Eminem Is Not My Rap God

   This week about three different people told me Eminem is Top 5. Not Top 5 in 2018. Top 5 since Rap music existed. One person was a child who didn't even know who Rakim was so I shrugged my shoulders. The other two were adults. One of them mentioned Big L in the same sentence and the other person didn't even acknowledge The Notorious B.I.G.. Although Biggie wasn't one of my favorites I have enough sense to mention him as one of the greatest to ever touch a mic. I understood his brilliance and learning that he simply listened to the music and wrote in his head, it puts his almost peerless quality into perspective within such a competitive industry. Let me just say this right off of the rip, Eminem is not my Top 5, Top 10 or even Top 25. I've seen and experienced too much over the twenty plus years of experiencing Hip Hop culture, and its element of Rap, to think otherwise. In fact, Posdnuos from De La Soul is more lyrical, witty, conceptual and substantive than Em. Fight me. See, I came of age in the 1980s and mid-1990s during the Golden Era of Rap music. From that time onward I have witnessed some of the most diverse, creative and substantive music this genre has ever produced. I've also witnessed strait up trash. Now I wouldn't go as far as saying that Eminem is trash. I think he is quite good in terms of rhyming words. If Eminem played basketball and words were ball handling skills he'd be like The Professor. Yet he IS NOT NO Kyrie Irving, Zeke, A.I. God Shammgod, Kenny Anderson or Tim Hardaway. 

   Hearing debates like this often indicates to me how poorly educated people are about Hip Hop culture, its chronology and Rap music specifically. Artists that we personally like is a matter of opinion. When it comes down to critically analyzing and articulating the Artist's music, its content, delivery, social impact and creativity that's a strata above some people's intellectual pay grade. Unfortunately, it's often that opinionated demographic who has the acultural platform to share opinions veiled as facts. The above video of Shock Gee explaining the technique of some Artists is an excellent example of what some folks don't even perceive who have a very topical, generic, voyeuristic approach towards Rap music and Hip Hop culture. I'm talking about the kinda folks who will wear an NWA or Wu-Tang Clan t-shirt because it looks cool, but would not be caught dead, their pun intended, in these artists' communities or with its community members. Some may think this is pretty innocent. On a local, every day, "It's Hip" kind of way it may seem harmless. When you start talking about Hip Hop culture and the element of Rap music in the larger global context and the Who, What, Where, When and How its narrative is controlled, framed and interpreted it doesn't seem so harmless any more. 

   For example, Seatsmart.com, one of the biggest ticket brokers in the world published a study in 2016 that stated Country music is Most Intelligent genre in the last decade and yup you guessed it, Eminem is the Most Intelligent Hip Hop/RnB Artist in the last decade. Let that sink in. On the other hand you have a much more legitimate data driven study that determines the size of Rap artists vocabulary and not surprisingly the Wu-Tang Clan and Wu-Affiliate Killah Priest were at the top of the class. In fact the GZA, host of Liquid Science, was second only to Aesop Rock. You can check out the study here: Rap Artist's Vocabulary.

   Speaking of vocabulary, did you know that children 6 years old and under from impoverished communities may hear up to 30 million fewer words than their privileged counterparts? Did you also know that this vocabulary gap sets a cognitive, social emotional and economic trajectory that widens between impoverished and privileged children as they grow? Scientists in the area of Neurocognition, Psychology, Neonatology, Biostatistics and others have only recently concluded in their research that there is a direct link between potential mental and physical health outcomes and a child's language development, including disparities between communities and their access to resources. Ironically, people thought Ol Dirty Bastard of the Wu-Tang Clan was crazy for interrupting the 1998 Grammys and announcing, "I don't know how ya'll see it but when it comes to the children, Wu-Tang is for the children. We teach the children, know what I mean? Puffy is good, but Wu-Tang is the best. O.K.? I want ya'll to know that this is O.D.B. and I love you all. Peace!" after losing in the Best Rap album category to Puff Daddy & The Family. Was he crazy or did he and other perceptive people understand what these Scientists and Rap Reporters had to verify about lyricism, access to vocabulary and why Wu-Tang Forever should have won Best Rap Album in 1998?

Although I was a teenager when the Wu-Tang Dynasty began, both of my Queens [daughters] experienced it during their early childhood development years; I took them to Wu-Tang concerts and sometimes had them on stage. The Wu expanded the vocabulary of every day people, and for those of us who had KOS [Knowledge of Self] it built upon a rich vocabulary and culturally coded language that existed in Rap music since its inception that we were fluently speaking in urban America for almost 3 decades. Although my Queens' Mother and I intentionally built upon their vocabulary and helped provide access to resources and developmentally appropriate practices to assist in their growth, their background music played a critical role in their cognitive journey. Today our eldest is a Forensic Psychologist and our youngest is a Chemist [Scientist]. Brain development is experiential and none of that was happenstance. 

   One of the most powerful inventions of this generation is the word "Hater." It's the forerunner of the Active Denial System (ADS) the U.S. military developed to stop protesters hundreds of over 3,000 feet, almost a mile, away. Yes some people strongly dislike who we are or what we do, and may have a legitimate reason why they think or feel that way. Calling a person a hater is often used to invalidate and not acknowledge their perspective, which may be right and exact. This empty expression can literally be worth the weight of the wind it's carried on out of someone's mouth, yet its effect can leave a person as toothless as an old tiger in captivity. Why am I sharing this? Welp, just to say that just because Eminem is not in mine or others Top whatever, it doesn't mean that we are hating on him. If he is not my Rap God.

Peace,

Saladin

Popa Wu; A 5% Story

If I could choose one word to describe this Documentary I would use “BANANAS”!!! From the time I put it into my DVD Player, until the final credits rolled, I was hooked!!! The God Khalik has been working on this Project for quite some time and I can cee why. He did a masterful job and in my opinion, ‘Popa Wu; A 5% Story’ is his greatest work to date!!! Independently released on his ‘Five Percent Stories’ Company, Cinematographer ‘Khalik Allah’ takes you on a captivating journey into the Mind of Wu-Tang Patriarch ‘Freedom Allah’ AKA Popa Wu. Painted over a musical canvass of Wu-Tang Production Specialist ‘4th Disciple’, Khalik uses his visual artistry to tell Freedom’s Story, “undiluted, mixed, or tampered with in any form” (9/1-14)! With Appearances from the Wu-Tang Clan, various other Wu-Tang Affiliates, Physical Family, and etc.., ‘Popa Wu; A 5% Story’ gives you an all access pass into the Chamber of Freedom Allah; a Chamber that only a few have had the privilege to cee. For all those who’ve always wanted to really know and understand the role and relationship Popa Wu has within the Wu-Tang Dynasty, this Documentary gives it up! In addition to this, it gives People an opportunity to explore the “Wu-Tang” Worldview in a way never before ceen on Film! For example, there’s a segment that explains the science behind Popa Wu’s Guest Appearances on a few of Wu-Tang’s Albums. Appearances that usually went completely “undetected” by the public’s naked eye! (8/1-40) Another example is a superb breakdown of How ‘The Nation of Gods and Earths’ (The NGE/Five Percenters) came to be; What is our Mission; and Who is the 5%, the 85%, and the 10%! For those who are in the know, one of the illest parts is a segment where RZA and Freedom are building about the science of the 33/1-40!

One of the things I immediately saw in this Documentary its seamless transition from one Surah in Popa Wu’s Life to the next -beginning as a man-child and growing to this present date. Sometimes when you watch a Story about someone, the Documentary tends to compartmentalize different segments of their Life. This definitely doesn’t compartmentalize nothing! It’s unapologetically about Freedom Allah and how the World came to know him as Popa Wu. Now I’ve had an opportunity to build with Freedom a couple times, and have ceen him in action on quite a few occasions. He’s from the Streets; a Brooklyn Baby, who was drinking wine at the age of nine. Prior to me ceeing this Documentary, if I were to describe Freedom as an element, I’d strictly call him “fire”! LOL Yes ‘Popa Wu; A 5% Story’ definitely captures this “fire”, FROM THE VERY BEGINNING I might add, b.u.t. it also shows the other elements that make him who he is. For all those who don’t know Freedom (Popa Wu), this Documentary is an excellent Introduction to who he is, and for all of you “Wu” Heads, you’ll definitely gain a better appreciation for Who, What, When, Where, and Why there even is a Wu-Tang Clan! ‘Popa Wu; A 5% Story’ is Entertaining, Educational, Raw, and of course Witty Unpredictable!!

For all those who’re interested in getting a copy, you can order it directly from the ‘Five Percent Stories LLC’ by emailing the God “Khalik Allah” at: khalikone@yahoo.com.


The 39th Annual Show & Prove Review
This years Annual Show & Prove was the first one I attended in about the last five years, and I was very happy and impressed with what I saw in our Nation. I traveled from Power Hill (Philly) to Mecca (Harlem) with three other Gods from my Family Tree; Life Justice, Unikue Thorough Allah, and I-Born Understanding. I-Born Understanding, a Compton California native who now resides in Las Vegas, traveled across the Country to be there and it was a pleasure to finally build with my Brother in the physical. in addition to having a chance to build with Life, it was also Peace to spend some time with my A-Alike 'Unikue'. We also met up with one of Life’s Educators ‘I-Freedom Born’, so I had a wonderful time with my Brothers. “There is nothing in comparison to the mental and physical power of” TRUE Brotherhood! (32/1-40)

Another thing that I really appreciated was getting a chance to meet various Gods, Earths, and Civilized People who I’ve directly/indirectly connected with through the Internet. I think it was equally important for them to cee/meet me because I’m definitely not a “Mystery God” (10/1-40). Although I’ve consistently used my A.S.I.A. Literary/Audiovisual Networks to Show & Prove how I actually apply Living Mathematics in my Family/Community, one of the downsides to using the Internet and these Social Networks is the high propensity for “Trick-Knowledge” (4/1-14) and Disinformation. For example, I can write about how I have a Prison Correspondence Project, b.u.t. when I did a video displaying hundreds of Correspondences from People in Correctional Facilities all of the Country, it Shows & Proves that I do. Being transparent and insuring that People can clearly identify the integrity of my work has always been of the upmost importance to me! So in regards to me, and anybody for that matter, if there’s ever a question of integrity, ALWAYS consider the source; “Who is questioning coming from, and what they actually doing?”

Using Social Networking mediums, People can remain anonymous and graft a whole new identity. So although you cee the image they project in this Cyber World, you don’t know what they really look like, where they really live, what they really do, how their family relations really are, or who really even knows them! Although NOT ALL PEOPLE who strive to remain somewhat anonymous are doing devilishment, there are a lot of People who are. With those who are, by staying anonymous (hiding), it’s easier for them to “steal, tell lies, and try to master” People (4/1-14). So it was good to cee People in person and build with them on the spot! For those who haven’t really ceen me in Mecca like that, KEEP IN MIND that I do travel up to visit our School. I personally like going on the humble, like on a Tuesday afternoon or something. On days like that I really get a chance to cee what kinds of Programs/Events are going on at the School and who’s actually there. This way I also have a better assessment of what we really need, what I can do, etc..!

In addition to the Science Fair and Educational Activities going on for the Youth, the Socioeconomic Aspect of the Show & Prove was indeed the Best Part to me! I loved ceeing the Entrepreneurialism going on and Gods/Earths supporting eachother and especially our Youth in our Educational and Business endeavors. Coming together for this "common cause" (8/1-14) is what it's all about!!

The ‘Goddesses Syndrome’ Review
I cee the whole “Goddess” Idea is gaining a lot of headlines within the Conscious Community once again. In observing this, one thing I’ve heard is the phrase “Goddess Principle” being tossed around. Now for those who don’t understand what “A Principle” is, a Principle is the Functional Law of a thing, it’s the rule or set of rules that governs how something operates. When it’s said that, “These are my Principles”, this means there are specific Laws/Rules that determines what you will or won’t do. A Principle ultimately defines what something is or is not. What distinguishes Hydrogen from Iron is not just atomic number/mass, it’s the rules that govern how these atomic numbers operate. When People loosely use the word ‘Principle’, they often don’t understand that they’re claiming to identify a rule that governs how something specifically operates. So it’s not about simply a Word. A Word (Name) denotes dominion (governance) over a specific “function”. So the question is really about Function, Operation, and Role in relationship to other people, places and things.

In “Principle”, a ‘Goddess’ must specifically function in a way that no other person, place, or thing including a Female, Woman, Mother, and God operates! As a Female, she must ask herself the functional question, “What does a Goddess do that ‘I’, as a Female, Woman, and Mother don’t already do?” She can’t name anything Maternal because quite naturally, Moms is already holding down that Principle. She can’t say anything about Fertility because that’s the natural role of a Female Principle. Another question that needs to be asked is, “What does a Goddess do that God isn’t already doing?” Anyone is gonna be hard pressed to answer that because the functions of Omniscience, Omnipresence, and Omnipotence are already covered... So I would simply ask a person who advocates a Goddess ‘Principle’ to “Explain something a Goddess does that NO OTHER person, place or thing, INCLUDING a Female, Woman, Mother, AND God doesn’t do?” You’ll learn a lot about them from how they answer that…

Peace