by Sekou | May 13, 2020 | Features, Mental Health
Let’s talk about something that doesn’t get discussed enough: school. Now, school is an important part of life. We all probably should go to school up until we’re 18. We learn the building blocks that we’ll need in life. We may not need trigonometry, but you better know what 2+2 is by the time you’re 10. Obviously, this school is the standard, but let’s discuss higher education: college. Now, this is controversial. However, let me say congrats to the recent college grads, even though this wasn’t the most ideal situation to graduate in. This is not an easy feat. As a matter of fact, according to one of my capstone speaker, around 30% of people graduate with their bachelor’s degree. That is not an easy feat.
With that being said, there is a big question about college: do kids really want to go? Or do they go because it is being forced on them? It is a difficult question to ask. Of course, there are cases of both. There are people that want to go in order to further their education and want to continue after that (grad school, med school, etc.) However, there are just as many who want to go just because they feel like they should. Because that is what is expected of them from their parents, their peers, their school, and many more. College can be fantastic (maybe not the best 4 years of your life, but hopefully, you will enjoy them more than you don’t), but what if your passion does not fall in line with a major?
Imagine this: you want to be a big YouTuber. You idolize a lot of YouTubers, and you get started early, at like 15. By 18, you have 900,000 subscribers, are getting big sponsorships, and have some of the best content on YouTube. You start facing an issue: you feel like you should go to college and major in biology because everyone expected you to be a renowned doctor when you get older. You are faced with a choice: do what you love and what you’ve been doing all this time, the thing that you have made a career out of, the thing that you put all your hard work in, or you sacrifice that, go to college, do what is expected of you, only possibly enjoy those 4 years, and become a biologist. When put that way, it is pretty easy which choice to make, right? Well, people choose option #2 more than you’d think.
The whole point of this is the fact that your passion is important. It doesn’t matter what that passion is, if you are passionate about it, it is worth exploring. We are often bogged down by the expectations of society. Some people know what they want to be and they might not need college for that. Our issue stems from the fact that we feel like we need to fall into the status quo of society, and we want to have a “competitive edge” over others. First of all, no one knows that you’re competing with them (see this article for a further explanation of that:https://musiqtherapymag.com/ugly-competition/), secondly, this is only hurting yourself. Why would you stop something that you love doing because it is out of the norm. Would you stop eating your favorite food because it is unpopular? No, you’d say, “Hey, more for me!”
Now, this is not a post about how colleges are evil corporations that only want your money. Like I said, you’ll hopefully enjoy those 4 years or longer (no shame in that) than you don’t enjoy them. You can also discover your passion there. High school isn’t the place where you usually find what you want to do forever. Going to college, you might take an elective that you are passionate about, and you might find that you want to choose that as a career path instead. You might be scared because you don’t know if it will take off, or where it will take you. And that is ok. Here is the question you need to ask yourself: does your passion outweigh your insecurities? To use the example used earlier, does your passion for YouTube outweigh your insecurity of challenging the norm? If that answer is yes, then please go for it. If the answer is maybe, go for it. If the answer is no, then remember this: You only have one life given to you. Why would you want to live it doing something that you feel like you “have” to do? Don’t live your life through the lens of other people, and don’t worry about the reception you will get. If it makes you happy, that’s all that matters. Peace, y’all!
by Sekou | May 12, 2020 | Features, Reviews
Let’s talk about luxury. The lap of luxury has always had a big influence on hip hop in the past… well, since the 80s, but especially in the last decade. Luxury rap has become its own genre, and the pinnacle of that luxury always seems to be in Paris. Where there is a lot of fancy scenery, Paris seems to be the lap of luxury in hip hop, maybe because of that fancy reputation, maybe because of the Louvre, but maybe it is because rappers aren’t seen as rapping about Paris or going to Paris. Plenty of rappers came from gritty backgrounds and discuss those gritty backgrounds of drug dealing, living in the hood and making it out. What if I told you that one person combined those elements and still sounded dope? Look no further than Westside Gunn of Griselda and his album, Pray for Paris. Now, this is my first Westside Gunn project and JESUS CHRIST I should’ve been listening to him much sooner. Westside Gunn has this blend of gangsta and luxury down-pat, as he discusses selling coke and hiding it, but also talks about being seen in places that we’re too poor to go to. We start off with “400 Million Dollars Plus Tax”, which is an auction for a painting and is going for… well… 400 million, plus tax. Then, it goes right into “No Vacancy”, which is the synthesis of what you will be hearing. This, being called Pray for Paris, starts with “Bonjour”, and starts off by discussing high end products, such as whipping foreign cars left and right, but then goes into some hood shit. Like, “Shoot your brains out in broad daylight” shit. “327” is luxury rap, actually about some shoes and sounds like lavish living in a way, and you have songs like “Versace”, where he discusses robbin’ people for their expensive stuff. “$500 Ounces”, though… That song is an experience. The beat? FIRE. The features? FIRE. Westside? FIIRREE! I wish I could just have the song playing right here so you could understand how amazing it is. The stuff that really spoke to me, though? The wrestling references. I was a huge wrestling fan in my youth, so all the references that were intertwined in the songs and outros really caught my attention. The great part about the outros is that they intertwine with the song or the next song in a great way. For example, the outro on “French Toast”, which has a fantastic verse from Wale, and another wrestling reference (I’m never gon’ switch up, they all Eric Bischoff), the outro samples the infamous 2005 Shawn Michaels promo from Montreal and that’s all you need to know.
Westside gets busy on here, but the features definitely deserve some love too. JESUS CHRIST. He wasn’t featured, but all the features manage to deliver in a big way. On “George Bondo”, Griselda labelmates Conway the Machine and Benny the Butcher are coming for blood, “impactin’ the culture like Eric Bischoff”. On “327”, Joey Bada$$ comes through discussing how no one ever wanted smoke but marijuana (peace).Tyler, the Creator takes it back a couple years with his Wolf-like delivery and still manages to blend his old content and new content together. Wale goes hard as I said earlier, and Freddie Gibbs on “$500 Ounces”… there are so many bars that I just need you to listen to, but you can call him Fred DiBiase now. And Roc Marciano plays with MAC-11 in his verse in such a way that is so beautiful… in a hood way.
This album was entertaining and is pretty good, bar-for-bar. That being said, it isn’t perfect. One of the first things I noticed on the second listen was that a good amount of these songs definitely have the “rags-to-riches” style in common. The bars are still good, but I was wanting a little more variation. Also, Westside Gunn is dope, but… he ain’t no singer… “Allah Sent Me” has some dope verses, but when we get to that hook, you just want to turn the song off. These are literally the only things that I could think were less than favorable on this album.
Normally, I would say that albums like these are an acquired taste, but nah. The only way you won’t like this is if you just aren’t a rap fan. Seriously, this has something for just about everyone. It has the fantastic bars from everyone, it has the rags-to-riches raps on lock, it has the braggadocios raps when you feelin’ yourself, all while having some INSANE production. If I were to give it a rating, it’d be a 4/5 stars.
Favorite Song (s): $500 Ounces, 327
Least Favorite: Allah Sent Me
Illest Rhymes: Euro Step
by Sekou | May 1, 2020 | Features, Mental Health
Eric Garner, Alton Sterling, Philando Castille, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Trayvon Martin, Botham Jean. What do they all have in common? They were all shot down by the police in controversial (or unlawful) fashion. Black people, including myself, have gotten pissed at this regular occurrence. So much so that we made a point to say that Black Lives Matter, back around 2014. But people, specifically White, tried to say that all lives mattered. Why? Was it because they truly believed that? Or was it because they wanted to oppose us? Sometimes, it is hard to tell the easy truth. But then, more occurrences happen and it gets louder. “Black Lives Matter!” Then, a police officer gets shot, and we hear “Blue Lives Matter.” Then we hear “All lives matter.” Then, a police officer comes in and shoots a man IN HIS OWN HOME and starts barking orders. Do you know what most of these have in common? Most of the killers got off scot free. One of the ones that didn’t get off free was still comforted by the Black judge. This is why we kneel.
People dressing up in blackface because it is “funny”… this is why we kneel
Police being called on Black people for having a BBQ in a park… this is why we kneel.
Police being called on a ten-year old Black girl for selling water… this is why we kneel.
“Why can’t I say nigga?” This is why we kneel.
Black people being 12% of the population, 33% of us being in prison, and plenty of us in for petty crimes that would give a White person a slap on the wrist (maybe even an interview on TMZ…). This is why we kneel.
Trump is the President of the United States… that’s enough of a reason to kneel.
A few years ago, I saw something on Facebook. There were a slew of people weighing in on the Nike Kap situation. I saw a comment, and it went along the lines of, “I am a White man, and now I feel oppressed.” This is upsetting to me. Why? Because not being able to say you don’t like Nike because they support Kaepernick is not oppression. Being silenced when we continuously get killed is oppression. Saying that a Black person mean mugged you (looked at you mean for those who haven’t talked to any Black person) is not oppression. A White officer with a gun to your head after you have complied is oppression. You being scared of Black people existing is not oppression. Black people being incarcerated at a higher rate than White people while only making up 12% of the population (because of White people being scared of a Black person’s existence) is oppression. A Black person saying, “White people be trippin’” is NOT oppression. The word, “nigger” is oppression.
You want to know why we kneel? We kneel for the same reason you act like you stand (you don’t stand up at home…), because we care for this country. As much shit that goes on here, we love it, but we want it to change. If you have an unruly child, what do you do? You don’t let things slide, you don’t turn a blind eye, you don’t act like nothing is happening… You discipline, you reprimand, you talk to them. The same needs to go for a nation that unlawfully kill Black people at a disproportionate rate. We will not stand for this shit anymore. Let me tell you all something: as a Black person, we are given two talks from our parents. We’re given the usual “birds and bees” talk, but then we’re given something much scarier. We get the cop talk. “If you get stopped, call me; do everything that they say, be as careful as possible.” Police stopping Black people is not just “a part of life” for us. It is terrifying. Our life flashes before our eyes. Even if it is a routine traffic stop, even if we’re completely in the right, that doesn’t matter. Hell, we can know our rights, and that won’t help us. We can comply with every demand, it doesn’t matter. We can be in our house, it doesn’t matter. We can be 12 years old, it. Doesn’t. Matter. That is why we kneel. That is why we’re oppressed. We should NOT have to fear for our lives around the ones who were sworn in to protect me. We should NOT have to worry about the lives of all our little siblings, some who may be teenagers (scariest thing to a police officer is a Black teenager) and some who may not have hit puberty yet, because the people who are supposed to protect them are scared. If the only thing that you can say to this is, “Well, you people aren’t slaves anymore!” Or “But I’m White and now I’m oppressed!” Or any empty platitudes about how we should pray on it. First off, y’all love thinking that not being slaves means no oppression for people who think they are oppressed because you can’t share your racist opinion, second, faith without works is dead. Again, that’s why we kneel, that’s why we protest, but y’all think that’s anti-American because you’ve been told you’re supposed to stand. Even though, you’re probably sitting at home. Lastly, unfollow Musiq Therapy if you truly think that you’re oppressed because you are nervous to express your true opinions and especially if you don’t think Black people are oppressed. We care about America, we want it to change, and we will do what we can to bring attention to the injustices. That is why we kneel.
Data from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/01/12/shrinking-gap-between-number-of-blacks-and-whites-in-prison/
by Sekou | Apr 14, 2020 | Features, Sessions
Hope y’all are STOKED right now! Sorry, I really enjoy puns! In this time of just distress, I still wanted to interview artists. Don’t worry, I still practiced social distancing while doing it. But once this is all over, I can’t wait to see people in person. Specifically, this man, Jeremiah Stokes. Guys: this man is the truth. This is a man who truly cares about his craft and is one of the dopest people you will ever meet. I got the chance to meet him at a show in November and then one in January. I even played pool with him! Jeremiah is really good at pool. I got lucky getting one ball in playing with him and I’m still waiting for a rematch. We opened up our interview with a simple question, “how are you?’ I loved his response because it shows how down-to-earth of a dude he is. Oftentimes, we usually will just say, “I’m doing good” or” I’m fine”, but that response shows you how human he is.
MT: “How are you doing?”
Stokes: “Can’t complain, I actually feel great. I actually have work at 9 AM this morning but woke up at 6… but YESTERDAY was a great day, so I woke up in high spirits, just wish I got more sleep”.
As much as I love music, I am always curious as to how an artist got started in the business and what they would be doing had they not pursued it. Plenty of people want to conform to something that they are expected to do, as opposed to what they are actually good at. This is something I adore about Jeremiah and all musicians: doing something that they are great at and that they love. When you hear this man and the way he takes you on an intellectual experience through his music, you will understand how he was meant for music and why he feels nothing else makes sense for him. He did mention that streaming video games and painting are the closest things that he could see himself doing; however, the conversation circled back to music, as he said he enjoyed OSTs and BGM (background music) when he’s doing either one of those things.
MT: How did you get started making music?
Stokes: “It’s somewhat of a funny story. I initially got into making music because I was so lonely and wanted attention [initially]; that was until I realized how genius I was at it. So naturally, I gravitated to what I was actually good at.”
MT: “What would you be doing if you weren’t making music or what is your second passion?”
Stokes: “Absolutely nothing, I’d rather die than not do music.” As I said earlier, when you have a passion, that carries a lot of weight, and when you are doing it, you can rarely see yourself doing anything else.”
Being that one half of this magazine’s name is Therapy, y’all know I came in with the mental health questions! Damn, his answers were so raw and relatable. Music is its own therapy, especially when you find that song that perfectly describes your situation.
MT: “How would you say that music helps you with your mental fitness?”
Stokes: “Music is like a complex form of self-talk therapy when you find an artist, style or single that perfectly describes your feelings. I didn’t really develop any constructive coping skills in my formative years so I would literally just sit in my room and blast my favorite shit. Young “me” would sing along and resonate with almost every word.”
We’re also dealing with a man who loves lyricism and words in general. He has mentioned actually starting out as a poet with a huge vocabulary before delving into rap.
Stokes: “I started becoming obsessed with trying to know every song I loved, word for word. I feel memorizing so many songs, including my own, keeps my mental state very agile.”
MT: “Is there any specific music you listen to when you feel anxious and depressed?”
Stokes: “Lmfao sad shit, very dark sad shit. If it’s a bad mood that I genuinely wish to come out of though, I’ll blast some braggadocious, high energy music. If I’m low and not loving myself properly, I’ll listen to some mellow, introspective music to help check my ego.”
Jeremiah definitely has these types of songs on lock. Check out, “Corona” or “Answers” from him.
MT: “What are your thoughts on social media and how it affects your mental health?”
Stokes: “If I wasn’t destined to be a social media personality through the music I would dead ass not be on social media. I feel like the shit is poison. Social media is something that we all use, and unfortunately, in such an online networking world, it is somewhat of a necessary evil for promotion. That being said, there’s a ton of fake info, fabricated personalities, as well as inflated egos.”
MT: “Do you think it’s difficult to get on social media?”
Stokes: “Hell nah. Everybody is addicted to it.” Now that we have been forced into isolation it is even more addictive considering it’s the only way we stay connected as a society right now Where will we be in 3 months’ time when the quarantine and social distancing is over? Will we be in another mental health crisis, depressed and anxious?”
MT: “How does music help you cope with anxiety and/or depression?”
Stokes: “Dawg, it’s honestly the only thing that works effectively as I would like it to… every single time. Music keeps me alive, bro.”
Jeremiah’s passion for music helps him cope and him turning his pain into progress is why he is such a good artist, whose music just hits you. Like he’s said in his song, Corona, “I can’t get trapped in my thoughts, so I just stay on my grind”.
Whenever I get an opportunity to interview talented artist or even just hear their music, I always wonder which artists inspire them.
MT: “Who is your favorite artist right now?”
Stokes: “Mac Miller. Easy…”
Not too much to say with this one, just the fact that Jeremiah has great taste but we already knew that.
MT: “What’s your favorite television show?”
Stokes: “I don’t watch too much tv since I’ve fallen in love with music. However, I do love anime and will watch binge anything that catches my attention, such as House, American Horror Story or any type of documentary.”
This was a fantastic session with Jeremiah. He not only has some of the best music out right now, he is also a genuinely great person. Even through a screen, you can tell how humble and down-to-earth he is. You can tell that he’s someone that you genuinely want to chill with and just talk about music and anime. He’s someone that you want to beat in pool because you got embarrassed the two times you played—sorry, I just need a rematch soon! In all seriousness, having met the man before, he is an artist whose music you need to meet, because it will bring you into an experience. However, his personality will make you want to see him succeed. I want to see this man win, and honestly, he’s already winning.
Jeremiah, thanks for joining me for my first session, dawg! Hope my MT followers enjoyed getting personal with him.
by Sekou | Apr 6, 2020 | Features, Influencers
Weezy F, Baby. And the F is for inFluence. We are in the year 2020, and Lil Wayne dropped an album in January, giving him another chart-topping album. As a matter of fact, Wayne has had a Billboard #1 album in 4 decades and has had the 2nd most Billboard Top 40 hits, with 82. We will actually discuss the person who has the most Top 40 hits in this article, but right now we will discuss the living legend: Lil Wayne.
There was definitely a time when saying that statement would get me blacklisted from being taken seriously by anyone, but I think Wayne is finally at that moment in time where we can give him his flowers while he can still smell them. Wayne has had a career like no other. He has been here since he was about 12 and has been making big hits since then. With those hits, he also has had major influence on hip hop culture. He defined eras of fashion and culture, with the bling-bling era to the long white T-shirt era to the leopard-print skinny jeans era! Wayne manages to keep himself relevant throughout decades.
Wayne’s music is also very influential. The man is credited for starting “mumble rap”, with having a lazy, Mush-Mouth like speech behind a catchy beat. However, he is also an innovator in punchline rap. Everyone loves a good punchline, especially in hip hop, and you’d be surprised how many people are influenced by it. From Childish Gambino to Kendrick Lamar to Migos, the popularization of punchline rap should be credited to Wayne. He definitely can have some misses in his punchlines (ya’ll know what the first sentence in this article is referencing), but when he is on, he is ON. He has some creative, witty, and funny punchlines that you will always enjoy!
Let’s also discuss his prolific dominance in the mid-2000s. Wayne felt like he was on every single track. He stayed in our ears not only by being featured on everything, but by releasing music constantly. Wayne had a mixtape dominance that is unmatched by no other. But then there was Tha Carter III… This is one of the most creative projects you’ll ever hear about. Not only is it creative, but it is BEYOND successful. It actually came at a time of hip hop recession. “… Tha Carter III debuted at No. 1 and sold more than a million copies in the first week. This was a huge and record-breaking achievement for the culture… there was a huge decline regarding hip hop albums commercial successes.” (Terrell, 2019) This is such a monumental album that it started the wave of autotune in hip hop, along with T-Pain.
Now, I can say that Wayne is influential until the hood comes home, but it won’t mean much if I don’t tell you who he’s influenced, now will it?
Lil so-and-so: Yep, every single “Lil” rapper out there has been influenced by the younger Mr. Carter. Why? I mean… it’s kind of obvious… the man’s name is “Lil” Wayne. Because he is so famous, all of these rappers have come with “Lil” in their title to pay tribute to their biggest influence. Side note: yes, Lil Kim and Lil Jon exist, but let’s be real; all these rappers have taken styles from Wayne, why wouldn’t they take that influence from him too?)
Lil Uzi Vert: Now, I wanted to single out Uzi for this reason: out of all the “lil”s, he probably has been influenced the most by Wayne. First, he truly is “Lil” (about 5’4, not saying that Wayne influenced him to be 5’4, I’m just saying that he is… Never mind), he was one of the leaders in the genre of “mumble rap”, as he had his moments when he was unintelligible, but the biggest influence? Uzi is a Rockstar. This is directly influenced by Wayne, who has transcended rap and has become a modern Rockstar for the generation. Uzi has that same appeal, playing with his voice and music, making alternative fashion choices, embracing the weird and being willing to make something a little different even if the subject matter stays the same. Now, there obviously is a difference between Uzi and Wayne, but there is definitely an influence
Young Thug: This should be obvious. The dude had an album called Tha Barter VI, had dreads, started making music that no one could understand, and was signed to Cash Money. You might as well call him Wayne 2.0.
Drake: Remember what I said earlier? Yea, he has the most Top 40 hits, with 100. While Drake has plenty of influences from Kanye (that will definitely be happening), he also has plenty of influences from Wayne. Of course, Wayne signed Drake to YMCMB, but there’s more than that. Every punchline, every auto tune song, every Southern-inspired beat, Wayne is the predecessor. Slight caveat for this: this is mainly for early Drake, as the current Drake has gotten big enough for his own style. However, for current Drake, he took influence from Wayne’s run in 2007 by hopping on every track.
Wayne’s voice is still making an impact to this day. Do you all remember “No Frauds” back in 2017? That was a Nicki Minaj song, but don’t tell me you didn’t get a little bit hype when Wayne came at the end. They don’t make them like him no more, man… he’s a dinosaur. Lil Wayne’s influence continues to impact the mainstream culture, as well as the underground culture. Yes, he has had some duds, but when you make as much music as he did then it makes sense. Regardless, this is a man who will be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his influence on hip hop music and the culture as a whole.
Sources:
Terrell, Dontaira. 5 ways Lil Wayne redefined the art of hip hop. 27 September 2019. 30 March 2020.
Zellner, Xander. Lil Wayne PassesElvis for theSecond-Most Top 40 Hot 100 Hits of All Time. 11 February 2020. 30 March 2020.
by Sekou | Mar 29, 2020 | Features, Reviews
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – Kanye West
It’s crazy that the best album of the decade came from one of the least favorable years for music, but it’s Kanye, that’s what he does. Before anyone starts, this is not a discussion of his political antics, or antics as of late. We are discussing things from 2009-2010. So let me set the stage for you: 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. For Video of the Year, Taylor Swift wins. Fans and musicians applaud and cheer the young woman for getting such an honor. All but one. And that one jumped out of his seat, took the mic, and said that Beyonce had one of the greatest videos of ALL TIME. Why am I bringing this up? Because this is integral to how Kanye moved afterwards. He exiled himself, left the public eye, and dedicated his time to working on one of the best albums of all time. I’ve discussed this in my Grammy article, but I can still go on. Even though this wasn’t an apology album, it definitely felt like it. Let me start by discussing some of the songs. “Dark Fantasy” is one of the best intros ever, “Gorgeous” has on of Kanye’s best verses, “Power” is about having so much power, and then having to relinquish it, “All of the Lights”… I could write an essay on why it is one of the greatest songs of all time. After repeated listens, this is an album about three things: loss, love, and acceptance. The song “Runaway” is one of the greatest songs to ever be produced, and I believe this to be the culmination point of everything. The first verse is Kanye battling with himself about not being great with females, finding something wrong all the time, toasting all the assholes, d-bags, jerkoffs of the world in the chorus. The second verse being Pusha T’s, where he plays that douchebag role very well, and pretty much tells the girl, “I’m going to do whatever I want. You can either accept it or leave, but I got more hoes waiting for me.” The third verse being about how Ye doesn’t enjoy romantics and how his girl sees that as a major problem. The third act, even though it is just mainly instrumental, is so beautiful. To me, it is part of the acceptance. It is Kanye saying some things through a vocorder, but mainly letting the instruments take you to a place where they let you think about everything he said. They take you on an emotional journey for 4 minutes where you can just reflect. This is the album that made everyone remember that while he seems like an egotistical asshole, he also is one of the greatest musical minds of our time. This is the album that we will look back on and study for its flawlessness and greatness, just as we will look back on it as the greatest album of the last decade.
Disagree? Well, I don’t know what to tell you, because these top 5 albums I’ve listed in this series are fantastic. However, I’d still love to know all of your opinions on music. Tell me what your favorite album of the decade was; tell me what album you’re anticipating the most this year; and tell me what music you might be listening to, so we can listen to even more! This wraps up my top 5 albums of the decade series. Hope you enjoyed it!
