Don't start nothing, it won't be nothing/You wanna start something, it's gon be somethin (Scrappin: variations on a theme).

Mac Premo, Number Two, He Doesn't Have the Pants, 2008,
mixed-media assemblage with animation, 19 ½" x 18 ½" x 9 ½"

1. A photo of Mr. Premo's work was in the Paris Review I was reading last night in apt. 680, in between taking tasteful erotic photographs of myself to send to Lil B, baking a pie, and peeking out of my blinds to see when Lil B's going to come walking up the stairs to my door. It's the spring 2011 edition, and Édouard Levé's piece is great. It's really really good, you guys (“I do not consider myself handsome just because a woman thinks so. I prefer desire to pleasure. My death will change nothing”) and not just because it's titled, beautifully, When I Look at a Strawberry, I Think of a Tongue.

Even though the only (visual) art worth my time is Kruger's stuff and Baldessari and oh Pettibone I suppose and THAT FUCKING RAMMELLZEE ROOM AT MOCA (an experience from which I still have not recovered), I like Mac Premo's work, and I like the fact that “Mac Premo” sounds like the name of the producer of Jeru's next album (he's Premier's cousin).





2. Hindi is how you say “NO” in Tagalog. Now we all know what to scream at our televisions during Pacquiao's walk to the ring while accompanied by a corrections officer.

The fuck/whyyyyyy/NO/hindi.

If I were in charge, things would be different; Rawss would not exist of course, but let's say I was feeling generous and allowed him both to continue living and to escort a boxer into the ring prior to a huge televised match. I would insist that Rawss escort the other guy--not Pacquiao. Ricky Rose Hey should definitely be walking next to “Sugar” Shane just based on pure similiarity, as they have both co-opted the names of historically successful individuals in order to enhance their own myths/reputations. This is a lazy, sorry move, the kind that bitchy dudes make. Boxing is so lame, I've addressed that fact and provided supporting evidence on this blog before - unless we're talking about the boxer Zab Judah, which is a really fucking dope name for a human.





3. Does anyone recognize that sweatsuited side-leg?


No? What if I said “Renegades, Escalades, all fly ladies in shades/Get the best of me, bless me on stage”? IT'S RAE! IT'S RAE AND HE'S IN MY TOWN ON THIS NIGHT.



If I were going to the show and could somehow get backstage without using sex, I would look him square in the face and say, First of all: nice warm-ups on that promo flyer. They weren't Champion, but still. Very nice.

Then I'd get down to business. Hey, remember when you or one of your colleagues blacked-out Budden's eye socket? I blogged about it like crazy that week, as did everyone else with a computer and an opinion! I was so happy it happened! Thank you! I heard Joe said you asked for an apology, and he obliged - “only because he was outnumbered”! What a fuckin dummy! Why'd you have to make up with him, though? There's not enough beef in 2011 rap. And how did you and Randy Spelling meet?*




* Rae's working with Randy Spelling, a thing that has been added to 2011's Mysteries List. “How did Rae link with Spelling's kid” is now in there, right at the top, along with “Why does everyone like The Weeknd,” “Who keeps downloading Rawss' shit and making him successful,” and “How come the first sip of iced coffee is always the best.”

Rae also has a rapper in his stable named “Polite,” a person from whom I am telling you right now I will never buy or download product.





4. “Tattoo Artist Who Owns Mike Tyson’s Face Sues The Hangover Studio for Copyright Infringement” (Gawker). Click the link and you'll find a story about some loser who has trademarked the sorta-ethnic-but-not-sure-which-part-of-Samoa-it's-from "tribal" design on Tyson's face. That loser is suing the losers who made The Hangover, an unfunny major-studio production that everyone loved because everyone's an idiot.

Tribal anything on your flesh is ridiculous; I come from a coastal city in Southern California so I am a certified expert in this matter. (I also know about chain wallets, putting huge tires on your white Chevy truck, and yelling at your girlfriend in public). But in a post about pugilism you know Tyson's gonna show up so I had to include this story. These days everyone loves soft, repentant Mike - playing with his birds, taking his kids to the park. Dullsville Mike, in other words. The Mike who gets glorified in apt. 680 is the Mike who said, “I don't try to intimidate anybody before a fight. That's nonsense. I intimidate people by hitting them.” Mike Tyson, Brooklyn-bred unsubtle face-hitter ALL DAY.





5. Yes yes of course the Lakers need to come stronger in this next series, I don't wanna talk about it but yes they really need to perform as more of a cohesive unit, 110%, fewer mistakes, hard in the paint, Pau needs to show up, lalalalaaaa yeah yeah. I don't want to talk about Nowitski or Butler or Terry. I don't wanna discuss what we are going to do about my Moscato addiction, or when I will stop stripping and settle down, etc. I just want to talk about how great Chappelle's Show reruns are, always coming on at just the right time. I was still pouty this week because every skinny white girl in the world except me was doing some bikini-clad cooking in Lil B's audience in the desert a little while ago but they were doing it wrong, 94% of white girls do it wrong. Then good ol' Comedy Central comes through in the clutch, showing some TV perfection from 2004.

Random Tribute: DMX's jabs and left hook between 1:11 and 1:18. DMX was terrific in his prime and I loved him; people think I'm kidding when I say that because how could I like DMX, that's crazy!, since I like little girls in glasses and I'm polite and soft-spoken, but I'm not kidding. That voice, dragged through gravel! That cadence! I'm not-a. nice. person/I mean, I'd smack the shit out you twice dog, and that's before I start cursin. (I also really like the name Spider Loc and people think I'm kidding about that too. Um, I'm not kidding. They all think it's a game. They think it's a fuckinnnn gaaaaame.) To put the performance below in context and remind you of the levels of perfection: this ep also had Negrodamus, the Niggar Family, and WacArnold's. Fucking perfection, I said.



Directly-related additional Random Tributes: 1. that “UH OH” just erupting outta DMX when “What's My Name” starts. The smile, the genuine excitement. So sweet. 2. Swizz Beatz in '98/9 and '03/4: the party-starter. Those beats/z he crafted made me want to be a boy and throw a punch, kinda; I settled for car-dancing ferociously whenever somebody put It's Dark and Hell is Hot in the car's CD changer. Grand Champ was, um, grand when it emanated from the stereos of Japanese compacts as well. GITITONTHEFLOOR, git it git it on the floor! Who didn't want to get it on the floor when DMX yelled it over those drums? Alas, he has softened with age, which is typical of producers. It's 2011 and things aren't the same. Now he's got the terrible beats of an old and feeble man, and let's not forget the Shep Fairey tattoo. OH SWIZZY.





Judgement Day - “Mike Tyson's Punch-Out (Training Song).”

mp3.



DMX - “What's My Name.” What y'all really wannnnnnt, what y'all really wannnnnt, etc.

mp3.






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