Send comments, questions and concerns to mailto:kingdave@sirius.com
The FNV Newsletter
written by Davey D
c1999
All Rights Reserved

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*Darryl McDaniels aka DMC of Run DMC is getting set to drop a book on all of us. The book which is untitled will deal with the "role" of the role model and the truth about image. DMC says he wants to provide some sort of alternative means of instruction to help counter all the high tech drugs, sex and rock-n-roll that is being thrust in front of the face of our youth. He also noted that he wanted to do some thing that didn't come across as too preachy. For the past couple of years DMC has been touring the college lecture circuit where he drops bombs about respect, responsibility and role models in today's society. The book is planned for release in mid-2000, while Run-DMC's new album, "Crown Royal," is now due on September 28.

*Bad news for Nas Escobar as he has been the victim of a couple of recent scams. In Gainsville, Florida a concert purported to be featuring Nas was advertised on a local radio station. More then 200 tickets were purchased before it was brought to light that the whole thing was a scam. The faulty promoters bear the name Duck Down Entertainment which made things believable for a couple reasons. The primary one being that Duck Down is also a the name of a record label that is home to popular underground groups like Heltah Skeltha and that entire Boot Camp Clic. Gainsville police are looking into the business practices of Duck Down Entertainment. Lets hope that the real Duck Down doesn't catch any heat because of this scam.

*More bad news in the world of Hip Hop. This time it involves Eve of the Ruff Ryders. Last night she was robbed at gunpoint and relieved of over 125 thousand dollars worth of jewelery. The robbery took place at a video shoot in Long Island City Queens. More than two dozen people were on the set when this happened. There were no arrests and no injuries.. All I can say is Ruff Ryders, 125 thousand dollar robbery by two unidentified men and no arrests or beat downs... Either the Ruff Ryders know something and ain't saying nothing until it gets settled on the streets.. or Eve was set up. This situation involving Eve is the latest in a growing trend where rap stars are finding themselves the targets of violence or robberies. People are apparently believing the video hype and thus trying to get all the money they can from these superstars.

*I got this commentary that was sent to me from jailed rap star X-Raided. Apparently he was upset about the low ratings he received from The Source Magazine.. Where they gave his album 'Unforgiven Vol 1 2 1/2 mics.. Here Mr X-Raided points out what he sees as a glaring double standard.. Hit me back and let me know what you think of his commentary mailto:kingdave@sirius.com

" I feel that we should have gotten 3 or 3 1/2 mics. If the writer of the review felt we deserved 3 1/2, the editors should have given us 3 1/2. The review says the lyrics were "tight" and "clear" (thanks to the Verbal Technician) and that I am a strong "lyricist" What they said about it about being all about "killing, money, and women"... These are the same people who gave Jay-Z 4 1/2 mics for "Hard Knock Life" which is all about "mo money, mo cash, mo hoes" Obviosly they have never listened to DMX, who is as violent as X Raided ever was. DMX got 4 mics for an album that has lyrics such as "if you got a daughter older than 15 I' ma rape her/take her right there in front of you" and "my dick is bloody cause I fucked a corpse" That's 4 mic material? These are the same people who gave Rass Kas 3 mics and Xibit 3 1/2 mics for their 1998 albums... These are the same people who gave Silk the Shocker and C Murder 4 mics each on their 1999 albums . These are the same people who gave Biggie 5 mics but didn't even bother to acknowledge 2 Pacs Makaveli album (which is an undeniable classic).

On the X Raided album there are Gangsta tracks, songs about women, battle raps, and political tracks. It is not and never intended to be a commercial album (which is what the source expects everyone to create) This is a street album, created by a WEST coast street cat. Aint no baggy jeans, backpacks, Queensbridge accents, puff daddy remix, Jay-Z cameo or 212 area code. That alone cost me a mic and a half. So, basically the source aint feeling me and I aint feeling them. The Roots got 4 mics for an album that should have got 5 and Juvenile got 4 for an album that should have got 3. There is now way Juvenile and The Roots could be considered equals! But, unless you spend a million dollars in advertising in the Source they will screw your review. Ask Master P. No Limit spends millions yearly in the Source, and as a result no artist on No Limit has ever been given less than 3 1/2 mics.

I declare war in 2000"
X Raided

*The Pride Month Committee of New York University [NYU] are in the process of putting together a forum to discuss issues of sexuality within hip hop culture. The forum which is entitled 'Keep It On The DL' is scheduled for October '99 and their main goal is 'to illustrate that hip-hop culture not only has a significant Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender audience, but that these communities have an impact on the culture itself, as well as discuss why this impact is oftentimes overlooked.' The event will take place between 4-6pm at the Waverly Building on the corner of Waverly and Greene in NYC. No date has been given.. Currently they are looking for panelist to sit on the forum. So if your intrested or need more information. Please contact William Gordon at mailto:wg201@is5.nyu.edu, or William Fleming at mailto:whf200@is6.nyu.edu.

Greetings.   As a white boy who listens to hip-hop and writes lyrics, my personal opinion is that if an emcee has skills, who the fuck cares what colour he/she is?

    Of course white rappers get more mainstream attention than black ones. The media is a mechanism of the system. The "system" (government, army, church, corporates, cops, etc.) is.... Surprise!...controlled by mostly white people. Old, fat. IGNORANT white people who have a definite interest in keeping society divided and weak.  Therefore white rappers get more media attention.  Black rappers get some, but it is much more often negative publicity.

     Among these black emcees who do get publicity, it is most often the ones who prop up the wack system with their lyrics. I'm not going to name anyone, but the "champagne-poppin, paper chasin', corporate dick-slurpin" commercial rappers get mad attention compared to the more hardcore, underground or political bands/artists, whose messages are too dangerous (positive or negative) for the majority to hear. It might make them care...do you see?

    Similar to punk rock, hip-hop started out as a tight, underground scene, blew up and got fucked over by the mainstream.  The politics are still there, in both cases, but layers of bullshit have been heaped up on top to make both subcultures palatable to the record-buying mainstream.

    Whatever. The fact remains that white people are feelin' hip hop, one way or another. Fuck, my small town is infested with Hilfiger and FUBU-dipped white kids who think hip-hop is about getting drunk, beating on random people, selling drugs and or raping chicks who are passed-out drunk. These boys think they are hard fucking core! I have heard that this phenomenon is not limited to Belleville, Ontario, Canada, but is also visible in many other small towns across North America.

  To close up for now, ignorance, hatred and wackness are problems endemic to our society. Hip-hoppers and other urban subcultures must be less prejudicial and more open to foster a spirit of unity and positivity. Anyone can feel the realness, because everyone has that potential. As humanity approaches its own self-destruction, we gotta fuckin' change up the ways.

  Here's a quote from CRASS to send you off:

    "...If you'd care to take a close look at the way things really stand     You'd see we're all just niggers to the rulers of this land."

This is the Joker (ill thought provoker) signing off.

Davey D

"Much has happened since the Pacifica National Board's plainclothes armed security force [ISPA], along with the Berkeley Police Department, enforced a "lock-out" of KPFA Staff and hundreds of listeners who were defending Dennis Bernstein and News Department members who were resisting the censorship of "Flashpoints" and the KPFA News (which was yanked off the air a few minutes into the Evening Newscast for broadcasting the highly newsworthy physical ejection of Bernstein by the IPSA mercenaries at the order of the National Board's hatchet man Garland Ganter-for more about Ganter's history as General Manager at KPFT in Houston, refer to former KPFT Program Director and News Director Rafael Renteria's piece, available at )....

Some of you may or may not have heard about eleven of us (including a fellow KPFA producer, union organizer, civil rights attorney, homeless rights advocate, and members of Media Alliance and Global Exchange) getting arrested while putting up a banner on the balcony of the KPFA building last Thursday. I want to make clear that we were: (1) non-violent, (2) not entering the building voluntarily, and, (3) we certainly had no reason to commit "burglary"-which is the charge which the Pacifica Board was initially trying to pin on us. The charges have now been reduced to rioting and misdemeanor trespass (in our own, listener-sponsored building), and our courtdate is August 14th.

The fact is that we were DRAGGED INTO THE BUILDING from the balcony BY THE POLICE. Although we were non-violent, the BPD riot squad beat on several of us. Those who were at the rally even got glimpses of this before they pulled us inside, out of the range of the media's camera crews. I was pulled off the ledge of the balcony after they almost made me fall over into the crowd. I fell on one of the officers, and two grabbed my arms from behind while one punched me in the face. Unfortunately, they pulled my cap over my eyes so that I could not see who was hitting me as they handcuffed me and kicked me after they threw me on the floor of the KPFA News Room. I give thanks unto BATHALA/JAHJAH/THE CREATOR for protecting me, for it seems that, aside from a few lacerations, bruises on my face and back, I mainly had a bad headache from the kicking. But Noelle Hanrahan, Producer of Mumia Abu-Jamal's commentaries for the Prison Radio Project, was taken to Highland Hospital for treatment of her hands after the BPD officers hit her hands while she was climbing from the ladder onto the edge of the balcony. I saw her last night at the immensely successful benefit for KPFA Staff at the Berkeley Community Theatre.

Noelle was in good spirits, but her hands are still swollen and hurting. Other people had gotten clubbed rather "liberally" when the first 53 arrests were made Tuesday night. This treatment has been at the hands of the BPD, who have a reputation for being one of the most highly trained and "sensitive" police forces in the US. I guess that if it had been the IPSA mercenaries hired by Pacifica Board, someone could have been shot, instead. For those who don't know, IPSA's specialties include "threat assessment"(involving intelligence gathering/background checks) and carrying out "hostile terminations." The IPSA guards were arrogant and hostile to the staff, particularly the darker-skinned males in the KPFA Staff, from the beginning. They were put in place while the Pacifica National Board was meeting with our Staff and Community Representatives in Washington, D.C. While the Mary Frances Berry was talking reconciliation and negotiation, they were actively preparing to go to a new level of attempted intimidation of the KPFA Staff. While speaking about the need for good will and understanding, they were simultaneously putting in place an plainclothes armed force of law enforcement and intelligence agency veterans (some of whom we heard bragging about their CIA backgrounds) in one of the few radio stations in the country which reports regularly on police brutality and the wrongdoing of the CIA and other government agencies.

Some people have been asking, "how much is this costing the Pacifica Network?" Now the California State Assembly wants to know, too. The reason? The cost of hiring a firm whose guards are plainclothes and who must get at least three kinds of special licensing to carry a concealed weapon is not cheap. Consider that they maintain a presence of a minimum of three to five of these guys inside the radio station at any time, and have now added another unit to patrol our transmitter, and you have a daily expenditure of listener funds(intended for programming, mind you) in the thousands of dollars. Keep in mind that IPSA was not put in place to protect the staff or the transmitter, at the beginning. They are there to enforce the will of the bureaucrats who have co-opted the Pacifica National Board. IPSA International(you can read their webpages at the APS website) was used as at the Atlanta Olympic Games, but they were also used against the Strikers at ABC. Back to the Assembly call for a fiscal investigation: If you do the math for yourself, you will see that it takes more than the normally allocated monthly budget to pay for all this extra (In-)security. There is also a lawsuit being filed around similar issues of malfeasance of the Pacifica National Board. Some analysts are even speculating that the network could be bankrupted by these obscenely unnecessary expenditures of listener funds which are meant for our broadcast work. For more details about the suits being filed and other related actions and news, you can contact a number of different organizations working in the movement to save and free KPFA and Pacifica Radio."

written by KPFA DJ Brother K

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