“College D.egree” Joey Aich- A New Face In Music

**Link below to College D.egree Sound Cloud

What’s up World!?

Your boy Trae here with another insightful post for the general public!  For the thousands of you that follow me, (jokes) more like hundreds, wanted to tell you a little about me before I dive into today’s topic. I love, love LOVE music.  All types of music: J Cole, John Legend, Luke Bryan to name a few.   While the music I like varies, the common theme for my type of music is “real”. J Cole’s song “Lost Ones” about the controversy of abortions. John Legend talking about love (in like every song), Luke Bryan and beer, all things that relate to me.  Many artist, especially hip-hop artist, claim to “spit that real ish” but that’s not always the case.   Sorry, can’t say I’ve ever killed anyone or sold drugs…just your typical suburbs kid.  So many artists today rap about a lifestyle they either A. don’t have B. had and claim they still have or C. have/had but exaggerate. Take Rick Ross for example, a rapper with a song that goes “Every Day I’m Hustling.”  Ross was a former corrections officer…so there’s that, not much “hustling” there.  Don’t get me wrong! I’ll listen to the garbage of Juicy J and 2 Chainz from to time to time just because the beat is great but when I can listen to a guy who is “real”, talented, and says something that I can relate to it’s REFRESHING.  That’s where my dude Joey Aich (H) comes in.  

The Cleveland native is a sophomore at Denison, and plot twist, he’s a rapper! AND, wait for it…raps about his actual life!  Aich is talented and his lyrics are deep.  Can’t say I’m the biggest rap fan but I can say I’m a fan of his!  His 3^rd Mixtape, College D.egree, can relate to any college kid and really grew on me. From the first track “Coffee,” Aich raps about a typical morning at Denison. “Patagonia Vine’s North Face,” can relate to anyone’s crush on campus.  In  “40 0z.” and “Pregame” Aich even talks about the party life (although I didn’t think Denison had parties).  I can stop there! 

Aich is an artist that’s up and coming, one who raps about “real ish”.  Whether you like rap or not, College D.egree is worth listening to.  Check out the link below, till next time world!

 

https://joeyaich.bandcamp.com/album/college-d-egree

 

@joeyaich4

 

 

 

Ray J Offers Sex Tape Profits to Ex…What Would YOU Do?

What’s up world!

**Exclusive image of me and Kim at the bottom of my post!

This post is for my young adult readers; those who like the whole “pop culture thing”.  So for those that are interested or care, the topic of discussion is a guy named Ray J. Ray J apparently has offered a women by the name of Kim Kardashian his share of the 2014 profits from his sex tape as a wedding gift.  For those that don’t know, Ray J is a singer (or at least tries to be) and Kim Kardashian well… she’s famous for…. I’m not sure.  Although, her father Rob Kardashian was a famous lawyer sometime ago.

So, what’s the big deal?  I guess there is none but I wanted a readers reaction to this whole saga.  Think about this situation:

You’re about to be married to the woman/man of your dreams and a previous ex of theirs offers you his/her profits from a sex tape.  The catch?  The sex tape was with your ex.  Don’t worry you already knew about the sex tape but now you have the chance to “profit” from it.

Okay here are some crazy stats about this sex tape.

According to TMZ, Ray J picked up $6135.60 in January, a loafty $20,097.31 in February, $9,674.76 in March, and $10,931.52 in April.  To date, the tape is worth about $50 million  ( I guess it’s because of Kim’s million dollar smile).

If the couple doesn’t accept the donation Ray has promised to donate the money to her favorite charity.

Kanye West, Kim’s husband-to-be, claims he’s never seen the tape… that’s probably a lie but I won’t dwell on it.

Personally, if I’m Ray J I’m keeping the money for myself and I’m spending it on a vocal coach (he needs one).  If I’m Kim and Kanye I laugh at Ray J’s attempt to stay relevant and keep the money for myself. Why you ask?  I don’t want you to donate money to my favorite charity with porn money!  Now if he were to donate the money to a stripper named Charity I get that 100%.  As a charity I’ll take the money because, hey, money is money.  What would YOU do?

@traewilliams5

Cleveland Browns, The 4th Pick In The 2014 NFL Draft is….

The Browns have been a franchise surrounded by disappointment and have a knack for letting fans down.  I’ll admit, I’m a diehard Browns fan and find myself rooting for them year after year.  With the fourth pick in this years draft the Browns have a big decision to make.  A decision that could alter their franchise…forever.  No matter who you pick there are going to be fans that are happy and fans that are upset.  Many teams fall into the trap of picking what is popular.  Picking the guy that tends to sell jerseys… a bad move.  Something the Browns know all too well (Brady Quinn).  With a pick so early in the draft it’s important to pick the guy that you think can serve your franchise for years to come not just a year or two.  Now, my PR advice, my statement for the Browns would sound like this, “As an organization we’ve done our homework on this class and looking very hard at this player.  WE see (Sammy Watkins) producing for years to come.”  I would also talk about his high character and longevity but ultimately people care about the on-field product!  With those words and that pick the Browns will be just fine.

The Seattle Seahawks, Richard Sherman, The 57 Million Dollar Question

 

For those that don’t know I play college football at a D2 school that no one has ever heard of.  Football, unlike swimming or golf, is the ULTIMATE team game; you can be the best player of all time and still have dismal numbers because of a bad-supporting cast!  If you are to pay someone on your team the big bucks usually, you pay for your teams foundation aka the Quarterback.  If not the QB you’re going to have to pay the person that protects your QB ie. your left tackle (offensive line).  So, when the Super Bowl champions paid their corner 57.4 million people are going to ask questions.  “I think if you believe in faith, hard work, parental guidance and education, this is your guy for your kids to look up and to strive to be,” Seahawks GM John Schneider said of Sherman, “This is truly a great American story right here.”  Not a bad response John!  While the media of course will try to look at Sherman’s of the field issues, you clearly put the focus on the American dream!  Clearly, you have a PR guy in your corner who writes statements such as these.  I would have added one small detail, I would add, “As an organization we reward production…plain and simple Richard has produced and we had to reward him.”  Words and deals like that attract talent to your team! Now all Richard has to do is produce *cough cough* don’t Choke!

 

Oh, and by the way, he’s getting way too much.

Till next time!

 

Roy Hibbert What To Do As Your friend and PR Guy

Hey world! Because the Donald Sterling saga is still underway I’ll come back to that later. I’m going to stay on the NBA and act as Roy Hibbert’s PR guy for the time being!  For those that don’t know it’s the playoffs in the NBA and Roy Hibbert of the Indiana Pacers has been an integral part of his teams’ success.  Hibbert stands at a staggering, 7 feet 2 inches and in yesterdays playoff game had a total of zero points and zero rebounds.  I’ll type that again incase you missed it; he’s 7’2 (2nd tallest player in the NBA) and had ZERO points and ZERO rebounds.  A staggering drop from regular season numbers of about 11 points and 7 rebounds a game.  What is going on with the big fella?  That’s what the media, fans, and teammates are asking Roy!  I’m your PR guy here to the rescue!  While I have magical powers to persuade, shift blame, and cool stuff like that, as your PR guy I sadly can’t help you play better (although I’m pretty sure I’d score at least once if I were playing).  Here’s what I would do Roy, follow me.  Okay I’m an ethical guy, we can’t lie to the public about why you’re playing so bad and the public/media certainly don’t like excuses!  So, don’t run away from the media in this situation, it just becomes a bigger story!  Your statement should sound kind of like this, “I hear the criticism, and the critics but I’m more critical of myself than anything.  I’m not going to sit here and make excuses; to be honest, I just haven’t played good basketball.  Mentally I feel drained from being in such a slump, but I can promise you, I WILL be better next game.  One person can’t win the game and one certainly can’t lose the game.”  We would prep and discuss various questions you might get but overall, but bottom line…you gotta play better Roy!  We just took ownership for what we did, and no we’re looking into the future.  Stay tuned for my next post!

 

Donald Sterling a Perspective From a Black Athlete Majoring In Communications (PR)

I’m back world! (as if anyone cared)  I took a nice hiatus from the blog world as spring football came to a close.  In case you haven’t heard there is an EXTREME amount of drama going on in the NBA.  And it’s not what you’re thinking, this drama doesn’t include Basketball Wives or LeBron James but it deals with an NBA owner.  The owner, Donald Sterling of the L.A. Clippers, had a private phone conversation with girlfriend V. Stiviano; in that conversation (which I’ll put the link to at the bottom) Sterling pretty much tells his girlfriend not to hang with black people in public.  “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people…Do you have to?”  The fifteen-minute conversation doesn’t need to be heard in its entirety but with that quote alone it would appear that Mr. Sterling might need a PR guy (that’s where I come in).  It would be pretty ironic if he hired me “Hey, Trae I made some negative comments about black people; I know you’re black but I need your help!”  Understand, I’m an ethical guy a decent citizen, but listen, Donald, if the price is right I’m at your service!  If I was hired as his PR Guy here’s what I would do. FIRST, wait for the sanctions to come through.  Once you receive the penalty (lifetime ban from the NBA) you have a press conference where you read a statement (that I wrote of course) to the media and at the end take NO further questions.  The statement would kinda sound like this “To start I would like to say that the private conversation obtained by TMZ is me, and I take full responsible for my actions and also find the NBA’s sanctions spot on.  I have shamed myself, my family… ya- da-ya-da-ya-da” What the people want to hear is where you (Sterling) will go from here.  “Due to my comments I believe the best course of action is to sell the Los Angeles Clippers as soon as possible.  I do not want to associate such a pristine franchise with the negativity attached to my name.  I truly wish the Clippers and the NBA nothing but the best.  On another note, I plan on creating a full-scholarship program for minorities.”  There ya go Donald, your best course of action is to sell the Clips, say sorry, and create a scholarship.  Ultimately, Sterling said what many owners, players, and people probably feel but I’ll say more about that in my next post!

Steroids in Baseball…

I was reading a blog the other day from an avid baseball aficionado about Ryan Braun and his “cheating” saga. For those that don’t know, Ryan Braun was one of baseball’s top players in the MLB and was named the NL MVP in 2011. After winning his 2011 appeal for PED use (Performance Enhancing Drugs), Braun was suspended for the remaining 65 games of the Brewers season without pay (geez). Many baseball players are adamant that Braun is/was a “cheater” and many say that PED use hurts baseball’s reputation. Really? Baseball’s reputation is not a good one as far as PED’s are concerned, especially looking at baseballs track record. Lets take a look back at the “Golden Age” in baseball back when baseball wasn’t “tainted”. According to “A Different Kind of Performance Enhancer” players have “cheated” since the earliest days of the sport! For example, 1889 Pud Galvin (pitcher) becoming the first player in baseball known for PED use (That’s a long time ago). During WW2, both the Allied and Axis powers gave amphetamines to their troops, in order to improve a soldiers focus, and endurance. After WW2, many of the returning troops attended college, and when they did, they continued to use the benefits of amphetamines for college sports, and then to professional sports, including baseball (There’s a quick history lesson). Even the greats like Babe Ruth and Willie Mays have been linked to trying PEDs! Technically, PED use wasn’t banned until 1991 so does that mean that players who used the stuff before 91’ are still “cheaters”? How can you ban something but yet test for it 15 years later? I’m just going to say it, in my opinion PED use was never a problem in baseball and should have never been tested for. When someone says steroids hurts the “integrity of the game” it makes me cringe. One has to realize, hitting a home run requires mad skills that steroids don’t improve, like hand eye coordination, speed, and baseball know-how. Your big triceps are useless if you can’t hit the ball time and time again. I’ll wrap this up so that way I don’t bore you to death but with the start of a new baseball season one has to realize that no hitters and homers are good for the game. Oh, and by the way there are guys in the HOF who have admitted to steroid use.

 

To learn more read this: (Cracked is my favorite)

http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-reasons-steroids-were-never-real-problem-in-baseball/

http://www.baltimoreorless.com/2011/01/babe-ruth-injected-sheeps-testicles/