Rhymefest

Well, loyal readers, intellectuals, and revolutionaries: we have come to an inevitable end to my 2006 SOHH blogs. I would like to thank SOHH for affording me the opportunity to address my thoughts, concerns and questions regarding race, music, religion and everything else we have discussed over these last few months.

Today's blog is entitled, THE HATE THAT HATE MADE.

I was watching an interview on CNN where a Democratic congressman was commenting about George Bush's Iraq war strategy. During his commentary, he referred to President Bush as somewhat of an idiot. Some of the words he used to describe Mr. Bush were "incapable," "idiotic" and even "imbecilic." I thought to myself, what if George Bush is watching this program and listens to this man insult him inside and out? How does George Bush feel when he visits a foreign country, steps off of Air Force One and sees ten to fifteen thousand people holding signs characterizing him as Satan or Hitler or burning him in effigy? I mean, damn: he is human.

Well, my friends, we're almost there. This is officially my second to last blog on SOHH.com. At this point, I encourage even the silent readers who never responded to my blogs before to chime in.

Last Saturday night, I was watching "Showtime at the Apollo" and during the amateur talent show segment, I noticed that some of the artists understood that if they came out and sang a gospel song, their chances of being booed were clearly reduced, whether they could sing or not. I began to wonder, do we hide behind God's name in order to shield ourselves from public criticism? Think about it. Why does it seem as though artists like Michelle Williams and Tweet were totally satisfied singing about being "Bootylicious" and touching themselves ("Oops"), respectively, yet with the stroke of a pen, they flip-flop and praise the Lord in the name of gospel music and potential unit sales? I'm not suggesting that these particular young ladies didn't experience some life-altering rebirth or change; however, it did seem a bit bizarre to see Michelle Williams return to Destiny's Child to sing secular music after her change already occurred. And, I had the opportunity to be on a music panel with Tweet where every other word out of her mouth was "Praise Jesus."

As always, I must begin by thanking everyone who faithfully reads these entries. However, I would like to inform you that this will be the first of my last three blogs. I'm starting work on my new album which should be due mid-Spring 2007 entitled EL CHE. Your encouragement, comments, suggestions and sometimes overly-exaggerated critiques have all played a part in helping me grow as an artist, as well as a human being.

Today's blog is called What a Woman Wants (SHAKE THAT ASS, BITCH!).

As always, I would like to begin by thanking all of the loyal readers, bloggers and introspective thinkers who log on weekly to experience a new perspective on what hip-hop is and what it, ultimately, can become. However, I must say that is blaringly obvious that some of you just don't get it.

I'm not just here to promote a record and sell it. I believe that it is time for artists, as well as any responsible member of a community in need, to stand up, speak out and take action on the behalf of said community. These last few pieces I have entitled EL CHE (I-III) were not intended for my own self-promotion or gratification. They were intended to show the power of revolution through action. By the end of this blog, if it be God's will, the true progressors of culture among you will see exactly what I mean.

As you all might have realized by now, last week I had one of the greatest moments of my life when I met with the UK's Conservative Party leader, David Cameron. This was not only a great moment in my own personal achievement, but it was also a great moment for the culture of Hip-Hop all over the world. There were so many interesting events in the course of my trip, but I’ll skip those and get straight to the ‘club-banger.’

On October 19, 2006, I met with Tory Party leader [and very likely the next Prime Minister of Great Britain] David Cameron at the House of Commons in London last week to discuss Hip-Hop music & culture and policy issues. This originated from some comments he made about Hip-Hop and the subsequent letter I wrote to him in response to his comments. For this week's blog, I wanted to simply present the letter for those who have not read it, and I have also provided a Google link to a list of online press reactions to our meeting from around the world. Read the letter and the reactions, tell me your thoughts on the topic, and we will discuss what this really means in the next blog. Let's get started...

I would like to start by thanking all of the supporters of truth, revolution and intelligent dialogue for your participation in our discussions over the past five weeks. Even when you don't agree with me or just hate me for no reason, I still appreciate the comments, thoughts and energy you give to our discussions. Over the next few weeks, I plan to delve deeper into issues that affect us as fans of Hip-Hop, lovers of free speech and fighters for positive change. However, I must warn you: these next few blogs will be extremely controversial; or maybe not... depending on what your threshold for rational discussion is. I discourage anyone from responding with sheer emotion. This is our opportunity through the open, unedited forums of SOHH to make a significant change in our circumstances through intelligent discussion, debate and action.

Today's blog is called "URBAN PRESSURE vs. WHITE DOLLARS: PART I."