Her Name Is April Rose

Something borrowed.. Something err… Blue? OK, maybe not the last one.

No this has nothing to do with weddings or marriage. I’m talking about sampling music. I’m always on the hunt for “new” music to add to my collection, whether it be the latest Curren$y mixtape, a track from Phil Collins or a classic song from Ella Fitzgerald. In a way sampling gives me the best of both worlds. I could hear a track produced by 9th Wonder and look up the sample he used. Bong. New material (well new to me at least).

Let me give you some examples to clarify.

I’m kinda sorta halfway in love with the DC native, Wale. Going through his mixtapes, I heard a lot of familiar songs. From his use of Go Go music (which is growing on me) to Hov’s “Imaginary Player” to Camp Lo’s “Glow“, Wale’s music reminded me of so many songs I loved from back in the day, but probably would have never remembered to get if I hadn’t listened to his mixtapes.

And of course Kanye is always a good person to go to when looking for great samples. One of my absolute favorites from him has to be “Addiction”. He sampled Etta James’ version of “My Funny Valentine” (one of my favorite covers of the song if I might add). No one can ever say that Ye doesn’t have a knack for picking out great songs to sample.

There are those occasions when I feel like samples are a bit.. questionable.

Take T.I.’s song Live Your Life feat. Rihanna + produced by the JERSEY NATIVE (and former Rutgers student lol) Just Blaze. In the beginning you can hear the sample he used, Haiducii’s “Dragostea Din Tei” (shoutouts to Jaye for that info).

Alright.. I guess Just was watching the Numa Numa video when he thought to sample this song. Now, don’t get me wrong. I like Live Your Life, but the original track has to be one of the most annoying songs I’ve ever heard in my life. Did he really have to start the track off like that? I must admit, though, Live Your Life makes me kinda happy and Rih Rih did the damn thing on the song, so I can’t be completely mad at it.

I could go on for days about songs that I absolutely adore (and the songs they sampled that I equally adore lol). Eh, but maybe I’ll just leave you all with a little list.

• Mickey Factz: Good Money (Sampled Billy Paul: Let The Dollar Circulate)
• Cam’ron: Daydreaming (Aretha Franklin: Day Dreaming)
• Kidz In The Hall: Drivin’ Down The Block (Masta Ace: Born To Roll)
• Tupac: I Ain’t Mad At Cha + BLACKstreet: Don’t Leave Me (DeBarge: A Dream)
• Jay-Z: Fallin (The Dramatics: Fell For You)
• Kanye West: All Falls Down (Lauryn Hill: Mystery of Iniquity)
• Wale: I Will (Xscape: I Will)
• Nas: The World Is Yours (Ahmad Jamal: I Love Music–Ahh the way Pete Rock flipped this jawn.. man..)
• Usher: Throwback (Dionne Warwick: You’re Gonna Need Me)
• Maroon 5: Won’t Go Home Without You (The Police: Every Breath You Take — CLASSIC)
• Slum Village: Selfish (Aretha Franklin: Call Me)
• Common: The Light (Bobby Caldwell: Open Your Eyes)
• Fabolous: Breathe (Supertramp: Crime Of The Century–Don’t sleep on it lol)
• Kanye West: Roses (Bill Withers: Rosie–Makes me think of my mommy)
• Nas: Heaven (Eddie Holman: I Love You)
• Jay-Z: Party Life (Little Beaver: Get Into The Party Life)
• Common: They Say (Ahmad Jamal: Ghetto Child)
• Dipset: I Really Mean It (Major Harris: I Got Over Love)
• Nas: One Mic (Phil Collins: In The Air Tonight–My song! lol)
• Common: Break My Heart (George Duke: Someday ♥)

I guess that list wasn’t really little =/ Ah well. You’ll get over it. Shit, maybe even put it to use. Honestly, you should. I ain’t post all those songs for nothing lol.

♥ April Rose

Thank you Jim Jones for the title of this post.

Yes, indeed. I am a product of my environment. As much as I can’t stand this place at times (well most of the time), I must admit that I’m thankful that I grew up here. I believe that growing up in Willingboro has enabled me to be a bit more open-minded, well-rounded, and less naive to problems that other suburban kids seem to be completely ignorant to.

I have spent the majority of my 20 years on this planet here (minus the time I spend at school in New Brunswick). Willingboro, for those who don’t know, is a predominantly African American suburb in Southern New Jersey. We’re about 20 minutes outside of Philly, Camden, and Trenton.

With that being said, let me touch on an issue that has been nagging at me lately.

Racism

Alright. It’s not that it has just suddenly reappeared in my life. As Kanye West has pointed out “racism still alive.. they just be concealing it” and honestly, I believe that it will never die.

What really made me want to write another blog about this (my first being on Facebook. I’ll link back to it later) were the recent homicides of Darryl Sample and Deion Madison. My mother refuses to go buy a newspaper lol since I can just read the stuff online (and I don’t blame her).

It’s sad that I even have to read about murders in my town, especially this often. What makes it even more sickening is when I have to read the bigotry that people post in their comments about the article. From calling the murder victims “animals” to trying to hide their blatant racism with statistics, I can barely fathom how in this day in age people can still have that type of mindset.

What disgusts me even more is that they are talking about the dead. It’s one thing to not agree with the life someone lives, but to disrepect them in their passing is just disgraceful. No one is perfect and no one can ever lead a perfect life, so for anyone to pass judgement is simply hypocritical.

Not saying that I don’t do it, because I would just be lying if I said I didn’t from time to time; however, to try and say “Who cares? It was just another thug/animal. Good riddance” is cold-hearted. No one deserves to have his life taken away from him no matter his race or lifestyle.

I figure that it was mostly Caucasians posting the racist comments; however, I’m not going to act as if they’re the only people who are capable of being bigots. My fellow people of color, LET’S BE SERIOUS. I probably see more blatant racism coming out the mouths of the minorities I encounter than those of the white people I know.

Now maybe that’s because I only interact with a handful of those of the “Caucasian persuasion” on a regular basis, but still this doesn’t excuse the remarks that I hear coming out the mouths of those in my inner circle. The ones I hold near and dear to me are the first ones to jump at any hint of prejudice (not that that’s a problem), and yet they are also the first ones to comment on how “stupid white people are”.

I love my friends to death. I really do, but I can’t agree at all with the blatant inconsistencies. How are they any better than the white people who make these comments about us? Shouldn’t we all “practice what we preach?” Or maybe I’m just asking for too much.

I, myself, try my best to refrain from making any kind of racial remarks. And yes, it irks me A LOT when my friends make these kind of comments about anyone of any ethnicity. I blame myself at times. I should speak up more, but sometimes it’s just difficult. I often wonder if someone is going to look at me sideways for pointing it out to them.

Now, as one of the few Asians in this town and in my circle of friends, I have been subjected to racism myself. I guess some of it is my fault for not speaking up once again, but this doesn’t excuse the comments. I chuckle at the Asian jokes every now and then (half the time I’m the one poking fun at my background), but there comes a point where I just get fed up.

Why is OK for everyone to assume that all Asians are the same? That we all speak the same language, look alike, and come from China? Don’t EVER let me say that all Latino/Hispanic people are Puerto Rican or all Black people are Nigerian. Do you know how quickly I would get cut? Lol. And yet, people think it’s okay to consistently say this about Asians?

Eh, I blame myself a lot for this–for not pointing out the hypocrisies. It’s just hard when you feel outnumbered and feel as if even if you do speak out, they still won’t understand and maybe even ostracize you.

Ah.. Racism + Prejudice–I could go on and on about them. I need to sleep, though. Lol. I’ll finish this discussion later.

Oh, and here’s the Facebook note I wrote after the whole Don Imus issue =) Enjoy.

♥ April Rose

…was killed in my town.

Deion Madison, 28, died at Cooper University Hospital in Camden. On Monday night, he was shot several times in front of a seafood market about 2 minutes from my house.

This happened just two days after Kapri was murdered. C’mon now. I can’t take this shit anymore.

I feel safer in East Orange than I do in my town of 33,000+ people.

Wtf is going on?

♥ April Rose

….but 5 hours later I’ve barely gotten 20 minutes of rest in. *sigh* I thought the Theraflu would have worked, but it didn’t. And maybe blasting T.I. through my headphones as I type this doesn’t help much either. =/

So during this insomniac-like night, I’ve come to realize why my “inner circle” is so small.

People are stupid and very irritating. I refuse to form any type of bond with anyone who has the IQ of a rock and/or the attention span of a 2 year old. And in the past 6 months, I’ve probably encountered the most sensitive, two-faced, and wackest people in my short 20 years on earth. *sigh* I really don’t need anymore friends. Actually, I need to cut people off.

And another thing…

Whether it be in real life or the lovely world wide web, people should realize that I know all. I hear everything. I see everything. And it doesn’t hurt that I have very reliable sources.

From my brother’s little groupies trying to make themselves relevant on a campus where they are the only ones oblivious to the fact they’re smuts to internet birds who continue to smile in each others’ “e-faces” knowing got damn well they talk the most shit about each other–Yes.. I know it all lol.

Talking shit about me and my peoples, but think we won’t find out? You’re wrong. Think we can’t put your business out there? Ha! You’re highly mistaken. Do you really think we’re that naive? Maybe you should reconsider who the naive one is in the situation. People should be grateful that we don’t expose them for the losers they really are =)

And before I go to sleep, I’ll leave you with this sentiment.

“What the fuck you boys talkin bout? I know it’s us cuz we’re the only thing you talk about..”

And I’m gone.. Bye.

♥ April Rose

Nii-Amon: remember this ape but im sure you do and already know
Me: this is the net
Me: blah blah blah
Me: i don’t give a fuck
Nii-Amon: the internet is such a great place…because you can be whoever you want to be
Nii-Amon: you can be a loser in life and be on the verge of commiting that…but you can be e-popular and have e-friends
Nii-Amon: and feel better about yourself

My best friend is smart, isn’t he? Lol

In my 8 or 9 years on the internet, I’ve ran across quite a few people and their e-personalities. Some really make me wonder if that’s really how they act in real life. E-Popularity seems to be so important to some people. And it really makes me wonder…. Why?

Is your life that dismal that you have to create a new identity on the web to feel better about yourself? Would the people that you’re striving to impress with your “intelligence and charm” really like you that much when you move from behind the monitor? I doubt it.

It doesn’t help when others hype these people up to really start believing in their own façade. Do you all understand what type of monsters you create when feeding into the bullshit? Then the e-cliques start amongst the e-populars and the e-gossiping runs rampant in Yahoo! Conferences lol

It’s funny really. Would most of the people you encounter on the web say half the shit they do online if they were face to face with you? Highly unlikely. They don’t have the comfort of knowing that no one knows exactly how lame they are when they log off and head into the real world.

Wait, didn’t they have a MTV’s True Life about the this?

Ahh well. If this offended you, well, tough cookies. Log off and go make some real life friends.

Back to the UConn game =)

♥ April Rose