All posts by d dot b

Logic, Social

Silly Monkeys! Part 0: An Abstract

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Silly Monkeys! Part 0: An Abstract
Virtues: ‘Yuh tek man fi fool/joke’, deceit, respect for others

Abstract: One day I was sitting in the offices of my business partners place of employment at an executive school. One of their co-workers who was an older white lady, let’s say in their mid-40’s made an off-color comment, it went something like, “What are you silly monkeys doing”. Now, we are three young black men, and we have an older lady calling us silly monkeys – albeit she said it in a joking context. I had never met the lady before, but I took her comment as someone that was clueless to what that phrase signified to a black person. However, one of my business partner took gross offense to it – which I understood why, but deep down inside I believe that she honestly did not say those words in a racist context.

But the story mentioned above is not what this piece is about, at least not the historical/racist aspect of what ‘silly monkey’, ‘monkey’, or ‘porchmonkey’ means to the black community. I think silly monkey is an interesting concept that can be tied to when one treats another like an idiot; one whom is deceitful, manipulative to another, and they believe that the ‘silly monkey’ has no clue of what they are up to. I always had this concept in my mind, but I could not phrase properly – better yet, I could not phrase in such a sweet, concise catch phrase that captured the essence of the concept.

So thank you, middle-aged white lady who was trying to make a joke and be hip with her peers, you have armed me with a definition that is timeless, transcends races & borders, and describes a daily occurrence that I, and I think a lot of us have to go through – dealing with people that take us for joke.

.:: d.b

Logic, Relationships, Social

3rd Person B

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3rd Person B
Living the narrative

The third person is commonly referred to as a narrative in which one is telling a story of themselves or of subjects. In novels the third person narrative is imperative as it reveals the thoughts of the protagonist and other characters of interest. Sometimes I think that my life is lived as a narrative, making myself the narrator; as I find myself accurately predicting and/or calling the thoughts and actions of others. Which has its positives & negative associations, but with this skill, it has made me very objective. You know, always trying to be impartial, be considerate of others, be politically correct; especially in the work environment, as you know we live in the age of pussification where one’s individual voice is muted at work as one dare not try to express any thought and/or emotion for fear of insulting anyone’s personal beliefs. However, subconsciously, I think that 3rd person aspect seeps its way into your personal life like ooze, and it has caused me to respond in my personal relationships as I did in my work relationships. A couple of years ago, I remember someone telling me of this behaviour, but I thought that they were way off, but now recollecting, it made sense.

Since then, I’ve worked on it, some have said that I worked on it too much (by being brutally honest), but I guess as the saying goes, ‘you cant please everyone’. And really and truly, being ‘liked by others’ is completely over-rated.

What do y’all think? Share your thoughts and comments, share the knowledge.

.:: d.b

Life in B Major
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Economics, Hip-Hop

Hip-Hop Cash Kings

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Hip-Hop Cash Kings
From: www.forbes.com

While most of us look forward to retirement, Shawn Carter, better known to the planet as master rapper Jay-Z, couldn’t stand the view from the sidelines following his 2003 farewell The Black Album. Despite a frenetic schedule as president of Def Jam Recordings and co-founder of its ultra-successful Roc-A-Fella Records imprint, Jay-Z managed to squeeze in a comeback last year with Kingdom Come, his 11th studio album, which debuted at the top of the pop and rap music charts, selling some 2 million copies.

But those weren’t the only paycheques coming in. Jay-Z also owns the 40/40 Club sports bar franchise, with locations in New York and Atlanta, and a small stake in the NBA’s New Jersey Nets. (He’s often photographed in courtside seats alongside his girlfriend, pop superstar Beyoncé.) Plus the native New Yorker (from Brooklyn’s hardscrabble Marcy Projects) collects income from blue-chip endorsement deals with Budweiser, Hewlett-Packard (nyse: HPQ), and General Motors (nyse: GM). All told, Jay-Z banked an estimated US$34 million in 2006, earning him the top spot on Forbes’ first-ever list of hip-hop Cash Kings.

Unlike traditional music genres like pop, rock and country, whose artists generally make the bulk of their money selling albums and touring, hip-hop has spawned an impressive cadre of musicians-cum-entrepreneurs who have parlayed their fame into lucrative entertainment empires. Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, who nabbed the No. 2 spot on the list, presides over G-Unit, a diverse portfolio of businesses that includes apparel, ringtones, video games and even a line of fiction. All told, “Fiddy” as he is known to fans, made an estimated US$32 million last year. “I’m creating a foundation that will be around for a long time, because fame can come and go or get lost in the lifestyle and the splurging,” he told Forbes last year. “I never got into it for the music. I got into it for the business.”

At No. 3 is impresario Sean “Diddy” Combs, formerly known as “Puff Daddy,” who lords over Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment Group. That enterprise is responsible for TV series like MTV’s Making the Band franchise, the Sean John clothing line, the bestselling Unforgivable cologne and a pair of restaurants called Justin’s, named after one of his sons. The Bad Boy Records label, backed by Warner Music Group (nyse: WMG), released albums last year by Danity Kane, Cassie and Yung Joc. Last year, Diddy himself released his first album in four years; Press Play debuted at the top of the U.S. pop and rap charts. All told, Combs made an estimated US$28 million last year. (Representatives for Diddy, ever the showman, insist that figure is much higher.)

Generally, the most successful “hip-hopreneurs” run their own labels, taking a cut from the artists they sign. Both Eminem (US$18 million) and Dr. Dre (US$20 million) boast Interscope-backed imprints; both helped produce and release 50 Cent’s last two albums, which have sold over 20 million copies worldwide. Fifty owns his own G-Unit label which produces artists like Young Buck and Lloyd Banks, among others.

Other lucrative businesses: producing tracks and beats for other artists. Listers like Timbaland (US$21 million), Scott Storch (US$17 million) and Pharrell Williams (US$17 million) are among the most sought after–and pricey– producers on the planet. Rappers like Snoop Dogg (US$17 million) collect massive fees for cameos on other artists’ tracks. Last year, in addition to releasing Tha Blue Carpet Treatment, his eighth studio album, Snoop Dogg (US$17 million) made guest appearances on hit singles by Akon, Mariah Carey and the Pussycat Dolls.

While endorsement deals with top-shelf brands used to be the exclusive domain of pop’s biggest acts–Michael Jackson and Madonna, among them–hip-hop artists now routinely land such gigs. This year Chamillionaire (US$11 million) inked a deal with Energizer; The Game (US$11 million) peddles Skechers sneakers. And in an irrefutable sign of just how corporate hip-hop has become: Last October Anheuser Busch named Jay-Z “co-brand director” for Budweiser Select.

Our estimates are based solely on 2006 income. In March, Jay-Z sold his Rocawear apparel label to Iconix (nasdaq: ICON) for US$204 million. Forbes estimates he pocketed about a quarter of that, after taxes and other payable commitments. And in May, Coca Cola (nyse: KO) announced it would buy Glaceau, maker of VitaminWater, for US$4.2 billion in cash. Once the deal is consummated, 50 Cent, who agreed to endorse the brand in 2004 in exchange for a small stake, should walk away with some US$100 million. Best efforts were made to contact every member of the list for comment.

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Family, Love, Social

Black Like Me

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Black Like Me
Virtues: race, distinction, etiology

Black like me, like who? Whether your background is Caribbean, American, or African, if you are black you share traits – people look at you with common expectations. However, amongst black people, we like to distinguish ourselves from each other, even though we essentially come from the same place – Africa. My background is Caribbean, but now I reside in North America (Toronto to be specific), and I once talked to this African woman; I thought that it would be just as usual if I was talking to a Jamaican or Trini, but I soon realized that I felt that our cultures were so different; I almost thought that I was dating a white girl. I was learning about different foods, traditions, heritage, attitudes that I thought that I should know (because we share the same race), but I was grossly mistaken.

Historical Sense
In North America, you generally have two classes of black people: domesticated/westernized blacks & Africans. The former group comes from a diverse background; they have either migrated from the Caribbean islands and/or are the offspring of slavery. From the shores of Halifax Nova Scotia which was Canada’s first black population settlement, to the deep south of Mississippi, there is similarity of a shared struggle throughout history that exists even to this day; their heritage only spans from somewhere in the 1800’s – anytime before that, and the details of their heritage gets sketchy, fuzzy, like channel ‘01’. Similarly, the Caribbean people that have migrated to Canada & the U.S. for better prosperity share a similar heritage-like progression as they too have lost details about their history from around the 1800’s and even early 1900’s. This is significant to the domesticated/westernized blacks because they have a loss of culture; a loss of roots.

I know the enlightened person is like, ‘you shouldn’t group Caribbean’s with domesticated westernized blacks because their culture is different’, such a person would be right; but they share the same etiology – the etiology they share is different from African blacks.

Noticeable Differences
It is the etiology that essentially creates the distinction and divide that exists amongst blacks – so much so that both groups are prejudice to each other. And with all types of prejudice behavior – it is a result of a lack of knowledge and respect for others. Meaning, that the Westernized blacks may know about the history of Africa (i.e. slavery), but currently, the Westernized blacks do not know much about the current state of their brethren across the Atlantic. According to the media, Africa is still full of savages, AIDS, poverty, and tribes.

In my experiences, both groups have an inherent bias towards themselves. The domesticated/westernized blacks believe that they are better than the Africans because they have been in the West longer, understand the western culture & ideals better, and have better language skills. Whereas, the Africans believe that they are better than the domesticated/westernized blacks because they believe that they have more heritage, know their roots, and are more ‘black’ (pure) than their brethren. So basically, this correlates into a subdued (or at times overt) attitude that people develop of ‘frowning’ and/or ‘looking down’ on others. Which really shouldn’t be the case, because in the end, while we battle ‘looking down’ at each other, the ‘man’ is looking down at us – laughing, exploiting as usual.

Think about that!

.:: d.b

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Music Videos, videos

Erykah Badu – Honey

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Erykah Badu – Honey

I gotta give Ms. Badu some shine because every time she comes out she reinvents the wheel and brings a unique and distinct sound to the game. Only problem this time around is that the music industry is in a black abyss of sh*t, and GOOD music like this may not get the respect that it deserves. I wonder if BET will play this? I can’t imagine on what show, definitely not on 106 & Park.

Anyhow, album drops in February 26, 2008, check her out at http://www.erykahbadu.com

Support good music.

.:: d.b

Life in B Major

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Logic, Popular Culture, Relationships, Social

Pussification, pt. 0

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Pussification, pt. 0 – an abstract
Virtues: changed, dynamics, empowerment, pride, ‘stand-up’

No, its not what you think it is – I don’t craft porn-esque blogs or pieces. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but its not my style.

What I am referring to is the current and evolving state of our society since the feminist movement. It really gathered steam throughout the 80’s and 90’s, and is now a dominant force in the 2000’s. The urbandictionary .com definition of pussification is: “the state in which a society becomes less and less tough“, the origins of the word seems to come from comedian George Carlin (remember “Seven Dirty Words“).

I’d like to add to the definition that pussification is the state in which not only is society becoming less and less tough, but society is becoming overly ‘politically correct’ to the point where telling the ‘truth’ takes a backseat to being ‘polite’ – for fear of ‘offending’ anyone.

This is only pt. 0 in my series, as I will illustrate over time, the countless acts of pussification that exists in the world, and even in my life time. Everything will be touched on from, profession, education, relationships, to politics … the stink of pussification is strong (pun intended).

.:: d.b

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Sources: urbandictionary.com | wikipedia.com

Relationships

Violators

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Violators
Virtues: objectification, respect, ‘mack status’, inequality

First off, you must admit that the picture above is hot.

And to get in to this piece, I know you all have seen it before: you’re in the club with the music jumping, alcohol bubbling, and ladies bumping to the vibes. What I find interesting are the violators – those that take free liberty in gratifying themselves by molesting others. I never could muster the courage/efforts to run my hands all-over a woman while I dance with her. Even if I know her very well, or if we had a personal relationship in the past, I can’t ‘disrespect’ a woman like that in-front of others. So when I see this happening in the club, its kinda disgusting — even if the woman is fine.

So progressing, I experienced a strange event one day in class; I was chilling beside two of my female classmates that I was cool with. I was in the middle of the two, and I noticed that they were mouth-whispering to each other about something; probably about me – but I didn’t really care too much even though they had mischievous & devious looks. Then out of nowhere, I felt a soft hand quickly caress my man chest – I looked to the girl on my right as she giggled. And as my attention was preoccupied, the girl on my left carried out the same action as her accomplice. So I turned my attention to the opposite side & she also giggled too. Not like this was in an isolated room, at least 50 of us were in a lecture hall as this happened. I asked ‘what are you doing? She replied ‘just checking out the merchandise‘, I was taken aback. On the one side I felt like a mack as I had two moderately hot girls groping me, also, I felt like a piece of meat; a random object that these girls felt that they could just violate & objectify – that is a horrid thought, but on the flipside if I wanted to reciprocate the gesture it wouldn’t be acceptable – I would probably be charged &/or accused of something.

I guess that’s equality for you – different codes of conduct are ‘suitable’, depending on the environment.

So ladies, if you go to the local night club, expect to be violated.
And fellas, if ladies are violating you OUTSIDE of a club setting, hey, take solace in the fact that you ‘got it’ & the ladies can’t control their behavior in your presence … that’s what I did.

.:: d.b

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Life in B Major