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July 23, 2005

VARIOUS TIDBITS & $UNDRY 411







SPOTTED...

Surveying the cuban linx of those folks who know somebody who know somebody who know somethin' bout it, I miraculously
discovered this short piece by kris ex, my favorite writers' favorite writer. For the summer. He a talk bout them good-good basement parties heah, reminded me of an old-skool L.A. memory. Somewhere deep off in the hood, off Adams, house party in the basement, nearly dark save the incandescence of a bare red light bulb and the sparkle in my eyes. Windin' drunk and high with O.G. Cuervo from PRZ; Jamaicans and Belizeans eyeing me all the while. Those were the days...


And speakin' of Cuban Linx, ran into Cuban Link @ the airport Friday morning; and I gives a fuck he's scarred...EL ESTA TAN HERMOSILLO, POR VIDA, YA ESTUVO. Not to mention the fact that Tragedy Khadafi and Raekwon are in the studio NOW recording a collaborative LP (hopefully Trag didn't divulge that in confidence, I know people forget I'm the media sometimes). Don't know what it's called, but I'm only built for intelligent hoodlums.

Back to
Exo, the undisputed King of Flatbush, here he is with Danyel Smith. I'm still in the midst of reading her BLISS; my copy is becoming worn, having travelled from San Gabriel to Burbank Airport to Cedars Sinai hospital (where Easy E and B.I.G. and my Grandfather went back to the essence) to Long Beach to Compton to Venice to Marina Del Ray to Laurel Canyon (where I was born at home in the floor) and back to San Gabriel. Those who know me on the personal, bug out how I'm only 50 pages in and it's taken me weeks to read that much. So far Bliss's main charactress Eva's been to some conventions, had some drinks, done some men, and she's too much like me for me to read without flashing back to Mixshow Power Summit in Puerto Rico. Or Gavin in SF, or San Diego; or Urban Network in Palm Springs. Except I never made it to Eva status. Or at least not yet.

I'm now working with and for HIEROGLYPHICS IMPERIUM. My first priority is Casual a/k/a Smash Rockwell's LP which streets in September. His song Oaktown has been remixed and features Richie Rich, Too $hort, and G-Stack of the Delinquents with Smash on production of this slumpin track.
Email me if you want to check it out - DJs, Press, Tastemakers, etc. Also in stores NOW is Opio's critically-acclaimed solo LP Triangulation Station...check a review from Peter Agoston here courtesy of American Hunger. With regard to all things Hiero, I'll say it here with exclusivity and impugnity; when I say I love their music, artistry, and business acumen - I said it, I meant it, and I'm here to represent it - 'cause I've been down with them since '93, and I will be 'til Infinity...the paycheck is just gravy and gravity.

HIERO has just embarked on a three-month tour with O.C. and BoomBap, and if you've yet to see their live show get that ass to the nearest venue stat...check the
tour schedule right here!

If U haven't already, check out the audio samples here for
J-Minix, my new favorite Yay Area MC. His new LP, Hustle Hard, Play Hard is currently rocking the box here @ P2P, and he has this album cut with B-Legit, D-Shot, & A-to-the-K that IS the one thang that got me trippin, plus that bi'ness!

In addition to any $$ donations to match the generous BlogHer scholarships from Nancy White/Full Circle Associates, N.O. MC Truth Universal and my own Old Earth; we're looking for a slightly-used Bedazzler for the upcoming t-shirt lines - not to mention a minidisc recorder, cordless phone, phone tap, and a digital camera - or gift certificates from
Carol's Daughter and/or their Jamaican Punch Gift Set. Send any/all to P2P, 115 E. B'Way, Box 203, SG, CA, 91776. Like the Queen of Afro-British Soul, SADE, says "Every day is Christmas, and every night, is New Year's Eve!"

July 19, 2005

FEED THE BABIES: AMERICAN HUNGER








I'm honored to be writing for a new digi mag entitled "American Hunger". The publication, the brainchild of Percy "GM Grimm" Carey, is a testament to his struggle and hard work. Please visit WWW.AMERICANHUNGER.COM 'cause you hunger for more.

I have a long history of business with Grimm, and the best way I can sum it up is to share with you, dear readers, an open letter I wrote some years ago...

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE MUSIC INDUSTRY AND FANS OF HIP HOP
From: Miranda Jane
9.27.2000


Peace. My name is Miranda Jane, and I am a freelance journalist, writer, B-Girl, music aficionado, and a fellow human being. For the past 17 years of my 26 on the planet, I've been a devoted and devout fan of Hip Hop music. Since birth I've been a child of music - my Jazz-playing bassist Father and bad-ass female drummer Mother made sure of that, holding jam sessions in the basement with my bassinet next to drum sets, speakers, and all sorts of sounds. Hip Hop music in particular has been a beacon of light in my life. I've learned from watching breakers, graffiti artists and DJs, however the MC has been my most prominent teacher, caregiver, and backbone - even surpassing my Father in that regard.

There is an MC known as MF Grimm who has changed my life recently, when I thought that I had grown so much, his life experiences show me each day that I have so much to grow still. Grimm's own life is imbibed with Hip Hop - having worked as a "ghostwriter" for Geffen back in the day, written as a journalist and correspondent for Right On! Magazine, placing 2nd in the MC "Battle for World Supremacy" against freestyle king Supernatural, and as a part of the group KMD - Grimm (or Grimm Reaper as he has also been known) lives and breathes Hip Hop. While a lot of cats are out there "keeping it real", Grimm's real life story is mega real - he was shot numerous times in an obvious attempt on his life some years ago, losing his eyesight, his hearing, and becoming a paraplegic confined to a wheelchair. Chances for Grimm's survival were given by doctors as slim. Not only did he survive, he showed and proved that the mind is very powerful, regaining his ability to see and hear. Gradually, surgery after surgery having bullets removed from his body (of 10, 1 remains lodged within his stomach), Grimm began to have increased feeling in his upper body and through rigorous physical therapy, with superhuman strength and stamina - mentally and physically, Grimm began to move his fingers, hands, arms, and upper body again. Today, he is finally regaining feeling to his lower torso and legs, and he's confident he'll walk again.

It is not the "handicap" or "disability" in his life worrying Grimm. Although he struggles through many of the trials and tribulations facing a rap artist, particularly one so long-overlooked, unsigned, and independent as Grimm, it is not the music business that is his trouble. Today he sits, in his wheelchair, inside a jail cell sentenced to 15 to life. But Grimm is not any inmate - he is confined to a wheelchair, and he needs a lot of medical care - from physical therapy to massage therapy to regenerative exercise to nutritional support, he has many needs. Inside the wall, most of these needs will be met with a heavy resistance, whether his neglect is intentional or brought on by a purported lack of funds within the system, Grimm will suffer.

The first day I met Grimm, he was recording tracks in Los Angeles with MF Doom (Zevlove X) of KMD. Doom and Grimm flew in from Georgia and New York, respectively. My first time seeing Grimm he was crawling along the floor freshly dressed and showered. My reaction to this was so natural - I kneeled on the floor next to him and gave him a huge hug. I watched in awe as he dragged himself with his arms, legs in front of him on the floor, about 30 feet from the bathroom to his wheelchair. He then placed himself in the chair, and adjusted his legs with his arms. Later, I saw him use his arms to leverage himself out of the chair and onto the couch. I was amazed at his physical strength. I thought back to our telephone interview a few weeks prior to this, and how impressed I'd been with him as a person, and how amazing his story truly is. Meeting Doom and Grimm, and getting to know them a bit as people, we kept in touch. Within a few weeks Grimm told me some hard truths about his life in 2000. He told me a little bit about the climate in upstate New York where he had a house, home, car, and a life once.

Sometime shortly after that, I interviewed Doom and Grimm for STRESS Magazine. Grimm was impressed with my story, and he respected me and understood me due to the years he spent as a writer with Right On! Magazine. He taught me, even more than I already knew, that the physical and tangible things in life are not always the most important. He reinforced my belief that you can't judge a book by its cover, and that the pages inside are always more intriguing than the cover regardless to whom or what. Grimm's problems made my problems seem small by comparison, and he opened my eyes to the world of the disabled. When I sit at a restaurant today I eye the layout, the proximity of the tables to walls and other tables, the restrooms, the width of the doorways - the whole nine. I am changed.

Flash forward to 2005 and Percy Carey is home from the belly, and his corporations are in full effect. It's all gravity. Half the greatest story never told will be later unearthed like Sanskrit letters, cuneiform, and Dead Sea scrolls; and they can only see us in Dogon gazing down from Sirius...word to Enki.

July 18, 2005

TALES OF A BRIEF HIGHYAYTIS









Just got in from a turnaround trip from L.A. 2 the Yay Area. 2 rental cars, a B-Boy jam, Alien Ness, high-powered meetings at the Hieroglyphics building in the Town and the Nokia building in the 'Sco, and meetin' new family born since my last time in the Bay later...basically we doin it real big.

Home in front of MTV Jams, I have an observation. David Banner is whispering at me to RUN GIRL. I know he's a brilliant entreprenuer and revolutionary crunk guerilla, who is simply capitalizing off of the au courant whisper-style. Mr. Banner, I will run til the wheels fall off, or until my skinny Jamaican man tells me to stop - whichever may come first.

I have 2 MCs under my representation as of today, and they're finna change the lyrical standard. TRUNKS from SF, and (BAD) LUCK from Pasadena, CA. Keep it tuned in for the hot shit. MJ's priorities for 2005 are reading like Hip Hop's most-wanted MVPs... don't start hating 'til the total devastation... Before I forget, Mixtape Inc. is down with us - it's mostly my voice, it's so choice. Please believe it.

Live from Love Allah

(Holdin'/Lamborghini Ambitions)

Mira la Sirena