So Fresh and So Green | Madam Toussaint on Going Green, Art, Hip Hop, and Politics

One of Hip Hop’s latest golden boys, no not Drake, Raekwon the Chef released a mixtape this month. Ok, so many he would be more like a golden man, but this guy has managed to beat back the ravages of “old age” and the ageism in rap that goes with it.

One of my favorite tracks off his Coke Up In Da Dollar Bill mixtape is “The Set Up” which features our leading man in the midst of a sexual encounter first interrupted by DJ Scream? then later on by 3 dudes with guns. Hey, it’s on a mixtape called Coke Up In Da Dollar Bill Mixtape from a track called “The Set Up”, what did you expect?

Anyway, Rae smoothed it out on that one. Take notes, it’s all about the consonants and don’t forget the vowels! So I got to thinking why do cats like Fabolous get so much burn when it’s time to “do something for the ladies” when we have a perfectly good Raekwon here? And he cooks!

I was asked once by my man my mellow Carlito Roc of the tckonbroadway.com what was the best pick up line I ever heard and my first thought was “Yo, what fabric is that?/ It’s only wool and rayon”. RIP Teddy Pendergrass who is sampled for this Ghostface joint. (more…)

Happy New Year and Happy Independence Day to All the Haitians out there. We here at sofreshandsogreen.com we are excited about this new year. So here’s a look back at last year’s greatest hits just before we jump into what’s in store for 2010.

Homelessness Sucks: Carteret Island Climate Change Refugees
Victims of climate change make it a not so abstract concept in this post full of images to illustrate the point.

Hello World! Welcome To So Fresh And So Green.com
There’s a nice intro to the site in this post.

An Interview With DJ C-Reality: He’s Not Just A DJ, He’s A Hip Hop Purist Part 1 and Part 2
One of my favorite interviews with one of my favorite DJs.

An Interview With Josh Goldstein- Artist and NYC Bodega Enthusiast
Part 1 and Part 2
Here’s 2 for the price off 1. It’s been a big 2009 for Josh Goldstein and it was a pleasure to have a Q&A with him.

Is Cookie Monster Now Veggie Monster?
One of our most popular posts attempts to answer the question once and for all: Is Cookie Monster Now Veggie Monster?

Here’s a few honorable mention posts:

Graffiti Taxonomy Project

My confession about where my commitment to nature comes from: Madam Toussaint as a Treehugger

Special thanks to Marthalicia for her participation in Marthalicia Matarrita On Being An Artist In The Military

What does Ghostface have to do with overfishing? Find out in Overfishing Slows In Some Areas But Continues In Others

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sofreshandsogreen.com helps the young and the urban learn more about the environment through Hip Hop, art, information and ideas. Come for The Fresh, stay for The Green!

Disclaimer: The photo above is in no way intended to hold Ghostface responsible for overfishing all over the world…

The world’s fisheries were in danger of overfishing. In many areas in the world the fish populations cannot recover their numbers after they are harvested. Resulting in less fishes, less food, less money for people dependent on fish and or course changes to the ecosystem.

“Two years after a study warned that overfishing could cause a collapse in the world’s seafood stocks by 2048, an update says the tide is turning, at least in some areas” Associated Press reports.

For this story what else could I play? Ghostface talks about fish more than any rapper I know of, making this choice a no brainer for me. Here’s an obvious selection off of his first album Ironman. This song samples Otis Redding’s “Change is Gonna Come”. The first line of “Fish” is “We eat fish, tossed salads and make rap ballads“. I love it when he makes it plain…

A recent study found: “Of 10 areas of the world that were studied, significant overfishing continues in three, but steps have been taken to curb excesses in five others.” Michael Fogarty of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is confident overfishing can be reversed and cites “such steps as exclusion areas, changes in fishing gear, assignments of rights to harvest and incentives for fishers to take a long-term view.” (more…)