Hip-Hop Wired » Features

The Top 10 Most Hip-Hop Clothing Brands

Dallas Penn — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:37:10 +0000

Before I continue this drop allow me to introduce myself to the unfamiliar. My name is Dallas Penn and I run one of the Internets many lifestyle centered weblogs under the same name. I've spent all of my adult life documenting my obsession for things made by Polo Ralph Lauren, Timberland and Nike, just to name a small few.

The idea of making a list of the most Hip-Hop clothing brands isn't to pass a nod to Karl Kani or Cross Colours, who were both influential in their own right but would fail to crack the top five of any list simply because they didn't have the ability to stick around when the going got tough.

The key to being truly Hip-Hop is when a movement (brand) can survive the fickle whims of fans while still evolving and creating new designs and paradigms. No clothing brand has done this better than Ralph Lauren's POLO label which after 25 years in my personal collection has still not been diminished.

We all know POLO is at the top, but I'd like to give you nine other movements, and their respective clothing brands, which are Hip-Hop for their efforts.

Click on the #s below to take a trip through Hip-Hop's obsession with fresh gear.

[Streets Is Talkin'] Alley Boy Says He Isn't Hating, Just Speaking The Truth

Martin Berrios — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:00:49 +0000

Atlanta bred rapper Alley Boy has been the talk of Hip-Hop within the last week with the release of his newest mixtape effort Ni**anati. With a fitting dialogue from actor Christopher Walken from the influential movie King Of New York serving as the intro, Alley Boy's track “I Want In” questions T.I. king of the south reign and Young Jeezy's street authenticity. While he has previously fielded questions about the intent of the record there is still much to be known about the man behind these gritty street tales.

Alley Boy spoke to HipHopWired.com in a telling interview where he discusses his past, separating the fake from the real in Atlanta's rap scene, and why he is worthy of your ear.

HipHopWired.com: Who was Alley Boy before the career in rap?

Alley Boy: Man before the music we were in the streets. I was in prison, I did about 28 months and when I got out we pushed with the music. But before then it was robbing, selling dope, regular street sh*t. I was just trying to get money.

HipHopWired.com: A large portion of your music is targeted at struggles of street life. Why is spotlighting that aspect is so important to you?

Alley Boy: That's really where we at with it. A lot of us are still out here, my family members are still in the street so it's real life. I just really be speaking on what's going on in my circle and what surrounds me and what I see. I always try to stay relevant on what really is going on instead of just lying or saying this or just coming up with sh*t. I really be speaking on what's going in these streets of Atlanta or really every ghetto in the world basically.

HipHopWired.com: Where do you think speaking on the realities of under developed neighborhoods turns into promoting savagery within Hip-Hop culture?

Alley Boy: I understand what you're saying but I feel like everyone has to still understand they can't listen to a song and feel like you want to live that life or look at another person and want to be into what they into. You have to choose your own route and do your own thing. The music does influence because I think people are attracted to what they don't know so they kind of want to test the waters. For any individual you have to suffer the consequences of your own actions because it's your choice. If my music influences them to do something they know they ain't about, that's their own ignorance. At the end of the day I'm just putting good music out to listen to, not for people to follow. I don't want to stir nobody into a life they are not really about, that has never been my motive.

"On the other hand being shot at and selling dope doesn't make you real because there are real dudes in college."

HipHopWired.com: Gathering from your music it seems you take authenticity in your art form very seriously. When do you think that authenticity started to die out in Hip-Hop?

Alley Boy: Well I feel like it's always been like that to a certain extent—the best actor will get the check you know? I feel like the music is kind of like that too, it's just your choice on how you want to do it. Me I stick to the authentic sh*T just because that's easier for me to do. It's easier for me to be myself instead of making up stuff. I'm always going through stuff, there are always good times and bad times on the street.

A lot of cats they only become popular until they started doing the music or caught their first song and then they started putting out that persona. Personally I'm comfortable speaking on my past, my future and my as of now. I feel like the life I lived is a lot of dude's fantasies and I'm not saying that's a good thing or a dream because that dream could be bad. Some dudes like to make up pain in their life or make up certain stories or whatever but I've already been through sh** so it's easier for me to speak on it. On the other hand being shot at and selling dope doesn't make you real because there are real dudes in college. It's all about being real with yourself. At the end of the day it's all entertainment but it's really important for me to put out certain things. It's just me being me.

I targeted those cats in the song but it wasn't a shot but me just telling the truth.

HipHopWired.com: Recently you released a song “I Want In” off your N*gganati mixtape which is largely viewed as you taking shots at T.I. and Young Jeezy. Can you explain your thought process going into recording a song like that?

Alley Boy: My whole purpose of the song was to separate myself from what's going on in Atlanta. Yeah I targeted those cats in the song but it wasn't a shot but me just telling the truth. That isn't a shot, that's just me having an opinion. I feel like T.I. is not the king of the south because there are things on his record or things he done did throughout his life I don't feel a king should be doing. But that's his opinion amongst himself so I say, “No, you not the king of the south,” and that's my opinion. As far as Jeezy you saying you doing certain stuff and you keeping it real and this, that and another but I know certain things about them amongst their circle personally so I feel like, “No, you not real like who you claim to be,” so that's just my opinion.

I feel as far as this street sh*t, dudes talk about how they be in the streets so much I can remember when these same cats where trying to put the standards up so high as far as these crossover records. I felt like they were setting the standard high where street dudes couldn't come up without records featuring Rihanna or whatever. But when their buzz start dying they come back to the streets and start doing this street sh*t. I took that as offensive like these dudes were just there in a commercial space so just keep going, don't try to come back down here and hog the lane from us because you feel like your buzz is dying. So I this is what goes on this level, we getting at ni**as on this level.

I feel I can really speak on it because them motherf*ckers ain't really doing that. So I feel like they are tricking everyone outside of Atlanta but in Atlanta ni**as know what it is with Alley Boy, they know what it is with Duct Tape Entertainment. They personally know what it is with me. I know they have millions of fans around the world so they might take it a certain type of way but I'm in a position where I don't give a f*ck.

And I want to make it clear that's not me being a hater or nothing, that's me paving the way for the upcoming dudes. You have to pass these torches man and I feel like they don't want to pass the torch so I feel like I have to take it and by me doing that it exposes a lot of fake sh*t they do. I just don't want the people to take it in a hating form. This isn't hate man, it ain't no hate man it's the truth.

HipHopWired.com: Your stance on this issue reminds me of what Pimp C was trying to convey before he passed.

Alley Boy: Yeah, totally because not everyone is lying on these cats. Like I'm not being a hater in no way form or fashion I promise because not everybody lying because I've been fans of these dudes on the music end. But on the personal sh*t and the sh*t they put out there it's like, Nah dog, that ain't that. T.I. got a 1 800 tip hotline telling people to turn in crime and stuff, that isn't what I think should be the king of the south. Rick Ross, Big Meech, Bleu Davinci, all these different cats is like “this ni**a is fake as f*ck.” First of all he claims Atlanta, you not from Atlanta you from Macon. Why you not repping those people? Why you not putting them on the map? All this sh*t is a façade. The money blinds people you know what I'm saying and it covers up the truth. And this isn't from a hater's standpoint because I'm good in my section and I'm getting paper where I'm at so I have no reason to hate on somebody.

HipHopWired.com: Does the recent news of Bleu Davinci questioning Young Jeezy's character in regards to his support of Meech's legal woes convince you even more?

Alley Boy: Well you know I've done talk to [Big] Meech personally. I've done spoken to Meech personally on the phone and I asked him. And this is 100, this ain't no lie or made up sh*t or gimmick sh*t or nothing. Bleu Davinci walked up on me at Club Crucial the club that everybody think T.I. owns. T.I. don't own that club, Derrick owns that club, a dude he used to call his uncle. Bleu walked up on me like “the big homey [Big Meech] said call him” and gave me a number to call him. He said “call him tomorrow,” so I called the number and Meech gave me a lot of advice on what I need to be doing and said “leave that street sh**t alone, do your music.”

This is the first time ever talking to him a day in my life, I asked him “bro I ain't trying to start anything but is [Young Jeezy] dude keeping it 100 with you as whatever whatever” and Meech said “no, it's more like 50/50”. Then he turned around and said “I wouldn't even say it's all that”. And to me that's some fake ass sh*t because at the end of the day these are the folk that made you in Atlanta so out of all people you should be breaking your neck for this man. So that's a flaw in character.

HipHopWired.com: You've worked with Young Jeezy in the past why speak up now?

Alley Boy: It don't matter that I got a feature with this ni**a. I didn't ask him for a feature, they asked me to feature on my sh*t. The fans don't be knowing the inside sh*t to it. So I feel if you can't be 100 with your people then you sure can't be 100 with an outsider. But this is never from a hater's standpoint. It's just really exposing fake sh*t with these dudes calling themselves the realest.

When I ran into [Yung LA], I caught him and beat his @ss and that's all it was.

HipHopWired.com: So in actuality he reached out to you do collaborate on music?

Alley Boy: He had people call my phone and was like you know there's a lot of talk on the street and they want to make it seem like we are affiliated with each other in some form or fashion so he sent me two songs and I sent them two. So it's whatever, I sent the songs because at the end of the day it's all about good music. So I didn't ask for no features or no sh*t like that, I agreed but I wasn't tripping it wasn't no big deal. It is what it is.

HipHopWired.com: You put your hands on Yung LA last year over a Duct Tape Entertainment tattoo. Where does that situation stand now? Additionally what became of the rest of the video footage of the altercation?

Alley Boy: Like this will show you I have never been a hater even with this stuff with those other dudes. He put out a lot of bullsh*t on the Internet and it seemed to the world like he was talking sh** to me. So when I ran into him, I caught him and beat his @ss and that's all it was. And the rest of the footage that we blanked out, I ain't even trying to incriminate myself because it got ugly and I just left it at that and destroyed the rest of it man. It wasn't no stunt or nothing like that because I had the footage like a month before I put it out because he kept talking sh*t after I whooped his @ss. So I put the snippet out and showed the world what it really is. And mind you this after he covered up the tattoo.

HipHopWired.com: Why should people outside of Atlanta care about Alley Boy and DTE?

Alley Boy: I feel like we're bringing back what's missing to this music. I feel like I'm bringing this music up to where you can be yourself again instead like trying to get this big hook from the hottest singer or this big crossover record to get right. I want to work hard with my music and show people you can work hard in being you and still make it. Everyone is not a crossover artist and with that I'm not saying they don't make good music but I feel the more I win the more people will come to realize they can really be themselves. I am the real.

Top 5 In Game Dunks of All-Time [Video]

The Kid Skoob — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:34:58 +0000

Within the past two days we've seen two very posterizing dunks by LeBron James & Blake Griffin. Naturally it made us think of which five dunks would you put into the 'Top 5 In-Game Dunks of All Time'? While it sounds simple, there can be arguments made for at least 25 other dunks to be mentioned in the Top 5. Then of course you have the difference in eras, so just to pay homage, we'll start off with a couple vintage dunks, then a couple honorable mentions.

Enjoy the show.

Dr. J's 'Rock The Cradle' over Michael Cooper

Shawn Kemp over Alton Lister

Kevin Johnson over "Hot Rod" Williams

John Starks over The Bulls

Boom Boom Pow: Jazzie Belle [Photos]

Michael Ice-Blue Harris — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:00:50 +0000

This must be what dreams are made of. Jazzie Belle has already graced the pages of Feds' Sweets Magazine, The Source, Hip Hop Weekly and AS IS magazine and has been the cover girl of Straight Stuntin with 50 Cent.

See what else she has to offer after the jump!

All W-O-M-A-N here; click the page #'s and take a look at the voluptuous spread of this beautiful Detroit vixen.

The Top 10 Nastiest Breakups In Hip-Hop

Latifah Muhammad — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:45:43 +0000

If Hip-Hop were high school, then the personal relationships of some of its biggest names would make for some interesting cafeteria chatter. Unlike regular people, when relationships in Hip-Hop fall apart the whole world gets a front row seat to the dysfunction. Whether it be marriage, relationship, or business deals gone bad, things can get messy when splitting from your partner. Peep our list of the nastiest break-ups in the game.

Clicks the #s to see who made the list, and let us know who you think we missed.

Torae Talks Making Hip-Hop Music For The Culture...Not The Radio [EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW]]

Miss Ls — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:30:53 +0000

The tirades and dialogues continue on the authenticity of new age Hip-Hop, but while some remain dubious, Brooklyn native Torae is convinced that it's present and thriving more than ever. The MC's offerings to the culture may have something to do with it. Okay, they have a lot to do with it.

Juxtaposing grassroots influenced lyricism with modern day substance and wit, Torae is a force to be reckoned with. Corny metaphors aside, the MC has bars, period. HipHopWired.com sat down with Torae to talk about the stereotypes and labels of his sound, and he dropped gems on what it was like working with Hip-Hop pioneers like Pete Rock and DJ Premier, as well as 9th Wonder. He also talks about the new-found unity within the culture and his new venture as a radio personality.

"I don't make music to fit in, I don't make songs for the radio, I don't make my album so I can be on the best album of the year list, I don't do my photo-shoots so I can be on the cover of magazines," says Torae.

"I do what I do and if people gravitate towards it and accept it that's great, but at the end of the day I don't want to follow suit. I want to make dope music and have that affect people's lives.

"I think a lot of artists are chasing a façade of what they think the industry is. I want to create the soundtrack to your life…when you're having great times, when you're having bad times."

Peep The Exclusive Interview With Torae After The Break!

HipHopWired.com: What's the significance of this line for you: “The real sh*%t started creeping back.”

Torae: That line is pretty straightforward. That line, “The real sh*%t started creping' back,” meaning there's a lot of non-authentic sound or a more watered down version of music on the radio and the mainstream…but little by little you get glimpses of the real sh*@t. Dope beats, dope rhymes, ill records, ill concepts. You get a Jay Electronica every once in awhile, get a new Common every once in awhile, a new Kweli record so I say little by little the real sh*%t is kind of creppin' back into the forefront. We definitely have a long ways to go, but piece by piece.

HipHopWired.com: You've worked with Hip-Hop legends (Pete Rock, 9^th Wonder etc) how did you cultivate these relationships?

Torae: Just being me. Those relationships, and thank God that those are relationships, and more than just working relationships, just being on the scene and putting out records and being real adamant about trying to bring something to the table. I wasn't really trying to take away anything from Hip-Hop. I was trying to add on to it. I think that those guys realized that. A friendship was formed. Preem is like the homie-homie. That's my dude, Pete is my dude, when he comes to Coney Island he hit me up. I'm blessed that these guys are willing to work with me and these are people that I can hit up on a regular basis.

HipHopWired.com: They must drop a lot of knowledge and stories from Hip-Hop's early days…what was the most awe-inspiring or shocking story that you heard?

Torae: Premo will go on an hour-long tangent just on the first time he and Guru went on the road together and stuff. I have nothing to add to that conversation (laughs), I just want to soak it all in. Bumpy Knuckles had this song called “Gang Starr Bus,” I remember one night we were at the radio station, me and him, Preem, and they were just talking about some of the wild, crazy things they did. M.O.P. was on that tour and just talking about regular, tour-life sh*@t…from doing shows, to getting into fights, to obviously the female aspect, to not getting along with the bus driver. Just all types of crazy stuff that went on (laughs).

You know what I found really interesting; there wasn't a lot of camaraderie between a lot of artists back in the day. Dudes would get in the elevator with rivals and it was really a turf war. They both wanted New York. You would get Boot Camp Click and they would get in the elevator with Wu-Tang and they'd be like Wassup…and that's it. I found that to be kind of crazy.

HipHopWired.com: Artists are banning together now though…

Torae: Yeah I think we started to learn from other regions. You see a lot of West Coast unity, definitely a lot of southern unity and you saw that the focus moved from New York to these different areas and I think the reason is because their weren't a lot of artists willing to work together and collaborate. Now, especially with this new crop of artists, we all kind of came up together and kind of friends. We do the same shows, run in the same circles.

HipHopWired.com: How are you feeling about the Hip-Hop scene in New York?

Torae: I think there's two scenes in New York. There's the more mainstream scene and the more indie/underground scene. The latter is definitely thriving right now, there's a lot of dope artists out of New York that's making some incredible music. It's sad that that music isn't being propelled to the forefront. They're giving people a choice.

I feel like the main thing that's lacking in mainstream is there's not a lot of diversity, so you get the same thing, same formulaic music video and looks. There's really no individuality. If you gave the people an option…you hear some Young Money, then you hear some Homeboy Sandman, some Maybach Music, some Skyzoo, it would keep it fresh, because when you listen to the radio once you listen to the same songs and the same content, you start getting people to say, ‘Oh, I'm tired of Hip-Hop…it's wack now.'

That's not really the case, it's just the type of Hip-Hop they get fed is pretty much the same old same. With that said, the indie scene is dope, from Homeboy Sandman to Emilio Rojas to Skyzoo to Sha Stimuli…I could go on and on, there's a lot of dope artists out there.

HipHopWired.com: Where do you want to fit on the spectrum?

Torae: I'm just a dude that loves Hip-Hop that cares enough about it to try to bring something to it. Trying to build on the legacy without sounding dated. You can tell my music is inspired by a certain time frame but in no way do I feel like I'm an “old artist.” People always try to make that connection Oh, he got a 90's sound, nah it's 90's influenced because that's what I grew up listening to and that's what made me want to create music but it's still current. I'm not rapping about 8-Ball jackets and bombers, that sh+*t I didn't live. With that same type of energy I try to bring something new to the table.

HipHopWired.com: You're a world-traveling artist. Does that mean more to you than “mainstream” success and recognition?

Torae: I think the two go hand in hand. I've been fortunate…I came in and was able to connect with Masta Ace at the time I did. I was putting out my first project Daily Conversation, we had the same studio, we had mutual friends…he liked me as a person, he was into the music and he asked me if I had been overseas before. I was like no, he was like I'm gonna take you on tour.

He took me out as his opening artist along with Marco Polo…it put me in a whole different space. It put me in front of a whole different audience of people and I was able to take those relationships I built overseas and build upon them. It was really having good timing and everything lining up for me.

As far as the success I have over there, it's dope, I would love to have it in the states and be able to say I did 20,000 like I did in the Czech Republic. I would love to say I've done 28 dates in 30 days like I did over in Europe and be able to bring that same energy. But if you're not a radio artist or a mainstream artist it's more difficult and I'm hip to that. At the end of the day as long as I'm still getting to live that…I just came back from Europe two weeks ago so…I'm not complaining.

HipHopWired.com: They seem to respect the art a lot more over seas.

Torae: For sure. I think mainly because it's not right in their face. Sometimes being in New York and being so engulfed in the culture you take it for granted because it's just second nature, where as you go to Germany and they breathe Hip-Hop. They live it over there. There's heavy graffiti, heavy B-boying…they got a whole school of breakdancing.

Not to say we don't have the same things but their so into it though. It's almost like when you're in school, you might have not been around for the Civil War but you study it, so you may have knowledge of it because you're so into it, studying it and reading up on it. That's kind of how they are with Hip-Hop.

HipHopWired.com: How do you plan to change the Hip-Hop game?

Torae: I just want to tell my story and leave my mark and hopefully spark some of the change and the through process that goes behind making music, I think a lot of artists these days try to make music to fit in. I don't make music to fit in, I don't make songs for the radio, I don't make my album so I can be on the best album of the year list, I don't do my photo-shoots so I can be on the cover of magazines.

I do what I do and if people gravitate towards it and accept it that's great, but at the end of the day I don't want to follow suit. I want to make dope music and have that affect people's lives. I think a lot of artists are chasing a façade of what they think the industry is. I want to create the soundtrack to your life…when you're having great times, when you're having bad times.

For rules and submission information about the 2012 National MC Search, click here. You can also contact Sebastien Elkouby, co-founder of S&H Public Relations, at SNHPRF@gmail.com or 310-654-1681.

HipHopWired.com: Your one of the judges for the 2012 National MC Search, do you do anything to prepare for that? What are your criteria?

Torae: I'm not going in with anything preconceived, I just want that woah factor. I couldn't make a list of ten things you need to do to get my attention. It's more about the music, when I hear it if I feel the feeling…that's really all it is. I can't say Oh, use this type of beat and rhyme this way. When I first heard Illmatic, I felt it. When I first heard Jay Electronica, I felt it. When I first heard Phonte, I felt it. It's just that energy you get from the music, from the artists and there's no real formula. I'm sure somebody out there has it.

HipHopWired.com: As an MC yourself, is it harder to be a fan of other artists? Would you say you're more critical of other people's music or your own?

Torae: No, me 100%. I really dissect my stuff to the point that a lot of times if I don't be like F*#ck it, it won't come out. When I sit with my stuff for too long I start to find every little flaw and I'm so analytical about my own stuff that a lot of times I'll be like Nah, I'm not doing it. I gotta shake it off and now that I put 110% into it, and then I'll let it go.

HipHopWired.com: How do you feel about lists (such as the XXL Freshman 10 for example) that try to categorize the “who's who”?

Torae: I think that when they initiated it a few years back, it was something that was dope because it gave a spotlight to some new artists that people might not have been aware of or checking for…artists that just needed that extra push. I remember Joel Ortiz being on the first cover, Papoose was on there, Plies, I think Lupe was on there.

It was super dope and I thought it was the illest, and then after that initial one people started trying to get it, and that's when it started to get jaded. This year they got people voting. I think the initial feeling behind it is lost, I know artists that that's all they care about. Just make your music and do you and if those accolades come they come.

When people start vying for it, and planning their whole strategy of the year behind it, I think it looses the credibility and authenticity it has.

HipHopWired.com: What do you have coming up, what's your next major goal?

Torae: Well November we dropped For The Record, and now it's just moving into 2012…continuing to push For The Record, we're shooting a few videos. I'm gonna do a few remixes because I keep my ear to the street and I think the main thing people were surprised about on the album is I did no features. It was just me telling my story, and telling it as best as I knew how. Now I'm gonna have some of my favorite MC's jump on. We're actually pressing up vinyl for all my vinyl heads.

I know New York is definitely radio driven but I have a fan base, I sell a sh%*t load of records in New York…it's just really getting to those people and letting them know that theirs gonna be a performance and have them come out and support.

My next major goal…I've been doing radio Sirius XM. Me and my man DJ Eclipse have a show which airs every Sunday night, and that's something I feel is a natural progression for MC's to move into radio. That's something I'm really focused on. We have a whole bunch of fun…we break a lot of records and bring a lot of new artists up. We give them that platform to showcase themselves.

I also want to move into some television and film. Just being on the small screen a little bit…I'm by no way an actor but I've done some acting in the past, been in television shows, other music videos. That's something I'm looking forward to perfecting.

HipHopWired.com: What collaborations can we look forward to?

Torae: I'm gonna leave that cat in the bag! One off top, everybody that looked at my track listing…I saw a zillion comments like Yo, where is… so me and “that” guy will definitely be doing something. Aside of that, just a few people who sound good on a record. I'm not really into chasing names.

[EXCLUSIVE] Rapper Big Pooh Talks Kendrick Lamar, The Art Of MCing, Little Brother Split & More

Miss Ls — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:30:53 +0000

[EXCLUSIVE] Rapper Big Pooh Talks Kendrick Lamar, 'The Art Of MCing, Little Brother Split & More

When you think "North Carolina Hip-Hop," Rapper Big Pooh is one of several MCs that will come to mind. Not only for his lyrical gifts, but his undeniable place in the legacy of the state's music scene (the well known Little Brother should ring a bell).

Many have tried their hand at transforming N.C. into the music mecca it seems to fall short of, but Pooh is one of the handful of artists that has even come close. It's not just his butter-smooth lyricism, but also his unselfish perspective on the culture that has made him a staple for Hip-Hop devotees.

In his one-on-one with Hip-Hop Wired, the solo MC discusses the art of lyricism, the division in North Carolina Hip-Hop, his friendship with Kendrick Lamar and where he currently sits with his Little Brother partners 9th Wonder and Phonte.

Peep The Exclusive Interview After The Jump With One Of The Judges From The 2012 National MC Search Contest!

HipHopWired.com: What new projects or albums do you have in the works?

Rapper Big Pooh: I'm still promoting my current album, Dirty Pretty Things and I'm working on a few things. First up is gonna be the second installment of my Phat Boy Fresh series, Phat Boy Fresh Vol. 2. It's almost entirely produced by a kid named Astronote out of Orleans, France. I have a couple other things in the works, I'm working on something for my birthday on February 12^th, re-release a project on that day. A couple things I'm working on.

HipHopWired.com: How do you feel about your place in music right now?

Rapper Big Pooh: I think I'm in a weird space right now. I haven't been here long enough to be put in the same class as Talib Kweli or Mos Def, but I'm not young enough to be with the new generation like a Kendrick Lamar, Wale…them guys. I'm kind of in the middle and I think I've always been caught in the middle. I'm a little too late, but a little too early. It's also a good place because I get a lot of respect from my peers, guys that were before me and guys that came after me. I'm working hard to stay on people's radar…especially the position I'm in, that's what it's all about. You got to continue to feed the people.

HipHopWired.com: How do you do that without over saturating the market with music?

Rapper Big Pooh: It's definitely all about timing, I don't even have the right math equation to tell you what's the perfect time but I guess it's about feeling. I put out my project Dirty Pretty Things November 1^st. I'm kind of waiting to see when people, in my eyes, are ready for something else. There's no way to calculate when to release music.

HipHopWired.com: Being in the music industry, it can be easy to get desensitized to its underlying value. Having been in the game for a while, what does music mean to you now verses when you first started rapping?

Rapper Big Pooh: It has definitely changed. When I first started I approached it with certain exuberance, being naïve and being younger and having a whole bunch of energy…I wasn't tainted yet from being in the business. As of now, a lot has happened a lot of time has passed and I've released a lot of music. I still love it, but I have to sometimes remind myself to not focus so much on the game and the business of it…just go back and have fun. That's where I get caught now, is doing the actual game and not being in the moment.

HipHopWired.com: How do you keep your passion fresh? How do you keep from a monotonous routine?

Rapper Big Pooh: Inspiration. Just like this Phat Boy Fresh Vol. 2, I didn't even intend to do anything that quickly. I was going to the studio and doing verses for various people and doing different features…I was just sitting I the studio one day and the kid Astronote hit me up and sent me some stuff and I was just inspired to go. In a weeks period I had [finished] four songs. I kept that momentum going and let that inspiration take over.

I learned that when you try to calculate you end up over-calculating, so I just try to be in the moment and try to let inspiration take over. That cures the monotony of Okay, I gotta make this type of record or I gotta make sure it does this. Instead of doing that, I just [make music]. I let it be what it's going to be.

HipHopWired.com: As an artist, you seem to have looked up to NY MC's as far as inspiration…I know Nas has been a huge influence for you, why is that?

Rapper Big Pooh: I'm based out of NC but I was born and raised in VA. It didn't have its own scene, and New York was where everything was coming from. That was some of my first experiences with Hip-Hop. I'm definitely a fan of music from all over but New York was how I was introduced to Hip-Hop. There's favoritism towards New York Hip-Hop, it was just the stories. It ended up taking place even when I became a fan of NWA, UGK, Outkast…the stories. You hearing about these different places and what goes on, it's so magnetizing.

It's even extra when you actually go to these places. I remember the first time I went to New York. I didn't go for the first time until 2001 maybe. Just riding across the GW bridge into the city, listening to Mobb Deep…nothing like it. I started having those experiences when I began to travel and it made me more of a fan being able to see some of these places. New York was the beginning for me, that's where it all started for me.

HipHopWired.com: You mentioned a few already, but what southern MC's have most influenced you?

Rapper Big Pooh: Outkast, UGK, Ghetto Boys, I was a fan of early Rap-A-Lot. I was a fan of 8ball & MJG, those are definitely some of the artists that I grew up listening to.

HipHopWired.com: Where do you look to for inspiration when he and maybe some other artists who may have inspired you don't release music as consistently or don't have the same presence within the public eye?

Rapper Big Pooh: I was re-energized after doing some work with TDE out of the West Coast. Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, SchoolBoy Q and AB-Soul. Just being around them, you pick up some of the energy that they have. That's inspiration. There are others like that but I have a personal connection with those guys so it's a little different.

HipHopWired.com: At a earlier point in Kendrick Lamar's career you two did a song together, “Thanksgiving.” Also, the first time he came to perform with SchoolBoy Q at Greene St. he brought you on stage at that point, did you know TDE would take off as fast as he did?

Rapper Big Pooh: No, I had no idea. It was crazy how we ended up connecting. This was back when Myspace still had a little pull. Their people hit me up on Myspace and they wanted myself and Phonte to do some work with Jay Rock. He was on Warner at the time, and I had went and did my research…I had never heard of them before so I went Googled them, heard a couple of songs, I liked what I heard so I hit them back, I was like Yo, I'm down.

Me and Phonte did some stuff for them, but I kept in touch with them. I ended up going out to L.A., I went to their studio and checked them out. That's where I ended up meeting Kendrick and AB-Soul. SchoolBoy Q wasn't part of the picture yet. That's when I started hearing all the records that they had over there and I was a fan instantly. I kept in touch with them, and we were passing records back and forth. I made sure I always checked them out when I went their way and vise versa. We formed a working relationship and then we would just hit each other up like Yo, you good?

I had no idea what it was going to become, I didn't know all this was going to happen I just saw the talent. I didn't care what their names were, I just wanted to work with the talent. You can be MC Joe Blow with 10 fans…if I think you're dope, I'm working with you.

HipHopWired.com: What do you see next for the NC Hip-Hop scene?

It's in a weird place. They're trying to re-create a scene again. There was a scene when we were first coming up as Little Brother, the scene was bubbling and then it fizzled out. They're trying to re-create a scene again but it's just fractured. As long as the scene is fractured and you have 10 or 15 different people trying to create 10 or 15 different scenes, there will never be a strong scene. Everybody wants to be the first to put North Carolina on as they say. It's one of them things where the music scene reflects real life…as long as there is no true unity, it will never be as big as it could be.

HipHopWired.com: Why do you think that is?

Rapper Big Pooh: I don't know honestly. We're in the age of where people don't like playing their position, they don't like playing up to their strengths and people don't like to be criticized. I've scene it within our own crew when we were coming up. It could be a thing of like Look dog, you are better at doing graphic design than you are at making music. If you just stick to graphic design we don't have to go outside of our team to get graphics…ever…because you're the man. But, that person who does the graphic designs wants to be an artist, so they're not doing graphic design.

Then you have fraction within the circle and you taking money outside of the circle. That's just one example but it happens so often. If something that small can affect it, the issues just get much bigger than that. The power is in numbers, until people realize that then the scene will always be what it is.

HipHopWired.com: As of now what's your relationship like with 9^th Wonder and Phonte?

Rapper Big Pooh: We don't have a relationship. Not business or personal. I haven't spoken to either one of them in awhile, it's just a thing where it was time for me to walk my own way. I wish those guys the best, I see them, they're doing shows together and putting out records together…I wish them the best because Little Brother is and will always be a part of my foundation. At the same time I had to step away and finally start taking care of me.

HipHopWired.com: You're a judge for the MC battle that's coming up, what do you pay attention to when you look to give a rising MC constructive criticism? What criteria do you have prepared?

Rapper Big Pooh: Part of it is feeling. A lot of people just think I got hot rhymes, so I'm nice and it's like nah…it's about the totality of a song. Can you make a song? You don't have to be the best rapper to make a song. I'm looking for songs, I want to hear what the hook sounds like, I want to hear your ear for beats, I want to hear if you're making sense. It's [about] the total picture for me. I'm interested in hearing what a lot of these guys come up with.

HipHopWired.com: Is it challenging to give guidance to an artist who is in a different sub-genre? Like what if it's a trap artist or an artist with a more commercial sound that comes to you for advice?

Rapper Big Pooh: I think it's just going to depend on the artist, if they're open to listen. True, I don't make trap music or what people would deem commercial but I know a good song when I hear one. I'm not biased enough to believe that only people who make my type of music make good songs, I listen to everything.

I know it when I hear it and I can still analyze and point you in a better direction if what I'm hearing doesn't compare with a Young Jeezy trap song, or compete with a Wiz Khalifa type of song. I know it, whether a person would believe it or not from the type of music I make. The artist just has to be willing and open to accept certain criticism.

Kareem Fort Talks 'DEMOS' Documentary, 'The Executive Suite' With Kevin Nottingham & The 2012 MC Search [Video]

Miss Ls — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:30:11 +0000

Kareem Fort Talks DEMOS Documentary, The Executive Suite project With Kevin Nottingham and The 2012 MC Search [Video]

Music is the art but music culture is the lifestyle; one that has become second nature to industry insider Kareem Fort. One half of the brain behind indie digital label HiPNOTT Records, Fort has immersed himself in the independent scene and made a way for countless aspiring souls looking for an open door.

In the demanding milieu created by newcomers ready to “sell their souls,” success doesn't have to be impossible, and that's what Kareem Fort wants people to see in his latest venture DEMOS, a short film documenting appropriate tactics in the anarchic music industry.

Kareem speaks to Hip-Hop Wired.com about the new project, and gives some invaluable instruction that will have you looking for a pen and paper. Fort also talks about his other independent effort, The Executive Suite and drops insight on using personal resources to make up for a lack of financial backing.

HipHopWired.com: As someone who works on the business side of things, how do you feel about multifaceted (A&R/rapper/CEO/manager, etc.) rappers?

Kareem Fort: That could be a good thing, it could be a very negative thing. Most people aren't very good at multitasking. Everybody wants to claim to be a CEO or a boss of whatever and not know that entails. I think because we are in a mainly independent era…I see what they're trying to do but you have to be smart about it and you're stretching yourself too thin if you don't have the savvy to call yourself a CEO or manager because those are very distinctive roles. An artist/manager makes absolutely no sense to me. There are certain combinations that just don't work.

HipHopWired.com: What do you do in that predicament?

Kareem Fort: I trash it, because you can't take anybody serious like that. One of the issues that I come across, and I've said this before…it comes down to certain fundamentals. We were talking offline about proper emails and things of that nature, all these things are key. You gotta figure out what your lane is, be comfortable with that and go with it. I think that's just bad business. If somebody hits me up who I had a former interaction with as a manger, and then the next correspondence I get is 'Hey, listen to my record,' that's a problem for me. Now you've just destroyed any type of relationship that we've already established.

DEMOS: An Independent Artist's Guide To Success [Official Trailer]

HipHopWired.com: DEMOS Documentary…where to begin! What inspired this? At what moment did this come to mind as an idea?

Kareem Fort: It was a series of events that triggered this idea. It was running HiPNOTT with Kevin, getting large amounts of emails from aspiring artists that really had no direction, they didn't have any type of format, guide, any type of anything to say this is how you send a proper email, it was just random stuff that I would get. Like if you put 'Yo' in your subject line, I'm probably going to delete it immediately.

It's just proper etiquette that I think has been lost. I don't know if it's because of the internet but it just seems like the fundamentals are gone. With that being said there has to be some type of guide or tool that these aspiring artists can follow. There's just certain etiquette that has to be followed.

It sparked me to write a book about it, but I was discussing this with colleagues, family and whatever, and it was like 'Yeah, that's cool…but who's gonna buy a book?' So I figured it would be cool if I did a movie about it, but I don't have any money to do a movie, you know?

So I started thinking that I don't have money, but I do have resources. Artist don't understand how important your resources are, they are much more valuable than money any day of the week…in most cases. Because I felt like I had enough resources to make this happen, I just went with it.

It started to snowball, I started to reach out to different artists, managers, producers and publicists and lawyers, and everybody had something to say about this particular subject. [Now] here we are getting ready to get a major push and give it out to the world.

DEMOS Documentary: Inside Look

HipHopWired.com: How challenging was it getting all the cameos you needed from the artists?

Kareem Fort: Not as difficult as I anticipated, because once I really broke down the synopsis of the film, they started to understand, 'Woah I have a story, let me tell you how I messed up. Let me tell you the things that I did that I should have.' Once they started to speak about it, they started to peel like an onion. They just started to reveal and share all these things, their stories and their experiences. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be.

HipHopWired.com: You have a lot of legendary artists that got involved…do you think the message is going to get through to artists?

Kareem Fort: That kid that's gonna be watching DEMOS may have never heard of Marley Marl or Naughty by Nature but then they'll google them and be like Oh, they did this record or whatever, but how are they relevant?

Well they're very much relevant because the same things they did to get on…and I'm not talking about making a cassette tape and taking it to an A&R…but there are certain fundamentals in this game that should never, ever change. That's regardless of how much technology plays into it. No matter how great Twitter is and Facebook, there's still something about human interaction that can never, ever be replaced. If I'm out and I happen to be networking, the relationships that I built in person often times go further than the relationships that I built online.

When you shake someone's hand and look them in their eye, there's some truth there. A lot gets revealed in human interaction. A lot of people do business just off the fact they think you're a great person, or have a great personality, or have a firm handshake. These things that may seem minor are actually big things.

HipHopWired.com: It seems like Hip-Hop is a bit divided with the sub-genre's…because this is concentrated on the grass roots essence of the culture, what are you going to do to get people's attention?

Kareem Fort: It's funny you mentioned that because I was having this conversation the other day. What I'm planning on doing is not really focusing so hard as marketing this film as a Hip-Hop documentary. This film is about music and it's about life. Primarily, yeah, I have a lot of Hip-Hop artists in it but I also have some soul artists in it.

I'm still in production so I'm getting different types of artists involved. It's not just an artist perspective that you're gonna get, there are also song writers, managers, producers, booking agents, publicists, so I think having a diverse perspective on this is key.

I don't think it'd be that entertaining to have a bunch of artists sitting around talking because [then] you only get one perspective. Because I want this to be a manual and a learning tool, I need many different perspectives. I have DJ Quik, all the way to J*DaVeY, so you have a very diverse group of people who have very unique stories.

There are no rules anymore. It's a sad thing to say, but it's a true thing to say. There are no rules anymore.

HipHopWired.com: Why do you think it is that artists don't do their research?

Kareem Fort: Because they feel like they don't have to. I don't think that they care enough about the culture to do that. We live in a fast food society, everybody wants it now. They don't want to go back and learn, and do research and see How should I approach this? That's why you have so many people attempting to be artists, when they might be suited better as a publicist or a manager.

They don't do the research, it's a sad thing. I'm hopeful that this movie will help people understand their options.

HipHopWired.com: You know what you're talking about here…I mean your work with Kevin Nottingham, HiPNOTT Records…what's the backbone of your philosophy that's made your work with the digital label so successful?

Kareem Fort: I always put the music first…I want to do my best to preserve the emotion in music, because that's what I feel music is, it's an emotion. You can tell when someone puts their heart and soul into a record, it's that feeling that you get when you listen to that Stevie Wonder record or whatever have you. You can't fake that trueness. I try to capture that in any musical project I'm involved with because I think that music is lacking that tremendously.

In the golden era of Hip-Hop, the mid 90's…it was so diverse, it was cool to be different, where today it's cool to be just like the next artist. It's a complete 180 from that era. I think that's what people mean when they say Ah, we miss that golden era. It's that emotion that people are speaking on. There are artists today that I do feel that emotion from, just few and far between.

HipHopWired.com: You're going to be a judge in the national MC search we're doing…what criteria do you have prepared for that?

Kareem Fort: It's interesting because this contest is based on voice. I don't have anything else to go off of, I'm just mainly about talent. That's what drew me into being a part of this. The things that I'll be looking for really, is number one, originality. If someone comes off sounding like somebody I've heard a million times then I'm cool on that.

Delivery, cadence, wordplay, all these different things…and then that “woah factor.” That's super important because it's something you can't really define, but you know when you hear it. That is crazy. The first time I heard Kendrick Lamar…

HipHopWired.com: Yeah, I know exactly what you mean.

Kareem Fort: [Laughs], it's just the woah factor to me. That's something that you can't fake and it's just so rare. I'm hoping somebody comes with that woah factor.

HipHopWired.com: How do you give guidance to an MC who just has it all wrong?

Kareem Fort: I always try to be tactful if I'm ever critiquing somebody's material because you can't tell somebody else's truth. At the same time if something is just horrible, I would try to point out the things that could possibly make it better verses focusing on what's wrong with it. I can't tell an MC what to write about and what not to write about. I can tell them they might want to work on their delivery, because I might not be receiving it the way I'm sure they'd want it to be received.

I always like to come at someone like the glass is half full verses the glass is half empty. If they just don't have the talent, I'll probably tell them that they may want to rethink pursuing this as a career, because I don't want them to continue to waste their time if I feel like they just don't have the talent.

HipHopWired.com: The Executive Suite is something you've been working on, and you're also very proud of…you've done a lot of concept releases with Kevinnottingham.com, what made that project special?

Kareem Fort: This is something that I was heavily involved in from the ground up. The Executive Suite actually came about because I was working on the soundtrack for the film.

What happened was I was getting submissions for the soundtrack and I'm putting things together and it didn't have the feeling of a soundtrack to me. Because there hasn't been a Hip-Hop centered film in a while, especially a documentary like this, it was important to me that the soundtrack had a certain value to it that wouldn't reflect a mixtape or anything else like that. I said, I have some great material here, but it doesn't feel like a soundtrack.

What I did was take some of those songs and continue to build on that with artists I felt needed some shine, that I truly loved and enjoyed. I wanted to make it exclusive, make it feel good and what I considered an elite group of MC's. That's why I called it Executive Suite, because I wanted it to have an exclusive feel, everybody can't get into the executive suite.

Download The Executive Suite here featuring such artist as Chaundon, Senor KAOS, Big Pooh, Tanya Morgan, 4-Ize, Rapsody and more.

Why Common Can't Win His Beef With Drake

David Dennis, Jr. — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:00:33 +0000

Why Common Can't Win His Beef With Drake

Let's not kid ourselves here, Common can and will rap circles around Drake. In an even test of skills and a catalogue comparison, Common will always reign supreme over Drizzy and 99 percent of the rappers you listen to on a daily basis. From the minute Common sent out his opening jabs at his Canadian foe, the Internet began instantly calling for a first round KO. But even though Drake may receive a lyrical beat down at the hands of Southside Lonnie, he still can't lose.

If Vegas were putting odds on the Common/Drake beef, Common would be a double digit favorite. He's been dissing rappers for 20 years and even put Ice Cube to shame back when Are We There Yet? was just a twinkle in a crappy director's eye. Com cut his teeth by battling rappers in Chicago and he definitely has a mean streak. Drake? He harmonizes songs about his feelings and menstrual cramps. With that said, Common has to totally obliterate Drake for it to be a victory.

Common's victory would have to be of Jay-Z/Prodigy proportions for it to be a prohibitive win. If Drake is able to put up a good fight and throws some respectable jabs then it would make Drake look all the better. See, Common is supposed to win. He's Hip-Hop. Drake is playing with house money. But people are forgetting one key element: Drake can still rap his a$$ off.

Yes, Aubrey has turned a lot of people off with his actions over the past year. Take Care sounded like an Aaliyah album from someone with a slightly deeper voice and it's full of man law violations. Drunk dialing a chick to steal her from her man? Digging through his girl's purse to see who she's texting? It's like he was channeling the most suspect qualities possible and putting them on wax. There was more singing and heartache than rap on Take Care, which solidified Drizzy's soft moniker. However, people are forgetting that Drake has proven to be a superb rapper.

Drake's verse on “Stay Schemin” was a reminder that the Canadian can construct some stellar bars as it was the first time he was UNLEASHED © Skip Bayless on a track in a very long time. It was a reminder that Drake was once revered as one of the most talented young MCs in the game. Just go back to Comeback Season or So Far Gone for a reminder. So, while the rest of the Internet may be expecting Drake to respond to Common with sad songs about how much the disses made him want to hug his momma, Drake is penning responses that—while they probably won't be on the same level of Common's forthcoming assaults—will turn heads. Drake's diss will also have some zingers because, face it, he's got plenty to work with.

For all of Common's legendary releases and pedigree of greatness over the past 20 years, he's still got a few moments in his career that give Drake plenty of ammo. For as soft as Common says Drake is, Com Sense was a Snuggie equivalent for a few years. Let's not forget that Com shed his more rugged Southside Chicago persona for sweaters and Gap commercials. While Com's never been a singer, his catalogue has as much Charmin-worthy melodies as Drizzy's. And then there's the abomination called Universal Mind Control, which is a veritable “Kick Me” sign. Finally, if things get out of hand for Drake, there's always the Serena card where Drake goes the Jay-Z/Carmen route and talks about how Common is just mad Mr. Young Money was serenading that a$$ on center court.

Again, please don't get it twisted. Common should and probably will beat Drake in a track-for-track war of the words. As good a Drake is on the mic, he doesn't hold a candle to Common and he hasn't had a high-profile feud to show he can handle a “beef.” But nobody expects him to win. The bar is set so low that if Drake can come out of the feud with his career intact and a few clever barbs, he'll emerge no worse for wear. Common, the legendary vet, is the rapper with more to lose. And this battle may cost him more than he or his loyal fans care to admit.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - More Than A Dreamer! [Video]

Hip-Hop Wired — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:00:04 +0000

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - More Than A Dreamer! [Video]

“For more than two centuries our forebearers labored here without wages. They made cotton king, and they built the homes of their masters in the midst of the most humiliating and oppressive conditions…and yet, out of a bottomless vitality, they continued to grow and develop. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery couldn't stop us, the opposition that we now face will surely fail!,” said Dr. King determined during his ‘Remaining Awake Through A Great Revolution' dissertation, delivered at Washington D.C.'s National Cathedral, March 31^st 1968.

Since 1986, on the third Monday of each January, most provinces across the country acknowledge the life and legacy of the courageous Civil Rghts icon born Michael King Jr. in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15^th 1929. Years later, following in his father's footsteps, the son soon did the same, adopting the name of the German religious reformer which the religious denomination is named after.

Supporters began campaigning to have the anniversary of the peaceful warrior's physical birth recognized as a national holiday shortly after the progressive activist's April 4^th 1968 assassination in Memphis, Tennessee.

Aided by legendary musician Stevie Wonder's dedication to the slain Civil Rights leader—the popular 1980 single "Happy Birthday"—and a petition containing over six million signatures endorsing it, the proposition eventually was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on November 2^nd 1983.

Active in his local community since he was an adolescent, the revolutionary reverend rose to national prominence as the 26 years-young president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, which supported Rosa Parks defiant stance on a city bus December 1^st 1955, helping to kick off the race-incited reaction which followed.

This moment was a major catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement.

“During the ‘Montgomery Bus Boycott', Black people used their economic power and brought them to their knees,” concurs Dr. Leonard Jeffries, Chairman of Afrikana Studies at Harlem's CCNY. “We should've bought our own buses and started our own companies after that.”

After witnessing the power of a disciplined people through their economic noncompliance, the young minister claimed some semblance of success: “The once dormant and quiescent [Black] community was now fully awake,” King contended.

“Martin wanted to make things better for his people, for his race… he wanted to bring about change,” indicated Pop Gaskins, Chief-Of-Staff for the Committee To Honor Black Heroes, also a participant at many of Martin's public meetings.

“We were being abused by our oppressors and we wanted revenge, we wanted to fight… but he didn't want us to be like them, he was trying to teach us something different.”

For a decade and-a-half, the peaceful preacher attempted to carry the plight of Americanized-Africans on his shoulders, combating against racial hatred/terrorism in the segregated South, and advocating equal employment opportunities for his people across the land.

“He didn't just have a dream… a dreamer sleeps and dreams. He made changes, and had a struggle he was prepared to give his life for!” declared Dr. Jeffries.

The mainstream-media continuously promotes the pastor's earlier, passive, assimilation messages, such as the one in his lecture at the monumental ‘March on Washington', delivered August 28^th 1963, correctly titled ‘Normalcy: Never Again,” which is erroneously called the ‘I Have A Dream' speech, by most.

“Many missed his economic message. In his ‘I Have A Dream' speech, King made a case for reparations, as he pointed it right at Lincoln and said – ‘Amerikkka has given Black people a bad check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds'!,” assesses Dr. J.

For the next few years Dr. King went on to dissect many social ills which plague Amerikkkanized-Afrikans in the land of the free, including the imperialistic Vietnam War… as he revealed… “No matter where it leads and no matter what abuses it may bring… it's an evil war and I'm going to tell the truth!”

Dr. King & The Honorable Elijah Muhammad

Over four decades after Martin's murder, his message of racial solidarity still resonates beyond the hallow dreams that have been sold to the masses for the past few centuries. Towards the end of his physical existence King was no longer preaching about loving your enemy, nor to turn-the-other-cheek.

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively, and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education,” informed the 1964 Noble Peace Prize winner.

“One of the great liabilities of life is that all too many people find themselves living amid a great period of social change, and yet they fail to develop the new attitudes, the new mental responses, that the new situation demands,” the doctor commented . “They end up sleeping through a revolution!”

Written By Ice Pick Slim 17

To Be Further Edutained, read about the origins of Dr. King's Speech "Normalcy Never Again" dissertation below.

The speech erroneously called "I Have A Dream" by the masses where he demanded that the United States Of America make good on its promise of ‘40 Acres and A Mule' to its kidnapped human-cargo and formerly physically enslaved captives.