Royal Pain - Chris "Preach" Smith

Friday can't get here fast enough.

Maybe then all of this tedious daily coverage will have stopped
annoying the hell out of me. Friday is the appointed day for the
marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton in the United
Kingdom, if you haven't heard already. And for the past two
months, EVERYONE has been talking about it. Barbara Walters,
not too far gone from heart surgery is covering the event minute
by minute along with an army of reporters, bloggers and spectators.
Now you've got talk shows with sections devoted to how you
can look like Kate Middleton from hair to high heels. Someone
paid $127,000 at an auction to buy the see-through dress that
she wore when she caught Prince William's eye. Jay-Z and
Beyonce reportedly will perform at the reception. (Really? U2
and Kanye weren't available?) Let's not forget every single
piece of commemorative memorabilia being hawked on HSN.

ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!

Look, I understand the importance of the event. I'm from a
Jamaican family that keeps up with the Royal Family. I even
have relatives over there. But I don't see the need for all the
news outlets here to go absolutely overboard over this. You
would think that being a nation that fought to shake off the
shackles of being a British colony that we'd regard this with
some indifference but nooooooo...there's even one or two
people who are having viewing parties. You know what time
they'll start broadcasting the wedding? 5 A.M. I didn't even
get up that early to catch the World Cup in 2002! Granted,
they make a nice couple and this will probably make up for
both the tragic death of Princess Diana, Sarah Ferguson's
legal issues and Prince Charles'..well..you know..girlfriend.
But I don't see how news stations can devote so much to
this given the fact that we barely get the full story on news
that's important. Like the fact that the rent is still too damn
high. And gas is too damn high. And there's still not enough
jobs. And let's not forget, WAR. So I wish the newlyweds well,
but I'm not joining the Disney-fied fantasy world surrounding
this wedding. Not unless Russell Brand will be gate-crashing.
Maybe then.

Shadows over Watts Street - Chris 'Preach' Smith

Shadows are part of who we are as people. We cast them down as
we go about our business in life. But there are times when our own
shadows become larger than life. Another reminder of this broke into
the news headlines this past Monday with the arrest of Mister Cee,
the well known DJ for Hot 97 in New York City and a notable hip hop
figure for his work with The Notorious B.I.G. Cee apparently was
caught in the act of having fellatio performed on him by a prostitute.
A transvestite prostitute. Of course, since then the news has become
tawdry and has stirred up a lot of jokes and a liberal outpouring of
homophobia. It's also led to the beginnings of a verbal war between
Hot 97 and Power 105, the two main hip hop radio stations.

My take? To begin with, Mister Cee is a grown man. A man who in
all honesty, has some personal questions to ask himself. Because
having the NYPD catch you getting a humjob in your truck at 4 AM
and then claiming on Twitter that you're being targeted is not the
way to handle this. From what I've heard since, this isn't the first
time he's engaged in such behavior. But it would've remained his
private business if he didn't put it out there on the street. There's
a reason why hot-sheet motels exist. It shows that he's on a slippery
slope because a)he got busted out in the open and b)he got busted
right near where he works. To just throw caution to the wind like a
pair of dirty drawers says he's not only done this before but has
been totally taken over by his vice. Cee can't avoid what this has
become. And trying to start beef with DJ Envy is a lame attempt at
distraction dude. That combined with Funkmaster Flex throwing
subliminal shots on your behalf doesn't make you look any more
pristine or macho. And it also might lead to violence, something
that we don't need given the senseless death of DJ Megatron just
last week.


I'm not here to debate whether Mister Cee is gay or not. I really
could care less. There's a lot more dire things going on in the world
to be worried about. But I can't help but laugh and shake my head at
the disgusting, hateful comments that trail behind every report on
Mister Cee like a stream of fresh diarrhea. Some people really have
no clue. Especially when you look at some elements and figures in
contemporary hip hop today. Some of these people who are quick to
type in slurs and call names and claim that hip hop has no need for
this behavior forget that Lil Wayne and Baby had a questionable kiss
or two eight years ago IN PUBLIC. And it has mostly been forgotten.
Weezy is now a platinum superstar who has a legion of followers. We
are in an era where the lines aren't only blurred, in some cases they're
smudged like a toddler with fingerpaint. We've accepted wild behavior
in our emcees before. And now we've accepted the paradox between
overt thug machismo and secret activities behind closed doors. Don't
believe me? Think about some album covers by 50 Cent. Why is it
that certain publications have ads in their classifieds for man on man
sex chat lines? Why does Bay Area artist Lil B feel it necessary to
heavily make hints at being gay? Why did Nicki Minaj speak on being
bisexual, then waffle? Because it SELLS RECORDS people. Byron Hurt
addresses this in a powerful documentary, 'Hip Hop: Beyond Beats
and Rhymes'. Understand that no matter what, the industry loves this
because their job is to gain profit by driving up ratings. And if they
need to use this situation for their gain, they will. People talk, and that
talk translates to dollars. If this kind of ambiguity exists, it's because
the public has accepted it as status quo from dudes wearing skinny
jeans off their ass to tongue piercings to embracing drank and Ecstacy
use in clubs. Wake up and smell the hypocrisy.

Mister Cee will get past all of this. It's not as if he's a second tier rapper
with one hit under his belt. The bigger question is, can he live with this
kind of shadow following him? Time will tell.

Is Breezy Blowing in The Wind? - Chris "Preach" Smith

By now, Chris Brown has publicly apologized for his
explosive meltdown following an interview with Robin
Roberts on ABC's 'Good Morning America'. A meltdown
that resulted in Brown going nose to nose with one of
the show's producers and tossing a chair out of the
window of the dressing room into the crowded Times
Square street below, ripping his shirt off as a finale.
Not a good way to commemorate your new album.
The obvious hailstorm of questions has occurred: has
he totally lost it? Is this the beginning of the end?

There are some folks who feel that Robin Roberts had
pressed him too hard about his troubled past and assault
of Rihanna. I can understand that, especially when word
got out that she was remorseful about her strategy of
questioning even after he deflected the first question
and ABC declined to press charges. But this is the big
picture, folks...he and his team should have vehemently
said before the segment, 'We are not, NOT taking any
questions about Rihanna.' Instead, they gave the producer
the go-ahead. Big mistake. It's the media's job to pry and
dig because that's how news is made, especially daytime
talk television. Ask Kanye about his last interview with
Matt Lauer. His manager should have protected him better.
Because now, unless this album is platinum status, this is
all anyone will talk about. And Chris, take it from me: you
do NOT want to try to put yourself in the same boat as
Charlie Sheen. He SHOT one of his former girlfriends by
accident before. And he's been acting out since the '80's.

The bottom line is, this is another tantrum by Brown at the
worst time and it makes you ask if he's learned anything at
all from what he's gone through. He doesn't want to discuss
the past, but that's going to follow him for the rest of his life.
Moving forward means you learn how to face it, deal with the
tough questions and keep steppin'. This isn't the first time
Breezy has wigged out in the past two years. But it could've
been far more costly than replacing a window since he's still
serving out a 5-year probation sentence. Before he lets his
career blow away, Chris Brown needs to get his act together.
And realize that maybe the 'Demolition Man' dye job was a
BAD choice.

Foul Shots - Chris 'Preach' Smith

"You talk like a white boy!"

To this day, I can still remember where I was, the sun
going down in the sky at that time and the half-sneer
that went along with those words. I was in high school,
a different one than friends on the block went to. Way
different being that it was up in Northern Queens. Once
you add in the fact that I was a late bloomer in some
respects and still had a mother's love that could be
overprotective at times, I was bound to get clowned
on by my friends. But that was something I didn't even
expect. My response? I cursed back, we all laughed it
off and that was the end of it. But the sting was still
there in my blood. That's one of the worst tags to hang
on a Black person, period.

I felt that same sting rise up again this past Sunday night
as I watched "The Fab Five" documentary on ESPN. It was
a great documentary, but one segment has become its
calling card in an unfortunate way. Jalen Rose, one of the
talented Michigan freshmen, spoke on how he and the
other guys viewed Grant Hill and other Black players from
Duke University. "Uncle Toms". That phrase became all
anyone would talk about from the program. And for the
past couple of days, it's been nothing short of a firestorm
for Rose and Hill, who wrote an eloquent blog for the New
York Times as a rebuttal.

Thing is, I wish the issue didn't just get portrayed as an
'us vs. them' debate not only among Black folks, but at
large. Let's be frank; Rose was honest about how he felt,
but took great pains to explain that was his mindstate in
the past. One thng people missed out of the documentary
was that Ice Cube alluded to the same thing in his comments
throughout the program. And by and large, a good deal of
people in the Black community have felt that way about
Duke University, and some still do given the lacrosse team
incident a couple of years back. It hurts to admit it, but it
is there. I wished Grant didn't have to defend himself, but
he had no other choice both as a man and as a son. What
gets me is that in the samplings of discussions I've seen on
the 'Net, few are willing to discuss the pain and stigma such
words can have. I've met people who have suffered great
psychological pain over this and I've had to deal with some
of my own. At this stage in our history on this continent, we
shouldn't have to hash this out in simplistic terms. Yet we
keep doing it. I'm not saying Jalen should be absolved of
blame; as a producer, you have final say on what gets cut
in editing so he should have expected it. I think what should
occur after this, if both men are willing, is that they take part
in a roundtable interview on the subject and include other
athletes of color. Because this is something that still takes
place and we need to move past it. We can't have any more
foul shots like this pointed towards each other.

J Dilla Saved My Life - Levar F.M.

Yo, I don't know where to start, uh … check it out ...

Music is … my total existence, dawg, straight up.

Everything with my life revolves around music,

It's like ... you can't get a relationship with ...

I'm still with ... my first love, which is music

You'know'what'I'm'sayin',

Fo'real, the reason I'm here is ... is J Dilla, just like that, peace …

Music is an expression of emotions with the ability to range
greater than the sound of the instruments themselves. It can
serve as both an aphrodisiac and an anesthetic. For me, music
has been my sword and shield whenever I need strength to
remain focused on achieving triumph over adversity; after all,
every moment in life should have its own soundtrack.

Between 2000 and 2001, I found myself stuck in a numb

state of depression, learning to live with regrets. I felt like
a motherless child with a cross to bear, one too heavy for
me to burden my loved ones with. I sought solace in my
Sony Discman and headphones, and submerged myself in
beats and rhymes. Around this time, Common released a
great LP, "Like Water For Chocolate." Com has always been
a thoughtful, introspective MC, so I was able to fall into the
deep-thinker mode I needed to plot my escape from despair.
But what truly carried me through the battle was the music.
This was when I really got familiar with the sounds of Jay
Dee, much better known as J Dilla.

I was already hip to Jay Dee's production without quite
knowing who he was; as part of the Ummah production
collective along with Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad,
he blessed tracks on Keith Murray's "Enigma." Worked
with The Pharcyde. Credits on the majority of Busta Rhymes's
solo LP's. I will admit, his earlier work didn't strike me as
spectacular; in retrospect, I wonder if his work didn’t resonate
with me because I hadn’t developed a need for it. At any
rate, I digress; back to "Like Water ..."

I (figuratively) lost my shit when I heard "Heat." Kicked off
with the wah-wah guitar, that beat just kept churning, grinding...
bubbling. The drum pattern had that snap-crackle-pop. Dilla so
deftly chopped Tony Allen's "Asiko" that the end result bumps
a smoother groove than the original composition. The single
that gained more recognition was "The Light," heartwarming
not only because of its display of genuine love, but because of
the seamless Bobby Caldwell sample juxtaposed with a gentler
version of the drums that The RZA used for Raekwon's
"Incarcerated Scarfaces." “Funky For You” with its hop-skip
bounce and sultry breakdown at the end of the track. The piece
de resistance was the drifting, melodic, smoky lounge vibe of
"Nag Champa." It sedated me, much like a 22-oz. and a Dutch
for self once sedated me. So when Jay Dee released "Welcome
2 Detroit" on BBE Records shortly thereafter, it was a no-brainer
for me to cop it. The CD started with a fair warning to
"get ready ..." and from there it was solidified. One album
ran the gamut from Detroit underground to Blue Note jazz,
R&B to bossa nova. As he did with “Nag Champa,” Dilla was not
only playing the instruments, but singing on his cover of Donald
Byrd’s “Think Twice.” It was, and perhaps still is, the most
well-produced album I’d ever heard.

"Like Water ..." and "Welcome ..." would continue to stay in
heavy rotation for years to come but around the close of 2005,
I was right back in one of those solitary moods, brought on by
a breakup between me and the woman who would become my
wife years later. To cope, I threw myself headfirst into my day job,
school, and my art, but I was barely maintaining. I spent my
evenings in front of a PC with a bottle of wine and a pack of Marlboro
menthols, working on graphic design and slowly becoming an alcoholic.
I always worked better while music was playing, and once again,
it was Common's teamwork with his best friend Dilla that served as
my soundtrack, this time on "Be." Let’s be clear, a song like "Love Is ..."
is NOT the easiest song to digest during heartbreak, but that beautiful
soundscape couldn't be denied. The final track of the LP, "It's Your World,"
was it, though. In a word, inspiring. And it goes without saying that
“Champion Sound,” J Dilla’s collaborative LP with Madlib, was sheer
battery-in-the-back music for me every morning, and many times it was
what got me through the day.

Writing about such things have never done me or the subject
much justice; to understand the profound effect Dilla had on
me is to understand how his legacy has affected millions of fans.
Sure, there were plenty of folks who became convenient “Dilla
disciples” after his passing, but do I fault them for showing up
late to the party? No. To some degree, the late movement, to
some part, helped propel Dilla Dawg to iconic status. Meanwhile,
students such as myself were reminded that he transcended that
boundary between producer and musician long before his passing.
When I heard the news … I threw on “Welcome 2 Detroit.” And I
shed a tear of sadness for a person I never knew firsthand, yet
was constantly a part of my evolution. After all, it was his music
that consoled me when I wanted nothing more than to zone out
to “hot shit.” While it’s almost inexplicable what made his music
seems so poignant, so timeless, I believe it can be summed up
this way: J Dilla made music that touched the soul. “Donuts” will
forever remain a memorial to a legend, and a testament to his
everlasting effect on the world of music. And towards the end of
his life, his music resonated with me because what I needed to
feel was soul. Though his life was cut short through no fault of
his own, I sometimes believe that, like all saviors, he dedicated
his entire life to making the rest of ours that much better.

J Dilla saved my life.