Letters From Zion

Michael Joseph Jackson August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009 There will be literally millions of blogs about Michael Jackson written in the coming days. There are probably thousands already going up. Some people will probably get tired of hearing his name. Well, guess what? Too fucking bad. Go dig a hole and climb in it, because the Greatest Performer In Existence just passed away. My mind is in a million different directions right now. I guess right now many from my generation are reeling, trying to understand that Michael is gone. Now, there are a lot of people right now who can't help themselves, they are compelled to point out the controversy in MJ's life. We all know the story. The truth is, he was acquitted. Beyond that, we don't know what the real story was. No, I am not excusing it. What I am saying is that now, it doesn't matter. Because no matter what actually happened, that will not change the things that came before. As I said, I'm a little angry right now. I ...

Okay, this is going to be a decidedly HipHop blog, so if this isn't your thing, you might want to stop now. But good music is good music, and sometimes a song is more than just a song. That's what this culture is all about... Me and my lil' bro were talking Hiphop. He's been raised on it, and has a pretty good ear for the culture. We started to discuss Jay-Z impact on the game. While Hov is the poster boy for Hate, the man has distinguished himself as one of the All-Time-Greats. Some have their criticisms, I don't even consider myself a rabid Jay-Z fan, but I know a great record when I hear one... This record just ended the careers of a million wanna-be-rap-fakers, and I ain't even mad at that. This record is a cautionary tale for those who are using technology to compensate for a total disregard of craftsmanship, and sometimes talent. See, those like me who have been raised on Soul Food like Rakim, KRS-One, Wu-Tang, Notorious, Pac, Big Pun, J-Dilla, Digital Und...

There was a nice blog that I was trying to write, but I've labored over it for three days because I felt like I wasn't saying what I really needed to say. Sometimes things just get stuck in my damn head like a mental logjam, and until I let go of the first thing, nothing else of any real use is going to get through... so I'm just gonna go freestyle on this shit and try not to hurt too many feelings on the way to what I gotta say. But dammit, sometimes the Truth Just Stings Like A Bitch. Let me tell a quick story about how I ended up in New York... I was in the county lock-up, and I met a dude from Bradenton. White guy, but was obviously a Hood cat. Not the kind that's trying too hard, the ones that have grown up in a predominately Black neighborhood. He was keeping to himself (what you do when you're from out-of-town and you end up in jail), so I asked him if he needed a book, or if he wanted to bust some spades, whatever. Anyway, we started talking music, I found o...

Okay, apparently I'm jumping into the recent controversy with My Favorite Yukon Hillbilly, Sarah Palin. I make it a point to follow people that I wouldn't agree with all the time in an effort to see the other side of things on some issues, but there are just some issues that I don't know that seeing the other side of is even possible... @DarkKnight3565 accused me of being a Palin-Basher, just going after her and insulting her because it's easy. Okay, he might be right... a little. But I'm at a loss to understand what it is that people can look at in her and say "Yeah, that's something I can agree with." I'm going to go at my single-biggest Palin-Point, the thing that really makes my blood pressure go up about her, and I dare anyone to come up with a reasonable explanation for this that doesn't involve pointing out similar behavior by a liberal. This is all on Madam BeautyBunny Of the Vapid Holy Yukon. You are an ardent Pro-Life supporter, you ...