Friday, September 28, 2012

Kids these days....

Kids These Days. Loud, bashful, opinionated, rebels without causes, talented, out of control. I don't mean the general population of people under 21. I'm talking about the band hailing from Chicago.

"Fresh" and "Original" don't completely explain this band, nor how they came to be. The Roots are the only true predecessor to these youngsters from Chicago. Live instrumentation backing Hip-Hop is a difficult art, difficult mainly due to the fact that it is impossible to put a label on. The band members tried though. Kids These Days created their own genre of music, one they affectionately call "Traphouse Rock", fusing Jazz, Hip-Hop, Rock & Roll, and soul.

Half the band met at Whitney Young high school in Chicago, and after jamming together for a while, met up with other musicians, some training classically at the Merit School of Music. The band consists of rapper Vic Mensa, lead singer and guitarist Liam Cunningham, and six instrumentalists including one singer, one trumpeter, a saxophonist, keyboard player, bass guitarist, percussionist, and a trombonist.

Vic Mensa rhymes slick and confident for his 19 year old frame, with the wisdom of someone who's been through everything twice, and it's believable. He continues to rhyme with the free and creative youthfulness of a young graffiti artist, but is no doubt a serious, socially conscious, MC, often rhyming about murders and crime that occur in his birthplace.

Listeners are quick to compare KTD to live-Hip-Hop-veterans the Roots, but this is not a fair comparison. In an overall sense, the correlation between the two is impossible to ignore: rich instrumentation backing a severely underrated rapper, bands that can deliver party songs, ballads, and social criticisms all at once. The difference between the two lies in the bands. There is no doubt the Roots are innovators in their craft, especially with their last album, "Undun", which was a true concept album about a young boy growing up in the ghetto of Philadelphia. KTD are a new brand though. While the Roots are hyper focused on finding a groove, KTD likes to experiment and improvise, and the instrumentation bears little resemblance to conventional Hip-Hop. The Roots find a loop to stick with, develop a chorus, and let rapper Black Thought rhyme for three verses. Despite the fact The Roots do not use a computer to make their beats, they are still very Hip-Hop, in some cases defining the genre.

KTD is redefining the genre. The music has no discernible loop, staying true to the concept of Jazz. The band continually switches up their sound throughout a song, sometimes without a clear chorus, other times welcoming a trumpet or guitar solo. Kids These Days are a truly singular entity, and their overwhelming ability aside, should be able to get noticed because of their individuality. They're just too loud to ignore.

Check out their new "Don't Harsh my Mellow" music video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_60ihLGHylc

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Why do ad campaigns use patriotism and colonial references to promote their products? Why is Quaker Oats called Quaker Oats? Instantly the sight of a white-haired, friendly patriot with a Tri cornered hat comes to mind. This recognition drives many marketing schemes. From Mount Rushmore in a Clarisil Clear Eyes commercial to Yankee Doodle playing in the background of an Orbitz Travel Agency Ad, patriotic recognition has become a reliable technique in the marketing world.

The beer company Budweiser is a pioneer of this tactic. In 2011 an American flag embroidered can was sold by the company to much fanfare. In a particularly greasy ad aired in 2002, the famous Budweiser Clydesdales trotted all the way to New York to look solemnly upon where the Twin Towers had fallen one year before, with a subdued trumpet playing an American war time tune in the background. The ad ended with a black screen filled up by a thin red strip with white lettering: "Budweiser." It seemed as if Budweiser had trivialized this difficult american event in order to sell beer, but Budweiser claimed the ad was meant to pay tribute. Two separate Anheuser-Busch and Budweiser commercials airing in 2008 and 2010 showed American troops returning home from the war to a hero's welcome. The text "Thank you." shows up on the screen, but the viewer is ultimately left with the text of the beer company's name. What exactly do beer and war have to do with one another?

M&M's recently released a red white and blue series of the chocolate candy with an American flag featured on the front. Ford "Drove America" and General Motors "Kept America Rolling" in the wake of 9/11. This is not a new phenomenon though. Marlboro used military generals as the people supporting their brand of cigarette on the front of their box during World War II. This has inspired ads such as Chrysler's "Halftime in America" where Clint Eastwood says in a grisly voice: "This country can't be knocked out in one punch, we get right back up again."

I, like all americans, am a consumer. I did not notice this technique for advertising until recently, and it is in fact a well known device used by advertising companies. Part of me wishes to decry the tactic for its opportunism and exploitation of american values we hold dear, simply for profit. But marketing is a corrupt game. Subtle tricks average consumers don't pick up on lead them to pick up the product. Patriotism is just another way of targeting a consumer. More specifically, patriotic commercials target a certain demographic, namely, people who consider themselves patriots or heavily support the troops. Lost in the irony is the fact that these people should be the most outraged by such a ploy.

Yet, what's more american than Clint Eastwood?



Friday, September 14, 2012


He was accused of numerous recruiting violations. His players performed poorly in school, so much so that they will be ineligible for the NCAA tournament in 2013. He once told a reporter asking about his high income and if it could contribute to bringing down the state debt: "My best advice to you? Shutup." He was far from endearing to his own players. He even took out his star two minutes into games if he thought he wasn't playing hard enough. He ran to mid court at time outs solely to cuss loudly into a players ear, embarrass him to work harder. He is unapologetic, hard-nosed, and uncompromising. 

He is now retired coach, Jim Calhoun. His mistakes will be amplified in the coming weeks, his faults magnified, but to a Connecticut sports fan, Jim Calhoun was one of the best things to ever happen to Connecticut. 

Calhoun began his head coaching career in 1971 at Northeastern. He was the first coach to take Northeastern to the Division 1 March Madness tournament. He did it four times. In 15 years he was the winningest coach Northeastern ever had, but he decided to change gears. In 1986 Calhoun took over a destitute UCONN Huskies team, a perennial last place squad. 

Now the story sounds like a fairy tale. Last to first, underdog to favorite, so on and so forth. Calhoun had no lemons but created lemonade from lemon extract, water, and sugar. College basketball centers around recruiting. Schools like Duke or North Carolina or UCLA had no problem with this and their rich traditions. Calhoun had a bigger mountain to climb.

"Wanna play against Georgetown?" "Want to play in Madison Square Garden?" Of course these fresh faced seventeen year olds wanted to do this, but for UCONN? In Storrs Connecticut? For a guy like Calhoun with the face of a man that "took care of it" for the mafia? Calhoun did not recruit players simply because they were above average basketball players. He recruited players who would fight. His teams became characterized by their resemblance to their coach: dogged in their defensive effort, calloused under pressure, sometimes just plain mean. How else could the Huskies have beaten the Blue Devils in 99'?

Watch the game. The team emulates their coach. Their best player, Rip Hamilton, is awkward, skinny, and determined. 

There are lists of NBA players from UCONN. There are three championships the Huskies can account for. There are final fours, and broken rules, and hostile confrontations. And then there's Jim Calhoun. The guy who always beat the favorite. Who coached a team with one good player and three solid ones to eleven straight wins and a national championship in 2010-11. Who beat back cancer three separate instances and returned to the sideline each time, intimidating referees and his own players alike. With his rough voice and convincing manner Calhoun said it best: "That's the dumbest (bleeping) question I've ever heard. I've explained it 1,000 times. I (bleeped) up." Wait wrong one.

"I know who I am. I know what I've done in 39 years of coaching. You don't have to tell me, you don't have to write it, but I know who I am. Quite frankly, I'm pretty comfortable with who I am. Have I made mistakes? Yes. Do I have warts? Yeah, I do, like all of you. But I know who I am and I'm comfortable with what I've done."

Friday, September 7, 2012

The Democratic National Convention was....Well-done, well-written, captivating, and calculated. The only surprise was Bill Clinton. Slated to speak for 24 minutes, he spoke for 48, and held the audience's attention for all of it despite using facts. Joe Biden was his usual "Uncle Joe" self. Michelle Obama delivered moving oratory about her husband and why she loves him (which, by the way, is an awkward/extended version of wedding vows. Imagine explaining why you love your spouse to millions of people and the tens of thousands in a convention center). Deval Patrick called for democrats to develop a "backbone", while Joe Biden said Barack Obama contains a "ramrod" backbone. Whichever way you spin it, the democrats convincingly endorsed their president.

In Tampa Bay, the Republican National Convention was not as well executed. Maybe it was the negativity, they painted the future with Barack Obama as an endless wasteland. Maybe it was Clint Eastwood. Maybe it was Chris Christie making his bid for president in 2016 instead of endorsing his candidate: "they said it was impossible to cut taxes in a state where taxes were raised 115 times in eight years before I became Governor. That it was impossible to balance a budget at the same time, with an $11 billion deficit. Three years later, we have three balanced budgets in a row with lower taxes. We did it." Christie continued to tout his own record, Ryan's speech was criticized for lack of facts (especially the Janesville plant which closed before Obama took office), and Mitt Romney's acceptance speech was forgettable.

There's something each convention had in common though; platitudes. It turns out, every candidate had parents of some sort. Most of these parents had difficult lives and were immigrants. ALL the politicians made allusions to supporting the troops, and the one who didn't happens to be the most important republican: Mitt Romney. Not to worry, he paid his due when crucified by Joe Biden for not paying homage to the troops in Afghanistan. Each democrat touted the middle class, each republican vouched for freedom and individuality (when it came to the economy). Each democrat reminded people of the democratic party platform which does not take away any women's rights, each republican spoke to how "we built it." 

In fact, most of the speeches were even structured the same, Obama's impassioned acceptance speech being the best example. The speech begins with "I love you so much Michelle." Nice and all, but...that's obvious. I kind of love her too. It tells his own personal story about his family, it turns to the issues, it attacks the republicans, and finally it aims to inspire. Obama's speech was perhaps the most well executed example, but the truth is, there is now a formula to all the speeches, whether republican or democrat. 

Both parties marched out hispanic politicians, Marco Rubio (R) and Julian Castro (D). Democrats were hell bent on appealing to the military with speakers with moving stories from the Army and Navy by the names of Jason Crow and John Nathman. Obama mentioned the military multiple times in his speech. 

It may be true that the democratic speeches were more well written, delivered with greater ability, more excitable than the republicans. This is in part because of the atmosphere. Democrats created an extremely optimistic environment. Republicans dragged Obama's presidency through the mud and Ryan did not just "play fast and loose" in his speech...he lied. 

None of this changes my naive wish that both parties would cease with the themes, the fake connections, and the made up human quality. Don't write a speech. Speak off the cuff. Do something different. This is why Bill Clinton's speech was so great. He improvised. His words were not written and edited and revised twice over, they were real, and as far as politicians go, they were raw. How can a candidate excite anybody about the democratic process by doing the same old song and dance, by appealing to specific groups and clubs and communities? Just appeal to people.

As Ronald Reagan once said, there they go again.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Introduction

I currently am taking part in an independent study in journalism as part of my senior year. This blog is a major component of the study. People often believe blogs are not true journalism, but I believe, if used correctly, they can be.

Tumblr gives a bad name to blogs. This will not be a blog of pictures and short, inspirational statements. This will not be a blog of memes with a list of things the best boyfriends do. This blog is about the pursuit of knowledge which is what journalists, and writers in general, should all be a part of.

As the title states, sports are not as important as most topics. I had my heart set on being a sportswriter, but I have discovered other outlets. What sports do offer, just as art does, is a unique way of interpreting life. I will be doing this (interpreting life through news and happenings and observations) 1-3 times a week in this blog. It is my pledge to all the followers I have as of this blog post (zero) that I will be fair and discuss a variety of topics. All I ask is you hold me to this pledge.

Maybe in my young age this lack of bias is idealistic and naive. I don't care.