A Grammar Challenge

Even as a highly-qualified grammar nazi…


I find this exceptionally challenging to correct.

Tweet

That One Album [Nuffnang’s 6th Birthday Bash!]

“Personally, I just think rap music is the best thing out there, period. If you look at my deck in my car radio, you're always going to find a hip-hop tape; that's all I buy, that's all I live, that's all I listen to, that's all I love.” – Marshall Mathers


He is none other than the greatest of all time, Eminem.

I could still remember some many years ago when I was first introduced to hip-hop music. And yes, of all artistes that were made known to me, Eminem happened to be the first rapper I listened to. Initially, I thought that kind of music was pretty cool because it sang all the vulgar words and profanities that my mum so prohibited me from using in regular conversations. Needless to say, hip-hop was where I learnt all my four-letter and seven-letter words.

Almost instantaneously, I fell in love with hip-hop – at that tender age, back when I was still in my early teens. Gangsta rap, particularly. The more vulgar, the better. If you think about it, not many parents will be pleased to have their school-going kid listening to explicit rap music. As a matter of fact, I don’t think any right-minded parents will even allow their child to listen to music of this sort. I could still remember how my friend got slapped, had his CD-player confiscated and CD thrown away just because he was listening to some Dr. Dre's. And you know what’s the worst part? THAT CD WAS MINE, BLOODY HELL.

I started to do a little exploration into the world of hip-hop, within a short span of time, I knew more about the hip-hop scene than I do about my schoolwork. Rivalries, feuds and disses – you name it, I know it. Heck, I don’t even know the difference between algebra and calculus but I know when Tupac and Biggie Smalls got shot.


To be honest, I don’t really understand what the lyrics, beat and culture is all about. All I know is, rap music sounds cool. Rap music teaches you words that your English language teacher wouldn’t. Rap music is for someone badass.

When I started to mature a little and have a sense of logical thinking on my own (or so I would love to think), I got really upset and disgusted with myself for liking hip-hop. Of all music I’ve learnt to listen, why did I fell in love with rap music? That uncouth, loud and filthy noise coming out of my headphones. Oh! What tasteless man have I turned myself into? It’s pollution to my ears, for crying out loud!

Yeah, unfortunately, we all have that one short phase in life where we think we’re so horribly clever and proud that we’ve forgotten who we really are. Mine happened to be just right then, only a couple of months after going through such a passionate relationship with rap music.

Angry with myself, I threw away all my hip-hop CDs (don’t worry, they are all pirated copies because I’m a cheapskate Malaysian like that). So long, Shady. Goodbye, Pac. Adios, Dre. I was done with rap music for good.


Or so I thought.

For a good few years, I hardly listened to anything that vaguely reminds me of hip-hop. I became an ordinary guy, listening to what the radio station plays and that’s about it. Like my peers, I got a girlfriend, graduated from high-school and started college.

One fine day, I saw a rather familiar album cover in college. I thought to myself, hey I once had that (of course, a pirated version one, if I may reiterate) album too! It was Eminem’s Curtain Call.


So what the hell, I thought. I’ll borrow it from my friend and listen to it again at home, y’know, just for the fun of it. Just to remind myself how stupid I was when I was a little teenager.

Loaded the CD and popped them headphones in. I was already prepared to laugh at that tasteless 14 years old self of mine.

Prepared. I pressed play and forwarded to track number 3, The Way I Am.

Anytime now. I will burst into a huge ball of laughter. 5 seconds…10 seconds…30 seconds…1 minute into the song.

I didn’t laugh at myself.

Instead, that old flame for rap music reignited. Mysterious, how life has its way with things. It was still the same uncouth, loud and filthy music. Only this time, I wasn’t disgusted because I finally knew the meaning to the song. That subtle message from the songs I could finally derive. This time around, I no longer listen to it because it was cool, taught me words that my English language teacher never would and catered for someone badass.

I was impressed with the message hip-hop could actually deliver. Yup, no doubt their choices of vocabulary may be a little hardcore, but behind those vulgarities a statement is being made. If we were to ignore the vulgarities, hip-hop is all about the rhythm, rhymes and wordplays. The way the lyrics are composed sometimes shows how much of a language maestro these rappers are. Heck, you can even liken them to poets because they are really that good. It’s an art, to be able to script out a good rap song.


If it wasn’t for Curtain Call, I wouldn’t have re-discovered my love for hip-hop.

Of course, there are rap music that makes absolutely no sense and qualifies as utter rubbish, but don’t all genre of music has it’s bad apple? In the end, it all boils down to you, the listener.

Now that I’ve welcomed hip-hop back into my life, I’m always on the hunt for new songs and thanks to Deezer I can finally browse through the hip-hop arena without leaving my computer chair. Kinda explains all the extra pounds I’ve put on recently. Dammit.

Oh, did I tell you? Nuffnang is turning 6 this year! Ohmigosh, can’t believe I’ve been with them for 5 years already. So, I thought, why not bring the hip-hop goodness to their birthday bash, eh? Check out this awesome playlist of my favourite rappers that I’ve picked out specially for the party! PLEASE PLAY MY PLAYLIST BECAUSE IT IS AWESOME. PERIOD.


Now that you know I like gangsta rap, please don’t love me any less k thanks. Promise I won’t shoot you.

Tweet

Studying And Memorising – The Right Way

This, my fellow gentlemen, is how you should be studying and memorising your shit.

So… Any of you lovely ladies wanna volunteer and help me study?

Tweet

Is Blogging Still Relevant To Me?

Well, from the frequency of my blog updates I can safely conclude that the answer is no.

Jumping into a conclusion before I even begin writing, which is such the kind of thing an overly suspicious and paranoid woman whose husband is talking to a slightly good-looking cashier, would do. AM I RIGHT?

Okay lah, maybe blogging is not totally irrelevant to me, but I think my blog has lost its glamour and glory it once possessed. Oh, how the mighty have fallen… Ceh, mighty, glamour and glory konon.

Backtracking on all those posts on my blog, I used to be able to come up with all kind of quirky, mind-boggling and somewhat messed-up idea for a blog post. I’m not proposing the boastful idea that I’m one of those top-notch bloggers around, but what I once had in the blogosphere can be considered relatively significant, at least to myself.

My blog used to have readers, now it’s full of link-spammers and mistaken visitors, who thought my blog is an erotic site, filled with unicorn porn and monster testicles. I kid you not, these were some of the real keywords that random online strangers had been searching and for some divine reasons, ended up on my blog.

If anyone were to be blamed, it would be everyone else but myself because I’m perfect myself. It is as though the special department in my head that is used to seek blogging inspiration has gone on strike, demanding a better working condition. Well, I don’t blame him frankly. That guy in my head is usually subjected to a highly intoxicated working environment – the intoxication of alcohol. So yeah, I’ve lost my mojo, so to speak.

I don’t know how long this blogging block will go on, but I really hope it’s not permanent. I mean, you guys love my wacky, out-of-the-world and highly screwed-up blog posts, right? RIGHT??? *sharpens a meat cleaver and sporting a crooked smile while waiting for your answers*

Pardon me for being presumptuous here, but I’ll take the answer as yes. YES AS IN YES YOU GUYS LOVE ME. AWWWWWWW I LOVE Y’ALL TOO.

Besides losing the ability to write high-quality blog-posts (very subjective claim), I’m really caught up with all the other on-goings in my life. Y’know, all those busy things a busy guy like me would usually be preoccupied with. Things like studying and…er…well…yeah pretty much just studying. Oh my goodness I just realised my life is about nothing else but studying so I should totally blog about me studying.

Okay, guess my problem’s solved. I shall blog about me studying in my next blog post. Heh, sorry for making you read this blog post. TEEHEE.

Tweet