Blipsters

“That Sh*t Cray” Ain’t So Crazy

When Watch The Throne was released in early August of this year, we all anticipated the sublime production and lyrical content that the insane duo of Kanye West and Jay-Z have built their careers on. Both being icons in the hip-hop world, their influences reach deep into the daily lives of their listeners.

One of the singles off of the album; “N*ggas in Paris” features a hook “That sh*t cray”, which was all. “Cray” has been vernacularly adopted by many as a shortened version of crazy due to the songs popularity. Recently it has come out that the origin of the abbreviation “cray” has an alternative meaning all together. 

The origin of the word ‘cray’ from the N*ggas in Paris single is not actually the shortened form of crazy, nor is it cray. It’s actually ‘Kray’ and it’s in reference to the schizophrenic Kray twins, Ronald and Reginald Kray. The Kray twins were the crime lords of London in the 50s and 60s. The police failed to locate them on several occasions, which is where the line ‘…ball so hard, muf*ckas wanna find me…that sh*t kray’ comes from.

If this is true and “Kray” is actually the last name of two English gangsters and not the abbreviation of crazy which we all assumed, it would change the relevance of the phrase and the way it’s used in conversation.

It is not unlike Jay-Z to put a twist on the hook, and he is known for his word play. It is a refreshing surprise to know that even deep in his career, Jay-Z still has a few tricks up his sleeve. 

With the Watch The Throne tour dominating across the country, it is a sure sign that these two gladiators of the hip-hop industry will continue to push the boundaries with their lyrics and occasionally force us to stop and scratch our heads from time to time.

Source: http://www.frank151.com/blog/2011/11/02/that_sht_cray_aint_so_crazy

Zora Neal Hurston On Race

“Race Pride’ in me had to go. And anyway, why should I be proud to be a Negro? Why should anybody be proud to be white? Or yellow? Or red? After all, the word ‘race’ is a loose classification of physical characteristics. It tells nothing about the insides of people. Pointing at achievements tells nothing either. Races have never done anything. What seems race achievement is the work of individuals. The white race did not go into a laboratory and invent incandescent light. That was Edison. The Jews did not work out Relativity. That was Einstein. The Negroes did not find out the inner secrets of peanuts and sweet potatoes, nor the secret of the development of the egg. That was Carver and Just. If you are under the impression that every white man is an Edison, just look around a bit. If you have the idea that every Negro is a Carver, you had better take off plenty of time to do your searching…

So ‘Race Pride’ and ‘Race Consciousness’ seem to me to be not only fallacious, but a thing to be abhorred. It is the root of misunderstanding and hence misery and injustice. I cannot, with logic cry against it in others and wallow in it myself. The only satisfaction to be gained from it anyway is, ‘I ain’t nothing, my folks ain’t nothing, but that makes no difference at all. I belong to such-and-such a race.’ Poor nourishment according to my notion.”

George W. Bush Calls Kanye West Katrina Diss the Worst Moment of His Presidency

The day after a sweeping midterm election that will have seismic implications on American politics for years to come, it’s kinda weird to learn about two ex-presidents saying surprising things about rappers. But here you have it: George W. Bush still resents Kanye West’s statements about him, and Bill Clinton is amped forLil Wayne to get out of prison.

Entertainment Weekly reports (via Rap Radar) that Matt Lauer, in an interview to be televised soon, asked Bush about Kanye’s famous statement, on a Hurricane Katrina benefit telethon, that “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” Bush toldLauer, “it was one of the most disgusting moments of my presidency.”

Bush went on, “He called me a racist. And I didn’t appreciate it then. I don’t appreciate it now. It’s one thing to say, ‘I don’t appreciate the way he’s handled his business.’ It’s another thing to say, ‘This man’s a racist.’ I resent it, it’s not true.”

The interview was to promote Bush’s new book, Decision Points. Lauer read aloud a piece of the book, in which Bush calls the moment “an all-time low” and pointed out another in which Bush tells his wife that it was the worst moment of his presidency. Bush writes, “I faced a lot of criticism as president. I didn’t like hearing people claim that I lied about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction or cut taxes to benefit the rich. But the suggestion that I was racist because of the response to Katrina represented an all-time low.”

Bush told Lauer, “Yeah. I still feel that way as you read those words. I felt ‘em when I heard ‘em, felt ‘em when I wrote ‘em, and I felt ‘em when I’m listening to ‘em.”

EW also quotes the following exchange:

Lauer: “I wonder if some people are going to read that, now that you’ve written it, and they might give you some heat for that. And the reason is this—”

Bush [interrupting]: “Don’t care.”

Lauer: “Well, here’s the reason. You’re not saying that the worst moment in your presidency was watching the misery in Louisiana. You’re saying it was when someone insulted you because of that.”

Bush: “No, and I also make it clear that the misery in Louisiana affected me deeply as well. There’s a lot of tough moments in the book. And it was a disgusting moment, pure and simple.”

The interview will air in the prime time special “Matt Lauer Reports” on NBC November 8.

-Pitchfork

fuckyeahblackpower:

If a guy chooses to wear his pants on his actual waistline and not reveal his asscheeks to the world, he’s not dressing preppy, he’s dressing appropriate. If someone believes in utilization of subject-verb agreement, they’re not talking white, they’re using proper grammar. If a woman ever so chooses to relax her hair, she’s not necessarily brain washed by white people, she might just have a liking for styling of relaxed hair. If someone would rather wear a pair of Sperry’s over Air Jordans, they’re not dressing like a snob, they have personal preference. If someone chooses to further their education, they’re not abandoning the hood, they’re bettering themselves. Not every black person has to be a fan of rap, have Nikes stocked up in their closet or think that Barack Obama is the best thing since sliced bread. 
Please stop trying to limit a person to your narrow and misconstrued definition of “blackness.” It’s embarrassing.

(Source: monochromaticblack, via ratchetsince1987)

Nas’ Email to the Record Executives at Def Jam

From: Nas
To: LA Reid, Steve Bartels, Steve Gawley, Michael Seltzer, Joseph Borrino, Chris Hicks
Subject: PUT MY SHIT OUT!

Peace to all,

With all do respect to you all, Nas is NOBODY’s slave. This is not the 1800′s, respect me and I will respect you.

I won’t even tap dance around in an email, I will get right into it. People connect to the Artist @ the end of the day, they don’t connect with the executives. Honestly, nobody even cares what label puts out a great record, they care about who recorded it. Yet time and time again its the executives who always stand in the way of a creative artist’s dream and aspirations. You don’t help draw the truth from my deepest and most inner soul, you don’t even do a great job @ selling it. The #1 problem with DEF JAM is pretty simple and obvious, the executives think they are the stars. You aren’t…. not even close. As a matter of fact, you wish you were, but it didn’t work out so you took a desk job. To the consumer, I COME FIRST. Stop trying to deprive them! I have a fan base that dies for my music and a RAP label that doesn’t understand RAP. Pretty fucked up situation

This isn’t the 90′s though. Beefing with record labels is so 15 years ago. @ this point I just need you all to be very clear where I stand and how I feel about “my label.” I could go on twitter or hot 97 tomorrow and get 100,000 protesters @ your building but I choose to walk my own path my own way because since day one I have been my own man. I did business with Tommy Mottola and Donnie Einer, two of the most psycho dudes this business ever created. I worked well with them for one major reason……. they believed in me. The didn’t give a fuck about what any radio station or magazine said….those dudes had me.

Lost Tapes is a movement and a very important set up piece for my career as it stands. I started this over 5 years ago @ Columbia and nobody knew what it was or what it did but the label put it out as an LP and the fans went crazy for it and I single handlely built a new brand of rap albums. It’s smart and after 5 years it’s still a head of the game. This feels great and you not feeling what I’m feeling is disturbing. Don’t get in the way of my creativity. We are aligned with the stars here, this is a movement. There is a thing called KARMA that comes to haunt you when you tamper with the aligning stars. WE ARE GIVING THE PEOPLE EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT. Stop throwing dog shit on a MAGICAL moment.

You don’t get another Nas recording that doesn’t count against my deal….PERIOD! Keep your bullshit $200,000.00 fund. Open the REAL budget. This is a New York pioneers ALBUM, there ain’t many of us. I am ready to drop in the 4th quarter. You don’t even have shit coming out! Stop being your own worst enemy. Let’s get money!

-N.Jones