WORD WACKA?!!!!!!

PREFACE:

Last week, a video parody called "Baracka Flacka Flames - Head of State" released, spoofing the song "Hard in the Paint" and I think it's hilarious and comedic genius. I've listened to it probably 5 times this morning alone and will probably incorporate quotes from it into my dialog for days and weeks to come. It's gone viral so of course, the NY Times jumped up on it. Out of the 2 page article, the spark that rushed me to the keyboard was the artists Wacka Flacka Flame reaction. Excuse the typos and grammatical errors bc as you will shortly realize, I was a tad livid after reading his reactions to the spoof and forced to carve time out of an extremely hectic day to share my $0.02 on the matter.

Sidenote: For those that don't know me, I hate the n-word more than any word in any language and has absolutely no place or business in casual conversation. Words do not belong to any exclusive group, so if its not acceptable for 1, its not acceptable for all. However, I rarely use it from time to time for strategic exclamatory purposes to make a point.

Sidernote: Yes, i hate that word more than the word "hate"........and yes.......... more than wet socks.

MY RESPONSE:

Wacka can eat a can of rabbit dicks! he got some damn nerve calling someone "ignorant" and then his mother/manager has the audacity to say:
"THAT'S NOT A POSITIVE IMAGE FOR US, PERIOD, AS AFRICAN-AMERICANS, WHERE WE CAME FROM, WHERE WE'RE GOING TODAY."

WORD NIGGAAAA!!!????

Isn't your son the same dude who got a song talking about "drug dealer music?!!" I couldnt believe me h'eyes reading those quotes. Dude's on twitter talking about, "let other ppl see how ignorant other ppl can be" SERIOUSLY SUN??!! Wacka is the quintessential prototype of positive black imagery?!?!

Man, that shit jus pissed me off. spoofing the president of the united states is as old as the presidency itself. Saturday night live built its career and that of many comedians off of presidential parodies, but i think ppl get too sensitive bc obama's black. Dan Akyroyd - Nixon. Dana Carvey - Bush Sr. Will Ferrell's one man show on George W. is fricken classic and made me respect him as a comedic, artistic genius. See it if you havent already. Hell, court jesters and marionettes in medieval times made fun of the kings and royal families.

I’ll be the first to admit it [takes off “no-snitching” t-shirt] as black ppl, we can be a tad sensitive, and with good reason. But this is not WWII, this is modern warfare. Trench warfare is over, we gotta be more tactical and evasive about the battles we choose as to not dilute the argument. The biggest question online is, “is this a bad representation of Barack and our culture?” I’ll answer that for you……..NO N-WORD [twice in 1 blog is too much]! We made fun of G.W. for 8 consecutive years and counting, did that stop him from doing all the bs that he did? Yeah he screwed most of us over, but from an insiders perspective, this man accomplished soooooooooooooooooooo many things (for him and his ppls - legally, ethical or not) regardless of what we said and how we felt about him.

PERHAPS this is yet another a great opportunity for our community on a whole to take some reflection on the music we listen, respond to and download. How could you possibly get upset for someone doing exactly what you do.....the way you do it? You ever take a picture of someone and see nothing wrong with it, but they hate it and want you to delete it? Its okay for you, but not the president (who clearly isn't Barack), is that the message? So my nephews can watch you do and say ignorant shit, but not a spoofed president (who's clearly doing it in jest)?

One of the classic artist spoofs of all time was the South Park parody of Kanye West. If you haven’t seen it, look up the "Fish Sticks" episode on comedy centrals website - satiric it is comedic, GENIUS!! So much so, that Kanye himself, posted a blog the very next morning applauding the writers and admitting that he needs to check himself. Perhaps this is an opportunity for Wacka (and a lot of other artists) to also do some serious self reflection on what image they are portraying.

"I RUN DA MILITARY...........IF YOU WANT DAT BEEF!

I TYPE A LONG ASS BLOG AND PUT YOUR ASS TO SLEEP!"

LMAO LOLOLOLO!!!! Top 3 best Barack spoofs to date. Shout outs to AlphaCat

GREAT DANCEHALL MIX via INNERCITY MOVEMENTS

Speaking good dance hall music in Favorite Song in The Word.....Right Now: Busy Signal - One More Night.......

Check out this super sweet mix by my ppl at InnerCity Movements, based in NYC

Dancehall for Dummies Volume 1!

Very fun blog I follow to provide the latest and hottest, a good laugh, some good music and insightful reads.

Peace.

Favorite Song in The Word.....Right Now: Busy Signal - One More Night

I'm feeling this song for sooooooo many reasons. One of which, this is one of the first songs I heard from Busy Signal that I can actually play out loud around parents and children. If the name sounds familiar, its because he is in fact the same Busy Signal from previous favorite song in the world, Easy Access, which is exactly about what it sounds like as he proceeds to herald about panty-less women. AWESOME AWESOMENESS!!

I think there's been a shift in consciousness on a whole in the dancehall music community. I've been hearing a lot less vulgarity and daggering music in the mixtapes I've been listening to over the last few months.



The video is pretty sweet too. As a package deal, they throw in an equally smooth chune, "Night Shift"

Favorite Song In The World....Right Now : Zan - Backbone

I have no idea why this wasn't or hasn't become a big jam. I love this chune! I found this by accident. I have a blackhole of soca songs and I tend to play my music on shuffle. This came up the other day as I was speeding along Long Island [SHHHHHHHHHH!!] and I jammed to it from West Hempstead to Brooklyn.

Jam with me :)

Favorite Song in the World....Right Now - Slow Motion: Vybez

I been looking for the name for this backside song for a minute, but Vybez Kartel makes a new song every three days. I just remembered the melody, not any of the actual words. Trying to find a dancehall song from June 09, 9 months old, is like trying to find a book in the library using the card catolog........and you don't know the name of the book.

Sidenote: I don't mean in any way shape or form that this is a song about "booty." When I exclaim "backside" I'm not talking about derriere here. It's a West Indian epithet, for "blasted" "damn" or curse replacement. I confused the petuitaries out of someone the other day with his utility.

Sidernote: Blognote is being a backside now and not allowing me to edit my usual sidenote format. www.GRRRRR.com!

Doublesidednote: A: I’m mad at anyone who actually clicks on that url. It’s my personality; I make things up and take no responsibility for whatever you may find there. B: Don’t get confused, stay with me here. Yes I used backside (as in the derriere) as a noun. Before it was an adjective. Different context here. Check the context!

WARNING!! Stay away from me when I’m really feeling a song. I have no problem repeating the song all day everyday….for days on end. And I will embed it in your head as well.

Favorite Song in the World......for right now: Hold Yuh - Gyptian

shhhhhhhhh!! QUIET! not a word.

Favorite song in the world right now: Careful - Lil Bitts/ Satellite - DMB

At any given time I always have a hyper hype-up song and a slow smooth song that I consider my favorite songs in the world at that particular given time. It just so happens, that this week both of them happen to be both Soca, so in Socanese, that translates into "Road March Tune" and "Groovy Tune" (sometimes pronounced "chune." "CH" enunciation is also acceptable. I have a lot of very well educated friends, can't say "Tuesday" to save their infants life, its a cultural thing).

Hype up song - "Palance" by JW and Blaze
Every year there's a debate which song is going to win Soca Monarch or the Roach March for Carnival. This year, unquestionably, one song irrefutably mashed every Fete and the two days on the road in Trinidad Carnival. Palance in it of itself, needs its own blog. Seriously and truly (which essentially mean the same thing, but we like coupling them for literary theatrical purposes.......and yes we refer to ourselves in the pluralar from time to time - straight english language masacration.....and NO spellcheck! I wont capitalize "english" HMPH!....I digress) there is no video on youtube, google, msn or any other tube for that matter that will do justice to true Palancation. Much like The Matrix......"you must see it for yourself." The video comes about as close as you can get in 2 dimension, but MARK MY WORDS!!! YOU HAVE TO GO TO A SOCA FETE BEFORE 2O1O ENDS!! Bug you're west indian friends and tell em "I wanna go to a soca fete [pronounced fet]" they'll know what you're talking about. I wouldn't bother my Jamaican friends if I were you. There are very few that can tolerate soca for more than 15 minutes, if they do not absolutely abhor the music. You can try, you just may get a tainted view. So far, everyone I've converted to Soca, sans most Jamaicans, loves it.
I know a lot of ppl who blast "Eye of the Tiger" before work, meetings, presentations or the gym get them hyped and in the zone. I could easily press 300 lbs with this song in my ears.

I'll return to this video another post so we can discuss some of the blatant tomfoolery going on in this video.



Groovy "Chune" - "Careful "by Little Bitts

This song didn't really grab me in a fete or anything like that. It was more so one of those songs that sneak up on you during down time, either playing in a car or just on a cd while I'm at home blazaying or plotting world domination and various nefarious activities of the such. I literally woke up this morning with the single-minded intention of finding this song on one of my cd's and finding out who it was.



Official is cool, but I'm really feeling this unplugged version. She took it back to youtube webcam videos in messy bedrooms [sorry, but thats one of my pet peeves - if your going to do the whole set up of camera and computer, A:take the time to clean your room or B: throw the mess BEHIND the camera. My ex reminded me yesterday that I'm critical of details, yet within 2 minutes of seeing me for the first time in 2 yrs says "your shoe is scuffed" on the bottom front tip.........arse!].I love Little Bitts now. Her voice is so intoxicating to my ears. Nothing compares to raw vocals.

Sidenote: I had to really think long n hard to shape that last sentence bc I know the perverse would have had a field day.

Sidernote: I notice the sidenotes are starting to evolve into "insidenotes" as not to interrupt the thought or paragraph. I'mma have to start a "Save the Sidenote" foundation. Charitable contributions or in-kind donations are appreciated :)

Sidestenote: Honorable mention goes out to last weeks favorite song in the world right now, but I didnt post:

SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT..............CORRECTLY!!.....

Previously on "My $0.02"...........SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT!

Then...............SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT...............again.....

Sidenote: And you know the worse part about those summmmbitch kids? The mother didn't even move the car. I can understand you digging your car out bc you have to move it like most ppl did, but they just dug out the car, threw all types of snow on my sidewalk and driveway. They could have EASILY pushed it off of the car onto the streets. Ok, I've vented I'm over it.

I reread a couple of my blogs and the "shovel it" video that I posted doesn't sit well with me, so I could only imagine how it looks to an outsider who's not familiar with dancehall reggae dances. First of all, I must point out that he burns himself out pretty early with all that tertiary movement, rather, dances early on. By the time he gets to the "shovel it" he's visibly fatigued and his form and energy is a bit lacking.



In a quest to find the dance in true, proper form and energy, I checked on one of my favorite Dancehall Dance crews AMBUSH, and sure enough, Dweeble did not let me down. To ensure his lines were clean (lines are important to any dancer) he just explodes with the dance early before going off into his freestyle. Even throws a little crumping in there as an added bonus. Lets take a trip back to 2007:



And look at lil mamma over here getting in on some of dis hot fiyah! That's true dancery there, when everyone does the same dance, but puts their own (ok, maybe different but not their own) spin on it.



Ok..........I feel much better. Now I can lay my head down. I tried to get a clip from the dance crew RAVERS CLAVERS who invented di dance but its so old most clips are gone, and the others are take too long before they get into it. What do you guys think? Difference? Noticeable are do all the dances just look like boiling hot derriere on a Wednesday?

I need to get back into dancing.
"di ppl dem seh looooooove danciiiiing! unu fi looooooove danciiiiiiiiiiiiiing!!"

SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT! SHOVEL IT!

This is what happens when a fitness junky, dancer with slight OCD and high energy shovels...............


Most ppl just shovel a walkway. The problem with that is for the next week or so, everytime it melts you have black ice to worry about, which is the real threat....... Sidenote: Ice is clearly clear, so why bc of its dangerous element, it has to be called BLACK ice?!! I always say, "dont do something half ass, get the whole ass - PAUSE."Notice a distinct contrast btwn my sidewalk, driveway and the neighbor's. I'm still mad I missed a few spots. Couple things the photo doesn't tell you:
This photo was taken an hour after I stopped shoveling.
It was still snowing.
I would like to thank dancehall reggae artist/dancer Ding Dong and the Ravers Clavers for this song. I have a shoveling playlists.......it consists of one song that gets looped over and over until I'm done. In case you're dying to learn the "shovel it" dance, here ya go. No that's not me, and no I don't know the guy, but the dance is about 3 yrs old so its kinda hard to find a decent clip of it. Try it next time you're clearing out your sidewalk and driveway....at the exact pace and tempo. Great overall body workout. Rather than freezing, I was breaking a good sweat. Don't curse the snow.....seize the workout opportunity!!

p.s..........I like to have fun...HEEHEE!!

WHY 2009 made me a kid again....[oops]

So I started this topic and amidst my multitasking, re-prioritizing and self-diagnosed A.D.D., I never got around to finishing the point. However, I learned something: in my nievity, I thought that when you click "save now," it saves as a draft. Little did I know that closing the window commences the saving AND publishing process.

Background: At one point in my life there were 5 things that were more important to my childhood and personality than life itself:


Transformers
G.I. Joe
Street Fighter
Comic Books
Music

So allow me to elaborate on WHY 2009 made me a kid again.

Street Fighter 4
Street Fighter videogames were perhaps the greatest stress relief I have known my entire life. There are few ailments in this world that cannot be solved or alleviated by "forward, down, down-forward + Punch." lolcats funny cat pictures" border="0"> Ppl have asked me for a few yrs now "why don't you get a second generation system?" And my answer has always been....."they didn't have any SF games." Every system I ever had, some incarnation of SF was always my first game. After a billion variations of sf2, sf2 turbo, sf2 hyper, super, alpha, alpha 2, alpha 3, alpha just because, virtual, zulu, beta, lalala, and FINALLY part 3 five years ago, '09 marked the 20th anniversary of the original game, which revolutionized fight games, and probably one of the most imitated games of all times. One of the best games I've ever played in my life. Its been years since I shared a roof with my brother (who I probably had AS many real life fights with bc of the game) but now with these online networks who needs a roommate, brother or arcade. I can go online and play against live players around the world any time of the day.

G.I. Joe - The Rise of Cobra [SPOILER ALERT]
If you don't know how much I heart G.I. Joe...........
So this was a movie long overdue, but well worth it. First off, after the first X-Men movie, The first Hulk, Daredevil, and the first 4 batman movies, I lost faith in Hollywood's ability to maintain creative integrity in any storyline re-adaptation. Lord of the Rings and 300 are probably the best fiction story to movie adaptations I've ever seen. They always have to change something, remove something, create something new and ruin something.

Saying this to say, I'm not surprised anymore when they stray from the original storyline. G.I. Joe was an easy sell for me. Guns, CHECK. Explosions, Check. Cobra trying to destroy some stuff, CHECK. Cool military weapons and vehicles, CHECK. Snake eyes doing cool ninja stuff.....CHECK!!! They even threw in Storm Shadow too. As an added bonus they actually did a good job of explaining Cobra Commanders lisp and why Destro has a metal face, yet can move his eyes and lips.

Sidenote: Why did Snake Eyes have a nose and lips??? Who ever seen a ninja mask with nose and lips??!!! How could you ruin the simplest part of the movie?

Sidernote: Peter Jackson may probably not possibly iono maybe a racist, but you got to question his choices of films. King Kong and Lord of the Rings have some of the most racists undertones in all of fiction, but that's another conversation.

X-Men Origins - Wolverine
There is no man alive that did not want to be Wolverine at some point in his life or at least have his powers and retractable claws. Let's disregard that fact that Hugh Jackman is about 1 foot taller than Wolverine actually is, I was actually quite surprised. I must say, the prospect of a PG-13 for a film about one of the bloodiest comics of all time was an immediate turn off, but it ended up to be quite a gully, enjoyable Wolverine flick....which basically all three X-Men movies were.

Sidestnote: NOTES TO SELF
Write a blog on why Peter Jackson is a racist
Write a blog on all X-Men movies suck
Write a blog on "why 300 is the best movie ever!"

For example: Hands down the most anti-climactic, worsest, WACKEST finisher punchline in the history of cinema.................

.......Clearly these writers have never seen an Arnold Schwartzenegger movie....Ironically, Ray Pack who plays Toad, got the roll of Snakes Eyes in the GI Joe movie. He's much better when he has to shut the heck up.

Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen [SIGH!!!]
I would say spoiler alert, but the whole movie was spoiled, far as I'm concerned.
This movie was so bad it made me un-like and HATE the first Transformers movie. Throw everything I said about understanding out the window. I thought "Revenge of the Fallen" meant just that. Who knew they had to change the whole storyline and create a character named "FALLEN!!" And how did they manage to ruin Devastator, a giant mega robot composed of 7 construction vehicles merged (the original Voltron of the Transformer universe) into one of the coolest robots ever conceived. He was an evil Voltron on steroids. To help understand my frustration, this is the image of Devastator we've all had for 25 years.............


But noooooooooooooooo!!!! Kiss-me-ass Micheal Bay and the new folks at hasbro had this Ro-beast in mind............

WHY is he a dog, sucking up sand?!

Sidenote: Should have known not to trust Micheal Bay. After all, this is the man who made Pearl Harbor!! SIDEnote to self: Write about "Why Pearl Harbor is the Worse Movie EVER!!"

Terminator - Salvation [Spoiler Alert]
Terminator is one of the all time greatest sci-fi and action movies ever (albeit stolen from a storyline written by a woman who inspired both the Terminator and Matrix series). I loved this movie. After the third movie and recent beach pictures, they finally decided to have the governator sit this one out. Proved impossible to make a Terminator movie without Arnold but I was surprised.

Star Trek
Never really was a Star Trek fan, but loved this movie.

V
One of the best sci-fi sitcoms of all time was remade this year. Haven't been keeping up with this series. But who could forget the lizard faced aliens who ate live, whole mice and gerbils? Good thing they remade it, bc after recently watching the original....we were in desperate need of a special fx upgrade.

Maxwell, Genuine, Joe, we already talked about, but at the final stretch Boyz 2 Men AND R. Kelly drop albums???? What a 90's flashback!!?

Twas fun to reflect, and open a portal into my year to share with you all. Although I may appear a flagrant offender of TMIatry, I'm very calculated about what I choose to share and not share. Alas, this was..................IS a joyous year.

Baby making Music is back!! [From the Blackberry Chronicles]

Folks, I did something unheard of. Something that I admit I haven't done in an age................... I purchased an album!!!!...........on compact disc!!!!......the week it dropped!!!........and paid for it with my own money!!....and didn't even use a coupon, voucher or credit. That may sound normal to you guys, but for me, that's as bewildering and bazaar as it gets. Don't get too alarmed, I actually purchased it online.

Sidenote: in a matter of un-shocking irony, I actually went to Virgin Megastore Union square to buy it only to find it closed, out of business for good. Not exactly Mr. cnn.com now am I?

The last albums I actually paid for were:
Miscellaneous capoera cd's
Lauren Hill's MTV unplugged
rnb's "Green Note"
Several artists I know personally
Tweet's first album
..........Lover's Rock?
MJ's number ones and Invincible (the week they dropped, not the last fanatic past few weeks).

Ironically around the time I got my first ipod, cd burning became easier than making pie and I discovered downloading and ripping music.

So why am I going to buy not one, but FOUR albums this year? Four of my favorite singers are coming back!

Phase one: Maxwell - Blacksummers' Night
On a scale of one to ten......I like it a lot. Idunno if anyone feels the same but when I first heard this album I was disappointed. About two weeks later, I absolutely loved it. Same reaction I had the first time I heard his first single Pretty Wings (which ironically I think is one of the most Maxwellian song on the album) I was upset at first that he doesn't have any songs sung entirely in "The Maxwell note" but he does hit it periodically, sprinkled throughout the album you just have to find it. Coincidentally, "Playing Possum" is currently my favorite song.

Sidenote: Seasoned Maxwell fans know exactly what I mean by "The Maxwell note". That harmonized high F. MJ has his "heeee hee!!!" Prince has that.....broken flute/dear/exotic rain forest bird call-like sound, Al green has his signature note. However let's assume some of you don't have all 4 of his albums, and the MTV unplugged live album. Maxwell's trademark falsetto debuts the note in the opening of "Ascension" and in most songs, but to hear a song sung entirely in the note, check out "Reunion," "eachhoureachsecondeachminuteeachday.." (great song, one of his worse videos, but floating around in space is probably what sums Embrya up best), "This Woman's Work" the original live version, not the album version.

Sidernote: I was annoyed at Love and Basketball for making "Womans work" mainstream. How you take a song about pain and make a love scene out of it (very tastefully done love scene, nonetheless)?? It was my hidden gem that only a few fans knew about. The album version is inferior to Maxwell's live version and the video did not do the song nor Kate Bush justice. Leave it to Maxwell....always floating all over the fucking place........sorry, its one of my favorite songs of all time. I get a little passionate.

Montage from "She's Having a baby":


Kate Bush' Video:


Phase two: Genuine is Back!!! "A Man's Thoughts" Gotta muster up the mojo to purchase that album. Two in a row? SHEESH!

Phase Three: Joe!! "Signature" - This is tough work here. What ever happened to baby steps?

Phase Four: (most exiting of all) The band Sade is working on their new ablum (many ppl don't realize that the artist name is actually the name of the entire band, let alone that she even has a band).

Sidenote: She is one of my favorite singers and lyricists of all time. I'd love to see a hip hop style freestyle battle btwn Sade and Badu with song lyrics. I think it would be hot.

Not that I don't mind Jerimiah and the Dream's "bust-a-nut"/stumped toe music (aaaaah!!! Aah ah aaaah!!) but I welcome the return of real soulful artists.

WARNING!!!!! Exercise extreme caution! Playing these artists around the opposite sex may result in intense physical contact, love making and or pregnancy.

Sent via Raphael  "I am Raphael Charles and I approve this message"

Beware of bullshit dancehall reggae dancers online!

So I'm going through youtube today, one of my sources to stay up to date in dancehall reggae and other dances and tweak my techniques, and I come across this bs tutorial video. This dude is really thinking he's doing something....and he thinks it helps that he's wearing Jamaica apparel (despite not having a lick of an accent).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2PnN1-oZso&feature=related

For a real laugh, read the comments below the video.

This is just hilarious and sad. Hands down THE WORSE DANCE TUTORIAL EVER!!!! They are completely off! Not to mention any dancer will tell you you need to stay on your toes (whether hip hop, dancehall, tap, ballet, modern whatever) NOT YOUR HEALS! Unless you wanna break your ankles.

To see how the dance is really supposed to look (you'd think after 2 yrs ppl would have this down by now) check out this tutorial, or even better the Mr. Vegas video for the song about the kiss-me-ass dance. HMPH!!

Sidenote: If youtube is your only source for dancehall or any other dances, you'll always be at least 6-12 months behind. The average dancehall reggae song takes about 3 months to get to the US DJ's, about another 3 months for it to get big in the clubs or make it to radio... hence why radio is notorious for playing 6-12 month old reggae and calling it new music (and thats only big tunes bc the average reggae song takes 1-2 yrs to make it on the radio in the US). My suggestion, keep a host of Jamaican and dj's as friends. It's kind like having a Korean friend who sends you designer clothes from back home.

Beware of this fool. I'm sure he's probably an excellent dancer, but dude, know your genre and area of expertise, just as well as your area of suckspertise.

"Everyone can dance, but not everyone who dance is a dancer."