#posts that nobody will find funny that I think r genius

[milfzatannaz]

No but seriously imagine it

You’re seeing tori amos on a concert. Everyone is having a great time. Tori seems a little excited. “I have a surprise for you guys.” Tori says. All of a sudden tracy chapman comes out and starts singing “fast car.” When tracy gets to the chorus, someone else starts singing…“There's more than one answer to these questions, Pointing me in a crooked line. And the less I seek my source for some definitive…Closer I am to fine, yeah!” Lights flash everywhere, and you see tori singing “fast car” along with tracy, while the indigo girls are singing “closer to fine”. Everyone in the crowd is going wild and crying. Then if things couldn’t get any better, melissa etheridge and Ani DiFranco walk onto stage and kiss, holding the gay flag.

[highlifesupernova]

Kanye West is My Problematic Fave

Can we separate our favorite works of art from the artists who created them?

I'll admit at the outset of this piece that I don't know the answer to this question. Over the last three years, one of my favorite musicians has put on that red hat, released a terrible record about a misogynistic religion, and stood between an unrepentant homophobe and accused domestic abuser on the porch of a replica of his mother's home at a third listening party for an album that seemed like it would never be released. What does that mean for our relationship with his work?

The common thread among my favorite musicians is theatrics - I love nothing more than discovering a universe of sound, concept, and drama in a piece of music. I loved the idea that Sufjan Stevens would release fifty state albums. One of my favorite records of all time is a concept album about the American civil war by Titus Andronicus. Lady Gaga won my heart when she bled out on stage at the 2009 VMAs as commentary on paparazzi culture. I've been a fan of Kanye West (which sometimes feels more like being a Kanye West apologist) since he turned near-universal vilification after interrupting Taylor Swift's award acceptance speech on that same night into one of the most artistically complete albums I know - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Although its artist remained polarizing, MBDTF achieved triumphant consensus among the public and critics alike. It topped best-of lists, produced the immortal singles "POWER" and "All Of the Lights", and earned a perfect 10 from the era's authority on "cool" music, Pitchfork (it also arguably set Pitchfork on the path to its fall from grace, but that's a whole other essay). The record is funny, sad, relatable, introspective, maximalist, and heavy on pop appeal. The Kanye West of MBDTF was disarmingly self aware. In lieu of apologetics, West invited us to experience his hedonistic, lush creative mind for an hour and eight minutes. He was unrepentantly an asshole, and reminded us that we all kind of were, too. He sold us darkness as an indulgence.

In addition to, or perhaps as a result of, being an incredible musical achievement, MBDTF gave West control over his public narrative. He'd been a talented, erratic figure in pop music for years, but with this crowning achievement he became the center of pop culture. He was no longer the egoistical Chicago producer with the backpack - he was the unconventional genius who had made one of the greatest hip hop records of all time. He moved into high art spaces, becoming a figure at fashion week, and ascended to the highest highs of celebrity, marrying one of the most famous women in the world. The public gave West a pass for his behavior because it seemed accessory to his brilliance.

The incident with Swift eventually began to take a backseat to West's music. In the years following the release of MBDTF, including the album cycle for Yeezus, his public persona was brash but ultimately benign. He declared himself a god, had some more close calls at awards shows, and liked some of the Gaga songs. He seemed to maintain control of his image, and his fans, including me, got used to defending him for his art.

Over time, possibly as West's mental health deteriorated, this showboating personality became an erratic one. He went through a MAGA phase, a cowboy phase, and ultimately a Jesus phase, each time expressing opinions that were difficult to rationalize with his prior moral alignment and unpopular among the young hip hop fans who hold him in high regard. It has gotten harder to be a fan. In an era where we've called into question whether a bad action can discredit someone's work, and sometimes find that to be justified, enjoying West's music makes me feel like I need to be ready to defend him as a person. I don't think I can in good faith. It's also hard to hang up my nostalgia for West's earlier work and my abiding adoration of his albums from the early 2010s.

The difficult thing about the case of Kanye West is that he has yet to cause material harm. He has come out with radioactively bad takes ("slavery was a choice"), aired his wife's dirty laundry in public, and associated with some of his more concretely morally delinquent peers. He hasn't, to the public's knowledge, hurt anyone. Engaging with West's work post-born-again-Christianity era might feel strange, but it isn't repugnant in the way that celebrating R. Kelly or Chris Brown is. Giving attention and accolades to someone with shitty opinions versus someone who has used their wealth and status to actively cause harm doesn't feel quite the same, and I don't think it should. Fans cling to this as evidence that we can separate West from his art, or perhaps that we don't need to. I have personally rationalized my support for West in this way.

I started this post intending to come to a different conclusion than the one I've come to since the release of Donda. I was going to talk about how our reactions to art aren't logical or rational, and how I think it's human nature to struggle with denying ourselves the things we love. Admittedly, I was writing this to defend my continued consumption of West's work to myself on the eve of the new record's release. I still think that reasoning holds, but I also think it applies to feeling betrayed by an artist and finding one's opinion of their art tainted as a result.

The Independent gave Donda a zero-star rating, citing accused intimate partner abuser Marilyn Manson and noted homophobe DaBaby's involvement with the record as an inexcusable flaw. This review has been derided to hell by the wider internet, and I don't disagree that perhaps it'd have been more professional to publish a refusal to review the album, but I also can't argue strongly in West's favor here. Even if his apparent statement of solidarity with Manson and DaBaby was an attempt at a demonstration of Christian forgiveness, it is a bad look for West to deliver that absolution without comment in a public platform. I was raised Catholic, and having to sit in that weird little confessional booth really drove home that Christian God expects repentance before he's granting anyone forgiveness. Forgiveness can be earned -- and there are many times when the public could stand to be a bit more merciful -- but it is certainly not given for free. Nobody is obligated to forgive Marilyn Manson, DaBaby, or Kanye West. If the album is unlistenable to someone in the context of their actions, that is a fair reaction.

For the record, I actually quite like Donda. I think it's a fine album and the rollout was entertaining. I also know its release was engineered for maximum shock value, and I don't like that Manson's alleged victims were collateral damage.

There's a shade of grey here that I think is often passed over when we talk about separating art and artists, a shade I think West actually leaned into perfectly in the lead up to MBDTF; the art we like can be taken in context of the things we don't like about it. Kanye West makes incredibly innovative music, and is also very difficult to defend as a public figure in good faith. Those two things have never been mutually exclusive, and synergism of the two is what has made West the cultural icon he is. We don't have to talk ourselves into things being unproblematic in order to like them, and it's okay to sit with unresolved discomfort about art.

[unfortunatelyilikebnha]

Oh boy that post I reblogged about Todoroki and Iida understanding memes & pretending not to got me INSPIRED so here r some Izukrew groupchat/meme headcanons:

Everyone thinks the bakusquad chat is crazy and while they’re right, the izukrew chat is just as wild

They have probably planned acts of vigilanteism in here I mean what?

The chat has definitely made at least 164 different plans to kill End**v*r, just in case. They aren’t gonna actually use them they’re just a precaution & a way to vent (probably. End**v*r better watch what he does tho). Someone in the squad had a bad day? Make a plan to kill End**v*r, you’ll feel better. Todoroki doesn’t always contribute, & they always ask him before they make a new plan to make sure he’s still okay with it, but he appreciates the support & knowing that his friends love him and have his back

[Achey Breaky 🅱️ones]: Hey Todoroki, can we make a plan to kill your dad? [Elsa But Better]: ya sure go wild [Running in the 90s]: Can Uraraka float the bastard into the sun? Discuss. [You’ll Float Too]: ive never tried to make anything go that high but for todoroki definitely!! [Elsa But Better]: ...thank you” [Kermit With A Gun]: (flamingdumpster.jpg) it is He go wild Ochako

Uraraka talks in the chat the most, followed by Todoroki (if sending memes counts as talking), Midoriya, Iida, and finally Tsuyu who lurks a lot but doesn’t respond as often as the others

They have a “days since Midoriya last injured himself” counter that they update daily. The record was 15 days. The average is 3.

They change each other’s nicknames often. They have free reign as long as it’s not too mean, and chat rules say they have to keep whatever their name was changed to for at least a week. Sometimes they match names/ have a theme. Sometimes they bring their name changes over to the main chat too.

There is a designated “Iida Appreciation Day” when the chat is especially nice to and appreciative of Iida that happens in the chat every few weeks because they realize that they as a class are a Lot to deal with & even tho Iida is way more chill in the chat with his close friends than he can be in the main class chat they know he still feels responsible for them & does a lot for them. Iida does not know about Iida Appreciation Day (but when he finds out he is super touched & maybe cries a little bit)

Todoroki is king of the really weird, really abstract memes. The rest of the squad has no idea how he finds them & is kinda too afraid to ask

He also has a reaction image for everything and like,,, he just HAS them he doesn’t look them up, which the rest of the squad realizes cause he replies way too fast to have looked it up on the internet. They are in awe of his power

Besides the izukrew gc, only one person knows that Todoroki memes, and that’s Kaminari, because Todoroki likes to t-pose & do other meme things while Kaminari is looking at him & then as soon as anyone else is about to see what he’s doing he immediately stops. Kaminari is going crazy because nobody will believe him that stoic Todoroki, who has the greatest deadpan expression ever, memes. “Todoroki? Are you sure? Kaminari maybe you’re sick, he doesn’t know memes remember? We yelled ‘this b*tch empty’ in front of him yesterday and he just stared blankly at us.” “BUT MINA I SWEAR I SAW HIM DAB!” Ashido and Sero tried to catch him doing it but gave up after a while, stating that nobody is that good at hiding their meme knowledge. The rest of the izukrew knows obviously but feign confusion because 1) it’s funny and 2) Todoroki is genuinely having fun. When Todoroki eventually reveals to the rest of the class that he can meme, he apologizes for pranking a very vindicated Kaminari.

Iida likes those memes that combine several memes. He sends reaction images that are just memes without text bc he knows his friends will understand exactly what he’s talking about

He’s also king of photoshop & totally uses those skills for evil - he’s rly good at putting Lucky Luciano into pictures, making his friends break into a cold sweat as he sends a picture to the chat that is seemingly the exact same as the one the last person sent. Since they’re so competitive they have an ongoing competition to see who can find him first (Iida keeps the score. Right now Tsuyu is winning, but the ranks change often)

He, like Todoroki, pretends not to know memes, but takes it a little further & pretends not to know teen slang either so he can misuse it in front of people & laugh at his classmates cringing (Iida: Seatbelts are important. As Ashido might say, they are “totes yeet, yo!” Ashido: //crying// IIDA NO! Iida: Does that not mean that it is very important? Ashido: //crying louder// NO!!!). Some classmates attempt to “teach” him but he “just does not get it”. Again the izukrew pretends not to know because it’s funny.

Uraraka is queen of wholesome memes. She has so many “I love my friends” memes & always has cute images ready to send in case anyone is sad or stressed. Everyone in the chat would die for her no questions asked (she will use this to her advantage one day probably).

She also really likes spongebob memes and uses them often. Her favorite is the one where spongebob is wearing those pink frilly glasses

While she is queen of wholesome memes, she’s not afraid to tease anyone & often sends smug/teasing reaction images. Nobody is safe, especially if they tease her first, & if there’s a competition in the chat she goes all in. When she wins anything it’s like “[You’ll Float Too]: (dignitylaugh.gif) whats this? it seems i have won our little competition...” (But then immediately after she sends her first victory message she’s like “lmao jk good game”)

Midoriya sends links to random ass YouTube videos to the chat at 3 am. Sometimes the videos aren’t even memes they’re all might documentaries or something he thought was interesting or thought one of his friends might think was interesting or videos someone made about how they trained their quirk that he thinks might help someone but sometimes they’re completely nonsensical. It’s like a roulette wheel every time someone clicks a link Midoriya sent. Sometimes the chat makes bets about the contents of the video before anyone opens it. Most of the time they’re all wrong.

He doesn’t rlly have a favorite style of meme, but he always has a million specific variations of whatever meme is popular at the time and all past popular memes. His phone camera is like a meme record. He’s rlly good at finding vine comps with good but not rlly well known vines.

He also infodumps in the chat sometimes bc they let him & he is really grateful that his friends are actually interested in what he has to say

Tsuyu sends memes that roast the sh*t out of everyone in the chat. When one of her friends is doing smth stupid she totally calls them out in the form of memes (she’s really good at finding those tiktoks that feel like they are roasting you specifically). She’s a comedic timing genius and knows just when to send things (& because she doesn’t use the chat as much that makes it even funnier). She also is, rather predictably, fond of frog memes

She also loves making those alignment chart type memes (& the ones with like the triangles or the four quadrants) & makes them for/about her friends & classmates often. She is scarily good at reading people and hits the nail on the head 99% of the time. Sometimes she sends them to the main class chat too and the rest of the class is like ?!?!?!?!?!?!

Because she’s a big sister, she often sends reminders to the chat to take care of bthemselves (Iida does this a lot too, but sometimes she has to remind him because he’s so caught up in caring about others he forgets to care about himself. Actually everyone in this chat is guilty of that including Tsuyu smh). Since the others make sure she takes care of herself in return, she’s really grateful for her friends

Bonus hcs:

Aoyama, once he is added to the chat, become the expert at sending selfies of himself looking directly at the camera while a member of the chat is distracted in the background, not seeing him. The chat makes it a game to try and spot Aoyama before he can get a picture, but Aoyama always wins. When asked how he can escape the detection of even those who are always on edge/have been trained to notice every little movement, he just smiles and says “it’s a secret~!”

Shinsou, who eventually replaces M*n*t* in 1A bc this is my city & grape boy is gross, does a thing called “insomniac hours” where he will send a random question to the chat at like 3 am & Midoriya, who is almost always awake then (or sometimes Todoroki Tsuyu or Uraraka if they’re up, and very very occasionally Iida), will give him a super detailed answer. Sometimes during the day the chat plays a version of this where Shinsou asks an obviously nonsensical question and the rest of the chat has to come up with long, nonsensical answers & then votes on the best ones. Many inside jokes were borne from this game.

[sarohara]

hey darling,you're my best friend

Stranger: But there’s a fewer things that you don’t know of

You: AHAHAHA

You: Why I borrow your lipstick so often

Stranger: I am using your shirt as a pillow case

You: I wanna ruin our friendship

Stranger: We should be lovers instead

You: I don't know how to say this...

You: 'Cause you're really my dearest friend ahahahahaha

Stranger: Cause you’re really my dearest friend

Stranger: Nice!

You: yooooo

Stranger: Hahahaha

You: ahahah what's up?

Stranger: You just made my day!

You: aaaawwwww

You: nooo, YOU made my day

Stranger: My dearest friend! 😂

You: 😂😂😂😂

Stranger: So, who are you?

Stranger: Darling

You: AHAHAH i'm a stranger

Stranger: Say less!

You: ahahahahah named Sarah

You: who r you?

Stranger: Hey Sarah! My name is Zala

You: No way Zala

You: Sarah, Zala

You: 😂😂

You: Nice name btw

Stranger: Haha thank you 😂

You: np lmao ahah well, wyd here girl?

Stranger: I am just boring. And I put tiktok because I don’t want to have “ads for kik or onlyfans” by every second message

Stranger: Didn’t expect anyone from tiktok here tho

You: oooh i get u, i'm bored as well, i mean, everybody's bored on omegle 😂 what's new right

You: and well, actually, i'm not from there but ik that trend so idk, i just felt like 😂

Stranger: I just watch tiktoks

Stranger: Never made any

You: Yeaa, but in my case, i saw it on yt

You: so i thought "why not?" ahhaha

Stranger: Why not! Do it more often tho

You: well, I was thinking about doing it with someone on snapchat but idk

Stranger: Good idea, but I just don’t like screenshoting pictures. Then people know that something is going on

You: Oooh yea but i could do it after u know..

You: Idk, i don't even know if i'm gonna post it

Stranger: Yeah I understand

You: Idk anyways

You: People here before you, just skipped me away when i sent "hey darling, you're my best friend"

You: like cmon guys

Stranger: Hahahah I believe! I usually skip when I get “horny”

Stranger: Boy please stope

You: Yeaaaaaa ikr, i hate it

You: I mean, nobody cares right

Stranger: Yeah

Stranger: I get on befrore “M, horny..... skip”

Stranger: I was just laughing at myself and skip it

You: AAHHAHAHA

You: "m>skip

Stranger: Hahhahaha

You: most guys who send "m" are horny, basically ahahhaha

Stranger: True

Stranger: I always say first like “hey”

You: Yeeeeaaasss

Stranger: How are you. Not just F

Stranger: And it’s hard to find a girl who will talk with you

You: Something like "wyd", "what's good?" not f, bc no one asked

Stranger: Like if I say F back, I always get skip

You: U mean, girls?

Stranger: Yes

You: Ooh i feel u, they skip me too

You: Like "???"

Stranger: Exactly!

You: it's like you're only here for boys, damn girl

Stranger: How old are you tho? Because I like the way you’re thinking

You: Do u wanna guess?

Stranger: Hoping more then 16😂

You: Uuuum i'm 16 😂

You: Hbu

Stranger: 20

Stranger: Don’t call me old now!

Stranger: 😂😂

You: I wont 😂

You: Maybe later but not now ahahahahhah

You: Nah i'm joking

Stranger: Hahahah mean!

You: Yea, so mean!!! ahhahah

You: where r u from btw?

Stranger: Europe

Stranger: Slovenia

Stranger: You?

You: Ooh that's so cool

You: I'm from Brazil

Stranger: Oh waw

You: Far aaaway right ahhah

Stranger: Yeah

You: say something in slovenian/slovene idk

Stranger: Hello, I am Zala. - živjo, jaz sem Zala

You: Seems so fancy

Stranger: How are you - kako si

Stranger: Hahah it’s actually hard to learn

You: Yeaaa i bet!!!

Stranger: You speak in portugal?

You: Portuguese

You: Yea :)

Stranger: Some things I remember from primary school

Stranger: Hahaha

You: well, do u know something in portuguese?

You: ahahhaha

Stranger: No hahah

You: Oh okay ahah

Stranger: But you can teach me!

You: Yea, sure

You: Hey, my name's Sarah, nice meeting you. - E aí, meu nome é Sarah, prazer te conhecer.

You: How r u?- Como você está?

Stranger: Uhhh I hate this letters àáèê

Stranger: Hahaha

You: AHAHHAHA

Stranger: Always have trouble pronouncing them

You: It's not that hard, trust me ahaha

Stranger: Hahah okay

You: So

You: how r things over there?

Stranger: Corona?

You: Yea

Stranger: We are in “lockdown” for 6 weeks now. We have police hours from 21-6

Stranger: Only grocery stores are open

You: Oh i didn't know that

Stranger: It’s weird

Stranger: We have to wear mask everywhere

You: I mean, most of europe is in lockdown right?

Stranger: Yes

Stranger: How are things in Brazil?

You: there's no lockdown over here but we still wearing mask everywhere

Stranger: I hope it ends soon

You: Yea, same :) at least, i hope it gets a lil bit better bc the situation it's not good.

Stranger: True. Let’s hope for 2021 to bring good news

You: Hopefully

You: wyd now?

Stranger: Some university work

Stranger: You?

You: Oooh i was about to say "homework" as well ahahha

You: Same zzz but not university, high school

Stranger: I could say, you are 16

You: Yea yea

You: What do u study btw?

Stranger: Educational science.

Stranger: Let me explain

You: Go ahead

Stranger: When I finish with uni, I will probably work in school and I will be the person, you came to, when you need help. Like social worker probably. But I will also help study people with special needs. Like doing work slowly, repeat things with them

You: Ooh i got u!! I appreciate these people btw, it's amazing :)

Stranger: Ooo thanks! So sweet of you

You: Aww :)

Stranger: Are you in general high school or for special job?

You: Both ahahah

Stranger: Oh, so like what?

Stranger: If I guess it’s nursing

Stranger: Hahaha

Stranger: That was one of my opinions when I went to high school

You: ahahhaha actually, accounting ahah

Stranger: Okay hahah

Stranger: Not bad at all

You: I mean...

You: I dunno 😂

Stranger: You will see

Stranger: Enjoy your life as a teenager!

You: don't even dare

Stranger: Hahah

Stranger: I was starting to party when I was 16

Stranger: And now corona

You: 4 years it's a long time okay 😂

Stranger: Hahahha okay okay

You: Corona sucks

You: i can't go to parties 😂

Stranger: Hahah same tho!

You: everyone's in the same boat right

Stranger: Right

You: Yaa

Stranger: I will let you finish your homework

You: Don't do that

Stranger: Hahaha

You: But well, i'll let u finish your university work

You: wait, first, what time is it?

Stranger: 18:40

Stranger: Almost 7pm

You: Yea ik

You: It's 14:40

You: almost 3pm

Stranger: Isn’t it interesting. How different is time around the world

Stranger: We will celebrate new year before you

You: it's really interesting. I have a name for it.

You: It's called timezone 😂

You: i'm so funny right.

You: joking.

Stranger: Hahahah

Stranger: You’re

Stranger: Never heard of timezone before

Stranger: 😂😂😂

You: Yeaaaa ikr, i mean, I created this name

You: By myself

Stranger: Omg Sarah the creator

Stranger: Everyone will learn about you

You: I'm a genius 😂😂

You: ahahahhahaha

Stranger: So glad that I meet you

Stranger: Hahahah

You: Aw :) me too :) so glad that i meet u

You: Aw is my second name, i'm always "aw" 😂 as u can see

Stranger: Hhahha 🥺🥺

Stranger: Do you want to keep talking on other social media?

Stranger: No pressure

You: Yeaa!! sure :)) i was about to ask it.

You: do u got insta?

Stranger: I do

Stranger: ferjancic.zala

You: shhht

You: mine is @sarahcvlm

Stranger: Wow so depressing quote 😂

You: I said "shht" bc I uninstalled my insta yesterday, but I'm gonna follow you later, I swear ahahhaha

You: Depressing? 😂 Okay i'm a depressed now bc it's basically my life aahahah

Stranger: Hhahaha don’t be like that

Stranger: I send you request

You: I'm joking, it's just a quote from Anne with an E :)

You: Oke :)) installing instagram again

Stranger: Okay

Stranger: Hahahah oh

You: "Oh" 😂

Stranger: Oh, you didn’t have to do that

You: Stop it

You: i was gonna do it, soon or later dw

Stranger: Okay okay😊

You: Done

You: Ooh, you're so cute Zala :)

Stranger: Awww 🥰

Stranger: You are too!

You: Aw, thanks :))

You: both followed :)

You: See ya there?

Stranger: See ya!

[dukeofriven]

From An Old Internet Veteran: Go, and Sin No More

I wish I could explain to young people how wild the internet was as it went from the ‘weird niche thing for lame nerds’ irrelevancy of the early 90s and the “Boy This World Wide Web Thing Sure Is Nifty”-style painful optimism that describes 97% of Western Culture between 1994 and 2002 to the ‘Mad Max But Statistically Less Australian” culture that was the internet from 2002 to around 2010. I come neither to praise this era of internet nor condemn it. I merely want understanding. I cannot polish a lumpen pile of rape jokes, Chuck Norris glorification, “ironic” racism, and numa numa fat shaming and say that it’s misunderstood comedic genius. Trash is still trash even if it wins a bunch of Emmys. But at the same time I cannot take you with me back to the 90s and get you to feel, on a visceral level, what it was like to live in a place where Bart Simpson was both promoted as a real and present danger to the moral upbringing of the world’s children and was named by Time magazine as one of the most influential icons of the 20th century. And because I cannot do that I cannot get you to understand how freeing it felt to be on the internet in that Mad Max era. Ten years before a yellow boy shouting “Don’t have a cow” while doing a pathetic kick-flip on a chunky skateboard was considered the potential downfall of humanity’s children, but now you could make something so risqué that the old-guard stuffed-shirt in 1994 would have died on the spot, his brain unable to consider anything so outside his moral world view. I cannot easily make you understand a time when nobody just said whatever it was they wanted, not just because they had no platform to do so but because the rigidity of social convention was so strong. Nobody ever had hardcore lesbian sex on Northern Exposure on prime time television. Nobody on the X-Files ever died by having their head smashed in a car door repeatedly like a melon until viscera spilled all over the pavement. You could not have made Game of Thrones or Steven Universe in 1995. Forget the graphics, forget the budget, you simply couldn’t do or say any of that on television for either kids or adults. The Mad Max internet changed that - changed the very firmament of what was acceptable in media for every genre and for every demographic.  Is this a good thing? Not particularly. Is this a bad thing? Not particularly. If this sound frustratingly ambivalent that’s because it is: were we to go back and do it all again, knowing all that we know now, would we do it the same way? No. But then, we would not know all that we know now had we not learned it by making the attempt in the first place.

This poor comfort for someone who dives into some 2006 webcomic with a reputation of a Legacy Touchstone and finds it full of ‘jokes’ about their gender, or sexual preference, or the liberal use of the r-slur, or a kind of hyper-suburban comedic racial ignorance. I am not here to argue that that had any value merely because it was transgressive. But the same space that opened-up to let such ugly things out also opened-up places for marginalized groups to made themselves known, groups who never before had such public voices.

Imagine an apocalypse. Imagine society rebuilding in the ashes. Imagine how many false starts and missteps there would be and you begin to understand just a little of what that period was like. It was embarrassing. It was cruel. It was childish and stupid. But in living through it we grew up. Or, at least, those of us capable of growing up grew up, and learned, and learned to be better - learned what better was. And then we built new places where other people could learn too - and spread the gospel of being better. One of the things that always irritates me when it comes to young people talking about the past is the unexamined privilege of knowledge being at your fingertips. It’s more than just everyone carrying a wireless-internet connected computer in their pocket at all times. It’s more than just a Wikipedia with hundreds of millions of articles and a reputation for fact sourcing. It’s more than just a Google that works. If you never experienced it you cannot imagine what using WebCrawler was like in 1995 against Ask Jeeves in 2005 against Google in 2015 - or even Google between 2005 and 2015. Most people don’t go around thinking about SEO and search engine algorithms but maybe we should because anyone who wants to go “this info’s been on the internet since day one so people have no excuse not to know it” disingenuously argues that information search and retrieval has been consistent across the decades. There was a time - not all that long ago - when to look something up on-line involved getting the tacit agreement of everyone in your household to lose the use of the sole telephone for as long as you were web browsing. There was a time - not all that long ago - when ‘looking something up’ was to burden everyone around you with inconveniences, and while you were doing your web searches there was no guarantee what you wanted could be found with the primitive technology of the day. Do you know how much I’ve learned since joining Tumblr in 2011? On a fundamental level, both about myself and the make-up of our species in terms of social conception? I recently went through a bunch of old posts, removing those with broken links and meaningless content, but also shit that just embarrasses me now - mostly opinions from a period where I hadn’t yet had a chance to learn because the spaces in which to learn it did not yet exist. It’s not just things like communities for [demographic X] - it’s things like “communities for [demographic X] with an ability to broadcast their voices and have platforms able to network their ideas and audience halls able to receive them and a search engine to guide people to that community and a basic understanding that the community even exists in the first place.” And this does not even begin to touch on internet access, something that even now is not a universal thing, and for which getting angry about people’s ignorance reflects a bias all its own. I say all this because I think that a core tenant of cringe culture is a myth of universal access to knowledge and universal awareness of one’s own ignorance. I look back on old posts of things I said and I cringe with self-hatred - cringe enough to rip them down and stuff them in the trash. “HOW DID I THINK THAT?” and “HOW DID I NOT KNOW?” But why should I have known - what, in my life, would ever have put better ideas across my desk? That I can meaningfully speak now about privilege and intersectionality and historiography is because between then and now I was put in a place to learn these things. I was exposed to ideas that I had never before been exposed to, and was given the grace to learn. I am tired of the expectation that every aspect of our past selves should be held to the same standard as the present. (Yes, to all the disingenuous bad-faith trolls out there, I obviously and of course am advocating for complete and total uncritical pardon for everything in the past ever. Were you a neo-Nazi ten years ago? Water under the bridge without question because that’s obviously, obviously, obviously the sort of extreme outlier case I am talking about good on you for being clever enough to notice.) But for the non-dipshits out there who understand how to read without injecting insincere hyperbole into every argument, I want us to be kinder to our past selves when we have learned to be better. It’s okay that you used to like Sherlock - there were genuinely fun things about it, and it’s okay that you didn’t possess an expert grasp of post-graduate feminist critical theory when you were 21. Or 31. Or 41. More concepts of academia have filtered into mainstream consciousness than ever before - and in saying that we should remember the corollary that ten, twenty, thirty years ago that was not the case. We knew less, had access to less, and were exposed to narrower viewpoints than we are today. It is unfortunate - but it was not our fault, and we cannot easily blame ourselves for it any longer. Nothing makes my blood boil more than seeing people taking umbrage that... oh, Farmer Joe McSmithHead of Buttnut, Alabama in 1963 was ignorant of internal Chinese politics and said some untrue things about Chinese Communism. But the only thing Farmer Joe had to tell him of the outside world was a radio that played country music, a TV with four channels and strict content guidelines to only show pleasant, moral, and god-fearing content, and the three books in the Buttnut library, two of which were the Bible. There have, and will always be, certain moral lines so obvious that people of any era should always be held accountable to them. But above that, in the more trivial space of media consumption, absorption, and critique, we have to learn to be more forgiving - to ourselves and to others, so long as in the present we have changed. Did you use the r-slur a lot because it was practically a form of punctuation on 4chan and that’s where you learned the ways of the internet? Did you learn the harmfulness of this practice and cease to do it? Then I do not condemn thee - go, and sin no more. Did you and your friends used to make jokes about how Mexicans smelled because you saw Seinfeld do that in his standup and the whole TV laughed as though it was funny? Did you realize one day ‘wait a minute that’s actually super gross’ and stop repeating it? Then I do not condemn thee - go, and sin no more. Have you gone back to a beloved childhood property and found it’s full of woman-beating and weird views on homosexuality? Did you find yourself able to critique this beloved thing and did not defensively double-down on shielding it from all harsh words? Then I do not condemn thee - go, and sin no more. I will not allow us to dismiss the cruelty and hurt of Mad Max Internet Culture with a flippant ‘well that’s just how it was back then” but nor will I allow anyone to condemn us all as being consciously unfeeling, willfully ignorant, purposefully hateful. Some of us were. But some of us did not know, could not have known, needed to learn - and we were lucky enough to live in a time before cringe culture and cancel culture where we were allowed to have that opportunity to learn and grow. We need that today, for all young people who think themselves as woke as can be and ten years from now will look back and blush with shame for things they said and did in total ignorance. The sin is choosing to never change, not failing to change sooner.

[infinitiesofbooks]

Me rambling about S3 and being an emotional mess

Okay, I have feelings and I need to talk about them. This is not a constructive analysis or anything this is just me talking about SOME of my favorite clips from season 3 of Skam France because it's the end and i'm emotional.

I knew this season would be awesome from the second I saw the trailer.It was genius and I still watch it sometimes because wow.I love that we saw the I saw you the first day of school scene. I love that we were all fooled into believing it was Lucas. Because he's the main and i also think because of the clothes, that's something Isak could wear. But little did we know they were making their own thing.

"T'es pas comme les autres" + adding to this the minute par minute talk

Skam is a very emotional show, with very emotional scenes but I didn't cry cry as much as everyone did. And it's okay obviously. I teared up, thought I was going to die because of the pain, internally sobbed during the whole season. (For me it's 50/50 or I cry a LOT or I just can't because I just have too many emotions and my body is just dying, but it doesn't diminish the pain oh no) But the only two times where I really really really cried were during T'es pas comme les autres and the minute par minute talk. For mpm, I was expecting it. This is my favorite quote of the Skam universe, I use it everyday and it really helped me dealing with mental illness. I knew hearing it in my native language would wreck me. I was tearing up during the whole clip but I just bursted into tears when Lucas said it.

But I was not expecting the "T'es pas comme les autres" clip. I remember watching it, sobbing, thinking what the hell is happening to me. It's a mixture of Lucille's speech, the piano music (i tear up everytime i listen to it) and the images of Eliott. this.was.too.much.for.me. But I love this clip with all of my heart, and I cry as much everytime I rewatch it but I love it.

The piano scene

This scene. This freaking scene. It's unique,it's beautiful, it's a masterpiece. I have a thing with piano, it always gets me emotional and it's my favorite instrument, and I listen to piano music every day.But.this. this was incredible. And it's a scene nobody expected and wow it had so much impact. I can't find the words about how much I love this scene. And I won't ever be able to forget the T'es Suprenant. I remember not being able to sleep after this scene because I couldn't get over it.

Intervention

This is one of my favorite clip. First the acting, Axel how how how? I also love how it's as much as a sad clip as an hopeful one. Yes, it's sad but Mika and Manon are here for Lucas, he finally has support, and it's the clip where things are changing , Lucas starts accepting himself in the next clip and it's beautiful. And also some things that were said in this clip hit me so strongly and I think about them everyday.

Viens on en parle pas

god. Manon coming to Lucas? Her crying ? Him conforting her? And then when he started to cry my heart broke. This was powerful and I'm so glad this clip exists.

Also I didn't talk about Le premier, Combien de Lucas dans l'Univers, the painting/fucking, french o helga natt,not because I don't love them, because I freaking do, they're in my top 10,or even 5 clips (especially combien de lucas, if I did a top 3 it would be here with the piano scene and T'es pas comme les autres (this clip did something to me okay?) and the parallel universe talk with the music behind always get me so so so so emotional and tearing up) but because I've already talk so much about them and said pretty much everything I wanted to say.

Special mentions to Eliott following Lucas on instagram. So many of the instas udpdates are pure gold, so so so many, but I don't think I freaked out more in my entire life than the day Eliott followed Lucas. I literaly went home walking because I had too many feelings and needed to calm down.

Also a little list of my fav things from watching S3

-Lucas & the girl squad. Every. Single. Interaction.

-the millions french words the international fandom is now saying (please don't use them in french class)

-moi c'est Eliott + I can still remember Maxence and his chocolates bars on his insta story being so excited about the clip

-Lucas stalking Eliott

-the whole foyer subplot

-P. O. L. A. R. I. S

I got so emotional over a gifset the other day with the first kiss and O helga natt with the polaris quote

And the fandom becoming astronomers

-Alexia being a bisexual queen

-the dubstep is still making me laugh especially Lucas listening to it and saying he's into it to Chloé

-the unsubtleness. cf : how would you draw me

-Lucas and the marks on his cheeks during the foyer party

-i have an unhealthy obsession with the call your girlfriend scene, seriously, how many times can i watch a clip before it gets weird? Also when the music change when Eliott looks up ahhhhh

-Pas forcément une meuf (and the whole I want to be in a relationship thing ), I have a tattoo appointment to put this on my forehead.

-The whole Grillé clip was gold

-I love Pecholand too, it's so funny to rewatch because ahhh we knew it. Also just Lucas's voice when he's changing the subject from Eliott to something else. Everytime I watch it, I have this feeling, you know, when someone or something is brought up and you start panicking a little inside and you try to stay calm and like nothing is affecting but you're still trying to change the subject. It's a very specific feeling and he NAILED it, the tone of his voice is exactly exactly this.

-The beginning of Phase de Latence (ending ?? What ending?? This clip ends when Lucas steps out of the classroom)

-Emma and her lava lamp. Emma, my love. I see so much of me and my friends in Emma, and the more we have the more I love her. She just seems so real to me.

-The Isak reference

-Arthur&Basile + Daphné + Yann + Imane reaction and talk after Lucas coming out

-the J'ai tué ma mère ref. I knew it. I wanted it. They delivered. Thank you.

-the reaction to the mural monday morning omg. I really thought they were going to repaint it after. But these idiots didn't and they didn't even try denying anything. And I would have bet Daphné would have killed them but I'm glad she loved it.

-Eliott + Imane

-The boy squad Fangirl™ Moment to Elu. I wanna tattoo their faces on my face.

-Them hanging out in the park. This felt so nostalgic to me. It's exactly how I spent my 1ère afternoons in high school, lying in the grass with my friends, reading, talking and it's some of my best memories.

-Elu shotgunning omg

-Emma Manon and Lucas drunk = incredible

-Basile speechs and supporting Boy Squad

-Lucas and his mom AND THE FREAKING PIANO WHEN HE WROTE THE TEXT

-Him defending the mural, Imane being a queen and then Daphné after too

-Leave a light on hahahaha

-the realness of J'ai pas besoin de toi (just wanted to say, i'm still singing Joyce Jonathan every time, just because of the title, not any signification)

-Lucas and Eliott being THAT annoying couple

-All the drawings

-Raccons and hedgehog

-the acting. I just can't see Axel and Maxence, no matter how hard I try (i just tried it for the sake of this point and I just can't, they don't exist when filming)

-David making me cry with his instagram posts

-every single update from instagram

-David changing his profil pics and the fandom loosing it

-the scarf™

-Just everything the cast did. I could make a whole separate post for that.

-Wednesdays

-All the times we were fooled

-THE FREAKING JE T'AIME I'M STILL NOT OVER IT

-Eliott counting the minutes he's been appart from Lucas in the last clip, that dork

I feel like i'm forgetting so so many things, but I can't write down everything, especially the fandom stuffs and how much we freaked out over everything, and all the debates and theories but this has been my favorite part

I'm so glad for this season, and it had been an incredible ride. I also think i would not be this attached to it if I didn't discuss the clips with everybody on tumblr everyday. Thank you. You all made this special.

I wanted to start tagging people but the list was getting way way way too long and I'm afraid to forget someone and also the less people see my rambling the better it is. But if we talked even once,or if we’re mutuals, or If I liked your posts or you liked mine, i love you. So i'm just gonna thank my two friends I talk everyday with.

@praecise we've been talking since the beginning of the season and I'm so glad i was on that ride with you, you're the best

@aspewofnonsense we started really talking only after but i'm so so glad we did and i can't wait to meet you in may

I'm a really nostalgic person and I hate endings, and even if it's also a beginning because you bet i'm gonna follow S4 with the same energy ( I was already so hyped just by seeing Imane at the end of the last clip) , it's the end of Lucas pov and I will forever miss him. And seeing everybody in the tag saying goodbye and thank you to our boy ahhhh. Watching this season was an unique experience and it was so special. But i can't believe this is over. This morning i was listening to music when Remember attacked me without my consent and i started full on sobbing. The whole day i felt almost sick because i knew it was the end, in my last class i was really really feeling bad i couldn't do anything. But after the clip i was sad but also so much happy. I'm so thankful for this season and for Lucas's story.

(Also after the last clip, i was sitting on the ground in the train watching the landscape through the windows as the sun was setting, thinking about everything ,poetic cinema right there)

This afternoon I was like I should be less dramatic. But fuck it, I like being 300% invested in this. Being inside a fandom is my favorite thing.

I feel like I could never say everything I want to say, but (i was listening to music and my song just say i just wanna say thank you as I was writing this yes that's exactly this song) I just wanna say thank you. <3

[spotlightsaga]

Kevin Cage of @spotlightsaga reviews... Rick and Morty (S03E02) Rickmancing The Stone Airdate: July 30, 2017 @adultswim Ratings: 2.859 Million :: 1.48 18-49 Demo Share Score: 8.5/10 @cartoonnetwork @danharmon TVTime/FB/Twitter/Tumblr/Path/Pinterest: @SpotlightSaga *********MINIMAL TO NO SPOILERS********* Change is fucking hard. When something as monumental as divorce goes down during your childhood, whether it be at a very young age to all the way through to your later teen years and even beyond, it's never an easy adjustment. While it's true that i don't have a father, biologically speaking (I do but he literally has NEVER contacted me - lines open, pussy, redemption is just a call away), I was lucky enough to see my mother stand by her husband, a man whose rightfully earned the title of 'Dad' in my life. Don't trip, I'm not getting mushy here, I know my cartoon audience! Parents fuck us up, then they nag, then they don't speak to you, then they smother you (sometimes with a pillow). It's a vicious cycle, really. Seeing my mother stand by a man who literally almost completely destroyed himself and nearly took everyone down the dark and treacherous rabbit hole of addiction with him was extremely confusing. I harbored feelings of anger and resentment at first, but after awhile he made spectacular & unexpected life changes for the better. Suddenly I realized he wasn't some shit sucking asshole, he was just human, something we're all guilty of in one way or another. People make mistakes, and they sometimes self-destruct for no reason at all, and most everyone's first 'Fight or Flight' reaction is to pack up your shit and fucking RUN. I'm so glad that my mother didn't do that, we have our differences, but my Dad is one of the few male role models I have, that actually taught me something real in this world and given things I can really use and apply to real life situations. Sometimes you have to step away from people for awhile, but if you really love them, you never give up. I'm not sure if 'Rick & Morty' is the best place to pull out my existential bucket of ooey-gooey fun, maybe sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't... That's the incredible thing about this series in general! Where a great toon like 'Mike Tyson Mysteries' is frankly all fun & games, 'Rick & Morty' is layered (like a fucking onion, y'all) and far more than just a slapstick cartoon for stoners. People are finding that not only is this series funny beyond all reason, it's also incredibly endearing and real. The series main character, chemical friendly & artist of intellect, Rick Sanchez (Justin Rowland), would never admit it, but underneath all the multi-dimensional murders and lowbrow side effects from his chemical hobbies is a regular, mad scientist type Grandpa with a big ol' heart. Don't get me wrong, Rick has every right to tell Jerry (Chris Parnell) to fuck off... The whole 'tiny planet' fiasco and selling Rick out just wasn't a good look, it was a pathetic disaster, a true low point, and it landed Jerry in a job where he's paid in pill supplements and is basically a cuckold to the invading alien race... Oh, and then there's that god-awful windbreaker. Most straight men have problems dressing themselves after a separation or divorce, but damn... Can't nobody tell Jerry 1992 has long since came and gone, even though I wish it hadn't!?! Beth (Sarah Chalke) and Jerry had already been on the outs for two seasons, so this whole divorce thing was a long time coming. As much as I hate Gary's new post-relationship windbreaker, I am so in love with this new, improved, 'no fucks given' Summer Smith (Spencer Grammer). I feel like the place that Summer is at in her life in this very moment is the exact same place I would be and the exact same something I would do if I had an evil/heartwarming genius Grandfather, like Rick, who could travel back in time & space and alternate dimensions... And spend extended time in another realm ala Turbo Kid (2015), Doomsday (2008), or Escape From New York (1981 - Prepare for more Post-Apocalyptic film references). Not all R&M fans are happy tho, but that's because the show is expanding and going deeper... We're seeing an important evolution of the show and like it or not, it's a road that's necessary for the series to take so that it may spread its wings, giving us something new every time. R&M isn't a show that just pops us often... It's sacred, there's nothing on tv like it. It's literally a revolutionary metamorphosis for the #animatedseries genre. It cannot keep giving you the same ol', same ol' and hitting that one note that caught our attention in the first place and still survive with integrity... There's so many goddamn different and unexpected notes that this show can and will hit, both in the near and distant future, that it's completely unfair to ask it to remain stagnant so that we can have our normal R&M laughs. Shit just doesn't work like that, bruh'. Morty is terrified of this new Summer... But I don't think it's purely 'genuine concern'. Sure, that's a part of it, but already in S3 we are seeing Summer kind of inch him out of his co-anchor or sidekick spot with his Grandad. It's never easy to share the attention and affection of the ones we love, especially when the 'one that's loved' in question can literally make the impossible completely and totally possible. Morty has his own shit he's dealing with though, hell even Rick is feeling the toxic effects of the biggest divorce ever broadcast on animated tv. Weird, but true. In 'Rickmancing The Stone', Morty, Summer, and Rick all head to a 'Mad Max', post apocalyptic, style universe where men wear buckets on their heads, killing is for sport, and ultimately a place where you have to fight for all the things you want, to the death... Basically the literal opposite of what Jerry is doing with Beth. It's all a fantastic juxtaposition of the very life back at their original 'Earth 1' that they are trying to escape from and it's incredible to see this 'Nihilistic Wasteland' through three different sets of eyes, each character gaining something different from the experience. Spotlight Saga's Cartoon Fans are incredibly strict when it comes to spoilers, so I'm not here to spoil the episode (Spoiler Free! Yayy). I know that there are many of you, outside of TVTime, that read these articles for the content and don't necessarily watch the show. I'd love to take you deeper on this one, but I simply can't. We can give you the rundown on the basic plot, but trust me, anything beyond that and Cartoon Purists will legit crucify all of us over here on a broken telephone pole. Besides, when we tell you that 'Rick & Morty' could possibly be the greatest American Animated Television Series of All Time... We fucking mean it. This isn't a show that you want to miss out on, so those that are avid readers (and yeah, we fucking love you for it), know that this is one of the special ones that you need to set your DVR, buy the season on #Vudu or wherever you can access it and give it a thorough once, twice, three or even more times over. I, myself, have personally watched this particular episode 4 times already, and it won't be the last. The series, as a whole, is still holding strong at #7 on #IMDB's user rated list of Top Rated TV Shows (of all time), holding a 9.3/10 with nearly 138,000 votes and counting. That's some seriously heavy shit for an Adult Swim cartoon to find itself smack dab in the middle of a comprehensive list of all the greats w/series like GOT, Breaking Bad, The Wire, and The Sopranos. It's seriously everything that everyone says it is and more. Really. Those that ARE watching and are a little taken aback by the show suddenly taking a new direction and tackling serious issues through brand new avenues, give it a chance. This show has done right by you so far, it's definitely not going to let you down. I rarely put my stamp on a series outside of praising a season, or certain episodes because you never know what kind of hard turn a show is going to take... But let me tell you... I believe in 'Rick & Morty', and wherever this fresh faced S3 is taking us, I want in on the fucked up, Science Fiction laced, blood soaked, LSD inspired shot storm of a road trip fully stocked with McDonald's Mulan Szchuan Sauce... ESPECIALLY since the show is clearly embracing a bit of #existentialism and stirring it up in its big bowl of psychedelic, 'what the fucks', never-ending, unpredictable journeys... All while continuing to turn old tropes into something that feels incredibly new and progressive. Wabba Lubba Dub Dub!

[damnthatnoise]

Has-lo | Taken Over Time | An Interview

Has-lo is of a different caliber of artist than most out, and that isn’t to say that the current crop of indie musicians within our culture aren’t gifted as fuck because they are....it’s just that Has-lo is on a wavelength that only a select few ever tap into each generation.

I came across Has a little late in the game but it’s a better late than never type of thing because as soon as I heard Conversation B which was the remixed companion to his In Case I Don’t Make it album that Mello Music Group dropped back in 2011 I was hooked. I searched for his work which took me on a journey of discovering his former crewmates and fellow Philly killers (Zilla Rocca, Castle, Curly Castro + Wrecking Crew fam). What draws me to Has-lo’s work is his approach to production which very much reminds me of Prince Paul in some spaces (Bahloone Mind State era) and Soul Assasins era DJ Muggs at times, but it’s also his writing style and his vocal tone that feels familiar and worn in sonically....like I’ve been listening to him wax poetic about life forever. 

If you aren’t familiar with Has-lo than this might be the perfect time to get a jump on it. He has an extensive Bandcamp discovery that not only highlights his production chops but also his rhyming abilities with a recent Pen & Pixels monthly he’s been doing, he has several older releases on his former label Mello as a solo artist and also one with Castle as well as producing a remix of Castle’s album with Mello AND if that isn’t enough he has produced for Open Mike Eagle on a couple of occasions and can be heard as a featured vocal guest on both of those occasions.

I had the chance to talk with Has-lo a year ago when he had dropped his mixtape A Singluar Point of Light and then shit happened that put a pause on it all on my end, but then his new EP Take It Like It Is came out and it blew me away yet again and reminded me I needed to pick this back up....so here we fucking go! 

_____________________________________________________________

Damn That Noise:  Tell me about your thought process behind he new project "A Singular Point Of Light" and why it's labeled as a mixtape when it feels like an album?!

Has-lo:  With "A Singular Point of Light" I wanted to accomplish a few things. I wanted to make a statement as an artist and lyricist. While I've done a good deal of feature work, production, collaborative work, etc., I haven't had a full-length solo record in a number of years. There are a number of reasons for the lull, but a tape seemed like a good way to make a reintroduce myself. When I put out my first album, it felt like I had barely said anything before being boxed up and categorized. Everything I did was labeled as old school. I became this king of sad rap, which was never what I was trying to be. I understand how it happens with how people digest music now, but I never wanted my struggles with depression to be a gimmick or a selling point. I also wanted an opportunity to express my range. To flesh out my personal tastes a bit so we could put that suicide rap stigma behind us. If I can show people my entire scope, not just the dark parts, I think we'd be able to build an even stronger connection. Or something like that.

It's labeled a mixtape because none of the music is original. It's stuff that's out. I chose a bunch of stuff that I enjoy personally and worked it out. I think it feels cohesive because of the way I write. There are always common subject threads throughout my projects.

DTN:  You fairly recently (I think) moved to LA from Philly. Why the move out west? Was it for the music or personal shit? And how ha LA life impacted your creative process?

Has-lo:  Both music and personal. Looking at it from afar, I'd thought the west coast vibe would be more suited to my personality and what I wanted to do as an artist. There didn't seem to be much opportunity for what I do in Philadelphia, despite its rich musical history. Turns out Cali hasn't been the sanctuary I thought it would be. As for my process, it hasn't really been affected.

DTN:  So what do you see as a difference between coverage of your first release on Mello Music Group in 2011 and now? Aside from the issues with being tagged as "sad rap", do you think the 6-year difference and rise of blogs having such a stronghold has made getting visibility better or worse?

Has-lo:  Yea there's a big difference. My 2011 album had a publicist working it so the reach was exponentially farther. None of my current music has had the luxury of a publicist being attached. The difference in blogs is that there isn't much of a middle ground anymore. There are big blogs/sites, and small ones. Much like labels, there isn't much in the mid-level anymore. It's absolutely made getting visibility much much worse. It's a lot harder. The 6-year gap hasn't helped either, but I'd rather put out a project that complements and competes with my previous work. It took me this long to find that zone. I hate that it's taken this long, but I think the results will speak.

DTN:  What was the process like for the new album? The tone seems heavy at times but also a little funky and dusted in areas, and the production reminds me of something Prince Paul might've done post "Bahloone Mind State". How'd you approach the sound/content for this record?

Has-lo:  The process for the tape was find a piece of music that made me wanna write, then try to disengage the part of me that wants to micromanage the process. To sort of let whatever thoughts bubble up happen and to follow them wherever they lead. For the most part that's what I did. The tone is heavy and dusty like that because that's what I gravitate to the most! I love Paul and Rza, Madlib, Dilla, Preemo, Pete and so many others who weren't afraid to make that grit work for them. For me, it's character and charisma over cleanliness. The magic lies somewhere in between. But yea, when I finished, I had all these odd stories and accounts. It was all very human without being as oppressive as "In Case I Don't Make It" was. As it should be. I'm not in the same place I was when I made that record.

DTN:  So being that you are working DIY without the help of a label, what has the experience been so far with pushing the new project out on your own? Any feedback you've gotten from peers when it comes to media coverage or best approaches to cut through the white noise of all of the internet shit?

Has-lo:  Working DIY isn't new to me. I was putting out music before the label stuff, you know? Once I was afforded more resources and got to see some growth...that made going back to the DIY approach a very difficult pill for me to swallow. I'm an artist who plays the jack of all trade angle because I HAVE to. Not because I'm particularly good at it. I got fronted on when I had a publicist too, but the amount of coverage I received vs. doing it entirely on my own is elephants and ants on see-saws. I know everyone's experience is different though. My man J-Zone had more success doing his own legwork for instance. The short answer is: the experience has been extremely stressful and not particularly fulfilling lol. 

I don't get a ton of feedback from peers. Most of it is to the effect of 'such and such doesn't matter anymore' and 'this or that doesn't mean anything now.' Basically roundabout ways of saying "I can't help you." Somebody knows how to cut through the noise. They just aren't willing to tell ME is all. That's hip hop though. Almost nobody is brave enough to share the jewels.

DTN: I really dig your production style and having produced/produce myself I know there are so many approaches to creating music. Are you a strict sample from vinyl kind of person, or is it a by any means style? When you make beats for someone else like say Mike Eagle...are you producing with their voices in mind or are you just doing you, and sending out what you've got and seeing what sticks?

Has-lo:  Thank you, I appreciate that. I'm strictly what sounds good. The rest is invisible rulesets based on personal preference. I mostly disregard that shit. Sometimes I sample, sometimes it's from wax, sometimes it's from a shitty MP3. Sometimes I don't sample at all, like the Mike Eagle record. So yea, it's whatever results in good music for me. I thought of Mike when I came up with the "95 Radios" joint and we kicked it around for a while. When he was deep into this new album, he felt it would fit and we finished it. When I make beats for people I usually have their voices in mind. I have ideas of what I think they'd sound dope on. Unless you have a relationship with the person, they usually just wanna pick something you already have. I prefer to make custom stuff though, that's tight.

DTN: In hip-hop, we can have a funny mentality where we think indie acts who are self-reflective or politically aware and address social issues always hate mainstream/club kind of shit. Is there anything fans would be surprised to know Has-Lo listens to semi-regularly (in mainstream hip-hop or any other mainstream genre)?

Has-lo:  Probably, yea. I listen to a good amount of "mainstream" stuff. I don't love the separation, us vs. them mentality damages music. You limit what you allow yourself to be into. But I like Rae Sremmurd. "Swang" is my shit. I mess with Rocky and Ferg. I was fucking with XXX a little bit, but all this domestic abuse stuff is uncomfortable for me. Hopefully, that turns out to be untrue. I have a hard time separating the artist from their music. I rock with G Herbo, his shit is hard. Love Frank Ocean, Sza is dope of course on the R&B side. Me liking them probably wouldn't be a shock lol. Love Based God, man. Lil B is that guy, tybg. There's more but those are a few I don't think people would expect.

I've said I love Elliott Smith plenty of times. Love M83, Radiohead, Beck, The Shins, Death Cab, etc. Perfume Genius is dope. Still go back to Headlights, still exploring Broadcast's catalog. I'm not too knowledgeable but I love indie rock, lo-fi, dream pop, all that stuff. If I make an indie record that I think is authentic to the craft, you'll catch me on that side. I wanna make one, it just has to be right.

DTN:  It's been a year since A Singular Form of Light and our conversation, and you now have done the "Pens & Pixels" project where you dropped a freestyle a month from January to August, and now you delivered "Take It Like It Is". What's transpired for you over the course of that year? What's the creative process been like...? what challenges have you faced?

Has-lo:  I wanted to drastically step up my musical output. I've been making a lot of stuff since my first album, but I've had to do a ton of internal restructuring. It's still ongoing but it is coming into focus. A Singular Point of Light was meant as a starting point. Pens & Pixels is me exercising. Committing to something that you have to deliver every month is harder than it seems. It's rewarding though. September is about to drop, then there's only 3 left! 

The biggest challenges have been perfecting the sonics of the music and promoting it. Usually, the only people involved in a Has-Lo project are me, my engineer Michael Moxham, and my art guy Kyle Tierce. Everyone's got responsibilities they have to deal with. I write and produce a lot. I record a lot. But if it doesn't SOUND good, we're not going to put it out. It's a slow process. We're breaking through to new ground though. I'd like to be putting out 2-4 projects a year. My goal is to create a reality where I can give my guys what they need to be comfortable. Then we can really cook.

DTN:  What's the Has-lo trajectory for 2019 then? The new EP is very fucking dope and I'm sure you might want to let that breathe before something new...but this age of consumption moves fast, so where do you go from here?

Has-lo: To release a new full-length project finally. For me, a sophomore slump hasn't been the music not being tight so much as it's been having a hard time getting said music to fans.

I don't really want to let the EP breathe. I'd like to come right back with more music. As far as consumption...I don't have an answer. I'm going to work the equation until I get a solution I'm satisfied with. To me, it's more a connection thing. How do I best connect with people?

DTN: What have you learned over the course of the last year or two since your move, and working on these new projects in the new setting? How has the environmental change impacted you if it had at all?

Has-lo: To be completely honest, I haven't had much time to process the changes. I'm still in it.

DTN:  Early on in our interview you talked about not wanting to be seen for just sad rap but given the recent deaths of several artists due to overdosing while self-medicating to cover up depression and other mental health issues, do you think it's high time we start having a broader conversation in not only Hip-Hop but communities of color/low income about mental health, PTSD, and the effects of witnessing and being the victims is abuse?

Has-lo:  I think we're somewhat having the conversation. The problem (as I see it) is that we're not, societally, on the same page about what these things mean and are. Depression, anxiety, PTSD, Bi-Polar disorder, etc. aren't entirely understood, nor able to be understood by someone who isn't suffering. Add to that a lack of empathy, a lack of openness and you've got a toxic cocktail. This isn't a thing where you just pull yourself up by your bootstraps and soldier on. Because of that, they tend to be trivialized. It's easy to tell someone they aren't tough or manly or that they're too emotional when you wake up feeling fine every day. You aren't the one begging the god and the universe for reasons to not to blow your brains out. It's a daily operation. Hell, some people don't even believe that depression and other mental health issues are real, quantifiable medical issues. These are EXCEPTIONALLY damaging conditions. It's akin to...let's say a pregnant woman telling you labor pains were beyond any pain out there. I'm a guy. So I'll never know. But I trust that she's coming from a place that I should acknowledge. Following that logic, acknowledge the sufferers. We're not choosing to be unhappy. We don't want your pity. We did not choose for our minds to not work as intended. We're not weak. We are fatigued. We've been fighting a monster with a lot of hit points. I hope the conversation finds its footing. We could use a positive outcome. The world is...a cynical place.

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Please support Has-lo’s music which you can find below!

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Take It Like It Is by Has-Lo

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Pens & Pixels: A Freestyle Series by Has-Lo