Oh, I forgot to mention that I went to see T.I. at Duke Saturday.  In commemoration of the event, I started a Facebook group called “T.I. Owes Me $25.”
I was pretty upset that he didn’t do any songs from “I’m Serious.”  But you know what?  It was fitting, because he wasn’t serious at all.  I promise you that dude only did one verse of about seven songs, the full “U Don’t Know Me” and “What You Know” and dipped out.  We knew it was a bad sign when he took his shirt off 15 minutes into the show.  He hadn’t even had time to get hot, and he was already ready to pull out the card he had to get the sexy young ladies excited.
He didn’t do “Dope Boyz.”  He didn’t do “Bring ‘Em Out.”  He didn’t do “No More Talk.”  For real, it was straight up booty.  He almost lost a fan, except I wouldn’t go all out at Duke, either.
Speaking of music, here’s a great piece of mail I just received from one of those courageous types that doesn’t leave a name with his or her e-mail address.

You have no qualifications in saying that Hendrix was the best at what he did. Eddie Van Halen, Eric Clapton, and many others after them are better guitarists than Hendrix. He gets a lot of credit for his style, but many good guitarists can easily play a Hendrix song. Now, playing a song by Cream is another matter. Also, if you want  to talk about domination, Roger Federer is a better tennis player than Woods is a golfer, and wins a higher percentage of the time. Tiger is a brat, as evidenced by his smacking his clubs around when he doesn’t make a shot. I think that the real reason that you like him so much is the same reason you think Hendrix is so incredible; because he’s black. Here’s a newsflash: Tiger is a great golfer, but he should NEVER be mentioned near Jordan or Gretzky because he doesn’t compete against people, he competes against the par for the course. Golf is a game, not a sport. That’s why older people can play competitively. Give credit where it’s due, to real athletes who are loved for their skill, not their skin color. 

The Federer argument is a fair one, though I happen to disagree.  I do laugh at the notion that I just love Tiger Woods because he’s black.  You know, black writers can’t form any opinion without it being entirely fueled by blackness.  That’s all we know, yanno?  Only a black man could think that Tiger Woods and Jimi Hendrix are incredible.  Only us.  No white people think that Hendrix is great.
Well, except for the folks at Rolling Stone, and we know what militant Negroes they are.
The funniest part, though, is the notion that I’m unqualified to make such a statement.  First, pretty much anyone is allowed to make a statement about music.  In the Internet era, we’ve all got access to whatever we want to hear.
What’s funnier?  I did work as a music critic for five years.  Done a bit of TV behind it, too.  In fact, I got in with ESPN because of the ability to make pop culture connections with sports, on the basis of my work as a music critic.
Not that it takes a serious critic to make that observation.  A St. Bernard can tell you that Hendrix is incredible.