Make 'Em Say Uhh!

I'd like to be able to say that I bum rushed the show, but I squeezed into the Kauffman Foundation's Hip Hop & Entrepreneurship forum at Penn Valley Community College without any drama Wednesday night.

The experience wasn't as fun or electric as Chuck D's lecture nine months ago, but it had some great moments.

An interview with Percy Miller was the highlight. The former Master P was chatty and funny as he displayed his off-the-chart intellect.

Here are a few choice quotes:

"It's time to pass that generational wealth down." -Percy Miller on his aspiration to become a successful television executive.

"Everyone in this room can say, 'I can do this now.'" - Percy Miller on Barack Obama's election.

"You need to be bilingual." -Percy Miller on the value of possessing both street and corporate dialects.

"That was my past. That was my childhood." -Percy Miller on his often vulgar and thuggish work as rapper Master P.

"I introduced the bling to hip hop." -Percy Miller on his musical contribution.

"Nobody want to buy something they have already." -Percy Miller on the necessity of being original.

"They got a bunch of dream killers out there." -Percy Miller on haters.

"The fastest thing to go away is entertainment." -Percy Miller on the fleeting nature of fame.

Chuck D, one of my heroes, is never at a loss for words:

"Hip hop got me through college and college helped me through hip hop." -Chuck D on the value of education.

"It's a fight against national corporations who define what hip hop music is... If these things don't get rewired then all this is in vain." -Chuck D on his conspiracy theory about a bias against regional hip hop artists.

"You can't get to a million unless you can count one... Start cherishing the numbers that you count by one."- Chuck D on making one sale at a time.

"You in the audio-video age... Don't separate yourself from what you see on TV... Make a video per song" -Chuck D on the necessity of music videos. (I'd like to think that he's a Plastic Sax reader.)

The night's major revelation was "celebrity sports agent" Glenn Toby. He was truly inspiring.

"Create your own opportunities. Make your own job." -Glenn Toby on professional advancement.

"We have to be what God made us." -Glenn Toby on staying true to yourself.

"Now that we have a new President, there's absolutely no ceiling." -Glenn Toby on limitless possibilities.