What Happened?!

-- Although i try not to alienate anyone in particular... this post is really for my Hip Hop Heads. It is what it is --

Today i was listening to the radio and i started to wonder... what happened to the radio?

I remember way back when I'd sit around with my Maxell 90 minute cassette tape, waiting all day for that song to finally come on the radio. Yea, everyone knows that song. And after waiting all day to record it, I'd get pissed off because I'd get the DJ saying something random over the end of the track...

I don't get that feeling anymore. People have been saying that hip hop's been dead for a while... it's not until recently that i truly started to believe it. (the mainstream, anyway)

For a while, I was happy to go through a day without hearing about someone's swag. I don't know about you, but when i wake up in the morning i Turn My Swag On. And while all these other guys were either Swagger Jackin, or trying to Swag Up, i was busy Swag Surfin. If you don't believe me, Check My Swag... Really.

Whatever happened to the days when rap told a story? Not a generic, run-of-the-mill, i-watched-Scarface, i-sling-rocks story -- but a legit, "this is my life" story. It's funny to me that the only thing that sells nowadays is the hood shit. I didn't know that so much of the world grew up in the hood... I hadn't realized that MILLIONS of people could relate to the drug game and murder. All this time i thought the US was fairly well off.. turns out it's truly just a well disguised 3rd world country. Had it not been for gangster rap, i may have never discovered this fact. Guess i was living in the matrix.

From the swag phase to the auto-tune craze. (or maybe they co-existed?) Don't pretend like you don't care about Auto-tune. Don't act like you could tell the difference between Kanye, Juelz, T-Pain, Lil Wayne, Ron Browz, 50 Cent, Jim Jones, and Young Jeezy. You didn't even know all those rappers had dropped something recently did you? Well they have... all with the same lame lyrics, and queer voice.

I sometimes try and tie in a bigger picture meaning to my tirades. No such luck with this one. I'm literally just pissed off because something that once gave me nothing but joy.. has become a source of agony. I just want to turn on my radio without hearing the same one song on all 3 of the local stations simultaneously. If i keep pressing the presets around 5, it sounds like i'm scratching a record... when really all along i'm only praying for a commercial. Such is life i guess. I'm patiently waiting for the return of real rap. Awaiting the day when we stop putting average rappers on a pedestal (Drake), just because there hasn't been anyone with any true talent in so long. Patiently awaiting the day when we can call albums classics because the album is truly dope, and not because it's just the best album to hit the mainstream in the last 2 years or so. (Blueprint 3)

A Shameless plug for true hip-hop...

it's complicated

( i was asked to blog about people who post their entire life on twitter/facebook/myspace/flickr/insert random social network here. Typically i wouldn't tailor my blog to any one specific idea -- i like to start typing and just see what comes out. (often times i'm just as surprised as you are.) But, this really does peeve me. )

What possesses someone to post every detail of their life for the world to see? I'm not saying i'm above the status updates, or blog post (obviously) but why do some feel the need to take it so far? The ever-changing relationship status kills me. Single, in a relationship, complicated, engaged, single. I'm willing to bet any amount of money that if you spent more time with your other half, and less time tweeting, things would be different.

As if it's not bad enough that some... individuals... choose to give the entire world a real-time play-by-play of their lives; these same individuals will turn around and post a status update that says something along the lines of "why's everyone all up in my business" ... Gee, i don't know dipshit, maybe it's because you post all your business online. Are you really that insecure? Do you really need to create digital drama to add some meaning to your life? Oh look at me, look at me - WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME!??! Seems kind of idiotic to me...

But maybe it's me. Maybe i'm the only guy who is annoyed by this new trend. After all, we're in a world of instant gratification. I guess people don't have the time to call you and see what's going on with you. I suppose it's completely logical that your friends (these being real friends - as in folks you've made actual physical contact with and not just a picture that you poked, pinged, or requested) don't have the time to call and check up on you. So really, you're doing them a favor by posting an update every 34.6 seconds. It's also completely possible that you are, in fact, kind of a big deal. And you truly do have fans that are on the edge of their seats awaiting an update on what you're watching on tv, eating for dinner, and just how much lent you picked from between your toes. It is completely possible that by airing out every detail about who you're fucking, beefing with, and cheating on, you're truly managing your relationships like a mature, level-headed adult. What was i thinking?




Read my blog, read my blog. Why the fuck are you reading my blog?

Reality? TV.

Today i actually sat down and watched an episode of Bridezillas. i know that it's uber-gay that i even took the time out of my day to watch the show, but stranger things have happened. For anyone who hasn't seen Bridezillas before, here's a brief run-down: Man & Woman are engaged...bride is a bitch.

The show baffles me. Where do they find the guys that are down for this deal? Imagine proposing to your sweetheart, and the next thing she does is call up a nationally syndicated show, tell them that she's getting ready to put you through hell, and offers to let them roll the cameras. Really? In the episode i saw today, the bride-to-be fusses at her dude, steals his debit card, ODs his account, wears a tiara for a week, makes some other chick pump her gas (because she couldn't smell like gas on her wedding day), and has the groomsmen carry her fat ass down the aisle. Bananas.

One thing i did learn from the show is that bitchiness and weight are in direct proportion. (as are a few other things, but that's another post.) Apparently, as the weight increases so does the attitude... which is completely backwards to me. I'd think that the bride would just be happy that she found some guy willing to accept her rolls and folds while simultaneously embracing the thousands of dollars he will kick out trying to mitigate her obesity and knock off her cholesterol. That's a lot of Cheerios.

Of course they hide this documentary on lifetime, or oxygen, or whatever channel that was. This way, tons of women can laugh and smirk as they eagerly await the day that they too can admittedly be intolerable. You'd think some responsible member of the staff would push to have the broadcast moved to some channel that guys actually watch. Strategically decreasing the net total of weddings annually while singlehandedly decreasing the divorce rate.

Since they won't, i will. Don't get married. if you're already married... eh, oh well. (of course i'm joking.........)

The death of... someone

I actually wrote this entry about 2 months ago. I typed it up and i thought... too soon. Now, i think it's fine. Enjoy.
Sidenote: i discovered that my blog now has 1 follower, that made my day. Enjoy the previously unreleased masterpiece.

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Back to blogging after a long and unplanned hiatus.

Imagine my surprise when I got a text message today saying that the king of pop, the master of the moonwalk, the sultan of the skin change, was dead. Alas, after years of making music MJ is no longer with us. Then imagine my surprise to find out that he wasn't dead, just in a coma... only to find out that he was dead. Sheesh! HEADLINE NEWS? ... for me? not so much.

It's a sad thing to see any human being die, to see the flame of life extinguished. Especially in this case where the individual can be said to have died before his time (if 50 is still considered young that is). But honestly, is this news? Earlier this week I went into work only to be bombarded with ticker feeds alerting me to the death of Ed McMahon. To montages of McMahon and his long forgotten late show.. and i asked the same question... is this news?

Honestly, I can appreciate that in some regard, and to some people, these individuals have had a tremendous impact. In fact, MJ even wanted to Heal The World. Go MJ. McMahon? He brightened someone's day every sunday morning with that big over-sized check, that no bank would cash. But is this news? Twitter Feeds, Facebook Statuses, Text Messages.. the digital age thudding with the latest info.

Hey, whatever happened to the Swine Flu? AIDS? What about the War? You know, the wars we're fighting on two fronts? Injustice? Anything going on at the White House today? The destruction of a people in Africa? The recession that we may or may not be recovering from? Ehh i guess that all pales in comparison to these latest headlines. .. how many people die everyday? How many get coverage on CNN?