download: nasty nas (1991) [the official nas demo tape]

We all know that Illmatic was a classic hip hop album, so check out the music that got Nas' foot in the door allowing him the opportunity to make it. Shouts to ?uestlove for the heads up and getrightmusic.com for the drop. Rare and dope music ftw!

Previews:

Nas "Understanding"

Nas "Deja Vu"

Nas "On The Real" (demo version)

Download here

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slaughterhouse bursts onto the scene...preview it here!

Many followers on the Internet have been hip to the Slaughterhouse fam for a while after they formed the super group late last year. For those who don't know, the group consists of Crooked I, Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz, and Royce Da 5'9". If you are into lyrical,head-noddin' hip hop, this is for you! Their full length album will be released on August, 11, 2009 on E1 Music/Koch Records. The first single is the rock n'roll inspired , "The One" and here's the Rik Cordero directed video:



Here's a taste from the upcoming album, availabe for pre-order now!


Slaughterhouse "Not Tonight" produced by STREETRUNNERS

Slaughterhouse featuring Novel "Rain Drops" produced by Filthy Rockwell

Again, people...hip hop cannot die.

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happy birthday (1981): stevie wonder

Stevie Wonder "Happy Birthday" (1981)
This song needs no comment!
Happy Birthday to miss Ashley!
and..
Happy Birthday to the homie Morgan!


Wish I could be up there!

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sick -jonathan cuhn and community healthcare in cuba-mason, strug, beder

Emanuel Cleaver speaks on public health care

The health care debate has been going strong for a few weeks now. However, two things have been left out of the debate: 1) the disproportionate effect this will have either way on people of color, and 2) the single payer health care option. The book, Sick, by Cohn discusses single payer, and the study Community Health care in Cuba shows the effectiveness of national health care. In the end, if America is exceptional, shouldn't they be leading the world in the administration of health care for all?
(more after the jump)


Sick by Jonathan Cohn
Review by Salley Satel
In “Sick,” Jonathan Cohn, a senior editor at The New Republic, lucidly shows how America’s system for financing medical care helps determine who gets proper medical attention — and who doesn’t. He tells this story through the experiences of ordinary people, like Cynthia Kline, a 55-year-old teacher in Cambridge, Mass., who suffered chest pain one afternoon and knew from prior experience that she was having a heart attack. She phoned 911, and when the paramedics arrived, Kline told them to take her to Mount Auburn Hospital, a nearby facility known for its intensive cardiac care unit. But since the emergency room there was full, the paramedics sped her to another facility, even closer than the first, only to discover, as Kline herself evidently suspected, that she needed an emergency catheterization — a procedure the staff at the second hospital was not able to perform. Two and a half hours after dialing 911, Cynthia Kline was dead.

This true-life story, at once disturbing and illuminating, encapsulates the larger drama of a failing system. “Overcrowding in E.R.’s, according to most experts, is actually a symptom of other systemic problems now plaguing medical care,” Cohn writes, “from the downsizing of less profitable hospital services such as psychiatric wards ... to the swelling ranks of people without health insurance, whose untreated chronic conditions are more likely to become serious medical crises.”


Community Health Care In Cuba
Susan E. Mason, David L. Strug, and Joan Beder
From the book's website
Interest in the Cuban health care model has grown over the years and despite ongoing changes in Cuban society, the pride and satisfaction Cuban citizens take in their health care system suggest that it will likely prevail in post-Castro Cuba. Susan E. Mason, David L. Strug, and Joan Beder have edited this collection of essays by contributors who are respected professionals in Cuba and the United States. Community Health Care in Cuba examines this closely integrated system in which community representatives, nurses, doctors, social workers, and other health care specialists work together to meet the health care needs of all Cuba's citizens. The collection features a first-hand look into the country's highly successful, integrated, and prevention-oriented health care model and includes interviews with the director of Cuba's National Medical Sciences Information Center (INFOMED) and the president of the Cuban Society of Social Workers in Health Care. Placing Cuba at the forefront as a model of international health care, this book illustrates how Cuba, despite its economic constraints, is able to deliver high-quality care to its citizens from a local to national level.

As always, expand your mind!

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allhiphop.com features african artists

Just saw Tolu Olorunda of allhiphop.com's article featuring African artists, K’NAAN, M.anifest, Asa, and Tumi. We recently did an artist spotlight on Asa and yesterday we shared the new song, "Losing My Religion" from M.anifest and Sarah White. Check out the story from AHH here.

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wale on young hollywood

Wale interview on Verge to Emerge. My school makes an appearance. HU! I'm gonna keep the rest of my comments to myself. Shout out to Wale! Attention Deficit in stores soon.

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download: maxwell's BLACKsummer's night instrumentals remix ep by melo-x

After hearing the instrumental remix to one of my favorite cuts off Maxwell's, BLACKsummers'night,"Bad Habits", I had been looking forward to hearing this EP. Thanks to Melo-X for the freebie.
Download it here

Melo-X "Love Me (alarm)"

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titles for teaching: resources for the classroom

With the recent influx of young teachers via programs such as Teach For America, Teaching Fellows, and similar programs, many teachers now have the opportunity to begin to effect our own children albeit in the confines of these programs. While they do present some challenges, it is still the job of good instructors to introduce our children to their history as well. We would hope that this happens within the boundaries of the curriculum, however that is an ongoing struggle (see the Philadelphia model). Despite this, many teachers have found ways to introduce the material through after school programs, tutoring, and other avenues. Two of the more important works in the past century, African Glory by John Coleman Degraft-Johnson (1954), and The Negro by William Edward Burghardt DuBois (1915), are great for teachers looking to expose youth to their history, beginning where it begins of course...the African continent. This is something most traditional textbooks do not accomplish. These short, but complete introductory works encapsulate the history of people of African descent in a manner that is easy for middle and high school students to comprehend.

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African Glory: The Story of Vanished Negro Civilizations
by J.C. Degraft Johnson
Tracing the history of Africans from the earliest civilizations (Egypt, Carthage, etc.) to the modern contact with Europeans, Johnson, born in Ghana, offers students a clear and concise journey through history. Destroying the mythology surrounding the period known as 'pre-colonial' Africa, this work will enlighten interested students of world history. This work is available from Black Classic Press .

The Negro
by W.E.B. DuBois
DuBois also begins the historical narrative in the most ancient of civilizations. From there DuBois discusses the civilizations of Kush, Egypt, Nubia, Zimbabwe, Mali, Songhay, and Ghana. Ending the work, he discusses the "Negro in the United States." A great work for teachers looking show students the link between African-Americans and Africans on the continent and in the West Indies.

While these works are great educational resources for intellectual stimulation in the classroom, they are also of course phenomenal choices for the avid reader. For us, its an essential add to any complete library. I'm not sure whether or not Degraft-Johnson and DuBois ever met but their work is strikingly similar written 39 years apart.

Expand your mind!

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chrisette michele on BET's Rising Icons

In case you missed it (I did because I rarely watch BET), here is Chrisette Michele's live performance on the show Rising Icons. In her rendition of "Be OK" and in the last few minutes of her the vid, she gets her Ella Fitzergald on, my oh my. Great story as well.

Shouts to honey soul for the heads up.

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"losing my religion:" s & m

S&M (Sarah White and M.anifest) "Losing My Religion"

The group S&M is a collaboration of Brookyln's Sarah White and Ghana's , M.anifest. This song embodies the fusion of their unique sounds. Dope. Shouts to the folks at soulbounce for the heads up and M.anifest for the free download.

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