Things I Liked and Didn’t Like This Week: January 28, 2020
Is this an uncreative rip off of Zach Lowe? Yes. Does it make for easier writing? Also yes. This column will hopefully run once a week-ish and will be about pop culture, sports, the intersection of sports and pop culture, and whatever other ramblings Ben feels like talking about. Episode 1 is about rap music, shoes, Q, and bird shit.
Tyler The Creator’s Grammy’s Performance
Tyler the Creator is a fucking crazy person, which is why he is, for my money, one of the coolest and most influential performers today. “New Magic Wand” has no business going as hard as it does, and Tyler losing his goddamn mind while performing it is just stupidly fun to watch. Tyler’s music keeps getting deeper, more sonically interesting, and just...cooler. Does Billie Eilish exist without Tyler? I don’t think so.
These New Jordan 1s That Are Supposed To Be Cool
A fun fact about me that will hopefully help to explain why I waste so much time, money, and energy thinking about shoes:
I was born with an extra toe on each foot, which was way more of a bummer it sounds like. I was in casts a lot as a baby, didn’t walk for a very long time (this is my excuse for why I’m the slowest runner who’s ever lived), and couldn’t wear anything other than StrideRite shoes until I was like 12. One of the exhibits at the children’s museum I went to as a kid had a case of Michael Jordan’s shoes. There was an original 1985 black/red (‘bred” for sneakerheads) Jordan 1 pair in the case and, reader, I wanted them very badly. Nike’s, though, wouldn’t fit on my too wide feet and would slice the hell out of my ankles. Now, I want a pair of bred 1s more than anything. They go for $550+, and it sucks.
But good news! Nike’s releasing a pair of “Reverse Bred” 1s. It should be cool! Right??
Why do these stink? Something about the red toe box looks hokey and cheap. It takes a lot to screw up a red/black color scheme, but I think we’ve found a way to do it. Congratulations to Nike.
10 Day
This mixtape came out nearly 8 years ago, but I’m writing about it now.
There’s something about raw music that just sits better with my eardrums. I was on the el on Monday night and “Smoke Break” off of Chance The Rapper’s Coloring Book came on. It’s an extremely good song with a catchy and really well-produced song off a really good and catchy and well-produced album. The first thing I did as the song wound down was to put on “Brain Cells” off of Chance’s first big mixtape, 10 Day.
It’s a guttural reaction to say that artists sell out as they go from undiscovered to industry darling, and it’s a wildly unfair one. But Chance, like so many other artists, was just...more interesting when he was kinda fucked up. This is still the best rhyme he’s had.
“Prom Night,” and “Hey Ma,” the softest songs on 10 Day, are both sweeter than the widely panned The Big Day’s endless stream of “I Love My Wife” songs, and “22 Offs” is my favorite 1:30 of Chance’s repertoire.
The Return Of Tennys Sandgren
Tennys Sandgren, who you reading this probably are not familiar with, made the Australian Open quarterfinals a few years ago then got internet famous for 48 hours when folks found out that he believes in PizzaGate, is racist/homophobic, and has an IQ of 58.
He cracked the top 50, had a moment, and fell away to the fringe of the ATP Tour where he belonged.
Then he went and made another Australian Open quarterfinal this year and was rewarded by getting to play Roger Federer. This all sucks big time since Tennys Sandgren, again, thinks PizzaGate is real. Tennis Legacy Journalists falling for his “aw shucks” Twitter Funny Guy rebrand isn’t helping matters.
In that Federer match, Sandgren went up by two sets to one and had no less than seven match points to make the Australian Open semifinal. Somehow, he lost them all and let an ailing Federer win the fifth set. Sources are saying this was a big loss for Q. This reversal for QAnon is not indicative of a return to the fountain of youth for Federer, who looks more washed than ever.
How To Hide An Empire
I finished this book a little while ago, but I really cannot recommend it enough.
As someone who studied history, believe me when I say I know how incredibly boring history books can be. But Daniel Immerwahr has a unique gift to tell complex stories with enough interesting anecdotes and with a not-too-self-serious tone that makes thick history really interesting to read.
As the title makes pretty clear, this book is about the parts of America that are generally excluded from the regular story of the country. Immerwahr talks a lot about the idea of the “Logo Map,” the contiguous 48 states of the United States. While that’s the general idea lots of folks have about the country, the outer reaches of the country, or perhaps more accurately the colonial holdings of the country, always seem to be part of the story of how the United States matured into an imperial power.
Manila was once the 5th biggest American city! For, like, a long time! The Japanese Army attacked Alaska! The need for bird shit to use as fertilizer was one of the initial causes of full-fledged American imperial ambition (GUANOSZN). There are all of these incredibly interesting, important, and transformative events that are kept out of the traditional story of America.
Educate yourself with this book to widen your horizons (and nourish your sensations).
If that’s not a good sell, there is an entire chapter dedicated to the aforementioned search for bird shit and it is SO WILD.
See you all next week.
