The Genius of Kanye West: An Editorial

Rapper and producer, Kanye West has garnered himself a somewhat negative image in the eyes of the young tween pop fanatics that fuel his celebrity. This is mostly due to several public blunders that the Chi-Town producer has made, especially n recent years. The world can remember when a young west proclaimed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina that "George Bush doesn't care about black people." More recently, it was his act at the 2009 MTV VMA's in which he sole the mic from a 19 year old Taylor Swift who was in the middle of her first VMA acceptance speech. "Taylor, I'm really happy for you and I'mma let you finish but Beyonce had one of the greatest videos of all time. Of all time!" This in addition to his history of egotism, are the primary factors that have fueled such a negative image.

While agree with most of the criticism that he has received and don't in any way encourage, his public behavior, I do believe that on a certain level he has been misunderstood. In addition, I don't believe that the media created caricature that has been made of him should be justification for people to make claims about his artistic character and ability. In this post, I hope to briefly analyze the mind and music of this Hip-Hop legend and hopefully come to a solid defense of this often misunderstood genius.

Firstly, I would like to isolate one or two factors that may drive his obnoxious social mishaps. Having, watched a magnitude of interviews and read extensively on or by him, I believe that in making such wild claims and causing such large scenes, West is coming from genuinely good intentions. For West, truth is one of the most important facets of life. His greatest regret is the often inaccurate representation of pop culture by the the most commonly trusted pop organizations such as award shows. He has often threatened to boycott such award shows as the Grammys and VMAs on this notion. So in interruptingTaylor Swift and in calling out the president, the young rapper, only hoped to expose what seemed to him to be the obvious truth. While, his tactics definitely go unprotected, there is no denying honest intentions. Undoubtedly, in the wake of Katrina and in the crowd at the VMAs there were people who felt quite similarly to West, and they would be justified n thinking so. The difference is, West presented the issues in a blunt and unadulterated form. He hoped to spare no tears or feelings, just to present the truth or more of it.

That being said, I think these issues are completely irrelevant to his artistic and musical genius. In an industry that is fueled by synthetic drums and techy disco tinged vocals with laser leads, Kanye West's music is a breath of fresh air. Most of his music is based on sampling, which is taking small aspects from several songs,crashing them together with original or alternative compositions and building an entirely new song of that. He gained much of his initial fame from his production for Jay-Z. His chipmunk sequence soul samples became a trademark of his during his preppy and ironically college hating phase. This time, (2004-2005) marked the more lighthearted fun and humorous Kanye West. In recent years, he has developed a sound and taste that is more grandiose and sonically esoteric.

His career has been one of extreme dynamism, which is rare of most pop artists of this time period. Whereas College Dropout and Late Registration were more soul inspired, his best seller, 2006's Graduation seamlessly combined hip-hop with various electric genres like techno and dub step. Upon the death of his mother, he released "808s & Heartbreaks" in 2008 on which he created an epic soundtrack riddle with intense synths, pads, tribal drumming, and chants all topped with his grainy singing through auto tune. Critics raved. No one was expecting it, especially not from an egotistical maniac rapper. It was one of the most unique albums of the decade. After going on a brief hiatus musically, the Chicago native came with a vengeance on the rock/hip-hop record heavily driven by orchestral strings. "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" ended up being one of the most successful record of the year, garnering a "10" on pitchfork, something which had last happened a decade previously. In addition to the boundary smashing record, West released 30 minute movie written and directed by him, which was essentially a long music video featuring songs from the album, clean and unorthodox visuals, and a simple story which emphasized the theme of the album.

In addition to his various successful fashion and design endeavors, Kanye West has proved himself worthy in more than one scene of the art industry. No other artist in the last decade has been so dynamic, daring, and unorthodox, and impactful. For this, this genius, I think needs more credit than he receives.

Kony 2012: A year later

Last week marked the one year anniversary of the 30 minute viral video sponsored by Invisible Children documenting the atrocities of Ugandan rebel leader, Joseph Kony and his notorious Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and calling for the world to know him and "make him famous" in hopes of ultimately capturing and arresting this "ruthless" man. Although the excitement surrounding it was short lived and eventually marred by inappropriate public behavior on behalf of the video's creator, Jason Russell, in the weeks following the video the world was united in the common cause to bring this war criminal to justice. While this is a good thing and I am glad that at the very least the world was informed of such atrocities, I am disappointed in Invisible Children as well as the media in general for I sufficiently presenting the entire story. Speaking as a Ugandan, I have some what of a better understanding of the issue than most. It is my hope in this blog post to present to the best of my ability another side to this complex issue and offer my personal sentiments pertaining to it.
The LRA has been active since the 1980's and was previously part of the Ugandan National Resistance Army. (NRA) It was in place as any other military organization, to protect and serve the people of its country from harm , working hand in hand with the police. However, when turmoil from within led the national army to become corrupt and immoral in their ways, many soldier opted out, forming the LRA, lead by Odong Latek. Originally, the organization was called the Ugandan People's Democratic Army and was meant to combat the corruptions of the army and eventually the government. As the rule of the incumbent party and president, Yoweri Museveni became progressively more heavy handed, and began to lose track of its moral code, the LRA became equally as ruthless and heavy handed. To date, it has been the most successful rebel organization in the history of the Museveni regime. However, due to the use of child soldiers as well as abductions and other heinous crimes, the group has lost it's legitimacy and have been written in the bad books of people and governments worldwide.
Naturally, the person getting most of the slack is none other than the LRA's notorious leader, Joseph Kony, who became a household name last year with the release of the viral documentary Kony2012, which called for the world to campaign to bring this man to justice as to protect the lives, and well being of the Ugandan people and prevent some harm to ever again touch their land. This is great, and I am all for bringing criminals to justice, BUT if the western world really wanted to help the Ugandan people and free the, from their "misery," they need not look any farther than the president himself. Yoweri Museveni violently enforced himself as president while the country was crippled and war torn and has been ruling Uganda for nearly 30 years now. He is guilty of most if not also the crimes that Kony is, and his party is one the most corrupt in African history. To add to it, he has changed the constitution multiple times; most notably t remove term limits and thus letting him hold eternal office. In 1987 he staged a military coup n the then incumbent government of Tito Okello. Most of his army consisted of children under the age of 15. Upon gaining power he made sure get rid of all political opposition. Countless have been abducted and killed by his army. Innocent civilians have been mad victims of torture. In the Ugandan capital of Kampala, army tanks sit in the center of public parks, surrounded by armed soldiers and tear gas is constantly armed. Civilians must live under the constant threat of tyranny by the hands of their own government, and and who dare speak out may be subject to violent apprehension; all of this, somehow protected under the crooked law. Initially, Museveni did bring stability and infrastructure to a war torn country, but his methods have never been justified and now many would say that country is regressing. Where as Kony does serve as a threat and I am in full support of his arrest, atleast he is accepted as a criminal. On the other hand, Mseveni has and proceeds to commit many of he same crimes but manages to get off slack free. The world, instead of focusing on finding and capturing criminal who may or may not be alive, should be informed of, accept, and bring justice to the crimes of Yoweri Museveni, a man who has continuously served as a threat to Uganda. That, I think, is the best thing that the world can do to help the Ugandan people.

Documentary Project Reflective Essay

My colleagues, Nico Barbiero, Sam Merrill, and I recently completed our documentary about the music scene and culture at Montgomery Blair High School. The five minute film, which was a a media project assigned to us by Mr. Mayo focused on what we thought to be the four most influential musical acts at the school, the Flying Mighty, Ladle Fight, Publik Theory, and HA.V.O.C. Creating the project spanned multiple months and required extra time and effort on all of our parts but it was ultimately worth it after seeing the final outcome. We were afforded a lot of freedom on this project and ultimately our group was formed based on common interest and passion that all three of us had in music. It was the genuine fascination that led to the project's success. Although, initially, I had my reservations, I'm happy with my decision to follow through with this topics because this project was a great time and effort consumer and I wouldn't not have been as invested in it had I not had an interest on the topic.
In addition for my passion for music, this year I developed a passion for film and media. This is my first media project that I was invested in beyond just the interest of my grade. Throughout the pre and post-production process I found that this self-investment is necessary in order to have a quality outcome.
As a group the greatest challenges we faced during were that of a specific interview and of B-Roll. For the most part, the interviewing process was simple and smooth but for one act in particular, we realized late into post production that the video quality of the interview was insufficient and we were pressured to schedule another interview several weeks into the allotted editing time. Thankfully, we managed to get the interview and the issue was resolved. B-Roll was another problem. Whereas most of the groups had an abundance of B-Roll to choose from online, one group had very little and another group had none. For this group, Nico had to attend a show and capture some footage of his own. Using this and so e creative editing, we were able to work with the little we had.
The film as it stands is guided by a central interview of Adam Maisto, who is familiar with Blair's music culture. If I could I would have liked to interview more casual musicians as well as regular Blair students in order to capture what the a blair populace feels about their school's musical culture.
Throughout, this process, Mr. Mayo has been available, co-operative, and helpful. At times he seemed to be more excited about our movie than us. However, I think that he could have been less lenient on the project's due date. I can note three of the groups that applied to the C-Span Student cam co petition. They were required to complete their documentaries nearly two moths ago. All of these groups finished and got decent grades. I think that if we the students were more pressed to finish the films, we would have buckled down and finished much earlier. This would have opened up more time for possibly another project before we begin working on CAP Hollywood.

Mizizi Yangu

It has always puzzled people when I tell them my ethnicity. Whereas I was born and raised in Uganda and my father is Ugandan, my mother ensured that I am a racially, ethnically, and varied person. (some would say confused) Although being born and raised n Uganda as well as Kenya, from my mother I receive Tanzanian, Irish, Greek, and Ugandan roots. It is important for me to a own and celebrate all these aspects of my identity. Recently, I've been most fascinated with my Ugandan and Tanzanian roots. It is this fascination that has led me to my decision to learn Swahili. The language of my family and ancestors. A language that rolls off the tongue of my mother and aunt a they attempt to recapture childhood memories. The language in which my Tanzanian grandmother learned to smile. Swahili has been whispered in grass thatched huts, cried on battlefields, and echoed in parliaments. It is spoken by over fifty million people, across the eastern coast of Africa and beyond. Among these speakers are much of my family. In the Sankofa performance that I was in last week, there was a poem rected which dealt with kniwing one's histiry and carving out one's identity. It is impossible for me to carve out my identity without speaking the tongue of my ancestors. My parents were responsible enough to ensure that I learned Luganda before another language. Because of this, I have always felt welcome in the Buganda culture and have never strayed from my Bugandan roots. Now, in an attempt to connect with Tanzanian culture, I hope to learn Swahili and carve out my roots.
My roots: mizizi yangu.

Sankofa: Looking back while moving forward?

This year I partook in Sankofa: Black history month performance for the second year in a row.
The culmination of our work will be on Thursday and Friday of this week.
The productions have consistently been a wearing and rewarding experience. However, as I continue to invest my self in the celebration of a history, I can only help but question the morals of my devotion.
Before I began taking part in the Sankofa show, I had already had strong sentiments on the issue of black culture and history. Whereas I respect all history and culture, and think it important remember she celebrate, I can only wonder if in the world we life in today, there is still room for cultural lines divided by color.

Unfortunately, slavery and segregation imposed a racially separate for the majority of US History. Regardless of its beginnings, It would be unfair to ignore the centuries of black history and culture that have taken place on US soil. It is important to remember and celebrate the good parts of history. That's where shows like Sankofa come in, however. Now that many of the racial chains that previously held us back have been lifted, it is our responsibility as humans to address the not woo good parts of our history.
In think that in order to progress as humans, we should promote the division of culture and society on the basis of common belief and interest as opposed to race.
Due to the unfortunate history of this country (and the world for that matter), it is impossible to ignore that there is a black history, but in order to ensure the harmonious future of this country, the beauties of black culture and history should be extended to anyone who relates to its message abs moral, regardless of freed and color.

Life in Silver Spring

For the latest video challenge we were meant to capture life in Silver Spring. For the first time we were allowed to partner up. I worked with Jasper and we focused on the proximity to Washington D.C. and the diversity as some of the best parts about our area.

In the Dawn of Death

"The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious of the rose." (Kahlil Gibran).

In this respect, the thorns of death are sharp enough to turn most into pessimists while the flower of life passed, is beautiful enough to turn pessimists into optimists. This beauty, in my opinion, is the power of unity.There is nothing greater than the power to bring people together, and in a world that is so firm and divided, death has the ability to break the walls that separate us as people. At a funeral, politics don't mater, wars are irrelevant, all the worlds conflicts are out the window. In that moment, all that is important is the good that has come from any particular person. Funerals are not about dreading death, but rather celebrating life. Just as it has the power to sharpen the thorns of a rose, death is capable of brightening the flower; the power to turn pessimists into optimists.

In this sense, your life will never be as important as when you lose it. If someone were ever able to touch everyone on earth, in the dawn of his/her death, the world would for once be in a state of perfect harmony.