I Love Brooklyn, Brooklyn Loves Me

There's a rumor goin' around that StarPower's anti-Brooklyn. Never! How insulting. Give me some credit for being a little smarter than that. Smart enough not to generalize a whole borough, an area with a coupla million people who live just as I do. I got crazy love. I'm anti-nonsense. And if nonsense exists in Brooklyn, then I'ma speak (we'll talk about that in my upcoming blog series "The Last Ones Left"). Brooklyn has been good to me, and I've been good in return. BK has given me 3 of my favorites artist of all time (Biggie, Kane, Jay), good friends, good times, and good jobs. Brooklyn has literally put money in my pocket. I know a few different kinds of Brooklyns, some I love, some I like, some I loathe.

I don't care about a cool Brooklyn or a trendy Brooklyn, or even a tough Brooklyn. I care about a successful Brooklyn, a Brooklyn that takes care of it's own, the folks who love Brooklyn even though Marty would rather push them out so he can get more $$ for their space, and chalk it up to Brooklyn's "revitalization." Fuck Bruce Ratner's Brooklyn, fuck Maggie Gyllenhaal's Brooklyn. And I do co-sign articles like this from Gawker:

"As Brooklyn gets less trendy and more mainstream (and more expensive), the hip young celebrities, flush with a little bit of money, will choose more convenient places to live. It used to be something of a tip of the hat for a rich famous person to move to the borough. "Aren't we shy and intelligent!" "We're just like you!" That kind of thing. But now all sorts of people live out here and there's no gesture or identity associated with "brownstone Brooklyn" anymore. If they moved to Crown Heights, that'd be something! But, they won't. They'll go for ease and (though they'd never admit it) status. And then we'll just be left with a bunch of boring old writers, who actually spend time in the neighborhood and clog up the streets. "

And comments like this from New York Observer:

"In Brooklyn, New Yorkers can rehearse their adulthood without committing to it..."

I don't fux with all that type of Brooklyn. But like I said, Brooklyn has love me, and I've loved it back. How? Well, I'm scheduled to participate in the exclusive "A Great Day In Brooklyn" photoshoot which is the lastest recreation of the famous "A Great Day in Harlem" or "Harlem 1958" group portrait of 57 jazz musicians in Harlem. Even though I aint from Brooklyn, my artist fam is based in BK. While describing my contributions to Brooklyn's "renaissance," I realized that as much as BK had done for me, I've done quite a bit for it also. Peep:

"As an artist, I'm a core member of Brooklyn's leading artist collective, called The Trifecta, which is made up of 3 of the city's illest underground hip-hop camps - Nuclear Family, The Project, and my camp The Dugout. We are producers, rappers, writers, singers, comedians, filmmakers, graphic design artists, and more. We have held loft parties, screened award-winning music videos and films, performed all over, including in front of Brooklyn Museum for free on the first day of summer. We have also held The Brooks Arts Festival, which provides a platform for independent artists with unique vision, as well as involved the community. We have also held a Brooklyn block party.

As an activist, I have a strong element of self-love, community love, black love, collectivism, and progress in my music. Along with keepin' it funky. I have also performed at an anti-police brutality rally. I have also served Brooklyn youth as an educator, coordinator of an attendance improvement program in East New York, a facilitator for The After School Corporation in Clinton Hill and Flatbush, and an Enrichment Coordinator for formerly incarcerated youth in downtown Brooklyn. I am also an Urban Mentors.

I've also contributed by being ill. Having ill slang, ill style, speaking my mind, being original and appealing, spitting and producing fire, writing blogs and articles, and generally being awesome. And humble."