music: Real Sh*t

music: This Is What Its Come To

I’ve been conflicted over this topic for years. That topic is the state of hip-hop. For the past several years I feel that the genre, the art form, and lifestyle itself has either been redefined or has lost sight of what it is. It’s gotten to the point where at times I don’t take hip-hop and rappers in general seriously. I’m not mad at the fact that it’s changing. Things are supposed to change. That’s progression. But I honestly feel that in a lot of cases it is regressing. It comes to be a problem to me when what we consider the greatest rapper of our day and time someone who says things like “Weezy F Baby and the F is for Phenomenal.” PHENOMENAL DOESN’T EVEN START WITH AN F! WTF??? Let’s be real. You can’t be a lyrical genius when you can’t even spell. Wayne is cool but he is appearing to me as a lyrically one dimensional rapper. Once you’ve heard one verse you’ve pretty much heard them all. There is only so many ways you can say life is a b*tch before it gets boring bruh. I digress, but nonethless, this is the state of hip hop and it is annoying. But hell what do I know. This rant is coming from a guy who is a proud Gucci Mane enthusiast, an artist that many say is the worst thing to happen to the genre in years (I have many reasons, but that’s another topic for another day). I don’t have a problem with the Soulja Boy’s and Gucci Mane’s of the world. But I do have a problem when people start to consider “Racks on Racks” the best rap song of the year and when lines like, “Hit the dryer cause you’re washed, splish splash” are considered to be lyrics of the century or at worst a great line. When the amount of snapbacks a person has validates their relevance in hip hop and when a former correctional officer raps about selling dope on his iPhone, that’s where I draw the line. Not to say that there aren’t glimmers of lyrical hope in some up and coming artists. I just feel the bar for great music and lyrical genius has changed and taken a slight, gradual, yet painful turn for the worst. Or maybe I just take music too seriously. Music is something you can relate to and feel after all. Maybe people’s feelings have changed. Nonetheless there is too much of the same type of rapper. No wonder an artist longevity is two years these days. Whatever happened to Hurricane Chris and Mike Jones? EXACTLY. They are what happens when you get too caught up in industry and fads instead of your music. I also think that the mixtape is being held to too high of a regard. So Far Gone was the best and worst thing to happen to hip hop. It changed the way we viewed mixtapes forever but at the same time caused us and rappers to put to much emphasis in it. How can you have the coldest mixtape of the year but have a bullshit album? Makes NO sense to me at all. And yet people continue to follow the same formula. no wonder album sales are plummeting. And what’s up with the simp rap nowadays?

Too many rappers, not enough artists and thinkers. The blandness in hip hop is causing me to jump on the first thing I see that’s different and dub it a classic as well as mess with an artist based on their personality instead of their actual music, which is cool but at what cost? Until it gets to where I don’t take the genre that has raised me and that I grew up with seriously? So be it. My standards for music may be high but I fell like they should be. This rant is over for now. But until rappers start becoming srtists who take their craft seriously, I’m not taking it seriously….

Zan With that Lean is the song of the summer btw. lol.

I’m interested to hear you guy’s thoughts also.

random: " "

"There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness."

-Dalai Lama

random: Planking Ain't Nothing New

Watching Ghostbusters in the park. Sigourney Weaver, planking since ‘84.

music: The Based God

First let me make something abundantly clear, the title “I’m Gay (I’m Happy)” I think is absolute genius. Those two words together side by side in almost any format in the society we live in can be a cultural and social death sentence. And in many places in the world (even here in the good ole’ US of A) they can mean an ACTUAL death sentence. I’m talking a shanked in the shower, beat with a bat, beheaded on Friday kinda death. The best and rarest of braveries is bravery in the face of death. Let’s be honest Lil B’s album probably won’t even be commercially released in certain countries because of the title alone. I just wish he did a song called “James Baldwin” and I would’ve loved to see you twitter-lectuals and goon rules street professors argue against one of the foremost, prominent black intellectual radicals the world has ever known who just so happened to be an overt homosexual but repped the ghettos of Harlem harder than Nicky Barnes and Rich Porter combined and took the struggles and achievements of the black and impoverished experience and intellectually and dazzlingly rubbed it all in the pasty face of the oppressive power structures of the time and this time as well! I wish a nigga would!!! Don’t matter if your gay, that’s between you and your religion. All I care about is if your down for the cause. Which a LOT of hetero’s ain’t. Go figure. Now the doper thing about the title is that it exposed the raw power of words and reinforces the concept that “perception is king” in a very simple and even remedial use of homonym (no pun intended but you gotta chalk that up as a mean double entendre!) The word “gay” referring to homosexuality in the minds of the “guilty” ,as well call them here, sent shockwaves throughout our hip-hop community. Making Lil B the target of attack and ridicule. But Lil B’s ultimate intention and preference for the word “gay” was its “one who is happy” definition. So basically my lil homey was being attacked for being happy. The poetic justice in that is awe inspiring. If that don’t speak to the conditions that exist in this world and this society I don’t know what does. Hate on somebody simply because they are happy or have found happiness. How many of us are innocent of that injustice? Not many. Including me at times. Now whether Lil B did that on purpose or not is really not an issue because the reality of someone (that would be me by the way) interpreting and analyzing his album title that deeply gives merit to his action regardless of his initial intent.

-Lupe fiasco (Why I like Lil B)

random: " "

‎"Forget safety.
Live where you fear to live.
Be notorious."

Destroy your reputation."

-Rumi

random: " "

"If you’re interested, you’ll do what’s convenient; if you’re committed, you’ll do whatever it takes."

-John Assaraf