I am continually astounded by the effect that immediate communication has had on American society. Social media is the chief proprietor of this powerful technology. It has afforded everyone from Johnson of the fifth register at Wal-Mart, to Oprah Winfrey, the world’s most powerful media magnate, with a platform to spout off their heart’s content. The era of newspapers, regional news broadcasts, and the non-news cycle has fallen to the wayside in the wake of everyone having access to news sources that operate every hour of every day. As much as I am a fan and advocate of these various tools, it hasn’t been utilized completely for good. In my opinion, the ability of all people, whether individuals or in groups, to both create and contribute to narratives and perceptions has birthed a nation of rabid moralists and cultivated a widespread moralist culture. [Read more…]
The Baltimore Riots, Civil Unrest & The Victim Mentality
I’m not the most up-to-date on current events. I never really am, and the reason why has more to do with lifestyle choices than my resignation to be ignorant to what’s going on in the world.
After a 10+ hour work day, I usually head straight to the gym for a much-needed unplugging via basketball and a hard workout. I usually finish my workout sometime between 10 and 10:30, at which point I head home and cook myself a very late dinner. By the time I’ve finished eating, it’s well after midnight and I barely have time to take in 5 minutes of Sportscenter before I lay my head to sleep, all to rinse and repeat the next day. [Read more…]
Top 10 Rappers Most Aided By Stellar Production
For some time now, I have believed that a paradigm shift in rap has occurred in which the pendulum of talent has swung from the artist in front of the mic to the maestro behind the board. If you’ve read my piece on the relationship between hip-hop and the mainstream music industry, I intimated that in hip-hop the emphasis for music making has transitioned from conceptualizing complete bodies of work to cashing in on cultural trends that do not amount to timeless pieces of art. [Read more…]
What Kobe and LeBron Tell Us About Generational Change
Sports has an interesting way of being analogous to life. When in the midst of a debate or conversation, I’ve found that an effective way to get a point across so that it is understood the way you intended it to be is to use sports examples that serve as anchors to your message. What better way to explain how fucked up a your job is, and how that fucked-up-ness is a result of top-down chaos (more on that at a later date), than by citing a dysfunctional sports franchise as a case study for the expression of your plight? So it wasn’t surprising to me when I came to the revelation that my status as a Kobe Bryant fan wasn’t merely a representation of my sports heritage, but a reflection on generational change as well. [Read more…]
Rachel Dolezal, the Black Allure & the Black Aversion
Growing up in a multicultural environment presented me with a unique opportunity. I could adopt a worldview which differed from that of a person whose immediate environment is, for lack of a better term, homogenous.
I came of age surrounded by people from different backgrounds. In fact, my high school was broken down into a 65% Hispanic, 30% Black, 5% “other” demographic. There were more non-white “others” who attended my high school than actual white kids. That’s not to say that I didn’t have any white friends, because I did. I had three of them. Aside from them, every other human that I associated with was Black, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Venezuelan, and so on. [Read more…]
Why Hip-Hop Struggles for Mainstream Respect
Hip-hop’s history doesn’t need to be rehashed. To those who identify themselves as fans of the art-form, the history of rap music and by extension hip-hop culture is rich and complicated, albeit relatively new. What began as a form of rebellious expression against the sociopolitical status quo has evolved into a billion dollar entertainment medium that has served as a means for people from different walks of life to come together and learn not what separates them, but what brings them together. [Read more…]
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