Boss Of All Bosses, Pt. II: A Review

Boss Of All Bosses, Pt. II: A Review
M.D. Wright
1.14.10

***EDITOR'S NOTE: Part II of the Review for Boss Of All Bosses, as promised.

I'll get right to it, since I've spun it about 3 times since it dropped on Tuesday, January 12, 2010. The cheap/ridiculous PhotoShop effort by the 6th grader on this cover is laughable, but hey, it's Cam being cheap again, what else is new?

1. "Intro".

As always, Cam's Intros are straight piffery. With virtually no lead-in, Vado comes in rapid fire with that WHITE. Cam'ron follows suit with the same Brooke Shields flow. Perfect set-up for the album. If the (two) U.N. albums are anything like these mixtapes have been lately, Dipset is BACK -- just minus the two traitors. This music almost sounded like some vintage Oakland Raiders theme song music, with Cam ending the intro with a facetious:

"Ta-da!"

ha. You gotta love it.

Rating: 5/5.

2. "We Back".

Somewhat of an extended intro. Cam talking trash, his usual talk.

Cam: "Todd Bizzy... congrats on the new position, no homo... you the illest n---a in math since 'Rain Man'... might gotta call you Dustin Hoffman... nah you probably got more money than Dustin" HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

Rating: 5/5.

3. "Always Made It".

Typical Araab Muzik beat. Almost kills the track in this case, though. I don't like the vocal lift nor that stupid fake synth drum loop going in the background. It reeks of "cheap". I know Cam likes to skimp on beats, but come on now. Beats are supposed to augment the song, not take away the lyrics.

I love how Cam works lyrics about sports into songs. Too bad these cats nowadays have no idea what he's talking about. You have to be 25 and above to catch a lot of these references (he mentions the Showtime Lakers and the vintage UNLV squads that featured Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Greg Anthony, etc.)

I like Vado's hook and as you know YOU WIN (U.N.)

Rating: 5/5.

4. "Point The Finger".

I was starting to like this mixtape more than the first one after the second listen. The beat is nothing spectacular, but it doesn't impede the song itself. Cam is on a different wave now and it's a good thing.

Vado continues to shine, proving that he isn't one-dimensional and can ride any beat. When you can do that, talk about things that listeners care about, you have mounds of potential. Can't wait until the U.N. albums drop. He needs to chill with the "HAAAAAAAAAAA" unless he's going to give me publishing, pay me royalties and that's with 7 POINTS! Yeah, I want POINTS anytime uses my material ha.

Low blow metaphor that may go over youngins' heads, is on point but also made me stop and go "oh." in a bad way:

Vado: "This is why I'm hot like Mims, I been fire... expensive threads, yes I spend the highest... blowin' bread, fallin' over to death like Len Bias". OUCH. Len Bias was at the University of Maryland and was going to be with the Boston Celtics what LeBron James STILL ISN'T (YET). That was my dude. I remember the news breaking and it being all the talk amongst my dad and uncles back in '86 that Len Bias had passed away shortly after the 1986 NBA Draft after "blowing bread" as Vado says here.

Otherwise, GREAT track.

Rating: 4.5/5.

5. "Nuthin' Like Araab Muzik".

This song is okay, the beat is trash though, and it's tough for me to take a track seriously, regardless of the lyrical prowess (of which both Cam'ron and Vado bring on every track of this album). I believe this is the main reason it took a while for "Killa Season" to grow on me fully (no homo).

Rating: 2.5/5.

6. "U Right - Skit".

Cam is a go-to man when it comes to funny skits. This chick, who is usually on Cam's skits goes in once again. Cam just deadpans "you right" while she moans and groans the entire time ha. Good for a bunch of laughs.

Rating: 5/5.

7. "Stop It Slime".

STOP IT SLIIIIIIIIIIIIME!!! I usually hate when local slang gets put into a title of a song, because outta town cats will be saying it OD much. But for those of you who have heard me say "stop it 5" or "what up slime", well, it isn't code or anything profound like some people think. Just another way to say "what's goodie" and that's it. Ain't got nothing to do with the cops and while B's in Harlem started it, it's not exclusive to them. An old head in midtown accosted me and tried to sell me some of his bum music recently, for instance.

This is just "Stop It 5" with a different title and a couple of mixing edits, since it did not make the cut for Boss Of All Bosses, Pt. I.

Vado: "You peel onions? Let's go pie for pie... I hit him like Dolph Lundgren, 'if he dies, he dies'...HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA".

Vado: "Ain't hard to find... but I'm probably now... got more hooks and punches than a Rocky round... get them pounds from Houston of that Bobby Brown... copy my style, I'm Mayweather, you Pacquiao..."

Cam: "You got gay friends? Me? I got some lesbians... man you ain't just a actor.. you a THESPIAN..."

Rating: 5/5*.
*(TIE) Favorite Track.

8. "They Feelin' Us".

Araab Muzik and his engineers need to do better, but I like the guy as a producer. I don't want to make anyone think otherwise. Part of the blame for some of these beats goes to Cam'ron for beat SELECTION. This is like a lite version of "Get 'em Girls" in a way.

Love the Kanye reference by Cam, BTW ha.

Rating: 3.5/5.

9. "Bezel Up".

I like this one. The mini intro lead-in was poppin'. Vado with the Royal Rumble references... "Royal Rumble, EVERYBODY in the ring!" Decent beat and top shelf flow by both Vado and Cam.

Rating: 4/5.

10. "A-Mafia" (Featuring A-Mafia).

WELCOME HOME A-MAFIA!

I love the beat. I love the references to Mars Blackmon, Chick Fil-A ha, etc.

Cam: "Seen Martha Stewart (where?)... at Martha's Vineyard"
Cam: "The chick house... her son pesterin' (what he want???)... he keep knockin' at the door... damn, let him in (s---)" ha.

Vado: "My presence big, I'm like the rap Shaq O'Neal... --- ... where I'm from, everybody look like they got a rapper's deal" ha.

I'm just glad to hear A-Mafia again, honestly. JUST LISTEN TO THESE DUDES SPIT!

Rating: 5/5.

11. "They Holla Ayo".

Cheap beats. Sounds like something off... uhh, nevermind. He is still my dude, so I won't rip JR Writer, but this sounds like one of his beats. If this weren't a mixtape, I'd be concerned. But then again, you don't have to get samples cleared if you're not distributing the music for sale. That's what baffles me about Part II of Boss of All Bosses, this is not a Cam'ron beat. Vado, on the other hand, can ride any beat.

And the hook is annoying.

Rating: 2/5.

12. "U Right (Skit II)".

More of the previous skit ha. "Arrite u right" ha.

Rating: 5/5.

13. "Ooh Baby".

This is my favorite track off this album. It is a typical, vintage, classic Dipset chipmunk beat. Perfect song ("Dedicated To The One I Love" by The Shirelles) chosen for the sample. Cam's narration at the beginning takes you back to when you could still hop the turnstiles on the subway and hop on the bus through the back door (if you caught a packed bus ha) and we still used TOKENS to get on the subway. I personally think he's lying about having not been on the subway since tokens were in, but hey, I remember those days and when the MetroCards first got introduced (they were optional back then). I saved my last 3 tokens for years until I lost them in all the moving I've done since.

This song just causes you to think of good times and you can easily lose sight of these double metaphors and the local slang they are using here if you start becoming wistful about the halcyon days of the 80s and 90s that the beat elicits from you.

Cam'ron: "I'm from the Graffiti/Raymo (from Beat Street) era" ha.

Vado: "Alexander Wang... or maybe Helmut Lang... Givenchy, Philip Lim, that's just to name some names..."

Vado: "I love rugby to death, made that my baby's name... cancel a chick over champagne like Flava Flav... HAAAAAAAAAAA".

YOU WIN (U.N.)

Rating: 5/5*.
*(TIE) Favorite Song.

14. "Get Away".

Vado is my son. You already know that. The Mobb Deep sample from the song of the same name is enough to make you love this song.

Rating: 4/5.

15. "Nothing Personal".

So everyone seems to like this song. It's decent. Doesn't stand out to me, but you know the sound that I favor over all the others that appear on Dipset albums, but overall, this song does hit hard. Some subtle metaphors here too, by the way.

Rating: 4.5/5.

16. "Movin' Raw".

Young Nico loves this one. I love the beat. I love the slow flow. Man you know a song/album is good when it makes me want to start back writing and doing random 16s to go into the booth with if dudes were trying to get on a song. Love the hook, hilarious as it is ha.

Rating: 4.5/5.

17. "Do Wrong".

I LOVE THIS SAMPLE. The vocal is hilarious. I know this song, but again, the title slips my mind. Feel free to interject. She goes "I got the devil in me, I'm gonna do wrong tonight" ha. It goes perfectly with the subject matter here. Vado is gonna blow if they use this buildup and hype properly throughout 2010. You already know Cam still got fans (even the ones who go out of their way to comment on YouTube videos ha).

JUST LISTEN TO THOSE DOUBLE PHORS BY VADO IN THE FIRST VERSE.

Cam mentions "Johnny Sack (Sacrimone)" from The Sopranos. CLASSIC.

Rating: 4.75/5.

18. "Lonely".

Another great sample. "Baby... baby... baby... baby... pleaseeeee... don't you leave me lonely!"

Vado sounds like Juelz sometimes, I swear. He carries this entire track himself, no Cam. No Clips. No cameos.

Vado: "Leave you? WHERE THEY DO THAT AT??? GW Cross Bridgin', Fort Lee-livin', Edgewater, River Road, GT ignition... MTV Cribs Felipe in the kitchen..."

LOVE IT.

19. "U Right (Skit III)"

LMAO. JUST LISTEN TO IT. If you don't laugh, I'll do your taxes for free this year ha. She's FRIED because he got her tight by saying "U RIGHT" over and over ha.

Rating: 5/5.

20. "Whistle"

WHO DOESN'T LOVE THE "TETRIS" SAMPLE???

Man these beats were so much better than Part I at times, but they got me with the samples on this one.

Vado: "I move with property buyers, I own like how the powder did buyers... my Shammgod jersey, Providence Friars..."

Vado: "Broke can't happen, like seein' Iverson 6th man... haaaaaaaaaaaaaa".

Just let this joint play a few times. It will grow on you (nh).

Rating: 4.5/5.

OVERALL RATING: 4.5/5.

DISCUSS>>>

Pet Peeve Phrase Of The Day

Pet Peeve Phrase Of The Day
M.D. Wright
1.14.10

***EDITOR'S NOTE: In continuing my previous day's rant about cliché phrases that may be overused, I am adding my latest installation for the day. Be informed that there may be days where I do several of these, and there will be days where I will not have any at all, but I'm sure, as always, most of you can relate.

TODAY'S PET PEEVE PHRASE:

"IT IS WHAT IT IS".

I'm not the type of person who is a curmudgeon like Andy Rooney. I do this lightheartedly, but this one got a lot of play this past decade. It might have been the most used go-to phrase from 2001-2009.

There is nothing new under the sun, so I'm sure this was used by more than a few people in the past, but the FIRST person who I heard uttering it on a consistent basis was then-New York Football Giants' Defensive Coordinator John Fox. Once he left to coach the Carolina Panthers after the 2001 season, he began to say it almost weekly on ESPN and local shows in North Carolina. It was becoming such a staple of his, that people expected him to say it (regardless of whether the Panthers lost or not).

SIDE NOTE: I miss the years when John Fox was with us. I remember his first season as our defensive coordinator and how the defense spent the previous season LITERALLY bickering with the Giants' offense on local TV and in interviews at times on ESPN. I don't recall hearing Fox use the phrase whenever he was on WFAN ("The FAN" to us here locally in New York) back in the '97, but it seemed to be his trademark phrase years later.

However, I digress. Given the Giants' defensive coordinator woes at the moment, 10 years after Fox left, I am more wistful with each passing day as our defense was great every year under Foxy, with studs such as Michael Strahan, Jessie Armstead, Keith Hamilton and Phillippi Sparks.

Once Foxy became the guy tagged as the most ardent (ab)user of the phrase, you began hearing it EVERYPLACE. Actors, coaches in both college and professional sports, top players throughout professional sports, even college players who could barely put one coherent sentence together could manage a simple "IT IS WHAT IT IS".

Is there any other phrase that you have heard more than this one since 2000? I wanna know ha.

DISCUSS>>>

Boss Of All Bosses, Pt. I: A Review

Boss Of All Bosses, Pt. I: A Review
M.D. Wright
1.14.09

***EDITOR'S NOTE: I will be compiling a brief review of both Boss Of All Bosses mixtapes by Cam'ron & DJ Drama, featuring Vado, Charlie Clips, Rick Ross, et. al.

It's still DIPSET/U.N. -- Dipset is never over.

TRACK LIST
1. "Intro".

As Cam fans know, he is the absolute dean of Intros and Skits. Boss Of All Bosses starts out with a short and sweet string of sarcasm with Killa pontificating that he doesn't use any social networking -- as only Cam can: "I don't Twitter, I don't MySpace, I don't Facebook... if you wanna see me, see me in the street" ha.

Rating: 4/5. (Brevity)

2. "Pop Off".

I love this track. Araab Muzik is on his own wave with his beats on this mixtape. From the very beginning when Cam'ron declares "Araab Muzik, let's go!" the track goes IN. There are so many quotables from the very first bars and throughout. Vado was on something else here, because he thoroughly murdered this beat.

"And I ain't wit the autotunes, but if you ain't a rapper, then what yo ass gonna do? HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA (he stole that from me, as those of you on Facebook know -- I use "ha" and all of its variants quite frequently, and have done so for well over a year now ha).

Rating: 5/5.

3. "Drama".

Lyrically, the track is okay. I like the sample (or apparent sample -- sounds like action movie music from the 80s) and the patented Araab Muzik eagle cry in the background. For some reason, it just doesn't do all that much for me. One of my least favorite tracks on the mixtape.

Cam does use chat lingo, though... "like W. T. F... what the f---???" ha.

Rating: 3/5.

4. "La Bamba".

This was one of the first songs I heard leaked for the mixtape. At first, I didn't take it seriously, but after a while I began to appreciate it. I had grown tired of the ultra-slow songs. But listening to the lyrics were just crazy. It built to a crescendo at the end. Cam did his thing, but Vado WAS BANANAS on here. Definitely one of my three favorite tracks on here. HUHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Rating: 5/5.

5. "Ric Flair".

Ha. Cam would make a song referring to Ric Flair. PAY ATTENTION! And he kills me with the ad-libs -- always with the conversation within the lyrics:

Cam'ron: "Put you next door to Mike Jack... roommate Redd Foxx (YES!)... I'm from Lenox (YES!)... my Jamaicans, rudebwoys LENNOX (Tito!)... we bumpin' in... (where???)... the Comfort Inn... (oh.) ha. I love that hoodrat "oh" response, because it reminds me of kids from around the way.

Vado: "School of Hard Knocks, I'm more valued than a principal... these n----s got no morals, values or principles..."
Vado: "5 for 22, I'm like 'WOOOOOOO!!!' Ric Flair..."

Rating: 4.5/5.

6. "Hustle" (Featuring Rick Ross).

This is may favorite track on here. Everyone who knows me KNOWS I love the classic Dipset sound. The sample they used for this track was perfect and the slow flow/hesitation beat is perfect in my opinion. Some people hate the slow flow, but not everyone can do it. It takes real skill. Ask any real rapper. Plus it fits a person whose ego is bloated (as Cam's is -- to a degree, relative to how it used to be [exorbitant]). Even OFFICER RICKY didn't mess it up with his "bars".

Vado, as he did on the entire mixtape, went absolutely NUTS at the end of this track. If you know what Cam and Vado are talking about (which most of the haters/people who genuinely don't like them usually DON'T), you probably put this at the top of your list on this mixtape. The pause in the middle of the song was just extra effect. Makes it even more poignant. Sounds like a true Hustler Lesson taking place, in my best description.

GIVE THIS ONE A FEW EXTRA SPINS.

Rating: 5/5*.
*Favorite Song.

7. "Get It" (Featuring Ma$e).

I just cannot take Ma$e seriously anymore; not as a rapper, not as a pastor, not as a street dude who used to live on 134th. Kind of ruins the song for me. I don't like the beat anyway. It got a lot of attention for a while, because everyone was glad to see that Cam and Ma$e finally did a track together since 1999 (when they recorded the "F--- You" sequel for "S.D.E."), but it was 10 years too late and too much irrevocable damage done. A shame, though. If they could have gotten past that trivial, petty nonsense surrounding "Horse & Carriage" can you imagine where both their careers would be now?

Rating: 2/5.

8. "Can't Say Goodbye".

I love this song, if for no other reason than the Mike Jack/Jackson 5 sample. Just sit back and enjoy it. Hard to even catch some of the quotables, because you're so into the sample and drum pattern.

Vado: "I'm 'Dangerous', I'm 'Bad', I'm 'Off The Wall' y'all... peace and soul, two fingers to all y'all... love to shop, can't let go, I'm a mall hog... if I own see ya, I'mma call log who all, y'all..."

Cam: "V1, flava in her ear like Craig Mack (BOYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!)" ha.

Rating: 4.5/5.

9. "Skit I".

As previously mentioned, the skits are always good for a laugh or two and this one, while short, still elicits a chortle or two.

Cam bragging as always (although he was on point until he got the Bulls' dynasty years mixed up ha -- Jordan left after the '93 season and didn't play in '94 at all in the NBA), but it's funny, though. Listen slime:

Cam: "my man Vado, he like Kobe man, the Black Mamba (no homo)..."

SN: Cam's use of "no homo" is out of hand, but applicable and still hilarious.

Rating: 5/5.

10. "Land Of The Dealers".

If this were a game of "which one of these does not fit?" you'd say this song. The whole vibe is different, the beat is WACK and it wasn't mastered properly. The beat overshadows how well Vado's flow went in on this one. Cam did his thing as always, but again, the beat kills it for me.

Rating: 1/5.

11. "Fed Story".

More of the same as "Land Of The Dealers", just not as bad.

Rating: 2/5.

12. "We In This Thing".

I have NEVER been a fan of that crunk BS, nor will I ever be. I just can't stand it. Save that for them down south club hoppers. I'm all about lyrics and wild crazy beats. Why on earth Cam did this other than the fact he spent a lot of time in Florida and Atlanta last year -- is beyond me.

Rating: 0/5.

13. "Blow My High".

The song that they sample is right on the tip of my tongue, but I can't call it. I like this song, but the beat sounds cheap. I swear what Araab Muzik does can be done by anyone. He has those Madden fingers (ultra-fast) on the MPC, but his sample choice and the way they sequence the beats leaves a lot to be desired at times. Sometimes his beats can either accentuate or totally kill a song. Cam'ron, Vado and Clips ALL ripped every song they were on throughout this mixtape, but at times the beats totally put me off. This song was another instance of that.

Rating: 2/5 (lyrics being the saving grace).

14. "Skit II".

Cam just explaining his past, longevity in the game and how unique he is -- and sets up "Different Cloth" effectively.

Rating: 4/5.

15. "Different Cloth".

Not my FAVORITE song, but it hits hard. Not many quotables. I like how versatile Vado is. It's hilarious how he can end up doing what Juelz Santana was supposed to do (and never will) and that's appeal to a larger audience, while maintaining that edge. Cam'ron long ago said he refused to become a prisoner of his own fame and would not try to be a commercial artist (I wish the non-fans and haters would remember this whenever they say he never has done more than 1.5 million Soundscan or doesn't have an "all-time classic album") so I don't look for anything more than him explaining the mindset of a typical Harlem dude -- which he does effectively, as he always has.

Vado isn't a one-dimensional rapper. If I were to do a comparison of old Dipset to new Dipset/UN, it would go like this:

Cam is Cam
Vado is Juelz pre-2006
Clips is JR Writer (not exactly a good thing as you will read soon, but POTENTIALLY good)
Felony Fame is Hell Rell
Rod Rhaspy is Jim Jones

And since .40 Cal is on one a the tracks, and still my son, there is no comparison needed. I hope .40 still gets a chance to blow, because he is underrated.

Rating: 3.5/5.

16. "Professional".

Byrd Lady on here. She's okay, but I haven't taken a female rapper seriously since Biggie died (if you go back and do album chronologies, it will make sense).

It's an okay track, nothing great, not bad. Just "okay".

More of the U.N. using my patented "haaaaaaaaaaa" and their patented "huhhhhhhhh!!!"

Rating: 3/5.

17. "Ride With Me".

This song kind of had that mid-late 90s feel to it. But it also sounds like something that would've been on Cam'ron's 4th album, "Purple Haze". They proved they can switch it up and speed up the flow a bit. I like the sample, also.

Rating: 4/5.

18. "The Baddest".

WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE SONG THAT THEY SAMPLED??? I hate when I can't figure it out. I love the hook, and I love how Cam and Vado both refer to Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao in about 4 songs on this mixtape ha. This song is good riding music for this summer.

BTW: More "haaaaaaa" from Vado. Now you see why he's my son ha?

Rating: 4.5/5.

19. "Skit III".

Cam giving shouts to all of the project houses throughout Harlem:

140th & Lenox.
141st.
142nd aka "Crime Square".
143rd.
Polo Grounds (155th).
Colonial.
Harlem River.
Hamilton.
Lincoln (and all the others in between, Carver, Jefferson, Johnson, King Towers, Taft, Taino, etc.)
Wilson.
1199.
Wagner.

Harlem World STAND UP.

20. "Lenox Ave" (Featuring .40 Cal).

I absolutely love this truck. Too many quotables to type. Check the end of the first verse with Vado, and the beginning of the second with Cam'ron.

.40 CAL ABUSED THIS TRACK!!! Please put him on any of the upcoming U.N./Cam'ron solo albums! All of his bars on this track were quotable. WHO CAN SAY THAT???

.40 Cal: "Cause we... live it up... rock jewels, bigger truck... you don't believe in Harlem World, n---a then Triple Up"...

Rating: 5/5.

21. "Arab Music".

This track was one of my favorites at first, but the beat drove me nuts (in a bad way) after a while. It's average, nothing more, nothing less.

Rating: 2.5/5.

22. "Skit IV".

More shouts from Cam between Ohio, Newark, Atlanta, more album promises (we know how those go with Cam).

Rating: NR.

23. "Soul Plane".

NASTY. I love the intro to the track, I love the sample, I love the tempo. I can't even write anything more. Just sit back and get on their wave.

Rating: 5/5.

24. "Stop".

A staple of Cam/Dipset-related projects is the artist talking back to the vocals that were sampled for the song. This song was titled "Stop" and the part of the song (again, the sample escapes me) that was sampled is played almost as if on cue by Charlie Clips.

Clips seems like a battle rapper. Most people don't want to hear from battle rappers unless they're genuinely checking for them in a rap battle on the corner, in someone's basement or something posted on YouTube. Not in a group that is expected to have broader appeal than that which exists in pockets here in New York City and nowhere else. Personally, I like Clips, he has been doing his thing for a while now Uptown, but a lot of cats have yet to hear about him. His bars here are just crazy. I'll list a few of them. I just hope he doesn't relegate himself to a punchline rapper like JR Writer did. Writer had explosive ability, but never lived up to it. After 5 years, you'd think he would have evolved instead of regressed, but whatever, we're talking about Clips.

The song's intro is uptempo and I absolutely love when they sample these 60s/70s era soul songs.

... you better stop, before you tear me all apart... you better STOP...

Clips: "'STOP' HUHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! -- that's what they tell you when you rappin'... 'STOP' -- that's what the fiends beggin' you when you be trappin'... 'STOP' -- that's what the girls say when you go to smash it..."

Clips: "I'm so hot wit it... you are so NOT wit it... I'm so Bentley, so Porsche, so drop wit it... I'm so Big, so Pun, so Pac wit it... I'm so Big, so L, so Scott La Rock wit it... I rock that boat like Aaliyah, and Jam Master Jay, my feet could be adidas... squeeze on them heaters and you better hold your vest high, cause his head shot when I close that Left EYEEEEEEEEEEEEE..."

HUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Rating: 5/5.

OVERALL RATING: 4.25/5.

DISCUSS>>>

Thoughts On Pat Robertson & Rush Limbaugh

Thoughts On Pat Robertson & Rush Limbaugh
M.D. Wright
1.14.10

***EDITOR'S NOTE: In lieu of the catastrophe that struck our brothers and sisters in Haiti, there has been an outpouring of care and support, but along with that, there have been a few isolated incidents where pure soulless idiots managed to climb upon their soapboxes and spew bigotry and hatred.

Where to begin? This whole thing came completely out of left field. It's not that earthquakes in this part of the hemisphere are all that unheard of, but the news was surreal. I had been in Brooklyn most of the day interviewing and I began seeing people say "Pray for Haiti". Personally, I read things like that and think, "Well, Haiti NEEDS prayer and help anyway, because it's been in bad shape for many years as it is" and didn't think anything of it.

Until every other status that came through on my phone said the same thing.

I heard the magnitude of the earthquake was 7.0 or thereabouts and there were aftershocks. In a city like Los Angeles or San Francisco, with state-of-the-art, designed-specifically-for-earthquakes infrastructures, they can dodge such a quake with relatively minimal damage. Even the Loma Prieta quake caused considerable damage.

To think of that and be well-versed in Haiti's history and infrastructure (did several reports in high school and both college stints in the late 90s and this decade -- Haiti has always been fascinating to me beyond its rough history), you knew this could not end well. Many huts and complete villages consisting of shanty houses and already sparse electricity, running water or (in some cases) food, it was just a depressing thought before I even turned on a TV.

THEN I DID IT.

And I happen to hear Pat Robertson's gibberish. He always says these same things whenever a poor, impoverished country that he PERCEIVES doesn't uphold Christian standards (as if the United States does?) has a natural disaster strike those countries. He did it after the Tsunami in the Indian Ocean a few years back, and then today he opens his mouth again about Haiti.

And of course, opportunist Rush Limbaugh took it as a roundabout way to take shots at President Obama (deserved or not, this isn't the time), which he makes a daily routine of doing. I don't understand what makes whatever angle and agenda they're pushing so important that they must make such idiotic statements at this time. It's irrelevant at best and completely soulless at worst.

Personally, being a Christian, I can UNDERSTAND Robertson's sentiment, but he has no proof that this took place. Until people heard what President Duvalier was doing back in the day (consulting Voodoo priests and claiming before his ouster that he had made a pact with the devil -- who even knows if it's true? Duvalier viewed countries like the US with distrust as it was). As far as Bangalesh and the other countries that were affected by the Tsunami, Robertson only says these things because that is a mostly Buddhist and Muslim region. Expected from him?

View here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/34851509#34851509

DISCUSS>>>

My Top 10 Favorite Teddy Pendergrass Jams

My Top 10 Favorite Teddy Pendergrass Jams
M.D. Wright
1.14.10

***EDITOR'S NOTE: Soul Legend Teddy Pendergrass passed away on January 13, 2010 after battling the effects of recovery from colon cancer surgery which he underwent in the summer of 2009. He was 59. To commemorate his life (as a super fan), I'm doing a quick hits list of my favorite songs of his. It is by no means exhaustive, because I have about 30 TP songs that I absolutely jam to on Friday and/or Saturday nights if I'm home relaxing.

RIP Teddy P. (1950-2010)

1. Can't We Try.... See More
2. Close The Door.
3. Love TKO.
4. Come Go With Me.
5. Hold Me.
6. The Whole Town's Laughing At Me.
7. Turn Off The Lights (ha).
8. Joy.
9. When Somebody Loves You Back.
10. Is It Still Good To Ya.

I was privileged enough to be born when I was (1979) as he was at the apex of his career, and his music was still great throughout the 80s as I was growing up. It is still good to listen to frequently, as I mentioned that I do, and it helps that some of my favorite artists (RZA, for Ghostface Killah, Puff Daddy for Total, etc.) sample his work.

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