Edd’s MANtra: The Week That Was

Last week, the wifey and I enjoyed a restful weekend in my home state of Virginia – the greatest state in the union.


But that’s just one man’s opinion.


And while I was on vacation, did you guys behave? Of course not. Seemingly every day, there was at least one bizarre news story breaking. Sheesh, I turn my back for one second and the inmates start running the asylum.


Well, the warden is back. Let’s catch up on what we missed:


— Renowned poet and musician Gil Scott-Heron passed away May 27. Many consider his politically charged poetry as the precursor of hip hop. Good, meaningful hip hop, that is, not that Soulja Boy stuff. Check out his classic piece, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” here.


— Remember “Dr. Death?” Jack Kevorkian, infamous for dozens of assisted suicides in the late 80s, died at 83 last Friday. Ol’ Dr. Death holds a special place in my heart – his saga was the first to get me interested in journalism. While the media often demonized Kevorkian, I could clearly see a case for both sides of the assisted suicide argument. To this day, I still can’t make a firm stance on either side of the issue.


So yeah, Jack Kevorkian got me interested in writing. Freaky.


— Sean Kingston fans had quite a scare last Monday when news broke that he crashed his Jet Ski into a bridge in Miami. He was last reported in stable condition. I’ve been harsh on Kingston in the past, but I certainly wish him well in his recovery.


— Chicago rapper, and prime candidate for a “What Ever Happened to” column, Rhymesfest also struggled with health problems. Fest was rushed to the emergency room after facing complications from diabetes, a disease he apparently didn’t even know he had. According to sohh.com, his Twitter account said his sugar levels were 739, with normal levels being 80. As of this writing he was still in doctors’ care. Good luck, Fest.


— So we had deaths, illnesses, how about a resurrection? Hackers targeted PBS early last week and posted a story about Tupac being alive and well – in New Zealand of all places. Now, most of my Facebook friends got a good laugh out of this but unfortunately a sad, select few actually took the bait and thought their “revolutionary” was back among us. Sorry playas, Tupac was never a revolutionary. He was a rapper. And he’s not alive.


To rub salt in my aching wounds, I spent all week listening to Virginia radio play Meek Mill’s new song, “Tupac Back.” Listen at your own risk. Pac would not be proud.


— Also while in Va, I heard Rihanna’s new song, “Man Down.” Never fear, she continues her streak of  releasing excruciatingly bad songs. Who told her it was good idea to steal lyrics from “Little Drummer Boy?” But forget the song itself, the topic on everyone’s lips was the “controversial” video. I scoured blogs for days to discover what made this video so bad, and while everyone talked about “da controversy” NO ONE mentioned exactly what the controversy was.


Allow me to fill you in – Rihanna kills the guy who rapes her.


See for yourself.





Some are touting this murder as empowering for women. So we empower our little girls by telling them it’s OK to KILL people who hurt them? Playa please.


Feel free to assault me in the comments section, but I’m not budging on this one. But when have you ever known me to budge?


— And finally, the biggest news of all. Brace yourselves:

Early Wednesday morning, Keith Sweat was a trending topic on Twitter! Why? Who knows. Who cares? But it’s about time Keith got Twitter props.


You guys made me proud after all.