Yeezy Season

To stray away from my normal choice of topic I wanted to talk about Kanye.Thinking back to the first time I heard of Kanye I knew some popular songs but he wasn't something big. However now he sells clothes and shoes for outrages prices and people will do anything to acquire them. Over the weekend he released a new pair a Yeezys, and they're already sold out. They went for $220. It's crazy how throughout the years he was among the average artist now he's grown so much. His music has changed and overall attitude. Thinking back to first controversial thing that Kanye did that was all over social media was the interaction with Sway. That's where his favorite line, “You ain't got the answers Sway” came from. Many people mocked him and made memes of it but they didn't know how they were aiding his career. The next time we heard of Kanye was when he was with Kim and decided to marry her. All these events gave Kanye new fans, new fans that are willing to spend hundreds of dollars on clothes that make them look homeless. Without the little media outburst that Kanye had he wouldn't be where he is now. I highly doubt that people would be really spend hundreds of dollars on some other artist that's not in the new like him. This goes for the Kardashians too, without the media they would have nothing. Kylie wouldn't be selling makeup without the media attention they receive. Without us there would be nothing. 

The Bay Artist

Oakland has produced many good artist throughout the years. Many well known and many just Oakland known. When an artist gets exposed to other people besides people that live in Oakland, that’s a good feeling. I always enjoying hearing or seeing some good new about an underground artist. Some popular artist like Kehlani, G-Eazy,Sage the Gemini, MC Hammer, Keyshia Cole and many more. Even though Oakland goes through some hard times we still try to make something of ourselves. With all the violence that has been occurring some good things can still happen. One artist that really sticks out to me would have to be Kehlani. I had the honor of being in the same room as her when she came to my school to talk to our music department. I wasn't even the music I had to skip my 3rd period and sneak into the auditorium just to hear her speak. Just the other day I was watching her snapchat stories and now she was there right in front of me, it was surreal.  After all the picture taking, she sat down and talked to everyone. She told us to chase our dreams and not to let anyone stop you. This really stuck to me throughout the school year cause I saw it in her eyes, she really wanted us to make something out of ourselves. We weren't the only high school she visited, she visited almost all Oakland high schools that day just to talk to them. Just seeing the efforts she took to talk to us was motivating. It motivated me to do something I want to do and to be happy. Another motivating thing that Kehlani did was prove people wrong. Sadly she attempted to take her life after a big media scandal between her and her ex Kyrie Irving. But it didn’t stop her. She recovered and a couple of months later drop a song called “CRZY” which made the world literally go crazy. Seeing her being able to overcome that motivates me even more and I just want to see more artist like her.

The Weekend

This weekend I had the opportunity of coming home and staying for a couple of days.The original plan for going home was to attend a close friend’s wedding and to go to my friend sister’s quinceanera.While both events were loads of fun I saw something that was very eye opening. When I left my friend’s house which is located on International Blvd, I saw some prostitutes. This was such an eye opening experience for me because earlier that day I was in the car with my aunt, grandma, and cousin we talked about prostitution. My aunt and grandma were talking about how many prostitutes there use to be on the street my uncle currently lives on. I first thought they were exaggerating on the amount of prostitutes there use to be but when I left that quinceanera later that night, I was wrong. Each corner we drove past there was lady and it was kind of depressing. I have normally only see them or even heard of them in movies , so seeing them in that quantity was surprising. When I first arrived to the quinceanera my aunt saw that there was a lady on the corner and pointed her out calling her a prostitute. With my naive mind of course I assumed she was probably waiting for a ride or a friend. So when I ran into my friend at the quinceanera I jokingly told her about what my aunt had said and she agreed with her. My friend said, “They are always dropped off in front of my house…… no respect.” I finally understood why location matters, for someone like me living were I do I don’t experience what my friend would experience and vice versa.

Oakland

I’ve been living in Oakland my whole life and have experienced many things. In my opinion Oakland is quite a unique city. Many people come from my city and made something of themselves, whereas some people don’t get the same opportunity. Growing up in Oakland wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine, especially when high school started. A switch went off from middle school to high school, many people got involved with drugs and gangs and a lot more people were in jail. Almost every month there was something new happening. You can’t go through your Instagram, Twitter, or Snapchat without seeing free my brother/sister or RIP by someone's name. There has been 4 major deaths that have occurred in Oakland involving minors that have affected many people I know. Davon, a freshman at the time that attended my high school, was shot while walking home. Jamari and JoJo, two extremely close best friends, drowned in a lake on Memorial Day. Last but not least Reggina, she was shot after praise dancing at Jamari and JoJo’s funeral. Oakland will also be my city and I will also carry it on my back but right now it’s getting out of hand. To many young people are dying before they reach the age of sixteen, and if you don’t then that’s a blessing. A bunch of people I meet that live in Oakland have one main goal ; to get out. Oakland is a great city and will always love it. But the true question is, does it have the potential to change and become a safe environment?