How not to look like a sucker indeed. So, the kitty kat makes an appearance as well! :)

Anywayz, I see nothing wrong with showing emotions. When Hip-Hop stars become emotional, it seems to spoil people's image of them. But it's just a way of saying "hey, I'm human too". Showing emotions once in a while is a good thing. It's when you show them WAY too much that gets people looking at you funny.

Word! And here's a little secret - there are a LOT of women out there (myself included) who think that men who are brave enough to show their emotions seem even STRONGER and MORE manly than their friends who think it's "tough" to pretend they don't have emotions. Showing that you aren't concerned with how masculine you appear to be only makes you appear to be more masculine. So c'mon, guys, be real men and show some emotion!

The nuzzle with the cat at the end of the video was the perfect ending to that little story. Awesome. :)

great commentary, as always. i think some of the reason hip hop in general has taken a hit in consumption over the past few years is because people are tired of the schtick. i know i am.

worrrrd

Thank You Jay Smooth!!!

It's true: I *haven't* been keeping up on my stories, so thanks for the update. There's nothing more frustrating to me than some sort of dumbass outcry over a man being man enough to show some damn emotion. It kills me.

Of course, this isn't isolated in the hip-hop world. This is a man thing. A dude thing. A macho thing. This is universal and it's dopey as all hell and who knows when and if it will ever change.

You're one evolved dude, Dude.

And nuzzling a cat? On the internet?

Seriously manly, and well timed!

Good post as usual. The whole young Buck situation makes me feel like I walked in on a sibling masterbating or something; you don't look at them any less, but you still wish you hadn't seen that side of them. (no that never actually happened, just the closest analogy I could think of).

Me personally, I don't look down on Young Buck after listening to the tape, moreso 50 than anything and truthfully, I don't believe in a G-UNIT without Buck as a member, here's why:

I think the overall success of G-Unit as a group was the beliefe that no matter what 50 said, did or sold, that deep down he was actually kind of a cool guy. Knowing that Banks and Yayo were down with him never provided any proof of this because they were his boys from way back and are probably leagally/financially trapped into putting up with him regardless of what he does.

Buck, on the other hand was always seen as a cool ass guy out of the south that did't grow up with 50 and therefore must have been down with the crew because there was real comrodery amoungst the members.

Without Buck, G-Unit just seems like one of those highschool cliches where one person is the leader and his/her friends (aka flunkies) follow and do anything the leader says to stay in the circle of popularity.

I bet those "pregnancy pact" girls in MA were all following one or two other girls into getting pregnant thinking that was cute or something.

Well, I'm officially off being a fan of g-unit, if they make a hot track I might listen to it, but I don't think I could purchase another of their cds in good faith.

Sorry about the book I just wrote.

i love you jay!!!!

haha, kidding.. but thats some real shit that everyone needs to hear and accept as truth

I can't be the only one that found the Buck tape to be funny, right? Dude sounded like he had an air leak when he was trying to hold back!

Psssh... psssh.

Na, I can't feel sorry for a one-dimensional cliché who's life's work reinforces every negative stereotype that exists. If he had the ability to put the emotions he experienced during that phone conversation into a song, then maybe I could call him an artist.

Psssh.

JAY FOR PRESIDENT.
Buck trusted him enough to confide in him & I just can't respect 50 for leaking this conversation.

Great points, Jay - especially the Bun B quote.

Also glad you referenced the G-Unit situations as an on-going soap opera, as we did three weeks ago with our video, The Young Buck and The Chainless:

http://itsthereal.tumblr.com/post/36888969/if-billy-joel-didnt-start-this-long-island-fire

you speak truth and i agree, we shouldn't judge the brother for crying. BUT...you can't say we're judging him for not showing more emotion when you have to remind the hip hop world that it's alright for a man to cry. i mean, you kind of prove why he had to say one thing in public and one thing on the phone, because most of the world would see him as weak and less of a man.

you can't fault him for recognizing what you did too.

Yeah, I'm absolutely down with you, Jay! Two thumbs up!

I think too many people in this society this emotion denotes weakness, both men and women. You gave perfect examples of men. However, when a strong woman such as Hillary Clinton (I know not everyone agrees with me) shows any kind of emotion, she is shown as a weakling or a pussy (pardon my language). If a women appears strong, she is a dyke. All of this crap needs to end across the board because its true, you never know when the last time is that you will see someone.

Great piece...as always.

The realest vlog post ever! It's okay to cry in hip-hop.

Thank you for this post Jay Smooth.

On a side note: Young Buck ethered Fiddy with his response song "Taped Conversation." That's a catchy song.

Now what the hell are we going to do with Soulja Boy and Ice-T?

They should be ashamed of themselves. **SMH**

Great points across the board. I feel you on this one Jay. Emotions are what make us human, unfortunately so are hypocrites.

Love is a powerful emotion but so is insanity. The two go hand in hand. So where those tears of love or insanity? Like artwork, in the eyes of the interpreter.

I have no urge to listen to the tape but I'm glad you touched on this.

Peace,

Andy Coon

Thank you. I totally heart you. If I wasn't married, I might travel to NYC to find you.

This week, my hubby had a big health scare that involved the hospital. On the way there, I made him promise that if he needed to cry, that he would. That it was important to his recovery that he get that emotion out and in the open.

He's home now, for a variety of reasons, one being he was able to express his fear and anxiety over his situation.

Thank you for encouraging men to cry. And to love other men, should that be there thing.

If you could run for president, or governor, or mayor, I would vote for you. We need more role models like you. Thank you.

I agree with you.

People should be allowed to express emotion and own it.

I can't stand when people can't remember the last time that they cried like that makes them more "hard" or something.

Shit, sometimes life happens to you. Things you can't control and if your first, initial response is to let that stuff out. LET IT OUT. If you bury it, it'll come out in other ways...trust me on this.

I think this looks bad on 50. Maybe Buck...well, yes, Buck should have been more on the up and up instead of playing the hard card so that bit him in the ass. But this tape leaking reaks of high school backstabbing and shows how mature 50 is mentally.

I LOVE YOU nuzzling your cat. That was on point.

THANK YOU.

This post is wack, cause i thought Jay would cry... and he didn't.

You let us down Jay... cry about it Jay... cry about it.

Sippin on the draaain-alllllllllll

Smoove, man, holla at me.

This is crazy. My forearms is itchin.
You know how it is for us vinyl junkies.

I'm lookin for one song.
It was on one of the mixes of classic breaks from back in the day.

When you used to have the on the other site.

You know I'll pay for some of the CDs.
Shit, tell me how to upload them to the site. I'll help you. What you need???

I'm haunted by this one song that either monk one or oneman had spun.
or maybe it was when dj spinna came through.

i don't know.
you got my email.

all i need is the music to the song, i can take it around to the vets i know and they can tell me what it is.

help a young ninja.
it ain't gon do nuntin but come back to you.

what?
you wanna trade rekkids?

i got the lil mahvishnu orchestra jawn.
what you want?

my special ed legal album on vinyl?
the elephant's memory jawn?

or the onsaya joy richard groove holmes jawn?

holla at me.
this ain't right, man.

(no! stop lookin at that fela kuti expensive shit jawn)

I see what you did there with the Godfather text bubble.

Pimp C was an idiot. He had narcolepsy and still drank cough syrup mixed with alcohol...a combination that could and did kill him. That alone makes him a knucklehead, but what really puts him in the bright boy hall of fame is that he promoted "syrup" and "lean" to southern blacks, people who could least afford to have their brains scramble on dope.

So screw him.

I find your commentary, your intelligent dissection of issues and your delivery to be inspiring, funny, touching and, yes, priceless. Your ability to reach people is not reaching its full potential yet, which is a shame because you have completely grabbed my attention with your vlogging style.
I am not a hip-hop fan. I am not a music fan in general for that matter. But, I am a fan of making the world a place we can live in without so much baggage clanking along behind us.
I work for two congressional campaigns in california and I am telling them to watch your stuff too. They need an uplift in this challenging election!