Where are you Yeezy?

The first time I heard Kanye West's new single Power, I knew he was back. 808 and Heartbreaks was a good CD, and somewhat revolutionary (in the sense of use of autotune), but we can all agree, we wanted more of the cocky, I'm better than you, and I know you think I'm cocky, but that will make me even cockier, Kanye. But the CD did reveal something to us: there was another side to Kanye that he kept buried inside.

Great albums are built on a source of inspiration. Many times, a musicians first album is heralded as one of their greatest because of the amount of pent up emotions that gets vomited onto the entire CD--Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), Dr. Dre's the Chronic, and The College Dropout for Kanye.

Kanye's initial CD can be summed in a few lyrics from the song "The Last Call":

Some say he arrogant. Can y'all blame him?
It was straight embarrassing how y'all played him
Last year shoppin my demo, I was tryin' to shine
Every motherfucker told me that I couldn't rhyme
Now I could let these dream killers kill my self-esteem
Or use my arrogance as the steam to power my dreams

There was a lot of heart and soul poured out on every track. He Flipped the bird to record execs with "Jesus Walks" -- 'So here go my single dog radio needs this.... They say you can rap about anything except for Jesus.'

He gave us an insightful reflection of his life after a near life-ending accident with "Through the Wire" -- 'How do you console my mom or give her light support... When you telling her your sons' on life support"

And he even rapped about a time before he got a record deal, 'Let's go back, back to the Gap.... Look at my check, wasn't no scratch.... So if I stole, wasn't my fault.... Yeah I stole, never got caught'

So, you can see where I'm going with this... Kanye's lyrics in his new song Power include these lines:

'Now I embody every characteristic of the egotistic
He know, he so, fuckin’ gifted
I just needed time alone, with my own thoughts
Got treasures in my mind but couldn’t open up my own vault'

I'm excited... I was watching the USA vs. Australia soccer (or futbol) game this morning--at the ungodly hour of 5:30AM--and for anyone who's ever watched a soccer game... you know that build up from pass, to pass, to pass, to pass, to waiting, to pass, to get into a good position, and when they finally get there... you're hanging on the edge of your seat, anticipating for the shot attempt... that's the feeling I have. I will digress for a second and ask... can't we get some sort of shot clock in soccer? And especially one in Lacrosse. Please. Someone try to explain why this shouldn't happen.

So this leads me to my next point. Kanye has the blueprint to one of the greatest Hip Hop albums for this decade. We have a good 3-4 years worth of events that he's harbored inside( Graduation was released in 2007, and again were not counting that 808's album). So in November 2007 - Donde West passes away. Kanye didn't speak about the subject until a year later at a press conference in New Zealand. In 2008, Kanye west and his fiance called it quits, despite being his rags to riches girlfriend. 2009 - Taylor Swift Incident, enough said. The incident itself isn't compelling from a story perspective, but the events that led up to the melt down would make this a very compelling track. Mix in the normal type of bravado we've come to enjoy, and there is no doubt this is going to be a classic.

'I’m livin’ in the 21st century
Doin’ something mean to it
Do it better than anybody you ever seen do it
Screams from the haters, got a nice ring to it
I guess every superhero need his theme music'

Fact of the matter is, I'm jazzed about the new album. I can kick Kanye around for being a d-bag at times, but I will be honest.... He's got me wondering... "Where are you Yeezy?

Logo Dude's Manifesto

Face off. A check up against the boards. The Chicago Blackhawks push the puck up the ice. A pass toward the middle over to Sharp... and goal... Chicago ties the game at 1-1 against San Jose. Playoff hockey--the only time of the season that matters to the casual fan fare. While watching these players with chipped teeth and grizzly beards, I confine myself to my couch to draft up my manifesto.

But in order to get to this point, I have to look at how the hell would I scope this thing out so people will read this thing. On one end, of course I want to stay true to myself and write something that I'm genuinely interested in--things that I have a passion for and can develop a unique perspective on. But, the counter point, all that effort is wasted space if the only people willing to take time out of their day to read my dribble include the Logo Chick, and friends who I will probably hassle through Facebook wall posts. "Hey dude, check my link out. Leave a comment." Then, "Hey, you haven't left a comment yet, did you read it?" Then, "Hey idiot, check your wall, I posted a few posts down, read my blog." And finally, "Lebron's Mom might have slept with Delonte West. Read it here."... Success.

The second period of the game is being dominated by the Blackhawks. They are bigger, faster, and more physical. They remind me of the giant Iceland squad in the Mighty Ducks 2. Only the Sharks don't have the 'bash brothers' and where is Kenny Woo to save us?

So I'll spare the noobs from reading my full bio, instead opting to insert random anecdotes in future entries. But the quick and dirty goes like this... I'm in my late 20's. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, but live in San Jose now. Like a true Los Angeles fan, being a sports fan is like being at the buffet, you can pick and choose teams as you please. I'm all about the Lakers, the Dodgers are OK, I try to rationale whether the Kings are relevant post-Gretzky, and I openly desire the turn around of the Clippers. But being in the Bay Area, I have an appreciation for being a true fan of a team even when the chips never seem to fall in place, e.g. Warriors fans. I follow the Sharks in the Playoffs, and football? My football loyalty has been shaky at best. I blame it on not having a local team, and a father who enjoyed cheering for parlays and money lines more than the teams themselves. But let's go with the Chargers, and a growing affection for the 9ers.

My passions also delve into a desire to be a part of the music industry. I am a hip hop head through and through, but enjoy all types of music, from the pop to the not. I wanted to join Kaba Modern, from America's Best Dance Crew fame, many many years before any 12-18 year olds caught a glimpse of them on the TV show. I've completely delusion-ed myself to thinking that I would have been on the team, if it weren't for the mishap of UC Irvine thinking the school was better than me. No son, I'm better than you.

So my goal is to infuse music culture and sports, the same way Lebron and Jay-Z bonded and created their friendship. I'll throw in random crap that I think might be relevant, and sometimes throw stuff that might not be.. just so I could say I tried to make it work. So that's it.

*Update, I took a break from posting and came back. Chicago, just like in the MD2, team Iceland won the first encounter. Sharks take a 0-1 position in the series. Shots of the Chicago team fill my TV screen, glorious chipped teeth and all. I give Logo Chick back the remote and engross myself back into my blog. Maybe this post will fare better. Only time will tell. Welcome to the world of Logo Dude's Words.