So, one of the best song's on the last album, against the rich, and about the realities of wars and poverty, got turned into a shitty ass ra ra song about "waving flags" at the Olympics. I mean, get your bread up, but this dude is a total beez.
Here's the original version.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
My Review of RIck Ross's 'Port of Miami'
Check out at the Anvil here.
Boss Music?
A Review of Rick Ross, Port of Miami - by crudo
I first heard of Rick Ross when I watched Katt Williams' American Hustle, which features Ross's hit song, "Hustlin'" as it's opener. "Any nigga that hustle, that's our national anthem right there. Even if yo job don't require no hustlin; even if you a librarian," he comments after the song is cut off. I forgot about Ross for a bit, but then heard Ross on a Lil' Boosie track later while in the library while working on the latest issue of Modesto Anarcho. Lil Boosie himself, is a southern rapper who has done some great stuff and is someone that I just recently heard about due to anarchists holding a banner at a Reclaim the Streets party in the south reading 'Free Lil Wayne! Free Lil Boosie.' Anyway, after hearing Ross on the Boosie track, I downloaded Ross's 2006 album, The Port of Miami, largely because it included the 'Hustlin' track. About a year ago while in Phoenix, I read an article that Ross wrote in The Source about the Miami drug trade and so the reference to cocaine trafficking was neither lost on me nor surprising. For fans of the film Scarface it's not a surprise, but for those that don't know, Miami is one of the major entrance points for cocaine entering the United States, largely from Latin America. Ross's album deals largely with these themes and the problems that erupt between the state and poor (black) people that sell drugs to make ends meet. However recently, accusations over Ross formerly being a prison guard have lead many people to question whether or not Ross's gangsta rap persona should be taken literally at all.
First, we should look at Ross's music. His themes are pretty run of the mill in the "cocaine rap" world; a genre that I find myself listening heavily to these days. In fact, Rick Ross takes his name from "Freeway" Ricky Ross who helped launch the spread of cocaine and crack sales into the United States in the 1980's. Radicals should be keen on remembering this, as he was also the person that was moving that shit while the US government was racking in the cash from such sales and sending it out to the Contras in Nicaragua. History aside, unlike some of my currently favorite rappers such as Lil Boosie, Young Jeezy, Slim Thug, and Plies, Ross's flows leave one often unsatisfied. He has a slow style that makes him come off as almost an overweight Mace; it's often so slow it appears that he's just talking and not rapping. Sadly however, unlike other physically large rappers who used their size as a way to project their voice (Big Pun and Biggie come to mind), Ross simply just kind of plods along in the songs, never really giving much emotion to what he's talking about. Many of the hooks are catchy however, and this is what often saves the song. The first half of the album is saved largely due to this; songs like Push It, Hustlin, and Cross that Line (featuring Akon on the hook), prove this to be true.
Second, it's interesting to look at Ross's background as a prison guard. In as issue of XXL Ross commented after months of allegations when rumors began circulating once photos of Ross in a prison guard uniform appeared online. "Me not answering or addressing that situation has nothing to do with my career," he's quoted as saying. "I've accomplished enough, and I've made enough money for me to be good. ... Yes, it was me in those pictures. But I'mma tell you this. Me taking that job, I was doing my job. You understand what I mean?" He goes onto state, "But, just to let you know, that's what I witnessed. It's a reality. I cannot discuss certain people that's still in the streets, and I will not. I took a street oath, and I'mma live by that, and I'mma die by that. And it's not about a music career, 'cause that shit, I'm good. It's about me and being in the streets." I'll leave it to the commentators on the streethop.com messageboard to level the critique: "Well I see it, the "image" these fake ass niggas wanna have of being tough guys selling rocks on the streets and running from the Police..," claims one person. Another person writes, "like i said this just shows how fake the rap game is today. how a nigga go from a prison guard to a rap star. damn only time a real nigga see the inside of a prison is when u doin hard time not when u a watch dog."
Letting go of the issue of Ross being a former guard, we can then move on onto critiquing the videos that came off that album. Starting with "Push It," which features a sample from the song "Push It to the Limit" by Paul Engemann, which was one of the main songs from Scarface. It's no wonder why Ross decided to sample this song, as his version and the video deals with the ins and outs of the Miami drug trade and the video apes much of the film. However, it's hard to tell where Ross's experiences begin and what is simply gleamed from drug and popular culture. Some of the lyrics of the song are redeemable, as they deal with the realities of class society. "All I seen is the sruggle/Its like im trapped in this slum/Niggas were badly paid/No water we barely bathed/Better be better days on the way/Thats on my daddy grave." The video for the hit song 'Hustlin,' is much more interesting, and suggests that Ross himself might have something more interesting to say than just reticulated bits of pop culture. At the start of the video he states, "Miami, a playboy's paradise. Pretty girls, fast cars; that's just a facade. The bridge separates south beach from my Miami; the real Miami, Mi-yayo, this is where we hustle." The video moves from a scene of bright colors and scantly dressed women, to a more starker shot of a ghetto with people posted on corners and people slanging various wares from out of their cars. We then see Ross as he drives through this area collecting money from various pushers and a woman who we can assume is a prostitute. Certainly not the "Pimps down Hoes Up!" perspective of class antagonism that rappers such as the Coup would promote, but then many would argue that performers like Ross are simply telling us how it is and not as it should be.
Still, Ross constantly portrays himself as "The Boss," and we can assume that he at least enjoys having himself (or people thinking of him) at the top of this pyramid of 'black market capitalism,' not gripping about the effects of such or his position at the bottom of it. However, Ross still comments on the realities of the drug trade, "See most of my niggas really still deal cocaine/My roof back, My money right/I'm on the pedal, show you what I'm runnin' like/When they snatch black I cry for 100 nights/We got 100 bodies, serving 100 lifes." Probably my favorite lyrics on the whole album is from the track, "Cross that Line," which is probably just because it features Akon and includes some of the most class conscious lyrics on the whole album. "I was birthed in the crackhouse/But what made it worse every first is a packed house/Little brother knowin' life illegal/No toys just playin' with pipes and needles."
Going back to the end of the Hustlin' video however, I find it interesting because it shows Ross on top of a mansion, surrounded by red flags, with scenes of drug underlings and prostitutes doing their thing and stacking paper, and Ross firmly placed at the top, rapping about it. Perhaps this is what is troubling and ultimately most boring about artists such as Ross: there's always going to be something interesting about illegal activity for the sake of making money in defiance of the law, but why do we always hear about those at the top? Wouldn't it be more interesting to hear something that a prostitute or a low level drug employee in such an underground organization has to say? Who wants to hear from a "boss" anyway, much less a former pig? Be it at McDonald's or the coke game.
Boss Music?
A Review of Rick Ross, Port of Miami - by crudo
I first heard of Rick Ross when I watched Katt Williams' American Hustle, which features Ross's hit song, "Hustlin'" as it's opener. "Any nigga that hustle, that's our national anthem right there. Even if yo job don't require no hustlin; even if you a librarian," he comments after the song is cut off. I forgot about Ross for a bit, but then heard Ross on a Lil' Boosie track later while in the library while working on the latest issue of Modesto Anarcho. Lil Boosie himself, is a southern rapper who has done some great stuff and is someone that I just recently heard about due to anarchists holding a banner at a Reclaim the Streets party in the south reading 'Free Lil Wayne! Free Lil Boosie.' Anyway, after hearing Ross on the Boosie track, I downloaded Ross's 2006 album, The Port of Miami, largely because it included the 'Hustlin' track. About a year ago while in Phoenix, I read an article that Ross wrote in The Source about the Miami drug trade and so the reference to cocaine trafficking was neither lost on me nor surprising. For fans of the film Scarface it's not a surprise, but for those that don't know, Miami is one of the major entrance points for cocaine entering the United States, largely from Latin America. Ross's album deals largely with these themes and the problems that erupt between the state and poor (black) people that sell drugs to make ends meet. However recently, accusations over Ross formerly being a prison guard have lead many people to question whether or not Ross's gangsta rap persona should be taken literally at all.
First, we should look at Ross's music. His themes are pretty run of the mill in the "cocaine rap" world; a genre that I find myself listening heavily to these days. In fact, Rick Ross takes his name from "Freeway" Ricky Ross who helped launch the spread of cocaine and crack sales into the United States in the 1980's. Radicals should be keen on remembering this, as he was also the person that was moving that shit while the US government was racking in the cash from such sales and sending it out to the Contras in Nicaragua. History aside, unlike some of my currently favorite rappers such as Lil Boosie, Young Jeezy, Slim Thug, and Plies, Ross's flows leave one often unsatisfied. He has a slow style that makes him come off as almost an overweight Mace; it's often so slow it appears that he's just talking and not rapping. Sadly however, unlike other physically large rappers who used their size as a way to project their voice (Big Pun and Biggie come to mind), Ross simply just kind of plods along in the songs, never really giving much emotion to what he's talking about. Many of the hooks are catchy however, and this is what often saves the song. The first half of the album is saved largely due to this; songs like Push It, Hustlin, and Cross that Line (featuring Akon on the hook), prove this to be true.
Second, it's interesting to look at Ross's background as a prison guard. In as issue of XXL Ross commented after months of allegations when rumors began circulating once photos of Ross in a prison guard uniform appeared online. "Me not answering or addressing that situation has nothing to do with my career," he's quoted as saying. "I've accomplished enough, and I've made enough money for me to be good. ... Yes, it was me in those pictures. But I'mma tell you this. Me taking that job, I was doing my job. You understand what I mean?" He goes onto state, "But, just to let you know, that's what I witnessed. It's a reality. I cannot discuss certain people that's still in the streets, and I will not. I took a street oath, and I'mma live by that, and I'mma die by that. And it's not about a music career, 'cause that shit, I'm good. It's about me and being in the streets." I'll leave it to the commentators on the streethop.com messageboard to level the critique: "Well I see it, the "image" these fake ass niggas wanna have of being tough guys selling rocks on the streets and running from the Police..," claims one person. Another person writes, "like i said this just shows how fake the rap game is today. how a nigga go from a prison guard to a rap star. damn only time a real nigga see the inside of a prison is when u doin hard time not when u a watch dog."
Letting go of the issue of Ross being a former guard, we can then move on onto critiquing the videos that came off that album. Starting with "Push It," which features a sample from the song "Push It to the Limit" by Paul Engemann, which was one of the main songs from Scarface. It's no wonder why Ross decided to sample this song, as his version and the video deals with the ins and outs of the Miami drug trade and the video apes much of the film. However, it's hard to tell where Ross's experiences begin and what is simply gleamed from drug and popular culture. Some of the lyrics of the song are redeemable, as they deal with the realities of class society. "All I seen is the sruggle/Its like im trapped in this slum/Niggas were badly paid/No water we barely bathed/Better be better days on the way/Thats on my daddy grave." The video for the hit song 'Hustlin,' is much more interesting, and suggests that Ross himself might have something more interesting to say than just reticulated bits of pop culture. At the start of the video he states, "Miami, a playboy's paradise. Pretty girls, fast cars; that's just a facade. The bridge separates south beach from my Miami; the real Miami, Mi-yayo, this is where we hustle." The video moves from a scene of bright colors and scantly dressed women, to a more starker shot of a ghetto with people posted on corners and people slanging various wares from out of their cars. We then see Ross as he drives through this area collecting money from various pushers and a woman who we can assume is a prostitute. Certainly not the "Pimps down Hoes Up!" perspective of class antagonism that rappers such as the Coup would promote, but then many would argue that performers like Ross are simply telling us how it is and not as it should be.
Still, Ross constantly portrays himself as "The Boss," and we can assume that he at least enjoys having himself (or people thinking of him) at the top of this pyramid of 'black market capitalism,' not gripping about the effects of such or his position at the bottom of it. However, Ross still comments on the realities of the drug trade, "See most of my niggas really still deal cocaine/My roof back, My money right/I'm on the pedal, show you what I'm runnin' like/When they snatch black I cry for 100 nights/We got 100 bodies, serving 100 lifes." Probably my favorite lyrics on the whole album is from the track, "Cross that Line," which is probably just because it features Akon and includes some of the most class conscious lyrics on the whole album. "I was birthed in the crackhouse/But what made it worse every first is a packed house/Little brother knowin' life illegal/No toys just playin' with pipes and needles."
Going back to the end of the Hustlin' video however, I find it interesting because it shows Ross on top of a mansion, surrounded by red flags, with scenes of drug underlings and prostitutes doing their thing and stacking paper, and Ross firmly placed at the top, rapping about it. Perhaps this is what is troubling and ultimately most boring about artists such as Ross: there's always going to be something interesting about illegal activity for the sake of making money in defiance of the law, but why do we always hear about those at the top? Wouldn't it be more interesting to hear something that a prostitute or a low level drug employee in such an underground organization has to say? Who wants to hear from a "boss" anyway, much less a former pig? Be it at McDonald's or the coke game.
Friday, February 26, 2010
"And So It Must Spread..."
"Because of their manner of dress and their behavior, they did not resemble the students that we have become accustomed to dealing with over the past six months."
Rioters Clash with Police in Streets South of UC Berkeley
from Daily Californian
A crowd of more than 200 people swarmed the streets of Southside early Friday morning in a riot involving six law enforcement agencies, runaway dumpsters, flaming trash cans, shattered windows and violent clashes between rioters and police.
What began as a dance party on Upper Sproul Plaza led to an occupation of Durant Hall at around 11:15 p.m. Thursday to raise support for the March 4 statewide protest in support of public education.
UCPD Captain Margo Bennett said the occupiers "cut a lock to get into the construction area and then cut a lock to get into the building" before vandalizing the area.
"There were windows broken, there was spray painting and graffiti on the interior, there was construction equipment that was tossed around," she said.
The occupation evolved into a riot as it moved onto streets south of campus, where a protester broke several windows of the Subway at Bancroft Way and Telegraph Avenue at about 1:41 a.m.
Bennett said the occupiers were able to leave Durant Hall without police confrontation because UCPD did not have adequate staffing and the Berkeley Police Department had not responded to the scene per UCPD request before the occupiers left.
She added that UCPD believes many of the occupiers were not UC Berkeley students.
"Because of their manner of dress and their behavior, they did not resemble the students that we have become accustomed to dealing with over the past six months," she said.
After moving off campus, the group grew and settled at Durant and Telegraph avenues.
Officers from UCPD, Oakland, BART and the California Highway Patrol, in addition to all but four Berkeley Police Department officers on duty that night, responded to the scene, according to Berkeley police Dispatcher Rayna Johnson.
"It's a little hectic," Johnson said.
Berkeley and UCPD officers stood shoulder-to-shoulder in a line on Telegraph Ave. facing the dancing crowd, which had formed around a stereo system blaring music from a shopping cart.
The tone of the gathering changed at about 1:55 a.m. when a dumpster was pushed into the center of the intersection and set on fire by members of the crowd. The Berkeley Fire Department responded as people danced on top of the dumpster and shouted, "Whose street? Our street!"
Employees of the Blakes on Telegraph bar and restaurant brought out buckets of water and fire extinguishers to douse the flames.
Officers physically pushed the crowd back so that Berkeley fire personnel could extinguish the flames. Sporadic fights broke out within the crowd, causing police to advance their line on the growing mob and use batons to push it back.
Members of the crowd hurled glass bottles, plastic buckets, pizza and other objects at the police line. The crowd's size and intensity fluctuated as the police and protesters clashed and multiple members of the crowd were detained by police.
Marika Goodrich, 28, a UC Berkeley senior, was arrested at the intersection of Durant and Telegraph avenues and booked for assault on a police officer, inciting a riot and resisting arrest, according to Berkeley police Officer Andrew Frankel. Zachary Miller, 26, a UC Berkeley alumnus and an organizer for the "Rolling University," was also arrested at the intersection and was booked for inciting a riot, resisting arrest and obstructing a police officer.
No arrests were made on campus, according to Bennett.
At about 2:43 a.m., the mob accompanied the shopping cart as it traveled east on Durant.
As the crowd moved, a white Dodge Charger turned onto the street and people ran alongside the car as it advanced, a practice commonly referred to as "ghost riding the whip."
Around 2:55 a.m., the crowd settled on College Ave. outside the Unit 1 residence halls, where some members propelled a dumpster down Durant Ave. toward police.
About 15 minutes later, after the crowd launched a second dumpster down Durant Avenue, a line of police vehicles charged through the streets, scattering the crowd in all directions.
Police ended the riot at approximately 3:15 a.m.
When the crowd had left Durant Hall earlier in the night, UCPD Chief Mitch Celaya said the main concern for police was to assess the damage thus far and monitor the crowd as it proceeded down Telegraph Avenue.
"We're going to hopefully secure the exterior," he said. "We're going to take a look to see what, if any, kind of damage has been caused. We're concerned about the group as they march around, that they don't commit any acts of vandalism, not just to our property but to the city."
Although the occupation had been planned, the decision to move off campus could not be attributed to any one person, according to Callie Maidhof, a representative for the occupiers.
"If you get all these people here, what they decide to do is what matters," Maidhof said. "It's not whoever may or may not have planned it, that's irrelevant at a certain point."
Shaunt Attarian, Chris Carrassi, Tomer Ovadia, Sarah Springfield, Zach E.J. Williams and Mihir Zaveri of The Daily Californian contributed to this report.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Holla at ya boy!
So, word on the street is that after the BASTARD Conference there is going to be people doing comedy. Just saying...
Also, who's down for a rematch with the RCP?
Monday, February 22, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Contribution to New Website
Looks like I'll be contributing to a new website called "The Anvil," which is an anarchist review site for music, film, movies, and games. I've submitted a review of Rick Ross's 2006 album The Port of Miami. I'll be posting up a link to the article when the site goes online in a few weeks. The other reviews look really interesting and there is talk about making a print publication with the various reviews every few months.
Stay tuned...
Sunday, February 14, 2010
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