Ill Doctrine

On Cory Booker and the Young Money Clique

jsmooth@hiphopmusic.com (Jay Smooth) — Wed, 23 May 2012 13:42:38 -0500

click the picture to see the video

How could Newark's superstar Mayor Cory Booker screw up so badly in new his role as surrogate for the Obama campaign? As a wise man named Deion Sanders once told us, it must be the money.

Don't Freak Out About the White Babies

jsmooth@hiphopmusic.com (Jay Smooth) — Fri, 18 May 2012 18:17:38 -0500

(click the image to see the video)

Helping America adjust to the news that for the first time in history, a majority of American babies born in the last year were minorities. Music by Sabzi of Common Market

The Hidden Truth About Hip-Hop Conspiracy Theories (and some Ill Doctrine news))

jsmooth@hiphopmusic.com (Jay Smooth) — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:42:28 -0500

(click the image to see the video)

The hip-hop internet has been buzzing about an anonymous letter entitled ""The Secret Meeting that Changed Rap Music and Destroyed a Generation" and we have the EXCLUSIVE scoop on the secret order behind this shadowy intrigue. Starting this week I'll be premiering new videos at Animal NY, see this video's page for more details. I'll let you know here when new videos drop. Which will be more often. For context and equal time, here are some previous takes on the idea that hip-hop's (d)evolution might have been deliberately orchestrated behind the scenes:

Quick Thoughts on the Trayvon Martin Case

jsmooth@hiphopmusic.com (Jay Smooth) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 08:54:38 -0500

By "quick" I mean long-winded. I'm still testing out this new camera (see below the fold), but while I'm at it I gotta at least talk a bit about the Trayvon story.

Live CopperWire on the Railroad

jsmooth@hiphopmusic.com (Jay Smooth) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 12:54:52 -0500

On Friday we got a visit from the groundbreaking Ethiopian-American Intergalactic hip-hop collective CopperWire, who blessed us with a great interview and performance. See a snippet of their performance above and complete audio below. (We had the honor of Jasiri X coming through as well, video coming soon for that.) Copperwire on WBAI 4/27/12 by jsmooth995

"Phony" (A Song for Mitt Romney)

jsmooth@hiphopmusic.com (Jay Smooth) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:09:39 -0500

A song for Mitt Romney by my alter-ego Republican Jay Smooth. After Jay-Z recorded "Glory" to welcome his new daughter into the world, I wondered what it would sound like if Republican voters made a song to welcome Mitt Romney as their now-inevitable nominee. Lyrics below.

First Thoughts on Gingrich and Romney

jsmooth@hiphopmusic.com (Jay Smooth) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:04:01 -0500

Some freeform thoughts on this increasingly weird race, form right after the South Carolina primary. Transcript up soon. Theme music provided by Sabzi of the Blue Scholars & Das Racist.

My Personal Pledge for the "Until Abortion Ends" Movement

jsmooth@hiphopmusic.com (Jay Smooth) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 09:47:08 -0500

Also see addendum here. Music provided by Sabzi of Common Market/Blue Scholars/Das Racist. Transcript here (thanks to feministing!)

My TEDx Talk, "How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Discussing Race."

jsmooth@hiphopmusic.com (Jay Smooth) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:37:38 -0500

This is the TEDx Talk I gave at Hampshire College last month, my first time doing this type of presentation but the school's all-star organizers and audience made it a great experience. Much thanks to everyone at Hampshire College for putting this event together, you should check out all the talks from that day, I felt like they each touched on related themes and complemented each other really well. Special thanks to my good friend (and Hampshire alum, coincidentally) Joe Schloss for the conversations that helped inspire the talk. Text adaptation of the speech below. (thanks to Cat deVice!)

Herman Cain's New Campaign Ad

jsmooth@hiphopmusic.com (Jay Smooth) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 11:11:23 -0500

A little parody I put up last night of the already legendary "smoking" promo by Herman Cain's campaign chief Mark Block (see the original here).

Occupy Wall Street: Outing The Ringers

jsmooth@hiphopmusic.com (Jay Smooth) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 17:36:02 -0500

A few thoughts on Occupy Wall Street..I've been watching it and going down there for a while now but hadn't had a chance to speak on it. By the way when I say some news media people are "ringers," I don't necessarily mean that they deliberately obfuscate, or get orders from some shadowy figure to do so. I think they'll often just have a personal investment in the system and status quo that's being critiqued/threatened, so they'll naturally--without any need to conspire--have their perception skewed by an instinct to protect the status quo they're invested in. So though it's quite possibly not their intention to play the ringer, it's the function they wind up serving nonetheless. "Rainbow in the Dark" instrumental provided by Das Racist:

On Rick Perry and Superman

jsmooth@hiphopmusic.com (Jay Smooth) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 13:58:21 -0500

Just stating the obvious about this soundbite from last weekend where Rick Perry compares himself to the Man of Steel. (I'm sure I'm not the first to point this out) Also worth noting that Superman himself has come to reconsider his relationship with America and the world.

12 Other Songs Ashford & Simpson Wrote

jsmooth@hiphopmusic.com (Jay Smooth) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 22:46:47 -0500

Tonight came the sad news that (along with fellow songwriting great Jerry Leiber) Nick Ashford passed away today. For those who know Ashford & Simpson only for "Solid As A Rock," here are a few of the other classics they gave us:

On Lauryn Hill and Shaking the Vending Machine

jsmooth@hiphopmusic.com (Jay Smooth) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 15:30:34 -0500

Just a few thoughts on Lauryn's good news last week. For those who have been asking: I'm not sure I have anything to add about the debt ceiling farce, that hasn't been said already, but I did post about it here.

People's Champion: The Eli Porter Documentary

jsmooth@hiphopmusic.com (Jay Smooth) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 15:49:23 -0500

People's Champion: Behind the Battle from Trent Babbington on Vimeo.

I've been sidelined from making videos by getting a tooth pulled, and should be back on it this week. but in the meantime here's a newly released documentary about hip-hop's viral "I deed it" sensation from a few years ago, Eli Porter. I haven't had a chance to watch it yet, but I look forward to seeing what happens when you explore the human story behind this type of internet meme. I appear in the film briefly, in my capacity as expert in the field of Random Internet Stuff.