Both Men and Women are to blame

I’ve seen it numerous times on my facebook or twitter  from women complaining about men saying they ain’t sh*t or how awful we are. As a man I really do get tired of seeing that and having numerous debates about men vs. women with friends. To be perfectly honest men shouldn’t take all the blame for the frustration of women, who have either been cheated on, lead on and never got a call back and etc.  Both sides are to blame to get to the root of this issue take a closer look at marriage and the role of parents in child development. The key element for any family is the man, who is the backbone for the family by providing for the family as well protecting and providing support for his wife and kids. Now in our society a lot of kids are growing up in single parent homes and for some, their parents had a bad break up which may have affected them mentally and emotionally. With the kids whose parents had a bad break up they are dealing with a lot of issues such as anger, resentment, stress, and more responsibility.

For example if the father has left the family home due to a divorce: this is how it affects a boy, it takes a man to raise a man there’s only so much that a mother can teach her son.  The rest is up to the father to teach his son the dynamics of a man and woman relationship the way a father treats his wife will more likely be the same way his son will treat woman. Now for women if their father is not around its hard because fathers are usually the man in their life for many years. How a father treats his daughter and wife affects a daughter’s relationship with men throughout her life. If the father didn’t treat them right more likely she will  choose the wrong men who will disrespect them and some cases abuse them.  Now for mothers they provide emotionally support for both the son and daughter. A mother’s attitude towards other men can damage the way a son sees himself as well as women. So if the mother who was in a bad marriage and has a bad divorce shows her anger and bitterness more likely it’s going to affect her sons self esteem and any relationship he has with any women. Same logic applies to the daughter who in turns repeats the same behavior that her mother has towards men will go on and repeat the cycle.

This cycle is nothing new and will continue to go on just the next time you’re dealing with a person you like and you thinking about marriage just be sure you see the whole picture before jumping the broom.

R.E.D Album Review

Hate him or Love him (pun intended) Jayceon Taylor aka Game is a talented rapper when he is focused. His latest album The R.E.D Album has been plagued with setback after setback since last year.  The beats are great on this album but the 16 guest feature on a 21 track is not a good look. If you have this much guest features on an album you might as well call this a compilation album i.e DJ Khaled. Some of the features on the album work and some just sounded forced.  Truth is Game’s last two mixtape sounded better than his album it’s just a shame that it took over two years to make this album and it’s not his best work.

2.5/5

Hip Hop Is Alive

Written By: Teesside86

Myself, Acelucky and Saacey are all long time avid listeners of hip-hop, and have seen it change and evolve since our early teenage years, possibly even younger.

In recent years, there was a conception that hip-hop is dead, and Nas even released an album with the controversial title.

So with that said, I take a brief look at the best albums of 2011. These are strictly my opinions...

My Teessider rating system is as follows, along with the normal people ratings in brackets.

An audio Parmo   *****

Spot On               ****

Decent                 ***

Alright.                 **

Afonso Alves       *

Wiz Khalifa - Rolling Papers

Wiz has been huge on the mix tape and underground scene for years, releasing his first mix tape at just age 19, now 24 he dropped his debut studio album in march this year.

The album has some clean, easy going beats, big on snares and synths. Wiz is comfortable with his flow, laid back and relaxed, as he is with his subject matter. He raps about experiences with relationships and mainly with weed. His music is about having fun, he doesn't take himself too seriously, and neither do his fans. An entertaining album to listen to, especially when getting drunk or high.

Verdict: Decent

Saigon - The Greatest Story Never Told

The Greatest Story Never Told, Saigon's first studio album, coming at the age of 33, due to long term wrangling over its release, was a big moment for hip hop; Saigon is from Brooklyn and aside from Jay-Z, little was coming out of the area of New York in recent years.

The album has a blend of raw hip hop, and soulful singing, with some great beat selection from Saigon, and the albums exec producer Just Blaze. Saigon brings some thought provoking lyricism, using his years and wisdom to switch our minds on. He picks select collaborations, and they work well, Faith Evans is featured on one of the albums best cuts, Clap. Songs like Bring Me Down, are full of adrenaline, that of a man screaming out to be heard and who almost quit hip hop. Saigon has rewarded those who waited with one of the best hip hop albums of recent years.

Verdict: An Audio Parmo

Lupe Fiasco - Lasers

Lupe's Third studio release and the long delayed and highly anticipated Lasers was 4 years after The Cool, and Lupe has been busy. For Lupe's fans, he was a continuation of the conscious rapper, a modern incarnation of people like Rakim and Common. The Lasers album is perhaps short of what people would consider his best music. His lyrics seem loose, and sloppy at times on some tracks, Never Forget You, to name one. However on others he carries a powerful punch, such as Words I Never Said, and Show Goes On, where he attacks anyone from politicians, even President Obama, to his label chiefs who hindered the release of the album.

I love this album though, it's a fantastic listen, and it proves Lupe is one of the leading MC's of his generation, the third album can be a tricky one, yet there is more than enough quality here to keep you pressing play.

verdict: Spot On

Coming Soon....

DJ Khaled - We the Best Forever

Bad Meets Evil - Hell the Sequel

Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch the Throne

Big Sean - Finally Famous

Kendrick Lamar - Section 80

Lil Wayne - Tha Carter IV

The Game - The RED Album

Goodbye Entourage

 Couple of weeks ago was the last episode of Entourage on HBO after 8 long years and 96 episodes.  I had mixed emotions when the show ended, I was very disappointed in season 8 by far the shows worst one. But I’m not going to harp on that just sad to see it go off the air I got on the Entourage bandwagon a little late during season one after watching the first season I became a fan. The show had its ups and downs but the two characters that really stood out for me was Ari Gold and Johnny Drama.

Watching Entourage was about more than just the money, and the flashy cars, and celebrity guest appearances. It was about friendship, and male camaraderie. It was about loyalty, and reliability. Eric Murphy was blindly loyal to Vince, and despite not always seeing eye to eye, they both knew that ultimately they had one another’s interests at heart.

It was also possibly for most people to relate to the range of characters, because of how different they all are. They all attempted to become something, and did it in their own ways. None of us can ever know what it feels like to be best friends with a multi millionaire film star, but we can all empathize with struggle and challenges. The characters dealt with these issues in the same way that you or I would, with their closest friends around them.

It’s a shame such an influential show had to come to an end, but sometimes it's better to end something too soon, rather than let it drag on and become stale. Most characters had found their calling, with only a few loose ends to be tied up, will Jonny Bananas be as successful as everyone thinks? Will Ari take his dream job after barely rescuing his marriage, can Vince be faithful, and will Turtle and Drama hook up with someone? And also, how short will Eric and Sloan’s baby be? A lot of questions still need to be answered, roll on the movie.

Victory!!!!!!

T33SSIDE86

Why Three Lions always fail

England introduced the world to football but other countries have mastered the game.  When ever tournaments come in the summer there is a media frenzy predicting England to win the whole thing. But every time England always falls short. And we ask ourselves why they didn’t succeed or who to point the blame at. Take a look at England take a deep hard look at English football currently we are ranked 4^th in the world but I’m having trouble seeing why we are rank that high after that terrible World Cup performance in South Africa. It’s been since 1966 England last won a major tournament which is 45 years ago that’s a long time for a country that invented the sport to not win anything since than. Most of the blame and rightfully so should be placed on the FA. They have bundled every major decision to take England to the next level. 

One major reason why they are the reason to blame is England has failed to consistently develop top footballers over the years compare to their counterparts like France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Holland. It’s an easy explanation to why England doesn’t produce; if you take a look at our youth development you’ll see the harsh reality of why we are so behind. We teach the kids at a young age too hoof the ball up field and chase it. If we’ve learn anything in international football is you can’t play that way; international football is all and about retention and penetrating football. Our kids are being taught to play football the wrong way by the coaches who want to win and the overbearing parent who never made it in football, kids are playing in full size fields and goals. Instead they should be playing small size fields and goals. Trevor Brooking is the Director of Football Development who has been urging The FA to overhaul grassroots football in the country.

Since England’s World Cup failure Brooking has made 25 recommendations on how to improve football at every level from grassroots to England setup. 

Now one of Brooking’s recommendations is to have mandatory release of players for international duty on all England level. This recommendation is a problem which will continue the club vs. country debate. The problem is English players are playing a lot of football without any rests compare to other countries (checkout Saaceybill post for why English Football needs a winter break). Injuries have robbed England plenty of times leading up to a major tournament and during the tournament. I believe Trevor Brooking has the right intention to improve English football and is the man to bring change. But I have several concerns where were these recommendations after England failed to qualify for Euro 2008 and will The FA dropped the ball on these recommendations like it did the new Wembley stadium and St George’s Park the national football center.

The current landscape of English football is not a good one English player’s transfer market value is over inflated. Players are only concern about collecting wages getting drunk, and you have the players WAGS who want to make the front pages of newspapers and magazines.  English players are too comfortable playing in England only a few would go overseas to play and others would rather stay in England sit on the bench and collect their wages.

The only way English football ever improves is when The FA finally wakes up and makes the right decision.  Four Steps that can help the Three Lions can improve:

1.       Revamp grassroots football make the pitch and goals smaller and the game smaller so kids can actually develop technique, instead of  hoofing the ball up field

2.     Introduce a winter break, all major European league have one trust me it does make a difference can prevent a lot of wear and tear on the players

3.      Revamp The FA Board of Directors most of the director’s work for clubs so when it comes down to a major decision whose interest are they really protecting?

4.       Revamp coaching development in England 

Up and Coming Stars In 2011 Part Two

Kendrick Lamar- Is the first rapper in our Up and Coming series to make the list is an artist you have to watch out for. Lamar states that his influences growing up were Tupac Shukar, DMX, Nas, and Kanye West. This year has been a busy year for Lamar who made the XXL coveted freshman cover as well as appear on few tracks where he steals the show on Jay Rock ‘Hood Gon Love This and Game’s The City.  As well as appearing on Dr. Dre Detox album (if that album ever comes out). Also this year Lamar released a digital album Section.80 which was well received by critics.  Lamar is also working on a joint project with another XXL freshman cover alumni J. Cole. Known for his deep subject matters and complex rhymes Lamar is one of the many new talents emerging from the West Coast.

If that wasn't enough check out the YouTube clip when Game and Snoop Dogg passes the torch to Lamar

If you haven’t already go check out Section.80 which is one of the best rap album this year available on ITunes

Twitter.com/kendrick_Lamar

The Weeknd- Up and coming R&B singer Abel Tesfaye is another emerging talent coming from Canada who goes by the stage name The Weeknd has caught a lot of people’s attention with the release of ‘House of Balloons’ and just recently ‘Thursday’ which are part of a trilogy with the final mixtape being’ Echoes of Silence’ expected to be released in the Fall. The Weeknd has received a co-sign from Drake which has gotten him more exposure lately. Drake also mentions that The Weeknd will be on his next album Take Care coming out in October. With an wide open and ever changing R&B scene The Weeknd will be a major player in R&B this year.

Cope The Weeknd mixtape from his website:

The-weeknd.com

Twitter.com/theweekndxo

Welcome Back DMX

Music invokes memories and emotions for most people the music they listen to are their own personal soundtrack to their life. With that being said one of my favorite artists listening to growing up was DMX. I can remember the first time I remember hearing DMX it was back in 1998 while I was in middle school (damn that long ago). Now back than a lot of my friends I grew up with listen to a range of music from Jay-Z to Master P lol yes Master P was relevant once a upon a time. What caught my attention about DMX was his fourth single Ruff Ryders’ Anthem from his debut album It’s Dark and Hell is Hot I went and bought  his  album and been a fan ever since than.

 Fast Forward to the present as many of you have known DMX has had some run in with the law and a drug addiction. It came to my attention DMX was doing a show in Dallas at the House of Blues his first show after being released from prison. Now the week leading up to the show DMX gets in trouble with the law for speeding. In my head I was like here we go again is he going to get arrested? Is he back in drugs again? I still went through to go check him out and man I’m glad I didn’t back out. Check out the video below of DMX performance at House of Blues.