A close friend of mine made it clear to me that she thought, and I quote "lupe fiasco sucks"....
So I figured, since I'm going to see him tonight why not make today's Inspirational Thought be about him?!?

Let me start off by saying, my friend who made that comment knows nothing about Lupe and she further went on to quote Kick, Push - which I'm sure is the only song she has ever heard of his. Now I love this girl with all my heart HOWEVER, she will NOT diss Lupe and get away with it!

Whew! Ok, now let me first say that Lupe was semi-underground, doing lots of mixtapes and whatnot, before he was ever mainstream (if thats even what you can call him). Just because he hasn't sold his soul to the Hip Hop devil doesn't mean that he 'sucks'. And when I say hip hop devil I mean, society. Society has not infiltrated him and made him into a puppet, like they've done so many other credible rappers.

For example, Nasir Jones was extra dope when he first spit on a track but in 1999 some record company A&R told him it would be great for is career if he went mainstream and I'm pretty sure that the convo went something like this::

(A&R Guy) "Hey Nas we got this great song that would be excellent for the TRL crowd"
***plays beat**
(A&R Guy) "And Tim says that he can get Genuwine to sing the hook. Wouldn't this just be excellent?!"

And you know what happened after that, Nas recorded 'You Owe Me' and I almost slit my wrists watching the video!

Lupe is not main stream and he will admit it. He admitted it all through Dumb it Down that he is not and will not ever be what people what to hear on TRL - and that's the bottom line. You have to respect Lupe for who he is because so many rappers come out and want to be; the bling wearing, video hoes having, cars, clothes and jewels having rappers (cough.cough. Soulja Boy), but not Lu!

Food & Liquor was a great milestone in Hip Hop and in my opinion The Cool was one of the sickest albums of 2007! Ok... Let's breakdown some Lupe for my friend::

Let me start with what started my whole blog off, the meaning behind FRESH2DEF...SHE IS - it wasn't something that came to me, or some sh*t that I threw together cuz I'm just that fresh. Naw.... listen to Sunshine (F&L)

"Fresh to death she is... From her steps to her set she is... So death might not let me live... Fresh (uh huh) yes she is"

Before I had ever even heard Food & Liquor, my boyfriend (shout out to Mac) sent me Fahrenheit 1/15, I played Lupe the Killer and almost lost my mind. I was in love.

"More cool than a pool in a blizzard... With ice cubes in it during Christmas... Meaning theres no schoolin' the misfit... Like I'm throwin a fit"

Maybe that line didn't do it for you, but I made me tingle all over like something magnificent just happened. So then I picked up Food & Liquor and played a few tracks and came across American Terrorist. WHAT!?!

"Don't give the black man food... Give red man liquor... Red man fool... Black man nigga... Give yellow man tool make him railroad builda... Also give him pan make him pull gold from river... Give black man crack, glocks to teens... Give red man craps, slot machines"

And who can forget the where The Cool came from?!

"Hustler for death. No heaven for a gangster"

----
At this point there is nothing else that I need to say, I'm gonna let Lupe do the talking and I will be seeing him later.


any comments?

I swear this man has made my list too many times!

Mayor Kilpatrick has now released his apology to the city of Detroit, his sons (whose names are ri-got damn-diculous, and his wife.

I was over at AHotMess this morning and I came across this::

Check out The Cool Kids over at URB Mag

Their style is so crazy to me and I love it. Being an 80s baby myself, I love to see it reproduced and done right...

The new Feb/Mar issue of Complex Mag will be hitting the stands soon, so please go pick that up. For now you can head over to the site and check out the blog section - just in case you get bored!

Am I the only one who is holding their breath in anticipation for his album?? Probably not! But on the mention of this song I just get this strange feeling in m y stomach - I think it's butterflies! I just love the stuff they put out - I think it's great. And for those who don't like it; don't get it!

This song is so dope (yes, I said it), DOPE! If you don't get down with Gnarls Barkley.. If you think their wack.. If you don't think their "hip hop".. Feel free to borrow the shovel that I keep for these occasions and well, you know the rest! Make sure it's six feet!
____

[endnote]::
I am going to see Lupe tomorrow so my posts may be scarce throughout the night... but please believe that I am coming back with pictures!

Word is that Katie Holmes is pissed at Massa Tom for making her do that horrible, horrible movie Mad Money. She is also pretty perturbed about his recent Scientology rants that have been leaked online and my sister's uncle's baby momma's lil cousin's step brother told me that she walked out on a Scientology meeting in a rage!

Now we all know some shit went down in the Cruise compound when they got home! Tom ain't having that shit...

Anywoo, today's 'This Ni88a Here' news isn't about Katie tho - it's ultimately about the foolish that this man (see above) keeps spewing from his mouth! [enters evidence A]

The actress is said to be inconsolable after a string of leaked Scientology videos, featuring her husband saluting a portrait of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, declaring war on psychiatry and claiming that members of his religion are “the only ones who can really help” accident victims, have flooded the Internet and divided Hollywood.

“Oh, I’m going hard on those guys and their reign … psychiatrists,” says Tom in one disturbing video. “It’s disgusting to me. No mercy … none. Psychiatry doesn’t work… When you study the effects, it’s a crime against humanity.” … after this new scandal she can no longer ignore the Hollywood backlash. (source)

Somebody please save Katie and Suri - these shenanigans have to end Tom!

Now, let me begin to explain how much my roomie loves The Kooks - one of my very first posts was dedicated to her and her love for British rock/pop music... She has put me on to so much great music, not to mention Amy, Lily, Mark, BBMak, McFly, Arctic Monkeys, The Kooks and the list goes on and on. She is such a great person, more like my sister (cuz we fight alot).

Anywoo, on another note:: I'm so in love with British rock music it makes no sense. I think I burned a hole in my iPod playing McFly's Just My Luck (I love "Too Close For Comfort"). So for all you who thought that I was a Hip Hop-head, trust me - my list of music can go on for hours! BUT back to my point:: this one's for you Doodle!

My friend sent me this email about how Arizona Southern Sweet Tea had a picture of a plantation on it and a black person dressed up like Celie!

Now first thing, I don't like forwarded chain emails, so I was quick to delete this one until I read a comment about this picture from one of the many people it was sent to! This guy was really angry, he wanted people to call Arizona and bitch about the plantation on the can. He then went on to talk about how seeing that picture reminds him of what his grandfather went trough as a kid, blah-blah-blah!

My perspective on this subject is, who cares? I'm not gonna put the $.99 can of Arizona down just because there is one dark colored image on the can and they just happen to be outside of a big white house! I think people read too much into slavery (don't get it twisted, I am black) these day and I think it's a horrible example to leave the next generation. I appreciate what those before us had to do in order for me to sit at Temple University, no matter if they were black or white. However, I think slavery is something that black people need to move past. But because I don't have the time, nor do I feel like getting into that - I shall leave it as an open matter.

I don't want to offend and I don't want anyone to be offended by what I say. I just thought that it was a pretty interesting issue.

SHOUT OUT to Ameera for the email.

Chris Brown covers the Spring 2008 edition of Men's Health Magazine! He also has a 4-page spread inside. Check Young-Love.net for more photos.

Oh and for the ladies::

Just thought I'd deliver that package! Enjoy :-)

Today's 'This Ni88a Here' News goes to Lil Wayne, for his antics at one of his shows (I'm pretty sure we've all seen it on YouTube). And if you haven't, here is it::

I take it that half of the 12-25 generation watched the premiere of Making The Band 4 last night?!? Well, even if you didn't I have the FULL recap (not to mention you can go watch the entire episode over at MTV.com)

ALRIGHT! Of course the show starts off picking up where the last season ended, with the guys. They reunite, the band and Donnie, they move their ish into the New York apartment and then head to their meetings with Diddly. Blah. Blah. Blah. The same ish happens when the girls arrive and then there is 5 whole minutes devoted to watching the guys and girls walk to Bad Boy for their meeting - WHO CARES?!? Bring on the drama.

So Diddly lets them go out and play for the weekend, but not before putting Aubry in her place, watch here:

US Magazine named the Top 10 Most Powerful Women/Girls In Hollywood and Raven Symone just happened to make that list.

Word is, chick is banking about $400 Million off of Disney's That's So Raven alone. I ain't mad at her!

Other mentions in US Magazine were: Ellen Page (Juno), The Cheetah Girls, and Rihanna.

I stopped by my local Asian-run beauty supply store to check out a new curling iron and on my way out of the door this (see above) caught my eye! I just had to stop and ask myself:
(me) Is that Brandy?
(self) Could be
(me) Damn, she's looking good... guess she picked up a baconator from Wendys!
(self) Humm, this would be a good post. Take a picture
I proceeded to take a pic on my Sidekick LX (shameless plug) and kept it moving!

Point is, I didn't buy a curling iron - but I found out how Brandy paid her lawyers, cuz we ALL know money from Never Say Never is spent!

In today's 'This Ni88a Here' news, Marques Houston and long-time girlfriend Jennifer Freeman (for those who don't know, she was Claire from My, Wife & Kids) have hit a fork in the road and they both went separate ways.

To be frank, I heard him talking about marrying her on Miss. Jones in the morning and I knew that ish wasn't going to last. The one thing I don't understand is how he thought he was going to turn a hoe into a housewife [cough.cough. Reggie Bush]?? Freeman has been romantically/sexually linked to Omarion & Lil Fitzter - so why he thought she was 'wifey material' beats the hell out of me!

Anywoo, he'll throw her to the side and pick up where he left off - Chris Stokes!

MOVING ON::

The got-damn Detroit Mayor is at it again! This lil mofo [excuse the wording, but in the words of Bernie Mac; 'its what I wanna say'] was caught AGAIN at some hotel/motel with a woman who called herself, Carmen Slowsky (aint that the name of the turtle from the Comcast commercials?). Whatever! Apparently, he spent of $500 to wine & dine this chick and even got her in the hot tube!

Reports that Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick had a woman other than his wife with him at the Grove Park Inn before speaking at the Martin Luther King Prayer Breakfast left event organizers disappointed Friday. The mayor had been with a woman who called herself Carmen Slowsky and that the two had enjoyed champagne and a whirlpool bath together at a cost of more than $500. A copy of the hotel invoice shows a stay arranged for two.A prosecutor in Michigan launched an investigation Friday into allegations that Kilpatrick lied under oath about an affair with his top aide. Kilpatrick is married, and news of an extramarital affair with his chief of staff had surfaced in Detroit recently. Kilpatrick has said the affair was over. (source)

I think this dude is just like 'fuck it' (for a lack of better words), he has lost his mind. And his wife has got to be some kind of new fool to keep allowing this kind of behavior. I'm hoping that she [his wife] has her own thing going on and I hope it's with his cousin/brother/father.. and I hope he aint the daddy of one of those kids (even tho they look just like him). I think there is some ish that needs to be worked out on Maury in that family.

He is a dog, in no other form of the word.

Ladies Beware!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST::

I don't know if anyone caught ex-President Bill Clinton falling asleep during some MLK benefit, but here it is if you didn't see it.

And if you don't find it funny... kill yaself!