adventures
I haven’t written a blog in months, lets talk about taking a taxi as a black person.
I was going through my timeline and realized my front page looked like a soundcloud. I should probably stop doing that or at least mix it up a bit more. This is, after all, a blog about china.
Today’s topic will be about taking a taxi as a black person. Now I really don’t like getting into china and ‘racism’ because I don’t like to call what they do here racism. Its ignorance. They just don’t know and are afraid of the unknown. They go by stereotypes they see on tv and make vast assumptions, its not their fault, its a country with 1.4 billion people and they’re all yellow, even the internet is chinese *cough cough*.
Uber has been god sent, I no longer have to deal with this but about a week ago I was reminded of what I had to go through when I first moved here. If you’re waiting for a taxi, especially during rush hour or near a chinese person, the odds are you will be passed up. I don’t know why this is, it’s not like they don’t pick you up at night (shouldn’t they be more afraid at night?), it’s not like if you’re alone during the day and on an empty small street they don’t pick you up, they do, in fact its much easier to catch a cab when it would be the most dangerous time to pick up a threat lol, but a busy street next to a chinese person, especially a girl, forget about it you will be passed up 8 out of 10 times. I’ve learned to adapt however, typically I tell the chinese person I’m next too I have next dibs, so when they inevitably drive past me and to said person 3 yards away, that person knows I have next and they just allow me to get in, some will even open the door for you :). Problem solved. Anyways, I no longer have to do this, uber to save the day, Murica coming in and regulating without even knowing it. 🙂
Photographs from Shanghai
Few tracks we’ve done this month that are being played in the clubs out here.
this track is getting a lot of play in the clubs here in qingdao. blowing up big time. T-Ray came over and recorded it and I mixed it down.
these other 2 were prod by myself.
Shots from my studio, and in a village called Shazikou
Qingdao
Local Cameroonian MC just spit a freestyle on one of my beats a cpl days ago. Dark.
Sacramento Kings and the cringe induced demand
In case you haven’t read the story, link here.
It is the Chinese year of the Monkey. The Kings scrapped shirts after their star player took offense to the monkey on it. Now if that isn’t the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard. WTF does the year of the monkey have to do with black people? It doesn’t even cross my mind to be offended about such things. African Americans really need to start expanding their horizon past American social issues. If anything, he should have taken the time to complain about why their were no shirts for black history month, instead he complains about other people’s culture (asians have a large population in NorCal) and the organization was merely trying to make them happy. These are the same people that pay for tickets and thus pay for his income. I just can’t understand the overt sensitivity, you see a monkey and actually associate it with you? WTF??????? That in itself is almost racist because you’re associating. How can you expect people to celebrate your culture when you can’t even recognize other peoples? Sheer ignorance, and the Kings shouldn’t have removed shit and explained how there is a huge world out there, to him.
I’m not sure if it’s just Qingdao, but american expats never congregate.
I’m not sure if it’s just Qingdao, but american expats never congregate during our ‘holidays’ like 4th of july etc etc. I’m not complaining, but its interesting to see various countries come together for their festivals, whether it be independents, muslim holidays, but when its american holidays…you see more europeans and chinese celebrating and posting ‘happy 4th’ than actual americans. I’m not exactly sure why that is, but it’s bizarre. Do we just not care? Have no pride? Find shame? Find lame? Do other people just enjoy celebrating them because they want to mimic off american tv shows since it looks ‘cool’? Even religious holidays like Christmas, I notice groups come together like the French and their dinners, the Italians, but you will never here of the Americans getting together, not even for a superbowl. While aborad, we tend to just blend in with everyone else and give each other the head nod rather than unite. Maybe we just think it’s kind of corny? who knows.
Not sure if American culture is commercial capitalism phony nonsense or the chinese are even bootlegging holidays
As you know Thanksgiving is around the corner, and I find myself on http://www.taobao.com (chinese amazon) shopping around only to see Thanksgiving sales banners all over the place. Not even the europeans do that. I had to check my url and make sure I wasn’t on amazon. I have no idea what relations china has with thanksgiving but that is weird as hell. A country 5,000 years old is copying a country that is 300 years old.
I guess the real question, is why?
Is American culture so mainstream and commercialized that people are willing to install our culture and use it to sell products? Is that the power of capitalism? Or maybe its so sad that people don’t see any importance in our holidays (they’re not) and just a means to sell products (which it is). Even the chinese are jumping at the opportunity to make money on these superficial days, they can’t have america’s stock market have its weekend jump all alone, now can they? I find it remarkable that even here, I see halloween, thanksgiving, valetine’s day (there is also a chinese valentine’s type of day which is ancient) , christmas, just about every holiday that isn’t ‘national’ like independence day (for obvious reasons). I’m not exactly sure what to make of it or how to feel about it. I came here with the idea that I left that commercialized superficial bullshit behind, and that I was going to have spring, autumn festivals (which are ancient holidays with a lot of meaning) and the many other interesting chinese holidays which follow ancient folklores, and I do, but to see american capitalism in full force where you can see a starbucks attached to a temple, in such an ancient rich-in-history country like China is a bit disheartening.
Ah well. It is what it is.
Traveling Knox 