u/Classic-Dealer5518

Hey everyone,
I’m a guy who mostly listens to rock and classic rock. Some of my most listened to bands are Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, AC/DC, Deep Purple, Guns N’ Roses and Metallica, so Taylor is pretty far from my usual listening habits.
I’ve followed her on social media for a while, though, mainly because I enjoy watching clips from her performances. I like her stage presence and the whole visual side of her shows. Whenever I hear one of her songs on the radio, I usually enjoy it too.
The only full album of hers I’ve really listened to is 1989. I played it in the car over a period of time and ended up liking it, so now I’m curious to explore more of her music.
What album would you recommend listening to next for someone with my background? It doesn’t necessarily have to be her most rock influenced album. I’m open to anything that you think represents her well or shows a different side of her music.
I’m also curious about the common claim that most of her songs are about breakups. I realise that is probably an unfair simplification, but since I don’t know her catalogue well enough yet, I’d like to hear how people here view it. How important are breakups and relationships in her songwriting, and which songs or albums best show that she writes about other subjects too?
I’m asking in good faith and I’m interested in both positive and critical answers. Thanks!

Personally, I don’t. Not because I have anything against the drivers, but because I’m already paying the delivery fee and service fee, which I find quite expensive.

I’m curious what other people in Morocco do. Do you tip regularly, only in certain situations, or never?

One thing that fascinates me about older NBA discussions is how differently greatness used to be evaluated compared to today.

A great example is Elgin Baylor. During the NBA 50th anniversary era in the 90s, I remember many analysts and basketball magazines still viewing him as an all-time top 10 level player despite having no championship and no MVP award.

Today, it feels almost impossible for a player without rings or MVPs to be ranked that highly by mainstream NBA discourse.

Back then, people seemed to care much more about things like individual dominance, talent, innovation, impact on the game, and the eye test rather than just résumé comparisons and ring counting.

Modern debates feel much more driven by accolades, efficiency metrics, longevity stats, Finals MVPs, and championships.

The Elgin Baylor example really shows how much NBA “greatness criteria” have evolved over the years.

Lately I’ve been noticing way more checkpoints and way more people getting fined right before Eid.

I got a 400 dhs fine recently because the officer said I didn’t properly stop at a stop sign. The thing is, I did stop, just probably not long enough for him.

What made me notice it even more is that near my workplace there’s a stop sign where they’ve been stopping people constantly lately. And honestly the stop sign is probably the easiest thing to argue about because it’s almost impossible to prove properly once the officer says you didn’t stop enough.

Several people I know have been saying the same thing recently too. Suddenly everybody has a recent fine story for something small or debatable.

Some people even say these periods are used from time to time to increase state revenue through traffic fines. I don’t know if that’s true, but I honestly understand why many drivers end up feeling that way.

I know they’ll say it’s about road safety before holiday traffic, but sometimes it genuinely feels like the pressure on drivers suddenly goes way up before Eid.

When I started following the NBA in the 90s, I clearly remember that Dr. J was constantly mentioned in all time top 10 discussions by magazines, TV shows and older fans.

Back then, Julius Erving still felt like one of the true giants of basketball history. Older fans talked about him almost the way people later talked about Jordan: revolutionary style, above the rim athleticism, charisma, influence on basketball culture, etc.

Today, it feels completely different. Younger fans rarely mention him in GOAT discussions anymore, and many seem to rank him much lower historically than people did in the 80s and 90s.

I also think the ABA/NBA split hurt his legacy over time. Even though the ABA is officially recognized, ABA accomplishments still feel culturally less valued in modern NBA discussions, and Dr. J was the biggest icon of that league.

Meanwhile, newer generations grew up with Jordan, Kobe, LeBron, Duncan, Shaq and Curry dominating the conversation.

So I’m genuinely curious:

Has any all time great dropped more than Dr. J in historical rankings and overall notoriety over the last 30 years?

With the Radical Optimism live album releasing on May 22, I actually want to stream it as much as possible to help give Dua more visibility and support the era.

Right now I have both Spotify and Apple Music subscriptions, so I’m curious: which streaming service do you guys think helps artists the most in terms of visibility, charts and overall impact?

Which one are you personally going to use for the live album?

This morning, Wednesday May 20 around 7:30 AM in Temara on Avenue Hassan II, I was trying to cross at a pedestrian crossing when a bus driven by a veiled woman literally accelerated instead of slowing down.

When I raised my hand asking her to let me pass, I looked at her and she was laughing. Not angry. Not apologetic. Actually laughing.

Honestly, what is the point of pedestrian crossings in Morocco anymore if some drivers see people crossing and speed up instead? This kind of behavior is not just disrespectful, it’s genuinely dangerous and could easily kill someone one day.

I’m still shocked by how normalized this kind of driving has become.

Does anyone know if there’s a real way to report dangerous bus drivers in Morocco? Especially public transport drivers?

A lot of people mainly focus on Russell’s rings and his record against Wilt, which is understandable.

But personally I think Wilt was the better individual player. The guy averaged 50 points in a season, scored 100 in a game, led the league in scoring, rebounding and even assists at different points of his career. Physically he was probably the most dominant athlete the league has ever seen.

Meanwhile Russell played in an all time great organization with Red Auerbach, one of the greatest coaches ever, alongside multiple Hall of Famers, top 50 and top 75 players for years.

To me, Russell had the better team situation, while Wilt was the greater individual talent.

I’m a millennial from Morocco and I used to follow the NBA heavily during the 90s.

Back then, before social media and YouTube, I used to buy every month a French basketball magazine called Mondial Basket to follow the NBA. I also never missed an episode of NBA Action on Moroccan television.

I still remember the huge coverage around the NBA 50th anniversary in 1996.

One thing that stayed in my memory is that Mondial Basket made an all time top 10 list around that period. From what I remember, it looked something like this:

Michael Jordan

Magic Johnson

Larry Bird

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Wilt Chamberlain

Bill Russell

Oscar Robertson

Julius Erving

Jerry West

Elgin Baylor

What fascinates me today is how different all time rankings were back then compared to now.

25+ years later, I feel like the players who dropped the most in modern rankings are probably Elgin Baylor, Jerry West and maybe even Dr. J. Meanwhile players like LeBron, Duncan, Kobe and Shaq completely changed the hierarchy.

Do older fans here remember similar rankings from the 90s?

And which players do you think have fallen the most in all time rankings over the last 25 years?

I remember that during Michael Jordan’s first retirement in 1993, after the first threepeat, he was already being called the GOAT by a lot of people.

What I remember most is that even though he “only” had 3 championships at the time, the aura around him already felt different from any player I had ever seen. People talked about him like he was unbeatable at his peak.

Then the second threepeat almost made the debate impossible, but in my memory the GOAT conversation had already shifted heavily toward Jordan by 1993.

For those of you who were following the NBA closely back then, is my memory accurate?

Feels like Future Nostalgia was her peak, no debate. The hits were everywhere and I remember her songs being on the radio a lot, that era was huge.

But I don’t feel like she fell off. I’ve actually been listening to Radical Optimism way more as a full album, it just flows better for me. It’s honestly my favorite Dua Lipa album at this point.

I know Future Nostalgia even won a Grammy while Radical Optimism didn’t get nominated, and even though I don’t really care about the Grammys, I still feel like it not getting a nomination was a bit undeserved.

To me it feels less like a decline and more like she’s just not as “everywhere” as she used to be.

Curious what people think.