STRONG [Simple Transitions Render Opportunities Necessary for Growth]. This organization encompasses what they call V.P.P. – Vision, Purpose, and Passion. These key elements capture the true essence of what STRONG is all about. The mission strives to emphasize healthy life transitions, growth and development, and the evolution of strong-willed, business-savvy women that can contribute to the progression of our communities. Founded, led, and organized by motivated women, STRONG is the epitome of women empowerment and leadership.
For our last blog post of the semester, we were challenged with describing our week through songs. What’s funny about this is that SO MANY GREAT TRACKS/VIDEOS dropped last week. Like seriously. My ears were in overload with the awesomeness that it kind of eclipsed some of my days. So this post will feature my favorite releases of the week, most of them from the same mixtapes. I highly encourage that you go and check them out and download them in your free time!
Monday Cole Summer – J. Cole
I have to indulge, y’all. J. Cole is one of my all-time favorites. Say what you want, but that’s the homie right there. I have been on the edge of my seat, waiting (im)patiently for his next album Born Summer (slighted for a June 25th release!), and he is just so great because he’s been dropping songs here and there to keep his fans on their toes. Monday he dropped “Cole Summer,” which caught a little controversy because of his line about the Mowry twins, Tia and Tamera. They took it lightly by the way, which made me giggle ^_^ (they’re so great!). What was even better was that after he dropped “Cole Summer”, he spontaneously decided to drop another EP the next day titled Truly Yours 2. You can find Truly Yours 2, which includes “Cole Summer” here.
Tuesday Chance the Rapper – So Good (Good Ass Intro)
Way to put on for the Chi! On Tuesday, Chicago rapper Chance the Rapper dropped his second mixtape album titled Acid Rap, and can I just say that I am already slighting it for one of the top releases of 2013. Seriously, this was just what I needed. It was a breath of fresh air. It was a pleasant reminder of the city I call home. It was a masterfully done project. Hands down. This track, “So Good (Good Ass Intro)” kicks off the mixtape in a joyful manner, but the entire album takes you on a journey of joy, heartbreak, tragedy, good times, nostalgia, and beyond. Being from Chicago, with very similar of an upbringing as Chance and attending a school much like his high school, I resonated with everything from the album. Chance even took it further to incorporate distinct musical traditions of Chicago, such as the “juke” style of music. As far as how the nation’s receiving it, Acid Rap is getting rave reviews from all over, from the L.A. Times, Complex, and Billboard, among others. Please head on over to chanceraps.com and hit the Download butto–you will not be disappointed.
Wednesday Janelle Monae feat. Erykah Badu – Q.U.E.E.N.
Cuz the booty don’t lie! When this track dropped a couple weeks ago, I was elateddddd. Janelle Monae is one breed of greatness. Erykah is another. But together?! I could not prepare for it even if I tried. Not only is this track added to my “Turn Up” playlist, it instills much empowerment for me. I loved the piece Crunk Feminist Collective featured relating it to black feminist pleasure politics. Because, honestly…this track is really interacting with these weighty topics in a hip manner. There is a wave going on, a movement revolving around pleasure politics, and I’m excited to see what happens of it. In the meantime…enjoy the dope bars Janelle lays at the end.
Thursday Chance the Rapper – Interlude (That’s Love)
Y’all…it was just one of those weeks, and “Interlude (That’s Love)” spoke to me. lol
Friday Chance the Rapper feat. Childish Gambino – Favorite Song
I always joke about how I get this gushy, butterflies-in-tummy feeling when I listen to “Interlude (That’s Love)” just to have that be erased in two seconds and replaced with the urge to bop/fake footwork when “Favorite Song” comes on. This track just gets me hype but in a playful way. When I listen to the lyrics, I am like, “….yup. That’s me.” When my favorite song comes on, I am the FIRST to hit the dance floor! Remember That’s So Raven? Yeah, that’s me. So it was nice to have a song that pokes fun at it while also recognizing how completely okay it is to be that one. Especially with us dance stars in the office, I am sure this song would be appreciated around these parts.
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As I bid farewell to this year, I just want to thank the readers, bloggers, Women’s Center Staff, and especially Taylor Kippels for contributing to a great experience this year. Enjoy your summers everyone!
When I heard we’d be blogging about our life in music, I was really excited. Then when I actually sat down to write the post, I realized two things:
I can’t remember what I did last week.
My life is pretty much the same every day.
To take care of the first part, I sat down with my work calendar and tried to piece my life together. I remembered that my youngest son (2.5 years old) was a little sick on Monday, so I took him to the doctor. Tuesday I spoke in my friend/coworker’s social work policy class on how to use Twitter as an advocacy tool. Wednesday, sadly, for the life of me I cannot remember what I did. Thursday I remember having a phone call for my Prematurity Task Force group. Friday? No idea. I think I went out to eat with a friend. Saturday I cleaned and hung out with my kids while having a headache.
My days are pretty much always the same.
But here’s the thing. I like how my life is. I like my job, I like the stresses that come from my job (because I enjoy what I do and I love my colleagues). I love spending all my time with my children, and I love my friends and family. So the following playlist would be applicable to all of my weeks (though there’d be occasional change-ups when workplace deadlines arise or I have my one night per month out with friends).
1. Why Can’t We by Asa
This song is great, mostly for the video, and because it does ask a great question: Why can’t we be happy? I love the part where it talks about doing what you can today and not worrying about things you can’t see or don’t know. Lyrics
2. Windsong by John Forte & Sunsay
Again, like the first one, the video is what does it for me. Both the video and the song just give this feeling of peace and calm. I also get this sense that they recognize that things might be hard right now, but they will get better. “Change is in the air, your reach is everywhere, I wanna hear you speak, do come here.”
3. Same Love by Macklemore+Ryan Lewis
My oldest son (4 years old) likes to know the name and artist of each song we hear. He loves the Same Love video, mostly because of the baby in the very beginning but also because of how happy everyone is towards the end. He finally asked me the name of the song last week; after I told him, he said “That means you love me, right?” I took the opportunity to explain to him that the song means nobody’s love for another is less than somebody else’s love, that if a woman loves a man, that love is as meaningful as when a man loves a man or a woman loves a woman. After I finished my big speech and felt like I’d accomplished something, he said “Mommy look at that!” and pointed to something outside, clearly distracted. But I still consider it a win.
This song is for that day last week, and also for every other day that I work to instill such values in my children.
4. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
I felt like I needed to include this song because it is my life every single day. I’m pretty sure we watch this video at least once a week. I also enjoy it and love to participate.
5. Riziki – Jamnazi Afrika
The weather was warm, then it was cold, now it is warm again. When the weather is like this I especially love listening to my East African music, knowing that it’s going to get hot soon enough. I feel happy and cheerful with warm weather and East African music. It brings back great memories. This song was played everywhere in Kenya, the several times I’ve been there. It’s one of the most popular songs and it’s a great song to listen to in the car with the windows down. The lyrics aren’t necessarily reminiscent of hot sunny beaches or anything like that. It’s more the song itself and my associations with it. Needless to say, I’ve been listening to this song lately.
So, this week has been all over the place really. Highs and lows, lots of stress, lots of frustration, and also lots of missing my hometown, Long Beach, CA. Most of my frustration was aimed at comments on classism that weren’t well thought out and were coming from really privileged upper-mid class people, this is where the Everclear song comes in. The comments on classism made me think of the line “I love those people who try to tell you ‘Money is the root of all that kills’, they have never been poor, they have never had the joy of a welfare Christmas”. Some of the frustration was aimed at radical race politics which aim to dismantle racism but inadvertently perpetuate it in different ways (this is where Scapegoat comes in). Estado de Verguenza was added because a lot of the past two weeks (which have just felt like one ginormous crappy week, aside from the weekend) have been focused on the concept and effects of institutionalized racism, and also my heritage and being biracial and how that affects my interactions with racism. Brighter than Sunshine was kind of the upswing of my week, which has mainly consisted of a trip to Chicago (last weekend, it was wonderful), having good conversations with friends and classmates, random positive interactions with strangers (like the lady who told me I have bad-ass tights) and coming home to my fiance. Yesterday I heard the song on the radio and last night it was going through my head as I counted my blessings and thought about how in high school I thought I would never get to this point in my life. The last song mostly has to do with missing Long Beach. Lately I’ve been missing Long Beach and California in general quite terribly, which is odd because the last time I was there, it kind of felt unfamiliar, and that was about four or five years ago, but I guess deep down it is still home, or at least one of two homes for me. This song also kind of sums up these past two weeks (though I do not light up a cigarette while I strap shoes on my feet, nor does my mom smoke pot, hit the bottle, or go back to the rock…don’t take the song too literally). Here’s my week in song:
Tell us how your week went by putting together a playlist of five songs that represent it.
(Shhh I’m doing six)
This past week has been hectic, exhausting, and stressful to say the least. When I’m not at work or in class, I’m probably writing an essay or procrastinating said essay by checking out Facebook and Reddit.
However, I still managed to find time to relax in the sun and forget about being stressed. The first time I did so was on the University Singers concert tour this last weekend. We traveled around parts of Minnesota from Thursday through Saturday, doing clinics and concerts with high school students. On Saturday, we had a stretch of downtime at one of the high schools, so we went outside and played ninja. In the glory of the sunshine and relaxation, I had songs from Hair stuck in my head:
After coming home Saturday night, all I wanted to do was sleep (though thanks to Spring Jam partiers in Dinkytown, I couldn’t do so right away). All day Sunday I resisted writing my essay in favor of completing other homework in the sun. It took me a long time until I could finally do more than stare at the paper outline because I had absolutely no energy or motivation to start:
Sunday night I pulled an all-nighter. Naturally, I was exhausted on Monday and was ecstatic to learn that choir was cancelled. Free afternoon = time to sleep!
Tuesday night I spent cleaning my apartment, baking cookies, and going out to dinner with my boyfriend for his birthday. While I still felt stressed out about some things, I was able to forget about everything when I stared lovingly into my boyfriend’s eyes. I had the following song stuck in my head all day, making me reminisce back to show choir in 7th grade when we performed it (and skipped the questionable verse):
Rain. Cold. Ugh. My allergies really kicked in on Wednesday (I lost track of how many Kleenexes I had used by 10 am) and at the end of the day I spilled tea all over the back of my pants. Not a great way to start May, that’s for sure.
I hope everyone’s next few weeks go well. Good luck with your essays and finals!
