Interview + Fried Chicken Flu
For this month’s interview we’re doing an expose on a new course that I’m teaching over at North Carolina Central University entitled: Hip-Hop and Political Movements. Today is the first day class, and I’ve been too busy running around campus to publish the video, so instead I’ve decided to post an episode of The Boondocks. Enjoy Fried Chicken Flu and stay tuned for a video about the class soon - Peaaace.
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Christian McBride - July 2010 Interviewee
This month’s interview is with bass virtuoso Christian McBride. We discuss Philly, hip-hop and the future goals of one of the most gifted and prolific jazz players of our time. Shouts to his cousin, Blain Cooper who makes a brief cameo. Everybody got family in North Carolina. Click here to view the interview or peep the embedded video below:
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When Anti-Homophobic Rhetoric Turns Reactionary:Another Look at The Boondocks & Tyler Perry
Aaron McGruder’s notorious animated series, “The Boondocks”, has been engaged in radical critiques of black culture, black political formations and black identity politics since its 1996 inception in The Diamondback, the student newspaper at the University of Maryland. “The Boondocks” has grown from a student newspaper comic strip to a nationally syndicated television series that features on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim programming. Although McGruder has received more and more mainstream attention and notoriety over the years for his bold and sometimes inflammatory satires, he still continues to probe the emergent and controversial terrain of black politics and black culture, despite the vehement protests of his critics.
A recent episode entitled Pause—which explores the problematic entanglement of Hollywood, the black church, black sexuality and insistent, pejorative stereotypes that incessantly haunt black identity politics—recently became the catalyst for a whirlwind of criticisms and litigation as McGruder fixed his satirical gaze upon American darling and Hollywood mogul, Tyler Perry. My article specifically responds to a critique levied by this month’s Blackademics interview feature, Dr. Mark Anthony Neal.
6 Comments. Filed under men's issues, black culture, mainstream culture, sexuality, television, entertainment, black image, art, popular culture, LGBT.
A phone call with Hip-Hop personified
[Ringing]
Yo.
Hip Hop?
What’s up?
You’re alive!
Can’t stop, won’t stop.
Thanks for letting me interview you, I know you’re busy.
It’s cool. I got to take advantage of this opportunity to represent myself.
You’re breaking up a little. Can you hear me okay?
Yeah. I’m on a cordless house phone and I stepped out of range for a moment, but I’m back. The reception will be clear as long as I stay close to the base.
[beep]
What was that? I heard a beep?
I don’t know. Probably the Patriot Act. You know they’re listenin’.
Everytime I look around, somebody lyin’ on me
Mr. Cheney, Mr. Ridge, steady spyin’ on me
-Jay Electronica, “Dealing”
I’m joking, the beep was just me putting on some music.
4 Comments. Filed under music, Hip-Hip.
June 2010 Interview: Mark Anthony Neal
This Black Music Month our interview is with professor and public intellectual Dr. Mark Anthony Neal. We discuss the role of the public intellectual, Aaron McGruder’s The Boondocks and Dr. Neal’s contribution to Born to Use Mics: Reading Nas’s Illmatic. Enjoy!
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Re: “Kick’n it w/ ?uestlove” Roots+Joss Stone perform You Got Me
Backstage footage from The Roots concert I wrote about in my last post: Kicking it w/ ?uestlove (well, kinda). The Roots and Joss Stone perform You Got Me with the ill Kid Cudi reference on verse 3.
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Kicking It w/ ?uestlove (well, kinda)
This afternoon I have the honor and privilege of speaking with one of my inspirations, the founder of my favorite band, blog and tweets: ?uestlove. I’m interviewing him for a musical and scholarly project I’m working on called Freedom Suite. Freedom Suite is a jazz and hip-hop mixtape from my band, The Beast and jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon, hosted by Grammy-winner 9th Wonder. It features a ton of progressive musicians including, Suede (of Camp Lo), Rapsody, YahZarah, Applejuice Kid and Kooley High, as well as inter-generational dialogue between jazz and hip-hop musicians including: Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Christian McBride, Gil Scott Heron and (smile) ?uestlove. The story behind how I became acquainted with Minister Love is almost as interesting as the project itself. Check out this article I wrote for the News and Observer, describing the unforgettable weekend that culminated in meeting one of my heroes. It’s called, One Incredible Weekend. Enjoy:
I will never forget Earth Day weekend 2010. It was an action-packed, music-filled, family affair where I went from being center stage at a music festival in rural North Carolina to being backstage at a Roots concert on the National Mall.
Continue reading “Kicking It w/ ?uestlove (well, kinda)”2 Comments. Filed under music, Hip-Hip, jazz.
May Interview(s): Tommie Smith, Chuck Stone & Doug E. Fresh!!!
This week, at a music video shoot for The Beast’s hip-hop/salsa anthem Translation, my Macbook became engulfed in a cold glass of the universal solvent. Among other things, on that laptop I had the file for Blackademics’ May interviewee - and until some Apple genius tells me otherwise, I will assume that the interview is swimming with the proverbial fishes. But friends, all is not lost. I backed up my entire hard drive at the beginning of the month after I finished grading the last final exam, and (almost) all of the data is in tact. I actually still have the raw interview file on an external hard drive, but it’s not edited (w/ a cool intro, background music, etc. yall know how I do). So while I’m re-editing this month’s interview for your viewing and listening pleasure, I wanted to leave you with some of our previous May interviewees to hold you over:
Back in May of 2007, I interviewed Olympic Gold medalist and revolutionary activist, Tommie Smith (click to listen to interview).
In 2008, I dropped the original human beat box, Doug E. Fresh off at the airport. Check it out:
Continue reading “May Interview(s): Tommie Smith, Chuck Stone & Doug E. Fresh!!!”1 Comment. Filed under interviews.
Baby Love
One of the most important things parents can do for their child is give them a name. You want your son or daughter’s name to reflect their personality, their spirit, their character, their identity, their very essence. But how can you determine any of those things before you’ve even met the person?What an incredibly important and sacred responsibility. As our first daughter’s due date quickly approaches, my wife Kathryn and I struggle to come up with a solution to this task.
As I was brainstorming, I was reminded of a poem written by my brother from another mother, D. Noble. D, born Demetrius Noble, is a Greensboro-based poet and father who recently changed his name to Olokun Shangol Olugbala. His poem “Remember the Names” explains why:
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Guru Joins The Anscestors
Guru passed away Monday after a lengthy battle with Cancer. He was 43 years old. The influential emcee was half of the legendary band Gangstarr and founder of the visionary jazz/Hip-Hop fusion experiment, Jazzmatazz. The best way to cherish Guru is to celebrate his life’s work and passion. Below, you will find a gem from the mind of one of the most original, intellectual and progressive cats who ever did it. This Gangstarr track Full Clip celebrates the life of another seminal emcee, Big L. Enjoy.
