"Age 14 at midnight I hear voices from the kitchen..."

"I let my feet follow the sound as I let my ears listen

I walk upstairs and at the kitchen table I can see

That God is sitting with the Devil, sharing drinks and old stories

The floorboard creaks

A red embarrassment floods all throughout God's face

He swears that it's not what it looks like

Then he swears he can explain

The Devil speaks,

"Your God and I put all our

Differences to rest Now man's actions are his own

But man will blame us nonetheless"

The Devil stands

He grabs his keys and straightens out a rusted crown

He tells me, "Hell is frozen over

Heaven burned down to the ground

And you have only got one life

So do with it what you would like

We solemnly apologize but we won't be there when you die"

And I stand cold and alone

In a body that won't move

Watching the eyes of these gods that I once knew

One pair looks down in a half-hearted lie while

The other looks straight into mine with a whole truth

Lacking the fear I've been told that God deserves

I say, "What good is a prayer that goes unheard"

He says, "What hope could they find in a book

If the book doesn't sell and the pages stay unturned"

And with a wink, the Devil turns and exits the back door

And God is standing there in silence with his eyes glued to the floor

But then he speaks

"I am no savior but I give them what they need

And there has never been a dreamer who prefers reality

The war for truth is raging on but it's not one you have to fight

And if it is the truth you want, then it is hope you'll sacrifice

It's yours to choose

And you can choose

This is not the way I am, this is just how I was raised

So let me make up my own mind, let me map out my own way

And to the parents of the kids with tongues down in their throats

Because of tears that you will cry

If they don't stick to what they know

I'm sure you're giving it your best

And I am sure it takes a toll

But whether God given or not

Our lives are not to be controlled

Just let us choose"

"Logan, you still have time."

"...every episode of “Luke Cage” is named after a Gang Starr song — like “Soliloquy of Chaos” and “Moment of Truth.”"

In even more than before.

"I don't need their blessing now..."

"I don't need their invitation

Ain't no way to shut me down

Or to take this path I've taken

And maybe I've been left out

But never let this be mistaken

They can keep their blessing now

Forget me now

'Cause I was never welcome"

Training.

1/27 - deadlifts, hanging knee raise, back xt, stretch
1/26 - shadowbox, stretch
1/25 - shadowbox, stretch
1/24 - stretch
1/23 - shadowbox, stretch

Going Primal Transforms a Family of Four | Mark's Daily Apple:

Elvis, you nut.

Things used to be different.

"When Beatlemania Is a Microaggression..."

When Beatlemania Is a Microaggression... - Hit & Run : Reason.com: "...a tale that sums up the low stakes of much debate over political correctness, microaggressions, and the like. Forget about mediocre ethnic food served up in cafeterias, claiming that "America is the land of opportunity," or saying yoga is yoga, rather than "mindful stretching." It's Beatlemania that is culturally insensitive and intolerant. Psychology professor Adam J. Rodriguez of California's Notre Dame de Namaur University tells the story of a friend who "is a really, really big Beatles fan" and "insisted that I dedicate time to listen to them." Summarizes Timpf: Rodriguez, who is Puerto Rican, explained that his friend was part of “the dominant culture” that makes people Beatles fans — and the fact that he dared to criticize Rodriguez for not being one was insensitive and meant he just didn’t recognize the “power and privileges” he had as a white dude that Rodriguez did not have. “All cultures contain within them many subcultures, with one cultural dimension often dominant,” Rodriguez wrote. “When one is a member of the dominant culture, that person enjoys particular power and privileges, including the freedom to not have to consider other perspectives.”... According to Rodriguez, his friend was just not culturally literate enough to realize that while he “grew up a white middle-class male in the 70s and 80s, to parents who grew up on the Beatles,” Rodriguez grew up “a Puerto Rican lower-class male in the 80s whose parents played guajira, salsa, and Motown/classic R&B/soul...

To be sure, Rodriguez's friend, like all friends who have a band or performer they absoutely insist that YOU MUST LOVE, sounds like a real pain in the ass (however well-meaning he might be). What bothers me ultimately in all this is the sheer banality and humorlessness of Rodriguez's complaint, the hypersensitivity to real and imagined slights, especially at a time when the most serious and punishing forms of racism and cultural insensitivity have mostly been vanquished from everyday society. Which isn't to say everything is peachy. 

I suspect he would agree with me that the drug war continues at least in part because of institutional racism that views black and dark-skinned casualties as less worth of concern than, say, Al Gore's son. Immigration policy has always been influenced by manifest and latent racial prejudice and that certainly still is the case. White Americans tolerate and even insist on maintaining godawful urban public schools because the mostly minority kids who go there don't matter to them (this is changing, of course, and many advocates of school choice talk about the issue as the civil rights struggle of our day). And on and on. Yet on virtually every level, things are vastly different than they were when, say, my Italian relatives in the '30s and '40s were dismissed out of hand as not being college material due to their ethnicity and lower-class status. If you're getting that bent out of shape because your friend (friend!) is forcing you to listen to the French horn solo on "For No One" or pretend that "Revolution 9" doesn't totally suck, you've got nothing left to complain about."

"To all the people who can Quest like A Tribe does - Before this, did you really know what live was?"

25 years.  Damn.  Listen To J. Cole's Remix Of A Tribe Called Quest's "Can I Kick It?" | The FADER: "On November 13, A Tribe Called Quest will commemorate the 25th anniversary of their 1990 debut LP, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, with the release of a buffed- and beefed-up reissue. Remastered by Grammy Award-winning engineer Bob Power, the reissue will include three new remixes by banner artists: Pharrell, who remixed "Bonita Applebum"; Cee Lo Green, " who chose "Footprints"; and J. Cole, whose reworking of "Can I Kick It?" is out today."

This Kid Gets It.

Via

"Raised on Biggie and NIrvana..."

"As the rhythm designed to bounce what counts is that the rhymes designed to fill your mind..."

"I ain't never hit a bar with a cover. Low thread count, hard with the covers." - LD is killing it.

"Fuck you rappers braggin' bout?  You overpaying for it!"

Lil Dicky - $ave Dat Money feat. Fetty Wap and Rich Homie Quan (Official Music Video)

Fallon's Nae Nae is solid, but Ellen's Rihanna is on point.

Never Gets Old - "History of Rap 6 (Jimmy Fallon & Justin Timberlake)"

"Straight outta Compton!  A crazy moth-"

SketchShe is pretty entertaining.

It. Just. Got. Interesting!

For reference, at 1:30.

"I just wanna do it my way. And turn the whole game sideways." - Lil Dicky - Professional Rapper (Feat. Snoop Dogg)

#ShotsFired  Fantastic album debut. 

"We are living proof of the danger of immigrants!"

4 Chords is all you need, really.

Marvel/Hip-Hop mashup.

Marvel pays tribute to classic hip-hop in amazing new variant covers | The Verge: