Allow Me to Re-Present: HollyWood

HollyWood

      Goon & a gentlemen/ G & a gangsta, HollyWood's compact mix-tape is concise, poignant & real. & When I say "real" I don't necessarily mean thug shit, although HollyWood would like you to know that @EastBrookFamily is just a group of dudes he grew up with -- who might also be known as "gutter muthaf*ckas" within the appropriate context.

@EastBrookFamily

At the end of the day, HollyWood is great. Period. Hymen. My rendezvous with the meticulously crafted 24:7 has been gross. Addicting. Not to mention, everyone should & do love his flava. [He's] coo-ler than re-friger-ators. Still, no matter the lighthearted punchlines in the middle of it all (which some might label his "swag" --but swag is a constant. We'll have to see, over time, if H's verses are "in line" with his character,) there remains an undeniable seriousness at the beginning and end of every line he spits. HollyWood won't let you can't escape him. The real. It's practically in the man's personal mission statement. Actually... more like literally: "Every hour an ear is exposed to garbage music.  Many are affected. Too many.  The pain these ears suffer is unimaginable.  Yet, their strength is so strong. EBF is a proud sponsor of real rap." -EBF. 

Just street life & instrumentals, he's said. Just being real HollyWood. 

Before we even begin, in short, my opinion is made:  Long live HollyWood, yo.

#GetFamiliar.

--Continue on for mix-tape music, review & download links.--

Drake vs J. Cole

Now, this is simply my opinion. My observation.

I see his hunger pains. I know his blood boils. He wanna roll with me. I know this kid'll be loyal.  

Jay-Z - "Coming of Age"

        People look for different things in the artists they'll deem their (most recent) favorite. This is a new era (not the fitted) where the youth are searching for a favorite rapper because they were too young buy Reasonable Doubt in 1996 much less anything else. The young BIG and Tupac fans' admiration seems to be sewn in a ground of respect.   In my experience, most current-day Young Money fans have a hard to time arguing why they weren't so quick to hop on Lil' Wayne during his "Wobble-dee - wobble-dee. Drop-drop it like it's hot" initial debut.


     Over the past couple of weeks, I've made it my duty to listen to both J.Cole's and Drake's complete works to date. For J.Cole, this is comprised of The Come Up (2007) (download), The Warm up (2009) (download), and Cole World (2010) (download).  Drake's works include....


        I initially started this post on August 4, 2010. As I wrote this, I think I was wiki'ing each artist. Then I realized how much music these guys have... I couldn't bring myself to write it all out. This is an era of mixtapes & these guys released one after the other with no remorse. Pirating music takes time. So, eventually, I downloaded it all & threw it all in my iTunes. I've been listening to it all... and it was tough to figure out what I felt until recently, when J Cole & Drake released a song together, "Hit it in the Morning." & as I wrote another post (I write like 5 at a time to get the ideas out), I felt it was a good time to elaborate on my preference.

        First & Foremost, J. Cole & Drake on one track isn't ridiculous? They're both infinitely talented. Equally hungry. And seem to be cut from the same cloth. They sound and kinda look... an awful lot alike. Neither are exactly heartthrobs. They're regular dudes... but I can see why one would admire such swag. Not to say I wouldn't date either... I would. But let's be honest. Now that they're famous, the money would matter. I can admit it. But it'd be the ambition and persona that would make me consider delving into "groupie" territory. NOTE: If you think the rest of this post is going to be based solely on their looks, feel free to use the [X] in the top corner of your browser. But just like you, I see with my eyes. I have to address my opinion in completion. 

Moving on. 

    J.  Cole and Drake share a demeanor that is something like that of a refined hustler. These boys ain't by-any-means-necessary hustlers... well Cole had his part of the streets, but he is a "College Boy". & He says it himself, "kill that ol' college gangsta shit. We dont believe." Besides, I heard from D.O. Vincent, writer of  UpInTheClouds.com, he had a 3.5 (I've been corrected. He had a 3.87. More brilliant than I thought.) outta St. John's. Both, Cole & Drake, have hustle in them in that they work hard in an, "I been up for four days, getting money both ways" way. They're work is crisp. Vocabularies pristine. Their flows are somewhat sung to you. Even the roughest of statements. There's a gritty edge to their pretty boy appearances which is received well by both males and females. My preference tho, is Cole... perhaps because I admire his intelligence. The simple fact that he is comfortable in his intelligence but didn't let that make him into a sucker.  I think this song right here is doing it for Cole. He needed this. Something radio-like. His work is incredible, but sometimes too heavy for today's radio. He's brutal. "I'm Raw..." he growls in "Winter Break."  [sidenote: Whatever Happened to Freestyling?] In my humble opinion, Drake does this same shit all the time. The talk to the girls & be emotional shit. I like that Cole has more than one side to him. Consistency seems false to me. Change is a natural attribute of the human species. Cole says shit like "All created equal looks like '≤' ("less than" or "equal to"). Depending on your race or depending on your address, man." That is where the old Hip-Hop resides within Cole vs Drake. Cole speaks for a people. When you have a voice, you should use it for the advantage of more people than yourself. Like Toni Morrison said, "The function of freedom is to free someone else."

I'm wise enough to know that know that money can't buy you happiness and lovers. But it's gone get my momma out the struggle, nigga.  J. Cole- Rags to Riches (At the Beep)

     Drake don't say shit. I'm not saying this makes him less "good". He's lyrically talented. He has a way with rhythm and wordplay that is rare. But he doesn't tackle many topics outside of himself. He talks a lot about what he knows which is the difficulty of coming into a lot of money in a little time. He speaks on his life. A lot of people, like... normal people, can't really connect to... unless they're pretend ballin out at the club... which is all people do these days. Pretend to make money. Pretend to have more than the next. Always on payday. The rest of the week, they're back in the struggle. I mean... Drake was a college boy, too.. but when I watched his "When I Was 17" on MTV, I immediately noticed how uncool he was. Poor Drake was a little cornball with lots of talent. No disrespect, he's nice now, but he looks like the kind of guy who can't dress himself. He's half lame & we all know it. He doesn't have any personal swag. All his swag is recorded on a mic. It's like that's all the swag he's got. Drake lacks presence on tracks. Which might be why both Jay and Rick Ross had him sing the hooks on their songs, "Off That" and "Aston Martin Music", respectively. I mean, Cole got a (pretty vicious) verse in on "A Star is Born". 

     This is where I think Hip-Hop has been lacking. In standing behind the struggle. In Jay-Z's "Decoded" there's a section about BIG's line in "Juicy" where he dedicates the song to "all the niggas in the struggle".  & That's real. It's  what Jay calls, "the ultimate story, the story of struggle, which is what defines us all." Drake doesn't have enough struggle for me. He's like DMC to me in that he "elevate[s...] humble life into something iconic" (p10). He can say day to day shit & make it sound cool. For example, he ended the line I used above from "Light Up" with "I could use a cup of O.J."  And we sang right along with the nothing-ness. Drake's a master of the love song and the party record. He has reinvented R&B and it's relation to Hip-Hop. Drake is Hip-Hop-and-R&B --in one.


Cole, though? My man speaks. And he makes me want to listen to every word he says. This man is vicious. This man is Hip-Hop.

#TeamJCole

The Staring Game: Gave My Number to a Rapper.

    
  In my last post, "Boy, Bye: No More Him & I," I detailed my most recent bitchy episode comprised of walking away from my date, leaving him dumbfounded on on NYC city street. From there, I made my way back to Jersey City. 

      I needed something to make up for how lame "Him" had been. #Confession, my number one method of satisfaction (compounded with an immeasurable self-esteem boost) is to give out my number. I'll admit, when I get upset at the guy I'm dating, I take on a sort of muted vengeful persona where I've decided that if he won't give me attention, someone will. I  (half)unconsciously do this thing where I'll simply walk around and try to make eye-contact with guys. I know, it sounds crazy but sometimes, all you need to do it talk with your eyes. Guys love that shit. They love when you stare right at them with no hesitation. First off, it makes them feel like they have an automatic in, so it gives them the courage to approach you. Second, the simply act of making direct eye contact exudes confidence, which men also love.  It really turns into a hobby, not because I'm on the hunt for a lover... but to get some new names in my vocabulary. & New York City is the best place to play this game.

        Rule #1: You can't always win, but you should never give up until you're in your house and have shut the door behind you. I walked around Herald Square aimlessly for a bit... I was losing the game so I gloomily made my way home to Jersey. Never fear though, there was still time. At the Journal Square station of the PATH train, I lured my prey. From afar, he looked like a decent catch. He wasn't too bad looking so when he asked it he could sit with me, I replied with a nonchalant "sure". We commenced the normal introductions and at that very point, I knew I'd have to throw this one back.

    According to the intro, he was a writer of children's books, a philosopher and a... rapper. He was on the way to the studio to... sign papers. Now, nothing against the "rapper" but most times, I just don't believe in y'all. And some of you look like your mix-tape sucks. I'm all about music, but this guys didn't tell me anything about himself that was stable. How was he making money? How was he paying bills?

     I stopped caring when he stood up. He was short y'all and I hate small men. I really do. Like... I really, really do. Granted I was wearing 6-inch heels but so what? I'm 5'8 more often than I'm 5'2 anyways. When he stood up, he grabbed onto his jeans, but no matter how much he tried to pull them up, they were still 2 sizes too big. I know that used to be cool, but I need a man whose pants fit. And who can fit into my lifestyle without my having to change him. I cann't bring his ass anywhere dressing like that. I don't know why I allowed him into my game in the first place, y'all. I think there's something about a.... thug that's attractive. A girl like me wants a thug.. but not toooooooooo much thug.

       I met a girl at the bank. (Sounds like I bagged her up, right?) I had to get a temp ATM card but since she was a pretty sista, we clicked and got into some really good conversation. We had a lot in common (having gone away to college, for example) and got on the topic of my moving to Harlem. She's older than I am and felt that she should give me a little advice. She didn't say anything overpowering, but the one thing she did say was, "and don't date no brothas with no degree!" I fell out laughing. Because she gave me a straight answer to the question I've been too afraid to ask myself. I feel like a bad person if I say, "I only date guys who have degrees," but the honest truth is that I do feel that way.

      I need a man whose life experiences are similar to mine. Having a college degree is much more than simply the education that comes with it (although that is a paramount benefit), but also for the experience that comes with it. Like... learning how to act in front of people. Having certain conversations with certain kinds of people. A different level of maturity. No offense to those who didn't go off to college, but I  want a man who's been in situations similar to those that I have been in.  We should have similar experiences. Sometimes, as soon as I find out a guy isn't in school or has no degree, I feel like stopping the conversation right there. I wish I was as real as I pretend to be, that I could just say, "Look hun, this isn't going to work out."But I really just don't have the balls. I know that a degree doesn't make a man a better person... but it makes him more valuable. More profitable. More stable. & That's what I'm looking for. & to be honest, the one thing I left out of my post "The One That Got Away," was that he's in school. Like... school school. Not  taking-this-intro-class-at-the-community-college-but-will probably-drop-out-soon school. Cuz I've met way too many of those.

   Since I'm moving to Harlem, I'm trying to decide who's cuter, Juelz or Camron all the while wondering if Jim Jones wanted to take me out, would I go?  My friend Tiny told me the other day that I should keep my eyes open for a rapper now that I'm moving to the city. Told him I already planned on it lol. Don't judge me, this is the stuff of Ella's daydreams. But I only consider them because they already have money.  I don't have the heart or the patience to see a rapper come-up. I'm sorry. I really am. I've considered it and tried to be a good person. But like Kanye said "When he get on he gone leave yo ass for a white girl." I can't have that. I'd rather have me a stable brotha with a degree to fall back on. Not to mentions if you google "Rapper groupies" all you see are pictures of Kat Stacks, SuperHead and Natalie from Bad Girls Club. Those ladies aren't the kind of company I'd like to keep. No offense to the aspiring rappers out there, though. When you drop an album (if its any good) I'll support you. But I can't be supportin' you in the meantime --especially if your trash.

       OH! the rapper! righht... his name wasss..**checks through phone** Nope. Never saved it. OH! Prince. Yup. Prince. & that's supposedly his real name... think. His stage name was... Hollow. When I asked him why "Hollow" he said that that's just what people called him. When I asked why again, he said to me, "I can't be givin' you that information." O.....K.... Then, he went on to talk about how I must be paid cuz my building has a shuttle & how he likes my aura. (It took him a bit to pronounce "aura",  saying it real low and slow in a "I don't know if I'm pronouncing this right" tone. You know what I mean? lol) So I gave him my number because there's no other way to get out of this kind of situation. & My motto is this.. (I'll bold it for you) Just give the guy your number. No one said you HAVE to pick up his calls. Additionally, the text messages get funnier the more he pursues you. I got the "wut happened to you callin me" with subject "Hey Bae". When I didn't respond to that, he resent the message 20 minutes later like... Maybe she didn't get it. LOL. The next message I received came through with the subject "Wuts wrong wit u". The message read "U forgot about me y u actin all funny all of a sudden". All of a sudden?


     And that's what happened the day I gave my number to a rapper. smh. Not as exciting as we'd hoped, huh Ellas? At least I had someone to wait with me till my shuttle came. Right? But!! THE GAME HAS JUST BEGUN!!! & The point of the staring game is this: Just get yourself a little attention. Whatever it is you want to do, but didn't want to do alone, have him do it with you. It's really just.... disposable company. Like... tupperware... except they're guys.