State of the Urban Union - My Boo. Hoo, Who?

State of the Urban Union

Thanksgiving weekend 2004 prepares the nation for GWB part II, increased security in the homeland, border patrol and in our National Basketball Association arenas. Our turkeys were fried, baked, smoked and “Organic”, the dressing was full of carbs and our Politicians were once again out with the homeless. Where was I, Brookhaven, GA, home of Oglethorpe university and the ABC Package Store. I was waiting, in my SUV, listening to Hot 107.9 Atlanta’s Hip Hop Voice. My frat brother went in to get a bottle of cognac and a small bottle of Apple pucker to make the Holiday Season festive and bright. It took him a while to stroll out of the store, so I was forced to study the advertisements that scattered the outside of the Middle Eastern Owned establishment. All of the Ads in the dusty neon windows targeted the African American audience. I thought it was a bit odd that a package store in Brookhaven, ( a small community northeast of Atlanta’s popular Buckhead shopping/club district with an estimated population of 10k. 5% of that total representing the African American voice), would target my people. But hey why trip, it was thanksgiving eve.

The next morning, I was awakend by a co-worker who was calling in sick, so I was forced to work hungover on Thanksgiving. I showered, grabbed an apple a few magazines and was off to work. This time I drove in with V103 Atlanta’s self proclaimed “People Station”. Once behind my desk at work, I tuned into netmusique.com’s housemusiqe channel and got down to business. I was in to a great working groove and managed to get quite a bit of work accomplished. Periodically, flashes of the ABC Package Store entered my mind. I stopped working, drank some water, reclined for a minute and thought about the images and sounds from the night before. The music chimed into my mind rather quickly…”drop it like it’s hot” by snoop dogg, the image of a Basketball Player dunking a basketball, with Budweiser written along side of the vertical photo. All merged into one big Palace vs Pacers basketbrawl scene... There wasn’t a magical connection between the three, but strange enough It brought me to a crystal clear observation. African American Youth is being led down a path of destruction.

Thursday evening outside of the Liquor store I heard the following lyrics:

When the pimp's in the crib ma
Drop it like it's hot
Drop it like it's hot
Drop it like it's hot
When the pigs try to get at ya
Park it like it's hot
Park it like it's hot
Park it like it's hot
And if a nigga get a attitude
Pop it like it's hot
Pop it like it's hot
Pop it like it's hot
I got the rolly on my arm and I'm pouring Sean Don
And I roll the best weed cause I got it going on.


And on the way to work I heard the following:

Shorty Wanna Ride With Me, Ride With Me
Shorty Wanna Ride With Me, Ride With Me
Oh You Aint Never Been To The Dirty, Dirty Before?
Shorty Wanna Ride With Me, Ride With Me
C'mon Ride With Young Buck

Shorty Wanna Ride With Me, Ride With Me
We Can Get Low, Hop Into The Chevy 4 Door
Blow Dro, Wanna Ride With Me, Ride With Me
Let Ya Hair Down, You Said You Wanna Thug
Don't Be Scared Now
Shorty Wanna Ride With Me, Ride With Me
We Can Get Low, Hop Into The Chevy 4 Door
Blow Dro, Wanna Ride With Me, Ride With Me
Let Ya Hair Down, You Said You Wanna Thug
Don't Be Scared Now
Shorty Wanna Ride With Me, Ride With Me

My 24's Spinnin', The Sticker's Still On 'Em
The Same Ol' Hoes, But A Nigga Still Want 'Em
I'm Parkin Lot Pimpin' On Another Nigga Woman
She Pullin Up Her Skirt, Tryin Show A Nigga Sumthin
Ya' Car Cloudy, My Niggas All Rowdy
This Heinesy Got A Nigga Drowsy, I'm Outty
Now Where Them Hoes At, Look I'm Tryin To Take You Home
So What'cha Got Ya Girlfriends, Bitch Bring 'Em On
Hoe I'm Tryin To Break A Bone, When I Get In Them Draw's
To The Window, To The Muthafuckin Walls
What A Nigga Don't Know Wont Hurt Him'
If Ya' Got A Old Man, Bitch I Ain't Worried
And I Got Plenty Room If Ya Think You Wanna Roll
See This Is What They Make Caddillac Trucks For
Let's Go To A Place You Ain't Never Been, Down In The Country
I Bet Ya, I Have Ya Sayin' Ya Love Me

I thought about my Aunt Linda's comment about Ray Charles. "There was a few songs that they didn't play on the Radio from Ray Charles cuz it was to raw...but now they will play just about anything." I told her that if she actually heard the explicit version she would cringe. Why do I wish to point out such lyrics, especially during this phase of my life? It beats me, but the meaning becomes crystal clear when you read the lyrics instead of hearing them mixed with the beat. For the record, I am still the same cat who Hosted a high rated Hip Hop show for 5 years and played these lyrics for my mentor Oliver Harrington (famous political cartoonist/activist):

I grew up on the crime side, the New York Times side
Staying alive was no jive
At second hands, moms bounced on old men
So then we moved to Shaolin land
A young youth, yo rockin the gold tooth, 'Lo goose
Only way, I begin to gee off was drug loot
And let's start it like this son, rollin with this one
And that one, pullin out gats for fun
But it was just a dream for the teen, who was a fiend
Started smokin woolies at sixteen
And running up in gates, and doing hits for high stakes
Making my way on fire escapes
No question I would speed, for cracks and weed
The combination made my eyes bleed
No question I would flow off, and try to get the dough all
Sticking up white boys in ball courts
My life got no better, same damn 'Lo sweater
Times is ruff and tuff like leather
Figured out I went the wrong route
So I got with a sick ass click and went all out
Catchin keys from across seas
Rollin in MPV's, every week we made forty G's
Yo nigga respect mine, or anger the tech nine
Ch-chick-POW! Move from the gate now

[Chorus: Method Man]

Cash, Rules, Everything, Around, Me
C.R.E.A.M.
Get the money
Dollar, dollar bill y'all

Hey, I wore the Dew Rags, I smoked the dro, and I even did a crip walk in the mirror. I am no prude. In fact I do not fear the backlash that this blog will create. But what I do see is my little brother’s and sister’s going down a road that I fear they will not be able to return. Here’s my train of thought. When I first heard Hip-Hop it represented the American Dream, two turntables a piece of cardboard and a “box.” The rhymes were wholesome and empowering, especially if you recited them daily for example:

Try to answer to the master on the MC rap artists
No joke on the lyric -it's hard to be modest
I knew I was the man with the master plan
To make you wiggle and jiggle like gelatin
Just think while I sing and to the brain structure
Don't sleep on the E -- 'ya see, something might rupture
I don't take time for me to blow your mind
It takes a second to wreck it because you're dumb and blind
So just lounge . . . 'Cause you're a MC clown
Or join the circus . . . EPMD's in town

Total chaos -- no mass confusion
Rhymes so hypnotizing known to cause an illusion
Like a magician who draws a rabbit out a hat, son
I'm drawin' more, like a 44-Magnum
MC's please stop, look, and listen and try to imagine
it's travellin' the speed of lighjt, but everything' motion it's frightening
Plus the thought of you alone
You now enter the dimension called the Twilight Zone
You're terrified . . . plus you can't bear the thought
You and I one-on-one in the land of the lost
You start to shiver . . . then you scream, my friend
You wake up, Muttley, because you're dreamin' again
Next time I'm on the scene . . . do not try to diss us
Keep your mouth suckered up, because I'm Strictly Business

This is the rap season . . . when the E starts pleasin'
Girls around the world no need to be skeezin'
When I roll I stroll, Cool always pack a 2
Just in case . . . a brother acts a fool
I've got the energy to put the girlz in a frenzy
Put a shock when I rock even though I'm not stingy
Make sure I don't bore when I'm on the dance floor . . .
Get busy, boy . . . like you never saw before
Rhyme flow . . . good to go . . .
After the show . . . I'll pull your hoe, boy
"Do you sniff blow??" -- Hell no
Got my whole life ahead of me, no time to be sniffin'
And if my parents find out, then they start riffin'
So I stay, A-OK
'Cause I'm the E . . . the R-I-C-K

MC's look me in the face and their eyes get weak
Pulse rate descends . . . heart rate increases
It's like beam me up, scotty, I control your body
I'm as deadly as AIDS when it's time to rock a party
With all due respect, when I say mike check
I let a sucker slide once . . . then I break his neck
So when I say jump, you'll reply "How high?"
Because I'm takin' no prisoners, so don't play hero and die
You're just a soldier . . . and I'm a Green Beret
I do not think twice about the MCs I slay
So if you want to battle, i highly recommend this:
Bring your dog, mom, and dad . . . because I'm Strictly Business

Yo, yo, you're still pickin' on that four-leaf clover?
Bring in the sandman, sucker . . . because it's over
My name is Eric Sermon and I'm back again
I see the head's still turnin' of my so-called friends
They smile in my face -- behind my back they talk trash,
Mad and stuff - because they don't have cash
Like the E-Double . . . or the Pee-MD
He drives a Corvette, I drive a semi-iroc Suzuki
I'm the locksmith . . . with the key to fame
Never high on myself, always stay the same
Play a lot because I'm hot and like a horse I trot
Around the track and back, fatigued?? No, I'm not

I'm the mellow, the fellow, the one that likes to say hello
To a fly girl that is good to go
With the slow tempo and the off-beat rhyme flow
'Cause when I am in action, there is no time for maxin' or relaxin
Just reactin' and subtractin'
On a sucker MC who's mouth keeps on yappin' and flappin'
I lose my cool, then I'll be start slappin' and smackin'
You on a roll, then I'll be start jackin' and cappin'
No time to lounge, I'm packin' and strappin'
At my point attack I soar at you like an eagle,
I'm the sheriff, and bitin' is illegal
So next time in town, I highly recommend this,
You gots to chill, because I'm Strictly Business

Business. Music was indeed about the business of having fun, but being able to express how clever you were. The rhyme flow was our emancipation from the chains of the hood and way to express your inner most desires and dreams. Historically we crushed our way through Rodney King, Ronald Regan, George Bush and the countless numbers of gang wars, drug wars and foreign soil wars only to land back in the BUSH with this:

[Hook]
Say go DJ, cuz that's my DJ
Say go DJ, cuz that's my DJ
Say go DJ, cuz that's my DJ
Say go DJ, cuz that's my cuz that's my

[Lil Wayne]
Murder one on one, the hottest nigga under the sun
I come from under the tummy, bustin a tommy
Or come from under your garments, yo chest and your arm hit
Pow, one to the head now you know he dead
Now you know I play it, like a pro in the game
Naw better yet a veteran a hall of fame
I got that medicine, I'm better than all the names
Ay its Cash Money Records man a lawless gang
Put some water on the track, Fresh for all his frame
Wear a helmet when you bang it man and guard yo brain
Cuz the flow is spasmatic what they call insane
That aint even a muthafuckin aim I get dough boy
And you already know that pimpin
18 how I'm livin young'n show that Bentley
Stunna my Pa so you know that's in me
Gotti my mentor so don't go there wit me

[Hook]
Say go DJ, cuz that's my DJ
Say go DJ, cuz that's my DJ
Say go DJ, cuz that's my DJ
Say go DJ, cuz that's my cuz that's my

[Hook]
Say go DJ, cuz that's my DJ
Say go DJ, cuz that's my DJ
Say go DJ, cuz that's my DJ
Say go DJ, cuz that's my cuz that's my

[Lil Wayne]
And I move like the Coupe thru traffic
Rush hour GT Bent' roof is absent
Ya bitch present wit the music blastin
And she keep askin how it shoot if its plastic
I tell her you see if ya boy run up, she said back and cut the Carter back
up, oh fa sho
Ay Big Mike they betta step thangs its already up
Before they step to a sergeant's son, I got army guns
You niggas never harmin young, fly wizzy my opponents done, I'm done talking
And I aint just begun, I been runnin my city like Diddy ya chump
I fly by ya in a foreign whip, on the throttle wit a model bony bitch
Paraphony tips, her hair is long and shit, to her thong and shit
Well here we go so hold on to this, uh lets go

[Lil Wayne talking]
Hold on let me hit the blunt
So go, so go
This is the, this is the, this is the
This is the, this is the, this is the
This is the Carter

[Hook]
Say go DJ, cuz that's my DJ
Say go DJ, cuz that's my DJ
Say go DJ, cuz that's my DJ
Say go DJ, cuz that's my cuz that's my

[Lil Wayne]
Birdman put them niggas in a trash can
Leave em outside of your door I'm your trash man
I'm steady lightin another hash and ridin in my jag
You will need a gas mask man
You snakes, stop hidin in the grass
Sooner or later I'll cut it knock the blades in yo ass
You homo niggas getting Aids in the ass
While the homie here tryna get paid in advance
I'm stayin on my grizzy I'ma bonafide hustler
Play me or play wit me then I'm goin find your mother
Niggas wanna eat cuz they aint ate nothin
But niggas wanna leave when you say you out of mustard
So I'ma walk into the restaurant alone, leavin out
Leavin behind just residue and bones
In your residents with Rugers to your dome
Like where the fuck you holdin the coke, holdin your throat, choke

This, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this
This is the Carter

[Hook]
Say go DJ, cuz that's my DJ
Say go DJ, cuz that's my DJ
Say go DJ, cuz that's my DJ
Say go DJ, cuz that's my cuz that's my

Go DJ, DJ, DJ

Seriously folks, our youth now dreams of death and destruction. Our Xbox/PS2 games teach our youth the value of death…Killing = no more worries. This is my interpretation of the perfect Hip-Hop formula:
Sampled Beat + Criminal Lyrics – Truth / hope = success. The 80's was filled with dance songs that helped us love and learn to love ourselves, the 90's kept us aware and in touch with our communities, Y2K has transformed our culture into a Sex, drugs and money environment. Where we can Pimp our rides, show off our cribs, confess our sins to Dr. Phil and be tried by Judge Hatchett all in a matter of Hours...once done returning to our Desperate Housewives and re-run the Sex-in the City. But have no fear...Creflo Dollar comes on in the morning and we can do it all over again.

I can only hope that Usher and Alicia Keys can help us mend our wounds.

verse 1 (usher)

there`s always that one person that will always have your heart
you never see it coming cuz` your blinded from the start
knew that you`re that one for me
its clear for everyone to see
oooo baby
(you gotta rock away to this one)
you will always be my boo

chorus 1(alicia keys)

i don`t kinow about ya`ll but i know about us
and this the only way we know how to rock
(x2)

verse 2 (usher)

do you remember girl,
i was the one who gave you your first kiss,
cuz i remember girl i was the one who said put your lips like this
even before all the fame and people screamin your name
girl i was there and you were my baby

chorus 2 (usher)

it started when we were younger
you were my...(my boo)
now another brother`s taken over but its alright
even though we used to argue its alright
i know we haven`t seen each other in a a while but you will always be my boo

(alicia)

did you know even when we were younger
you were my...(my boo)
when i see you from time to time
it does feel like your my boo (my boo)
and no how hard i try to hide you`re my boo (my boo)
even though there`s another man who`s in my life you will always be my boo

verse 3 (alicia)

yes i remember boy, cause after we kissed i could only think about your lips
yes i remember boy, the moment i knew you were the one i would spend my life with
even before all the fame and people screamin your name i was there and you were my baby...

chorus 2

verse 4 (usher)

my oh, my oh, my oh, my, my, my boo!
my oh, my oh, my oh, my oh, my boo!

chorus 2

chorus 1

En peace...