Here we go 2004, and for this year… 16 hour days. Thus coming off the heels of touring half the planet in 2003 I gotta anchor my ass to the USSA for a long minute. Black history month, which is a daily state of mind, has expanded into two months for me as far as duties, starting from MLK time to mid-March madness. Prof Griff’s acronym for W.O.R.D.S is ‘With Out Really Doing Sht.’ For me and the crew it’s a year for output and deeds, not planning… and posting up on this site.

Back in the USSA I’m hearing all kinds of response about the last Terrordome from people for both sides of the love/hate spectrum. Ain’t nobody still talking about the EMINEM situation as expected. The SOURCE is still the number one mag in the barber shop as Essence is in the beauty salons across amerikkka. Roboticism is on the jump- off in 2004, an election year as well as Olympics… yeah. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. wanted to see a future where his kids, and others, would be judged by their character not their characteristics. Well in 2004 amerikkka is more about style than substance, and characteristics leads us to stereotypes. At the same time this society has reduced DR. KING to a passive one dimensional holiday- parody of the man he really was. I’m tired of hearing about how the man was a dreamer when he was very much a doer. This same system killed the man, and has got the nerve to now have a PAUL ROBESON stamp. This is along the same line of killing indigenous folks, calling them MEXICAN and INDIANS, and naming streets and towns after them… post-conquer. DR. KING spoke out against Vietnam and amerikkkan hypocrisy, and leaned toward areas that MALCOLM X had internationally seen in 1964. Ok, this is not a socio-political piece, where I’m heading is my hip hop surroundings, again.

Last t-dome some cats whole inner beings were collapsed like a smoky lung when I said that respect ain’t rollin outta me too easy. Sht, peeps better feel glad when I say I LIKE them and leave it at that. The thing that made me jump all over SIMMONS, CHAVIS and the Hip Hop Action Network was the VILLAGE VOICE piece and the protect EMINEM statements. Not the efforts that will raise and attract young voters, that’s extremely commendable. However, in 2004 I ain’t letting dumb- sht ride easy. This nigger, bitch, ho terminology is a form of modern day endearment. Verbal co-signing analysis sounds crazy coming from any so-called organized mouth. It’s the acceptance and glorification of a disease. The intelligent cats out there are mentally and verbally frozen by the lunacy of a created and served ‘urban society’. The so-called people who have brains are silenced, and now, even mute their damn selves to appear to be in step with the present. When they make a statement they still want to be hip, and loved as much as the troubled themselves, and don’t go head on against it. Instead they’ll analyze it and cover it with a statement that glazes over the problem while heading in the same direction. Backpackers and blackpackers alike, armchair cultural quarterbacks are afraid to juxtapose what’s really wrong. They just nod their heads as they look side to side to see if anybody’s got their hipness-gauges out. There’s a zone between 25 and 35 in black America that’s about as transparent as cellophane and the soul of the black intellectual is slowly being sucked through a cultural-tunnel of this thing called ‘urban’. In this process, although black in the characteristic against the reign of gangster, nigga-ism, and a bottle of packaged thug-out, the character of this mass is soft on all sides except in the area of consumption. I dig Okay Player to the hilt, and this is where the mass movement of cats should evolve, but the fire is supplanted with analysis to the point of paralysis, and many over there will check for my spelling errors or paragraphing as opposed to feeling the issue. As of this year DEAD PREZ, THE COUP, COMMON, TALIB, THE ROOTS or artists like them, or wanting to be like them, have to be more confrontational within the House of Rap and Hip Hop to maintain the voice of sense. It’s a damn shame that in 2003 the DIXIE CHICKS made 98% of the rappers look like soft, clueless, happy ass slaves. An army of intelligence that at least protects and builds the people’s minds, bodies, and souls anyone?

Ok, so this ain’t calling for DROP SQUAD or STRAIGHT OUTTA BROOKLYN robbing dope cats solutions (although in other countries those squads exist alongside the rest of the mess), but in 2004 cats have to protect at least their minds, the real estate of the millennium where peeps are programmed by machines and robo-ads. Smart intellectuals better at least start comin harder instead of wanting to be marketed. The ‘revolution must be marketed’ is some of the dumbest sht I ever heard. And again cats believe this. If you’re reading ‘hatin,’ then I issue the statement that everything on this planet ain’t meant to be loved. I don’t love hurricanes or tornados either… you have to be a fool or a scientist to love it up in your area. So the swirl of ignorance is no different, smearing dumbsht across your face still smells like sht no matter who comes along in marketing time to convince you that it’s an exotic fragrance.

Once upon a time smarter cats were heard and if you were to say something or do something dumb and stupid, cats would call you on it. If you were a ‘light in the ass’ little whatever, you wasn’t whipping anyone’s ass so you had to take it, and when you came back you would have to be, or at least appear to be, smarter to avoid the verbals. Enter the R&B (Reagan and Bushdaddy) 1980s, all of a sudden in the middle of materialistically nothing appears a more sophisticated drug game and gun surplus in the hood. The circle of cats would still do their streety things. In a gathering a stupid statement, or dumbsht, would regress into a heated argument of defense even sometimes amongst friends. Well lil’ cats still couldn’t whip no ass, and if it got crazy lil’ cat would come back with a gat and get even. The great bust-off phallic compensation equalizer rolled into street effect amongst the regular crowd, thus thrusting fear into the smarter, putting the dumb in check. No longer did the two states of mind communicate in the same cipher. The smart detached into arrogant elitist negro-ism while the voice of ignorance yelled louder, unchecked, and snuck up on black culture. The culture didn’t see it coming because the urban overhead had to remain characteristically invisible so that it could run sht on the low. Common sense became common nonsense as the co-intelpro of gun culture, drug culture, thug culture and dumb culture silenced sense itself. Added to the unsolved mysteries of hip hop murders, the conditions co-signed the gangster- thug high decibel voice while rendering the voice of sense into the character of the passive pu*sy punked out silence. Now 15 years of dumbsht ridin high, unchecked, has white western structure appropriating its tone to black American culture and others with the visual characteristic of having color. It’s common for some idiot to have a whole mass in check because of the threat that somebody might set him off, as if everybody would get shot. Gun culture, or I should say the illusion of gun culture, got the masses spooked where they feel they can’t confront it. On the USSA scale this rolls with roboticism treating the masses like them asses. Cool again for consumption, but the heart and soul must return to the intellectual to stop the downward spiral of sense. If you can’t do anything, at least ‘say’ something and put your name next to it. It’s on the regular on my schedule, I do these terrordomes to offer insight and perspective from where I’m at, whether it be in the grocery store in GARY Indiana or some kitted out Hollyweird gig. It ain’t done so I can be eligible for playahata of the week on playahata.com, but then my thing is clear ‘if you don’t stand up for something you’ll fall for anything’.

I’m glad that peeps are digging the new publicenemy.com home page. One selfish reason is so when cats ask me what am I doing now, or they miss us and are we gonna get back together, or is Griff coming back kind of questions...I just simply say “go to publicenemy.com.” It’s simple and plain. I overstand we’re in an out of sight, out of mind time and things like this are necessary especially when people are calling Ma$e old school.

This year I’m telling my black constituency when they want a singular sweeping answer on how to fix the black condition in amerikkka this. I simply say that if black Americans don’t expand ourselves, at least mentally, beyond the 2000 x 3000 mile box of amerikkka into the diaspora of blackfolk around the world, people of color and thirdly into the awareness of other nationalities, then we are doomed to be millennium slaves here in amerikkka. The best American should aim to recognize the planet and look to be a citizen of the world not arrogantly above it. Since we are still judged by our characteristic and not our character, collectively we are still at the bottom here. I don’t care how many football players, rappers with MTV cribs or actors and actresses in Hollycars you see, a slave has no control over the plantation which depends on educational, economic, enforcement, environmental servicing and diction for the outside.

Down in Florida, I did three different lectures in Gainesville, Friday I spoke to Professor Dawn Elissa Fischer’s HIP HOP class, Saturday I spoke at a banquet of UF grad students and Sunday afternoon to the community in the park square. Also performing were an incredible poet named KAYO, a spoken word-singer, Iyeoka Okoawo, who wowed the crowd, and the Florida Community Choir. While down in G’ville I stopped by ROCK AND ROLL Pioneer, HALL OF FAMER BO DIDDLEY’s house courtesy of his band head SCOTT FREE. It was definitely an honor and BO was recovering from some burns from an in- house accident. We talked, joked and chatted about CHESS Records, where he still has beef. Then he got up and went to his studio to play a couple of tracks. He is somebody I’m really looking forward to collabing with in 2004.

Speaking of recording, it’s in progress right now in CALI, NY and ATL. The two PE records coming out this year, HOW YOU SELL SOUL TO A SOULESS PEOPLE WHO SOLD THEIR SOUL? and NEW WHIRL ODOR both arriving this year on the new PEEPS imprint which just re- released THERE’S A POISON GOIN ON. On top of this, Hank Shocklee and yours truly, in conjunction with UNIVERSAL, have landed the PUBLIC ENEMY Archive Series there. It’s important since they own the masters 1987-1998. Hank and myself will care-take these releases carefully and interweave a sense of past, present and future all at once. Four releases leading up to a box set in 2005. An essential Greatest Hits CD alongside a Complete Videos DVD, which will also ride in a solo package. Then deluxe editions in 5.1 sonics of TAKES A NATION and FEAR OF A BLACK PLANET. Outside of this the previous PE home videos FIGHT THE POWER LIVE, TOUR OF A BLACK PLANET, and THE ENEMY STRIKES LIVE will be also distributed. New DVDs LONDONS CALLING and MKLVFKWR 2004 will also be on the market next. Yeah, I know all of a sudden... boom. While I’m at it... hold your horses, good friend, trooper and ally PARIS is producing a limited edition recording on Guerilla Funk called “Rebirth of a Nation”, but it’s a project slated for summer 2005, not 2004 as previously reported.

Also the track recorded with MOBY hopes to become an Olympic theme, and PE may play LOOLAPALOOZA this year. If not LOOLAPALOOZA at least we will play a special one off hidden party concert for SHAQ in LA, All Star Weekend.

Oh, with ISIAH, STARBURY ‘PENNY’ the KNICKS at least have dragged me back with excitement... although I have much work to do. KNICK fans look happy now after chanting FIRE CHANEY (ousted NY NBA basketball coach Don Chaney) while many of them still continue to be clueless on the real CHENEY that needs firing, vice prez DICK the unseen corp thug.

Ok, welcome to 2004, back to my 16 hour a day thing, keep it movin…

Mistachuck@rapstation.com