Freewrite

Everything I do today, I do not apologize for tomorrow. It's all for a reason. I don't justify any of my actions to anyone but myself. In this time and age, the rules are really simple: Screw or Be Screwed. And that's not meant to deter anyone's fluffy visions of the world, it's a simple motivator and reality check. Out there is always someone who want to dick you over and if you're not doing it, you're the one getting dicked.

You know someone out there who's not telling the truth, cheating on their significant other, working hard to take someone else's job, moving up the ladder, firing people who don't deserve to go, keeping secrets, holding back, setting someone up for failure, trying to steal your shine, acting like you're not really a big deal... If you don't know this person, they probably haven't told you.

A lot of the times the person doing the damage is our very selves. Depriving ourselves of succeeding further and getting what we want because of fear, insecurities, lack of strength, not enough wisdom, stupidity, friends, competition and other nouns that fall under the "Halting Progress" list. We screw ourselves over without even noticing until it's too late.

Good news is the late bell rings at the end of your day and then a new session begins as the sun rises the next. A new day to reinvent, push yourself harder, fight for what you want and believe in, make things right. Live life according to the rule book that you've written. Every day it changes; new pencil, a few cross-outs, and some erasing. This post is not meant to encourage people to hurt others or to be conniving and ruthless to those we encounter. After all, people depend on each other to survive and to get to high places! Friends, family, and loved ones are our backbone. You never want to sever that. It's a message to take what you can out of life or it will take it out of you. Get rid of your excuses and your sorry's and live life feeling unapologetic.

Free vs Free-quent

As women we have the innate desire to want to go out, unless you're a homebody... and eh, those are no fun (just kidding!...sorta). Who doesn't want to enjoy doing a variety of things outside instead of being cooped up in the house all the time? Cindi Lauper said it best: Girls just wanna have fun. Men tend to see going out as a negative because:
a. they're cheap
b. create pricey expectations in their heads or
c. are homebodies themselves

The key to happiness is compromising. Unless you're dealing with a female who was cut out from the makings of a Kanye West video, chances are they'll be willing to compromise with you. They can work around your busy schedule. They'll pay for outings sometimes or even offer to split the bill. It's 2010. Women are more along the lines of Destiny's Child's "Independent" than "Bills, Bills, Bills" and more than happy to show it.

Men have the idea that everything has to be over the top expensive in order to impress a female. Women enjoy doing things that are free, and they even enjoy staying home as well. The key is not doing that ALL the time, hence being "free-quent." A little variety goes a long way. Routine makes me want to hit the snooze button. Most women these days don't let anyone get in the way of things they want to do, so don't think your "Maybe next time..." puts an automatic halt to her plans. What one person won't do, another person will.

Don't be consumed by lust for intimacy and laziness. The She's in anyone's life who are well taken care of, reciprocate.

Faithful Fans of Hip-Hop?

You ever noticed when someone gets too hot in hip-hop, people like to put them down? Our youthful hip hop culture has grown to be a bunch of haters. It's as if whenever someone gains a lot of support, people rush to disown them or claim that they are being "too hyped up." It's like a relationship. It's as if people can't love an artist too much before they feel like pulling away. I've come to realize that this generation of hip-hop lovers can never just enjoy the music for what it is or be happy for an artist's success.

When Weezy started producing an uproar of good music, everyone began blasting his music. After a while, when people realize he's consistently coming out with bangers and growing an even larger fan base, you can hear some expressing their dislike. "Oh he's not that good anyway..." "I liked him before the hype..." "He's too commercial now.." "Who does he think he is?..."

Drake comes out with So Far Gone and the frenzy begins. The features grow. He's on this song and that song and before we know it, he's "the go-to guy for the hooks." So now that his first album drops, of course the spectators are back at their usual antics throwing shade on his name. "I'm tired of Drake..." "He's on too much songs now..." "He's not even that good, he has to EARN respect..." Meanwhile they're either still singing his songs, in the club dancing to his songs, or refusing to socially accept his contributions to music.

Now Ross drops "Blowin Money Fast" and has everyone thinking they're Big Meech or Larry Hoover. Not that he didn't have crazy lyrics before, but now you see more people recognizing The Boss himself with such a strong summer anthem. "Wheels look like a ferris, ya jeweler should be embarrassed..." Sometimes it's all in how a person says something. It doesn't have to be over-the-top thoughtful. Suddenly, you start noticing he's being featured on a lot of tracks lately and the excitement that are growing within people. I feel like once the consistency continues, the haters will show their faces as well, and the faithfulness is put to a test.

We even get consumed with artists' personal lives, even though their business has nothing to do with us. We make it our business to judge them. We forget they're human and have their own issues. It starts affecting the way we view their music and their talent and feel as if they owe it to us to redeem themselves. I've seen it happen with artists like Kanye, Alicia Keys, and Chris Brown, and I'm sure there are others.

Why this happens? I'm not exactly sure. I'm just here to expose it. People always want to be different for some reason. It's all about self image instead of music. They don't want to seem as if they're "jumping on the bandwagon" and some want to appear as if they were on that artist before anyone else was. If an artist is good, I don't see what's the big deal with just celebrating good music, whether it's lyrical or just plain catchy. We need to learn how to support each other more before hip-hop culture gets consumed by the hating and bitterness.