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Fort Worth Texas Recap
Last night, there were not many people at the show, but by far it was the most memorable night of the tour…
We sold a good amount of merch despite the small turn out. Which is good because i dont think the show itself made any money thru the door.
The bartendress liked me, and proceeded to buy me shots all night long. I think i got up to 9-10 but she told me it was only 6-7. I dont know who to believe as she admitted she was previously an alcoholic who could do 20 shots of henny a night. she also admitted having fucked up her liver and her doctor told her she couldnt drink, but she did anyways.
There’s No Such Thing As Coincidence
I just got in from having some drinks and i feel like reflecting tonight. I feel a great deal of gratitude for everything that i have been given and the friends i have, as well as the experiences that have been granted me on this path i have chosen. And i want everybody who has ever supported or encouraged me to continue this thing because it means a lot. Tonight i realized that there are so many things that i wouldnt have been able to see had it not been for this gift i have been given; no matter how big or small that gift is, it is a gift nonetheless, and i dont take it for granted anymore.
I now look at everyday i am fortunate to wake up and do something i love as a blessing, not something i earned, or something that is a quick phase in my life. it is what i make it, and if i choose to do nothing with it, then it will be nothing. but if i choose to love it and nurture it then it will grow and blossom–and i dont mean monetarily or in terms of shit like that. i mean in terms of what it is and the joy it brings to myself and others.
We don’t love flowers because of what they can do for us. We love them because of what they are. It would be selfish to do otherwise. so whatever role that my path plays in the role of others joy i fully accept and embrace. not because it makes me money or because otherse need me, but because that is simply what i am to them, and what i am to be.
This may sound like some drunken rambling, and i admit that i’ve been drinking tonight but feel my sincerity on this.
In Memory of Teddy Pendergrass
While i usually try to keep this blog/website pretty positive and upbeat, i couldn’t help but write something in memory of Teddy Pendergrass who died tonight/last night at the age of 59. For those who dont know, Teddy Pendergrass was a serious, serious, soul singer. He had one of those rare voices that could go from real smooth to real grizzly in a heartbeat, but right when you needed it to be.
When i heard he died tonight I was at the bar and his song “turn off the lights” immediately popped into my head. I will always have great memories of him and this song. I remember buying the tape that “turn off the lights” was on just to get that one song. Hell, i cant remember any other songs on the record, but “turn off the lights” was like 6-8 minutes long and made the purchase well worth it by itself. The wildest part about this song is that it wasn’t even a song i grew up on. My parents actually got busy to it. I just remember it being on around the house sometimes, and when i went thru my exploratory phase of R&B that song just took me there.
At any rate, I will admit that Teddy Pendergrass may be the first (of many) R&B singers that I actually stole lyrics from and used them on a girl:
Radiohead Kid-A Documentary
This is something that i peeped a few months ago, and wondered why it didnt have that many views, but then i came to the realization that if it had more views it would have been pulled from youtube already. But as many of you know i’m a big fan of Radiohead (hence the Greenhouse Effect vs Radiohead CD), so it was cool to see this documentary that chronicled what they were going through around the time they released Kid A, which was a huge departure from their previous album which had almost universal critical acclaim. If you’re bored at work or a Radiohead fan like me peep it:
Electric Purgatory Pt 1 voted best local hip-hop release of 2009
In last weeks issue of the Columbus Alive, The Electric Purgatory EP was chosen as the best local hip-hop release of 2009. If you’re reading this and haven’t heard it yet DOWNLOAD IT NOW you lazy bastard!! If you’ve already heard it and would like to help us spread the music to friends of yours please use the share button on the player to post it up on your facebook, myspace, twitter, etc. We do what we can, but its no secret that we can reach a lot more people if those who already know about it help us.
Thanks for the support. Part two coming soon.
p.s. If you would like to order the delux version of the CD, go HERE
Imagine
Imagine that you love flowers.
You love gardening as well.
Imagine enjoying nothing more than spending your free time amazed at how flowers look, how much joy your garden brings to you. Imagine the beauty that flowers bring to your life.
Imagine buying seeds, shovels, and all types of gardening tools. It’s nothing to you because you love flowers.
Imagine not wanting to see them die because they bring such joy to your life.
It’s beautiful, right?
Right.
Now, imagine that you love music…help me fill in the rest.
Jan 30th FREE Greenhouse (Blueprint & Illogic) show in Columbus, OH
I’ve mentioned this on Facebook and on Twitter a few times before but this is the official announcement and flyer for it. Saturday January 30th, 2010 @ Carabar (115 parsons) in Columbus, OH. The line-up is Greenhouse (Blueprint & Illogic), Apocalypse Inc, All Eyes Path, and DJ Johnny Cashola on the turntables. We will also have a bboy battle earlier in the night and debut the “Cold Out Here” music video on the screen there. If you live in Columbus or the surrounding area we hope to see you all out!
Any requests? Hit up the comments section and let us know!
Printmatic
FREE MP3: Grayskul feat. Blueprint “Blueskul”
In 2005, shortly after my album 1988 came out, i was on the Scribble Jam tour with my dude DJ Raregroove, Mr. Dibbs, and Glue. The tour ended in Portland, OR but instead of driving back with everybody else, me and raregroove decided to spend a few days in Portland kicking it and then fly back to Ohio later that week. Considering everybody else on the tour was gonna be trapped in a bus for 2 or 3 days in route to Ohio, getting drunk everyday and kicking it in portland seemed like a much better option. So we played darts, went out, dug for records, and while i was there i recorded a song with my fellow rhymesayers brethren Grayskul. The song is called “Blueskul” and its produced by Coley Cole.
It was intentionally slated for their second album Deadlivers, but the song didn’t make the cut. Considering I hadnt heard the song since i wrote and recorded it (and had never heard a version with Greyskuls verses on it), i was was pretty happy they sent it to me last week. Either way the song is now 5 years old and since nobody has really heard it i figure i would give it to you all.
Here is a link to the song:
http://www.divshare.com/download/10028499-93a
word is blog
Little Things That Bug Me
I hate when I’m in an almost empty restaurant and somebody sits at a table that’s not at least two tables away from me.
Even worse is when they sit at a table that’s one table away from me and sit in a direction facing me. It makes me feel like they’re watching me eat, or that every-time I look up I look like I’m watching them eat.
If I go to see a movie at a time when its not busy it bugs me when people sit anywhere near me. I’m a firm believer that if there are less people in the movie than rows in the theater, everybody should have their own row, and one row apart preferably so nobody has to hear anybody Else’s dumb ass comments or have somebody kicking the back of
their chair in an empty ass movie.The above theory also applies to any form of public transit.
Public Enemy & Their Fan-Funded Album
I came across this a few days ago and wanted to get everybody’s thoughts on it. Here’s the article:
http://musically.com/blog/2009/10/06/public-enemy-to-fan-fund-new-album-with-sellaband/#tb
Public Enemy to fan-fund new album with SellaBand
Hip-hop pioneers Public Enemy have announced plans for fans to fund their new album – but also take a share of the revenues. The band are working with SellaBand to raise $250,000 in individual donations of $25. Fans chipping in will get a numbered copy of the album, but also a share of the profits – although exactly how this will work hasn’t been announced at the time of writing.
“SellaBand’s financial engine model goes about restructuring the music business in reverse,” says Public Enemy’s Chuck D. “It starts with fans first, then the artists create from there. The music business is built on searching for fans and this is a brand new way for acts to coming to create a new album with fans first, already on board.”
Public Enemy are the first established act to benefit from SellaBand’s new business model, which now allows artists to hold onto their publishing rights, and raise money in different ways to the scheme originally proposed by the site when it was targeting just unsigned artists. The band are one of the more experienced when it comes to digital, having been one of the first to release music as MP3 files.
“Working with Public Enemy is an incredibly exciting way to take the European success we’ve built over the past three years and offer it to stateside bands,” says SellaBand CEO Johan Vosmeijer.
And then part two of the story this:
Caption: Chuck D of ‘ Public Enemy ‘ performs Coachella Music Festival 2009 – Day 3 Indio, California …. Rap legends PUBLIC ENEMY are on their way to achieving a fan-funded album – they have pulled in donations of $50,000 . Last month , the group agreed a deal with SellaBand, an online fan funding engine, which gives devotees the chance to …This is part of the new era we live in, where major labels are getting pushed away (and rightfully so), and artists are working directly with the fans that supported them from day one. I think it’s pretty fresh, but I would like to see what you all think about an artist going directly to their fans to fund their album. Is it here to stay? Will it only work for certain acts? Would you ever help your favorite band like this?Let me know what you’re thinking.Word is blog.A jewel from the Prince “Purple Rain” bonus DVD
I’m gonna admit right off top that I’m a big fan of Prince. Musically, I think he’s one of the geniuses of our era, and business-wise I think he’s done some amazing things that struck big against the major-labels and also set himself up to be a real powerplayer as an idependent artist (which is he is right now).
But all that aside, I finally bought the Purple Rain DVD the other day, and I’ve gotta say it was well worth the purchase because of the 2nd DVD that comes with it. There’s a few behind-the-scenes type of extras on the DVD that really shed light on some of the process and making of that album and movie that I would have never thought of. If you’re a fan of his, definitely cop it. I’ve watched the bonus DVD twice already.
Now, onto what I thought was the most interesting bit of information about the making of the album:
First, there were over 100 songs recorded for the album, and if i remember correctly there are only 9 or 10 songs on the actual album. This in itself i find very interesting, particularly because when it comes to classic albums we always tend to think that the artist just did 10 songs and all of them were great, but this is hardly the case. In fact, the more i research older albums, the more i find the opposite to be true. It seems like almost every truly great album has a story about a ridiculous amount of songs being recorded for it, as opposed to that artist just being “on fire” at that point in time, did 10 amazing songs, then turned into the label like “here’s this classic, let me know when it goes 10x platinum“, lol.
Dres of Blacksheep talks about Krs One vs PM Dawn Incident
For those that have been into hip-hop as long as I have, the “KRS-ONE vs PM Dawn” incident is one that will always be near and dear to our hearts. For those that may have never heard of this incident, basically KRS-One didn’t appreciate the super-soft, pop stylings of PM Dawn (who was set to perform his #1 hit at the time) and emerged at one of their shows to a) push them off stage and b) commence to rocking said show in their spot. No matter how you look at either party, this story is legendary and honestly the type of thing I wish emcees of my generation had the balls to do. Unfortunately, if this happened today KRS would be labeled a “hater”, and ridiculed for not lettin PM Dawn “get money”. Funny how things change, huh?
Well at any rate, apparently Blacksheep was also playing on the show that this incident happened at, and in this interview Dres talks about the events leading up to it and the actual incident. His entire recount of the incident is priceless and definitely worth checking out.
Also, if you’ve got the time here’s a great interview from Kenny Parker of Boogie Down Productions about the incident from uncut.com.
word is blog
The beauty of hip-hop
I remember a few years back when I was on tour with Eyedea & Abilities, DJ Abilities and I were having a talk about sampling and hip-hop. And how the creators of many classic hip-hop songs were masters of sampling, and their knowledge of records was just crazy.
What happened to Myspace?
A few weeks back i saw a fellow-artist post a status update on his facebook page saying something to the effect of “wait,you mean to tell me that i spent all this time getting my myspace page looking good and now its a dead?!” and as an artist i feel his pain.
So, I figure that instead of blogging and trying to share my perspective I would ask everybody a question, and see if you all can give me your thoughts on what happened to myspace? Or better yet, what your personal story is as to why you don’t visit it as much anymore? It doesn’t have to be anything long, a couple sentences or paragraphs would work. I’m just curious about everybody’s experience.
Add on!
Braylon Edwards = 0, Lebron James = 1
Braylon Edwards cant catch. If you’ve watched the browns play any of the past few seasons you know this is a fact. He drops a lot of balls he should catch, and every now and then he catches something amazing that makes you think that maybe (just maybe) he really should be their #1 receiver.
