PARTYNEXTDOOR

I've always known about Hip-Hop artist PARTYNEXTDOOR but I've never checked out any of his other stuff other than the songs he features in with Drake. My favorite song of his is "I Don't", while it doesn't necessarily contain the highest quality of lyrics, it pleases me because of the way it sounds and the catchiness of it.  Not many of his older songs catch my attention in particular, other than Muse which is decent. He's really young and has a lot of potential for his future in the Hip-Hop game. 

Rhyme and Punishment

Finally a documentary that catches my interest! Rhyme and Punishment hit right on with some important issues regarding the relationship with Hip-Hop and the prison system. One of the rappers being interviewed, I can't remember who it was, mentioned how it's possible that police forces are punishing Hip-Hop artists more severely in order to "set an example" for the rest of the world.  This is one of many examples of how corrupt the modern prison system is. Another thing I found interesting from the documentary was how the cops were attempting to get one of the rappers to set up 50 Cent with either guns or drugs in order to put him behind bars.  That is extremely corrupt and very disturbing. The fact that it is also probably happening more often than not is even more disgusting. Overall, Rhyme and Punishment was a good documentary that brought about some good points involving the prison system and Hip-Hop. 

Anton

While I might agree slightly to Anton's analysis of Cristian's song choice during the activity where we could share our own music, I think he is being extremely closed-minded when talking about all other classmates' choices. He mentions how he liked Connor's, Mikayla's, and half of Fred's choices, all of which are in the same category (rock/grunge/whatever the xx is). He also mentions how every other person in the class played "garbage" and dislikes all of it. From my point of view, it seems as though Anton has a predisposition against any form of rap/hip-hop. I heard almost every form of rap played by my classmates, some of which I enjoy, others not so much. By calling these choices "garbage" he is not allowing himself to have an open mind towards different types of music. I don't remember what Anton played, which might speak for his quality of choice. I think him calling everyone's music choices "garbage" is ignorant and stubborn. 

Oxymoron

Today rapper Schoolboy Q's upcoming album "Oxymoron" was leaked on the internet and blew up on twitter. I downloaded it as soon as I heard the news because Schoolboy Q is one of the best "not-so-up-and-coming" rappers right now. He's been around for a year or two (for all I know) and has already made a big name for himself. He's featured on tracks with big name stars including Kendrick Lamar and A$AP Rocky. So far I absolutely love Oxymoron, almost every song is worth listening to, and I haven't found a filler yet. Schoolboy Q is beginning to blow up, and has a very bright future ahead of him. 

Denzel Curry

There's an upcoming music festival that I recently bought a ticket to called JMBLYA. It was in Austin last year but this year it's in New Braunfels. The lineup is pretty sick but I'm gonna be taking about one of the artists that caught my attention and had previously been undiscovered by myself.  Denzel Curry blew my mind when I first heard his stuff. He reminds me of a mix between Kendrick Lamar and Tyler, the Creator, if that's even possible. His production is amazing, and in my opinion is what makes him stand out. My favorite song "Threatz" features a few unknowns, but each rapper goes just as hard as one another. Other songs that caught my attention are "N64" "Widescreen" and "Dark & Violent". I'm extremely excited to see this guy live in a couple of months. 

Classmate DJ's

I think the exercise of allowing each student to choose 2 songs to play to the class was a fun one, and definitely exposed myself to music that I hadn't heard before that I enjoy. 

I was planning on playing "You See Me" by Childish Gambino and "Chain Smoker" by Chance the Rapper but I decided to play some stuff I had just recently got into which included "Threatz" by Denzel Curry and "Chain Smoker" by Chance the Rapper (decided to stick with it last second).  I learned about a bunch of new music from this activity and I genuinely enjoyed it. 

RHCP

I think it was the general consensus this year that the Super Bowl did not live up to it's standards, for multiple different reasons. One of said reasons is the fact that the Red Hot Chili Peppers faked their entire performance, and didn't even bother to cover it up. If I had any attachment or interest in them, I honestly don't think I would've minded the fact that they were lip singing. I would mind the fact that they didn't even put any effort into the whole thing. I can definitely see how fans of them would be upset, but in my opinion it's more about the fact that they were there as opposed to the actual performance. 

Big Sean

One of my long time favorite rappers, Big Sean, has been releasing some new songs recently and they are definitely up to par with most of his other music. One of the reasons why I think he's one of the best rappers alive right now is because of his lyricism. He's one of the best in the game at rhyming and using witty puns consistently throughout his songs. His new song "1st Quarter" goes pretty hard and I think it's worth a listen if you want a good example of raw rapping talent.