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WHY MTV WON, AND WHY Y’ALL LOST
Ok. By now everybody has seen all the shit about Kanye’s antics at the MTV awards show. Some people are saying fuck Kanye, and they’ll never buy his records again. Other people are saying that it was all entertainment and think it was scripted. Myself, I think Kanye is easily the most entertaining and polarizing figure in music right now, hands down. He is to this generation of hip-hop listeners and press what KRS-ONE was to the generation before that; a figure so immensely talented, yet so willing to say and do bizarre ass shit all the time based on whatever their ego was feeling that day. They’re not driven by money, or fame, or any of that shit; Kanye West, just like KRS is pretty much about whatever satisfies his ever-growing ego. But that’s another topic that I’m sure is up to debate.
But I’m writing this not to talk about that, but to talk about how yall lost and how MTV won. I’m sure you’re thinking “what are you talkin about print? how can i lose when i never played?”. well let me school you on how you lost youngin, because some of the best loses have come from people who didn’t even know they were on the field to begin with.
Here’s how you lost:
A GREAT QUOTE
Peep this quote:
“He saw them striving–and suffering and getting gray–over things that seemed to him completely unworthy of this price: over money, over small pleasures, over a little respect. He saw them chiding and insulting one another, he saw them bemoaning pains that the shramans smiled over and suffering from privations that a
shramana did not feel“The above quote is from Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse.
Word is blog.
VACATION IS OVER BLUEPRINT, BACK TO WORK
My apologies for the lack of blogging over the past 4-6 weeks. Its not that I dont have things to blog about that i don’t think are interesting, its more that lately all the stuff i want to write about is about music. It’s very rare that i really wanna write about music and share perspectives or philosophy. I tend to think that me blogging about music can come off pretentious or arrogant.
And the entire reason i have been wanting to talk about music so much is because over the past 6-7 weeks i feel more dedicated to music than i have the entire 7 years that this has been my job. I literally have been doing almost nothing but music, and have been more happy about doing it than ever. I honestly feel like such a lucky person just to have the chance to do this job, that when i put things into perspective it made me feel like i hadn’t been working hard enough.
And as wild as this may seem I can honestly say that for the first time in my career, I want to be great. I want to do great music. Not just be dope, have fun, get pussy, make money and all that shit that comes along with doing it for a living. I really want to commit myself to it, and take it as far as my talent can take me. But with that ambition comes a LOT of commitment, which is where i am now.
Faggot @ Carabar – April 14th
I’m somewhat drunk so i don’t even know where to start this one, but I think i will start from last week. Last week Ron (Carabar owner) was like “Al, i dont ever tell you to come to specific shows, so take me seriously when i ask you to come to this show next week…tuesday. Faggot is playing.” So i remembered it but still forgot today until around 1130 or so. At any rate, I showed up and just missed Dead Sea play, who happen to be my favorite live act in Columbus. Matt Minor from Teeth Of The Hydra’s new band (whose name escapes me) played next, and since i was ordering drinks i can only claim to have heard about 75% if what they were doing, but it sounded good.
But its time to cut to the chase. Which is this band Faggot. Ron warned me about them but words cant really explain this kinda shit . you have to be there. Either way, this show tonight might have been the most amazing show i have seen in my entire life. This band Faggort kicked so much ass that it was worth being in the middle of the mosh pit just to fully understand what was going on.
Blueprint beat of the week – July 20th, 2009
Had server problems last week that kind of took me out of the rhythm of blogging, but I’m back now. This week i will pick up where i left off. I figure i would start this week off with some music. Everybody has a youtube channel except me, so now I have one. I haven’t quite figured out what I’m gonna put on mine yet, but i figure posting one beat every week couldn’t hurt. So here is the beat of the week for this week:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ4jkPPRXEM
My youtube channel is http://www.youtube.com/printmaticmusic. Check it out and subscribe if you can. I’ll try to keep the videos coming.
Word is blog
I’m on vacation
Every now and then a brotha gotta take some time off, so that’s what I’m doing. Dipped out Saturday morning to beautiful Vancouver B.C. and have been loving it. I’m about 3-4 blocks from Downtown, and the same distance from the beach. Spending a week someplace like this is pretty fly. Everything is pretty much walking distance and I’ve been lampin hard as fuck drinking beers enjoying life, skydiving on everybody. The people here are extra nice.
This blog is basically to explain that although i didn’t blog yesterday, it was simply because I’ve been doing the vacation thing and my internet connection has been sketchy to say the least; this is what happens when you bootleg somebody else’s shit i guess. I’m taking pictures and I’m gonna blog about my observations of Vancouver hopefully over the next couple days.
Hope all is well with everybody.
if any of you are from vancouver and know of any cool events or dj nights going on this week let me know.
Word is blog.
30,000 Pounds of Bananas
As a person that makes beats, part of the job involves spending hours listening to old albums for things that are interesting enough to sample. I have thousands of vinyl albums at my house that range from rock, to classical, to soul, and everything in between. But i will keep it completely honest with you–I find that sitting and listening to records for hours on end to be the worst part of making beats. Its also kind of tiring because you have to pay attention all the time, because if you don’t you could miss one really amazing sample.
At any rate, I was listening to an artist named Harry Chapin today. I was actually in another room letting the record play, not even paying attention when the most amazing and rediculous song I’ve heard in a long time came on. The song is called “30,000 pounds of bananas”, and yes, the song is actually about 30,000 pounds of bannanas. The song is so bugged out that i had to record it and upload it so you can hear it. Its basically about the adventures of a dude driving around with 30,000 pounds of bananas in his truck, and its completely bizarre. It’s one of those songs that leave you shaking your head in amazement and confusion at the same time.
The record came out in 1974 so I’m sure my man was on some sort of psychedelic drug when he wrote it, and everybody around him must have been just as high to let him actually put it out. So my friends, here is Harry Chapin “30,000 Pounds of Bananas”. Please do yourself and listen to this song immediately, especially if you’re having a bad day.
LISTEN:
Harry Chapin “30,000 Pounds of Banannas”Word is blog.
Last Weeks Random Thoughts
I would probably have roaches if there was actually food to eat in my house. I think my house is where roaches go only if they wanna lose weight.
Ted Dibiase = Next Level Stuntin
When you think about people stuntin and flossin, the images of rappers making it rain, and episodes of MTV cribs come to mind. But I would like to reintroduce you to a man who was putting all those dudes to shame in the 80s, Ted Dibiase “The Million Dollar Man”.
status of my new album
This is a post I made on weightless.net last week with an updated status of my album. I figured I would repost it here for those interested:
the punching bag
when i was younger i used to get into fights. not all the time, but from the the time i got into 4th grade up until 9th grade i definitely remember getting into at least one fight per school year, and getting suspended because of it. the wildest part was that i rarely ever fought anybody my size; it was always a kid who was bigger, and way more brolic than me. Not that i’m big now, but i was definitely a skinny kid. being the youngest of four didn’t help matters any either, because i cant remember EVER winning a fight against my older siblings.
i remember my mother used to tell all the time me that my mouth was gonna get me in trouble, and she was right, because almost every single fight i got in was because of some smart shit i said. whether that was unapolgetically laughing at a joke somebody else told about a kid twice my size, or just mouthing off to a kid that i knew i shouldn’t be mouthing off to, my mouth constantly wrote checks that my fists weren’t prepared to cash. there were plenty of times when the kid who was bigger than me just looked at me as a easy victory because i was smaller too but even then i’m sure i could’ve probably avoided the entire thing by keeping my mouth shut.
at any rate, now that i’ve grown up what i noticed about fighting is that it always involves a great deal of anger and rage; moments where somebody basically loses control and does something to somebody that they probably end up regretting the next day. so i’ve always felt really uncomfortable with my anger. and truthfully i’ve overcompensated by appearing more relaxed and composed than i really am sometimes. but all that leads to is not having an outlet to vent that anger in, and anger without an outlet is a very bad idea.
so this december i had the wildest idea to just buy a heavy bag and some boxing gloves. i set it up in my basement and now whenever i get frustrated with how a day is going or somebody is an asshole to me I just throw on the gloves and hit the bag. I know you’re probably thinking “al, what’s the difference, your still upset and punching something? and that’s not good”
well here’s the difference.
The Gypsy Hut Fiasco
Last night we were supposed to play a show in Cincinnati at the Gypsy Hut. The lineup was myself, illogic, dj rare groove, and mr. dibbs. Needless to say the show didn’t happen, but it wasn’t for the lack of trying. I will rewind a few days and bring everybody up to speed.
The Results
I was gonna write about how my attempt at not drinking went, with details about how each day with or without drinking went, but it seemed to be pretty boring as I was writing it, so i deleted it. Instead I’m going to simplify it like this:
New Montly Event: Check The Rhyme
For all my people in columbus that fuck with classic hip-hop, and don’t have plans this saturday night, please come check out the new monthly event that I’m starting up:
Word is Blog
7 days without alcohol
I was at the bar Saturday and told a friend i was gonna take a week off drinking and his response was “that’s it? a week ain’t shit, anybody can do that“. I replied with “cool, then you should do it with me“. He thought about it for a second then went silent. Then he asked me to do a shot with him.
