transcending your race
You're a mega superstar
congratulations

This Tuesday's Snippet...
Excerpt from
She: The Corporate Honey

So she started believin’ it’s not about you but what you have
So now this Selena was in search of Bruce Wayne without the masks and psychological bags
Or at least a Harvey Dent to chip in a few cents to pay the rent
Kept winding up with Two Faces
Wondering why she could never be in a good man’s good graces

Put on your thinking caps and get back to me to let me know what you think. If someone gets it before next Tueday, I'll announce it promptly.

It's that time! Okay, first, here's the poem from last Tuesday:
Diamonds for Pearls
Tanka no. 2

Young girl with old man
Thick like old coconut milk
He gave her his truth
All she wants is diamonds
He has only given pearls

Now, only two souls were brave enough to give their input, and both were close, In fact, Katina would have been dead on if she pushed her answer a bit further. Either way, love and shout- outs to Katina and Joi for participating. Now for the breakdown.
This Tanka does in fact address a relationship between a man who is significantly older than his female counterpart. Her main motivation is financial betterment, which she hopes to get in return for sex. All she gets is "pearls"; the pearls being a man's seed. Hence the coconut metaphor. Now we can get into why one would refer to..."it" as pearls, but first ya gotta be grown and you have to catch me in person on that one. Although, I have heard "it" referred to as pearls before. So, the pearls did not represent wisdom, although it could in a sense that if she is wise enough to learn from this particular situation, she would indeed gain pearls of wisdom. I guess the moral is be honest and forthright with your intentions; in your attempts to play someone, you yourself may be the one who ends up being played.
Aight, stay tuned for today's installment...

Friday was a trip to CDepot with Lynn, Aneesah (the wonderful), and her young weekend charge Karimah.
We kicked it Lynn’s for a bit while I acted silly tryin’ to get Karimah to talk. She loosened up a bit by the time we left. The plan was to hit Cdepot up and then roll to the underground release party to show love. My main goal was to show Tru Life support because the last time I saw the brother, he asked me where my book was before he even said hello. Mind you, I hadn’t seen him in month’s. That’s real…and…that’s love. Had to reciprocate. After my stall tactic of behaving like an idiot played out, (had to make sure my tummy was okay) we headed out to CDepot.
I hadn’t really planned on coppin any CD’s, more or less taggin’ along with Lynn and Aneesah because they’re both mad fun to be around. Dude, I walked out with a few CD’s..Davina, Staind, Gza, Rachelle Ferrell, just to name a few. Karimah was unfamiliar with AZ, which bothered me deeply, but whatever. I understand there’s an age difference being that she was 15, but damn, baby…you never heard Nas’ first LP?! The younger generation and musical choices are not the best mix, but she was mad cool beyond that. Smart girl. We wound up going to IHOP after that, because Lynn was so hungry. We had a good time, although we weren’t there that long. We all started feelin the effects except Aneesah. By this time, Karimah was able to put whole sentences together now that she had food in her life.
After IHOP, we rolled to Aneesah’s crib and chilled. Saw she and Karimah pray, which was a humbling experience for some reason. One thing I always admired about Aneesah (the wonderful…:o)) is that I could always ask questions about Islam and get straight forward answers. A lot of folks throw extras into conversations regarding religion, especially if they come from different backgrounds. Dialogue is so cool when people who honestly want to know and people who don’t mind sharing get together. I put Aneesah on to Lewis Taylor, while she and Lynn listened to Avril. Time had slipped by, and we just couldn’t seem to get motivated to roll out to the underground release party…

I finally got out and did some cardio yesterday, man. Felt good, too. It was a scary experience in a way because I had some bad experiences over the last year and a half or so with cardio workouts…last time I played ball I almost blacked out on the court. I couldn’t even drive afterwards, well, I didn’t feel comfortable enough to drive. Been psyching myself up to run for I don’t know how long. Had Lynn come with me to keep me company. Hmph, I’ve been out of shape for the past eight months probably; I’ve never been out of shape in my life. My goal was to walk a quarter, run a half, and walk a quarter. A mile is a good workout, but not too lofty a goal. After running my quarter, I wanted to walk the rest of the way, more fear than anything. You go to the emergency room twice for asthma like symptoms and the doctors don’t tell you that you have asthma, that shit can shake you; especially if you’re doing something like driving and the shit happens. I stuck to my goal, tho. I ran the other quarter without once stopping.
I could have run more, but I don’t want to overdo it as I often do. I have the mutant ability to push myself well past my limits, but I often pay for that later. Didn’t want to do that yesterday. Stick to the mile…get back out there in a couple of days and do it again. Eventually I’ll get a stopwatch… Ah man, I felt good running once I got close to doing my little half mile. I seriously need to work on my lower back strengthening because that shit is hurtin’ like hell right now, tho’. While I was running, there were some dudes playing soccer at greene stadium…I remember when I was able to just do shit like that without any real issues of scheduling and what not. I miss that. Some of the women who were standing to the side were looking at me, so I didn’t want to look all soft either. There goes that man- go again. Nothin’ like the male ego, ya’ll. That’s the type of shit that would have me about to black out on a basketball court instead of calling for a sub.
“Naw Lee, you can make until the end of the game. It’s already 12- 10”. Man, I was seeing color flashes and everything that day… My silly ass overheated somehow. I feel good now, tho, and that’s what matters. Never liked running for the sake of running, but I think this will be good for me. Just have to keep setting realistic goals and sticking to them.

Samantha Raheem rocked last night
13 ripped this piece I had heard him spit before, but hadn’t quite heard, y’know?
This cat named Blasphemous got his rhyme on…son was nice. Amazing how you don’t expect certain things from certain people just because of their appearance. Wouldn’t have guessed dude wasa hip hop head, much less nice with the rhyming.
Ha. And Samantha had just gotten through with speaking about types of stereos.
The night in general was cool.
Bru got the slick daddy award for bumping his music loud as hell at 1:00 in a residential neighborhood and turning off his system and car from thirty five feet away via remote when an agitated resident asked whose truck it was, all the while maintaining the innocent “it ain’t me” face and denying he was the inconsiderate motherfucka blastin Gang Starr at 1:00 in the morning. :o) Had to clown you Bru…it’s all love.
Rapped with folks throughout the night.
Flirted with Ray as she rocked the fly hat…
Traded quips with da slim poet all night…that’s a silly dude
Made fun of King Cipher…again
Saw Kom actually read a piece…that was refreshing…
Ah…life is good.

Okay, why is there always one malodorous coworker @ the job?! I mean, what phenomenon does this fall under? Is there some funky person quota that absolutely must be filled by all major government buildings and corporations? Ya’ll, there’s this dude in my building, on my floor, a few cubes away that has the mutant ability to cover the floor with his funky pheromones. It’s quite uncanny, so much so, he should be a charter member of the X- Men. I mean, I thought I was imagining things at first, that I was just getting a phantom funk seeing as though my senses (except my eyes) are pretty keen. But this shit is just awful! I knew I wasn’t the only one who noticed when I saw a co- worker come around the corner with his nose already covered. Another co- worker confirmed my theory today when I asked where the funk was coming from in the hallway. Irritated, my co- worker gestured towards Stinky’s cubicle…
And wouldn’t you know he’s the “office guy” type, you know, the type that feels obligated to speak to everyone? He seems alright as a person, although I saw him act an ass towards somebody because he thought that person was “arrogant”; funny thing was slim he was being rude to was being cordial. Whatever, that wasn’t my business, I just happened to witness the event. Just noticed that he can indeed have a funky attitude as well. Most of the time it’s like an unpowdered stinky diaper smell, but today the funk has stretched down the hall. It’s like an url smell, accentuated by the typical funk of feces. Truly, one individual should not be so offensive to the olfactory, man.. What the hell?! How does a grown man consistently come to work smellin’ like ass??? You would think that after 9- 10 years old, one would be acclimated to the whole bathing thing.

PS- Now that I think of it, dude is the same guy who I caught pickin’ his ass in the hallway last week (my April 16th, 2003).

Okay, I’m going to try something new. I’m going to write a short tanka, haiku, or take a few lines from one of my poems, and I want you to email me and/or hit up the message/bored and tell me what you think I’m talking about. I’ll try to do this every Tuesday, and give ya’ll the breakdown the following Tuesday. Cool? Okay, here goes:

Diamonds for Pearls
Tanka no. 2

Young girl with old man
Thick like old coconut milk
He gave her his truth
All she wants is diamonds
He has only given pearls

Let me tell you the ill shit I just found out. I filed for my taxes at the end of March, and was supposed to be getting an Electronic Deposit into my account in 14 days. But, I haven't seen that check show up in my account when I check on it. So, me being the inquisitive cat that I am, I call the folks and ask them what's the deal? Chick picks up the phone with a curt attitude. Now, she ain't rude, but she sure as hell ain't customer friendly either right about now. She gives me the number to the IRS due to my filing situation. The automatic joint tells me it has no ingormation to tell me, but I can call this other number. I do so, and talk with this cat named David who gets all my info, just to tell me these mottherfuckas ain't filed my shit. Now, I watched ole girl on the computer, and I thought that the shit was automatic. Evidently not, because, the IRS sends an electronic message saying whether or not the joint is acceptable, or needs to be done over. They do that within 48 hours of receiving any electronic filing. They haven't sent that message, which means mutherfuckas need to get off that bullshit, for real!! So, I call back...not even on no ra- ra shit, cool, because I need to hear how the business is going to be carried. Besides, that's not really my nature. Same chick, same attitude. I tell her what David told me, and she instantly went into the, "Oh, you have to talk to the supervisors and they don't get in until six". Now, "they" shouldn't all be arriving at "six", in fact, there should be someone there to supervise ya'll ass in case some dumb shit like this happens!! Dog, the spot closes at like 7:00, I've been there when they close shit up before that. These motherfuckas are going to work this shit out, or I'm about to act real different. And see, I know they do shady side deals to boost peoples tax returns, so I don't put nothin' past they ass right now!
Damn!! My day was so cool until right now...I came in late off the hald day business, and now this...

Oh yeah, you'll see a link for a Ras Kass verse on there, too. You'll see why I fuck with him so hard, even tho' he spits much harder normally.

Huggy Low Down, a radio personality on WPGC 95.5 dropped the dirt on this one on Donnie Simpson’s mornings show:
Okay, forgive me if I’m behind the rest of the world, but I just heard the Eminem/ 50¢ dis on the radio. For those who don’t know, they used Pac’s song, Hail Mary for the beat. Em used the cadence and style of Pac on that particular verse, which made his verse come off madd clever. 50 just jacked Pac’s actual lyrics and tweeked them to make them fit for a Murda Inc. hoo- ride. The killer was the fact that Busta Rhymes was on the track too! Now everybody knows Bus be on the peace fun loving vibe, but this cat hurt Ja a bit on this dis record. If 50 wasn’t on the track, it may have gone down as a classic eventually. Ooh, ooh, ya’ll know how Pac’s hook goes for Hail Mary:
Come with me/
Hail Mary, nigga run quick see/
What do we have here now/
Do you wannna ride or die/
La la la la la la la la…
Well, Em kept changing the hook on some clownin’ shit, but he did one of the hooks something like this:
Come get me/
Motherfucka, if you want shady/
If Pac were still here now/
He would never roll with Ja/
La la la la la la la la…
If ya’ll want to hear it, you can click here and hear the joint straight from allhiphop.com. The joint doesn’t have Busta verse, tho…but guess what, I got the lyrics for you! Here they go:
Hey Yo I Been one of the most humble//
rep the streets to the core//
Hey Jeffrey, What the **** you comin involvin me for//
Its been a long time comin like a blessin to check you//
See 106 and Park fans dont even ****ing respect you//
Its kind of funny wannabe Pac when he a fake thug(???)//
Runnin around talkin **** that he aint capable of//
now let me off this cocksucker//
watch me handle you *****//
if i recall Violator used to manage you *****//
then took a closer look and realized you were an imposter//
theres never been a Violator on a Murder INC roster dumbass//
now WHOS SHOOTIN....awww made ya look//
you said Bus singing the same ol hook?//
you stupid if ya'll shootin i'll take a look at yo man//
the ***** shot himself in front of Def Jam//
Cheddar Bob ass ***** start adjustin your plans//
you let the streets down ***** apologize to yo fans//
watch you pull a lil stunt like we aint no one anymore//
lil faggot that be desperate tryin while we tryin establish a buzz(????)//
i know the **** is drivin you crazy you be wondering how//
the streets aint never wanted you Beatrice//
what you gonna do now?//
now if you wanna beef with me then im gonna beef with you//
i think about the game and (ja voice) ....WHAT IT WOULD BE WITHOUT YOU //
you finished i aint tryin to repeat this//
just cuz im cool you shouldnt take my kindness for weakness//

*We can debate whether or not this helps or hurts the hip hop culture sometime, but for now, just let ride, potna!
Eye Will Holla!

Question: Have you ever caught somebody do some nasty shit folks should only do at home, like, scrath their crotch, or put a finger in their ear and then rub the wax together between their fingers? I just caught somebody pickin' their ass at work. Dude did the ill check- around- and- make- sure- the- coast- is- clear look too. Hahahahaha...that's some repugnant shit if you see somebody do that in public, right?! Hahahaha, folks got to learn how to do shit on the sly, cuz. The ill sit in your hair and shuffle around butt scratch. HAHAHAHA! Ya'll laughin' cause ya'll done that shit, too!!! Man, I'll holla at ya'll later.
Eye Will Holla!

What is that you say? Illpoets.com’s own Melanin belly dancing at Mango’s?! You say she had the male audience captivated?! Dude, anybody who was there knows the deal… Melani is one of those sistas that women give props to, like, “You’re right, she’s gorgeous…yes, she has a very nice body”. Saying Melani could get it, is an understatement…in fact, she’s heard all types of commentary from all different types of dudes, I’m sure, so I won’t take it there. I just want to say that she has one of the most beautiful complexions I’ve ever seen, and I’m single :o) Seriously tho’ (like I wasn’t serious before…Melani, call me…for real :o) LOL), she did her thing. I didn’t know that she did the belly dancing thing. Very nice to know. Oh, have to tell you how her homegirl Courtney played the percussion effect from Sade’s “Cherish the day” on the backside of her guitar, and even sang it…well!
Some may know that I hate remakes, or people fuckin’ up classics. Seeing as tho’ Sade is @ the top of my industry “…could get it” list, I don’t like to hear any Sade remakes, although admittedly, Les Nubians did their thing with the “Sweetest Taboo” remake. Anyways, shorty then proceeded to sing an original song that was utterly dope. I mean, I can’t express how ill that song was; and her voice…! She has the “it” factor, man. If I were an exec, she’d have been signed that night. When I hear things, if they are really strong, I don’t just get the imagery of the piece…I get the drama that surrounds it. Like I’ve heard songs and envisioned entire videos. This song gave me the picture of a movie at its climax about two lovers…the rainy scene at the park where they first met, what are we going to do now type shit. Shorty was dope, for real. If you’re reading this, holla at me…we need to get our write on, for real.
Only reason I went out to Mangos was to support Kom for his feature. Almost faked out completely, as it turned out, I just arrived hella late. Wasn’t feelin well for a minute. Got caught up in that Platinum joint on UPN. It was a lot better than the premiere, although they are obviously jacking stories like Brown Sugar, Krush Groove, and the Puffy and J. Lo club shooting uncident. Scene transitions caught my attention more than the actual scenes in the premiere. Not too original, but I still dig certain aspects. Once it went off, I decided to make it down to Mangos to show love. Kom was on the stage when I arrived. Saw Femi before I rolled inside, kicked it with him about illpoets.com affairs. Heard I missed some wild shit, but I saw a lot of headz…Joe, Q, Jamel, Jarius, Metaphor, Kanniki, 13, Raq, Melani, lil’ Jordan, etc. I didn’t spit, but, all was good. Had fun talkin’ shit with Femi, Bru, Jamel, Q, and company after the joint ended.
*Oh, King Cipher took the flicks of Melani at Mango’s, so I may be able to put some flicks up for ya’ll…

Have you ever been somewhere that you frequent and people all of a sudden seem to "notice" you. I've been going to this little grill spot right next to my job since like November, and most of the time I'd get no words. There's always someone bringing out food, mopping, etc., and I get nothing. Now, the older lady who mops says hi, the lady behind the grill keeps asking me my name, the cashier lady asks me if I'm tired or how I'm doing. And they all smile as I walk by. What's that all about? What do you guys think? I think one of them may think I'm cute, so they all light up when I walk in. I don't know.
Eye Will Holla

Whoa. Forgot how much I fuck with Ras Kass off the straight up lyrical prowess. Listening to his first LP wjile I'm at work. This dude is sick. His lyrics in 1996 are shittin' on 95% of the lyrics out right now. If he had DJ Quik doin' beats for him, or Premiere...whoo! I'm blown that his album has been yanked off the market again (his first one, that is). If you are true fans of straight lyrics, cop Ras Kass' Soul on Ice if you happen to see it in a pawn shop or something like that. I don't see it on Amazon, Borders, or CDnow.com (even tho' they're all connected now).
Okay, yesterday was dinner over my father's house again...this time everybody was there. Nephews, nieces, brotthers, sisters, cousins, etc. Dinner was mad cool. Watched Portland bang the Lakers out via a Rasheed Wallace 3- pointer with 3.something odd seconds left on the clock. Lovin it. Sad the Wizards ain't gon' make the playoffs...but whatever. Also saw Red Dragon with the family last night. Good flick; a good trilogy. Normally there's one flick that completely destroy's the soundness of the trilogy. Got mopped a bit in DOA 3 on the X Box...but I did my thing too. I don't own an X Box, and I still don't like the control pads on them bitches. My brother's friend (Joey...first black person I've met by the name of Joey; always Jou, but, whatever...) doesn't know the beat down he avoided by me not being well versed in that damn fighting game, man. Young dude was nice with the art, tho' man. He reminded me greatly of me at that age. Loved drawing, wants to do his own comic books, not really trying to hear what folks are tellin' them with the art shit, mainly because he's self- taught... He's much further along than I was, tho'. I could show him some techniques to nicen his shit up, but...he seems to want to go the journey his way. Hey, let him live. I'ma have to check my brother sometime this week to serve him up on the game system this week. Or at least try...I'm not into games as much as I used to be...
Can't wait to sleep tonight. Mad tired.

Went to see my moms and stepfather for a bit. Grabbed my new Vibe and Stuff magazines and put them in my bookbag so I'd remember to read them. Chilled with moms a bit until I woke my stepfather up. Eventually made my way outside to wash my truck, which I haven't done in soooo long. Took a shower and rolled out to get Lynn to go to Pyper's party.
Went to Kanniki's joint at Greetings.. and slid a few books to the sister at the cash register before tipping down stairs. Little peace vibe going on... saw Big Head (this young cat who promises to be quite nice if he keeps writing) as I sat in the back. Thirteen was just getting up on the mic. Hollered at Kanniki and told her I was supposed to be at my friends party already, so she got me on the mic early. Right before I went up, this guitar player/singer went up to do his thing while his homegirl assisted on the jimbay (forgive me, I really don't know the correct way of spelling that joint, so I did it with ghetto phonetics). Saw King slide through; hit him with the peace sign. Slid up to the mic and spat the peace I meant to do at Java Head, but I forgot it that night. I don't think anybody really got the piece except for 13 (who heard it first) and Lynn who I broke most of it down to. So, to get the crowd back, I did "She Didn't" and "She Said", which was received pretty well. After spittin', I ran into this young lady whose high school slam I'll be judging at the end of this month along with a couple of the illpoets. Good to see her face to face. Apologies if I seemed disconnected Kristina, I wasn't all there as you suspected. Can't wait to rock @ your school, tho'.
Went to my homegirls party...with no directions. In fact, I went to her place without a home phone number...I only had her cell, which of course she didn't answer the entire time we were trying to contact her via cell phone. I had only been to her place once, and that was last year for her last party!! Wow...that makes me feel bad. Anyways, past her crib because I missed the turn. But instinct and memory kicked in and I found my way to her crib without any problem the second shot. Now, if only I could remember the address. Damn, what was it? Finally it dawned on me to call her pops, who hooked me up with the info. We had mad fun. Line of the night:
"It's 2003 and dudes still thinking they can pull out..." ~ Chris (You had to be there ya'll)
Rolled @ like 2 in the morning...I'm getting old, I can't hangout like I used to...or maybe I can, but was still worn out from this past week which punished me...
More later...

Tanka
Pronunciation: 'tä[ng]-k&
Function: noun
Etymology: Japanese
Date: circa 1877
: an unrhymed Japanese verse form of five lines containing 5, 7, 5, 7, and 7 syllables respectively; also : a poem in this form -- compare HAIKU

I've been saying I was going to write some Tanka's just cause folks don't ever talk about 'em. Probably never heard of 'em before. Well, here's my first tanka, ya'll. Hope you dig...

Funny

I find it funny
Call me nigger I get mad
Yell out racism
African American
Then I act like a nigger

This came to me while I was getting ready for work...which seems to be a developing trend, but, anyways...

With spoken word he's absurd
truly gifted with what is written
motivatin' lower level thoughts to higher planes
he is a wordsmith
moving people with shit that comes to him plain and simple
sometimes letting the wrong energy into his temple
He is motivated by words
My boy
The type of guy that most everybody likes
but has a big heart that sometimes can't let go of spite
So unintentional drama was sparked at an open mic
And playful words evolved into dislike
So he felt he was ready to ride tonight
This young soldier had been in verbal beef's before
and the thought of the kill had him ready for war
so blinded by rage he didn't seem himself anymore
So spots were blown when X walks through the door
but for what
neither thinking in a rational mindstate
neither wanted shit to go down that way
feeling blessed that there were intermediaries that day
even more so because I arrived late
a petty situation of pride and testosterone
had cats choosin' sides for a hoo ride way overblown
things are peace now
and my mans left with his own thoughts
but how many times have we seen the same petty shit
end with a higher cost?

Be Easy ya'll...sometimes to truly grow
you have to let some shit you don't want to...go
One.

Peace ya'll,
Check out www.3dvmx.com for video clips of Kom, Droopy, and Messenjah @ Droopy's Java Head Birthday Roast. Also a good place to check out a young and motivated cat who's nice with beats. Dieon may have some heat for you for the right price, which is nicer than most (from what I hear).
Easy
PS- I'll write more a bit later...

That joint was interesting. Rolled through to the event late, due to sleepiness, fatigue, and not having the address to the joint. Just remembered it was off of 5th street somewhere in North East, DC. Lynn called Drew, and he told us where to head…after that, we got there relatively quickly. Find a parking spot relatively easily, which gives me the impression, “…either a lot of folks walked, took the train, or ain’t nobody here!” After getting heckled by King Cipher before I could even make it up the steps to the establishment and seeing Droopy as soon as I entered the joint, I could see with my own two eyes the joint was on ‘e’. That’s cool, now I have absolutely no guilt about being late; some guilt may have reared its ugly head after the event started r something.
Not a lot of folks present, but it’s whatever. Dapped Krayola, who helped organize the project and the event, and got myself and more importantly Lynn past the door woman (Abena Disroe). Saw the lovely Tonya “Ja Hipster” Mathews in the joint, which of course brought an instant smile to my face seeing as tho’ Sir Reigns and I are the official charter members and founders of her fan club. Take that for a run on sentence!. Also saw Taj, who always brings a cool peace demeanor with him. I rapped with Tonya for a bit, exchanging product with her and what not. Knew from the moment I walked in the door that I would be there longer than I wanted to be. Liked some of the setup of the establishment, tho’. They had some posters of Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, etc. The Jimi joint was very reminiscent of a Prince cd cover, you know the one where it’s black and white and he has his jacket open? Found that interesting…
Oh, ran into this dude Donnell that I knew from when I was a freshman in high school. Haha, I see that dude once every 4- 5 years.
The night consisted of me walking back and forth between rappin’ with King Cipher and Drew in the back, and chillin’ with Lynn and Taj towards the front. That and reading the lips of the characters of Rush Hour which was playing on mute on the big screen in the back of the establishment. The joint started off with Krayola and Hoo Krazy doing their thing, followed by King Cipher doing a ten hour show. This cat was doing requests, encores, telling his life story, taking his shirt off while he’s singing to shorties in the front…:o). While King was rockin', I told Krayola I didn't want to be there until 12:00 (which is when the event was scheduled to end).
Ja Hipster did her thing, along with a sick Shin Q whom I couldn’t really hear over some loud dudes in the back. Drew was already a bit blown because he was told he was up next, and Ja Hipster and Shin Q went before him…and Tamar’s cool ass. Oh, and Abena Disroe…
Finally, Drew went up and did his medley of poems before he crushed "Why Do I Like You?” yet again. There was a rowdy bunch of jokers who only quieted down for their man from the Souf Side who spat a verse…a verse, ya’ll, then rolled off stage. Wow, disrupt other folks all night, to spit a verse about selling crack and what not…interesting. That Drew, man…can I have screaming fans like you do, man? Can I just say that he had some extra chick supportin’ him last night? Shorty was like the madd rapper rapped up in estrogen…it’s all good tho’, I just say that cause I’m jealous and I don’t have your incredible fan base:o) Eventually, midway through Drew’s set, it actually got quiet because said jokers left. That left Drew to captivate the audience and his extra manic fan. She was yelling some shit I couldn’t quite discern, but, hey…I’d probably be a Drew groupie too if I were in her shoes….which is a hell of an if that of course would never happen, but…anyways… Drew ended the joint off with the sing along joint, “Teachin’”, which always gets love too.
I went last...of course. Almost 11:30 before I rocked...By that time, I was ji’ uninspired, and only really wanted to plug the websites…and my book. I did five pieces, but don’t know whether or not I came off. Don’t care…I told Krayola I didn’t want to be there all times of the night, and look what happened.
After the joint ended, we actually wound up hittin off a freestyle cipher with the likes of King, Taj, Drew, and myself…Lynn would’ve jumped in, but she wasn’t too adept at jumping into ciphers I don’t think. After the dj or whoever that was cut the music twice in haterous fashion, we rolled outside to catch a sample of Taj’s CD project. Dunn sounds good on wax, or, err, cd…I can’t wait for his release because I think he’ll actually put some quality work into the project.
Took Drew to the ATM and Wendy’s before takling him home. That, was my night…
PS- I'm still grateful for the opportunity to be on the project, and for last night. Good lookin' out Kom, Gadget, and Krayola (and Donnell).
PPS- You can probably get a free copy of the Earthworm Project cd if you contact Krayola at www.theparagonsound.com or 202 381 1127. The joint features, myself, the 5th L (Droopy, SIr Reigns, Native Son, The DriFish, and Komplex), Tonya Mathews, Chuck Maddox, Krayola, and many more...!
“Well whooptie doo, but what does it all mean Basil?” ~Austin Powers

Why am I just realizing that I have a class that I'm supposed to be attending here at my job...that started yesterday?! Oh, now I'll be charged by a course I was only taking for personal growth. Probably something like sixty bones for today and yesterday, like the class was going to give me thirty dollars worth of shit I didn't know and could use. It was for Pagemaker, a program I personally loathe, but wanted to take just so I'd be more well rounded as a designer. Oh, well...(sigh). No spurging on DVD's and music my next paycheck.

Just finished listening to the Earthworm Project while I was working...it's a cool ass CD. Sir Reigns, Native Son, Afro, and JaHipster came off!!! I think I could have slowed down my flow, but hey, it's done now. The joint even has Kom using profanity (gasp!). I can't recall hearing Kom using anything except damn and hell since I've met him, so he must have been charged. Looking forward to doing this release joint even more now. For details, check the COE @ illpoets.com. Hope to see you tinight.
One!

Had a crazy dream last night. Dreamt that Saddam was bombin’ us in Washington and everybody was shook except for my Pops. People were frantic because they were told that Saddam didn’t have any missle that could reach us. I was saying that is was the US trying to scare people. Peep, the wild part was that the bombing took place on Father’s Day. So it was a strike on the US, but a big fuck you to George Bush Sr.!

Anyways, went to Mango’s last night. The smallest turnout I’d seen in months, but still a nice audience. Olu ripped her feature last night; Jarius set it off. Saw a couple phat booties… Trying to figure out what I’m going to do for tonight’s joint, the Earthworm Project release party. Just found out the details when I saw Krayola outside of Mangos. Actually got a chance to get a CD off of him, I only had one track :o(, but it’s all good. Glad to have been a part of the experience. I think I might read some shit that I’ve written within the last week or so. We’ll see…
I’ll write more later…

This crossed my mind as I was getting ready for my j- o
My theory on the terminology: Neo Soul
I believe they call it Neo Soul for two distinct reasons. (1) R&B/Soul music and especially the lyrics is written with less of a sociopolitical spin, and more of an urban spin. What’s up with all the cussin’ in R&B these days?! Stevie, Marvin, and Donnie ain’t have to cuss to write a classic. How you gon’ woo a decent woman and call her a bitch in the song??? If you listen closely, Tank was talkin’ bout chokin’ his broad out in his first song, “I Deserve”. What’s really going down? Because India has an acoustic guitar and sings about positivity, she’s Neo Soul? Earth, Wind & Fire never had anegative word in any of their songs, are they Neo Soul? Now, if anybody does some …Innervisions type shit, they are automatically Neo Soul, huh? That shit don’t come from any “new” soul, it comes from old souls, timeless souls, souls that have been around forever. It’s just straight up Soul Music. Whereas Papa Was a Rolling Stone spoke to a generation about deadbeat dads, Baby Mama Drama just says you’re in a petty dispute with the mother of your child (whom you’re obviously no longer with). Similar formulas, but not quite the same. (2) Many of the people who are classified as R&B/Soul singers, are taking the genre to someplace its never been. I mean, Ronal Isley is a prime example. A legend who has been a part of a hits machine since the late fifties, I may very have been conceived to the Isley Brothers. However, it’s now the Isley Brothers featuring Ronald Isley (which it always has), and they’re doing mindless rhythm and bullshit MR. Bigs skits with R. Kelly, who couldn’t write his way out of a paper bag.
Don’t get me wrong, R is mad talented and in tune with what makes a hit, but that doesn’t mean he can write. Let’s take the biggest song of his to date, I Believe I can Fly:
I Believe I can Fly/
I believe I can touch the sky/
Spread my wings and fly away/
Think about it every night and day
Oh, I believe I can soar/
See me running through that open door (?)/
I believe I can fly…Oh I believe I can fly
Random Sarcasm Wow, that was a really profound hook. Shook me to my core. Makes me question the lyrical integrity of MArvin Gaye's Ecology...
Sidebar Tangent Hmmm, now having those kids in the choir don’t seem so hot does it?
Point of the matter is R&B has been ghetto- ized by the likes of R Kelly, Jermaine Dupree (Jagged Edge), Next (You’ve got sexy feet with no corns (?!), and a host of other guilty parties. Even Babyface is making videos with his grown ass having all types of scantily clad youngyins in it. There isn’t any soul in it anymore. It’s now ghetto soul, which is soul, but that shit is different. So these younger artists who are just putting their spin on true R&B/Soul are unfairly being dubbed Neo Soul Artists, as if they are doing something new. Shit, river dancing is one of the newest sensations in dance in the last few years, and the shit is centuries old probably. Ain’t nobody callin’ it Neo Riverdance. Watch what they sell you. Folks are good at repackaging some shit that’s already been done and renaming it to make it sell better, like new coke, or the new peoples court, or George W. Bush. LOL Watch these labels ya’ll…these same peoples that are labeling our music have been labeling our people for the past four hundred plus years, like that changes who we are as a people.
Be Easy

Friday’s Awkward Exchange/ Weird Ass Segue of the Day: “What happened to all that warm weather? Whew!!...Hey brother, do you roller skate” ~ Some random dude I’ve never met attempting to strike up conversation at my mechanics.
After being in the cold for three hours waiting to get minor work done on my ride, I rolled to my sister’s hair salon to sell some books. Didn’t make as many sales, but a couple of ladies supported. Big up Gennie @ Hair Razors for showing love and let me rap with your customers. Dude, I tried to drum up some sales with a couple dudes that were in the salon getting their hair cornrowed. They were too thuggish to show love, I mean, poetry is for pussies right? One dude was like, “I don’t like to read” complete with thuggish scowl on his face. I need to write a poem specifically for cats like that. I say that shit jokingly sometimes, he was quite serious. Too mannish to read poetry, but still going to a salon to get your hair done? Oh, the irony. Afterwhich, I rolled to my sisters crib and kicked it with her and the family. Later, saw my grandmother at my father’s crib, who was visiting from Baltimore. Before I knew it, it was 11:30 just about. Had to ruch to my mother’s crib to catch Patrick, DP and Bassey on Def Poetry Jam. Guess what? My mom’s got rid of HBO and I completely forgot. Who has digital cable and not HBO?!?!
Saturday was basically me looking at homes, trying to get a spot. After that, I went to a slam in Baltimore. The jugjing was mad suspect, but I still think LaMAr Hill won. It’s just the hottest poem of the night by this young lady by the name of Samantha only got a 28.8. The joint was about abortion, and was crafted in a manner that I felt like I was getting an abortion! The judges seemed like they were padding scores, but whatever. LaMar claimed I and a few other poets were going to force him to retire from slamming. I have never won a slam, but it was still a flattering comment.
I hate it, but it’s a necessary evil. Open mics are dying every day. We are living in a slam culture~ Mar Hill
Built with Miko, who was also robbed on her score. I was robbed, too…not saying I turned out a 30 performance, but I definately beat out this cat named Lyrical, who wasn’t in my opinion. His second poem was mad cool tho’, probably should have lead with that one. I got a 26.2 for a hot poem, but whatever. I didn’t get into it when I spat it, so I’m not mad. Lynn and I both agreed that I sabotage myself in slams because I haven’t really gone hard since my very first slam. Something I vow to work on. Shit, I was just glad I rolled to B- more just to slam… I’d been faking for a while on Komplez’s invites, who wasn’t there by the way.
Sunday was family time to eat over my father’s crib after the Wizards pulled out a narrow victory in Boston in overtime. We won 99- 98, man. A bad call by the ref in the final seconds could have cost us the game. Shit, we gotta strap up our shoes if we’re going to make the playoffs, cuz. Dinner was mad cool. Saw my brother Carl, who’s been in B- more chillin for a while now. Saw my Uncle Allen, too. Haven’t seen or heard from him since Christmas. We watched Friday After Next after dinner. Everybody pretty much dispersed after that.
Oh, I finally got my DVD copy of Bruno aka The Dress Code on Sunday! Big ups to Vickey aka Gravity for lookin’ out on that one. I’ve been lookin’ for that joint for months now. Heartwarming and intelligent movie.

Today’s Humor: Seeing someone arrive 20 minutes late for a staff meeting and still doze off.
Today’s Blower: Having someone ask me a question specific to my expertise and I answer the question clearly and concisely, only to have someone else try to answer the question that they have no intimate knowledge of. Dude, if you constantly refer to HTML as “HMTL”, maybe you shouldn’t be trying to sound fly trying to expound upon my words. All you did was reword what I said in abstract non- specific jargon. I don’t need an interpreter. If you were the foremost authority, you would have been asked, not me.
A little frustrated, ya’ll…have had this happen in a few different meetings. It’s getting annoying, is all.

Remember When: You first heard My Adidas by Run DMC and Jam Master Jay
Sidebar Tangent: Why is the new K Swiss commercial jacking the My Adidas beat and trying to flip it, but not too much?

Well, in the spirit of such a memorable point in my life, I figured I'd take ya'll down memory lane.
Remember When: Larry Johnson had the Granma Ma sneaker campaign with Adidas?
Remember When: Spike Lee a.k.a. Mars did Air Jordan commercials with Michael Jordan?
Remember When: Sinbad was advertising the new Reebok Blacktops?
Remember When: En Vogue was doing jingles for Kevin Johnson a.k.a. “Mr. Goodie Two- Shoes” and Converse?

So I walk into the spot where I get my chicken cheese steaks from…
I guess it was the weather, because everybody was all “hello’s” as I made my way to the grill in the back of the establishment. The dude at the grill, who now knows to hook up an egg and cheese croissant whenever he sees me in the morning, joked that the grill was still open. For those who remember, this is the same cat that will not hook up hot lunch 1 second past three o’clock, or breakfast 1 second past eleven o’clock. Ironically, I missed the breakfast croissant due to looking at my slow ass clock that’s at the bottom of my computer screen, forgetting that it’s always behind whatever the actual time is. Oh, and I would change it, but it’s hooked up to the network. So, it would revert back to the same late ass clock whenever I restarted my computer.
Look at me, I’m getting off the subject. Let’s see, computer clock…all “hello’s”…joke about open grill…ah, the key chain. Okay, I used to have this nifty Spiderman key chain that I would let hang out of my pocket. I’m a big kid and I’ve always been a big Spiderman fan, so when I saw the key chain, I had to have it. The joint is basically a miniature Spiderman attached to this super durable string, that when pulled, can be retracted to make it appear as if he’s climbing (or descending) one of his web lines. The joint eventually broke after months of little hellions pulling on it and the usual wear and tear. A couple of weeks ago, Lynn spots the same key chain in Suncoast and buys a couple for me on the sneak tip. Shorty already knew something was going to happen where I needed to have two. Well, I actually broke Spidey’s leg off when I was helping LaQuis move to her spiffy new spot.
But, here I am getting off the subject again. So I order my food, and I’m leaning against this narrow make shift counter that separates you from the people who work the grill. On the customers side of the counter, they have little things like chips and what not. As I’m leaning against the counter, one of the ladies points towards my pocket. Prepared to go into “I didn’t take anything mode” (so sad), shorty remarks on my key chain. She asks if that’s Spiderman? “Yeah, it’s Spiderman”. Another one of the ladies turns around and starts giggling while speaking in her native tongue. I think I heard the shorty who peeped the key chain first say she’s from South Korea one day at the register. I do know she’s Christian, which kinda shocked me…but, whatever. Shorty behind the grill, was saying “What is it…? I want to see” So she came around to see the key chain. It felt like a regular show and tell. As I showed Spidey, dangling uncontrollably from his string that now no longer retracts, they formed a three women semi circle around me. The chick who works the grill hadn’t even put my food on yet, she had to see the key chain…it was the shiznit! (Don’t ask me where that just came from…felt like the narrator from The Wonder Years (who is actually Daniel Stern...Marvin from Home Alone I & II…just in case you wanted more useless trivia)). Shorty from the grill started poking at it like it was a dead animal or something, like it was something that any moment was going to jump on her ass. All I could understand was, “Movie!” “Yeah, it’s from the Spiderman movie”. Which was of course innaccurate, but, that’s probably how she related to the key chain.
That’s it…that was my funny story. I paid for my food and left.
Hope that didn’t piss you off or anything. I just found it extremely funny. If so, maybe you should lighten up. Maybe I need to work on my tangents. Then again, I tend to write like I talk, so… Maybe you shouldn’t expect me to have a big punch line or plot development every journal entry. Or maybe, I’m just a writer who likes to pull his readers in. Or…maybe I didn’t have anything significant to write, so I placed this Spiderman Key Chain” story in my journal to substitute for not having any juicy social venting sessions like Aamco wallet jackings, or door handles breaking off in automobiles, or something like that. Maybe I wanted to see if you would actually continue to read today’s dribble even after I all but admitted I have nothing really substantial to type right now. Maybe you wanted to see if I would come up with another clever “maybe”…although, maybe you didn’t find any of the preceding “maybes” to be clever at all. Maybe that last “maybe” was the first clever “maybe” I’ve done so far. Maybe not. Who knows? Maybe you should tag my message board and tell me what you think.
PS- Isn’t maybe a funny looking word? Not so funny when it’s May be…, but when it’s together, I don’t know…just thinking…

My Sunday consisted of me falling asleep to Mavericks trouncing the Timberwolves by more than thirty points after heading to Pentagon to cop Empire on DVD. Special ordered Bruno on DVD for only $10..."Only $10?!" That's right. Truly happy 'bout that. Been lookin everywhere for that damn movie, so now it's on its way. Sunday evening had me over my father's house with Lynn. They were having a rare Sunday dinner; an opportunity for free food and family interaction...count me in! The night was enjoyable, my sister rolled through with my niece and nephew and my stepmother was already there cooking with my little cousin Toya. Dad rolled through after he finished with some meeting in the spiffy suit. My Pops is one of the cleanest brother's I've ever met...the type of dude that goes to events in tuxedo's that ain't rented...because he ownes them. Pop's is a playa fo' sho. Nothin' more comical than a man almost sixty loungin around his house in a Sean John suit. Finally saw Minority Report and talked through a good part of Trapped (with Kevin Bacon and Charlize Theron). Dinner was pretty damn good, the sweet potatos and rolls were mm- mmm good! And the greens...Yeah baby! Left kinda late, but made it to my destination safely. Another low- key Sunday under my belt...life is good.