The American President: Donald Trump & The Societal Exposé, Part 2

Whether we choose to admit it or not, America loves a trash talker--whether that love is actually loving the person's platform or loving to hate everything for which they represent.  When someone gets our blood boiling, it gives us a reason to get out of bed in the morning to stand against their flawed system of values with our best devised strategies or just to punch him or her in the mouth one good time.  Even if we aren't able to do that for lack of toughness, tangibility or bail money, the drama starter nevertheless makes for more of an intriguing piece of scuttlebutt than someone who avoids controversy like the plague.  In Part 1 of this four-part series, "America the Divided," I delved into America's historic separatism and how Republican frontrunner Donald Trump is merely a cog in the systematic machine of racial, religious, gender and other forms of cultural and political separation.  Serving as a perfect segue to this week's installment of "The American President: Donald Trump & The Societal Exposé", I continue in my assertions that while Trump's blustering rhetoric appears to be nothing more than disunifying rabble-rousing, his tactics are not germane to one particular group of people who superficially look, sound, act or think like him...

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...

The American President: Donald Trump & The Societal Exposé, Part 1

Observing the meteoric rise of businessman Donald Trump during his campaign for the Republican nomination for President of the United States, several pundits, political analysts and social media experts have run to the same defense: "There's no way that Trump can win the general election.  The American voter is much smarter than that and this would be an insult to their intelligence."  However, let's keep it 100: is the rise of Trump and the real possibility that he could be the 45th President an insult to the American voter and the democratic political process that we darn near deify, or is it an indictment of America?  At so many patriotic events, we are encouraged to sing Katharine Lee Bates and Samuel A. Ward's "America the Beautiful" as a sign of our solidarity with what is often billed as "the greatest" or "the most powerful" nation in the world.  Given the historically divisive social climate in our country, how "beautiful" is or has America ever been and to what "greatness" is Trump truly returning us?  He represents everything that many Americans--regardless of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, generational gap, religion, etc.--believe and exhibit, whether they realize it or not.  In a four-part series over the next several weeks, I intend to highlight many of the harsh and sobering realities about America and manifest just how "American" Donald Trump is...

Why "Nina" Could Be One of the Biggest Critical and Commercial Failures of All Time

 

Not everyone can be as dope as Denzel Washington was in Spike Lee's Malcolm X (1992); in fact, many people to this day still feel like Washington was cheated out of an Academy Award for his stirringly convincing portrayal.  (Surprise, surprise.)  Angela Bassett rose to new heights with her Oscar-nominated performance as Tina Turner in What's Love Got to Do with It (1993)--not to mention that Laurence Fishburne was so Ike Turner that you had to remind yourself not to hate him in anything else!  Delivering an Oscar-winning performance in Ray (2004), Chris Rock recently drove home this point: "Jamie Foxx was so good in Ray that they went to the hospital and unplugged the real Ray Charles.  It's like, 'We don't need two of these!'"  In these instances, it is evident that casting the right people to play real-life legends can be done.  However, not all biopics are created equal.  Bringing the late, great Notorious B.I.G. to the big screen was met with mixed results in Notorious (2009)  as it seemed to place film co-producer Sean "Puffy" Combs in more of a favorable light while pissing off Lil' Kim and many of her faithful fans for how she was portrayed.  Also see one of the biggest casting failures of all time as Flex Alexander was selected to play Michael Jackson in Man in the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story (2005)--a film produced for VH1 that did not even feature any of Jackson's songs, but merely mentioned them in passing.

Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five: R&B Bands, #1 Maze featuring Frankie Beverly

As I've gotten older, four things must happen to complete any given summer: 1) I must take a trip to Hains Point and watch the sunset; 2) I must have a burnt hotdog at somebody's cookout; 3) I must hear "Summertime" by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince towards the beginning of the summer; and 4) I must take a daytime cruise in my car with the windows down and listen to Maze & Frankie Beverly.  That's how intrinsic this legendary group's music is to my life and they have sooooooo many good songs.  "Happy Feelin's" gives you exactly that.  "Southern Girl" was part of the reason that I swore up and down that I'd end up with a thick chick from below the Mason-Dixon line with the most irresistible accent ever.  "Joy and Pain" is just real and dope.  "Can't Get Over You" just takes me back to a good time in childhood.  "Silky Soul" made me miss Marvin Gaye just like The Commodores' "Night Shift" did.  Even lesser-discussed hits like "Love's on the Run" are memorable because they were just catchy and unmistakably Maze.  Of course, "Before I Let Go"...well, you're just not Black if this song doesn't make you get up and dance.  Like seriously...Henry Louis Gates needs to bring you on Finding Your Roots to question everything you ever knew about yourself.