Hey guys,
I'm off to Miami in a couple of days so thought I would leave you with a parting gift...so ta da, here it is...
I guess most of you have seen Kanye get "murdered" by South Park last week. If not and you're in need of some deep belly laughs click here.
It got me thinking about the point where confidence turns into arrogance. Kanye is well known for thinking that he is the best thing since Adidas Shell Toes, but as a rapper and part of hip hop culture, isn't arrogance part of the criteria? From the days of LL Cool J and Run DMC and even earlier, lyrical content was focused on how great the rapper was in comparison to the "wack" competition. But has Kanye taken it too far? Is he just a unique example of someone who has taken their 'rap' persona and allowed it to transcend into normal life, leaving all humility behind.
Another question I have is with the word 'swagger'. What is it exactly? Is it confidence, the way a person carries themselves and does it require an ounce or two of arrogance to hit the right spot? Can you have swagger without being arrogant? Nowadays, Swagger Sells, swagger makes the ladies swoon, swagger is the essence of cool masculinity, swagger makes hit records, swagger makes blockbuster films. Moving away from the entertainment industry for a sec, I've been trying to set a girlfriend of mine up for the longest and every nice guy I suggest, I'm hit with the same response: "hmm...he's nice...he's good looking...but he ain't got swagger". This swagger search is gonna leave my friend old, lonely and childless with cats if she doesn't get over it.
Is there such a thing as 'natural swagger'? Can a person just have it. Some people go as far as trying to manufacture it....
But is swagger ever natural in the first place. Isn't it a bravado, a false exterior presented to the public as part of an image? Inside, the person might be a shy, crumbling wreck, who watches Dr Phil with a box of tissues on his lap.
I just wonder how the three - swagger, confidence and arrogance interact and why some do it successfully e.g. TI, Denzel Washington, Jay Z, Rihanna (this is my list) and others get their heart ripped out on shows like South Park.
What are your thoughts...who makes your top 10?
