The Devil's Symphony

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...Gretchen always had the knack of a requiring a by-the-minute rundown of the events Randall covered, and lately, she has become even more hands-on, given the rising violence on the scene. In some ways, Randall was surprised that Gretchen was was not only fine with him attending these events, but enjoyed the small uptick in readership, due in no small part to Randall’s coverage.

All Randall had to do was show up, grab a seat, take some notes and be out. In and out, Randall muttered to himself, laughing at the obvious lie. Because it has never been in and out at any of these shows, and Randall seemed to he hanging out around these venues more than before. 

The Liacouras Center hosted its fair share of concerts, and usually, there’s no drama whatsoever. It also mattered that the police have began to ramp up their patrols of Temple’s campus to the point where now, you couldn’t flick a burnt end without hitting a Temple University Public Safety Officer.

Randall searched his mind for the last time there were a shooting or other such violence following an event at the center, and could only come up with a brawl that happened after a boxing match. Aside from that, Randall couldn’t think of any other incidences.

Drying off and wrapping himself in one of Ivey’s Rita Marley towels, Randall cracked the bathroom door to allow some of the steam to escape.

Randall took a hard look at himself in the mirror. Randall noticed little wrinkles beginning to form around his eyes, and that his beard was coming in a little a raggedy. 

Out of habit, Randall inched closer and closer to the mirror, again bringing his nose within a hair of the image staring back at him. Through some inner compulsion, Randall titled his head to the left, and watched as the image also tilted its head. 

Randall then quickly titled his head to the right, and for a split-second, Randall thought the image was a moment or two too slow in mimicking his moves.

“Gotcha,” Randall whispered, chuckling at the image, which chuckled back.

Ivey, well out of earshot, watched as Randall analyzed himself in the mirror.

This isn’t the first time Ivey spied Randall talking to himself in the mirror. At first, Ivey wasn’t worried, and chalked it up to one of Randall’s quirks. But lately, Randall seemed to be doing it more often - and talking to himself for longer spots of time.

Ivey filed that in her mind and gently smiled at Randall, who met her eyes after concluding his mirror chat.

“You have the softest eyes,” Randall said. “But they always tell on you.”

Ivey had to laugh. “Oh yeah, Sherlock? What am I thinking right now?”

“That you must’ve hooked up with one crazy dude who likes to talk to himself in the mirror.” Randall smiled at Ivey as her eyes indeed betrayed her. “Don’t worry baby; I’m just giving myself the once over and making sure I’m still sane.”

With that, Randall exited the bathroom, kissed Ivey on the forehead and retrieved his clothes from her closet.

Randall always kissed Ivey on the forehead after showering, which was Ivey’s cue to roll a fresh Entourage while she watched him get dressed. She always took this moment to enjoy the reverse strip show.

Since Ivey didn’t spin on Wednesdays, she had no reason to get up and get dressed, and instead continued lounging in panties and snug t-shirt. As Randall finished dressing, Ivey lit the blunt and passed it to Randall.

“So, what do you think of this meeting with Gretchen? I think she has a thing for you,” Ivey said, gently elbowing Randall in the ribs. “Am I going to lose you to your editor? You know I’ll beat a bitch up for you, right?” Ivey then stood up and flexed her muscles like Hulk Hogan. “These biceps are no joke.”

Randall couldn’t help but laugh as Ivey struck a faux boxing stance and mimed like she was in a tussle. “Because I’ll hit that hoe with this left, right, right and left,” Ivey said, right before holding both fists in the air like a newly-crowned welterweight. “I’m the greatest!” 

Randall took a drag of the blunt and shook his head while watching Ivey jog in a mini-circle, still with her hands up, going full Muhammad Ali. Randall grabbed her by the waist and kissed the back of her neck.

“Slow down champ, and catch this,” Randall said, while passing the blunt to Ivey. “If there’s one person you don’t have to worry about, it’s white girl Gretchen. I just think she is overly fascinated by my ‘tales from the ‘hood.’ She always seems engrossed by what is pretty much commonplace occurrences.”

After a long inhale, hold and exhale, Ivey’s face turned serious.

But reputation goes a long way, and after a series of  phones calls and checks with numerous third-party individuals who knew of me and my work, I found myself on the phone with Farrakhan, both amazed and astounded that I was actually about to talk with someone of such magnitude. 

I have spoken with several prominent figures in all realms of society, including luminaries such as former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, but I must admit, this was the first and only time where I thought of an interview as a once-in-a-lifetime, career-defining moment.

And for the first time, I felt in over my head. 

One can say what they will about Farrakhan, but most people can agree that he has been one of the most provocative speakers and leaders of the past half-century. 

And after being patched through a few times and dealing with a number of live connectors (no doubt for security reasons and to make sure the line was secure), Farrakhan greeted me with words I will never forget. 

“Good afternoon, brother.” 

Sure, it may seem to be three simple words when one reads it, but Farrakhan’s tone instantly eased my nerves. I guess I, too, fell into the trap of believing the negative hype and what everyone has read about the man, because I braced myself for Farrakhan to be very abrasive and confrontational with me; after all, I was a member of the mainstream media – white media.

And I must be some sort of so-called ‘Uncle Tom’ to be working in that field, or worst, some type of race traitor. 

After all, I had been accused of that and much worse during my Daily News tenure. 

And no matter my chops and skills, I wasn’t ready to have a battle of wits with the minister. 

Apprehension aside, I hastily told Farrakhan what an honor it was for me to be speaking with him, and that I seen him in person during a speech in Philly years ago, while I assured him that his quotes would run as intended. 

This wasn’t above and beyond any promise any journalist makes to any subject; in fact, any good journalist will run quotes as stated, regardless. 

I even went above that threshold, often giving the subjects a chance to collect their thoughts and to be certain that what was just said was the intended on record quote they wanted printed in the paper.

This does go against a certain dogma of news reporting, but when it comes to the science of actual journalism, it pays to give people a chance to say exactly what they mean. 

There’s usually an agenda (besides poor writing and editing) when quotes appear misconstrued in the paper. It’s just bad business. Still, in some unexplainable way, it felt good to make – and ultimately keep – a promise to Minister Farrakhan – not that the minister needed that type of easy out. 

As Farrakhan talked about the public marches he helped initiate and the piggybacking marches that sprung up following 1995, I felt that Farrakhan was ministering directly to me. Not only that, I could immediately tell that he cared immensely not only for the black people of America, but for society as a whole. 

That might be hard to believe, given Farrakhan’s more explosive statements, but trust me, I could feel his sentiment through his words. Maybe that was his time- honed ministerial style or perhaps he could sense my star-struck nature, but I was a believer in a matter of minutes. 

About the march itself, Farrakhan was upbeat about the advances made, and believed that he realize his goal of reaching as many folks as possible.

“I believe it’s gradually picking up momentum. We’re in 400 cities in America, forming local organizing committees composed of all the civil-rights organizations, the youths, 

nationalists and pan-Africanists, those that have been on the front line of reparations. 

“We have a very broad cross-section of black thought and black life coming aboard to help mobilize. Not just for the commemoration, but mobilized to create a movement that  will put on our shoulders the job to repair that which was done to us: 350 years of slavery and 150 years of Jim Crow injustice.” 

No doubt about it, Farrakhan has an ability to push certain buttons within society and force discussion on issues that, by and large, people are uncomfortable with; slavery, racism and reparations are but three. 

As someone who was a Farrakhan sympathizer (if not outright Nation of Islam member) during my college years, I already formed an opinion that he may have been misguided  in some of his statements and that the media has portrayed him in a most unfavorable light, but I have always believed that he had the best interests of society at heart.

After all, he wasn’t calling for genocidal warfare or claiming the Holocaust never happened. That’s not to say that Farrakhan hasn’t been wrong or caught up in controversy; I just didn’t feel that sort of heat from him during our conversation. I asked Farrakhan if African-American people, as whole, were better off now than they were ten years before, during the first march. His answer was startling.

January 16, 2003:

Interview with Lady B.

Back in the day when hip-hop was much closer to its truest art form, there was a radio DJ who did more than switch records. In fact, Lady B was responsible for the breaking of a number of artists, and her show, “Street Beat,” was one of the most popular segments on Power 99.

And although Lady B ruled FM radio during her tenure from 1982 to 1990, she was an on-air voice prior to joining Power.

“I started in 1979 on WHAT-AM, when hip-hop was in its inception,” Lady B said. “And it was harder back then; we had to stand on our own to support the music and to get it played. Back then, there was a lot of fighting for hip-hop airplay.”

And Lady B’s efforts were further hampered by the stigma attached to female DJs.

“There were no females on the radio,” Lady B said. “I had to take a lot of [grief] from my male counterparts; it was OK for them to play whatever they wanted, but I had to fight to play Public Enemy.”

From Public Enemy to Das EFX to Steady B to Schooly D, Lady B was there, playing those now-classics while bringing listeners up to speed with the artists’ endeavors.

“I wanted to bridge old-school and new-school,” Lady B said. “It was the

highest rated show on that station.”

Lady B, who now does consulting work for Sirus Communications in N.Y.C. as well as appearing as a guest speaker for numerous “Hip-Hop 103101” sessions, misses her hometown much and is craving the opportunity to once again treat the airwaves to her unique approach to broadcasting.

“I wanted to stay on and continue ‘Street Beat,’ ” she said. “It’s not one person’s fault, but I do miss Philly.”

And the Philly homegirl in Lady B shows when it comes to supporting the local talent.

“Philly will always keep representing,” Lady B said. “We have our own

style and our own flavor.”

If you need your daily dose of Lady B and want to hear her return to the airwaves, check out the online petition over at www.urbanbeatmovement.com, or call Docta Shock at Darkworld Entertainment at 215- 476-8726.

February 13, 2003:

Interview with Reef the Lost Cauze.

The only task more daunting in regional hip-hop than releasing a solid debut is capitalizing on that success with an even more potent follow-up.

And after factoring in a number of conspiracies, hushed whispers and all sorts of blatant and subtle hating, it can leave said artist choking on his own exhaust.

But lyrical demon Reef the Lost Cauze has prepared himself and his camp for his highly anticipated follow-up to last year’s “High Life” with “Invisible Empire,” 16 tracks that display every side - emotional, rowdyand introspective.

“It’s basically the last year of my life,” Reef said. “There’s a lot of different imagery on this.”

It can be said that most of the tracks on this set sparkle with rhymes that jump out at the listener. Stunners include the very intense “This Is My Life” and “I Can’t Begin to Tell Ya.” And these dynamic rhymes aren’t the only departure from Reef’s first joint. While “High Life” was lyrically solid, Reef wanted “Invisible Empire” to have a more rounded sound to it.

“On this album, I’m more aware of what I’m saying lyrically,” he said. “I’m proud of this joint. I buckled down to create this album, and I believe it’s something true hiphop fans will appreciate.”

Some of the best tracks include the hot “Give Up His Name,” which features fellow verse-slinger Diverse, “Spanish Guitar” and the Annette Koleda assisted diamond, “Follow The Drum.”

But it takes more than just fly lyrics to pacify the very tough Philly underground populace, so Reef has enlisted a team of producers to give “Invisible Empire” its flawless sound. The beatwork comes courtesy of Bo Bliz, Emynd, PBF Productions and Eyego/Direct.

“Sound-wise, this album is much more conceptual,” Reef said. “I’m putting a lot of stock in this, and I’m 100 percent satisfied with it.”

And “Invisible Empire” isn’t the only work that has kept Reef busy. He’s starring in the Gladiator Films project “410: The Shore” and is also featured on its soundtrack. Reef still rolls with Black Maverick, but readers can catch up to him online at www.gladiatorfilms.com.

April 24, 2003:

Interview with Funk Wizard Snow/2003 PhillyHipHop.com Awards.

With Philly’s hip-hop reputation becoming something less than music’s“best kept secret,” what with all the solid releases from underground vets and established artists, it was only a matter of time before the Philadelphia region had an awards show to call its very own.

After a test run last year, it’s time tonight for the 2nd annual “Philly Hip Hop.Com Awards” ceremony at Silk City (435 Spring Garden St., 9 p.m., 21+, $7; $5 with clothing discount; 215-592-8838, www.phillyhiphop.com).

Funk Wizard Snow, CEO of the Web site and of Illadelph Entertainment, believes this ceremony will prove that Philly has enough talent to “have its own show.”

“I started the awards to shine light on the local talent that we have,” Snow said. “People are always looking to New York or Los Angeles. I wanted to prove there’s enough talent here to justify an awards show of our own, and it worked; we have more than 30 categories.”Among those categories are Live Perfomer of the Year, Record Store of the Year, Lyricist of the Year, and Song of the Year, to name a few.

But while last year’s ceremony may have been deemed successful, Snow and his team of event organizers have added a few categories to compensate for Philly’s ever- growing urban culture range.

“We modified categories to include ‘Best Online Radio Show,’ and ‘Best Commercial Radio Show,’” Snow said. “We also added categories for abstract and gospel hip-hop. It’s real important to reach out to the gospel audience; as far as I’m concerned, it’s all hip-hop to me, whether it’s Islamic based or Five Percenter.”

Snow and his squad have made certain to focus more on the awards and less on performances, another departure from last year’s award ceremony. “Last year, there were performances by the finalists, but this year, there are no performances at all, so there’s no politics involved.

And since Philly is considered the DJ capital, we are going to give a select picking of DJ’s 30-minute sets each.”

If that’s not purely Philadelphian, Snow & Co. has more pixie dust to sprinkle: There are door discounts for those dressed accordingly.

“People can get in for $5 if they wear an authentic piece of Philly-related apparel,” Snow said. “It has to represent one of our regional teams, professional or college. People can get the discount if they wear shirts with just our town on them, but they have to be manufactured. No hand-printing. We want recognizable logos all over the crowd. We will film the event and have it on the Web site; EZ Jase will be there filming for us, so the more logos the better. But this is not a rap music award event, but a hip-hop culture event. 

That’s why there’s categories for ‘Film of The Year’ and ‘Clothing Line of The Year.’ It’s a celebration of the culture, with a real emphasis on Philly.”