#155: Meat Grinder

All Caps When You Spell The Man's Name...

Long Live MF DOOM.

Happy 2021 to you and yours.

We are starting on a sad note: R.I.P. to one of the best rappers of all-time. More in the music section.

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CULTURE THINGS:

• How Long Gone and the Rise of the Bro-cast (Vogue).

Ok, honesty time: I cannot recommend that you check out How Long Gone. Not because it's not quality, but because I have never listened to How Long Gone. This article is the closest I've come to checking the podcast out.

Being accountable, it's not the hosts' fault. It's a me problem. I feel the same way about H.L.G. that I do about Throwing Fits or Blackbird Spyplane or anything in that corner of the menswear/culture commentary world:

They are not talking to me; thus, this is not for me.

The thing is, that's an opinion, not a fact. In 2021, a more emotionally mature Ernest is trying to learn how to step outside of my preconceived notions about things, including podcasts.

For the curious: here's why I haven't checked them out so far:

• I'm not too fond of ironic fashion commentary. I got ADHD, buddy. Get to the point. Do you like the clothes or not?

• I (still) have a lack of trust in male fashion people. I still haven't recovered from my PTSD leftover from the #menswear era. When I close my eyes at night, I still see all those dudes in Thom Browne AC/DC short suits…the horror, and the horror. Regardless, I have a lot of healing to do.

• I can't afford any of the shit they're talking about.

• I don't trust white men who use a lot of Black slang on the internet. No offense!

• I don't think I'm the target audience for their content. It feels like this stuff is made for white men who love culture but either hang out with white dudes or have some social interactions with minorities but…not a lot? No offense!

• SO MUCH of men's fashion is just white dudes talking to each other. Why would I want to subject myself to more of that? No offense!

Happy to be wrong, though, so I'll start listening to the podcast this week. What are the best episodes of How Long Gone to begin with?

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Is Substack the Media Future We Want? (The New Yorker)

Nobody asked me, but I have many thoughts about Substack and everyone else's feelings about Substack and the Newsletter-Industrial Complex. We will discuss more in upcoming newsletters and pods, but the short and profanity-free version is this:

Nobody knows what they're talking about. If they say otherwise, they are lying.

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MARKETING THINGS: 

• Drake as a product (DaaS) (Koty Wong)

• 10 Marketing Certifications That are Worth the Money (Neil Patel)

• “How do you convey something very complex in content marketing?” (Crystal Clear Comms)

• Lessons about the Creator Economy from Twitch and Substack (PM Principles)

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MUSIC THINGS: 

The Mount Rushmore of abstract rappers is Ghostface Killah, Kool Keith, Madlib, and MF DOOM. Read Craig's obit. He snapped, per usual:

Hip-Hop Needs No Other Supervillain After MF DOOM (NY Mag)

The Making Of MF DOOM’s “?” and “Dead Bent” Videos - (Passion of The Weiss)

UGH.

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Since the last newsletter, I have spent most of my time investigating the conspiracy iceberg of rap from the good folks at X-Files Of Rap. 

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ANNOUNCEMENTS:

• Instead of doing a "Best of 2020" recap, I'm going to be doing superlatives in next week's newsletter.

• If you're new here: Office Hours will now hit your inboxes twice a week: Tuesdays = the usual newsletter goodness. Thursday will be a pod that will be for PAID SUBSCRIBERS ONLY. To give free subbers a taste of what to expect, the first ten episodes of season 2 of Office Hours are FREE before the wall goes up. Last week's guest was Josh Spector; give it a listen. 

• *Paul Heyman promoting 2002 Brock Lesnar voice* My 2020 Substack mentee is Safy Hallan-Farah. She's going to be the Next Big Thing. That's not an opinion; that's a FACT, brother. Subscribe to her newsletter.

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Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins is written and curated by Ernest Wilkins in Chicago, Illinois.