BrainMunchie.com

Have you ever had something or someone you loved so much that it irritated you when the full potential of the thing or person you loved never became a reality? Or even worse, do you remember what made you fall in love in the first place? What was that one thing that carved its own place in your heart when you least expected it?… that one thing that eternally remains in your near and distant thoughts. Have something in mind? Well, what happens when this thing or person disappears? Some people simply walk away. For others, the love that has grown never vanishes but longs for the return of what was once known.

That’s this crazy love hate thing I got going with Hip Hop now. There seems to be no love for the art form anymore. The music has become so simple and un-inviting that it hurts. Lyrics like this:

Music’s the clue, when I come your warned,
Apocolypse Now, when I’m done, ya gone!
Haven’t you ever heard of a MC-murderer?
This is the death penalty,and I’m servin’ a
death wish, so come on, step to this
hysterical idea for a lyrical professionist!
Friday the thirteenth, walking down Elm Street,
you come in my realm ya get beat!
This is off limits, so your visions are blurry,
All ya see is the meters at a volume,
pumping Lyrics of Fury!

Have been replaced with lyrics like this:

Big wheels, big straps, you know I like it super sized
Passenger’s a redbone, her weave look like some curly fries
Inside fish sticks, outside tartar sauce
Pocket full of celery, imagine what she tellin me
Blowin on asparagus, the realest shit I ever smoked
Ridin to that Trap or Die, the realest shit I ever wrote
They know I got that broccoli, so I keep that glock with me

Come the hell on man, Pocket full of celery? Blowin on asparagus? Broccoli? These analogies are the worst!!! And they aren’t getting any better at all. What ever happened to being clever? What ever happened to trying to push the art form forward? Remember when every emcee thought they truly were the best and tried to defend themselves? Well that ain’t happening anymore. It’s all about who can make the most money the fastest.

I can’t front. I agree with Ice T. I think Soulja Boy was the straw that broke the camel’s back as far as the death of Hip Hop goes. I’m happy he called it out. What Soulja has to realize is that nobody’s hating on him making money, it’s just that they way he did it was very disrespectful to the culture of Hip Hop. It changed the whole game and not necessarily for the good. More young kids can make a lot of money now (more than they probably can handle at their ages) but the art form has to suffer. We have to respect it as co-existing in hip hop, but we don’t have to like it!

The game is so messed up now that legitimate music gets no love on radio now. You end up with artists like Musiq, who has a really unique style assimilating to this crazy ATL junk to make money. The old heads can’t bring the real hip hop back. Today’s generation will never understand it or be able to feel it and make sense out of it.

Check out the video below. Make your own conclusions about the guy who “single handedly destroyed hip hop” (many others should be charged with murder of Hip Hop). All I can say is that this video does nothing to help my opinion of his music.

I’m sure it’s no surprise that I’m definitely not happy with the current state of hip hop. I used to be excited that Atlanta was finally getting some respect as a musical city, but in retrospect, I kinda wish it didn’t happen. The music is so watered down that anybody with pro tools and a PC (not even a Mac) can make an outrageous song and be “relevant” in today’s musical society. Shout out to all the cats that really care about the craft and the art form! Anyways, I just thought I ‘d leave a video of what Hip Hop used to be. If you guys know any young aspiring artists, please invite them to check this out. Like my G.O.P. family says… Sometimes you ‘gotta go back to get ahead!

There are rumors floating around Atlanta that there will be an Outkast / Goodie Mob / Dungeon Family Reunion at the Fox Theatre on April 11 - 13 2007.  I don’t know how true this is, but if it is you know ya boy will be all up in that piece screaming “Ben Hill… Been Real… Still Trill…. Southwest!!”.  It’s definitely overdue.  I even heard that Cee Lo won’t be the “Monkey Stopping the Show”.  Everyone’s supposed to be there.

Rumors are also that they won’t even announce the event until a week or so before.  I checked the Fox Theatre’s website and the only thing listed is Big Boi’s collaboration with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Atlanta Ballet.  It’s looking like it really could happen!  I kinda wanted to see the Ballet joint anyway, so I may just go ahead and get a ticket and just be prepared for what could happen….

“…but they be steady clappin’ when you talk about
bitches & switches & hoes & clothes & weed
let’s talk about time travelin’ rhyme javelin
somethin’ mind unravelin’ get down…” - Dre 3000

BREAK!!! I don’t think you guys can truly understand how happy I am right now. It looks like the Outkast I grew up on is back on the scene. This is one of the greatest moments in Atlanta hip hop history… The Return of the Gangsta! I’m sure it’s no surprise that I think the Atlanta music scene has been terribly misrepresented the last couple of years. It seems that our only hope of truly talented hip hop was T.I. and legal troubles took him out of the game. I was beginning to get worried that as history looked back on our city’s musical contributions from about 2006 to the present, there wouldn’t be much to balance the perception. Anyways, I just want you all to know that I see the light at the end of the iPod and there’s a shadow that greatly resembles Daddy Fat Sacks and Three Stacks. Check out this new song by Outkast featuring Raekwon called “Royal Flush”.

“People thinkin M.C. is short hand for misconception….” -Talib Kweli

In my never ending struggle to keep the purest form of hip hop alive, I wanted to flash the lights back to BlackStar. Remember when everyone thought that Rawkus Records would be the home to all of the greatest overlooked talent in the game? Remember when you thought that all of your favorite emcees finally had a chance to make music in a world of shiny suits and expensive non-related music videos? That’s when music was really good! Backpackers of the world unite! Anyways, BlackStar had to be one of the greatest duo’s ever in hip hop. Infectious beat and the absence of pointless or gratuitous sex. It was all about the music. This video is about 10 years old and still hotter than most of the stuff you see today. Their music was so hot that there are still a lot of people that salivate just over the thought of Mighty Mos, Kweli and High Tech making good music again. Wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa watch me crank dat Black Star!

“I did joints with Mary J. Blige …..” - Jay Z

Who doesn’t love a cool Jay and Mary J collab? I think it’s one of the craziest Bonnie & Clyde combos in hip hop. Remember “Can’t Knock The Hustle?” Anyways, I think they did this track for the upcoming tour. Check it out. Tell me what you think!

“Some people recognize the light but they can’t handle the glare…” Common

I remember when Common’s original version of “The Light” came out on the Like Water for Chocolate album. That was a good time in hip hop… I long for those days to come back… Outkast, Common, Mos Def, Black Star, The Roots… they all had banging albums out and nobody was trying to “Crank Dat” next stupid dance. Anyways, Common, Marsha Ambrosius, Bilal and “Justin” Blaze (as Jay Z calls him) and the other usual suspects are still trying to keep hip alive with some really good music. Check out this remix “The Light 2008″. Enjoy!

(picture from rollingstone.com)

I’ve been really excited about the elections this year. My heightened interest has been for the obvious reasons, but also because there are so many other people participating that otherwise would have not. There is something special in the air this time around! I don’t consider myself to be a Democrat or a Republican, but I do think that I’m an Independent - a person with my own personal views and opinions that doesn’t simply vote based on a party affiliation, but based on political platforms that best serve my interests.

It’s interesting because Clinton and Obama aren’t much different in their platforms, so we as voters are truly left to pick from those two candidates based on the person and his or her character. This is one time in history that we have an African American male that can actually become arguably the most powerful person in the world. There is actually a person who can being more light to issues the African American and other minority communities face, but are often forgotten about or not considered at all. We potentially have a candidate that could push an agenda through the House and the Senate relatively easily because he is widely seen as a unifying entity. In other words, there is finally a Black man that could represent and lead not only Black America, but all of America and create better relations with other world powers.

I am very excited about the infinite possibilities that electing a person as Obama could do for the USA and the World. What I am not excited about is the fact that no matter how much positivity emanates from the African American communities (doctors, authors, lawyers, professors, pastors, corporate executives, athletes, musicians, etc.) there will always be something that somehow finds its way into mainstream media and perpetuate lowly thoughts of us. A lot of people make music just to make money and aren’t sensitive to the ill effects that may result from detrimental music. A hit single or record means that you are sub-consciously programming people with the message that’s in your music, whether it be good or bad. Music and video media has the unparalleled power to morally shape the conscious of the world and shape their views about women, politics, clothes, cars, etc.

A lot of people may not see anything wrong with the following video (obviously if you look at the number of people in the video), but I think it’s truly sad. Nationally we are on the verge of the possibility of our first African American president of the United States and in a hood near you this is going on:

Okay, so you decide to make a satirical video encouraging people to uh, read a book. Does your satire have to still be degrading to make its point clear? I tell you what, look at these two videos and tell me which one you think is more effective:

Video #1 (Thanks Shawna!)

Video #2

I’m over here crying laughing!!

B. you my girl, but this is funny. I wasn’t going to post this at first because of respect for the artists, but uh, if she can joke about it then so can I!