"Now I don't want to get off on a rant here, but...." -Dennis Miller
Like everybody, there are quite a few things in this world which just annoy the hell out of me. I try not to voice these opinions for various reasons. I never want to hurt anyone's feelings, I appear bitter when I do, etc. Unfortunately, unless I voice my frustrations, they don't go away. The solution I've come up with, is this Rant & Roar section of my website. Every so often, I plan to vent my frustration, go on a rant and just plain roar about a certain topic that annoys me. I mean absolutely no offense to anyone in particular. This section is not an excuse for me to attack anyone. It's just me letting off some steam.
You can also check out my previous rants.
If you find the following rant offensive, then you can read the Jesusified version of it.
Let me say straight out that Rap music really isn't my thing. Of course, being a white middle-class Jew who lives in Montreal, that isn't really surprising. I have absolutely no way to relate to any of it. It's a different culture from any I've experienced. Also, I think if I ever use words like "hood" or "crib" to mean anything other than a piece of fabric and a place you put a baby, I deserve be shot. This all adds up to me not really being a fan of Rap music. That doesn't mean I don't respect Rap however. It's a musical genre like any other, it's just one I don't particularly like.
So, the question is, if I have no problem with Rap music, what do I have against P. Diddy? Well, I could say that I'm sick of his annoying habit of stealing other people's songs, changing them slightly, then re-releasing them as his own. No matter what genre of music you're in, STOP DOING THAT! Release your OWN songs! If I wanted to hear "Every Breath You Take" by Sting, then I'd LISTEN to "Every Breath You Take" by Sting. It's a STING song! Now, P. Diddy isn't the only artist to do this. It happens all the time in all different genres. Rap, Rock, Pop, Alternative, etc, etc. There's a lack of originality out there that's really irritating. That's a rant for another time however. Also, it's not the reason that P. Diddy annoys me.
So, what DOES annoy me about P. Diddy? IT'S HIS DAMN NAME! What the hell kind of name is P. Diddy?! What the hell does that even MEAN?! I mean, even Puff Daddy was kind of a stupid name to begin with. Is he supposed to have some sort of relation to the Power Puff Girls, or Puff the Magic Dragon? Maybe he just has a kid named "Puff" and wanted everyone to know? The point is, it's a silly name. Of course, it might just be a matter of me not getting the meaning of the name, in which case, this whole paragraph is gonna sound mighty stupid. Either way, I think Puff Daddy is a pretty damn silly sounding name.
Now, admittedly, I never understood the names Rappers chose for themselves. While some might carry some sort of meaning that I just don't understand, others are just plain goofy. I mean, considering the messages they are trying to convey, doesn't having a name like Ice-Cube or Ice-T really just make it hard to accept what they're saying? I mean, these are things you bring on a pick-nick, not names you use to convey the harsh reality of city streets!
Anyway, back to the topic at hand. No one seemed to question the ridiculousness of someone calling themselves Puff Daddy. This was because... frankly... I don't think anyone really cared. Some people liked his music, others didn't. There wasn't much more to it than that. Now that he's calling attention to his name by going out of his way to change it to something as stupid as P. Diddy however, how can we NOT be expected to point and laugh?
Before new Rappers calling themselves Hot Mustard, Relish, and Iced-Coffee appear on the scene, I think P. Diddy needs to sit down and think about how insane his name actually sounds. I mean, if you can choose your own name, why the hell would WANT people to call you P. Diddy?!
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