Nietzsche, Art, and Condemning Rationalism

"...it is only as an aesthetic phenomenon that existence and the world are eternally justified."
-Friedrich Nietzsche 

Nietzsche was an infinitesimally important figure in the field of philosophy and he wrote about many things that change the way we look at the world. One of his books The Birth of Tragedy was in many ways a criticism of the rationality that pervaded the intelligentsia of his time. The world is still very much pervaded by the empiricism of the 18th century that Nietzsche reasoned against, and I thought it would be relevant to discuss his views.  

Nietzsche believed (as many of us do) that reason and knowledge have no intrinsic value and do not justify life. Since that is the case, those who pursue knowledge and knowledge alone (without correlating it to something that has deeper meaning) ultimately live unfulfilled lives. Therefore, to find purpose in life, one must find something that has substance beyond knowledge. Nietzsche believed that the only thing that properly accomplished this goal is art- that beautiful paintings, melodious music, poignant films, gripping books, and triumphant theater all give people a deeper understanding of human emotions and experiences. Since this is the case, it has meaning. 

We spend so much time trying to put everything on this Earth into compartments. We want to organize, and rationalize, and theorize, and serialize until everything seems to make sense. We will never be successful though. There are always things that elude the curiosities of men- things that we will never understand or even... comprehend.

It is better to examine the beauty and art of this world and allow our emotions to be moved than it is to drift through life collecting information. Art is the most important thing on this Earth, that is a peaceful realization indeed. 

The Radio

Do you ever feel like the radio plays songs that reflect your thoughts? I've heard that a lot, but I've never really taken it all that seriously. I almost never listen to the radio, but lately I have been and the radio has just spewed songs that know all my feelings. Maybe I'm just paying closer attention, it's weird though. I wonder if it has any significance...

Kendrick Lamar's "Control" Verse and Its Best Responses

For those of you who don't already know. I love rap music and try to keep up with what's going with it. Recently Kendrick Lamar did a very controversial verse on a Big Sean song that wasn't released due to some licensing issues. The song still made it to the internet and Kendrick's verse stirred up a lot of controversy within the rap community. He basically called out all of the big artists in the game right now and challenged them. The stab was relatively friendly (it is rap music), but many rappers took offense to his bravado. He claimed to be the king of New York which is bit of a diss to rap god's like Jay-Z and Diddy. After the verse dropped several rappers released responses. Several of these responses samples the beat that Kendrick used in the "Control" verse, others sampled other beats, and others were actual songs that mentioned the controversy and dissed Kendrick. Ironically, only a couple of the rappers that Kendrick called out directly released responses. For some reason, other rappers released responses too. Regardless, the whole controversy generated some pretty good music. I'm a huge Kendrick fan, so I think he won, but there were some pretty good responses.

Here's Kendrick's "Control" verse:

Here's my favorite Control responses: 

1. King Los

This verse is great rap and it humbly gives props to every rapper who Kendrick dissed, it's really interesting to see a rapper do that in the game today where there's a lot of tension amongst artists. I'm not saying rappers shouldn't battle, but humility is a good trait to have.

2. Cassidy

This one impressed me too. I haven't listened to Cassidy much but he's pretty fucking good. It's also pretty long and good all the way through. A lot of the responses were around 2 minutes. Cassidy's was almost 6 minutes long. Very solid.

3. Meek Mill

Meek Mill samples Dr. Dre for this beat and it's great. Everything that makes Meek Mill a great rapper is on this verse. His energy, his bravado, his tenacity, his flow... It's tight shit.

4. A$AP Rocky

This beat didn't sample the original control verse either, but it's also very good. It wasn't directly a Kendrick diss, but it's still a response and it (like the others) just goes to show that Kendrick isn't the only talented rapper int he game right now. 

5. Papoose

I really liked this one too. It's very political and nostalgic. It was also very classic in its dissing methodology (very rap-battle esque). It was a little brash, but still very passionate. 

6. Joe Budden 

This rap was really respectful of what Kendrick was trying to do with his verse (inspire some competition). Bedden's verse is a good, solid rap, it got a little weird towards the end though, so I rated it farther down. 

7. Eminem

Eminem is likely the most talented wordsmith alive right now and he's one of my favorite artists of all time. his verse was a little weird though (like a lot of his newer music also is). It was also kind of short...

8. Joell Ortiz

I had honestly never heard of Joell Ortiz until the "Control" controversy, but he released a solid verse. Pretty old-school shit. 

9. Mysonne

Mysonne released a solid verse too. Good rap.

10. Lupe Fiasco

Lupe Fiasco literally raps as Hitler in this verse. Very strange, but very unique. 

Comment who you think released the best response. Did any of them beat Kendrick? 

The Nectar of the Soul

I figured I'd better write something uplifting for a change- or at least something that doesn't involve me swearing and carrying on about how hard my life is.

It's starting to dawn on me that sleep is very important. I've lived the majority of my life utilizing very little of it. I'm a night owl and I stay up very late and then get up early for school and such.

The other day I woke up from a much-needed nap and realized how refreshed I felt. no longer was my mind racing with thoughts of depression, anxiety, what-ifs, and the other constant calculations its so prone to do. Instead, I was at peace. I felt good about where I was in life and what I was accomplishing. I have been spinning a bit lately, but sleep has calmed me. It has pulled me out of the spiral. I'm sure you're probably thinking "duh, of course sleep is good for you". I don't know why I didn't see it. I have a bit of a god complex and I sometimes think that the simple laws of nature (humans needing sleep) don't apply to me. I guess they do- I'm just as human as the next guy. It's getting late, I'd better go to bed soon. :-)

By the way, that guy in the picture is totally me. Sleep has enhanced my appearance greatly.

F*** Everything (Excuse my language in advance)

Fuck everything... I think life is turning me into a despicable person. I don't handle anxiety and stress very well, and I become pretty shitty when life gets to be too much. School, work, extracurriculars, relationships, lack of relationships, homework, my shoddy health. IB really is fucking hard. I didn't think it would be that hard last year, but now I know. I've always felt like I can do whatever I set my mind to, I still think that, but I'm realizing that that doesn't make things easy.

I don't understand my school anymore- I see people in the halls, I listen to their conversations, I see how they behave. It's like a weird mystery to me. Why? Why? WHY!? Why wear minuscule shorts when it's 30 degrees outside? Why intentionally neglect your homework in a remedial class and fail? Why smoke cigarettes in school? Why pop mollies in school? What the fuck are these people thinking? Where in the fuck will they be in 20 years? 5 years even?!

I feel so under-appreciated. I'm so done with high school and this fucking town.

Thoughts from the Last Debate Tournament and the Hectic Week in Which It Was Situated

To those of you that check my blog regularly (if you exist at all), forgive my lack of entries... This past week has kicked me in the ass. I had a debate tournament and was pretty busy (and as always overwhelmed).

Debate went good. My partner and I went 3-1 (3 wins, 1 loss). So, relatively good experience. I always learn a lot when I go to tournaments. There are so many people who go that are far more intelligent, talented, and successful than me. I kind of need that. The secluded environment of Ozark is a breeding ground for my arrogance- a metaphorical bacterial culture for my narcissism if you will. Everyone's always telling me how smart I am, and I often believe them and my ambition is stagnated by a feeling of superiority. I need to compete with people. I need to meet people who are better than me who can inspire me to be better than them. If I don't, complacency will become my garment and I'll never grow as a person.

My narcissism is soothing sometimes though. It keeps me from hating myself too much. It's like when we work our hardest to assure ourselves that we're happy and unbroken when something tragic threatens to break us. The pain and self-loathing come at some point anyway though, so maybe arrogance and narcissism aren't as soothing as I think. Whatever, fuck it.

Speaking of fucking, it seems like that's all anyone tries to do at debate tournaments. Everybody flirts with one another and gets phone numbers. I don't get it. Maybe I'm too much of a romantic. If I am, I should stop... there's no room in the world for romantics anymore. Our youth sucks. Everybody is either a prude, or they fuck around. I don't get it at all. No one has a healthy perspective on sex- at least most people I know don't.

One thing I think I need to try is making music... actual music with lyrics. I've played the piano for years and stuff, but I've never added vocals to it. I think I'm going to do it. Then, if I commit suicide, I can go out listening to a record that I produced myself and everyone can say, "T. Ryan Sparks, that guy was a narcissist to the very end".