Day 3 of the break-up turned out to be my “story day.” For some reason, probably because my dumb ass decided to write about all this on HHL, everybody - family, friends and acquaintances - started calling me wanting to hear the story of my break-up. In the past 24 hours, I’ve probably told the story twenty times.

Therefore, break-up week track #3 is You Got Me from one of my top five albums ever, “Things Fall Apart” by the Roots. This track is a lyrical masterpiece telling the story of a relationship turned sour, and contains one of the most universal truths I learned during my break-up: that “on the topic of trust, it’s just a matter of fact/ that people bite back/”. Click below to listen to the track:

And follow along with the lyrics after the break. (more…)

Aiight, so day 2 of the break-up has me feeling not quite as friendly as day 1, and quite a bit more pissed off. Therefore, break-up week track #2 is Fuck You Lucy, from Atmosphere’s classic 2002 release “God Loves Ugly.” This track pretty much epitomizes the anger common during a break-up. Click below to listen:

And follow along with the lyrics after the break. (more…)

Me and my girl broke up recently. She’s moving out this week. And due to the stress, I find myself doing a lot less work on the site, and doing a lot more getting high and listening to therapeutic hip-hop (my bad if you’re waiting for a review). So instead of letting my anxietied-inability to keep up with my blog affect HHL, I’ve decided to create a new series: Hip-Hop Break-Up Week. It will include songs that relate to the whole break-up experience.

Break-up track #1 is Breathe in the Sun, from the Perceptionists’ classic 2005 album “Black Dialogue.” It has a peaceful piano intro and melodic chorus. The first verse by Akrobatik doesn’t really relate, at least until the last couple lines, but Mr. Lif’s verse almost perfectly summarizes my thought process upon solidifying the break-up. Click below to listen to the track:

And follow along with the lyrics, especially Akrobatik’s chorus and the entire 2nd verse, after the break. (more…)

The New York Times announced this morning that HipHopLinguistics.Com is the world’s best hip-hop website! Well, not exactly. But why else would they show us love on page B5 of the Metro section in today’s special Independence Day issue - unless they thought the site was good, clean and wholesome? (more…)

After a long campaign that has been credited by many pundits for effectively transcending the race issue, Senator Barack Obama has now directly confronted the delicate topic. Following a mainstream media firestorm about recently-publicized and reprehensible comments from Obama’s former church pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, the senator delivered a highly anticipated and powerful speech on race relations in America Tuesday in Philadelphia.

Moreover, it was the most courageous and brutally honest discussion about race that I have ever heard from a politician in my lifetime – let alone one running for President. (more…)

In what I find to be the most shocking story so far in this long presidential campaign, the Secret Service reportedly ordered the Dallas Police Department to stop screening a large crowd for weapons at a Barack Obama rally last week. The mere thought of such a decision is reprehensible, and the conflicting explanations that have been put forth by federal and local officials since the rally are equally troubling.

And to my amazement, mainstream media has continued to perpetuate irrelevant health care plan disagreements between Clinton and Obama, as well as a low-on-the-facts sex story about McCain, all while barely touching on this appalling breach of national security. (more…)

Thursday night, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) held its 39th NAACP Image Awards, which was broadcasted live on FOX. The historic civil rights organization holds the annual award show to honor the achievements of people of color in the arts, including film, television, music and literature, as well as those who promote diversity and social justice.

While there were many deserving honorees from all aspects of American culture, this year’s award show had a strong focus on both music and politics … and rightfully so. (more…)

Just when we thought it might be over, Super Tuesday turned out to be far from super. Traditionally, the presidential nominees are often decided based upon the results of this single day of voting in which nearly half of our states hold their primaries. However, even with the huge amount of delegates handed out on Tuesday, there remains quite a battle for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The delegate process can be extremely confusing, largely due to the differences from state to state in regards to how delegates are won and how they are pledged. Some states hold caucuses while others hold primaries to determine the proportionate delegate winners. And the different types of delegates available create a system that has the potential to strip away the voting power of the common citizen. (more…)

On this day in which our entire nation and the rest of the world takes a moment to commemorate and honor the life and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we should all remember the many visionary principals of equality, harmony and peace that he put forth.

While the achievements of his lifelong fight for racial equality in the United States are well documented, Dr. King’s fight for world peace and tolerance on an international level often takes a second seat in the history books. (more…)

Just a week before celebrating the anniversary of the birth of our nation’s civil rights pioneer, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the unnecessary and divisive topic of race has now reared its ugly head in the Democratic presidential campaign.

Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) have begun a destructive spat that started last week after some comments were made by former President Bill Clinton. Both the Clinton and Obama camps are insinuating that the other is injecting race into the presidential equation, but who is really playing the race card? (more…)