Please help us fund our goal of getting physical CDs into the hands of neighborhood kids. Here’s the link to our full project page. Thanks in advance for your help.
Check out what we’re calling the “visual accompaniment” for my latest series of “Fresh Air” releases. Instead of the standard cover art, or packaging we want listeners to have an entire book of “album art.” The photos in this book were taken during the time period that Fresh Air and DREAMER were recorded, and reflect the various moods throughout those albums. The first editions have just come back from the printer and I think they look beautiful. This book features creative photography from my brothers, Joanna, and myself (as well as one shot from our good friend Sellers). You can preview the book and order your copy from the link below for $24.95. By contacting me directly via facebook you can also purchase the special collectors edition. For $45.00 you’ll receive a signed, numbered book, and an attached USB drive containing Fisherman, Fresh Air, and DREAMER.
I had a blast performing with my wife Joanna (who is just out of one of these shots), and my friends Bryan Karas, and Tom Sawyer. We were able to talk and pray with some really special people that day. These photos were taken by my talented brother Ryan, and edited by my talented brother Evan. You can view more from them here and here. Also look for a quick video coming soon.
I want to send a special thanks to Sidik Fofana for posting “Fresh Air” on his blog Corner Boy Jazz. Sidik Fofana is a contributing writer for allhiphop.com, okayplayer.com, and the Source magazine. He serves as Literature Editor at seeingblack.com and currently lives in Harlem, NY.
Joanna and I recently had the privilege of renting a cabin in Linn Run State Park. Amidst all the hiking, bear sightings, and campfires we took some photos as well. Here are a couple of my favorites.
The Eames lounge chair and ottoman is yet another installment in the category of “cool looking things I can’t afford.” I first saw these amazing pieces popping up in the pages of dwell magazine, and I knew I had to find out about them.
According to Design History Lab, “Charles and Ray Eames were revolutionary designers. They designed furniture, wrote books, designed museum exhibitions, made films, created toys, and more. One of their most notable works of designs is the Eames Lounge Chair. Before they modeled the lounge chair, they had previously been contracted by the U.S. Navy to supply molded plywood splints for soldiers with broken legs.These splints were made out of one-piece structural plywood shells that were bent and molded into compound curves to form the shape of a leg. This profitable practice of the material led them to successfully carry out the forms put into the Eames lounge chair….The Eames Lounge Chair had a national television debut on NBCs’ midmorning “Home” show with Arlene Francis. Since its debut in 1956, the chair and ottoman have been continuously produced by Herman Miller, each chair carrying on the spirit of the original. Charles Eames said his goal for the chair was the ‘warm, receptive look of a well-used first baseman’s mitt.’”
Also of interest is the fact that the first lounge chair and ottoman, produced in 1956, was a birthday gift for friend Billy Wilder, the Academy Award-winning director of the film noir classic Sunset Boulevard.
The good people at Sharing the Victory Magazine were kind enough to feature Fresh Air in their recommendation section online and in their May print edition. Click here to visit their home page.
If you’ve ever honestly asked that question you need to read this book.
I’d been meaning to read this for quite some time and today I finally finished this C.S. Lewis masterpiece. The entire time I was underlining sentences, phrases and paragraphs. I was stopping, rereading and contemplating the many layered streams of his logic. In this work Lewis thoughtfully examines (among many other things) the age old question of how a world of pain and a good, all-powerful God can both exist. If this is something you’ve been struggling to reconcile in your heart please, please give this book a chance.
“Now I take a very low view of ‘climates of opinion.’ In his own subject every man knows that all discoveries are made and all errors corrected by those who ignore the ‘climate of opinion.’” -C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
Fellow musicians, bandcamp is a really great (easy to use) site. They let you upload your music, customize your page and set the price. They also allow for giveaways, discounts and download codes. I highly recommend it. Stop by my page and listen for free. If you like what you hear you can download for $9.90.
Rappers have long been noted for their obsession with watches as status symbols. I however would simply like to present Farfo’s Vintage Watches as a cool site that sells high quality timepieces that can be passed down from generation to generation. They even sell high end military officer’s watches made during WWII. Really interesting historical pieces.Their own website sums it up this way,
“Vintage watches can be defined as mechanical watches made prior to the 1970’s quartz revolution. Because of the popularity of mass produced quartz watches, most watch companies that produced vintage mechanical watches have since gone out of business. Several other companies that were once bold leaders in the watchmaking industry have consolidated and been absorbed into a few large watch houses that share mass produced parts. Unfortunately, they now bear little resemblance to the proud pioneering companies that originally bore their name. With very few exceptions, they just don’t make them like they used to.”
I hope this post won’t be seen as just another rapper talking about watches. I’d like it to be viewed for what it is…respect for a lost art (that I’ll probably never be able to afford).
On the Nightstand: “Killer Angel: A Short Biography of Planned Parenthood’s Founder Margaret Sanger”
Dr. George Grant has written a startling and eye-opening account of the controversial woman whose organization “is the world’s number one abortion provider and agitator.” One of the most terrifying quotes from Sanger in the book reads, “The most merciful thing a large family can do to one of it’s infant members is to kill it.” Dr. Grant has unearthed still more Sanger quotes that are downright racist remarks against African Americans and other minorities. This brief work sheds light on the truly dark side of a woman who is still curiously embraced by many in society. To be more informed on this subject pick up the book here. You can also read Dr. Grant’s blog here.
I had a blast performing with my wife Joanna (who is just out of one of these shots), and my friends 
