Caught Up

Can you tell me a story Uncle TG?
A story? Girl, you're twenty-one!
How come? You know I love 'em.
Fine. Only cause you're my favorite niece........ but its gonna be short...


On a midsummer night he meet her. Shook her hand, said hello, and it seemed as if she spoke to his soul. He saw the world in her eyes as is should be, serene, and in that moment in time he decided that world was what he wanted. So confident he was that he told his friend " I'm going to get her", and by night's end he had kept his word. The days he spent with her were some of the most joyous days he'd ever experienced. She was so radiant that he could never tire of her smile. So lovely, he would stay awake a little longer just to watch her sleep. A man couldn't be more in love, if love was still possible.
Yet that happiness was not destined to last. The fonder he became the further away she seemed. Nothing he did was ever enough. He every action was wrong. Sweet words were met with frowns ,as if his affection was too good to be true. His want of her insincere. They stopped understanding each other and whatever it was that they had faded away. Even now whenever he sees her he falls again. Torn in his mind and heart. Friends they are but wanting so much more. Caught up in a love that it seems only he feels ,and if not, one she hides well...


Uncle TG is that story true?

Only if there was a better ending. Goodnight.

ViewPoint: Style

Do you remember flatops? You know the hairstyle that was worn in the early 90's. The hair that reached its perfection on the heads of such notable 90's figures such as Kid from Kid and Play. If you had one, go back and look at those pictures of yourself and right at that moment you'll say to yourself, "damn I looked stupid" It's the same thought that crosses the minds of all those who were sagging a few years later. Also, anyone that was a teen in the 80's realized at some point that their fashion had also gone a bit too far. So why isn't anyone saving this generation. Tight pants are one thing, but pants so tight that they look like unitards? Pants so tight that they can't reach the waists of America's youth. I really can't stand to see another dudes boxers or crack( crack kills) much longer. Its not fashion, its foolishness. By 2015 most 21 year olds will walk with a waddle from being conditioned to walk that way to keep their pants from falling. I thought we were humans not penguins. Women have learned. There was a time when "daisy dukes" were acceptable. Now they are only acceptable in pornographic films. We all know that fashion repeats..... can we please refrain from repeating the lame ones....



TG

Answers and a Question......

I take you further than your mind's eye, so deep into the universe that you've actually seen a vanilla sky. I've shown you the person of your dreams, slowed down your running thoughts till they lie in peaceful serenity. I've taken your inner demons and made them dance, turned the mundane existence of your adulthood into the blissful innocence of a 3 year old. I've brought you through doing" whatever it takes", Turned your senses 180 degrees with my beats and breaks. My bars serve more than just alcohol, I'm the life beat that raises any man that falls....... I AM MUSIC.



......now what will you give me?

TG

Essence of Swag.....

In the past nine months or so, we have heard the word swag(swagger) used an exorbant amount of times in music, sports, and even as the trademark of deodorant commercial campaigns. I feel we can all agree on the overall definition of swag being the "it" factor that makes a person noticable, desireable, likeable and any other synonym you can find for the word popular. The question is what really determines swag?
I would expect most to say the flashy things in life. Fly clothes, flier whip, and jewelry all do grant the owner swag, but only a certain kinda of swag. It doesn't account for the people who lack those things but have such a live personality that it also grants swag. Nor does it account for the swag of a great athlete who owns no real personality at all. What about the shy person whose mysterious silence garners the attention of others? Swag goes further beyond physical appearance than we first realize.
In fact swag is a universal thing. Everyone possesses a certain type of swag whether they like it or not. Much like the rules of attraction, one level of swag doesn't appeal to all. You much find your niche and work with it. If you're nerdy, be the flyest nerd you can. You get the picture. The essence of swag is you. The natural you, so don't fight it trying to assimilate someone swag into your own. It never works. I'll holla. I have to find me a Louis Pocket Protector. LOL


TG

State of Hip Hop Address

Welcome to the first in a monthly series on the state of Hip-Hop. Nas decided to make a point to the world that hip hop was dead, which sent shockwaves through the new generation of rappers. Now I don't believe that hip hop is dead. I believe that its alive and well, locked away in a basement with the label of unmarketable. Hip hop is alive in the main players such as Nas, Jadakiss, Fabolous,Common, Lil Wayne, Lupe Fiasco,Ludacris, T.I. and yes Kanye West. After that there are many of them in limbo between real music and commercial garbage. Those like Juelz Santana, who have incredible potential , but is trapped in the side show of Dip Set.
In the bowels of mainstream hip hop, gems like Little Brother, Mos Def, The Roots, and Talib Kweli reside generally unknown to most new followers of hip hop. Gone are the rhymes about what really took place in your life, or the good times with friends. Metaphorical dreams and works of art painted with beats and breaks are truly things of the past that are relagated to the "Throwback at Noon." Now the majority of what we have are gimmicks. If you have heard the travesty that is Ron Brownz and his slaughtering of the synthetic voice sound that is T-Pain and the backbone of Kanye's new album then you know what I mean.
When a person's fav rapper is Soulja Boy, we are in trouble. When someone says that the success of rappers now has nothing to do with the ones that came before them, we are lost. When one says there didn't need to be a Jay-Z before to be a Lil Wayne now, we have a problem.
Secondly, we are not all drug dealers nor are we "thugs" We all don't own guns. We don't live in movies where are entire day seems to take place in the strip club or a porno. Our self-worth is not determined by how much clothing we have with names that we aren't educated well enough to correctly pronounce. Yet this is now the visible essence of Hip Hop. It's a sad day indeed in the world of Hip Hop... I offer a short comparison of Hip Hop and its captors...

TG

Lil Brother Feat. Lil Wayne -Breaking My Heart





The Cypha



Ron Brownz :(

Clear as day...

In the days that have followed the historic election of Barack Obama to the highest office in the land, something amazing has happened to the black man. As a black man, I must say that when I awoke the next morning the world seemed different to me. It was as if the world was reborn in a way into which this time, I fit into it. No longer did I feel like an outcast in the country of my birth. Pride filled my body till I could no longer contain it. My walk was different. I looked everyone in the eye.( happily)
It wasn't just me. I could have sworn that night, as they annouced Obama as the next president that I heard a loud snapping sound. It was the people of color all over this country who , for the first time, raised their heads and chins up with pride. Pride in the fact that not only is an African- American president but that they also had something to do with it. A friend joked with me," is this what it feels like to be white?" I answered yes. Knowing that you can actually, realisticly achieve anything is a feeling very few people of color has come to experience.
The attitudes of the people changed with that day. People from all walks of life seemed happier, waving to say goodmorning to complete strangers.(something unheard of in NYC) If this feeling of euphoria holds true then the torch has finally been passed from the hands of Dr. King to a man who has also crossed the racial barrier to bring MEN and WOMEN together as MEN and WOMEN. A man who has in a short timespan, delivered pride back to a people and has truly become a leader of men.
In respect to that accomplishment, we cannot return to our old behavior. We have seen a Black man that is the head and caretaker of his family. How can you continue to neglect your own? How can you continue to waste your life on drugs and alcohol? How can you continue to blame your misfortunes on someone else?(the Man) If there was no other time to take charge of your life and transform it for you and yours, that time is now. Now because we have all witnessed that all things are possible.


A black president...... damn..... The sky never looked so blue, nor the sun as bright, as the day when black show us all its light....


TG