MT Song Reviews: Joyner Lucas & Will Smith – Will (Remix)

MT Song Reviews: Joyner Lucas & Will Smith – Will (Remix)

Tribute songs are made constantly. They are great ways for musicians to honor the ones that paved the way for them. So many rappers have paid homage to their influences that came before them, but plenty of the rappers being paid homage to are typically dead. Something that is fairly recent is rappers giving their influences the flowers while they can still smell them. After all, why not? Let the people that you love know you love them. Let your inspirations know that they inspire you! This brings me to Joyner Lucas.

Joyner Lucas is a C O L D rapper from Worcester, Massachusetts. One of is best attributes is his storytelling ability (check out “Keep It 100” and “Winter Blues” for examples), but we’re here to discuss his song “Will”. His first iteration was really cool, as the video had periods of life from his idol, Will Smith. He was showing how we need to give our idols their flowers while they can still smell them, and it was really dope. Then, the remix happened…

Will Smith still has BARS! He has not lost them. Where Joyner’s track had references to Will’s life and how he was feeling like Will, Will comes in talking about how he has grown over the years. He talks about how he’s been cold since Benny & Jerry and how we forgot how he gets busy. I did forget, and I apologize for forgetting. Will goes on about how he wouldn’t be himself if it wasn’t for his grandma, and talks about his idols in Dr. J and Muhammad Ali. He also talks about how he is still flawed and has mistakes as well. These bars are fantastic, but Will’s greatest attribute through his bars is his humility.

Will talking about himself is pretty cool, but he shines when talking about others. Seriously, Will is all about giving the flowers out. He shouts out his idols, as mentioned before, he gives a RIP to James Avery that makes you tear up, he gives Martin Lawrence a rose, and he shouts out Joyner Lucas as well. This is the mark of a fantastic person. Will not only shouts out his idols and peers, but he also gives the man he influenced his flowers, as well as his (Joyner’s) kid! Will Smith made a tribute song about him an opportunity to pay tribute to everyone in his life, as well as the one he influenced. Beautiful. This song is an easy 5/5. The positivity, the flowers given, and the BARS that Will gave us made this easy. MT Out!

 

Photo Creds: Illustrator Unknown

 

Black Innovators: Garrett Morgan

Black Innovators: Garrett Morgan

I HATE ROUNDABOUTS! Seriously, why were they created? You can say, “They help traffic out!” NO THEY DON’T! Roundabouts are accidents waiting to happen. No one knows who has the right of way, there are two lanes where you can still go the same direction, but you still risk grazing another car, and don’t get me started on roundabouts coming off the highway! You hop off those and the GPS says something like, “Turn right when you turn left, then jump,clap your hands, and do the stanky leg”. WHY?? Do you know what is better than roundabouts? Stop lights. Stop lights are easy to understand, are less of an inconvenience than roundabouts, and the most important part: they were invented by a Black man! Allow me to tell you about Garrett Morgan. Garrett Morgan was born in 1877 on March 4th in Paris, Kentucky. The seventh of 11 children, his mother, minister Elizabeth Reed, was of Indian and African descent, and his father, Sydney Morgan, was a freed slave. Sydney’s father was Confederate colonel John Hunt Morgan who was white.

As a teen, Morgan moved to Cincinnati to look for work, and became a wealthy landowner’s handyman. At this point, he only had an elementary school education. However, he was able to pay for private tutoring with his job. This didn’t last long, as he started working at different sewing factories. Working at these sewing factories started his line of inventions. Yes, line of inventions, as he patented a new and improved sewing machine. He also opened his own repair business, which was a success. This was a catalyst in his business success and financial success.

Morgan opened a tailor shop with his wife, who had experience as a seamstress, and noticed that fabric was scorched by the needle. Morgan used a chemical solution to help reduce friction from the needle, and noticed that the hairs were straightened out. He tried this on his neighbor’s dog’s fur, and then finally tried it on himself. It worked, and the G.A. Morgan Hair Refining Company was born! He sold this cream that he made to Black people and let’s just say that business was BOOMIN’. This gave him financial security, and he pursued even more interests.

Morgan got bored in 1914, so he decided to create a breathing device, a “Safety hood”, if you will. This was actually the precursor to the gas mask, and he attempted to market it to fire departments. There was one problem though with this, along with his other devices: no one took Black people seriously, especially down South. Racial tension was still stronger than ever. In order to market his inventions, Morgan hired a white actor to pose as the “inventor”, while he posed as his Native American lackey, “Big Chief Mason”, who would wear the breathing device. This worked and sales were up! They came into play in a very big way. (Editors note: This is unbelievably unfortunate that this was one of the only ways a Black man would get noticed)

In 1916, Cleveland was drilling a tunnel under Lake Eerie, when they hit a pocket of natural gas, causing an explosion. This explosion trapped workers and had the risk of suffocating them. In comes Morgan and his brother, who put on the breathing devices and went to the tunnel. They saved the lives of two people and recovered 4 bodies. Morgan got publicity from this, and people now knew that he was Black. Even though he saved people, the public did not want to buy and support a Black man, so plenty refused to buy any of his products. Due to this discrimination, Morgan and his brother’s efforts were never truly recognized. Others were named as the rescuers. Let me just say that this is unfortunately a microcosm of how America is. Especially at this time, America didn’t want you to believe that a Black man was smart or business-savvy. They still don’t want you to believe that. Morgan still kept on and invented even more.

Morgan was the first Black man in Cleveland to own a car. With this car, he became something of a mechanic, and developed the friction drive clutch. One day when he was driving, he witnessed a carriage accident at an intersection that was in the city. He saw how this was a big problem, and created a traffic signal with a warning light, and quickly patented it, in 1923. He eventually sold the rights to General Electric for $40,000.

Garrett Morgan was well-rounded, as outside of inventing, he supported his community throughout his whole life. He was a member of NAACP, donated to Black colleges, and evened opened an all-Black country club! Morgan died on July 27, 1963.

Garrett Morgan’s story is one of countless Black inventors and innovators. His story is one of the reasons that this series exists. He had so many amazing ideas that he was able to make happen, but only through making people believe that he was just the sidekick, and not the main inventor. He literally saved lives, but people didn’t care. They saw that he was a Black man, and didn’t want to support him in any way, shape, or form. Sadly, these things still happen today. However, this didn’t discourage Morgan. He invented even more, making a traffic light that we still use today, a drive clutch, and finally becoming recognized for his heroism at Lake Eerie shortly before his death. Garrett Morgan’s story could have been tragic, but he kept pursuing his passion, and poured into his own. Garrett Morgan will be remembered and appreciated. MT Out!

 

Biography.com Editors. Garrett Morgan Biography. 2 April 2014. 28 June 2020

 

Photo: Photo of Garrett Morgan

 

MT Song Reviews: Snow on Tha Bluff – J. Cole

MT Song Reviews: Snow on Tha Bluff – J. Cole

I’m pretty sure you have heard about all of the controversy surrounding this song and J. Cole himself. Well, allow me to address that very quickly: You are looking for drama and smoke in the wrong places. With that out of the way, I’m here to review the song that is part of the controversy, “Snow on Tha Bluff”.

I will do my best to stay away from the controversy for the most part. This is not an article discussing the exchanges between Cole and Noname, or the Twitter storm wanting to “cancel” Cole. This is simply a song review, but that controversy will give it some context.

  1. Cole has been touted as one of the GOATs of this generation, people typically citing his relatability being his greatest attribute. Cole definitely has this attribute down pat. Plenty of Cole’s top songs usually have to do with the relatable stories everyone has gone through in their lives. Breakups, losing virginity, learning to love what you have instead of wishing for something else, Cole’s got stories for days! His relatability also has him discuss his perceived flaws. Enter, “Snow on Tha Bluff”.

The song starts out with him discussing how people think he’s mad intelligent because of his college degree, but it ain’t really like that. He’s got much more learning to do, as he talks about a young lady who is smarter than he is. This young lady is tweeting about how she is pissed off at the white people, lawmakers, and police, but also how she is mad at ignorance from rappers and celebrities; Cole thinks she’s talking about him.

Now, Cole will listen to criticism, but it was something about how she said it that was bothering him. He was saying that she seems like she grew up in a conscious environment and with a very clear perspective of the system. Cole has an issue because he feels that she is coming at him in a condescending way because she is more “woke” than he is. He discusses how it will be difficult to lead when she’s attacking the same people that need the help and education. Cole is saying, “Instead of feeling ‘holier than thou’, help me understand what I can do to be better.”

He discusses how he looks at freedom like trees, and how forests aren’t grown overnight, seeds need to be planted. He discusses how he’s not about the retweets now and suggests that the woman treats the people like children, and give them understanding, time, love, and patience so they can grow.

The most crucial part of the song, though? Comes at the end, when he runs into a fan outside the store. The fan talks about how he appreciates what Cole is doing, but Cole feels like deep down, he hasn’t been doing enough. Yes, he’s been out there protesting, but he feels like he should be educated and do more with the money and platform that he has. As he says in the song, “Why I feel faker than snow on the bluff?”

This is a really good song. It lays out his feelings perfectly, and doesn’t put any blame on anybody except himself. He talks about how he felt after seeing those tweets, because he’s a human who actually feels things that might be subtweeting him, just like you feel those same feelings (yes, you, the person reading this), but still understands that he might be projecting. With that being said, this song isn’t perfect.

I think that the outro is a bit drawn out. The outro is about 2 minutes long and I think that had it been 30 seconds or even a minute, then it would have been more powerful. The outro at that point could give you time to really marinate on the words. However, with it being 2 minutes, it feels like you are just waiting for the song to finish after the minute mark. The message was still conveyed, but I think that it would have been thought about more if he finished with the last line about him not doing enough.

This song is a 4/5. Cole’s relatability through his flaws really shines through on here, and the way the production is stripped down so you hear the lyrics is a beautiful touch. The outro could have been shorter, and he honestly could have discussed why he wasn’t doing enough, but neither of those are enough to keep the song from getting its point across. Don’t get #Cancelled, y’all! MT Out!

 

Photo: Snow On Tha Bluff Cover

 

Black Innovators: Lonnie Johnson

Black Innovators: Lonnie Johnson

It’s finally summertime! You know what that means! Summer cookouts, listening to “Summertime” from DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince on repeat, and kids playing with water guns outside. Oh yes, water guns are all the rage during the summer, kids squirting each other with small water pistols, and maybe with some cool looking revolver type deals! But the kid that everyone feared? The kid who could get 5 kids at the same time? That was the kid with the Super Soaker. We have all heard of the Super Soaker, and how much fun it made water fights. They are  so much fun that adults still use them! Did you know that the creator of the Super Soaker was in the Air Force? Did you know he worked at NASA? Did you know he was Black? Well, allow me to introduce you to Dr. Lonnie Johnson.

Born in Mobile, Alabama in 1949, Dr. Johnson has always loved inventing and experimenting with things. We’re talking about a kid who took apart dolls just so he could see the mechanics of the eyes. We’re talking about a kid who almost set his house on fire because he was making rocket fuel. A kid who made a go-cart out of a lawnmower engine and scraps from a junkyard. Since he was young, he was destined for greatness.

Dr. Johnson attended Williamson High School, an all-Black high school in Mobile, Alabama. Because of his superhuman intelligence, his buddies nicknamed him “The Professor”. In 1968, the Professor showed how smart he was by representing his school at a 1968 science fair sponsored by JETS (Junior Engineering Technical Society) that took place at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Here, the Professor debuted the “Linex”: a compressed-air-powered robot. Needless to say, The Professor won first prize, while also being the only Black participant in 1968! He was so good that no one could play politics to have him lose, he was the easiest choice to win first prize!

After high school, Dr. Johnson attended Tuskegee University on a math scholarship. He earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1973 and received his masters degree in nuclear engineering 2 years later from the same school. After this, he worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and with the U.S. Air Force, helping them develop their stealth bomber program. This man is otherworldly in how intelligent he is.

After this in 1979, Dr. Johnson went to work at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and worked on the Galileo mission to Jupiter and the Cassini mission to Saturn, both as a systems engineer. He returned to the Air Force 3 years later, staying there until 1987 and working for himself after that point. He was comfortable with this after his discovery in ’82.  In 1982, he decided to start making a prototype of something: the first Super Soaker.

While working in the Air Force, the creative mind never stopped for Dr. Johnson. He worked on his own inventions in his spare time. One of his projects included trying to make an environmentally friendly heat pump that used water, as opposed to Freon. He attached nozzles to the bathroom sink and when he opened the nozzles a powerful stream of water shot out. Dr. Johnson then thought, “This would be a pretty cool water gun”.

In 1989, after trying to perfect it and sell it, he sold his creation to the Larami Corportation, which is a subsidiary of Hasbro. As the “Power Drencher”, it sold well through word of mouth, but after being sold to a major corporation and changing the name to the popular “Super Soaker”, it sold like CRAZY. So much so that in 1991, the Super Soaker topped $200 million in sales. Keep in mind, this is two years after being sold to the Larami Corportation. Guess what? It doesn’t stop here!

In 1996, Dr. Johnson thought about replacing the water of the Super Soaker with a projectile. He received a patent for “Pneumatic launcher for a toy projectile and the like.” With this technology, he is indirectly responsible for Nerf guns, which also have sold millions. He also created the Johsnon Thermoelectric Energy Converter (JTEC), a device that can convert heat into electricity with far more efficiency than existing methods. This was named as one of the top 10 world changing inventions by Popular Mechanics in 2008.

Dr. Lonnie Johnson is more than an inventor and innovator. He is a complete genius! This man was making rocket fuel as a kid, made a whole robot in high school, developed the Air Force’s stealth bomber program, worked at NASA, and made a device that rivaled coal, petroleum, and natural gas in its efficiency. These are insane things that he has created, and to think that the Super Soaker was basically made on accident is something that’s even more mind-blowing! Dr. Johnson has invented an unbelievable amount since he was a child, and has invented so much that so many of us weren’t aware about! The best inventions and ideas tend to come when you are dreaming about something else, and I think that I speak for all of our inner children that we are thankful and appreciative that Dr. Johnson’s heat pump squirted out a stream of water. Why? Because without that, we wouldn’t have had the innovative Super Soaker, and possibly wouldn’t have Nerf guns either! Thank you, Dr. Lonnie Johnson, we will make sure that your name is not forgotten. MT Out!

 

MT Reviews: Alfredo – Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist

MT Reviews: Alfredo – Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist

Do y’all know what a good Italian dish is? Fettuccine Alfredo. The thick noodles, the cheesy white sauce, and the finished overall taste, it’s alchemy how it was made! While making fettuccine is pretty easy, the harder part is making your own sauce. It is a bit intricate to make and takes some time, but it is all worth it. It is crazy how something can seem so simple, but be super complex when you break it down. Welcome to the review of Freddie Gibbs and Alchemist’s Alfredo.

For those that don’t know, Freddie Gibbs is a rapper who is seriously underrated. Honestly, you don’t hear him in the top rappers of the 2010s convos a lot! Which is bizarre, because he has 2 amazing projects with the famous Madlib, Piñata and Bandana! He feels that way too, calling himself “Rap’s Black Sheep” in this very album. With that being said, this project right here has some amazing bars from Freddie Kane. It starts off with 1985, starting with a Bernie Mac skit at the beginning, and after that you truly get a feel for what this project is about. Freddie talks about how he smells the ‘caine burning from a mile away, and he feels like he’s Scotty because he beams the drug users up. Another thing that I noticed in this was the FLOW. Jesus Christ, this man’s flows are unreal. I was writing notes for 1985 and I straight up just started writing to the flow of the song. That thing TRAPS you. “Baby $hit” talks about how he’s rappin’, cookin’ dope, and potty training his baby boy, showing how he’s holdin’ it down in multiple aspects of life. He also discusses how he’s not trying to be hard selling dope in “Babies & Fools”. He has one of the best lines discussing how he does this for his kids. I won’t spoil it for you, just listen. My favorite song has got to be “Skinny Suge”. The song starts out with him talking about how he has nightmares of people coming to kill him, how his uncle was set up to be killed and how he was drunk with emotion and fear with a gun to his head, and how he’s a loner but still hates loneliness. There is so much to unpack that I probably should do a song review on it, but it is fantastic. “Scottie Beam” is the track where he calls himself the black sheep of rap, and this song right here is INSANE. All of these songs have a theme to them: don’t mess with Freddie Gibbs or his crew, and this one feels like the whole anthem of that. Plus, there is a Rick Ross feature, and Ross really does his THING. Ross is almost always bringin’ his A-game on features. Speaking of features,

The features on this are BEAUTIFUL. Griselda’s Benny the Butcher shows out on Frank Lucas, spitting about how dudes are out here cappin’ just so they can look hard and how he bought 2 of everything, Conway the Machine comes on Babies & Fools talking about how even though he got shot and has a broken jaw, he always knew that he would bounce back hard from this and how you probably shouldn’t mess with any of his crew, because he ain’t afraid to retaliate. My favorite feature comes on “Something To Rap About”, with Tyler, the Creator. This man… He comes in talking about how this beat sounds expensive and beautiful, how he used to be a Goblin, and how you got to watch who you are around. He obviously does it in a much doper way, but I just need y’all to listen to it, you will not regret it.

With all this said, there’s still another half for the album’s namesake. The Alchemist came in and produces beautifully on here. The samples he gets are top-notch, and it’s almost like the beat has a life of its own in certain songs. I would say that the best produced song is “Babies & Fools”. That “all of me” in the song is just perfect. All of the production makes you feel like you’re Freddie, and that is the mark of excellence right there.

Problems: There are none. Like, honestly, there aren’t any. Freddie came in with the best drug raps and varied it up, Alchemist’s production was amazing, and all the songs were fantastic. Ok, if I were to have one TINY nitpick… The album is packed with so much “good” that you’re exhausted when you get to the last song, and that’s still fantastic.

The ingredients for fettuccine Alfredo could be the noodles and the sauce, as that’s the simplest way to do it. Making the sauce is a bit more difficult and takes a bit more time, but you realize how well it pays off afterwards once you taste it. In a world where so many rappers would only choose the premade sauce, Freddie and Alchemist decided to get the ingredients and make it themselves. It paid off wonderfully. This album right here? It’s a 5/5.

Photo: Freddie Gibbs in Los Angeles

 

Song Review: Lil Baby – The Bigger Picture

Song Review: Lil Baby – The Bigger Picture

It has been truly been one of the craziest years of all time. We had the threat of WWIII, we had that virus that I can’t say or my SEO tanks (calling it Rona right now), and we have been having one of the largest civil rights movements of all time. Plenty of people have been protesting, from every race, every state, and just about every country. With that said, plenty of rappers have been protesting as well. For example, Lil Baby. He used one of his protesting pictures as a cover for his new single, “The Bigger Picture”. This right here, man…

For those that don’t know, Lil Baby is what you would define as a trap artist. He has plenty of influence from Young Thug and you can hear it in some of his biggest singles. This is nothing like his biggest hits. In this song, Lil Baby discusses the state of the world. The song opens with overlapping newscasters discussing the protests around the world and how we want to see the officers arrested. He discusses how he has given them plenty of chances, pleaded with them to stop, and how those pleas fall on deaf ears. He discusses how the police will kill you and will still tell you to freeze, and he talks about how so many mothers are grieving the losses of their children, as well as people who look like their children.

He says that it’s bigger than black and white, and discusses how it’s the whole world that needs to change. He says how he had to tell all of the ones he loves to carry a gun when they leave the house. Now, this right here… This is real. The ones who protect and serve don’t protect and serve the Black community, they are one of our biggest dangers, that’s why every single Black person has had “the talk” with their parents. If you’re Black, you know exactly which talk I’m referring to. We are also accosted by random white people when we go for runs, or bird-watch, or barbecue, or exist, so a gun is very good protection. He also touches on the fear we have when we see the cops as well. When a white person sees those cop lights, I’ve heard that people often think, “Great, an asshole cop is stopping me”, “I wasn’t even going that fast!” “I’m going to be late!!” Well, for Black people, it is different. For us, we think, “Was that the last time I saw my family?” “Will I be okay?” “What if it’s all over?” Lil Baby hits those fears in a great way, saying, “I see those blue lights, I start runnin’”. Now, people will say, “Isn’t that resisting arrest?” Here’s the thing: humans have 3 responses; fight, flight, or freeze. As Black humans faced with cops, we are going to be terrified. Flight is a natural response, but would it really matter? Do you know how many Black people did everything right, and still got murdered? I still don’t know how many, because there are even more that go unreported. Sometimes, flight feels like the best option.

He also talks about how we forgot about Rona, and says, “What happened with that? That’s still goin’ on, isn’t it?” I thought that was a good point. We were in the midst of a whole pandemic, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about how the new numbers will be for it. However, Rona is a relatively new issue. The issue of the police is 400 years of anger and rage, with it finally coming to a head. Not trying to downplay Rona at all, just stating the facts of the matter.

Now, some people might say, “Well, he’s a trap rapper, what does he know? He still rapped about guns and drugs!!” Well, Lil Baby talks about how he did rap about those things, and said something very important. He said that he’s a product of his environment. He raps about these, because he didn’t have a choice, and was all that he knew. However, he still encourages all of his young fans to vote, and realizes that he’s in a position where he has a much larger platform to tell those young fans that. As well as bringing awareness.

Overall, this was a fantastic song from a man who we’ve know as a trap artist. The important part of this song? It never felt preachy, or cash-grabby. There are plenty of songs that come out in times of distress or praise that can feel like an artist wants to get the check. Lil Baby isn’t conveying that message at all. He’s truly saying, “Things are so messed up with the whole world, and we will be making them better, whether you like that or not.” He’s discussing the real fears Black people have, he’s discussing Rona, he’s talking about how he rapped about what he rapped about because he’s a product of the environment, and he’s talking about how he’s tired of everything going on. Brilliant. This song right here? This is a 4/5.

 

Photo creds: Lil Baby