Welcome to Fantom Island, where iLL-Literacy's legend finds its habitat. If you've happened upon this portal, may we be as bold as to assert that nested in you is a healthy curiosity. Whether you were drawn here by the Slanted i at this page's 1-o-clock, the quick flash of during loading, or simply because you have a click-happy finger – you've arrived. HihowRUhi?
The peculiar thing about Fantom Island is that it is but a mirage – an Imaginary oasis isolated in the confines of our brainwaves. We shall gradually reveal morsels of our folklore here, so please visit often. To return, simply bring your Imagination as your passport.
Fantom Island
sunday sermon: where the "wild" things are
they told me not to post this. they told me “this isn’t sunday sermon material”…especially for the last sunday of the month…as if the fresh prince, kool moe dee, dru hill AND stevie together on stage don’t make for an enlightening service. if will smith isn’t preaching, sisqo wasn’t waiting for the opportunity to wear only a cowhide vest with matching leather pants (no homphobe). and i ask seriously…what is a “sermon”, if not as etymology would suggest from the latin sererer some kind of discourse clearly linking ideas together on a moral subject. what THEY don’t get, maybe because they’re still “thrown” by the slapdash pop rendering of a classic stevie wonder song for a terrible movie or whatever, is that big willie was detailing the history of the first peacetime all black regiment in the regular u.s. army, the buffalo soldiers (“six gunnin this, brother runnin this, buffalo soldier, look”). the language is encoded b!!!…”then through the shadows, in the saddle, ready for battle, bring all your boys in.” feel me. “through the shadows” i.e. slavery. “in the saddle” i.e. in the saddle. “ready for battle” i.e. ready to fight white supremacist capitalist patriarchy by joining the 9th or 10th u.s. cavalry and killing off some “natives” during what is still called the indian wars. “bring all your boys in” i.e. soon as you let one black family into the army or on the block or into the white house, you know cookouts and pink lotion is on the way. will smith not preaching on wild wild west is more ridiculous than a giant spider robot in the late 19th century.
the moral subject is obviously smith’s insightful reminder that we must always revisit history and the sacrifice of those who came before by making hip-hop legends say “breakdown” over and over during the breakdown. all praise to the glory of thy iLLfunk!
