Don't Be Fooled by the Rocks That I Got/(I'm Still) I'm Still Ally From The Block

i guess you have to look at the people who're doing the criticizing, where do they live? (theres a bit of a 'common people' crossover going on in a way). a curious distate at working class people with aspirations, or who might not want to live in poor neighbourhoods, but usually barbs tossed by the middle classes

when i didnt have a home this summer, and ended up staying in this house in kentish town for 2 months, i was in this house with 4 students, it was proper squalid, totally dirty. they were all upper middle class posh accented kids slumming it, knowing they can end their little cultural tourism *at any time*. for them, 'crossing the line' was exciting (live like the 'common people'), its people like that who get strange ideals of 'real' (because thats what they were searching for...anyone going the other way is 'turning their back on it' to them)

One time I was in Conway and was busted out by some girl who decided I didn't belong there. I mean, it's a store - yes a cheap store - how the hell can someone not belong there? And it's not like I particularly have money anyway.

Shouldn't improving your financial situation change you in some way anyway?

Well, duh, yes.

i know I do!

but i think that's different; was jennifer lopez' street persona integral to her initial mediasplash? wasn't her first big break the starring role in 'selena'?

nb: isn't it something of an axiom that, in today's popcultural space, declarations of 'authenticity' are inversely proportional to the actual quantaties of such? what if this isn't just a backlash against the character of jennifer lopez, but about the idea of hypermanaged images of realness and connection with fans being eclipsed by the between-the-lines messages of that celebrity's appearances when not proclaiming such -- i mean, people have been reading all about the white lily stips in her dressing room in one scandal sheet or another, that dress was from versace, she got a big rock from ben, etc. i could see how this could ferment discontent among people, particularly those who have been trying to get 'off the block' for years now to little success.

and now that i mention the affleckrock—isn't this whole 'jenny from the block' thing perfectly timed to her string of starring roles with/engagement to one of the frattiest white boys out there?

What exactly is keeping it real? By definition, wouldn't being a more successful person etc and then continuing the follow a lifestyle not suited to what you think you should be doing with your new position in life be the exact opposite of keeping it real?

I don't think J-Lo is a sell-out. If she is, then all big money rappers from da hood are. But I don't think she's so much Jenny from the block either. I think she's just trying to keep it real. I think it's very important for these rappers to shout out to the hood because they are tieing themselves to poor black culture and saying - you can rise up and be successful like me.

Courtney Love... hmmm... Is there such a thing as rich, classy punk rockers? Magazines would suggest so. Cloie Sivigny (sp?) types think so. Anyway, I think Courtney Love is totally bitchy and even if she were still Courtney from da block she'd still annoy me.

Thanks for listenin'.

Let's ask J-Lo about being Jenny on da block...

“I have a very American way of thinking, but I also feel very Puerto Rican. I’m both: I’m Nuyorican,” she says. “That’s the name of my production company, so that probably sums it up. People ask me all the time how do I stay connected, and I always tell them ‘How could I not?’ It’s who I am, and it manifests itself in everything I do. It’s something you can’t leave behind. I’m Jennifer López, and I am a Puerto Rican from the Bronx.”
Hispanic Magazine June 2002

but doesn't this, then, serve as justification for any argument in favor of people getting irked at the 'on the block' persona?

(also i think people are bashing shania twain for her ramones t-shirt wearing on the back of some single)

I don't see how the "I'm still the person I used to be" persona is not equal to the "I'm in a better financial position" persona. Not living in the ghetto anymore isn't equal to suddenly not being as real as you used to be.

Anyone who's ever regarded me this way, in retrospect, has been people who are just trying to get a free ride off me. And I"m not even 1/1000000000 as rich as J-Lo...

This says it all, doesn't it? PR identity = $$$, for J.Lo. Just like how Christina Aguilera suddenly became really Hispanic and ghetto one morning.

i mean, i do think that some of this backlash can be attributable to jealousy, but i also think that trying to say 'i'm still from the block' is trying to have it both ways -- having the cash and the ability to use it (including the ability to protect yourself from those who are currently living on the block), while trying to get cash from people who are either attracted to the 'on the block' persona or trying to truly relate to it.

and i still think that as a pr move, the timing of this single and her linkup with ben affleck is way too coincidental.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/lopezrider/lopezrider1.html

But I still don't see how these are two mutually exclusive things. I said earlier that having a better financial position or additional power in life should change a person, but I don't see how it makes them a sell-out or someone who can no longer be a streetwise persona or still have the persona of someone who came from "the block" so to speak.

The point about Ben Affleck makes sense but doesn't make sense at the same time - I mean, none of my friends even seem to notice his existance, and it's not like Puffy has this huge street cred either. He had some hardcore friends and the gun thing "helped" him but when it comes down to it my understanding is he's from a good financial background (in contrast I am under the impression Affleck isn't tho that could just be what he and evil child Damon want us to believe??). So yeah, he's a white guy - but so what?

I'm not saying you're wrong, I guess I"m just getting more irritated towards the J-Lo haters.

And I can't stand the girl! Arrgh, why do I have to feel sympathy for the evil.

Someone hasn't seen the Redman episode of "Cribs"!

'ugly manifestation of the complacent bourgeosie'
my genius continues to go unrecognized ;-)