Mad Decent Blog

Beginnings...

2011-05-31T14:05:00.000-04:00

Sometimes my heart cracks
and my mind pauses to look around and see what's going on.
I feel confusion and wonder "where is my father?"
I don't return his calls and I don't call him.
I could but the man I would speak to isn't him.
It is in these moments that I realize just how much damage this has done...
how much pain I carry in silence...
and how much I've lost.

Unless you have been through it you can not imagine what it feels like
To suddenly and unexpectedly, like a child lost in a mall, wonder where your father is
only to remember that you never knew where he was and that you never will.

The man lives in Brooklyn with his wife and my brother and his two grandchildren surrounded by family that cares for him. But I don't know where my father is.

There is no consolation for this reality. That much is true.

secretsanshit

2011-01-29T00:00:00.001-05:00

I have never heard a secret big enough to keep but small enough to be nothing. In my experience secrets walk arm and arm with lies that mask another secret. At the core of these secrets is a truth about a person or thing that is being hidden. A truth that one does not want to believe or does not want anyone to know.

Secrets rise up the chain of size and power in the world. We as members of groups, societies, religions etc like to point fingers at those who rule us because we know of their secrets or because we believe they have them. These entities are merely reflections of our current status...projections of ourselves into the world. They commit no more evil than we ourselves do. The difference is size. While we may do harm to one person or deceive one person at a time, they do the same to hundreds...thousands and so on. So before you look into the secrets of those above you look at your own doings.

don't get left behind...

2011-01-21T00:00:00.001-05:00

I read somewhere that the way people date is changing because of the economy, shifting gender roles and social norms among other things. More people are going dutch, engaging in premarital sex and cohabiting without the legal and religious union we call marriage. Along with these changes come the need for people to update their way of thinking, expectations, and their analzation of the current social climate.

The various social movements of the 20th century created the possibility for an aesthetically equal playing field. Even though society is not truly as equal as it seems, certain expectations have changed.
This relates to all groups of people. It is important to look at where the world is trying to go rather than where it has been because the future comes fast and within the cycle today will come again.

The only way to succeed in our ever accelerating society is to live as if today is today...even better, treat today like tomorrow. If you live in yesterday you will get left behind.

Learning to master your emotions

2011-01-15T16:38:00.001-05:00

This is an excerpt from a conversation I had recently that I felt I should share with everyone b/c she spoke on this topic I frequently speak to others about so well. What she says is a quote from Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom pg.103-104

Calliope: I'm learning detachment

me: detachment?

Calliope: "To be able to realize the emotion so fully that you can detach from it and realize its true existence , it is not a part of you

Learn to detach...Don't cling to things, because everything is impermanent... But detachment doesn't mean you don't let the experience penetrate you. On the contrary, you let it penetrate fully. That's how you are able to leave it... Take any emotion--love for a woman, or grief for a loved one, or what I'm going through, fear and pain from a deadly illness. If you hold back on the emotions--if you don't allow yourself to go all the way through them--you can never get to being detached, you're too busy being afraid. You're afraid of the pain, you're afraid of the grief. You're afraid of the vulnerability that love entails. But by throwing yourself into these emotions, by allowing yourself to dive in, all the way, over your head even, you experience them fully and completely. You know what pain is. You know what love is. You know what grief is. And only then can you say, 'All right. I have experienced that emotion. I recognize that emotion. Now I need to detach from that emotion for a moment."

Ultimately I think it all goes back to putting things off out of fear. The longer you fear it and avoid it the more time you actually spend dwelling in it. It's as simple as that.

HallaH

Mean it like you say it

2010-12-16T15:16:00.000-05:00

I'm sittin thinkin on how to live life.
my family don't approve of what I'm doin with my mind...
doin with my time...
they don't see the vision I see written in the sky
think I should be resting when the sun sets, settlin for 9 to 5 grinds
I found wings hidden in my rhymes
so I put my back into learnin how to fly
instead of breakin it tryin to survive.
sellin your brains for short change an wonder why
them people don't respect you, the one's you're givin neck to
they know that you're a jewel represented by a fool
so they say they will connect you
to pipelines. sippin from they wealth like a life line draggin you to hell
so I write lines. wealth I'm investing in myself
I'll play stealth til I emerge from the shelf
puttin all my energy to cards that I'm dealt
sleepin on us might just be bad for your health

NDANGR

Now -N- Lata Vicstape coming January 2011
for your free copy join our mailing list HERE
www.reverbnation.com/ndangrspecies

reality...

2010-12-05T00:00:00.001-05:00

This is something I found interesting...

*source: http://www.soul-evolution.com/UK/Deeper/Charts.htm

For the Artists

2010-11-30T00:00:00.001-05:00

Do not base your success on how well you breach the ignorance of the masses. That is not success and even if you accomplish this goal to satisfaction, it will not fill you.

You will never find success unless you know what success is.

~hallah

Pridesgiving, Thankstaking

2010-11-23T00:00:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago I was just sitting around in the AM and a thought about Thanksgiving popped into my head. The "story of Thanksgiving" is the perfect example of the difference between the evils of the new world and the virtues of the old world, the social disease that infected the European colonizers and the naivety of the native peoples.

The story of Thanksgiving roughly breaks down like this: [The settlers came to the Americas but did not know how to subsist on the land. They began to starve and things got worse as fall deepened and winter approached. The natives, seeing this, had much compassion for the alien visitors and taught them how to plant and harvest on the land. A feast was had in celebration of human victory over hardship and the food was shared by all.]

So on this particular morning that idea crossed my mind in a different way that went like this: [The settlers had little and the natives had enough. The natives being thankful for this but lacking a prideful society shared because without pride being thankful for what you have prompts you to share because you would want everyone to have enough. The settlers were thankful for this but being from a prideful and greedy society took more than what was necessary until the natives no longer had. For their generosity, the natives were destroyed.]

I next thought to myself how this happened nearly everywhere in the world. Where the colonizers were welcomed and shown generosity they took and destroyed. But this translates into our society today, born out of this settlers disease. Every day we are all proud of what we have, especially when faced with those who do not have, and what do we do? We continue to take more, hoard more, "stack" more, focus more on ourselves and our own because we are all infected with this now ingrained ideology no matter what background we come from.

What to do...? It is truly complex to do surgery on yourself and detach something that seems to be connected to every organ inside of you. However, that is what we must do first as individuals and then as a society.

~hallah

limited sight, extensive reality

2010-11-15T00:00:00.002-05:00

You have 2 eyes and see 3 dimensions. If you had 3 eyes you might see a 4th dimension.

Things are always more complex than you can envision and it would be foolish to think that they are only as complex as you understand them. It is always a choice to simplify things and this is not necessarily faulty although it does have a way of limiting your overall understanding.

A simple view is what is necessary for understanding a general or basic idea because it is possible to understand the great by understanding the minuscule. However, even the most simple of things in existence have a complex myriad of layers that when understood tell a much deeper and complete story than what they speak to on their surface.

adjust your sights...

Until Your Dream Ends

2010-10-10T15:16:00.001-04:00

Is today special? Yesterday was a dream and tomorrow is a wish. Your life exists as a point on the tip of a needle. Today is forever until your dream ends.

10/10/10

Lights in the deep and the dark.

2010-10-07T05:18:00.000-04:00

The sun shines
creating its own light.
The moon reflects
the light of the sun
in the darkest of times
so the sun may remember that he is bright.

But on the day
when the sun cannot shine
the light of the moon will lay claim to the source.
When the sun
believes in the light of the moon,
the days will grow darker
and the nights much colder.

~the greatest form of ignorance is ignorance of the self.~

:n

2010-07-13T00:00:00.000-04:00

Till shade is gone,

till water is gone,

into the Shadow with teeth bared,

screaming defiance with the last breath,

to spit in Sightblinder's eye on the Last Day.

-Aiel saying

On the Threshold of Eternity

2010-07-05T00:03:00.000-04:00

On the Threshold of Eternity

(final moments) "A dusty road dissects endless fields of wheat flanked by distant trees. A black bird, startled by the rattling sound of an old paint box, darts into the sky and disappears out of sight. Tall grass and wild flowers sway in the warm breeze that penetrates the bright sunlight of a summer day in the French countryside. The sky is punctuated with wispy clouds that resemble floating brush strokes on a pale blue canvas. At his favorite painting site, Vincent van Gogh quietly sits before a partially finished canvas, dipping and stirring his brush into a rich palette of oils. Today appears not unlike any other day; the morning walk to the fields, painting the landscape before lunch and later capturing the warm afternoon light. However, on this day, Vincent Van Gogh would paint for the last time.

"What lives in art and is eternally living, is first of all the painter, and then the painting."- Van Gogh

It is apparently quite common for writers, musicians, artists, scientists, performers, poets, and other creative talents to suffer from some sort of bipolar disorder and it has even been attributed to their creativity. The natural desire for success and the accompanying plethora of ideas during the state of mania and hypomania have been linked directly to being creative. Some people who suffer from bipolar disorder have mixed states, where they feel depressed and 'blue' but unlike clinical depression one in a mixed state may still feel 'always high'. It is one of the signature characteristics of bipolar disorder. They may have creative energy, racing thoughts, but experience a constant negative feeling as well.

The Worker...

2010-06-29T11:23:00.000-04:00

The things the worker buys with his wages are first of all consumer goods which enable him to survive, to reproduce his labor-power so as to be able to continue selling it; and they are spectacles, objects for passive admiration. He consumes and admires the products of human activity passively.

He does not exist in the world as an active agent who transforms it, but as a helpless, impotent spectator; he may call this state of powerless admiration "happiness," and since labor is painful, he may desire to be "happy," namely inactive, all his life (a condition similar to being born dead).

The commodities, the spectacles, consume him; he uses up living energy in passive admiration; he is consumed by things.

In this sense, the more he has, the less he is.

- Fredy Perlman, The Reproduction of Daily Life

sparked

2010-06-21T03:51:00.000-04:00

Sometimes, some things spark thoughts in your mind. With this spark you may be inspired to think, write, speak, etc. However you express this spark it is not directly correlated to the catalyst that sparked it. Usually it becomes a more general expression of ideas. I pay close attention to my surroundings when I feel the resounding vibration of a spark in order to find something special that can relate. In many cases I hear the words of a song ring louder than other times I've listened. As artists are philosophers in a sense, the piece can some times parallel my thought in poetic ways. So read carefully and retrieve a message.

~Radiohead
::There There
~Hail To The Thief

in pitch dark i go walking in your landscape.
broken branches trip me as i speak.
just 'cause you feel it doesn't mean its there.
just 'cause you feel it doesn't mean its there.

There's always a siren
Singing you to shipwreck
(Don't reach out, don't reach out
Don't reach out, don't reach out)
Steer away from these rocks
(Don't reach out, don't reach out
Don't reach out, don't reach out)
just 'cause you feel it doesn't mean its there.
(there's someone on your shoulder)
(there's someone on your shoulder)
just 'cause you feel it doesn't mean its there.
(there's someone on your shoulder)
(there's someone on your shoulder)
There there!

why so green and lonely?
and lonely
and lonely
heaven sent you to me

to me
to me

we are accidents
waiting waiting to happen.

we are accidents
waiting waiting to happen

Updates

2010-06-01T23:55:00.002-04:00

Most people probably come to this site to read the words from the mind of Maf Maddix and not because they are necessarily fans of my music. In fact, if you do come to the site on the strength of my music you were probably disappointed or at least a bit surprised to find it not really about my music or hip hop period. It's all good right? Every so often I do come to yall with some music related Maf Maddix shit. You can call it news or whatever...I just call it an update.

In the new year I teamed up with my long time homie, Luse Kanz, and we have been doin shows heavily on the East Coast. Mostly focused in our home state of NC but we also have been and will be hitting other areas like NYC and ATL. We started like a fist hittin the streets hard and we are opening and expanding ourselves to grasp much more around us now. It's been a long time coming.and I have met many "important" people along the way that will hopefully be able to play a role in the rise of N'DangR Species, Luse Kanz and Maf Maddix.

On the flipside, I have been working hard with my electronic music production and I am looking to expand and achieve certain goals with that as well. I tend to play that closer to the chest so for now that is all I have to say.

I have recently participated in a few mixtapes including a Japanese release that I will have more information about soon as well as Eddie Free's Mad City 2010 project that you can catch on Itunes. I suggest you check for that not just because it is dope and I'm on it, but also because it is for www.KeepAChildAlive.org. Alicia Keys is the official ambassador for this organization which provides medications for children in Africa and India living with HIV/AIDS. check it out at www.madcity2010.com

I am working on a solo mixtape and shopping my current project for label/distribution so that will drop whenever everything is finalized. Stay tuned. You can preview a couple tracks here.

-HALLAH

Incorruptible Synchronization

2010-05-29T00:00:00.000-04:00

The deceit begins as most things do, with a thought. However it becomes more complicated from here. It begins with the rejection of a known truth or the acceptance of it and the subsequent urge to make that undying truth untrue. This cannot be done. The truth cannot be destroyed or unmade. This is where deceit is born. This denial is then projected into the outer world in hopes of creating an unalike facsimile to the fact known internally. At this juncture it becomes a group effort. People who come into contact with deceit are equally at fault for its perpetual growth and habitation. If you tell me something untrue...it IS evident that it is untrue. I must, however, agree to the deceit and to ignore the facts. This is how "you lie to me". One merely presents another with an argument that "this thing" is more favorable to believe than "that thing (truth)". Both agree and continue on unless the truth is presented in an undeniable way. If so, the 2nd party claims to have been "lied to". I am not saying that you cannot lie to a person or fool someone...I'm just breaking it down to the basics. It is an agreement in which an informed party convinces an uninformed party of an unwise action.

The mind releases information to the body at such a rapid rate that it is many times hard to catch all of it before you begin to react to it. This means that what is on a person's mind will show in their actions, demeanor, and all sorts of other countless and almost uncontrollable ways. If one were observant enough, one could read these unspoken and unnoticed tell tales like a journal, for they expose all thought and emotion. This brings me to the point...you can only deceive yourself. It is up to everyone else to play your game or not. If you are telling fanciful tales and people are reading something else...they won't believe you- Even If You Believe Yourself. *Remember the lie began with you so you are always the first to believe it.

So that is the problem...

What we seek to achieve is incorruptible synchronization with the mind and the flesh. When your body gives away nothing that your mouth has not spoken or was not intended you have mastered yourself. Until then, never forget that your physical self is your secrets first enemy. If you deny the truths that your face confesses, you are playing with attempts to deceive. It is better to save face and admit.

This came to me today and is very relevant to my life right now and to yours. It is always relevant and it means something that YOU have read this TODAY.

~Take it with you on your path to a better self~

Epopteia

2010-05-26T00:21:00.000-04:00

This Vision, as we are told by many seers and prophets of the time, was incapable of being set forth by "tongue of flesh" in its own proper terms, since it transcended the consciousness of normal humanity. Being in itself a living potent, intelligible reality, apart from all forms either material or intellectual in any way known to man, it pervaded his very being and made his whole nature respond to a new key of truth, or rather, vibrate in a higher octave so to say, where all things while remaining the same, received a new interpretation and intensity.

The interpretation of this Vision, however, was conditioned by the "matter" of each seer; he it: was who had to clothe the naked beauty of the Truth -- as the Gnostic Marcus would have phrased it -- with the fairest: garment he himself possessed: the highest thoughts, the best science, the fairest traditions, the most grandiose imagination known to him. Thus it is that we have so many modes of expression among the mystics, so many varieties of spiritual experience -- not because the experience itself was "other;" the experience was the "same" for all -- but the describing of it was conditioned by the religious, philosophical, and scientific background of the seer.

This element, then, is the basic fact in all such apocalyptic vision.

Commentary on The Divine Pymander by GRS Mead http://altreligion.about.com/library/texts/bl_meadpymander.htm

You who follow the path of another lay your fate in the interpretation of another. Your personal journey is then mapped out by someone who never was and never will be YOU. What does this mean for these beliefs that you did not develop yourself?

On Rhythm

2010-05-23T00:12:00.000-04:00

"Everything flows out and in; everything has its tides; all things rise and fall; the pendulum-swing manifests in everything; the measure of the swing to the right, is the measure of the swing to the left; rhythm compensates" -- The Kybalion.

"There is always an action and reaction; an advance and a retreat; a rising and sinking; manifested in all of the airs and phenomena of the Universe. Suns, worlds, men, animals, plants, minerals, forces, energy, mind and matter, yes, even Spirit, manifests this Principle. The Principle manifests in the creation and destruction of worlds; in the rise and fall of nations in the life history of all things; and finally in the mental states of Man."

Speak softly...

2010-05-20T00:00:00.000-04:00

When the shadows show and the cold wind blows...

Whatever...

2010-05-14T00:25:00.000-04:00

WHATEVER: In its slang form, it can be defined as an expression of tacit agreement, indifference, begrudging compliance or even a dismissal.
Isn't that what's wrong with society as a whole? Tacit(implied) agreement? Indifference? Begrudging compliance? Even hasty dismissal?

How often do you hear people say that to you? If you hear it as often as I do then you feel what I feel. Maybe you don't though. 90% of the time someone says that to me its after I say something to them that is important enough for them to listen. I detect a wall of pride go up and then I hear this worn out word spoken. Usually afterward there is a change in the utterers demeanor and language. So the signs are there. We can establish that this is the usual case, in my experience. What about yours? I am sure that many people see what I see, as it isn't too difficult to deduce.

I see this phrase as being a reflection of the ills in our society at present. I am sure that people from past generations would have said that it was a problem during their time as well. I find it disturbing that so many carry that trait from childhood far into adulthood. The man who can not listen cannot learn from hearing. The man who can't read will not learn from written words. The man who can not open himself to learning, can't learn at all.

At this point you will probably think of the most annoying group of people that you don't belong to and agree with me. Look no further than yourself. You have been raised in this same society and you, as well as I, suffer from the same ailment in some capacity.

~Hallah

Time + Information + Experience

2010-05-11T00:12:00.002-04:00

It feels like everything...
but it is nothing.

The intrusion of illusions overpowering realization to the point that what we assume reality is often the fabricated fantasy of hopes for safety.

Pain is ever present and waiting, always conjoined with pleasure

Sum Shit of Life

2010-05-06T00:00:00.000-04:00

There are points in it.

These that apply pressure

to numb the heart and stimulate the mind

constantly redefining your freedom

but there are never answers here

no answers...

no solutions on this soluble surface

of solitude and floating minds

tethered down together where emotions combine.

Would it be cowardice or courage to want out?

I find myself looking for an escape from my mindstate, my physical

then awake to a situation that seems much more critical.

-HallaH

3 things.

2010-05-04T00:01:00.000-04:00

~Footprints in sand leave more impression than wise words in a fools ear.

~Nature makes room for change, destruction and birth while keeping the same essence. It would be wise of us to do the same...to seek the essence of things rather than the surface similarities.

~Things that were will not always be and things that are have already begun. Look to the horizon and meet the new sun.

Look around you

2010-04-30T15:30:00.000-04:00

"When you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his 'proper place' and will stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary." -Carter R. Woodson

What does this mean for the freedom of choice you think you have? Look around... If everyone is supposedly different but most are doing the same things, doesn't that tend to suggest some sort of standardization of action and thought?

Find You and then Be You. Do something different. Do You.

...with all of the wealth our society has attained we will be undone by our ignorances. trading in the pain for the mundane is a shame- the war is coming...the war is here

Heron marked jewels.

2010-04-23T11:21:00.000-04:00

At the end of 360 degrees, Winter is a metaphor: a term not only used to describe the season of ice, but the period of our lives through which we are travelling. In our hearts we feel that spring is just around the corner: a spring of brotherhood and united spirits among people of color. Everyone is moving, searching. There is a restlessness within our souls that keeps us questioning, discovering and struggling against a system that will not allow us time and space for fresh expression. Western iceman have attempted to distort time. Extra months on the calendar and daylight saved what was eastern standard. We approach winter the most depressing period in the history of this industrial empire, with threats of oil shortages and energy crises. But we, as Black People, have been a source of endless energy, endless beauty and endless determination. I have many things to tell you about tommorrow's love and light. We will see you in the spring. In the interest of national security, please help us carry out our constitutional duty to overthrow the king.

~Gil Scott-Heron

Innertainment

2010-04-18T00:00:00.001-04:00

"To the untrained ear,some music may sound like the babble of noise.To an uneducated eye,a masterpiece of art may look like whimsical strokes of the painter's brush." -Paramahansa Yogananda

Only a complex mind can enjoy, understand and appreciate ideas in whatever form they manifest. The simpleton is impressed with the simple things because they are simple. The higher level thinker may expose the complexities of something that others see as simple. Do not be fooled into thinking that anything means nothing. In reality everything has meaning, everything has both cause and effect. We must take responsibility and acknowledge this "simple" truth. At the same time, the complex thinker may feel bombarded with simple minds and their thinking. You must not let this disrupt your harmony. Even a complex mind may lack wisdom. The wise can appreciate what they see while understanding that others may not see the same. "The lips of wisdom are open only to the ears of understanding." Therefore, you can not force wisdom on another. Wisdom is every beings personal journey.

-The things that you enjoy reflect who you are in every way but maybe not in the way you think they do.-

Designated Hitters

2010-04-15T00:26:00.000-04:00

If you are in the area you best be in the building.

-Hallah

Ichi to Ni

2010-04-14T00:00:00.003-04:00

Seek to mine the potential and find it kinetic.

-I'm off to NYC to shoot this video. You can catch me performing live at Public Assembly in Brooklyn on Sat. April 17th. Email me with any questions or comments. maf.maddix@gmail.com (no spam or bullshit)

They come as they have gone before

2010-04-11T10:03:00.000-04:00

Sometimes things seem not meant for birth but through determination we push them out only to discover that they were meant to come through pain of perseverance.
Then there are times when something just cannot be. When even through the best effort and most profound inspiration it is halted by an unseen hand. It simply does not fit the weave of the pattern that is existence.

-just some thoughts as I reflect over things that are and things that are not.

-Hallah

Classic Material.

2010-04-08T00:00:00.000-04:00

Things as they are

2010-04-06T00:01:00.001-04:00

~Some thoughts going into another year...

Time is an identifier for the measurement between events. It does not exist as we believe it to exist.

I don't have much else of a point...other than this

We(all inclusive) fool ourselves into using time as a scapegoat for achievement. As if we are dependant on it to achieve anything. This is not the right step to take. It must be understood that time as a measurement will exist. This means that there will be a measurement of how long it took from beginning to finish. However, that is determined by you.

"Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional." this rings true when people of various ages express various levels of maturity. Maturity is something that can come with age but they are not the same.

You will not find it until you truly seek it. Time will measure how long it takes you to recognize this and how long to implement it. No more, no less.

*another day marking another year between my first year and my last year.*

More is less.

2010-04-02T00:01:00.000-04:00

"The things the worker buys with his wages are first of all consumer goods which enable him to survive, to reproduce his labor-power so as to be able to continue selling it; & they are spectacles, objects for passive admiration. He consumes & admires the products of human activity passively.

He does not exist in the world as an active agent who transforms it, but as a helpless, impotent spectator; he may call this state of powerless admiration "happiness," & since labor is painful, he may desire to be "happy," namely inactive, all his life (a condition similar to being born dead).

The commodities, the spectacles, consume him; he uses up living energy in passive admiration; he is consumed by things.

In this sense, the more he has, the less he is."

- Fredy Perlman, The Reproduction of Daily Life

Tektite

2010-03-28T00:00:00.000-04:00

"I knowledged you.
      There's no love there, it's all fake.
            Attached to something you can't take so you hate.
                 Eyes saw the signs as the time passed by like fate.
                       The dreams expired                    now I'm awake."

Consequence of the casual

2010-03-25T00:00:00.005-04:00

If you are to fail...let it be because what you did didn't work and never because you didn't work hard enough. Let it be from things outside of your control so that you may live with a clean conscience. In short, always try your hardest in what you do. Life is a short joke with a long punchline, so tell it well.

~ "Either write something worth reading about or do something worth writing about."~

With that being said...here is a small Maf Maddix news update:

- New album "Black Nationalist Porn" co-released with Dread Mighty Sine is in post production. We are working on marketing and finishing up a few loose ends. It should be available sooner than later and it should be a banger.

- April 6th is my born day. Wish Maf Maddix Happy birthday and show your love by copping the album if you don't already have a copy from www.mafmaddix.com

- April 16th - 18th I will be in NYC shooting the video for my upcoming single off of the BNP album.

-April 17th Maf Maddix + Luse Kanz = N'dangR Species will be performing at Public Assembly in Brooklyn, NYC (more details on this show to come)

-April 22nd Maf Maddix + Luse Kanz will be performing at The Milestone in Charlotte, NC with Quantum Foundry and Mr. Invisible. (link to download a free preview sampler)

The flow feels nostalgic but the lyrics are futuristic...I like the way you movin...let's rise.

~HallaH~

The Grocery Store

2010-03-22T02:08:00.000-04:00

It's like going to the grocery store on an empty stomach. Suddenly you want things that under normal circumstances you wouldn't want. You find things appetizing that you normally would not. Your are pushed to this point where animalistic survival seems to overwhelm your higher thoughts of selectiveness and judgement.

This is life and all things in it. We all have our list of things that make us happy. It starts from basic needs that all humans share and then grows when you factor in the needs of a particular personality. When you lack something in any certain aspect of your life you have a hole. You begin to try and fill it. Because most people do not analyze their own thoughts feelings and actions thoroughly, we end up trying to fill this hole of dissatisfaction with the wrong things. (ex. trying to fill the "security" or "love" space with sex). We have to try and remember what it is we are here for even though we are hungry and just want something to eat.

So...

before you go to the "store"...make sure you have a list of what you need and make sure you eat something first.

Words not to live by

2010-03-13T13:07:00.001-05:00

Main Entry: driven

(People are sheep...cattle...etc.)

Function: adjective

Date: 1925

1 : having a compulsive or urgent quality driven sense of obligation

2 : propelled or motivated by something —used in combination;driven by the group decision;

Synonyms: motivated, impelled, compulsive, obsessed, compelled, consumed, galvanized, possesed, monomaniacal, herded, pushed, guided, steered, directed, induced, urged on, forced, ambitious.

-I think many of us can agree that society praises some characteristics that are not necessarily positive. "Driven" is one of those characteristics. It is often praised in popular culture as something that YOU need. I am not convinced that this is so good. I mean, when you are dealing with only personal goal accomplishment, no question. But, even steroids has its uses...the side effects are the problem. I'm not all the way against it. Some might even describe me as "driven"...others, maybe not. I just wanted to call your attention to how things we take for granted can be slipped by the gates of thought.

*In case you did not figure it out, the 1st definition of "driven" is the one you want to be...not the 2nd.

Keep those eyes and ears wide open. True control is shrouded

Non Jive Progression

2010-03-09T12:40:00.000-05:00

When surrounded by distress, take steps an look around 'til you're surrounded by success.
Stay on the move but don't expect to move mountains, it's more possible for you to move around them.

~Maddix

Become a Linguist.

2010-02-09T12:00:00.000-05:00

Music is like language. Related genre are like dialects. If you only listen to 1 type of music...that's like speaking 1 language. If you only kinda listen to a genre it's like knowing a few phrases.

Step your language game up people.

This is how it's goin down

2010-02-02T01:01:00.001-05:00

Not only can you catch a dope show with several eclectic bands, DJs and ME an EMCEE holding it down for Hip Hop but you can also help out our Haitian neighbors. Get At Us an Get Yo Ol' Ass out the house on a weak night.

~Makin it stronger.

"X" Marks the spot.

2010-01-27T02:26:00.000-05:00

Some people in my life including old friends and family may wonder what I am thinking or why I choose to live my life in the way that I do...making the decisions I do and valuing the things that I do.

There is a clear and concise reason for me.

I am a very conscious observer of my own life and the way the universe affects it. Over the years I have seen proof that the Universe wants me to stand on a perverbial "X" on the ground. I do not know what I am waiting for or why I must stand here. What I do know is that throughout my life both certain achievements and certain misfortunes have been blocked from reaching me by powers beyond my control. In my life I have felt guided as if by some unseen hand to do certain things and to walk in a certain direction. I recognize, and have so for many years, that this place I find myself in has been a constant since childhood. I am here and I wait confidently for whatever is meant to come. I will not move from this place I am in and I will not allow social, religious, political, cultural, or any other form of pressure move me from where I am. I will continue to work hard on the tasks the universe sets before me as well as ignoring the ones that are not placed before me. I feel very confident in this...even if it is delusion, I have chosen mine.

Tektite Illah

What You Know aka have been told.

2010-01-20T00:00:00.001-05:00

Amazing video that sparked thought. Watch.

~Hallah

Just a thought...

2010-01-18T02:25:00.000-05:00

I was sitting here laughing my ass off to this Aziz Ansari comedy special and a thought came into my consciousness. It deals with God or whatever you call it. I wouldn't mind hearing your thoughts on this as well.

There is a widely accepted idea that one should/does/can love God. But it just occurred to me that one can never understand the nature of God. How then would it be possible to love God? I mean in my thought process, if you do not have a thorough understanding of something wouldn't you just love a figment of your imagination? Not saying that God is not real...but the "God" that exists in your mind is a figment. I mean nobody is walking around talking about how much they love Dark Matter.

It would seem that the greatest thing a person can know in life is themself and the greatest thing you can love is yourself. That is something I don't think most of us truly achieve.

-Hallah

check out www.mafmaddix.com

Unconscous Conspiracy

2010-01-16T00:00:00.000-05:00

I used to believe in one conspiracy or another. Illuminati, Government, "The Man", Religion, etc. Now I believe in something I call the "Unconscious Conspiracy". This is something that I think is far greater and much more realistic than any one conspiracy. I think that everyone is involved in the destruction of humanity. I believe that humans are inevitably destructive because destruction is an intregal part of life, without which there is no creation. I now think that everyone either thinks they know the answer and is somehow wrong, they don't know and don't care, or they seek destruction. I think that that pretty much covers everyone who has ever existed. I think some of us form secret societies and some of us rally in public for causes we deem worthy. Some of us eat meat and some veggies but we are all engrossed in destructive acts that also breed a certain progressiveness. Maybe what we are progressing towards is something that we would wish we were not but progress takes no sides.

-HallaH

Some things to look at in the mirror.

2010-01-11T00:00:00.000-05:00

Think back on the true friends you have. How many of them "offered" friendship and how many just evolved into it? I find that people generally do not expect their own future. By this I mean that those who offer friendship are usually seeking something else while the people who simply evolve into your friend did not see it coming.

I am very mindful when I meet a new person but even I do not often expect the buds that will one day become a great friendship. Some of the best friends I have began in an unlikely place. These friendships usually began with people who cared as little about making a new friend as I did. When I look back on the birth with a now old friend, we often remark on how random our friendship is...or the odd circumstances that initiated it.

The dirty dirty...

I believe that relationships are reactive...COMPLETELY REACTIVE.
-This means that a relationship whether friendship or otherwise is not something that can elude you. People are in no short supply...and being that we live in a world of general free will (when it comes to relationships) if you find it hard to make friends or find it hard to meet a good man/woman, that is mostly your own fault. People are as varied as the stars in the sky and just as similar. They are there and, like everything in the universe, they are attracted to what compels them. "Water seeks it's own level"

In short:
-don't trust people who try to sell you friendship.
-your friends are and will remain a reflection of you.

DJ Premier- one of the best to ever do it.

2010-01-09T10:48:00.002-05:00

This is the second time I have told yall about this Blogsite. True thoroughbred shit. I had to repost this because it is such an amazing collection of jewels from the legendary DJ Premier and the jewels that helped him build his amazing catalog. I highly suggest all readers check out SOMETHING so you can either re-experience or learn about this Hip Hop ICON.

Click the picture to travel to this blog.

Shout to Etalon for the hard historical work.

~Hallah @ Etalon, He has everything but my album.

Sideline Mentality

2010-01-06T00:00:00.000-05:00

Some women out there find themselves in a reoccuring predicament...They wonder to themselves and others why they meet so many guys that are "taken" or why the only guys that hit on them are guys who are already involved. Well, I was thinking about it and I wanted to spit my opinion about it.
*Disclaimer: I may offend someone and you may disagree but that's life.*

I honestly think that some women out there have a sideline mentality. Maybe it comes from a skewed sense of self in which they feel validated by something that actually only diminishes their sense of self. Kind of like a person who mistakes sex for love. They mistake the subtle lust of a taken man for the true want. They usually discover that 1 of 2 things happens: either they get ran through and that's the end of story or they somehow overthrow his primary interest and carry on an unfulfilled and, most of the time, short lived love affair. I am not suggesting that there are not exceptions to this...but yea, you know the deal. I am aware that many young women may disagree on my point that the love affair is unfulfillable but I would ask what the opinions are like when these women are 40 and on CBS complaining b/c they still aren't married and have no prospects. Well maybe, like many young men, the time and energy was spent in the wrong places...
I say this because I've recognized that there are 2 types of women and they conduct themselves in 2 entirely different manners and get 2 different results from guys. I wonder why that is? (sarcasm)

Oh well, carry on. Continue doing you...continue sabotaging good relationships because your idea of love and desire is somewhat faulty and/or immature.

-Hallah

Why Hip Hop is Losing

2010-01-01T00:00:00.008-05:00

As a Hip Hop artist I feel that I am entrenched within the culture and movement of the musical genre called Hip Hop. There are many reasons noted that our music is dying. Many blame the trash commercial artists who are doing what they do to make hip pop albums and get paid but I would like to turn the blame elsewhere.

The artist is never responsible for creating a movement just like the prophet is not responsible for the religion. In both cases both prophet and artist simply reveal something to the world. It is the followers...those that love what has been brought who stand behind this and mount a flag and say "THIS IS OURS".

With this being truth, how can you blame an artist or blame people who are NOT a part of the culture for destroying it? No, you can't. You must blame those who subscribe to it...they are the ones who falter in hard times or change belief or tastes after a while.

So what is going on in Hip Hop? Hip Hop bred a generation and what has happened to it? There are several types of Hip hop listeners:

-The late 30's early 40's Nostalgia listener: These listeners talk about how dope things were "back in the day" but what they are really lamenting is their childhood. These people do not live a similar lifestyle and in fact most often, outside of old school hip hop they listen to little or no new Hip Hop. These people dismiss it without even listening or supporting.

-The "In style" listener: These people tend to be anywhere from 26 on up. They used to listen to hip hop but their style and taste has simply changed. Hip Hop is not cool to listen to anymore so they listen to other genre's of music. They like to self identify with hip hop and claim a love however, upon closer inspection, they too keep it restricted to the nostalgic music of their younger years.

-New listeners: 26 and younger who are growing up with the current artists but have much love and respect for the old as well. These people are in the minority of their age groups and so while they fully support Hip Hop, they are not enough to keep it afloat.

-Fan listeners: This is an interesting group of people. In my experience, this group is made up of mostly suburban white kids who are not hip hop lovers. They are lovers of some other style of music, however they have 2 or 3 current artists that they are into. They, like everyone else, have respect for the old stuff they grew up on or were told was "classic material". This group is important to cash in on if you are an artist because they support whomever they like to the fullest.

-Creator/Listeners: This crowd is self explanatory. This group consists of people who love the music so much they cannot resist but participate, even if only a temporary hobby. With the advent of technology and the ease of sharing music, they come off as actual lifestyle artists but they are more so "weekend warriors". Their love for the culture is deep however their role also serves to dilute the game and confuse the general listener. The general listener is bombarded with this type via myspace etc and makes the determination that Hip Hop artists are all wak now. This is not the case...serious artists are on a different echelon and should be understood as such. There was a time when I was just toying around with the notion of writing and rapping. I had enough respect to keep it at hobby level. I did not do shows nor produce public material until I had made the conscious decision that this was to be my life. Given that piece of history I feel very justified (even if mistakingly) to say to these types "fall back with that hobby rap."

With a crowd like this it is not a wonder to me that the artform I love so much is diminishing and struggling to breath. I, like my peers in this game refuse to die...because we love it. For many of us it is how we communicate and express ourselves so, like speech, we cannot leave it alone.

G'head

2009-12-25T00:16:00.000-05:00

People live life as if they are jumping from one building to another. It takes them so long to actually move forward because they are afraid of the time in between having their feet on the ground.

People's tastes are this way as well...people tend to be afraid to pursue something they like because they are afraid of stepping out there and maybe doin somethin different.

Similitude feels so safe...

Get out there and pursue things you like once you have been put on to it. What are you waiting for?

I always let people hear music and it is funny to me how the ones who generally listen to commercial shit talk about how it's dumb and how they don't listen to anything but the beat. I let them hear some real shit and they love it BUT...they never go get it for themselves...I have to keep feeding it to them and this goes for every genre.

Why is that?

all the answers I can think of just sound like excuses. Get into that shit you thought was ill when you heard/saw it.

[with that being said]

www.mafmaddix.com

~Get it in.

Faker Than Fishicken

2009-12-09T00:00:00.001-05:00

-"No disrespect but...[insert disrespectful comment]"

-"I don't mean to be negative but...[insert negative comment]"

As many of you probably have, I often wonder why people make these type of contradictory statements. Statements like these seem to be engrained in the culture and they are there for the purpose of making allowances for lack of personal integrity. Let me explain how I think this works:

-A person has ideas of what is right and acceptable.

-A person has ideas of what they want to do/say.

-A person often finds that what they want to do/say is not congruent to what is right and acceptable to them.

Now there is a dilemma...b/c the desire to do the right thing is in minority to the desire to do what one wants EVEN THOUGH the guilt associated with not doing the right thing is far greater

The general solution to this is to, as I call it, "speak right and walk left."

-A person says "No disrespect" in order to let all within earshot know that no disrespect is the right and acceptable thing to do. In a way it is the setting of a character buffer for the wrong thing they are about to do.
-A person then adds "but" which is the transition between what they should do and what they will do.
-Here is where the disrespectful comment or action is taken...the road most traveled.
-A person feels absolved of having to actually do the right thing b/c they have let everyone know that they know what they should do. People don't notice if you really do the right thing...just that you know it. you can get by on that. ie: you learn math in school only to use a calculator/computer for all of your mathematical needs. *good enough

I'm not on some monk stuff where I wouldn't do something wrong and I definitely have no problems saying something disrespectful. I just feel like people should be straight up. If I'm gonna do you dirty I'm not gonna preface it with a fake ass statement. That shows weakness and lack of confidence in your actions. Tighten Up.

~HallaH

A feeling of discouragement when you slip up

2009-12-06T00:00:00.006-05:00

by Ibn Ata' Illah (1250-1309)

English version by
Victor Danner

Original Language
Arabic

A feeling of discouragement when you slip up
     is a sure sign that you put your faith in deeds.

Your desire to withdraw from everything
     when Allah has involved you in the world of means
          is a hidden appetite.

Your desire for involvement with the world of means
     when Allah has withdrawn you from it
          is a fall from high aspiration.

Aspiration which rushes on ahead
cannot break through the walls of destiny.

Give yourself a rest from managing!
     When Someone Else is doing it for you,
          don't you start doing it for yourself!

from Ibn 'Ata' Illah the Book of Wisdom/Kwaja Abdullah Ansari Intimate Conversations, Translated by Victor Danner / Translated by Wheeler M. Thackston

~Peace

Tektite Illah aka Maf Maddix

Wolf Cub

2009-12-03T00:00:00.000-05:00

I rarely post music from other artists on my page because well it is MY blog and it is hard enough sellin my own records without doin pub for someone else...but I do get tempted. In this case I can't resist.
I like tryin to put my readers on to soemthing they may not automatically associate with me or something they haven't heard of at all.

This cat Burial is one of my favorite artists of ANY genre out right now. I can listen to his music and get inspired to create myself. I love that. I love that he teamed up with Four Tet for this track. It is in heavy rotation at my house so I wanted to share it with you guys.

enjoy...

~HallaH

Nazca Lines...

2009-11-28T21:31:00.001-05:00

Looking for hidden messages in the sands of Peru
I stood between pivotal points on a line and looked up
When my focus reached the sky's zenith, I felt propelled through the stratosphere
to a place where there was no fear...
I saw myself in a thought within a dream
past present and future existing as one within the same bubble
I heard a voice speak to me from everywhere and nowhere
It said nothing
nothing that I could translate
but something that I could feel

This all happened in another reality
one some would call a dream
when I awoke I could feel something coming
something unseen
so I placed the experience in a box in my mind and put it away
none of this is real

I wrote to Digital and told him my thoughts about his beats and that we should do a project
he agreed because he and I were on the same wavelength speakin the same degrees
I began to recieve transmissions from Digital in the form of beats

Nazca Lines came to mind
so I began working...

It will be a meteor crashing into the surface of the planet...

here is a slight hint of what is coming...

Splatter Dagger Remix - D-Digital

...and for the uninitiated, the original.

Splatter Dagger - Maf Maddix

-Until next time...

Two things to check out today

2009-11-23T23:03:00.000-05:00

This photographer is very ill...

http://adachipimentel.blogspot.com/

This video is very ill...

justice stress (official video)

Uploaded by elnino. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

Enjoy both...HallaH

The Battle of Shadows and Hawks

2009-11-18T00:02:00.002-05:00

This is for the fellas:

You meet a girl...you are kinda diggin her and so you begin to talk to her...feel her out...see if she is diggin you etc etc etc.

This is where it gets tricky.

For every known guy trying to talk to this lady there are normally 2 unknowns. (here represented by 2x)

So if you = A and each guy you know of that is on the same path is represented by a consecutive letter then:

A + 0= 2x because you are one known

A + B= 4x

and so on...(with exceptions)

This is the battle of the shadows and hawks. The shadows are for the unknowns and the paranoia that is fuckin with your head and the hawks are the ones who are really swooping in for u. lol shit is funny to me but...

Sucks for you because I was never good at math so I tend to forget this formula most times and have an unrealistic or realistic(?) lack of urgency which generally works for me. You win some, you lose some...it's almost all the same but SOMETIMES...The equation comes crashing back and I feel like im in the battle again. Then I remember...that tomorrow is much like today for the next day and I just say...

-Fuck it

(i'm just talkin shit an there is probably little truth to it...right?)

Freedom is the rock AND the hard place

2009-11-16T00:01:00.000-05:00

Yo I was buildin with my uncle the other day an he said something that I thought was ill. He said basically said that there are 2 types of freedom in the world: Freedom To... and Freedom From...

Even though it was a real basic conversation about things we do and don't have in the U.S., my mind of course started building upon this idea of the difference between the freedoms. I strung together several thoughts (as follows)

What is the Freedom To?
      -basically the freedom To do things...in America we have this kind of freedom. We have all these freedoms To do things but thats part of what makes the U.S. bad. That is also what makes the U.S. great.

What is Freedom From?
   -the freedom from is something that some people in other countries enjoy...the freedom from all of the bullshit we have to deal with in the U.S. due to all those freedoms. It is what makes those countries great and also makes them bad.

Which, if either, is better?
   -you choose.

How does one choose?
   -you have always known your answer.

I concluded that every person aligns themselves and feels more comfortable with one of the 2 freedoms. They stand by them and it causes them to be happy in their society or unhappy.

Coincidentally this uncle just lost his freedom again... But with the drugs...was he ever really free?

Think about that...

Ok I can account for my time lost.

2009-11-13T00:02:00.002-05:00

I've gone through a lot in the period during my hiatus...before and after...

I said I would account for my time lapse so hear it is.

Before my lapse as I had mentioned...I lost my job and ended up having to move to Greenville as a result. Shit has been mad tough here but through this experience I have been able to focus on things and see life more clear. I went through a lot of personal hardships that only helped me to see the urgency in hunting my own personal victory again...renewing my spirit.

So in my hiatus I created a new website

(pic courtesy of Dread Mighty Sine at the Professional Amateur)

I have my album for sale up there...also some other artist website things so go to it...visit...support good hip hop. Do it for your kids lol.

I also obviously pressed up my album and got that out on the market.

(album design by Marcus Kiser)

I also jumped into gear on the social networking thing...trying to delve into that pond to make connections and such so get at me on:

I also got back on the horse and started performing again...it felt good to be on stage rocking the crowd again...Ive learned a lot over the years and I see where some things I have picked up can be put to use. I come back stronger!

(photo by Meesh)

But most importantly, I remembered what was important to me...what was holding me back...what was no good for me..every so often you need to renew your mind...body and relinquish the old bonds you have carried from point A to B. I got rid of rusty fuel tanks and strapped on new boosters...

-To my future...and to yours.

White girls...why?

2009-11-10T00:20:00.000-05:00

Sooooo...

I'm in wal-mart last week after picking up my homeboy from work... I'm wearing some regular blue jeans and a grey hanes t-shirt...nothin crazy, just a regular fucking shirt. My friend is wearing a red polo and khakis.

We are walking through the electronic section going towards the food section to pick up some Simply Lemonade. When we are approached by two red faced, uneasy looking white girls. They are wearing workout gear...hoodies an such. So the bird in front of me begins to speak and the convo goes like this:

White bird: Hey! uhm can I ask you something?

Me: (smiling) yea sure, what's up?

WB: Do you know where the tall tees are? (nervous giggle)

Me: (silence) (face slowly fading from a smile to a frown)

WB: (nervous giggles increase) (looks to her friend for support) (friend looks at me)

Me: Nah.(wtf face)

*this is where we begin to walk away*

As we leave the 2 girls are looking back embarassed and one says to the other "see, now they are laughing at us." My homie says "Why the FUCK do we have to know where the tall tees are!" I respond, "Does Wal-mart even MAKE tall tees? Does anyone still make tall tees? To which my homie replies in a slightly lower voice"Actually, they do make them...I saw them while I was looking for V-necks once."

I tried to imagine something i could have said that was equally as offensive in response but I couldn't think of anything at the time...still can't actually. What kind of stereotypical product do they sell in wal-mart that applies to white girls? I have no fucking clue.

peace

Love

2009-11-05T00:12:00.001-05:00

I hear people using the word "love" a lot when it comes to other people. Most of the time I feel pretty certain that they are using it incorrectly. I hear people ask "what is love?" or searching for it. I see a lack of definition and therefore understanding of this concept.

I have my own theories...

Here is a brief and general breakdown of how I define this thing we call love...true love:

First I would say that there is only 1 true form of love. Everything else we feel is varying degrees of "Like". The ones we call "love" are the feelings that give off a feeling that aesthetically resembles true love. Kind of like there is a diamondback rattle snake then there is another snake that looks just like a diamondback except it isnt...just an imitation. Agreed?

Second I would say that Love is the closet thing to knowing The All (God/The Creator/Allah/The Universe etc...) I will use the term "The ALL" because it is the most descriptive of what this being/phenomenon would be.
I say this because...The ALL is everything and everything is in The ALL. The ALL is 1 with everything that exists.* (this is key). Agreed?

Third point is that since The ALL is everything...The ALL would never do something to you or anyone that The ALL wouldn't do to itself. Why? Well because since The ALL is 1 with you and everything...any bad or good that you experience is also an experience of The ALL. Agreed?

Fourthly, Even with all of this in mind we can say and believe that The ALL loves it's creations. Agreed?
"even the idea of "love" is a part of The ALL"

Fifth, people and animals and everything in the world is connected. We are all 1. I could explain but I think this concept is pretty simple. Agreed?

Sixth...We do not see ourselves as 1...we see ourselves as individuals. But technically this is false...because how can we truly be separate if we are all one...or if we are all within The ALL and The ALL is 1 with everything. I know you are probably doubting right now but stick with me. Ok, it is a fact that reality is mostly perception of the mind projected outwardly. What this means is that what we believe the world really is is not all true. I may have lost some of you here but for the rest...Agreed?

So what is love? Do unto others...

Think of a mother and her child...they are 1 and she knows it. She can feel it. (not counting the crazy ones) She would not do anything to her child that she wouldn't do to herself. This is love.

When you cease to see someone as being separate from you and begin to see them as 1 with you...that is love.

Agreed?

I GOT SHOT...again

2009-11-02T14:30:00.001-05:00

My friend Jasiatic shot me after I cut my hair over the last week. I really enjoyed my time up in charlotte visiting family and friends. Her work is great...check her out at:

Who Shot Ya?

Createtress Photography

isupport the children's growth.

2009-10-20T20:33:00.000-04:00

This is gonna be a crazy joint!!!

When I return after this weekend I got new posts...new info and more info for you.

My time away has not been in vain.

hallah...

The Recession "bad touches" a former baller

2009-10-09T00:55:00.000-04:00

I'm hurtin from it...it's only right that these cats do too.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Slim Thug Feels the Recession

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Ron Paul Interview

You Say You Like Music But...

2009-10-05T00:00:00.000-04:00

Yo, when is the last time something good was pushed on you. I mean Fast food is pushed on you...commercial music is pushed on you...but that stuff is hollow and unhealthy...sometimes lol. Well when you want to get into some good hip hop old and new and you are tired of using the excuse "I don't know where to find it!" Look no further than this blog. He does all the work for you. All you have to do is discover...

You can find these and more: (click links) They got everything except my album. lol

2Pac Discography [5]

Ahmad [1]

Beat Junkies [4]

Blackalicious [2]

Blak Forest [1]

B-Real [3]

Brokin English Klik [1]

Capital Tax [1]

Casual [1]

Clever Jeff [1]

Defari [1]

Del the Funky Homosapien [4]

Deltron 3030 [2]

Da Lench Mob [1]

Digital Underground Discography [8]

Dilated Peoples [3]

Extra Prolific [1]

FunkDoobiest [3]

Hieroglyphics [2]

Ice-T [1]

Insane Poetry [2]

Jurassic 5 Discography [4]

Living Legends [2]

LMNO [1]

Mad Kap [1]

Mannish [1]

MC Breed [2]

Mykill Miers [2]

Prince Ali [1]

Ras Kass [1]

Rodney O & Joe Cooley [4]

Saafir [3]

Scarface [2]

Souls of Mischief [1]

Spearhead [1]

Tha Alkaholiks [2]

Tha Mexakinz [3]

The Backyard Rangers [1]

The Coup [1]

The Nonce [2]

The People Under The Stairs [1]

The Pharcyde Discography [4]

Visionaries Discography [4]

Funky DL [4]

Josh Martinez [1]

LoopTroop [3]

Maestro Fresh-Wes [3]

Rascalz [3]

Saïan Supa Crew [2]

Saukrates [1]

Walkin' Large [1]

Whitey Don [1]

Ego Trip 1979-1998

Soundbombing [3]

3rd Bass [2]

3rd Eye [1]

A.D.O.R. [2]

Akbar [1]

Akrobatik [5]

Ali Dee [1]

Anti-Pop Consortium [3]

Apani B [1]

Arrested Development [1]

Arsonists [2]

Artifacts [2]

A Tribe Called Quest Discography [5]

Atmosphere Discography [7]

Audio Two [2]

AZ [4]

Bahamadia [3]

Beastie Boys [8]

Big Daddy Kane [2]

Big L Discography [2]

Big Noyd [1]

Big Punisher [2]

Biggie Smalls Discography [2]

Binary Star [2]

Biz Markie [2]

Black Moon [2]

Black Sheep [2]

Blahzay Blahzay [1]

Boogie Down Productions [5]

Boogiemonsters [2]

Boot Camp Clik [1]

Brand Nubian [4]

Brother Most [1]

Bushwackass [1]

Bustin' Melonz [1]

Camp Lo [1]

Cannibal Ox [4]

Cella Dwellas [1]

Channel Live [1]

Chino XL [3]

Common Sense [5]

Company Flow [1]

Cocoa Brovaz [1]

Craig Mack [2]

Crooklyn Dodgers [3]

Cru [1]

D&D All-Stars [2]

Da Bush Babees [2]

Dagha [2]

Da Grassroots [1]

Da King & I [1]

Dark Sun Riders [1]

Das EFX Discography [5]

Da Youngsta's [4]

De La Soul Discography [9]

Deda & Pete Rock [1]

Diamond D [2]

Diamond Shell [1]

Digable Planets [2]

DITC [1]

Down South [1]

Dred Scott [1]

Edan [3]

Ed O.G. Discography [7]

EPMD Discography [6]

Eric B & Rakim Discography [4]

Fat Joe [3]

Freddie Foxxx [2]

Fu-Schnickens [2]

Gang Starr [7]

Grand Daddy I.U. [2]

Grand Puba [3]

GRAV [1]

Gravediggaz Discography [4]

Group Home [1]

Hard 2 Obtain [1]

Heltah Skeltah [2]

Hoodratz [1]

House of Pain [2]

I.N.I. [1]

Ill Al Skratch [2]

Immortal Technique [3]

J-Live [2]

Jamal [1]

Jeru The Damaja Discography [5]

Jigmastas [3]

Joint Ventures [1]

Juggaknots [2]

Jungle Brothers [4]

Justice System [1]

King Just [1]

King Sun [3]

Kirk [1]

K-Def [1]

K-Otix Discography [4]

K-Solo [2]

Kool G. Rap Discography [8]

Kool Keith [11]

KRS-One Discography [14]

Kurious [1]

Kwest Tha Madd Lad [1]

Large Pro Discography [5]

Leaders of the New School [2]

Lin Que [1]

Lords of the Underground [2]

Lord Finesse Discography [5]

Lost Boyz Discography [4]

Main Source [2]

Masta Ace Discography [5]

MC Lyte Discography [8]

MC Serch [1]

Mesanjarz Of Funk [1]

MF DOOM Discography [64]

Mic Geronimo [1]

Miilkbone [1]

Mobb Deep [3]

Mood [1]

Mos Def [3]

Mystidious Misfitss [1]

NaS Discography [9]

Naughty By Nature Discography [6]

Nine [2]

O.C. [3]

Onyx [2]

Organized Konfusion [3]

Outsidaz [2]

Pacewon [1]

Papa Chuk [1]

Pete Rock & CL Smooth [3]

Phoenix Orion [3]

Poor Righteous Teachers [4]

Prime Minister Pete Nice & Daddy Rich [1]

Private Investigators [1]

Public Enemy Discography [11]

Punk Barbarians [1]

Push Button Objects [1]

RA The Rugged Man [2]

Raw Breed [1]

Real Live [1]

Rottin Razkals [1]

Royal Flush [2]

Rumpletilskinz [1]

Run-D.M.C. Discography [7]

Scientifik [2]

Showbiz and A.G. [5]

Shyheim [3]

Siah & Yeshua DapoED [1]

Sleestack'z [1]

Smif-N-Wessun [1]

Special Ed [3]

Stetsasonic [3]

Street Poets [1]

Talib Kweli [3]

Tela [2]

The A.T.E.E.M [1]

The Beatnuts Discography [12]

The Dynospectrum [1]

The Fugees [2]

The Goats [2]

The High and Mighty [1]

Three Times Dope [3]

Top Quality [1]

Tragedy Khadafi [2]

Trends of Culture [1]

Tucka Da Huntaman [1]

Twista [1]

Ultramagnetic MC's [2]

UMC's [1]

Urban Thermo Dynamics [1]

Wreckx-N-Effect [3]

X-Clan [2]

Y Society [1]

Young Zee [1]

Zhigge [1]

I want this album. Help

2009-09-30T08:00:00.002-04:00

It is rare that I can't get my hands on something but this is one of those times.
TURN OFF THE SIDE MUSIC PLAYER FOR THIS

Someone help a brotha out!

Don't Sleep On The 312

2009-09-27T00:00:00.000-04:00

So anyone that reads my blog knows that I keep it real. You also know that I don't do random publicity unless it is something that I am definitely willing to stand behind. I do however present some sounds other than my own that I believe in. I'm about to put you on to someone I guarantee you are sleepin on right now. My homie GRIFFEN has produced an album that is a definite must listen! (don't worry...ima tell you why straight an uncut)

"Add it up Einstein, you played the shit 9 times/ DJs without crates poison the pipelines/ My crime is havin a brain/ the shit that's gettin through ain't the only 4 songs that I wanna listen to." -Griffen (Remnants)

This album Purpill Paradise is a beast. When I listed to it I was skeptical as always because I was hesitant if he could pull off what to me seemed like a lofty goal. The homie Came THRU!

Purpill Paradise is a collaboration of sorts with producer Bionix, Sade, and Prince!!! 23 tracks on the album that capture the 80's sounds of Prince and Sade perfectly. Perfectly sampled and arranged so it feels flawless. GRIFFEN's rhymes are on point nearly all the way through the album. He makes you move like it was 1988 on the party tracks and when he tells a story...that is where he really shines. Lyrics are relevant and fun, sharp and smooth. You get all kinds of angles on this album. Theme albums are often hit or miss. With live appearances by emcees like Aceyalone this is a hit. A cohesive and replay worthy album. I guarantee it is something that both male and female hip hop listeners can appreciate. Check the dude out. It won't hurt to peep it..

Stream

.or

Download

-Enjoy

Thoughts and Questions...

2009-09-26T03:31:00.007-04:00

Do what u feel u need to do.
Do what u need to feel what u do.

Do u want to feel what u do?
Do u feel a need to do what u do?
Feel what u need to do what u do.
Do what u do to feel what u want.
U need to feel what u do.
What do u feel u need to do?

-HallaH-

The Mt. Olympus of Rap

2009-09-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

I was having a convo with a colleague of mine, Manov War, the other day and he was expressing his feelings of expectation and hope about New York school of hip hop regaining prominence through the direction of a few key players dropping overwhelmingly better material than their currently major exposure counterparts from other schools (namely, southern rappers). When you consider the work of these individuals and the dynamic of Hip Hop today it runs like this:

Gods were established/discovered in the 90's. These gods decended to earth and revealed or claimed their existence and dominance to the world or mortals. The gods fell silent in the age of man. mortal emcees who's work perishes in their own lifetime took the spotlight. However, every so often a god returns to show us that it is still here.

No matter how you feel about Raekwon, Jay-z, Prodigy, Nas, Ghostface, etc's..album. whether you think the album isn't as good as their 1st or 2nd or whatever...you cannot deny that their albums are of a higher lyrical quality than that of your run of the mill bullshit rapper...more refined skill than your dummyhead NYmixtape/ringtone/club music/dopeboy rapper or pseudo-rapsinger.

Respect

Be Clear...

2009-09-18T00:00:00.001-04:00

You ever wanna write about something and realize that it is such a complex subject with so many important and intricate details that you can't even begin to take it on? That is how I feel sometimes. Some things need a book or a volume of books to explain. Too big for blogs you know? With that said...I will drop the thought seed on you to think about.

Just because you are a nice person...

...does not mean you are a good person.

"It takes a little more to be a champion."

peace-

Take your Medicine

2009-09-15T02:47:00.004-04:00

There is a movie I used to like when I was a kid by the name of Young Guns II. In the movie there is a teenage bandit who starts running with Billie "The Kid"'s gang and there is a posse hot on their trails. Eventually, Billie and his gang make a narrow escape through the New Mexico countryside and in the process this young bandit is shot. He lays on the ground bleeding as hired killer Pat Garrett and his posse approach. They discover that it was this young teen they had shot instead of Billie "The Kid". As they stood over the young cowboy and he took his final breaths, Pat Garrett's 2nd in command says "Take your medicine, kid."

In life we all have hard decisions to make. The universe does not stop to wait for us to agree with its progression, it just moves. So here is the thing...you know when you are in one of those situations where you know you shoulda went right instead of going left? Or one of those situations where you have a hard decision that you procrastinate on making until the last moment? Those are "Take Your Medicine" situations. Those are the moments when you have to just suck it up and take what comes and accept responsibility for your own mistakes. Those are the situations where if you just suck it up and acknowledge what really happened, you stand to learn a lot from them and be better off later.

I sometimes get myself in those situations...it sucks when you realize it...even worse when the decision is made for you and you are stuck feeling forced into or out of something.

Take your fucking medicine!

right?

~peaces & pickups

Speed Kills...

2009-08-24T08:00:00.003-04:00

Sometimes, on your life journey, you must stop for a moment and look around you to assess your environment, your actions thus far and your plan of action for the future. In these moments it is good to be quiet and simply look and take it all in. When you feel that you have taken it all in...you move on.

This will be my first short break from this blogging business to re-examine things around me and within me. To think without speaking. Just a very brief break. Maybe a week or so...Hopefully I will have more updates on my work and less random thoughts when I return. The title of this post comes from one of my favorite Gil Scott-Heron/Brian Jackson songs.
Peace
~Maf Maddix (Allogenes)

Same as it ever was...

2009-08-20T08:00:00.001-04:00

This song came out when I was a senior in High School. Lyrics like these helped to shape my value system when it comes to hip hop. When dudes you respect let you know the deal in lyric...it allows you to measure yourself against the views expressed in the lyrics. I found these words to be true and therefore resolved to never be "that guy".

These words are as true today as they were then.

Hallah...

Consider this a preview

2009-08-17T08:00:00.002-04:00

~All that we are is but a preview to what we will be, individually and as a collective. on a small scale what you did yesterday was a preview to who you are today. On a grand scale who you are in this life is a preview of what you will be in the next. Only the things you can take with you can be measured in this way so your style, money, sex appeal, influence, etc. are worthless in time. It is your wisdom that you will carry along with you into the supposed next life. Even if you do not believe in any form of afterlife/reincarnation. The memory and legacy you leave will be most assisted by the intelligence and wisdom you show in life. ~

Whether I am falling up or falling down, who I am is what is most important.

[captured by] e

footnote: even when making mistakes it is possible to show exemplary nature.

-1-

Kan Kicks rhymes an beats mad-nificent

2009-08-14T08:00:00.001-04:00

This cat from the West Coast named Kan Kick has been making dope music for a while an it hasn't stopped. Many of you hip hop heads may have missed him over the years but he was on the Lootpack's Lost Tapes album. Check the message in the music.

Peace

Time Is Of The/No Essence

2009-08-12T00:00:00.010-04:00

Special Edition Post:
[photo from]
www.capetownskies.com

"The fabricated mind relies on time to survive itself.
Transitory phases of many points passing unrealized
through a line of existence until a moment of clarity.
Yes, this is a ray.
It shines projected in one direction
from the source of inspiration towards your soiled self
promoting growth and death simultaneously.
We sit watching this event speaking the false words of time
when the light has always been, just not where we were then
but where we are now.
Where we were waiting for yesterday.
We find comfort in time claiming patience and meticulousness
when what we really seek is one more moment in bed before we rise.
Wake up!
Your life has arisen before you
...and it will set before you know it."

I thought these words...willed them into your mind but I could not will them into your heart. It seems that when the astronaut lets go he realizes that he is as likely to fly as to fall. I thought these things and tried to will them into my life.

and then I received an email from my friend Hanna, who was responding to an email I had sent earlier containing a song I like and some lyrics. That song was "Tensioning" by Sparta. She replied with thanks for the song and a poem she had written back in January. I read it and thought...

"Always waiting for my life to start

Tomorrow never comes to an impatient me

Contemplating on my next mark

not knowing that time is here

Debilitated by my own restrictions

that I condemn so much on every other occasion

Creating a world imprisoning on an

otherwise less imprisoned self

The answers to the questions I seek to not exist

and I am wasting it away on

my opportunity to live."

I thought... "my sentiments exactly."

Peace

The Key To Relationships

2009-08-11T02:38:00.000-04:00

There is a key to building a relationship. This key applies especially to those in the position of power and leadership ie: parents, government, employers. As we all know, every goal comes with responsibility. When it is your goal to create a relationship with someone, especially a subordinate, there is one thing that can make or break that relationship. You must value that person. By this I mean, you must value them as they value themselves. You can not place the weight of value on things that they do not themselves put weight on. If you do this, they will cease to value you/never begin to value you and you will have a disfunctional relationship.

This is especially important for family. If you are a parent you must figure out what things interest your child, what things do they find self worth through, what things do they value in themselves and their goals. You must then LEARN to value these things in them. It does not mean you have to like the things or get into it or become an authority on them. You must just express the fact that you recognize and value your childs achievements in an area that they value.

If you do this you will show the other person that you recognize, respect and value in them and their life what they recognize as important to them. When done they will in turn feel respected and valued and will put forth their best effort for you and towards you (normally). Sometimes, however, there is a person who is just on some other shit and they won't return the favor. Let them fall to the wayside...

...building mad decent relationships

Trust is hard...

2009-08-07T08:00:00.003-04:00

This is a delicate issue for me as it probably is with many people out there. Because of this I decided to post some quotes on the matter that I feel speak accurately from varying perspectives on the subject. Feel free to add to the list if you have something to add...or not.

"Trust is like a vase.. once it's broken, though you can fix it the vase will never be same again."

"I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you" -Friedrich Nietzsche

“We're never so vulnerable than when we trust someone - but paradoxically, if we cannot trust, neither can we find love or joy” -Walter Anderson

“The key is to get to know people and trust them to be who they are. Instead, we trust people to be who we want them to be- and when they're not, we cry.”

“Without trust, words become the hollow sound of a wooden gong. With trust, words become life itself.”

“You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you do not trust enough” -Frank Crane

“When mistrust comes in, love goes out.”

“The best proof of love is trust.” -Dr. Joyce Brothers

“If you don't have confidence, you'll always find a way not to win”

“Wise men put their trust in ideas and not in circumstances” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words. Trust movement." -Alfred Adler

"Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him, and to let him know that you trust him." -Booker T. Washington

"A man who doesn't trust himself can never really trust anyone else." -Cardinal de Retz

"Who would not rather trust and be deceived?" -Eliza Cook

"Hope is both the earliest and the most indispensable virtue inherent in the state of being alive. If life is to be sustained hope must remain, even where confidence is wounded, trust impaired." -Erik H. Erikson

"A good marriage is at least 80 percent good luck in finding the right person at the right time. The rest is trust." -Nanette Newman

"Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts. And never hope more than you work." -Rita Mae Brown

"It is better to suffer wrong than to do it, and happier to be sometimes cheated than not to trust."- Samuel Johnson

"Trust in dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity."- Kahlil Gibran

"Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation. "- D. Elton Trueblood

Peace

Lackluster business

2009-08-06T08:00:00.000-04:00

I gotta say that I agree wholeheartedly with what my homies Red an Meth are sayin over there. Tighten up on that greed bullshit.

Peace

Free Coals!

2009-08-03T08:00:00.000-04:00

"We touched down in turmoil.
King, take off your crown on the ground
where the enemy is all around but unfound.
...this is the jewel for survival.
Humility is a tool where pedestals can be the death of you."

...just a short rhyme I wrote randomly. I like description in my rhymes.
In this one I was thinking about the themes and visuals from My homie Marcus Kiser's Invisible Soldier book. I was imagining a king and his royal guards landing in enemy territory. I was imagining what the chief bodygaurd would say to the king as they landed and proceeded to exit the aircraft. Then I figured I might relate it to real life in the form of a lesson. This is my rhyme style...a lump of coal in today's rap game. We will let it stay under pressure for a while longer and see what happens.

Keeping your minds introspective

2009-07-30T08:00:00.002-04:00

Introspective Minds is a hip hop collective that originated as a beat crew in ATL and eventually expanded it's wings to include a few emcees(myself included).

The production crew dropped a beat tape recently that is very very decent. Check it out right here and download it if you feelin it.

SOL MESSIAH PRESENTS: "ECLECTICISM" PRODUCED BY: INTROSPECTIVE MINDS by solmessiah

Work In Progress

2009-07-27T08:00:00.000-04:00

I've been a lil tight lately because I don't have my equipment here to record. So (this may not be a good idea) I'm gonna just post the lyrics to get it outta my system for now.

In a power play metropolis crippled by it's own darkness
eyes wander, the sky is black, a desolate design
hesitating i step, stagger on metal plates
disintegrated unrecognizable metal shapes lay among the ruins of classical hierarchies
Atlantean Thoth sparked me, a marquee
i shine among fiends, the Allogenes
to walk free and bear the burden of the ronin, number 14
subliminal general, mining mineral minds of iron
and witness the fire on the bird's wings flyin up above
survival casts shadows over love
the game ain't the same through the veins like a drug
most of us that remain may be going insane from the hunger pains,
holocaust strains, nothin to nourish polypeptide chained organic multicell organisms
inshallah seek solutions to destroy a system of rich imitated
just sayin we made it is sick
a truth famine, beggars choosin the bliss
in these last days i examine these culture pathways
tracks blaze through destruction of future consumption

~Peace

I appreciate you checkin this out.

Even The Best of Us...

2009-07-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

It would seem that a person's most memorable attributes become the ones that define them. If the bad you do in life weighs heavier on others than the good, you will be poorly remembered. If the good weighs heavier than the bad you will be lauded in memory. It is up to you to take responsibility to make sure that the evil you contribute to the world is minor in comparison to the good. This makes your evil forgivable, this is your redemption, it is as simple as that.

...How to become "Mad Decent".

Besouro

2009-07-21T08:00:00.001-04:00

I think I can speak for most black males into action flicks when I say that I have been waiting a long ass time for a good martial arts movie starring black characters telling a story that speaks to our history in the diaspora. As a Capoeirista, I am extremely excited to see a movie that features Capoeira in a more historical sense rather than something practiced by Lean On Me rejects and Miami street gangs (Only The Strong).
This looks very dope.

~carry on~

One chapter ends...

2009-07-18T08:00:00.004-04:00

...And another begins.

Moving from Charlotte to Greenville, NC~ Two years ago this month, it was my goal to leave NC for good two years from that point but it seems that there is always some new thing that keeps me here or brings me back. I don't need to tell you what happened as you can probably guess. ~Economy>Employment Stranglehold>Job Loss>Present Day~ I wonder sometimes if I am meant to be here for some purpose that has not been revealed to me yet. Or maybe...I am just not pushing the right buttons to get out. I am all about the "Just go" philosophy but it is not always practical. I do not obsessively seek stability, however, it is necessary to find a balance between the two poles...especially when you don't have a safety net.

-These are my thoughts on the day that I am moving. When I post next it will be from a small city in eastern North Carolina.-

~Carry on~

4our a.m. Frustration

2009-07-14T04:00:00.002-04:00

When you are trying to create your own path there will not be a road to follow and this can be extremely rough. Sometimes you may feel that what you thought was your destiny is not and what you thought was your road is not. You must push on because even what you may see as failure IS a destiny and even in that, if done right, there is triumph to gain. This is from me to me but maybe you could use it too.

KEEP PUSHING...

Take Back Your Eye

2009-07-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

In life there are things you do and things you should not do. The choice between these things is up to you. However, once you have committed to some action being not of you, not right or something that you will not do you enter into a pact with the universe. From this point forward, life will hold you to your word. When you go against this commitment you are punished in some way. You are punished because you made a commitment to yourself and broke that, no matter how valid your reasoning. Sometimes you are punished directly and sometimes the punishment comes in the form of negative feelings that you carry. These negative feelings indirectly create a chain of events that will end with some unhappiness. This too is a form of punishment. Over the last two years I have done many things I had formerly resigned not to do. Call it victim of circumstance or a lapse in self control, either way I have committed small crimes against myself and I have paid for them...some I am still paying for.

Take a moment to review your personal experiences to develop examples for yourself.

I write this in hopes that you can relate because as I write this and you read it I am reclaiming the intent to regain my lost stronghold...my self(the decision to do). I am reclaiming it from circumstances that caused me to lose it, I am reclaiming it from defeats, depressions, recessions, etc. I hope that as you read this you will review what you have lost and resign to reclaim it as well. If you have not lost anything because you haven't gained that ground yet, this is also for you. It is time to make yourself better...a person worthy of being a model to others not because of what you have but because of who you are.

...Hallah

Meesh shot me!

2009-07-07T08:00:00.003-04:00

I tagged along with my home girl, Meesh, a few weeks ago while she was taking some shots and while out she snapped a few of me. I always like Meesh's work so I figured I would post them because I think they are mad decent and I think her work is as well. Check her out at:

(click)

http://urcreativedistractionphoto.blogspot.com

I had fun...

Peace

Baby, Don't Sleep.

2009-07-03T08:00:00.001-04:00

Walking through a field on her journey home,
she fell asleep amongst the flowers;
the sweet scent of her surroundings intoxicating her.
She laid down to enjoy the moment.
A moment of pleasure where what she loathed seemed so far behind,
Her dreams lay just ahead and what she wanted was all around.
She laid down and she fell asleep.
She slept with the idea that nothing would change
as time passed and her feet ceased to move forward.
But time would pass because no thing ever lasts...
And she would awake to find that what she loathed had caught her,
what she had dreamt of was far beyond sight and
what she wanted she could not have.
Her field of dreams and satisfaction had become the stage of her downfall.

There is a moral

Shadows.6

2009-06-30T08:00:00.008-04:00

"Shadow face
Blowing smoke and talking wind
Lost my grip
Fell too far to start again
A sudden snake
Found my shape and tells the world
Remember this
Remember everything is just black
Or burning sun

And I hope it’s a sweet ride
Sleep tight for me
Sleep tight for me I’m gone

"Tighter & Tighter"

Warm and sweet
Swinging from a windows ledge
Tight and deep
One last sin before I’m dead
A sucking holy wind
Will take me from this bed tonight
And bloody wits
Another hits me and I have to say goodbye

Sleep tight for me
Sleep tight for me I’m gone

And I hope it’s a sweet ride
Here for me tonight
‘Cause I feel I’m going
Feel I’m slowing down" -Soundgarden

Next time...

Fukda Future

2009-06-24T08:00:00.002-04:00

The Problem with foretelling and foresight is:

-the human mind works from experience piecing 1st and 2nd hand experiences together to create understanding of the present.

-without experience, how can you expect to understand the future?

So knowing the future is kind of like reading the ending to a book you haven't read. While you may know who dies and who gets the girl but you don't know who "who" is, nor do you understand the purpose of the events you just read. You essentially would have to figure out the meaning of the future that you envisioned every time. Therefore it is still possible to get it wrong.

In conclusion...you may see the future but you DON'T KNOW SHIT.

I bet that superpower is more trouble than it's worth.

think about that...

(it's 3am and i'm unemployed...this is what i'm thinking about? Superheroes and their problems)

Shadows.5

2009-06-21T08:00:00.011-04:00

"Yes I want back the picture
that hangs on your wall
For where once the sun rose
now night falls
Some may say
oh what a blue sky in sight
Well now out of the distance
I see lightning strike
I will never hide them, hide them all
I could never fear them, fear them all
Oh but there shall come a new light
shining in this here dark life
For the Most High
dwells with man tonight"

Picture On The Wall

(click image for full size)

"I want to run,
want to hide,
want to drift away...
Beyond these bombs,
beyond these walls,
Beyond these hypocrites
Oh, but I will never right them,
right them all...
I could never
fear them,
fear them all...
Oh but there shall come a new light
shinning in this here dark life
For the Most High dwells with I tonight"

-Groundation

Until next time,

Be at ease

A Divine Wind

2009-06-18T16:36:00.004-04:00

In this situation, the exit seems as difficult to maneuver through as the shit you are already in. You look around and know where you should go but feel like making your escape may be the wrong move even though staying in place seems equally hazardous. I have been there. Sometimes I am there again... Sometimes the clear answer is not so clean cut but murky and dim. You then ask yourself...

"How much will it take before I go kamikaze?"

What great variable will the universe place in your life to ensure your all out motivation to act? To take the most drastic measure that will eventually lead to your peace of mind. Whether that action is to stand, to fight, to die or to run.

peace

Respect the G.

2009-06-17T08:00:00.002-04:00

Respect is a very important thing to poor people.

I will say it again...

RESPECT is extremely fucking important to poor people.

Now for the explanation: There are two ways to have power in our modern society...one being money, the other being respect. This point alone should be enough of an explanation.

Now ask yourself again why so many poor people die in the street due to violence for seemingly no reason. That's extreme so let me water it down.

If someone puts work in for something and you respect the work, respect the person who did the work. Whether it is photography, music, fashion, slang, bits of wisdom, etc.

Respect the creation = respect the creator
(this is so deep on so many levels...stack 'em up)

Honor the creator of something you appreciate. It is only right.

*this comes to mind because I get personally annoyed when people try an front like you aren't worth mentioning all the while they are jackin your pictures, rhymes, style, quotes, an everything else ESPECIALLY if it is me.

To create from the mind is divine.

So respect the G in me (or him or her)

Nuff said...

Shadows.4

2009-06-13T08:00:00.000-04:00

"Nothing exists without your dreams." -Cassio
(click image to see full size)

"Baby baby baby, look to the sky. Seeking to find the third eye. Secrets of numbers, secrets of sounds. Secrets of wisdom will be found. Baby baby baby, look to the sky." -Roy Ayers

Third Eye

It is good to only surround yourself with people who inspire you....

Let the others pass...

Peace

Even the illest of thinkers...are only mad decent at best.

2009-06-10T08:00:00.007-04:00

*1st thought

It seems that even the illest of thinkers may come against things they struggle to understand.

There is a quote by Jesus (the prophet not the tree hustler) that is one of those things that is perfect on paper and more difficult in practice:

"The world is only a bridge; cross it, build not thy house upon it."

I definitely feel him on this but then there is the pressure...

it comes from around us in this world and it is this pressure that makes it feel necessary to "build your house on the bridge". Group thought is a powerful phenomenon and social trends and paradigms are harder to break than some of us think. most of us adventurous types only break the surface on breaking free. Only the true outcast takes it the full way. It takes a certain level of dedication that makes others question your sanity.

*2nd thought
So what does it mean to want to be successful and what does it mean to want to be great?

Which one do you want for yourself?

Consider this: Success is what one can have on this world and in this time. Greatness is something one has in the next world and throughout time.

To me success is noteriety, wealth and other easily measurable identifiers. Greatness is something immeasurable from close distance...it always takes us more time to realize greatness. Greatness is something measured in lightyears and not minutes. Great is a star exploding and us being able to see it 12 billion years later. Success is achieving a goal or finishing some task that others deem worthy of the attribute "success". Great is an action that is usually recognized much later by those who realize how they have been affected by it. Greatness is a lump of coal that after much pressure, time, and being forgotten can reveal a diamond. I am not saying that these two things don't coincide but one is done for the purpose of reaching "the goal" and the other is done to "achieve the doing" (i think that makes sense) I know which I prefer and I know which feels more necessary to survival.

Which one should you want for yourself?

*interesting point: I wrote this hours before watching this flick Revolutionary Road. When I watched it I saw that it dealt exactly with what I'd just written about. (funny how that happens)*

-Tektite Illah

Shadows.3

2009-06-07T08:00:00.003-04:00

~from the Shadow project~
(click image for full size)

"Think of me very scientifically
Share your thoughts with me
Send them over land and see

They seep through walls
Echo down abandoned halls
Let me see your joy and fear

How can it be we never see
What we have until it's gone
Why is it so we never know
What we have until it's gone

The more I try, all the faster you'll slip by
So vaporize
Slide to me like liquid ice
I can see into your eyes" -Emiliana Torrini

Telepathy

until next time...

Peace

"It sounds fly in theory but it's hard to apply"

2009-06-03T08:00:00.002-04:00

I had this conversation recently with a cat I met not too long ago at the beginning of a funny little experience that ended in me being unemployed (the bad). Out of this situation I learned things and met new friends (the good).

So Jamaal and eye were speakin on how to keep your focus on your goals when the winds are blowing against you (not literally). When things get too rough, sometimes, you can bear down into just "makin it" so hard that you can forget to sleep...you may forget to dream and then you forget to act. Your life force gets drained that way. So I ask myself "how is it that I let momentum slip from me? How did eye lose sight of my action?" I was once a lucid dreamer...but somehow, while still maintaining the dream, I have forgotten my ability to act within it. Have you felt or Do you feel like this?

Dude said something very real that I wanted to share.

He said:
"I am trying to keep the faith and keep the movement moving. I was talking with my girl last night and we were talking about why people don't follow their dreams or begin to follow them and stop. We came to the conclusion that it's because they stop pursuing when things become difficult. But if you can keep the movement moving, things will eventually fall into place." -Jamaal Cowan

some good advice for that dome...

Hallah

Shadows.2

2009-05-31T08:00:00.005-04:00

~more from my Shadow project~
(click image to see full size)

I thought of music when I shot these...

"The Sky is a sea of darkness
when there is no sun.
The sky is a sea of darkness
when there is no sun to light the way.
There is no day,
there is no day.
There's only darkness.
The sky is a sea of darkness." -Sun Ra

When There Is No Sun...

More to come...

Peace

Shadows

2009-05-28T08:00:00.001-04:00

An introduction:
A few years ago I met a photographer named Adachi and as we began to get to know each other and grow close, she taught me about photography. Nothing extensive, just a few basic ideas. But more importantly, she sparked an interest in me that had always been there but never had a platform to jump from. She is one of those people you encounter that helps to bring forth change in your life. Since meeting her I have met so many photographers, all very talented. I have watched and participated in their work (mostly watched and gave back seat driver opinions). I finally convinced one to let me borrow her camera so I could play photographer. I have been pretty stressed lately with life and the recent continual setbacks and I tend to need extensive creative outlets to keep myself out of depression nahmean? Let me give a shout to my homie Moire Flux for lending me her camera an all for this project. I don't consider myself a photographer just like I don't consider some random muhfucka rhymin an emcee or some cat doin a windmill a bboy. I just wanted to express myself in a new way...

I'm going to make a few posts to show my work. I hope that the ideas and feelings I envisioned are conveyed accurately. This is just a preview of more to come...an introduction if you will. Enjoy and peace.

(click to see full size)

Entry For The Uninitiated

2009-05-27T17:35:00.002-04:00

Peace,

What can I say about my blog other than it's late and it's mad decent? Not much...

I'm gonna post many things at fairly regular intervals like songs or artists, ideas, etc that I think are mad decent. However, primarily this lil' thing I got goin on here is to help me let people know about the shit I am working on. Just a small way to make some noise. I hope you think it is mad decent or better...if you think it's worse than decent you can tell me about that too. I don't really care.

Peace...

BTW today is my mother's bornday. Happy Born mom.