Thursday night, January 24, 2013 at around 6:00 p.m.:
The night was as cold as hell frozen over, but the atmosphere in the Blaze Hookah Lounge was BYOB (Bring Your own Beer), sit down and relax; no drama, warm up and Smoke a Hookah. With over thirty varieties of tobacco on hand, I was most definately down for that.
BlockStar Entertainment was in the building.
Of course, I was just a little too early. The speakers on stage were just being set up. But, that didn't matter. I came to observe and not partake. Time passed. The house band for the evening, "Nights Over Egypt", began to tune up there instruments while people slowly began to trickle in.
While people were finding there seats, I surveyed the room. The crowd was young, and relaxed. Grown, sexy, but not dressed to impress or unimpress for that matter. It was a come as you are and enjoy yourself type of atmosphere. It was a Thursday night, people were getting off of work and people still had to work in the morning.
Demetri Alexander MC in the place to be with house band Nights over Egypt
At 7:45 p.m., open mic co-host Dwayne D-Train Wilson got the crowd warmed up with his rendition of Usher Raymond's "Nice & Slow" before introducing the main host, the poet Demetri Alexander. (D-Train, while being a gracious host, was also a damn good singer.) I decided to settle in for a long good night.
By 8:04 p.m., The open mic was in full swing with North Chicago's M-City starting off the show. Real Talk. Thursday night I heard some of the hottest local talent around. It was all around, local hip hop, local R&B, and hardcore rap like I had never heard before. Which surprised me, because I thought I was on my mark with the who's who in the local music scene. But, oh well. I was very impressed by the quantity of talent in the building as well as the quality. The sounds went from being poetic and soulful to rugged and raw. And a great handful of the acts came out of the city of North Chicago, Illinois as well as from Waukegan and Chicago.
2010 Chicago Idol MAURICE MAHON
The highlight of the evening was 2010 Chicago's Idol winner (and back up singer for R. Kelly), Maurice Mahon. Currently working on his own solo project, I can't wait to see what the year 2013 has in store for Mr. Mahon.
This brother can sing. Trust me.
L Boogie Lighting up the Blaze with some of his footwork.
Not only did we have the talent of singers, rappers and musicians on hand, but we also had the comedy of Richard "Illy- Philly" Bannister to further lighten the room up as well as the dance moves of the one and only L-Boogie (who proved single-handily that he could pop, lock and drop it to any music whatsoever).
The last act I heard before the end of the night was Blockstar Entertainement. These men were hardcore, and frankly I loved it. I loved everything I experienced that night. The Blaze Hookah Lounge was literally busting at the seams with talent and fresh innovation. Real talk, I don't know where you will be next time but I will definitely be in the building for another night at the Blaze Hookah Lounge, 119 North Genessee Street, in Waukegan, Illinois. This open mic is off the chain. The next show is January 29. Hopefully, it won't be as cold and snowy.
The Blaze Hookah Lounge was exactly what I needed to get my mind off the usual hum drum of my existence. I plan to support this local movement to the fullest and I hope others will follow suit. I was there from 6-10 p.m. and there was no fighting, no drama, no negativity. Just a great time had by all. And I did have a GREAT time, and I shall return to the Blaze Hookah Lounge.
Straight from the heart of North Chicago, IL, comes the very literal and hard core Quarter Key. His video "Gangsta" has racked up over 47,775 views on YouTube alone. (Produced by Lou Perez Productions and directed by Fresh Air the People's Player)
Lyrically, there is nothing like this on mainstream radio. Quarter Key comes with real life experience spoken over gangsta beats. Right now, Quarter Key and Blocklife Music Group is getting it in big time.
Can Quarter Key make it to the mainstream and bring some reality back to rap music? I don't know, but something tells me the man is on his way. The online comments have been mostly positive and he is the first that I have seen garner this much response from an online music video.
Stay tuned. There maybe more in store from this artist.
This Tuesday, January 15, 2013 marked what would have been the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King's 84th birthday. While he may be gone, Dr. King's legacy lives on in his words both written(Letters from Birmingham Jail) and spoken (the I Have a Dream Speech & the I've been to the Mountain Top speech). He lives on as an example today because of his courageous nonviolent actions and his faith in American Democracy for all of it's peoples.
The 3rd Monday of January ( 1/21/2013) is designated as a federal holiday to honor this man's life and legacy. It is this blogger's belief that without the sacrifice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. life as we know it in America would not exist. He legacy lives on in ever one who lives, breathes and recognizes freedom and equality for all men and women.
Indeed, America has come a long way. We still have a ways to go.
Right now, unemployment in the black community is the highest of any race in this country. Crime and poverty are at an all time high. Every time I turn on the news I hear of another murder. Black on black crime is still in some areas at an all time high and a young black male is still considered very blessed to reach the age of 25.
Yes we still have many mountains to climb, and I mean that literally. I won't speculate on how Martin Luther King would feel or what he would say if he were still alive. We lost a great leader and motivator in Dr. King, but he earned his rest.
It is time for us as a people to accept the responsibility for our lives ourselves. We not only can do better than this, we as African Americans are better than this. But, we have to believe that we are and want it for ourselves.
We have to become the leaders, the teachers, the motivators, the innovators, the Martin Luther King's that we are waiting for in our individual lives. We have to start looking at life differently.
African Americans make up less that 50% of this countries populace. How can we be responsible for most of the crime that happens on the nightly news?
During the Civil Rights Era, it was us against injustice, and now sometimes it is like it is just us against ourselves. Our thinking, and our living has got to change. IT doesn't matter worth a damn who is President of the United States, if we still have the same problems we had ten years ago. Having a black president was not the focus and point of the dream. If it was then, we need to go back to sleep.
MLK's dream was simple:
“I have a dream that my four little 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.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.
Let us all honor him in memory as well as in action. Look first to God and then to ourselves for the solution. PEACE.
Bored. I was bored with the day to day of my humdrum life. That is the main reason why I went to see the film Django Unchained. However, that is not the only reason.
I will be honest. I watch a lot of movies, television, etc. And certain things catch my fancy like none other in those mediums. In the realm of the silver screen, nothing holds my fancy more than a Quentin Tarantino film. I like his movies, almost to the point of loving the shit out of them. Almost.
I mean, the guy has cinematic moxy, guts and huge brass monkey balls for writing, directing and producing some of the work he has given us over the years. Violent and profane as it all may be, Tarantino can tell a story. After seeing his films, many times, my mind is awash with blood, snappy dialogue, and unrealistically vulgar characters. Quentin Tarantino has got to be the Marque De Sade of modern cinema. He takes the ugly side of mankind, paints it up, makes it uglier and shoves it into our faces. And we, frankly, adore him for it.
Enough with the ass kissing. What is Django Unchained about and why are people so pissed off?
I am getting to that. Trust me. There is so much to say, and frankly I love it when a film challenges me emotionally, morally, and visually. Why? Well, if the silver screen is an accurate reflection of humanity, then a good film will make an audience think; mainly, about themselves. You want to be the hero or in Django's case (by the end of the film) the anti-hero. You want to laugh in the faces of your enemies while your gun hand sends them screaming to Perdition. Why? Because it is fiction. It is the slight of hand for the mind.
Now, Django Unchained is historically inaccurate on many levels. Hell, it starts off historically inaccurate. I blame the writer (my beloved Tarantino), but I digress.
Django Unchained opens in 1858 (with a subtitle that says two years before the Civil War). The Civil War began actually with the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. Clearly Tarantino had not done his homework. I don't fault him for this. I suck at math too. But, when doing a period piece, accuracy is key.
Not being too worried about that, I continued to watch the film. The opening musical score, the lettering in the titles, even the landscape shouted, "spaghetti western". Most spaghetti westerns stories are told like years after the Civil War ends.
And as Jamie Foxx marched in that chain gang across that screen to the sounds of "Django" being sung poorly, with chains and shackles clinking to the beat, I had to wonder, what the hell is going on here, what hell did I just spend my money on and what the hell kind of story is Quintin Tarantino trying to tell?
My questions were answered beyond my wildest dreams.
Mahatma Ghandi said, "You can judge a society by how they treat their weakest members."
And, no, he did not make an appearance in this film. Slavery was a harsh reality for over 400 years in this country. It was not a spaghetti western, there was no happy endings for a lot of these men and women. And for what they really endured, frankly, I can't even speak on it and be truthful because my twentieth century mind can't fathom it. I have never been a slave. I have never been human cattle. And even if I was playing one on TV, I could just turn it off when the director yelled cut. That was not the case for millions of Africans and their descendants in this land. That is reality. Look it up.
In fiction, however, the storyteller is inclined to ask questions of each of his or her characters. The questions I asked myself while watching the beginning of this film were answered right in front me and that little inner voice inside of me mirrored that answer: "Why the hell not?"
Why can't this slave, this subhuman, this piece of meat, this cattle catch a break, get a hand up and regain his manhood and humanity? And what would be the consequences for his enemies if he did?
Well, for Django, the hand up came in the form of a German bounty hunter who had a distaste for slavery and the need to acquire his bounty. And the transformation from slave to freeman, for Django at least, was rendered with much blood and fury. I found it shocking, thoroughly engrossing and highly entertaining.
The main opposition for our anti hero Django is a plantation owner named Candie (played wickedly well by Leonardo Dicaprio) and his main house slave Stephen ( played by Samuel L Jackson), who have the main thing in their possession that will make Django whole. Django's saving grace is his love for his wife Brunhilde (played by Kerry Washington). She is part of him. She is his humanity and the reason he risks life and limb throughout the film.
Until the end.
Now, I don't give out spoilers like party favors here. That shit ain't my style. In a nutshell, the movie was everything I expected it to be. Profane, vulgar, and entertaining. But, it also made me think. There are many stories of slaves and slavery that will never be told. The harsh reality of the matter is just that. I haven't seen a film that tackled the subject of the American slave trade for the African perspective since Alex Haley's Queen and before that Roots. Those were true stories.
Django is not.
Django Unchained is a fable. One part Action film, Spaghetti Western, (historically inaccurate) period piece, and Lethal Weapon "bromance" with a strong pinch of love story in the mix. Much like the popular Marvel comics of the same name, "Django" takes the story of the American South and asks"What if"?
The word 'nigger' is used over a hundred times in this movie. Now, before this movie came out, I don't recall anyone wanting to go back in history and see how the word was made and used. Now, all I hear and read is that it is not what we were called back in 1858 or before the Civil War. Well, I wasn't there, and chances are, if you are reading this now, neither were you. It is offensive to say the word, use the word, spray paint it, etc. Somebody is going to fucking get upset when it is said.
But, no one usually gets there head blown off by a bullet a split second after saying it most of the time. Ahh, but what if?
Go see the movie or not on your own time. Make up your own damn mind. Quentin Tarantino is crazy, but he can tell a story. Good or bad, he knows how to violently weave a tale. That is all.
