Blue Lines Blog – Editorial – Gun Culture

Tags

Atlanta, Biggie Smalls, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, California, Editorial, Florida, Gun, Gun Culture, Gun Violence, Kanye, Kanye West, Key Yemaya Walker, Keypsiia, Keypsiia Walker, Keypsiia Yemaya Walker, Murder, New York, North Carolina, Notorious B.I.G, Opinion, Orlando, Pulse, Pulse night Club, Sacramento, The Notorious B.I.G., UNC Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Victory 2004, Webster Hall, writing

During pre-work cardio this morning “Victory 2004” entered my playlist, and to hear the lyrics “shootouts for 20 minutes, until we finish,” came on it though it resonated with the events of the weekend, and further thoughts that the author of those lyrics, Christopher Wallace, was a victim of gun violence.

In the aftermath of the violence in Orlando, there is a collective question of “why,” however we live in a country highlighted by the Aurora massacre, and the tragedy in Sandy Hook. The American public is desensitized to the violence that abounds, and this event will be washed over as the others were, especially to those that it does not touch. The NRA will feel again that this is an affront on their constitutional rights, and there will be some new angle to explain away what happened in the early hours of the morning in Orlando, Florida. We will even receive excuses on why we (U.S. Citizens) should be in possession of AR-15s or any assault rifle.

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Hip-Hop Quotable Wednesdays – 9/11 – Jay-Z feat Alicia Keys – “Empire State of Mind”

Tags

2009, 5× Platinum, 9/11, Actress, Al Shux, Alexander Shuckburgh, Alicia Augello Cook, Alicia Keys, Angela Hunte, Arista, Atlantic, Biggie, Biggie Smalls, Billboard, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Nets, Burt Keyes, Columbia, Def Jam, Empire State Of Mind, entrepreneur, Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop Quotable, Hip-Hop Quotable Wednesdays, Instagram, iPhone, iPhone 5, iPhone Post, J, Jane't "Jnay" Sewell-Ulepic, Jeff Bhasker, Jermone Harmon, Kanye West, Key Yemaya Walker, keyboards, Lexus, Mary J. Blige, McDonalds, music, musician, New York, New York City, New York Knicks, No I.D., Notorious B.I.G, Oven Studios, pianist, piano, Platinum, pop, R&B, Rapper, RCA, record producer, Robert Deniro, Roc Nation, Roc the Mic Studios, Roc-A-Fella, Shawn Carter, Shawn Corey Carter, Singer-songwriter, Soul, Spike Lee, Swizz Beatz, Sylvia Robinson, The Blueprint 3, The Inkredibles, The Neptunes, The Notorious B.I.G., Timbaland, Tribeca, Ty-Ty, U.S., United States, Vocals, World Trade Center, WTC

Yeah

[Verse 1: Jay-Z]
Yeah I’m out that Brooklyn, now I’m down in TriBeCa
Right next to Deniro, but I’ll be hood forever
I’m the new Sinatra, and since I made it here
I can make it anywhere, yeah, they love me everywhere
I used to cop in Harlem, all of my Dominicano’s
Right there up on Broadway, pull me back to that McDonald’s
Took it to my stashbox, 560 State St.
Catch me in the kitchen like a Simmons with them Pastry’s
Cruisin’ down 8th St., off white Lexus
Drivin’ so slow, but BK is from Texas
Me, I’m out that Bed-Stuy, home of that boy Biggie
Now I live on Billboard and I brought my boys with me
Say what’s up to Ty-Ty, still sippin’ mai tai’s
Sittin’ courtside, Knicks & Nets give me high five
Nigga I be Spike’d out, I could trip a referee
Tell by my attitude that I’m most definitely from….

Blue Lines Blog – Questions for the Author of Blue Lines Part III (Finale)

Tags

Atlanta, Author, Azul Lewis, Beauty (Remix), Black, Blue, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, California, Capitol, Chapel Hill, Chris Carter, college, Common, Common Sense, Creative Writing, De La Soul, Dru Hill, East Coast, Education, Eric Serra, Final Goodbye, Fox Mulder, Fred Durst, Freeworld Records, Gate E, Georgia Dome, Georgia Tech, Gerald Milson, Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop Music, iPad, iPad Post, Job, Joi, Kaleidoscope, Kelis, Key Yemaya Walker, Keypsiia, Keypsiia Yemaya Walker, Limp Bizkit, Love, Lysette, Lysette Titi, manuscript, Memoirs Of A Geisha, Missing You, Monica, Moscone Center, music, Naima, Nas, New York, North Carolina, Notorious B.I.G, Outside, Pearl Jam, Protagonist, Questions, Renee Turner, Sacramento, San Francisco, Sister Souljah, Staind, Starbucks, The Fifth Element, The Pendulum Vibe, The Professional, The The Eyes of A Man Born to Life, The X-Files, UNC Chapel Hill, University, University of North Carolina at Chapel

In recent readings, I read Sister Souljah’s The Coldest Winter Ever, and chose to answer the questions she offerered at the close of her novel. Over the coming weeks, I will offer my answers to her questions (some tailored to address my manuscript) in respect to work, Blue Lines. These questions were answered some time ago, earlier this year. I am providing them in that form.

1. Why did you choose to focus on your book subject?
2. Is Blue Lines a true story?
3. How did you write the story so authentically?
4. Did you, and if so, why did you decide to include yourself as a character?
5. Where we’re you when you first started writing Blue Lines?
6. Which character did you create first?
7. How did you write the manuscript, what method?
8. Why aren’t all of your characters Black?
9. What were you trying to achieve with the novel Blue Lines?
10. Will there be a sequel novel?

8. Why aren’t all of your characters Black?

Blue Lines Blog – Questions for the Author of Blue Lines Part II

Tags

Aaron Lewis, Arthur Golden, Atlanta, Author, Azul Lewis, Beauty (Remix), Black, Blue, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, California, Capitol, Chapel Hill, Chris Carter, college, Common, Common Sense, Creative Writing, De La Soul, Dru Hill, East Coast, Education, Eric Serra, Fox Mulder, Fred Durst, Freeworld Records, Gate E, Georgia Dome, Georgia Tech, Gerald Milson, Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop Music, In A Sentimental Mood, iPad, iPad Post, Jay-Z, Job, John Coltrane, Joi, Joi Gilliam, Kaleidoscope, Kelis, Key Yemaya Walker, Keypsiia, Keypsiia Yemaya Walker, Limp Bizkit, Love, Lysette, Lysette Titi, manuscript, Memoirs Of A Geisha, Missing You, Monica, Moscone Center, music, Naima, Nas, New York, North Carolina, Notorious B.I.G, Outside, Pearl Jam, Protagonist, Questions, Renee Turner, Sacramento, San Francisco, Sister Souljah, Staind, Starbucks, The Fifth Element, The Pendulum Vibe, The Professional, The X-Files, UNC Chapel Hill, University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Wu-Tang Clan, X-Files, Young Sad & Blue

In recent readings, I read Sister Souljah’s The Coldest Winter Ever, and chose to answer the questions she offerered at the close of her novel. Over the coming weeks, I will offer my answers to her questions (some tailored to address my manuscript) in respect to work, Blue Lines. These questions were answered some time ago, earlier this year. I am providing them in that form.

1. Why did you choose to focus on your book subject?
2. Is Blue Lines a true story?
3. How did you write the story so authentically?
4. Did you, and if so, why did you decide to include yourself as a character?
5. Where we’re you when you first started writing Blue Lines?
6. Which character did you create first?
7. How did you write the manuscript, what method?
8. Why aren’t all of your characters Black?
9. What were you trying to achieve with the novel Blue Lines?
10. Will there be a sequel novel?

6. Which character did you create first?

Blue Lines Blog – Questions for the Author of Blue Lines Part I

Tags

A Tribe Called Quest, Arthur Golden, Atlanta, Author, Azul Lewis, Blue, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, California, Capitol, Chapel Hill, college, Common, Common Sense, Creative Writing, De La Soul, East Coast, Education, Gate E, Georgia Dome, Georgia Tech, Gerald Milson, Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop Music, iPad, iPad Post, Jay-Z, Job, Key Yemaya Walker, Keypsiia, Keypsiia Yemaya Walker, Love, manuscript, Memoirs Of A Geisha, music, Nas, New York, Notorious B.I.G, Protagonist, Questions, Renee Turner, Sacramento, San Francisco, Sister Souljah, Starbucks, UNC Chapel Hill, University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Wu-Tang Clan

In recent readings, I read Sister Souljah’s The Coldest Winter Ever, and chose to answer the questions she offerered at the close of her novel. Over the coming weeks, I will offer my answers to her questions (some tailored to address my manuscript) in respect to work, Blue Lines. These questions were answered some time ago, earlier this year. I am providing them in that form.

1. Why did you choose to focus on your book subject?
2. Is Blue Lines a true story?
3. How did you write the story so authentically?
4. Did you, and if so, why did you decide to include yourself as a character?
5. Where we’re you when you first started writing Blue Lines?
6. Which character did you create first?
7. How did you write the manuscript, what method?
8. Why aren’t all of your characters Black?
9. What were you trying to achieve with the novel Blue Lines?
10. Will there be a sequel novel?

1. Why did you choose to focus on your book subject?

Around 1995-96 I had wanted to write a work that centered on Hip-Hop music, a love for Hip-Hop and wanted to build that as the backdrop with a love story between a young aspiring artist and the woman he sought and loved, using them as the metaphor of the larger underlying story. With the time periods music ranging from the current Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, Nas and Common, and echoing back to the Golden Age of A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, and post artists like Wu-Tang Clan, I wanted to you h the 90’s elements in relation to the story’s timeframe. Over the next few years, I developed only five pages of sparse content with space to fill in a story. Honestly, I did not “feel” or have a connection that compelled me to write. Though I wanted to write a book and loved Hip-Hop culture. I wanted to create a valid and quality narrative that would speak to readers beyond a specific genre and target audience. I wanted a well written project that conveyed a universal story.

Hip-Hop Quotable Wednesdays – The NOTORIOUS B.I.G. – “I Got A Story To Tell”

Tags

112, 1997, Al Green, Bad Boy, Bad Boy Records, Big Poppa, Biggie Smalls, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Era, Brooklyn, Buck Wild, Buckwild, Carlos "6 July" Broady, Chucky Thompson, Clark Kent, Club, Daron Jones, Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie, DJ Enuff, DJ Premier, Easy Mo Bee, Frank White, Havoc, Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop Quotable, Hip-Hop Quotable Wednesdays, I Got A Story To Tell, I'm Glad You're Mine, Jiv Poss, Kay Gee, Key Yemaya Walker, Knicks, Life After Death, music, Nashiem Myrick, New York, New York Knicks, Notorious B.I.G, Paragon, Robbery, Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence, RZA, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Sean Combs, sex, Stevie J, The Notorious B.I.G., U.S., Vashtie Kola

The Late Great NOTORIOUS, from the 1997 album Life After Death.
Photo of Vashtie in New York Knicks Spiziked Jordans by Vashtie Kola.
Lyrics include Mature content.

Who y’all talking to man?
Uhh
Check it out, check it out
This here goes out
to all the n—as that be f–king mad b—hes
in other n—as cribs
thinkin s–t is sweet
N—a creep up on your ass, hahaha
Live n—as respect it, check it

I kick flows for ya, kick down doors for ya
Even left all my motherf–king hoes for ya
N—as think Frankie p—y whipped, n—a picture that
With a Kodak, Insta-ma-tak
We don’t get down like that, lay my game down quite flat
Sweetness,
Where you parked at?
Petiteness,
But that ass fat
She got a body make a n—a wanna eat that, I’m f—kin’ with you
The b—h official though, d–k harder than a missile yo
Try to hit if she trippin disappearing like Arsenio
Yo, the b—h push a double-oh
with the five in front, probably a conniving stunt
Y’all drive in front, I’m a peel with her
Find a deal with her, she f–k around and steal, huh?
Then we all get laced

Hip-Hop Quotable Wednesdays Craig Mack et al – “Flava In Ya Ear (Remix)”

Tags

1994, Bad Boy, Busta Rhymes, classic, Craig Mack, Flava In Ya Ear (Remix), LL Cool J, Notorious B.I.G, Puff Daddy, Rampage The Last Boyscout

[Baaaaaaaad Boooooooy]
[Come out and plaaaaaaaaaaaay]
[You know we had to do a remix right?]

THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G’S Verse