Online Blog Project

“Old School Vs. New School”

Rap and Hip-Hop has changed a lot over the past two decades. In my opinion Rap and Hip-Hop were at their peak in the late 1980’s and during the 1990’s. During this time period, this genre of music was much better than it is now. Back in the day, rappers and hip-hop artists included so much meaning in their lyrics. They talked about their struggles growing up, crime, and the unjustices within society. It felt like they served a purpose; to educate fans of rap and hip-hop about what goes on in the world and to entertain with a story. Rappers and artists such as Nas, Big L, Biggie, and Tupac succeeded the most in doing so. An example of a song is “New York State of Mind” by Nas. “Life is parallel to Hell but I must maintain and be prosperous, though we live dangerous cops could just arrest me, blamin us, we’re held like hostages”. This one line from the song holds a lot of meaning and tells the audience something about the artist and what he has been through.

Now a-days, this genre of music does not seem what it once was. Sure the beats are much better than that of old school rap and hip-hop, but the meaning behind the music now is almost non-existent. The main topic of this genre now is getting money, fancy cars, fancy clothes, jewelry, and getting hoes. It is almost as if artists have ran out of topics to talk about. They all talk about the same thing now. Most of this music is meant for clubs, for people to dance along too. This means that people won’t really be listening to the lyrics, but for the beat instead. An example of a song of such is “We Fly High”, by Jim Jones. This song has almost no meaning and just talks about getting money: “Ya boy getting paper (Money), I buy big cars (Foreign)
I need fly rides to drive in my garage (Choose 1) Stay sky high (Twisted), fly wit the stars (Twinkle, Twinkle) T 4? Flights, 80 grand large (Balling!)”. How is it possible to vibe to this. Sure, it’s good for the club, but to label it as music is just absurd.

There are some lyrics where it seems as if the artist didn’t even try to make sense. The song “You Ain’t Got Nuthin” by Lil’ Wayne and Juelz Santana is an example. There’s a line that says: “Or heard, Car-ter, hov-er, y’all scared, not me Not I, call me young Popeye Tell Bruno I’m a noo-no, I bring ral to your fune”. I am still having trouble trying to figure out what this means exactly. Sure there are still a small amount of artists that do add meaning to their lyrics such as Common, Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco, but most rappers now are just commercialized and have no real talent; Soulja Boy for example. “Soulja boy off in this hoe Watch me lean and watch me rock Super man that hoe Then watch me crank that Robocop”. Someone mind telling me what the hell this is? What’s sad is that songs like this actually sell. Rappers who write like this are becoming rich for having almost zero talent. People need to stop buying and listening to songs like this. This is the reason why artists continue to produce horrible songs. People need to realize the difference between good and bad rap/hip-hop, and stop supporting the latter. If not, more awful songs will continue to be produced and further tarnish this genre.

http://atlanta.broowaha.com/article.php?id=1627

http://themusicisthemessage.blogspot.com/2008/07/hip-hop-started-out-in-heart.html

Example of Good Hip-Hop “New York State of Mind”, Nas

Example of Bad Hip-Hop “Crank That”, Soulja Boy

INF: Kennedy

Kennedy’s essay focuses on racial profiling. Racial profile occurs in many ways throughout the country. Many innocent people get accused of wrong doings because of racial profiling. Kennedy defines racial profiling as a practice of using race as a factor in selecting whom to place under special surveillance. For example, if a man of a Middle Eastern ethinicity is carrying a large bag at an airport, police will keep an extra eye on him. If a man of another race was carrying the same bag, he most likely won’t attract as much attention.

INF: Focusing the Research Questions

Is Ladainian Tomlinson better than Barry Sanders?

Tomlinson is only in his 8th year in the league and is on track to surpass Sanders in rushing yards. He already has over 100 touchdowns.

Is there any other running back in the history of the NFL who was in their 8th season and was on track to surpass Barry Sanders but didn’t? Did her have over a 100 touchdowns as well?

FW9: Halloween

I only remember my halloween costumes from high school. for the 1st 2 years of high school i had a saddamm houssein mask that i would where. junior yr i wasnt anything. senior year, me n like 12 friends all baught 300 costumes and the swords and spears to go along with it. We ran around the hallways yelling lines from the movie and randomly ran into different classrooms and disturbed class. we got security called on us a few times but it was mad fun. This year i wanted to be a power ranger, but they dont have the old school power ranger costume at walmart. So im gonna be spiderman.

INF:Myth of the Boring Topic

Playing Cards were banned in a number of New York City public schools. Should cards be allowed or remain banned in high school?

Child obesity is an issue. It is a persons decision to eat a great amount. Should there be warning labels on candy bars.

Why should sharing files be illegal?

Is the book actually better than the movie?

How big of a problem are bootleggers to the music and film idustry?

Should every television be required to have a v-chip?

FW 8:Hot Topic

i cant really think of anything that pisses me off rite now but what bothers me is when i lose in madden to my friends by like 3 points and they give me shit for it. yea i always happen to lose by a very small margin. fuckin sucks.

FW7: High School Advice

shouldve transferred out of forensics. there was no point to taking that class senior year and it was mad boring. plus the teacher was a complete bitch. couldve done so many other things with those 40 minutes everyday. and shouldve tried to get another english teacher for junior year. dont stay in that teachers class cus eventually she will get mad at you for being late and make you write essays why u r late evrytime. and if u do transfer out her class, you wont have to come up with strategies to avoid her senior year when u go to your locker. and get ur work done much earlier. definetly wouldve had a higher average.

FW6: Favorite Toy

My favorite toy was the green power ranger. You press the button on his belt and his head would flip into his green helmet. If you press the button again his head would flip back to his normal face. My other favorite toy was buzz lightyear. He had 3 buttons that when u press he says different phrases, a lazer, and a button that makes his wings pop out. Evry now and then i still play with the green power ranger when im bored and watching tv. I dont know what happen to my buzz lightyear but i think i might have given it to my nephew.

INF Craig

Gender tv structures our views on men and woman. The women in commercials all appear to have the same actions and same personality, as do most men featured. Woman usually wear feminine outfits and have a bit of a Cameron Diaz personality to them. They are usually blonde, white, and dress in very feminine attire such as dresses and high heals. The men in most commercials have to appear to be good looking and have to at some point in the commercial show of their 6 pack and other muscles. Commercials like this create a stereotype of different genders.

FW5: Waking up as someone famous

Im 19. I sound horrible when I sing. When i sing i sound like a little kid. It sounds like im singing through my nose.  But dam i can dance. All the teenage girls think im fuckin amazing. I go out with a girl who cant sing that good as well, but she can dance. if she wasnt pretty she wouldnt have a career. n she has an ugly star tattoo on her back.