Today’s Media Links
Mobolaji Olambiwonnu Alive and Well on myspace.com
Mobolaji Olambiwonnu, of Candlelight Dinner fame here in the kinté space, has been a myspace.com member for quite some time. He’s got his directorial debut for MasterCard, a cute 30-second spot, posted for our enjoyment!
The Freestyle Mega Maya Session
The full-on brawl is still going on with R/Kain Blaze. While the link lasts, he has a photographic sketch posted featuring Maya. You should also take a look at the work with Sue Jean.
Andrew Hill (1931-2007)
Back in April, the Undercover Black Man posted “Andrew Hill (1931-2007).” It is with regret that I must admit that this is the first time in my life that I have heard of him and I feel ashamed. The so-called “strength of street knowledge” that rules the Roman lives of a surprisingly diverse population of people all over the world—not just the direct descendants of N.W.A.—can only take a human being so far.
Interview with Kanno Yoko
Kanno Yoko certainly must be one of the most prolific and consistently creative anime composers in the world. This ex.org interview introduces me to her as a personality. My favorite Kanno Yoko works include that Russian vocal over the electronic break beats in Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex and the strong Japanese-woman vocals of “The Real Folk Blues” for the credits in Cowboy Bebop.
Black Ice Poem on MySpace.com Blog
Just in case you would like to read what Black Ice is saying in what we call “Front Page,” presented in “Home Box Office, Inc.: def poetry six rasx() mix” here in the kinté space, do read it in the Def Jam Poets Blog. Because myspace.com is owned by Rupert Murdoch and therefore must be technically superior to the losers behind, say, WordPress.org, you have to scroll all the way down to “Wednesday, April 11, 2007” in order to locate the Black Ice piece. It’s the wisdom of crowds. Wait! I had to load the RSS feed and then find the direct link to “Front Page.” Whew! Anyway… These lines stand out to me:
Parking that 63 thousand dollar Lex you flex Right outside your mother’s hard earned 22,000 dollar duplex You know the one right next to the projects
When I was a high school student in Watts (Willobrook), California, I was struck by the sight of a brand new luxury automobile parked outside of what can easily be described as a shack. The driver of the car clearly lived in the shack. And this strange scene was seen by me several times throughout the so-called ghetto. Black Ice takes imagery similar to this and runs with it. What’s sad about this is that I’m sure Black Ice is younger than me which means these sad sights of luxuriant poverty are still in style.
Comments
Ed, 2007-06-04 00:17:27
I used to scratch my head also when I see an expensive car sitting outside a house in a run down housing area. But as I got older I realized something - that person who had that mercedes in front of their run-down house was silently telling all the kids in the hood who screamed "that's my car!" that one day, it really could be their car.
I realize that the person doing that was actually displaying a positive message that we poor brothes and sisters in the hood can get whatever we want if we work on it. I now think it actually was a positive thing to see those big cars in the hood.
rasx(), 2007-06-04 17:54:02
When that's all we got to roll wit' than that's what we gots to roll with... rolling with a Roman chariot is one brave story of determination... but my person always knew---even as a young man---that we were able and capable to roll with something else...