I don’t know who remembers a few years back it was BIG talk in the Hip Hop community that there was a gay rapper. He came out of nowhere, really. Just popped up and said “Hey!!”. Well after 4 or 5 years the truth was told to Allhiphop.com.
It looks as though the whole thing was a hoax, sham, fraud.
Ivan Matias, is the man behind the hype. He is a known ghost writer, who one day called up the local radio station, Hot 97, and started messing with Funk Master Flex. Well, a few of his friends egged him on and he pursued with the joke some more. Being able to spit a verse on the Angie Martinez show the next day. Getting a good response, Matias took it a step further and contacted a childhood friend and using him as the model for Caushun, the Gay Rapper.
Apparently what went wrong was Caushun, real name Jason Herdon, was supposed to learn the 16’s and use the fame as a gay rapper for his 9-5 as a hair stylist. With fame came greed and Caushun manipulated the situation in a greedy way. Taking the money for 15 seconds of fame. All he was supposed to drop off the demo cds to the radio stations and learn the verses on his off time. He had only memorized 2 verses. All the while he was boosting clothes and got arrested. He was doing Kimora Lee Simmons hair and let it slip that he was the “gay rapper”. Kimora had a record label and signed Caushun, but he was eluding from the fact that he was just the shell to the real act. So Kimora gets him bailed out, puts him up in an apt or whatever and all the while he is saying Matias, his manager is this horrible person. So when he was asked to go into the studio he always had excuses, because he does not know how to really rap.
Get the full story here Allhiphop.com
I wanted to make a note to this interview, because it was a vital interview as far as the Hip Hop culture goes. Like they said in the interview, we all know that there is a lot of underlining homosexuality going on in the music industry and when we think about the Hip Hop community you don’t want to think that homosexuality is an element of our culture. But when Caushun came to the scene, Matias ruffled far more feathers than I think anyone expected.
There are those rumors that float around those few rap names, Queen Latifah, Puffy, Bird Man & Lil’ Wayne, currently I’m hearing rumors about LL Cool J and Busta Rhymes. So, it is there. But personally, I think that if I were to hear a gay man rap about gay issues it would take away the essence of what I grew up in. I did not grow up in a culture that spoke about it. I guess the ‘Gay Rapper’ story was a moment in time that awoke a lot of us to the fact that in this day and age people’s sexuality is just as open and common as asking someone what’s their zodiac sign. Personally, I don’t care. But when you ask what’s someone’s zodiac sign usually you want to see how compatible they are, how crazy they are, or pass pre-judgement because I know someone who was born the same week as them.
In all actuality it doesn’t matter at the end of the day. What someone does in their past time has nothing to do with you or me, but yet we take such interest in it.
It’s like another article I read in the Village Voice last month and they interviewed lesbian women who were the masculine one, AG’s or aggressives, and their portrayal on what it meant to be a lesbian in an urban society (Girls to Men). These women made reference to rappers as a portrayal to how they would treat their girl and clown the other AGs. This article was an eye opener, because I never knew that minority lesbian women had a society. And it was surprising to know that they are still searching for a place to call home, if you know what I mean. Gay men seem to have it all together. They have their ‘houses’, their boys, and their nite life. In this article, it looked as though most of these AG’s were still searching for that niche and they were looking toward the degrading manner of rap lyrics as a motto to follow daily.
I thought that these articles were very revealing on many social levels. And if you are a true Hip Hop head then I suggest you read it. You’ll see what I mean. But only if you really and truly are a Hip Hop connossieur. After you read these two articles you will see how much the times have evolved.
-f@ke
Batty Man Rapper Story Told- E! True Hollywood Style May 24, 2007
Financial Tips for the Single, Dating, & Married May 24, 2007
I don’t know who has the TV One Channel on their Cable TV lineup, but if you don’t you should call your local cable provider and ask for it. There is a TV show on the TV One Channel $ingletary $ays. Financial Advisor Michelle Singletary addresses financial issues in the person’s everyday lives. At first I thought the show that I saw last Sunday was a TV Special, because it was a taped Q&A session. While watching this show I pulled my pen and pad out and jotted down the points that Singletary makes, because these were points that were essential to anyone today. The episode I’m referring to is Your Money and Your Man, being the first episode of the third season of $ingletary $ays. This Q&A offering need-to-know advice on how important your finances are, how you should communicate with your spouse, and what you should look for in a potential husband.
At this Q&A, Singletary addressed some points in her book “Your Money & Your Man” and explained what she felt were factors that could lead to a ‘financially healed family’.
First addressing single women, there is a chapter in the book titled: A Man Is Not A Plan. In this chapter it’s pretty much self explainatory.
‘There are some women who are putting off making financial decisions until Prince Charming comes along’. As any smart, independent woman should know, you should not wait for anyone!!
After college, while in your 20’s, you should begin to get your money straight. Begin to put a lil’ money away everytime you get money, in order to work toward your house/ condo/ co-op, to help build your equity.
When speaking about dating, Singletary advises that woman look out for a few things in a potential man.
Dating with Dollar Sense
Keep a list of the pro’s and con’s when dating one or more guy. This will help you see who has the most potential for pursuing a longterm relationship.
Singletary believes that ‘Dating a boring man has it’s benefits’. What she means by this is kinda simple. When you date a guy that is really busy, meaning he always goes out to the bar or to the club, yada, yada, yada. If you get into a serious relationship with that guy, don’t be surprised if he is constantly going out to the bar, because that is where you met him. With a guy that isn’t too outgoing you may benefit because he would have a more open schedule to spend real quality time with you.
Mr. Fix-It/ Work Ethic. If you are a girly girl, you would look for a guy that is handy with a hammer or wrench. If you call up the guy you’re dating and tell him you have a broken sink, you would hope he won’t tell you to call a plummer, right? A guy who is handy with a tool is a good asset.
While dating, it is NOT a wise idea to lend money or co-sign for a car. Why? Because you are not married. And if things turn sour then you have to attempt to get repayment, make some type of frivolous agreement to keep any payments, or take them to small claims court.
Look for Financial Values. Are you equally ‘yoked’ (that is a biblical term meaning something that represents a bond between to parties, mostly in marriage)? Do you two compliment one another? How do you both feel about money? See if their value of money is similiar to yours. Are they reckless with money or do they budget and save? We all have values in life. What we feel are morals that we can not break, ethics that make our world go round, etc. Do their flaws miss your values?
Look how they handle their family. Are they a push over and get taken advantage of by the drug addict brother? A disfunctional family can be a huge negative for a relationship, but depending on how they handle their family issues it can be over looked, but you have the signs and have been warned. Do they always have dinner at the’r parent’s house every Thursday? These can be indicators that they are loving and that they really take family serious - a quality that you may admire when you are looking to start your own family.
It’s best if you wait to move in with one another, only because if there is a break up it could be a costly one- this is Singletary’s opinion. Nowadays it’s financially economical to move in with eachother after sometime.
A BIG rule everyone should do is LISTEN to the person you’re dating. There is a HUGE difference between hearing someone and listening to someone.
When you get engaged. Both of you should get a print out of your three credit reports and share it. This way you know how much debt your fiance is in.
There are financial advantages to being married.
If married to someone for more than 10 years you are entitled to their social security. Singletary advises married couples to keep an allowance. She is quoted saying ‘people say that marriage is supposed to be 50/50, but it’s not’. If one partner spends a certain amount that should not be open season for the other partner to spend the same amount. Don’t tit for tat. Save the money that you do not spend from your allowance.
You should merge your accounts. This would faciliate conversation about your money.
If you are a Spender. Have your allowance and use that for the $200 pair of shoes that you want.
And finally, 1+1 can = more than 2
Currently, Michelle Singletary has a book out “Your Money & Your Man” while reading the reviews for this book, it seemed to receive an average review. Most people believed that her financial advice in this book was the average advice with nothing new to offer. It would be good for a beginner money saver, but her practices were heavily guided by a conservative way of living.
Honestly, I don’t think there are too many ways any financial expert can word how to say your money. Only because there are but so many ways to save your money!
-f@ke
