Springfield is the capitol city of Illinois. It makes sense that the protesters of Occupy Springfield would set up protest lines at the Capitol building. Drew D. and JJ  K. decided to use performance and hip-hop to gain the attention of the General Assembly. Following the example of the Chicago 8, Youth International Party (Yippie) founders, who used theater to protest the Democratic National Convention and Vietnam War.

Like the Yippies, Drew and JJ have decided to use hip-hop and art to spread the #Occupy message.

“The hip-hop community of Springfield has always been involved in political action, but the community around hip-hop has been slow to get involved,” JJ states.

Drew, who has been one of Occupy Springfield’s motivators, has been trying to bring different groups together.

“Occupy should bring together all types of people to organize,” Drew said. “We need to reach out to people of color, LGBT, and women with the hopes of changing society to be more diverse and inclusive.”

Drew states the #Occupy movement is familiar with the Springfield hip-hop leaders and have welcomed artists to the protest.

JJ, a shameless self-promoter always hustling to get people to the meetings, knows that hip-hop can bring people to the table and that rappers can help by speaking about issues.

Recently, the group put on a performance inside of the capital to protest SB397, which gave a $120 million tax break to Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Sears Corporation. Drew helped write the script and performed as Santa Clause. Check out Occupy Springfield Christmas.

Like the Chicago 8 of 1968, Drew believes you can use art to “interject awareness into the public discussion,” and that awareness can lead to public action. Drew is ready to travel and bring this theatrical form of political action and hip-hop to capitol cities across the country.

When it comes to music that will change the world, Jasiri X has got your back! The Pittsburgher emcee is blatantly labeling himself as part of the 99problems that the 1 percent is gonna continue to have until the wealth is evenly distributed. In fact, Jasiri’s music will be the soundtrack to the revolution that won’t be televised. Instead, it’s gonna broadcast live through your Twitter and Facebook news feeds! Refresh ya page!

It doesn’t get much more gangsta than this! #OccupyYourTime and read the headlines if you haven’t already.

Dear 1 percent,

We broke, broke, broke, phi broke and we’re not bout to keep letting you and the rest of those that have been winning at our expense, keep winning. Being broke doesn’t have a gender, age, or ethnicity. This is all of our problem!

#SignedSealedDelivered

From titles to stereotypes, on-air personality, Dee Vasquez, holds a roundtable discussion with some of the most influential women in Hip Hop about their female counterparts.

Dee Vasquez Sits Down With Karen Civil, B.Dot, Lady Luck, Nina B and Rah Digga (Part 1) from itsthebino on Vimeo.

My new New Orleans-based homie, Dee-1 checks in with 99Problems and breaks down the snitching concept in an interesting way. Dawg is ill and is saying a lot more than most.

Ahh, this brings back memories. This literally happened to me before. The Milwaukee Police Dept sent their S.W.A.T. team to my house/studio, searching for someone that didn’t live there but had been there the previous day. Instead of them asking and knocking politely, they shot a flash bomb into my living room injuring my cat and destroyingthe front and back doors of my home hoping to find the drugs and guns they assumed I possessed. Their warrant was present but presented at then end of the Raid instead of the beginning which would’ve made a major difference. They ended up walking out with my 2 pitts and rottweiler, 2 registered guns, and no suspects.

It’s times like these that remind you of how careless police can be. This is why some people say, “Fuck The Police”. It’s not their jobs to shoot innocent dogs and cats. That’s taking your job too damn serious, don’t you think? I’m still kinda salty, so, I can relate to the brother below.

“My ni88a Big predicted this s*** exactly, Mo Money, Mo Problems, gotta move carefully….”

Above, an excerpt from Jay Z’s “Heart of the City” record off the Blueprint 1 that expresses the hardships of achieving the highest peaks of financial stability. Currently, with enough money to speed up the efforts in Haiti, Jay Z remains human and is feeling every effect of the fragile economy.It was just 3 years ago, that the mogul announced plans to bring J Hotels into fruition but they were abruptly suspended due to the infamous money crisis everyone’s talking about.

Jay-Z claims that Highland Capital Management “duplicitously stalled” efforts to hand over the deed on the hotel building site in lieu of foreclosure in order to collect tens of thousands of dollars a day in interest and fees. Now, he’s suing the investment firm and the bank on the project for $3.7 million, claiming they’re “bleeding” him on loans on the abandoned project. HC Management says it will vigorously defend itself and pursue obligations owed to the investors.

Happy 100 Jay!!!
Party @ the 40/40. At least you still got those, right?