Streams of Consciousness
- Results of Public Education
- I've found blogging as an outlet for some of my thoughts that I usually can't get out in daily conversations. Small talk never grows to "large" talk it seems so this is a way to express myself somewhat or even to just say what's on my mind.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Thoughts about Black People
Honestly, I think people have a misconception about black people. Not just non-black people but black people themselves to. Now that I'm in college, there are certain things I'm noticing about black people in society that strikes me as awkward. With me being black, I find it weird that these misconceptions are going on and people aren't giving it much thought....Here are certain things I'll be digging deeper on in the near future:
1)There is a DIFFERENCE between being Black and African-American. One term makes you seem like a foreigner and tags you with certain cultural attributes while the other is more of a descriptive term. But we use both interchangeably in speech and writing?
2)For some reason when we think about black people, we don't think American. (This is probably due to the fact that african slaves and their descendants weren't intended to be citizens in the U.S.,)
3)There are rifts within the black community that FAIL to get resolved. Rifts between age groups, sexes, and classes....you get the picture
4) HIP-HOP
All of these are important in outlining my Black Superhero! Stay tuned!
1)There is a DIFFERENCE between being Black and African-American. One term makes you seem like a foreigner and tags you with certain cultural attributes while the other is more of a descriptive term. But we use both interchangeably in speech and writing?
2)For some reason when we think about black people, we don't think American. (This is probably due to the fact that african slaves and their descendants weren't intended to be citizens in the U.S.,)
3)There are rifts within the black community that FAIL to get resolved. Rifts between age groups, sexes, and classes....you get the picture
4) HIP-HOP
All of these are important in outlining my Black Superhero! Stay tuned!
Friday, October 22, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Epiphany about music...
I THINK I made a huge discovery about the current situation of music...
Over the past 3 years, I've been reading/hearing a lot about how music is dumbed down....how the radio is wack....or how artists nowadays just suck in general...which I agree with to a degree...but I think TOO much blame is being put on the artists, while NOT ENOUGH blame is being put on US, the people who they make music for...Take a moment to look at these points:
1)Music Downloading: Music downloading has to be the biggest factor in the lag of creativity. The phenomenon of downloading has made music VERY accessible to people. I mean why go to the nearest store or mall or wherever else people go, to BUY music. (Buying music is the next point of course.) The lack of experience that comes with: Going to the music section where the CD to be bought is stored, actually busting out your money/card to pay for it, unravelling the outside plastic cover thing that takes ten minutes to fully get unwrapped, popping the CD in your car, taking the LONG way home so you can listen to the CD, telling the homies you just got the CD, bumpin' through residential neighborhoods with the speakers on blast, etc etc. You can do SOME of this stuff with just downloading music from places like Itunes or wherever else, but its nothing exciting..(though some people may claim it saves time, saving time doesn't always mean better. Didn't know I needed to be in a rush?) I still go to Best Buy to buy CDs I find worth it. Let alone I still BUY music....I'm just sayin....
2)BUYING music: It's obvious most artists are in it for the money. I mean they wanna make good music, but they wanna get paid for it too. So it's like, "If I ain't gonna get paid to do this...why put my time and effort in making it great?" Kinda coinciding with downloading, but when you download a song, especially a leaked song that isn't suppose to be out for MONTHS, you make the demand for that artists' work unbalanced. It's like Kanye's or Lupe's upcoming albums. (If Lasers ever gets released (That's another story for another day)) The songs that have been leaked from those albums aren't as good in my opinion now, if they were released when they were suppose to. Because now when they album comes out, it's like "This ain't nothing special. I heard this before. So that anxious feeling of "MAN I CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR IT" changes to "When is this shit gonna be on limewire?" Again with the downloading...if such sites didn't exist, the experience you get when buying an album or single or whatever would be better. Because that's kidna what you are paying for too. You wait a year or however long it takes for another piece of work to be released from an artist. A single or two may be released just to give a taste of what's gonna be on the album, then BAM some classic shit drops...
Also, I think artist put out pop-like, radio dumbed down songs, just to stay relevant...I mean with people gettin new music EVERYDAY, your shit is going to be an afterthought within a couple of days to some people...versus your album becoming an afterthought MONTHS after it drops....That's why artists have about 3 good songs on the album and the rest is wack...they have to put some shit together as soon as they can so they don't get lost....and I personally like quality over quantity....that's just me anyways...
3)Media outlets-Is it me, or do they just NOT play music videos on MTV/BET anymore? Not to mention the videos people be voting for (If they really vote..(Or if the videos they vote for are really being played)) are kinda wack...I mean watch a 106 and Park episode in the near future, THEN go watch it back from the first couple of seasons. (Back with A.J. and Free were the host.) Not only is the vibe completely different, but I THINK the quality of videos/songs are better from those earlier seasons. I'm just sayin! Where's TRL??? BRING BACK MUSIC VIDEOS!! Youtube is coo....but I should be able to see some decent stuff on T.V. for once....
I'm just sayin yall...I know Artists should be responsible for what kind of music they put out...but they put out the kind the music that caters to our tastes...and if we are giving off the vibes that we like a certain type of music...THAT'S what they are going to make. Get on your grown man/WOman and start trying to change it! After all, music is the soundtrack to our lives...
Over the past 3 years, I've been reading/hearing a lot about how music is dumbed down....how the radio is wack....or how artists nowadays just suck in general...which I agree with to a degree...but I think TOO much blame is being put on the artists, while NOT ENOUGH blame is being put on US, the people who they make music for...Take a moment to look at these points:
1)Music Downloading: Music downloading has to be the biggest factor in the lag of creativity. The phenomenon of downloading has made music VERY accessible to people. I mean why go to the nearest store or mall or wherever else people go, to BUY music. (Buying music is the next point of course.) The lack of experience that comes with: Going to the music section where the CD to be bought is stored, actually busting out your money/card to pay for it, unravelling the outside plastic cover thing that takes ten minutes to fully get unwrapped, popping the CD in your car, taking the LONG way home so you can listen to the CD, telling the homies you just got the CD, bumpin' through residential neighborhoods with the speakers on blast, etc etc. You can do SOME of this stuff with just downloading music from places like Itunes or wherever else, but its nothing exciting..(though some people may claim it saves time, saving time doesn't always mean better. Didn't know I needed to be in a rush?) I still go to Best Buy to buy CDs I find worth it. Let alone I still BUY music....I'm just sayin....
2)BUYING music: It's obvious most artists are in it for the money. I mean they wanna make good music, but they wanna get paid for it too. So it's like, "If I ain't gonna get paid to do this...why put my time and effort in making it great?" Kinda coinciding with downloading, but when you download a song, especially a leaked song that isn't suppose to be out for MONTHS, you make the demand for that artists' work unbalanced. It's like Kanye's or Lupe's upcoming albums. (If Lasers ever gets released (That's another story for another day)) The songs that have been leaked from those albums aren't as good in my opinion now, if they were released when they were suppose to. Because now when they album comes out, it's like "This ain't nothing special. I heard this before. So that anxious feeling of "MAN I CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR IT" changes to "When is this shit gonna be on limewire?" Again with the downloading...if such sites didn't exist, the experience you get when buying an album or single or whatever would be better. Because that's kidna what you are paying for too. You wait a year or however long it takes for another piece of work to be released from an artist. A single or two may be released just to give a taste of what's gonna be on the album, then BAM some classic shit drops...
Also, I think artist put out pop-like, radio dumbed down songs, just to stay relevant...I mean with people gettin new music EVERYDAY, your shit is going to be an afterthought within a couple of days to some people...versus your album becoming an afterthought MONTHS after it drops....That's why artists have about 3 good songs on the album and the rest is wack...they have to put some shit together as soon as they can so they don't get lost....and I personally like quality over quantity....that's just me anyways...
3)Media outlets-Is it me, or do they just NOT play music videos on MTV/BET anymore? Not to mention the videos people be voting for (If they really vote..(Or if the videos they vote for are really being played)) are kinda wack...I mean watch a 106 and Park episode in the near future, THEN go watch it back from the first couple of seasons. (Back with A.J. and Free were the host.) Not only is the vibe completely different, but I THINK the quality of videos/songs are better from those earlier seasons. I'm just sayin! Where's TRL??? BRING BACK MUSIC VIDEOS!! Youtube is coo....but I should be able to see some decent stuff on T.V. for once....
I'm just sayin yall...I know Artists should be responsible for what kind of music they put out...but they put out the kind the music that caters to our tastes...and if we are giving off the vibes that we like a certain type of music...THAT'S what they are going to make. Get on your grown man/WOman and start trying to change it! After all, music is the soundtrack to our lives...
Monday, October 4, 2010
MUSIC MONDAYS!
Friday, October 1, 2010
Fuel for Fire
Basically since my high school years, I've always wondered why I haven't achieved excellence like some of my comrades. I was always "decent" in everything I did. That all-around dude who could do anything, but never really shine in one particular field. From the classroom, to the basketball court, to running track, or whatever else you can name, I guess I never really found MY niche. I use to blame this on pure laziness, which I'm sure plays a part in it. BUT after a damn good amount of thought, I think it's just cause I don't have passion about life (Ain't no need to get alarmed, I ain't talking about jumping off a bridge or something crazy). By passion, I mean feeling of purpose or something. I think this is why I can never stay focus on any task. Been trying to get started on this music thing, which I feel will be beyond dope, but something always stops me from LETTIN' LOOSE! Guess I just need to find some fuel so I can get this fire going....Eventually it'll happen.....but for now....I'll be coasting without much effort....
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