Drake: So Far, So Gone

Yes, it's that time of the year again; the time when we prepare ourselves for another Drake album. Yes people, on the 24th of September 2013, Drake is releasing his highly anticipated album: Nothing Was The Same. And indeed, nothing is the same.

When Drake first hit the scene, fresh off his acting stint on Degrassi and a shit-load of other acting gigs, Drake had to think of a new career change. The rap game has mainly been dominated by African American men and a few women, with the exception of Eminem. Drake, in my eyes, was the first ever mixed-race, Jewish Canadian man who took over the rap game. He hit the scene with his mix tapes and smash hits, 'Successful' and 'Best I Ever Had.' The latter of which became a basketball anthem and an ode to all females out there who didn't think men could appreciate them in a rap song. 

Drake has become famous for being able to rap about real G-shit while panning out to croon some soft melodies for the ladies. He is one of the few rappers to actually achieve this amazing feat. When he first broke onto the scene, Drake won over fans for his slick rhymes and, for the ladies, his good looks and overall charm. He was soon signed to Young Money by Lil' Wayne he saw potential in him. Another young artist was also signed around that time, but her story is for another time. His fame was on the rise when he won a Grammy last year for his album 'Take Care' which won best rap album. Personally, I think it was more of an RnB album but obviously those people up at Grammy headquarters haven't been clued up on genre specifications. 

 

Anyway, I've noticed lately that people are starting to hate on him. Could it be that lately his music hasn't been up to par from his 'So Far, So Gone' days? Could it be the fact that he has now taken to singing with autotune more than actually rapping on songs? Could it be that he is just a sensitive bitch that constantly cries over a breakup, which has sprouted thousands of Internet memes? Or could it be that he's getting more ass than all of you hatin'-ass niggas? Just saying.

Drake is what many would call, 'a powerhouse.' He can rap, 'sing' sort of and has a record label or fashion label tucked away under those black wifebeaters. It's true that maybe 'Started From the Bottom' was not the best song in the world, and before you know it, every nigga in the hood is blasting it from their bashed up hunchback in front of a rundown convenience store.

As for Drake's 'alleged' sensitive bullshit, it's safe to say that he is simply expressing himself; if not in a girly way that makes you just want to punch him in the throat. His lyrics speak to both men who have recently gone through a rough break up to...well only them then.

So to all of you people hating on Drake because you believe that he has 'sold-out', I'm pretty sure that you will all say the same about Kendrick when he reaches the status of Drake. Although I feel as if K.dot has surpassed all these other rap dogs. Just saying.

    -"I'm just saying you could do better"

Justin Bieber: The Winding Road Ahead

Now you all may remember dear Justin Bieber; a young, fresh YouTube singer who's fame was set to rise when he was signed by Usher. His fan base soon grew from a few meager randoms on YouTube to a booming crop of screaming teenage girls. He soon started producing hit after hit and sure enough, this young star's future looked bright. Or did it?

In recent days, Justin's private life seems to be shrouded with controversy. From his excessive thirst for tattooes, to his introduction to clubs and substance abuse. Many fans refuse to admit that perhaps Justin has picked up a few new habits. Many attribute his new 'bad-boy' persona to the new members to his crew. I will admit, that his behavior of late leads me to believe that he is being influenced by 'black rap culture', if that's a real term.

Gone are the days when we viewed Justin as a fresh- faced young boy with stars in his eyes. Now, many girls (older women included) view him as a 'bubbling sexpot that they desire to throw them on the coffee table and proceed to Fornicate without hesitation or pause.' Believe me, I don't make this stuff up. I remember his first acceptance speech which was some eons ago; he thanked God and Jesus and stated that he is truly blessed with this talent. I'm not here to preach that he has lost his religion, heck, I'm not necessarily a beacon of absolute adherence but at least I know right from wrong. 

Teenagers all around the world experiment with substances all the time, but just because Justin is in the spotlight, all of his daily actions are placed under the spotlight. Whether he's seen leaving church (which I haven't seen him do) or leaving a nightclub (which I have seen quite often lately), Justin's actions are constantly being scrutinized by the critical public. Personally, I feel as if many parents are turning a blind eye to what is clearly happening before them. They all choose to scrutinize and bash stars like Miley Cyrus and carry on driving their daughters to Justin Bieber concerts monthly. Not to say that there's anything wrong with Justin but he is slowly going down a dark path.

The seductive allure of drugs, alcohol and loose women is very attractive to young boys. Just as Miley, Justin may also want to transition into the adult market sooner rather than later. In his recent concerts, Justin has taken to stripping to appease the masses of horny teenage girls who will undoubtedly go home and finger themselves to that video. Too much? Too bad. 

Anyway, I have observed in many of his recent concert videos that he's prone to stripping and dancing more than singing. I don't know about you guys, but I wouldn't pay the equivalent to the price of an expensive handbag to watch a slightly underdeveloped young boy strutting whatever muscle he has across the stage. I'd rather buy video games.

Justin's body has also changed. Of course we have all noticed his multitude of fresh ink sprawled across his body. The tattoos are mostly on his left arm and last time I checked he had a tattoo of Jesus praying on his calf. Personally, I also aspire to have a few tattoos when I'm older and have the balls to do it, but I really don't understand it when people get a gang-load of tatts. Imagine how attractive those things are going to look when you're pushing 80 in an old-age home, dragging around bags of skin. Attractive, huh?

In conclusion, I would like to make my case to the public: we should not be so quick to judge. There's a mass going around of double standards here. I'm not really fond of Miley or Bieber, but I do believe that people are focusing more on Miley's behavior rather than Justin's. Look: Justin is getting into fights in nightclubs. Justin is 'entertaining' various women, allegedly to make Selena Gomez jealous. Justin is getting a gang-load of tattoos that he will probably regret when he's older. But then again, so will Lil' Wayne. Justin is wearing ski masks out in public in order to get attention. He is displaying all sorts of erratic behavior; from spitting at fans and neighbors, to peeing in a mob bucket and yelling, "Fuck Bill Clinton!" 

Justin. Needs. Help.

So I make an appeal to his management team, who see to be ignoring the warning signs. People predict he may become the next Vanilla Ice and fade into obscurity, or the next Lindsay Lohan and struggle with addiction. I'm going to go all religious and shit on all of you and suggest that :

Don't we all miss that humble, talented white boy from Canada? (sit down Drake, we don't mean you)

   - "I believe the children are the future"

Review: Wrecking Ball - Miley Cyris (music video)

by Mzwandile Poncana

Recently I saw a quote on Twitter.com which said this - 'Favorite American Pass-time: Mocking young female celebrities.'

I didn't really need a lot of thinking to work out who exactly they were referring to. It was generalized of course - over the years different female celebrities have had their share of cruel mockery - by in this specific time, after the world infamous VMA performance, it was obvious that the quote was a clear reference to the extravagant Miley Cyrus. Her VMA performance - consisting of the summer hit single 'We Can't Stop' and a duet of 'Blurred Lines' with Robin Thicke - made everyone freeze their interests of any other trend on Twitter, and dedicate an amount of energy to report how 'tragic' the performance was. The specific VMA show ultimately became one of the most tweeted events in 2012, simply due to Ms. Cyrus' 'tragic' performance. The world was ablaze with different methods of down casting every inch of the poor 20-year-old, fires of journalists clanked at their computers, swarms of reporters posted pictures upon pictures. On Facebook, memes were created and posted with every passing millisecond. On Twitter, every minute a total if 150 tweeters digitally roared of how shameful she and her fame was. Everywhere one turned, three words all associated together came out despicably: 'Miley Cyrus', 'Inappropriate' and 'twerking'. One could not run from the hatred expressed by almost everyone with Internet access, it was exhausting.

Whether I agree or not with this amazing outbreak of prejudice from society- which I do not-is based on Miley's intention in her performance. When planning, every artist aspires to create a product which either : reflects a strong meaning for a generalized audience -or- reflects themselves and their own personalized personality. Miley obviously had a professional idea on how she wished to express how exhausted she was with the person she had previously been. In this case, the previous 'innocent' 'lady-like' Miley Cyrus was what Miley must of thought was 'crafted by her managers'. She was living behind the façade of how people wanted her to behave. How people expected a girl of her age was to behave. And anything else that was not associated with teenage Disney innocence is way too much of a disastrous taboo. However, judging by this sudden change in Music,Style and Performance, we can see how uncomfortable Miley was, living behind the façade of an innocent Past-Disney actress who had to behave like one. And I say, for the sake of it, she had every fucking right to change. She felt since she had built herself a platform in the industry of general fame, she could use tactics that relate to what teenagers find 'modern' as a shining weapon to only reach a higher level of respect from them. And that's what she wished to create, and nobody should judge her on reacting appropriately in a professional sense to Society's recent interests. She saw what the world found entertaining and realized, it was everything she wished to be. Not hiding behind the overpowering little shadow of her Past-Disney Princess lie.

That being said, I move onto my impression of the 'Wrecking Ball' music video. When I finished watching it, I knew straight away how malicious the comments towards it were obviously going to be; rude expressions of rude misinterpretations. 'Nudity is inappropriate  'What has gone wrong with her' 'blah blah blah blah I'm better than this bitch because sitting behind a computer and being fabulously hilarious for subjective appreciation from objective people i don't know is way better than her working her ass off to get billions upon fucking billions'. It's all the same attention-seeking story every social network you go to. The offense people feel is written on every single Twitter timeline, Facebook timeline and Journalism tabloid. Of course, this offense and rage from her past performance would blind them into automatically viewing the video with a negative approach, subconsciously already telling themselves that it's going to be terrible. (Last performance was awful, this must be awful as well tehehe good evening folks welcome aboard the society train of logic that will take you as far as we decide you to go toot toot all aboard) and with all due respect (and by that I mean no respect at all), you people are burying yourselves in your own trash. Society has always done it and will continue on doing it. Missing yourselves out on some real good music simply because of ONE distasteful performance. And you will continue to nit-pick every fucking thing that you see, hear or feel is wrong. Every small little thing. In this music video, Miley is clearly expressing the product of her plans towards changing her future into something she is comfortable existing in, changing the way she expresses herself towards the world into a way that will be comfortable for her to express. And as for these small nitpicks such as nudity, I would absolutely love to see  how many tweets per minute Rihanna got about her 'Stay' video... Or how many ANY OTHER artist who has been nude in a video got. Nudity in music videos displayed anywhere in public by any other artist have never been a real dilemma or drastic situation. I know this, Miley knows this. But the sad thing is, society knows it as well. The same vital society that insist its completely inappropriate to be naked on TV. I say, it is an invisible subjective rule for General society to have at least one shamed-down celebrity to mock at in boring situations. The Internet may be the future, but a society that uses it for the purposes of positivity it was initially created for, is not. Miley is doing the right thing by existing in the life she chooses to exist in. I found the song absolutely breath taking and the way she interpreted the audio into video was even the more brilliant. She used colorful cinematography and pop culture arts and craft to bring the song to life. I personally am not a fan of pop usually, but this (with 'Applause' by Lady Gaga) has to be the exception. There was nothing wrong with Cyrus's video and my one wish is for everybody to leave her the fuck alone.

Wrecking Ball review (sort of)

Well I suppose it's time to address the elephant in the room. Miley Cyrus recently released a new music video to accompany her latest single, 'Wrecking Ball' from her upcoming album, 'Bangerz.' Quite frankly I didn't want to bother myself with listening to the song but I did notice the topic trending on my Twitter feed so, yeah. But I did anyway.

Firstly, I am appalled at Miley's behavior of late. She has been tweaking up a storm in recent weeks and parents are up in arms. Unfortunately, Miley is just another example of a young, fresh Disney starlet struggling to break into the mature part if the industry. For the past 3 years, every movie that she has touched has been met with negative reviews, leaving many wondering if the Disney machine really taught her anything.

Miley has been through a lot though; ranging from her parents' messy divorce to a now rocky relationship with Liam Hemsworth. Many think that Miley may just be acting out like many teenagers do, but he is well past 18 and should act a little bit more maturely. Her recent scantily clad romps onstage are just her attempts to cut a new image for herself; a good girl gone bad. 

Back to the music video, I'm not a huge fan of Miley Cyrus' recent music but I actually quite like this song. The case is very similar to the 'We Can't Stop' situation: everyone loves the song but the music video was a huge disappointment! In regards to the video, it was fine up until she started licking a sledgehammer -_-. The obvious signs of Miley's new image were apparent when she pranced around in just a tank top and panties, bra-less. I'm not going to start a whole 'Let's-hate-on-Miley' fest but it would be nice is he could throw on a few clothes every now and again. Just saying.

There was clear outrage in the Twitter-verse over the music video's content. Clearly humping a cold steel wrecking ball in nothing but your birthday suit is not popular with most people. Weirdos...

              - "Banger$$"

Pop Culture Week

Well, starting tomorrow, our theme for the week is pop culture. Basically I will be commenting on recent events in the world of celebrity and all that, meaning I will have to keep a pulse on my Twitter feed. The topics I will cover might include:

• Miley Cyrus's VMA performance

• Celebrity fashion

• Nicki Minaj (in all her glory)

• Social Networks

• Celebrity feuds e.g. Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake

• Music news and recommendations 

And anything else related to all those lovely celebrities we love to hate. Keep in mind that I might not cover every topic listed here but I will do my best to cover the juiciest ones with the most interest in them. I will do my best to post a medium to long post daily for the next 5 to 7 days. 

Watch this space.

(Photo credits: WeHeartIt.com)

              - "Ndihamba nawe"  

UPDATE : September 2013

Basically this is just a little update on the reason why my posts are coming in a little late. I am very busy and very lazy, coupled with the fact that sometimes I have no idea what to post about. I think I might just post chapters from the stories that I'm writing but I worry that if one day I manage to get published then they might reject it because it has already new viewed by the public. 

Anyway, expect chapter posts from a book I'm sorting. 

Don't expect frequent posts, like weekly and all that shit cos quite frankly I just might not feel like it.

Expect me to try and write a few more positive posts and reviews on stuff. I'm trying to be a little more relevant and up-to-date. 

Thank you :)

Bus going to Nowhere

I'm on a bus going to Nowhere

16 hours have taken their toll on my eyes

I bought my ticket, and I'm heading out to Nowhere

A place where all of my emotions can come out tonight

Oohh, I got this feeling and I just can't let it go

That you must hate me so, cos you're always just so cold

You're so cold...

I'm on a bus and it's heading to Nowhere

Somewhere where my demons. Can't find me.

Bought my ticket last night, and it's titled 'Somewhere'

Gotta remember to sue that company tonight 

Oohh, but I'm feeling blue

Because you're not here to love me anymore

Oohh, this feeling is new-ooh

Cos you're not here to beat me anymore-oh

I've got my ticket to Nowhere

Right now I'm just a wandering soul

They punch the holes in my ticket

And from here I know that it's time to go

So I look back on my life and it's almost like some night stand;

The kind where friendships are broken by the dealings of a drunken binge.

Oh-oh-ooohhhh!

I'm feeling this way because the night seems to hide my emotions.

I start to cry from the pain that was caused by heavy devotions.

I wrote this all the bus because I just can't shut the hell up. 

This dark feelings inside have intertwined and choked my insides.

Oooh, I had a dream that you stabbed me in the back

Because the love I had for you was the only love that I ever had!

*guitar solo*

NO! NO! NOOOOOOO!

Ooh, I have this stabbing sensation

I feel like I'm about to die!

I had a hole in my heart from all this shit that I had locked up inside!

It's a war zone in here, and all my soldiers have curled up and died!

They're in a fetal position and my trenches have been abandoned.

And I'm only feeling this way 'cos I feel as if I should surrender. 

So while I suffer in silence, this bus is still on it's course.

So I'm a bus out...to Nowhere

And of course....I'm alone.

                    

               -  "Carpa Diem"