Remember me ranting and raving last week about being excited about talent again? Here’s one of the reasons why.
I had the pleasure of sitting down with Kenyatta’s manager Rasheid about two weeks ago where he shared with me some of the music. Kenyatta Fiya is a dancehall/reggae artist originally from Jamaica and his music is great in my opinion.
I really encourage everyone to check him out. DJ’s especially.
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Minus the fried chicken saga this was a real good weekend. Friday started off with me waking up to a lot of negativity so I did what I always do, I turned my phone off.
Sidebar #1: Right now I have 19 unheard voicemail messages. Might seem like a recipe for disaster for business and for maintaining relationships, and it probably is to an extent. But what’s even worse is losing your sanity which is what would occur if I were to attend to all 19 of those voicemails. The old me didn’t care at all (people hated me for it), so I compensated for that by over caring (people loved it but abused it), so now I’m back to not caring again (doesn’t matter anymore what people think).
Sidebar #2: I hope Sidebar #1 doesn’t come off as anything other than just me being honest because truly in the grand scheme of things I don’t care. I want to see people succeed and be strong and be the best they can be, but being an enabler and the guy everyone comes to for bailouts and handouts doesn’t help them or me. You help people too much, they’ll never learn to walk on their own. Also the minute you pull back, they’ll resent you.
Now back to the positive. So I turned off the phone and just relaxed. Watched a couple of movies then went into town for a meeting. The meeting ended up lasting 2 hours because the person and I shared similar views on so many things from music to life and all things in between. In another blog entry I’ll get into more details about who the person is and what role they’ll be playing with me from now on.
Today I got up with my one true friend. Not to say the rest of my friends aren’t true friends but this is the one person that has zero industry aspirations. Doesn’t sing, rap, dance, or act and doesn’t care much for that world. We live two completely different lifestyles and that’s what makes it so real; you know there’s no ulterior motives on either one of our parts.
Competition: We watched Maryland unfortunately lose to Duke in the semifinals of the ACC tournament. That was wack but we did get interviewed on the news about it, so that was cool. Next up was to shoot some pool (the picture above was taken via Blackberry there). We slugged it out just the way we used to when we younger. Back then it was basketball or video games but it really doesn’t matter what it is. It’s more about the competition aspect and the fact that nothing else matters for however long the competition lasts. It’s all about winning. Ultimately I ended up winning more games than he did but it was too tough of a competition to really declare a winner. The experience is really what it’s all about.
Music: During the 4 hour pool session, the place we were playing in converted from a pool hall to an all out nightclub; complete with a DJ and scantily clad young ladies (shout out to the Dominican one in the corner that was grooving like there was no tomorrow). The DJ was in a good groove. Playing all kinds of hits, 80′s, 90′s, Ringtone, Backpack, whatever. It was just good music at the end of the day and people had a good time.
Tagged World Saving
I have a confession to make. This past week I had probably my best week ever as far as working out and eating healthy goes. I mean I was locked in and focused. The problem is part of the deal I have with myself is that for every good week, I am entitled to one “cheat day”.
See if you’re a normal person that can do things in moderation that might work but me, I’ve never learned to do anything halfway. It’s either I’m eating all the way healthy or I’m out of control and eating like The Klumps or Diddy. So yesterday subconsciously I grabbed a HUGE piece of fried chicken and ate it; my first piece in almost 2 years. Now you’re probably saying “what’s the big deal with just a little wing or a thigh” right? WRONG, it was an INGTHREAST (WING+THIGH+BREAST). The biggest ingthreast you’ve ever seen. Bigger than the plate I was using to hold it. Then I washed it all down with a sugary beverage; another thing I usually don’t indulge in.
There’s really no moral or good ending to this story. I ended up catching the itis and going to sleep, then I woke up this morning and my chest and back felt like someone had stabbed me. I was literally about to die. Once your body is conditioned to not eat stuff like that, eating again is like a death wish.
I’ve learned my lesson. Never again.
Who knows me knows my passion for writing. Thanks to Thank God I’m Famous Magazine I’ll be able to exercise that on a larger scale now. My first interview was with one of my favorite artists out, B.O.B. I had a chance to talk to him about topics he’s probably not asked on the regular and I think everyone will enjoy it once it’s published.
Plain and simple if you like RnB music you should definitely pick up a copy of The Dream’s new album. Or any album for that matter. I’m excited right now about music. There’s more if it out there than ever before and believe it or not a lot of is good. I think the whole complaining about music thing is overdone. The business aspect is still crazy, but hey that’s what we here at The Famous Firm are working to fix. Just be patient.
A few weeks back I had a meeting with a manager and he gave me some of his artists work. I sat on the music for two weeks because I was expecting the same ole same ole. Today I finally gave their stuff a listen and it was GREAT!!!! Now I’m putting people on, and they’ll hopefully put others on and that’s how a fan base is gained. Let’s not underestimate the power of word of mouth.
I think these days a lot of us are too jaded. We go to shows and don’t nod our heads or take pictures for fear of coming off as a groupie or a stan. We see artists and walk past them like they’re nothing for the very same reasons, or because we feel we make better music and they should be honoring us.
I believe in karma. Be a fan, show gratitude and appreciation to those that still put out quality art. It will come back to you and yours. Even if you download. Skip one of your “please listen to my demo” email blasts and instead send a note to an aspiring artist who’s work you enjoy. It will make their day and in turn make yours.
Holla
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Tagged World Saving
This EP comes to us from 6S out of Ohio. She’s someone who goes back with Sean Famous, and also someone I’ve had a chance to get to know a lil bit via Twitter, Facebook and other forms of communication. Very cool person. Naturally you expect cool music from cool people right? The EP doesn’t dissapoint. The production, song concepts, and everything is on point. My favorite joint for now is probably “Fun & Games”.
Sidebar:Probaby 1000 mixtape/eps will drop today. Probably 200 will “sound good”. Only about 10 will feel good to the listener. Don’t strive to make music that “sounds good”. Strive to make music that feels good. It’s what will seperate you from the gazillions of artists out there now.
I say that because that’s what I felt about this joint. It feels good AND sounds good. But if I had to pick one over the other, feel is better than sound any day.
Shout out to the homie XO from Uptown DC. For those that don’t know XO has been doing his thing out here for a while. I haven’t listened to this one yet but his last two mixtapes were nice so I expect nothing different.
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I am at home on the MacBook waiting to finish the debate between my lazy self and my motivated self over whether or not to go to the gym. My motivated self has been kicking my lazy self’s butt recently. I’ve been on it! Like some Rocky type stuff. It does wonders for your mind….all your thoughts just align themselves better when you workout.
It all started with Diddy like 4 nights ago. He told everyone to stop sleeping and start working. That night everyone got extra motivated. Now the new thing is to not sleep. I’m not really a part of that movement. I love my sleep. But it was fun to wake up yesterday to all the motivation that came from other peoples insomnia. Sickamore posted like a million motivational videos and songs. Sean and Hovain were front and center as well. Also shout out to Chris Foxx .
Right now we’re discussing how Jay-Z told us for all those years that without the money, cars and women life is pretty much worthless, then over the last 2 or 3 years he turns to say that there’s more to life than those things. You can’t knock the man for growing as a person and not believing in 2009 what he believed in 1999. The unfortunate part is all the kids who followed his 1999 words so much that they didn’t make it to 2009. It’s a catch 22; You can’t blame the director for making Scarface and you also can’t blame the impressionable young mind who chose to ignore the last scene in the movie.
My motivated side just won the battle. Bout to go for a quick run then come back here and get to work. Peace!
Tagged World Saving
The Famous Firm, Marked Music, and Rowdy Records present the fifth and final video off Colin Munroe’s Unsung Hero mixtape album. The album has been a complete success thanks to all of you and expect a lot of bigger and better things from Colin in the near future. Like the immediate future actually; he’s hosting Subtarranean on MTV2 tonight. Check your local listings.
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Tagged Rule #3-Show Appreciation, Talent? Did Someone Say Talent?, The Industry's Good Side
I’m throwing out Jazz.
Bought these two Smooth Jazz albums from some website earlier on today for a grand total of $1.78 .
Now I’ve decided to share it with my loyal blog viewers for free. Below are download links for both of em. Jazz remixes for the best of Usher and the best of Erykah Badu. Enjoy!!
The Best Of Usher-Smooth Jazz Version
