A Refreshing Sound for Cleveland Hip-Hop

Cleveland rapper Authentic Issue is set to release his new mixtape titled “Fuck All That, Just Rap!”. He passed me two of the songs off of the upcoming project and I must say I was impressed. The Intro is a sobering reality of what Cleveland is going through during this time of transition. The public housing area known as Longwood or Down the Way, the area Authentic Issue calls home has gone through some drastic change over the past few years.

Cavs Offer Relief for Browns Fans by Giovanni Castelli

The Browns are once again stinking up the joint with a 2-5 record, a 36-year old journeyman starting at the most important position in the NFL while continuing to be a perennial loser since their return in 1999. Lucky for us, the Cavs‬ are back which for Cleveland sports fans is a good thing. They are a really good team, boast the best player in the world and are once again favorites to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals.

Let's just say the end of October each year has come to signify the end of Browns season and the beginning of Cavs season due to the Browns constant futility on and off the field. Today when asked about the QB situation I heard Mike Pettine say: "If you don't laugh you cry." Really?! I say that when something utterly BLOWS!! Which in my mind means Pettine knows his QB's BLOW!!

Go Support #YoungLangston on November 1st!!!

Later this week I will be launching an Indie Go-Go campaign to raise funds to print copies of A Summer In Harlem and When the Crows Come Home along with my promotional bookmarks and laptop stickers. Here is the promotional video for the campaign set to begin on November 1st. I will be posting a link for the campaign in the near future. Thank to all of my supporters, Peace...



 

Blought # 18: Is Traditional Radio Living on Borrowed Time?

The radio. What a marvel of human ingenuity. Officially created at the turn of the last century the little box made of wood and electrical wires completely changed how we humans receive information. Radios helped us transmit news stories to over a million homes, improve military and law enforcement communication and gave us a new source of entertainment. After the television became a commodity for most American families in 1960’s the radio took a slight dip in popularity.

Instead of listening to Eisenhower or FDR give an address over the radio you could watch Nixon on television since NBC, ABC and CBS could transmit broadcasts into the American home. By the 70’s and 80’s 8-track and cassette tapes made it easier to listen to the music you wanted, when you wanted and by the 90’s CD’s were revolutionizing music consumption all together.

Blought #17: The BET Hip-Hop Awards Suck!

So here’s the deal with BET. Viacom, the television  company that owns; Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and a bunch of other channels bought out BET for well over $2 billion in stocks around 2000. Reportedly the deal involved BET founder Robert L. Johnson becoming a major shareholder of Viacom. Blacks still call the shots but they answer to some white guy with quadruple their net worth to get advertising money which really pays television station bills and salaries.

This article isn’t here to get into all of that. It was just a backdrop to why I think the BET Hip-Hop awards blow. Granted, this year the awards did have to compete against the Las Vegas Democratic debate. But I mean let’s be honest here, the majority of Hip-Hop awards viewers aren’t into politics. I don’t need numbers to back that up, I live it.

Blought #16: How to Keep a Great City Great

This past Saturday I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Greater Cleveland chapter of the National Association of Black Journalist conference at Tri-C‘s auditorium. The NABJ hosted the conference, titled ‘Covering Comeback Cities. The list of speakers included  NBC WKYC-TV's Russ Mitchell, Fox-TV’s Charlie LeDuff of The Americans With Charlie LeDuff; Ohio Congresswoman Marcia Fudge; Cleveland Mayor Frank L. Jackson; Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams; and Chuck Stokes, Detroit's WXYZ-TV Director of Editorial/Public Affairs and son of the late Mayor Louis

It was a great atmosphere for a young writer like myself  to network and make connections. It was also an opportunity to gauge where my city was headed. Before the first panel started  Mayor Frank Jackson took the podium to share a few words. He talked about how Cleveland has spent billions of dollars to upgrade the city and how that wouldn’t be enough. There is a cycle of “boom and decline” that has to be broken.  The Mayor finished up by saying that “A great city isn’t based on the billions spent. It is what we do for the least of it. We need to make prosperity available for all.”

Blought #15: You woke? Then go back to sleep...

African Americans are entering a pivotal time in history as is the rest of the world. Blacks are finally at the doorstep we’ve been searching for since arriving on this stolen property some 400 odd years ago. Yes racism and discrimination exists but now they have become void excuses. The only thing holding us back is ourselves. Blacks have excelled in everything imaginable form entertainment to business to technology. I preach about this often but now I’m officially addressing it. YOU FAUX BLACK ELITES NEED TO STOP IT!!