From Fourscore to Four More - Chris 'Preach' Smith

This past Tuesday night, history was made again in these United States when Barack Obama
was re-elected to a second term in office. The statement made that night will resonate for
decades because not only did the President win by a substantial margin of electoral college
votes, he also won the popular vote - a feat that hadn’t been done by an American president
since Ronald Reagan. But there are other elements to this that cannot be ignored.

The first thing to consider is, Obama’s re-election is a validation of what America’s character
is. The obvious knee-jerk analysis will say that the Democrat contribution to a $2.5 billion
campaign expenditure is the main cause, but that would belittle all of those volunteers, the
community organizers mocked by arch-conservatives. It brushes aside those who braved 
tortuous long lines to vote early in many states, Ohio & Florida most notably. Tuesday was
a victory for the process. It was a victory in an election that was bitterly divisive due to the
machinations of the Republican Party and all of their corporate allies. When you consider that
Karl Rove, the GOP strategist got 390 million dollars to get Obama out of office on the heels
of the Citizens United decision allowing campaign donors to hide, this re-election is a crushing
blow to corporate elitists who hoped to get one of their kind in office. People stood up, and 
were counted. Barack knows that it wouldn’t have been possible otherwise, hence his tears
of appreciation the day after while addressing organizers in Chicago.

The next element to consider is, this election once again exposes the cancerous growth of 
racism that America still lives with. I laughed when folks started saying that Obama’s election
in 2008 marked a ‘post-racial’ United States. Any person of color, if they’re honest about it,
knew it wasn’t worth the crap on a buffalo nickel. This entire election for a cross-section of 
the country wasn’t about issues. It was simply, ‘get the n——- out.’ From the GOP primaries
you could tell that they were playing on white fear and privilege. Using coded racial language.
Recycling mottos from the KKK. Purchasing threatening billboards in Black neighborhoods about
voter fraud. Disenfranchisement through voter ID laws. And when the results came in, the 
absolute mental breakdown of the right wing was a true sight to behold. Donald Trump, a man
whose decisions seem as bad as his choice in hairpieces, called for a march on DC, a revolution!
Karl Rove had a prolonged meltdown on Fox News while Bill O’Reilly proclaimed that this was
‘the end of traditional America.’(Which for some reason makes me think that all of the Native
brothers and sisters, if able, would’ve loved to make O’Reilly eat those words with a pile of dust
found from the debris of Pine Ridge, South Dakota.) And to top it off, social media, primarily
Twitter, saw a explosion of hateful and vile tweets which when traced, were found to be mostly
from the south. Stay classy Mississppi and Alabama. Tuesday night, for these folks said this: you
better get with it, or get left behind. 

Because Tuesday night was the beginning of a road that may lead to some real and permanent
change in this country. There is a ton of work to be done. The economy needs to continue growth.
We need to focus on overdue infrastructure work. There needs to be more pressure brought to
bear about how we wage conflict by drone warfare. We need better education initiatives enacted
on state levels. More work on destroying the prison industrial complex. Immigration. LGBT Equality.
And on top of it, another fiscal showdown along party lines. It is decidedly better to fight and agitate
for these changes under President Obama than it would have been with someone like Mitt Romney,
a man who his own party didn’t like, in the White House. Barack Obama’s re-election means that he
can be more aggressive on policy that we all would want. But we also cannot be naive and fall for
the ‘magic Negro’ appeal that he got tagged with back in 2008. We also cannot let apathy and 
cynicism replace action. Barack Obama is our president for another four years. Tuesday night was
another chapter in an America that is slowly coming to grips with how it is seen in the mirror and
learning to cope with what it sees. Let’s hope that the vision will continue to exude brilliance.



 

Black Is Her Colour: The Controversy over 'Nina' - Chris "Preach" Smith

Nina Simone.

For the past few days, an arguably greater storm than Hurricane Sandy has
gotten the attention of folks worldwide. And it all lies at the heart of a motion
picture depicting the life of one of America’s - and the world’s - greatest singers.
Nina Simone, to be really honest, was much more than just a singer. She was
and is an unquestioned pillar of Blackness in artistry and social awareness. Like
many others, I can recall moments at family house parties where at least one
of her records were on heavy rotation. Nina created music that found its heart in
our lives, our struggles, our triumphs much like other artists of her day. But she
did it on her own terms, and whenever you saw her, you bathed deeply  in that
Blackness she owned and was fiercely proud of. And it made you better for it. Which
is why this biopic and the controversy it contains is nothing short of horrendous.

It began with news of who they cast to play Nina, Zoe Saldana. I love Zoe as an
actress and as a woman, as I’m sure many do. But her casting was, and is, a slap
in the face to Nina’s family. It isn’t Zoe Saldana’s fault. Let’s be real about this part
of it, the filmmaking machine of Hollywood and its overseas arms are not terribly
concerned with historical accuracy. Especially when it comes to our stories. The 
group behind this flick have a 30 million dollar budget. And they want a hefty return.
Especially being based in the United Kingdom. They WANTED this publicity too. Even
bad press gets people in the door. Ask Tyler Perry. Think about the actresses that 
could have been cast. Viola Davis, Kimberly Elise, Regina Taylor would have been
ideal. If you wanted to go younger, Adepero Oduye would have been excellent. But
to the producers & director, none of these women worked because the belief is that
dark-skinned women in lead roles haven’t been in vogue since the days of Cicely
Tyson and Lola Falana.

Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone.

And the end result is that Zoe Saldana has to wear dental implants and darker makeup in
order to portray Nina. Yes, she’s Afro-Latina, and proud to be so. But this is the machine at
work. It’s been that way since the old days of Hollywood. It’s the paper bag test committed
to celluloid. Many fine actresses have suffered because of it, from Hattie McDaniels to Nichelle
Nichols to Gloria Hendry and others in between. I think about how Grace Jones became a 
Bond Girl and basically was a highlight of ‘A View To A Kill.’ Yet, Hollywood won’t change.
Not unless they are compelled to, and it begins with the dollars. Not with heaping anger on
Zoe Saldana because, she’s trapped in the system. From her position, it is a dream role. And
a chance to be more than a sex symbol. For actresses of color, fighting type is a job all by 
itself. Where the blame lies is with the group behind this flick. They could have avoided this.
Think about this…if you don’t even speak to the DAUGHTER of the woman who you’re doing
a movie about, how concerned are you with what the public really will gain from your picture
outside of a couple of hours of enjoyment? Jimmy Iovine is also attached to this project, so
you can smell the hustle here.

One thing is certain though. We can be mad all we want to be. But what we can’t be anymore 
is solely reactionary. I know that there is a petition to the filmmakers behind ‘Nina’, but I 
think what may be needed is another biopic. One with a female director of color preferably. 
Have talented, diverse writers. Authentic casting. And funded through crowdsourcing like 
Kickstarter for example, if not through funding from other notable folks much like how Melvin
Van Peebles got funding for ‘Sweet Sweetback’s Badassss Song.’ It’s been done before, and it
can be done again. I mean, if there was a dollar or two given for each person voicing displeasure
or each Tweet or Facebook message over this, you’d be in business. And there will be those who
will see this film. It’s inevitable. But it doesn’t mean that this has to be the definitive take on 
Nina Simone’s life by any means. Let’s hope that all this energy will power projects we can all
get behind with no hesitation. 


 

Shyne Fumbles For The Light - Chris "Preach" Smith

Shyne.

Andy Warhol continues to be right about those fifteen minutes. The latest 
case happens to be one Moses Michael Levi, better known to the world as Shyne. For 
someone who has converted to Judaism for the purpose of finding peace in the midst of
chaos, Shyne seems to seek trouble out for no other reason than to make sure he stays
relevant. And let’s face it, that’s all it really is. So why should we care? There are a couple
of reasons.

First off, let’s look at this past few weeks for Shyne, shall we? He releases a mixtape online
which garnered the same amount of attention as a Vanilla Ice Greatest Hits collection. None.
You also have him taking shots at Rick Ross for the ‘Black Bar Mitzvah’ mixtape. Understood.
He then proceeds to ‘endorse’ Mitt Romney for President of the United States, claming that
Barack Obama is corny but in the SAME INTERVIEW half-asks for a pardon, claiming that 
the President knew of his situation and that his pardon could put him in standing with the
Jewish voters this election. News flash dude, the GOP doesn’t care about you any more than
a couple of Orthodox communities on one side of Eastern Parkway would. Then we see him
flat out trash Kendrick Lamar’s new album on Twitter. He gets thoroughly clowned, and still
doesn’t waver, claiming his debut was better. Then he gets into it with The Game, and throws
a shot at him before backtracking like the best of politicians. All in all, a porridge of pitiful
behavior.


There’s going to be one or two folks who will say, ‘oh, it’s his opinion’. Which is very true.
But my question is this: why would you choose to berate an artist who is arguably the 
hottest MC out right now? And instead of clarifying it, why would you choose to throw 
shots instead?  I’ll tell you why…because Shyne is trying to reclaim glory he briefly had.
He lost a few years in the box and decides that he still has a place in the contemporary
hip-hop scene not based on talent alone. It’s because he held to a code of silence about
the situation that landed him in jail instead of Sean ‘P.Diddy’ Combs and didn’t get the 
rewards and riches he thought were owed to him. It’s because he thinks he MATTERS. 
The conversion to Judaism, his comments about President Obama, the shots at Kendrick
Lamar, his claim that he’ll perform in the U.S. ‘with or without Obama’…these are the 
sputterings of a failed rapper who doesn’t see that he is. His one outstanding facet was
that he sounded like Biggie and he lost that after getting out of prison. Now he wants to
be a Black version of Matisyahu. All this is, is a movement for publicity. Why else would
you pose for a pic with Sean Combs and rip into him after? He knows how the game works.
He just chooses to be played out by it. For someone who named himself after a feature of
what light brings, this dude continues to be in the dark about a lot of things. Maybe he’ll get
that straightened out by the time Cash Money needs another hook on a record.
 

Stages, Lights and Awards - Chris "Preach" Smith

Rick Ross and Young Jeezy.


By now, we’ve all heard about the brawl between Rick Ross and Young
Jeezy at this year’s BET Hip Hop Awards in Atlanta. And we also got to see
the resulting mayhem in the parking lot between Gunplay, a member of Ross’
Maybach Music Group and 50 Cent and other members of G-Unit. Of course,
once the mace cleared, this incident is just another on the long list of beefs
and incidents that has taken place at awards shows. Like my man Julian said
to me via Twitter, ‘It’s the new Source Awards!!!’ And he’s right, to some
degree.

There’s some that ask why stuff like this goes down only at events that
are related to hip hop. Others that use incidents like this to further solidify
the stereotype that the entire culture of hip hop is a composition of bling,
overt swagger and nuanced thuggery. Truth be told, if you understand the
culture, this is inevitable. Hip hop is partly about appreciating and respecting
the MC with the greatest presence. Flat out. It used to be all about lyrics, then
the exterior. In today’s money-driven landscape though, the biggest baller is
usually deemed the best, never mind their skills. With that being the case,
you can look at the main people involved and see that this is nothing but a
drama play gone awry.

First off, Young Jeezy and Rick Ross have been at odds ever since Ross did
the track ‘Blowing Money Fast’. Claiming to be like Big Meech of the BMF, a
known dude on the streets is something altogether different when EVERYONE
knows that you used to be a correctional officer. And this is while you have
named yourself after another infamous drug dealer, ‘Freeway’ Ricky Ross who
has basically called you a cornball on record. So Rick Ross was bound to get
into it with Jeezy, who now alternates between claiming ties to Big Meech and
defending himself against claims that HE’S a fraud. All this after being called
out by the late, great Pimp C of UGK. Then you have Gunplay, who really could
be rap’s version of Pig Pen from Charles Schultz’s ‘Peanuts’. It seems that all
that blow he’s doing(and before you refute that, check his antics in Colombia
during a video shoot)has damaged his judgement. Nothing else explains why
he would approach 50 Cent, Tony Yayo and other G-Unit heads by HIMSELF.
And all that blow couldn’t save him from catching a semi-stomping. As for 50?
He’s probably the most authentic out of the quartet, and the man with the longest
tenure in the game. So it all seems like a nuisance to him.

What went on in Atlanta is basically nothing more than a couple of cats
believing their own hype a little too much and letting it get out of hand.
And in the process, it adds an extra level of publicity to BET’s product.
Which all means more money for its parent company, Viacom. It shouldn’t
be a coincidence that all this went down and different videos began to
get out. Controlled mayhem is lucrative. If you don’t believe me, let me
ask you what you watch on weekends from September to February. I know
a good deal of you will say, ‘football’. I referenced the Source Awards earlier.
After they had their issues, it was no longer televised. Big difference here
is that the Source Awards were on a non-affiliated network. Different stigma,
different rules. All of this ruckus can go down on cable and it might snag
the producers some Emmys. Look at Vh1’s primetime lineup on Mondays.
Don’t be surprised if something else goes down next year. Even studio
gangsters need their spotlight like everyone else.



 

The Blue Side of Hip-Hop - Chris 'Preach' Smith

Tyga.

I’ll admit, I was tempted to let the news that Tyga, the often overlooked
member of the Young Money camp and brother to Yung Berg, had not
only launched a porn site, Rack City XXX, but was planning to direct AND
star in a movie, slide as a non-issue. But in talking with a couple of people,
I saw that besides this having more than one heaping helping of comedy,
this sudden business move was more than business.

Sex has always had a boudoir chair in hip-hop. When you look at the comedic
stylings of Dolomite, as well as the career of Blowfly, it’s been about as brazen
as a crack-addled denizen off Hoe Avenue in the Bronx. Big Daddy Kane is
revered for his smooth sex appeal as much as his lyrical prowess, to the point
that he even got down with Madonna AND Naomi Campbell for Madonna’s ‘Sex’
book in the early 90’s. Akinyele’s most memorable single? ‘Put It In Your Mouth’.
He wound up riding the triple X train to near obscurity. Kool Keith has definitely
indulged that split personality, claiming a lyrical style that focuses primarily on
sex as ‘pornocore’ and releasing an album, Sex Style, that explored it to the
fullest. I remember working in the Times Square area years ago and seeing the
Ultramagnetic MC around those lurid video stores during that time. Some may
remember Funkdoobiest, the LA-based trio mentored by Cypress Hill’s DJ Muggs
who drew on triple X-rated subjects for a bulk of their music. Son Doobie, the
lead MC even starred in a flick himself and called himself the ‘Porn King’. And of
course, various DJ’s and MC’s make the strip clubs another day at the office and
their second home. I remember being up at the infamous Sue’s Rendezvous way
back in the day and seeing Fat Man Scoop host festivities there. Porn has always
been that aspect of hip hop we accept in small doses.

That’s not to say that it isn’t troublesome to some degree. For one, moves like
Tyga has made aren’t without financial implications. Let’s be frank, he won’t be
making real money off of it. If you’re charging 25 dollars a month for your site,
in an era where people can snatch that content off the web for free if they so
choose, your name alone isn’t going to generate traffic. Especially if you’re still
an afterthought to a good deal of rap fans outside of the tattoos and snapbacks.
It’s an indulgent fantasy that does reinforce the undercurrent of misogyny that
exists within hip-hop, in an overt way. Female MC’s, if they were even inclined
to, wouldn’t make such a move. They may draw upon their sexuality and play
to men’s fantasies, i.e. Lil Kim, Foxy Brown and H.W.A., but they wouldn’t go
there. Why? Because as women, they already are ASSUMED to be in that position
unless their persona and skills dictate otherwise. The female MC with skills
does suffer in a sense somewhat because of it. And then you also have to look
at what this brings about in the form of crumb-snatchers who look to use the
tool of porn & hip-hop to make money. How many flyers have you seen from
‘entertainment’ groups you’ve barely heard of looking for video models? Or the
Craigslist ads? It exposes the exploitative roaches and inflicts damage on the
naive and unsuspecting young women out there.

Tyga’s move may make you laugh. It may just be something you look at and
go, ‘whatever.’ And you’d be right in both instances to do so. But it would be
wrong not to understand that porn and hip-hop have always been bedfellows.
And even that can give birth to things both entertaining…and disturbing.