In the words of RAKIM ALLAH... It's been a long time. Funny how music has followed the entertainment business and politics itself, while avoiding the finger it wags. In urban music, the usual suspects seem to party hardy as if nothing happens in the world, only in its world. But somehow our realities are affected by culture unlike any other time before. Below I charge many, so called, music heads that we see everywhere, but they appear nowhere at the same time.

TWO WHITE COLLEGE WOMEN KILLED BY TWO BLACK MEN Hate to bring the noise like that but it is what it is. A bad month for the image of black men. Well the sht has hit the fan. Seriously when I raised my hand for the DEF JAM position it was to infuse some basics back into the art form's developmental process. Once you reduce anything to monetary values without explanation and proper definition, you can possibly get a rebellious image reduced to criminal garbage, and to many this is what we have here. A collapsing of positive influences or just plain balance of images. In the YOUTUBE generation, young white girls and a few older do their thing imitating videos, shaking asses like it's carnival. It's current and hip for stripper poles to get worked as work outs because even if somebody's never been... they feel like the virtual reality is reality itself.

Being in the ATL the past 20 years, I'd seen stripper culture go mainstream dragging LUKE's bass along and growing it into Dirty South Crunk music, but even more so image wise. The strip clubs were havens for DJs and producers (as well as some grown men spending all their family's hard earned work money next to some temp ballers lap dance). It was in darker circles in the 80's and 90's... when it became accessible in main stream waters is when the turnoff happened for me. Who wants some adult sht to be mixed with what a seventh grader thinks? And these companies have the nerve to survey these school kids on the level of heat that comes with the lifestyle of today's entertainer. The treatment of women outside of this area becomes skewed further, and for the last 10 years, young boys, girls, women and men have co-signed this physical treatment as something out of the pages of normal.

The definition of how black males act at 21 is too defined by the entertainment business. The game is no longer reflecting, but now dictating, image and behavior. The image of the doo ragged young black adult male has flip flopped in the past 30 years. I wore a doo rag in the late 70's, wore sneaks- a classic B-boy look. But at the same time I knew its boundaries. And we wanted to define ourselves for identity. But now the image has been endorsed, sold, re-invented, and no pun intended - processed, with dangerous intent; and in a weird way sort of re-validating the racist fears of mixing, that have been the basis for killing black men here in the first place.

I was broken when I saw these two black men drag-netted by police in two separate southern states. NORTH CAROLINA and ALABAMA. Colleges; UNIVERSITY of NORTH CAROLINA and AUBURN. Two young white women, two young black males. Damn near throws the Scottsboro Boys case out the window. The Emmitt Till murder makes cracker mentality of 'see I told yall so' pop up in the back minds of many that still reside as the majority in this country.

To top it off I don't hear or see any of these so called image makers saying sht. The radio stations are full of DJs loud on jump-off language, yet silent when it comes down to saying the right thing. Clowning for the ratings. Fake laughing for their salaries, and the silent program directors who hired silent music directors, bowing to the unidentified socially unknown boss. A cat nobody knows, that no one sees. Who gives carte blanche to an image that's approved by a valley of 12 year olds. Of course a middle school kid would be enamored with something that spins like a shiny car rim, pants that sag below the knee line, and of course even the audacity to 'drag some hoes by their hair', in a club they ain't old enough to get in, off the pole. And the whiter the better in the street cred bank. And it's bankable too.

The 17 year old accused as an accomplice as the driver had a half braided half-fro head, over sized fitted vintage HOUSTON ASTRO hat, bubble jacket as he was photographed attempting to use the murdered woman's ATM card. Also was videotaped trying to use in convenience store trying to use. Under the modern day manhunt taking place in NC , no one wants to examine what is traveling at the speed of unthought in the mind of the- millennium hunted on the run cat. Nobody. Again I repeat it took a African R&B import AKON a few years back to reveal the truth about a mind in the middle of lock down in Caught Up, not rap. It drew the line of admittance and the penalty of serving time based from doing dumbsht.

This is the truth I'm trying to get at. The whole thug package that is sold like sport all the way to the profits of the cemeteries and funeral homes, who for years in ain't gonna say much of anything about violence in the hood or anyplace else because they look at death as a way of paying bills and house notes. But there are so many ways to write songs that differ in topics we have in front of us today. Somebody has to drag and ask your CLIVE DAVIS, RUSSELL SIMMONS, PUFFY's , CATHY HUGHES, DEBRA LEE, and their daddy SUMMER REDSTONE , JAY Z's , LA REIDS, and LYOR COHENS in front of people to fix and explain what they've profited from. Just ask. On top of this in many case identify themselves to the masses who they consider 'them asses'.

Especially JIMMY IOVINE, who with so much black blood on his watch and wallet should address black America about who he is, and then have 50 and DRE carry his throne- with him sitting on it into the press conference. Nobody's asking these people for their monopoly money, it's just that now it is time for nation identification. Just where in the hell is he???? No longer suffocation from their defecation. Just ID your real thoughts. You can't protest what you can't see. And that's why I say they mimic politicians ... heard everywhere yet seen no-place. Photo op then ghost dog. Being that there's only three major records left and counting down they can be found in two cities, in one or two remaining buildings... cornered inwhat used to be called a black music department.

Yes, the urban character created in the streets and mutated in the boardrooms to bring the street to living rooms, now has cloned derivation, resulting in a mixed bag of amerikkkan judgement on young black males. The masses might be trained to be silent, but the harm in failing to distinguish simple rights from wrongs from the industries that harbor our culture, leads to young people making up their own rules, or having to figure life out along the way. It starts at the top. And right now the top is a silenced cork on a soon to be exploding bottle. And you guessed the club and the dress code. Many will suffer from this one, so you bet I'm pointing beyond the usual suspects and figuring on fingering beyond what we are all seeing in this week's past news.

RAPPERS CONFORMING TO HOLLYWOOD STRUCTURE What gets me is this allowing for animal behavior in the rap -hip hop game, scrape off the profit and throw it back in.The acceptance of it by the heads of them states. Get them to sign by any means necessary and throw it up against wall in a stick or miss type of thing. So much of cannot get them to act so called 'right'.

In the film industry there is no automatic anything, you have to conform to people working a schedule around you, and thus learn how to respect and work with folk alongside you. If not, they kick your ass to the curb. For that I'm envious of the film biz because they ain't letting an industry go down for a second. And they're backed by back. The average entertainment thug is scared to make them mad. So they conform like a weasel. Church mouse . But got the nerve to come back to rap and treat the genre and its fans like collective garbage.....

BARACK TURNING DOWN HILLARY VP OFFER Although I've been encouraging that this Dream Team thing be at the end of this dog biting primary thing, the fact that BARACK OBAMA punched back and called out the fact that he was ahead- not behind - made me tip my black hat. Again I repeat I think the system is outdated and will require a team to get this place on beat with the world. I still think job wise that H. C. as prez and B. O. as VP can revolutionize the position, but H.C.'s ego done screwed her out. Its like I hear the N-word seeping out of the look on her face. Plus B. O. spanked the naysayers when it came to finally discussing race and his Pastor Reverend Wright. Again I'm not talking the campaign only here I'm talking the combination being able to handle a difficult leftover job these next four years not only in duty, world policy, but also in perception. CHANGE means revolution , I simply say GO O. And I have no expectations that allow me to be jaded no matter what happens, as with the past three elections- I will be prepared the day after Election Day no matter what.

NEW YORK BLACK GOVERNOR I had some good dealings in the past with the now Governor David Patterson of New York State, back when he was making a statement putting hip hop in Harlem on community give back stages.The new gig was totally unexpected because Elliot Spitzer was turning the screws on many folk, based on his moral stances. Damn, he fell for the oldest trick in the books. A fly hooker to get your game. I dug Spitzer for he was going after the major labels for their monopoly dominance. I wouldn't be surprised if one of those mongrels uh I mean moguls set him up with those chicks. Heard the girl he was with has gotten millions of views on her Myspace page and sold a gang on itunes. As for GOVERNOR PATTERSON it was completely under the radar work he was doing as LT GOV. Now he's the target , as they drag him into talking about his personal life. One thing PATTERSON has come straight out with the impression that he ain't Jesus and perfection is far from his personal resume. But he understands the job well, and knows his duty, and what's important. He will bring everything to his pace. That's how he handles his disability , he brings everything to his pace, but gets the job done as well as the impression that everyone coming at him will get their time handled. Hell goes out to the press and media for taking immediate cheap shots at him.

WHO GIVES A .... Seems that the ubiquitous 'they' have not only the thing they call urban music under corporate thumbs but also rap itself. Finally it appears complete. Like I should feel gracious that a Grammy was awarded to PE on Benny Benassis' remix of Bring The Noise. Ok Thanks to Benny. At the same time the conditions surrounding black artists border on chaos, disorder and negligence. The Grammys THIS YEAR were a corporate mush. How many major label artists are out there left anyway? It seems to be a joke that the inner circle still holds up JAY Z and Mary J while slowly bringing on Lupe and satisfying KANYE. But right now there's so many great artists outside the box doin' it. But the world around hip hop and R&B is simply lazy... lazy ... lazy as well as being highly underdeveloped.

Like here's some advice for you musical producer types. The most viral music community may be like that which works as a widget from Facebook. Ilike.com I'm told it's 10 times more gathering than Myspace and it rides alongside and within iTunes. Sign up. Hit me BARACK.

MIZZOU Did a peaceful three day run thru the state of Missouri starting on a snowy Tuesday in St. Louis at Webster University. Well attended and focused upon this year's presidential election as a main topic to bring up, the schools black studies area was thorough. A lot of pictures, conversation, and food in the alumni house afterwards. Drove past the new Busch Stadium and the downtown arena for the first time and St Louis is building things up. The next day the I 70 drive to Fulton had me at Westminster College known for a stop and speech in 1946 by Sir Winston Churchill, so the school had a lot of Churchill references there. In this very small town what struck me just as much was the presence of a Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd there in what seemed to be a very small pretty much white mid mizzou town. The collective was diverse and a combo of STL -KC and international students. It was a quiet dinner at Dennys off 70 for me on the way to Kansas City. The next day, gas up at $3.50 a gallon and trust me on a rental car, if I could get away with pee and water to fill it up I would. The Ride to KC had me peep the Royals-Arrowhead Stadium Sports complex , all the times I've been to KC it was the first time I really checked them out... KC's Metropolitan Community College was a hook up with my guys the HEET MOB who repped and we had did our customary hang and eat afterwards.

FAT JOE / 50 / PAPOOSE It takes radio beef to bring sales nationally boost CD sales I guess. I've loner 50 and Fat Joe so yeah I would like to see them duke up and raise funds from some charitable organization. Papoose and the Remy Ma combo obviously has rankled Mr Cartegena. I say raise the roofs for the youth since radio can't tell us what the standard of hip hop currently is, and what one has to do to get there.

SPRING AND TRAVEL It's spring again, like that OK Bizmarkie record back East at least but I been experiencing good weather out West and occasionally in Mexico. I'm on tour when I'm off tour. And I travel harder than the presidents job in my own opinion. Being in three US cities and three regions at the same time, as well as domestic travel here and international travel abroad, makes me sharp and sort of a correspondent. A hip hop Charles Kuralt. If you don't know who he is google him.

TATTOOS FOR BLACKS ANYONE? I clearly remember getting my tattoo (or logo on right shoulder in Sydney Australia and not knowing too many blackfolks wearing them in 1992. It was done by members in my camp because I considered us like sound pirates ...invaders of the lost souls so to speak. I do remember thinking during David Stern- No jewelry, no individual branding years ...what if players started to put corporations on their skin? Would it be illegal to stop them? Even now?

BASEBALL Well how much money does NYC have flying atop the city? I witness the construction of, not one, but two new baseball stadiums. City field building in the parking lot of Shea Stadium in off stank Flushing Bay about 5 minutes away from where I was born. It was about time and it looks great. The old Shea had seen its day and not only was World Fair 1964 material but was home to football and concerts like the Beatles etc. Although it's baseball only, I wonder if any music groups will play there? 50 cent, Tribe Called Quest and a reunion of RUN-DMC anyone? At the same time in the BX the new Yankee Stadium is rising cross the block from the current one. Unlike Shea I see nothing wrong with the revamped 1976 version. The new ones facade is looking like the original on the outside, I mean sorts like the house Ruth built in 1923. He gold Yankee Stadium plated on the outside entrance was blinding in the dusk light as I drove along the Major Deegan...did I bore you with these Houses That Bloomberg Allowed?

CURRENT TV Was at Current TV which,again, is next to another one of these 'in the city' baseball parks. Current TV got me to contribute to their blog show and is definitely a great set up indeed. I'm still waiting for great musical set up like that on the web, totally dedicated because right now TV has NEVER been crappier.

ICE CUBE's DUBCNN.COM Another great all access supersite. Their concentration Is building upon making a more visible voice from West coasts artists. For the longest it was Cube's dream and wish that there could and should be a ESPN for hip hip on TV. Of course I'm glad he feels the answer is in the web. www.dubcnn.com

DOLLAR GENERAL, HOLLA While driving through Mizzou I stopped in Fulton MO some halfway through the state to speak at Westminster College there. I go to check into the hotel and I thought that there was a surplus of Dollar General trucks on I-70. Stupid me thinking that there probably was a lopsided ratio of DG's in the MO. The main company and headquarters were in Fulton or better yet Kingdom City.

FIFTH YEAR AT AIR AMERICA This enters my fifth year at Air America radio. I'm looking back on how the purpose of the network came to be. On the face of the Son of a Bush administration it spat. It seems it would be more needed now than ever. I'm also looking for more of a direction for my On The Real Off The Record show on air. Ideas anyone?

DONT LOOK BACK TOUR .The PE Touring Machine A lotta talk in the UK and Europe about this Don't Look Back performance series coming at the end of May 08. It's where an act performs one of their classic albums front to back. Well the pressure is on to perform two songs never performed live- the original Louder Than A Bomb and Caught Can Get A Witness. Also we will be performing mostly old school style, no band just DJ Lord and, at most, NY City Mike Faulkner on added drums. A plus to this tour opening up will be Hank and Keith Shocklee as the Bomb Squad DJing a futuristic audio visual performance opening up. It will be a cannot miss... It will play at least once in USA during the Pitchfork Tour in Chicago in JULY. And a shot 30 minute set as throwback headliner on this years HOT 97 in NY-NJ at the Meadowlands GIANT STADIUM. That should be interesting in the home of NEW YORK's self acclaimed home of hip hop and R&B . Again ideas anyone?

THE PUBLIC ENEMY BIO BOOK Don't Rhyme For The Sake Of Riddlin is the first biographical book on Public Enemy enters the world from the UK. Written by Russell Myrie on Canongate Books. It's a detailed read into 25 years of the PE experience. I am a firm believer to be involved in as many books about the genre as possible. Nothing against all of the books on Tupac and Eminem, but I think many of those books are similar in what they say and do, and are opportunistic from a sales standpoint. The details and history I've been involved with can be a great launch of understanding for those heads of hip hop within and on the peripheral edge.

VANTAGE POINT The movie was a cool spin on innovation, filmmaking wise that is. The president of the US is doing a speech and is shot . The movie rolls through at least six 'groundhog day like' scenes where they start from the vantage point of six different people. More than halfway through the movie ties all the characters together in a story that says plenty. Car chase scene included, reminding myself why 90% of rap is low tempo and almost never licensed and placed into hectic action scenes in films. Diversity in speeds these producers never seem to recognize.

ARCADES Is it any wonder why violence is off the hook here in the USSA? I was just in Dave and Busters, a total family entertainment complex , and took time outs to check out the guns on games, the games, and the faces on grown and kid alike while squeezing the trigger. Eerie Believe me its a very short road from there to a criminal minded mentality.

LATINO FATHERS AND THEIR SONS Coming out of Mexico I saw that the fathers were clearly in control of their sons. No question. Also the men were in larger posses than their kids, outnumbered. The black man in amerikkka is the opposite. We have a lot to learn from the brown brothers and sisters there's a plan to further separate especially in this voting year. Beware of potential fools in black face talking about getting rid of 'illegal immigrants'. I've seen this in commercial spots... Its crazy. Further divide people of color is the plan. In my community of Roosevelt LI the Latino community has done much of the basic work black men use to do as a collective. Landscaping, carpentry, electrician work, auto mechanic, etc. They used to combine what a man would teach their sons or other boys and supplement it with school shop. Not making the school the father or rite of passage. Black men also not knowing the high tech , business and management ends coupled with not knowing them basics has left a gaping trap...the prison industrial complex. Its how you go from 100.000 black men on prison in 1970 to 1.7 million in 2008. We must unite not divide, hola and holla...

IVAN DIXON R.I.P. This is a hero of mine indeed. He has just passed on in charlotte NC at the age of 76. More guts than all of black Hollyweird combined. Acted in one of my all time faves 'nothing But A Man ' in 1964 a film about a brother trying to make it in the Bombingham Alabama south, without shuffling. Abbey Lincoln plays his wife. In 1969 he directs Sam Greenlees Spook Who Sat By The Door into infamy. I grew up watching his mainstream acting gig on TV's "Hogan's Heroes, as U.S. Staff Sgt. James Kinchloe , on a satire set in a German prisoner-of-war camp during World War II. Kinchloe it was said, in charge of electronic communications, could mimic German officers on the radio or phone. This was a black man with heady intelligence even in jest. . Yet didn't know he was dropping science before that or even while maintaining his cool dignity in H.H, Ivan Dixon was even beyond the radical signs of them times. Perhaps he was really the spook who sat by Hollywood. There is a little Ivan Dixon in all of us so called twisted thinking creators who feel you can always fight the power by maintaining the right stance over all that is wrong. May you rest I peace good brother because some of us won't let your work be forgotten.....

Well its been a long time but.....down below, for the first time, here's my Myspace page info as well....

mistachuck@rapstation.com Myspace/chuckdpublicenemy