Donda West, mother of hip hop's Kanye West has died.

I was sad to see the news report this morning that stated that Dr. Donda West, mother of Kanye West, had died on Saturday, November 10th at the age of 58. No cause of death was listed.

Send prayers out to the West family. Dr. West was clearly an inspiration to Kanye and a mother that so many of us could look up to.

Peace and love....

TI Arrested on Gun Charges? Say it Ain't So!

As has been reported on the the news, including The New Zealand Herald, agents for the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms arrested rapper TI on charges of buying illegal machine guns on Saturday afternoon. It is alleged that the agents arrested him as he was taking delivery of 3 machine guns and 2 silencers. It is against federal laws for a convicted felon to purchase guns on their own behalf. In 1998, TI was convicted of a felony and received 7 years of probation.

In this latest incident, TI was arrested the same day that he was supposed to perform and accept awards at the 2nd annual BET Hip Hop Awards. But why does TI, the self-proclaimed King of the South, need machine guns and silencers? As pictures of his home in Atlanta splashed over the internet, I found it hard to believe that gun play is going on in that upscale suburban community. I'm not one to believe that every rapper's lyrics are true to how they live their lives. At this point in his life, TI born as Clifford Harris is among the 1% of Americans who are making upper class income. The four kids that he's mentioned in his records probably all attend private schools and are wearing expensive designer labels. Surely, he has bodyguards to protect him and his family, so again, why does TI need machine guns and silencers?

I dislike the thought that you can take a person out of the hood, but you can't take the hood out of the person. Hip hop icons who've come from poverty and who have moved into 90210 zip codes must leave the vices of the hood behind. If you could have an illegal gun in your crib in the projects and no one bothered you, surely you know someone is going to be bothered if you have an illegal gun in the suburbs. Hip Hop icons must cease and desist with trying to live in both worlds. They want an upscale existence for their kids and their families, but they want to maintain hood mentality, hood authenticity, and hood habits. That is too much hood for their own good.

Hip Hop Icons were largely invisible in the neighborhoods that they grew up in. Many of them were seen as statistics--young black men who would be in jail or dead before they were 25. Law enforcement wasn't readily jumping in to save them from the negative situations in their communities because much of the prevailing thought is that troublesome young black men will get into enough trouble that they will kill themselves, each other, overdose, or be in jail anyway. But, rich hip hop icons present a whole different picture.

Hip Hop Icons are not invisible. In fact, because of their lyrics, many of them become "persons of interest" to law enforcement AFTER their cds are released. This seems to be a well-known fact circulated within the hip hop community so again, it puzzles me why a higly visible icon like TI would do what it is alleged. Hip Hop Icons are so visible today that they are practically wearing a flourescent bullseye on their backs. They really can't afford to associate with family members who may be engaged in illegal activities. For some, that means no family reunions, no backyard barbecues, no stringing the popcorn garland in the hood. So, what was TI thinking? What was TI doing?

I heard his lawyer say, "There are two sides to every story and sometimes three." I hope this story ends with "TI was no where in the vicinity of this alleged incident. Therefore, this couldn't possibly be true." Otherwise, it's really beyond stupid for TI to engage in these kinds of misjudgments at this stage of the game.

Pass the J's, The Psychosis is Free!

I’ve long questioned the promotion of smoking marijuana in all forms of music and popular culture. Artists who testify of incidents of “higher creativity” while under the influence of Mary Jane have always bothered me. Redman, who I loved as an artist, I hated as such a joint smoking endorser. Snoop Dogg, who I loved for his finesse and vocal stylings, I hated for his flamboyant love affair with weed. Willie Nelson, an artist I respected for being creative and in the music business for so long, I hated because he risked his freedom in order to support his belief that people should have a right to smoke pot.

In a low-budget hotel in the late 90’s, I met Snoop Dogg. He was scheduled to perform in Richmond, Virginia and I had been in the hotel room interviewing Miss Jones (the current NY morning show host who was an R&B artist at the time) and also scheduled to be a part of the show. Mid-interview, I recall Snoop Dogg waltzing into the room as slick as an Allen Iverson pick pocket. When he sat on the bed, he sort of slid back like some sort of chaise lounge. To see Snoop move was like watching Boys N The Hood set to a slow jam and he was Dough Boy. His lids were thick, his eyes were red and in his hand, an unmistakably thick joint. I didn’t want Miss Jones to think that I was more concerned with Snoop than her meteoric rise on the R&B charts and so I continued to interview her while my mind thought of Snoop’s marijuana.

In the years prior to publishing, Mad Rhythms magazine, I read numerous reports on the effects of marijuana on the human brain including “Marihuana-Hashish Epidemic and Its Impact on United States Security” which was presented before the United States Senate in 1974. This 33 year old, four hundred thirty page document details how soldiers who never used drugs before were introduced to marijuana in Vietnam. When these soldiers returned home to the US the study reveals that the soldiers craved marijuana use and suffered from “personality changes, apathy, irritability, mental confusion, distortion of time and sense” and much more. In fact, the study asserted that “marihuana caused severe impairment of mental processes.” This study is 33 years old.

Last week, a Charleston, West Virginia newspaper revealed that pot grown and sold from West Virginia is “four or five times stronger than weed 20 years ago.” In that same article, The University of Mississippi’s Marijuana Potency Project stated that marijuana on the market today is stronger than ever. In today’s news reports, a study from London is stating “marijuana’s damaging effect on the brain show the drug triggers temporary psychotic symptoms in some people, including hallucinations and paranoid delusions.” Really? Somebody should tell black men especially the weed enthusiasts.

I single out black men, because I believe black men have been duped the most by the lies about marijuana. It is their dreams, goals, and potential that has been killed because someone told them that smoking weed “didn’t really do anything to you.” When I read statistics like only 35% of black men from Chicago are graduating from high school, I wonder have they bought into the lie about smoking weed? When I read the statistic that only 25% of black men from New York City are graduating from high school, I wonder if the other 75% are at the bus stop smoking joints – so confused that they’re coming to the stop hours after the bus has left. I wonder.

My disdain for people who friendly-ize marijuana to the masses, who familiarize marijuana to young people, who downplay the ill affects of marijuana to the world, is real. It’s real because the government has known publicly for at least 33 years about how dangerous marijuana is and yet people with microphones continue to act like smoking marijuana is like taking a bite out of an apple-except they forget to tell you about the razor blade that is hidden on the inside. They forget to tell you about the invisible poison that sneaks up to your brain and starts burning transmitters that you need to get your hustle on. They forget to tell you.

So, no matter how much I loved music or the artists, I could never embrace the adoration that some artists or people have with taking a drug that is known to damage your brain. Anybody who doesn’t believe that marijuana can damage people’s lives act should keep a journal on the behavior of one of their friends who is a known pothead. You’ll see in 60 days how marijuana is taking that person down one inhalation at a time. Marijuana kills goals, dreams, abilities, clarity, and realities, one hit at a time. And for all the non-believers out there, keep passing those j’s, the psychotic episodes that are in your future, they’re free!

Three Word Ban: It's About Time

Three Word Ban: It’s About Time

Russell Simmons in all of his hip hop mogul glory has issued a statement on Monday calling for recording and broadcasting industries to ban the three words “bitch,” nigga” and “ho.” I have three words of my own for Russell Simmons, “It’s About Time!”

For rappers this means you have to find other words to rhyme with snitches, figgas, and dough. For radio personalities who don’t have a sufficient grasp of the English language, this means you will need to have a thesaurus on the radio console at work.

I was impressed with the educational value of the press release issued from Simmon’s Hip Hop Action Network, no doubt timed in the wake of the Don Imus public outrage. Here’s an excerpt from the press release:
“Going forward, these three words should be considered with the same objections to obscenity as "extreme curse words." The words "bitch" and "ho" are utterly derogatory and disrespectful of the painful, hurtful, misogyny that, in particular, African American women have experienced in the United States as part of the history of oppression, inequality, and suffering of women. The word "nigger" is a racially derogatory term that disrespects the pain, suffering, history of racial oppression, and multiple forms of racism against African Americans and other people of color.”
Hallelujah.
Unfortunately, there are already critics of banning these words from recording and broadcast. The critics are saying that it could be violating free speech. But, my feeling is if so-called artists want to defame women, come up with some new words to do it with. “Bitch” and “Ho” have absolutely gathered too much steam over the years. Or better yet, create some songs that don’t defame women. (I sound totally female here!)
People who still use the term “nigger” sound like buffoons. You cannot take a totally disempowering, oppressive word and make it cool just because you like the way the g’s roll off of your tongue. It’s completely ignorant to think that you can. Accept it. “Nigger” is so outta here. “Nigger” is so 1700’s. Let’s move on.
I know that banning the three words is not going to change the way women or African Americans are treated within hip hop culture or the world, at large. But, I think it’s a huge step in the right direction in educating young people, especially African Americans that they should think twice before defaming themselves or dishonoring the memory of their ancestors.

Visit: www.yasminshiraz.com for more info about the author of this blog.

Hate Imus? Blame Rappers!

Hate Imus? Blame Rappers! That's what people might as well say especially the people who are associating Imus' sexist and racist remarks with the misogynistic lyrics that many African American rappers use in their rhymes. But Imus and rappers are not cut from the same cloth. An old white man who has spent a bazillion years in radio knows how inflammatory racially and sexually insensitive comments can be. His social irresponsibility is the reason his firing was justified.

But justifying Imus' comments because of the ignorant babbles of several rappers who by no means are representing the best or brightest in the African American community? That's just a sham. In no other community in America are a group of uneducated persons chosen to speak for the entire race. If you want to know how black people feel about black women, ask Dr. Michael Eric Dyson or Dr. Cornel West. Ask Dr. William Julius Wilson, a black professor at Harvard. Ask somebody who knows something about gender politics, cultural relations, family and the like. Ask somebody who knows something about women beyond his immediate family.

It continues to insult the intelligence of black people everywhere when it is assumed that rappers and professional athletes can speak on how "black people" on a whole feel about anything. Athletes and rappers may be the most famous of the race and perhaps, the richest, but they are not the most informed on culture, trends, opinions, or the status of the everyday African American. When the media references rap music as an indicator of how black people feel about women, it allows 30 or so rappers to speak for more than 12 million African American people. By every scientific standard, that is a stretch.

Furthermore, where in America are people who are without high school diplomas or college degrees asked to dictate the dialogue of their entire race? Some of the most famous rappers are high school drop-outs and never took one college course on The Black Family, Gender Studies, or Human Sexuality for that matter. Historically, educators, researchers, doctors, and well-trained professionals weigh in on the dialogue of any particular race. If you want to know what is affecting white America, you consult PhD's on the level of race, politics, and wealth. You discover what they feel the trends are. You talk to practitioners in the field that are dealing with youth, schools, living conditions and the like. You don't assume the front man for Blink 182 has a grasp on all white folks issues. If you want to know what is affecting latinos in America, you consult educators, professionals, politics on the issues of race, politics, and wealth. You don't assume J.Lo. has a handle on the hispanic population's issues simply because she is a famous, rich latino.

Media people, and Americans period, need to give rappers a break. Many of them are as ignorant as they say they are. They make some good music, and even do some great things, but that doesn't mean that they're leading the black race anywhere. Not only that, they don't want the role or title of being a messiah to the people. For the most part, they just trying to get paid. Let's stop lumping the shortcomings of African Americans on the shoulders of rappers who are largely uneducated and uninformed on the historical issues of gender, race, politics and wealth.

And one more thing, Imus shoulda got fired.