Zeale

dangerousNEGRO was in the building at KRS-One’s Stop The Violence Tour in Houston this past weekend. Hosted by M1 from dead prez, we knew we were in for an exciting show. As the anticipation built up for The Blastmaster KRS-One to rip the stage, an act surprisingly stole the show!

Sounding like a Slim Shady/Andre 3000 hybrid, Zeale (pronounced Zilly) took the stage in front of a restless crowd. As usual, spectators were a bit skeptical of hearing brand new material. Zeale gripped the mic and rocked the spot like very few emcees can! Listening to Zeale was like hearing Hip Hop in the the 23rd century. As he performed “Haterz and Robotz,” I found myself checking my phone to make sure I was still in the year 2009. Just when I was assured that I was indeed only 9 years into the new millenium, Zeale’s hypeman started taking words from the audience, which Zeale in turn threw into a freestyle. Everyone’s jaw dropped as Zeale figured out a way to spontaneously rhyme “revolutionary,” “apathy,” “combustion,” and several other words on the spot. I came to see arguably the greatest rapper of all time in KRS-One, and left grinning about the birth of the new legend – ZEALE.

After his show, I knew I had to reach out to the cat. He is the epitome of Young. Gifted. Black. Peep the exclusive interview he granted dangerousNEGRO:

1. What makes you a dangerous emcee?
My arsenal. I have mastered an acclaimed ability to freestyle with and as one of the best in the world. (World Rap Championship Finalist, NY) I have also proven to have one of the most dangerously hype live shows and a ridiculous ability to capture “swagger” in my recording and song writing capabilities.

2. Who are some of your influences (musical and otherwise)?

Obama, MLK, Talib Kweli, BIG, Jay-Z, Outkast, Radiohead, Pink Floyd

3. What is your goal in this whole Hip Hop thing?

To become one of the greatest performers and lyricist to date. And I will.

4. Spit your dopest bar to date!

“I’m here to stay, and I won’t go away…So I’m like racism in the U.S.A.”

5. Who are your top 5 dead or alive?

Jay-Z, BIG, Andre 3000, Nas, Eminem (Young Eminem)

6. What can we expect from you in the next year?

International notoriety, national movie appearance, more releases, bigger tours, more “dangerousness”

-Check my myspace at www.zeale32.com

Be on the lookout for this brother…. The future is now!

www.dangerousnegro.com

If you don’t know about dangerousNEGRO, read about us.  For those of you that do know about us, you may wonder why we chose the name dangerousNEGRO, or even why what we’re doing is so important.

To answer the first question, the name dangerousNEGRO is a tribute to past Afrikan and Afrikan American leaders throughout history who were dangerous because they posed a threat to the status quo and made a significant positive impact on the Black community.  Some people may have a problem with the term Negro; frankly speaking these people don’t know the history of the term.  DuBois, Garvey, Malcolm X, and Dr. King all used this term to describe Black people.  In another 20 years, the term “Black” will probably be seen in the same light as “Negro” is today, but it is what it is.

To the second point.  dangerousNEGRO is important for the same reason conscious rap is important.  We are the Nas and the Dead Prez of the clothing industry.  Most artists just make you dance or nod your head a bit, but conscious artists make you think as well.  Other clothing lines may simply have interesting designs and be very artistic, funny, or display your social/economic status.  We use your body as a billboard to advertise social consciousness and group identity in an attempt to uplift the Black community and people who identify with it.  Mainstream media and fashion are waging an ideological war against positive Black images by glorifying coonery and all types of negative Black stereotypes, we are the soldiers fighting back.  We are a visual representation of the Black Empowerment Movement.  Our clothing line is our uniform.

It is important for there to be alternative viewpoints coming from Black folks other that what you see in mainstream media because ideas and ideology have power to influence individuals consciously and sub-consciously.  It’s important for socially aware people to be able to identify with other people who share their interests so they know they are not alone.  There are plenty of us out there that don’t fall into those boxes they try to put us in, and wearing dangerousNEGRO is one way you can display to the world that you are one of those people.  The more of us we see out there, the more we can be confident in our power to get together and improve things on a massive level.

dangerousNEGRO is committed to Black empowerment, we just happen to use fashion and entertainment as a means to that end.  When you see someone wearing dangerousNEGRO there’s a high probability that they share our commitment.

Equality in a society based on one group dominating all others is a revolutionary concept.  MLK was a revolutionary.

Don’t get it twisted, despite the watered-down, docile version of the man they show you on TV and in tributes around this time of year MLK was really a revolutionary.  The reason he’s not with us today is because those revolutionary tendencies were showing through with more force with regard to the war in Vietnam and the economic empowerment of poor people in this nation.  He was truly a dangerous Negro, a Black man that defied that status quo and couldn’t be controlled like some of his contemporaries that are still with us today.

The media likes to portray this religious-based, non-violent movement lead by the Civil Rights leaders of the day, but they don’t tell you the true ramifications of MLK’s movement and how dangerous it really was to the white businessmen that controlled (and still control) this country.  Why was this non-violent movement so powerful?  Why were sit-ins so effective?  Non-violence may have been justified with scriptures from the Bible, but there were actually very practical reasons for this strategy:

1) We were in no position to go up against the government’s military might.  Don’t fight a battle you can’t win. Not resorting to violence gave us the moral advantage which is effective in getting PR and support from possible domestic and international allies.  In a supposedly Christian nation “under God,” it’s hard not to see something wrong with armed men physically abusing unarmed women and children.  It also showed how dishonorable and cowardly the police were, which is an embarrassment to national pride.

2) Sit-ins were more than just a mere annoyance for white business owners.  It messed with their cash flow, and we know how these people get when you mess with their money.  The reason these tactics don’t work anymore is because they’re old and played out and the leaders that use them either don’t know the purpose behind them or don’t really care.  You have to find new and more disruptive ways to make a negative financial impact against these racist companies that are alive and well today in 2009.  For example, go into a bank and fill up the lines with people opening up and closing bank account with the minimum deposit.  Open an account with $25 at 9:00, make small deposits/withdrawals at the counter every 30 minutes or so, and repeat step 2 every day for as long as the protest lasts.  Then at the end, close the account.  Or send a ton of people to a store to buy the cheapest thing they have and return it.  Anything to prevent real customers from patronizing the business for long periods of time is effective.

See Dr. King was only getting started with achieving political/civil rights.  When they killed him he was starting to focus more on economic empowerment and building international alliances with other poor brown countries (because that’s what Black America is in essence, having never really been accepted into the general population).  The American intelligence agencies know how powerful a unified Black population is especially when they flex their economic muscles and they believe this could pose a national security risk (i.e. COINTELPRO).  Any Black man that was capable leading this unified population was bought, coerced into submission, or killed.  Like Nas said, “No revolutionary gets old, or so I’m told.  You’re left full of bullet holes when you tell the people go free.”

On this day of remembrance for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., let us honor his name by remembering the man depicted by the mainstream media, but also the man they don’t show you; the one you have to read about on your own. Honor him by reading and learning why he was so dangerous that they decided to prematurely end his life. Learn, and teach the children, about the life of a revolutionary; not some socially acceptable, passive shadow of the man he really was.

Check out these two new designs by dN|Be apparel.

The whole situation around Oscar Grant is ridiculous and for every one of these incidents that hits the news, you gotta believe that there’s countless others.  It’s ok to get mad and vent that frustration via protests and whatnot, but we also need results.  When things like this happen we need to at least try to work within the system to get justice if for no other reason than to say that we tried, so if/when it fails they’ll know why they suddenly see ish burning to the ground.  One organization that efficiently works within the system is colorofchange.org.  Please visit, sign up, and support.

In what universe is this acceptable behavior? I’m not sure if anything so cowardly and barbaric has ever been recorded. This makes the Rodney King beating look like a walk in the park. An officer of the law ended a man’s life over what? What could Oscar Grant have possibly said that warranted a bullet to the back?

Last February I found myself and a close friend in a very similar situation. I was scheduled to speak at Indiana State University the next morning when my buddy decided to show me around Indianapolis. We stopped at a club downtown where we were promised VIP entrance by the venue’s promoter. As we waited for entrance, a few overly aggressive police officers told us we were not allowed to wait for the promoter to grant us entrance and that we must exit the immediate vicinity. After trying to explain our situation one officer promptly cuffed my friend. When I objected to this, the other officer who was standing behind me sucker punched me in the back of the head. As I turned around to protect myself, I was forced to the ground, cuffed, and hit again by both officers repeatedly. They encouraged me to “keep talking” so they could gladly provide more severe punishment, as a third cop instigated the incident. After busting my ear lobe open, the officers leaned me against their police car in the freezing cold weather and left me there for about 30 minutes. Once I finally convinced them to let me go, they threatened more punishment if I did not immediately leave the premises without knowledge of their badge numbers and names. This all took place in front of a nightclub where hundreds of people stood in line awaiting entrance. Nobody moved or attempted to come to my aid.

The police are the gateway to the American Criminal Justice System. They seek the “criminals” that fill up our jails. Who do you turn to when the guardians of the law exceed commonly justifiable behavior? The law? Hmm… How can the law hold the guardians of the law accountable when they exceed the law? Look at the results of the Rodney King beating, the Sean Bell shooting, and Amadou Diallo incident. Justice was not served. Our current laws, law enforcement officials, and the American Criminal Justice System cannot bring justice in their current form.

I propose that President Obama develops a bill to restructure the criminal justice system as we know it. In this bill I encourage uniform police behavior standards across all 50 states. I also advocate the downfall of prison privitization, as this fuels the prison industrial complex. Laws need to be changed, beginning with those that affect non violent offenders. Change is needed. How many times will we allow what you just saw to happen from coast to coast before we lobby our government for CHANGE?

***UPDATE***

Still not seeing a trend here?  When are we going to do something about this?  How many times will we accept that it was just a police “mistake” when a young Black man is brutally assaulted by law officials?

click on the “Read More” link below to find out the answer

Thomas Jefferson was the first U.S. President (under the Constitution) with Afrikan blood.  dangerousNEGRO is NOT a credible source of scholarly information, so look it up for yourself.  You can start with Five Negro Presidents by J.A. Rogers.