Thursday, September 18, 2014
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
The Black Man: America's Stray Dog
By Shaebaun "Suge" Benjamin
Should I begin this by listing the names of young black men who were killed by police officers, authority figures, or self proclaimed vigilantes?
That list is too damn long. If you go on Wikipedia and look up the recorded lynchings of black men since the civil war, the one's listed are only a small percentage of those that actually occurred.
In the past few weeks we have seen Michael Brown murdered and another young black man named John Crawford III. Who is Michael Brown? A young man who may have spent this week packing up and getting ready for his first semester of college.
In reaction to his death his mother spoke through tears about how it was difficult to raise Michael in the straight and narrow while keeping him from falling into the community around him. Michael graduated high school and had dreams of being an engineer not an athlete, rapper, or drug dealer.
He was murdered as he walked home from the store which follows the narrative that goes with one of these murders. "I'm going to the store and coming right back" sounds simple enough for anyone who's not a black man.
Crawford was killed in an Ohio Walmart for opening a toy gun he had bought and told the officers that approached him that it was not real and they proceeded to shoot him anyway.
There is an inherent fear of the black male in American society. The late comedian Patrice O'Neal talked about it in one bit called the "Pepsi Can Rapist". In it he talks about how when in an elevator with a white woman, the woman clutches her purse and is scared yet coincidentally he is thinking "God, please let this white woman get home safely so I'm not the prime suspect in whatever happens to her".
There has been many a time I've walked around the city, malls, different places and I feel the need to slow down how I walk in fear that I am making the person walking in front of me afraid. You read that right, I am in fear of their fear of me. Some may say if you're not guilty of anything you shouldn't be paranoid but when the Michael Browns and Trayvon Martins of the world are being killed without cause and there are laws like New York City's "Stop & Frisk" where an officer can stop and search you like a criminal without justification, you can't help but feel a little paranoid.
Michael and Trayvon's death follows a long history of black youths being made examples of. Emmett Till was just 15 when he was murdered by a group of white men for making a pass at one's wife in 1955. He was taken from his uncle's house in the middle of the night and the men were all acquitted even with overwhelming evidence.
The methods have changed but the outcomes have not. They can't grab you out of your homes as they did in the Jim Crow south but they still face no real consequence for exterminating us. That's when you have to ask what is the value of a black man's life in today's society?
Eric Garner was a 43 year old husband, father, and grandfather who made a living selling cigarettes wholesale, a non-violent crime that cost him his life by police officers in Staten Island, NY. There is footage of his murder and the events leading to the police officer putting a choke hold that is not part of NYPD procedure.
This case like many others involving officers will likely see these officers not face much penalties.
People like George Zimmerman and the murdering officers view black men as menaces, savages, or stray dogs. They fail to realize that we are people with lives and families that care for us and us for them. Oscar Grant had a daughter, Eric Garner had grandchildren, Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown were sons that had parents. Grant's daughter has no father. Garner's grandkids have no grandpa. Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin no longer have their son and neither does Lesley McSpadden.
People ask why is there only an uproar when a young black is killed by a non-black but none when blacks kill other blacks?
Stray dogs. When two stray dogs maul each other on the street there is no issue but once a human gets involved then it is a crime. America cares not for the kids in Chicago killing each other because you never see the gun rights activists step up to the pulpit fighting for the civilians in Chicago who aren't part of the violence to have guns to protect themselves from the world of crime and gang violence around them.
When I expressed my disappointment in the George Zimmerman ruling I said "How am I going to explain to my future son that his life means nothing in America", a white woman responded to me by saying "But we have a black president?" as if Barack Obama's election ended all the racism in America.
That statement in of itself shows that the ignorance will continue.
Martin Luther King Jr. and others started the work but we still have to eradicate the ignorance and intolerance of these oppressors.
The people of Ferguson took to the streets and rioted in retaliation for Brown's death. But if our history shows us anything it is that non-violence and turning the other cheek gains much more results. By letting the oppressor show what they conceive as their might and by displaying our resistance we make them look much worst to an outside eye.
Until there is a day young black men like myself can walk out the door without the fear feeling it may be the last we see our loved ones and them seeing us, America will not be at peace and racism will not be dead and buried as it should.
Should I begin this by listing the names of young black men who were killed by police officers, authority figures, or self proclaimed vigilantes?
That list is too damn long. If you go on Wikipedia and look up the recorded lynchings of black men since the civil war, the one's listed are only a small percentage of those that actually occurred.
In the past few weeks we have seen Michael Brown murdered and another young black man named John Crawford III. Who is Michael Brown? A young man who may have spent this week packing up and getting ready for his first semester of college.
In reaction to his death his mother spoke through tears about how it was difficult to raise Michael in the straight and narrow while keeping him from falling into the community around him. Michael graduated high school and had dreams of being an engineer not an athlete, rapper, or drug dealer.
He was murdered as he walked home from the store which follows the narrative that goes with one of these murders. "I'm going to the store and coming right back" sounds simple enough for anyone who's not a black man.
Crawford was killed in an Ohio Walmart for opening a toy gun he had bought and told the officers that approached him that it was not real and they proceeded to shoot him anyway.
There is an inherent fear of the black male in American society. The late comedian Patrice O'Neal talked about it in one bit called the "Pepsi Can Rapist". In it he talks about how when in an elevator with a white woman, the woman clutches her purse and is scared yet coincidentally he is thinking "God, please let this white woman get home safely so I'm not the prime suspect in whatever happens to her".
There has been many a time I've walked around the city, malls, different places and I feel the need to slow down how I walk in fear that I am making the person walking in front of me afraid. You read that right, I am in fear of their fear of me. Some may say if you're not guilty of anything you shouldn't be paranoid but when the Michael Browns and Trayvon Martins of the world are being killed without cause and there are laws like New York City's "Stop & Frisk" where an officer can stop and search you like a criminal without justification, you can't help but feel a little paranoid.
Michael and Trayvon's death follows a long history of black youths being made examples of. Emmett Till was just 15 when he was murdered by a group of white men for making a pass at one's wife in 1955. He was taken from his uncle's house in the middle of the night and the men were all acquitted even with overwhelming evidence.
The methods have changed but the outcomes have not. They can't grab you out of your homes as they did in the Jim Crow south but they still face no real consequence for exterminating us. That's when you have to ask what is the value of a black man's life in today's society?
Eric Garner was a 43 year old husband, father, and grandfather who made a living selling cigarettes wholesale, a non-violent crime that cost him his life by police officers in Staten Island, NY. There is footage of his murder and the events leading to the police officer putting a choke hold that is not part of NYPD procedure.
This case like many others involving officers will likely see these officers not face much penalties.
People like George Zimmerman and the murdering officers view black men as menaces, savages, or stray dogs. They fail to realize that we are people with lives and families that care for us and us for them. Oscar Grant had a daughter, Eric Garner had grandchildren, Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown were sons that had parents. Grant's daughter has no father. Garner's grandkids have no grandpa. Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin no longer have their son and neither does Lesley McSpadden.
People ask why is there only an uproar when a young black is killed by a non-black but none when blacks kill other blacks?
Stray dogs. When two stray dogs maul each other on the street there is no issue but once a human gets involved then it is a crime. America cares not for the kids in Chicago killing each other because you never see the gun rights activists step up to the pulpit fighting for the civilians in Chicago who aren't part of the violence to have guns to protect themselves from the world of crime and gang violence around them.
When I expressed my disappointment in the George Zimmerman ruling I said "How am I going to explain to my future son that his life means nothing in America", a white woman responded to me by saying "But we have a black president?" as if Barack Obama's election ended all the racism in America.
That statement in of itself shows that the ignorance will continue.
Martin Luther King Jr. and others started the work but we still have to eradicate the ignorance and intolerance of these oppressors.
The people of Ferguson took to the streets and rioted in retaliation for Brown's death. But if our history shows us anything it is that non-violence and turning the other cheek gains much more results. By letting the oppressor show what they conceive as their might and by displaying our resistance we make them look much worst to an outside eye.
Until there is a day young black men like myself can walk out the door without the fear feeling it may be the last we see our loved ones and them seeing us, America will not be at peace and racism will not be dead and buried as it should.
Sunday, August 10, 2014
If I Was the Commissioner
By Shaebaun
"Suge" Benjamin
It's been a little slow
here at Hard Magazine because I'm getting ready for a two week vacation and
finding plane tickets for the right price is getting to be a pain, but, here is
my bit for the week.
I was watching a show on
NBATV called Open Court that features former NBA players
discussing different topics in an open forum.
One question posed by
the moderator Ernie Johnson was what each person would change about the NBA if
he were the commissioner. That got me thinking about what I would change about
the NBA, but, then I thought about other sports as well.
I can't really discuss
hockey though I am a huge New York Rangers fan but I will talk about the other
major sports as well as MLS since soccer is getting ever so popular on this
side of the Atlantic.
NFL
Let's start with the
nation's most popular sport beginning with the offseason.
I would make the NFL
Combine a two week to month long event and make it televised so that when you
watch the draft or undrafted free agent pick ups, you could say "I
remember that kid benched 8 plates for 25 reps" or "that guy ran
faster than every dude picked."
I would make the NFL
season still be 16 games but add in another bye week so there would be 18 weeks
in a season.
I don't know about
adding to the playoffs unless maybe adding two wild cards and giving the four
division winners a bye but then the two top seeds in the conference would have
two full weeks off and then if they were to make it to the Super Bowl have
another two weeks off, that would mean three football games played in a month
and a half. It doesn't really work in college football and would elongate the
NFL season.
One thing I would change
in the postseason is dropping the Pro Bowl altogether. One idea that may be
possible is replacing it with a sort of a consolation game between the NFC and
AFC runner-ups. The World Cup does it. Not only could it be popular but also be
real football with no restrictions whatsoever with players still bitter that
they didn't make it to the big game.
NBA
The NBA season should
start on Christmas Eve and end sometime in July. I would also lower the amount
of the games from 82 to 66 which could reduce some injuries.
When I say I would start
the season on Christmas Eve, all games would be against divisional opponents or
teams that are only two or less hours flight time from each other like Dallas
and OKC or Nets and Knicks.
Fourth of July would be
the first day of the Finals. Having the Finals in July would kill the idea of
July being the most boring sports month. The draft and free agency would start
right after Finals.
Draft night would
be the day after the scheduled Game 7 date and free agency would start right
after the Finals and the amount of exclusive time a team has with their own
player is cut from 10 days to 5. The reason for this is that with a salary cap,
the amount of teams a player can choose from is as little as 2 or 3 anyhow.
Instead of a Trade
Deadline I would have 2 two week long trade windows much like in international
soccer they have transfer windows. You'd have the entire offseason until the
start of the season to make trades, then the week of and after the All Star
break and the two weeks leading to the playoffs.
I also agree with Adam
Silver attempting to make All Star Weekend a week long affair. It would be fun
for the host city much like the two weeks before the Super Bowl. For the
players it would be extra rest. For front offices it would be time to prepare
for the trade windows.
To fill in time that
week, I would make the Rookie/Sophomore game a four team tournament over three
days and the other All Star festivities filled in between.
MLB
Now to my favorite
sport. I don't really like the commissioner we have as is. I also will not
discuss the involvement of PED's, if you want to hear my thoughts on that read here.
I have no problem with
the All Star Game being played for homefield advantage in the World Series. The
system before was nonsense. The homefield was alternated every other year so
basically people's arguments against it and wanting the old institution is
"I hope my team makes it to the World Series in an odd number year"
against "I hope my team's league wins the All Star Game so if we get to
the World Series games 1 & 7 is at our park." I do wish that
they'd get rid of the "every team has to be represented" rule.
There's no rule like that in the Pro Bowl and each conference has 50 or so
players opposed to the 35 in baseball.
They could also add a
few more events to the festivities aside from the Home Run Derby. Pitching
Accuracy, Outfield Arm Strength, and Baserunning Races would be nice.
Something that irked me
was a game played the night before the All Star Break. The Yankees lost to the
Orioles in a rain shortened game, 3-1. The Yankees are currently in second
place in the AL East. If they end the season one game behind Baltimore we can
look back at this game and say these two teams play each other 19 times and MLB
wants to emphasize winning the division rather than getting in as a wild card
so why didn’t they play out that game another time. I would make it so that any
intra-divisional game cannot be called after 5 innings due to rain or any other
reason. The game will be subject to be suspended and be resumed at a later
date.
Draft picks should only
be connected to players somewhat if at all. No team should have to forfeit
draft picks to sign players, teams that lose players should gain compensatory
picks without the team gaining the players losing picks.
Other small things such
as having a few more day games during the playoffs would be nice for kids to become
more interested in the sport. I remember watching the 2003 and 2004 ALCS's at
age 13 & 14 and having stay up as late as 1:00am and 2:00am to watch my
Yankees play which is crazy for a freshman in high school let alone a kid in
elementary or middle school.
MLS
If you are still with
me, bear with me if you have little interest in MLS or soccer in general. The
sport has grown from 10 teams and many ups and downs to a 19 team league. By
2017 there will be 23 teams.
International stars such
as David Beckham and Thierry Henry have played in the MLS as well as our
country's own stars like Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan.
My ideas for this league,
unlike the others, are how to make the league grow and not fix flaws.
I would continue to add
teams, mostly in the under populated midwest as there are only teams in the
Chicago and Kansas City. Perhaps in St. Louis, Oklahoma City, and Minnesota.
The south will have teams in Orlando, Miami, and Atlanta soon.
The league institutes a
designated player rule where a player can be signed with a salary that doesn't
count against the salary cap with many restrictions as to who fits the
requirements. I would do away with the whole thing.
Instead I would let each
team have a $50 million budget for each international transfer window and
raise the salary cap from $10 million to $20-25 million with increases as the
league grows.
I would get the league
in line with the other prominent soccer leagues around the globe by making the
winner of the MLS Cup the team with the most points during the season and have
the MLS teams play in an in season tournament for a secondary cup along with
the US Open cup.
If you have any other
ideas or disagreements for my changes let me know in the comments below.
Sunday, July 27, 2014
The Official Panty Dropper Hall of Fame: The Greatest Baby Maker Music Performers
by Shaebaun "Suge" Benjamin
While on my way to work the other day, I saw pretty good looking girl in yoga pants and I made my own version of Ginuwine's "In Those Jeans" in my head for yoga pants. I then began to think of "Pony" and a few other Ginuwine hits. I thought to myself where does Ginuwine stand as far as the pantheon of "Panty Droppers"
This weekend, baseball welcomed six new members into their Hall of Fame, so in honor of that I will make my own inaugural class for the Panty Dropper Hall of Fame.
I will only cover the 90's and 00's because getting into the Luther Vandrosses and Teddy Pendergrasses will be too much and should go without saying as being Hall of Famers.
I will have five inductees as baseball had in 1939. Well, five solo artists and I'll have a couple groups as well. The criteria for enshrinement will be panty dropping ability of course, body of work, and staying power.
Panty dropping ability is the the power this artist had to make people want to dance vertically and without pants or any clothes on for that matter.
Body of work. The amount of music this artist had for his audience and its substance.
Staying power. Does the music still resonate today? Can it make people grind slow to it that have never heard it before?
I also have a few that just missed the cut. So let's start with them...
Honorable Mentions
Jon B
Jon B revolutionized the blue-eyed soul legacy carried on today by Robin Thicke and Justin Timberlake. Linking up with Babyface in the mid-nineties launched him into the forefront of the R&B scene. He left us with "Pretty Lady", "They Don't Know", and "Someone To Love". The problem with Jon B is that all of those came out around the same time, so it's like being the Juan Gonzalez of of this time period.
Babyface
Mentioned earlier with Jon B, but, Babyface does not make the cut also due to body of work. Although hits like "Two Occasions" and "Whip Appeal" add to his staying power, he left the performing side and instead wrote and produced countless hits. He'd be the Joe Torre of the class because Torre had a great playing career but will be remembered for his managerial career.
Case
This one hurts as well as the next person on this list. Case made some panty droppers, legit ones, but stopped making them. Check out "Missing You" and "Happily Ever After". Here's "Happily Ever After" with a young Beyonce as the main female in the video.
Donnell Jones
I said this one hurts too because every black dude from this time period ought to know "Where I Wanna Be" by heart, it's our birthright. "U Know What's Up" featuring the late Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes is another hit. Even him singing the hook on the late Big Pun's "It's So Hard" is fire. Jones unfortunately lost steam and faded. He and Case have to be the Brandon Webbs of this list.
Musiq Soulchild
Musiq had you feel like he was someone that was going to remain, at worst, relevant to this day. His music had a message and would make great wedding songs or joints you'd give to your girl on a mixtape. I thought Soulchild would have the career of John Legend. Tim Lincecum is a good comparison.
Chris Brown
A controversial omission because Chris Brown himself may make panties drop, I do not consider him a panty dropper. He did make a few droppers such as "With You" and "Don't Judge Me. Songs like "Take You Down" and "No Bullshit" are songs people bring up and you're like "Oh, yeah I forgot he did that". He's like the Andy Pettite or Mike Mussina of this list.
Now without further adieu, the inaugural class of the Panty Droppers Hall of Fame...
Usher
The headliner of this class is Usher Raymond and I know how to spell that because of his premiere piece "Nice & Slow". Once that dropped, his panty dropper Hall of Fame eligibility was not a matter of "if" but "when". Usher is an icon now but when it comes to the matter at hand, he is a persistent panty dropper for every album he makes there is a panty dropper.
My Way-Nice & Slow
8701-U Got It Bad
Confessions-Superstar, Can U Handle It, Confessions Part II, That's What It's Made For
Here I Stand -Trading Places, Love In This Club
Raymond v. Raymond-Hey Daddy, There Goes My Baby
Looking 4 Myself-Dive, Climax
And he has another album dropping later this year.
Ginuwine
The basis of this article. This man has a song that heavily implies banging in "Pony". "Pony" is still used in movies and TV for highly sexual scenes. In addition to that there are "So Anxious", "Differences", "Love You More", and "Stingy". As you can see Ginuwine has no MVP seasons but year in and year out puts together solid seasons. He hit all three of the requirements swimmingly.
Joe
Y'all must have forgotten about Joe but he surely makes the cut. With hits like "I Wanna Know", "All The Things", "More & More" as well as hooking up with G-Unit for "Wanna Get to Know You". Joe represents Pedro Martinez, although he had a few good seasons, those seasons were so great they are hard to overlook.
Trey Songz
Tremaine makes it because, sheesh, ask your girl about Trigga. "Just Gotta Make It" Trey Songz would not have made this list. He was like a young player that struggled early in his career but worked on his mechanics and turned himself into a Hall of Famer. Compare him to Randy Johnson. Johnson was average before he turned 30 but turned into a Hall of Famer after changing his approach. Trey Songz turned into a more fun-loving and sensual artist. He carried every dude's "party hard with boys yet be passionate with the ladies" attitude into his music. "Invented Sex", "Neighbors Know My Name", "Lovefaces", and others. Some may battle me on this but Trey Songz "Just Gotta Make It" into the Panty Dropper Hall of Fame.
Tyrese
Tyrese is an actor and started off as a model but between all of that he was a singer. You may say he hasn't done much lately in the music department, I guess you didn't hear "Best of Me", but he's a busy man these days. Tyrese made classics "Lately", "Sweet Lady", "How You Gonna Act Like That", "What Am I Gonna Do", and did you forget "The Signs of Lovemaking"? Tyrese more than makes the Hall of Fame, this dude is Ichiro Suzuki.
112
112 dominated the R&B group division from the late 90's and the early 2000's. They had competition from Dru Hill, Next, and Jagged Edge but held strong. "Cupid" is the song lovers bond over. "Anywhere" makes lovers bond all of the place. "U Already Know" was their 2011 Derek Jeter season, the last good one by an aging veteran.
Jodeci
Jodeci makes the list not only for their own work but the work KC & JoJo did on their own later on. "Come & Talk to Me" was the anthem for the shy guys. "Feenin" was for the "cuffed-up" dudes. "FreakNYou" was the joint for the lovemaking. There was also "Forever My Lady", "Stay", and "Cry For You" among others. KC & JoJo then went on the make an all timer in "All My Life". They also had "Tell Me It's Real", "Life", "Crazy", and "Don't Rush".
So there you are, The Inaugural Class of the Panty Dropper's Hall of Fame. If you disagree or feel there are some artisst that should be on here please let me know in the comments below.
While on my way to work the other day, I saw pretty good looking girl in yoga pants and I made my own version of Ginuwine's "In Those Jeans" in my head for yoga pants. I then began to think of "Pony" and a few other Ginuwine hits. I thought to myself where does Ginuwine stand as far as the pantheon of "Panty Droppers"
This weekend, baseball welcomed six new members into their Hall of Fame, so in honor of that I will make my own inaugural class for the Panty Dropper Hall of Fame.
I will only cover the 90's and 00's because getting into the Luther Vandrosses and Teddy Pendergrasses will be too much and should go without saying as being Hall of Famers.
I will have five inductees as baseball had in 1939. Well, five solo artists and I'll have a couple groups as well. The criteria for enshrinement will be panty dropping ability of course, body of work, and staying power.
Panty dropping ability is the the power this artist had to make people want to dance vertically and without pants or any clothes on for that matter.
Body of work. The amount of music this artist had for his audience and its substance.
Staying power. Does the music still resonate today? Can it make people grind slow to it that have never heard it before?
I also have a few that just missed the cut. So let's start with them...
Honorable Mentions
Jon B
Jon B revolutionized the blue-eyed soul legacy carried on today by Robin Thicke and Justin Timberlake. Linking up with Babyface in the mid-nineties launched him into the forefront of the R&B scene. He left us with "Pretty Lady", "They Don't Know", and "Someone To Love". The problem with Jon B is that all of those came out around the same time, so it's like being the Juan Gonzalez of of this time period.
Babyface
Mentioned earlier with Jon B, but, Babyface does not make the cut also due to body of work. Although hits like "Two Occasions" and "Whip Appeal" add to his staying power, he left the performing side and instead wrote and produced countless hits. He'd be the Joe Torre of the class because Torre had a great playing career but will be remembered for his managerial career.
Case
This one hurts as well as the next person on this list. Case made some panty droppers, legit ones, but stopped making them. Check out "Missing You" and "Happily Ever After". Here's "Happily Ever After" with a young Beyonce as the main female in the video.
Donnell Jones
I said this one hurts too because every black dude from this time period ought to know "Where I Wanna Be" by heart, it's our birthright. "U Know What's Up" featuring the late Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes is another hit. Even him singing the hook on the late Big Pun's "It's So Hard" is fire. Jones unfortunately lost steam and faded. He and Case have to be the Brandon Webbs of this list.
Musiq Soulchild
Musiq had you feel like he was someone that was going to remain, at worst, relevant to this day. His music had a message and would make great wedding songs or joints you'd give to your girl on a mixtape. I thought Soulchild would have the career of John Legend. Tim Lincecum is a good comparison.
A controversial omission because Chris Brown himself may make panties drop, I do not consider him a panty dropper. He did make a few droppers such as "With You" and "Don't Judge Me. Songs like "Take You Down" and "No Bullshit" are songs people bring up and you're like "Oh, yeah I forgot he did that". He's like the Andy Pettite or Mike Mussina of this list.
Now without further adieu, the inaugural class of the Panty Droppers Hall of Fame...
Usher
The headliner of this class is Usher Raymond and I know how to spell that because of his premiere piece "Nice & Slow". Once that dropped, his panty dropper Hall of Fame eligibility was not a matter of "if" but "when". Usher is an icon now but when it comes to the matter at hand, he is a persistent panty dropper for every album he makes there is a panty dropper.
My Way-Nice & Slow
8701-U Got It Bad
Confessions-Superstar, Can U Handle It, Confessions Part II, That's What It's Made For
Here I Stand -Trading Places, Love In This Club
Raymond v. Raymond-Hey Daddy, There Goes My Baby
Looking 4 Myself-Dive, Climax
And he has another album dropping later this year.
Ginuwine
The basis of this article. This man has a song that heavily implies banging in "Pony". "Pony" is still used in movies and TV for highly sexual scenes. In addition to that there are "So Anxious", "Differences", "Love You More", and "Stingy". As you can see Ginuwine has no MVP seasons but year in and year out puts together solid seasons. He hit all three of the requirements swimmingly.
Joe
Y'all must have forgotten about Joe but he surely makes the cut. With hits like "I Wanna Know", "All The Things", "More & More" as well as hooking up with G-Unit for "Wanna Get to Know You". Joe represents Pedro Martinez, although he had a few good seasons, those seasons were so great they are hard to overlook.
Trey Songz
Tremaine makes it because, sheesh, ask your girl about Trigga. "Just Gotta Make It" Trey Songz would not have made this list. He was like a young player that struggled early in his career but worked on his mechanics and turned himself into a Hall of Famer. Compare him to Randy Johnson. Johnson was average before he turned 30 but turned into a Hall of Famer after changing his approach. Trey Songz turned into a more fun-loving and sensual artist. He carried every dude's "party hard with boys yet be passionate with the ladies" attitude into his music. "Invented Sex", "Neighbors Know My Name", "Lovefaces", and others. Some may battle me on this but Trey Songz "Just Gotta Make It" into the Panty Dropper Hall of Fame.
Tyrese
Tyrese is an actor and started off as a model but between all of that he was a singer. You may say he hasn't done much lately in the music department, I guess you didn't hear "Best of Me", but he's a busy man these days. Tyrese made classics "Lately", "Sweet Lady", "How You Gonna Act Like That", "What Am I Gonna Do", and did you forget "The Signs of Lovemaking"? Tyrese more than makes the Hall of Fame, this dude is Ichiro Suzuki.
112
112 dominated the R&B group division from the late 90's and the early 2000's. They had competition from Dru Hill, Next, and Jagged Edge but held strong. "Cupid" is the song lovers bond over. "Anywhere" makes lovers bond all of the place. "U Already Know" was their 2011 Derek Jeter season, the last good one by an aging veteran.
Jodeci
Jodeci makes the list not only for their own work but the work KC & JoJo did on their own later on. "Come & Talk to Me" was the anthem for the shy guys. "Feenin" was for the "cuffed-up" dudes. "FreakNYou" was the joint for the lovemaking. There was also "Forever My Lady", "Stay", and "Cry For You" among others. KC & JoJo then went on the make an all timer in "All My Life". They also had "Tell Me It's Real", "Life", "Crazy", and "Don't Rush".
So there you are, The Inaugural Class of the Panty Dropper's Hall of Fame. If you disagree or feel there are some artisst that should be on here please let me know in the comments below.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Race at the Movies: Color or Lack There of in Films
by Shaebaun "Suge" Benjamin
In 1916, D.W. Griffith made history and broke ground on the art of film making when he directed and released Birth of Nation. The film was a loose a interpretation of the Reconstruction Era that took place after the American Civil War in the southern U.S.
It took the time to carefully make fun of blacks and northern republicans will making the vile Ku Klux Klan seem like The Avengers.
Although freed slaves were featured as sex-crazed and violent towards whites, basically making them the antagonists of the film, the main villains were played by white actors in black face.
In 1963, the love story of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony was released featuring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. At the time it was the most expensive film ever made. Joseph L. Mankiewicz was the director.
The Egyption Cleopatra was played by the very much Caucasian Elizabeth Taylor.
On December 12, 2014 acclaimed director Ridley Scott will release Exodus: Gods & Kings which will tell the biblical tale of the Hebrews escape from Egypt and the Pharoah Ramses led by Moses.
Based on the trailer I can tell this will at least be a decent film that displays the plagues and the parting of the Red Sea.
Moses is played by the Welsh actor Christian Bale and Ramses is played by Joel Edgerton, an Australian actor.
Edgerton is fine actor whom you may know from The Great Gatsby and Warrior.
My problem with this is that in the 150 years of film making, we still have white actors playing the parts of people of color.
Perhaps in 1916 the idea of having an actual black man chase a white woman to her death might be too much for society to handle at the time.
And in 1963, it may have been too much to hire Diahann Carroll or Dorothy Dandrige to play Cleopatra when making a film with a then "unheard of" budget.
But here in 2014 there is no good explanation as to why an Egyptian character is being played by a white Australian actor with a spray tan.
There are plenty of Eastern African or Middle Eastern actors that may have made names for themselves while playing Ramses. As I said before this is no knock on Joel Edgerton, but this should have been an opportunity for ethnic actors to play a main role in what seems to be an epic film.
Race in film is still very much an issue, not as big of an issue in the past, but surely still an issue.
In early 2014, a reboot of the Fantastic Four films was announced to include Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, played by Michael B. Jordan. Storm is usually portrayed as white and will now be played by an African American. This was met with harsh criticism by staunch fans of the comic book. It also happened with Idris Elba playing Heimdall in both Thor films. But there is hardly any uproar when characters of color are played by whites.
No longer are African Americans constantly portrayed as domestic servants or submissive characters as in the early eras of film nor as pimps or drug dealers in the blaxploitation era.
A few years ago a film named The Help was released and met with plenty of critical acclaim. I was not too happy at the idea of a film about black maids in the 1960's and being able to overcome only with the help young white news reporter. As I saw the film, it was just as I had thought.
A joke made in Robert Townsend's Hollywood Shuffle stated that black actors would always have jobs as long as they continued to make "slave movies."
Another issue of race in film is the portrayal of romantic relationships between races.
Zoe Saldana is phenomenal actress. In most of her films she is involved romantically with white actors even when she plays aliens in films such as Avatar and Guardians of the Galaxy. As far as I can remember, the last film she was in opposite a black actor was Drumline with Nick Cannon in 2002.
It is very rare to see a major film with an black actor being romantic with a white actress.
In the film Hancock, a romance between Will Smith and Charlize Theron is only displayed by her telling him they were alien lovers for over 200 years but they never get intimate, kiss, or even hug. In an earlier film featuring Smith, the love interest in Hitch was meant to be played by a white actress but replaced by Hispanic actress Eva Mendes.
Even in the 1980's the portrayal of white actress and a black actor was an issue film makers had to work around. Originally Beverly Hills Cop was to star Sylvester Stallone as Axel Foley and included a romantic relationship with Jenny Summers. When Stallone left and was replaced by Eddie Murphy the pairing of the two was dropped, likely because the Jenny role was already cast with a white actress. The relationship only goes as far as Jenny sitting on the bed of Axel's hotel room as he tells her his plan of busting her boss for murdering their friend.
Yet, Rae Dawn Chong was the "go-to black girl" to pair with box office stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger throughout the decade.
We have gotten to the point where we have an African American president and interracial relationships aren't as much of an "oh, look at them" thing anymore.
We ought to give people the chance to play their own race on different forms media rather than hiring someone and saying "let's get him a tanning bed and makeup" and as much as there ought to be a few relationships with two people of different races in film and television.
In 1916, D.W. Griffith made history and broke ground on the art of film making when he directed and released Birth of Nation. The film was a loose a interpretation of the Reconstruction Era that took place after the American Civil War in the southern U.S.
It took the time to carefully make fun of blacks and northern republicans will making the vile Ku Klux Klan seem like The Avengers.
Although freed slaves were featured as sex-crazed and violent towards whites, basically making them the antagonists of the film, the main villains were played by white actors in black face.In 1963, the love story of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony was released featuring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. At the time it was the most expensive film ever made. Joseph L. Mankiewicz was the director.
The Egyption Cleopatra was played by the very much Caucasian Elizabeth Taylor. On December 12, 2014 acclaimed director Ridley Scott will release Exodus: Gods & Kings which will tell the biblical tale of the Hebrews escape from Egypt and the Pharoah Ramses led by Moses.
Based on the trailer I can tell this will at least be a decent film that displays the plagues and the parting of the Red Sea.
Moses is played by the Welsh actor Christian Bale and Ramses is played by Joel Edgerton, an Australian actor.
My problem with this is that in the 150 years of film making, we still have white actors playing the parts of people of color.
Perhaps in 1916 the idea of having an actual black man chase a white woman to her death might be too much for society to handle at the time.
And in 1963, it may have been too much to hire Diahann Carroll or Dorothy Dandrige to play Cleopatra when making a film with a then "unheard of" budget.
But here in 2014 there is no good explanation as to why an Egyptian character is being played by a white Australian actor with a spray tan.
There are plenty of Eastern African or Middle Eastern actors that may have made names for themselves while playing Ramses. As I said before this is no knock on Joel Edgerton, but this should have been an opportunity for ethnic actors to play a main role in what seems to be an epic film.
Race in film is still very much an issue, not as big of an issue in the past, but surely still an issue.
In early 2014, a reboot of the Fantastic Four films was announced to include Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, played by Michael B. Jordan. Storm is usually portrayed as white and will now be played by an African American. This was met with harsh criticism by staunch fans of the comic book. It also happened with Idris Elba playing Heimdall in both Thor films. But there is hardly any uproar when characters of color are played by whites.
No longer are African Americans constantly portrayed as domestic servants or submissive characters as in the early eras of film nor as pimps or drug dealers in the blaxploitation era.
A few years ago a film named The Help was released and met with plenty of critical acclaim. I was not too happy at the idea of a film about black maids in the 1960's and being able to overcome only with the help young white news reporter. As I saw the film, it was just as I had thought.
A joke made in Robert Townsend's Hollywood Shuffle stated that black actors would always have jobs as long as they continued to make "slave movies."
Another issue of race in film is the portrayal of romantic relationships between races.
Zoe Saldana is phenomenal actress. In most of her films she is involved romantically with white actors even when she plays aliens in films such as Avatar and Guardians of the Galaxy. As far as I can remember, the last film she was in opposite a black actor was Drumline with Nick Cannon in 2002.It is very rare to see a major film with an black actor being romantic with a white actress.
In the film Hancock, a romance between Will Smith and Charlize Theron is only displayed by her telling him they were alien lovers for over 200 years but they never get intimate, kiss, or even hug. In an earlier film featuring Smith, the love interest in Hitch was meant to be played by a white actress but replaced by Hispanic actress Eva Mendes.
Yet, Rae Dawn Chong was the "go-to black girl" to pair with box office stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger throughout the decade.We have gotten to the point where we have an African American president and interracial relationships aren't as much of an "oh, look at them" thing anymore.
We ought to give people the chance to play their own race on different forms media rather than hiring someone and saying "let's get him a tanning bed and makeup" and as much as there ought to be a few relationships with two people of different races in film and television.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
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