What I See - October⁰⁷ by D2Nott

You know what it feels like to not be a part of something great, on the outside looking in and still not really knowing what's going on when it's going on in front of you. THAT'S YOU. Looking at an issue of the FAMUan I realized that everyone is so caught up in trying to be something that their not, you can forget who you are. It's good to live in the here and now, but always remember where you come from. Knowing your past helps you reach goals in the future. Everyone has a story, what makes yours worth hearing?

As the world comes to know about Frank Lucas and Leroy "Nicky" Barnes true to life American Gangsters, what can you say about their influence on this current generation and Hip Hop? When you look at the origins of New York rap, Lucas and Barnes were the stars of the trap and the streets that everyone wanted to be like. It's a well known fact that the stop snitching campaign was heard and seen all over America,

but as we find out in almost every American Gangster story it ends with the kingpin finally getting caught and not wanting to do all that time, so names are given up. No honesty, nonetheless honor among people that have lived crooked the majority of their lives. In the end the gangster sings like they're in the choir, and snitched like a BI***.

Now as we return from commercial...

Grab my brush
let me paint a perfect picture
gotta pay attention
cause it's three dimensional
same picture,
see it one of three ways
let it marinate
it might take a few days
All I talk about is drugs and violence
so I shouldn't say nothin'
get a moment of silence
if it don't make dollas,
it don't make sense
words to live by
took it out of context

Your past is your present
and your present is your cash
so I look forward to the future
get a little paper
your baby mama won't have you

Partly cloudy
so I need a forecast
where the weather man at
when ya need em
a hungry n*gga will
eat anything you feed him
a rich n*gga will
buy anything you sell em
and broke n*ggas will
believe anything you, fuckin tell em"-

Young Jeezy

Is life imitating art or art imitating life, when rapper TI gets arrested for weapons possessions? A real American gangster arrested the weekend of the BET Awards held in Atlanta. The real surprise was that the record label and others put up real money when the Judge slapped a hefty that required $2 million in cash to get TI released. You just kinda had to know that some rapper would be arrested for something; too much media coverage, too many rich young Black men gathered! You get that mass media reinforcement of the persona that the rap industry is full of thugs.

In terms of propaganda being dished out like facts, quite possibly the most controversial book to released this year, Valerie Plame Wilson's just published book, "Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House." The book is her personal account of her job at the CIA seeking information about the existence of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The manuscript draft which Plame was contractually obligated to submit to the CIA Publications Review Board came back heavily expurgated, with the expectation that the book would be rewritten to make sense despite the many deletions. Plame and her publisher, Simon & Schuster, responded that much of the censored information was in the public domain, and that CIA's suppression of information was itself part of her story. They elected to publish Fair Game with the censor's marks visible as blacked-out words, lines, paragraphs or pages, with an 80-page afterword by reporter Laura Rozen that uses matters of public record to fill in some of the gaps. Read "Libby- Dry Snitch", even your government doesn't want you to know the truth and is willing to snitch on its own spies.

Return of the Gangster

But still ready to rhyme
standin' my ground never back down
Willin' to rob, steal & kill any thang that threatens mine
But good luck couldn't be bought see many a fights had to be fought G
for a nigga to ride these Vogues
oh so close to the sidewalk
to be gawked at
watch your side my nigga
'cause we got gats
the first nigga to buck
gon' be the first nigga we attack
don't want that but it comes though
most of the time you don't know
Stickin' together like flour and water
to make that slow dough
we worked for everything we have
and gon' stick up for each other like we
brothers from another mother
Kinda like Mel Gibson and Danny Glover..

Big Boi - Outkast

Back to the entertainment: legendary hip-hop photographer Joe Conzo is releasing his book Born in the Bronx: "A Visual Record of the Early Days of Hip-Hop" will be available on November 9. Jay-z, Cassidy and Chris Brown all set to release albums early in November. Rick Ross, Beanie Seigel and Lil Wayne to release "The Leak", Ghostface will be releasing a book, DJ Drama finally to release the "Gangster Grillz" album, albums from Wu-tang, Styles P, and Saigon all scheduled to release this winter.

Listen and learn something for a change. Since people listen to rap music why not say something meaningful. Your life is more than a commercial, be dynamic, multidimensional. Tryin to reach a dream, no one other than those of African decent claim its heritage and roots because of one word. The "N" word. Whether from its repetitive use in the music itself or the type of lifestyle it promotes. That's the "hip hop effect". Its no secret black is the thing to be these days; is it something to emulate? Staying true to yourself is harder to do now than ever, no matter where you go in the world. Struggles that were here far before I was around make me: young, black, college educated, and entrepreneur; a target.

"Still I Rise" ... But who am I? ... It's just "What I See"

D2Nott