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THE WITNESS FROM BALCONY ROOM 3 06 IS A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE ASSASSINATION OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING...TOLD BY REV. SAMUEL KYLES WHO WAS THERE.. YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT REV. SAMUEL KYLES AND WHY DR . KING WAS IN MEMPHIS......IT CAN BE FOUND ON THE DOCUMENTARY CHANNEL WEBSITE, THE WITNESS FROM BALCONY ROOM 306..TO ME VERY INTERESTING......

Morris Day would be considered more of a latter-day Cab Calloway attired in white tails, than a rapper strolling up and down the stage in a hoody and gym shoes, Nah'Sun. "Call and response" did not originate with Calloway and he only did it on one song. How about an example of a Rap verse that is about something other than the subjects I mentioned since you're into proving your arguments. (you might want to re-read my post) It's hard to get around the age issue when nobody but a young wanna-be would make the ridiculous statements you do. Attributing great impact to your declaration that what I say is irrelevant to you is the height of youthful delusion. Like I care.

Your little smattering of tid bits about jazz and swing and 1950's love ballads can simliarly be classified as having "limited knowledge", Nah'sun. So you have a Coltrane album. Big deal. Do you even know the genre of MIles Davis' brand of jazz? "Little Richard" and {Dizzzy) Gillespie in the same sentence? Get outta here. "Strange Fruit" a love ballad? Puleeze. Cab Calloway a forerunner of rapping? No way. Have you ever heard of King Pleasure? I didn't think so. Samplings of a producer are not a reflection of the fans of Rap.And where is your input about the blues?? Not content to rhapsodize Rap, you want to elevate to the top position this bastardized music that consists of spitting out a bunch of repetitive, deliberately profane rhymes, the themes of which are undeniably trite, having long ago lost their shock value. Bitches, hos, guns, booze, killings, bling, cars. ZZZZZZZZ In the folly of your youth, you really think the Rap genre is a matrix of black music, your criteria being that anything that meets with your approval is more profound than the rest. And to compound your misguided claims, you resort to discrediting others because they don't regard your opinions with awe. Nobody but a young self-absorbed played-out hip-hopper would espouse the idea that outgrowing Rap is anything other than mellowing with age. For somebody so "perceptive" you seem to have an awful hard time recognizing a generation gap.

I'd like to inject my 2-cents about age as it applies to the black music scene. Y’all have restricted your discussion to Rap, and I was content to sit back and listen and learn, until Nah’Sun very off-handedly asserted that the 1970s were the “golden age of black music.” and the first words that came to my mind were: “Oh, really?” His statement is typical of an element of younger people who tend to overlook or dismiss anything having to do with a time before they were born. I, myself, give R&B and Rap their props. I acknowledge their importance and their artistry. But so many younger people, if not clueless, are condescending about the type of black music of my day, the music that preceded Rap and R&B, - music that laid the groundwork for the next phase. Yeah, there are those who toss around names like “Miles” and “Trane” because it’s cool to do so, but the majority of them have no appreciation for jazz, or respect for the Blues. They consider the "swing" music of the big band era to be “corny”, ignorant of how influential the black instrumental artists of this time set the pace for what was being listened to back in the 1930s and 40s, - giants like Duke Ellington and Count Basie. They yawn at the sounds of the lush ballads of the 1950s with their exquisite lyrics, melodious tunes that comprise the “American songbook”, a repertoire that was interpreted and popularized by black vocalists like Nat Cole and Sarah Vaughn, and Ella Fitzgerald and Billy Ecstine. How many rappers know that the frenetic be-bop music of genuises like Charlie Parker were in the vanguard of free style as an art form. These "Johnny-come-latelys" think that black music begins and ends with what they are familiar with, and they are indifferent or even contemptible of any music that their pulse is not in synch with. This attitude, of course, is not unusual for people during a certain period of their life, and the phrase "to each his own" does, indeed, apply. My point, however, is that the wisdom to respect and appreciate things of the past is, more often than not, something that comes with age. Golden Age? In assessing the 1970s, this ol broad prefers a less exclusive choice of words, - a description that is more in keeping with the wide perspective that years have nurtured. “The 70s era was a facet in the jewel of black music.”

Have a wonderful birthday!!! I'd sing ya a song, but trust me, typing is safer on the senses~

Thank you, Waterstar. Yep, better late than never. Where you been? We missed you. 'Thought you had put us down. Welcome back!

"...after a certain point things like who the hottest rap artists are fails to matter very much." That's where I am...with rap and pop and a whole host of other things. I would say age has everything to do with that. With age, in many (but not all) cases comes new experiences. I got older and my interests changed as I became exposed to different things. This isn't a bad thing and it doesn't mean I have anything against rap...I'm just saying that rap doesn't get me hyped up. It's just more entertainment - and we are bombarded with entertainment (much like some would say we're bombarded with street lit books...haha). Troy mentioned EMINEM and I can relate to that because I am one of those people who can honestly say that the last rapper that made me stop and listen and say "Oh okay! That's the ish right there!" was EMINEM. And I know there are talented individuals since him, but I just don't pay much attention. By the time 50 cent came along (for example) I was just kind of like, "Oh okay...that's hot," but it was a dull response. I never once thought about getting the cd and playing it in my car. But back in the late 80s, early 90s my friends and I couldn't wait to get our fathers' cars and bump some NWA and even Too Short, with his grimy, degrading lyrics! But, we grow. Our tastes change. Hell, I used to love McDonalds... Do you know that I didn't even know who Lady Gaga was until this year? (And I know that's not rap, but I'm just saying...) Another example: Lil Wayne. Now we all know this kid has mad talent. But had I not caught the episode of Lil Wayne's story on Behind the Music, I wouldn't even realize how much that kid has overcome. I love success stories like that. But again, had I not been watching TV, I would have never known - or cared. That's because I don't seek out rap music now the way I did in my teens and early twenties. So I think Troy's points regarding age are valid. Different strokes for different folks, but sometimes age really does play a factor in how we rate/value things...IMO.

Hope you think that later is better than never for bday greetings. Happy belated bday and I wish you as many more as you want.

IN COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA, GABRILLE SWAINSON IS MISSING..WAS TAKEN FROM HER BEDROOM WHILE MOTHER WAS WORKING ...SUSPECT ANOTHER BLAC MAN WITH A CRIMINAL RECORD INCLUDING KIDNAPPING AND VIOLENCE TOWARD WOMEN..THEY FOUND BLOOD ON DUCT TAPE IN HIS HOUSE ,HERS..HER CELL PHONE RECORDS SHOW SHE WAS IN HIS HOUSE...WHEN BLACK CHILDREN ARE MISSING,DOES THE NAACP, BLACK CHURCH AND POLITICIANS GO OUT AND LOOK/NO.......WHY WAS NEWT GINGRICH ON TAVIS SMILEY SHOW, I DID NOT WATCH ..DID NEO KKKK NEWT GINGRICH WEAR A KLAN OUTFIT, DID HE CALLED THE PRESIDENT A TRIBE LEADER OR KENYAN , OR SAY HIS BIRTH CERTIFICATE WAS FORGED,THAT IS WHAT THEY THEY THINK,WHITE AND BLACK REPUBLICANS,PRESIDENT OBAMA BIRTH CERTIFICATE WAS FORGED AND HE IS THE ANTI CHRIST... BLACK ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS SHOULD NO LONGER BE GIVEN TO BLACK REPUBLICANS, CONDOLEEZA RICE GOT A NAACP AWARD, ESSENCE HAS GIVEN A AWARD TO A BLACK MAN WHO TALKS LIKE HERMAN CAIN SEVERAL YEARS AGO......///