Life Lessons
Is Meg flexing on GloRilla with a new album drop, or is it just a coincidence? Dive into this fresh take on the possible female rap totem pole shake-up, with hits, hype, and some hilarious speculation on what’s next in the world of hip-hop queens. Warning: hot takes ahead!
Read MoreIF KENDRICK DOESN’T DO THIS THE BEEF WAS POINTLESS
June 23, 2024
This was an article I was thinking about doing for a little minute but I’m glad I didn’t get around to it until after the “pop out” show.
Let me start by stating the obvious, the show was amazing from start to finish, it was basically everything you wanted out the show.
I didn’t have many critiques but if I had to have one it would be maybe keeping the aggression a little bit in the show after opening with Euphoria. I called it before it started that he would open with Euphoria because I knew he would want to set the tone.
Then going into DNA and ELEMENT made sense if you apply today’s debacle within those lyrics but when they came on, I was kinda like “uhh I don’t wanna hear this right now”.
I was #TeamDrizzy, but if I’m going to watch an aftermath beef concert (no pun intended) then I wanna see smoke the whole time you know lol.
I can’t really think of any replacement songs so he probably made the right decision. Anyways, so he ends the night with the obvious smash “not like us” which he’s shooting the video to this weekend.
Now with all that said, I’m still here thinking what did Kendrick get in this beef for? From the outside looking in I can tell Drake entertained this because he respect the emcee code and he’s never backed down from a challenge. So when Dot finally came with a direct hit after years of subs, of course Aubrey would answer the call.
But I can’t figure out why Dot wanted this smoke with Drake so bad. I feel like Dot was used as a proxy vehicle to make a permanent chink in Drake’s Canadian armor.
I’m not saying he doesn’t have a real personal gripe with him but I am saying other people in the industry used their gripe as an opportunity to launch onto his in an effort to get the Boy outta here.
Everybody is riding the Dot wave but I swear I don’t remember people glazing cuz this hard when Mr Morale dropped. When I heard that album I was praising it nonstop in fact I was even saying that after that release artist should think twice about what they drop next because Kendrick got so deep in his substance bag it wasn’t the time to release music with nothing worth while in it.
Really it was a truly great album that hit plenty deeper than the surface topics, but like I said people were not riding the wave that hard. In fact they was flat out calling the album trash. By people I mean the casuals because obviously his core rocked with it, he just completed a worldwide tour.
I can tell you exactly why the casuals thought it was trash because the album did not contain a commercial hit. After releasing a DAMN, people wanted more of that sound and Mr.Morale was not that instead you learned his auntie was a man now.
The casuals made this whole battle annoying , people were saying anything and was literally regurgitating points. Someone said to me “Drake isn’t black”, I’m like he’s literally black and Jewish.
The narratives that were allowed to get push during this beef was out of control and the casuals already decided Drake’s fate so anything half way decent from his enemies would be enough to rally behind.
Though the casuals were annoying, they also play a key position in Dot’s career moving n forward. Basically they’re like swing states in politics, he already won the casuals over but he can extra secure him if his next album is a pure commercial effort.
Which brings me back to the “why” of this beef.
If this beef was to just show he can rap better than Drake or that he’s more cultured than Drake then this beef was a waste of time.
Beefs of this caliber should be only for one thing and that’s for determining rank and elevating career status. This is like a ranked match in Tekken, you’re fighting to move up not to look cool.
Yes we can say Kendrick “won” this battle. But the way he wins the war is by dropping his most commercial album to date, if he’s not trying to become “Drake” then what is he doing?
His next effort needs to be dumbed down, a whole album of “Not Like Us”, he sprinkled in a tiny bit of Pulitzer Kendrick on there but kept it digestible. He may have put a dent in Drake’s armor but Drake is still number one even after all this because no matter how many jokes are thrown his way, everything comes down to music.
How many Dot records you’re going to hear while out vs Drake. Not saying he don’t have club records just ask yourself how many you’re going to hear? Fasure you will hear his biggest one but the moment for Not Like Us will pass and what will Dot do then? It’s a million Drake records you can choose before you throw on Swimming Pools or something beloved.
I believe the most last longing effect from this battle is the destruction of the big 3. The Big 3 is done you even see it don’t mean anything in sports anymore either.
Right now it’s 1A and 1B. Drake is 1A. Dot is 1B.
Everybody else find their place in line. The only way Dot becomes 1A is dropping his most commercially digestible album to date THIS YEAR! I might be willing to give him to next year but dog if you do all this and take three years off don’t come back talking that number one talk.
He’s talented enough to make a timely album he don’t need a hundred years to conceptualize like people make it seem, he just chooses to be mysterious.
He talking about sometimes you gotta “Pop Out” he better pop out with an album or it’s gon look like you only pop out to diss the boy. When we ain’t heard from him in years after DAMN, he pops back up on Keem record and he start talking about he smoking on people TOP 5.
Alright Dot you got exactly what you wanted you caught the Boy slippin and snuck you in a dub. Now you better finish the job foreal or don’t come back another three years wasting everybody time with this again.
And as far as what Drake should do to stop Kendrick from getting number one. He should focus making his best music and not dissing him.
Make good songs then when it’s album time get back to dissing the living hell out of him. Get at him on album cuts. But the music wins always. If Dot want that number one spot he gon have to follow up with music for the masses or just settle for being the people’s champ. I guess that’s worth something but is it really? The people turn at the drop of dime, let him do something they don’t think behooves the “culture”, his ass gon be tooted on a silver spike too Lmao.
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NOW I WANT YOUR SNEAKERS
KD 12
Lebron 16 “MARTIN”
The sneaker market is at a whole new level with resells and a whole new system for making purchases. Yet there seems to be something lacking when it comes to basketball sneakers. Why? Why do we purchase basketball sneakers anymore? I buy Lebrons because Bron is my favorite player so I have an emotional connection with him. I Like KD sneakers but its because of a stylish design not for a basketball connected reason (even though they’re comfortable to hoop in).
Last night when Dame Dolla dropped that magnificent game winner, impulsively I wanted to buy every pair of Dame 5s on the market. Those are the moments basketball fans live for and those are the moments that make you want to purchase an athlete’s signature sneaker.
When you seen Mike achieve greatness it made you want every pair of Jordans. When Allen Iverson crossovers were sending people into the next part of the solar system, there was no question that you wanted every pair of questions.
What we need is more moments like last night. Incredible moments that make us wanna run to Nike, Adidas, etc. and cash out because we just witnessed a superstar perform a superstar act.
With sneakers being as valuable as they are, basketball sneakers must do it job in reestablishing the emotional bond they once had in consumers. And the spark of that bond starts with the athlete.
Dame 5
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I LOVE TIMESKIPS
An essential element of storytelling is using the passage of time well. Timeskips, for those who don’t know is a literary device that advances the timeline of the story ex number of years that usually show older versions of the protagonists.
The reason I love timeskips so much is for, the simple of idea of growth. You ride with these characters for a lengthy amount of episodes and then you get to see a dramatic change and it makes it feel like as if you’ve grown up with them.
The most perfect example is in NARUTO. When the first series started to air on Cartoon Network and when I first read it in Shonen Jump, I was roughly the same age as Naruto.
When the timeskip happened in the next series I was also around his age which made it literally feel like I was growing up with them.
Shinpachi on the Latest GINTAMA volume cover
But timeskips is a heavy discussion topic for today because I’ve been watching GINTAMA and they just had a timeskip. A weak and supporting character named Shinpachi just received massive growth due to the time skip.
He was always super serious, couldn’t really hold his own in a fight, and was far from cool. But since the first time he was shown in the timeskip he possessed the same poise as the series’ main protagonist (Gintoki). His growth is making me more invested in the story because it is always amazing to see the weak go to strong.
From Left to Right: Shinpachi, Gintoki, Kagura
If you’re a storyteller yourself think about the usage of timeskips, when done correctly it is one of the biggest payoffs in storytelling.
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NEIGHBORHOOD HOT
Often times people make moves when things are “perfect” at the time. Everything looks good but no thorough inspection is given. It’s like moving into a neighborhood in the winter.
As the old saying goes “you never know a neighborhood until it’s the summertime”. When the summer come around the heat brings the people out and allows the true essence of the neighborhood to show.
When the heat of life pressures us we are forced to come out “winter bubble” and face the summertime madness. We face the summertime madness by emerging from our “perfect” comfortable position and make a calculated decision by facing the uncomfortable heat. Only then will we know what we’re truly made of.
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DECISION IN SOLACE
After pondering on a few options on what to do with my summer, I finally came to a consensus by way of an early morning, sitting in the dark, with nothing clouding my mind.
This led to an Eureka moment of how careful deliberation and decision making is probably most effective in a cool unoccupied state of mind.
A state which is difficult to achieve with our phone and other objects/people vying for our attention 24/7.
Being completely foregoing allows the mind to simply be and your brain does all the searching and weighing of the alternatives for you.
After sitting in patience after a while a conclusion will eventually be met and it would be one you couldn’t come up with while putting yourself under an imaginary pressure cooker.
So the next time you have a big decision to make, frantic pacing isn’t what you should be doing instead opt for a quiet place, take your mind off the situation and watch how the answer you seek comes as easy as an easy bake oven.
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ONE WRONG TURN
Yesterday we was driving down the freeway and we were unsure on which exit was the one we wanted so we went ahead and exited right. Upon choosing that exit we realize that we chose the wrong exit and it took us all out of the way from our original destination causing to do more driving than required.
The misturn made me think of how quick a person life can change from making one choice. Often wrong choices can stem from indecisiveness. Just as we were unsure to pick the correct exit, certain people are unsure of what path to choose in life. If we were sure and trusted our gut instinct we would've never have to go out the way to reach our original destination.
So the next time you have time to ponder correct life decisions, ensure that you are decisive in what you want and you too can avoid an unwanted wrong turn.
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THE "ME" IN TEAM
This week I've watched documentaries on two of the greatest players to ever touch a basketball, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan.
These two as we all know possessed many qualities that made them as great as they were but what isn't discussed is the obstacles that were self-induced and if it weren't overcame we may have never got the Kobe and MJ that we see today.
I. THE "PERFECT" IMAGE.
Michael Jordan once stated that He's "More Image Conscious then I would like to admit". It was even rumors that if you didn't act in a way that complied with Michael's public image he would heavily chastise you for it. Kobe not only took a lot of his game from Michael but he also took the way Michael carried himself with the media. They both went out of their way to appear as role models and upstanding citizens without any blemishes. However both were exposed that despite they're charisma and charm they were still human beings that made mistakes. For Michael it was his extreme gambling habit that even lead to a league investigation and some people are audacious enough to blame MJ's habit to be the cause of his father's death. As for Kobe, his act of adultery lead to rape allegations and jeopardized his entire career & life.
II. "LET ME BE GREAT"
Jordan trusts John Paxson with big time shot
As we all know no players that played with Kobe or Michael can say they outworked them. Only thing on their mind was to be better than they were yesterday and that was only achieved through practice,practice, & more practice. However as they would soon find out solo play could only get them so far. Michael used to take on 2,3,4 defenders at a time instead of passing it to a teammate. Kobe was so much about his personal performance his own teammates wouldn't even cheer for him after he made a spectacular move. Both came to the realization without the trust in their teammates the furthest they can go is just being known as a "great player" but they both wanted more, they wanted to be "CHAMPIONS".
Often times we do not realize that we can be our own barrier to the success we want. Certain things in life is just meant to be achieved with the help of others. Also our lives aren't meant to be lived perfect it's meant to understand that we're not perfect and that's okay. If these two never realized these self-induced burdens the legacy of these GOATs would be greatly tarnished. It's time to do a self check and see what's holding you back and once you find out nothing can stop you from becoming a GOAT!
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WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GO OUTSIDE
In life we always try to get to the next point of our destination as quickly as possible. We become anxious and the pressure to get from who you are to where you want to be builds up daily. Waiting for the weather to break can be analogous to waiting for your literal break in life.
After daylight savings time, we get a longer glimpse of the sun and every time we look out the window we immediately want to go enjoy the warmth. Only to find out there is no warmth and winter(even though it's spring) is still continuing it's regular routine. It's much like seeing your opportunity but jumping the gun too early. You know it isn't the time to strike but you get so engulfed with wanting to enjoy the "warmth" you run outside only to find that it's still freezing.
The solution? As simple and cliche it may sounds, the passage of time is the only answer to this dilemma. We literally know it can't be like this forever just like your current situation can't stay how it is. Even if it's in the slightest way a change always occur. We deal with the cold by "bundling up" and dressing warm we can do the same in our current life by embracing our current situation because it is only by acceptance that we can peacefully see our way through the other side.
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LIFE IS OPEN WORLD GAMEPLAY
If you ever played games like Grand Theft Auto and Final Fantasy then you have played what are categorized as "open world" games. Meaning games that encompass the player to "free roam" and not follow a linear structure. In open world gameplay, you have the main storyline alongside a bunch of side quests/missions that are optional to complete but may give cool bonuses.
The gameplay is quite analogous to life in which, the storyline is our life's purpose and anything outside of our purpose may be positioned as a side quest. Knowing our lives are much more explorable/expansive than a video game it takes great responsibility to stay on track for our purpose. Often times we can get caught in the things that don't matter and it can delay the time on fulfilling our purpose[storyline].
Final Fantasy XV, available now for XBOX ONE/PS4
Life is meant to be fun and enjoyed from many different angles but we must remind ourselves that we are working with limited time. Learning to work efficiently and staying on track is key to enjoying our lives to the fullest extent.
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COMPETITION FOR THE SOUL
Today I will attempt to dispel the negative connotation of competition. When people think of competing they usually associate it with people comparing themselves to others ,which in turn leads to trying out shine them every waking moment. Although the previous statement is true for certain people, true competition is really about YOURSELF!
Check out "CAL CAST" featuring DRAKE, by clicking here https://soundcloud.com/user-974863256/drake-talks-about-his-past-current-projects-and-future-plans
This awakening was sparked by a conversation Drake had w/ Coach John Calipari on coach's podcast "CAL CAST". Drake spoke about how he can't truly take a break because he fear someone is not taking a break and they would stumble upon something he would've stumbled upon had it not been for the brakes. This may seem to be fueled by the desire to stay ahead of everyone else but I believe it is a testament to the bar Drake set for himself. He also revealed to Coach Cal that his reason for continuing to do music is for his legacy and having music that he can appreciate from himself 20 years down the line.
How can he focus on such a daunting task by constantly comparing himself to other artists and always worrying about ways to 1-up himself? The answer is he couldn't , this is why competition is about self when you out perform someone it is only a by-product of outperforming yourself. Say you set out to beat a previous sales record made by yourself and when you beat the record you also end up outselling your opposition. The only way you could outsell your opposition is if you worked on records that were strong enough to beat your previous endeavor, see what I mean?
On an ending note, Coach Jim Harbaugh also spoke w/ Coach Cal on another episode. They both said they have a quote in their office that reads "JUST COACH YOUR TEAM". If they Coach their teams to the best of their ability that isn't a testament to out doing their opponents(though it plays a role) , it is a more of testament of due diligence to focusing on self.
Hopefully that debunks this negative notion of competition. Competition is great because if it doesn't do anything else it gets you to look at yourself!
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HOW THE BAD THINGS IN LIFE CAN MAKE FOR A GOOD STORY
Vito Corleone's death scene in The Godfather
Barry gets dismantled in his first encounter with Zoom
Today on my morning commute, I was thinking about a great win we took last night and all the hardships we had to overcome in the past several years. I thought to myself "man if somebody was watching this on tv they would be going crazy after seeing all these rollercoaster rides" and that's when it hit me, as cliche as it sounds it really is about a journey. Think about how uninteresting it would be if The Flash beat every major villain in a single episode or The Godfather just showed Marlon Brando reigning supreme all day. No story is complete without drama. Even though, people strive to live without petty drama it is the dilemmas/problems that give our life story depth.
Michael Jordan didn't come out the gate being the greatest basketball player of all time, he didn't even make varsity squad in high school on his first attempt. Van Gogh only sold one painting in his lifetime...ONE! A major lesson I've learned is not to be outcome dependent, meaning being hyper focused on the results of an outcome instead of just taking it as it comes. That's equivalent to rushing ahead to the season finale without watching any of the core episodes.
The Red Vineyard was the only painting Van Gogh sold in his lifetime
If you are wanting to rush to the "good parts" of life chances are you're already in it, enjoy the show baby you're going to be here for a while!
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