This is a comprehensive hip hop, film and urban culture blog written entirely by an information junkie/graphomaniac Bostonian ex emcee/film student/record and video store manager/graf writer/streetballer called Dart Adams.
Hey ya! *Clap! Clap! Clap!* I’m back with another three joints to review this week, namely Amanda Diva’s “Life Experience” EP, the new Kidz In The Hall mixtape “Geniuses Need Love Too” and Fat Ray & Black Milk “The Set Up”. Since this is the final day of February, that means that the winter is about to end and we get to look forward to the weather breaking (and a gang of people getting sick). Before you know it, it’ll be short sleeves weather.
Some of you were probably expecting me to review the Rakim joint, but since there were only 4 *cough!* new tracks on it and a bunch of other tracks I have ingrained in my memory it didn’t make much sense to do so (remember the "Half A Klip" fiasco from last month?). I was sent Amanda Diva’s new EP and that became the third project in this blog but the first one I’ll review. I don’t use a ratings system based on numerical value, strictly on if said album is good enough to warrant purchasing it. Here's how my "Cop It Or Not" ratings system breaks down below:
Oh No! This CD is a drink coaster/table balancer/doorstop/gerbil/hamster room divider/frisbee/discus/makeshift shield/last ditch choice for a visor/alternate shuriken choice. Sell this shit to whoever is dumb enough to buy it from you.
Maeby (Maybe)! Depending on your own set of personal preferences you might like this joint. Give it a listen first to see if it's in your lane or not.
Mos Def! Cop the album when it drops...'Nuff said.
Amanda Diva is the kind of girl you’d want to meet your mother. She’s not likely to be that chick calling you up drunk and crying hysterically at 2:00 AM or starting shit in public because “some bitch” was looking at her wrong. She’s been a radio host, an MTV VJ, a commentator on VH1’s “Best Week Ever”, a member of Floetry (she’s a songstress AND a lyricist so that shit didn’t work outicist), an author, done spoken word, she blogs and she’s mad cute (I know it’s not an achievement but I’m a dude). Here’s my review of her EP “Life Experience”:
Best Joints: “Life Experience Intro”, “Supa Woman”, “40 MC’s”, “Window Over Harlem”, “Brown Girl”, “New School, Old School”, “Better Way (I Know)”, “Life To Love” and “Crazy World”
Hot Garbage: “Bright Lights” (I don’t know who mixed this song or ProTooled it out of sequence over Amanda’s vocals or completely fucked up by making her overdubs louder than her slightly offbeat vocals but they screwed up royally. Then someone else made a major mistake by: a) putting this track on the EP at all when it’s the sole black eye on the project b) making it the very first track you hear on her debut project. To quote the legendary graf artist MIN One that’s a “never forgive action”.
Dart’s Take: This EP impressed me and I already knew that Amanda Diva was nice from “40 MC’s” and “Supa Woman”. I was really thrown by how horrible ‘Bright Lights” was and how fucked up it sounded. From then on, the EP was fine. Amanda’s flow is nice and she mixes it well with her vocals. Her lyrical content is extremely refreshing in an industry where the average female rapper would’ve rapped about the elasticity of their vaginas or how their head game would put you into a straitjacket or something else that would make your eyes roll (provided you have common sense, that is).
While all of the tracks are dope (the one glaring exception being “Bright Lights”), my favorites are “Supa Woman”, “40 MC’s”, “Brown Girl”, “Better Way (I Know)” (it’s the joint!) and “Crazy World” a bonus track that Ms. Diva spits a capella over someone banging out a beat. This EP is definitely worth the $7.99 that the iTunes store is asking for it and if you see a physical copy in a store you shouldn’t hesitate to cop it. I give “Life Experience” a mos def and bow at the feet of Ms. Amanda Diva.
Next up is the new mixtape by Naledge and Double O, professionally known as Kidz In The Hall. These conceited bastards have made a Valentine’s Day themed mixtape where they rhyme over some flipped R&B joints and toss in some joints from the upcoming Duck Down LP “The In Crowd”. These Ivy League dudes usually bring it regardless if it’s an album or a mixtape. Did I like the concept? Let’s find out:
Best Joints: “Dreamin’ (Baby I’m The Shit)”, “What Up Wit Me (If It Isn’t Love)”, “Do What Grown Folks Do”, “Littlest Things”, “Sweet 16 (All My Ladies)”, ““Drivin’ Down The Block”, “Blackout” and “Work To Do (Obama 08)”
Hot Garbage: N/A (I wasn’t feeling “Mi Amor”...too damn long and “Make It Last” was just meh to me)
Dart’s Take: This was a nice mixtape with a cool concept but it did start to get old towards the end until it finally got to the new joints. The flips were well executed and pretty inventive, especially the flip of New Edition’s “If It Isn’t Love” and “Sweet 16 (All My Ladies)” flip of Kanye and Slum Village’s “Selfish”.
Only Naledge would think to turn the song into a Sweet 16 basketball tournament between all of his fantasy women (how’d Oprah get in there?) and the new track “Blackout” sounds ill. If you want to hear an inventive mixtape complete with Naledge spittin’ some nice bars then definitely give this a listen but in my opinion: Detention>>Geniuses Need Love Too. Download it here
Last, but not least is the new offering from newly signed Aftermath producer Black Milk and his B.R. Gunna comrade Fat Ray (where’s Young RJ at?). Black Milk is on such a hot streak right now that anything with his name on it is going to garner some major attention. I’m still killing “Popular Demand” and “Caltroit” as I type this. Will this project stand up to the high standard the Black Milk’s recent collabos/projects have set? Find out below:
Best Joints: “Flawless”, “Lookout”, “Bad Man”, “Take Control”, “Not U”, “When It Goes Down”, “Get Focus”, “Nothing To Hide”, “Get Up”, “Ugly” and the “Outro”
Hot Garbage: N/A (This album was too damned short)
Dart’s Take: This album bangs from beginning to end and Fat Ray’s flow and lyrics have definitely improved since the last time I heard him. He spit quite a few lines that made me rewind my iTunes player. Black Milk always brings it with the hard production and guest spots by AB, NameTag, Phat Kat, Guilty Simpson and Elzhi only help to heighten the experience. In my opinion, this joint should have had another two or three joints on it but I still give it a mos def.
Late Passes (For Doz Dat Slept): Albums I'm Looking Forward To Reviewing Once They Leak...I Mean Drop:
I'm Also Looking Forward To Reviewing The Following Projects:
Rhymefest-El Che Skillz-Million Dollar Backpack Joe Budden-Padded Room Jay Electronica-Act II: Patents Of Nobility
Atmosphere-When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold The Roots-Rising Down
Dart's Fat Tape/CD-R (as of March 1st, 2008):
Get Focus-Fat Ray & Black Milk f/Phat Kat & Elzhi (prod. by Black Milk)
Keep Wishing (RMX)-Static & Messiah f/Skyzoo. Letia Larock & Leanne (prod. by WMS The Sultan)
Sweet 16 (All My Ladies)-Kidz In The Hall
Thank God For That White-Fat Joe (prod. by DJ Premier)
Attempted Murder-Rock (of Heltah Skeltah)
Word On The Street-Rakim
Better Way (I Know)-Amanda Diva
Savages-Billy Danze (prod. by Fizzy Womack)
Must Hate Money-Drake f/Rich Boy
Broken Language 2008-Redman & Method Man
Close-Tonedeff
Living Dead-Mickey Factz
Press Play-Snoop Dogg f/Dogg Pound
Where You Are-ST. Da Squad
I Never Loved Her-Zilla Rocca
Fever-Q-Tip (prod. by J Dilla)
Workin' It-Del The Funky Homosapien
Carnage-Chaundon f/Emilio Rojas & MAG
Sledgehammer-Invincible
Screamin'-Idle Warship (Talib Kweli & Res) f/MC Chris
Below is a list of twelve emcees that I think will make some serious noise this year (Yes, this is a cosign of the below cats..some don't need it). Without further ado, I present the list:
Blu Reps: Los Angeles, CA Previous material: The Narrow Path, Lifted EP, Below The Heavens, Powders & Oils Upcoming projects: C.R.A.C. Knuckles (w/Ta’Raaach) The Peace Talks, God Is Good (solo LP)
Blu had one hell of a 2007 after released the critically acclaimed “Below The Heavens” collaboration with Exile and “Powders & Oils” with Mainframe and 2008 is looking to be bananas as well. With the highly anticipated C.R.A.C. Knuckles collabo with underground hero Ta’ Raach and a Blu solo LP on the way there will be no way in hell that anyone who loves Hip Hop won’t know who he is (or how to spell his name). Catch up here
Jay Electronica Reps: New Orleans, LA Previous material: Style Wars EP, Act I: Eternal Sunshine, The Pledge Upcoming projects: Act II: Patents Of Nobility and Abracadabra: Let There Be Light in ‘08 on Erykah Badu's Control Freaq label
I can’t write anything about this man that they haven’t said better on AllHipHop.com, Stuntin' On Prose or Classic Drug References already. I can’t give him a better testimonial than Just Blaze, Erykah Badu, Questlove or Nas have already done.
I’ve been playing his entire discography in my iPod for close to three months now and I’m still in awe as to what I’m hearing. At the risk of saying something that would border or Hip Hop sacrilege I’ll stop typing now (like I wish I did before I went overboard when I did one of these for Lupe Fiasco back in ‘06). Catch up here
Termanology Reps: Lawrence, MA Previous material: Hood Politics Vols. 1-5, Out The Gate, 50 Bodies Current project: ST The Squad (look for it now!) Upcoming project: As of yet untitled solo LP dropping in ‘08
Termanology has been on radar for years but after his DJ Premier produced “Watch How It Go Down” hit the net, mixtapes and mixshows all over the globe Term hasn’t cooled off at all. Now that he’s made nothing but heat rocks over the past two years and his first proper solo joint is about to hit store shelves in ‘08 there’s no turning back for ST Da Squad’s top soldier. Watch how it goes down.
Skyzoo Reps: Brooklyn, NY Previous material: Cloud 9: The 3 Day High, Cornerstore Classic Upcoming project: As of yet untitled solo project in ‘08
Unless you’ve been under a rock for the past two years and you’re a Hip Hop fan you should already be aware of Skyzoo. His collaboration with 9th Wonder open many an eye and his following mixtape and guest spots created a major buzz. So much so that Hot 97 declared him one of the top 10 living rappers right now. That just means that when his album drops there’ll be even more heads checkin’ for it.
Wale Reps: Washington, D.C. Previous material: Ambassador Of The Capital, Paint A Picture, Hate Is The New Love, 100 Miles And Running Upcoming projects: A Mixtape About Nothing AKA The Senfield Mixtape in ‘08 and an as of yet untitled LP in ‘08 to follow.
Wale is an up and coming star from the nation’s capital and after several inventive mixtapes (Ambassador Of The Capital, Paint A Picture & Hate Is The New Love) a deal with Mark Ronson’s Allido label and yet another classic mixtape (100 Miles And Running).
What’s up next for Wale? Another potential classic mixtape inspired by the show “Seinfield” and a highly anticipated debut album in ‘08. He and his boy Tabi Bonney are on a two man mission to bring Maryland/D.C. Hip Hop back into the national spotlight for the first time since Section 8 Mob, Nonchalant and Questionmark Asylum were getting burn on BET.
Torae Reps: Brooklyn, NY Previous material: “Get It Done”/”Click” 12” prod. by DJ Premier, “Merchant Of Dreams” off of Dream Merchant 2, several guest spots on Justus League releases. Current project: Daily Conversation
He’s called “The Young Vet” for a reason. After bouncing around the industry for years, Torae has finally found a home with his compatriots in the Justus League (Chaundon, Skyzoo, The Away Team, Little Brother). After just one listen to his new album “Daily Conversation” you’ll realize that this cat is going to be a force to be reckoned with for years to come in this game.
Wiz Khalifa Reps: Pittsburgh, PA Previous material: Prince Of The City Vols. 1 & 2, Show And Prove, Grow Season Upcoming project: As of yet untitled LP set to drop in ‘08
Wiz Khalifa has created quite a large buzz with his mixtapes ever since he first popped up on the scene in 2005. After an eye opening guest appearance on Nicolay’s 2006 release “Here” (“What It Used To Be”) and his “Prince Of The City” mixtape he was receiving offers.
Eventually, he signed a deal and released his debut LP “Show And Prove” that was well received by vast majority of critics and reviewers. After he dropped a couple more mixtapes, it was time to get people ready for his upcoming sophomore LP. His new single “Say Yeah” is currently making the rounds online, in blogs and on mixshows nationwide. Is this the year that Wiz Khalifa makes some serious noise? We’ll see.
Chaundon has been , to paraphrase Kanye West (something I’ll try to never ever do again), has been killing the game very bad since 2003. As one of the Justus League, he’s been spitting over the production of 9th Wonder, Khrysis, Oddisee and Nicolay for years and after his previous four ridiculous mixtapes and guest appearances heads were looking forward to his debut LP. “Carnage” turned out to be a damn near flawless debut for a cat that will now get the recognition he so richly deserves.
Vandalyzm Reps: St. Louis, MO Previous material: “Last Time” on 9th Wonder’s Dream Merchant 2, “Yes Sir” Flying Lotus 12”, The Free EP, Megatron Majorz: The Sampler Upcoming project: Megaatron Majorz in Spring ‘08
Vandalyzm first caught my attention from his guest spot on a Flying Lotus white label I heard through Okayplayer.com. After that was his appearence on Dream Merchant 2 as one of the Midwest Wreckin’ Crew on the track “Last Time”. After I mentioned how impressed I was with his flow in my review blog somebody shot me a copy of Vandalyzm’s demo “The Free EP”.
Needless to say, I was even more impressed and I placed that on my blog as a Late Pass. Then, DJ Trackstar shot me a digital copy of the Megatron Majorz sampler. Ever since then I’ve been patiently waiting for the full length to drop.
I’ve been hearing tracks from this cat for more than a year now but I didn’t really start checkin’ for him until this past summer when I ran across his “In Search Of The N.E.R.D” mixtape on my boy A-One’s site Know Good Music. From there I went to his site and downloaded his latest mixtape “Heaven’s Fallout” I was thoroughly impressed with his flow and the creativity he exhibited in his beat choices. Mickey’s fearlessness is to commended in an age where so many emcees would be afraid to rhyme over some of these tracks but he more than pulls it off. Don’t sleep on this dude.
Drake Reps: Toronto, OT (Canada) Previous material: Room For Improvement, a gang of leaked collabos with Trey Songz and several Canadian singles Current project: Comeback Season
A few of you readers are familiar with Drake because his government name is Aubrey Graham and he’s been a child actor for the past seven years on the popular CTV series “Degrassi: The Next Generation”. Based on seeing him say some of the goofiest dialogue in the history on TV during his formative years (and his lack of a damn lineup for the first 4 seasons) people might try to write him off immediately.
They would be forgetting that some of the best emcees of recent Hip Hop history were also child actors, namely Lin Que, MF Grimm, Mos Def and Lauryn Hill. All I’m saying is listen to dude’s two previous mixtapes, his flow, lyrical ability and his versatility and then you’ll understand why he has record label execs all over Canada and the U.S. calling him in for meetings.
B.O.B Reps: Atlanta, GA Previous material: The Cloud 9 Mixtape, The Future, Eastside Takeover Current project: My Name Is B.O.B Upcoming project: As of yet untitled LP slated for ‘08
Of all the underground cats that are currently grinding on the mixtape circuit in Georgia, the most promising seems to be B.O.B. After raising eyebrows on tracks alongside down South heavy hitters like Bohagon, Young Jeezy, Killer Mike and a gang others he was poised to be one of the South’s best hopes to go national.
After his efforts on “The Cloud 9 Mixtape” and “The Future” labels started calling and music publications wanted to do pieces on him. All you need to do is hear his new mixtape “My Name Is B.O.B” to understand why he’s sharing the cover of “The Next” issue of Urb with Jay Electronica.
Thanks to my following blogging brethren for providing much of the info and putting me up on some of the cats and being some of the best sites in the bloggerverse:
What New In Dart's iPod #21 (Fat Ray & Black Milk "The Set Up", Amanda Diva "Life Experience" EP & Kidz In The Hall "Geniuses Need Love, Too") coming up tomorrow afternoon.
The results are finally in and yet another award season is over, the three breakout films of the year were “No Country For Old Men”, “There Will Be Blood” and “Juno”. At the Independent Spirit Awards, "Juno" and "I’m Not There" kicked more ass then Bruce Lee in one of those scenes where he gets surrounded by a gang of people that attack him one by one. Diablo Cody got both screenwriting awards and “No Country For Old Men”and the Coen brothers stomped all competition to win Best Director and Best Film Oscars at the Academy Awards.
At The Independent Spirit Awards “The Diving Bell and The Butterfly”, “The Savages” and “I’m Not There” racked up a few accolades as well. In both award shows, “Once” took away Best Foreign Film and Best Original Song honors (Dublin stand up!).
I was surprised that Cate Blanchett didn’t win in either category and that Marion Cottilard and Tilda Swinton both walked away with Oscars. I didn’t see “La Vie En Rose” so I honestly don’t know if she even deserved it and if anyone was going to win besides Cate it would have to be Tilda Swinton. I do remember a few people wondering if any Americans were gonna win anything on that night (I could’ve told ‘em no). Javier Bardem and Daniel Day Lewis were not going to be denied that evening. Even Chiwitel Eijiofor won the award for Best Supporting Actor at the Independent Spirit Awards.
Ellen Page and Phillip Seymour Hoffman (son of Dustin) both won at the ISA’s as well. Was I the only one weirded out/uncomfortable at how often Ellen Page kept saying she was in love with the director? His wife was right there! As far as the shows themselves, the Independent Spirit Awards are always much more entertaining and Rainn Wilson was hilarious. John Stewart did as much as he could to inject some life into the Academy Awards but it was still largely a snoozefest.
I still don’t understand how Whoopi Goldberg was left out of the host’s montage (she hosted the fuckin’ show four times!) and how Brad Renfro got slighted in the memorial when as I pointed out a few blogs ago he died exactly one week before Heath Ledger, also of an accidental drug overdose.
I’m just glad this is all over so we can get everything back to normal and focus on movies people have actually seen for a change. Rest In Peace to everyone that’s passed away , especially Tony Silver. Now let’s get on with the movie stuff:
Top 5 ImDb Trailers Of The Ides Of February (2.16.08-2.29.08):
Movies to consider adding to your queue or renting through either Redbox or Netflix:
Civic Duty Revolver Gone Baby Gone We Own The Night The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward James Ford Across The Universe The Legend Of The Black Scorpion The Darjeeling Limited Beowulf Justice League-The New Frontier (2 Disc Special Edition) Extras-The Extra Special Series Finale Day Zero Gabriel The Amateurs Hotel Babylon-Season 1 (series) To Kill A King Blue Note: A Story Of Modern Jazz 30 Days Of Night American Meth Black Irish Slipstream The Killing Of John Lennon The Last Hit Man Chaos Finishing The Game Loaded The Prisoner Or How I Planned To Kill Tony Blair Rendition Imagination The Air I Breathe Storm Warning How To Rob A Bank The Tracey Fragments
Dart’s Picks: 30 Days Of Night-I was a fan of the source material and the film delivered in every way possible. Rent or buy it.
Beowulf-This movie managed to be both artistic and entertaining at the same time . I dug it.
The Darjeeling Limited-I am a fan of Wes Anderson’s previous work and this was along the same lines as all of his joints. It is not for everyone and it may bore the shit out of you if you didn't like "The Life Aquatic" or "The Royal Tenenbaums" then do not bother with this one.
Civic Duty-You need to rent this and see it now. I almost forgot it coame out until Buc rented it from a Redbox a few days ago.
Dart’s WTF? Awards/Watch This Bullshit At Your Own Risk: Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium- It doesn’t come out until next week but it sucked so bad I feel the need to hate on it prematurely.
Highlander: The Source- Unless it’s animated, I don’t care to see anything Highlander related. Scratch that, fuck all things Highlander related forever and ever Amen.
After my last mega post (yunno..the big ass comic book one just below) I had to take a day off and not do any unnecessary typing so this entry is late, for that I apologize. The three projects I’ll be reviewing today are NYOil’s new digital EP “9 Wonders: NYOil Verses 9th Wonder”, Erykah Badu’s long awaited album “New Amerykah” and the legendary Chocolate Boy Wonder Pete Rock’s new album “NY’s Finest”.
I’ll review these joints in the same order I listed above and give you my favorite joints, the ones that were pure trash and my overall take on each project. Those of you that are regular blog readers are familiar with my unorthodox ratings system already know what the deal is. Here's how my "Cop It Or Not" ratings system breaks down below:
Oh No! This CD is a drink coaster/table balancer/doorstop/gerbil/hamster room divider/frisbee/discus/makeshift shield/last ditch choice for a visor/alternate shuriken choice. Sell this shit to whoever is dumb enough to buy it from you.
Maeby (Maybe)! Depending on your own set of personal preferences you might like this joint. Give it a listen first to see if it's in your lane or not.
Mos Def! Cop the album when it drops...'Nuff said.
NYOil, better known as Kool Kim has reinvented himself starting with last year’s surprising “Hood Treason” project. He’s back on the scene with a 9 song digital EP of 9th Wonder tracks called “9 Wonders: NYOil Versus 9th Wonder”. At first there was a rumor that this EP was fueled by beef between 9th Wonder and NYOil but apparently those rumors were all false and based on the title of the EP some folks jump to conclusions. You know what they say about making assumptions, right? My review is just below:
Best Joints: “Each Morning”, “More And More”, “Close Your Eyes”, “Drop Squad”, “Cap’N Save A Hoe”, “CONspiracy Theory, ”4 Luv”, “The Investor” and “Seems Like”
Hot Garbage: N/A (I wish this joint was longer but there wasn’t anything weak on this joint. Is the feature on “4 Luv” really NYOil’s daughter?)
Dart’s Take: It was cool to hear NYOil spit some real shit over some 9th Wonder tracks and after hearing this entire project in it’s entireity, hopefully he’ll get the chance to spit on some 9th joints first in the future. I like how NYOil took these instrumentals and insted of just spit some verses over popular beats like most mixtapes he turned each track into his own song.
This was a well executed project and it was cool to hear NYOil spit some socially aware rhymes (I’m sick of using the word “conscious” all the goddamn time) over these beats. After seeing the videos for “CONspiracy Theory” and “Cap’N Save A Hoe” I really needed to hear this album. I wasn’t disappointed in the least. This joint easily gets a mos def, now download it here.
Next up is the long awaited “New Amerykah” project from Erykah Badu. She has supposedly recorded enough material for three album due to finding a cache of beats Dilla sent her and collaborations from sessions with her friends in the Okayplayerverse. The songs that leaked (namely “Honey” and “The Healer”) have made interest in this project go through the roof. I’m interested to see what direction this album goes in, read my take on it below:
Best Joints: “Amerykahn Promise”, “The Healer”, “Me”, “My People”, “Soldier”, “The Cell”, “Twinkle”, “Master Teacher”, “That Hump”, “Telephone” and “Honey”
Hot Garbage: N/A (the "Amerykahn Promise" track/intro was the least listenable thing on the entire project)
Dart’s Take: This album was just as mind blowing as I hoped it would be. Once I heard the opening track I knew that I was going to be challenged by this project as opposed to just sitting and listening, this album evokes immediate emotions in the listener. It actually takes you different places, it isn’t made to be background noise...you can’t really ignore it. Tracks like “The Healer”, “Soldier”, “Master Teacher” and “Telephone” are almost more than just music. “The Cell”, “Twinkle” and “That Hump” are all along the same lines as well, you become immersed in the song and you can actually "see" the scenarios she puts down as you hear the music.
While Alicia Keys and Keisha Cole make music with emotion that stirs things in people, Erykah Badu does it on a much higher level. She deals with the state of the entire world and the fear and paranoia surrounding us all as we speed towards a future that’s up in the air. The recording industry is just a huge house of cards and it’s an election year where we’re going to get a new leader of the free world soon. What’s going to happen to us all? I don’t know and I’m kinda fuckin’ scared but I’ll get through it all..that what Erykah’s album is all about. It gets another mos def from me.
The last Pete Rock project to hit store shelves was back in 2005 (“The Surviving Elements”) and Pete Rock has done quite a bit of production for a wide array of artists in the space between these projects. Pete Rock hooked up with Nature Sounds, one of the best Hip Hop labels around for his “NY’s Finest” album. Ever since Pete switched over to the MPC some heads have screamed bloody murder...Pete doesn’t give a fuck, he just continues to do him.
It’s 2008 and Pete Rock, one of the greatest Hip Hop producers of all time has a new album coming out. I’ve been a Pete Rock fan since my cousins from Mount Vernon let me hear some of his beats over the phone way back before he finally got his first placement on Heavy D’s “Big Time” album. Read my take on this album below:
Best Joints: “We Roll”, “Till I Retire”, “914”, “Questions”, “Best Believe”, “Ready Fe War ,”Don’t Be Mad”, “Bring Y’all Back”, “The Best Secret”, “That’s What I Am Talking About”, “The PJ’s”, “Made Man”, “Let’s Go” and “Comprehend” .
Hot Garbage: N/A (It was good to hear Chip Fu, Royal Flush, Lords Of The Underground and Rell again)
Dart’s Take: I had to listen to some of these joints twice just to make sure that I wasn’t making them out to be better than they actually are. After a second (and in some cases a third) listen I realized that I wasn’t. Some of these tracks I’d heard way before (“The PJ’s”and “914”) the album was officially announced by Nature Sounds and they haven’t gotten stale at all.
Some folks might be a little bored at the Pete Rock solo tracks but I thoroughly enjoyed them. The illest shit to me was Pete’s verse on the Chip Fu track “Ready Fe War”. Hearing Papoose kill it on “Comprehend” just makes me pissed that “The Nacirema Dream” will probably never come out. The Rell track was probably the best shit he’s put out since 2004, this album gets a mos def from me but I’m sure other bloggers will be underwhelmed by it in one way or another.
Don't Sleep On These Joints, Either: Albums I'm Looking Forward To Reviewing Once They Leak...I Mean Drop:
I'm Also Looking Forward To Reviewing The Following Projects:
Rhymefest-El Che Skillz-Million Dollar Backpack Joe Budden-Padded Room Jay Electronica-Act II
Atmosphere-When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold The Roots-Rising Down
Dart's Fat Tape/CD-R (as of February 26th, 2008)
It's Nothing-Rakim (prod. by DJ Static) Crash-Torae Women Problems-Pacific Division Chain Reaction-Substantial Black's Reconstruction (75 Bars)-The Roots Digital Video-CunningLynguists f/Sunnystylez Cap'n Save A Ho-NYOil (prod. by 9th Wonder) Snow-Roc Marciano Master Teacher-Erykah Badu f/Georgia Anne Muldrow & Bilal Perspective-Seek f/Ed O.G. Going For Life-Drake Stunnas On (Remix)-The Cool Kids (prod. by Starski) Get Rich-M.O.P. f/Bilal (prod. by Hi-Tek) Poppers Pop Breakers Break-All Natural
Life Ain't Sweet-Astonish f/Termanology I Dominate-Bishop Lamont Soldier-Erykah Badu World Gone Blind-Co$$ AKA CashUsKing (prod. by Blu) The Light '08 (It's Love)-Common (prod. by Just Blaze) F.A.T. Boys-Pacific Division Go Mode-Wale f/Bun B Ready Fe War-Pete Rock f/Chip Fu & Renee of Zhane Do You Feel Me? (Remix)-Anthony Hamilton f/Ghostface Killah
1969 “Iron Man” #21 introduced us to Eddie March, the first Black man to ever substitute for Tony Stark and don the Iron Man armor a full 15 years before James Rhodes was allowed to do anything more than shine it. In “Spider-Man” #78, Peter Parker encounters the apprentice to the original Prowler, a Black teenager not too far from his own age. Spidey doesn’t run the kid in and eventually he get his act together and becomes a hero, eventually even headlining his own title.
“Captain America” #117 is a landmark issue because it features the first appearance of Captain America’s closest ally, The Falcon. Eventually, Falcon and Cap will become a hell of a crime fighting duo (although Falcon became the unofficial hero of Harlem for a hot minute in the 70's).
Then, Marvel Comics will play themselves and shit all over him by creating this horrible origin for him years later in issue #186 that they are still apologizing about to this very day (read it for yourself, I’d rather not rehash it because it tends to make me mad). The Falcon would also later join The Avengers and double their Black membership (Black Panther). 1970 Ted Shearer, a veteran Black cartoonist (Next Door, Around Harlem) created a new syndicated comic strip called “Quincy”. Shearer’s art style was iconic and is widely recognized by a whole generation due to his involvement in the “Billy Joe Jive & Smart Suzie Sunset” segments that aired on Sesame Street throughout the 70’s and early 80’s and the book series they spawned.
Jim Lawrence and Jorge Longaron create “Friday Foster”, a comic strip about a gorgeous Black fashion photographer and the drama that surrounds her everyday life and work. The strip’s run was pretty uneventful and very little character development happened although Friday did transition to modeling herself at one point. The strip only lasted until 1974 and in 1975 a “Friday Foster” movie was made and the lead character was played by the incomparable Pam Grier. Mort Walker added a Black character named Lt. Jack Flap to his strip “Beetle Bailey”. “Stars & Stripes” magazine refused to run it at first (Why am I not surprised?). Here’s what it looked like for the average American the first time Jack Flap showed up in a “Beetle Bailey” strip in the paper that historic day (the huge ‘fro makes it hard for him to be conspicuous).
In DC’s title “Jimmy Olsen, Friend Of Superman” #133, Jack Kirby introduced his readers to the new Newsboy Legion, this time around they have a Black member named Fipper Dipper (that's him waaay in the back hiding behind Superman..punk!). He apparently is a really good swimmer and can do wonders underwater (like Aquaman, but Black and without the ability to speak to sea life). This ushers in an era of new Black heroes with odd abilities that brothers aren’t typically known for.
The most important Black hero to emerge this year was without a doubt DC’s Mal Duncan who made his first appearance in Teen Titans #26 when he was recruited by a depowered Teen Titan team after helping them fend off a racist street gang (of course!). Mal Duncan would go through several different guises through the years and have several different powers. He was Guardian and then Hornblower and later Vox. Mal Duncan is still a major player in the DC Universe. 1971 Jack Kirby goes and creates the 4th World in the DC Universe, an event that signals the beginning of the Bronze Age of Comic Books to many. In “Forever People” #1 a new race of super powerful young heroes is introduced and among them is Vykin The Black. Since he’s the only Black one, I’m not too sure why he needs the qualifier with his name/title.
“New Gods” #3 introduces the DC readers to Black Racer, he possesses cosmic powers and he can travel throughout space and time with what appear to be rocket skis (I wish I was making this up!). Silver Surfer had a surfboard...a Black man becomes a God and gets cosmic powered skis. I never read this book growing up so I can’t add anything new.
“Green Lantern “#87 was the debut of John Stewart, the new Green Lantern. John Stewart was painted as a young Black professional with a chip on his shoulder. He was angry and seething with Black rage. The Green Lantern Corps wasn’t so sure he should’ve got a ring but when he got into action he channelled all that aggression and kicked ass. When kids of this generation think of Green Lantern, they only know him as a Black guy. That cracks me up.
1972 Stan Lee created a Black superhero to head up his own title called “Luke Cage, Hero For Hire”. Cage sounded like he stepped straight out of a comic book. He was supposed to emulate the heroes of the ultra popular “Blaxploitation” era of films. Luke Cage spoke in broken English to appear “street” and he dispensed his own brand of street justice while wearing a ridiculous outfit with a metal band around his afro and a metal link chain for a belt (?).
Whose idea was the canary yellow shirt? Luke Cage had dense flesh (tungsten hard skin), super strength and street smarts...he also fought a strange collection of Black villians. I often laugh out loud when reading some of these old issues now. Eventually, Luke Cage would join forces with Iron Fist and later on he would get his own title again in the early 90’s. Cage’s character morphed over the years, became even more powerful and respected as one of the foremost characters in the entire Marvel Universe. He’s now the leader of the New Avengers and his likeness has become my avi of choice because I walked into a comic book store one day and saw my face on the cover of one of them. Here's to Luke Cage, a cat so cool Nicolas Coppolla took his name when he became an actor.
1973 Marvel’s “Strange Tales” #169 featured one of the most bizarre heroes ever, Brother Voodoo. A Black man who is also a medical doctor as well as a Voodoo priest has the power to entrance people, possess them, make dolls that can iflict pain on them or manipulate them as well. He can also temporarily raise the dead, most notably his own decaesed brother who serves as his muscle in certain occasions. PCP is one hell of a drug!
In “Tomb Of Dracula” #10, a Black vampire hunter named Blade made his first ever appearance. He was an expert with knives and sharp objects and he could take out a group of vampires all by himself. He worked with the Van Helsing’s to try to exterminate Dracula until Doctor Strange created the spell that killed all of the vampires for “good”. In the early 90’s, the Blade character was resurrected and he became the Blade that we know now from the movie franchise. It's hard to believe that Blade is 35 years old.
“Mister Miracle” #15 is the debut of Mister Miracle’s apprentice, a young Black man donning his uniform and performing in his place. Eventually, he would become the new Mister Miracle and join the growing ranks of Black superheroes.
“Wonder Woman” #206 features Diana fighting to the death against the twin sister she never knew she had, Nubia. Apparently, her mother made them both at the same time, Diana from sand and Nubia from clay. Then Nubia mysteriously dissapeared and didn’t show up until 1973 to fight for the right to be Wonder Woman. Needless to say, Diana won and her Black twin sister only made sporadic appearances over the next 15 years before she was never heard from again.
1974 In the thrilling pages of “Deadly Hands Of Kung Fu”, a comic book Marvel created to capitalize off of the Blaxploitation and Kung Fu craze we read about the Sons Of The Tiger. These three Kung Fu experts wore talismans that gave them increased powers, among them was Abe Brown AKA Black Tiger. He ended up inspiring the creation of a DC character the next year.
1975 DC decided to create it’s own Kung Fu comic book title called “Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter”. In it’s debut issue we’re introduced to Black Kung Fu expert, Bronze Tiger. He ends up the leader of DC’s Suicide Squad in the 80’s and he even beats Batman in a one on one fight resulting in the death of Batwoman.
Black Goliath makes his first appearance in “Luke Cage, Power Man”#24. He first appeared as a regular character in 1966 but began his superhero career in this issue. He would go on to become a recurring hero and take on different names (Giant Man and Goliath) because face it, Black Goliath is a horrible, horrible name for a superhero...or anything else for that matter.
Misty Knight, one of the Daughters Of The Dragon first appears in “Marvel Premiere” #20. This Black female cop was not only a martial arts expert and a brilliant detective, but she had a bionic hand thanks to Tony Starks. She ended up briefly romantically involved with Iron Fist, she was the former roomate of Jean Grey during the Phoenix Saga and half of Nightwing Restorations with Coleen Wing, her fellow Daughter Of The Dragon.
Storm makes her debut as one of the new X-Men in “Giant Size X-Men” #1. The former pickpocket, master thief and street fighter was also a mutant who controlled the weather. In her native Africa, she was often worshipped as a goddess (not because of her long, luxurious white tresses, mind you).
She fought Callisto to become leader of the Morlocks in X-Men #169 and shortly afterwards she underwent a change. She became one of the leaders of the X-Men , shaved her hair into a mohawk and she began wearing tight leather outfits and punk gear after Rogue joined the X-Men.
Storm is now the Queen Of Wakanda and is married to T’Challa AKA Black Panther. Ain’t Black love grand?
1976 In “Superboy” #216, Superboy and the Legion Of Super Heroes ran across an island inhabited by nothing but Black people in distress (in the 30th century) but they don’t want the League’s help because the world ignores them (is this island New Orleans?). Eventually, the League is allowed to help them out. One of the island dwellers is an afroed, half naked teen named Tyroc that has sonic super powers and just by screaming he can create different and specific effects. After appearing in “Superboy” #218 and #222, Tyroc finally agrees and joins the Legion Of Super Heroes. Now just if he wore some damn pants once in a while!
1977 Marvel Comics introduces the Human Top in “Invaders” #28 as a member of the Kid Commandos. In this retconned storyline, a Black soldier is accidentally given the power to *ahem!* spin around super fast. It would’ve had to have been an accident because that’s quite a gay power to acquire (yes, there was a previous Golden Age Human Top). He fought next to Captain America for a short while before being killed by the U-Man. What a way to go out, out like a sucker.
“Spider-Man” #172 was the first time Spidey ever encountered Rocket Racer, a brother with a rocket powered skateboard that could go super fast and up walls. Ol’ Web Head ran into Rocket Racer quite often and eventually he would turn over a new leaf and become a hero.
DC Comics had a title called “Showcase” and in issue #94 the new Doom Patrol featured Tempest, a Black mutant that could emit bolts of electricity from his hands. The new Doom Patrol only appeared in issues #94--96 before a new story was added next issue.
“Teen Titans” #48 featured Karen Beecher, girlfriend of Mal Duncan donning a uniform and some weapons she created to attack the Teen Titans and prove Mal’s worth to the team.
Once the attack was over, she revealed herself and she was offered a spot on the team. Bumblebee became a member of the Teen Titans and later a member of Titans West. In the 80’s, she and Mal were married.
“Men Of War” was a new series that starred Ulysses “Gravedigger” Hazard, the “one man platoon” and new leader of Easy Company. Gravedigger was given his name because he wasn’t allowed to fight alongside his unit (‘Cism!) and was relegated to grave digging duty until he proved himself to be a remarkable fighter and became a member of Easy Company. Eventually, Sgt. Rock himself would pass the mantle of leadership to Hazard and “Men Of War” ran a total of 26 issues and featured a Black man in the lead role as a super soldier. He made Gabe Jones look like the Human Top in comparison.
“Black Lightning” #1 was the first appearance of Gotham’s newest hero. He was super fast and he had the power to manipulate electricity, which he used to beat up bad guys and clean up the streets.
When it became time for Hanna Barbera to introduce a Black hero to the Justice League Of America/Superfriends they chose the new popular Black Lightning but couldn’t nail down his rights. That forced them to create a facsimile and name him Black Vulcan then add him to the team for the cartoon along with a Native American and an Asian. Whoa.
1978 In the pages of “Marvel Premiere” #41, the one off story “Seeker 3000” featured twins, heroes and space explorers Ben and Valida Payton on a spaceship that become sentient and endangers their mission. Ben and Valida appeared again when the cast of “Seeker 3000” was resurrected by DC in the early 90’s miniseries.
1979 Legendary pilot Black Eagle appears in segments of “All Out War” #1-6 alongside some of the wierdest heroes in DC Comics’ history. He was never seen or used again, either. Lord knows there are far too many comic books about Black combat pilots out there as it is!
1980 “DC Comics presents” #26 features the first appearance of one of DC’s most popular Black heroes of all times, Vic Stone AKA Cyborg. His origin issue was a must have amongst comic book fans of all walks of life and his unique character helped “The New Teen Titans” compete with Marvel’s “X-Men” and “New Mutants” every month back in the early 80’s.
Vic Stone’s parents worked at S.T.A.R Labs and an accident led to Vic’s body being ravaged. His parents created cybernetic body parts for him and gave him several augmentations. He fought to try to feel like the same ‘ol human Vic but was often prone to bouts of depression, anger and mood swings regarding his race, appearance and new responsibilities as a hero. In the mid 80’s a new cartoon was created for DC Comics’ Super Powers storyline, the new heroes added to the traditional lineup were Firestorm and Cyborg. He once again became animated when a Teen Titans cartoon went into production in the 00’s. 1981 “Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants” was the jump off for Charles Xavier’s new multicultural team of teenage mutants. Robert “Bobby” DeCosta was the son of a member of the Hellfire Club Inner Circle and he had the mutant power to absorb the rays of the sun and boost his own strength and endurance as well as made him somewhat invulnerable. He turned completely black when he powered up and he was called Sunspot. Sunspot would gain some new powers and later join X-Force in the early 90’s. He’s still active in the Marvel Universe.
DC almost created a series starring a Black female superhero that doubled as a fashion model way back in 1978 named Vixen but it was cancelled before it went to print. Vixen’s first appearance didn’t come until she battled Superman in “Action Comics” #521. Her cancelled first issue was later reprinted and Vixen made several appearances over the years, most recently in animated form on Justice League Unlimited leading to a resurgence of interest in what was almost DC’s first Black female superhero to have her own title.
1982 “Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider Man” #64 showed the debut of Cloak and Dagger, Cloak was a vessel that contained matter called Darkforce that fed on light and living things. Since Darkforce was powered by darkness, dread and evil itself Cloak was pretty much a brooding, sullen man. He was nourished by his partner Dagger who had the ability to project and emit light. Another reason Cloak sticks out in my mind is because he’s a Bostonian.
Cloak & Dagger are one of the most popular teams in the Marvel Universe, they’ve had several short lived titles but they’ve made several appearances and played key roles in almost every big Marvel happening except for the Secret Wars. They are still active to this very day.
“Avengers” #223 was the debut of Captain Marvel, a Black female superhero who had the ability to turn into pure energy and emit powerful blasts from her entire body. Monica Rambeau rocked an out of date ‘fro for a while until she got hooked up with some Soul Glo in later years (that didn’t stop Starfox from tryin’ to smash, though!). She would become a key member of the Avengers during The Vision’s dalliance with the Control Cube and eventually get her own title.
DC trotted out a new Invisible Kid in “Legion Of Super Heroes Annual”#1. He was a Black teen that hailed from the Ivory Coast named Jacques Foccart that spoke French and English. He would eventually grow up and become President...in the 30th Century. It’s interesting that a Black man in a superhero group full of aliens would end up the “Invisible Kid” (no Ralph Ellison). Interestingly enough, our old pal Tyroc would end up one of his top advisors...yes, he wore pants this time.
1983 “All Star Squadron” #23 was the first time we saw Amazing Man in action. Amazing Man had energy control powers and he could fly. He would later pass his powers, uniform and name down to his son, William Everett, Jr. A third Black Amazing Man was recently introduced in the DC Universe.
1984 Jim Rhodes finally got to don the armor in “Iron Man” #170. Eventually, Rhodey would have an extended stint as Iron Man while Tony Starks had to attend to personal matters. Rhodes ran through quite a few different armors over the years, assisted Starks in the Armor Wars and he’s now known as War Machine.He is now the leader of The Crew, a clandestine team of superheroes funded by the government.
1986 Captain America was removed from his “job” as protector of America and the government picked a new Cap and gave him a Black sidekick named Bucky (!) in “Captain America” #323. Why this didn’t strike the writer of this storyline that this was a really bad idea is beyond me. It’s bad enough that Bucky is a terrible name but when applied to a muscular Black man it’s kinda racist (ya think?). It was bad enough that the Black guy was relegated to sidekick (The Falcon was Cap’s partner as opposed to a sidekick) to an unproven agent.
Eventually, some Black guy told the new Bucky that his name was offensive (“Buck” is a racist term...Duh!) and he should change it. He is now known as Battlestar (a dedication to the original Boomer and Col. Tigh, brothers in space).
Amanda “The Wall” Waller makes her first appearance in “Legends” #1. The woman behind clandestine government teams such as Checkmate and Suicide Squad is one of the most powerful characters in the DC Universe and she doesn’t even have any super powers. She has even appeared in animated form in Justice League Unlimited.
1988 Ray Billingsley’s strip “Curtis” first appears in syndication, I felt good to see a new comic strip featuring a Black lead character and his family that’s wasn't in “Ebony” or “Jet” for a change.
Robb Armstrong's "Jump Start" also premiered in syndication in several newspapers across the nation. It was about Joe and Marcy Cobb, a policeman and a nurse who were raising children (that grew as time passed) and their best friends were an interracial couple. This strip was groundbreaking at the time but it didn't ruffle any feathers or offend anyone.
Knight One explodes on to the scene in DC Comics new title “Checkmate” #1. He is Waller’s replacement for Adrian Chase, the deceased Vigilante. It isn’t until halfway through the second issue that you realize he’s Black when he takes down a team of Neo Nazi’s and the leader goes off a racist tirade after being captured. He shuts up once his captor removes his right glove and reveals that he’s one of “those kind of people”. Gary Washington served as Knight One all throughout the 33 issue run of “Checkmate”.
1989 Dwayne Taylor made his first appearance as Night Thrasher, a skateboarding Black superhero with an exosuit and advanced fighting ability. It would’ve sounded far fetched if we already didn’t see Black heroes and villians like Black Racer, Rocket Racer and Slyde previous to this. The difference was that Trash wasn’t one dimensional, he was a fully fleshed out character already which helped readers identify with him.
Night Thrasher, backed by his parent’s company and access to new technology he founded and successfully lead The New Warriors for years. He dusted off some previously forgotten Marvel characters (Nova, Marvel Boy, Firestar, Namorita), recruited a new one (Speedball) and eventually opened the floodgates for several more Black heroes/villians to be introduced (Silhouette, Midnight’s Fire and Bandit) as well.
Night Thrasher was one of the most popular heroes in the Marvel Universe in the 90’s and even though he recently passed away, his brother has decided to carry on his fight, by donning his uniform, taking his name and reassembling The New Warriors in a Post Civil War New York.
1990 Rage made his first appearance in “Avengers” #326 as an angry super strong Black man that demanded to be admitted to the Avengers. At first, the reader would think that it was lazy writing to create a huge angry Black man called Rage with a chip on his shoulder and have him attack the Avengers demanding a job until it was revealed that Rage was a 13 year old mutant who grew overnight and had brand new super powers and an adult appearance that didn’t know where else to go.
The Avengers made him an honorary member and then a trainee before he left the Avengers Mansion and Dwayne “Night Thrasher” Taylor took him under his wing and mad him a full fledged member of The New Warriors.
“Brotherman: Dictator Of Discipline” was printed and distributed by Big City Comics, a Black owned independent company based in Philadelphia, PA. The comic book was directed towards the young Hip Hop audience as was a pretty big hit. It was endorsed by Arsenio Hall and several popular Hip Hop groups at the time. When KMD first appeared on BET’s Rap City, their episode involved a trip to the comic book store to cop the new issue of Brotherman and extol the virtues of it to the viewing audience.
The heads at Big City Comics were well ahead of the curve and the Brotherman trade paperback is on the way, people. Salute!
1991 Ronald-Ann, a little Black girl who appeared in Berkeley Breathed’s “Bloom County” alongside the Black boy Oliver (a computer genius) was given a leading role in Breathed’s new strip “Outland”. Opus The Penguin and Bill The Cat were still kicking around as well in this popular political satire strip.
John Wraith AKA Kestrel The Expediter makes his first appearance in “Wolverine” #48 as they flash back to the 60’s and Logan’s involvement with Canada’s infamous Team X during the Cold War. Wraith was pretty much a minor character (all he did was teleport/extract the squad when shit got too hot) that ended up getting merked by an enraged Sabretooth while on a mission but since Wll.i.am has recently been cast in this role in the upcoming “Wolverine: Origins” movie I felt that he should be included.
A man from the future fell out of the sky in “X-Men #282”. He had a telltale black “M” over one of his eyes that denoted that he was from an alternate reality where mutants are hunted and exterminated. Bishop was sent on a mission reminiscent of the movie “Terminator” where he had to prevent the disastrous events that take place in the future from taking place. After changing the future, Bishop decided to stay in this timeline and to join the X-Men using his power to manipulate and shoot beams of kinetic energy. He’s also shown up in the X-Men cartoon as he's one of the most popular mutants in the entire Marvel universe.
1992 Sentinel and Chapel are both members of the super powered, gun toting team first showcasrd in the pages of Image Comics new title “Youngblood” #1. Image Comics was founded by a group of disgruntled Marvel artists and writers (most notably Rob Liefeld and Todd McFarlane) that were upset about not recieving royalties for the characters they created. “Youngblood” was among many new independent titles that Image and Wildstorm would create in the comic years.
Todd McFarlane’s new creation would prove to be a huge success for Image Comics, “Spawn”#1 would tell the story of a Black man named Al Simmons that is murdered but ends up making a deal with the Devil to return to the realm of the living in order to be near his wife and his daughter. Satan wants him to lead the armies of Hell but he rebels instead.
“Spawn” sold in record numbers and created a sensation among comic book fans. It became a hot property and eventually became an uncut cartoon series on cable and a mediocre feature film. Word is that a new, darker Spawn film is currently in the works and neither Michael Jai White nor D.B. Sweeney will be in this version.
1993 Battalion, a mercenary with an armored suit featuring huge guns and other scary munitions makes his first appearance as a member of yet another armed to the teeth paramilitary squad in “Stormwatch” #1. He was cool enough to have his own T shirt!
“Shadowhawk” #0 introduced the Image Comics fanbase to a hero that was like Spider-Man, Daredevil, Moon Knight and Black Panther all rolled up into one. He kinda got lost in the sauce with the dearth of new heroes that Image and Wildstorm were creating and soon he was about to get a LOT of company on the newstand.
Nightwatch debuted in “Web Of Spider Man” #99 and he’d get his very own title years later. It was a short lived run but pretty eventful. He would also be overshadowed by several more memorable/noteworthy Black superheroes to show up this year.
John Henry Irons, clearly a reference to the American hero/tall tale of John Henry, the “steel drivin’” Black man that died in a contest against a steam powered drill machine makes his first appearance in “Superman” #500. Shortly after the death of Superman, he throws on a suit of iron and picks up a big ol’ hammer to fight crime as Steel. “Steel” ran for 52 issues and in 1997 a feature film was made starring Shaquille O’ Neal in the title role. The film sucked and Steel hasn’t been a major part of the DC Universe since the book’s cancellation in 1998. Thanks, Shaq! (He killed Kazaam, too!)
Bloodwynd had the power to make you feel the collective pain and anguish of his slave ancestors (and he could fly!). Imagine that! The power to inflict the deep seeded despair felt by Black folks for over 400 plus years got Bloodwynd a spot in the Justice League Of America and he first appeared in issue #76. He was like a sideways version of Marvel’s Cloak who first appeared a full decade earlier (but with the ability to fly!). DC Comics new imprint Milestone Media was founded by Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, Derek Dingle and Dwayne McDuffie. Their mission statement was to create a more diverse universe of characters, heroes and villains...that they definitely achieved. Taking a cue from Marvel’s short lived New Universe, Big City Comics, Image and Wildstorm the heads at Milestone created a wide array of titles with different themes with their launch titles following a “Big Bang” type event that causes a segment of the cities population to develop powers and become altered humans in Dakota:
‘Blood Syndicate,” the story of a bunch of consolidated street gangs turned into heroes after the members all gain different super powers. Among them is the first ever invincible superhero from the Nation Of Gods and Earths named Wise Son, a dude named Tech 9 who has perfect aim with any firearm he touches and he can make them shoot an unlimited amount of ammo on some Ikari Warriors shit and a dog named Dogg that can communicate with humans.
“Hardware”, a genius inventor named Curt Metcalf uses his exosuit and a variety of weapons to fight villains in Dakota and wage war against his own employer, an evil arms dealer. Notable characters include his female counterpart, Technique.
“Icon”, he was often regarded as a Superman clone since he was a damn near invulnerable, super strong Black alien sent to Earth in 1869 and raised by a former slave in the South. He becomes a rich businessman with conservative views but through his sidekick Rocket and his interactions with her and the people of Dakota he begins to see the world in a brand new light.
“Static”, a teenage boy gets the power to manipulate and emit static electricity and uses it to fight crime and protect the city. This title still lives on today in the form of the animated series “Static Shock” where several Milestone characters appear and make frequent cameos.
1994 “X-Men” #36 marked the first time Synch, a mutant with the power the tap into and mime the powers of fellow mutant and then use them as well is seen. Synch would take up residence in Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters and later become a member of Marvel’s new team of young mutants, Generation X. He would eventually die saving his fellow team members.
M M had super strength, invulnerability and some psionic powers she tried to keep under wraps. She first appears in “X-Men” #316, later enrolls in Xavier’s school and becomes a member of Generation X. It was later revealed that M was actually a combination of three siblings, an older sister and her two younger twins. She would become romantically involved with both Synch and the super popular mutant Jamie Madrox.
1996 Isiah Crockett first appeared in the new “Teen Titans” as Joto (Swahili for “heat”), the problem is that “joto” is a gay slur in Spanish so as to avoid confusion Isiah chose the codename Hot Spot. He has the ability to generate, control and project fire at extremely high temperatures. He is completely engulfed by flame when he uses he powers and he also can fly. He’s also appeared in animated form in the Teen Titans cartoon.
“Superboy & The Ravers” #1 was the first time Hero Cruz made the DC Comics scene. Hero Cruz was notable because he received aspecial device that allowed him to receive/have different super powers whenever he used it. He would go on to star in his own title “Dial H For Hero” as well. Hero Cruz also was/is a notable character because he came out of the closet so he was not only a Black hero but a gay one as well.
1997 Maggott was the codename of Japheth, an African immigrant who came to America looking for Magneto but ended up joining the X-Men. He had the power to convert matter into energy that he could then channel or use to boost his own strength (which turned him blue). Japheth was odd to the other X-Men because he was rather large but he never seemed to eat.
Later, it was revealed that his mutant power included him having no digestive system whatsoever so he couldn't eat solid food once he hit puberty, it was instead replaced by two huge slug like creatures that would burrow out of his chest every night (causing him much pain) and go out into the night consuming all forms of matter just to come back just to burrow back into his chest again. Maggott would later die in a mutant extermination camp...he seemed more relieved than scared as he was being executed.
Mister Terrific is one of DC’s most popular characters and he made his first appearance in “Spectre” #54. He is a top government operative and he was instrumental in the reboot of the “Checkmate” title replacing Knight One. He is super intelligent, can learn or glean damn near anything after studying it long enough and he is supremely skilled physically having mastered multiple fighting systems. He can't be tracked, traced or detected by any technology on Earth and he's a born leader with a vast amount of technological knowledge. He definitely looks like a product of the 90’s and his name make him sound like a wrestler, though.
Malden, MA native Keith Knight’s comic strip “The K Chronicles” makes it very first appearance. Soon, it would appear all over the internet via Salon.com and shortly thereafter his “K Chronicles”, “(th)ink” and “Life’s Little Victories” strips would appear in newspapers and he has printed several trade paperbacks over the years. Don’t sleep on Keith Knight or his work.
1998 Jakeem Thunder made his debut in “Flash” #134 and a full decade later Jakeem and his genie Thunderbolt are still kicking around in the DC Universe as members of the Justice League Of America.
Afro Samurai makes his debut in the Japanese magazine “Nou Nou Hau”. Afro will create a sensation and appear in several manga editions before Americans began to take notice in 2005 and option the property for an animated series, a full length animated feature and a video game. The Afro Samurai mini series is available on DVD, an animated series is in production and a full length movie is in negotiations.
1999 Aaron McGruder creates “The Boondocks”, a brand new comic strip featuring Huey and Riley Freeman, young Black kids moved from Chicago to live with their grandfather in the suburb of Woodcrest. This comic echoed the sentiments of an entire generation and went where no Black strip had ever previously gone before. It often was banned from different papers and McGruder receives his fair share of hate mail. Huey has said what I was thinking so often that I used to make it a point of cutting out each strip I liked because I was convinced it would get cancelled at any moment.
Almost 10 years, several trade paperbacks, and a hit cartoon series later I now have a comic strip that managed to surpass my previous favorites, “Life In Hell” and “Calvin And Hobbes”. *starts slow clap for “The Boondocks”*
2001 “Batman: Orpheus Rising” #1 features the tale of a new crime fighter on the streets of Gotham City named Gavin King that wants to follow in the footsteps of his idol, Batman. Orpheus was an exciting new character that was rough around the edges but with the proper training and some new gear upgrades could help take out some of Gotham’s top supervillains. Orpheus was still training to become one of Gotham’s elite heroes one day soon when he was killed. Gotham eats it’s young, I guess (no Jason Todd).
2002 Josiah Power, the head of the Power Company first appeared in “Justice League Of America” #61. His power to use energy and become almost invulnerable while being a power businessman with his own team of superpowered agents has proven extremely problematic to his adversaries.
2003 The story goes that the U.S. Government, in an effort to test out the new Super Soldier serum used a method reminiscent of the infamous Tuskegee Experiment on Black G.I.’s. Only one of their test subjects survived and he developed super strength, speed, agility and endurance. Isiah Bradley was then trained and given a uniform along with a shield and became the 1st Captain America predating Steve Rogers. His entire story was told in the Marvel graphic novel series “Truth: Red, White And Black”.
“The Crew” #1 is about a secret superhero team that includes the son of the original Captain America, Josiah Bradley. Josiah converted to Islam and now continues his family legacy by wearing one of his fathers uniforms and carrying his same shield as he defends America and it’s citizens as Josiah X alongside James Rhodes AKA War Machine.
2004 Elijah Bradley was already not your typical New York teen, then he received a transfusion of blood from his grandfather, the original Super Soldier Captain America. Shortly afterwards, Elijah developed increased strength, speed and endurance. As time went on he only got stronger, sharper and more agile and eventually the government showed up at his door. He was recruited for a new team of superheroes and tagged to be their leader. He first appeared in full uniform as his new alter ego, The Patriot in “Young Avengers” #1 the next year. He had lied about having superpowers previously, instead he was on HGH. He ended up being injured in combat and ended up REALLY needing an emergency blood transfusion from his grandfather which gave him his sought after super powers.
“Firestorm” #1 featured a brand new Firestorm, this time he was a Black teenager and there wasn’t any annoying professor appearing as a floating head to give him advice on how to use his matter manipulation powers most effectively. Thank God, that used to drive me crazy back in the days. Here's to the new Nuclear Man.
“Blokhedz”#1 would herald the coming of the Madtwiinz (Mark & Mike Davis). Straight outta Cambridge, MA comes the creative team behind one of the most inventive comic book properties in years. The story of Blak, a young up and coming emcee in Empire City and his brother Konz as they try to make it to the top and avoid the pitfalls of the streets. The comic book has been in print and a spin off strip has appeared in the pages of Scratch magazine. An animated feature length film is in the works and toys based on the comic book/strips are also available as well as graphic novels here.
2005 Xavin, the young shape shifting Skrull appears in “Runaways” #7. Xavin first appears as a female and then as a Black male depending on the situation (and if they're in public) which causes a lot of confusion for casual readers of the title (as well as the group members themselves).
2006 The DC Comics title “American Way” is about an alternate reality in which it’s the 60’s and superheroes are multimedia stars. Everything’s going great until the newest and most exciting hero makes the scene, he’s super powerful, a born leader and the camera loves him. Just one problem...he’s a Negro! When the hero known as the New American appears in living rooms all across the nation. Will America ever be able to get past their initial trepidation and embrace a Black superhero? I mean, Joe Louis and Cassius Clay were another matter altogether compared to this!
2007 “Blaster Knuckle” comes straight out of Japan and is about a former slave that develops a mechanized fist on his right hand as well as other inventions that he uses to fight injustice in the guise of the Klu Klux Klan (them again?), a group of racist vampires that feed on Black citizens (?). This manga partly inspired the recent episode of The Boondocks cartoon “The Story Of Catcher Freeman” and may end up the next import to get the Afro Samurai treatment since it has the internet going nuts (word to Obama Girl).
2008 Dart Adams fights off the flu, bill collectors and constant e-mails from readers wondering what's taking so long to finish this damn blog. I'm a damn Black hero just for finishing this!
I had to leave out/omit some characters...if I didn’t I never would’ve finished. Word to Moses Magnum, Mister Bones, Apocalypse, The Sphinx, Arsenal (Moon Knight), Slyde, Bushmaster, Chemistro, Kiber The Cruel, Nightshade, Onyx, Equinox, and the list goes on. Thanks to you all for reading this, you have no idea how hard it was for me to complete.
This blog is dedicated to my father (Rest In Eternal Peace, Daddy), my mother and my older brother David Adams. They're my own personal Black heroes.
About a year ago, out of curiosity I decided to go back through some old comic books and try to figure out who the earliest black hero I could find was. It turned out to be T’Challa, the Blank Panther back in one of my 1968 Captain America’s. I realized that Black characters in comics have had quite a history and I decided to get a few books that explored it so I bought Fredrik Stromberg’s “Black Images In The Comics” and was instantly blown away.
Stromborg’s book not only showed images from American publications but one’s from all over the world, especially Europe. Lifestyle and humor magazines regularly used Black people and Africans as fodder for humor and sight gags, often by giving them extremely dark skin, kinky hair with bones in it or huge nose rings. The Africans often brandished spears and Blacks were always dancing, eating chicken or watermelon, and depicted as being lazy or possessing inferior intellect (like the ability to speak anything resembling proper English) but exhibited great skill at dancing, sports or playing music (go figure!).
At the turn of the century, several magazines like Puck and Judge hired cartoonists to do humor pages or caricatures of a political nature in their pages (the above one ran in Puck in 1890). One of the foremost cartoonists of the era was a man named R.F. Outcault who would become known as the “father of the modern comic strip”. We will begin with him and his creation of “The Yellow Kid” in 1895, a jug eared Irish kid from the fictional New York slum called Hogan’s Alley.
Among the denizens of Hogan’s Alley were Black kids that of course were portrayed as big lipped, dark skinned wide eyed terrors, foremost being the razor wielding New Bully. It turns out that Outcault would create the very first comic strip featuring a Black main character in 1900. That is where we begin our journey through comics history:
1900 R.F. Outcault creates “Pore Lil’ Mose”, a strip about a Black child in New York City that lives in a section known as Coon Town. He usually travels with a pack of animal friends/pets and gets into all kinds of hijinks in his travels (at least he was literate). I have included a Mose strip below from it’s brief run from 1900-1902. R.F. Outcault then went on to create the ultra popular Buster Brown strip and got rich by licensing his likeness to a shoe company.
1902 George Herriman, yet another prominent cartoonist of the turn of the century creates a strip about a Black musician named “Musical Mose”. Mose can play any instrument and any kind of music...problem is that he’s Black and everyone hates Negroes (including other Negroes). Mose dresses himself up as other nationalities and ultimately gets discovered, beaten and run out of the venue/town strip after strip. The joke got old pretty quickly and it was even odder because Herriman himself was a Black man from New Orleans passing for White. The strip had a short life but Herriman went on to create the highly influential “Krazy Kat” and inspired generations of cartoonists to come.
1905 Yet another of the greats of the early days of modern day comic strips, William Marriner created a comic strip with a Black main character. It was called “Sambo And His Funny Noises” and it was all about the adventures of Sammie “Sambo” Johnsin (spelled wrong purposely) and his back and forth dealings with two little white boys in his neighborhood named Mike and Jim. Sambo often won when he bumped heads with them (as he did in the below panel) and that was new for a Black character in that era.
The strip would’ve survived for at least ten years but Marriner was an alcoholic and in 1914 he died in a fire that he reportedly started because his wife had once again packed up and left him with his child while he was off on one of his binges. The last thing he was heard saying was him threatening the townsfolk that if his wife didn’t come back soon, he would burn down the entire town and everyone in it.
1916 In 1916, Sammie Johnsin became the first comic strip character to be produced in a series of cartoon shorts by Otto Messner and Pat Sullivan’s animation studio. Sammie Johnsin (since Marriner was dead they couldn’t get the rights to call him Sambo) served as the blueprint for Felix The Cat cartoons that soon followed. They even were featured in the same shorts together, these prints are all rare and in poor shape as seen below in the restored Felix The Cat film (which are now all public domain!).
1923 Two more Black characters make their first appearances in two popular comic strips of the Roaring 20’s. The first being Rachel, a maid/servant in Frank King’s “Gasoline Alley” and Mushmouth, a manservant/chauffeur in Frank Willard’s “Moon Mullins”. Rachel looked like the typical mammy stereotype and Mushmouth was a typical ignorant Negro that wasn’t very bright and lived to wait on people. Neither could speak English well, either (which should be obvious in Mushmouth’s case). Weirder still was that in these comic strips, no one was well off (Moon Mullins was a drunk) but the Black folks were still servants to other broke people. I couldn’t find any comic strip depictions of them online except for these 1920’s collectibles in a private collection.
1925 In the Baltimore Sun newspapers Comic section, cartoonist Ken Kling ran a strip about horse racing that features tips on the day’s races. It didn’t take off until he added a Black character in it, though. The strip was renamed “Joe And Asbestos” (guess which one Asbestos was?) and Asbestos served as a helper in the stables and took care of Joe’s horses.
The strip was famous because Kling would drop hints all over the strip and people would buy the paper and bet the ponies based on his daily tips (hence the missing text in the featured strip). Kling also had a side hustle going by selling horse racing guides and betting forms.
1929 Rudolf Ising and Hugh Harman created Bosko, Bosko and his girlfriend Honey became the first Looney Tunes characters to appear in both cartoons and print. The first Bosko sketches depict him as a deracialized Black character but in his first movies he sounded like a stereotypical coon that was aversed to dancing and playing music. Later on, he and Honey sounded like squeaky voiced children for amore than 30 produced Looney Tunes shorts between 1929 and 1933.
In 1934, Harman and Ising switched over to MGM Studios and took Bosko and Honey with them...the only difference is that now Bosko and Honey were both Black children with stereotypical features that spoke in English that wasn’t just broken, it had compound fractures. This version of Bosko and Honey appeared sporadically in MGM’s Happy Harmonies features between 1934-1938. What the fuck? The odd thing is that Bosko and Honey were resurrected by the cartoon Tiny Toons Adventures in the early 90’s and Bosko and Honey’s sordid history was completely glossed over.
1934 Lee Falk and Phil Davis launch the new strip “Mandrake The Magician”. Mandrake was an illusionist and he could read thoughts. He was aided by Lothar, a massive African with charcoal skin, beady little eyes and huge lips. Lothar was very docile, rarely spoke and when he did it was in horribly constructed sentences and he wore a short tunic topped by a piece of leopard skin across his torso and a red fez on his head. Lothar was not only Mandrake’s manservant but he would drive him around and be his security/protector/hired muscle. Lothar was later referred to as the “strongest man on Earth” as well which could make him the first legitimate Black superhero in comics history.
Eventually, it would be revealed that Lothar was a prince of an African nation. He learned to speak excellent English, took on actual human features and stopped being Mandrake’s dumb as a post servant and they became crime fighting equals. He also became one of the Defenders Of The Earth in the 1980’s animated series featuring other famous King Features Syndicate characters, receiving equal hero billing next to Flash Gordon, The Phantom and Mandrake The Magician.
1937 Jackie Ormes became the first Black female cartoonist to have a syndicated strip when her creation “Torchy Brown” was published throughout Black newspapers by way of the Afro American Continental Features Syndicate via the Pittsburgh Courier. Torchy was a bright, independent Black woman in a world of Black professionals that looked like human beings and spoke like them as well (about damn time!).
“Torchy Brown” had a brief run and a second run in the early 50’s where she worked in a medical setting.
Jackie Ormes also became the first Black woman to sucessfully license a Black character and have it made into the first Black doll that wasn’t a caricature or stereotype based on her “Patty Jo N' Ginger” strip in 1948.
1939 Walter Lantz creates a new character to appear in his animated films and Dell Comics’ New Funnies books (at the bottom, can't miss him). It’s a young Southern Black boy complete with all the required racist stereotypes (appearance, mannerisms, and speech) named Lil’ Eight Ball (no MJG). He lives down South on a farm with his mammy and a host of other characters.
Above are some stills from an old animated feature and he didn’t appear in animated form or print past 1947. While no company is advertising selling any DVD’s containing episodes of “Lil Eight Ball”, I did find one company that sells old Lantz cartoons on DVD sneaking them in without advertising them on the customer reactions on one site. You won’t be seeing him on YouTube!
Warner Brothers introduced Inki, the stereotypical African hunter in a series commonly called “Inki And The Minah Bird”. Inki appeared to be a child and he was depicted with and without a bone through his hair in alternate cartoons. Inki was only featured in five shorts and his final cartoon was produced in 1950. Inki was shown on television until the early 1990’s before many cartoons were removed from the air and/or edited for having offensive or racially insensitive content.
1940 The legendary comic book artist Will Eisner created the Golden Age hero “The Spirit” and gave him a young Black sidekick with (you guessed it!) huge lips, huge eyes, an inability to speak proper English and a need to perform menial tasks for the White hero. His name? Ebony White. Ebony spent quite a bit of time getting captured, knocked out, tied up and used as bait to lure The Spirit into traps. In some rare cases, he actually helped apprehend several villains but those instances were far and few between. The introduction of Ebony White opened the floodgates and soon other comics would introduce Black sidekicks.
In later years, Eisner changed Ebony’s appearance, speech patterns and his demeanor upon returning from serving in World War 2 with Black soldiers in the yet to be integrated Army. In the upcoming “The Spirit” feature film the character of Ebony White has been omitted altogether rather than being cast by a young Black actor. Bad move.
1941 The early incarnation of Marvel Comics produced a new World War 2 comic book featuring a kid gang called “Young Allies”. Among them was a bug eyed, balloon lipped Black teen dressed in loud clothes that gave him a “zip coonish” appearance named (wait for it!) Whitewash Jones. Whitewash ran around with a group of teens that included Toro, the sidekick of The Human Torch and Bucky, sidekick of Captain America. The rest of the team usually ended up getting knocked unconscious or captured just to be saved by the super powered members of the group (and in some cases Captain America, Human Torch or Sub Mariner). Whitewash was often featured on the cover of most issues in a sight gag or tied up somewhere. In rare occasions, he actually helped bring down the villains.
Not to be outdone, Fawcett Comics (who created Capt. Marvel AKA Shazam) decided to introduce their Black sidekick, Steamboat to the comic book audience. He was an out of work boat captain (thanks to Capt. Marvel) and his alter ego Billy Batson gave him a job where he worked and Steamboat also served as his sidekick/manservant/chauffeur/pilot (which made no sense because Capt. Marvel could fly). In the end, Blacks protested and demanded that the character of Steamboat be discontinued because he was offensive. He was soon removed from the pages of Fawcett’s books and only lives on in pictures like the one above.
1943 Walt Kelly, most famous for his comic strip “Pogo”was drawing and penning adventures for Pogo Possum and Albert The Alligator for years before he started the daily strip in 1948. He introduced a little Black kid to interact with the animals in Okefenokee Swamp named Bumbazine. His first appearance was in a segment called “Bumbazine And Albert The Alligator”. Bumbazine was a first in many ways, he spoke better English then all of the animals in the swamp and he didn’t have any overtly racist features that most Black cartoon characters had at the time.
Bumbazine appeared in various editions of Our Gang Comics (that's a cartoon version of Buckwheat) and Animal Comics. Walt Kelly didn’t use Bumbazine that long, instead opting to have the critters themselves do the talking without any human involvement. Thank you, Walt Kelly for being a human being.
1945 Fawcett Comics needed to give Capt. Marvel a villain to fight after World War 2 ended. The answer was to create an evil version of Captain Marvel himself. When Capt. Marvel showed up from Egypt, he adopted the alter ego of Billy Batson and appeared as a Caucasian. However, when Teth Adam said “Shazam!” and showed up in the very same timeline he was still a Middle Easterner...and evil. His name? Black Adam. Duh! He’s now considered one of the most powerful villains in the DC Universe. In the upcoming “Shazam” film, Black Adam will be played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. 1947 For the first time ever, an independent comic book was printed by Black people for Black people (take that FUBU!). It was called “All-Negro Comics” and it introduced the first two independent Black heroes, Ace Harlem and Lion Man.
Ace Harlem was a private detective and Lion Man was a super strong and super quick member of the Zulu tribe in Africa.They both are fairly intelligent and look like actual humans do for a change (cuz they were drawn and scripted by actual Black folks!). Unfortunately, this was the only issue ever produced and it is extremely rare even among collectors.
1954 The predecessor of Marvel Comics, Atlas used to produce a title called “Jungle Tales”. Contained within these pages was the story of Waku, Prince Of The Bantu. He was depicted as having a realistic human appearance and was very intelligent. He was also portrayed as being incredibly heroic and possessed an air of dignity not previously seen in Black characters in mainstream comics.
In a way, Waku is the first Black hero in Marvel Comics history...of course, it was easy to treat Waku in this manner considering he was an African in Africa and not one in America among Whites.
1959 The DC comic book “Our Army At War” began running the tales of Sgt. Rock and Easy Company. Among the many members of Easy Company was a Black soldier named Jackie Johnson. Jackie was the former heavyweight boxing champion of the world and he ended up in Easy Company during WW2 after losing his title (Jackie Johnson was supposedly an amalgamation of Jack Johnson and Joe Louis).
Jackie’s three most famous features occured in issues #113, #120 and most famously in #160 where he got to fight the man who took his championship from him again while captured by the Germans. Jackie ended up becoming an action figure in later years and the inspiration for the following character.
1963 Marvel Comics introduces a new title as an answer to DC’s war comics called “Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos”. One of the Howlin’ Commandos is a Black soldier and former Jazz musician named Gabe Jones who leads the charge by blowing his ever present horn. A fierce fighter that inspired his fellow Commandos onto victory in the field, Gabe was the first Black hero of the 60’s and he would become a key member of S.H.I.E.L.D during the Bronze Age.
1965 Dell Comics prints the first comic book featuring a Black hero when the first issue of “Lobo” hit the stands. Lobo was a former slave who earned his freedom and then became a cowboy. He used his skills with a gun to fight injustice and right wrongs in the post Civil War Wild West while being a fugitive from the law. “Lobo” had been all but forgotten until recently when the title was discovered by comic book historians and collectors. This title was short lived but it was groundbreaking in so many ways it boggles the mind.
Veteran Black cartoonist Morrie Turner debuts his brand new comic strip called “Wee Pals”featuring a multicultural cast of youngsters that are all friends (imagine that!). With the help and advice of Dick Gregory and legendary cartoonist Charles Schultz he was able to get the strip syndicated. Turner’s other great triumph was that Rankin/Bass optioned his strip in 1972 and made it into the cartoon “Kid Power”. His Black characters were named Randy, Nipper, Diz, Mikki and Sybil and here they are below you animated. How bugged out is that?
1966 The pages of Fantastic Four #52 not only contained some classic Marvel action, but they also heralded the beginning of an era as T’Challa, prince of Wakanda appeared for the first time as Black Panther, one of the greatest heroes in Marvel Comics history.
He would later become a member of the Avengers in Avengers #52 and star in his own series called “Jungle Action” (yikes!) before appearing in his own “Black Panther” titles in the 70’s (he also fought the Klu Klux Klan a lot). One day T’Challa would become King, but that is another story.
1967 DC Comics decided to run an interesting story in "Justice League Of America" #57. The comics’ title was “Man, Thy Name Is-Brother!” and featured man of all races holding hands on the cover (Uh oh!). Inside, a young Black man named Joel Harper (that's him on the cover) saves a clothing manufacturer’s life and as a reward for saving the man’s life all Joel wants is a job. The boss gets robbed and Joel can’t stop them so he ends up getting fired.
Joel then encounters The Flash and tells him his story, including a solliliquy about how “colored boys never get a break”. He also confides in The Flash that he hoped this job would be his foot in the door to a career in the men’s clothing manufacturing business, something he’s been studying for a while now. What happens next is eye roll worthy.
The Flash ends up getting blinded and he encounters the thieves with Joel Harper serving as his sidekick/eyes. After Joel successfully yells out directions and aids The Flash in subduing the baddies. The Flash then suggests that Joel should go into law enforcement and become a cop. Wait a minute., didn’t Joel just tell you that he wanted to be a clothing manufacturer and run his own business? What’s with this “you should work with your hands” bullshit, Flash? Fuck you and Brotherhood Week!
In other Black comic book character news, Black Manta made his first appearance in Aquaman #25. No one knew that Black Manta was a brother until he took of his helmet 10 years later. Comic book fans all over screamed “I knew it!” when they saw this panel below. Black Manta really hated Aquaman , too. He killed his kid, they had serious issues with each other.
1968 Charles “Sparky” Schultz, creator of “Peanuts” introduces Franklin to the world. Franklin was extremely well adjusted and he didn’t do anything crazy or overly “Black” to hammer home his presence in the strip. God bless you, Sparky for being human. Rest in Peace.
John Saunders & Al McWilliams created the syndicated comic strip “Dateline: Danger” that was modeled after the TV show “I Spy” starring Bill Cosby and Robert Culp. In the strip, a White and Black man worked as secret agents but their cover was they were both news reporters. The Black character’s name was (wait for it!) Danny Raven. When the series ended in 1974, the team of Saunders & McWilliams created stories for spy/espionage comic books.
Before I post up this massive, exhaustively researched (I’ve been working on it for about 6 months now) two part blog about the long and storied history of Black comic strip/comic book heroes and characters. I decided to block out some time and post up ten of my favorite trailers that are currently floating around the vasty black called the internet and the sea of chaos I affectionately refer to as the bloggerverse. I tried to get a good mix of studio films, indie flicks and the story driven depressing shit I like to watch tossed in with some action films. Let’s go:
The first trailer I decided to post is the hottest one on the net right now, Street Kings. Street Kings is the new effort from writer/director David Ayer (Training Day, Harsh Times) but this joint was written by the team of Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium, The Recruit & Ultraviolet) and novelist/screenwriter James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential, The Black Dahlia). This is another L.A. crime drama about a cop who works a dangerous job and is implicated in a case where one of his fellow officers is found dead and he needs to clear his name. Read my thoughts about it below:
Dart’s Take: This looks like a must see to me. Not only is the team that created it tight but I need to see Nic Cage, Common, The Game and Hugh Laurie all in the same film together. I keep expecting Hugh to limp around or something. This movie looks gritty as hell and I never thought I’d say thought about a film that chose a Lupe Fiasoc song for the trailer off top. The use of RZA’s track he made for Blade 2 was a new one since I don’t remember seeing a trailer and hearing a song specifically made for another movie in it before. I’m looking forward to this flick. Nice trailer, it had the desired effect.
Doomsday is written and directed by Neil Marshall (Dog Soldier & The Descent) and it’s all about a plague that spreads throughout Europe and completely ravages it (again). The remaining population locks itself into a military fortress/stronghold in hopes of one day restoring civilization and discovering an antidote for the virus that endangered humanity. The only woman up to the job is sexy ass Rhona Mitra who leaves civilization behind and leads a team into the world that they left behind more than a generation ago. Did I buy it?
Dart’s Take: I’m loving this trailer, fam! It brings me back to the 80’s when we had all of these post apocalyptic Sci Fi flicks coming out. This reminds me of the old Mad Max/Escape From New York/Damnation Alley/Fist Of The North Star shit I used to see as a kid. This movie has the checklist all filled up, too. A dystopian future where the military sends a team out on a mission to “save the world”? Check. A group armed to the teeth with new technology fighting “savages” dressed like Punks with spiked bats? Check. A fight to the death in a dome of some type? Check. Hella action sequences and a car crash in the trailer? Check and check.
The use of Rhona Mitra as the main character automatically make you think of Milla Jovovich in the Resident Evil franchise but I think works because Mitra isn’t known as an action star so it’s a surprise to the audience. Will this movie actually be “good”? I honestly don’t know because it seems to have “borrowed” liberally from so many previous films of it’s ilk. Hopefully it’ll put a new spin on the genre...otherwise it’ll just be another flick in people’s Netflix queues that came and went in the theater. I am curious to see which way it’ll go.
The next trailer I selected for this blog is an award winning Canadian drama about a troubled teen girl called The Tracey Fragments. It’s adapted from a novel written by Maureen Medved and was filmed in only two weeks by Bruce McDonald, a director best known for directing a gang of episodes of the popular CTV teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation. The film stars Ellen Page, who is now hotter than Chewbacca's crotch in the summer thanks to her star turn in Diablo Cody’s Juno (Diablo Cody can get it...early). What’s the deal with the trailer? Let’s find out:
Dart’s Take: As you all know, I’m a sucker for character driver indie flicks about damaged people and the trouble they have relating to the world at large (I might need therapy) so I’m really feeling this trailer. Ellen Page is great at playing the oddball chick in high school and seeing famous Canadian actors like Ryan Cooley and Kate Todd in this trailer is bugged out and I fully expect them to make the jump to Hollywood like Ellen Page and Laura Vandervoort did soon. I like how the film looks grey and subdued because it adds to the overall feel of the trailer. I’m totally engrossed and I can’t wait until this joint comes out on DVD soon to see the whole thing (Yes, I am speaking in code). This is already on my Netflix queue, I’m definitely checkin’ for it.
Here’s a horror/suspense thriller called Spiral from Adam Green (Hatchet) and written by the lead actor Joel Moore about a reclusive office work who paints pictures of a mysterious woman. He’s befriended by a lonely girl new to the office played by Amber Tambyln and then shit gets weirder than a Sa Ra Creative Partners collaboration with Will.i.am. My two cents:
Dart’s Take: I first saw this trailer on another Netflix rental and this trailer had me type freaked out. I was thinking to myself “This movie actually looks scary for a change”. Joel Moore is notorious for acting in some shitty movies so I was surprised to see him in a serious dramatic role for a change and he legitimately creeped me out in this trailer. This movie came out on DVD yesterday (February 19th) so I should get this joint in the mail today. I’ve been waiting to see this joint. I’ll let y’all know if it lived up to the trailer or not next Dartflix post.
Snow Angels is adapted from the Stewart O’Nan novel and it’s directed by writer/director David Gordon Green and boasts an excellent cast of character actors. It tells the tale of several characters surrounding a divorcee and her daughter in the middle of a dispute with her ex husband over visitation and their friends and associates in and outside the local high school. The story unravels from a shooting that occurs on the school property. My words are below:
Dart’s Take: I honestly don’t know how homie was able to nail down this many excellent actors for this flick. These actors agents must’ve really loved this script because this is a hell of a lineup. This movie looks like it’s typical Sundance Festival fare, a shooting occurs in the suburbs and the story is then deconstructed from there through the eyes of the surrounding players. I am interested in seeing this flick but for some odd reason it’s not high on my list of priorities right now.
I like the trailer but it didn’t grab me for whatever reason the way the trailer for The Tracey Fragments did. If I just happen to run across it (*cough!*) I’ll watch it but I’m not jonesing to see it. This movie could turn out to be really good, too. I’ll see.
The Bank Job is a film based on a true story about a bank robbery that went wrong but eventually went right...whatever the hell that means. I’m absolutely unfamiliar with the story but the film is directed by Roger Donaldson and written by the same team that wrote Julie Taymor’s Across The Universe. My thoughts to follow:
Dart’s Take: Another movie about a bank robbery but this time it involves some espionage of some type on behalf of the Crown. *Yawn* I’ve seen so many movies like this that it’s hard for me to get excited based on this trailer alone. Jason Statham is in another bank robbery flick? Didn’t Chaos just come out yesterday? Saffron Burrows plays the hot girl in the crew...again. This flick can be the shit but based on the trailer it could go either way. This trailer is straight up eye candy but I would forget this joint was coming out if the trailer wasn’t on TV nonstop. This joint goes in the “wait and see” pile.
How To Rob A Bank is an indie film by writer/director Andrews Jenkins. In his ambitious first feature a team of theives and puts a brand new spin on the bank robbery film. It stars Nick Stahl, Gavin Rossdale (yeah, you read that right) and the sexiest Scientologist in Hollywood (Marisol Nichols is a close second), Erika Christensen. My opinion is directly below:
Dart’s Take: Now this a damn trailer! I’m engrossed. I’m drawn in. I want to know what happens next and how this all goes down. The dialogue gives me the impression that this movie is on some other shit. As an aside, isn’t Leo Fitzpatrick feeling like he’s being typecast or something after being a bank robber/gunman in Spike TV’s miniseries The Kill Point? Check out Terry Crews as the lead detective on the case! This movie is available for viewing on Comcast On Demand’s IFC In Theaters right now if you don’t live near an arthouse/indie theater. I’m gonna see this later on today and I’ll write about it next Dartflix (I did recommend it in my last one).
The Air I Breathe is another first feature by writer/director Jieho Lee that boasts an amazing cast. The story all surrounds a crime boss, a businessman who makes a huge on a horse race and a Hollywood starlet. These people all cross paths with each other and expands into a wider story. Forest Whitaker, Kevin Bacon, Brendan Fraser and Sarah Michelle Gellar head up the stellar cast in this production. How did the trailer grab me? Read below:
Dart’s Take: While the trailer for Snow Angels didn’t grab me but it gives me the impression that it’s still an excellent movie, this one grabs my attention and makes me think that it may be a really good movie as well. I don’t know if it’s the “dangerous” angle involving the mob boss and Forest Whitaker playing another guy who bets a shitload of money (Even Money) or the overall tone of the trailer itself but I’m on board with this one all the way. I’m going to try and see this flick and if it lives up to my expectations based on the trailer I’ll watch Snow Angels and compare the two. I dig this trailer.
Shutter is the American remake of the Thai horror modern classic. Japanese horror writer/director Masayuki Ochiai directs and Luke Dawson adapted it for the American horror audience. My take on the trailer is below:
Dart’s Take: This trailer just reminds me that Hollywood has officially run out of ideas. I go out of my way to find new Asian horror films to watch because I actually find them scary and about two years later I end up seeing them again, just with White people replacing the Japanese/Koreans/Thai in the lead and supporting roles in the original. The films pretty much look like the originals except for some minor changes, too. I’m at my wit’s end with it. The Grudge, The Ring, One Missed Call, The Eye, Possession, Shutter...I’ve already seen them all before, just with subtitles. The strike is over. Writers, get on your jobs.
Redbelt is legendary writer/director David Mamet’s unique take on the world of MMA/free form full contact fighting. Chiwetel Eijiofor plays a down on his luck expert fighter and sifu at a dojo teaching Jiu Jitsu and related fighting techniques. He gets forced into competing in a competition once a fight league steals his ideas to make their fights fresher. Am I buying it? Read on:
Dart’s Take: So let me get this straight. I just saw Chuy (Eijiofor), Tim Allen, Randy Couture, Dan Inosanto, Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini and Enson Inoue all in the credits for the same movie? And it was written by David Mamet? I never cease to be amazed. This doesn’t look like the typical MMA/fight movie (Never Back Down comes to mind) because it’s written too well and I can see that people are actually acting in it. Chuy was believable as a martial artist in Serenity so he’s a good fit for this flick in my opinion.
Since I’ve interested in martial arts since I was a kid but I’ve never been too into MMA or it’s other offshoots (I know from Jeet Kune Do and a life of experience that form and style mean nothing, it comes down to the indivual fighter and his ability to adapt to situations and take down the other man. Anyone can beat anyone else at any given time...unless it’s Bruce Lee and they do whatever it takes to win).
MMA fans will be pissed but fuck ‘em. Anyone can knock anyone else out in an MMA fight and if you’re experienced enough you can recover from anything unless it’s just a bad day/night for you. No movie can kill a sport, trust me or Thai kickboxing, Kung Fu, Karate, Ninjitsu, Judo and Capoeira would’ve all gone the way of the dinosaur. I’m looking forward to this flick, fuck the crybabies online.
Part 4 is coming in late March. Get ready, peoples.
What’s the deal, people? Today I bring you three recent releases, one of the retail variety and the other two are digital only mixtapes. The three selections are as follows: Akrobatik’s “Absolute Value”, QN5’s “Baby Blue For Pink EP” and (UK) Sway’s new joint “The Dotted Lines Mixtape”. I would’ve posted this up on Friday but shit happens and I couldn’t so I’ll review these joints in the same order I listed above and gaive you my favorite joints, the ones that were pure trash and my overall take on each project.
Those of you that are regular blog readers are familiar with my unorthodox ratings system already know what the deal is. Here's how my "Cop It Or Not" ratings system breaks down below:
Oh No! This CD is a drink coaster/table balancer/doorstop/gerbil/hamster room divider/frisbee/discus/makeshift shield/last ditch choice for a visor/alternate shuriken choice. Sell this shit to whoever is dumb enough to buy it from you.
Maeby (Maybe)! Depending on your own set of personal preferences you might like this joint. Give it a listen first to see if it's in your lane or not.
Mos Def! Cop the album when it drops...'Nuff said.
I’ll begin with the long awaited new album by hometown hero Akrobatik. Ak is the pride of Codman Square, a local emcee legend, a member of The Perceptionists with Mr. Lif and DJ Fakts One and the author of mad classic tracks. “Absolute Value” is Akrobatik’s first album on Fat Beats after getting his PlayAktion label deal. Will “Absolute Value” stand next to “Balance” as a certified classic? Let’s find out below:
Best Joints: “A To The K”, “Soul Glo”, “Put Ya Stamp On It”, “Step It Up”, “Raw”, “Be Prepared”, “Absolute Value”, “Black Hell Breaks Loose”, “Kindred”, “Front Steps II (Tough Love)”, “Beast Mode”, “If We Can’t Build”, Ak B. Nimble” and “Back Home To You”
Hot Garbage: N/A (There isn’t a weak moment on this joint)
Dart’s Take: This album far exceeded my expectations and I was already anticipating it to be good. Ak really brought it lyrically and with his delivery. The guest appearances were all on point (B Real, Talib Kweli, Mr. Lif, Willie Evans Jr. & Therapy) and the beats are of that hard boom bap variety. This album does not disappoint in any believable facet. Ak has done it again...I give it a mos def.
Next up is the Valentine’s Day inspired QN5 EP called “Baby Blue For Pink”. If you’re not familiar with the QN5 team then you’ve easily missed out on some of the best Hip Hop music of the past decade, easily. PackFM, ToneDeff, Kno, Cashmere The Pro, Substantial and a gang of more heads have been recording and producing hella heat on the underground for a long time now. How does this stack up to their previous efforts? Let’s find out:
Best Joints: “Plucking Daisies”, “The Letter”, “Know I Do Remix”, “R Love Songs Gay?”, “Digital Video” and “Close”
Hot Garbage: N/A
Dart’s Take: The QN5 collective dropped this joint right around Valentine’s Day and it deals with relationships and issues surrounding them. This is material that the vast majority of folks don’t rock with for whatever reason. I get sick of hearing songs about crack, guns and bitches and it’s refreshing to actually hear song joints about “real shit”. Dare I say it again? It’s grown folks Hip Hop!
I loved every minute of this EP and tracks like “R Love Songs Gay?” are emblematic of why. How come dudes who diss females and hang with nothing but dudes and make songs for their boys on some Gangstalicious shit are considered “real” but a dude making a song about loving a female is considered soft or even gay? What kind of fuckin’ alternate reality/Bizarro World is this? I’ve been rocking this EP since I first got just less than a week ago. Cop it on iTunes or however else because this project is well worth it. It gets another mos def from me.
The final mixtape I have for you all is from UK rhyming sensation Sway (Dasafo). If you’re not familiar with his resume then I suggest you seek out his previous work like “This Is My Promo (This Is Not My Album)”, “This Is My Demo” and the “One For The Journey EP”. Sway is a talented producer as well (DCypha Productions) and his new album “The Signature” should drop in May. How did I like this mixtape? Let’s find out now.
Best Joints: “Know Yourself”, “New Skool”, “Black Stars”, “The Dotted Lines”, “More LDN”, “Feat Sway Part A & B”, “Sway On Air Part B”, “You’ll Get Over It”, “The Sky Is Falling”, “The World Is Filled” and “My Sword”
Hot Garbage: N/A (although I wasn’t really feeling “F UR X”, “Let It Go”, “The Story Has Just Begun” and “MC Charlie Boy (The Deportee Song)”
Dart’s Take: This is a cool mixtape for anyone that wants to get familiar with Sway’s work and didn’t know who he was before he was in the cipher on the BET Hip Hop Awards (that’s also included on the mixtape). Sway rhymes over Dizzee’s “Old Skool (Pussyhole)” track and Lily Allen’s “LDN” instrumental early on. You get to experience Sway’s gift for wordplay and his pride in being from Ghana.
There is also a segment where Sway Calloway calls in to Radio 1Xtra during the Tim Westwood Show and has an interesting exchange with Sway regarding them having the same name (spoiler alert: US Sway isn’t happy). Overall, this mixtape is definitely worth downloading but it’s nothing Earth shattering. It gets a recommended maybe because I’m a Sway fan...is it true that Kano got dropped? Some US label should scoop him up (hint, hint). Download this mixtape now off of Sway's MySpace page here.
Albums I'm Looking Forward To Reviewing Once They Leak...I Mean Drop:
I'm Also Looking Forward To Reviewing The Following Projects:
Rhymefest-El Che AZ-Undeniable Skillz-Million Dollar Backpack Jay Electronica-Act II
Atmosphere-When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold
Dart's Fat Tape/CD-R (As Of February 19th, 2008):
Mr. Big Fizz-C.R.A.C. Knuckles (Blu & Ta'Raach)
2 For The Money-O.C. & A.G.
The Healer-Erykah Badu
Put Ya Stamp On It-Akrobatik f/Talib Kweli
Reasons-Co$$ AKA CashUsKing
Pray For Me (Suicide Note)-Reks
Freedom: Part 2-Fred Knuxx f/Crooked I
Be Aware-E.Dot & Darp Malone
Makin' It Hard-Devin The Dude
Plucking Daisies-PackFM
Never Again-Blu
Arcade Fly-Both Nice (6th Sense & Wildabeast)
Good Love-Sheek Louch
The Sky Is Falling-Sway
Kilo Rap-Termanology f/Ghetto & Big Noyd
My Grandma's Kitchen-Blu
4 Walls-Joe Budden
The Best Secret-Pete Rock f/Lords Of The Underground
Lumdi-Camp Lo
Cappaccino-The Knux
Collect Respect Anna Check-C.R.A.C. Knuckles (Blu & Ta' Raach)
I remember way back when All Star Weekend consisted of an Old Timers Game and Slam Dunk Contest on Saturday and the NBA All Star Game on that Sunday and it was a wrap. This was all before the NBA began really caking hand over first and became super popular overseas, though. It wasn’t until 1986 that the Long Distance Competition (later renamed the Three Point Shootout) was added and we had the first semblance of what we now call All Star Weekend AKA Black Thanksgiving. This post will take us all down memory lane with NBA All Star Weekend.
1984 Old Timers Game
Back in 1984, the NBA had the great idea to have some of the retired ABA and NBA greats put on the short shorts and lace ‘em back up to play an exhibition in front of the fans. We got to see greats like Pete Maravich, John Havlicek, Dave Cowens, Zelmo Beatty, Alvan Adams, Johnny “Red” Kerr and others run up and down the court and brick 15 footers. The best part of the game was seeing some grey haired old cat dribble the ball with one hand exclusively and shoot long ass set shots. Sometimes we got to see running hooks and underhanded free throws...you know, old school “before the Black guys showed up” shit.
The game was halted after the 1993 exhibition after two participants suffered ACL injuries. I’ll never forget seeing Norm Nixon flying down the court and during a stop and go dribble, his knee stopped and the rest of his body went. I remember hearing a *Pop!* and ol’ Norm fell into a heap on the court. After that the NBA decided it would be a good idea to stop forcing these old men to have to use their retired players’ health insurance benefits.
2000 Slam Dunk Contest
The NBA decided to jack yet another idea from the old ABA (the 3 point shot was an ABA innovation as well) and added the Slam Dunk Contest to it’s All Star festivities. The great early Slam Dunk contest competitors were Julius Erving, Larry Nance, Jerome Kersey, Ron Harper, Clyde Drexler, Terrence Stansbury, Dominique Wilkins and Michael Jordan.
After the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest it became harder and harder to nail down competitors for the Slam Dunk Contest and the exhibition itself had become incredibly dull and creativity was at an all time low so it didn’t reappear again until the 2000 All Star Weekend. Meanwhile, the McDonald’s High School Slam Dunk Contest and the College Slam Dunk Contest were incredibly exciting and the showdown between Felipe Lopez and Ruben Patterson in 1999 was incredible.
The NBA has changed the dunk format so often it’s crazy by reducing the number of competitors and rounds and by adding and removing helpers and props in different years. One year they even added the bullshit dunk wheel and forgot that everyone can’t palm a basketball and/or don’t jump off of two legs.
With the new influx of young athletic talent and the burgeoning streetball influence in the NBA (thanks And 1!) it was a new era of creativity in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. It’s been a staple of the weekend since the classic performance by Vince Carter.
1987 Three Point/Long Distance Shootout
In 1986, the NBA decide to have a showcase for the deadeye shooters and they set the stage for the Long Distance Shootout. The Long Distance Shootout was merely a showcase for Larry Bird to get another check back in the old days. The greatest shooters in the NBA all participated like Ricky Pierce, Dale Ellis, Eddie Johnson, Mark Price, Dana Barros, Reggie Miller, Chuck Person, Tim Legler, Detlef Schrempf and Craig Hodges.
In the early days it was normal for a score of 16, 17 or 18 to win you the prize because they shot for 3 rounds and peoples arms got tired. Now heads get 20’s on the regular. My, how times have changed.
1997 Rookie Game
In 1994, the NBA execs decided that it would make more sense to trot out the young players that don’t get a chance to be seen very often then it would to subject the old heads to injury and they have the first NBA Rookie Game. The young guns got to run up and down the court and entertain the throngs of fans. As I look back over the years, a whole lot of NBA busts and disappointments (also known as scrubs) got to play in this game such as Dino Radja, Lamond Murray, Khalid Reeves, Popeye Jones, George Zidek, Tyus Edney, Micheal Stewart, Popeye Jones, Matt Maloney and Rodrick Rhodes.
In 1996, the game switched to East vs. West and the best Rookie Game by far was the 1997 edition that featured what might go down in history as the NBA’s G.O.A.T. Draft (1996) class (thanks to cocaine) as Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Marcus Camby, Antoine Walker, etc. all played in an exhibition for the ages. In 1999, the format was changed and instead of having undeserving rookies running up and down the court the instead opted to have the best rookies play the best second year players in what later became the Schick Rookie Challenge AKA Rookies Vs. Sophomores Game.
2001 All Star Weekend
The Slam Dunk Contest was gone in 1998, so what did the NBA do to replace it? Promote fundamentals, shooting and teamwork, that’s what! The NBA, in an effort to include WNBA players in All Star Weekend proceedings concocted a game called 2 Ball. In this game there are numbers scored from 1 to 9 on the court and a team of two (an NBA and WNBA player) would go out and hit the most shots they could in 60 seconds provided they shot from each spot on the court. They had to pass to each other as well and the most efficient team won. Almost no one remembers 2 Ball because it failed to catch on and it only appeared in 1998, 2000 and finally in 2001 (there was no 1999 game due to strike).
In 2000, the Shick Rookie Challenge pit the top NBA rookies versus the best second year players in an effort to get airtime for the younger NBA players that didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of making the All Star Game until some folks retired. These games were a lot more entertaining because more of the players were well known but the Sophomores always tend to kill the Rookie squad...even when the Rookie Squad had LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade in 2004 they still lost by 24. The Rookies won in 2000 and 2002 but haven’t even come close since.
NBA Hoop It Up was an ill conceived idea that was a mishmash of teams consisting of NBA Legends, NBA players, WNBA players and celebrities playing each other in half court pick up games. The games were hard to watch and they only appeared in 2002 and 2003, afterwards they were replaced by the NBA Celebrity game. As long as I don’t have to see old ass Moses Malone sweating like a factory worker while Jamie Foxx tries to guard him ever again in my life I’m good.
2006 Skills Challenge
The NBA Skills Challenge is a ball handling, passing, shooting, speed and dexterity exercise that has competitors that are usually point guards or ball handlers. It’s probably the only idea the NBA has ever nicked from the NHL. It’s somewhat entertaining but not by much. Meh.
The “Superman” dunk that Dwight Howard did was way better when Arkansas’ Brandon Dean did it in the College Slam Dunk Contest back in 2002.
His bounce behind the backboard dunk has been done by countless streetball players since 2004 so it was nothing new to me. Plus, he’s 7’0 tall with a 40” vertical and long arms! Where’s the surprise?
Originality? If other people have done it before then when exactly is it original? The tip dunk was ill but Gerald’s “Birthday Cake” dunk was slept on hard. Where was Sean Williams (New Jersey) at? They need to expand to 6 competitors again and go all out and make sure they get “show dunkers” as opposed to “game dunkers” (Tim Perry, I’m looking at you!).
My dream Slam Dunk Contest:
James “Flight” White Chris “Skywalker” Lowery Will “The Thrill” Bynum Luther Head Drew Lavender, Xavier Billy Walker, Kansas State
Mr. 720 and Helicopter could be added if I went to 8.
I’m well aware that most cats my age or slightly older that grew up with Hip Hop no longer love it like they did in the past. I talk to some of my old friends that used to be die hard Hip Hop fans back just 10 years ago and they totally don’t care about the music anymore.
I guess part of the reason I never immersed myself in the professional world too much or tried to get a job in certain environments was because I was afraid of becoming that kind of person...I now know that could never happen to me. If you have genuine love of the music and culture of Hip Hop it doesn’t matter what you’re profession is, you’ll still wanna cop/hear that newness.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a college professor or if you’re married with kids and have a house with a mortgage. Back when I was a 21 year old Hip Hop fiend destroying cats in ciphers and rocking a backpack all the time I never thought my feelings for Hip Hop would ever change. Then that damn piece of paper got signed and the world turned upside down.
All of a sudden, most of the cats I used to hear on the radio (the Wu included!) couldn‘t get spins to save their lives. Groups that were on top of the world for years were now getting dropped from their labels because of low sales. The entire face of the rap game changed seemingly overnight and I among other Hip Hop fans were completely turned off by the new shit coming out commercially.
We retreated to college radio stations and the internet where we found out that the fresh “next shit” that we were craving did, in fact exist after all. We were going on 88HipHop.com regularly and frequenting Sandbox Automatic every week to listen to Real Audio clips of 12” singles from labels like Hydra, Fortress, Dolo, Bukarance, Makin, Rawshack, Solesides, Eastern Conference and Brick Records.
We were buying Ego Trip, On The Go and Stress Magazine instead of The Source. Whereas before the Def Jam logo was seen as a guaranteed quality seal, it now was the Rawkus razor logo and the Fondle ‘Em logo. The former underground Hip Hop fan had now morphed into a new breed of Hip Hop fan known as the “backpacker” and between 1997-2000 it was known as the Backpack Era to many.
Once the dot com explosion happened and several key Hip Hop sites died (R.I.P. Platform.net) and some Hip Hop publications folded (R.I.P. Blaze) it looked like the end of yet another era. Rawkus had become a shell of its former self and the underground was now a completely separate entity from the major label Rap music industry.
This was a complete shift in the Hip Hop scene from before. Artists below and above ground used to meet and test their skills against each other at different venues and engage in ciphers. The underground scene began to die off little by little as the business and money began to creep in and take priority over the art. Even with all of these changes I was still on board.
As the years went on, the Rap industry seemed to get more and more stale and it became more and more of a chore to find that “next shit” that excited me the way it did when I first heard The Arsonists spitting on “The Session” or MHz on “World Premiere”. Would I ever have that same sensation I had when I first played Scaramanga’s “Special Efx/Cash Flow/Holdin’ New Cards” on my Gemini XL 500’s?
Would I become one of those cats that talk about how Hip Hop died back in 1996/7/8/9, 2000 or after 9/11? Would I still love Hip Hop or will I abandon it and blame it for all of the ills that plague Blacks and Latinos in America? Me? Dart Adams? Nah...fuck no! Never.
How long has Hip Hop been “in trouble” anyways? Was it 1979 when I first remember people telling me that Hip Hop was gonna die because someone went and made a record. Was it 1984 when it broke nationally and “Beat Street” and “Breakin’” came out and Fred and Barney were rappin’ in a fuckin’ Fruity Pebbles commercial?
Was it in 1985 when record stores all across the nation decided to have Rap sections and put them in the back of the store? Was it 1988 when the music world had come to grip with the fact that Rap had been around for close to 10 years and was going Platinum so now they should begin to acknowledge it as a genre of music?
How about 1990 when both MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice both sold 10 million copies of their albums and “Ice Ice Baby” became the first Rap single to reach #1 on the Billboard charts?
I can remember Doug E. Fresh saying that he thought “Hip Hop is on the verge of becoming extinct to me” in his 1993 comeback single “A-Ight”. He wasn’t the only one who felt that way, either. Chubb Rock made “Beef” to address issues he thought could potentially destroy Hip Hop back in 1997.
If I think about it, 1993 was right at the beginning of what Hip Hop heads consider the 2nd Golden Age Of Hip Hop (1992-1996) and 1997 was the beginning of Rap records actually charting high on Billboard and outselling Country music so was it really all that bad after all?
It’s hard as hell to find new Hip Hop that would excite an old head. If you factor in shifts in priority and their lifestyle changes they aren’t really motivated to frequent all of the blogs and websites that I do regularly just to discover music the overwhelming majority of listeners don’t even know exists. I still haven’t lost that same thirst or hunger for that “next shit” that I had back in the days.
I also understand that everything changes. Pete Rock and DJ Premier’s beats in 2008 can’t sound the same as their beats did back in 1993. Jay-Z can’t be the same Jigga from “Reasonable Doubt” on “American Gangster”. For that same token, we can’t ask Little Brother to be our new A Tribe Called Quest or put all of our hope in Lupe Fiasco to “bring Hip Hop back”.
Who remembers back when we thought that “Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Black Star” was gonna “bring Hip Hop back” in 1998? How did that end up turning out?
Either way, I never stopped loving Hip Hop and I don’t see myself falling out of love with it or “outgrowing” it. What can I say?...I still love H.E.R. and I have since 1978 when I first became aware of Hip Hop’s existence.
Dart Adams presents A Tale Of Ten Trailers 3 AKA Ya Boy Is Back At It Dart's Top 50 G.O.A.T Hip Hop Producers List Dart Adams presents Rapper/Actor: Hollywood's Hip Hop History Examined Dart Adams presents Journey Into Mystery: The Sprite Curse Dart's Rant Of The Day: NBA All Star Weekend Through The Years Dart Adams presents Black Like Me: A History Of Black Comic Book Heroes Through The Ages
I'm researching/compiling/planning them all as I type this. I'll put up some brand new shit tomorrow.
Network television programs may possibly return soon as progress has finally been made in the 3 month strike that has halted Hollywood and forced networks into airing a slew of crappy reality shows. Most popular shows have run out of episodes to air and are faced with the prospect of airing filler specials or repeats. Showrunners returned to work today and tomorrow writers can report to work tomorrow. The WGA will vote on the new proposal to make the end of the strike official and Variety has posted an article about the fates of many network shows that production stopped on here.
Shows will immediately begin work to finish off the seasons and and some will return as mid season replacements and air new episodes during the summer to gain lost viewership while every other show will be running repeats. According to the WGA West president Patric Verrone the new deal they negotiated with the studios is the best one the guild has received in 30 years. I’ll post more about the WGA strike once the deal is official and the vote has been tallied.
In the meantime, here’s a bunch of movies that are either out or coming out soon to catch your attentions. Next week, I post up my new “A Tale Of Ten Trailers” so look forward to seeing some new under the radar joints that 90% of the population isn’t yet up on. Now for the movie stuff:
Top 5 Apple Trailers For The Ides Of February (2.1.08-2.15.08):
Movies to consider adding to your queue early or renting through either Redbox or Netflix:
Gone Baby Gone We Own The Night The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward James Ford Across The Universe Vantage Point Elizabeth: The Golden Age The Brave One Severance Jumper In Bruges Spiral Trade He Was A Quiet Man American Gangster (Two Disc Collector’s Edition) Charlie Bartlett The Signal Be Kind Rewind Martian Child Descent (NC-17 Version) Wall Street (Blu-Ray) The Whitest Kids U’ Know (series) Storm Warning Imitation Of Life (Double Feature Special Edition) Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner (40th Anniversary Edition) Great World Of Sound Blade: The Complete Series The Lawless Blackout The Amateurs Black August Blue State Vengeance Is A Golden Blade* Have Sword Will Travel* The Water Margin* The Wandering Swordsman* Four Swords Shaw Brothers Box Set* Michael Clayton Lust, Caution In The Valley Of Elah Lions For Lambs Run Lola Run (HD DVD) Redacted Chaos Terror’s Advocate Nightmare Detective Excellent Cadavers Poor Boy’s Game Royal Tramp Box Set The King Of California Day Zero Henry Fool Fay Grim The Quiet The Killing Of John Lennon Finishing The Game The Prisoner Or How I Planned To Kill Tony Blair The Air I Breathe How To Rob A Bank
Dart’s Picks:
Gone Baby Gone-Ben Affleck is a brilliant director to cast his brother Casey in the lead role of this powerful film. Now do you think someone can do a Boston movie about/set in one of the many long standing minority communities that exist here in Boston for a change? Anyone?
The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford-The movie is as long as the title and it’s a slow developing, dialogue heavy piece with very little action. This flick isn’t for everybody but I loved it.
The Air I Breathe- Several loosely connected stories featuring great actors all interweave into a greater theme. I usually get a feeling about these flicks when they’re actually good.
How To Rob A Bank-I saw the trailer for this flick recently and it looks like it’s hella good. It’s available on IFC In Theaters on Comcast On Demand.
Dart’s WTF? Awards/Watch This Bullshit At Your Own Risk:
No Reservations- I have no reservations about never seeing this movie.
Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married?- Hate! Hate! Hate! Hate!
Witless Protection-Why God? Why has thou forsaken me?
Here I go again. This time I decided to make a list compiling the Top 50 all time greatest Hip Hop duos and groups. I had to take several factors into consideration while making this list including overall influence on the history of Hip Hop, longevity, lyrical skill, innovation, strength of overall discography or songs made over career span, production (provided they did any or made any classic songs for other acts), guest appearances made by group members and finally random intangibles that make a particular Hip Hop group noteworthy or memorable during their individual eras.
I also had to weigh the individual groups versus the other acts that existed during their active eras. If they were elite squads during either of the two Golden Eras (1986-1989 or 1992-1996) then chances are greater that they ended up in this list somewhere. Some groups didn't make the list because they weren't around long enough they just fell short of making the cut. Here are the All Time Top 3 (in my opinion) followed by the rest of the list below:
1. Wu Tang Clan 2. A Tribe Called Quest
3. EPMD 4. Public Enemy 5. Run DMC 6. GangStarr 7. N.W.A 8. De La Soul 9. The Roots 10. OutKast 11. Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five 12. Cold Crush Brothers 13. Treacherous Three 14. Eric B. & Rakim 15. Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth 16. Ultramagnetic MC’s 17. Mobb Deep 18. Geto Boys 19. Kool G. Rap & DJ Polo 20. Stetsasonic 21. Funky Four Plus One 22. Boogie Down Productions/Afrika Bambataa & The Soul Sonic Force (tie) 23. Whodini 24. The Fugees 25. Organized Konfusion 26. Brand Nubian 27. Naughty By Nature 28. Das EFX 29. The Fat Boys 30. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince 31. Heavy D & The Boyz 32. The Fantastic Five 33. Bone Thugs N’ Harmony 34. The Beatnuts 35. Souls Of Mischief 36. Poor Righteous Teachers 37. Black Moon 38. The Alkaholiks 39. M.O.P. 40. The Pharcyde/The Beastie Boys (tie) 41. Nice & Smooth/The Jungle Brothers (tie) 42. Freestyle Fellowship 43. Camp Lo 44. Digital Underground/8 Ball & MJG (tie) 45. Kid N’ Play/3rd Bass (tie) 46. Digable Planets/Three 6 Mafia (tie) 47. Onyx/Leaders Of The New School (tie) 48. Company Flow 49. Slum Village 50. Artifacts
Got beef? Then bring it to the market known as the comment box. I'll back up why I put who were (or completely omitted them altogether) there. Next week: Dart's Top 50 G.O.A.T. Hip Hop Producers List. This one will be a nightmare to compile and then order.
Today, my brother Buc and I went to the early (1 PM) national Celtics/Spurs game @ TD Banknorth Garden AKA The Jungle. Usually our regular ticket connect hooks us with great seats. The last couple of times we had Club seating (complete with servants that bring your food and drink) or near the floor in Section 18. Since this game was so huge and in demand, we ended up in the nosebleed section (Section 326). If I threw my keys in the air, I could've hit the ceiling of the entire stadium. We had one Spurs fan in our section and he was mad loud and obnoxious when the game got started but as the game went on he began to sink down in his chair more and more and during the 4th quarter we didn't hear him anymore at all.
The Celtics managed to pull out a hard fought 98-90 victory against the defending NBA champion Spurs (minus Mr. Longoria) while they were missing Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins (the teams' inside presence and heart of the entire defense). Rajon Rondo controlled the tempo (5 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists) while Paul Pierce (35 points, 6 rebounds) and Ray Allen (19 points, 5 rebounds) provided the offensive punch. Leon Powe (5 points, 3 rebounds) and Glen "Big Baby" Davis (9 points 8 rebounds) filled in admirably in the paint while Eddie House (10 points), James Posey (5 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals) and Tony Allen (8 points, 2 assists) provided their normal spark off the bench.
The Celtics consistently forced turnovers pushed the tempo and got into the transition game every chance they got while the Spurs tried to play the half court game with limited success since only Duncan, Ginobili and Mike Finley seemed capable of putting the ball in the hole. The national game meant fireworks indoors (smoky as hell all first half) and long ass time outs. Since KG and Perk weren't playing and it was an early game quite a few seats were bought but went unused by rich ass season ticket holders.
Scalabrine was getting it from the crowd all game cuz he kept fuckin' up whenever he touched the ball. Oberto, Damon Stoudamire, Jacque Vaughn, Robert Horry and Ime Udoka did nada all game long but foul people. The Celtics were bricking free throws left and right (Ray Allen missed two!) but they still pulled it out running away even though Ginobili hooks his defender half of the time he drives to hole and travels during the other half . The Boston Celtics are now 39-9 and the possessors of the best record in the NBA. Kevin Garnett will miss the All Star Game on the 17th and Perk will be out for a while as well.
Rest In Eternal Peace, J Dilla. He passed away 2 years ago and he will never be forgotten. See where he ended up ranking on my upcoming Top 50 G.O.A.T. Hip Hop Producers List that will come after I post my Top 50 G.O.A.T. Hip Hop Groups (duos included) List early this week.
What the deal, fam? For the first time in a while there were actually enough new advances out that I can make up a new review blog. The beginning of this week was disappointing for a variety of reasons but this one was much better. This week’s reviews will go in the following order: The Clipse & DJ Drama’s mixtape Re Up Gang “We Got It For Cheap Vol. 3: The Spirit Of Competition”, Nicolay and Kay “Time: Line”, Prodigy “H.N.I.C 2” and Justus Leaguer Chaundon’s new project “Carnage”.
I’ve been writing these for a while but there are still some new readers (really?) that aren’t familiar with my wacky take on album reviews. Not assigning an album a rating based on a numerical scale from 1 to 5 or 1 to 10? That’s nucking futs! Here's how my "Cop It Or Not" ratings system breaks down below:
Oh No! This CD is a drink coaster/table balancer/doorstop/gerbil/hamster room divider/frisbee/discus/makeshift shield/last ditch choice for a visor/alternate shuriken choice. Sell this shit to whoever is dumb enough to buy it from you.
Maeby (Maybe)! Depending on your own set of personal preferences you might like this joint. Give it a listen first to see if it's in your lane or not.
Mos Def! Cop the album when it drops...'Nuff said.
The first review of the day is of the long awaited mixtape from The Clipse, Ab Liva and Sandman collectively known as the Re Up Gang. The mixtape “We Got It For Cheap Vol. 3: The Spirit Of Competition” first hit the net via the Re Up Gang’s very own blog during Super Bowl XLII and has now spread across the bloggerverse thanks to advances in technology that allow you to record digitally streaming music. Did I like it? My take is directly below:
Best Joints: “Re Up Gang Intro”, “Show You How To Hustle”, “Roc Boys”, “20K Money Making Brothers On The Corners”, “Dey Know Yayo”, “Good Morning”, “Rainy Dayz”, “Cry Now”, “Sand Solo”, “Liva Solo” and “Real Niggaz”
Hot Garbage: N/A
Dart’s Take: This mixtape is so good that it actually got me through the pain of seeing my beloved Pats drop the Super Bowl. The Re Up Gang are experts at making concise mixtapes considering that the first two installments are certified classics. It will take some time before the effects of Vol. 3 are fully realized but this joint does bang from beginning to end. It was about time someone did some justice to the “Dey Know” beat and considering how much I dreaded those old Swizz Beatz joints back in the day it’s interesting to hear different emcees over them and making the songs enjoyable for a change. I suggest you find this mixtape and one of the hundred spots you can download it from and do so. This mixtape gets a mos def.
I’ve been waiting for the new Nicolay and Kay project since the sampler first surfaced a while back on Okayplayer. Based on past Nicolay projects like “City Lights”, “The Dutch Masters”, the Foreign Exchange project and “Here” you know that it’s going to be quality material. Is this album going to be a potential classic like the sampler would lead you to think? I’ll let you know now:
Best Joints: “Blizzard”, “The Lights”, “Through The Wind”, “What We Live”, “I’ve Seen Rivers”, “Tight Eyes”, “As The Wheel Turns”, “The Gunshot”, “Grand Theft Auto”and “When You Die”
Hot Garbage: N/A (“Dancing With The Stars” was my least favorite song)
Dart’s Take: Damn this is good! You know when you’re listening to an album and after about the first three songs you get the feeling that it might be one of those joints that people use the dreaded “c word” in regards to (“classic” for the slow). This album is ridiculous from the very first track all the way to the very end (even though the final track was my least favorite). The production, lyrics, vocals and guest appearances all fit perfectly and melded together into one cohesive 12 track sonic gem.
This does drift into the category of “grown folks Hip Hop” so if you’re not into that kind of music that is conducive to you acquiring wrinkles in your brain then you may want to avoid this joint completely. I pretty much had to rewind each song on “Time: Line” after I played it as it was almost like “The Cool”x “Graduation”. It’s a concept album that follows that protagonist from his birth until his death in 12 beautiful songs. This gets a mos def easy. Buy this album!
Mobb Deep’s last project “Blood Money” was a big letdown for the M.O.B.B’s core audience as they wouldn’t stop talking about how much money that had and their lyricism suffered for it. Prodigy’s “Return Of The Mac” project was seen as a return to form and a rousing success. Now that Bandana P has taken a few L’s and is headed for an extended stay in the bing he’s decided to release his long awaited “H.N.I.C 2” project and travel from spot to spot performing said album before he gets tossed in the pokey. Is it worth buying? Find out below.
Best Joints: “Still Slaves”, “My World Is Empty Without You”, “I Know”, “ABC’s”, “Raining Guns And Shanks” and “Superstars”
Hot Garbage: “Bite Dust” (Hav and P deserve to get their asses kicked for even making this song in the first place. Shit sounds like an outtake from “Jock Jams”)
Dart’s Take: Holy shit! The album starts out with Prodigy dropping jewels and then quickly turns into an Ig’nant Fest. I swear that some of these songs were made by the writing staff at The Boondocks. I love Prodigy but his style is beginning to grate on my nerves after all these years. It sometimes seems like he’s almost trying too damn hard to come up with some “foulness” or to illustrate just how “ill” he is. It wasn’t even a question back in the days but now it’s almost like he really wants you to believe he’s as crazy as he claims he is on record...I’m not really feeling that. Just make some dope music and kill folks with pliers and acetalyne torches on your own time.
Needless to say, this album was just like Havoc’s...okay. It didn’t suck but I don’t see myself playing this too often as it makes me want to beat people with shovels for no reason and then cry in the shower as I wash the blood off of myself (graphic, huh?). This album gets a maybe because you (the reader) might be into that kinda stuff. I’d rather just watch a Korean horror flick myself.
The final album I’m reviewing today is Chaundon’s new joint entitled “Carnage”. Unless you’ve been under a rock for the past 6+ years then you should be aware of the Justus League and their extended family of emcees and producers. Among the ranks of the Hip Hop version of The Avengers are emcees such as emcee/producer Oddissee, Kaze, Edgar Allen Flow, Sean Boog, Torae, Skyzoo, Vandalyzm, Median, Joe Scudda, Rapper Big Pooh and Phonte of Little Brother. Given that lately Little Brother, The Away Team, Skyzoo, Median and Torae have all produced high quality albums in the last 6 months could Chaundon keep the streak going? Find out directly below:
Best Joints: “The Greatest Warrior”, “Don’t Take It Personal”, “3 Kings”, “HPNY”, “Gone”, “Told You That”, “Can I Live”, “Carnage”, “Selfish”, “Submission” and “We Are Here”
Hot Garbage: N/A
Dart’s Take: Damn! The Justus League done did it again. “Carnage” is one hell of an album and it was just what I needed to pull me out of the doldrums Bipolar P’s album put me in. Good ol’ beats and lyrics. Punchlines, metaphors, similes, wit, humor and creativity are all in abundance along with several guest appearances from other League members.
The production on the album is excellent and there is very little on this project that wouldn’t impress you or hold your interest. This is head noddin’ satisfaction a la Karrine Steffans (but minus the book deal). Cop this album as soon as bloody possible if you want to hear some quality Hip Hop in the First Quarter of 2008. “Carnage” gets a mos def.
Albums I'm Looking Forward To Reviewing Once They Leak...I Mean Drop:
I'm Also Looking Forward To Reviewing The Following Projects:
Kidz In The Hall-The In Crowd Jean Grae & 9th Wonder-Jeanius Rhymefest-El Che AZ-Undeniable Skillz-Million Dollar Backpack Jay Electronica-Act II Vandalyzm-Megatron Majorz
Hip Hop is a living breathing artform. That means that this list is subject to change based on the recent activities of the emcees on this list and the upcoming projects/common sense to stay out of the game and not sully their spots in Hip Hop history and the recent output from the emcees that sit between 51-60 (some of which have moved into the Top 50 over the last few years). Here it is beginning with the Holy Microphone Trinity (based on mine it's clear I was born in the 70's):
1. Rakim Allah 2. KRS One 3. Kool G Rap
4. Nas 5. Jay-Z 6. Big Daddy Kane 7. Notorious B.I.G. 8. Slick Rick 9. Kool Keith (Ultramagnetic MC's) 10. Ghostface Killah (Wu Tang Clan) 11. Chuck D (Public Enemy) 12. Grandmaster Caz (Cold Crush Brothers) 13. Run (Run DMC) 14. Eminem 15. Grandmaster Melle Mel (Furious Five) 16. GZA (Wu Tang Clan) 17. Treach (Naughty By Nature) 18. Masta Ace 19. Kool Moe Dee (Treacherous Three) 20. Scarface (Geto Boys) 21. Pharoahe Monch (Organized Konfusion) 22. Redman 23. Schooly D 24. Posndous (De La Soul) 25. MF Doom 26. Aceyalone (Freestyle Fellowship/Haiku D'Etat/Project Blowed)/Grand Puba (Brand Nubian) (tie) 27. Del The Funkee Homosapien (Hieroglyphics) 28. Black Thought (The Roots) 29. Andre 3000 (OutKast) 30. Common 31. Big L/LL Cool J (tie) 32. Buckshot (Black Moon) 33. Raekwon (Wu Tang Clan) 34. Method Man (Wu Tang Clan) 35. Ras Kass/Lauryn Hill (Fugees) (tie) 36. AZ 37. Big Punisher/Kurupt (Dogg Pound) (tie) 38. Q-Tip/Kamaal (A Tribe Called Quest) 39. MC Ren (N.W.A.)/Erick Sermon (EPMD) (tie) 40. Prodigy (Mobb Deep)/Busta Rhymes (tie) 41. Ice Cube 42. Mos Def 43. Lord Finesse 44. Canibus/Tash AKA Catashtrophe (Alkaholiks) (tie) 45. The D.O.C./Guru (GangStarr (tie) 46. Talib Kweli/Ice T (tie) 47. Jadakiss (The L.O.X.)/O.C. (tie) 48. El-P (Company Flow)/Sadat X (Brand Nubian) (tie) 49. Sean Price (Heltah Skeltah)/MC Lyte (tie) 50. Tame One (Artifacts)/2Pac (tie)
This list is solely based on the full careers of each artist and longevity, relevance, influence, creativity and lyrically skill are all factored in. For instance, Ice Cube, Ice T and LL Cool J’s latest career freefalls and the decline of the quality of their latest material has resulted in them tumbling down the rankings while stalwarts like Sadat X, AZ, Master Ace and the like maintain their spots in the Top 50. Eminem was once Top 5 before making an absolutely terrible final album. He's had the good sense to lay low since...too bad he hasn't utilized his Stairmaster or Soloflex machines any.
Keep in mind that this list is based on my own personal opinion and includes many of my favorites emcees that have been arouns for a while. I wish I could put more of my favorite emcees like Vakill, Royce Da 5’9”, Elzhi, Scaramanga, Godfather Don, Jay Electronica, Joell Ortiz, Percee P, Sticky Fingaz, Jean Grae, Bahamadia, Murs, Lupe Fiasco, etc. on the list, but realistically they haven’t been recording long enough and/or had enough classic material to warrant being Top 50 dead or alive as of yet.
Feel free to post your own opinions about my Top 50 G.O.A.T Emcee list or my positioning/omissions in the comments section ( I can just see it now: Where’s E-40 and Too Short? Del and no Tajai/Pep Love or Casual? Why do you hate the Bay, potna? Suck thizz and die!). Tomorrow, I do the new What New In Dart’s iPod post where I review the #40 emcee on my list's new album. If you're in Boston tonight, check out his show courtesy of Leedz Edutainment:
Education has always been used as a tool to get ahead in America and for people to achieve success and improve themselves and their entire families station in life. Parents would work to provide for their children in the hopes that they do well in school and hopefully either learn a trade and begin working after high school or get into college and graduate so they can hopefully get a good paying job and be better able to provide for their families. However, the plague of prejudice and racism often kept people from getting work in their desired fields so they often had to take lower paying jobs in hopes that a better opportunity would open up one day.
In many instances, that day never came. These parents produced children that saw their parents beat down by the pressures of the outside world that seemed to limit their prospects just because of their pigment at birth and their station in life. These children often saw their parents abuse alcohol or drugs or just plain live with the pain of not being able to crack the system and follow their dreams. They instead sacrificed for that next generation like life was continuous loop of "A Raisin In The Sun" and "Good Times".
Growing up in the Reagan/Bush Administration during the 80s was hell on the inner city. There was urban decay and blight everywhere due to the governments absolute neglect of the poor and working class in America. Programs for youth and disadvantaged children were slashed and aid of any kind was scant. Schools in the city were ill equipped to teach the children and properly prepare them to seek opportunities or continued education in a hostile environment.
The same landscape that helped birth and nurture the elements of hip hop culture were there when the Last Poets, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, James Brown and other groups and artists began talking about relevant issues, social change, self determination and speaking of consciousness and revolution.
The poor prospects they faced out in the real world, bleak visions of the future, deferred dreams, oppression and apathy young people felt was evident in the music and the films that were put out in the late 60's well into the 70's. The one thing that was a constant throughout all this time that Blacks/African Americans endured through these eras was that there were always three avenues that you could take to make money/become rich: crime, sports, or entertainment.
The legends of gangsters, dope dealers, pushers, pimps, thieves , singers, musicians, and athletes were told and retold for generations. They were always treated well and they could achieve status at a time when few brown people were acknowledged as humans or even allowed privilege of any kind. This in turn, inspired scores of children to practice a sport, pick up an instrument or enter a gang or the world of crime in hopes they could improve their stations in life.
Right around the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Robert Kennedy, young people slowly began to have little or no trust in the system and detested the idea that you had to work your fingers to the bone, spend 12-16 years in schools and then have to kiss ass or assimilate/change and then pray to be accepted.
The pain of being the third, fourth or fifth generation of free people living hand to mouth in America began to grate at people. There had to be a way out, a change had to come. Hollywood and the recording industry caught wind of these changes and decided to make money by making films that spoke directly to this demographic and enlisted top level musicians of the time to craft the musical backdrops.
Thus began the era of so-called Blaxploitation films (a termed coined by the overzealous and hypercritical NAACP and not moviegoers, critics or the filmmakers themselves). They could be made for budgets less than a million dollars and make back between 10-20X it's initial investment. Black people were not only able to now write, direct, produce and star in their own films but they could hire their own and begin to mentor and inspire a new generation of filmmakers. In fact, many of the first times a Black man was featured in a film as a hero were Sweet Sweetback's Baaaadasss Song, Superfly, The Mack and Shaft.
One was the story of a man who worked outside of the regular work world who gets framed for a murder by racist cops and he ends up fighting back and winning. The other was another man who worked outside of the system and got rich selling drugs in a racist and oppressive society. The next was a man who worked outside of the system and became famous and rich by becoming a pimp. The last was seen as a superhero and a bit of fantasy, a Black man who works with the police, yet outside the system at the same time and protects the people of the inner city.
The odd thing is that Superfly and The Mack were embraced much more than Shaft. Melvin Van Peebles' Sweetback inspired a new generation of young writers and directors to pursue their dreams, but instead it seemed like in the 70's everyone in the hood wanted to be either Ron O' Neal or Max Julien.
The idea of completely avoiding the system altogether and becoming rich and successful outside of it worked because of the lack of access to opportunities to achieve success through traditional means. The streets were flooded with marijuana and ravaged by heroin and later cocaine and even later crack. Drugs were something that was in demand, you could make easy and quick money selling it, and you could be successful and rich without any type of diploma...Voila! The drug dealer and the pimp become somewhat acceptable and viable options to achieving fame in the inner city.
If it couldn't be achieved through traditional channels it had to be achieved somehow. Many youth turned to the streets and crime to provide money for their families to survive through harsh times in dangerous living conditions...many lost their lives and helped spread the plague of drugs throughout their own neighborhoods and cities, oftentimes even their own family members or friends became hooked on drugs. Sometimes, they even fell into the trap themselves.
Sports heroes achieved status that the average Black American could never even dream of. From Jack Johnson to Jesse Owens to Joe Louis, from Jackie Robertson to Floyd Patterson to Sugar Ray Robinson to Muhammad Ali. Even when we as a people were fighting for basic rights these men were respected and achieved greatness, fame and wealth. This inspired many more young people of color to dream of becoming wealthy through the medium of sports.
The problem being that while it is almost a pipe dream to think that you can make it as a professional athlete due to the finite number of people that can even make it to the professional level in a particular sport is the chance of injury or failure. If you don't make it in that sport and you don't have a degree or any other skills/talents to fall back on then you're back at square one with everyone else. The most popular sports in the inner city are basketball and football.
Basketball is almost a rite of passage for some kids in the inner city. It's an economic sport. One ball per ten people. There are courts all over the city as well, most within walking distance. Oftentimes, neighborhood drug dealers and gangsters would either support the local star basketball players by taking care of their families or avoiding the courts or sponsoring basketball tournaments in the hood. These people were seen as hood stars or ghetto celebrities and people often hung on them in hopes that they can get a piece of the fortune or fame that could possibly achieve in the future.
Not only could you go to college and get an education to your family otherwise couldn't afford, but you could possibly become a professional! The number of kids with a ball under their arms increased dramatically in the hood. If it can help you and your family get to a better station in life, you better believe that's gonna be the road most traveled by the multitude!
Rarely when I was growing up was it glorified in the hood if someone graduated from college and got a Master's or a Doctorate degree..at least not by the youth (the elders would be ecstatic). Why? Because they were looked at as abandoning the hood, forgetting where you came from and embracing the same system that had oppressed them and shut their parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents out because of the color of their skin.
Why would anyone fight so hard to be accepted in a system that seemingly doesn't want them or care to accept them with having them assimilate? Seeking employment through regular means and living from check to check just didn't appeal to the youth anymore in the 80's...even if you wore a suit and tie to work.
Inner city youth fed into having themselves and their entire existence be defined by phrases such as money, hoes and clothes. Sex, money and murder. Money, power and pussy or sex, money and drugs...and this was only if they didn't have all of the avenues available. THEN it was sports, drugs and entertainment or crime, sports and entertainment. Nothing is more disheartening than thinking that you, from birth, won't achieve anything in life unless it's through these methods...like Big Juss of Company Flow said in the song "8 Steps To Perfection"
Right around 1972, a man from Jamaica who called himself Kool Herc and was known for throwing jams in the Bronx had his right hand man get on the mic while he spun Reggae, Calypso, Afro Jazz, Salsa, Meringue, Jazz, and Funk records to a group of young people. He often said a few lines that rhymed , did some call and response with the audience and he kept the crowd pumped up, his name was Coke La Rock and he was hip hop's first ever emcee.
In the next three years, more and more DJ's began spinning all over New York City and these rappers or emcees starting coming out of the woodwork. Much like how back in the 50's and 60's there were Doo Wop groups on every corner practicing harmonies and singing songs, in the 70's and 80's there were rap groups or emcees on every corner practicing or performing routines for whoever would listen. This was just an exercise/labor of love until 1979 and the first rap records hit the air. After Rappers Delight became a worldwide hit and sold millions of copies the rap industry was born.
By 1983, Run DMC broke the color barrier on MTV and broke rap nationwide. In 1986, crack hit nationwide and once again changed the landscape of the nation and the music industry. The music took on a different feel, the subject matter switched from party rhymes to tales about selling drugs, drug abuse and extravagance and wealth even more than before. The imagery in the movie Scarface took on a whole new life now.
The Black American was making significant headway in the fields of education, culture, film, business, entertainment, and sports throughout the 1990's. Now in 2006, even though we have so many advantages that our parents and their parents didn't have we are still stuck in the same quagmire that they were then having this generation still think that they need to rely on entertainment as opposed to education to be successful. The crack rhymes are still popular 20 years later so much so that the words "triple beam", "fishscale" and references to baking soda and Pyrex cookware are even recognizable to small children as methods of making crack/drug paraphenalia.
Any kid with a Young Jeezy album is an expert on selling snow now. With the recent problems of Jacob "The Jeweler" Arabo and Dallas Austin, casual observers would think that everyone involved with hip hop or the rap industry is somehow involved in the worlds of drugs or crime as well!
The CEO of Hip Hop himself, Jay-Z, is a former drug dealer and the current president of the Def Jam/Island Group. He is also part owner of a basketball team, the New Jersey Nets. With all of the cross promotion, corporate synergy and advertising the lines are blurring. Now, former drug dealer T.I. is now a top selling rapper, a label head (Grand Hustle) and a movie star with a hit film, ATL. Young Jeezy has a popular album, a "Snowman" T shirt and a clothing line.
Many of the most popular hip hop albums in recent history were full of tales of crime, shootings and drug deals. Nowadays even in rap battles, emcees will threaten each other with physical harm, talk about how much head they get, how icy their necks and wrist are or how many packs they've moved.
This is a rap battle right? A test of lyrical skill and creativity, right? Then why should I care about how many drugs you sold? Can't you talk about how much more skilled you are than you're opponent in lyricism? Ask yourself that question next time you see a Smack DVD. All of these factors have helped to contribute to a continuing problem in our society. We have been narrowcast, misrepresented and stereotyped into fitting some mold that doesn't truly represent us for so long that it seems that we've finally become to accept it and far too many of us believe in it.
Ill finish by saying this: we as people, regardless of our backgrounds cannot let our brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, cousins, sons or daughters think that their entire existence and reason for living boils down to a simple phrase or motto. We can achieve our dreams in so many ways and regardless what you're told you have a myriad of possibilities to explore in life.
We are more than pimps, players, dope boys, and gangstas. We can do more than sing, rap, dance and tell jokes. We can do so much more than hit jumpers in traffic, make 720º dunks, do ill crossovers, make behind the back passes, run fast, hit homeruns and throw and catch touchdowns. As Talib Kweli said in the song of the same name, there is so much more to us than drugs, basketball and rap.
This entry was originally written for a now defunct online publication. I posted it on my MySpace blog on July 6th, 2006.
Hello, true believers! The only "release" worth any attention that has recently surfaced was Kool G Rap's new project on Koch "Half A Klip". This album has been pushed back twice since it was originally announced and now it's time to find out why:
Unfortunately, it seems to be nothing more than an extended EP a la Big Noyd's "Episodes Ov A Hustla". A bunch of these songs sound like outtakes from "The Gianacana Story". The song "With a Bullet" is just a Big Daddy Kane-less remix of the classic joint "#1 With A Bullet" from the last Kool G Rap & DJ Polo album "Live And Let Die" and the song "On The Rise Again" just sounds like a DJ Premier ProTools retooling. The vocals clearly weren't originally recorded to that beat..no bloody way in hell. Just listen closely to the song for God's sake!
The two bonus tracks consist of yet another version of "What's More Realer Than That?" that's 1:05 longer than the other and has a different beat (d.original?) and another version of "On The Rise Again" that may or may not be edited. That brings the total amount to 11 tracks (except for the fact that two songs are repeats and one "song" is comprised of 15 year old verses reworked into a new beat). I honestly don't know who would pay for this release given those facts. I love G Rap but what the fuck is this shit? This joint gets the gas face and the bozack for trying to pass off a glorified mixtape/remix album as a proper release.
What's currently in my iPod Nano:
Albums I'm looking forward to reviewing once they leak...I mean drop:
Also looking forward to:
AZ-Undeniable Rhymefest-El Che Vandalyzm-Megatron Majorz
Skillz-The Million Dollar Backpack
Joe Budden-Padded Room Prodigy-H.N.I.C 2
Dart's Fat Tape/CD-R (as of February 2nd, 2008):
God Bless And Goodnight-Billy Danze (M.O.P.) Neva Hafta Worry-Snoop Dogg f/Uncle Chucc Find A Way-Santogold Butterfly Effect-Ras Kass Run-Gnarls Barkley 20K Brothers On The Corner-The Clipse Everybody Nose-N.E.R.D #8-Jean Grae & 9th Wonder I Need Those Flashing Lights-Colin Munroe Livin' Tha Life-Prodigy Best Believe-Pete Rock f/Redman Tight Eyes-Nicolay & Kay Ain't I-Jay-Z Who Shot Ya?-Papoose The Creator-Santogold Young Vet-Prodigy
Love Don't-C.R.A.C Knuckles (Blu & Ta'raach) Momma, Can You Hear Me?-Talib Kweli The Healer-Erykah Badu Grand Theft Auto-Nicolay & Kay Switch-Torae Spanish Winter-Blu
If you don't know who I am by now then Google my previous work from 2006 to the present day. I'm one of the people your favorite writers, journalists & bloggers ask for help or information. I'm also the dude wack writers & fake journalists fear more than Spell/GrammarCheck.
Hey ya! *Clap! Clap! Clap!* I’m back with another three joints to review this week, namely Amanda Diva’s “Life Experience” EP, the new Kidz In The Hall mixtape “Geniuses Need Love Too” and Fat Ray & Black Milk “The Set Up”. Since this is the final day of February, that means that the winter is about to end and we get to look forward to the weather breaking (and a gang of people getting sick). Before you know it, it’ll be short sleeves weather.
Oh No! This CD is a drink coaster/table balancer/doorstop/gerbil/hamster room divider/frisbee/discus/makeshift shield/last ditch choice for a visor/alternate shuriken choice. Sell this shit to whoever is dumb enough to buy it from you.
Maeby (Maybe)! Depending on your own set of personal preferences you might like this joint. Give it a listen first to see if it's in your lane or not.
Mos Def! Cop the album when it drops...'Nuff said.
Amanda Diva is the kind of girl you’d want to meet your mother. She’s not likely to be that chick calling you up drunk and crying hysterically at 2:00 AM or starting shit in public because “some bitch” was looking at her wrong. She’s been a radio host, an MTV VJ, a commentator on VH1’s “Best Week Ever”, a member of Floetry (she’s a songstress AND a lyricist so that shit didn’t work outicist), an author, done spoken word, she blogs and she’s mad cute (I know it’s not an achievement but I’m a dude). Here’s my review of her EP “Life Experience”:
Next up is the new mixtape by Naledge and Double O, professionally known as Kidz In The Hall. These conceited bastards have made a Valentine’s Day themed mixtape where they rhyme over some flipped R&B joints and toss in some joints from the upcoming Duck Down LP “The In Crowd”. These Ivy League dudes usually bring it regardless if it’s an album or a mixtape. Did I like the concept? Let’s find out:
Last, but not least is the new offering from newly signed Aftermath producer Black Milk and his B.R. Gunna comrade Fat Ray (where’s Young RJ at?). Black Milk is on such a hot streak right now that anything with his name on it is going to garner some major attention. I’m still killing “Popular Demand” and “Caltroit” as I type this. Will this project stand up to the high standard the Black Milk’s recent collabos/projects have set? Find out below:
Last, but not least is the new offering from newly signed Aftermath producer Black Milk and his B.R. Gunna comrade Fat Ray (where’s Young RJ at?). Black Milk is on such a hot streak right now that anything with his name on it is going to garner some major attention. I’m still killing “Popular Demand” and “Caltroit” as I type this. Will this project stand up to the high standard the Black Milk’s recent collabos/projects have set? Find out below:
