"We Do Big Things?"

We Do Big Things. In this 4-word phrase so much resonated with me and the entire nation. First, what was the President of the U.S. thinking when he propagated the quote that's now flown around the world and back. Did he or his staff really write this or was this off the top free-styling? I don't know for certain what was going through President Barack Obama's mind when he said this, but there are two things I most certainly do know about politics. 1. You don't write or speak without a purpose, especially at this high level. I remember writing for a State elected official and her having to proofread it and then someone else had to read it too. But, I have to imagine with a group of speechwriters for one person, there had to be several pairs of eyes on a State of the Union drafted speech. 2. The purpose is political, not merely social commentary or about assurances and plans. The last speech I remember writing for the official was for a forum and it was actually in response to some dumb mistakes she made in the past and they were not at all subject-related, therefore, it was political. It is always political.

Many of my fellow Hip-Hop enthusiasts were grinning and cheering the President for his cool antics. They're actually more defined as political semantics.

Yet, I would like to interview the President on his choice of words.

Omowale: President Obama, do you know that the phrase you chose to use matches word for word, a song entitled "Biggie" by Junior Mafia? The lyric or rhyme actually goes "We big boys, We do big things, Born in this county of Kings I ain't got shit, I spread wings, I take things..." Yep, it's not just an innocuous cool statement to say to millions...or a billion.

Prez Obama: You don't say. How did you find this out?

Omowale: I Googled it, Prez.

Prez Obama: You know what...it didn't occur to us to do that. Google is easy to use.

Omowale: Don't worry, no one will say anything. You've been doing this kind of thing for awhile. Why would you say you have Jay-Z and especially, Lil' Wayne is in your Ipod?

Prez Obama: I do. I assure you I do.

Omowale: I believe you. I mean, if I was a rich republican or hated you beyond having a distaste for your disregard of the Black community on the issues, except when you're using our silliest of Black euphemisms I would destroy you in the media. Those artists speak about some harsh realities, that you ironically don't intend on addressing through policy. I guess republicans don't use Google much either or care for Hip-Hop. So you're okay.

Prez Obama: Hey, Omowale.

Omowale: Yes?

Prez Obama: Between me and you, I knew about the quote.

Omowale: So why?

Prez Obama: It resonates with everyone.

It's like the movie "The Game" with Michael Douglas in which the actor finally in a bit of rage and sorrow attempts suicide by jumping through the glass ceiling only to fall through breakaway glass and onto the X-mark of a gigantic balloon unharmed. It was an elaborate prank on him in which the authors mathematically calculated he would jump exactly where he landed.

The President and his staff knows almost exactly how the public will react to his speeches. It's political and it's the easiest thing they can pinpoint. They plan for a civic reaction beyond applause. Presidents don't recruit best-selling novelists or accomplished screenwriters as speechwriters. They hire political scientists, lawyers or those with a media studies background, those most-experienced in influencing the reactions of the common person.

Even if no one in his entire administration knew early-on that in 1999 Lil Mafia created an ode to Notorious B.I.G using the phrase and realized the song is littered with profanity and the n-word, the Prez had to know after he sent a copy of the State of the Union speech to the press prior to his actual address or right before his staff chose to email his supporters a message with the subject title: "We Do Big Things".

Sure they contemplated the nature of the song, but, I'm sure some one yelled out the word, "Deniability".
"What?"
"If questioned, we can say the Prez didn't know the song existed."

Just look at how powerful the phrase was to many. Before my fingers began reacting to the speech dozens of other Black bloggers began writing about how sincere the President is and several Hip-Hop blogs were completed that evening convincing others that "We Do Big Things" means the President understands and supports young Black culture.

The reality- the speech was written by one of the youngest presidential speechwriters in history and since he's looking into my brain to stir an applause, allow me. Jon Favreau doesn't know Hip-Hop, he's familiar with its contributions to pop culture and that's about it. In trying to reach so many of Obama's constituents he can only go pop. The sheer attempt to use such a ploy is diabolical but predictable, tactful but not ingenious. Favreau and the Prez wanted to cover most groups around the country and since there was nothing meaningful for the Black population actually in his speech, they chose to compensate by making it the title of his speech, while continuing the tradition of other speechwriting teams, Ted Sorensen & JFK, Napoleon Hill & FDR, they linked it all together seamlessly.

The President has never discussed the economy in the context of the Black community, although he has discussed it as it relates to the predominantly white mid-western region. He has dismissed the brutality inflicted on poor Black communities by police officers and doesn't even offer a tiny sigh of sympathy when it causes death, hopelessness, and immense grief around the country. The wholesale incarceration of humans which overshadows the large general populations of India and China is never discussed among the litany of nonsensical phrases uttered out of the President's mouth because its industry is anchored by a young and poor Black nation filling its jails. From disparities in health to communities saturated with crime, President Obama loses his voice when he sees Black. The Prez can sacrifice his political cache in using some Black phrases associated with the n-word because they have managed to generate millions for his cronies but, he's button-lipped about crucial issues aiming at the continued destruction of a race that has faithfully supported him, albeit, blindly.

Though, I get it. It's simple enough. Republicans, mid-westerners and white southerners all need courting and assurances from the first Black President. You can't go rocking the boat too early. NO! That's preposterous. You have an expiration date on the possibility of change ... or hope. Whatever. Remind me, what he's selling to us again. Nevertheless, the Black community can use some of that patronage too. Intangible phrases and useless speeches as they may be, it might cause some policymakers in the localities to change their approach toward Black neighborhoods if it came from the President of the United States. It might help teach a class or empower a student if the President spoke about youth incarceration in the Black inner cities. Because, then you're talking to them. The phrase We do big things speaks to Black youth too but from a place of obscurity and for an unreliable and worthless hype.

RIAA Drama, Artists Must Act Now!

By Omowale Adewale

steal this article & blast it

Artists need to become politicized within the music industry. Not because organizers who speak about community issues say so or because it's the right thing to do. The reality is, if you're truly a "boss" as Slim Thug maintains he is or a "king" or "president of Hip-Hop" as Nas and Jay-Z respectively claim then at least stop permitting former slave masters to break you off crumbs and utilize you like sheep. Run the music business not just a business within the music industry. The reports of DJ Drama and employees of Gangsta Grillz being raided in Atlanta, Ga on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 by SWAT, FBI, and apparently the RIAA (wow, a non-government agency) for bootlegging mixtapes was a clear message to Hip-Hop. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) said brazenly, we run Hip-Hop and any music genre, whether it’s considered black music or not.

Hip-Hop has been maneuvering their own independent companies for a long while within the music industry. However, there has been either a lack of organization or a wealth of fear that has left Hip-Hop entrepreneurs, particularly black businessmen unable to distribute or manufacture in the tier that the "big 5" has managed. The term "big 5" comes from the oligopoly of music groups (not major labels) Universal, Sony, BMG, EMI, and Warner. Each one is a branch of a conglomerate. Conglomerates are corporations with a variety of different interests in various unrelated industries. In this instance, music and to a lesser extent media is the main focus. Music groups are distinct, in that they all have extensive publishing houses, manufacturing capabilities, and international distribution.

Each of the big 5's headquarters is strategically placed in one of the "G8" nations, which is a group of 8 governments that make international decisions for the world. Three of the "big 5" are located in nations which are permanent members of the Security Council, which are France, Great Britain, and the U.S. The Security Council essentially controls the United Nations. Only five nations make up the Security Council.

It is important to understand this international paradigm to recognize, that although consolidation is important to the RIAA, domination is foremost and is created in a web-like process, in strategic locations. For instance, EMI's position is significant, as it speaks for Great Britain or the UK. When Polygram's music group was bought by Universal which is headquartered France, it was all right with the former "big 6" because BMG was there in Germany, and no longer needed Polygram's positioning. True indeed, dead prez was right all along "it's bigger than Hip-Hop" and DJ Drama for that matter.

So, why raid DJ Drama? DJ Drama has been one of RIAA's important associates for a long while. Most of DJ Drama's music on Gangsta Grillz albums are exclusives with a couple of songs on the artists' album that are always available for legal promotion. If anyone is in trouble, it's the artists who come without the record company holding their hand. The record labels of the music groups pay DJ Drama to promote their artists. Rarely does the artist have that kind of money. The music group contacts DJ Drama, not so much the artists. DJ Drama charges a grip, a gwop. You're talking $50K into the six figures. DJ Drama has been upfront about his motives and ambitions in the game as he professes "…I'm about to own Hip-Hop" on one of his collaborations." In the words of the Shogun Assassin's storyteller (ask GZA), "maybe that was the problem".

The RIAA wants total domination and the money that comes with it. Capitalism is about increasing profits annually. If the sales aren't doing well, they don't want an apology, they want retribution from whomever they believe is responsible --even if it’s their fault. In the late 1990's Universal sued MP3.com, and settled out of court for $53.4 million over copyright infringement. Online music distributors provided a forum for the public to download and trade music through MP3 formats, which excluded RIAA members from profits. Universal later purchased MP3.com for $375 million. The RIAA forced Napster.com to settle a $170 million lawsuit over copyright infringement. What was key to RIAA's speedy win was the creation of the RIAA's Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) that only lasted for three years, as it took only a short amount of time to regulate the music business online. The SDMI was composed of individual professionals & companies in the internet technology industry. They used it to influence artists, legislators and the public. Will this same strategy be used to gobble up the mixtape business in Hip-Hop? Perhaps.

For them to go after their former helpful aid, DJ Drama probably began venturing into off-limit territory. He might have been looking to create a label or music group that excluded the RIAA or maybe rejected being an official member of their team. DJ Drama has the connections to change the game like some of the other mixtape organizers, such as DJ Whoo Kid who has an organization of DJ's. Drama's potential power was real and it was an obvious threat. Starting with southern DJ's was definitely the RIAA's order of the day through tactical planning. The Hip-Hop in the south has been an entity onto itself and has managed to force music groups and their labels to come to them. It worked for Master P and Cash Money. This wasn't just about DJ Drama, the south has been able to function without mainstream promotion and do quite well by their own standards.

Artists, especially emcees of Hip-Hop should be the main opposition to the RIAA’s current strategy. Artists in Hip-Hop are the most rebellious force in music. I will not name the names, but artists are most times not permitted by contract to work without the permission of their record companies, yet they do. Hip-Hop artists are religiously rejecting that system of sharecropping and working with everyone to make money in the midst of having their albums pushed back or fighting shady contracts. If DJ Drama is found guilty, it's the beginning of the end for contract recording artists, specifically those under the “big 5”. Artists should envision their future going from jail to solitary confinement in prison. DJ Drama represents artists to a high level of degree, artists should represent him too, which includes watching what artists say to the authorities. DJ Drama is innocent (I'm not a journalist, so I can say that). However, the black community knows how the police can be extremely manipulative in arriving at a conviction.

For the public, which also includes artists, I appeal to you in the strongest way possible. Please do not merely just demand "FREE DRAMA! FREE CANNON!" If they are freed, it's not like the RIAA will give up. I mean, seriously, they came in with dozens of armed men and attack dogs. They'll be back in Hip-Hop. Demand from legislators that artists have a union with collective bargaining rights. The International Artists Union (IAU) of the Grassroots Artists MovEment (G.A.ME) for several years has been researching the methods of the RIAA, interviewing artists, meeting with congressmen and artist unions and non-artist unions. The Artist Freedom Act (AFA) influenced by Hip-Hop's rebelliousness demands that artists receive collective bargaining rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and that the specific media and music exploitation aimed dually at Hip-Hop and the black community be acknowledged. Right now, under the NLRA artists are considered independent contractors and not employees. In simple terms, employees are told what to do and how to do it. Independent contractors are told what to do, but not how to do it. There are several artists admitting on albums and industry insiders that have said artists are told to alter their art to extreme degrees. Dame Dash publicly stated that Hot97 and MTV dictated what Roc-a-fella Records dictated in the studio.

If artists have collective bargaining rights, anyone who chooses to work with them will have rights. Artists would be placed on equal footing with the “big 5” or the RIAA. If artists have rights, they can exercise their creative right to speak up for the community and not for their bosses owning their masters. If artists have rights, that means a change of what goes on in the music videos and on radio. In reality, it's good justice for any employee or artist to have these rights. Collective bargaining through unions is good justice for any artist. Artists are supposed to have healthcare, artists should not be confined to a record label for an indefinite amount of years, and artists should not be forced to choose whether to make money and disrespect his/her community or be broke but full of integrity. It's the right thing to do. If Hip-Hop is going to change, it must begin with changing the current situation of artists.

G.A.ME is meeting publicly January 23, 2007 and February 13, 2007 at 7:00pm at Hunter College, NYC to discuss moving forward with the Artist Freedom Campaign (AFC). Contact Terry at icebergsift@kickgame.com regarding work with this campaign. G.A.ME information is available at www.Kickgame.com.