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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-05-29

Misc

Iggy Azalea – Ghost Writer or Artist? Will it affect her bottom line?

Celebrities

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding Iggy Azalea. Some of it has to do with her appearance and some of it has to do with her lyrics. There have been rumors in the rap industry that Iggy uses a ghost writer.

Iggy Azalea 15/15
Iggy Azalea 15/15 (Photo credit: Pompey_1Love)

Specifically, the accusation that her mentor T.I. has ghost wrote many of her songs. But does it matter?

Many people in the rap industry have ghostwriters. Kanye West started out as a ghostwriter. He wrote lyrics and music for many big stars. Neo is another artist that started out as a ghostwriter. This shows that there it’s not unusual. Dr.Dre has spoken about hiring people to write his songs. Ghostwriting is very popular in the Hip Hop community. Many of the most popular artists got their start writing lyrics or music for other singers. The only time it enters into the conversation is when artists get into feuds.

The newest accusation against Iggy comes from fellow female rapper Nicki Minaj. Nicki won an award at the BET awards and when she was accepting the award she insinuated that Iggy does not write her own material. This is publicity and will only help both rappers. Nicki is the top female rapper and she is taking notice of Iggy. It’s common in the Hip Hop world for competitors to get into public arguments. This dates back to the old East Coat v.s. West Coast rap feud. The good thing about this controversy is that neither Nicki or Iggy are gangster rappers so there won’t be any violence. Some rappers like The Game and 50 Cent and Nas and Jay Z used these feuds to become superstars.

This sort of controversy won’t hurt Iggy Azelea. Take Beyonce as an example of a successful artist who uses ghostwriters. No one cares that Beyonce doesn’t write her own songs. All people care about is if the song is good. As long as Iggy and her producers keep choosing good songs and making good music, then she is going to sell records. Her feud with Nicki is only going to add to her popularity. This type of feud helped other rappers such as Nas, JayZ, Eminem, and 50 Cent.

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Mortgage Race

Finance

I spent last week at the Financial Blogger Conference.   Saturday night was the big debauch, a 90s themed hip-hop dance party.

Yeah.

Instead, Crystal, Suba, and I hosted a super-secret pizza party to let some of the less “dance party” inclined attendees discuss things like the sanitary concerns of group body shots, sex toys, and horror movies.

During the course of the party, Crystal and I decided to race to pay off our mortgages.

Her balance is just under $25,000.

My balance is $26,266.40.

We both technically have the cash to pay off the balances right now, but we are both dealing with secondary housing issues.  She’s building a new one, and I’m updating an inherited house.  Neither of us is willing to use our cash reserves to pay off the balance right this moment.

Now that my credit card is paid off, I’ve moved that money to an extra interest-only payment on my mortgage, effectively doubling my mortgage payment, which puts my projected payoff date as about the end of next year.   Crystal’s aiming for June, so I’ll have to hurry.

We do have tenants lined up for February, and all of the non-expense related rent will go to the mortgage.

I think I can win.

Update:

I forgot to mention the terms of the bet.   The loser has to go visit the winner.  When I win, Crystal’s going to fly to Minnesota to experience snow.

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My Credit Cards

Finance

This announcement is a bit premature, but not everything that’s premature has to end in an evening of disappointment.

At the beginning of the year, I transferred the balance of my last credit card onto two different cards, each with a 0% interest rate.   One card got a $4,000 transfer and the other got $13,850.  The approximately $415 in fees I paid for the transfer saved me nearly $1500 in interest this year.

The card that got the big balance is the card we use for a lot of our daily spending.    On my statement dated 2/18/2012, the balance on the this card was $14,865.23.  At the same time, the smaller card had a balance of $3,925.09, for a total of $18,790.32.  When I started my debt-murder journey in April 2009, it had peaked at just under $30,000.

When my payments clear later today, that balance will be gone.

That is nearly $19,000 paid down in 8 months.

Now, the inheritance we picked up did accelerate our repayment a bit, but only by a few months.

Starting from $90,394.70 in April 2009, we have paid down $63,746.70, leaving $26,648.00 on our mortgage.

I’m more than a little excited, which–as usual–is the cause for the prematurity.

New goal: pay off the mortgage in 2013.

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Friends and Acquaintances

Life, Relationships

“Friends help you move.  Good friends help you move bodies.”

-unknown

Some people have dozens of friends.  I’m not that guy.

I have 6.

Everybody in the world can be divided into 4 categories.

  • Strangers. A xenophobe’s nightmare.   These are the people you don’t know, whether they are passing you on the sidewalk, or newborns on the opposite side of the world.
  • Acquaintances. These are the people you’ve met, mostly in passing.  They tend not to have much effect on your life.   You may pass a friendly bus ride in conversation, but it’s nothing that sticks.   A waitress, the clerk at the store, a friend’s latest date; these are the people you interact with for just a moment and rarely think about further.
  • Friendlies. Most people call these folks friends.  I don’t.   I’m friendly with them, hence the name, but it’s not true friendship.   Often, they are either my wife’s friends, or my friends’ wives.   Sometimes, they are a friend of a friend that I only see at parties, or a coworker that I get along with, but never see outside of work.  We’re friendly, but not obliged.   I may help with some things, but it’s not necessarily a priority.  I’ll go to a funeral, but probably won’t help plan it.
  • Friends. To me, calling someone a friend is a big deal.  I’m willing to do a lot for my friends.   They are able to command large amounts of my time, and ask any number of favors.   If needed, I’ll open my home or help demolish their’s.   Loyalty, honesty, trust, respect, and companionship are all a part of my definition of a friend.  If a friend needs help, I’ll come running.   In return, I expect the same.

 

 

 

Family tends to fall into the same analogous categories.

It sounds cold, but I hesitate to let people graduate into the final category.   My wife used to try to “set me up” with people that she thought I’d like to be friends with, thinking I was sad to have so few friends.  It took years for her to realize that I was happy.   It’s a matter of quality over quantity.   Most of the friends I have, I’ve had for 10 years or more.   I’ve known each of them for at least 5 years, not that time is a requirement.

Moving people into the “friends” category is a lot like dating.   You get along, so you invite the potential friends out for a drink, one on one.  You feel them out to see if they are compatible.  You meet their families, share some food, build some history.   If it all works out, eventually, you consider them a true friend, even if you couldn’t mark the date of the transition.

You wouldn’t marry everyone you date, so why would turn everyone you basically get along with into a friend?

Do you have a lot of friends?  What marks friendship for you?

 

 

 

 

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