so selfish 

Dear Crazed Gunmen of the World,

I hope this message finds you in good spirits. Listen, we need to have a talk, because your behavior lately is getting out of hand. For the life of me, I can’t understand why you continue to senselessly take the lives of innocent people before ending your own. To me, that behavior is both selfish and unacceptable. When I first heard the news of the Virginia Tech shootings last year, my heart went out to the families. And though I was utterly bewildered by the gunman’s actions, I still didn’t see it as a developing pattern. Then the University of Northern Illinois shooting happened. And now, it tragically seems like every other day there’s some new report of a murder-suicide rampage, where one of your “brethren” opens up fire in a public place before turning the gun on themselves. Mothers, fathers, daughters, sons and friends are all dying — and for what? Because you don’t have the guts to die alone?

Now in your own twisted mind, you may believe that you’re making a statement. You may feel like you’re lashing out at all of the greed, corruption and evil that exist in this world. But let me ask you this: Is the greed of the rich any different from your own? I mean, sure, the wealthy of this world take food out of the mouths of the poor every day. But at least those poor, disenfranchised souls still get to go home and tuck their child in at night. At least they can still call their mothers just to randomly say “I love you.” And at least they still have a chance to turn their lives around and improve their circumstances. But you offer no such option. You instead are the epitome of all that’s wrong in this world. You take and take and then take some more. Well I say that enough is enough. So the next time you want to bust into a college classroom and start shooting, do us all a favor — just kill yourself first.

Respectfully,
A Guy That Simply Wants To Live (dewayne rogers)

 

a ‘new school’ of thought …

While waiting in the cramped concourse of New York’s LaGuardia Airport, I happened to overhear a conversation between two teenagers sitting across from me. The two youngsters were discussing their favorite artists; namely Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Never one to eavesdrop, I couldn’t help but be intrigued by the youngster’s conversation — for a myriad of reasons. One, the boys didn’t appear to be any older than 16; and two, they both were obviously big fans of the two legendary singer-songwriters. As their mini-debate continued, both fans were rattling off albums, singles, specific creative periods, and musical legacy with an accuracy that only the most devoted disciple has memorized. As I resumed listening to my own iPod, I thought of a conversation I had had with a 21-year-old associate just weeks prior. I had asked him, (as I tend to ask everyone at one point or another) who were his favorite artists. He was a hip-hop fan, and his favorites were the usual suspects: Lil Wayne, Kanye West and Young Jeezy. I asked him if he had ever listened to Rakim or A Tribe Called Quest and he just smirked. “I don’t really do the old-school stuff,” he said, chuckling.

As a life-long hip-hop fan, I can’t help but feel like the music and culture is done a disservice when we disregard our legendary artists like so many of us do. For teenage rock fans in 2008 to be familiar with artists whose creative peaks had come and gone before they were even born while teen rap fans ignore artists from the early 1990s is bewildering. The way that rock and soul artists are canonized and upheld as the standard by which all that come after are to be judged is the way that great artists should be remembered. In hip-hop, we tend to pass you off as a dinosaur once your particular brand of rap music isn’t ‘hot’ anymore. If you look at the best-selling artists of all-time and the best-selling tours year-after-year; the rock and soul artists of the ‘60s and ‘70s are always near the top of those lists. As hip-hop continues to age, I sincerely hope that we hip-hop heads lift our artists up with the same level of vigor. After all, even ‘old-school’ hip-hop is under 30 years old. –todd williams