ByronCrawford.com

African-American Women: Where They Stand

Next to the Dishwasher, Hopefully!
Anyone catch any of this series on the NBC Nightly News about black women called African-American Women: Where They Stand? If figured I might, since you 'bags know I seek out contentious race issues, but I don't watch the nightly news anyway, and I wasn't about to start for some shit like this. Plus, I've been working nights this week at the BGM.

Of course, come to find out, you can watch the entire thing, plus mad bonus footage and shit, on the NBC website. I watched the following bit, on "redefining black families," for a story I did for XXL today. I'd watch the rest of it, but I've gotta leave in a little bit, on my way to Memphis. More on that (maybe) Monday.

Redefining black relationships

My bad about the picture of the broad with the skee ball a.k.a. the little brother. Ironically enough, the segment has to do with the fact that so many black women have a hard time finding a spouse. According to the grim statistics stated in the piece, over 40% of black women have never been married, compared to only 16% of white women. Could it be the haircut? I'm just saying.

Have black men failed black women? [XXL]

Ghostface Killah - The Big Doe Rehab: Album Review

Ghostface Killah, The Big Doe Rehab (Def Jam, 2007)
As I mentioned in a story the other day on the god-awful new Wu-Tang album, Ghostface Killah's ability to tell the difference between a good idea and a bad one is just plain unparalleled. This is Ghost's third album in the past year or so, following last year's critically acclaimed Fishscale and its bonus disc More Fish.

• Ghostface Killah @ MySpace

Would you bang a broad who was pregnant?

What if it was Christina Aguilera?

I don't know. Pregnant women usually have ridonkulously large cans, and lord knows I've been guilty of staring at a pregnant woman's cans over the years. But the stomach thing does kinda gross me out, especially having accidentally stumbled upon my share of disgusting pregnant woman pr0n over the years. To me, it just makes a woman look that much more like an animal. Which I suppose we all are, but still.

I'm not saying I wouldn't go for it, given the opportunity, I'm just saying.

Check the full-size pictures, from the January '08 issue of Marie Claire, after the jump. For research purposes, of course.

The Real World: Sydney - Episode 18: Episode Summary

Tonight's episode picks up right where last week's episode left off, with Parisa and Trisha going at it. Trisha calls her old man and brags that she just pushed a fat girl. Meanwhile, Parisa is outside in the hallway shouting shit about how Trisha doesn't care about her family, she thinks Christianity is a superior religion to Islam, and she's put on a gut since she moved in the house.

Trisha's old man tries to get her to apologize for pushing Parisa, but Trisha's not having it, especially with Parisa going off on her like that. Also, you get the idea that Parisa is going to try to have Trisha kicked out of the house regardless. After their little exchange, Parisa goes off somewhere to cool off, while the rest of the group debates whether Parisa is really going to go through with it.

Video of the Year: Sensual Seduction

Five reasons why "Sensual Seduction" is the best video evar:

1) The whole song is about dropping a load. (Nullus.)

2) There's an obvious homage to the video for "When Doves Cry."

3) While he sings sensual seduction in the video, the real name of the song is "Sexual Eruption."

4) His hoes have that blank look on their faces, like the hoes from those Robert Palmer videos.

5) At one point, Snoop's hand comes dangerously close to one of his hoes' boobs.

Check the video for "Sensual Seduction" after the jump.

Beanie Sigel - The Solution: Album Review

Beanie Sigel, The Solution (Roc-A-Fella, 2007)
It seemed like Beanie Sigel was approaching a certain creative peak on his last album, but that was a long-ass time ago. Since then, he's been in and out of jail and all sorts of shit. I wonder if he's still got it.

• Beanie Sigel @ MySpace

Album Preview: The Big Doe Rehab

Watching this Miss Info interview with Ghostface, I realized two things: a) If I'm ever gonna have a successful career in radio, I'm gonna have to work on my blaccent, regardless of how silly it sounds; and b) This new Ghostface album is gonna be the best Ghostface album in ages, maybe since The Pretty Toney Album.

Granted, I guess there's only been one proper Ghostface album since The Pretty Toney Album, last year's Fishscale. But then there was also More Fish, and that one he did with his weed carrier Trife da God, and that 718 album (nails btw), and maybe even something else that I'm forgetting. I liked all of them more so than I did pretty much anything else that's come out in the past few years, but I don't think any of them quite lived up to his first few solo outings.

But based on the snippets played in the following interview, it sounds like Ghost might be set for a return to form of sorts - the effect of which would of course be even that much more pronounced, given how shitty the new Wu-Tang album is. I know a lot of you fruits were bitching about my having called 8 Diagrams the shit sandwich that it is, but I wonder how anyone can listen to it, then listen to this new Ghostface shit and tell me that album doesn't suck balls.

(Speaking of which, you might want to check out my post from XXL yesterday about how the RZA has become the Syd Barrett of rap, and how it's incumbent on Ghostface to save the rest of the group from creative oblivion.)

Birdman likes 'em young

Today XXL has the story on how Birdman and Slim from Cash Money got busted with a pound of weed in their RV somewhere out in East Bumblefuck, Tennessee, but I thought they missed the most interesting bit.

According to the AP:

[Bryan "Birdman"] Williams, 38, his wife Brittany, 18, and his brother, Ronald Williams, 43, were each charged with possession of more than 1/2 ounce of marijuana as were 13 others, several of whom are also affiliated with the rap industry and Cash Money Records, which was founded by Bryan and Ronald Williams.

Notice how 13 other people were arrested, but none of them were mentioned by name or age. As my old man, Byron Sr., would say, clearly the AP is trying to tell us something.

Don't get me wrong, if I had the means, I'd have an 18 year-old wife, too, or at least a series of 18 year-old girlfriends. That way I wouldn't have to sit and listen to them yap about the High School Musical. But at least I'm still kinda young. Most of the girls I deal with on a regular basis fall into that 16-22 age range, on account of the the utter lack of success I've had in my "career," so to speak.

But I think you have to wonder, in the case of the Birdman, if there isn't some established pattern of behavior that might be worth looking into. I mean, it'd be one thing if there weren't pictures circulating on the Internets of him making out with his adopted son, but there are.

Rapper 'Birdman' arrested in Tenn. [San Jose Mercury News]

Wu-Tang Clan - 8 Diagrams: Album Review

Wu-Tang Clan, 8 Diagrams (SRC, 2007)
The RZA and Raekwon have been beefing back and forth in the press about whether or not this new Wu-Tang album sucks balls. Not to tip my hand too early in the review, but Raekwon was right. This album fucking sucks.

• Wu-Tang Clan @ MySpace

Barack Obama would make the best president

According to Last Week's Poll
With states like New Hampshire and Nevada pushing their primaries up damn near into 2007, I figured I'd better host my own primary before it was too late. Fuck the rest of the country. So in last week's poll, I pitted the seven candidates for the Democratic nomination against one another to see who'd make the best president. Here are the results.

Who would make the best president?

1. Barack Obama (169 votes)
2. Hillary Clinton (68 votes)
3. Dennis Kucinich (66 votes)
4. Joe Biden (38 votes)
5. John Edwards (36 votes)
6. Bill Richardson (21 votes)
7. Chris Dodd (10 votes)

I suppose I should have known Barack Obama would do remarkably well in a poll like this. All year long he hasn't been doing as well in national polls, but his campaign has maintained that he's way more popular amongst young people, who don't participate in polls because they use cell phones or whatever. It'll be interesting to see to what extent this translates into actual votes in the primary elections.

Meanwhile, in a development that echoes the main thread in current BS campaign journalism, Hillary Clinton isn't doing nearly as well as you'd think. Barack Obama got something like three times as many votes as her, and she only beat Dennis Kucinich by two votes. For most of the week, it even looked like he might beat her. She must have had some of her netroots people find this site and sabotage the poll.

The other take-home point in this poll is that John Edwards is just plain and simple not a top tier candidate. So what if he was John Kerry's running mate in '04. His campaign is obviously dead in the water. Based on the debate the other day in Las Vegas and now this poll, I think it's obvious Dennis Kucinich has surpassed him in that regard. He better hope Obama or Hillary makes him their running mate.

***

For the sake of fairness and equal time, next week's poll is a similar competition between the candidates for the Republican nomination. After all, there's no guarantee that the Democrats won't lose again next fall, just like they did the last two in a row. The winner of next week's poll could very well be the next president. Vote early and vote often.