Live a Little & Think Out Loud

I started my day by getting up at 515 am. Granted it's a Sunday and I'm a college student so believe it or not that was hell. But the reason for me getting up so early after only having about 4 hours of sleep was to be a volunteer at the Get your Rear in Gear run. I struggled to get up this morning and after getting dressed and facing the pain of putting my contacts in, I walked in the dark and in the cold to meet a group of friends that were also going. We all were having a rough morning to say the least. 

We had finally arrived at the best place on earth, the Please Touch Museum in Philly, around 6 then went and stood outside in a volunteer line that was incredibly long for about 45 minutes and trust me within the first 45 seconds of standing in that line, we all realized that we were going to freeze and this made us more miserable. Luckily enough we didn't freeze and we made it through the line pretty quickly and were all placed at different volunteer spots. We complained about the cold and being tired, one girl only had a half hour of sleep God bless her soul, but at the end of the day it was so much fun and the whole experience made us so much closer. 

Kesha has always been my favorite female artist. From the blonde hair to the glitter to the crazy party songs, I have loved every piece of music she has put together and every piece of her life she has shared. It's safe to say that since my senior year of high school I have  somehow managed to convince people to call me Kesha just because, I even have a spray painted hat that's pink and glittery that says Kesha on it. Overall, Kesha is my girl because she is someone who reminds me to let lose, be crazy, have fun, and live a little. 

On January 3, the pop star shocked her fans when she entered rehab for an eating disorder that came about from self esteem issues and stress. Kesha completely got rid of her party girl lifestyle to find out who she really is and to reconstruct her life. After spending 60 days in rehab, Kesha is coming back stronger and better than ever. Since she has left rehab, she has reached out to fans telling them how much their love and support has helped her get through a tough time in her life. She tweeted out that she couldn't have done it without her fans and that "life is beautiful, I'm so blessed to have you all." Kesha changed her twitter name from keshasuxx to KeshaRose, which is her middle name, in an attempt to change her image. She has also changed her twitter cover photo to a picture of bright colors swirled together along with her avi that shows a picture of her covered in bright paint. However have you noticed I haven't spelled her name with the infamous $ sign? Well that's because her first step in changing her image is officially dropping the $ sign from her name. 

Kesha has left the party lifestyle behind her and I know that I am super excited to see where she goes next. Kesha is an amazing artist who has a heart of gold and that is shown through her extreme efforts to end animal abuse and put an end to bullying. She's a lover to people and animals, and she makes the most out of everything. She believes the world is a magical and beautiful place and I think that is the best way to view the world. More people should look up to Kesha and maybe remember to live a little. 

2013 was a year filled with plenty of popular singles and new music ranging from dubstep to emotional hip hop but also some controversy as well. One of the biggest controversies in the music industry from 2013 centers on the genre of R&B and although there were numerous hits stealing the number one spot on the billboard’s top 100 chart, such as Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines and Katy Perry’s Roar, it was noticed that not a single black artist took the number one spot on the chart. Believe it or not, this is the first time this has happened in 55 years of the billboards history. The controversy has struck a nerve with many artists and their fans that some are calling 2013 the year of “white-washing R&B music,” and now we can only wonder if an African-American R&B artist will take the #1 spot in 2014.

Time Entertainment takes a look into the controversial subject with writer Chris Molanphy who notes that African-American artists have only been featured on other artists top songs compared to them having their own song, such as Rihanna on Eminem’s The Monster. “It represents a huge contrast to ten years ago when a person of color recorded every chart topping hit.”    Monlanphy also says that “white artists topped the No.1 spot on the R&B/Hip-hop chart in 44 out of the 52 weeks last year.” http://ti.me/1aViaG4

Discrimination has been a world-wide and never ending issue that affects everyone on a daily basis, but now there appears to be a strong yet hidden form of discrimination in the music industry. With big name artists like Kendrick Lamar, Miguel, Beyonce, Usher, Drake, and Jhene Aiko people are questioning how no African American artist grabbed that number one spot. Looking back into 2013, you would wonder how Drake’s album Nothing Was the Same, dropped on September 24, didn’t hit the chart with fans constantly raving about it and popular songs like “Hold on, We’re Going Home” didn’t receive that #1 recognition. In a letter posted on raprehab.com written by Sebastien Elkouby, Elkouby writes about how blacks “services will soon come to an end as we enter a critical restructuring period” and that “[we] decided to make some necessary changes as a result of your decreasing value.” After his ranting letter Elkouby signs it from “the industry.”  http://bit.ly/1b7lG0y

 If an extreme ranting opinion from a hip-hop culture historian isn't enough for you to see the discriminatory issues in the music industry, why not look at the reaction of Macklemore after he had won four awards at the 56th annual Grammy awards. After “sweeping” the rap categories at the Grammy’s, Macklemore sent a text to fellow friend and rapper Kendrick Lamar saying “You got robbed. I wanted you to win. You should have. It’s weird and sucks that I robbed you.” Nothing further even needs to be said. Macklemore couldn't even be proud of his own music after taking the #1 spot in several categories like Top New R&B/Hip-Hop Artists, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Song Artists, Hot Songs, Hot Songwriters, and more, because he knew that Kendrick deserved that win. Macklemore even went so far as to post a picture of his text to Kendrick on Instagram and said in the caption of the picture that Kendrick “deserved best rap album. http://bit.ly/1lfK60C