Review of Wes Fif "American Beach" EP

Back in July 2012, I wrote a review of Orlando rapper Wes Fif's album "International Drive." I was admittedly late reviewing the mixtape, as it came out in March of that year. A few months later, in July of 2013, Wes Fif dropped his newest EP "American Beach". In keeping with the trend, a little more than five months later, here is my review. I am really late. Sorry.

In my review of "International Drive", I wrote that although I liked Wes Fif's sound and his beats were nice, his lyrical content took me by surprise. Much of "International Drive" was about hustlin' and grindin' on the streets of Orlando. Having lived in Central Florida for over 20 years, I never thought of Orlando as a place where a lot of hustlin' and grindin' goes on. After I posted a link to my review on Twitter, Wes Fif reached out:

@JordiScrubbings I appreciate the review! Good read - I have to have to you come kick it with me one day! No fantasy rap here. Lol

— Wes Fif (@WesFif) July 13, 2012

I have a lot of respect for artists who reply and engage in conversation. That's one of the awesome things about Twitter.

Shortly after I wrote my review for "International Drive", Wes Fif released "American Beach".

First, a note on the title. Wes Fif continues using Florida landmarks as titles of his work. American Beach was a prominent beach for African-Americans during the Jim Crow-segregated South. Created in 1935, the beach became a National Historic Site in 2002. I had never heard of American Beach prior to the EP, so I had a history lesson right from the start. That's a real good thing.

Here are a few thoughts on each song on "American Beach".

Track 1:  Intro by Dinero Jones. Jones explains the meaning the title of the EP, giving a little history lesson and applying the past to Wes Fif's current efforts to make a name for himself in Orlando, a place known more for N'Sync and boy bands than hip-hop.

Track 2: "Forever" - Over a quick club beat, Wes Fif announces his presence with a rapid rhyme attack. Again with a Too Short-like flow, Wes Fif talks about how his crew is the best and how he gets the girls and runs his city. Standard rap braggadocio. Wes Fif also talks about his experience in the game as a veteran in the music business, even slipping in a few lines of social commentary. More on that later.

Track 3: "Get It On" - This song is Wes Fif rapping a positive ode to a woman he is looking to spend a lot of time with. This is the type of song I mentioned was missing on "International Drive". Legend has it 2Pac told Biggie to write for the women and the men will follow. "Get It On" is one of those type of songs. The beat is slow and Wes Fif rhymes directly to the woman of his affection.

Track 4: "100" - "Everything a 100". Over a slow electric beat, Wes Fif rhymes about how everything in his crew and his life is 100% real and true. Solid track.

Track 5: "Too Wrongs" - Another relationship song to the ladies. In this song, Wes Fif talks to a woman who is not his main girl, but someone he has feelings for and has been close to. As the song progresses, Wes Fif reveals both he and the lady have significant others, and they both know it's wrong.

Track 6: "Wave" - Best beat of the album. Like "100" and "Forever", another song about the grind. "Ride the wave" is a perfect fit for an EP with beach in the title.

Track 7: "Heelz" - This song is the complete opposite of "Get It On". Heelz is pure sex rhymes - albeit with a twist. "Heelz" is the first shoe fetish rap song I've ever heard. Over another slow electric beat, Wes Fif and guest singer London tell the subject of their affection "Baby keep those heels on". Could this lead to a trend of more rappers dropping fetish songs?

As I mentioned in the review of "Forever", Wes Fif has become more outspoken in his lyrical content. Since the release of "American Beach", he has continued to expand his social commentary. In August 2013, Wes Fif released a track entitled "Wake Up (F**k WorldStar)" in which he criticizes WorldStarHipHop.com, a website that posts street fights, arguments, and other videos of people acting like fools.

From his "Wake Up (F**k WorldStar)" release announcement:

It’s that time again, time for another installment of #WesFifWednesday. This week, we’re going to take a break from the cliche, stereotypical rap and get on some real shit. I present to you an original track titled “Wake Up (Fuck Worldstar)”. It’s my take on the urban community as a whole and the self hatred that’s going on at an alarming rate. I believe sites like WorldStarHipHop could have a much more positive impact on the community, instead they rather peddle demeaning filth on a daily basis (hence the subtitle).

Of note, Wes Fif isn't alone in going after WorldStarHipHop. In Februrary of 2013, the Universal Zulu Nation, the founding organization of hip-hop culture, wrote a letter to WorldStarHipHop, asking the site to stop portraying hip-hop and urban culture in a negative light. In hip-hop, when the Universal Zulu Nation speaks, many listen, including Vibe, Jet, and other media claiming to represent the culture. It's great to see Wes Fif taking a similar stand.

As the year comes to a close, Wes Fif is still promoting his anti-WorldStar track and also encouraging other artists to take a stand on something.

I'm calling out my fellow rappers to diversify your message in 2014. You can drink, fuck, stunt, etc. But shit slide a message in sometimes!

— Wes Fif (@WesFif) December 28, 2013

From the title to the content, Wes Fif has grown as an artist, even in the short time I have listened to his music. That's impressive as too many artists get stagnant. After hearing his latest content and reading what he writes on Twitter, I am definitely looking forward to new Wes Fif music in 2014, and hopefully the opportunity to see him live. Even if he doesn't like FSU.

Overall, "American Beach" is a good Florida summer album. It stays hot, but doesn't go too fast. As anyone who has been in Florida in the summer knows, moving too quick in the summer gets you all sweaty. And being sweaty and sticky might be alright in the bedroom when she keeps on her heels, but being sweaty is not good when you are on the streets, trying to get your grind on.

Writing about local rappers

On the online version of the Tampa Bay Times, I profiled a new young rapper named Nick Dessasore. 

Check it out.

So Long, From the Sunshine State - A Review of the Final FCW Event in Tampa

From 1961 to 1987 Championship Wrestling of Florida was the number one wrestling promotion in Florida. At its height, the company ran four to five shows a week throughout the state, from Miami to Orlando to Jacksonville, and boasted a who’s who of wrestling legends, from Dusty Rhodes to Bob Orton, Sr. to the Funks to many more. Although the company spent most of its time entertaining state-wide, there was only one city it called “home”: Tampa.

Tampa had hosted pro wrestling events since the 1940s and the early days of Eddie Graham. After a promotional war in the mid-40s, the city’s primary venue became the Fort Hester Armory, a few miles from downtown. Through the 60s, 70s, and 80s, Championship Wrestling of Florida continued in the Fort Hester Armory and the armory was where most old-time local fans saw their first wrestling show.

Of course, we all know what happened to the territories, for better or for worse. CWF merged with Crockett Promotions in 1987, an NWA Florida was created in 1990, and in 2003 Championship Wrestling of Florida was created as an NWA promotion. Meanwhile dozens of fly-by-night promotions sprung up in Florida – some good, some bad – and the local wrestling market became heavily saturated.

In 2007, the WWE decided to move its main training facility from Ohio Valley to the Tampa Bay area under the leadership of Steve Keirn. They resurrected the Florida Championship Wrestling name and hosted many of their early shows in a bar called Bourbon Street in New Port Richey, Florida, about 30 minutes north of Tampa. For years, Bourbon Street was home to indy shows and its consistent wrestling booking fostered a loyal and passionate fan base, the “Bourbon Street Mafia”.

When FCW completed its training facility in South Tampa, shows were moved from Bourbon Street to the FCW Arena. The first FCW match in the new location in 2008 was between Tyson Kidd and the then-Gavin Spears (now known as Tye Dillinger).

Shortly thereafter, I attended my first FCW show. With shows every Thursday, it wasn’t long until I knew every member of the Bourbon Street Mafia and became part of a second wrestling fan crew, the Afro-Squad. I could go on about how wearing an afro in public and having a grand time at wrestling shows helped me embrace my performing side, while also getting a much deeper understanding of the role of the fan in wrestling, but that’s a post for a different day. Let me just say that through the FCW fan crews, I made friends in Tampa that have lasted for several years and have extended far beyond the arena.

Although attending FCW was the thing to do from 2008 to 2010, eventually people seemed to lose interest. While the first class of stars were main eventing on RAW and Smackdown, the follow-up classes from FCW weren’t as exciting, save for a Bryan Daniels here or a Loki there. As time passed, most of the fan crews started to dissipate – some people moved, some found other interests, and some even tried their hand at their own local indy promotions, sometimes even using former FCW talents in their shows.

In 2012, the WWE joined with Full Sail University and in August 2012 did away with the FCW name, swapping it for the NXT brand. Shows were still held in the FCW Arena, but it was now a satellite location, far from the main hub.

And that brings us to last week’s final show at the FCW Arena and the possible end of more than fifty years of Florida Championship Wrestling.

The writing was on the wall since they took the posters off the walls and replaced them with the stark corporate blackness of NXT. Despite “FCW” still illuminating the front of the building, there were no traces of Florida Championship Wrestling anywhere in the building. Gone were the pictures of former champs, pictures of Gordon Solie, or any traces of the palm tree logo. This was NXT and it could have been anywhere.

But that’s how WWE likes their product. Save for a tip of the cap to Jerry Lawler in Memphis or a few other geographical acknowledgements, the WWE keeps its product as geographically sterile as a Wal-Mart, a McDonalds, or an Olive Garden. You would never know where a WWE event is if they didn’t tell you in the opening of the broadcast. That’s because shareholders like corporate uniformity. And with fans gobbling up spin-offs of the WWE brand beyond the traditional outlets of RAW, Smackdown, and PPVs, tying the product to a location made little sense.

For thoughts on the last show, I’m going to go Magic Bullet Style:

• Great crowd. Absolutely great crowd. Half the chairs were not there, so many stood chair-less the entire show. Steve Keirn mentioned it was a sell-out and I would guess in the ballpark of 300 fans. I am not sure what advertising they did, if any, or if it was just word of mouth, but it was great crowd.

• Being in Afghanistan from early 2012 to mid-2013 took me out of the loop on a lot of wrestling. And wrestling, due to its continuous nature, is very hard to catch up with. Hence I knew very few people on the FCW roster. I did however recognize Gavin Spears and Leo Kruger, but did not recognize their new names.

• The show opened with a great speech by Norman Smiley, a trainer for FCW since it opened. He talked about wrestling in the Fort Hester Armory a few miles away and how to him FCW was the completion of life’s cycle. He mentioned how it was time to move on to bigger pastures. Of interesting note, after he concluded a few fans tried to start an “N-X-T” chant but they were quickly out-chanted by the majority’s “F-C-W” chant.

• WWE has put a lot of work into character development since the early days of FCW. Maybe because NXT means TV and fans know characters much earlier in their WWE careers, but almost every wrestler had personality. Far different from when FCW would parade undistinguishable Randy Orton clones to the ring, leaving fans to ask each other who the heel and face were.

• Best match of the night skills-wise was Solomon Crowe versus Kallisto. Even though I had no clue who they were, right from the start I could tell they had experience outside of WWE/NXT. One of my friends confirmed they were long time indy talents. I was really impressed. I’m looking forward to seeing more of both of them, even if not in person.

• Seeing Gavin Spears (Tye Dillinger) back with FCW/NXT was cool. He was on the FCW roster when I first started going to their shows in 2008. After his release, I saw him wrestle for various indies throughout Florida. Some were even bar shows in front of 50 people. And even then, he still brought it. Good to see him back on the cusp.

• Also bringing back memories was Leo Kruger (aka Adam Rose). He too was on the early FCW roster, although then he was one of the many undistinguishable talents. As Adam Rose, he has character flair and his match with Corey Graves was big on entertainment and in-ring trickery.

• The match of the night was NXT Champion Bo Dallas versus WWE veteran and NXT trainer Billy Gunn. Of course as the challenger, Gunn came out first. I was disappointed he came out to the DX music and not the “Ass Man” theme song, but gotta play to popularity, right? When Gunn did enter however, the crowd went nuts and Gunn did a great job building the crowd’s excitement. That’s a gift most veterans learn – how to build up the crowd. He ran around the ring, slapped hands, and urged fans on one side to chant louder than fans on the other side. It was a lesson in charisma for the young superstars.

• At first the match showed Gunn as the stronger competitor as Dallas bounced off of him, went down hard on punches and clotheslines, and generally built up Gunn through a series of hard bumps. But eventually Dallas reversed the match and built himself back up as a worthy young champion, with Gunn taking solid bumps.

• As part of the no-DQ stipulation, Gunn asked the fans for chairs to hit Dallas with. With an extra afro wig in our group, we passed Gunn a wig, to which he promptly used to pummel Dallas. Best use of an afro since we passed John Cena a wig and he struck a pose with it.

• The end of the match was a gimmick-fest as several wrestlers ran in and gave each competitor a finishing move, depending on whether the interfering wrestler was a heel or face. After even Norman Smiley and Bill DeMott ran in, Dallas eventually avoided a Fame-Asser and pulled off the win.

• After the match, Gunn took the mic and gave a Randy the Ram-like speech thanking the crowd for being there and commenting on his own mortal fragility. Gunn put on a hell of a match for a guy past his prime. Not sure he could mix it up on a regular basis, but he looked good.

• Following Gunn on the mic was Norman Smiley. Again, Smiley thanked the fans for coming out and supporting the product during its time in Tampa. He then asked Steve Keirn and his wife to come to the ring. After thanking them, he presented Steve with a plaque of appreciation.

• Keirn then took the mic and gave a nice impromptu speech. He talked about establishing FCW in Tampa and mentioned Vince McMahon’s request that Keirn supply two talents per year to the WWE roster. Keirn said FCW promoted 116 in six years. That’s almost 20 a year. Keirn then acknowledged the support of his wife in his career. Finally, he concluded that although FCW was done, he wasn’t and NXT represented another chapter.

• After the show, the talent packed up the ring and other equipment and loaded it into an NXT truck, taking with them years of memories.

Final thoughts:

Although Tampa area fans could possibly make the drive an hour or so to Full Sail University and see their favorite upcoming WWE talents, what will be missed most with FCW closing is the family aspect of the promotion. From the days of Eddie and Mike Graham to the Keirns, FCW has mostly been a family promotion. The wrestlers came and went, but the family aspect stayed. And that idea of family extended into the crowd as well, as regular fans grew closer and FCW became an oasis in their busy lives, a place to meet, socialize, and bond over common interests. Perhaps one day someone will chronicle the slow removal of families from the top levels of the pro wrestling landscape. I think it would make a great story. That’s not to say there aren’t still great lineages in the business, but as time passes, so too does their influence. Shareholders don’t care about family names or fan families.

As for Tampa wrestling, there are still plenty of places for the indy fan to see shows. SHINE and EVOLVE run shows in Ybor City and other local promoters still put on shows headlined by regional talents, including those who had a cup of coffee or two with FCW. And Orlando, with its many promotions is only an hour away. Although fans who know wrestling only from TV will lament not seeing wrestlers they recognize, the underground scene will be fine.

As for the legacy of Championship Wrestling of Florida, perhaps the WWE Hall of Fame will one day include it in exhibit on the history of the territories. Perhaps locally the Tampa History Center may feature a few pieces of memorabilia. And hopefully the Jewish Community Center being built on the grounds of the Hester Armory will acknowledge the many years Championship Wrestling of Florida called the building home.

Names have power and carry memories. Championship Wrestling of Florida and Florida Championship Wrestling will forever live in the memories of Tampa wrestling fans.

Are Macho Man Randy Savage tribute shows cursed?

Last month, aptly-titled pro wrestling blog "The Wrestling Blog" posted this picture of a wrestling show that didn't quite go as planned.

Yes, the man in the red tights is wrestling legend Nikolai Volkoff. And yes, besides Volkoff nothing in the picture resembles a pro wrestling show at all. There is no ring, no referee (unless you count the guy in the black pants who looks like Francis from Pee-Wee's Big Adventure), no banners, no signs, nothing. The Wrestling Blog called it "The Saddest Wrestling Show" ever. I agree.

According to one of the people involved's Facebook:

I arrived at the venue around 6pm and as I went in well things werent looking too well. The ring crew got pulled over due to a too heavy load with a ring that was on their way to the venue but were told that they had to turn around in which it made it to where they couldnt bring the ring in. The promoters were on the phones trying there best with others to get a ring to the venue but it wasnt looking too bright. I noticed that everyone became discouraged due to this incident and some wanted to leave. As the fans were coming, they were all told that abt the issue and it didnt seem to bother them one bit because they wanted to see a wrestling show and it motivated the promoters to get the wrestling mats out and put on a show. The boys in the locker room were all still worried due to having no ring. Bobby Fulton took charge and had a meeting in the locker room informing us that the show must go on and that we were here to give fans what they want to see. Bobby then assigned us all to duties to where the locker rooms discouragement lifted up to where everyone became encouraged and did their part to where we all worked together to make this event happen. The end result was the event was an hour and a half and the fans were louder then most shows ive been on in the past. The workers stepped up got out of their fear mindsets and put on one of the most memorable and loudest shows i ever been on. The fans were into it like u wouldnt believe and every fan left with a smile on their face and a wrestling show that they will never forget.

However believable that explanation is, there is one more tidbit that makes this show even more bizarre and separates it from all the other half-attempts at pro wrestling entertainment that go on world-wide on an given day.

This show was supposedly a tribute show for Randy "Macho Man" Savage.

Another tribute to Macho Man gone horribly wrong.

Who can forget the July 2011 "Macho Man Tribute" debacle in New Port Richey, Florida when "promoter" Dino Puglia shafted not only the wrestlers and the band out of pay, but also shorted the charity the show was put on for? As a first-hand spectator, that was by far the worst show I have ever been to. The Tampa Tribune covered most of the problems with the show, but left out a few other embarrassing details such as:

• Puglia's "tribute" to Macho Man was dragging a big screen TV into the ring and showing Macho Man's WrestleMania 3 match against Ricky Steamboat. If members of the crowd were on the backside of the TV, they couldn't see. And there was no volume.


• Wrestling legend Ox Baker openly mocked the promoter's no-bell "moment of silence" for Randy Savage. Usually wrestlers gather around the ring as the bell is rung and all observe a moment of silence. Every time Puglia said "Ding", Ox Baker replied with "Dong". Standing in the crowd, it was extremely difficult for me to not laugh.


• The first match wasn't even a match. It was two fans horsing around in the ring with a referee pulling them apart. It was backyard wrestling in a wrestling ring.


• Puglia nearly got into a shouting match with the band before he left. This interaction happened by the front door of the arena just behind the bleachers where a majority of the crowd was siting. Where everyone could hear. When the band learned they weren't getting paid, they asked Puglia if anyone was getting paid. Puglia tried to hide behind wrestlers, many of whom quickly realized they too weren't getting paid. That left no safe place for Puglia and he bailed.


• The main event didn't even happen as after Puglia skipped out, the show disintegrated. After the ruckus with the band, some wrestlers only went back into the locker room to change back into their civilian attire. After 30 minutes, the ring crew started taking things apart and packing up.

Of course, Puglia denied all the accusations against him and blamed the band, other promoters, and anyone else he could think of. You can read his defense here.

Since the Macho Man died in May of 2011, I have not yet heard of a good tribute show to the former wrestling legend. Maybe it has happened. Maybe it had living legends and local wrestlers opening their hearts to the memory of the Macho Man and putting on the greatest spectacle the squared circle has ever seen. But I am starting to think that maybe the man who wanted no part of wrestling after his retirement is haunting the business. Maybe he figures since he can't get back at Vince McMahon, he will make sure any "tribute" is fumbled and every promoter who tries to capitalize on Macho Madness is made to look bad.

Dig it?