The Autopsy of Death of Autotune

After average Jay song after average Jay song, I remember thinking "Wow...Blueprint 3 is gonna SUCK." But then one night chillin at my man Verdie crib wit the usual suspects (G-Money) we get the call about Flex bombin a new Jay joint crazy. So we listen but couldnt really here it over Flex and Mr C incessant dickriding. So I listened to it another day thought it was cool but was still like eh...Jay needs to step it up.

But after further listening to this song I can acknowledge its genius. At first listen it's like Okay I get it old man, you're mad at the autotune and who blames you. But listen to what he's saying and more importantly HOW he's saying it. There's no crazy lyrical word play. Nigga is TELLING you what it is. Yall niggas is carbon copies! Lines like

This is anti-autotune, death of the ringtone

No lyin, your niggas’ jeans too tight
Your colors too bright, your voice too light.

And my favorite line of the year maybe next to Ross' "Snakes slither then they coil"

I don’t be in the project hallway
Talkin’ bout how I be in the project all day
That sounds stupid to me,

He just tellin niggas what it is! The message is THIS IS NOT HIP HOP! It's not a song the shit is a TESTIMONY Straight from the pough! Had Jay been...well, Jay, this song would have gone over people's heads. Had he personified auto-tune as a person or something people woulda said this is wack tell that old ass nigga to shut up. But the reasons why people dislike the song (the uncanny time signature of the flow, lack of wordplay, weird anti-mainstream beat) are what make this song what it is. This is Jay's statement that hip-hop needs change. And he's not going about it in a conventional way. I'm gonna ride this wave. Blueprint 3 still may be wack but I'm interested in what the second best rapper of all time has to say

And for the record...Nas said this 3 years ago on Hip Hop is Dead...ha ha the G.O.A.T.

PS: My take on the cutting of the hair...He trying to say yea I been gone for a minute, lookin scruffy, let yall do yall thing but now It's go time. Take off the blazer, loosen up the tie, step inside the booth, Superman is ALIVE!

Rest in Peace to the King of Pop

They can say all the bad things in the world about the man we know as Michael Jackson but you can't deny his impact on music. What grown man do you know can make other grown men faint when he comes on a stage? The man was an icon and I could sit here and type AALLLL day about the impact he's made on music and the world itself. As I watch the video for Bad (shot at Hoyt and Schermerhorn Brooklyn owww) and listen to his Jackson 5 songs on the radio, it's setting in that Michael Jackson has passed. Like we're all thinking, MJ can't die! That's impossible. So unexpected, sudden which only adds to the sadness of the situation. I'm honestly speechless and writing this post is hard. Not because I'm speechless but because I grew up listening to this man EVERY DAY! In pre-school we did a Thriller play then I came home to Jackson 5 songs and the Thriller album. One of my favorite videos of all time is Do You Remember the Time because as a kid I knew all the steps and dialogue in the video.

Michael Jackson. That's one name you can say on Mars and someone would know who the hell you were talking about. A man we never knew personally moved us all in unexplainable and immeasureable ways. You would be hard pressed to find a star bigger than him. I can't say any more about this man. I can say "The Greatest Performer, Artist, Musician of all Time" until my fingers fall off...but it still wouldnt be Enough. Here is the Thriller video for yall.


Thriller - Michael Jackson

Rest in Peace to the G.O.A.T. - Michael Jackson

Film

New Nas song called Film...how can any one say this man is not the Greatest Of All Time...the GOAT!

http://www.zshare.net/audio/6169688265e86255/

But it's crazy how powerful Film is. The age we live in, we can see images and videos from across the world in almost real time. Two days I saw a film of a girl in Iran being shot by the opposition fighters. I think they're called the Basji, they're hired by the government, wear plain clothes but have weapons and the right to basically oppose any opposition going on. Their task was to quell the recent uprisings of citizens in reaction to the election where Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won. Apparently this girl was protesting and was gunned down. One bullet to the heart. I saw the video and it was honestly the hardest thing to watch. Harder than 2 girls 1 cup, pain olympics, any thing I've ever seen. Cuz that shit dont happen like it does in the movies. It was crazy...I aint gonna post the video but below is a link to the story. Read and Learn about what's going on in this world. The crazy part about it all is that even though people are being killed they are still out there protesting. Still showing us films of their struggle via mobile phones, facebook, twitter (its still wack) Being threatened with death, imprisonment etc and they're still marching. Looking back at our 2000 Election, we kinda took the fact that our country was stolen from us kind of lightly. Little internet article here, book there, Michael Moore movie here and there. But these people are ready to die for their's. Respectable to say the least. We could learn something from them but then again we're American, our way or the high way...right?...Right

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6561253.ece

Link has the video. I couldnt even be on the page for too long.

"Lifestyles of the Young, Black and Wreckless"

"A generation of niggas strapped and askin questions like tell me Why I aint got shit?"

I been talkin about this kid J. Cole for a minute now. He's Jay's first artist signed to Roc Nation and he's REALLY talented. He produces a lot of his own stuff. He got a great story behind him. From NC but went to St. Johns. Only came to NY to persue his dream. Kid is lyrically inclined. I'm really looking forward to hearing his CD because his first two mixtapes are pretty flawless. Here's a few songs just to introduce dude to you.

Throw It Up - J. Cole

Illmatic - Track One

I know...I'm a hypocrite.

But for a long time I been thinking where can I, mild-mannered Jelani Brooks, display the thoughts that make me who I am? The thoughts I think everyone should and should NOT have access to. Because over the last year I've seen incredible growth and change in not only myself, but my friends, family and community. That growth is the Inspiration of this blog.

"Not saying I'm going to change the world, but I'm going to spark the mind that changes the world." - Tupac

And I'm not going to be one of those Hip, trendy, cool fashionistas pretending to be all up in the mix you know. I'm only going to speak on what I Know (How to be cooler than a pola bear's toe nails), Like (the female gender), Hate (Rain) and Love (Money). I can only speak for me, Jelani, Lani, Ace, Brooks, Jelly, Ugster or any other variation of the being that is JELANI T. BROOKS.

So with that said, I now have something else to occupy my time, keep me from doing things that matter in the grand scheme of things, and hopefully keep YOU, the appreciated Reader Thinking, Growing and Entertained.

You were personally invited to this world and this is an exclusive club for the time being. So keep it that way until further notice. It's a secret society, all we ask is trust!

Now that I'm done scoffin...WHATS GOOOOOOOOOODDD!!!!