This is the official blog of Gevar, Jrome and Vaughn. We named it Ghidorah because King Ghidorah is a 3 headed dragon, and in some ways we can be a three headed beast. We chose to blog because many people were interested in our opinions and conversation that they participated in. This blog allows people to see our viewpoint and even challenge our ideas.
I took time and sat back the past 2 weeks with one thought on my mind...
"How much ignorance does media spit at me?"
Now given alot of people will look at this like "WHHHHAAAAAAAAA?!?!?!?!" But think about it, i can recall a day and time where i listened to the news and a kid, watch shows to learn, and listened to the radio for more than te newest dance song. Now true, people can argue that hip-hop has its ups and downs as far as what gets played on the radio, television has curved views(depending on the channel), the internet can be a TOTAL lie(depending on the source). Yet if you think about it look at how much these media outlets have changed.
I remember hearing random bombs, explosions, and word scratches when listening to Master P on the radio("Im the captian of this mutha(scratches-BOOM) TANK").2 Lve Crew had the shortest song on the radio, "Me So Horny", and it got played MAYBE once a week(lol). I used to wonder what words they were bleeping out because a$$, fuck, bitch, ho, shit...ect, those words were unheard of on the radio. "Girl you look good won't you back that THANG up"(Juvenile - Back That A$$ Up) i coulda sworn that was the actual version... maybe that was just me. I never heard the DJ's cuss or even hint at it, never felt bad about making my mixtapes (literally TAPES), and never had to worry about moms looking at me like "WTH are you listening to?" Sadly i hear all of that now. This past weekend i was listening to a station (those of you in B'ham know which one i talking about) and they had a "post commercial comment" for some small time/local rappers where they were very blount about taking about where they were what they were smoking and drinking. I dont even have kids but i was shocked and disgusted. Not because it was out of line, even though it was, i was more shocked because it was 2pm on a sunday afternoon when i heard this. I mean REALLY?!
Of all the things that get me heated about the media it's probably the local news channels ("that really grinds my gears").I can think of a day and time when i stopped watching the nws simply beacuse of all th bad news they seemed to have. For a week my Jr. year in highschool all i heard was bad news, the only good news they had was talking about Doo-Dah-Day (Dog parade for those who dont live hear). It actualy made me sad because it was around the time that we were planning to go to war IN Afghanistan and local deaths were rising. All i could wonder is, where is the silver lining? where is the upliftng moments for the people? The news is filled with statistics but they never give you the adverse side of it (ex. 4.7% of African Americans voted Tue, 13% of the nation is African American, is that 4.7% of the 13% OR 4.7% of the nation?). I know that all news isnt good news but if your follow up story to a murder is "free balloon day" dont be suprised if i no longer want to watch the news.
Cable TV has run wild with the things they choose to say, and allow to be said on their station/channel/show. Given somebody pays to have these channels up and running but at what point do you stop and say "wow, ok maybe we are going a little too far." im mainly speaking of FOXNews, because they have such a skewed view its almost sad. Whats scarier is people believe it. I watch FOXNews almost daily just to see how skewed todays views are and i watch CNN/MSNBC for the opposite view. Yet the show(s) i have found to be the best are the ones who make fun of the actual truth (The Daily Show, The Colbert Rport). Alot of people avoid these shows because they think they are not actually being truthful about whats going on but they are in a very, VERY sarcastic way. I have always been a fan of Political Satire simply because you can see the truth and lies in that which we call our gov't. These shows/channels have much more power than i think we realize they can start a whole movement and can end a power shift.
(ex. Glenn Beck's "Rally to Restore 'Honor' to the Nation"{Aug. 28th 2010} vs. John Stewart & Stephen Colbert's "Rally to Restore Sanity"{Oct. 30th 2010}).
VS.
Basically what i'm saying is, some media is good some is bad but reguardless something that can be seen/heard on a regular basis needs to be censored. Because one day what will your kids be hearing on the radio and seeing on tv. Ignorance is everywhere but just because its everywhere doesnt mean we have to boast it up....
Oh Yea this is just Pt1...... i got more for that azz stay tuned!
I know i aint that old... but then again.......... well lets see whats changed?
Still play music videos? yea, only not the 6-16hrs it used to be.... still got up to date news? yea, only when its breaking news or sumbody just died.... still got relevant music playing? yea,........ wait.... nah, fuck dat, when music can be "too intelligent"(shouts out to Little Brother) for the audience you have failed at LIFE... are the hosts entertaining? ok i gotta say AJ wasnt the "coolest" host but 106th n park NOW?! on that "Shawt Bus Shawty" swag(<---i hate that word but... its relevant right now).
To take one from the late MJ "do you remember the time..." when you fell in love with all BET had to offer... even the news show if you didnt watch it... BET was the MOST relevant black network on TV hands down... if there was something going on and you didnt know how you felt, if you could read between the lissssssssssssssp of Tavis Smiley you were GOOD. If there was a hot new up and coming artist rock with Tigga (my niiiiiggaaaaa) in the Basement. wanna see a fine n natural chick check out FREE on 106th..... o yea forgot her sidekick AJ....... but on to bigger and better names. I can remeber when i got my 1st taste of Kast via the Basement, i was on em before then but to see them ackin a fool was great... i remember when Roc-A-Fella came through to announce Beanie being part of the crew and that began a HUGE NY movement... or how bout when the RUFF RYYYYYYDAAAAAZ came thru you just knew X was gonna kill tha mic... you got introduced to new videos as well as old all in the same 1-2hr and it was perfect... remember Cita the digital VJ... nigga WHAT!?! cant tell me you aint love watchin that BOOTLEG animation intro the hottest of the week, month, year, and past... the tributes that station put on after the deaths of Pac, Biggie, Left Eye, Aaliyah and more... o and i cant forget............... the one show that got dudes in trouble and introduced some to the true fakeness of the female body......... UNCUT VIDEOS!!! that was the one thing you would watch and hear music u aint not never(yea i said it) heard in LIFE... and you got to see a booty shake like never before... you know PRE-SKRIP CLUB age lol.....
With all that said the thing i remember most is the balance... got to hear sum crunk wit lil john and the cash money movement, yet got to hear some street intelligence with mos def and common, intro'd me to the crack game viz Jay-Z, and kept me Gangsta and throwin up WEEESTSIIIIIIIIIIIDE with Ice Cube, Mack 10 and WC, kept it funky with krazy joints from the Dungeon Family(OutKast, Goodie MoB, and many more) and kept it soulful with Dru Hill, Boys II Men, Jodice, and SOOOOOOO many more, gave the women a voice with Queen La, Lil Kim, Foxy B, Charlie Baltimore and the "youn know nann" trina... i just miss the Good about ya but i guess every dog has its day.... unfortunately its Waka Flocka Lame..... sigh..... i jus want the one who made me fall in love wit music
GB:
Call me an oldhead if you want, I'll take that. But BET has fallen off AND we're getting old. I remember being about 8 and my cousin asking me if I had seen this new station that was catered to just "us" and apparently had just been added to Charter's lineup. lol...It was channel 84 I think at the time. I turned to it immediately and saw (I think it was ) "Slam" by Onyx.
"B-B-B-BUT WAIT IT GETS WORSE!!!!!" ......Still gets me hype til this day lol
I remember days when I could spend my whole day watching BET and actually still feel good (if not better) about myself at the end of it all. There was something for everybody. Let's run through the lineup from back when it was more of a COMPLETE network:
Video Soul - Played all the slow jams and R&B joints. With THE man as the host.....Donnie Simpson. Enough said.
Caribbean Rhythms - straight reggae music. Hosted by one of my first crushes....the beautiful Rachel.
Teen Summit - I loved this show because it dealt mainly with issues that young black kids were facing which I could relate to being well........young and black.
Rap City - My favorite show on the network. Everyday I was glued to the tv from 4:30-6:00. It's not even important to mention a host because honestly all of them were good. What I liked about Rap City was the balance it had. You could tell that the show was truly about hip hop and not about the latest trend or fad. They gave EVERYBODY shine.
BET News.....most people turned their tv's off by the time this came on but I appreciated that they cared enough to not only entertain the viewers but also inform them. Plus Ed Gordon is the man.
BET Jazz - Probably my 2nd favorite show on the network. It came on after BET News and I would stay up just for it....sometimes just so I could fall asleep to it. I loved jazz even before I loved hip hop so I was a huge fan of the show
These days, BET has reduced itself to Black Embarrassment TV.....it's terrible. They don't even show music anymore besides 106 and 70% of the time that is a joke. No shows to uplift and enlighten the people other than the specials that they have every now and then....for special occasions. I think the last program I actually looked forward to seeing on BET was "Hip Hop Vs. America". The network as a whole is dead to me ever since they sold out to keep up with the Jones'. I remember walking into my sister's room everyday and seeing this poster on her closet door and feeling proud to have a network that catered to me:
Those days are long gone though I suppose. Now the network is saturated with "reality" shows with no purpose, bad movies, and lame attempts to recapture the rapport that they once had. Everything runs its course and nothing lasts forever, but I'm glad I was able to experience the network in it's heyday.
I wanted to talk about this reality TV garbage and all these rapper groupies and athlete groupies spilling every one's secrets.
I remember watching MTV saying to myself that Real World had to be one of the greatest television shows in the world, and it was at that time. It really was raw and real and presented a lot of questions and some insight into other people's lives. You have 7 people around or in their early twenties living in the same house for a certain period of time. It was a really good show. Watching people actually live in a house with a homosexual who happened to have AIDS. You cannot ask for better television than that. It wasn't just about the drama, it was real. Real World started off as a really good show. Over the years reality television has gotten stupid.
Let's run down the list of the recent stupid ones (These are the shows i find stupid, if you like them then that's you, but this is my post)
- Flavor of Love
- I Love New York
- Real Chance of Love
- I Love Money
- Baldwin Heights
- The Hills
- Keeping Up with the Kardashians
- Jersey Shore
- The Real Housewives (of anyplace)
- Tiny and Toya
- The Bad Girl's Club
etc.
These shows are ridiculous. Why do we watch this crap? There isn't anything behind them. You don't learn or grow from any of these stupid shows. No, not every show is designed for educational or enlightening purposes. Many shows are just for our entertainment and pleasure, but why do we find these shows entertaining? They are just full of drama and ignorance. Why saturate or minds with this crap for no real reason just so we can shake our heads and hit the social network to praise and bash these people. We praise and support these clowns for what purpose?
Seriously who was Kim Kardashian before the sex tape? I didn't know who she was, and I could care less about her family. Yes they are beautiful women but I can care less about their lives, they are not interesting to me. Tiny and Toya???? Who cares, Tiny had a career and now she just takes care of kids ( I know she does other stuff, but again, I DON'T CARE). The Real Housewives.... this is so stupid... Do we seriously care about people who do nothing? When have people who do nothing become interesting?
The Surreal Life spawned a series of ridiculous shows (Strange Love, 3 seasons of Flavor of Love, 2 seasons of I Love New York, 2-3 seasons of I Love Money, 3 seasons of Rock of Love, Charmed School, Real Chance of Love, The Entertainer's show, 3 seasons of Shot of Love.... and maybe some other ones I failed to mention). Monkey See, Monkey Do.... It has really gotten out of hand, it's stupid, mindless cheap "entertainment." I can't call it entertainment cause it barely holds my interest. I just don't get it, it's nothing new, nothing fresh, so why are people interested in it?
But the WORST case of monkey see, monkey do to me right now is some fool trying to follow in the same steps as Karrine "Superhead" Steffens.... Kat Stacks, you are a clown.
What Karrine did was not cool. Exposing people doesn't just make them look bad, but it makes you look bad, and takes away more credibility from you than it does them. Think about how that makes you look as a person. What are you trying to accomplish by exposing your sexual encounters with these various celebrities and athletes? She wrote 3 books. Three books for being a very very very loose woman. It's crazy. I know this makes interesting reading but where is your sense of honor? Of self respect and pride? I've heard Karrine in various interviews and radio shows, and she isn't all that bad. She saw a market and she had a product to sell and she can provide for her family. It wasn't the most moral thing to do, but it happened.
Then came the Tiger Wood's scandal... moving on....
Now I hear about this girl, Kat Stacks.... seriously this girl is barely 21 and is out running her mouth, for what? She is just following suit behind Karrine but I see no purpose behind what she is doing.
It's crazy, She just wants fame. That's exactly what it boils down to. People want exposure and fame. They want the by product of success, something they have not accomplished.
I like what Melyssa Ford said:
I guess what I'm trying to say is.... Be careful of who you follow, why you follow them, and your definition of success is. Do you really want success or do you want to be another face in everyone's camera and another annoying voice on the radio? Seeking fame over success only makes you look like a fool. If a fool is what you want to be, then I guess that's all on you. I know it doesn't feel good to have fingers pointed and you and lyrical bullets flying at your head. Be mindful of how your actions affect you and your loved ones
-VP
"How much ignorance does media spit at me?"
Now given alot of people will look at this like "WHHHHAAAAAAAAA?!?!?!?!" But think about it, i can recall a day and time where i listened to the news and a kid, watch shows to learn, and listened to the radio for more than te newest dance song. Now true, people can argue that hip-hop has its ups and downs as far as what gets played on the radio, television has curved views(depending on the channel), the internet can be a TOTAL lie(depending on the source). Yet if you think about it look at how much these media outlets have changed.
I remember hearing random bombs, explosions, and word scratches when listening to Master P on the radio("Im the captian of this mutha(scratches-BOOM) TANK"). 2 Lve Crew had the shortest song on the radio, "Me So Horny", and it got played MAYBE once a week(lol). I used to wonder what words they were bleeping out because a$$, fuck, bitch, ho, shit...ect, those words were unheard of on the radio. "Girl you look good won't you back that THANG up"(Juvenile - Back That A$$ Up) i coulda sworn that was the actual version... maybe that was just me. I never heard the DJ's cuss or even hint at it, never felt bad about making my mixtapes (literally TAPES), and never had to worry about moms looking at me like "WTH are you listening to?" Sadly i hear all of that now. 
This past weekend i was listening to a station (those of you in B'ham know which one i talking about) and they had a "post commercial comment" for some small time/local rappers where they were very blount about taking about where they were what they were smoking and drinking. I dont even have kids but i was shocked and disgusted. Not because it was out of line, even though it was, i was more shocked because it was 2pm on a sunday afternoon when i heard this. I mean REALLY?!
Of all the things that get me heated about the media it's probably the local news channels ("that really grinds my gears").
I can think of a day and time when i stopped watching the nws simply beacuse of all th bad news they seemed to have. For a week my Jr. year in highschool all i heard was bad news, the only good news they had was talking about Doo-Dah-Day (Dog parade for those who dont live hear). It actualy made me sad because it was around the time that we were planning to go to war IN Afghanistan and local deaths were rising. All i could wonder is, where is the silver lining? where is the upliftng moments for the people? The news is filled with statistics but they never give you the adverse side of it (ex. 4.7% of African Americans voted Tue, 13% of the nation is African American, is that 4.7% of the 13% OR 4.7% of the nation?). I know that all news isnt good news but if your follow up story to a murder is "free balloon day" dont be suprised if i no longer want to watch the news.
Cable TV has run wild with the things they choose to say, and allow to be said on their station/channel/show. Given somebody pays to have these channels up and running but at what point do you stop and say "wow, ok maybe we are going a little too far." im mainly speaking of FOXNews, because they have such a skewed view its almost sad. Whats scarier is people believe it. I watch FOXNews almost daily just to see how skewed todays views are and i watch CNN/MSNBC for the opposite view. Yet the show(s) i have found to be the best are the ones who make fun of the actual truth (The Daily Show, The Colbert Rport). Alot of people avoid these shows because they think they are not actually being truthful about whats going on but they are in a very, VERY sarcastic way. I have always been a fan of Political Satire simply because you can see the truth and lies in that which we call our gov't. These shows/channels have much more power than i think we realize they can start a whole movement and can end a power shift.
(ex. Glenn Beck's "Rally to Restore 'Honor' to the Nation"{Aug. 28th 2010} vs. John Stewart & Stephen Colbert's "Rally to Restore Sanity"{Oct. 30th 2010}).
VS. 
Basically what i'm saying is, some media is good some is bad but reguardless something that can be seen/heard on a regular basis needs to be censored. Because one day what will your kids be hearing on the radio and seeing on tv. Ignorance is everywhere but just because its everywhere doesnt mean we have to boast it up....
Oh Yea this is just Pt1...... i got more for that azz stay tuned!
