Independent Hip Hop

You come to where we are, but we also go to where you are. We’re stepping up our networking game, so don’t forget to use the fresh new links on the right to friend up with us at you favorite social spots.

“Tweet-tweet, mutha f*****!”

San Diego – we’re coming back to our “home away from home” Friday the 20th. Live show with Vox Merger at The Onyx Room. Click the flyer for more info and guestlist.

I’m sure I speak for the Illamental fam when I say that we have lost an inspiration and a giant that will never be replaced or surpassed. Every musician looks up to you Michael. You are the pinnacle. You are the legend.

I’m sure I speak for my father, mother, sister, and brother when I say we have lost a member of our family. I can’t explain how much the music of you and your family was a part of our lives. The Jacksons are in our blood. Your music will live but it still hurts to lose you.

I don’t know how we can continue with you gone. The world will miss you endlessly.

Taken from blackfacts.com

1. 1999 – White supremacist John King, one of three white men accused of chaining James Byrd to a pickup and dragging him along a Texas road until he was decapitated, was sentenced to death by lethal injection. If his death penalty is carried out, he will be the first white Texan executed for killing a black since slavery ended….

2. 1991 – Adrienne Mitchell, first African American woman to die in combat in the Persian Gulf War is killed in her military barracks in Dharan, Saudi Arabia

3. 1987 – Edward Daniel Nixon, former president of the Georgia NAACP, died at age 87.

4. 1978 – Death of Daniel (”Chappie”) James Jr. (58), retired Air Force general and the first Black promoted to four-star rank, at the Air Force Academy, Colorado.

5. 1975 – Death of Elijah Muhammad (77), leader of the Nation of Islam, in Chicago. He was succeeded by his son, Wallace D. Muhammad.

6. 1971 – President Nixon met with members of the Congressional Black Caucus and appointed a White House panel to study a list of recommendations made by the group.

7. 1964 -Cassius Clay becomes world heavyweight boxing champion.

8. 1948 – Martin Luther King ordained as a Baptist minister

9. 1870 – Hirman R. Revels of Mississippi sworn in as first Black U.S. senator and first Black representative in Congress.

10. 1839 – Seminoles and their Black allies shipped from Tampa Bay, Florida, to the West.

from erwin's iphone

last week was a crazy week for me. aside from preparing for midterms, my financial aid check has yet to come in, so i’m literally living off of change and the dollar menu at the carl’s jr down the street from my apt. to top it off, a very close relative has been sick in the hospital for over a month. needless to say, i needed a break on the weekend. so on friday, i went to check out the Far East Movement in whittier. Aside from being dope performers, these cats are some of the most humble dudes i’ve encountered. big ups to them for always holding me down (Vox Merger/FM collabo coming soon). On Saturday, convinced my uncle to buy me into a poker tourney and headed out with some of the homies. I finished 7th, winning some lunch money for the week. Noreen won 3rd and bought Korean bbq for everybody. on sunday, i was gettin ready to drive back down to san diego when some folks convinced me to hit downtown LB to celebrate president’s day. ended up at a wack 18 n over spot and left within an hour. it’s all good though cause we polished off a bottle of JB’s in the car. on monday, passed out at 8pm and woke up at 8am today, drove down to san diego, and now i’m here waiting for my 11:30 class to start. i probably should’ve studied this weekend but fuck it, i had a good time with some good folks. i’ll hit the books hard this week and get my focus back on.

I’m trying not to flood the site with funny random videos but dammit this shit can’t be denied.

It’s the “09″ already! Sorry I’m about 8 days late, Happy New Year!. I figured I would go on a quick New Year’s rant about how this is the year , big things are goin down, yada yada yada. Instead I’ll just merely use this opportunity as a way to unclutter the cloudy brain in my head. I heard blogging is a good release. Not my first choice for a release but hey, I digress.

So my biggest goal to accomplish this year is to master the ever elusive time management. Seems like no matter how organized I try to become, things still slip and fall between the cracks.  This year I’m micro managing my time in order to get some shit done on time! And I ain’t callin it a resolution, we all know that shit never sticks. Till next time!

A photo of Oscar Grant III taken at Christmas 2008 provided at a press conference held in Oakland, Calif. on Sunday, January 4, 2009. Oscar Grant III was shot and killed by a BART police officer on New Year. (Dan Honda/Staff)

5 Things You Can Do Right Now About the Oscar Grant Shooting

Share w/ your peeps

by Makani Themba-Nixon

1. Digg the story so that the national media can pick up on it (Thanks, Jabari For this link):
http://digg.com/world_news/Oakland_Police_Officer_Shoots_Unarmed_Man_Handcuffed_Man
or
http://digg. com/world_news/Oakland_Police_Officer_Shoots_Unarmed_Man_Handcuffed_Man?OTC-em-st1

2. Contact BART Director Carole Ward Allen and demand that 1) the officers involved be taken off duty without pay and charged and fully prosecuted; 2) there be an independent investigation of the shooting that includes a review of training and hiring practices; and 3) BART establish an independent residents’ review board for the police Call her at 510-464-6095 or email the BART Directors at BoardofDirectors@bart.gov

3. Call the BART police to complain about the officers’ conduct and demand immediate action:

Internal Affairs: Sergeant David Chlebowski 510.464.7029,dchlebo@bart.gov

Chief of Police: Gary Gee 510.464.7022, ggee@bart.gov

Call them toll free at 877.679.7000 and press the last four digits of the phone number you wish to reach.

4. Talk it up on your blogs, networks and talk radio shows (call Michael Baisden 877-6BADBOY or Rev. Al, etc. to get this on the national radar)

5. Stay tuned for other actions, protests, etc., especially if you are in the Bay.

peace,
makani

For those who haven;’t seen the horrific video take a look and note that this our tax dollars at work:

http://www.ktvu.com/video/18409133/index.html

That’s the new motto for this year. There is so much I should have accomplished with music, school, and life by this point, but haven’t because I haven’t sacrificed what it takes to get there. So here is a list of resolutions to help me jumpstart the new year.

1. Finish mixing the album and rock more shows.

2. Stop spending so much time on social networking sites.

3. Curb my spending so I can get my credit report back on track and to stop moms from asking why so many people are calling for me.

4. Earn good grades in law school while continuing to make good music in 2009.

5. Spend more time in the studio making music instead of getting fucked up and chopping it up.

6. Contribute to the Illamental blog at least 2-3 times a week.

7. Continue getting my news from a variety of sources so that my music reflects the realest truth possible.

8. Remember to keep my family and friends close, cause in the end, they’re the only ones that really mean a damn to me.

Til next time,

Akim aka Hip Hop 2.1

YOOOOOOO! No lie this is one of my favorite video openings of all time. King Tee being brought to the ‘West Coast Crucible” to plead his case for his alleged sell-out attempt!

Where the hell is Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. these days? With Cube doing family movies and Ice-T playing five-oh, I fear the Tribe is selling cleaning products via infomercials??

BOO-YAA those stains out with the Boo-Yaa Brush!

Say it ain’t so!

I take trips through Youtube on the regular watching some of my favorite videos from when I was a youngster. For all you old schoolers, enjoy this blast from the past. For you young cats… that’s not a seizure King Tee goes into halfway through the video…. it’s called “the running man.”