Monster Energy Drink – Unleash the Beast – 666
Category Archives: Current Events
Link Between Prison Industrial Complex and Gangster Rap?
“The Secret Meeting that Changed Rap Music and Destroyed a Generation”
Very interesting read. An excerpt:
As the months passed, rap music had definitely changed direction. I was never a fan of it but even I could tell the difference. Rap acts that talked about politics or harmless fun were quickly fading away as gangster rap started dominating the airwaves. Only a few months had passed since the meeting but I suspect that the ideas presented that day had been successfully implemented. It was as if the order has been given to all major label executives. The music was climbing the charts and most companies when more than happy to capitalize on it. Each one was churning out their very own gangster rap acts on an assembly line. Everyone bought into it, consumers included. Violence and drug use became a central theme in most rap music. I spoke to a few of my peers in the industry to get their opinions on the new trend but was told repeatedly that it was all about supply and demand. Sadly many of them even expressed that the music reinforced their prejudice of minorities.
I officially quit the music business in 1993 but my heart had already left months before. I broke ties with the majority of my peers and removed myself from this thing I had once loved. I took some time off, returned to Europe for a few years, settled out of state, and lived a “quiet” life away from the world of entertainment. As the years passed, I managed to keep my secret, fearful of sharing it with the wrong person but also a little ashamed of not having had the balls to blow the whistle. But as rap got worse, my guilt grew. Fortunately, in the late 90’s, having the internet as a resource which wasn’t at my disposal in the early days made it easier for me to investigate what is now labeled the prison industrial complex. Now that I have a greater understanding of how private prisons operate, things make much more sense than they ever have. I see how the criminalization of rap music played a big part in promoting racial stereotypes and misguided so many impressionable young minds into adopting these glorified criminal behaviors which often lead to incarceration.
Method Man – Still a Champion of Real Hip Hop
Method Man Sounds Off on Gossiping Ass Mofos in Hip Hop
We hate celebrity tabloids and gossip to begin with! All the more so when it’s applied to hip hop! This video is a bit old but didn’t come to our attention until today. Meth says that’s not hip hop!
[youtube_sc url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiUxNJJ5zcM”]
Humor Break
Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Why I Changed my Mind on Weed
We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that.
I hope this article and upcoming documentary will help set the record straight.
On August 14, 1970, the Assistant Secretary of Health, Dr. Roger O. Egeberg wrote a letter recommending the plant, marijuana, be classified as a schedule 1 substance, and it has remained that way for nearly 45 years. My research started with a careful reading of that decades old letter. What I found was unsettling. Egeberg had carefully chosen his words:
“Since there is still a considerable void in our knowledge of the plant and effects of the active drug contained in it, our recommendation is that marijuana be retained within schedule 1 at least until the completion of certain studies now underway to resolve the issue.”
Not because of sound science, but because of its absence, marijuana was classified as a schedule 1 substance. Again, the year was 1970. Egeberg mentions studies that are underway, but many were never completed. As my investigation continued, however, I realized Egeberg did in fact have important research already available to him, some of it from more than 25 years earlier.
Very interesting article by Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Read the rest here.
Confessions of a Failed Hip Hop Publicist
Very interesting. Sad what “the industry” has done to hip hop.
Behind every mainstream rapper glorifying money, sex and violence, there is a cast of managers, publicists, lawyers, program directors, DJ’s, bloggers, journalists, producers and other industry executives working hard to make that artist a household name. Behind every Chief Keef, Tyga and Trinidad James, there are college educated men and women whose job it is to promote music that contributes to the dumbing down of our youth. Behind every music video full of half naked girls, there are casting agents and directors who would never allow their own daughters to portray themselves in such light. Behind every rapper who claims to be a thug, there are countless professionals who send their kids to private schools while promoting music which sends our kids to prison. Behind every mainstream rapper on BET, MTV, Hot 97, Power 106 and any other popular station in your city, there’s a Clear Channel, Viacom, Emmis Communications and Radio One made up of powerful decision makers who would never in a million years listen to the kind of music they get rich promoting. And behind every rapper with a criminal record, there’s a publicist spinning a story to make crime more marketable.
Potholes In My Blog » Confessions of a Failed Hip-Hop Publicist
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Biggie Smalls’ Autopsy Report Finally Released
Christopher Wallace sustained gunshot wounds to his chest, shoulder, leg, forearm and scrotum on the night he was murdered in L.A. back in 1997 … this according to the never-before-seen autopsy report, just obtained by TMZ.
Marijuana Now Legal in Washington State
SEATTLE (AP) — The crowds of happy people lighting joints under Seattle’s Space Needle early Thursday morning with nary a police officer in sight bespoke the new reality: Marijuana is legal under Washington state law.
Marijuana Vending Machine Maker’s Stock Skyrockets
In Colorado, Marijuana Got More Votes Than Obama
From the Los Angeles Times:
“Tuesday’s vote on the measure in Colorado amounted to a popular revolt against the establishment. Despite opposition from the governor, attorney general and Denver’s mayor, 1.3 million Coloradans voted for Amendment 64 — which as of last count had received 50,000 more votes of approval than President Obama, who won the state by 5 percentage points.”