Monthly Archives: February 2011

02/28/11

Kid Fears

Of all the unrest in the Middle East, Libya’s has been the strangest.  Momar Gadhafi was for me, as a child, the face of terrorism in the world.  I remember the allegations of state-sponsored terror, including Pan Am Flight 1973, and our later air strikes against the dictator.  In large measure, he disappeared from my imagination in the decades since, even as terrorism has grown to dominate our global conversation.  He has become all but forgotten and irrelevant.

But, that was a luxury that American children of the 80s enjoyed — to conveniently forget about him.  For Libyan children of the same generation, however, Momar Gadhafi was not some boogie man; he was a living nightmare.  Things are never as bad as we imagine them.  But, it is mostly true that Gadhafi has brutalized his country for decades, even until now, at the bitterest end.

So a generation of Libyans, of my same age, have faced down their kid fears (and mine) to bring it all to an end.  Inspired by the dominoing Middle Eastern protests that have preceded it, the opposition movement has been steeled, even as Gadhafi has turned his guns violently upon them, in spite of the inevitability of it all.  (It appears he has staged fake rallies in support of the regime, like the one included in today’s audio, but now even his own security forces are abandoning him.)

But all successful revolution is bedrocked in the brave acts of its participants and not simply the hollow rhetoric of discontent.  It’s called sacrifice.  I guess you could say that, in revolution, it’s better to be seen and not heard.  And, this is what their silence sounds like.

My incomparable and previous rap news coverage of the protests in the Middle East can be revisited here, here, and here.

Performed by ipoet.  Music produced by Diaz from Hungary.

I did not do this beat justice.  One of the best I’ve ever been on.

Today’s liberation audio here:

Seen and Not Heard (Dominoin' Part 3)

02/24/11

Guest Poet: Keep It Movin’

Sorry to all.  I was on the road and I got trapped in a spot without WiFi to get this done.  My man Wonder Brown pinch hit again today and had me the song last night, late, but I couldn’t get it posted.  Serious logistical snafu.  But, technically it’s still Thursday, so we’re all still good!

The Libya situation is historic and terrible.  And, the Space Shuttle Discovery made its last launch today.

A little political cynicism from WB today.  In his words:

“I keep thinking back to the Bob Dylan song, ‘Only A Pawn In Their Game.’  Cries of revolution come from the pawns, and the struggle of the inclined rotation in the galaxy – speeding up and slowing down during different axes and apses (I’m taking astronomy too!) – makes you wonder if and when the pawns become the pundits, who then will be the pawns?  I guess, naturally, I’ll just ‘keep it movin’.'”

Performed by gpoet, Wonder Brown.  Music produced by Vintage.

Today’s audio here:

Keep it Movin' (Remix)

02/21/11

President’s Day: The Least Powerful King

I bit off more than I could chew this time.  I waited too late and tried to do too much.  For some reason, in tribute to the day, I thought it would be interesting to chronicle all 44 presidents in today’s blong.  Not so interesting.  The delivery trails off so poorly about midway through the second verse that it sounds as though I’m being gently mauled by ground shrew.  In my defense, I wrote about 116 bars which I was determined to deliver in a single take, without punch-in.  But, that only works if I mean for my defense to be simply one of moronity in the first instance, for even trying.  Actually, I’m pretty proud.  This song is going to melt your face off.  In a very sort of presidential way, of course.

One of the most interesting aspects of our Chief Executive is the relative weakness of the position.  No leader of the greatest country or empire in the world has ever been so constrained.  And, yet, by constitutional design we divide the authority, traditionally centralized in the single person of history’s most accomplished kings and conquerors, among three coequal branches of government.  But, in our checks and balances, we have not been thwarted in producing greatness not only of country but of the particular and specific office of the president.

As a timely counter point, off of which I intended to pivot in the song but for time and exhaustion, the reaction of dictator’s and kings and puppet democracies in the middle east to assembly and free speech in the recent protests, including Libya, reminds us of the alternatives.

Like antiquity’s monarchs and warlords, our lesser “kings” have been of a mixed quality, some good some bad, some successful some impotent.  But, the office has had enough credibility to consistently, if not always, inspire us to real passion and ingenuity and goodness before the world.

Of course, to claim relative weakness of the presidency is never to forget that our executives have had more than sufficient power to exercise abuse in the same way government has for all of our history past.  But we believe, and endure, hoping that the abuse is dulled, in the first instance, and reversed with greater swiftness, for the constitutional limits, than were it otherwise.

Performed by ipoet.  Music produced by nomold.

Today’s audio here:

The Least Powerful King

02/17/11

Cry Like Your Born

I think it is fairly difficult to appreciate the developments in the Middle East.  As recently as 2009, Iran was able to put to rest well-supported and organized demonstrations against the credibility of its elections.  These current protests, in Yemen, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Libya,  Syria, Algeria, and now Bahrain are occurring in areas of the world where the threat of swift and permanent retribution cannot be translated.  People’s lives are at stake.

In Bahrain, police killed a protestor protesting at the funeral of a fallen protestor.  I think that’s reverse metamartyrdom or something.

The unoriginal-with-me question that everyone is asking is “with what will we be left?”  Bahrain wants a constitutional monarchy, apparently.  Fundamentalists, although not the progenitors of the protests (as far as can be determined), see an opportunity for the advancement of Sharia law, in all cases.  In Iran and Afghanistan, during decades past, comparable revolution led to something much less than we had hoped.   So there is simply no promise that the throwing off of the the shackle, now, will lead to meaningful liberty, later, much less anytime immediately soon.

Themes include the recent and increasingly violent protests in the island country of Bahrain, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, shopping for souvenirs years ago in a Syrian souq,  the traditional Islamic call to prayer, democratization, and worry beads.  The ipoet has been following all along the daisy chained revolution through the middle east; enjoy previous installments here and here.

By the way, can we just admit that we were all stunned when we awoke the other morning to learn that there is a country in the Middle East, called Bahrain?  It’s simple integrity, really.  (Some might say ignorance.)

Performed by ipoet.  Produced by DJ Clutch.

Today’s audio here:

Democracy's Morning (Dominoin' Part 2)

Bonus smartphone video here:

behind the curtain #1

02/14/11

And the winner is . . .

pretty disappointed, to say the least.  This is the song I had prepared to perform at the Grammy’s last night.  But, no call — again.  Embarrassing.

I did get to see Lady Gaga emerge from an enormous costume egg, in which she had been incubating, though, and pretty much the most freaking awesome group ever, the Avett Brothers.  Cee Lo Green also got to perform his controversial hit song by changing the refrain to “forget you” from, well, another popular two word phrase of common initials.   That seemed reasonable.  Especially considering there were muppets present.  Was anyone  else confused by the progressively intense jazz riffing as Matthew Morrison (Glee) and the President/CEO of The Recording Academy, Neil Portnow, tried to speak?

By the way, I recorded today’s audio in a pair of handmade meat pants.  So Happy Valentine’s Day.  Consider this a love note to the music industry.  I didn’t have a lot of time.  So it’s short and delicious.  Just how the club and the Academy likes it.

Speaking of meat, you should visit my friend’s food blog:  whattommyeats.com.   It’s not pretty.  I’ll leave it at that.

Performed by ipoet.  Music produced by Sundance.  As usual, I do it for the Grammy.

Today’s tenderized audio here:

F*$get You!

02/10/11

Personals: man seeking dignity

Man, I hate this.  Hate it.  I hate the public shame of it all.  A congressman resigned his post last night for having been ostensibly caught advertising himself on Craigslist, the infamous online and localized classifieds.  I hesitate to even cover it but for the opportunity to make sure we keep some perspective.  His acts were deplorable, as alleged.  He has a family and a high public duty.  His position necessarily makes the story news.  But, we live in a society that invites, in culture and accessibility, the behavior and then parades private failures to our mutual shame, as though we’re repeatedly stunned that it occurs.  This is not a puritanical appeal to close the interwebs.  Or even some self-righteous critique of the attention the story justifiably attracts.  It is a reminder of the value of human dignity and privacy that must be rediscovered even as we learn to live in public.

It’s also a request to please be careful.   Temptation is a lion.

Performed by ipoet.  Music produced by DJ Transform.

Today’s audio classifieds here:

Craig's Got A List

02/7/11

XLV

Super Bowl edition.  The sound of 11 homeboys putting taped digits to the dirt, hearts in their throat.  (Does anyone still tape fingers —  what decade is this?)  Another great game this year.

Not to get all Star-Spangled-Banner on the post, and I certainly consider myself a World citizen, but if the Chrysler commercial regarding Detroit didn’t get to you, then you might not be an American and you sure as hubcap aren’t hip hop.

Performed by ipoet.   Music produced by Diaz from Hungary.  Don’t sleep.  Site’s hardest song of the year so far.

Today’s leatherheaded audio here:

Toothless Grin

02/3/11

Necessary and Proper

Today’s a first.  Recorded the song on the road.  The ipoet is completely mobile.  So I can now literally be rap blogging in a high speed car chase or burning building. (Assuming there is an non-password protected wireless network nearby.  No, that’s illegal, and I would not do that unless I really, really needed to post some important rap news.)

It’s been a busy week at work, including some late nights.  I’m operating on blong fumes.  (Which is legal in all 50 States by the way.)  But, a second federal judge ruled that the individual mandate provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) (healthcare reform) exceeded Congress’ power under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution.  See Florida v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2011 WL 285683 (N.D. Fla. Jan. 31, 2011.)

So I figured it was time for a Con Law lecture.  (That’s lawyer slang for Constitutional Law.)  I thought it might also be instructive to briefly describe the panic of first year law school classes as a 1L.  After listening to the song you will actually be only 46 credit hours shy of your law degree from an accredited law school but fully licensed to practice in South Carolina!  I kid, I kid!  I’m licensed and practicing there and none of us received our bar admissions through a rap news website.  I can promise.  University of Phoenix maybe, but not rap news.  That’s ridiculous.

So, while steering shy of any sort of real opinion on the matter, I’ve tried to briefly outline our Commerce Clause jurisprudence and the particular basis of the Florida decision.  As always, both subjects have more nuance than I’d ever care to deliver, or you’d ever care to hear, in a rap song.  Wait, why do I do this site again?

Themes include law professors, Socratic Method bullying, anxiety attacks, a handful of obscure legal decisions, and then a second and a half on Congress’ ability to regulate healthcare reform.

New producer today.  Killed it.

Performed by ipoet.  Music produced by Juicebox Jackson.

The Way We Should Die

02/1/11

A Village

Man, I put out an APB on beats, and people came through.

Props to Juicebox Johnson, Jordan Santana, DJ Elder, DJ Clutch,  and Fab da Eclectic for contributions.  Look for their work in the weeks and months to come.  This site persists for your generosity.

Rap news, ninjas.  Spread the word dangit.