The Realness

Well first of all, I’d like to recognize some already existing hip-hop superheroes. Omar, from HBO’s The Wire, comes to mind. He’s a cowboy / Robin Hood figure placed in the ghettos of Baltimore, and is also the ultimate badass who happens to be homosexual. Luke Cage, the Marvel Comics character, could also be considered one since he has a very urban / hip-hop feel. But I’ll attempt to get more creative.

My hip-hop superhero would be named “The Realness,” after the Cormega album. Their power would be the ability to telepathically force someone to be truthful in revealing ways. Oh what fun it would be to see the president of the United States admit on television the terrible things they have done. Maybe George W. Bush would prove Kanye West in a speech about racism. Rapper’s careers would be ruined with such reveals as “I was never shot 9 times.”

This power is “hip-hop” because hip-hop speaks the truth in ways that are not usually heard. After all, Tupac said that 2pacalypse Now was a “report” of life as he had witnessed it so far. We would know where people stood, and everyone would be “real.”

"Anti-Wackness" Woman

My superhero would be a well-educated, but still street-wise/credible artist, who can bring both entertainment and intellect to the table. I think these attributes are crucial in developing a superhero because they are characteristics that far too few artists today lack. The purpose of this superhero would be that she would use her intellect to knock the "wackness" out of mcs today. Her powers include the ability to sense bad music as it is being made. This is called her wackness senses, and they tingle while bad music is being made. She has ultra-sensitive hearing, and the ability to fly to the scene of the potential crime. Her name would be Anti-Wackness Woman, and her purpose would be to fight the forces of evil within the music industry. She would reside in New York, so as to be at home in the home of hip hop.

Tupac

I think that Tupac was courageous by putting "himself out there." Even though his songs were contradictory, he told the world how he felt without holding back. It may appear that he was confused, but you are not always going to bein the same mind set when you write each song. This would explain why his songs expressed different perceptions. If all of his songs held the same views, then his music would not be as interesting. The contradictions are what make them worth studying and analyzing.

The Truth

My hip-hop hero exists deep in the heart of the city, living in a two-room apartment full of spraypaint, newspapers, and once-discarded televisions set to 24-hour news stations. Not very glamorous, right? It gets better. Our hero is constantly searching for lies perpetrated by the mass-media - the spin and mistruths commonly held as fact. He has an acute mind that picks them out so fast that it would make your head spin. He doesn't just rest on it, however - in his black hoodie, nondescript jeans, and secondhand sneakers, he descends from the steps of his complex, paint cans hidden safely where no one can see. Then, his real powers can be seen - the man who no one remembers (but is really all around us) bravely climbs train bridges and billboards with his sticky hands, tagging trains and signs so all can see. He never leaves a signature, though, and the only way to know it is him is to look for the concept in his writing that is the moniker given to him by cops, civilians, and bureaucrats everywhere - The Truth.

IS there a God

If I had to bet everything on there being some type of God, I would. I feel that there must be some type of higher power for us to have been created. We are to perfect of an animal for us to have been created by accident. I also feel that without some type of higher belief it would be hard to find much of a meaning in life. While i say this i must also say that i dont believe in any type of organized religion. This is where i differ from my presbatyrian parents. they taught me all about their christian beliefs while i was grwoing up and those beliefs rubbed off on me but not all the way.I hold many of the basic christian beliefs, but as I grew older i became very skeptcal about going to church just to give money and recite word for word the same prayers as everyone else around me. I found it hard to believe that those types of rituals is what religion is all about, and are needed in order to keep God happy and to be a good Christian. I feel an individuals personal relationship with God is a good measure of their religious standing.

Home

Home to me means family and friends who always have your back. It means not worrying about what you do or how you loo because everyone already knows you for who you are. it mans having fun doing nothing but chillen. It means bar b q' on the weekend, fishing in the summer time, and goin to the beach everyday. I do miss being home a lot now that I live over 2000 miles away, and i do sometimes sense a feeling of alienation. Its hard not knowing the everyday activities that are goin on with all of the important people in my life. I miss the small jokes or the call ups just to hang out cuz there is nothing else to do. But while i miss it all i know it will always be there because home is wherever you make it and as long as you hold good relationships t will never change.

Definition of my Life

My life up until this point has been defined by two seperate but equally effecting factors. Both being an athelet and eing a student. Both things have been a part of my life since the early age of 6 and have almost solely defined my activities, interests, and relationships since then. Those have been the structure of my life for over 15 years.....go to school, practice whatever sport is in season, go home and do school work, hang out with friends i eaither met on a team or at school.Growing up in a big city in florida however allowed for my expierences to be diverse in both sports and school giving me a wide range of friends, to a very extensive array of competition in sports. But these two seperate entities of my life have allowed me to experience multiple people, places, situations, and obstacles that have shaped me into the person i am today.

Tupac - Courageous or Confused

If Tupac was confused then so is society and the millions of fans who have exhaulted him. However it may not be a bad thing. I like the word confused for describing Tupac in the following sense: he was confused with the way his people and community were being treated. He was confused by the way in which they were treating eachother. He was confused about the conditions in which they were living. Tupac was confused as to why this was going on after hearing and learning in schools about the civil rights movements, and he was confused because he would hear all of this from white men and women. Which in trun made tupac confsed about why there werent men and women voicing themselves like so many in the past.So yes in a certain sense of the word Tupac was confused, but it was that confusion and his lack of acceptance of the confusion that led eventually to his corageousness. It was his drive to end this confusion within the lyrics and persona's that he created. He was an educated man who wasnt scared to stand up and become a voce for this all penetrating "Thug Life" of the time.

Fashion

I think that clothing and fashion are a really important part of who we are. Regardless of whether it is right or not, people judge each other based on appearance. Often, if we haven't met the person yet, all we have to go on is the way in which they present themselves. People can say that they don't care about fashion or what they look like, but in a society that is so image-obsessed, many times the way you look is seen as an indicator of character. Someone who takes pride in the way they look comes across as being responsible, mature and thoughtful. I tend to always care about how I look. I like to present myself as being neat and put together. I put a lot of thought into my outfits. When people see me I think that they associate me with being mature and put together. I think that at this point in time, I am in the minority, at least for my age group. Most young people don't care what others think, which is both good and bad. Good because it allows them to express themselves through what they wear, bad because people judge them quickly.

Hip-Hop Super Hero

Em C is the coolest new superhero in Hip-Hop. She's smart and super talented. She is breaking down the barriers of gender in Hip-Hop and showing everyone that there so much more than bitches and bullets in the genre. With her dope lyrics and impressive beats, she proves that its not just the boys who can sell records. Gone are the days of objectification and relying upon sex appeal to succeed. Em C does not have to dress like a stripper to get people to pay attention. She is confident in herself and her skills. She is determined to equalize the Hip-Hop playing field. By getting her message out to all of the listeners, Em C is paving the way for thousands of female Hip-Hop artists waiting to hit the scene.

Home

Hanover, Massachusetts has been home for my family for the better half of the last century. Both my mother and father's parents moved there in the early 1950's. My parents met in high school, and after spending four years away at college, moved back to start their own family. We're townies. Which isn't a bad thing, I do really like my town. It's a typical South Shore suburb. It's small, but not too small. It's not as busy as a city, but there are things to do. What really makes it home, though, are my family and friends. I grew up surrounded by grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins within a five minute drive. There was always someone to babysit, play with or just hang out. I've known most of my closest friends since nursery school. While it's terribly cliche, I think there is something really cool about knowing someone for that long, and seeing them through all the different stages of life. We're all at different schools, some as far away as New York and Vermont, but on the few occasions when we are all home, its as though no time has passed.
My idea of home is changing, however. For the past 3 and a half years, I've lived at Stonehill more than I've lived at home. My friends have become like another family. I catch myself referring to campus as "home" when I'm away and I'm talking about going back. Home is going to continue to be a tricky subject come May when I graduate. I have to decide what I'll be doing and where I will be living. At the end of the day though, when someone asks me where home is, I think I'll always say Hanover.

Microphone Man

A heroine lurks around the city of Rap cityin which he tunes down cheap rap. Seeing tunes up in the sky, people already know who it is. It's microphone man. And again he saves the day by using his power of amplify sound to eliminate those who are ruining the foundations of rap. His sidekicks are The Roots, Common, and Nasty Nas. All whom possess similar powers as Microphone man. Located in the birthplace of hip-hop, the south Bronx, the team gathers up for a synopsis of the day. Suddenly, a message appears in the 52" plasma. Who can it be? It's Slick Rick the ruler!!! and MC Ricky D!!!, and no they are not doing there smash hit Mona Lisa stating that he needs help. 50 Cent and the G-Unit gang are taking over the all communications in Great Britain, and forcing people to listen to there music, hyponotising them and making them do crazy things.

And off they go Microphone Man, Nas, The Roots, and Common to Great Britain to fight villians

P.S- Hip Hop is dead

Different perspective poem

From Sudan to America
I'm a long way from home,
Forced to move out
and stand on my own,
They took my family and my land
and now I moved to the states,
I know I should be happy to survive,
But I am uncontrollably irate,
From eating mud in Sudan,
To seeing snow in Mass,
I hope my country will be safe atlast,
I will get this degree,
I will graduate from this college,
I will return to Sudan,
To change her and pay homage

Persona Free Writing

Dwight K Schrute- "The Office"

I’m the best paper seller around

Ain’t no computer in town

Better than me I can’t be beat

Especially when I’m on the farm sellin beats

Halpert cracks jokes all day

But the time will come for him to pay

And for Dwight to play

Like when I play second life

Don’t have no time for a wife

Since angela dumped my ass

I feel like I failed a class

Michael is the greatest boss on earth

I wish we had been friends since out birth

Don’t get me started on an-dy

He’s probly steal candy from a baby

The man can’t sing

The man can’t dance

He’s such a big liar, his pants are on fire

And speaking of fires how bout our out temp ry

He’s the big boss now, but will always be the fire guy

Time to get back to work to sell someone paper

Ill be back to finish my Dwight schrute rap later

Get away from me halpert you big schmuck

Like zane in titanic, a real man creates his own luck.

An interview with Paulette

Ok, so I'm kind of cheating since I did interview her for something else last year, but this still isn't any good.

So what was the question? Why I'm still here? Well, mostly it's 'cause of the kids. I've been here for so many years and I've seen so many of you come and go. It's just interesting to see you guys come in as freshmen, and then the time goes by so fast and all of a sudden you're graduating. And you may not know it, but I know more about you than you think. I mean, I get to see you guys stumble in drunk! (laughs) But it's, uhh, mosly that that I like about working at The Hill. I like working for Sodexho, too, you know they've always been good to me. But (pause) to see your faces always brightens my day. It's weird, 'cause I've got a daughter in college now, too, and you guys remind me of her, and you make me wonder what kind of trouble she's getting into!

When Hip Hop's Queens Overthrow the Kings

I'd like to bring together some of the first big female emcees, to join forces and show the men in the game that women can do anything they can do...better. When you think about the front-runners of hip hop, male artists are of course the first to come to mind. I would like the women of hip hop to be given their dues, and I think an interaction between MC Lyte and Queen Latifah would be a good way to show the skills that females can bring to the game. I think that if they joined forces, they could give some serious competition to the men, and show how women are more than capable of holding their own.
Seeing as how both women grew up in the New York area, they would both go back to their roots, and have the interaction take place in Brooklyn. The focus of their conjoining would be to point out, criticize, and hopefully put an end to the sexism and misogyny that is a present in today's hip hop, and has been so for many years. Both these artists serve as empowering female figures, who proudly know who they are, what they stand for, and the ways of the hip hop business.
The interaction would be a collaboration and combination of some of their songs, which would serve as fuel for their fire against the lack of positive female figures in hip hop. For instance, MC Lyte's song "I am Woman" refers to Lyte as a Queen, and proudly declares her gender, and status as a noteworthy MC. She says that she's well-respected, as both a woman and a music artist, and is standing up for herself in a field that sees her gender as a disadvantage. This song could be mixed with Queen Latifah's "Unity", which focuses on the need for men to respect women, women to respect themselves, and for people to unite to bring respect to all.
I think both artists are monumental figures in the hip hop world, and have done a lot to establish themselves and all women as equal front-runners in that music area. They are both respectable, empowered females, who have gone on to have great success in areas branching outside of hip hop music, which shows just how much they have to offer in various areas. Their joining forces would be a great contribution to hip hop, and would do a great deal to show that the Queens of the game have all the capabilities (and then some) to rule with the Kings.

My Money's on God

I can honestly say that if I had to bet everything I have on whether or not there is a God, I would bet it all on God. I consider myself a religious person, but not in the way that many do. I don't think I'm a devout Episcopalian because I go to church every Sunday, went through confirmation classes, and can recite Bible verses off the top of my head -- because I can't, that's just not me. I don't necessarily see those characteristics as being synonymous with "religious", because in my eyes, you can do all those things and still be the most hypocritical, bigotrous "devout" member of any given denomination.
Instead, I see my religious standing as a personal connection I feel I've developed throughout my life, but more importantly within the past few years. I feel that God is watching over me and my family, and I have a certain spiritual connection with God, for I've experienced and witnessed certain things that have made me believe so. Personal events have fueled my beliefs, and served as strong indicators of these feelings, which go beyond any standard classification of religion in my mind.
Much of my religion has been influenced by my parents, and I can say that I am proud of that. I see nothing wrong with following the religion of my parents, because if they've been able to develop certain beliefs, I think it is fair for them to expose me to them. The importance of this exposure comes in the fact that they never forced their religion upon me. I am very grateful for this, because they enabled me to reach my own understanding of what religion means to me, and have allowed me to come to grips with what my faith means t me.

Taking Another Person’s Perspective

An anonymous friend of mine:

I can’t believe I bought weed from these kids. These fucking losers who waste their time sitting around talking about weed and fucking expanding their mind or some shit. You’re not deep, son. You’re from a wealthy family in California and you deal coke and weed like it’s just a thing to do. I hope you get into a run-in with the Mexican Tempe drug dealers and they pull your card. I don’t want to fucking sit here and smoke out of a $200 bong and talk when I can smoke from a $2 gas station corn cob pipe and listen to Cormega. I just wanna drive around and smoke a little bit, not get too high. “I got a system in my car and when it hits the ground twitches, but I don’t got subs cuz the trunks there for bitches.”