MESSAGE
I recently purchased Death of Pop Star, a creative collaboration of David Banner and 9th Wonder. As a music junkie and a bit of a lyrical snob, I love the concept and the product. Unlike most, I still buy real CDs because I like to tangibly read the liner notes. Banner's sentiments struck such a chord in me that I had to share. Powerful message. Much respect. Sadly, this won't be televised or shouted from the mountain tops but it definitely served as self-edification.

Who you are at this very moment…who you have the potential to become…is being systematically threatened. Social networking, reality TV, and undisclosed rating systems have widened the invisible stage on which most of us live our lives. These “technological advances” herd us like sheep…silencing our voices, telling us what to think, and defining what is now considered social acceptable. Everything we say, everything we do, is played out before a not so visible crowd. Their applause, or lack thereof, plays to our vulnerability…it counts on our need to be liked and accepted, as a means on control…

When do we decide? When do we take a stand against the killing of our authentic selves…against the murder of our development? Our children are watching. They are studying us...imitating us as we glamorize the death of true manhood…rehearsing our stillness as we embrace the death of love, relationship and human decency. When do we decide to get off the stage, if only for a while, and evolve? When do we stop merely existing and live? There is something that each of us was created to do on this earth. Know that it is impossible to fulfill that purpose when consumed by who is watching and who approves. Don’t let the crowd kill the things that make you different…don’t participate in a self induced genocide with your silence. In the end its so much more that our music they’re after…Its our future…