Categories
Greatness Health Lessons Life

Motivation Fades. Discipline Remains.

“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.”

– Jim Rohn

Why don’t most New Year’s resolutions succeed?

Categories
Greatness Hip-Hop I Was There Rap

I Was There: State Property & The LOX Live

Cross another off the concert bucket list.

Categories
Greatness Hip-Hop Rap

The LOX Have Some of the Best Hooks in Rap History

“N—as rhymes be aight but they need hooks”

— Jadakiss

Rappers and hip-hop artists of a certain type value lyricism (“bars”) over pretty much everything else.

As a purist, I appreciate that, but I think it ignores a vital yet rare skill that only some MCs possess, even those that can fill notebooks: the ability to write and deliver a great chorus.

MC’s that can craft an intricate hook hold a higher spot in my personal rankings and the LOX have some of the best rap choruses in hip-hop history.

Categories
Career Writing

The Endangered Species of Online Content Creators

We’re all dinosaurs and the asteroid is already in sight

Let’s get right to it. According to a report by the Europol Innovation Lab that leverages other books and articles, “Experts estimate that as much as 90% of online content may be synthetically generated by 2026. Synthetic media refers to media generated or manipulated using artificial intelligence (AI).”

Categories
In Appreciation of

In Appreciation Of: Mos Def on “B-Boy Document ’99”

The last half of the 1990s was a period of major transition in hip-hop.

The game’s two biggest stars were gunned down and the genre’s mightiest record label crumbled.

From the ashes rose the shiny suit era, but there was something else bubbling underground. A cadre of small, independent record labels began releasing all types of rap as an entire new class of young, hungry artists burst onto the scene.

One of those labels was Rawkus Records and its roster included one of those artists, Mos Def.

Categories
Career Knowledge Life

The Cure for Imposter Syndrome

“I am not a writer. I’ve been fooling myself and other people.”

— John Steinbeck

Maybe it’s a new job or even a new career. Perhaps it’s a promotion. It could be a spot in a graduate program or a leading role in a big show.

The details can vary, but the underlying thought remains: I don’t belong here and, worse, everyone will realize it any moment now and I’ll be shunned forever.

It’s called imposter syndrome and while it seems to affect all of us, we internalize it to the point that we believe it affects only us. 

Categories
Career Interview Life Work

My Terrible Job Interview Experiences

“Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ’em, ‘Certainly I can!’ Then get busy and find out how to do it.”

– Theodore Roosevelt

I’ve had so many bad job interview experiences. For years, it felt as if every time I went for an interview, I walked out feeling dejected and miserable. There were times when it felt like it would never improve. As someone that is now in the position where I interview others to join my team, I’m empathetic to those that come in looking for an opportunity.

Categories
Books Rap Reviews

A Deep Analysis of Lyrics That Tries to Be More – “What’s Good: Notes on Rap and Language” Reviewed

In the opening moments of the iconic track, “N.Y. State of Mind,” Nas almost mumbles, “I don’t know how to start this shit.”

It’s appropriate, almost poetic, that this line kept running through my head as I thought about how to approach this review because Daniel Levin Becker’s What’s Good: Notes on Rap and Language is all about lines and lyrics – how they’re created, how deep they go, how they get stuck in our heads, and, awkwardly, what they mean within the larger societal context.

Categories
America Fatherhood Life Opinion

Fireworks Suck

Why are you recording this?

“Remember the last new firework you saw? I’ll save you some time — you’ve never seen a new firework. Same show every year, and every year you all act impressed.”

—Danny Jolles


I fucking hate fireworks. 

I don’t hate them because of the environmental cost or how they scare animals and people with PTSD or how they celebrate things that don’t always deserved to be celebrated. 

I hate them because they’re completely overrated. I hate them because they’re dumb and pointless and redundant. Most of all, though, I hate them because of everything that is involved in experiencing the supposed magic of colorful explosions. 

Categories
Books Longreads Rankings Reading Reviews

Chuck Klosterman’s Best Books

Photo by Christopher Pierznik

“I think anyone who’s not as good a writer as me is absolutely a hack, and I think anybody who’s a slightly better writer than me is brilliant.”

– Chuck Klosterman


I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that Chuck Klosterman influenced a generation of writers and unconsciously blazed a path for how online critique and analysis would be presented in the first two decades of the 21st Century.

He came to the realization that “people want to think critically about the art that informs their life,” and has created a successful, impactful career as a result.