Eminem & Jackass

To me, Eminem is like a season of Jackass. Jackass is funny. They do things I've never seen and never really wanted to see and most of it is funny & entertaining. Eminem is a dope MC. He says things and puts words together like I've never heard before. He has incredible lyricism &  for the most part is entertaining. Most of the time when I watch Jackass, I think, "What the hell is wrong with these guys?" & "What would make someone do that?". Most of the time when I listen to Eminem, I think, "What the hell is wrong with this guy?" & "What would make someone say that?". I don't own any seasons of Jackass. I don't own any  Eminem CDs. If someone told me they have watched & owned every episode of Jackass, and it was the funniest show they've ever seen; I'd think something was wrong with them. If someone told me that they own every CD and ride around bumpin Eminem, and he is the greatest MC; I'd assume they were younger than me & white. But that's just my opinion though, and who the hell am I?

Once & Future King

I'm not what you call a basketball fan. In actuality, I'm more of a fan of individual player. For the past few years, I've been riding with the Boston Celtics; but I've been really intrigued by the hatred for LeBron James. So much so, that I am as much a fan of his as I am a fan of the Boston Celtics. I always come back to one question: Why do you hate him so much? I've never gotten a legit answer. Here are a list of some of the answers I got and how full of crap they are. Usually, the first thing people say is, The Decision. This was where Lebron had a televised press conference to announce where he will be playing after his free agency was up. He didn't tell anyone before he made his decision and did it during his event. Most people think he was wrong not to tell management, his coach, or his teammates about his decision before The Decision. I think the hate for him makes people forget about the countless number of professional athletes who tell stories of only finding out through the media or while on All-Star break that they were traded to another team. Ask Kendrick Perkins. What about the endless athletes that were dropped like a bad habit when they sustained an injury. The haters also forget that The Decision was a fundraising event for The Boy's & Girl's Club of America. It raised $4 million for the charity. No one brings that up. Then others say that he is just too arrogant. Show me a pro athlete that isn't. Does anyone remember Jordan's hall Of Fame speech or pre-rape accusation Kobe? Others claim that lining himself up with other stars makes him weak. Isn't that what Boston did with their Big Three or Kobe & Shaq, or D-Wade & Shaq, even that Fellowship For The Ring team of Karl Malone, Gary Payton, Shaq & Kobe. This trend didn't start with LeBron and I'm sure it won't end with him. Others attach quotes of winning the scoring title, being the highest paid player, and removing lesser teams from the NBA to him; but I guarantee that your favorite player has a string of quotes that he or she may or may not have said that poorly reflected them. For example: "As far as playing, I didn't care who guarded me - red, yellow, black. I just didn't want a white guy guarding me, because it's disrespect to my game."- Larry Bird, or "Scoring 100 points is a lot, but I could've scored 140 if they had played straight-up basketball."- Wilt Chamberlain. Others have decided to take his recent 4th quarter collapses as an excuse to hate him. I find that funny, because the opponent that defeated him, Dirk Nowitzki, was fit with the same label. He was called soft, and not possessing the killer instinct to put teams away. He was never subjected to the same hate. Now they are mentioning him as being amongst the great ones. I'm still at a loss. My personal opinion is that LeBron represents something that the average hometown athlete views as a slap in the face. A high school star athlete who went straight to the pros and made an immediate and lasting impact. Something that 99% of them couldn't do. Imagine how the guy who wasn't even good enough to play in high school must feel about him? Those two types have to either love him, out of admiration, or hate him, out of jealousy. There is no in between. To those types, pro athletes are mythical in there ability and preparation. They can't be kids that were really good in high school; because if they were, then those types would be forced to answer the question, "Why couldn't I have done that?" Fortunately, I'm secure with my station in life, so I can marvel at LeBron James' success and his accomplishments without resentments. He is like Haley's Comet. Something that I doubt I will see again in my lifetime; but that's just my opinion though, and who the hell am I?

Charles Hamilton & Serius Jones

I am amazed that are places in the world that you can be, where a freestyle battle could just suddenly break out. I don't mean a wack one between one of your boys and that really nice middle schooler that everyone is talking about. I mean a good one. Much less a battle between two artist in the peak of their ability. I was a little worried that Serius wasn't gonna spit, but it ended up being a win-win for all. But that's just my opinion though, and who the hell am I?

Speechless

The thing that I notice about this video is that the woman in it doesn't seem very ignorant at first. I bet she believes 90% of what she is saying. I know that desperation sometimes prompts the worst in us, but it rarely inserts qualities that we don't already possess. I also have to admit that I like seeing videos like this. Especially, after the media and some of my white friends try and convince me that racism is dead and buried. I can't decide if it is good or bad that this type of thing doesn't surprise me at all and in fact, makes me feel that my reluctance to drop my guard and sing unity songs isn't black paranoia. I'm gonna have to think about that one. Who know? Maybe I have become institutionalized by the institutional racism? Like a prisoner who has been looked up more of his life than he has been free. The bars are comfort. Maybe I need racism to feel comfortable and calm. I just that used to it. I seriously doubt it. But that's just my opinion though, and who the hell am I?

I Know How You Must Feel

I've seriously been neglecting my blog. For what it's worth, I apologize and promise to do better. I have no real excuse, but I posted this video because I believe that the people who have been regularly reading my blog, have felt this way about my blatant blog neglect at one time or another. But that's just my opinion though, and who the hell am I?

If you wouldn't punch yourself in a street fight, why do it in a word fight?

Y'all know I'm a fan of Hip-Hop, especially freestyle battles. I'm not exactly sure if the cat in this video understands. I'm assuming this cat thought that his wit would carry him beyond the implications of his insinuations. HE WAS WRONG. I don't even think HOV or Em could dig themselves out of this lyrical hole. Not enough to win the battle. Your opponent wouldn't even need to do anything more than repeat your rhymes back to you. I hope this trend isn't followed. Battle rappers need to be the epitome of confidence, bravado, and machismo. Sometimes, in a battle, that can be enough to bring you out victorious. Even if you're lyrics are better. Example: LL vs Canibus. My advice to any battle rapper is to tighten up your lyrics, but don't forget this is a BATTLE!!! If you want an example, check out Jae Millz vs Murda Mook. But that's just my opinion though, and who the hell am I?

OVAASA

During my month long hiatus, I decided to do something that I always wanted to do. I started an organization. It is called the Ohio Valley African American Students Association. I quickly found out that it is easy to start an organization, but difficult to make it real. It involves tons of paperwork, and things like PO Boxes, Tax IDs, Logos, and Letterheads. After that was established, I concentrated on my first event. I wanted to have a Banquet. I wanted to honor each and every black high school senior in the Ohio Valley with some sort of recognition, at a fancy sit down dinner. After some butt kissing and begging, On May 27th, 2010 at West Virginia Northern Community College, the first annual Ohio Valley African American Students Association's awards banquet took place.

It was one of the proudest moments of my life. Now, I'm doing everything I can to make the OVAASA self-sustainable and able to provide scholarships, interships, and college visits. If any of you reading this would like to help out; our e-mail address is ovaasa@gmail.com. You can follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ovaasa and if you would like to send us a donation or any other correspondence, you can do so at OVAASA PO Box 6497 Wheeling, WV 26003. Donations should be made out to OV African American Students Association. I'm excited. I think everyone should find something to get behind and promote, that would better the world. It really makes you feel like you're making a difference. But that's just my opinion though, and who the hell am I?