New Blog!

For those that have been wondering what happened to this blog and why no updates in so long. Well there are many reasons. 1.) It was hard to find good content to write about daily, every other day and sometimes even weekly. Towards the end we were just putting out anything as opposed to good well thought out content that got most of you to like the blog in the first place. No lie there are about 20 blogs in draft that were left just incomplete. Smh. 2.) Yes I blame twitter. Twitter was easier to get the random thoughts and ideas that we would normally come up with for blogs, out quickly to a mass audience. 3.) Life just got busier. After changing jobs I couldn't blog from work and was too busy to even want to try to think of blog topics to write by the time I got home. So #3 is probably better described as laziness. lol. 4.) OMG the spam is ridiculous. We would get 10xs as many spam comments in all different languages than we would real comments. One of our blog homegirls Amber recently left a comment asking where we were and it almost got trashed because we thought it was spam. So, we should've made this announcement a long time ago.

Well ladies and gentelman we have a great and special announcement... A love for writing has brought us back to blogging, but with a brand new blog on a new platform (Wordpress - I know it was a hard decision to navigate from Blogger). Also, we've decided to focus on one topic, which we both know and love and can constantly write about over and over without fail. If you've followed this blog for a while or since its inception then you know we have a genuine love for Hip Hop Music and would write about it on many different posts.

Therefore, we decided to start a hip hop blog http://www.lyric2go.com/ that strictly focuses on Hip Hop topics and write about them in our usual witty and sometimes funny writing style that most following this blog have come to enjoy. Oh and here's a forewarning if you're looking for a gossip type Hip Hop blog talking about who banged who and the latest rapper to sleep with Kat Stacks, or any of the latest topics related to Hip Hop, then you won't find it on our new blog. We are dealing with real hip hop and its golden era and all topics related to it. So if you love or even like Hip Hop a little bit or just miss us writing and blogging, then you'll love to make our new blog http://www.lyric2go.com your home for Real Hip Hop topics. We've been able to consistantly post about 3xs a week over the last month and a half.

You can also follow the new blog on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lyric2go <<-- Go here and hit the like button. Also, you can follow the new site on twitter @lyric2go and Driza Dre @drizadre. I know we've been out of the blogging loop here, but all the writing we're doing on the new blog may hopefully motivate us to start back writing here and come up with some new things to talk about and share with you guys. Thanks for all the love and support you've shown over the years with this blog, and we look forward to sharing more with you guys over at the new Hip Hop Blog. http://www.lyric2go.com/.

Huge Shoutout to the homie Charles over at Illuminated Darkness he helped create the 2 headers you see above for the new site and we're working together on another project soon to come.

--C-Recks----Driza Dre--

Update: "Don't Save the Last Dance"

Well I know it was some time ago and it's been less than sporadic when we update this blog, but last year (August 11, 2009 to be exact) I wrote a blog entitled "Don't Save the Last Dance." The gist of that blog was talking about all the rap songs with stupid dances to go along with them and I gave a few examples of some of the latest ones out and some older songs. Well if you never read that blog hit the link above and check it out.

If you remember and or notice, at the very end of that blog I was playing around and made up the following song clearly off the dome making a mockery of this type of music see the quote below:

"However, I will proposition any choreographers out there to hit me up. callmecrecks@gmail.com or @crecks on twitter. Let's come up with a stupid dance move and make a song out of it. You do the dance I'll write and produce the song. We can do it, it can't be that hard. Wait! I already got one! The "Hula Hoop." I can hear the hook for the song now. "Do the hula hoop, do the hula hoop, work them hips 'round like you would a hula hoop. Girl do the hula hoop, do the hula hoop, you can do it too, girl, don't think you too cute!!" The dance moves can mimic something like you would do while playing with a hula hoop. LoL. I'm clowning, but I swear I'll write this shit. It would be a ghost written song however for MC Sambo or whoever I could find to be the artist. But I would gladly take the royalty checks for writing it. Matter of fact I'm going to copyright the lyrics today for all you biters out there. LoL."

Well obviously I was 100% playing around and especially didn't take heed to the last sentence of that blog about copyrights. The reason I state this and the reason for this updated blog is because as I was just downloading music last night, (legally of course ;-) I came across a song entitled "Hool-a-Hoop" by Black Frost Feat. Mista F.A.B. Now upon reading the title of the song I thought "GTFOH" (if you don't know the acronym google it). Then I said wait it can't be let me listen to this. Then I listened and said "Hell Naw!!! They done stole my song!" LoL. Not literally because obviously in the above mentioned blog I was completely playing around and making a mockery of how easy and simple it is to come up with some of the rap songs of today, especially the dance songs. But I just found it ironic how it was almost identical to what I came up with over 9 months ago off the top of my head. Please take a listen to the song below for further evidence:



All I had was the hook but I could've filled up 3 - 16 bar verses with any old filler lyrics. But this simply just 100% irrefutable evidence that most of the music now a days takes absolutely no talent and or skill to create. Now that is not to say that I have no talent because I do. But to just think that what took me 3.5 seconds to come up with while writing a blog someone actually went into the studio, produced, wrote and performed is just ridiculous to me. And trust I'm not hating because this song may blow, make whoever the artist a little money off a "one hit wonder single" and then they fade away. No by all means I'm not, I hope they make whatever they can off the song, I hope they make a video and they get to #1 on 106 & Park. That's really not the point. I'm simply exposing the truth! Hip Hop Music is not what it used to be peoples and this is as far as the creative mind is taking it these days.

If you saw last week's episode of The Boondocks, (See the link to the left for those that missed it), they ironically touched on this very same subject. I will forever be a lover of good music especially Hip Hop Music since that's the era in which I grew up in. And until songs like this stop getting air play I will continue to turn off my radio and turn on classics, when I can sit back and reminisce on when real Emcees came with it and put forth effort to master their craft. Which is not comparable to the song and dance routine that I covered in this blog or the aforementioned one.

Lastly, just a heads up we soon plan on expanding this blog into another blog where we can really get back into one of my our real loves... music. I know we've been lacking on this one but hopefully when my Partner in Crime @drizadre gets back on we will be able to keep this updated more regularly as well as the new blog coming soon. So Stay tuned...

Oh and since no one took me up on my offer last year I'll put it out there again. If any one wants to take me up on my offer to come up with a dance routine, I'll gladly ghost write the song! As you can see I'm 1 for 1. However, this time I'll leave my next dance craze to myself or at least until we can put it down and copyright it. Lol.

--C-Recks--

@crecks

Shadows of Doubt

"You put on two tube socks, you couldn't walk in my shoes" Jay-Z

So last week I saw some tweets that were being sent regarding Diggy Simmons [the son of Rev Run] and a freestyle video that he had put out. The consensus of most of those tweets were that he did a pretty good job in the video. However, I first ignored those tweets and formed my own opinion before even hearing it. My reasons were based solely on the fact that Rev's other son JoJo Simmons is a so called "rapper" as well. And well let's just say his skills are less than quality if you ask me. (See Video Below if you want to form your own opinion the cat that's first to spit is Jo Jo).



So after seeing another tweet about the Diggy video I went ahead and checked it out. Now I will admit that his flow was okay but average at best. However, I will say 3 things though. First, he is definitely way better than his brother Jo Jo. Secondly, knowing that he's still really young he's probably the best in that age category right now (if such a category even exists presently), and also better than some "rappers" twice his age. Lastly, I feel that if he stays at it in 3-4 years he may be top notch in his craft. (Check out the Diggy Vid below)



Now those reading may think I'm being hard on the kid. Now don't get me wrong I respect the kid's hustle and the fact that he's doing something positive and probably isn't using his dad's influence to make it happen. However, you have to understand that as a lover of Hip Hop (since a young child) and as an Emcee myself I judge rappers on a different scale than most. So basically it takes a lot to move me and convince me that you have skills in the rap department.

But if I was to go into therapist mode on the situation, I'd say Jo Jo became a rapper because he was trying to get his pops attention and or approval, while Diggy was more just doing what he wanted to do. But I have no degree in that field so this is purely my own speculation.

Now I said all that to finally approach the subject at hand. How do you as a child of someone great, following in the same footsteps as your parent(s), ever attempt to match the greatness of your parent(s). And is it even possible? In the above examples, I questioned will Diggy or Jo Jo ever be as great a rappers as their dad was and achieve the level of success that he did? Run DMC was 1 of the first Hip Hop acts to really hit on a mainstream Level. And thus Rev Run has become as successful as he has. Now to me that's not something that's easy to follow up. So my prediction would be no I doubt if either of them can reach those levels, but I guess only time will tell.

But more than anything I guess my answer to this question is more like why would you even want to follow behind someone great? I mean to be honest my father once was into music. But if he had been a huge music superstar then I don't think I'd even be willing to go down that path. Even if that was something he was pushing or even if I showed real talent in that area I just don't think I would be willing to do the same. I just think the possibility of falling short and always being compared to a legend is hard to overcome. So if the Cosmic Era (inside family joke my bro will laugh @ this one) popped off back in the 80's and my dad ending up being one of the great musicians in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame I think I'd go opposite. I think I'd be like a master Chess player or something. Check mate MF! lol.

Although I have to big up to those that have the ability to withstand the criticism, ridicule and pressure and do so, I'm just saying I don't think I could do it. For instance Jesse Jackson Jr., he's a good example, as he followed in his dad's footsteps and became a politician, activist and a man of the people. Obviously he hasn't put in the work his pops has (standing next to Dr. MLK Jr. and all) but all in all he's done a pretty decent job if you ask me.

But there are others that I just don't think will ever get close to the level. For instance, in my opinion Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player to ever dribble a ball. He has 2 sons, both of which played basketball in high school and now in college. However, I would venture to say that neither of these sons will ever get even close to the level of basketball player that their dad was. Although I haven't followed their careers, just based off having not heard much of anything in the news, I can conclude their efforts in comparison to their father's are pretty lack luster. Now again, I'm not being critical, and they may indeed go on to have pretty decent NBA careers down the line. But will they ever achieve the same status of their dad? I would be willing to bet money they won't.

Now in contrast this weekend I also happened to hit a link that took me to a live U-Stream video of P.Diddy and his oldest son Justin. Don't ask what made me hit this link. Bored I guess. But after watching for a little bit I noticed 2 things. 1 I want to be rich just so I can have a TV as big as Diddy's (my God you should've saw the size of this screen). Oh and on the subject at hand, when asked his son said he has no desire to be an entertainer and actually wants to be a football player. This actually shocked me. Just because I figured that since Diddy loves the lime light so much that he'd be likely to push his kids in that same direction. Especially after having previously seen the video below.



Also, on that same note on the anniversary of Notorious B.I.G.'s death I heard an interview with B.I.G.'s daughter's mom. They of course asked her if her daughter wanted to be in the entertainment industry at all. Her response was no she has no desire to be an entertainer, she actually is into fashion design and wants to go to college for that. I was happy to hear this. Likewise, we all know that we lost Michael Jackson last year. Michael Jackson was the greatest entertainer of all time. But we know he has 2 children and I think I may have heard that one of them sings. But I don't care how good they may be I hope they never ever try to go into entertainment. Because those are 1 pair of shoes (or glittery socks) I don't think anyone can ever fill, even his own offspring.

I'm sure I can go on and on naming examples of people that both prove and disprove my theory. But as I said this is just my personal opinion and how I would react given the situation. I'm not hating on anyone or anything like that. Also, I'm not saying that if your average Joe or Jane is a doctor or lawyer or in some other high powered position that they're child shouldn't strive to be the same. Again, I'm referring to what I consider "Great" or "the greatest." So I just think regardless of the situation it's difficult to come behind the greatest in any field and fill those shoes.

Well that's my take. What's yours? Leave a Comment at the Beep!

--C-Recks--

Don't Save the Last Dance

"People don't dance no mo' all they do is this..." Goodie Mob

I'm Not sure if Goodie Mob was trying to be prophetic in their statement they made in those lyrics back in 1998, but it seems they were right. I will forewarn you that if you watch the videos on this particular blog that it may take away minutes of your life that you can't get back. I unfortunately was subjected to hours I can't get back while searching for these vidoes. So just know I took one for the team on this one. lol. Also, I apologize in advance if this is a bit long winded.

So as we all know the majority of music (especially rap) these days sucks. And when I say sucks I mean sucks like a vacuum, on a hoe stroll, standing next to a black hole. Sorry for the visual, but I'm sure you got my point now. I just doubt this is what our fore-fathers in hip-hop had in mind 30 years ago when they thought about where the craft would be in the future. This is precisely why I don't like to listen to the radio. The few times I have tuned in as of late, I often hear the ads requesting the citizens to help keep the radio free. They encourage us to call or write our local congressmen about the pay for performance tax. I don't know all the issues regarding the tax, but to be honest I could care less. The radio rarely plays anything I like to hear, so if they have to pay to play that crap then that's what they get for playing it.

So keeping on the topic of (C)Rap music I must admit that I can sometimes barely tolerate most of what falls into this category. But there is a particular trend in rap music that I have zero tolerance for. I'm sure from the title of this blog and my opening quote you realize that it's those Goddamn Dance songs! You just don't know how bad they irk the hell out of me!

Some of you that perhaps like these songs or just don't see my point may be asking yourself but why? Why don't you like them? Well it's simple first off the songs to me are just that...SIMPLE. It sounds like my 5 year old son wrote these lyrics using nursery rhymes as reference. As a rapper I find them highly insulting. Second, upon hearing them and not even seeing the dance I can visualize how stupid the dances look. Lastly, it's just another dumb ass trend. It's monkey see monkey do. So and so wrote a dance song so let me do the same. It's no different than when every rapper was a rock star and made rock songs, or when everyone wanted to rap fast. It's all the same. It simply boils down to No originality!

So when I began to write this blog I figured I can't just go in on the dance songs when most of them I have yet to see. Let me give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe I spoke too soon and could perhaps adopt some of these new dance moves the next time I hit the dance floor. Well good people, here come the minutes of your life you won't get back. Sorry to say. I spent hours watching this crap and finding these videos so I hope you enjoy the Uncle Tom Foolery you're about to see.

Stanky Leg


When I first heard this crap I cringed then I pictured what the dance would be in my head. Well when I finally saw this video my suspicions were confirmed. Just down right ridiculous. Ugh! Not stopping with the success of their first dance song. The follow up single by the GS Boyz is "Booty Dew." Feel free to look that one up yourself if you want to see how it's done. The videos I found may be a little too racy for some viewers.


Swag Surfin


Now when I first heard this song I was down in ATL back in May. I liked the beat and it was semi-catchy. Well by the time it came to Chicago Radio they of course played it out. And when I heard it was a dance song it immediately went on my do not play list. I get it the motions of the dance mimic what a surfer would do. But it still looks stupid. No thanks.


Chicken Wang


I'm almost sad to say the originator of this song is from Chicago. I love my city and try to rep the fellow artists from Chi. But I would be lying if I didn't say Chicago puts out a lot of garbage music. Not to mention we try to be like everyone else, so knowing that, this song is not a huge surprise. But watch as this guy demonstrates this dance. The bird flap are you for real? I mean Harold's Chicken (As seen in the video is good chicken but not good enough to make up a damn dance too. I'm mad this grown ass man doesn't even realize how dumb he looks! Damn Shame! Then he mentioned another dance soon to come "The George Jefferson." Oh lord please no!


Bird Walk


I personally can't stand Soldier boy so it's no wonder I didn't like this one either. But after the success of the Soldier Boy you should've known he'd be coming with another dance. This looks just as stupid as the first one to me.


Soldier Boy


I don't want to say this one started it all but it was definitely one of the more popular dances. I recall first hearing of Soldier Boy some years ago from one of my younger cousins. I heard him playing the song from his phone and doing this dumb ass dance. I just laughed at him and thought to myself there's no way a song or dance like that could ever become popular. Well lo and behold 2 years later I eat my words about the popularity. But I don't change my opinion it's still a stupid dance.


Ricky Bobby

I have never seen the movie Talladega Nights before, but apparently this dance is based on the lead character in that movie Ricky Bobby (played by Will Farrell). Perhaps if I saw the movie I would understand the meaning behind the dance more. But I didn't have another 2 hours to spend watching a dumb movie to figure out a dumb dance.


Walk it out

The best thing about this song to me was the re-mix with Andre 3000. Besides that thee song was crap. The dance is just about the same if you ask me. But I guess it's not as bad as some of the more recent ones. I know DJ Unk also did the song "2-Step." But I was unable to find anything depicting that particular dance.


The Jerk


Okay when I watched this video I first thought wasn't that the "Kid n' Play" dance they just did at the beginning? Then I thought was this nigga pretending to jump an imaginary rope backwards? Wtf is this the actual dance? They look like fake break dancers in pants that are way tighter than any man should ever wear. The Jerk? Yeah that's the perfect name for what they look like doing this dance. I'm good on this one.


Halle Berry


When I first heard the song I figured well it's Hurricane Cris so typical crap he put out before. I mean I think Halle Berry is fine too (top notch), but she gets her own song? Well I had no clue until doing research for this blog that there was a damn dance to the song. The video is from the Ellen Show and has Halle Berry talking about the song/dance and doing it as well. Halle Berry and any other woman can do this dance all day. She looks good doing it. But no grown ass man should be doing this dance!


Roll Your Neck

Just as indicated on the last dance and most of these dances I'll say it again "No grown ass man should be doing this dance." With that said I bring you a new dance that has yet to hit the national market yet according to the video. It's called roll your neck. Well it's self explanatory. The guys doing it in this video may as well change the name of the dance to "out the closet." Fuckouttahere with this!


Lean with it Rock with it

Again we go back a couple years and see how the dance song craze began. We all remember the lean with it rock. Then Lil' Jon came with snap ya fingaz, which was just another variation of the same dance if you ask me.


Shoulder Lean

Here's the thug version of the dance song. I guess Dro and T.I. were a little too hood to come up with a corny dance song. So they came up with the shoulder lean. I know gangstas don't dance but it's okay to do the shoulder lean. If you say so.


Chicken noodle soup


This I song to me was horrible. I'm not from Harlem nor have ever been. But I guess it was a big thing out there. So of course someone had to come up with a song for the dance. So here we have the chicken noodle soup dance. I still don't know why it's called that. Campbells makes some good soup, but I don't know if that necessarily warrants a song and dance. But then again who am I.


Harlem Shake

I blame Puffy (or Diddy as some call him) for bringing this dance to the forefront. Honestly, this could've stayed in Harlem. However, after he had the little kids doing this dance in the "Let's Get It" video. Everyone was doing it. Again, as evidenced in the video grown men should never have been doing this dance. The comedian "smokey" described this dance best. It looks like what happens to a crack head after they hit the pipe. LoL.


Crip Walk


No disrespect to anyone's gang or anything but again I didn't know that gangstas danced. I'm not sure which crip invented the crip walk, but I guess he made it cool for them to dance. Since then it's become more mainstream and everyone from lil' Bow Wow were doing it. But I people like Xzibit, and Snoop made songs about getting your walk on.


Tootsie Roll

Let's take it back to what like 94? The 69 Boyz were some of the originators and came up with this song and dance for what they called the Tootsie Roll. They took another popular dance "The Butterfly" and created their own variation called the "Tootsie Roll." I'm still not sure why it was called this, but I'm sure the Tootsie brand saw an increase in their sales over the 2 year span this song and dance were popular.


Humpty Dance

If you ask me Shock G was a mogul in the making back in the early 90's. He already rapped as himself in the group Digital Underground. But then he thought of the bright idea to create an alter Ego named Humpty Hump. Humpty was supposed to be Shock's cousin who got his nose burned and wore the humpty nose/glasses because of that. Humpty also rapped. Many didn't know shock and hump were one in the same person. He then went on to make a song and dance called the humpty hump. He was one of the originators of the dance song. It's funny I've heard this song and seen the video hundreds of times, and he even breaks it down in a verse. However, I still don't know how the dance is done.
____________________________________________________________________

Well I'm sure I left out plenty of dances and songs. But the bottom line is that its a trend in rap music that will soon be played out and we'll be on to something new. I'm not hating on them I just don't like them. They have no substance and are all stupid looking. I'm not a big dancer anyways and even if I was these wouldn't appeal to me one bit. Also, I don't go to clubs that often, but the next time I do I won't be participating when these songs come on.

However, I will proposition any choreographers out there to hit me up. callmecrecks@gmail.com or @crecks on twitter. Let's come up with a stupid dance move and make a song out of it. You do the dance I'll write and produce the song. We can do it, it can't be that hard. Wait! I already got one! The "Hula Hoop." I can hear the hook for the song now. "Do the hula hoop, do the hula hoop, work them hips 'round like you would a hula hoop. Girl do the hula hoop, do the hula hoop, you can do it too, girl, don't think you too cute!!" The dance moves can mimic something like you would do while playing with a hula hoop. LoL. I'm clowing but I swear I'll write this shit. It would be a ghost written song however for MC Sambo or whoever I could find to be the artist. But I would gladly take the royalty checks for writing it. Matter of fact I'm going to copyright the lyrics today for all you biters out there. LoL. That's it ya'll sorry it was so long.


--C-Recks--

No Butts About It

I was listening to the radio yesterday and they happen to play a throw back song. Now I'm an avid Hip Hop listener. But some of this new stuff today I can't even categorize as Hip Hop (Soulja Boy we still got unfinished business). So when I hear a classic song it just takes me back to an era when the music was pure. Well on this particular day I heard the beat come on I thought oh hell no it can't be!! Then I heard the talking at the beginning of the intro and I simply had to laugh as I could envision the video in my head. And as soon as it finished I heard the rapper begin the verse with four words which right away told what the rest of the rest of the song would be talking about. Anyone from my era remembers these four famous words...

"I Like Big Butts..."

I'm sure that's all I had to say and most of you were probably able to fill in the rest of the lyrics probably up until the hook. LoL. But in 1992 when Sir-Mix-A-Lot released "Baby Got Back" he probably never imagined the impact this song would have. I'm sure long before 1992 men (especially black men) had been admiring women's rear ends. But he brought to light something that was obviously on a lot of men's minds but they weren't bold enough to say. Let alone bold enough to write a whole song about it.

Well I was only 12 back in 1992. And as appealing as the video (which was banned by MTV for a short time) for "Baby Got Back" was I had really just gotten into the full mode of liking and pursuing girls. My brother and I used to joke about certain girls belonging to what we considered the BBC (Big Booty Club), but unlike some 12-14 year old girls now a days none of the girls at our school really had this "round thing" that Mix-A-Lot mentioned. Well it wasn't until I moved back to Chicago in 1994 and started High School that what Mix-A-Lot spoke of came more into focus. It was during that High School career that I learned a new term to describe a woman's physique. This term was "Thick." Perhaps it was new to me because I had never heard the term while in California.

The problem I had with the term "Thick" back then, which has gotten worse now is that there was no real criteria for someone to be classified or classify themselves as thick. My assumption of what thick meant was that you maybe had a little extra weight in the areas of the thighs, and booty. For those of us men that don't always go for the skinny model type females this is very appealing. Giving us something extra to... well you get the point. Just think of the term "more cushion for the pushin." However, I think the term thick somehow began getting misused. No offense to anyone, but some women began referring to themselves as "Thick" but were in fact a little or sometimes even a lot more than thick. But regardless, the fact is that thin is definitely no longer in. I can't count how many times I've heard or seen females that are slim or thin saying they're trying to get thick. Or they want a booty. I remember when my cousin moved from Chicago down to Atlanta. She was as slim as can be hence why we put the [Lil'] in front of her name. Well within a couple of years she was no longer the skinny young girl we all knew she had indeed gotten a bit thick. Could be that down south food I'm not sure but if you go down south you will definitely see ass for days and cheeks for weeks. LoL.

Now typically the thickness and the big "sometimes ghetto" booties are seen on black women. That was until a new phenomenon (as rapper Ludacris referred to it) occurred. And some how White girls even started getting these booties. Black men had no clue what was occurring was it something in the water or what? I remember when most white women suffered from the Nassatall (No Ass At All) disease. But my brother and I think that we figured out what it is though. Yep you can find one in just about every suburb and city. It's tasty goodness is just as addictive as crack. Yes the beloved Starbucks is our theory as to why white girls are getting thicker. Think about it, they are the main consumers of Starbucks, they probably drink it at least daily or possibly more. They hang out at the stores with their laptops sipping they're Caramel Macchiato Grande size in a Venti Cup with extra whip cream (yeah that's the only thing I've drank from there before and it's damn good I must admit). But usually white guys aren't attracted to big butts. So who are the white girls trying to attract? Hmmm? You be the judge: conspiracy theory or true fact? Check out ya girl Kim Kardashian. LoL.

(Starbucks in hand)

(With her Black man [Reggie Bush])

Well my brother recently told me that a white girl asked him this question? "Why do black guys like Big Butts?" This prompted a short discussion between him and I about this topic. We both agreed that in our opinion although big butts are great, they're not the end all to be all. We much prefer that a female's body simply be well proportioned. Basically if you're a slimmer female and really have no booty there is nothing wrong with that as your booty matches your body type. But to be extra slim but then have a humongous booty is just a little disproportionate. The opposite also holds true. Now I know E-40 mentioned the booty big enough to sit a cup on in the Lil' Jon song "Snap Yo Fingaz;" however, I can hold my own cup thank you very much. LoL.

So really, what is the draw?

We all know that men are visual creatures where as women are more turned on in the mental. So any man (black man especially)would be lying if he didn't admit that a big butt is nice to look at. Also, he'd be lying if he says he doesn't check out women's butts. In fact it's probably the opposite he probably doesn't miss an opportunity to get a glimpse as a female walks past. Just waiting for that opportunity to do like Craig and Smokey looking at Mrs. Parker in Friday "Daaaaamn!" LoL. The sad thing is that some men feel that even if the woman's face and or appearance aren't too appealing that as long as they are thick and or have a big butt that it can make up for the fact that they aren't attractive in the face. Now I may offend some men and possibly have a lynch mob waiting on my after I say this next statement, but I have to be honest. Although they have some of the biggest butts in in the business, Buffy the Body and Deelishis (Flavor of Love) both fit into this category. They are not the best of lookers. So I'm sorry me personally, I'll take a pretty face and little to no booty any day over an ugly or unattractive face and a huge butt. If I can barely stand to look you in your face what's the point? Am I just going to just talk to exclusively to your booty? Can I have an intelligent conversation with your booty? Do we sleep head to foot and I get to wake up looking at your booty instead of your face? When we get married will the minister say I now pronounce you man and booty, then I unveil the booty revealing a nice lil' thong? I know I'm getting a little extreme but you basically get the gist of what I'm saying.

(Buffy the Body)

(Deelishis)

Well the bottom line is that all women are beautiful in their own regards. But there is no real explanation or reason as to why men [especially black men] like big butts. You can try to be theoretical and go back to ancient African civilizations and say it has something to do with a woman's child bearing ability. Or you can simply say men are horny freaks and their admiration of big butts is simply proof of that. Either way neither explanation will change the fact that at the end of the day if a woman walks past with a big butt that a man will break his neck to get just the slightest glimpse of what kind of junk she has in her trunk. Also, it won't stop him from picking up the latest issue of King Magazine. And if you have never seen an issue, lets just say men aren't buying them to read the articles. Although I'm sure there is pure journalism excellence inside each issue.

--C-Recks--

Light, Camera, Action!

Since George Orwell wrote the book 1984, the term "Big Brother is watching" has been commonplace in the American lexicon. It was normally spoken as a warning of the days to come. Well people, those days are here with a vengeance. I have been all across this nation. Almost all major cities, all except for Miami. (I've only gotten as close as Ft. Lauderdale). And now in many of them they have red light cameras. In my current city of residence Phoenix, Arizona, they also have cameras to catch you speeding. All of this has made for a formidable journey on our roads. For those of you who are blessed to live in a city without any of these cameras, let me be the one to prepare you for what's probably coming to an intersection, or roadway near you.

It all began sometime back in the 90's. (Sounds like such a long time ago). I lived in Los Angeles back in 1996 and 97. At the corner of Desoto Avenue and Roscoe Boulevard there was this contraption that sat right next to the bus stop. I had absolutely no clue what the hell this thing was. I consider myself a pretty intelligent person, so I came up with what I thought to be a reasonable explanation for what I saw. "This is obviously a means by which the bus can change the light so that it can breeze through intersections". It was a plausable explanation, I had just moved back to L.A. from Chicago, and the newest rave in the suburbs of Chicago was that all emergency vehicles could change the light to green so as to minimize the possibility of a collision as they came through the intersection. Brilliant. Well in the city that invented, patented, and perfected the art of the traffic jam, I thought it was great that L.A. had found a way to at least keep public transportation moving. Plus given that back then I actually rode the bus at times, that would only mean that my time spent on the bus would be lessened.

But as I traveled throghout the city, I began to see this contraption more and more. And not always next to bus stops. And then the moment of despair, I saw a sign that indicated that the intersection was photo enforced for red light violations. And the fine was $280. Damn! They weren't playing at all. So now the cops don't have to actually be there to catch you making a quick dash through a yellow that quickly turned red on you, they have a camera that catches your moment of weakness. And the penalty was ungodly in my opinion. I had no idea that this was just a first in what the police would use in combat against those who broke even the slightest of laws.

In late 96 and early 97, I spent some time in Phoenix, Arizona. The city of Tempe, a suburb most known for being the home of Arizona State University, devised a program to combat speeders. The police department took an innocuous white minivan, and parked it on the side of the road. unbeknownst to the passing motorists, this van was equipped with a radar gun, and a camera to snap pictures of both the driver and license plate of any vehicle caught speeding. I heard about this during a local news program, and almost choked. This was patently unfair. What happened to having to look out for motorcycle cops wedged in between two parked cars? Or a squad car conveniently positioned behind a high bush? This pushed entrapment to the extreme in my opinion.

Fast forward, oh maybe 7 years. I began to come out to Phoenix on a semi-regular basis. Of course I'd continue to see the vans on the side of the road. Unfortunately, many more cities throughout the Phoenix area had caught on to this new racket. However, there was a new one. On the 101 freeway, the road was now equipped with cameras that would catch you speeding. This was crap. I mean, yeah, I know that speeding is a crime. I know its not something that we should be doing, but we all do it. And for them to post a camera on the freeway was wholly different from them posting it on the streets. I understand that on the streets we're talking about a more confined space that includes other motorists, and pedestrians. But the freeways were off limits in my opinion. If the speed limit is 65, and I don't have somebody in front of me, and I decide to go say 75, what's the big deal. If there's a highway trooper that catches me, so be it. How fair is it though that the camera catches me? How much more danger am I placing myself or other motorists in by going 75? Actually in my many miles of travel, I've actually come to the conclusion that you have greater attention and care at higher speeds than you do at lower speeds. When you're going, say 80 in a 65, you're much more likely to be checking for police, road hazards, and other drivers that may get in your way. If you're only doing 65 in that very same 65 mph zone, a lot of people put the car, and subsequently their brains, on cruise control. I would bet money that there are just as many accidents caused by people going the speed limit as there are by people speeding. I tried to do a little research, but I was unable to find any specific statistics to neither prove or disprove my theory. They must keep that information under wraps. (If John Stossel ever reads this, you are more than welcome to use this as an inspiration for your next issue of "Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity").

On the other hand, there are individuals who push things to the limit, and make it bad for the rest of us. I mean, I'm no stickler when it comes to speeding, but going 114 in a 65 is well over the top. That was the case on January 21, 2008 when rapper DMX was caught speeding in his 1966 Nova by the before mentioned cameras on the 101 freeway in Scottsdale, AZ. DMX, or Earl Simmons as his government name, was arrested for criminal speeding (anything 25 mph or more over the speed limit), public endangerment, reckless driving, and driving on a suspended license. I would love to defend a hip-hop titan, but in this case I can not. This latest run in with the law by DMX was definitely of his own doing. And not that I want them to throw the book at him, but I have to admit that he deserves whatever he gets.

(DMX's photo being taken on the 101 in Scottsdale, AZ).

The last thing I want to discuss in the area of "Big Brother is Watching" are what I will call community policing cameras. These cameras hit the scene in Chicago a couple of years ago. They have blue lights that flash constantly, and can be seen from a mile away. (Probably further than that). I have also seen these cameras in use in Philadelphia. As my brother discussed in an earlier blog, these cameras are used as a deterrant for illegal activity. They have a range of several blocks, but its amazing that it seems like the negative element of the neighborhood doesn't seem to be very far from the cameras. I guess that as long as you're out of the direct view of the camera, there's really no reason to actually cease your potentially illegal activity. These cameras don't trouble me as much as the others. I don't hang out on street corners, and I guess that if they're somewhat of a deterrent, then by all means use them. Those flashing lights can be annoying though. And of course there's a slippery slope effect. I mean, depending on the camera placement, can the police have access to view what may be going on inside a person's home? That I can say I will never be in support of, but for the moment I can give community policing cameras a pass.

As I said before, right now, there's really no way to know where we'll end up when it comes to Big Brother watching us. In London, England, they have 10,000 closed circuit cameras throughout the city. I can't remember the exact statistic, but your picture is taken something like 10-20 times per minute. (Forgive me if you find the exact statistic and I'm slightly off). In the case of the bombings of July 7th, 2005, the cameras helped Scotland Yard discover the identities of the bombers. So there are very good uses of cameras in our society. I just hope that we're not giving up more in privacy than we get in safety.


-DrizaDre-

When Thug's Cry...

Ever listen to a song that almost made you want to cry? Or a song that some how tugged at your emotions enough to actually make you shed a tear? I'm sure every one's answer is yes and can come up with a list of songs to fit this category. But have you ever listened to a Rap Song that caused you to get a bit emotional? Yeah it's going to take you a little longer to think of one that fits that category.

Given that the majority of rap music listeners are male it's probably hard for them to admit that a rap song may have touched their heart even a tad bit. But as an avid listener of hip hop music for over 23 years I racked my brain and was able to come up with my top 10 list of the most emotional Rap Songs. Now being a man I know it's hard to admit but if you can say that none of these songs ever touched your heart at some point in life when you heard them (not every time but at least once at least one of the songs) not even a little then I don't know what to say but you gotta be damn near heartless.

But anyways here we go with the countdown starting from 10 down to 1.

#10 Runaway Love- Ludacris Feat. Mary J. Blige

This is the most recent song on the top 10. However, Ludacris came with it on this song. The song basically tells 3 different stories of young girls and them going through different struggles. One in an abusive home, another becoming a victim of her gang infested environment, and the last dealing with teenage pregnancy. As if the lyrics don't already make you a bit emotional, Mary J. singing the hook only makes it that much more emotional. As you listen to this story you can almost visualize the tragedies these young girls are going through. "Now little Lisa's only 9 years old she's tryin to figure out why the world is so cold why she's all alone and aint never met her family mama's always gone and she never met her daddy." Ludacris also receives even more props given that this type of song was far from what you're used to from Luda. So Take that Bill O'Reilly!

#9 We'll Always Love Big Poppa - The Lox

Mar. 9, 1997. That's a date that most hip hop fans don't easily forget. It's when we lost one of our Hip Hop greats. The Notorious B.I.G. aka Biggie Smalls aka Big Poppa. Given the tragic events that took his life at such a young age it was a shocker too the entire Rap World. However, This song by the Lox was not the only tribute to The Late Great Notorious. In fact Puff Daddy (at the time) now known as P.Diddy or Sean Jean had a song called "I'll be Missing You." But I tend to give a little more credibility to The Lox since it seemed like Diddy sort of used this song as a spring board to his solo career. But that's a totally different blog. Back to the Lox. They basically pay their respects to B.I.G. and give you a little history on BIG's Impact and their dealings with him though it was only for a short amount of time. "It make me look back,to where he took rap Dude brought the East back, y'all better believe that He never had a warning, One More Chance was right before him everybody must answer when God's callin."

R.I.P. Big Poppa, We'll always love you BIG!

#8 Dead Homiez - Ice Cube

Now most remember Ice Cube from his N.W.A. days and as a hard core Gangsta rapper. But even as hard core as Cube was back then he took the time to pen these lyrics to reminisce on lost friends. "He got a lot of flowers and a big wreath What good is that when you're six feet deep? I look at that shit and gotta think to myself And thank God for my health 'Cause nobody really ever know When it's gonna be they family on the front row." There are so many quotables on this song to even list without listing the whole song. But a few that come to mind are: "They say "Be Strong" and you're tryin' But how strong can you be when you see your Pops cryin'?" And "But no, I pay my respects and I'm through (whaddup Cube?) Hug my crew, and maybe shed a tear or two." Now a Gangsta Rapper crying, you can't get too much more emotional than that people.

#7 Brenda's Got a Baby - 2pac

I remember this was probably one of the first 2pac solo songs I ever heard. (Yeah those of you that don't know 2pac used to be in a group called Digital Underground Google it). But when I first heard Brenda's Got a Baby it hit me like damn! I mean the lyrics were so vivid and real you couldn't help but feel Pac. Plus it was so far on the other end of the spectrum from what he did with Digital Underground. On this song it was like you almost knew Brenda. He painted her as someone that could be anyone any of us knew. " I hear Brenda's got a baby, But Brenda's barely got a brain A damn shame The girl can hardly spell her name (That's not our problem, that's up to Brenda's family) Well let me show ya how it affects the whole community." This song was also unique because Pac just flowed continuously about Brenda way past the normal 16 bar verse. The chorus didn't come until the very end of the song. But if the intro wasn't enough to get you thinking by the time Pac hit you with this line later in the song I don't see how it didn't affect you. "He left her and she had the baby solo, she had it on the bathroom floor And didn't know so, she didn't know, what to throw away and what to keep She wrapped the baby up and threw him in the trash heep." And the video was even more vivid as we actually saw Brenda throwing her baby away. I'm sure once Pac saw the impact that songs like this had on people he began to throw at least one into each of his albums. (2 of which are on this list so keep reading). Unfortunately, there was no happy ending for Brenda as Pac concluded "Prostitute, found slain, and Brenda's her name, she's got a baby."

#6 Tha Cross Roads - Bone Thugs in Harmony

I remember when Bone's first album "Creepin On Ah Come Up" dropped it sparked a buzz for the anticipation of their second album "E. 1999 Eternal." I remember the original version of Cross Roads was just okay nothing major or to really keep your attention. But when Easy Mo B dropped this remix version to the song (which later became the video version) it blew Bone up to a level not even Eazy-E probably ever expected they'd reach. Bone had everyone singing/rapping the lyrics to the chorus "See you at the crossroads, crossroads, crossroads So you won't be lonely, And I'm gonna miss everybody, I'm gonna miss everybody." Not to mention this was like the groups' dedication to Eazy-E their mentor and Label Owner, that had passed away from Aids just a few years prior. But I know for fact this was a song that had the hardest Thugs singing "I miss my uncle Charles."

(OK Half We're Way there ya'll...)

#5 I Miss You - DMX Feat. Faith Evans

The diary of DMX Which aired on MTV, I recall DMX going to perform this song and literally breaking down in tears on stage trying to get through the lyrics. At that point I had a much higher respect for this song and it's lyrics. In the song DMX is talking about his Grandmother which raised him. "Gran'ma, I really miss you and it ain't been the same I drop a tear when I hear ur name." I'm sure a lot of us can relate to being raised up by our grandmothers. So on this emotional tribute X even chooses to air out some of the family's dirty laundry. "But what I'm about to say a couple of family members gone hate me but I'm gonna let you know whut's been goin on lately you know since you left a lot of things bout your kids done changed." Along with assistance from Faith Evans on the chorus this is another that will definitely touch your heart.

#4 Dear Mama - 2pac

Now if this one hasn't gotten you at some point I'm speechless. Tupac Shakur Dear Mama had to have touched home with any and everybody and I'm sure still does. This came from Pac's 3rd album "Me Against the World." He was still keeping with putting a song with this theme on each of his albums so this was was no different. Pac essentially describes his relationship with his moms which wasn't always peaches and cream. But he's describing it in a way to where he's basically reconciling it through his lyrics. "I reminisce on the stress I caused, it was hell Huggin on my mama from a jail cell." Ironically during the time this song was release Pac was actually in jail serving a bid for an attempted rape charge. Not saying he was guilty or innocent because I don't know. But a song like this was perfect to drop and smooth over his image. I recall the video which he wasn't even able to be in but his moms was and she made the video come to life even more. If you recall the Hook used an interpolation of the "Sweet Sadie" by the Spinners which was already an emotional song itself back in the day. But with all these factors put together it made this song even more emotional. And with lyrics like "even as a crack fiend mama you always was a black queen mama," I'm sure we'll be hearing this song played for years to come and not just on Mother's Day.

Shout out to my moms while we're on the subject.

#3 All that I got is you - Ghostface Feat. Mary J. Blige

Ghostface was always a story teller. I would actually dare to put ghost up there with Slick Rick when it comes to story telling. When I first heard this song I was able to instantly invision the struggles he and his family went through growing up. And it had me thanking God my struggles weren't this bad. "Family aint family no more, we used to play ball after school eat grits cause we were poor grab the pliers for the channel fix the hanger on the tv rockin each others pants to school wasn't easy..." and "15 of us in a 3 bedroom apartment roaches everywhere cousins and aunts was there, for in the bed, 2 at the foot, 2 at the head, I didn't like to sleep with jon-jon he peed the bed," and "Mommy where's the toilet paper use the newspaper." Again Mary J lends her soulful vocals over the Jackson 5 sampled beat. And ghost leaves us with with a deep question to comptemplate "I ask myself was I meant to be here...why?"

#2 Keep Ya Head up - 2pac

As previously mentioned in writing about Brenda's Got a Baby (#7 on the list) and Dear Mama (#4 on the list), 2pac definitely knew songs that packed an emotional punch went over well with his fans. This song was 1 of 2 memorable songs on 2pac's "Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z." album (I Get Around being the other). But Pac definitely made it known at the beginning of the song that who his target market was. "I give a shout out to my sistas on welfare 2pac cares if don't nobody else care." Pac goes on to state "you it makes me unhappy (what's that?) when brothers make babies and leave a young mother to be a pappy, And since we all came from a woman got our name from a woman and our game from a woman. I wonder why we take from our women, why we rape our women do we hate our women?" Ironically, Pac would later be sentenced to jail for attempted rape charges (As mentioned in song #4). The song used a familiar chorus from The Five Stair Step's "Oooh Child." This only added to the emotional effectiveness of the song. But with this song Pac was spoke the truth he even got political with lines like "You know it's funny when it rains it pours they got money for war but can't feed the poor Say there's no hope for the youth but the truth is it aint no hope for the future." On a side note the war he spoke of was the first coming of George Bush not the present day version. But I'm sure if Pac was still around he'd have much to say about George Bush #2 also. All in all Keep Ya Head Up remains an anthem of motivation that continues to uplift long after Pac has passed as I'm sure Pac originally intended.

Okay Finally we're Down to the #1 song the moment you've been waiting for
(Drum Roll Sounds...)

#1 Retrospect for Life - Common Feat. Lauren Hill

When I first heard this song I remember just thinking man this is a deep song. But it wasn't til I was older and actually had a child that the impact of such a song really hit me. More recently, I recall the possibility of someone close to me being pregnant. Of course with all the options including abortion being discussed this song and the lyrics immediately entered my head. "Knowing you're the best part of life do I have the right to take yours cause I created you irresponsibly subconsciously knowing the act I was a part of the start of something I'm not ready to bring into this world." Common takes on a subject never before mentioned in the history of rap music. He takes you through his mind state while wrestling with the decision. In verse one he's actually talking to the child that never came to be. "I look at your mother's stomach wondering if you're a boy or a girl, turnin this woman's womb into a tomb." He even breaks down to apologizing to the child stating, "instead I lead you to death, I'm sorry for taking your first breath first step and first cry." He then attempts to explain his actions but doesn't even attempt to make excuses by immediately taking full responsibility. "But I wasn't prepared mentally or financially having a child shouldn't have to bring out the man in me plus I wanted you to be raised within a family." In verse 2 common is speaking to the woman about the situation. "Seeing you as a present and a gift in itself you had our child in you I'll probably never feel what you felt but you dealt with it like the strong black woman you are through our trials and tribulations child's elimination." And in today's times of baby mamas being acceptable Comm begs to differ stating "we talkin spending the rest of our lives it's too many black women that can say they mothers but can't say that they wives. I wouldn't choose any other to mother my understanding but I want our parenthood to come from planning." The completion of the full emotion of the song was Lauren Hill singing the chorus. I remember reading that she and Comm had both recently had children when they collaborated on this song, making it even more fitting. Honestly, I was back and forth on if this song would be #1 or #2 even up until writing this. But after listening to the song again and reading the lyrics it's no doubt that Common has the #1 emotional rap song. Whether you've had a child before, had to face the difficult decision of abortion or just listen to the song overall you'll feel have to agree that this is a song that will definitely get directly to your emotions.

Well there you have it my Top 10 emotional Rap songs. Just as an observation it seems the formula for these type songs is this. Take a touching topic (i.e. moms, lost loved ones) write some deep lyrics and top it off with a chorus sung by an R&B singer = An Emotional hit. However, Only few have been able to pull it off and they definitely deserve credit for doing so. Lastly are a few honorable mentions are below.

Be A Father to Your Child - Ed OG and the Bulldogs

The Message - Dr. Dre Feat. Mary J. Blige

We Survive - Talib Kweli

C-Recks