that’s the most loser shit I’ve ever heard because it doesn’t solve anything. if your have an issue with people, men specifically, spending money on these models and sex workers, find out what are the circumstances that are causing these men to feel like they have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for female attention. because thats the real issue. 2. if you implement this “sin tax” these models and sex workers are just going to move out of florida and the people are still going to be subscribed but now you lose money on the taxes you were already charging. 3. are you not aware of what fucking state your governing? Miami is one big ass orgy on drugs. there’s the porn industry, cam girls, prostitution, etc. but you want to focus on a subset of people because their the “it” thing right now. reactionary policy is going to get at the root of the cause, if that’s what you really want to do.
edit: sophie rain actually has a point
Sophie Rain responds to Florida governor candidate James Fishback after he proposed a 50% ‘Sin Tax’ on OF creators pic.twitter.com/xF5dmfTkZT
America has a problem with crossing the line. for years americans have used politics and religion to cross the line and then try and return to their day-to-day lives as if what the did was moral or right. and it’s been allowed, turned a blind eye to, permitted in some insistences. then when that same line is crossed to infringe on their rights they sympathy and understanding. they want revenge, they want to get even. it’s an eye for an eye on the land of free. some much so that it’s citizen are blind to their neighbors and community members. pushing others into isolation and hysteria because when you aren’t of anything, you have nothing to lose. instead of us americans coming together on issues that can benefits us as a country, health care, standards of living, minimum wage, we fight at the sight of our perceive like rival gang member. fighting and killing each other for a cause long forgotten and a moment of prideful ignorance because we justified in what were doing, because the other side is wrong. but ain’t nobody bigger than the program, if you cross the line, someone else is going to cross the line to get even. if you kill mines, best believe i’m going to kill yours. is the American way. it’s in our leaders, it’s in our institutions, our news, our school, our people, our children. if a kids at the playground right now gets pushed, they’re going to push back. as a country we can’t play the moral high ground, go to church, and indulge in disorder all in the same day. either let it all go to shit, as we go an eye for an eye to the end or lets stop the lies.
Tyler sat down in london for an interview/panel discussion hosted by converse a few days ago. Tyler is a huge influence on me and was a huge influence for me to do my own thing no matter what other people think. From time to time i still need to be reminded. so when he drops an interview, i always make an effort to put my phone down and pay attention for a bit. today I thought maybe i’d be a good idea to take notes on what stands out to me so that i can better grasp and digest the ideas he sharing with us.
if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
keep creating, and explore random ideas
your passions and your creations are your resume
if you like it, run with it. If people don’t understand it, it doesnt mean you’re wrong
you have the internet, use it
use what you have around you, you don’t need the best
have honest people around you, not yes men
1. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
Tyler and the Clancys have been together since the very beginning. they signed tyler when bastard was taking over the internet and through out the years they’ve built and maintain a great relationship that allow tyler to flourish as an artist. they all have respect for each other and allow each other to play their role. the Clancys find ways to take tyler delusional ideas and package it for public consumption. they know how to differentiate between tyler’s storm of ideas and support the ones that he seem most passionate about. at anytime tyler could of found new manage and tried something new but he stuck with the guys that believed in him from the very beginning and that type of loyalty is hard to come by nowadays
2. keep creating, and explore random ideas
tyler has a lot of ideas, i mean a fuck ton of ideas. and the well never seems to run dry for him. but it’s because he explores ideas even if they don’t pan out to anything. he doesn’t go, “no stupid, i shouldn’t do that,” but rather goes, “this could be cool i wonder what will happen if i look into this.” i think that most of us creative may kill an idea in our mind before we even write it down, i know i’m guilty of it, and all that does it bring self-doubt. explore shit even if it may seem like a distraction for the moment, you might come back to it down the line.
3. your passions and your creations are your resume
tyler talked about how converse has so much trust in him and the things he makes. partly cause he can go back as far as 2011 and say these are my ideas and they’ve worked time and time again. he had success prior to partnering with converse and leverages that when he sit down with them to make new and creative ideas that executive may not understand. you have to bet on yourself before you expect others to bet on you.
4. if you like it, run with it. If people don’t understand it, it doesnt mean you’re wrong
this one kind of touches back on number 3. you have to like your ideas first. you have to be your first supporter. remember it you selling this idea at the end of the day so if you don’t believe in it, how can you expect others to do the same? think of something you like and follow through with it. just that experience alone with help you in building confidence for the next one.
5. you have the internet, use it
the internet is a powerful tool, but nowadays it’s just used to masterbait and waste time. you’re connected to everyone and just about everything if you know what you’re looking for. if you don’t know how to do, look it up on youtube or google it. I’ve even hear of people getting free course from harvard because they just have the information on the school website. the world is literally in your hands
6. use what you have around you, you don’t need the best
today must of us have a phone that can do just about anything you need it do. it can take pictures, record videos, record instruments and vocals. it has calendars, alarms, and connection to the internet. start with something simple and build your way up. I’ve definitely have talk myself out of some great ideas because i was worry about equipment quality and ended up killing an idea before i even explore it. and you don’t have to it all yourself. i’m sure that there’s people out there looking to explore these ideas with you. like a child with a sharpie and a white wall, get back to the basics and just create with what you have.
7. have honest people around you, not yes men
last but not least you got have people around you that are going to give it to you straight. that doesn’t mean that they have to shit on you or your ideas but someone that can tether you to reality if you ever drift off too far into creativity. it’s a delicate balance but when you find someone that can do that keep ’em around. some of us just have people that are killing our ideas as soon as the idea is vocalized. PROTECT YOUR IDEAS. work your ideas before even hinting that your working on something new. unfortunately dream killers love to shit on anything and everything because they can’t see themselves succeed so they don’t believe anyone around them.
but you also don’t want someone that just gasses you up to the moon every time you tie your shoes. these people are great when you’re having a bad day and you need someone to remind you who you are and what you’ve done but if they just want to see you happy they may not tell you want you need to hear all the time.
i use to think that killing was a bad thing, at least that was the way i was programmed or raised to believe. but i don’t think that it is as simple as good and bad. and i don’t think that killing is inherently evil. i believe that some people are too quick because they’re immature and/or lazy. and America as a whole has that apart of our ethic. the whole “shoot first ask, questions later” approach has brought forth a lot of unnecessary death. i understand if it’s a life or death situation, if your a soldier or you back is against the wall but it seems cowards will have the advantage and claim they were in fear for their life just so that the courts will justify their cowardice as valor.
i can respect a man that is slow to kill and understands the weight behind of pulling a trigger. a man that is tough without a gun, a man that will toss his gun to the side and fight with his hands.
but then there’s the other side. the guys that bought a gun and are looking for a reason. guys that wouldn’t kill with their hands. an ignorant man driven by fear and pride. a guy that’s never thrown a punch. guys that are male but not men. these people deserve hell and slow death. they belong with the abusers, the rapist, the ones that claim to be men and take from the weak and poor.
i don’t believe that everyone is built to face the death of another person. some of us need to be protected and contribute to community and society in different manners. but i think it’s important to know where you stand, can you protect yourself? could you kill someone if you had to and can you live with your decision to justifiability take another man life? and when i say justifiability i don’t mean the legal system saying it’s okay. i mean can you sit with that weight on your soul? if god takes you today, can you answer for your actions?
that’s the man, the father, the brother, the protector i work towards being. that’s a true killer. and i pray that you can either be that or have someone that can be that for you. because very few men are as honorable as they claim to be.
The problem that some of America is having with Kendrick Lamar’s performance is a problem that America has created itself through intentional ignorance. Not everyone is in the know when it comes to Kendrick Lamar, which is part of the indent of an artist being televised. Artists are given these moments to share their contribution to music to a wider audience. The Audience is then, if curious suppose, to look up the artist and browse their catalog. Playing their top songs or listening to an album. Some of America’s audience didn’t not want to do the footwork, which is fine, personally I didn’t look into Maroon 5’s or Shakira discography after their performances. Not that I didn’t enjoy the performance, I just wasn’t compelled to at the time. But in an age of technology where a google search is in your pocket and this halftime show has been advertised for months, you can’t complain about the performance after the fact.
What some Americans don’t like is that they were not included. They wanted “They Not Like Us, but they didn’t want Kendrick. They don’t understand what was happening and they don’t see themselves on that field. And what does America do when they don’t understand something? They hate it. And instead of doing a little research, and trying to understand who Kendrick Lamar is and what songs he’s performing, they see it as an affront to what they believe should’ve taken place for the Super Bowl Halftime Show performance. They pick apart the thing they now have decided to hate because it should have been easy for them (the audience) to feel a part of.
At the end of the day, the Halftime Show, is a 15 minute performance to debut an artist on one of the worlds biggest stages. It is their 15 seconds of fame to show the world what they got. Like it or love.
Kendrick Lamar has always been this kind of artist. Anytime he performs in front of white America, there’s always people that find offense even though they are both from the same America. Instead of asking the right question with the intention to understand, they make their assumptions and run with it. The same thing happened with Malcolm X, Colin Kaepernick and any other African American that does something that doesn’t fit within white America’s idea of Blackness.
Fuck man, every time i’m about to fall asleep I find a piece of internet gold that keeps me up for another few hours. I’ve been typing Max Schaaf’s name into a bunch of search boxes and abusing the infinite scroll. I found a couple of clips!
1. DicE Magazine did a little short on Max.
2. Vans x. 4Q(Max Schaaf) collab on a Sk8 mid. This is their commercial for it. Showing off his shop and the personal touches he did for the collab. I’m definitely going to add this song to my library.
3. Max Schaaf’s Non Fiction Part. In the Lone Skater article I wrote, Max talk about living in Oakland (in the video) and having a bunch of the neighborhood kids come by and just hang out with him at his mom’s place. You get to see some rad clips in this parts of some of the kids doing some fakie ollie on Max’s ramp. They probably had no idea who Max was in the skate world to them, to them he was just the crazy guy with a skatepark in his house across the street.
4. BIG HONGRY! I’ve been seeing Big Hongry on Thrasher and on Instagram, interviewing skaters and making music. Bro can really rap! From what I can piece together he owns and runs a shop in California somewhere. He seems to be plugged into the scene out there. Which is awesome because I haven’t seen many dude like him on the more rugged side of skating in the mix with big profile name. Shoutout to Big Hongry! But tonight I found his sit down with Max Schaaf on his podcast, Break Free. Him and Max talk about growing up with Jake, Phil Sato and bunch other names that do really get the commercial recognition but are legend in their own right. You had to be there to see it but if you didn’t see it people like Max mentioning their names pushes their legacy further into the spot light to get their just due. Max even gives an update on the kids from the last video in a full circle moment.
One of my favorite things about skateboarding, outside of the actual act, are the personalities behind the skaters. A few people are dicks, most people are humble and super cool, and then some people are just loners. People that skate alone and don’t skate for the social interaction of meeting homies at the park or to have a community/family to rely on. These lone skaters don’t skate any different whether the camera is on or off, or wait for the homies to hit them up to hit the park they skate. They skate cause it’s what they do. It’s their therapy, it’s their solace.
I don’t know when I became a lone skater, but most of us start skating alone. When you’re first learning how to skate, it’s a lot of trial and error trying to figure out the basics. Over time you find a crew of friends and you guys usually meet up to skate somewhere, playing games of SKATE (or HORSE, for non-skaters), hang out and try to progress as skateboarders. But if you really want to get better you have to put in your own time outside of those crew sessions. You need to focus, not that you can’t with friends around but there’s a different level of focus when you are alone.
A lot of artists and creatives get lost in the comfort they find alone. With an unrelenting focus they can make their dreams or ideas a reality. One of the unofficial principles of skateboarding if you ask me.
A few weeks ago I watched a clip on Max Schaaf. A lone skater that came up skating a vert ramp in his living room in oakland. He had a long career, successful as a skateboarder and even a videographer. About 20 mins into the video they discuss what being alone did for him and his skateboarding and how it may have looked on the outside looking in. Then later in life what that solitude did for him as he moved into different avenues in his life.
First day and Trump has signed an executive order to remove diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). As someone that kind of watches politics from the outside and doesn’t really participate too much, I can see why Trump, Republicans, and more importantly White Americans would want to dissolve DEI.
For 100s of years some white Americans have been able to live an exclusive lifestyle, meaning that in some instances they’ve been favored or allowed a life that the majority of minorities have only been able to watch from the outside.
If we are honest, the American public has always been divided. Though law markers have passed bills and laws, America’s culture hasn’t been accepting of these changes. These changes have been abrupt, and real change takes time.
DEI was originally enforced to allow minorities an opportunity at getting a foot in the door, at a time where the majority of place wouldn’t permit people of color a fair shot or equal opportunity as their white counterparts. Again, Abruptly forcing change instead of resolving racial issues that had created these issues in the first place.
Today, White Americans are feeling as if they’re losing power because they can no longer decide who can and who can not step into their “safe spaces”. Places that were exclusively white for years, now have many different faces that don’t remain inside the box White American had them in. And though these minorities aren’t breaking the law, they are unapologetically being themselves. Minorities are no longer living in fear as past generations did and are proud of who and what they are.
For years White Americans have been told that other races and ethnic groups were beneath them, for whatever reason they believe. Now they’re seeing that what they once believed, what their father and grandfather once told them may be a lie. And rather than change, they’d rather close the door.
Because these DEI laws aren’t only allowing racial minorities into traditionally white space, but also members of the LGBTQ+ community. A community that a lot of Americans have taken issue with and though their issues are not resolved, the LGBTQ+ community are welcomed in these spaces but culturally nothing has changed.
White American could feel that they are losing their ground in these places. Even though they outnumber these communities, White Americans don’t want to share these places. Just the very sight of a minority is affront to them.
America’s been fighting against these changes for generations, both sides passing down the torch to keep the battle going. Both feeling justified in their actions. Both white Americans and minorities are in our own bubbles that are clashing together like a venn diagram, each thinking that the other group is out to get them.
I don’t know why comedians have become the truth sayer of our time. Or maybe they always have been. I mean, even kings in the medieval times had jesters, in arms reach. As far as I can remember Dave Chappelle has been speaking the truth about this country and the times were in, past and present.
I first came across him during his now iconic run of The Chappelle Show on Comedy Central. Until then I had only seen movie comedians like Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey. Comedians just trying to make you laugh for the sake of entertainment. Guys like Ryan Reynolds, Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in the Rush Hour movies. It wasn’t until the Chappelle Show that I understood what comedy could be.
Comedy is more than just a genre of hahas and giggles. It can be used as a vehicle to say something important in an intelligent way. What I would later understand about Chappelle, and other Comedians with a message or just something to say, was that if you understood the joke, you probably understood the message. In laughing you understand the sentiment or at minimum see the argument from the comedian’s perspective. And today with everyone choosing a side politically, comedy is one of the few things that brings the country together
Comedians like George Carlin, Paul Mooney, Dick Gregory excelled in this. Today we all look towards Dave Chappelle to be the lighthouse as we’re lost at sea trying to find our way. Every time he speaks into a camera there’s always a topic of conversation that he wants to address. This weekend he went to SNL and had a few things to say about what’s happened in the last few months in these United States
If you like Dave Chappelle, google George Carlin. He has a few things to say
Burning in paradise 