Tyler, the Creator is one of the most unique musicians out there right now.  The music world has no idea what to do with him.  He never tells the media anything of any importance just odd things that don’t have much to do with what they ask him.

He’s been criticized in the media for being homophobic but then he has songs like Domo23 where he says “So, a couple fags threw a little hissfit Came to Pitchfork with a couple Jada Pinkett signs, and said I was a racist homophobic so I grabbed Lucas and filmed us kissing.”  He has been very confusing with his sexuality with nobody exactly sure what he is.  This is due to him being a very private person, but I also believe that he uses his to his advantage as a way for people to find answers in his music and not as much what he says in interviews.

His latest album Flower Boy which is a nod to homosexual tendencies continues to make people question his sexuality.  Many people believe he has some sort of relationship with singer and longtime collaborator Frank Ocean who came out as being bi-sexual in 2012.  I don’t particularly think that this matters nor my business.

What I like is that a Hip-Hop artist can say whatever he wants and not get scrutinized in a Hip-Hop committee that has always been primarily a very masculine.  Tyler is a very controversial figure who steers quite clear of the popular tropes of a Hip-hop artist.  At the beginning of his career, I believe he was controversial to break away from an earlier mold in Hip-hop and to stand out.  He ate a cockroach in a music video he had extremely controversial lyrics about women, gay people and just about anyone.  He also talked about how he doesn’t do drugs, but then would also occasionally talk about them in songs he has been all over the place.

Though I think he has matured a lot with his latest project Flower Boy he talks about fame and it’s consequences it has had on him as a person and how he only has cars as comfort, and also is even more explicit about how he feels about guys.  In a song called I ain’t got time!  He says the lyrics “I’ve been kissing white boys since 2004” then when asked about it in an interview he states “It’s still such a grey area with people, which is cool with me,” he explained. “Even though I’m considered loud and out there, I’m private, which is a weird dichotomy. The juxtaposition of loud and quiet is weird.”

I believe he is becoming more open about his interest with men which I think is a great and that he is growing as a musician instead of just using his old shock value tricks that he used to.  He is maturing into a man who is much more comfortable in his own skin, and I can’t wait for his next album!

https://www.complex.com/music/2018/09/tyler-the-creator-talks-sobriety-fashion-in-fantasticman-cover-story

https://genius.com/1505325

This is a question that if your a hip-hop head you should easily be able to answer.  He’s one of the best hip-hop artists out there right now, but a lot of people in the mainstream music world are less familiar.  I think there are many reasons why this tends to be.

For starters, people might complain about his voice being too raspy and then all of a sudden becoming so low that the two voices sound unrecognizable.  This, in my opinion, is a silly nitpick due to the fact that plenty of artists do this Kendrick Lamar perhaps the best hip-hop artist in the game uses many different voices and patterns to conduct a mood just like Danny but don’t complain about Kendrick because you’re seen as crazy to complain about him.

Another reason why Danny might not have the same recognition as other artists in his field is that he takes his time on his releases and is more interested in acclaim and making music that stands the test of time.  In the world of streams and large albums to make more money, Danny would rather spend $70,000 on samples so that he can make exactly what he thinks will work which is exactly what he did on his 2016 masterpiece Atrocity Exhibition.  This album features artists from Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul and the last feature Earl Sweatshirt has done since dropping off the face of the earth.

Danny has so far had 4 studio albums with XXX, Old and Atrocity Exhibition being highly praised while his first studio album Hybrid is a good album but does not compare in style and most of all his vulnerability and language.  Starting with the very first song with the titular song XXX saying lines like “I try to escape it hope these drugs a numb a soul Say I’m getting old and times running out.”  There is an urgency of a man who knows that since he is 30 he is running out of time to make a name for himself in music before it’s too late.  This is a refreshing look at potentially missing your shot which I don’t think has properly been talked about in Hip-Hop since Eminem.  With all the confidence that is popular in the genre, it’s refreshing to show how freaked out and scared one can be.

Not all of his songs are meant for a deep examination of one’s soul, a lot of songs on his album Old are more party anthem’s that are good for festivals songs such as Dip, and Kush Coma are examples of party anthems though at the same time is not filled with throwaway lyrics.

Danny has said in many interviews that he makes music for him and his friends and if the hip-hop and mainstream music fans like it then that is also great!  I wish more artists carried about this because I believe this creates some of the best long-lasting music that people will go back too.  Whenever Danny Brown releases his next music project I’ll be one of the first to listen to it because even if it doesn’t hold up it will at least be fascinating!

http://www.metrolyrics.com/xxx-lyrics-danny-brown.html

https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/bnjz88/danny-brown-has-no-competition

Hip Hop beef has been evident since it’s beginning though most famously remembered from the Tupac and Biggie Smalls beef that wound up taking both of their lives with still very little evidence of who is responsible.  Most rap beef do not wind up with anyone losing there lives in fact, for the most part, it creates great music and is a sense of competition.  Great examples of this would be the beef between Jay-z and Nas in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.  With two of the greatest of all time throwing subliminal messages and finally some very direct messages at each other over who was the true king of New York and the better M.C.

Though recently hip hop beef has become less evidently interested in making good music and showing who is superior, for recognition and to sell music.  There is no better example then the ridiculous beef between Eminem and Machine Gun Kelly aka MGK.  Some claim that this beef started when MGK tweeted that Eminem’s daughter was hot while she was only 16.  MGK later apologized and on the hip-hop talk show the Breakfast Club he claims he was not aware of her age at the time.  There is no way of knowing whether or not this is true, but either way, you don’t talk about Eminem’s daughter that way that’s hip hop 101.  Everyone knows she’s off limits.  This was way back in 2012.  It should have ended there.

Eminem would finally respond to MGK and a lot of other people that dissed him after his very poorly received Revival album a year prior.  He insults Tyler the Creator for no real good reason, insulted Joe Budden for reviewing his album poorly which everyone in there mother was removing poorly.  He’ll probably dis me for writing this.  Eminem has grown to become bitter with age, which he acknowledges on the album.

Even though this is the case he’s still a massively popular musician, and shouldn’t even acknowledge someone who isn’t on the same level as he even though MGK is 28 he still isn’t selling anywhere near as well.  MGK was probably thrilled that someone as big as him dissed him so he could get more spotlight then he has ever had.  He released a dis track almost immediately which was met with initial praise then Eminem released Killshot, and MGK did not respond though he did mention on the Breakfast Club that he had a song but didn’t respond after hearing Killshot because he thought he won?  From what I presume he doesn’t have anything else to say because he has no material, because why wouldn’t he want a reason for people to continue to talk about him?  Then interestingly he released an EP called Binge which did poorly in sales even for MGK numbers.

From what I got out of this beef is that Eminem was holding a grudge over what MGK said this and it took him 6 years to respond.  MGK engaged in the beef because it gave him attention especially around the time he dropped an EP.  They would continue to make themselves look foolish by MGK lying to an audience about why they were putting there middle fingers up who aren’t even really their to listen to his music because he is an opener for Fall Out Boy.  Eminem and MGK made a mockery of what can always be a fun time for the culture with good releases, but what we got were two people lying, making false claims, and just being childish.  I just hope that the next hip hop feud won’t be as boring as this one.

http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2018/09/timeline-eminem-machine-gun-kelly-beef/

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/musics-30-fiercest-feuds-and-beefs-253226/nas-vs-jay-z-115556/

To say that Kanye West is one of the most polarizing figures in the music industry would be a massive understatement.  While he is one of the best selling artists in the 21st century that doesn’t mean he’s universally loved.  I believe at times this is intentional for marketing his brand and also just a man who says whatever he wants even if it not part of popular opinion.

He stole the mic from Taylor Swift at the MTV award show, said George Bush doesn’t care about black people, I could really write a whole blog about the baffling things he has said, but I’m not here to talk about that side of Kanye I’d rather talk about the artist whose been relevant in music since he dropped his iconic album the College drop out in 2004.

The man has tied with The Beatles and Eminem for 8 straight number 1 albums.  The man is an icon, most of his releases are seen as critical darlings, and as the ones that are not are usually brought up later as being terrific such as 808’s & Heartbreak; an album that he primarily sings on using heavy auto-tune and 808’s drums.  The album was inspired heavily by the sudden death of his mother and break-up of his long-time girlfriend Alexis Phifer.  Prior to this album he had just been unofficially crowned the king of Hip Hop after outselling rival Hip Hop artist 50 Cent.

While we may only look at the crazy things he says.  He also makes ground breaking decisions that alter pop culture.  Nothing had come out like it before and it featured popular artists at the time like Lil Wayne and Jeezy showing that big artists at the time were willing to do something different.  This album also featured a little known artist named Kid Cudi who would become a huge player in the music scene the next year after releasing his debut album under Kanye’s label.  Kid Cudi would become popular for covering topics such as depression, drug use and women troubles and most importantly incorporating singing as well as rapping.  This would as well pave the way for possibly the biggest artist of my generation, Drake.  Someone who incorporates rap, singing and multi-genre blending into his music and was able to become very popular due to albums like 808’s and Heartbreak.

Whenever I talk to someone about Kanye West they usually are quick to point out the negative sides of his character though they are not usually familiar with his music or know one or two songs.  I believe celebrities are stigmatized based on what they say and do that does not always regard their career which I believe takes away your experience to enjoy art.

https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/8460189/kanye-west-eighth-no-1-album-billboard-200-ye

https://pitchfork.com/features/overtones/9725-the-coldest-story-ever-told-the-influence-of-kanye-wests-808s-heartbreak/

My blogging is on music.  Different music reviews including trending artists.  New sounds in music, and how music effects are life.  I wanted to use music as a starting point to create content with such it is such a big and engrossing media platform.  I’m primarily focused on becoming professionally involved with something that takes time to do, and is a test run for writing on a subject that I love so that maybe I could get a chance to do it professionally.  I would like to give incentives to have an increase instead of having a bunch of really random tweets and posts that are confusing.  I think that music has a heavy saturation not only for performers but consumers as well to share how they feel about music.  You have music reviewers like the Needle drop who has over 1,604,384 subscribers who gets more views then some of the actual artists he reviews https://www.youtube.com/user/theneedledrop.  This shows we are living in a reactionary world.  There isn’t a single thing we do that isn’t talked about and or discussed everything has its chance to be gone over.  Media is as powerful as ever.  With media expanding so much through the Internet anyone can share their own opinions.  Which means you have to have ways to stand out from the rest.  Interview shows are just now learning this by having the guest do something that is not just simply sitting there and being asked the same questions over and over again.  There is a YouTube channel called First We Feast. The show capitalizes on this well during the interview process the host and celebrity guest eat chicken wings that get progressively hotter and the guest starts to have trouble answering the questions it leads to very interesting and unexpected territories with their responses the show has become very successful with hosting many famous people https://www.youtube.com/user/FirstWeFeast.  YouTube I think is one of the best platforms for user content because there are very few rules and regulations and the opinions can be your own with very little interference from the site.

Pepsi recently made  a new ad that features Kendall Jenner that was pulled.  It features a large protest with the message being join the conversation.  It is very rare for a ad to get pulled especially with how long it takes to even make it through the vetting process of focus groups and edits.  

1.  What is it representing?                                                                                                  What is the protest trying to accomplish, who are they representing?  is it black lives matter, Pepsi is asking you to join a conversation, are they trying to say if you have there product I am more worldly?  It’s attempt to connect to the audience falls short because it doesn’t know its audience.   Pathos is what is primary used in this ad since it makes no sense.  Your supposed to have a strong emotion for what  is a overload of new trends that are popular.    Everyone is united by Kendall giving the police officer a Pepsi can because something so small can make all the difference because everybody loves a delicious can of Pepsi.     
2. People think it is supposed to be black-lives matter                                    Apparently black lives matter believes they have a monopoly on protesting while there is very little evidence to suggest that that is.  It is said to be to similar to Leshia Evans The imagery was also thought by some to be far too similar to photos of Leshia Evans, a protester who was detained by law enforcement while protesting in Baton Rouge following the shooting death of Alton Sterling at the hands of police.  While Pepsi may have taken inspiration from this event, that is hardly the first time a individual has approached the police.  Though due to this alone Pepsi will receive backlash from a very strong organization. 
3. Pepsi is attempting to be hip with youth and they think youth are always protesting about something.  While young people do tend to be the main people involved in a protest no protest has ever been as fun as what is shown in that video.  There people playing instruments, dancing all while marching it looks more like a rave then any sort of protest.  It under scores any sort of protest and causes it to look meaningless as just another way kids are having fun.  It makes young people seem like there just out to have a good time and that they are protesting just for the heck of it.     http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/04/media/kendall-jenner-pepsi-ad/                                                                                                                                               http://fortune.com/2017/04/06/pepsi-ad-with-kendall-jenner-twitter/      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YvlqiJwGe8

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Education, Music, about myself.

I believe the education system in America is underfunded.  While President Barack Obama was still in office he sent Congress a proposed budget request of $582.7 billion in discretionary budget authority to fund the Department of Defense in Fiscal Year 2017 (FY 2017) (Department of defense, 2016).  That is more than the next 7 highest spending countries combined.  The second highest spending military is China, the Chinese government peg the country’s 2016 defense budget at 954 billion yuan ($144 billion) (CSIS, 2017).  This amount of spending is absurd and the second highest country on spending doesn’t even come close so what is the point of this over reliance on the military.  Instead we should be spending on peace and not war.  Books, schools the future of America things that could help end not start wars.  I am very lucky to come from an area in the United States were education is a top priority.  My high school James Madison was ranked 3rd in the state it has a college readiness index of 75.9%, AP tests at 83%, AP pass of 88%, Mathematics Proficiency of 91% and a English Proficiency 98%(US news, 2017).  This is due to higher spending on there students.  While only around 20 minutes away in the nations capital 83 percent of the eighth graders were not “proficient” in reading and 81 percent were not “proficient” in math (CNS news, 2014).  There is a large divide due to poverty in the United States and people from lesser backgrounds cannot keep up due to how poorly the education system is for them.

We are not the highest spending on education in fact we are 5th.  Luxembourg comes in first with Secondary per-pupil spending running in at $16,182 while the U.S spends $12,731.   Now considering how much we already spend on the military we could easily just put more money in education instead considering how big of a difference we are from everyone in that spending habit we will not all of a sudden be in danger.  One of the big complaints from some Americans as to not increase the budget on education would be because it would more positively help the lower class.  Though with more proficiency from school when poor Americans become better workers from there better education system there productivity will go up.  Crime also drops due to higher levels of education.  This could also lower the level of incarceration and a lower need of a policed force.

The New York times found a study that school funding reforms over the last 40 years or so shows just how much of a difference money can make: For low-income students who spent all 12 years of school in districts that increased their spending by 20 percent as a result of court-ordered reforms, graduation rates rose by 23 percentage points and adult poverty rates fell by 20 percentage points. The students’ family incomes were about 52 percent higher than they would have been without the greater education investment. The effects were large enough in many cases to entirely eliminate the gap in adult outcomes between those raised in poor families and those raised in non-poor families (New York Times, 2015).

Information-giving making it easier for Americans to have knowledge on many subjects will help make this country and much safer and smarter place to live.  If children are better educated through public schools, we will have better futures for American children in lower income backgrounds and the crime rate will lower because more people can have more legitimate futures.  If someone from a lower income area is given more resources and is pushed harder in school then they will be more likely to do better in school and be more highly motivated.