Maybe There Is Hope

You know, I often proudly pronounce myself an advocate of/for Hip-Hop on a regular basis. Often times, I will go so for as to voice my concern over the future of this culture that I hold so dear. It means that much to me. I don’t always understand, or agree with, choices that being made with today’s generation. This new bumper crop of would-be b-boys and b-girls are not only being left to fend for themselves emotionally, but actively being led in a foul assed direction, mentally (and sometimes physically). I mean, really… who’s keeping an eye on these kids?

I was watching America’s Got Talent and there was a little kid that walked up to the center of the stage. The kid looked like a Marshall’s manequin for 1998, complete with shopping mall chain. I wasn’t mad at that. We’ve all got our own Hip-Hop uniform and I’ve rocked a few 40 inch chains in my day.

When they asked him his name, he said his name was “SB Ceezy…” or something. No big deal, I mean… what can I say? My name is “stretch mark” transposed with a letter change cause I’m so damned clever.

When asked about his talents, Ceezy said that he danced, wrote music, and rapped. Okay… go head lil man, with your Fubu self.

Now earlier, Nick Cannon (yeah… that guy) was talk with SB and was informed that the young star had been rapping for 8 years. Normally i’d totally applaud that…. if it wasn’t for the fact that he’s now 11 years old!

Now, I’ll be honest. At this point, I’m starting to smell a faintly familiar scent. I do believe I detect the aroma of “teen mom” (it smells like a combination of Clinique, hair gel and weed). But every star has to start somewhere. Inhale open-mindedness… exhale pre-judgement.

So after chronicling his sorted girlfriend situation (erk!) And telling the judges that the only difference between him and Eminem is that “Em don’t dance”, the judges give young Robert Van Winkle the green light to dazzle them.

As the music builds, Ceezy gives the mic a couple “uh” and “yeah” checks.

(Somewhere in the ghetto, watching the show on a boosted flat screen on bootleg cable): Awwww shit. He bout to go in, nigga!

“I roll up in the club….”

WTF?

I could feel my eyes start to water as my soul was pepper-sprayed by eu de I Had A Baby Too Soon. Apparently, Ceezy drinks, rolls deep with his crew, gets excellent grades, drives big cars, gets it crunk in the club and gets bitches. Okay… I made up one of those… I admit it.

Man… somebody needs to kick his parents’ asses! They are setting this kid up for failure! The lyrics that this kid spat out were absolutely deplorable! I think he might have even grabbed is dick at one point. Maybe I’m getting old, but that shit was NOT cute. As I listened to him I swear his arrest record flashed before my eyes.

The even greater tragedy is that ALL of the judges loved this kid. LOVED his song and thought that it was adorable that this kid was rapping like a 30 year old repeat offender. They acually, unanimously voted Ceezy on to the next round. Not one of them took the opportunity to advise this kid that what he was saying was inappropriate, not to mention untrue. Maybe it’s not really their responsibility but damn, somebody could’ve stopped the social bleeding that he was unknowingly suffering from.

The real crux of the situation is … the kid really had some talent! His stage presence was on point and his delivery was pretty good, especially for a pre-teen. He even launched himself into a pretty Michael-esque moonwalk. With that in mind, I guess there may be hope.

Somebody get this kid a Little Brother cd, quick!

Father MC

Father MC..not the rapper.

Father MC to me means to be a father and an MC without letting one affect the other.

I am sitting inside the Jolly Roger Hotel in Anahiem, CA. Laying on my bed watching Sportscenter digusted by the news of Lawrence Taylor getting arrested for accusations of Rape. Fool..

Anyways I have been at Disneyland all day. My daughters 5th birthday is Saturday; and after 3 years of promises her wish is being granted with a 3 day hopper pass to the “happiest place on earth”. The smile on her face when she saw the castle was worth every shitty diaper I ever changed. To quote T.I.

“what you know about that”?

They hate my music more when they find out that I am a daddy. Are my words less valid because I want my daughter to be able to listen to my songs? Earmuffs baby, daddy is about to get his Eminem on. I can’t let her listen to it because she does not understand lighthearted rape, drugs or murder. I don’t want her too; not right now. When it’s time I will let her hear him kill Jay on his own shit. Have you heard us? My crew is so sick. Is it really not hard enough? You don’t know hard boy..Hard is trying to discuss the joys of fatherhood to a cat smoking a joint who is so high that he REALLY is trying to make you understand how Luke Skywalker would have killed the Hulk if it were not for Yoda. WTF?? I MC because I love it. I get asked all the time how do I find time to spit and raise my child. Family and love. Kids don’t ask to be born dummy. Take care of your kids and stop using them as the excuse for why you grind so hard. If you really grinding, pop them paystubs and get yo ass a job to provide until this music paper actually pops off.

I work so she does not get left behind. No child left behind is an economic issue. I work a 9 to 5 so I can take the economics out of that issue. Again I MC because I love it. We recently drew #11 in a public charter school lottery that we entered. Last week I received a confirmation letter that my daughter got into this distinguished school and Kindergarten starts in August.

Now that’s hard!

“Daddy can we read two books tonight”? Yes honey..only two though daddy has to work on his music.

Game Time!!

Yeah... it's about that time

For those of you that don’t know, Big Willie Dynamite is a group, made up of sports fanatics. We all played sports throughout or lives, even up to a semi-professional level. Football, baseball, futbol (soccer to you, pal), rugby, lacrosse.  If you were able to be a fly on the wall, you’d probably figure out that our studio sessions resemble a cross between Sportscenter, Def Comedy Jam (when it was REALLY poppin’) and Teen Summit. Basically, it’s your local barbershop/salon with turntables, keyboards and mics.

After seeing the heartbreaking loss of Butler at the hands of the devilish Duke, we are now squarely focused on one of the most exciting things that happen all year… The NBA Playoffs.  Look at the teams involved… Clevland, Orlando, Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Oklahoma City, San Antonio just to name a few. Everybody has their favorites. Everybody has a shot at winning it all. Seems like most people are rooting for Clevland. I can’t front, I’d like to see Bron-Bron get a ring and then bounce. I’m evil like that.

Everybody loves an underdog so a lot of the people that I’ve talked to, are actually rooting for OKC to come through. I can dig it. But clearly, the Los Angeles Lakers are the biggest underdogs. I mean… a 3 peat?   Against that field? Good luck fellas. You’re gonna need it. So in the spirit of the underdog and the fierce competition that awaits us all, both on the court and in everyday life, we present to you this video. For all the people that go hard, no matter what they do!

Get ‘em!

Feel free to download this video in any of the following formats:

AVI
Quicktime
3gp (moblile)
mp4

Big Willie Dynamite

"I'm a pimp by blood, not ree-lay-shun" © Jigga

Click here to listen:
Big Willie Dynamite

This song came to life very early in the creation of the album and is ENTIRELY DJ Ray’s fault.  The dude is always digging… I mean ALWAYS. It doesn’t matter what the weather is. It doesn’t matter how much/little money he has.  This dude digs. Unlike a lot of newer producers, he puts a lot of stock in having vinyl to sample from (that’s those big black “cds” that you see some people with, youngins).

Real heads <3 samples.  I’m not knocking anybody that doesn’t sample though. I mean, keyboard beats are cool and I know a few people that are extremely talented and make heat from original compositions (for instance, @gkoop… follow him), but for me, there’s something about using a sample that makes Hip-Hop special, for me.  There’s a certain amount of “dirty” that’s in those old records that you just can’t accurately replicate with new technology. The limitations of the equipment in older studios, gives the sound character. Unless you have a bunch of vintage equipment to work with (like G Koop), there’s just no way to put that back in a record, in my opinion. You can emulate it but there’s a certain amount of sweat and desire that’s present in the music. The will to persevere to make a song come out the way your mind’s eye sees it, has to come from a deep place, especially when you’re working with equipment that may hum or crack or pop or distort right in the middle of your best take. There’s a love in that music and you can feel it.  Samples carry an energy with them, and we do our best to add on.

So like I said… this song is ENTIRELY DJ Ray’s fault. You can’t be working on a beat like this, when I walk in the studio and expect me to not start writing to it.  I think Ray and Mondo secretly call me the Beat Sniper cause I’ll walk into the studio and sit down while he’s working on a beat. By the team he has it sequenced out and is ready to transfer it over to Pro Tools, I done already wrote 16 bars or at least a chorus. Sorry Pal. Finders keepers.

Enjoy.

P.S. Doesn’t the pimp in that picture look like the love child of Common and Rza? Or is that just Will Hammond Jr. on the way to a show?  Just a thought.

New Sunshine

Welcome to the first of many posts from the various members of Big Willie Dynamite. Rather than brag and boast about how dope we are and how wack everyone else is, I wanted to start by showing some love to Mother Earth cause it seems like she’s letting my favorite season come out to play a little early this year.  Before you go any further, click on the link below and listen to that song while you read the rest of this post. Trust me. You won’t be sorry.

click here to listen:
New Sunshine

The weather has been absolutely delightful and it feels like the summer has decided to give us an early look. People are taking to the outdoors in mass numbers… abandoning their Facebook profiles for more mobile friendly Tweets. This weekend has been a reminder that you better put those damned chili cheese fries away and get back on your program before it’s too late.  I know that we still have April showers and May flowers to go through before the summer is officially here but dammit, it’s looking so nice outside.  So be a leader… not a follower, smile, laugh and skip through the street. Beat the rush and enjoy the sun, now.

Stay tuned for more fresh music and updates on the 5 Heartbeats of Hip-Hop (Minus Choir Boy and Eddie Kane).