Being Black- The '80s

theGrio Black Podcast Network is proud to announce that Being Black: The '80s has received a Lovie Awards nomination. Click here to vote in the Arts, Entertainment & Sports category to help Touré bring home the win!

Being Black: The '80s has been nominated for a Signal Award! Help us win the People's Choice award for best Limited Series: Music, by voting here: https://tinyurl.com/bb80sSignal

Star Stories with Touré is an animated series about the unpredictable and sometimes unbelievable backstage interactions with some of the most iconic men in music of the modern era.

These animated stories are unforgettable recollections of the larger-than-life experiences with music journalist Touré .

To hear the podcast visit: https://pod.link/1697986415

To watch the series visit: https://thegrio.com/starstories/

Touré played poker with Jay-Z one night in a swanky Manhattan penthouse suite. Each hand was worth thousands of dollars. Why was Touré in the game? He’s not rich enough for a game like that. It could have bankrupted him. The answer: He’s insane. Also, he was willing to risk everything to glean the very interesting bit of psychological insight he could get from being head-to-head in a hand of poker with Jay-Z.

 

Watch here:  https://thegrio.com/starstories/1368617/#sp=star%20stories

 

Credits:

The Takeover

Writer: JAY-Z & Kanye West

Label: Roc-A-Fella Records

Publisher: Roc The World 

 

The Story of OJ 

Writer: JAY-Z, No I.D., Nina Simone, Gene Redd Jr. & Jimmy Crosby

Label: Roc Nation

Publisher: Carter Boys Music, Sony Music Entertainment, Virgin Records, EMI Longitude Music, New World Music, Warner Music Group, EMI Music Publishing Group, Filmtrax, Eleven East Music, Bucky Music, Rolls Royce Music Company, BMG, Let The Story Begin Publishing, EMI Waterford Music, BMG Monarch, Warner/Chappell, Delightful Music, Round Hill Music, Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., Carbert Music & Stephanye Music

NWA's Ice Cube talks about the influence of crack on their hit song “Dopeman” and the contradiction of how drug money destroyed the community and propelled his career. “Dopeman” Is one of the illest songs ever made because it takes you deep into the drug dealer’s perspective on selling drugs. The crack dealer was evil but we should still seek to understand what drove him and when we look into his soul we find that like the fiends he served, he too was an addict, but he was addicted to power and money. Crack dealers and their culture had a deep influence on hiphop culture and the Black community. In this ep we go into "Dopeman” with The D.O.C. from NWA and talk to several former drug dealers about how dealers changed the world around them.

 

Guests:

Nelson George, Filmmaker

Royce Da 5’9, Rapper

Biba Adams, Writer

The D.O.C., Rapper

Samson Styles, Journalist and Filmmaker

Kevin Chiles, CEO Don Diva Magazine

Jim Jones, Rapper

Credits:

NWA - Dope Man

Writer: Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Sugarfoot, Junie Morrison, Marshall “Rock” Jones, Greg Webster, Ralph Middlebrooks, Marvin Pierce, Norman Napier & Andrew Noland 

Label: Ruthless Records

Publisher: Ruthless Attack Muzick & Bridgeport Music 

 

NWA - Fuck Tha Police

Writer: The D.O.C., Ice Cube & MC Ren

Label: Universal Music Group, Ruthless Records & Priority Records

Publisher: Universal Music Group

 

Notorious BIG - The Ten Crack Commandments

Writer: The Notorious B.I.G. & DJ Premier

Label: Bad Boy Entertainment

Publisher: B.I.G. Poppa Music, Gifted Pearl Music, Justin Combs Music & EMI April Music

 

Alpo Martinez, FEDS Magazine

Star Stories with Toure` is an animated series about the unpredictable and sometimes unbelievable backstage interactions with some of the most iconic men in music today.

These animated stories are unforgettable recollections of the larger-than-life experiences with music journalist Toure` and Black celebrities.

“I spent over two decades working in music journalism, and it left me with a wealth of awesome stories about the time I spent hanging out with many intriguing stars. I played basketball with Prince. I played poker with Jay-Z. I went jewelry shopping with Kanye. I was briefly kidnapped and threatened with torture by Suge Knight. All these stories reveal something interesting, funny, or real about these stars. There is also a contrast between the life of a star and the life of a journalist. It is centered around true stories, which are definitely for adults, not kids."     Toure`

Tracy Chapman became one of the biggest musicians in the world thanks to two critical 80s concepts—affirmative action and the diasporic mindset. Because of the diasporic mindset, many Americans thought of Africa as part of their world, as if Africa’s problems are our own, and we are not truly free until South Africans suffering under Apartheid are free. And affirmative action did nothing less than change Chapman’s life. We’ll explore how those ideas  helped Chapman and how they relate to "Fast Car." We’ll also look at what Chapman’s life might have been like if she’d never been helped by affirmative action.

Guests: Jelani Cobb, Dean, Columbia Journalism School

Credits: 

Tracy Chapman - Fast Car

Label: Elektra

Writer: Tracy Chapman 

Publisher: PURPLE RABBIT MUSIC

Tracy Chapman - Fast Car (Live Version)

Label: Elektra

Writer: Tracy Chapman 

Publisher: Purple Rabbit Music

Elizabeth Cotten - Freight Train

Writer: Elizabeth Cotten, James Paul, William Frederick

Label: Folkways Records FG 3526

Publisher: Figs D Music

Elizabeth Cotten - Goin Down the Road Feelin Bad

Writer: Elizabeth Cotten

Label: Folkways Records FG 3526

Publisher: Folkways Records FG 3526

Tracy Chapman | Rare Interview, Planet Rock Profiles

Tracy Chapman 1996, Charlie Rose

Tracy Chapman Talks Bob Dylan, Tracy Chapman Online

Elizabeth Cotten, Series Down Home

Elizabeth Cotten, Rainbow Quest TV

I Am Somebody, Jesse Jackson LP, Respect Records (1971)

Living History presents Jesse Jackson, Rutherford Living History

"My Brother’s A Basehead” is a true story. Posdnous from De La Soul had an older brother who had a crack addiction and it was very damaging for the whole family. For Pos and his parents, crack was literally in the house just as it was in many houses and many families during the crack era. Crack decimated many families and De La Soul made one of the most powerful songs about all that. In this episode we talk about how crack destroyed families and what went into the making of "My Brother’s A Basehead.” We talk to Prince Paul, De La Soul’s producer who’s sometimes called the 4th member of the group. We also talk about a very different song about crack users, Public Enemy’s Night of the Living Baseheads, which looked down on people who used crack while one of the members of PE was a crack addict. PE's producer Hank Shocklee joins us for that.  

 

Guests:

Prince Paul, Producer - De La Soul is Dead

Hank Shocklee, Producer - Public Enemy

Credits:

De La Soul - My Brothers a Basehead

Writer: Posdnuos, Trugoy the Dove, Prince Paul, Maseo, Clint Ballard Jr. & Robby Krieger

Label: Tommy Boy Records

Publisher: Tee Girl Music, MCA Music, Shapiro Bernstein & Doors Music Co.

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5 - The Message 

Writer: Clifton ‘’Jiggs’’ Chase, Sylvia Robinson, Duke Bootee & Grandmaster Melle Mel

Label: Sugar Hill Records

Publisher: Sugar Hill Records

 

De La Soul - Me Myself and I

Writer: Posdnuos, Trugoy the Dove, Prince Paul, Maseo, George Clinton & Philippe Wynne 

Label: Tommy Boy Records

Publisher: Birdsong Edwin Music Pub, Bridgeport Music Inc, Daisy Age Music, Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Co

 

De La Soul - Potholes on My Lawn

Writer: P. Huston, K. Mercer, D. Jolicoeur, V. Mason

Label: Tommy Boy Records

Publisher: Tommy Boy Music

 

Public Enemy - Night of the Living Baseheads

Writer: Chuck D, Eric Sadler & Hank Shocklee

Label: Def Jam Recordings

Publisher: Def American Songs Inc, Reach Global Songs, Shocklee Music, Songs Of Reach Music, Terrordome Music Publishing Llc, Your Mother S Music Inc

Crack User in the 80’s epic interview, EurointheCut

What is the Drug War? With Jay-Z & Molly Crabapple, Drug Policy Alliance

Lawn Order, 99 Percent Invisible

Toure: Why I Quit, Touré

Speaking Freely: Chuck D, Freedom Forum

Malcolm X’s Fiery Speech Addressing Police Brutality, Smithsonian Channel

N.W.A’s “Dopeman” Is one of the illest songs ever made because it takes you deep into the drug dealer’s perspective on selling drugs. The crack dealer was evil but we should still seek to understand what drove him and when we look into his soul we find that like the fiends he served, he too was an addict, but he was addicted to power and money. Crack dealers and their culture had a deep influence on hiphop culture and the Black community. In this ep we go into "Dopeman” with The D.O.C. from NWA and talk to several former drug dealers about how dealers changed the world around them.

Guests:

Nelson George, Filmmaker

Royce Da 5’9, Rapper

Biba Adams, Writer

The D.O.C., Rapper

Samson Styles, Journalist and Filmmaker

Kevin Chiles, CEO Don Diva Magazine

Jim Jones, Rapper

Credits:

NWA - Dope Man

Writer: Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Sugarfoot, Junie Morrison, Marshall “Rock” Jones, Greg Webster, Ralph Middlebrooks, Marvin Pierce, Norman Napier & Andrew Noland 

Label: Ruthless Records

Publisher: Ruthless Attack Muzick & Bridgeport Music 

 

NWA - Fuck Tha Police

Writer: ​The D.O.C., Ice Cube & MC Ren

Label: Universal Music Group, Ruthless Records & Priority Records

Publisher: Universal Music Group

 

Notorius BIG - The Ten Crack Commandments

Writer: The Notorious B.I.G. & DJ Premier

Label: Bad Boy Entertainment

Publisher: B.I.G. Poppa Music, Gifted Pearl Music, Justin Combs Music & EMI April Music

 

Alpo Martinez, FEDS Magazine

“Black Steel In the Hour of Chaos” is Public Enemy’s look at prison and mass incarceration. In this episode, we leap from that song into talking about the New Jim Crow and mass incarceration and how being in America is like being in a prison.

Guests:

Dr. Christina Greer, Fordham Professor

Hank Shocklee, Producer

Adam Bernstein, Director, Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos

Jim Jones, Rapper 

Credits:

Public Enemy - Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos

Writer: Chuck D, Eric Sadler, Hank Shocklee & Flavor Flav

Label: Def Jam Recordings & Columbia Records

Publisher: Shocklee Music, Songs Of Reach Music, Songs Of Universal Inc, Terrordome Music Publishing Llc, Your Mother S Music Inc

 

Public Enemy - Fight The power

Writer: Flavor Flav, Gary G-Wiz, Chuck D, Hank Shocklee, Eric Sadler & Keith Shocklee

Label:  Def Jam Recordings

Publisher:  Reach Global Songs, Shocklee Music, Songs Of Reach Music, Songs Of Universal Inc, Terrordome Music Publishing Llc, Your Mother S Music Inc

 

Public Enemy - Burn Hollywood Burn

Writer: Ice Cube, Big Daddy Kane, Chuck D, Keith Shocklee & Eric Sadler

Label: Def Jam Recordings & Columbia Records

Publisher: Cold Chillin' Music Publishing Inc, Gangsta Boogie Music, Universal Music Corporation

 

Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet

Writer: Chuck D, Eric Sadler & Keith Shocklee

Label: Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records

Publisher: Bridgeport Music Inc, Reach Global Songs, Songs Of Universal Inc

 

Jay Z - 99 Problems 

Writer: JAY-Z, Rick Rubin, Ice-T, DJ Aladdin, Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, N.D. Smart II, Leslie West, Bun B, John Ventura, Norman Landsberg, Billy Squier & Felix Pappalardi

Label: Def Jam Recordings & Roc-A-Fella Records

Publisher: Carter Boys Music, EMI April Music, Rhyme Syndicate Music, Copyright Control, Ammo Dump Music, Carrumba Music, Songs of the Knight, Spirit Two Music, Warner Music Group, Universal - Songs of Polygram International, BMG & Careers-BMG Music Publishing

 

Muhammad Ali Gives His Stance On The Vietnam War, The Dick Cavett Show

Muhammad Ali Refuses Induction, Opposing Vietnam War, The Boys Who Said NO!

Michelle Alexander Extended Interview, Religion and Ethics Weekly, PBS

Speaking Freely: Chuck D, Freedom Forum

House Negro/Field Negro, Malcolm X Message To The Grassroots