Guess Who's Bizzack?!?!??

It's SUMMERTIME. And the livin' is easy. Relatively speaking.

Yeah, there's still rent, bills, air conditioner eff ups, your nasty neighbors, and THE MAN. But eff it. It's summertime and the livin' is EASY.

Now that our exams are over (temporarily), Biochemical Slang is back on its grizzly. Supremacy: watch your back. The truth is out there.

Biochemical Slang wants to know: WHERE THE EFF WOULD WE BE WITHOUT MUSIC? Can you imagine life without a soundtrack? Me neither. It's summertime, SNITCHES!

The Originals - Sunrise
Al Green - Summertime
Sam & Dave - Summertime
Sam Cooke - Summertime
The Isley Brothers - Summer Breeze

Millie Jackson - Summer (the first time)
Jack McDuff - Summer Dream
Ice Cube - My Summer Vacation
The Specials - Too Hot
Jay-Z - Dear Summer

I Can ALMOST See the...

...the light? The end?

June 14th is just around the corner. That means Biochemical Slang will be back in business. That also means Vik gets to return to the REAL WORLD. Apparently, even as you ignore the world, time STILL MOVES FORWARD.

HOLLA at Biochemical Slang at CENTRAL PARK on June 16th. The legendary TELEVISION is playing what is rumored to be their last show. For those that don't know, it's BIGGER than just hip-hop. Remember: Hip-hop is rock 'n' roll. Rock 'n' roll is hip-hop. Eff the music separatists. They have no idea what they're missing.


As if you don't already know, Biochemical Slang will be in the building for the hip-hop event of the summer (it helps that this is a free show, eff Rock the Bells expensive-sold-out-ish), the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival.

For those that have no money, SUMMERTIME in NYC is a great place to be.

• Central Park SUMMERSTAGE
• Celebrate BROOKLYN!
• Martin Luther King Jr. Concert Series
• CityParks Concert Series

BIOCHEMICAL SLANG: Livin' ain't free, but it doesn't have to be expensive. Holla!

Don't Let the.....

DON'T LET THE JONESES GET YOU DOWN - The Temptations

The Joneses? They're the LAST of my worries. You know how it is.

The Temptations need to update this track for the 2-double-0-seven. The Joneses have been coastin' for years.

Long live SUPREMACY ACADEMIA!

I Don't Want to Become...

...THIS GUY.

So please bear with me as I prepare to take my BOARD EXAMS. Updates will be less frequent until June 14th.

Be sure to visit my Internets family, located to your right.

A Birthday THEY Want YOU to Forget About

Keith LeBlanc (feat Malcolm X) - NO SELL OUT
Donny Hathaway - Someday We'll All Be Free
Above image courtesy of the "Official Malcom X Website"

Did you know that this past Saturday was Malcolm X's 82nd birthday? If not, I can empathize. There were no flags-at-half-mast. No video montages on the local news. No words of remembrance from our "civil rights leaders." No official national recognition. Just another Saturday. It even momentarily slipped under the radar screen, here at Biochemical Slang.

Eff supremacy. I'll be confident that supremacy is loosening it's grip around my neck when my government, at the very least, acknowledges the existence of Malcolm X. Every yin needs a yang. Every Martin needs a Malcolm. Turn the other cheek, with a clenched fist in your pocket.

Believe it or not, the hippies may be ahead of the game with this one. Believe it or not, Berkeley city offices were CLOSED in recognition of "Malcolm X Day:"

It's a START. What was goin' on closer to home? The Harlem H & M closed on Saturday. It's SOMETHING, right?!?

Pictures that Speak MORE than a Thousand Words

I'll Just KEEP Tryin' - Roy Ayers

Supremacy still lives! Did you notice the dude's broken graduated cylinder? Peep the following quote from this article:

"Africa’s best universities, the grand institutions that educated a revolutionary generation of nation builders and statesmen, doctors and engineers, writers and intellectuals, are collapsing. It is partly a self-inflicted crisis of mismanagement and neglect, but it is also the result of international development policies that for decades have favored basic education over higher learning even as a population explosion propels more young people than ever toward the already strained institutions."

While we bicker about immigration reform and nappy-headed-hos, these students are sleeping on floors, working multiple jobs, and getting up before the sun rises. For what? AN EDUCATION. When those same students land on OUR shores and take YOUR jobs, don't say that we didn't warn you. They WILL come. They won't have much, but they'll have DEGREES.

Or maybe we could prepare our children for the competition that they will face by investing more of our time, money, and cultural weight in education. Or maybe we could just bicker over what to do with those damn landscapers.

It Ain't Rainin' On Nobody's House But Mine - The Dramatics

This Dramatics song is THE soundtrack for that picture of Alberto. Poor dude is learning the G DUBBZ administration's meaning of the word affirmative action.

Mr. Cool - Rasputin's Stash

Believe it or not, Estonia is one of the most wired nations in the world. Believe it or not, this dude is an officer in the country's Computer Emergency Response Team. Did dude find the blogger dream job? A real job, with GULLYNESS factor and real money, all while living in his mother's basement? Baaaaalliiinnnn! Dude found the blogger wet dream. Nullus.

How do we fight CRIME in NYC?

One SEGWAY at a time, snitches!

The NYPD is for the people.

Say, "Hi, how ya doing, officer?" as they roll by.

I can't make this stuff up, people.









RESPIRATION (Pete Rock Remix) - Black Star (feat Black Thought)

An Open Letter to the Government of China, from Ira Newble and Colleagues

FINALLY. People are beginning to take some sort of stance.

Yeah, people are still dying OVER THERE. Yes, China STAYS POURING MONEY into Sudan. Yes, China is hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Biochemical Slang is here to remind you: History REPEATS itself.

Major props goes to Ira Newble for spearheading the "Bring the Olympic Dream to Darfur" campaign. Major anti-props go to LeBron James and Damon Jones for NOT SIGNING the above letter.

Apparently, Damon Jones has to make sure one of his sponsors, Li-Ning Sports Goods Co. Ltd., stays happy. The people of Darfur? Not so much.

Can You IMAGINE??!?!?!!!??

Nas - I Gave You Power
Damian Marley - It Was Written

Can you imagine a NEW YORK CITY without guns? Can you imagine a PHILADELPHIA, an OAKLAND, or an EAST ST. LOUIS without guns? Probably not.

How sad is that? It's like guns have become a part of our fabric of reality. Woven into our collective consciousness, to the point that the world seems strange without them. How odd would it be to turn on the local late night news program and NOT hear about GUNS? Exactly.

Can you imagine a MOGADISHU without guns?

Mohamed Dheere can. The new mayor of Mogadishu has OUTLAWED the ownership of guns, "The first thing I will do is to improve security. No weapons will be allowed to roam freely in the city and no guns will be fired." Is the man CRAZY? Obviously. Does the man have an IMAGINATION. Hell yes.

When's the last time WE could say we had a political leader with IMAGINATION? With CHUTZPAH? With COJONES? Even Zubaz dared to be different.

"There are so many places that so far have been searched and so many weapons unearthed. There is no exact figure or statistics on all the weapons that have so far been found," Interior Minister Mohamed Mahamud Guled said. Well, at the very least, it's a START. We care more about our guns than we care about our people!

The next time you hear of another senseless GUN murder, think of MOGADISHU. A Somalian Mayor dared to IMAGINE. What is YOUR mayor doing?!?!?!????!

The Terrorists Have Already WON

Why should we invest in alternative fuel sources? To ensure a hospitable environment for our future generations? To become a more self-reliant people? To make us leave our houses using our TWO FEET, rather than an automobile? To improve our nation's air quality and, ultimately, our nation's health?

No, no, no, and no. Why should we invest in alternative fuel sources? G DUBBZ had this to say: "Our dependence on oil creates a threat to America's national security, because it leaves us more vulnerable to hostile regimes, and to terrorists who could attack oil infrastructure."

By Biochemical Slang's count:
Fear tactics = 1,251.
The American People = 0.

...and the GAMES continue.........

The Hip-Hop Generation STILL Believes in Social Security

Outkast - Git Up, Git Out
Buddy Miles - Dreams
Special Ed - I Got it Made

Let's be real. If you're in your teens and twenties, social security is an exercise in futility. It's something you just have to do. Just don't expect anything in return. NEWSFLASH: You're not gonna get anything back. You might as well deal with that fact NOW. Right NOW!

If you're between the ages of 18 and 25, only 1 out of every 3 of you are electing to participate in your 401(k). Less than a third of you are participating in your company-sponsored retirement plans. Only 1 out of 25 of you are maxing out your workplace retirement plans. Only 1 out of 5 of you have a tax advantaged IRA .

You're living in your parent's basement! Do you really need those new kicks? Buying those new jeans on sale is not an investment plan! Downloading an album does NOT constitute a SAVINGS plan!

While you're helping THESE GUYS with THEIR investment portfolios, what are YOU doing with yours?

If you can WEAR your investment portfolio....YOU lose. If someone can SNATCH your portfolio while your not looking....YOU lose. If you can turn your portfolio on with a button or a KEY....YOU lose. If your money is only of the paper variety....YOU lose.

Tomorrow is just another day, isn't it?

I Love this Game!

Watch it here.

Watch Baron Davis working at McDonalds here.

Was this a TOP TEN dunk?

Who protects GUNS from US?

Pharoahe Monche - Gun Draws
Harlem River Drive - If (We Had Peace Today)
Bushwick Bill - Dollars and Sense

It's a testament to these days and times: GUNS have just about as many rights as we do. We all know that guns don't kill people. People WITH guns kill people. So, why not just make it more difficult to get a gun?

If it were only so simple.

Here's how some politicians are trying to PROTECT YOUR GUNS:

• Virginia Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell has warned New York to stop sending private law enforcement agents to Virginia to nab illegal gun dealers. Apparently, many of the guns used in violent crimes in NYC can be traced to Virginia gun shows. "If anything, these [gun] dealers are the victims," replied the gun dealer's attorneys. When will we stop reading the 2nd Amendment OUT OF CONTEXT?
  
• Philadelphia, currently in the running for murder capital of America, has state gun laws WAITING to be passed. There's just one problem: they're not being considered, due to the powerful state gun lobby. Turns out, only the state legislature can OK gun laws. While 137 Philadelphians have been murdered, the state legislature is STILL sitting on these gun law proposals. In fact, the city of Philadelphia is suing the state of Pennsylvania for the rights to enact these gun laws and attempt to slow the ever-rising Philly murder rate.
• A federal appeals court in Washington refused yesterday to revisit a March decision striking down parts of a gun control law there. By my count: 2nd Amendment = 3, The People = 0.

In related news: before you sell your USED CDs in Florida and Utah (and soon to be Rhode Island and Wisconsin), you'll need to present a driver's licence and be thumbprinted. Furthermore, used CD stores and pawn shops in states that pass the law are also barred from paying cash for CDs, offering store credit instead, and must retain CDs for 30 days before reselling them.

I WISH I was making this up.

Guns win.

MARKETING Runs This Rap Ish

Tupac - Shorty Wanna Be A Thug
Hank Crawford - Wildflower
Ed OG - Life of a Kid in the Ghetto
Donny Hathaway - Little Ghetto Boy (live)

I was walking home the other night and this little kid, looking smug as ever, pulled his Huffy up next to me. I'm not one of those kids-these-days type dudes, but I was expecting the little dude to get fresh. Maybe joke about my scuffed Stan Smiths.

Mind you, this kid wasn't more than ten. Eleven tops. "Hey! Can you buy me a VANILLA DUTCH at the store?"

MARKETING works, people. Peep the following quote, from the Altadis USA, Inc. Sales and Marketing VP:

Who's ALTADIS, you ask? These dudes make CIGARS for the rest of the world, yet they make BLUNTS AND PHILLIES for their other targeted demographics. They don't even have to lead us to the cliff. We know we've been targeted. We know we're merely a means to corporate profit. We know we're throwing our money away. Yet, we willingly jump off the cliff, the lemmings that we are.

Here's what they'll tell you: "Phillies offers an extensive selection of fine cigars for the value-conscious smoker and has the perfect size, shape and blend to satisfy any taste."

Here's what they MEANT to say: "Ni**ers buy anything, as long as we keep those rappers talking."

When the DRUG WAR hits YOUR STREET, Altadis will be too busy investing YOUR MONEY to give a shit. Yeah, they lost a customer to the prison system. Eff it, emulation of prison culture SELLS. That customer probably has kids. That customer's kids probably has friends. All those kids probably have no supervision. All those kids have money to burn. All those kids are willing to follow their friends off the cliff. All those kids are LEMMINGS.

MARKETING runs this rap ish.

Fishbone is STILL Red Hot!

Eff the SOAP OPERAS that have become modern day cRAP music. Eff the radio stations that have become marketing pawns for the record companies. Eff corporate America for defining "urban" so precisely. If you don't fit the mold, you just don't fit in.

Don't fret. FISHBONE is STILL red hot! Fishbone is still channeling Parliament's MOTHER SHIP. Fishbone is still shattering musical boundaries. Peep the best tracks of their (somewhat) new album Still Stuck in Your Throat:

Behind Closed Doors
We Just Lose Our Minds
Forever Moore

Eff the he-said-she-said Jim Jones/Cam'Ron we're not friends anymore NONSENSE. Peep Angelo Moore's wordplay from the track BEHIND CLOSED DOORS:

Now if life was a thing that money could buy,
Then the rich man would make war and the poor man would fight.
The rich mother would pity while the poor mother would cry,
While the rich make excuses and the poor people die.

Type a thing make I wanna go run and hide,
Back to me condo over off of Rodeo Drive.
Grab a beer, try to remember a verse from the Bible,
Put on me Tivo and see who's off American Idol.

Does that make US CRAZY?

At first, it seems like one of those studies with obvious conclusions: when soldiers experience lengthy and repeated tours of duty, they begin to suffer both mental and physical consequences.

Then we find out there's more: 30% of the troops in close combat missions are at increased risk for long-term mental and psychological problems. More than 40% of our troops support the idea of torture. More than 10% of our troops report harming Iraqi civilians and property, when it was not directly necessary.

Furthermore, we come to find out, this report came out in NOVEMBER. BEFORE the troop surge. If you don't release a report, it was never written. Of course, what is and was most US soldiers' primary concern? You guessed it: 40 percent of soldiers rated uncertain redeployment dates as a top concern. We're only PAWNS in THEIR game.

It seems that soldier mental health and stability are issues that we've known about for quite some time. How do we plan on PREVENTING the increased mental health risks our soldier's carry? Intensive pre-service training? Fixing the Walter Reed veteran's health care clusterfuckery? Providing mental health care on site? Nah. "So the first step is that we've got to ... make sure that folks remember that that's a foundation for our moral compass ... anything we do that violates that is done at considerable peril," General David Petraeus said. He's also "drafting a memo."

When will moral compasses and memos CEASE to be our answer to everything?

• When SUPREMACY releases us from its relentless grip.
• When the NOLA levees are repaired and fully functional.
• When we stop calling our problems SILENT EPIDEMICS (check here, here, and here) and START dealing with them.
• When we stop killing each other.
  

CALIFORNIA Re-Ups and Bonus Cuts

Above image courtesy of POPLICKS dot com.
Oliver Sain track courtesy of JTHYME.

Biochemical Slang has been about the underdog since day one. Eff the favorite. Eff the predestined. Eff the expected. This also gives me a chance to RE-UP some California tracks and post some BONUS California tracks. Enjoy, snitches.

Edwin Starr - California Soul
Oliver Sain - California Sunset
Leon Ware - Why I Came to California
Main Ingredient - California My Way
California Dreamin' - Bobby Womack
California Dreamin' - Eddie Hazel
California Dreamin' - Lee Moses