Dear Dr. Dre,

As a fan of your music and business ethics, I’m sorry to say you’ve officially lost your rabbit ass mind. Almost 3 stacks for a laptop and at least $300 for your headphones? Really?

I understand that there are people in the industry who use the headphones, and your name is a brand in itself, so your products are expected to be a little pricey…but this is ridiculous.

What about your die hard fans; who can identify with NWA lyrics, or songs from The Chronic; that can’t afford a way out of their own neighborhood, much less something to listen to your music from? What about that little boy/girl who, dispite the musical influences around him/her today, wants to be the next Dre? How do they feel when they see that their favorite person in the entire world is trying to rape their pockets for their lunch money?

Did you at least take one tip from Stephon Marbury?

As an engineer, I can honestly say that Beats by Dre headphones are no better than any Sennheisers, Bose or Sonys I’ve worked with. Sennheisers have the same design on most of their headphone models, and their prices start at 70 bucks. Bose still reigns supreme in the audio industry, as does Sony. Your name should not give you reason to jack your prices up $100+. And very rarely do I hear someone mention your headphones for the actual performance, but comment on the looks instead.

I had been keeping this in for a long time now, but I heard news about your new laptop and went berserk. An HP laptop with the sound designed by people who work on your music, which is cool…but let’s face it, poor quality mp3s are what give laptops crappy sound. And how much of “your” sound can we really get out of laptop speakers?!

Dre, you’re slapping all your fans in the face for this one. The people who buy your albums legally, supported your tours and concerts when you were active in the industry. They’re pissed.

Stop being a dick and consider the fans.

Still Bumping The Chronic,
Ziggy The Chief

Now, Why You Wanna Go And Do That?

I've just been informed that we are in fact still living in the year 2009 Anni Domini, so now that I know I'm not tripping I can tell this story.

You would think that a city like Richmond, Virginia would be far removed from some types of ignorance, especially in an area that hosts a fairly known university and a strip full of shops, places to eat and other things that make Broad Street look habitable. I was dead wrong.

To start, myself and my brothers were all headed down south to rehearse for a very important show coming up this weekend. We've been performing with this same company for 10+ years now, so saying we're familiar with Richmond wouldn't really be saying enough. So, before a rehearsal; we're driving around on and off of Broad St., looking for the destination my GPS mapped out. We finally get there and the neighborhood is looking nice; lovely homes, vintage shops and...not really that many of my um, melanin enriched folks. =\ You get the picture, but it was no problem, because I have yet to have a serious race issue in Richmond. I may have spoken too soon, because the woman in the 7-Eleven we went into had no problem providing me with my first experience.

And she was black.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't my first time experiencing behavior like this, but it was just shocking because of the area I was in. I've been in a lot of small towns where the percentage of black people is slim to none, so it's almost expected in areas such as those. What was funny/sad about the entire encounter was the fact that I watched the woman become two different people right in front of my eyes! All of us were pleasant to her, greetings included, polite...and she talked to us and looked at us like we just rolled around in shit for two hours before stepping into her store. She even yelled at my brother for his misunderstanding the total she kind-of told him at the register. I got carded for buying a lighter...it was just all bad. But, the kicker was watching a few melanin challenged people walk into the store. I thought I was in a scene from "10 Little Niggers". She was just smiling and over polite (if there is such a thing), complete with "yes ma'ams" and "no problem sirs". Sad thing to watch, really. I could have said something to her, but I'm an out of towner, and I had a rehearsal to get to. But I made it a point to make sure that she knew we weren't pleased with her embarrassing antics. Jabari made sure to toss a couple Sambo jokes in on the way out.

Richmond residers reading my blog: she's at the 7-Eleven on Sheppard Street, across from a tobacco shop. Go tell her we said "hello"!

(deuces.)

Ziggy's Friday Forethought 3: "No Homo"

Okay, I'll get straight to the point with this one.

"NO HOMO"

This is definitely a phrase I'm beyond tired of hearing. In my opinion, anyone who says this is a) insecure of their own sexuality and b) immature. There is nothing wrong with a man or a woman complimenting the same sex! There has been some kind of stigma attached to this; if a man compliments another man's shoes that man's sexuality is now in question. Not cool. I got funny looks for saying that I thought Alicia Keys' body was nice. If you are a person who is %100 comfortable with your sexuality, complimenting someone of the same sex on their looks, etc. should not be an issue. After I made my comment about A-Keys' assets, I heard chuckles and got funny looks. I mean, how old are we?

There's not really much I can say about this phrase. It's been around for too long and it's time to put it in the ground. It's over abused to the point of offensiveness, being that it's "used" at totally wrong times.

"Ay man, suck a di*k, no homo..."

"That shirt is hot, no homo..."

And so on.

Just kill it, people!

Has anyone heard "no homo" used at the most inappropriate time? And what do you think of the phrase, funny or phony?

(deuces.)

Shutup, You're So Annoying!

I could've titled this better, but King Julian from Madagascar was the first thing that came to mind when I had to think of something funny to keep from getting pissed off.

It's very rare that I have run-ins with insecure males, but for the past few days I've been experiencing a close encounter of the jealous kind. And to think, this started YEARS ago! Allow me to set the stage for you:

-Boy meets Girl
-Girl shows interest in boy
-Girl is happy to see interest reciprocated
-Girl and Boy spend time together and engage in intimate conversation
-Boy suddenly becomes somewhat of a jerk, throwing former "acquaintances" in Girl's face; showing hints of jealousy
-Girl loses interest due to Boy's constant accusations

That's pretty much it. Didn't really get anywhere for my feelings to be attached in any fashion, so there was really no love loss. I kept it moving. He was a homeboy, someone who came over; chilled and played Halo with me. Sometimes we had "relationship" conversations, most of the time we tripped. The problem occurred when he would throw a former friend in my face. He happened to know the guy I was dating before we became cool, so he found it funny to make jokes about dude (henceforth Guy #1) and I . True, me and Guy #1 were a little serious. But, other dude and I had already discussed that situation; I informed him that I was done, and it was (supposed to be) a wrap. My guess is that he must have been in a similar situation before, but the only difference may have been the total opposite of what happened between him and I. Nevertheless, dude continued to accuse me of hanging with Guy #1, so much to the point that it was a part of every conversation. I finally got tired of it and detached myself from him.

Bam. Let's fast forward to today, almost four years ago. In those four years, we've become "hi" and "bye" buddies; having lenghty conversation only when convenient. He also knows of my current relationship, simply meaning he knows that I'm involved. Our talks never get more serious past who's better than who in Halo, so to say that he knows nothing new about me at all would be saying the least.

Imagine my surprise when I heard from him today, and our conversation went a little something like this:

Insecure Yo: So, you got any children yet? Married yet?
Me: Ha, very funny. No children, no marriage.
Insecure Yo: I mean, I thought you woulda had like, 3 kids by now; way you bunned up with ya boy.
Me: What are you talking about?
Insecure Yo: You know, you and Cuba Gooding Jr. looking dude. When you gonna just stop playing and ditch the lame?
Me: Back to this again...
Insecure Yo: Sike, sike; you know me, you know I joke. Nobody worrying about you and Eddie Winslow, whatever the f*ck his name is.
Me: You don't know his name, and what is the point of this anyway? You jealous?
Insecure Yo: Me? Jealous? Nah, shorty; I told you I'm not worrying about you...

And blah blah blah...I made a slightly serious observation, and told him that he loves me. I was really joking, just trying to get him to shut up. He basically took that as his opportunity to reassure me that he's joking, he always jokes, and he's never had feelings for me. It would have been somewhat conceivable if this whole interaction was new to me, and sadly it's not. Dude is barely a year younger than me; you would think the whole pituitary gland/puberty/hormones phases ran its course, some maturity would have been a result. Of course, I'm incorrect. Naturally, I'm stumped because I don't understand his behavior to begin with. It doesn't make sense. I thought it was supposed to be

girl likes boy+boy likes girl=all is well
not
girl likes boy-boy pushes girl away/boy wants girl back after she's moved on=wtf

I liked him. He knew I liked him. He started being an asshole. I got over it. He wants me back? Sounds like that "Got Til It's Gone" Syndrome, and unfortunately, homeboy is a victim. I wish he knew that he could share his genuine feelings with me, instead of this 3rd grade "I know he likes me because he beat me up at recess" mess. We are adults, and we should have conversations like adults. Are his feelings that hurt about whatever that I had to be an outlet for his frustration, showing his like for me in the most immature way? Who knows. I'd rather not deal with this at all, but I have a feeling it'll happen again soon. Sorry for making this so long, but I know someone has to feel my pain. Someone has to have had a close encounter of the jealous kind.

(deuces.)

oh, baltimore pt 3: wtF?!

So...as it stands on January 7, 2009, there have already been twelve murders in Baltimore City. By January 4, 2009, there were already four. Literally one a day.

Around this time last year, there were only three murders.

I need to move. ASAP.

(deuces.)

oh, baltimore pt. 2

Well, I posted a while ago about my city and its horrible violent streak. Looks like we've done it again, and another 14 year old's life has been claimed. Sunday night (12/7), a young man was walking across the street to help a neighbor and was murdered. Someone just walked up on him, said nothing, shot him and walked away. W.T.F.
I need to get out of here.

So, you're telling me...if I go and take some fruit to my neighbor, I may never make it back to my house? Recreation centers closing down left and right, the school system sucks; there's nothing left for us to do but kill eachother. Wait. That's how it's supposed to be, right?

(deuces.)
btw: I haven't forgotten about my 30/30, but due to recent events, i.e. life, it will be postponed until...not sure when. I'd like to be anal and actually start on the 1st of a month and continue until the 30th...we'll see. But please believe there will be poetry!

oh, baltimore.

Whatever happened to our motto, "The City that Reads"?

Last year, HBO, along with directors Alan and Susan Raymond bravely set their sights on my city's crappy school system and decided to feature a documentary about one of (MANY) the troubled schools here. Hard Times At Douglass High: A No Child Left Behind Report Card chronicles one turbulent school year at the historic Frederick Douglass Senior High School. Since I live in Baltimore, and my brother graduated from this same school in 2007, watching this documentary was technically redundant, but I wanted to see if the media really shed light on what goes on in that school. Long story short, I think they did a pretty good job in showing what really goes on with the Baltimore City Public School System...and that's exactly nothing at all. School books dated back to when Frederick Douglass himself attended the school? Not really, but close enough. And oh, "we can't afford to give you new books, but here's this shiny new SCOREBOARD for your football field! Keep running, niggers." Not an actual quote, but I figure that's what's being said in these shady school headquarters meetings. And please don't get me started on the violence--the gang fights, teachers fighting students--wow.


One year later, and the shit is still hitting the fan. This story hits me harder because I've worked at this school before, and the stories that I have just at this school are ridiculous and endless. Example: on my way to work one day, I get a phone call saying that the after school session for the day had been canceled and all students had been sent home. I found out later in the day that a student decided to drop a chair on a teacher--landing directly on his face--from two floors up. The teacher had been taken to the emergency room with a broken nose and other injuries. W.T.F. Last Friday, it was reported that a student had been fatally stabbed multiple times right outside of the school--by another student--at Lemmel Middle School, ironically a few blocks away from Douglass. Please feel free to click the link for the full story and updates that have followed. Apparently the young man who killed his schoolmate was constantly bullied. It's also reported that he went to school authorities multiple times and no action was taken, so he finally and unfortunately took matters into his own hands.

In keeping up with this story, there are always two things that continuously surface to the front of my mind:

-We have POLICE OFFICERS working in city schools. No, not the rent-a-cop, with a whistle and iron-on "security" badge. The good ole boys (lmfao@ the irony) of the BCPD have special divisions and departments specially designed to provide safety to our schools. Where the hell were they? Just last year at the same school, a student stabbed one of his classmates in the neck with a pair of scissors. He was also a victim of bullying but to a different extreme; being bullied by gang members. Where are my taxes going?!
-This is pretty twisted that this thought came to mind, but check this: the two boys in this story are 14 and 15 years old. Why are they still in middle school?

This city is jacked, and the school system is even worse. And now we have another issue facing us, with the passing of Question 2 in Maryland, we'll soon be welcoming slots into the state. Guess where the money's going to go? The goverment is saying schools...I don't see it happening. Of course I'm not being asinine by not listening to both sides of the Question 2 argument, but when it came time to vote on 11/4, I did myself and my younger brothers and sisters a favor a selected no.
It's hard to believe this city is about change for our schools when I can drive past Douglass High, with no new renovations, books, or anything severly beneficial for the students being done; and look right across the street at Mondawmin Mall practically getting a facelift. It was arguably the worst mall in the city, in ALL aspects. You wouldn't be able to find anything you were looking for...and hopefully you made it out and to your car without being robbed. And hopefully you got into your car without someone already being in it, waiting to rob you. But now, check us out! We've built a brand spanking new Target, AJ Wright, and a Shoppers; and there's also been some significant work done to the inside of the mall. Now there's a Forever 21 in the hood. Damn.

That's right across the street. And to the left of the school, a new football stadium is being built for Coppin State University.

Way to go, B-More. Way to go.

(deuces.)