Thursday, September 24, 2009
KRISTEN MARTIN IS EXTRA SPECIAL!!
So, my very dear friend KrisTen is laboring under the misconception that she is not special. Anyone who knows her knows that this is absolutely false! so now my mission is to prove her wrong. Throughout the next few days I'll be updating my rant with cool things about KrisTen. It's up to you folks out there to help me help her appreciate the gem of a human being that she is! Stay tuned....
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Yeah, I know, it's late....
2 weeks ago when rocked mics with my man KO at the Deer Park Tavern (thanks Chorduroy!), new copies of the Economic Upswing Re-Issue hit the world unlabeled, saying on them "For tracklist go to" this here blog. Well, new job and such, I hadn't had a moment to do so. My bad, here it is:
1.Rhyme Pays (remix)
2.Nocturnal Emissions
3.Morning Would
4.Healthy 3
5.Cubism
6.Probable Cause (featuring NYC)
7.Metropolis (remix)
8.Take It Higher
9.Top Form
10.Elevation (f/Tomorrow and JJ Brown)
11.War of the Words
12.Lexicon
13.Strength of Mind (featuring JJ Brown)
*14.Temporal Anamoly
*15.
*16.Balance
*17.Giants
*18.Thought Y'all Knew (featuring JJ Brown and the1shanti)
*=Bonus track
Thanks for your patience and your support.
Peace
The Voice
1.Rhyme Pays (remix)
2.Nocturnal Emissions
3.Morning Would
4.Healthy 3
5.Cubism
6.Probable Cause (featuring NYC)
7.Metropolis (remix)
8.Take It Higher
9.Top Form
10.Elevation (f/Tomorrow and JJ Brown)
11.War of the Words
12.Lexicon
13.Strength of Mind (featuring JJ Brown)
*14.Temporal Anamoly
*15.
*16.Balance
*17.Giants
*18.Thought Y'all Knew (featuring JJ Brown and the1shanti)
*=Bonus track
Thanks for your patience and your support.
Peace
The Voice
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Damn we got weight on our shoulders....
The only real benefits from me getting railroaded out of my most recent day job (that story is for another day) have been the new opportunity I am about to start (peace to my new boss Ron) and that I have had a chance to really ponder some interesting stuff. Say what you will about daytime TV but every now and again you get some insight on some things from the most unexpected places. Today, for me, it came from a rerun of the Tyra Banks show.
Good hair.
It's something we've all heard but so few really know what it means. It's a concept that so many people in this country (sticking with American culture for now) have no real idea about yet their opinion about it matters. Hell, I know I didn't really think about it much, besides the occasional discussion here and there in college and the great musical number in Spike Lee's "School Daze" ( a personal favorite of mine). Never thought I'd have to really worry about it. And then, 6 years ago the Universe decided to bless me with a perfect little baby girl. Her mother is Puerto Rican so when word got out that we were having a girl, one thing I heard over and over was that she would really good hair.
Huh? I had know idea what to even think. Truth be told, I always thought that if had kids, it would be only boys (why I thought that, I couldn't tell you) and they'd get cuts when they were wolfin' just like I did. Now there's a whole new set of variables; what if she doesn't have "good hair"? My mom was taken from this mortal plane when I was ten, so there would be no help from her Grandma. I knew my big sister would help if need be, but what the wife knew about caring for black hair, I had no idea.
Fast forward to today. My daughter always gets compliments about her hair. It's hella curly, but it can do damn near whatever we want it to (big shouts out to Mixed Chicks, the product line that we use on her and my son's hair. What that's going to do to his psyche is another story for another time).
But I still wonder, how has the whole concept of good hair continued to hold weight? Especially from black people? I think we know by now that it's an idea born out of racism. That our ancestors were blatantly told of the ugliness of their features and sold the bill of goods that European features were superior. Today we're still caught up in trying to reach Eurocentric standards of beauty that we know are bogus. We still get told by corporate America that the styles we rock with our natural hair (cornrows, dreadlocks, blowouts, etc.) are unprofessional and unacceptable in their boardrooms and offices.
Yet we continue those same "unacceptable" hairstlye policies in our own companies. And yet not only do so many of us still try to reach those standards, but we also continue to push those standards on our kids. Especially our little girls. And it's many of their own mothers, grandmothers, sisters and friends bringing the "good hair" pressure to bear. Women who've had to deal with it and turn around and give it to another generation of girls.
Before anyone thinks that I'm coming down on just the sisters, recognize that's not the case. Yes the effects of this whole mess are most prevalent on them, but fellas we are just as gulity. We are the bosses who say that naturals are unacceptable. We are the men who will only date women with long, straight hair. (Hold up, Ran!!! Your lady has straight hair. Shit, she's not even black. Hypocrite! Don't you worry, we'll have that discussion later. Trust me on that.)
So black folks, what are going to do about this one? Is this our biggest problem? Hell no! But it matters and it's way too much fun to discuss. Everyone else, your questions, comments and input are certainly welcome. Get at me y'all.
Peace.
The Voice
Good hair.
It's something we've all heard but so few really know what it means. It's a concept that so many people in this country (sticking with American culture for now) have no real idea about yet their opinion about it matters. Hell, I know I didn't really think about it much, besides the occasional discussion here and there in college and the great musical number in Spike Lee's "School Daze" ( a personal favorite of mine). Never thought I'd have to really worry about it. And then, 6 years ago the Universe decided to bless me with a perfect little baby girl. Her mother is Puerto Rican so when word got out that we were having a girl, one thing I heard over and over was that she would really good hair.
Huh? I had know idea what to even think. Truth be told, I always thought that if had kids, it would be only boys (why I thought that, I couldn't tell you) and they'd get cuts when they were wolfin' just like I did. Now there's a whole new set of variables; what if she doesn't have "good hair"? My mom was taken from this mortal plane when I was ten, so there would be no help from her Grandma. I knew my big sister would help if need be, but what the wife knew about caring for black hair, I had no idea.
Fast forward to today. My daughter always gets compliments about her hair. It's hella curly, but it can do damn near whatever we want it to (big shouts out to Mixed Chicks, the product line that we use on her and my son's hair. What that's going to do to his psyche is another story for another time).
But I still wonder, how has the whole concept of good hair continued to hold weight? Especially from black people? I think we know by now that it's an idea born out of racism. That our ancestors were blatantly told of the ugliness of their features and sold the bill of goods that European features were superior. Today we're still caught up in trying to reach Eurocentric standards of beauty that we know are bogus. We still get told by corporate America that the styles we rock with our natural hair (cornrows, dreadlocks, blowouts, etc.) are unprofessional and unacceptable in their boardrooms and offices.
Yet we continue those same "unacceptable" hairstlye policies in our own companies. And yet not only do so many of us still try to reach those standards, but we also continue to push those standards on our kids. Especially our little girls. And it's many of their own mothers, grandmothers, sisters and friends bringing the "good hair" pressure to bear. Women who've had to deal with it and turn around and give it to another generation of girls.
Before anyone thinks that I'm coming down on just the sisters, recognize that's not the case. Yes the effects of this whole mess are most prevalent on them, but fellas we are just as gulity. We are the bosses who say that naturals are unacceptable. We are the men who will only date women with long, straight hair. (Hold up, Ran!!! Your lady has straight hair. Shit, she's not even black. Hypocrite! Don't you worry, we'll have that discussion later. Trust me on that.)
So black folks, what are going to do about this one? Is this our biggest problem? Hell no! But it matters and it's way too much fun to discuss. Everyone else, your questions, comments and input are certainly welcome. Get at me y'all.
Peace.
The Voice
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Side note....
A few months ago, I posted a note on Facebook telling the story of the DMH (drunken meatheads) that frequent the establishment where I work. There have been plenty since then ( one jackass I had to go to court over after he threatened to shoot up the place because we threw him out) but the other night's DMH was a new high (or low, if you would).
Some jackass decided it was the right time for him to yank a fire extinguisher off the wall and spray it all over the deck of the bar. I chased him down the block and almost caught him but I had to go back to the bar.
This brings me to my newest revelation about people, especially dudes. As a society we are so hyped about the concept of aging and getting old that most of us let it drive us nuts. Knowing that at some point we have to become adults and cut our hair a certain way and tuck in our shirts and other stupid shit like that, way too many guys feel as though the time before all of that happens is the time for us to get out all of our "childish" behaviors and wind up acting like fucking jackasses.
Take your average 18-28 yr. old guy (going ten years since so much of this blog is born of the last ten years of my life). There's lots of drinking and drug use to some degree (not saying that all of that is bad) and lots of the behavior that stems from it is absolute jackassery (my blog, I get to make up the words). And then somewhere in that point or shortly after there's a job, a haircut and a shave and a tucked in shirt (and quite possibly a tie, more on that another time). And most of that exuberance and energy, however misguided, is in an instant, gone.
Why? What are we scared of? Why can't we age and not get old? Is it possible for us to mature without growing up? I still love most of the stuff I loved at 15! Hip Hop, comic books, cartoons, action figures (yeah I said it). And yet I also raise my kids, bust my hump at whatever job I'm working, obey the law and generally stay out of trouble. All dressed in t-shirts and jeans (fuck slacks!), locks hanging, true school banging in the whip or the mp3 player. Does all of this make me less of a grown-up? I hope so. Grown-ups suck! There is no less fun group of people on the planet. I am most certainly a grown-ass man with responsibilities and roles I have to play for the betterment of my family, but a Grown-Up? Never!
All I'm saying is, guys, just because you have to someday accept responsibility for some things in you life doesn't mean that until then you have to act like a nimrod who takes responsibility for nothing. To quote one of my all time favorite MCs, "It's all about manitanin' balance"
Peace
The Voice
Some jackass decided it was the right time for him to yank a fire extinguisher off the wall and spray it all over the deck of the bar. I chased him down the block and almost caught him but I had to go back to the bar.
This brings me to my newest revelation about people, especially dudes. As a society we are so hyped about the concept of aging and getting old that most of us let it drive us nuts. Knowing that at some point we have to become adults and cut our hair a certain way and tuck in our shirts and other stupid shit like that, way too many guys feel as though the time before all of that happens is the time for us to get out all of our "childish" behaviors and wind up acting like fucking jackasses.
Take your average 18-28 yr. old guy (going ten years since so much of this blog is born of the last ten years of my life). There's lots of drinking and drug use to some degree (not saying that all of that is bad) and lots of the behavior that stems from it is absolute jackassery (my blog, I get to make up the words). And then somewhere in that point or shortly after there's a job, a haircut and a shave and a tucked in shirt (and quite possibly a tie, more on that another time). And most of that exuberance and energy, however misguided, is in an instant, gone.
Why? What are we scared of? Why can't we age and not get old? Is it possible for us to mature without growing up? I still love most of the stuff I loved at 15! Hip Hop, comic books, cartoons, action figures (yeah I said it). And yet I also raise my kids, bust my hump at whatever job I'm working, obey the law and generally stay out of trouble. All dressed in t-shirts and jeans (fuck slacks!), locks hanging, true school banging in the whip or the mp3 player. Does all of this make me less of a grown-up? I hope so. Grown-ups suck! There is no less fun group of people on the planet. I am most certainly a grown-ass man with responsibilities and roles I have to play for the betterment of my family, but a Grown-Up? Never!
All I'm saying is, guys, just because you have to someday accept responsibility for some things in you life doesn't mean that until then you have to act like a nimrod who takes responsibility for nothing. To quote one of my all time favorite MCs, "It's all about manitanin' balance"
Peace
The Voice
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Wanted: World's smallest violin player
Welcome, welcome. The name of this shit here is (Ten points go to whoever can tell me what classic track starts like that) Words from the Voice, that being me, yours truly, R-SON the Voice of Reason. We'll get into my nom de plume and its origins another day. For now I'd just like to vent a bit.
See, I'm about a month away from my 36th birthday, which means it's been about ten years since the beginning of the end of my master plan. It was born shortly after my graduation in 1998 from Penn State University (ranked no.1 party school for 2009! We Are...) and was subsequently shot in the ass in around September of 1999. the poor thing didn't even get to see it's one year birthday. (More on the plan and it's premature demise coming soon...)
AnyHoo, the reason why I'm looking for the world's smallest violinist, is of course, to play the world's smallest violin for and actually mean it. It's been an interesting decade, some great, some fucked up, but in all most definitely interesting. I'm going to be taking anyone who takes the time to read this on a journey through the last few years, while making stops in the present and heading full steam toward....THE FUTURE (in Doc's voice from Back to the Future)!! Buckle up and stay tuned.
Peace
The Voice
See, I'm about a month away from my 36th birthday, which means it's been about ten years since the beginning of the end of my master plan. It was born shortly after my graduation in 1998 from Penn State University (ranked no.1 party school for 2009! We Are...) and was subsequently shot in the ass in around September of 1999. the poor thing didn't even get to see it's one year birthday. (More on the plan and it's premature demise coming soon...)
AnyHoo, the reason why I'm looking for the world's smallest violinist, is of course, to play the world's smallest violin for and actually mean it. It's been an interesting decade, some great, some fucked up, but in all most definitely interesting. I'm going to be taking anyone who takes the time to read this on a journey through the last few years, while making stops in the present and heading full steam toward....THE FUTURE (in Doc's voice from Back to the Future)!! Buckle up and stay tuned.
Peace
The Voice
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