In The Mix's 2014 End of the Year Awards

             I wasn’t going to do this, but I noticed that I’ve been doing predictions and year in review posts for the past two years so I guess it’s become a tradition. This time around I’m combining my year in review with my predictions for the next year. We’ll start with a fresh look at 2014 first. 

This year’s recipients of Comic Book Guy’s “Worst. Year. Ever. Award” are… Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, and Donald Sterling. One man beat his kid, the other beat his wife. The NFL hasn’t looked this bad in a while. Donald Sterling’s history of sticking his foot in his mouth with outright ignorant comments finally caught up to him. Not only did his side chick put him on blast and he lost ownership of his team just when they become more serious as championship contenders, but he can never buy a hot dog in an NBA arena.

Moment to Remember… “The Fappening.” Nostradamus couldn’t even predict an anonymous hacker obtaining nude selfies of high-profile celebrities and sharing them with the world. This wasn’t a special day for me, but the way I found out about it was pretty funny.     

I was at my friend’s apartment when his roommate’s obnoxious friend came in talking about how his boy sent him a bunch of naked pictures of celebrities. My friend and I were playing 2K and as the guy showed everyone the pictures, all we heard behind us was “WOAH!” “NO WAY!!” “DAMN!!!” It was very distracting to say the least. We thought the pictures were fakes and they were making a big deal out of it, but when I checked Twitter that night, I realized it wasn’t a fluke and it was more than newsworthy. I doubt the Fappening is something future generations will talk about, but if I were ever asked where I was and what I was doing the day the pictures leaked, I can tell them this story. 

Blockbuster of the Year… Guardians of the Galaxy. The most fun Marvel movie I’ve seen in a while. I think it’s worth mentioning that according to BoxOfficeMojo.com none of the Top 10 movies of 2014 are based on original stories. Wow.

SMH Moment of the Year… Michael Brown/Ferguson, Eric Garner “I Can’t Breathe” and Bill Cosby. I won’t speak on the first two topics but I will give my two cents on Bill Cosby. For starters, it’s not Hannibal Buress’s fault that attention has been brought to Bill Cosby’s history of rape allegations and women are coming out of the wood work with sexual assault accusations. I’m not saying whether or not I believe he’s innocent, but the media is doing to him the same thing they did to Michael Jackson: assassinating his character and tarnishing his reputation. Smh.

(Less Serious SMH moment…) Kanye West STILL hasn’t performed at a Super Bowl. But Katy Perry will perform Super Bowl XLIX. Smh.

 
Hallelujah Moment of the Year… Michael Dunn being found guilty for the murder of Jordan Davis. That case made me say “They finally got something right, for once!”

Diddy punching Drake. Rumor has it he said “You will not disrespect me!” Before he punched him. That’s super fresh. That’s the Diddy equivalent of “THIS. IS. SPARTA!!!” I love Drake, but if any rapper were to be involved in a rumor like this, it would be him.

 

WTF Moment of the Year… LeBron’s return to Cleveland. I’m not sure what’s more shocking, LeBron going home or the current situation of the Cavs. They’re ranked 5^th in the East and they lost their home opener to the Knicks. THE KNICKS!! The Knicks have yet to win 10 games!!

Kim Kardashian “Breaking the internet.” When I heard the news, I was like “What for?” My next questions were “How much did she get paid?” and “What the hell is ‘Paper Magazine?’” Her ‘07 Playboy spread wasn’t even as out there as her Paper shoot. I thought maybe Kanye would disapprove and talk some sense into her, but when I heard that he took pride in the whole thing, I gave up.

Gone but Not Forgotten (to name a few)… Nelson Mandela, Maya Angelou, Harold Ramis, Robin Williams and Joan Rivers. Exactly one year ago today James Avery aka Uncle Phil passed away. May they all rest in peace.

Hood Hit Wonders… Bobby Shmurda “Hot Boy,” OG Maco “U Guessed It” and OT Genasis “Coco” As terrible as all of these songs are, they have all been in my phone at one point. “Hot Boy” has the best lyrics out of the three, “U Guessed It” is the catchiest and “Coco” is downright hilarious. Who would’ve thought a line about baking soda could be a funny? I could throw in “Tuesday” by I Love Makonnen seeing that I doubt we’ll be hearing anymore from him in the future. Besides, Drake isn’t at the stage in his career where he can introduce new artists to the limelight. Oh and how can I forget DeJ Loaf’s “Try Me.” Wow, 2014 was really a crumby year for hip hop. Still not as bad as 2006/The Crunk Era though. Shout out to my boy Marco.    

Word of the Year… “Bae.” I can understand how last year’s word was “Selfie.” That’s kind of original. But “Bae?” Really? We take out one letter in a four letter word and now it’s in the dictionary. Is this not a sign that the American vernacular is getting lazier?

This year’s recipients of the Good Year Blimp Award goes to… Taylor Swift for continuing to sell millions of records without being able to sing well. Sam Smith for being the next unlikely household name from Britain. The Dallas Cowboys for ending their playoff drought and being Super Bowl contenders. Florida State University’s football team and women’s soccer team. The women’s soccer team had an undefeated season and won its first College Cup. FSU’s football team also finished the season undefeated and is on the road to repeat as BCS National Champions.

Predictions/ Wishlist

Ø  I wish Kanye and Kendrick will actually release the albums they were supposed to release last October. At this point, I’d be content with an album title and cover art.

 

Ø  North West and Blue Ivy will go on a highly publicized play date. They’ll probably be little league soccer teammates in 2016 and they probably won’t win the championship.

Ø  A bunch of crappy movie sequels and re-boots will be made. We will definitely see another forgotten kid’s toy make an unnecessary appearance on the big screen.  

Ø  Chris Brown and Rihanna will get married. It’s a stretch but they still have feelings for each other even after all of the stuff that they’ve been through. And with Karrueche out of the picture, why not? I can see them exchanging vows when they’re both past their prime.

Ø  Rick Ross will run a marathon. He’s already lost so much weight. It’s not too far out.

Ø  I wish Netflix will bring back Spongebob, Drake and Josh and The Odd Couple. I predict Martin, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Seinfeld (which is reportedly in the talks right now) will be added to the lineup. 

Ø  Kenan and Kel will reunite. This is a prediction and a wish. Kel’s been on the independent scene lately and Kenan is still on SNL. Neither of them would be making a career sacrifice if they did a movie together. At least do an SNL sketch together! Dare I say “Good Burger reunion?” C’mon guys, get out of your feelings, Kenan!

Chronicles of the College Boy

            Well, my first semester of college is over and it’s definitely been one for the books. They say the first semester is a transition period so now I should have the hang of things. I’m glad to say that this is true, but it wasn’t easy. Those 15 weeks have been one big adventure. I didn’t handle being away from home too well at first. The first few nights consisted of me staying in my room, writing and eating PB&Js for dinner. Luckily there were a bunch of meet-and-greet type events that got me out of my cave. One of the first things I noticed about living away from home is how expensive it is. Back at home when the fridge was empty I would wait for my parents to go grocery shopping. Now I have to fill it up myself, and grocery shopping isn’t nearly half as fun when I’m paying for everything. Paying for laundry was another unpleasant surprise. In an attempt to save money, I tried hand washing my whites in the sink but it turned out to be a huge waste of detergent.

            My classes were fairly easy. I came in with a few credits, but I still had to take a few Gen Ed classes. I took Philosophy, Real World Mathematics, Computers 101 and Sex Ed. With the exception of math, none of my classes stressed me out. None of my professors were jerks so I don’t have any evil professor stories. The closest I have to that is the time I had the flu and an injured foot. I had to turn in a hard copy of a project in Philosophy, but I emailed the professor ahead of time explaining my situation and telling her that I wasn’t going to class. She didn’t respond so I dragged myself out of bed and crutched all the way to her office to turn it in. I still got 20% deducted because the project was considered “late.” I ended the class with an A so it’s all good.

            Before I went to college I kept hearing three things about my school: football, parties and girls. Supposedly my school is consistently ranked top 3 in the nation for hottest undergrads. I went in expecting beautiful women as far as the eye can see. Like I was entering a Lion Country Safari of the most gorgeous girls in the world. Boy, was that unrealistic. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of attractive girls here but it’s not what I imagined. The good thing is there’s a lot of them. The downside is there’s little to no familiarity. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a head-turner and never saw her again. I had a crush on my Philosophy professor for the longest time. It was a mutual attraction, but she decided it was best not to go any further. She told me she wanted to take it easy because she just got out of a relationship. I didn’t understand what she meant until about a month later.

 

I met these two girls who within hours of us knowing each other were convinced that I was a perfect match for their friend. They wanted to set us up on a blind date; I’ve never been on one before, but I figured I’ll give it a shot. She was a cute second-year foreign exchange student from Britain. She too had just gotten out of a relationship, seems like I have a type. Here we were enjoying some frozen yogurt and out of the blue comes this debonair British dude wearing a top hat, white suit and a monocle. Buddy looked like a mix between Colonel Sanders and the Planter’s Peanut mascot.

I knew he was her ex because when he saw us he immediately broke into a sappy, poetic spiel about how miserable he’s been since the break-up, how she and I will never have what they had and how he’ll do anything to win her back. He put on quite the scene. Everybody in the yogurt place was rooting for him and I got a little choked up in all of the romance myself. They got back together and flew away on his umbrella. I wasn’t mad, but she barely made a dent in her yogurt and the cashier wouldn’t let me return it. So I gave the rest to a homeless person and walked to my dorm.

           So far college is great. The freedom is amazing and the overall experience is something I’m very grateful for. Making friends wasn’t as hard as I expected. I hit it off well with my neighbors and the members of my church so I got a squad up there. Things are looking good right now. Taken 3 comes out soon and if you know me at all you know that I’m amped to see it. Expect a review for that and plenty more mix to get into in 2015. 2014 has been a great year. Thanks for spending it with me.

2014 Forest Hills Drive Review

           It’s really hard for me to call this album 2014 Forest Hills Drive. If it were up to me I’d call it “Truly Yours 4.” Because this sounds more like a continuation of the Truly Yours mixtape series than an album. I was surprised when I first heard about Forest Hills Drive. It seemed almost impromptu because it came out of nowhere. When the album leaked, fans praised J. Cole and crowned 2014 Forest Hills Drive as the best rap album of the year. It was déjà vu; the same thing happened last year when Born Sinner came out. Before I heard this album I asked people if it was better than Born Sinner. The consensus- hell yes. My vote- Nah. 

Let me start by saying I enjoyed FHD. I think it’s good, but it isn’t great. The intro set the tone that the album was going to be on the soft side and I was okay with that. I don’t mind J. Cole singing. “January 28^th” kicked things off and I was riding with it. The instrumental was good and the significance of the song’s title and the Rakim reference were fresh. I wonder why it took so long for Cole to make a song like “Wet Dreamz.” I’m surprised he didn’t make a song like it already. It seemed like something that would come out pre-Sideline Story. According to Feefo from Dead End Hip Hop, “January 28^th,” “Wet Dreamz” and “’03 Adolescence” work as a coming of age story to introduce listeners to the artists they have before them. “’03 Adolescence” is deep but it’s nothing I wouldn’t expect from Cole. “A Tale of 2 Citiez” is easily my favorite track. Everything from the beat to the lyrics is flawless. “Fire Squad” had a bit of hype around it because of the third verse which I think is clever but the overall song doesn’t hit me like the track before it. After “Fire Squad” things start to ride on idle speed until “Note to Self” which was another favorite of mine.   

“4^th quarter, so much due, but f—k stressin’ I just step into the ring and do my muhf—n’ thing”

-J. Cole

“Winter Schemes”

That line foreshadows this album. In “Note to Self” J. Cole admits there was a deadline scare during production and throughout the whole album Cole is doing Cole. Nothing really stood out. Sideline Story was his debut and Born Sinner was his proving that he’s one of the best rappers out. Maybe the focus wasn’t on J. Cole asserting his dominance; maybe he just wanted to say what’s been on his mind. I didn’t expect to hear an avant-garde, experimental project. I’m just saying that the hype is a little unwarranted. This year has been a drought for Hip Hop and fans are finally seeing some rain and they’re breaking into hysterics.

I have nothing but respect for J. Cole. He’s one of the realest, most humble rappers out right now, him and Kendrick Lamar. He’s also widely underrated. His name isn’t mentioned enough in barbershop conversations. FHD sold 370k copies in it’s the first week without any guest features and no intended singles. That’s impressive, it also proves that Cole has a dedicated fan base. He probably has the best relationship with his fans out of every rapper ever. With an already expansive body of work it’s interesting that Cole still has something to say and he says it in a way that remains true to himself. He’s not switching flows or trend hopping.

          While I enjoy most of the songs on the album, the only songs that I see myself bumping to for years to come are “A Tale of 2 Citiez” and “Note to Self.” Listening to FHD is like watching Rondo get a triple double, it’s great but I expect that from him. I give this album 3 out of 5 stars. What I would really like to see is the album or EP with Kendrick Lamar actually happen. I’ve been waiting on it for three years.