I can be wrong sometimes.

So if you’ve seen some of my earlier posts, you probably noticed a trend of dissing Kanye West. Honestly, why shouldn’t I have? “Power” was a huge disappointment, at least to me. “Monster” was all right, but not up to his old standards. And that apology track for Taylor Swift at the VMAs was touching but definitely not ‘Ye-worthy.

Last night, I got caught up with the G.O.O.D. Friday releases, actually inadvertently.I still haven’t really been able to figure out the reasoning behind this plan- and I’m a marketing student- but hey, I am not complaining.

Some of the other tracks are almost as bad as “Power,” but they have progressively gotten better. (I refused to download “Runaway Love” in accordance with my anti-Bieber policy.) The only two things that rescue “Power (Remix)” from being even more of a wreck than the original are Jay-Z’s verse and the last minute and a half where the beat is changed completely. “Lord Lord Lord” is an interesting change. The other two are fairly regrettable.

And then there is “So Appalled.” The track itself is both reminiscent of Kanye’s “Graduation” days and clearly a foray into a new, experimental style. The arrangement is dark and brooding, and makes excellent use of strings and panning. And, at last, Kanye gives us a real, thought-provoking verse, with lines like “N***as are going through real shit, man, they outta work/ That’s why another goddamn dance track gotta hurt.” (Neither the beat nor the verse are new; they’ve bounced around for the past several months, but this seems to be their permanent incarnation.)

Jay-Z follows with another outstanding verse; at this point, in my eyes, Hov can do no wrong. His verse is album-quality, which might be because the track is slated to be included on his and Ye’s upcoming short album, Watch the Throne. Being the highest-paid and highest-charting rapper has got to indicate some industry sense, and so I was not surprised to learn that Jay was upset about Kanye releasing “So Appalled.” I agree, but damn it, I love this song, and a track of this caliber was exactly what was needed to get me back on the Kanye bandwagon. I’m sure I’m not the only listener who feels this way. So it isn’t an entirely lost cause.

Pusha T and Cyhi da Prynce follow with equally impressive verses. As we learned from the travesty of “Forever,” even the best-loved rappers can falter on high-profile collaborations. Fortunately, this is not the case here; everyone involved rises to the bar and complements the others. It comes together like a symphony.

All that remains to be seen is whether the rest of the G.O.O.D. Friday releases live up to this standard. I don’t expect them to, but I also hope they don’t drop back down to the pit that “Power” was. I want to see ‘Ye and Hov top the charts this November. But I won’t spend my money on an album full of overproduction and unmerited hype.

Now, an album full of “So Appalled,” I’ll buy five of.

They don’t make music like they used to.

So, recently, I found a couple of new tracks, both of which are interesting, for different reasons. You’ve probably heard of the first- “Whip My Hair” by Willow Smith. If you’re a pop or hip-hop fan and you haven’t heard it yet, you may want to come out from beneath that rock.

Yes, that is Will and Jada’s daughter. Yes, she is only nine years old. Yes, that is (mostly) her voice. It’s a nice standard pop tune- admittedly, it probably would not stand out as much if it had been recorded by an older girl with no industry connections. The song’s only faults are the annoying pitch of its repetitive chorus and the lyrical content- sorry, but I was nine once; I don’t believe her when she talks about haters. That’s more of a personal preference though; Shirley it would be wrong of me to hinder your enjoyment of the song for that reason alone.

I came across the next one a couple of weeks ago but paid it little mind. The beat is nothing special, and, at first listen, I found the majority of the lyrics lackluster. Yes, I am referring to Kanye West’s recently leaked/released single, “Monster.” (I’ve linked it rather than including the video itself, as the video will probably have been blocked by the time you read this). The track includes verses from Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj, and an unimpressive Rick Ross.

West’s trademark these days seems to be overly long, drawn-out, overly sexual verses. The only thing that kept me listening through his spiel was the knowledge that Jay-Z was up next. Hov does not disappoint. His verse is more thought-out and better delivered, and includes what I consider to be the best lines of the song: “Everybody wanna know what my Achilles’ heel is/ Love/ I don’t get enough of it.” Nicki follows with a strong verse of her own, adding her color/insanity to the mix.

Essentially, while Kanye’s name may be on the track, Jay and Nicki own it. That makes me wonder exactly who is riding whose coattails here.

Why I love Alphacat.

21st century borderline.

I’ve been away for a while again, mostly because nothing interesting has happened in a while. Just work, work, and occasional sleep.

There is something I’d like to discuss in general- the popular misconceptions regarding mental illnesses. Of all the people I’ve seen write or RP mentally-ill characters, I think I’ve seen one that did not piss me off. It’s so easy to simply fall into the stereotypes and generalities of each condition that no one really bothers to actually research what they’re writing about. And I find it difficult to respect people who don’t research their topics beforehand.

First thing: Schizophrenia is not the condition in which sufferers have multiple personalities. That’s dissociative identity disorder. Schizophrenia itself is divided into several different subcategories, some of which are also confused with bipolar disorder. Really, all it takes is a quick Google search to discover this; you owe that much to your character, your readers, and the people who actually have those conditions.

Second thing: ADD and ADHD are essentially the same thing (at least, in America). The term “ADD” specifically refers to the predominantly inattentive form of ADHD (which, by the way, stands for “attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder). As its name suggests, sufferers of this variation are less hyperactive and more unable to focus. Again, the specifics of each can be found quite easily; it doesn’t take a psychologist to learn this sort of stuff.

Third thing: Not everyone in mental health hospitals has gone batshit insane. There are plenty of problems for which people enroll or are committed there- grief, attempted suicide, anxiety, generally anything out of the norm that is adversely affecting someone’s life. Also, not every institution puts its patients in tiny white cells. Another thing that people don’t think about is that contact in the outside world can be pretty limited. Every facility is different, but in some cases, the patients aren’t allowed Internet access, and have to turn over their cell phones and cameras (and shoelaces, pants strings, nail clips, and other potentially harmful items). This is sometimes for the patients’ welfare, but also for the facility’s privacy.

That’s just a very, very general outline of the mental health stigmas and generalizations that I find annoying. The point of this post is to stress the importance of 1) not making assumptions about mental health issues and 2) researching things you don’t know about (paging Stephanie Meyer). Your readers will thank you.

Just as an aside, I thought I would mention my thoughts on Kanye West’s new single, “Power,” which doesn’t really deserve its own post. To me, an amateur producer, the track sounds ridiculously messy- the entrances of many of the effects are too harsh, and the backing vocals muddle the lead vocals. The lyrics are lackluster as well. In this case, ‘Ye, I think “schizo” is the appropriate term.