HHC Digital’s Rap Round-Up…
By Richard Watson

Finally making the headlines for something positive, DMX was released from jail, where he’d been serving a sentence for reckless driving. Of course, a few hours later he was pulled over by Five-O for a traffic violation. Welcome back, Earl. Meanwhile, X’s fellow wrong ’un Foxy Brown was indicted for her recent mooning episode − insert your own ‘bum rap’ gag here. If jailed, Inga’s unlikely to enjoy the type of name-brand refreshments enjoyed by Rikers resident Lil Wayne, but she could also miss out on visits from her brother Gavin, who, following his arrest for flexing a fake credit card, could be headed inside too. Which for a guy nicknamed ‘Pretty Boy’ doesn’t bode well.

Keeping with the family theme, Mrs. Flocka Flame insisted that her son Waka’s comments about Gucci Mane had been misrepresented in Vibe magazine, a topic that moved Gucci himself to break north from a radio interview. Elsewhere, footage surfaced of the late Donda West duetting with her lad Kanye, who this week announced himself up for a collabo with Justin Bieber and apparent Bieber fave Raekwon – Wu-Tang Killer Biebs on the swarm, anyone? Yeezy also broke down his “Rosewood mentality”, which sadly has nothing to do with Judge Reinhold’s Beverly Hills Cop character. Still, Joe Budden did his bit for ’80s nostalgia as he reached into his back catalogue at SOB’s with the Mr. Mister sampling ‘Broken Wings’.

Ohio natives still mourning the departure of LeBron James received some solace this week as Bow Wow selflessly vowed to carry their hopes and dreams on his slender shoulders. Well, maybe not solace, but they probably got a bloody good laugh out of it. Someone else enjoying a chortle was 50 Cent, who crank-called Shyne during an XXL conference call. Unsurprisingly, Shyne’s sides remained decidedly intact.

By Richard Watson

As English as a chip wrapper and just as likely to be seen out on the high street come Friday night, Tricky Micky lets his personality run riot on ‘The Micks Tape’, a raucous debut that sees our hero hitting bars, thumping pretend toffs and, every once in a while, stepping back from the mayhem to reflect on the “horror flick” that his beloved country sometimes seems to be…

You start the song ‘Easy’ by saying, “It’s actually quite difficult to go out drinking and not bump into a complete tosser.” Do you anticipate it getting even more difficult if your music blows up?
“No, ’cos it’s not even targeted stuff. It’s not like people looking at you from the other side of the room thinking, ‘Oh, yeah, I’ll have a piece of him’, ‘cos I’m not like that. I don’t try and build myself a reputation as someone who goes around fighting – I’m not like that to be honest. It’s just about the minor irritations where people are being completely arrogant and shoving you out of the way or making snide comments just to give their boys a laugh. Nothing premeditated, just ’cos they’re out-and-out idiots.”

The kind of persona and subject you present on your records isn’t the traditional hip-hop fare…
“That comes from the crowd I mix with, ’cos I don’t really mix with a hip-hop crowd. Where I was brought up, hip-hop wasn’t really much of a thing, to be honest. I got into it along with drum ‘n’ bass, which was more the thing, you know? As far as hip-hop goes, no one I know is massively into it, so it felt more natural to just be how we was and adapt it to something that connected to us.”

What hip-hop artists did inspire you?
“We used to go about smoking and listening to Redman and Method Man, 2Pac. Just the obvious stuff, but in a lot of ways it was the best stuff as well. That’s what really hooked me.”

Presumably Red and Meth’s sense of humour struck a chord with you…
“Exactly. And that’s why even now I probably listen to Redman’s album or ‘The Blackout’ album and enjoy it even more than the 2Pac stuff, which is more angsty.”

On ‘Lying Liars’ you call out Joey Barton over his unsavoury antics…
“At the time I wrote the track, that was just happening. He was coming out being so remorseful about everything. [Does whiny, insincere voice] ‘I’ve made mistakes.’ It was like, Joey, give it a rest. You loved every minute of it. He’s a thug, he should just admit it.”

One of the recurring themes in your lyrics is your pride in being English…
“Absolutely. The reason we’re the UK is just so we don’t go to war with each other. We want a combined army. I mean, everyone in the UK is cool with being English, Welsh, Scottish, Irish. The only people that aren’t cool with it are the people that are in charge. They think it’s nationalist and ugly. It’s not, you know. We’re proud people. Everyone’s entitled to represent their country and speak out and be proud about their country. I don’t think really anyone is gonna turn around and say they’re British. I mean, a Scotsman definitely wouldn’t. Scots people, rightly so, can be proud of their country, so there should be no shame in us being proud of our country.”

On ‘Aim High’ you note the prevalence of tabloid-fuelled racism and paranoia, but also admit, “I’m sorry, I don’t care about Allah, about slavery or anything I can’t fix…” Did you worry that this line would bother some listeners?
“The particular line that you mention, yes I did. But I do say in it, ‘I’m sorry. I can’t do anything about it so I’m not going to try and do anything about it.’ Not to pretend that it never happened, but as far as I’m concerned it’s a new age, we’re all in the same country together, and we should hold no grudges against each other for anything that’s happened in the past. At the time, I did think, ‘I hope it doesn’t offend anyone,’ but if I took it out, I’d be mugging myself off with my own music, really.”

‘Hot & Cold’ is about being in a committed relationship, while ‘Guys Wanna Play’ finds you “being a wino in Spearmint Rhinos”. Which one is closer to the real Micky?
“‘Hot & Cold’ is well and truly in the honeymoon period. Then when it gets to ‘Guys Wanna Play,’ that’s when that’s over and you’re towing the line between commitment and not being there. It’s always the same for blokes: they’ve always got their woman asking them to be there more, and they’d rather wrap you up and have you all to themselves if they could. If you’re gonna be with a woman, I guess you should be a one-woman kind of guy, and if you can’t be a one-woman kind of guy, you should have the balls to say so. The world’s full of lying liars, why make yourself one of them? I’m single at the moment because I didn’t wanna be a one woman guy for the time being, but when you find someone that’s decent, you try your best not to mess it up.”

HHC Digital’s Rap Round-Up…
By Richard Watson

Hip-Hop Drunkies: Ably assisted by RA The Rugged Man, Sadat X returned with Season 3 of his indespensible ‘True Wine Connoisseurs’ show. Not content with showing off his cultured palate, hip-hop’s Oz Clarke also dazzled viewers with his knowledge of all things Australian, shouting out the aborigines and, er, Auckland. Meanwhile, the booze may stop flowing at TI’s Club Crucial if the raucous joint has its liquor license suspended. Worrying news indeed for patrons of Bankhead’s only Delbert Wilkins-themed drinking establishment.

In other TV comedy tribute news, Detroit’s Danny Brown dropped a George Costanza reference on his new track, only to be overshadowed by Wale, back with his second Seinfeld-sampling mixtape. Kanye, on the other hand, raided Roman and Renaissance iconography for a video − sorry, moving portrait − depicting the double-edged sword of Damocles that is fame. Then, life imitated art as the Coventry lad that Yeezy had selected to follow on Twitter revealed himself as merely a casual fan. For his part, DMX found that fame can bring you all the jump-offs you desire, but also a tell-all book from an ex-spouse who’s not best pleased with your plentiful extramarital sex or army of illegitimate kids.

Fashawn dropped a moving portrait – no, wait, his was a video − and also found time to hang out with The Alchemist and Nore, who noted, rather awkwardly, “Fat Shawn, but he ain’t fat at all.”

A rapper with Fat definitely in his name and on his frame, Fat Joe appeared on Chelsea Handler’s show to talk about his Eastern equivalent, Chinese Fat Joe, and his own builder’s bum. Away from the talk show circuit, Joseph also proposed a solution to his feud with 50 Cent that would entail the two of them duking it out in an airport bathroom. Now that’s fighting dirty.

This week sees the release of El-P’s grandiosely-titled WeAreAllGoingToBurnInHellMegaMixxx3, an instrumental project that collects together fresh productions with remixes for Young Jeezy and Kidz In The Hall. You can sample the track ‘Whores The Movie’ by clicking here and check out more info on the release over here. Better yet, HHC Digital has two CD and deluxe double gatefold LP packages to give away to the first reader to tell us the name of El’s last album by emailing the answer to info@hhcdigital.net. Now keep reading to get up on El-Producto’s views on the intricacies of the remix game…

Are the Young Jeezy and Kidz In The Hall remixes on the album official remixes?
“Yeah, both were internet only remixes. The Kidz In The Hall remix, those are my dudes. I’ve got a verse on the remix that came out, but it was never released properly in a physical format so I figured I’d throw it on there as I liked the beat. And I was commissioned to do the Jeezy remix by Adult Swim when they did the ATL versus other producers shit. I picked that song to do.”

Do most remixes that you’re commissioned to do get released?
“I’ve done a lot of remixes in the past and most of them come out. It’s very rare that they don’t come out. I wish I could just collect ‘em all, but that’s the weird thing about remixes – they pay you a flat fee and you can never touch it again. It’s been cool. Somewhere along the line I got on the list of people influential people to get to do a remix. It lets me mess around and experiment.”

What are your favorite remixes?
“I know that my music is not normally ever framed in the context of any pop culture music, so when I get the chance to do a Beck or Mars Volta or Nine Inch Nails – stuff that’s on another level in the industry – I think it’s like a smirk to me. It’s cool, it’s something that even by nature, there’s something deranged about that.”

When you approach a remix, do you attempt to make the original song sound better or different?
“[Pauses] Better. I try and make the track sound better. Sometimes you can’t and you try and make it sound different. Let me clarify this: For me, a remix is a chance to give it a new perspective, a new idea, turn it on the head. For the Trent Reznor, Nine Inch Nails thing ['Only'], which was a dancey track, I tried to slow it down and base it around something I heard in the lyrics, which was really morose. That’s the thrill I get out of it.”

Do you ever get feedback from the artists you remix?
“Hell yeah, definitely. I’ve always gotten really good feedback, except in a few cases…”

Can you name any?
“What’s their fuckin’ name? All-American Rejects. I did a remix of the big single off their last album last year, ‘Gives You Hell’, and they didn’t like it. They just couldn’t decide – half liked it, half hated it. I loved it, I thought it was great, better than the original, which of course I would. But they didn’t. You always get a little taken aback. In the back of your head you’re like, ‘Really? I’m making you sound cool…’ That’s just arrogance, of course. I think anyone who does a remix takes it on ‘cos it’s a weird challenge, not ‘cos you’re a fan of the artist. But they definitely shit on me. In the end they came back to me and said, ‘Okay, here’s the deal, we’re gonna take it but not say you fulfilled your contractual obligation so we’re only gonna pay you half the money.’ I said, ‘Fuck you, I’ll keep the half that you’ve already paid me and I’ll keep the beat.’ I wasn’t gonna sign to say I didn’t fulfill the contract.”

Do most remix contracts have a clause like that?
“They way remix contracts work is there’s a kill fee, which means they pay you up front and if they don’t like it, you keep half anyway. There’s a thing called ’satisfactory delivery’, which is essentially an arbitrary way of saying if they don’t like it they can say it wasn’t satisfactorily delivered. So All-American Rejects tried it, I said fuck it I’m satisfied. They came back and said they’d changed their mind. That’s just one example. But, yeah, your ego takes a little bit of a hit every time that happens.”

When you do a remix, do you get to come up with the titles to them?
“I find that a lot of times, people end up naming it themselves. Like they’ll always call it ‘The El-P Distortion Crazy Fuck-Head Remix’ or something. But for the Justin Bieber remix, which I did as a joke but it weirdly kinda blew it, I did call that ‘The El-P Death Mix’ just ‘cos I wanted to make Justin’s little factory-sealed Disney world really dark.”

There aren’t that many remixes of your songs, are there?
“No, not really. I haven’t really had any.”

Why not?
“It’s a good question.”

Ego?
“Probably! You know, it’s the same question as to why I don’t have other people producing my records. I should though. I’ve thought about it, I’d like to. But a lot of times I’ll remix the shit myself or I’ll feel like it’s the way I want it. But there’s no rule about it. There’s been a few remixes.”

Do you like them?
“Yeah, sure, I always end up kinda liking them to be honest. I remember someone did a dub-step one, commissioned by our label in the UK, and it was the first time I’d ever had anyone in that world remix me. I remember being surprised ‘cos they do that thing where they just take one phrase and repeat it throughout the whole song. I was like, ‘When do my fuckin’ lyrics come in?!’ But I got used to it.”

If budget wasn’t an issue, who would you most like to have remix your music?
“Budget’s always an issue, you kidding me?! But Reznor would be great. I wouldn’t mind The Glitch Mob doing something, I like those guys. I definitely dig what Flying Lotus is doing, Gaslamp Killer. I think it would be amazing to see what someone like David Byrne would do, but that’s just fantasy shit.”

HHC Digital’s Rap Round-Up…
By Richard Watson

Stay Strapped: This week, Ice-T took to Twitter to have a go at the rookie rozzer who charged him for driving without a seat-belt. Ooh, it’s like the ‘Cop Killer’ controversy all over again! Foxy Brown, meanwhile, was arrested after allegedly calling her nemesis neighbour a “dirty bitch”, an insult which seems a little rich if, as was reported, she issued it seconds before flashing her arse cheeks. The neighbour had a restraining order against Foxy following a 2007 incident in which the rapper belted her with a BlackBerry, but this time Inga kept a hold of her phone to tweet that her foe is a “bum bitch” – which actually seems like it should be Foxy’s new handle.

In other rap-relevant BlackBerry news, Fabolous was “noticeably relieved” to be reunited with his branded smartphone after leaving it at his restaurant table. The gadget contained hordes of new rhymes and, more crucially, Fabo’s Bubble Army top score. With all this tech-based nonsense going on, it was good to see 9th Wonder’s protégées Actual Proof grabbing their decks and getting some fresh air in their ‘Skate Kids’ video, while fans of rap’s original skate kid Lupe Fiasco hit Atlantic Records with a petition demanding the release of the rapper’s ‘Lasers’ set.

Speaking of delayed albums, two possible reasons emerged for the continuing hold-ups on Dre’s perennially pushed-back ‘Detox’ set: 1) The Doc’s too busy messing around in the studio with Justin Bieber, and 2) he apparently has to dress up like the exiled third member of Daft Punk before programming beats on his fancy HP laptop. With his album already out, Big Boi used a computer to tackle Wikipedia’s lies – come to think of it, Chuck D surely missed a trick by not making some sort of ‘wicked paedos’ wordplay on PE’s freshly dispatched new track…

HHC Digital’s Rap Round-Up…
By Richard Watson

With the audio of Mel Gibson’s racially charged rants at his baby mama saturating the web, sensible folk skipped the acres of broadsheet ‘analysis’ and instead sought out the opinion of rappers. Apparently no strangers to the perils of scantily clad girlfriends, Capone N’ Noreaga issued an admirably measured response, with Nore opining that “Other than him sayin’ ‘niggas’, he has a point” while also conceding that the Lethal Weapon man went too far by dissing babies. Ras Kass chose to express his take on the situation through song, sampling Gibbo’s lyrics of fury for instant viral smash ‘Pussy From Behind’.

On a somewhat related note, ever wondered whether Jadakiss has let a lover insert a digit into his rectum during the physical act of making love? No? Well, that’s not even the dodgiest of the questions that J to the Mwah fielded during a sex-themed Q&A. Meanwhile, renowned coitus enthusiast Too $hort issued a statement strenuously denying rumours that his recent scuffle stemmed from his attempt to get some too young lasses backstage. Short Dog wasn’t the only rap legend defending himself, as Bushwick Bull hit the courtroom to fight the threat of deportation. Hopefully he didn’t undermine the work of his lawyers by jumping up on the bench like in the ‘Damn It Feels Good to be a Gangsta’ video.

While Bun B kicked props to Ricky Gervais, ‘Fawlty Towers’ and Monty Python, 9th Wonder reminisced over ‘T.R.O.Y.’ and Mr Cheeks, author of the inexcusable ‘Reminisce 03’, reunited with Pretty Lou for a new Lost Boyz track (Spigg Nice would have participated but was busy being incarcerated). Also on the reunion tip, Slum Village dropped visuals for, er, ‘Reunion Pt. 2’, but Lord Finesse scuppered any thoughts of further posthumous LPs from the late great Big L. Hip-hop not exploiting its fallen soldiers – whatever next?

In HHC Digital 006 (the issue headed up by WARP super-producer Flying Lotus), we ran a column commenting on allegations surrounding old-school hip-hop icon Wanda Dee (pictured above with Universal Zulu Nation founder Afrika Bambaataa) and the Goddess Empire. It elicited a stern response from Eric Floyd, her husband and manager, which is printed in full below…

–

I am at a complete loss of words over the stuff that I’ve read on your site in the guise of FACTS about myself and my loving wife of 25 years, Hip Hop Veteran/Pioneer & multi-platinum Pop/Dance recording artist, WANDA DEE.

Both of us, having been in this Business called Show, for well over 35 years each; we can deal with the fact that in this high technological age of The Internet and the unchecked and un-policed blogs of Internet terrorists that can write & post ANY and EVERY THING about ANY and EVERY ONE that they have a personal axe to grind with, is one of our occupational hazards (just ask OPRAH, OBAMA, BEYONCE, JAY Z, P. DIDDY, the late MICHAEL JACKSON & a host of others who have “I HATE…” blog sites devoted to them from folks who have accused them all of being everything from Illuminati / Satanist members, bisexuals, woman beaters, pedophiles, closet drug users & the like); but it is grossly unfair (at best) and journalistic irresponsible (at worst) to report and (thus) repost this unproven / unsubstantiated nonsense, slander, hearsay & conjecture as either NEWS or FACTS!

The Old School Hip Hop Community was about UNITY! And as my wife (Wanda Dee) is one of it’s oldest originating members (having just received a Lifetime Achievement Award from The Universal Zulu Nation at their 30th anniversary celebration in Harlem by her mentor, Afrika Bambaataa himself, who is also a frequent / regular guest at our Vegas home each and every time he finds himself working in Sin City); we are deeply and gravely disappointed that you guys would bastardize her good name the way you have by printing such rubbish (with her name & image attached) and never once reach out to us for (1) THE TRUTH… (2) OUR SIDE OF THE STORY.

To say that we “dress in exotic clothing” and that “we view ourselves and want all those around us to treat us like Gods & Goddesses” and to further imply that I’m having “sexual relations with my own Son”, and how “we force all those around us to have sex with us” and how I “knocked up one of my assistants, Kitt who had my baby and named her R. Kelly” all as if these juicy tidbits of bullshit are actual and factual, as absolutely and unequivocally unfair, untrue and ridiculous! I would think that after all of the years we’ve put into this business, we would, at least by a fellow journalistic professional, been shown a lot more fairness, decency & respect than what you’ve shown us.

#1- We SOMETIMES dress in exotic clothing because we’ve been blessed to have traveled / headlined tours in some 150 cities, 90 countries on 6 continents; and thus, being that I am from Brookyn’s Bushwick projects and Wanda is from The Boogie-Down Bronx, we love picking up clothing (and other trinkets) from the exotic lands that we frequent (touring some 10 months of the year, every year, for the 23 years consecutively. Last time I checked, that wasn’t a crime; and merely makes us a bit eccentric (at worst) to the average narrow minded American.

#2- For the record, we view ourselves as quite simply what we are, humble children of a loving & perfect God. A blissfully happy married couple who has been (again) blessed (you’ll read that word a lot) to be living their dreams in good health & strength; and have been equally blessed to take dozens of young people of color around the world making money doing what they love to do best, PERFORM.

#3- Sexual relations with my own Son is disgustingly vile, contemptuous and revoltingly insulting to me, as a Man and a Black Man (in particular), I won’t even dignify that with a further response. My Son… Our Son… bar none, is quite simply, one of the baddest young, up & coming multi-faceted performers on the planet; Writer, Actor, Arranger, Producer, Dancer, Singer & Entertainers Entertainer. But please, don’t take my word for it, as I’m both his Father & Manager, and of course, my opinion is biased, so please by all means, take a look for yourself.

http://www.goddessempireentertainment.com/siameze.htm

#4- Look at my wife and I (pictured above, far left and far right), would either of us seriously ever need to force anyone to have sex with us!? No, seriously!?

#5- One of our many live in personal assistants, Ms. KITT WILLIAMS, who was & is a consensual lover to BOTH my wife and I (as my wife is a loud / proud bi-sexual woman), humbly asked us (because she wanted to give birth before she was 30 years old, by and large also because BOTH her sister & brother also both were having newborns at the time) if I could be the father of her child, and as consenting adults, we all agreed. Not shooting blanks, Kitt was consensually impregnated by me and as you can see by the photos below, we are all now one big happy family. And yes, Kitt’s favorite artist is R. Kelly, and so (again) with my blessing, she named our daughter, ROBYN KELLY FLOYD (baring my last name & full financial $upport)! Again, no crime here! Just love. And life!

In closing, I would much rather the actual, factual bonafide WORK that me and my family do as both entertainers and producers both in Las Vegas and around the world, speak for us. So if you so care to actually do some REAL RESEARCH on who we really are, and how we really operate, then please, by all means, let your “research department” at your publication take the time to do some real due diligence on us by clicking on the incalculable amount of links on us that will give you a more clearer picture of who we are, where we fit in and how we are truly regarded in our industry.

Just because one deranged, former lover (who was NEVER an employee of Goddess Empire Entertainment), decided that she wanted to BE Mrs. Floyd and replace my wife (something that would NEVER happen) and decided that she would exact her revenge by creating an online all out terrorism scandal of defamation and slander against me, my wife, our Son, our good names, industry reputation, and even my innocent (now) 2 year old daughter, Robyn (as ‘hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’), I think it is abominable that you guys would REPEAT and/or REPOST and/or REIGNITE such bullshit without ever even attempting to contact us on this end to find out THE TRUTH!

Well, as a picture is worth a thousand words, all you have to do is look at the one below of my wife and our good friend, Broadway / Television legend, BEN VEREEN and see the deranged chic in the back (Arkeni Turner) to see how she really feels about my wife when she thought that the camera was NOT on her and that she was NOT in the photo. And read the link that some folks wrote about her on the exact same site that she has pretended to be other people in multiple postings about US, and she, of course, in her deranged mind, believes that they came from me! Hell, if you let her tell it, my wife NEVER sang lead for THE KLF… we’re NOT even married… she’s a man in drag… and so and so forth. Puhleeze!

I don’t know if this will ever get printed by you and your publication, but that wasn’t why I wrote it… I took the time to write it because, MY FAMILY is worth it! THE TRUTH is worth it. And I hope that you can both understand and overstand where I am coming from.

I leave you in peace to allow your hearts to make your own decisions and determinations.

God(dess) with you always,

Eric Floyd

HHC Digital’s rap round-up…
By Richard Watson

Down With The King: This week, there was heartening news for anyone missing hip-hop’s early-’90s fixation with pyramids, pharaohs and all things Egyptian as Kanye West visited the Tutankhamun exhibition in Times Square. Yeezy returned satisfied that, while the late King Tut had the jewelry and interior design games on lock, he never had wildly over-hyped custom kicks from Louis Vuitton or Nike. Over in Scotland, T in the Park-performer Eminem was allegedly demanding king-like treatment where his own kicks were concerned, with plastic bags and a car employed to keep his Simods sparkling.

Semtex made like Ralph McTell as he guided J Cole through the streets of London. The duo dined at Nando’s, but it’s unclear whether they hit up Waterstones or simply posted up outside it. One rap type definitely punishing the paperbacks was Lil Wayne, who’s apparently been spending his sentence on Riker’s “reading and observing” – at least when he hasn’t been forming a potent comedy double act with Fat Joe. Meanwhile, Joseph’s old foe 50 Cent stayed dissing Diddy: “Biggie’s name should never have become Diddy’s black card,” opined Curtis, although he didn’t say whether he had a problem with Puff using Craig Mack as his Sainsbury’s Nectar Card.

Black Milk dropped another tantalising track from his forthcoming album, and fellow producer-on-the-mic Pharrell reminisced about being 17 and giving Pusha T scooter rides to the local 7-11. Skateboard P also revealed that Rakim was his idol during these days, while Drake sweated the technique of Leo DiCaprio, listing The 12th Letter as a top 5 influence. Finally, rocking Timbs and a giant white tee and yelling like a maniac, DMX was back in the booth after emerging from a decade-long coma – sorry, his latest jail stint. Either way, the influence of The God Leo wasn’t readily detectable.

Digital Underground icon Shock G recently penned a missive aimed at Fox News, complete with a link to an online petition against the Rupert Murdoch outlet. The full blurb is as follows…

Racism is a form of mental illness. Imagine a mother cat refusing to nurse her black, brown, or orange kittens, and only nursing the white ones. Crazy right? Well mother America sometimes suffers from this same illness and FOX TV helps it spread. Even a common housecat is smart enuff to know that the entire litter are all equally her babies.

Now imagine if people born on odd numbered days felt they deserved more than those born on even ones. Crazy right? We all know we haven’t actively earned our skin color anymore than we actively chose our birthdate; any person seeking extra credit for this non-achievement is actually insane, and lives in an eschewed reality. Help us fight FOX! The letter below takes only 90 seconds to read, and the e-petition takes 2 mins tops to sign. Thanx!!
Shock-G

Dear friends & Family,

On Wednesday, Rand Paul, the GOP’s US Senate candidate for Kentucky repeated his claim that a central piece of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was wrong, and that businesses should be free to discriminate against whomever they please.1 Paul and his supporters don’t seem to care that without federal intervention, Black people might still be second-class citizens in most aspects of American life: where we eat, where we work, even where we live.

Then, on Thursday, FOX contributor and business anchor John Stossel went even further than Paul and called for the section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that applies to business to be repealed.2 And he’s refused to back down.

It’s time to hold FOX accountable:

http://www.colorofchange.org/stossel/?id=1966-705465

While Rand Paul may have started this outrage, he can be taken care of at the ballot box — FOX News can’t.

Stossel’s position is an affront to Black America and everyone in this country who believes in racial progress. It’s one thing to be a candidate with backwards views. It’s another to be employed by a supposed news network and to use that platform to push hateful ideas that our nation repudiated decades ago.

It’s time that FOX drop Stossel. It’s why I’ve joined ColorOfChange.org in demanding Fox do so immediately. If after hearing from thousands of people like you and I, FOX refuses to act, it will make clear that FOX stands with Stossel and his values, and ColorOfChange has pledged to go directly after the network with a major public campaign.

Can you take a moment to add your voice to the call to fire Stossel? After you do, please ask your friends and family to do the same:

http://www.colorofchange.org/stossel/?id=1966-705465

FOX has a history of providing a platform for bigoted views and race-baiting. Most recently more than 300,000 people helped us hold FOX accountable by stripping Glenn Beck of more than 100 of his advertisers, after Beck called President Obama a “racist” with a “deep-seated hatred for white people.”3

But Stossel has arguably gone beyond Beck, echoing segregationist arguments from the Jim Crow era:

“It’s time now to repeal that part of the law because private businesses ought to get to discriminate. And I won’t ever go to a place that’s racist and I will tell everybody else not to and I’ll speak against them. But it should be their right to be racist.”

Stossel went on to argue something that history has disproved time and again — that private business will do the right thing, without being compelled by laws, because no one would patronize a business that discriminates. It’s a blind belief in market fundamentalism that just isn’t in sync with reality. In the ’60s, white-owned businesses that allowed Blacks as customers lost business. Market forces actually perpetuated discrimination; they didn’t combat it. Simply put: segregation would still be active in parts of this country if government hadn’t stepped in.

And recent history has shown that the public accommodations section of the Civil Rights Act is still needed. In 1994, it was used to hold Denny’s Restaurants accountable, after the chain repeatedly refused to seat Black customers.4 Just last year, it was used to go after a Philadelphia pool that prevented Black children from swimming there.5

It’s time for Fox News to make a choice. Are they willing to continue to give a platform to racially-divisive rhetoric and revive dangerously outdated perspectives? Or will they move with the rest of the nation into into the 21st century? Please join me in calling on Fox News to fire John Stossel. And once you do, please ask your friends and family to do the same:

http://www.colorofchange.org/stossel/?id=1966-705465

Thank you.

HHC Digital’s Rap Round-Up…
By Richard Watson

The Hill that’s real: Rocking the crowd − and an ensemble straight from her local branch of Dr Barnados − Lauryn Hill surfaced at Cali’s Harmony Festival. Also keeping it live, one-time Evil Bastard (copyright The Daily Star) Snoop Dogg made a triumphant return to surprisingly dry UK soil as he conquered Glastonbury, although it looks like Calvin overreached with his bid to secure the entire European country of Liechtenstein for his next video. Meanwhile, Glasto vet Jay-Z attempted to secure the services of free agent LeBron James. His bait? A giant billboard featuring Jigga and a lanky Russian billionaire.

You know that annoying flow that Drake, Lil’ Wayne, Luda, Nicki Minaj, Kanye and his mate Big Sean all do; the one where they basically leave the word ‘like’ out of a simile (“I fill her up, balloons”)? Well, this week, Drake let it be known that Luda and the like aren’t as good as him at this game-changing feat of verbal ingenuity. Sorry, Dreezy, but as far as we’re concerned it sounds like a load of balls, Mitre.

While T3 confirmed that ‘Villa Manifesto’ will be Slum Village’s swansong, a Cam’ron-inclusive Dipset dropped their reunion joint and The Game declared himself open to a G-Unit reconciliation. “We don’t gotta break no peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in half and do the shit,’ noted Jayceon, disappointing fans of hip-hop’s most time-honoured two-part reunion ritual. Pete Rock was also in a sociable mood, excitedly tweeting the news that he’s making an album with “someone called ‘Premeire”. Doesn’t ring a bell with us – perhaps he’s Rob-O’s plumber or something.

Speaking of super-producers, in the week’s most redundant request, Dr Dre asked fans awaiting ‘Detox’ to be patient. Anyone else beginning to think the whole ‘perfectionist’ myth is a fib, and that maybe Dre is yet to start work on the album?