What's wrong with this picture?....Oh and If you haven't Guessed.....This is a Rant!

I must confess that I am really chomping at the bit to discuss the recent and tragic events centering around the Queens police shooting that occurred this past weekend. But as promised, I'm not going to rush to judgment-unlike those who have already politicized this matter. I will, however, discuss something that is vaguely related. Culture. Or lack thereof. Those of you who have stuck with this blog for the last few months are probably aware of a previous disagreement that I had with a fellow blogger by the name of "Fresh" from Crunk and Disorderly. I am no longer warring with the blog as I do believe that it does serve a purpose. So let's just state that for the record, we have since reached a detente(think of the old Soviet Union and the US during the Cold War). Admittedly I do glance at Crunk on occasion. Don't we all slow down while driving when an accident has occurred hoping to see an injury? Well, the above photo is that accident up ahead. I have to give props to Crunk for highlighting the above moment in time pertaining to the lovely couple. If you have been living under Osama's rock for the last few years and haven't checked out a passing episode of MTV's TRL or a Denver Nuggets game, you might not be familiar with Alani "La La" Vasquez or Carmelo Anthony.

If you haven't guessed, this is going to be yet another HipHop/Culture rant. And for those who say that I criticize hiphop too much.....you should be used to this by now. Can't we clean up people? Here we have a multi-millionaire and he can't tighten up his appearance for his lady/soon to be wife/soon to be mother of his child? As much as I try to stray away from critiquing hiphop culture, I'm still taken to different tangents with it. Is there ever a moment in this alleged culture where an individual classes up? Or is one always on thug protocol? And believe it or not this is not purely a racial issue as I have seen numerous couples(the males, specifically) of various racial and ethnic origin that insist on a downgrade of their appearance. The women are not even expecting much. Perhaps Mr. Anthony's bank account makes up for this. And god forbid that one should get profiled.....one might mistake Carmelo for a ne'er-do-well as opposed to a professional athlete.

What really shocked me the most was that for a number of commenters under Fresh's entry, many of the women actually liked Carmelo's appearance. Does keeping it real entail never removing your do-rag for your lady and never actually marrying her before she is with child? Or does it mean that you honor her by giving her something sophisticated to look at during a meal? Or perhaps making her a wife and not a wifey. Mediocre fashion sense and a do-rag evidently appeals to some women nowadays. WOW! I guess I'll smear feces on my clothes and give Halle a call. Has anyone ever determined exactly when HipHop was deemed a culture? Was it the Blacks and Latinos that created it or Madison Avenue? A culture will always help your financial bottomline moreso than a fad. Just ask a burka manufacturer. This is allegedly a free country and one can dress as he or she sees fit but we need choices folks. Young people of color, specifically, need to bear witness to class and decency every once in awhile to at least be familiar with couture and etiquette. Ok that's it....I can breathe. I return you now to your regularly scheduled programming....I think The Flavor of Love is on.