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- 2️⃣102: The 2UESDAY Purge 🔥
2️⃣102: The 2UESDAY Purge 🔥
it's like book burning but the cool kind the Gen Z agrees with
Have you ever watched the documentary The Carter? If you haven't, you really should. The Carter is a documentary about New Orleans rapper Lil' Wayne.
In The Carter (one of the most incredible music documentaries you should watch immediately after reading this email by following this link), we learn about a pivotal moment in Wayne's creative method.
Wayne started rapping when he joined Cash Money Records at nine years old. In 1999, at only 17 years of age, he gifted the world Bling Bling 😬✨
In 2008, he dropped the critically acclaimed album Tha Carter III, which went platinum (selling 1,000,000 physical copies) in its first week.
But it was a single recording session in 2002 where he made a choice that would change his career, and hip-hop, forever.
On one fateful day in 2002, Tune stepped into the booth with his rhyme journal and proceeded to rap for 35 minutes without stopping reading out every lyric he had ever written down on a track that would be called 10,000 Bars. Releasing all the ideas he had ever come up with, Lil’ Wayne purged himself of every creative thought he had ever had.
Weezy F Baby and the F is for FREE
From that moment on, Wayne would never write down another lyric. Choosing instead to craft all of his rhymes in his head and drop straight 🔥 whenever the urge to make music hit.
If you're a creative of any sort, you understand the idea of having tons of ideas written down somewhere that you've never followed through on (and countless more ideas you don't write down, telling yourself you definitely won't forget because it's such a good idea only to wake up the following day and realize you completely forgot what the idea was).
Maybe you never used the ideas you wrote down because they weren't good, maybe they're so good you're holding on to them for the right moment, or maybe you tried, and they never worked out. Whatever the reason, I consider this bank of ideas something that weighs on me as a writer/creative.
I, too, have many ideas for emails, books, movies, TV shows, commercials, campaigns, songs, standup jokes, and one-off social media posts. While I can't quickly free myself from the weight of these ideas in one studio session like Wayne did, there's still something I can do.
Having the opportunity to write this email knowing that you will read it is a beautiful thing. It's something I treasure and never take for granted. I've said it many times and will say it again and again: the fact that you (yes, You and only You reading this right now) decide to read my words despite the overwhelming amount of "content" that is readily available at your fingertips at any given moment is a humbling thought. Because of that, I always want to give you the highest quality writing possible. That doesn't mean it all has to be long, funny, or even thought-provoking and profound. It means I will never half-ass something just to say I sent an email 💌
With that comes writing down a bunch of different ideas as they pop into my head. Some of them work, and many of them don't. When I'm not coming up with new ideas, people send me random things they think I should write about.
But most of these ideas will never see your email inbox.
That’s why we’re here today.
2day is my personal Wayne in the booth day 📜🧨
Today is my purge day 2️⃣🤠
Today, I'll drop all the ideas I've written out as potential emails that just don't have the juice to be sent. Some ideas were good for a sentence or two but not enough for an email. Some ideas are just me repeating something I've already written in different words. Some ideas are things people have sent me that I'm never going to write about because I just don't have any interest in the topic, or they are too personal for the person who sent it and has nothing to do with anything I would ever write about.
Even though it's been 2 years since the first 2UESDAY email ever, we're only just getting started 🏁
Before we get into my unfinished ideas, I must remind you I'm writing a book this year. It will be released via this email newsletter, one chapter a month, on the last Tuesday of every month. The first chapter will be free, but after that, you will need to pay $7 a month, which I feel is pretty fair given the time it takes to write any of these emails, let alone an entire book 📖 (It’s also your way of telling me, “Hey, I believe in you.”)
If you want to check out some of my creative writing to decide whether you’re ready to become a PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER you can find short stories here, here, here, and here.
Now that we’ve got all that covered, let’s purge 👺
THE WORKING TITLE OF THE EMAIL WILL LOOK LIKE THIS
Below, I’ll either copy-paste the exact notes I wrote down when I had the idea (typos included), or I’ll write a few sentences on why the idea didn’t work. There are even some ideas that only have titles and no notes.
SOME FOOD IS BETTER NOT FRESH
I don’t like it when my french fries are so hot that they burn my mouth. I don’t enjoy that. The Burger King nuggets in Puerto Rico are different (and better) than the ones in the states. They’re long and skinny (not like McDonald’s nuggets). These BK nuggets are better when they’re lukewarm and slightly stiff than when they are fresh, hot, and soft.
THE NEEDLE DROP
Use Anthony Fantano’s rating system to rate a bunch of things irl.
THING’S NOT THERE
What if the things that are not there are the things we focus on and the things that are actually there and deserve our attention are the ones we look away from.
Was looking from my bathroom through the short closet hallway and saw a balloon
In the reflection there was a dark outline and I thought that was the thing that was there but it was actually the darkness of the closet and everything around it was there but the darkness was nothing
But why was I afraid of this darkness that wasn't really there?
Why was that the first thing I set my mind upon?
IT’S WHAT THEY WOULD’VE WANTED
I died and you're with some people and have to make a decision and you're wondering, "Is this what he would've wanted?” So here’s a list of things I would deem acceptable for you to do and justify them by saying “It’s what he would’ve wantd.”
PETTY DISCRIMINATION
If people complain about something and say a very strong statement (because that’s the only way we know how to express ourselves now because we need internet engagement) then they should not be able to take part in that thing ever again. It’s not serious, it’s like funny. But I’m serious in that people complain too much about dumb shit and ignore the important shit.
If you hate QR code menus you can never use a QR code again even if you absolutely need to for something life and death
You remove me as your friend and stop following me you cant come to see my stories because my profile is public and I cant see yours cause youre private. Stick to your guns. Id rather we soft mute each other and still follow but never like any posts and ocassionally secretly watch each others stories knowing the other will see them. If we’re going to be petty let’s live in mutual contempt/respect/admiration/longing. Let’s keep it as toxic as possible.
Wtf did I just write in that last one 😭
You think iphones are terrible because your android camera is so good? Bet. You can’t text anyone with an iphone. Only other random messaging apps or DMs
JUST THE RIGHT EMOJI
When is an emoji enough and when does it do too much?
KIDS, SCREW YOUR ELDERS
Why respect adults if they don't respect me?
Go back to quote about Marco Rubio and climate change you heard when Marco Rubio came to talk at the school you worked at (Miami Edison Senior High School)
BEL-AIR
You choosing not to watch bel-air isn't the awesome decision you think it is
Why are we afraid of sequels? Of remakes?
Is it because we're afraid of losing something we identify with? I think it's that
There are definitely shitty ones, but when done right, it's brilliant. Like Bel-Air. And I think that goes for everything.
RANDOM LINES
Naturally we just called our stuff gator-aid
No YOU don’t got it, GOT IT?
Big mistake McFly!
It ain’t much but it’s honest work
What do you mean YOU PEOPLE? What YOU mean YOU PEOPLE?
yeah and it’s hot out too
THE NEXT GREATEST RAPPER YOU’VE NEVER HEARD ABOUT
Island time, it's a concept that has been talked about since Latin people have been showing up late to things, which has been a long time. It's definitely a thing, I witnessed it at the Hasan Minaj show on Friday, "Sorry about this everyone I was here on time, they told me it's a Miami thing that you all showed up late.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE: I have no idea what the notes I wrote have to do with the email title)
2 BREAK UPS AND A FUNERAL
A break up is like a death Someone is no longer going to be in your life and it devastates you
Why do we belittle or give no respect importance to those suffering from a break up simply because they have the opportunity to find love again? That doesn’t take away from the fact that they lost something significant in their lives
THINGS WE CAN LET GO OF
Your political parties
Bill Maher
Pretending music was better when we were younger
Revering really old basketball players who were just okay
Those basketball shorts from high school
That one t-shirt you've had for 25 years that has had holes in it that are 15 years old
Things you don't need to let go of
Your phone number and area code
GUESS WHO INVENTED THAT
It was probably a Black person
I ALWAYS PICK THE WRONG MOVIE
Hip hop is everything
Art isna reflrction of the times Jazz and blues is slow and you hit there and enjoy Now songs 2 minutes or less
Idk why im so bad at picking a movie to stream
It’s been like this my entire life, even when we went to Blockbuster
Eminem was wrong about techno About Moby
Does anyone actually listen to jazz for fun?
AN INTERN WROTE THIS
Going off the exchange between square and fart sandwich
"is that what you think you'd be doing with your college degree?"
Fuck that stupid way of thinking like you have to do something difficult with your college degree what's wrong with doing something absolutely stupid and getting paid for it?
THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS
Shit people do which is the reason why we can’t have nice things
Spitting your gum randomly on the street
Tossing cigarette butts everywhere on the street as if they’re just going to magically disappear
I THINK THEREFORE…
Lots of things about i think
i think therefore i hurt
BIG PETER LAFLEUR ENERGY
I don’t want to work, fuck that “if you don’t work you get bored” Sorry you have no hobbies or no way of finding value or meaning in your life unless it’s tied to financial productivity
Stop telling people to monetize their hobbies
DE LA SOUL IS DEAD
“my favorite movie is dirty freaky blood suckers, just like your mom”
"I'd be bored if I didn't have to work."
Bro sorry you can't figure out how to be happy in your life if you're not running around 24/7. maybe you'd actually see your friends and spend time with your family and shit
MAYBE YOU’VE BEEN BRAINWASHED
GLAMOUR OF NOTHING
You dream if celebrities and thise big moments but its different when you se e it I. person
Nit the sqme looking at thqt oerfect model on ig as seeing her two feet away grom u
DON’T CALL ME BUDDY, PAL
Buddy feels really condescending to me It could be because the people who say it to me are my friends who are taller and they laugh and rub my hair i’m talking bout you tridge
THE 10-PACK
Make playlists about artists but you can only choose 10 songs like if we’re sending a capsule out to space or burying it all that fits for each artist is 10 songs
MISINFORMATION WAY OF LIFE
don’t think we realize how scary this AI shit is
Google Pixel 8 with the ability to edit pictures
commercial is a dad with his kid at the beach and he’s holding him up
but then the phone can edit it with “Magic Editing” and it removes the baby from his hands and makes it seem like the picture was taken with the baby being tossed mid-air about 8 feet up
taking selfies with your friends and the phone automatically chooses faces where everyone is smiling and combines it into one picture. faces from different pictures combined into one picture
on the surface it’s all in good fun, but what we don’t realize is that we can no longer trust anything we see
the whole point of a picture is capturing something real, but if we’re editing what we really captured, what is real? what can we trust? it’s not the same as editing the light and colors, this is presenting a scene that didn’t actually happen in the way we are saying it happened
TOO OLD TO POST
how old is too old to post online?
you’re never too old, it just depends on what you’re posting
I MISS THE OLD BILL SIMMONS
When the man who inspired a generation of writers…stopped writing.
STOP SETTING 50 ALARMS
Don't set an alarm every 2 minutes from 7am to 730am that's the dumbest thing ever Either sleep all the way to 730 and get those extra 30 minutes if you're going to give yourself the chance to get out of bed at that time or fucking snooze in 9-minute intervals
I set my alarm at 642am because if I snooze twice then I'm getting up at exactly 7am #GalaxyBrain
But this underscores a much bigger problem That we're hesitant to do everything in life
Maybe I wake up at this time or maybe over here. We're trying to wake up early but also maybe possibly sleep in. You can't have your cake and eat it too. Fucking pick one and stick to it.
Wack ass centrist
NOT CRAZY ENOUGH TO BE BRILLIANT
Maybe I'm not crazy enough to be brilliant.
ROLLING LOUD IS BAD FOR HIP-HOP IN MIAMI
Real Dope Ent (company who started Rolling Loud) were the only ones who used to put on hip-hop shows in Miami in the early 2010s. Then they started the festival and all those small shows got absorbed by the festival and now there aren’t any small shows. The only rap you see is in huge arenas or the festival. There’s no one else putting on small local acts people can actually afford to go to.
IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT?
You're religious and you don't believe in abortion? Fine, don't get an abortion if you inadvertantly become pregnant. Myself on the other hand don't believe in religion or God, so why should I have to be subjected to your beliefs of how I must act with my body? It's my freedom to make this choice. Because this choice doesn't affect the community, it actually helps the community. A lethal weapon? It's not a god-given freedom to have that, those can (and do) harm others. When someone decides to have an abortion, who's affected? Ah, yes, the unborn fetus. The one that doesn't talk and isn't even considered a real thing by the very government now telling us that we must protect it. Dope. Awesome. 1000 people could have an abortion tomorrow and it wouldn’t change your life in any way and you’d probably not even hear about it. But if 1000 people get shot and killed in the same place….
THE PEOPLE WE LOVE
Why do we treat the people we love the worst sometimes? Because we know they'll stay?
THE ART OF THE BINGE
It's a beautiful thing to binge a TV show, it's an entire journey. A rollercoaster of someone's (nearly) entire life. You feel like you're a part of what happens, like you have a leg in the game. You gain attachments to characters and learn from them. Something in you changes after you finish a new series because you now carry all this new knowledge and experience and great references with you.
BRING BACK SHAME
We need to shame people who do shitty things so they stop doing them. When I was in Miami Ad School, a girl made a campaign targeted at dog owners who didn’t pick up after their dog. The idea was too take a picture when you saw someone not cleaning up and post it to a group where these people would be shamed publicly so they wouldn’t do it again. We need to do that because people don’t clean up their dog shit and it’s some of the most self-centered, loser behavior possible.
We should also bring back people getting punched in the fucking moutn. Lots of people on the internet talk like they've never lost a fight before. If there were consequences for what you say people would think twice about having twitter fingers
We always support punching Nazis
OUR PARENTS WERE RIGHT
This one is about how adults do know shit because of experience but are terrible at passing down this info because they don't respect the kids at all. Show kids more respect and find new ways to teach them things because they don't have the same perspective as you. "because I'm an adult and you should listen to me" dumbest shit ever.
WHY DO YOU POST SO MUCH?
Do you have to have on opinion on every single thing that happens? Are you who I’m supposed to be getting all my breaking news from? I mean, I guess you're the ja rule of your own life, but jesus. be
WE JUDGE ART TOO FAST
It's so accessible we just see it and are immediately done with it
A music album is decided upon within 48 hours of listening to it. ONCE
Wtf
YOU GO TO A MUSEUM AND DON’T READ ANY EXPLANATION FOR A PIECE AND JUDGE IT IMMEDIATELY THINKING IT'S DUMB. TAKE A SECOND TO READ THE ARTIST'S DESCRIPTION AND YOU'LL REALIZE IT ALL HAS A PURPOSE
ADULTS WHO THINK KIDS ARE WORSE TODAY ARE HYPOCRITES
Start off with quotes about how much kids suck then show that those quotes are from people who have said it at a different time throughout the history of humans
A TV IN YOUR BEDROOM
Kids take it for granted, but my parents didn't let me have one
Finally got one, and we jerry-rigged the tv cables to get some cable for my tv. But I only had about 10 channels with good quality so I'd watch espn and MTV2 all day
GAVE MY LAST BILLION TO THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
Rich dudes shouldn't be going to space
Why are we celebrating using so much money to do something cool when that money could save so many people’s lives, i agree it’s super cool but not wroth it mre important things to take care of first
ROMEO & JULIET WERE TOXIC GLORIFICATION
We idolize this as the ultimate romqnce but there’s a lot fucked up not even thinking qbout them being tenneagers
What if they had lived and been q couple but been q terrivle couple thqy was miserable and ended in tragedy
CORPORATE SLANG EXPLAINED
Circle back
We have no fucking clue about this we need to figure it out later though
Let me pick your brain
I have no fucking clue if this is a good idea I need you to tell me it is
OR
I have no fucking idea what I'm doing and I need your advice
Do you have the bandwidth?
Can you get this shit done or not?
Very high level
I have no fucking clue what I'm talking about I think this may be the idea but if it's not I said "high level" so you can't hold me accountable for it when it turns out not to be anything like what I said.
We can leverage this to determine how our customers are responding
This thing isn’t going to get your sales up or lead to tons of investment but it’s really fucking cool and sometimes you just need to do things that are really fucking cool because that’s how you make people think you’re really cool by being it and doing it
YOU MISUNDERSTOOD J.COLE’S “1985”
You're all focused on the wrong part of the j cole song
You all talk about the diss and what you don't like about these new age rappers, but you skipped the first 5 lines where he talks about being aware of not judging people in a different age when you were probably the same
STILL SEARCHING
What to do
What2do
All around the world,
Still thinking of u
DMing IS NOT THE SAME AS TEXTING
People want to treat DMs the same as texts, but it’s not like that
A DM being attached to a social platform brings in way more content being shared than you normally would via text where fewer pieces can be appreciated more. It’s less about the 1on1 communication and more about the content being shared in the conversation. If you want to 1on1 communicate text me instead
UTOPIA
story about NFL
players renegotiating NFLPA contract and they ask fans to strike and fans strike
players at all levels make a day in the life video to show how hard they work cuz people call them ungrateful but don’t realize how much hard work it takes to make it as a pro athlete
end up winning healthcare for life
at the end of it arian foster wakes up and its all a dream because fans don’t actually care about the players as humans
I DON’T BELIEVE IN BAD LUCK
2uesday forecast: Local person stunned to find out after fucking around
YOU'R ENOT UNLUCKY, THE SYSTEM JUST WASN'T BUILD IN YOUR FAVOR. IT WAS BUILT TO HELP PEOPLE NOT LIKE YOU WHO BENEFIT WHEN YOU ARE DOWN
DON’T BE AFRAID TO BRING POLITICS INTO IT
First date you shouldn't talk about politics first, why not?
Politics is a reflection of everything you believe about morally and of the world
VIBES WERE OFF AT THE CAPITAL INSURRECTION
People always underestimate or misinterpret or idkwtf but they always get their first impression of me wrong
I don't care what people think about me. But it's always interesting to know what people think about me. Like don't you want to know?
But david, wanting to know means you care.
No, letting that knowledge change my actions or decisions means I care. I will never let this knowledge change who or how I am. But you can't tell me it's not fascinating that you think you present yourself one way to the world and they see you as the complete opposite. Like people really get me wrong.
STOP WHAT-IFing
"iimagine if instagram closed"
"imagine if we didn't have the internet"
A few more imagines that are pretty funny
Well none of that shit is happening or has happened. So why the fuck do you spend so much mental energy thinking about it? What if, hear me out, instead of imagining how things could be different, you make the most of what is, and if you still want things to change. Start working towards changing them.
Just htinking about it aint gonna do shit
REASONS TO POST LESS
you’re revealing too many things about your life
i know what your kids look like
i know where they go to school
i know where your favorite place is to hangout on the weekends
i know where you work
if your profile is public, please remember ANYONE can see all this information about you and it’s not hard to discern things if you just spend 3 minutes not being oblivious
for myself i’m not worried, but for women out there who could have a stalker, sadly this could be very dangerous
i’m getting bored of your stories and opting out
TWITTER IS REAL LIFE
“it’s twitter/instagram/facebook don’t take it seriously, don’t let it get to you”
agreed, don’t let dumb people online get to you. but that doesn’t mean ignore htem because these people are saying racist, hurtful, dangerous things and there is a real individual behind that account who believes those things in real life and those values guide their actions and those actions could affect countless others
this shit has consequences and if you think it doesn’t you’re lucky those consequences haven’t negatively affected you
maybe it should be about online ettiquete or thinking before posting things?
i think we can also start thinking a bit more about the things we post
once i told a friend i refrained from sharing a funny tweet on my story (that i shared with them 1on1) because i was worried it would upset some people. they said, “don’t let that stop you! put your feelings out there!” to which, yes, you shouldn’t let those things stop you. but, also, that doesn’t apply to every situation. things are nuanced. it’s not out of fear, but out of respect. i might be shitting on something that an individual person likes, but i don’t want them to feel directly disrespected by me. so what’s the need of putting that joke up if it might make one person think i think less of them? someone whom i respect and don’t actually think less of because of that one thing?
BIRTHDAY ADVICE
People on the internet love to write advice blogs on their birthday but I’m going to do it differently because I will give one fewer piece of advice every year starting on my 30th. This will make the advice more meaningful because I have to narrow it down and be more selective as time passes
SELECT YOUR IGNORANCE
Ignorance truly is bliss But not to problems of the world just to dumb shit you dont need to fill your noggin with
Idk some words people text me to describe my writing so i google them before responding
Also not thinking about some things too much Dont analyze some rap lines, analyze others
Bleach her asshole / on my t shirt terrible terrible line
LISTEN TO THE KIDS
Watching a comedy show and i realized things weren’t funny not because of “cancel culture” but because i just process emotions and the world differently
The people who were watching with me loved it, not that I didn’t get the jokes, i just couldn’t laugh along because i just couldn’t relate to the shitty emotions the comic was joking about
There are 2 types of people who post on social media. And if you're not either of them, it just means you're bad at social media. Just because you post doesn't mean you're good! You can still post and be bad at it. Trust me, I see it happen every day.
2 types of people that post on social media
Those who are just highlighting what's happening in their lives. It's like a Daily Truman show except you're the actor, producer, director and have final say on anything that gets published.
The other half are people who want to show you what they like and are passionate about on social media.
You can be either of these people (or none of them) and still be bad at what you're doing!
ENGAGEMENT BY ANY MEANS
But the crappy news aggregation sites everyone gets their info from nowadays, would you consider their work “creative”? Would you even consider that their “work” to any real amount of “work”?
Here are posts from two very different accounts discussing the same topic.
Which one caught your attention?
Which one actually provided valuable details and insights helping you to be more informed on what’s happening?
Which one cherry picked the most engaging bits of information to include in the hopes people would comment?
Which one had the bigger font on the headline?
Which one of these do you actually follow and which one did you not read because it was too much reading and you don’t want to do any extra reading when scrolling Instagram?
I’ll let you answer those questions in private.
THE REAL YOU
The internet didn't change us it just showed us who we really are
INFLUENCER RESPONSIBILITY
THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT OUR SURROUNDINGS
TAKE BOTH PILLS
VERIFICATION IS DEAD, LONG LIVE VERIFICATION
THINS I REGRET
LETITGOOOOOOOOOO
I NEVER WANTED TO BE A LEADER
DON’T THINK ABOUT IT TOO MUCH
I TRUST YOU
THERE’S ALMOST ALWAYS A REASON
DEMOCRACY WORKS, IT’S JUST TEDIOUS
RELIGION CAN’T BE YOUR EXCUSE
IS THE JUICE WORTH THE SQUEEZE
A TALE OF 2 CITIES
They’re the same but different because
SHIT CHANGES, GET USED TO IT
SCREENSHOT
TO REPLY OR NOT TO REPLY
This is from a newsletter I love: https://dirt.fyi/article/2023/10/what-was-replying
ONE SPOUSE GIVING UP ON SOME THINGS THEY WANT TO ACCOMPLISH SO THE OTHER SPOUSE CAN ACCOMPLISH THEIR DREAMS
(reader suggestion)
If you made it all the way down here and read every title and all the random notes and ideas you a real one 🫶🏽
(Now go get at least one new person to subscribe to the email before the book emails start. I promise you they’re going to love it 🙏🏽)
PS
Don’t forget to watch The Carter documentary so we can talk about how amazing Lil’ Wayne is.
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