Well now the pictures speak much louder than the words and much has been said about the Katrina disaster, and the modern day Battle Of New Orleans. First off all I was quite pissed at a series of things, the media and the usual surrounding chaos. There's not much more I can say outside the song itself. Excuse me, from time to time, while I rap:

New Orleans in the morning, afternoon, and night Hell NO, we ain't alright.

In fact my brain has been melted to mush of it all, as well as my mouth on the issue. As evidenced by my appearance on Tucker Carlson's show on MSNBC the media radiation has blunted my sharpness. Nonsense has breeched my common sense barricades as I feel tossed into the valley of 'brokenrecordism'.

"Now all these press conferences breakin news alerts this just in while your government looks for a war to win flames from the blame game, names? where do I begin? walls closin in get some help to my kin Who cares? while the rest of the bushnation stares as the drama unfolds as we the people under the stares 50% of this son of a bush nation is like hatin on Haitian settin up assassinations ask Pat Robertson- quiz him..... ...smells like terrorism. racism in the news still one sided news saying whites find food prey for the national guard ready to shoot cause them blacks loot"...

Yes, there is plenty more to be said by many others, and much more doing to be done. But as we gotta move forward to the rest of the planet, we should keep in mind things like this happening all across the earth. As the facts of the matter continue to roll out, this should be a wake up call to all about the unbalanced society that America has hidden in the story..

New Orleans in the morning, afternoon, and night Hell NO, we ain't alright.

As for New Orleans, I've done much personal and business dealings with the city. For the past one hundred years in fact many in the recording industry have eaten off the creative vibe of the turf. Public Enemy included. We've played the Superdome, the UNO Arena, State and Sanger theaters, the old Municipal Auditorium, the House of Blues, spoken at Tulane, Xavier, and Southern Universities. I know for a fact New Orleans makes the music and the world has taken it. The pain is that this hasn't been drilled into American cultural knowledge until now. Right now I'm hummin Guitar Slims 1955 Nawlins recorded hit,' The Thangs I Used To Do'. ( arranged by Ray Charles)

"Fires , earthquakes, tsunamis I don't mean to scare wasn't this written somewhere?disgraces all I see is black faces moved out to all these places emergency state corpses, alligators and snakes big difference between this haze and them diamonds on the VMAs we better look what's really important under this sun especially if you over 21 this ain't no tv show this ain't no video this is really real beyond them same ole 'keep it real' quotes from them TV stars drivin big rim cars 'streets be floodin, 'b' no matter where you at, no gas driving is a luxury urgency state of emergency shows somebody's government is far from reality...."

It should be a requirement for artists to just know that somehow their debt is rooted there well before Cash Money, Juvie & No Limit.

Longhair was Professin long before brother Griff, X, or the 'Large. The Meters will forever be funky, northern cats will never really catch the zydeco groove, and will still be puzzled at the appeal of crawfish. Louis Armstrong and Wynton Marseilles hardly and rarely funk the Meters of many a modern DJ, while Buddy Bolden, and King Oliver remain molded in the past like the bottom floors of a 9thWard crib.

New Orleans in the morning, afternoon, and night Hell NO, we ain't alright!

Fats Domino was saved from his flooded home in the 9th Ward. Erma Thomas was reputed missing but later found trying to save her family. I ran into Aaron Neville at Laguardia Airport in New York as PE was headed to Detroit, he was going to Memphis to put up more family members in that city where he had homes.

Sadly these names don't ring bells to the MTV-BET generation, but to the brass of record companies, publishers, government, and the Viacommed heads they remain as folklore hall of famers. It should ring the same for all.

"I see here we be the new faces of refugees who ain't even overseas but here on our knees forget the plasma TV-ain't no electricity new world's upside down-and out of order shelter? food? wasssup, where's the water? no answers from disaster them masses hurtin so who the fk we call?--Haliburton? son of a bush, how you gonna trust that cat? to fix sht when help is stuck in Iraq? makin war plans takin more stands in Afghanistan 2000 soldiers dyin in the sand but that's over there, right? now what's over here is a noise so loud that some cant hear but on TV I can seebunches of people lookin just like me."

As for civilians, the lost fact of New Orleans being a primarly black city, again boggles my brain as a so-called born (need I say it?) American. Not only black but mostly poor and renting regardless if families had been there the past two hundred years, in a state that has long upheld a twisted class system. Watching CNN during the media blizzard of it all spoke volumes to the world. No language interpretation needed. From that point, true old school America was re-introduced to itself and the world. Now at least Americans should know the gift to this culture. Better even, fans, musicians, deejays, beatmakers, singers, rappers, hummers should also...

New Orleans in the morning, afternoon, and night Hell NO, we ain't alright!

Pick up Ken Burns' ten series epic JAZZ as a starter kit, if you really say you love black music. If you claim you dig beats and rap, well it had to come from somewhere. The explosion of blues and jazz fragmented like sonic shrapnel into whatever you diggin. Whatever was on the mind of the New Orleans' musician, it came right back out in a song be it with a horn, drum, or voice. The damn blues always said the truth way better than the news.........

As far as this last week, my nuclear schedule was: Last Tuesday I spoke at University of Illinois, drove back up to Chicago to catch a flight to London, was there two days and attended MOBO awards there. I then took a train to Paris to do a day of meetings and interviews, then took a train the next morning to Amsterdam. Flew out of there Sunday to New York where I did the Air America radio show that night. I took off the next morning to Detroit where I spoke at Eastern Michigan University then jetted to Kansas City and then drove up to St Joseph, Missouri for the Missouri Western lecture. I Got back to New York on Wednesday for SPIN magazine's 20th anniversary gig, and just finished being part of the Parliament Funkadelic thang and ripping Atomic Dog at the Apollo. Yes, I need three of me, Superman's Black In The Building.

As I said, yours truly appeared on Tucker Carlson's show on MSNBC (they still cannot figure it or CNBC out, as for how to really program, separate and market the two as far as different).

Fats Domino was saved from his flooded home in the 9th Ward. Cats use the term 'living legend' a bit too much without thinking who really deserves the term.

Ran into JAY Z twice in five days. As I posted on the Board, I'd only run into him once before during the Hard Knock Life tour - later depicted on the Backstage DVD. At the BET fund-raiser he and Puffy were exiting. I thought Bush was around judging from the security. We three talked, but I kept it movin, as I was coming in and they leaving. The next time it was just he and some blond bearded cat, I told him I respected him ( for the Kanye backing and some other things - like no visible security ) but again headed in opposite directions, we shook up and kept it movin...weird eh?

Speaking of BET, today's press loves the photo aspect more than the interview. A reflection of ‘look good say nothing' times. The press rooms today are literally exhausted of dealing with under - developed artists who are told from their labels, and sometimes management, that image is everything.

Adam Wallenta AKA ILLUS is doing the official PE comic book on his American Mule imprint. It's something that has been in the making the past two years.

New AOL radio show also relaunching in October called Chuck D's Worldwide Throwback Underground Countdown show. The goal to include some of today's hit superstars with play and exposure for underground artists like Little Brother ( who's video reputedly was rejected by BET for being too intelligent?!? Perhaps if they were called 'Little Nigger' they'd go platinum and get EVERYBODY'S support AND excuses) and 'throwback joints from rap music's twenty-six year past. It will be a banging, great sounding and unparalleled show with master work from Alex Mejiia at the production, the Poetess on the news and Davey D's insight ...

Public Enemy's New whirl odor is slated for November 2005 while a Best Buy exclusive during the month of October. The buzz will begin in a week or so. The video 'Bring That Beat Back' will jump things off. We've gotten some flack from the independent retailers, but BEST BUY is offering to help build a standard to help produce a retail interest for classic rap acts. This is important and I've written a letter to Billboard in rebuttal to the claims of helping BEST BUY, the monster, destroy the retail record business. I countered with retail helping to support the lopsidedness of the radio, video, media promotion and dominance of 'niggative rap'. New Whirl Odor is simply another term for Ball Of Confusion like the Temps hit from 1971.

Global warning. The general idea in making it was under the premise that we shouldn't try to make a hit record, that's an impossibility, but enjoy ourselves making a 'good' record that's all. Major props to DJ Johnny Juice, Professor Griff, Abnormal, Chief Exec, CDOC, and yes, Moby for contributing in millennial Bomb Squad-ish manner.

New Slamjamz redesign is also coming this October 4th. With great intent, the information there has been frozen for the future explosion. Now with online, offline domestic and international retail, video, the ability to either download or physically order available is right around the corner.Tuesday October 4th 2005 as designed by Zenon Zabinski ... Remixuniverse.com is now officially launching for the PE record. Remixxes will be accepted and Accappella will be uploaded starting October 2005.

Again, I saw Aaron Neville and he was upbeat as much as he could've been ... telling it like it is. PE band leader Brian Hardgroove of the 'Banned has approached and is working on songs for the legend.

The PE backing band of bassist and bandhead Brian Hardgroove, 7th Octave guitar prodigy Khari Wynn, and funky drummer New York City Mike Faulkner is officially named 'The Banned'. For years I wanted to apply this name to something I was involved with. I suggested it be applied to Son Of Bazerk No Self Control and the Band back in 1991 but couldn't convince Hank Shocklee.   I even thought the Puffster was clever enough to snatch it. Maybe it's no big deal, but the punks have always been clever in the name of rebellion. As in Banned X, a group from the early 80's. Well everyone's loss is the Banned's gain in the name...

Detroit...the Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, came to the old school classic weekend at Chene Park on the river. It was cool playing with Digital Underground and Naughty by Nature - seeing old friends do their thing.

Taipei is a further introduction into the orient and the fascination was furthered in playing the concert at the Ministry of Sound club there. Cool experience and although the club's personnel was largely Asian, the pre - gig interview was a room of interrogating young, mainly British, journalists... But lemme tell yall about the special I peeped on CHINA late last week on ABC, as it furthered my fascination. If the US has 55 major cities, it is said that CHINA has 109 shiny, modernized, urban sprawls. With that growth of it being the fastest middle class of the world, CHINA'S workforce and consumption is like Ike Turner's Rocket 88 -  movin! Also there was 124,000 job related deaths in 2004. O. K. . Hip hop honors ... I hosted an entire weekend on VH1 Soul and it aired this week. It was a prelude to the Hip Hop Honors TV presentation (where I heard KANE tore it down. Question is why should THAT have been news to those that should've already known? I understand if you under 25 and don't know but er...).

So RITA spared...with the coastline being intact pretty much. As said before I'd mentioned last year I had seen a report about hurricanes hitting the Gulf and Florida for the next fifteen years. Also in this Hurricane pattern it was said that there have been other similar patterns in the past, but now the difference has been the development of homes and townships on the coasts. Where in the past small uninhabited islands and barrier reefs would absorb the blow, the past thirty years developers have built like crazy on them. A lot of incredible edificing at that. Advice: To all know your history and geography.

My sixteenth year of speaking at colleges and universities launched with an appearance at the University of Illinois, in a debate against Hillary Rosen, formerly of the R.I.A.A. What a difference a few years makes as our opinions have sort of blended in agreement. As in the sung words of Ann Peebles and Missy Elliot ...'can't stop the rain, can you?'

I know I'm late but SKYPE and GIZMO's world phone call capability is such a addition to small companies trying to globally connect the bizdots. wwv.skype.com.

Speaking of the world we recently had Michael Franti on my radio show - On The REAL (11PM -1AM EST Sunday nights www.airamerica.com with Ms Gia'na Garel holding it down) and in his quest to get many Americans a passport (a pitiful mere eighteen percent of citizens have them - a shame for a so-called ‘world leading' nation.) he told us only seventy percent of congress have them. This means thirty percent haven't really went noplace and have important say-so. Sht, speaking about 'hill-billies runnin the distillery'...

There was no T-Dome in September, I think it's a first since 1998 when this thing started. Moving and very busy. As Stand Up And Be Counted PBS special had yours truly navigating the voice over and on camera appearance. Check www.pbs.org

And er, excuse me have yall seen the RHINO released RAY CHARLES total Atlantic singles box set? It's nuts, complete like a 50-60's styled simulated record player with incredible CD and liner book underneath ... shee ... talking about adult toys.

Gone. mistachuck@rapstation.com