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High ResolutionGeneral Toussaint L’Ouverture, the military genius who lead the slave rebellion of Saint Domingue in 1791, leading the way for the independence of the first Black Nation in the Western Hemisphere.
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Distant Relatives present: (part three) “TRENCHTOWN ROCK” (via DistantRelatives)
Nas and Damian Marley in Trenchtown to film a video for their song “Land of Promise”
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SERIOUSLY?!
Distant Relatives didn’t receive one Grammy nomination? You tell me five hip-hop albums better than Distant Relatives that came out within the last year & half and I’ll take you to a 2Pac concert.
One day there going to regret not recognizing Africa.
Honestly, I wasn’t surprised that “Distant Relatives” was overlooked. The Grammy’s don’t appreciate art, they respect mainstream notoriety. I mean, what Nas and Damian did on “Distant Relatives” was genius: the blend of Hip-Hop, Reggae, and African beats was flawless. But, something told me that a lot of people would overlook this greatness. Plus, look at the nominees and the content of their music, it’s all generic. “Distant Relatives” is too deep for most to comprehend. This album pays homage to the homeland like no other has done in a long time. The guess appearances by Lil’ Wayne, Joss Stone, Stephen Marley, Dennis Brown, and let’s not forget K’naan, was epic. It’s a shame that the album is not getting the recognition that it deserves. Now, it’s up to us to appreciate greatness.
The black oasis, Ancient Africa the sacred
The sleeping giant, science, art is your creation
I dreamed that we could visit old Kemet
Your history is too complex and rigid for some Western criticsFuck the Grammy’s.
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Name: Heartbeat (remix) (feat. Nas)
Artist: Nneka
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
“Heartbeat (remix)” - Nneka (feat. Nas)
I’d been excited about this since I heard Nneka mention it in an interview
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Nas: The Most Dangerous MC in the World
Cedric Muhammad points out that Distant Relatives is Nas’s riskiest album yet, not for commerical or artistic reasons, but because of the powerful message it presents.
The global powers-that-be among other things, generally fear three things: 1) the Diaspora and Africa re-uniting 2) the fearless youth of the world becoming politically and spiritually conscious and 3) the poor uniting across religious, racial, geographical and ideological lines to control and pool the wealth of their nations.
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Nas & Junior Gong interview w/ Hardknock.tv
They talk about Nneka, and how K’naan influenced the whole project. Like Mos said, “Pan-Africa’s a real movement.”
It’s awesome to hear K’naan on the same songs with Nas. In my biased opinion, he’s a top 5 MC in a few years.
Nas also talks about his line on “I Do It for Hip-Hop” (Luda) where he says “They say I’m so low-key, I’m socially awkward.” That trait is one of the reasons Nas is my favorite artist of all-time. While dudes like Jay rap to be world-famous stars and use it as a jump-off for other business ventures, Nas truly does it for Hip-Hop.
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Nneka discusses Nas contributing 16 for a “Heartbeat” remix, as well as being part of the Distant Relatives tour
I can’t wait to hear that remix
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High ResolutionFact: Ethiopians the Original Jews not Hebrew, Amen is the Sun!
Peace.
(via resunsaysdope)
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"People see dark faces out there, and the perception is that they're African-American. They're not us. They're impostors. Even people I know come up and say: 'Hey, what color is Vladimir Guerrero? Is he a black player?' I say, 'Come on, he's Dominican. He's not black.'
-Torii Hunter
Hunter was recently quoted saying this in USA Today when asked about Black players in the MLB. He later apologized for the use of the word “impostor”, which he should have. (However, I do think his statements were taken completely out of context.)
The problem is that many African Americans get bubble syndrome and start thinking that there are two kinds of “Black experiences”: Black American and Black African. Hunter did not just say African American, which Latin players like Guerrero wouldn’t be. Hunter used African American and Black interchangeably, like they mean the exact same thing. African American presupposes Black, but not vice versa. Black encompasses all Black people: African Americans, Black Africans, Afro-Arabs, Afro-Latinos, Blacks in the Caribbean, etc. No single group is more “authentically” Black than another. They are all very different culturally and we should appreciate that about each other. Just because some one does not fit the cookie cutter mold of what we have come to think “Black” is, it does not mean he/she isn’t Black. Let’s not oversimplify race/ethnicity/nationality. I’m just putting that out there. Hunter acknowledged this point in his apology and I’m sure that is not what he meant.
I am not saying that Latin baseball players should call themselves Black. I would never say that. They call themselves whatever adequately represents their experiences. I’m saying that if they did and/or wanted call themselves something other, they should not be called “impostors” just because they are not African American.
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“Q. What are your thoughts about the lived experiences of LatiNegr@s all over the world having similar experiences with those living in the US (i.e. HIV rates)?
A. we are still the poorest we are still the least educated (formal) we are still the least enfranchised and empowered we still pretend too often that this world is a world for us, this modernity is a modernity for us—it isn’t. we (woc) still get beat for speaking too loud, for imagined slights against Latino-manhood we still uncritically tout foolish ideas of mezclá and race-mixture (morena vs. negra, Spanish and Taino over African) and forget that mixture is built off the rape of women, our lack of power, our disempowerment is something to be celebrated. or we forget that we are black at all (Mexico, Argentina, Chile) we are still colonized within colonies.”
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Quote from Kismet. Read full interview here.
This Raw Cold Life
This raw cold life is a beautiful thing. —Mos Def
My name is Shaun and I make paintings, drawings, and poems. My art is a reaction (one of many) to the countless and varied inspirations I encounter. This is an informal collection of such things, too scattered and far-reaching to be condensed into a single label.
See my art: shaungribouski.com
