Really? Where was this concern when  12 Years A Slave was released?

I could be wrong, but it seems like a movie that depicts the brutality of slavery would have raised concerns about potential violence in movie theaters. But, that didn’t happen. As easily afraid of black retribution as some are, you’d think it would have.

But I digress…

Director F. Gary Gray (top center) pictured with Ice Cube (top left) and Dr. Dre (top right) and cast of Straight Outta Compton

Though there is no credible threat of violence, as ABC’s Los Angeles affiliate KABC reports, the concern is that a convergence of gangbangers at screenings could be a recipe for disaster. In other words: There’ll be too many black folks (and there isn’t enough popcorn).

Theaters were beefing up security Thursday ahead of the release of “Straight Outta Compton,” the biopic based on N.W.A.

 

The film depicts gang violence that plagued South Los Angeles in the 1980s, and Los Angeles police worry the violence on the screen will bleed into real life.

 

“Maybe different factions or youngsters from different gangs will show up at the same theater at the same time and that’s always a bad recipe,” LAPD spokesman Andy Smith said.

 

It’s not the first time that a provocative film has prompted security concerns. Other gang-related films like New Jack City and Boyz n the Hood resulted in violence in the city.

 

The film’s distributor released a statement that reads in part: “The studio has not solicited enhanced security for the theaters, which will be showing it this weekend, but has partnered with those exhibitors who have requested support for their location.”

The movie Straight Outta Compton pulled in $22.8 million on Friday. The movie’s Friday debut represents the fifth highest in history for movies released in August according to deadline.com. What that says to me is that the film has crossed over. Which means that there are more white people than black people in theaters watching Straight Outta Compton. Which is scary when you think of all the recent movie theater shootings committed by white men. But, nobody is beefing up security at movie theaters for that reason. Yep, see how that “white privilege” thing works?

Not bad for a movie about a rap group audacious enough to make a song called “Fuck Tha Police” back in the day. Personally,  I would think there would be more fear associated with ISIS and the potential for getting one’s head chopped off.

But, apparently, the rap group N.W.A has left an indelible mark on the American psyche. You know, because, of course, nothing scares “whitey” more than a bunch of black folks with guns at movie theaters watching a Hip Hop movie.

Look, there isn’t going to be any violence at movie theaters because of Straight Outta Compton. Most of the old heads who grew up around that time are either dead, in prison, or tired of cutting our lawns in this heat like I am.

We’re old, and we’re over that – yes, we pay taxes and vote now.

Uh-huh, life is more than just “bitches and money.”

Don’t believe me? Just ask Ice Cube.

As for these young’uns today? They don’t drink “forties” like we did, and they’re standing in circles mimicking women when they do the Nae Nae.

And, they listen to Drake. Which, if you didn’t know, Drake makes music that helps emotionally unstable dudes talk themselves out of suicide.

Sorry, it’s not gonna happen, folks. Yep, no violence during screenings of Straight Outta Compton. Nope, not because of this movie. Now another Madea or Soul Plane movie, maybe (hell, I might even shoot that shit up).

But if you think so, chances are it’s because you’ve bought into the stereotypical image associated with young black males, in general, and Hip Hop culture, in particular, being violent. But don’t let me stop you from being that way.

I understand – you just can’t help being racist.

Yes, it’s racist…

And, it’s the very reason Straight Outta Compton the album and biopic exists.

The post ‘Straight Outta Compton’ Scares White People appeared first on Madness & Reality.

I mean, I COULD tell her to shut up. But, she would be able to tell me the same thing. So, it is what it is.

What did catch my eye is her disdain for the Kendrick Lamar commentary recently given. Lamar noted something that could easily be applauded or irritating (depending on who you are) during an interview with Billboard:

What happened to [Michael Brown] should’ve never happened. Never,” Lamar told Billboard. “But when we don’t have respect for ourselves, how do we expect them to respect us? It starts from within. Don’t start with just a rally, don’t start from looting — it starts from within. [1]

Azealia Banks, in reply to this statement, went to Twitter (her favorite forum of choice) to voice her disdain:

“When we don’t respect ourselves how can we expect them to respect us” dumbest shit I’ve ever heard a black man say.

— AZEALIA BANKS (@AZEALIABANKS) January 9, 2015

Lol do you know about the generational effects of poverty, racism and discrimination?

— AZEALIA BANKS (@AZEALIABANKS) January 9, 2015

There are things in society that benefit a select few of us. fine…. But don’t put down the rest by saying they don’t respect themselves

— AZEALIA BANKS (@AZEALIABANKS) January 9, 2015

And the last tweet that capitulates what she really is upset about:

HOW DARE YOU open ur face to a white publication and tell them that we don’t respect ourselves…. Speak for your fucking self.

— AZEALIA BANKS (@AZEALIABANKS) January 9, 2015

Me being the person that I am, I posted the article that referenced these tweets on my Facebook page. I was met with a nice mixture of opinions. There were those that readily agreed with what she said. There were those that felt she was either a “Twitter troll”, “racist”, or “not demonstrating the right amount of love in her words”. To note all of this, everyone had a probably point. On some level, everyone was making sense.

And then there is the side that I took all along: Azealia Banks was 100% correct. Let me break down why I feel this way.

Azealia Banks Is Quite Accurate Pt. 1

What Kendrick Lamar was playing is a simple game called “Respectability Politics”. The basis of respectability politics is this: Black people need to start making ourselves more “acceptable” to the modern dominant culture so we won’t face any avoidable hardships. You have heard the term before because I have used it quite often. Plenty of your politicians and a lot of famous Black people use it all the time. Hell, a lot of regular Black people also play these political games of respectability.

From a historical perspective, respectability politics have been a staple of the Black community for hundreds of years. Maurice Dolberry noted the inclusion of respectability politics within the fabric of Black America started during the end of the 19^th century:

Unfortunately, in practice it involved a lot of patronizing behaviors towards “lower-class” Black people.  For instance, one of their major campaigns was to go into impoverished Black communities and hand out pamphlets that “taught” these po’ folks how to “behave” in public places, the value of chastity, and even how to properly bathe themselves. [2]

The range of behaviors has enough stretch to cover the spectrum of “being respectable”. They enclosed everything from “not wearing dirty clothes in public” all the way to “not using vile language in public places”. For some time now, Blacks have been playing the politics game to gain respectability from the “rest of society”.

We have to understand why respectability politics have been played for so long. The reasoning is this: Black culture has been the epitome of everything “wrong”, “barbaric”, and “feral” for eons. You saw it in the Blackface imitations and Stepin Fetchit comedies. You saw it in the self-hating rhetoric used by Sgt. Waters in A Soldier Story. And you see it nowadays as soon as Don Lemon opens his mouth to say something about Black people. Respectability politics exists because our culture is seen as the Black Kool-Aid stain on the White button down shirt of American society.

Azealia Banks is Accurate Pt. 2

Yet, respectability politics has gotten Black people nowhere. Did it ever stop the lynching and killing of our kind by the KKK, police, and the like? Did it stop the destruction of Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma? Did it stop the beatings and killings of Blacks (and even whites that supported us) during the Civil Rights movement (see Selma for further understanding)?

None of these things happened because we chose to “respect ourselves before others did”. A lot of the things that happens to us happen DESPITE the fact that we may/may not respect ourselves. And why is there always an inclusion of “we” as if everyone does something? This is the problem right off the bat: Black people are still being seen as the monolithic, low class race that is still good for nothing while spear chucking chicken bones and spitting watermelon seeds as Gucci Mane burrs and Young Thug makes weird noises. Every Black person is not the same; so every Black person cannot subscribe to the same issues and find them to be relevant to their lives.

So, let’s face it: Kendrick Lamar didn’t know what the fuck he was talking about.

Azealia Banks Epilogue

Let me be clear again: this is not an Azealia Banks fan site nor is this a Kendrick Lamar smear campaign. What this can be called is “the truth”. Azealia Banks had every right to say what she said because she was right. We can agree, disagree, and not care. However, history would side with Azealia on this one. In the end, Kendrick Lamar just may need to speak for himself about things or check his Black history facts.

The post Azealia Banks Was Right about Kendrick Lamar appeared first on Madness & Reality.

Mental health issues have not gone away, I’m afraid.

In fact, there is one mental disorder that can be labeled as a growing epidemic: PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). PTSD can develop after a person is exposed to one or more traumatic events, such as sexual assault, serious injury, or the threat of death [1]. It needs to be notes, however, that someone does not have to be injured to get PTSD. Being an anxiety disorder, the victim relives that trauma through nightmares or flashbacks [2]. In turn, PTSD is a serious disorder because of the possibility of it happening.

Think about it: a traumatic event happens to, and around, people every day. So, PTSD can either manifest or become triggered every day.

Pharoahe Monch and PTSD

With this anxiety disorder in full prominence due to the consistent air of war (Iraqi and etc.), crime, and other happenings in the world, Pharoahe Monch recently released his album. This album is aptly titled PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). It is filled with stories of depression, angst, confusion, and eventually “mental freedom”. However, most of the musical ride has a very serious tone. With PTSD, Pharoahe Monch gives you the run down on how someone with this anxiety disorder might function.

Lyrically, the album gives examples of a person’s thought process with PTSD. For example, the track “Time2” actually gets into some serious issues that people with PTSD can possibly face:

Protection orders for my Post Traumatic Stress Disorder/Molested Mexican daughters, stretch across the border/The streets paved in gold often fade/When the paint they use to pave the streets is henna/And greener is the grass on the other side/Except for when that other side is geno/Or sewer (sui-cide), you smile while you sippin’ a cup of Kahlua/That makes me wanna mainline a fucking fifth of Dewars. [3]

If you noticed in the lyrics, there is a tone of how things are not what they seem. When the truth comes out, all the people that look at America as the “place of greener pasture” realize that the greenery given off may just be fake. Also, there are plenty of “sides” to choose from: genocide, suicide, and even homicide (pun intended). Much of this makes for many people to want to relieve their stress within a bottle. With just a few bars in a rhyme, Pharoahe Monch releases a lot of information.

Yet, Pharoahe gives even more examples of PTSD and how it affects the world around us. On the track “Losing My Mind”, he notes that he “Saw more war than Warsaw Poland/viewed an infant’s insides/outside of his body/inside of a place of worship, ungodly/out cries tears ‘Dear God, where are we?’[4]” With these lyrics, he takes on what a person has seen either in their mind or has come face-to-face with in times of war. Another arousing use of lyrics comes courtesy of “Broken Again”, where he takes on the thoughts of a drug addict:

On the floor going through withdrawals I was itchin’/she rescued me, my heroine to the en/but then she morphed into heroin in a syringe/around my bicep, I would tie a shoestring/Tap! five times to find a vein in there/squeeze 7cc’s so I could see the seven seas/and CC all my friends so they could see what I was seeing/but what they saw was a despicable human being/so, I guess they just wasn’t seeing what I was seeing [5]

In such short time, Pharoahe Monch gives a lot of examples of how PTSD (and even depression, in some cases) affects people.

Pharoahe Monch and the PTSD Conclusion

In the end, Pharoahe Monch made an album that encompasses the issues and occurrences of having PTSD. What I am afraid will happen is that this album, along with those that have PTSD, will be ignored. This is my rallying cry for those that need to understand. With violence, wars, and consistent every day trauma, this album is important. It is about time we listened and helped those with this anxiety disorder.

No one should keep suffering from PTSD without proper help.

The post Mental Health: Pharoahe Monch Raps About PTSD appeared first on Madness & Reality.

When Torrence Hatch was finally released from prison, I was actually glad. To me, it was another person released from the clutches of the prison system. Not only that, it was a person that had talent renown across the country. Plus, Lil Boosie has children to take care of. So, having him released from prison would probably signal a win for his family, friends, and many of his hip hop fans.

But that tide took a questionable turn as soon as he was released. As happy as the situation was, there seemed to be way too much attention drawn to the situation. While people had the right to be happy, I found it troubling that so many took their happiness too far. People made it seem like Lil Boosie is a war hero that was released after the antagonist of all of our African American angst placed him behind bars for being a king for his people. It seems as, once Torrence Hatch was released from prison, the hood wanted to throw him a ticker tape parade.

And I’m not completely sure as to “why” they feel this way.

The Lil Boosie Reaction

The problem is that people treated Lil Boosie like he was a great contributor to the state of Black America. When Bun B noted that “They [Fans] waited for Mandela… They waited for Pac, and they waited for Lil Boosie”, I was almost stuck in a state of confusion [1].

And then there was the Jason Weaver Response. Jason Weaver equated his disgust with the madness quite thoroughly:

Ok so…. I see a lot ppl on IG posting stuff about Lil Boosie gettin out of prison, talmbout “Welcome Home” “Boosie Back” and all kinds of other coon shit. Listen man, no disrespect to Boosie or anyone else for that matter who has ever been incarcerated, but the problem I have with the IG posts regarding him gettin out is it’s being displayed like it’s some kind of thing to celebrate. I’m sorry man, but why can’t we celebrate young black men who have stayed OUT of prison?

I’m not judging Boosie or any other individual who may have faced similar circumstances. It would sure be cool though if we posted more pics of our young brothas receiving high school diplomas, college degrees, and cool shit like that instead of a playa gettin out of prison mane. I’m about celebrating milestones in young black men’s lives that we can REALLY be proud of! Like for real… C’mon son!! Sorry for the rant, but I just had to say it. #KanyeShrug [2]

FREE LIL’ BOOSIE!

To be honest, I could not have said it better myself. There comes a time in which we have to realize that we are celebrating the wrong thing. Then again, I have my doubts on that overall realization in the first place.

The Lil Boosie Understanding

This entire situation only reveals that too many people in the hood lack heroes. I must concur that Lil Boosie does make quality hood music. However, what is this man’s great contribution to society as a whole? I am still questioning the celebration of a man that got himself put into prison for doing things the common person would consider “stupid”. Is this what we have evolved (or devolved) into? Are we here to make a hero out of someone that actually hasn’t made any significant change to the way we think and act as a people?

Lil Boosie did not fight apartheid just to go to prison. So, he is no Mandela.

Lil Boosie did not actually make music that inspired people to keep their heads up. So, he is no 2Pac.

Lil Boosie is Lil Boosie.

And we need to question what the hell is wrong with us when we overly celebrate the release of people from prison that actually worked hard to get themselves there. I, myself, am no fan of the prison system; it is basic institutionalized slavery. However, it should seem weird to be ecstatic about the release of someone that deliberately put their own self in prison. I know that people should be happy. Still, we need to be more cognizant of what, and why, we celebrate.

The post Lil Boosie and the Lack of Hood Heroes appeared first on Madness & Reality.

Kanye has worked very hard since to justify that put down.

The other day he said in an interview his bleached blonde bobblehead swerlie, Kim Kardashian was “more influential than Michelle Obama” and that Barack’s bunkmate, “cannot Instagram a pic like what my girl Instagrammed the other day,”

Kanye puts down Michelle Obama for not putting up pics of her sticking her butt in the camera like Kim. Let that thought sink in for a moment. Then laugh at the utter absurdity of a silly Negro like Kanye who actually thinks The First Lady of the United States has less going on that a brain-dead bimbo whose only claim to fame is screwing horny idiots with more jism than brain cells and making a sex tape.

Michelle Obama does not Instagram pics of her ass, Kanye. You do understand she is the First LADY, not the First Ratchet, right?

I can’t even get mad about this. One must pity not scorn those attempting to navigate life when they are mentally challenged. Kanye is about to be Kardashianed and he is doing it freely and of his volition. I’m happy for the brother. Things have gone too good for him and he found a whole new way to mess that up.

Remember when The Knack came out with “My Sharona?” Music critics creamed their jeans over them only to find out they were just another overhyped one-hit wonder. There are landfills all over America full of records, tapes and CD’s of shooting stars that shot their wad. Kanye gets the love because the pool is so shallow and he comes off like a whale in an ocean full of minnows. Whether he deserves the critical love is another matter.

Upon closer inspection, the brother peaked with Late Registration. Maybe Graduation, but when he dropped 808 and Heartbreak he jumped the shark with a jet-ski. The brother is running on vapors and there’s no gas stations for 100 miles.

Rappers specialize in bragging, babbling and b.s., but Kanye has completely abused the privilege. In ten years he’ll be playing state fairs while Kimmy K. will have taken her Tasty Kakes on to the next fool.

It’s 2013 and Kanye is so far removed from “genius” status it ain’t even funny. Stevie was a genius. James was a genius. Miles was a genius. Prince was a genius. Michael was a genius. Aretha was a genius.

Kanye is a poseur with a big mouth. That’s not genius. He’s old news. Next?

As for the love of his shallow life, If Kanye’s happiness comes from banging a talentless skank who dumped the last sucker after a sham 72 day “marriage” and will DO EXACTLY THE SAME THING to Kanye when Mama Kris gives the order, then he deserves the royal reaming he’s going to get when they extract his wallet by pulling it right out of his ass. I wouldn’t tap Kim if I were dying of a disease and the cure was stuffed up her hot dog-in-a-hallway semen dumpster.

Who wouldn’t want to be her and live the life she lives? Only any woman with class, confidence, intelligence, goals, self-respect that doesn’t want her “fame” to come from perverts rubbing one out to a video of her gobbling the nuts of some fake-ass rapper like a oversexed squirrel.

Kim Kardashian is a fame whore, a vagina on two legs and a perfectly good waste of skin. If that makes me a sexist, I plead guilty. She’s still been the downfall of more Black men than diabetes.

Many have theorized Kanye’s descent into self-parody coincides with the death of his mother. Possibly, but I’m not a therapist. However, he is wealthy enough to afford an army of good ones. Or at least he is until Kim and Kris clean out his accounts. Kanye should really take his own advice: Get a pre-nup.

[Originally posted at The Domino Theory by Jeff Winbush]

The post Kanye West and Kim Kardashian: Jackasses and Fame Whores appeared first on Madness & Reality.

Michelle Obama gave a speech over the weekend at Bowie State saying that too many Black kids fantasize about being ‘ballers and rappers’. Her exact quotes were as follows…

Today, more than 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, more than 50 years after the end of ‘separate but equal,’ when it comes to getting an education, too many of our young people just can’t be bothered,”

“Today, instead of walking miles every day to school, they’re sitting on couches for hours, playing video games, watching TV. Instead of dreaming of being a teacher or a lawyer or a business leader, they’re fantasizing about being a baller or a rapper,”

She concluded that many Black kids think getting an education is acting white… Her quote was “reject the slander that a black child with a book is trying to act white.”

Damn Michelle who the hell wrote your speech??

A few things to think about.. First lets just go on record and note, those ballers and rappers that many fantasize about, played a key role in getting Michelle and her husband into the White House, not once but twice..From Lebron James to Jay-Z to Will I am toCommon to Beyonce who the First Lady famously asserted was role model for her daughters, were all up in the mix during their campaigns and subsequent inaugurations..These rappers and ballers went out and engaged their fans, by doing songs, concerts and special appearances  to go to the polls and vote in what we are now seeing to be record numbers..

If we really wanna keep it 100.. I saw Diddy and Jigga hanging out at the inaugurations in 08 and not prominent scholars like a Cornel West who actually went and campaigned in 60 + cities for the president. We’ve seen countless pictures of rappers all up in the white house..Why wouldn’t a kid fantasize about being a rapper or baller when its them hob nobbing with the Obamas not his teacher or preacher?

Second point.. For the love of God, lets dispel with this 25-year-old cliché first uttered by Spike Lee back in the late 80s at the height of the crack epidemic about Black kids not wanting to read because it would make them appear white.. People who are trying to do the tough love thing have been running with that quote for far too long and it has no bearing in reality.

In the age of Youtube, the Internet and other forms of technology we have all sorts of cross pollination taking place. You have some kids in the hood rocking skinny jeans and skateboard gear made popular by white kids and in the burbs you will see white kids rocking a hat to the side and sagging pants made popular by their Black counterparts. Slang and patterns of speech are damn near universal at this point in time. In short if we’re going by style of dress and surface mannerisms one can question about what does it mean to be Black or white?

If we wanna talk about Black kids reading books and stereotypical perceptions behind that, we have to couch that in the context of disparities in education and how that plays out on the ground.

The fact is many of the ballers and rappers who kids MAY fantasize about are actually moguls in their own right with lots of money and perceived power which many have come to understand is the result of them having hustle, a willingness to grind and intelligence to navigate the systems before them.. Whether its Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Common, Rick Ross, Kobe  or Beyonce, you name it all have made it abundantly clear their success was the result of them grinding ..Its been made clear their mogulness has been the result of them soaking up game and learning the business aspect of the worlds they enter. As Jay-Z once famously rapped..I’m a businessman, I’m a Business, Man If that hasn’t been made clear, its up to people like Michelle Obama to highlight that aspect vs deriding one’s ‘fantasy’

The post Davey D’s Thoughts on Michelle Obama & Fantasizing about Ballers and Rappers appeared first on Madness & Reality.

Remember the days when you only admitted to drinking socially and smoking a cigarette? Remember when if you were caught with anything other than a Newport in your hand, you ‘passed the dutchie ‘pon the left hand side’ and blamed it on an absent friend when your parents found out about your rebellious indiscretion? Those days are over. Today, if you’re not holding a spliff laced with the ‘good (bad) shit’, “popping Molly’s“, or sniffing a line, you’re clearly not having fun, which these days is referred to being as being  ‘turned up.’ Let’s discuss the facts of this latest drug fad…

Five simple lyrics seemed to start an epidemic that is slowly becoming more and more annoying (and dangerous) to see. “Popped a Molly, I’m sweatin”, from the 2012 single “All Gold Everything” by Trinidad James, suddenly saw new-found interest in Molly. Donned in Gucci slippers, gold teeth, and a face only a mother could love, Trinidad rides around the streets of Georgia on a 10-speed in his video, talking about all of the gold he owns and will acquire in his life; nothing strange there right? Initially, the song didn’t hold my interest, but it wasn’t until I was unable to turn the channel in time, that I listened and took note of the now popular anthem… “Popped a Molly I’m sweatin’. Woo! Popped a Molly, I’m sweatin’. Woo!” While I didn’t know what the hell this man was talking about, I knew that whatever he was popping, it wasn’t an Advil and he wasn’t high off the wonders of a sexy woman. Suddenly rap’s most ratchet sons of Trap were shouting out Molly.

Rick Ross & Trinidad James

After posting a status on Facebook, asking that someone explain what (or who) a Molly is, my notifications blew up. Nobody could believe that I didn’t know what it was, furthermore, that I hadn’t indulged in it.

“You don’t know what Molly is?! Where you been at?”

“It’s pure Ecstasy, no fillers, just the pure stuff.”

“It’s cocaine in pill form.”

Clearly, my social network cronies could seem to agree what it actually is either, so I went to Google.

According to UrbanDictionary.com, Molly (clinical name, MDMA) is supposedly “the purest form of ecstasy.” It’s an upper that gives users a feeling of boundless energy, empathy, affection, and euphoria. It’s a mood enhancer that doesn’t cause withdrawal symptoms and whose properties are even being studied as a possible treatment for PTSD. But don’t get it twisted … recreational use of the drug poses some pretty dangerous risks; including severe anxiety recklessness, seizures, panic attacks, a jacked up cardiovascular system, and loss of consciousness among other dangers.  And while dealers profess to be selling a pure product, there’s no guarantee that it’s not cut with some other drug. In its purest form, it can cause heart problems.  According to a CNN.com article, recreational users who are just starting to partake in Molly’s resurgence, and haven’t (yet) experienced its side-effects, mistakenly think it’s safe to use and are misguided about the risks.

Recently rapper Rick Ross, received deserved backlash and was dropped as Reebok’s spokesperson, after he did a verse bragging about drugging a woman’s champagne with Molly and taking her home and “enjoying that, and she ain’t even know it” in a verse for the song U.O.E.N.O. And while some folks may think that Molly is the cool ‘in’ drug to do for rap fans just discovering it, and it has managed to take the spotlight off sizzurp, U.O.E.N.O. presented the drug in a more ominous light; rather than merely being a party-starter and mood-enhancer, it’s now, apparently, Kryptonite for date-rapists to use.

In a WSBTV.com article, Atlanta DEA agent Harry Sommers said, “(…) Think about the name Molly. It sounds like the girl next door. It sounds innocent. It sounds pure. It sounds OK.”  What none of these entertainers tell you is that this beautiful stranger named Molly isn’t the girl next door; she’s the vixen on the block whose looks can and on some occasions, will kill or pose serious health risks.

The post The Ratchet Diaries: Molly…The Girl Next Door appeared first on Madness & Reality.

On the political tip, we looked at the current marriage equality debate. Joining me were two openly gay men (one being a researcher for the Applied Research Center, and the other an openly gay Chicago public school teacher) as we took a look into the LGBTQ community. The conversation centered on the intersection of race, religion, and popular culture relative to the ongoing debate about marriage equality in light of the Supreme Court’s historic cases last week. All in all we had a great time as always; and, you can listen to the episode by clicking the player below. Hopefully upon listening, you’re entertained and enlightened.

The post Hip Hop, Misogyny, & What Gays Want appeared first on Madness & Reality.

As luck would have it for at least one police agency, there was no need for the services of neighborhood snitches when it cam to solving a recent string of robberies in New York. What’s hilarious to me, is that the criminals in this case are in fact aspiring rappers; who, because of their music video, are about to do some serious prison time for their crimes of robbery. Yep, that’s right; there’s no need for a snitch when you’re willing to snitch on yourself in a music video as these upstanding citizens turned wannabe-rap-stars recently did.

Theis from The New York Times:

The slick rap video had all the trappings of a hit: guns, gritty urban setting, armed robbery and a flashy getaway car. But, as it turned out, the video found its true potential not on YouTube, but in federal court.

The video shows three men in a black Mercedes, immersed in the prelude of a crime about to be committed. Ski masks are donned; guns are readied. Two of the men emerge from the car and follow a man to a building hallway, where they rob him at gunpoint. They return to the car, and the waiting driver speeds them away.

Rap music has been known for violent images and lyrics, but this video, inspired by a song, “The Joy” by Kanye West and Jay-Z, was unusual because some of its featured performers have been charged as members of a real-life robbery team. And the video showed them staging the same kind of crime that they had been charged with committing.

The actual crimes, prosecutors say, included a string of armed robberies in the Bronx and Westchester County, in which a group of men brandished guns and knives and stole thousands of dollars from bodega owners and deliverymen. In one 2011 robbery in Mount Vernon, N.Y., a man was shot and killed.

Five members of the group have now been convicted in Federal District Court in Manhattan; the latest two, Dwayne Barrett, 35, and Jermaine Dore, 26, were found guilty on Tuesday.

In the music video, Mr. Barrett drives the Mercedes getaway car.

In many of the actual robberies, prosecutors said, the same Mercedes was used and Mr. Barrett was the driver. Another defendant, Taijay Todd, who pleaded guilty in February to participating in robberies, portrays a gunman in the video.

The video appears to have been created by Mr. Todd. His lawyer, Steven Brill, said in a court filing that Mr. Todd had told investigators that he was “involved in the music industry” and “made music videos.”

Prosecutors had listed the music video as evidence, and defense lawyers urged Judge Richard J. Sullivan to preclude it from being introduced.

Watch the video:

I don’t know why these guys did what they did, or whether introducing their video as evidence was fair — actually, I’d leave that up to you to decide. However, I’m pretty sure that the victims of their robberies can all breathe a sigh of relief in large part because of the fact that “keeping it real,” at least in this case, went horribly wrong. I suppose the guys in this case never listened to the 1991 classic “Just To Get A Rep” by Gang Starr. I’m not sure if that would’ve made a difference. But, maybe they should have joined the Illuminati like every other successful rapper has done.

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But be that as it may, I guess an aspiring rapper offering a blood sacrifice to the Illuminati in an attempt to break into the business is to be understood. After all, we all know that this is the very organization responsible for the existence of everything in the world as we know it. That said, why should the hip hop industry be any different, right? Surely the Illuminati has a hand in everything when it comes to making money, right? And of course this would explain why one aspiring Virginia rapper is awaiting trial for shooting his friend in an apparent Illuminati blood sacrifice, in an attempt to make it in the music industry.

This from the Richmond Times Dispatch:

A Henrico County judge Thursday scheduled a two-day trial in June for an aspiring rap star who, according to a prosecutor, apparently believed that he had to sacrifice his friend to reach stardom.

Henrico Circuit Judge L.A. Harris Jr. denied bond Thursday for Wafeeq Sabir El-Amin, 27, after Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Thomas L. Johnson described El-Amin as a danger to the public and a man who was so overcome with marijuana when questioned by detectives that he could not remember the events of the month in which he committed the alleged crime.

“You are my sacrifice,” Johnson quoted El-Amin as saying before he allegedly fired a shot toward his friend’s head inside a Henrico home that was to become a music studio.

El-Amin is listed in state records as the registered agent of Break Bread Inc., located in the 1000 block of Athens Avenue just north of Brook and Parham roads.

According to a search warrant, the shooting at the now-abandoned dwelling the night of Dec. 26 occurred after prolonged marijuana use. The victim awoke from a drowsy sleep to see El-Amin pointing a gun at his head and saying he needed to be sacrificed, according to the search warrant.

The bullet ricocheted off the victim’s hand sending bone and skin fragments into his eye, according to the warrant, but the victim was able to get hold of the gun and shoot El-Amin in the stomach before he ran off.

The victim has not been charged.

Johnson said in court Thursday that the trial will delve into the hip-hop music culture and the notion that a secret society called the Illuminati has control over the success of some performers.

It was the belief that a sacrifice had to occur in order to join the Illuminati that allegedly incited El-Amin, Johnson said. Investigators recovered more than a pound of marijuana from the Athens Avenue home, according to the search warrant, as well as literature dealing with the Illuminati and its alleged connection to the music industry.

Wafeeq Sabir El-Amin

Harris, in denying bond for El-Amin, who waved happily to family members in the courtroom Thursday, said he was concerned about Johnson’s representations that El-Amin claimed no knowledge of what occurred in December because of the amount of marijuana he had smoked.

Johnson said in court that a book about the role of the Illuminati in hip-hop music and especially in the career of rap star 50 Cent was an obsession for El-Amin.

El-Amin, who has a South Richmond address and no prior criminal record, is charged with malicious wounding, use of a firearm in commission of a felony, possession of marijuana and possession with intent to distribute marijuana. He was indicted by a grand jury earlier this year.

Harris set the trial for June 26 and 27. (source)

At the behest of sounding like a 40-year-old hip hop fan stuck in ’93, and played out like Kwame’s polka dots and five-star rims (yeah, I know you remember them shits). But I’d truly like to know: what’s up with hip hop culture today? The Illuminati? I mean, really? Alright, I’m not going to go into one of those profanity laced rants; and yes, I know the days of old will never return; and yes, as much as I hate it, I’m good with that. However, as of late I’ve been hearing a lot of talk about a connection between hip hop and the Illuminati; but, this shit is ridiculous. Listen, there’s no Illuminati; nope, it doesn’t exist. Let’s be real, if there was such an organization, why would they even be associated with nickel and dime Negroes? No seriously, so what was supposed to happen once Sabir El-Amin successfully murdered his friend? What, send then a message on YouTube?

You Negroes play too damn much:

What’s next, Jay-Z’s daughter Blue Ivy is going to have her name secretly encoded on the back of a one hundred-dollar bill? Is that where we’re at now, youth culture? Seriously, is that what’s hot in the streets? For real? We’re on some bullshit like this? What, do we need to bring back Freestyle Friday on BET, or some shit like that? Next y’all gon’ tell me the Illuminati is behind skinny jeans.

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