Fact: Eastside Prep Varsity Boys (an Esfac’e Endorsed/sponsored team), coached by Esfac’e founder and former Stanford player, Tunde Sobomehin, won the CCS championship on Saturday, March 7th, 2009. Only his second year with the team and with limited personnel, Tunde has done an amazing job cultivating some true champions not only on the court but off court surmounting a number of obstacles that many East Palo Alto youth face due to single-parent households, financial turmoil and many other unfortunate circumstances.

Now they prepare for the Nor Cal Playoffs with their first two games being at their home court at Eastside prep in East Palo alto. We’d love to have you come out and support these warriors on Tuesday and Thursday at 7 pm.

FACT: Writer and director Byron Hunt explores masculinity by looking at the differences and similarities of Barack Obama and 50 cent in 10 minutes. The short film is titled “Barack & Curtis: Manhood, Power & Respect.”

Esface is dedicated to the development of young men in redefining manhood as both popular and positive.  Stay Esface!

visit www.thenuface.com for more info

President Barack Obama celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by servicing the community.  He is living the E.S.F.A.C.E mission and acronym in more ways than one.  “Education and Service . . ” are the first two letters of Esface.

FACT:

Barack Obama stated in his MLK address “I ask you to play your part – to not just pitch in today, but to make an ongoing commitment that lasts far beyond one day.”  He could’ve said . . .

Live Esface!

Live Esface

Lupe Fiasco, like many rap artists right now (namely Kanye West), is experimenting with a new sound and vibe.  Under the name Japanese Cartoon (JC), Lupe Fiasco emulates the formula of Hello/Goodbye [Uncool] of his last album to give JC’s tracks a rocker feel (along with a distinctly British accent).    Lupe Fiasco, like Gnarls Barkley’s member Cee-lo once did, is currently pretending to not to be affiliated with his new act, but it is evident this is Lupe Fiasco on the track. Here are two of the three tracks.  Sidebar, does anyone know what happened to CRS?

Heirplanes
http://www.zshare.net/audio/53671941731730ea/Invaders Must Die!
http://www.zshare.net/audio/53671934c4b92059/
 

Also, there’s this Chicago up-and-comer we introduced you to last week named Master 3, and we got more of him for ya. Here are 2 tracks off his upcoming project called Light Up The Darkness, which drops on Saturday the 24^th. Please believe that we will post it up for y’all when we get it. These 2 tracks are fire, trust me, I’ve worked with him in the past (See: Major League)….dude has that skill.

The Day Before Tomorrow (Version C) (Prod. by R&S)         http://www.zshare.net/audio/534871514036d0d2/

Heroin Heroine (Prod. by Ant of Atmosphere)
http://www.zshare.net/audio/51989427208e7b17/

 Oh, and in other news….

 ’Nuff Said

From my living room television, I watched a who’s who roster of speakers and performers during the Inauguration celebration weekend.  But of all the breathtaking messages and expressions, I thought Dr. Lowery’s words and delivery was the best!  It was historically contextual, challenging, truthful and witty!  And it was delivered profoundly, linking both classical religious rhetoric with common-man poetry and the ended with the traditional black church call and response of “AMEN.”

FACT: Here are some of quotes and excerpts from the speech:

“Because we know you have the whole world in your hands, we pray for not only our nation but for the community of nations.”

“Lord, you’re able and you’re willing to work through faithful leadership to restore stability, mend our brokenness, heal our wounds and deliver us from the exploitation of the poor, or the least of these, and from favoritism toward the rich, the elite of these.”

“YES WE CAN. . .  work together to form a more perfect union . . ”

“In the complex arena of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate, on the side of inclusion, not exclusion, tolerance, not intolerance.”

“And as we leave this mountain top, help us to hold on to the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family; let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples, our mosques or wherever we seek your will.”

“We ask you to help us work for that day where black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead man, and the white will embrace what is right.”

“Let all those who will do justice and love mercy, say Amen, and Amen and AMEN.”

Yo, we’ve had quite some time off from the blog, but we’re back now and we got some heat to drop.

First and foremost, we got the grand return of Slim Shady himself, Eminem. He’s back with the 1^st leaked track off his upcoming album The Relapse, called Crack A Bottle featuring Dr. Dre and 50 Cent. It’ll be interesting to see how Em does with this album, a.k.a. does he still got it.

Eminem ft. Dr. Dre & 50 Cent – Crack A Bottle

http://sharebee.com/7e96b557

Next on the list is my personal track (Allure) ft. this up an coming rapper out of Chicago named Master 3. I do beats, he does lyrics. This creates a dope track that y’all should check out. As I’ve stated before, this is not my personal avenue for promotion, but this is basically my 2^nd single. As for Master 3, you’ll hear more about him in a future post….

Allure ft. Master 3 – Major League

http://www.zshare.net/audio/52826741a72a8120/

Finally, since we all know that a certain deceased Brooklyn rapper is having his biopic releasing this weekend, We’re gonna drop this as a throwback joint. Notorious is in theaters now.

Notorious B.I.G. – Hypnotize

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTv_s5DhlCU

FACT: Eminem has been on a hiatus from the mic for 3 years (2005-2008). He’s been speculated to return constantly in that time period, but it isn’t until now that any concrete evidence has been given/spoken.

Fact: Officials estimate around 2 million will be gathered in the DC mall area on Jan. 20th for the swearing in of President Barack Obama. This will be the largest gathering in history, with a typical ceremony having 1 million in attendance and the largest being Lyndon B Johnson’s in 1965 with 1.2 Million. Esfac’e will be doing our part in in making history by releasing exclusive inaugural t’s for the festivities. You can find us around K street and 13th area as that will be our official post for the Inauguration as Inaugural vendors. Come holla at us and get your shirt on DC soil so you can commemorate this event properly…with positive freshness. Stay Esfac’e.

The Esfac’e team will be in the building at the Wonderfull Party complete with our own table of Esfac’e merchandise.

Take a peek at our exclusive shirts made especially for this event:

Oscar Grant, an unarmed black man, was shot and killed by BART Police Jan. 1, 2009.  Grant was not only unarmed, but was also in handcuffs at the time of the shooting.  Demonstrations on Wed., Jan 6 started peaceful and then turned violent with downtown windows breaking, cars on fire, and automobiles damaged.

FACT:  As suggested by available national data concerning traffic stops, excessive force is
disproportionately used against people of color across the U.S. For instance, a recent
investigation revealed that use of force by officers in San Francisco police department– defined
as any physical restraint causing injury up to shooting a person to death – was alarmingly high,
and that 40% of cases in which force was used involved African Americans, who make up less
than 8% of the City’s population. (www.ushrnetwork.org/files/ushrn/images/linkfiles/CERD/9_Police%20Brutality.pdf)

Police brutality has been a persistent problem faced by African Americans. The failure of government to protect Black people from lawless law enforcement officers forced Blacks to act in their own interests.

FACT: During the 1930s, the National Negro Congress organized massive rallies against this form of terror. In Washington, D.C., over the span a few months, the NNC collected 24,000 signatures protesting abuse by the D.C. police department. The Black Panther Party was created to stem the tide of police abuse. In the 1970s the Congress of Afrikan Peoples sponsored the “Stop Killer Cops” Campaigns. (www.monthlyreview.org/301brc.htm)