My parents are the main reason I'm in this position, without them who knows where the hell I'd be,” says Jarrett Jack, 21, a statement that many young ball players wish they could make. With the NBA draft closing in, the Maryland born, 6'3” point guard is just weeks away from making one of the toughest decisions of his life. “I think guys get caught up in playing basketball and they forget that everybody is not gonna make it,” he says with a hint of cockiness and an air of concern, “but, I still don't know yet, if it was an easy decision, I would have made it already.”
Jarrett Jack has been making tough decisions since his high school days at Worcester Academy, (Providence, MA) where the local press granted him pop-star celeb status, featuring him daily as the next great baller. The perfect mix of natural talent, burgeoning skills, and a great competitive spirit sparked rumors of superstardom for Jack. Heavily recruited by several Division I teams, Jack chose to join Georgia Tech's Yellow Jackets in the fall of 2002. “Playing college ball is something I've dreamed of doing all my life. If I graduate they would retire my jersey,” an honor that makes the lucrative temptings of the NBA a bit less enticing.
It was a turbulent 2004-2005 Georgia Tech season that set the stage for Jack to enter the draft. After leading his team to the Final Four in 2004, high expectations were unmet by the Yellow Jackets, who were forced to play the understudies while nursing a bruised and battered starting line up. Still, Jack turned heads with his relentless competitiveness, sinking key shots on a severely sprained ankle, and carrying his team to the Sweet Sixteen. With the scouts watching, the whispers began about draft potential. “My name is hot right now,” he says nonchalantly, “If I wanted to go this would be a good time.”
In May, Jack announced that he would enter the draft but not retain an agent, a smart play for the student-athlete, which allows him to shop around but still choose to pull out and return to finish his last year of college.
With his parents and “classy” Coach Paul Hewitt by his side, Camp Jack is in full-fledged pre-draft frenzy. “I think he is one of the best point guards in the country,” says Hewitt. I know he is absolutely going to impress them on and off the court, everyone says if he stays in, he's going to go first round.” But Jack knows it's hard to trust the hype, “I believe the worst news before the best, if you listen to the worst you don't get your hopes up.”
Packing his bags for NBA pre-draft camp in Chicago, Jack is preparing to leave the sweltering Georgia summer to find success in the NBA. But the heat is still on and with only a week left to make his decision, he knows the best way is to play it cool. “They tell you a lot of information, but not everything,” he says with unwavering determination, “It's a game of cat and mouse.”
Jack was drafted number 23 to the Denver Nuggets who traded him to the Portland Trailblazeres.
Monday, June 20, 2005
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Common, Be
There truly is something to be said for good timing. Three years after his ill-received Electric Circus has faded into the abyss of bad dreams forgotten, and two years into the revival of Chicago as a musical superpower (ignited by Kan the Louis Vuitton Don), it was the perfect time for Common to try again. Chicago was left in a state of unrest after seeing its favorite MC rockin' smediums under the love spell of hip-hop heartbreaker Erykah Badu and anxiously awaited his return. Six time's a charm for Common, as Be, produced by Kanye West, boasts a soulful sound that plays like a documentary peering into the lives and hearts of the Chi City. The eleven track LP tells stories of the 'hood, the people who make it through life with vision and the ones who can't bear to see past the corners.
True to the Common of old, are moderate paced introspective flows touching on anything from spirituality to street-husslin' and sexuality. But musically, Be finds Common in Kanye's territory. The heavily instrumental jazz and soul infused album is almost more of a testimony to Kanye's production genius than to Common's revival of his reign as a dignified soldier of the streets.
Be finds Common struggling for new topics to preach about (there are frequent references to his daughter's eyes, lost black women, and the hard knock life of the streets). True fans may even notice some lyrical recycling, (2000's Like Water for Chocolate found Common boasting, “my refrigerator rhymes are magnetic like ultra,” on 2005's Be, Common says that tapes are “ultra magnetic to the fact the messiah is black”). Small but frequent lyrical overlaps like this may find Common die-hards a bit disappointed.
Still, this is Common back in his truest form. The familiar content notwithstanding, Be excels because it is an album of true storytelling, exploring people, situations and circumstances that can all be called the black experience. “It's Your World” tells of a college girl turned street-walker, while “Testify” tells the unsettling tale of a stand-by-your man trickster enduring a criminal trial, later revealing that she committed the crime.
“Chi-city” finds Common delivering lyrical sermons as he lashes out on the superficial state of hip-hop, “I wonder if these wack niggas realize they wack, and they the reason that my people say they tired of rap,” is followed up by “in the middle of chaos and gunfire, so many raps about rims, surprised niggas ain't become tires.”
John Legend keeps the G.O.O.D. music flowing with help from soul crooner Bilal on “Faithful,” a reflection on the repercussions of cheating, a track a bit reminiscent of 2000's “The Light,” while Marvin Gaye's vocals give “Love Is” a classic uplifting optimism. The electric keys and doo-wopping chorus of “They Say,” (Common's come back anthem), give the scorned rapper a chance to redeem himself for 2003's disturbing bohemian-love-guru transformation.
Some might find it discouraging that someone who's been in the game as long as Common is receiving wide recognition only after teaming up with trendy youngling Kanye West, but the Windy City combo has emerged as promising new Jedi in the music force. With Chicago on top, of course Common would take advantage and drop a return album when everyone is watching, it's the nature of the business, or it's just Common Sense.
Is Be a classic? Maybe…maybe not. But Common more than deserves this time in the spotlight, a time that many would say is long overdue.
Leigh Davenport
True to the Common of old, are moderate paced introspective flows touching on anything from spirituality to street-husslin' and sexuality. But musically, Be finds Common in Kanye's territory. The heavily instrumental jazz and soul infused album is almost more of a testimony to Kanye's production genius than to Common's revival of his reign as a dignified soldier of the streets.
Be finds Common struggling for new topics to preach about (there are frequent references to his daughter's eyes, lost black women, and the hard knock life of the streets). True fans may even notice some lyrical recycling, (2000's Like Water for Chocolate found Common boasting, “my refrigerator rhymes are magnetic like ultra,” on 2005's Be, Common says that tapes are “ultra magnetic to the fact the messiah is black”). Small but frequent lyrical overlaps like this may find Common die-hards a bit disappointed.
Still, this is Common back in his truest form. The familiar content notwithstanding, Be excels because it is an album of true storytelling, exploring people, situations and circumstances that can all be called the black experience. “It's Your World” tells of a college girl turned street-walker, while “Testify” tells the unsettling tale of a stand-by-your man trickster enduring a criminal trial, later revealing that she committed the crime.
“Chi-city” finds Common delivering lyrical sermons as he lashes out on the superficial state of hip-hop, “I wonder if these wack niggas realize they wack, and they the reason that my people say they tired of rap,” is followed up by “in the middle of chaos and gunfire, so many raps about rims, surprised niggas ain't become tires.”
John Legend keeps the G.O.O.D. music flowing with help from soul crooner Bilal on “Faithful,” a reflection on the repercussions of cheating, a track a bit reminiscent of 2000's “The Light,” while Marvin Gaye's vocals give “Love Is” a classic uplifting optimism. The electric keys and doo-wopping chorus of “They Say,” (Common's come back anthem), give the scorned rapper a chance to redeem himself for 2003's disturbing bohemian-love-guru transformation.
Some might find it discouraging that someone who's been in the game as long as Common is receiving wide recognition only after teaming up with trendy youngling Kanye West, but the Windy City combo has emerged as promising new Jedi in the music force. With Chicago on top, of course Common would take advantage and drop a return album when everyone is watching, it's the nature of the business, or it's just Common Sense.
Is Be a classic? Maybe…maybe not. But Common more than deserves this time in the spotlight, a time that many would say is long overdue.
Leigh Davenport
Friday, June 03, 2005
17 important things I've learned
1. I'm incredibly talented and I still don't have a job.
2. It's funny how you can live in the same city with so many people u know and never see any of them.
3. People are much more interesting in bloggers than they are in real life.
4. The best place to watch a movie is the Magic Johnson Theater on 125th and Frederick Douglass.
5. New York is the least peaceful place on the planet.
6. Even when u stop drinking u still forget stuff u did the night before.
7. Everything is always better in your memories.
8. "Is Bill Cosby Right," is an extremely aggravating book to read.
9. Talk to strangers, you never know who they are.
10. Chocolate ice cream makes everything better.
11. Even superwoman/man f**cked up every now and then.
12. Stay away from kryptonite.
13. Partying with celebrities just isn't that fun.
14. People in the north think I'm waaaaay cuter than people in the south!
15. College really is the best time of your life.
16. If BET had programs like VH1 the state of Black America would be vastly improved.
17. There's no such thing as a soul mate
2. It's funny how you can live in the same city with so many people u know and never see any of them.
3. People are much more interesting in bloggers than they are in real life.
4. The best place to watch a movie is the Magic Johnson Theater on 125th and Frederick Douglass.
5. New York is the least peaceful place on the planet.
6. Even when u stop drinking u still forget stuff u did the night before.
7. Everything is always better in your memories.
8. "Is Bill Cosby Right," is an extremely aggravating book to read.
9. Talk to strangers, you never know who they are.
10. Chocolate ice cream makes everything better.
11. Even superwoman/man f**cked up every now and then.
12. Stay away from kryptonite.
13. Partying with celebrities just isn't that fun.
14. People in the north think I'm waaaaay cuter than people in the south!
15. College really is the best time of your life.
16. If BET had programs like VH1 the state of Black America would be vastly improved.
17. There's no such thing as a soul mate
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