Can I kick it? Looking at trends in hip-hop, and how, race relations in America should mirror if not evolve to meet this standard

Hip-Hop. I mean the phrase itself is ubiquitous enough that it doesn’t have to be explained. Even if you don’t like it, or have a tertiary understanding of the music or culture, you cannot deny its influences on popular trends , fashion, and even to some degree politics. It has been used as a tool of expression, an outlet for people who don’t usually have a voice in mainstream affairs, yet by and large affect them just the same. It’s through this medium that people of all races, cultures, and ethnicities have found commonality and bonds. And it’s with that in mind that I present the current state of Hip-Hop. I recently was cycling through The Breakfast Club interviews on youtube, and although I am pretty familiar with just below the surface acts, I was pleased to find and discover a great young talent, by the name of Anderson .Paak. It was also through these means and surfing that I discovered another notable act by the name of Lil’ Dicky. Now for those not familiar, Lil’ Dicky is a White Jewish Rapper that hangs his hat on fun and ridiculous rhymes about partying, women, and everything in between. As a big fan of good music, I was very happy to find another artist to follow and add to my long list of albums to bump and enjoy. But what also occurred to me is as a “White” Rapper, his race and ethnicity has nothing to do with his success, nor is he gimmicky, capitalizing on said traits to gain fans or a following. This lead me to a moment of reflection, where acts like Lil’ Dicky, Mac Miller, G-Eazy, and others are allow to exist in the space not as “White” Rappers, but just rappers. There is no tag on their brand of music. It is hip hop plain and simple. Now the fact that they are white is not lost on anyone, and they don’t go out of their way to deny that they are, but the fact that they are able to just express themselves without having to box themselves in as “White” rappers, lets me know that we have reached a level of understanding that dope rappers come in all colors and creeds. Even though as a culture, hip hop was very much non-inclusive with the exception of acts like Atmosphere, Eminem, the Beastie Boys, Kid Rock, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, and a few others, if a “White” rapper was introduced, they would immediately get pigeoned holed, and thought of as a gimmick, when in reality, they are just people that enjoy the culture, grew up on the culture, were influenced by the culture, and have decided to express their art through the culture.

For an artform that is full of positives, it has also been seen as violent, homophobic, misogynistic, and negative. It’s important to point out that not only has it seen a recent surge in many popular non-black acts, it would also appear, that that is not even a big deal anymore. No one is up in arms about cultural appropriation, no one is saying oh god! you are just a one trick pony. Other ethnic groups are being seen as artists that just want to express themselves through hip hop, nothing more, nothing less.

With hip hop as an example, I want to ponder the implications this would have on us as a society, if America would just accept that just like White rappers in hip hop, Black Americans are just people trying to get through each day with the same worries, the same accomplishments, and even the same failings as any other human being on this planet. At the core of it all, we are one race. Albeit, when looking at hip hop, one could easily point out that by being so critical and exclusionary when it comes to the music we are infact doing the same things that have been done to us throughout history, barring entry into mainstream hip hop and accusing people of just cherry picking what they want from the culture, and basically ignoring all the other things that come with it. Of course it's not a perfect model, but just think about how much influence hip hop has. We need to point out the fact that just like in real life, people are people first. Some people have talent and some people don’t, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a right to expression. The great divide in America is that we are all different. It is true that physically we are different on the outside, but on the inside we are all the same. Some people are bad, but why are Black Americans always reduced to their lowest common denominator? For a long time, White rappers would just be considered wack without any provocation. Just like that has been proven to be false with a real listen, on the flip side, why do people so readily accept false statistics about welfare and crime? It is an unstated reality that criminals usually attack other criminals, no matter what color or ethnicity they are, so why are we always painted as just bad? Aren’t we all people? There are bad apples in any basket, but not all the apples in the basket are bad. So without going on and on, I propose we take this example being demonstrated by hip hop. Because whether directly or indirectly, it’s evolving. And it is evolving to a place where what you look like is not nearly as important as what you are saying and how you deliver your craft.We should try to look at people as people first, appreciate their differences second, and work together as one human race third. I hope that Hip Hop stays with this trend as I really think that the next step towards equality is shown through the inclusion of mainstream gay male rappers, as a few female rappers have identified as such. And like that, there wasn’t this big uproar or scandal that came along with it. So while there have been some  males to come out, they haven’t quite gotten to that level of popularity. America and I hope that the world over will start learning as hip hop has, to accept all comers for who they are as rappers. People can make the argument that white rappers are wack, but you can make that argument for just as many black rappers. Everyone deserves a fair shake, and in the world of hip hop, I think we can honestly say, it is finally happening. At least I think so. What do you think? I would love to hear your perspectives, because dialogue is always welcomed.

Haaaavvveeeeee……….you met, Zangief: Using grappler archetypes to strengthen and expand your fighting game know how!

Kick, punch, it’s all in the mind……...or is it? Anyone who knows me knows my love for fighting games. Whether it’s Street Fighter, a 3D fighter like the Soul Calibur series, or an “Anime” fighter like Guilty Gear, fighting games are a way of life. If this sounds like you, then you are  probably invested in the world of the FGC or Fighting Game Community. Through sites like Shoryuken.com, and EventHubs.com, one can find a plethora of ways to watch and follow the tournament scene as well as read or watch tutorials to get better. But as a novice, how does one become better at these types of games? Is it about combos? Is it about Tiers? I have had many conversations about this type of thing, and I have the answers to your questions! Sure you can play with the usual “Ryu/Ken” Type of fighter, but I think if you want to up your game in a serious way quickly, you should be considering a grappler character like Zangief, whether you are a novice, intermediate, or advanced player in any of these games.

Skill, does it matter? In a sense yes, most Fighters require a good sense of execution and know how, but there are usually 2 major schools of thought with this: Technical fighters, study frame data, hitboxes, recovery times, and all sorts of information that would allow them to actually “know” what is happening, why it is happening, and for how long it is happening. The other school is intuitive based. You may have a general sense of the system, but it is your opponent and your character’s moves that you focus most of your energy on. In this aspect, it’s not about data, but rather how good you are at reading situations and more importantly your opponents. Either way, we arrive at a point where all of these concepts come together in the form of inputs and here is where the meta and questions really start to materialize. What character/characters do I choose? I personally have always enjoy grapplers, because the level of execution barring the need to master 360 degree motions, is low, and not combo heavy. I also enjoy the mind games and unique situations they present. I think if you are really trying to understand the fundamentals and inner workings of a fighting game, one should really pick up a grapple-centric character. Here’s why:

• Margin of error is much smaller: Generally, grapplers don’t have the same mobility as most characters, or even a projectile to help them cover ground in a small amount of time. You quickly have to learn patience, or even with the increased health, you will find yourself at a disadvantage almost immediately. Playing with a character like this teaches you to think more about your next moves, and gets you out of bad habits and rookie mistakes, like jumping constantly. It also focuses you on calming and better calculating your movements, rather than reacting wildly.
• Mind games are learned almost by default: As mentioned above, the archetype for most grapplers is slow moving and non-projectile having. But here is the bright side: most grapplers have powerful throws and high priority normals. They are not designed to keep people out, rather they are usually designed to shrink space, and cause a sense of claustrophobia and entrapment to their opponents. Their normals usually when timed correctly stop a lot of random limbs, and their command throws are usually damaging and unforgiving, which puts the opponent on tilt, nervously wondering what to do next. You will learn through this, that your presence near an opponent is more than enough to corral them into making mistakes, thus making their movements more predictable. You will see the frantic jumping or special move wake ups, which lets you know, they feel cornered. This is where you will ultimately get your wins. Even better, if you do decide to play with faster, more mobile characters, you will know how to better impose your will.
• You Realize combos aren’t everything: Some of the joys of fighting games are the insane combos and button presses needed for most characters, but for those of us who struggle with consistent execution, Grapplers are the perfect storm. Most of their combos are short, and most combos are high damage. Meaning you get to do more with less! Depending on the game, most grapplers don’t have combos that go higher than 5 hits, but boy do they hurt! If you happen to have a game that’s system allows high hit combos, or even combos that lead to throws your in luck! But since combos aren't necessary for Grapplers to cause high damage, one can focus on out poking, and out prioritizing their opponents moves, thus giving you a strong base lead by fundamentals and mind games.
• Sense of accomplishment: For all the reasons Grappler’s are great, they can just as easily suck for the same reasons. You will lose a lot in the beginning. Chances are you will get "fireballed" to death, and as great as some of their normals are, there are usually faster characters, with equal to or greater normals/pokes. It’s with this in mind that the sense of accomplishment you get from beating an opponent with these traits is bar none to any other character archetype you can think of. It is really and truly the one class that has to literally out-think opponents because of the limited resources. Your opponent will feel angry for losing to a slow, brutish mess, and you will feel twice as vindicated for having stuck to your guns and basically dismantled your opponent.
• Extra thought on resource management: If there is one way to also look at this whole enterprise it's the currency on which all your moves and actions are based on: The life bar. For most characters, the life bar is just a mere indicator of how much damage you can sustain before losing a round, but here’s how I look at it: The more life you have and most grapplers have more vitality than other cast members since they are usually bound to take more damage, the more “Gambles” you can take: Since you are a damage sponge you can be more aggressive in your reads, and really push the pace when you have opponents cornered because of that same gambling chip. It has helped my game tremendously to know that I can get hit and not have to immediately consider dire consequences.

In closing, the beauty of these games are, we can choose who we want to use, but for most of us it’s always hard going to find out how to get better, or which characters to play with. Almost like jogging with a weighted vest, if you use or master grappler ideology, when you "take off the vest" and go back to using smaller, quicker, characters, you will be faster in your decision making and more adept at making hard reads and decisions. Technically you may still need work in the combo execution department, but even this is a play style that will move you away from trying to combo opponents to death, and rather, out space and control their actions. I hope this helps! It certainly helped me on my journey to being a better fighting game player. Also if you ever want to really learn more about the technical aspects of fighting games, the above mentioned sites are great resources, with tools, tips, and videos geared towards this mindset as well as others. Most importantly have fun it’s called a game for a reason!

BoB Godz, Light Bulbs, Modern Warfare: How youtube taught me the meta of Call of Duty

Screw this game! This Sucks! I keep getting spawn killed! If you have a current gen or last gen console, and a head set, you've heard these statements verbatim. You've also probably heard them in any of the numerous Call of Duty games on the market and will hear them in the one's to come. Just like you, I sucked. Hard. When I bought Modern Warfare, I couldn't understand how death could happen in games so fast. How could my digital gun and grenades fail to work time and time again? I tried different things. Maybe staying in one place (Camping for the uninitiated) and picking people off would be the best stratagem:

Nah....too boring for me, and still dying. Maybe running around like a maniac and just trying to shoot faster than my enemy would work......Nah I get team killed, shot in the back, "Random Grenaded", or "noob-tubed". Everything was a wash, everything was ineffective. I skipped out on World at War, because I had no interest in old-timey weapons. But there was hope when I saw MW2. Boy, if I thought I was getting my ass kicked in part 1, I continued to stay in my penetrated, butt-hurt state.

 It was worst in every way you could think of. The weapons were impossibly unbalanced. For Instance,"The Models", an akimbo pair of twin sawed off shotguns was the stuff nightmares were made of. Oh and then the noob-tubes and grenades! Boy did they get markedly worst! I needed answers. I needed them fast. Enter YouTube, the place for video everything! I tried hard to find MW2 vids, anything that would give me a bead on how to be better. I found what I was looking for in a YouTuber named BoB Godz. Now a quick YouTube search will show that most of his videos are gone, but watching his videos made one thing abundantly clear: This guy kicked ass. Major ass. With everything. It wasn't his strategy that stood out, but it was a question one fan asked him: Bob, how do you get better at Call of Duty? It was his answer that changed the way I looked at things and would look at 1st person shooters forever. Bob's answer and I am paraphrasing went something like this: "You won't get better until you start to understand how the average COD player thinks. Step into their shoes. What positions on the map do they occupy? Where does everyone want to go? How would they respond in different situations?" Of course these seem like obvious things to anyone from the outside, but nothing became more apparent to me than the fact that I had been going about this all wrong. This was a changing point, and my "Light Bulb Moment".

 I started to apply this ideology to my game play. Being cerebral about Call of Duty actually made the game fun to me. It was like a puzzle I needed to figure out. It certainly helped that I got to do this in the presence of some amazing friends, but I did a lot of field testing on my own. For starters, I learned that human nature plays a big part in the way people played COD. Most players want to kill everything. Fast. So I started running away from the action in the beginning and picking other angles for engagement on the maps. I also learned that I could use camping and people's natural inclination to come back to the scene of the crime to rack up numerous kills by playing the "Shell Game": Most rooms you engage in have 4 corners. Kill them in one corner and move to another corner of the room. 9 times out of 10, the average player will come back into the room and immediately look in the corner you killed them in. Shoot them in the back and move to another corner, or stay in that corner and wash, rinse, repeat. This could net you a few easy kills, and also gets you closer to streaks that would help you kill more folks.

 But wait! There's more! Like I said earlier, camping isn't for me so this works, but I still felt like doing more. Another stratagem that shaped my game play which doesn't seem like much but does wonders is this: The longer you stay alive, the more kills you will likely get. I say that to say this, sometimes it pays to disengage and run away. What I would do and what most players will do, is even if they enter a battle they can't win, they would still mindlessly try to out shoot other players. More times than not you are going to die. I found that if I knew I couldn't win a battle, better for me to run away and heal and approach from a different angle, than run straight to my death. And lastly, assists and getting a good synergy with a teammate, or your team in general, meant living a lot longer and getting great streaks. I know the average gamer rages about people stealing their kills, but if you really pay attention and put your ego aside, you will realize that teamwork makes the dream work:

 By getting assists and running with teammates, you will: a)eventually get kills and more than likely go positive (More kills than deaths), b) Be considered an awesome person to play with c) Jump out to gigantic leads, which in turn allowed me to experiment and get better with a plethora of weapons. On that note, I learned that reloading automatically after every engagement  was not wise, and once stopped, lead to some of the most glorious double and triple plus kills I have ever attained. With the help of Bob Godz, and these simple ideas, I ended my MW2 career with a KDR (Kill/Death Ratio) of 1.67, which considering I started at 0.6, and have a rather aggressive play style, is pretty good. I also maintain a 1+ KDR in every subsequent COD, as well as games like Destiny. So there you have it folks, the secret to 1st person shooters, and Call of Duty specifically, is to think like the average COD player....... then do the opposite. You will be a better player for it. And I would like to thank BoB Godz. Without you, there is no me.
Follow these tips and ascribe to this way of thinking, and pretty soon, you'll be like this guy: