I bet you all thought I had died and disappeared. Not so. I spent the holidays enjoying my break with my family, being an idiot on Twitter, and not doing anything too intellectually taxing.
2011 was a record year. There were moments of unparallelled hilarity, and moments of deep sadness. Among all of these events, quite a few things stood out to me, and made 2011 one of the most memorable years of my adult life. Hopefully this doesn't get too ratchet, but if it does y'all will forgive me, right?
Brehs and brehettes, I listen to a lot of Hip Hop and Rap music. Now, I don't claim to be a Hip Hop Scholar, but I know like anyone else who grew up surrounded by hip hop and rap music that the sound is about the struggle. Used to be, the struggle was about growing up poor, black and in a constant state of flux surrounded by a world that didn't care about us. The struggle is different now, but no less poignant.
Unfortunately, some rappers sound like struggle. Not THE struggle, but struggle. That "I was supposed to get my Food Stamps on February first and here it is February thirtieth" struggle. I make random allusions to rappers who sound like struggle all the time on Twitter, but now I'm noticing that there are a lot of rappers out here who sound like they've been living under the expressway to the fifth circle of hell.
What follows is a list of 5 of the most StruggleTastic™sounding rappers I've ever heard spit bars or flow on a hook. Some of it works for them, but most of it definitely does not.
5. Planet Asia
Look at this dude. Looks like he smokes a lot of Black & Milds, huh? Check out the struggle below.
Seriously though, Planet Asia's voice is more like difficult progress than struggle. Dude sounds like one of those NOI cats who sells bags of fruit and the Final Callon the corner of Airways and Lamar in my hometown. Nothing too struggletastic here, though he brings to mind times back in the day of sitting in front of old Cadillacs on hot summer nights with dudes who smell like MD 20/20 and cheap cigars. Struggle Rating: 2/10. We done almost overcome.
Disclaimer: The purpose of this post is not to condone rape, or to argue for exoneration an attempted rapist. Javon Cooper's crime was deplorable, he deserves to be punished, and I am happy that Ms. Damon has found the strength to continue on in life. Every victim of a sexual assault deserves the best treatment, psychological and physiological, that they can get. This is merely an examination of the situation from my own point of view.
So, Mrs. Breh and I watch the Today Show almost every morning. It's a quality news program that manages to be entertaining and informative without feeling like heavy news consumption. And a lot of the hired talent isn't bad either.
This morning, though, we came across a story that really bothered us. Some might accuse me of racism chasing or something similar, and you might be right, but that doesn't stop me from being just a tad infuriated at either the Today Show producers and media at large (but that's another post), or at Javon Cooper, or Heidi Damon, or everyone involved.
There are so many blogworthy things that happened this week, but let's look at something that makes me smile.
Tricia Messeroux (T. Mezz) is a black photographer, married to a black man (!), who shoots small, adorable children-like creatures dressed up as pop culture icons.
Aside from coming up with a novel idea and getting mad exposure because of it, she features a whole bunch of kiddies of color in her work.
Still deep in the midst of finals, but I had to break my self-imposed exile to comment on Herman Cain's totally unexpected announcement to suspend his bid for the 2012 presidency following allegations that he supported a whole 'nother side chick while he was married to Miss Gloria. (Don't you feel like you should call his wife 'Miss Gloria'? I do.)
Second, whyyyyyy did Cain decide to ruin my entire internet on Saturday telling us that he was stepping out of the race when I already knew he would when this lady's allegations surfaced?
Y'all knew as much as I did, no matter how much America rallied behind Cain, he stood absolutely zero chance of making it anywhere near the White House, much less out of the primaries. Aside from the fact that he's blacker than all hell but decided to run a "post racial" campaign that only led to his authenticity as a black person being compared to Obama's, his debate performances were atrocious, and he has a tenuous understanding of foreign policy or economic strategy.
Really, I'm just mad at all of these MF's for wasting my time.
