Disclaimer: This Raimer (rhymer)

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Being a skinny white kid from a small town I am (naturally) a huge fan of rap and hip-hop. The music and the culture are the single largest movement of our generation and I wholeheartedly support it. Years ago I even tried to foolishly partake in the glory of the rap music scene, crafting this rap in a 24 hour period (which may or may not have been fueled by a bottle of old-crow and a burning desire to woo Beyoncé). Even now I often find myself writing to the likes of The Game and Lil’ Wayne, bumping my head to the beat and throwing out World Wide Westside hand gestures with more fire then a reincarnation of Tupac Shakur. What I’m trying to say is that I’m a dork who enjoys living vicariously through his music idols… which is why Lupe’s “Bitch Bad” music video disturbed me so much.

Now I love this song; don’t get me wrong, I think it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread, or 50’s nudie mags. But it definitely unsettled me from my usually calm, carefree attitude, and here’s why:

The song talks about the way that rap music is perceived by the younger generations, the boys and girls that are growing up to hearing their parents listening to gangster rap, and the message that sends to these impressionable young minds. I don’t have any kids of my own, and I don’t really plan to for a while yet, but just imagining the way that they would interpret the lyrics of the music I listen to sends shivers up my spine. That aside, the other thing this song does for me is to raise awareness of the lyrics of some of the music I listen to, and why I’m listening to it. I said earlier that I live vicariously through the rappers, or at least their image, and that is true… so I am forced to ask myself, “Am I a violent, chauvinistic ass-wipe of a human being with the all the compassion of a Hitler/Stalin hybrid?” I like to think the answer to that question is no… and it probably is. Nonetheless it is worth questioning the desire to listen to such decidedly off-color lyrics, and to recognize in fact that we may be almost as impressionable as the children we worry about so much.

The Beginning of a Wonderful Relationship

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If you’re reading this right now, then by some magical good fortune you have made it to my blog. Congratulations, I’m happy you did! This is my first blog, and much like a first child, or a first class taken in college, it is bound to be fraught with disappointment, moments of anxiety, and much like the first time Tony Stark suited up as Ironman, it will probably fall from the sky go through a roof and wind up wrecking an expensive sports car. But in the meantime, we might as well enjoy the flight.

At this point you may be asking, “Sean my good man, what will you be writing about in this blog?” Excellent question young padawan, I’m glad you thought to ask. Basically, I will write about whatever I feel like, whether it be experiences in my own life, current events, or things that I find interesting (such as photography, music, animation, etc.). I will do so in the no nonsense, serious and contemplative writing style that I have laid out before you here. Beyond that though, I also welcome and actively encourage your input on anything and everything that you think would be worth writing about… if I think it’s interesting enough then I will write about it. If not, I will completely and totally ignore your request with no acknowledgment that it ever happened. With any luck, this will build into a fruitful relationship between you the reader and myself, the extremely talented and sophisticated philosophical writer. Cheers!