Young and different, uh
She looked at a condom, uh
And could still see the sun, uh
Do you remember 21, uh?
Can I stay to wait huh?
Grow up today huh
Can you really blame her?
Shit you couldn’t even stay home
When the world feels like it’s coming and
And you don’t know what you know
And you think about what’s holding you
It’s relatives and close
Just leave it all behind, you gotta get away
You gotta get away
Everybody
-Kelis, “Young, Fresh & New”
- Who’s the Greatest Rapper?
Am I the only one that thinks this argument is played out? Since when did opinion become fact? The Notorious B.I.G., ‘Pac, Jay-Z, Scarface and Nas are usually the ones mentioned. I like who I like for the reasons I like them, but that doesn’t make what I say the standard that everyone should go by. I can give you a million different reasons why I think one is better than the other, but in the end, it’s a matter of personal opinion. Debating facts is more worth it than this, and if I see or hear this discussion on one more hip-hop site or on the radio, I don’t know what I am going to do. - Judging Celebs for Their Personal Lives
When a celebrity commits a crime, it might be worth debating, when they have a new significant other every year, that’s their business. J-Lo is the main one that receives this kind of grief. I am not a fan of this woman, but I think it totally sucks that people refer to her as “J-Ho” simply because of the way she handles her relationships. I know several other people that are non-celebrities doing the same thing and worse, and they aren’t judged nearly as harshly. We pretty much need to get a life and move on. - Same Ol’ Lame Ol’
This bandwagon busniess in music is really starting to irritate me. When an artist blows up for having a certain sound and everyone else jumps on it, the quality of the music is diluted and the integrity is shot. Does Usher really need to be doing a song with Lil’ Jon because Lil’ Jon is supposedly what’s hot right now? And why are new artists coming out that sound no different than established ones? I want to hear something new and fresh. I want to feel the way I felt when I first heard N*E*R*D, or Aaliyah’s “One in A Million”, or countless OutKast records that are worth naming. In 2004, I want more creativity, thought, and originality behind urban music, intead of this seemingly endless piggy-backing. - A Third One? No Thank You
I can cut Lord of the Rings some slack considering the source material, but this whole trilogy business going on in Hollywood is getting to be a bit much. For The Powers That Be in Hollywood, it’s all about the money and franchising, less about the story. On paper, it sounded like a good idea, going back to the old days of cinema where they had serials and cliffhangers, but now that’s it’s a reality, I think it’s the next worst thing to overkill. Now we have to worry about this upcoming Star Wars film, and who knows how bad it will be given George Lucas’ current state of mind? I’m not saying wipe-out the trilogies altogether, I just say do it right. - Ignorance is Cool!
My people, my people… When will we learn? Why do we allow our children to be influenced by the bullshit they see on TV and hear on the radio? I think a good way to illustrate this would be the idea behind “Pimp Juice”, the product. Pimps are not heroes, people. At best, they are funny characters we saw in blaxploitation films, and at worst, they’re the guys you never want your 13-year-old daughter to meet. When you market products like this for the mainstream, you are making ignorance even more commercial than it is in the music. Do we really want the rest of the world to see us this way?
There are a few more things I’d prefer not to be exposed to in the new year, but they all basically point to the same sentiment: If pop culture can be considered the politics of the new millenium, then we need to check how it all affects us as a society. There are several trends we follow either consciously or subconsciously, and not all of them are for the greater good. This especially goes for us African-Americans since we seem to watch TV more than anyone else, buy into the product placement we hear in hip-hop, and put a cute bag higher up on our list of priorities.
We are being led down the wrong path because of a lot of the things we’re exposed to, and we’re dragging our children with us. I guess I went through all this to say we need to focus on the important stuff, not the trivial.
One.
Oh man, couldn’t have said it better myself.
You think you are just so damn special don’tcha? You dropped the hotness on us with SunRay’s layout then I come here and see this new look? Who are you tryin’ to be? Me???!!!!! *rotfl!!* That was a joke boo! You know I aint all that conceited and stuff.. Well just a little but your flattery does it to me. *hehe* I love both new looks.. I already left a comment over at SunRay’s.. You betta keep doin’ the damn thnag boy! *muah*
P.S. Hope you had a Merry Xmas dahlin’..
I understand exactly what you’re saying, man. When I hear kids (and even full grown adults) feeding into all these fake termonologies and brainwashing tactics, it just makes me sad. I get sad because even though I jokingly use certain phrases, I know the true meaning behind it all and I’m always aware of the root. People walk around with only a small piece of the puzzle and they don’t even know it…so they think they’re looking at the complete picture. Little do they know they are missing the sun, the moon, and the stars. Miseducation is a bitch.
PREACH THE TRUTH MY BROTHER!!!! Lord knows you aint neva lie about that. We do we place pimps on pedestals but cant praise a group like the Rainbow Coalition or NAACP. It bothers me. Excellent blog PB. Stay up
(and if you arent PB come on ova and see what he did for me http://www.novaslim.com/rayray) <— shameless plug
nOva, nOva, nOva….you always say the right things. I SO agree with everything in this post…especially what you said about the Same Ol’ Same Ol’. I am with you when you say you wanna hear more creativity, thought, and originality, but as sad it this sounds…I just don’t see it happening. Things seem to be getting worse in the Urban music industry. At least that’s how I feel about it. I’ll cross my fingers though..
“…we seem to watch TV more than anyone else, buy into the product placement we hear in hip-hop, and put a cute bag higher up on our list of priorities”
Amen!
As far as the fads go, and doing everything we hear and see on TV, I have never done this. Maybe it’s cause I’ve never been into fads and big name brands, who knows. But I do wish people would hold back on all the copy-cat ish. People need to have their own style, do something on their own. originality will get you major brownie points in my book!…But then we come back to ish not being original anymore..cause 3.5 days later EVERYONE and their mamma’s have decided to do the same thing. Ugh! Maybe I’m negative, but I don’t see any of this changing…if anything, it’ll get worse. I mean damn, leg warmers are coming back in style!! What does THAT tell you?? *lol*
I can never disagree with anything u say, it’s all so true!
Especially love this quote!
“I want to feel the way I felt when I first heard N*E*R*D, or Aaliyah’s “One in A Million”
seriously nova, what happened to music like that, i listen to some of liyah’s stuff now & she’s still given people in the industry a run for their money! I so do miss that feeling of hearing a song so different it’s shocking, not the crap that’s out now, where u cant tell one from the other because they are all basically produced the same! It was more innovative back in da day, now it’s like what sells is what plays! it sucks!