Biggie Smalls Interview (Blog Post #3)

Biggie Smalls interview with Mellish Magazine

Q- Hey Biggie, thanks for being here today with Mellish Magazine.

Biggie- That’s okay man, it’s a pleasure for me to be here you know

Q-So tell me, what has been your impact on rap with your last couple songs, or what message have you really wanted to put out there

Biggie-  You know I remember when I was back in the struggle, I really just feel for the guys out there with talent and no hope, I’m here to be there hope you know what I’m say. It’s never easy to be struggling for money and only thinking there is one way out, dealing. I went to jail for a while, I mean I got all my raps written and It was a wakeup call, but it wasn’t needed. I’ll be on the outside for the rest of my life now. I guess you could say that my music can save lives and that is the kind of approach I want my listeners to have, let me inspire you.

Q-How old were you when you started dealing? And do you have any regrets in that kind of work?

Biggie- I was 12 when I started, I would get the drugs and deal them to the older kids in my high school, if there was one thing in my whole life that I could take back it would be the age I started dealing, and never realizing that it was going to destroy me and lock me up. I dropped out of high school and thought I could make a living from dealing the stuff, i got locked up though. I was 17 when I went to jail the first time, I got all my stuff written, all my raps and all of my good stuff. I sat in my cell writing every day, I knew what I wanted to do as soon as I got out and it was writing and getting money from something safe.

Q- Now between the east and west coast conflict? What are you trying to do with it?

Biggie- You know what, west coast has always been on top, and east coast is my home town, it’s what I am representing. I have bought both sides of American rap equal, and if not that then I have bought the east coast on top.

Q- And about tupac?

Biggie- Me and Tupac were friends, we may not be now what we were before but I’m telling you there is no bad blood and there is no love lost between the two of us. He is West coast and I am east, he represents the opposite side that I do, that is all it is, strictly business you know?

Q- And Faith?

Biggie- You know she is the love of my life and she means everything to me, but that is not something im going to talk about and have my words stirred up and changed like they always are, that’s it from me I would like to thank you for having me today but im out. 

BLOG POST 2

In Language and Lit we read a short story/essay about a young girl who was send generation American and had always had trouble throughout her whole life with her mother and the way she spoke her "broken" English. This basically means that her mother was able to talk most of the language and she most likely understood all of what everyone said to her, but at the same time she found it hard to communicate in a formal way to the people around her. She had struggled though every single day of her life with not being taken serious and just constantly struggling to live the way everyone should be able to. As soon as i had read the whole story i immediately thought of the situation in Abu Dhabi with the labor workers and the other people who have come to Abu Dhabi to work, but have been using broken English as a way to communicate throughout their time here. They go through all of the same struggles that Amy's mother went through in the short story and you could imagine the way that the men and women over here must feel, so disrespected all of the time and never really given a chance. Although there are people in Abu Dhabi that will take these people seriously, you always know that in a country mixed with third world citizens and first, there will be people thinking they are above the rest, or at least above some others. 

Personally i believe that the term "broken English" is wrong and should not be used, this is because i think that if you are able to develop a language in a way that fully suits you, then do it. I do not understand why some people are so content on having everyone speak perfect English, when at the same time you know exactly what these "broken English" speakers are trying to say anyway. To conclude that point i would say that the english is not broken, however its just a different stream of the language that works better for other people. 

BLOG #1

My First Blog - Oakeley Mellish

-Language does not play a huge role in my life because of the fact that it has never been a requirement for me to learn another language. When i was brought up in Australia and England, two english speaking countries, i never encountered the chance to learn a new language. When i moved to UAE 5 years ago i started learning Arabic and French but i have still not even caught on to those languages yet. I have started learning Spanish this year, and i am predicting i will not take that any further than i need to for school either.
-Culture depends on your surroundings as you are growing up and how your parents or guardians chose to bring you up. Culture can be a fairly big part of who you are in some cases, but for other people it is simply a factor of who you are.
-I do not associate myself with any cultures and i dont really believe in much either, one thing i am proud to tell people is that i am Australian and i feel like i am a pretty good representation of someone who follows Australian culture just by the way i act and i live my life, by cooking barbecues and playing rugby.
-I havent ever experienced and culture boundaries in my life simply because i live in Abu Dhabi where it is perfectly normal to be from just about anywhere in the world, this is good because it makes you more of an open minded person.