Black Salvage

The Black Salvage is pleased to bring you more real talk from our regular music contributor L. A. Grant. They say talk is cheap so you can speak freely but, if it’s not for a reason, then what is it actually good for? The station that was meant to highlight things pertinent to blacks along with educating, uplifting, and motivating “our people” has lost its luster. There was a time when such shows as Teen Summit and B.E.T. News were a staple of our network. Now, you would be hard pressed to find anything resembling communication of thoughts that don’t include money, cars, or something of monetary value. The quality of programming has changed so drastically that I have noticed, in talking with educated people of color, most find it hard to even view Black Entertainment Television on a daily basis unless they are trying to see the latest videos. Movies like, “Cornbread and Earl”, will most likely never air on B.E.T. again even though the premise behind the situations and problems conveyed...

First and foremost, The Black Salvage is not turning into a celebrity gossip column so calm down! I just thought this would be something a lot of you'd take interest in. Below is a clip of some choice words old school rapper Ice T had for Soulja Boy . Ice T's words are at the beginning and Soulja's Boy's response follows. I'm sure that most of you who know me personally know that I despise Soulja Boy. I used to say, that his music was stupid- now I know that he too is stupid. . . sigh*. Now, I'm not in anyway justifying Ice T's "eat a dick" comment because that was entirely uncalled for, but everything else he said was entirely true, in my opinion. Now for part two. This vid is of Ice T's response to Soulja's Boy. Too funny. But personally, I'm glad someone of Ice T's stature did openly criticize Soulja Boy. I wouldn't say he's killing hip-hop but as far as lowering the standard- that can't be argued. By Prodigy-...

What I’m about to bring to your attention, if you already haven’t seen or heard it, is probably one of the best rap/hip-hop songs that’s come out in awhile, from one of the best rappers, in my opinion. The below video is of Nas’ “Be A Nigger Too”, from his still untitled album that drops next month. When I first saw the video I was speechless. It was a shock to my system- all I’ve heard the last several weeks was the ignorant stuff, most notably Lil’ Wayne . But this “Be A Nigger Too”- it took one of the most offensive words in our society and laced with one of the most important messages in rap music that I’ve seen in awhile. He essentially made the ‘n’ word positive. It’s almost like he made it a learning tool. The Black Salvage caught up with Prince George ’s County, Maryland area rapper Jay Luminarty for his thoughts on the video. Luminarty, who attested that he has to deal with the words nigger and nigga on a daily basis said that calling the video controversi...

I am proud to present to Black Salvage readers our first guest feature. I would like to introduce to you L. A. Grant, our first regular contributor. Grant hails from Prince George's County, Maryland and is a graduate of Northwestern High School in 2000. He is a Philosophy Major and has studied at both Mississippi State University and Tallahassee Community College. With a new year comes new music. One of the most anticipated albums being released this year is Nas’ “Nigger” album- yes, that’s exactly what its called. There has been a lot of criticism of the title by black activists and organizations such as the NAACP, citing that it is going against what they are trying to accomplish. The NAACP not too long ago had a funeral service for the “N”-word in hopes of burying it forever from use in the vocabulary of today’s society. I am reminded of a phrase that is used in the Marine Corps when I hear things like this, “Good initiative, bad judgment”. We, as a people, can try to control...

1. BET(Black Entertainment Television) did not air Coretta Scott King’s funeral on it’s station. BET claimed it wanted to offer viewers a different kind of experience by posting a live webcast on it’s website of the funeral where viewers could access it "at work, at home, traveling,[and] at school". Likewise, the four major networks; NBC, ABC, CBS, and FOX all broadcast their own live webcasts on their respective websites. But these stations as well broadcast the funeral on television. C-SPAN and CNN also aired the funeral live. This reason alone proves that BET is the epitome of trash on television. And not to equate the struggle of blacks with Coretta Scott King, but there would be no BET without her. BET felt that viewers would prefer to watch women shaking their rumps in music videos rather than some funeral for a beloved civil rights leader. 2. BET is not black entertainment television. It does not represent the views and ideals of the millions of Blacks in the United S...