Just Say No to Meat: When Beef Goes Bad Part 1-Shaq vs Kobe

Do you remember the days when beefs were as exciting as the first 10 seconds of a Mike Tyson fight? You know, beefs like Jay-Z vs. Nas, Ice Cube vs. N.W.A., Oprah vs. Hip-Hop, and Michael Jackson vs. Little Boys (OK, that was pretty low-we all luv Mike, but R.Kelly-not so much). But the point is that we kind of looked forward to see who would come out on top with the best line, rebuttal, or law suite. But beef has taken a scary turn of late. Someone recently made the foolish decision of allowing Shaq to pick up a mic again (Didn’t the album Shaq Fu: Da Return teach us anything about allowing a 7-foot NBA center to rap?). Well, in a disgustingly awful freestyle, Shaq called out Kobe by saying “Last week, Kobe couldn’t do without me,” and “Kobe ratted me out. That’s why I’m getting divorced (referring to Kobe snitching on Shaq after being questioned by police a few years back).” Now this entire ordeal makes for great comedy because it continues to take on an idiotic life of its own. Apparently Shaq has been stripped of his special deputy badge by Sheriff Joe Arpaio who didn’t like the fact that Shaq said, “That’s like a white boy tryin to be more nigga than me.” So Shaq’s wack azz rap has fueled an already wack azz beef and caused him to lose his wack azz Sheriff badges. I mean for real, did Shaq really think he was going to be the next coming of T.J. Hooker because he already knows that he could never be as good as Young MC? Instead of busting freestyles about a beef that should have died when he departed for Miami a few years back, Shaq should be in someone’s gym practicing free throws or finding a way to salvage the last days of his faltering NBA career. And this is not in defense of Kobe (but a response on wax would make this even more hilarious), this is in defense of beef. I’m all for legitimate battles that are historically significant and seriously intriguing. Shaq vs. Kobe causes me to chuckle at a millionaire who apparently needs an off-season hobby.

Is Cheating Natural?

Prelude-If you’re old enough to remember the TV show "Land of the Lost," there is a good chance that you have cheated on someone, or someone has cheated on you. I wrote this piece a while back after realizing how many people were being affected by cheating. I personally believe that cheating is selfish, but I wanted to take a deeper look at it. Check out my formula and tell me what you think.-a.r.

Finding out that your partner has cheated is probably the worst thing that can happen in a relationship. It can create a tug of emotion that can cause a sane person to turn into a schizoid in a matter of seconds. The pain can essentially lead to reckless reactions and cause a person to feel hate towards the opposite sex. But before you judge the unforgivable misdeed of cheating, you might want to understand why it really occurs.
First of all, you need to understand the history of monogamy and why it has become the ideal in relationships. Monogamy is basically an Anglo-Saxon concept that originated over 10,000 years ago. But while the concept seems to favor women, it was actually used to sedate a woman’s desire to have relationships with more than one man. Women were sometimes coerced, via the chastity belt, to remain sexually committed to one man. This insured her husband that he was the father of any child that she would bare. On the other hand, monogamy did not confirm the sexual fidelity of a man. It did secure the emotional investment of a father to his offspring, however.
The innate reasons why humans cheat may boil down to the spreading and gathering of genes. According to new findings from evolutionary psychologists, cheating is almost as natural as breathing. Men posses an almost unlimited potential rate to reproduce. So those who cheat may unconsciously do so to insure that their genes are spread to future offspring. Women, however, can only reproduce once a year. As a result, a woman’s reason for cheating may differ. A woman may unconsciously cheat to ensure that her offspring carries the genes of a prototypical male. Curiosities, lack of satisfaction, and revenge are other underlying factors that may play a part in infidelity.
Although there is a natural urge for humans to seek affection outside of their relationships, social standards may cause individuals to think twice or feel regret when they cheat. Also, with the potential spread of disease, the issue of health may play
a role in a person’s decision to remain fateful. We all have the ability to restrain from lustful desires. This allows us to make moral decisions that can be beneficial to our future, and the future of individuals who we choose to be involved with. However, our ability to think rational does not always translate into rational decisions. Therefore, our desires to have more than one mate are, at the core, naturally human.

Nas and the Nigger Experience

In a time when a lot of rap has been reduced to money throwing, teeny bop dances,p-popping, and d-boy recitals, Nas stirs the tiresome hip-hop pot by dedicating an entire album to the most controversial epithet in the English language. On the recently released eight minute video “Be a Nigga Too,” Nas attempts to show wide spread discrimination by giving every ethnic group the bitter privilege of being “niggas.” The video and song is reminiscent of the montage in Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing where different racial groups stare into the camera and hurl insults at each other. It’s a very artsy video, but you will not see the uncut version on MTV or BET. Nas goes opposite of the safe route to challenge himself and the racial climate in America.

Lil' Wayne: Does Weezy Strike Out or is Tha Carter III times Dope?

Arguably the most influential artist in hip-hop has finally given his nasally voice to an official album that is actually his. Dewayne “Lilweezyiana” Carter has taken a timeout from appearing on every remix and hook in order to drop Tha Carter III. This album will go down as one of the most anticipated albums in hip-hop history. As far as hype is concerned, CIII is in the same league as Snoop’s Doggy Style, Pac’s All Eyez On Me, 50’s Get Rich or Die Tryin, Kast’s SpeakerBoxxx/Love Below, Jay’s Black Album, and Ye’s Graduation. And he deserves it. In this decade, no rapper has worked harder than Jr. to prove that he can rhyme a few words over beat. Must of us wrote the kid off during the time when his fellow label mates were jumping ship as if Baby and Slim were planning to set the Cash Money Yacht on fire. After the release of the lackluster 500 Degreez, W.F.’s career seemed to be headed towards the purgatory.
But something happened in the summer of 2002. Bootleggers and online geeks began distributing a series of mixtapes called Squad-Up. The little one joined as an honorary member of the N.O. group Squad Up and suddenly began to rap with more passion. He eventually parted with the group and released the mixtape classics Dedication and Da Drought. During that period, the kid stopped being a rapper and became a student of hip-hop. You could hear the influence of Jay-Z and other east coast rappers in his delivery. By the time The Carter was released, Jr. had totally reinvented himself by positioning himself as a legit lyricist. He eventually developed a 2 Pacesque addiction to the studio by recording hundreds of freestyles that had fans itching for the next fix.
There was a downside to his surge, however. Wayne became so prevalent on the radio, mixtapes, and features that a few fans became irritated by the over saturation. This leads me to Tha Carter III. I wondered if the kid had enough in him to deliver a great album after so much hype. The album starts strong with the cuts “Mr. Carter,” “A Milli,” and “Dr. Carter.” My only gripe with Tha Carter III is Jr.’s unwillingness or inability to remain on subject. He often rambles and gets lost in his own desire to shock listeners with a memorable line.
On “3-Peat,” W.F. spits, “I'm on it, ooh I'm on it. I'm so on it and however you want it. You can get it tonight ho, And all night ho I get the beat from (Mistro). A fuckin right ho. I might crazy go on these niggas I dont give a mothafuck, Run up in a nigga house and shoot his grandmother up, what! What I don’t give a motherfuck get cha baby kidnapped And ya baby mother fuck.” His wordplay was clever, but what is he saying? What can we really take from that line? This sort of lyrical rambling happens often on CIII, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s a SOLID, but not GREAT, album. Sure, he speaks on Hurricane Katrina [“Tie My Hands”], and a personal battle against himself [“Shoot Me Down”], but more must be offered. To claim legit greatness (i.e. Nas’s Illmatic, Jay’s Reasonable Doubt and Black Album, Tupac’s Me Against the World, or Biggie’s Ready to Die) the kid from the bayou must use his wittiness to focus more and create an album that tells us something that we haven’t already heard.

I Think I’m in Love With Fornication…….That’s “Californication”

Anyone who really knows me understands how thoroughly unimpressed I am with television programming. The only time that I will voluntarily watch TV is to catch an NBA game, “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” or CNN’s “Election Center” (Obama lapping Clinton to become the Democratic presidential nominee was the real Amazing Race). But since “Chappell’s Show” ended prematurely in 2006, and “The Wire” took its final bow in March (big props to Season 4, one of the best seasons in television history), TV watching has turned into an unpleasant task. I’ve attempted to latch on to the “hit” shows such “24,” “Ugly Betty” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “24,” “CSI:Miami,” and the never-ending “Lost,” but I immediately lost interest because most of the storylines seemed contrived, superficial, predictable, and just plain cheesy.
Well a few weeks ago, while flipping through the channels I stumbled upon a TV show that centers on a self-admiring/highly obnoxious author who drowns himself in women and booze in order to numb himself to the pain of seeing his ex-girlfriend marry a presumable dork. While the premise of the show is far from groundbreaking, I like the fact that it’s a tragic comedy that shuns perfection at a pace that seems very true to life. I’m currently playing catch up on Season 1 (On Demand is a beast!), and anticipating the start of season 2 this summer. Am I missing out on something or is “Californication” really the best show on TV?

Witness to a Barack Star

I figure that I should start The Formula with one of the most important events in American history. On June 3rd, I was assigned to cover the Barack Obama rally in St. Paul, Minn. This was my first visit to St. Paul and I can’t say that I was excited about the city itself. No offense to the citizens of St. Paul, but I kept thinking to myself that ‘it seemed like a good place to get some great sleep.’
I arrived in St. Paul around 11:00 a.m. and I was greeted by drizzling rain and a temperature of about 50 degrees. I’m from Atlanta and June is usually accompanied by sticky 90 degree weather and girls that wear…, well I won’t go there on this entry. But the folks of St. Paul were undeterred by the overcast and constant rain. I got to the Xcel Energy Center shortly after noon and expected to only see other media outlets setting up for the rally which started at 7 p.m. To my surprise, there was close to 300 people waiting in line so that they would be assured a seat in the arena which could hold up to 18,000 people. I spoke with several of the individuals in line and discovered that a few of them had been waiting outside as early as 7:30 a.m.
The atmosphere became more intense around 8 p.m. The Xcel Energy Center was near capacity and 15,000 more people were outside in the cold waiting to listen to Obama’s speech. When Sen. Obama finally announced that he would be the Democratic presidential nominee, the crowd was in a complete frenzy. The atmosphere reminded me of one of those Michael Jackson concerts in the ‘80s, or a dynamic Super Bowl like the New York Giants upset of the New England Patriots. It was a surreal moment in which Barack Obama became the first black presidential nominee and one of the first political figures in my time [‘80s baby] to hold down a rally like a concert. Barack On!