Unapologetically Black

In the light of the many racial issues that have already struck in the short four weeks of 2016, I have decided to make a position statement, considering there are so many positions to take. To begin with I would like to start with something that has begun to weigh heavy on my mind as I try to ignore it.

The recent and continuing saga of controversy that surrounds cam newton. I won’t dig too deep into his college exploits because that should be common knowledge now. What I will choose to discuss is the current issues facing the young NFL superstar. The Carolina Panthers have been having an astonishing year, and it seems as they flourish there is more and more done to hinder their quarterback. Before he even had the chance to make his debut Cam Newton was dubbed the “worst NFL draft pick ever”, a statement that has been proven far from true. Even as he has led the Panthers to the Super Bowl this year he faced scrutiny over some of the most trivial things like wearing a towel on his head, things have gone as far as fining Cam 25k for “dabbing”  which is a popular attributed to marijuana “dabs”. The NFL mistook this popular dance for gang signs and fined him. he has gone through the ringer for his child that was conceived out of wedlock. I feel like it’s time for the media to let it go; the guy is gonna win a super bowl and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.

The next subject I bring up reluctantly, so I will do this as painlessly as possible. The recent feuds surrounding the Oscars has gotten so far out of hand people are renouncing their race. The most recent and most prolific case has to be Stacey Dash v. The Black Community. Stacey Dash alleges that in order for black people to be fully integrated into white society we should do away with the BET channel and the BET awards, as well as end black history month. Stepping over the obvious potholes in her logic, Stacey Dash is most wrong for thinking that not acknowledging history is a good idea regardless of race. Honestly we shouldn’t be mad at her for her opinion, Stacey Dash is simply a confused woman. She feels that if we continue to vote the same and behave the same we will have the same results and the cycle will continue. Her logic is to take the opposite side of what the black community generally believes instead of examining the system as a whole.

One of the more prominent trending feuds that actually happened was one of astronomic proportions. Atlanta rapper B.O.B recently took to twitter to prove to the world once and for all that the world is flat. This rant took a life of its own and became a full blown beef with acclaimed astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson that eventually led to legitimate diss tracks . What I hate about this situation and all of these recent spats is the fact that these disputes had the potential to become a platform for the people in them to actually learn something and teach other people that follow their mindset. As the way of our modern society most of these situations devolved into twitter spats and trash talk.

I would like to end on a good note, and wash myself clean of the Oscar crap by talking about the Sundance film festival and their embracing of black films. Most notably of the sundance winners was Nate Parker with his film The Birth of a Nation which netted him a $17 million distribution deal from Fox Searchlight. Other films that are worth notable mention is How to Tell You Are a Douchbag, and Beasts of No Nation which has been nominated for and won a slew of awards. Of course I am perturbed by Straight Outta Compton not getting nominated for an Academy Award, but that should be overshadowed by N.W.A being inducted into the Rock n Roll hall of fame. In turbulent times like these it seems a better use of energy to celebrate our success and stop highlighting our shortcomings.

From Stalley to You

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Sunday night I attended the Stalley’s  From Me to You tour at the Grog Shop in Cleveland Heights Ohio and  despite a few bumps it was still a great  experience. As all hip hop began with the DJ, this show had a great DJ (DJNuERA) keeping the crowd entertained with professionally crafted blend of old and new hip hop, R&B, and reggae with  while we waited to performers to get ready. The merch booth overran with demos, t-shirts, and other merchandise for the artists that performed. The crowd at the show consisted mostly of the usual Coventry suspects with a sprinkling of Ohioans from further reaches coming to see their family and friends open the show.

 

The first opening acts of the night were Youngstown artists G Huf and Vice Electric. Although their performance was somewhat dated G Huf and Vice Electric had a energized performance over top of a medley of beats with a old school vibe and feel. The next performer was my personal favorite, a regular at the grog shop R the Czar lit up the stage with his uplifting lyrics and powerful message over dynamic compelling beats that magnetized the crowd towards the stage. The following act I’m sad to say was extremely lackluster which makes me feel so torn, the meaning behind Stalley’s tour is to support local artistry, and I want to say something positive about this guy, but I really can’t so we’ll just consider this constructive criticism. Honestly I nor anyone else at the show can’t remember this artists name, he had pretty decent showmanship, yet his wordplay was weak and his subject matter was non existent. Before one of his final songs he pulled a woman on stage that was clearly uncomfortable, he then performed his song while she awkwardly stood and danced on stage. The final opening act got the show back on track, Detroit rapper M.C. city JR took us down the ratchet rabbit hole with songs dedicated to flexing on exes and destroying haters lives.

The main event began very promptly, Stalley took the stage as the intro to The Page rumbled and animated the zealous horde, the bass hit and turned all the way up from there. before continuing with new music from his latest mixtape Saving Yusuf, he took his fans through his catalog, cleverly titled ITM (intelligent trunk music). He did  an awesome recap of all of his most beloved hits while taking time to show sentiment to his fans and explaining the meaning of his tour. On a side note I have to speak on another concert goer that nearly ruined my experience. The middle aged woman next to me was way to drunk and belligerent, she danced wildly and you could feel the anger from the surrounding crowd. Her portion of the show ended with her removing her shirt finally making her friend pay attention and take action.

All of that aside the show finished great, Stalley  brought  Cleveland hip hop celeb Ray Cash to perform their song Came a Long Way. He closed the show with one of his biggest hits Swangin’ and showed the entire crowd how to work the wheel. All in all I had a great time and can’t wait to get to the next show at the grog shop.  If you want to stay on the scene, be sure to check out the Cleveland Scene magazine and make your way to some of the best shows in Ohio.