August 15, 2005 Taipei, Taiwan

This August 1st, I turned 45, and there’s a great deal of perspective learned. While coasting and doing many of the very things I've been doing for the past 20 years, albeit at a different rate and pace, I’ve always relished getting older but not rushing to get here. I think I’ve developed for myself the ability to see everything around myself in slow motion.

As I was giving a commencement speech for 3rd graders in my hometown of Roosevelt Long Island, New York, I recognized the room was full of energy, hope, as well as dreams. The circular rotunda inside the building was decorated with the hanging decor of signs proclaiming the seven principles of Kwaanza. Somehow this quality all but disappeared just a block away where the local radio stations were spewing everything in contrast to what I was experiencing inside the elementary school building. Another example of audio- visual sewage poured into the community minds, ears, and souls.

It’s been about 50 years since the battles of 'rock and roll' were ushered across the airwaves. Segregation was rampant in the USA and most definitely in the south. The music of R&B was clearly 'black adult'. But with new technology such as the transistor radio, and the record playing 45, young and increasingly white folks were getting access to record company product.

Companies sprung up and targeted the specific youth market, who had more available income post world war two 1950’s (I’m refusing to give any war any more capital letters, NO CAPS, MKLVFKWR). So the segregated times said that the music shouldn’t be played because it would stoop the white American public to the depths of the 'negro'. All of this and at the same time the souls of blackfolk were musically separated between gospel and secular. The music spoke to the people, but there was also a society of gatekeepers that would not include the presence of youngsters into adult dialogue and entertainment. Double entendre was the epitome of a songwriter’s skill coupled with wit to keep it away from the kids, while still delivering a popular good.

Fast forward it to 2005 and the ways of the new millennium of which there has never been so much sex and violence sold or marketed to the youth audience. Those 3rd graders I spoke to were very articulate, polite, and wore their school uniforms well. And yes, coming from Roosevelt many of them from single parent households. The teachers who are getting less rewarded by the year for supplementary parenting are thrust into correcting and answering to the absorbed images from programming adults who basically come up with the lame excuse, "It’s the parents responsibility." This is lame because all they have to do is open their damn heads and eyes to see that the parents of today are basically extended teenagers who can’t draw a line between themselves at 35 and the youth market.

Simply put, as an example, when I was coming up in the 60’s Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, and Aretha played in my house so much, you got the impression that these folks were family members, aunts and uncles. There was a community responsibility of radio to respond like family regardless of whether they knew you or not. If one was to play let’s say Redd Foxx, bet your lil ass you'd be sent to your room or better not be up during that adult time. Granted today’s technology has expanded access to the youth, but, is the "need adult consent" an endorsement? Now that black culture is packaged, understood and practically owned by everything else but black the community, it could be viewed as a noose to the youth. Don’t inform them of the rope, yet give them enough so they'll hang themselves at the register. Addicted like sugar, which said, is a molecule from crack.

Yes this sounds like the same old story from Chuck D but listen to this. The harping is not directed at the youth generation, but instead the absence of the 25-40 generation who fell into the cracks of post-crack. It’s one thing to idolize Biggie and Tupac for their rebelliousness and musicianship. But, when asked about the substance of this basis, the lack of answer triggers many of them back into a less responsible age recollection of college days, weed, and unaccountability. Cool to think that at 12-25, at that time I guess, amidst the haze when the confusion of those brothers murders took place, all of a sudden we heard the cold remarks of 'good kids' to the code of the streets and the adoption of ghettoism.

Now this ghettoism is a way of cultural connects to the rest of the earth. It’s as if volunteer slavery is in effect. The hanging pant, nigger callin, fractured talking, dollar worshipping at all cost cat is looking more and more like the shuffling, ragged overalls, slow talking, massa abiding, negro archetype of the films from the 30’s and 40’s. Whitefolk behind closed doors are reclaiming or maintaining class status merely by staying in their homes and watching such towers of belief spew radiation over the past 5 years in BET form. Many caucasian acceptance to the nigger way of life as a cultural way of being, is in kind a spark leading to the superiority segregated way of the slaved beginning of this country. No different. The towers of beliefs influence has the word 'nigger' and way of life a growing phenomenon in Africa as well as abroad.

Respect is the word here, and increasingly the intellectual-educational aspirations of the black community are looked upon by white America as a lesser characteristic for true melting pot-human jelling up in this piece. It’s as if the cultural business results of blackfaced individuals are the standard that everybody must recognize rather than some 3rd grade schoolteacher that can give some jewels to a young man to stand and talk correctly or teach some class in a class.

I really don't think many people in the circles of influence powered by the towers of belief actually have their ears, eyes and heads open enough to see what's really going on in this society, much less the result of the sewage they could be contributing to. The silencing of intelligence I’ve written about in past t-domes is now rearing its rebellious head and voice. I've gotten more emails from teenagers the past year and a half than ever before. Why? Is it because the generation directly above them now jobbed at corporate towers just to get their dollar at any cost, simply have run out of making the mediacrack attractive? Are the crossroads conflicting within these individuals and collective contributors? Many of them are now having their own kids, plus having to decide what schools they’ll go to, while choosing a house in a neighborhood they can be raised up in. Even so, many on the internet boards are entering their 7th, 8th and 10th years of communicating online starting from that 15-25 zone now conflicted at 25-35 against their earlier beliefs on cause and effect. Again this is not blame at the youth; they are vessels waiting for either nutrients or poison to pass through them. Poison = $$. So only a balanced society can watchdog these actions to pimp kids heads for their loot. This is why Bill Cosby does his thing. At 68 I expect people like him to be cantankerous. It reminds people like myself at 45 to hold some social ground for us as a collective without simply stooping for individual praise and money.

Respect means everything to me, as yes it can feed you. Maybe it won’t make you stuffed like a damn pig with whatever sht it consumed, but it spreads like good food. At 45, holding my ground and being aware of the total world community and human picture, this perhaps, will make somebody 25-40 wanna keep their eyes on the prize. Thus that generation has direct influence in the youth soon to fill that slot. I really don't expect to be debated in this issue by socio-reasoners who don't get out enough or don't go no place. Sht the internet can at least take you to different people, places, and things, if you allow yourself to open up. Being that I’ve lived in areas such as LI and Atlanta I’m tired of trying to guess why the mostly colored section of Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn looks night and day from the white-jewish street of Bedford Ave only a few blocks away. Pride is sometimes picking up the trash where you live. Pride sometimes is identifying 'trash' and picking on it. Not believing in it is a contribution to accepting the slave-mentality.

So when it comes down to our youth, our shortys as we say, who’s looking out? The question is where does their adult life start? We cannot blame them for anything. It takes a village to raise a child, but here with the controlled towers of belief it now takes that same village to kill a child. Who is looking out for the 25-40 year old peeps who bust their tails in organizations across the land to rebuild a scattered race of different thinking people who STILL are judged by the color of their skin? These people deserve props for fighting this enslaved existence, regardless of the lack of snooped American pimped acceptance, MTV, or Clear Channeled spins. These are the many who get my r-e-s-p-e-c-t.

My woodshedding period is over. In December 2003 after the Australian tour I told my guys that we had to replenish and hit the lab. Now a slew of product in the well has the tour machine gearing back up. This short ASIA tour of Japan, Taiwan, and US dates in Hawaii and Trenton NJ has tour 54 bringing the oiled juices back up. By mid 2006 the new numbers in the set will be 25% of the show having rolled from 3 studio albums. It should be interesting come next year.

Japan and Osaka were ripped and played here regardless of Flavor not getting in because of passport issues. Our first visit was in March 1989 as documented on our FIGHT THE POWER LIVE home video back then.

Back to what confuses me about this, anything gets worshipped in the hood that ends up disrespecting us like this whole take on snitches and drug dealers. Drug dealers are extensions of the house nigger, doing what feeds and satisfies their egos, materials, and individualistic needs by sucking its surroundings dry. This thing of 'snitching' being a thing of evil is some twisted backwards sht. Loyalty to self is measured when many of these cats have children. They would want someone to look out for their families betterment and protection by not contributing to a game for short term money and kicks. The game itself is 'crack' and again the dealers are nothing more than robots pimped by those same faces that are similar to the ones on the money they worship. Thus 'snitches' are just the stripped down actual beings themselves, when pressured by the same hand that feeds them in the first place. Can somebody call Bush Senior up and send him a vile please?

Speaking of 'crack' did you read in Elliot Wilsons XXL magazine about Peedie Crack 'changing his name to Peedie Peedie' because it is felt that he and staff including big poppa Jigga thought that it would send the wrong impression to the youth while he was blowing up. Hmm Growth, I’m digging that already. And JAY Z is proving to many that he is not THE man but he is A M-A-N and this gets props from me.

Oh yeah continuing on the crackthing FAT JOE says he was called 'joeCrack' because as a fat kid his 'plumbers cleavage' always used to rear itself to all desks behind him at school.... you can look it down... Lil Kim gets all apologetic to the judge in court and at the same time her label releases 'Shut Up Bitch’ what a help, eh?

Summer in New York is like this, June peoples are happy, as in "Yo, we got Cali weather". July cats get acclimated and it sets in, meaning the weather is a secondary issue. August means the streets are hot, literally and figuratively. Traffic is wack, attitudes edgy. This is why fall cools sht off, while in LA all sensibility is all thrown off.

For real as an enthusiast I’ve been getting a great supply of video music documentaries from www.thevideobeat.com, picked up about 25 of them and been getting drunk on videos like The Record Row documentary about the classic Chicago record labels in the 50’s and 60’s narrated by Etta James, Little Richard documentary describing mad orgies of post gigging of the Upsetters in the 1950’s, Ruth and Charles Brown describing their careers straddling the R&B into rock and roll phenomenal years, Sam Phillips and Screamin Jay Hawkins 57 kid doc was riveting...go peep it for yourselves...

In passing when black music legends pass away, it shows that regardless of how much blackface you see on tv and film, we ain’t really got no control on the final who, what, when, and why word. This one goes out to the great blueman Little Milton, who recorded for years with labels like CHESS, STAX, and lately the past 20 years on MALACO. I had the pleasure of having a great conversation with him at the STAX reunion a couple years back, introduced by his manager Scrap Iron while we were eating. Later catching the same flight back to ATLANTA I was sitting next to Memphis rapper MJG in first class, and I noticed Mr. Milton was headed to coach with guitar and bad wheels. I gladly gave up my seat and introduced the generations to each other. When we deplaned they said they were gonna hook up and possibly do a record together. Didn’t know if they did, but that was a feel good moment in my music career. R.I.P. Little Milton we all will walk the back streets and shed a tear, eh?

Speaking of passing on Peter Jennings death was a shocker, so quick from his announcement last spring. Shows the viciousness of lung cancer, damn. A very class act from what I saw, heard, and felt. His narrative on the Century documentary is one of my favorites.

RUN-DMC are hitting us up from 2 angles. REV RUN can't do no wrong and Mind On The Road is an example, DMC 'Machine Gun'is from his upcoming album. Now I’m trying to figure why couldn't somebody like DJ Hurricane fill in for Jmj? Every show would be a dedication, and the show must go on I would think. If the Wailers can go on without BOB, the WHO without MOON, Ent whistle even EWF w/o Maurice..well yall know the rest. Think about Hurricane, a member of the Hollis Crew, The Afros, Beastie Boy DJ, Davy Dmc, c’mon send me some email..lets get a campaign...PE will even open up for that....hit me.

Black August 8 did it again Dead PREZ, Jaguar Wright, Buckshot and the BOOT CAMP CLIC, as well as Immortal Technique did it at BB KINGS in NYC August 7th. This years focus was attacking the worlds aids crisis and the ignorance of its ravaging the so-called third world peoples of the planet. It did something in one club that the US version of LIVE 8 couldn't do, raise the consciousness of its audience with no frills. Speaking of frills I never thought that FREE and AJ were a problem. The management and administration of BET was wack. It is what they were fed. Jacque Reid is great too. Getting rid of good people is not the answer especially when you broke them in. FREE’s bringing noise with her KING magazine pictorial. At 37 ,she’s a fine example of who talks directly to the youth. Age didn't matter, so BET should've supported her with accountable balance. Oh, yeah I always thought she was fine, yup.

Speaking of age, the ROLLING STONES have signed to be the music of NFL Monday night football until 2010 on ESPN. What’s this about not having a hit single since 1981, the deal is that they present an event. Simple as that. That’s amazing.

The weed phenomenon gets to be a boggling thing backstage at rap concerts. Although many times I’ve said the game is way more twisted to the drug, the universal 25-40 year old artist having to smoke sht all day is some stupid, pacifier, thumb in mouth, greedy robotic sht. Moderation, a lotta cats simply do not know, and over the course of 20 years over doing it not only clouds but devastates judgement. Nope, don’t want my pilot hazed out while on the air, sorry. There’s a time and place for everything, and the weed credo bleeds overtime too often while in the wrong places.

Speaking of dumb sht, HOT 97 getting smacked on the wrist because of theirsilly 'smackdown', a contest where two women face and smack each other until the 'death'. Just kidding, not death, but whoever just can’t take it no more. This is stupidshtradio.com the so called NYC home of hip-hop and R&B already completed the community mismanagement trifecta with miss jones anti Asian, tsunami victim spoof, payola involvement, and strike I mean smack 3 now this. 'Beyond the streets these kids are always watching these old jerks go berserk'...another example of 25-40 feeding the kids anything to get their ears, minds, souls, and dollars.

I’m gonna head over to POPKOMM the world independent label conference in

BERLIN mid September. The redesign of www.slamjamz.com and the SLAMjamz

Record Shop will offer great new inroads to the world of music.

Finally playing ASIA on PE tour #54 has been a treat. I told my guys in

December 2003, I had to woodshed to create and navigate things necessary for these world adventures. It took a year and a half and here we are Aug 2005. The new PE albums were dictated by the business of distribution to appear 6 months apart as new product. Since 2 records were created in 2004, an order had to be determined. Good buddy PARIS recorded Rebirth Of A Nation earlier this year. Although it would've been a great time to splash these new records on their own timings, we were quickly reminded that the business of retail has its own order. In the short term there were some issues and difficult business clashes, but time is the governor here, and in the long term the effect will be positives galore.

In retrospect each record will have its space starting off this October with the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March in DC. October 16th, will be the Millions More Movement March in DC with every black organization possible, convening in front of the capitol. January around MLK day will be Rebirth and June 2006 is looking like How You Sell Soul to A Souless People Who Sold Their Soul.

Lastly flying into Taiwan the city of Taipei from Tokyo reminds me of how this cultural phenomenon of hip-hop is a gift from god, through its trinity of creators BAM, HERC, and FLASH. Now the language may be Sparse but the rap ‘sparks’. My next t-dome will describe the gigs and travels, like said, I’m up out the woodshed. The domes will be rolling as with myself on the ENEMY BOARD more. 1,934 emails have been handled and if you find the time peep my show 'On The Real' with my co-host Giana Garel on Air America Radio www.airamericaradio.com as well as archived shows on www.airamericaplace.com.

'Here we go again'

PS Upon arriving at the Taiwan /Taipei Airport there was a sign that read' Anyone accused of drug traffic into Taiwan punishment is death.' Which goes to show that the dealers who sell drugs to our babies are backed and protected by U.S. law and the government itself. This place aint playing that , they'd be heads chopped off if some of our communities were here....i'll await the ENEMY BOARDs opinion on this.

Luvout

Mistachuck@rapstation.com