tag:hollaback.org,2005:/blogs/blogBlog2022-05-13T07:31:26-02:00HOLLA'BACK RECORDS, ENTERTAINMENT & MANAGEMENT, LLC.falsetag:hollaback.org,2005:Post/64563402020-10-15T14:39:53-02:002022-05-13T07:31:26-02:00Pharrell Williams & Jay Z-Entrepreneurs or Hypocrites?<p><span class="font_large"><strong>Entrepreneur</strong></span>: A valiant, yet failed, Hypocritical effort to promote Black Entrepreneurship through Song</p>
<p>“It’s sort of like singing, but different!” Sir, you would have a truly magnificent voice if your lower register had the power and clarity that is so obviously lacking in your upper register!”</p>
<p>These are two of the many quotes I desperately researched and found to adequately describe the painfully tone deaf presentation of Pharrell Williams in his and Jay-Z’s recent release of the song and Video “Entrepreneur.</p>
<p>To have two of “the biggest artists of all time or “Black Men '' collaborate and praise the very people they've garnered their succe$$es off of the back$ of, unapologetically, is truly disdainful and quite frankly, hypocritical! Please allow me to elaborate!</p>
<p>Aside from homeownership, Entrepreneurship provides the second best opportunity for the “Black Man” to achieve generational wealth/success. With that being said, the images presented throughout the video were, indeed, powerful and profound! However,....</p>
<p><strong>Entrepreneur #1</strong>- <em><strong>Pharrell Williams</strong></em></p>
<p>A) In 2019, Williams et. al. was finally found guilty of copying an iconic and legendary “Black Man’s” hit single “Got to Give it Up” and using it to create Blurred Lines. Marvin Gaye’s Estate was forced to sue Pharrell et. al. and was, eventually, awarded approximately $5M in this historic ruling. Although this was the first time he was found guilty of “track jacking,” this certainly was not Pharrell’s first time at the “alleged” Intellectual Property theft rodeo, for...</p>
<p>B) In or about 2014, Pharrell attempted to trademark the name of his “creative venture and way of life I Am Other.” However, Will.i.am objected saying that people could confuse the two companies, leading to legal action and eventually a settlement.</p>
<p>C) Williams has been charged with numerous other copyright infringement lawsuits/charges of copying filed or alleged by other artists including: 1) Boone v. Jackson et. al- (Holla’back v. Young’N Holla’back-2006) 2) Peter Currin- (I’m Frontin v. Frontin-2010) 3) Geggy Tah-(Feel Like Me vs. Whoever You Are-2009) 4) Richard Morrill- (Who's got My Lighter vs. Spark the Fire) 5) Anne Marsen-Happy Video vs. Girl Walk All Day)..and others. To have been continuously alleged and now officially charged with Intellectual Property improprieties against many “Entrepreneurs” and pretend to encourage and champion such may suggest that Mr. Williams may be no better than a Common Thief, an “Imposter” and/or“Hypocrite” as opposed to an authentic “Entrepreneur.”</p>
<p><strong>Entrepreneur #2</strong><em><strong>-JayZ </strong></em></p>
<p>Jay partnered with the completely and totally White Owned NFL league to “amplify the league’s social justice efforts' ' while simultaneously denigrating a “Black Man’s”(Colin Kapernick’s) now infamous and iconic Civil Rights campaign of the century. This convenient partnership, to many, gave the league justification for the allegations of blackballing and treatment of Colin Kapernick which called attention to the racial injustices and police brutality faced by “Black Men.” By professing that “Black Men'' should “ be past kneeling” Jay’s sentiment now rings hollow to everyone other than himself (at the time of his Partner$hip with the NFL) and Derick Chauvin (the white police officer whom we watched suffocate the life out of George Floyd), by doing exactly what Jay declared we should have been past…”kneeling”... on the necks of our “Black Men.” Additionally, as recently critiqued by former NBA Star Stephon Marbury, this same Entrepreneur has, admittedly, profited off of illegal, immoral and potentially life threatening actions of illegal drug sales to the very “Black Man” he raps about. “At an early age, between choosing to get a low-paying ‘decent’ job, he opted to get a high-paying ‘indecent job’ – drug selling. Marcy Projects in Brooklyn, his place of upbringing, was heavily infested with drug abuse and hence it soon became a money prospect for the young Shawn Carter. It all ended when he surrendered himself completely to rap music.)</p>
<p>Could such behaviors have contributed to the destruction and negative life consequences for the very same “Black Men” he raps about? Or, has he indeed “grown” and “atoned for” these indiscretions by all of his philanthropic actions and criminal justice reform initiatives supporting many of his former prey/individuals residing in the very same poverty stricken neighborhoods he allegedly preyed upon?</p>
<p>Perhaps... and we must commend him for such if that is, indeed the case. However, will those directly affected by such actions be as forgiving... if still alive?</p>
<p>In summary, at what point do we hold these admittedly talented “Black Men” fully accountable for their hypocritical stances and demand that the messages we send to our children are from the messengers we want our children to, truly, emulate?</p>
<p>Should we stop propping our “Black Men”up to be iconic “Entrepreneurs” by parading them in front of our children at Virtual Graduation celebrations/television shows as some sort of “heroes” when, in fact, much of their succe$$ has consciou$ly or unconscious$ly to been achieved on the “necks” and “backs” of “Black Men” everywhere?</p>
<p>Your thoughts...Holla’back!</p>HOLLA'BACK RECORDS, ENTERTAINMENT & MANAGEMENT, LLC.tag:hollaback.org,2005:Post/64563352020-10-15T14:22:01-02:002020-10-15T14:22:01-02:00An Open Letter to Kobe Bryant prior to his untimely demise<p><em><strong>Mamba is Out</strong></em>. RIP Kobe. I pray that the piece I wrote on the day of your retirement found its way to you and your family, for Mamba, is now Out! May 26, 2016, 12:03 PM Here is a letter written to Kobe, the day after his final game sent to many analysts, newspapers and, suddenly, this was an issue. Holla'back was told, over 20 years ago, we were way ahead of the game....SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE & .........SOME THINGS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN</p>
<p><em><strong>BASKETBALL: AN OPEN LETTER TO KOBE BRYANT</strong></em></p>
<p>As I watched, with the millions of other fans, worldwide, your spectacular farewell performance last evening, a sudden and profound sadness foreshadowed the jubilation and proclamations of greatness cast over your brilliant twenty year professional career. For we, my husband and I know the pride of a parent seeing their child perform at a high level, as an elite college athlete.</p>
<p>We know the pride felt and shared our child’s emotions when her final game was played; not on a national level, yet on a level that strangers certainly cherish; yet parents forever relish!</p>
<p>For such brilliance was not borne in a vacuum. Such brilliance was cultivated from the time spent wallowing in the space of your mother’s womb. Such brilliance was cultivated by the endless sleepless nights spent with you and your sibling(s) as children; the nights you were ill or simply dissatisfied with losing one of the thousands of amateur games played prior to rising into the international/professional ranks. The financial and other sacrifices of time spent shuttling you to and fro'; all culminating in the tremendous success and adulation bestowed upon your spectacular career, this great and final night. Yet, they may have sat, just like the writer of this piece, watching from afar, as you celebrated with someone else’s parent; as you hugged someone else’s sibling; as you kissed and cherished, as you well should, your wife and their beautiful granddaughters; whom never would have the opportunity to bask in your glory had it not been for your parents’ unconditional love and sacrifices.</p>
<p>And, no, you owe them nothing.</p>
<p>And yes, there are things that you and they well know that the world, nor the writer of this piece, does not regarding your relationship and the struggles endured. Family struggles that are certainly different from others’; yet, make no mistake, are experienced and endured by most.</p>
<p>Yet, what I do know is that you may not get another twenty years to hug them as you hugged “your family”..they will not get another day to see/ live your brilliance at the professional level; another day to witness your final game scoring sixty points. For, that baby faced assassin, killer instinct, drive, determination and will came from somewhere! They are the beginning…and somewhere in the middle, you may have drifted apart, for reasons we, the public, may never know nor need to! Yet I pray that there is the slightest of possibilities that an attempt can be made to mend the broken pieces of that potentially severed relationship well before your original family’s “final shot clock” officially expires! For, as you now know when it’s over…Mamba Out!</p>
<p><em><strong>CarlaB.</strong></em></p>HOLLA'BACK RECORDS, ENTERTAINMENT & MANAGEMENT, LLC.tag:hollaback.org,2005:Post/60650372013-01-08T15:11:28-02:002020-10-15T14:44:47-02:00Django UnChained-Spike Lee's Commentary
<p>Despite hearing the negative chatter spewed by Spike Lee, I ventured out to watch Jamie Fox' movie DJango Unchained. </p>
<p>At a time where the Entertainment Industry continues to promote the most useless, mindless, unimaginative movies and pointless remakes <strong><em>EVER (if they are not, allegedly</em></strong>, stealing the most creative pieces from Independent Artists-See News JoUrnal) At LAST, one of the best movies created in years!</p>
<ol>
<li>Our history is not a fairy tale, it is painful, it is not funny...true; yet, this wonderfully written piece tells a painful fairy tale/story, yet depicts the realities of this horrific time in a realistic way that clearly shows how: ridiculous, inhumane, narrow-minded, confused the oppressors (SOMETIMES, in the name of the lord) were toward one race of people in a lighthearted yet extremely prolific way. And then, the victim wins! </li>
<li>What's wrong with art...imitating life? Especially when such will provoke much needed discussion and perhaps open someone's eyes into realizing how horrific, narrow minded and painful this time was and will always be for us.</li>
</ol>
<p>Can one truly be a god fearing, Bible toting Christian and not only orchestrate and watch the brutal murder of any human being by sicking vicious dogs on another and cheer such behaviors on? Can you, as a human being, without prejudice or pure hate in your heart condone this type of behavior (at any time or against any one)? Can you justify the brutal beatings/punishments for minor offenses such as breaking eggs or simply being born the wrong color and still call yourself a human being? </p>
<p>If this movie provokes one racist, bigot to rethink his/her positions on race, homosexuality, ANYTHING about another group of people, it has served a noble purpose; a greater purpose than un researched commentary from an obsolete filmaker.</p>
<p>This is Hollywood, at its best...and here is Hollywood at its worst...BUSINESS AS USUAL..the white actors are nominated for Golden Globes while the black star and co-stars are left out. How ironic, yet typical.</p>
<p>Here's where your complaints should lie, Mr. Lee..go write something, ANYTHING...you're way overdue AND THIS MAY BE why you HATE! You were not too far off with your criticisms of Tyler Perry's continuous, long-drawn out and overdue retirement of Madea, but you have clearly missed the mark on this one brother! </p>
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