spotcheckin' vol. 1

One of my new favorite spots in the city, which also happens to be owned by one of the coolest, and most helpful dudes around! This spot is the MAIN source for that extremely dope, relatively new Japanese (based out of NYC) line called SABIT, and Mr. Nichi is officially down with the SABIT guys. Get there FAST, if you want that ILLY...

John Leguizamo, my Pops, and Innovators

My father is one coolass dude, man...

Over 50, and still so incredibly relevant without ever really trying too hard; this man has no use for things like pretense, or the vanity of contrived dialogue. He is just as raw, street, and sophisticated as he ever was. I don't doubt that some may even hate him for his "isms" and unapologetic ways, but the fact remains that many more love him for his unique brand of views, and his "straight like that" approach, which hardly leaves anything to the imagination, on most nights.

Tonight, for the most part, is a different story though. You see, tonight he's chillin', a lil' under the weather, and just takin' his boys out to watch another latin innovator test his new material on a small group of lab rats, such as ourselves, in a tiny theater on Barrow Street, in the always interesting West Village. Yes, my dad is an innovator, much like John Leguizamo, who after a 2 minute dance intro to some Godfather of Soul ish, insists that he will NOT ALLOW any recording devices of ANY KIND during his show.

Damn, I can't front, I was tempted to capture a segment and post it to my twitter feed. (sigh)

My Pops, like most individuals who trailblaze, didn't realize that he was writing history back in his day, but the plain truth is that he helped to create what we now know as Hip-Hop. Told you he was an innovator! Yeah, I know. Sounds crazy, right? But he is actually one of the pioneering DJ's who rocked the parks in the early 70's, drawing crowds to this new way of presenting music. Watching Leguizamo dance a fool to James Brown's "Sex Machine", takes me back to places where I literally watched live looping of break beats morph and evolve into rockin', then uprocking, then breakdance, and then eventually, into that BOOM BAP that I love so much, and later went on to explore myself.

Mr. Leguizamo is as dope as ever, and appears to be in top form, and so ready for his next Broadway Takeover, but I find myself rather stunned and captivated by the way he fearlessly shows his heart to this small test audience. He takes us from all-out laughter to pin-drop reflection in a millisecond; all on purpose, and at the precise moment of his choosing. My dad, brother, and I, were essentially invited guests into Leguizamo's living room for an hour or so last night, and there was thankfully NO HOLLYWOOD in the building. No B.S., just authenticity, which happens to be one of my favorite things on Earth. As an artist, I know what it is to respect the craft, and another artist's material, so you'll NEVER get any spoilers from me, but JL's entire show treated us to another insider look at his professional life, and as always, some personal/family drama thrown in for good measure. He is indeed an innovator, a fearless LATIN innovator, with no qualms about telling it like it is. Just like my pops.

Yeah my dad is cool, still shining his shoes, and slick talkin' with the best of the young crowd, still fitting in amongst the youthful throngs of West 4th and Ave of The Americas, still walking out in front of his clan, showing who's boss, and still being my Superhero, for just letting me chill with him on nights like this...

Shout to Jason Segel (lead in Forgetting Sarah Marshall) who was right there among us outside of the Barrow Street Theater, just chillin'. No entourage, No fancy entrances, despite having a pretty amazing run of big movies lately, and one more about to drop.

Another cool MoFo in the midst of some very cool Mofos. yea us... lol

places you can find me @ in the very near future...

check my resume vol. 1 | my dude ESSO + Mickey Factz

ESSO + R E N N Y | = EVOLUTION, break it down to its LCD | = GAME CHANGER.

bet that...

WTF FILES Vol. 4 - the uber wow edition

Okay, so I was thinkin' after watching this, that I should do a hood version of this ish, kinda like a Live-Action-GTA-Brooklyn-Edition-Role-Playing-Whatever-The-F-This-Is, only the twist would be to recruit suburban geeks just like these to participate... Cha-Ching... excuse me, I just murked myself... LMAO

against all odds

When I find myself with my back planted firmly against "the wall", I usually tend to be able to find this "zone" where things are much more vivid than what my normal perspective can offer. This clarity takes on the properties of a very bright and intense light source. It's me in HD, so to speak; that very instant where I begin to function at a vastly superior level on almost all fronts, until the storm is past.

Several years ago, I was driving my brand new SUV towards Brooklyn from Philly one morning, at around 5 am. I was battling sleep after partying all night, and I probably (epic understatement) should have slept for a while on the side of the road, but absurdly, and against my better judgment, all I could think about was getting home. The last thing I remembered before things went black for a few seconds, was slapping myself, and turning Peedi Crack's "RRRRING" up to full blast, while doing like 85 mph on Interstate 295, hoping to be able to keep my eyes open for just-one-more-hour.

Ridiculously obvious note to self: You don't always get what you hope for...

When my eyes finally opened after what seemed like an eternity, I found myself careening into a ditch at breakneck speeds, headed straight for a huge tree, which, in essence, was rapidly morphing into my express train to the "afterlife".

4 seconds... Panic? Brace up? Close my eyes? Pray?

Its amazing how many things you can think of in just 4 seconds. I'll leave the details to your imagination, except to say that about 10 seconds later, I found myself back on the Interstate, climbing out of my moonroof, with nothing more than a few scratches on my left arm, a demolished vehicle, and a torn sleeve.

Me HD...

I take no credit for my response time, and definitely not for the way that 4 seconds slowed down on some NEO and the Matrix type ish, but my point in all of this is to illustrate what a human being can do, against all odds, with something so simple, and yet so absolutely powerful.

Sheer WILL...

My will compels me to reach for things that people say I can never reach, it protects me from my own mind, which is the only real threat to my security, it urges me to seek my God in times of trouble, and above all, it forces me to square up, with my feet firmly rooted, after every single stumble that this world can try to set before me.

I make Holidays from Solemn days, so rather than break down in trying times, just raise your glasses with me, and let us toast to life and the things that make us ALL truly exceptional...


Here's a great example of someone who beat almost insurmountable odds by sheer brute force will, literally:


Click here for a quick read on this amazing little dude, who just so happens to rule the entire boxing world.

To Be (real) or Not To BE (real)? vol. 1

If you're like me, you know that subliminals, innuendos, backhanded compliments, and all manner of femme fatale tactics, never truly score points for you in warfare, nor do they boost your alleged "cool". More often than not, propaganda ultimately ends up exposing fraudulence, if anything.

The concept of "War as Art" intrigues me, and I have a special interest in Hip-Hop culture, so naturally, when a genuinely interesting Rap Battle ignites, my radar engages, and I tend to follow it, at least as much as my work and life will allow, which is none too often currently. Work and life usually serve as filters for me, but being that music is work, I sometimes get the chance to indulge and pass some of this type of tomfoolery off as "work related research". Okay, I'm lying, but you get my drift. lol.

Now I'm not going to rehash the "Fiddy vs Rawse" beef here. Trust me, there are more than enough places where you can get yourselves up to speed on that, but instead, I prefer to shed some light on one or two of the intricacies therein, or the "game within a game", if you will. Now don't worry, I'm also very much aware of our new millenium plague: "S.A.S.S." (short attention span syndrome), so relax, I'll try my best to retain your interest, and I'll be breaking this post into 2 parts for those that suffer from the condition.

Recently, Rawse has been on the campaign trail, right here, in my beloved city of NY, and in addition to a few regional performances, and promoting his now allegedly pushed back album, "Deeper Than Rap", He's also taken some time out to do a an interview with Flex, and has even had one mysteriously cancelled by Angie, while at the same time evangelizing himself as a REAL man of the people. He boasts that he was in "The Heights" with the "REAL" New Yorkers, and he's even gone topless in photos of himself with some NYC "PJ's" serving as a backdrop.

Here is what I truly find intriguing in all of this: If the man is even HALF as real as he claims, then why all of the posturing, and the live threats over the air? Why did he blast Fiddy for allegedly snitching on himself in one breath, and then threaten him on syndicated radio in the other? Why did he comically paint himself as a charitable giver, and champion of the Black community, when his entire sales pitch from day one has been that he was/is the biggest drug dealer in Miami? Call me crazy, but glamorizing his epic tales of "flooding Dade County with Yay", doesn't seem to coincide with what he's pitchin' right now. Truth be told, not very much of what he says is coinciding with anything authentic nowadays.

"I know Noreaga, the REAL Noreaga"

Am I picking on Rawse? Hardly, but let me get to the nitty gritty. The reason why this is all so interesting to me is that 50 is systematically exposing what appears to be a fraud IN PUBLIC! The smoking gun doesn't do anything but state the facts, no matter HOW damning they may be. But no, not Curtis. Curtis is taking great pains to 1080P zoom all the way in on a dude who simply isn't giving a good account of himself in the REALITY department. Rick Ross is not the first person to attempt to pull the wool over our collective eyes. The industry is littered with the corpses of imposters, but NOBODY has ever been taken to task like this. Ever. F the rules of engagement, I say. When you get a opportunity to obliterate a rap stereotype, and bring a bit of authenticity back to the game, that's something that I can cosign.

Now, as much as so many of us love to hate the man, imagine for a moment, the irony of 50 being a catalyst for more scrutiny within the Hip-Hop community! Hilarious indeed. Who knows? By the time the dust settles, and we can thoroughly analyze this event, we might just be forced to acknowledge that Fiddy Cent's contribution, via this battle, might end up inadvertently playing a bigger part in the revival of Rap Music than we'd like to admit. All of this, mind you, without even putting out another mediocre album! Ha Ha!

Imagine that...


To Be Continued

Things I Dig vol. 2

WTF FILES Vol. 3

Okay so if you follow boxing, and you know the guy (Max Kellerman) who is supposed to replace the LEGENDARY Larry Merchant as HBO's lead commentator, then make your funeral arrangements NOW!!! I'm dead now, thanks to ERIKBNYC

New B.I.G. Tribute Mixtape!!!

Monday March 9th, 2009 will be the 12-year anniversary of Biggie's death and in memory of his passing, Spain's production trio Cookin' Soul and Atlanta's DJ Drama will be dropping a new Biggie tribute for the masses. Even though this is like the trillionth Biggie tribute CD to date, it always excites me to hear some classic B.I.G. verses over some fresh new beats. The word is that they took the original samples used to create songs from Ready to Die & Life After Death and then flipped them to create totally new tracks.

Based on the sounds of the snippets, this is definitely going to be something that is worth a listen. Besides these Cookin' Soul dudes have a solid track record of puting out some dope ass mixtapes like the OJAYZSIS (Jay-z vs. Oasis) mashup and the Issac Hayes tribute Cookin Hot Buttered Soul. I just hope its as good as that DJ Vlad & DJ Dirty Harry Rap Phenomenon CD from a few years back; that shit still knocks to this day!!!

Check out the Mixtape Trailer below:

What will be the Aftermath???

Recently Eminem's new single "Crack a Bottle" featuring 50 Cent and Dr. Dre broke a digital sales record for the highest total of opening week downloads ever with 418,000 sold. As most of you already know by now, rap's three headed monster of Em, Fifty, and Dre are preparing to re-enter the hip-hop arena with the release of three separate solo projects that will be dropped over the course of the next few months.

This obvious marketing ploy will mark the first time that the rap titans will unveil newly recorded material within the same calendar year. While on the surface this may appear to be a recession proof strategy that is certain to generate interest and boost music sales; one has to wonder whether there remains a strong enough interest in this once mighty rap collective given the ever-changing hip-hop landscape.

If the recent sale numbers serve as any indication then at the very least we can presume that fans will have more than a tepid interest in their music. But only time will tell if they can sustain this momentum, and translate the success of the single into actual album sales. I personally wouldn't bet against them, but with the industry as it stands today anything is possible.

Here are some questions to ponder:

• Will the new generation accept a gangsta rapper in his mid 40's?
• Does Eminem still have the passion to rap?
• Is it too late for Fifty to give the fans what they want?
• After 10 years of waiting on Detox will it meet expectations?
• Who has more buzz Asher Roth or Eminem?
  
• Is the requisite thug rapper obsolete?
  
• Does the fate of major label hip-hop rest on their shoulders?
  

P.S. Can you imagine Em returning to his gay bashing Slim Shadyesque ways in today's tight pants loving/quasi-homosexual era of rap??? I can just picture Kanye throwing temper tantrums left and right.

Crack A Bottle - Eminem, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent

What ya'll know about these???

If u see me ANYWHERE of note as of this March, rockin' ANYTHING less illy than these here joints, then by all means, consider me a slacker...Yea I said it...