Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five Special Edition: The Curious Soundtrack of Big Dadi Scribbler

Those of you who checked out my Mother's Day edition of the "Rave & Favorite Five" might have thought, "Awww, that's sweet...him love his momma!"  Facts, and don't you forget it.  Also, you may remember me saying that I come from a musical family not in the sense of trained singers or musicians, but just in a household of music lovers and Big Dadi Scribbler played the biggest role in shaping my musical tastes.  Much like I've had for the past ten years of living on my own, my dad had his own dedicated room for music that was full of vinyl and turntables--a room to which I would constantly follow him and fuel my fascination.  He's always had an excellent ear for music and knowing what songs would either be hits or could get people out on the dance floor and keep them there.  Furthermore, he's never been the type to limit himself to "age-appropriate" music.  Quick example before we begin...when he spent time down in Fort Lauderdale, he'd come back to D.C. with a bunch of Plies and Rick Ross mixtapes--often making me feel like I needed to play catch-up with him.  So as you'll see in the Father's Day edition of the "Rave & Favorite Five", there might be a lot more hilarity and head scratching involved with this tribute, so buckle up...

The American President: Donald Trump & The Societal Exposé, Part 4

YouTuber Tashya Tummings had perhaps one of the most interesting quotes of the year on the sneak: "The more public you are, the less talent you have."  If that's the case, then Republican presidential candidate and famed businessman Donald Trump is the most talentless hack in the 2016 presidential election.  Even with the candidates remaining on the GOP side, Senator Ted Cruz or Governor John Kasich aren't the "sexy picks" because they aren't as entertaining as Trump.  Sure, they could write tangible policy in their sleep with their hands tied behind their backs, but because Trump and Cruz have been too busy taking shots at each other's wives and giving news outlets even more fodder, nobody cares.  With the help of the media, Trump has effectively turned the GOP debates and town halls into nothing more than reality television for politics without having any teeth to his bombastic claims of making America "great again".  With that said, Trump isn't a lone ranger when it comes to giving the people what they want.  The difficulty in filling an arena with people interested in watching a science experiment versus the ease in packing those same stands with football, basketball or boxing fans immediately comes to mind.  It's not to devalue the greatness of sports or entertainment because, obviously, I have made a living from writing and discussing those things ad nauseam.  Nevertheless, when Americans turn on their televisions, log into their social media accounts and turn on their radios and media players, they often want a show, not a lecture.  Hence, in the fourth and final installment to "The American President: Donald Trump & The Societal Exposé", I will manifest the last reason why he is merely a byproduct of a society that routinely values style over substance...

Scribbler's 2-for-1 Tuesday Special: Kendrick Lamar, "untitled unmastered."

If you don't know how big of a Kendrick Lamar fan I am by now, then you haven't been following this blog very long.  (Catch up here and here.  No excuses now.)  So when I get a TIDAL notification on March 4th at 1:24 a.m. saying, "New music from Kendrick Lamar. Listen now," my immediate reaction was, "Wait a minute...is this another instance where I'm the last to know about something?!?!  How come no one told me of this momentous occasion until this very moment?!?!"  Then I thought, "'Listen now'???  Uhhhh duhhhhh...of course I'm gonna listen now!  What else would I be doing at 1:24 in the morning except playing Madden, watching Knight Rider reruns or, I don't know, actually sleeping?!?!"  So after seeing a few Facebook posts from people who were baited into doing the same thing, I listened to what were clearly the songs that didn't make Lamar's critically-acclaimed, Grammy-award-winning album, To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) and guess what?  I didn't eeeeeem care.  This was still new music to me and, more important, new Kendrick Lamar music.  So it wouldn't be true to my integrity as an avid music lover if I let a week go by without sharing my two cents about untitled unmastered. in this "2-for-1 Tuesday Special"--giving you all an "In Heavy Rotation" special edition as well as my "Rave & Favorite Five" post for the week. (I know...I'm so generous...I shouldn't have.)  Let's get at it, kiddies...

How Kendrick Lamar Didn't Get Robbed at the Grammys

Last year, I posted an in-depth summary of the 55th Grammy Awards.  Yeah...totally not going on and on about Pharrell's faux pas with those ranger hats; Jay-Z's "I wanna thank God, but only a little bit" statement taken way out of proportion; or Katy Perry becoming the newest member of the Illuminati.  In the illustrious words of Chester Cheetah, "Yasss, we know."  However, a bigger topic that jumped out at me is the whole issue of Kendrick Lamar getting shut out of winning any awards.  Many people have turned this into a "battle" between him and Macklemore--which is silly because the two artists are actually in contact with and respect each other.  Now I can't speak too much on the Seattle rap artist or proclaim to be a fan of his because I've only heard like three of his songs--I do like "Same Love" a lot--but I do plan on listening toThe Heist to make a more sound judgment and, if necessary, comparison.  Nevertheless, I've come to four major conclusions about this whole situation--none of which lean toward Kendrick getting "robbed".

Scribbler's 'Boo This Man' Moment of the Week (Part II): Kanye West

So who naturally to follow in the "Boo This Man" tradition that Consequence has now set than his former employer, Kanye West?  I'm sure that everyone has heard some of his recent rants.  On this post though, it's not about him "not f-----g with that Suit & Tie" by Justin Timberlake and his "big brother" Jay-Z.  I'm trying not to make this about his rant on The Angie Martinez Show and his issues with being No. 7 on MTV's 2012 "Hottest MC in the Game" list.  I feel like without outright dissing him, Yeezy slighted Kendrick Lamar by saying that Lil' Wayne should've been No. 1.  I mean really...Lil' Wayne didn't even have a year like his Young Money "understudies", Drake and Nicki Minaj, but I digress.  (Besides, I think Kanye is just saying that to mask his real outrage that he's not the top gun.)  We won't even get into his insistence that folks just don't want to show him love because of where he's at in life:

UHHHH DUHHHH ALERT: Kendrick Lamar Named MTV's "Hottest MC"

So this is supposed to be a picture of Kendrick Lamar being surprised as MTV personality and hip-hop aficionado Sway tricked the 25-year-old Compton, California rapper into thinking that he was getting interviewed.  In reality, Sway revealed that Kendrick had been named MTV's "Hottest MC in the Game" for 2012.  Now before we go any further, I must set this up with Mrs. Scribbler's reaction to the list...when I merely mentioned that Future was No. 9 on this list a spot ahead of Meek Mill, she scoffed, "I'm no longer interested.  I mean, you can continue, but I'm no longer interested.  Is he even a rapper???"  However, when she correctly guessed the top gun, she immediately said, "That's no surprise.  He deserves it."