Hip Hop Most feared #2 Suge Knight

Many people following hip hop today don’t realize how feared and how much of a imporlorizing figure Marion “Suge” Knight truly was. Today people remember Suge Knight as a bully whom got beat up way too many times and no longer a threat. Since his release in 2001 Suge Knight has played the role of victim: He’s been shot, knocked out twice, lost his record company, filed for bankruptcy and been in and out of jail on trump charges. Suge’s boogy man image has takened a major hit but for this entry. I’m gonna explain why Suge Knight was so feared in the 90′s

Suge Knight was deeply connected with the Piru’ and was also financially backed up by drug kingpin Michael Harry-O Harris and David Kenner who was a powerful attorney with obvious leverage pull and rumored mob connections. Mix all of that with Suge Knight’s intimidating size and you have a very good reason to have been either afraid or cautious of Suge Knight at the time.

Suge really started getting his reputation marked when he hung Vanilla Ice off a balcony because Ice refused to pay one of Suge’s Clients for royalties and song writing credits for Ice Ice Baby. Suge used alot of the knowledge he soaked up as a bodyguard to get his foot into the industry game as well. He learned from the late Dick Griffy on how to organize contracts, sign artists and negotiate with the big leagues without getting punked by the labels.

Another one of Suge Knight’s aggressive pull within the game was how he along with many of his henchmen FORCED Eazy E to release Dr Dre, D.O.C. Michel’le off their contracts and sign with Death Row. According to Eazy, Suges’ henchmen had pipes, bats, and went as far as to threatened Eazy’s family along with Jerry Heller.

The stories involving Suge Knight have revolved to Suge forcing an affiliate of Bad Boy to drink his own piss, Suge sending people to Warren G’s house with guns, the endless beatdowns and artists feeling for their safety. Suge Knight ran Death Row records like the Mafia and proceeded to use mafia tactics to keep that intimidation factor going, Which obviously worked for years.

The unwillingness to Compromise

One thing you can say about Suge Knight, Suge Knight has always been very unapologetic and never been the type to censor his artist or tell them what to say or what not to say. Suge has always been vocal about his feelings about his peers and wasn’t afraid of calling them out. When Death Row was peaking in the early 90s, The content from albums the Chronic and Doggystyle were so brash and abrasive that it forced many activists and women right groups to attempt to shut Death Row down. Despite all of the pressure, Suge REFUSED to cater and censor his artists telling them to stick it. Even though Time Warner dropped Death Row and sold the label’s stock back to Interscope, Suge nevertheless took a stance which made the Row even stronger as the hits kept coming.

A Black Man with Power

Suge Knight and Dr Dre broke numerous records with smash hits The Chronic, Doggystyle, Murder Was the Case, Above the Rim along with other b sides and records. But really showcased Suge’s real power move was how he bailed Tupac Shakur out of prison and signed him to Death Row. The power move of bailing Pac out and the release of Double Disc album All Eyez on Me helped Death Row reach its peak. Selling close to a whopping 8 million records and made Suge Knight the most powerful CEO in the record industry. Suge had the artists clocking out hits, He had A&R’s, label executives, and artists trembling in fear everywhere he walked and had the bloods street gang on payroll. It looked as if Death Row could go nowhere but up.

His Downfall

It seemed as if however Suge Knight was too powerful and he HAD to be stopped. Suge has to take some account for alot of the foolishness that he brought upon himself. When he started running Death Row like a gang instead of a label, Thats where some of the artists started to feel uncomfortable and started to either leave(Dr Dre) or refuse to sign(Fredro Starr)

Suge also used alot of that intimidation to punk artists out of their publishing and keep their masters knowing his size and most likely they would be afraid to negotiate with him out of fear of either being killed or beaten up.

But from the mainstream point of view, Suge Knight had to be stopped. Not only was he too outspoken but he represented a concept of a black man finally coming in and not taking no shit from alot of these labels that been cheating black artists out of their money and taking away their hard earn worked.Suge started out with great intentions but as the money and success came in, he started to become more corrupt and sinister which was bad for business for black artists and represented as a threat to white established label so they found ways to blackball Suge and the West Coast for a while.

Perhaps they were fearful of another black man like Suge Knight with more intelligence and more street smarts to come in and really take over the game. Love him or hate him, Suge knocked down alot of doors and gave alot of artists their first big breaks when the white labels executives wouldn’t even negotiate with them. Without a Suge Knight, Dr Dre would have been Eazy E’s slave, Snoop, Daz, Kurupt, Nate , Rage and many others would have possibly struggled longer and Pac maybe would have been a free man with a different mindset. All of these what ifs are always gonna be in for questioned but nobody can never deny Suge Knight’s impact with hip hop.

Hip Hop Most Feared Rappers #1 Ice Cube

Ice Cube’s surprisingly departure from the rap supergroup NWA left many in shock. Eazy E continued to keep the balling rolling signing groups and further expanding his Ruthless label while Cube at that time period left with possibly no money and took the chance of his career fading into oblivion.

Cube knew in order to stay into the game, He had to revamp his image and style. It’s already been evident that he was the one behind the pen of those scathing verses that came from Dr Dre and Eazy E on their albums so the questioned remained is can Cube take his talents solo and go to the next level?

First thing Cube did was recruit the Public Enemy production crew The Bomb Squad to provide a hard-hitting aggressive sound to counteract Cube’s words of fiery . He used a notebook of pre-written rhymes that were meant for Eazy on Amerikkas most, He stayed and recorded the entire album with barely any money and relocated to New York for an entire year to complete.

Hip Hop at that time knew Cube was in the lab cooking up something special but what the masses didn’t realize that what Cube was creating was gonna light up a firestorm of controversy. Starting with the controversal album title where he but the triple K on America remaining it Amerikka) for Amerikkas most wanted was an ode to the racist white supremest group the Ku klux Klan.

When Amerikkka’s Most Wanted was finally released, Hip Hop fans ate it up and the album would go gold within a month. Around the 90s, Hammer time was running within full speed. Everybody wanted to come with a dance record or a pop record to sell(similar to now but on a different scale) Ice Cube’s Amerikka’s Most was a straight up bucking at the system, The rebellious energy that he brought to NWA was heavily influential on here. It was a perfect mixture of Gangsta Rap and socially conscious music. The Nigga Ya Love to Hate was ready for all comers

The Death Certificate

During the creation of Death Certificate, Cube was becoming more preoccupied and busy with projects with Yo Yo, his cousin Del the Funky Homospaisan, and focusing on his acting career by starring in his first motion picture Boyz in The Hood.

But instead of reflecting on the new hollywood life and newfound success from Amerikka’s Most. Cube knew that he had to keep on feeding the people the truth. The truth was that 1991 was a very intense time period. Racial riots, The Rodney King beatings, Black on Black Violence steady uprising, George Bush Sr creating laws to suppress minorities and fellow rappers taking shots at him(NWA).

Cube was putting on his boxing gloves for this one, He had shaved his trademark jeri curl,aligned himself with the pro black militant group the Nation of Islam and released Death Certificate which was much more angrier and harsher than Amerikka’s Most. You can tell by looking at the album’s cover(Which had Uncle Sam covered in an American flag toe tagged) that this album was gonna start some shit.

Death Certificate the album that not only drew Cube heat from blacks for his usage of the N word but also the JDL(Jewish defamation League) claiming anti Semitism from songs such as No Vaseline, Wrong Nigga to Fuck with and Horny Lil Devil.

Cube also drew heat from the but also from the Korean community for Black Korea and many other protesters claiming he preached nothing but hate,violence, and sexism when in reality it was all from a mind of an angry black male who’s looking for survival in a crooked country thats not willing to help out.

The Predator album is where many felt Cube started to backslide a little bit. The album wasn’t as great as his first two but it still packed a venomous punch. When you listen to songs such as When Will They Shoot, Tear This Mutha Up, The Predator, and Wicked, You know that Cube followed up where he left off in terms of bucking at the white establishment. The Predator would go on to be his most successful album of his career. Going platinum within a record time(4 days) producing hits like It was a Good Day and Check Yourself.

Many hip hop fans and pursuits feel that this was the album that started Cubes fall off from grace at the time. Death Row was running hip hop with its G-Funk gangsta sound and it seemed that as if Ice Cube was hopping on that same train with the songs You Know How We Do it and the G Funk influenced Bop Gun

But if you really listen to the content on much of the album. You would hear that Cube didnt delude his message or his rebelliousness. If anything it seemed to have turned it up a notch in comparison to The Predator. He questions the hypocrisy behind Christianity on When I Get to Heaven, Plays grand jury for the crimes committed by the United States of America on What Can I Do and even blatantly disrespected White women as a whole on the very vulgar Cave Bitch.

After this album, Cube would go on to full gangsta mode and not focusing too much on political commentary. Throughout 1996 He would ride with the West Coast in the escalating East/West war and collabed with Westsiders Mack 10 and W.C. to form the Westside Connection. The trio would take on all comers. Coming at the whole East Coast, Common Sense, Cypress Hill, and many others. It remains as one of the hardest hip hop albums to date.

Dont let the Kiddy movies fool you. Ice Cube was as feared and legit as you can get in the early 90s

Saigon: The Savior for Street Hop?

Those who know me will tell you that I’ve been a fan of Saigon since 2004. When I first heard dude’s records, I was thinking he was another one of these NY street rappers with all flash and no substance. But soon as I bought Warning Shots, It donned on me that this dude could be a SERIOUS problem for hip hop and one of the rappers that can actually balance street dialogue with consciousness.

Saigon’s has touched on many issues that seems to be taboo in todays hip hop market. From the wars in Iraq, Teen pregnancies, poverty, Crooked Preachers, sellout rappers, Police brutality, the need for gang unity(Color Purple) and knew how to not make it sound too far-fetched or corny. He knows how to put out grown man music without bragging about it.

What may have gotten Saigon either blackballed or a serious gamble for the majors to deal with is his MOUTH. Saigon is possibly one of the most outspoken rappers in the game now, What makes Saigon stand from above the bunch is that he wasn’t afraid of calling out these rappers BY NAME. Whereas many rappers today would play dumb or politically correct to avoid backlash, Saigon speaks from his mind and his heart without a care in the world. Sometimes it came back to haunt him but in most cases it showed that the rap game hasn’t gone completely soft and that there are a few rappers that aren’t afraid of backlash or expression their true feelings.

http://forums.projectcovo.com/showthread.php?t=3252771

Classic interview of Saigon calling out Eminem, Flava Flav and 50

Saigon could have possibly been a star in the rap game when NY hip hop was dominating the airwaves with the G-Unit movement but constant delays, pushbacks, battles with other rappers and fights with Mobb Deep further distracted Sai from really delivering his debut album Greatest Story Ever Told. Saigon kept busy and putting out great music but fans for years were yearning for his album.

Finally last year The Greatest Story ever Told was released. It didn’t contain any serious pop songs, dance music, or feature a Ne-YO hook to sell. The Greatest Story album was a perfect introduction to Saigon within the rap game and he showed that he is not only showcases tremendous aptitude but he’s also a intelligent emcee as well and not afraid to address the harsh reality thats lacking in today’s game.

The album didn’t do blockbuster numbers but it was one of the best albums to have been released in 2010. Saigon kept true to the gritty New York Sound and was able to make an album any fan from any region could enjoy. It was Saigon’s life been put out there and you can tell as a listener that he put his heart and soul behind it.

I Want it All

Saigon along with Sean Price, Action Bronson, Skyzoo, Roc Marciano, Joe Budden and a few others are the few thats staying true to making the street boom bap East Coast sound whereas many of their peers(Fat Joe, Fabolous, Maino,ASAP Rocky) are trying their hardest to appeal to the dirty. These guys are still in the game releasing music and making solid money indepenently.

Saigon with the release of his latest mixtape Warning Shots 3 showed that he’s in the game to stay and not allowing the politics to run him out. Its time for people to get behind this guy because he’s one of the few real dudes thats left in the game.

Saigon Hungry

Can Nas SAVE Hip Hop?

When Nas’s resurrected his career with his battle with fellow King of NY rapper JayZ. Nas’s career from that point on stayed in the midst of unpredictability and controversy. Everything thing Nas has said or done has made people either uncomfortable, offended or just flat-out mad. He has released an album titled Hip Hop Is Dead which sparked a firestorm in 2006 and made alot of his peers angry. He continued to be the Nigga ya love to hate by going even further by naming his album The Nigger album.

The criticism surrounded its album titled made alot of his handlers feel very uncomfortable.He made alot of Civil Rights activists angry and became a risk to the Def Jam label but they felt that they couldn’t just censor Nas because of his legacy and his tremendous talent.Nas responded to the controversy in his statement:

“I’m a street disciple,” Nas responded, quoting one of his earlier album titles. “I’m talking to the streets. Stay out of our business. You ain’t got no business worrying about what the word ‘nigger’ is or acting like you know what my album is about without talking to me. Whether you in the NAACP or you Jesse Jackson. I respect all of them … I just want them to know: Never fall victim to Fox. Never fall victim to the sh– they do. What they do is trying to hurry up and get you on the phone and try to get you to talk about something you might not know about yet.

“If Cornel West was making an album called Nigger, they would know he’s got something intellectual to say,” Nas continued. “To think I’m gonna say something that’s not intellectual is calling me a nigger, and to be called a nigger by Jesse Jackson and the NAACP is counterproductive, counter-revolutionary.”

Nas said he hasn’t talked to anyone outside his camp about the title, so he was upset to see that people are up in arms without knowing the story behind him choosing the name.

“I wanna make the word easy on mutha—-as’ ears,” he explained. “You see how white boys ain’t mad at ‘cracker’ ’cause it don’t have the same [sting] as ‘nigger’? I want ‘nigger’ to have less meaning [than] ‘cracker.’ With all the bullsh– that’s going on in the world, racism is at its peak. I wanna do the sh– that’s not being done. I wanna be the artist who ain’t out. I wanna make the music I wanna hear.

“We’re taking power [away] from the word,” he added. “No disrespect to none of them who were part of the civil-rights movement, but some of my n—as in the streets don’t know who [civil-rights activist] Medgar Evers was. I love Medgar Evers, but some of the n—as in the streets don’t know Medgar Evers, they know who Nas is. And to my older people who don’t now who Nas is and who don’t know what a street disciple is, stay outta this mutha—-in’ conversation. We’ll talk to you when we’re ready. Right now, we’re on a whole new movement. We’re taking power [away] from that word.”

The Circus around Nas’s album would follow throughout 2007-mid 2008 before Def Jam eventually would cave in under the pressure and make Nas change the album title from Nigger to N. But inspite of making changes along with adding weak commercial songs featuring Chris Brown and Keri Hilson(Make the World Go Round and Hero respectivly) The rest of the album doesn’t shy away from the concept of the album. You can even tell by the cover which pictured Nas with the letters N whipped on his back as if he was a runaway slave.

N remains as one of Nas’s best albums to date and an album that was definitely needed in a climate where hip hop focused on nothing but dance songs. Nas provided food of knowledge with medicine as he would remain as one of the few mainstream artists that took his power to take aim at the machine(Fox News on Sly Fox, America,) and possibly sent shivers down the spine of many of the right and scared negroes when he did a song in tribute to Obama(Black President) and NOI leader Louis Farrakhan on Untitled:

Louis Farrakhan

Nas continued to go and make music that went against the grain of what was put out during the rap climate. While many focused on money, sex, drugs, and hoes. Nas teamed up with Bob Marley’s talented son Damien Marley and released Distant Relatives. A great mashup of Hip Hop and Reggae:

As We Enter

Life is Good

Nas would release tracks here and there along with make stellar guest appearances on peoples records to further build anticipation. It sounds as if Nas is gaining his hunger back listening to Nasty, Dog Shit(With Mobb Deep) and Triple Beams Dreams with Rick Ross. The Rap Game at this point is at its driest and never before has hip hop been so boring and mediocre. Nas has the talent, the following, and the potential to bring back not only excitement but also food for thought to the table and a ability to make being a extraordinary rapper become trendy instead of being a dancer or a trap star.

SAVE US NAS!

The Truth on why Young Buck’s Dead or Alive record was removed

What motivated me to actually start this post was I was listening to Young Buck’s Buck the World album the other day. This is probably Buck’s strongest effort to date, He brought his A game to this album and he recruited some heavy hitters for the ride. The material consisted of mostly Southern gangsta shit that you can expect from Buck which is cool with me.

But on this record here titled Dead or Alive is where Buck gets out of his comfort zone. With Police brutality becoming a major issue in the black community, Buck lashed out at the police department and put out a record that would make the Late Eazy E smile. He even shot a video for it:

Young Buck Dead or Alive

This record was to guarantee to spark conversation and controversy. It was a ballsy move on 50′s part to allow Buck to drop this record and considering that Buck has a platform(G-unit at the time) to really connect with listeners. It was gonna be a problem for many of the big suits(Mostly whites and executives). So Jimmy and Interscope REMOVED the record off his album claiming that they were fearful that it was gonna cause violence against police officers.

When asked about this, Young Buck appeared on Hot 97 and addressed the question:

Angie: There’s this wild video on youtube that I just got a little clip of its called f the police
Buck: oh yeah, they wouldn’t let me put that record on my album
Angie: too violent
Buck: They said it was too violent; Interscope
Angie: Interscope said too violent
Buck: they blamed it on the lyric committee, so I researched to see if it was a real lyrical committee
Angie: no they didn’t
Buck: It was the lyric committee
Angie: they said the lyric committee said you can’t put this out
Buck: So I went as far as trying to find out well who is the lyric committee
Angie: shut up
Buck: the lyric committee is in Interscopes building
Angie: is there really a lyrics committee, no
Buck: you tell me
Angie: nahh there’s not, I’m telling you it’s not, that’s your man Jimmy Iovine saying I don’t want to deal with that

Wise intelligent also made a powerful statement regarding the issue as well:

About a week or so ago, rapper Young Buck made an appearance on New York’s Hot 97′s Angie Martinez’s show to promote his new album “Buck the World”, the first single of which is incredible (I love that record).

You know, it was pretty much your typical rap interview except for one revealing exchange in particular. This was when Young Buck spoke of a record addressing Police Brutality that unfortunately did not make the record? It was said in the interview that Interscope Records (home of Dr. Dre’s Aftermath, Shady Records; Emenim, G Unit; 50 Cent, Loyd Banks, Young Buck; The Lox; Jada Kiss, Styles and Sheik, amongst others) has an official “Lyrics Committee.”

Buck stated that it was this Interscope “lyrics committee” (more like committee of ONE person; Jimmy Iovine) that decided it best to leave the police brutality track off of the album. Their reasoning being, that they [Interscope/Jimmy Iovine] felt the record that portrayed violence against police officers could heighten the chances of a police officer getting shot or killed and that, Interscope did not want to be responsible in whole or in part for the death of a police officer. The interview went sort of like this:

Angie: There’s this wild video on youtube that I just got a little clip of its called f the police
Buck: oh yeah, they wouldn’t let me put that record on my album
Angie: too violent
Buck: They said it was too violent; Interscope
Angie: Interscope said too violent
Buck: they blamed it on the lyric committee, so I researched to see if it was a real lyrical committee
Angie: no they didn’t
Buck: It was the lyric committee
Angie: they said the lyric committee said you can’t put this out
Buck: So I went as far as trying to find out well who is the lyric committee
Angie: shut up
Buck: the lyric committee is in Interscopes building
Angie: is there really a lyrics committee, no
Buck: you tell me
Angie: nahh there’s not, I’m telling you its not, that’s your man Jimmy Iovine saying I don’t want to deal with that

Now isn’t this just fucking beautiful! A “Lyrics Committee” designed to monitor (read censor) lyrics of artist on the Interscope roster? The question I present to Interscope, the Hip Hop and Black Communities is, if Interscope sees something wrong with a rapper releasing a record addressing police brutality (because Wal-Mart won’t except the record) due to fear of violence against police officers, why then is it common place to spend millions of dollars marketing the other 12 tracks on the rappers album that may heighten the violence in the black community against young blackmen, women and children????

Why did not the “lyrics committee” come to the same conclusion when listening to lyrics that portray violence against young black males who work, go to school, and live on these same blocks that the police officers patrol? Ladies and gentlemen of the INTELLIGENT COMMUNITY, this is the nature of the beast with which we are dealing!

When we consider the fact that it was Jimmy Iovine who posed on a cover in the 70′s with the words “Rock & Roll nigger” painted on his chest, we get a greater understanding of this beast.

Here, we have a mainstream rapper attempting to address an issue that not only affects himself but the entire community. A political issue, if you will, and his Major Label tells him that song is NOT going to make the final cut of his album. They made a principled stand which reveals without a doubt that they completely understand the power of this music, and its ability to influence and motivate its audience (positively or negatively), and they will NOT support lyrics and songs that promote an atmosphere of violence and intimidation directed at the police department. Do you see how fuckin insulting, hypocritical, and dangerous this is. We have to organize our efforts to take away their power to choose what’s best for our community to see, hear, and experience!

It has always been my position that the black rapper is NOT allowed to address or lend his voice to any issue that confronts the community from which he comes, knowing that if he did, like Don Imus, he would lose his major corporation sponsorship, i.e., his contract!

The black rapper runs the risk of losing his recording contract if he dare engage his demographic in anything that resembles intelligent dialogue? And yes, I do mean, the black rapper. In the event that the black rapper would have written the song MOSH (Emenim; anti war record), he would have been dropped from his label faster than Jimmy Iovine can say “Rock & Roll nigger!”

Black and white America must understand this very pertinent point; BLACK PEOPLE DO NOT CONTROL THE DISTRIBUTION OF ANYTHING IN AMERICA; nothing! Everything from the food on his table, clothes on his back, roof over his head, education in his head, to the drugs and alcohol on his corners, is controlled by others who are not black!

So, what is it that makes us believe that the BLACK rapper is responsible for the distribution, diffusion or dissemination of the music and images (positive or negative) that you hear and see on MTV, BET and or Clear Channel Radio, etc

The fact that Major Labels have “lyrics committees” is evidence enough to show that multi-platinum, gold, and wood selling rappers are NOT even responsible for the subject matter that is or is not allowed on his or her own album, let alone the distribution of this subject matter! The artist can make a song about anything from life to death to love to lust and everything in between, but the records companies and their lyrics committees make the final judgment on what get pressed up and sent to Wal Mart, Target, and the like.

Now let me make this final and crucial point crystal clear before I bring this to a conclusion. As artists we must and should be held accountable for what we say and do on wax and video, our words and actions have a profound impact on our communities whether we know about it or not, but we should not be held responsible for which of our records get major or minor video or radio airplay. That decision is in the hands of the radio and video stations and their parent companies. They decided that Little Brother was too “intelligent” for the B.E.T. audience! They made the decision not to promote any rappers whose music would motivate black youth toward positive attitudes and lifestyles. Do you really think Immortal Technique, Wise Intelligent, Little Brother; Public Enemy etc…took themselves off the radio and video shows? Corporate America and their entire support system made the decision to make the thug, pimp, hustler, and drug dealing rapper the face of Hiphop culture by placing him or her on the cover of every mainstream magazine around the world! The rapper is but the most visible part of this sick and twisted daisy chain of events…If you have the heart to make a move against Snoop than have the heart to ride heavy on Jimmy!

The point of this article is not whether there is really such a committee at record companies that scrutinize the lyrics of rap artists. The point is that the major record companies do, as evidenced by the aforementioned incident, ultimately decide what lyrics the rapper can or can not put on his or her album.

Game We Will Survive

My Opinion:
Everything Wise said on his statement was a 100% accurate. This is the same label that promotes Eminem rapping about killing his mother, his baby mama along with rape or 50 who’s albums consisted of nothing but gangsta shit along with glorification at times of black on black crime is AFRAID of putting out a record that talks about the rebellion against Police racism?! It’s the same ordeal with Interscope cutting out Game’s We WilL Survive off Documentary. We Will Survive was a track that touched on black struggle, slavery, racism, and the need to unify gangs but kept the rest of the tracks where he talked about gang banging, smoking, drinking, and violence.

I feel that its time for artist to take control of their vision and their records. Get away from these big time corporations that try to harness an artists craft and sugarcoat it so it can sell among with the pop stars of the world. They may have takened Buck’s record off the album but it’s still gonna be heard by many!

Rare Hip Hop Photos Volume 1

2Pac Biggie and Redman

2Pac, Eazy E and Treach

Bone and Biggie

Biggie, MJ and Janet

Michael Jordan quotes(Ripping his teamates)

“We’re beating a lot of poor teams. So what? We won a lot of games last year, too. Will Horace and Bill still be playing at this level in the playoffs…Can Pip keep it up?”

Quote:
“I hate being out there with those garbagemen. They don’t get you the ball.”

Quote:
“They’ve got no idea what it’s all about. The white guys, they work hard, but they don’t have the talent. And the rest of them? Who knows what to expect? They’re not good for much of anything.”

Quote:
“I know what’s gonna happen. We’ll wait until the last minute and then they’ll say something like they couldn’t get a deal done because of the cap or somebody pulled out at the last minute. It happens here all the time. I don’t know why I’m surprised every year.”

Quote:
“He can’t do anything with the ball. Don’t give it to him.” – Michael yelling at Paxson who passed the ball to Perdue

Quote:
“You ever hear of a guy, six-eleven maybe and two hundred sixty pounds, a guy big and fat like that and he can’t get but two rebounds, if that many, running all over the damn court and he gets two rebounds? Big guy like that and he gets one rebound. Can’t even stick his ass into people and get more than that…Big, fat, fat guy. One rebound in three games. Power forward. Maybe they should call it powerless forward.” – Michael ripping Stacey King a new one

Quote:
“He was scared in there and panicking. He just lost it when Stockton scored.” – Michael on B.J. Armstrong’s mental fragility

Quote:
I’ll let them stand up and take responsibility for themselves.”

Quote:
“We have to do some things. We need to make some changes.”

Quote:
“…I call them ‘the Looney Tunes.’ Physically, they were the best. Mentally, they weren’t even close.”

Quote:
“He’s scared. He’s got no heart…Nobody told me that. If I had spoken up, he wouldn’t have been here.”

Quote:
“I know I can recognize what to do, but I’m not sure they can.”

Quote:
“It’s a hell of a lot easier to make Earl Monroe look good than it is Brad Sellers.”

Quote:
“I hope there’s a jumpshot in there.” – Michael to Stacey King who was walking into the locker room with a box

Quote:
“They don’t need a ticket to watch you sitting on the bench. They can go to your house for that.” – Michael to Charles Davis who was sorting through his tickets for his family and friends

Quote:
“Give me the fu*king ball.” – Michael to Doug Collins who drew up a play for Dave Corzine

Quote:
“I hate when I have to read that in the papers the next day, that I couldn’t do something. It wasn’t my fault.”

Quote:
“You’re an idiot. You’ve screwed up every play we ever ran. You’re too stupid to even remember the plays. We ought to get rid of you.” – Michael to Horace Grant

Quote:
“If you [pass the ball to Bill Cartwright], you’ll never get the ball from me.”

Quote:
“We’re not winning because of talent. We’re just beating bad teams.”

Quote:
“Headache tonight, Scottie?” – Michael asks Scottie, while showing him his 2-for-16 line

Quote:
“It’s probably a twelve-day. He needs two days to wake up.” – Michael on a ten-day contract teammate

Quote:
“Five more years and I’m out of here. I’m marking these days on a calendar, like I’m in jail. I’m tired of being used by this organization, by the league, by the writers, by everyone.”

Quote:
“They’re not interested in winning. They just want to sell tickets, which they can do because of me. They won’t make any deals to make us better. And this Kukoc thing. I hate that. They’re spending all their time chasing this guy.”

Quote:
“If I were a general manager, we’d be a better team.”

Quote:
“Will Vanderbilt. He doesn’t deserve to be named after a Big Ten school.” – Michael on Will Perdue – AWESOME!

Quote:
“I want to prove the critics wrong…I want to see some serious moves from management, which I really haven’t seen that much of yet, and I want to see more serious attitudes from my teammates this year when it comes to the playoffs. In the past, it’s been more or less a joking thing, sort of a ‘Well, we’re here, so let’s have a good time.’”……….

Quote:
“I’m sure everything will be fine if we win, but if we start losing, I’m shooting.”

Quote:
“I know what I would do if I were coach. I’d determine our strengths and weaknesses and utilize them. And it’s pretty clear what our strength is.”

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“Your boy doesn’t want to play. I’m tired of bailing his ass out.” – Michael yelling at Jim Cleamons about Dennis Hopson

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“I don’t know about trading a 24 year-old guy for a 34 year-old guy.” – Michael questioning the Oakley trade

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“He’s causing me too many turnovers.” – Michael on Cartwright’s inability to catch

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“Why the hell don’t you ever set a pick like that in a game?” – Michael yelling at Perdue after also hitting Perdue upside his head (led to the institution of the private curtain for practices)