My Reflection of Pharrell's In My Mind

In 2006 Pharrell released a great album amongst other great albums by other great artist like Jay-Z, Ghostface, The Clipse, Nas, Game, Lupe Fiasco, The Roots, Busta, T.I., Ludacris (whose album Pharrell was on “Release Therapy” and it also took the Best Rap Album in the 2007 Grammys) etc. That year even saw an epic release from Kevin Federline. Okay maybe K-Fed (Britney Spear and Shar Jackson’s baby’s daddy) also known as the white rapper no one really remembers didn’t released anything nearly worth paying with fire. Even among those titles, Pharrell’s album "In My Mind" stood tall with stand out singles, the Gwen Stefani featured "Can I Have It Like That," and just as well as the Michael Jackson vocally mirroring single “Number One” with a very boastful and complimenting Kanye verse. The videos as well were celebrated not for its release but for its appearance, the cinematic pyros in the street behind Skateboard P, the very clean-cut combo of Pharrell and Kanye on balconies with bright hues animated in behind them. Don’t forget the other two standalone singles “That Girl” featuring Snoop Dogg with Charlie Wilson singing along with them and his bright feel good solo single “Angel.”

The features on the album are a story in itself all of whom he has worked with recently around that time, such as Gwen Stefani where she and him got together for her first solo single “Hollaback Girl” for her album “Love.Angel.Music.Baby.” As well as Lauren London who was in his video for “That Girl.” Or some who worked together on numerous hit records together (i.e. Jay-Z they’re connected through “I Just Wanna Love U” among others hits, Pusha T who was signed to Pharrell and Chad Hugo’s Star Trak label as a member of The Clipse). This was the same year Pharrell as half of the Neptunes had executive produced two albums for their Star Trak Entertainment label, Slim Thug’s “Already Platinum” and The Clipse’s long delayed “Hell Hath No Fury.” Pharrell stayed busy leading up to the release of “In My Mind” with the prequel mixtape leading up to the actual album which is what most artist do now more common then ever. The mixtape was titled after the album “In My Mind: The Prequel” it was apart of the Gangsta Grillz series hosted by DJ Drama. It featured T.I., Young Dro, Ab Liva, Twista and Star Trak’s artists Clipse and Fam-Lay. Listening to all of the work Pharrell had done around the time of the album it could’ve been a completely different monster had he spent just 3-6 more months minimum working on “In My Mind.”

It’s exciting to think that Pharrell intertwined who he was, who he was around and who he was becoming into that album. He rapped with the confidence of someone who had lived all of those life experiences, most of which could be believable if he had not let it be known that it was just a story quickly thereafter. Listen to his crack rap storytelling through the first verse of “Show You How to Hustle,” he even paints the vision of the drug dealer’s dream in the chorus, “so we can sip wine and eat a bundle of truffles,” if that’s not the good life that Reakwon and Jay-Z were rapping about before they became veterans in the rap game I don’t know what is. In My Mind was soaked with the bravado of a sex symbol which Skateboard P had became leading up to the album, being seen crooning in between verses rappers like Nelly and spitting a few hard bars beside The Clipse would only help his look as a sex symbol. Take it from Ma$e you can be a sex symbol who sings for the ladies and the goons too.

Believe it or not Jay-Z and Kanye aren’t the only ones that tackled the sub-genre of Luxury Rap. Before The Thrones, Swizz Beatz gave us One Man Band Man in 2007, Pharrell’s In My Mind was the precursor to those in the last decade possibly the first. Pharrell was not only rapping about the dream life of any living man from the wine sipping to lounging in the company of models and celebrities. Throughout How Does It Feel and Raspy Shit Pharrell’s bragging about living a life like B.I.G. was going for in “Juicy,” but on the same hand Pharrell was encouraging you to meet him at your place of success in “You Can Do It Too.” The difference of B.I.G. and Pharrell’s raps is the fact that we know Pharrell’s means can reach the extent that he’s rapping. That’s the difference between what was all a dream to B.I.G. and the Luxury raps of Pharrell.

As braggadocio as most of In My Mind is, whether he’s talking about himself, his women or what’s in his reach, Pharrell showcases his rap prowess and how easy it is to rap from the most cliché perspectives while speaking on those who sell the dream they don’t live.

Below are a few recent songs that’ll show Skateboard P hasn't a step,

Here's a list of a few more you can find around the web:
CRS “Don’t Stop”

A$AP Rocky “Pretty Flaco Remix”

Rick Ross “MMG The World Is Ours”

Mike Posner “IDGAF”

Article: It Feels a Lot Like 1995

It Feels a lot like 1995

It feels a lot like 1995 for the wrestling community, minus the booming of new competitions like ECW & WCW for the mainstay sports entertainment company that is WWE. Before the official start of the “Attitude Era” it was the beginning of something new to heighten the social relevance of wrestling to pop culture. It was live tapings with colorful characters that you either wanted to be like or be with. This was a first in wrestling, prior to televised wrestling good looking and desirable men (and now slowly introducing more women) were far and few between. While most of the wrestlers of the 80’s looked more like Dusty Rhodes, their weren’t many that looked like Flair and the Four Horsemen, but that was a time when it was mainly just about the sport of wrestling with most women being valets or eye candy.

Live televised wrestling changed a lot of the traditions, they were competing with everything on TV not just other wrestling companies. Jumping into the sports entertainment world you have to be ready for the vapidity of the industry, and they with such pretty faces and attractive bodies that front-lined for the their company like DX, NWO, Sting, Flair, etc. Like controversy, sex sells (that’s something that needs to be added to the Laws of Attraction) and during the late 90’s and early 2000’s there was a lot of it, possibly more than necessary. But we’re neither here nor there, this is about the comparisons between now and the months before WWE transition into the Attitude and the appearance of WCW and NWO. If there was no NWO there would be no Monday Night Wars and/or DX. Now for nothing more than conversation I offer the hypothetical of: If there had not been a striving competitor like the WCW where would WWE had gone next if there wasn’t a strong enough competition? Possibly straight to the PG Era that we are in now.

WWE once had a striving competitor in TNA, and with recognition they were able to change itself for a signature look. In it’s most popular life form they had the UFC styled, six-sided ring and the star power for the video game (only after the first), but that ship may have sailed as they continue with the lackluster gimmicks. The non-believable, but very athletic talent doesn’t quite even itself out in the game of Pros vs. Cons. TNA had a lot of star power, but didn’t showcase it, nor did they capitalized off of it to the best of their ability. If either TNA shapes up enough to compete with the mainstream visibility and likability of the WWE since they already have some great talent. Or another company that’s under the NWA umbrella looks to compete with the powerhouse that is WWE.

A lot can be done with televised wrestling to be catapulted into the mainstream like it once was, just as much that can be done with the WWE to send them into the next era of wrestling for better or worst. Life is a cycle and until we see something new again from televised wrestling whether from WWE or elsewhere we’ll stay in this stagnant, slow moving PG era and keep seeing everything that we’ve seen before that may not have been able to work before.

Day 1 of the Lupe Fiasco Show at Irving Plaza

With an extensive list of openers Lupe Fiasco had two well-known performers heading the bill along side him. First was Mickey Factz musically some would know for being part of Lupe’s All City Chess Club collective, a XXL nod by being named one of their Freshmen Class of 2009, then changing his name to Mickey MauSe. Non-musically he would be known for being in the wrong place, at the wrong time with Joe Budden while Joe was recording one of his many joebuddentv blogs as Raekwon would walk in and approach Joe about a “problem.” Last would be Stalley, of Rick Ross’ label MMG, known from appearing on each of the MMG Self Made compilation albums, and many other albums since 2008.

Mickey surprised with the crowd with his well put together song sampling the former half of Erykah Badu’s “Out My Mind, Just In Time” and in turn luring Lupe out the back stating, “Every time I perform this song my brother Lupe comes out to see me do my thang to this song. If y’all wanna see Lupe jump on the remix with me and Erykah make some noise.” And without hesitation the crowd went nuts and even more so as Lupe came out. He pranced around as Mickey Factz finished off the hook, which gave Lupe enough time to muster up enough thought to spit something for a quick freestyle to the same track. Lupe then left Mickey Factz to finish up his set in exchange for two slightly dressed beautiful women.

Stalley had the crowd in a trance as he performed songs off of his Honest Cowboy mixtape and Savage Journey to the American Dream as well. He controlled the movement of the mixed crowd who were either rapping along with him or bouncing to the strong bass of the beat. Let there had been seats in Irving Plaza last night and this had been a Ryan Gosling film the room would have been filled with people on the edge of their seats waiting for his next move.

Before Lupe came on the stage is set black and his sister Baba comes on reminiscent of the last two albums of her brother’s that’s she’s on (inciting the full room of Lupe fans to roar the loudest of the so far) to promote the Lupe Fiasco Foundation as well as the merchandise outside of the auditorium. Moments later ITAL begins and so does the video on the huge screen in the back of the stage as Lupe Fiasco walks onstage dressed in attire all black everything a slightly over bedazzled snapback, a mesh football jersey that read New York in the front and DROGAS on the back.


Lupe's set included:

ITAL (Roses)
Put Em Up
Lamborghini Angel
Around My Way (Freedom Ain’t Free)
Intermission into Words I Never Said
Old School Love
Out My Head
Bitch Bad
Intermission into Always Shine
Kick Push
Hip-hop Saved My Life
Intermission into RIPs and showing Stack bundles love/could’ve saved their lives
Go-Go Gadget
Intermission Lupe brought out Dosage
SLR 2
Intermission The rappers freestyle set Lupe big ups D1 then snatches his mic Crack
Superstar
Show Goes On
Drizzy’s Law
Paris Tokyo
Daydreamin’

Too Passionate and Too Easily Angered! thats the only way to get things started and finished

I'm angry nothing significant happened to upset me I just started to think (that's trouble if know me and If I have a crowd.) walking to while listening to some music nothing angry I won't say whom but it got to thinking. While I had M&M's in my hands and I stopped at a traffic light and greeted someone who was already waiting for the light to change I looked into his eyes. That split second I thought to myself what makes him different from George Zimmerman and me from Trayvon Martin it cant be the clothes although I have on a sweater with no hood but it is grey and I am eating candy but not Skittles. As I cross the street still notice no difference I’m young and I’m black in a sweater with candy with a blank expression on my face, no look of no stereotype there unless you want it to be. I keep on walking and yet another thought pops up into my mind this case being so publicized what have the Skittle company have to say about this the Arizona Tea company.

With all the money that they have received from the case whether it was purposely there should be a respect factor but what would they say? "I'm sorry for your lost." I guess the point I'm trying to make is they can become an ally if people knew how to work together and work at taking over something as opposed to yelling the loudest about anything sadly money speaks louder than words and it is more respect. We have to learn how to work together all over again with different views but the same problem.

These are just my thought on a lost race.