Well, it's that time of the year again to vote for your favorite performance at the 2009 BET Hip Hop Awards. Although it seems like only yesterday that the infamous comedian Katt Williams (hosted 2008 BET Hip Hop Awards) took the stage to amuse us with a night of jokes that would make you sick with laughter; comedian Mike Epps took the stage Tuesday night (hosted 2009 Hip Hop Awards) to give us yet another hillarious event. Star-studded performances for the night included both fresh faces, as well as the old runs who still "Run This Town." Artists such as Fabolous, The Dream, Gucci Mane, Lil' Scrappy, Shawty Lo, Mario, Soulja Boy, Jay-Z and Young Jeezy (my favorite) lit up the stage and energized the crowd with some of music's hottest songs of the year.
And if you just so happened to have missed the awards show, you can tune in to BET tonight to watch your favorites rocking the stage again at the Hip Hop Awards at 9 p.m. Now let's not miss it this time!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Could we have been arrested in pre-school for cutting in line?
If the Pre-school teacher asks the class to line up and Little Johnny decides to squeeze in-between two of his friends so that he can be near the front of the line, should he be suspended?
Or what if 13-year old Taylor walks in front of thirty kids in the lunch line, yet she explains that her friend was holding her spot in line-- should she be expelled from school?
As bizarre and crazy as this sounds, a similar case has left a young lady, if found guilty, to possibly 15 years in prison.
The story that has been buzzing across the news goes something like this:
"Heather [Ellis] was in a Walmart store 3 years ago with her cousin. The two split up to find the shortest line. Since her cousin was in the shorter line, Heather joined him. That’s when the clerk accused Heather of cutting in front of the other customers. An argument ensued, leading to the manager and security guard being called, and finally the police" (http://www.theroot.com/buzz/what-woman-faces-15-years-cutting-wal-mart-line).
The particular situation has left the young college student "charged with disturbing the peace, trespassing and two counts of assaulting a police officer," and felony charges after she "refused to sign a plea agreement" (http://www.theroot.com/buzz/what-woman-faces-15-years-cutting-wal-mart-line).
Since then, people have rallied in favor of Ellis being not guilty; but members of the Ku Klux Klan have expressed their disproval by threatening protesters and the family of Heather Ellis (http://www.theroot.com/buzz/what-woman-faces-15-years-cutting-wal-mart-line).
I can honestly say that I too, have done the same thing that was done by Ms. Ellis and her cousin; yet I never thought it was a crime to have a strategic technique when shopping in one of the busiest stores in the world. The entire situation has led to, in my opinion, an unneccesary case. With all the crimes and other issues that needs to be priority with the feds, why are we worrying about who pays for their items first? What matters is that they pay for it, right?
What do you think?
Or what if 13-year old Taylor walks in front of thirty kids in the lunch line, yet she explains that her friend was holding her spot in line-- should she be expelled from school?
As bizarre and crazy as this sounds, a similar case has left a young lady, if found guilty, to possibly 15 years in prison.
The story that has been buzzing across the news goes something like this:
"Heather [Ellis] was in a Walmart store 3 years ago with her cousin. The two split up to find the shortest line. Since her cousin was in the shorter line, Heather joined him. That’s when the clerk accused Heather of cutting in front of the other customers. An argument ensued, leading to the manager and security guard being called, and finally the police" (http://www.theroot.com/buzz/what-woman-faces-15-years-cutting-wal-mart-line).
The particular situation has left the young college student "charged with disturbing the peace, trespassing and two counts of assaulting a police officer," and felony charges after she "refused to sign a plea agreement" (http://www.theroot.com/buzz/what-woman-faces-15-years-cutting-wal-mart-line).
Since then, people have rallied in favor of Ellis being not guilty; but members of the Ku Klux Klan have expressed their disproval by threatening protesters and the family of Heather Ellis (http://www.theroot.com/buzz/what-woman-faces-15-years-cutting-wal-mart-line).
I can honestly say that I too, have done the same thing that was done by Ms. Ellis and her cousin; yet I never thought it was a crime to have a strategic technique when shopping in one of the busiest stores in the world. The entire situation has led to, in my opinion, an unneccesary case. With all the crimes and other issues that needs to be priority with the feds, why are we worrying about who pays for their items first? What matters is that they pay for it, right?
What do you think?
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Money, Power and Respect... and Marriage?
If anyone is familiar with the hip/hop genre, who could forget the infamous hook that rap artist Lil' Kim performed on the L.O.X.'s song. It goes something like this:
See I believe in Money, Power, and Respect
First you get the money, then you get the power
After you get the power, then [people] will respect you
It's the key to life
Money, power, respect
What you need in life...
When you eatin' right...
You'll see the light...
The chorus goes on, stressing the importance of money, power, and respect in life. But what if a rapper decided to include among the list of essentials, marriage being one?
My brother sent me an article the other day on www.theroot.com, where a writer by the name of Joe Cummings described rap artist Jay-Z as "clever, creative—and cagey—enough to rap about marriage without rapping about his own." He went into details to discuss the influence that Jay-Z has on young males and their perceptions of the world; therefore,if Jay-Z decided to put a positive spin on marriage and rap about it, shouldn't it have the same influential effect?
In 2008, CNN (stated during the "Black In America: Part 2)found that 45 percent of successful black women have never been married.
Although there are many reasons behind this number, I think that if Black men were taught at a young age the importance of an education, family, respect,and being able to provide a good life for themself, the marriage rate among blacks wouldn't be so low. And if the young man can't be fed this information at home, what better way to hear it than from those whom you admire on television?
So, for rap artists like Jay-Z who have been successful, think about it... In your music, you talk about the money, the power, and the respect, so let's add a fourth lug to the wheel-- marriage. Now this could be the complete package.
See I believe in Money, Power, and Respect
First you get the money, then you get the power
After you get the power, then [people] will respect you
It's the key to life
Money, power, respect
What you need in life...
When you eatin' right...
You'll see the light...
The chorus goes on, stressing the importance of money, power, and respect in life. But what if a rapper decided to include among the list of essentials, marriage being one?
My brother sent me an article the other day on www.theroot.com, where a writer by the name of Joe Cummings described rap artist Jay-Z as "clever, creative—and cagey—enough to rap about marriage without rapping about his own." He went into details to discuss the influence that Jay-Z has on young males and their perceptions of the world; therefore,if Jay-Z decided to put a positive spin on marriage and rap about it, shouldn't it have the same influential effect?
In 2008, CNN (stated during the "Black In America: Part 2)found that 45 percent of successful black women have never been married.
Although there are many reasons behind this number, I think that if Black men were taught at a young age the importance of an education, family, respect,and being able to provide a good life for themself, the marriage rate among blacks wouldn't be so low. And if the young man can't be fed this information at home, what better way to hear it than from those whom you admire on television?
So, for rap artists like Jay-Z who have been successful, think about it... In your music, you talk about the money, the power, and the respect, so let's add a fourth lug to the wheel-- marriage. Now this could be the complete package.
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