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September 1, 2004
Welcome back my friends. I don't know 'bout y'all, but I been busy kicking up the Anti-Bush rhetoric as Election Day rapidly approaches. Just trying to get that word out however I can that we gotta get this Nazi out of the White House. Not that I'm real impressed with Kerry, mind you. In my opinion, one's as bad as the other and they are both devils cut from pretty much the same cloth. Both are slickly sophisticated when it comes to playing the media game, as we have all witnessed from this latest round of sniveling propaganda. All these covert plantings of malicious stories designed to sully the names of the candidates is embarrassing. These are two grown men acting like two little boys on the playground, arguing inanity and irrelevancy back and forth. Kerry has crafted this ultra-patriotic, Lincoln-like persona of the war hero with a progressive outlook. To me, the war hero part is some real bullshit. I see someone who signed himself up to travel halfway around the world to assist in the genocide of a race of poor people of color, in the name of a dominating, oppressive government regime. I've said before that my pops went to Viet Nam. Not by any choice of his own. He was ordered to go. He had no family connections to get him deferred. He went mostly out of fear of what would happen to him if he refused. My father spent more than a year in heavy combat and received no formal recognition for his service. He was only freed from his bonded servitude after being wounded while ducking from sniper fire. He came home and managed to live the rest of his life NOT being a homeless junkie, or a mentally crippled shell of his former self. He didn't become an alcoholic family abuser. He didn't become one of those casualties of war who couldn't move on with his life. He went on to work and live and raise a family. I kind of think that Kerry's shameless parading of his time in Viet Nam is vile. Even if he truly was the heroic figure that his ad campaign portrays him to be, it is not something that should be processed and packaged and shoved down the throats of the world community. It's an insult to every person who never recovered from that horrible war. Its horrors are the communal property of all those who lived it, not the sole proprietary of one man who wishes to use it as a selling point on his resume. And you know what? The fact that Kerry served in Viet Nam ultimately has no bearing whatsoever on the issue of if he can fix this country or not. The Machine is the Machine, and no one man (even if his intentions are true and pure) is going to stop what the world has been enforcing since civilization began. But, hey, he ain't Bush, so, what the fuck. I'll probably vote for him... Moving on, Y'all have seen how Babygrande is hitting you on the head with some serious new releases. Shit is friggin' serious. Fat Tony is honored to be a part of it, cause we makin' history over here. Straight from Babygrande prez Chuck Wilson: "We believe in everything we put out. Babygrande is not a conveyor belt label just looking for volume..." Amen. Welcome back to Bran Nubian, the new record is dope. It ain't for sure just yet, but look out for an upcoming tour featuring Brand Nubian and Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth. Right now, my most serious joint has got to be OuterSpace's Blood and Ashes. I am truly amazed at how great that album came out. After what seemed like an endless wait for a true debut, Crypt and Planet have really stepped up their games and shattered all expectations. Never mind that the production on the album is sheer classic. Classic. Word to the genius of Shuko. Every track that cat blessed is friggin' brilliant. My favorite has to be that last joint; "Angels of Death" (word to Jeff Hanneman). It's colossal and epic and makes me want to go out and murder homeless pregnant teenage prostitutes... Congratulations to Crypt and Planet, y'all really brought it. Also getting a lot of spins in the whip this month has been Dangerous Connection 2: Bars of Death. Have to give it up for 7L on this album, kid really outdid himself. I don't know about y'all, but I'm really anticipating the return of the revamped Army of the Pharaohs... And y'all know that this time of year means another Jedi Mind Tricks record. Bring on Legacy of Blood and let the slaughter begin! As far as what y'all can expect from Paz and Stoupe's latest unholy creation... well, if you've peeped the tracks off the first single I think you'll feel what is to come. More mayhem, but, according to Paz there will be more of a political edge, lyrically, to Legacy. If Vin's verse on Sabac's "Urban Guerillas" is any indication of what he's bringin' you can look for the guys in the Secret Service to be following his every move. Nothing is more dangerous to the establishment than an informed, articulate and angry voice that can motivate others who think likewise... Also gotta send some love to Jean Grea who is mad busy, hard at work with the likes of The Roots, 9th Wonder, and Herbalizer. Some other hot releases y'all need to peep: the new Beatnuts joint is (of course) dope. Milk Me is the title and the whole album bangs. The immortal KRS-ONE (Greatest Rapper of All Time, I don't care what NONE of y'all think) has another release on the horizon and it is surprisingly good. Look out for Keep Right, it proves that Kris is still a force in this game and he'll never let you forget it. And anyone who wants to contest that fact, well, I don't think he'd have a problem socking you in the jaw... I also gotta shout out my man R.A. The Rugged Man for finally getting some of his madness out to the public. Referring to my earlier rant: now, if you wanna ask someone about how the Viet Nam war affected their family, just read about the life that R.A. grew up in. Ask him about how Agent Orange wreaked genetic and chemical havoc on his family after his father was exposed to it during the war. At least another label is actually willing to put this psycho out, and it's about friggin' time. You can't fuck with R.A. and props to Nature Sound for having the balls to release Die Rugged Man Die... And don't forget about Necro, this kid has a master plan. He's putting out 10 albums in 12 months through his independent Psycho Logical-Records. Not only does he put the records out; he oversees every bit of production of every song of every record. Now that's putting in some serious work. And please remember to tip out some swill to the memory of the Alkaholiks... And, finally, I just want to take a minute to speak on something that has really touched my heart. There's a lot of rhetoric that spreads through Hip-Hop these days; an emphasized ethic of supposed "realism" that, in most cases, is as crafted, deliberate, artificial and flaming pink as a packet of Sweet and Low. Everybody's screaming about who is real? the real thugs, the real hustlers, the real pimps. Everybody is a killer on wax while the real killers know that you just don't speak on these things. In a fucked up twist of psychology this prevalent pattern of lyrical violence often becomes a caricature of itself. Now, I ain't one of them granola-motherfuckers whimpering in the corner for peace and civility. Life is a violent thing; I've lived long enough to know this first-hand, as have most of you. Man is a complicated beast and violence is a natural course of living. Shit happens. But I also believe that man can be a truly beautiful and creative creature, and there are few times when I am reminded of this fact. And whenever I wonder why humanity is here on Earth, when I ask the eternal question of what is the meaning and purpose of life, I look to these moments (be they musical, literal, visual, sensual, intellectual...whatever) as the answer. This is why I am here, if not to create these moments then to appreciate them to the fullest. In Hip-Hop everyone is a killer. It gets redundant. Be it truth or fiction, violence gets as boring with repetition as does masturbation. It don't take courage to pull a trigger. Any scared little boy can do it. Being a "man" ain't measured in how many bodies you rack up, being a man is admitting that you're scared shitless at times, that the struggle is too hard, that sometimes it just ain't worth it. What does take true courage and heart is to expose one's self artistically. The most compelling and vital works of art are those that open themselves up like a raw wound and draw the observer inside the world of its creator. Biggie had that ability. There have been a few other MC's to come along and distinguish themselves as more than just entertainers, but generally it is a rare and over-exploited commodity. The first time I heard Vin's diatribe on "Before the Great Collapse" I can't tell you how it hit me. If you ain't listened to it yet, go back to the homepage and play it before you read any further. Putting what amounts to suicidal apologies down on paper (and then on record) takes a strength and an honesty that is not often found in this life. In that song, I think we can all find some empathic sense of yeah, I been there before. Take those lyrics to heart my friends, because that is as real as it gets. Pain is far deeper than joy, for in this life pain is abundant and boundless while joy is elusive and illusory. Vin, from my heart, everything's gonna be all right. Keep ya head up. One The Italian Stallion.
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