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Check It Out From The Beginning... Lets Change The World

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#RealTalkSeries A Tall Dark Stranger

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#RealTalkSeries Industry Revisit...

Sooo to all my faithful listeners this is an update or better put an explanation of a post that I published last April titled The Industry. If your new to the conversation listen up: #RealTalkSeries The Industry  I was ask to do a little more explaining as to what I meant by conscious hip hop being a construct of the industry.

                  Could you talk a little more about Talib, "conscious rap", and genre as a construct?                  

What I was referencing was that Talib Kweli never set out to be a conscious hip hop artist. At no time in his career did he say that I'm going to make conscious hip hop. The industry took the type of music he was making and said that it didn't fit the norm at the time and created a completely different box to put it in. He was labeled as the artist he is because of the music he makes. He never made music to fit into the genre he has been labeled with. And as such the industry created a listening audience for him but they also placed him into a narrow field of music which people now have preconceived  notions about and it has limited his reach to much greater numbers. I also was asked about Common:

Common is another "conscious rapper" whose career exposes inconsistencies with the "sub-genre". The brouhaha from the right concerning Common's performance at the White House, along with Maya Angelou's concern about his use of the N-word, brings up interesting ideas about genre, listeners' expectations, and labeling.

I think that Common falls into the same situation as Talib, I'm making a large assumption but i don't think majority of artist go out and make music with a particular genre in mind. I think that the are aware of the audience that they are trying to reach but, the labels that are placed on them later are mostly outside of their control. And depending on who you speak with artist can fall in several different genres at the same time. I think that Common set out to make music and because of what he created was labeled as a conscious hip-hop artist. I think that artist should make music that is and expression of their heart. And if people only mad music that stayed within the boundaries and expectations of a genre then change and progress wouldn't develop within music. A prime example is the present and continued use of electronic and synth in HipHop music today.

PS

Common a "gangster rapper" all i could do was laugh, I dont like to label people and as we have discussed genre's can easily not fit an artist all the time. But i think his work can speak for itself.... gangster rap it not really part of it.

Much Luv guys keep asking questions and ill keep talking ( or in this case writing ) 

#RealTalkSeries Living

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Family, Friends, And Loved Ones... I Am Back...
Please get back on #RealTalk it will be a beautiful thing for you this summer :)

#RealTalkSeries The Shit Is Complex

#RealTalkSeries: The Industry

#RealTalkSeries: Sex In Society...

#RealTalkSeries: Lets Talk About Sex...

#RealTalkSeries Definition Of Disposable

Inferiority

Sooo it’s crazy you know "We Are All Self Conscious, I’m Just The First To Admit It"... I was recently on a different coast visiting friends and we started to discussion about what else... Music. 

       ( !!!Background Break!!! )

The people that I was going to see were guys who live, breathe, and eat music. They create, catalogue it, and critique it. I love music its something that is a part of my everyday existence but I don’t engross myself in it the way they do. 

            ( ...Back To The Story... )

Sooo we started this discussion and we went on forever and discussed hip hop, Downtempo, electronic, etc. But we got to a point were I made a statement about how I feel that a lot of music being producer in recent years as "disposable" (btw: I stand by my statement ill explain it later for you guys ) Anyway one of the guys made the counter argument that my opinion by the very same logic could be "disposable." I wasn’t offended but intrigued it’s always good to have your opinion challenged it keeps you on your toes, people who are surrounded by "yes men" are always doomed to fail. The point I’m trying to make is that someone I respect because of their musical talent, encyclopedic knowledge of music, and generally because they are a good person challenged me. And in that moment because of the things I listed above and many more I felt inferior to them. Like a child does when being scolded. I shook it off, and like I said this guy is a real chill person and he meant no harm in his statement. 

But it just reminds me of how far I have to go, keep myself and check and continue to know and be at ease with myself and some day I’ll never have to feel inferior to anyone again. (Then again on the other hand it keeps you honest)       Are We All Self Conscious???

#RealTalkSeries Black Thought

This Is The First In A Series (At Least Once A Week)

Comments, Opinions, Ideas...

#RealTalk Vol. 1 by Just.Tryin.To.Be.Me

Every Ghetto Every City... Paris

Sooo at this point I have been to more places around the world than most people have in their entire lives... and there is one thing that I have learned... (Or "found to be true" might be the better term for this but hey... it’s my blog right) Is that you have your most fun running the streets...

... And this is not to say that doing other things aren’t fun, you should do things see sights and taste local cuisine, but the thing that you need to do the most is walk. Walk from one sight to another find areas of the city you haven’t been to and just walk around, do I a little research to make sure it’s not the drug capitol of the city ( some people might like that... I guess?? ) then head there. 

 

Also another thing, we all have friends that we luv and cherish, but if they aren’t ready to walk for 12 hours around the city and then still go out drinking that night at a cafe by the river then... how do I phrase this nicely drop them... You need friends to explore any place it helps and makes the adventure that much more amazing but if they are going to complain about there ankle every time minutes then leave them... And continue to leave them eventually they will understand that you're having soo much more fun than them and they will by a cool pair of shoes and come along... but until them leave.

I have gotten into some of the best parts of the best cities by walking around sometimes even aimlessly and trust me I’m not doing just for my health ( cause I still can’t loss weight...  damn delicious street food... lol ). But yea, Paris, Amsterdam, Trestevere, NYC... I found amazing places, street art, people, sculptures, fountains, and just general culture by running around the city on foot... just some food for thought... Are You Ready To Really Take The Road Less Traveled???

Prince And Me o+>

 So this is another one of those stream of consciousness blog posts... I just feel like before I start talking about our world... I should figure myself out...

Sooo Prince and Me, well that a special relationship that we have had going for over ten years now, My first memories of Prince is watching "Purple Rain" the movie for the first time. His image was remarkable, the way that he carried himself and the way he sought to present his creative ideas drove me crazy. Stemming from this interaction me and my mother (who is die heart fan) began explore the love of his music. I feel like my mother was always surprised by my taste in music:

... You know

                 "Isn’t it strange that this ten (maybe 12) year old has a love for music I luved in my 20s"

                                                                                                                Let’s just say my mom discovered that I had an old soul... 

We listened to the whole album of "Purple Rain" and from then on anytime I heard anything that even reminded me of Prince I would immediately ask my mom if it was Prince... This went on for several years til my taste and hunger for music changed (or should I say increased... IDK). At this point I was a teenager and I had my own computer with complete access to... you know it... Kaza!!! I would be sitting in front of that computer for hours upon hours downloading music (surprisingly I download very little porn... I guess music has always been first). I had amassed an intricate collection of Prince Albums, covers he had done, unreleased singles, and all the jam session he had done stretching back to when he was jamming as a symbol and when the revolution was always his accompaniments on stage and paper. I used his songs to chill and with an always couple of placements of his songs in email flirted my ass off with the first girl I ever loved... haha... shout out to Ohio... But all good things must come to an end and like most computers of that time this computer crashed and I lost gigs of data... and had to start from scratch... 

This promoted a crazy new obsession of mine ( With the help of my 1/2 ) to get, have, own and cherish physical media... I wanted vinyl... diamonds might be a girl’s best friend, but you can’t lay then under a needle and jamm to for hours... ya feel me...

                          ..... The first one o found was on eBay. It was a first edition (I think or at least from the 80s) Purple Rain Album that was in perfect condition with all of the original covers and poster... the person didnt know what they had and I scooped it up mad cheap... This was my gold mine and it was my first record. 

Anyway history aside... I’m still in luv with this man as a whole... he walks around in tight, pants, crazy hair, high heels, but in a seeming contradiction gets all the women he has ever wanted... he make music that is raw and hasn’t lost any passion or rage in the transitions from thought to notes... IDK what else to say he is legendary... and clever... smart...

              ... Just look up why he changed his name to the "Symbol" ... he said a big fuck you to the industry...

Did You Want To Be More Than My Weekend Lover??? 

The State Of My Union...

                               
 

 ....Let Me See In Light Of The Recent ( I Use That Term Loosely ) State Of The Union Address, I Figured I'd Address The State Of My Union....

...My world as usual has been a hot mess... which sounds bad but it’s actually a mixture of 

amazingness, stress, freedom, and several other adjectives that I don’t care to list at the moment... As you guy should know I’m graduating this semester the real world is rapidly approaching and I have to take stock out of what I want the next couple of months to be. They can easily be me having crazysexycool unadulterated fun or I could more adequately saving for my eventual move to NYC and the start of the next book in the series of my life... 

I DONT KNOW... this is the next step and I unlike most people have a lot more things to weigh than most college graduates... And as appealing running away from home and slumming it in NYC sound its goes against my thought process and my constitution to just abandon my family things are a little tough right now and I feel like they might need me to balance out the equation... Anyway I’m avoiding school as much as possible and still passing so things are good and they are getting much better... I’m ready to dive into the world work and struggle for a while and start being the change I wanna see in this world... Are You Ready To Follow Me Down The Rabbit Hole???

Babies Im Back...

                                             ...Im back world and  boy do i have a lot to talk about.... new post coming as early as tonight... i swear like six post  :) have a great day with this freaky warm weather.... 

I'm Alone... Healthy Relationships With One's Self....

So this is just something that has been on my mind. I covered this is passing in one of my classes recently. I'm Alone... and that’s completely okay. There is sooo much discussion on why people are single, why they don’t have a man / woman. And the reasons for this span anywhere from the lack of available candidates to the fact that the individual in question has character traits that discourage a relationship. These things are important and will and probably have been talked about in my blog before... But the issue we need to cover today in brief detail is the fact that there is little to no discussion about why it’s okay to be single, and the promotion of "self" health. People never talk about how you can be happily single; instead they talk about how lonely you are... Frankly My Dear, That’s Bullshit... 

                                            ...You wonder why we have people running around with married men, people hunting for relationships, and clinging to unhealthy partnerships... 

Society tells the world that every day you don’t have someone you are depressed and wasting away because you need some else to complete you. I'm sorry I’m a complete person.... but between me, you, and my God... I would still luv someone to compliment me not complete me. And that dichotomy is one of the most important things that I have written about in a minute. I feel like i could talk about this for hours, but today i just wanted to get you thinking.... We Know Every Relationship Isnt Healthy, Then Why Is It The Only Thing We Dream Of???

(P.S.)

Sorry For All The Short Post, Ive Been Crazy Busy.... Stay Free  

Ambition

So today was not the best day I overslept and missed two classes, fail right!!! But not really I ended up going to campus mad late and got dinner and some new headphones. And while getting dinner I started a conversation with one of the workers. We started talking about life and he asked me what I wanted for mine, and what did I think I would get it out of it. We went from starting my own firm and free thought movement to talking about the money and how it would impact my life. This guy made some crazy accurate points.

• First he talked about how you should never work for money, you work to expand and grow your talents... money will come it’s a byproduct of work. But if you work for money you lose yourself in it all.

I clearly made the mistake of saying that I never really wanted to be a millionaire just comfortable and he quickly corrected me. Money doesn’t make you happy but it frees you to do things that you couldn’t do without it and it allows you to help the people that you want and who needs it. The more money you have the easier it is to help people and the more people you could help.

• He then went on to talk about his life a bit and the nature of his memories and the lack of regrets he has in his life....

Now I know what you’re thinking I shouldn’t be taking advice from a man working in a school cafeteria, but before you jump to judge he and his wife have a really successful online business and he informed me that if he were to be let go tomorrow he could still live comfortably.

• Never Get Stuck!!!

Anyway that’s all I just felt like somebody should know what happened today. Keep you ambition let it grow and strengthen and become a bigger more beautiful thing :)
                                                                              Does You Ambition Become You???

Media Perception And Me :)

So this media phenomenon known as the "Occupy Movement" has lost some media attention and force within American.... What I’m here to talk about (while using Occupy as a springboard) is the manipulation of images by the media to incite emotion rage and misunderstanding. And let’s start with my definition of media I’m not only talking about mainstream or conventional media alone, person media and what I would call private media (personally owned) has greatly affect people perceptions of things like the "Occupy Movement" greatly. This type of media which is produced at home and broadcast through socially media sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc. has a very unique power. The media is not screened or conformed meaning that is validity should always be in question, but rarely is it. Also sense the media is presented to a social media website that means that people who are already in partial agreement are generally going to find it or have it presented to them. These images/article of information could easy help to solidify a beliefs on false or exaggerated information. Sadly contributing to the polarization of ideas in our society...

            .... But back to my examples....

The images presented to you are ones that I found of Facebook that show how misguided these media images are and how they distort what the "Occupy Movement" was attempting to accomplish. The first is created to present a satirical image of the protestors. It’s wrong on several levels, the first of which it references the hate that people had toward African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement, After peace marchers had fire house turned on them and people made references to cleaning up dirty black folk. Furthermore this image downplays the great amount of violence that was done to these protestors those cans the police are carrying are not water but "pepper spray" and extremely harsh and painful chemical. Last the picture marks the protestors with the negativity that the term "Hippie" has come to represent...

The next image though less extreme present the fact that receiving employment from the armed forces could solve all the protestor’s problems. There are several things wrong with this, first of all every person isn’t made to be in the armed forces whether due to physical, mental, or spiritual challenges and whether people believe it or not they don’t take everybody. The next thing is that there are major and real problems with the way the American economy is functioning right now and this picture just dismisses that completely. IDK... The last thing that bothered me is (and this is part my own political belief and extremely bias) that why the fuck am I going to spend 4+ years of higher learning to then turn around and get a shitty paying job with sloppy benefits, have to drag my big black ass through the mud, and finally have my character assaulted upon until I submit to the will of the United States Army... People What Do You Think??? Thats The Media And Me....

   

The Death Of Broadcast Radio... And The Laziness Of DJ's

So as many of you know I can be kinda a music snob... and trust me I’m the first person to step back and say maybe I went a little too far on my critique of a selection of music but beyond that I feel like I do have a good understanding of the music and the industry. Which bring me to today’s topic which I’m sure I covered a few months ago but you’re going to hear it again.... Broadcast radio and its impending doom. There is a motley of factors that’s leading to the destruction of radio and a lot of it has to do with the privatization of broadcast music, why should you have to wait or search to hear a particular genre of music when you can pay a monthly fee to something like XM and get it 24 hours a day.... so we blame the culture and our instant gratification mentality....

But I think that a large portion of the problem is the DJ'S who work for broadcast station (Especially in the DMV) got lazy. You spent years creating very unique and diverse station to then only playing Bill Boards Top 40. And even before this phenomenon occurred the DJ were not playing motley of music, you could switch between 3 Hip-Hop stations and hear the same song on every station. I would switch to XM too. It pains me to loose radio personalities that I grew up with and slowly watch their creativity reduced to that of a standard issue Ipod. But there is really nothing I can do at this point but attempt to work for a change back to old radio styles... And yes let me say this before I’m flooded with emails... I understand the DJ's are under pressure to play music that is popular in attempt to increase ratings... it’s just sad that the overplaying f those same 10 songs have helped to make their jobs obsolete.... But you know when those same 10 artist are the only people nominated for Grammy's the same year out of the hundreds of artist who released new music in the same year, you wonder what has become of music..... Do We Need A Musically Revolution??? Are We Finally Sick And Tired Of The Shit On The Radio???