Just when I worry about MURS...he does this

And it's pretty awesome.

The 50th Law: Every Writer Has Their Price

Power is the ability to define reality and convince other people it is their definition - Dr. Wade Nobles

It's unfortunate that the printed word may soon be obsolete, as it holds the highest authority bestowed upon civilization. Get something printed up, and sooner or later, maybe even post-mortem, you'll be considered a authority. Never mind if it's fictitious, fanciful, filled with morals that only excuse behavior righteous to your cause, but the word, if executed compellingly, has so much power that it can control the minds of millions of people, especially when it comes to religion.

I am a writer and I know this for myself. I don't consider myself an authority on what I write about, but a person who seeks truth in what I don't know. And a record-keeper of what I believe is true in history. Journalists are classically-trained to write without bias, which is a relative impossibility. We are all biased. And the minute that anyone touches their writing instrument to paper, we are all forever changed by their bias.

48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene is so wildly-popular among Hip Hop that it's become cliche. But the reason it has become so popular in this particular segment of the population is because it goes against the natural instincts we are taught as survivors of our environment. As survivors, we are taught to defend ourselves, appear bigger than our opponent, strike fear into others, share our emotions, and be self-righteous. 48 Laws re-teaches us to be calculating, hide our intentions, pose as a spy, and control our emotions. These skills are on opposite sides of the spectrum, and valuable to our survival in the corporate world, where all the fighting is done intelligently.

So as a writer, I know that the mere act of writing creates its own power, and should also be questioned, especially when one is commissioned to write in their honor, as 50 Cent has commissioned Robert Greene to do so. The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli was also a piece of literature for the Italian monarchy to further his agenda. Every writer has a price, and that price is irrelevant to the truth. So while I believe that this upcoming book will be entertaining and enlightening to 50's story, I do believe that there is quite a bit of money being thrown at Robert Greene, and that binds him create an alternate reality where 50 is the most powerful of all. Beware.

Read the entire dickride, ahem, foreword on the following sites:

Sources:
Nah Right
Rap Radar

Pop Goes the White Boy (Asher Roth Review)

After much trepidation, I finally downloaded the Asher Roth's "Asleep in The Bread Aisle" album and decided to give it a chance. Despite my own pre-judgement of all that he represents in Hip-Hop's new generation, I know that music and talent speak for itself. Having said that, I think that the circumstances surrounding him, his promo, his ability to pull off a 4/20 Monday release, the fact that his face is plastered on every billboard and bus stop, will always be a sad reminder that his whiteness - rejected by him or not - will always get him further than the next artist of color.

Sonically, the album was well-mixed and composed. "As I Em", which I thought almost an effort in futility, still was heartfelt and insightful, but did none to quell the Em comparisons or even begin to address his white privilege in Hip Hop (want to hear a real White MC address it? Peep Macklemore's "White Privilege"). As the beat starts, it sounded like a Sublime knock-off, (and trust, my college years were spent listening to Bradley Nowell croon, so it definitely worked for nostalgia's sake), but as the chorus resonated and got more bluegrass, I thought, ok, but still kinda corny. And he still sounds like Em. So when "Bad Day" started and it immediately reminded me of "Drugs" by Em, I thought, uh oh, the boy's in trouble. Being that I'm a stoner and Roth and I have that in common, I was thoroughly entertained by the story although with the comparison with the latter, I knew that I wanted more, lyrically.

"Be My Myself" was given a thumbs-up largely because of my love for everything Cee Lo touches, and "Falling" reminded me of the Crazytown one-hit wonder joint. "His Dream" was emotional and a nice homage to his PopDukes, and I dug the content of "She Don't Want A Man" with Keri Hilson - it's nice to finally see a dude speak on something that most women feel when we go out. "Lion's Roar" was...aight, and not that believable when it comes to him braggin' about his sexual prowess, and he attempted to address more substantive content with "Sour Patch Kids", and I appreciated the effort, lol.

"La Di Da" had a nice sound to it, and I enjoyed "Blunt Cruisin'" and its ska breakdowns with the whole cop/droppin' the bleez scares, something that only true stoners can appreciate. But the whole "I Love College" and was something I couldn't relate to - since most of the working class folks I know had neither the parental support nor leisure to royally fuck off in college and have the gall to brag about it. And I enjoyed "Lark On My Go Kart" much more after I watched the animated video.

So there you have it. It's not my cup of tea, but it did what it promised and delivered to the young white masses yearning to be free (to rap) and trust-fund babies ready to spend their parents' money to keep Hip Hop afloat. Asher has talent and I think there's plenty of room for growth on his end, but I can't review him and not be critical of the things that he doesn't necessarily have to earn to be famous. Because white men pervade all genres of music, they are given the creative agency that may not have been granted to an '00 3Stacks or even a "devil-worshipping" Tech N9ne. So it wasn't Hip-Hop to me, persay, rather Hip-Hop Lite, watered-down for those who didn't grow up to Chuck D or Ice Cube.

Also, I was reviewing his album over the weekend when he made his now-infamous Twitter slip-up mocking Don Imus, he twitted "At Rutgers hangin' with some nappy headed hoes" and it totally took him down two notches for me. Here I am, progressive and Pro-Brown, ready to defend artists and their creative spectrum, when he pulls an idiotic joke like this. Maybe he didn't realize that Hip-Hop is still some people's only way out and should have heeded to Macklemore's line, "Most whites don't wanna admit that it's occurin'/Cuz we got the best deal/The music without the burden."



*also as a sidenote, Eminem transcended his skin color in Hip-Hop, to me, because of his skill. It is undeniable. But what was easier for me to accept as a person of color was that he also came from shitty, working-class conditions and had to work his way to the top via the battle scene. Can't say the same for Asher.

In Fashion, White journalists are at a loss for words.

I've always taken slight offense to the wording surrounding the current trends in fashion, namely one such as "Tribal", "Ethnic" and now "Global". What makes me more uncomfortable is the appropriation of these supposed cultural inflections into a multi-billion dollar industry known for its lack of diversity, and slow to cite accurately just where their "Africanized" inspiration comes from. Africa is a continent, people, not a country or romanticized ideal, a place to adopt surplus children, or a charming locale to visit while on safari. It has a complicated history forever linked with ours in America, and might be the most misunderstood continent in history. So leave it up to the brainless dipshits at an obviously majority-Caucasian publication to summarize the season's trends with such ignorant and baseless jargon as "ethnic" and especially "tribal". From the one class that I took in college about modern Africa, many of these peoples don't like to be referred to as "tribes". And they probably wouldn't like being ungraciously mimicked on the runways.





Luckily, Racialicious feels the same way: Fashion and Patronizing Colonial Rhetoric


Additional sources:
Jezebel
Out of Africa - NY Times

Beats, BBQ, and Long Beach

Proof of the need of a militant Women's Movement

Last summer, an Iraqi woman named Dalal, imprisoned to (reportedly) compel her brother to come in for questioning, was raped and impregnated by prison guards, then killed by her brother for it.

As today's LA Times reports, Dalal wrote her brother, asking for help after being raped by the guards, who apparently let her brother visit without questioning him in order to allow him to kill her and save them from getting in trouble. It worked, sort of.

The case might have ended there were it not for the morgue employee, who was determined to see those responsible held to account.

At the employee's insistence, lab workers using freshly acquired DNA-testing equipment drew a sample from the fetus. The prison guards were ordered to submit DNA samples and did so, apparently unaware of the sophistication of the morgue equipment and the people trained to use it.

"They thought we were incapable of figuring it out," said the morgue employee.

The DNA results showed that the father of the unborn baby was a police lieutenant colonel who reportedly supervised guards at the prison.

Of course, in America the guards would have been guilty of rape even if the sex had been "consensual" because our laws delineate that prisoners cannot consent — and, if I recall correctly, we sort of wrote Iraqi laws after we took over the country. But, naturally, that isn't how it worked out for either the brother or the prison guards.

Yet other accounts say the matter was settled through tribal justice. The clan of the accused lieutenant colonel paid the woman's family to drop charges, said some people in the area who are familiar with the case but fearful of discussing it openly.

via Jezebel and LA Times

You Know Twitter is a problem when:

5. someone you're not friendly with tries to "address" you passive-agressively in a post, but still lacks the balls to @ you. Be about it! And don't delete in retrospect. SMH.


4. you create a second account to add privatized people you secretly want to spy on. Stop now.


3. your significant other is nowhere to be found, except on Twitter, and his douchebag friends insist on giving up-to-the-date specs on how many fly females there are, wherever they're at.


2. wack artists only follow you to provoke you for a reply. BLOCKED!


2. people think that it's the sole way to get in contact with you professionally. Stop being lazy!


(Feel free to add your own in the comments!)

Behind The Scenes: "Marshmallow" Promo Video

Domino nail paint and pinky bling by Bijules

Homegirl #3 aka my cuzzo Nina Parks

What's my motivation? ;)

Irie Eyez: Driver. BFF. Hypewoman. (Yes, the car is her's)

This ain't no dummy blunt...check the line-up!

It's a wrap. Let's go to Mitchell's!

Ideally, the first "official" video for the upcoming album with be "Trick Habit", but I wanted to release "Marshmallow" first and thought it would be fun to do a promo video with my favorite gals. I literally had to beg some of them (*ahem, E) to be in it because a lot of them want to stay behind the scenes - but I wanted to show folks out there that this is really what we do on the daily, video or not! Mind you, it's pretty much no budget and I owe the editor a pound of narcotics for cutting it in 24 hours, but at this point, the music speaks for itself. Please don't expect the shiny, polished Hype Williams steez, but what you can expect is music with substance and some fly ladies that will never be used as accessories to wack shit! So once again, those that know me know find this shit hilarious - a dramatization if you will - but this is just to get the people talking...ROCKY RIVERA will be in full metamorphoses by this summer. Stay tuned!

"Marshmallow" Trailer (new single off my upcoming album ROCKY RIVERA)

I promised I would deliver on 4/20, and thanks to the fam superstar editor Johneric, we knocked it out just in time. I've been on a frickin' airplane traveling back to LA from NY all day, worrying that we wouldn't make it for my favorite holiday of the year, but lo and behold, with an amazing team behind me, and some willing homegirls, we were able to breathe some life into the single by doing what we do on the daily - kickin' it with the girls, riding around the city I love, SF, and of course, smokin' that good good!  No fake shit here.  This is just a taste of what's to come, a "street video" if you will, with bigger production coming up on my first solo album dropping at the end of summer.  I hope you like it!

NY: My iPhone Photo Diary Part 2

Downtown rooftop overlooking the Brooklyn & Manhattan Bridges

Playing pool (I kicked ass btw, teehee)


At Sugar Sweet Sunshine with the Mama ladies


Spending time with Tita Val

Watchin' Papa

The three stooges


We saw Kahlil's favorite dude, Elmo...

...but he was knocked out by then =(

Had to do Times Square with the fam

Pablo givin' the tourists the ole okeydoke

Showin' us where Pac got shot

Spending time with Uncle Mike

Best part of the trip: Val and Arlene <3

NYU's 3rd Annual Asian American Student Conference

If you're in the New York area, come out to NYU to watch me speak at "Beyond Mainstream Media: The Blogosphere's Role in Uniting Asian America" which starts promptly at 11:40am at the Helen and Martin Kimmel Center located at 60 Washington Sq. Along with myself, you will get a chance to see Bambu speak at "From In Da Club to On the Streets: Reclaiming Hip Hop as a Space of Empowerment" with kasama DJ Kuttin Kandi, and my good friend Valerie Francisco at "Gender Expressions: Breaking the Binary".


Also making appearances are Minya Oh aka MissInfo and our homies Deep Foundation. The best part about it is it's FREE so spend some of your Saturday learning something new and meeting amazing figures in contemporary Asian American history.


You can find the schedule and all the information at their website http://www.nycaasc.com/

"Who Has Lots of Fingers?" EP by 6Fingers

From 6Fingers Mental Box:

This EP or LP is pretty much a bunch of tracks that have been sitting looking for a home. With the music game changing I'm watching a lot of artist putting out a lot of material constantly. So instead of trippin off if these songs are good enough or trying to create a super fresh full of pressure type album...i'm like fuck it...let me throw out some music for free. The songs on this album were recorded circa 2006-2009.

Download HERE or HERE

Here's the track listings!

1. "Who Has Lots of Fingers?"
2. Comfort Zone Ft. Moe Green
3. Evil Dead 4 ft. Topkat, 6Fingers (rapping?), Hopie Spitshard, and The Nuthin
4. Take the 5 Ft. Do D.A.T. and Bambu
5. One Eye Up Ft. Topkat
6. Knock! (Instrumental)
7. Jackmove Ft. Ammbush
8. What you know Ft. Jizzm and Topkat
9. Bay Ladies Ft Hopie Spitshard and EyeASage cutz by D.J. BiziBeats
10. Afro-Filipino Ft. Topkat

NY: My iPhone Photo Diary (Part 1)

Brooklyn bodegas

White Mike's '86 Craaaziiida, and my best friend Pablo

Everything in the car is deliberately retro ;)

Def Jam 25th Anniversary shindig @ Flight Club NY, with DJ Neil Armstrong

Subway atrocities

Why didn't Cali think of that? (awesome shopping carts at Gristede's)

Love at first swipe! (matte black with upside down Chevron and teal/purple leopard)

Artwork by Arlene Rodrigo...coming to a gallery near you!

Zion I - Geek to the Beat

A white rabbit riding bmx + dancing women in tutus + some heavy 808s and dope lyrics = Zion I's new video.

World premiere for Zion I's Alice In Wonderland themed video, "Geek To The Beat" (dir. M.A.Y.O.).

Breaded + Genius = Swim...Fishdicks!!!

Guerilla Busfare TV: Diz Gibran (Watch in HQ/HD)

Diz Gibran catches up with Guerilla Busfare and talks about his newest release, Crooks & Castles presents Soon You'll Understand the street album! He talks about his partner Moonshine, his role in the West Coast resurgence and why you should keep him on your radar. Don't forget to check the freestyle, ya heard?!

Haven't downloaded it yet? Head to diznmoon.com and get it for free :)

Dj Zita Presents "Where My Ladies At?" Mixtape feat. EyeASage

Listen HERE

Peep My Cameo in the Soulja Boy Video

Don't see me? Look closer. $4 Million views! :)