NAACP Going Hip Hop

July 19th, 2009 | By

The NAACP, or National Association of the Advancement of Colored People, is beginning to focus more on the younger crowds(or hip hop generation). If you notice most of the meetings today are few in number and mostly contain older, gray-haired individuals. Last week, the largest convention in history was held for youngsters — approximately 1,000 young African Americans attended the seminar that was held in Manhattan, New York. There were hopes that the crowd would boost even greater when Obama spoke to the organization. The NAACP is aiming to close the gap between generations of the pre-civil rights movement and post-civil rights movement. The organization would like to fight the age old reincarnation of racial inequities for the young and old today.

Many of the young people that attended the Centennial were eager for the event, but didn’t really hold plans for the future events involving the NAACP. One young lady in particular said that she appreciated what the past generations had done for the Black community, but there was a need to focus on today’s problems, such as teen drop-outs, pregnancy rates, gun violence, STIs and education. More young people today are beginning to take notice and concern for their communities and are looking to take action. The NAACP could take advantage of this by holding more events for the youth. Last year, there was a controversial election held for the NACCP’s next president. The young and old were divided, but eventually the youngest president in the history of the NAACP was chosen — a 30-something year old scholar from Rhodes, named Benjamin Todd Jealous.

Hip Hop Dance Festival

July 19th, 2009 | By

If you’re not doing anything this weekend, you might want to check out the three day festival poppin’ off at the Jazz & Rib Fest in the Arena District in Columbus, Ohio. It will feature dancing by the Philadelphia group. They will be showing and teaching dance routines to the youth — which is pretty ideal, since these past years dancing has been a huge part of the hip hop industry. The event will take place on W. Long Street located just past the North Bank Park pavilion. If you won’t be able to attend this particular hip hop festival, you may be able to catch them near your hometown. It will continue touring across the country with the Sunny D Summer 4Ever Road Trip. The purpose of this tour is for entertainment and to promote health and exercise.

Some of the dances you will find there include poppin and lockin and break dancing. If you aren’t familiar with the dance group, you may have seen them on the 106 & Park’s Wild Out Wednesday dance competitions back in 2006. You can call that episode their lucky break because since then they have been quite busy dancing all over the place. This event sounds like it’ll be a lot of fun, so it’s definitely something you should try to get to. It’s a family event — kids, adults and teens can all enjoy this hip hop festival. You can check in your area to see if and when they will be coming to a town near you.

The NFL Drafts

April 29th, 2009 | By

This past weekend was an intense one while we all waited to finally hear who the NFL draft picks would be. The first pick of the draft was Matt Stafford by the Detroit Lions. They were the worse team on the list and gravely needed to pick the top players on the draft list. Word has it that they were leaning towards him from the get go, so there wasn’t too much element of surprise there. But what was surprising was the amount they offered, $41.75 million — this is more than any player ever. Guess they wanted to ensure that he would sign well in advance of the draft picks. Although he is one of the top picks this year of the NFL drafts (some even think he is fantasy worthy), the Lions will still need another draft to fill in the pot holes they left on their team — especially on the offense and defense lines.

The Raiders, on the other end, picked Darius Heyward-Bey as their number 7 pick. DHB is a slim guy, but boy is he fast. Owner Al Davis loves fast runners and would likely take his chances on any guy with a quick sprint. Then the New York Jets made bold moves by trading up to 12 spots and picked USC quarterback Mark Sanchez. The Raiders are really banking on Sanchez to bring them up in the leagues.

The last pick of the drafts, winner of Mr. Irrelevant title and prior South Carolina kicker, was Ryan Succop, who was selected by Kansas City.

Are You Watching the NBA Playoffs?

April 29th, 2009 | By

Well…aren’t we all? Okay, maybe not all, but most of us are. In case you haven’t been following along, here is a quick overview of what’s been happening:

So far, Cleveland destroyed Detroit, which is a bit odd since Detroit made the conference finals six years in a row. This year, they were sent home during the first round of the series. Now, we just have to sit and wonder if this city will ever re-establish their winning ways…

Atlanta vs. Miami, this is a tie with each winning 2 games in the series so far. Superstar D. Wade was injured last season, but now he is shining ever so brightly with his notable defense skills. He’s runner up for MVP and personally, I think he should win — not only because I’m a Floridian, but because he really deserves it. If you compare D Wade to Lebron James, you’ll take notice that Wade carries his team. Without Wade, the Heat wouldn’t have made it to the playoffs. Cleveland on the other hand can make it to the play offs without Lebron James.

On the other end, you find the Bulls giving the Celtics a run for their money and I don’t blame them! Last year the Celtics was last year’s champions at the playoffs. The bulls had a great advantage because of the Celtics’ star player, Kevin Garnett, being out on injury. Since Jordan left the scene, Chicago hasn’t really had any home name stars, but there is potential in Derrick Rose. He’s young and he’s hip…but will he live up to the hype?

Trick Daddy vs. Rick Ross

April 15th, 2009 | By

Yet, another hip hop beef in the industry. Seems like a new trend indeed, but this time it’s between Trick Daddy and Rick Ross. It all began when Trick Daddy tried to call out Rick Ross as a snitch — claiming that he worked as a guard in the prison system. Rick Ross denied ever working with the police and then had a few — well , a lot of words for the Trickster. Not only did he try to say Trick Daddy was broke — or not as ballin’ as he was, but he also called him out as a hater. Rick pointed out his ice and jewelry pieces, showing that he was a multi-millionaire — he must be doing something right to be as popular and well-liked as he is. Maybe the beef is about turf — they are both from south Florida and lately Rick Ross has been making a lot of noise, possibly a little bit too much for the likes of Trick Daddy.

Back in the 90s and early Millennial years, Trick Daddy was the Miami King, throwing out hot tracks that echoed in clubs all over the nation. He fell out for a while and now maybe he’s trying to make a comeback by downing the newly crowned South Florida King. Who knows? Now, we’ll just have to wait and see who will come out on top. We’ll keep an eye and ear out for news about the beef between the two — so make sure to check back and stay tuned.