lola new york

The illuminati is real.

Love always,

James

My former classmate at NYU, Michael M. Koehler, was in Louisianna recently to teach a college class on documentary photography when Hurricane Gustav hit. The following are his photographs during the storm. They will be on display at The Gallery Bar starting October 29th.

See the full gallery here.

-Emmett

We are on the verge of one of the greatest civil transformations in American History. I am as excited as everyone else that we are about to elect the first black President of the United States, but I am also perplexed that the artistic community has taken a secondary role to the political commentators.

The civil rights movement has evolved greatly since the era of Dr. Martin Luther King. In fact, the arts have been the one of the movement’s greatest enablers, projecting its message through comedy, film, and in particularly music. While the the serious art of Romare Bearden and Jacob Lawrence may have taken a back seat to the later comedy of Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy, the social plight of America’s inner streets have always been best exemplified in music.

Many black artists have relied on music to give the word upon which they embellish. Even from its party days, Hip Hop has always been a socially concious genre. From Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five to Public Enemy, the roots of this music, like its Northern Soul and Rhythm & Blues forefathers are based upon the social reaction by which they define themselves. It is for this reason that I am somewhat let down by the music community’s response to the near coronation by America of Barack Obama. I mean the right still has Ted Nugent

In 2004, Eminem’s video “White America” took things further, by blurring the lines between issues faced in urban streets and those addressed general America. The voice of Hip Hop went from the ghetto to becoming a coast to coast dilemma (probably not for the first time). Therefore, I find a Jeezy or MIMS song that vaguely reference the words of Obama to be insufficient today. Where is the reality exposed by the Furious Five, the passion felt by Chuck D, the ineptitude seen by NWA, or even the ignorance expelled by Eminem. Sadly, while America makes its greatest racial leap forward in history, music has no reason to be thanked. I don’t know if this shows the inadequacy of our artists, or the greater strength of our leaders. Either way, Obama is clearly a hard act to follow. VOTE on November 4th!

P.S. I did not research this or plan on reflecting my personal politics. If anyone takes argument to my statements or feel I neglected something important, please email me vibe@djvibeinc.com

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Last night, with 38% of the votes, Barack Obama won the Iowa Caucus in one of Iowa’s largest turnouts ever. The caucus has a relatively accurate chance of predicting who wins the Party nomination as well as ultimately, the presidency. Seen by many as as a surprise, Hilary Clinton finished third, behind John Edwards, and the upstart Obama. The victory showed the voters are leaning towards favoring Change over Experience. We at LOLA agree.

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