LUPE-PHANY

Lupephany (definition) - That moment when the realization of the profundity of a certain section of a Lupe Fiasco song hits you like a cannon ball in the head.
Also sometimes called a 'some times it be like dang!' moment. It is usually triggered by the sudden elucidation of a metaphor or allegory used in one of the verses in the song and is in extreme cases accompanied the gaining of a whole new perspective on the song.

Root of the word:
Lupe Fiasco - the world famous 3 time Grammy nominated rapper/lyricist extraordinaire, leader of the f n' f crew and one of the deepest minds out in the entertainment industry right now.

Epiphany - a sudden realization or comprehension of the essence or meaning of something.

(The word is suspected to have been coined by me while walking from his apartment to the FAC.)

I just had one of these today and it blows my mind every time. If you've had a lupephany feel free to comment and tell me what it was.

And so it seems.... that you got me :)

Last night I went to the greatest concert I have seen thus far! Get this... THE ROOTS!! And as if that wasn't enough, LUPE FIASCO as the opening act! It was crazy. Needless to say, my voice was already gone by the time the opening act was over.
Then Lupe came on. It was ridiculous!! I can remember the crazy feeling when "Instrumental" began to play!! I thought my head would explode! It sounds even better live and literally 3 feet from Lupe Fiasco himself! I was there droppin' lyrics with the best of em', me and my African crew. I seriously could have watched him perform the entire album, but alas! (I can't believe people don't say that here), it was not to be.

Ude Lupe

The roots came on stage playing an assortment of percussion instruments and proceeded to rile up the crown with all manner of stage theatrics including a musical battle between an electrical guitar and a tuba! under the masterful hands of Kirk and Tuba Gooding jr.
The music defied conventional classification, I gave up trying somewhere between Justin Timberlake’s 'Bringing sexy back' and The Polices 'Roxanne'. Then there were Roots staples like "you got me" that just blew everyone’s mind.

The ROOTS!

The thing that really topped it all off though was how chilled out they all were, the whole band, save for questlove, came and chilled and took pictures with the Afro-fantastic crew! It was amazing!



Notice how the audience is almost overpowering the Lupe! rediculous!

And thus begins the Johny k book club

I have been coming across some really good litarature of late and for the first time in a long time I am actually finding the time to read books outside those prescribed by my sylabus.
To celebrate this new found freedom I have decided to Let you know what books I have found particularly amusing or enlightening and recommends them to you. I may or may not go into an in depth analysis of each title depending on how much time I have and how compelled I feel to do so.

The first book I will recommend is 'The blacker the berry' by Wallace Thurman which, incidentally, I came a cross in one of my classes last semester (Intro to African American History; wonderful class).
The book mainly deals with the issue of colorism and preference for light skin within the black community. It is set, for the most part against the backdrop of the Harlem Renaissance, a time period that have become increasingly fascinated by.
Wallace Thurman provides a short but enthralling ride through one African American girls journey of self discovery and through this journey tackles colorism, racial uplift, identity and self worth among other issues.
All in all, its a really nice read and a worthy first book for the Johny k book club!

Thoughts on loyalty in Africa

A week or so ago, bbc.co.uk had a comments request on a topic that I have strong oppinions on; whether tribal loyalties tramp national loyalties in Africa. I was lazy and missed the opportunity to post up my comment. Hence I have decided to post it up on the second most trusted news source in the world, facebook!

I contend that loyalty in Africa in the context of the question above is a generational issue. The generation of our fathers have little or no loyalty to the nations they govern and consider tribes as communities more deserving of theiraliegence. Our generation on the other hand identifies more strongly with the nations we are from

I think this is an important issue to look at because it is one of the things that signify a big rift between the generation of our fathers i.e. those that were present 40+ years ago when each of our African countries were gaining the independence, and our generation i.e the 20- somethings (and 30-somethings to some extent).

When most of our fathers were born there was no such thing as the republic of Kenya or Uganda or Nigeria. In my particular case, my parents were born into the British East African protectorate, an organizational entity that neither sought nor deserved their loyalty. They had no nation to call their own. They were ruled by foreigners who's interests were in exploiting the lands natural resources and repatriating profits back to England. The tribe was the most legitimate unit to which one was expected to pledge allegiance. And thus that is what they did by enlarge.

When Independence came, the nations we currently live in were thrust upon them and as history will attest they were for the most part ill prepared for these responsibilities. There was now a new organizational unit that no doubt held more legitimacy than the protectorate but was still an amorphous amalgam of many little tribes that in some cases had a history violent conflict. They were expected to all of a sudden kiss and make up because someone had drawn a line around their lands and declared them a nation. Needless to say this was an irrational expectation and, given the circumstances, things might have turned out a lot worse than they have been, at least in Kenya. Without a truly compelling reason to shift loyalties, their allegiance remained in the tribe.

Our generation on the other had is the first to be born into these new nations. They are all we have ever known and hold just as much legitimacy as the tribes into which we were born. Of course we still have to contend with the influence of parents, elders and leaders whose mindsets are still tribally based, but we regard being Kenyan, Nigerian or Cameroonian more as a matter of fact than a matter of choice and this makes it much easier for us to ally our selves with country rather than tribe. This is one of the oft ignored generational differences that will make a big difference in the way Africa emerges from its ashes in the years to come.

So to tie it all up, the generation of our parents are understandably more aligent to their tribes than they are to they countries, but it is quite the opposite with our generation.

The mind is a single stream pipeline instrument

Recently I have been blowin up my wind with some knowledge of Lupe Fiascos latest album. I like that it makes me think and entertains me as well. these two, contrary to popular wisdom and not mutually exclusive ends.

Dont be fooled, with your mind, its garbage in, garbage out..

Here is a verse from the song American terrorist by lupe:

we came through the storm nooses on our necks
and a smallpox blanket to keep us warm
on a 747 on the pentagon lawn
wake up the alarm clock is connected to a bomb
anthrax lab on a w. virginia farm
shorty aint learned to walk already heavily armed
civilians and little children is especially harmed
camoflouged torahs, bibles and glorious qurans
the books that take you to heaven and let you meet the Lord there
have become misinterpreted, reasons for warfare
we read em with blind eyes i guarantee u there's more there
the rich must be blind b/c they didnt see the poor there
need to open up a park, just close 10 schools
we dont need em
can u please call the fire department they're down here marchin for freedom
burn down their TV's, turn their TV's on to teach em