Long Live the King

I can't claim being his biggest fan. I never really listened to too much of his music; there are a couple albums of his on my Itunes that I downloaded from someone else. There were probably times where I talked bad about him, ridiculed his experiences and laughed as comedians took easy shots at his life style. But regardless of all that, Michael Jackson was an icon, a philanthropist, a genius and a genuine caring person. I can't say he had an influence on me directly, but he did effect many people close to me as well as entertainers I've grown to admire and respect. It's impossible to be a fan of music and not recognize Mike's footprint on entertainment. You can see the obvious comparisons in Ne-Yo and Chris Brown, or the more subtle expressions and sounds many entertainers make that were introduced by the "King of Pop."

I definitely respected the man; I had an appreciation for the many ventures he participated in using his status and popularity. He invited inner city youths to come and spend the day at Never Land Ranch which is equivalent to going to amusement park. He called out Sony Music Chairman Tommy Mottola, labeling him a "racist" while calling him "devlish" for his treatment of black artists. Those are the things I admired about him in addition to his incredible talent.

There are already vultures circling his carcass waiting to feed on the negative aspects of his life. There are individuals who lack respect who are already spitting on his grave while not allowing him to rest in peace. Yes, he was troubled, strange, different, but that doesn't give his detractors the right to smear his name, especially after his passing. But I don't want to focus on the negative, there's no need to waste my energy or the writing space.

The bottom line is that Mike has had an effect on all aspects of entertainment. He's influenced brothas from the hardwood to the hip hop booth, gangstas and gentlemen alike. Even when when my mind was close to outside sources of music and only hip hop could penetrate, I still bobbed my head when I heard a Mike track. I'm not gonna lie and say I went out and pursued his music, but I never objected to listening to it. Hardcore rappers grew up on his sound and creativity. They might not have been able to identify with his personality and persona, but there was no denying his aptitude when it came to his art form. Kobe Bryant recently stated that Michael was mentor to him based on his dedication to being the best at his craft. His music has been sampled by multiple hip hop artist. His innovations changed the music industry so much that we take it for granted.

Michael Jackson will be missed. It saddens me that we all took him for granted and failed to appreciate him more when he was still with us. I've always believed that death isn't the "end" of it all. Like many of the idolized people before him, he left his mark on the planet so that he will live among us for eternity. But spiritually he has passed on, and as African people say when someone moves on----"He went home."

R.I.P M.J.

Battle of the Drafts: 1996 Vs. 2003

In light of tomorrow's upcoming NBA draft, I decided to take a look at some of the best draft years of the past. NBA TV has been showing classic drafts all the way back from the 70s to the present. Since I wasn't even alive in the 70s, and 4 years old during the Sam Bowie debacle(Known to most as the year Jordan was drafted) I wanted to take a look at the two best drafts that took place since I've adopted hoop as a religion: 1996 and 2003. I had a serious debate with one of my boys about these two drafts a while back. My pick was the 96' class, not only because Kobe Bryant entered the league, but because there were 10 all starts and a plethora of players who had promising careers in the league. The 03' is a very close second in my book, but can easily be argued as the superior draft with the likes of Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Carmelo Anthony leading the pack. Now imagine if these two classes were to duke it out for supremacy----who would come out on top?

Let's pick 9 of the best players from each class and match them up by position for the 5 starters along with 4 bench players. Now we would have to assume that the 1996 players are in their prime since the 2003 class are just entering theirs.

1996 Draft Class:

C - Marcus Camby -Defensive player of the year, Shot Blocking maniac.

PF - Jermaine O'neal - Former all star but was a true leader before all the injuries. Indian was on their way to possible championship contention before before Artest started throwing haymakers at women and children.

F - Peja Stojakovic - This was a tough one. I could've went with Antoine Walker here, but despite Peja's years riddled with injury, he beats walker out. Peja can make threes while Walker just thought he could.

SG - Kobe Bryant - Nuff Said

PG - Allen Iverson - Best little guy to ever play the game and then some. The way people talked about him after his stint in Detroit made me sick.

Bench - These bench players were a tough call. Other possible entries would have been Zydrunas Illgauskus, Kerry Kittles, Derek Fisher, and Shareef Abdur-Rahiem. They were all really good players in the prime of their careers before injuries and age slowed them down. But none of them could be chosen over these 4

Steve Nash

Ray Allen

Stephon Marbury

Antoine Walker

2003 Draft Class:

C - Chris Bosh - He's an all-star fo sho. The question is rather he can produce on a winning team or go down as the next Abdur- Raheim? He was the most underrated player on the "Redeem Team"

PF - David West - His mid range jumper is like a lay-up. He's emerged as one of the top players from this class, and one of the better 4s in the league

SF - Carmelo Anthony - Finally took his team from the first round and deep into the post season. He took a step closer to having his name mentioned with his fellow top draft mates.

SG - Lebron James - Arguably the best player on the planet.

PG - Dwayne Wade - NBA champion. He had one of the best performances in the finals in history.

Bench - Their bench thins out a bit in comparison to to the 96' class, but there are still some quality players. Honorable mention goes to Kendrick Perkins, Travis Outlaw, Boris Diaw and T.J. Ford.

Josh Howard

Leandro Barbosa

Kris Kaman

Kirk Heinrich

My argument for the 96' draft having the better class is due mainly to the bench. The starting line up for the 03' squad is only slightly superior when compared to the 96' class in their primes. Bosh and West vs. Camby and Oneal is a stale mate. I would definitely give the nod to Melo over Peja, but after that the match ups even out. Yes, Lebron and Wade are both bigger than Kobe and Iverson. But neither of them have the post game to take advantage. Iverson in his prime could score on anyone in the league, as well as Kobe. Once you bring in a fresh Ray Allen, Marbury or Nash off the bench its a wrap. Sound off in the comments!

NBA Offseason:Spurs Strike First

Over the last week there have plenty of trade rumors swirling around the NBA. Shaq and Antwan Jamison have been rumored to rescue Cleveland fans from the agony of possibly losing Lebron while the Celtics seem to be shopping Rajon Rondo(their best player in this years playoffs) and Ray Allen.(Mr. Invisible). Yet after all the huffing and puffing, the San Antonio Spurs drew first blood. Usually the trades that don't get much hype are the ones that end up materializing, and this trade is just one of many examples.(Anyone remember Gasol to the Lakers rumors?) The Spurs sent Fabricio Oberto(Later traded to the Pistons for Amir Johnson)Bruce Bowen and Kurt Thomas to the Bucks for Richard Jefferson. Both teams accomplished their goals with this deal; the Bucks are expected to save $15 million in cap space for the free agent gold rush in the 2010-2011 season(Good luck getting Lebron James to Milwuakee) and the Spurs received a much needed boost to their offense with a legitimate scorer in Richard Jefferson.

The negative side to the trade is that the Spurs gave up a couple of quality big men. Oberto played a key role for them while playing along side Duncan. He's a tough defender, can make an open 12-15 footer, is a quality rebounder, and fit well in the Spurs system. Kurt Thomas is just a great vet to have going to war with you. He's known for his post defense and makes it difficult for opposing players to establish themselves on the block. Then you have Bruce Bowen, the long tenured perimeter defensive ace who guarded the opposing team's best player for years. Last year he slowed a lot and fell out of Popovich's rotation, so he was somewhat expendable. The loss of the bigs hurt because it doesn't leave them with much. Along with Duncan they have Matt Bonner and Francisco Elson(ugh). Unless they have some other moves in the works, its going to be tough to get it done with that front line.

On the positive side the Spurs get a younger, athletic scorer to join their big three. With Ginobilli's injury, Jefferson's scoring will help supplement the offensive load. Duncan and Parker will benefit greatly from this addition, especially since both have had to do so much scoring last season. Duncan is only getting older and will need to stay as fresh as possible if the Spurs have any chance of challenging for a Chip again. Parker for the first time has a athletic running mate to race down the floor with. For the his career he's been a one man fast break, now he has RJ to toss lobs to and finish on the break.

Overall this was a good deal for the Spurs and the Bucks. We will have to wait until next year before we can see if this is one of many moves for the Spurs that catapult them back to the promised land.

Death of Autotune? I Don't Think So

Jay-Z recently made headlines and sparked plenty of debate with his latest release "D.OA.(Death of Auto-tune." Like "Dre Day", "Hit 'em up", "Hip Hop is Dead" and the "Nigger album"( later changed to Untitled) the title of of the track and the weight it carried attracted listeners to put on their head phones and listen to a eulogy for the slain Auto-tune. Jay has a cult of admirers, and when he talks his followers cling to his every word. I've never been a huge Jay-Z fan my self, but I do respect him and have heard some of the best verses written from the self proclaimed "Jordan of Rap". The track was also produced by NO I.D., a legendary Chi Town producer that is responsible for some of Common's (Ressurection) best and earlier work. So when I read the title of the song, I pictured the Auto-tune machine smashed to bits in a casket with Lil Wayne, Kanye West and T-pain somberly standing over its corpse with tears in their eyes. I figured once Jay set his sites on the the popular voice modulator, there would be nothing left of it but memories of the Frankenstein that T-pain universalized. Luckily for it's supporters, Jay's barely scarred the monster.

The best comparison I can draw with this song is Nas's "Hip Hop is Dead". I bumped that album for months and really didn't have too many gripes with it. My only problem was that the album fell short of the concept. The title beckoned Hip Hop purest, but didn't quite carry the weight. "D.O.A." suffers the same consequences. I like the song, I mean its ok, but Jay did not make his point. I expected the song to focus on the heavy trend, the over saturation of the of its use, the lack of talent behind some of its users.(T-Wayne is the exception, sorry Kanye.) But instead it was just a Jay-Z song with a catchy title. Sure, he mentioned a couple things about it, but I got more of his opinion during his interviews in the aftermath of the release than I did from the song. Jay is talented enough to state assessments in his verses, but he failed to achieve his goal on this track.

When shock titles like this truly live up to the hype it's a beautiful thing. Nas' "Untitled " was the most recent example that reached that pinnacle. Sure, Auto-tune can be annoying, but what makes this different from every other trend that Hip Hop has created then later on overused?(Drugs and Money anyone?) I didn't look at the falsely proclaimed death of Auto-tune and rejoice, but I was interested to see how Jay managed to take out such a beloved entity. "D.O.A." reminds me of one of those old Bond movies. Where the villain is positive he has James Bond in a situation that can lead to nothing more than death, but prematurely leaves Bond alive believing that his demise is certain-----sound familiar?

Kobe:Top 10?

Now that Kobe Bean Bryant can finally silence the ridiculous criticism about his championship pedigree, we can finally take a look at where he ranks among the greats. No longer is he subjected to the absurd argument of not being able to win without Shaq. In the history of the game I've never seen a player with championships under scrutiny and held against the players legacy. As Kobe stated, his pairing with Shaq was the only duo with "Two alpha males." No player has ever won a title on his own, yet for some reason everyone pretends like Jordan played by himself. So now that Kobe has won his long waited title with out the "Big Aristotle", how does he measure up against the legends of the game?

Before Kobe held his long coveted finals MVP, Ahmad Rashad spoke with the TNT crew about Kobe's place in history. The question came up and was presented to E.J., Kenny and Charles--"Is Kobe one of the top 10 greatest players of all time?" Personally, I've always had Kobe in the top 10 and when I first heard the question I laughed. Of course he's in the top 10 I said to myself. Then Barkley opened his big mouth, and said "No way." What?! Barkley had the nerve to say he didn't merit a top 10 spot because he's only won one title by himself.(Just know that Sir Charles doesn't like Kobe, and this proves it). Kenny had him at number 10, I disagree, but I wasn't upset with the list. He had Jordan(duh), Magic, Bird, Wilt, Russel. Kareem, West, Oscar, and Shaq as the 9 above Kobe. That is a more than legitimate nine to have over him. I have Kobe ranked over West and Oscar. Jerry West and Oscar Robertson both have only 1 Chip. Jerry won his first after years of disappointment at the hands of the Celtics. Oscar is known for averaging a triple double(I still can't believe that), but didn't win a title until he played with Kareem.

Jerry West was quoted recently saying that Bryant was the "Best Laker Ever". Well, if that's the case, that would put him over Magic wouldn't it? I don't know if I'm ready to go there just yet, but I don't think there is a question Kobe is in the top 10, maybe even top 5. Sound off in the comments.

Klan Music

Hip Hop has risen to the forefront as the primary representation of the youth. Its origins are deeply rooted in the rebellious nature born of the African American struggle. Prior to the commercialized beginnings brought forth by the nation wide craze over "Rapper's Delight", Hip Hop music was being expressed by young pioneers on street corners, in alleyways, and parks in the heart of New York City. They spoke of hardships, oppression, and depression. They were like local news reporters broadcasting a story that American society failed to acknowledge or change. You feared their rat infested projects, their corners flooded with drugs, and their streets overwhelmed with crime and violence. No matter how harsh, horrifying, or intimidating these tales were, we believed them, they were real. But nothing can ever stay the same and Hip Hop is no exception. It is now suffering the same fate of every other form of creativity spawned from the African American diaspora.

It's hard to listen to commercialized rap music these days. At times I have to ask myself am I even listening to music. Artists that claim to put their heart and soul in their "music" are instead selling their integrity for the almighty dollar. Let me set the record straight--I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH BROTHAS GETTIN MONEY. Most of these cats grew up in conditions that rival the third world. But there is a place where you have to draw the line. When these young brothas sign their names on the dotted line of these billions dollar record companies headed by blood thirsty executives, they lose all creative control and artistic integrity. Turn on the radio, or to a music video channel (if you can find one) and just count how many times you hear references to murdering "niggas". Rappers are more eloquent and witty when it comes to dispatching of Negroes than our forefathers ever dreamed of. They degrade women to the point where the word "bitch" has now become an household name for females. I'm guilty of it, I've used the word when talking about women in my life that I have nothing but admiration for with no ill intent in my words. This is no longer about rebellion or or rising up from the ashes, this is about poison and mind control.

A few years ago a friend a mine showed me a bunch of Nazi, Hill Billie, Cracker, Skin head racists websites. He was unaware that there was still this much hate prevalent in modern society(I slapped him in the back of his head for being so naive, but i digress). I remember noticing some of the hate music on the sites and laughing until my stomach turned at the pure ignorance of it all. But then I listened to the lyrics more closely and I realized that it was no different than the music I listened to every day. The only aberration was that they used the word "nigger" as opposed to "nigga". I thought to myself, why do they even bother wasting their energy recording these songs when they could just purchase the latest hip hop CD?(They probably just don't want to give a nigger--- oh, sorry, a "nigga" a dime). They wouldn't have to change a word, they could even sing right along with the murder music and still satisfy their nigger bashing mantras for the day.

Hip Hop has its back against the wall; it is approaching a critical point in its life span where it could wither away into ignorance or rise to the occasion and unite generations with its power. I don't want to continue to be critical nor continue to waste my time and energy paying attention to those who perpetuate degradation. My father used a great analogy for the current state of the music I've come to love and abhor at the same time. We're all on a sinking ship, and either you can stay at the bottom of the deck hanging out and playing games while the boat sinks into nothingness, or you can help get the life boats out and preserve the lives of anyone willing to leave the extravagant ship behind and be saved. I don't know about yall, but I can't swim.

Disney Land vs. Disney World

So it's all comes down to this. After all the hype around the match up of the "Puppets", Superman came and "reigned" on every one's parade. After doubting the Magic in every series, they climbed to the top of the mountain and are now facing my squad in the finals. I never really considered this match up and didn't gain any respect for them until they won game 7 in Boston and later on usurped King James. Now that it's all settled, the battle that I never imagined poses some very intriguing match ups in the finals.

As I've said time and time again, my lack of respect for the Magic came from the fact that they shot so many threes. And we all know the old cliche "Live by the three, die by the three." Well so far the only ones getting murked by the long ball have been Orlando's opponents. They have one of the most well executed offenses in the league. I've rarely seen them take forced shots or launch any prayers towards the basket. Their buckets come from a carefully orchestrated offense my the seemingly mad and emotional Stan Van Gundy. Say what you want about the man, but dude can coach. He basically has them playing European style hoop with a dominant big man in the roaming the paint.

Orlando posed a lot of match up problems for Cleveland. They had no answer for Rashard Lewis, they gave up too many open threes, and Dwight Howard really didn't have to guard anyone. Those same luxuries wont be prevalent against the Lakers. Yes, Lewis is still a tough cover, but now he actually has to guard one of the best offensive weapons in the L on the other end. So while Lewis can lure Gasol out to the perimeter, Pau can punish him in the paint. Orlando did beat the Lakers 3 out of the last 4 meetings, but in two of those games Jameer Nelson was their leading scorer proving their inability to stop quicker guards from torching them. Supposedly Nelson is supposed to play in the finals, but if he does he'll be nothing more than an emotional boost. I cant imagine him playing that well after missing half of the season. (Rafer Alston can't be too excited about this)

This is going to be a very exciting finals. We get to see Kobe on a mission to get his fourth ring; the one that everyone who knows nothing about basketball feels he needs to win without Shaq. The big questions is rather his teammates are gonna show up this year to give him some help. He can only control so much. Historically, the dominant big man has taken home the ring for the last decade. With the exception of Jordan, most teams require a force in the middle to hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy. Hopefully Kobe can follow in his idols footsteps.