What is this Unrecognizable Thing that Kanye has Morphed Into?

••• today's entry continues here below •••

Mr. Coates is very qualified to speak for the black man. Who better than him?

Is he not the man of the hour? He and Kanye are nearly the same age.

I would naturally yield here to the black man .. in speaking about things in the life of a black man.

Which, I can guarantee you, are not going to be very nice things to say. Not for the black man trying to live in white America.

I bet that Nicholas Kristof would agree with me.

» Characteristics of Stockholm Syndrome?

Chakabars says that Kanye exhibits behavior characteristic of someone with Stockholm syndrome.

I find that observation interesting .. because, my experience has been, that minorities who grew up in Chicago seemed the most traumatized. (Emmett Till was from Chicago, and he also became unrecognizable.)

Stockholm syndrome is defined as » a condition that causes hostages to develop a psychological alliance with their captors as a survival strategy during captivity.

It is a survival strategy. I happen to know a little something about survival strategies myself. The term survival implies that you are in a life-or-death situation.

When you are in survival mode, you are focused on simply » staying alive .. on not dying.

While such situations and circumstances surely suck giant goose eggs .. they also tend to draw out of us things that would otherwise probably remain unearthed.

[ Herman Melville is saying here that the soul-fucking torment that accompanies life's tragedies transport us to a place where we are able to see and recognize and discern things that can be gleaned no other way. It is similar to the way your eyes adjust to the darkness when you enter a movie theater on a sunny day. At first, you have trouble seeing anything at all. But gradually your eyes adapt to your new environment. It isnt long before you are able to see all the things that you were not able to see when your eyes were tuned to a bright, sunny environment. You can certainly glean things about what life-in-prison is like by reading books and watching documentaries .. but you will never attain the same level of understanding as the man who is actually in prison. And few people have any desire to watch a documentary about what prison-life is like. They dont even want to be aware of what such a life is like. ]

Regarding the insights that I have concerning minorities who grew up in Chicago .. my methods of observation are very unscientific. But the Navy man, and the migrant nuclear worker, will naturally run into to many different people .. from many different places.

And they will talk .. about any number of things .. such as, "Where you from, dawg?" And you go from there.

And when you talk to people, you get a feel for them. You might not even be able to put into words this intuitive feeling that you get .. but you get a feel for people.

» A Striking Contrast in Black-n-White

Did you happen to see that thing Eminem did for the BET Hip Hop awards back in October? .. where he stood up for the black community against Trump's racism.

That's how you do it right there. You state your position plainly and publicly .. so that there is no confusion or misunderstanding about exactly where you stand.

» Natalie Knows

Natalie Portman knows what I am talking about. She is a famous rapper herself .. and therefore fits right in on this page where I mention rappers.

"Put a dildo on a switchblade." Did you come with this line yourself? Is this some sort of cultural reference that I am not privy to?

I am curious about the behind-the-scenes goings-on of this song.

» Portman on Weinstein

She said about Harvey Weinstein in handcuffs (15 June 2018) » "Unfortunately, there's not a 'win' in this situation .. so many people have been so hurt. But it's important for us to see that there are consequences for even for the most powerful of abusers."

When I read this thing here (20 Dec 2018) .. about the judge who refused to dismiss Harvey's sexual assault case:

"The Court finds that there is no basis for the defendant's claim of prosecutorial or law enforcement misconduct in the proceedings, or pervasive falsity in and around the Grand Jury presentation," Burke wrote. "The Court finds that the charges presented in the Grand Jury were supported by competent evidence and the proceedings were properly conducted. The motion to dismiss on these grounds is denied."

When I read this thing .. the thought blew through my mind » "His rock has given him up." ..

.. similar to what happened when I saw Trump hold up that executive order (20 June 2018) .. which just so happens to be exactly six months earlier. To the day.

» A Well-Crafted Response

As someone practiced at the art-n-craft of putting things into words, I was very much impressed by Natalie's response.

She sounds as though she is crafting her response on-the-fly .. but her statement there is so good that I cannot believe that she didnt spend time beforehand contemplating exactly how she would respond and what she would say.

She is an actress .. so such a thing should not be too terribly difficult for her.

Even if she prepared her thoughts ahead-of-time, it is still an outstanding statement .. in a number of ways. Which is why I am mentioning it here. Where it is actually out-of-place. Out of context.

» Drawn to Darker Roles

She is drawn to explore darker and more complex roles .. which is probably why I feel her so easily.

Roles such as the psychological horror film » Black Swan (2010).

She does not shrink away from speaking her mind. And she is a thoughtful person.

» Playing a Female Kanye-Like Character Can't be Easy

Here she is telling MTVNews (21 Dec 2018) that her character in Vox Lux can best be compared with/to Kanye.

That says a lot, doesnt it?

That seems like a challenging role .. for anybody. She says many interesting things about this film. Here she is with Jimmy Fallon, sweet-talking the Roots.

I could write a whole page about some of the things in Natalie Portman's orbit. I can feel myself vibing with her on a number of levels.

And now she is playing a popstar. I can hear the voices back there .. discussing this at a quiet mummer. I can't help but feel curious about her.

» I Stole Natalie Portman from Moores and Took Her Home with Me

I have a Natalie Portman story that I havent told. Some stories you need to be ready to tell .. because once you begin .. there's no telling where you might end up.

But it is similar to this story about a magazine that I found while down at Moores .. on 2 Oct 2018.

I saw the magazine over there .. on a table by the window. I resisted going over there to see exactly what it was. (Jimmy knows.)

But in the end, I could not resist. Some things are harder to resist than others.

» Comparing the Life of the Actor with that of the Popstar

I was most struck by what she said (« at t=2:00) about the differences between the actor and the popstar.

She is in an excellent position from which to compare-n-contrast the life of the actor to/with the life of the popstar.

That was an excellent interview. Kudos. It actually made me think about that page I wrote to Taylor, titled » Fame, Celebrity and Reputation (3 Sept 2017).

(Howard Stern is known for doing excellent interviews.)

She is being careful with her words. These are subjects about things that are easy to be taken out of context. Taken wrong. Taken in a way that they were not indeed to be taken.

I feel that her ability to craft such a precise response (she is 37) .. allows her step closer to these things that are not the easiest topics to talk about.

I can feel myself already starting to get sucked in. So I should quit right here.

» Ebro Knows What I'm Talking About

Anyway .. when I mention how it is not easy to do this thing that Eminem does .. I bet that Ebro and Ari know what I am talking about.

This is an excellent conversation (16 June 2018). There are discussing many of the themes that I am addressing.

I actually felt good that such conversations were occurring in America.

» This is What I Do

Marshall has a knack for making difficult things look easy. ( "Line 'em up." )

But this is not easy to do what he does here.

Go ahead and give it a try .. and you'll see exactly what I mean.

Notice that you dont need to get dressed up all fancy-like, either. Nor do you need an elaborate stage.

This is where you separate the men from the boys. If you listen closely, when he walks out, you can hear him say, "This is what I do."

» Unmatched

Check out what this dude, SoundN8ive, says at t=6:20 here in a reaction video for Fall. He says:

"When it comes to mending words together, and going from one word to another, and blending them together, and talking about one thing 30 words back, and still having it make sense 30 words this way .. Eminem is unmatched."

I know what he is trying to say. It was this same thing that so impressed me. That is very difficult to do .. what he does.

He makes it look easy, but it's not. He is flexing here. He is flexing his muscles. His rap muscles. This is a high level of craftsmanship here.

I am impressed by his ability to build energy .. as the song progresses. He does an excellent job at setting his trajectory. You can feel it building.

And again, even more than how he says it .. it's what he says that's so impressive.

Anyway, I could write a lot about what this guy said .. but I just want to mention it here, because this page is really about something else.

I am not familiar enough with the rap game to know whether SoundN8ive's statement is valid .. but he certainly seems to know what he is talking about. Which is why I reference him here.

» They Ain't Gonna Know What Hit 'Em

Oh, look at him go here (5 Oct 2018) .. with a song for the soundtrack to Venom.

He is on fire. I am totally impressed by his word skills. Isnt everybody?

That's very difficult to do what he does. It's all-consuming. Go ahead and give it a try and you'll see what I mean.

He is almost 45 now. I am of the opinion that the years between 45 and 50 represent the years of maximum muscular ass-kicking .. where everything comes together before the physical decline sets in that is associated with your 50's.

Doesnt it look like he is going for it? "Go, motherfucker."

I am even more impressed with this new stuff .. than I was with his older stuff. I did not think that was possible.

It's really a remarkable thing that he is able to do. His cadence seemed to come more alive with this new stuff. Like he is emphasizing cadence.

Try to write one decent poem .. and you will see better what he is up against.

» Nathan is the Real Deal

Speaking of rappers with impressive word skills .. it may be a bit off-topic here, but I somehow feel compelled to mention Nathan.

I am not even going to state his full name .. because everybody knows who I am talking about.

The fact that I feel compelled to mention him here .. this is something of a compliment.

Nathan is the real deal. He has the gift .. the gift of words. And he knows it. He has probably known it for a long time.

Daniel knows what I am talking about. Sophy knows what I am talking about. Marshall knows what I am talking about.

There are others .. many others. Much respect to them all.

» When the Words Get Through and Ring True

I bet that Alexis knows what I am talking about.

She is a good reactor. Very expressive. No wonder she has so many subscribers.

I wonder what Joey Nato thinks. I wonder what Cakes thinks. I wonder what Too LIT thinks.

I already know what Ernest thinks. I already know what Art-of-Kickz thinks.

Crypt knows what I am talking about. LayedBak knows what I am talking about. Luce knows what I am talking about.

Coraynaj definitely knows what I am talking about. And MoLegends, too.

» The Same Shit They Split an Atom in Half With

Speaking of much respect .. these lyrics by Mike Shinoda .. I was very much impressed. .. enough to mention them here.

You can feel his soul coming through. You can feel him rapping with the realness that comes from going through some of the nastier regions of hell. I would be proud of lyrics like this.

I dont even think that he is a rapper. His buddy killed himself. That's gotta fuck you up .. in a bad sort of way. I am not able to feel his pain. (I tried, but was not able get there.)

» Flexing in London

Speaking of rappers, remind me to talk about Drake's Nonstop.

He is flexing here. He is flexing his muscles. You can see him flexing. You can hear him flexing. "I dont know nobody else that's doin' this."

That is a nice groove .. you must admit. A Memphis groove.

» Going Blond is a Choice

What a striking contrast between these two rappers .. between Marshall and Kanye. Between these two songwriters. Between these two lyricists. These two wordsmiths. Craftmen artists.

What a striking contrast .. in black-n-white.

Both Kanye and Trump claim to never read books. This is one of the reasons why they both share the same value-structure .. because they are both intellectually lazy.

This article poses the question » Why do black celebrities cover for the sins of powerful white politicians?

Good question. I have been wondering myself about that very same thing.

Somebody ask Kanye what he thinks about this thing that Trump said here:

.. where Trump flat refuses to apologize for calling for the execution of one hispanic and four black boys .. before they were even ever convicted.

Maybe Kanye will stick up for these innocent men who were wrongly convicted at such a young age .. and call out Trump, like he did with George Bush.

Do you think he has it in him? Do you think he has enough dragon energy in him to stand up for these wrongly convicted boys and confront Trump?

Where do Kanye's loyalties lie?

Along the lines of black rappers wading into political waters .. I would like to see Kanye do something more along the lines of what Meek Mill did here.

Meek is calling out bullshit, and he is doing it publicly.

» Finding Humor in Kanye's Comments

I am surprised that SNL was actually able to make light of Kanye's tweets and present a humorous sketch.

Because I found nothing funny about his comments.

» Feeling Sorry for Kanye and his 10-Minute Minstrel Show in the Oval Office

I wonder what Don Lemon thinks .. if he was able to find any humor in any of Kanye's comments.

Probably not.

I was struck by the first thing that Don said » that he "felt sorry for" Kanye .. because I had a similar impression when I said that I didnt think that Kanye was capable of feeling embarrassed.

This was after I heard these folks say that Kanye's comments on slavery were "embarrassing."

I mean, I could certainly be wrong here .. but this was my impression .. that something in his psychological make-up is broken .. such that he is not able to feel normal human emotions.

I myself felt sorry for him.

If you can't even feel normal human emotions for yourself .. then it is unlikely that you will be able to feel them for anybody else .. such as the slaves who have lived horrible lives and suffered until they died here in the States for hundreds of years.

A choice? No, Kanye .. nobody would ever choose a life of such hardship and cruelty.

» A Blitzkrieg of Blathering Ignorance

I wonder what Dyson thinks of Kanye's White House rant.

"A blitzkrieg of blathering ignorance." You must admit that Dyson has a way with words .. that Kanye does not.

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