Nietzsche is Wasted on Nihilists

Nietzsche suggests a love of versucher, the experimenter, the one who attempts. To love all that is in motion in man. "A dangerous going forward, a dangerous going back," says Nietzsche. To love the brave for their tendency to be destroyed, to love the free for their will to become lost. To love the incomplete that they are always in the moment of creation. To maintain fervently the right of refusal ("hardness!" cries Nietzsche, "severity! command!") because one must drink so deeply of all that is felt and heard and said. To leap in one fatal moment from the love of the incomplete to the love of the broken...
For me there is a constant temptation, passing under the city of New York, that I should stop and question one who is proclaiming damnation -- who spends his days under the earth. Some days there is the will to defy him, to match him madness for madness. But in the truest and most dangerous moments -- to sit and speak and understand him, out of a deep and somehow savage desire, to heal the wounded.

obie's got the most talent.  listen.

Download Mixtape | Provided by DatPiff.com

Offi ssah BAWWSE

that's what i think rick ross should change his name to.  i also think that his entire new album sounds like a 1970s James Bond movie .  personally, i think that's fantastic work.  too bad his career's a punchline.

Clever

As I may have mentioned, I work at a hedge fund, and I work as a computer programmer. I don't say this to brag -- there's not much to brag about, really -- but there should be some fairly smart folks around me. That said, this is cleverest thing I saw all week:

As I was leaving yesterday, one of the building staff was standing near the elevators with carpet-cleaning equipment. I was about to step into the open elevator, but he told me "Don't take that one, it'll be slow. I pushed all the buttons." Why? "So it doesn't come back." He had been tasked with cleaning all the elevators, but had no special control over which elevator would come when he hit the call buttons. So he needed to make sure a clean elevator wouldn't show up again for a while. In a 22-story building, hitting all the buttons is a pretty good solution.

Dresden Codak

You should look into it. It is pretty much the reason that I am intrigued by trans-humanism as a nascent philosophy. Also, very few webcomics tackle science, myth, and surreal comedy in quite the same way. It's probably not for everyone, but if you are fascinated by robots or think philosophy can be hilarious, especially when cast in terms of a role-playing game... it's probably your cup of tea.

Listing, Part 2

As promised, I present to you the 5 Hottest Producers in the game right now.  I say "hottest" to avoid any quibbles about "catalogue."  Production's all about the now.  So with apologies to DJ Premier and Dr. Dre (Dre, if you ever decide to drop Detox instead of phoning in beats for Em, we'll talk), let's begin.

1. Kanye West

Let's face it; he's always going to be remembered as a better producer than rapper, and he is.  I've enjoyed every stage of Ye's production career so far, and so has the general public.  Even those right-minded people who thought his singing on 808s & Heartbreak was pansy couldn't say the production wasn't on point.  With no signs of stopping, looks like Yeezy's breaking the mold on this one, and anyone who complains that he samples too much needs to jump off something tall and try to land on their head.  Tracklist:

-Love Lockdown

-Flashing Lights

-Let The Beat Build, Lil Wayne

-Swagga Like Us, Everyone

-I Poke Her Face, Kid Cudi

2. Dion Wilson - a.k.a. No I.D.

First the student, then the mentor.  Rap godfather of the Chi, No I.D.'s best work has come recently, in my opinion.  Namely, his yet fully public work with Mikkey Halsted.  He has described it in interviews as his symphony and from what I've heard, it certainly sounds like nothing else and utterly fantastic.  Props to dude for his recent mainstream acclaim on Jigga's last album and the rumors he helped Kanye with most of the  upcoming The Blueprint 3.  Tracklist:

-See You In My Nightmares, Kanye West

-Karma, Mikkey Halsted

-Put It On Ya, Plies

-Rebel To America, Mikkey Halsted

-Success, Jay-Z

3.  Polow-Freache Jamal Fincher Jones - a.k.a. Polow da Don

So we all know Love In This Club was crazy, and I don't really care that he used GarageBand; that's what it's there for.  You're just mad you didn't figure it out first.  He's also got Rich Boy under his belt, which you might call his symphony.  Yeah, maybe a lot of his production is geared toward singers, but face it, rappers love his beats.  What do you think remixes are for?  Tracklist:

-Let's Get This Paper, Rich Boy

-Love In This Club, Usher

-Role Models, Rich Boy

-Turnin Me On, Keri Hilson

-Forever, Chris Brown

4. Marcello Valenzano and Andre Christopher Lyon - a.k.a. Cool & Dre

These two have really had a magic touch of late and the work they've done down south has given them a whole bag full of hits.  They're best when they're working with epic sounds, and the end result of most of their tracks are some wicked freestyle beats, hence the popularity of their group tracks.  Listen.  Tracklist:

-Brown Paper Bag, DJ Khaled and Friends

-My Life, The Game

-Hot Revolver, Lil Wayne

-Blown, Busta Rhymes

-All My Life, Jay Rock

5. Christopher Gholsen - a.k.a. Drumma Boy

This guy has a mad musical background and it really comes through in the production.  You can tell he likes classical music.  That synth crescendo you've been hearing at the beginning of your favorite tracks?  Yep, that's your boy.  He's making some of the most fun music out right now.  Tracklist:

-Watch Dis, Plies

-I'm Da Man, Plies

-Put On, Young Jeezy

-My Life, Your Entertainment, T.I.

-Lost, Gorilla Zoe

Shout out to J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League.  Y'all made Rick Ross' career; just got squeezed out here.  Dem beats are buttery!

Sully'd Ethics

Remember Captain Chesley Sullenberger, hero of New York?

Now, normally, you would expect this blog post to be about his recently discovered coke habit, or those prostitutes he murdered back in the 80s. Why bring up a hero again if not to tear him back down? Travesty can be so satisfying, as can backlash. Hence my misleading photoshop.

But instead I'm going to talk about ethics. Zach and I have discussed this a few times, and Zach's main theme has been that Sullenberger is not a hero -- or at least did not deserve the hyperbole of the time -- because he was "just doing his job."

This much is true. Sullenberger did no more than his duty. He gave up nothing, made no extraordinary sacrifice. Had circumstances required that Sullenberger die to save the lives of his passengers, there could be no question of his heroism. But there was no call for that. It's possible that Sullenberger landed the plane purely for his own survival, and we cannot speak to his motives with certainty. By becoming a pilot, he agreed to take responsibility for all those on the plane. It is only the difficult circumstances he was placed in that separate him from other pilots.

On the other hand, he did no less than his duty. When put to the test, he proved he was capable of fulfilling it. Certainly, no fault can be found with his behavior. And this, it seems clear, led in a large part to his media popularity. It is much easier to celebrate the conclusively, concretely proven than the abstract. It may well be that Sullenberger is not of exceptional skill -- but I think this plays a part as well. There is a certain hunger for reassurance in air travel, where the passenger has no control. The "Miracle on the Hudson" would seem to demonstrate that the faith we have in pilots is not misplaced, and they are all dedicated, courageous men and women. But we only have the one concrete example, who receives all the praise that is due to the anonymous pilot. My other suspicion is that, as a society, we find it easier to celebrate great skill than heroism in the altruistic sense. Note the profound warping of ethics around figures in sports -- and the feverish denunciations when they break some normally insignificant taboo.

And yet, Sullenberger deserves more ethical credit for "just doing his job" than does the average third-baseman. A commercial pilot does take responsibility for thousands of lives over the course of a year, and this should be respected. I don't mean to overly dramaticize this -- commercial aviation is extremely safe, and any of us takes up a similar duty when driving a car. The ethical significance is not really in the landing of the plane, but in the willingness to take up and the ability to carry out the duty. It is only a twist of fate that Sullenberger was put in situation to demonstrate this. Although from what we now know of him, he does seem to be especially knowledgeable and qualified -- top pilot in his class, master's degree, speaker for safety organizations. All this is not without merit, and it does give a certain unshakeable feeling that precidely the right person was called upon to save the day.

And in an almost-too-pat-to-be-believed coincidence, Sullenberger is reported to have lost a book on professional ethics when the plane went down -- which he then reported dutifully to the library from which he borrowed it. If you can wrap your brain around that one, it does speak rather highly of his conscientiousness.

And this is more or less a long-winded attempt to say that yes, he deserves praise, but probably not much more than any of a legion of less-easily-noticed heroes. Like they say, the squeaky wheel gets the parade. And sometimes the squeaky wheel is an indication that you won't be able to lower the landing gear, forcing a hair-raising, two-fisted belly landing. The metaphor gets a bit confused here, but my point stands.

On a slightly tangential point, I'm inclined to think that most really heroic figures can't conceive of it as anything other than "doing their job." If one is secure in one's morals, there is a strong sense that one has no choice to do otherwise. There is plenty of room for doubt and temptation, of course, but the rubber band always snap back. Obviously, I have a very obligation-centered view of ethics, and make no claims to heroism (and don't trust anyone who would), but that is my sense of how it ought to work.

Of course, the most ethical thing you can do now is to scroll down the page and read Alex's hip-hop post, if you haven't already -- Unless doing so would prevent you from saving that busload of third-graders from that tank of sharks. In that case, use your own best judgement.

Listing

As far as I can tell, the only way one is allowed discuss Hip-Hop is through lists. Therefore, let's jump right into the meat of it. I give you the five best rappers alive. This is a fluid list; artists are always one bad career move or bus slam away from falling into obscurity and/or the grave. A quick note of criteria. To be the best alive you have to be:

1) alive.

2) prolific.

3) relevant.

4) talented.

1. Obie Trice

Detroit is filled with great rappers, but perhaps none have the raw talent of O. Trice. His flows are unparalleled and his wordplay never gets boring. A platinum-selling artist, the two albums he dropped on shady records are classics, especially Second Round's On Me. The mixtapes he did with DJ Whoo Kidd are equally impressive. Not to mention he's as real as they come. Now that he's free from Interscope's stifling bureaucracy, he can pursue his own projects, so hopefully we'll be getting a lot more product from him in the future. Look for his album Bottom's Up to drop on his new Worldwide Hustle label this year.

I put together a tape of some of his rarer tracks:

Download Mixtape | Provided by DatPiff.com

2. Eminem

Remember what I said about Detroit? The white boy always brings the pain, and is the closest thing the game has to a relevant legend since Jay-Z got bored and started watching movies. Em's production slowed to a faint trickle through all his rehab business, but the new album (Relapse, for those of you who live under rocks) is slated for May and with public anticipation bubbling over, the next rapper on this list is about to learn a thing or two about record sales. To prepare yourself for the new Em, check out some rare old Em--his first LP with some funky beats and a laid back flow that marks the time before he rapped about the occult:

Download Mixtape | Provided by DatPiff.com

3. Lil Wayne

People love to hate on this guy, which shows you just how big he's become. Y'all know his story by now. Personally I think he's a fascinating experiment--literally raised by the Hip-Hop industry. The formula worked after over a decade of solid grind, and Weezy went multi-plat despite a leaked album. Tha Carter 1 & 2 are classics and dude produces music at Makavelli speeds, showing no sign of slowing. I don't think people can deny it anymore; he's a game changer. The ante has been upped for every rapper operating in the age of the Internet. The latest to leak:

Download Mixtape | Provided by DatPiff.com

4. Mikkey Halsted

This list just keeps building on itself. Wayne cited this dude as one of his biggest influences--moreso than Gille The Kid, who claimed to have ghostwritten for Weezy. Mikkey's story is an interesting one. Kanye did his demo tape and they were both signed by Cash Money, but Yeezy dipped off to The Roc and fame at the last minute. Mikkey, meanwhile, who was slated to be Juvi's replacement, recorded a lot of tracks that got locked away in a vault by the much maligned Birdman. He's back, though, and is more poetic than anyone out there. He's more than buzzworthy in the Chi, and when his No ID-produced Chicago: The Photo Album sees release on a major label in the near future, dude's gonna blow up. Till then, check out his flawless mixtape:

Download Mixtape | Provided by DatPiff.com

5. Plies

If you think my list loses credibility by including this man, you can go curl up in your bed and cry about your favorite genre while you listen to Nas through expensive headphones. Plies is hot, he's getting some of the most interesting production around right now and he released three full-length studio albums in a year and a half (Definition of Real is my personal fav). Some chide him for his often monosyllabic rhyming, but I think he's really coming into his own. No one does charming, levelheaded vulgarity like this guy. His earliest records are bangers:

Download Mixtape | Provided by DatPiff.com

There's more to come. Production's next.

Wha?

Well, this is a real kick in the teeth for my "businesses are sociopaths" theory.

Walgreen's to Treat the Unemployed and Uninsured for Free

Granted, it is fabulous marketing -- I didn't even know Walgreen's had in-store clinics -- and it doesn't cover everything, but this still boggles my mind. Actually, it's this and the fact that Pepsi literally clothed the huddled masses at the Obama inauguration, while the Boy Scouts handed out shoddy little flags. I don't have very high expectations of the Boy Scouts either, but still.

Obviously, there are exceptions to every rule, but even if Walgreen's is doing this for purely nefarious reasons, such as to build brand loyalty among those who can't afford care anyway, it's a very positive sign. If ethics are at such a premium with the public that companies find it advantageous to do this sort of thing, then it becomes much easier to avoid the whole corporate dystopian nightmare scenario. This is predicated on the public paying attention and being alert to trickery, though, and the jury is still out on that.

Nonetheless, bravo to Walgreen's.