RMHH Blogs

Paris - Coffee, Donuts & Death (Remix) 1992

The Conscious Daughters - Somethin� To Ride To (Fonky Expedition) (Remix) 1993

When you google the words �Paris,� �producer� and �hip-hop� or �rap,� an alarming number of links will lead you to announcements concerning Scott Storch producing Paris Hilton. Well, Can I Bring My Gat? is here to provide some counterbalance. Oscar �Paris� Jackson first gained notoriety around 1990, establishing himself (just before MC Hammer and Digital Underground) as the only other national Oakland representative besides Too $hort. His Tommy Boy-distributed debut, �The Devil Made Me Do It,� was self-produced, a fact that was overshadowed by the outspoken militant, pro-black message from the self-described Black Panther of Hip-Hop. Yet in early 1994 I picked up a record on the strength that it said �Produced by Paris� on the front cover. That record was �Ear To The Street� by female duo The Conscious Daughters, and it could easily be perceived as Paris� reaction to what Dr. Dre had done on �The Chronic.� One year later he responded to the massively successful g-funk movement with the establishment of his Guerrilla Funk label, along with the more traditionally funked out �Guerrilla Funk� album. Fast forward to 2006 when he teamed up with legendary Public Enemy to produce and even co-write their album �Rebirth Of A Nation,� and we can safely include Paris in the ranks of hip-hop producers, his work behind the boards now spanning twenty years.

Paris� first currently documented production credit dates back before �The Devil Made Me Do It,� with 1987�s �This Beat Is Def� single by San Francisco rap group ATC, who was even shortly signed to his Scarface label. His rap debut then provided an interesting synthesis of hip-hop beats and more electronic, almost industrial grooves and used less samples than your typical late �80s release. That unique approach was the expression of P-Dog�s outsider status and DIY attitude on a musical level, resulting in classic militant rap tracks like �Break The Grip Of Shame� and �The Devil Made Me Do It.� 1992�s controversial �Sleeping With The Enemy� gave samples a more prominent place and enlisted the help of a young DJ Shadow on some tracks. In the new millennium Paris is busier than ever, having made a comeback not just as a producer but also as a rapper, executive and activist. His website www.guerrillafunk.com should tell you all you need to know about his music and his mission.

Paris on discogs

minor hiccup.
my tech department has fixed the problem.

i’ve made some stupid decisions in life. sometimes you know it in advance and sometimes it hits you like a truck long after the fact. i think this might be one of those “known knowns”.

jogging. why? boredom mostly. stupidity partly.

this porkbutt isn’t meant to stomp about on concrete at a high(mid-lo) rate of speed. not voluntarily.

but there i was last nite, warming up in the living room, throwing out some stretches. loosening up my hamhocks. stretching the achilles or some such. mentally preparing for the burning lungs, sore knees and throbbing headache that was sure to follow.

i’ll admit it wasn’t pretty. my form probably sucks and i ran a lot faster than seemed appropriate but i was out there baby, and i was loving it!

the first quarter-block was a piece of cake. got myself in to a rhythm and started to cruise. arms up. arms back. thumbs tucked, bend the knees, concentrate. this is gonna be easy. maybe i can circle the entire block?? (exactly 1.1 miles)

then my teeth started to hurt. teeth?? yeah. teeth. i bit down on my t-shirt to get some relief. that’s when my mouth started to dry out and my heart started to palpitate.

no problem. i’m 1/2 block in to it. just warming up.

appx 1/4 mile in to it and my heart was beating wildly, my head was throbbing and my lungs burned like i inhaled a meteor. i remember this feeling. the last time i had it was sophomore year of High School at football practice. only this time the pain is 10x worse. i’m 50 lbs heavier and haven’t exercised on a regular basis in months.

i got all the way out to appx 1/3rd mile and could go no further.

it just wasn’t in the cards.

tomorrow is gonna be a different story. tomorrow it’s .4 miles or bust. i’m gonna crawl to the end if i have to.

started on the Couch Potato-to-5k plan Monday.

first week plan is start off with a brisk walk for 5 minutes, jog 60 seconds, walk 90 seconds, jog 60, walk 90, etc. for 20 minutes.

the first 3 legs i screwed up and ran 90 seconds. got that straightened out and went to 60 run, 90 walk. was supposed to be 8 legs of running (8:00) plus 8 legs walking (12:00).

i wound up going a little farther away from home than i thought and didn’t want to finish up by walking.. so i wound up running 12 legs (including the extra 1:30 on the first 3 legs – 13:30) and walking 12 legs (18:00).

my pace actually increased as i went. and i felt better as i went. i coulda easily kept switching off and went for another 20 minutes. it wasn’t what i would call exhilirating or orgasmic or anything but it was definitely satisfying and exciting to know i could do it.

figure i ran about 1 mile total or a little more.

Yes, I know there are 5 members of my family but someone had to take the pictures.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1392285142

that a city of 1.5 million can't?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071123/ap_on_re_us/new_york_city_murders

I am not talking about today in Philadelphia, I am referring to tomorrow, 44 years ago. On that day, a great man died. A unique President was assassinated. I was watching some 60 minutes clips on yahoo commemorating the 44th anniversary. I realized that being 31, I missed out on alot of television moments, although I did capture some key ones also. Those days were crazy. TV was different then. It meant something. It was before breaking news happened every 10 minutes between 4 and 6:30pm, before 24 hour news channels, before satellite trucks and the internet. Watching the 60 minutes clips, I see great reporters like Bob Schieffer, Mike Wallace, and Walter Cornkite, break the story of the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. And then, only days later, watching live as Lee Harvey Oswald is shot by Jack Ruby. I can only imagine who unnerving it must have been. There was a reason the Kennedy administration was called Camelot. But to have King Arthur assassinated. It was probably as devastating as watching the Twin Towers fall on live TV.

Much is said about the business in which I now make my living. Local news is criticized for sensationalizing stories, reporting only death and depravity, and not really serving the public interest. But for all that is said, for all the struggle that this medium has endured to stay alive in the information age, amidst layoffs, job cuts, automation, and increasing choices for news sources, it is times such as Kennedy's assassination, the Vietnam War, Ronald Reagan being shot, the Challenger exploding, the Berlin Wall being torn down, the first Gulf War, Watergate, Lewisnky-gate, the 2000 Presidential election, September 11, Iraq, Afghanistan, London, Madrid-- these are what keep television relevant. Barring a massive overhaul in technology, no other medium can offer you instantaneous, constant video (and journalistic commentary) in a crisis. As much as we all turned to the Internet on September 11, more of us were glued to our TV sets. More of us logged on to sites like CBS.com, MSNBC.com, CNN.com, etc.

I'll endure the criticism of my business. I'll take the despise and disdain for carbon copy reporters and anchors. I'll take the hit for animatronic figures reading a teleprompter. But when it comes to news you need in times of crisis, I'm looking for my peeps, or the folks at channel 3, or the guys down at 29, and at worst, I'll check those cats across the street at channel 6. These are the guys who can get to scene, establish a microwave link with the antennae, and be on the air in minutes.

As an undergrad, we debated TV as an artform. The debate continues. But at the very least, we have not given up on a medium that is desperately fighting for survival.