Carolina Dirty redeems Hip Hop with new single

     In an industry where raw lyricism has been forsaken to unfortunately make room for watered-down booty shaking ballads, and sometimes down right incomprehensible gibberish, one would be hard pressed to find artists, who still gravitate toward the principle of rhyming with substance.

Carolina Dirty

     Yet, Carolina Dirty - with a healthy assist from her brother Spectac - goes against today's established paradigm and delivers a lyrical morsel in the form of her latest single Good Neighbor. The 4:12 second track serves as an honest love letter to the '90s Golden Age era of Hip Hop.

     And yet, while the song is a link to the past, it stays firmly anchored in the present as a banger that can compete with any mainstream song out on the market today.

     Going back and forth with her brother Spectac over a carefully crafted beat by Amiri, that samples the State Farm Insurance tune, Carolina Dirty indeed disproves the proclamation that Hip Hop is dead.

     The single is a precursor to her upcoming LP, STILLATIT/ Still At It, which will be distributed by HiPNOTT records in the near future. Here's the video to Good Neighbor ft. Spectac below. Check it out.
   
 


     

EBT Fiasco in Louisiana should be a wake up call

     This past Saturday in some parts of Louisiana, shelves were picked clean - grocery carts were filled to the brim with food and supplies all to suddenly be left abandoned in the middle of the Wal-Mart aisles. Did the Zombie apocalypse that conspiracy theorists and sci-fi buffs readily speculate about finally come true?

     Well - not exactly. Instead what happened was almost just as surreal. See this past Saturday apparently there was some type of glitch with  Electronics Benefits Transfer cards (the EBT system allows beneficiaries to use the card to make certain purchases) in Louisiana. EBT card holders discovered that they had unlimited funds on these diminutive pieces of plastic. What ensued was a barrage of EBT holders hitting up the local Wal-Marts in some parts of Lousiana and stocking up on as much as they could - then getting to the cash register only to find out that instead of unlimited funds they had severely limited funds - some as  little as 49 cents. You can read more about the story here.

     Now if this isn't strong enough ammunition to have Congress revisit and make drastic changes to the benefits program, then I don't know what could be. Here you have a group of "shoppers" willing to take advantage of the glitch and abscond several hundred dollars worth of food - based on the fact that a glitch enabled them to have unlimited access to TAX PAYER DOLLARS!!!!

    Take the case of one woman, who had less than a dollar on her card and was detained after trying to ring up $700 worth of merchandise, according to  KSLA,  a news station based in Louisiana.  The station added that Wal-Mart said it wouldn’t press charges if she left the food.

     Listen, this is just plain thievery. There's no other way around it and the time to be polite about it needs to end now. Congress needs to take action. (To see why Congress won't take action anytime soon see Gov. Shutdown Day 1- 15 and counting).

     In a past blog, I made the suggestion that lawmakers need to revamp this system, which is rife with fraudulent claims and activity. I cited the need for an educational piece to accompany it, to help recipients get off the system and develop skills so they can be self sufficient. I simply just don't agree with removing benefits abruptly. I think that's a terrible idea, because you have a system that generations have been indoctrinated into.

     This simply cannot go on. When can we see this flawed system repaired, or do we have to witness another debacle like Saturday -with mass amounts of attempted theft. Law makers - especially Democrats who champion this entitlement program, have to come to some concession and realize that it's not beneficial and it threatens the welfare of this country.

     And if you think I'm blowing this out of proportion, I want to leave you with a quote from a man from my home town that would often brag to people about the benefits he received.

    "The more you make, the more I get."

EBT Cards down due to technical issue...Not the shut down

So a power outage (not the current woes in Washington) is being blamed for EBT cards being rendered useless on Saturday. You can click here for more details.

EBT card holders across the country were unable to use their cards and their were reports of people who receive benefits on their cards walking out of the stores empty handed.

I can only imagine the uproar. But I hope this serves as a wake-up call to those who are using the services. If you're a cardholder... try and get off this system and not depend on the government to help you.
Because when things like this happen, when you're unable to access your benefits to take care of yourself or your family... you simply just have to deal with it. And you and your family are left hurting in the process.

Hey... you're not Madea. You're actually abusing your child!

     Madea is a fictional character created and portrayed by Tyler Perry in numerous films; television sitcoms and plays.  She's a stern matriarch that commands respect and is not afraid to dole out some tough love or a butt kicking, or a headlock to any disobedient children (or adults for that matter).She has a soft side (which is tough to find) and often imparts knowledge and shows a strong commitment to her family.

     Unfortunately, there are too many moms out there (not all, but some), who are emulating the "tough" aspect of the ficitional Madea's personality, and it comes off as verbal and emotional abuse. We have moms that are cursing their kids out to the point of insanity. When is it ever OK to call your child out of their name?

     I'll never forget the time I heard a woman cursing out her 6-year-old daughter on the train. She called this little girl the B-word. How can there be any hope for any young man to respect this girl, or this girl to be in any healthy relationship when she reaches adulthood, when she can't even get the tenderness and love from the woman who gave birth to her?

    I can remember seeing a woman dog her elementary school age child out in public - and belittle him like he had committed the worst crime in the world - but when she spoke to a guy that was trying to "holla" at her nearly seconds later, she grinned from ear to ear like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. I wonder if she stopped to think about how her son felt when saw a man his mother just met, getting more respect than from her than her own flesh and blood.

    To the moms out there that do this ... you cannot verbally and emotionally abuse your children like this. If you want productive, emotionally stable adults to go out here and make a difference, then check your frustrations at the door when it comes to the treatment of these children. How can we hope to raise the future leaders of this nation, when you are tearing down their foundation before it is even solidified. 

     And this is prevalent in some parts of the black community, and we don't talk about it. Instead we brush it to the side. We ignore it and just chalk it up to saying that mom has had a bad day. We never get to the root of the issue and it boils and festers inside us until we reach adulthood.

     I know children can be frustrating and they can take you through a lot. I know there are times when you want to throw your hands and give up, especially if you're doing it on your own. One small mistake from a child, like spilled punch on the floor, or a disciplinary report from the teacher can bring a parent one step closer to a meltdown. But in the midst of whatever order and chaos comes from this we must not forget that we are these children's protectors. We must never treat them like they are our enemies. They're facing enough in this world already.

   

Democrats and Republicans way off the mark with Food Stamp debate

So, earlier this week, (or last week depending when you're reading this), the House (with a Republican majority) voted to cut $4 billion a year from the Food Stamp program, which is used by more than one in  seven Americans.

CBS news is reporting that the "bill will likely never see the light of day in the Democratic-led Senate, but even if it somehow made it through the Senate, President Obama has promised to veto the legislation."

Once again Republicans and Democrats play partisan politics instead of coming up with real world solutions and applications to tackle yet another growing problem in this country.

See the problem that no one wants to address, is that this program has a cycle of dependency for many (not all) of the Food Stamp recipients. It has become a culture or a way of thinking onto itself. You have generations upon generations of families, who are using what was once established to be a temporary solution, to be a permanent means of life and survival.

I want you all to view this video below and give me your thoughts on it. It happened in Clayton County, just south of Atlanta a few years back. Take a look at the comments made in the video and the backlash a small disruption in Food Stamp services caused.



Do you hear the anger and the frustration in this video? Or perhaps you're watching this and you have some anger and frustration that you want to express too? I mean who is there to help give you the support that you need when you're running short on your money? Who is there to help you fill in the gaps or give you money when it's needed to cover your child's bills or handle your responsibilities?

Probably no one, because you have been told that you need to be a responsible adult. But if you are getting upset, I would suggest that you're as misguided as the Democrats and Republicans, who are only looking at this from one perspective... their own.

What has to happen, in my opinion, is that we have to change the perception of people who receiving these Food Stamps.  Getting on this program should be a last resort. This should be a measure used only if you've lost your job or fall on hard times... but they should only be a temporary measure. A TEMPORARY MEASURE!!!!!

We've got to get into people's minds that this isn't something that's needed or that you're born into. Government has to step in and take the responsibility to educate and leverage people from this program which has become toxic to our economy. Because what has happened, is that with the economy hurting so badly, it can no longer support the past obligations it had.

 We need a change and we need it badly.

Daitng women who have children with different fathers

     Back when I was in my early teens, I was looking out of the front window of my parent's home, when I heard a woman in her late teens arguing with the father of one of her children (I refuse to say the dreaded BD phrase). Apparently this guy (who was a teen himself) was jealous about the attention she was getting from another father of her children.

    "Don't worry about what they're doing for theirs, you worry about what you're doing for yours," she told him.
   
     I always kept that story in my heart, and I never forgot that phrase. And it adds so much to what I'm about to say, which will probably get a lot of young people angry with me - but men we need to be especially careful dating and getting into relationships with these young women with children with multiple fathers.

    Simply put, we as men, more often than not we don't show the capacity or tenacity to give a woman with multiple children, that we didn't father; the love that she needs to hold that family together. Now before people decry that I'm way off base, I want to say that I'm not attacking the blended family. I'm not attacking the man who is ready to make that sacrifice and go on that long journey with the woman, who will openly embrace this woman's children. Again, I'm not attacking the blended family.

     But I am attacking the young man who is sleeping with these women, who has no intentions of taking hold and leading a family or has no idea that having a relationship with a woman that has children from multiple men is difficult. When these young men do this, when they sleep with these women, when they don't look at the high stakes surrounding the relationship that they are in with these women, then chaos ensues. These men become vilified and become one more disappointment in these women's lives and the children are left even more confused about what a strong father figure looks like.
 
     Why does this happen? Why is this such an issue? Because - and (all the men that are reading this) let's be real - we don't understand these women's story. We don't understand the difficulty of raising a child and being the one that is there for the long haul. We don't have a permanent reminder of the previous failed relationship. And to if we as men are brutally honest with ourselves... we just don't take the time to care. 

    I'm always reminded of a case that occurred on Judge Joe Brown a few years back, where a young woman (who had children) was upset because a man she wasn't married to or did not have children with, wanted to take back a car they purchased that was in her possession (see below).



 This woman is upset, and while it would be so easy to attack her and come down on her attitude. We have to understand where this woman is coming from. It's high stakes for her. She's concerned about her children.

  Her journey is her own, and this man isn't in it anymore. And Judge Joe Brown even brings up a strong point. He tells her that the kids weren't his and that they weren't married. He doesn't have any obligations.

    Men - we don't have the same obligations that these women do with the children. Unless we want to make that sacrifice and take up that obligation and be there for the long haul... then we have no business trying to maintain a romantic interest with these women.

Don Lemon was and still is right

     A few months ago CNN's Don Lemon made some controversial comments regarding race, in which he
 challenged African Americans to deal with some of the negative aspects of black culture. Lemon, who is an African American himself, was highly criticized for what he told viewers - but the fact remains is that he has a valid point and he is correct. You can see the video here.

 

 My take on it is this, as blacks we cannot address a flawed system, without first addressing the internal conflict within our own community and culture.It makes no sense for us to be fighting for rights publicly, when we're crumbling internally. It always baffles me about how many of these so-called bloggers try and fight for social injustice, but never even talk about the internal issues that blacks face. It's time to stop playing the blame game. It's time to look in the mirror and do an honest assessment. It's time to take ownership.

 Lemon points out that it all comes down to the disintegration of the black family (Although to be fair, he piggy backs off of Bill O'Reilly).

     Look at the statistics. More than 70% of black children are born out of wedlock. I want to say this - being a parent of a young daughter- both my wife and I realize the tremendous difficulty and the sheer amount of stress and strain it takes to raise a child. Even with two, it's hard!! If you don't have a strong support system, then it's going to be very difficult to give that child the love and attention it needs.

    Instead, what sometimes happens is - and I see this everyday when I'm on the train - you have a young mom who is physically tired and emotionally drained to the point where she has become frustrated with the child. She is a single parent, and there isn't a man in sight. The simplest offense that child commits can turn into a tongue lashing that often times crosses into verbal abuse.

    I'll never forget when I was riding the train and a young mom kicked over her baby's stroller with the baby in it... simply because she was tired of the baby crying.

     And what of the black males? According to statistics presented on the NAACP website, if current trends continue, one in three black males born today can expect to spend time in prison during his lifetime. Wow. What kind of future can a young black male hope to have with these statistics. Why do we turn to crime instead of trying to get an education and become a strong force within this system?

    I grew up in a small community. And I can tell you, looking at the young men in my neighborhood...that these statistics are true. A young man that I recently grew up with was murdered for a drug deal gone wrong. He was living that "life" as some might call it. He was in his early 30s.


     Look, I can go on at length about this, and I'm barely scratching the surface. But in terms of race relations, we are at a code red when it comes down some of the internal issues we face. I think before we can adequately have rational discussions about race relations, when need to clean up and fix our internal issues.

ATL Mall Cop in retrospect

     A while back, an Atlanta mall security officer took the media by storm, after he delivered his own
 brand of justice during his patrols.

    While this certainly isn't a new story (one in which you can read here), I want to bring it up, because I want you all to see the kinds of things that this security officer had to put up with on an almost daily basis.

     I want you to ask yourselves if you were in his position what would you do? Do you think he went too far?

     Keep in mind these videos have very strong language. Viewer discretion is advised.
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Carolina Dirty gets down for her crown

       Remember back when you could buy a rap album and listen to it all the way through. Remember the head nodding euphoria that you entered into when the beat dropped on the first song? Remember how you kept rewinding the song back to the favorite part of the artist's verse so you could  memorize it and recite it over and over again?

     Sadly in the new age of Hip Pop, those days have long gone. It gets even tougher when you start talking about the female artists, who seem to be more like pop star divas, than fierce emcees that offer up quotable lyrics.

     But luckily that's not the case with Carolina Dirty, a S.C. native, who just released an EP titled New Girl in Town from HiP Nott Records, a digital only label founded in 2009 by hip hop blogger Kevin Nottingham. The EP is a sampling of her upcoming album titled STILLATIT/ Still At it.

      And let me just say this - Carolina Dirty quite simply does in six tracks, what most emcees in the Hip Pop era have yet to do in a whole album ... and that is produce strong quality head nodding rhymes that capture the listener's attention.

     Teaming up with Amri, and her brother Spectac (who The O.A.W. Report has spoken with in the past), Carolina Dirty brings a raw edge to the music with rhymes that are precise and well crafted.

     Whether it's to Amri's smooth laid back beat of  Mic Check to the nostalgic New Girl, which has a sick sample from the old Alice TV show (how does Amiri come up with this stuff), Carolina Dirty delivers and has you panting and begging for more.

     On 22:16, produced by Troy, the Carolina native comes at the mic with velocity and sheer honesty when she belts out - Born in a field of dirt/ use to spit lyrics just to shield my hurt/ use to wear baggy jeans couldn't feel a skirt.How humble and how honest is that?

  
 Here's hoping things work out and that Carolina Dirty stays in town. Check below for the EP. I highly recommend it. Can't wait for the full LP.

Gettin' Grown

     A couple of weekends ago, while consuming wings from Zaxby's and Pepperoni Pizza from a local restaurant during a a getaway with some of my close friends, I came across a troubling discovery.

     Jamal ... you're getting older.

     While in the past, a getway like this with the fellows would have revolved around talking about women we were interested in or potential career moves - this one was anything but. We discussed marriage - its very intricacies ... the pluses and minuses of it all,  if you will.

     This is a far cry from the kind of talk we use to have before the big M word (marriage) entered into our lives. Oh what a difference a spouse can make.

     For six years, I have been married and most recently children have entered into the equation. Since then my taste in music has gone from listening to Wu-Tang Clan, to singing the Doodle Bops get on the Bus song with my lovely daughter Grace.

     Instead of endlessly walking the mall looking for a potential date (hey it was much cheaper than going to the club), I now come home to my loving wife every night after a long hard day of work.

     What's so amazing is that you never see the change coming. You just wake up one day and those fast days of college partying and hanging out trying to be cool and up on all the latest pop culture trends, seem to fade away under the never-ending responsibilities of being a husband and a father.

     Now don't get me wrong, the weekend was awesome - but those days that use to occur nearly all the time in dormitory halls and in apartment rooms sprawled all across the Southeast - have faded and aren't the norm. A brief look to the past, as I constantly look forward. 

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Doodlebops Get on the Bus Song, I've included it below.