got the figure-four on the kick, choke-holding the snare

the empty bottles is hollow, wind blowing inside 'em
the flow and the rhyming got my alignment to a science
-Hi-Tek ft Nas & Floetry, "Music For Life"

rock with me on this one. Hi-Tek's next jump-off will be just that, the ledge off of which you will jump into the deep abyss of musical delight.

juice from the streelight, it almost could've blowed us up

got me all choked up over here. this song is mellow, raw, dope, and very beautiful. it has serioulsy been on repeat all weekend something serious. the album (Hi-Teknology 2) isn't even out yet, but it's definitely going to have to get copped. you can't front on the realness. i love how you can never judge a book by its cover. cuz you end up fooling yourself guessing shT that ain't accurate. because hip-hop ain't dead, homie. never was. this music gives me hope. this music gives me strength. it brings a smile to my face on those days when simply waking up is a feat (and blessing) in itself.

through my bassline, i'm living through it.

you gotta believe.

I resent what inspires me

The struggle between apathy and irony
-Murs & Slug, "All I Can Do"

word. made me pause in my tracks for a bit. had me thinking if anything that inspires me also cause me to not like it as well. like umm yeah.

i am inspired by creativity. power. respect. progress. love. originality. passion. adaptability. confidence. tenacity. poise.

but do i resent those same traits? in a way, yes. when i lack them. or see when their need or presence would prove useful.

but anyways, the irony part is what really drew me in. because i received an interesting email today about some things going down at Wheelock College. I just found it timely given what I wrote a recently. But I won't front. I don't resent anything the benefits the Black male. I'm entitled to my personal bias. Nevertheless, like my homegirl M said, sometimes the best things happen by surprise. Start planning for Halloween now.

The Education of Black Male Youth Lecture Series
Responding to the Crisis Confronting Black Male Youth Crisis.

Marginalized. Endangered. These terms are used with increasing regularity to describe the plight of young Black males in the education system.

Wheelock College and the Delores Walker Johnson Center for Thoughtful Leadership at ATLAS Learning Communities are responding to the crisis confronting Black male youth with a series of public lectures, beginning October 18, to address the education of young black males. The series is being held in conjunction with a Principal Leadership Seminar Series.

• In Boston, there are 15,575 Black male students, approximately 24 percent, in the school system.
• Black students received 72 percent of the out of school suspensions, while White students received 7 percent.
• Black students accounted for 69 percent of classifications for “Emotional Disturbance”
  
• 53 percent of “Specific learning disabilities” while White students made up 13 percent and 18 percent of those so classified. (Schlott Foundation, 2004)
  

Please join us for these free lectures that will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Lucy Wheelock Auditorium located at 180 The Riverway, Boston.

The music started in the hearts and drums, from another land

This is the music, that we give tribute to
They gave it to us, that's why we give it to you
The jazz music... the jazz music
-Gangstarr

The Beantown Jazz Festival was dope as usual. but next year, J4DA realy, really, really needs to be up in that piece yo. There should be no excuses. Anything else would be uncivilized. both dailies had an art-icle and i took some pictures. But it was a little different seeing how the Berklee machine got put in motion. And while it' snot necessarily a bad thing, it still leaves a faint resemblance to gentrification yet i can quite put my finger on it precisely. oh well. and apparently my man Cee-Lo is branching out, so I gotta show love and say, Suppport the Ecelctic Kitchen!

Shake the snakes, pimp the system

What Happened to the Revolt Black Athlete?

He traded in his Kufi for a New Era

maybe, just maybe he still lurks in the shadows quietly building momentum. maybe he shoots cops, ODs on pills, and borrows piss to pass drug tests in order to shield the man from his true intentions.

but what's that you say? you thought he said he was the man? nah, homie. completely different context. but maybe it's just fiction and all for naught. maybe he has retreated to the recesses of suburbia unwilling to risk life, limb, and liberty to speak out loud like jim brown roared and as tall as lew alcindor stood. maybe the vasectomy of the black male athlete is a parallel to the black male hero figure because they barely have their balls and their words left.

just like a Rochester customer
God blessed the mothers and younger brothers of hustlas
Cause she don't wanna sob at his wake
But he wanna follow in his steps, bend his hat, learn his shakes
Master his swagger in the bathroom mirror, cop a Chevy, steady mob in his place

rendered at a disadvantaged in a disproportionate number of circumstances yet unwilling to chalk up the gap to the status quo. he presses on. unrelenting in his quest for success, progress, and redemption. he knows of the sacrfice. he bears the marks of one hundred whip lashes across his neck and back as he shoves black gloves in his socks for insurance just in case he gets fronted on. just in case heads wasn't ready. because he grunts when he dunks and dances in end zones with a carefree zeal because he knows it is about more than just the score. the victory. the one-up. the come-up. much more than a snapshot of his life.

and they wonder why athletes became role models. they used to hold us down. idolization was fly because the idols were the flyest. yet the kufi is still there. he wears many hats. from fitteds to doo-rags and kangols and skully caps. he is the sheep in wolf's clothing.

With a different face from the one that he use to face his mama
If you look close, You'll see it consist of a smile that hurts, an ice grill, and a trace of trauma
-Lupe Fiasco, "Just Might Be Okay"