#yes that's me trying to compare myself to a pulitzer prize winner

[zmediaoutlet]

Always interested in the process, so for the ask game 8 and 91?

aw hey! through answering I will also find out the process, let's see--

8. what’s your relationship with constructive criticism and feedback like? do you seek it out? how well do you take it?

I love it conceptually, but lbr, fandom is not the place to go for it for the most part. I mean first of all, fandom so wildly overcorrected from the 'sporking' years that any perceived criticism is taken wildly out of proportion and responded to with huffy offense, lol. So that's part of it. But also -- and I gestured to this in another answer -- I'm not gonna rewrite something once it's been pinned down. (Nor is just about anyone, especially once you've hit the publishing phase.) So what is the critique doing? Hopefully helping you think better about the next piece, but not really doing anything for the current one. (Also, given fandom, is it actually a constructive criticism? Or is it "I hate your interpretation of this canon event and you should've used mine instead"?)

This holds true for beta work, too. Like, I'll occasionally ask for betas but they pretty much just do SPAG checks (and bless them for it). When I'm more likely to ask for help is in the conceptual stage, or when I'm midway through and having target confusion about a few different ways things can go. Then I really want to get ideas picked at and make sure everything's sensible, and I'm very happy to be told 'uh what? no?' and we can talk through what could work better. It's tricky tho, because it's so easy to run into the problem with criticism where someone isn't actually helping you refine your idea, but actually taking your idea in another direction, or trying to replace it with their own idea, or -- yadda yadda. It's actually super hard to be a good editor. I wish I was better at it.

91. how has your writing style changed over the years?

hmmm I think it's -- hm. I mean, I've had a roughly similar voice since like... 2010ish, but I keep paring down and down and down inside that framework, I think. Much less descriptive language these days, and less (I hope!) overexplaining of mental states and whatnot. Old fandom friend Becky had this great line about trying to "get out of the way" of the writing, and I try to do that as much as possible. I think it's pretty... idk, by some lights it's probably considered pretty dull at this point! But I just had an interesting experience in the past few weeks of reading Snow Falling on Cedars (straightforward, spare, clean) and then attempting to read this historical fiction by Dorothy Dunnet (florid, densely complicated, to my eyes wildly overwritten), and I was just smacked between the eyes again with how much I like the writing to just be -- one word follows the other, and you know what's intended. Simple, although that doesn't necessarily mean uncomplicated. Oh to be a cedar.

[neojoli-neuroplasticity-blog]

CMS 316

An essay comparing and contrasting Hip-Hop and Rock including the origins of the genres. Hip-Hop Value

There is this connotation or connection between HipHop and Black people, as stereotypical as that may be. Most black families especially in the United States grew up listening to Hip-hop or RnB. Hip-Hop serves as a cultural expression of socially and economically marginalized African-Americans. Before Hip-Hop and rap expanded commercially, the songs in both genres focused on the community and lives of the artists. Many rappers in the 1970s and beyond presented the troubles of being black and poor while suffering white control and power. Let us digress, as we learned in class. Jamaican music, for example, reggaeton was a  genre of music that was introduced in a very interesting way by the use of sound systems. It became a competition in the island amongst others, and it was a way where young people listened and grew accustomed to a genre that was being born and developed, a genre that came to fruition. This may serve as a background to my previous statement in which black families would play music of their forefathers and greats that played music during their era or the previous one. Most artists nowadays point out how influential their parents were to their artistry, playing certain types of music.  In 2018, Hip Hop and R&B became the biggest music genre in the United States and was the big break African-Americans had been waiting for. With the technology that is in place at this moment, it has propelled the consumption and commercialization of music.  

The Pulitzer Prize

Another major achievement in Hip-Hop was Kendrick Lamar winning the Pulitzer Prize. It was a momentous and historic occasion for Hip-Hop. The win added value to the category and went further to define the authenticity of this category of music. The Pulitzer prize impacts significantly on American journalism, photography, writing, and music. Incidentally many upcoming journalists, writers, and musicians dream of ever bagging this highly esteemed and prestigious prize established in 1917. Pulitzer Prize defines any of a series of annual prizes awarded by Columbia University, New York City, for excellent public service and achievement in American journalism, letters, and music. The prize that is also endowed with a substantial amount of $ 500,000 as a gift from the newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer and has been awarded since 1917. The Pulitzer Prize Board comprises of judges appointed by Columbia University. Kendrick Lamar became the first non-classical or jazz winner of the Pulitzer Prize for music. “They gave an “additional citation” to Bob Dylan in 2008, and to Hank Williams in 2010– a mere 57 years after the latter’s death – but the prize itself has remained almost exclusively the domain of classical music. In its history, there have only been three jazz winners: Wynton Marsalis in 1997, Ornette Coleman in 2006, and Henry Threadgill in 2016.” (The Guardian) Marc Bamuthi Joseph is a spoken-word poet, dancer, and playwright who frequently directs stand-alone hip-hop theater plays. In an interview conducted by Philip Bither, Senior Curator, Performing Arts, Walker Art Center, via skype. He asked what Hip Hop means to Joseph as an artist, and he retorted by saying, “In the way the Civil Rights era, or the Vietnam War, or any number of climatic global or localized cultural events have shaped the ideology and aesthetics and morals and morale of folks born at those times, I was born in the same place at the same time that hip-hop culture was born, I was born in a time of AIDS, born in a period of Reaganomics. Hip-hop music and aesthetics formed the soundtrack for all things for me. My political consciousness was formed through hip-hop music and hip-hop culture, through the work of Chuck D and Public Enemy, KRS-One and Boogie Down Productions. They gave me vocabulary to articulate political positions and language to locate myself socio-economically. I think about hip-hop culture not only in terms of its aesthetic manifestations, not only in terms of B-boying or MC-ing or DJ-ing or graffiti, I think about energetic reciprocity. I think about ritual and (in)visibility. I think about the idea of the break and sampling and style. These are my antecedents.” This gives new perspective to what was previously said. Not only is Hip-Hop all about music. There is a deeper meaning, in a time of racial injustice and political and economical unfairness towards the black community. Hip-Hop music was right there to write the message, in a lyrical and explicit way. For example, the N.W.A (Niggaz with Attitude) were an American hip-hop group from Los Angeles, California.  They were active from 1986 to 1991 and the rap group was plagued with controversy for their explicit lyrics, misogynistic and romanticising drug use and crime. The group was vocal about their experiences of racism and uncontrolled policing. Generally speaking, rap music serves as an expressive artistic outlet for a marginalized and demonized urban social bloc that speaks with heavily black and latino, predominantly masculine accents within a staunchly white and patriarchal social order (C. H. Smith 1995). Additionally, the group was political and their music revolved around political issues happening in the country during that time (Wikipedia).  The group is considered one of the greatest and most influential groups in the history of hip-hop music. The unapologetic violent, and sexist veterans of gangsta rap remain the most infamous group in history. It is important to note that gangsta rap harnessed itself as the  most popular form of hip-hop and the  group also rewrote the rules of the category during the 1990’s. NWA established a cultural resurgence that led to the mainstream recognition of their cultivated legacy in the history of rap and hip-hop that culminated to their induction into the rock and roll hall of fame in 2016. 

Hip-Hop’s authenticity and credibility

Authenticity and the hip-hop genre has been linked since the late 1970s. With debut albums from Beanie Sigel with the bold album name “The Truth”, or Nas’s most famous song, “Last Real Nigga Alive.” These songs titles alone encapsulate what hip-hop is and its identity as an authentic piece of expression. Magazines such as The Source played an important role in dedicating their newsletter to “true hip-hop.” The source is a full-color magazine based in the United States that covers hip-hop music, politics and culture and was founded in 1968. It is the world’s longest running rap periodical. However, as we have learned in class, the music industry will always find and commercialize a genre that is seemingly on the rise. This has further ruined the credibility of hip-hop’s “realness.” Rapper Murs saw this happening, and in 2004 in his song, And This is For, he raps, “Used to feel I should be silent, I was scared to do this song/But I want everyone aware of what is going on/Yes it is jazz and yes it is the blues/And yes it is the exact same way they did rock/But I refuse to watch the same thing happen to hip-hop/I refuse to watch that bullshit.”  Hip-hop, like any genre of music that is explicit towards the culture such as punk, and American folk music, finds itself in the mainstream where MC’s try to attempt to draw a line of authenticity by distinguishing it around their culture. The issue of authenticity is a difficult matter to tackle within the hip-hop genre. Some MC’s believe it is the realness of lyrics and remaining true to oneself. Others may also believe that it is not acceptable to the mainstream or encouraging hypermasculinity, which is a problem in the African American community, but let us digress. Another theory of authenticity in hip-hop is the capacity of knowledge and history by an MC where he/she could wield that understanding and become an authentic character in the genre. President Kennedy had this to say about hip-hop’s history, “is like taillights on a boat which illuminates where we have been when we should be focusing on where we should be going.”

Rock credibility, authenticity, and value

Equally important is rock. Rock is described to be the first “oppositional” form of expression to be pushed into mainstream consumption. Rock culture has prevailed since the 1960s, and the rock genre has undergone different forms to what can be studied today. During its different augmentation, rock music has remained to be an expression of the youth. During the 1960s, rock has been a mode of declaration for political statements and of course romantic relationships. This is where comparison with Hip-Hop draws close. Also, the genre uses satire as irony to criticize the culture. There’s a question of authenticity that resides in pop music or rock music, and this further deviates into marginalizing rock music in itself. The use of authenticity to analyze the differentiation between rock identifies itself and separates itself from popular or mainstream music. There is a residual spoken language between recording and live performances. Live performances aid in considering an authentic rocker; furthermore, in following a traditional path. Musicians have to initiate connection and conversation through live performances. In the same conversation, we must acknowledge that there are two different types of authenticity in recognizing rock ethos. Modernist and Romantic. The modernist approach constitutes of tradition and continuity with the past roots, sense of community, populism, belief in a core or essential rock sound, liveness. The romantic approach is as follows:  avant gardes, status of the artist, elitism, openness regarding rock, record-ness, and celebrating technology. This is important to understand because elitists do not hold any ground in influencing rock culture. As opposed to Hip-Hop, where being real is hailed with honor. However, if we are to analyze the hip-hop scenario in the present day, avant-gardes could be denounced as infectious to the hip-hop community. Regardless, traditional MCs do have a huge following, because they follow a more romantic approach. The 1960s youth demographic brewed the existence of rock to be pushed and consumed within mainstream music. While rock music expresses modernity and romance, hip-hop is validly not just a type of music but also a culture. It is a by-product of culture. People embedded in this culture are associated with musical practices such as rapping, Djing, beatboxing, freestyling, and looping. Early hip-hop music embed man-made beats, turntables, and vocals while the lyrics were often in rhythmic spoken format. Dancing was an essential part of this genre. However, hip-hop has evolved to the luxurious music embedded with technology, computerized beat machines, synthesizers, and digital beat and rhythm equipment. Conversely, rock is one of the oldest forms of music in mainstream today. The modern rock genre has roots in Rock n’ roll of the 1940s. Rock is an instrument based music with total reliance on guitar’s beat and rhythm. The utilization of bass guitar and drums is often evident. Rock possesses many sub-tribes like blues, jazz, funk, and glam. While hip-hop is hinged on origins that are expressly political, societal, and social, rock registers its origins with the creation of rhythm and melodies produced by instruments. It is important to note rock is older than hip-hop and while hip-hop was not instrument-oriented, rock adapted to instruments at inception. While African –Americans were the major agents and originators of hip-hop. Caucasians and white Americans were and still remain the promoters of rock. While hip-hop continues to be hardwired by rhythmic sounds of speech, rock is embedded with the guitar’s rhythms. While hip-hop music originates and has maintained its presence only in the United States of America, rock transcended to other countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia.  Both positive and negative influences of hip-hop are acknowledged. It is recognized that early hip-hop helped minimize inner-city gang violence by replacing physical violence with dance and artwork battles. Hip-hop has contributed abundantly to our economic wellbeing and represents a multi-billion dollar industry that impacts on many aspects of life, such as the automotive design and fashion, prime time television programming, college and professional sports, mass media marketing (Centre for Mental Health in Schools).