Monthly Archives: June 2011

06/29/11

Press Junket Series No. 6

The week that was.

Stories include the bizzaro diaper-gate incident with TSA and an elderly passenger; Georgia’s contested immigration bill; the increasingly crowded Republican Presidential Nominee Candidate pool; the United States Supreme Court’s recent decision concerning video games and free speech; President Obama’s draw down plan for Afghanistan; the untimely death of sports legend Lorenzo Charles; the best-selling and controversial new faux-children’s book “Go the F**k to Sleep”; and my University of South Carolina and their back-to-back National Championship at the College World Series last night. Didn’t squeeze in a reference to the incidents in Kabul. American collegiate athletics is of significantly greater world import.

Performed by ipoet. Music produced by juiceboxjackson (a harbinger of things to come, by the way).

TWTW 6-26-11

06/25/11

For and Against

Friday evening, the New York legislature passed legislation permitting same-sex marriage. As the sixth state (plus D.C.) to actually allow it, the occasion was an historic one inasmuch as it came under Republican control and required votes from that party.

My audience is compromised of people who have deeply held convictions about this issue on both sides. And, many probably think they know my view. For personal and professional reasons, I am largely private about it.

Suffice it to say, I am for personal responsibility before God.

I am for self-determination in life and love.

And, I am for liberty in a pluralistic democracy.

Where these are found, I’m for it.

I am against bad and abusive relation.

I am against neglectful parents.

I am against failing our commitments.

Where these are found, I’m discouraged.

Many people believe such legal expansion threatens traditional and heterosexual marriage. But, they are confused. Our modern marriage is already sick and soulless.

Let us all be for vibrant, committed, and God-fearing marriage.

Performed by ipoet. Music produced by Gudo.

Today’s song blog here:

A Little Less Somehow

06/20/11

NEW RELEASE

I have been substantially preoccupied with promoting my new record Prince With A Thousand Enemies. Sorry for the slow month in news rap. I promise things will return to regular form and schedule soon.

I made the record in conjunction with a great producer and old Charleston friend, dj kurfu. The music was generally inspired by the themes of Richard Adams’ classic, Watership Down. It has been many years in the making and finally releases tomorrow.

A preview song can be enjoyed here.

The album can be previewed and purchased at itunes or Amazon. Exclusive and limited edition t-shirt and music packages can be purchased at sphereofhiphop.com. T-shirt combos come with an additional song, not included on the original album, featuring manCHILD of deepspace5.

Thanks for supporting rap news and sintax.the.terrific music.

Blessings.

06/12/11

Like Winning

I hate it when I’m right. Picked the Mavericks to win the NBA Championship on January 3. Begrudgingly restaked the pick at the start of the playoffs. Only problem: I’ve wanted the Heat to win the whole dang time.

See, I’m a complicated frontrunner. I have a very particular hierarchy of fandom that I follow in choosing allegiances. I always pull for my teams. Washington Redskins. Atlanta Braves. South Carolina Gamecocks. Furman Paladins. I can’t be accused of being a complete frontrunner because none are remotely world-beaters, obviously. In the event that the sporting engagement, however, does not involve one of “my teams,” I pull for any team from the conference or division with which “my team” is affiliated. NFC East. NL East. SEC. SoCon. In the absence of any such affiliated teams, I pull for teams from my home state. Clemson, Wofford, College of Charleston. In the event that I have no rooting interest in a team that qualifies as one of the aforementioned categories — my team, my conference, or my state — I pull for the team or individual who I perceive to be either the greatest at that particular sporting endeavor or an otherwise once in a generation type of phenomenon. Tiger Woods. LeBron James. Bryce Harper. New England Patriots. I want to see greatness be great. This final rooting consideration is enhanced when I perceive that a substantial and associated record or accomplishment is at stake. So, if the Spurs, whom I despise and who I do not consider all-time great, had won two championships in a row, instead of 3 over five years, I would have felt a heightened compulsion to pull for the streak to continue in the third season. And, so, where most people were pulling for Navy to end their winless streak against Notre Dame football, as the impossible and longstanding underdog, all I could consider was the mass of time and generation necessary to have accumulated such a streak. Same with UNC’s home wins streak over Clemson. It’s too hard to establish. I can’t root for such streaks to fall.

Bottom line, if I don’t have a fairly direct personal interest in the competing teams, I pull for the team and situation that is most historically special or significant. I’ll pull for an underdog on occasion. But, my preference is for the underdog to push the champion or the elite athlete to the brink and then for that ultimate greatness, in the frontrunner, to prevail in some sort of magical way. Like I said, complicated.

So, for me, this NBA season, I have had a divided conscience. I felt like Dallas proved pretty consistently that they had the best parts. The Caron Butler injury created reasonable and substantial doubt in everyone’s minds and they faded from any real conversation as the playoffs approached. But, I thought the mistake of the entire sports media to predict their first-round upset at the hands of the Trailblazers, in combination with the Mavs’ actual greatness, was virtually the perfect cocktail of circumstances to spark a run. And, so they did. Unfortunately, I have been a LeBron James enthusiast his entire career. I pulled for the Cavs to win every year until their eventual and seasonal elimination in each of those same years. And, that allegiance to his perceived excellence and uniqueness in the pantheon of basketball greats (now seriously in question) was not abated in wake of The Decision, as ill-conceived as it was. And, added to my affection for his greatness individually, was the prospect that the Heat might do something singularly exceptional among history’s greatest teams. But, it was my belief that for something of that order to be accomplished, the Heat would have to slip up and get the unexpected first championship this year. But, they didn’t.

So, all this time, I have been pulling HARD against my own exceptional prognostication that the Mavericks would win it all. And, in six, no less. I just hate it when I’m right.

Written and performed by ipoet within minutes of the final buzzer. Electronica produced by Sundance.

Today’s song blog here:

I Hate it When I'm Write

06/8/11

My bologna has a first name . . .

Man, I didn’t want to touch this with a ten foot pole. But the story just kept growing. (Too easy.)

It’s embarrassing. It’s awkward. It’s not any sort of real news. But Weinergate has persisted for over a week now. For those that don’t know, Representative Anthony Weiner was exposed for ironically sharing indiscreet photos of his, well, . . . wiener. As a cultural story, I felt ultimately compelled to address it because that’s what a rap news blog does I suppose. A sort of sequel to Craig’s Got a List. Which was, in part, the reason a song about the controversy felt like a retread. The same sentiments are in play. Inexcusable. Tawdry. But, inescapably human. For me, these stories are about a corporate rather than an individual sin. Technology has enabled inclination in, as Weiner himself admits, new and destructive ways. We have to figure this out together, even as there will never be any sort of complete answer to it.

On a related-unrelated note, I had a discussion this evening with friends concerning the unwritten urinal rules present in men’s bathrooms.

Today’s song blog is not only a juvenile double entendre but it also doubles as a tribute to my homey, Playdough’s, new record, Hotdoggin’. Buy it.

Performed by ipoet. Music produced by 2bit.

Today’s song blog here:

Hotdoggin'

06/2/11

Uninspired

My choices seem to be either the Republican 2012 presidential pool or Weinergate. Neither one is doing it for me. I owe the world some rap news. We’ll see what I can muster.