Anthony Mason: Point God Forever

Photo Credit: Bleacher Report

Anthony Mason. Gone.

The untimely passing of one of the greatest players that
New York City ever produced this morning has not only
put a somber note on a week in the NBA that saw the
league’s first African-American player, Earl Lloyd, pass away,
it also is a blow to many who love an underdog. And
Mase truly was an underdog who rose to great fame by
his own grit, ability and confidence. But what I want to
write about here, is the lessons he gave to us all while
in a New York Knicks uniform.

For any Knicks fan who bleeds orange and blue, Mase was
and is part of the franchise’s legacy. I mean, dude came
up from the ‘hood, Springfield Gardens to be exact. (A
factoid that I’m sure had other residents of the city who’ve
never noticed much of Queens outside of its airports scratch
their heads.) In that way, he was also part of the rich 
heritage Southeast Queens boasts basketball-wise. Mark
Jackson. The late Troy ‘Escalade’ Jackson. The great Bob
Cousy of the Boston Celtics. It wasn’t an easy road. Dude
went and played in Turkey and Venezuela after getting cut
by Portland after their training camp in 1988. He got into
the league with the Nets for a cup of coffee before getting
bounced and then hitting the Tulsa franchise of the CBA.
But once he got to the New York Knicks…it was ON. It was
even more special since he rocked number 14, the day of
my birthday. 

It was another one of those ‘made for New York’ moments
that this city has enjoyed an abundance of. Mase was a
perfect addition to a squad that featured Patrick Ewing,
Charles Oakley, and John Starks. Each one of those cats
came to BALL. Mase was no different. I mean, for a 6”7’
dude, he had HANDLES. That was not common in that
period of the NBA. Power forwards were supposed to live
in the paint and scrap. HE RAN THE POINT. Even when
you were screaming at the TV ‘NO MASE, pass the rock!!!’
He’d manage a spin and dish, and all was forgiven once
Starks or Hubert Davis or Derek Harper scored. Not to say
Mase didn’t have that strength for the paint. He was a
beast. He had NO problem throwing it down on someone.
Most importantly, he was unafraid. When the Chicago Bulls
and Michael Jordan were on their tear through the league,
Mase and the Knicks seemed to be the only team that
looked at them like ‘f**k all that noise, you’re in The Garden.
No free passes.’ With Pat Riley as the coach, the Knicks were
a tough team filled with pride. Mason was an enforcer along
with Oak - if Oak was the old head that looked like he drank
V.S.O.P. at halftime, Mase was that dude that was ready to
scrap and laugh at you while he was tapping your jaw. One
memory I had from those tremendous games against the
Bulls: Mase and Horace Grant got tied up in the paint. Grant
shoves Mase, almost gently. The mikes on NBC caught Mase
saying: ‘you aint sh** without MJ, not even on your best day!!’
Grant stopped, looked like he was gonna say something - &
didn’t.

I mean, Anthony Mason was a legend. My man would always
get the fresh cuts with the lettering in the side of his dome.
‘Point God’?! ‘Back To D?’?! And who can forget the Finals
style, where he had the Knicks logo? Mase was also a key
part of the hip-hop culture at a time where the NBA didn’t 
have too many expressing that spirit in the league. Mase was
one of the first bridges. Homeboy was immortalized in a lyric
by the Beastie Boys on ‘Ill Communication’ and was in their
video for the track. And you can’t forget Diamond D’s ‘Best
Kept Secret’ video.


(If you could find a song that personified Mase in hip-hop? 
Has to be ‘Beasts From The East’, by The Lost Boyz with
Redman, Canibus & A+. Straight up tenacity and power.)
He even got on THE TV show of that era in Black & Brown
households on Thursday nights, New York Undercover. But
Mason was a baller through and through. Sixth Man of The
Year award? Copped that in 1995. Lead the league in minutes
played? Did that in back-to-back seasons. Even wound up
an All-Star in his one stint with the Miami Heat, putting a
listing franchise back up on its feet. Even when the Knicks
traded him to Charlotte for Larry Johnson, Mase was still
playing hard. Milwaukee was the end of the line for him in
2003, but he played 11 seasons in the league. Not bad at
all for a third-round pick who at the time was considered a
marginal player.

Photo Credit:AP

But that was the thing about Anthony Mason. He made it,
in his own way. And he did it with a love for the game and
a confident swagger. He went at everyone on the court. And
I mean, everyone. Look at the 1994 Finals against Houston.
Mase is in there, going up against Hakeem Olajuwon, and
showing off his own nimble footwork. Look at his years in
Charlotte, how he basically added a longer-range jumpshot
to his game. Hard work. Never letting up. Love for the game.
Pride. That was Mase Face. Even when he was retired, we’d
see him occasionally back on the Avenue. A small crowd that
hung around him as he popped into the Colosseum. Or he’d
hit up local basketball games and tournaments at York College.
Decked out in a full length shearling if it was cold outside or
a snazzy velour track suit. And the bling. Had to have the
chain. Mase also gave support to folks when he could. I know
he gave a lot of support to Cedric The Entertainer when he
started out. Gave to charities in Southeast Queens and down
in Memphis, Tennessee. He also was a close friend to LL Cool
J for many years, and was a devoted father to his two sons,
Anthony Mason Jr. & Antoine Mason. 

It says something that Mase passed away due to heart issues.
The man had so much heart, gave so much of himself to the
point where it was undeniable. Knicks fans…New Yorkers…
anyone who believes in giving their all. We all cherish that.
He proved that through your own hard work and belief in your
own worth and by still holding on to what makes you, you - 
you could achieve whatever you set out to do no matter what.
And for that, Anthony Mason will forever be a point god in
the hearts of many. 

"Do You Want More?!!!??!" Twenty Years Later - Chris "Preach" Smith

In the midst of some de-cluttering that comes
with every turn of a new year, I found a couple
of old cassette tape cases. You remember those,
right? It was like excavating a totem from some
ridge of upturned rock. I looked at and saw that
it was the case for The Roots’ second album, Do
You Want More?!!!??!. And like that, memories
rushed to the forefront like someone trying to
catch that packed E train headed uptown down
the escalators at Lexington Avenue. Today marks
twenty years since the Philadelphia rap group
dropped this album and changed the culture
forever on their way to being one of the world’s
most recognizable music groups and national TV
prominence as the house band on ‘The Tonight
Show With Jimmy Fallon’.

Back in 1995, The Roots and this album were
like a lightning bolt that rippled throughout my
last months of high school. The first charge came
the previous summer, however. My hip-hop jones
was being fueled by a combination of underground radio,
and scouring the video shows for something fresh in
addition to building with my boys on the block.
And so, when I saw the video for ‘Distortion
To Static’ for the first time…when I HEARD that
track…I was floored. Allow me a moment to get
into that video. You have The Roots set up in a
regular basement, wood paneling, dimly lit. A
place we’ve all been in, have had in our own houses.
All action is seen mostly through a fisheye lens.
As the beat laid down by Questlove comes in, we
get cuts to a television screen full of static and
everyone in a slumber until Black Thought snaps
his head up to look directly at the camera and
drop the first lines:

Yo, I’m every MC/it’s all in me
That’s the way it is, way its gotta be
Indeed as I distort I proceed, indeed
Gettin hotter than sacks of boom in my room at the Ramada

Thought basically weds old-school boom-bap
and his own sharpened lyricism in the first
four bars. The Chaka Khan flip sets it off. And
with that, you’re hooked. ‘Distortion To Static’
played out like a Max Roach session to me, hitting
me that much more since at this time I was
digging more into the sample work behind some
hip-hop albums. The visuals emphasized just
how different their style was (I still maintain
one of the best pieces of hip-hop imagery to
suggest someone killed a flow is when Thought’s
verse ends and you see a smoking outlet after
something is unplugged), and propelled me to
be one of the first to cop their album. Over the
next few months, that album became a prime 
backdrop for my life until graduation.

<iframe width=”640” height=”360” src=”//www.youtube.com/embed/Vj8R69KOb8U?feature=player_detailpage” frameborder=”0” allowfullscreen></iframe>

Do You Want More?!!!??! is a rich and full-bodied
stew of an album that essentially laid the groundwork
for who The Roots are today. You’ll note that this
is their second album, however for some people 
this was their first introduction to the group. (A 
side note: if you copped certain presses of the album,
the track numbers begin at #18 with ‘Intro/There’s
Something Goin’ On’; this denotes a continuation 
from where the first album, Organix, left off at track
#17). Once it starts, you immediately get immersed
in a vibe that makes you feel like you’re deep in the
bowels of a spot like the Nuyorican Poets Cafe or the
Village Vanguard watching them on stage. The live 
feeling doesn’t fully leave thanks to key interludes
especially the ‘sound check’ that becomes ‘Essaywhuman’.
The interplay between Black Thought and Questlove
is a crisp call-and-response serving as a great bridge
between the album’s two halves. It’s also an homage
to the numerous freestyle riffs you find on live jazz
albums from John Coltrane, Charles Mingus and many
others. 
 
“Proceed”, the second single, is a laid-back tune that
shows Black Thought essentially slaying the mic with
his charismatic flow that is a sheath for keen lyricism.
The amount of versatility that he shows on this album
made me a fan from jump…and it always makes me 
wonder why there’s a multitude that does not have
him among their top MC’s. Another key element to 
this is the other lead MC, Malik B. Malik serves as a 
potent counterpart to Thought, starting with his 
verse on ‘Distortion To Static’. His style smacks with
witticism that stings like a Floyd Mayweather jab.
For example, check out a couple of bars from ‘You
Aint Fly’:

Thinkin that she’s pretty and saditty when I spill
She said, “I might, I think I can, alright I will
Tossed up was the digits cause the game is like splendor
I said, “Sabrina yea, I met you way back in December; you remember 

The Roots pushed the envelope on this album,
and anyone who disputes this…I have one track
that squashes your rebuttal,”Do You Want More?!!!??!”
Why? Bagpipes. M#$%^&@$%^IN BAGPIPES,
MAN. And the track KILLS. I sincerely still want to
play a round of golf with a decanter of Macallan
on a course in Scotland as morning breaks with
this track playing in the background. Another
acceptable selection would be the snazzy “? vs.
Rahzel”, with Quest going up against the human
beatboxer in a marvelous battle. And who can
forget the pristine bass work that Hub laid down
on most of this album? It ties everything together
like fine ribbon on an anniversary present.

I can’t wind down this piece without having a
few words about ‘Silent Treatment’. That track
was the backing music for a couple of heartbreak
moments I had during high school. It cut beneath
the tough bravado MC’s were acknowledged to
have like a doctor’s scalpel and pulled back the
skin to reveal all the rawness of disconnecting
from someone you loved. Thought, through his
storytelling and the accompanying soothing backbeat
and whistling by Questlove make this a go-to for
moments like that for me to this day. The video
just added to it, right down to the record store
setting.  

Photo Credit: Stereogum

And that’s just it - Do You Want More ?!!!??! was
and is the album that the culture needed at that
time. From the heavy jazz improv influences, to
the inclusion of spoken word/poetry both as an
homage to the roots of rap and a way to balance
every album made more powerful by Ursula Rucker’s
resonating words on ‘The Unlocking’(side note - the
group had originally looked to famed playwright
Ntozake Shange to appear on the album but were
unable to secure her spot) to innovative album
structuring, Do You Want More ?!!!??! is a gem of
an album release. At times when I listen to it,
it varies in feeling for me. It can feel like a movie 
score. It can play out like a rich tone poem for road
trips I’ve taken. And that is both the beauty of this
second album by The Roots, and the group themselves.
As the band has progressed on, and reached the heights
of cultural importance and stardom, the word that
comes to mind often is exaltation. That’s what this
album left me with way back when I was eighteen.
And as time has moved on, it still remains, seen in
different hues. As blue and profound as seen on their
album cover. As liquid gold that pours through the 
speakers on the first notes of ‘Proceed’. As vibrant 
red just like the liner notes. After all, isn’t that part
of life?

"Selma", A Movie Right On Time - Chris "Preach" Smith

Photo Credit: Paramount Studios

This past Monday, I had the good fortune to attend
an advance screening of ‘Selma’, a motion picture
capturing the events leading up to, and during the
historic march from Selma, Alabama to the state
capital of Montgomery in 1965 led by Dr.Martin
Luther King and other members of SNCC and the
SCLC. The film stars David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo,
Oprah Winfrey, Wendell Pierce, Common and Martin
Sheen among many other talented actors. In the 
director’s chair for this film is the highly talented
and crtically acclaimed Ava DuVernay. I walked into
the theater, open for what would splash across the
screen. I walked out, utterly moved and inspired. And
aware of just how ON TIME this movie truly is.

Photo Credit: Deadline

Simply put, it is amazing that ‘Selma’ was even made.
Hollywood’s track record as an entity with regards to
Black films has always seen a bent towards nobility 
in the midst of suffering, but done in a neat fashion
with a veneer of romanticism. You can rattle off a 
couple of films that have been released in recent 
years that smack of this approach. Martin Luther King
as a historical figure has been both lionized and also
has been subject to a stripping down to where he
can be seen as one-dimensional. Even now, in the
midst of the massive amount of protests, you have
critics of those protesters be they casually or woefully
ignorant try to use MLK as a pacifier without truly
knowing the full scope of the man and his mssion.
Duvernay does not take this approach at all with this
film. From the opening scenes that lead into the title, she
makes it plain what the tone of the film is going to be.
There are no punches pulled whatsoever. This Martin
Luther King has layers, depth. Times where his faith 
is tested. The same goes for Coretta Scott King. One
has to hand it to David Oyelowo, who takes on a 
daunting role and embodies it in a way that leaves 
you riveted. His acting here is a prime example of 
what ‘presence’ should mean when taking on such an
important historical figure. Carmen Ejogo, who plays
Coretta, gives you a majestic look at her experience.
(Coincidentally, this is her second time playing the 
late Mrs. King - she did the same in HBO’s ‘Boycott’
opposite her future husband, Jeffrey Wright in 1998.)
The scene where she visits Martin in jail after an 
important meeting and they quarrel - the emotion 
within that scene conveyed by the two actors is 
nothing short of moving.

‘Moving’ would be an appropriate term for ‘Selma’. I
won’t sit here and lie and act as if this movie didn’t 
rip at my insides. You will FEEL this movie tear at 
you. Repeatedly. From the tense conversations that
MLK has with President Lyndon Baines Johnson(expertly
played by Tom Wilkinson) to the actual depiction of
the sheer violence that took place on the Edmund 
Pettus Bridge(trust me when I tell you that there 
was loud weeping that took place as the scene 
unfolded), ‘Selma’ does not give you much respite 
from what actually took place. And it dovetails with
the current movement now taking place across the
country against systemic police brutality against
Black and Brown people in that it accurately depicts
the pushback that Dr.King and others faced from a
White House that was initially set on pushing other
agendas outside of Black people having their rights to
vote in the South. Pushback that eerily is echoed in
recent calls from the Mayor of New York City and other
council members to stop marching until the funerals for
two NYPD officers murdered by a madman were over. 
Dr. King and the other members of the movement, and
the Black citizens of Selma didn’t stop because they
knew they had to press on to be heard. Heard and
understood. The cast was actuely aware, showing up
wearing t-shirts as protest over the choking death of
Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York, a case in which
the grand jury didn’t return an indictment of the officer
who applied the illegal chokehold. Truth be told, the
struggle for civil rights still persists. ‘Selma’ clearly
brings that message home again and again.

Photo Credit:GlobalGrind 

Another remarkable point about ‘Selma’ is that it is the
first major motion picture about Dr.Martin Luther King.
All other films have been for regular & cable television.
It might  not have been made without the considerable efforts
of Oprah Winfrey and Harpo Productions. Winfrey 
herself figures into the film well as Annie Lee Cooper,
being a connecting piece that keeps the pace up within.
Brad Pitt is also an executive producer. As I alluded
to earlier, Hollywood hasn’t seen fit to bring a movie
like this out. Even Spike Lee’s ‘Malcolm X’ in 1992
had to have a considerable amount of outside financial
support. Balanced, nuanced portrayals of historic
Americans of color are increasing to meet the demand
for them by the public. Which is all the more reason why
you need to make it a point to see ‘Selma’. This is a
movie the people need, now more than ever. It’s a movie
that deserves its expected Oscar nominations, for DuVernay
and Oyelowo especially. It’s a movie we all can be really
inspired and emboldened by. ‘Selma’ is a ‘must’ movie - a 
must-see, and a must for these trying times that the
nation is currently struggling through. Times a nation
must go through to truly be what it proclaims that it is
to the rest of the world. 

‘Selma’ opens in limited engagements on Christmas Day,
and nationwide on January 9th.

Hot Boys On Deep Freeze - Chris 'Preach' Smith

Photo Credit: XXL

The rap world got rocked a couple of days ago 
with the arrest of popular rapper Bobby Shmurda
and his Gs9 crew at the infamous Quad Studios
in Manhattan, New York. This was the result of
a now-disclosed long term NYPD investigation of
Shmurda and the crew, an investigation that at
the time of arrest pinned 69 indictments on them
including murder. The NYPD also confiscated at
least 20 firearms and a small amount of crack
cocaine. Shmurda, having dealt with two prior
cases this year alone that saw him fire shots into
a barbershop and for unlicensed firearm possession 
faces up to over 20 years in jail. Now, this can all
easily be chalked up to youth and the certain brand
of stupidity that comes with it. The dude is 20, with
newly found fame thanks to that ‘Shmoney Dance’
viral video that had everyone from LeBron James to
Beyonce up on it. But there’s something else at work
here, something that does not bode well for any of 
these rappers who tout that ‘gun life’ as loosely as
their jeans may hang. That something is to be found
in the legal system’s laser-like focus on rap lyrics as
evidence against those on trial.

To be real, Shmurda basically fell prey to a multi-layered
situation that preys on young talent like his. It’s a situation
we’ve all known for quite some time exists in the rap
music industry. There is a need for labels now to find
and promote artists that will generate the most buzz
and in turn, the most money with one key element:
there is now a push to give artists that ‘street edge.’
Even if they have to catch a case to do it. This move 
has been in place for over a decade now. In building
with people involved in the music industry, there are
a bunch of stories of artists looking to be signed and
asked whether they’ve been arrested. So that can be
used as a selling point. Add an artist or group that is
so hungry and desperate to get on, especially if they
don’t exhibit any sense of self-care and you’ve got
gold. To be clear, this is not absolving Bobby Shmurda
or any of his crew for making horrible decisions. I
mean, when you run down the counts of indictment
in the record, some of it smacks of stupidity. One old
head I spoke with yesterday put it plainly to me: ‘All
these young dudes are hamburger, man. Straight
meat for the grinder.’ Translation? Shmurda and GS9
are now just more fuel for a machine that thrives on
people of color. And one can’t help but think of the
prison-industrial complex system at work here.

Photo Credit: New York Daily News

The legal system has increasingly used rap lyrics
as evidence against defendants in criminal cases
since the ‘90’s. It’s garnered attention heavily due
to a case in 2003 where Dennis Greene, an aspiring
rapper ruthlessly killed his wife then detailed it in a
later song. That led to his confession. But there’s 
an uptick in cases where prosectuors are adamant
about an absolutism that lyrics are an expression of
wrongdoing, rather than seeing that for a greater part
rappers take on two separate and distinct roles as 
author and narrator. Another prominent case was 
that of Antwain ‘Twain Gotti’ Steward in Virginia. 
where prosecutors were trying to prove that a song
he performed on implicated him as the perpetrator of 
a double murder in 2007. The court ruled that out, but
did find Steward guilty on a weapons charge. In addition
to that was the case of Vonte Skinner in New Jersey,
where prosecutors read 13 PAGES of lyrics into the court
record. Skinner was convicted of attempted murder in 
2008, but the ruling was overturned when a judge decreed
that he be given a second trial due to his appeal that the 
lyrics shouldn’t have been admitted as evidence. It’s become
apparent that this is a prejudicial tactic to coerce confessions
and get convictions that is being used by certain officials on
the state level. It’s attracted a bevy of legal scholars to the 
debate. But you won’t hear too much more about it because…
it’s rap. And there still is an inherent bias towards rap music
as a source of ill repute. In the case of Bobby Shmurda, he 
didn’t do himself any favors by essentially dry-snitching. And
making clear distinctions on who did what in his lyrics in his
interviews. Same goes for his crew. And the disclosure that
GS9 is possibly a moniker denoting affiliation with the Crips?
Problematic to say the least. 

But there is a weird area here. Consider that Sha Money XL,
affiliated as an A&R that helped Shmurda get the deal at
Epic Records was also arrested. Consider that the arrest
took place outside of Quad Studios, the same place that was
the site of Tupac Shakur being shot multiple times twenty 
years ago. If Bobby and GS9 were running this reckless on
the streets, the label HAD to have known. ‘Cause if they
were this careless with their actions, they probably were
doing so partly on the label’s dime. And that would make
them complicit through encouragement. Interscope has
had their share of this kind of ‘encouragement’ with the
notorious Chief Keef. And we’re all aware of the charges
levied against Interscope for their role in the prison-industry
complex. The public who enjoys the hip-hop culture and rap
music and are responsible should ask how it got this crazy,
outside of just looking at the surface level of stupidity. This
is not about having sympathy for the rapper or his crew without
recognizing what they may have done. This is about seeing the
bigger picture. This is about informing other rappers who saw
Shmurda’s rise to be extra cautious in how they conduct
themselves. This is about understanding once again that
there are certain elements of the music industry that are highly
predatory and still see these young - and a few older - cats as
nothing more than a one-dimensional product. Bobby and 
the GS9 crew may have thrown their lives away as easily
as that hat thrown into the air that started the rise. And
one can only hope more won’t follow suit. 

Music For Our Message - Chris "Preach" Smith

Photo Credits: Music Times(top), HeyHeyChante(bottom)


In the wake of the massive movement that is now
taking place nationwide and to some extent globally
in the struggle to decisively put an end to the
murder of Black people by police officers that by one
major estimate takes place every 28 hours in this
country, there has been a major question asked of
hip-hop on a whole: where you at? 

Let’s face it, on a whole, rap has been on a material
bent for quite some time. This has been spurred by
the corporations running labels for profit, artists and
groups all too happy to cash checks because they’ve
made it to the mountaintop, a fan base that swings
wildly from self-serving neutrality to ill-informed
idolatry at times among numerous other reasons. I
make it a point to separate rap from the entire culture
that hip-hop is because at times not doing so obscures
the real gains that continue to be made by the culture.
Among those gains now is the awakening of resistance
and empowerment that is indeed taking place in rap
these past weeks in reponse to the staggering amount
of cases involving the deaths of Black people as a result
of police brutality and ineptitude like Mike Brown, Eric
Garner, Tamir Rice and many others. I say ‘awakening’
because it does remain to be seen what will happen
going forward. But you have to pay attention to a few
notable musical efforts that speak to the heart of what’s
going down.

Photo Credits: Atlanta Black Star(top), RapUp(bottom)

Firstly, one cannot discount the impact of J.Cole right 
now at this time. Cole was one of the first rappers to
physically visit Ferguson, Missouri days after Mike Brown’s
death and the ensuing protest movement that took
place. He did so refusing a whole lot of fanfare and
media requests save for one after the visit. He also
recorded and released ‘Be Free’ in response to the
tragedy. And he’s taken that energy and built on it
with the recent release of his third album, 2014 Forest
Hills Drive. Cole also delivered a stirring performance of
‘Be Free’ during his appearance on ‘Late Night With
David Letterman’. But his impact has been fueled and
buoyed by that of Killer Mike. One half of the immensely
popular duo with El-P, Run The Jewels, the veteran MC
has been on the front lines from the jump. Appearing
on the vitriolic and venomous Fox News to defend the
people and their righteous outrage? Done. Appearing
on CNN and effectively conveying the frustration of
Black and brown people with the police and the system
on a whole? Done. Penning op-eds? Done. All of this
while creating the best hip-hop release of the year. We 
also need to shine a light on the recent words of Yaasin
Bey, put forth here in audio form. The essay has since 
gone viral across many social media platforms and has
been set to music. One can imagine what else Yaasin
may bring forth as someone who has been a vocal leader
in hip-hop. The elder statesman Chuck D of Public Enemy?
He’s never wavered, most recently appearing on ‘The
People’, the latest single from fellow Long Island natives
De La Soul that was released as a rallying song for those
marching and organizing in late November. I recently
had a chance to catch Common and Jay Electronica on
tour in D.C. last weekend and Common’s entire show was
crafted with that aim of support for the protesters across
the nation. When the lack of indictment by the grand jury
of Eric Garner was announced, among the multitude that
were out in the streets protesting the injustice in Times 
Square was Q-Tip. Even Macklemore, taken to task in the
past, showed solidarity out in the streets of Seattle with the
protesters. A shade better than the pop-rap princess 
Iggy Azalea who has gotten renewed fire directed her 
way on social media. Next time she might want to rethink
appropriating Black Panther Party for an awards show
set.

Is rap on a whole going to do a sea change and make
music for these times? Doubtful. But should we belittle &
look past the voices that are advocating, rising up and
speaking out? No. The danger in complaining that there
isn’t something that speaks to you is that you may find
yourself not hearing anything that does. Think about it;
right now, I’ve just listed a few instances where hip-hop
has helped to inform and shape the discourse. Instances
you won’t get from a mainstream media machine. There
may be more voices to add to that music in hip-hop, as
there are in other music genres(notably, the legendary
Stevie Wonder and as a surprise, D’Angelo’s recent album
announcement). The search for the music to go along with
the message of the struggle is not as difficult as you think.
It all boils down to what you choose to hear.