I’M IN HONG KONG!!!!! The last two days have been a time warp. On Wednesday Dahlak and I scrambled for our big (temporary) Brooklyn exits. Dahlak’s spending a month and a half in Ithaca working on his new play and album, and I’m on the other side of the planet figuring shit out. It was 15 long hours on the flight, and now my timezone’s exactly 12 hours ahead. My AM is now my PM. And I’m dead exhausted.
I managed to zombie around Nathan Rd. (HK’s main street) and snap a couple of shots. And grab some shkrimp wonton noodles. Comfort food for my month of wandering.
Maybe this can be a new section of the blog: why is Dahlak not blogging and what the fuck is he doing? I like that.
Shit, has been CRAZY around here ya’ll. The crew has been working non-stop between recording the new album iB4the1.2 and filming long overdue videos for some of our most beloved poems. The pressure is due to Adriel leaving to China for a month and me leaving to Ithaca for a six-week artistic residency (tell you more about this in a couple of days) on September 1st.
On top of that, I just quit my job and so I’m working on ways to make my art more sustainable for the coming years. One of these ways is learning from our in-house digital guru Adriel “Drizzletronius” Luis and his Do iLL Yourself seminars on making your own press kit. He makes it seem simple, doesn’t he? I been working on it for WEEKS! And I still have no idea if I’m going to finish before my residency or if it is even gonna be good.
Just to ensure you that I’m not bullshitting, here is a preview of my “grabber” page. The idea was to create an overwhelming visual of my own favorite quotes. I would also love to know what you thought about it as well. Suggestions welcomed but I’m sensitive about my SHIT!
I showed it to Adriel and he said, “It’d be good as a poster”. Thanks man.
It’s always summertime when DâM-FunK‘s on, and he drops another delicious morsel of pure digital funk just in time for this week’s installation of Friday Funk. Entitled “NeverTongueInCheek,” he continues to push forward the good word: Funk isn’t a trend, it’s a way of life.
When I fantasize about the legacy that I wish to leave behind, a key inspiration is James Baldwin. Besides being one of our greatest writers, I love that he existed in the culture he was a part of, as opposed to just existing around it. I was first inspired by his video interviews where he so eloquently stated his conflicts with Malcolm X’s perspective while maintaining an air of firm respect. He was a critical thinker, and he translated his words beautifully.
This week was the unveiling of The Cross of Redemption, a new book featuring unpublished short stories, letters, and essays. Here’s an excerpt (via The New Yorker):
What we do not know about our black citizens is what we do not know about ourselves; and what we do not know about ourselves is what we do know about the world—and the world knows it. Nothing can save us—not all our money, nor all our bombs, nor all our guns—if we cannot achieve that long-, long-, long-delayed maturity.
The other day Bay Area songstress Siaira Shawn over to bless our next installment of iB4the1 with some ridiculously amazing vocals. You’ll be hearing her on two tracks, tentatively titled “4the1″ and “Fly Me Away.” In the meantime, do yourself some good by downloading her freEP, The In Between.
Our DC-via-theBay homie Christine has been blazing mucho trailos (that’s “many trails” in Vietnamese) with her site Lunchbox Theory and her monthly dance party Afrobeat 4 Ya Soul. Such a combination is perfect for me, who wants nothing more than to spend my days reading blogs, and then spending my nights dancing to Fela. Really what else do you need in life? Oxygen, you say? LOL…silly mortals.
This month, the worlds merge and Lunchbox Theory presents a morsel of Afrobeat goodness for those of us who can’t make it to Chocolate City. Mixed by DJ Underdog, Africa Africa Africa Pt. 2 is everything you need to get you to where you need to be. No ifs ands or buts. You download now.
After a historical movement to aid Haiti after its disaster, it’s devastating to see how the recent Pakistan floods have been generally under the radar (both by the media and donators). Not to compare tragedies, but it speaks to the 24-hour news cycle that is numbed by “old news” like poor countries experiencing climate trauma.
Spike Lee is such an important artist because he’s able to activate the urgency in what people have forgotten. Five years after Hurricane Katrina, he follows up his startling 2006 miniseries When the Levees Broke with If God is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise, a new look at how New Orleans is dealing not only with the repercussions of Katrina but also the recent BP oil spill.
A bit discouraging is the fact that even the official HBO YouTube trailer only has like 300 hits…AM I MISSING SOMETHING HERE???? Apparently, we all are.
Yesterday Luke from 38th Notes shot over an article called “George Clinton and the Demise of Funk,” which debates that Clinton is a “pretender” of funk, and that none of his work has an influential basis beyond the fact that he bit off other musicians like Davis, Hendrix, and Brown. Um, okay. One of his stances is that Parliament-Funkadelic came in during a crucial political crux (the late 60′s a la the tail end of the Civil Rights era) and merely seized the opportunity to cash out on making empty dance music. “Coon-toons,” he calls the animations and costumes that Clinton used to ornament his visual world.
All rights reserved