Kanye won’t let Twitter be great: an open letter

Dear Kanye,

Hey bro. How’s it goin?

It was very cool to see this story about your performance at the Facebook offices. I have to say I’ve been a fan of yours for a while, so it’s very cool to see social media music colliding in such a great way. Even after the emo madness that you unleashed on 808s and Heartbreak, I’m proud to say that I can’t wait to see what you do on Good Ass Job.

But that’s not why I’m writing you this letter. I’m writing you this letter because of you recent shenanigans on Twitter.

and my personal favorite because it’s only stating the obvious:

Taken by themselves these tweets aren’t so bad. But I’ve taken a look at your timeline, Yeezy, and I can’t say that I like what I saw. A whole stream of tweets and nary a retweet or @ reply to be seen. Shame on you, Kanye.

Twitter is about influence, it’s about connection, it’s about sharing information. One could argue that there’s some narcissism wrapped up in why people tweet, and I get that. But you take it to another level. Not only do you randomly follow just one person, but you don’t even interact with that one person you so haphazardly decided to follow!

Kanye, the problem is simple. You have an opportunity to really show us how influential both your image and your music can be, but unfortunately that opportunity is slipping away. Instead of interacting with your fans and giving us a glimpse into your world the way Big Boi or Chrisette Michele does, you give us tweets filled with verbal vomit about jogging in Lanvin or a new Rolex you just bought.

With all that said, I can’t say I’m necessarily surprised that you’re cuttin’ up the way you are on Twitter. I mean you are the guy who interrupted Taylor Swift at the VMA’s last year. But what do I know? I’m just a social media geek in California with high hopes for Twitter’s potential–potential that you’re currently sh*tting on.

Kanye, my request is simple….just let Twitter be great.

…and you can go run tell that, homeboy.

Song of the Week

Okay, Songs of the week since I couldn’t pick just one. Kickin’ it old school this Friday.

First up: 4hero’s  cover of “Superwoman” by Stevie Wonder. Good stuff.

next: Minnie Riperton-“Adventures in Paradise.” Minnie really is one of my favorite vocalists….

Obama sez: Brothers need to pull up their pants

Not really about the election, but, pretty amusing. Obama does not support laws that criminalize sagging pants, but he thinks it’s not a good look on brothas.

From The New York Times:

“We should be focused on creating jobs, improving our schools, health care, dealing with the war in Iraq, and anybody, any public official, that is worrying about sagging pants probably needs to spend some time focusing on real problems out there.”

…

“Brothers should pull up their pants,” he said. “You are walking by your mother, your grandmother, your underwear is showing. What’s wrong with that? Come on.”

Well said.

Things of Note: stylish 8-year-olds, Kwame’s Muse, a gratuitous Obama pic, and what black men think.

I know it’s been a while, so I’m just gonna jump right in:

–I can’t believe I haven’t talked about this before. I was on the Green Line the other day when i saw two 8 year old girls decked out in skinny jeans and door knockers. oh, and they had on the boots with the fur.

skinny jeans?

Door knockers?

eight year olds?

….boots with the fur?

I’ll never understand how “grown” these little girls are dressing now. When I was eight, do you know what I as wearing? I was wearing jumper overalls.

I mean sure, looking back, now that I’m in my 20s they were pretty lame…but you know what?

They were age appropriate.

And I guess that’s my point….when did parents stop dressing their girls appropriately? Since when did they start dressing kids up in designer clothes? When I was 8, my mom boughtmy clothes from Sears. I wasn’t dressed like a 22-year-old fashionista, I was dressed like a little Black girl.

All of this goes back to my discussion about sexual maturity a few weeks ago…we’ve gotta let our girls be girls. But I’m gonna take off my girls’ advocate hat, otherwise we’ll be here all night.

– support black bloggers. all the cool kids are doin’ it: Some of you may remember Kwame Boadi from previous plugs for his column at Brooklyn Bodega. His own blog is back with a vengeance…Check it out his musings on the science of the “dap,” election ’08, and the puzzling history of the name Kwame.

–Worth a Click: What Black Men Think is a documentary dispelling many stereotypes about Black men—for instance, are there REALLY more black men in jail than in college? if you believe so, is it simply because society has embedded this “statistic” into our minds? Definitely worth a look. There are clearly many struggles that Black men face, but when you take a closer look there really is hope–and in a few cases it’s not as bad as we are made to believe.

The film explores the issue of black marriage, the use of the N-word, academic achievement, crime. “There is a disconnect between perception and reality,” Morton says.

Read More from director Janks Morton at Washington Post.

–And now, another awesome Obama pic:

Obama ’08. Pennsylvania. Let’s get it.