Hello. I am e.n.d. Once upon a time I came from Minnesota. But then I moved everywhere.
Curiosity didn't kill the cat. Complacency did.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
MURK AVENUE: I FOUND ICE CUBES 'GOOD DAY'
This is pretty fantastic.
CLUE 1:
“went to short dogs house,
they was watching Yo MTV
RAPS”
Yo MTV RAPS first aired:
Aug 6th 1988
CLUE 2:
Ice Cubes single “today was a good day” released on:
Feb 23 1993
CLUE 3:
”The Lakers beat the Super
Sonics”
Dates between Yo MTV Raps air date AUGUST 6 1988 and the release…
A track I’ve had on repeat the days leading up to my trip to NYC and still on heavy rotation now that I’m here. Walking around. Doing my thing.
I had been thinking about social, online connectivity all week before I left Berlin. The pros. The cons.
I decided after I landed here in NYC that I’d take a bit of a break from the social networking “usual suspects” of Facebook and Twitter and focus on spending time catching up with the friends here I haven’t seen in awhile and also clear my head. I think that like so many other people, I get lost into thinking that the photos and virtual updates of various friends in my life are a way to really connect or understand what’s going on in their lives no matter how geographically near or far. And vice-versa, that my updates or online habits and quick virtual actions are a way to know what’s really happening with me.
But of course, it is all rarely the case.
Beyond sharing a link or an article, it is sometimes a lazy and numbing way to make assumptions about the awesome and honest happenings of actual life and forget to really connect. Even when we are at home. You know, like IRL. :)
So now I’m gonna take my social networking break a bit further and extend it to every other service and site while I’m here and see how it feels to just think and walk and write and listen and catch up. Maybe this will become a longer-term trend. Easing back a bit in general, who knows. Sounds easy but for someone who is fairly social and loves to share, I bet it will be a challenge, hence this post. :P
Maybe it took the NYC streets and good hip-hop in the ears to remind me how rad is it to just think and be present. I mean, I figured this out a long time ago - I have spent and continue to spend plenty of time alone, just existing and wandering around - but somehow, I so easily forget…and sometimes I also feel judged.
So I leave it with this track. So good! Bob your head and take a walk and look up:
“Brooklyn you crazy. Look how you made me, razor blades in my mouth walk around behaving all demented.
Black hoodies and timberlanded. Always scheming, ‘You see the gleam on that n*ggas pendent?’
Hello Brooklyn, you bad influence look what you had me doing but I ain’t mad at you.
Look at my attitude. It says my life’s too real. Check out my ice grill. Baby I’m cold as ice like I’m from Brownsville.”
There is always a time and place for MF DOOM. And Zero 7. And Danger Mouse.
Specifically, Monday evenings.
Honestly Awesome.
Sup Thug. Sup Slug.
Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Pumped to pay a visit home in a couple weeks.
Work. Own it.
“I’m doin my thing now, to lamp later on.
Paid in the shade, with some fly gators on.”
I’ve always been picky when it comes to female musicians, rappers and performers.
But if I could rap like this, I’d quit my job in a heartbeat:
“You gonna fall tryin to ball,
While my team win the pennant.
I’m about to be in it,
For a minute.
Then run for senate.
Make a slum lord be the tenant.
Give his money to kids to spend it,
And then amend it.”
Lauryn Hill.
(Source: gogul-mun)
This interview with Jay-Z is the best thing I’ve watched in a grip. Seriously.
Two things my Mom and I like: Charlie Rose and Jay-Z. (Yeah, I’m not lying).
A great interviewer interviewing a great artist.
Especially interesting is him speaking to the importance of contextualizing provocative lyrics (Fuck the Police - NWA), a Dad that left, and using his voice to highlight the reality of racial profiling (99 Problems - Jay-Z).
And nothing beats a smile like his at 6:32 and a shout-out to his Mom at 6:37.
Find the interview in it’s entirety here. (And some transcripts here as well).
(via Sebastian)
Minnesota Represented on the Cloud!
Check it or wreck it.
Grieves | 3 Bad Men (feat. Grynch, Krukid, prod. Budo)
Welcome to Rhymesayers Entertainment to SoundCloud. Head over to their page for some free downloads by Grieves, Atmosphere, Freeway and Evidence.
“The day Obama got into office rap was less important, because Obama gave kids an alternative. But will rap ever go away? No. There will always be a need for poets.”
Interesting read on Jay-Z found over at The Guardian.
