Color me dope

On the week of turkey day, I had a series of unfortunately fortunate events. First, I dropped like $110 diggin with my buddy Options (who moved to Japan a little over a year ago, but visits us simpletons every now and then). Even though I didn't really think it was bad at the time, it really was. I got some dope shit, but I also got some shit. The worst part about it was that I didn't get paid at a gig in full that Saturday, then I had bills due the next week, then one of my roommates didn't pay their portion on-time--in order to keep my credit intact I had to pay the difference (keeping in mind that I'm like a second away from broke at this point--I didn't really wanna dip into the savings).

Needless to say, I wanted to pull my hair out--but, sadly, I have no hair to pull.

Hehehe...crazy right? Not really, some people got it worse than I do. Ehh...I survived.

Anyway, the FCS project is coming along really nicely. We've recorded 11 songs or so in the three weeks we've been in the studio. I won't go as far to say that we're ahead of schedule. What I will say is that we're going at a damn good pace.

thats all for now...i posted this late as hell so you're just gonna have to like it.

one

Didn't I blow your mind this time...

YESS!!!! We finally started the real work for this next project. Wa'Jee has dubbed it "Food, Clothes and Shelter"...FCS for short. I like it. His reasoning behind it was that the title was something everybody can relate to, hence making it something everyone needs. I guess each and everyone of us has our own genius in some form or fashion...

This album is going to be very, well, personal for Jee and the rest of us. Ken and I were talking about how FCS is going to be different from Younger Frame because of it's content. Younger Frame was an album for Jee to say "hey, I can write thought provoking shit, and I'm clever with it." It was an album to garner interest and intrigue those that were willing to listen. FCS is here to get everyone into his mind and his soul...to see who this brother really is. We're all excited about it and we can't wait to get it done.

On my side, I'm on a whole different plateau musically, mentally, emotionally--even physically. I'm going to have so much fun making this album it's hard for me to convey that feeling and passion to others. When December hits I'm going to have all the time in the world (at least until early/mid-January) to attack this project fully. I might even fuck around and get my own shit done (which I've been putting off for the longest time). Not to put my foot in my mouth and say something too outlandish, but I feel really good about the future. I'm leaving some things behind that have been really irritating me (changing schools is one of those things)--I'm starting to take action on what I've been thinking about for way too long.

In other news, I have a gift for you all. I'm aiming to make it a monthly gift, actually. I've started a podcast that I call "Astro Funk". It's a collection of random mixes of whatever I'm feeling at the time. I was going to call it "iPod de Issues" but that sounded a bit lame...
The link to the feed is http://issues.podbean.com/feed
For some reason iTunes hasn't listed it in their podcast section yet. I sent in the URL weeks ago, and I really don't know what else to do. So, in the meantime, just use that link to the feed and download it that way.

Here are some instructions to download it though iTunes without using the store (copied directly from iTunes, so please excuse the bubbly language):

A podcast I want to subscribe to isn't available in the iTunes Store.

It's easy to subscribe to any podcast using iTunes, even ones that aren't available in the iTunes Store. To subscribe, find and copy the podcast's feed URL. In the "Advanced" menu, select "Subscribe to Podcast" and paste the feed URL into the dialog box.

Welp, there you go.

I know you've been wondering "What the hell is that video at the top?" Well, I'm glad you asked buddy! It's a video of Eddie Hazel, the guitarist from the early days of Funkadelic, playing one of the most famous guitar solos from the title track of the Funkadelic LP "Maggot Brain". I was on youtube wasting precious time and thought I'd share it, seeing as how it's one of my favorite songs of all time. It really has nothing to do with this post, but it's good and I strongly suggest you sit and listen--standing is okay, too.

On that random note, I bid you farewell until next time. It's almost 3am and I got stuff to do early tomorrow...

piece

So what had happened was...

Hi. How long has it been? Way too long. I've been mr. busy busy working on various projects and such--most notably "Younger Frame, Older Mind" with Wa'Jee (you see that album cover above, don't you?). It feels really good to have my first project out on the streets...even if it isn't a major-label-everybody-holding-a-damn-press-conference-about-it release. I'm happy. I had the opportunity to work with one of the most amazing emcees around--and he continuously gets better. We have the next project in the works, not too sure what we're going to title it though.

With the "Younger Frame, Older Mind" project, we were learning how to do everything the most efficient way. I had just met Wa'Jee through S.O.G. Entertainment, an organization of which I am now a part of, and I was really taking my time learning the way everybody worked in the studio. I look at this project like losing my virginity--I really didn't know what the hell I was doing until the end. Now that I've been fuckin' for a minute (continuing with the metaphor), I'm getting close to Mr. Marcus status. This next project is going to change the way people look at hip-hop--most importantly one of those people will be me. So much has happened since we wrapped up YFOM--particularly outside of the music. I mean, so much, well, SHIT has happened that I feel like there's no where to go but up.

I've been on the edge of depression and giving up, but thank whatever god or God that you pray to that I have music on my side. I'm not really a religious fellow, but I believe that everything happens for a reason. I don't know where I would be without music. I honestly think that I'm being tested to see if I can withstand the pressure--and I'm doing pretty well. The way I see it: if I wake up in the morning; if i can walk, talk, see, breathe, etc., then I don't really have much to complain about. SUCK IT UP!

In other news, I've paid much more attention to my bass. For a while I couldn't find time to practice, now I make time to practice everyday. I've gotten so much better over this past summer than I have in the year plus I had it. In addition, I'm takin' a jazz class that forces me to practice all the time. That's pretty much the only thing school is good for right now...

Enough about me...My guy Options is visiting from Japan a couple of weeks from now. Our little triad--Options, Dave and me--and a new addition my buddy Sam, are going to go on a long overdue diggin' extravaganza. Since the diggin in Japan is like super-expensive, we gonna hit like every thrift store and bargain bin in the chi. I can't wait, cuz I've been diggin' alot on my own, but it just ain't the same without my friends around. It's really something when I'm around people that I can really talk music with--I just hope someday we'll all make it in our respective fields. The crazy thing about musicians is that we all tend to have vastly different backgrounds, yet we always connect through the music.

I'm going to start podcasting my mixes for you all--as soon as I figure out how to do it for free. I know there's somebody out there that'll host a podcast for free--Ima get around to googling it pretty soon...

In the meantime, enjoy "Younger Frame, Older Mind".

Download it here

Until next time...Peace and blessings

- Issues

Nina Simone:

Long time no see...you'll get a full update within this week. just watch this in the meantime...