I'm Back

I can't tell you how many drafts I have started and stopped since taking a short break from this blog.  So many saved and unsaved random documents out in the virtual universe.  So I have made a commitment that whatever I write at this point is what I am going to post.  Here it is:

The first thing that comes to mind is that I will be seeing Metallica in concert for the first time, two weeks from today.  The second thing that comes to mind is that I have been listening to almost exclusively hip hop and rap for the last month or so (since last writing my blog post about Marilyn Manson NOT releasing his album).  

Perhaps it is just despite him that I made this current change.  I have had it with goth and metal gods toying with me on social media and I finally said "FUCK IT" and moved on . . . only temporarily of course.

Less than a week after this disappointment, Kendrick Lamar released "Humble," the second single released before his big album, DAMN.  So, I started listening to that.  This is following a recent Hip Hop Yoga class featuring Kendrick so I pretty much just added "Humble" into my daily mix of:

"Man of the Year" ScHoolboy Q
"untitled 07 I Levitate" Kendrick Lamar
"Trap Trap Trap" Rick Ross
"digging for windows" Zack De La Rocha

Kendrick's album came out the day after my birthday (accident? I don't think so), so when I woke up to use the bathroom at 2:00 AM, I took the opportunity to pre-download the album so it was all ready for listening in the morning.  

The album is pretty amazing so there hasn't really been room for anything else.  "DNA." is without a doubt, the best song on the album.  I always like the heavier, more aggressive rap so this song just satisfies every musical need I could want.

Other good tracks (that I listen to in-between "DNA.") are "ELEMENT." and "LOVE."
I was stocked to head back to Hip Hop Yoga as they hosted a class in honor of the release of  DAMN. but I got a cold that same day and had to miss out.

My weekly suggested tracks on Spotify were evolving with my listening choices and they started to feature much less rock and almost exclusively hip hop and rap.  One song caught my ear and I was shocked to see it was Desiigner!  You know, the Panda guy?  The Future sound-a-like?

"Timmy Turner" is such a darker, melancholy side to rap.  It is so unique, I just can't get enough.  In fact, today a car drove by that was blasting the song and in response, I screamed and ran to the open window of my office (I am on the 6th floor) and enjoyed the track from a distance before the car drove to the next block.  In the process, I also confused many of my coworkers.

With my openness to all things hip hop, I decided to integrate some female artists into my repertoire.  Nicki Minaj's "No Frauds" did the trick.  Going back a bit with "Truffle Butter" and happily having Lil' Wayne on both of these songs lightens the mood a little after my insistent listening to "Timmy Turner."

That all being said, just because I was not writing, does NOT mean i was not listening.  And yes, I still follow Marilyn Manson's every move and see his, now weekly, Instagram posts that are now just more aggravating and upsetting than anything else.  AND, not only am I seeing Metallica in two weeks, I am seeing Kendrick Lamar in July.

Rather than fight this change in preference of music, I am enjoying it as one of many musical phases I enjoy going through.  And is it so horrible to be a hoe and turn up before 10 AM on a Saturday, listening to Migos?  No.  No it's not.

Stay humble.