A.U.I.M.E. | Past Avoided, Presently Invested

There are very few rap and alternative metal artists I bother to invest in and this edition features a couple of incumbents in the ever-growing "rap game" and a familiar band I decided to revisit.

Sevendust-Animosity and Black Out the Sun...Growing up, there was an explicit classification of "black music" and "white music" and your skin had to match the artists you listened to. I was dumb enough to respect that boundary so I never EVER switched the radio station to the rock/alternative channel for fear of being made fun of by less enlightened peers. When I decided I had been ignorant for much too long, I finally started giving an ear to the supposed melodies of white folk and discovered that not all of it was as terrible as I was told and lo and behold, not all of them were white. I had the pleasure of seeing Sevendust live and I swear every time Lajon Witherspoon's sexy chocolate ass flicked his dreads, someone got pregnant. So far, I have purchased a couple albums and a few singles from their second album Home, but I'm still trying to check out their other numerous compilations to see if anything else is my taste.

MIA-Arular...MIA is one of those artists that always makes headlines for her controversial work so I've always paid a little bit of attention to her over the years. I think the only reason I never invested previously is because I'm simply not that into rap music, but she is definitely giving you more than just a few slick bars. I love the political themes in her lyrics as well as her energetic dance beats, but mostly I love that she's one of those women who is doing something people might disagree with and she's doing it really, really well. Legit boss bitch status right there.

Nicki Minaj-Pink Friday Roman Reloaded, The Re-Up...Speaking of boss bitches, Nicki, whether you like it or not, is definitely at the top of the game. I think the only thing that kept me from purchasing this album when it first dropped was all the negativity surrounding it. Honestly, all of it ended up being coon talk because the album, regardless of its genre classification, is superb. I enjoyed every single track with the exception of that shit she did with Bobby Valentino, which I had to delete before I threw up after hearing the grotesque lyrics coming from Lil Wayne...or maybe it was just the idea of him having sexual relations with anyone that I found grotesque? Whatever. The 2-disc compilation is perfection and it will definitely keep me twerking all summer.


Day 89: prepped one corporate