Summer School: The Mixtape

Over the past couple of months, I have been engaging in a special project. As my love for most things rap grew, so did my desire to become a part of the art form I loved so much. And although I made a few songs by my lonesome, I admit that I lack the initiative to keep it up. Enter Tyler Franz, a.k.a. DJ Shake. He presented me with a great opportunity, to be a part of something new, fun, and creative. A homegrown producer, he produced a plethora of beats for Tyler Douglas, Carlton Logan, and myself, with which we made a lyrical playground. We recently spent an entire weekend recording Summer School: The Mixtape, and no blog post can make you understand the hard work that went into this. But I can try.The first session we ever recorded was a 2 day recording session at TD's house, which I like to think of as batting practice. We recorded one complete song over the course of the weekend. A nice upbeat rhythm, a catchy hook, nice verses, we considered the weekend a success. But after the short and, relatively speaking, unproductive session, we knew we had work to do. Our DJ left us in Richmond as he returned home to Raleigh, and there was a lull in the action.
And so we reconvened weeks later at Alex Helm's house for a one day session. Same crew, same objective. There we completed two songs, the John Mayer-samples "Gone" and the relentless lyrical showcase that is "No Hook." We decided to get together again the next day to record; however, a lack of a recording space denied us this privilege, and our DJ once again went home without his goal accomplished.
Until he devised a plan for a marathon recording session. One weekend in Raleigh. Twelve tracks. Three rappers. And success was imminent. With Monster and Bojangles Chicken in our systems, running on POW sleep hours, staying up late enough to watch the sunrise, we finished our project. From first hearing the ever smooth completed version of "Slowdown," to yelling and screaming on the hard-hitting "Drop the Mixtape," we went "ham" on that bitch. Constantly leaking songs to people such as the illustrious character that is William Charnock (one of the greatest men in the city, post on him coming soon), we created a buzz that could only be quelled with the release of the mixtape itself. So here it is: Summer School.

LeBron to the Heat, Cleveland to end in armageddon shortly, Gilbert throws hissy fit.

Finally! LeBron has announced that he is leaving Cleveland for the Miami Heat. He is joined by Chris Bosh of Toronto and welcomed by the previous face of the Miami Heat, Dwayne Wade. Miami fans rejoiced at the acquisition of their new dream team... Cleveland fans... not so much. Understandably, the Cavs' fans were crushed when they heard that Lebron was leaving. Many who had gathered together anticipating the King to return to Cleveland turned away from their TVs in disappointment when the news was broken, and many reacted more violently. These reactions are definitely reasonable, although unfortunate, but the reaction of one fan in particular caught my eye.

Dan Gilbert, the current owner of the Cavaliers, was quick to write and post a letter (link in the title, check it out) to Cleveland fans following the announcement of LeBron's decision. It was less of a letter and more of a rant, and it was completely out of line. He called LeBron's decision an act of "cowardly betrayal," along with mocking LeBron for his hour long TV special calling the event "narcissistic." All of this childish venting was followed by a premature and impossible-to-back-up boast, nay, "guarantee" that he would somehow lead Cleveland to a title before the now excommunicated King would.

Of course, I got some shit to say about this. Really Mr. Gilbert? "cowardly betrayal?" what is LeBron betraying? If you are a fan of Cleveland, ask yourself this, "What are we losing because of LeBron's departure?" Now, once you have thought of your answer, ask yourself this, "Did LeBron give us that in the first place?" The answer is yes. I can already tell you. Any hope they ever had of winning a title, any increase in fan-base they have enjoyed, any credibility they have gained was given to them by LeBron. So answer me this Mr. Gilbert, exactly what is he betraying? Himself? You should be humbly thanking him for even gracing your court with his talents in the first place.

Now I have to speak on this one, the hour long special... I DON'T GIVE A SHIT. Yes it was unnecessary, yes it was a bit egotistic, yes the charity was a stupid b.s. cover up(ish). BUT YOU FUCKING WATCHED IT. And honestly, what harm did it do you? I hate how people (Mr. Gilbert included) are using this along with his decision to paint LeBron as some sort of asshole egomaniac on a mission to screw over Cleveland. Are you kidding me? He was raised there, he's played there forever, you think this decision wasn't hard on him? Do you honestly think it doesn't pain the main to abandon his hometown? He is a real person with real emotions, and I'm sure he'd rather stay in Cleveland, but he had to make a reasoned decision with his brain, not his heart, to do what would best help him accomplish his goal, win a title. If Dan Gilbert's letter was a flaming argument about why Cleveland was the better team for him to win, I'd have no problem with it, but he was simply throwing a tantrum. I have heard that in Cleveland's meeting with LeBron they tried to play on LeBron's sentiments and emotions to get him to stay. LeBron had said himself he was separating him emotions from the decision. This is Cleveland's own fault. LeBron, doesn't want to be the next Patrick Ewing, he wants to be the next Jordan, and he can't do that without a couple rings on his finger. Every King needs his crown, that's all LeBron wants, and sadly, he couldn't get one in Cleveland no matter how hard he tried.

So please, America, hop off the guys balls. He is just being smart. And Mr. Gilbert, I pity you. Good luck trying to beat the Heat. Shit ain't gonna happen.

Facebook Relationships

Y'all know I could go all freaking day about the dynamics of Facebook. There is literally an unlimited amount of offerings that Facebook gives me to write blog posts about. There is no end. And it's not due to the actual institution of Facebook itself. Mark Zuckerberg created a near-perfect social networking site that my private school companions flocked to from Myspace way before my ghetto ass friends ditched Bebo. It's a damn good site. HOWWWEVAAAA, you people just use it's features to make your points passively aggressively (I do it, too; no worries.)
Case in point: One of my biggest concerns with Facebook is the relationship status shit. First of all, we have reached the point that if you're goin out with somebody, but it ain't on Facebook, it's not official. It's not "Facebook official." That's funny to me. But I kinda understand it though, so I'm not gonna shit on it. But the next thing: In an open relationship with. What does that mean? "We're both whores so we tryna bump uglies with other people too?" "I like her, but I don't like the bitch THAT much." "I like him, but I', tryna get with that other dude on the side." I've seen people in open relationships on Facebook, and I don't f****** approve, okay? That's stupid. Almost as stupid as "it's complicated," because if it was that damn complicated, you would be figuring that shit out and not putting it on Facebook. Enough, though; I digress. What I really, truly, and honestly love is this: A couple breaks up. They each change their relationship status to single, and outta nowhere, mothaf***** just start liking the hell out of it. I'm talking like 10 likes on a bitch being single. It's hilarious. Now when it's people I know well, and I know what's going on, it can be a sign of support. "That bitch has issues, dog, you need to be single. *Like*" "That dude cheated on you, what a douche!*Like" "About time y'all broke up, I been tryna smash your girl for like a month. *Like*" But if I don't know the situation, I just laugh my ass off in curiosity. What could the situation be where all of a dude's friends like that he's single? I would never like that in reality, because that means one of my boys just entered into a recession of his economy (you know what economy I'm talking bout) and in no way does that make me happy. As for girls, they do crazy shit all the time, so I just don't know.
That kinda stuff makes me love Facebook. I've seen enough Facebook fight break-ups, enough photo comment fights (shout out to Kyle Sharples), and all that crap, so when people band together over something like that, I smile. Maybe I'll even like it.

Music Review by Kurt Jensen

We here at Generation Nine Two love two things. One is music. You can tell from our posts that music is often our inspiration, we listen, we create, we critique. The other thing we love is Kurt Jensen. He is truly one of my favorite people ever, offering humor and insight into damn near any situation imaginable. He recently wrote a review to Eminem's Recovery, which I found very interesting, and I'm sure you will find it interesting as well. The link is on the title for you noobs.