I LOVE that last line.

still, it makes me giggle. can't help it.

Let the chuch say, "AMEN"!!!

Took it to Clay Davis and Stringer Bell. What a f*cking reference. And, as always on point. Gotta thank you for that.

Oh, and Steve Jobs is WAYY harder than Suge Knight. I mean, who doesn't own an ipod?

Awesome commentary. The absurd notion of street credability and its off-shoots (the stop snitching movement, glorification of promiscuity and hypersexuality, the combative juxtaposition of maturity versus masculinity, etc) is indeed a fragile farce.
It is unfortunate that the people who need to hear this might not - probably won't, and if they do, they will ask themselves "Who is Steve Jobs?? F*ck that n****!"
Regardless, I'm now a fan. Now all I need is some new earphones so I can listen at work. . .

i love steve jobs.

i wish my comment had more depth.

:)

You're fast now, Doc! Love it!

steve jobs more hardbody than suge knight! HA! i love it... do you write these things down or just come up with it off the top?

Brotha'. You rock. That's all I wanted to say.

The street mentality is fine, as long as it's about hustling, working hard, living by principles, never forgetting where you come from, giving to your family, creating opportunities for your friends, speaking truth to power, never selling out, dreaming big, and rising up out of dificult circumstances.

Suge Knight wasn't about any of that. He failed because he was a terrile businessman and person, not because he lived by the street's rules.

WORD.WORD.

There is also a part of the hip-hop community that isn't the least bit hesitant to bring up the fact that you (i.e. anyone succeeding by standards not defined by the streets) is"selling out." I'm sure that it played a role in Suge not transforming his game from the corner to the office (not to place the blame on people around him) but it would be nice if we all could admit that there is/was(?) an element in the urban community that views making that transformation in any format but the hip-hop way (music business) is selling out. I've seen that play with peoples head on actually getting out there and doing whats best for them.
I don't want to be all doom and gloom and I can see it affecting people younger than me less and less but Suge is an old head; I bet that crap was prominent when he was coming up. Just my 2 cents.

As always you rock! Excellent commentary. Keep 'em comin' no matter what the little hater says :)

Great video man; Loved the Rev. Wright Reference, loved the Wire Reference, and great points on the Corporate Thugs who are entertained by Gangsterism, but still don't Respect Gangsterism.

Nicely put together.

Yo, real talk! This was my first view of one of your videos and I gotta say dope stuff. I love it when someone sheds a real deep new perspective on a situation. You really explored this whole Suge Knight thing for what it was worth. We just linked up your video on our blog out here in Honolulu, HNLHipHop. Keep doing what you do. Much respect.

"The street mentality is fine, as long as it's about hustling, working hard, living by principles, never forgetting where you come from, giving to your family, creating opportunities for your friends, speaking truth to power, never selling out, dreaming big, and rising up out of dificult circumstances."

I'm down with all of that. I have an issue when people realize that they don't have to keep representing for the streets when they no longer have too. They know about their friends who hustled on the streets who are still there hustling or in prison...when you don't have to do that anymore, why can't you let that part of you go. You won't lose any sort of respect. You did what you had to do to get to where you are NOW that you don't have too...LET THAT ISH GO!

People always want to cling to the familiar when there is a better, less costly alternative because "that's all they know"

Suge probably deserved the punch. Karma, my friends...is a cruel mistress.

Hashim: The problem is, those attributes you just listed are a very selective and incomplete list of what one learns on the street. Those only become useful if, as I said, you adapt, by keeping those traits while dropping others.

Suge Knight failed to do so, and that failure is not coincidental to his downfall, IMO that failure is integral to it.

Steve Jobs is without a doubt "hard-body" on all levels..Corporate Thugs are truly entertained by Greed....PERIOD...Talib said it best, once we All realize that Hip Hop DOES NOT "LIVE" at Hot 97, or W(insert your station here) maybe then we can start to make the connection that this gangster charade is all hype and will run out of steam with one lonely blow upside an actor/rap artist's oral cavity. Metaphorically speaking.

Really Jay?
I actually think of Suge getting clocked as a great thing, because, here's Suge "the bully of hip-hop" getting has ass wiped out by some random guy. Now, at the same time, I think we should let it die and not continue to provoke negative media because that will eventually lead to more violence in this manner in order to gain fame. I just generally think Suge Knight is a self-obsessed narccistic prick (and, in my belief, the murderer of 2Pac). Also, about the business aspect, some of what makes these rappers succesful businessmen is having that streetcorner mindset, take T.I. (despite the personal shit), he's become a succesful label CEO by keeping his "hustla" mentality afoot.

Can't wait for the next video

you slipped that f-word right in just like new york.

I was going to write about yr weblog in mine, but it just got all too meta and I'm just a housewife. cheers!

ahahahahah i thought after that last line you were gonna look around nervously.. i guess it wasnt a joke then haha

ive always felt the way you just explained but didnt have the vocabulary / intelligence to articulate

thanks for once again composing my thoughts for me!

"We wanna see it and some muthafuckas gon' wanna be it
Others are doing numbers that breed it, bleed it, can't defeat it"

Since the advent of the crew around hip hop and other celebrities, i’ve always wondered just why these bodyguards and all don’t also have the skills of historians and accountants and linguists and inventors. I mean if you are going to build an organization, then build one that will make a difference in your life choices as well as the community you have come through.
Louis Armstrong used to travel abroad with his own doctor.
…And each specialist could give sessions to the rest of the entourage.

Thanks for yet another thought provoking video. Peace, love and hairgrease.

Ps: I’m coming to New York in July…do you think i can get your autograph?

""The street mentality is fine, as long as it's about hustling, working hard, living by principles, never forgetting where you come from, giving to your family, creating opportunities for your friends, speaking truth to power, never selling out, dreaming big, and rising up out of dificult circumstances."

I'm down with all of that. I have an issue when people realize that they don't have to keep representing for the streets when they no longer have too. They know about their friends who hustled on the streets who are still there hustling or in prison...when you don't have to do that anymore, why can't you let that part of you go. You won't lose any sort of respect. You did what you had to do to get to where you are NOW that you don't have too...LET THAT ISH GO!

People always want to cling to the familiar when there is a better, less costly alternative because "that's all they know"

Suge probably deserved the punch. Karma, my friends...is a cruel mistress.""

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Because Thats All I Know.. 5 words that sum up almost all the characters on the Wire, as well as most of the country.

Great Stuff. Its a tuff thing tryin to talk Stringer Out of fuckin with Clay Davis tho, especially without prevoking a violent reaction against yourself, or my. davis.

I thought you woulda been the first person blogging about Obama...must be that little hater saying everybody spoke on it already....still waiting

I don't know if you freestyle this stuff but I must say very inciteful (did I spell/use that right?), and entertaining. You have the ability to sum up an hour worth of conversation into a two minute vlog.

Man I always come back to watch this video over and over again cause of the truth it holds to it and people seem to have a problem with jay-z turning over the leaf he did.

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