On Sept. 26, David Banner joined fellow MC Master P, music industry executives and scholars to discuss offensive language in hip-hop music before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Reading from a statement, the 33-year-old Mississippi rapper/producer tenaciously defended hip-hop from its detractors.

During his testimony, Banner said, “If you fix our communities, we’ll fix our lyrics.” (more…)

Now y’all know I love Mos Def and Cornel West. And personally, I think Bill Maher has the best show on television - though sadly not good enough to justify a $100+ monthly cable bill for the HBO package. Therefore, I was sad when I found out that West and Mos were slated to be on Bill Maher this week and I wouldn’t be able to view the broadcast.

Luckily, the cats at Rawkus were kind enough to record the show and throw it up on YouTube. Mos Def and Cornel West made some great points talking about the Jena 6 and the still-horrible state of New Orleans - both topics ignored by corporate-controlled media. They also talked a little bit about Barack Obama and the 2008 presidential primaries. Peep the broadcast below. (more…)

  Rating:
  Review Date: January 31, 2007
  Website: Mos Def Website
  Label: Geffen

Mos Def “True Magic” Album Review
I used to be a WWF Wrestling fan. Go ahead, laugh it up. I don’t know why, but something about the beefing soap opera drama was funny to me. When they give their little speeches where they talk shit to whoever they’re beefing with at the time, they often put on great performances, and I always felt it was not that different from freestyle battle rapping. I used to like cats like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle and Booker T, mostly because they could control the mic well. But above all, the Rock was my motherfucking man dogg. (more…)