Dear Facebook

Wow, oh great book of faces. It's been almost 5 years since I was a lowly high school student getting invited onto the greatest social network ever, by a college student. In those 5 years, I've seen you grow from Myspace's college-educated brother to an opiate for the masses only comparable to heroin. Obviously, since I've moved on to Twitter, you've taken somewhat of a backburner. However, stalking on your network (everyone does it; I'm not afraid to admit it) is still a highlight of my day. That brings me to my point.

When you unraveled your new privacy settings, I thought to myself: So? Since Facebook started, it's been no secret that privacy was going to be of utmost concern. No on wants those drunken pictures from the weekend, or that message/wall post that they weren't supposed to send to end up a laughingstock. It's good that you guys finally decided to simplify and make your privacy settings better. That said, why was it ever NOT a priority? I suppose at the growth stage you're at, it's all about tightening up the ship. But that's not even my point.

When it comes to privacy, the responsibility should lie with the user first and above all. Facebook, you're a company first; a business, not a social network. You're resolve is to make money through social networking, no matter how nasty the results. If as a Facebook user you know you took some less than flattering pictures this weekend, then UNTAG THEM! If you don't want everyone seeing your profile, limit that thing! If you don't like pokes, disable them! The problem with you, Facebook, is that you've made put of our dirty laundry into nice blue boxes, so that people forget that it's the internet, and NOTHING is safe. Yet and still, people continue to lose their jobs, friends and dignity off of internet stupidity. It's like the person who buys an untrained rotweiller and then is surprised when it bites someone's hand off. Facebook, you've tightened your end of the bargain in terms of privacy. Now it's time for the users to do their part...

Your Year-End Letter

Not that I'm misanthropic (I'm a social introvert, according to AKZionz), but I know I'm not the only one on this planet who balks at some of the random social gestures we extend during the holidays. This song is all about those little niceties that everyone accepts, but no one remembers. I'm all for catching up with old friends, but getting a Christmas form letter or one of those family photos from random acquaintances seems pointless to me. Why waste your ink and money, and my reading time over something you could have told me over the phone??

Outasight - Further (LP)

Outasight – Further (Free LP)

If you are looking for a strictly hip-hop mixtape or just lyrics, please STOP HERE. Outasight is not a rapper or a singer, though he raps and sings. At this juncture of music, it's impossible to classify an act like Outasight. He draws from entirely too many facets of music to be placed in a box. Whether it's rock, R&B, rap, funk, folk, or electronic, Outasight touches all of them. The man is a MUSICIAN. I'd rather compare this to a Pharrell compilation than to any rap release. In terms of lyrics (if you're still interested in that), OU is like a blur. His lyrics are so slick that if you go for a drink in between songs, you're liable to miss a snippet of sonic mastery. I don't say this about any artist because, quite frankly, most artists wouldn't know their way around live music if they were already in a concert. Outasight is simply amazing. The LP 'Further' is a step towards a genre-free existence in music, and should be heard. Check the tracklist (back cover), my picks, and of course, some videos...

PS. Outasight is yet ANOTHER Notherground artist that's really hitting hard. Make sure you check out him, 6th Sense, The Kid Daytona, and Harlem's Cash out...



Cream of the Crop:
Catch Me if You Can
Don't Say Anything
Brand New Day
Downtown in My Mind
Stranger than Fiction

Cream of the Crap:
Everyone Gets Laid (weird concept; I don't think he pulled it off well)

Rockie Fresh - Rockie's Modern Life

Rockie Fresh - Rockie's Modern Life

When people talk about the evolution of hip-hop, they always say that today's artists are vapid and don't rap about anything. What most of them fail to realize is that hip-hop is cyclical, and that hip-hop hasn't had long enough a history for most people to see that. That said, like the late 1980's, hip-hop is coming back around to lyrical wordplay and having fun. Acts like The Cool Kids, Pac Div, Curren$y, Drake, (insert rest of XXL Freshman 10 here), and now, Rockie Fresh are where the music is heading.

Rockie hails from Chicago (quickly becoming my 2nd favorite hip-hop city), is a private school graduate, and like his statesmen Lupe, Common & Add-2 (we will get on him later, seriously), he has SKILLS. Dude is a wordplay monster. On this mixtape, Rockie's Modern Life, he has punchline after punchline after punchline. It actually doesn't stop. I waited, seriously. And Rockie didn't disappoint. The one thing I can say about Rockie, though, is that he has a serious love affair with talking about how fly he is. Though that's the trend, it's good to see versatility. Overall, Rockie looks like he might be one of the next to blow. The mixtape doesn't have a lot of weak tracks, and keeps you listening. Check the tracklist (back cover), my picks, and some videos after the jump...



Cream of the Crop:
New Chapter
Rockie Go Get Um
Do the Dance
Gone (Interlude) - (He goes IN on the industry)
Welcome
Rockie Fresh
Fire Bed
Chill

Cream of the Crap:
Get on the Floor (didn't like the beat)
I'm Fly (good lyrics, but a played out concept)

Neighborhood Newletter (12/15)

If that isn't America, I don't know what is...

The 15 Worst Christmas Movies Ever

Microsoft Blatantly Steals From Startup?

Gang Made Millions in Biggest-Ever eBay Fraud

Marijuana Legalization Initiative Headed For 2010 Ballot

Stem cells 'reverse' MS in Canberra man

Somali Man Stoned To Death For Adultery

Chinese Farmers Sell Blood To Make Ends Meet

10 Biggest White Collar Crimes In History

Dear Chris Brown

A lot of people read my Rihanna letter and got the idea that I'm somehow a proponent of domestic violence (even though I stated my disdain for it numerous times). This time, it's Chris' turn to hear somethings about himself...


Larry King was not a fluke, Chris' vocabulary is elementary at best...

Chris, Chris, Chris. It was really really hard trying to show the world the other side of your story once Rihanna started singing like the bird she is (there's my one and only shot). That said, I think you took the high road by trying to keep the situation between the two of you. You've taken steps to remedy your affinity for violence, tried to clear your name as best you could, and have started making music again. Now begins the hard part. When you took to Twitter to start airing out your grievances about the ills of pushing an album as a felon, you pretty much showed everyone that this had REALLY gotten to you. I can't help but think what you're going through sucks, but therein lies the problem.

Chris, you laid your hands on a woman. And hurt her, badly. Truth be told, you could probably be in jail right now. Thanks to the celebrity card, you got of with a slap on the wrists. After that, you will not have ANYTHING handed to you. The music stores are well within their rights to bar your album from selling, and there is really nothing you can do about it. Being painted with a domestic violence charge as a musician is like wearing a scarlett letter in the colonial U.S. NOBODY IS ON YOUR SIDE, CHRIS. Or at least no one that wasn't there before. The industry doesn't owe you anything (especially not right now), and you know this. Ranting on Twitter never helped anyone, and sure as hell isn't going to help you either, so I suppose it's good you deleted it.

What you need to do is keep grinding (I'm starting to hate that term; everyone uses it when they really aren't doing anything). Get on the road and tour your Michael Jackson-impersonating behind off. Stop referencing Rihanna, stop answering questions about it and get to work. This whole situation is old, Chris. 'Do it like Kobe' should be your motto for 2010. Hell, you could Twitter that...

No Blackberries in the Oval Office

Do you want to know why Barack Obama is going to go down as one of the greatest Presidents ever? CHANGE. Yeah, that's cliche, but change (when it's done right) is something internal and external. Politically, it starts with the leaders, and even something as small as not allowing Blackberries in cabinet meetings, is a step in the right direction. If not one less thing to worry about distracting you during the day, it means during meetings there is undivided attention to the meeting and the issues at hand. Now if only we could bring every other free civilian on the planet to do the same with their Blackberries...

Lloyd - Like Me: The Young Goldie EP

Lloyd - Like Me: The Young Goldie EP

I always love music with a funny title. Lloyd's new work is called Like Me: The Young Goldie EP. I don't know if he's the Young Goldie or what the Young Goldie is, but whatever it is, it's got some good music under it. Lloyd's always been an underdog hitmaker, and I suppose he's trying to pull a Trey Songz by releasing some free ish to prep people for a new album. Lloyd drips his silky-smooth vocals over some electronic beats but also slows it down for some of the tracks. He has a lot of features on the EP too. All of the tracks are strong, but honestly, this thing is way too short (not to mention the last track is off of So Far Gone). It feels rushed. If he'd put 3 more songs on it, I'd probably be bumping it for weeks. Even so, this EP has some replay value. Check the tracklist, my picks, some leaks and videos...

1. Like Me featuring Bun-B
2. Pusha featuring Lil Wayne & Juelz Santana
3. Take It Off ft. J. Holiday & Nicki Minaj
4. What You Want feat. Mack Maine
5. Think of Me
6. Everyday featuring Richboy
7. Pro In the Game
8. A Night Off featuring Drake (Bonus Track)

Cream of the Crop:
Pusha
Think of Me
Everyday
Pro in the Game

Cream of the Crap:
What You Want (Lloyd goes in, but Mack Maine ruins the track)

Loosies:
Lloyd ft. Rich Boy - Everyday
Lloyd ft. Bun B - Like Me
Lloyd - Shes Holding Out (Prod. by Dallas Austin)

Murder: A Laughing Matter??

Maybe you don't pay attention to little stuff like this, but I have a tag for some posts called 'The Demise of Humanity'. It deals with things signaling *gasp* the demise of humanity. This video is probably the trailer for the next apocalyptic movie coming out. I'm sure you've all laughed at some kind of death, but to regale oneself while informing others on a professional platform is ridiculous. Hopefully her death doesn't end up the butt of a joke. I hope Karma watches the news...

The Mailing List: December 2009 (#4)

4. Normalcy - Charles Hamilton



This past year, Charles Hamilton showed us what can happen when bad public relations and bad public relationships come together. The punch heard 'round the world derailed what was seeming like a nice career in the making. Match that with a lackluster first album and Sonic the Hedgehog got dropped like a bad habit from his label. However, as you can see from the picture, Charles Hamilton is back. The man has a new project in the works called 'Normalcy'. Lord knows he needs some of that after a hell of a year (not in the good sense). Check out some of the leaks and a video from the mixtape, which drops this week, and keep it locked to Dear Whoever for the release...

Charles Hamilton - Air Agains

Charles Hamilton – Loserville

Charles Hamilton – Charles Hamilton is Back

Dear Apple

via the New York Times:

Two titans of the tech world, Google and Apple, may soon be engaged in hand-to-hand combat. Or, more precisely, handset-to-handset combat.

Google plans to begin selling its own smartphone early next year, company employees say, a move that could challenge Apple’s leadership in one of the fastest-growing and most important technologies in decades.

Google’s new touch-screen Android phone, which it began giving to many employees to test last week, could also shake up the fundamentals of the cellphone market in the United States, where most phones work only on the networks of the wireless carriers that sold them.

The company, using the power of its brand, plans to market and sell the new phone directly to consumers over the Internet, and buyers would be able to sign up for service from any compatible provider, the employees say.

They say that every dog has its day. Apple, it's been your day forever. Everyone listens to music on iPods, calls their friends on iPhones, use Mac computers and live the iLife. That said, what is the one program that everyone uses?? What one name seems to stand side by side with you guys in the technological arena? What name is synonymous with the simplicity and functionality that you guys have? You guessed it: Google. With news that Google is coming out with their own phone, which will run their proprietary software, the smartphone playing field is looking less tilted in your favor, Apple. First of all, this phone will be able to be on any network, not just AT&T, like you guys. For everyone who didn't get an iPhone because of AT&T's terrible prices and even worse service (like me), that's a good look.

Also, having the Google name on the phone is better than cosigns from Jay-Z, Don Cannon and DJ Drama on the same mixtape. Think about it. Everyone has a G-Mail, uses Youtube, uses Google Docs, uses Google Maps, reads Google News, is Google Waving, Google Reading blogs, and not to mention Google Scholar, Google Books, Google Shopping and Google Translating. Come to think of it, if we're not doing something with Apple, it's with Google. You guys might want to look into just forming a mega-conglomeration and taking over the world. We all know it's happening some time. Might as well make it with the two companies everyone uses...

Neighborhood Newletter (12/11)

My feelings exactly...

The 25 Coolest Sneaker Designs of 2009

What if the Internet breaks?

U.S. in red for 14th straight month

What Not To Do In Paris: The Top Five Tourist Mistakes

Intolerance in China: Christian Mega-Church Wrecked & Closed

Five Things the U.S. Can Learn from China

Nigeria Dethroned: Brazil Reigns as World's Spam Capital

Mom kidnaps pregnant woman, tries to cut baby from womb

Freestyle Friday (12/11)

It's a Friday. Freestyles would be on deck, usually. However, this week, I haven't come across a lot of good ciphers, so we're gonna go with a freestyle remix. The first one is from Wale over Say Something. He sounds like he's back on his old flow, but he definitely goes heavy on the lyrics in this one. The second one is from a newcomer named Add-2. This is my first time hearing about the man, and I was immediately WOWed. I'm sure you will be, too. Check out both of these freestyles and make sure you keep it locked to Dear Whoever. I got BIG plans for 2010...

Dear Congress.. and all the football Fans in it

Why does Congress want their hands in on THIS too??

via the Associated Press:

WASHINGTON – Dismissing complaints from some members that Congress had more pressing matters, a House subcommittee approved legislation Wednesday aimed at forcing college football to switch to a playoff system to determine its national champion.

"We can walk across the street and chew gum at the same time," said the subcommittee chairman, Illinois Democrat Bobby Rush, one of the bill's co-sponsors. "We can do a number of things at the same time."

The legislation, which still faces steep odds, would ban the promotion of a postseason NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision game as a national championship unless it results from a playoff. The measure passed by voice vote in the House Energy and Commerce Committee's commerce, trade and consumer protection subcommittee, with one audible "no," from Rep. John Barrow, D-Ga.

Okay, I'm as big a college football fan as the next, as I'm sure Barack Obama and every other politician does. That said, I think if my opinion as a casual sports fan doesn't count, then why should that of Congress?? Guys, we are in the middle of reforming our health care for the first time in 60 years, re-deploying 10,000 troops to Afghanistan, still reeling in a recession, and have a hole in the ozone layer the size of Rosie O'Donnell. Why then, in God's name, is college football legislation that high up on the list? Congress, your M.O. for the past 10 years has been NOT to meddle in the affairs of private firms. Now that Barack is elected, the first thing you do is try to interfere with sports?

I'm not going to lie. I think the BCS is full of shit and more or less gives the 20+ teams not in the national championship a weak consolation prize. Instead of BS'ing the other teams, why not have a playoff? That said, the issue at hand really shouldn't be at the forefront of your concerns. What's worse is that the bill doesn't even really do anything. It only prohibits the BCS from calling their title game a 'national championship game' unless it's from a playoff system. So in addition to having your nose sniffing where it really shouldn't be, you guys didn't even finish the job!! It's a sad day in America when our hastiness in legislation only translates to insignificant legalities. Lord knows a college football playoff won't help end the recession, and it DAMN sure won't get our troops out of the Middle East. Congress, please step it up...

Dear MTV

Good God Almighty. Just when I thought you guys' programming couldn't be more idiotic, I flipped on what was once the bane of my mornings, and flipped right back in fear of losing my mind. What is Jersey Shore? I mean, other than a reality show based off the stupidity, vanity and vapid lifestyles of young New Jerseyans (sp?)? I can guarantee that whoever is creating these shows has the attention span of Heidi and Spencer put together, which isn't much. But in all seriousness, is this what we're really feeding to 15 and 16-year-old kids?? MTV, this is detestable. If it isn't 'The Hills' making a season out of stupid catfights, or 'Parental Control' making it funny to disrespect parents, or glamorizing teen pregnancy with '16 and Pregnant', you guys have NO decent programming.

Hell, think about your name: MTV. MUSIC TELEVISION. I cannot tell you the last time I have turned on MTV to anything musical. If it's not reality TV, then it's not MTV. What happened to the cartoons? What happened to Daria, Beavis and Butthead, Celebrity Deathmatch, Andy Milonakis? What happened to Rock-N-Jock Sports? What happened to GOOD original programming? Every time I hear about a new show, it's one of three things: A) a spin-off from an old show, B) a distasteful, yet generic game show or C) a feeble attempt at shock humor. MTV, what happened to the music???

So many times I heard adults in the 90's chastize you guys for the music and for how outlandish everything was. Now, I don't know any adults that even care to criticize you guys. Clearly, the adults who were hating on you before, are NOW you. From an adult perspective, THIS is the MTV we should have been watching 10 years ago: mindless, inane and repetitive. I shudder to think what's going to happen in another 10 years, so I will just say my goodbye now. MTV, you were good while you were young. A network full of awkward laughter and musical vibes that could only peak during its adolescence. In your own adulthood, you became the very thing that you had poised us against: the Man. Your channel is now corporately sponsored and corporately-run. The organic feel that made me wake up every morning at 7 to watch Coolio's 'Fantastic Voyage' is gone, but at least I still have BET... Wait, no.. BET is the coon network... I guess we stil have the blogs. MTV, check out where you were, and where you are now. Lord knows these growing pains didn't work out as planned...

The Lost Exhibit - Mickey Factz

The Lost Exhibit - Mickey Factz

I thought I'd never see this day. Mickey Factz has been on a clear hiatus from releasing music in the past year. Instead he could be found on Twitter posting #Alpha on all his tweets. Lo and behold, that's the name of his new project, slated to come out on New Year's Day. Here's the first track. Mickey does his thing over the Exhibit A beat. I wonder if Jay feels some type of way about that...

Dear Donald Rumsfeld

via The Los Angeles Times:

John Kerry:
Eight years ago this month, Osama bin Laden walked out of the Tora Bora mountains in Afghanistan and disappeared into Pakistan. U.S. intelligence agencies have no real idea where he is today, but it is clear that the world's most wanted man and the terrorist organization he leads have reemerged as a powerful force behind the increasingly deadly insurgencies in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Three senior Obama administration officials warned last week that Al Qaeda is more dangerous than at any time in the last 18 months. They gave the Senate Foreign Relations Committee a frightening bill of particulars: Al Qaeda is providing training and resources for militants attacking U.S. troops in Afghanistan, assisting suicide bombers in Pakistan and helping extremists plot new attacks on India. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton described Bin Laden's Al Qaeda as a "syndicate of terrorism." Underscoring the danger, she said the terrorists are seeking nuclear weapons.

If we had captured or killed Bin Laden, the world would look very different today. His death or imprisonment would not have eliminated the worldwide extremist threat, but our failure to finish the job represents a lost opportunity that altered the course of the conflict in Afghanistan and the future of international terrorism. It left the American people more vulnerable, and it inflamed the strife that now threatens to engulf Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Now that John Kerry has basically confirmed what we all knew for years, it's time to go in on you Mr. Rumsfeld. If there was one thing that you (or the rest of the Bush administration) were not conservative about, it's your rapid military deployment of military force to Afghanistan and Iraq. We were in that war before we even knew what we were looking for. That said, I have a question for you: When you had the chance, why didn't you NAB OSAMA?? I mean for God's sake, if you're looking for someone in the nether regions of the planet, where the wilderness is expansive, and you have that person within a 5 mile radius, why don't you just finish the job? Why do you let a man synonymous with ACTUAL terrorism (not the kind you guys were doing in the Middle East) just walk out of a cave and find his way into Pakistan? A move like that just makes me believe moreso that it really wasn't bin Laden you guys were looking for in the desert.

I love that conservatives still defend the war to this day. The Man will never admit that he is wrong, even when all signs are pointing right down that alley. It just shows how short-sightedness can waste 7 years of military action. The fact that President Obama has decided to re-deploy 10,000 troops to clean up something that could have been done 3 years ago is atrocious. Mr. Rumsfeld, you should learn the proverb that 'a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush'. Even if your aim in being in Afghanistan and Iraq was to find oil (which it was), at least accomplish the goal that you set out to. That way if and when you do ruin two countries, you can at least say you 'rid the world of terrorism'. Now that we've lost Osama, you don't suppose you guys have stumbled on any weapons of mass destruction (minus the ones we brought with us) we were looking for? I hope not. That'll give politicians like yourself more wherewithal to peddle your outdated ideologies on war and nation-building...

Microsoft Laughs at the iPhone in 2007

They say (can we point these 'they' people out one day?) he who laughs last, laughs best. It's painfully ironic that Steve Ballmer laughed at the iPhone in 2007. When the Man fools himself into thinking that he's smarter than he really is, the masses usually reap the benefits. In this case, mankind got the iPhone. That said, I wonder how hard Steve Jobs has been laughing for the past two years...

Neighborhood Newsletter (12/7)

Therein lies the biggest problem with society...

Eight Tips to Know If You're Being Boring

Palin's Father: She Left Hawaii Because Asians Made Her Uncomfortable

2010 World Cup to be Telecast in 3-D

England football team offered Viagra for World Cup

Best One-Hit Wonders of the 2000s

What Do You Do When You Get Stuck In A Video Game?

Prisoner Dupes Guards, Grows Marijauna in His Cell

Record Labels Face $60 Billion Damages for Pirating Artists

Advertisement Fast Food > Actual Fast Food

Now, this is just screaming for the FDA's intervention. How does stuff like this end up on television without anyone saying ANYTHING?? For years pundits have questioned the uncanny ability of advertisement food to look way better than the actual food that we get served. Now there's no reason you shouldn't question the way your fast food looks. Especially if your burgers don't have as many seeds on them as old girl glued to her buns (pause)...