Jay-Z x Grammy Family Freestyle

While being bored out of my mind and halfheartedly paying attention the Game 4 of the NBA Western Conference Finals, I just happen to stumble this Jay-Z freestyle. Now I'm not the biggest Jay-Z fan but I am intrigued by the days when all rappers including the upper echelon one would not only do radio and provide something worth listening to besides mind numbing promo, but actually freestyled. In this clip Jay-Z stopped by New York's HOT 97 and hung out with Funk Flex and laid what I considered to be an amazing freestyle over the Grammy Family beat.. Check it out..

Now I normally don't give a damn about the comments that are posted on the videos but something prompted me to take a peek and other Jay-Z enthusiasts were in awe of the freestyle and also provided some insight on the knowledge and bars Jay was dropping.. I'll post some of the interesting/informative posts below..

"The 76th-floor Time Warner Center penthouse once owned by telecom mogul Michael Hirtenstein has a history dotted with boldface names. Hirtenstein rented the place to Jay-Z before selling it to Todd Wagner, billionaire and Mark Cuban's business partner, for $27 million.
"in this spirit I'm evoking kurt with...basquiat."
(two heroin addicted artists who could not handle the dizzying heights of fame they had achieved)."

"the yankees shortstop phil rizzuto in the ads for the moneystore?

jigga sitting with the ad agencies up on madison and then sitting with the investors on wall. (the corporate takeover).
converse all stars? that's what the doc wore. no need to "converse" further?
it's insane
mind on pluto. mercury was in aspect to pluto on 10.30.06
this aspect affected a subject born 12.4.69 very strongly that day.
trust me i looked all this shit up.
it's crazy."

"that's what i be trying to decipher. the mind of jay z. to decode it as the book says. the internal syllables alliteration and rhyme schemes employing false rhyme and crazy metaphors, it's enough to make you dizzy. plus the dude's subliminal wit this shit.
he the GOAT. sorry em, pac, big l, biggie, rakim, nas, sorry. Jigga the GOAT."




Check out the lyrics..

I been crushing the buildings since Izod socks
I'm so independent, shit I might buy Koch
I might not stop, places to cop
76 floors you can call me the Doc...

Inspired by Basquiat, my chariots of fire
Everybody took shots hit my body up I'm tired
Build me up, break me down, to build me up again
They like Hov we need you back so we can kill your ass again
Hov got flow though he's no Big and Pac but he's close
How I'm supposed to win they got me fighting ghosts.....

Same sword they knight you they gone good night you with
Shit that's only half if they like you
That ain't even the half what they might do
Don't believe me, ask Michael.

See Martin, see Malcolm
You see Biggie, see Pac, see success and it's outcome
See Jesus, see Judas
See Ceasar, see Brutus
See success is like suicide
Suicide, it's a suicide
If you succeed prepare to be crucified
Hmm, media meddles, niggas sue you you settle
Every step you take they remind you, you ghetto
So it's tough being Bobby Brown
To be Bobby then, you gotta be Bobby now
Now the question is is to have had and lost
Better than not having at... man.

Everybody want to be the king til shots ring
You laying in the balcony with holes in your dream
Or you Malcolm Xed out getting distracted by screams
Everybody get your hands off my jeans!
Everybody look at you strange, say you changed
Uh, like you work that hard to stay the same
Uh, game stayed the same, the name changed
So it's best for those to not overdose on being famous
Most kings get driven so insane
That they try to hit the same vein that Kurt Cobain did
New dangers, so strangers invited to the inner sanctum of your chambers
Low chained them, the enemy's approaching so raise your draw bridge and
drown him in the moat
In the spirit I'm evoking kurt with...(unintelligible)

Everybody screaming they want the old Hov
But the new and improved Hov hit like Albert Pujols
Everybody wanna hear me talk that money like Phil Rizzuto
But my mind is on Pluto
Bills that I do fold I now invest
on trying to find some loopholes in the IRS
So where I used to have a few hoes I am just
Concentrating on making a new Hov through sex
I've awaken just to try to school those putos
Trying to follow in my shoes with jewels-froze
Better adhere to this text 'fore you go
Broke spending more than you accrued on silly baguettes
I know silly begets, silly you learn on your own
At least my conscience is clear I'm no longer steering you wrong
Ain't nothing wrong with baguettes after you get a home
Take care of your home, you can go back and um....

I'm getting courted by the bosses, the Edgars and Doug Morrises-sss
Jimmy I and Lyor's-sss
Gotta be more than choruses-sss
They respecting my mind now, just a matter of time now
Operation take over corporate
Make Oval offices-sss
Then take over all of it
Please may these words be recorded
To serve as testimony that I saw it all before it
Came to fruition, sort of a premonition
Uh, uncontrollable hustler's ambition
Alias superstitition like Stevie,
The writing's on the wall like my lady, right BB?
Saw it all before so they all thought I was crazy
Maybe, like a fox I'm cagey
Ah, ah, the more successful, the more stressful
The more and more I transform to Gordan Gekko
In the race to a billion, got my face to the ceiling
Got my knees on the floor, please Lord forgive him
Has he lost his religion, is the greed gonna get him?
He's having heaven on earth, will his wings still fit him?
I got the Forbes on my living room floor
And I'm so dope to the core, fucker I want more
Time's most influential was impressive
Especially since I wasn't in the artist's section
Had me with the builders and the titans
Had me right with Rupert Murdoch
The billionaire boys and some dudes you never heard of
Word up on Madison Ave is I'm a cash cow
Word down on Wall St. homie you get the cash out
IPO Hov no need for reverse merger
The boy money talk no need to converse further
The baby blue Maybach like I own Gerber
Boardroom I'm lifting your skirt up
The corporate take ....nigga.


Peace and Love

My Reaction To Cipha Sounds

For those who may not have caught wind to what may have happened. Two days ago(Friday December 17th) Hot 97 DJ Cipha Sounds made a very tasteless, and crass remark on the radio saying that "the reason [he is] HIV negative is because [he doesn't] mess with Haitian girls". A day later Haitians had gathered outside of the radio station to protest the DJ and request immediate disciplinary action. Cipha sounds had issued what in my opinion was a forced apology claiming that the joke was "a stupid, tasteless joke, that was "taken totally the wrong way".

Now for those of you who may not totally understand the magnitude of the situation, let me break it down to you. For starters the joke is completely distasteful because of the fact that the little island of Haiti is still trying to recover from the devastating earthquake that struck in January that killed hundreds of thousands of people and left hundreds of thousands more without a place to live. Secondly, not that the earthquake was bad enough, there is also the cholera outbreak that killed close to another three thousand more people.

Now as a first generation Haitian American living in the United States, I am well aware of the hardships my people and ancestors had to endure for survival in this country. Many migrating to this country not speaking the language and being unable to read or write their own native language but find a way to make a living for their families. I remember growing up in Brooklyn New York at a time where saying that you were Haitian could cause you physical harm. Young Haitians were getting jumped, beaten up and robbed on their way to and from school simply for being Haitian. It's also unfortunate that it took the unfortunate events that transpired in Haiti for the acknowledgment of Haitians and people of Haitian decent to be recognized in media (MTV VJ Quddus), art (Jean-Michel Basquiat, Philomé Obin), sports (Pierre Garçon, Jonathan Vilma, Samuel Dalembert, Jozy Altidore, Andre Berto, and the list goes on), music (Wyclef, DJ Whoo Kid, Maxwell, Pras, Tony Yayo, Pastor Troy, Dawn Richard of Diddy Dirty Money etc.) film/tv (Garcelle Beauvais, Jessica Lucas, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Jamie Hector, Trina McGee-Davis, Alex Désert etc.) The same way that many black Americans feel that even with the election of an African American president in Barack Obama, that the continued misconduct and outright foolishness that African Americans subject themselves to for the world to see sets African Americans back however much time they feel, the comments made by Cipha Sounds has set the Haitian people back 50 years in this country.

Also it goes far beyond the fact of an unfunny joke, I feel that deep down in his subconscious he really and genuinely feels that way. He truly felt that he isn't infected by such a devastating and debilitating virus is because he doesn't mess with Haitian women. Now I know that there are many people who also may feel the same way that Cipha Sounds felt but never voiced their opinions about it, but with such vile words uttered by him, they may now feel that it's ok to say these type of things openly because someone who is on a larger platform feels the same way. Which will only become the breeding ground for hate, and division.

Meanwhile another DJ "Charlamagne the God" went on the air and expressed his disgust for what was said and my sentiments match his 100%. Feel free to take a listen here. Also as far as the director Peter Rosenberg who made a cowardly comment about 2 hours after the protesters left via Twitter saying that "the bitchassness was at an all-time high at the radio station" he needs to be removed from his position because he's blatantly showing clear disregard for the magnitude of the situation and the people involved.

I just hope that with as much pride as my Haitian people harbor that we use it as motivation to help uplift our people and show the world the beauty of our culture. "L'Union Fait La Force"

Peace & Love