I feel that only three television shows have ever truly captured the essence of black and hip-hop culture without having to censor itself at all. Chappelle's Show, The Wire, and of course, The Boondocks. Originally created by Aaron McGruder as a comic strip for national newspapers in the late 90's, it quickly became a controversial favorite of readers. The subject matter of race and social injustice quickly got several of McGruder's strips pulled. However, after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the strip's questioning of the accountability of the U.S. government brought much scrutiny of the comic from critics and sensitive readers. In 2005, McGduder signed a deal with Adult Swim to air a cartoon version of the comic strip. The result... comedy gold. Since the show came out right after Dave Chappelle left Comedy Central, the show filled the void left by Chappelle's Show's cancellation. The first lines delivered by Huey Freeman on the very first episode were "Excuse me. Can I have your attention, please? Jesus was black, the government is lying about 9/11, and Ronald Raegon is the devil. Thank you for your time." to a garden party of rich, white individuals. Now that is how you start a series off with a bang!
The show is filled with a lot of great characters, the main three are Huey, Riley, and Grandad Freeman. I feel like Grandad's character represents the past, what black culture went through years ago and still fighting for rights. Riley seems to represent the present, he only goes with "what's hot in the streets" even if it's completely ridiculous. Huey represents the future, where black people are trying to get. And Uncle Ruckus, well he's just a confused, old, black man who is racist against black people as a whole. The show represent all extremes of black culture and places them in absurd situations. From rappers threatening the elderly, to Martin Luther King Jr. calling a group of rebellious black youths, niggers. All I can say is that the show is simply amazing. The first three seasons are in the books, but hopefully Aaron McGruder will continue making more seasons of the show.
Random Axe is another super group consisting of Boot Camp Clik and Heltah Skeltah member, Sean Price (aka Ruck), Guilty Simpson, and rapper/producer extraordinaire Black Milk (who is just as good as Kanye West in my opinion). I am a big fan of all three emcees, especially of Black Milk whose last three solo albums have all been classics. They released their self-titled debut album this Summer and I've gotta say that this group should have formed years ago. I remember thinking that Sean Price and Black Milk should team up more after I heard "The Matrix", ft. Sean Price & Pharoahe Monch, off of Black Milk's "Tronic" album. I definately reccomend giving their album a listen and I'll be sure to keep you up to date on future Random Axe projects.
I don't know why so many people in my age group are obsessed with the 80's. I don't even remember the 80's. Oh well. The song is good and I expect more great things from Elle Varner and J. Cole in the near future.
I can't believe that a great artist like Stalley would sign to Rick Ross's Maybach label. This is just like Drake and Currrensy signing to Young Money. Backpack artists signing to sellout record labels. Hopefully this won't affect what type of songs he does like it did with those previously mentioned artists. From what I saw of his "Lincoln Way Nigts (Shop Remix)", he seemed to stay true to himself. While Rick Ross wears ridiculous amounts of jewels, Stalley goes without any. Hopefully this is just a distribution deal and doesn't mean endless collabos between the two. But as much as I dislike Rick Ross and what he represents, as long as Stalley is making good music, I will continue to support him no matter what label he is signed to.
I've recently been paying a lot more attention to Common in the past couple of months. Not only has he given a so-called "controversial" speech at the White House, but he also wrote a new book entitled, "One Day It'll All Make Sense". What has really drawn more attention from myself was that he gave a speech and book signing at my school, The University of South Florida, in Tampa. Also, his collaboration with fellow lyricist, Nas on the song "Ghetto Dreams". I've been listening to both artists for over a decade and have been waiting for a dream collabo like this. So when I heard that these two artists were going to release an entire album together, my head nearly exploded. The album will be titled, "Nas.com", and will release in 2012. First "Watch The Throne" and now this, if another Black Star album comes out soon, I may experience hip-hop euphoria. I'll keep you up to date on news of Nas.com.
Even though he's from Cleveland and wears a terrorist watch list looking beard, Stalley has still managed to distinguish himself further with his deep rhymes and unique delivery. I first heard about him when he did a couple of tracks with former Cash Money artist, Currensy. I thought his verses were pretty good, but he didn't leave much of an impression on me. That was until I heard about his free album, Lincoln Way Nights: Intelligent Trunk Music. I downloaded it and was thoroughly blown away. Every single track of the album is a winner. He is now among my favorite artists and I can't wait to hear his new material. Last I heard was that he, Mos Def (Yasiin Bey), and Currensy were working on a group album together. Seeing as these are three of my favorite artists, I have got to get this album when comes out. I'll keep you updated on the latest.
