J. Cole & Kanye

Today’s a big day for Hip-Hop, son. Honestly, there’s no excuse for anyone not to buy an album today. A bunch of anticipated albums are dropping, and you’d be soulless if you didn’t support someone. With that being said, there are two artists who are the center of attention right now: Kanye West and J. Cole. Ye is putting out his sixth album, Yeezus, while Cole is vying for the top spot with his second record, Born Sinner.

Naturally, people are speculating about who’s going to sell more. Ye was on the opposite end of this type of competition back in 2007, when he challenged the all-powerful 50 Cent to hand-to-hand combat. Ye ended up the victor, catapulting to superstardom, while Curtis has yet to fully recover. Could Cole do the same thing to Ye? Maybe, but mainly because his music is a little more accessible than Ye’s right now. I could go into a review of both records, but I’ll save that for Monday and Tuesday of next week. Long story short, Cole could end up outselling Ye, simply because he reminds fans of the music Ye used to make.

In any case, which album are you fine folks feeling? Kanye? J. Cole? Both? I’ll give y’all my thoughts in a few days, but I want to know how y’all feel. From what I’m seeing on social media, people either love or supremely hate Kanye’s album, while people are either cool with or indifferent to Cole’s record. What’s your verdict? Holla at me.

P.S. I’d advise you guys to check out Mac Miller‘s album too. Yes, I just said Mac Miller. People love to hate on the dude, but I’m a fan of his music and I’m digging some of the cuts on this Watching Movies With The Sound Off album. Good music is good music, son, regardless of where it comes from. Chuuuch!

Father & Son

Let’s face it, nobody cares about Father’s Day. Ok, maybe I’m generalizing a little too much. Maybe I should say, a lot of the people I know don’t care about Father’s Day. Every year, I cringe when I look at social media on this “special day,” because it turns into a gigantic billboard for “tell ‘em why you mad, son?” Side bar, we all love The Madd Rapper. In any case, a lot of people’s pain is on full display when this day rolls around, with responses ranging from “my mom was my dad” to “he was just a sperm donor.” As tensions continue to rise year after year, I have to ask, where are all of the dads at?

My fiancée and I were taken aback yesterday by the lack of men we saw during the day. In the morning, I took her and our son to church, and while the church was full, it was full of the same people who were always there. When Mother’s Day rolls around, you can’t even find space in the sanctuary, man. I’m usually harmonizing with the choir from the parking lot, son. Yes, it’s called exaggeration, but I think you get my point. Anyway, everyone has incredible stories of the sacrifices their mothers made to provide for them. The stories noticeably dwindle down when it’s dad’s turn.

After church, we went out to a restaurant, and it was only half-full. I genuinely started to wonder where everyone was. While I was always fully aware of the stigmas regarding single-parent households, it becomes increasingly glaring on days like this. Here we are, trying to celebrate fathers and a lot of them are nowhere to be found.

With all of that being said, I’d be remiss if I didn’t specify a lot of this pertains to Black men. I mean, let’s be real for a second, son. Statistically speaking, 72% of Black kids are raised in a single-parent home. Of course, we need to put that number in perspective. That 72% doesn’t necessarily mean everyone of those kids are being raised solely by the mother. There are plenty of single-parent dads, and in my case, even though I’m very active in my son’s life, he’s still part of that statistic since his mother and I aren’t married yet. However, that doesn’t change the fact an absurdly large number of us are being raised by our mothers. I was raised by my mother, too many of my friends were raised by their mothers and more than a few family members were raised by their mothers. Even when I did the “Ask A Black Father” panel with Karyn Parsons for Madame Noire, two out of the three of us were raised without our fathers. It’s a disturbing trend that’s destroying too many of our children.

I’m not going to sit here and front like I have any answers, but I won’t act like yesterday didn’t affect me. It’s a shame I’m always considering my father’s mistakes when I think about how to properly raise my son. Instead of passing down lessons learned, I’m trying to avoid the same pitfalls. Fact of the matter is, if you’re a man who’s neglecting your child, you’re not a man at all. Get your shit together, bruh. No excuses. Your child’s future depends on it.

P.S. Speaking of fathers, Jay-Z just put out a promotional video for his new album, dropping on July 4th. Yes, I know this has nothing to do with my post, but I couldn’t not say anything about it, man. I’m just going to ask you to pretend like I didn’t use a double negative. Good day.

GTFOH, Facebook

Posted: June 13, 2013 in Articles
Tags: , ,

So, Facebook has created something ingenious. I’m not quite sure where Mark Zuckerberg and his team of superior minds got an idea like this from. Without further ado, I present to you the greatest invention in the history of the Internet: the hashtag.

Now, follow me, because I’m sure it’s going to take some time for you to understand the function of the hashtag. Apparently, when you put a hashtag in front of a phrase, you can search the entire Facebook database for other posts with that same phrase. Isn’t that the craziest thing you’ve ever heard?! My mind is BLOWN, son! Wait, wait, hold on, you mean to tell me other social media sites have been using this already? It was started by Twitter?! Time out, Instagram uses it too?!? Facebook just took someone else’s idea and ran with it? I can’t believe it, man!

Ok, clearly I’m being a dick right now, but you get the point. Truthfully, Facebook has been losing its luster for some time now. I, for one, am only on it so I can promote this blog. I haven’t seen Zuckerberg do anything innovative with his site in ages. Fuck a status update, I have Twitter. Fuck posting pictures, I have Instagram. The only thing Facebook does nowadays is make meaningless format changes no one really wants. I opened the app on my iPhone and saw my messages encased in a circle in the upper right-hand corner. Was that supposed to help me? If so, I missed the point. Honestly, I feel like Facebook has “jumped the shark,” man. I really don’t see its purpose anymore. With that being said, if you need to find me, it’s all @MusicByLC everything. Bawse!

P.S. The irony is not lost on me that I’m going to be putting this blog post on Facebook. That’s right, Zuckerberg, I’m raging against the machine. Fight me!

Ok, I’m just going to assume everyone watched Game 3 between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs last night. Honestly, I’m at a loss for words right now, man. The Spurs literally overdosed, bruh. I can’t recall the last time I’ve seen such an overwhelming ass-kicking in the NBA Finals. I’m sure there’s research I could do, but fuck that, I’m too lazy at the moment. In any case, Danny Green and Gary Neal were fucking unconscious last night. The two of them hit a combined 13 3-pointers and the team hit 16 as a whole, setting a Finals record. When it was all said and done, the Spurs won the game by 36 points. 36 POINTS, MAN! That’s absolutely insane! All I know is, Heat fans are mighty quiet right now.

Truthfully, there’s not much else to say about this situation. The game was devastation, annihilation, disaster and every other synonym you could imagine. It’s a scary thing to think about the fact the Spurs dominated without great games from Tony Parker, Tim Duncan or Manu Ginóbili. Speaking of Tony, if his hamstring is really injured, this series just landed right back in the Heat’s hands. Anyway, this type of performance shows the Spurs have a talented roster overall, which may be too much for Miami to handle. I mean, how do they expect to win when Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are still playing like bitches?

Of course, you still have to play the game, but with two more contests in Texas, the Heat better start praying, son. Statistically speaking, in the 2-3-2 format, the winner of Game 3 wins the series 92% of the time. I think I’ll just end this post with that bit of information. Good day.

Miley & Justin

Dear Miley & Justin,

I’m sure you both are good kids, but you need to stop what you’re doing, immediately. I won’t take up too much of your time, but this “acting Black” shit needs to cease. Outside of the fact you guys look ridiculous, the image you’re currently portraying not only hurts your brand, but the image of actual Black people. Ok, maybe this is a lot to put on your shoulders, but clearly I’m the only one who cares. With that being said, let me break down a few things for you.

First, let me start by saying White America loves you. I mean, what little girl doesn’t love Hannah Montana, and what suburban mom doesn’t what their daughter with the “Baby” version of Bieber (pun intended)? You two are the wholesome duo parents drool over. Needless to say, I can imagine them being frightened by their favorite girl twerking to Juicy J and their favorite boy sipping lean with Lil Twist. In addition, Bieber’s little bitch fits with the press can’t be good for business. There’s only so long advertisers are going to put up with brats “sullying” their brand. Fucking up the money is never a good move, son.

Next, let’s talk about how this affects Black people. Let’s face it, us dark folk already have enough trouble with stereotypes in this country. We’re always looked at as gangsters, thugs, bitches or hoes. We don’t need two “innocent” kids glorifying all of the negative aspects of our society. Let’s be real, now that Bieber is acting a damn fool, a lot of the press want to implicate Lil Twist and all of his new “rapper” friends. On some “if he wasn’t hanging out with these hooligans, he’d be acting better” type of shit. I peeped the game a long time ago, man. Apparently, it’s not really your fault, it’s the Negroes you’re associating with. Honestly, we don’t need that type of heat, son. We’ve got enough problems on our own.

All in all, I have no ill will toward either of y’all. Truthfully, I fuck with some of the music you guys make. Now, if you both could stop with the fuckery, that’d be great. Like 2pac said, “everybody wanna be a nigga, but nobody wanna be a nigga.” Black folks understand what that means.

Sincerely,
Random Black Dude on the Internet

George Zimmerman

Well, the time is finally here. The second-degree murder trial of George Zimmerman is about to begin. After the media circus and countless back-and-forth between the prosecution and defense, Zimmerman is finally going to be judged for the death of Trayvon Martin. Truthfully speaking, I don’t know how much more I can say about this situation, man. I mean, you can all take your pick, son. I’ve been writing about the fuckery surrounding this case since its inception. I’m absolutely ready for everything to get resolved. While I want justice to be served, I’m not looking forward to the victim-bashing we all know is going to take place. Just recently, Zimmerman’s defense team’s ploy to expose Trayvon’s text messagaes, alleged drug use and school suspensions was shutdown by a judge. Everyone can see their plan from a mile away: use past situations to justify shooting an unarmed teenager.

In any case, this trial is about to receive a mountain of press and publicity. All I know is, I’m scared of what will happen in this country if Zimmerman gets off. If people thought the reaction to Rodney King was bad, this might eclipse that threefold. No pressure, jurors, no pressure. In the end, I guess only time will tell.

LeBron & Timmy

The NBA Finals start tonight, son! Excuse me while I go do my “Eddie Murphy ‘Ice Cream’” dance. These match-ups are all about the storylines and we’ve got plenty of them going around. This series serves as LeBron James‘ rematch against Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginóbili and the rest of the San Antonio Spurs. If you recall, Bron Bron faced them in the Finals back in 2007, when he was still with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Needless to say, Timmy and company opened a gigantic can of Whoop-Ass, sweeping the Cavs in the process.

With that being said, 2007 will have no effect on this series. LeBron’s on a different team, has a different coach and has improved in the areas the Spurs previously exploited as weaknesses. His outside shooting is no longer a liability, and while Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have struggled at times, they’re still much better complementary players than Boobie Gibson and Sasha Pavlović. Honestly, this series is going to come down to Bron versus Coach Popovich. It’s the story of the Unstoppable Player versus the Master Strategist. Also, Tony Parker is playing at another level right now. But, enough of the damn talking, son. I’m ready! Let’s get this shit started, now! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! See you tonight, my good people.