Stankonia by Outkast: Album Review

Stankonia by Outkast (2000)

Rating: 8.5/10

    I know a while ago, I told you guys I wanted to give other genres some love, but lately, I’ve been having a hip-hop itch. I wanted to go back to the blog’s roots and listen to an album that’s been on my mind for a while: Stankonia (2000). Now, I have a small connection to this album, more specifically one song, So Fresh, So Clean. Dude, I love that fucking song. Every time it plays on the radio, my mom blasts the song, and we sing it together. She’s been doing that since I was a little kid; she would rap the parts, and I would sing. Anyway, I’m drifting from the point; my bad. I finally decided to listen to the project, and I wanted to talk about it today. 

    I’m probably going to use this word with all of my album reviews, but this album was extremely experimental. This was my first time listening to an Outkast project, but I fully understand what attracted people to their music. Their shit was so weird, funky, and cool. Every beat on this album was weird as shit in the best way possible. I don’t know, the best way I can say it? You can tell they were just fucking around and finding out. Nothing about this project is “normal,” and that’s exactly why I like this album. I also liked the small breaks in between. It felt like I was listening to a TV show. Like those old commercials you used to see as a kid? I thought it was cool as shit. It also reminds me of those classroom scenes in Lauryn Hill’s album. Anyway, I love when artists own being weird, especially in the early 2000s and 90s; it just makes me admire them more. 

    I also want to comment on the album cover itself. The shit is fire. It’s something about it that just makes me like the album more. Additionally, hearing self-expression being done in their style of rapping is something I’ve never heard before. It’s weird, it’s loud, it’s catchy, their voices blended so well, and you could tell the artists were just having fun. I would’ve loved to see André 3000 and Big Boi perform or something. I would’ve loved to see a Tiny Desk or SOMETHING, shit; it’s alright though. Regardless, this was a good album, and I can’t wait to listen to their other stuff sometime! 

- CD ★

FAVORITE TRACKS: 

You know I couldn't leave you guys hanging! LMAOO 

I think my biggest enemy is me: a journal entry (5)

 

This song is somewhat related to today's post. It's the song I thought about when writing this. No clue why, but I hope you guys like it! :))

     When I made my video titled “I’m a loser and that’s okay,” I didn’t think much of it at the time. I just wanted to make a video and talk shit, putting my thoughts out there. I said something about wanting to get things done and wanting more out of life…and to be honest, I haven’t done shit since I made that video. I haven’t accomplished anything, nor have I actually tried. For a long time, I blamed everything under the sun. I blamed my family, my old friends; I blamed people who were no longer here or in my life, and not once did I blame myself.

    Now, don’t get me wrong, I went through some bullshit. I’ve had things happen to me, and I know I didn’t deserve them. My point is, people have contributed to the bad in my life, but I’m the one who’s not moving. I’m the one who’s not getting my shit together, and after a while, you can’t blame anybody anymore. My biggest enemy is me. There are so many things I want to do in my life; there are so many people I want to talk to and be close with, but it’s not happening…and that’s on me. The part that makes me feel like a dumbass is knowing that I’m capable, and just not moving. I know that I can do shit, but I won’t do shit. It’s like seeing everyone around you walking, and you’re just standing still for some dumbass reason. 

    When I have thoughts like this, I try not to compare. I genuinely have the coolest friends ever. All of them are doing well and will continue to do so, but at the same time, I’m not them. I have my flaws just like they have theirs. I want to change, but unfortunately, wanting doesn’t mean shit; I actually have to start doing shit. LMAO

- P.S. Depression is a bitch. Fuck them! 

- CD ★

Resident Evil was definitely...something!

This video is absolutely related to today's post! This is just for the people who want to see the gameplay with no commentary. I hope you guys enjoy it! :)))

• Word Count: 675

    Okay, as I’m writing this, I literally JUST beat the first Resident Evil game like…an hour ago. Plus, I’m watching a JazzyGuns gameplay to refresh my memory. I wanted to talk about my thoughts for a bit. Overall, it’s a really good game. I think it’s one of the best introductions to a franchise I’ve ever seen, and I loved the story. Additionally, I liked how different the game’s mechanics were. The fixed camera angles made the game even scarier, adding to the atmosphere of an already creepy-ass game. Honestly, it was cool and gave a nice experience…but you couldn’t pay me to play this shit again! 

I mean this in the most respectful way possible; this is not one of those games I’d play more than once. Now, before you guys say anything, it wasn’t the controls that made me say that, and no, it wasn’t the lack of inventory space I had in my pockets. All of that shit I got used to pretty quickly. What threw me off was the lack of guidance. Mannnnnn, when I tell you this game doesn’t tell you shit, this game does not tell you shit. We’re talking no objections; none of the rooms are labeled on the maps, and you’re barely given any hints throughout the game. You’re essentially playing the game blind, which, technically, is the point. In a way, you’re experiencing how your character feels in real time: being thrown into a super huge mansion, feeling like there’s no way out, almost hopeless, sure…but at the same time, that can make the game unenjoyable. Eventually, you start getting lost, and some puzzles are so difficult that you have to research them (depending on who you are). Don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t make Resident Evil bad, just slightly annoying. 

- I also want to note that if you play the game long enough, you eventually get used to the navigation in the Spencer Mansion. I still meant what I said, though! 

Not to mention the people who are new to Resident Evil! When you add older controls to a game with fixed camera angles, and the player doesn’t know what they’re doing, it can be overwhelming to say the least. I also want to say, as a Resident Evil fan, I don’t like the way people try to gatekeep the franchise. Seriously, there are way too many people who say shit like…

• “If you didn’t play the first Resident Evil, you’re not a real fan.” 
• “You can’t be a Resident Evil fan if you don’t play the games!”

First of all, this is why I said don’t interact with the fandom in my last Resident Evil piece. Second, you can 100 percent be a fan of a game and never play it. As a matter of fact, I’ll use myself as an example; I’m a super huge fan of Five Nights at Freddy’s. I’ve been a fan since the first game came out; I’ve done multiple deep dives on the games, I've listened to most of the songs people made for the franchise, and I’ve been watching gameplays since I was a little kid. Now, guess who’s never played any of the games. Me! I don’t intend to play any of them either. It doesn’t make me less of a fan, though! See, we have to stop listening to random losers on the internet, my dudes. LMAOOOO 

Now, other than that, I actually had a lot of fun with this game! I played as Chris again because I loved his character, but I didn’t realize it was probably a bad decision to make. Dude, I was four hours into my gameplay before I learned Jill had more inventory space and she had certain abilities Chris didn’t. I knew I fucked up, but I’m not the type to just restart a game. I figured I might as well go along with it lol. So, I essentially took the hard way out; I don’t regret it, though. I had a lot of fun! Anyways, thanks for reading! 

- CD ★

☆ BONUS MATERIAL (FOR FUN :) ☆
I wanted to show you guys two things: The results I got from my playthrough and a video of someone talking about the Resident Evil safe rooms lol. I really liked the deep dive and wanted to show it here. I hope you guys enjoy yourselves! 
ヽ(>∀<☆)ノ

It Feels Good to Be Black: A Reflection

 

This video is heavily related to today's post. It's very motivational, so I hope you guys like it. :)))

    I often think about a Malcolm X speech where he says, “Who taught you to hate the texture of your hair? Who taught you to hate the color of your skin?” I think about it way more than I should, not because I despise it, but because it means so much to me. I can’t speak for anybody, but I can speak for myself; I had to learn to love myself in the mirror. I grew up forced to get relaxers in my hair, never even knowing my natural texture until I turned 16…I might open that can of worms another day. I also grew up around a lot of people who had internalized racism and never unlearned it; I had to distance myself from people like that. 

When I started my loc journey, I learned to love myself fully. I was forced to look at my hair and my features, realizing two things: One, I couldn’t hide how I looked anymore, and two, I couldn’t change what I was looking at. My hair had been hidden - or altered - for the majority of my life. So, to finally look at me was something I didn’t know I needed. It took a long time, but I slowly started learning to love every part of me. Not to mention, there were online communities I joined, where I saw and connected with other Black people who were confident in themselves. That’s another thing I wanted to talk about; there’s a certain - and unspoken - level of community that’s tied into being Black. That’s when I realized something: to be Black is to be loved. To be Black is to love yourself regardless of what other people tell you and regardless of who tries to make you hate what you see every day. 

Honestly, that’s what keeps bringing me back to this lecture. I think it’s something a lot of us need to hear. Actually, I wish I heard this when I was a little girl. However, as messed up as it was, I’m glad my journey happened when it did; I still learned to love regardless. I love my curls. I love my skin. I love all of my features. I love being Black in general. I love the things we create. I love the way we uplift each other. I love how beautiful we are. I don’t know about y’all, but seeing people love themselves makes me want to love myself also. To be Black is to be everything…and I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

- P.S. PLEASE watch the Malcolm X movie from 1992! It’s a nice watch lol.

- CD ★

☆ BONUS MATERIAL (FOR FUN :) ☆

While writing this entry, I was reminded of Fred Hampton when he was talking about race and solidarity. I felt the themes were similar to what I was talking about, so I included the video. I hope you guys like this too. Thanks for reading! (o´▽`o)

July Announcements: Album & Film of the Month, Blog & YouTube Updates, & More

This video is somewhat related to today's post. This is mostly for people who want to see a deep dive into album production and want to learn the nerdier side of music. I hope you guys like it! :)))

    Hey everyone, I hope you guys are doing good! I've really been getting to work lately, and I wanted to share some announcements I have for this month. 

1. For the album of the month, I decided to go with Voodoo by D'Angelo (2000). Now...let's be honest, y'all...y'all knew deep down this was going to be the album of the month LMAOOOOO. When it became the first album I reviewed, I knew I was doomed. Okay, seriously though, I loved this album so much when I first heard it. I literally went out of my way to NOT listen to anything else until I made this album of the month. No bullshit, I love this album so much, and I am beyond happy to showcase it. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did. 
2. Now, for the film of the month, I wanted to do BOBO BLUES by Myracle. Honestly, I saw the film a while ago and also saved it for the right time. After looking at the themes in the Voodoo album, I thought picking this project would be perfect. I think I said this before, but I like to craft a theme for every month. I hope I'm doing well lol. 
3.  The next thing I wanted to talk about was my YouTube content. I know I'm not as consistent on there, but I want to get better at that. I know it's been a while since I uploaded a podcast episode OR a gameplay video...and I want to change that. Don't ask me how, because I don't know yet, but just know it'll get done. I'm thinking I may have to change my content up a bit; maybe throwing a different game in there or finding a topic for the podcast at least once a month. I'll figure it out, but my point is, if you're subscribed to my YouTube channel, expect a few small changes. 
4. My last announcement relates to the content on this blog. I think I'm EATINGGGGG with my articles right now. I literally just put out an essay about Resident Evil 5, and I spent weeks working on it. It was the first time I felt nerdy when writing about something; I loved it. I want to do more things like that. Actually, I won't give away what it is, but I want to work on writing a certain anime. However, if I want to write about it, it'll require me to rewatch the anime...and I don't know if I'm ready for that yet. I'll get back to y'all on that another time! 

    Anyway, that's all for the announcements! I hope you guys enjoy yourselves, and I'll talk to you guys soon!  

o(≧▽≦)o