Friday, January 16, 2015

Soul Food

This is Big Krit on Jimmy Fallon, he's one of my favorite rappers and in my opinion he is the best in the game right now

Crown

My spoken word from last week





Crown - Google Docs


This is Eyedeas Freestyle on sway its insane

Mixpate


You can find the link to my mixtape Here
This was Phife Dawg (member of A Tribe Called Quest) response to J Dilla's 8 years later
This is the J Dilla Interview i showed for my show and tell hes one of the worlds best producers yet unfortunately he had an untimely passing
This is a song by Logic called "All I Do" he is a young but intelligent rapper.
This is a cool freestyle by Childish Gambino. It's really intresting how he can rap off the top of his head like it's nothing.
This video shows you Yo Gotti's experiences in the hood.
This Video shows how Drake makes his music and his collabrations.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Decades Mixtape (2000s)

(analyses credited to Sameer)
Public Service Announcement (Jay Z)This is one of the standout songs on Jay Z’s album The Black Album

A Milli (Lil Wayne)Lil Wayne got the inspiration from this song from Senator Everett Dickinson as he once said “A million here, a million there , and pretty soon you’re talking real money.”

Empire State of Mind (Jay Z)This song is about what it’s like to be in New York

In Da Club (50 Cent)this is the first of seven tracks that 50 cent recorded with Dr. Dre

The Real Slim Shady (Eminem)This song was funny and serious simultaneously

Forgot about dre (dr. dre, eminem)Dre is reminding his listeners that he didn’t fall off

Ms. Jackson (OutKast) Based on his real life struggle with Erika Badu

Gold Digger (Kanye West)Kanye examined the “gold digger” Phenomena


Ether (Nas)This song was a response to Jay-Z’s “Takeover”

Banksy

This was going to be my last show and tell, so I'm putting it on here instead. It's a video of the graffiti done by the anonymous artist Banksy in New York. A lot of his graffiti work is really cool and has a political message of some sort. Check it out!

Mr. Herman's playlist

Mix Tape

Here's my mix tape!

Mixtape

Check out my mixtape here. These are some of my favorite songs, so take a listen!

To Her First Love - Poem

“I love you.”
You will be the first one to tell her, and chances are high it will be said at random. It might even be over the phone, because you’re missing the one “month-aversery,” she planned. At that moment she will be waiting in her house, reapplying red to her lips and thinking about what 400-calorie entrée she deserves to order since she’s worked hard to fit into that dress.

She will hear your words and she will smile. She hasn’t heard them before. She hasn’t heard love before, she hasn’t known love before and she hasn’t believed in love before.

You will keep saying it and she will keep smiling and smiling and smiling and she will believe she will believe she will believe that you believe.

Then you will hang up.
You will hang up faster than you give your heart to her.
She will try to feel the words like her body tries to feel something from your hands when you are together.

On the night you tell her you love her she will hear the music behind you. She will hear the girls laughing and the clinking of glasses on the bar counter. She will hear the sound of people in love.

She pushed it out of her mind to replay your voice.
She forgot who you were.
Rather, what you were.
You didn’t know. You didn’t smile and you surely didn’t believe.

You are not a boyfriend. You are a boy.

My mixtape

My Mixtape! Including wonderful jams from J Cole to Alicia to Mary J. Blige (the queen) to Hozier and MJ. Enjoy!

My Mixtape - Kosta

My Mixtape
Track 1: How about now - Drake
Track 2: Sunday Candy - Chance the Rapper
Track 3: Monster - Meek mill
Track 4: Blessed - Schoolboy Q ft. Kendrick Lamar
Track 5: Hol' Up - Kendrick Lamar
Track 6: So High - Wiz Khalifa
Track 7: Actin' Crazy - Action Bronson
Track 8: M.O.M. (Mind on Money) - Young Thug ft. Rich Homie Quan
Track 9: Chain Smoker - Chance the Rapper
Track 10: About the Money - T.I. ft. Young Thug

This is my powerpoint/ mixtape. Check it out.

My Top Ten Songs Right Now

  1. Love Yourz- J. Cole


  1. G.O.M.D.- J. Cole

     1. Soul Foo D- Logic


  1. I’m Gone- Logic

  1. Sunday Candy- Chance The Rapper x The Social Experiment 


  1. Gang Related- Logic 


  1. Till The End- Logic


  1. Unstoppable- OCD: Moosh & Twist

  1. Closer- Mike Stud

  1. Luxury- Jon Bellion


Playlist

1.      I chose “03 Adolescence” by J. Cole as one of my top ten because even though it is fairly new. I feel that song for me is very relatable and I know exactly where he is coming from. Being young and always wanting the best of everything and prettiest girl just to be the “it” doing everything in your power to become noticed.

2.      Another song I chose was “Wet dreams” by J. Cole. This song deals with the reality of the world with starting something new, as kid growing up you will practice until you feel that you feel that it is right. In this song he is talking about having lying about having sex before when he was only doing that because he wanted to be with the “in” crowd.

3.      I chose 2pac “Dear Mama” in my top ten. Not only because it was a hit at one point because of the meaning behind the lyrics. He tells the story of him growing up with his mother and how much he appreciates what she has done for him. The rap is primarily focused on the appreciation he has for how his mother raised him even when his father passed away and through all the financial struggles they went through. The rap makes it clear that he has become who he is because of his mother and he is truly thankful of it.

4.      I chose “Many men” by 50 cent in my top ten. The reason I chose this is because growing up I was in era where 50 cent was the “it”. The all that people wanted to be the all people looked up in hip-hop the return of gangster rap. This particular song does not pertain to me but it has been my song since the 5 grade.

5.      I chose “You Must Love Me” by Jay-Z. This song has a significant meaning because Jay-Z when he was younger that describes several incidents he was involved in as a youth, that he later came to regret. Acts Such as selling crack to his own mother, using a young girl as a mule to carry cocaine, and shooting his own brother.

6. I chose Kayne West “Clique” I choose this because this is my favorite pregame song. It is just a song that forces you to realize that you are the best and no one can touch you and your brothers.

7. I chose I’m Different by 2 Chainz. This song I feel speaks to being okay with being different and nothing is wrong with that. There are different reasons to how you can express yourself by following in your own footsteps.

8. I chose Nas “N.Y State of Mind”American born New York City hip hop artist. His style reflects that of a critical commentary of both society and individuals themselves. In 1994 Nas released perhaps the most influential hip hop albums of all time in his debut album “Illmatic” containing many tracks that reflect the struggles of living in an urban society such as New York City. It is just flames to be honest.

9. I chose Beanie Sigel “Feel it in The Air” because I just feel that its saying be carful with what you choose because you never know what is going to happen next or who is watching and wanting you to drop off and do one thing wrong penalize you.


10.     I picked this song because it should that though they were fueds between Big and 2pac at the end of the day it was all love. “Who Shot Ya” by Biggie came out and 2pac thought it was directed towards him. Until the day Biggie died, he said that the song wasn't a diss towards 2pac. Not only are the lyric fire the back story is very interesting.

Witness to a Party in the Moonlight

As I am released into a foreign land
I am swarmed by people with skin as dark as mine
The sun beats and the air is thick
My journey has begun into the Mountain Nation

I gaze off the crusted peaks
Engulfed by tumbling mounds of green
The sun and moon do their trade  
While all the light completely fades

There may be no lights
Though night is still bright
A glow casts and the people dance away
Not because they like the beat
Not because they recently heard the song on the radio
Not because they idolize the way the artist looks
But because this music is their life, their soul
Houses, Money, Clothes, Cars all swallowed up in a bounce from the devil

They dance for Pride
The sheer power of what holds them together and keeps them dignified
When all else has been taken from them
They dance for Love
Not just Love in their friends and family but Love in their community
Love in their god, Love for their ancestors, and Love for their lost ones
They dance for joy
Joy that has not been polluted by expensive electronics or fancy clothes
Joy for this moment in time when they can come together as a community

Joy for today because in the Haitian Nation tomorrow might never come.

One Car Ride

It all happened so fast
Me and my brother given a task
Go pick up some groceries after class
Bored and drowsy we loaded the car
We were at a high stress and didn’t get far
We became lazy and took too long
Too busy drinking and smoking, wildin’ to song
“Aye Ron pass me the bong!”
It all happened so fast
One moment blinded by joy and pleasure wearing a mask
Then the next blood spilling upside down in the grass

 It all happened so fast

Women In Rap By: AJ and Kosta

This is our Presentation! https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1t9dCQz3jk2Z_f8FBOaPnbr8z0rg209lJAtVVcAehLQE/edit?usp=sharing
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZRSqTW_b8M9UjYFuUWjj3ENDrv-nRV4s

MUSIC VIDEO J-TERM - "JUICY"


J-TERM MUSIC VIDEO - "ON A TUESDAY"


Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Fallen Love - Poem

The very worst part about
Falling in love with something
Is when you let it engulf you completely
Drowning in it
Kicking and flailing wildly
While holding a life preserver
High over your head

When all that fits in the crooks of your brain
Is erased
Replaced by “what ifs” and “should haves”
No room for petty dreams
Only operations to perform blindfolded
Thrusting all your love into something
You forget yourself

It becomes the reason why
You rub your eyes so hard
And wish on every damn eyelash
That falls gently under them

Why you hold your breath
Every time the clasp kisses the charm on your necklace
Sliding it back into place
Murmuring under your breath

Why you wish your birthday came
Just one more time in twelve months
With the candles but not the age

Why you lost who you were
While trying to push your passion
At something that will never

Return the favor

Untitled

I build walls, they build fences
I assemble sturdy rooms out of concrete and brick and mortar
They loop barbed wire through crooked posts
I huddle against the sleet and the tundra winds
Care in every brick laid
Still I shiver
Then a caribou grunts
I see the silhouettes beyond the wire and pilings
And I run to them
Reach out
Press myself up against the wire
It cuts me
I press harder and harder as the barbs sink into my skin
Sob, “Let me in!”
But they just grunt and move away
I am alone
Hands bleeding, rip out the wire
Kick over the posts
Too late
Then the snow comes
Falling softly from a sky the color of the underbelly of a whale
Beached
It freezes the blood, buries the fence
And I wander on, lost
Hunting for mice
A slight thing I have become
Padding, light-footed, across the snow
The days are getting longer
Each one, I know is closer to the last
Every night I look up to the sky
Listen
Distantly, Orion and the wolves pin me with their gaze
Remind me who is holy here
Some day soon I shall find another valley, another plain
Another flat bit of tundra
And I shall stop
Gather river-stones and grit

And build

The sky fades but the streetlight outside my window shines strong

1
I’ve never been happier in my life than at 1 AM on a Tuesday—my best friend and I were lying in my room together, talking about all of the things yet to come. A new year had rolled over the hour before, and we’d watched the ball drop on television and listened to the loud booming noises my neighbors were making as they detonated firecrackers in their backyard. We didn’t have a clue about what was to come. We were just alone in my room with each other and our dreams. Part of me wishes I could go back to that night—full of possibility, without any of the mistakes I’ve made since then. I can still see the colorful explosions we saw that night when I close my eyes.
I’ve never been lonelier in my life than at 2 AM on a Saturday night when a friend and I were spilling our guts to each other over text and my phone died. My phone had been shining like a beacon in the dark leading me to whatever salvation my faith in another could possibly offer me. I almost didn’t understand what was happening when the battery finally died—but there it was. I was suddenly alone in my room again. The real reason I can’t ever put down my phone is not because I’m always bored on my own so much as that if I ever go off the grid and lose that constant connection to the rest of the world, I feel so certain that I’ll just drop off of it and be lost forever.
I’ve never been more terrified in my life than when I woke up at 3 AM on a Thursday with the feeling of pure panic that comes after a really rough nightmare. I have about one memorable nightmare a year—I’m generally blessed with pleasant sleep, but I can still remember the nightmare I had at seven where the people at school mummified a girl just to prove they could. This time, I had dreamed about a serial killer—always there, even though I didn’t see him coming for me till the end. I just sat there—unable to leave my bed because the shadows lurking everywhere would get me—I knew that for certain—they would attack me or hurt me somehow or maybe they weren’t shadows after all, maybe they were monsters, the same monsters I knew when I was a child. I’d forgotten but when I was really young there was a special monster who always went after me, looked kind of like snoopy replicated using a black sock, named something like “sooty,” and one night I was so tired of being afraid that I drew it out of the shadows and made friends with it. I’d lost that somewhere along the way—the memory, and the way I could just stop being afraid. Maybe this is why I sat on my bed that night, huddled against the shadows, absolutely still, my bedside light the only barrier between me and my fears. Maybe this is why as I get older and older, I get more and more scared and cut off from the world. Maybe it’s just that I’ve forgotten how to make friends with my monsters.
I’ve never made it to 4 AM.


2
1 AM on a Tuesday.
The new year rolled over, the ball dropped on television
Neighbors set off fireworks in their backyards
We were just alone
together
with our dreams
I can still see the colorful explosions when I close my eyes


2 AM on a Saturday
my phone died
I was suddenly alone in my room again
I felt so certain that I’d just drop off the world and be lost forever


3 AM on a Thursday
This time I had dreamed about a serial killer
I’d forgotten but when I was a child
there was a special monster
always went after me
I’d lost that somewhere along the way
Maybe this is why
As i get older and older
I get more scared and cut off
Maybe I’ve just forgotten
how to make friends with my monsters.


I’ve never made it to 4AM


3


I’ve never been happier in my life than at 1 AM on a Tuesday—my best friend and I were lying in my room together, talking about all of the things yet to come. A new year had rolled over the hour before, and we’d watched the ball drop on television and listened to loud booming noises my neighbors were making as they detonated firecrackers in their backyard. We didn’t have a clue about what was to come. We were just alone in my room with each other and our dreams. Part of me wishes I could go back to that night—full of possibility, without any of the mistakes I’ve made since then. I can still see the colorful explosions we saw that night when I close my eyes.
I’ve never been lonelier in my life than at 2 AM on a Saturday night when a friend and I were spilling our guts to each other over text and my phone died. My phone had been shining like a beacon in the dark leading me to whatever salvation my faith in another could possibly offer me. I almost didn’t understand what was happening when the battery finally died—but there it was. I was suddenly alone in my room again. The real reason I can’t ever put down my phone is not because I’m always bored on my own so much as that if I ever go off the grid and lose that constant connection to the rest of the world, I feel so certain that I’ll just drop off of it and be lost forever.
I’ve never been more terrified in my life than when I woke up at 3 AM on a Thursday with the feeling of pure panic that comes after a really rough nightmare. I have about one memorable nightmare a year—I’m generally blessed with pleasant sleep, but I can still remember the nightmare I had at seven where the people at school mummified a girl just to prove they could. This time, I had dreamed about a serial killer—always there, even though I didn’t see him coming for me till the end. I just sat there—unable to leave my bed because the shadows lurking everywhere would get me—I knew that for certain—they would attack me or hurt me somehow or maybe they weren’t shadows after all, maybe they were monsters, the same monsters I knew when I was a child, and I’d forgotten but when I was really young there was a special monster who always went after me, looked kind of like snoopy replicated using a black sock, named something like “sooty,” and one night I was so tired of being afraid that I drew it out of the shadows and made friends with it. I’d lost that somewhere along the way—the memory, and the way I could just stop being afraid. Maybe this is why I sat on my bed that night, huddled against the shadows, absolutely still, my bedside light the only barrier between me and my fears. Maybe this is why as I get older and older, I get more and more scared and cut off from the world. Maybe it’s just that I’ve forgotten how to make friends with my monsters.

I’ve never made it to 4 AM.