cal

Shane:

Ilya:

Saying "Not all rap music is about violence, here are alternatives" is not helpful, because the violent music ALSO has meaning.

When Biggie Smalls postures about his gang connections and packing heat, he isn't doing it because wow violence is so edgy, it's a powerful statement. Youth in urban areas where gang activity is heavy are often treated as lesser than by default, especially compared to black people the same age from a wealthy background. There's a reason that the "wholesome and respectable" black-lead entertainment of that era was stuff like the Cosby Show, with doctor-lawyer parents, or Family Matters, with a cop dad. There's a reason why the big joke of Fresh Prince is someone with a more unstable upbringing moving in with one of these model black sitcom families.

Standing up and saying yeah, I came from the mean streets, I was molded by this violence and yes, I did what I had to do to survive in a world that refuses to acknowledge my existence as meaningful or worthy of protection. I protected myself, I made my own way, and fuck anybody who tries to stand in the way of that.

Refusing to demonize that environment and wearing it like armor in a way that protects from the authority that wants you to see them as sub humans incapable of only violence and hatred, and saying HEY. I'm here, I lived this, and there is love and there is pain and there is ART in this.

That is powerful. That is the essence of gangster rap.

It isn't about hurting people for fun, it's about holding a mirror up to a society that does the hurting and then calls you a monster for what it's made you. Its about validating the experiences of the disenfranchised and biting back at authority. It's about turning a pain that the world say you deserve being one of those people from those places into POETRY. Into ART.

And thats why it matters.

Dear fans on tumblr: 

And then, because they’re popular, a lot of people see that, reblog it, and think that their opinions should be The Rules Of Tumblr.

But smaller blogs interact with each other VERY differently.

Writing/Fanfic blogs want something very different from aesthetic blogs. Small meta blogs tend to adore people adding their own meta to a post. Social Justice blogs often think that responses dilute their message, but headcanon blogs frequently want validation and agreement!

Tumblr is never going to be a hivemind. It’s a lot like any other social setting. The more popular people may have stringent rules of social etiquette, but most people like chatting.

ilya initiates the flirting and shane immediately hits the "ilya nooooo 🥰 we have people coming over 🥰 they'll be here in thirty minutes 🥰 noooooo 🥰," and ilya immediately pulls back and goes, "okay."

and shane is just 🤨 excuse me 🤨 what are you doing? 🤨

and ilya just you said no, dorogoy. and you are right. there is no time. people are coming over so soon.