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These are the type of photos you see when a company or college is promoting diversity(*spoiler* they're probably not that diverse). When you get down to the nitty gritty those same companies are 80%+ white and when you look at the leadership, there may be one or two people that look different from everyone else. That’s why it’s kind of ironic when companies have these big fall outs over how they’ve handled(or mishandled) discrimination within the company or university. What I intend to do is create a skit that provides dialogue on why diversity training can’t really help a system that is designed to disenfranchise minorities. As J. Cole said “ All good jokes contain true shit “ I intend to laugh at  how those who are not minorities intend to train others on how to teach minorities which as a concept itself is laughable. This is something that can turn into a bigger project or series if it goes well, and it has purpose, kind of.

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Whilst thinking about my final project, I am considering the fact that I might have to play multiple characters in the skit. Many questions arose when considering this option, how do I differentiate looks between characters? And how will the shot look if they aren’t immediately in the scene together. To do research on building these characters I sought out many actors, but none piqued my interest like Martin Lawrence in his sitcom Martin. Though they had a team to come up with the ideas for dressing the different characters, I have no doubt that Martin had complete creative control for who these people were. I had to study how he made these people distinct and also, what about them made them funny. Just like with Druskii there is a lot to take away in terms of character building, costume, acting for the camera and much more. Once you know how to zero in on what people do to make these Shows so good, watching TV can actually be a productive task.

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When researching for the skit I am doing for my final project, I decided to look up different IG and Twitter comedians and the different shooting methods they use. One in particular that stood out was Druskii2Funny. He utilizes some of the same methods as everyone else, though he did use a one-camera one-shot approach that I thought was interesting. Though I don’t think this particular shooting style would work for my skit, I might be ablate implement some of its practices to my shoot in order to add depth, variety, and volume to the final product. Sometimes he wouldn’t have a stabilized shot, but it worked for some skits because its meant to be presented as if he’s actually being recorded with someone talking to him. All in all I took a lot from just watching Druskii’s videos about comedic timing, clip coordination, variety, and more. I’ll be applying this moving forward.

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When I was fully invested in music I wasn’t going to school for it and I was recording on an old 2009 series MacBook and a $50 mic from Amazon, how serious could I be right? Well it all came from two songs, “The God: Exhaustion” being one. I gave one of my friends a ride to the studio and in exchange for the ride he gave me studio time(we were both broke college students living in the world of unpaid internships). I found two beats on YouTube that were marked “Free” and went to work. The first verse on “The God” was from a friend of mine from middle and high school. We did a talent show once that I completely F***ed up once, so I was reluctant to ask for a verse. We’ve always been cool though so when I told him the name of the song we got to work. He recorded his remotely due to him being an active military official. Once I got it back I reworked my entire verse because he did his thing, I knew I had to come harder. Then came time to record and I only had enough time to put down three verses total, without finishing either song. This was July 20-something 2014. Fast forward to 2016 when I actually finished the songs in a studio in Baltimore. I was doing a hook and a verse for an artist and I came in and laid out the whole thing in like 20 minutes so we had about an hour or so to do something else, out of it came “ Standing Ovation “ and “ The God: Exhaustion “. There are clear differences in the hook on Standing Ovation than other parts of the song because of the different recording spaces, same with the 3rd verse on The God. After I finished them I posted them immediately. I didn’t promote that much, but I got a mostly positive reception. Either way coming with a finished product felt good and from that moment, I decided I was going to start truly investing time into music.

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Larry Hogan, our governor in Maryland, has been receiving a largely positive response in his efforts to fight CO-VID19. Some of my peers have even gone as far as to say that they would vote for Larry Hogan should he make a presidential run In 2024. I think, we shouldn't applaud someone for doing the job we as voting citizens expect of an ELECTED official. How quick we forget that Larry Hogan is apart of system that denied Maryland HBCU’s the rightful funding they deserve. Not to mention his clear neglect on Baltimore City as a whole and more specifically Baltimore City Schools. While we can all agree that Larry has done the right thing in terms of CO-VID19, we should not be so quick to dismiss what's been done in the past. Governor Hogan’s track record has shown that he is not in favor of progressive policies such as criminal justice reform, cancelling student debt, and legalizing marijuana. BUT HEY! He got us some masks and did what any well-minded human being would do and told people to stay home to stop spread. Thats presidential worthy!...right?

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Two of the biggest Hip-Hop rap groups ever are facing off TONIGHT! This battle is near and dear to me because these are my two favorite rap groups of all time. Although I give the slight edge to Bone Thugs, Three Six Mafia should not be taken lightly, as they have many cult classics such as Ridin Spinners, Sippin on Sizzurp, Tear Da Club Up, and Stay Fly. This is one of the more exciting battles to date as the two groups seem evenly matched when looking on paper. Though Bone Thugs haven’t had the same influence into the 2000s and 2010s as Three Six Mafia has, there is no questioning their impact on Hip-Hop music as a whole, they Brought the style of “sing-rapping” to the world that is being dominated by many mainstream artists today. If you want to make it to mainstream or radio you have to have some sing-rapping in your repertoire, thanks to the Bone Thugs. Three Six revolutionized the southern sound in a time where Outkast and Bun B and Pimp C were outlining it. This one will be one of the best iG battles to date and nostalgic for older fans such as myself.

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2 years ago, two black men were inside of a Starbucks doing what anybody could be doing in a Starbucks, being themselves and staying to themselves. Then the police arrived and told them they had to leave, when they inquired why, they were were told that they were trespassing, though they were customers like anyone else. This led to their arrest and subsequent backlash for  Starbucks because, why were the cops called? It couldn't have been any reason other than they were black and it made the employees feel uncomfortable. This led to a huge campaign by Starbucks to right what was wrong. Their solution? close their stores for one day to do “diversity training”. In cases of this type of racism by employees of big business, I always say the response will only be as big as the backlash, Starbucks donated a little money and closed for a day to train their employees to not be racially bias. The fact that they thought that would pacify the bigger issue at hand is honestly funny when you consider who is making these diversity training videos. Most of those videos are tone deaf to the microagressions many people deal with on a daily basis in the office, no you may not touch my hair, no I don’t wish I could wear Air Jordans to work, and no I don't have hot sauce at my desk, Karen.

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You might be like me, you know about BabyFace and Teddy Riley, but you didn't KNOW about them. This had to be the biggest battle to date, to the point where it almost became pay-per-view. Teddy Riley and BabyFace. While I knew these two were prominent figures in the music industry, I had no idea how many hits they were truly behind, so of course with all the hype I had to check out their IG live battle. Unfortunately, age caught up with the two and they couldn’t figure out how to work IG leading to “technical difficulties” and a postponement of the battle (which was probably a good thing given the extreme lengths Teddy Riley went to make this a full blown out production.) With the battle quickly approaching the next week there was a point made that it should follow the format and the two artists should just sit down and play their music, and thats what happened. Hits from Boyz II Men, Mary J. Blige, Guy, Michael Jackson, New Edition and more were played and over 500K people were reminded why these two are legends in their own rite.

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Eddie Murphy is the undisputed king of black sketch comedy. In the 1980s he was a cast member on SNL. With iconic characters such as Mr. Robinson, and Gumby he quickly became a fan favorite and a cult classic as some magazines have ranked him as high as #2 on the all time list of cast members. He is the blueprint for seemingly everything we do today with the emergence of social media comedy and the use of skits to further your internet visibility.  With that being said its no surprise that I’m looking to Eddie Murphy for inspiration for my own skit that I plan to create for the final project. When creating the skit I plan to explore the socio-economic differences of different racial groups and how they try to connect with others. I can also reimagine a diversity training video for diverse groups to train how to act around white people. Its interesting to explore the idea.

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When choosing a project that can best encompass the art of collaboration, my mind immediately went to Chapelle’s Show. This show was created by Dave Chapelle and up until then there wasn’t many black people participating in sketch comedy that wasn’t MADtv or Saturday Night Live. With the addition of the Chapelle’s show we got classics like “ The Real Hollywood Story: Rick James” or “ The Racial Draft “. Dave’s comedy pushed the limits of what we were allowed to do and say on TV. He inspired me to take risks, which led me to the idea of making a skit about a diversity training video. The irony in working in spaces that claim to be “ diverse “ is that the people working in these spaces have no idea how to treat minorities in respect to who they are. This insensitivity leads to many microagressions, such as coming into the office asking if I heard the new Black Youngsta song. How do you know I like Blac Youngsta? Cuz I don't and I didn't hear it. Anyways, Dave Chapelle’s work always reminds me to push the envelope and say things that people are afraid to say, but are probably thinking.

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Comparison is the thief of joy. I live with no regrets and can only assume that everything that is for me, I will have. When I first came into college I only went cuz I got in to Morgan State which was my top school because Howard lost my application. In hindsight I wish I would've applied to schools I didn’t think I would get into such as USC or AMDA, or Brown. I sold myself short because I didn’t have the confidence that I would succeed in those predominately white spaces. I have to be grateful for my journey, because I wouldn’t be who I am today without Morgan State, Bowie State, or CSM. Though at the time I would've rather been somewhere else, I believe I am where I am supposed to be.

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In the years preceding this class I explored many creative avenues within the entertainment industry. At one point I wanted my own talk show and with the connects that I had from my time in the music industry I had the resources to get it off the ground. I had to start small with interviewing local viral sensations, I likened it to a videographer doing videos in the trenches. It might not be where you want to start out but you have to start somewhere. This is a shot from one of my first interviews ever, with 4gskii and Neighborhood Q, two local artists that achieved local fame due to a video that went viral of 4gskii slapping another grown man several times. Here’s the link to the interview! : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ero1EIoQbs

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Shout out to my mentor! I met Greg at Morgan State, my freshman year. I was new and still doing music and he managed an artist so, we all linked up and became a group (SMOBB). The first couple of years together we did some numbers and had some real life success such as opening up for Fabulous and August Alsina at Coppin State’s Homecoming, almost winning a Sony record deal at CIAA, and winning a freestyle competition judged by Ziggy and other prominent DMV entertainment figures. All in the all the groups success died down after one of our brothers was murdered, we all kind of went our separate ways after that. I was able to reconnect with Greg, because of UV.Studios which is his production company. I figured there was no one better to help me with the editing and shooting of my skit than someone who does it professionally so Greg will be on my side moving forward helping me understand what needs to be done to fulfill my vision.

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So, we all know Ne-yo as an Artist but most people don’t know that he’s an accomplished songwriter as well. Johnta’ Austin, who might be harder to recognize than Ne-yo has also been in the game 20 plus years and some of his hits might surprise you. While he hasn’t had the same success as an artist as Ne-yo has, he has still maintained a solid career behind the scenes. This shaped up to be what I think is the best IG battle so far. Johnta played heavy hitters such as Be Without You and We Belong Together. While Ne-yo played some of his immaculate discography, he also played some hits he penned such as Unfaithful, Let Me Love You, Knock You Down, and Irreplaceable. All in all the winner of this battle ultimately was the audience as we were provided with a plethora of hits in the spirit of what these IG battles are meant to be. A getaway from all the madness during this pandemic.

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With the emergence of the IG live battle we are beginning to see more and more artists going up against each other. This time two iconic song writers were the subject of this battle. Sean Garret and The Dream. Sean Garrett is known for penning many hits for Beyonce’, Destiny’s Child, Mario, and many more. While The Dream has had much success for himself as an artist, he has also written for Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, Kanye, as well as garnering a couple Grammy awards. As for the battle....Well, as you can see from the picture there were more memes than praise for Sean Garrett. Dream just has too many hits under his belt, and while Sean Garrett has a few, none on the level that Dream is. From Umbrella, Single Ladies, Holy Grail, No Church in The Wild, Garrett just couldn't compete.

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Timbaland vs. Swizz Beatz. A battle of two legends in the midst of a stay at home order, is a treat to say the least. With America at a standstill & it’s citizens forced to stay at home as not to contrast or spread CO-VID19, it sprung many to debate opinions on various topics in music via social media. One battle in particular that gained a lot of traction was Timbaland vs. Swizz Beatz. With the Internet divided and a sudden rise in need for entertainment, a battle of songs produced by each artist was suggested via Instagram Live. Then it happened. A battle of hit that still left the internet divided. Timbaland came with heavy hitters such as “ One in A Million “, “ Good Life “, and “ Stronger “ while Swizz Beatz met him with street classics such as “ Ruff Ryders Anthem “, “ What Ya Want “, and “ I’m a Hustla “. All in all the battle lived up to everything it was hyped up to be, as for who won, it’s a close call, but the fact that Swizz played an R. Kelly record didn’t help his case.

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D.C Native Dave Chapelle has always been one of my idols. His stage presence is unmatched and the way he makes comedy look so easy is the stuff of legends. He inspired me to want to take up comedy or better yet, to never limit myself. He also introduced me to one of the most underrated artists in the industry now in Thundercat, who has worked with artists such as kendrick Lamar and Mac Miller. Dave made me realize how much hip-hop is not just music, but culture as well. Def Comedy Jam was revolutionary not only in bringing light to some of Comedy’s biggest stars, but also because of the hip-hop culture that was integrated into the show, from the music to the fashion to who hosts the show. Hip-hop is all around us and the basis of the culture we live in today.