Look around you

"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

Innertainment

"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.-

Ichi to Ni

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

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

Tektite

"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."

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

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.

G'head

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.

Wolf Cub

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...

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...

Ok I can account for my time lost.

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.

Don't Sleep On The 312

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

Same as it ever was...

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...

Kan Kicks rhymes an beats mad-nificent

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

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

Free Coals!

"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

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

Besouro

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~

Meesh shot me!

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)

(click)

http://urcreativedistractionphoto.blogspot.com

I had fun...

Peace

Respect the G.

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

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)