take 5 (with little byrd) take 5 (with little byrd)

take 5 (people, things, moments)

5 THINGS/ PEOPLE/ MOMENTS THAT INFLUENCED YOU (AND HOW):
So this i can do but it’s not in any particular order. All of this is equally as important or whatever.

#1 - Jackson 5 “I BET YOU” (ABC album) - So I’m in high school, all my homies are bumpin B.O.N.E. Thugs, 2Pac and all that, and I’m just into music. Like, ALL of it. Salsa, oldies, pop, house, gospel, classical… So at my grandma’s house there were records and a player in the front room with the chairs with the plastic on them. I’d sit on the step and listen to records: Woodstock, Superfly soundtrack, Louis Armstrong, Glen Miller… so i see the ABC album. Pop isht, ok, let’s spin it and see what it do. THIS TRACK COMES ON and i had to stop the record. I was like, “wait, what did i just hear?! THIS is on THIS ALBUM? Why does no one talk about this?!?!” The drums went boom boom clack… ba-doom boom clack.. and the bassline was SIIIIIIIIIICK. ALL ORGANIC! They were on some ROOTS before the roots. Live band psychedelic funk hip hop all up in the headphones. Blew my mind. To have that on that album first taught me (A) to keep it as organic as possible, the energy is insane. (2) That the more variety you have on the album the better. Something for everyone. And (Red) after thinking of if it was a battle or not with the label to get that track on there, it taught me to do your own isht all the time. YOU make YOUR MUSIC. YOU make YOUR album(s). Don’t let anyone or thing limit you or control your creativity. If they don’t get it they don’t get it and they’ll get something else. Listen to that intro. I put that up there with that Hendrix Riff on “Hound Dog Blues” (on the WEST COAST SEATTLE BOY album, black & silver cover ) which just… frickin…. KILLS.

#2 - Judith Stark poetry reading early 2000s (at KKF/Community College of Philly) - So i “got in trouble” a lot, or folks didn’t understand what i was doing when i was doing it, and what was done didn’t agree with them living their best life… so “i got in trouble.” I still don’t understand it. Anyways, I had to write a lot of essays on how i could be a better student, or why hard work is important or whatever else, I was Bart in the opening credits a lot. Because of that I got “good” at writing, or folks liked it. I really just learned how to manipulate people with words and make them shut up and leave me alone by mocking them in this flawless essay (which they were graded too, spelling, grammar, etc.). Anyways, when came to actual expression I guess i was sharpened to cut deep because of all of the in trouble practice, so English teachers loved me. They didn’t always like me, but they loved me with a pen. They would always encourage me to write, give me extra assignments, let me know about contests or whatever… sharpening me more. So I did one poem called “RAISED VS. COMING UP”, started something like, “I was raised in the house but came up outside. Raised to be happy but coming up never smiled…” A teacher told me to enter it into a contest in college. Ok. Teacher comes back like, “Hey, you tied for second place!” Ok. Teacher comes back again like, “Hey, they’re having an awards ceremony with a reading. Bring whatever you want.” I was like, “I have to go to school on my off day?!?” Anyways, I told my mom and she said to go, so I went. It was cool. First time at a poetry reading. Folks were going up and they were DOPE! Actual delivery. I learned that there and from Pac. With poetry they teach you how to stretch words, how to paint with them, and to speak that painting into existence. Anyways, they asked me if i was going up. I was like, “Ok.” Wasn’t really prepared but I did the one they were giving me the award for. HERE’S THE PART…. SO, after the show, mix and mingle, I’m like17 or 18 or something, there with mostly older folks, and a woman comes up to me and says, “Do you have a copy of what you did?” I was like, “Nah, I didn’t know i would need them. Take this one.” and gave her the one i read. She took my hand and said, “Thank you. I’ve been looking for the words to say that and could never find them. Thank you for saying that.” It was one moment that i learned respect for words. Anyone can rip someone to shreds, but WHY? The world is vibrational, all words everywhere… and they’re paying attention to yours. Deliver your words. Deliver them truthfully, honestly because that’s all you really have. If folks don’t get it, fuck it, they don’t get it. Don’t dull your blade for someone else. Make your cuts. There’s someone you’re clearing a path for that you may never know about, and they’ll appreciate ever…. single… word. That made me like emcee’s over rappers. I don’t care for other’s opinions, not honestly, maybe being polite or cordial or whatever, but that experience didn’t teach me to cater to fans or people who “might like this or that”… it taught me to do you. Whatever you do, life being full of points, living being the vibration and energy and understanding between those points, you’re always connected and connecting to something or someone. Everything is a moment. Keep your moments genuine and being will respect that. If you’re real be real, no matter what. If you’re fake, be fake. What anyone else thinks or says doesn’t really matter. All of that fades. What you might want to leave behind is an honest solid real set of footprints. Folks will flip flop and talk, praise and complain, for the whole journey, but when they get to the destination, then they get it, and once you get there, the folks who are meant to share the moment with you will be there. Don’t chase the others who leave. Why leave you for someone else who’s leaving you? Also, don’t miss the trip for the destination. Dig both honestly. They’re both passing things.

#3 - Bobby McFerrin “DRIVE” (Simple Pleasures album) - “Don’t Worry Be Happy” blew my mind. The lyrics didn’t sink in until later. Alls I knew was this dude just did a whole album with no instruments and it’s DOPE. I listened to a lot of everything coming up, but this was different. I didn’t come up in a predominantly oldies or hip-hop or gospel household, there was music of all sorts. This was like jazz beat box to me. I’d never heard anything like it and I didn’t understand why there wasn’t more of this.

The main single [Don’t Worry Be Happy] was cool and it got me to look into getting the album… at it’s peak it piqued my interest to at least take a peek. My pops must have seen I was all into the records and in his cd’s and says one day, “Hey I’ll buy you a record. Think about what one you want and let me know.” I already knew and told him. We went to the record store in Cheltenham Mall in Philly back when it was Cheltenham Mall, I was stoked. I picked up Bobby Brown cause I didn’t know his name. Bobby Brown was on top at the same time so, paying more attention to the music and not the name I got them mixed up all the time. Imagine that. I was like, “Is this the guy?” Pops was like, “No, I don’t think that’s the guy. Look in the jazz stuff.” First time digging thru records in a store. I loved it. Looking at all of these artists that I didn’t know the names of, and different record labels I’d never paid attention to. You grow up on MOTOWN and that’s pretty much it as far as record labels go, and you don’t even think of MOTOWN as a label as a kid, more of a style of music. All of these plastic shrink-wrapped phantom zone squares were an eye opener. I’d seen things like the BLACK MOSES and SUPERFLY, Osibisa with the Roger Dean stuff, even Iron Butterfly, but this was an actual cool solo crate dive into artists and imagery. Taught me to respect album art seeing all of those. Stuff from Island, Chess, from Blue Note… then I found it. BRO. I couldn’t WAIT to spin that bad boy. From the jump it just unlocked this whole new world of potential. Boys II Men and other groups who’d done acapella stuff were cool and I dug that connection to just the voices, how they moved and fit together, harmonies and all of that, but THIS…. it was a whole orchestra with one instrument — the human being!

When i got to DRIVE?!?!… smh… to actually see in my mind’s eye what i was hearing by this dude making sounds with his mouth and body… it was mind-blowing. It opened up a whole new respect for music and sound. Like you can hear the lights on the highway passing overhead fading in slow motion, and cars ghosting by. You can hear the engine and the motion, the whole energy of it. It was a movie made with sound… no instruments, just sounds. EXTREMELY influential and inspirational. It’s a rare display of pure genius and artistry that very VERY hard to find these days. Not saying it’s not out there. Look at us! Not the John Trudell, but that too… haha, but look at The Adventures Of… It’s what we do. Authentic pure raw music for the sake and respect of the music. That and punk music taught me to be as creative as you can with what you have. Hip Hop is the same as Punk to me. One with live instruments, the other with turntables. Listen to some BEASTIE BOYS and you’ll see it. Charles Mingus had a quote (or at least it’s attributed to Mingus), “whenever I’m at my instrument I’m at practice.” If your instrument is YOU then your very being is at practice all the time, which is dope. As far as the music, that song unlocked a lot. It’s another one that let’s you know you can do whatever you can think of, there’s a way. Don’t get distracted. It’s not about the fans or being the dopest, it’s about the music. There’s worlds in that music, bigger than awards and clout. Make it happen.

#4 - Clyde Stubblefield “FUNKY DRUMMER” (Drummer for James Brown) - Clyde Stubblefield and The Funk Brothers are two names you should know. They’re dudes you know but might not know you know. Clyde’s got one of the most sampled drum tracks in hip hop, “The Funky Drummer Break”. Dude got no credit for it due to the industry being what it is. Clyde Stubblefield is the drummer for James Brown, one of the most heavily sampled bands ever, save maybe the funkadelic bands, Clinton and all of that stuff. The Funk Brothers were the [house] band for MOTOWN, and when you hear those songs, the music, people think either it’s The Temptations playing that iconic bassline that starts the “My Girl” song off, or give no thought to it at all, but without that bassline and guitar riff that sets everything off the song’s not as memorable. Studio and backup musicians and artists not only keep the pace but set the tone. They ARE the tone in a lot of cases. Take any song you’ve heard and just leave the vocals or the lead singer. No guitar solo. No drumtrack. No bassline. The singer is only as good as the band in the long run. Shoot, great bands make ok singers great artists. The music that makes the singers and songs memorable, those artists don’t always get the recognition they deserve.

Doing beats and instrumentals you need the right drumtrack, even if it’s not a full kit or whatever, if it’s like just a kick and a splash or something or a [jazz] trap kit, you still need the right sounds. You can get danceable energy without it but with it you can’t help but move. Drum is the heartbeat, bass is the blood. Sadly, today a lot of it’s all computer samples of original folks like Clyde and The Funk Brothers and folks don’t even know their names, just that the loop is called “Funky Drummer”. A lot of history and respect gets washed out. I guess that’s where they get that “Don’t hate the player… hate the game” from cause the player did his thang and the game screwed him over. His laugh about it just seated deeper in me that this music is bigger than the money. Even if you get paid, it’s worth waaaay more than you think. So keep the music pure. Clyde was more of an influence on me. Drummers man, they get my respect. All them limbs flying and doing their own thing. It’s a discipline and talent I haven’t hacked at too much but keep on my list. Clyde Stubblefield kept up with James Brown and vice versa… same thing with Mitch Mitchell and Jimi Hendrix. Dig THAT for a sec. Listen to “FIRE” with The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Feel that kind of hip hop funk in that ROCK MUSIC (Hendrix was really blues rock I’d say, but genres get all crazy. Music is music man) on “Crosstown Traffic”. I diggs a lot of drummer folks like Tony Royster Jr., Travis Barker and Chris Adler, Maytelll and Lux Drummerette, …this guy… and a few other folks too, but Stubblefield and Mitchell… smh. Dope. There’s a guy named Jeremy Farwup who played in SKETCH ORCHESTRA…. I was standing behind the stage during one of their sets watching from outside and I watched him play a cymbal/had as it fell to the ground, then he caught it with the stick and played it back up into position. INSANITY. All the guys in that band are pretty chill gents tho. Beasts on stage.

#5 - Being able to create freely. The Juice. The Electricity. The Fire. A lot of that is thanks to complete silence and solitude… aaannnd…. Bars and everyone I’ve ever done a show or song with or listened to live - All of the studio sessions. All of the writing sessions and freestyles, jams, cyphers… all of the beatmaking, sitting in the lab with headphone on and passing out while working on music and having it take you on some crazy ride in a dream when you didn’t even know you went to sleep and then waking up with music playing and it sounds completely different than when you passed out and then you keep working on it— eyes burning, ears and hearing all muffled, neck feeling broken... spending hours, “ok, put this drum here… no wait.. put it there… no take it out… no put it back… just a little louder… no no no… over here…” All of that stuff is great. having a beat just fill a room and seeing everyone writing, peeking at each other out the side of their eye, looking at the mic… Cruising at like 2 am on the back of the bus with headphones on, watching the city be the city…being out there in the streets when there’s the warm under bridges from nonstop traffic, and walking down the lines in the middle of daytime busy streets but at the cop-roach-and hooker hours of the night there’s NO ONE out there but the streets— when you can hear the lights buzz and click and the air creeping through the trees. The peace and quiet of a nice quiet song and the complete opposite of that whole bus and city experience. Being locked in rooms full of music. Chilling on the stoop at my grandma’s house on Upsal St. (36 W.) and going thru the record collection: Isaac Hayes, Superfly Soundtrack, Woodstock album, Iron Butterfly, Glen Miller, Louie Armstrong, Charlie Christian, Jackson 5 (ABC)… My dad’s cd collections…. All experiences with artists (even the bad ones)… Bands are cool… and by bands i mean BANDS. Like the collective of musicians and artists, each contributing their own style and thing to make the song/music happen. BANDS are cool. Stay in your lane, shine when you shine, do your thing but work as a unit. Artists that are about the music and not so much about them being “an artist”. You do shows, travel around, you get these show friends and show family… folks you kinda fit in the same style as and end up doing all of the same shows. I dig that. Sometimes you get to a new place, your people know the folks at the spot— they booked the gig. You don’t know anyone, but when the artists and folks start rolling in you see some familiar faces like, “Heeeeeey! You’re here too! Sweet.” Everyone at the show is important. The crowd, the guy who cleans up after or cleaned up before (or between sets), the light people, the bouncers, roadies, the sound scientists (sound people)… most definitely the people who are the bartenders or food servers depending on the type of gig. But everyone is important. They all connect. All there for different reasons but everyone connects. You learn to appreciate all of them like they’re in your group too. You’ll have good receptions, performances… and bad ones, or ones where you just don’t know what the heck happened. Some go by so fast because it’s such a rush, others you actually don’t know what happened— technical difficulties, cancellations & bumps, encores, set lineup changes, freestyles, the whole neon electric blur of it all is dope but the people make that happen. I love hanging out with artists after shows and having a beer or whatever, playing some darts, having a human moment because that’s all we are. Us making songs is a human thing. There’s nothing really special about it in a way that anyone can do it and everyone does. Might not sound like what’s on the radio or whatever but everyone does it. That’s the connection. We’re all just people doing what we do, and to honor and show appreciation and respect for that connection, OUR connection, here’s a song for ya. I hope it gets you to a divine point or at least points you in that direction. Much love and respect to all of the groups I’ve been in and kicked it with. If you’re ever in Pasadena, Ca. check out Old Towne Pub (66 N. Fair Oaks Ave - Down the alley on Holly St. between Raymond St. and Fair Oaks ave., going towards Colorado Blvd, not going to the mountain). Had some good dart games, and chess games there. The ELEMENT… that was a dope show.