MARIA IS STILL FULL OF GRACE: NEARLY 22 YEARS LATER

Too Young to Understand… Until I Did

NOVEMBER 21, 2009

“Grandma! Can I get this too?”

My grandma glanced at the box before exclaiming, “Yes! Of course honey.”

While walking out of the entertainment section of Walmart with New Super Mario Bros. Wii, I spotted a movie in the $5 Dollar Films bargain bin that had interested me ever since I’d first seen it advertised on HBO while my parents watched The Sopranos or The Wire. That film was Maria, Full of Grace.

Same grandmother who bought me my first physical music album ever at six years old, which was Hell Hath No Fury by Clipse, by the way.

Little 9-year-old me was oblivious though and had no idea how deep the content of this movie truly was.

Even after watching the film multiple times as a child, I couldn’t fully appreciate or contextualize the underlying commentary or issues that the film uses the characters and their predicaments to push across the message of why these women, or just Colombian, Spanish, or immigrants as a whole, do the things they do and the lengths they go to. I don’t think many other 9 or 10-year-old American children would be able to fully appreciate the film or its messaging either.

The commentary and messaging of Maria Full of Grace is very much on the nose and not difficult to understand or comprehend, I just don’t think it’s a movie that a child who hasn’t even entered their pre-teens yet can fully appreciate. Also, on the flip side, if you’re an adult with an enhanced knowledge of immigration, poverty, the war on drugs, and the profiteering motives involved in all of the previously mentioned things, it gives you an elevated appreciation for this film and makes this fictional story feel more like a documentary.

This film truly does a masterful job of telling the story that it does, and gets award winning or award nominated performances from both the people in front of and behind the camera. There are deeper reasons however that this story has endured for twenty-one years, reasons rooted in the film’s startling realism and the authenticity of the experiences it portrays.

Roots of Its Realism

While this is a fictional film, there are two major reasons why the story it tells feels so real. The first is the cast. Everyone delivers strong work, but Catalina Sandino Moreno, who plays Maria, completely commands the screen.

Sandino Moreno won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlin International Film Festival and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead. She was also nominated for Best Actress at the 77th Academy Awards. While this is most likely the best performance of Sandino Moreno’s career, it is also ironically enough the first film she ever starred in. Her performance helped launch a strong career, from appearing in the John Wick spin-off Ballerina alongside Ana de Armas to major roles in the Twilight franchise, a series that grossed more than $3.3 billion worldwide. Regardless of how one feels about Twilight, it shows how significant her rise was after Maria Full of Grace.

The film also earned widespread recognition beyond Sandino Moreno. Several actors received nominations for their work, Joshua Marston, who directed the film, won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay, and the film itself won the Audience Award at Sundance.

While the awards clearly highlight how impressive Marston’s work on this film is, it’s also important to consider why he did such a fantastic job. The answer lies in the depth of research behind the story. The film is gripping from start to finish not only because of the phenomenal acting, but also because Marston grounded the screenplay in real stories and interviews.

His process has often been described as “old-fashioned shoe-leather reporting,” a description that feels especially fitting when you consider the film’s tagline: “Based on 1,000 true stories.” This is clearly meant to represent the thousands of people who have taken journeys like Maria’s, rather than literally a thousand interviews. Still, Marston spoke with a wide range of individuals whose experiences would be included in that 1,000-story figure, and their stories directly shaped the script. These included:

  • A real drug courier who transported drugs internally, the initial spark for the film.
  • Incarcerated drug swallowers in both the U.S. and South America.
  • Female flower-plantation workers in Colombia.
  • U.S. Customs inspectors.
  • Colombian immigrants living in Queens.
  • Orlando Tobón, known as the “Mayor of Little Colombia,” who helped arrange burials for deceased mules, and later played a version of himself in the film.

There’s something admirable about the care Marston took to portray these stories accurately. He wanted to show what people actually endure—the economic pressures, the limited choices, and the life-or-death risks people take when pushed into the drug trade. Despite this being Sandino Moreno’s first film, Marston said, “due to her theatre work as a hobby, you know, sort of on the sides on the weekends, I trusted that she knew the basics about acting… because she hadn’t been in TV soap operas or anything else, I was comfortable that she wasn’t going to have all these bad habits that an actor can get.” Clearly, Marston believed Sandino Moreno would be an excellent choice to portray the story accurately and thoughtfully, which speaks volumes about the care he put into this film.

Marston has said that he wanted to counter the usual Hollywood narrative of drug traffickers as one-note villains and instead make a more humanistic film, one focused on individual choices rather than politics. But when you consider the events of the movie, and the fact that so many of its themes still define reality more than twenty years later, it’s almost surprising to hear him say he wasn’t trying to make a political film. Everything that unfolds in Maria Full of Grace is rooted in political conditions.

Politics in the Background, Human Lives in the Foreground

The film tackles a wide range of political issues, and nearly every major event Maria experiences stems directly from political and economic conditions far beyond her control.

Maria is a 17-year-old girl working at a flower plantation in Colombia. Early on, we see the harsh conditions of the job: strict rules, limited bathroom breaks, and an environment that resembles a sweatshop more than a legitimate workplace. The only small joy Maria finds there is joking with her best friend and co-worker Blanca. That moment aside, everything else at the plantation reflects exploitation. When Maria gets sick and vomits on the flowers, her supervisor berates her and demands she clean the mess and work extra to make up for lost time. With her paycheck helping support her family, Maria eventually quits, even though this job is essentially the only legitimate employment available in her town.

The film makes clear that the lack of alternatives is what traps so many young women. Maria’s family pressures her to beg for her job back because there are no other options. At the same time, the reason for her nausea becomes clear: she’s pregnant. That knowledge, paired with family pressure and low wages, makes her vulnerable when Franklin, a man who appears interested in her romantically, turns out to be a recruiter for a drug organization. The promise of quick money and a better future for her baby becomes the rationalization for taking an enormous risk.

Throughout the film, the drug trade is portrayed as yet another form of exploitation. The drug lords profit, while the mules, often young, poor women, absorb all the danger. In the U.S., it’s easy for people to moralize and criticize someone like Maria for making this choice. But the film pushes the audience to confront how “bad decisions” are often shaped not by individual morality but by the economic systems surrounding people with no alternatives.

We see this exploitation clearly through Lucy, an experienced mule whose body breaks down under the strain. The scenes of these women swallowing dozens of drug-filled pellets and navigating customs underline how degrading this process is. When one of the pellets Lucy’s swallowed ruptures mid-flight, she dies shortly after arriving in New York. The traffickers who pick up the trio of women show no care, treating Lucy not as a human being but as a lost shipment. It’s one of the most powerful illustrations in the film of how the drug trade reduces vulnerable people into disposable containers.

The film also highlights gender expectations in Colombia. Maria’s boyfriend is immature and unprepared for fatherhood, even unable to tell Maria he loves her, yet Maria is pressured to marry him because that’s “what she’s supposed to do.” Her refusal of marraige is a quiet act of rebellion, and it adds another layer to why the opportunity to be a mule, for all its risks, feels like the only door open to her.

Marston shifts the perspective away from the usual “cartels versus law enforcement” framing. Instead, the film focuses on why people take these risks in the first place. It implicitly critiques policies that punish mules, the lowest rung in the supply chain, while ignoring U.S. demand for drugs and the global economic inequalities that feed the trade.

Maria’s immigration journey is a microcosm within a larger story. Her arrival in Queens illustrates how Colombian immigrant communities formed and how they support one another. Orlando Tobón, who plays himself, acts as the moral center of this community, helping people find housing, jobs, and even arranging the repatriation of the bodies of mules who die. When Maria and Blanca stay with Lucy’s sister Carla, we see another side of the immigrant experience. Carla’s grief and rage after learning of Lucy’s death, and her feeling of betrayal from the Maria and Blanca for not informing her of Lucy’s death, reflect the trauma families endure when loved ones take these dangerous routes and or die as a result of drugs.

The film never allows these realities to feel distant or abstract. Instead, it grounds every political theme in human experience. This is why, even though Marston has said he didn’t set out to make a political film, Maria Full of Grace is inherently political. The conditions it depicts were accurate when the film was released nearly 22 years ago, and in many ways, they remain just as relevant today. If the film premiered now, it would still feel like an honest reflection of the struggles faced by migrants and the economic pressures that push people toward desperate choices.

The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same

This film was released in 2004, less than ten months before the presidential election in which George W. Bush won re-election. Bush and current President Donald Trump share similarities in how they approached immigration, particularly in their emphasis on enforcement, border security, and framing migration as a national security issue. While their policies are not identical, the political climate surrounding immigration today echoes many of the same tensions that shaped the early 2000s.

Because of these parallels, the film’s themes remain strikingly relevant. The stories that inspired Maria Full of Grace are more than two decades old, yet many of the pressures faced by people like Maria still exist, and in pretty much all cases have intensified. Watching the film today, the combination of its documentary-like realism and the continuity of U.S. immigration policies makes it feel just as urgent in 2025 as it did in 2004.

Both administrations increased funding for border security and expanded immigration enforcement, creating high stakes for migrants navigating legal and physical risks. Trump’s approach has been more aggressive, with stricter deportations, family separation, and harsher rhetoric, but the underlying structures, economic precarity, limited opportunities, and systemic exploitation, remain largely unchanged. Policies that punish vulnerable people while leaving broader economic and social forces intact mirror the dilemmas depicted in the film, where poverty and lack of choices push women like Maria into dangerous work. Whether that be in the United States, or of course, Colombia

Even as political rhetoric changes, the core pressures highlighted in Maria Full of Grace, economic desperation, dangerous migration routes, criminalization of vulnerable populations, and exploitation of marginalized labor, persist. Media consolidation has also made it harder for immigrant-driven stories to gain visibility, increasing the value of films that humanize these experiences.

With media consolidation accelerating, coverage of immigration is often reduced to a one-dimensional focus on border “crises” or partisan conflict, while stories about immigrants as individuals, families, and workers tend to disappear. This narrow framing shapes public opinion and policy in ways that rarely reflect the reality of the people most affected.

You can see this dynamic clearly in how many major outlets framed the genocide in Gaza after October 7th, focusing heavily on official Israeli and U.S. government narratives while the voices of Palestinians are often minimized or absent. Add to that the recent takeover of CBS by Larry Ellison, and the editorial direction under Bari Weiss, both of which raise legitimate concerns about which stories will be prioritized and which perspectives could be sidelined. Meanwhile, Trump’s ongoing public attacks on journalists, or doing something like attacking CNN for reporting on an ICE-tracking app create an even more hostile climate for accurately reporting on immigration, or just covering these stories at all.

A study from nearly four and a half years ago now found that major TV networks consistently underrepresented immigrants in their own stories about the southern border, rarely quoting the people living through these policies. With the continued consolidation of media ownership and pressure from political figures, it’s hard to imagine mainstream coverage of immigrant-driven stories expanding rather than shrinking. Stories that highlight the trauma immigrants face are becoming easier to overlook unless you seek out independent or alternative media.

Mainstream news still shapes how many older Americans understand the world, and it’s very easy to point out how easily certain realities slip through the cracks. A fictional film from over 20 years ago now does a better job of showing the lived experience of people navigating poverty, violence, and migration than much of today’s national news or traditional news outlets do.

Commercial news will almost always sensationalize these experiences, portraying migrants as chaotic or criminal because that framing attracts viewers. While Maria Full of Grace is a fictional film, it was built from the stories of real people the director interviewed. And when modern coverage fails to center immigrant voices, it’s no surprise that people increasingly look back at a film this old, a work of fiction, yes, but one rooted in truth, for the nuance and humanity that are missing in mainstream reporting.

The fact that the real-life conditions that informed this film are still happening today gives it even greater emotional weight. In 2025, Maria Full of Grace doesn’t feel like a story about the past, it feels like a reflection of the world many immigrants still navigate. It has “aged like fine wine,” not because it predicted anything, but because the systemic forces it portrays have changed so little over time.

Grace Under Pressure, Then and Now

This is a movie that I clearly watched at a much younger age than I probably should have. I wouldn’t say it “radicalized” me or shaped my worldview on its own, but it became more relevant to me as I grew older and understood more about the realities behind the story. At first, it was simply a gripping film that told a powerful story about someone overcoming the odds of their environment. As I learned more about the world, the film only gained more meaning.

Even though the experiences that inspired Maria Full of Grace are more than twenty years old, stories like the ones told in this film deserve visibility today. These are human stories, and Marston handles them with care. His research, interviewing drug swallowers, visiting flower plantations, and spending time in Colombian communities in New York, allows him to tell a story that is grounded, empathetic, and free of caricature. His ability to move beyond stereotypes and focus on human beings caught inside larger systems is one of the reasons this film remains so powerful.

The film’s humanist perspective on the “war on drugs” and the life-altering consequences it has on ordinary people is especially important. The United States’ decades-long counternarcotics efforts in Colombia, a mix of interdiction, military aid, crop eradication, and development programs, continue to shape the realities people like Maria face. Whether or not one believes the U.S. should act as a global enforcer, it’s fair to question why billions of dollars are spent on militarized strategies rather than directly supporting communities disproportionately harmed by the drug trade. Recent tension in U.S.–Colombia relations, including the U.S. declaring Colombia “failing demonstrably” to meet drug-control obligations, makes it clear that the pressures depicted in this film remain ongoing. Stories like Maria’s are not relics, they are reflections of conditions that persist.

I didn’t become a fan of this film because of its politics. I became a fan because it tells an incredible, very real story about what many young women in Colombia go through, and because its emotional impact deepened as I grew older. The fact that a film I first watched as a kid could grow alongside me and reveal more layers over time says a lot about its quality. Beyond being a near, if not, 5-out-of-5 film, it feels like an essential watch in 2025 because of how truthful and relevant it remains. Its humanization of people navigating poverty, migration, and risk is more empathetic and more carefully constructed than what most people will ever see in documentaries or news coverage.

If anything, the continued emergence of films like the 2024 Cannes award winning Souleymane’s Story, which explores the day-to-day struggles of a young immigrant from Guinea navigating France’s immigration and legal systems, shows that the themes Maria Full of Grace engages with are not confined to Colombia or the United States. These issues exist globally. And that universality makes Maria’s story feel even more necessary over two decades later.

Ideally, people would watch this film and come away with a more informed or more open perspective about the realities it depicts. Even if that isn’t always the outcome, I still think it’s a necessary film for anyone, regardless of where they stand politically. The craft, the performances, and the honesty of the storytelling speak for themselves. And while I have my issues with the ordering of certain “greatest films” lists, the fact that this movie sits in the top 300 films of all time on Rotten Tomatoes is well-earned. Its awards, its critical acclaim, and the care that went into making it all justify why it still resonates more than two decades later.

One of the reasons I love film more than a television/streaming series is that a movie has to deliver its message within a finite amount of time. It has to decide what matters and express it clearly. This film does exactly that. In under 100 minutes, it tackles everything it needs to with focus, humanity, and emotional weight, and it keeps the audience engaged the entire time. Marston spoke in a 2004 interview with Bobby Wygant about a young Colombian man who saw the film three times and said it changed his mind about becoming a drug mule. The young man even told Marston that the film saved his life, which demonstrates how powerful and beautifully made it is. Its impact isn’t limited to Americans or foreigners, it also resonates with Colombian citizens facing little hope and wrestling with the possibility of becoming drug mules themselves

If you love filmmaking, storytelling, or art in general, you’ll appreciate this movie on that level alone. But if you understand even a little of the political nuance behind the story, you’ll get even more out of it. And even if you don’t, the film is strong enough to educate, illuminate, and open the eyes of anyone watching. That’s why Maria Full of Grace remains one of the most important films of the 21st century, and why it’s still worth watching in 2025.

Tears and a Notebook

The notebook stares at me.

Tears trickle from my eye.

Depression strikes my brain like a bongo.

Grief shades me, the cloud that it is.

My will is gone.

Passion reduced.

Love almost nonexistent.

The spark fails to flame.

It continues to endeavor.

Desperation grows.

Expression feels lost.

The little voice inside: not good enough to write.

The inner child: still fighting.

Love I once had, growing thin.

Passion working overtime

just to avoid the divorce.

The puddle on my desk grows larger.

Sorrow swells.

When will it end?

When will the pain subside?

I want to feel whole.

Not like paper through the shredder.

Regrets plague my mind.

Free will fading.

I pick up the pen.

Open the door to my brain.

Let out what’s inside.

The ballpoint races.

My brain on hyperdrive,

avoiding another crash.

The brick wall of pain remains.

Can I knock it down today?

Most likely not.

I just want to find that child again.

The one who wants to express,

rather than play.

Late-Stage Capitalism: How It Shapes Everything We Love

What is Late-Stage Capitalism?

Late-stage capitalism is a term used to describe an advanced phase of capitalism characterized by systemic inequality, corporate concentration, and deep structural issues. In other words, it highlights the absurdities and inequalities baked into the modern global economy.

Many people dismiss the concept, claiming inequality has always existed or calling “late-stage capitalism” nothing more than a meme or a cope. I wish that were the case, but today we’re seeing historic wealth gaps, a record number of people living paycheck to paycheck, and billion-dollar corporations laying off workers because of a mere $4 minimum wage increase. Meanwhile, media outlets urge sympathy for those same corporations while ordinary people skip meals just to make ends meet.

This ultramodern form of capitalism can be seen through the continued expansion of the global economy, the growing divide between the rich and poor, the consolidation of wealth by corporations and the ultra-wealthy, and the relentless attempt to commodify every aspect of life in pursuit of profit.

We’ve seen these trends intensify for years. In 2022, U.S. profit margins reached their widest point since 1950. That same year, 166 million Americans, roughly 64% of consumers, were living paycheck to paycheck, an increase of 9.3 million from the year before. More recent reports from Debt.com (69%) and PNC Bank (67%) suggest that number has only continued to rise. Whether it’s 67% or 69%, the trend is clear. More Americans are struggling financially than ever before.

We see similar signs in digital spaces. Take TikTok, for instance, in September 2023 the social media giant added a shopping feature to its already ad-saturated platform. Nearly every time I open the app, an ad greets me before I even scroll, followed by endless pop-ups designed to maximize profit.

Or take something like Klarna now letting people finance their Uber Eats orders, essentially allowing you to go into debt just to eat. It’s a perfect snapshot of how dystopian things have become, where even basic needs are turned into financial products. As of mid-2025, American household debt has reached a record high of over $18.3 trillion, fueled by rising mortgages, credit card balances, and auto loans. While this total marks a nominal record, it’s only slightly below the inflation-adjusted peak from 2008 — showing just how deeply personal debt has become ingrained in the modern economy.

I could go on with countless examples of growing inequality, poverty, and wealth disparity. But even just in the past week, some of the biggest stories in entertainment show how late-stage capitalism continues to sink its teeth into every corner of modern industry.

Late-stage Capitalism on the Largest Stage

The biggest story? Bad Bunny being chosen to headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Bad Bunny needs no introduction, he’s a multi-time Grammy-winning artist, a talented actor, a former WWE champion, and most recently starred in Caught Stealing alongside Austin Butler, Zoe Kravitz, and Regina King. He’s also a proud Puerto Rican and a vocal critic of U.S. President Donald Trump. Judged purely on talent, it’s clear he deserves the spotlight at the most-watched annual concert, yet, predictably, some people had a problem with this.

Online outrage hasn’t quieted in a week. Many see the NFL’s choice as a “woke” appeal or a slight to certain fans. In reality, it’s a move to broaden the league’s global reach, a textbook example of late-stage capitalism in action.

The NFL has long pursued international expansion. They’ve even suggested adding a four-team European Division. With games already played in Brazil, Ireland, Berlin, and especially London, which hosts three this season alone, the league’s global ambitions are obvious.

Given all this, it’s no surprise that the NFL and Roc Nation, who have overseen halftime show decisions since 2019, chose a talented, globally resonant Puerto Rican superstar. This move is part of a calculated effort to expand the league’s audience worldwide. Such global ambitions reflect a hallmark of late-stage capitalism, private entities acting increasingly like multinational corporations. The NFL may not officially be one yet, but its trajectory is unmistakable.

Late-stage Capitalism’s Effect on Gaming and Legacy Media

Late-stage capitalism hasn’t just infiltrated sports, it’s also making waves in the gaming world. Last week, Electronic Arts, best known for Madden NFL and EA Sports FC, made headlines when private equity fund Silver Lake, investment firm Affinity Partners, and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund purchased the company for a record $55 billion. While Saudi Arabia’s influence in gaming is notable, more on that in a moment, Affinity Partners’ role deserves special attention.

Affinity Partners, founded in 2021 by Jared Kushner, received over $3 billion in commitments within six months of its creation. The firm aimed to expand American and Israeli companies into global markets, particularly in the Middle East, India, and Asia. Its largest investor? Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, which contributed $2 billion. Despite objections from top officials, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman overruled them to complete the investment. Today, the firm has around 20 staff members, has collected millions in fees, but as of 2024, reportedly has returned no profits to its investors.

Even more astonishing, despite the $55 billion buyout, EA is reportedly $20 billion in debt. That’s a staggering figure. With Saudi Arabia investing heavily in its “Vision 2030” plan to diversify beyond oil, it will be interesting — and likely concerning — to see how Kushner and the Saudis steer the company and what corners they might cut.

EA was already infamous for shady practices. The company has monetized nearly every aspect of gaming, charging real-world money for in-game perks. A prime example is Star Wars Battlefront II. After fans complained about micro-transactions, EA removed the option to spend real cash. But doing so broke the game’s progression system, leaving players frustrated after hours of effort to unlock iconic characters and upgrades. What could have been an immersive experience became a grind designed to funnel cash.

Now, under new ownership and facing a $20 billion debt mountain, expect EA to continue these practices — just on hyperdrive. Late-stage capitalism at its finest, turning gaming into a high-stakes, profit-first machine with little regard for the players footing the bill.

And late-stage capitalism’s reach stretches even further than that. doesn’t stop there. The same forces shaping gaming are tightening their grip on media and entertainment. Oracle founder Larry Ellison, a longtime Trump ally, has reportedly been involved in efforts to acquire a stake in TikTok should U.S. lawmakers force a sale. His son, David Ellison, recently made headlines when his company Skydance Media finalized its deal to take control of Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS and other legacy outlets.

In both cases, immense private wealth is being used to secure control over the platforms that shape what the vast majority of people see and hear. Their political connections and financial interests also suggest an alignment with certain ideological or foreign policy priorities, another reminder of how concentrated wealth often shapes not only markets but narratives.

This trend extends further with recent developments in legacy media. David Ellison’s Paramount has acquired Bari Weiss’s The Free Press for about $150 million, and Weiss has been named the newly created Editor-in-Chief of CBS News, reporting directly to Ellison.

Weiss will continue leading The Free Press as a branded independent outlet under Paramount, but her takeover reflects how media power is concentrating under corporate structures that blend content, platforms, and, often implicitly, political ideology. Whether this translates to direct editorial bias or narrative control remains to be seen, but you have to be a fool to not seen the writing on the wall.

Weiss has done whatever she needs to do to capitulate to the “powers that be.” Her entire political project has failed to create any meaningful progress. She has even aligned herself with homophobic capitalists who would gladly see a lesbian like her lose her rights.

In a 2023 speech to the Federalist Society, a conservative and libertarian propaganda outlet, Weiss said, “I know that there are some people in this room who don’t believe that my marriage should have been legal. And that’s OK. Because we’re all Americans who want lower taxes.” That quote speaks volumes. It reveals that Weiss’s only consistent interest is in appeasing whoever can advance her wealth and influence, regardless of the ideological cost.

With Weiss holding strong Zionist positions and now working under the extremely pro-Israel Ellison family, CBS’s already limited coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict since October 7, 2023, seems poised to become yet another outlet for pro-Israel propaganda.

Whether the goal is profit, power, or influence, the outcome remains the same: a shrinking number of ultra-wealthy individuals determining the flow of information and culture. That’s late-stage capitalism in motion, consolidation not just of capital, but of consciousness.

Design, Minimalism, and the Homogenization of Culture

This goes far beyond the NFL or video games. Recently on social media, people have lamented the artistic character that seems to have vanished from logos, uniforms, buildings, and even movie theaters. From sports team branding to corporate logos and interiors, minimalism driven by cost-cutting and corporate consolidation is erasing personality from the spaces and products we interact with.

Take the NBA, my favorite sports league. Social media often celebrates late 90s and early 2000s basketball, and it’s easy to see why. While today’s NBA delivers a higher-quality on-court product, the league’s visual identity has lost much of its former vibrancy. Unique, iconic logos have been replaced by minimalist, corporatized designs, the Utah Jazz are a prime example. Why? First, generic logos and uniforms reduce costs, fitting the big-business model the league has embraced under Commissioner Adam Silver. Second, fans will continue to buy tickets, merchandise, and NBA League Pass subscriptions regardless. By leveraging nostalgia, selling retro merchandise from the past, the NBA maximizes profit while keeping costs lower than they would be otherwise. With team revenue hitting a record $11.3 billion in 2023–24, don’t expect the old logos to return outside “Classic Edition” releases. What they’re doing works.

This same logic applies to fast food and movie theaters. McDonald’s, for instance, has moved away from vibrant, playful designs in favor of minimalist, generic buildings. Selling a blank, standardized property is far easier than a customized, branded one. Anyone over 25 can recall spotting former McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, or KFC locations simply by the roof or building shape — a level of character now largely gone. Soaring property prices and investor consolidation incentivize bland, uniform designs.

Movie theaters face similar pressures. Concessions, not ticket sales, drive profit, and much of ticket revenue goes to distributors. Membership programs, like AMC’s “Stubs A-List,” which allows members to watch four movies a week, aim to keep audiences coming, but overall margins are slim. Investing in flashy lobbies or futuristic aesthetics offers little return when most patrons spend only a few minutes noticing them. Rising costs for housing, utilities, food, and tuition mean people can’t afford frequent theater visits, so the pressure to cut costs, and embrace minimalism, is even greater. The result? Closures, consolidations, and homogenized experiences, a textbook case of late-stage capitalism at work. 

Sports League Expansions

From 1978 to 2020, the NFL played a 16-game season. That changed in 2021, when the league adopted an 18-week, 17-game schedule. Four years later, Commissioner Roger Goodell is already talking about adding an 18th game. Unsurprisingly, the NFL Players Association isn’t happy. NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell Jr. stated plainly, “No one wants to play an 18th game.”

The NFL is far from alone in this push to add more games. During the pandemic, the NBA held its first Play-In Tournament in the Orlando “bubble” to determine the final playoff spots. After its success, it became a permanent fixture, effectively expanding the playoffs from 16 to 20 teams. The Play-In Tournament allows teams with .500 or worse records to sneak into the postseason, a clear example of the league prioritizing revenue over merit.

Now, with expanded TV deals including streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video and Peacock, fans face record prices just to watch their favorite teams and players. Adding games, pre-season matchups, and tournaments is simply a profit-maximizing strategy, plain and simple.

On a more personal note, the Brooklyn Nets highlight how investments and elite wealth shape modern sports. I grew up watching a ton of both the Los Angeles Lakers and the New Jersey Nets, the former being my mother’s favorite team since the days of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The Nets were the local team as a child growing up in New Jersey, thus making it easy for me to root for them. Even after seasons full of historic amounts of losses, and the relocation to Brooklyn, the Nets provided countless memories with family, friends, and fellow fans. Yet the current direction under Joe Tsai and minority stakeholder Julia Koch disgusts me to the point that I don’t know how much longer I’ll be rooting for the team.

Tsai’s portfolio spans multiple sports franchises. Tsai has full ownership of the Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty, plus minority stakes in multiple teams, including the Miami Dolphins and two National Lacrosse League teams, a setup that raises serious conflict-of-interest concerns. Meanwhile, Koch and her children acquired a 15% stake in BSE Global, parent company of the Nets, Liberty, and Barclays Center, for a reported $1 billion in 2024. The Koch family’s ties to Trump and investments in Israeli startups, like Insightec, reveal how political and financial power intersect with sports ownership. Late-stage capitalism has clearly infiltrated professional sports, shaping schedules, ownership, and even the teams and games we consume. Corruption and profit-driven investments now touch everything fans hold dear.

The more aware you are of what late-stage capitalism entails, the clearer its effects become on the hobbies and passions you care about. With multiple major news stories this week alone tied to corporate consolidation, don’t be surprised if this trend continues through the 2026 midterm elections, and even beyond. In 2025 alone, the Federal Trade Commission approved $63 billion in corporate mergers in just one month, a stark contrast to previous administrations, which conducted far stricter reviews

While massive mergers have occurred under nearly every recent administration, the pace today is unprecedented. Microsoft’s multi-year fight to acquire Activision for around $69 billion contrasts sharply with the recent acquisition of Electronic Arts by Affinity Partners and others, which appears to be proceeding with ease. Despite the long regulatory battle, Microsoft’s acquisition was quickly followed by significant layoffs and price hikes, moves that have hurt both developers and gamers alike. This signals historic levels of wealth consolidation, private equity investment, and the relentless spread of late-stage capitalism into virtually everything Americans, and now even non-Americans, know and love.

We’re seeing these same late-stage capitalist dynamics play out across industries, from entertainment and technology to the very essentials people rely on every day.

Buckle up, things look like they’ll get worse before they get better.

Notre Dame Outlook vs Texas A&M

(Collaborated with a news paper for this piece and wanted to save it here digitally rather than just in print)

Reeling from a crushing August 31 loss to the University of Miami, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish now face another daunting challenge as they welcome the Texas A&M Aggies to South Bend this Saturday. However, the Aggies aren’t on the same level as the Miami Hurricanes, who are ranked fifth in the Associated Press Top 25, while the Aggies sit at No. 16. That said, Texas A&M is no slouch, boasting the 27th-ranked offense in the NCAA in yards per game.

It should be noted that the Aggies have achieved this while facing two relatively easy opponents to start the season in UTSA and Utah State; however, they remain a top-25 team and a serious threat to hand the Fighting Irish their second loss of the season.

As the Irish open their home schedule in South Bend, they’ll be expected to come out firing and make a statement in front of their fans. After using one of their two bye weeks last week, fans hope the team doesn’t look rusty or out of sync to start their home slate. With redshirt freshman CJ Carr at quarterback, the Irish aren’t expected to start slow against the Aggies.

The Irish got off to a sluggish start in Week 1 against Miami, which proved costly. A big reason for that was Miami’s new and improved defense, but scoring only seven points through 24 minutes from the nation’s No. 6 team was inexcusable. Carr came alive late, scoring two of his three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including a clutch rushing touchdown that tied the game with just 3:21 remaining. While the Irish ultimately lost after Miami’s Carter Davis nailed a 47-yard field goal with 1:04 left, it’s clear that head coach Marcus Freeman will want a repeat of the offense’s strong performance in the final minutes.

I say “most of the fourth quarter” because, while Carr played well in the last 12 minutes, both the offensive and defensive lines struggled — some might even argue for much of the game. Carr was sacked just twice, but Miami’s pressure, especially on the final drive, ultimately cost Notre Dame the win. Defensively, Chris Ash had the line playing aggressively in the first half, but that intensity faded in the second half until late in the fourth. These issues will need to be corrected by Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. kickoff in South Bend.

The Aggies are allowing the 27th-fewest yards per game, demonstrating the strength of their defense, although it’s worth noting that we’re only two weeks into the 2025 season. While the Irish allowed 205 passing yards to Miami in Week 1 — not terrible considering the Hurricanes are ranked fifth — stopping the run remains their true strength. Notre Dame held Miami to just 119 rushing yards, a very respectable performance despite the defense’s lack of aggression for much of the second half.

Offensively, Carr will undoubtedly be the biggest factor on Saturday. Facing a respectable Aggies defense, he’ll need to replicate the 140.5 QBR he posted in Week 1. Texas A&M also boasts a potent offense, scoring over 40 points in each of their first two games. While those games came against teams they were expected to beat, their offensive performance is still strong and not something the Irish can take lightly.

As Texas A&M faces its first ranked opponent of the season, the Aggies will want to perform under the lights in South Bend and make a statement that they belong in the College Football Playoff conversation. For Notre Dame, after their rough loss earlier in the season, they still need to prove they deserve the top-10 ranking they’ve held all year. A win is crucial, as a 0-2 start could nearly eliminate them from playoff contention.

The most likely outcome is a shootout in South Bend, but don’t be surprised if the Irish rise to the occasion and show that they’re serious contenders on their quest to return to the National Championship game this season.

Atlanta Falcons 2025 Outlook

(Written for prompt that needed to be between 350-450 words in length, enjoy.)

After receiving positive results from 2024 NFL first-round draft pick, Michael Penix Jr., that came sooner than expected, the Atlanta Falcons future appears bright. It’s important to note though, the four year, $180 million dollar contract of Kirk Cousins certainly is hindering the team’s ability to improve the roster. However, the injection of incoming rookies from the 2025 NFL Draft will certainly make the inclusion of Cousin’s contract in the Falcons salary cap hurt much less.

The Falcons had a considerably smaller draft class when compared to other teams in the NFL. However, that doesn’t seem to be an issue for them. All five of the Falcons 2025 draft picks have made the team’s 53-man roster to begin the 2025 Season. The Falcons are just one of eight teams in the National Football League to have this happen this season, and that should be something that’s celebrated.

With the Falcons allowing their opponents to gain a total of 5,868 yards in 17 games last season, bad enough for the 10th most yards given up in the NFL, it makes sense that four of their five 2025 draft picks are defensive players.

Linebacker/Edge Rusher Jalon Walker from Georgia and Tennessee Edge Rusher James Pearce Jr. have the most eyes on them. Both players were first-round draft picks, yet are currently listed as backups behind starters Leonard Floyd and Arnold Ebiketie. With the team’s defensive struggles last season however, the injection of both Walker and Pearce Jr. into games will certainly happen relatively early into the season.

The other two defensive draft picks, Notre Dame Safety Xavier Watts, and Oklahoma Safety Billy Bowman, are also two players that fans need to keep an eye out for. Watts was a multiple time All-American while at the University of Notre Dame while also being awarded the Bronko Nagurski award for his play during the 2023 NCAA Season. Bowman was First Team All-Big 12 in 2023. Additionally, the 2024 Oklahoma defense that Bowman was a part of also gave up the seventh least amount of rushing touchdowns in the NCAA.

So while the Falcons had their defensive struggles during the 2024 NFL season, and have the large contract of now backup QB, Kirk Cousins, to deal with on the offensive side of the ball, the 2025 Rookie Class for Atlanta should be exactly the youth injection that the team needs to improve their poor defense from last season.

Don’t Sleep on the Denver Nuggets

(Article was written on November 11, 2024, but never got around to archiving it here)

After the Nuggets started this season with a 2-3 record, I saw a lot of people not taking the team seriously and saying their run as Contenders might be done. After beating the OKC Thunder last week with both Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon out of the rotation and the team now on a 5 game win streak, I have to say the Nuggets might be the team to beat in the Western Conference this season. 

The reason I say that is because the Nuggets have without a doubt been one of the best offensive teams in the NBA during this early portion of the season. The Nuggets have averaged the fourth most points per game, and have done so while shooting the 9th best field goal percentage in the league. The Nuggets have the 2nd best three point percentage in the league also. If there is any caveat to that, I will say that they do attempt the least amount of three pointers of any team in the NBA, so be aware of that. They’ve also been great at sharing the ball, as they’re currently averaging the most assists per game of any team in the league. They’re also the fifth best team in the NBA  at grabbing offensive rebounds, which probably explains why they’re averaging the fourth most points per game in the NBA while only shooting the 9th best percentage, as they’re grabbing their own misses. 

So their offense has looked great, but I do need to bring up the fact that their defense has been pretty up and down. I say that to say while they’re a great offensive rebounding team, in terms of defensive rebounding, they’re not top 10 in the league, as they hold the 12th spot in that statistical category. With that said, it shouldn’t surprise you to hear that the Nuggets have the 18th ranked defense in the NBA. They’ve actually been very good at preventing their opponents from scoring off turnovers, and also preventing their opponents from getting second chance points, as they’re top 11 in the NBA in both categories. Defending the fast break, and locking down the paint however, have been their biggest troubles. The Nuggets have allowed the 8th most fast break points and 3rd most points in the paint so far this season. That may be surprising to hear, especially since the Nuggets had the 8th best defensive rating in the league last season, but it’s really not surprising when you realize this next statistic. 

If we look at the defensive stats for only the starting lineups of each NBA team, the Nuggets starters have the third worst defensive rating in the league this season. Despite many people criticizing the Nuggets bench, and most specifically Russell Westbrook, the Nuggets bench has the 11st best efficiency rating among all benches in the league. The starters defensive struggles aren’t a total shock though, as last season the Nuggets’ starters had the 6th worst rating in the NBA. Last Season, the Nuggets were simply unlucky though, as the team’s bench was also terrible, coming in with the 7th worst efficiency rating amongst other bench units. The Nuggets are also giving up the 7th most points to their opponents this season.

As mentioned before, the Nuggets have won 5 straight games and their last three games have been impressive beating the Thunder, Heat and Mavericks. What’s been super impressive is the team is doing so without Aaron Gordon healthy. Aaron Gordon is of course a huge part of this team and played a large role in the Nuggets 2023 championship win, but this season when he played, he was making as big an impact as ever. Prior to the game where Gordon got injured against the Raptors, Gordon was averaging the most points, rebounds and assists that he’s averaged during his tenure with the Nuggets. Gordon’s also shooting the best three point percentage of his entire Nuggets tenure this season. If we look at how the team looked in minutes with Gordon off versus on the court, the team had a +12 net rating with Gordon on the court, versus -12 without Gordon off the court. That certainly shows how much of a positive impact Gordon was having on the Nuggets this season. 

There’s three other players I wanna touch on also, the first is Russell Westbrook. I really think Westbrook gets too much criticism placed on him. While he had some struggles in the Nuggets recent win vs the Mavericks, Westbrook’s prior three games were great. Westbrook scored 21 points on 6 of 10 shooting, 29 points on 10 for 15 shooting and despite only 6 points scored against the Heat, Westbrook only attempted 5 shots. Westbrook was able to still contribute positively with his 10 assists that game.  While I would like to see him be a bit more consistent, I do think this could be him finally starting to get comfortable with his new teammates. 

The other two guys are Peyton Watson and Christian Braun. Both players are in their third seasons in the league now, and are without a doubt having the best seasons of their careers. Braun is averaging career highs in every statistical category. With him now being a full time starter and averaging 35 minutes per game, he looks like the player the Nuggets were looking for when they drafted him out of the University of Kansas. Peyton Watson has filled in the starting lineup very well ever since Aaron Gordon’s injury. Watson is averaging career highs in minutes, shot attempts and points per game this season. Not to mention a career high in offensive rebounds as well, which makes sense with how we spoke on the Nuggets as a team cleaning up the offensive glass great. It’s very easy to see that Watson played a factor in that. Watson also just turned 22 years old in September, so I don’t even think we’ve seen anything close to his best statistics and level of play yet, but that’s just my opinion. 

But I say all of this to say that everybody has to keep an eye on the Nuggets this season. With Nikola Jokic leading the NBA in both rebounds and assists, and also averaging the 4th most points per game, you know what you’re getting from him. In terms of the rest of the Nuggets roster though, the team has had players in and out of the starting lineup, some very notable defensive struggles, yet they’ve somehow now won 5 straight games with now a 4 day break to relax and regroup before their next game. 

One thing that might come back to bite the Nuggets is their bench depth. The Nuggets bench depth has thinned out gradually ever since they won the 2023 championship. Only 8 players saw the court in their win over the Thunder, and only 7 guys played over 10 minutes in their last two games. If the Nuggets can make some acquisitions before or at the NBA trade deadline, they can potentially solve some of their biggest flaws. I also think with both Kevin Durant and now Chet Holmgren set to miss multiple weeks of games with injuries for their respective teams, you have to watch out for the Nuggets to climb up in the Western Conference standings. If they maintain this level of play until Gordon comes back, you better watch out because they might end up right back up in one of the top 2 seeds of the Western Conference like they were over the previous two seasons. 

My Final Fantasy Top 5 List

I had the profound privilege of getting to write this piece for a publication back on 3/27/24. Grateful that I received the opportunity to write this and just wanted to achieve it on this site.

When questioning myself on what my favorite video game series is, the answer is something that has constantly changed over the years. 

In my childhood it was most certainly the Super Mario Bros. Series. In my early teenage years I would have probably chosen either the Call of Duty games or the games in the Halo Series. Now in my early adulthood, the Final Fantasy series has become the definitive favorite. 

I really enjoyed the series as a child, playing the original games on the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo Entertainment systems that my Uncle had given me. Between playing them on those systems while also owning a number of the games in the series on my Game Boy Advance as well, my love for JRPGs, or Japanese Role Playing Games, began there. 

As mentioned, my taste in games has certainly changed over the years, so I will admit as a young teenager, I did fall out of the series a bit. In 2020 though, I rekindled my love for the series. I’m certainly happy I did so as the number of Final Fantasy games that have released this decade have been absolutely fantastic. 

Final Fantasy XVI is the only mainline game to be released this decade, and while I personally adored the game and my time spent playing it, the game is very polarizing. Some people absolutely hate it, and I’ve actually seen a select number of people call it one of their top games in the series. 

Today, I wanna countdown the five Final Fantasy games that I believe are the best games in the series. I want to not only give my opinions on each game, but celebrate the importance of these games and the series. I also think it’s important to highlight how iconic these games are, and how much of an influence they have had on many people, including myself. 

5 – Final Fantasy X

Having Final Fantasy X at the fifth spot might rub people the wrong way. I know many people who have it in the first place spot, but in my eyes the fifth place spot is a perfect place for it. Final Fantasy X is an excellent game, but I do believe Nostalgia really takes over for a lot of people when discussing this title. 

One of the biggest things that jumps out to me is the voice acting that certainly is a product of its time. When the game was released in North America back in 2001, having voice acting for the first time in the Final Fantasy series was such a massive step up from previous games in the series. Of course though, like most video games, or even animated films, released in 2001 that contained voice acting, it sticks out like a sore thumb. The voice acting for characters such as Wakka and Lulu is actually pretty darn good, but there’s a reason a number of memes still exist on the internet for voice lines said by Tidus and Yuna. 

I am also not super fond of the leveling system in this game. For the first time in the series, Developer Square Enix (formerly Square Soft) went with the “Sphere Grid system.” Rather than traditional leveling like most JRPs, each character has their own sphere that you upgrade by using specific spheres you unlock. Each Sphere Grid has different nodes that you move your character through with points you unlock through battles. Essentially you gain points in this game rather than experience. As someone who grew up on traditional JRPGs like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, this addition just isn’t my cup of tea.

With those two major complaints out of the way now, I will say mostly everything else is very enjoyable and has aged pretty well. 

The blitzball game mode is very fun once you get the hang of it. Essentially it’s Water Polo with a Final Fantasy flare added to it. Six players represent their respective teams while every player is completely submerged underwater. That’s just about the most Final Fantasy take on sports that I’ve ever seen. 

I also think the combat system is pretty great. This is one of the very few areas of this game that didn’t stray away from its typical JRPG roots and I really enjoyed it. That of course is saying a lot as it’s probably the most important area of the game for a player to enjoy. With skills, special attacks, magic and summons, it’s very easy for any JRPG fanatic to jump into this game and not need much time to get acclimated with the controls. Overall the combat system is quick, smooth and eventually profound enough that it does a great job of keeping JRPG enthusiasts engaged for the entirety of the game. 

I also think the soundtrack to this game is phenomenal, which is pretty par for the course when speaking on a Final Fantasy game. 

I also think the visuals were something that was mind blowing back in the day. The sixth generation game consoles, the PS2, original Xbox and Nintendo GameCube, really made a priority to show off how much the water technology had advanced since the previous generation. So that should help a younger gamer understand why beautiful beaches and water areas make up a number of locations in this game. 

While there is a sort of religious allegory to this game that feels a bit weird, the story is enjoyable. I think there are a number of characters that feel a bit trivial also, but throughout my multiple playthroughs of the game, I never once had that moment where I felt disengaged or lost interest. 

Final Fantasy X certainly isn’t perfect and like I said I think nostalgia drives many people’s love for it. At the end of the day though, it features a terrific fighting system, a phenomenal soundtrack, and really pioneered a lot of aspects that have been staples of the modern Final Fantasy games. 

While I do have my criticisms of Final Fantasy X and I went over them here, I do have to give the game its flowers and recognize how groundbreaking of a title it truly was. 

4 – Final Fantasy IV

Admittedly, of all of the games on this list, Final Fantasy IV is the least recent game that I’ve played. I grew up playing this game on both Super Nintendo and the GameBoy Advance, and some of my earliest gaming memories are tied back to this title. 

This game builds on everything the previous three games in the series had done up to that point, while also adding innovations to the combat system that subsequently became staples in the Final Fantasy series. 

This is the first Final Fantasy game to include the, “Active Time Battle.” This system is one of my favorite combat systems in any JRPG and the fact this system would end up sticking around in the following five mainline Final Fantasy games speaks to how well the system worked. The entries in the series that used this system following the release of IV added their own variations and improvements to the mechanics of its combat. I think all games putting their own twist on it is nice, but the original variation of the system in IV is still very much admired. 

One other element this game introduced was in changeable character classes. With the fact that this game is also the only game in the series that allows you to have five controllable characters in your party, giving them their own flair unique to them changes things up completely. Features such as this do make IV one of the most restrictive games in the entire series, but it adds a comprehensive new layer of brainstorming for the player. 

The story telling in this game is among the many reasons why many view it as one of the greatest video games ever created. Without spoiling anything, this game took a more dramatic shift than really any other JRPG, or even RPG, had at the time. The plot also feels more fleshed out and magnificent than the RPGs released around the same time as IV was. 

I will say that the open world exploration of this game feels very outdated compared to JRPGs we’ve gotten in the years since the release of this game. While I do think this game made revolutionary changes to the combat system that Square deserves to be lauded for, it hasn’t aged the greatest and is a gripe many fans have with this game. 

The villains in this game are off the chart. The main antagonist, Golbez is praised by many fans, and understandable so. I don’t wanna spoil any of the story but there’s a very valid reasoning behind why people feel Golbez is the best villain in the entire series. 

This game is an extremely easy recommendation for any gamer, especially a JRPG fan, and truly revolutionized the JRPG and RPG genres. This game also revolutionized the Final Fantasy series, in many respects as well. While many people might elect to play a more recent game in the series, Final Fantasy IV is still one of the best games in the series and truly revolutionized the JRPG genre forever. 

3 – Final Fantasy VII

Arguably the most iconic game in the series, Final Fantasy VII is a game that every JRPG enthusiast must play before they can even call themselves an enthusiast. 

Much like how X was a mind blowing jump from IX, VII was a remarkable leap up from VI. The first game on the Fifth-Generation game consoles, this was the first game in the series to use full motion video and 3D character models. The character models and art design was mind blowing stuff at the time of release. Seeing Cloud with his spiky hair and giant Buster Sword, as well as Barrett with his huge muscles and Gatling gun for an arm, was a total shift from the 8 and 16 bit graphics of previous entries in the series. 

While Final Fantasy VI did in fact have a steampunk style environment and setting, it still rooted itself in a world filled with magic and fantasy. Final Fantasy VII goes all in on the futuristic and cyberpunk inspired aesthetic. The main city this game takes place in, Midgar, draws so much inspiration from that aforementioned cyberpunk aesthetic and ships the player into a whole new universe. 

While I think the combat in this game is tremendous and immensely fun, Final Fantasy VII’s strongest characteristic in my opinion is its characters and story. The extremely emotional, sentimental and dramatic story draws gamers in instantaneously and is the reason why we’re currently in the midst of the release of the Final Fantasy VII Remake Trilogy. 

The very unique looking and unconventional cast of lovable characters make it so much easier to fall in love with this game. We already spoke on Cloud and Barrett, but among the characters in your party, you also have Aerith Gainsborough, a sweetheart hampered by her childhood trauma, Tifa Lockhart, a strong, nurturing woman always ready for a fight, and Red XIII, a red lion with a flaming tail that could talk. It’s not hard to see why so many gamers in 1997, and even players still today, fell in love with this game. 

Also the main villain, Sephiroth is arguably the most badass in the entire series. He’s not who I would say is the best villain in the series, but his silver hair, black trenchcoat and the lengths he goes to in order to torture his enemies make him one of the most satisfying villains to face off against in any RPG. 

With how iconic the victory fanfare from this game is, as well as the soundtrack overall, I do have to give both a very deserved shout out to both, as the soundtrack supporting this game helps paint the entire picture beautifully. You truly feel transported into another reality while playing this game

I think this is definitely one of the best video games ever created, but I think the game just isn’t as great as the next two games on this list. I think what Final Fantasy VII may lack, it makes up for with its phenomenal characters and gripping story. There’s not many flaws with this game, it’s just not as good as these next two games on this list. 

2 – Final Fantasy IX

Final Fantasy IX is my favorite game in the entire series. You might be questioning why I have it at the number 2 spot then, and we’ll get to that when I reach number 1. I also will say that I do like to have a layer of objectivity when ranking these games as well. 

This game is one that I feel many didn’t appreciate enough or perhaps not even pay enough attention to. The reason I say that is because at the Square Millenium Event in 2000, Square Soft showed off Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XI. When the company developing the game simultaneously shows off the two next entries in the series that are releasing, you’re probably gonna be shadowed a bit. It also didn’t help that the game released on the PlayStation 1 which was looked at as dying hardware at that point due to the PlayStation 2 set to release the following year, in 2001. 

Even with all of that working against it, Final Fantasy IX managed to be what I believe is the game that represents everything a Final Fantasy game should be. 

It’s a game that masquerades itself as being so childlike and cute while containing such a deep and dark tone that the gamer won’t expect upon starting up the game. The characters are extremely charming and made me adore them arguably more than I did with the cast of Final Fantasy VII. Most importantly, the game returns to the medieval setting for the first time since Final Fantasy V and that’s such an appreciated decision. After multiple games embracing futuristic approaches and environments, going back to the basics just worked. 

The story is extremely well paced and also does a great job with making sure the growth, development and progression of each character simply isn’t rushed. The themes of identity, morality and mortality that come up throughout this game take the gamer through an emotional rollercoaster that not many other Final Fantasy games manage to. The story simultaneously manages to be uplifting and heartbreaking at the same time and it’s rare that any piece of media can manage to do that while really leaving an impact on you. 

Without spoiling much I absolutely loved the two characters Vivi and Quina, both for very differing reasons. 

Vivi is a black mage that is kind, innocent, and constantly questioning things about himself and his own life throughout the story. Vivi’s lack of confidence, fears of the world and loyalty to his friends makes him very lovable and a fan favorite for very understandable reasons. 

Quina is a blue mage that loves their friends as well as food. Quina constantly serves as the comedic relief for the audience and is so lovable as a result. Quina speaks in broken English consistently throughout the game and often fails to complete tasks due to their love for food, most specifically, eating frogs. 

Quina provides the laughs while Vivi provides the introspection and thoughtful moments and for that reason I love them both.

I must say though that Amarant is a character that certainly is on the weaker side. Amarant is introduced super late and is undeveloped in terms of attributes while everyone else is already extremely developed. It also doesn’t help that he’s a very quiet character and has very few redeeming lines in this game. Amarant fails to really open up and confide in the group, and after putting in so many hours without him, that certainly doesn’t help his cause. 

Many people aren’t super crazy about the main antagonist, Kuja, but I do really think he’s a great villain. I think the reason I’ve always found Kuja so interesting is because he truly just wants to feel understood. All Kuja wants is to be validated, yet all he’s ever felt in his heart is hate. His character development and actions keep players engaged throughout the entirety of Final Fantasy IX, and that’s why I believe he’s one of the best villains in the entirety of the series.

I will also say the card game Tetra Master is also my favorite card game of any Final Fantasy. I have spent hours playing Tetra Master and love everything about it and its concept. 

I also really enjoyed the combat, and Final Fantasy IX is the final game in the series to use the traditional Active Time Battle system. I will say though that many people are not fans of the fact that the combat system is definitely on the slower side. Many people even describe the combat system as sluggish. 

Of course with this being my favorite game in the series, I have to shout out its soundtrack also. The music is just so well done in this game and the music that plays in the overworld has been stuck in my head for years now. Also, the song Melodies of Life, is one of my favorite songs in any video game ever and is a beautiful way to set up and also send off the player at the start and conclusion of this game. 

With that said though, Final Fantasy IX is certainly my favorite game in the series and will always hold a special place in my heart. It does a lot of things correctly and not many things erroneously. If the story and antagonist are so great, why is this only at number 2? Well we’ll talk about that in a second. 

1 – Final Fantasy VI

Putting my objectivity hat on, I can firmly say this is the best final fantasy game ever created. This game does so many things right, and we’ll get into what those things are, while also delivering extremely well on the story. 

I’ve spoken of my love for Sephiroth and Kuja, but the main antagonist in this game, Kefka, takes the cake for the best villain in a Final Fantasy game. I might even go as far as to say he’s the best villain in any video game ever. The amount of deranged, maniacal and nauseating things Kefka does makes it so easy to see why he’s able to get under the characters, even heck even the player’s skin. 

I really think the depth that this game goes to in order to fully flesh out the backstory of each character deserves to be spoken on. The struggles and storylines each character faces or has to face makes things so much more interesting and engaging than most entries in the series. 

Well maybe not ever character has a fledged out story. Characters like Umaro and Gogo both have their own weaknesses in terms of how they were written by the creators of the game. Umaro’s only real strength is that he is very useful when trying to gather a great deal of Celestriads in the Colosseum. Gogo at least has the great trait of being a versatile character in battle, but he essentially has no story and just feels more so like a random recruitable character.

While speaking on combat though, I will say that the Esper system while fighting is also a touch that is very aidful and adds more flexibility and flair to a players’ combat. Players can equip Espers, who are magically beings that can aid you profusely in battle. What makes it so robust is that after battles you unlock AP, this gets utilized to learn the Esper’s spells and help to aid you in battle.

I think the game dealing with the themes of oppression, rebelling and ambition make it a phenomenal story and something every gamer should experience. I also think Kefka forcing you to overcome what he accomplishes, makes this a story take a much different angle than most Final Fantasy games do. 

The game really touches on strength, resilience and being tireless while fighting grief. These story elements certainly make it one that grips players’ attention and that I feel makes it so easy to sink a large number of time into. 

The one thing I will mention is that this game, even despite being over 30 years old, still hasn’t aged too poorly. The graphics and soundtrack, even on original Super Nintendo hardware, still get the job done. Kefka’s laugh also still sounds extremely devilish on the Super Nintendo to this day. I would still recommend to people who either play through it again, or try it for the first time, play through the pixel remaster version of the game that released in 2021. 

The games strategic breadth and profound character customization make the traditional and classic turn based combat feel as fresh as ever. Recruiting characters to your team also feels so exceptional and like an experience you won’t get from a JRPG anywhere else. 

Final Fantasy VI is certainly a one-of-one game and a game that I recommend everybody plays. This game feels like the epitome of what a classic, old-school RPG should be about. With dynamic character writing and one of the best villains in all of gaming history, Final Fantasy VI essentially hits every nail on the head when trying to develop both the characters and the game’s story. Truly a masterpiece of a game and quite possibly the best RPG released on the Super Nintendo system.

Final Thoughts

The Final Fantasy Series is near and dear to my heart and I hope now you can see why these games mean so much to me. With each game having its own quirks and boundary pushing traits to it, it’s clearly a special gaming franchise that I believe everybody should experience. Even if you only indulge in one Final Fantasy game, there’s something beautiful about an expansive story that can absolutely take you out of the real world and transport you into a different one. Luckily for Final Fantasy fans, the five games listed here do it just as well, if not better, than almost any games ever created have. 

NBA Street Vol. 2

Wrote this for a Publication and wanted to archive it here

A retro game that I still fire up and play to this day, even on original hardware, is NBA Street Vol. 2. The NBA Street Series is an extremely fun and off-the-wall take on the street ball genre of basketball, but Volume 2 is just so much different than the rest of the games in the series.

Hearing “They Reminisce Over You,” by Pete Rock and C.L Smooth upon starting up the game still gives me goosebumps to this day. The game’s soundtrack that’s full of old school Hip-Hop makes you feel like you’re really at a school yard blacktop basketball court with a giant boombox next to the court.

It’s not just the soundtrack though that gives off such a distinct and pleasing aesthetic. Off the bat, the environments that the game takes place in, and the apparel worn by the players, help distinguish this game from any other basketball video game. 

The vastly different environments, such as a basketball court in uptown Manhattan, New York that sees you play during the middle of the day, and a very dark and poorly illuminated court on Broad Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with the night time sky above you, help set scenes that stick out in your mind for years.

The very different apparel from the players you see on the court and control in the game makes the experience feel so diverse opposed to any NBA game that came before it.

Legends such as Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson wear their regular NBA Uniform, high flying slam dunk contest champion Julius, “Dr. J, Erving rocking his NBA jersey with a pair of bright blue jeans, and Yao Ming wearing his Houston Rockets jersey with a pair of black gym shorts. All of these players and how their character models look on screen came to mind immediately when writing this piece and I think that says a lot about how much of a lasting impact this game and its imagery has on fans of the game.

The art style of the game is unforgettable and something that always must be mentioned when bringing up NBA Street Vol. 2. There are a number of beautiful and well done textures to make every player and environment stand out from one another. There are also a number of vibrant colors that add so much to the look of the game and make it look, dare I say, charming to look at. When combining all of that with the cell-shaded look that the creators of the game chose to go with, it makes for an art style that still stands out and looks good to this day.

The originality of this game goes way beyond the visuals you see and sounds you hear while playing the game.

The game is a typical street ball game with the usual streetball rules. The first trio of players to score 21 points and win by two points is the victor of the game. Seems rudimentary enough. However, this game actually adds a bit of a twist to it. As you make a number of flashy plays and do a number of swagger filled moves that truly embarrass your opponent, you build up a score that adds to your, “Gamebreaker,” meter. When you build up this meter, you can activate a Gamebreaker move. A level one Gamebreaker, or a GB1, totally swings the score of the game you’re playing by adding two points to your point total, while deducting a point from your opponents’ total. A level two Gamebreaker, this time abbreviated to GB2, also adds two points to your point total, but this time deducts three points from your opponent. The latter of the two certainly hurts more if you get hit with it, but both certainly add insult to injury while you’re watching an opposing player, or players, pull off an absurd over the top highlight. It’s a remarkable feeling when you’re the one unleashing the Gamebreaker though.

The game features a number of controls and combos you can use to pull off devastating crossovers, dribble moves or passes on top of breathtaking dunks. With the number of button combinations the player can choose from, it feels more like a fighting game than any other basketball game due to how many compounding button presses the player can choose to remember. Don’t worry though, the game is still simple and fun enough that if you don’t know the most illustrious moves in this game, you can still enjoy your time playing NBA Street Vol. 2 and have some memorable moments while doing so. 

The ability to customize your own team and make a roster filled with whatever NBA legends you’d like is much appreciated. The rewards you can purchase by winning games to earn points also keep you engaged and wanting to come back to this game time and time again. Whether you’re unlocking NBA Legends, some very special courts to play on or a number of different moves to embarrass your opponents, the reward system keeps the players busy and adds so much value to NBA Street Vol. 2.

It doesn’t matter if its the art style that the creative directors decided on, the feeling of seeing the orange and blue colors popping off the screen when you finally get a “Gamebreaker,” or the Hip-Hop centric soundtrack filled with classic songs from the genre, NBA Street Volume 2 has such soul to it that no other basketball game has been able to create. 

I have a number of memories tied to this game, and with that said, this game will always hold a special place in my heart. This game is a true testament to what sports video games should be all about. That is, simply a title that keeps the player engaged while separating itself from other games in the genre. This game does just that while also being able to help people create memories, either by themselves, with friends or acquaintances.

There’s a special feeling that NBA Street Vol. 2 brings to me, as well as many other people that I know, and for that, NBA Street Vol. 2 will forever be my favorite sports video game of all time.

The Difference Jimmy Butler has made for the Golden State Warriors

This was written as a 250-500 word prompt for a publication

When the Golden State Warriors traded for star player Jimmy Butler at the 2025 NBA Trade Deadline, the reaction from fans was lukewarm.

The Warriors had a losing record prior to Butler’s debut with the team, and after Butler’s chaotic exit from Miami, fans weren’t so sure he’d give the Warriors all he had.

Now though, fans have totally done a 180 degree turn on their opinions toward Butler. The Warriors have the 2nd best winning percentage in the Western Conference during the time span from Butler’s debut with the team on February 8th to now, and there’s just a new fire the team has played with.

After starting the season with a 10-2 record, the Warriors began to slip up and look nothing like the team that stepped on the court during their first twelve games of the season. Fans criticized the front office, head coach Steve Kerr, and just about every player not named Steph Curry. Now fans can’t give any of those aforementioned people more praise.

Coach Kerr has gone deeper than ever into his playbook and has pulled out plays that Warriors fans haven’t seen since Kerr’s predecessor, Mark Jackson, was coaching the team. Plays like the Elevator Doors play, the Double Screen Curl and the Hoya Fence play have all been on display since Butler’s become a Warrior and it’s evident there was a total energy shift within the team’s locker room upon Butler’s arrival.

Butler’s stats haven’t been what we’re typically used to. This season Butler is averaging 17.3 points per game, which is his lowest average in that area since the 2013-14 season. However, during his time with the Warriors, Butler is averaging the most assists and rebounds per game that he’s averaged since the 2020-21 season. 

This is a clear indication of the new role that Butler is playing with the Warriors, and their record since his arrival should be all you need to see to know how well it’s working out for them. With a 16-3 record in the games that Butler suited up for the Warriors, it’s clear that Butler was the cog in their system that the team needed.

The Warriors currently sit in 6th place in the Western Conference with a 41-30 record for the season, and things are looking up in Golden State.

With the NBA Playoffs beginning in less than a month, on April 19th, and the Play-In Tournament kicking off on April 15th, the Warriors are currently slated to avoid the Play-In Tournament altogether and take sole possession of a playoff seed.

After looking like they were going to miss the playoffs all together before Butler arrived, it’s easy to see now just how important Jimmy Butler is for the Golden State Warriors, and just how scary of a matchup they will be for their opponents once the 2025 NBA Playoffs roll around.

The Brooklyn Nets Should Be Tanking

This was written as a 250-500 word prompt for a Publication

At the beginning of the 2024-25 NBA Season, the Brooklyn Nets laid out a clear plan for how they wanted to approach the season, trade away their valuable players for as many assets as possible and lose any game that they could.

The Brooklyn Nets should’ve immediately hit the rebuild button after trading away Superstar Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns in February of 2023. The Nets decided to see things out though with their new young pieces, Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson.

After a rough season and a half of trying to see things through with both players, the Nets made it clear that the experiment had pretty much run its course when they traded Mikal Bridges to their crosstown rival, the New York Knicks, in June of 2024.

At the start of this season, reports were published stating that the Nets were ready to trade some of their top players, Dennis Schröder, Dorian Finney-Smith and also Cam Johnson. With less than a month remaining in the season, Johnson is the only one of that trio that remains on the Nets’ roster, and the team’s record isn’t as bad as some fans would like it to be.

With 10 games remaining in the season and the Nets currently 7 and a half games behind the final Eastern Conference Play-In spot, the team most likely won’t sniff the Play-In Tournament. With that said and the NBA’s Draft Lottery happening on May 12, the Nets focus at the moment should be losing as many of those 10 upcoming games as possible.

The worse your record is as a team, the higher the likelihood is that you’ll land the first overall pick in the NBA Draft. With that said and three tremendous prospects currently projected to headline the 2025 NBA Draft’s top draft selections, the Nets focus should be on their future, not pointless regular season games.

With four NBA teams already eliminated from NBA Playoff contention, the Brooklyn Nets should do their best to find themselves eliminated as soon as possible. If not, the team could find themselves in the NBA’s purgatory for a long time, and see their rebuild go on for longer than it needs to.

To Mom

Written November 24, 2024

To Mom

I should probably do this more often for my own closure. 

I don’t know if you’ve been sending me signs and I just haven’t been paying attention or if maybe I need to hold more faith in the fact the lucky breaks I’ve gotten might’ve been assistance from you. 

I don’t know what to believe but I’ve been doing better. 

The Special Days, the holidays, all without you truly hurt. They’re not the same, but without you here I don’t think I’d want them to be. 

Do I accept all of the love I receive, whether I believe it’s fake or not? Do I do the right thing like I’ve always been taught to? Should I say how I really feel and possibly cause some hurt feelings, or just be the bigger person and keep it to myself. 

It feels like people might genuinely care about you no longer being here, but why don’t they check in more often? Why don’t they go the extra mile? I understand the world doesn’t revolve around me, but I deserve the same love that I give out to others. 

You always gave me that love. You always gave me validation. 

I know it would all be so different if you were here, but I know at the same time I wouldn’t be the same person I am today. 

I feel stuck at a crossroads at different life decisions you’d typically help me with. I’ve become used to handling it myself but I need a sign, just so I have your assurance. 

You always helped me feel confident in my decisions, and even if I didn’t feel confident at the start, I felt like the decision you helped me make was the right one. 

I teared up the other day seeing a post that read, “Grief is love with no place to go.” It hit home because it’s true. Do I spread all the love I’d give to you to many other people? Do I give all of that same love to someone else? Do I have to find a new way of giving love? 

It feels like this is one of those points in my life where I finally have to trust in my decision making. Finally start looking harder for signs you may be giving me. Truly start following my heart. 

I’ve read quote after quote when I needed some guidance about following your heart and not your mind. I always portrayed the image of someone who had self love without actually having any. It feels like now though I need to follow my heart, the love you gave me, the love I had given to you and the love and passion I have for hobbies and others. 

I had to remove negative people from my life. I had to remove people who didn’t treat me the way I deserved from my life. My first thought afterwards was “would mom be proud of me?” It feels silly because you never let anybody treat me poorly. You always told me what my value was, even if I didn’t believe it. 

I realize now that I need to start believing it. I need to start being grateful for all of the times I scraped by the skin of my teeth or you sent me a sign I chose not to believe. 

I will start communicating with others about feeling like I deserve better from them. Not in a mean way, not in a hostile way, I know you wouldn’t want that. I understand now though that getting so much of that off my soul is the only way I’ll feel truly at ease. 

Making sure I grieve properly and take a day to feel the pain and love I miss will only help me even more. 

I hurts not spending holidays with you. It hurts not spending birthdays with you. It hurts not spending random days of the week with you. 

I know I’ll make it through though. I’ve done so for the last 8 and a half years. All I’m asking for is to give me another sign when I need it. Show me you’re truly still listening to me. 

Maybe you already have though and I just missed it. I’ll make sure to pay attention more than ever though now.

616

Thirty Eight minutes into the afternoon. 

The hegemonic smell of germicides and leaden.

The beautiful sunshine and ocean view couldn’t shed light on such a dark occasion. 

Such a state of shock overcomes my body. The anxieties and trepidations I once felt have now dissipated. 

The last minute and unprepared nature of this final encounter has yet to hit my inoperable brain. 

The emotions and behaviors that should send chills down my spine and fill me with fear do not do so. Rather they gently wash over me like a wave. 

The wander to the cot is likened to a hike up a mountain. Each step more fatiguing than the last.

The deafening silence and her inability to speak assists me with ease, while simultaneously slowing down each tick of the clock. 

Speech begins crawling out of my mouth without my permission. 

Every word that exits broiled into my brain, despite my inability to control what departs. 

On completion I lie a kiss on the cheek and give her my reassurance. 

I revolve like the door I entered from toward the remainder of the populace. 

My concluding interaction. My parting kiss. My closing words. 

The cease of a near six thousand day link. 

The handling concluded. The sentiments are yet to wallop. 

I still wonder if they have yet.

The imploration to locate equilibrium and accord. 

I believe that has yet to be accomplished. 

Much like 616, I perceived there was no further to go, yet I hadn’t crossed the finish line yet. 

It wasn’t until I encountered 620 that I understood the sensations are diverse in their attack. 

It didn’t hit for 794 days, and it was then that I realized I had lost it all. 

I learned regeneration of the intellect wasn’t the path. 

Rather innovation and origination were the only paths forward. 

I must hold onto the past, while not bearing too much weight. 

This is what she’d desire of me.

7 Facts About Living Conditions in Estonia

This was work that I did for a Publication and felt it would be good to archive it here.

Life Expectancy is Lower than Average – Life Expectancy has reached all time highs in Estonia over the last few years. In 2023, Estonia saw its highest life expectancy at birth ever at 79 years. However Estonia’ life expectancy still trails behind the European average of 81.5 years. “Looking at countries across Europe, the Baltic countries are notable for the big difference in male and female life expectancies. In Estonia, life expectancy is 83.1 years for women and 74.5 years for men,” explained Eveli Voolens, the social statistics team lead at Statistics Estonia

Cost of Living is Moderate in Estonia – Estonia is the 18th most expensive country in Europe. It costs an average of €3,921 per month, including €1,058 for rent, for a family of four to live in Estonia. While for a single person, the total monthly cost of living in Estonia is €1,456. In Germany for example, a family of four spends around €5,048 per month, while a single person spends about €1,880. Tallinn is the most expensive city to live in Estonia, with a total monthly cost for a single person of approximately €1,594, in comparison to Narva, which is the cheapest city in Estonia to live, with an estimated monthly cost of around €740. 

Estonia’s Public Transportation is Well Developed – Estonia, including most notably the city of Tallinn, has an orderly and structured public transport system. The system primarily utilizes Buses, Trolleybuses and Trams with consistent and staunch lanes in some parts of the country and cities. While the system is very well maintained, in 2023, Estonia ended free bus travel due to lack of funds.

Estonia’s Economy is in A Downturn – Despite having a highly developed economy, Estonia’s economy is currently in a recession. This is attributed largely to rising production costs. The ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia has also disrupted a number of supply chains that Estonia relies on heavily, with a number of business models having fallen into disuse as a result. The pain of Estonia’s recession can be felt increasingly in the country’s labour market. Despite all of this, the country’s total employment is at its highest ever level for a two year period, despite Estonia’s recession, due primarily to companies trying to avoid cutting jobs from their labour force.

Estonia is Ranked 31st according to Human Development Index – The Human Development  Index is used by the United Nations to measure the progress of a country. In the case of Estonia, it ranks 31st out of 193 countries included in the table. Estonia was measured with a score of 0.899 points in 2022. The 0.899 score for Estonia is the highest that the country has had in the index since tracking began in 1990. Estonia has remained above a 0.89 index since 2018.

Estonia Reached a 10 Year Low in Poverty Rate in 2023 – After reaching an At-Risk poverty rate of 21.8% in 2013, Estonia saw a fluctuating At-Risk Poverty Rate from then until 2022. However in 2023, Estonia’s At-Risk poverty rate reached a 20.1% rate, which is the lowest rate that the country has seen in that statistic since its 18.6% At-Risk Rate back in 2012. Also in 2023, Estonia’s Absolute Poverty Rate reached a level of 2.7%, which is the highest rate that Estonia has seen since it saw a rate of 2.7% in that statistic back in 2017. While that is up from the 1.4% rate they saw in Absolute Poverty Rate in 2021, that rate is down from the Absolute Poverty Rate of 3.5% that Estonia saw in 2023.
Estonia’s Health Care System Has Inequalities Despite Progress Made – In an effort to provide satisfaction to users of its health care system and ensure financial sustainability, Estonia worked on strengthening its Public Health Care (PHC). With a number of national health insurance systems introduced and the consolidation in the number of hospitals throughout the country, Estonia’s progress in its health care system is easy to see. However, Citizens have dealt with a number of inequalities in their own health care due to socioeconomic conditions that they still face. The most years of life lost off of the Estonian Life Expectancy has to do with Health Care inequalities. Due to COVID-19, excess mortality increased in 2021, which caused a decrease to the average life expectancy in Estonia. Cardiovascular diseases are also still the main cause of premature mortality. “In Estonia, people with a lower income and less education are the ones losing healthy years of life the most,” said Ewout van Ginneken, an expert at the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. If the co-payment for the necessary treatment a Estonian must receive is too high, people with lower income tend to sacrifice the necessary treatment.

Human Being 2 U (Review of Isaiah Rashad’s ‘The House is Burning’ Album)

(This review was written a little while back and was used as a submission on an Application. I felt it was good to finally post and archive it here)

On July 30th of 2021, Isaiah Rashad released his second studio album, ‘The House is Burning.’ The album was Rashad’s first time releasing solo music since September of 2016. Safe to say fans of hip-hop, as well as fans of Rashad, were desperately awaiting the release of ‘The House is Burning.’ I happened to be one of those people. 

During the near five years since Isaiah Rashad had last released music, he had to overcome many personal triumphs. Depression, addiction, and alcoholism are among some of the many triumphs. It even got so bad for Rashad that he had to call the head of his label, Top Dawg Entertainment, Anthony Tiffith, and let him know that he needed to be admitted into rehab immediately. Rashad had hit rock bottom, and he himself even knew it. Knowing of Rashad’s struggles prior to the release of this album, I was curious to hear if he would touch on any of these topics on the album, and Rashad very well did.

Rashad had released a single, “Why Worry,” back on April 22, 2020, as part of a promotional event during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic with his label, Top Dawg Entertainment. Other than that one promotional single, the last we had heard from Rashad at all prior to that came on songs in which he was featured in. Rashad actually happened to be featured on two other songs in 2020, but 2017 was the last time he was heard from prior to that. So when Rashad released the first single from his album titled “Lay wit Ya” on May 7th, 2021, the reception around Rashad’s long-awaited return was well accepted.

”Lay wit Ya” felt like a nonchalant return for Rashad after four and a half years, but he sounded like he was still in the prime of his career, even after his long layoff from creating music. He not only sounded no different and just as sharp as he did the last time we heard him, but the music video displayed things Rashad had spoken about in his music throughout his career: women, drugs, and finding an escape. It felt as if Rashad never experienced the hardships in which he did, including, of course, his addiction, which led to him entering rehabilitation.

Rashad returning with a single like this actually felt very calculated, though. He returned as if nothing ever happened and was using his vices to paint an image on the outside that was much different from what he had going on inside of him. 

However, in the music video for his second single from the album, “Headshots (4r da locals),” Rashad did in fact allude to his addiction as well as his time spent in group rehabilitation.

The mainstream listener who is unaware of what Rashad had to deal with in the time following his previous album, “The Sun’s Tirade,” may not pick up on why Rashad does the symbolism that he does in the music video, but if you’re aware of what happened to him in his years spent away from music, then you can easily pick up on the imagery portrayed in the music video to his second single off the album.

The music video begins by displaying a number of pool balls preceded by visuals of a man who is playing pool in a tavern. As the man hits the pool balls, you can spot Rashad behind the bar at the tavern, and he spots whiskey in a glass and immediately recalls his time spent in group therapy. The camera pans from the top of a whiskey glass, spinning to the top of a group therapy circle. Throughout the video, Rashad is shown in many places other than the group therapy session, but smartly, we see many circular objects, calling back to how they remind Rashad of his time in the group therapy circle. We see the top view of a coffee cup, a circular flock of birds, the wheel of a car, the sun in a desert, and even the thirteen stars on the Betsy Ross American flag, which of course, are arranged in a circle. The visuals are off the charts in this video, and while, like mentioned earlier, they may just seem cool and hip to the average viewer, there is a deeper meaning there that people who are aware are able to pick up on.

The two singles that followed, “Wat U Sed” and “From the Garden,” contained the occasional lyrics referring to the situation around Rashad’s addiction, alcoholism, and rehabilitation, but nothing other than that. These two singles felt very similar to previous music from throughout Rashad’s career. This was because he touched on depression and personal issues casually while doing it over a tremendously upbeat beat or instrumental. This has been a constant throughout Rashad’s career.

These singles left fans, including myself, wondering how much more Rashad would touch on his personal issues and struggles on his upcoming album. Well, we certainly did hear more about the battles Rashad faced over the course of the 48-minute runtime on this album.

Like mentioned, finally on July 30, 2021, four and a half years following his 2016 debut album “The Sun’s Tirade,” Rashad finally released his second studio album, “The House is Burning,” to acclaim from music critics, the average listener, and fans of either hip-hop music or Rashad himself. The music on the album simply felt like Rashad was back in form with the great-sounding music he released on his debut studio album, as well as his debut mixtape, “Cilvia Demo,” in which he released back in 2014. While he did have lyrics referring to his addiction, depression, anxiety, and rehabilitation among other things on the album’s first fourteen songs, which took up the first thirty-nine minutes and forty seconds of the album, it wasn’t until the album’s final two songs that occupied the final eight minutes and twenty seconds of the album that Rashad had songs completely about what he dealt with following the release of his 2016 album through the time he spent in rehab.

The fifteenth and second-to-last song in the tracklist was the title track of the album titled ‘THIB,’ which of course stands for “The House is Burning.” 

Rashad immediately begins ‘THIB’ by speaking on his problems with substance abuse and alcoholism. Rashad also displays his problems by interpolating Goodie Mob’s classic track, “Cell Therapy.” “Who’s that creeping in my window? Who’s that? Who’s that? Who’s that f*cking with my conscience?” Rashad sings on the song’s hook. 

While also paying homage to other artists who inspired him, such as Missy Elliott, and interpolating flows and lyrics from fellow rappers such as 21 Savage, Rashad speaks on still feeling empty inside, despite now having things he’s always wanted. 

While interpolating 21 Savage, Rashad also speaks on how low of a point he was at, even having to turn to alcohol to cope with his emotions. Rapping, “I don’t even like Henny, f*ck it,” during the first verse of the song. 

While paying homage to legendary artist Missy Elliott, Rashad raps, “Smoke a pound, stomach growl, let me feast. I need everything in my reach; that’s what we preach.” Clearly showing the addictive tendencies and vices that he was battling with. 

Rashad placing a song where he speaks about his anxiety crippling him and feeling like someone is always watching him as the second to last song in the tracklist was clearly intentional. After having moments throughout the tracklist of this album that make it sound like Rashad had overcome his bad tendencies and had nothing to comment on, ‘THIB’ brings the listener back down to earth and lets everyone into Rashad’s psyche. It also beautifully sets up the closing track of the album, ‘HB2U.’

The acronym of the title holds two meanings. The first is “Happy Birthday to You,” while the second is “Human Being to You.” The song, fittingly enough, is split into two separate parts for each meaning.

The “Happy Birthday to You” section makes up the first portion of the song.

The song begins with a vocal sample of Rashad speaking to his daughter. Rashad’s daughter asks him, “Is there a heaven?” to which he responds, “Yes.” She follows that up with another question, asking, “How do you know that?” in which he responds with, “You don’t.” 

This definitely reflects an underlying message of the song, especially with Rashad making biblical references and consistently referring to his upbringing on this song. The vocal sample of Rashad and his daughter certainly indicates a perspective shift from Rashad as a result of his newfound sobriety. The biblical references following the vocal sample make it clear, though, that Rashad will still remain optimistic and persevere despite his struggles in dealing with sobriety.

“Ain’t nothing stoppin’ me but parking fees,” Rashad raps, showing there are no longer any obstacles in Rashad’s way, aside from something like parking tickets. The final lyrics of the ‘Human Being to You’ portion of the song hear Rashad saying, “It’s all for you, babe,” a clear reference to Rashad finding deep purpose and meaning in living for his daughter and setting an example for her.

Lyrics such as these shine light on the fact that Rashad really does see the light at the end of the tunnel, and in finding purpose and meaning in setting an example for his daughter, he found purpose in his own life. 

The “Human Being to You portion begins with Rashad singing a refrain to himself from the third person, saying, “You are now a human being.” Rashad admitted prior to this album’s release that he had recorded all of his previous work while drunk. This refrain makes it clear that Rashad now views himself as a human being and is proud of his work to become completely sober. 

Rashad continues to speak on his struggles with alcohol and drugs on the song, stating, “I should just pack up my bags and get loaded.” As well as, “This isn’t the time of my life, but I’m still on drugs.” Showing yet another look into his psyche and how, despite being on drugs, Rashad was still struggling. 

The song ends, though, with beautifully done singing of the earlier refrain from this portion of the song and really feels like a beautiful ending and a sort of light at the end of the tunnel to end both the track and this album on.

As somebody who dealt with struggles following the death of my mother, including but not limited to, grief and depression, this album, and especially the final track, certainly drew heavy emotion from me and hit close to home.

HB2U feels like quite possibly the most introspective and honest track in all of Rashad’s music catalog, and for that reason, it means a lot to me still to this day. The track feels like a sigh of relief from Rashad and him recognizing that even through all his personal struggles, everything’s going to be okay. 

The album might not be for everybody, and honestly, I don’t think all music is supposed to be. If you’ve dealt with some kind of struggle in your life, which it seems all of us do at some point, then you can probably understand and find the beauty in this album, as well as in its introspective and personal lyrics.

This album is almost certainly my favorite album of 2021, due to its creativity, personal lyrics, and star-filled feature list as well. Rashad’s ability to speak on such personal topics and issues on very hi-tempo and upbeat production makes this such a unique and enjoyable listen, where sometimes, if you’re not paying close enough attention, you can miss out on some of the deeper meanings. 

This album certainly connected to me more than any other album has in quite a bit of time, and I think there’s a certain unique beauty in introspective and soulful hip hop like what Rashad has presented with this album. This is an album that I recommend everybody at least give a listen to, especially if you’re a fan of hip hop or Rashad’s prior work. Certain songs on the tracklist cut deep for me, and I’m sure it will do the same for many others. 

This is a truly beautiful album that I’m very appreciative of and hope can help anybody else who has dealt with any kind of struggle. Whether that be pain, grief, anxiety, depression, etc., over the course of their life.

Hey Mama

Hey Mama

I hope that I’m making you proud. I hope that you’re proud of my growth as a human being. Even despite all of the flaws that I possess and always will possess. As well as the fact that I have so much more work to do in order to become the person that I one day strive to be. 

Please help to guide me back into friendships that I have strayed from. I miss creating memories with people that I have loved over the years and still have love for. I miss spending time with those people the same way I miss spending time with you. I don’t care if I’m not to blame for a lost friendship, I will always blame myself, I can always do better. I could always reach out more. If I really was a true friend that’s what I would do.  

Throughout life, everybody is shaped and molded by one of, or both of, their parents, but I never wanted to listen to anybody else besides you. I cherished every attainable second with you and wanted to be just like you. I didn’t care if all my friends spent an overwhelming majority of their time with their fathers and wanted to be manly or valorous. I just wanted to be like you. That’s all I’ve ever wanted in life. Still to this day.

In my most formative years in life, the years when I’ve needed you the most, I haven’t had you by my side to guide me. These are the years when teenagers learn about the world and politics from their parents, but I did not. Parents help mold their children’s fashion sense, but I had to figure that out on my own. I didn’t even have you there to help me make my decision on college and my future. I was forced to do that on my own.

Now, five and a half years after you’ve left this planet, the only thing I can do is hope that I am like you. I will never have a living, breathing example to compare myself to. 

I have been ever so lonely since June twentieth, twenty sixteen and I don’t ever believe that will change. Sometimes life simply feels like it is purgatory and I’m just waiting to pass on and finally live once again. 

Over these five and a half years, in times where most people would grow closer to their faith as a way to cope, I have done the opposite. You start to question if Heaven’s Bells are even a real thing. Is there even life after death at all? I’d like to believe it was you who was watching over me and helping me escape my multiple near death experiences, but mom I really don’t know if I can believe that anymore. When I am as lost as I have been without you, what signs can I look for as confirmation to know you’re actually watching over me. 

I’m sure after I say this I will receive a sign that sparks my belief once more. I am also very well aware of my privileges and the opportunities that I have been given, but sometimes retaining your beliefs can be so hard. 

Escapism has been the fuel to my life since your passing, and maybe all of the memories with my friends and family are truly a sign from you, and you’re trying to help me maintain my happiness, but sometimes it feels like all I’m doing is simply running from hardships thrown at me. 

Ever since you first became sick in December of 2015, I looked toward my passions, the things in which I love to consume, and spending time with the friends that I will forever have love for as my form of therapy. I’ve never needed a therapist, but my love of music, my passion for writing, my love of film and video games, and spending time with friends have helped me. 

These things help me but it doesn’t take away from the fact that I still feel lost, and a lot of that is because I don’t have you here alongside me. I could use your guidance once more and if you’re up there watching me, I could use a sign to help light the way and help me know that it is all going to work out. 

I know if you were here you would tell me to keep on going. You would tell me to keep pushing forward. Whenever I’m idling, maybe you’re the one sending me the signs that keep me moving and prevent me from staying vegetated. 

I may not be able to speak to you through words any longer, but I can only hope that symbolically you’re sending me signs and speaking to me in the form of manifesting signs my way.

Fleeting Thoughts

I thought I had learned everything about myself that there is to explore. Yet everyday I continue to learn more about my psyche that I had not yet revealed. Not even to my own self. 

I had never known why I felt the need to expose my thoughts. I had never known why I felt the need to let out my opinions. I believe I have now realized letting out thoughts is simply therapeutic to my complex and occasionally unsettled mind. 

I understand my words truthfully carry a minimal amount of weight. Sometimes however, there is a taste of gratitude one receives when they find a location for their next words to land. 

I understand the number of eyes that I always have looking upon myself. I understand the number of eyes that I always have on the statements I make. Presumably that’s why finding a palette for the expressions I decide to make helps me. Because I know there must be a soul out there willing to listen to what goes through my spirit. 

I now understand there is a beauty in vulnerability. There is a beautiful nature inside of one’s transparency. It is a beautiful sight when one is admitting their insecurities to others. 

We are all complex individuals. None of who are perfect. 

Everybody has a different perception of what they view as “common sense.” Everybody has a different perspective of this beautiful yet cruel planet we all inhabit. We must all be more understanding of each other’s perspectives and how complex they may in fact be. 

I have heard some of the comments that people have made about myself. I very well know that what I have heard doesn’t even come close to everything said about me behind my back. 

As time continues to push on you learn that sometimes your best convictions are best left unspoken. You realize silence is often a golden present. Perhaps that makes me a hypocrite for so publicly exposing the things in which I ponder. 

I don’t believe I know where my comfort zone is anymore. I ponder if I will ever locate it once again.

Since my youth I have had an immaculate fear of the unknown. Yet through my coming of age I have now learned to always remain faithful in the articles of life which are unknown. 

I have a multitude of canvases at my disposal to express my thinking. Yet I always feel as if I need another. My mind is always primarily focused on what is next. Maybe that says more about myself as an individual than it does about my notions themselves. 

Sincerely Yours. 

Sean