“I’m here to break away the chains, take away the pains, remake the brains…”

“Follow the Leader” -Eric B & Rakim (1988)

Twenty years ago the members of Public Enemy announced that they were going to raise up a nation of 5,000 black leaders. For a time it seemed to be working as many black folks started reading Afro-centric literature and listening to lectures by black scholars for the first time. This is not much different than Dr. WEB Du Bois’s efforts a century earlier to cultivate a “talented tenth” that was supposed to uplift the black race. But in 2009, when ignorance is produced in mass quantities, the question that we must ask is where are they now?

If Du Bois’s challenge was to uplift a people just two generations up from slavery, why do we find it so difficult, in the 21st century, to organize against ignorance?

During the era 1988-92, members of the Hip Hop Nation tried to develop a massive mass education project . For example, KRS  not only tried to organize H.E.A.L. (Human Education Against Lies) but also released the timeless track, “My Philosophy” which, till this day, is still one of the greatest arguments against anti-intellectualism ever recorded.

Groups like the X-Clan moved a whole generation towards Afro-centric thought and exposed a nation of black youth who had only known of Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King to the philosophy of Garvey-ism via songs such as “Funkin’ Lesson.”

The impact of the 5% Nation (NGAE) cannot be overstated as groups such as Brand Nubian and Poor Righteous Teachers saw it as their spiritual mission to “civilize the uncivilized.”

However, by 1992, the age of enlightenment gave way to Hip Hop’s Dark Age, in which, we still find ourselves 17 years later.

The reasons for this backwards journey are many.

However, we must start with the nature of the beast, the music industry ,itself,  and it’s relationship to “revolutionary” music a generation prior to the “conscious” Hip Hop age.

In his book, “There’s a Riot Going On,” Peter Doggett writes of a meeting of advertising agencies and entertainment conglomerates that was held in October of 1968 called “Selling the American Youth Market,” which was followed two months later by a Columbia Records marketing campaign called “The Revolutionaries are on Columbia.” Thus, the revolutionary energy of the Vietnam  Era was quickly co-opted and transformed into a Capitalist marketing scheme. The music that was once radical became politically ambiguous, at best.

If we juxtapose this with progressive Hip Hop music, we see that with the commercialization of the politically charged rap it began to loose it’s militancy , attempting to attract the coveted crossover market. This was also exacerbated by an American political structure that has always seen intelligent African Americans as threats to national security. Not to mention a corporate America that has grabbed every opportunity to “dumb down” the youth in an effort to make them more vulnerable to marketing schemes and corporate exploitation.

While many of the causes have been external, they have been internal, as well.

Although, members of the era of conscious Hip Hop waxed poetic about the conspiracy to dumb down black youth, they were ill prepared to do anything about it. So why should we be surprised in the 21st century that the fruits of this labor have come to fruition? Also, we must admit that too many in that era gave VIP (Very Ignorant People) passes to the early gangsta rappers in the name of Hip Hop unity. This has produced the dilemma in which we find ourselves, today.

While Kwame Ture’ spoke about “making the unconscious, conscious” until his dying day, what has developed is an “anti-conscious” movement. Biblically speaking, they are those who are destroyed not for their lack of Knowledge but for their rejection of it.

This is the target audience of today’s representatives of what is passing for a black consciousness movement, many of whom were either in elementary school or not even born at the height of the political rap era, 20 years ago.

The problem with the new school Hip Hop intelligentsia is that they have so much dumbed down their messages that they have become the antithesis of the mission to uplift black people.  Many of them have become less disciples of Rakim and more so followers of Nas, whose lyrical contradictions oft times outweigh their potentially, powerful impact. Also, because of the misuse of social networking sites such as youtube and Twitter, they have tried to out-gangsta the gangsta rappers , often bitterly attacking those who should be their comrades in the struggle.

Perhaps the biggest fault lies at the door of those who Du Bois would have referred to as his talented tenth; the college educated, as many of the music moguls with higher education are the main purveyors of the worst examples of anti-intellectualism; Sean Combs, Dame Dash, Suge Night, David Banner, etc.

While the call for 5,000 black leaders in the 80’s was admirable, what we need now is a call for 5,000 black poor righteous teachers who realize that, despite all the rheatoric, the greatest threat to global racism is not a gun but a book.

The battle for the minds must start in our own communities as we must dedicate our lives to raising the consciousness of those around us.

Because, as Du Bois wrote in 1903 in “The Negro Problem,”  “if you do not lift them up, they will pull you down.”

Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. To learn more about The Intelligence Over Ignorance Campaign visit http://www.ioimovement.com

Today just getting word that one of our Hip Hop pioneers has passed. As I started writing this we’re still trying to officially confirm, but according to what DJ Premier twitted earlier Mr Magic who was best known as being among the first to have a Hip Hop show on a major radio station has passed.  Still trying to process all this, because we’ve lost so many people this year. It was just a week or so ago we were mourning the passing of DJ Roc Raida.  For us in the Bay Area we lost a longtime KPFA  radio colleague and well known activist Gina Hotta. She passed of a heart attack. What we’re hearing w/ Mr Magic he too passed of a heart attack. He was 55 years old.

If you were around in the late 70s/early 80s then you will clearly understand what Magic meant to Hip Hop. For years he was the pinnacle. When he started out on WHBI, just hearing his show was major. It was a really big deal, because what we were doing in the parks, at rec centers and in our living rooms was insulated. No one else in the world knew what was bubbling up in the Bronx.  When Magic got picked up and was added to the line up of commercial station WBLS.. It was major. One of our own had graduated and was on the big stage. Saturday night was what so many of us eagerly looked foward to…Mr Magic with his booming voice gave Hip Hop that importance. He had what they call gravitas. He made you and Hip Hop official. He was a radio announcer not a kid doing college radio. He wasn’t someone shouting into a microphone. He was our Frankie Crocker, who was the legendary DJ and at the time program director for WBLS.

Was just talking to Hip Hop historian and writer Mark Skillz  who also grew up on Magic and he noted that Magic laid the ground work for every on air personality that came from the streets and made it to radio. He was always classy even when he was arrogant and he could sure be arrogant at times.  He was older than the average listener and fan of rap at that time and could’ve easily been associated with disco or soul music. But he put everything on the line because he really believed in the music. On a couple of occasions he was fired. The most infamous occasion was when he stood up to Frankie Crockerwho as mentioned was a legend in his on right. Crocker wanted to change formats and take rap off the air. Magic stood up to him and refused to change his show and was fired resulting in him returning to his first station WHBI.  Skillz added that its important to understand that back then and even recently, people paid to have a show on WHBI. You had to raise money to have a slot on the air.

Magic was important to two different eras of Hip Hop. He was the connection to the  pioneering day also known as True School. He was the one that brought us Flash, Mele-Mel, Crash Crew, Sugar Hill, Busy Bee etc.  he later became the important gateway to the what we now know as the Golden Era. He was once dubbed Sir Juice as he was the big connection and champion for the Juice Crew. Skill z was sharing memories with Sweet Gee this morning upon hearing the news and was reminded by G that the original Juice Crew was Sal Abbatiello, Sweet Gee, DJ June Bug, Kurtis Blow and Mr Magic aka Sir Juice.Sal who owned the Fever night club brought them all diamond rings. In many ways for  long before Diddy, Jay-Z  or the Jiggy era came along, Magic and his people personified flashiness within Hip Hop. They were smooth and represented the style of the day. 

Skillz was  recounting seeing Magic wearing rings on every finger and having  gold rope chains. He used to sport a shark skin suit. He was a Hip Hop version of Mr Tee. Back then that was Hip Hop at its finest for better or for worse.

When he got his Rap Attack show on WBLS he was the man. Folks old enough will recall what it meant to record a Mr Magic show. Those cassette tapes got passed all around the world. He was that dude. Interestingly enough Magic followed the important tradition long established by Black radio DJs of being our mouthpiece and Griot of sorts. In many ways he was the face of Hip Hop and our ambassador. He was our connection to the outside world, the corporate world etc. When his show came on, all of New York stopped what they were doing and tuned in.  Words are simply inadequate so others reading this will have to add in.

We also recall the role that Magic played in sparking the infamous bridge wars between the Bronx via KRS and BDP and Queens via the Juice Crew. Magic was so important that if he didn’t play your record or publicly rejected you as he did BDP,  it wasn’t a thing to easily shake off.  I won’t get into along recounting of that tale, but lets just say a lot of careers were born through the BDP vs Juice Crew saga. The attention he garnered help heighten the position of than rival DJ Red Alert who was holding it down and backing BDP on Kiss FM while Magic backed Marley Marl who was his official deejay along with the Juice Crew as we know them today on WBLS…Also on a side note lets stress the fact that the battle was more like a battle of the bands and not the type of vicious beefs where folks get shot or beaten up. It was competitive, theatrical and captivating

We also need to remember as Paradise of X-Clan pointed  out  Mr Magic also gave Whodini their first break .Jalil used to answer the phones to his show. Hence the group’s first song ‘Mr Magic’s Magic Wand.

So many memories its hard to really do justice. .. For those who remember Mr Magic please share.

In closing I’d be wrong not to point out the 800 pound gorilla in the room. I’m talking healthcare. I’m not sure what Magic’s finances or personal situation was, but dying of a heart attack while in your 50s is not a good look and should be a wake up call for us all on a number of levels. One one level is for us to seriously look at how we’re living. Stress and strife are taking its toll. Stress from finances, stress from work, stress from living in dangerous situations silently and suddenly do us in.  On another level, many of us have not taken care of ourselves with routine check ups and visits to the doctor to help us avoid such tragedies. We shouldn’t forget as Skillz points out that it was only a few years ago that Magic’s DJ Marley Marl had a heart attack. We also lost Professor Xwho was also around the same age through meningitis.   Was it lack of health insurance or bad and fast living? I can’t call it, but all of us need to sit back and ask why we have lost so many people at young ages this year. It hasn’t been shootings its been failing health.

Hip Hop pioneer Kurtis Blow reminded us that Mr Magic put a record  Its a rare gem and it has him rapping. Its called “Its a Better Way”:

RIP Mr Magic

Something to Ponder

-Davey D-

Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons joined forces 25 years ago to form Def Jam: A record label dedicated to hip hop.

 Back then the roster included LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys, EPMD, and Slick Rick. Now there’s Method Man, Jay-Z, Kanye West and many more.

I just watched Krush Groove for the first time last weekend. For those who don’t know, it’s based on Russell Simmons assisting in the launch of his brother Rev‘s group, Run DMC.

The ridiculous over-the-top 80’s style, very pubescent looking Beastie Boys, and hilarious Fat Boys all gave me a good laugh.

Along with the actual members of Run DMC, Fat Boys, and Blair Underwood (in his first movie), another huge star in the movie was Adidas – those vintage tracksuits and sneakers were everywhere!

The brand has naturally joined forces with Def Jam to commemorate the label and some of its individual artists, like Redman and Jeezy.

Check out the new kicks, tees and more on DrJays.com. Celebrate the label that has brought us the biggest names in hip hop for 25 years!

Superstar 1 Redman by Adidas

Forum Mid RS Redman by Adidas

Young Jeezy Forum Mid by Adidas

See more by clicking HERE.