'The Whole World Was Changing And I Didn't Know How I Fit In.'

The Butler was a pretty good movie overall. Elaborate but not complex. One thing that stood out to me was that the slogan for the movie 'One quiet voice can ignite a revolution.' is a little misleading in representing the butler character's contribution to civil rights...

Despite what the tagline says, the butler character was very reserved and wasn't much of a revolutionary. Forest Whitaker did a good job portraying a very soft-spoken, but at times bland protagonist. Although the movie revolved around this character, I felt like he really stepped to the side and watched the real heroes of the civil rights movement in unbiased silence.

Possibly it was down-played on purpose by Whitaker to show how an average working class black man can have an impact on civil rights in his own way. Martin Luther King Jr. in the movie actually spoke on the importance of the butler saying he is just as important to civil rights as any activist. He says the butler represents their oppressed community in a positive light. By being kind and helpful he shows the white man that there is not always hostility in the hearts of black people. They are just as deserving of the rights and freedoms of the country as any non-colored person.

The butler character served the upper white community his whole life and was trained to be silent and a ghost when serving. This aspect of his career led to some dull moments for the character, as in, he wouldn't do anything but serve and impeccably abide by every rule. On the surface he showed no intent to progress his people until he was influenced by the death of JFK that opened his eyes a little more to just how the world wasn't fair to his people. Only then did he decide to stand-up for himself as a human-being and started to distance himself from being consumed by helping those who looked down on him.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie and the ride through American history, although, this made it a bit choppy in telling its own story. As the movie progressed it seemed to focus on the butler's life at each historic moment rather than the plot developing within the butler's personal life. The story-telling being dictated by the timeline of American history took away from the film's own identity. It kept it interesting for me though, but maybe that's because I'm not familiar with the context, being Canadian and all.

I'm out like Forest Whitaker's left eye...

Devilish Grin For My Alias Aliens To Respond...

Big Sean - "Control" [Feat. Kendrick Lamar & Jay Electronica]

Last night, Big Sean let loose a track that did not make his upcoming album, Hall of Fame. It features a malicious verse from Kendrick Lamar, as well as, a masterful verse from Jay Electronica in its own right.

K Dot absolutely spazzes out with probably the most talked about verse of the year; prompting hashtags like #twitpicyourreactionafterhearingkendricksverse and #RappersKendrickDidntMention to blow up on Twitter. Kendrick 'calls out' basically every rapper on top of the game right now. For me it's more of a roll call than a diss. It's definitely respect and homage more than anything..

People are quick to say Kendrick has gone crazy dissing everyone in the game! That's why I hate rap fans sometimes--the ones that don't listen and fcuk with rappers like Kendrick merely off hype. All Kendrick is doing is sparking fire for competition--this is what hip-hop needs to strive. He's challenging all rappers to elevate their bars. Which I am definitely not mad at.

Honestly, this era of hip-hop is surprisingly turning into a great one. 90's mainstream rap was so raw and lyrical man, that's why no one can touch that era. The 2000's were when rappers started seeing pop culture fame and hip-hop in the mainstream reflected that. I hated mainstream hip-hop for that reason. To sell records you have to dumb-down. Those boom-bap artists who kept the art alive had zero shine..

But now? Artists like Kendrick Lamar, Drake, J. Cole, Mac Miller are some of the most lyrical rappers [for the most part] and at the same time they are the most popular. It's a good look to have people that in the mainstream who take time to rap their asses off. At the same time, you can't always expect the mainstream to appreciate the art. Kendrick is a wizard--I don't think I've heard someone that innovative since hearing Jay-Z, Nas, Eminem, Andre 3000, The Notorious B.I.G. etc. for the first time. He has an authenticity to his music and all the right tools to be the next great king of hip-hop. I have all the trust in the world in Kendrick to run away with this torch.

For argument sake my top 3 for as long as I can remember still stand at Jay-Z, Nas and Eminem. I think this will be the case until the day I die, but if any rapper has what it takes to seep through until then, it's definitely Kendrick.

I'm out like malicious K-Dot features from sophomore albums...

Ask You To Please Excuse My Table Manners, I Was Making Room For The Table Dancers...

Drake - "All Me" [Feat. 2 Chainz & Big Sean]


The first single off of Nothing Was the Same which is dropping September 17. All Me features 2 Chainz and Big Sean.

In the hook Drake boasts about building his career with little assistance and being self-made. He knows he's on top of the rap game and in case it wasn't clear Drake hits it home with a verse drenched in narcissism. Big Sean is very off and on for me, but he kills this.

I'm out like bullet-proof condoms...