Jasmine Mans "Nicki Minaj"

Jasmin Mans spoken word on Nicki Minaj entitled "Nicki Minaj" One. I absolutely love this poem! This woman is asking for more out of Nicki being a black female MC. I can respect that. In fact we were studying this same sort of aesthetic recently in the form of black art in my class. Although I think people put to much expectation on one female to represent woman as a whole. That is just impossible. Nicki is no Queen Latifa, nor Lauryn Hill nor would we appreciate her if she was a copy of such.

Check out the lyrics to Jasmin Mans poem below:

You are being traded paper in exchange for you to be plastic

All Dolls will eventually mal-function

(I don’t even know why you girls bother at this point like give it up, it ‘s me I win you lose)

Nicki MInaj,

(It’s me)

I must admit

(Its, its me)

I have always been intrigued by your ass,

I guess that’s what the world looked like after falling from your shoulders.

(Like give it up)

You have the heartbeat of a suicide bomber

A baseline breathing out of your pulse

Your thighs play storage for the weight of the world

I dreamt that you used to back pack, the lost raps, of Female MCs who could not find their way out the cipher

(Its just like I single handedly annihilated like every rape bitch in the building)

Traded in your crown for unsharpened pencils and blank CDs

(Like give it up)

Do you ever feel a cord gripping on your neck, choke, spit?

Don’t let this industry f*ck the Assata out of you

(Harijuku-Barbie)

Can and will never be code for queen

You are a Queen no matter how many times they try to shuffle you back in tape decks.

Bi Sex, straight, you’ve earned my respect

(You da Bestest)

But I know your spine binds and crooked lines

And you can’t seem to write a rhyme for your broken daughters

Slaughter, bent over back, ass cracked, bitch slapped, in videos

There is nothing pedal bike pretty about broken

Do you know what this media is trying to do to you?

They will porcelain

(Barbie)

Doll the shit out of you

Leave you noose necked hanging from Zion they will Lauryn Hill you

The mis-education of a Barbie doll coming soon

(I just had an epiphany)

Barbie, I think NYC is making you forget you come from Queens

Its scary when you have wack MCs trying to ghost write your obituary

(You should buy a 16 cuz I write it good)

Your existence is not recyclable to me

(Barbie)

Stop spitting me toy stories

Of Woodys and Buzzlight Years who only come alive when no body is watching

Fake breast

Once upon a time before puberty and tissue filled training bras all little girls wanted a toy chest

What do you treasure? *

You have turned your G-spot into a land-mind

Dirty, disgusting

We have been waiting centuries for a woman like you to carve your stiletto in history

This microphone is not a dildo so you are going to have to cum a little harder than that,

(I, win, I win, you lose)

Come a little harder for rap

Too many women before you have laid down tracks — UNIT…Y?

So you wouldn’t have to record your on your back

Spit some shit it for girls who kiss girls and got beat down to their backs

We will remember you for that

Lips sync your screams and remember your inflections and copyright your raps

MC

(Barbie)

For young money anyone can buy themselves their own ( I’m Nick Minaj, Nicki Lewinski, Nicki Barbie, the boss)

Crown, Vagina, Womanhood, and Talent,

All Sold separately

(Barbie)

You are being stabbed in the back

Inserted with a wind up string and a tag?

(R, R, R, Roger that)

Yo Te Amabas

Listen to the Spanish guitar
As it plays
The un-resounding, unrelenting
Sufferings of my heart
Hear the chords of a song
Filled with pain
Of a dying love
Watch the blood pour
And let it stain the pavements
And watch me walk away
As it dries
Past this hurt
This pain
Strum someone else’s strings
I'm out of tune
All I have left are
Songs of sorrow
And blues
Balido...
Y nunca volverá

Die Nigga, Die

Death to the stereotypes
That spread false propaganda
Die Nigga, Die
Death for the neglecting
Fathers
For procreating bastards
From their abandoned seeds
Break this broken family structure
And let us get back to basics
Die Nigga, Die
Death to the projects
Built with the intent that nothing goes in
Nothing goes out
Hoping that my people will
Step out of the constricting hindering box that is all that they know
Die Nigga, Die
Death to this walking crutch
Called welfare
We must all wean ourselves from our mother’s breast at some point
Die Nigga, Die
Death to us playing the victim
Slavery ended years ago
And here we are centuries later
And still placing blame on slavery
When we have a black president in the white house
Let us be proud of our race
Although we were promised 40 acres and a mule
Let us not dwell on what we could have had
We have come from dirt
And prospered enough to say
That we don't constitute the majority percentage of what makes up poverty in this country
We are not victims
We are descendants of African warriors
Let's us clasp our spears
And hold them up high
Die Nigga, Die
Death to self-doubt
We must all aspire to do better so that we can be better
Die Nigga, Die
Death to abortion
So that we can celebrate new life
Die Nigga, Die
Death to us black men who attempt to break down a black woman
They have carried our families in their womb
And did our labor in our absence
Let the black woman in all of her scorn not beat down the black man
Alienating him from his home, his children
Learn to kill off vindictiveness
The most important thing is the child
If you can work it out, great
If not then accept that you had your time, you put in the effort
It did not work
And move on
Die Nigga, Die
Death goes out to ignorance
So that my people can value the significance of receiving higher education and appreciate the many opportunities we are granted if we seek higher learning
Die Nigga, Die
Death to procrastination
We must realize this is our only oppression
Die Nigga, Die
Death to Bill O' Reilly
So that those who breed racism and hatred can no longer exist
Die Nigga, Die
Death to insecurities within the black community
Let us love and celebrate our voluptuous shapes and varied sizes
Let us embrace our color spectrum of complexions and know that we are all united
Let us love our hair. Know that black hair is beautiful
Die Nigga, Die
Death to the bullying and prejudices
Accept all walks of life and use this as an opportunity to learn
People fear what they do not know,
And how do we learn to understand
What we don't know?
We educate ourselves and kill ignorance
So die nigga, die
Death to gangs, violence and law breaking
Gangs are senseless attempts to feel acceptance, when the person who really needs to accept you is you
Learn how to effectively communicate
And eliminate your fists from your vocabulary. Talk it out.
The Jail system currently has enough black men housed
Let's do something different and break these patterns.
Die Nigga, Die
Death to the promiscuity in our community
Let us evaluate the real issue of giving ourselves out so freely
Inadequacy and insecurities
Death to turning on one another
Since slavery we have been each other’s enemy
Let us help one another out
Extend a helping hand
And offer a shoulder to lean on
Die Nigga, Die
Death to drugs and drug dealers
Let us enlighten ourselves
On why drugs really plague and pose an epidemic in our communities
Drugs were injected into our communities to kill ourselves off
Much like the natives of Africa
Who were fed armory to go at war with one another
Tell me what black man was traveling to Columbia and South Korea to get these drugs
To sell to our own people?
The government implemented drugs into our communities in hopes to kill off our race. We acted on the roles of puppet and master. Guess which role we played.
Death to STD's and AIDS
Death to the nigga,
So that our ancestors who were killed for such words haven't died in vein
Die Nigga, Die

Some Days

Some days I think
You don't even notice me
Don't notice the breeze
The leaf blowing across the street.

Some days I think
You don't notice my smile
But how could you
when the last time I saw you has been a while?

Some days you don't see the tears
welling in my eyes
So why would I expect you to know
that I have cried?
And some days it feels like
I am crying underwater,
but whats the use of tears
if they never fall?

Then there are days
when I see the light
you hold me and make sure
everything is alright
and there are days
where you wipe my face
you look in my eyes
and I wonder why
I even cried.

Janelle Monae- The Archandroid

Janelle Monae is Amazing. I actually have her album, "The Archandroid," on repeat at the moment. I can't help but think of Lauryn Hill as I am listening to her. Don't get me wrong though. Ms. Monae is no copycat. She has a style and rhythm all of her own, a far departure from Ms. Hills work, but there are some noticeable similarities in their voices. Here I wanted to share her new video "Cold War" which I was blown away by. Enjoy~!

Why Is Kanye West Racist?

KanYe took to UStream earlier this evening to answer questions and discuss past and present work, his inspiration for his 90 second clip for his first single "POWER" and a slew of other topics. One person asked him why he was racist. Here is what Ye had to say:

“I don’t know a rapper before me that liked white people more than me. I don’t know a rapper that wore tighter jeans. I don’t know a rapper that collaborated with more white people. I know what it is that I did that made people put it in a box like that but it never came from a place of racism. I’m not going to dial into that but I would just like to say in no way am I a racist. Sometimes it frustrates me when people call me names and try to down me like I’m not a real human being. A Lot of times when I talk extremely cocky, I’m not talking about myself, I’m talking about the work. I think people should be proud of their work or they should never put it out. All I can do is take time and be a better person….. It’s no more time to be a rude asshole, celebrity or none of that. It’s about the art. I’m not allowing my attitude to get in the way of my creation anymore. I had to change my attitude completely and now my statement is only of amazing work."

Kanye said something in this piece that truly spoke to me. "I think people should be proud of their work or they should never put it out." With all of the flack he gets about being egotistical and always bragging about his work, he is so right. So what if he brags a little more than any other artist and so what if he's not modest. The man's work is genius. This quote also inspired me to be a little more confident in my own writing. If you don't believe in yourself who will?

Check out his new new video "POWER" below:

Religion

There is neither heaven nor hell-
Well...
I believe heaven and hell
Is right here
Right on this earth
And I truly believe that I knew this
Since birth
With this waging war between good and evil
And this split
Between malevolent and benevolent people
And everything in between that's going on
We all know the difference
Between our rights and wrongs

I believe in a god.
He is in me and you
I believe he is in everything beautiful
Anything true
And absolute.
And Lucifer
I believe in him too
He breeds darkness and hatred
In empty souls
That can take it.
Bill O' Reilly he's the devil
Even though you might see him
Trying to fake it.
And that bad ass kid in the subway
Trying to kill that pigeon
Well he has the devil in him too.
And it so happens Lucifer owns
Fox 5 news

I don't know if I necessarily believe
In reincarnation.
That I once was a
Caterpillar or a butterfly
Undergoing a Transformation
Or if in my past life
I was a man
Who was married
And had a wife

And so what if the Jews lied
Of how many people who have died
Oppression is oppression
We all have seen each other cry

And I'm sorry I just can't believe
The bogus folklore of Christianity
That was a religion given to the black community
All throughout slavery
Taught to us by the "merciful" missionaries.
Which taught us to pray for our pie in the sky
While the white man reaps his heaven on earth
That the bible is a be all, say all,
Chauvinistic, homophobic,
Literary work.
Filled with fables and fairytales
That goes against what's taught in scientology
And no I'm no Tom Cruise
But the bible sure does remind me of Greek mythology.

And no I don't think that the practice of Islam is evil
At the end of the day I think religion is beautiful and pure
What fucks it up is the people.