FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

Basketball is my favorite sport

I like the way they dribble up and down the court
Just like I'm the King on the microphone so is Dr. J and Moses Malone
I like Slam dunks take me to the hoop
My favorite play is the alley oop
I like the pick-and-roll, I like the give-and-go,
Cause it's Basketball, uh, Mister Kurtis Blow

"Basketball" - Kurtis Blow (1984)

Anyone would be hard-pressed to claim that Hip Hop and the game of Basketball are only relative. The two can only be stretched so far to dispute all proof of how much influential similarities they have aside from what the DJ has on his playlist at the games; right down to what kind of gear fans bump on their feet (Nike Air Jordans). 

Here's a recap of what went down at Friday Night Lights Basketball game - Week II:

LAST Friday evening, basketball players encountered their fans in an evening of interactive fun and games.

This was not the usual Friday Night Lights you may have heard of — nothing to do with the famed American football series in the US. This was the Friday Night Lights at Wandegeya, YMCA basketball court.

With the main basketball season over, the Friday Night Lights involves basketball pros taking on fans in a series of brief and entertaining games as part of a greater goal to encourage skills transfer, sharing as well as interaction.

There was the hip-hop music to dance to and young and beautiful ladies dressed fashionably, as if headed straight to a night club. These added glamour to the event.

The ladies cheered the teams made up of tall and sturdy basketball players as well as their fans. Entry was free for the ladies while the men parted with sh3,000.

Teams won token prizes of cash and beer. The top prize was sh750,000 for the fan that could successfully make a centre shot and score.

This was quite a challenge for those that made an effort to make a winning shot from the centre of the court. At the end, no one made it.

Next week, the prize goes higher by 250,000 to become 1,000,000 for a fan who can make a winning shot.

While fans, especially the ladies, could not get enough of Klear Kut rapper, The Mith’s hip-hop performance, they may have found Rabadaba more entertaining.

He teased them with his dances and reached out to them to sing along with him.

If one did not understand the rules of the game, they at least got the cue when to cheer the best teams.

With many young people looking out for where to ‘happen’ on a Friday evening, they seemed to have found a new companion in Friday Night Lights. 

Friday Nights at YMCA redefined - The New Vision - Tuesday 15th March 2011.

COMPETITION IS DEAD

Sam Lamara, C.E.O. and producer of ROOTA RECORDS, is a genius.

This one night he sent Enygma, Lyrikal Proof, GNL, Atlas, Pl@y and myself a beat and said he wanted us to jump on it and "body the beat".

We all got to downloading but Lyrikal Proof was quicker with everything than the rest of us; he got the concept of the song, wrote the hook and two 16-bar verses. Mind you, the song was supposed to have one 12-bar verse from all of us.

We went in at different times to record but each time someone would go in, he'd find another MC - not part of the original 6 - there. And before you knew it, this new MC would get in the booth and lay down a 12-bar verse. The song now has 18 MCs and it is a PROBLEM.

For everyone who never knew how lyrically tight Ugandan MCs are, this is the song you MUST listen to.

THE MITH:

The nicest when I write - I'm Phil Jackson, I know how to win with mics (Mikes) - 

Been dope way before you called Jesus/ Christ - He's the type to punch through you/ 

to peek into the afterlife - The Mith Music Group/ each bar is tight - And I never see defeat/

I'm barbaric with words/ in a bar fight - Get your lights knocked out/ on [Knights] nights out like Suge - 

You'll get thrown in the trunk/ nigga you're far from Hood - 

I am not one for the lime light - I am for the high beams -

Dan Brown/ each verse is a movie scene

I have no choice but to be fly - 

Nose up in the air my jeans (genes) say it/ you should Levi (Leave I)

Enjoy the song.

Signs The World Is Coming To An End: Thousands of Dead Birds Fall From The Sky.

The first signs the world is coming to an end of 2011. How in the world did some 3,000 black birds just fall out of the sky on New Year's Eve? Oh, what a bad omen that is. 

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Wildlife experts are trying to solve a mystery that evoked images of the apocalypse: Why did more than 3,000 red-winged blackbirds tumble from the Arkansas sky shortly before midnight on New Year's Eve?

Scientists are investigating whether fireworks, poison or bad weather might have forced the birds out of the sky, or if a disoriented bird simply led the flock into the ground.

"We have a lot more questions," said Karen Rowe, an ornithologist with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. She said there are documented cases of birds becoming confused and plunging to earth.

Residents of the small town of Beebe, northeast of Little Rock, awoke Saturday to find thousands of dead blackbirds littering a 1.5-square-mile area. The birds inexplicably dropped dead, landing on homes, cars and lawns. Cleanup crews wore white suits, gas masks and rubber gloves as they spent the holiday weekend gathering the carcasses.

The birds will not be missed. Large blackbird roosts like one at Beebe can have thousands of birds that leave ankle- to knee-deep piles of droppings in places.

Nearly a decade ago, state wildlife officials fired blanks from shotguns and cannons to move a roost of thousands of blackbirds from Beebe, but in recent years many of the migratory birds returned.


Bird carcasses were shipped to the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission and the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis. Researchers in Georgia also asked for a set of the dead birds. Test results could be back in a week.

Rowe said many of the birds suffered injuries from striking the ground, but it was not clear whether they were alive when they hit.

Blackbirds have notoriously bad eyesight. If startled at night, they could easily fly into the ground, Rowe said. A few grackles and a couple of starlings were also among the dead. Those species roost with blackbirds, particularly in winter.

"Every dog and cat in the neighborhood that night was able to get a fresh snack that night," Rowe said. 


They were poisoned because the officials were trying to control the number of birds in their area.


Whatever the case, I think one thing is for sure, there are so many irregularities going on in the world today. As a person, what one can do is get right with his/values. 1.

Signs The World Is Coming An End: A Million More Dead Fish

I'm sorry. But this has to be said. A million dead fish washed up on the shores of Redondo Beach, Ca., just south of LA. NAH SON. This is it. Get right with God or else! 

Biologists have tentatively concluded that the fish died from oxygen deprivation after being driven by a storm into a closed-off pier area, California Department of Fish and Game spokesman Andrew Hughan told Reuters.

"It looks like they just swam in the wrong direction and ended up in a corner of the pier that doesn't have any free-flowing oxygen in it," Hughan said.

"There's nothing that appears to be out of sorts, no oil sheen no chemicals, no sign of any kind of illegal activity," Hughan said. "As one fisherman just told me, this is natural selection."

A skip loader then carried them to big trash bins. Officials initially estimated there were millions of fish, but Fish and Game roughly estimated about a million.

City officials estimated the cleanup would cost $100,000. Fire Chief Dan Madrigal said the fish would be taken to a landfill specializing in organic materials. King Harbor Marina provides 850 boat slips to private vessels.

<Jack Black's voice in NACHO LIBRE>: there were winds of up to about 50mph that pushed the fish into compact groups off shore, which led to the "little fish" to suffocate. 

MY QUOTE PROCESS

The idea of words and their power has always excited me, and a lot of people. I guess that's why when Arnold said "I'll be back", we were taken aback.We all knew he was going to kill dude, but he just let us know he was going to be back, so now we wanted to know the How, the When and in What way.


To me, when a concept comes up that I have to write about, I think, How am I going to capture the listener's attention?


And the more important question, when? When am I going to make the listener feel like we all did when Arnold did when he said, "I'll be back"?
That to me is the most important. And I realised early in my writing, the "When" is immediately.


"It's that Presidential flow/ you know Amin?" (know what I mean?) - Kampala Sibizimbe.
"My lines are infinite/on any track I punch lines and each line is different" - Line4Line
"Bagamba 'guy oyo/ King like Oyo" - Boss Vaawo.
"Lights, Camera Satisfaction/ that means Action" - Fire.


I try as hard as I can to be current with my lines. This is a problem because I'm usually stuck in a magazine or a book. That makes it hard with trying to be current. But people have to have something to relate to.


"I lead in the lane, from Gulu to Mbarara/ I sleep with the game, your balls stay blue, Avatar" - This Is It.
"Mess with me or my crew/ and I'll have rocks thrown at you, Olara Otunnu." - I Got It


Verses for me MUST have a lot of sleek talk. I feel that's what separates a good verse from a very dope verse.


"They talk sleek around here/ but me, I'm Tullow" - Big is Me.
"My wrist attracts females/ Call it Juma Seiko" - Big is Me.


Those are a few of the things I try to incorporate in my writing. Those and the flow as well as staying on the subject.


-The nicest when I write/ I'm Phil Jackson, I know how to win with mics-

TOAST TO LIFE

I remember the recording session of this track. I got a call from my dad, while I was in the booth. So I asked him to drop a few lines, but the connection was bad, we couldn't get him clearly. But skip that, I went to the Hannz Records that day with the idea of recording a club banger. Something to make the girls "shake they stankin' ass" in the club. But I came out with one of the most IMPORTANT songs of my career in my opinion. 
See I can always write a "Boss Vaawo" and a "Fire". That's easy. But something like - TOAST TO LIFE- comes up every once in a while.

I drew a lot of inspiration from Biggie's Juicy, Pac's Life Goes On and Jay's Roc Boys, in order to write this song.

TOAST TO LIFE LYRICS

Verse 1

Let's Toast to what we've achieved-

Cuts and Bruises/

Everything that made us bleed-

Shakers, Movers/

Everyone who made us see-

A new avenue to double up on our G's-

The Saints, The Judas-

The Hate from Losers-

We're so high up/ it's not the same air that we breathe-

But we Toast to them-

Hope that brings Hope to them-

If not/ they need a new trick up their damn sleeves-

Let's Toast to new lives born-

Soldiers in our war/ hope tradition carries on-

This is who we are/ action we can get it on-

Toast to UGAFLOW- everytime that we perform-

Toast to the Writer's pen-

Quotes of the fights we win-

Even Toast to the fights within-

We're in/ 'till it ends// or-

'Till we're sent for-

But until then/ we TOAST TO LIFE coz we're involved.

Verse 2

Many lives lost-

But we don't shed a tear-

We celebrate they were here-

So let's Toast-

Your house became a home-

So lets Toast to the mothers who stood firm/ and helped us all stand strong-

Where I come from-

Father's are dead-beat/ so let's Toast to those who helped their kids grow-

What we're here for-

Moving forward/ so let's Toast to the end of year's progress report-

Pour nothing out/ these drinks never go to waste-

So we fill glasses up/ and serve grapes-

Guess it's coz we're Royal-

Cut from the same cloth/ so we're loyal-

Toast to you/ coz we're here for you-

Hear from you-

So it's only right that we share the same view-

We reminisce as we drink it slow-

It's only right/

We TOAST TO LIFE/

Coz we're involved.

Song Title: Toast To Life

Produced by: Hannz TactiQ

(This Be The Realest Shit I've Ever Wrote)

THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER

I keep getting asked, "Why that name for an album?" It's very simple. I was born on September 8th (1990 :-)) and I started conceptualizing my album in the month of September 2005.

A couple of weeks before P-Tech passed away.

Originally, the album was supposed to center around my life. From my early days in Safari Kindergarten, to now. 

But I realised THAT album would be hard to digest and equally hard to deliver in Uganda. So that idea was thrown in the backseat and the punchlines, metaphors, wit, tough talk and all the sleekness and charm  in me took the front seat.

The album though shouldn't be dismissed because of that. No. It's definitely going to be a more rounded album than what most people listen to. 

Definitely going to draw from a lot of what the Ugandan public goes through. It has to really. That's the only life I have known, lived.

The Week Of September, or TWOS as I call it, (I'm really a Hillsider deep down) is real life. So I'm treating it that way. I get angry. I get happy. I get boisterous. I get bossy, shit. I damn near get horny on this album. Basically, I get real. Hope you will like what I deliver.

My Supporting cast:

* Navio

* Nonini

* Percussion Discussion Africa

* Don M.C.

* Tickie Tah

* Naava... And loads more

Chairman Of The Boards:

* Emon

* Aethan

* Koz N Effekt

* Hannz Tactiq

* Sam Lamara

THE MITH

-THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER-

No one does it better/

Black, Yellow Red on, it's NEVER looked fresher.