Author: Callas Lane

Hip-hop has been criticized more often than usual in recent years. Hip-hop has always had it’s share of protests, but never have so many protests come from people heavily involved in hip-hop.

So, what exactly is going on with hip-hop in the music industry? Is the game really wack right now and is hip-hop really dying? Many people feel that there is a great deal of nonsense on the radio, as far as hip-hop goes. Some have even stated that it is, because southern-artist are dominating the radio, but what is the real problem? In my perspective, it seems like the problem is that the industry is throwing a big party!

Now, there is nothing wrong with party music and that type of hip-hop has always been around. The real problem is that everything on the radio is sounding exactly the same! Rap music on the radio sounds as if it has all been written by the same person. The game is lacking creativity and for that reason very few artists are able to stand out.

There are too many one-hit-wonders coming out, and it makes you wonder if the industry is more concerned with making a quick dollar than they are making music. There is no real diversity in the game right now and if an artist tries to be different chances are the artist will not get a deal. It’s almost like the hip-hop game is being monopolized.

There was a time in hip-hop when everybody was different. The Notorious B.I.G., Wu-Tang, Outkast, Fat Joe, Talib Kweli, Nas, Tupac & Common, AZ, and Jay-Z were all out at the same time. Every last one of those artists have their own unique style. People like to get upset when you criticize the music industry, but majority rules and sales are down.

Yes, you can blame it on the internet but T.I. and Lil’ Wayne are still selling. People are not going to purchase an album just for one hit single. Where are all the superstars in the game anymore? How many artist that are out now are going to sell about three albums. It’s not going to happen, because the industry is over-saturated with the same sound.

Yes, everybody wants to dance but they don’t dance all day everyday. Is hip-hop dead? No. Hip-hop will die soon if we don’t try to keep it alive!

Author: Callas Lane

Much of the Rhythm and Blues music on radio lacks passion, emotion and the use of beautiful words. It doesn’t even seem to be any R&B groups around anymore. Thinking of great R&B groups, Dru Hill immediately comes to mind. This group became extremely popular around the late 90’s and they made an everlasting mark on R&B.

The reason why this group deserves so much credit to is, because their music had passion, romance, emotion, & beautiful words. Many of their songs were very emotional for instance, 5 Steps. One of the reasons why this song touches the listener is, because of Sisqo’s vocals. Listening to the hook of this particular song you can hear hurt in the sound of his voice. This song is able to grab the attention of any audience, because Sisqo sounds so emotional on the hook. This is seen repeatedly in all of Dru Hill’s songs that were played on the radio and the songs that were featured on the albums.

Sisqo displayed strong emotion and passion in We’re not Making Love No More & The Love We Had (Stays on my Mind). At the very end of the song, We’re not Making Love No More, Sisqo sings almost like he is actually talking to someone in his life. He involves you on a personal level when he sings, “Does it ever stay the same? Sometimes I get a little lonely cuz I remember when you used to say to me Sisqo, does it ever stay the same? I’m gonna be there for you, I will wipe yo’ tears for you. How did it slip away?”

Even though I singled Dru Hill out, this same emotion was showed in by the group Jodeci when K-Ci sings in, Cry for you. Another example of a group of artists showing emotion is seen in End of the Road by Boys II Men. The group Dru Hill shows a great example of songs with beautiful words in their songs April Showers, Never Make a Promise, Angel, Beauty, These are the Times &I Love You. In the song Never Make a Promise the lyrics in the hook are, “You told me what you wanted, I gave you what you needed. I told you that I love you, make it good for you and me. I never make a promise that I can’t keep.”

Boys II Men is also made very beautiful songs like I’ll Make Love to You, On Bending Knee, & 4 Seasons of Loneliness. Romance and passion is essential in R&B music especially when the subject matter is love. Passion can also be seen in many of Dru Hill’s songs when the artists try to express a feeling of strong sexual desire. What I like most about the group is they express passion without going overboard and turning the listener off. In their song Tell Me a lyrical example of this is, “When I lay you down I can hear your body speak, telling me to kiss you till your knees get weak all night. In the bed or the middle of the floor baby, my love is guaranteed to make you go crazy. I don’t see nothing wrong with loving you all night long.”

The group Jodeci also shows a great deal of passion in many of their songs for example Feenin’, What About Us, Pump It Back & Freek’n You. Passion, emotion and beautiful words to me are all very important in r&b music and the lack of these things causes a lack of romance in many of the love songs on the radio today.

Dru Hill is a wonderful example to me of all the things a good r&b group should possess along with the other groups discussed. These are not the only groups that possess these talents but they were great examples. It would be amazing to have another Dru Hill come out with an album that I can enjoy every track on. In my opinion they are one of the greatest r&b groups ever.

Author: Callas Lane

In most recent years, it has become more common for women to be more aggressive towards men. Listening to many opinions on this recent trend, I still believe women should take a more passive approach towards men and relationships. Being more passive is playing it safe especially, if the female desires something more serious than a fling.

Many men have said they prefer a female to approach them however from watching them I have observed that most men chase the girl who ignores them. It becomes more of a challenge to a guy if he has to put more of an effort to get a woman’s attention and in my opinion it causes them to respect you more. In the famous words of the great Tupac, “Hate to sound sleazy, but tease me, I don’t want it if it’s that easy.” As far as approaching a guy, it could be that the girl is not his type. In fact, that guy could have been more interested in your friend that was sitting next to you but, because you approached him he entertained you instead.

Guys have a problem in general turning down females and many of them will not turn down anything given to them. Whether you are the guys type or not, you will never know by approaching him. After you approach him you don’t know if he is interested or if he just feels like you are something convenient. As far as relationships, women need to definitely be more passive. Men tend to get turned off by a girl who pressures them to be in a relationship.

Women should take the slow approach to be on the safe side, because you can cause the guy to feel smothered. Most importantly, women should definitely take the slow approach as far as sex. Men are very judgmental and though some women feel like if they like someone it’s okay to speed things up, that’s not always a wise decision. That guy may think that you are easy with everyone you meet and loose respect for you. Some men will never take you seriously if you let them have sex with you too quick. If you can recall the lyrics in the song These are the Times by Dru Hill, the chorus reads, “The moment when less means so much more. We don’t have to do a thing at all, we can take our time and talk.”

A moment where less takes place on the intimate side, allows you to find out more about the person by observation. Also, take in consideration when you make someone wait a little longer they are more attracted to you. So, when it happens you want each other so bad that the sex is excellent.

In recent years, the number of cops killed while in the line-of-duty has increased. There are many different opinions on why police officers are constantly being murdered on the job. Researching many write ups on police officers being killed I have found that in many cases the cop was just pulling someone over for a traffic violation and the suspect opened fire. There are some very common beliefs as to why cops are being murdered such as; the gun laws are too lenient and increasing gang initiations.

However, I believe there is a more serious explanation for police officers being killed. I believe that citizens have lost trust in the police force and this is becoming a problem all over the country. In many cases, a cop would approach a suspect for a very minor crime and the suspect opens fire. I have heard many testimonies of individuals describing a police officer being overly aggressive in situations where it is not necessary.

For example, a friend told me he was pulled over for no reason and was asked to step out of his car. When he stepped out he was searched, his car was searched, & the officers unlocked his glove compartment and searched it. He said to the cop, “Officer you stopped me for no reason at all and you have no right to search my car.” The officer yelled, “ Shut up and just do what I say. The victim was not ticketed for the incident at all. I have also heard many stories of a cop arresting a suspect for drugs and pushing them against a wall or car very aggressively. I have heard stories of cops beating victims and handling victims very roughly that are not even resisting arrest. I ask people all the time why are they not complaining to the police department and they responded, “because since I was doing something wrong I felt like I should just leave it alone or no because the cops will start picking on me.”

Another example of why people have a distrust in the police force is because cops respond to everything late. Someone very close to me heard a guy beating his girlfriend. She had called the cops on this same person before and she decided to call the cops again. By time the officer arrived the girl was badly beaten and had been dragged up and down the steps. Her face was swollen and covered in blood. The suspect had fled about 25 minutes before the cops arrived.

I’m not justifying the murder of a cop but I believe the police in general have lost the respect of citizens in their community. Cops are supposed to have an image of being good citizens that protect and serve the community. Instead, they have an image of being violent, aggressive, mean & racist. This image is, because of police brutality (reported and non-reported), late responses to crimes and pulling people over, harassing them for no reason. I think it would help if they were made to record every incident or routine traffic stop they did. I think that police officers everywhere should work on cleaning up their image and letting the people in their community know that they are there for their safety.

It is shameful, that people are fearful of police officers in their community. If police departments across the America don’t work on their image things will worse before they get better. Right now this is mostly affecting the police departments in big cities but this crisis will soon spread. Police Departments should also work on getting rid or investigating cops who get repeated complaints because good cops are often victims of the distrust suspects have for corrupt police officers.

Author: Callas Lane

Click here to view the embedded video.

Muntazer al-Zaidi is a very popular journalist in Iraq who is best-known in America for throwing shoes at the former President of the U.S., George Bush. Al-Ziadi is seen as a hero throughout much of the Arab war for his acts, which are considered courageous. Now, Al-Zaidi is being sentenced to three years in prison for his acts against the former president, which in my opinion is ridiculous.

Zaidi was captured and tortured in 2007 and his attackers remain unidentified. He was also arrested by American troops in January 2008 and kept overnight. They searched his apartment and set him free with an apology. Many of the Iraqi people understand his actions and have supported him after this incident. In Iraq, him throwing the shoes was taken as a political statement and a form of insult. I believe that even though it was very wrong to throw the shoes at former President Bush, Zaidi’s three-year sentence is an extreme form of punishment and it sounds like tyrancy. I do believe Zaidi should be punished but it should be more like three months.

Zaidi threw the shoes at Bush as a form of expression and it was not intended to be a form of violence. Zaidi had no intentions of hurting the president and if he did he would have used something other than a shoe. Considering the past events he was involved in and the fact that many people including him are innocent victims of the war, I believe that his crime does not fit the punishment that he is being given.

I don’t believe he would have received a three-year sentence for throwing a shoe at me and it is unfair that he would get that kind of punishment just, because he happened to throw a shoe at someone who is a political figure.

Many African-Americans from earlier generations share the common belief that African-Americans support each other like they did in earlier years. It’s very understandable that they feel this way considering the way blacks were able to fight for their rights, end slavery, establish the right to vote, put a stop to many forms of discriminations and we even help free O.J. Simpson at one point. However, the problem to me is not that blacks don’t support each other but they don’t know when and when not to support each other.

A large number of African-Americans were outraged about the execution of Tookie Williams, but very few spoke up. If there were a little more protests about that situation it could have changed the outcome. On the other hand, black athletes are always in the media for doing something negative and it seems like everybody defends them.

Anytime a black athlete does something every African-American sports commentator defends the athlete and all you here is, “If he was a white athlete nothing would have been done. Is there more attention on black athletes than white athletes as far as getting in trouble? Yes. Do I believe that there is racism that still exists in the NFL? Yes. Do I believe in some cases of black athletes getting in trouble can be compared a similar situation involving a white athlete who did something equivalent of worse and nothing happened? Yes.

My problem with this is as African-Americans we know all of these things may or may not happen. So, doesn’t it make black athletes even more stupid for getting in trouble if they truly believe that they get in more trouble. An example of this was seen with Michael Vick. So, maybe if he was white he would have got off..that still doesn’t justify what he did. He was still wrong for animal cruelty.. Maybe his sentence was a little harsh but he shouldn’t have put himself in that situation. More recently, many black sport commentators have tried to defend Terrell Owens because they don’t believe the Cowboys should have dismissed him. Well, this is T.O.’s third team that has dismissed him. At what point do you stop making excuses for him? He isn’t a young athlete and him as a veteran should be able to conduct his self better than what he has been doing. He is a grown man and nobody can make excuses for him as much as he gets paid. Hard working citizens lose their jobs everyday for conduct at work. It is part of his job to watch his conduct.

ESPN’s Skip Bayless is a very talented white sports commentator and I don’t believe he is bias on anything. As a matter of fact, I agree with him 95% of the time because he is fair. He doesn’t defend athletes because of their color and I believe he calls it like he sees it. With black people I just think we get confused on who to support and who not to support. If someone is doing what they need to do the by all means stand by that person. When you have people that are always in trouble show tough love. Coach Boone (played by Denzel Washington) told Coach Yoast (played by Will Patton), “ The world don’t give a damn about how sensitive these kids are especially the young black kids. You ain’t doing these kids a favor by patronizing them, you’re crippling them..you’re crippling them for life.”

Next Week from Callas Lane,

Was President Bush shoe attacker’s recent sentence unfair?