February Announcements: Album of the Months, Content Updates, & Plans

 

This is somewhat related to the announcements. I liked Chelito's content and thought this was a really good animation. Check it out! 

    Hey everyone! I hope you guys are doing well, and I just wanted to say HAPPY BLACK FUCKING HISTORY MONTH!!!! I just wanted to come on here and say don't be ashamed to celebrate yourselves and our culture. I know there are a lot of things going on in the world, but that doesn't mean we can't and won't experience joy. It's still possible, and we need to keep that in mind. I also have a few announcements for everyone. 

1. For this month, I decided to do two albums of the month! For February, we have To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) and Untitled Unmastered (2016) by Kendrick Lamar. I felt that since the albums were tied to each other, it made more sense to pick both of them. I also love To Pimp a Butterfly way too much, so this just gave me an excuse to put it on the blog. One of the best albums of all time- okay, let me stop. Untitled Unmastered is also a good listen since it involves songs that didn't make it onto the album. I recommend listening to both. 
2. When it comes to the Black Short Film (BSF) of the Month, I picked a film called Made In The Sun (2023) by Arrick Wilson. I felt the film was the best to pick for this month. In my opinion, the film focuses on blackness and what it means to be black, being a part of a community. I felt that it was a good watch and that more people should check it out. 
3. I have made a few changes to the website, the main one being the other websites that are linked at the bottom right. IGN has been replaced by Black Girl Gamers, and Independent Lens (A PBS website) has been replaced by The Open Library Blog. When it comes to the blog, I want to focus on two things: entertainment and education. Will we still talk about non-educational shit? Yes, but I want people to learn more, too. I know that as black people, especially black women, we're not necessarily highlighted in the gaming and nerd spaces. So, that is something I wanted to tackle first. Black Girl Gamers created those safe spaces so blerds can be blerds, and that is something I will always respect (hence why they're featured).  Over there, they talk about everything related to gaming, anime, and a little bit of pop culture, so if you're into that, be sure to check it out. Now, with the Open Library Blog, it's a website by Internet Archive (a nonprofit organization) that gives you access to just about any book out there. As much as we need to support our local libraries, I know not everyone has a library in their area. The point of me linking this website was to let you know that you can still access books and read, even when there's no library present. 
4. My final announcement is that I have more content coming out soon. Recently, I've been writing again and getting my groove back. I have a few articles on the way very soon, and I also have an idea of what to do with my YouTube channel. I'm thinking of doing a podcast-like format. I felt it would be easier for me to do since I'm not fully comfortable showing my face at the moment. I'm also thinking of doing gaming again, but I'm not too sure about that yet. I'm still thinking, and I'll let you guys know when things change. 

    Okay, those are all of the announcements for this month! I hope you guys enjoy yourselves with the albums and film. I'll see you guys later! ♡( ◡‿◡ )

Perfection Makes Me Lazy: A Quick Rant

    

(This video is somewhat related to the topic. I also feel it's a nice video to watch.)

    You know, ever since I made my first article, I found myself constantly trying to recreate the process. I tried paying attention to myself to see if I had a writing process, always trying to perfect what I did the first time. Honestly, that's why I haven't been writing. I always felt the need to be perfect, write perfectly, and say the perfect things. To be frank, it irritates me. Constantly wanting perfection all the time - weirdly enough - pulls me back. For the past few months, I've been trying to figure out exactly what CD THE NET ★ is. I knew I loved hip-hop, sure, but I had to dig deeper to figure out why I made the blog. I tried giving myself some time to figure it out, and I've been posting on TikTok for the past few weeks. Right now, I don't have a lot of posts, but when I did post, I talked about music, films, and "Rap Fatigue." Rap fatigue is anti-black and stupid, for the record...back to the point though. When I was making that slideshow for my TikTok, I had so much fun making it. Was I irritated because of what I was writing about? Yes, absolutely, but I still had fun. 

    Being able to gather people with information, hopefully persuade others, and just talk about my interests gave me a sense of happiness. The whole process gave me a sense of joy that I haven’t felt in a long time. I can’t really put everything into words right now, but I felt passionate. I think that’s when I realized what I wanted the blog to be. I want to use CD THE NET ★ to entertain and also educate people. I also want to use my platform to elevate black art and black voices, along with other people of color. Then, when my platform gets bigger? I want to interview all kinds of artists and host events to highlight them. I even want to start modeling for street fashion someday. Sometimes, I laugh at the thought, because I think my dreams are too big. I may have said this before, but it took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I’ve spent almost two years sitting in my room, questioning if my life was worth anything (I don’t mean to get so dark, I apologize). Honestly, I wasn’t doing anything; I just watched and looked at art. I kept listening to music and watching video essays and movies. Then, as time passed, I felt myself get inspired by those things. 

    Looking back at everything, I think I made the blog because I was bored. Seriously, I wanted something new to come out of my life. I had a YouTube channel that was doing well, and I had just graduated from school, but I wanted to do something more. I wanted to involve myself with more projects and just aim a bit bigger. To be honest, I think I’m hesitant to move forward with everything because of how new it is. I’m going against every single plan I originally had for myself. When I first graduated high school, I made plans to just work on my gaming channel, get myself a "nice job," and relax. Now that I no longer want to do those things, it makes me nervous. I already think I’m going to fail when I haven’t even started yet. The things that I truly want to do, I haven’t done them yet. For the first time in a long time, I have dreams. I have goals that I want to reach, and I think the idea of me pursuing my dreams scares me. As proud as I am of this blog and my other platforms, this whole project has caused me to do things I didn’t think I would do. I quit my old YouTube channel, I socialized, made a few friends from this blog, but the main thing was that I managed to find myself again. In a weird way, I think this project unlocked something in me? Maybe. I have a lot of fun with the things I do now, and even though I’m nervous, it doesn’t discourage me from this whole thing. I just need to work on writing. 

    I’m currently in a journalism class. I started it today, actually. I figured if I was going to interview people in my future magazine, then I needed to know what I was doing. So far, it’s been pretty chill. I know it’ll probably get harder as the class goes on, but I think I’ll be okay. In the future, I want to work on more things so I can make the blog better (graphic design, my writing skills, etc), and I want to become better overall. I just ask that you guys please give me patience. I’m realizing I’m doing all of this for the first time; I’m focusing on a blog, a new YouTube channel, a magazine, and a TikTok page all at once. It took me a while to give attention to all of those things, but I’m getting better at it. I guess the point of me writing this was to tell you guys that I am trying. I’m actively trying to make this blog the best it can be, and I want to bring more of my ideas to my platforms. I’m just nervous about a lot of things, but I’m getting better LMAO. I’ll make more content soon. 

- CD ★

January Announcements, YouTube, & Magazine Updates

    Hey everyone, happy New Year! I hope everyone's been doing alright. I've been working on a lot of different things, so I apologize for being gone for so long. I have a few announcements for this month! 

1. My first thing is there is a new album and a short film of the month! For January, we have The Sun's Tirade by Isaiah Rashad and The Fire Next Time by Renaldho Pelle. I'm very happy to showcase these projects because I recently found out about Isaiah Rashad's music. Also, The Fire Next Time is the first animation I've put on the blog. I was just scrolling on TikTok when I found out about it and went to watch the whole film. I also found out that The Fire Next Time is the title of a James Baldwin book, an even better reason to showcase the film, right? Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy both projects for this month. 
2. My second announcement is that I finally started uploading to my YouTube channel (@rapturerobot)! Above this post is my first video of me introducing myself and talking about my plans for the YouTube channel. For right now, I plan on talking about music, movies/TV, fashion, and giving commentary on other things. I also have a video of me talking about my vinyl and CD collection. So, please check it out if you're interested in any of that! 
3. The next thing I wanted to share is that I now have three artists who will be interviewed for my magazine! A while ago, I said that I wanted to interview a musician, visual artist, and filmmaker. I also made a flyer for anyone interested, and I ended up finding some cool people. So, you'll definitely be hearing about them soon. My only bad news regarding the magazine is that it'll take way longer to make than I thought. Because of how long it took for me to find some people, I didn't start writing or designing the first issue, so I can't give an official date for the first magazine issue. 
4. I want to try writing for the blog again (I know I may have said that before).  I feel I was so focused on promoting myself on TikTok that I wasn't able to focus on other things; that was my mistake. For this year and moving forward, I want to put more time into writing and giving the blog more content (because so far, you guys only have three articles lol). 

    Anyway, that's all I wanted to share! May 2026 be at least a LITTLE better for us, and I hope you guys enjoy yourselves this month! (─‿‿─)♡

December Announcements! ☆

     Hey everyone! I'm sorry I've been gone for so long. I've been working on a few things, and I've been on TikTok making posts, but I'm back now! I also have some announcements for this month! 

1. The first thing is that there is a new album and Black Short Film of the month! For December, we have Mama's Gun by Erykah Badu and a film named CYCLES by Myracle. I felt the themes of Mama's Gun represent growth, acceptance, and change. So, I thought it would be perfect to wrap up the year. Also, I found out Myracle made another short film and was excited to showcase it (I found out about her from her other short film, My ATL Smile). It also helps that there's an Erykah Badu song in the background, so I thought it connected with the album nicely. 
2. I'm currently working on writing for you guys again! I missed making articles! Seriously, I have a few writing ideas I finally want to publish. Right now? I'm working on something for the fashion journal, and I'll be writing that for the next few days. So, be on the lookout for that! I'll also update you guys when something new is uploaded. :) 
3. Like I said in my last post, the magazine will definitely take a while to make. Not only am I still working on my interview questions, but I'm still finding people I want to interview for the magazine. I'm sorry about announcing everything so soon. The magazine is still coming, just not around this time! I'll give more updates on that another time, though. 
4. My last announcement is that I'll be working on my YouTube channel this month! I think the main content of my stuff will be music, gaming, and movie/TV commentary. As of right now, I'm still working on my channel's banner and intro. However, if I had to guess, my first video will be published later this month. 

    Alright, that's everything! I hope you all enjoy the album and the short film for the month (this film is way shorter than normal), and I will update you guys another time! (＠＾◡＾)

 You guys...I'm going to be so honest. It's going to take a while for this magazine to get started LOL. I already made the flyer, but it's taking a while to get engagement with it, so I don't have a filmmaker to interview just yet. In the meantime, I'm going to try and write some articles for the blog. There are a few trends I wanted to discuss with you guys, so those will be coming out soon! 🙂‍↕️