monkey brain No. 7

I love the drama, defunding the police, and a good ol' Ja Rule L.

Welcome to Monkey Brain — the series where I share a stream of random thoughts from the month, powered by Billy, the monkey banging cymbals in my head. If it’s your first time here and this is your first impression of me, welcome, hello, and maybe sorry? Glad to have you here. If you’ve been here before, happy to have you back. Now let’s get into it.

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Gade cheri, ou pa vle tande?

Ou pa wè ke ti gason sa merite w?
Ou gen twòp shine, cherie, Ou two fly.

Di li bye-bye, bebe, Nou sou yon lòt bagay
Lage li, lage, lage l, oh (Pa betize, pa betize)
Lage li, lage, lage l, oh (Lage Konpa!)

- Naïka

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my favorite Ja Rule L is Fyre Festival

Every so often, I like to think deeply about Ja Rule and the myriad of L’s he’s taken. Lowkey, it’s inspiring because it’s almost as if he takes these losses like a champ. One L that really gets me is the one he took with Fyre Fest. For those who are unfamiliar with Fyre Fest, it’s the 2015 phenomenon of a horribly failed music festival where a white man, Billy McFarland, who really had nothing behind his name but the ability to scam and finesse rich white folks out they money, decided to host a music festival that was marketed to have some of your favorite models right there. Almost as if you’d be able to party with them directly.

A toast before the disaster festival

The damage control after the disater festival

What fascinates me is that somehow Ja Rule gets connected to this man and really thinks it’s going to take off. This is important to note because at this point, his arch nemesis in music, 50 Cent, had extended his empire from a musician to being a really successful entrepreneur, and I’m sure Ja thought this was going to be his ticket out of the hood. He was in them promo videos like he was Big Meech, and yet.. the event turned out to be a complete disaster. What does Ja do? He pivots and distances himself as if it never happened. That type of confidence and delusion is inspiring and is truly one of my favorite L’s ever. So much poise, so much grace. We can all learn from him. Check out the Netflix and or Hulu documentary about the festival if you haven’t yet to witness this delusion.

DJELI Journal

Ya girl is a published authorrrrrrrrrr. What a way to celebrate one year of writing out loud! Last year, I submitted an original piece to the inaugural edition of the literary journal DJELI Journal, and it was accepted, published, and is now available for purchase. My piece, “No Pussy For Losers,” means a lot to me. It’s one I’ve been able to share with a few folks close to me, or anyone who's been willing to read it, and each time it’s gotten powerful reactions. It’s personal, raw, vulnerable, and an honest conversation about what it means to embrace abstinence as a form of resistance. I’m on the lookout for a digital home for the piece (so if you know anyone, lmk), but until then, you’re gonna have to purchase it yourself to read it. Also, Angela Davis, THE Angela Davis, has a copy which is insane. Who woulda thought a piece I wrote on a whim would be in her library? Crazy how life happens. Purchase your copy here.

& it’s still defund the police

April gave me the chance to meet with staffers from Supervisor Mitchell’s office in LA County to advocate on behalf of Southern District 2, which represents parts of LA such as Watts, Inglewood, Culver City, Compton, Baldwin Hills, Koreatown, and East Hollywood. It was an honor to represent my own district in this way while also fighting for areas I love and care about. Chatting with the Board Supervisors’ office helped me not only understand how counties work (because where I’m from, while we have counties, it doesn’t really matter to the average person), but I also got to learn more about what’s to come politically for Los Angeles and California at large. In our meeting, one thing I left with was learning how Supervisor Mitchell made it a point to fund the arts by defunding the police, and we love to see it. While she got a lot of flak for it, it really shows her knowledge, courage, and care in action. Our good sis comes from a budgeting background and knows the value of reallocating funds. In times of angst, over-funding the police is really NOT the answer. Primarily because certain areas lean into wanting their assets protected (which I understand), but at what cost, while others are over-policed. I’ve stood on this before, stand on it now, and will continue to stand on defunding the police. The fires earlier last year exposed the real impact of Los Angeles’ ongoing pattern of cutting public service budgets in order to increase police funding. Why do we keep paying police departments overtime for doing very little? Nonetheless, it’s beautiful to see a leader in LA County make bold decisions and care deeply about the arts, recognizing their impact on individuals and communities. With a gubernatorial race this year, preparations for LA28 happening, a newly elected county CEO, and midterms, we really need to make it a point to advocate now. You can complain all day about the state of our world, or do something about it. At the very least, I encourage everyone reading this to look into local politics, since midterms are right around the corner and make a HUGE impact on what’s to come. S/O to Board member Mitchell and everyone in the county making sure that arts in our hoods continue to thrive.

Also, peep this cute zine we made for her office. Teehe.

I love the drama

For the first time in such a long time, I went to the movies and got to see The Drama, and I LOVED IT. This was the first time I saw Robert Pattinson in a role that I loved, and that made me completely forget that he was a sparkling pedo vampire. I have strong feelings about Edward, I’m clearly Team Jacob. Anyway, I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, but having seen the film, I think A24 did a great job not really telling any of us what this actual movie was about. Such great acting, such a great storyline, and so many great ethical and moral questions. If you haven’t seen it, please, please, please do so.

The boy has a one-track mind

Another piece of media I’ve been obsessed with is the song “One Track Mind” by the artist Naïka. I haven’t tapped into enough Haitian artists of my generation, but this song truly had me hooked for a few reasons. One, the lyrics. I felt that shit so deeply because of personal situations that she was speaking directly to. Second, this was the first time I heard a Kompa song that felt made for me. Kompa is a male-dominated musical genre popular in Haiti. Not too many women are Kompa artists. I wouldn’t consider Naïka a kompa artist, but rather she made a kompa song that was realllllllly made for anyone who dates men. The beat, the “zobodobodos” which is a very specific Haitian onomatopoeia that doesn’t have a meaning but more of a feeling, and of course the bridge in Creole followed by the signature kompa guitar piano solo, ties the whole thing together. The bridge translates to the following:

Look, honey/my dear, you don’t want to hear/listen?

Don’t you see that this boy deserves you?

You’ve got too much shine, honey, you’re too fly.

Tell him bye-bye, baby, we’re on to something else/onto the next

Let it/him go, let it/him go, let it/him go, oh (Don’t be silly/mess around, don’t be silly/mess around)

Let it/him go, let it/him go, let it/him go, oh (Drop the Kompa beat!)

With all the discourse around Meg and what’s his face, I feel like this is definitely a great way to start summer. I don’t know about you, but this is truly a summer of stepping out knowing you really her/him/them. If you know you got it like that, you better act like it.

That’s all for the month of April. See you at the end of May & Happy Haitian Heritage month until then.