WuChess

If you listen closely to most of the lyrics to hip hop songs today, you probably will not have any moments of intellectual inspiration. I'll admit some of them have catchy beats and are fun to listen to when you're out at the bar, but I usually shy away from downloading these songs or even listening to the radio stations that play them on repeat. I wouldn't even really consider these songs "hip hop"...they should be grouped with "pop" along with Britney and Madonna and all of them. I'll give Lil Jon some props for creating his own wine label, but his songs are mostly just different combinations of "what," "yea," and "ok." I have more respect for the talented, true hip hop artists such as Jurassic 5, De La Soul, The Roots, and of course Wu-Tang Clan.

Rza from the Wu-Tang Clan just started a website called WuChess, in hopes of promoting chess among the hip hop community. The site will have live chess tournaments, etc. and proceeds will benefit the Hip-Hop Chess Federation, which probably has the best mission statement ever: "Using chess, music and martial arts to promote unity, strategy and non-violence." The founders of this organization recognize that chess can develop life skills such as patience, focus, and thinking before doing.

Personally, Rza has inspired me to start playing chess. If I adopt it as a hobby, my goal will be to someday meet Rza face-to-face in a match. And I'll bring the ruckus.