The Roots and The Tree - Chris "Preach" Smith

History sometimes besieges bloodlines.
Especially bloodlines that have made a major impact on the way of the world.

That thought comes to mind today, on what would’ve been Malcolm X’s 88th birthday. A day that follows the 
Islamic funeral service of his grandson, Malcolm Shabazz in Oakland, California. Sadness is the immediate reaction,
and it is amplified when you consider both of their lives and their deaths.

Malcolm X lost his life to assassin’s bullets in Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom and Shabazz lost his
life over a $1,200 bar tab to the blows of waiters who dumped his body in a public tourist plaza
in Mexico City. The eerie connection to both men losing their lives in moments that somewhat
represented the turmoil they both went through cannot be ignored. In some respects, Shabazz
and his grandfather had that connection in other ways. There’s a term in Islam, jihad al-nafs,
which is defined as the struggle of the self against evil ideas, desires and powers of lust,
anger, and an insatiable imagination. One who succeeds in this will be regarded as someone
who can rise to great heights. Malcolm X did this making his transition from Malcolm Little
to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz as complete as his manhood and rise as an infulential figure in Black 
history and world history. Malcolm Shabazz was on his way to possibly attaining some of that
same stature. He had made substantial progress from being the angry 12 year old that set
a fire that took the life of his grandmother, Betty Shabazz. He had survived jail time
like his grandfather, and made the Hajj in addition to being a teacher, an emerging activist

and a father. And that struggle of the self, attracts both positive forces and negative forces. Sometimes, the negative forces win.
You can’t help but wonder how Quibilah feels today. How Attallah feels today. You wonder how Yuri Kochiyama, a grand elder of
the civil rights struggle who was close to both men (she actually was present at the Audubon Ballroom and cradled Malcolm X
as he lay dying) feels, as today is also her birthday. They may be feeling the weight of all of this loss. But they may have realized
that these two were warriors fighting the battles that need to be fought. And they did so despite the battles they faced in their
own lives, even realizing they may lose their lives in the process. Malcolm Shabazz may not have reached the heights that his
grandfather did, and it’s not certain if he would have if he lived. But like trees and their roots, they both showed the brilliance
of promise. And that will undercut what sadness exists today.

Everything Aint Everything - Chris "Preach" Smith

It has been a full week since a federal court deemed that Ms. Lauryn Hill
be sentenced to serve three months in prison for evading tax payments
on her income from 2005 to 2007. Thanks to pleas of leniency, and a
payment of $900,000, she got three months instead of the usual three
years given in such a case. With this looming over her head, Lauryn
wound up not only entering into a new production situation with Sony,
but she also wound up doing a show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg
this past Tuesday. While celebrities and tax issues almost always go
hand in hand, in Lauryn Hill’s case there is more beneath the surface.

To begin with, when it comes to celebrities of color, the IRS has always
hovered around much more closely. Even Joe Louis, the great boxer
who was this country’s premier symbol of unity and pride against Adolf
Hitler and Nazi Germany in defeating Max Schmeling, was dogged by
tax debt for a good chunk of his life. From Sammy Davis Jr. to Redd 
Foxx to Wesley Snipes, the tax man has been a bogeyman. But with
Lauryn Hill, this may have been a rallying point. It was a bad choice
on her part not to pay her taxes when she had the means. Even if
you agree with her hints that she shouldn’t pay because reparations
are still owed to her and other descendants of slaves who are citizens
made on record in court. But while this may be more fodder for jokes,
it could be a point in time where she can actually rebound and rise up
triumphant again. The reviews of her Brooklyn concert have been
positive and glowing, a marked difference from other shows where
some have claimed she was distant and erratic. And the new single,
‘Neurotic Society Compulsory Mix’ is her first in three years. Does it
have a message laden in its lyrics? Yes. Was it rushed as hell? Yes
and it shows in the overall production. But even the response has
created a buzz. For a music world starved for another complete musical
effort from Ms.Hill, it’s something significant. It’s a chance for Lauryn
to firmly set herself back as an artist who was a definitive paradigm
shifter from her days with the Fugees and as a highly successful 
solo artist. And a possible chance to be a counerpoint to the current
slate of R&B ‘divas’ out there in look and message.

Artists sometimes need overwhelming pressure to create. Take Marvin
Gaye and ‘Here, My Dear’, produced to satisfy his obligations to Motown
AND his soon to be ex-wife, Anna Gordy. The raw, unchecked but
channeled emotions of divorce and its effects on someone laced
that album. While it was a commercial flop at first, over time it
has been critically acclaimed as a landmark in Gaye’s career. Given
that Lauryn has a deal with Sony to have her own label to produce
music, the stage is set for a similar outcome for her once she serves
her time beginning July 8th. One can only hope that her commitment
to giving people her introspective messages through her music will
be the focal point rather than the constant ego battles and societal
politics. Ms. Hill has already seen that everything isn’t everything. 
We await her chance to fully tell us all her views as to why in song. 

Some Kind Of Hero - Chris "Preach" Smith

It says a lot about us when we can’t even let heroes be heroes.

It’s been three days since Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight
were rescued from the basement of Ariel Castro and his two brothers, Onil
and Pedro. They, along with Berry’s 6 year old child were freed from a decade
of imprisonment, torture and forced rape after being kidnapped from their
homes blocks away in Cleveland, Ohio. And the main facilitator in their escape
was Charles Ramsey, a neighbor who helped Berry call 911 and kicked in the
front door once police arrived. Ramsey has become a national figure, but now
he is being written out of the narrative. Forced out, if you will. And now, he’s
even dealing with his prior ciriminal record for domestic abuse being exposed
to the public. And why is that?

The answer lies in an intersection of race, socio-economic issues, and perception.
Part of the disbelief about this story is that these women were being held captive
for so long only a few miles from their own homes. The neighborhood is made
up of working class Latino people mostly. So we’re talking about regular, poor
folk. It’s been reported that there were multiple calls made to the Cleveland
police after suspicious sightings at the Castro house, one of which included a
naked woman crawling in the backyard in chains. One resident of the block
has gone on record as saying that his sister saw something, which prompted
him to call the cops. The cops showed up, banged on the door 20 times, then
left. Granted, they had no warrant to enter the premises, but wouldn’t there
be a return visit or eyes kept on the house with multiple reports? It’s plain to
see that there was shoddy police work here. It’s plain to see that some cops
didn’t give a damn about these women; Michelle Knight was basically given
up on by them. Her mother kept searching on her own. I actually caught an
interview with an alderman for the neighborhood who went on to speak about
the city’s ‘re-appraisal’ of homes in the community and how they missed
reviewing the home because it was next to commercial property. It left me
stunned. Here was a city official basically implying that the Castro house,
because it wasn’t of sale value to the city, wasn’t worth them looking into.
Negligence. Add to that the fact that the department is still dealing with a
horrifying incident where a Black couple was killed by being shot 137 TIMES
by officers after a traffic stop December of last year and it’s no wonder that
the Justice Department has set up a bigger camp there. The police felt that
multiple phone calls based on suspicious behavior didn’t warrant further 
exploration of a house in a poor neighborhood. And this may be happening
again somewhere else. (Further proof of them covering their tracks is not
charging his brothers to date based on them seeming not to be involved
even though they shared the house!!!) In a city dogged by hard economic
times, tensions between the police & people of color, this case shines a hard
light on Cleveland’s worst. And Charles Ramsey wound up as the spokesman
for Cleveland’s best.

As for Mr.Ramsey, his rise to fame is notable because of his interviews. Never
mind the unkempt process, or how his eyes looked. I’ve seen the memes
comparing him to Sho’Nuff from ‘The Last Dragon’ or putting his face on
McRib ads. This has been done before from Antoine Dodson to Sweet Brown.
But what is different with Charles Ramsey lies in this statement: ‘I knew
something was wrong when a pretty white girl runs into a Black man’s
arms.” In that funny statement, lies sad truths about where this country is. 
Ramsey’s criminal history was then outed by The Smoking Gun a day after
he did an interview with Anderson Cooper of CNN, an interview where he
expressed that he didn’t want the reward money. Charles Ramsey was a
prism the media didn’t want you to see the story through. He was too much
the everyday man, too much the slice of true Americana that gets in the
way of crazed reality shows and pill-popping celebs. His goodness flies in
the face of the onset of the crass commercialization that’s about to set
in with this case. Because you know that there’s going to be a movie, a
run on the talk-show circuits, and books. You already have Rush Limbaugh
alleging that the women will go on welfare supported by President Obama
12 HOURS after their rescue. Repackaging tragedy as easy entertainment
is a science in this society. And Charles Ramsey’s truth of what he did and
who he is gets in the way of that. It’s a shame that he has to now be 
whitewashed out of this story. We only want shining, perfect examples
that hold up under bright lights and phony smiles. Some kind of hero
that would be…

It’s a shame because this will only tell people, ‘hey, don’t help each other
out if your past is checkered.’ Or ‘you can’t change who you are, or rise
above it.’ And don’t we need that now, more than ever in this country? 
So tip your hat to Charles Ramsey. And hope that there will be more who
will do the right thing when called to action.

Respectful Dedication: Words On 'Jazzmatazz' - Chris "Preach" Smith

Today, we all remember Keith Elam, better known to the world as Guru
(Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal), one half of the legendary hip-hop
duo Gangstarr after his death three years ago. With everyone taking 
time out to remember his legacy within hip-hop culture, I spent this 
morning spinning his first solo effort, Jazzmatazz, which will be about
two decades old come May 18th. It’s an album that I find doesn’t seem
to get a good deal of exposure for just how vital it was to the culture,
so lounge a bit as we examine the impact.

To begin with, one has to appreciate the fact that Guru and DJ Premier
were three albums deep into solidfying their iconic status going back
to 1989 before Jazzmatazz came to be. Gangstarr was part of the rise
of ‘conscious’ hip-hop before that term came to be applied but they also
helped to shape the edginess of ‘hardcore’ hip-hop that dominated New
York City at that time with songs like ‘Just To Get A Rep’ and ‘Words I
Manifest’. Guru’s smooth flow and in-depth wordplay blended well with
Premier’s production which relied greatly on jazz record samples. It helped
that they were with Chrysalis, a London-based label who encouraged
their creativity and gave them total artistic freedom, a rarity they used
to full advantage. They even made a classic single for Spike Lee’s ‘Mo’
Betta Blues’ in 1990, ‘Jazz Thing’. The influence from London was an
important one, because it came in the form of British soul. Loose Ends
were all the rage in the mid 1980’s, and their direct descendant in sound
was Soul II Soul, a sound system collective with house music influences
featuring Jazzie B and Caron Wheeler. Another facet to that influence 
was the rise of acid jazz, thanks to labelmates Brand New Heavies and
their new lead singer at the time, N’Dea Davenport. With those groups
gaining more prominence stateside in the early 90’s mainly via R&B 
radio stations in conjunction with hip-hop, it seemed natural that they
would go hand in hand. But no one had ever done it.

 
Jazzmatazz took the music world by storm. I remember tuning into video 
shows at the time when the first single, ‘Loungin’ made its appearance. It
was remarkable because Guru teamed up with Donald Byrd, a jazz legend.
Bear in mind this was at a time where some jazz artists were uncomfortable
with hip-hop overall because of a violent, garish stigma attached to it. Yet
Guru managed to create a bridge between those genres effortlessly. He 
took it upon himself to be creative director of the album, which gave him
the power to assemble a virtual all-star lineup. A backing band of Donald
Byrd, Lonnie Liston Smith, Roy Ayers, Branford Marsalis, Courtney Pine,
and Ronny Jordan on a HIP-HOP ALBUM. Unheard of! (Interesting note:
Branford Marsalis actually stopped touring with his brother, Wynton so he
could get in on the album. Wynton, who was and is NOT a fan of hip-hop
music was not amused.) This album also added to N’Dea Davenport’s 
stardom as the featured vocalist and also featured hit UK singer Carleen
Anderson. You even had MC Solaar, the famous rapper out of France get
down on a track. The album defied convention by using those lines of
convention to perfection.

The album was groundbreaking at that time because it demonstrated 
that you could blend different genres with hip-hop successfully. It got
serious play on MTV and even more acclaim over in Europe. “Loungin’
was a hit single, but “Trust Me” would be the single with the most 
impact across the board. Jazzmatazz would go on to be a successful 
series for Guru and a platform for many famous artists to collaborate.
It also led to a rise in hip-hop/jazz fusion stateside. The Brand New 
Heavies would wind up doing an MTV Unplugged session with rappers
like MC Serch, Grand Puba and Masta Ace among others that became
an album. You also saw artists like Digable Planets, Dred Scott, US3
and Morcheeba rise to prominence. Branford Marsalis would build off
of this album’s acclaim and create Buckshot Lefonque, his own jazz/
hip-hop fusion project with DJ Premier. N’Dea Davenport would go on
to have her own solid solo career, and Carleen Anderson would do so
as well, fillling in for Davenport with the Heavies in addition to singing
with the Young Disciples and Incognito. You also saw this album’s 
influence on the Red Hot +Riot series, issued to increase HIV/AIDS
awareness. Jazzmatazz is an album that is a prism for a key part of
that golden era of hip-hop, and a fitting touchstone for the culture at
large.  

Politics As Usual In Havana - Chris "Preach" Smith

When is a trip, not a trip?

You might have found yourself asking this question in the past 48 hours, what
with all of the hype that has taken place over Jay-Z and Beyonce’s trip to Cuba
for their 5th wedding anniversary. The news should’ve instilled an ‘awwww’ from
the general public, especially considering the fact that the Carters brought their
mothers along. But instead, it’s become yet another dirty football seized upon by
political opportunists and crackpots, and a bigger story than it should have ever
been. Senators Marco Rubio, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart were up
in arms over the trip, viewing it as illegal and supporting an oppressive regime.
Rubio even went so far as to attempt to show off a sort of ‘hip factor’ concerning
hip-hop, claiming that Jay should’ve made an attempt to visit Ángel Yunier Remón
Arzuaga, an MC from the duo Los Hijos Que Nadie Quiso (The Unwanted Children)
in prison since being arrested for anti-government lyrics. Even actress Stacey 
Dash chimed in on Twitter with a jingoism worthy of Michelle Bachmann.  And 
while other morning shows talked of the President’s 13th speech on gun control,
Fox News chose to speculate about the trip possibly being a ‘secret trip to get 
support for Obama.’ You even had people criticize Beyonce’s hairstyle, asking why
would she get braids to go to a Spanish country.

The entire wave of fake outrage shows another layer of stupidity that exists in
the halls of Congress and another facet of bigotry.  Since 2009, Sean Penn, James
Caan, Jim Belushi and other celebrities have journeyed to Cuba with little to no
fanfare. Bey and Jay-Z go to Havana and you’d swear it was Kathleen and Eldridge
fleeing to Algiers back in 1969. It’s two Black millionaires who have supported and
are close to a Black president. That’s what’s alarming about this trip to the ignorant.
The trip was approved by the Treasury Department as a ‘people to people’ voyage,
which is allowed under US law in addition to ecological missions, humanitarian 
trips, cultural missions and religious missions. Rubio wanted to make a statement
to satisfy the Cuban exile part of his politcal base, as did Ros-Lethinen and Diaz-
Balart, the part that is vehemently anti-Castro. But they also exposed a part of
themselves that some who view the Cuban people in an honest eye, see as part
of the reason why Castro rose to power. Rubio citing a Cuban MC in prison is him
doing the bidding for the Tea Party to get themselves more tan, if you will. And
Ros-Lethinen, although having liberal stances on other policies, is so anti-Castro
that she was on record as saying that she’d welcome his assasination in a 
documentary film, 638 Ways To Kill Castro. Twice. Another element to this is,
perhaps their stance also sheds light on the Black/white struggles still prevalent
among some Cubans as it is in other Latino communities and how it still burns
bridges in a few cases.

 
Cuba has always been a thorn in the side of this country. Even now, with Fidel on 
retirement mode and his brother Raul running the government, Cuba still is seen 
as either a threat or a place of resillient culture. It’s not the looming Communist
threat 90 miles off the Florida Keys it once was, thanks to the fall of the Soviet
Union. But it is still a heralded nation, mainly because of the richness of its music
and people. And that’s something that Americans are learning more about without
the politics. Maybe Jay-z and Bey went to check out the Afro-Cuban flavor up close and
personal, like a lot of folks do. Maybe they wanted to do so after reading that recent
New York Times article about how Afro-Cubans still feel their rise to prominence is
limited, despite there being laws against discriminaton based on color in the books.
It’s almost funny that Jay went there, 12 years after rocking a Che Guevara t-shirt
doing his MTV:Unplugged set with The Roots. And a few years after Black August 
did a show there. What the Carters’ trip to Cuba should be seen as, is a wake-up 
call. Other countries allow free passage to Cuba, Canada being the most prominent.
The fact that there’s more outrage by nutjobs over two Black millionaires going to
Cuba than the closing of Guantanamo Bay is just politics as usual as far as Havana
goes. And the current administration. I hope Jay-Z bought enough Cohibas for his
Bentley.