The fall jacket days are quickly coming to an end, and I'm still struggling with the fact that sunset is only a few hours following lunch. Fortunately, this winter brings plenty to look forward to: an opportunity to build a new workspace, a renewed vow to hit the hills more before the edges on my board get rusty, and plenty of new beats to compete for the 16 gigs of memory on the iPod. I speak for no one but myself (read: this is not meant as an invitation to start a "Top 5" MC's comment battle) when I say 2009 has been an AMAZING year for hip-hop music. The latest offerings from K'Naan, Mos Def, MF Doom and Raekwon serve as great examples. Thanks to the whole social-twitter-facebook-vimeo thing, we've also caught a glimpse of some amazing projects underway. Things are looking good:
Nas + Damian Marley coming together for "Distant Relatives". I wish there was a release date on this.
Blakroc, a project bringing together Q-Tip, Mos Def and Raekwon (among many others) and driven by 88 Keys and Damon Dash (put the diamond down son, this ain't the 'Fella). Releasing November 27.
J-Cole - Rocnation's golden child - is working on his debut album following 2 highly successful mixtapes. Releasing sometime early 2010.
This isn't a complete list, but do you think I missed anything? Leave a comment, and let me know what you're looking forward to in the next few months.
November, 2009
Touque on, Beats on blast
Submitted on Tue, 11/17/2009 - 19:58 - 0 commentsThis too shall pass
Submitted on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 17:02 - 1 comment
This is completely unrelated to anything I normally post up here, but its an interesting story about the history of the phrase "this too shall pass". My dad always tells me that whenever I'm upset or going through rough times. I got it from Wikipedia (where else). The origins of the phrase are from an old Jewish folktale involving King Solomon.
"One day Solomon decided to humble Benaiah Ben Yehoyada, his most trusted minister. He said to him, "Benaiah, there is a certain ring that I want you to bring to me. I wish to wear it for Sukkot which gives you six months to find it." "If it exists anywhere on earth, your majesty," replied Benaiah, "I will find it and bring it to you, but what makes the ring so special?" "It has magic powers," answered the king. "If a happy man looks at it, he becomes sad, and if a sad man looks at it, he becomes happy." Solomon knew that no such ring existed in the world, but he wished to give his minister a little taste of humility. Spring passed and then summer, and still Benaiah had no idea where he could find the ring. On the night before Sukkot, he decided to take a walk in one of the poorest quarters of Jerusalem. He passed by a merchant who had begun to set out the day's wares on a shabby carpet. "Have you by any chance heard of a magic ring that makes the happy wearer forget his joy and the broken-hearted wearer forget his sorrows?" asked Benaiah. He watched the grandfather take a plain gold ring from his carpet and engrave something on it. When Benaiah read the words on the ring, his face broke out in a wide smile. That night the entire city welcomed in the holiday of Sukkot with great festivity. "Well, my friend," said Solomon, "have you found what I sent you after?" All the ministers laughed and Solomon himself smiled. To everyone's surprise, Benaiah held up a small gold ring and declared, "Here it is, your majesty!" As soon as Solomon read the inscription, the smile vanished from his face. The jeweler had written three Hebrew letters on the gold band: gimel, zayin, yud, which began the words "Gam zeh ya'avor" -- "This too shall pass." At that moment Solomon realized that all his wisdom and fabulous wealth and tremendous power were but fleeting things, for one day he would be nothing but dust."
"One day Solomon decided to humble Benaiah Ben Yehoyada, his most trusted minister. He said to him, "Benaiah, there is a certain ring that I want you to bring to me. I wish to wear it for Sukkot which gives you six months to find it." "If it exists anywhere on earth, your majesty," replied Benaiah, "I will find it and bring it to you, but what makes the ring so special?" "It has magic powers," answered the king. "If a happy man looks at it, he becomes sad, and if a sad man looks at it, he becomes happy." Solomon knew that no such ring existed in the world, but he wished to give his minister a little taste of humility. Spring passed and then summer, and still Benaiah had no idea where he could find the ring. On the night before Sukkot, he decided to take a walk in one of the poorest quarters of Jerusalem. He passed by a merchant who had begun to set out the day's wares on a shabby carpet. "Have you by any chance heard of a magic ring that makes the happy wearer forget his joy and the broken-hearted wearer forget his sorrows?" asked Benaiah. He watched the grandfather take a plain gold ring from his carpet and engrave something on it. When Benaiah read the words on the ring, his face broke out in a wide smile. That night the entire city welcomed in the holiday of Sukkot with great festivity. "Well, my friend," said Solomon, "have you found what I sent you after?" All the ministers laughed and Solomon himself smiled. To everyone's surprise, Benaiah held up a small gold ring and declared, "Here it is, your majesty!" As soon as Solomon read the inscription, the smile vanished from his face. The jeweler had written three Hebrew letters on the gold band: gimel, zayin, yud, which began the words "Gam zeh ya'avor" -- "This too shall pass." At that moment Solomon realized that all his wisdom and fabulous wealth and tremendous power were but fleeting things, for one day he would be nothing but dust."
New Digs
Submitted on Tue, 11/03/2009 - 13:58 - 0 commentsThose around me have been witness to the frustrations and such while I've navigated through this so called "real" estate process for the last few weeks and months. Well, someone turned on the floodlights in the tunnel and looks like wifey and I will survive this emotional joyride. If I'm high fiving you like a nutjob on the streetcar on King West, its because we finally bought a house (and sold the shoebox we call a home today). I'm looking forward to not thinking about moving for the next decade or so, but I'm most excited about creating a new workspace for bombayhustle and other creative projects. More pictures and updates will follow as the story develops.
