2010 ends like this. What in the fuck?

Video: Stick Wielding Assailant Robs Convenience Store: MyFoxDC.com

Philly C. @ The Groove Lounge

New video for "The Slit Wrists Licks" coming soon!

The Kufi Smacker

When we're watched, we watch right back. Believe me I pay attention.

Check out this kid's blog.

The Glamorous Life TV

We're bringing back The Glamorous Life TV and ending our relationship with Fast Hands Productions, because we're not a pro bono video supplier. Check for the new series coming soon!!

Kae Hock

Seriously.. you need to check for this dude. KaeHock.com

NYC Subway Legend PJ

White boy isn't synonymous with soft. Don't sleep. 

Daryl Teat Update

Today Wilmington Police announced the arrest of two individuals in the murder of accomplice Daryl Teat during the botched robbery of Ray's Deli on the Blvd. The two young men were identified as Reuben Stanford 19 and Dawune Boardley 19 of East 17th and 22nd st. respectively. According to the News Journal article, Dawune gave the orders to shoot the clerk and Reuben fired shots that instead struck and killed Daryl Teat.

Tragedy on top of tragedy:

Rueb as he was known to his friends was arrested while recovering at Christiana from a shooting that occurred earlier this week in front of NY Fried Chicken on Washington St. Before that shooting he posted this on his Facebook page:
                              

Rueb ON MA WAY 2 GO CHILL WIT MA LIL BRO. TEAT....

December 6 at 11:56am

Reuben also has a son that he will be leaving behind as he is prosecuted and most likely convicted of murdering Daryl. Another young black life hangs in the balance if these kids continue to think there is anything promising about street life. Who's going to step up and be a man?

Reuben holding up Reuben Jr.

But why show him any sympathy as he tried to do while posting condolences to his fallen friend on the internet?

Rueb woke-up 3 days straight & get no calls 4rm ma brothers gutter & teat. wtf dey call me everyday in da mournin 7:00 jus 2 make sure im alive now look at dis bullshit. itz ite tho god called ya number teat nobody last 4eva and dats real shit but jus kno u da big brother now cuz u watchin ova all us.....

December 3 at 8:36am
Because there's another kid out there that has the opportunity to do something big. There's another kid sitting in the hood who can end up like Daryl or Rueb or he can be a Charles Drew or a Kenneth Chenault.  I hope there's some people around him that don't make the mistake of grooming him into a "goon" and understand the importance of being a strong man in conditions built to weaken you. Outsiders cheer you on, quotes from Delaware Online.

AvoidYellowSnow wrote: Let me be the first to congratulate these two for killing loser number three.

philsfan4eva wrote:Can this story get any better? I love it.

dinomcg61 wrote: when I look at their pictures, I understand what a proctologist sees all day

No bigots, unfortunately the story isn't good and it doesn't get any better. And if dinomcg61 has never seen a piece of shit, his house must not have any mirrors. Rueb's last Facebook post this morning was a quote from Wilmington rapper Cuzin Eagle.

Rueb all da young boiz turnin into deadmen, niggaz snappin so da city let da feds in, aint nuffin sweet play a smile like a deathgrant, dis is wilmington welcome 2 da deadend....

Yesterday at 4:39pm

The Chester Walls are GBNF

I promised myself I would never get caught in these corny ass public space debates when it comes to graffiti and I still won't. But the Chester walls were different in that they broke up your drive. They always made you turn your head and look for something new. They were fun (or stressful) to talk about who was up or who got went over. That little stretch provided inspiration to a whole breed of new writers and burned images into the most impressionable of minds. I can see cleaning up those bridges to the north of the walls because they were getting junkier than a Kensington El dweller, but the walls? Nah. That was below the belt. 

Thanks to one of my oldies for breaking me off with some of the earlier flics before he had to leave the country. He was one of my inspirations for not just taking photos, but purposely documenting. I thought of him today and was sure he would like to see these again. I wonder what school program they had to kill for the cost of cleaning that wall for no reason at all. 

Agua BDR block letters (Free Agua)

Cronic (RX) one of the 1st on the walls , Agent hand gone over by Past from Brooklyn

Drama NEP  one of the 1st tosses on the wall



Heart over Capital first and most bold roller at the wall yet. Orig. from Delaware



The most memorable blowup on the walls by far. King KMACK.

Tone IYA

Hase OAL, Peka ESC

The first out of towner visitors to the walls, Goal, Past and Vyels 5MH from NYC.

Vyels MIA from NYC

Vyels, Goal, and Scan 53 from Virginia. Little Zem slam in the cut.

Early Agua wickett. Take a look at the "G" closely.

Caem KMD

Enoe AKA i2i in home territory. Where's DMYZ? He was there too.

I remember the night they did those, that shit popped. Cread MSP and Speed IAO. Caem toss.

Nise NSF, Caemske KMD...phew

Sobad ICP one of the 1st on the wall. Colors and all. 1995. King Status!!!

As much as I hate seeing history disappear, I love seeing new cats with style crush. I can't wait to see what's on deck. Bring that old feeling back.

Chi Ali jail interview

Chi Ali was the youngest member of The Native Tongues that included De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, The Jungle Brothers, and The Beatnuts. He started rapping when he was 14 making guest appearances on songs by Black Sheep and De La Soul. His one and only album The Fabulous Chi Ali came out in 1992 when he was 16 and became an instant classic of The Golden Era. In 2000 he committed the crime of murdering his girlfriend's brother. He was arrested in 2001 and began serving a 14-year sentence for the offense. He will be released in two years.

Glasgow High School 1989-92

Glasgow High School more commonly referred to as G,G,G,G-High by it's students is located in Newark, DE. Students from the East Side, Glasgow, Brookside and Bear can be seen roaming the hallways during class times and smoking in the back parking lot. The following photos I stole from my sister during her time at Glasgow fighting at the dances and hanging with her homegirls. I love photographs like the ones below because they don't attempt to capture the moment, they live in the moment. Hope she doesn't get mad at me for sharing.


I have younger friends who also graduated from G-High in 2009, these photos are a 20 year span for them. Funny thing is, some of them recycle fashion ideas from the pictures below. 20 years go by and little changes. This is for G-High, the place that switches up the nicest of kids. Get in line or get lined up. Peace.

Everybodys rocking cardigans again. 

Grouchy Greg founder of AllHipHop.Com C/O 1992

Rest In Peace Kenya Frazier (Pictured on the right)

Sarcastic posing.

Starter #1

Starter #2

Style Masters.

Good music.

Doorknockers.



Modern day cellphones.



Jordan O.G.s

Dookie ropes.

H.O.P.E. commission leader for Wilmington, DE and star player for G-High.

Undacrwn *cough, cough*

3rd Bass.

Keziah E.P.

The younger sister of local rapper turned Philly transplant Hezekiah, Keziah kills it. I am not hyping this up because of anybody's involvement with this E.P. It's not about Rock, !llmind, Oddisee or Hezekiah...this E.P. is all about Keziah and her delivery. Could she be the one to put it on for the area? I honestly believe there is a good chance she might be. Very impressed.

Free download or just stream it here and listen.

B.LAMB is secretly killing the competition.

Since being released from prison Newark rapper B.Lamb has been doing performances all over New Castle County whenever he can. His quick wit and awkward punchlines have quickly become a trademark. New video for Amateurs Are Average is here. Let's go.

Daryl A. Teat

Another young man was murdered before his 20th bday last night making him the 26th homicide of the year for the City of Wilmington. This ties the murder record set in 2008. It’s a damn shame when a person’slife is downgraded into nothing but a statistic.

My Facebook feed started going crazy last night around 830pm with news of Daryl’s death being broadcasted by younger Facebook connections. See I don’t know Daryl, but I found out as it happened because of the inner twined connections that all residents and former-residents of Wilmington share. Messages of “Rest In Peace” and promises of retaliation for a botched jux came across my computer screen. The pain, the hurt and the expressed love shared on his profile are all real with the obvious exception of some eager to make their association known for validity purposes. There’s nothing cool about this kid losing his life, nothing glamorous, nothing “gooned out” about it. Some of you need to grow up.

The stats:
Wilmington Pop. = app. 72,664
Philadelphia Pop. = app. 1,447,395
Wilmington Black = app. 41,418
Philadelphia Black = app. 639,748
Wilmington Black 18-24yo = app. 4,059*
Philadelphia Black 18-24yo = app. 71,012*
Wilmington Black Male 18-24yo = app. 1,867*
Philadelphia Black Male 18-24yo = app. 33,020*
Current Wilm. Murders = 27* Update 12/02/10
Current Phila. Murders = 208

Here’s your unofficial murder statistics.
Wilmington = 1 in 72 Black Males between 18-24yo have a good chance of being killed.*
Philadelphia = 1 in 158 Black Males between 18-24yo have a good chance of being killed.*

The county:
The reality is these incidents are not isolated to the confines of the city. A month ago I read posts on my news feed for another young subset of friends from Bear remembering their friend Kalil. 21 year old Kalil Ames was gunned down during an argument in Bear by a 17 year old friend. A couple of the posters revealed the identity of the shooter in hopes of finding him before the police a full 24 hours before the story appeared in the News Journal.

Daryl's last hour:
According to police, the incident unfolded about 8:50 p.m., when officers were called to Ray’s Deli in the 1200 block of Northeast Blvd. to investigate a robbery with shots fired. When officers arrived, the 31-year-old store clerk recounted what happened.

A preliminary investigation revealed that several suspects were in the store robbing the clerk. When the clerk went outside following the robbery, one of the robbers grabbed him and pulled him behind the business into a weeded area onto Thatcher Street. The assailant ordered the victim to give up his money or he would be shot, and another suspect rifled through his pockets and took whatever cash he had. At that point, the victim was able to break free and started running when gunshots rang out, Barnes said.

Detectives believe that one of the suspects was firing at the clerk but hit the 19-year-old robbery accomplice in the chest and leg. The remaining suspects then carried the dying victim to the 1200 block of N. Heald St. and left him on the steps of the church. A 17-year-old boy, stayed with Daryl as he lye dying after the rest of the group ran off. The gunshot victim was treated by New Castle County paramedics and rushed to Christiana Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

The reality:
There is a perpetual cycle of violence that is pervasive among African-American communities that is not exclusive to inner city dwellers, but also working class families. Readers of news sites cheer on the loss of another black life by posting comments calling them “monkeys”, “one less to worry about” and “let’s give them more bullets to wipe themselves out.”

And my community continues to serve their will. You can live your life out as a statistic or as a man. Rest in peace little brothers.

*Statistics based on assumed demographic information provided by most recent US Census data.