Celebrate Brooklyn

Summer 2011 has been fresh to def (showing my age). We joined our local CSA and eat kale on the regular. We are supporting farmers of color and eating much healthier than ever before, in a million years I never would've thought this would end up being where/who I am at this very moment. The CSA is dope. We get organic/locally grown fruits and veggies. Farm fresh milk in glass jugs that is thick and yummy and farm fresh eggs. Have you had a farm fresh egg? They are pretty dang tasty. We are definitely doing our part promoting urban agriculture and spreading the word on eating healthy. I actually have some neighbor hood ladies that want me to give them some tips and a cooking class on eating healthy. It is such a lie that women of color are not interested in taking care of their children by feeding them healthy. They are, they just need more education and more neighbors in the community willing to not be afraid about discussing eating healthy!


Our bikes are clockin' miles around BK. We have seen Talib @ Redhook Park, Nice and Smooth @ Van Buren Park and last week the dopest show to date; Lyricst Lounge with Raekwon, Joell Ortiz, Smif and Wessun, Sean P (the brokest rapper for real)and some other folks. We have the privilege of VIP passes for Celebrate Brooklyn through my job so we sat off to the side and enjoyed the show. My 17 year old (Tasiya) even referred to me as a groupie (of Joell Ortiz)- Yo he is so cute, I love him for real. It's a beautiful thing when families can enjoy hip hop together. Even though the range of what I consider good hip hop and what she considers the best hip hop don't even come close. I just am not nor have I ever felt Lil Wayne. He is a joke I think. So degrading and his voice is annoying as all hell... I can not identify a Wiz Khalifa bar but after walking down Cortelyou with Tasiya I am now familiar with "Taylor Gang" as a young boy made a reference to her rockin' red chucks... Something like yo gal in the red chucks {pause} Taylor Gang!. I actually thought he was referring to her wild blond hair and called her Taylor Dane. My bad- these kids have no idea who Taylor Dane even is.

Anyway love is in the air we are the happiest we have ever been life is as close to perfect as one can wish for! Brooklyn LOVE!

Turn the cheek...let it slide!

After browsing through my favorite "hip hop blogs" this morning, I was put onto this new video by Pharoahe Monch ft. Styles P & Phonte, "Black Hand Side". I love that the back drop is in Bed Stuy, where I have seen Pharoahe Monch from time to time. I won't go into how "real hip hop" is missing these days, but this is definitely some "grown folk hip hop".

Peep the video and as simple as the video is...it's all that is needed to tell the story.

Spring Love

The sun is out and the weather is getting warmer. It means that we will be able to ride our bikes without bundling up and it makes us both so happy. The trees are starting to show signs of life. The street have more people on them.

I just had to post this...

Spring Love - Stevie B from Daniel Henriqué Sousa on Vimeo.

Seasons Change: Verse 2 (and 3yr Anniv Of Living In The Stuy)

New Haircuts, new attitudes, one of the kids has a new address, new commitments, and a lot of old behavior. Damn I am glad the winter is over! I find it remarkable the amount of shit the human heart can bare. The bone chilling winter, the endless snow storms,the ache of a broken heart and the willingness to put the winter of 2011 behind us...


Brooklyn, the place I have always longed to be. Brooklyn the borough where I have never sinned. Never had a drink or a drug. Never kissed another man besides my husband. The planet, the place where I learned to be a wife. The place Todd decided would be our home. Do or Die the place where my soul started to grow. Bed Stuy, where I lay my head every night next to his and fall asleep and get to dream of the magic that we are capable of grasping.


I have grown to fall in love with these streets. I have fallen in love with myself as walk down Fulton and I have fallen more in love with him as we walk down Hancock. I look up at the giant sky and really wonder if I deserve this. The second definition of home in the dictionary is: the place in which one's domestic affections are centered. I am glad I didn't have to come up with that line because it would of taken forever. The definition is exact. It describes what happens on the first floor of our brownstone everyday.


We have a love, a home, a truth that is un-shakable. It exist only in those who are willing to take a risk The chance of a broken heart that can be repaired, the willingness to move to a new place where you don't know anybody. The idea of starting a new life from the windows looking out into the most beautiful place in the world. A fear that is so healthy you can only grow from it.


There is no music to reference in this post, no hyperlinks to take you somewhere else. The only thing you get is a brief journey through my mind.

IT'S BIGGER THAN HIP HOP

Well sort of...okay not really in my world.

Hip Hop has meant so much to me and I can tell you exactly where I was when I heard some of my favorite songs. A few years ago my best friend told me that he was part of this group that was going to try and build a HIP HOP MUSEUM. I was skeptical at first, kind of rule number 1 to me in HIP HOP. I had many questions and a bunch of suggestions. Anyhoo, my friend has been working closely with a bunch of dedicated folks who love this culture of ours. I mean they are doing this without making $1.00 from all of the work that they have put in so far.

I'm not going to go into what they have been through, but...do you love hip hop?

Love and Marriage, Love and Marriage....

We have made it through our first year of marriage. A few doors were slammed, a couple of F-U's were tossed about and a night or 2 was spent on the couch but, for the most part we fell deeper in love with each other. Finding a place for unconditional love seems easy but the practice of it is not. Self centered fear (the fear of loosing what you have or not getting what you want)bloomed in my soul like a rotten flower...

Finding true love was really hard (for both of us). We both have a reckless past and many hearts have been broken, some more than once but in the end I have the most amazing husband in the world. He loves me the best he can and I do the same. For christ sake I am a Puerto-Rican hoodrat from the projects.... he knew what he was getting into!

There was a night when John Legend ended up getting stuck on our itunes for about 3 hours and so now every song is associated with the happiness that night brought and in moments when I am restless, irritable or discontent I can listen to a little JL and smile. I have to remember that music soothes me. It can fix what is broken, it can heal the past and help to make love to the future. There are albums that got me through some of the most devastating times of my life. Das Efx- They Want Efx brought me through my best friends Death. Jaheim- Still Ghetto was the first CD me and my daughter (who was 8) sang to every morning without missing a word and when I lost custody of her I listened to it over and over remembering the mornings I drove her to school and was filled with something that only that CD could give me. Mary J- Whats The 411 did for me what it did for every other 17 year old girl at the time. Jean Grae's- Jeanius got me through a traumatic experience a couple of years ago and the list goes on and on...

Thank God we have music! What song heals you?

What What!!!!

It was not the most memorable of summers. We did see Jay Electronica in Red Hook which was pretty dope,we took the kids to see John Legend out in Coney Island there was about a 15 minute show we caught in Von King Park. I can't even remember who it was.... Sadiq from Platnium Pied Pipers moved in with his girl upstairs so I usually get some fresh beats from Detroit on my day off but other than that the summer was kinda dull.

The fall however went hard today. Restoration Plaza set off a community day in Bed Stuy, closing Fulton between Marcy and Brooklyn Aves. Lots of African art, face painting, red velvet cakes, vintage sheepskins and music for all people. The sound system was less than mediocre and the first group up Cubic Zirconia paid dearly for the techies mistakes. From what I could decipher it was upbeat hipsterish music that may have been pretty good if they didn't sound like they were performing in the lower Hudson Bay. Up next was one of my favs Invincible, the sound system improved and she tore it up. Sympathizing with Palestine, calling out for the end of "blood diamond" mining and taking a moment to give a shout out to all the queer kids who are suffering..... Her music says more than anyone else out right now (I think). It is the definition of intelligent hip-hop.

Holy shit do you know who Tamar-Kali is? Well you should because she is a monster on the mic. Todd said Talib tweeted about her being "our generations Nina Simone" her voice is powerful, her presence is huge and her music is loud. I wanted to start a mosh pit with my girls but I don't think they mosh in the hood'.

And last but not least my favorite blogger/tweeter/rapper Jean Grae!!!!!! She rocked out with a Halloween skeleton theme and had a beat from The Itchy And Scratch Show, she is bonkers. She called for parents to "ear muff" their kids when she repeatedly dropped the F- bomb, how can you not love her? She reminded me why I call Bed Stuy my home, why we have this blog and why we love Hip Hop. Brooklyn, Bed Stuy particularly is like no other place in the world.

It was all a dream, but now it's a surrounding view...

We just had dinner and while eating we had on our ITUNES. Of course, we are "hip hop heads", so there was a lot of cursing coming on. Needless to say, we had to fast forward through a few songs. The funny part is that Lexie's daughter, 16 years old, is a fan of today's Hip Hop so, she knows all about cursing in her music.

I remember a twitter feed that I read earlier from John Forte, so the search was on. I found the song and here it is. He's from Bed Stuy...so I think it fits.

This to me is what late 30 somethings need to listen to.



What do you think about it?

Live From Bedford Stuyvesant, The Livest One.....

Even though Biggie lived in Clinton Hill he repped Bed Stuy and so do we. I read a lot of blogs, message boards, newspapers and such on the internets and lately anything on twitter with #bedstuy. I am baffled by what people think of my hood. On twitter you would think Bed Stuy is the equivalent of Beirut. It is 2010 and this a public service announcement for all heads who want to know what Bed Stuy is really like.

Bed Stuy has CSA's, organic markets, outdoor flea markets, bike lanes, summer concerts in the park, block parties, block associations, summer camps, basketball tournaments and hundreds of other positive things. Why is this always left out of the conversation? Why is it so much easier to focus on the bad? How come the only time Bed Stuy is on the news is to report another shooting? Bad shit happens everywhere. In major cities there is more crime because there are more people. Bed Stuy is equivalent to a major city. It's just the way it is.

I have thought about moving out of the Stuy a few times in past couple of years but we have really made the south side of Bed Stuy our home. For many reasons we have chosen to stay. This is a direct quote from my 16 year old "Mom lets go to Peaches, I love to see see all the beautiful black professionals there at brunch". Put that in your next article or post.

We Went To White Castle And We Got Thrown Out...

I can't believe I am going back to the summer at the end of 6th grade. The year was 1986. I was 11 and "License To Ill" dropped. It was the last day of school and our teacher said that we can listen to music. Some girl had Madonna's, "True Blue" and I of course had The Beastie Boys Tape (it was a creamy white with black writing and brown tape). We had a vote and Madonna won, I was heated..... School was over the next day, so I just went about my business.

The good thing is I lived in projects, albeit, not what you typically think of when you think of the PJ's. Most of the families were white, and we had a few non-spanish speaking Puerto-Ricans and 2 Jamaican families. The things that brought all project kids together back then no matter what color you were was rap, breaking and the whole b-boy look and AG (Adams Garden) had it in abundance.

I was just a kid so I watched in amazement the battles in the playground. The crew form AG was "The Fresh Breakers". There was linoleum behind Slick Vick and Snakes building and most days were spent watching this beautiful movement take place. There was Adidas jump suits, shell toes, fat laces and a lot of Beastie Boys and Run DMC. Their was Newports being smoked and Michelobs being drank. There were kids from neighboring towns and other projects coming to check AG. This was going to be the best summer of my life and it was.

24 years later "License To Ill" is still in my top 2 favorite albums and I am still in touch in one way or another with JL, Slick Vick, Rob Snake, Pat-Ski and Mr.Mean.

Gang Starr - Just To Get A Rep

Leavin the Bodega I Say Suave'

We have this chalkboard in our kitchen. Sometimes we leave love notes, sometimes reminders, once in a while just a statement appears there in the morning. When I went to get a bowl of cocoa krispies this morning it just said "hip hop". Todd must of wrote it this morning so in keeping with passin' notes I replied "is the soundtrack to our lives!"


It is so true with the exception of the past few weeks while we have been watching Lost (streaming from our Wii to our TV.... so dope) that hip hop is playing in the background. Our taste is not always the same but it's still all love. I will never get enough of Das Efx and The Lost Boys, I don't care what you think about it but I love both of those groups to death. He wants to listen to anything with a message. New, old in between my husband is "conscience brother" I am a party girl and our worlds can always meet on a Guru/Gang Starr track. As long as it's not Dwyck, he loathes that song, most any Guru track is a hit in our Bed Stuy crib. The past couple of weeks I have been playin' Guru and Erykah Badu's Plenty so of course I felt a little more connected to the news yesterday because his voice has been a constant at work playing the song over and over (i'm like that).


It is always sad when our beloved hip hop looses a pioneer. What I am grateful for is that there was no violence or police brutality involved in his passing. Guru will be missed. RIP

I Saw You...Standing In The Rain...

I'm sure I've talked about my friends group Si*Se on this blog before. Well with music label politics, they are back after 5 years with new material. Friday night, they had an EP release party at Le Poisson Rouge, and they put on a great show. If you don't know about them, please check them out. They are a bunch of talented artists from NYC.

Check the videos/songs below and support good music (my humble opinion).

Cliff aka U F Low aka The Crystal Pharoah

Farley aka R Grizz

I got you guys...

I like black timbs and black hoodies.....

I sat all day in my kitchen listening to Hot 97. By the time Angie Martinez came on everyone in the world, it seemed like, knew that Biggie had been killed. A part of my generation had been taken. The soundtrack to my fundamental years (the ones following my graduation from HS) had been shot up. That was March 9th 1997. It is hard to believe that was 13 years ago. That my daughter was only 3 years old. That eventually she like her mama would know every line to every Biggie song ever recorded, that's some Elvis shit as far as I am concerned!

Every song on Ready To Die reminds me of someone or something. Juicy is my little brother Slim's theme song. Suicidal Thoughts was on repeat on my CD player during some pretty desperate times in my life. Gimme The Loot was a straight bass kicking, trunk shaking ride around with nowhere to go jam. One More Chance..... let's just say I think every baby mama loved this one. Ready To Die put how we felt about our fathers who had abandoned us into words. I can go on and on but you get the point.

I never imagined that I would end up in Bed Stuy. That everyday I would ride my bike up Fulton St always looking to the left then right trying to figure out which apartment Voletta Wallace raised Biggie in. I am now part of the neighborhood I heard so much about in his lyrics. It's just another reason to love Livin In The Stuy...... RIP Christopher Wallace.

A little help from my friends

My black history month lessons did not go as planned. I do however want to share this with you. It was shared with us by a lovely friend of ours.

http://www.ls.cc.al.us/blackhistory/blackhistory.html

Black cat is bad luck, bad guys where black, must of been....

The sad fact is that I am having trouble coming up with someone to write about.... Me and my friend Jay are going to spend some time paying homage to black history month this February. Being schooled in a white suburb in Fairfield County the only person we ever learned about was Rev. Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. When I entered High School I read Malcom X's biography and saw the movie and that then completed my education on black history. So today it has been 17 years since I graduated high school and 17 years since I have really thought about black history month.

My daughter and husband are both black and I wonder how they would feel about this.
My mother in-law is involved with the NAACP, her sister belongs to Jack and Jill and The Links and I can not name 5 black people who have contributed to the building of this country. I am saddened by my ignorance today and promise that by Monday I will have a lot to say.....

Rhymin' and Stealin'....

These days, I am feeling a bit unsafe in my home, in my hood, and on my walk from the train in Bed Stuy in general.

Being part of gentrifying a neighborhood can be amazing and brutal at the same time. Bed Stuy is in the middle of what I think is the most racially diverse swing in Brooklyn. Before I start, I am aware that I am "generalizing", but this is how I feel.

My take: Park Slope = white, Clinton Hill & Ft Green = blacks and whites with some money, Bed Stuy = blacks and newer whites with less money.

So here on our colorful block, crime is up this week. Cars have been getting broken into like it's Prospect Heights, people are getting jacked on the street supposedly at gunpoint early in the morning. The laundry mat got robbed 2 days ago and that's just what I heard or saw in the past few days.

Gentrification doesn't stop crime but it does lessen it, more police presence . But when a neighborhood like Bed Stuy is gentrifying for reasons not related to coffee shops and hipster bowling alleys what's gonna happen? White people who are not well off are moving here because the blocks are beautiful, it's close to the train and you can rent a huge 2 bedroom brownstone for like 1400-1500 a month. So is that even gentrification? Is it getting the best bang for your buck or is it an invasion?

I think it's an invasion and we are part of it. Sure it's a plus that the late great Frances White and Jigga are from Bed Stuy but, we moved here because it is what we could afford. Now I'm second guessing it. Our lease will come around in April and I am not sure if we will be putting in a third year in 11216. I know people are broke, unemployment is up and times are hard. I am just not fond of the idea of getting stuck up. I'm also not fond of the idea that we need to bring our light and dark brown asses to Park Slope or Carroll Gardens to feel safe.

Are you coming with me...

The Electric Slide, to me, is getting old. We went to two different surprise birthday party's for my oldest sister and my cousin this weekend. It amazes me that no matter the function (if there is music), at some point "that" annoying song will come on. I can't front either, I definitely know how to do the Electric Slide and I usually will participate for one full revolution and then I sit down and laugh.

The beauty of this time of the evening, is that almost every generation gets out onto the dance floor to participate. It's that early to late teen that did not join in on the fun. That would be my step-daughter (we just got married...shout out to Tasiya), my younger cousins, nieces and nephews all did not participate. It could be that they are at the age that dancing with older folks is corny, but I applaud them for not partaking in the nonsense.

What's crazy is that it is an annoyingly LONG song. Also, right after that song, the Cha Cha Slide comes on, and after that The Cupid Shuffle. I'm not even sure if it's a proper line dance or what. I do know that I was out of the loop when this song came on. This of course, makes the "Line Dancing Segment" at parties seem to drawn out.

Please, let's not forget about the Macarena, we don't dance to this song at "black functions" these days.

Anyways...I know there are more "line dances" that I don't know or can't think of. Let me know what songs/dances that I'm missing and whether or not you're a fan of such dances.

I VOTE...HATED IT (shout out to In Living Color)!

Those same teenagers that I was talking about, enjoyed watching a 36 year old man try to do "The Jerk" and the "Stanky Leg". Just to show them, I had to do the Wop, the Cabbage Patch, The Roger Rabbit, The Mike Tyson, The Running Man, and The Pee Wee Dance. This will be another topic for another day though.

If I Was a Rapper, My Favorite MC Would Be Me

Tasiya vs. Mom

Nicki Minaj, Trey Songz and Drake...

My daughter thinks they are the 3 greatest artist that have ever graced a mic. She is in 10th grade and her lot to pick from is small and meager...Just my opinion!

A Tribe Called Quest, Jodeci and Mary J. Blige...

These were my favorite artisits when I was in the 10th grade. My lot was big and inundated with cats. "Low End Theory", "Forever My Lady", and "What's the 411" are 3 albums that I can sing word for word and know the next cut on the album when I hear the song before it. Those were magical years for hip hop and R&B, (just ask Dan J). We were introduced to remixes by crews around this time and every R&B song had a hip hop remix to go along with it.

The only reference I have to Nicki Minaj is the cypher that she did during the BET awards. I thought/think she is whack, that it is evident Lil Wayne is writing her rhymes and directing her flow. I don't think she has much to say. Trey Songz and Drake are just doing their thing. They will just never be K Ci and Jojo but Jodeci didn't have the biggest staying power either, they were just dope at the time. I am un-clear if Drake is a rapper or an R&B singer (Ja Rule anyone). I don't have the same disdain for them, that I do for this Nicki Minaj trick. I do not approve of my daughter looking up to her, she is trashy!

So back to my high school/middle years...Come and Talk to Me, today we 30 somethings throw a party and that cut comes on and the reminiscing begins. The Buggin Out video? Hold up we got 2 videos in one. I am not sure if that has been duplicated, BET and MTV stopped playing videos, years ago. "What's The 411", in my humble (or not so) opinion, is on the top 5 albums of anyone that went to HS in the early-mid 90's. The only discussion is what track is better, You Remind Me or Love No Limit.

I have tried to share this music with Tasiya. She has some on her IPod but thinks it's for "grown people". I did hear her listening to ATCQ a couple of weeks ago. I did not comment and kept walking by her room. There is still hope for her :)!

A Message To The Messengers

Since we have gotten rid of our cable, we have been using Netflix ALOT more. I have watched some bad movies over the past few days, but there is one that stands out, it's called, "American Violets". This is one of those movies (being black and all), that never shocks me. However, it is another reminder that RACE is still a huge issue in our country and it probably always will be.

What irritates me is that I didn't know anything about this movie (truth be told, I'm not a huge movie buff), but this story needs to be discussed and told. This is one of those movies that probably didn't gross much, so I'm certain that it went away quietly.

I beg all of my "liberal" friends, black, white, yellow, red, and brown to watch this movie. I know, we voted for Obama and all. I ask, how often do you watch movies with a predominately black cast?

This is not a discussion about how people of color, usually from lower socio-economic backgrounds need to address OUR problems. We are not always innocent and we need to stop being victims.

I keep her hair braided, bought her a black barbie

Tasiya is about to turn 16 so I feel like Disney is a little late on the black princess debut for us.....

I was in the bike lane heading toward Flatbush on Bergen Street when I saw this, an illuminated bus stop ad for the new Disney movie, The Princess and the Frog. This is Disney's first black princess (really??). Did the powers that be no that this ad was going up in Brooklyn. In Brooklyn where 36% of the population is black and 19% is hispanic and another 4% is mixed race? Did they no how offended I would be, a Puerto-Rican mother with a 1/2 black daughter. Are they purposely being disrespectful? I am reminded daily of racism even more so since living in Brooklyn. I have been called a devil white bitch, funny cause i am not white, I have been accused of being in the wrong neighborhood by white cops, I have been harassed by a car full of black boys while riding my bike, I have been stared at by other woman when I am with my black fiancee..... I feel like my integrity as a light skinned minority has been called out over and over.....

What is funnier though is that I am from Fairfield county where I was looked at as a spic....

Where I was not questioned about my ethnicity, where everyone knew I was PR and I belonged right in the low income housing complex where I was born and lived for 30 years.

I feel like even though I am "accused" of being a white bitch her in Brooklyn the 32 years I spent in CT have given me the balance t know who I am and to stand up for what I believe is right. This ad is fucked up, It sets my daughter back another giant set of years. It instills in young black girls and boys the right to use the n word and refer to white people as the devil. It brings out hate and racism if even more ways. Disney owes an apology to me, you and our children.

And if you are lost the ad is minus said black princess!

My Philosophy...

This entry doesn't have too much to do with Bed Stuy, but it does represent what I think is one of the problems with my beloved Hip Hop.  I often find myself defending my love for Hip Hop, by telling people what I don't like about it.  I often have to say things like, "I don't like Hot 97" or "I used to listen to De La Soul when my friends would listen to (fill in any hip hop pop artist here)".

I'm checking out one of my daily sites, hiphopdx, and there are a few articles that got me thinking...again.  I read the article about Lupe Fiasco, and I'm happy to hear that a true lyricist is upset because he was left off of that bullshit list of MTV's "Hottest Rappers" of todays list.   I get what they are saying, but I don't like it.  I just don't understand how a Gucci Mane (no disrespect Combat Jack) can make any "greatest anything" on any hip hop list.  I really understand that if the "kids" like it, then Corporate America wants more of it.  However, this "old school" hip hop junkie, has a higher standard of greatness for an emcee.

So...what ultimately caused me to write this post is another article on hiphopdx.  Some knuckle heads that are down with Rick Ross, named Triple C's belittled KRS 1's legacy.  Please click this to read the article.  I am offended by the fact that these guys disrespect a legend in the game.  What kills me is that he never said anything about them directly, but they had to nerve to talk about him in a disrespecting way.  Blasphemous!!!

Anyways...I would like it if every Hip Hop record label made their artist listen to 25 albums that changed the game.  Before you could do any recording, you need to be able to quote and discuss each album on the list.  The 25 albums would, could, and should be debated.  These new cats should not be able to record a damn thing without knowing the music of OUR founding fathers.  They should be students of their craft.  

Good idea or what?

..you could see Bed-Stuy if you lookin in my draws...

What a wonderful weekend!

She told me to go home after work and get ready, because she wanted to take me out for dinner. Pretty unusual because it seems that "dinner plans" are usually made by me, but she got us invited to a newish spot.  She is a yelp fanatic.

We ended up at Sarah James Speakeasy and the food was delicious.  I loved the ambiance and the overall feel of the place.  I'm pretty sure that when it is all said and done, this place will be very successful.  She ate the pork chop (I don't dig on the swine) and we don't have it in our refrigerator.  I had the steak and everything was seasoned to perfection.  

Next up...Saturday.  Back up to Westchester so she could enjoy her Bridal Shower and I could meet up with some of my childhood friends.  

Sunday around noon, we went to Ms. Dahlia's Cafe.  The service was a bit slow, but that didn't bother me any because I wasn't in a rush.  She ordered the Cucumber Lemonade.  I have never tasted anything so amazingly refreshing in my life. 

I had a flat tire and my favorite bike shop wasn't open, so I ended up at Lit Fuse Cyclery.  I was definitely pleased with the service and even got a chance to speak with Damian.  It turns out that both of us being New Yorkers (him from Manhattan and me from Westchester) have knowledge of one person.  I'm sure if I stayed and talked longer that we could possibly know a few more people.  This bike shop makes a great back up shop for me.  After getting my flat fixed, I ended up at the Tiny Cup.  I sat outside and enjoyed my cup of coffee with a native Bed Stuy resident.  This place is truly a haven for the gentrifying population.  It was pretty amazing for me to witness what was going on here.  I spoke with this gentleman about the changes that the neighborhood is making and we both agree that the change is welcome for us.  The only problem is for me is that this place was not very diverse.  I was sitting in Bed Stuy and every patron beside myself and this guy were white hipsters.  Believe me, I do not have a problem with hipsters.  I have a bit of hipster in me, look at my bike.  This place to me resembles everything that is wrong with gentrification, a completely separate facility for the new comers.

JADAKISS,PAPOOSE,TALIB & HI TEK-WHERE IT ALL STARTED (NY)
by ZICARLOS

I want to ride my bicycle bicycle bicycle...

These are the new bikes.

We purchased them about 2 months ago, but they were works in progress. They are complete now and it was time to post some pics of them. We mos def have "HIS & HERS" bikes. We got them from our great friends at Fulton Bikes (1580 Fulton St). These are the 4th & 5th bikes that we have purchased from this amazing bicycle shop.

Some of the accessories we had to buy online because we are not in the most "hipster" neighborhood in Brooklyn, So Lex's top tube pad was ordered from Dion at Ugly Pads and our NY U Lock holsters were ordered from Fabric Horse.

I can't front like we don't have a little hipster in us?

Once their website is up & running I...we are going to create other posts about them.

New Kicks...

Man do I love some kicks aka sneakers aka tennis shoes....

My friends at Alife are having a warehouse clearance sale and they rented out the old Nort/Recon space. To me this is so poetically ironic and clever as hell. We didn't purchase to much, because they only had their products, but I did buy a pair of construction Timberlands. I have not owned a pair of the "official hip hop boot" in a few years, but I decided that this would be the perfect time to purchase a pair. Hell, they were only $50.00 (that might have been an additional friends/family discount) and these are special.

I often get frustrated when I look for kicks. It seems the only pairs that I like these days are the "re-issues" of the kicks that came out when I was coming up. However, I have always noticed that the women have a crazy supply of dope and cheaper options. Sneakers always look better in smaller sizes too (my humble opinion), they just look extremely different when they are a size 12. It's a good thing she has tiny feet!

Here's To You Mrs. Robinson

I am living a life far beyond my wildest dreams. In a million years I could never imagine that my wedding day would be soon approaching..... We are walking down the isle in about 3 months and I am going to be Mrs. Robinson. I am thrilled, scared, excited, anxious, humbled, amazed and blessed. Our lives were never lived with the intensions of being someones spouse, especially not each others.

We have spent the past few years falling madly in love with each other. There have been many soundtracks to this romance. It started in the TLC No Scrubs and comeback by Sporty Thieves, No Pidgeons phase. We would drink and dance and act a fool in clubs like Two Eyes and 205 . Wu Tang dropped Forever around this time and I jacked his and bumped it in my Accord for a few years.......There was a big dancehall movement at that time also, Spragga Benz, Beenie and Buju (he is not a fan of dancehall at all- I love it). Then we parted for more than a few years...

When our Itunes became one it was scattered with all types of music. I being a die hard Jay Z lover since "Reasonable Doubt" and him a Nas, "It Ain't Hard To Tell" kinda guy, we had to mesh again..... By this time I had branched a bit more out of hip hop (that was made after like 95-96). He had been introduced to Fela Kuti and some beautiful world music. I was listening to alot of punk and independent shit he was just not gonna get down with...I did however fall in love with his 2 favorites Mos Def and Talib Kweli and that brought us to a very happy place. I feel like "Never Been In Love Before" has become the soundtrack to our life.

Music is a huge part of our life. It's the backdrop to our home. Raekwons new record "Only Built For Cuban Links II" has been his most played tracks of as of late and I have been splitting mine between Joell Ortiz and Jay's Blueprint 3. Don't get me wrong though Arctic Monkeys and Flogging Molly still get spins, just not when he is home!

This is the song, for my Warriors...

I haven't written here in awhile and it's a shame.

My man Nas did something that needs to be done more often by our black/latino superstars. The beauty of this is that when one of "our artist" has time to mature and grow into a man, his perspective should and usually does change. Imagine what the "warrior" Tupac Shakur would be writing about right now? It's so sad that any artist (Hip Hop) that tries to be the voice of and for the people, tend to get overlooked. Why is that? We can blame all of the record execs and the media outlets all we want to, but we have to assume some responsibility.

Please read the HipHopDX.com article and especially the letter.

Nas Pens Open Letter After Death Of Chicago Teen | Hip Hop News HipHopDX.com

F%@K The Police

Riding on a sweet new bike (Surly Steamroller's his and hers), is a whole new ride and I am trying to be safe. I usually wear a helmet but you will often see me flying down Fulton St and Atlantic Ave. The Surly is fast, I mean really fast and I am still getting used to it. I decided to ride in the bike lane for my first commute to work on my new bike. Ok, I'm in the bike lane on Bergen (clearly marked) riding towards Smith St., when bam...pow...oh snap there is a cop car double parked in the bike lane. What made this so troubling and annoying was that there were empty parking spots on both sides of the street along with the stripped lines on the outer part of the bike lane. I think that may be for double parking while still keeping the bike lane open. You all pretty much know how I feel about the NYPD and the amount of taxes we pay is so disproportionate to our income that I feel obliged to let the cops know how I feel. I first stopped and took a picture of the car and then I went to the window. I was definitely thinking NWA but I know what time it is. Two cops were sitting in the car, chillin'. I politely asked the white cop, (the passenger cop was Spanish) why he was parked smack in the middle of the bike lane? I pointed to all the empty spaces and the possibility of parking in the striped section just in case they really needed to be in the middle of the street. He was kind of baffled looked at his partner in crime and then apologized. It was pretty funny getting the apology, I wasn't sure what to expect. I have no problem going up against the "po po" especially when I deserve an explanation for blatant disrespect to the law. I wish I could have handed them a ticket like he got for riding on the sidewalk and be like" here now we're even!".

Untuck Your Nunchucks?

I see Fresh Daily out and about a lot and dude seems cool. I've never spoken to him but I'll introduce my self the next time that I see him somewhere. Anyways, since I'm at my moms house and my Grandmother is napping in the other room, I decided to play on the computer. I read some news, checked some friends blogs, and fell onto this Fresh Daily track. "Untucked Numchucks" (watch below), is a song where he is discussing being from Bed Stuy.

Just wanted to hear what you guys think of his music. It reminds me of this "New Age Hip Hop", and that is not necessarily a bad thing.

Smooth Criminal

I took Fulton from Throop to S.Portland this morning and it was just an array of madness.... A middle aged man was just berating the shit out of his woman in the middle of the sidewalk, screaming at her about disrespecting him (imagine that). How he can put her in, her place and so on. Directly across the street an old crack head lady grabbed some guys wallet and 2 plain clothes Jakes snuffed her! They had her in handcuffs in about 2 seconds. ( The dude may of been undercover). The amount of plain clothes cops with their guns in plain sight was maddening this morning. I must of seen 8 or 9 cops with their gats just chillin' . It is not comforting. It does not make me feel safe. I am unsure of anything the NYPD does. I feel like they are an under trained mass of 20 year olds from outside the 5 boroughs. Some shit was going down on Fulton this morning. Maybe for the better maybe for the worse but I have so little trust in the department that is supposed to protect and serve us I was just straight up nervous. Last week we went to the Michael Jackson Bday Party that Spike Lee threw in Prospect Park. Now I have never seen ANY violence surrounding an MJ event. ( I have seen plenty of violence at Woodstock 2 and events like that) but not for MJ.... The amount of cops at Prospect Park was plain criminal. Last Saturday was the day to rob a bank, do a giant heist or be just plain old rowdy in your hood and get away with it. Why? Cause every cop that was on duty in NY was at the park...... I felt sick and again unsafe. It is really sad that when ever I see a cop, a cop car or a gathering of our boys in blue I want to get as far away from them as I can. And we are not criminals or doing anything illegal, we are just residents of Bed Stuy.

It's Bigger Than Hip Hop

It's been a great August and neither of us has done any blogging.  We seem to write more on facebook these days, but I digress.

I've been to a few "Hip Hop" events and I have also read a few Hip Hop articles that are the inspiration for me writing this post. One of the articles was posted yesterday on www.hiphopdx.com.  The responses to this article made me think about where Hip Hop has been and where it is going.   I know this seems to be written about so often, but it is our passion for HIP HOP that makes this topic such an anomaly.

A few weeks ago Red Hook park had a free show with the legendary Hip Hop Producers, DJ Scratch and DJ Premier.  I mentioned to her that because of our age we are fortunate to have been around and actually enjoyed the Golden Era of Hip Hop.   You cannot claim to love Hip Hop if you do not know about either of these guys...PERIOD.  The two DJ's played songs from the Motown Era (before Hip Hop was born) thru the Golden Era.  It was amazing to me to be a part of and witness my generation going bananas when they went thru the "classics".  I often think of what songs will be played in the next 15-20 years, when these late teens/early 20 somethings will be my age.  That is another topic for another day.  It is hard for me to think of any songs that will touch anyone like T.R.O.Y or Dwyck (if you have ever been to a "Hip Hop" party, this song most likely was played and it is not a song that I particularly care for) or anything that Wu-Tangs came out with (Enter The 36 Chambers).  To watch this crowd go nuts is an understatement, they really took it there.

It is important for me to stress that I got sick and tired of the whole Mafiosa Hip Hop thing during the 90's, but I remember when it was 1st done.  In my humble opinion, not many people could do it like Raekwon, Ghostface, & Nas.  Just like everything in Hip Hop, everyone started copying the format and it got old and stale.

Again, it seems that todays lyrics and wordplay is just corny.  Maybe it's my age, but is there really any discussion about the lyrics that came out of NYC, especially emcees from New York area during the 80's & 90's? I appreciate the new "style" of rappers today.  Kid Cudi, Wale, Charles Hamilton, Skyzoo, & etc., but we have to remember that without my generations Hip Hop stars, none of this would be possible.  I'm all about evolution and growth in Hip Hop, but I can not and will not accept what my Beloved Hip Hop has become.

I remember when the Hip Hop radio played more than 15 different songs all day.  Hell I remember when there wasn't even a Hip Hop radio station.   Maybe we should go back to those days, and then the radio would be forced to play more artist (underground and popular) to fill up the time slot.

I've been saying for awhile now that Common needs to do an updated version of "I Used To Love Her".   It would be really interesting to hear about the many changes that Hip Hop has gone thru.