The Moroccan Shake

The Moroccan Shake

My first year in Morocco, I spent living in the Imperial City of Marrakesh. Marrakesh's magnificience and marvelous culture made me feel like I was home. The people were proud, lighthearted, fun, hospitable and the food was sumptuous. Whether it was the various tajine dishes, bastilla, rafeesa or the famous couscous dishes you were going to partake in delicious dining. It's not simpy the way these meals are prepared but it's the way they're presented that really has a profound affect on the heart. The tales of Morocco run the gamut from breath-taking to horrifying. Well, this is one tale about a journey to As-Suwara, the coastal city on the West African Ocean that's approximately 90 minutes from Marrakesh. We commandeered a taxi and jetted off to As-Suwara. As-Suwara is a very laidblack city with an artsy flavor. The beautiful colors of buildings and homes, bring a certain calmness to the soul. It's certainly a place for the eyes to relax and find comfort and rest. As-Suwara is also known for it's Gnawa Music Festival's that are akin to Reggae Musical Explosions in Jamaica. The late great Jimi Hendrix spent some time in this magical city in the late 60's. You'll find people from all over the world and various blackgrounds coming to these musical gatherings. You'll meet people from Asia, Australia, Europe, South America, North America all jamming to the sounds of these funky musicians. As we entered the city, we saw these musicians doing a number and I couldn't help but join them and do "The Moroccan Shake" with them. Of course it cost me a few dirhams to do this lovely dance with them. We boogied oogied oogied for a few minutes and it left me with another beautiful moment in Morocco, the place of many myths yet many marvelous tales.

A Classic M.C.

A Classic M.C.

Yes Yes Yall! The powerful refrain that has become synonmous with Hip Hop. Now this entry is purely to share with you a few different styles about Hip Hop or MC-ing and not to go into the discussion about Rap or its history. But I will say as Sidi Jalal Nuriddin one of the pioneers for the collective called "The Last Poets" said, "Rap is an indictment." For further info on Sidi Jalal: http://www.grandfatherofrap.com/index.html . I've been rhyming since I was in the 5th grade. My first rhyme was about a picture my schoolmate, Bryan Young, had drawn of the legendary basketball player, Dr. J. From there I'd been influenced by such distinct personalities as The Last Poets, Gil Scott-Heron, Nipsey Russell and a cassette tape my brother, Chuck returned with from Howard University. So, when "Rapper's Delight" came out I was already in the mix, but what proprelled me to explore rhyming further was a track made by Count Coolout called "Rhythm, Rap, Rock." A few years later I ran into a fledgling M.C. known as The Awesome Greg G, who was staying with his uncle in the condiminium complex of Georgetown of the Highlands. We hooked up and we used to go on freestyle rampages. He was the ultimate B-Boy, tall, gifted with words, confident and defiant. He became my first partner and we formed our crew. We went down to a small gig one night and did an impromptu performance with D.J. Johnny-O on the Wheels of Steel and we performed for about 7 minutes with pure freestyle fury. D.J. Johnny-O and the Sorcerer Crew, with the Mighty Mike McAdoo, Waney D, D.J. Shock, and Dr. T were the rave of Northeast Ohio along with D.J. Cochise and the Bomb Squad. Dean Rufus a radio personality really gave Hip Hop an outlet in Cleveland, but it was probably D.J. Cochise who really cemented Hip Hop in Cleveland. Returning to the scene of the crime, unbeknownst to me Tommy Spates a classmate of mine happened to taped our performance and brought it to school and the rest is history. After The Awesome Greg G had to leave due to academic and other issues I decided to find another partner. Stepping up and B-Boying with me was D.J. Ham. He took the initial MC Lesson and was able to unleash a barrage of rhymes and we were some of the most prominent MC's in Cleveland. We used to rock Beckman Hall almost every week after a baskteball game but we did our real performances during Rec Period at school. I remember in Georgetown I did a freestyle assault for well over 15 minutes called "So Let it Rock" which B-Boy Classicist Donte Beasley can attest to to this day as probably the most hard-hitting non-stopping body-rocking 15 minutes of verbal dexterity. After proving myself on the local circuit I decided that Hip Hop was dead so I hung up my mic. It took me about 5 years to reclaim the mic and start afresh with a more earthy and substanced filled message. I later performed with The Makkan Experience, Jupiter 415 and A.M. P.M. For me Rap or Hip Hop was about one or three things: Conscious Rap, Ego Rap and Party Rap. I'll share with you two genre's that I loved:

Ego Rap

i'm a rap icon, known from here to zion, style’s deadly like a python, better get it right son, the original black titan, starting to get excite-ton, call me the Moorish don, listen to me son, been doing this before you were born, so ain't no need for me to toot my own horn, but you need to be warned, my knowledge has a form, striking like lightning hitting harder than a thunderstorm, you might wonder when this style was born, no need for alarm or to drag this on, call me lyrical champion, and as KRS-1 said, I’m still #1, 1, 1 (fade it out).

Conscious Rap

this is simply one perspective, you can choose to reject this (Islam).
choice is another word for selective, but only those receptive,
can comprehend the depth of this message (Koran).
others just won’t get this, because they like ideas that are deceptive
not wanting a plain and simple message, that's just not where their head is
from B-Boy’s finest with rhymes that are timeless
like diamonds you need to mind this, search all you want for styles like this, you can’t find this.

I heard an MC a few years ago, named Mikail who recorded a CD called "Ways of My Song" with Remarkable Current and I found him to be the most refreshing thing to Hip Hop since the Beatbox. This is the classic Hip Hop CD, bar none; I rank it in the Top 5 of all-time Hip Hop albums/CD's. For further interest checkout the following sites:

http://www.remarkablecurrent.com
http://www.amirsulaiman.com
http://www.22040.com/tbfam/mikial/2point1.htm

Until then, Yes Yes Yall and it don't stop!

B-Boy Stance

B-Boy Stance

Hip-Hop often receives low and dirty blows from masters of tricknology that try to hide their evil intent and more often than not, older Blacks unaware of what's being lodged, join in and say, "Amen!" Hip Hop is a medium that allows those without a pulpit or sounding board to express themselves. Hip Hop has been labeled misogynistic, crude and a plethora of negative words further alienating, disenfranchising and criminalizing young Black males specifically. Hip Hop and MC's have sought to broadcast and/or report what they see and experience and thus have been called "The Black CNN." Whatever ills these MC's speak of in their songs were long in usage before someone said, "Uh 1,2, Uh 1,2." Yes, there's a certain level of responsibility and there are ways to paint pictures without low and base language, but where are the men, be they in the pulpit, corporate offices, City Hall, Congress etc. to mentor and coach these youths and legislate against the inequities that they live in daily. Many see a reality and are tired of the fantasy world that we'd like to project for them. Hip Hop has given so many people jobs and ambitions where many would have fallen into the cracks or faced an early death. So, in all fairness if we want to start with some of the ills of Hip Hop let's start with the misogyny of women in corporations, politics, advertisement etc. Let's begin with the poor school systems that lack financial resources and self-serving superintendants of school districts. Let's deal with police brutality and suspicion for looking like a criminal. Let's go after corrupt professional politicians who use tricknology and hate-filled messages under the guise of being Patriotic to control its citizenry. Yes, Hip Hop has its responsibility but don't stump on us or brand us criminals and purveyors of evil and filth because of our B-Boy Stance.

Black Moves

Black Moves

My college chum, Moise Dent decided to challenge me to a game of chess. Little did he know that I'm strong with black. Therefore, I had to prove it to him, not with a lecture but with Black Moves. But to save you from a similar fate let me explain:

Chess the brilliant contribution from the East is not only the noblest and most excellent of all games but finds itself between art and science thus it’s undeniably one of the greatest intellectual pursuits ever created. My oldest brother, Tony introduced me to this magnificent board game and I honed my skills and affection for it whilst working in juvenile corrections. Playing chess with the youth was not only a way of relearning the game, it was a way of connecting and sharing a part of me with them as well. It’s a game that does away with race, religion, age, gender or status. The game brought out latent qualities in these disenfranchised youth. Any game or thing can be used as a life lesson or a teaching moment. A good player can see four or five future moves of his opponent. Blacks move, Queen to A-1, Checkmate!