As the name implies, Hip Hop Pops is a series of interviews with Dads who’ve carved out careers in hip hop while raising a family.
That shit aint easy but some of us be bout it bout it. Peep my Hip Hop Pops interviews with Propaganda and Red Cloud, for examples.
Although some might be tempted critique hip hop culture as morally negligent (if not worse), one of the first verses I committed to memory was 2 Pac’s poignant critique of sexual abuse and unintended pregnancy. 25 years later, this cut still hits hella hard:
“Brenda’s got a baby but Brenda’s barely got a brain/
damn shame the girl can’t even spell her name/
‘That’s not our problem, that’s up to Brenda’s family’/
But let me tell you how it affects our whole community”
After listening to this cut again, I forgot how much of an impact it had on me as a youngster. It’s another example of the conscious hip hop that was taking root in the early 90’s.
Today’s Hip Hop Pops, Judah 1, is an extension of that early hip hop consciousness.
Her crown was too heavy. We were at 3cm of dilation for 3 days. So, we opted to induce labor. We prayed, we were ready, we entered boldly, I think. Alas, Aariyah crown was too great so we delivered by C-Section. That when the most glorious scream happened. A star scream, truly. Bless God.
BBD: How did you decide on a name?
Until the day before the ultrasound we were convinced we were having a boy. We just knew it. She wanted to named him David Jr. I wanted to name him “Amun” or “Djeli” “Jonah” “Judah” I had so many names. Me and her Mom argued. It was not joyous. The night before her Mom said, maybe she’s a girl…and that thought had been resonating in my Spirit. She said “If it’s a girl, let call her Oriyah” and I agreed but the name sounded familiar. Ariyah is a name of a Fela Kuti song. I suggested, “Aariyah,” in Hebrew “Ari” is Lion and “YAH” is God or the air.
BBD: What’s the best piece of advice your Mom/Dad gave you about parenting?
My father really didn’t have much to say. My mom proud I finally had a child and overwhelmed that it’s a girl. Just love her and make the time for her. They are both convinced I’ll be a great Father with good lessons.
BBD: What’s your view on spanking?
We will not spank our daughter because spanking is not necessary. I’ve never had to hit anyone my entire life, my voice should be enough.
BBD: What type of music does she like?
I play classical for her and hip hop instrumentals and freestyle over them. She loves it. FELA! And her Mother plays Little Dragon for her.
BBD: How has your poetry been impacted by Fatherhood?
I have yet to find words to describe the joy in my heart. I sing to my daughter. She literally takes my words from my lungs. I couldn’t say much more than “Hey You” for the first 2 months. Literally can’t talk. Strange. But we sing. Her eyes cause such a stillness in my spirit. No words. We hum.
Before Maverick and Goose were slapping together uncoordinated high-fives, the San Gabriel Valley had squadrons of Mexican-American kids strafing imaginary flight towers from the grounds of Palm View Park in West Covina.
You might be surprised to learn that the plane at Palm View is an actual F-86D Sabre Jet, the backbone of American mainland defense in the 50s. During the Korean conflict, the F-86D made the MiG 15 its yeoja.
The Palm View Park Plane in service circa 1955
In the early 60’s, enterprising civic organizations from West Covina coordinated the relocation of the plane to Palm View. They’ll be happy to know, kids from far and wide have been pissing in it, on it and around it for decades.
But sunlight and time are disinfectants, so I let Joaquin have at it.
Dad is my Co-Pilot
Eject! Eject! Eject!
The park is good insofar as it has 2 distinct play areas for kids of varying dexterity.
Play Area #1
Play Area #2
it’s empty bc Joaquin doesn’t play that baby shit.
While the park provided plenty of options for fun, we were appalled by the amount of trash littering the playground. I took pictures.
Empty Bag of Weed
Picnic @ Palm View
Then Dessert!
I started to see a story emerge in the trash. Someone got faded, ate lunch then dessert and then bounced.
As concerned as I was by the litter, I wasn’t bout to pick that shit up.
The Lord knows I wasn’t bout to touch this:
But this? Wait, what is…that…
Presidents found dead at Palm View Park
Now that’s some trash I CAN pick up. I asked Joaquin if we should take the money to the park office or blow it on ice cream and he asked what time Baskin Robbins opened.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m as disgusted with the millennials’ addiction to technology as you are.
But before there was this:
There was this:
As a youngster, I devoured the back of cereal boxes with as much enthusiasm as when I plowed through their sugary deliverances. I loved the games: serpentine mazes, simple word searches, even the confusing games of tic-tac-toe with Cheerios.
At the time I wasn’t aware the back of the cereal boxes were primarily a way for marketers to keep consumers engaged kids enslaved to their brand. And for this reason, cereal boxes are great cultural artifacts; they provide a snapshot of what advertisers of a given age think children of a given age want to see.
So, as I’m sitting in the kitchen waiting for my children to bum-rush the set, I thought I’d take a closer look at the cereal boxes in my house.
Let’s start with Posts’ Honeycomb.
The front of the box is straight-forward. While shopping, though, I noticed nearly half of the cereal boxes are yellow. And that’s definitely no accident.
The font takes its cues from the rounded letters of old school street art, with COMB looking a lot like BOMB. I can’t front, I like the idea of a honey bomb. I wonder why, though, they felt bound by grammar conventions and included a hyphen between honey-comb (which is one word, Honeycomb), when they felt free to flout the rules of capitalization?
Now, let’s turn to the back of the box.
RU Honeycomb 2 UR Core? Again, I’m confounded by their arbitrary adherence to grammar conventions. IDK about U, but I never conjoin RU. Who does that? And if RU means “Are You” then doesn’t UR mean “You are?” By attempting to speak in a youthful vernacular, they’ve confused the shit out of us all.
IT’S NOT WHAT YOU DO, IT’S HOW YOU MAKE IT YOURS. Solid. I can live with this tag line.
MAD ABOUT MUSIC? I think they’re using “MAD” as slang for “CRAZY” which is slang for “DEEPLY INTERESTED” which is “GROOVY” if not 20 years outdated.
ARE YOU A GAMING GURU?No, I’m 8 years old and I don’t know what a GURU is but I do know what a desperate attempt at alliteration looks like!
LIVE TO SKATE? You know it. Why do you ask? Seriously. What does my interest in skating have to do with the taste of your cereal? If you’d provided a maze on the back of the box, at least I could’ve pretended to be skating my way through the labyrinth. But this here reeks of pandering, as does the picture of the skater who needs a haircut, badly.
And what would heavy handed marketing material be without a call-to-action?
SHARE YOUR VIDEOS, PHOTOS AND IDEAS SHOWING US WHAT MAKES YOU AN ORIGINAL LIKE HONEYCOMB.
