Thursday, May 6th, 2004

More new photos from Abu Ghraib in today’s Washington Post.

posted by @ 8:57 am | 0 Comments

Wednesday, May 5th, 2004

GOOD MORNING ABU GHRAIB

Was I the only one who got shivers hearing George Huff’s strangely reaffirming rendition of “What A Wonderful World” last night, a scene that ended in a group hug?

Here’s a competition where smiles and tears seem sincere. Where families cheer their sons and daughters in defeat. Where the winners always cry over the losers. This American Idol thing is throwing out the script every day. It can’t be scripted. It’s become realer than reality.

The song, popularized first by Louis Armstrong, revived in the 80s by a movie about Vietnam, and sung now by another poor black New Orleans boy who came to the pop stage entirely by accident, seems particularly poignant at this moment in American history, where pictures of very different kinds of smiles cannot be separated from horrifying scenes of debasement. Where the defeated–whether Iraqi, Afghani, or American–are treated with low regard and grotesque inhumanity. Where the winners care nothing for the losers.

In more ways than I thought last night, the outcome of American Idol now matters little.

The show is cornball. Absolutely. It’s lowest common denominator stuff. But look how low we’re at right now, in the world and in our own estimation of ourselves.

At the risk of sounding crazy or duped, it feels like American Idol gives all of us what we need. No matter how we feel politically in this polarized time, it goes a little way toward restoring what Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld have torn away from us in their plunge toward Middle East destabilization since January of 2001–the impulse toward connection and community, away from the gruesome crimes of competition and avarice, and the need to know that there is in fact good, genuine feeling in the world between people.

posted by @ 8:02 pm | 0 Comments

Wednesday, May 5th, 2004

A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN

Love how Jasmine has grown and proud of how she’s repped. George is a nice dude and deserves an audience somewhere. Diana ain’t that bad after all. But they all can’t hold a candle, not even a match to Fantasia and Latoya. Let’s just end this now.

posted by @ 7:02 am | 0 Comments

Wednesday, May 5th, 2004

The great Studio One pioneer Coxsone Dodd has passed.

posted by @ 7:01 am | 0 Comments

Tuesday, May 4th, 2004

Stelfox does his own dancehall comp, with liner notes!

posted by @ 9:51 am | 0 Comments

Sunday, May 2nd, 2004

IT’S A QUANNUM WORLD

Can you deny that? The most generous show in the business. Three hours of super dynamite soul. LB ripping off his sweats, and sanctifying in his draws. Jumbo doing the jump-up in the crowd. Xcel coming back from the tour bus. Rev Shines in the crates. New shit from Gab and Teef. D-Sharp trying to get the crowd to be quiet. Mad love. All that plus technology too: Shadow rocking clips of the Fat Boys and Wildstyle on the first-of-its-kind Pioneer DVJ prototype. And Vursatyl vs. Vursatyl? Oh shit. If you missed this, man you just don’t know.

Speaking of technology, my little set before the incredible Jahi and the Life got on and rocked it was hampered by the fact that not only am I hella rusty, but that I prepped for two turntables and got one and a CDJ instead. (Oliver couldn’t even get on. He brought no CDs.) Needless to say I had never used one of these things before in my life. Big shout to Eric for letting me on and for the 30-second tutorial.

So there was no mixing, blending or go-go, but instead Buzzcocks to Clint Eastwood and General Saint to Tanya Stephens to U-Roy to Stiff Little Fingers to a grand concourse Bronx style conclusion with the Ghetto Brothers and Bambaataa. Felt just like the KALX days. I hope a good time was had by all 50 of us in the building.

I’ve been told that I’m officially coming out of retirement for Carlos Mena’s record release parties. (More on his record and stuff soon.) I promise to rock the spot with some DC breaks that night for ya. Then it’s back into retirement.

Oh yeah the point was: crew was on hand to capture the show, which will end up in a movie or DVD somewhere down the line. Stay tuned to Quannum.com for the latest. Last but never the least, love to the Quammies and to Isaac and Lydia who always hold it down.

posted by @ 8:11 am | 0 Comments

Friday, April 30th, 2004

Today’s must-read: Tom Hayden on gang peace and the anti-war movement.

Next week’s must-see: B+ and Eric Coleman at Transport Gallery, L.A.

posted by @ 10:30 am | 0 Comments

Friday, April 30th, 2004

FOXY BROWN RIDES AGAIN

Someone’s been searching here with the terms “Diana DeGarmo” and “ethnicity”, “Diana DeGarmo”, “what is she” and finally: “Diana DeGarmo” and “Filipino blood”. Look how far this chica’s apparently come–from Snellville corn syrup to Daly City leche flan. But for the love of Rizal, my sisters and brothers, every music star who’s racially ambiguous ain’t Filipino!

posted by @ 7:38 am | 0 Comments

Thursday, April 29th, 2004

WE LOVE PLUGS

Two things to tell my Bay fam and visitors about.

First, Quannum comes home. Meet us at The Warfield this Saturday, Mayday. Come early cuz me and my funk brother O-dub will be spinning to warm yall up. I got a crate full of roots, go-go, and maybe even some Ghetto Brothers for ya.

Second, check out this great event going down next week. I’m on the board of Media Alliance and we’re really happy to present this event next Wednesday at UC Berkeley with some of our favorite journalists and media justice/media democracy advocates.

Bob McChesney, author of the new book The Problem of the Media

Jerry Mander,president of the International Forum on Globalization

John Nichols, D.C. correspondent for The Nation magazine and all-around great guy

and last but never least, Farai Chideya, the brilliant, pioneering, award-winning hip-hop gen journalist/author, and host of KALW’s “It’s Your Call” (Are we happy she’s back in the Bay? Hell yes we are!)

The topic: “Media Regime Change!”

Date: Wednesday, May 5, 7PM   

Place: Wheeler Hall, UC Berkeley

Tickets: $7 General Public / $5 Media Alliance members & students / First 100 students FREE w/ student ID.

Advance tickets on-line at Media Alliance, or by calling 415.546.6334, x300. See yall there!

posted by @ 8:13 am | 0 Comments

Thursday, April 29th, 2004

Lots of great writing today.

Dave Tompkins on Freddy Fresh and the P-Bros.

Tommy Tompkins on Fela and the Black President exhibition.

Kelefa Sanneh on Kweli, KaySlay, Rakim and Ghost.

And while I wouldn’t mind if I never hear from their [insert highly negative adjective here] owners again, here’s Ta-Nehisi Coates’ wonderfully written piece on the late Rawkus Records.

BONUS WORDS: Jelani Cobb on Nelly and Spelman. Thanks to Joan Morgan for the link, who calls it “hip-hop feminism at its finest”.

posted by @ 7:19 am | 0 Comments



Previous Posts

Feed Me!

Revolutions

Word

Fiyahlinks


twitter_logo

@zentronix

Come follow me now...

Archives

We work with the Creative Commons license and exercise a "Some Rights Reserved" policy. Feel free to link, distribute, and share written material from cantstopwontstop.com for non-commercial uses.

Requests for commercial uses of any content here are welcome: come correct.

Creative Commons License