I should really figure out an official name for this playlist show, shouldn’t I? Welp. Today, I was going through some thangs but felt it necessary to bring you sweet sweet musics & things of this nature. I especially love it when musicians cover songs by other musicians. It can be a way of paying hommage & completely revamping a track, proving that real recognize real.
I wanna wife Shakka so hard, y’all. The thirst is real. #teamBlackguyswithBritishaccents
but the thumbnail that Youtube selects for my videos are always HORRID, so I won’t be wifing anyone with THOSE facial expressions. *smh*
Syd tha Kyd (pictured above) + producer Matt Martians = The Internet, otherwise known as the sensitive side of Odd Future. FYI: OF actually has 5 different projects/teams under the collective that we know as “Odd Future”. Syd is also the only chick in the group.
Basically, The Internet be all in their feelings. Trippy. Pairs well with hallucinogens, not methamphetamine like Tyler, the Creator. But since I don’t do drugs, let’s just take this at face value — the track is a positive anthem for all of us who are goin’ through It right now. Her voice is sad and soothing at the same time, like she’s providing advice she wishes you didn’t need. “I know how easy it is to give up but don’t let people hold you down.”
Whatever you’re faced with right now – you hate your job, you don’t have a job, no one’s supporting your bold move to New York – the track reminds us that the struggle makes the reward that much sweeter.
“Just think if things were perfect would it be worth it, if even at all. So don’t act like you can’t take it — We were built to be greatness. You can weather the storm.”
Who cares what “they” say, right? If their words are meant to harm & not help, keep it moving.
I love John and Hank, aka vlogbrothers on Youtube. In this video, Hank answers viewer questions on growing up. Hilarious, concise, and 100% right.
“Being silly is still allowed! That’s not excluded by adulthood. What’s excluded by adulthood is thoughtlessness, so be thoughtful and silly.”
Best advice ever. Because I never plan on not being silly.
Right now, I don’t feel very adult. I still call people grown ups. I live with my parents. The female parental unit sends me to Walmart to buy groceries. I still use my Pocahontas clock from 1995 (#vintageswag).
But on the other hand, I just consolidated my college loans, I’m scouring the earth craigslist for freelance work to pay for my car, and why is gas $4????
Hey, I’m Brittainy. I’m 23 and I currently reside in Chicago, but I hail from St. Louis (*whispers* STL 314!) I graduated from Northwestern University last Spring and now I work for a network of all boys’ schools. (I won’t mention the name because I’m not tryna pop up on our Google Alerts).
So you have your first real-world job. Congrats! But it’s in a real estate office when your major was psychology, and your boss is the real life version of J’s boss from Awkward Black Girl?
Or you have a job you actually enjoy, working with people you like, making good money. But what you really want to do is go into fashion design.
Or maybe you have no job and no prospects whatsoever.
Do not panic. Do not create a profile at SugarDaddy.com.
If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me a variation of that question in the past 3 months, my student loans would be a thing of the past.
RECAP: I graduated in December 2011, one semester before people in high school class of 2008. That last semester people have to get their lives together? I felt like I had to skip it. Though I earned good grades, did internships, visited my adviser every couple of months, went to office hours, and seemed really smart on paper, I realize that I moved with my heart, not my mind. There was no intention behind anything I did in college. I either did things…or I didn’t. I’m not that big on planning. Which is why I’m here now. Living with my parents, keeping busy, and having to (for the first time in my life) actually set goals.
Like I said in the video, I have many things on my checklist, but my immediate goal is to become a full-time videographer/journalist. I want to combine the skills of a film maker and a reporter for an online platform. Balance between “lifestyle” and “news” content is key, because I don’t care about 10 Perfect Nail Polishes for Summeror In-N-Out Burger Comes to North Texas. I’m ready to find a job that lets me tell people’s stories in compelling ways. Music. Culture. Public policy. Underrepresented communities.I want to travel. I want to document. Research. Write. Film. I can do all these things as *trumpets blare* Evelyn Ngugi, staff reporter at [insert publication].
I FINALLY HAVE A GOAL, Y’ALL! What’s yours? Tell me anything from the immediately achievable to the seemingly impossible. Make a video response to my video. I’ll watch it. You have my word. I wouldn’t lie to you, babe *strokes your hair*.
disparate: utterly different or distinct in kind
youth: you and me
Yo. Santigold is that chick. Always has been. Even though she’s been under wraps for a minute — four years to be exact — she’s back and ready to release her sophomore album Master of My Make Believe (how’s THAT for an empowering title?!?!?). Please get familiar! Check out the album’s second single Disparate Youth.
In an interview, she said the song, like the overall message of the album, is about being in control of your world. “There are so many riots and rebellions going on. It seems like a truth is coming out. Like, ‘Disparate Youth’ is about the youth creating their own world and not having to take this broken shit that’s handed to them.”
For every young generation ready to chase their dreams and change the world, there’s an older generation ready to say “yeah right.” It’s one thing to have “haters” that are your peers, but imagine when you’re fighting a legacy? Imagine the struggle of fighting history? All I’m saying is if you need an anthem right now, here it is. It’s a song about moving upward and onward. If you don’t like your situation, you have the power to change it. Or at least try like hell. Don’t let discouragement force you into complacency.
I honestly can’t just pick one sentence to quote, so here are the lyrics (as I understand them, at least):
Don’t look ahead, there’s stormy weather Another roadblock in our way But if we go, we go together Our hands are tied here if we stay
Oh, we set our dreams to carry us And if they don’t fly we will run Now we push right past to find out
Oh how to win what they have lost
Oh ah, oh ah We know now we want more Oh ah, oh ah A life worth fighting for
So let them say we can’t do better Lay out the rules that we can’t break They wanna sit and watch you wither Their legacy’s too hard to take
Oh, we set our dreams to carry us And if they don’t fly we will run Now we push right past to find out Oh how to win what they have lost
Oh ah, oh ah We know now we want more Oh ah, oh ah A life worth fighting for
In their heads, hedging their bets In their eyes it shows When the beacon breaks well then, You ask and they don’t know Oh tell me that I turned my back while the odds all stand beneath me And they all said I was misled But now the odds all stand beneath me
Oh ah, oh ah Frozen to the core Oh ah, oh ah
A life worth fighting for
Oh, we set our dreams to carry us And if they don’t fly we will run Now we push right past to find out Oh how to win what they have lost
Oh ah, oh ah We know now we want more Oh ah, oh ah A life worth fighting for
Here’s the music video. We won’t get into that now. Just enjoy her words. If it’s not your cup of tea…don’t tell me. Let me have my moment! Don’t keep me down! I’M A DISPARATE YOUTH *runs away to freedom* *collapses*
This is what I wore today. Color blocking is for people with jobs. So are shoes, apparently. Shoutout to that disrespectful chunk of hair that’s doing its own damn thing. And my smizing is on level Quasimodo I have no idea how that happened please don’t tell Tyra.
Here is the first sarcastic/self-loathing lookbook thing I did.
And those really are my Thanksgiving pants. Believe it or not, they stretch wide enough for 2 of me to fit in there. It’s glorious.
While sitting in the doctor’s office, waiting for over an hour for the receptionist to even take my insurance card, I had a chance to reassess my life choices. Thus…this article. I will change the world!
Hi, I’m Victoria Obioma. UT Austin class of 2010 (2011…if you want to get technical). I’m 22, have done shiz tons of internships, held a 3.5 GPA at a top tier university, graduated in three years. All that, and the job that currently employs me only requires that one has a GED. Yep. 75k in student loans at an average 6% interest rate for a job answering phones. Continue reading →
To liberally paraphrase my bff Ira Glass, you have to suck before you can kick ass at something. It’s the ultimate lesson in humility, pacing, and perseverance for the creative soul in all of us. And for people like me who have every intention of paying the bills with their creative talent, it’s a lesson we just don’t want to hear. I mean, who’d want to entertain the idea of sucking at something? That’s not positive thinking! We’re creatives! We have “it”! Whatever that is! We don’t want to crash and burn, especially because all creatives have a gang of haters ready to pounce on our smoldering remains and jeer “I told you so. I told you to just get a job in real estate.” No shade to real estate agents.
Here’s the full audio, but be warned: your soul just may do a praise dance. *pentecostal foot stomp*
Like Ira said, no one really tells BEGINNERS that it’s NORMAL to suck at first. Your tangible works won’t measure up to your ideas. There’s a gap between your taste and your execution. What’s missing is experience. And you only get experience when you KEEP GOING. Keep writing, painting, editing, filming, acting, blogging, composing, whatever it is that you do. Do it often. Do it to the best of your ability every single time. Accept failure, but don’t expect it. (Oprah should have me teach a life class — shit!)
At the end of each project, WRITE DOWN what you’ve learned. Keep track of your progress. What did you do that didn’t quite work out? How will you improve? Be specific. See, the thing is, you already have “it”. That “whatever that is” I referenced earlier? It’s your taste. “Your taste, the thing that got you into the game, your taste is still killer,” to quote Ira. So writing down your moments of suckage is a conscious effort to see WHY the end product didn’t match your taste.
I’ll use myself as an example. My recent trip to Austin for SXSW to cover the (first of many, I hope) All Africa Showcase was a tremendous videography opportunity. That being said, there were several missed opportunities. A couple days after I returned home and recuperated, I took time to reflect. I had to look over my footage, think back to conversations the team and I had, and *gulp* look at OTHER people’s coverage of OUR show. If that aint swallowing your pride, I don’t know what is. Yes. There were other websites that had more compelling and well done coverage than me. In comparison, I sucked. But here’s how I’ll do better next time:
Have a shooting plan. Guerrilla style just aint cuttin’ it. Know beforehand what shots I’ll need. I can’t plan for everything, but I can try.
Buy an external light. And a rig. And try not to dance too much. Shaky footage is sucky footage.
Invest in a better lens. This will take time, as I’d have to earn it both financially and professionally. Just because you got a big lens don’t mean you know how to use it… I’m focusing on the fundamentals right now and a 18-55mm will do just fine.
Always ask the sound guy if you may use the recorded input audio, otherwise buy an external mic. My camera’s internal mic was no match for Seun Kuti’s saxophone.
DON’T FORGET B-ROLL. Super tight mic shots. The lead’s smile as people sing along to his lyrics. The bass player’s orgasmic facial expressions. The thirsty girl next to me doing that white girl *drunkenly runs hands through hair* dance to the music. Talk to audience members. Show them setting up. So on. And so forth.
Don’t be scared to throw dem elbows. So what if L.A. Weekly is filming next to you? Just because you’re unemployed, young, and a chick doesn’t mean you don’t deserve that shot just as much as they do no I’m not bitter I’m just saying. Better yet, talk to them. They’re only the enemy if you say so.
My next major project is my summer-long digital media fellowship with Village Voice Media in Arizona. Thanks to the above list, I won’t make the same mistakes in Phoenix that I made in Austin. I’ll make different ones. *winces* I’m not being negative — I’m being realistic! Each article I write, each segment I edit, each interview I conduct will have its own challenges. It’s up to me to keep going and intentionally improve. Ima have to put in work for years. That’s scary. Ima have horrible days where everything goes wrong. I’m dreading it. But what did Ira say???? So shut up and do better next time!
“It’s only by actually going through a volume of work that you are actually going to catch up and close that gap, and the work you’re making will be as good as your ambitions.”
Preach it, Ira. Tell me how YOU’LL do better next time. I’m curious.
After perusing the wonderful domestic world of Pinterest (holla at me for an invite), I decided to make “homemade” donuts. I use air quotes because the dough is from canned biscuits. If you bake ‘em, they make biscuits. If you fry ‘em…donuts! Seems easy enough.
I made the glaze and ERRRTHANG! I was feelin’ myself y’all! I popped a “homemade” glazed donut hole in my mouth and…
*spits it out in the trash*
IT WAS RAW ON THE INSIDE.
What do people do in times like these? They tweet about it!
See what had happened was…I think the oil was too hot. It cooked the top before it cooked the inside. This is going to take some practice, because you only fry each side for about 15 seconds. It’s such a delicate operation, that even pausing to take pictures was risky.
I’m trying to expand my cooking repertoire, y’all. Better luck next time… I ended up having fruit for breakfast, so it’s all for the best I guess.
