How Hip-Hop Music Lost Its Way and Betrayed Its Fans



How Hip-Hop Music Lost Its Way and Betrayed Its Fans

                Brent Staples shows his disgust for the way rap music is now a days right off the start of his article.  He also talks about racism and says, “The most poisonous one defines middle-class normalcy and achievement as “white,” while embracing violence, illiteracy and drug dealing as “authentically” black.”  His whole article is mainly about how rap music today is mostly about being drug dealers, being in gangs, having shootouts with other gangs, and insulting rival artists.  You can tell from the title of the article that he has negative views towards this subject.

                Brent Staples names some rappers that have been killed in shootouts and they are Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G.  He also mentions one other artist that writes almost all of his songs about dealing drugs and insulting other artist and raising the tension as well, and that would be none other than 50 cent.  50 cent or Curtis Jackson III released a new record and named it The Massacre.  Mr. Staples writes, “The Massacre promotion raises the ante in a most destructive way.  New artists, desperate for stardom, will say or do anything to win notice –and buzz—for their next projects.  As the trend escalates, inner-city listeners… are being fed toxic diet of rap cuts that glorify murder and make it seem perfectly normal to spend your life in prison.”  The way he writes so negatively about the rap music you can tell he thinks that it will eventually get out of hand and it will become unacceptable to the public.

At The United Center an Upsetting Loss

At The United Center an Upsetting Loss

 

                This last weekend I went to see a Chicago Bulls basketball game at the United Center in Chicago.  I was excited to go since I had not gone to see one since 2006.  My younger cousin came with my dad and me and it was his first time ever going to an NBA basketball game so I was glad that he was able to come with us.  We left early in the morning on a charter bus from Peoria Illinois to get to Chicago, we arrived at the United Center (that is where the Bulls play at) around 1 o’clock in the afternoon.  The game did not start till 3 so we went and had some lunch before the game. 

                When we finally got into the stadium we had a little trouble finding our seats, but some press person helped us out.  We were in the third section up and were right behind one of the baskets.  There was a little bit of time before the game was going to start so we went and looked all around the United Center and we found a gift shop were my cousin bought a new hat and got his picture taken in front of championship trophies.  As the game started, I unfortunately found out that my favorite and best player on the Chicago Bulls team was not going to play because he had an injury.  Derrick Rose was out with back spasms and without his leadership; the bulls were down 22 to 3 in the middle of the first quarter.  The second quarter was not much better, going into halftime the Bulls were down by 14 points!  

                During the second half of the game the Bulls made a few runs and got within 7 points, but Deron Williams, the point guard and team leader of the New Jersey Nets, out did all their efforts.  He had 29 points in the game and 7 assists.  Before this game, the Nets only had 6 wins and the Bulls had the best record in the NBA, but without Derrick Rose out on the court the Bulls failed to win the game. 

                I was disappointed that the Bulls lost and that I did not get to see my favorite player play, but I also felt good for getting to go to the game at all.  Even though things did not turn out the way I thought things were going to me and my younger cousin both managed to have a good time.  In addition, for the loss, we will see who is the last team standing holding the Championship trophy at the end of the season.

               

What's Up Doc? A Bloody Outrage, That's What

What’s Up Doc?  A Bloody Outrage, That’s What.    

                Katherine Ellison writes about how violence in shows can make younger kids and teenagers more violent and aggressive.  She goes on a rant about the internet cartoon called Happy Tree Friends, and how young children should not be watching shows like it.  If smaller children are watching shows like these that have so much violence and no penalty some of the kids may start to think it is okay for them to act in the same way, monkey see monkey do.

  The details that Katherine gives are supported well enough so that we as an audience know that she is a credible source.  Ironically, the whole point of the flash cartoon was to show the negative side of media aggression and help stop it.  Katherine was able to get in contact with the producer John Evershed, who happens to have 3 children of his own.  When asked if he would let his own children watch the flash cartoon he said no, but he also argued that the show was harmless and is closely related to Tom and Jerry.  Quickly Katherine writes about how Tom and Jerry is indeed much different from Happy Tree Friends.  She starts with saying that Tom and Jerry “had creativity, with surprising plot twists and a richly emotive score… Routinely, Tom attacks Jerry and is punished for his aggression.”

 The understanding of free internet usage and that everyone is equal to the same rights is something that the author agrees with, and also that parents have the responsibility to prevent their kids from watching shows that have bad influences.  She goes far and wide to find information about this subject and works hard to get in contact with some people who are putting shows like this one out there; Katherine is clearly against the idea of all this violence so close to the hands of children but for now she leaves us with two suggestions.  “Why can’t summer camps and afterschool programs more closely supervise internet use?  And why can’t Kaiser and other big companies start crafting contracts that specifically stipulate that their ads never, ever end up on sites like Happy Tree Friends.”

Anderson Silva best fighter at middleweight

Anderson "The Spider" Silva is most definitely the most dominating fighter in the middleweight weight class.  There is no one who capable of beating him right now, he's just too good for the other fighters at that weight class.  For him to get a real challenge he would have to go up a weight class to 205 which is light heavyweight.  He has already shown that he can compete at 205 by beating some very good opponents at that weight class.  Silva has defended his championship title for 9 straight fights now, which is a UFC record i might add.  Every fighter that has been put to the test of fighting him in the octagon has failed.  He only has four total career losses and one of them he redeemed himself by defeating the guy next time they fought.  I think that he should fight some more in the light heavyweight class so he can try to contend for that championship title as well.  The champion at 205 is Jon "Bones" Jones and he is a very talented fighter with only one career loss.  Those two fighters going against each other for the light heavyweight championship of the world would be a extremely good fight that no MMA fan would want to miss.  There is no doubt that Anderson Silva is the best fighter at middleweight or that he could possibly contend for the championship at light heavyweight, and anyone who disagrees can just go watch some of his fights and they will most likely change their minds.