hope for hip hop...

THERE IS HOPE!!! it's not that i think hip hop is dead, but it sure is on life support and there are only a few artists who are contributing to its dwindling life. jay electronica would be one of those people. peep the vid for exhibit a. dope showing!

crash landing

today marks an important day for a dude i've been able to tour the world with. curt chambers has finally released his "crash landing" mixtape. go ahead and download that joint, as it is free, and enjoy a great solo effort from the guy.

for better or worse...

the ripple that is created by simply tossing a stone into a lake probably extends way further than one could imagine. just the same, the actions we take probably have a greater affect than we may ever fathom to be possible. i guess this very well speaks to the lack of action as well.

seems like at certain points in our lives or at the occurrence of certain events, we are forced to consider whether or not we made the right decisions in times past. and there is always the lingering question of "what if", even if just out of curiosity, when thinking if there was a better way to go about something. i wonder if it's even healthy to consider these things though. regardless of how we may try to replay these things in our minds, it doesn't change who has already occurred. at best, it may only be somewhat of a gauge of how to conduct ourselves in the future.

some things never work out the way we desire, and certainly most things hardly work out when we desire them to. but at the same rate, they all work out the way God designed them to. and i think this is hard for a lot of us to understand. we serve a timeless God, but we live a timed life. i think it's probably natural that a lot of us have a sense of urgency when it comes to our dreams, our wants, our desires, and our ultimate goals and path in life. we don't know if we'll live to see tomorrow, so there's a certain drive to accomplish as much as possible today, right now. and sometimes that just doesn't line up with God's plan. weird.

all of that as a foreword to my point - you can't stop living until you stop living. but in living, we need to consciously consider owning and demonstrating virtues. love. charity. kindness. care. compassion. forgiveness. all of these things. we need to consider our actions and what they can actually mean to ourselves and others. we need to live to our greater potential while we still have a chance. we need to spread as much love as possible in a dying world. we're losing people everyday, and while this is common knowledge, 2009 publicized the fact time after time. these disasters that are taking place, the deaths that are occurring, the changes that are being made in our society... we need to consider these things, discover a greater purpose, and live to achieve that purpose. let's be a greater part, a more positive impacting part, a more effectively influential part in each others' lives and the lives of those who surround us. when it comes to our lives... this is the part that we can at least control. what things work out, when, and how they work out is another story. but knowing we want favorable things to work out in good timing and in beneficial ways, let's live in a way that would make these things the results of our actions. and if everything still goes wrong... at least we did our part in trying to see to it that they went right.

pz&love

-gr0ove

ps. this doesn't come without pain. but then again, neither does life.

long time...

lord have mercy! i guess i've neglected this blog of mine for awhile. my world has been spinning relentlessly. last post was late september. what i've accomplished since: a european tour, another live recording, quite a bit of production that will soon be released publicly, tons of gigs/shows with various artists... it's been a wild past couple of months. nonetheless, i'm back, and attempting to voice some more opinions more frequently.

GO COWBOYS!! - take that for now. i'll address some more momentarily.

on the go!

man... it's been wild this whole entire year. and it continues with this...

blessed with the opportunity to experience greater in life. hopefully it's a testament to the fact that if you wanna do it, you can. coupled with hard work, dedication, and prayer... it's all possible. i think it's a little deeper than preparation meeting opportunity for things to take place. we all have something unique within us that will appeal to someone somewhere on first impression that can probably advance us in ways we can't believe. prepared or not. what happens after that is what requires the preparation. whatever the case may be... we are capable. question is are we determined. determined enough to accept the criticism without breaking. determined enough to make adjustments necessary for improvement. determined enough to persevere until your grind pays off. it's certainly not an overnight deal, but if you're willing to work and wait... who knows where you may be or go next. but you can't take no for an answer, just like you can't let anyone take the break that you were supposed to get.

i'm excited to get to do all of this, but i'm more excited over a fact of life that says nothing is impossible. these things that so many of us look at and desire, aren't really all that far from our reach. believe in yourself and assess yourself critically, without bias and naivete. then do whatever it takes to be ready. it pays off. october makes 1 year for me. that's my testimony. it happens!

pz&<3

-gr0ove

break free

big up to the homie skee who finally released his long awaited mixtape "Break Free". i think he has the chance to be a huge breakout artist. very honest release. as a long time friend i can attest to what's said on this mixtape. break free homie and hold ya faith - things don't stay bad forever, just a matter of when you go proactive and make them better.

and so here's hoping to him getting the opportunity he desires to have his music be in the ears of the world! download the jaint! it's free. and you ain't got nothin else to do anyways. click the pic b!

ps. i guess i could mention the intro... yeah me and mlkjr did that 1.

pz&love

-gr0ove

big day!

so i wanna just publicly congratulate the homie eric roberson on his 6th cd releasing today. music fan first is out now! all you music lovers need to RUN and go get it. i also wanna congratulate the homie and mentor eldar on his 4th release - virtue. not to mention, robert glasper released "double booked" today as well. i have ample music to enjoy on this flight to ohio tomorrow.

people! please support good music. it's rare these days.

also, RIP to aaliyah as today is the 8th anniversary of her tragedy. do check out the rendition of "care for you" i did for jesse boykins III as well.

time to enjoy life again!! GOOD MUSIC HAS ARRIVED!

pz&<3&happylistening

-gr0ove