Classic Style

Courtesy of the couturealist

I plan on looking like this in old age. Simply dressed yet stylish. Content with life, and confident I have left my mark.

Success

I just want to be successful, is now a cliche statement. It has been bastardized by the youth of America because of one Aubrey Graham (drake to those who aren't familiar). My definition of success does not match up entirely with Mr Grahams. He desires fine automobiles and well endowed harlots, I would like to be a business man who works to live rather than live to work. Don't get me wrong I am not against fast cars or phat asses, but I don't consider them fundamentally important to my success.

Success to me is about having the ability to make decisions in life without basing them on fiscal restraints. It's about being able to do the things you really want without having to worry about your account balance the next day. Some people need to make millions of dollars a year to do this, others a little less. I'm a simple man, some nice cooked food and some nice clean draws would suffice, along with a a nice family, a weekend home, and one or two of those automobiles Mr Graham speaks of.

Your Cartoons Suck

The other day I was watching cartoons with my little brother, and I had the sudden urge to take a trip down memory lane. This short trip lead me down a rabbit hole that put me in the land of cartoons past. I found my self in a land inhabited by kids at recess led by the greatest leader of all time T.J. Detweiler. There was a girl named PepperAnn talking to this kid named Doug, he had his best friend Sketter (pause) with him. Behind them was a kid with a football shaped head named arnold. In the corner were the adults Miss Finster and principal Prickley exchanging notes.

I also saw this ratty looking kid named Randall taking notes. After long deliberation I've come to the conclusion Randall was the first snitch we all encountered. Till today I know a couple of Randalls.

If you grew up with a tv in your home...all those names I just rattled off have significant meaning to you. Those names probably represent some of your first heroes and villians. These people helped us identify the difference between good and bad when we were children as much as our parents did. Our young incocent minds had very little to worry about and very little to process.

When I look at the cartoons, shows, and movies coming out it seems like the bad one's outnumber the good. Of course I am loooking at this as a grown man but I would like to think 90 percent of todays cartoons would not have made it onto one saturday morning. Maybe 75 percent of the tv shows would have made it unto SNICK when All That was All That. I guess all good things must come to an end.

The end of these shows not only signaled the end of an era it also signaled the end of our childhood.

Hiatus

Been Gone for some time...life called and I had to answer. Between winding down summer and getting my first apartment. I've not really had the time to blog like I should. I was writing but never had the time to put it up. My blackberry and ipod are filled, so I will be doing a lot of updating.

I have developed a habit of taking photos in sepia mode on my blackberry. It makes the most normal things look cooler in my opinion. Here is a look through the summer photo wise

Friends

The effort or kindness of another human being is an immeasurable commodity that's too volatile to pin hopes on. Some will say life is not really like this, but their being unreal with themselves. Every single friendship is essentially a set of exchanges, a social contract of some sort.

The quality of each friendship we have is determined by the evenness of these exchanges along with their frequency. Great friends have learned how to strike the perfect equilibrium, in bad friendships the scale is uneven. I dare you to exam every one of your friendships and see if this is not relevant. Man is not altruistic, when it comes down to it self preservation is the choice of the masses. There are those who transcend this, but they are few and far between.

Today I lost a friend because the scale of our friendship got broken beyond repair, the unevenness of the scale become unbearable. I'm not the type to hold grudges I wish the man well in all his present and future endeavors, but we just can not remain friends. There are some people you just can't be friends with.

Toronto The Good

Ontario College of Art & Design

For the past three months or so I have been obsessed with Toronto for some reason. I have spent a considerable amount of time learning and researching about this beautiful city to the north, before this year is over, I have made a personal promise to spend a weekend (shooting for August or September) in the city that produced Aubrey Graham. Graham is not the inspiration for my sudden interest in this beautiful city to the north, the stunning architecture is the focus of my fascination. Toronto earns it's nickname of the city that works, because it's architecture simply works.

The Royal Ontario Museum looks like something out of the Jetson's.

Nothing looks out of place in Toronto, from Frank Ghery's Deconstructiveism renovation of The Art Gallery of Ontario to the classic Chateau-style design of The Fairmont Royal York. In case you're not familiar with Mr. Ghery's work, he tried to collaborate with Jay-Z on the superfutureistic Nets Stadium, but apparently Mr. Carter and company could not afford his original design. It's tough balling on a budget, I feel you Jay we're reading from the same book, page, paragraph, and sentence. I had to include something "black", I am the Happy Black man after all.

Art Gallery of Ontario..check out the stair case and attached building...sick

Along with the great architecture also comes the cultural and social scene of a city that can easily be compared to that of New York City. New York has it quirky neighborhoods like Tribeca, The Meatpacking District, and SOHO, Toronto also has comparable areas such as The Distillery District, The Garden District, and Harbourfront. When I venture north I plan to take in all these wonderful sights and hopefully enjoy the hospitality that Canadian women are apparently known for.

Royal Distillery District..Old warehouse district turned hipster paradise.

The New Normal of Hip Hop

A change has occurred in hip hop, a paradigm shift has removed popularity from the hands of gun totting lyrics to the poignant and heartfelt lyrics of the newest breed of MC's that are flooding the iPods of young people all over America. The work of artists such as Drake, Kid Cudi, J. Cole, K'naan, Wiz Khalifa, and my Nigerian brother Wale has spurred a new era of hip hop, that embraces the highs and lows faced by youth in affluent neighborhoods to the hood.This new generation is so deep that I had to leave out a few names for the sake of time.

These artists are talking about age old issues facing youth everywhere (self identification, the opposite sex, drugs, and friendship). They're fan bases are not built on traditional platforms (Radio) they are able to engage fans in ways they're predecessors could have never imagined. It is very hard to hear a Wiz Khalifa track on radio outside of Pittsburgh, yet he dominated twitter for days with the release of his mixtape Kush and Orange Juice.

With the advent of social resources such as Twitter and Facebook, these new artists bring you along as they move up. I recently had a conversation with a female friend of mine, she took pride in the fact that she was one of the early fans of K'naan on Facebook. To her this was a point of pride that increased her affinity to the artist in some sort of way.

This sense of affinity is at the heart of the movement of this new school of artists. Not only does it seem like they are accessible they're lyrics increases this sense of closeness with the listener. All the gentlemen in the above mentioned group could easily be someone you hang out, they're not all your classic leading men, they're just guys who rap about real shit that real people deal with.

Drake had a song on a mixtape called say whats real. Here's a short excerpt "Boy in my city I'm da 2-3 Drug dealers live vicariously through me". Seriously 5 years ago there is no way a rapper would include the word vicariously in a song, and still be able to sell 400,000 copies in the first week. It is a very different climate right now. Maybe it's the depression and the subdued economic activity, but people don't want to only hear about popping champagne, they want you to commiserate with how they avoid the bill collector (J.Cole- Dollar and a Dream) or how they can't get the girl they want so badly (Wale- Diary).

These rappers not only cover conscious issues, they also make good old fashioned ass shaking music (Wale- Pretty Girls, Kid Cudi- Make Her Say, Drake- Best I Ever Had). They've been able to marry the youths need for rebellion along with their need to be entertained, understood and of course party.

The New Nigerian

There's a new breed of Nigerians and I confirmed the discovery this morning. I did not make a physical discovery it was a mental one. As I was tweeting my life away this morning (vacation) I had an exchange with a friend of mine who happens to be from another tribe. In our conversation he greeted me in the manner that is customary of my language, and he proceeded to carry out small talk in my language.

It was a light hearted exchange that made me come to this realization. Based on his twitter name (Edoboy) and previous tweets, anyone would guess that this guy is proud of what side of the country his allegiances lie. However he is able to take that aside and embrace the culture of someone not affiliated with his people.

This is the kind of thing that gives this new generation of Nigerians a chance at changing the country and the world. We have grown up either in the west or for those in Nigeria were constantly exposed to those romanticized ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity . It can be argued that these western ideals might erode traditional beliefs and culture, but that's a topic for another day.

The new Nigerian is someone who understands and values his distinct cultural background, however he is able to step into the 21st century to understand, appreciate, and take interest in the culture of his fellow countrymen. Tribalism definitely is not dead, but I like to think the lines are beginning to blur slowly but surely.

The new Nigerian is at ease in his home village as he is with someone from another tribe or even his contemporaries abroad. The person of low mentality that Fela (if you're not familiar , get familiar asap) spoke of in his song ITT, still holds prominence in the Nigerian social structure, however his days are numbered. The new Nigerian will eventually take his place at the table and ask for a fair shake. This is already occurring at the grass roots level.

A prominent example of this is a gentleman who is organizing a movement to light up Nigerian. With the use of social media he has sparked a grass roots effort that has galvanized people at home and in the diaspora to task the Nigerian government with supplying basic power needs. I admire the work of Amara Nwanpaka (@bubsun) and others like him because they are bringing light (no pun intended) to issues that affect us all.

The new Nigerians are ladies and gentleman, however that is cast aside when it comes to the issue facing the nation. They are mad as hell and won't take it anymore.

Success vs Failure...The Role of Friends

The other day I was driving to school in Baltimore. As I was getting off 83 to make my way to class I saw 2 different homeless people. One of them was a white gentleman and the other was a black gentleman. They both had signs that explained their plight. The white guy was a homeless war vet, the other was a diabetic. At the moment I saw those two men the following thoughts flashed into my head. How did they get here and where are they're friends?

I was fortunate enough to have a few dollars and some food in the car. I was happy that I was able to help them out with a little something. My few dollars and orange juice (burger king breakfast) were not going to alleviate him of his homelessness or the diabetes that plagued him. This was just a stopgap in a life that has probably been plagued by failure, poverty, disappointment, and maybe even depression.

As I sat in class I wondered, at one point in time this person had a roof over their head, maybe three square meals a day, and maybe even friends and loved ones that cared for them. I wondered how they're situation would have mutated over the years. One has to wonder how these two guys lives became so socially eroded. At what point does it occur to their friends and that this person is homeless. I cant help but think slowly but steadily these two guys were pushed completely out of the mind of they're friends and loved ones.

It is human nature to celebrate success and good fortune, however failure is shunned. Most people might say they don't do this but look at your friends and the people you hang out with, they look like you (in my case Nigerian, unreasonably handosome or pretty, business or professional ambitions). The man's former friends can't really be blamed for his state because in the end we are all responsible for our own actions. Who's to say the mans friends did not make efforts to help him reroute his life and he declined.

The skeptic in me thought alcohol and drugs were most likely the catalyst's to this man's situation, but instead hope in the goodness of man triumphed over the pessimism of his failures.

Tiger Woods: Free the guy

The Tiger woods situation is a very simple one. He liked having sex, he had a lot of it with a lot of people who were not his wife. He said he had a sex addiction and is trying to make amends. He is seeking help and trying to move forward. We all mistakes and most of the time nobody will find out because we are not celebrities or in the public eye I think Theodore Roosevelt sums up my felling about this whole thing.

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

http://www.cnn.com/video/flashLive/live.html?stream=stream1&hpt=T1