Gangsta Rap Killaz

In the world of hip hop music, the gangster persona has run rampant for at least a decade. An entire generation of adolescents, myself included, were influenced by 50 Cent, Jay Z, Dr Dre, and the psycho talk of Eminem. While no doubt i enjoyed this music, it has impacted our culture negatively, where suburban white teenagers have dreams of becoming a great gangsta rapper.

However, this is the start of a new decade, and it seems to be the start of a new beginning. Inside of a recent issue of GQ (Gentleman’s Quarterly), there was an article about three up and coming artists whose plan was the change not just rap, but the entire world of music. Canadian rapper Drake, Cleveland Ohio rapper Kid Cudi, and Washington D.C rapper Wale, have been flooding the world of rap with music that is not about guns or drug dealing, but about fun, problems, past experiences, dreams, and the such.

With such a dramatic change in lyrical content, parents needn’t worry about their kids listening to a story about murdering ones on mother, a la eminem. Its no longer extremely cool to get shot 9 times and survive, like 50 cent. It is no longer cool to roll into compton pistols waving and marijuana blazing, like Dr Dre. The radio will hopefully shift into playing lyrics with substance and integrity.

There was a time where legendary rappers such as Nas pronounced that gangsta rap had killed hip hop, and that hip hop was unable to be saved. The one hit-wonder rappers such as soulja boy who become famous after one “rap” song that is tied to a dance were the rappers who were getting paid for radio play, and the rappers who actually have actual talent were getting left in the closet as they were unmarketable.

If i listened to gangsta rap today, it just doesnt sound right. These supernatural gangsta rappers used to be the pinnacle of what was “cool”. my entire generation sagged their pants, wore double XL t-shirts, talked with slang. It is just funny to see how strange this actually was.

Kid Cudi and Wale have already released their albums to critical success, (Man on the Moon and Attention Defecit) and rapper Drake, who is probably the most sought after artist in the rap game today, is planning to release his album in March of next year.

“The game got old hand prints on it, and im gonna be the one to pour cement on it; and start over.”

Switzerland Breaks Neutrality!!! Sort Of.

Historically known as a neutral country, Switzerland this week finally took a stand on an issue they found worth the effort: the banning of Minarets on Mosques in Switzerland. A minaret is the long, tower like structure that emerges off the top of the mosque.

So heres where the story gets funky: There are only FOUR Minarets in all of Switzerland. All of the propaganda that went towards banning these structures were minarets shown coming out of the ground as missiles, seemingly judging that all the Muslims are terrorists.

Here is a country that promises freedom of religion in its constitution, yet proposes a SINGLE line be added to their constitution that bans the construction of minarets. Of course, the Swiss government said the decision was  “not a rejection of the Muslim community, religion or culture.”

Switzerland did not participate in World War 2, against Hitler, who wanted to take over the globe. But in this case, they are banning Minarets, which there are FOUR, because the structures “reflects fears among the population of Islamic fundamentalist tendencies.”

“Of 150 mosques or prayer rooms in Switzerland, only 4 have minarets, and only 2 more minarets are planned. None conduct the call to prayer. There are about 400,000 Muslims in a population of some 7.5 million people. Close to 90 percent of Muslims in Switzerland are from Kosovo and Turkey, and most do not adhere to the codes of dress and conduct associated with conservative Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia”

I cant help but chuckle at this.

TOUCHDOWN

Yesterday i was watching the very hyped up saints vs patriots football game (which turned out to be a bust as the patriots got dominated), i saw an unusual yet seemingly common sight.

During a halftime commercial, you see Drew Bress, quarterback of the Saints, standing in front of an american flag at the white house. Slow motions follows Brees’ arm and the the dramatic music gets queued. Suddenly out of the corner of the screen you see our president, Barack Obama, slow motion run whilst smiling, and catching a pass from Drew Brees. That instantly boosts Obama’s standing on the awesome meter. right?.. no?…

Now of course by now we know that our president likes to stay in the public view, but come on now! I died of laughter after seeing this commercial. After a thorough analysis of the commercial, i deduced that it must mean that football = america’s game. obama = the president. so… obama + football = America? this is the only logical conclusion.

I feel the appearances on television come at random moments that make me question when he had the time to film it. I feel like ive seen a million TV spots where Obama just walks out smiling for a second. Is it to remind America that we can still smile and have fun in a recession? i think so. I am in no way hating on Obama because everyone needs a break from their job once in a while… I just hope that after he caught that pass he went on to more important matters.

Whats The Point?

The incentive for staying in state for college is that it costs less than to go somewhere else, where other colleges and universities make a killing off tuition fees. The UC system has announced that the tuition will now be increased by 32% over the next two years.

I know for one being a college student myself i am planning to transfer to an instate school for the fact that they are good institutions and that it will be less out of the pocket of my parents. by this incrase it takes away what makes staying in state for schools away. In some cases maybe going away for college might be cheaper?

The UC system a top tier school system, and is highly regarded as being the cream of the crop. The increased tuition will affect lower and middle class families who benefit from state education benfits. With this being said, this singles out well off families for being the only people who could attend these schools.

There was a protest held at UCLA and UC Davis in which students showed their anger towards the situation, which slowly dissolved. But this shows that young adults care about their education, and this is a barrier in the way of fulfilling there college careers.

Having a good education allows for the pathway of success, and this increase will provide detrimental to the molding and shaping of many young adults, INCLUDING MYSELF.

BIGGEST LAUNCH IN ENTERTAINMENT HISTORY

Previously, the biggest launch in entertainment history belonged to “The Dark Knight”, which on its first day opened with sales of 150 million dollars, and went on to sell millions more, a feat that might have proven impossible to beat.

On November 10, 2009, the most anticipated VIDEO GAME in history, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 hit the shelves, and on its opening day sold 4.2 million copies of the game, which translates into 310 million dollars. Who would have thought that a video game could generate that much money, and that 4.2 million people eagerly awaited its release, marking every day on the calendar as one step closer to playing their beloved video game.

This proves that the video game market can compete with movies, television, and music in the entertainment business. Seemingly incognito the video game industry actually makes billions of dollars per year, and video games have a loyal following that anticipates these games and builds up hype for them, so they sell like crazy.

For a video game release to beat a movie in a world wide release, that says something about our current age of cinema. where are all the good movies? how can a video game sell more than a good movie? even with all of the controversy surrounding The Dark Knight and how much hype that movie was built up, a VIDEO GAME sold double of what that sold? I think its time we start investing in video games!

Fort Hood

 

A completely horrible and tragic event occurred at Fort Hood, as a gunman shot and killed many soldiers that were stationed at the base. While in no way am I discrediting the maliciousness of this event, I think that the fact that the gun man happened to be of Muslim decent completely rejuvenates a prejudice towards Muslims.

 Before I go on let me reiterate that I do understand this travesty and it is horrible and just plain sad.

 When Americans here a Muslim sounding name, they immediately think of terrorists and associate them with bad people. it is just not good for the Muslim image, and while im not exactly looking at the disturbing and terrible situation of the events, im looking at the bigger picture. this event will spark an uprise in racial discrimination that has been previously suppressed as of late.

 as the media keeps discussing the victims and how they were sons daughters mothers and fathers and tries to connect these families to your own, it will spark a new hatred towards muslim americans. living in a predominately jewish and muslim neighborhood, I can already see the racial discrimination just brewing. This event will have the same effects as Madoff did for jews, just another bad blemish in the made up description of muslims.

 

My heart goes out to all the families that were affected by this tragedy and I belive that the military should be more wary of who it lets into its ranks and should be able to see these events coming and prevent them before they happen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrities and Jail

Popular rapper Lil Wayne has been sentenced to a year in jail for weapons possesion, a term that can be shortened to 8 to 10 months if he has good behavior. Similarly, rapper TI was sentenced several months ago for a year in prison for the same charges, except he had actual army guns including a functional rocket launcher.

Now, a relatively unpopular rapper Lil Boosie has been sentenced to jail for 3 years for the SAME charges. the point being: does money have influence over jail sentences? can justice be bought out?

My opinion: absolutely. Rapper TI was originally given a sentence of thirty years, because he had a damn rocket launcher in his house, amongst hundreds of other guns. how the heck did he lower his sentence to just one year? TI also has a previous armed robbery charge and possession of drugs charges. !?!?!?!? celebrities should be judged exactly like every other person, and not be given this special type of treatment.

Lil Wayne is arguably the biggest star in rap music right now, but that doesnt mean he should be able to get out of jail. He broke the law, and we have rules for law breakers. an even bigger question that i have a question for is WHO do you pay for them to shorten your sentence. how corrupt.

a person should be judged no matter how they rank in social stature, it justs not fair, and we see this time and time again that celebrities are treated differently when it comes to breaking the law. they get away with so much, yet someone can go to jail for tax evasion for even longer than that.

Balloon Boy!

The world watched in horror as a 6 year old boy was supposedly inside of a hot air balloon that traveled 50 miles through Colorado. The joke was on the media as the boy was found hiding inside his own house. No doubt it is a miracle that this boy wasnt hurt as he wasnt actually in the balloon, but what are the reprecussions for this young boy now dubbed the Balloon Boy?

This young boy forever will be known by this moniker, and his parents wont cease to place this young boy in front of the media spotlight. this even lead the young boy to vomit in front of the cameras on a segment of the today show.

“Other child and developmental psychology experts warn that too much media exposure can be harmful. They worry that the spotlight could skew the child’s sense of self-identity and negatively affect his or her development.”

Whats wrong with parents these days, placing there 6 year old boy in the harmful view of the media as they get exposure and pity for there woes? the boy is okay, why exploit this childs innocense for 15 seconds of fame? these parents should be ashamed of themselves. its bad enough that this boy will be known his entire life as the balloon boy.

This child should not be another casualty to child celebrity syndrome, as it is evident what happens to those children… a life usually leading to drug addiction and trauma due to not having a real childhood.

let this child be. the media should just be happy he is safe. and so should his parents. good grief.

And the nobel prize goes too…

“Unlike his predecessors, Obama was selected not for substantive accomplishments, but for his “vision” and inspiring “hope” at the beginning of his presidency.”

The entire United States can argue whether or not President Obama is deserving of this award, but Alfred Nobels will actually reads that the Nobel Peace Prize should be given  “to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”

Although I disagree with some of the presidents motives, I will agree that his fight for peace is admirable and honorable. hopefully he takes this award and uses it as fuel to further his administrations progress. He does indeed inspire hope and his vision of a peaceful world hopefully one day may be achieved. It is a great honor that our president is viewed around the world as a vanguard of peace.

On another note, usually the award would be given to someone who actually DID, not someone who is planning to DO. Martin Luther King? Civil Rights leader. Al Gore? shed the light on the problem of global warming. Menachem Begin? made peace with Israel and Egypt. Mother Theresa? need i go on? All of there actions spoke for them. Hopefully one day we can say that Obama won it for his actions, not his plans.

Obama and the Olympics!

Everyone! Quick! Forget about the declining economy and the recession for one measly second, will ya? President Obama is personally going to Copenhagen to try and secure his hometown of Chicago for the 2016 Summer Olympic games!

Fresh off his speech at the United Nations General Assembly where he was talking about restoring the nation to its former glory and fighting for peace, saying that he himself knows how much work is cut out for him, and that he is willing to do whatever it takes to succeed, he goes and tries to secure the Olympics. President Obama. Are you kidding me. Does he really think The United States cares at ALL about getting the olympic in a crisis like the one were in right now?

This president has an uncanny nack for trying to become a celebrity. Be a president and run a country. Wheres the Hope in a guy who went on 12 talk shows in 6 days? Shouldnt he be out running the country? yes. he should.

Obama please realize that being a president is a large commitment. Peoples lives are at stake. I hope you dont start to record a music CD and try to star in a movie.