Musings of the Great Gonzo

It’s about time. Someone in the national spotlight and within the African-American community is stepping up and speaking out. Finally someone has gotten some sense and mustered the courage to voice his outrage at the current state of the Rap and Hip-Hop culture so many urban youths emulate. But is it enough? Who else will step up and demand change? Sharpton? Jackson? I doubt it. That would, in the words of Cam’ron (see article below), damage their street cred. Russell Simmons has called for a moratorium on the use of three particularly derogatory terms as reported on The Independent today: Yesterday, he called for a voluntary ban on the three words he considers the most unacceptable, and among the most common, describing "bitch", "ho" and "nigger" as "extreme curse words" that were inconsistent with any sense of social responsibility by rap artists or their record companies. "The words 'bitch' and 'ho' are utterly der...

According to Sheryl Crow, the 45-year-old singer, we can curb global warming by limiting the amount of toilet tissue we use to only one square, except on those occasions when 2 or 3 may be needed because of pesky body waste. Wh-what! Hell, this morning alone I used 30 or 40 squares in just one sitting. I guess my waste is just more pesky than most. Saving trees by reducing the amount of toilet tissue we use is, well, a crappy idea. Sheryl revealed this stunning and insightful ecologic breakthrough on her blog along with several other suggestions to fight global warming and stop the destruction of the world as we know it. Among her other bright ideas is a removable “dining sleeve” to wipe your greasy mouth with instead of using paper napkins, and a reality show geared on which the winner would be the person who lives the “greenest” lifestyle. What can I say but, Brilliant! In the spirit of Ms. Crow’s blog, I would like to make a few suggestions to her of my own: 1. Stop selling yo...

"If I knew the serial killer was living next door to me?" Comments like this, to be broadcast on NBC’s 60 Minutes program, are exactly what is wrong with today’s society. The comments were made by Hip-Hop artist Cam’ron whose real name is Cameron Giles in response to a hypothetical question posed by NBC’s Anderson Cooper. "I wouldn't call and tell anybody on him -- but I'd probably move," says Giles. "But I'm not going to call and be like, the serial killer's in 4E.” Why wouldn’t Giles call the police? Why wouldn’t he perform his civic duty as a citizen of the United States? Why would he allow a rapist, pedophile, or mass-murder get away with their crimes? The pathetic answer is that it would harm his image in the Hip-Hop culture. “Street cred” is an unseen force which surrounds rappers and increases their record sales exponentially if it is possessed. It is what drives some rapper’s sales figures into the astrosphere while others flounder...