Watch 'Ya Big-Ass Back

Well that escalated quickly! Officer Rozay just cancelled two shows in North Carolina, supposedly due to death threats from the Folks. Between this and distributing drugs, the GD's are practically a charitable organization in my book. (Joking, obviously, but if you're a Disciple and you're reading this, thanks for both of those things.)

YouTube has a couple pages worth of search results if you type in "Rick Ross GD", and although some of them are repeats, for the most part, they're different versions of the same message, coming from different states. It sounds like Mr.Roberts may have been given the "opportunity" to agree to be extorted write a check to keep these guys off his back. Also, the few videos I watched all stated that this was not organized by Larry Hoover, which, as far as the law is concerned, is about as effective as those stupid ass Facebook posts about privacy.

I'm Still Here

I'm still around. I'm renaming my blog and working on a relaunch, but I'm nearly done. When I started this, I was aware of the My Little Pony community, a.k.a. 'Bronies', but I didn't think it was that large. I started seeing Twitter followers with cartoon ponies as their avatars who would seemingly unfollow after I posted anything political or music-related. (By the way, I don't me to offend any Bronies out there, I'm just not one.)  I intended for my the name to be a play on the word 'bro' but I clearly should have been a bit more selective, given the near-infinite permutations of bro with real names. (I probably should have had enough foresight to pick a different name entirely, but I'm not creative enough to come up with original material here, so what did you really expect?) Ultimately, I'm leaning toward using my real name, future employment be damned.

 We'll see how it all pans out. I really want to review the shit I liked this year, since everybody does that. I'm still not doing a ranked list. If I have a top-10 list on here, it's going to be a list of other year end lists, in order of pretentiousness. I'm predicting Pitchfork is going to walk away with that honor. 

Yes He Could

You did it Barry! Well done.

He's not the guy I thought he was four years ago, but he's in his second term, so it's time to do the kind of shit that would have kept him from getting reelected.

Weed is now legal in Colorado, and probably Washington, so I'm planning a relocation as we speak. The federal laws still make it illegal, but you can grow up to six plants with no license or prescriptions with no fear of state prosecution. Feds can still bust you, but six plants in a closet aren't the kind of thing that puts you on the DEA radar. There are rumors that Obama's going to "pivot" on the drug war, but we'll see how that works out. I'm not so delusional as to be excited, per se, about the future of this country, but things could be considerably worse. Plenty of unscrupulous individuals are still pulling the strings, but I'm not nearly into conspiracy theories enough to believe that a central consortium decides the presidency. My guess is it's a lot more like The Men Who Built America than The Matrix.

Who knows what will happen. Bill Clinton had his second term all fucked up by the Lewinsky scandal, so I hope Barry watches his back. (Clinton could have been the one to get Bin Laden, possibly years before 9/11, but his cache was completely drained by the impeachment trial.) I think he should use his Chicago connections and figure out a way to get those violent little kids from the Chief Keef and Lil Jojo videos to set their sights on the likes of Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, via YouTube and Twitter beefs. Those two are the biggest roadblocks to legitimate progress, or more accurately, their top donors are.

In 2008, Long Time Comin' was a perfect anthem, but this doesn't feel quite that way. If you, like me, make less than $250K a year, make this your anthem for the next four years, because for all we know, it might be your best chance before this whole American experiment crumbles before our eyes.

Kinda Busy, Mostly High

So, it's been a while. This election shit is heating up, the weather's cooling off. My fantasy football roster has turned over more times than Tony Romo. I've shelved a dozen or so half-finished posts over the last couple months, so maybe I'll revive some of those. Who knows. 

Shoe Game

Teens Arrested | ABC.com

This brings back so many memories. Two teens were arrested in Houston for breaking in to steal Air Jordans, after entering the store through a hole that they cut in the roof. I wish I could say this is the craziest shoe-stealing scheme I've seen, but it's far from it.

Regular readers of this site know I'm into shoes. In my younger days, I worked at a shoe store off and on for several years. My time in the shoe business overlapped with the rise of Nike's retro movement, and I worked enough release dates to tell  you that people loose their fucking minds for these shoes. When the 'Briefcase' Jordan released, a kid was robbed for the shoes off of his feet as well as the carrying case. (The idea of a carrying case for shoes is ridiculous, even in the context of shoe collectors - but clearly an effective marketing strategy. Coincidentally, that shoe was released during MJ's time with the Wizards, and that shoe was much like his career at that point: A diminished product wrapped in unnecessarily flashy packaging.) As discussed here previously, release dates are quite a thing to see. For non-sneakerheads, the sight is downright ridiculous. I've seen people jump over railings, push, punch, yell, fight, even crawl under the gates at the front door, all for the 'opportunity' to purchase overpriced shoes. For those 'lucky' enough to grab a pair, the adventure is nowhere near over. Once the shoes are yours, you now get to experience your own version of "The Warriors" as you attempt to traverse the mall and its parking lot, all the while keeping an eye out for the various groups who now have now put a price on your feet.

And for what? That night, literally everyone and their mom will have on those shoes. Lupe hit the nail on the head when he said that the only people you're showing off for are your "...fellow loyal customers". Not to mention that these are only a big deal until the next shoe drops, and that's usually less than a month away. By then, you'll see the same people in line, many with last-month's highly coveted sneakers, now dirtied and creased. /rant

So anyway, these kids entered the store through a hole they cut in the roof. That's definitely an advanced move, but it's not the first time it's been done. The same thing happened at the Foot Locker in East St. Louis a few years ago. In that case they used a stolen circular saw to cut through, and by dumb luck they just barely missed cutting into a power line. A similar technique is to break in through the service entrance found in the back of mall stores. Some people cut out the middleman and just rob the train or delivery truck. Numerous people, frustrated with the demeaning nature of retail employment, find themselves involved in inside jobs. (For the most part, these are usually poorly planned and executed, and come off a lot more like "Half Baked" than "Ocean's 11".) Trust me, if you can dream it, somebody's probably tried it.

Sadly, these kids will probably end up locked away for a while. Coincidentally, these kids will probably end up working prison jobs for pennies per hour, just like the kids who made the shoes in the first place.

He Got Game

Dream Team 2K13 | HipHopWired

As you've probably heard, Jay-Z is the 'executive producer' of NBA 2K13. Up to this point, the only reason to care has been the improved soundtrack for this year. Now, though, we find out that Jay has supposedly orchestrated the inclusion of both the 2012 and 1992 olympic teams. Hopefully this sets the record straight about which team was better, in case you actually believe this year's team could beat the original 'Dream Team.'

The most interesting part of this story is the inclusion of Charles Barkley and the absence of Scottie Pippen. Sir Charles is not a member of the NBA's Retired Player Association, (which is a thing, btw) so he had to negotiate separately, but will be included in the game. Pippen, however, will not. This is weird because he is a member of the association, so you would assume he would have the same deal as any other member. I have a feeling that Jordan may have pulled a few strings on this one. Remember earlier this year, when Scottie made the statement that Lebron might be better than Mike? Something tells me His Airness wanted to make a statement, but not you know, with his words and stuff. Since MJ and Jay seem to have pretty similar career management styles, I'm sure Jay was on board with the move.

If anything, Jay is likely taking notes. He's probably already planning a Rocafella Records greatest hits album with 9 Memph Bleek tracks and no Beans or Freeway.

Rrrrruuunnhhh!

In the newest Rolling Stone, dropping on Friday, Rozay will finally speak on his career as a corrections officer. In the past, he's alluded to using his position to gain access to Noriega, (the real Noriega) and thus coke connections. He likes to make it sound like he can't speak on the issue due to possible legal consequences, but does anybody actually believe that? What's next - is he gonna tell us that DJ Khaled represents his connections in the Middle East? Something tells me he wouldn't be doing this if he really was ever on the radar of law enforcement, because it tends to cause problems. Just ask this guy: