Spartan Daily Vol. 160 No. 28

Community reacts to police scandal

By Mat Bejarano STAFF WRITER

Community organizers gathered outside San Jose City Hall on Wednesday to demand accountability for the alleged drug trafficking of a San Jose Police Executive.

Joanne Segovia, who served as the executive director of the San Jose Police Officers Association, turned herself in last Friday after being charged with attempting to import fentanyl from overseas, according to a March 31, 2023 ABC 7 article.

Segovia has since been placed on paid leave and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted according to a March 31, 2023 KTVU article.

Gilroy city councilmember Rebeca Armendariz said Segovia needs to be held accountable as Gilroy is one of the hardest hit communities regarding fentanyl poisoning.

“This is a slap in the face to all of the families working hard to find accountability to keep their families and their children safe,” Armendariz said. “They need to be transparent and they need their feet to be held to the fire. They cannot do this, they cannot poison our families and get away with it.”

Segovia had worked as the executive director of the San Jose Police Officer’s Association for 20 years and had been shipping pills internationally as recently as March 15, 2023 according to the same KTVU article.

Sociology senior Kat Adamson, who serves as a member of Students Against Mass Incarceration said it was important to attend the gathering in order to hold the police department accountable.

“Fentanyl is just devastating our communities,” Adamson said. “Having this large trafficking organization really makes things a lot easier for people to get injured or even die from fentanyl deaths.”

Fentanyl-related deaths in Santa Clara County

DRUGS | Page 3

SJSU documentary highlights social inequities

By Brandon Nicolas STAFF WRITER

The San Jose State Human Rights Institute released a documentary alongside its 2022 Silicon Valley Pain Index report, providing a statistical overview of structured inequalities to inform policy practice in the Silicon Valley.

William Armaline, director of the Human Rights Institute and sociology professor, along with Scott Myers-Lipton, lead author and sociology professor, released the third annual report earlier this year.

The report exposes the social injustices and human rights issues regarding African Americans, Pacific Islanders, Indigenous Americans and the Latinx community in the Silicon Valley.

“The whole point of the pain index is for us to give an annual measure to how our county is doing regarding social issues, like police violence, housing and the wealth gap,” Armaline said.

With the help of a grant from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, former SJSU professor and documentary filmmaker, Bob Gliner, started production on the documentary shortly after the 2022 Silicon Valley Pain Index report was released.

“Basically, [Gliner] got a hold of Scott after we put out the 2022 index,” Armaline said. “He had the idea of giving some faces and some visual narrative to the realities that we exposed in the index, and folks were open to it.”

Gliner said he produced

around 50 films and documentaries for PBS stations around the country.

“The challenge was taking what was rather dry statistics and putting flesh and blood on them – putting people behind the statistics,” Gliner said.

Myers-Lipton said he had the idea for a Silicon Valley Pain Index after seeing Bill Quigley’s Katrina Pain Index in 2016, a report on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Following the May 25, 2020 murder of George Floyd, Myers-Lipton said he was committed to producing a pain index pertaining to Silicon Valley.

“I asked myself, ‘What if I put together a pain index to show how institutionalized racism and white supremacy play out right here in the Silicon Valley,’ ” Myers-Lipton said.

Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors declared it as a “Human Rights County” in 2018 – a title that Armaline and the Human Rights Institute wants to uphold.

“Each year, we try to organize around themes that make sense for that year in terms of what is going on in the communities,” Armaline said.

In 2021, 250 houseless people died on the streets of Santa Clara County – a 55% increase from pre-pandemic levels, according to the 2022 Silicon Valley Pain Index.

In addition, 46% of children in Silicon Valley live in households that don’t earn enough income to cover basic needs, according

PAIN INDEX | Page 3

ENRIQUE GUTIERREZ-SEVILLA | SPARTAN DAILY

William Armaline, director of the Human Rights Institute, speaks to the press in front of San Jose City Hall on Wednesday.

San Jose animal shelters overwhelmed

By Dylan Newman STAFF WRITER

Thousands of animals are in need of homes across San Jose’s shelters and animal foster care services.

The high number of stray and owner-surrendered animals adopted during the pandemic influenced the adoption rate in many San Jose’s animal shelters.

Melissa Lisbon, CEO of Silicon Valley Pet Project, said people across the nation have moved out of the house after the pandemic, which has led to some pet owners to no longer have the time to adequately care for the animal, resulting in their surrender to a local animal shelter.

Silicon Valley Pet Project is a nonprofit organization in San Jose arranging foster homes and adoptions for pets in need, according to its website.

“It’s a bit of a crisis at the moment and a lot of it has to do with the fact that there are a lot of animals that are being surrendered to areas shelters,” Lisbon said. “It’s been really tough on all of our shelters, but the San Jose shelter is definitely struggling with the number of animals that they have to care for.”

She said stormy conditions, such as the recent atmospheric rivers, have impacted animal intake in shelters as inclement weather delays the amount of potential stray animals found around the city.

Lisbon also said springtime is considered kitten season.

“What [kitten season] means is there’s a time like in the spring, where stray cats who are community cats, cats that have not been altered, are having kittens out in the community –and usually people are finding them and bringing them into the shelter and with the storms that we’ve had, that’s not been happening as much.” Lisbon said. “It’s just delayed the onslaught of kittens coming in.”

“Altering” or “fixing” animals is the process of spay and neuter, which is the surgical removal of the animals’ ability to reproduce.

Local shelters, including the San Jose Animal Care Center, practice trapping, neutering and releasing stray cats back to their colonies where they are found.

The cats are released after they have been microchipped and had the tip of their ear clipped off as identification.

The San Jose Animal Care

Center is a city-run organization that provides shelter and field services for animals in San Jose, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Mi lpitas and Saratoga, according to its website.

Last spring, the San Jose Animal Care Center was overwhelmed with the amount of stray kittens births because of understaffing, according to a May 25, 2022 San Jose Spotlight article.

A continuous issue that contributes to overcrowding

animal welfare nationwide. The organization estimates that about 10,000 puppy mills keep 500,000 dogs captive for the purpose of breeding across the country, producing 2.6 million puppies annually.

Oftentimes, the parent dogs are killed or abandoned when they longer can breed, according to the Humane Society of the United States’ website.

“Puppies are a lot of work and that may have been easier to manage when people were

may be experiencing an increase in surrendered animals, the majority of shelters are facing a backlog caused by fewer adoptions. When adoptions are low, animals wait longer in shelters, causing the population to increase over time,” according to an email from the Humane Society of the United States.

Although the amount of surrenders is lower than the pre-pandemic level, the rate of adoption has been on the decline, according to the

on its website.

In a report from July 2022 to this March, 339 animals were surrendered by owners to the shelter, including 101 cats, 139 dogs and 99 animals listed under “other” and 4395 more animals were taken in as strays. A “stray” animal is defined by the report as “animals brought in by members of the public with no apparent owner.”

Over 3,301 animals, including 1,956 cats, 1,134 dogs and 211 other animals, were adopted or transferred to a rescue organization during the same July to March time period.

in animal shelters are puppy mills, a breeding practice where mother dogs are kept in cages for the purpose of making more puppies, which are sometimes delivered with a variety of health complications, according to the Humane Society of the United States’ website.

The Humane Society of the United States is a nonprofit organization that focuses on

at home, but as things have normalized, schedules are changing,” Lisbon said. “These dogs are now young adults that require care and exercise and mental stimulation.”

The popularity of purchasable puppies that may or may not have come from mills, resulted in fewer adoptions from shelters.

“While some communities

Melissa Lisbon Silicon Valley Pet Project CEO

Humane Society of the United States email.

“In terms of economic impacts, the lack of pet-friendly, affordable housing has been a long-time driver of pet surrenders and an issue that we are committed to changing,” according to the same email.

San Jose publicly shares the Animal Care Centers’ data and usage statistics through a report

Last year, during the observed period of July 2021 through June 2022, 12,139 stray animals and 835 owner surrenders were brought into the shelter. 7,133 animals were adopted or transferred to a rescue facility, which is more than 5,000 fewer animals that left the facility adopted.

People looking to adopt an animal can browse on San Jose’s pet adoption website.

Follow Dylan Newman

Twitter @th3dylanproject

Students go green with commutes

By Christine Tran STAFF WRITER

A group of students at San Jose State are aiming to reduce the carbon footprint of the commuter school.

Isabella Harrison, Liam McInerney, Gabriel Woodson and Jayme Sinson are the members behind Green Machines.

Green Machines is a group that wants to reduce the carbon footprint from students and faculty commuting to and from campus by increasing public transportation ridership.

Environmental studies senior McInerney said he was inspired to share this resource with the general public through this project.

“I frequently take advantage of the clipper card myself and use almost exclusively public transport to get around San Jose,” McInerney said.

Harrison, a political science junior, said students can save money and time using services provided by Transportation Solutions, including a one time payment of three dollars for a clipper card.

Transportation Solutions is an eco-friendly transportation service partnered with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority to “alleviate automobile traffic to SJSU and reduce the impact on the University’s parking

facilities,” according to the SJSU webpage.

“[It] gives students more free time on the public transportation systems,” Harrison said.

“Students can do homework or even read a book – bonus: gas is expensive!”

Advertising junior Carolina Garcia works as a student assistant at Transportation Solutions inside the Student Union. Garcia said another resource that Transportation Solutions offers is a bike

enclosure where SJSU students purchase a key to lock their bicycles during class.

“We try to make it, like, more comfortable for students to commute here with their bikes or like scooters, alternative transportation, instead of, like, using their own cars,” she said.

Garcia said commuter students should consider taking public transportation as opposed to driving their own vehicles to campus because of the financial benefits.

“Alternative transportation alleviates parking issues and congestion,” Garcia said. “In a way, it is cheaper because maintaining a car and, like, paying for insurance and the whole cost behind having a car is way higher than public transportation.”

A private vehicle releases 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year, according to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency article.

Business marketing sophomore Asia Mathaw said she occasionally relies on public transportation to get to campus, which usually takes her around 15-20 minutes.

“I use the shuttle every now and then when I know there won’t be any parking,” Mathaw said.

Harrison said the group is passionate about this project because they understand that combating climate change, with the help of SJSU, is essential to the future of our society.

“We hope to do this by advertising different ways to cut down CO2 emissions that our school offers such as clipper cards and bike reimbursements,” Harrison said. “[It] not only helps the environment, but allows the student to fully utilize every incentive they are paying for in their tuition.”

DYLAN NEWMAN | SPARTAN DAILY

The City of San Jose Animal Care Center was overwhelmed by straw kitten births according to a May 25, 2022 San Jose Spotlight article.

on

It’s a bit of a crisis at the moment and a lot of it has to do with the fact that there are a lot of animals that are being surrendered to areas shelters. It’s been really tough on all of our shelters, but the San Jose shelter is definitely struggling with the number of animals that they have to care for.

DRUGS

Continued from page 1

increased from 11 in 2018 to 132 in 2021, according to an Oct. 24, 2022 San Jose Spotlight article.

“It’s important to acknowledge that Joanne Segovia drug trafficking was blatant and went on for years which leads us to wonder how she wasn’t caught sooner,” Adamson said. “The ability of Segovia to traffic drugs right under the noses of law enforcement for so long is an obvious example of how broken our law enforcement system is.”

William Armaline, director of the SJSU Human Rights Institute, questioned how Segovia was able to allegedly run this scheme and who may have helped her.

“If the allegations are substantiated, is there any evidence of connection to the use of illegal opioids within law enforcement agencies as evidenced by the overdose death of former SJPD officer and San Jose State University football player DeJon Packer in 2022?” Armaline said.

DeJon Packer was found dead of fentanyl toxication in his Milpitas home in 2022, the former student athlete was the football team’s running back and a rookie officer for SJPD at the time of his death, according to an April 30, 2022 KTVU article.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan responded to the allegations on his Twitter, thanking U.S. Attorney Ismail Ramsey for following where fentanyl was coming from and holding drug dealers accountable.

“This is an incredibly disturbing

send a letter to the editor

allegation. No one is above the law, regardless of who their employer is,” Mahan wrote in a March 29, 2023 Tweet.

The San Jose City Council recently unanimously passed Mahan’s budget which included investments to the police officer staff, according to a Tuesday Spartan Daily article.

Sociology and Information Science and Data Analytics sophomore Cole Mitchell, a member of Students For Police Accountability, said the mayor needs to divert efforts away from police.

“I think it’s completely unreasonable to think that just having more and more police is going to actually solve anything in San Jose,” Mitchell said. “We have hundreds of millions of dollars going towards the police unions and police department when we have the number one youth homeless population in the country.”

SJPD had a 17% budget increase since 2019, according to an October 11, 2022 ABC 7 News article.

“We’ve had a growing fentanyl and drug issue in the Bay Area and around the country and it just speaks on the lack of morality in the police department,” Mitchell said.

He said he hopes that Segovia is held to the full extent of the law.

“They often are pushing for more legislation to further criminalize drug use, while being the ones who are directly contributing to the problem,” Mitchell said.

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Letters to the Editor may be placed in the letters to the editor box in the Spartan Daily office in Dwight Bentel Hall, Room 209 or emailed to spartandaily@gmail.com to the attention of the Spartan Daily Opinion Editor.

Letters to the Editor must contain the author’s name, year and major. Letters become property of the Spartan Daily and may be edited for clarity, grammar, libel and length. Only letters of 300 words or less will be considered for publication.

Published opinions and advertisements do not necessarily reflect the views of the Spartan Daily, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication or SJSU. The Spartan Daily is a public forum.

PAIN INDEX

Continued from page 1

to the same report.

“We’re producing so much wealth . . . surely we can provide enough for our essential workers so they can have the basics,” Myers-Lipton said. “It is outrageous, heartbreaking and not sustainable.”

In 2022, 42% of SJSU students have experienced housing insecurity, while 11.2% of the SJSU student body, around 4,000 students, have experienced houselessness, according to the same report.

Armaline said there were efforts to provide college students with a monthly grant in response to these statistics, but it was rejected by the state and county.

As a result of the 2022 Pain Index, he said the Human Rights Institute connected with Santa Clara County Senator Dave Cortese to produce a California bill that, over the course of five months, would give $1,000 a month to graduating high school seniors who are houseless or suffer from housing insecurity.

Armaline said, although the bill failed to pass for the state, it was proposed at the county level and passed unanimously.

“It would have been great if it passed at a national level, but we were happy to, at least, get it passed for students suffering in the county,” Armaline said.

Myers-Lipton said the growing wealth gap in tech companies between white and POC workers is an example of how the wealthiest people in Silicon Valley hoard wealth in the county, instead of dispersing it back into the community.

“The amount of wealth inequality is not talked about and it is outrageous,” Myers-Lipton said. “You have those top 10 folks making billions of dollars to the point where it’s almost like a monarchy rather than a democracy.”

He said there has to be a structural change in the big tech companies to ensure a change in the wealth gap between white and people of color in the field.

“It’s not rocket science – you say to your senior managers who are mostly

all white men that things have to change and your bonuses are going to be tied directly to that,” Myers-Lipton said. “I believe that would bring a fundamental change in wealth in the Silicon Valley.”

Of 126 Apple executives, none of the executives and senior managers are Black, Pacific Islander or Indigenous American men, according to the same report.

In addition, 73% of tech companies in the Silicon Valley have zero Black employees on an executive level and 39% of BIPOC and women workers in tech companies do not feel part of the decision making in these companies, according to the 2022 report.

“What we typically hear from tech companies is that it’s hard to find that talent,” said Jahmal Williams, co-chair of the Black Leadership Kitchen Cabinet of Silicon Valley. “We don’t buy that it is hard to find talented Black people to put in leadership roles.”

In hopes of bringing more attention to the annual report for varying communities struggling with social justice issues, Myers-Lipton said the documentary is currently being transcribed to Spanish and Vietnamese.

“To me, the most exciting part of the documentary was the humanity and diversity of our people,” Myers-Lipton said. “You see the variety of people –across ethnicity and race.”

In the documentary, Gliner captured families and individuals experiencing inequality in the Silicon Valley, ranging from low-income workers to houseless communities.

“All we’re really doing is trying to hold ourselves, as a community, accountable for the commitments we’ve made,” Armaline said. “It is a way to make human rights real in our lives.”

The documentary will air on April 18 at 9 p.m. on KRCB (Comcast 200, AT&T 22, Direct TV 22) with repeats on April 19 at 2 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the appropriate language for referring to people of color. The Spartan Daily regrets this error.

Follow the Spartan Daily on Twitter @SpartanDaily

‘the record’ is a life-changing album

By Bojana Cvijic ASSOCIATE EDITOR

American indie rock supergroup boygenius released their debut album, “the record” on Friday, which celebrates the imperfections and intimacies of life, love and friendship.

Made up of indie singers Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus, the band was formed by accident, according to an Oct. 31, 2018 Vogue article.

They were fans of each other’s work and commiserate in constantly being referred to as “women in rock” even though their respective sounds were all different.

In this closeness, they selfproduced and recorded their selftitled EP in 2018, a process which was carefully curated by the members.

The EP exclusively worked with women and collectively brought their own individual ideas together to work as a group.

The album opens with “Without You Without Them,” a song that sounds stripped bare as Bridgers, Dacus and Baker all harmonize about history, generational lineage and love which has shaped the people they’ve become.

I chose to listen to the album in the break room of my job before the store opened and the opening line to this song hit me like a ton of bricks.

“I want to hear your story/ And be a part of it/ Thank your father before you/ His mother before him/ Who would I be without you, without them?”

I started to instantly cry and think of not only myself and the people before me who shaped me into who I am, but the people in my life and those who became before them.

How have we all come together in love and friendship? And without that, who would we be without them?

I knew I was in for an emotional ride where I would be coming to terms with a lot of my own personal dealings in my life.

This, however, is not new whenever I listen to boygenius or their own respective individual works.

Bridgers, Dacus and Baker are all part of the LGBTQ+ community

and have helped me grow in my own identity as a queer woman and also through the trials and tribulations of navigating not only romantic relationships, but various stages of my life.

This is not to say that this is their responsibility nor their job to do, an artist’s work is their own and something deeply personal to them, which is why I take umbrage to the fact their music is diminished as just “sad girl music.”

“the record” is deeply empowering and takes responsibility for their own respective actions in when members of this group have – to put it bluntly – fucked up.

In “Emily I’m Sorry,” Bridgers writes a song about a failed relationship and apologizes to her partner for the mistakes she made when they were together.

“You know how I get when I’m wrong/ And I can feel myself becoming/ Somebody I’m not, I’m not, so Emily, forgive me, can we/ Make it up as we go along?/ I’m twenty-seven and I don’t know who I am (Don’t know who I am) But I know what I want.”

Bridgers doesn’t hold back and the vocals backed by Baker and Dacus not only shows how vulnerable Bridgers’ feelings are, but also how she has support from some of her closest friends, literally and figuratively backed up by lucious harmonies.

The album pushes back, just like with their self-titled EP, into being pigeonholed into a box.

It pushes back on what it means to be “a woman in rock” and allows freedom in what boygenius chooses to represent.

Dacus is brilliant in her continuous ability to express stories in her music, bringing that to the forefront in the

song “Leonard Cohen,” named after the poet and songwriter.

“On the on-ramp, you said/ ‘If you love me, you will listen to this song’/ And I could tell that you were serious/ So I didn’t tell you you were driving the wrong way/ On the interstate until the song was done.”

It’s a simple yet beautiful song about the intricacies of friendship and how well we know each other in our relationships and how sometimes, that can be uncomfortable.

“You said, ‘I might like you less now that you know me so well’/ I might like you less now that

album review

“the record”

Rating:

Artist: boygenius

Release Date: March 31, 2023

Genre: Alternative

you know me so well/ Leonard Cohen once said ‘There’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in’ / And I am not an old man having an existential crisis/ At a Buddhist monastery writing horny poetry/ But I agree.”

The song that resonated with me the most was “Letter To An Old Poet” and as I listened, I thought to myself, “Where was this song when I needed it the most?”

It reminded me that a lot of our experiences are our own, but they can be completely relatable and something that resonates with others deeply.

“You think you’re a good person/ Because you won’t punch me in the stomach.”

It’s an incredible lyric showing that just because your partner, especially ones with toxic tendencies, don’t do something physically or outright evil to you, doesn’t mean you’re always a good person.

Listening to this fully let the waterworks stream down my face

in the chorus, “You’re not special, you’re evil/ You don’t get to tell me to calm down/ You make me feel like an equal/ But I’m better than you/ And you should know that by now.”

If people in my life didn’t resonate with the personal issues I was dealing with, I knew that boygenius did, and those lyrics felt like they were called out to me personally.

In those tears, I wasn’t sad or hurt, I felt vindicated and powerful. I was empowered to allow my old pains to wear off and let myself feel anger I’ve been holding onto for quite some time.

That is the power of boygenius and “the record.” It’s not just “sad girl music.”

It’s the power of friendship, in honoring and accepting your mistakes, finding power in being sad and celebrating the intimacies of life and the bonds we carry throughout that life.

Follow Bojana Cvijic on Twitter @bojanaacv

Jeremy’s Campaign: E3 cancellation is sad

By Jeremy Martin SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Are video game companies even interested in an E3 return anyway?

Despite the fact many fans, including myself, want an in-person E3 to come back, it seems video game companies become less interested in the idea each year.

The Electronic Entertainment Expo is a video game trade show held annually at the Los Angeles convention center, according to a June 11, 2021 Washington Post article.

The convention takes place in June.

Major video game companies, such as Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo, use the event to reveal their newest hardware and their biggest video games.

It was announced E3 2023 was canceled on Friday, according to an article by IGN published on the same day.

The Entertainment Software Association confirmed the announcement in an email sent to members, according to the same article.

The Entertainment Software Association is the voice and advocate for companies that publish computer and video games, according to their website.

In the email, the organization stated the E3 “remains a beloved event and brand,” while the 2023 showcase “simply did not garner the sustained interest necessary

to execute it in a way that would showcase the size, strength and impact of our industry,” according to the article.

This comes just a year before it was announced that E3 would be coming back in 2023 and would be the first in-person E3 since 2019, which transitioned to an online format because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the same article.

Throughout the last handful of E3 events, several companies have altered their presence at the event and in some cases announced they wouldn’t appear at all.

In fact, the news of this year’s E3 cancellation comes after major companies like Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft and Ubisoft confirmed they wouldn’t attend the event at all, according to the article.

Instead most of these companies would hold their own digital showcase, similar to Nintendo’s Nintendo Direct videos.

I miss the days of big on-stage reveals from video game companies like Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft.

However, industry changes make it seem as though such an event won’t be happening anytime soon.

Stanley Pierre-Louis, president and CEO of the Entertainment Software Association, said “the timeline for game development has been altered since the start of the COVID pandemic,” and that “economic headwinds have caused several companies to reassess how they invest in large marketing

events,” in a March 30 article by Games Industry.

After all, why would video game companies spend the extra cash to set up an elaborate live showcase when they can just make announcements and pull off major reveals in the form of a video?

It’s just not worth it for video game companies to have an in-person showcase or even a physical presence at E3 anymore.

The setup of a live showcase would cost more money for video game companies. With major video game

companies dropping out of the showcase, fans have little incentive to attend anyways, especially if major companies choose to create digital alternatives fans could watch from the comfort of their own homes.

Considering the lack of interest from major video game companies and the decreased incentive to participate in a live showcase, I would get used to viewing major reveals digitally.

While E3 might seem like a digital show nowadays, other summer gaming events like Geoff

Keighley’s Summer Game Fest have served as a replacement for E3 in recent years, according to a March 30, 2023 article by The Verge.

For the most part, I encourage fans to embrace digital showcases as the video game industry’s new way of generating hype for their biggest reveals.

GRAPHIC BY VANESSA TRAN AND SAM DIETZ

ALEXIA FREDERICKSON | SPARTAN DAILY

GRAPHIC BY VANESSA TRAN

The top 5 greatest rappers of all time

to 2000, releasing albums “ATLiens,” “Aquemini” and “Stankonia.” All of these albums got four out of five stars on Rolling Stone magazine.

André 3000 has an amazing flow, and in a time where most mainstream rap revolved around gangster rap, OutKast’s sound was entirely unique.

When Kendrick Lamar proclaimed himself as the king of rap on Big Sean’s “Control” verse in 2013, he was 100% right then, and he is 100% correct now.

Lamar is the greatest rapper of all time, and all I have to say is that his last three albums have won Best Rap Album at the Grammys.

Regardless of his accolades, Lamar sets himself from the rest with his ability to encapsulate listeners into his world through his music.

Lamar’s music covers a variety of themes from therapy, gang violence and growing up in Compton, and his word play is what sets him apart.

One of my favorite verses of Lamar’s is his feature on Pusha T’s “Nosetalgia” when he raps, “When I was ten, back when nine ounces had got you ten/ And nine times out of ten, n***** don’t pay attention/ And when it’s tension in the air, nines come with extensions.”

I won’t even delve into how Lamar was robbed at the 2014 Grammys when Macklemore and Ryan Lewis won Best Rap Album for “The Heist” over Lamar’s “good kid, m.A.A.d city.”

He was robbed AGAIN in 2016 when Taylor Swift’s “1989” won Album of the Year at the Grammys over Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly,” a monumental staple that was one of the first four rap albums to be placed in Harvard’s Library, according to a Jan. 31, 2017 Genius article.

The best thing about being a fan of Lamar’s is that he’s still going to make music for the foreseeable future, as he recently started his own record label.

Let’s just hope it doesn’t take another five years.

Favorite Tracks: “Money Trees,” “FEAR.,” and “Father Time” 2. 2Pac

Tupac Shakur is one of the most important rappers of all time, as his songs left a lasting impact on the music industry, even after his death.

Shakur was born in New York, but eventually moved to the Bay Area and began his rap career alongside Oakland rap group Digital Underground, according to an April 6, 2017 Rolling Stone article.

His music ultimately transcended his life as songs like, “How Do You Want it” and “California Love,” are still songs people will be playing this upcoming summer.

Similarly to Lamar, Shakur’s ability to rap about conscientious topics, such as his family and police brutality, served as a time machine into his experience in the ‘90s.

Unfortunately, his passing only left us wondering what more he could have given to the rap game.

Without Shakur, there would almost be no Lamar, and while I love and appreciate what Shakur did for rap music, his discography is too short compared to other rappers to say he was the best of all time.

Favorite Tracks: “Changes,” “Keep Ya Head Up” and “All About You”

3. André 3000

André 3000 is one of the most underrated and underappreciated rappers of all time.

I don’t care that he doesn’t have a solo album, if I know he’s on a track, I know he’s going to bring his best.

André 3000 started his rap career straight out of high school with fellow OutKast member Big Boi, and the two set a new precedent for rap music in Atlanta, according to a Nov. 3, 2021 Hot New Hip Hop article.

The duo really hit its peak from 1996

My favorite example of André 3000’s rapping ability comes as a feature in the song “Sixteen,” where he raps, “I’m tryna fuck my neighbor, I’m tryna hook my waves up/ I’m tryna pull my grades up, to get them saddle lace ups/ Before lil’ Marc was Jacob, before them girls wore makeup.”

Although there hasn’t been an official OutKast album in almost two decades, André 3000 still makes appearances as a feature on rapper’s albums, including his most recent feature on Kanye West’s album “Donda,” with a feature on “Life of the Party.”

I hope one day an OutKast reunion happens or an André solo project happens, but even if it doesn’t, it won’t matter as André has made a claim as one of the best.

Favorite Tracks: “ATLiens,” “Solo (Reprise)” and “Decemba (Remix)”

4. The Notorious B.I.G.

Yes, I put André 3000 over The Notorious B.I.G., but it’s important to not downplay the importance Biggie had on rap as a whole.

Growing up in Brooklyn, Biggie was almost born to be a rapper with impeccable flow, but such as Tupac, his career was cut short after his killing in 1997 according to a Britannica.com article.

Like Shakur, Biggie’s biggest flaw is simply the amount of music he was able to release before his untimely death.

But despite Biggie’s short catalog of music, he is still rightfully placed at the top of most rap lists. Song’s like “Hypnotize,” “Big Poppa” and “Juicy,” are songs that are certified radio classics.

Biggie can also be credited for opening the gates for other New York rappers, such as Jay-Z and even Nicki Minaj, who sampled the beat from his hit, “Just Playing (Dreams),” on her song “Barbie Dreams.”

Biggie displays his flow on the song “Gimme the Loot” when he raps, “Huh, word to mother, I’m dangerous/ Crazier than a bag of fuckin’ angel dust /When I bust my gat, motherfuckers take dirt naps/ I’m all that and a dime sack, where the paper at?”

Even in his life after death, Biggie reigns notorious. Favorite Tracks: “Who Shot Ya?,” “Gimme the Loot” and “Juicy”

5. Jay-Z

How many rappers are still relevant 20 years after their debut album?

Not many.

Jay-Z’s longevity is one of the many reasons why I included him on this list.

With his initial debut album, “Reasonable Doubt,” released in 1996, Jay-Z was already being put in the spotlight, with features such as Mary J. Blige and Biggie.

But even with his 2017 album “4:44,” Jay-Z is still able to make music that is relevant to today’s listeners.

Jay-Z’s wordplay and double entendres on songs really sets him apart from other rappers and he is often credited with putting rap on a new level after the passing of Tupac and Biggie.

Jay-Z has 14 Billboard 200 No. 1 albums, the most for a solo act, according to a Feb. 8 Billboard article.

One of my favorite Jay-Z verses comes on his song, “Brooklyn (Go Hard)” when he raps, “I father, I Brooklyn-Dodger them/ I jack, I rob, I sin/ Aw, man—I’m Jackie Robinson/ ‘Cept when I run base, I dodge the pen.”

Although the music releases have slowed down for him, his music is timeless and albums such as “The Blueprint” and “The Black Album” will never go out of style.

Favorite Tracks: “Izzo (H.O.V.A),” “Encore” and “Otis”

My earliest memories of listening to rap is bumping “To Live & Die in L.A.” in my dad’s Toyota Corolla when he was driving me to elementary school.

In a matter of a five-year recording career, 2Pac established himself as one of the most popular artists in history with over 75 million records sold worldwide, according to a biography from 2pac.com.

Blending thug rap and poetry, 2Pac spoke on topics such as rape, police brutality and his experiences on the streets.

On the 11th track of his sophomore album, “Keep Ya Head Up,” Shakur raps, “I think it’s time to kill for our women/ Time to heal our women, be real to our women/ And if we don’t, we’ll have a race of babies/ That will hate the ladies that make the babies/ And since a man can’t make one/ He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one.”

This was a refreshing track during a time when mainstream rap music revolved around gangbanging and trapping – topics Shakur rapped openly about too.

The duality of Shakur transparently rapping about vulnerability and humility, while also crassly tearing apart another rapper’s career in the most thug manner– as well as his penmanship and west coast flow, makes 2Pac my No. 1 pick as the best rapper.

Favorite tracks: “God Bless the Dead,” “Life Goes On” and “Dear Mama”

2. J. Cole

Going into 2015, J. Cole’s “2014 Forest Hills Drive” was and remains on repeat for its jazzy production, relatable storytelling and explicit bars – a recipe to drive a 16-year-old wild.

His debut album, “Cole World: The Sideline Story,” released in 2011 and would go on to be certified platinum – a trend Cole seems to achieve with each release.

One of my all-time favorite songs is “Love Yourz,” the 11th track on his triple platinum album “2014 Forest Hills Drive,” which had zero features.

In the song, Cole raps, “Always gon’ be a bigger house somewhere, but n**** feel me/ Long as the people in that motherfucker love you dearly/ Always gon’ be a whip that’s better than the one you got/ Always gon’ be some clothes that’s fresher than the ones you rock/ Always gon’ be a bitch that’s badder out there on the tours/ But you ain’t never gon’ be happy ‘til you love yours.”

I too had no car or bitches, but Cole’s delivery convinced me that if I did, I should appreciate them unconditionally.

The simple word choice and relatable lyrics had teenage me in my feelings, letting me contemplate why I lack the gratitude I should have at that point in life.

Favorite tracks: “She’s Mine Pt. 2,” “Crooked Smile” and “Love Yourz”

3. Mac Miller

Mac Miller, like many others around the world, has a special place in my heart.

Miller had a plethora of mixtapes before reaching success after his fifth mixtape “K.I.D.S.” released in 2010.

My favorite mixtape of all time is his 2014 abstract project titled, “Faces.”

The production of the mixtape followed the cancellation of his MTV series “Mac Miller and the Most Dope Family,” a series that followed Miller as he experiments drugs and handles fame.

Locking himself in an underground studio he called, “The Sanctuary,” Miller poured his whole self into the “Faces” mixtape, exploring his drug addiction, battle with mental disparities and experimenting

with abstract production and storytelling.

12 tracks into the record on the song “Funeral,” he raps, “See, we swallowed in this web of lies, never try to exercise/ You used to be a fantasy, but now I guess it’s televised/ I heard the legends never die, oh, this lonely hell of mine/ There never was a better time to better myself.”

These heart-wrenching lyrics foreshadow Miller’s tragic death in September 2018, shortly after the release of his fifth studio album “Swimming,” where it seemed like he was slowly recovering from his addictions.

I thank, appreciate and love Malcolm James McCormick for his music and contribution to my life.

Favorite tracks: “Jet Fuel,” “Perfect Circle / God Speed” and “Diablo”

4. MF Doom

Hip-hop’s most treasured underground anti-hero Daniel Dumile, otherwise known as MF Doom, re-emerged at the end of the ‘90s after mourning the loss of his music partner and brother Dingilizwe Dumile, known professionally as DJ Subroc.

Doom’s debut studio album, “Operation: Doomsday,” released in 1999 and quickly established him as an elite rapper and producer in the underground hip-hop scene, known for his witty delivery, playful rhyme schemes and animated production style. His fifth studio album, “Mm..Food,” released in fall of 2004 and features the fan favorite “Beef Rapp.”

On the track, Doom raps, “What up? To all rappers: shut up with your shutting up/ And keep a shirt on, at least a button-up/ Yuck, is they rhymers or strippin’ males?/ Out-of-work jerks since they shut down Chippendales.”

In the beginning of the verse, Doom takes shots at rappers who chase clout by feuding with other rappers, also known as “beef.”

Although there are better examples that display Doom’s lyrical prowess and talent, the verse is a favorite of mine because of its ruthlessness.

Doom tragically passed away in October 2020 to unknown causes, but his legacy does not end there.

Celebrated lyricists such as Tyler, the Creator, Earl Sweatshirt and Danny Brown are just some examples of how Doom’s craftsmanship can influence a whole generation of lyrical rappers.

Favorite tracks: “All Caps,” “Kookies” and “Doomsday”

5. Baby Keem

Baby Keem made huge waves in the rap industry with his 2019 mixtape, “Die For My Bitch,” where he blends melodic and trap rap over west coast old-school beats.

Best known for his baby-voice flow and punchy production, Keem sets himself apart from rappers who used similar techniques by using melody and harmony as a focal point in his music.

After being established as an exciting rapper to watch, news of Keem being Kendrick Lamar’s cousin surfaced on the web, causing fans and critics to question his abilities as an artist and whether or not he was an industry plant brought in under his cousin’s wing.

He proved them wrong with his second studio album released in 2021, “The Melodic Blue,” spawned the Grammy-winning track “family ties” featuring Lamar.

On the final track of the album, “16,” Keem raps, “My mama mad at me, I know I fucked up big/ My girl mad at me, I know I fucked up big/ What’s love? I guess I’ll never understand/ Every time I say sorry, I do that shit again.”

While these aren’t the most playful or hype lyrics Keem has spoken, they definitely hit home for me and others who struggle with expressing their feelings and communicating with loved ones.

Favorite tracks: “FRANCE FREESTYLE,” “STATS” and “lost souls”

Mat Bejarano STAFF WRITER

Brandon Nicolas STAFF WRITER

1. Kendrick Lamar

1. 2Pac

The Night Market brings good vibes

#1: Members of San Jose State’s Parang K-pop dance team perform at the Night Market on Wednesday night.

#2: Students receieve free boba and dim sum from Tea Degree at the Night Market.

#3: Vietnamese Student Association members use drums, cymbals and vocals during their performance at the Night Market.

#4: A member of the Vietnamese Student Association performs a lion dance in front of students at the 7th Street Plaza.

#5: A member of the Vietnamese Student Association performs a dragon dance at the 7th Street Plaza.

PHOTOS 1 AND 2 BY MYENN RAHNOMA ; PHOTOS 3-5 BY DOMINIQUE HUBER | SPARTAN DAILY

Trans athletes deserve a place in sports

Culture wars are nothing new, neither is the scapegoating of trans women.

So the bans against trans women in sports, while disappointing, is not surprising.

A bill that would enact a nationwide ban on trans athletes from participating in women’s sports passed in the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee, according to a March 9 Nebraska Examiner article.

The bill, H.R. 734, would make it a Title IX violation for federally funded institutions to allow trans women to compete on female sports teams, according to the same article.

Not only is this ban cruel, it would be targeting an extremely small number of people.

There are approximately 32 out trans athletes participating in collegiate sports, according to the same article.

I can’t even begin to comprehend the pain transgender people have

to deal with on the day-to-day with their very existence being openly debated and denied.

But bans like this are not unique to the House.

On Friday, World Athletics banned trans women from participating in the female category of track and field, according to a March 23 Outsports article.

It also tightened the restrictions for intersex athletes to participate.

Intersex is a term used to describe people who are born with both male and female sex characteristics, according to Planned Parenthood.

On Wednesday, Kansas passed HB 2238, which would ban trans women from female sports teams, according to a Buzzfeed article from the same day.

But not all hope is lost.

The International Olympic Committee stopped requiring trans athletes to undergo hormone treatments, according to a Nov. 16, 2021 NBC article.

This is what rules surrounding trans athletes should be.

A common argument for bans such as this is that allowing trans women to compete is unfair to their cis opponents.

What kind of gender essentialism bullshit is that?

Gender essentialism is the idea that gender and gender-based characteristics are intrinsically linked to the sex a person is assigned at birth, according to a Healthline article.

In other words, there are irrefutable differences between men and women. Nothing will change that.

Some people like to make this seem such as some big feminist revelation, but it’s not. It’s just a way of othering and excluding trans people.

When I was a child, the big feminist idea was that girls could do everything boys could.

I still believe this.

Another common argument is that there should be a separate league for trans athletes instead of allowing them to compete against cis athletes.

How feasible would this be?

Let’s assume – and we’ll be generous – there are 300 trans athletes in college sports, which is about 10 times the amount of out trans college athletes, spread out amongst all the college sports.

No way would that be enough players to form a league for any sport.

But also, that would be othering for those athletes. It would be telling them, “You’re different and can’t be included in the general population.”

People also like to claim that male athletes will claim to be women in order to get fame and fortune as a top-performing female athlete.

Because everyone knows that female athletes are so well paid and respected.

And transitioning is so easy and quick.

But moreover, attacks on trans athletes are just a way politicians try to win political points.

When trans swimmer Lia Thomas became the first transgender athlete to win a NCAA

championship, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he would “reject these lies and recognize” that the “rightful winner” was Florida resident and second place winner Emma Weyant, according to a March 22, 2022 NBC article.

It’s important to note that this proclamation did jack shit. He does not have the power to declare the winner to any NCAA competition. Florida is the third most populous state, doesn’t he have anything better to do?

Probably.

But this is just another example of a politician throwing trans people under the bus in order to get political clout.

We need to stand up to this bullshit. And the best way you can right now is by calling your representatives and letting them know that you do not stand with bans on trans athletes. You don’t stand with transphobia. And you do not support H.R. 734.

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By Carolyn Brown

PRODUCTION EDITOR

ILLUSTRATION BY CAROLYN BROWN | SPARTAN DAILY