Monday, November 29, 2010

They Meant Well


In my infinite time wasting during the day, I stumbled across something on the internet so funny and at the same time so representative of mainstream America's lack of understanding of some of the subtleties of African-American culture, I had to share it.

For those of you without sisters every toy company issues a black version of it's most popular dolls, except for Rainbow Bright. (I'll explain how I know that later) If you don't already know by looking at this picture why you were never able to find Oreo Fun Barbie at your local Toys R Us, here is the official reason why this doll was recalled.

This doll was originally made by Mattel in a caucasian edition in partnership with Nabisco. Then Mattel decided to do an African American Edition. No one in their R&D department realized that the word "OREO" is a derogatory term for a black person that associates primarilly with white people, an African American person who acts like, sympathizes with, or dates and marries whites. The term is derived from an Oreo cookie, which is black on the outside and white on the inside. Someone who calls an African American an "Oreo" is calling him an Uncle Tom.

This is an example of how much time and money that can be wasted when no one in the R&D department has any black friends. Even if this did doll stayed on store shelves, I am not sure how many people would have actually become angry. I was called an Oreo more than a few times as a youth, and I laughed out loud at this. What's really funny is that during the time in my life when I was called an Oreo my father was an executive for Nabisco, and guess what was the preferred sandwhich cookie in our household was? You guessed it, Hydrox.

Friday, November 26, 2010

J. MOORE'S Super Soulful Christmas

J. MOORE'S Super Soulful Christmas <=Click Here To Download!!!
A couple of years ago my good friend DJ 2 Deep was telling me about how he could not stand Christmas music. I found out it was because despite his extensive knowledge of soul & Hip-Hop, the only Christmas music he knew about was stuff like Peggy Lee's Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree & The Chipmunk Christmas Album which are cool, but that is not what was on the Christmas mixtapes my dad played around the house when I was growing up. So I hooked him up with with some of my favorite Christmas joints from James Brown, The Jackson 5, The Temptations, Etta James, & Donny Hathaway. Now he loves Christmas music, specifically this mix of songs. Burn it to CD or put it on your I-Pod. Sorry there is nothing from The Dipset or Deathrow Christmas albums, maybe next year.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Remember That Mixtape I Told You About Where I Dissed De La Soul?

The College Graduate Mixtape <-Click Here To Download!!!
I made this mixtape sometime in 2004 at a time when I was really into anything that was produced by 9th Wonder & Kanye West (not much has changed). If you dig Little Brother, Nas, De La Soul, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Jay-Z, Ghostface Killa and Common you will enjoy this. If you are not into those artists we will probably never be friends. Much love to my good friend Stacia who had to gove me a copy of my own mixtape because I did not have one.

Monday, November 8, 2010

David Banner & 9th Wonder

Be With You (clean) <-click to download!

For those of you who have not had your head in your ass, this has been a great year for Hip-Hop. We got great records from The Roots, Big Boi, Drake (yes motherfuckers, I said Drake) , Black Milk, and Wu Massacre just to name a few. One album I have been looking forward to for a while is David Banner & 9th Wonder's album Death Of A Popstar. I will be picking it up when it hits stores tomorrow, and I have been playing this joint heavy since it leaked a few days ago. It is the kind of song you can play with your wife or girlfriend to get a break from all of that shitty music she insists on playing when you are both in the car.

UPDATE: The album Death Of A Popstar has been pushed back to December 21st. 2010.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

This Is The Best Review Of Anything Ever!

As much as I like video games, I could not be less excited about Kinect for the Xbox 360. I play video games instead of exercising for a reason. If I wanted to work up a sweat, I would actually go outside. Anyway, Justin McElroy wrote a review for joystiq.com of one of the launch games for the product and it was so good, I had to share it with the 3 of you who read this blog.

Fighters Uncaged unreview: It's unbelievably ungood

One time, I was pushing a TV around so I could watch He-Man while I ate my Cap'n Crunch in the dining room. I was four years old. I accidentally pushed the TV over, bringing it smashing down on my finger. I had to get eight stitches and I eventually lost the fingernail.

I mention this only so you can fully appreciate the gravity of me saying that the half-hour I spent with Fighters Uncaged was the very worst TV-related thing that has ever happened to me. It's ugly, the fighting moves only work half of the time (except for ones like the straight right leg kick, which work none of the time). The training goes on forever before you get to the first round of actual fighting, which is against ... your trainer. It's terrible. I would erase Kinect from the fabric of time if it meant Fighters Uncaged would similarly be lost to the ether.I'm not giving it a score because I think scoring a game after a half hour sets a bad precedent, and I'd rather eat a rain-soaked box of poison buttholes than ever play Fighters Uncaged again.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

The Night I Dissed De La Soul

Several years back Maseo a.k.a. Plug Three from De La Soul did a DJ set at a club in St. Louis and I made it a point to go despite the club where the event was held charging way to much for drinks. At this time I was also selling a mixtape I was pretty proud of called The College Graduate Mixtape. Since I know I could probably make some money selling this tape at an event like this, I made sure to throw some copies in my bag.

I got to the club, had a beer, and talked to some girls one of which who wound up being my girlfriend. I went to say "what up" to my homeboy DJ Needles and he was standing next to somebody else I recognized. It was Posdnuos a.k.a. Plug One who is one of my favorite emcees. Now, for those of you who do know I worked in commercial radio for several years so I got a chance to meet my share of artists most of which I did not give a shit about. So when I get to meet someone whose music I actually like, it is a big deal. I shook his hand, had a short back and forth about how much I dig his music and before it turned weird I gave him a copy of my mixtape which had "Much More" on it and kept it moving.

Now, I remember Pos looking at the tracklist of my tape and not seeming all that happy about the free promotion. Fast forward a few months and it all became clear. The song I mixed with "Much More" was a Ghostface Killa track called "Tony's Money" which had the same BPM. What I didn't know was "Tony's Money" was a diss track about De La Soul not paying him for the song that eventually became "He Comes" which was featured on The Grind Date. The verse that wound up on De La Soul's album is the same as the one Ghostface uses on "Tony's Money" but he changed the chorus and goes on a nice little rant at the start of the song about how he does not care about producers and that if you don't pay him his money, he will murder you (create a better rhyme than you) on your own track! Sure, I did not mean to insult De La Soul and I am pretty sure Pos knew that but I am also pretty sure Pos took that CD and threw it in the trash.