N**** Wanna Bring The 80's Back, It's Okay With Me, That's Where They Made Me At...

1987s: A year where Hip-Hop was blessed with debut LP's such as Eric B. & Rakim's 'Paid In Full', Public Enemy's 'Yo, Bum Rush The Show' & Boogie Down Production's 'Criminal Minded'. Prince dropped the classic double album 'Sign 'O The Times'. Soul was out, funk & disco were in. Eddie Murphy destroyed the stage with 'Raw', a template of masterpiece stand-up comedy. Women started to ask their men, ''What have you done for me lately'' thanks to a certain Ms. Janet Jackson. The DeBarge brothers helped to get light-skinned brothas in style. Dookie ropes, Knightrider, Madonna, bright fuckin' colours, new wave, beeper, crack & oh yeah...

The kid was born, 17th March 1987. *does The Wop*

But yeah, the 80's was fuckin' great. At least, I think it was great.

Shiieeeeetttt, who am I kidding? I'm barely 21 years old, I can JUST about remember what life was like in 1992. Hol' on a sec, lemme just reminisce on that HORRIBLE Gumby 'Bobby Brown' hair-do I used to rock in year 1 with my Sonic The Hedgehog t-shirt & shorts combo'


Friggin' ell, what was my mother thinking when she took me to the barber's...

But I digress (shout out to Tariq Nasheed), this isn't about my infant fashion sense. but more about culture. Or better yet, the way in Deuce Double 0 Eight, we've basically recycled 80's culture in terms of music, fashion and shiieettt, even cocaine is finding it's way back into our hearts. I mean, coke was never really OUT but it's definitely had a bit of a resurgence in the pop culture sense. Just look at the way Hip-Hop has been moving in the underground sense. Acts like The Cool Kids, Kid Sister are gaining heat. New tracks from major R'n'B acts Ne-Yo & Beyonce would have you think they'd be chilling in famed 1980's New York club Studio 54 for the past 6 months. Janet Jackson was obviously taking a trip down memory lane with 'Control' when she was cutting her new record. We got crews like The Retro Kids who literally do nothing. I know that sounds cold, lol, but it ain't even like they dance, sing, rap, do reality shows or ANYTHING. They're just famous for dressing like a bunch of mini-Run DMC's & MC Lyte's.



Not to mention the musical direction Timbaland (modern day Nile Rodgers, say suhen!), Justin Timberlake & Rihanna have taken. Shit, even Chris Brown has decided to re-package his sophomore album 'Exclusive', and the single he's about to drop 'Forever' has a more European, house-driven appeal. He's readily admitted he wants to be crowned the 'Prince Of Pop'.

Argghhhh, this is pissing me orf.

I mean, don't get me wrong. I don't mind it too tough, in the cultural sense. I mean, I like the way The Retro Kids have gone about it, in a sense. It's kinda cool to revisit a phenomenon that you were a part of in a sense, but never got to experience. Nah, 'revisit' is the wrong word. They weren't there in the 1st place, really so it's a fresh experience.

But me PERSONALLY. I'm just waiting for the New Jack Era to come back. I wanna go to parties dressed like Nino Brown and shit. We'll have songs that sounds like 'Poison' by Bell Biv Devoe & 'Groove Me' by Guy. Producers will have jacked Teddy Riley's style. Rappers will be BROKE (hopefully), be PROUD of being broke & rap as if they were broke. R'n'B will be smooth again. R'n'B will be the kind of R'n'B that a man can feel no way of bumping LOUD from his whip without fear of looking soft. I mean, c'mon. What R'n'B music in this day & age, could a man having blaring out LOUD without being afraid of people thinking he rocks open-toed cowboy boots? That wasn't the case in the 90's. We had Guy, Blackstreet, Jodeci, Montell Jordan, Joe, H-Town, 112, Dru Hill, Silk and I KNOW I'm forgetting some others. Fuckin' ell, I'm feeling rather nostalgic right now. Man, I watched New Jack City when I was like 7 years old! Lol. Argh, there's no point me starting because this will go from a blog post, to a frikkin' novel let's just stay there. Actually, lemme just post this video. Lol.





*Has flashbacks*


Now what, I can't keep writing. Imma play FreeCell, and bump nothing but 90's classics until next time...


Peace & Chicken Grease.

LeBron James: Vogue Magazine's Mandingo Of The Year...

On the real? WHAT THE MUCK!

I mean surely, when they were going over the shots, they didn't see anything that was a lil' off with this cover? I mean, even myself included, I had to kinda let this register for a hot minute before I said [Dave Chappelle]''Goddamn, that was raci-that was racist!''[Dave Chappelle]

Some may say people are making a fuss for nada but c'mon buddy, c'mon buddy! These aren't just people who just pick a camera, start saying shit like ''Work it for me baby, you're a blindin' star!'' These are professional photographers who have been taught about the power of imagery and the type of connotations it comes with.


Now, we could be doing more reaching than Yao Ming's mother tryna spank him when he accidentally walked into the living room chandelier (again!), but it's Deuce Double O Eight already. What makes it even worse, is that there were more tasteful pictures that could've been used. Now, I think this whole issue 1st came up at the beginning of the week so I'm not gonna focus on THIS too much however, I'd like to use it as a platform to discuss something of even more concern & that would be mainstream society's continued mis-representation of young Black men.


I feel a certain unease whenever I'm speaking to women outside of other races and that's not even when I'm tryna holla at them. Even when I'm tryna get directions, making simple enquiries and shit like that, there's just this vibe that goes on that I ain't too happy about. It's as if some may think I'm only there to blow their back (or lack of, iJoke iJoke, iKid, iKid) out. And it's not even just the whole sexual predator thing. I mean, not taking anything away from King James, but I think he's only the 2nd or 3rd African-American man who's appeared on the cover but I ask the editor, did it HAVE to be an athlete?


Mehhh, I've been a lil' lethargic whilst typing this particular post and in the short space between me writing that last paragraph, and me going to the kitchen to make me a lil' suhen to eat, I've realised maybe I shouldn't give it too mind. I mean, what would you say Vogue's core target audience is? White women & gay men. Hmmm, well I don't care much for what gay dudes think of me but I have been tryna holla at Beth for a hot minute now...



Oh shit, I type that out loud? Looool...

Lil' Wayne, The Rex, Eager Eastern European Security & Groupies Who Are Only Good For Sex...

I can't pinpoint when it was exactly, that I watched it for the 1st time, but Chris Rock's stand-up comedy special 'Bigger & Blacker' came to mind at approximately 11.30pm, Sunday 16th March Deuce Double 0 Eight...

The sketch that came to mind was his commentary on an issue that's been ongoing within the Black community for decades, 'Black People vs. Niggaz'...

All I can say is, boy....

I mean, it's not like I haven't been to these kinda events before. When I heard that Weezy and the Cash Money dudes were coming over, I knew from jump, that these were the type of people that would reach his show. Fans of his music, chicks who appreciate him more for his tattoos than his complex lyricism (iJoke, iJoke, iKid, iKid), hipsters and alas, goon-squads who seem to suffer from this inferiority complex whenever rappers from the States decide to come over here in the UK. However, this was indeed Lil' Wayne's 1st visit, I had seen enough YouTube clips of his shows to know he was a good performer and the fact that in London, we had the hottest (no homo) rapper alive doing a show, was enough to convince me that ''Yeah, I NEED to be in Stratford for this shit''.

And when the show actually started, the shit was live. Dude opened with Party Like A Rockstar, done his 1st verse for Money On My Mind and was about to go into his verse for the remix version of Duffle Bag Boy but then!? That's right, niggaz couldn't act right. I was on the far left side of the venue where these wench speakers were blocking the view of the left side of the stage, but from what I can gather, a few gentlemen (and I use the term loosely) decided to invade the stage to intimidate the New Orleans rapper or jack his shit or whatever. His 400-pound bodyguard put a swift end to that matter. Lil' Wayne then proceeded to showcase his 'gangsta' by removing his chains, then courageously proclaiming 'I want dat nigga'z head on the stage before I leave'. This resulted in the crowd getting even more hype than they were already but THEN! Friggin' ell, THEN! This dude in the crowd thought to himself...

''Yeah, imma feel good about myself when I go to bed tonight, knowing I was the exceptional individual who threw a plastic tube at Lil' Wayne, knowing he wouldn't spot me in the crowd''

All that I can say to this dude, his fam, pat yourself on the back innit. Because then, Weezy (and I don't blame him) said fuck this, and walked off stage. Now, at this point, my road instincts kicked in and me & bredrin had a feeling, shit was about pop off and so did about another 200-400 people who decided to make a swift exit. We got outside and it was only then we got news he came back and did another 3 songs I think before shit got locked off properly.

Lemme exhale for a minute...

''Wooooossaaaahhhhh''

Now, it didn't matter that I forked out £25 that right now, I can't really afford. It didn't matter that when I got searched by security, they had this one dude who looked like he came straight outta Moscow (Crazy mother fucker named Mosoltov, from the group called...) that was fondling man's ballbags for any 'concealed weapons', it didn't matter that whomever set up this show *cough cough Play Ent cough* didn't bother even doing a soundcheck or anything, it didn't matter that there were almost 30 people on the stage consisting of entourage members, security, groupies aka aspiring models/actresses/receptionists. All that mattered was I came to at least see dude perform a few of my favourite songs and just witness this event in itself because it is a 1st.

But then it occurred to me on my way home. What happened last night, is kinda like what happens when grime MC's, footballers, rappers get a whole lot of money, when they come from poor backgrounds. They don't know what the fuck to do with it. They don't value or appreciate it. And that's what happened yesterday. In addition to that, we have within our young inner city community, what I've noticed to be an almost Napoleonan (sp.) attitude with the Yanks but the thing is, I knew this before I even set foot inside of the venue. I knew this shit was gonna happen. From the friggin' Genesis, I knew yet. Yet, I still went. So, the question is, am I any smarter than the 2 gentlemen who invaded the stage and threw shit at Lil' Wayne. It's debatable.

But know this. There's 1 lyric on the song 'Weezy Baby feat. Nikki (The Carter II) that goes...

''Who are ya, where are ya, I can't see ya, you're air to me''

Boy, at the time he wrote it, I know it was meant for rival rappers but now I'd say it was quite applicable to way he sees London or the poor representation we gave to him yesterday...