Bridging the Gap ...

The "special primary" to determine the 2 [out of 15] candidates for the position of "interim" interim mayor in the City of Detroit (essentially, the mayor who will take over for the current interim mayor - who's only been mayor since the end of '08 - and who will hold the post from the time of the "special general election" (May 5!!!) until the general election in November/end of term in December) went down today. Results aren't in yet. Even still, I think I'm gonna be sick. I swear this process comes straight from the horse's ass.

Pray for my city.

---Update---

And with that, Ken Cockrel, Jr. and Dave Bing (yeah, that Dave Bing) have won the primary and will face off in May. Who was my preference? Of the candidates, these two might be the best choices...and I'm not the only one to think so. The lesser of fifteen evils have prevailed.

Keep praying.

São Paolo Nights ...

Write or sleep. The struggle continues.

It's hard for me to separate the things I hand-write every day from the things I want to post on here. When I was younger ("younger"), my online blog was my sanctuary. I housed everything there. Here, I've decided to be a little more cautious ... if only a little.

I was doing well writing once a day like I hoped for, but I did fall off at some point last week. It's still cathartic, though, and I still do try to keep my journal with me. Plus, I'm almost finished reading the companion book to my little project. It's taken longer than expected ... I know that if I sat down, I could knock out all 420 pages ... mostly because of being back in school. I'm 3/4 through, though, so it should be done by the weekend.

By the way, I'm aware that your President's Black (and your Lambo's blue [rims are, too]) ... believe it or not, my President's Black, too. Dig that! Now, can we please come up with another song/slogan? Please? Pretty please?

Anyway, look for me this weekend. I should have some (plenty?) of time to myself so that I can write and reflect on some questions that I've been asking myself (like, 'where has all of my creative energy gone?' and 'what the hell is REALLY wrong with me?'). I also plan on finishing my bar application this weekend, and continuing this streak of positivity and excitement regarding my future that I've had recently. No more pessimism and/or fear. Too much greatness to come. Serenity, clarity, sanity, calm.

More to come...

Falling Behind...

So, clearly I owe you (the world) an Obama post. Obviously. What conscious, conscientious blogger has not posted about our 44th President yet... present company excluded? While that post is coming, suffice it to say that I was like an old man in a rocking chair last Tuesday night... silently reveling in the moment, crying subtly (and then weeping overtly), and in deep, reflective thought about what I just witnessed.

Amen to that.

All of that aside, I have been on a serious music-seeking mission these last few days as I attempt to reconnect with myself (once again). In my search, I ran across what may be one of the dopest conceptual albums that I have found in quite some time. It's rare that you find an album that tells a story from track 1 to track n, but man... this one definitely does, and it does it over refreshingly original beats and samples. Now, don't get me wrong. This isn't some earth-shattering, Illmatic/Reasonable Doubt type shit. It's not heavy like that. But it is FUN...and that's an element that's been missing from the game for a minute now. The artist: rapproducer 88-Keys, known for his work with hip hop heavyweights like Mos Def and Kweli ('Thieves in the Night,' 'Love,' 'Speed Law,' and 'Champion Requiem' are all his beats), as well Macy Gray, Consequence, and Musiq. The album: his debut, The Death of Adam. In his own words,

The entire album is about the power of the punani, if you will. The album follows the story line of my man Adam who passed away and basically how he died. It all started off with him catching a boner one morning, morning wood, and his life starts to spin out of control from there.

Simple, right? I mean, we all generally agree that sex is one of those driving forces that makes the world go 'round, and that it is inextricably intertwined in 92.6% of all decisions that we make... in one way or another. So, why not take that concept and make an album out of it? 88' continues:

I thought, “What gives me pleasure?” So I thought, Polo clothes, blue label of course, give me pleasure, when I’m out coppin’. Making beats bring me pleasure. Money. I’m like, “Boom! I know what gives me pleasure! Pussy!” So as soon as that thought came into my head, I’m like, “Okay. I’m scrapping all the other beats I had made for my album so far, and I’m starting with this one. This is the first beat for my album.” And I just stayed on it.

Did he ever. 14 hittin' tracks, with running commentary that just weaves this whole story together. It definitely has those, "damn, I know that feeling!" moments that you just can't help but laugh at. It's the type of album that truly can carry the "hip hop is supposed to be fun, so let's have fun with it" moniker... and it carries that MUCH better than, say, a Souljah Boy Tell 'Em cut. There's a sharp distinction between "fun" and "pure coontastic ignorance," but I digress.

How fun can this be? Peep the viral videos that have leaked explaining the back story of our beloved protagonist, Adam:

DCN 27 News Piece #1

DCN 27 News Piece #2

DCN 27 News Piece #3

Seriously!? I'm loving this. In any event, The Death of Adam officially drops on 11/11/08. Support 88' in his latest venture. Though, I'm sure that through some creative searching (or by clicking..oh, I don't know, HERE) you just might stumble across a copy prior to its street date. The Internet is some sick, slick stuff. Anyway, guests include Phonte of Little Brother, Kid Cudi, Redman, Shitake Monkey, Bilal, and Mr. Kanye West - who also serves as executive producer (don't worry, there's none of that T-Pain/"Love Lockdown" shit on here). Need I say more?

Welcome to Oz...

Oh the Detroit news media is LOVING this ...

I can't wait 'til there's nothing left to report about mayors, ex-mayors, aides, or any other politicians/politricks.

Hope Kwame doesn't turn out like this though.
Life behind the walls.

As the world turns...

Updates on the mayoral race in Detroit:

• Political consultant Adolph Mongo this morning filed a request with the City Clerk's Office to remove Mayor Kenneth V. Cockrel Jr.'s name from the ballot for the February special mayoral election, claiming that Cockrel lied when he signed an affidavit that he was in compliance with election rules. Cockrel, it has been found, owes $42,000 in fines to the city in campaign finance fees.
• Pages upon pages of illicit text messages between ex-mayor Kwame Malik Kilpatrick and Christine "Freaky Chris" Beatty were released by a Michigan court yesterday. From "text sex" to coverups, the texts - only a fraction of the many that exist on city-issued SkyTel two-way pagers - also shed light on other underhanded dealings involving the mayor and ... others.
  

The plot thickens...

Fracture...

Peace, Kwame: Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

18 candidates. One defamed position.

Yesterday marked the deadline for throwing your hat into the political ring to claim the position of Mayor of Detroit. 18 competitors - some new, some old, some well-known, some obscure, some just because - filed their petitions with the City Clerk's office before the deadline yesterday afternoon. In a city that was on the rise, now devastated by scandal and bad horrendous national press, division has become the calling card of the day. February 24, 2009, Detroiters [those willing to show up to the polls] will be deciding which of these candidates should move forward into the general election to come.

18 men and women running on the 'ABK' (Anybody But Kwame) platform vying for the love of a city that is fed up with being lied to, pimped, set up, bitch-slapped, and trampled on. Some candidates will run on the theory that they should have been elected five years ago (Freeman Hendrix, Rev. Nick Hood III), some on significant change platforms (interim Mayor Ken Cockrell, Jr.), some on the belief that the ENTIRE last regime wasn't all that bad (former general counsel to Mayor Kilpatrick Sharon McPhail), some on name recongnition (former Detroit Piston Dave Bing, one-term state Rep. Coleman A. Young II), some who want to prove that they weren't just out to get Kwame.. but want his job instead (Angelo Brown, Duane Montgomery), and some just because (like Stanley Christmas, Brenda Sanders, Jerroll Sanders, and D. Etta Wilcoxon, among others).

Fracture.

My city is divided. Residents are tired. And now they're faced with 18 new and "new" faces to choose from, all of whom promise that their tenure will erase the terrible stain of the last twelve months. The question is who will actually have something to say, who will actually have a plan to DO something rather than just argue "I'm better than the last guy." Now a city that can barely rally behind its interim mayor or its disunified city council; a city that is sick and tired of its own government and is feeling the pain of decades of mismanagement; a city that was becoming proud but just had the air sucker-punched out of it must choose from a field of 18 'ABK' candidates who is best fit to run our city.

Who will come with the realness? Who will actually have a platform, actually have ideas, actually make decisions without the use of a political machine in the backgroun? Who knows the city, the issues? Who can actually BUILD upon the momentum of the Kilpatrick administration [pre-mess] and rebuild the city's image? What happens in year three, when Kwame is all but a distant nightmarish memory and the city is still "on the come up?"

The city needs coalition ... it needs cooperation. No more back-biting and deception. And the first step toward that is not having an 18-player primary. [My sincere hope is that some of these names drop out by the Friday deadline to do so. Giving people so many choices on the February ballot leads me to believe that there will be very few clear frontrunners ... at least given my sense of the city's political pulse and frustration.]

But politics are a funny game. And somehow, election season always works itself out. Though the field seems crowded, I'm not in the city right now to see how people are reacting; I'm just an interested observer from afar. I can only hope that my battered, beaten, bruised city can recover and pull itself from the toxic cloud it's been entrenched in since ... well ... for quite some time.

Eighteen? Show me the one.