Folklore has it that the Pied Piper of Hamelin was someone who made a deal with the town to rid it of its rat infestation. With his colorful clothes, he took out his musical instrument, began playing and all of the rats came out, followed him into the river and drowned. With the problem gone the town got shady and fronted on the piper. Mad at neither receiving his props or scratch, the piper left. He returned shortly, however, playing a different tune. This time all of the children came out and followed the Pied Piper into the mountains, never to return. This quote was printed in an article Sonya Velasquez wrote for Big Park Marketing about the R Kelly situation. How we are basically children in the eyes of the oppressor makes our adult senses dulled to the point of forgetfulness and ‘dumbassification.’

Being abroad, out in London right about now, after just arriving from Amsterdam, I was once again keen on how sharp everybody else is, or just how increasingly dumb Americans are. Governator? What the Fzuck? Where the projection of a character tends to become the thing that people believe and follow. Whole forms of government are increasingly becoming fodder for comedians. Too bad we don’t have enough rappers with the awareness to comment on this thing. It wasn’t like peeps were born stupid, it’s just that the acceptance of it is out of order, from the commander in thief on down. Unbelievable amounts of distraction are a part of the American social order, you’ve heard me harp on this before. Then again, you may think I’m just rambling around a ball of confusion this month. Dumbassification is the mental meltdown of America through the non-stop selling and buying of culture by corporations turning everyone into consumers and in the past years black culture has led this movement. What has this got to do with hip hop? Again, as we witness the success of ten hip hop songs dominating the ‘Top 10’, whereas it’s no coincidence that corps not only OWN it all, but have scrubbed the balance and meaning out of each song in order to make it there, complete with blackface and white hands in the back. The black artist has been dumbassified into an act.

While listening to this talk radio cat in Atlanta recently my mind was burning. He used a major portion of his show to spear remarks about how backward some aspects of current culture are. As in the whole rim charade where he as a middle-aged white man verbally dismantled the premise of cars worth no more than $500.00 sporting $6K rims demanding rim notes to be paid. This often ends up leading to foreclosure thus having the rim lender repossess the car AND the rims. He also stated that car experts, one of which is his son-in- law, say that the thinned tires are only good for 7000 miles which in normal cases requires a twice a year purchase. Tires so thin can’t take a pothole, thus leading to rim damage. He went on to add that with this lavish spending in lieu of chasing images, the hood’s investment in style and looks lead to financial gaps and despair upon the reality of life hitting 30 years of age. Another parallel drawn was that of someone who put their biggest personal investment in expensive gym shoes, with a $2.00 investment in common logic. Rim mentality. Like why go out of the way to purchase so called 'classy' items, if you call it such, and end up dressing them on a 'ghetto mentality'. In essence he was killing us and I for one had no answers. Dumbassification leads you to ‘suck’ to things.

Some things I cannot play off as aspects of culture. Especially since culture is created, concocted and manufactured in today’s corporate boardrooms. To me some things belied any common sense in the hood, and tagging the term hip hop on it was a lazy way of saying that sh*t was cool. Like in the late 80s and early 90s I wondered why cats in Southern Cali wore ski hats and thick plaid shirts when it rarely got cold out there. Or today why someone would keep a fly car in Harlem with nowhere to park?

Anything other than a truck or SUV doesn’t work on NYC roads and streets, and 22 inch rims (or maybe what Ludicris calls JORDAN’S 23 inch rims because Mike wore #23) with little tires don’t stand a chance on a Bronx pothole. I swear the SUV was made for New York, but its tank-like durability ain’t got a thing to do with hip hop. A Hummer in LA is puzzling since it was a desert storm fight-ride, it’s personal taste I’m guessing but please don’t apply the rap tag of credibility to it. Hip hop has led us to believe that we have to purchase our legitimacy by buying things, and there are tons of companies break dancing towards your pockets. It has nothing to do with paying bills either. I wish you could see the look on my face when some cat suggests that VERIZON or BellSouth should recognize and give me a break because I’m 'Chuck D'. I still don’t understand pants sagging so low to the knees that a cat can’t walk. To the knees? And how can you drive holding those studded pimp flasks LIL JON be carrying? How does a chick with extra long nails wipe her ass? How come the 55 video girls don’t get a chance to get signed and rock the mike, clearly in 2003 everybody knows how to rhyme by now?

Remember that movie, the parody 'Don’t Be a Menace?' It seems that that flick from 8 years back seems almost normal now.

More and more hip hop is distancing itself from the real world. Keepin it real definitely seems like it is from another century, which it is. Keeping it reel is more like it. This leaping for love and acceptance for ANYTHING is a black post-slavery social mishap that has its people looking for compensation by any means necessary to separate one from the rest of the hood’s pack. When you don’t know who you are you search for a mirror anywhere. Often this mirror is on TV and film, and played off and marketed as culture. Keeping it reel to the point of dumbassification. Black folk continue to search for compensation in order to feel, and ultimately be, equal here in amerikkka. Jewelry and an earring in each ear scream out to magnet the most attention in a crowd. Rappers and athletes wear them like tags. Last year Chris Childs was robbed of more than $30,000.00 in the streets, what the hell was he doing? Big time rappers might wear up to $300,000.00 on them, which sort of explains a five bodyguard cipher of ex-college football players surrounding them. Compensation. Beyond decoration, which is a beautiful thing based on some organized taste and has throwback to the motherland vibe to it, this compensation is the attention many seek to have. I’ve always guessed why many white folks in amerikkka don’t drown themselves in jewelry, because deep down on the subtle tip, in the western world they have the ultimate physical characteristic, their skin color. And the thought process of ownership of land thus people, and institutions, dominate a higher possessive need. Those that envy this and feel shortchanged try to compensate through smaller material purchases to separate themselves from their ethnic demographic. I’m guessing any Italians and non-first world accepted Caucasians wear much jewelry because of this same historical exclusion, because of their darker skinned, lower classed selves. For black folks, again the effects of a multi-generational post slavery developed mentality still figures into this. Craving for the things that we place better than ourselves. Again, dumbassification.

Yeah, this cat on the radio was killin the ways of hip hop... calling it the 'dumbassification of music.' I counter that it’s nothing to do with the genre. But still as 'common sense ain’t common like freedom ain’t free,’ nonsense is the spice that sells the game. With this in mind hip hop is a constant 'sitting duck' for these attacks. Bill O’Reilly from the FOX NEWS Network sees the gaping holes in hip hop and hits the rap-game like Barry Bonds on a 3-2 pitch down the middle. I know Bill, a self-acclaimed middle-aged Long Island white man who is anal and comes prepared with his facts. He has interviewed me before and if I didn’t have my sh*t together he'd dismantle me as well. So there’s that respect of some sort of intellect in what we defend. His point is always questioning the counter-productivity of aspects of the hood, especially if the rhetoric is being financed by corporate amerikkka. It’s hard to defend illogic and lunacy, especially evolving out of peeps in their mid to late 20s. And so what we can’t point to, what Brittany is doing kissing Madonna, or what Tommy Lee did. Dumbassification doesn’t give us a green light to legitimize dumb sh*t in life. Cats like them are on TV and radio EVERY day in front of millions. In sports when the errors affect the game and show up on the scoreboard, don’t expect the announcer to not call it out.

Lastly, to me MTV Cribs is the most us-demeaning thing on television. It tells a hard working college person that they’re absolutely wasting their time studying and aspiring to reach goals carefully while peeping some rhyme R&B cat who can’t speak clearly, never moved a piece of furniture in, and hadn’t been around long enough to consider buying a refrigerator. It’s not envy but an arrogant rub on the ‘braintrust’ we need to build and nurture in our society. Yes, admittedly we do things a bit different, that what and should makes the world go round. But we are also human and can’t lessen ourselves to the actions of animals. Hip hop shouldn’t legitimize this confusion either. Already the leaders of the world are letting their testosterone run us rampant into silly wars, so let the art elevate us. And hip hop should be no exception. Then again I could just be ramblin... Spittin in the Wind Until It Knocks Down a Tree in the Woods.

One thing about 50 cent... he is a hard worker besides being a top selling artist under ‘THE E.’ I give him credit for traveling abroad. Many artists in the US are still so lazy, but I hear he’s paving it all out and that’s what it’s all about. He’s not leaving anybody mesmerized at the show but the credit goes to the attempt and he will get better... and yes y'all know what I feel about some of 50s art, but if art is art... that's why I'd like to drag out the programmers of the PIMP video playing it in primetime... or just whup out Jiimmy IODINE's azz.

Ok Ghettopoly. Why do we let a cat like this even show his face or mention his name. Somebody drop squad urban outfitters… you see they don’t give a damn.

It was a matter of time before rush limbaugh (I refuse to throw his name in capital letters) put his own d-ck in his mouth. He’s been chewing on it for all these years on radio and it took the wide world of sport for everybody to notice that he’s chasing the phallus in his mouth with painkillers. Still, as in the case with JIMMY THE GREEK SNYDER back in the 80s, when he was fired from CBS Sports for telling the truth, that black players come from a history of being bred physically from hundreds of years of slavery in amerikkka, there were a whole lot of white folk execs who thought guilty of it themselves. They really didn’t know how to handle it because the race issue is like a time bomb to them, since many of them avoid it although its there like the air. It’s much easier to fire somebody than dig deep into the issue. In the case of limbaugh there seriously is some racial guilt in the NFL wanting their black quarterbacks to do well, because they’ve gone thru a recent history of being questioned about the lack of black quarterbacks on the field as they were dealing with the lack of black coaches. Sh-t they ain’t even dealt with the silent business treatment of DOUG WILLAIMS after he stomped out golden boy DAN MARINO back in 1983. Yeah, the sidestepping of race-talk is just a build up of a powder keg on the way to eventual explosion. Still rushlimbaughremainsanasshole.

Saw BONECRUSHER in an airport and my kids were treated nice. On the plane he kept his shirt on. Cool dude.

Rolled over to this side to do a lecture keynote in AMSTERDAM on Oct 11th sponsored by XS4ALL, the big ISP in HOLLAND. I gave a speech about pro file sharing. Afterwards, there were performances by the OSDORP POSSE, video edit beats by EBOMAN, and a tight band performance by Patrick Tilon aka RUDEBOY’s LEAGUE OF XO GENTLEMEN. They are a fine group to check out and they’re rolling out with their debut album “Smiling At the Claptrap Circuses” www. leagueofxogentlemen.com. Two turntablists, guitarist, bassist and a funky azz female drummer, yup for real she was Clydin it.

Just finished doing a commentary for a GIL SCOTT HERON documentary produced and directed by legendary producer DON LETTS at KYLE JASON’S Icehouse Studios in LI. The Blues documentaries were received well, and speaking of KYLE he just recorded legendary MAVIS STAPLES, also at ICEHOUSE. For more info peep www.slamjamz.com/slamnews.php?article=162 Or www.kylejason.com/.

Don’t you hate trying to rush to pay for gas and there’s a line for the damn LOTTO holdin you up?

JET BLUE outta JFK if you wanna do the East Coast/West Coast thing… traveling that is, not no fabricated hip hop sh-t. The lecture thang jumped off the jump off. In Texas I visited VICTORIA, stayed a day in HOUSTON, flew out to BUDDYHOLLY-land to TEXAS TECH in Lubbock, and finished out at UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS in ARLINGTON. Nothing like it, young minds totally against SOB f-ckin the whirl. I stopped by K104 IN DALLAS where I did talk radio with PAUL TURNER, helped by longtime activist and friend CHERYL SMITH, rather than be subjected to the urbandisgraceofblackradio. PD SKIP CHEATHAM is still doing his thing and swore he wasn’t one of the clowns who have collapsed the balance of the black airwaves.

Well if you didn’t get the rest of the PE tour dates here they be:

PE TOUR #49 – EUROPE –
OCT 18th Bristol, UK
OCT 19th Trondheim, Norway
OCT 21st Budapest, Hungary
OCT 22nd Prague, Czech Republic
OCT 23rd Zurich, Switzerland
OCT 24th Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
OCT 25th Leeds, UK
OCT 26th Manchester, UK

PE TOUR #50 - South American Music Tour -
NOV 1st TIM FESTIVAL - Rio de Janeiro
NOV 2nd Sao Paulo
NOV 3rd Sao Paulo
NOV 4th HUTUS Film Fest
NOV 5th HUTUS Awards
NOV 6th Rio de Janeiro
NOV 8th South American Tour - Guyana, Trinidad

PE TOUR #51 New Zealand - Australia - South Africa -
NOV 26th Head to New Zealand to start music tour with PE
NOV 28th - DEC 8th New Zealand - Australia ending in Perth OZ
NOV 28th New Zealand
NOV 29th Brisbane
NOV 30th Gold Coast (unconfirmed)
DEC 1st Melbourne
DEC 2nd Melbourne
DEC 3rd Canberra
DEC 4th Sydney
DEC 5th Adelaide
DEC 6th Sydney
DEC 7th Perth
DEC 8th flight to South Africa
DEC 9th - 16th South Africa - Head back to US

On October 30th a mass rally will be taking place in Brooklyn with radio legend BOB LAW with the theme ‘Turn Off the Radio.’ The domination of images and one-sidedness must be dealt with, and no doubt this thing hopes to resonate across the country. It’s been a year since we were banned by eMpTy V for having the lyrics ‘Free Mumia and H Rap Brown’ in the song “Gotta Give the Peeps What They Need.” Here’s the latest news on these heroes of mine and may some of y’all continue to fight the powers that be.

October 2003 an update on Mumia Abu-Jamal:

Dispatches from Death Row, 3-5 minute radio essays by Mumia Abu- Jamal, recorded, produced and distributed by Prison Radio and aired on over 75 radio stations. He is a featured commentator on Free Speech Radio News.

Prison Conditions: Mumia is on death row in a high security control unit at the State Correctional Institute at Greene in Waynesburg PA. He has been incarcerated for 22 years. He is held in solitary confinement in a six by nine-foot cell. He is allowed to exercise outside his cell for only five hours per week. He is allowed one two- hour visit per week. Mumia recently received more access to the phone, now he gets three 15 minute calls per week.

Health Crisis: Mumia has had disturbing episodes where his feet and ankles are dangerously swollen, deeply discolored and sore. After this latest crisis, he has not yet been seen by a physician, he is requesting outside medical attention. At the moment the swelling in his ankle has subsided and his coloring is better. ICFFMAJ www.mumia.org are requesting that people call the prison and demand that Mumia be allowed to see an outside physician to diagnose and determine appropriate treatment.

Legal Overview: Regarding Mumia's 1st degree murder conviction and sentence of death: Mumia's first and only federal habeas corpus appeal was decided on Dec. 18th, 2001 by district court Judge William Yohn. In that decision, his death sentence was overturned and his conviction was upheld. Death row inmates now only get one federal habeas corpus appeal, per the 1996 anti-terrorism and effective death penalty act signed by Clinton. The Philadelphia DA appealed the reversal of Mumia's death sentence. The Court granted the DA's motion to keep Mumia on death row. According to legal experts, there is a 40% chance the 3rd circuit appeals court will issue an order simply reimposing death. If the court affirms the reversal of death, the DA could elect to let Mumia do life in prison without possibility of parole. (Currently in PA there is no parole). It is more likely that the Philadelphia DA will elect to conduct a trial on the sentencing phrase and put Mumia on trial, the only question in that proceeding will be whether he will be sentenced to life or death.

Federal Court: Both sides have filed appeals of the Yohn decision. These appeals are before a three-judge panel of the 3rd Circuit. Yohn certified for appeal only one legal issue, and it involves jury selection, the relevant Supreme Court precedent is "Batson". This is a very significant issue if heard fairly should result in a new trial being ordered. Mumia's Federal Habeas appeal is now moving forward in light of the PA Supreme Court decision on Oct. 8th to deny his current state court appeal.

State Court: On October 8th the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied Mumia's appeal requesting a new PCRA evidentiary hearing.

Of Note: On October 4th, Mumia received an honorary citizenship of Paris France in a ceremony at city hall in Paris.

New Federal Lead Attorney: Robert Bryan, Esq. 415-292-4875 Of Counsel Jill Cubertson 2088 Union Street, Suite 4 SF, CA 94123-4124

Other New developments: Dispatches From Death Row, radio essays by Mumia produced by Prison Radio appear weekly on over 75 radio stations world wide Killing Time by David Lindorff Common Courage Press 9/03 Faith of Our Father's (Africa World Press)Mumia Abu-Jamal 2004- A Life in the Party (South End Press) Mumia Abu-Jamal

If you would like to help Mumia Abu-Jamal's voice reach over 100 radio stations each week and 10’s of thousands of listeners please make a contribution today to:

Redwood Justice Fund/Prison Radio PO Box 411074 San Francisco, CA 94141 www.prisonradio.org 415-648-4505

Alhamdulilah, October 11, 2003 in Washington, DC proved to be a successful day for Imam Jamil Al-Amin and his supporters.

During the afternoon, Ed Brown (his brother) and Karima Al-Amin (his wife) spoke at the National Conference of Black Lawyers. Afterwards, the NCBL voted to pass a resolution of support for Imam Jamil, calling for his freedom and acknowledging his status as a political prisoner. The exact wording is to be determined by their executive committee. Later that evening, they spoke at Masjid Al-Islam. Over $4,000.00 was raised at the fundraising session. The program went well, and the audience seemed committed to doing more to secure the release of Imam Jamil. InshaAllah, the momentum will continue! As-Salaam Alaikum! Hodari Abdul-Ali Imam Jamil Action Network

Next t-dome will breakdown my encounter between Lyor Cohen, LL and myself about file sharing - two weeks back in DC.

Luv out mistachuck@rapstation.com