Got Cash? From Raps to Rolls

The pen is mightier than the sword, but paper—paper is above all. It's crazy how we let paper, or rather, let me be specific, 'money,' control not just our day-to-day actions, but inevitably us. 'You can't put a price on it—it's priceless,' but is it? Are you sure there isn’t a price on practically EVERYTHING?

My not-so-sincere apologies if it feels like I'm getting all Karl Marx on you, and I know my poorly written-rant does absolutely nothing to change any of it. But it's funny and sad how we've let a piece (or rather multiple pieces) of paper control us. 

The world is a marketing gimmick, and we're just a part of its huge brand deal.

Your dreams and aspirations all come with a price tag meticulously crafted by these corporate giants, with their elaborate schemes designed to make you feel like you're making the biggest profit—but are you really? Want to be an engineer? A doctor? A dancer? A Teacher? Or even a published poet? Here, you can be all of it. But first, give us your monayy. Allow me to explain further (or don’t scroll away, it's your phone).

“Keeping People in a constant state of Lack, perpetual desire strengthens the marketplace economy. Lovelessness is a boon to Consumerism.”

Stumbled upon this Bell Hooks quote on a friend’s story today, and it hit home—Lovelessness. We are in the middle of an excess yet surrounded by this constant lack- you slog and slog to tick that one thing off your wishlist and boom another one gets added to that list, and magically our algorithm picks it all up and the next second all these ads conveniently wait for you to click on them – and hit the order button- Dopamine for the next few moments and off you go with your cycle. With the internet and "online" promotions, it's even worse. It's not surprising that they'd promote anything if there's enough green in exchange.

Not to be bold, but Hitler and his PR would crush it on Instagram. With the right amount of cash and a sprinkle of manipulation, anything can be sold—one commodity after another. Speaking of which, if you think the internet is bad, rappers only worsen it (please don't kill me).

Not my intention to generalize and make a mockery just for the sake of it; when that community literally embodies resilience and creativity, transforming struggles into lyrical masterpieces that resonate with audiences worldwide.

It’s that tiny section that bugs me - not trying to get on a different tangent here, but if you look closely enough (actually you don’t really have to; it’s quite in your face), the “pieces” are quite riddled about money and (cough) "bitches" - excuse my (rather their) language. Both these are always strung together often quite casually, or most of the time as a superior flex (upper hand for the boomers), not only equating the "bitches" to a commodity but reducing them to be one (nothing new for the females here; we’ve had the privileges of being amazing commodities since ages now 😊).

To generalize would be ignorant, of course. Yet, the constant equation of women, money, and other notions of brand and designers or symbols of status not only dehumanize an entire section, but it sets a precedent that success hinges on wealth, and of course, with that comes the ladies, or may I put it in a more civil way – “bitches”.

Not to blame an enjoyer of these pieces, since who'd resist music with these sick beats? Like, c'mon, life is hard enough. Let us enjoy music without going all ethical on us, man. Especially when the music itself isn't free (yes, Spotify Premium got me too. I'd rather jump than listen to another Bumble ad about a random couple getting together). From Netflix to Google Drive, the “premium” services are just a transaction away (and don’t worry, autopay can take it from there on). See - consumerism, is everywhere and all around you.

The truth is, we’re all reduced to commodities. It's only a matter of time until we're completely replaced by AI or humanoids, but trust me, we're halfway there already. “You'd be worth it only if you generate so and so amount. It's a hit only if it makes these sales, this is your target. This has to be the footfall.” Blah, blah, and more blah. Nothing we do is valued on its own merits anymore; it's all about whether it brings in monetary value or not.

Big Brother, in this case, is a silent - silent partner - creeping up on us from every side - and the scary part is, it doesn't even feel oppressive. Be right back - got another subscription to pay for…