The Very Many Questions-Not-Worth-Their-Own-Thread Thread ΛΓ

[Lexicus]

How many problems does Jay-Z list on "99 Problems"? One website counts 11. If it's ballpark 11, do you take him at his word that he has 88 more that he's not telling us about?

Yes. Although that song was written like fifteen years ago, so maybe we should be using the past tense. These are problems that Jay-Z had.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

It's just the time of the year. Chinese new year is tomorrow, so the star sign changes.
Also every western new year there's more interest in the greek zodiac signs, to predict the new year, etc.

It's just the time of year that's an excuse to party and eat Chinese food. Or at least that's how the restaurants around here market it. Sometimes there might be some cultural event - music and dancing - to mark the occasion.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

GOG is having a big Chinese New Year sale. I got a couple games.

 

[Lexicus]

Eyeing the $5 Company of Heroes 2 on Steam right now. Probably not going to get it because all the DLC is still full price.

 

[Gori the Grey]

Yes. Although that song was written like fifteen years ago, so maybe we should be using the past tense. These are problems that Jay-Z had.

I use the present tense of a literary critic: "Hamlet considers whether he should kill Claudius," e.g.

The speakers/characters in literary works remained trapped in an eternal present.

Maybe that's one of Jay-Z's other 88 problems.

 

[The_J]

yes, but this is the first time I've seen such wide attention to it

In addition, none of the people I've seen talking about it are chinese

Might have chinese friends?

I think I saw the chinese star signs getting some attention in the last years, so I'm not surprised there's a bit going on.
On the other hand...I'm not following much stuff, maybe there's a chinese culture craze in the place you live in, could totally be .

 

[Lexicus]

I use the present tense of a literary critic: "Hamlet considers whether he should kill Claudius," e.g.

Ah, fair enough. I wasn't able to process it that way because, ya know, Jay-Z. Which is sort of ironic because I'm one of the most ardent defenders I know of hip-hop as high culture.

I suppose I should say I don't just take Jay-Z at his word. By 2004 when that album dropped Jay-Z had quite a lot of money, and we know from the song "Mo Money Mo Problems" that money and problems are positively correlated. If anything, 99 problems was probably a poetic understatement of some kind.

 

[Takhisis]

When is the Year of Trump's Hairpiece?

It's more of an Olympiad.

 

[Gori the Grey]

By 2004 when that album dropped Jay-Z had quite a lot of money, and we know from the song "Mo Money Mo Problems" that money and problems are positively correlated. If anything, 99 problems was probably a poetic understatement of some kind.

He's likely preparing a follow-up where he'll share with us the other 88.

 

[sophie]

He's likely preparing a follow-up where he'll share with us the other 88.

He elaborates on a number of other problems in 4:44. For example, in "The Story of OJ", for he laments the fact that if he had spent his money on New York real estate in the 90s instead of strippers he'd be loaded right now. Well, more loaded than he would have been otherwise.

 

[Gori the Grey]

If he spent his money on New York real estate, he'd be president! (And he could still spend his money on strippers!)

 

[Lexicus]

The song 22 Two's, which came out (IIRC) eight years before 99 Problems, which discusses a lot of problems that Jay was having (usually with too many or too much of something). I'm not going to quote any lyrics from it here since they're pretty much all obscene but you can look them up.

There's also Lost Ones, which came out 2 years after 99 Problems, which is a poignant meditation on some of the problems Jay was having at that stage.

Example:

My nephew died in the car I bought
So I'm under the belief it's partly my fault
Close my eyes and squeeze, try to block that thought
Place any burden on me, but please, not that, Lord

(this actually happened)

 

[Farm Boy]

Strippers are anticipation without resolution. I think people tend to spend resources slightly differently when they have enough of it. Maybe.

 

[sophie]

Strippers are anticipation without resolution. I think people tend to spend resources slightly differently when they have enough of it. Maybe.

The main thrust of the song is that:

A black man may make it big, and appear to have money and be respected by white America. They are, at this point be able to just about be able to say that they are "white". It is because of people like this that white America gets the impression that "racism is over" since "Everybody love OJ". At the same time the black celebrity may get the impression that they have made it and they are white. However, as soon as something goes wrong the wolves come out. "I always knew it." "Trust a black man to..." etc.

JayZ is asking "why does this happen to black people and not to white people [or Jewish people]?" And the answer to Jay is that white people, and especially Jewish people were forward looking, thinking generationally, and invested their money back into their community and their family, so that the next generation starts with a strong future basically assured. Black America, by contrast, invests in itself at an individual level. They buy things that have no capital value (services like strippers, rented boats/private jets), or things that don't generally appreciate in value (like cars). For the black man to overcome, they should invest their money: buy fine art that will quadruple in value in ten years. Buy real estate that will quintuple in value in 20 years. Put the money back into the community you came from: donate to schools, build things the community needs, so that you could conceivably raise your kids there. Don't try to be the white man, because the white man will never accept you, no matter how well you do.

The conspiracy-theory [generalizing pronoun] about Jews controlling the world or whatever is obviously ridiculous and racist, but it doesn't change the rightness of the broader message.

 

[Farm Boy]

Well. I was just snarkin' on strip joints and I got a feast in return.

Weird to see it racialized, trash is just down the hill(or out in them, depending on trope) and doesn't need race at all. But makes sense from what I hear.

It's a good broader message about costs.

 

[Lexicus]

The conspiracy-theory [generalizing pronoun] about Jews controlling the world or whatever is obviously ridiculous and racist, but it doesn't change the rightness of the broader message.

Meh. I prefer Fred Hampton's formulation:

We say we’re not going to fight capitalism with black capitalism, but we’re going to fight it with socialism.

 

[Mouthwash]

Is there a way to keep my lips from constantly peeling without having to put on some weird chapstick five times a day? (I use Propolis.)

 

[Gori the Grey]

Make sure you stay hydrated, just generally speaking--eight glasses of water a day or whatever it is.

I use Blistex. It bills itself as not just a chapstick, but as a kind of medicine for chapped lips. Don't know how valid those claims are, but it works best for me out of anything I've tried.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Sounds like our lips are getting sunburned. Go for a chapstick with an SPF rating. Also see if this is a side effect of a medication you are taking.

Alternatively, live in a cave and watch stalactites grow. It's quite humid in there.

 

[Mouthwash]

The main thrust of the song is that:

A black man may make it big, and appear to have money and be respected by white America. They are, at this point be able to just about be able to say that they are "white". It is because of people like this that white America gets the impression that "racism is over" since "Everybody love OJ". At the same time the black celebrity may get the impression that they have made it and they are white. However, as soon as something goes wrong the wolves come out. "I always knew it." "Trust a black man to..." etc.

JayZ is asking "why does this happen to black people and not to white people [or Jewish people]?" And the answer to Jay is that white people, and especially Jewish people were forward looking, thinking generationally, and invested their money back into their community and their family, so that the next generation starts with a strong future basically assured. Black America, by contrast, invests in itself at an individual level. They buy things that have no capital value (services like strippers, rented boats/private jets), or things that don't generally appreciate in value (like cars). For the black man to overcome, they should invest their money: buy fine art that will quadruple in value in ten years. Buy real estate that will quintuple in value in 20 years. Put the money back into the community you came from: donate to schools, build things the community needs, so that you could conceivably raise your kids there.

It sounds almost as if Jay isn't blaming the poverty of black people on white supremacy. You think that would pass muster at a BLM meeting?