"Bling-bling and the murder of our people"

[The Sloth]

I'm not going to quote the article in full considering that it's an excellent read but it's better to just click on the link and read it there.

"I've seen some pretty ignorant and bizarre things in music over the last few years, but of all the things I've witnessed today's “Bling-Bling” syndrome has to be the worst. Sometimes I wonder where the hell this absurd obsession with diamond jewelry came from. I mean flossin' and frontin' have always played a part in rap but this shit is ridiculous! You can't even blame a region because the obsession is everywhere, East, West, South, Midwest, and everywhere between. You've all heard it; the jewelry praises roll off forked tongues from Roc-A-Fella to the Hot-Boyz. Nowadays rappers make songs in tribute to Diamonds (“Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend” - Jay-Z), spend better than 50 thousand dollars on a single piece of jewelry, and then insult their fans (the people who paid for that jewelry) about being broke. Ain't that about a *****!? The more I think about the more I think that these rappers just must not know any better.

“You know the wrist frost bit, minus two degrees/about as blue as the sea”

Read the whole thing here:

http://www.guerillafunk.com/thoughts/doc694.html


Although I've stopped wearing jewelry (except, of course, my fake earrings) a few months ago for reasons of not wanting to be a slave to self-consciousness (why else would you wear extravagant bullshit?), I'm now disgusted with these things even more.

And if anyone is getting married here, you better tell your future wife that she ain't getting no diamond on her finger. If she kicks and screams, just show her this video:

http://www.guerrillanews.com/diamondlife/

Click on the link, and look at the top-right, where it shows an orange and blue TV-set, and says "Windows Media Player," "broadband," "56K," etc.

[Louis Pio]

"How do you see the current state of hip hop. There is a huge gap between what is happening in the streets and what these rappers talk about in their rhymes?

Griff: Some people call that “cultural distraction”. If you watch TV for an hour you will say “look black people are living good!” You see the cars and women and food but the reality is that we don’t. The masses of black people in the US are poor, jobless, hungry, with no shelter. That guy driving through the neghborhood like that, all “bling blingin” with his jewelry is likely to get robbed. You can’t live up there and promote that stuff. No that is dangerous.

"

From "We don’t care what color the oppressor is It is the oppression that connects us for real" - An interview with Public Enemy (http://www.marxist.com/ArtAndLiterature/public_enemy_interview.html)

[Louis Pio]

Considering both of us are white that is a very stupid statement :D

However what could one expect from someone so stupid?

[Y2A]

B-M is white? I don't believe so.

[Louis Pio]

Hmm maybe not.
It does however not make the scared little kids statement any more intelligent :D

[The Sloth]

Originally posted by [email protected] 18 2004, 12:41 PM
B-M is white? I don't believe so.
Yes, I am.

This was covered in a very highly-publicized debate between me and Capitalist Imperial. :D

[Y2A]

Your white? Would have sworn you were black. Is that why you were so angry over my "wigger" comments?

[CubanFox]

Originally posted by [email protected] 19 2004, 05:54 PM
Your white? Would have sworn you were black. Is that why you were so angry over my "wigger" comments?
It's possible to be white and still be offended by use of the word "nigger"; which is what "wigger" essentially is. "A white kid trying to be a nigger". Disgusting.

[Y2A]

Right....

[The Sloth]

Originally posted by [email protected] 19 2004, 07:54 AM
Your white? Would have sworn you were black. Is that why you were so angry over my "wigger" comments?
Calling others "nigger-loving," "nigger-acting" white folks is offensive, yes.

[Guest1]

Y2A, I'm gonna ask you to remove that "che-lives classic" link, StalinSoldiers was banned for that comment and it isn't fair to the rest of us for you to link him to us.

[Y2A]

Originally posted by Che y [email protected] 19 2004, 03:09 PM
Y2A, I'm gonna ask you to remove that "che-lives classic" link, StalinSoldiers was banned for that comment and it isn't fair to the rest of us for you to link him to us.
There were some that sympathized with his statement though.

Here is the link so others can know what we are talking about.

http://www.che-lives.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=13584&hl=

[Rene Descartes]

Even though I suspect Damon Dash (CEO of Rockafella Industries) is an avid racist, I can respect his business sense. I recently saw an interview with him on PBS. Man, I have to tell you, his business model is sound, he has found a niche, and he knows how to take chances, and expand in the right business ventures. I highly suspect, he will move on to become one of the black communities most successful "angel" investors. The man knows how to pick winners and losers, generate a "need" for his product, and sell the hell out of it with cheap and intelligent marketing. Does his business exploit the underclass, the ignorant, and predominantly hurt the black community? I don't think there is any question about it, which seems ironic to me, since I perceived his racism to be fairly transparent. However, he has built quite a few black fortunes. Cost/benefit, he has done more harm than good. Keeping masses of people ignorant by playing up to their stupidity is never a really good idea.

[all-too-human]

Yes, and the people who sympathized with him were the kind of people you and CI routinely try to discredit, incoherent, babbling psychopaths. The kind of person who takes a stance not because of a deep personal conviction, but for the sheer badness of it. These are people who crave attention. Unfortunately no mods took action, and a thread that should never have exceeded two posts became three pages long. dredging this up again will only create more friction, and stunt the civilized debate we (doesn't always seem that way) try to promote at Che-Lives.

[IPkurd]

Rene Descartes
where did your post come from, was damon dash on the link at the top of the thread, if so i missed it...

[Rene Descartes]

Damon Dash is CEO of rockafella industries. He owns Jay-Z, and promotes the kind of bling-bling that Brooklyn-Mecca is expressing his disgust for. I apologize, as I thought it was relevant to the topic at hand. Look into the man, his corporate ventures, and the products he is peddeling, and then tell me I'm wrong.

[The Sloth]

Originally posted by [email protected] 21 2004, 12:37 AM
Rene Descartes
where did your post come from, was damon dash on the link at the top of the thread, if so i missed it...
If you click on the link I provided, some of the quotes on that page come from Jay-Z, who is supported by Damon Dash.

Damon Dash is an executive of Rocafella, whose "signature" is a diamond.

It's unfortunate to see ignorant folks throwing their hands up in the shape of a diamond to represent for an ignorant man and an ignorant company.

So yes, it's very relevant.

[IPkurd]

oh my bad, yea i know dash and his lot, he acts like hes some crooked head of state. but Rene Descartes his business plan aint all that, didnt he just sign victoria (ex spice girl) beackham to the company :) no matter how small of a niche he finds i dont think anyone will buy her crap

[Rene Descartes]

Nothing surprises me anymore. I wouldn't be surprised to see her go platinum under his management.

[IPkurd]

and how is Damon Dash racist

[EL CHICO ROJO]

tru this hip-pop muzik i here on the radio is sickening
im not in exreme poverty buh i not near being upper or upper middle class
i here them sad ppls rapin bout they cash they cars an they jewlery
buh i 8nt got no cash i dun got no car an i wear a silver chain round ma neck but there is no bling
it just pissed me off when i hear that shit
i dun care bout they cash
man why dont they talk bout real life buh no
the real ppl r undaground or not veri well known
an wat is well known is shallow shit
(oh an just incase ani1 has doughts i chilled wit brooklyn mecca he is indeed white)

[The Sloth]

Are you and your girl still going to the protests with me?

[EneME]

Originally posted by Brooklyn-[email protected] 17 2004, 03:51 PM
And if anyone is getting married here, you better tell your future wife that she ain't getting no diamond on her finger. If she kicks and screams, just show her this video:

I actually had decided years ago that I didn't want a diamond engagement ring if I ever got engaged. The person I'm seeing now had said they wanted to get me a huge diamond ring eventually, eventhough I didn't want it. Then he watched a documentary on the exploitation behind them, and now I'm not getting one. :lol:

[IPkurd]

still wanna know how damon dash is racist

[The Sloth]

Originally posted by [email protected] 27 2004, 08:41 PM
still wanna know how damon dash is racist
Rene has been banned -- so you will never know.

[IPkurd]

dame, can you fill me in for that then

[The Sloth]

Originally posted by [email protected] 28 2004, 12:30 AM
dame, can you fill me in for that then
I actually have no idea why Rene Descartes thought that Damon Dash was a racist.