My first article for Beyond Race Magazine was published in the Beyond Race blog yesterday, before the print issue is even released!
I have a small sneaker-fetish habit, and in order to keep it from destroying my life and my credit, I keep it under-wraps by using sneaks as rewards.
Me on the phone with my Editor: "You liked my piece?!...in the new issue?...word?!...I'm sorry, I actually have to run...No...I'm just kind of in the middle of..."
Shoe Sales Guy: "Excuse me Miss, did you want the sneaker cleaner with that too? And would you like me to ball-lace your dunks or street-lace them for you?"
On top of this dopeness for my feet and the next issue of Beyond Race, formerly of Chappelle's Show fame, Donnell Rawlings, Comedian Extraordinaire lays it down and tells it like it is on Beyond Race and bulldogs.
How many pairs of sneakers and trips to the NIKEiD store can I possibly finagle out of this?
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Can't Be Saved By Your Babbling or Your Backpack
Okay. After establishing some quick points in the previous post, a lot of people supportive of my doing this were asking me, "what the fuck exactly are you trying to do?" Aside from attempting to bring some light in and air out your stinky, musty, dark little corners in life with a little humor and mild laughter, my point was to explain parts of my perspective on what largely convinced me to embark on this blogging experiment. And maybe I was just trying to charm the pants off of my readers by exhibiting my range of skill creatively without stroking my already too-inflated ego until it bled.
Hemorrhage or homage, I wasn't really specific or clear about what I'm actually trying to do here. Then again, I think that's probably a huge part of the motivation- if not, the focus. I'm a young woman trying to be a writer or something like it. I have recently been extremely fortunate to have been given a sprawling amount of opportunity by some very supportive editors and writers. I've basically been encouraged to grow and exercise my craft freely, writing about the hip-hop community & culture (among other things), which I'm madly in-love with. Like anything else, it's an enormous, ever-changing work in-progress, but something I felt made sense and was important enough to write about.
I'm basically just a kid that loves breaks & hip-hop. Disappointed and irritated by the state of hip-hop blogs, writing, and publicity, I began to notice how these vital distractions in the music industry were obstructing amazing artists and people in-general from getting a fair chance at appreciating and being appreciated as good music. On the reverse of that, many good people are being turned-on to embarrassingly, mind boggling-ly awful music and gross misrepresentations of hip-hop & hip-hop culture (mainstream and backpack, god forbid) by worshiping the false idols of thug-hyped, media-frenzied, overly decadent Gangstalicious images.
Removed from the mass-media "urban hype" machines are the brave souls writing the vast array of hip-hop blogs that have become so popular lately. The tides have shifted, and the mainstream-ization of self-published Internet columns and blogs have reached a height of culmination, taking bloggers and Internet junkies away from marginalization and obscurity. I hold myself in a position of camaraderie and solidarity with self-made and independent writers, especially those who are completely self-contained- like most blog nerds. Before anyone starts hurling wild accusations and vehement denials, let me just say that I understand how fucking difficult it is to do all that independently (in the most literal sense) purely on the basis of genuine love. However, without some kind of intervention or mentorship, a writer has a serious temptation to babble and ramble about whatever strikes his or her fancy with no consideration of organization or content. I think it sucks that so many artists become easily annoyed and dismissive of mentions and exposure in said hip-hop blogs because of this element. Kris Ex, quite possibly one of the greatest hip-hop journalists of all time and a great influence of mine said in an interview that,
Hemorrhage or homage, I wasn't really specific or clear about what I'm actually trying to do here. Then again, I think that's probably a huge part of the motivation- if not, the focus. I'm a young woman trying to be a writer or something like it. I have recently been extremely fortunate to have been given a sprawling amount of opportunity by some very supportive editors and writers. I've basically been encouraged to grow and exercise my craft freely, writing about the hip-hop community & culture (among other things), which I'm madly in-love with. Like anything else, it's an enormous, ever-changing work in-progress, but something I felt made sense and was important enough to write about.
I'm basically just a kid that loves breaks & hip-hop. Disappointed and irritated by the state of hip-hop blogs, writing, and publicity, I began to notice how these vital distractions in the music industry were obstructing amazing artists and people in-general from getting a fair chance at appreciating and being appreciated as good music. On the reverse of that, many good people are being turned-on to embarrassingly, mind boggling-ly awful music and gross misrepresentations of hip-hop & hip-hop culture (mainstream and backpack, god forbid) by worshiping the false idols of thug-hyped, media-frenzied, overly decadent Gangstalicious images.
Removed from the mass-media "urban hype" machines are the brave souls writing the vast array of hip-hop blogs that have become so popular lately. The tides have shifted, and the mainstream-ization of self-published Internet columns and blogs have reached a height of culmination, taking bloggers and Internet junkies away from marginalization and obscurity. I hold myself in a position of camaraderie and solidarity with self-made and independent writers, especially those who are completely self-contained- like most blog nerds. Before anyone starts hurling wild accusations and vehement denials, let me just say that I understand how fucking difficult it is to do all that independently (in the most literal sense) purely on the basis of genuine love. However, without some kind of intervention or mentorship, a writer has a serious temptation to babble and ramble about whatever strikes his or her fancy with no consideration of organization or content. I think it sucks that so many artists become easily annoyed and dismissive of mentions and exposure in said hip-hop blogs because of this element. Kris Ex, quite possibly one of the greatest hip-hop journalists of all time and a great influence of mine said in an interview that,
"I think one of the main reasons why webzines are lame is that there really is no quality control...what happens is that you get some kid who wants to write 1,000 words about the new Kanye West single. Sometimes this leads to fascinating writing, but more often it's just a recipe for garbage...I feel as if many of the younger writers today don't understand how important and sacred true criticism is. It's a very deep process that requires a lot of introspection before you put the first word to the page. I see so many writers who don't have any respect for the art of criticism. It's really easy to make fun of someone's work or to tear them down. But that's not criticism. True criticism notes what went wrong, what went right, what could make the project better, identifies who would like this music and why, and requests that the critic looks in the mirror, sees his or her own shortcomings."
In this spirit, my concept was to cast a critical gaze at contemporary hip-hop culture & media representation in a way that was encouraging writers, artists, and whoever else chances upon this blog to put-out better work and to resuscitate whatever sense of community hip-hop still has left in it, myself included.
Intended also as an outlet to entertain, update, and discuss hip-hop culture, my projects, weekly flavors, and goings-on out & about, I will seriously try to limit the random diatribes and personal bullshit by sticking to my own overly-opinionated advice.
Intended also as an outlet to entertain, update, and discuss hip-hop culture, my projects, weekly flavors, and goings-on out & about, I will seriously try to limit the random diatribes and personal bullshit by sticking to my own overly-opinionated advice.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
...And Then There Was Ichi Ban...
While the rest of the female world searches and quests for the perfect pair of hotpants to go with those black, strappy, slingback stiletto heels they just found on sale that give their legs the power to melt the brains of all men, one woman searches for a tiny, meager little morsel of creative output inside herself that can also melt things, but mostly help people figure shit out. Sorta.
In a sticky, sweltering apartment in Brooklyn, on an unseasonably warm, early Summer night- Memorial Day weekend to be precise- she created this blog in response to her perspective on the bloggosphere and on urban & hip-hop culture in general.
Ichi Ban has been providing such information and "services" (aka, overblown opinions) for a little while now, mostly to friends and close associates she sees greatness and potential in and wants to see blow-up in the hip-hop community and beyond. Labeled as the "unpaid hype girl" for many, she admittedly strokes egos by socially representing said artists, friends, etc., for purely egotistical and selfish reasons. "I mainly do this because I'm a jerk," she explains, "I think I have the best taste in the world- especially in music- and everyone should like what I like." She also is a contributing writer for Beyond Race magazine, and takes-in little freelance jobs every now & then.
In a sticky, sweltering apartment in Brooklyn, on an unseasonably warm, early Summer night- Memorial Day weekend to be precise- she created this blog in response to her perspective on the bloggosphere and on urban & hip-hop culture in general.
Ichi Ban has been providing such information and "services" (aka, overblown opinions) for a little while now, mostly to friends and close associates she sees greatness and potential in and wants to see blow-up in the hip-hop community and beyond. Labeled as the "unpaid hype girl" for many, she admittedly strokes egos by socially representing said artists, friends, etc., for purely egotistical and selfish reasons. "I mainly do this because I'm a jerk," she explains, "I think I have the best taste in the world- especially in music- and everyone should like what I like." She also is a contributing writer for Beyond Race magazine, and takes-in little freelance jobs every now & then.
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