I Toja Entertainment Newsletter October
I Toja Entertainment Newsletter Music, Film, Art & Fashion
September 2005 Greetings! This is the I Toja Entertainment
newsletter with Chandra & Friends. Come as we explore many
topics from Hip Hop to Love. We would like to send our prayers
and blessing to all the families who were affected directly and
indirectly by Hurriane Katherine. As a way of helping Chandra
has donated ALL of her proceeds from the "GOD's Promise to Me"
sold on Cdbaby to the Red Cross disaster relief fund. Go
tohttp://www.cdbaby.com/cd/chandrasimmons You can also check out
my website www.chandrasimmons1.com
Check out the different articles from these fabulous writers!!!
Feel free to pass this along to your Friends and Family!
Featured Article: The State of Hip Hop The Vitality of a LIVE
SHOW Chivalry & Tradition--A Black Perspective Beauty Korner My
trip to Senegal Poetry Korner **For Immediate Release** Check
for New Indie Movie Honor Among Thieves To Hit the Street
October 1st The Vitality of a LIVE SHOW the Vitality of a LIVE
SHOW by SSly Shalom
I have been attending live stageshows of my favorite artists
since 1991, & I must say I was thoroughly impressed by many of
them.Some were good, some were great, & some were
impeccable.That's how I'll describe the most recent performance
I've visioned to date - impeccable.Thursday September 22nd, at
BB Kings in Downtown NYC, it was none other than a celebration
of the birthday of the epitome of lyrical macks to ever bless
the mic.....ladies & gentlemen, the John Shaft of HIPHOP:BIG
DADDY KANE.
For those of you who've never had the luxury of seeing the God
live & consider yourselves lovers of HIPHOP, true HIPHOP,you are
doing yourselves a supreme injustice.As does his fellow icon KRS
ONE,Big Daddy Kane definitely has the blueprint for achieving an
outstanding live performance,as well as a cerebral smithereening
studio recording.
Of course he fed us his ever-cherished classics such as Young,
Gifted & BLACK; Set it Off; Ain't No Half Steppin; Warm it up
Kane; the Wrath of, etc.Plus, he displayed the original artform
of how an emcee executes a freestyle....not by mental
spontaneity,but by simply flowing like the river Nile with
magnificent,sly-as-a-fox thought provoking,razor-edged,
soulquenching lyricism. As for his vocal clarity? Flawless.
The love & respect Kane possesses was seriously manifested that
night by who was amongst the atmosphere of BB Kings, from
obvious fans all the way from his 'Just Rhymin With Biz' days,
to celebrity fans who are also his peers & pioneers of HIPHOP as
well: Grand Master Melle Mel, Kid Creole, the Sugar Hill
Gang,Tito from the Fearless 4, D.J. Jazzy Jay, Kid CAPRI, Fab 5
Freddie, D.J. Red Alert, D.J.Easy Rock, Whodini, Marley Marl,
PETE ROCK, Kwame, Dana Dane, King SUN, Kangol KID, Ice T, Mack
10, Rob Base,the BEATNUTS, Sway, Shyheim, Sweet TEE{& she's
still gorgeous,THAT'S RIGHT ! } ,Freddie Foxxx, Director John
Singleton,etc.& of course,the inhuman orchestra who recognized
Kane's microphone magic from the beginning --- BizMarkie.Most
of, if not all of these artists were coming from the Hammerstein
Ballroom where the 2nd Annual HIPHOP HONORS was being recorded
by VH-1 who were paying homage to BDK as well as a variety of
others. Irregardless, the majority of the aforementioned
would've been at Kane's blockbuster born day extravaganza
anyway,because he is a sure-fire reminder to the
unknowing/uncaring MTV/BET-seduced youth of today of what true
EMCEEING is all about.....Mic Controller, Master of Craft,
Master of Creativity, Mover of Crowds,Master of Ceremony,
etc.Kane is the embodiment of all of that & then some.
As far as his stageshow is concerned, Big Daddy Kane's audience
lives by the motto : Expect the Unexpected. Not only did he
dedicate the night {with a moment of noise, not silence mind u}
to HIPHOP's fallen soldiers {Jam Master Jay, BIGGIE Smalls, BIG
PUN, BIG L, Tupac, ODB, etc.} but he served us an enormous
platter of generosity & love by having other artists from his
era {the Golden Age} also rip verses right out of their
classics! And finally,for the volcanic eruption of the evening,
as all the legends & veterans stood proud & UNITED on stage,the
Sugarhill GANG performed the first hit ever to lead to rap
music's global domination : Rapper's Delight. See what happens
when you acknowledge your cultural roots? Big Daddy Kane
does,that's why he has been paramount as a HIPHOP recording
giant & entertainer for almost 20 years now, revealing no signs
of fatigue.Happy Born Day indeed, God. Peace & Soulblessings
For any comments E-mail: godisblack3@yahoo.com
Chivalry & Tradition--A Black Perspective Chivalry &
Tradition--A Black Perspective By Darryl James
Chivalry: 1. Gallantry, courtesy and honor.
2. The noble qualities a knight was supposed to have, such as
courage and a readiness to help the weak.
3. The demonstration of any of these qualities.
In it's purest definition, Chivalry is truly dead.
Chivalry refers to the code of ethics and conduct of a knight
(or chevalier) during the Middle Ages, where his horse, weapons,
attendants and flag were concerned. The code had nothing to do
with conduct in love until after the Crusades, when poets turned
it into a code of courting and a code of honor in love, as
opposed to war.
Currently, women discuss how men are no longer chivalrous, while
men discuss how women have been rejecting Chivalry.
Feminism taught that displays of Chivalry were, in many ways
demeaning and condescending. The new idea was that since men did
not hold doors for each other, why would they do so for any
other equal? The image of the chivalrous man protecting the
weaker "damsel in distress" did not fit well with the evolving
image of the woman as equal, strong and independent.
Strangely, many people today who speak of Chivalry and tradition
fail to spell out the woman's obligations during the medieval
institution, offering a romanticized version in which the woman
is far less than weak or in distress, but still deserving of
favorable treatment, specifically when it comes to who will pay
for dinner.
Now, let me bring this thing home: The truly sad part for
African Americans is that neither the historic nor the
romanticized versions of tradition debated in most of today's
open forums actually belong to us.
Feminism, initiated by white women, was neither African, nor
African American. Womanism is a term rolling around the Black
community, but even it has yet to evolve into a clear message.
To be clear, strong Black men with love and respect for
womanhood have no problem being chivalrous, but we do have a
problem with freedom and feminism being situational.
We will still hold the door for women, even though far too many
neglect to offer gratitude, while some even act insulted by the
courtesy. We will still offer to let a woman walk on the inside,
and allow her to go first as a courtesy. But what we will not do
is allow women
Read on....
Beauty Korner By Cynthia Walker
For Men Only: Grooming to the Next Level
The men's market on grooming products sales is over $2 billion
worldwide. In a 2002 study, men account for 29% of spa services.
Men are slowly taking advantage of the more masculine side of
spa treatments. They are finding out the secret that women have
kept for years that various treatments like facials can relieve
stress, improve the appearance of the skin and balance mental
health through relaxation. That massage therapy and hydrotherapy
can have soothing and healing effects on the body.
With today's advance technology many other benefits are
accelerating. Television and magazines are advertising many new
products and giving men more options for caring for their skin.
This opens the door to questions regarding which products are
right for men's skin? What can men do about ingrown hairs? What
about the discoloration or bumps from shaving? What about
irritation? For some men, follicullitis (ingrown hair) may cause
a bacterial infection and inflammation and pus develops. Whether
you work inside or outside, the elements can affect your skin.
Whether your skin is healthy looking now, if you are not taking
the proper care of it, you can develop premature aging issues
later. I dedicate the next article to skin care suggestions for
men and I will address some of their concerns by answering
questions. If you have a question regarding your skin, please
e-mail: Katorikids@yahoo.com
My trip to Senegal My trip to Senegal By Dorothy C. Lewis
A Continuation from last month
On our final day in Saint Louis, the school was visited by a lot
of very important dignitaries. This is a big difference between
the US and Senegal. Really important dignitaries actually came
to the ceremony, unlike the US where we would get a
representative or someone. I was impressed. Daouda, the director
of Plan Senegal thanked us for the donations (school supplies
and clothes and money) and began crying. It was so emotional and
touching. He told us that the school supplies and money will
benefit the school for at least 18 months. What a thing!!! I was
and still am amazed at this. The clothes that we collected were
given to the children of the Village and the chief thanked us
for them. I'm telling you, what a feeling it is to really give
something to people who really and truly appreciate it. It was a
very emotional afternoon. After that, the children performed
their show for the dignitaries and we all ate and looked at the
arts & crafts that are in the Children's Museum of the African
Child in Saint Louis. I felt really proud because three of the
items I helped make is in the museum. I helped do two African
tie dyed clothes and one cross-stitched table clothe. Later that
night we had a party for all of the kids and it was really fun.
I learned how to dance like the Senegalese and they learned some
of our dance moves. I got the names and addresses of some of my
favorite young girls and boys and hopefully we can correspond. I
already received two emails from two of the young ladies. They
made my day.
The next day we returned to Dakar and met up with the other two
groups. We stayed in what they considered "downtown" but we
would consider it "industrial" section of town because the shops
sold parts for cars, refrigerators, furniture, etc. The hotel
was nice but smaller than the Novotel hotel. Of course some
people went shopping again, but I stayed at the hotel and
lounged by the poolside and interviewed some of the kids. We had
one more day of sightseeing and that was a visit to Pink Lake.
It was wonderful even though the lake wasn't pink that day due
to the rain we had the day before. The 4x4 ride over sand dunes
was really cool and fun and the visit to a Fulani village was
spectacular. The food was also good there. I will have to talk
about the food later.
The last day in Dakar was our African naming ceremony. That was
interesting but rushed because we had to change out of our
African garments into airplane travel garments and dinner was in
a hot, not well ventilated restaurant. Fallou, our tour director
said they based the names on our personalities from what they
saw of us during our visit there. My name is Fanta which is a
typical Mali, Guinea and Cote d'Ivorie name. It means "beautiful
day." I am happy with it even though it reminds me of soda,
especially since that is a popular soda in Senegal. At least I
can pronounce my name.
Our flight home was uneventful and we arrived two hours early. I
was home by 4 pm and if it weren't for talking with my mother, I
would have been in bed by 4:30 pm but ended up going to sleep
around 7 pm. I read somewhere that flying east to west, jet lag
is worse than going west to east and they are so right. Going to
Senegal, I suffered jet lag for about