“Con coco o sin coco?” Is what brothers and sisters ask when you ask them if they have any weed to smoke in the Dominican Republic. With cocaine or without cocaine? In the Dominican Republic cocaine is a more socially accepted drug of choice than marijuana. Weed is actually looked down upon in the way smoking crack is looked upon here in the United States. This was a very bizarre state of affairs when I realized the ramifications of such a construct. This meant that in the Dominican Republic, I was a crack head and the coke heads were the laid back stoners. My how the truth can be malleable and ambiguously obscure.
When I went to a close friend’s potluck a week ago, who is actually Dominican himself, I kept hearing him and his cousin yell out “I’m in love with the coco!” They finally played the video for everyone and we all were glued to the monitor as we watched a man sitting at a kitchen table with his friends, seemingly spreading powdered cocaine over it with playing cards and rolling up blunts. How simply sensational of a sight I thought! Who cannot relate to this image? How can you not see how relevant this scene is? I thought all of this at the same time as I thought how disgusting the video was. The mundaneness of what Hip Hop or Rap has degraded to. Who could support such garbage! These were the conflicting debates floating in my mind as I continued to stare and listen to what one of our good friends from college described as a nursery rhyme. He was right. The lyrics were so simple a two year old could recite and comprehend them after one listen. It was actually kind of disturbing to think of the influence this video will have on younger viewers.
It was stuck in my head. I walked home with my girlfriend singing “I’m in love with the coco” out loud. We would both laugh and shake our heads at our own senseless embarrassment and juxtaposed affinity for the simple yet catchy tune. I asked her to play it again when we got home. We watched the whole thing, twice. I watched it again, alone with my headphones. I bobbed my head. I lip synced the single syllable lyrics to myself. I smiled at the screen. I enjoyed it. It was addictive.
The beat! The foundation of the auditory retention is the low frequency of the sub bass line in the background music. The engineer of the musical score synthesized the reverberations of the low tones very well, and in unison the sound effects which work congruently with the bass are mesmerizing. If there were no lyrics, the song will still have a profound affect onto the listener. I can imagine watching the video with the instrumental only and still fully understanding the theme of the song. Without a doubt, like many other current rap hits, the beat carries the song and without it I sincerely believe it would not work or feel the same. The producer and his engineer did an excellent job.
The lyrics are simple, as already stated. However, the lyrics are contrasting to what is the current political atmosphere in the Black community. Whether Genasis intended to cause a debate or not is not the question. He has most certainly done so. While at my friend’s potluck, I recall a divide amongst all who were watching the video. Some loved it. Some hated it. I did find myself somewhere in the middle. The melody of the lyrics and the cadence of the rhyme took me back to “con coco o sin coco” in the Dominican Republic. It reminded me of a time and place when and where I was unsure of my political stance on drugs and what is socially on the fence, and what is totally overboard. I will not promote violence and I believe guns should be used only for protection, however I was reminded of the G Thang video when the guy had the pistol tucked into the back of his pants while working the barbecue pit. The guns looked real and I looked at them closely. I was drawn to them the same way I have always been when watching a movie or television show. This video was no different. This was a good rap video. If we must separate Hip Hip and Rap to achieve a sense of clarity and social aptness in our culture and responsibility to our community then I say this is an excellent rap video.
Whether Genasis will stand the test of the fickle music industry is oh but yet to be seen. I for one could not care less how things play out, but best of luck to him and his family. As for this record, very disturbing yet highly intriguing. It is extremely interesting how the same thing can be done in so many ways and still one out of the million appears and feels so different. This one was like tasting something different in a corner store bottled water and thinking “wow, what is this?” Only to look and see it is Poland Spring with a new logo and feeling unconsciously satisfied with what you perceive as something new.
These last two or three weeks have been stressful and long for me, to say the least. Luckily, during my downtime I’ve had the pleasantries of Green Crack (below), and NY Double Diesel (above). Very good strains!
To compare the two against each other is far from my will. They have their own independent and superior psychoactive qualities, and I would use them both for different and separate reasons.
Green Crack is more of a stimulant, in my opinion. It didn’t take long for me to know I was high, but it was one of those smart highs. I was more aware and observant of events around me. I also felt urges to workout during my high, and well after I had come down. I’d recommend Green Crack before going to work.
The New York Double Diesel was way more of a sedative. I mean a real downer. I felt good, so its not a depressant. But, talk about sleepy! As far as the high goes, it’s immediate, but not a huge impact, which is good, seeing as how it eventually sedates you. Good for insomnia, without a doubt!
Neither one of the strains induced paranoia in my case, which could be due to the fact that I’m a habitual pot smoker. They both smelled pretty good, the Green Crack having more of a dew-like moldy smell, while the NY Double Diesel was closer to a pine or forest odor. No skunk in either case.
I’d never turn down an opportunity at either one of these two strains.
I saw a BBC documentary about Oliver Sacks, his neurology practice, his literary works, and a few patients he’s worked with, and I was amazed. This guy’s dedicated his life to something a lot of people take for granted, their brain.
It was cool to learn about face blindness, stereo vision and 2D vision, and deaf-blind people. We almost never realize our abilities unless they’re taken away from us, or if they’re suddenly granted to us by medical science or divination. It’s also incredible to know that our brain will work around any discrepancies no matter the issue.
The most amazing thing about Oliver Sacks is the fact that he helps all these people and their ailments, and come to find out he has a depth perception ailment due to a tumor he had in his brain, forcing him to only see in 2D. He also has a slight case of face blindness, which hinders him from recognizing familiar faces as good as the average person.
Oliver Sacks says his best prescription for his vision issues is marijuana.
Vermont approved marijuana dispensaries last week, allowing for state licensed administrators to serve a maximum of 1,000 clients for medical marijuana use. This is the fourth state besides CO, ME, and NM that will have dispensaries operating and serving potheads around America.
California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island, although they already passed laws to allow dispensaries, have since been in limbo on how to regulate the phenomena. The big Boom in California is being thwarted by the feds and the confusion on laws regarding cultivation of the marijuana plant.
Washington D.C. and Delaware are next in line to sign up for the weed dispensary craze, hopefully they’ll get everything up and running smoothly. The time has definitely come when our nation is realizing that criminalizing marijuana users and growers is causing more trouble than helping or society.
In the midst of the war on drugs failure announcement by the UN yesterday, I decided to present this mashup of the Reagans’ stand on the war on drugs. Enjoy!
Yesterday the United Nations and a group of 19 panelists announced that the war on drugs has been a complete failure. They noted that the percentage of drug use has only gone up since the “war” began, and crime has skyrocketed because of it. Guess who disagrees with the announcement. You guessed it, Washington D.C.
America has been blamed to be the catalyst for the downward spiraling effect that the so called war on drugs has had on the global community. The crime syndicates that benefit from drug trafficking are clearly in bed with the U.S. government, and Washington turns a blind eye to the fact.
The panelists are targeting the American government and asking for reform to the drug laws, including legalization of certain drugs, and decriminalization of drug users. They said medical treatment and psychiatric help is more useful than jail time and a criminal record. Wow, how come I didn’t think of that?
This is not some shit that nobody knew already. They UN should just ask the Black community in America to be the mascot of this campaign. You know we can’t stand the damn government, and I think any nigga with some sense would stand behind this cause.
I know I’m down with this shit. Shit, motherfucker.
This is one of Herbal Essence’s tracks on the Shaken: Not Stirred album. I ran across it on my Pandora and fell in love with the smooth jazz fused with a hip hop drum pattern sound. I think anyone can vibe with this record.
I do understand the reasoning behind wanting to ask can you have a few tokes from someone else’s blunt. Almost every smoker has done it, including me. That still doesn’t make it a cool thing to do.
Most of the time smokers mooch from smokers they know and have smoked with before. But there’s that unfortunately often time when someone you’ve never seen before in your life approaches you and your weed smoking friends and asks for a hit.
There are plenty ways to be considered a moocher, but asking people you’ve never met before to do illegal activities with them is always not a good thing. After that, you’re pretty much just an asshole and a scumbag, simply because most people usually allow you to hit the blunt; and you knew that would be the outcome. Don’t take advantage of that, ever.
Now, that’s just one particular case of weed mooching. There are all sorts of ways to be considered a moocher, females especially. All in all, the best thing to do is bring your own weed.
Erick's Brain 