The Redskins' Prayer

Sun - 9/13/09
I was at the bar watching the Dolphins when my phone died at about 3:30 ... 45 minutes before the Skins/Giants game jumped off. By the time I got the thing recharged, we were 3 quarters in and I had racked up 38 text messages, the majority from 4 cousins and my brother. Actually, I'm not even sure my brother joined in the text barrage. This may have been the combined work of 4 cousins and a couple friends. I started to shuffle through all my messages, unearthing gems like:

'fuck aikman'
'we are not very good'
'we blow'
'we need a new qb, a new coach, a new o line'
'Campbell reminds me of Forest Gump, but without the heart and brains. Actually, that statement is an insult to Forest. Forest was an All American for the Crimson Tide and would have been a great NFL player if it wasn't for that damn Vietnam War and the injury he sustained to his buttocks.'
'Cornerbacks are losing the game for us. Plus we suck and have campbell and zorn.'
'Unfucking believable'
'This could be a blow out'
'WTF is with this playcalling? Who's coaching this team? Tom Landry?'
'I feel bad you have to watch Campbell stink up the joint all day.'

Jammed in the middle of curse word combos and cries of disgust, I found a prayer my cousin Bill penned before kickoff. So without further adieu, I give you the Redskins prayer:

As the opening game of the season nears, I only have a few simple requests of the Football gods. Please, let the Redskins play football like men this year. Please let the offensive line play much bigger than their puny selves. Please turn Jason Campbell into a superstar with some fire in his belly and balls as big as those famous Redskins quarterbacks of yore. Please keep our superstars healthy. Please tell Zorn that he cannot dink and dunk the ball all day long, especially on 3rd and long. And lastly, oh gods of the almighty pigskin, if you could please let us beat the shit out of the 'insert team of choice' today. Is this is too much to ask, then fuck you, fuck aikman, and fuck all the teams we play, because Redskins fans around the globe are counting on you to deliver us to the promised land. Amen! Hail to the Redskins! Hail Victory! Go Skins!

Nuke -The Truth-

WHY BLACK MEN CHEAT.....PART 2

Sorry for the delay. But I didn't wanna just push out some b.s. on something so serious. (yeah, right, lol)

The second reason I would have to associate with black men cheating is self-esteem. Let's not confuse self-esteem with swagger, confidence or conceit. Those three are personality or surface traits. Things that can be turned off or on when necessary. Self-esteem goes deeper. How you view yourself speaks into what motivates you when nobody's looking. It's a character trait. It's the reason why even the most beautiful women can feel bad about their looks or feel insecure. This is a main area that black men are especially good at masking. We are very good at playing it like we have high self-esteem when deep down we are dealing with all kinds of insecurities. "Do I look good enough", "do I make enough money", "do I dress nice enough", etc. And within the black community there are several catalyst for opening up these insecurities.

Our culture focuses and puts so much emphasis on materialism, cultivating your outward appearance, and sexual prowess. Look at the music which has in the past and currently represents our community. It constantly focuses on how good you should make love to your woman (with r&b) and how many different "hoes" you have and how much of a pimp you are (with rap). This will put a lot of pressure on a man (from personal experience, sheesh ladies, lol). So many black men are going to use their skill in the bedroom as a measure for their self-esteem. Unfortunately, you can't get an accurate measure without testing it on different women. So what you get is a man who's constantly reassuring himself by how many women he can sleep with and how good they tell him he is in bed, even if the main one he is involved with constantly reassures him of this. As far as he's concerned, she's saying that because she loves him and wants to reassure him. His "swagger", his "confidence" is all manufactured to give the appearance of someone with high self-esteem and also because its part of the game. We already know that women are attracted to "confidence" and "swagger". Therefore, those surface traits that we know help us get women are the same ones that we use against women in an effort to make us feel better about ourselves.

I could probably write 10 more pages on this, but I think you understand what I'm talking about. Men are not going to cry or display emotion about our insecurities. We're going to mask them in ways that help us forget. And nothing makes you feel better about yourself than knowing that you can "bag up" any woman you want. You must be the man. Think about it. It occupies so much of our conversation when men get together. It what our music concentrates on. Unfortunately, its what our value system is based on.

This is it!!!! WHY BLACK MEN CHEAT.....PART 1

This is it!!!! WHY BLACK MEN CHEAT.....PART 1

A complicated question deserves a complicated answer. So I had to split this blog into 3 parts and even those 3 parts still won't and couldn't possibly cover everything. Also, this is just an attempt at identifying "why". How to prevent cheating is almost an impossible dream and entirely dependent on the individual. But here's my stab at why black men cheat.

The main reason I would associate with it is Power. Here are some dictionary meanings to the word "power".

1. ability to do or act; capability of doing or accomplishing something.
2. the possession of control or command over others; authority; ascendancy: power over men's minds.
3. a person or thing that possesses or exercises authority or influence.

Among the physical and psychological needs to eat, breathe, security, fulfillment, and growth is a human need for power. It is ones innate desire to feel in control of their environment and to have an immediate effect on their situation. Sometimes this involves controlling or being in a position of authority over others. And whether this need for power is exerted positively or negatively greatly depends on the individual's personal experiences and background. This feeling of power can come from any area and to satisfy it all an individual has to have is the ability to exert that power. To understand how this relates to cheating, we have to look at the Black Man's need for power and how it can be manifest.

In today's world, specifically white America, Black Men are not empowered, or at least, not made to feel like they are empowered. We're made to feel like we're not in control of our job situation, our education, and our government. (This is very intentional, I would invite everyone to read "The Willie Lynch Papers" and see how slavery was intentionally and purposely devised to emasculate the black man). Even within the black family black men are rarely seen as the leaders with "Big Mamas" and "Nanas" being the strong ones and focal points.

So with all these areas basically negating the black man's power, there is one area where he is in full control. His sexuality. His ability to charm and attract women is directly associated with his need for power. His manipulation over women is directly related with his strength, his prowess, his "ability to do or act; accomplish something". Look at our music. Look at our culture. Black men pride themselves on how much they are "good lovers" and how many women they get and the physical quality of those women. This is constantly reasserted and any comments made to detract from that is directly related to his "manhood", his stature, his POWER.

Because society has taken power from him, the black man seeks to exert is elsewhere, in the area that he has the most control over, who he sleeps with and how often. Could this be directly linked to the black man's self-esteem? Stay tuned for Part 2.

Who Moved My Cheese?!!!!

A close friend of mine once recommended a book to me titled “Who Moved My Cheese?” which was a great book about change and how people are very relunctant, almost opposed, to change. I’ve thought about that a lot recently because in my experiences I have come across people who so much want their lives to change. They want better jobs, better relationships, better experiences, all which are a CHANGE from what they are going through now. And its understandable because who wouldn’t want our lives to be better. Who wouldn’t want things to CHANGE for the better. Where herein lies the problem.

Change means something different. And many times it means something different from us. It means to change our attitudes, our outlooks, our perspectives and our actions. But most people want change to magically happen. They want it to just spring up out of the blue where suddenly they have a better job or their job environment is dramatically improved. They want their relationships to be more fulfilling, more fun, more exciting. But what people miss is that for all these changes that they want in all these different areas the one aspect of it that remains the same is them.

Many of us have heard, and even quoted, the phrase

If you want something you've never had before, you must be willing to do something you've never done.

Man, that sounds good. Saying it to someone else makes you sound so profound. But what’s more profound is applying it to yourself. You want your job situation to improve DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT. You want your relationship to get better DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT. If you are walking around doing the same thing when you got on your knees and said your heartfelt prayer about how you want the Lord to make things better in your life and then after you said “amen” went right back to doing the same things that you were doing before, don’t be surprised if your prayer goes unanswered. Its true, the Lord helps those that help themselves. Well start helping yourself. Get better training, dress differently, improve your vocabulary, learn a new skill and maybe your job situation will improve. Or tell your significant other you love them more, be more affectionate, be more trusting, open yourself up more and maybe your relationship will get better. Change your attitude, change your perspective on life and maybe your experiences will change.

Please check out the book I recommended and see how change is not about others. Its about yourself.

ONE
Cashmere the PRO aka RJ

Classified - Self Explanatory album review

Classified
Self Explanatory
Sony Music Canada
2009

As Classified’s career has developed from Emcee to Producer Who Raps, his skills have rapidly increased in potency. Classified once said in an interview that he tries to make every album better than his last. And once again, he has succeeded. There is no simple explanation for Self Explanatory. With previous albums, Halifax’s underground king channeled his energy battling the industry, haters, other emcees, and the perception of the Canadian rapper. Although he occasionally drifted from these topics, the majority of his albums were a testament to his frustration as a Canadian artist who obviously deserved more attention.

On Self Explanatory, he finally finds the perfect balance between lyrical master, song writer, and production genius. By straying a bit from those all-too familiar topics, he creates a spine-rattling collage of mainstream club bangers, less than typical slow jams, inspirational messages, underground lyrical fests, obligatory posse cuts, stories, and Canadian tributes. Class has always been a great producer, but 2005’s Boy-Cott-In The Industry saw a shift from simple Triton-inspired keyboard grooves to live guitars and chopped samples. Since that album, Luke Boyd has gone from bedroom beats to studio symphonies. Self Explanatory contains Luke’s best production to date, blending live instruments, cleverly chopped samples, vocal hooks, synthesizers, and singing into melodic grooves and neck-snapping head bangers.

Read the rest of this review for Classified - Self Explanatory

Nuke

MICHAEL JACKSON IS A DEAD MUSICIAN....

Ok, I’m going to make a lot of people mad with this one, but I have to say it. I have to say it on here because I can’t say it at home or I will either be hungry, have a pile of dirty clothes or be practicing a lot of self-love, but I still must say it.

Ok, here it is: MICHAEL JACKSON IS A DEAD MUSICIAN!!!!

Alright, so maybe that doesn’t sound like too much of a revelation, but the fact remains that that’s what he is now. A dead guy who made music. Great music. I mean really great music. And as a performer, he is unmatched. As an entertainer the man is unquestionably the greatest to have ever done it. But people, that is where it stops.

While I am grateful and admire his charity work, this does not place him in the greatest humanitarian class. The same rule applies to philanthropist as it does to rappers, IT AIN’T TRICKIN’ IF YOU GOT IT. Of course he gave millions to charities, he made hundreds of millions (I believe he grossed $1 billion). Its no different that Bill Gates foundation which has donated more than $30 billion. That is what rich people do. When they have built the biggest house they could build, and bought all the things they wanted to buy, and gave all the gifts to their friends and family that they wanted, they give their money away. But make no mistake, the man was not a revolutionary. In fact, NO MUSICIAN IS A REVOLUTIONARY. I’m not saying musicians don’t care. I’m just saying musicians ARE NOT the catalyst for change. “Where Are the World” hasn’t changed shit. “Heal the World” hasn’t stopped shit. For all the revolutionary music that he’s made, NOTHING HAS HAPPENED AS A RESULT OF THAT MUSIC.

There is a difference between revolutionaries and philanthropistS. Both are important. But revolutionaries are there on the front lines. They’re the ones risking jail time. They’re the ones putting their lives on the line for the causes they believe in. They’re the ones that go to government officials and challenge them. They’re the ones that spend the most amount of time with the people truly affected by the causes their fighting for. Philanthropist fund the research and fund the overhead. Thank you, it is appreciated. But who do you cheer for at a game, the players or the owners? The ones taking the bumps and bruises or the ones who fund it?

I’m not saying Michael didn’t care. But have you ever seen him talk about mentoring or issues in the hood? Ever seen him in the heart of the ghetto trying to change things? No. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t care because he’s given hundreds of thousands to Big Brothers, Community Youth Sports (LA), and the United Negro College Fund. But did he ever go to Capitol Hill to try to push some legislation through that would actually help people? Did he ever spend days and nights in bad, dilapitated areas trying to figure out ways to help people? The price of Neverland Ranch could’ve rebuilt thousands of families’ lives in New Orleans.

Folks, no disrespect. I’m not saying he wasn’t an entertainment “Icon”. But for change to come, it requires action. It requires being there personally. It requires risks. It requires more than just a song about it.

ONE

Cashmere the PRO aka RJ

The Game Done Changed....

I’m not gonna lie. I’m an elitist. I learned this while talking to an ultra-conservative, libertarian at my job yesterday regarding Obama and Palin. So now that I have this information about myself I wondered how it applied to other areas of my life, specifically (for this blog) hiphop. And what I realized is that I have to come to terms with the fact that the game has changed.

Now aside from the fact that personally to me emcees are just less creative and that music has become about who can fashion the best “dance” song or ringtone, but the way emcees market and advertise has changed dramatically. Its no longer about making a hit, its about getting hits. Its not about selling a million units, its about having a million visitors. In the electronic age, your buzz is not simply generated by your mixtapes and how hot your tracks are, but by how much controversy you can stir up from your youtube video. Joe Budden, Solja Boy, Ice T, and a hoard of other artist are now capitalizing on the fact that 90% of their target audience is on the internet. And not just using the internet occassionally, but I mean hardcore attached to the internet. Not just on their computers at home and work, but they follow these things on their cell phones. This is proven by Twitter which means that as a follower, you are basically saying ‘I am so dedicated to this person that I am willing to check their twitter page 50 times a day just to see if they bought ice cream the same flavor as me’. But these artists know what they’re doing. This is all part of the entertainment package. You don’t just get mediocre music with your artist, but now you get up to the minute details of their boring ass life, which only seems less boring because they happen to make mediocre music.

I guess I can’t hate what’s going on, but the elitist side of me does. The elitist side of me hates fakes ass “reality” shows because studios don’t want to pay writers to come up with creative shit like Cheers, Seinfield, and 24. It hates that because I can take a camcorder (or phone video) of me talking shit about somebody else and because its somewhat funny it gives me a pass to make wack ass music devoid of any creativity. It hates that what has happened is that the listening audience is more focused on the day-to-day activities of an artist’s girl than the artist’s music. It hates that the world has become so brain-dead that it can’t see how instead of creating our own adventures and our own excitement we rather leech off someone else’s.

Guess I need to get my camcorder ready. GREY EP COMING BITCHES!!! I need to start a beef.

ONE

Cashmere the PRO aka RJ