A Wise Man Told Me Don't Argue With Fools

Cause people from a distance can't tell who is who
So stop with that childish shit, nigga I'm grown
Please leave it alone - don't throw rocks at the throne...Don't make me expose you to them folks that don't know you
Nigga I know you well, all the stolen jew-els
Twinkletoes you breakin my heart
You can't fuck with me - go play somewhere, I'm busy
And all you other cats throwin shots at Jigga
You only get half a bar - fuck y'all niggaz

And just like that, in an instant, it is done. This was the most exciting weekend of hip hop in a long time. I enjoyed it, mostly cause my guy won. But isn't that always how it is, the best Football game last year was when the Eagles won the NFC. It certainly wasn't the superbowl.

That said, Jay killed it. Done. Fin. Morte. Dead.
How, you may ask? Is there some gully Jay track out there? Well, sort of. There is a track, and I will give you the link, but Jay doesn't say a word. Seems Cam, "Mr. the way cats biting is despicable" got caught with his pants down. Can't wage war, based upon righteous indignation when you are guilty of the same indignities, now can you? Well, the "Diplo-crits" (or "Hip-Set") leader has been known to take a bite out of crime himself. Must have been all that rapping with McGruff [the crime dog, lol. Nah, Harlem World rapper, who was very good-btw...yes, this is a digression, haven't you been paying attention, lol?]

So, what happens? The President throws a double assult, one in the mainstream press-Jay-Z and Def Jam signed Nas today, like y'all ain't already know- and one for the streets. I'm giving y'all the streets.


Here it go. Listen, enjoy!


After you enjoy that, we can call this one a wrap! (Me pun? Never)

As far as 50, he really can't want it with Hov, can he? Wow. Now that is good versus evil. 50 has other problems though. For some unknown reason he dissed one of the greatest (and underrated) rappers alive, AZ.

For the uninitiated, AZ is the author of what may be the single greatest verse EVER laid down:

Visualizin the realism of life in actuality
Fuck who's the baddest a person's status depends on salary
And my mentality is, money orientated
I'm destined to live the dream for all my peeps who never made it
cause yeah, we were beginners in the hood as five percenters
But somethin must of got in us cause all of us turned to sinners
Now some, restin in peace and some are sittin in San Quentin
Others such as myself are tryin to carry on tradition
Keepin the schwepervesence street ghetto essence inside us
Cause it provides us with the proper insight to guide us
Even though, we know somehow we all gotta go
but as long as we leavin thievin we'll be leavin with some kind of dough
so, until that day we expire and turn to vapors
me and my capers will be somewhere stackin plenty papers
Keepin it real, packin steel, gettin high
Cause life's a bitch and then you die

All around 10 points. 10 for flow, ten for creativity, 10 for vocabulary skills, just a perfect godamned verse. Well, Mr. Magic Stick decided to go at AZ...and AZ, the man that he is, killed him. I'd let y'all listen to it, but I can't find it. But it is great. Like a senseai talking to a student, or a Jedi to a Padawan, AZ tells 50 that he [50] has had a great career, and will likely have a great year, but "if money made the man then Saddam's statute would still stand on Iraqi sand..." What?!?! Str8 Fire!!!.

As you can see, I am enjoying the diss aspect of hip-hop. This is what makes hip-hop the single best artform that exists. Folks are trying to be the best. Period. That is the art of competition. "Hip-hop is the art of competition."

Okay, barring any earth shaking events, this will be the last hip-hop post for a minute. I'll go back to hustling-which is what we do best- and hating on Negroes, white people, men, women, children, parents [married and unmarried], the tall and the short, and dogs-I really hate dogs.

But tell the truth, that was fun, wasn't it?

Say goodnight to the bad guy.

This is Jay, Dissin Jay Will Get You Mase'd

When I start spittin them lyrics niggaz get very religious
Six hail mary's please father forgive us
Young, the archbishop, the Pope John Paul of y'all niggaz
They way y'all all follow Jigga
Hov's a livin legend and I'll tell you why
Everybody wanna be Hov and Hov's still alive

Let me open this up by stating, first and foremost, that this is ALL speculative. I know none of the players (pun? Me?) personally, and aside from my status as a lifetime fan of this art-form (I’ve been with Hip-hop since ’81, and while I appreciate that there are some with better pedigrees, they number few. Living life shuttled between Philly and North Jersey, coupled with a sharp mind, and a love for controversy has allowed me to trace, research, and recount many battles), I have no additional inside information. Disclaimer done.

Jay vs. Cam. Why? Well, it is a well known fact that Cam hates Jay, and always has. When he signed to the Roc, he stated (in an XXL interview that I can’t cite because... Hell, because it is my blog, I don’t have the time or the inclination to look that shit up. Check my facts on your own time, nukka,) that he “really [didn’t] mess with dude,” and that the Diplomat projects are sort of self contained. Jay did make an appearance on “Come Walk With Me”, but was noticeably absent from the mix-tape tour that proceeded the album.

In my humble opinion, their beef had its genesis in a throwaway line in a throwaway track. Mase, who was then signed to Bad Boy, made a reference in the remix of a Total (remember them?) song that referred to rappers hollering about how much money they make, yet don’t have a Platinum album Jay, who hadn’t gone platinum before Vol. 2, Hard Knock Life, took offense at the slight and went at Mase -- subliminally – through “Imaginary Player.”

I guess for every buck you make it’s like a hundred to me
And still you running around thinking you got something on me...

Then, Jay thoroughly punished Mase with this verse:

I bruise wack rap niggaz severely punish them
Especially those that get fucked for they publishing, heh
Always gotta be the weakest nigga out the crew
I probably make more money off yo' album, than you [Jay is thought to have written Puffy’s lines]
You see the respect I get every time I come through
Check your own videos, you'll always be number two
Niggaz talkin real greasy on them R&B records
but I'm platinum a million times nigga, check the credits
S. Carter, ghost writer, and for the right price
I can even make YO' shit tighter...

Now, Mase and Cam were still Harlem World (before Mase jacked the name for a horrible album) and I impagine Cam was none too pleased with the exchange. Fast forward a couple of years, around the time of the horrible Vol. 3, and Cam drops “Let Me Know, wherein he says:

We bout to spit hospitable
Physical, but shit is gettin critical
The way cats bitin is despicable
Pitiful, unoriginal, this shit is miserable
I'm a businessman, I ain't tryin to be lyrical
Damn it's a miracle, thought y'all was veterans
Wish your flow was ill huh?
Mine was your medicine
Now you're in the game
Lame sound the best you've ever been
Play right I'll catch you late night nigga like Letterman
Get thirty thou now your actions begun
Actin and fun nigga after taxes you're done
Cars impounded, New York must stop bitin and start writin
And stop mouthing [?]
When the fuck we start bouncin?

Which, street conjecture suggests is directly aimed at Jay, who was yelling “bounce” in every ad lib.

Alls quiet on the home front for a couple of years. Cam and the Dip-Set come over to the Roc, at the behest of Dame Dash, and everybody plays nice for a while. Jay, during the Summer of 2002, spends the summer in Europe, wooing Beyonce. [Pay attention to this, because it comes up later in the story]. Meanwhile, Dame names Cam Vice-President at the Roc, and fires several Roc-a-fella employees. Jay learns of these changes upon his return, and immediately retracts Cam’s offer, and re-hires all of the terminated staffers. Interestingly, if Dame, Jay and Biggs were all equal partners, this would not have occurred, because it would be easy to assume that Dame had Biggs would out-vote Jay, and even easier to assume that the two [Dame and Biggs] had discussed and agreed to the changes. Thus, I must conclude that Jay had a controlling interest in the company, explaining his wealth relative to the remaining partners. It also is the first public sign of any trouble among the partners.

Then- and this is where the story (and this post) gets really ghetto- Dame and Jay start beefing, ironically right around the time of the Paid in Full movie. Word on the street is that Jay was none too pleased with being involved in making a movie about some of the “Harlem Players” of the 80’s, if only because these same folks, namely AZ and Alpo, were notorious snitches. Lest we forget, President Carter does have a background in the underworld, and aside from a Rayful reference (google Rayful Edmonds, though the DC peeps need not) in “Can I Live” and a “Rich and [Al]Po” reference in the “Mind Right Rmx”, has been very careful NOT to name names.

Well, seems Dame [allegedly] rolled with Alpo, and the movie’s treatment of the man ends in a very flattering way. Ironically, it was Cam who played Alpo in the movie. Remember, while Cam’s character became a government informant at the movie’s close, he steadfastly refused to name anyone in Harlem. Well, digression this is not. It is alleged that upon Alpo’s release from jail –though I have not confirmed that Alpo was indeed released- Dame and company threw him a private party, something that Jay wanted no part in/of. Thus the split between the two, again allegedly.

It is not a secret that Dame was none too happy to lose Roc-a-fella. And while Cam hasn’t aligned himself with DDMG (Damon Dash Music Group), he still rolls with Dame. Dame’s gripes may come from the fact that he was powerless to stop the sale of the Roc to Def Jam.

Fast forward to summer 2005, which was lack-luster musically, and Jim Jones (who is a derisive post in and of himself...Millions More speaker my ass) releases Summer in Miami:

I say that to say this
if you think that bitch
the summer is yours
she could be cheating on you...


but I said I'm love sick over this hot ass hoochie
and I seen her when I told Nas,
I’d slap off his coofie
We don't play disrespect but that was the day that me met
Summer Jam 02’, I hit the stage with my set
her man, he was from Brooklyn she still slipped me the number
she said he's on vacation ...

All of which I took as a diss, so I can imagine how Jay took it. Now, Jones is referring to “Dear Summer” which was Hov’s “dear John” to the season. But he didn’t exit without taking a parting shot [allegedly at Game, though it is rumored that Cam could also be the recipient] at his foes...

It's like when niggaz make subliminal records
If it ain't directed directly at me, I don't respect it
You don't really want it with Hov, for the record
I put a couple careers on hold, you could be next kid
Keep entering the danger zone
You gon' make that boy Hov put your name in a song

Which leads us to where we are now. Cam basically indicts Jay for 5 crimes:
1. Stealing Roc-a-fella from Dame;
2. Stealing Kanye from Dame;
3. Stole Roc-a-wear from Dame
4. Having something to do with his shooting in DC;
5. and he's old and wears jeans and sandles

First, the stealing thing may or may not have some merit. But it is business, and in Jay’s defense all he wanted...all he asked for...was the rights to his very favorite album-Reasonable Doubt. That was it. Dame would still have the Roc, if he had agreed. Dame said no. All in all, it was a poor business decision. Reasonable Doube, while Jay’s best work, and one of the greatest albums – rap or otherwise- of all time, is not a commercial album. It never was, and never will be. It took the record 8 years to sell a million copies, and I personally have bought it 4-5 times. It will not generate the money that the rest of the catalog would. And, moreover “Mr. Ultimate Hustler”, you would have a brand [remember schooling the hustlers on the word?] that was known and trusted among white people, and let’s face it, THAT’s who you are selling to. Moron.

Stealing Kanye-eh, it’s business. C’mon “Mr. Ultimate Hustler”, Lyor Cohen has been trying to steal Jay from you for years. Damn. Why you mad for?

Stealing Roc-a-wear - Uh, business. Damn if I don't feel redundant.

Jeans and Sandles- I do that. Can’t hate at all.

The Shooting- On message boards across the negronets, the following two points have been made. One-and I am paraphrasing here- “What’s the nigga do, put the gun down, throw up the dynasty diamond, then pick it up and start blasting? Can you picture that? And two, how, Mr. Camron, do you know that Diamond Dallas Paige ain’t try to get you merked? Them wrestling niggaz is hard! Assuming Cam is correct, then damn, do you think they'll miss next time?

Now, I wouldn’t be the intellectually honest man that I am if I didn’t point out that Cam’s “Swagger Jacker” track points out some aggressive “big ups” to many rappers, including Rakim, Slick Rick, Tupac, Biggie (of course) and Snoop. Personally, I let them slide, as it doesn’t detract from the man, but hip-hop is less forgiving, and moreover Jay’s ego won’t let this go.

Will Jay respond? Hmmm. Selfishly, I want him to—yet I don’t. He has to. Of that there can be no question. But there is nothing for him to gain. Taking the high road, particularly in light of declaring Beef wack at the Jay and Nas reunion, is probably more instructive to our black youth. But, he spent the last 2 summers throwing darts at Fat Joe (fuck the Rucker) and the Game (Fuck cars with chrome rims, I got apartments you can put your home in), AFTER stating that subliminals are corney, so now, faced with a direct assault, he should lace this cat once and for all. [Hell, it’s interesting that Cam hates the Pastor, but now that the Pastor’s rolling with G-Unit, he has nothing to say.] He has to, because while I love his appearances on remixes, they will generate less buzz without a reply to this. And generating Buzz is what a good CEO does. Isn’t that right Mr. President?

Y'all Can Save The Chitter Chat...[or Jay-Z v. Camron. What?!?!]

Cam cites 5 reasons out of 150 for going at Jay. The ghey thing is, 3/5 are Dame related, and 1 involves his preffered footwear. The remaining reason, the one we will be following here at "Fell Clutch" with much keen intensity, is that Cam thinks Jay had him shot. Wow.

That is a story that needs to be followed up on.

Check Byron Crawford for the link to the song.

This story is developing.

You 'Bout To Witness The Most Intelligent Ignorant Shit...

you gonna hear in the miserable life that you livin’; I hope that you diggin’ it
I ain't no different from any nigga livin’ in the hood
whose attitude is "I wish a nigga would"
Your fam’ might as well kiss you goodbye, they'll miss you for good
No more Mr. Nice Guy...


I kill niggaz with my own thoughts
Yeah I'm guilty as charged, nigga it's my own fault
Homey you walkin’ through hell with nylon socks, my nine pump cough
I'll make you wind up in the basement with DJ Satan
Your boy got the crown nigga, my replacement ain't been born yet
Y'all realize this ain't a song yet?

Had to double quote on y'all. Guess I'm vexed, no?!?! See, cats got it all twisted. I mean, say you are fortunate enough to see the light, clear as day even, what do you do? You could choose to keep shit hidden, all selfish like, or you could be courageous and speak the truth. It ain’t always easy to speak the truth, and it is an intensely thankless proposition, but you do it anyway. And what do you get?!? Blank assed stares -- like you got 7 heads and 10 horns and shit. Well, okay—I’ll be the villain, after all, every great epic needs an antagonist.

That said, let’s get to the point. This week began with a celebration of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s Birthday. And I am pissed! Not pissed that Dr. King’s birthday is a national holiday – Stevie wrote a song ‘bout it, which I love – but because this man, who is most remembered for having a dream (but also is remembered quite derisively for being a plagiarist and having a fondness for white women, but Lincoln was a depressive, Washington was considered a moron, Franklin had gonorrhea and herpes he acquired from “women of low morals”, and Alexander the Great was a ghey – so the point of this digression is that every great man has his problems, which doesn’t detract from his greatness) has had his dream crushed, not by an oppressive white man (Help! Help! I am being oppressed! - 10 points if you catch the reference), but by the very people he dreamt and died for.

Yes, the niggaz done killed the dream. Aaron McGruder touched on it with a dynamite Boondocks, but lots of niggaz don’t watch the show ‘cause, well two reasons mostly, either they cable cut off (niggaz be fighting with Comcast, like that bill don’t come er’ month), or cause niggaz is upset that they use the word “niggaz” in the show. Like niggaz don’t use “niggaz, but I digress, (again.)

Well, let’s examine the dream, and what we have wrought with it. (I resist calling King the “Dreamer” because there is another “Dreamer” near and dear to my heart, so we’ll call him “The King”.) The King’s words are here for you to see...

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers. ... With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

These were his words. Let’s look and see what we’ve accomplished. We do work together, we don’t pray together, we rarely struggle together, and God forbid a little black boy hold the hand of a little white girl, or a little black girl hold the hand of a little white boy—half the black folks on the web will have their little lips poked out, as if it somehow reflects on them personally. We also have the Mayor of a major American pond, oops I mean city, crying for white folk to get out of his city. And don't give me no "white milk and chocolate powder" shit man, that shit was uncalled for. But there’s more...

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

Hmmm. The American dream you say? Like, um...I dunno...say a home, 2.5 kids, a mini-van, and a mom and dad at home? Nah, see niggaz don’t want that. That’s some old “Beaver Cleaver” shit that the white man made up to confuse niggaz. Niggaz prefer struggle, and bitching and moaning to action. Plus, niggaz don’t go to college, cause that will make you a sellout. Better to keep it real, cause...well....that’s where the other niggaz is at. Wait, there’s more...

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

This oft mis-quoted, oft mis-characterized passage has been the bane of democrats seeking to keep affirmative action around, seeing how the conservative like to use it in their reverse racisim rants. So, as an aside, "No, white people, he wasn’t talking ‘bout your kids. Your kids are judged by their last names. Our last names are Jones and Jenkins, ain't nobody but us judging us on our last names." But this isn’t about the white man, so let’s count that as a digression. But, what of niggaz? Niggaz don’t do nothing BUT judge based on skin. Niggaz be letting First Ladies make ‘Plantation’ references at they church.Plantations?!? Who does that? Who lets that happen? Niggaz be trying to make ‘Chocolate Cities” and shit. Ain’t that right, Ray Nagin? Let’s be real here. God wants New Orleans to be black? Why? What’d I do to God? Cause God put New Orleans under 17 feet of water, and one would think that after 450 years of ‘oppression’ we would be even. What’d I do to earn the underwater city? I like D.C. and Atlanta is cool I guess. We got Birmingham, too. We really don't need another one, do we? Or has that been part of the "secret ghetto conspiracy" and I've been too uppity to get the memo? Like, "yeah niggaz, we gonna take over cities by moving all the niggaz we can into it. Yeah, invasion by birthrate, nukka! What?!?!" I’m just saying.

So, this is what the Dream has wrought? In the 40 plus years since the King was here, what have we done with the Dream? What we gonna do with it?

I guess niggaz just wanted a day off. Needed time to plan urban invasions and shit. Fuck it, man.

Say goodnight to the bad guy.

I Walk Leaving 4 Footprints...

My hood sense
My book smarts
My faith of the unknown
And a good heart
What's seldom shown is the good part
Like I said
Try to bring ‘em life, but they want dead...

The hustle resumes, if only because the hustle don’t stop! So yesterday, I had to file some paperwork for a project that I have going on back home. Incidental to said project—and in no small part to my boy $peed! – I opened a new trading account. It is not my first, I have a couple, but in doing so it reminded me that I hadn’t discussed the ways of wealth building with any particularity. So, I thought that I’d take a moment to take the verse above and break it down, hustle style.

For those that don’t have a stock account, I would suggest getting one. If you are on a budget, and are unsure how much you can put in, try Sharebuilder. It is a great program with no minimum account opening requirement, you can do it all online, and you fund your account either annually, monthly, or weekly with a set amount. Once done, you will continually aquire shares of whichever company you desire. I prefer Scottrade, but there is a $500.00 minimum, and the point is to get y'all started. So how to choose a stock, you ask? Well, this is simple. Walk leaving 4 footprints...

My hood sense

What’s good in the hood? What do you and your friends use? Remember black culture is often the vanguard of trends in this country. If you had bought some stock in a small bootmaker in 1986 when you started noticing that er’body round the way needed a tree on their boots, you would be raking in the dough now. Or when er’body just HAD to get an iPod, you could have cashed in on a fruity stock. I like Tivo, if only because I am a subscriber, though when you heard that Stern was going to Sirrius—that would have been a good bet.

My book smarts
Check out the news on your company of choice. Do your research. Did they just file Chapter 11/13? [Incidentally, such things are great times to buy a stock—K–Mart was a blue light special when they filed, then Sears bought the whole kit and caboodle. Ka-ching!]

My faith of the unknown
Buy and hold. You ain’t Gordon Gekko, ride the wave.

And a good heart
This, I add because it comes in handy. Okay, so it’s poetic license. Shoot me. But seriously, try also to do positive things with a portion of your money, because capital gains taxes can be rough. Sometimes you need a charitable donation or 2 to offset it.

So, let me ask you- you got an extra “C” note lying around? Use it. You will feel better in the long run, and a lil’ bit here and there will go a long way to helping you achieve your goals. Hell, $50.00 a month is $600 by Jan 1, 2007.

Can't Y'all See That He's Fake, The Rap Version of TD Jakes

Prophesizing on your CDs and tapes
Won't break you a crumb of the little bit that he makes
And this is with whom you want to place your faith?

I am going to hell for this post. I had one ready to go about the importance of college, based on the Hostess. I’ll summarize it for you-go, send your kids. Now then, let’s talk about the word “faith”.

Sometimes I’ll visit a church (I really do go, I went Sunday) and I find myself questioning what was said. For instance, I am half Episcopalian and half Baptist. (Okay, I am a full Episcopalian, much to my Mom’s chagrin). But I always found myself wondering what the difference was between the two. My uncle switched from Episcopalian to Baptist, so my conversion just kept the Redd quotient pleasing to the Big Guy. And all of that was one long digression, I admit.

So okay, back in my Baptist days, I would visit some different churches. And make no mistake about it, Church is like a Sunday morning club, with calls going out all day the Saturday before –

“Yo whatup, You going to church tomorrow?”
“Nah, I think I’m going to Mt. Olive”
“Word? What time? I wanna go.”

Generally these calls revolved entirely around the fact that a new church meant new women, but that is yet another digression. The point is that I have been in some churches in my day. Well, in my travels, these are the things that I have encountered that I have found questionable, doubtful, dubious, OUTRIGHT MADE UP, and/or a lie. Things like tithing and the rapture. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I will omit my reasoning (if you’re curious, just ask-that what comments are for), and invite anyone who has any insight on these areas to let me know.

But my point is one that I am moved to write. Trust no man, but have faith in God. Be discerning when hearing the word, because there are people out here running around seeking to offer spiritual fulfillment , while the whole time lining their pockets. That bothers me, and I am a hustler. I guess I do have morals (and dogma—let’s see how many of you get that reference and its relevance to me?)

So let me ask this question, if a man was anointed by God to bring souls to God—and knowing that God will always provide—then why should that charge upwards of $50,000 before he saves souls in your church or in your city?

Here’s another question, Should I pay a registration fee for salvation?

Last one, would Jesus drive a Bentley? (AND a Benz, Lex, and Range?!?!?)

The Arabs have a saying, “Trust in Allah, but still tie up your camel.” Is your camel tied up?