The Side Chick

So I wasn’t going to comment on a lot of the statuses/posts/tweets I’ve been seeing this weekend.

I know, I know. I always speak my mind, right? So why different this time?

I wasn’t going to comment because I didn’t think it needed my “Caribbean Rambler” stamp on it.

But...after seeing this for what seems like the 100^th time today, I felt the need to say a quick something about it.

First off, Happy National Side Chick Day!!! (e-confetti, glitter spins) O_o

(Yup, I’m going there today.)

I almost want to post this to Facebook and tag all the people this weekend that I’ve seen address this over the weekend, but there is a tag limit on these things, I know. Not to mention that you don’t need me to tell you who you are. You know who you are.

I didn’t realize that today was a national holiday – the precursor before Valentine’s Day, if you will. I mean, never mind that Valentine’s Day is such a day of mixed emotions – the lonely and bitter ones cursing the day because they’re lonely, the happy ones posting all of their Valentine’s Day goodies, the lonely and hopeful landing somewhere in the middle…Valentine’s Day in and of itself has the potential to cause lots of drama. I mean, as we all know (prepare for sarcasm), Valentine’s Day is the only day of the year that one can express their appreciation for the ones that they love. Husbands, boyfriends, do me and yourselves a favor this upcoming V-Day: make sure you get your shorty something, if you ever intend on getting buns today or in the near future. If she says she doesn't want something, she is lying. Trust me. Even if she insists. She wants something. She wants you to get it anyway.

But this post is not for the happily/unhappily/situations in love.

This post is for the side chick in all of us.

I just want to start off by saying that I don’t say this to encourage infidelity. For myself, I have never cheated on anyone I’ve been with a day in my life, which becomes interesting when you assess that at least half of the people I have been with cannot say the same. (I’m not bitter. Seriously. No sarcasm. It’s all a lesson learned.) I firmly believe that if you’re with dude or shorty, and you’re not happy, and you have the power with which to either fix the problem or leave, then do so. Cheating solves nothing and complicates everything.

Having said that…

Raise your hand if you’ve been or know a side chick.

(raises hand, patiently waits)

There should be a lot more hands up than there are right now. *raises eyebrow*

OK. OK. I’ll stop. I’m not blowing anyone’s spot today.

What I will say is this: there are a lot of us out there, using social media as a platform with which to be uber judgmental. As many people as I’ve seen putting down the ‘side chick’ these past few days, how many of those same people have side chicks? Know side chicks? Encourage the side chick phenomenon? Hell, how many of your parents have been the/encouraged the side chick thing?

Food for thought, isn’t it?

Now, again, I don’t condone behavior or encourage it. I’m not offering an opinion on the side chick one way or the other. But if there is one thing I have learned these past few years, it is this: you can never walk in someone’s shoes unless you’ve walked in their shoes. And it is with that said that I say this: stop playing out the side chick. Leave them be and stop pointing the finger. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and actions, and I don’t care what you think you might do or not do or what you think something is, you can never say unless you’ve been there. Everyone has a higher power to answer to eventually. Let them answer to it. After all…lots of you pointing the finger have a/are the side chick, aren’t you? *wink* #imjustsaying…

That is all.

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Call Me the Anti AutoTune, Pro VDay TweetHead

"This is Death of Autotune/Moment of Silence" - Jay-Z

What more fitting way to start this rambling? By now, most of us have heard this song by neighborhood dealer turned multi million dollar rapper mogul Jay-Z (yes, I went in that deep, I'm an admitted Jay-Z fan). When this song dropped, it didn't really matter that I had my eyebrows raised at the fact that my retired rapper aficionado was coming out with yet another album, all that mattered was that he said "Death to Autotune"!!

YESS!!!

At last, someone laid claim to my undying HATRED of the voice synthesizing machine that turned untalented 'artists' into multi million dollar selling...err...people. Though Roger Troutman made the vocoder very popular with funk hits such as "I Wanna Be Your Man", the newest trend of no talent artists (read: T-Pain) that have taken and spun the use of machine out of control baffles me.

Now, hear me out. I'm sure some of you are reading this and saying 1. Who the hell are you to say that they have no talent? 2. Who the hell are you to infer that one artist can determine who can and can't do something, and 3. Um...who the hell are you...PERIOD!!

Well, I'm just a Caribbean rambler. No one important per se. But I know music. I know music...and I know talent. That much I do know. And I know that with few exceptions (Jamie Foxx being one of them), the vast majority of the people who use autotune techniques are NOT talented. This is not to say that they are not innovative or creative in their own right. T-Pain is, indeed, talented in the sense that he was able to build this brand of himself using the tools he knew how to use best. That is what I like to call good marketing. He is not, however, classically talented. I love good music. I MISS good music.

Moving on.

I've been seeing and hearing a lot of Valentine's Day rants and ramblings, usually from those who are currently unattached or who have had bad experiences. I say this, simply: we get too hung up on holidays and the like. We also don't open ourselves up to feeling again, new relations and the like. Granted, it is true that we are human and cannot help instinctively wanting to simply curl up into a ball and protecting ourselves from emotional hurt that way, but really though, what did the 'holiday' do to you? I guarantee you, when you have a meaningful relationship, you won't be throwing the day shade anymore (unless you're like my homegirl and her husband, who could truly care LESS. But not many are like them. LOL). So stop it. Be nice to V Day. *smiles*

Finally. I am an official TweetHead. I spend 30% of my day at LEAST on Twitter. I know some ppl hate Twitter. Take it from someone who was the same way: use it for a while and then make a judgment. You'll change your mind. I swear.

What do you think of Autotune? Do you think it's overused? How do you feel about Valentine's Day? Contrite day or welcome extra love? What are your thoughts on Twitter? Think....discuss...

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