# apatchworkofthought.com > A Patchwork of Thought covers current news, sports, entertainment, and pop culture with insightful commentary and engaging discussions. Join the conversation today! ## Posts - [Bigen Mistreatment](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2025/05/31/bigen-mistreatment/): Fellas (and ladies where applicable), please take heed to this statement that a lot of you may not want to hear (or read), Bigen is a hair enhancer, it’s not hair replacement. It just needs to be said, or read, however you want to look at it. Got a couple spots in your hairline or […] - [The Hypocrisy of Meritocracy](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2025/05/29/the-hypocrisy-of-meritocracy/): Meritocracy. It’s an aspirational term. We’ve been hearing about meritocracy a lot lately in our political discourse and as it relates to our political agenda. Meritocracy is an ideal concept; who wouldn’t love to have it? The question regarding the concept, however, is whether or not it’s achievable; especially in the present time and given […] - [The Power of Words and "Self-Fulfilling Prophecy”](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2025/05/06/the-power-of-words-and-self-fulfilling-prophecy/): In prior posts I’ve touched on the enduring impact of Malcom X’s philosophies and teachings on people and culture. There’s a part of his philosophy that has been recurring in my life and thoughts lately, and when I saw a piece CBS News Sunday Morning ran about him this morning, it felt like the keyboard […] - [Happy 30th Birth-Year, Illmatic: Pt. 7, One Time 4 Your Mind – The Legacy](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2025/04/28/happy-30th-birth-year-illmatic-pt-7-one-time-4-your-mind-the-legacy/): Tracks 8 and 9 may not have met the critical acclaim of other tracks on Illmatic, and they may not be at the top of very many lists when ranking the album’s top or most stand-out tracks. What both One Time 4 Your Mind and Represent are, however, are undeniably solidly put together offerings that […] - [Happy 30th Birth-Year, Illmatic: Pt. 6, One Love](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2025/04/15/happy-30th-birth-year-illmatic-pt-6-one-love/): One Love, track number 7 on Illmatic was not only a continuation of the great sounding music that is the album, but it was also a landmark in Hip-Hop song concepts. The concept may not have been completely original, but it can be considered innovative due to the level of execution and precise construct that […] - [While Rome Burns, Leaders Play Golf.](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2025/04/06/while-rome-burns-leaders-play-golf/): There’s a fascinating historical anecdote that many of us know all too well: the story of Emperor Nero fiddling while Rome burned. Although historians still debate the accuracy of Nero literally playing music while flames consumed his empire, the metaphor endures powerfully to this day. It encapsulates the idea of leaders—or even entire societies—blindly ignoring […] - [Wild Horses](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2025/03/25/wild-horses/): If you’re familiar with that title, it’s probably because you’re familiar with a song; either by The Rolling Stones or a subsequent recording by another band or artist. If you like the song, it’s probably because there’s something about it of resonance for you; you’re definitely not looking to get up and dance when you […] - [Happy 30th Birth-Year, Illmatic: Pt. 5, Memory Lane (Sittin’ In Da Park)](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2025/03/16/happy-30th-birth-year-illmatic-pt-5-memory-lane-sittin-in-da-park/): From the outset, as soon as the sounds from track 6, Memory Lane (Sittin’ in da Park) hit your ear, it was like confirmation that this album’s greatness was ongoing. It may’ve been hard to believe your ears and what you were thinking, but the superbness was still coming; Illmatic wasn’t done yet. By this […] - [The Opposite of SAD](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2025/02/22/the-opposite-of-sad/): The Sun’s biggest rays light my sky today. With eyes wide, I gaze; amazed at such beauty. This is undeniable, undiminishable grandeur in which I bask so fortunately. As warmly received as given; the most generous gift conceivable. Only believable due to the warmth surrounding my being; My ability to only smile, just as consuming. - [Written For an Unknown Reason on 6/17/23](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2025/02/20/written-for-an-unknown-reason-on-6-17-23/): Certain moments in time somehow make me realize that Soon times will be different Just as they are now different from how they were We will long for these as we now long for them And those here no longer will always at least be memories For us to share, or to keep for ourselves […] - [Happy 30th Birth-Year, Illmatic: Pt. 4, The World Is Yours – Halftime](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2025/02/16/happy-30th-birth-year-illmatic-pt-4-the-world-is-yours-halftime/): Track 4, and the third true song on Illmatic would be a classic to follow two classics. In my book, The World is Yours completes one of the best three song sequences in Rap album history. Nas would enlist another all-time great, Pete Rock to lay the beat and help with production. Together they would […] - [Dear America](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2025/02/05/dear-america/): When Mister Brown and I come to A Patchwork to post, the caption in the field where we enter our text asks, “What’s on your mind?” Today I’ve decided to post just that: America the Beautiful, We’ve made ourselves the enemy of one another. We’ve lost sight of the fact that we all want the […] - [Happy 30th Birth-Year, Illmatic: Pt. 3, Life’s A Bitch](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2025/01/20/happy-30th-birth-year-illmatic-pt-3-lifes-a-bitch/): Some might find it odd that I’d post this after being in the new year. I completely get that, but technically we are still within the birth-year of the album. Illmatic doesn’t turn 31 until April, and I still have a lot to say about it; so, I intend to see this series about what […] - [SAD](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2024/12/16/sad/): So, something else had a significant effect on me in the first week of November; the week of the 5th, 2024, a week that will assuredly go down in history. I’ll fall back from all thoughts and feelings about other events of that week until future postings, however. This posting is for another topic, the […] - [Vote: The Influence of the Example](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2024/11/04/vote-the-influence-of-the-example/): It’s that time again people. It’s around this time every four years when political junkies like me geek out over political media coverage and reporting about the upcoming presidential election and the surrounding races. Though we may be personally vested in the issues, it’s also big entertainment to us fans. It’s the Olympics, it’s the […] - [Being American: The Reckoning with My Identity](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2024/10/20/being-american-the-reckoning-with-my-identity/): I am an American. There, I said it. Fifty-three years on this earth, and it’s only now that I’m beginning to understand and accept that fact. Not because I was trying to deny it, but because for a long time, I wasn’t sure what that even meant to me—someone whose ancestors bled, toiled, and built […] - [Happy 30th Birth-Year, Illmatic: Pt. 2, N.Y. State of Mind](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2024/09/30/happy-30th-birth-year-illmatic-pt-2-n-y-state-of-mind/): The song that started off the landmark album, would end up being a landmark track for Nas, the genre, and the culture. N.Y. State of Mind was like hearing what made Nas, Illmatic, the city of New York, and the culture of Hip-Hop great. DJ Premiere’s signature production style had become a signature of the […] - [The Magical Pockets of Coins: Part Penny](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2024/09/29/the-magical-pockets-of-coins-part-penny/): When I was a child, I used to think that my father had a magical pocket that was always filled with an endless supply of quarters, nickels, dimes, and pennies. He was born in the 1920s, and his style never progressed beyond the baggy fashion of the 1950s. It’s safe to say that my dad […] - [A Difference Between the Xs](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2024/09/29/a-difference-between-the-xs/): Recently I’ve had a certain incident from my childhood come to mind from time to time. At first, I couldn’t figure out why I kept recalling this incident and remembering how it felt, but then it occurred to me that it very well could be that this incident that took place when I was in […] - [Caitlin Clark and the Snub That Wasn’t, Revisited: The Gold Medal Game](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2024/08/28/caitlin-clark-and-the-snub-that-wasnt-revisited-the-gold-medal-game/): Yes, I felt compelled to revisit this topic. To be honest, I’m just now posting this because I was questioning myself on whether I should; but I’ve decided on the affirmative, so here we are. After all, why not? First, congrats to all the Olympians who competed in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, especially those […] - [My Beautiful Vacation That Ended With COVID](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2024/08/26/my-beautiful-vacation-that-ended-with-covid/): Every year my family takes a trip down to South Carolina, near Myrtle Beach to have a week long vacation. It’s a good time every year, pretty much, and this year was exceptionally great. It was a beautiful family time, and the weather was great. We did plenty of activities and had meals together, but […] - [What a Difference a Candidate Makes](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2024/08/07/what-a-difference-a-candidate-makes/): Well folks, evidently, I was wrong in my last post about the presidential campaign. Those spending their time advocating for another candidate being in the race were in fact focusing their time productively judging by how things have panned out. President Joe Biden has stepped aside in his campaign for reelection, simultaneously endorsing Vice President […] - [LeBron, Bronny, The Lakers, and The Concerns](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2024/07/15/lebron-bronny-the-lakers-and-the-concerns/): Don’t get me wrong folks, I love the story too. It was 2022 when LeBron publicly stated that he wished to play in the NBA long enough to play with his son, Bronny, who was tearing it up in high school at the time. Lo and behold, with the 55th pick in the 2024 draft, […] - [Kendrick Vs. Drake: My Issues With The Beef](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2024/07/05/kendrick-vs-drake-my-issues-with-the-beef/): I’m probably turning off a lot of Rap and Hip-Hop fans when I ask this, but I have to ask; where are we going with these Rap beefs? I, like every other Hip-Hop fan, was tuned in to the recent beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar. The difference between me and most fans that I’ve […] - [Caitlin Clark and the Snub That Wasn't](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2024/07/04/caitlin-clark-and-the-snub-that-wasnt/): There’s a term being used to describe Caitlin Clark’s non-immediate selection to the women’s US Olympic team that strikes me each time as an interesting word choice. Almost every report I’ve watched or heard about her non-selection has described that decision by the USA Basketball Women’s National Team Committee as a “snub.” With the use […] - [The Great Debate](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2024/07/04/the-great-debate/): By now, most of us have probably seen, or at least heard about the most recent debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. If you’re like me, and you actually watched the debate, it would be difficult to argue that it wasn’t an unmitigated crap show. Biden, by most accounts, stumbled through […] - [The Snitch Debate: What's in a Name?](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2024/06/09/the-snitch-debate-whats-in-a-name/): Recently I watched an episode of the Stephen A. Show. Not the “dignified” First Take on ESPN, but his podcast on YouTube where he’s allowed to use the choice words that would more than likely get him fired from his Disney day job. Anyway, in this particular episode he’s going off on Stack (Stephen Jackson, […] - [Happy 30th Birth-Year, Illmatic: Pt. 1, The Beginning - The Genesis](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2024/05/29/happy-30th-birth-year-illmatic-pt-1-the-beginning-the-genesis/): On April 13th, 1994, one of the best (if not the best) and most critically acclaimed rap albums ever recorded was released, Illmatic. It was released by one of the (if not the) best Rap lyricists of all time, Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, better known as the rapper Nas. The album is widely hailed […] - [The Weight](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2024/05/19/the-weight/): All this life weighs on my neck, leaning harder and harder I can’t wrap my head around this looming stress, growing larger and larger It gets too heavy, rapidly, my brain is receding Into the jaws of my face, my cheeks appear to be sinking Barely able to walk, talk, eat, or think It feels […] - [The Doomsayers Quadfecta: April 2024 Edition](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2024/05/04/the-doomsayers-quadfecta-april-2024-edition/): It was an interesting month here in the northeast. An April nor’easter breezed through dumping three feet of snow in some areas; a rare solar eclipse marched across the sky; and an even rarer 4.8 earthquake shook the Big Apple. Welcome to Spring, the 2024 edition. A perfect cocktail for the doomsayers who’ll find an available corner holding […] - [Happiness, The Question of](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2024/04/22/happiness-the-question-of/): What is it really? Webster’s defines it as a state of well-being and contentment, summed up as joy. It goes on further to define happiness as a pleasurable or satisfying experience. Are we to take from this that happiness is attainable, but unsustainable? Are we, in American life, sentenced to only being able to indulge […] - [Orange & Blue Skies: A Knicks Tale](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2024/04/20/orange-blue-skies-a-ny-knicks-tale/): I know I’m a few days late with this one, so please excuse my tendency to procrastinate. For what it’s worth, it did sit idly, written only in my thoughts. With that said, “Congrats to my NY Knicks!”  Not only did they clinch a playoff berth, but they also have the number two seed and […] - [The O.J. Case: A Tale of Two Americas](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2024/04/17/the-o-j-case-a-tale-of-two-americas/): Most who were around and aware enough recall exactly where they were and what they were doing on June 17, 1994. When that day started, I don’t think anyone knew how infamous the day would become. For other reasons than we may’ve thought, it became a historic day that changed American culture from that day […] - [Survivor's Remorse](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2024/04/12/survivors-remorse/): I just got off the phone with my cousin. The call left me feeling pensive, tense, and hollow. Tomorrow, he’ll have to go to court to face an assault charge. We have no idea what the outcome could be for him. All I could do when getting off the phone with him after about an […] - [The Mind's Constellation: Nebula of Thoughts](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/2024/03/24/hello-world/): The image accompanying this post is a vivid portrayal of the cerebral dance that unfolds within my mind. Each hour of each day, every day of every week, every week of every year, my brain is akin to an astrolabe, charting the cosmos of contemplation. Far from any angst or perplexity, what’s there is the […] ## Pages - [NEWS](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/news/) - [ENTERTAINMENT](https://apatchworkofthought.com/index.php/entertainment/) ## Optional - [Agent (MCP protocol)](websites-agents.hostinger.com/apatchworkofthought.com/mcp) [comment]: # (Generated by Hostinger Tools Plugin)