Jesse? Jesse, dat you at the frigidaire???

(If you have iTunes, click this link to the Jesse Lee Peterson Radio Show and our episode is labeled “Tragedy of Black Babies” LOL. We are the last hour and start at about the 1: 28 mark.)

I didn’t want to do this interview. Let me state that upfront. In fact, when we got the initial email showing interest in having Champ and myself on the Jesse Lee Peterson show, my first reaction was, who in the hell is Jesse Lee Peterson and what part of Arkansas is he broadcasting from.

But it turns out Mr. Peterson, Jesse Lee that is, is a quite well-known and accomplished (political leanings aside and dbaggery aside, but I’ll get to that) speaker and organizer. Then came the Wikipedia page that convinced me that I was right. Mind you I’d never heard of this dude before but his list of accomplishments amazed me. This ninja thinks Obama hates white people, thanks white people for slavery, started an actual Anti-Jesse Jackson day (jury’s out on whether or not this is a good or bad thing), is a Republican, right wing extremist and conservative. And he’s a reverend. Basically, this motherf*cker is Uncle Ruckus’ ordained cousin, Rev. Ruckus.

At this point, I decided I need to seek counsel from everybody except my father who I’m pretty sure would curse me out for even considering doing this ninjas show. I talked to family members who all told me not to do it, but at the end of the day, Champ and Liz convinced me that this might be a good idea. At the very least we could have fun and if there was ever an opportunity to do some crime-fighting, this would be it.  But I felt dirty. And for the most part, my gut was right.

With that said, here are ten things that I learned while actively participating in both the best and worst radio interview and convo we’ve been apart as VSB…

1. First rule about doing a radio interview with a ninja named Jesse Lee Peterson is don’t do a radio interview with Jesse Lee Peterson.

I don’t think the guy’s a bad guy, but wow, even before we got on the horn with him I thought he needed to have Siemen’s furniture. From the outset of the show, my suspicions were confirmed. Which brings up another point…

2. There’s no way you can truly prepare for somebody who’s entire opinion and reason to be is in direct contradiction to everything you believe in life.

I imagine this is what rappers feel like visiting shows like Bill O’Reilly or what a convo with Glenn Beck would feel like. Which is interesting, I always wondered how they always seemed to have a leg up on their guests, but when you control the convo and aren’t answering questions yourself, you have that power. We somehow ended up on the defensive for the majority of that convo. Which is fine, defense wins games. But I’ll concede that he definitely tripped me up a few times…like…

3. Apparently Jesse Lee hates Black women.

Grandiose statement? Perhaps. But I’ll be damned if his presumption that most Black women are angry didn’t lead me down that path. Then again, it’s all perspective. Was he talking about the angry Black women stereotype, or legitimate anger that women can’t seem to find good men (or at least that’s what the media is telling us.) Who cares, his whole premise, initially, was that all Black women are angry. To the point where the motherf*cker asked Champ how he deals with his girlfriend’s anger.

Point here is…

4. Just because you have a Black name doesn’t mean you give two f*cks about Blackness.

In his own way, Rev Ruckus thinks he’s doing a service to Black people by exposing our faults. And he would be if he wasn’t blowing white folks in the process. Oops, did Panama just say that? Yes he did.

5. Apparently I don’t even know my own mother.

The fact that I actually got into a spirited debate with somebody about my own mother is beyond me. Which brings me to something I realize more and more when we do these interviews. We get a lot of softball questions. The first time somebody came throwing boulders, I was so taken aback (not so much that he was going to, I expected that, but how quickly out of the gate he came with it) that I actually got suckered into a dumb a** argument about my mother, a woman I’ve known my whole life. Next time, kick rocks donkeynuts.

6. While I definitely got pissed at one point, I actually found the interview to be more comical than anything.

People who know me in real life know I get amped. Like all the way turnt up amped. I rarely back down and I go in all the way. Arsonist is not just a nickname, it’s a way of life. So it took all kinds of restraint for me to be easy. Though every time I called him “bruh” or “brutha” I’m pretty sure I was really calling saying “n*gga”.

7. I’ve never sent more “is this n*gga serious” text messages in my life.

I was both tweeting and texting during the interview. I actually had to mute my self a few times just to laugh because of the pure ridiculousness of this mofo. Not only did he twist some of our words up, he also created our own conclusions for us. But then again, I know I put dude in a position to do so by not being as direct as possible. Its like media-training-by-fire. I’m learning so much. Next time a motherf*cker asks me a question, forget what I think the answer should be, all direct all the time. “Hey Panama, should I jump off of this bridge?” “Yes, Jesse Lee, you should. No question.”

8. I found myself asking myself, who the f*ck was he listening to?

More than once he put words in our mouths…um….but the “are you a good man?” question where we both said yes, and he comes back from commercial break like “well one of you said no and the other said maybe” baffled me. I watched Crackheads Gone Wild on DVD yesterday morning and THAT exchange with Rev Ruckus was the most baffling thing that happened to me yesterday.

9. I’ve learned that research is important.

While on the call, I texted Liz to ask her to find out if he was married because I wanted to go there on this dude. But I couldn’t confirm one way or another and I didn’t want to hear, “this isn’t about me, this is about you and the BS answers you both are giving.” Which he basically said when he alluded to, “why are you guys doing this since neither of you knows how to give solid answers or provide anything worthy of note for anybody, much less lab rats, hoodrats, or big booty Judy’s named Bertha. Next time, I’m gonna have a freakin’ Match.com profile sheet pulled on anybody who wants to question our credibility.

10. I don’t actually disagree all that much with his stances on things.

Well at least I don’t disagree with his ability to have countering opinions to my own. I’m obviously more liberal than I thought, which is cool. Legalize weed. But that’s the problem with liberals…we generally just want people to live and let live. Conservatives not only think that’s bullsh*t, they want to talk about why it’s bullsh*t. No wonder why hippie music died out. Everybody became Republican and started hating on the younger generations. It’s the ciiiiiiiiiiircle of life. Oh, except his BS assertion that men have no business discussing or communicating their personal issues towards women. Cromagnon arse ninja.

I felt like this was worth sharing. A sort of director’s cut of behind the scenes imagery of what’s going on in the mind of folks while we’re doing these interviews and stuff. I’ve long felt like we could do a Behind The Blog on VSB and it would be the most entertaining sh*t ever.

Sharing is caring.

If you listened, any thoughts? Criticisms? Surprises? Talk to me.

-VSB P aka THE ARSONIST aka TANGLE JIG P aka GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRL HE A 3

They're raping everyone out here

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock or one of Big Baby Davis’s boobs, you’ve undoubtedly been made aware of the negative comments Ashley Judd made about hip-hop in her upcoming memoir, “All That Is Bitter And Sweet”

“Along with other performers, YouthAIDS was supported by rap and hip-hop artists like Snoop Dogg and P. Diddy to spread the message…um, who? Those names were a red flag.

As far as I’m concerned, most rap and hip-hop music — with it’s rape culture and insanely abusive lyrics and depictions of girls and women as ‘ho’s’ — is the contemporary soundtrack of misogyny.”

Predictably, these remarks set off an internet firestorm. There were reluctantly pro Ashley articles, pro-Ashley articles, Ashley for president articles, reluctantly anti Ashley articles, anti-Ashley articles, all white b*tches must die articles, and all black n*ggers must be castrated articles. As of 11:05pm EST Wednesday night, googling “ashley judd hip-hop” returned 3,620,000 results.

It’s been a little over a week since these comments were made public. In the time since, after apparently receiving death threats from everyone from Diggy Simmons to Andrew Bynum, Ashley has “clarified,” stating (from her interview with Russell Simmons on Global Grind):

“…My intention was to take a stand to say the elements that are misogynistic and treat girls and women in a hyper-sexualized way are inappropriate. The male dominance that is displayed, and the reinforcement of girls’ and women value and identify as primarily sexual, is not helpful in any artistic expression, in any cultural form, whether its country music or in television story lines.”

She even gives a shout-out to hip-hop’s richest and most notable nihilist.

“As for the artists themselves who I mention, I write about being friendly with and enjoying Curtis Jackson’s company, then being confused when on stage his .50 personae comes out.”

(I just have to say that I’m absolutely tickled that she referred to Fiddy as .50.)

As far as whether Judd’s initial comments — particularly the “rape-culture” remark — hold water, let me share something with you.

I originally was going to title this “25 Reasons Why Ashley Judd Was Right,” and, instead of creating my own reasons, I planned to just take “rape-sympathetic” lyrics from 25 different songs made by uber-popular artists in the last two or three years and list those instead. Each genre of rap — from the South and the mixtapes to the “conscious” and the club — would have been included.

Yes, rap is much, much more than running trains, putting p*ssies in sarcophaguses, and bruising esophaguses, but no with a working brain and even one working ear can deny that hip-hop is EXTREMELY misogynistic. You can argue and debate exactly why it’s so women-hating, but you just cannot ignore the fact that it is, it has been for (at least) 20 years, and it’s getting worse.

With that being said…

I haven’t read Faith Evans’ “Keep the Faith: A Memoir.” I also haven’t read Janet Jackson’s “True You: A Journey to Finding and Loving Yourself.” And, although the cover looks nice, I’ll probably never read Victoria Rowell’s “Secrets of a Soap Opera Diva.”

But, although I’ve never read any of those books, I’m 100% certain that none of them contain any disparaging remarks about country music, grunge, metal or any other genre of music where popular artists have been accused of being misogynistic. While every person obviously has a right to speak up about injustices, I’m not so certain that hip-hop needs a country music scion to police it.

Yes, these statements were published in her memoirs, and (good) memoirs are basically published diaries — completely naked accounts of your life and your thoughts –but that’s actually my point: Why did she even feel the need to go there? I mean, when I eventually write my memoirs — “The Passion of The Deez” coming in July of 2031 — you can be certain that I’m not going to devote an entire paragraph to my feelings about Billy Ray Cyrus or Johnny Cash or Boris Yeltzen or anyone or anything else I really have no business writing about.

This isn’t a race thing either. If a white person with a bit more of a relationship to hip-hop or even a pop culture critic like a Chuck Klosterman made these remarks, fine. But, an actress whose two most notable claims to fame are A) coming out of Naomi Judd’s vagina and B) rooting for a college basketball team?¹ Miss me with that.

Anyway, people of VSB.com, what you do think about Judd’s statements? Do you think she had a valid point? And, even if you think she might have a point, how do you feel about someone like her publicly expressing it?

The carpet is yours.

¹To her credit, Judd does have a very extensive and very laudable history of women’s rights advocacy. I was told about this after I posted the entry, and this knowledge has softened my stance quite a bit. Still, I prefer my hip-hop critics to have a bit more of a connection to hip-hop culture, though

—The Champ

If you haven’t purchased the paperback or the $9.99 Kindle version of “Your Degrees Wont Keep You Warm at Night: The Very Smart Brothas Guide to Dating, Mating, and Fighting Crime” yet, what the hell is stopping you?

Download: (right click > save as)

The Champ, Panama Jackson, and Liz answer all of the questions that you didn’t even know you had about National VSB Day, our new book and its release, and other randomness that makes them good at being great.

Make sure you get on the VSB VIP e-mail list for the details on National VSB Day, free book excerpts and more.

Peep game.

Either love us or leave us alone. Except we’d rather you just listened to the podcast and then hugged a stranger.

Sadatay.

Download: (right click > save as)

Also, we take readers questions from Twitter and Facebook and realize that Panama apparently has comprehension problems, Liz has the giggles, and The Champ really loves everybody. It’s not a game. Do you know why? Because it’s a podcast.

Exactly.

Sadatay.
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-VERY SMART BROTHAS

Reminder: Peep the flyer below for details on the Master of the Mix Finale at Muse Lounge in Washington, DC, tomorrow night. Come hang with Panama Jackson the Three as he does things that 3′s do.

We’ve decided to bless you with another episode of the VSB Files. Join Panama Jackson, The Champ and Liz as we talk a little bit about what’s on our minds. Some thangs we cover in this episode:

• Jersey Shore & Guido Game
  
• Cartoon Game
  
• Montana Fishburne & Spotty Butt Problems
• Is Kanye West the most important black person of ALL TIME?
• Women and the men who are intimidated by them: fact or fiction?
  
• Our Black Weblog Award Nominations: VOTE VOTE VOTE!! You have until Aug 31st to get your votes in!
• Why P is gay
• SXSW ’11 – Hater Blocking 101: Help send Panama & Liz to Austin so we can impart our wisdom on Haters. PLEASE VOTE VOTE VOTE (short and sweet sign up here). You have until Aug 27th!
• VSB BBQ: Some plans and brainstorming

Download: (right click > save as)

We’re back, b*tches

Back for the first time and here to stay. (You know, assuming everything goes smoothly, which it most certainly never does.)
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We decided that since we are the leaders in this online love blogging game, we would hit you up with a special triple header for the official Holiday of Love.

Not only do you get Panama’s post for today, but you also get the Champ weighing in on such an important day for all you love birds. Yes, Valentine’s Day is worth a post from each of them. It’s like Speakerboxxx/The Love Below except after this, they won’t break up and pretend to still like one another.  Make sure you scroll down and peep both of their posts.

But that’s not all!!

For everyone else, P hooked up a nice lil mp3 playlist to keep you warm at night. We are participating in this year’s Cupid’s Hunt collaboration:

Cupid’s Hunt is the premiere online collaboration event where DJ and podcasters from all over the Internet release loved-themed music mixes all on the same day: Valentine’s Day!

P’s masterful mixtape of love list is called, “my mama’s music, vol. 1: music to move you”: DOWNLOAD HERE.

Tracks:
Barry White – I’ve Got So Much To Give
Marvin Gaye & Diana Ross – Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)
Con Funk Shun – Straight From The Heart
Creative Source – I’d Find You Anywhere
Marvin Gaye & Diana Ross – Just Say, Just Say
Bobby Womack – Woman’s Gotta Have It
Debra Laws – Very Special
Patrice Rushen – When I Found You
Love Unlimited – Walking In The Rain (With The One I Love)
The Flamingos – I Only Have Eyes For You
Force MD’s – Tender Love
Jermain Jackson – Castles of Sand
Earth, Wind & Fire – Reasons
The Gap Band – Yearning For Your Love
Donny Hathaway & Roberta Flack – Be Real Black For Me
Chaka Khan – Love Me Still
Lenny Williams – Because I Love You

DOWNLOAD HERE

Make sure you check out the drops by all the other participants. (Liz also posted her playlist on her blog.)

Check out the music, read our posts for today and have an awesome V-Day weekend and sh*t.

• why we need valentine’s day – the champ
• Love You For Free (Or Something Like It): Valentine’s Day Date Options That Won’t Cost You A Fortune - Panama Jackson
• Download: my mama’s music, vol. 1: music to move you

Enjoy.

Podcast Notes: This was taped in December before Christmas so all references to last week are to December. Also, because Panama decided to participate while out Christmas shopping, there are some minor spots of sound distortion and he sounds like a doof. Forgive him people for he knows not what he thinks half the time.

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-VERY SMART BROTHAS (aka Big C and lower.case.p)

It’s a celebration, b*tches. Grab a drink, grab a glass, after that we’ll grab your a**.

(BTW, did anybody else notice that Twista’s “Wetter” sounds an awful lot like Do or Die’s “Playa Like Me and You”? No. You say you don’t remember Do or Die’s song? Or Do or Die? Ok. Alright.)

BONUS: Make sure you listen after the podcast ends for the World Premiere of the debut song from Mr. Oh So Sexxy, “Sexxy Two Piece”.

Download/Save As: The Cornerstone of Pimpology

Alternate download link

EXTRA BONUS: Download a copy of the Official VSB Theme Song