HIP-HOP

NAS – THE DON

Been blasting this song all month. This song is the first single off Nas’ upcoming album Life Is Good. In this song, Nas says that this beat was picked by the late Heavy D (RIP). His new album is one of the few that I’m anticipating this year.

SLAUGHTERHOUSE- HAMMER DANCE

#YAOWA some of you might know I’m a BIG fan of Joell Ortiz and when he gets together with Joe Budden, Crooked I and Royce 5’9, they are a lyrical monster crew. Cosigned by the King Mr. Shady himself, they are proof good lyrics are still appreciated in this game. This is their first single off their upcoming album Welcome to Our House May 15th. Their first group effort on Shady Records.

KANYE WEST F/ DJ KHALED – THERAFLU

King Kanye has done it again. In anticipation of his new upcoming compilation release, the G.O.O.D. Music album, will  have the likes of Pusha-T, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, among many more from his label, he released the first single off the album this past thursday. He had the internet in a frenzy. Confirming rumors that he was in love with Kim Kardashian and even giving a shot out to Wiz Khalifa. G.O.O.D. Music is probably the most anticipated hip hop album of the year.

KANYE WEST F/ BIG SEAN, PUSHA-T, 2 CHAINZ- MERCY

I actually like this song better than Theraflu. Produced by Lifted, it has a Scarface sample and an epic “Lambourghini Mercy” hook. Another single of the highly anticipated G.O.O.D. Music album due this summer. It sounds like a southern strip club song at 3 am but it’s dope. I’m not impressed by 2chainz but he did a decent job with his verse on this one. King Kanye got another one!

KENDRICK LAMAR F/ DR. DRE – THE RECIPE

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Kendrick Lamar. I’ve blogged about him before, he’s a breath of fresh air from Compton, CA. He links up with Dr. Dre to deliver this DOPE song “The Recipe”. If this is how his album is going to sound like, I can’t wait to hear the rest of it. I like that Kendrick is himself and rips any track he’s on. This song is Westcoast gold, “Living in California, everybody wanna visit for…Women, weed and weather“. This song is so smooth.

NICKI MINAJ F/ RICK ROSS & CAM’RON – I AM YOUR LEADER

NICKI MINAJ F/ YOUNG JEEZY & NAS – CHAMPION

NICKI MINAJ – HOV LANE

*takes deep breath* I’m not the biggest Barbie fan, but I took a listen to her new album. Roman Reloaded should have been a double album, its split in the middle between some hard rap tracks and dance pop tracks. She could’ve added 3-5 more songs, release it as a double album and be the first female emcee to do one. I understand Ms. Minaj had to please her diverse fan base. I guess she figured she could pay her respects to the hood and still make her money in the same album, I can’t knock her for it. These 3 tracks GO HARD tho. Onika went Southside Jamaica Queens on these, which is what I like to hear from her. She’s not the greatest female emcee, but when she doesn’t try to be Gaga, she’s a forced to be reckoned with.

A$AP ROCKY F/ SWIZZ BEATZ – STREET KNOCK

Undeniably the hottest rapper and rap crew in New York City 2012. The A$AP crew are a bunch of Harlem cats with Westcoast swag and designer flair. If you don’t know by now, this is the future of Hip-Hop, PERIOD. A$AP Rocky, the self proclaimed “Pretty Mothafucka” links up with Swizzy and do the Uptown anthem “Street Knock”. If you haven’t listened to A$AP Rocky’s mixtape “Live.Love.A$AP.” PLEASE DO! Swizzy shots out a few blocks from his old hood in the BX. You jam this shit loud.

IGGY AZALEA – MY WORLD

And since we’re talking about ASAP Rocky, I recently took a listen to Iggy Azalea’s mixtape, Ignorant Art (Azalea and Rocky are rumored to be an item). I must say I’m NOT impressed with her music so far, she’s an Australian beauty with an annoying Southern accent and an infatuation with Tupac. But this song “My World” is actually good. To her own credit, she was featured on XXL’s Freshamn list 2012 and is on T.I.’s label Grand Hustle.

J. COLE – VIZIONS OF HOME

Not too much to say. I’m a fan of Simba aka J. Cole. I like this track right here. He pays homage to his hometown.
 

STALLEY – PETRIN HILL PEONIES

Reigning from the Buck Eyed State of Ohio, Stalley is a rapper to watch out for. Signed to Rick Ross’s MMG, he recently dropped his fourth mixtape Savage Journey to the American Dream. I’m sure a lot of people haven’t even heard of this guy, but his midwest swag and his standout beard, he’s sure to be one of the standout acts of MMG 2012. His last mixtape is pretty smooth, this song I particularly liked. Has an old soul sound.

POP/ DANCE

SANTIGOLD- DISPARATE YOUTH

I’ve been a fan of Santigold back when she released her 2008 masterpiece Santogold. But I’m sure most people remember her from her hook on Jay-Z’s “Brooklyn We Go Hard” (she’s from Philly tho). I’ve been anxiously waiting for her new album to drop, which I’m excited to hear its being released May 1st. I’m sure this will be another album rapper will take hooks from. A lot of people compare her to UK Singer M.I.A. and even though they do have similar style and fan base, Santigold has better music. Her new single proves the wait for her new album was worth it.

J. LO F/ PITBULL – DANCE AGAIN

La Lopez has found her lane! She’s following the Pitbull wave with the dance club record hits. They made another collab with “Dance Again”. I don’t care how many people hate on her, this song right here is THE SHIT and that’s not just cuz I’ve been a fan of hers for years. The video is just as hot, even having her boy toy Casper in the video. Go ahead J. Lo get your cougar on with your fine self! This is a great comeback for her. Show em u still got it Jen!

AZEALIA BANKS – 212

Not to be confused with Iggy Azalea (because she’s made it clear she doesn’t like her) Azealia Banks is a new up and coming singer from Harlem with a London sound. This song 212 is pretty cool, I’m kind of upset I learned about it just recently. This song has been out for a minute. She’ll be dropping her new EP, 1991, on April 17th. I’ll definitely be putting my ear to that. Peep the pic, she took it on the Corner of Nagle Ave & Hillside in my hood #Dyckman

NIKI & THE DOVE – LAST NIGHT

I know this is a very obscure and idiosyncratic pick, but this song is ill. They’re a band from Sweden and I first heard their music as a sample in Iggy Azalea’s song “Backseat”. They have a sound that remind me of Kate Bush, uber 80s new wave pop. This is a nerd pick but still a good band to keep an eye on if you’re a producer.

THROWBACK SONG ON MY PLAYLIST

MAX ROMEO – I CHASE THE DEVIL

Reggae is deep in my heart, I love it. I was listening to Pandora’s “Reggae Classic” station a few weeks ago and I heard this man chant “Lucifer son of the morning, I’m gonna chase you out of earth“. If it sounds familiar its because Jay-Z sampled it for his song “Lucifer” one of my many Jay-Z favorites. The original song by Max Romeo, is a gem. Definitely a must have on your reggae collection.

Thanks everyone for reading. I appreciate every reader and of course if you want to suggest anything you can always write your comment below. I’ll try to write a May playlist next month.

My 2 new healthy obsessions are 2 beautiful women that are rapidly rising in the modeling scene and are larger than a size 10. These voluptuous ladies have soft sexy curves that let everyone know that beauty comes in all sizes. Of course my girl Jill Scott and more recently Adele have been representing for years, but these are 2 more ladies you could add to your list.

Denise Bidot. The super sexy Puerto Rican and Arabic mami from Miami. (I think I love her)

Tara Lynn. The American Ford Model with European flair. Raaawwwrrrr!!

In the last few weeks, Rihanna released the “Cake” remix featuring Chris Brown, igniting a viral rumor that they might be getting back together. Now, I’ve kept quiet about this because 1.) I’ve wanted to see how this was going to play out in the following weeks 2.) Its none of my business. But I decided to write a sweet blog anyways because I do have an opinion about it even though I don’t personally know them.

Oh Breezy and Riri. Back in 2008 they were such a cute couple. The young pop R&B version of power couple Jay-Z and Beyonce. They were both super stars in the making. She was the sexy girl next door, he was the young Michael Jackson.

Then in February 2009, Rihanna was assaulted by Brown. TMZ published the photos of Rihanna’s bruised face and the scandal skyrocketed. Most headlines that year surrounded the incident that happened between Chris and Rihanna. My initial reaction was, “Oh my God, how could Chris be that stupid?”. Then my second reaction was, “Why is this being played out in the media? This is nobody’s business”. Mind you, I failed to mention that they were about 18 years old when this happened. They went from Jay-Z & Beyonce to Whitney & Bobby, it was media hell.

I’m Happy Rihanna’s sponsors didn’t drop her and she got a lot of support from fans and fellow celebrities everywhere. But two things struck me oddly when this incident happened about Rihanna’s reaction. I know that she was young and she was influenced by the people around her but, 1.) She waited 9 months until she was going to release her new record “Rated R” to speak about the incident (she used the incident to promote the album) and 2.) During The Diane Sawyer interview in November 2009, she stated the reason why she left him was because she wanted to be an example for her young fans and not show them that it was right to stay with a man that battered you (which is good) and she didn’t want to have her empire crumble due to this and was afraid that if she would stay it would tarnish her career. Hmm… But she never flat out said “I left him because this is not right, that isn’t love, and no woman should have to go through this”

Chris Brown went on some sorry ass “Forgive me” publicities. Now, I like Brown. He’s a young, handsome, talented guy with superstar qualities. But he was just looking bad with his sorry ass. At the time, his sponsors dropped him and even Walmart refused to sell his CDs. I could understand why corporations acted this way and quite frankly it was right because a message had to be sent about Domestic violence.

Its been three years and thankfully they’ve both been able to move on and have successful careers. I really feel like people need to let the incident go because we don’t know the whole story. We saw Rihanna’s face but we didn’t see Chris Brown’s face. We don’t know if it had happened before. People were really trying to make it seem like she was the young Tina Turner and he was Ike. Tina was married for over 20 years and endured a physically and emotionally abusive drug addict for a husband, please don’t make such comparison. We all jumped the gun too quickly on Chris Brown and he already paid for that night. Let him live.

When “Cake” remix was released along with “Turn Up the music” on Rihanna’s birthday, rumors started flooding about Breezy and Riri possibly getting back together. My reaction was “Hold up, when did they ever break up? They just stopped hiding the fact that they never stopped loving each other”. Listen I know I don’t know them, but you could tell they really loved each other. They used to subtweet each other on Twitter all the time and make songs about each other, obviously. So to me they never stopped seeing each other, even if it was on & off behind closed doors. I doubt they would ever bring forth a relationship in public again, but if they were then let them.

They’re both young and have done a lot of retarded shit in public. Brown dying his hair blonde, sending nude pic’s to a chick and having them “leaked” on the web strategically right before his album FAME dropped, and he went buckwild on the set of ‘Good Morning America’ last year. Rihanna has been going on her “Thuglife” rants on Twitter direspecting even her fans that have their own opinions about her, which is not cool. You’re a celebrity, you know you’re going to get ostracized, ignore the bullshit. Now they have this bullshit “Love triangle” on the media about Chris, Rihanna, and Chris’s new girlfriend Karrueche Tran. These girls subtweeting each other, just sad. Grow the fuck up and get some pride. Karrueche, you fine, and you took some nice shots at Riri, but if you want to be known as more than just Breezy’s girl you have to hustle and think GREATER.

My advice to Breezy and Riri, keep making great music and keep your private life PRIVATE. Don’t vent on social networks or give the paparazzi a good shot of a bad night. You are both exceptionally talented. In the words of Jay-Z, “first they love you, then they hate you, then they love you again“. The less you say or do in public, the less people have to make something out of it.

This situation has taught us a few things. Firstly, you can’t judge someone by one action. We only know what the news covers and the media purposely will demonize someone to sell. Secondly, this was poor journalism by TMZ for publishing the photo of a battered Rihanna. Shame on you TMZ!!! I think people reacted more negatively to the incident due to the photo. Thirdly, Their personal lives is not the reason why we should love them, but for their talents. Whatever they do off stage is none of our business and we need to stop supporting this magazines that only sell people’s business. Celebrities are humans just like you and I.

I have the honor of sharing my birthday, March 20th, with my favorite director of ALL TIME Mr. Shelton Jackson, better known as Spike Lee. Lee’s films examine race relations, contemporary media in daily lives and the faults in all walks of lives. He is THE MOST important African American director of our time. I know there’s other directors that are more rich and famous, but don’t let that fool you. Spike Lee is THE REAL DEAL…. AND THAT’S THE TRUTH, RUTH!

One of my heroes, he represents empowerment and pride in self. A witty tongue and sharp sense of humor, Spike is a free spirit with no boundaries. Outspoken to educate and shed light to what we overlook. His authentic portrayals of urban life, aggressive new York attitude, thought provoking dialogues, and mean city streets is what I love most about his work. In Jungle Fever, he had the best conversation in a all Black female panel to which they spoke about Black men dating white women. It was frankly the first time I realized women felt this way.

Proud New Yorker, I admire that Lee has made so many of his films in the city I’m from. He doesn’t need to go to big soundstage in Los Angeles with a big Hollywood budget to make a GREAT film. His Spike Lee Joints, like Do The Right Thing, Crooklyn, and He got game, all take place in the New York streets you never see on TV. The avid New York sports fan that he is, whether he’s at Yankee stadium rooting for my Yankees or yelling from his court side seats at Madison Square Garden to his beloved Knicks, Lee is a mascot for all of New York.

Lee as well uses a lot of the same talented actors in his movies, which is very cool of him. I own the Spike Lee Collection DVD series, which is my pride and joy in my film gallery. I can’t wait for his new movie “Red Hook Summer” to be released this summer. The Oscars have to get it together and give this man a Lifetime Achievement Award already! He’s too important, his work is so instrumental and prolific. If I ever get to meet him I’d only say these words “Yo, what up Mookie!!!!”

I ain’t Martin Luther King. I don’t need a dream. I have a plan.

- Spike Lee

I’m going to try and keep it short for all my young ones. I used to think “wow 25 is so old, I have so much time before then, and I know it exists but it will never happen to me”, hell to the no. Now, I will only speak for myself. All those years of me eating that spicy food that I LOVE so much caught up with me, I got whack ass gastritis. That’s some bullshit. That’s fuckin torture to a fat person. It’s been 2 years since I quit smoking and I found out I have Asthma a few months ago. Thank God its not bad but I have to be cautious. I feel a little slower, I get tired faster, and if I don’t get at least 7 hours of sleep I feel like SHIT.

But above all this year has shown me how much stronger and confident I am. I now I still have a long road ahead of me, but I feel very sure of what I like and who am I am, and what I’M NOT. Things don’t bother me like they used to and I have truly began to live for myself first, my family and friends second, and concentrate on the positive things around me for energy. My faith is stronger and my journey to begin understanding my purpose has begun.

I hit some new highs and lows just in this year in which I’m grateful because I took with me valuable lessons. This summer I faced some tough times which I overcame and am glad its behind me. To all the people that helped 25 be as awesome as it was, I thank you. Even if you’re no longer in my life, just know you will always be remembered. The most important thing I learned this year is the importance of self and knowing that you will know the answers to most of your questions within yourself. Stop trying to fight it and accept it. Even the questions you have are of people, they will show you who they are. I know when its real. Thank you Siddhartha for that.

This year ended with a tragedy that had to remind me how much I do love those around me and I don’t want them to feel alone because I love them and need them with me. I know I’m stubborn, I have a slick mouth, and I can be very unthoughtful at times but I love my circle for accepting me this way. Now that I welcome myself into my late 20s, I am only hope its even more awesome and impacting as 25.

PS. I FINALLY GOT MY DRIVER’S PERMIT!!! LOL (YEAH I KNOW, TYPICAL NYer)

As many of us who grew up in the 80s & 90s, I was devastated to hear about the recent death of the greatest singer of our time, Ms. Whitney Houston. Her talent was unmatched, a voice like no other woman. Selling over 170 million records worldwide, won 6 Grammies, 30 Billboard awards and 22 American Music Awards, she was a pioneer for women of color around the world. A vocalist, actress, producer, and mother, she was at one time the essence of a powerful woman. The Associated Press coined it best, “She had the perfect voice and the perfect image: a gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise”. Her passing is just as impacting as the death of the late great King Of Pop, Michael Jackson.

My favorite Whitney Houston moment has to be her singing the national anthem in 1991 as well as her Bodyguard years. Who didn’t sing “Greatest Love of All” as a graduation song growing up? That’s how I remember Whitney and will continue to bring her memory with me. In the later years, her career was tainted by her tumultuous personal life. Her 14 year marriage to singer  Bobby Brown, ongoing battle with drug addiction, and bizarre public appearances unfortunately made more headlines than her music. Up until her death, I was still rooting for Whitney to get it together and release a real comeback album.

Although no official cause of death has been made, people are speculating that her drug abuse might have been the cause. I don’t know what’s worse, how she died or how some people are reacting to her death. So because she was addicted to drugs it makes it okay for her to deserve to die at the young age of 48? The hypocrisy of people, when so many indulge in some of the same things she did and flaunt it, yet we criticize how fragile she was with her fight with drugs. We think we know, but we don’t know what was really going on. I honestly don’t care to know how Whitney died, its not going to bring her back, I just want to celebrate her life & legacy. You didn’t need to talk about her everyday and play her music all the time to be a fan, if she touched you with her music one time, that is enough to remember her. So pay your respects and let’s revere one of the greatest icons of our time in the light in which she illuminated the world, with her voice. THE VOICE.

“No matter what they take from me, they can’t take away my dignity” -

Whitney Houston

I wish my generation of 80s babies thought more independently. In the new world of internet and social media, we have millions of new ways to keep in touch with the rest yet we seem more out of touch than ever, especially with originality. I remember we used to fight with school authorities to allow us to wear our own clothes and stop enforcing the school uniform dress code. Yet we graduated and we look more alike now than we did with school uniforms. Same dress code, same music, same philosophies.
Quite frankly where do we even stand when it comes to certain ideas and values? I’m tired of people remaining neutral or not voicing an opinion for the sake of not arguing or someone dare challenging their opinions. When did we become so sensitive that we adjust to other people’s likes and comfortability? Is your standing so fragile? You think your friends won’t like you afterwards? So what if you were wrong? at least you learned something. The whole “I don’t give my opinion on anything” or “Who cares? They don’t pay my bills” its a classic case of it. *YAWNS* Middle men get screwed point blank. In certain situations, sometimes its just not the right place nor time, which Is quite understandable. But people need to be themselves and be okay with that.
I’ve always admired people that have been true to themselves no matter the trend. My closest friends are people whom I respect because they are not afraid to call me out when I’m wrong. Lately it just seems like those people are a few and far in between. If everybody likes you, nobody knows you. That’s how I feel. The key is to respect one another and sometimes just agree to disagree. I’ve learned that sometimes you might disagree with someone at the moment and later on realized they were right. You will be grateful for that conversation then. KNOWLEDGE my people.

Living in an overcrowded apartment, sleeping head to foot with another person, making less that $12/hr and once you get that income tax money, flying out to DR like and acting like a “baller”. MAANNNN DO I HATE EVERYONE OF YALL THAT DO THAT SHIT! That’s why the poor Dominicans that live over there expect extravagant things from us living here. I have cousins in DR that ask me for foams… maaannn I don’t even wear those. GTFOH! Its all of you that go over there and act like ya rich over here that’s lying to them! STOP IT! They never have money but always have enough to drink. When you travel you have to bring an extra bag just for clothes that you’re gonna give away to them. They will never respect our money.

I’m not saying its wrong to give, if that’s what you’re getting from this then re-read. I’m all for giving and helping, but I don’t maintain any adult’s wants. I wake up at 6am everyday in this cold to work for what I have. The natives don’t understand that this NYC life is really living to work if you wanna have anything in this life. So when you go out there and flaunt your nice clothes and treat everyone to drinks, make sure you let them know what time it is over here n stop pretending someone you’re not!

In the months following the execution of Troy Anthony Davis, I haven’t heard much commotion from many people that were extremely upset about his unfortunate death. Many people were so distraught by the injustice this man was going to pay with his life, and now its silence. Did we forget about Troy Davis?

I myself was devastated to hear about his case and the fact that he had to pay for something that was consequence of poor process and litigation. In a case where the death penalty is involved, there should be absolutely no doubt that the person being accused is proven 100% guilty without reasonable doubt. In his case, persecuting him with such cloud of reasonable doubt amounts to a tragic failure in the US Justice system.

Beyond his WRONGFUL killing, I feel we as the people have not stood up the way we should. I would even include myself. I remember when NYC radio personality Charlamagne was being criticized on Twitter by his insensitivity to the issue and tweeted back “Face it. Our generation is a bunch of bandwagon activist. I’m guilty of it too. By Friday we will be on to something else. If you want to change the justice system go to law school, get your degree, become part of the system and be the change you want to see. I can admit I’m full of shit when it comes to issues that matter. I’ll care for the moment, but I move on cause I got my own issues.” As harsh as that sounded, he was somewhat right. Even on that sad day of September 21^st I realized that the media was using this story as a “hot topic” for the time being, when his case was 22 years in the making. To me, that was truly the biggest tradedy in all of this. That us as Americans could forget so easily about someone that could easily be a family member. My condolences to the Davis family who have been living with this catastrophe much longer than the day he was executed. I still think about him. REAL TALK, THAT SHIT WAS BEYOND FUCKED UP!

To me, this is bigger than a Black Man being failed by the obviously defective US justice system. He was convicted of killing a police officer. I believe it could’ve been done by anyone else and the state of  Georgia would’ve convicted them the same because they need to send a message to the public about messing with one of their own. This is more about the invisible class system we have in this country that is financial stature. If Mr. Davis would’ve had the money to hire a top notch lawyer like Jose Baez (aka the new Johnnie Cochran) and the financial influence in his community, he would’ve avoided the death penalty. We need to come to the realization that the US justice system CAN BE BOUGHT.

So what now? What could we do? Honestly I’m not a politician nor a community leader so I don’t have all the answers. But if we elect those into power, they have a responsibility to pressure them into fixing these laws. Unlike Occupy Wall Sreet who have a much long term agenda, I believe we should start small. Writing letters to our leaders and “smart protesting” is a start. Keep bringing up TROY DAVIS, don’t forget!

There are some days that I will never forget for the rest of my life. The day I gave birth to my daughter, the day Barack Obama was elected the President of the United States, and September 11th, 2001. Every New Yorker has their own story of what they were doing the day the towers got hit. This is mine.
It was a sunny Tuesday morning, the 2nd day of my sophomore year in Manhattan Center High School in East Harlem. I was in Mr. Jackson’s gym class. On a regular day he would ask us to change into our gym uniform, but on this day he asked us to stay in our regular clothes. Vaguely, he announced that the Twin Towers had been hit by planes. I remember my classmates whispering and making comments about it but nothing specific. I was wearing a blue Old navy shirt, Polo Jeans, and my blue and white Jordan 6′s.
When I arrived to my 3rd period English class, my teacher set the tone of how serious this “Plane crash” was. She asked all of us to be quiet and she started praying in class. A public school teacher praying in front of her class, that’s a sight you’ll never see. During that class, my principal Mr. Askanazi, made the formal announcement of the events that were going on at the World Trade Center over the school loudspeaker. He excused us if we wanted to leave early, so I left right after that.
I ended up leaving with my friend Diana and her mom 4th period, when she came to pick her up. We stopped at a bodega right across the street from school and everybody was crowding outside trying to see what was going on and how they were going to get home. We had to walk half way to our destination because transportation was limited. I remember getting on the M101 bus on 131st St and that was the most crowded bus I have ever been in til this day. I ended up on 168th St and decided to wait for the A train. I ran into an old elementary school friend, Elisa, at the stop and we waited almost an hour for a train to arrive.
I arrived home around 3pm. My mother embraced me, teary eyed, telling me she was so happy to see I was safe. All the phones were down so nobody could get in contact with their loved ones. She was watching the news and was screaming frantically to the TV. I saw the horror of what was going on. The Twin Towers collapsed after being struck by 2 planes. That’s when it hit me, this was serious. My first thought was “This is the beginning of World War III”. I wasn’t afraid but I knew things were going to change.

My Spanish High School Newspaper "El Intercontinental", an article I wrote about 9/11 a year after it happened. Image in courtesy of my comadre Stephanie she texted me this picture a few weeks ago.

The Summer of 2001 was special to me because that was the summer I had my first job. It was in the Bronx, working for a furniture company. The job required me to travel a lot throughout the city especially the Bronx. I got to see and feel New York. New York was the mecca of the business industry in the world. Things were good. There were jobs available, a lot of money to spend, and booming real estate. Us New Yorkers felt invincible in our safe bubbly haven, or so we thought.
That New York is GONE. Now it’s in an abyss of gentrification during the worst recession since the Great Depression. Downtown Manhattan looks like a Chase bank and Starbucks coffee Disneyland. You can’t even smoke a cigarette with your open Corona beer in a park. Trying to rent an 1 bedroom apartment IN THE HOOD will run you at least $1,200/ month. Many New Yorkers left behind their overpriced hole-in-a-wall in the city, to move further south into more comfortable homes. Don’t be fooled by Sex in the City, there’s no way in hell Carrie would’ve been able to afford that apartment and that expensive shoe habit being a writer.
While I’m not very fond of many changes that New York has gone under, I do agree with the message it has sent to our enemies. Even when you try to bring us down, we will come back bigger and stronger. What was for many years the dark gloomy shadow of the World Trade Center, Ground Zero, 10 years later is a blooming flower of light in the navel of Manhattan. Still under construction, One World Trade Center formerly known as the Freedom Tower, will be the tallest office building in America in the time of its completion projected to be sometime in 2013. A real big “F*CK YOU” to the religious extremists who decided to commit such heinous crimes that have nothing to do with the peaceful message Islam represents. Now 10 years later, we’ve FINALLY captured and killed the mastermind behind the attacks, Osama Bin Laden (THANK YOU BARACK OBAMA).
While the terrorists failed in diminishing the capital of the world, the events left a permanent scar on the city. If you’re not from New York you probably think of New York as Times Square, full of bright lights and thousands of people. Its a promising golden pot of opportunity and booming business. Don’t be fooled, that’s only a small radius inside Manhattan. As much as I love my dear city, this city isn’t for regular folks like me anymore. September 11th, 2001 was the day the Big Apple changed.

Rest In Peace to all the victims of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks of September 11th, 2001, especially the first responders and men and women in uniform. We honor your bravery in our memories and salute you. Support the troops that are risking their lives everyday for the freedom a few people think we shouldn’t have.