Holla At Me Fools

All of my life my musical tastes have been far from consistent, changing more often than the weather.

Calgary weather.

Sometimes I'm a little bit country. Sometimes I'm a little bit rock and roll.

Sometimes I'm Donny and Marie Osmond. Those are unfortunate times.

For reasons that I can't explain (or maybe because I've watched Blood vs. Crips, Dangerous Minds, and Notorious all in the past week), I am now a down and dirty rap-o-holic. Word.

Luckily for you readers, you can simply read my thoughts on rap. Unluckily for my friends, I've just learned how to send voice notes on my phone.

Don't be expecting any texts from me anymore, homies.

Although rappers may not be the most chivalrous crew or have the most eloquent manners, and their treatment of women is less than desirable, I sometimes wonder if maybe they are wiser than they let on and are just getting a bad wrap (wink, wink).

Lets take Dr. Dre for example, or Dre as I like to call him.

'You mother f@&$ing clone, get off that ni&$a's style and get your own'.

Sounds a little harsh but when you look at the message, that clone SHOULD get his own style.

And so should you. And me. And every other thug out there.

Don't front. Be who you are. Not a rip off of someone else. If you admire someone, take the qualities you like and apply them to your own life, in your own way. Idolatry is whack.

Now let's take a wander over to the dogg pound. No, that was not a typo. I'm talking about D O Double G Snoop Dogg!

'Ain't no fun if my homies can't have none.'

This is actually quite touching. There are times in life when luck seems to rain down on you and all you are finding is four leaf clovers. But its also a dogg eat dogg world, and if you don't have your peeps by your side, the peeps that love you as much as you love them, then all the bling bling, mad cribs, and fast times are not the same.

Snoop also had it right with this gem.

'When a bitch gets an attitude, drop her like she's hot, drop her like she's hot, drop her like she's hot.'

There are far too many good hustlas out there to waste time on those who are going to bring you down. Surround yourself with the Gs that are going to make your life MORE amazing. For 'shizzle.

At the same time, if you're getting dropped like you're hot on a regular basis, don't front, take a look in the mirror.

You got an attitude, bitch?

And of course lets not forget about my favorite rapper, King of the East Side himself, Tupac.

'It's just me against the world'.

I appreciate the self-sufficiency in this line. It seems as though today, people are hell bent on blaming others for their failures and looking for a crutch to hold onto to make themselves great. Tupac just knew that he had only himself to rely on and decided to represent. Decided to make something of himself, dispite the odds stacked against him. A very brave G.

A G that also had a softer side.

'Take my hand, cause even thugs get lonely'.

What? Thugs can get lonely???

Indeed we can.

And in those times, Tupac wasn't afraid to ask for a hand to hold. Wasn't afraid to need someone, and to ask for comfort. That's something that a lot of us struggle with but if we actually asked for the help,I think we'd all be surprised by the hands that want to hold ours.

Well that just about 'raps' up my feeling on rap music.

You feeling me, dawg?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lovely gin and juice to get back to drinking with my homies.

Word out.