#Bavutube- "Eddie Long"

You probably clicked on the link to take a break from laughing at Charlie Sheen and Chris Brown by laughing at Eddie Long some more. After all, what makes you feel better about how much of a screw up you are than pointing at someone else who is out there effing up royally? I hate to disappoint you, but the new track Eddie Long doesn't have any gay jokes in it, just well- constructed- yet- conversational rhymes in the broadcast baritone we've come to expect from the mighty Bavu Blakes.


Don't be scurred to launch the youTube viewer, though, heathens... Bavu isn't gonna browbeat you about judging others while you are so messed up... He disarms himself of any self-righteousness he might'a been packing by turning all five fingers back at himself in some full-frontal confessional type isht: 
"If it made me sound good I would go record it.
A whale in a toilet. Thought I was so important.
Talkin' on a cell phone I don't even own,
but I'ma cast MY stone at Eddie Long.

Wanna feel better though I'm knowin' I been deadly wrong,
so I'm throwin' my stone at Eddie Long."
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I've been following Bavu's music for a long time. When I first discovered him, he was the highlight of a weekly freestyle show, spitting weapons-grade freestyle raps over a dope live band, mic crushed in his right hand and a cold glass of brown liquid in the other. As he said in one song:
"In Austin I cut my teeth on lyrics/
got drunk and went off for whoever was nearest.
This was the mid-nineties/
when rap was still grimy/
right before it got shiny
I had my boys behind me..."

He was the kinda rapper that would be right at home swapping sixteens, blunt hits and groupies with Common, Black Thought, or whatever other semi-conscious rapper that was likely to tap your girl back then. Through sheer force of my stannery*, I managed to get on speaking terms with Bavu, who via the magic of the internet, contacted me about doing some art for him.  In our correspondence about the project, Bavu said that he was drawn more and more into Christian rap. As an obviously spiritual dude with lots of introspective philosophical commentary in the subtext of his rhymes, he had already been leaning that way: severely limiting the use of profanity. Rapping about sex a little less, and love a little more. But even though I'm a Christian myself, I get worried when I hear dudes are going full retarded on some Christian isht... I like lots of Christian rappers, but I'd seen too many dope rappers turn into corny ass preachers spitting self-righteous, poorly-constructed Sunday school lessons over terrible production to think it couldn't happen again.

Fortunately for me, Bavu understands that God created him to be a dope emcee, or at the very least, maybe he just sticks to what he knows.  He earned a spot on my favorite emcee list by writing rhymes about his own experiences and thoughts, sometimes sharing the wisdom he's collected, other times having the sense to admit he doesn't know anything. Whether it's talking about  the ups and downs of his career(s), his progression into the grown man roles of husband and father, or championing the brand of soulful hip hop he believes in, Bavu continues to hold the mic right.
Click any pic for a link to more dope music from Mi(ni)ster Blakes, or check out his reverbnation page for more music (without my commentary). If you're anything like me, you'll wanna hit his blog too.

holla!

-samax.

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