Biography read about me, my style and what I'm all about.
…”Modern throwbacks are not yesterday’s classics –
Find me outside ya school throwin boxes for practice.”
There are all sorts of highs and lows people hit. Some are chemically induced for pleasure or pain, some form because we internalize (fill in blank) one time too many, and the rest I like to conveniently blame on the way of the world – those situations out of our control where, despite our best efforts, the shit is FUBAR’d and resolution will always be unattainable.
These particular climbs and falls were collectively described to me once over some warm beer and really bland lobster quite simply as a roller coaster. It took awhile, but I came to realize that the ride is not to be taken for granted, because frankly, some people don’t even get the chance to get in line, real language.
While I probably don’t call upon those words often enough, they do illustrate a point. It tells me that there is always something worth hoping for, and that what goes down is bound to come up. It also tells me that life will be full of disappointment and that, roses, as sweet as they smell and as great as they look, will die. Our dreams often follow a similar pattern, but what’s dope about a dream is that it is the one thing we can control. It’s ours, and no one else’s. It is ours to create, to plan and to actualize. Until our eyes close for the final time, our dreams don’t die unless we let them. And so it is at that point where hip hop means the most to me.
Everyone has their own path through life: some do, some teach and the rest are students. On the breakdown, some live behind the bar, others remain on the opposite side of the glass. Looking deeper, you see a lot of salesman, fewer models and even less risking all as entrepreneurs. And at the tail end, there are even some who respond to a higher calling, cut from a different cloth, the men and women that put their foot before ours in service; in point of fact, THEY do what they do so the rest of us can do what we do. But whatever it is YOU do, however it is YOU describe yourself… life has given you your own path and allowed you to guide and/or fuck yourself into the position, personality, vicinity and mind-state that you currently occupy.
An emcee’s sole purpose is to communicate that moment. Through song, my sole responsibility is to convey a message and make sense of the thoughts, emotions, anecdotes, stories, jokes and everything in between that’s makes up our lives. For three minutes, you and I don’t see each other as flawed individuals; in those minutes, walls come down and minds are turned on. It’s a chance to move beyond the bullshit, to a grown-folks place where we look squarely at ourselves and understand exactly what it is we were put here to do. I make music for imperfect people to feel OK about being imperfect.
…”Efforts remain sane through bumps and lumps –
Tryin to keep the music from skippin and such –
Gotta have the laughter, smiles and tears –
Together our fears will forever be memories in years –
That come and pass eventually…
Through the peephole of perception, I see, Opportunity remember me.”
That’s all you really need to know about me. But if you’re still looking for more… this is thrift-shop hiphop and second-hand soul. It's hiphop the Beatles would have made. If they rapped. Aha or.. think Slug & Lupe Fiasco playin beer pong with Guiliani & the Bush twins. At Vince Vaughn's house. Mix in a lil Honus Wagner & some vintage Tyson with Sinatra’s splash of bourbon and uh, yea… holler.
ABOUT "THE THRIFT SHOP EXPERIENCE"
While I had originally planned to only lace a few joints I had kicking around, The Thrift Shop Experience somehow morphed into a 15-track follow-up to The Borrowed LP. Building upon the themes of growth and moving forward from that mixtape, The Thrift Shop Experience functions as an album where old memories converge with a present finally dedicated, and ultimately looks to stir a future full of hope - hope for hip hop and thru that, a faith in it's people.
The metaphor of the thrift shop is simply that, as each of us goes through life, we gain experience. Along the way, certain things we hold close to us and physical items we use every day become a reflection of that journey. That is, every shirt has a story, every glass knows both the laughter and tears, each wrinkle hides a secret and, for the most part, every worn pair of shoes represents a well-traveled soul. When we get together and share these items, these experiences, we build upon a greater story. If you think about it, a thrift shop is the ultimate marketplace for our own personal history. It's our lives. The songs contained on this album are just a few of my experiences that I wanted to donate back...
And to that end, the TSE is actually a story. With Powerplant Productions, DJay Cas, Terminill and AddSoul on the boards, the TSE wraps a year-long story into one night, the night I actually handed DJ Premier a copy of The Borrowed LP at a venue in Brooklyn. The songs play a soundtrack to the evening, traveling from Journal Square, to the World Trade Center, to a cipher outside the spot, to a chance encounter with a street musician, and back home again, reliving a few hours that I can really only describe as truly HIP HOP.
The Thrift Shop Experience was officially released on May 6, 2008. There are four songs streaming now at MySpace, and several other options to support the god's music at places like PayPal, iTunes, CD Baby or Dig Station.
