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--

You Can't Handle the Spoof!

Ever since back in the mid and late 80's when Weird Al Yankovic was doing spoofs of Michael Jackson songs I've been been a fan of the spoof. I guess I feel as even though their only copying what someone else has done they're still being creative. To take what someone else has already written and then write your own version and flip it into something comical to me takes some talent.

Well I recently came across a new spoof of Jay-Z's "Run this Town" which I found was absolutely hilarious. Affion Crockett is a damn fool. So that then prompted me to go ahead and do a good ol' youtube search and see what other spoof videos are out there. Unfortunately, I didn't find as many as I hoped to. So this went from a top 10 blog to just 9 of the ones I found and my usual commentary. But it's Monday so I figure the least I can do today is give everyone a laugh. So enjoy!



"Run This Town"

As I stated Affion is a Damn Fool. The Chris Brown impression is beyond funny. And I swear if he don't look just like Kanye in this video. He got him down to a T.



"Duffle Bag Boy"

I actually found this a while ago and I cracked up as soon as I saw it. I wanted to use it for another blog but I never got around to it. But these guys were O.C. for doing this spoof.



"Chopped & Screwed"

I had to do a double take on this one because I thought it was actually T-Pain for a second.


"Best I Ever Had"

Affion's version of the Best I ever had is too much for me. LoL. And his portrayals of Drake and Weezy are too damn funny.

"Best I Ever Had"

Here's another version of Best I ever had. I had to put this one too, even though I don't think this guy raps as good as Affion he looks just like Drake and his hand movements match Drakes to a T. LoL.


"Mr. Carter"

Another Affion Classic. Here he does his Weezy and Jay-Z impression. Wayne on Jay's Lap is hilarious.


"Black Republicans"

Affion Crockett - Lil Wayne and Juelz Santana Spoof
Free Music Videos at http://www.blastro.com/

LMAO @ this song/video. I'm a Juelz Fan but I swear if I wasn't watching this video and just heard the song I would think this was just a wack Juelz verse. I swear the way he's rapping is identical to Juelz especially when he repeats 3xs in a row. LoL.



"Bad"

Weird Al Yankovic - Fat (Official Music Video) - The best free videos are right here
Here's one of the Classic Weird Al, Michael Jackson Spoofs I was referring to in the beginning.



"Beat It"

Weird Al Yankovic lyrics

Weird Al Yankovic-Eat It Video - Weird Al Yankovic Music Videos

Here's another Weird Al cover of a Michael Jackson classic.

If anyone has any other good spoofs please send them to me I love to laugh.

--C-Recks--

Eight is Enough!

I want to start out by saying that this is not an indictment against those who are in support of gay-marriage. I have my own personal feelings about it, but due to the sensitive nature of the issue, I choose not to address those feelings at this time. Instead I'd like to talk about the reaction to California's passage of Proposition 8.

I'll be perfectly honest, going into Tuesday's election, I was mentally prepared that if Barack Obama lost the election, there may be some civil unrest in the streets. Protest for sure, slight rioting potentially. Thankfully, that scenario was unrealized. However when I turned on the television to watch the 10 o'clock news, reports rolled in from West Hollywood about protests relating to the, then, possible passage of Prop. 8. Instinctually, I knew that this couldn't be good. I mean, every city has their gay section of town: Chicago has Boystown, San Francisco has, well, San Francisco, and Los Angeles has West Hollywood. So there was no shortage of people in this section of town to draw out for the protest.

Let me give you a little background information on Proposition 8. California voted in 2000 to pass Proposition 22, defining marriage as between a man and a woman. In the summer of 2008, the California courts declared that Proposition unconstitutional, clearing the way for 18,000 same sex couples to get married. Another Proposition was put on the November ballot, Proposition 8, which made an ammendment to the California constitution making it to where only marriages between one man and one woman would be recognized by the state.

The protest of election night didn't bother me at all. I mean, I understood. Here were people who poured their hearts and efforts into defeating a Proposition that they felt was a threat to their way of life. The protest was relatively peaceful, only 7 people arrested, so again it didn't bother me at all. The next morning as I awoke to read news about Obama's landslide victory, I stumbled across an article updating Proposition 8. At that point, it was still too close to call. However, with the NO on Prop. 8 side losing, Gay Rights groups were already preparing to challenge in the courts. I can't remember the exact quote, but the person they interviewed said something to this effect: "The people didn't have the legal right to pass the ban without the approval of the California legislature". My exact words were "What the Hell"? I mean, that makes absolutely no sense at all. How come the people don't have the legal right? A proposition was put forth on the ballot. The people came out in droves and voted to pass Prop 8. Which aspect of this process was illegal in this man's mind? The fact that it didn't have the backing of the California legislature was completely irrelevant. As a matter of fact, that proves that Politics is completely out of wack. The people who we vote and our representatives are supposed to do our will, not have their own personal agendas. So in this case, the people spoke for themselves instead of using a middle man/woman.

Since then, there have been many more protests across California. At some of these rallies, there have been signs and chants. One sign that I saw read "Blacks, Hispanics, if someone violates your civil rights, we don't want to hear it". This sign too made me say "What the Hell"? I understand that Gays are upset that 7 out of 10 blacks voted in favor of Prop. 8., and along with Hispanics, were instrumental in the passage of Prop. 8. But this sign exposed another problem that I have with the Gay Rights agenda. Too often, I've heard individuals compare the plight of Gays to that of Blacks. This in my opinion is Bullshit! The theory of are people born gay or make a choice has not been settled. (No matter what some people would have you to believe). I was absolutely born black. There was no choice made on my part. The science has definitely been settled on that on. Also, other than Michael Jackson, I can't think of too many people who were black, and are now something else. On the other hand, there are plenty of people who once lived a homosexual lifestyle, and now no longer do. So to make a correlation between the two is absolutely insulting to me and my ancestors.

I also heard a gentleman say that before, blacks and whites were banned from marrying. While I admit that this is the closest thing to a reasoned arguement that I have heard, I again have to respectfully disagree with them. Indeed, interracial marriage was illegal at one time. However, when those laws were overturned, the actual definition of marriage remained the same. A black man could marry a white woman, and a white man could marry a black woman. The essential components of what would constitute a marriage remained the same. So just as their earlier arguement didn't hold water, neither does this one.


The last thing that bothers me is how many of these protests are aimed at churches. The Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) were intricately involved in the passage of Prop. 8. The members of the church gave money and time to the cause. They even coordinated with members in Black churches to pass Prop. 8. For that, they have been targeted by Gay Rights groups. To this issue, I say, "What would you expect for churches to do"? I mean, churches follow their respective bibles. I'm no biblical scholar, but the bible is the final word on particular issues for some people. Why would you expect the church to stand for something that they don't believe in? And you can't take that personally. I mean, I lean more Libertarian in my political beliefs. I'm not exactly the staunchest supporter of drug laws we have on the books. If Marijuana legalization was on the ballot, I would probably vote in favor of that proposition. Would I expect the church to come out in favor of it, of course not. I'm realistic. The church is going to follow what it says within it bible, and I don't believe Jesus is in favor of me grabbing a sack of Northern Lights to smoke on the weekends. Yes, if smoking weed is my thing, that's what I'm gonna do. But I would never expect that the church should necessarily sanction my behavior.

In an act that was truly despicable, an extreme Gay Rights group called Bash Back protested a church in Lansing, Michigan. They picketed outside the church chanting slogans such as "Jesus was a Homo". A few of their members blended in with regular churchgoers. During the services, those Bash Back members pulled a fire alarm, and stormed the church stage confronting members of the church and its leadership. Some members put up a banner that read "ITS OK TO BE GAY! BASH BACK!". I hope that, no matter what side of the argument you fall on, this kind of action offends. First off, Jesus was no homo. That's just ridiculous. (And blasphemous might add). Second, when you go into a person's house of worship, you treat it with the utmost respect. Whatever you feel should stay outside those church doors. If you disagree with them, don't bring that into the church. To me, this kind of protest is the most extreme.

I don't write this to "Bash" homosexuals. Honestly, I have members of my family who are gay. I Love them dearly. I even understand why those in the homosexual community want the right to marry. That's not my beef. My beef is that despite their desire for "rights", they still have to go about this in a responsible manner. Marching and protesting is cool. I just wish that some of the rhetoric that is used is less offensive the the members of my community. Just because people are not in favor of gay marriage doesn't mean that those very same individuals hate gays. You can support traditional marriage, and still want gays to be treated fairly. I just hope that we eventually can have an honest, and well reasoned debate on the issue. Everyone's point of view is valid on this issue.


-DrizaDre-

I hope that those who chose to read this were not offended. This was not written as an attack, but rather to address an issue from a mature and rational position.