Sign The Damn Papers Already!

So, I was listenin' to WGCi earlier, right? And you know on Sundays they have some thing called "Throwback Sunday" or some shit like that, where they be playin' ol' school music for the majority of the day. And you know that's my ish right there, I got a bunch of ol' school music on my iPod. But do you know them ninjas had the nerve to play "I Wanna Rock" by Uncle Luke today?! They went Orange County with that one, true ish (btw, "Orange County" is my new saying for "O.C.", which originally means "out of control", but yeah, don't steal it).

But that ain't the point, I was listenin' to the radio, when they mentioned the song "Papers", which was the basis for my last blog, and then, they played this:

Are you serious right now?! Tameka, cut the man some slack! He done damn near lost his ma-muh. He done been through so much dra-muh. He don't turned into the man that he never thought he would! And now you wanna key his shit?!

But on a serious note, I really don't know if this is serious anymore. Personally, it's not even a big deal to me; I'm sure domestic disputes like this happen ALL the time. But Usher should already know, the media is gone eat him ALIVE for this one, and that's why I'm questioning this incident's credibility.

Maybe he's tryna generate buzz for his upcoming album, Raymond vs. Raymond, which is slated for a December 8th release as of now. Hell, maybe he tryna get him and Tameka a reality show, who knows? EVERYBODY got a reality show these days, and most of them don't have half the drama that's been surrounding these two as of late. Maybe, that woman done watched A Thin Line Between Love and Hate one too many times, hell I don't know! But whatever the case may be, I still wish the best for these two souls.

But please, Usher, I'm saying this to you as a true fan of your music. Whether it be divorce papers, or a restraining order, please my dude, sign the damn papers.

~Trufe

P.S. if you're reading this via Facebook, you must visit my blog to see the video/hear the phone conversation with 911.

http://thamomentoftrufe.blogspot.com

Ready To Sign Them Papers

So, I've come to realize that I'm one of the few people of today who still listen to the radio. But, I do. I have a radio/alarm clock, so when I wake up in the morning, instead of just shutting off the alarm, I just turn it down to a normal volume, and continue listening.

While doing this about a week ago, I caught what was announced as the world premier of Usher's new single, entitled "Papers" (WGCi said it was the world premier, but they are known for playing "new" music well after other urban stations like Power92 have already done so).

At first listen, it sounds like the typical Usher ballad; it kind of sounds like "Burn", which kind of sounded like "You Got it Bad". Yeah, along those lines. But, after the track ended, the DJ stated that the track was supposedly about Usher's soon to be ex-wife Tameka Foster. Then, I decided to look up the track, and really listen to the lyrics.

After doing that, it's easy to know that it's about her. I personally appreciated the extremely personal aspect of the track; myself being a poet. Not a lot of singers make music as personal as this track appears to be. Hell, not a lot of urban music artists make music about shit that actually happens in their life at all. But, my opinion of the track differs from most.

A lot of people find the track, "funny", and not in a good way. I mean, I've heard people actually laugh at this track, and at Usher for expressing his truest feelings through his gift of music. I personally don't see what's funny about that but, hey, to each his own. I've read comments on YouTube along the lines of "this song is too personal", etc. I personally don't think anything an artist creates can be TOO personal; with the lone exception of Eminem saying, "listen girly/ surely you don't want me to talk about how I nutted early/ cuz I ejaculated prematurely" in "The Warning", the diss track to Mariah Carey. THAT'S being too personal. Especially when it's only for the purpose of embarrassing someone else. I'mma chalk that up as a case of "When Keepin' It Real Goes Wrong".

But anyway, in the midst of all the naysayers, I did come across an intelligent YouTube commenter, who stated, "No one can make you miserable. Blame yourself for allowing someone to effect you this way. Don't blame her for almost losing your momma or giving all that you had..you did it to yourself. To usher and them fellas talking about they feel where is he coming from. I hope the ex-wifey keeps her head up and dismiss the haters."

Shouts to BlaqueQueenSha for the wise words, which I totally agree with. That's my only gripe with the track, is that he's trying to blame Tameka for everything that's gone wrong in his life being the way it is. Damn Usher, was the nookie THAT good, that you couldn't notice everything else around you collapsing based on your decisions? For the sake of their two kids, and, I guess the 1200 she had before marrying Usher, I wish the best for them and their future.

~Trufe

Taking off The Madea Costume, For Real

So, check it out. I'm a fan of Tyler Perry. I respect his grind, how he came from nothing and became something; I'm a fan of his plays and the majority of his movies (even though most of them do have relatively the same plot); but most of all, I respect what he does for black people.

I know a lot of people (mostly black people) who also are Tyler Perry fans. I know a lot of people (mostly black people) who are not fans of Tyler Perry, and I'm cool with that. Opponents say that every movie he makes plays deeply into black stereotypes, and I understand that, but I look at it as Perry trying to connect with black people on a level that most will understand. And when he makes a movie he has one goal in mind: make people leave the theater feeling good and with a smile on their face. If you don't leave a Tyler Perry movie feeling this way, then his movies are not for you.

With that being said, when I went to see I Can Do Bad All By Myself about a month ago, I caught a preview of the upcoming movie, Precious, a movie which Perry has some ties into of which I am currently unclear. I personally felt the movie took a more angry approach than the typical Tyler Perry movie, tackling things such as child abuse, rape, etc. In the wake of this film gaining publicity, Tyler Perry reportedly sent an email to fans Monday revealing previously unknown facts about his childhood:

"In an email to fans that has Perry's admirers buzzing, he recounts various examples of terrible childhood mistreatment - from his father beating him senseless to a neighbor woman molesting him at age 10.

Even his grandmother, the mother of his hated father, became a threat when she objected to his weekly allergy shot, he recalls."

"I'm tired of holding this in. I don't know what to do with it anymore, so, I've decided to give some of it away," he wrote in Saturday's email, which was also posted on his website.

He recounted being beaten by his father for reading books and filching cookies.

"He got the vacuum cleaner extension cord and trapped me in a room and beat me until the skin was coming off my back. To this day, I don't know what would make a person do something like that to a child," Perry wrote.

I don't know about you, but hearing and reading this for myself helped me understand why Perry's films and plays focus so much on perseverance. People say so much to writers to simply "write what you know" and this shows that Perry knows a lot about trials and tribulations leading to triumph... and apparently millions of dollars. Tyler Perry's highest grossing film to date, Madea Goes To Jail grossed over $109 million. Even his lowest grossing film to date, Daddy's Little Girls grossed over $31 million.

I've been very blessed in my life, but looking at that type of money kind of makes me wish I had a rougher childhood. Kind of. Precious drops November 6.

You can read the entire article about Tyler Perry here.

~Trufe

The Week In Review, 9/27-10/3

What a crazy week it has been, huh? Especially for the city of Chicago. The week started off decent, with the Bears pullin' out a tough 25-19 win against a beat-up Seattle Seahawks team in a game that never should have been that close early Sunday. Only to be followed by the Fox News report bearing the bad news about Derrion Albert's death following Thursday's fiasco at Fenger High School.

There wasn't a day that went by this week in which Albert's death wasn't the talk of the town. Rapper Nas even issued a letter that was first broadcast through Chicago radio station WGCi addressed to the young males in Chicago on Tuesday, which raised questions from Chicagoans along the lines of "Why didn't a Common or a Kanye West issue this letter? Why did Nas, a New Yorker, have to be the one to take this step?", etc.

Speaking of Kanye West, his upcoming "Fame Kills" tour with Lady GaGa was cancelled earlier this week. Various rumors concerning the sudden cancellation of what would've been one of music's hottest tours range from Kanye deciding that he needs a break from music, to Lady GaGa saying that she didn't want to work with the Chicago rapper following the infamous spat with Taylor Swift at the VMAs a few weeks ago. However, Lady GaGa did issue a statement Friday stating that the decision to cancel the tour was mutual. You can read more about the cancellation right'chea.

Going briefly back to sports, the Bulls won the first game of their preseason Friday against the Indiana Pacers, 104-95. The victory was foreshadowed however, by Chicago's elmination from the bidding for the 2016 Olympics earlier in the day. Pulling a Chicago Cubs a la 2007, Chicago was eliminated from the bidding in the first round. Hopefully, Mayor Richard M. Daley can now act like he got some sense, and try to regain some control over a city that had appeared to have been deteriorating in every way possible ever since it was announced that Chicago was a candidate city for the 2016 games. Rio de Janeiro won the Olympics, giving South America their first ever Olympic games.

So yeah... that about it. I'm horrible at ending anything, whether it be an essay, a poem, or especially a blog entry. So uh...

~Trufe

Just When You Thought...

Just when I thought the news couldn't get any more bizarre; sick; twisted. Just when I thought African-Americans couldn't do any more to lower the opinions of us. Just when I thought it was ok to return to my normal life and regular blogging. I come across this...

"A woman was arrested after her 14-year-son told authorities he escaped from a home where he’d been kept for 4 1/2 years, spending most of his time locked in a bedroom closet, police said Monday.

“He was hungry. He was dirty. He had numerous scars on his body,” Knight said. “It was very sad.”

After police interviews, officers on Saturday arrested the boy’s mother, 37-year-old LaRhonda Marie McCall, and a friend, 38-year-old Steve Vern Hamilton, on 20 complaints each of child abuse and child neglect. Formal charges have not been filed, and both were being held on $400,000 bond, according to jail records."

Okay... why? How? This one is honestly beyond me. I could not fathom what could be going through a person's head when they make a decision to lock someone in a closet. And it gets worse...

"The teen, wearing only a pair of oversized shorts held up by a belt, walked up to a security guard at the Guard facility around 5 p.m. Friday and asked where a police station was located so he could report being abused, according to a police report.

He told police that scars on his stomach and torso were from where alcohol had been poured on him and set on fire. Other scars were from being tied up, hit with an extension cord and choked, the boy told police.

“He had scars covering most of his body,” Knight said. “They were basically from head to foot.”

The teen told police he moved to the Oklahoma City area from New Jersey about 4 1/2 years ago after his mother was released from jail. Since arriving in Oklahoma, he said, he had never been to school and spent most of his time locked in a bedroom closet."

What the fuck, people? It's-- I honestly can't explain it. It's like the world just gets crazier by the day. I'll just chalk this one up as a sign of the times...

You can read the entire article here.

~Trufe