The Yadda Yadda: The Many Faces of Mecca

I recently had the opportunity to chop it up with host and co-founder, Mecca, of Live from the Bar.

Background:

A Staten Island native, born of Nigerian parents, he and his boy Poster started Live from the Bar in 2004 as a t.v. show on a public access channel in Staten Island. Poster has been doing all the editing and layout, Jama does the graphics, meanwhile Mecca does all the video. It was originally created to critique new and current artist in the Hip-Hop genre. They stopped recording in 2006. Currently all previously recorded episodes can be found on YouTube.

Because of the great initial response they continued the show and it grew to a new online blog style format in September 2008. At this same time they also changed the content to include music videos, albums of Hip-Hop/ R&B artist but added a personal touch. The previous concept included a focus on underground artist particularly from Staten Island (I know a lot of people don't even think you're a borough) and international Hip-Hop artist such as Dizzee Rascal, S.A.S and Sway. He was never in it for the fame or notoriety. He just wanted people to watch. With the rise of the internet in our time, he was able to capture the thoughts and opinions of the everyday person, something that BET, MTV, VIBE and XXL may not think about. "This is our shoebox, the internet," he said, "it's documented for anybody to live." It's hard to stay current in the world of Hip-Hop, particularly blogs and internet entertainment, every blog is your competition. But he will only give the people what they want. To make it five years is a blessing in disguise and of course you got to give yourself a pat on the back for that. Mecca is one of the few who has a true love for what they do and will continue to keep putting it down until he's old in a home with bed sores. Eventually he would like to get sponsor specifically, liquor, but not at the cost of allowing his words to be unheard. Like most in his position his inspiration comes from the Hip-Hop magazines we grew up reading. His calling came in 1993 when he first heard Wu-Tang Clan on the radio, as they were the first and only group at the time representing Staten Island. It was then he knew he could do what the writers at Vibe and Source did but only better. In the future he hopes to continue being involved with Hip-Hop possibly in a magazine format, but everybody else is pushing him to be a A&R.

In his mind: The State of Hip-Hop and the World Today

I met Mecca in 2003 and he hasn't changed much except that the jar of his thoughts is getting pretty crowded. He doesn't currently keep up with Hip-Hop and I can't exactly blame him. Loving the fact that Hip-Hop has spread beyond "urban areas," how it has grown into

a culture and embraced in many foreign countries but feels like it's at a stand still. The content and what it stood for is dying, but a slow crippling death. Should Obama start rapping? Hip-Hop used to be influenced by the time and state of the world, artist used their surroundings as motivation. He rarely sees that anymore, and I know I don't. Jeezy used what was going in the world in "The Recession." He respects that he didn't want to burn incense and wanted to flip birds on the album. If we don't save it, it will hurt our future kids. He sees that kids today, our future, don't know what inspiration rap is. Wondering why you have to be a conscious rapper to be conscious, is a reason to be worried about a culture we all grew up on. The solution he says is education, not just formal school education but community education/ outreach, 'babies having babies.' There's only so much you can teach when a rapper says they're not a role model, whether they want to be or not. People fear individuality and being different. They don't want to be a scapegoat and that's why people look up to Pharrell. He made it cool to be 'different.' There's nothing wrong with picking up a skateboard, as long as you know the culture associated with it. More kids in the hood are picking up skateboards and people are saying they are black trying to be white, which may not be the case. It's a trend, one of the few that's been holding on for more than just six months. "You can't just pick up a skateboard, like basketball, it's about more than just Mike." In the meantime he'll be waiting to see the next trend, whatever it maybe.

Random Thoughts while Eating Shrimp:

Favorite Underground Rapper: Joel Ortiz, a humble talented guy
Playlist: Kanye 808s & Heartbreak, Clipse, Joe Buddens
Who needs to retire? Fat Joe, LL is the uncle who is trying to still be cool, reliving his glory days.
Nas? Lil' Wayne? Nothing to look forward to, can't rely on Lil' Wayne, but his album was better than expected. Nas has not lost his mind yet.

Favorite Drink: Henny and coke, Ciroc, Grey Goose and Cranberry juice
I Need a girl that... Must be focused, stays true to herself. A great personality, BUT not better than mines, but she could be smarter than me.

Craziest Sex Memory: Pulled out a weave while hitting it from the back. I'm not fond of weaves but I don't discriminate. Just notify me if you do have a weave, so I don't pull hard, I know weaves can be expensive.
Snowflakes vs. Chocolate: Not a fan of McFlurry. Pink Nipples remind me of a baby bottle. I like a pretty face and pretty feet but its hard to find black girls with nice feet. (Ladies get ya toe game up.)
Denim: APC and Imperial
Favorite Position: Doggie style, oral and missionary
Currently: Single
Favorite Gadget: Blackberry Bold (I will co-sign)

Big Mac vs. Whopper: Big Mac
Last Drunken Episode: Summer 2008, threw up while walking didn't know it, and kept at it.