Mikey Kotz

06/05/13
I broke away from some self help audio book to write this. It was talking about how one must establish a set of values, and stick by them, in order to gain confidence. Giving this some serious thought, right now, assessing my values, hmmmmm let me see, they’re common values that most folks share: maintaining loving relationships with family and friends, working hard, achieving financial stability, blah blah blah. Other than that, I can quote Redman and say that I’m “low down and dirty, but not ashamed.” Oh yea, completing what I put on a to do list is something I always strive to do, and writing in this blog has been on my list for a few days, so here we go.

Everyday is a fight!! And you gotta have some fight in you to keep going in this life. There was a period of time over the past month where I was doing the bare minimum to get by. I wasn’t writing or playing music, cleaning my crib, shaving, hanging with friends, or doing anything productive besides going to work everyday. That’s not a life, that’s not a life for me anyway. I’m not sure if this acute depression had spurred from overuse of alcohol, or the fact that I’d let down my family due to me being a crazy asshole, I don’t know. All I know is that it took a couple of weeks of this behavior before I had to dig myself out of that hole. It’s a fight, everyday, and my advice to anyone experiencing something similar is this: stand up, clean up, quit eating shitty foods and drinking lots of alcohol for a while, call your friends or family, and get out and get moving, even if it’s a walk around the block. I’m no therapist, obviously, but I think that that’s a good place to start.

After a few appointments over at Collapsible studios here in Asheville, the touching up of Mikey Kotz and Martin Snoddy’s latest release is now coming to a close. We should begin promoting this in about a month to be released in a following month, so, 2 months, yeeeeah dawg.

I attached some live footage of a performance of myself and Alpha Lee at the Boiler Room in Asheville from may 25, filmed by ed. That was a good night, many emcees in the city getting together to rock. I think most everybody, myself included, are beginning to set their personal bs and egos aside and unite with this movement. It’s deadstock season!

Below that I’ve attached that little self help thing I was listening to. Check it out, even if you only use 20% of it, it’s worthwhile.

Everyday dammit! It’s my goal everyday to put up a fight for what I want out of this life. And what I want, among many things, is to make a musical recording that I’m proud of, so that I’m willing to invest $$ in promotion. It’s a journey!

The 4 C’s: Clarity, Conviction, Commitment and Consistency

04/30/13

Holy moley, even when the workday unleashes a beat down, at the end of the day, one really must press on. I was talking with one of the guys at work saying that ever since starting this job, I havent had time to do anything like write music or clean my house and car. This is not true. I do have time, I just pussy out at the end of every day and give into the fatigue! No more will this be the case. It’s Tuesday people, and the weekend’s hangover is almost completely out of the body, so let’s get movin.

So yo, last Saturday, May 27th of the year 2013, was awesome. I shot guns with my buddies all day out in Sandy Mush to ease the tension before what was to be one of the funnest shows yet. Free Radio (Formerly known as the Ville Boyz) are my homies and it was a pleasure to work with those guys. They’ve been on the Asheville hip-hop scene for ten years now, and their success is much deserved, those guys are awesome, respect! Alpha Lee the Don MC, Brooklyn-born Asheville-based emcee, killed during his solo set, and jumped on a few tracks with me during my set. Alpha Lee may be an old man, but he’s a very talented and very intelligent human being, and whether he’s on or off stage, people love this man. We’ve planned on doing a few recordings together but you know how things in show biz go: ideas sometimes get ahead of action! Anyway, big thanks to all thos guys: Free Radio, Alpha Lee, and everyone at the Emerald Lounge for making Saturday one hell of an unforgettable night!

So Mike and I’s project is still in the process of getting mastered and what was going to be a 10 track project has been cut down to a 5 track. I wanna feel good about what I put out, and if that means eliminating a lot of bullshit (even if it sounds good), so be it. It’s like this blog, the only press I’ve gotten as a musician was last year in the Mountain Express, and it was centered around this blog. So people click on a link in the article that takes them to my entries where I’m talking about ass and titties, and sayin fuck this and fuck that. I don’t write like that as much now, but I don’t take my old entries down. I’m on a journey just like all ya’ll. And even though I’m still not quite comfortable writing personal accounts of my life in here, I do it anyway! And if I feel like writing about ass and titties, ya’ll will be the first to see it!

Alright, peace out chall! Love yall sons a gunz. Don’t let that 9 to 5 run you into the ground, and stay true to you and those who mean most! Later my peoples!

Photo by my homeboy that’s been riding and dying with me since I was aged 1: SPIKE

04/02/2013

Just got off of work and stopped downtown before I went home. Is it me, or do the bums in my town feel overly entitled to respect and affection? This homeless kid says whatsup to me so I say whatsup back, in what could have been a simple interaction. But then he comes back with “You really don’t give a shit.” And you know what? He is correct. I don’t. He can fall off a cliff.

So Mike and I recorded our EP (it’s an ep now because there aren’t enough tracks for it to be considered a full length album) over the weekend of March the 15th. In 2 and a half days we spent a total of 24 hours in the studio together. A lot of hard work. Now I’m waiting on Mike to get these things touched up a bit, we didn’t have time to completely master the tracks while I was down there.

Briefly I want to touch on something that’s crossed my mind a few times over the course of these last few weeks: work ethic. See, even though I didn’t take full advantage of education as it was presented to me, and considering I’ve quit or been fired from a few jobs in the past, I want to thank my dad anyway for being around to make me go to school or work. He never bought it when I lied about being sick to get out of going to class, and he wanted me to be the first on the job and not quit working just because it was too tough. So even though school, for the most part, sucked, and work was oftentimes very unenjoyable; my dad taught me as a very young man that many times in life, YOU GOTTA DO WHAT YOU GOTTA DO to excel in life, and not be a bum! That is one of the many things he taught me. These days, I’m a hard working man in and OUT of the studio largely due to his teachings!

So tonight I’m gonna work on new material. Past that, I can’t even think what I’m going to do next. But I’ll be sure to hit this little page up soon enough. For those of ya’ll reading this: I love you muthafuckas from the bottom of my heart! So until next time ladies and gents, sayonara!

03/12/2013
It’s been over a month since I’ve written in this, and even today, I’m not going to be able to devote much time to this. Ya know WHY?! I’m busy! Good busy. Ya know?! I have, and have had, a lot of things going on in my life. Between bouncing around different jobs, making new recordings, doing shows, studying music, chilling, hangin with my buddies and all that other good shit, I’ve found little time to work out the kinks of me and THUH YOUNG POLLOCK’S 2nd album, which will be recorded this coming weekend, the 15th of March. Planning to work on that this evening. I’m feeling good and grateful these days, and I hope that things are going well with you, and if they aren’t, hang in there, compadre!

Let me tell you about my show in Greenville, SC before I hop off this thing. Bobby White invited me down to perform for the last leg of his Underground Unheard east coast tour. So, DJ Jet, Alpha Lee and myself all road down last friday to do our thing. Long story short: it was a good time in a smokey ass dive bar with tons of rednecks, ugly women, and a dude selling bags of beef jerky. With the South Carolina spirit, we drank shitty beer and enjoyed each others company and met new folk and had a pretty dandy time.

Me and SMIDI and Philo are gonna record a song that’s been long overdue, sometime in the weeks to come. I need to rewrite my first verse on that.

Jobs have been ridiculous. I worked for a company as a subcontractor installing satellite TV. Goddamn was it awful. Between paying for fuel, ALL of your materials, ALL of your tools, spending 45 minutes per job on these digital inventory devices, you aint makin squat of money. I was in houses allllll day, from multi-million dollar mansions to some of the most decrepit, ramshackled pieces of shit on the planet. Call me crazy, and I know I grew up rich, but I don’t think anybody should be living in conditions worse than 3rd world poverty here in America! This is the land of opportunity! If you don’t get yourself in too much debt, have too many kids you can’t handle, fuck yourself up with drugs and alcohol, and you’re of average intelligence, then you can really start from NOTHING and build an empire. Anyway, I have to give credit to my dad, and I got mad at his skepticism when he told me to google the companies name. And when I did it showed up that the owners were a bunch of crooks and frauds that find every way outside of honesty to take money from their employees. Yea, so, they routed me all the way out to Rutherfurdton the next day to do some jobs, which I did, but on my way back into town, after wiring this dumpy trailer that smelled like ass in the middle of nowhere, and realizing that this company was making a fortune off it’s worker’s sweat and not compensating them for jack shit, I decided to dump my shit in front of the foreman’s building and hightail it the hell out of there! Suck it bitches! Ya’ll were the worst company I’ve ever worked for ya’ll will go belly up sooner than later! Then I scavenged for a few weeks, got paid to do some shows, and then started running low on money again. Got some work as a plumber through a temp agency working on the new Mission Hospital building, but temp agency work only last so long, as that did. Now I got a job as a truck driver delivering water around town. It’s straight. It’ll pay bills until I figure out a way to make money doing what I love! The quest continues.

I’m reading another biography on the life and times and the genius of Chet Baker entitled DEEP IN A DREAM The long Night of Chet Baker by James Gavin. This book gives a more detailed account of the man’s life than the other I read. I’ll post some excerpts from this book the next time I’m on here. SO! Until next time, hasta la vista!

02/10/2013
What’s goin on.

“I’m dyin for some action, sick of sittin round here tryna write this book, I need a love reaction, c’mon, baby gimme just one look.” – Bruce Springteen

This quote sums up my feelings in this exact moment, as I sit here in my 9 by 12 living space, doin more dreamin than workin!!

My original intent for this entry, as I’ve been trying to get to it for a few days now, was to highlight a passage in a book that I read about 2 years ago. It’s a book on the extraordinary, and tragic life of the pianist Bud Powell, written by French designer/author Francis Paudras. Paudras, an amateur pianist in his own right, was quite a fascinating character himself. You can Read below an excerpt from the “about the author” section of the book, to gain an understanding of the relationship between Mr. Bud Powell and Francis Paudras.

Paudras first saw Bud Powell – for him the most important musician in the universe – in 1956 and met him personally in 1957. Alarmed by rumors concerning Powell’s well-being, Paudras further investigated the situation and discovered the jazz pianist’s great distress and loneliness. Despite the pressures of a racist society, a profound friendship was born between these two men, reinforced by their musical affinity. He helped Powell cope with the crises of an ill-fated life and cared for him in his home. Francis Paudras’s privileged relationship with one of the great jazz masters, and the extraordinary events experienced at his side, gave substance and spirit to this book…

Bud Powell’s abnormal behavior may be attributed to the severe head trauma he received from Philadelphia police officers at age 20, or the electroshock therapy used afterwards to treat the resulting headaches. Or maybe the quirks in his behavior just came with the territory of being one of the world’s greatest musicians. I don’t know, either way, I think Bud Powell had superhuman sensory abilities, and was so finely tuned and perceptive to vibration that it gave him psychic powers.

For Example, he would ask for news of some friend or other and, quite often, in the minutes that followed, the friend in question would phone. Or else he’d be humming a tune in the car, which would make me think of turning on the radio, and when I did, what should be playing but that very tune?

He was a great musician. A finely tuned antenna able to pick up the music of the gods in the cosmos and translate to other human beings. Maybe. That may just be a little corny, and hippy, I don’t know. All I know is that Bud Powell was certainly one of the wonders of the world! I’m done, so, without further adieu, here’s a clip of Bud Powell playing Thelonious Monk’s haunting ballad, ‘Round Midnight’, in Europe.

Oh yea, If you are interested in more about Bud Powell, then I highly recommend Francis Paudras’s Dance of the Infidels

01/30/2013
Sirzzzz and Madamzzzz. What it dooooo??

Continually working on the craft over here, even though it’s been almost a year since I’ve laid down vocals. Sometimes It’s a pain in the ass not having recording equipment here in my apartment because when I feel like I’ve been in the zone, bringin the heat, I can’t record it. However, the upside to not having equipment readily available is that I have time to perfect the heat, so when it comes time to record, I know my material very well and it all comes as second nature. With that being said, everything has been delayed as far as the snoddy/kotz project is concerned. Just have to get a couple of paychecks from the job to get back on my feet, then we’ll record. We got things in the works.

I’m gonna perform with my friend DJ JET once again down at Timo’s House this weekend. Brooks is a cool dude, I enjoy working with the guy.

I love yall still. But I’m tired. Hard days work, grateful for the opp to make money again, even if the job’s a pain in the neck, whatever. You know?? You gotta do what you gotta do. And the things I’m doing now, I’m taking in stride because I’ve second guessed myself too many times in the past. So now, I’m busting my hump all day and coming home and getting on the other grind, writing music. I love the lifestyle.

My neck is still bent halfway to hell.

Oh yea, SHOUT OUT TO MY SPEAKERPIMP CREW IN ATLANTA, I’LL BE DOWN THERE SOON I KNOW YA’LL HAVE BEEN PUTTIN IN WORK.

Before I get off here I wanna leave yall with something: A LIVE PERFORMANCE BY ONE OF THE GREAT AMERICAN PIANISTS: HANK JONES. This footage is cool because even though Hank Jones was a world renowned, baddass mutherfucker on the piano, he comes across, during this performance, as a light, kind hearted guy who doesn’t seem to take himself to seriously. Which sets an excellent example for people. I gotta be reminded not to take myself too seriously cause many a time my ego has put my attitude in the clinch, causing me to become a serious douche towards people. I’m rambling…ha!….okay, without further adieu, mister Hank Jones:

Peace outchall, love you….

01/20/2013
I’m lazy. I’m lazy, damnit!! I’ve been inside all day.

Stumbled on this recording from a group called NAKED CITY the other day. Very interesting music. Looked up the group’s composer and alto sax frontman, John Zorn, and found this cool documentary.

“Nobody has dealt with time the way Carl Stalling dealt with it because he was dealing with an image, and trying to sync the music up to the image. You take the image away, and you’re listening to something that doesn’t make musical sense. It doesn’t have a development the way that other music has development.” – John Zorn

Check this out.

We had to postpone the recording that me and Young Mikey Pollocks were gonna make cause I had to get a job. I gotta eat. But I’m gonna keep writing everyday and making music everyday regardless of what I’m doing to make money. Music comes first. This job’ll take a back seat to that. I’m lazy right now I need to get up and do something!!

Before I get off here, I want to say I’m grateful to have a good friend like Mikey THE HITMAN Kotz, cause He’s always talkin some sense into me when I think about giving this whole thing up. He’s got my back through thick and thin, even though he sometimes lacks the nuts to stand up to his bosses for the right to throw down! Mike, you’re harder to get a hold of than the president my nigga so if you’re reading this right now: LET’S RECORD THESE NEW JOINTS SOONER THAN LATER……..

01/08/2013
BAMA…..What you know about that??!! Stomped the Irish, whooped that TOOSHhhhhhh, straight up and down, left to right, all over the place! Haha! People who dressed up as leprechauns had to have felt pretty stupid walkin out of the stadium!! Ol’ Grandmommy Snoddy would’ve been proud. From what I know, she never missed a game!!

I miss my grandmommy. She had a good sense of humor. I remember once, down in Tuscaloosa, my dad suggested we all go see a movie: Australia, with Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. I briefly mentioned, in passing, my prediction that this film would suck a fatty, and we opted to do something else instead. Back in North Carolina, some 8 months later, I received a letter from grandmommy that included a snippet from a film critic confirming that this film did, in fact, suck a fatty. She was soooo sweet, my little grandmommy!

Alright. Writing raps, all day aye day. I wanna study some piano music, but I get obsessed with it, and it interferes with my prolificness in this here rap game. I rap cause it’s pretty fun and I’m pretty damn good at it. I’m just fascinated by the keys though man!! I got my hands on some Rachmaninoff music and couldn’t put it down, the next day my hands felt like they’d been swingin hammers and moving block all day! My dream is to achieve success in one form of music so I can buy time to study another form.

Happy new year, new day, new hour, whatever. Use your time well cause this life is precious and time is of the essence. Stay true to you, do your thing, don’t let anybody rush you. You got it .

I’ll try to get my hands on some old photos that I can come back and throw in.

12/30/2012
Yoooooo!! Holidays have been great thus far. Quite remarkable really, the first holidays of many where I haven’t been consuming large quantities of alcohol. I’m feeling good and crisp, sharp and healthy.

I’m spoiled, but It’s amazing that I don’t have a more spoiled attitude than I already do. Our Christmas’s have always been great and my folks have always spoiled us kids to death!!! We’ve always gotten video game systems, cool toys like GI-Joes and Z-Bots, Power Wheels, pogo-sticks, sports cards, trips to the tropics, musical instruments, whatever we wanted really, you name it!! Life’s been good. And I hope if I decide to procreate, I can spoil my little monsters too!! Nowadays, We still give gifts, but the main focus is having fun and enjoying time with loved ones.

My brother’s gift to us was an unofficial demo he just recently put together. He’s just started recording music. Dude’s talented and has some interesting ideas. Lookin forward to seein what else he’s up to and maybe getting some Snoddy collaboration going….

Among some of the gifts given to me this year were some music books that outline really everything thing I’ve been wanting to know regarding the basic principals of jazz music. Walking bass theory, Chord Substitution, and a beautifully written book dedicated to intros, endings, and turnarounds. All these books are CLEARLY WRITTEN and I CAN’T WAIT to study them. It might be a month or two before I can delve into them fully though, because I gotta polish up the works on me and THE YOUNG POLLOCK Mikey Kotz’s collab, which we’ll take a week to record soon into 2013. Holla!! Holla if ya know what’s good for ya mind and body brothers and sisters. SING!! SING haaaaaaaaaallelujah!!!! If ya know you know and I KNOW you know!!!!

Before one of my brothers got on his plane to go back home, he told me he was proud of what I was doing. That means a lot man. Really.

Let me switch gears and share with ya’ll a little bit of what I got to read over the holidays:

If you follow this blog at all, then you know that I talk about Charlie Parker pretty regularly. He was one of the greatest, most genius musicians that ever lived, in my opinion. I recently read something that sheds more light on his genius, and broadened my limited knowledge of the man and his music. So I’ll share a couple direct excerpts from Celebrating Bird, a book by Gary Giddins.

Parker was achieving the kind of fluency that only the greats can claim: complete authority from the first lick….he imitated sounds echoing in from the street – engines, backfiring tires, auto horns – and worked them into musical phrases. He not only mastered Tatum’s track of juxtaposing discursive melodies in such a way that they fit right into the harmonic structure of the song he was playing, but took it another step: he quoted melodies that had lyrical relevance to the moment. He might nod to a woman in red with “The Lady in Red,” or comment on a woman headed for the ladies’ room with “I Know Where You’re Going.”

He knew how to handle cocky players. Buddy De Franco recalls a young tenor who challenged Bird on “All the Things You Are.” Parker welcomed him to the stand, counted off the number, and played in a key that nobody played. “The kid was devastated, and Bird could do that to anybody. He taught me that trick of playing in all the keys, because it forces you away from your basic patterns – from what we call fail-safe jazz.”

Incredible! And these are just two small anecdotes from the life of THE MAN, the real deal, the LEGEND Charlie Parker….

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

12/12/2012
Yahhh mon!! Decembahhh!!! It ain’t even cold my beautiful people. Global Warming!!! Holla!!! How can I contribute more to this beautiful phenomenon?

I couple months ago I stumbled upon a blessing in the form of a biographical book on the late, great gypsy guitar hero Django Reinhardt. Peep this message of INTEGritY & DETERMINATION: as a young man he was involved in a caravan fire that permanently mangled his left hand, allowing only the use of the middle and index finger. He lay up in the hospital for sometime, depressed, finally returned to the gypsy camps and learned how to once again master his instrument, accompanied by this extremely detrimental handicap!!! The whole book was quite a thrill anyway: with stories of Django receiving mad money from gigs and blowing it all in a night until he was again broke; stories of running through fancy automobiles and women all at a high velocity; stories of catering to the Third Reich (in a way) out of survival, and his attempts to flee Nazi occupied France. The Manouche Gypsy view of death is something I’ve found to appreciate. When a loved one dies, the name or memory of the deceased is never again mentioned. Even the beloved Django, although an International hero, among friends and family his name was silenced, and his belongings were discarded upon his death. That was dope!!! If I’m remembering correctly!!!!! It’s kinda romantic. I don’t find that bleak. Mozart was stuffed in a burlap sack and dumped in a mass plot after he died, THAT’S BLEAK!!

So yo, I got madd shit droppin in 2013. I got a project with THUH YOUNG POLLOCK Mikey Kotz and then a SOLO joint droppin. Which I’m thinkin rhythmically, harmonically, melodically, and verbally will all be BONKERS!! And now, I gotta find a way to make some $$, so I’ma continue to learn my Christmas Carols on the piano and try to find some more spots to play around town. HOLLA!!!

Oh yea if ya’ll don’t hear from me, HAVE A BLESSED HOLIDAY WITH YOUR LOVED ONES. AND IF YA DON’T HAVE LOVED ONES STAY STRONG, MUSTER UP A SMILE EVERY NOW AND AGAIN & SHOW SOME KINDNESS TO YA NEIGHBOR!!! PEACE!!!!!!!!!!!

11/27/2012
My flow is runnin low!!! But I’m still quite satisfied with my way of living, my good peoples. It’s all me now, learnin piano music all the live long day, writing raps and making beats all night, AND squeezin some gym time in cause lord KNOWs I gotta shit right! Get those bowels movin!

But yo, before I get into what’s been up with me, what the FUCK has been up with you my beautiful friend?! You know I love that you’re reading my stuff right now! Leave me a comment!

About a week ago I rode the bus up to Philadelphia in an attempt to catch up with some beautiful ass that I was highly anticipating to tax. Those plans fell through. It’s all good. I still love that chick, she’s my homieee for life! SO, instead, one of my best buddies, big SAM from NYC, came down and spent the weekend with me in Philly.

It was cool, our friend graciously opened up her house and allowed me and my blood homie big SAM to stay. She was a great host. On top of that, she’s very very sexy. I mean the full package. Cute face, an athletic frame with a big juicy ass and perfect size titties! [12/12/2012: I JUST WENT OVER THAT LAST PART AGAIN. EXCUSE ME. IM USED TO FOLK NOT SEEIN THIS BLOG SO I USE NO DISCRETION. SO AGAIN EXCUSE MY UNFILTERED TALK] Wowza! I’m about to start makin noises like Tim the Tool Man Taylor over here! Annnnnd she’s cool as hell.

We went out one night to this spot called Bob & Barbara’s, they had some of that goody live jazz. I thought the tenor sax man sounded a lot like Dexter Gordon. Sure enough, when I went up and told em that, he said that Dex was one of his favorites! I caught the guitar player on break, we talked about cats like Wes Montgomery and Charlie Christian. He vocalized some Charlie Christian tune and then

he said
Playin those bebop tunes was how he learned to play the guitar.
I said
That’s a good way to do it, and that I could only play one bebop tune on guitar: a Charlie Parker thing, Quasimodo
he said
He couldn’t believe that! Then he went on about some dude named so and so who could play mad bebop melodies on the electric bass. And how so and so could even play Confirmation.
I said
Confirmation, how’s that go again?
he started off
ba doo da boo da da
then we both joined in
boo duh duh duh da duh duh da doo da da, da doo da duh da da……

That was cool man! I was kinda bummed about my beautiful woman bailing on me, but that musical encounter cheered me up a little!

So, with that, let’s make good music, hang out with less dummies, and treat a beautiful piece of ass with the respect she deserves! Peace bitches, love you…..

ADD:SEVERE NECK PAIN FROM SPRAIN IN JUNE AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT

11/12/2012
I ate the roadkill deer, drank the Mezcal worm, and rolled mad dice mufuckas!

All in all, Cali was a good trip. Shout out to my friends, you know who you are, who got balls and make moves in life, and who are willing to include their boys in on some money making. And also, shout out to all those North Cali hillbillies I met while I was out there, ya’ll are cool.

My neck’s still killin me from the 18 wheeler plowing me a while back. Other than that, it’s all good.

If you follow my blog, you know the legendary Spike took his truck across the country. He ended up settling in Southern California. I flew down and saw the dude and even though the dude makes mad dough with roof work, he still lives like a gypsy out of his truck. His jewish ass doesn’t like to spend no kinda money!! But I love em. We slept on the beach and ate mad burritos for a couple days.

Now I’m back, hoes! And we gotta show coming up this Wednesday Nov 14 at the Blend Hookah Lounge. Peep game, we got Dj Jet and Dj Appaloosa on the 1′s and 2′s. I’ma be holding down the microphone along with Bobby White. Come check this out.

Me and Mike’s project is coming along, I’m hoping to start recording in about 2 months or less, cause I’m feigning, I’m jonzing, I’m goin bazurk nigga! Some recording needs to happen soon.

Love youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!

bye

10/01/2012
First day of October! Wuz goodies ladies, gents, errberrdy?!?!?

The pic below is of me and a friend of mine. She’s the inspiration for one of the new songs off me and mikes project comin out sometime here in a few months. Yes, you maybe asking: Has Mr. Marty gone soft? The answer is no. Okay. The song is straight up DOPE, through and through, absolutely thorough. I’ll be very happy to present this to ya’ll, along with all the other tracks off the project. Mikey Kotz, Thuh Young Pollock, producer extraordinaire, has used a sample from the great tenor, Mr. Archie Schepp, RESPECT! Thanks for continuing to make good music.

Anyway, that’s pretty much what’s good on my end: THE MUSIC, the daily grind. Feelin good, stayin healthy, lovin my family and friends blah blah blah….All that good stuff! Stay tuned my soljas! Mua!

09/17/2012
While in New York a stop had to be made by the famous SPARK’S STEAKHOUSE where the murder of mob boss Paul Castellano, orchestrated by the notorious John Gotti, took place in 1985. It reminded me of one of the first songs I ever recorded a long time ago. Written and produced by yours truly and co-produced and recorded by the homie Mikey Kotz. Some throwback gangster shit for ya’ll! So I got a picture and the track below. Enjoy, peace, take care!
yes_plz

09/09/2012
Friends, fammy, what. is. gooood?

The week was not bad, no complaints over here, feeling healthy on this Sunday morning. Got things started off on Friday hitting up the only club in my little city where one can salsa. That was fun. Some dude intentionally spilled a drink on some black chick, and the black chick chased the little bugger down, jerked his collar, and started beating ol dudes ass in the doorway to the men’s room. It got broken up and we went back to some cha cha cha. Dan and Elinor as dance partners was a hilarious spectacle. They slung each other around forcefully the way youd imagine little kids would on a playground. People didn’t like Dan and Elinor dancing together, they got in everybody’s way, it was funny. As for me, I was killin some bachata, salsa, cha cha cha, all that! Killin! Some chick was teaching me all these new steps, it was sweet! Some of the finer ladies (ie beautiful Puerto Rican chick with thin waste, big hips, low cut shirt revealing some beautifully shaped, brown, c-cup breasts, perfect) were only dancing with latinos. Shhhheeeeeeeyit, if she only knew, I got the moves like jagger! I got that Richie Ray, that sonido bestia! Watch out!

Saturday, we had the show. My DJ/producer, Mikey Kotz, canceled because he is a little girl. He’s got no nuts and was unable to approach his boss about fighting for the right to party! DJ Jet was the backup. Boo-Nice did a set. Boo-Nice, if you read this, I love you dog, but, again sir, why must you rap OVER YOUR VOCALS?! No need sir, no need. My set stunk, the crowd was no good. But sometimes that’s the way it goes at the Hookah Bar, some people just go to smoke a hookah and aren’t too excited about some dude kicking flavor in their ear!

Either way folks, whether good set or bad. I’m feeling pretty good, and grateful for everything I have, on this Sunday morning. And please, just because the road is rocky, please, DON’T GET IT TWISTED, I’ma keep spittin!!!

Pics (click to enlarge): Some pleasant pics of Boo-Nice at the show. A couple of Irish lassies! Didn’t get any of myself, but I might edit my vid and throw it up soon.

08/30/2012
I just wanna say lookout. Lookout everyone!! Lookout for a couple of reasons: One, BOO-NICE and Mikey Kotz are soon to release (within the next month) their debut album entitled JUS MAYBE. Two, we gotta a free show on the 8th of September at the BLEND hookah lounge in my hometown downtown Asheville.

Gonna be playing a lot of new material at this show: some joints off my new solo project, some joints off me and mike’s joint, and of course some of the classics. Now, I truly believe that my delivery has been sharpened due to my newly adopted daily regimen. Each morning when I wake up I hit the keyboard with about 5 or 6 very complex be-bop pieces to warm up my brain and fingers. Remembering what the great Tom Coppola told me about plowing through mistakes and keeping up with the rhythm and chord changes has been not only great advice musically, but something that could be translated to a code of living. But anyway, musically speaking, I’ve been applying his advice to my daily routine on the keys and to rapping. Shit helps, totally frees you up when you realize that even mistakes won’t stop a song.

Something else I’m reminded of while playing these great be-bop compositions on the keys. Charlie Parker was one of these cats that could be incredibly technical and fast, yet TASTEFUL. He could play with a feeling that, when I hear it, translates human emotion more vividly than words ever could (I haven’t read a lot books). I think about hip hop, Kool G Rap is one of these cats: one of the innovators of the multisyllable rhyme structure. Mystikal and Yelawolf got interesting styles too..

Check us out at Blend on Sep 8th.
Buy My first joint: MI VIDA MY BIZZY on the music tab on this website. We put on free shows all the time and we’re constantly making new music. So buy MI VIDA MY BIZZY, it’s only 2 dollars. Quit fuckin around and buy that shit stupid….

08/28/2012
No writing today, just a picture of me with Lego Bat and Lego Boba. My nerd friends would be proud. Spike! Benny! Dan! How many Legos did it take to build Lego Bat? I know you nerds know!

08/21/2012

If you’d look at the picture above, you’d agree that what we have here is a winner.

Yes, a winner. She’s got a rooster. She’s got a breathalyzer to start the truck. She’s got the stare of a go getter. She’s got shades atop her head to hide the intensity of that stare. She’s got whooping cough. She’s got strong, callused, rooster-killing hands. She’s a lady. And she’s a winner.

08/09/2012
Pasando muy rico por alla…

Yo Yo Yo! My folks, my ladies, my gentlemen WHAT’S GOOD?! I just got back into town and I gotta tell ya, these past couple of weeks have been the bomb. Eating good, bailando un pocito de salsa, laughing hard and chilling out even harder.

To the beautiful Rodriguez fam: thanks for always treating me like one of the family even though sometimes I act like a gringo loco. Carolina congrats on your achievement baby, I was with you from the very beginning and it was nice to be with you at the end.

This was one of those trips that was so good that it passed like a lightning bolt and now all the memories seem hazy. But if I highlight one detail, it’s one that’s congruent with a lot of the other feelings felt during these past couple of weeks: I was out at the centro commercial (that’s what a shopping mall’s called in spanish) with my sexy little lady friend. We literally just strolled around for about an hour because the new BATMAN was sold out. I ordered a slushy. We went to see the new WOODY ALLEN movie, which was fantastic. Afterwards we took our time walking to the street to catch a cab home….What a simple night that was but the whole time I felt like I was floating in a dream. It was very nice.

It was good to visit my old home again….

SPIRIT airlines blow dick….

PICS (click to enlarge)
1. A sexy ass lady. Te quiero mucho….
2. Rhumba with all the fam
3. Rhumba with some ladies
4. North Cali

07/23/2012
I’m leavin but damn I slept through my alarm and missed my flight. Now tomorrow I’ma try again but everythings booked until Thursday so I’ma try the standby thing, hangout in the airports all day.

AD:PERSISTING HEADACHES AND NECK PAIN

Had a darn good time at the show we put on this past weekend. Everything about it was good, besides the homeless gentleman that died right outside the joint during my set.

And I’m gonna go ahead and say this. Yes I’m gonna go ahead and tell you somethin that I aint. I AINT no fuckin ass kisser, I aint no nut washer, I aint no brown noser, or at least I make a conscious effort not to be. If you suck you suck and if you’re good you’re good, that’s that. Boo-Nice was good, the people liked him, but he woulda been better had he not been rappin over his vocals. I don’t understand why some cats rap over their vocals, that leaves one with no room to experiment. And I’ll be goddamned if I hear a saxophone player playing a solo over some prerecorded stuff at a live show, would never happen. Milli Vanilli (either Milli or Vanilli, I’m not sure which one) killed himself cause he got caught singing over some prerecorded sound. He killed himself.

Philo and SMIDI destroyed, DESTROYED. Do you understand what I’m saying here? They got on stage and had all the little girls in the audience freakin. And It was a pleasure workin with these gents. Wish I could make their upcomin show.

Mikey and Tommy Kotz I appreciate you sirs lettin me stay in your home while I’m dealin with the airport.

MI VIDA MY BIZZY, my first solo project, written and produced by me, is good. It’s good but it’s not selling. It’s only 2 dollars. If you want it you can find it under the music tab on this site. If you buy it, understand how much I appreciate it. If you don’t, I aint mad atcha!! I hate paying for shit too!

07/14/2012
Friends! Wuz good?! Here’s some things that have been going on in my life:

Got to drive out to Pikeville, NC a few weekends ago to see my bro who just got back from his trip to BRAZIL. On the way out there I stopped to eat some wings at KFC (which were delicious at first but shortly afterwards made me feel like a piece of garbage; isn’t that how it always goes? I’ll never learn) but more importantly, I saw signs to Rocky Mount, NC. Rocky Mount is where MONK was originally from, and when I mentioned this to my brother’s friend, he told us that a memorial plaque had recently been erected round that way. Bout time! We got up early the next day and rode over to Rocky Mount and paid our respects to one of the all time jazz greats. The rest of the weekend was good: ate good, laughed with bro, mom, and friends, and basically hung around all fat and lazy until it was time to go. On Sunday headed back east and stopped through Raleigh where I got the opportunity to perform (s/o to Eargasm Ent.). Ferdy Man aka Fernando Sanders thank you bro for filming that performance, you were one of the few people that was cool towards me back when I was depressed livin in Raleigh, not to mention giving me a little shine time! You’re a good dude and a nice person and I’ll NEVER forget you reachin out homie!

Got a call from my mom last week. We used to have black snakes around the house, and when you have black snakes, you shouldn’t have copperheads. Don’t ask me why. Now my mom’s wanting me to come over and kill a copperhead. So I went over to my folks house and chopped its head off with an axe. I won’t lie, it was fun, but I also felt like I was doing a service to my fam, they have kids and dogs that hang out over there. And my dad was always the master snake killer when I was a little boy, but he wasn’t around, so I stepped up. It’s in my genes bitch!

AD:SPRAINED NECK AND PERSISTING HEADACHES

On the music front, a lot’s been happening. 1 Got a show on the 21st of this month, real excited bout that. 2 Andy Griffith died, so that gave my good buddy Mikey Kotz a chance to exploit his death to promote our music. What?! C’mon he was eighty somethin years old and lived a rich, fat, good long life. I don’t think he’d mind. It’s not like we’d do this with starving kids in Africa or our fallen troops. 3 The official MI VIDA MY BIZZY re-release is now up and is selling for $2 flat, cuz I aint tryin to tax that ass! If you don’t wanna buy it, I aint mad at you. But it’s only $2, you could either get MI VIDA MY BIZZY, my beloved FIRST mixtape, or a jr. bacon cheeseburger. I don’t know how hungry some of ya’ll might be though.

The great Spikester has called a few times to give us the ol update as he continues to embark on his west coast adventure. I’m jealous. The shit he’s telling me I can’t type because I know he’s got a bunch of little girlfriends here that would get mad if they read it. But I will say this, my man, rollin solo, tore New Orleans and Austin TX up!!! Represent!

Pics (click to enlarge):
1 Thelonious Monk memorial plaque in Rocky Mount, NC.
2 Axe swingin to kill the copperhead
3 Copperhead’s head cut clean off leaf in mouth

06/23/2012
Yesterday, early in the morning I got a call from somebody who wanted to buy my bike for 2 grand even. So I got the truck, loaded up the bike and headed out on I-40 west toward Franklin.

Somebody stopped short in front of me and I was rear ended by a semi. The bike’s fucked, the truck’s damaged, @#$@#$ @#$@#$@#$@#$.

What a strange feeling: thinking you’re going to die. When I made the stop to avoid hitting the car ahead, I had time to turn my neck and see the semi approaching in my peripheral. At that moment I thought I was going to die. Then I got smashed and the impact distracted me briefly from the thought. Was pushed down the freeway by this commercial vehicle while it’s drifting wide left wide right, close to flipping onto my little 4 cylinder truck. Again, thinking I’m gonna die, thinking that my screaming might be hushed by this semi flipping onto the cab.

But No! All the vehicles involved came to a stop and nobody was hurt. It was a serene feeling: knowing that I was going to be okay. AD: SPRAINED NECK AND PERSISTING HEADACHES

Lots of damage done to the frame of the truck but all tires were okay accept one and it was driveable. The bike was stuck underneath the truck; it is fucked.

I declined the wrecker service because they bill the piss out of people, and called my friend Danny for help. Danny came with the right tools and helped me with the tire. He told me he was battling some stomach thing but he looked alright when he arrived on the scene. Sure enough, after we changed the tire he went and threw up in a bush. Daniel William Callaghan, you’ve been a very dear friend to me sir for many years, and I’ll continue to treasure our friendship for the years to come.

@#$@# @#$# #$@# #$#@#@. My friend and co-worker, after hearing the story, basically said not to worry about the material things lost and to celebrate a preserved life.

Life has been good to me so far, and I feel very fortunate to have my @#$@#$. For my friends and family: I’m very grateful for your existence.

I cannot write anymore cause it hurts to lift my arms up, my head feels like it’s almost been torn off.

06/21/2012
Heard an interview where he said liked be-bop. He died an early, tragic death in 1988.
Here are some copies of works from a great American painter, Jean-Michel Basquiat:

06/17/2012
Just finished watching THE STORY OF 1, a documentary on the invention of numbers.

Basically, the documentary traces the existence of numbers from when cavemen were scratching lines on bones, to the advanced binary number system that runs our computers today. Fascinating.

Mad props to the people of India. They devised a system, about 2500 years ago, which gave different symbols to the numbers 1 through 9, allowing them to cope with larger numbers. Then, shit exploded when then same people, only 1500 years ago, became the first in history to invent a symbol for nothing: zero. This allowed for the illustration of numbers infinitely large or small. And as a result, Indian sciences became 100′s of years more advanced than those of the Christian world, making discoveries that the Earth actually spins on an axis, and calculating the diameter of the globe, ect. Fibonacci’s one of the famous people responsible for spreading this Indian number system westward.

About 20 minutes into the documentary, they do a small segment on Pythagoras and his discoveries in relation to music and math. Something about how harmonies that were pleasing to the ear were those that derived from whole numbers or some bullshit like that. I didn’t quite understand because the barriers of harmony were broken long ago by cats like BUD POWELL and THELONIOUS MONK, who also, from what I heard, excelled in mathematics.

Anyway, the documentary was cool. Check it out.

Also check out the music tab on this site within the next couple of weeks. I’m gonna be re-releasing my first project, MI VIDA MY BIZZY, and I’ll have it available for only $3.99. And the project that I did with Mikey Kotz, SOLID! is available now. Okkkk! Thanks for hittin my blog I’ll be sure to hit ya’ll with some more random shit soon!

06/15/2012
My good bro Spike, damn, we had a good time the other night.

My day started out as many of them do: I awoke early in my office, 8:30 am, grumpy as hell after working the night shift a few hours earlier. Went to work at a house on Robindale where I contracted a demo job, busted up some footers and removed a bathroom floor, and basically went HAM on that shit. Afterwards had a couple hours break before I had to go into the metal shop for the night shift. So I went by my boy Spike’s house.

Spike told me he was gonna sell his bike the following day, so he could have some bread for his west coast adventure. And I was all like “Wha Wha Wha?!, you know we gots to ride homie!!”. So we agreed that after I got out of work around 1 am, we were gonna ride.

Got off work and met Spike at his home. Right away we hopped in the truck and hit the beer store to stock the fridge for when we got back from our motorcycle adventure. Our trip to the beer store, however, was temporarily interrupted because we made a new friend along the way. A big ass snapping turtle with a busted shell was struggling to get out of the road. We stopped and finagled that son of a bitch into the bed of the truck, the turtle was quite upset, it was snapping all over the place.

We got back home and stocked the fridge. We were ready to ride and we figured we’d leave the turtle in the bed of the truck.

So we went riding, and exquisite it was. We went all over the city and rode through the little veins and nooks that I had no idea existed. We blasted over the Smokey Park bridge, and with nobody out, we were definitely on that Mad Max status. What fascinated me most was to see how in the morning fog, certain paths through the Kenilworth area could be comparable to a jungle in Costa Rica. Ah, viewing the city at high speed with the panoramic, no frame of an automobile getting in the way, it’s remarkable! We ended our little bromantic journey by stopping near Helens Bridge and watching the sun come up.

We got back home and were disappointed to find that the turtle had jumped out of the truck bed. So, we shuffled about the yard with our beers, kicking up dirt and leaves. I was ready to call it quits when Spike found it! Again, we finagled that pissed of son of a bitch into the bed of the truck and took it to the Nature Center where some bad ass, broad shouldered bitches man handled that beast and made Spike and I look like pussies. They said they’d put some sort of spackle on the shell, and that it should live.

Back to the house we went, I was kinda drunk and was ready to hit the couch, but not before I could walk by Spike’s sister’s window as she was changing, Sorry Liza!

Pics:
1 Spike and I gettin home from the night ride
2 Turtle’s ride to the Nature Center. Probably rode like that the whole way.
3 Nature Center lady grabbing that monster with no fear!

06/09/12
Got off the phone with my friend GODFREY after an interesting conversation we had about how boring a lot of hip hop in the underground has become. C’mon man. Quit rappin about rap ALL the time. Tell me it’s not true that a common theme among cats today is rappin about whether or not they’re gonna make it in the rap business. “If Drake can make it, so can I” (cue sappy inspirational music). No you can’t. You’re boring. Stop it.

Anyway, ladies and gentlemen, the man who I had this delightful conversation with happens to be quite the talent. Not only is he a good guy and a rap athlete, but he’s the only cat that I’ve ever thrown debbie cakes into the crowd while rockin with him on stage. I pegged a dude in the head.

So, Check out my man GODFREY at www.godfreysjournal.com for a FREE FREE FREE download of his VOLUME ONE solo joint.

06/06/12
Our good buddy Spike just moved back from Charleston, watch out bitches!

This past weekend spent with friends was fantastic. We celebrated the return of Spike (our boy since the day) before he departs on his west coast adventure, which will be tragic for his good homies he leaves behind. Ah, sob as we may, I know he’s gonna kill it out there just like he did in Charleston, that’s my boy!

So, yes, it was an excellent weekend. Old Mikey Kotz, Danny, Lady Elinor, Deb, Rooster, Spike, and myself all had a blast with a little drink at the house in Mountainbrooke, followed by a little drink on the town.

Sunday we rode in the bed of Danny’s truck to the waffle house for some early food and water coffee. It was good. After getting fat, we played football and swam in the Swannanoa. I then napped like a rock back at the house and Spike went out with some woman he met the night before. It was damn good.

I’ll add that Spike managed to choke me out on Saturday evening after 20 minutes with his elbow in my throat. I will get him next time.

Picture L to R: Me, Danny (Who looks a bit sedated after Rooster farted in his earhole), Rooster, Spike

04/27/12
Aight ya bitch ass muthafukas! It’s a little late but I’ll post the official mixtape writing for SOLID! Thanks for reading:

We decided to do this project after a recording session at Mike’s home in Atlanta, early September 2011. I returned to North Carolina and we continued to communicate ideas through phone and email. Over the next two and a half months, after working long days, many of the nights consisted of writing raps and revising the music behind them (sampled music, by the way, and we’re very grateful, in a spiritual way, to the real musicians responsible for those samples).

The systematic approach that was used during the creation of this project, I believe, has something to do with its high level of continuity and fluidity in comparison with previous recordings. Everything on this mixtape, except for ‘Bang Your Head…’ and ‘Another Nights Mission,’ was written in one sitting. During the recording process, most every track was done in one take, some in two, all straight through, without breaks or punch-ins. The project took two days to record.

We planned for the ‘SOLID!’ mixtape release party in early November and scheduled it for December 16th in my hometown of Asheville, NC. We had some good promotional hype, plus two other talented acts on the bill: Asheville’s BOO-NICE, and Durham’s SILENT HORNETZ. The project was recorded in late November, and we found it amusing that we had created all this hype for a mixtape release party for a mixtape that had yet to exist!

‘SOLID!’ was recorded late November, 2011, at the studio of Mikey Kotz in Atlanta, GA. It was released on December 16, 2011, in Asheville, NC.

01/19/12
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01/19/12
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01/17/12
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01/14/12
Charlie Parker said that there was a period of 3 or 4 years where he practiced up to 15 hours a day. I heard that during some of that time he’d drink benzidine to stay awake and practice through the night. The man worked hard, but that doesn’t mean everyone who rigorously practices on a daily basis will experience success. The ingrained natural ability is a key component, so I think, for me, it’s important to be mindful and use discretion with goals that you might want to pursue. Actually, scratch that, do what you want.

01/11/12
Had a conversation with my good buddy Sam over a couple a beers and a couple a games of pool. We were drinkin those Wee Heavier beers, which are no joke, 2 and a half pints will buzz you. Anyway, he was saying how there are still these indigenous peoples in tribes out in places like Papua New Guinea that have had no exposure to the western world, some that have never even seen a white person. We speculated on how they must view the world. The focus on family, food, human touch, human relationships and interaction with nature has gotta be much more intense without the distractions like you see in developed countries.

Where Im living, in a developed country, we’re in the midst of a technological revolution that’s growing exponentially. Software developers already think that the idea of a world filled with people tapping on small glass screens is ridiculous, so innovations of how humans interact with computers are now being made. The fusion of man and machine isn’t far away. And that’s cool, I just hope that we don’t continue to lose our grit, and our core, and our emotion. Because over time things like that seem to get watered down.

I’m all about this technological growth, and I’m curious to see where it’s gonna go. So let’s ride with it. Let’s evolve. Let’s change. Don’t be scared, cause this new waves comin and there’s nothing you can do about it. If you’re young like me, you might live to see some things that we can’t even wrap our heads around right now.

But in the meantime, I’m gonna cherish when I get a group of friends around a fire and we can hoot and holler and raise hell.

01/10/12
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01/04/12
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12/12/11
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12/06/11
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11/16/11
I just finished watching the dopest 2 part BBC program called WALKING WITH CAVEMEN. I learned that about 2 million years ago, there were several species of these monkey men living amongst each other. They detailed the lifestyles of 2 in particular: Paranthropis Bosei and Homo Habilus.

The Bosei had strong enough jaw muscles to where they could just chill out and feed off the tough vegetation that was present. Homo Habilus did not have this trait, they were always hungry, searching for food and developing these cognitive skills. For example, a group of buzzards flying overhead equals food below.

So, when the climate changed, the Bosei, who’d always been cumfy and never had to forage for food, died out along with their food source. Homo Habilus continued to roll with the punches and further adapt. Nothin stays the same, I don’t like the idea of getting too cumfy with the day to day and I’m not really sure if I’d like a routine at this point in my young life.

11/16/11
POST REMOVED BY AUTHOR

11/16/11
Romano and I are sittin down to take lunch and I was tellin him about how I’d gone to see a play about Helen Keller the night before. He asked me if that was the story about the girl who hid in the attic. I said ;no that was Anne Frank;. Then we agreed that Anne Frank woulda had it REALLY tough if she’d of been blind and deaf.