Monkeying Around With Gorilla Unit
The subliminal messaging behind the G-Unit is truly fascinating. When one hears what the G stands for, there are thoughts of clandestine inner-city warriors, or dare I say, progressive freedom fighters. After all, “units” are associated with military and paramilitary operations. Therefore, it is logical to think that the “G” would stand for Guerilla. However, […]

Rock The Vote Responds To RNC Letter
October 14th, 2004 Ed Gillespie Chairman, Republican National Committee Mr. Gillespie: The letter I received from you yesterday was quite a surprise. It struck us as just the sort of “malicious political deception” that is likely to increase voter cynicism and decrease the youth vote. In fact, it is a textbook case of attempted censorship, […]

Republican National Committee Letter To Rock The Vote
October 13, 2004 Ms. Jehmu Greene, President Rock the Vote 1313 L Street, NW First Floor Washington, DC 20005 Dear President Greene: It has been brought to the attention of the Republican National Committee- and was confirmed in the Los Angeles Times yesterday- that your organization is sponsoring and promoting a false and misleading Internet […]

KRS-One Driven Epiphany
“Don’t get me wrong, America is a great place to live, but listen to the knowledge I give.” -KRS-One – 1988, “Illegal Business” I give up. The KRS-One debacle caused an epiphany for me that has basically changed the course of my life. Strange, right? Its weird to me and I consider myself a weirdo. […]

Coonology 101: An Education
The views expressed inside this editorial arent necessarily the views of AllHipHop.com or its employees. Its been almost 20 long years since Robert Townsend first released his classic film Hollywood Shuffle. This breakthrough movie was a satirical look at the relationship between big time producers and African American actors scraping for a piece of the […]

KRS One Rebuttal To NY Daily News Article
Like everyone I was shocked to read that I and other African-Americans actually “cheered when 911 happened” and that I have “declared my solidarity with Al Qaeda”. When I read my words taken out of context I was shocked and disappointed that the Daily News would go this far to assassinate my character and distort […]

Vote or Die versus FREEDOM or Death
In hoods all across America, there’s a war going on in tha streets, nowhere to run too. People are standing up and willing to die for their colors. Either you ride wit the boyz in red or the boyz in blue. Being neutral is not an option unless you want to get a beat down […]

Left Where I Stand
I’m a liberal. Which to me only means that I’m for affirmative action, not against gay marriages, am pro-choice and women’s right to choose, and believe in fixing the public school systems while legalizing marijuana and not acting like kids don’t have sex. Because you know what? They do. I also love […]

12 Point Program for Hip Hop
Right about now, there is a resurgence of consciousness in Hip Hop. It reminds me of what was once known as "The Golden Age of Hip Hop". This new consciousness is evidenced in the rise of Dead Prez, Talib Kweli, Paris, Zion I, Common, Mystic, Mos Def, Encore, Shamako Noble, Immortal Technique, the new tracks […]

Hip-Hop’s Love of Pain
I couln’t help but notice your pain [My pain?] It runs deep Share it with me!-Intro to Tupacs Pain Where are all the crippled MC’s? The blind ones with lyrics of fury? How about the ones who got maimed in a freak accident, like say a javelin through the face at the high school track […]

Why Vote: A Compelling Arguement
Like the child who cried "wolf! " too many times and was eaten when he really needed the help of people who had grown to ignore him, the media and Bush administration are faced with such massive lack of credibility issues that we now must adopt a contrarian stance when taking what they say into […]

Jean Grae’s Fantastical Lobster
Aight. I admit…I dont think it was really a lobster. I dont know what the hell it WAS though. Yesterday I went in the bathroom to take a shower and pulled the curtain back. There it was, on its flipside (or not). I immediately called for help. Baby, you gotta see this, I said. It […]

Why We Should Vote For Kerry
I was both shocked and amazed by Bakari Kitwana’s piece about Hip Hop NOT voting for Kerry entitled “Why We (Hip Hop) Shouldn’t Vote For John Kerry”. I understand his frustrations with the Democratic party. But to vote for Bush is political suicide. You don’t believe me? Ask the Arab/Muslim voters who liked Bush over […]

Why We Shouldn’t Vote For Kerry
When I say to hip-hop kids that perhaps we shouldn’t vote for John Kerry, the universal first response is raised eyebrows. Then come a flurry of questions, mostly critical and heartfelt ones. These are reactions I’ve come to be expect, especially from a left leaning emerging voting bloc. This election year, the emerging hip-hop voting […]

Nas Rocks Central Park
On “Genesis,” the intro to his debut album Illmatic, a young Nasir Jones remarked: “When it’s real, you doing this even without a record contract.” Fittingly then, Nas took it back to the beginning with a free concert in Central Park yesterday (August 15) to mark his ten-year anniversary as a recording artist. “This is […]

An Open Letter to the Recording Industry
Respecting the Living Legacy of Def Jam: An Open Letter to the Recording Industry from Russell Simmons In a recent Newsweek article by Johnnie Roberts, appropriate questions were raised not only about the future of Def Jam, but also about the future of the recording industry’s relationship with the creative genius of hip-hop culture. The […]

Unwillingly Reeled In By COPS Crew
My Saturday evenings have been lulled into repetition as of late. I typically wake up from a nap either to the end of Cheaters or the beginning of COPS. Both reality television programs garner pretty good ratings in the southern Ohio area by capitalizing on the guilt-ridden pleasures of voyeurism. While the Cheaters camera crew […]

Freedom Deferred
Up until now, Bill O’Reilly’s anti-hip hop antics have been so unfoundedly ridiculous we’ve learned to ignore him. From his personal vendetta against Ludacris to attacks on what he calls gangsta rap, Bill finds new ways to criticize hip hop music. But, on a recent show that aired July 14, he went too far. Attempting […]

KRS-One Responds To Debate Challenge
Adisa Banjoko, I truly thank you for such intellectual nourishment. I can always count on you for some real discussions on the state of our Hiphop community. You are truly a much needed architect on the scaffolds of Hiphop’s cultural development. I appreciate your concerns and comments. Everyone can learn from this. Before I consider […]

Flawed Philosophy: KRS and ‘Being Hip-Hop’
Blastmaster KRS ONE, For the last few years I have watched you write or speak about the merits of “being Hip Hop” and alluding to some spiritual core power within Hip Hop itself. While Hip Hop does indeed command more power than any other musical art form before it, too much weight is being put […]