The Fires, From That Time to Now - Chris 'Preach' Smith

Twenty years ago today. the City of Angels burned like hell.

Los Angeles saw itself set ablaze because of the horrendous acquittal of four LAPD
officers caught on tape beating Rodney King after pulling him over on the road after
a high speed chase. That video did nothing to sway an all-white jury in the suburb
of Simi Valley from setting those cops free. And years of pent-up frustration and
anger exploded. It took one billion dollars of property damage and a new federal
trial to bring some sort of calm back to the streets. It took 54 people dying and
one near death on TV, that of Reginald Denny, a trucker, to get a kind of justice
for Rodney King.

I can’t sit there and say that I remember the riots themselves very well. But I do
remember feeling that they marked a significant change for me. I remember
thinking that as we watched Cliff and Claire Huxtable dance off the set the night
after, marking the end of ‘The Cosby Show’, thinking that we were seeing the end
of a supposed innocence the country allowed itself about people of color. Here in
New York, I remember seeing my parents’ faces grow a bit somber. We were glued
to coverage of the riots when we were home. I was in my second year of high
school. As much as I was into video games, comics and music and girls at that time,
the L.A. Riots was something that weighed on me. I began to question just how
justice could ever be given to people of color. I also wondered if something like
that could happen here. I don’t even remember more than one teacher talking
about it. In a Catholic high school set in the predominately white neighborhood of
Fresh Meadows, it may have been tantamount to revolution.

The L.A. Riots struck a chord in me, one I didn’t realize until years later. It helped me to
connect better with the music of NWA, Tupac and others who called those streets home
and had dealt with the paramilitary-styled LAPD for years. I began to think how I could
have grown up out there, feeling as if I was at war with an arm of a society that viewed
me as a criminal. And then seeing that I was in that same boat with the NYPD. I dug into
books on the riots during the Civil Rights era. And as I grew, I saw hip hop grow with a
duality of voices, bearing both a hard edge and a political one.

Leonard Pitts of The Miami Herald wrote about the Rodney King case being similar to the
recent death of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. And that comparison is stunning, because
of what it means. It means that we as a nation have not learned nor fully addressed racism
as this country’s original sin. We’ve never dug deep in that national discourse. Given the
fact that riots are cyclical, who’s to say that if justice is not served in the Trayvon Martin
case that we wouldn’t see something like that break out again? I’m not advocatiing it or
predicting a riot. Because that damage now, in a weak economy that has hit Black homes
hard would absolutely push us over the brink. There’s no power in that. But what this day
should be is more than a mere footnote. We should remember why those fires burned. We
should not be afraid to have that discourse on race and justice, ALL of us. And we should
remember that fires that burned before can rise again if we’re not careful.

Holler If You See Me - Chris 'Preach' Smith

History was made at Coachella Sunday.

Yes, by now the world is still buzzing about the fact that Tupac Shakur
appeared onstage with Dr.Dre, Eminem and Snoop Dogg Sunday night.
Yes, the same Tupac Shakur who was gunned down in Las Vegas years
ago. Thanks to the collaboration between Dre and AV Concepts, Tupac
was rejuvenated for the set, sending the Coachella crowd and everyone
crazy for days after. Now the ‘hologram’ (in reality it’s a 2-D, CGI model
displayed by a 19th century technique of reflection known as ‘Pepper’s
Ghost’) not only has its own Twitter account, but it also may be going
on tour with Snoop and Wiz Khalifa among others. This raises many
questions, but none bigger than this:

Are we THAT starved for quality concerts?

First, give Dre a lot of credit for again making another techonlogical
breakthrough in the world of hip-hop. He did have people gassed with
initial reports of Nate Dogg being the one to be revived digitally, even
though there are reports of more to come and both Dre and AV Concepts
aren’t giving away too much. The other positive here is that Afeni
Shakur, ‘Pac’s mother did give her blessing for this to take place, which
worried me when I saw first reports about this. But in regards to that
question I posed above…taking a ‘hologram’ on tour? Dre has a vision,
all right. He’s looking to stack huge amounts of paper. Wiz Khalifa is
arguably the most popular of the contemporary rappers out. Big arena
concerts run you about 55 dollars and up. Add a phenomena like this
Tupac hologram and you’re now talking a 50 dollar increase. Taylor Swift
money. That’s one underlying aspect to this. I’ve seen jokes about doing
this for Biggie and Big L and others, but who’s to say that won’t happen?

The other underlying issue is, will this be the upcoming norm now? The
tech behind this costs about $100,000 to $400,000. How many hip-hop
artists can you name that would be able to pull this off night in and night
out? And as Questlove said on Twitter, there may be some half-hearted
imitators coming down the pike. Imagine a…dare I say it…French Montana
hologram?! I’m safe in saying no one wants to see that. This whole thing
seems like a revamp of Michael Crichton’s ‘Westworld’. Plus, what does it
say that people will be more amped to spend money for a show like this
but have complained in the past about paying for shows like Rock The
Bells, Paid Dues and others? The ghost in the shell is loose…let’s see if
it’ll remain innovative and positive.

Quiet Storm No More - Chris "Preach" Smith

Monday was a bad day for Queensbridge.

First Lamar Odom aka Mr. Khloe Kardashian winds up parting ways with the Dallas
Mavericks with a huge cloud over him. Can’t be good for Kris’ percentage as his
manager. Then I get home and get wind of a Twitter war starring…MOBB DEEP?!!
For those who have avoided this situation like a ‘Basketball Wives’ pancake breakfast,
let me sum it all up. Havoc allegedly fired off a string of nasty Tweets directed at
Prodigy, proclaiming him to be a jailhouse homosexual. He even claimed he had to
put hands on Prodigy at last month’s SXSW in Austin in the rant as a result. Hav later
issued  a statement  claiming his phone was stolen while at a gas station in New Jersey.
But  there’s now audio which repeats the same claims and the voice was confirmed on
The Breakfast Club by Noreaga. Prodigy issed a quick reply via Twitter, claiming that HIS
account was a fake to begin with but never addressed the comments made.

This whole situation is like stepping off the back of the bus and catching a foot in your
back to make you crash to the ground. One of the grimiest hip hop duos ever beefin’?
ON TWITTER?!!! That’s about as gangster as Richard Simmons doing Eazy E karaoke.
For anyone who’s followed Mobb from their first album, this hurts. Being from Southeast
Queens, you know that part of the summer of 1995 had to have ‘The Infamous’ as part
of the backdrop. They are the stickup kids turned into verse-spitting rap stars. They were
the only ones willing to challenge Snoop & the West Coast during those times of coastal
beef. Havoc and Prodigy, for all that’s been said about them, were real in that sense.
You don’t expect thug dudes like they are to air each other’s business or even attempt
to online. That’s for the Chris Browns and Perez Hiltons and Courtney Loves of the world.
Beefs begin on wax and (hopefully) get handled on wax. That’s been the way. But this
episode shows that even this code is no longer sacred.

The other aspect about this that is troubling is the homosexuality issue. We all know that
it’s a hot-button topic in hip-hop. Who’s on the DL? Who isn’t? It’s a common slur when it
shouldn’t be, but it is. And ‘allegedly’ calling your main man out for it publicly is a bad look.
First off, it raises the question as to WHY someone would even do that and second, why
would you do that to your boy of 10+ years? Knowing that Prodigy has been the brunt of
jokes ever since the Summerjam screen? Maybe there’s been tension brewing all along.
Maybe Havoc got tired of Prodigy’s Alex Jones speeches. Maybe the rigors of being relevant
in today’s candy-painted rap game got to them. Either way, there’s a sadness to all of this.
Just sadness.

Double Standards at Twin Lakes - Chris 'Preach' Smith

I woke up this morning and outside of all of the other thoughts that
ran through my mind, prayers and all was this:

You can now die just for having a bag of candy and an iced tea. If you’re
a young Black male, that is.

Trayvon Martin, only 17 years old, was murdered on February 26th in Sanford,
Florida after going to a convenience store just because he wanted a snack for
his younger brother.  George Zimmerman, the 26-year old captain of the neighborhood
watch, saw Trayvon and immediately called 911. They advised him to back off. It’s
on tape. Yet Zimmerman confronted Trayvon, and as a result Trayvon died from one
9mm gunshot wound to the chest. Claiming self-defense in the guise of Florida’s
‘Stand Your Ground’ law, Zimmerman was let go. And remains free. And that is
the inherent, but all too familiar tragedy. As a Black man in the United States, it
is a tragedy that looms as a possible future for me, even now. It always has. I
think about how many times, growing up in Southeast Queens, that my mother
would caution me to be careful, to be aware. How she would worry if I didn’t call,
or until I called or came home. I know why she worried. She didn’t want my name
to be added to that long ledger known as Dying While Black. And as I get older,
I see just how real that fear is day by day.

Zimmerman is supposedly a white Latino which makes this all the more troubling
combined with the other elements of this murder. I use the word ‘murder’ because
that’s what this is. I use it so that I know, and you know from readng this, that there
is no room to evade or hide from that. Zimmerman has had issues before. He had been
alleged to have forcibly escorted a person out of the mostly white, gated community.
There were complaints about his behavior. And riddle me this: who would issue a
NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH CAPTAIN a 9MM handgun? Or allow that to take place? Or
even install someone who has been arrested in 2005 for assault of a police officer and
resisting arrest to be in that position? Zimmerman’s father issued a statement saying
that his son wasn’t racist. I think his father is deluded. Because listening to the 911 call,
you can hear the uneasiness in his son’s tone. The wary inflections. The tone that usually
says, ‘You don’t belong here.’ HE INITIATED THE INCIDENT. Yet the police let him go, and
confound their blunder by sitting on the 911 tapes and then releasing them on a Friday
in the middle of March Madness, when they felt no one would make them notable.

I’ve heard all the tapes. Heard someone scream for help. And I can’t help but think of
what Trayvon’s last moments were. I can’t help but think about how his parents felt,
knowing they’d never see him come through their front doors again. I can’t help but
think of my godmother’s nephew who was jumped and murdered just a few years ago
and no one was ever charged. I can’t help but think that Zimmerman’s aggression and
attitude was yet another construct of a society that views young people of color as a
threat, so much so that a law called ‘Stand Your Ground’, with severely broad interpretations
on the basis of how self-defense as a right can be used. If it seems like I’m angry, I am.
And i’m sad because even with a Black president, young lives of color are still seen by
many as nothing more than the price of an Arizona Iced Tea and a bag of Skittles. It
hurts to read about something like this, hurts more for parents to go through it. And it
hurts us as a nation that this still goes on. Which is why Zimmerman needs to be
arrested and brought to trial. Enough is enough.

Sign the petition here:

http://www.change.org/petitions/prosecute-the-killer-of-17-year-old-trayvon-martin

Colonialism of Conscience - Chris "Preach" Smith

Joseph Kony, head of the Lord’s Resistance Army.

Last week, social media exploded over two simple words: ‘STOP KONY’. If
you happened to be on Twitter around 9 PM Eastern Standard Time, you saw that
become the top trend, with everyone retweeting and sharing a 30 minute video
documenting the horrors of Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, head of the Lord’s
Resistance Army. The most heinous of Kony’s crimes has been the use of children
to populate the LRA through kidnapping and murder. Boys are forcibly armed to
fight for the LRA and girls are taken as sexual objects and domestics. At last word
60,000 have fallen prey to the LRA’s evil. The reason why this now dominates
discussions around the world has been that film on YouTube, created by the charity
Invisible Children. The film has gotten 26 million hits as of this morning roughly. It
has gotten the attention of the Today Show, CNN, and other news outlets. So, is this
a bad thing?

In a word: maybe.

Don’t get me wrong, I am all for people taking action to make the world better however
they can. But the moment I saw the Kony 2012 campaign trending on Twitter, I felt
uneasy. Mainly because I wondered why Invisible Children made this push now when
I had heard about Kony and the LRA in 2005. As I looked through all the info I could
find, I found a number of people rightfullly outraged, asking what President Obama
was doing. Never mind the fact that he had sent 100 Special Force members into the
region late last year over the protests of Republicans. And let’s remember, last Tuesday
was their party’s Super Tuesday of primaries. Keep that in mind for later. And when I
got the chance to see the film, I was struck at the emotional effect…and also at how
simplified they really made things to prove a point. The goal of Invisible Children is
to get worldwide attention on Joseph Kony to have him detained and tried for his crimes.
But the way they’ve gone about it casts a shadow on their intentions.

Founders of Invisible Children, taken from Vice Magazine

One of the biggest criticisms of Invisible Children has been their finances.
It has been reported that in addition to getting two million dollars from
Oprah Winfrey, Invisible Children has recieved money from AIM AIR and
the National Christian Foundation. The latter organization is a red flag due
to it being the key group responsible for financially backing Calfiornia’s
Proposition 8 along with sending money to the Family Research Council,
named as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Not good
company to be in. Their usage of revenue has come under serious fire,
with Visible Children, an opposition group stating that IC has only used
33 percent of their almost 9 million dollar intake towards aid services in
Central Africa. One million was spent on travel alone. The three main
men, (Jason Russell, Ben Keesey, Laren Poole) each earned close to
90K. And to date, they’ve made half a million dollars on ‘awareness kits’
sold at $30 each. So if you want to be bold, Invisible Children are in
danger of becoming slick ‘poverty pimps.’

The big problem here is this: Invisible Children has now fallen into a trap
of its own making. It’s a trap that basically portrays them as well-meaning
but dangerously naive about the politics of Kony and Uganda. It’s a trap
that paints them as White knights coming to yet again speak for Africans
who cannot speak for themselves, even though they’ve been doing so since
the atrocities began. It’s a trap that gets well-intentioned people interested
in the cause, but also sells them the idea that involvement can be minimal
and short-term. And that’s a bad thing to portray. Look at Haiti as an example.
Hell, look at New Orleans. It’s a colonialism of conscience in some respects; a
thought process where wanting to help is tainted by how one goes about helping
and they resources they use to do so. It demands that you think of yourself and
the Ugandan people in father/children roles. That belittles them greatly, and
makes Invisible Children part of a list of exploiters. That’s sad.

The lessons to be learned from this? It’s good to want young people to know
about the issues of the world, but it’s never good to manipulate them into
doing so. Charities may need to be vetted more vigorously. And if people
really want to help, they should help themselves to all the knowledge they
can about the issue and not have one group or story be the defining tale.

Memories Hypnotize - Chris "Preach" Smith

Fifteen Years.

When you mark time with tragedy as a milestone, you feel that pain
heavily at first. Then it fades until the numbers get larger. I thought
about that late last night when I saw all of the quotes and thoughts
about The Notorious B.I.G. aka Biggie Smalls begin to pop up here
and there prior to the anniversary of his murder.

All that time gone by. You start replaying key moments that have
gone by since B.I.G.’s death. More than anything, it becomes a giant
case of the ‘what ifs’, like that Marvel Comics series. I found myself
detailing all of these scenarios in my head, like I’ve done each year
since 1997. Like everyone else has. With Biggie gone, you realize
with each year that a cross-section of the hip hop pushed at you, if
you want to get all Ghostface and make food comparisons, is nothing
more than Crown Fried Chicken and a Tropical Fantasy. You can’t feed
of off that and expect your message to be natural. Biggie was an MC
that you KNEW read a lot, consumed a lot of knowledge. You could
tell by how he laid an entire track down. You could tell by his narrative.
‘Everyday Struggle’ plays just as well today as it did back in 1993.
Can we say the same about a Meek Mills song years down the line?
In addition, you could tell Biggie was an avid reader by his flow.
These days, you got MC’s not even speaking about their favorite books,
taking the Sarah Palin route. What part of the game is that?!!

I could sit here and spin fairytales of how if B.I.G. was still here, the
game wouldn’t be what we see it as today. But you’ve got eyes. You’ve
got heart. You KNOW I don’t have to go down that road. Instead, I
hope you’re doing what I’m doing; playing every single song Biggie
ever did, looking at YouTube clips, reading every article on him ever
written. And then passing that on to the younger set. They need to
know that sometimes, even though the impact of someone’s death
can match their life, it will never surpass it.

We’ll always love the King of Brooklyn. The Notorious B.I.G.

Lin-sanity Abound - Chris "Preach" Smith

You saw it just like I did.

Jeremy Lin, the new shooting star point guard of my New York Knicks,
added yet another superb game to his resume last night in a thrilling
defeat of Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. On a Friday night
in February, just five days after the New York Giants energized the
city with a  Super Bowl win, Lin has managed to become the talk of
the town. Hell, the WORLD at that. In four games, Jeremy has made
a name for himself in being the first NBA player since the 1976 merger
to average more points in their first four games than ANYONE. That
list includes Isiah Thomas and Magic Johnson.

His play has revitalized a team that was sinking fast even with two
stars in Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudamire. And it's also raised
some points of interest we can't ignore going forward. The biggest point
being, how an Asian-American player will fare in the NBA. Lin isn't the
first to do it; that honor belongs to Wataru Misaka, a Nisei (second
generation Japanese-American) from Utah who joined these very same
New York Knicks in 1947, effectively breaking the NBA's color barrier
just as Jackie Robinson did for baseball. Yeah, we've had Asian players
in the league, none bigger than recently retired Yao Ming. But Lin is
different being an ABC(American Born Chinese)...just by being here and
proving he can lead an NBA franchise flies in the face of stereotypes we
have about Asian-American athletes. Which is what has come to light
in the wake of his success. We've gotten so happy about Lin that we find
ourselves getting too racial with the nicknames. Just look at Twitter for
proof of that. Yes, Lin is a Chinese-American dude who can BALL. But it
doesn't call for you to summon up rudimentary nicknames that you think
would go well on a movie marquee and minimize him.


Another point I'd like to point out is this; CAN WE STOP comparing him to Tim
Tebow? Yes, they're both Christian. They both rely on their faith heavily. They both
were heavily underestimated(word has it the Knicks were to cut Lin after last Saturday's
game against the Nets) and have shown and proven they can be professional athletes.
But i'm not going to sit here and diminish Lin's stature to falsely equate him to Tebow.
Sports media outlets will do that because Tebow represents all that they want to be
subconsciously right with America. And that negates Jeremy Lin's game and career to
this point on a racial and professional level. Also, Lin has improved his game WITH
each game, even dropping 38 points last night and outscoring Kobe. Tebow has been
average at best. Let the man live. Ultimately, we don't really know what's ahead for
the Knicks and Lin. Melo and Amar'e, for different reasons haven't been playing during
this win streak. One can only hope that they'll mesh well and be the contender that
New York City hoped for at the start of the season. We do know one thing. As long as
Jeremy Lin rocks the blue and orange, Lin-sanity will rule. Let's just make sure we all
don't get TOO crazy.

The Soul Controller Lives On - Chris "Preach" Smith

When a giant falls, the sound still echoes days after.

Waking up to hear that Don Cornelius left us in a tragic way dampened the
sunshine on this unseasonably warm February day. And it brought back the
cold of winter in a heartbeat. But this doesn't, and shouldn't define who Don
Cornelius truly was to generations of Americans.

'Soul Train' on Saturdays at noon was as important as church on Sundays. For
some, more so. It was our time to revel in everything Black, beautiful and
BAD-ASS. A quick anecdote for you: I was in a nightclub in Cancun a few
years back, hanging out among budding applicants for 'Girls Gone Wild' and
other foreigners hopped up on tequila. Out of nowhere, the DJ plays the
original Soul Train theme!!! It was a sight to see a gang of folks make way to
create their own Soul Train line that night. That is what having an impact looks
like. Understand that the show ran from 1970 to 2006. That's a run that may never
be broken. It was the funkier, more flavorful alternative to Dick Clark and 'American
Bandstand'. The dancers alone made it a slice of history; without them, we would've
never known about Rerun and Shalamar and Rosie Perez to name a few. And the
singers and groups KNEW they had to bring their 'A' game to 'Soul Train' or be
forever declared squares. 'Soul Train' was our kingdom of pride. And Don Cornelius
reigned over it all like a true king would with a voice of velvet.

Thank you Don...thank you for blessing us all with love, peace...and soul.

'Soul Train' laid the rails of a cultural revolution
(c) USA Today 

Mayor Michael Nutter leads Philadelphia to break The World Record for longest Soul Train Line
(c) Philly.com

 

Don Cornelius Dances in Soul Train Line With Mary Wilson

Courage & Celluloid - Chris "Preach" Smith

How do we want our heroes to live onscreen?

That ran through my mind on my way home earlier this evening after
having the chance to see the highly anticipated 'Red Tails', a movie
about the all-Black 332nd Fighter Group, the Tuskegee Airmen and
their experience in World War II Italy. I can definitely say that this
movie has sparked a lot of discussion on the 'Net and offline in many
ways. The fine folks I caught the film with (shoutout to the Jewish
Multiracial Network) were no exception; we had a lively and engaging
talk about what the impact of a film like 'Red Tails' has in communities of
color. And now, as I'm typing this up, that above question has even more
weight.

I saw one or two people kind of down rate going to see the film this first
weekend. 'Why should I rush to see it just because it's a mostly all-Black
cast?" "It's a Hollywood film, you know how they see us already." I paid
all of that no mind for this reason: Black cinema that entertains AND
enriches needs to be supported. Yes, George Lucas is the main man
behind this film. It doesn't make 'Red Tails' any less of a film for that fact.
Bear in mind he's wanted to do this since 1988. He even hired Aaron
McGruder to write the screenplay, AFTER McGruder basically demolished
him for creating Jar Jar Binks in 'Star Wars' which made Aaron feel as if
the character was an embodiment of negative Black stereotypes. Lucas
funded this film mostly out of his own coffers. He felt this film needed to
be made. And he did it even after seeing how Spike Lee's own 'Miracle
At St.Anna' was denied funding and basically forgotten in theaters. Hell,
Spike is now at Sundance with his newest film and HE even said 'go see
'Red Tails'. Because it is OUR history.


Which brings me back to my original question. I think, that for communities of color, we
deserve to see our heroes from that era onscreen. While 'Red Tails' doesn't really get into
the full backstory of each pilot and their commanding officers outside of a few anecdotes
for shading, I've accepted it's not there for investigating the complexities of that time. It's
a movie designed to establish just how important these men were to ensuring victory in
World War II with enough blazing, Saturday morning movie matinee fashion. It's giving the
Tuskegee Airmen their due on the big screen. To me, that's definitely important. And while
we only get a little about these men, perhaps the proposed prequel and sequel will fill in
the blanks. Maybe someone else like a Lee Daniels or a Ernest Dickerson will be able to
make a film that will add more depth to these heroes. Until then, 'Red Tails' allows our
heroes their place in the celluloid world. Maybe their courage will breed it in others to get
more of our stories out the way we want to see them.

Hip Hop Alfalfas - Chris "Preach" Smith

Let me be real clear about this.

I do realize and appreciate that there's a few versatile MC's that exist
in the hip hop world as it stands today. But I've just about reached my
limit with some MC's need to flex their singing chops on almost every
record they make. There's always been rap records with singing; hell,
hip hop itself in the musical evolutionary chain owes its birth to funk,
R&B and jazz with all of their respective vocal stylings. I grew up on
Uptown Records ('Uptown kickin' it!!!') and was used to songstresses
making their name on hooks. Many of us lived on blend mixtapes as
well back in the day, for the NYC area especially with Dirty Harry, Clue
and Ron G.

These days though, it's getting outright outlandish. There's a couple of
artists out there who seem hell-bent on getting their Al B.Sure work in.
They're beginning to remind me of Alfalfa from the Little Rascals; they're
straight up crooning and getting over on a public that has become accepting
of this music. For example, Drake's 'Take Care'...yes, it has gone platinum.
But the best way to describe it comes from the husband of a college friend
of mine; 'it's cool, but it's like audio lotion.' In other words, soft. And while
hip hop has a soft side, too much of this rap crooning makes the music and
whatever message you want to get across more of a soapstone than the
diamond of truth you would expect. Truthfully, you could see this coming
back in the days when 50 Cent would sing his own hooks. But 50 never, ever
portrayed himself as a full-blown singer. Fast forward from that point to the
rise of T-Pain, the 'rapper turnt singer' and the beginning of Autotune as a
must-have tool in the studio. It coincides with the rise of the newer wave of
Southern MC's and their own unique style and in turn, that becomes an
entrenched part of the music. Think about how many singles you've heard
this year alone with an artist you KNOW has no business trying to be Peabo
Bryson singing in the middle of their song or for most of it with Autotune layers.
And some cats and some women act like little Darlas and fall for it, proclaiming
it to be better than anything out there. Which allows for Justin Beiber to now
have aspirations of rhyming.

I'm writing this not solely to throw rocks but to illustrate exactly what it is
that crowds the airwaves these days. And there are male MC's who can ably
flip between singing and rapping without looking crazy. Just know that the
hip-hop Alfalfas shouldn't be the only ones carrying Hip-Hop's torch. Because
too much oversexed, sacchrinated crooning can lead to them being viewed
by another word that can be used if you remove the 'R' from crooning. And
that's something we surely don't need.