2L... you can call me Cool J

It seems like only yesterday that I went to the 7th Avenue stop for the first time on my way to college. It was 5 years ago. When I entered college, I went there a bit sour about the choices I had made that led me to John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and with the feeling that I should have gone elsewhere. But the 4 years of schooling at John Jay and especially the 2 years spent with the Ronald H. Brown program strengthened me and made me who I am today.

In junior year, my professor called me and asked me if law school was important enough that I would be willing to go to Nebraska for it. I replied yes, but I never thought that I would ever need to make that decision, and I thought that I would never leave New York. Now, years later, I'm in year two of law school in Colorado, a school that I chose, not because it was the only school available or because it was the easiest decision (like John Jay), but because it was where I wanted to go.

1L year was a struggle. Living in my apartment without a bed for the first month or furniture for almost a year was hard. Trying to salvage a rocky relationship from 2 thousand miles away and having it end from 2 thousand miles away was worse. Now when I enter CU, I enter knowing that the fact that I'm back means that I made it. I've found great support in the classmates that I've competed with, danced with, complained with, and took turns needing a shoulder to lean on and being a shoulder to cry on. It's because of them that I made and because of them that I can't wait for the second year to begin.


"So here I go it's my shot. Feet fail me not, this may be the only opportunity that I got" -Eminem (Lose Yourself)

The Man, The Legend, Big Punisher (6th in a series)

"Time to expand, New York to Chicago, Colorado
You know my motto, clock G's and rock keys like Drago"

"Sometimes rhymin' I blow my own mind like Nirvana
Comma, and go the whole nine like Madonna"

I'm not exactly sure how we got here. I had a list of rappers and moments that I wanted to talk about. Big Pun wasn't on that list. But then a couple of things happened. When my brother came to Colorado, Twinz (Deep Cover '98) plays from my iPad and we both rap Big Pun's part of the 1st verse. Then a week or so later, I have a discussion about rap music with a classmate and Big Pun's name comes up. I was surprised because Big Pun doesn't have that many huge singles and he died a decade ago. Then over the weekend Pun's name comes up again. So here I am writing about him rather than some other story.
With Big Pun I have a stark visual of what rap music is to me, and some of my harshest criticisms about the themes involved. Big Pun, despite having a devastatingly short career was a person who I grew up hearing stories about every so often. I would hear something and assume it was made up. No way that this guy could be all of the things that he purported to be. Besides, rappers make up things all the time (Example: Rick Ross, purported drug dealer, actual corrections officer). But even as I got older, Big Pun's stories remain surreal but a lot of major ones are very true. 1) Big Pun was a violent dude. As a kid, he was reckless and would take out anger on the walls. As an adult, he was emotionally abusive and volatile towards the people close to him including his wife. 2) Even measured against other entertainers, his sex romps were the stuff of legend. Most of the stories I didn’t hear about until long after his death. I'd hear stories about him running through a record label chasing rappers around with 100 Latin Kings carrying Uzi's. Then I'd hear about some other "street business" he handled with his bare hands. Then I'd hear that Pun was just picking women up by the dozens, even after he was married with kids. While interesting, none of these activities are things I approve of. With that caveat, Big pun is one of the best lyricists rap has ever produced and he's the stereo typical "your favorite rapper's favorite rapper"

"I'm the first Latin rapper to baffle your skull
Master the flow, niggas be swearin' I'm blacker than coal(Cole)
Like Nat King, I be rapping in tongues
Packing the ones, magnums, cannons and Gatling guns"

With that comes his music. Much like Biggie, Big Pun's Capital Punishment is the only album released during his life time. Its considered to be a classic. It starts with a kid talking about how "The Punisher" is a better hero than any other ones. He's realer than any other heroes and therefore, is a better hero than any other one. Then the it goes into "Beware", a Mobb Deep produced masterpiece of a beat. The chorus begins "I gave you fair warning, beware." Most rappers have empty boasts about how good they are, big Pun says and then proves it, immediately.

"Flawless victory you niggas can't do shit to me
Physically, lyrically, hypothetically, realistically "

There is no question whether he's a great rapper. He just crushes the beats on the album. Dream Shatterer is a perfect example for how to open a song, because the 1st verse is unbelievable. How amazing is it? In a crew of some of the best up and coming rappers of the time, its clear that Big Pun has the respect of everyone else in the room. Just for reference, other people involved include Canibus, DMX, and Mos Def. Check DMX's absolute deference to Pun and the respect he gives him. How many people does DMX respect? Seriously. At around the 5 minute mark, Pun presents the verses that would become "Dream Shatterer" as a freestyle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEB7E1nCV6w&feature=player_detailpage#t=296s
The problem with writing about Capital Punishment as an album, and the reason why this isn't a pure review of the album is that I'm compelled to just write quotes. That and the album has a lot of holes in it. It has a couple too many skits and there are a lot of songs that are repetitive. Really the song could have been limited to the best songs and there would have been nothing lost. He includes "I'm not a player" and "Still Not a Player". He includes Super lyrical, and Dream Shatterer, two pieces which aren't really songs as much as they are canvases for free style. When freestyling, he's a amazing, but creating cohesive songs is a struggle. He's not the only rapper to have this issue. Slaughterhouse, as a group, now has been criticized for precisely the same thing almost a decade and a half later. While I think that the album would be better if he just chose one song with the same message rather than trying to fit all of his work in one album. Capital Punishment comes across as more of an anthology than as a novel . It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it makes writing about the album track by track difficult. That being said, there are a lot of really nice songs other than the ones mentioned like Tres Leches and the Pakinamac skits
When his next album came out the 1st single features the line "I just lost a 100 pounds I'm try'na live. I ain't goin nowhere" as an adlibbed line during the chorus. Between the single's release and the album's release Big Pun, the larger than life figure, died of a heart attack. While he never struggled with crime, money and women, he struggled his entire life with his weight. BIG pun was around 700 pounds at the time of his death.
One of the things that makes Pun's work amazing is that it is an honest portrayal of himself. It separates him from the Rick Ross's of the world, or even Tupac who made up personas on the mic that they didn't live in real life. Pun speaks as if he's larger than life because he is. When he talks about random encounters with women, there's no question that they either happened or could happen. When he talks about making threats and then carrying them out, there's no doubt that he's speaking from lots of experience. Each song is a story that adds to the legend. Perhaps his debut album sounds a certain way to me, because his life (and my encounters with it) was also a scattered set of "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, but here's what happened" stories. Realness is often a silly theme in rap, but Big Pun was honest to his situation and saw life through the lens of a rapper from the Bronx, New York. When he rapped about things the familiarity came out in the form of great witty lyricism that won’t be forgotten.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLiZyr7m8K4&feature=youtu.be

A little exposed, a little naked, but very appreciative

 

“Thanks for comin' out tonight/
You coulda been anywhere in the world,/
but you're here with me/
I appreciate that” – Jay-Z (Izzo)

 

My blog has been up for a while. I originally changed the name to the 5 year plan knowing that I wanted a set of huge changes in my life. I appreciate the people who, over the years have read my posts. Whether it's a discussion of the use of slurs, or my personal choice not to drink, you all have been extremely supportive and positively critical. I try not to advertise my posts too obnoxiously. I don't make ad money, and it doesn't further my career to post, so the only thing I get out of writing is knowing people read it and feel one way or another about what I wrote. Over the summer, my recent posts about my non-drinking and insomnia and my series on rap music have created a spike in interest and page views. Honestly, I started blogging because I never felt comfortable about my ability to write, and I started up again after my first year of law school killed whatever confidence I had left. It also feels weird writing about myself, because while I have no problem talking about other people’s accomplishments and things I’ve seen over my life, discussing my own shortcomings hasn’t come easy. Thank you so much for reading.

The Best Rap Album of all Time (5th in a series)

There is always going to be discussion about what the best album is of all time. There's lots of great contenders. Illmatic by Nas, The Blueprint and Reasonable Doubt by Jay-Z, Doggystyle and The Chronic by Dr Dre and Snoop, and Paid in full by Eric B and Rakim are all common contenders. However, while all these albums are good, the album that is closest to perfect is the Notorious B.I.G.'s debut Ready to Die.
Ready to Die, for an album consistently considered to be a classic staple of any NY's fan, is overlooked. The biggest reason is that it came out in '93 and unlike all of the practitioners mentioned above, Biggie can't perform songs from the 1st album because he died 15 years ago. The second problem is that not only is Ready to Die not considered the best album period, it also is arguably not Biggie's best album, since Life After Death is also a classic. I'm of the belief that as far as rap music goes this is as good as it gets. It's not a perfect album, but it's as close as it gets. Any upcoming rapper needs to listen to "Ready to Die".
The benefit of a rapper's first album is that they've had their entire life to work on it. The experiences from 5- 25 can all be used. In Ready to Die, Biggie tells a story, that begins literally from birth. In the intro, you hear biggie being born (hilarious skit voiced by Diddy). The second song, in stark contrast is titled things done changed. It serves as a thesis statement for the rest of the album. Biggie is going to tell the story of his life in this changed world. He talks about how is he affected by it and how does he effect change upon it.
The 3rd person narrative switches immediately to 1st person in "Gimme Da Loot". "My man brought a tec and a nine to the crib, turn himself in he had to do a bid, a one to 3 he'll be home the end of 93, it's time to get this paper g, you wit me?" And we are with him, carried through Machine Gun Funk and the dark brooding "Warning".

"Hold on I hear somebody coming"

Warning is a turning point in the album all of a sudden, the success he has turns on him. To be fair the song which begins with hearing that people are out to kill Biggie ends with a skit where you hear Biggie off his attackers. Then the title track plays followed by the great song One More Chance
Then for the first (and only time) you hear a guest on the album with the appearance of Method Man in "The What". While meth is a skilled rapper in his own right, he's not on the level of Mr. Smalls. This is followed by everyone's favorite song Juicy. Juicy is a retrospective song discussing Biggie's childhood. Where things done change talks about his neighborhood in the 3rd person, Juicy is all about Biggie's life and current success
However, in Everyday struggle, it becomes immediately apparent that everything isn't rosy for him. The success has create BIG problems from fellow dealers, rappers, and even the mayor of NY. His concerns about his new daughter have also become huge. Then in the song "Me & My Bitch", the person that he loves, trusts and sticks by gets killed by people looking for him . Then in big poppa, he has a song that sounds different in the context of the song Me and My Bitch coming before him.

"You got a gun up in your waist/Please don't shoot up the place/'Cuz I see some ladies tonight that could be having my baby, baby"

Out of context, it seems random and even a throwaway statement. In context of the previous song, he's deadly serious. He's thinking about the future with his present lifestyle getting in the way.
Respect and Friend of Mine get into similar themes of looking back and distance from relationships. Then unbelievable plays, and it it's the last positive highlight of the album.

"When I die, fuck it I wanna go to hell, cuz I'm a piece of shit it ain't hard to fuckin tell"

The last song is dark. The song Suicidal Thoughts is morbid in its consideration of past acts and present lifestyle decisions. He says he wishes his mom had aborted him. He talks about the way he mistreated her an other people. Then the song ends with the bang of a self-inflicted gunshot.
The album tells the story of a man. A rise, a peak, a fall. The songs are all meaningful in their order and they all feel like they matter, in telling a part of the story. The songs are also excellent and hold up on their own. This is the mark of a great album.

How iTunes and "ringtone rap" changed the game. (4th in a series)

 

How buying music 99cents at a time changed music's focus

It's really not the fault of MIMS. When MIMS's first single came out, he sold a million ringtones 99 cents at a time. "This is why I'm hot" played in subways, offices, schools and street corners throughout the country. He took advantage of a great way to earn a ton of money. His album on the other hand was terrible. Deservedly or undeservedly he has been the posterboy of the era of rap music in the mid '00s derisively described as "ringtone rap".

The story starts, not with MIMS, but with Steve Jobs. As a response to rampant illegal downloading, Apple, under Jobs, chose to take advantage of digital downloading and helped create a system, iTunes, for buying music online in a quick and easy way. Apple wasn't the first or last to sell music online, but they did so in the most effective way, and they had the most popular (legal) service by far. It changed the way people legally consumed music. Rather than buying a 15 dollar album and enjoying a song or two, consumers were able to obtain music a la carte. It allowed them to sift through the rubbish and just get what they wanted

In response to this, artists focused more on singles, since that would be all that consumers would buy. This was especially true if you were a new artist. People would be unlikely to buy their entire album, but if they focused on a catchy single or two they could sell a lot of singles and make more money. This was made to be even more true when ringtones began to be sold later in the '00s. A 30 second clip of the song, usually the chorus, was the focus, rather than a 50 minute album

When people say, "hip hop is dead", this era is why. The '90s had a ton of classic albums, as opposed to the '00s with very few. This wasn't because of a lack of talent, but rather a lack of necessity. In the 90's you had to make your album as good as possible to make money. In the '00s there was a different way to obtain that reward. The pendulum has swung back in the direction of attempting to create classic albums now. This is because people generally don't buy ringtones anymore. This is also due to societal pressure within the hip hop community to create better albums. Still, the artists of the mid ‘00s who took advantage of the era made a ton of money doing it, and created some memorable singles because of it.

Get Rich or Die Tryin (3rd in a series)

Some albums hold up really well, some albums were overhyped. Get Rich or Die Tryin' the 2003 official debut of 50 cent does not hold up well at all.

History lesson. In 2003, so called “gangsta rap” wasn't dead, but it wasn't what it was in the early 90's. After Biggie and Tupac died, the rappers that gained popularity were less violent. Perhaps that's a good thing, but it also left room for someone, anyone to fill the role. Curtis Jackson had all the credibility to fill that role. He's from Southside Jamaica Queens, a historically violent neighborhood. He has a rap sheet with felony drug charges, and faced a 3-9 year sentence. Also, as he proceeded to mention many times, he was shot 9 times at close range. Also, unlike rappers like Jay-Z and others, he didn't distance himself from that former life at all.

Then there's the rap aspect. He had a ton of "street singles" and mixtapes. Songs like Ghetto Quran and How to Rob got him a lot of attention. By 2003, he was signed to Shady Records and had the benefit of beats from Dr. Dre and Eminem, something that new rappers would kill for.
When the album began, and the sounds of 2 quarters dropping happens, there's no doubt of his rap skills and his angle

"They say I walk around like I got an S on my chest, no that's a semi-auto and a vest on my chest"

Then Patiently Waiting featuring Eminem plays followed by Many men. The album has a lot of music that holds up, or music that reminds me of my teens when I listened to it for the first time.

On the other hand, when the album is bad, it's terrible. High all the time, P.I.M.P., poor lil rich. Blood hound are all songs that didn't need to be there. I'm also not a fan of 21 questions. 50 cent is good at rapping about getting shot and how tough he is in comparison to everyone else. But he has absolutely no range. Immediately it becomes obvious that the album isn't a classic. It's important. It’s a peek into the early 2000's. However, in comparison to other solid debuts, it's decidedly not a classic.

Nas v. Jay-Z. (2nd in a series)

In 2001, I didn’t know I was getting ready to be exposed to a huge moment in rap when my dad called me into the basement where his Djing equipment was to listen to a new Jay-Z song. The song Takeover was a song of unfettered braggadocio. The 1st verse was nothing unusual, Jay-z was bragging about how he is the best rapper alive and will crush the competition. Nothing new. The second verse was a shot against Prodigy from Mobb Deep. Lines like "I got money stacks bigger than you" and "Back in 88, you were a ballerina" were great lines, but not meaningful. No one would argue that Jay-Z wasn't better than Mobb Deep. But at the end of the second verse, Jay-Z exclaims "Ask Nas he don't want it with Hov, nooooooo". As the chorus broke, I was thinking to myself, he's not going to say something about Nas, right? Nas is a legend. He can't take a shot at another rapper from Queens. He did.

"You went from, Nasty Nas, to "Esco's trash" had a spark when you started but now you're just garbage. Went from top 10 to not mentioned at all till your body guard's Oochie Wallie verse was better than yours".

This wasn't just the normal bragging, I'm better, you're not very good. This was 100 percent true, and a damning commentary on Nas's career to that point. Nas, despite having an amazing debut album, had a career on a downward spiral. Nas's verse on "Oochie Wallie" was godawful. Then, in what might be the best lines of the song. He describes Nas as having a "One hot album every 10 year average". Followed by the grade school taunt "You know who, did you know what, with you know who, let's keep that between me and you" The 4th verse really good, but in my eyes the damage was done. What would happen next? How would Nas come back?

“Fuck Jay-Z”

“Fuck Jay-Z”

“Fuck Jay-Z”

And so began a song that created a new term in rap music "getting Ethered", using a Tupac sample no less. Was it a technically better song? I hold the minority opinion that it wasn't. Was it bolder? Absolutely. “Ether” by Nas was a focused effort that ripped the doors off of Jay-Z's effort. From small shots, like calling Jay-Z a camel to larger themes like Jay-Z copying older, more established artists especially the Notorious B.I.G. He even dismissed Jay-Z’s claim to best rapper by using Jay-Z’s line from “Where I’m from”. Jay-Z said people argue every day about “who’s the best emcee Biggie, Jay-Z, or Nas.” In Ether, Nas asks and answers the question, “Who’s the best, Pac, Nas, or Big? Ain’t no best.” I thought that was the strongest line that Nas had.

The popular opinion is that Ether was a better track than Takeover. I’ve already shown my hand. Takeover was a better track for many reasons. First, it’s less dependent on direct gay jokes for punchlines. To be fair, this practice was more accepted 10 years ago, but still it comes across as unfunny looking back on it. Second, Takeover wasn’t just a Nas diss, it was also took out Mobb Deep and essentially ended their status as Class B stars. Third, Takeover featuring a then barely known producer named Kanye West had a much better beat than Ether (although the Tupac sample from Ether is much better than the David Bowie interpolation from Jay-Z’s song). Fourth and more importantly, the focused effort from Takeover is a more meaningful set of shots against Nas at that point of his career than the shots against Jay-Z at that point of Jay’s career.

This battle rejuvenated Nas's career. Ether reminded people that Nas is a great emcee. Jay-Z's career and image took a tiny hit. Afterward, lots of rappers from Joe Budden to Lil’ Wayne took shots at Jay-Z, mostly getting destroyed because they lack Nas’s talent. Despite the public beating Jay took because of this and getting outrapped against Eminem on the same album, he came back on the Black Album and continued to enjoy the success he previously had. Most importantly they later settled their public issues and created “Black Republicans” and “Success”, 2 great song collaborations. Most important, it presented a great set of moments for rap that didn’t end in gunfire and me losing any of my favorite artists.