Dear Wiz Khalifa, You Don’t Need No Drake

Since I started my blog, I’ve had a few people tell me that I don’t give enough personal opinions. I try to keep my strong opinions to myself in this blog because I’m not trying to piss people off or lose visitors. However, today’s post is going to be different. You WILL get my opinion today on a person in the music industry; none other than Drake himself…or “Drizzy Drake.”

Unlike the majority of our society, I strongly dislike Drake. Recently, he just reached over 1 million followers on Twitter, so I’m sort of fighting a battle that I know I can’t win right now. As I said in my Lauryn Hill post, I didn’t start becoming really into hip hop until after going to college. My younger brother shares the same type of love for rap, so we often exchange songs and give each other ideas. During the spring semester of my junior year, around March of 2009, Drew suggested I download some Drake. Instantly I liked the guy and started listening to his music constantly. Fast-forward to May of 2009, where I have landed my dream internship with Live Nation. My internship consisted of many things, but one requirement was that I “had” to attend all concerts at Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC). Oh wow…that sounds horrible. NOT. So imagine my surprise and excitement when my boss comes to me and tells me that Lil Wayne is coming to SPAC with Young Money and more specifically, Drake. I almost peed myself. Right away, my friends, my brother and his friends, and I planned for the concert.

The concert was amazing; I chilled briefly with Young Jeezy when he was getting interviewed by a local radio station. As I sat in a room above the stage, my chair vibrated from the music bumping from the speakers. Eventually I went down to the stage to watch the rest of the concert in person. Since I was obsessed with Drake and Lil Wayne at the time, as soon as the concert ended, I ran backstage to try and catch a glimpse of the artists. Lil Wayne walked right by me, most likely not even noticing I was there. But after it had calmed down, Drake started walking down the hall towards me. As an intern, I clearly was not allowed to harass the artists (not that I would anyway), so I tried to play it cool. I didn’t bombard him, I didn’t start screaming and crying, I just said “Hey, what’s up? Great job out there, you killed it.” Drake looked at me, gave a half-assed smile, and walked away. In that moment, I lost all respect for him. Maybe it sounds immature, but the fact that he couldn’t even say “Thanks” makes me so angry (see my post on Manners 101). Just because you’re famous doesn’t mean you can be rude when someone is being nice. I would think he’d be grateful for fame and treat his fans with respect.

Since then, I have really disliked Drake. I think his music is getting worse and I hate how cocky is he. Yes, for all you Drake lovers, he does technically have a reason to be cocky. But there’s a big difference between being cocky and a d*ck and being cocky and appreciative for what you have. So imagine my surprise and strong unhappiness when my brother sent me a link to an article discussing how Drake wants to get Wiz on tour with him. DON’T DO IT WIZ.

Recently, Wiz was chosen as MTV’s Hottest Breakthrough MC of 2010. He will kick off his Waken Baken Tour in September and will also be performing at  Rock the Bells, which I am beyond excited for. My point is, Wiz doesn’t need Drake in the music industry. He’s more than capable of becoming extremely famous and successful on his own (and with the help of his crew Taylor Gang), and doesn’t need someone like Drake hogging all the credit. I believe Wiz is more talented than Drake and actually sings hip hop, unlike whatever BS Drake produced on his last album, Thank Me Later (even though Drake should actually be thanking his fans since they’re what makes him successful). Drake is uncreative and sings about the same things in basically every song; money, cars, clothes, hoes. Wiz, I hope you somehow read this. Don’t go on tour with Drake…do it on your own. You have amazing fans who will support you and you can only go up from here and I can’t wait to see you in Clifton Park!!

FYI!! I am updating this at 5 pm – just signed onto Facebook and saw that Wiz Khalifa has declined Drake’s tour as of today! What good timing. If you want to read about it, go here …. http://is.gd/esohT

Wanderlust: a very strong or irresistible impulse to travel.

Wanderlust: a very strong or irresistible impulse to travel. This word could be used to describe how I feel lately. In the fall semester of 2008, I traveled abroad and studied in Florence, Italy. Needless to say, it was the best four months of my life and I think everyone who has the opportunity should study abroad…but we’ll cover that another day. Right now, I just want to talk about the literal craving I have right now for traveling and seeing as much of the world as I can during my life.

I’m not sure what sparked my reminiscing, but I’m thinking it had something to do with seeing the movie Eat Pray Love. I saw it on Sunday with my mom, and of course part of the movie takes place in Italy. Instantly I was jealous of Liz as she apartment hunted through Rome, learned the language, and indulged in amazing Italian cuisine. It brought back so many memories…traveling to Rome twice, living in an apartment that I am obsessed with but would probably not like as much if it were in the United States, etc. There’s a beauty in not knowing where you’re going and getting lost in a foreign country. I think this is one of the best ways to get to know a place because you never know where you’ll end up.

The movie also took place in India and Indonesia. I would love to travel to either of these places, but especially Bali. I can’t think of anything I’d like more than to live by the gorgeous blue and aqua ocean in a hut of some exotic location. So after leaving the movie, I got kind of depressed. It’s really hard to explain how I feel when I start missing Italy and Europe in general, but I guess it’s like some sort of reverse homesickness.

I obviously went through all of my tagged pictures from abroad and looked at my photo albums when I got home. This in turn inspired me to start looking up international jobs and volunteer abroad programs. I swear if I had the funds, I would travel to South Africa or Costa Rica or pretty much anywhere for that matter. I had found this well-known company, Student Travel Association, that allows you to travel, volunteer, intern, etc. in pretty much any country you can think of. There are programs where you can volunteer for two weeks and travel for two weeks all over the country you’re in. THIS IS MY DREAM. Unfortunately you have to pay for your own flight and I can’t really be dropping that much dough right now.

So my advice to you…if you have the opportunity and money, travel. Travel anywhere; Europe, the United States, Asia, Australia, etc. You may think you know a lot about the world (I sure did before going abroad), but there is SO MUCH out there for you to see and explore. Traveling is a great experience alone or with friends and as corny as it sounds, teaches you a lot about yourself. You immerse yourself into other cultures and experiences that are so random and unique and you meet the most interesting people along the way. So now that I’ve told you how amazing traveling is, I’m going to sit here and continue to have wanderlust. GO SEE THE WORLD!!!!!