News From the Service Entrance

Tonight in America Troy Davis could be murdered. There aren’t many words to express the range of emotions that many of us feel right now. The pressure from every possible corner of this planet has been mounting for sometime and ‘judgement day’ is scheduled for 7pm (ET) and with great wonderment the judicial system in Georgia ignores it. In the same fashion that Alabama ignored the world’s collective stare in the earliest stages of the Civil Rights era. The way judicial officials in Philly ignore Mumia to a certain degree as the world watches.

The biggest crime being committed to some is that the voice - not an action but the voice of President Obama is stone cold silent. Two other living US Presidents George W. Bush (yeah that floored me too considering he was a death merchant his last few weeks as Governor of Texas) and President Jimmy Carter have raised their voices and then from 1600? So far, silence. We ask a lot of or elected officials hell some people are expecting President Obama to hand deliver a check to their homes, no joke but in reality short of a Presidential order don’t expect much…separation of church and state is kinda convienient don’t you think?

I don’t expect much from our elected officials because we put no value in the power we have to elect them. If they look good or speak well or perhaps have a soundbite we can get behind we go berserk. We are an image conscious society and we love pretty things. Ugly don’t move round here much and the murder of Troy Davis has the potential to be very ugly. 

This should serve as a lesson to every living American. You have to know the ground you sit on in many ways is tainted. WE the People is a misnomer if Troy Davis is murdered tonight. Here are a couple of ways that you can have IMPACT.

Judge Penny Freesman 912.652.7252

Atty. Gen. Eric Holder 202353.1555

This is a heavy day but The Most High is the BEST knower. Troy Davis spoke about his spirit being with The Most High no matter what the State of Georgia does with his body. Those are words for everyone to live by.

peace power progress

M

If anybody just spit out their drink…choked on their now and laters…my bad. But Rap Music is going to be ok. Don’t get me wrong - shit’s MAD FUCKEDUP with Rap music at the moment. The “what’s wrong with Hip-Hop” convo is old. The culture of Hip-Hop is fluid at it’s best. With any new culture and yeah Hip-Hop as old as it is, is quite new and adapting to this time. The culture is always changing direction and giving new artists a voice. The ability to shape the culture is consistent with the tenants of Hip-Hop. There is a wonderful list of Emcee’s who hail from Chicago. Won’t start naming names cause I seen a lot of DOPE cats male and female alike from here. If you have the fortune to meet Duro or Kingdom or Iomos Marad, Cassius D or Jitu, you can get a true history lesson on Chicago and it’s role in shaping Hip-Hop not just here in the city, but around the world. Having said that…

Psalm One is nice. The bridge to her next project is Get In the Van 3 and it is an expansion of Psalm One as an emerging power in what Chicagoan’s call Rap music. On the heels of Woman at Work and the oft referred to Death of the Frequent Flyer, she takes her abilities higher and expands the vision on GITV3. In the spirit of the city’s surprisingly rich history of awesome Emcee’s, she has managed to chronicle her observations and thoughts on the road and put pen to paper and with some slick production nail it. In turn her name has to be in the conversation when it comes to the better Emcee’s in Chicago and nationally.

The sound of this city that’s shared currently by producers like Rashid Hadee and TallBlackGuy, GITV3 encapsulate’s the fluidity of Psalm’s lyrics AND a nice G-Funk 2011, smoothed out soundtrack for a really strong CD that works lyrically as well as musically. I interviewed Pslam on my show recently and I came away feeling like if this is the direction that Rap Music from Chicago is taking then Psalm One is more than capable of holding that responsibility down and lifting up more new voices.

I’m My Favorite is one of the tracks that caught my attention on listen one. She basically calls out the “female emcee” and openly challenges them to a battle and clearly she isn’t afraid to do just that…battle. That’s how she came up and that trait assists her very well on her latest. 48 Bars is a scathing assessment of the state of radio, street listeners, the culture…all of it. With guest features from notables like Del the Funkee Homosapien, THAIONE, Exile and ANG13 this is a solid work that is quite listenable. It is a wonderfully well thought out composition. Don’t wanna give away the best parts but I really liked listening to this. 

Be well brothers and sisters…friends and neighbors…

Peace and light

M