Welcome to The Other Side of the Universe

So I just recently came up with a model for my next mixtape's artwork. Not too shabby eh?

I'm about to post up a bunch of music from my fellow RVA hustlas out here too. We all just wanna have our voices heard right?

On a side note, expect great things from this next and possibly last mixtape for awhile...

My Last Mixtape: The Download

This is how you get to the music (for those that might have trouble):

-Unzip the file

-Go here to download an "unzipping" program

-You'll be left with a folder. Drag and drop that into your music player...

The Long Anticipated Drop

Within 2011, I've dropped a total of 8 singles and 7 of them have made it to my newest mixtape, "Get It Fo It's Gone". There is a huge variety of music here, 15 tracks of roller coaster rhythm for the true hip-hop head and novice listener alike. The beats used are a mix of mainstream sounds and YouTube/Soundclick inspirations. I decided to burn every last blank CD I have with this project and from there only make it available online, so the physical copies are in limited supply (thus the name, "Get It Fo It's Gone...") Mixed and mastered (in my bedroom), I present to you the Due Justice mixtape.

*Note: You can also download it from the Free Downloads tab.

(2011) Get It Fo It's Gone

The Beginning of the End

We have given our voices, cracked open our hearts, shared our visionz, and experienced something that most people will never know or even dream of before Death. We did not make Final Stage, but we did cement our position as one of the top 20 teams in the nation. I have learned much from our journey. The most valuable being: dreams are not figments of your imagination; they are symbols for what your reality strives to be. God changes lives through our words, but words mean nothing without dreams. I'll be posting up pics from the rest of the event also. Stay tuned, anything can happen...

Slamily Reunion

As we travel through the valleys of the Mojave Desert, I sit, listening to Nas & Damian Marley- Africa Must Wake Up. I reflect on the past 3 days...

After arriving in Oklahoma City, we met up with Lauren, a kind-hearted local poet. Discussions of BNV, life in Oklahoma and deep metaphysical concepts acclimated us to where we would be spending the night. While we talked, a talented, young, abstract artist by the name of Briem gave me a piece of fan art he made for me.

Finally settled in, we went to a local burger joint to dine before the night's activities.

Unfortunately, we were not able to perform a show that night, however we did workshop with the local poets, Lauren and Collin, who helped us tremendously with our performance techniques. Posture, inflection and projection were the focus of our workshop.

We slept well that night and woke up early to hit the road again.

Passing through Groom, Texas (population 587), we ended up in Albequerque, New Mexico. Upon our arrival, we surprised John 'Survivor' Blake, former coach of Slam Richmond as well as Slam Dominion.

That night, Slam Dominion performed a few group pieces for an audience of approximately 20 people. We were followed by Albequerque's adult slam team who played a game of "poetry tag" which resulted in a plethora of amazing group pieces! They traded a few CDs with us and we left to rest.

The morning after, we visited a historical part of Albequerque known as "Oldtowne". It is primarily a place where artistic expression is still appreciated and it gave us hope for the future of art. For more detail on this part of our trip visit . I won't be able to upload the videos on Blogspot right now, but on my Tumblr, Bluntville (tumblr), videos of some of our individual performances along with two videos showing a tour of the Saint Felipe church and an explanation by Survivor of it's origins, will be posted immediately after this blog post.



That evening we met the Albequerque youth slam team and performed with each other sharpening our skills for the national competition only 48 hours away. One of the team members, Devonte, left us with his rap mixtape, which I might post online at a later date.

Dinner was at the Route 66 diner and shortly afterward we hit the road through the night. Listening to Devonte's mixtape, nervous about our next destination, San Fransisco, we rode into the desert night.




Show everyone you know the Kickstarter widget on the right side of my blog! Slam Richmond still needs donations to send the adult slam team to Boston for NPS (National Poetry Slam). Keep checking my blog for more updates!

PS- Why does the Holy Water look like toilet water?

Where in the World is Slam Dominion?

These are a few pics from day 1 of our trip to San Fransosco for BNV. I'll be uploading videos later. As of right now we are in Arkansas (just had some delicious food at a Cracker Barrel in Little Rock). Scratch that. I've just been notified that we're in Oklahoma. So, because my fingers are tired and voice primed from severe on-the-road practice, I'm gonna end this with a wish us luck by commenting on the posts as I update them. We've got a show in Oklahoma, so I'll update when that happens.

If you haven't already, check out that handy dandy Kickstarter widget on the right side of my blog. Slam Richmond still needs moolah for their trip to NPS. Even if you don't donate, I advise you to visit Slam Richmond at 5pm for the free writing workshop, followed by the free show at 8pm (poet time lol).

T-Minus Two Days Until BraveNewVoices (National Spoken Word Competition)

On July 15, 2011, Slam Dominion (Richmond's youth slam poetry team) will be driving out to San Fransisco in order to represent Virginia in the national poetry event known as BNV. Four young team members, including myself, will be gracing a national platform to perform spoken word poetry. Every team hopes to win first place by surviving finals, but the experience of meeting up with other poets from around the world is just as great.

In years past, hip-hop artists such as Common and Talib Kweli have hosted and/or been present for the festivities. HBO also has a series called "Russell Simmons Presents Brave New Voices", dedicated to following select teams and their journeys to BNV. Thousands of people will gather to hear their peers express themselves and give life to Word.

To support this arduous quest across America, you can donate directly to the team by clicking the Slam Richmond Kickstarter Widget, found on the right side of the home page on my blog. All proceeds go to the youth and adult teams and fund our trips to San Fransisco, CA and Boston, MA respectively.

Can't Stop the Dealin'!

 

Thanks to a poet-friend of mines, Lauren Parker, I've come across some interesting information. It seems that the data in this picture is from 2008, which is a pretty recent update for a statistical survey. In it, we see that marijuana has the potential to not only show the true nature of American drug culture but also fix the slope of our descending economy.

Many people argue that marijuana won't be legalized specifically because it will not bring money to our government. It reproduces its own seeds. Some people argue that it won't be legalized because minorities who push the drug hard will become overnight business CEO, added to the rank of elite capitalists. But what is most common is the belief that legalization is inevitable, partially due to information such as what is in the above picture.

Well, we must consider... let's say the government trusts a corporation such as Monsanto, one of the biggest and most profitable agricultural producers during this "recession", to help distribute marijuana seeds to America's various farms and plantations. Monsanto owns something called Terminator technology, which when used could stop the reproduction of seeds. If certain people who control the illegal drug market now are somehow "slipped" these seeds, their new crops would only grow for one season and we would have to buy the rest, taxed, from our government.

But what if things continue as they are now, with regular seeds... would you continue to buy from your local dealer? Most people I know would say yes, but here we should stop and think. If we keep buying from private dealers, the legalization process won't show anywhere NEAR as much improvement in economy, which could lead to some serious problems. Yeah sure, it would be taxed, but there are bigger problems at hand right now.

Don't waste the potential to change the world! 

The Red Room Explosion: Part 1

I never would have thought I'd see a real-life chi explosion. Yesterday, in the wee hours of the morning, one man embodied the Tao. He uses the sight granted him (what we would call imagination) to explain reality and his perspective shines in the music produced.

Black Liquid represents the RVA (Richmond, VA), a city of hip-hop prophets and talent High Up Above Mount Olympus.

This 28 year old rhymer (fuck the (w)rapper and the (lolli)pop in it) has been traveling through the USA all his life and has spread his lyrical wings over the 804. Recently, he has performed multiple times with such legends as Snoop Dogg and Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony. He melts faces on the radio as well. On a show that he hosts, MCs from all over come and freestyle: "music for the rest of us".

 

 
After finishing a show in the Hat Factory, Black Liquid says, "Yo, I'm about to lay down some heavy shit. Come with." From Shockoe Bottom we traveled into Black Liq's studio, which he calls home.

The atmosphere was esoteric. Tao te Ching and other philosophical works lying around in heaps. Along with a LOT of video games and collectibles.
 

 

I can honestly say, it is rare to see an MC record with such vigor. Within an hour, Black Liquid recorded and edited a brutally honest look on the music industry. The track was recorded with such inner flame that my homey and the man behind the lens, The Holik, fainted twice and underwent an out-of-body experience.

What did Black Liquid have to say about this?

"I steal niggas' chi."

Afterwards, we had to bring in the fans and cool down the territory (which is the hum you hear in the background of the first video). What you are about to see is an exclusive look into the "Black Liquid Experience". The interview turned out so epic that multiple SD cards couldn't contain it. So the interview will be broken up into multiple parts which will be updated post-haste. A man of many words and little tolerance for bullshit, Bluntville presents: The Red Room Explosion, part 1.

Washington State: Proposition Nine All Over Again?

So how come last night, I heard the most amazing piece of information concerning the possibility of a real Bluntville. I was chilling at The Camel with Grape Clothing, watching all these wonderful bands such as For Serious This Time and TDivision, when a man came to me with information about Washington state's newest push for legalization of Mary Jane.

So I did a little research on this and it seems like marijuana has already been decriminalized for medical use. For those of you who don't know what that means, it is basically the first step towards legalization and allows what were previously classified as crimes to be penalties.

But now, according to The Associated Press, full legalization may be around the corner. Washington state citizens will be able to carry and smoke up to an ounce of cannabis at any given time- FOR FUN. I think that if this goes through, Washington state's population will skyrocket and the domino effect will take place. Other states will start to see the benefits of marijuana's legalization and follow suit.

This article cites supporters who said,
"The money would bring in at least $215 million a year in taxes, which would largely be earmarked for drug treatment and education, while eroding the black market that fuels drug-related crime in the state..."

Seems like the USA has just been delaying the inevitable... Bluntville is going to become a reality and only time will tell when.

JPS LOVE JAPAN Fundraiser Event

What are you doing at 8:00 pm on a Sunday night? OH that's right, you're going to The Camel on Broad Street! Tonight, some of RVA's finest hip-hop talent is performing. Many MCs, including myself, are going to be ripping it for Japan.

It costs $5 to get attend and all proceeds will be donated to The Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund. View more details here: Earthquake/ Tsunami Relief


Come out and show love for Japan while also supporting some of Richmond, VA's best performers. See you there!

The Forte Show: A Night of Poetry

Gonna be practicing for the next few days in preparation of this show. I'm gonna be doing a 30 minute set of my original spoken word pieces mixed with my rap songs. If you're in North Carolina, come out this Friday and participate. If you're not able to come, wish me luck!

Author Zadie Smith’s Rules for Writers

Source Link

1) When still a child, make sure you read a lot of books. Spend more time doing this than anything else.
2) When an adult, try to read your own work as a stranger would read it, or even better, as an enemy would.
3) Don’t romanticise your “vocation”. You can either write good sentences or you can’t. There is no “writer’s lifestyle”. All that matters is what you leave on the page.
4) Avoid your weaknesses. But do this without telling yourself that the things you can’t do aren’t worth doing. Don’t mask self-doubt with contempt.
5) Leave a decent space of time between writing something and editing it.
6) Avoid cliques, gangs, groups. The presence of a crowd won’t make your writing any better than it is.
7) Work on a computer that is disconnected from the ­internet.
8) Protect the time and space in which you write. Keep everybody away from it, even the people who are most important to you.
9) Don’t confuse honours with achievement.
10) Tell the truth through whichever veil comes to hand – but tell it. Resign yourself to the lifelong sadness that comes from never ­being satisfied.

Eat, Pray, Queef: The Road Warrior Queef

This just made me laugh so hard I sneezed and made my brain hurt.

The Sun is Mutating Stuff?

http://www.projectworldawareness.com/2010/10/terrifying-scientific-discovery-strange-emissions-by-sun-are-suddenly-mutating-matter/
According to this article, there may be some scientific evidence backing up this whole “Shift in Consciousness” stuff people have been talking about. Now, I’m not saying that the whole Mayan calendar/ prediction thing is true. I’m just saying that some of the doomsday scenarios which have been painted MAY have some validation here.
Check out the article for yourself, it’s pretty scary. Maybe later today I’ll post about what I think it all means… or some other day when I’m not groggy from 4/20 lol.