So this correlates with my facebook note about Life After Death. So you might want to read that first (unless we aren’t friends on facebook, in which case, sorry for ya).

At any rate, Between “Hypnotize” and “Kick In The Door” there is the skit to end all skits. Whatever happened to album skits anyway? Part of why I love De La Soul so much is because of their great skits on their albums. Same thing with Redman. The skits broke the monotony of the gangsta posing or in De La’s case, the deep, sometimes mind numbing lyrics.

But I digress, back to the Mad Rapper skit. When I first heard this skit, I IMMEDIATELY rewound it. Three things struck me about it.

First was the calmness of the host “Trevon Jones”. He kept the same tone of voice even while the Madd Rapper is cussing and ranting and raving, “Mr. Rapper please, this is a family show!” That STILL gets me to this day.

Secondly, Shea from New Rochelle sounded EXACTLY like the typical talk show guest of the day, and that’s a phenomenon of the 90’s that you just had to have experienced to understand. She sounds like any chick in the Ricki Lake or Tempestt audience.

Last but not least, the Madd Rapper was HILARIOUS!!!! He typified the angry underground type of rappers who emerged from the ashes of hip hop after the deaths of Pac and Biggie. I could argue that 50 Cent and Ja Rule are the real life examples of the Madd Rapper.

The skit spawned several sequels each was just as funny to me. Actually, the second one with the Madd Producer (from Ma$e’s Harlem World album) was probably the funniest to me. “You gave em my shit? You gave em send em to the fucking projects???”

Anyway, I adopted one of the personas from this skit as one of my aliases that I still use TO THIS DAY. It has served me pretty well honestly (I don’t engage in any illegal activities under the name Mr. Law Enforcement person, be easy).

Thank you Deric D-Dot Angelettie for that moment of brilliance!

Man, I used to have such an easy time writing here. Time was, I could open up my (movable type at one time) wordpress “create new post” page and bang an entry out like clockwork. Then something happened. It’s like my creative juices dried up. I had the WORST case of writers block and then it just went on and on. And now. Well posting twice a week is a chore.

It’s not like I don’t still have a knack for storytelling because well, I tell stories on facebook, and make lists and all that jazz, but it never seems to translate here.

I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what my “niche” is anymore. Is it that angst ridden, can’t get a girl guy? Because if it is, that’s still me. But I don’t think that’s what it is.

I used to talk about “important” things here, I don’t do that anymore. I think blogging outgrew me. I was here when it was like me and OJ and Kelly and a few others. And now….like you have to be about something. I’m a Seinfeld in a Curb Your Enthusiasm world….

Dear Hip Hop,

I’m sorry for those terrible things I said about you in my facebook note about my twelve favorite songs. I’ve spent the day making amends by listening to De La Soul’s “Buhloone Mind State” and “Art Official Intelligence: Mosiac Thump”, The Jungle Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest’s debut, and MC Lyte’s “Act Like You Know”.

I love you hip hop. You raised me from a young pup and here I am acting like I don’t know you because of the sins of the few (Kanye, Lil Wayne, and Jeezy). Nas tried to warn me, but like most “preachers” I tuned him out. I was too used to his routine.

There may be hope yet for you hip hop, and even if there isn’t….I’ll always love you for what we once had….back in the days of the Native Tongues and the original voices!

Always,
The Killa

There is nothing like waking up bright eyed and sober/hangover free on a Sunday morning. To tell the truth more Sundays than not, I usually haven’t had a drop the night before, but you know reputations are a hard thing to shake.

I got an instant message from a classmate yesterday and she was casually mentioned my drinking in an “I’m not trying to be judgemental but I can’t help it” kind of way. It just so happened that the last beer I had was while playing poker on Monday and I definitely wasn’t even close to tipsy from it. Anyway I was slightly offended (annoyed) by the implications that I’d just be drinking beer at 10 AM on a Saturday. Then again I’ve done it before (cutting down).

I started to think about it, I have had a few errr….regretful moments from drinking that aren’t worth mentioning on this blog (guilt). Then again, I haven’t broken the law….and been arrested for it.

Do I have a drinking problem? I don’t think so. Based on today’s society though, it seems it’s not for me to decide. If you catch me at a party double fisting with a jack on the rocks in one hand and a beer in the other, you decide to cut me the eye and say something sideways about it.

Just keep in mind, most Sunday mornings I’m not coming down from anything at all….

Check out this clip of Megan Fox….

Now I’m not saying she’s the most incredible woman on the planet, but she looks damn good, that’s indisputable. Why doesn’t she see that though?

What is it about chicks where they can’t see what “we” see?

I’m one of those “honest to a fault” people and as such I rarely dole out compliments, it’s kind of against my nature, so when I do they “mean more” I guess to me anyway. I think I’m going to start being more complimentary though, because it seems like that’s the only way some people will know just how dope they are.

I know so many dope chicks that just don’t know how great they are. I’m not here to hate on other guys because hey, they do what they have to do….but I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that in some instances…..well…chicks sell themselves short….there…if that’s hating then I guess I’m a hater.

At any rate….I just had to get that out….

So I just blindly randomized my iTunes playlist…as always I’m using my Five Star playlist which currently consists of 1022 songs (yeah I gave up on trying to keep it under 1000)….as always I’m going to offer whatever commentary I have while the song is playing….hopefully some of those hidden gems will pop up and not the same ole same ole songs I’ve written about before….we’ll see….

Here we go….up first is….

Patrice Rushen - You Remind Me

I remember once I asked my boy Adrian who is a DJ and a huge music head, a bigger music head than me even, what his favorite song was. After a little thought, he said it was this. I couldn’t find any fault with it. It actually made me respect his music gangsta that much more. Patrice Rushen has one of those voices that I love. She sounds so sweet and innocent, but her voice packs a punch. She did much of her own production and such. She actually did most of the music for The Steve Harvey Show. Hip hop artists have sampled the shit outta her stuff….but most people will probably remember this particular song in one of two ways…either from the fast version of MoKenStef’s “He’s Mine” (the one with Grand Puba)….or Common’s “Reminding Me (of Sef)”. It’s real smooth though, I enjoy it….

Surface - Shower Me With You Love

I was a precocious little dude, because I KNOW this song had to have come out in the late 80’s before I was really into chicks like that, but I can recall LOVING this song and maybe singing it to some girl who had no idea what I was talking about. I remember being fascinated by the peculiar way the singer pronounced certain words like at the end of the second verse when he’s like “…could happen to you”. I think my cousin also used this song as a basis to jone on me for a crush I had on some chick at the time. He was good for that, always wanting to know who my latest crush was and what not. This song reminds me of those times. I wonder what happened to these dudes….

Method Man ft. Mary J. Blige - All I Need (To Get By) razor sharp remix

This video used to scare me. Meth with the whole blanked out eyes and all. I never knew exactly where they were going with the video. The song though….it’s one of the best hip hop love songs ever. It’s how a nigga feels about his chick “…you my nigga”….damn right! Rza absolutely KILLED the production on this joint as well. I almost wish this was the album version. Also it’s worth mentioning that at the time I wasn’t a big MJB fan, but this song went a LONG way toward changing that….this and My Life. Still I can’t shake Meth’s head slowly creeping onto the camera’s horizon with those eyes man! *shudder*.

New Birth - Wildflower

Man what a classic soul song. The way those drums and horns come blazing in. “Let the rain fall down upon her, she’s a free and gentle flower growing wild.” The horns come back in with a blaze of glory about a third of a way through the song too! New Birth actually had some good stuff! Dream Merchant is also one of my favorites even though it is pretty much the same song as Wildflower minus the spoken part. Speaking of the spoken part, it might be the third coldest spoken joint in a quiet storm song behind Lenny Williams’ “Because I Love You” and Oran Juice Jones “In the Rain”. Brothas in the late 70’s and early 80’s knew how to lay that rap down!! And well, we all know how the Killa feels about crescendos and MAN does this song ever have a killer crescendo!!!

Beyonce - Flaws and All

Man what can I say…I’m not the biggest Bianca fan on the planet, but I LOVE this song. I really do. Because it speaks to how I feel about what true love is. “I don’t know why you love me….and that’s why I love you…catch me when I fall…accept me flaws and all….and that’s why I love you….” I love how sparse the arrangement is at the beginning as well. I know like most of Yonce’s songs it’s pretty simple lyrically, and bordering on elementary, but in this case she says a whole lot in what little she says. A minimalist approach is best in this case! Things almost fall apart at the end when it becomes very “roni size”/”tricky” and tries to do too much with all the drum and bass and trip-hop madness, but it’s not enough to take the song down from Five Star status for me….

Alicia Myers - If You Play Your Cards Right

Yet another quiet storm staple. What can I say, I’m a child of the quiet storm. I love that genre of music and I always will, no matter how much heavy metal I listen to. Honestly though, as my Five Star songs go, this one is “on the bubble”. I may end up cutting it pretty soon. It’s kind of generic to tell the truth. Alicia Myers was in One Way or one of those other groups from the 70’s/80’s if I recall correctly. I don’t have much to say about this song tonight….hell I might downgrade it when I’m done with this list…..

Anita Baker - Whatever It Takes

See Dara, I really did love this song! As you may recall from one of my more recent “list” notes, I just recently re-discovered this song. It was one of those songs I hadn’t heard in a while, but as SOON as I heard it I knew it was one I liked and needed to add to the collection. I can’t express how much I love Anita Baker’s music. I was playing some Anita earlier tonight and was told to turn it off! I was a little pissed! There will never be another Anita, no one with the class and voice. So what if she can’t dance (and if you don’t believe she can’t dance go back and look on of her earlier videoes….LOL). Hell I can’t dance either. When she goes on her runs, I really do believe the only singers who would mess with her are pre-crack Whitney and Chaka Khan. That’s it. Somebody tell me someone else who is fucking with Anita on a run besides the two I just mentioned. Don’t mention Mariah or Aretha Franklin either….you MIGHT be able to get away with Rachelle Farrell…that’s it!

Luther Vandross - Love Won’t Let Me Wait

What a nice long song to end on. I think eight is enough, don’t you? Anyway, good ole Luther….what can I say about him. He changed the game for crooners. I mean like Michael Jackson had his Lionel Richie, Luther had his Freddie Jackson, but there was only one Luther. When Luther came on the quiet storm you knew some things with certainty. Some old mack was getting some ass right THEN because of that song….some chick out there had probably requested it….you were going to be thinking about love in some form or fashion. That’s what Luther did, even for a little 8-12 year old dude like me. I remember one time we were eating at the old Pizza Hut on Campbellton Rd. and they had a jukebox and some fool played a Luther song….the whole place got quiet and Pizza Hut went from PG to Rated R…I swear they dimmed the lights even more (and you know those old school Pizza Huts used to already have the lights low as a muthafucka). Another thing about Luther is that when he covered a song (and he covered his fair share) he OWNED it…I mean it! Even when he covered Stevie (Creepin) it became HIS song. You could look up the Major Harris version of this song, but I promise you aren’t missing anything, because THIS is the definitive version!

And I think that’s enough, though I’m tempted to write about this Rachell Farrell song (With Open Arms)….I got promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep….so I’m out!

I’m actually not sure what version of Random Unimportant Thoughts this is….but you know I needed a title that probably wasn’t taken….I used to care enough to do a cursory search, but I don’t anymore.

I was reading through some past entries….I’m not as careful or slick as I think I am….d’ah well….by now people know who they are….no need for pretense…..

I can’t listen to “Inside My Love” just now…I really can’t….but I can’t make myself change it….man I love this song….this is one song I regret not having on my facebook list….okay I changed it…Rolling Stones “Sympathy For The Devil”….a fitting song as I’m trying to garner some sympathy for the devil in my life….

I’m telling you man my life past 2001 has been hellish! I wonder how much worse it can get….let me not tempt the fates!

This is going to end badly…..

My favorite of the Star Wars movies was The Empire Strikes Back. It taught me a tough lesson as a young pup, that the good guys don’t always win in the end. Sometimes the bad guys are diaboloical enough and have plans tough enough to win.

I know today was a happy day for most of Black America, and eventually I’ll be happy too, but not right now. Right now I’m about as sad as I’ve been in awhile. The bad guy won today…..

I’ve been fighting back tears since roughly around 2:30 this afternoon. I want to just say “fuck it” and let them flow.

People say God does everything for a reason….that karma is a bitch…any form of religious reasoning for the fucked up shit that happens in life…..explain what happened today!?!!?

I’m trying to pray but right now I’m so full of anger….I can’t get it out…

I don’t want your self-righteous judgement right now, judgement is what got us in this situation in the first place….I want justice….I want “the right thing”….

Today would be Aaliyah’s 30th birthday. She died the weekend before my paternal grandmother died. Usually I’d remember what I was doing at a moment such as finding out about this, but honestly I don’t. I remember not believing it whenever I heard it and being pretty heartbroken when I saw it on MTV.

I remember when she first came out with “Back and Forth” and my lunch crew, which at the time consisted of John M., Nicole T., and Nature W., and I were debating her merits. It was love at first sight for me. I was starting 10th grade when she started to become popular and thus I pretty much vacilated between her, Tatayna Ali, and Brandy as my celeb crushes.

I remember how disappointed I was when I found out that she had gotten married to R. Kelly (crushing my dreams of wooing her and taking her to my prom to the envy of all the dudes in my class). Then I recall being elated that she had gotten that marriage anulled.

I remember when she released One In A Million. Four Page Letter was the song I remember most from my Beautillion and the prom. The next summer and the following school year I wrote (and recieved) a few four page letters of my own. Hell a few of them were to/from the aforementioned chick in that hateful letter I published. She was always really jealous of my crush on Aaliyah (ha!).

College came as did the various soundtracks that she appeared on and I heard whisper that she was considering getting into acting. I was pretty cynical about it all, but hey, I’d check her out. I endured Romeo Must Die and Queen of the Damned for her.

Her self titled third album came out and I realized that we were both grown. Rock The Boat signalled it to the general public, but my jam from the album was Never No More…..and as we were both growing and maturing….it happened.

Her death was the first one that really showed me my own vulnerability and mortality. I didn’t see it coming AT all….with Biggie and Pac you kinda had that whole feeling that they were living on the edge, but with Babygirl??? She was just getting started.

I often wonder what her place would be in the current music and movie scene. Would she have fallen off? What would she have been like in The Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions? I’ll never know….

Babygirl you are still missed….always….

It started innocently enough. The homie Wendell hits me up with an offer to go to Baja Burrito. Seeing as I hadn’t been in a few months I was down.

We get there and I’m chopping it up with him. Hadn’t seen him since his birthday so we had alot to talk about. In the process I told him about this situation I was dealing with. He gave me some good and practical but HARSH advise on the situation.

See, I can’t just do what he advised though. I’m too….I don’t know what the word is for it….I guess I’m a bit of a pussy….I would cave to confrontation….

I mean he was so right in some of the things he was saying that I’d be a fool to continue on the current course of action….but here I am….everybody plays the fool I guess…..

Sorry homie….the burrito was good though!