true that we have to evolve?  Isn't it true we have to challenge and dismantle not just forgive our sins?  Isn't it true we must have the community self-esteem to ask the hard questions?  Like asides from Kevin Powell and Byron Hurt, where are the healthy Black men, especially the celebrities, who are outraged at these abuses?  Why don't they encourage their brothers to get some real help, step of the stage for a time to heal and reflect?  Who is publicly consistently wrapping their arms around our women and girls proving they are beautiful and worthy of protection?  When do we stop being either, compliant or silent?  Can we love the music of Chris Brown, R. Kelly and others while simultaneously loathe their abuses?

What is your answer?  What do you question?

Read more: http://www.essence.com/entertainment/commentary_4/chris_brownrkelly_album_review.php#ixzz0Z7mWjv0n

Walking around campus, I hear several conversations that I deem unsuitable for young African American students in college. I hardly ever hear topics that will stimulate our minds, unless I am in class. Often, I find myself irritated by the conversations my friends have. They have no redeeming value or substance.

Also, when I use certain words, they look at me confused and baffled. They often say, "Stop using those big words." Since we are in college, I feel as if we should have accumulated an extensive vocabulary, but many of my peers have not. When I ask why they do not know certain words, they say things like "we don't talk like that in my hood." However, what they need to realize, is they are not in their hood anymore. We are in a place for higher education. In addition, I find myself correcting my friends on their word usage; they use the wrong word or use it completely out of context. It makes them sound ignorant, which can be very annoying.

Not only is speech an issue, but attire is as well. Norfolk State University often has VIP speakers and other important people on campus. Many students miss opportunities of their life because of how they look. No, you should not judge a book by its cover, but you should not look like you just got out of bed. When students get involved in school and semi-professional activities, certain things need to be cut out. Extemporaneous hair colors, tattoos, piercings and club clothes should be at a minimum. I am all for unique expression, but there is a time and place for everything. Several students complain about dressing up for presentations because they feel like it is a waste of time. I have even heard people say they do not own business clothes. When I dress up, I feel a sense of pride; I feel good about myself. Not only does it look nice, it makes me feel important and professional.

Where you came from should not be the determining factor of how you act, think or speak. Unfortunately, that seems to be case these days. We, as college students, need to grow up and realize where we are trying to go in life. We cannot accomplish certain things by acting certain ways; we are in college to practice for our future.

Keona Prude writes for The Spartan Echo, the Norfolk State University student newspaper, which originally published this article. This article represent the views of the author and do not reflect the opinions of Black College Wire or EMQ Networks.

‘They’ say Hip-Hop’s DEAD — err, deceased, toe-tagged, pine-boxed, you know, in a ‘better, less depressing place’ — and was tucked inside Big & Pac’s tailored burial suits after somehow being ‘murdered’ in cold blood by: A) Greed-stricken record execs with insatiable ring-tone fetishes B) The F#!@$@$%# FOUR = Algernod, DeAndre, Radrick & Otis C) Pay-Per-Play Radio programmers D) Colonel Mustard with a candlestick inside the Billiard Room…(BING!) (wait, or was it Professor Plum..in the…?!) Bleh, who knows…better yet, who even knew that the POP-diseased genre had officially flat-lined?! …I’d say no one who truly loves music, lives it, or does it because TRUE music heads — all 1,723 of us on Earf — know that Hip-Hop/Soul — REAL Hip-Hop/Soul — AIN’T really DEAD.

With that said, I would like to dedicate this Mega-blog to any/everyone who dropped black roses on Hip-Hop’s casket after euthanizing the sickly, bed-ridden genre currently living within the pens, pads and vocal chords of REAL artists/musicians/composers/performers across the globe like the 27 I’ve personally selected to introduce to you. Hopefully, you enjoy reading..err, sifting through the blog/debating with fellow music heads about it.. just as much as I did writing it. OK, BYE. Let’s DO it.

Phonte Coleman: The Biggest Rap Star In Your Apartment Complex.

He’s only the ‘biggest rap star in your apartment complex’ and the ‘best kept secret since the AIDs cure’ …He raps better than your favorite ‘IT-boy’ rapper, croons better than your favorite tat-chestded crooner and zings wittier one-liners than your favorite late nite Comic Viewster — His name is Phonte ‘Phontigallo’ Coleman (…aka the face of critically-acclaimed Hip-Hop trio duo Little Brother & Nu-Soul duo Foreign Exchange) and he’s the #1 reason why Hip-Hop/Soul… Ain’t… DEAD…

…Don’t believe the HYPE?! …then google (Phonte) (+) Kanye, who admittedly scrapped his clunky College Dropout-flow after hearing the N.C. Central grad-turnt-(uber)undie-MC’s legendary verse on (Little Brother’s) “The Yo-Yo” (“…Man, sh*t, I’m bout to kick some Trick Daddy next poetry night like Myyy..Blaaaack..Queeeen..don’t know nann n*gga!”) …or Weezy, who struggled to keep up with the burly beat-rocker on the playful femme-love/hate anthem “Breakin’ My Heart” (Weezy = ‘…I gets all up in your head, just like shampoo…’ < Phonte = ‘…a woman’s life is love, a man’s love is life…’) …

…With four certified classics (Little Brother’s The Listening/Minstrel Show + Foreign Exchange’s Connected/Leave it all Behind) under his belt and thousands of die hard fans studying his every syllable, Phonte aka the best ‘everyman’s rapper’ alive (‘…My girl was throwin’ up this morning/I’m prayin’ it was somethin’ she ate…’) quietly etched his name into most Top-10 MC lists after penning some of the illest punch-lines (‘…might want to let me put my all in you/or else one of these off-brand Wal-Mart n*ggaz might try to Target you…’)/verses (See: “Boondock Saints”)/vocal arrangements (See: “House of Cards”) of our Hip-Pop-infused generation …

(“Boondock Saints” = ‘…Because I ain’t shucking, because I ain’t jivin’/Some of these cr*ckers won’t stand beside me/And cuz I ain’t killin’ and don’t support pimpin’/Some of these n*ggas wanna call me a Cosby/Well, I’ll be that dude, I’ll scratch that itch/I’ll play that role, call me Heathcliff b*tch!’)

…Nonetheless, if you’re a jaded Hip-Hopper struggling to re-discover REAL Hip-Hop in today’s ring-tone-deafened society, I highly recommend you purchase tickets to the next Foreign Exchange show (Ticket = $15) coming soon to an obscure venue in the hidden corners of a major city near you …Believe me, after vibing with Phonte and 173 fellow music lovers for two, maybe three hours, you too, will be a believer …

J. E. The  Extraterres… with Tourrettes: Live From Planet X.

After hearing Jay Electronica (‘They call me Jay Electronica…f*ck that. Call me Jay ElecHannukah..Jay ElecYalmulke..etc..’) ‘Jay ElecHannukah’ spit that ‘blow your brain, Kurt Cobain — Nirvana sh*t’ over Just Blaze’s incredible “Exhibit A (Transformations)” backdrop (“…I paved ways like Nat and Harriet, I blast on Judas Iscariots and peel off in the chariot…”), it was clear that the mind-bending beat bully from the ‘city built on top of a grave’ was more than just another quirky, dare-to-be-different MC with a store bought flow like Asher Roth or gimmicky image like Charles Hamilton …

…Nah, son… Jay Elec was the personification of innovation…and err, somewhat of a whimsical weirdo with a subtle edginess + beautifully surreal musical approach that only the most intellectual (of) ‘backpackers’/music connoisseurs could appreciate… To me, Jay Elec embodied everything that fad-tattered ‘hipsters’ like KiD CuDi strived to be and proved, once again, that rappers from the ‘souf’ were more than just criminally coonish cash-fiends/reckless misogynists with painfully dinky-doink flows …

…As a city skipping beatmaker/wordsmith with an endearing affinity for cult-classic movies/allusions (“…my mama said son why such a lonely face/because the pressures on me/plus I feel like Bill Murray trapped in Punxsutawney…”), the Planet-X-born, N.O.-bred MC dropped several buzz-worthy mixtapes, a phenomenal ‘poetry-in-motion’ (spit)session “Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge)” and the critically-acclaimed Dilla mash-up Style Wars EP that elevated him to ‘NEXT-status’ where he’s now poised to finally drop his highly-anticipated debut album sometime in the near/far-reaching future…

…But until then, it’s probably best that you bang “Exhibit A, B & now C”/Style Wars EP until your speakers implode while waiting for the shadow lurking MC to drop (…quite possibly the illest single of the year…) “Dear Moleskine” — the soul-piercing Just Blaze gem that’s been teased online/on-tour for months with no official ‘drop-date’ …Oh, and, uh, if I were you I would avoid the 1 min. 45 sec. mini-teaser like a double McMexican swine sammich with extra pickled pig hoofle sauce… you’ll only be torturing yourself …

Black Milk: The Dirty ‘D’s’ ‘Youngest In Charge’

Curtis ‘Black Milk’ Cross certainly isn’t J. ‘Dilla’ Yancey nor does he pretend to be when crafting his sinister snare kicks + soul-splashed samples that breathe life into desolate souls — like Dilla’s untouchable catalogue of ‘Donuts’ — while standing alone as new-age pages in the Hip-Hop Beat-Bible that the legendary beatmaker/MC died too soon to finish…

At 25 years young, Detroit’s second ‘youngest in charge’ (#1 Mayor Kwame) is a GROWN azzded MAN on the MP with a flair for filthy, Dirty ‘D’-pimp slapped drum baps (See: “Give The Drummer Sum”) and wildly-imaginative, chipmunk-funk’d sample loops (See: “Shut It Down”), that, when meshed together, create audible anti-biotics for the POP-diseased strain of Hip-Hop currently spreading through the industry via trend-thirsty ‘super producers’ who couldn’t touch Black’s weakest reference tracks with their hottest ‘top-shelf tracks’/ring-tones… (‘Did he just…?!’) … Yea, I said it! …

…If anything, Black Milk represents a gritty new-breed of brilliant beatmaker/MCs (Jay Electronica/Hi-Tek/Nottz) who body their own bangers (‘…If Hip-Hop’s dead and out/Black Milk just gave that b*tch mouth-to-mouth/brought it… back to life… out the hospital… ILLL… the industry owe me, got hospital bills…’) and showcased this through his widely-heralded albums Popular Demand/Tronic + the sick (regional) collabs Caltroit (Feat. Bishop Lamont) & The Set Up (Feat. Fat Ray) further establishing the Detroit-anchored midwest as a perennial power-player in the steadily-growing underground Hip-Hop/Soul movement…

…So with that said, I move that we, as new-age Hip-Hopsters, dead these pointless Black Milk/Dilla comparisons/arguments/debates and allow Black Milk to shape his own legacy without facing lifetimes worth of unrealistic expectations to be everything that Dilla was, and more…I mean DAMN, let Black Milk be, well, GREAT… I’m sure Dilla would…

Blu: Eternal Sunshine of the Golden (BLU) Mind.

The 26-year-old reflection in Johnson ‘Blu’ Barnes’ mirror is somewhat complex, flawed and reality-bitten… but, uhh, then again, that’s why any/everyone with their ears to the streets are buzzing about the nonchalantly confident leftcoast ‘rap peasant’ named Blu whose razor sharp ‘real-life’-coated bars force you to look into the mirror while wondering whether you’re living your life like it’s golden or merely just existing on this great ball of stress that we call the Earth  (Sadat X) …

…To some, ‘Blu’ is nothing more than a primary color but to true Hip-Hopsters he’s one of the realest, intimately introspective MCs in the game (“…And you chillin’ in your house with a wife, a few children/Feelin’ like you struck a million/Lookin’ at your kids like/‘Sh*t, this my son… This n*gga came from my nuts…”) who poured the contents of his tortured soul in between the paper’s lines (‘…I got dreams I ain’t reached yet – ends that ain’t meet yet/When it comes to being a man, sh*t I’m barely getting my feet wet/Trying to hit reset knee deep in debt/Trying to figure out how to feed a mouth that ain’t got teeth yet…’) for his fearless debut opus Below The Heavens that converted several ‘stuck-in-the-’90s’ ’Pac-stans into full-fledged, true Blu-believers …

…And NO, I’m in no way comparing a freshly-planted rose seed (Blu) maturing beneath the concrete to the fully-bloomed, concrete-grown rose that was Tupac Shakur — a Hip-Hop legend, even if the lyrically profound fresh face (recently) earned the late MC’s crown from Pacific Time Zone’d Hip-Hopsters/backpackers deeply immersed in a new-era ‘Cali-Soul movement’ (U-N-I/Fashawn/Pac Div) destined to revive the West’s severely comatized, Jerk-ravaged Hip-Hop pedigree …

…But I doubt the newly-major label drafted Blu (Sire/Warner Bros. records) cares about these over-blown comparisons (Hip-Hop Hype-Machinists = ‘YoO Blu’s betta than Lupe … illa than Nas … doper than Phonte’) or supposed ‘Westcoast (Hip-Hop) Savior’ status (Mainframe, ½ of Johnson&Johnson: “…A lot of rappers try to fit into a certain mold, but Blu breaks out of it…I think he’s the savior of West Coast Hip-Hop right now…”) and remains focused on inspiring Hip-Hop’s ‘left behind’ through eloquently insightful verses that elevated last year’s undie-gem (Mainframe-collab) Johnson&Johnson into serious ‘Album/Producer of the Year’ conversations/Award considerations …

Believe me when I say Blu’s winning right now and poised to shatter coastal biases in the name of REAL Hip-Hop especially after being contacted by a young deaf girl who revealed that the vibrations from his music were like no other when she placed her hands on her friends’ ‘Blu-blessed’ speakers … Obviously, I’m down with Blu, the question is, are YOU?

Little Dragon (Interlude)

*When PRETENDING to be a MUSIC HEAD goes wrong*

‘Music Head’: ‘Waaait, hold up, OK, so ‘Little Dragon’ is, uhh, Phonte … and, um, MC Pooh ..somethin’ … and 9^th … right?! … Dude, I’ve been a 9^th Wonder fan since Jay-Z’s Black Album and loved Phonte’s hook on that Playaz Circle jam … Yo, I been wonderin’ why that cat doesn’t sing more… dude has a nice voice …’

Me: Nawl, that’s Little Brother … you know, Phonte and Rapper Big Pooh … but, uh, 9^th Wonder hasn’t been with the group for a year or two now and definitely dropped doper tracks than “Threat” (Black Album) … As for Phonte, well, he’s on the road as we speak with his soul duo Foreign Exchange … Yea, but THIS group is Little Dragon.

‘Music Head’: ‘OoO, aight, COOL, For-eign … Ex-change … I’ll definitely check them out, but, OK, back to Little…Dragon, now they’re basically this ‘underground’ electro-POP/Rock, kinda Soulish/R&Bish Euro-band froooom Scotland … NO, Switzerland?! … Yeaaa, they SWISS … all dudes and one chick, right?! … kinda like Lucy Pearl, but white..err, European… YES, I LOVE that band!’

Me: *sigh* …You mean Sweden …

‘Music Head’: ‘OoOps, yea, my bad, Sweeeden, hahaa … same thing … but they were MAJOR in the ’90s, like global … Yo, I rocked wit them HARD when they dropped “Zombie” … Their lead singer, tha chick with the dirty tennis ball cut and swexy Europe-ish accent was HAWT… But wait, they weren’t always called Little Dragon though, right?! … Their name was Lusty Grapes, Tasty Blueberries, ehh, somethin’ like that, like some kinda fruit… *nods* ..mhhhmmm … naw, don’t try to play me son, I know who tha hell Little Dragon is … ’

Little Dragon: Stranger Than Fiction.

Little Dragon is headlining my wedding reception. No, really, they are — all four of those Electrosoul-smitten Swedes… Yep, I’ve already told my mama and, well, now I’m telling, HER, my future wife, as I’m typing this to mentally prepare them for the incredibly eclectic Rock/POP/Soul collective that very well may be the only reason why most legit music heads still find themselves optimistic about the future of progressive R&B/Soul music (…devoid of any poisonous Major Label additives or crippling A&R preservatives…)

Maybe it’s their funky fresh slinky-synths (See: “Turn Left”), retro-Soul-slicked aesthetic (See: “Feather”) or lead singer (Japanese/American/Swedish) Yukimi Nagano’s haunting vocals (See: “Twice”) that forever locked the Gothenburg-based quartet inside my cardio beatbox once their stunning self-titled debut Little Dragon (’07) faded into the warmest corners of my soul… Whatever it was, I F’N LOVED these talented dudes & sultry songbird, yes, LOVED them, and vowed to share them with the ‘musically thirsted’ until, they too, tracked down the band’s masterfully-conceived, indie-released debut album …

At the time, there were simply no artistic entities like Little Dragon (…aka Erik Bodin, Drums + Fredrik Källgren Wallin, Bass + Håkan Wirenstrand, Keys + Yukimi, Vocals) who easily carved their own niche in the Electro/Nu-Soul arena while generating a contagious promo-push for their highly-anticipated sophomore project Machine Dreams — a soulfully abstract, ’80s-POP-glossed throwback (See: “Runabout”) met with critical praise upon its release on Aug. 31… And the fans?! …well, most of us probably haven’t stopped playing the delightfully trippy record splashed with (more of) Yukimi’s (signature) soul-melting pipes (See: “A New”) that are unlike any other in the ‘soulstress’-saturated industry …

As long as Little Dragon is rockin’ stages, YOU, your ‘music head’ associates and these miserable-minded complainers have no reason to moan, groan and bemoan about the lack of REAL music/artists/innovation in today’s over-hyped musical wasteland… I say: delve deeper… expand your comfort zones… open your minds… and, maybe then, you’ll realize that there IS life after Hip-Hop/Soul’s supposed death after all …

Marsha Ambrosius: There’s Somethin’ About Marsha.

British chanteuse Marsha A. has (Jenny ‘Effie’ Hudson’s inner-strenf) + (MJB’s killer instinct) X (‘Lyzell in E Flat’ Jill Scott’s range) + (Adele’s Euro-edge) – (‘Post-Lyzell’ Jill Scott’s incessant emo-babble) ÷ (‘Indie-hyped’ Jaz Sullivan’s growth potential) + (‘Mr. Biggs’ Kelly Price’s (vocal) power) which, according to my 4^th Grade ‘PEMDAS’ notes, makes her the illest ‘songstress’ in the biz who, with one heart-chilling vocal ripple, turns ‘Baby, maybe we shouldn’t’ into ‘OoO baby, YES, right there’ in the bedroom while reigning as Hip-Hop’s ‘Heartfelt Hook’ Queen (Hi-Tek “Music For Life”/Fabolous “Stay”/Wale “Diary”)/R&B/Soul’s underrated golden pen (Michael Jackson “Butterflies”/Alicia Keys “Go Ahead”/Jazmine Sullivan “Music (All I Need)” …

Fellas, don’t trip, you know you luh Marsha’s panty-wetting, soul-stirring ways and currently have 11-17 of her songs sprinkled throughout your personal ‘seductive slow-burn mix’ (#1 Floetry “Imagination”/#2 Marsha & Jamie “Freak’N Me”/#3 Floetry “Say Yes”) …It’s cool, we ALL do, just like the ladies, who now expect to hear two or three Marsha jams between every few Jodeci, Kellz, Maxwell, Dream & Trey Songz..etc.. baby makers on our playlists …

…Um, YES, Marsha’s definitely THE TRUTH and one of three, maybe four, high-profile vocalists who truly ‘touch me’ whenever they sing, hum, chant or even speak. *Sigh* Yea, I admit it: Marsha plucked the hell outta my heartstrings the first time I watched Floetry’s Floacism Live like no other major artist I’ve ever seen perform live. *Nods* True story.

However, despite Floetry’s global mega-success, Floacism would be the doomed duo’s first, and last, live DVD before Marsha ditched her ‘singin’ chick from Floetry’-image,’ inked a solo deal with Dr. Dre’s Aftermath imprint and later re-emerged as the #1 contender for the struggling genre’s oft-disputed crown with Yours Truly (produced entirely by TheRealFocus), which — despite its ‘free mixtape’ status — shines as one the Top-5 R&B/Soul albums of the past several years mainly due to it’s edgy, yet masterfully conceived soundscapes (See: “Cloud 9”), stunning vocal arrangements (See: “Start…Finish”) and deeply-rooted emotional core (See: “Some Type Of Way”) …

(Yours Truly —>http://sharebee.com/b72516e7. You’re F’N welcome.  )

At this point, every one of you irksome Melanie Fiona over-hypesters can GO thaaat a’waaay. Damn. OK. I GET it. Melanie’s dope, she’s amazing, yes, she’s a ‘breaf of fresh air.’ But she’s NO Marsha and her flawed debut album The Bridge is definitely NO Yours Truly. Sorry. Seriously, let it go, and realize that 2010 belongs to Aftermath’s newly-minted H.B.I.C. who’s finally slated to release her solo debut album and officially claim a R&B/Soul crown that some believe belongs to: Jazzy..err, maybe Jill, others: Chrisette, Adele or  Alicia and Team:Melanie: well, Melanie.

…Better yet, it doesn’t even matter who your crownee is because we all know who we turn to when we need (Fellas): ‘I’m sorry, I can’t, I have a man and we in luhhh’ to turn into ‘Fuhhh dat N-AAAA, he cheatin’ ent’tee-way, I got condoms in mah purse *Here*’ or (Ladies): ‘Nawl, baby, I aint goin’ down durrr, Nah uh, NOPE’ to turn into ‘Damn, baby, you taste just like candy, like skrawberries, mmmm like some choc’late covered skittles … nam-nam-nam’ …Ha, stop trippin.’ Marsha’s the illest breathin.’ Thank you. Goodnite.

9^th Wonder: The Talented Mr. ‘Wondra.’

Patrick Douthit used to ‘make beats’ (…with Fruity Loops FL Studio) inside his very own recording studio..err, N.C. Central dorm room like many of the thirsty ‘I’m-Da-Next-Kanye’-clones in my ’ole H.U. dorm (…a few doors down from the artsy ‘shirt designers’ and a floor above the business-minded ‘party promoters’…) who wasted the ‘best years of their lives’ ‘trying’ to do what HE had already done once fellow classmates Phonte Coleman and Thomas Jones blessed his beautifully Soul-bejazzled Hip-Hop backdrops: Produce a CLASSIC Hip-Hop record.

From there, Patrick + Thomas + Phonte formed the new-schoolish, Tribe Called Quest-esque underground Hip-Hop trio ‘Little Brother’ (…and the Hip-Hop collective The Justus League…) before officially releasing their delightfully organic, semi-dorm produced opus The Listening (ABB Records), which, to me, ranks as one of the Top-20 Hip-Hop records of our musically-ravaged ‘lost generation’ …

(Legendary producer Pete Rock: ‘The Listening kinda brings me back to the days of when the 90’s was poppin.’ It’s more realistic than what I’m hearing today and sounds like these guys put a lot of work into it. I love this album. Classic.’)

Please. Disagree. I dare you… or simply just nod and smile because you, like me, could not stop nodding to the critically-adored Indie triumph that formally introduced Hip-Hop heads to the game’s master Soul samplist/‘Oldie-But-Goodie’ cratesmith/Midas-touched MP maestro (now) known as Patrick Douthit 9^th Wonder aka ‘Ninff Wondra’ who flips, chops & loops the record-crackled soundtracks of our parent’s ‘Soul Glo’-doused ‘wonder years’ better than any other mainstream/underground ‘Soul-sampling’ producer/beatmaker/beat-putterer-togetherer in today’s sample-smacked industry …

Sorry. ‘Ninff’ is iller than your favorite ‘producer’ and boasts the sickest ‘Big Louffa’ V. (See: Median “Comfortable”)/Stylistics (See: Little Brother “Shorty on the Lookout”) samples I’ve ever heard alongside a seemingly never-ending catalogue of genius, how-the-hell-did-he…?!-sample loops like:  A) Curtis Mayfield’s “Back Against The Wall” (Rapper Big Pooh “Scars”) B) Pleasure’s “Reality” (De La Soul “Church”) and C) Billy Paul’s “Word Gets Around” (MURS “Freak These Tales”) that only he (…and maybe DOOM, but I digress…) could’ve weaved into timeless undie-Hip-Hop bangers …

Me? …yea, I’m a Team: ‘Ninff’-ster whose soul blushes whenever his ‘dusty-fingered’ soulscapes bang through my speakers. But, uh, who isn’t?! …other than the stone-cold ‘Ninnff haters’ who blib-blab about the producer’s familiar drum kicks until they’re Smurf-blue in the face instead of celebrating the N.C.-born & raised dorm rat-turnt-mainstream-dabbling-producer with Destiny’s Child (“Is She The Reason”), Hov (“Threat”) & MJB (“Good Woman Down”) production credits waving at ‘them’ from the top of his resume … *Hi Haters* …

…Ha, I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t hate on a world-renown producer currently instructing a production-related course (“Sampling Soul”) at a prestigious institution (Duke U.) based on the very thing that his ‘beat haters’ HATE on … But, uh, that’s just ME …what the hell do I know?! … *Kanye shrug*

Eric Roberson: R&B/Soul’s Most Known Unknown.

Eric Roberson could step into your house TO-DAY and sing the ‘SMOOV’est song you’ve never heard — off the dome — about the stack of ‘ain’t-gon’-be-paid’ bills on your living room table, few days old ‘spasghetti’-stained dishes in your kitchen sink and illegal cable connection ‘hidden’ behind your 46’’ plasma while you nodded to his every word — thoroughly intrigued and deeply ashamed — wondering how you, a ‘Soul head,’ could say: Huh, Eric Who?! whenever fellow Soul heads gushed about the undisputed, severely underrated (…often overlooked and musically unappreciated…) face of the Indie-Soul/progressive Nu-Soul musical movement …

As much as I dig Dwele, ‘Radio’ Raheem D., Ant Hamilton, Ant David & LL Cool Jesse B., there’s no way I’d rock with any of them over the shea-buttery, baby’s-booteez-cheeks-‘smoov’-voiced singer/songwriter/producer who, in my ‘humble’ opinion, is the dopest pure Soul sanga in the game with a platinum pen (Dwele “Hold On”/Vivian Green “Love Rollercoaster”/Musiq “Previous Cats”) + a golden collection of timeless gems spread across his latest (near classic) albums …Left (See: “Been In Love” Feat. Phonte) & Music Fan First (See: “The Newness”), earlier work The Vault 1.5 (See: “Couldn’t Hear Me” & The Appetizer (See: “N2U” Feat. Marsha) and rewind-worthy collabs (See: J. Rawls “Pleasure & Pain”) …

Believe me, there’s no one (…other than *Maxwell…) touching ‘Erro’ (Yea, OK, his mama named him Eric, but his fans — his REAL fans — call him ‘Erro’) — Soul’s most known unknown — who gives one of the dopest live (Soul) shows you’ll ever experience (…especially for $17-$20) …or attempt to experience, if you’re able to beat the legions of fanatical Erro-heads to the venue for his (usually) sold out, ultra-packed, oft-improv’d shows (Erro: ‘What do ya’ll want me to sing about?!’ … Crowd: ‘Sexy shoulder blades, pretty ankle bones and Gummi Bears!’ … Erro: ‘OK, cool, let’s do it …’ *kills it*) …

Having met and vibed with Jersey’s-own Eric Roberson, I can honestly say he’s one of the coolest + humblest ‘Da-Otha H.U.’grads artists I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. He’s also an iller freestylist than 99% of ‘working rappers’ today and a warm-spirited crowd pleaser who adores his deeply-supportive fans. Clearly, at this stage of the game, there’s no excuse for any ‘music lover,’ let alone ‘music head,’ to say: WHO? when asked about ‘Erro’ or his latest album Music Fan First — one of ’09’s best. Seriously, stop moving left and get right… or, just get familiar. ‘Erro’ IS Soul. He ain’t goin’ NOwhere …

Jaspects: Revenge of the Polkadotted Band Geekz.

The Jaspects were obviously the geeky cool cats on campus (Morehouse) who rocked Polo blazers & pastel-colored bowties to their early classes because they were too fresh, talented and popular on the yard to care that it was 98 degrees outside — Yea, I’d say T. Brown (Keys/Music director), J.C. Sowells (Bass), “HC3” (Drums), “Spacey” Dugger (Tenor-Sax), Stagolee (Alto-Sax) and J. E. King (Trumpet) were the coolest cuttas at camp — the quirkily Jazzmatazzed, Dungeon Fam-inspired ‘so fresh & so cleandeds’ — who Hip-Bopped light years ‘outside the box’ where they perfected their incredibly Cosmo-Funk’d-Electro-Soul-infused brand of socially conscious mood music that currently has ATLiens + music-loving Earthlings throwin’ both of their ‘J’s’ up — HIGH— into the skies …

Not much is known about ‘polkadotted stripes’ or their deep space planet of origin but it’s clear they were speckled all over the genre-bending sextet’s fourth (’05 In ‘House’ Sessions/’06 Broadcasting The Definition/’07 Double Conciousness*Must-Have*) word-of-mouf-hyped indie-release aptly entitled The Polkadotted Stripe, which absolutely ROCKS as an intergalactoSoul-synthed voyage into the musical ‘unknown’ that’s just as creatively intoxicating as it is space-Jazz’d, funk-drunk and instrumentally impeccable…

…And NO, I. Can’t. STOP. Banging. This. Album. It’s just that artistically ‘different’ in the dopest possible way and my tentative selection as 2009’s ‘Album of the Year’ (…with the illest breakdown of the year (See: “Polkadotted Stripe”) …

Before The Polkadotted Stripe, I would’ve helped Hov pine-box Auto-Tune FOR FREE until the Jaspects KILLED “Unifunk” & “Polkadotted Stripe” (My favorite two songs of the year) with the cringe-worthy ‘robo-croon’ effect that actually enhanced the most memorable tracks on the album. Naturally, there will be those who won’t care for their ambitious Auto-Tune dabbling, but most open-minded music heads will, while wondering why chronic vocoderists with major label homes like Ron Browz have NO clue how to prop-er-ly use the acclaimed pitch-correction software that the Jaspects utilized so masterfully without appearing desperate for mainstream attention …

But, then again, the Jaspects are TRUE musicians with a deep appreciation for the musical arts that comes across during their enjoyably frenetic live shows where they bust moves, rock mics and play their own instruments for ‘good music’-feenin’  crowds across the nation. Sadly, 8 out of every 10.5 ‘music heads’ have no idea who the Jaspects are, what they are or why they should even care about a few random “Morehouse Men” with talent & a dream which is why I’m now formally introducing them to you, them and anyone who claims there’s no bands like them patiently waiting to be discovered.

I say: GET FAMILIAR. And then, when you finally do, crank your Jaspects’ record to ele’ben and throw your ‘J’s’ up — HIGH — into the skies.

*By the way, I’m in LOVE with Chantae Cann’s voice. YES, she’s the up-and-coming soulstress who murders the breakdown on “Polkadotted Stripe” …She’s also featured on the absolutely stunning “Find My Way To Love” … Trust me. She’s official.

Nicolay: The Re-Birth of Nu-Cool

When Netherlander Nicolay ‘connected’ with N.C. upstart Phonte on the innanet (okayplayer.com) nearly a decade ago, he had never met the uber-talented rappa-sanga before sending him a soulfully-infectious collection of head-nodders to write to, croon over and send back to be mastered until they = (Phonte + Nicolay) = ‘Foreign Exchange’ joined together to promote the finished product: 2004’s hidden jewel Connected — one of the dopest full-length infusions of Hip-Hop/Nu-Soul/R&B to ever be released (…and subsequently ignored by the mainstream’s musical gate keepers…)

…Nevertheless, new-age Soul heads pledged allegiance to Nicolay’s ‘smooved’-out synths/delectable melodies that pushed Connected into cult classic status while setting the tone for the Euro-wonder’s successful solo ventures Time:Line & Here (See: “I Love The Way You Love”(Feat. D. Brock), “Tight Eyes” (Feat. The Luv Bugz & Oh No) & “My Story” (Feat. Sy Smith & Kay) and 2008’s unforgettable re-connection with Phonte (Foreign Exchange’s) Leave It All Behind which cemented ‘Nicolay’ as the ‘smoovest’ beatmaker/composer in the game not named Dwele, J. Rawls or Zo! (respectfully) …

…Although Nicolay’s virtually unknown to everyday ‘music heads’ currently indulging in faux-(Nu)-Soul headlined by confused ‘soul artists’ like Jaz ‘The Caw Winduh Busta’ Sullivan, there’s no denying his undying commitment to preserving the actual SOUL in Soul music both inside the studio and on the road with Foreign Exchange — the most successful Soul-collective in today’s soul-starved industry… (Foreign Exchange > Platinum Pied Pipers) …

…Maybe now, after reading this, you’ll weave through the post-Foreign Exchange show mob to take a few pics with the lesser-known Nicolay rather than Phonte, who’s usually surrounded by overly-aggressive male/female groupies — Yep, just look for the tall, lanky white dude in the corner by the keyboards — He’s usually the coolest cat in the room …

Aubrey ‘Drake’ Graham: The Rise & Fall… & Rise? of Drizzy F. Baby.

Never has a MEGA-hyped underground sensation nobody gone from being the dopest unsigned hypester on the globe to the dopiest P.R. FAILure in the galaxy in a mere matter of months… err, that is… until Aubrey ‘Drake’ Graham aka Canada’s great lite-brite hype rocketed into superstardom with his globally-droOled-over ‘mixtalbum’ So Far Gone — that spawned two consecutive ‘Song of the Year’ candidates “Best I Ever Had” & “Successful” — before plummeting into uberwhackdom when he:

A) performed his ultra-explicit misogo-smash ‘Every Girl’ in a wheelchair — for a record-setting BET Awards viewing audience — with a slew of underaged ‘hypegirls’ (…aka Weezy’s daughter & friends) on-stage … (Drake on BET Awards debacle: “It was just timed very poorly and it definitely wasn’t planned like that” … “To anyone who was offended, my personal apologies; it wasn’t intended to offend anybody”) *Cue: Homer: ‘D’oh!’*

B) starred in a skank-juice splattered video for his chart-smashing single “Best I Ever Had” that he later apologized to his female fans for releasing …(Drake on soft-pornish music video debacle: “I guess one thing I didn’t consider is what the song personally means to a lot of women” … “To those women, I apologize. I do apologize. My intention wasn’t to put anyone down. It was to make them laugh. I wanted people to see something visually different.”) *Cue: Homer: ‘D’oh!’*

C) crumpled into a pathetic, tragedy-pinched chumpling on-stage during the America’s Most Wanted Music Festival (Feat. Weezy, Jeezy & Soulja Boy) at the height of his meteoric ascension into the Hip-Pop stratosphere despite being told by Doctors NOT to perform on his shredded ACL … (Drake on stage collapse debacle: “I blacked out and really forgot I was injured. I was just so full of adrenaline, so happy to be there, it kind of set in for me”) *Cue: Ed Lover: ‘C’Mon Son!’*

D) signed his soul over to an insanely impregnatious, sizzurp-sloshing hobgoblin named Dwayne Carter who consistently placed him in the worst possible situations at the worst possible times while slowly siphoning away his mega-hype to fuel his own solar system-sized ego/insatiable craving for mainstream publicity … *Cue: Super Mario Death Ditty*: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHJSZSRSljk

…And somehow, these events occurred only weeks after the lyrically dexteritous uber-MC (…“I’ma rapper-turnt-singer and you can tell that he smoke/I don’t need no vocal cords/All I hit is C-Notes/N.E.R.D. flow, I spaz if I’m provoked/I’m about to change the F@#$# game/Pass the remote…”)/melody hummer (See: “Lust For Life”) emerged from the underground as the *gasp* FUTURE of Hip-Hop’s future + second-coming of (Golden-Era Hova) + (Pre-Bad Boy Biggie) + (Post-9 bullet-50 (Cent) …

…Dammit, ‘Drizzy’ Drake was Neo (the one), Luke Skywalker (the chosen one) & Bruce LeRoy (the one + ‘the glow’) com-bined to many mainstream Hip-Hop consumers who had never heard of the ex-child TV star until Weezy publicly co-signed him as the next, best HIM…

…But REAL-Hip-Hoppers?! …We ‘been known’ Aubrey, and wept the day he broke up with Hip-Hop to pledge allegiance to the house that Weezy baby daddy built… Yea, ‘Drizzy’ was Hip-Hop’s most-recent #1 Draft Pick and brought ‘hope’ to Hip-Hop, but his Kanye-esque, underdog-allure was gone; He was no longer the ‘misunderestimated’ Hip-Hop hybrid that murdered every (dope) track (9^th Wonder, Slakah..etc..) he breathed on (‘…My reality is brighter than your dreams are/I got your dream girl ridin’ in your dream car…”) with a who’s who of talented somewhat known/underground MC/vocalists (Phonte, Dwele, Elzhi, Kardinall Offishall..etc..)

..NOPE, Drake was now Drizzy F. Baby — another syrupy Hip-POPpist with a nauseating Auto-Tune fetish, cringe-worthy ‘super-crew’ (Young Money) and steadily declining non-POP following …

…However, in spite of my better judgment, I’ll overlook Aubrey’s post-Weezy-wrecked career path to focus solely on his Hip-Hop intangibles/lyrical prowess/triple threat appeal effortlessly displayed throughout his older mixtapes Comeback Season/Room For Improvement when his collabs with Little Brother “Don’t You Have A Man”/ “Think Good Thoughts” and Dwele “Deceiving” slowly seeped into my cerebral (Hip-Hop) subconciousness …

… Come Feb. 14, 2010, we’ll all (officially) know where Aubrey ‘Drake’ Graham stands as an artist, an MC and a serious triple threat … Where will YOU be when Thank Me Later drops?!? …

Wale: DMV Dreamin’

He’s ‘not the next Biggie… he’s not the next Jay… he’s not the next Nas… he’s the first Wale’ — a beat murking punch-line ripper who’s DESPISED by ‘Hipster Haters’ and beloved by progressive Hip-Hopsters who swear by the scatterbrainded spitsmith’s mambo sauce-dipped bars that easily catapulted him into Hip-Hop’s mainstream/homes of POP-diseased suburbanites who had never banged ‘Go-Go’ until “Pretty Girls” beat its feet through their Bose stereo systems …

…Say what you want about the ultra-cocky (‘…I spit nasty/My tongue need a rubber homes…’), sports fanatical (‘…I’m just payin’ homage/If I ain’t strive to be Sean (Carter)..I’d..End..Up..like KiJana…’) DMV-reppin’ young’n and his psycho-frenetic ‘Waco’ flow… (but) dude’s next-level potential is undeniable like his firm grasp on a D.C. Hip-Hop movement that nearly spiraled into irrelevancy (…like the Redskins/Wizards…) before he dropped the classic Seinfeld-themed Mixtape About Nothing marking the (official) beginning of Wale’s come-up as the first major rap act to rep our nation’s capital (…or greater DM minus V area) on wax…

…And please, don’t spam me, questioning me about Wale’s inclusion in this blog until you’ve thoroughly digested the Mixtape About Nothing/(9^th Wonder collab) Back to the Feature/100 Miles & Running and listened closely to his “Hacksaw Jim Duggan”/“2^nd Time Around”/“Rediscover Me” verses that served as fitting preludes to his major record deal with Mark Ronson’s Allido records/Interscope and upcoming debut album Attention: Deficit that dropped on Nov. 10 …

…Whether you love Wale Folaren… or hate the DMV-MC…you’ll always remember his name …Hell, he says it every few bars … (My name Wale… dutta da .. dutta da .. dutta da dee … My name Wale… Haaa ) … Attention: Deficit … In MOST stores NOW… COP it!

Chrisette Michele: Little Miss SunSOULshine

Chrisette Michele’s debut album I Am was everything that I never expected a Def Jam release by a Neo-Soulstress to be: nostalgic, organic and soulfully refreshing — It was truly a musical tour de force considering the storied record label’s modern infatuation with syrup-smathered POP music while shining as one of the crowning achievements of the now-defunct, although highly-successful ‘Carter Administration’ responsible for The-Dream, Jeezy, Fabo-Loso, Ne-Yo, RiRi Fierce & Officer Ricky Walrus..etc…

…As the youngest member of the mega-label’s oft-ignored ‘Def Soul’ division, Chrisette killed ’em softly with her vicious vibrato, cutesy elegance and spunky spirit that slowly, but surely nudged I Am onto most ’07 must-cop lists despite a low-key marketing approach by Hov (…and the Carter Cabinet) who eventually ‘dropped the label’ that Ricky & Russy built to focus on his own Roc Nation imprint/solo ventures …

At that point, Chrisette tumbled to the bottom of the label’s star-studded roster where she was later watered down + repackaged as a ‘Contemporary R&B/Soul’ artist by L.A. G’Reid who probably water-boarded the helpless soulstess until she chirped half-hearted, vibrato-free vocals over Ne-Yo’s redundant backdrops that encompassed her overly-formulaic sophomore album Epiphany — an utterly disappointing mish mash of B-sides/throwaway tracks with no heart, substance or purpose for even being recorded…

Naturally, Team: Chrisette swooned over the soul-stripped, commercially-appealing Epiphany — which debuted at #1 on the charts (83K sold) — while I slept through the lifeless montage of songs during my desperate attempts to give it a third, fourth or fifth listen before officially .. A) launching my ‘FREE Chrisette Michele from Def Jam NOW campaign’  .. B) pretending that Epiphany never really dropped, or was somehow shelved indefinitely .. C) adding Chrisette to my ‘confused soul sangas’ list with Jazmine Sullivan, Musiq, Raheem D., Robin Thicke and Ledisi …

…But, then again, the Grammy-winning N.Y.-native is only 26 and steadily developing as a young (newish) artist who’s widely-recognized by many, including me, as one of the hottest new-age soulstresses in the game which is why I’ve blessed her with a  golden *DO-OVER* ticket for Epiphany and anything Epiphany-related… *Hands Chrisette golden ticket*

…At the end of the day, she’s a pure Soul singer who would SHINE on a niche label like Hidden Beach Records known for molding young soul artists into globally-adored superstars (Jill Scott) without stripping them of their artistic integrity…*deep sigh* … Hopefully, she’ll realize this sooner, before later, and rips her burgeoning career from L.A. G’Reid’s clutches before he locks her in the studio with Ne-Yo (again) to record another anti-Soul record featuring RiRi yodel-libs, a Brutha duet (YES! Brutha = Def Jam) & a Ricky Walrus/Jeremih collab… Please Chrisette, MOVE (…THE HELL…) on… Def Jam doesn’t luhhh you, and never EV-ER will …

DOOM: The Madness Behind The Mask.

The masked wiggity-wacko formerly known as Daniel Dumile probably scarfed down hearty globs of caweepy crawluhs + Elmer’s glue + melted crayon sauce as a pooty-pants’d mini-McDOOMling before morphing into the grimy McSlimy stoOpa-producer/MC known as ‘DOOM’ — the dopest, most gibberish-spittin’-est (‘…Goony goo-goo loony koo-koo like Gary Gnu off New Zoo Review/But who knew the mask had a loose screw?/Hell could hardly tell/Had to tighten it up like the Drells and Archie Bell…’) whack-job dwelling in the grime-smeared nether-regions of underground Hip-Hop…

…Err, and NO, I’ve never ever (truly) seen the slop-crusted cook-ball’s mask-cloaked face (‘…Take it from the dude who wears mask like a tarded helmet…’) even if he’s one of the Top-7 dopest beatmakers/crate diggers in the game with a hilariously nonsensical flow that’s so insanededly ridiculous that you’ll wonder if he ever stopped eating glue + crayon sauce-coated insects (‘…Wylin,’ get me every red penny/Sold a lonely only child a imaginary enemy…’)

*smh* …Yeaaa, uhh, I’d say DOOM (M.F. Doom = Viktor Von Doom = KMD’s Zev Love X) is utterly insane, but there’s no denying his incredible ear for obscure, often unfindable Soul/Rock/Pop samples (Ex: Cortex “Huit Octobre 1971,” See: “One Beer”/Waldir Calmon “Airport Love Theme, See: “Curls”) featured on conceptually clever albums like the cooky, cuisine-crazed Mmm…Food? (See: “Hoe Cakes” = Anita Baker’s “Sweet Love” peppered with JJ Fad “SUPAs” + DOOM vocals… WHAT?!) or the diabolically soul-dusted Madlib-collab (DOOM + Madlib = Madvillain) Madvillainy (See: “Fancy Clown”)…

For now, DOOM thrives as a widely-ignored enigma whose latest indie-released gem Back Like That out-sold Mims’ heavily-promoted album Guilt on the ‘strenf’ of his major cult following that exploded once savvy Hip-Hoppers realized (that) he was scoring the audibly-deranged Adult Swim cartoon series … Yea, OK, I know, DOOM will never be for everyone but HE IS for those serious music lovers desperately seeking an audibly-potent dose of Top-40/sing-along-songy escapism… It’s true: We ALL wear masks (Whatchu know ’bout Paul Lawrence Dunbar?!) like DOOM during our everyday walks of life. Embrace it. After all, DOOM does …

Jazmine Sullivan: The FUTURE of R&B/Soul?! Really?!

I RE-fuse to GO IN on the laziest, most anti-successfo underachiever in R&B Jazmine Sullivan, yet again, and offer my apologies to the Soul-smiting Soul-smitten sanga, her wretched wonderful stylist and bumbaclot brilliant manager for (editorially) smashing well-deserved undeserved holes into their woefully-unsuccessful wonderfully-successful Soul&B movement like the tint-cloaked windshields that she inspired crazed ex-lovers to shatter into a zillion jagged pieces …

…Hopefully, Jazzy & her atrocious amazing team will forgive me for criticizing her nowhere-bound career and realize that she is, and will always be, one of the biggest busts of my generation my musical muse whose beautifully soul-kissed pipes are the ONLY reason why she’s included in this blog. exquisite R&B transcendence solidified her spot in this blog… For those of you who missed my VERY appropriate inappropriate letter to the heartstring plucking generic-song singer vocalist, here it is I’d rather you never read it:

Link: http://www.emqtv.com/emq/news/122/ARTICLE/1389/2009-10-06.html

Once again, I sincerely warn you to fire your mama as your Manager, hire a new stylist who doesn’t squeeze you into smedium outfits and demand that your label  remove Missy from your recording sessions before you’re career ends before it ever really started. apologize for my damn good career advice disparaging remarks and wish Jazmine ‘Caw Winduh Busta’ Sullivan much success in her future job search/background singing career. endeavors …

Alejandro. The GREAT

Twitter: http://twitter.com/AlejandroDaGr8

This has been another Alejandro presentation.

“Do you ask a Dolphin how it swims, or an eagle how it flies … That’s right you don’t! Because that’s what they were made to do!” — Willy Wonka

The views and opinions expressed in this article, are not those of EMQ Networks or its management. For more on Hip-Hop culture go to http://emqtv.com/music.

As an artist and alumnus of the historically Black male institution, Morehouse College, I was dismayed, 'though not surprised, to learn of their recent decision to ban cross-dressing on their campus, along with do-rags, sagging pants, and headwear (grills?), as part of its new "dress code."

Morehouse is a private institution that has worked tirelessly at uplifting the image and esteem of African-American men for generations and thus has every right to enforce the codes of conduct and expression that it sees as beneficial to its student body, yet its conservative/traditionalist ideology is sometimes at odds with the progressive awareness that it would seemingly hope to instill, or even more importantly, nurture in its students. Furthermore, its stride to maintain a highbrow mystique seems to lie solely in its preparation of young men to enter the Fortune 500 or some ministerial fellowship, with little and waning interests in the arts or the importance of creative expression.

My first day at Morehouse was the last day I combed my hair. I couldn't wait to twist and lock what my father had insisted I comb, while sleeping in his house. I knew that my time away from church and home was especially suited to be just that: My time. And I planned to use it wisely to express and explore all that I was on the verge of discovering. Here was where I 'd be given the space and, perhaps, the inspiration to question aspects of my upbringing, harness new disciplines, pursue my passions, and, quite simply, mature. I didn't find it particularly bothersome when, during that first week, my freshman brothers and I were told, "Morehouse men do not wear locks," that I'd have to cut my hair to sing in their prestigious Glee Club (this about the same time that my father told me I should cut my hair to be in my sister's wedding), and that, although I would declare myself a philosophy and drama major at Morehouse, I would have to take all of my drama classes at another historically Black institution, Spelman College, across the street, because Morehouse (although it offered the major in its course book) had no drama department of its own.

No drama, no dreadlocks, did little to curb my enthusiasm or stop me and other classmates from expressing new growth through hair and hip. Young men going to school to find themselves, who, in turn, find themselves suppressed by the short-sighted mandates of an authority that has a simple task of nurturing rather than negating, will simply blossom despite rather than because of their administrative elders. And, although being pulled aside by a school dean and asked how we expected to fair at a job interview might officially intimidate some, for others, like myself, it simply confirmed that they were old school and had not yet come to accept the world that we were crafting. This was not new news. We had all grown up with parents who questioned our musical taste and renderings reflected through fashion and slang. A confidence and swagger that simply didn't exist in the era of our elders defined our generation, so we were used to explaining "La Di Da Di" to frowning grandparents and professors.

I, personally, had no problem leaving my all-male campus to enter the all female institution across the street for drama classes. It was on Spelman's campus that I acted, danced, recited poems, added formative layers to my creative process, and even received compliments on my hair. While Morehouse in both real and symbolic ways represented more and more of the world I had gone to college to escape; a world where I saw hypocrisy and tradition intertwined, then neatly placed under the bureaucratic robe of authority.

The fact that my college seemed unprepared for me and the generation of artists that I've grown to be a part of says a lot about the social climate that followed my graduation. A time when hip-hop aligned itself with bankers and gangsters and would-be artists found greater merit in referring to themselves as businessmen than as artists.

The transformative power of art was harnessed and used to knock down the walls of the music, fashion, and film industries, while the art itself suffered. Music no longer pushed against the status quo, rather, it upheld it. Movies amounted to soup'd up church plays. Public schools lost their music and art programs. Colleges and universities, such as Morehouse, found bank and business CEOs to manage their affairs and became little more than product assembly lines turning out the latest in a conservative male model that simply saw art as escape.

Freedom of expression is Art Appreciation 101 and a tenant deeply rooted in American democracy. The fight for those freedoms has placed American arts and artists in a category all their own. The role that art plays in shaping American society is unparalleled and quite often unpredictable. And the role that African-American artists play and have played in defining exactly what American art is, is undeniable. These lessons, which for me, came as a male visitor on Spelman's all-female campus serves as the basis of the sort of dialogue that has all but skipped a generation born after the Black Arts Movement.

So what happens when prestigious institutions, like Morehouse, overlook the value of expression and instead choose to align themselves with the merits of an elite business school? And what do the cross-dressing students that were recently made to change clothes by Morehouse's administration have to do with my wild hair and me? Everything. Until these institutions acknowledge the inseparable links between freedom and expression, the same forces that suppress free thought and progressive change will suppress art and the evolving consciousness surrounding it. And when our universities align themselves with forces that suppress free thought and progressive change, they get more like churches and less like schools.

All this to say: I decided to wear a skirt to my alma mater last week and they weren't too happy about it.

Diligently Southern in its hospitality, the administration congratulated me on my merits and asked me kindly to leave its premises. They said that they had to enforce their new dress code on campus so that their students would follow suit. As I was leaving, an openly gay student government member approached me in a suit. He told me that he exemplified how a Morehouse man should dress because he was prepared. "Prepared for what?" I asked. "Prepared in case someone wanted to interview me for a job." he said.

Before speaking he had signed the waiver that the cameraman beside me was holding. He knew he was being filmed as part of a documentary that Afro Punk was making as we crossed the country. "Perfect!" I said. "You get the job."

http://www.essence.com/news/commentary_2/the_morehouse_dress_code.php?xid=061709-emailpitch-essenceatkins

Don't blame Sammy Sosa. Blame Rafael Trujillo. The late Dominican dictator's rule (1930-1961) left generations of his countrymen without families, hope, and a demonized view of Afro-Dominicans and Haitians. During his reign he ordered the execution of tens of thousands of Haitians (The Parsley Massacre) and opened the doors to Jewishrefugees from Europe in hopes of adding more Caucasians to his mostly Afro-Latino isle. His self-hatred was ever clear when Trujillo powdered his skin to appear lighter. So, in retrospect, Sosa is simply carrying out the racist ideologies that have permeated Latin America for centuries.

Afro-Latinos exist in large numbers in Latin American countries beyond the Caribbean, yet they remain disenfranchised. Colombia is home to 15 million Afro-Latinos yet its most popular stars are fair-skinned (Shakira and Juanes). The aspiration to appear more European is even prevalent in the world's largest beauty pageant--Miss Universe. Even though 18 Latin American countries participated only one contestant appeared to have African ancestry (Miss Dominican Republic).

Many Latinos are still under the Spanish Conquistador's spell--white is better. Our grandparents and even some of our parents encourage us to marry to mejorar la raza (improve the race). Meaning you should marry a white woman to make sure your child is at least has a 50 percent chance to be fair-skinned. Latino men are subconsciously trained to date and marry lighter-skinned women. We hear it in our homes as children and see it on Spanish-language media. For example, telenovelas (Spanish-language soap operas) always have European-looking Latino actors in lead roles while Afro-Latinos are lucky if they grab a role as a maid.

Sosa isn't much different from Juan Doe in Mexico who buys Crema de Belleza-Manning to lighten his skin to attract light-skinned women. In an interview with Univision's Primer Impacto Sosa said, "I want to clarify on your show that I am not a racist person." In between laughs and smirks, Sosa tells the reporter he's going to start to market the skin-lightening cream. When asked if he's rubbed the cream all over his body, Sosa chuckles once again and said, "No, because I only put it on my face not on my whole body. If I did that then I would have a problem. I would have to call 911."

Yet, Sosa's situation isn't a laughing matter.

What do you think, click to discuss on Essence.com!

http://www.essence.com/news/commentary_2/light_skin_vs_dark_skin.php

Jesús Triviño Alarcón is the Senior Online Editor of SITV.COM , the online component to the Latino cable network Sí TV.

Not that she was elected to public office or anything, but, according to recent polls...Michelle Obama's numbers are down.

A recent Gallup poll says the First Lady's favorability has slid 11 points since last March, from 72 percent to 61 percent. In a study from South Carolina's Winthrop University, which looked at her approval ratings in 11 Southern states, while nearly 78 percent of Democrats had a favorable opinion of Mrs. Obama, only 26.2 percent of Republicans did.

The ratings fall comes despite Mrs. Obama's decidedly non-controversial activities such as hosting hundreds of schoolchildren at the White House, most recently to launch a mentoring program for teenage girls, starting a White House garden to advocate healthy eating, and amplifying the importance of serving military families. On the other hand, she has occasionally used her platform to talk about President Obama's goals for healthcare reform, so maybe that's behind the dip in numbers.

Or is it that she hasn't been substantial enough? In a recent Newsweek essay, Allison Samuels wrote that she should take on heavier issues, arguing that military families and gardening will not build a lasting legacy.

"I want to know how she feels about children killing children back in her hometown of Chicago. Or whether she has any ideas about how to stop the ever-increasing numbers of African-American women falling victim to AIDS," Samuels writes. "These too-often-neglected issues need a face like Michelle's."

All the polling on Mrs. Obama initially surprised me, given that she's not in charge of White House policy or legislation. But it's not an unprecedented move. People were also polled on Laura Bush, who maintained a high approval rating (and so nobody really talked about it).

What do you think--as the first African-American First Lady, should Mrs. Obama elevate topics that affect our community by giving her stance on crime and HIV, or is it fine for her to focus on more traditional issues?

Get Obama all the time on Cynthia Gordy's blog Obama Watch. 

After competing against nine African-American contestants, Hampton University has crowned its first white Miss Hampton University, Nikole Churchill. Being that Hampton is an historically black university whose primary focus is directed towards motivating the African-American population, shouldn't they have re-thought that crowning?

The Spartan Echo

Elizabeth Reed

Now, with that said, why has Hampton University decided to crown their first caucasian Miss HU? Did they ask the student body on their take before making such a decision? Is this Hampton University's way of marketing themselves? In other words, is this the way that Hampton University has decided to show they have steered away from the African- American principles upon which it was founded in efforts to be accepted by a wider array of prospective students?

If this has been done in an effort to entice prospective students and to increase the yearly profit, I think HU needs to rethink their advertising tactics because this one has not gained much respect, nor will it be beneficial in the long run. It is the job of both the students and faculty members to keep in mind and uplift the positive image of African Americans within the school's conduct and sponsored activities.

And why white? The first time HU has decided to reach out to give others a chance, it so conveniently narrows down to a white candidate. It's one thing to be a white candidate for this type of contest at a culturally diverse university, but why at an HBCU? This is the person that is going to be the visual representation of the HBCU Hampton University.

This is a contradictory representation that will also be a confusing one. If I didn't know anything about Hampton University, other than that it was an HBCU, and when visiting the school's website I see a caucasian Miss HU, I would be confused. How can the student body, consisting mainly of African-Americans, relate to someone who does not look like them and probably has not experienced what most African-Americans have?

HBCUs are one of the many things our elders fought for and I know with this crowning they are turning in their graves.

As a student at Norfolk State University, an HBCU, I can honestly say that I disagree with Miss Churchill's appointment. From the blogs I have read, I can see that many HU students aren't happy either. I came to an HBCU to be in an environment that upholds the black community while also being receptive to other ethnicities. Being a resident on campus here at NSU, I am able to see the growing multicultural population and can honestly say that I believe it's wonderful. It, in turn, helps diminish the negative racial stereotypes that NSU has had over the years.

However, on the other side of the spectrum, I believe that no matter how mixed the NSU population will become, African-American achievement should be encouraged and put first above all ethnicities because, as I stated before, that was the mission upon which HBCUs were founded.

I say that to reiterate this: HBCUs are made to uphold black achievement. There is nothing wrong with having a caucasian female, or any other individual of any ethnicity, representing your school. However, there is certain criteria that need to be evaluated before these decisions are made. In this instance, the major criteria up for re-evaluation is the school's history. It is inappropriate for a white female to represent an African American school. If Hampton University wants this person to be the image of their school, then maybe they should reconsider whether they want to be categorized as an HBCU. It's just like when scholarships are open to certain races and not others. It is not racist, it's just the evaluative criteria used to uphold certain ethnic achievement.

This causes one to ponder: What exactly categorizes a university as an HBCU? How do you define an HBCU? Should we do away with the title HBCU totally to eliminate further confusion?

Elizabeth Reed writes for The Spartan Echo, the Norfolk State University student newspaper, which originally published this article. This editorial represent the opinions of the individual writer and do not reflect the views of Black College Wire or EMQ Networks.

Asmar McGlone, a sports management junior at North Carolina Central University, was recently stopped by campus police for his choice of attire.

McGlone, who said he was running late for class and was dressed in pajamas, claimed he was walking down Lawson Street when a campus police officer told him, “You can’t wear pajama pants.”

McGlone said the officer explained the “dress code” to him and sent him on his way.

On Oct. 10th McGlone posted his opinion of the matter on the EOL Eagle’s Nest unleashing a flood of opinions, both pro and con.

Later McGlone decided to write about his experience on the “Eagle Status,” an online campus social networking site. He titled the post, “Unfair clothing issue at NCCU.”
 
“Is it fair that I can’t wear pajama pants but women can wear anything and I do mean anything?” McGlone wrote.

“Things are getting just a little too serious,” said McGlone. “School is home, and I am here more than home.”

The argument over the pajamas touched many nerves of pro-pajama and anti-pajama students.

“People make pre-judgments on the way you look,” said Briana Aguilar, mass communication senior. “This is a place of business. We have people that come on campus that could provide you with so many opportunities.”

“If a student, during the poorest of times in 1944, can come to class with one jacket and one pair of pants and still adhere to the school's dress policy, I am sure in 2009, we as students, can have pride in ourselves and come to class with class and decency,” wrote brobin25.

The dress-code issue is not new. In 2001, Angela Terry, then the vice chancellor for student affairs, issued a list of dress code standards for students. In it she discouraged doo-rags and see-thru mesh shirts.

According to a 2001 Campus Echo story Terry was informed by a University attorney that enforcing a dress code would be a violation of individual freedom and would only be legal at a private institution.

N.C. Central University Police Cpt. A. J. Carter said he had no comment on the situation other than to say, “We do not enforce house rules."

[Related story: Morehouse Dress Code Contains Surprises]

Chris Hess writes for The Campus Echo, the North Carolina Central University student newspaper, which originally published this article. Article courtesy of the Black College Wire.

Since the tragic shooting death of Spelman student Jasmine Lynn on the campus of Clark Atlanta University, many have been wondering what the university is doing to increase student safety.

To many students' delight, James P. Brawley Drive -- the place where Lynn's life was taken -- has been closed. Orange barricades now sit at each entrance of the road. CAU president Dr. Carlton Brown said that the physical barriers are temporary but the plan to officially close the road is permanent.

CAU Panther/CAU Administration

President Carlton Brown with students Jesse Moore, Chasity Evans

Brown informed students that the closing down of these roads is only the beginning of the safety measures that must be introduced to the campus in order to ensure protection.

"We are asking all students, faculty and staff to keep their university ID's with them at all times, to display them visibly on their persons and to allow review by public safety personnel, administrative team members, student affairs staff, and housing personnel," he said.

Brown also said that there has been a collaborative effort within Atlanta University Center to combat this issue.

Thehilltoponline.com

Jasmine Lynn

"We are seeking to more fully integrate our safety systems, communications and alert systems across the AUC."

He also said that the AUC has been working on developing its surrounding community for some time now. "For nearly a year, CAU along with the leadership at Spelman, Morehouse and Morehouse School of Medicine have been in meetings with city officials and others about the development of a plan for the economic, physical and safety development of the AUC community from I-20 to MLK, Northside to Lowery."

Many have been curious of the fate of the land that was once occupied by University Homes, a low-income housing project that sat in the almost center of the AUC. Although Brown could not confirm whether the rumors of it becoming a mixed-income apartment complex or shopping center were true, he did say that the AUC has been in constant contact with the Atlanta Housing Authority to ensure that whatever that is built there will be beneficial to students.

"We have been in a collaborative relationship with the Atlanta Housing Authority to plan the future use of these grounds with the understanding that AUC institutions constitute the economic anchor of the community. We want to develop a community that serves the needs of the university, our college partners and the other residents and businesses in this part of the city," he said.

Brown also said that AUC leadership met with church and police leadership Monday to increase community awareness and involvement.

Although the administration has increased its safety efforts, Brown urged students that they too must do their part.

"Students need to comply with the safety measures that we are pursuing - particularly those relative ID display, non congregation in the streets in the evenings and exercising safer movement outside of our campuses - where the vast majority of all area crimes do occur," he said.

"As college and university students, your value is too great to continue a risk that can be removed."

He also advised students who know something about the incident to come forward. "I believe that some of our students know exactly what happened and who was involved, Brown said.

"Our failure to provide information merely increases the likelihood that further tragedy may occur," he added.

He also recommended that parents and alumni contact the Atlanta Police Department and Atlanta City officials to communicate their support for this matter. He also urged them to share "their thoughts, ideas and resources for support."

"All of us must continue to assert and protect the reality that there is no educational paradigm like the rich set of opportunities provided by the institutions of this Atlanta University Center," Brown said.

Anastasia Semien writes for The Panther, the Clark Atlanta University student newspaper, which originally published this article. Article courtesy of the Black College Wire.