Some Fights Just Aren't Fair

“I don’t want to be super-Lupe-Fiasco-lyrical and niggas don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about"....

Wow...I must have been in a daze this past month to have missed this.  When did Soulja Boy have the nerve to attempt to diss Lupe Fiasco?  Why does this seem like Flava Flav trying to debate Cornel West? lmao...I mean for real?!?

Perhaps in a moment where he was trying to get some attention due to a hip-hop beef, Soulja Boy made this assine comment, in the November issue of XXL magazine, about not trying to rhyme like Lupe.  You can read the XXL online post here:

"I Don't Wanna Be Super-Lupe-Fiasco-Lyrical..."

The saddest, and perhaps most comical, part of the interview, in which Soulja Boy claimed his next album will prove he's not just commercially successful but has also grown lyrically, was when the young rapper stated  “I can’t keep playin’ around, because if you keep playin’ around, people are gonna think you’re a joke.  At some point, you have to get serious.”

I'm wondering when the fuck he stopped being considered a joke?  Before or after he hopped up out the bed to get his pretty boy swag on?  I mean even Weird Al Yankovic made a successful rap song, but that doesn't mean I'll ever take him serious as a rapper.  I place Soulja Boy in this same category.  His early commercial success did little to elevate him for me.

I was really wondering what he expected the outcome of his statement to be?  Did he envision it bringing him some street cred, when he's dissing one of the street's currently most respected emcees?  He's known for campy songs such as "Bird Walk" and "Kiss Me Through the Phone", but yet he's talking bad about a man who is consistently brought up in conversations about the best rappers alive?  To me that is hilarious.

Lupe didn't have to respond at all, but personally, I'm glad he did.

The song he created is so phenomenal, but what else can you expect from a lyrical beast the likes of Lupe Fiasco? (For those of you not hip to this lingo, it's a compliment.  Just go with it.)


Lupe Fiasco --- S.L.R. (Super Lupe Rap)

*Mouth open wide*

I don't even see how Soulja Boy could think about responding. There's no weak dance that can even come close to touching this. As one verse superbly puts it, "Soulja call it Super Lupe Lyrical, You can’t understand me or mimic my miracles."

I feel like Soulja would need a miracle to even try.

the Rare Poet

Theme Song of the Day, Dec. 6, 2010

It seems fitting, with my last post that this should be the theme song of the day.



Bruno Mars --- Grenade

Enjoy.

the Rare Poet

Sometimes, You Gain a Bit of Perspective

Bruno Mars --- Grenade

I've been listening to this song on and off for the better part of two days. The haunting way that I hear several of my ex's singing the chorus back to me is both very disturbing and extremely clarifying. While I would never describe myself as a heartbreaker, I know that I have broken one or two hearts. This is something I'll never be proud of. But my most recent break up has forced within me a willingness to discover what it is ,that either stays within or exists without, causing my misfortune in the world of love.

I think this song explains it. Too often, I've been given complete love, and while I wasn't as drastic as the singer's love interest in tossing this love aside, I never completely gave it back. Only bits and pieces of love in portions, which will always ultimately leave something to be longed for.

Did I love any of my ex's? I was once quickly able to answer that question with a yes, but now I find myself hesitating. Even my yes seems lackluster, because my love was too often limited and dulled in comparison to that of the woman I was with. I think that in order for a relationship to last, at the very least the amount of love must balance. If unequal, the scales tip, and this is just an invitation to disaster.

I hope that all of my ex's find that love which matches their own. I hope it truly reflects the completeness that they sought, but failed to find, with me. Mainly, I just hope that they are happy.

As for me, I believe I'm becoming a bit unattuned to love. There's this something about me, or missing from me, which causes it to falter. I guess I'm just sick of falling. Or, perhaps there's a woman somewhere out there that'll make all my stumbles worthwhile. Who knows?

Love whole and love true.

the Rare Poet

Things That Make You Go Hmmm....

It's All About the Benjamins....Um, Maybe?

I was checking out some Internet news today when I stumbled across this head shaker, which is sure to make a few people irate in these economically challenged times.

Government can't print money properly

As I read this I couldn't help but be impressed by the utter ludicrousness of what has happened.  According to the article by Zachary Roth, the government has shut down productions of its new $100 bills, because the security measures were so high-tech that it caused the presses to print the bills improperly.  Among the problematic new staples of the $100 bill are a 3-D security strip and a color-shifting image of a bell.  While the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department have both heralded these measures, additions that are 10 years in the making, it is these high-tech inclusions that have stifled the printing process.

Now, are you ready for the kicker?  One billion unusable bills have been printed, which adds up to $110 billion.  That's not only more than 10% of the entire US cash supply, but also more than the two richest people in the world combined  (although not much more, which is sad when you think about the disproportion of wealth in society....but that's another post, another time).  While there are some usable bills mixed in with the ruined ones, it'll take a mechanized system a year to sort through them.

This is where I shake my head.

As our economy sits on the heels of a ruin that the experts are now predicting might take another five years to recover from, it makes me angry to think that the one group who shouldn't be botching money is doing exactly that.  It took $120 million to print the bad bills. In a time where nearly 10% of the population is without a job.  In a time when politicians are two busy arguing over who's got the best plan to bother incorporating any.  In a time that feels about as financially promising as the early 1930s.  $120 million.  And the best part:  All the bad money gets burned.

It's stuff like this that makes me wonder if I'll ever have any real faith in the government.

the Rare Poet

Just a Little Introspective Poem

Reflection

I am a two-way glass

and you never could make yourself see

standing on the wrong side of this darkness

searching blindly to find the light

while you…

you just want to see your worst in me

the helpless, the frightened, all the struggling to see why

you always keep scratching the surface

but are never getting

anywhere

except here, in this place of blaming, claiming that

I am the reason your life keeps sinking

and I try to be this image of hope

but can’t help thinking of

saving myself

from you, who only sees busted mirrors

broken dreams, fragmented slivers

of all the pain we ever caused each other

well, I’m sorry you see right through me, but frankly

I look through your walls too

I am sick of your ability to be

everything other than real,

and to me, who I feel deserves

to see you most

deserves the most to be let in

deserves your forgiveness

above all other because

I was the one scorned by your collective sins

and I’ve been there

with you, from the motherfucking start

and I think it is time you hear this

time you hear me, who stood by you

when we broke down, when we fell apart

I was there picking up pieces

it is time for you to rest this restless tirade

I cannot take the chaos of these

segmented peaces

I mean, don’t you think I understand by now?

been down all the darkened hallways, the abandoned alleys

I was there too; I have the same scars as you

so don’t you dare be so fucking pretentious

casting your glares, when it was you who helped

make those beds

I remember you lying right there, being silent

now your eyes have the nerve to scream charges

I admit, I haven’t made all the right choices, I’ve done some foul shit and

acknowledged other voices (more than you),

but you were too busy back then, back when you abandoned me

no, if I’m more accurate, when you abandoned us

I kept thrusting myself at you, wounded projectile in your path

but you simply overlooked me, even when I longed for your wrath

your judgment, some input, or just a few words

to say you could see me still

can you imagine how it feels

cold hearted complacence, so fucking nonchalant

emotions exposed naked

only to be tossed aside, like hearts set up to shatter

I forgot I even mattered….

and I wonder if it matters now, how I still recall that moment

when we separated self

became two separate selves, concerned with separate breaths

moving in different directions, I choose right, but you go left

heart beat, off-track, sketchy, sporadic

we don’t speak the same things

we don’t think the same things

used to hear harmony, but now there’s only static

it’s like you’re blocking me out

and I don’t trust you at all

lack of communication, plus now we’re building walls

and from me, from me….like you can ever be

disconnected from

exactly who you are

the part of me that is always so critical

the part of me that never wants to take responsibility for anything

the part of me that should have noticed when we were still a whole

I’ve held this down for as long as I can

and maybe this might sound crazy

or maybe

I am two-way glass

watching myself watch myself

torn apart by disgust in those eyes

that once tried to love me, for me…..I hate reflections

Monday Oh So Dope Award, Dec. 6, 2010

Today's award goes to creativity.  And I'm sure you're thinking, how can creativity get an award?  Because without it, many things that happen in this world would never exist.  When people put forth their creative nature and present their ideas, it leads to dopeness like never before.  Coca-Cola....hip-hop....video games....spoken word....cookie dough ice cream....just a few of the examples of where someone's creativity greatly enriched my life.  Creativity, you are awesome....and of course, dope as hell.


Here is an example of my creativity...hope you enjoy.

I created this mix using a program called Mixcraft 5.  It is a mashup of some Drake songs.  He is a very creative individual and I consider myself a fan.  This mix uses songs from his album Thank Me Later, as well as a few others he released this year.



The Rare Poet Drake Mix


Feel free to comment on the mix.

the Rare Poet