In case you didn’t know, it’s real out here in these streets. At any time, it could pop off in the Whole Foods parking lot. What you know about riding around with trash bags in the Prius, just in case you have to dump a body off… or recycle? Pusha man soliciting drugs? Wrong… wrong! How about a man with a push-pen & a clipboard, soliciting signatures for petitions?
Either they don’t know, don’t show, or don’t care about what’s going on in the ‘burbs.
In New York, a young college student wakes up to get ready for work. He lives on campus, but his job is in another borough. Leaving his dorm, he walks a couple of blocks down to the subway to take metro. During his commute to work, he spends most of his time walking and riding the train. Earphones, in his ear, he listens to an assortment of rap songs with hard drums, samples, and airy beats that give leeway for the emcee on the song to speak to him. During his long commute, he wants to listen to every detail.
In Texas, a group of guys are getting ready to go out for the night. One of the hot spots around town is a local club where most of the fun happens outside in the parking lot. Groups of people ride slow, cruising the parking lot like an amateur car show is taking place. The prowess of the ride, from the rims, to the sound, is what’s on full display. The group of guys gather in an old Caprice that looks like it was made in 2011, but was actually made in 1987. As they make the commute from the freeway to the club, they listen to an assortment of raps songs with 808 kick drums, soulful samples that sound like 70’s band covers, heavy bass, and catchy melodies for the songs’ choruses. The sound is the soundtrack for the night.
In California, a group of guys are riding around. The California weather is just perfect enough for the driver to let the top back on his Impala. Riding past palm trees, shops, and pretty women, the prowess of the ride is what’s on full display. Blasting from the stereo is an assortment of rap songs with funk samples, heavy bass, and catchy melodies. The music is aggressive, yet laidback.
What am I getting at?
The culture of a region dictates the type of hip hop that is popular in that region.
As far as hip hop goes, not one coast or region is necessarily better. Good music is good music. But maybe the cultures of our regions influence the taste for that region. On the East Coast, people don’t spend as much time in their cars. Everything is always on the move. When things finally do slow down, then it’s a time to take in everything around you, including the music. In the South, we spend most of our time in our cars. It’s one of the reasons why Southern music and West Coast music have such similar sounds. Both of our cultures are laidback. ]
This doesn’t mean that Southerners prefer beats over lyrics, or that East Coast listeners need everything to be deep. It doesn’t mean that West Coast listeners have a particular preference. I’m of the mindset, “To each his own.”
I just know that when I’m on my way to kick it, I want to listen to something with heavy bass, an 808 drum with a kick harder than Habanero, a hook that sets the mood for the debauchery I’m about to get into, with misogynistic lyrics that aren’t outright vulgar, but poetically intertwined with the music in such a way that it’s tastefully vulgar.
And I want you to hear it from a block away.
How do you like the majority of your music? Do you prefer catchy or deep lyrics? Do you prefer wittiness or something that draws emotion?
Just when you thought Facebook was on stage four of the five-stages of the social network life cyle (RIP Blackplanet, College Club, and Myspace), ol’ Zuck had a trick up his sleeve to further delay the inevitable. *Recently it was announced that Skype will be integrated into Facebook, allowing users to make video calls to their friends.
*This move by Facebook was a direct move to counter the announcement of Google Plus. Google Plus is Google’s new social networking product, which has been getting pretty good reviews even though it hasn’t been officially released yet.
What does this mean? Video calls and chats will become more common than voice calls. We’re officially in the age of The Jetsons. Now that we’ve arrived, what are some ways that video chatting can contribute to the greater good (or evil)?
1) Long distance relationships – People have already been using Skype, but Facebook has 750 million users. With the ability to video chat on a whim, an extra 6 months to a year can easily be added to the expiration date of a long distance relationship.
2) Online dating – It’s no secret that people use Facebook to hook up. Now, you can actually talk to someone face-to-face before ever deciding to meet up. By next year, the term, “virtual first date,” will be heard and used everywhere.
3) Cheating – There is a dark side to the force. Nuclear energy can be used for a lot of good things. It can also be used to annihilate entire cities in the form of a missile. With that said, please believe that people are going to use video chatting to cheat and creep around on their significant others.
4) Employment – More and more companies are using social networking to market, recruit, and hire new employees. Looking to relocate to a job in another state? No problem. We can interview you via video and still have the same experience as sitting face-to-face. Just don’t stand up and let us know you’ve been sitting in your draws the whole time.
5) Fan Interactions – Celebs could hold contests where the lucky fan could win the opportunity to chat face-to-face with their favorite celebs. This could definitely be a good marketing tool to promote a movie, album, single, book, etc.
What are some other ways that video chatting on Facebook could help or hurt?
If you’re confused about all of the talk in the news about debt ceilings, taxes, government shutdowns, and what not, no need to worry about what it all means. Here at The Cool Table, we’ll explain it simple and plain:
1) In 2001 we decided to cut taxes on the wealthiest Americans.
2) September 11 happened. Then we decided to go to war. Wars costs lots of money.
3) Two wars and a financial bailout later, it’s time to pay the piper. The thing is, we’ve reached the limit on what we can borrow. No more can be borrowed unless we raise the “debt ceiling,” or limit on what we can borrow. It’s similar to you calling your credit card company and asking them to raise the limit on your Visa card.
4) Our government runs on a budget. In order to pay for things, we need money. If the “credit limit” isn’t increased, then we can’t pay for things, much less make payments on what we already owe. So we have to borrow more money, bring more money in, and stop spending on certain things.
5) Traditionally, Democrats believe in using revenue from taxes to pay for things. Traditionally, Republicans believe in lower taxes, in hopes that those who hold most of the wealth will use the tax savings to do things like create jobs, invest, etc. With more jobs, then you have more people paying taxes. With more investing, you can tax money made from investments rather than incomes. Hopefully, that would offset money not coming in from income taxes.
6) We can’t really agree on which approach is best, so we argue, give long speeches, debate, and accuse each other on TV. Oh, and some of the people in charge who hold elected positions are afraid of not being re-elected. Therefore, they hold on to traditional beliefs regardless of how it will affect the country.
There you have it! Now that you know, what do you think the best approach is?
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The Conference Call (4 points of view) - A four person commentary on race, economic, and political issues, locally, nationally, and globally, conducted by young professionals from widely varied backgrounds (2 white, 2 black, 2 conservative, 2 more liberal).
