It ain't "A Milli" but ummmm....

The boy Soulbrotha (http://www.twitter.com/soulb) and I decided to do a little somethin for our Naija (Nigerian) people...

Rukus - I'm Nigerian feat. Soulbrotha [Produced by KID KONNECT (http://www.myspace.com/kidkgame)]




Enjoy...

Bloggers download at ya leisure: http://www.rukuslive.com/mp3s/imnigerianfull.mp3

"FINALLY"...

Finally, the video for "African Queen" is out...
I've been harrassed...I've received threats on my safety...I've had people tell me I'm good for nothing because they felt that it was a beautiful song that just needed a visual.

Here's your visual:



For your enjoyment at the 3:19 mark it kicks into "I'm The Best" which is off my latest LP, Cant Forget (cop that @ www.cdbaby.com/rukuslive2 or on iTunes or any major outlet)

Jennifer Hudson had the SPIRIT in her...

If you think I'm lying...look at her face right when she finishes the song...its like she didn't know what just came out of her...

2nd most beautiful rendition of the anthem, but easily the most meaningful...as she sang I got a visual of all the things that she must have gone through over the past few months...its like she sang the Star Spangled Banner with the emotion from her recent trials and tribulations.

I hate using the backspace key...I change my mind...this might have been the best rendition ever.

Hope

Its an hour after the midnight that passed on one of the most historic days in my lifetime...
One of the most historic days in YOUR lifetime.

While you were poppin champagne,
Celebrating defeat over John McCain,
I was laying in the blood stains,
Of another brother slain,
Waiting on those winds of change...
But nothing changed...
And no one came...

In my mind I have lost the count of cops,
That have pushed my people from the mountain-top,
Where Dr. King had his dream,
and it seems like,
each night
is the same
is the same
is the same
black and white print
with different black and white names,
black on black crime
with different colors for each gang...
and if these sidewalks spoke
they would choke
on the blood
that floods these streets
and the stench of oppression laid beneath
these feet,
wheels, connect to stretchers,
bodies beneath each sheet
bodies beneath each sheet
bodies beneath each sheet.

Hope.
The one word we use to cope...
- the thought of a mother
as she walks around rope,
tape,
or chalk,
and stops at an
unmoving soul...
hoping
she doesn't know
who's son this is...
its the shooter's mind
hoping
the cops don't know
the gun is his...
its the victims last gasp
hoping God made his
lungs too big...
hoping...his lungs
hoping...
to take only
one
more
breath...

This is the death...
of hope.
When the last tear
has turned from drop
to river
on a mother's cheek
and God has not delivered
a miracle...
When no number of tithes
allow a lost son to rise
like Lazarus upon the cries
of those around the casket,
someone has to ask it -
Where is it,
Where has it gone,
Where can I find it,
Where is this "hope"?








And so I packed a bag,
with an apple and a jug
of water -
And I,
started walking.
I started walking,
and i was lonely, so i started talking
aloud,
First in a murmur, then boldly wondering how
I could possibly change the world now,
Because all my life I've been living in a cloud
Pretending to be oblivious to the world around
Following a crowd,
on a bridge to nowhere...
But tonight I choose not to go there.
Tonight I am finding
hope.
And as I chatted with myself,
A few bystanders questioned my health,
Some followed and asked if I needed help
in my quest.
"There is no time for rest" I declared,
And they stared but followed,
curious to my destination,
wondering with whom my conversation
was being held.
The crowd began to swell -
Hundreds turned to thousands
small
children pointed from windows
of public housing
watching with
strange delight
as night fell upon
the gathering.

I took the last bite of my apple
as the crowd slowed beside
a chapel
on the roadside.
"Its here", I whispered.

I fell to the ground,
blisters
on feet,
body scorched by the heat
of travel.

The crowd was quiet.

"Why are we stopping", a woman cried
Thousands of people stood behind,
eyes on me,
the sky was green
with moonlight.

I asked her where she intended to go,
and she spoke of her family in Mexico,
Another man chimed, of how he wished
to climb
a mountain, to prove time had not
passed him by.
A young boy spoke of a school for art,
While his sister yearned to learn
how to heal the heart.

I lay there.
Saying nothing, I felt a breeze
Splash against my back,
And I smiled.
This was hope.
The first step and
The last step
The feeling that what is
Wanted
Can be had.
The feeling as you close
Your eyes
That what happens next
Is for the best.

Hope is heaven.

-RUKUS copyright 2009

I'm NOT a Diva (or a "Divo") but....

Rukus - Diva (Freestyle)

If I say something weird on Twitter

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2009/01/hackers-embaras.html

Then blame it on someone hacking my "high profile" account...LOL.

While we're on the subject

Check out the ever energetic and effervescent SOULBROTHA as he describes the goings on of Twitter with "The Twitter Song"

http://www.zshare.net/audio/537771591cb67f4b

Something to groove to...and I'm doin such on this Saturday afternoon...

-ruk

Whatup ALLHIPHOP.COM...

So your boys @ www.allhiphop.com showed me some love and posted up the song "Dear Tatiana"

Here's the link (scroll down some)
http://allhiphop.com/stories/rumors/default.aspx

Don't know how long that link will last, but regardless you can find the song at www.myspace.com/rukuslive or www.youtube.com/rukuslive

I'm amazed at what a song I recorded for a little girl @ 4am in the morning could do around the nation, on the net, and in people's hearts. I'm honestly touched by the whole thing.

Thanks for everyone who told a friend, got upset, blogged, protested, called the District Attorney's office and was touched by this event. I think its the legacy of a good man...

-ruk

Why I Do Music....

I just got this in my Myspace inbox...

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: mo
Date: Jan 11, 2009 10:17 PM


i came accross your DEAR TATIANA song, and i am speechless and touched.

tatiana is my son's cousin and i just wanted to thank you for your very moving song honoring her and her father oscar.


thank you thank you thank you thank you so much.

god bless.


And to the family, both immediate and distant of Oscar Grant, I say thank YOU for bringing awareness to the atrocities that happen on a daily basis.

You can still help...click below to find out how
http://www.racewire.org/archives/2009/01/5_things_you_can_do_right_now_1.html

Rukus feat. Soulbrotha - Shine On (Live)

@ House of Oni's "Nostalgia" event...

I want to work with these people...

Anyone who can get me working with this people...I'll love you.















Asa...lets make some beautiful music ;-)
(www.asa-official.com)






And of course Mr. Mayer...


















http://www.johnmayer.com
Check out my remix project to "Continuum"...
http://www.myspace.com/thejohnmayerproject


Let make it happen...
-ruk

"Dear Tatiana..." (A letter to Oscar Grant's Daughter)

You can do more...go here:
http://www.racewire.org/archives/2009/01/5_things_you_can_do_right_now_1.html

-ruk

Lets Jam...

So as fun as the rap side of things is for me I'm definitely trying to be a jack of all trades and get into the production side of things.

First things first...had to get a new toy...nothing fancy, but affordable and a good start.

So i started with the M-Audio Axiom 25-Key USB Keyboard Controller...it just looked and felt right

Here she is:


Playing with it on FL Studio 8 as we speak...

These are a few of my favorite things...

Please don't jock my fresh, but ummmm....

If you aren't feeling these then you don't have a stylish bone in your body. Yeah...high-collar throwover jacket, a comfortable nobody-has-this-one tee underneath, some crispy jeans, and those kicks...yep, yep, yep.