You Sent it! "The Sing Off"'s Afro Blue

For those of you who don't know (don't feel bad I just discovered this yesterday), Afro Blue is one of the prominent groups from the hit NBC tv show The Sing Off. From the sounds of things, these talented folks are on their way! Take a listen...



HU!!

Thanks for sharing J Confidential!

In Case You Missed It: Vh1's Planet Rock Explores The History Of Crack in Hip Hop

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VH1 recently aired an astounding and fluid documentary about the relationship between crack cocaine and hip hop culture. Narrated and executive produced by Ice-T, Planet Rock: The Story of Hip Hop and the Crack Generation, is the first documentary to focus specifically on the connections between crack and hip-hop. Based primarily on the first-person accounts of four famous dealers-turned-rappers, the film also widens its lens at points to show how crack changed America culturally, socially and politically. Using rare footage, photos, and animation, all set to the beats and rhymes of the iconic hip hop tracks of the day, the documentary explores how media hysteria, racism and political reaction produced policies and laws that have left us with the largest —and most disproportionately African-American— prison population in the world. 


Listen as Barry Michael Cooper explains the Inspirations Behind New Jack City

Terry Williams on Sex in the Crack House

Too Short Explains How His Hood Saved Him 

For those of you who don't know much about the relationship between crack and hip hop here is a little history for you. Crack first appeared in the early 1980s, but by 1986, it was raging through the inner cities of America like wildfire, leaving pain, grief, and death in its wake. With candid, never-before-seen interviews from survivors, including Snoop Dogg, Cypress Hill’s B-Real, and the Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA and Raekwon, Planet Rockexamines the hardships young men encountered growing up in impoverished neighborhoods, which led many to deal crack cocaine as their only way out. This destructive drug not only provided an escape, but also paved the way for an entrance into hip-hop.

More than any other art form, hip-hop reflected and documented the crack epidemic. The chaos and madness of the crack phenomenon was fused with the sound and style of hip-hop during its formative years. From the gold dookie chain to Gucci, many hip-hop artists were influenced by the look and fashion of infamous dealers like Azie Faison in Harlem, who is prominently featured in the documentary, along with Freeway Ricky Ross, the Godfather of Crack in LA. As hip-hop became increasingly popular, the fascination with crime and gangster culture, specifically the violence inherent in crack culture, became ingrained in the music. And soon the very kids dealing crack were turning their street tales into hit records. After serving hard time in jail, Snoop Dogg became the biggest rapper of his day; after a bullet in the back nearly killed him, B Real went legit with Cypress Hill; and after crafting their business model on the crack hustle, RZA and Raekwon turned the Wu Tang Clan into a hip hop empire. As journalist Cheo Choker reflects, “it’s fascinating to think that Jay Z, a global icon who had better seats at President Obama’s inauguration than Jesse Jackson, was once a New York City crack dealer.”

Planet Rock: The Story of Hip Hop and the Crack Generation, is the newest installment in the Emmy Award winning VH1 Rock Doc franchise. The VH1 Rock Doc Soul Train: The Hippest Trip in America was recently nominated in the Outstanding Arts & Culture Programming category for this year’s News & Documentary Emmy Award. VH1 Rock Docs are feature-length documentaries that tell unique stories of artists and music from a wide range of genres, styles and musical perspectives. Planet Rock: The Story of Hip Hop and the Crack Generation, will be available online following the on-air premiere on September 18. For more information on VH1 Rock Docs go to RockDocs.VH1.com

Whoopi Goldberg Puts Fox Biz News Reporter Eric Bolling in His Place

Source: The Huffington Post

Whoopi Goldberg put Fox Business host Eric Bolling in his place for his comments about President Obama.

Bolling got into hot water for criticizing a visit by an African leader to the White House by saying, "what's with all the hoods in the hizzouse?" He apologized for his comments on Monday night saying "On Friday, we did a story about the president meeting with the president of Gabon," Bolling said. "We got a little fast and loose with the language, and we know it's been interpreted as being disrespectful, and for that, I'm sorry. We did go a bit too far." That didn't stop Goldberg from laying into him on Tuesday's "The View."

Full Disclosure: I love Whoopi but I'm not a fan of the view. I am also slightly offended by Bolling's comment simply because I KNOW if there was another Bush, Kennedy or Clinton in the White House he would not have said it. I am only slightly offended because although the comment was culturally insensitive and STUPID, I don't take anyone at Fox seriously. They don't take reporting accurately seriously so I don't waste my time with watching. To me, Fox is like the weird kid in class who says offensive things but nobody likes him anyway so his comments are always dismissed as failed attempts to seem interesting or attract friends. Womp. Whoopi's right, not ALL of us speak like that. As a matter of fact, its offensive to assume we do since there are probably 5 black people (one is Snoop Dogg, another is E-40) who STILL switch words like house for hizzy or hizzouse. Besides, that was sooooo 5 years ago! If you're going to insult the way we speak, at least be UP on the times and latest slang.  Bolling's comments were out of line, but I think he made an ass of himself by using outdated slang.  Shows how in touch he is with his African American viewers. I bet he thinks all of us dress like this and act like this>>>
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Le sigh.  I hope this Samuel Jackson side eye disturbs his spirit.