| Black Dot It would appear as if many Hip Hop faithfuls are contributing to the dissemination of counter arguments to my assessment of Hip Hop; an assessment that will continue in January of 2011. These disseminations are important for various reasons. For one, there are some valid points that are being raised. However I have found that most points are not factual or honest. Early on in my lecture series I recall that Hip Hop scholar Black Dot sent me a respectful letter that I have pondered for some time. I have not issued a response to Black Dot concerning that letter as of yet. I was very appreciative of Black Dot's honorable method of expressing his concerns within that letter. Recently, however, I viewed a video by Black Dot wherein he makes erroneous misrepresentations of what I state in my lecture series. One example would be that in my analysis of KR'S One's "The Pussy is Free" I interpreted "Crack" as specifically meaning a butt crack. However, if you listen carefully to my lecture series I merely state that one should consider such an interpretation as a possibility based upon an interpretation given to me by a KR'S One fan who will remain nameless. If you listen carefully to my lecture you will find that nowhere do I state that such a meaning is conclusive. In fact, I clearly tell my audience to decide for themselves. Furthermore, Black Dot suggests that somehow I was not knowledgeable about crack cocaine which is why such an interpretation was presented. In actuality I offered both interpretations within my lecture series which Black Dot conveniently forgot to mention. As a matter of fact, my own father was addicted to crack; the affects of which can still be felt within my extended family. So let us not think for a moment that somehow, because you live in a particular geographical location, that you have a monopoly on lyrical interpretation or human suffering; the monopolization of human suffering being a major program that Hip Hop has been employed to actualize consequently promoting the "perception" of perpetual victimization amongst indigenous people. Another misrepresentation of my lecture series can be seen in Black Dot's assertion that I personally stated that "Hip Hop has not produced any men" and that by stating such I was somehow stating that Black Dot was not a man. This is not logical at all. And I will explain why in a moment. One of the fascinating aspects of these types of misrepresentations is that they are always made without giving a direct source or a direct quote. In truth I have stated that "Hip Hop has never fully addressed the issue of manhood". I have also asked the question "How many men has Hip Hop produced? How many boys has Hip Hop maintained?" The more appropriate question to add here is, "Since when did we move into the realm of fantasy and began to look upon a musical style, or a media-sanctioned culture, as being a respectable means of raising our children?" I must ask this question again, "Since when did we move into the realm of fantasy and began to look upon a musical style, or a media-sanctioned culture, as being a respectable means of raising our children?" I can conclusively state that Black Dot's coming into manhood was not the result of Hip Hop. Black Dot's ascendancy into manhood was the result of his own personal progressions, growth, and development. When we accept the fantasy that Hip Hop is some mythical entity that has the capacity to raise our children, we disqualify ourselves as fully active participants in our children's lives. I am quite sure that Black Dot's children are being honorably raised by Black Dot. I am also quite sure that Black Dot's children have greatly benefited from having a committed father to guide them. Therefore, the question of whether or not Hip Hop has produced any men becomes mute in that ultimately it is the father's responsibility to ascend his sons into manhood. This is the essential message of my lecture series. Another misrepresentation can be observed in Black Dot's statements concerning "The Cold Crush Brothers". In his video he suggests that I responded to him concerning this Hip Hop group stating that I was not interested in looking into that group. Black Dot is aware that I never said such a thing and I am quite disappointed to hear Black Dot speak untruths with such coarse abandonment of ethics. The truth of the matter is that I took Black Dot's advise and looked further into "The Cold Crush Brothers" a group that I was already well aware of. In fact, I found that one of the members of "The Cold Crush Brothers" actually wrote the lyrics to Hammerin' Hanks verse in "Rapper's Delight". More on this later. Point being, if I had expressed to Black Dot that I was not interested in looking further into the group "The Cold Crush Brothers" then how would I discover that Cold Crush Brothers member Grand Master Caz was the true writer of Hammerin' Hanks verse in Rappers Delight?" This discovery was posted months ago on my youtube account. It was because of Black Dot's suggestion that I researched further into The Cold Crush Brothers to which I am grateful to Black Dot for his guidance in the matter. However, I am not grateful for the level of dishonesty exhibited in Black Dot's video. This level of dishonesty is an aspect of 40 years of Hip Hop programming and further proves my general thesis concerning Hip Hop. One of the obvious misrepresentations that was spoken by Black Dot was the notion that just because the term "conscious" rap was not initially associated with Public Enemy or with BDP, that somehow it should not be considered as an analytical definition within my lecture series as it relates to my critical analysis of Public Enemy and BDP. The truth of the matter is that many people "perceive" Public Enemy" and "BDP" to be "conscious" despite the fact that their lyrical content was largely comprised of negative lyrics. Furthermore, Black Dot proves this point when he states that Public Enemy and BDP were not conscious rap groups. I agree. This was my point; a point that was used to illustrate that the convergence of Public Enemy and BDP towards more positive lyrical content was merely a marketing strategy used to tap into the black "conscious" community. There are many more glaring misrepresentations that I could mention here, however, my time is not well spent dealing with scholastically and morally compromised misrepresentations. We must adhere to a standard of honesty, fairness, and respectability to which Black Dot abandoned early on in his video upload. Black Dot's reasonings as to why my wife and I have brought forth 4 children in 7 years is an excellent example of this lack of respectability, maturity, and common decency. As a matter of proper course we must also adhere to a standard of scholarship wherein we provide evidence and proof to any claim. A lack of direct quotes, a lack of evidence, a lack of proof, and glaring misrepresentation does not qualify as scholarship and speaks volumes as to the nature of Hip Hop programming; a programming that is tragically apparent within 40, 45, and 50 year old men. I must mention however that my analysis of Hip Hop was further verified at the conclusion of Black Dot's video when he states, and I quote, "Fuck you Lenon Honor!" It is often the case that when the super heroes of our childhood are criticized we react in emotional ways. In that Black Dot's video was not factual, scholarly, or supported with evidence or proof, Black Dot had no recourse but to extend his middle finger and shout "Fuck you Lenon Honor!", as if by doing so his misrepresenation-based arguments would instantly be deemed valid. One of the fascinating aspects of Hip Hop programing is that those who are afflicted by such programming will expose the degree of their programming subconsciously ie "Fuck you Lenon Honor!" Still I do not perceive Black Dot to be a dishonorable man. In fact, the letter that he sent to me a few months ago was well thought out, compelling, and respectful. However, in his latest video response to my lecture series he leaves much to be desired and in the process proves my point concerning Hip Hop. On a personal note, and as a matter of respect, I honor you Black Dot for raising such well achieved young men. Your sons are models of manhood that will surely provide great inspiration to many. But let us be clear that it was not Hip Hop that raised your sons into men. The truth is that it was you who raised your sons into men and therefore I offer my deepest respects to you in this regard. Stay blessed. |
Lyor Cohen, therefore, became President of Def Jam in 1988 which was a year prior to Professor Griff's expulsion
from Public Enemy. Therefore, Public Enemy, and it's active members were subject to Lyor Cohen.
from Public Enemy. Therefore, Public Enemy, and it's active members were subject to Lyor Cohen.
Lyor Cohen
It has been stated that Lyor Cohen was not the President of Def Jam during the time that Professor Griff was an
active member of Public Enemy. Professor Griff was an active member up until 1989. At the time Lyor Cohen was in
fact President of Def Jam and had been since 1988.
Here is documented proof sourced from Warner Music Group's offical website which clearly illustrates that Lyor
Cohen was in fact President of Def Jam a year prior to Professor Griff's expolsion from Public Enemy.
It has been stated that Lyor Cohen was not the President of Def Jam during the time that Professor Griff was an
active member of Public Enemy. Professor Griff was an active member up until 1989. At the time Lyor Cohen was in
fact President of Def Jam and had been since 1988.
Here is documented proof sourced from Warner Music Group's offical website which clearly illustrates that Lyor
Cohen was in fact President of Def Jam a year prior to Professor Griff's expolsion from Public Enemy.
| Professor Griff It has been proposed that in my lecture series I stated that Professor Griff was homosexual. If one reviews my lecture series in full, including the addendum to Part 3B, you will find that nowhere in my lecture series do I say such a thing. I do provide evidence and proof that conclusively illustrates that Professor Griff was placed in an extremely compromised position as seen on the "Black Draft" album cover. In the addendum I write, "For Professor Griff to bend over naked in front of another naked male proves that he was controlled, compromised, and compliant to the ruling elite’s effeminization agenda. Understand that any male who is willing to take off his clothes and bend over in front of another naked male for an album cover is "either" homosexual, compromised, or both." The first quoted sentence is a statement of facts. The second sentence merely proposes possible reasonings as to why Professor Griff would agree to take such a compromised photograph for an album cover. In the end the reader is left to decide which of the possible reasonings apply to Professor Griff. Of course the reader may decide that neither possibility applies. |
| Public Enemy It has been proposed that in my lecture series I stated that Public Enemy was a group that was working for the government. If one reviews my lecture series you will find that nowhere in my lecture series do I say such a thing. I do provide evidence and proof that conclusively illustrates that Public Enemy was contractually owned and was subject to the control of corporate interests. As I illustrate in my lecture series Public Enemy was signed to Def Jam and was used to tap into new demographics for financial gain, social engineering purposes, and to give black people a false sense of empowerment ie Fight the Power. |
| Hip Hop, the Hidden Hand, and the Degradation of Black Masculinity" Points of Clarification |
I received the following email from a viewer of my lecture series.
"In part 46c (on youtube), u stated that KRS One was 21 and Roxanne Shante was 13 ... that's NOT TRUE sir. she
was born in 1969 and KRS One was born in 1965. In fact he was 22 when the album came out and she was 18."
My response:
If we were to look into when the songs in question were recorded we will be empowered to develop a much more
historically accurate perspective. In the Hip Hop Documentary "Beef II" it is stated that Roxanne Shantee was 13
years old when her song Roxanne's revenge was recorded (both KRS One and Roxanne Shantee appear in the
video). It is quite possible that Roxanne Shantee was actually 14 when the song was recorded.
In this case, let us accept that she was 14.
Here is the time line:
August 20, 1965 KRS One is Born
November 9, 1969 Roxanne Shantee is Born
1984 Roxanne's Revenge is recorded - Roxanne Shantee would be 14 and KRS One would be 18
1985 Roxanne's Revenge is released - Roxanne Shantee would be 15 and KRS One would be 19
1987 "The Bridge is Over" was recorded and released in 1987 - KRS ONE would have been 21. Roxanne Shantee
would have been 17).
Let us think critically here. If someone records a song at the age 14 and you hear the song when the person is 15
does that excuse the fact that the person was only 14 when the song was recorded? Absolutely not.
The fact remains that KRS One's track "The Bridge is Over" was in response to a song that was recorded by a 14
year old girl. In fact, many artist participated in this form of black on black violence/self-hate which happened to be
another demographic which the music industry was successful at tapping into. Many of the males who participated in
this form of self-hate were much older than Roxanne Shantee.
The critical question would be, "What was the mentality of the male rappers who participated in such self destructive
endeavors?" "Where they men?" "Or were they merely boys who were promoted on the world stage by the ruling
elite so as to continue to degrade the cultural, social, moral, ethical, political, economic, and spiritual condition of
those who listened to and idolized such boys?"
Whether Shantee was 13, 14, 15, or 16 is irrelevant in that KRS One was 21 when he recorded the track the "The
Bridge is Over" wherein he states "Roxanne Shantee is only good for steady fucking." Keep in mind that Roxanne
Shantee was only 14 when she recorded the track Roxann'es revenge.
For a 21 year old male to state, "Roxanne Shantee is only good for steady fucking" is an unacceptable model for
black masculinity and manhood. Furthermore, we find that in 1992 KRS ONE recorded the track "13 and Good"
wherein he raps about how he enjoyed having sex with a 13 year old girl (at the time KRS ONE was 26 years old).
So let us be clear to outline when songs were recorded. Furthermore, let us keep in mind the importance of the age
of any given artist at the time of any given recording. As a man, a husband, and a father I totally reject the notion
that it is acceptable for any grown male to speak of a young girl in such a manner. The acceptance of such a
degraded ethical and moral compass is reflective of the new world culture that is Hip Hop. Our women and our
daughters deserve better than this. As men, we must ensure that better is produced.
"In part 46c (on youtube), u stated that KRS One was 21 and Roxanne Shante was 13 ... that's NOT TRUE sir. she
was born in 1969 and KRS One was born in 1965. In fact he was 22 when the album came out and she was 18."
My response:
If we were to look into when the songs in question were recorded we will be empowered to develop a much more
historically accurate perspective. In the Hip Hop Documentary "Beef II" it is stated that Roxanne Shantee was 13
years old when her song Roxanne's revenge was recorded (both KRS One and Roxanne Shantee appear in the
video). It is quite possible that Roxanne Shantee was actually 14 when the song was recorded.
In this case, let us accept that she was 14.
Here is the time line:
August 20, 1965 KRS One is Born
November 9, 1969 Roxanne Shantee is Born
1984 Roxanne's Revenge is recorded - Roxanne Shantee would be 14 and KRS One would be 18
1985 Roxanne's Revenge is released - Roxanne Shantee would be 15 and KRS One would be 19
1987 "The Bridge is Over" was recorded and released in 1987 - KRS ONE would have been 21. Roxanne Shantee
would have been 17).
Let us think critically here. If someone records a song at the age 14 and you hear the song when the person is 15
does that excuse the fact that the person was only 14 when the song was recorded? Absolutely not.
The fact remains that KRS One's track "The Bridge is Over" was in response to a song that was recorded by a 14
year old girl. In fact, many artist participated in this form of black on black violence/self-hate which happened to be
another demographic which the music industry was successful at tapping into. Many of the males who participated in
this form of self-hate were much older than Roxanne Shantee.
The critical question would be, "What was the mentality of the male rappers who participated in such self destructive
endeavors?" "Where they men?" "Or were they merely boys who were promoted on the world stage by the ruling
elite so as to continue to degrade the cultural, social, moral, ethical, political, economic, and spiritual condition of
those who listened to and idolized such boys?"
Whether Shantee was 13, 14, 15, or 16 is irrelevant in that KRS One was 21 when he recorded the track the "The
Bridge is Over" wherein he states "Roxanne Shantee is only good for steady fucking." Keep in mind that Roxanne
Shantee was only 14 when she recorded the track Roxann'es revenge.
For a 21 year old male to state, "Roxanne Shantee is only good for steady fucking" is an unacceptable model for
black masculinity and manhood. Furthermore, we find that in 1992 KRS ONE recorded the track "13 and Good"
wherein he raps about how he enjoyed having sex with a 13 year old girl (at the time KRS ONE was 26 years old).
So let us be clear to outline when songs were recorded. Furthermore, let us keep in mind the importance of the age
of any given artist at the time of any given recording. As a man, a husband, and a father I totally reject the notion
that it is acceptable for any grown male to speak of a young girl in such a manner. The acceptance of such a
degraded ethical and moral compass is reflective of the new world culture that is Hip Hop. Our women and our
daughters deserve better than this. As men, we must ensure that better is produced.
| Lyrical Content Calculations One of the questions that was raised on my youtube page was "How did I calculate the positive lyrical content within the discographies in question?" Here is my statistical procedure 1. Define the parameters of what positive lyrical content would be 2. Define the parameters of what negative lyrical content would be In my analysis I classified positive lyrical content to be: Lyrical content expressing uplifting thoughts and ideas that benefit the listener. Example: "You back the track. You find we're the quotable. You emulate Brothers, sisters that's beautiful. Follow a path of positivity you go. Some sing it or rap it or harmonize it through Go-Go" In my analysis I classified negative lyrical content to be: Lyrical content expressing degrading thoughts and ideas that do not benefit the listener in any quantifiable way ie "Roxanne Shantee is only good for steady Fucking". Note: Any lyrical content that fit neither category I mercifully grouped within the class of positive lyrical content. Calculating percentages: Song vs. Lyrical Verses One of the important decisions that I had to make early on in my analysis was whether or not I would analyze and calculate percentages based upon songs/tracks or based upon lyrical verses. After considering this for some time I decided to compile percentages based upon lyrical verses. This was absolutely necessary in that there were some tracks on particular albums that were instrumentals and had no lyrical content whatsoever. Therefore, to consider such songs would skew my final percentiles in the direction of positive lyrical content. Obviously a song without any lyrical content should not be considered positive or negative. In the end I decided to compile percentages based upon lyrical verses instead of songs; this approach being more accurate mathematically speaking. Consequently, I began the process of reviewing the verses of each song. When I say verse I am not referring to a 16 measure sequence. Rather I a referring to a particular lyrical line. For instance: Verse 1: "You back the track. You find we're the quotable. You emulate Brothers, sisters that's beautiful." Verse 2: "I finally figured it out. Magic mouth is used for suckin. Roxane Shantee is only good for steady fucking." In verse one we have positive lyrical content. In verse two we have negative lyrical content. Therefore, this sample track would be 50 % positive and 50% negative. These analytical parameters being defined, I went about the process of going through each track and marking down the percentage of the lyrical verses that were positive and negative respectively. Once this was done I calculated the amount of verses in each song. It was while calculating the amount of verses in each song that I realized that my approach was flawed in that there were songs that had more lyrical verses than others and would therefore need to be weighted more heavily in my calculations. I therefore abandoned this approach. After abandoning the above mentioned approach I decided upon a more statistically accurate calculation method which would affectively deal with the fact that some songs had more lyrical content than others. As I stated before my initial calculation method was flawed in that it did not take into consideration the crucial factor described above. Therefore, in order to maintain mathematical accuracy I simply added up the number of verses for the whole album and calculated what percentage of those verses were positive. In doing so, I was able to calculate a final percentile for each album that was based upon the complete lyrical content present in each album. Please note: My calculations for the positive lyrical content per track will not directly correlate to my final percentiles per album. This is due to the crucial factor mentioned above which is important to keep in mind throughout the lecture series. As I state in my lecture series I encourage each one of you to go back and listen to the albums in question and do your own analysis. In so doing you will be able to discover for yourself whether or not Hip Hop music has promoted a respectable level of positivity on planet earth. In my calculations, even amongst the "perceived" conscious Hip hop groups high levels of positivity is simply not the norm or the mean. |