My name is Larion, not much to me to be honest. I am just the average working class dude with an opinion on a thing or two and a couple jokes at my disposal. I come from Savannah, GA (912 Stand up!) where I currently live after moving around the southeast for a few years. The only things I care about outside of my family and close friends are sports, movies, the occasional lady friend and most importantly MUSIC! I am not a rapper, nor do I want to be one, I just love when something catches my ear and transforms or enhances my mood.
Follow me on twitter @Larion Real name, no gimmick.
1!> How do you feel about the current state of hip-hop and the music industry in general?
Hip-Hop is in a great place right now! People who say "Hip-Hop is dead!" are just lazy. Hip-Hop is alive, well & lives all over the nation, hell the world! I have listened to so many talented artist over the past few months that it's amazing. People have to allow new cats in the game. So many people are holding on to the past that they don't realize that new artist are emerging and they are either just as good as if not better than some of their older favorites. That's not to disrespect the vets; I still think Jay-Z is dope, but J.Cole is too and so are a host of others.
The music industry is in a rough place. I'm not even sure what purpose record labels serve anymore. Artist release "mixtapes" which are truthfully street albums, for free, without the aid of any label and tour off the strength of that alone. Look at artist like Wiz Khalifa and Dom Kennedy; no major deals but they are both constantly touring and getting money off of that. The only thing a major label deal can do for an artist is broaden their audience, which may or may not translate into bigger venues and more money but that has to be counteracted with whatever the label fronts. I'd say an artist has to way up the pros and cons before just getting involved with a major label.
4!> Do you feel like the recession is over?
Over?! Naw, it ain't even close to over! Lol! I mean honestly this condition isn't anything new to the impoverished anyways. People have been scraping by with next to nothing for quite some time now. I mean the biggest impact I've seen has been in work industry. My employer was forced to close a plant and release around 1500 employees at the facility where I work; that's the recession in it's purest form. Living check to check is the American way anyways but when you can't get that check that's when the recession becomes real. God bless everybody who does have to wake up tomorrow knowing they have no clue where their next dollar is coming from.
5!> What steps do minorities need to take to create a better community for our children?
Own up to our responsibilities & change what is cool in the eyes of the youth. We have to take care of us, nobody asked to be here but we are and all we have is each other and we aren't even utilizing that tool. To top that off we accept a bunch of bullshit as the norm or the cool thing to do. It's not normal or cool to go to prison, yet we as a community continue to go at an alarming rate and we treat it as if just a part of growing up. It is cool to go to school and be educated; not run the streets recklessly learning trades that only get you killed or incarcerated. It's cool to find a career field; not sell drugs as if it isn't literally a dead end job. It's cool to create and maintain a family; not just baby mothers and fathers.
I am far from perfect and have been guilty of falling into the social constructs of what was taught to me as cool by some of my peers, so I am far from preaching from up on high. I am just saying that I know we are part of our own problem and therefore have to be a part of our own solution. I realize that my people have been mistreated and dealt a bad hand from the moment we were introduced to this country, but times HAVE changed and my generation didn't face the hardships of our parents, or God forbid our grandparents. If we aren't going to take care of us who will?
6!> Are we living the dream that Dr. Martin Luther King spoke of in his "I Have A Dream" speech?
Wow...big question. I think it all depends on what you view as the dream. My answer maybe a bit controversial but I'm going to say yes. I think that the dream was misinterpreted into this vision where people think he wanted us to live in this utopia. The man grew up in the South, that adds certain perspective that people who aren't from here can't understand, but I don't believe he thought the world would gather hands and sing "We Are The World" and all would be well.
I believe all he dreamed for Black people in this nation was to have a fair chance despite the color of their skin, period. I think in the most general sense we have achieved that much. I know there are instances where a man is definitely judged solely by his skin; I'm not ignorant, I almost 30 and I grew up in Georgia. I have been chased by skin heads and called a "nigger" in the most hateful way possible on more than one occasion. I know the Klan still hold rallies and that people still hate me because I'm Black, but times have advanced. I did not suffer any of the injustices my mother dealt with because of Jim Crow laws.
This society is far from perfect but we have definitely advanced as a group, and their is no denying that. I think Dr. King would have a new dream for Blacks in America. I think we got to where he wanted us to be on the larger scale as far as opportunity goes so I think he would charge us with picking ourselves up and taking responsibility for ourselves. I think he would charge the people with making sure they aren't leaning on excuses and are taking advantage of the opportunities out there. I think he would charge the government to aid us in this cause, because after all our condition in America was created by the people who brought us here and by and large run this country.
I can do so much more than my grandparents could because of the sacrifices men like Dr. King made, so to say it was all for nothing would be delusional and almost disrespectful. Dr. King and many others died to see me be able to walk into the same door at McDonalds and be treated like the white guy in front of me in line. We achieved that dream because of men like him but it's time for a new dream that takes us to the next level.
13!> Do you believe that college or higher education necessary to be successful?
No I don't think that you must achieve a higher education to be successful, but to think that you will beat the odds without higher education is somewhat foolish. Let's be honest, we all have certain strengths, weaknesses and abilities so we have to recognize and then utilize those things in order to be successful in this world. If you can't run fast, jump high, or show extreme aptitude for athletics then you aren't going to be a professional athlete. Even those who do show strengths in athletics rarely succeed on the professional level so that rules out the vast majority of the population.
Many people want to be musicians of some sort, and in short just aren't good, stop it. Nobody is gonna sign you because nobody wants to hear you. I've already went over the drug dealing thing, but to summarize Tony Montana was killed in that movie and Ricky Jivens is still locked up (Google him). However if you do have certain aptitudes in fields that acquire you legal revenue and the hustle to go after it, by all means skip the books and pursue your passion.
I didn't get a higher education and I make a decent living so I know it can be done, but if I had it to do all over again I would've gotten my education against all odds to at least have as a safe choice to fall back on.
16!> Athletes receive multi million dollar contracts but we still have uneducated children and hungry people on the streets… How do YOU feel about this and what, if anything, can we do to change it??
It's all about priorities; in America nothing comes before entertainment. We (present company most certainly included) are the reason these athletes are paid what they are and we are too diseased to change it. If we wanted athletes to make less it would be simple, don't attend sporting events, watch them on tv, or purchase any memorabilia and the cash cow would be milked dry.
The emphasis isn't on those less fortunate so they will always suffer in this country because we have our entertainment to turn our heads away from their pain and suffering. Who wants to worry about the kids and the homeless when the Celtics are playing the Lakers? And when Miami is playing you might as well forget you know me for about 4 hours if you aren't in the cult of #TheU. It's sick but we are all diseased and don't want the cure.
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