Ahhh Shoot Now

In my last two blog posts I introduced myself to the small world of blogging, and I explained my joy for most things black people, mainly music.  As said before it's not that I don't like 'white people' music, I do.  I love Sinatra, Queen, John Mayer, Dave Matthews, Bruce Springsteen and others.  My childhood radio listening went as follows:  In Cin's car it was whatever I wanted to listen to, usually the stylings of one WNCI and sometimes Power 107 which we could barely get in most parts of Chillicothe.  In Gary's car the conversation usually went as follows Me - Dad can we listen to WNCI? with a quick yet stern 'I'm not listening to that shit' and we went about our business of listening to QFM 96.3, still one of my favorite stations.  So you could say I am musically diverse due to what I listened to in the car.

Then I got my own car.  And after fixing the non-existent radio and turning silence into the workings of a CD player, I got to listen to my own tunes.  This is a glorious occasion for any 16 year old in Ohio no matter how crappy their junker of a car is(Hello Maxwell Green's 92 buick Regal, with no horn, blinkers, or a window that didn't work among a litany of other things).  For me, it was awesome because of 2 reasons. 1) I drove A LOT and I was one of the first of my friends to get their L's and a car(remember when we called them L's?) and 2) I had a CD burner and napster which meant I could illegally download all the music I wanted and listen to it as I cruised in my hoopty.

But I'm not writing this blog to tell you about my crappy car(it was) or the way I was brought up listening to music(I had no rights and was forced to listen to old white guy music DAMN THE INJUSTICE OF CHILDHOOD), I am writing to tell you I am a hoarder of sorts.  I keep a lot of stuff(at least the stuff my wife doesn't throw away).  Things from clothes, to video games, to pictures, and beyond.  But I recently found something I hoarded and am actually glad I did.  I found a case of old CDs I owned 10 years ago(or there abouts)... There is nothing more nostalgic and memory evoking than popping in a CD of the shitty music you used to listen to.  So, the point of this blog is to simply remind you of some 'AHHH Shooooot nawww' artists and songs that I'm sure you've forgotten that I recently heard on some old CDs.

There were various artists that ruled 'back in the day' for me and my friends.  A fairly comprehensive list would be as follows: Nelly, R. Kelly, Eminem, Outkast, Jay-Z, The Hott Boys(consisting of Wayne, Baby, Manny Fresh, Juvenille, and BG), Lil Jon(WHAT!!!)Shyne(okay maybe not for everybody else, but I freakin loved the dude), Ja Rule(what would I be without you!!!), Ludacris, Nappy Roots and Mystikal(Take a bath, Wash ya self), and 50 Cent had just come into his own with his album Get Rich or Die Tryin.  Now, most of these artists have gone by the way side(Juv, R. Kelly Shyne, Nelly{although he is making a comeback doing some things now} Lil Jon, DMX, Ja Rule, Mystikal, Nappy Roots and even 50 doesn't hold the rap weight that he once did)but the ones who have stuck(Wayne, Luda, Eminem, Outkast, Jay-Z) are all considered legends in the game.  And mostly, listening to the artists you simply shake your head in disgust at your 16 year old self's musical tastes, then smile and remember the times when you were in High School without a care in the world, chasing girls, hangin out with your boys, and concerning yourself with stuff like who's having people up to their house this weekend.

There were also a few classic songs that make you simply go "AAAWWW Shoot naw".  I suggest you try to find a CD that you made in 2002ish to have your moment.  But here are my top 5 songs that made me do laugh and smile.

The Isley Bros feat. R. Kelly - Contagious - A classic R and B jam with R. Kelly at the height of his corn rowed power on the track and Ronald Isley whining on the track about to slap a bit... Classic track.  Honorable mention to R.Kelly goes to the following songs: Bad Man, World's Greatest, Woman's Worth, The Greatest Sex

Petey Pablo - Raise up - A raw underground cat that sounded really nothing like he looked talking about 'take your shirt off and spin it like a helicopter'.  He had a few hits with Timberland after this but nothing made people go crazy at the fair dance( AAAWWW shoooot the FAIR DANCE?!?!?!) quite like Raise Up. I loved the remix where he would yell "OOOHHHIIIIIIIIOOOOOO BAAYYYBEEEE'

Nappy Roots - Aw Naw(only the remix couldn't find the original on youtube). A group from Bowling Green Kentucky of all places had everybody saying 'aw naw hell nah'.  This was a song that would come on and everybody would instantly bob their head and sing along.

Lil Jon - Pretty much any song he did in a period of about 2 1/2 years which included 'Yeah', 'Bia Bia', and 'Get Low' among others just made people go nuts

My last artist is a personal favorite, I could've gone with a variety of songs or people ranging from Outkast So  Fresh and So Clean or Ms. Jackson Ludacris pretty much anything of his songs of Word of Mouf, anything Eminem did, or 50's In Da Club, but I would rather go with somebody who still gets me hype and still embodies hip hop.

Poppa Bear is out.. Thanks for the time!

White People Stuff

If you don't know me, I'm of the Caucasian race.  In other words, I'm white(pronounce the 'H'), a honkey, a cracker, a ghost, or whatever other racial epitaph you want to use.  But here's the kicker, I don't like white people stuff.  I mean pretty much everything that I really enjoy is things that black people are typically associated with.  I'll run down the list for you

I like Hip hop(not Weezy and shit like that) People like Jay-Z, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Common, The Roots, J. Cole, Kanye, Lupe Fiasco and other artists that actually rap about something other than 'moving pounds of yayo in the streets'.

My favorite sport is NBA Basketball(but Max there are a lot of people that like the NBA, yeah they are called black people).  For the most part if you asked a white male in the streets what his favorite sport to watch is, I highly doubt you are going to get too many that will say 'NBA basketball it's FANTASTIC'.

My favorite athletes are as follows 1. Charles Barkley 2. Deion Sanders 3. Julius Erving 4. Bill Russell 5. Ken Griffey Jr. 6. Muhammad Ali (I mean really, can you get any blacker than those 6?).

I love watermelon(what? It's a delicious fruit)

I love white women with big butts(and I REALLY love my wife, sorry babe it's true, you have a huge butt and it is AWESOME).

I'm not racist(yes I know there are other racist people besides white people, but when Eddie Murphy was trying to buy a pie he wasn't haggling with a Hispanic or an Asian)

My favorite actors go as follows - Denzel, Tom Hanks, Will Smith, and Morgan Freeman

My best friends in high school were mainly black - Clint, Quenton, Pickle, the Givens.  That's not saying that I didn't hang out with white people because I did(and now by far the majority of people I hang out with are white), but I was an athlete they were athletes we naturally just kicked it and usually I was the only guy in the crew.

My mom Cindy is a strong crazy woman who don't take shit from nobody.  Normally a trait reserved for single black mothers.


My favorite TV show is the Fresh Prince, and my favorite movie is the Blues Brothers, a movie about white guys doing black music.

I would rather wear Jordan and Nikes than whatever shoes white people wear(sketchers? Adidas? I really don't know).

My favorite car is not a Chevy but rather a Cadillac.

I voted for Obama

I've been to 7 musical concerts in my life in order they go like this - Pam Tillis(Yes Pam Tillis, I was 11, I had fun what can I say) Jay-Z and R. Kelly, Ludacris and Chamillionaire, Lupe Fiasco, 3-6 Mafia(freakin' horrible), Jay-Z again and J. Cole.  Of those concerts besides the Pam Tillis concert I was in the vast minority of people there(Translation - I was one of the few white people).

This is not to say I don't like white people stuff at all that's not true.  I like white people music(Sinatra, classic rock'n'roll, John Mayer, Dave Mathews).  But the majority of things I truly enjoy are black people things.  Including music, and the reason behind this is one reason. SOUL.  Black people have more of it, and it's something that I can hear in a voice.  So while listening to Jay-Z and Kanye rip the song Otis I realized how truly talented Otis Redding was.  So I decided to put him on my Pandora and song came across that is the sample to 'Otis'.  But it was a live version, and it was done in London(I think) and this song must be brought to the masses.

So the whole point of this pointless blog was to tell people about a great song that white people or black people can enjoy by a talented man with some soul.  So without further ado I bring you my man Otis Redding singing "Try a little tenderness" Live in London.  It's 7 minutes but listen up and be inspired.

Thanks for taking the time.. Poppa Bear appreciates it!  Until next time

What Is This?

Hello everybody! In the spirit of self promotion and 'getting my voice out there' I have decided to start a blog.  'About what?' you might ask, well I really don't know for sure, I think it will take me where ever I am at the time.  I'll probably speak on my thoughts about music, sports, marriage, the youth of today(I'm a teacher, so I see a lot of messed up stuff from today's youth), or whatever else I'm into at the time.  But before I get started with the relentlessness of self promotion I think I should tell you a little bit about myself, what has influenced me in my life, and why this blog is named 'learn ya something'.  SO without further ado

Learn Ya Something?? Really? Yes really.  This is an ode to my father Gary Green aka Geeg or GG.  When I was a kid and he wanted me to learn something from him the conversation would go like this..

GG - Come 'ere boy let me learn ya somethin'....
Me - Dad, it's 'teach ya somethin'
GG - I know that's what I said 'learn ya'
Me(usually confused) - alright whatever pop
GG (with a look of disgust due to my ignorance) - Son you think I don't know how to speak proper English?

Then the 'learning' would commence on both ends, my dad would teach me something and I would learn something.

I'm married to a wonderful woman who I love.  Her name is Aubre and I will probably talk about her.

My mother is named Cindy, or Cin as I will refer to her and she instilled many great values in me.

My sister is another one of my very best friends who is a large part of my life.  Her name is Lova.  It's a family name(kinda).

My old man is my best friend, he was my best man in the wedding, and I pretty much resemble him in most ways.

I have a great group of friends who are either insane(Ben Plummer), Alcoholics(Ben Plummer), avid gamblers(Clint, Givens, Ben Plummer), or just down to earth(everybody), but all loyal friends who will give you the shirt of their backs if it means you will buy them a drink later in the evening.

I mostly watch sports, I enjoy comedies, music, and a variety of other things. I'll try to have a point to my posts(not promised) and have something at the end(video, song, message, etc..)  Thanks for showing up and enjoy my nonsensical wizardry of the English language