no one even knows it

I know I've been posting a lot of music videos lately but man if I'm in the library until 3 watching old school videos and want to share something then I can do that. This video epitomizes the 90's for me. The dancing, the music, the outfits, the message....I long for a time like that again. One of my history teachers once said she has observed that people basically romanticize the time when they were in early elementary school years. The social and even political culture that pervaded your little life at that time is something that you'll look more fondly upon than you might have done otherwise. I believe it. This is my favorite BBD song (a close tie with "Poison") and I really like how this, in a roundabout way, celebrates strong women. At a time when Too Short, 2 Live Crew, etc were all objectifying women and teaching girls to have a whore mindset that the world may never break, there was still a subculture of men celebrating the strong women in their lives. This is clearly meant to be humorous but, still, the feminine aspects that they sing about aren't your normal "36-24-36" descriptors.

I think our society has very divergent social norms for females and it's basically a toss up where you land. Are you going to be the "I gotta get mines, no shame/dignity, nasty as I wanna be" variety or the "I'm able to look myself in the mirror and not hang my head everyday?" I don't think you can be both. Or maybe I'm naive. How are you going to act like someone's garbage, be dogged by men and women, hide secrets from yourself, and then think you can get married one day, and brush it all under the carpet and turn your ho switch off?

This video, and a lot of the music in the same genre, seems to celebrate the latter type - the strong woman who is her own harshest critic. I've been listening to a lot of music and there are so many mixed messages out there - often from the same artists: "I can't live without you, I'll never be with you, you're my little secret, sideline ho." I do think that the music we surround ourselves with seems to seep in our subconscious thinking - a sort of bandwagon effect, if you will - we identify with the artist and feel that what they're singing about is acceptable because the melody is smooth and it sounds good. Old school music -- really old school music -- has similar messages but they go about it in such a demure way you often don't get the same vibe (there are exceptions, i.e. James Brown, but the exceptions aren't the rule like nowadays). My point is that there is a marked difference in self perception between singing "she's a gaaaangster" and "make it rain on them hoooes." Don't get me wrong, I'll get up and gyrate with the best of them in the club, but when does it stop becoming a dance and start becoming a lifestyle?

G_a_v_i_n D_e_G_r_a_w - "I'm in Love With a Girl"
This song isn't really that new but I saw him perform it last week on some show (Ellen maybe? Best talk show ever, by the way) and at the time I felt like if I tried hard enough I could actually hug the music it was so substantial and powerful. I will always rock out to this young man.

N.E.R.D. - "Spazz"
I'm pretty sure they played this at the GITD concert, I remember hearing the "I'm a little teapot" line and seeing these two girls pretending they were teapots... :-| At the time I figured it was old and off of something besides "In Search Of..." but I guess not. I forgot to mention before I'm actually really, really upset with the fact that there was no CRS performance at the concert. How are you going to have Pharrell, Ye, AND Lupe and NOT do "Us Placers?!" I really felt like the concert was designed to be as mainstream as possible which I understand from a business stand point but in reality you could do anything - people have already paid - and the people who are there to follow the crowd would still cheer no matter what the song.
N.E.R.D. feat. CRS and Pusha T - "Everybody Nose" remix

C_h_r_i_s Brown feat. K_e_r_i H_i_l_s_o_n - "Superhuman"
mediocre at best.

Lil Weezy feat. Teddy Pinderazzdown - "Got Money"
I bet these two have a bet like "How many times can we use the same words, same concepts, and same sound effects and STILL get paid and radio play?" Who could have ever dreamed vocoders would come back with such a vengeance? I never posted the 'Ye remix with a vocoder to "Lollipop" and now I can't find it but it's funny -- everybody had jumped on that bandwagon! And i like it.

I still have not found my iPod. Man oh man. What a time to be abandoned. And the weather changed over night and I woke up sick. And I can't sleep more than like 4 hours at a time. 2 more days. Just 2 more days.