Spittin' Fire 3-7-06

Damn this post is loooong overdue.

Initially I had dreams of putting together a site that gave a taste of my artistic ability with just a sprinkle of my design skill. However, I eventually (like last week) accepted that when it comes to being creative, I am one anal mofo, and at the rate I was going I would not have an "acceptable" design until September.

Soo...here is the post that kicked off the content of the page that I was working on.
Many things have changed since then, so I have decided to add a little commentary in green.

Spittin' Fire
I love all music, but I recently rekindled an old flame with hip-hop. My current fix is on artists that I consider superhuman (lame) with their lyrical prowess, or in other words, lyricists that "spit fire"(son!). Since the spitting of fire is relative, I will explain what I listen for in a fire spitter.

Well...simply put: Content and Delivery.
At the time of writing this, I had begun reading the lyrics to many of my favorite songs. It started off as me trying to figure out what some of these non-enunciating mofos were saying, then it was out of astonishment that they were capable of manipulating so much so easily to actually go with the music.

You would think that these two things are a given, but take a closer listen to the "pop-rap" of the past 5 years.
Okay, Okay...I can feel myself wanting to lose focus, so back to content, or "fire" if you will. The content can scream, "On the mic, I am a bad-@$$ mutha-@$#!!!", or it can scream "It's @$#!! up out here on these streets (or anywhere else), pay attention!", but the point is that it has to be meaningful and/or show that the lyricist is witty, creative, energetic, and sees his/her craft as an art form.

So if you read or listen to any of the lyrics I am posting about in this section, and expect to hear/read about "bitches", rims, bling, thuggin, or being in a club, you are out of luck. Not that this type of music is all bad, I just have not been listening to its gems( which are few and far between but exist) recently. I will post my picks for that kind of music later.

Oh yeah...I almost forgot about delivery. Well...you can have fire, but if you can't spit it like a dragon gargling napalm...then...well...stick to writing. Delivery is about how lyrics are spoken, their rhythm, and how they sound. Good delivery should help the lyrics hold their own as music, as well have the ability to make lyrics more powerful when combined with beats, instruments, vocals, etc.

But why should you care?
If you like hip-hop, and you can agree with some of the above, then listen and read some of the works listed below. Hopefully I can add some good music to your collecton.

So here a just a few of my favorite fire spitters, and some of their work that I am diggin' these days.
Current Fire Spitter List

* Common aka Common Sense
* Mos Def
* Black Thought (Frontman for The Roots)
* Talib Kweli
* Mr. Lif
* Jeru the Damaja
* Lauren Hill (Part of The Fugees, also a talented singer)
* The GZA (From the Wu-Tang Clan)
* Saukrates

Some of their Spittle(yes, I said spittle!)

* "Respiration" by Blackstar (Mos Def and Talib Kweli) ft Common Sense
* "No Great Pretender" by The Roots (Black Thought, Malik B)
* "No Alibi" by the Roots (Black Thought, Malik B)
* "How many mics" by the Fugees (Lauren Hill)
* "The Corner" by Common Sense
* "Action (Remix)" by Saukrates
* "New Man's Theme" by Mr. Lif
* "Live from the Plantation" by Mr.Lif
* "Liquid Swords" by the GZA
* "Come Clean" by Jeru The Damaja

Remember that this is not a list of my greatest rappers/rap songs of all times. I can easily spend hour listing songs and rappers that I love. This is just what I am feelin' nowadays and will probably change next week.

-Bdon

Umm...just check me out on Last FM if you wanna know what I am listening to. But I still plan on posting to awesome songs...whaddya know? I added a link to "Respiration" by Blackstar.
Lata Bs

Sick Week

First I thought that it was just allergies, but the congestion - thin and thick, clear and yellow - did not go away. People would ask me, "Dood, are you sick?", and I always responded "nawwh, it's just allergies," which was only the half of it. Cat allergies, Pollen allergies, known-unknown allergies - all conspired with some wretched virus or bacteria to make my week hell.

Now, I am probably complaining more than most people would with the same level of sickness, but let it be known that I hate being sick and turn into a whiney bitch whenever I get sick. So... slightly miserable is probably the best description.

So this week was not as productive as I wanted it but I am going to blab about it anyway:


Wednesday
"Dood, are you sick?" "No. Just allergies"


Thursday - Friday
Completely fine.


Saturday
BBQ
Mostly cat sniffles.
The beginning of the crappiness. But still in denial.

Bright Spots:

• Da Posse
  
• BBQ Brats!
• Christina yelling at me and Dave before taking the magical allergy medicine. "Wash your hands!" "Wash yo face!"
• Grant's Performances
• Funny Story Game ( I tell the truth the same way that I lie. This has only been good for me when playing poker.)
  

Sunday
More crappiness but still in denial.


Monday
I wasn't really getting anything done at the beginning of the week at work. Sniffling, lack of concentration, and there is something about where my desk is that drains my energy. Maybe because it's always around 80 degrees where I sit, because I am within the heat-blast radious of my co-worker's space heater.

Productivity didn't change much when I got home because all I wanted to do was sleep. After napping and regaining a little energy, I made the mistake of fighting/wrestling KC for 1.5 hours to review for my belt test in JKD/BJJ. Actually, I am glad that I did because it is always fun and helpful, but it definitely would have been better for my health to not do it. But I guess I was still in denial at this point. "Just allergies."

Even later that night, after 2x the recommended dosage of sudafed, along with benydryl, and claritin, my nose stopped working. It tingled and I could barely squeeze air through it without it sounding like I was farting out of my face. It helped to sleep upright, so I did for about 2 hours.

Bright spots:

• Pizza
• Fighting
• Tasha/KC/Matt

Tuesday
The next night I ended up not taking my belt test. The previous night of fighting and the lack of sleep made me a zombie at work. Surprisingly, I got work done, and the energy from having a productive day almost fooled me into going to JKD/BJJ to take my belt test. Instead I slept on the couch, and watching some independent Star Wars movie to occupy my waking minutes. Oh god it sucked. I am sure it would have been bad despite the state of consciousness I may be in. Drugs and sleep deprivation is where it's at.

Later that night I hung out with part of the posse. Coldstone, Starbucks, Zorba's, Quad Chillin'...

Oh, and I was no longer in denial about being sick, and I found out that I had infected someone else.

Bright Spots:

• Convo with Rich
• Hanging out with Posse
• Late night phone calls on a dying cell phone

Wednesday
I almost didn't make it to work Wednesday morning. I got up, eyes burning, nose dripping, throat sore, debating. Thick, yellow phlegm. Should I rest? Do I want the money? Should I try to at least get the remaining projects done so I don't have to worry about them? I decided to go. I was productive for about the first 2 hours of work. It was awesome. So I went do lunch, thinking "I am gonna get all my stuff done 2-day", skipping down the street, hugging babies, helping old ladies across the street...but then I was blindsided by a rescheduled 2 hour long staff meeting. Sukk.

Okay... at this point I am getting tired of typing so I am just going to list things that happened...

Looked for glasses frames and hung out with Tasha.
Cleaned my room.
Met with Taiji Bros to finalize tee shirt design.

The funniest part of the day was a story that Tim told me. I laugh everytime I think about it.

Bright Spots:

• Getting work done
• Tim's Hilarious story.
• Circular Tee Shirt Designing with Bros ("wash your organs")
• Making...er..um...convincing Tasha to get up and study.

Today
Late last nite, I took a deep breath and felt like I was gonna couch phlegm out of my lungs. This was a good sign that I should not spend the next morning working. So I called in. Fortunately, the lung phlegm never showed itself, and I got a lot of needed sleep.

Have been sleeping/eating light/drinking juice in my house most of the day, but took a little trip to the quad with Tim to see the giant cardboard sculptures, and to get away from all this pollenated air.

Let's just say that if I had a urinary tract infection, it has been Ocean Sprayed away.

Oh yeah, it's 4-20.

Bright Spots:

• Hearing about my mom.
• Sleeping.
• Lentil Soup.
• Talking trash to "this girl I know".

Conclusion
The week wasn't so bad but I would have had a better time with no allergens and pathogens involved. Next week should be jammed packed with more hanging out, eating, drinking, fighting, and late nite adventures.

Lata bitches. No disrespect.