What started as an accidental journey to Texas with my brother DJ Halo, ended up being one of the best rap vacations of my life. I met so many wonderful people down there and solidified some sense of purpose in my rap music. I am forever grateful for the opportunities I was presented with during the trip. I already miss Austin and my friends who are still down there. Here is my recount of the last week of my life. March.

I went to SXSW last year during a tour with my friends Shane Hall and Jesse Dangerously, while I had a small bit of fun doing the journey last year, I was also terribly depressed and fighting with people back home, far too much negativity to enjoy my surroundings at the time. I told myself I would return next year and make a better go about it. But as time went on and my schooling got deeper, I didn’t see it happening for me.

I decided at the last moment that I would look into getting a flight down there, after having to turn down a few shows going down at SXSW due to my indecision to attend. I figured it was worthless to make the trek without a tour to back up. That was when I started talking to everyone going down there and realized that this year would be even bigger for indie rap music, and that everyone would be there. I found out that my friend Halo was driving down solo and needed a co-pilot. I decided to jump in the car and take the trek.

We had decided to leave a little bit earlier than the start and travel around Louisiana for a bit, Halo had a friend that lived in Baton Rouge and he wanted to see her, so I said eff it, and we went. I got to meet the wonderful Sara (thank you for letting us stay with you) and we all decided to go to New Orleans for a while. I had never been and the only thing I knew about the city was that public drunkenness was abundant. I was unaware of how badly that type of environment could be.

Can I be the first to say that I didn’t enjoy Bourbon st as much as the tourists do. I can’t handle the massive amount of people and the drunks wandering aimlessly among the homeless, it was all too much for my timid mind to take, I was pleasantly surprised when we ended up at what I believe to be a locals bar, nice and quiet. The night persisted with random journeys to the river where I found a riverboat and some crazy people. Overall I could do without the tourist stuff attached to New Orleans but it was a beautiful city with wonderful culture. I spent the next few days writing two papers for school. I wanted to make sure to get some homework down on this damn journey.

We stayed with Sara for a few days then it was off to Austin for SXSW. I had every intention of enjoying myself this year, No girlfriend to fight with, no attachments back at home, no real issues other than my own personal insecurities, which I hoped wouldn’t get in the way this year, we arrived in sunny (and hot) Austin by the afternoon of the first, and what was supposed to be my only, show of the entire trip. My DJ, Emoh betta gives me shit for the time I dedicate to this music. He just kept telling me what a worthless trip it was going to be for a 10 minute set. I tried to explain how I was going for the shows and not really to promote myself. I wanted to enjoy the music festival for what it is, a really good time with great showcases. I met up with MC Homeless for the first show.

Homeless had contacted me earlier about doing the showcase, this was after I had decided to go, and I was down for it. He had this great extravaganza planned with tons of great rappers, Sole, BSBD, K The I???, Brzowski (my dude!) and many others. I was honored to be included on such a bill, and even though I was playing earlier than most, I was grateful. I guess this is something I have had issues with for the last few years, its one of the reasons why I went back to school. I have felt neglected in my scene (Boston) and I feel like while people might like me, most don’t want to help me out with shows, I know this is probably more so an insecurity I need to work out with myself, but seeing my friends get included on so many shows that are put on by mutual friends is always a painful experience for me. I just always want to ask why I was never included. But I fought these feelings and decided to let it go. For once.

The show was at Indie 512, which was right downtown within the action! I was crazy excited to see friends and perform! I went on with Halo around 7:30 and with only 10 minutes to prove myself I got to business, I banged out as many short songs as possible, skipping over some of my slower songs and getting all the hype out. I had barely practiced and focused on the energy I wanted to display. I think I made a solid impact, and with Halo backing me up, I couldn’t lose!

Click here to view the embedded video.

We hit the crowd with everything we had, and it was reciprocated! I felt the energy and came alive! after being stuck in a car for 27 hours, it was such an uplifting experience. It made me remember why I started rapping and performing to begin with, it was the exhilarating feeling of being validated by your peers and by strangers! I couldn’t be more grateful for the chance to perform at that show and it wouldn’t have been possible without MC Homeless believing in me. That night I got to see MC J Natural perform for the first time, after meeting her with Mike Eagle and DJ TramLife in Boston. I loved that she had a Hello Kitty IPhone case. I made small talk with her prior to the show and reintroduced myself, since it had been awhile, and I doubted that she remembered me. I think by her seeing myself and Halo perform for the first time it helped me secure another show with her and Tramlife the next night. overall I had a great first night in Austin, I watched my good friends Homeless, Grey Sky Appeal and Icebox perform and afterwards ran around checking out some other shows.

Now would be a good time to mention that Halo and myself didn’t have a spot to stay at, when we started planning this journey, everyone of our friends already had their apartments filled with Rappers that we all knew, so we figured our best bet was to beg people from the stage for a place to crash. It didn’t work out for us, but Homeless (after getting drunk) allowed us to stay at his spot. Which his roommate was not ok with, Goonery at its finest.

That first night was filled with conversation about raplife, touring, people that let us sleep on their floors and what everyone was up to that week. I met K The I??? for the first time that night. We all stayed at MC Homeless’s house, about 9 rappers, and we just stayed up talking till 5 am about being Goons and I now have an idea for a T-shirt (expect it soon, AKA HP expect a call).

Being surrounded by people you respect and adore musically allows for great conversation and after that night, I knew I was going to have a great time. I woke up to more people filtering through the house, apparently from Minnesota. I figured they were just some random people coming down to enjoy SXSW. It turns out that the people were from Fill In The Breaks crew (Ecid, David Mars) and We hit it off!

I spent most of the week wandering from show to show with Halo and talking rap with Ecid, David Mars, Brzo, etc. Its always a good feeling being surrounded by great rappers and having the same thoughts to ourselves about the scene. I learned a lot from everyone that week. I got to hang out with Mike Eagle and Louis Logic for a bit. I have to say, Louis is a great human being. This was the first time I had met him and decided to ask where he had been all this time, as far as rap goes, I hadn’t heard about any new projects for a few years. He broke down what he had been up to and I was grateful for the interaction. I have never met someone so willing to break down their life in complete honesty, as a fan I loved that, as an artist I respected him. Its hard to let yourself be vulnerable to people you don’t know, especially other rappers when the genre itself doesn’t allow for weakness.

I managed to find Chris Faraone while I was at a showcase and he told me about a group photo of all the Boston artists at SXSW. I wasn’t included on any of the official showcases, probably cause I haven’t officially released an album in years, but I was happy to be apart of the photo. There were only 3 rappers there, me, Esh, and Grey Sky Appeal (I am counting them as one force!). I never did see the photo but here is the shot beforehand:

I had such an amazing time down there that on the way back home I started to write a song over a Halo beat. Expect that soon!!!

In the last week I have had some strange show experiences that I want to take about, and apologize for my behavior. This is the true life details of some idiot who loves to antagonize.

I recently performed at the good life bar. It’s actually one of my favorite spots to play in the Boston area. I have yet to have an experience I’ve wanted though.

Good Life (5/2/12):

Dave from Unregular Radio shot me an email asking if I wanted to perform at the Good life on May 2nd, this was recently after I had appeared at Unregular Radio with my friend 90Sevan for his art exhibit. I was thrown on the bill at the last moment but I didn’t mind, this show was going to be a practice run for my show with Mac Lethal on May 22nd. I decided to break out all the songs I’ve wanted to try out live and see if anyone reacted to them. I arrived early, as usual, and asked around if anyone needed help. Prior to being placed on the show I had not heard any of the acts on the bill before. I was pleasantly surprised to see that these acts were actually talented. Shout outs to Blaze P, The Family Dinner, and Sweatshop. I broke into my set and started to notice a group of people to my right were not pleased. I specifically noticed that one girl was disinterested in my set completely and so I chose her for Shithead.

Let me say that I don’t mean to be a Shithead, but usually during the song I like to find a girl that looks somewhat uncomfortable and then proceed to rap the song directly to them. This is usually done in fun and no one takes offense but this night I was a bit more harsh. My friends said I was being too rude, more so because I wasn’t letting her in on the joke. Her name is Amanda, I don’t think I will ever forget her name, I doubt she will forget the asshole rapper that told her that he would “slap your phone right out of your hand next time I see you”. I was joking, but she never realized it. This is the photo of the event:

Dear Amanda, I am truly sorry for possibly ruining your night. Near the end of the set I decided to make the mistake of asking if anyone was even into it. Amanda and her friends were not, and for some reason I let this get to me. Let me give some advice I usually follow: Never let the crowd get to you, no matter what. I ended the set on a new song, and it skipped somehow, I wrongly took my anger out on Emoh and decided to end the set and the new song early. I made a note to not repeat this at my Dover show on May 4th.

Spun Records, Dover, NH:

Awhile back I was hurting for shows, and I felt really left out. My friends were all doing shows in the area, but no one was asking me to perform, it was something that seemed on purpose. I was talking to my good friend PT Burnem about it and we were chatting back and forth about rapping and how shitty it feels to be left out. He decided to reach out and let me jump on this show in Dover, I was super greatful! I wanted to make sure I didn’t repeat what happened at the good life two nights previous. So I started on my journey to Dover via train. I still don’t drive a car, so sometimes its hard to get around, but I make it work! On the way to the show I was trying to figure out where I was going to sleep. I hadn’t thought it through completely and assumed one of my friends would put me up. My homie Nobody Cares decided to help out! Me and that guy have been doing shows for 7 years now, and every time I hang out with him it’s a good time. We always bullshit about the best stuff (women, rap, tours, races, etc). I decided that while I waited for everyone else to show up, I would go check out the venue. Now Spun Records is a real cool place to buy music. I know most of the people reading this probably don’t buy music anymore, I understand slightly, but its record stores like this that bring me back to fond memories of my childhood. I used to love digging for new music at Tom’s Tracks in Providence (RIP). The spot was super tiny and definitely not setup for a show, but that’s what makes shows like these fun! The owner Mark is super nice and let me hide my stuff in the back. While waiting for the homies to get some food, My dad called. He tends to call me when I am out and actually busy, but I never deny a phone call from Papa H.W. It almost always starts with where I am, and ends with how much he hates his job. I love the guy, but he never understands what the words “I have to go” means. He just starts another conversation, and then I hang up. Lets skip ahead, cause I feel the need to stop typing:

The show kicks off with Nobody Cares, who was kind enough to let me go on later. I’m always caught off guard by how great of a rapper Nobody Cares truly is. If you haven’t listened to him, check this link here. I got into my set immediately after he is done, and decide to share some truth with the audience, I told them about my issues and made it a point to mention that I will not pull another “Amanda”. I was so wrong.

I start to notice this group of people, dead center, backs turned, talking to each other. They were so much louder than the PA. I decide to start harassing them, this is where the trouble begins. I will not mention her name, but this one girl decides that she is bigger than the show and taunts me back. Everything I give to her, she gives me back, I respect that. I do shithead again, and she is just having a great time digging into me. Yelling things like “HE’S SERENADING ME! LOOK AT HIM, HE’S SERENADING ME!!!!”

I’m trying to keep it together and not lose it, but in reality this is all my fault. I can’t help how I interact with people but for some reason, NH always gives me shit. after I finish my set, mildly frustrated that I fell into a trap and started giving shit to the crowd, I felt terrible for what I was doing. I never mean to hurt anyone’s feelings and really just do it in jest. I made sure to mention that at this show.

as the night progresses and everyone slays, I try to help with some sound issues. I hear from behind me the same girl yelling “I will pay you to beat that kid up” I am almost positive she is talking about me, since I was the only one that gave her shit the entire night. hour later she stops me and asks me how much for my cd. I tell her that she can just have it considering how I picked on her. She refuses and offers me a transformer pin. Win. the night ends with me and Nobody Cares watching the Celtics on DVR. He was hella excited for it.

The moral of the story: don’t be a bully yo.

I have been meaning to write this post since the night I saw The Lorax in theaters in March. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss is a tale of conservation of our natural resources, specifically the forest, presented in a tale from a character called the Once-ler, who is supposed to represent industry, shares with a boy just how the world became such a desolate place. As someone who considers themselves environmental friendly in most aspects (I don’t own a car, I ride my bicycle) I found this story appealing as a youngster, and still do to this date. So when I saw that Dr. Seuss (his trust) had allowed the world to create a movie version of The Lorax, I was excited to see it! It turned out to be a long drawn out movie pushing a fluff image and down playing the environmental aspects of the story. It drove me to write this article.

(Photo Credit: StreetsBlog)

The problems first arose with the ads I had seen popping up over the internet. Mazda had paid for the rights to use the Lorax’s likeness and story to sell their new SUV. Mind you the car wasn’t even a hybrid vehicle, nor was it an electric car that had a minimal impact on the environment. The problem with this ad mostly sits with the notion that it is Truffula Tree friendly. WTF! I cannot believe that Dr. Suess would ever allow this to happen to his beloved story. This very ad is the reasoning behind the story to begin with, that over consumption of unnecessary goods and the lack of empathy for the environment will be the death of all the joy in this world.

I could handle the idea of this ad’s existence if the movie had atleast reenforced the backing story of The Lorax to begin with, but it failed on that front as well. Hollywood decided to take the story and use it as a backdrop to a fluff piece about 2 kids failing in love with each other, both played by Taylor Swift and Zac Efron as the two children. Zac’s only cares about the trees disappearance due to his affection for Taylor’s character who loves trees. why is it ok to teach children that the environment is our toy. It develops further by adding in more background characters while grazing over the actual story and lesson that The Lorax meant to tell.

I died a little while watching this movie, I couldn’t stand the characters that were presented and saw most of the major names in the movie (Danny Devito, Betty White) play the background to the younger talent (Zac, Taylor). I imagine this was due to the cost of the production. The movie cost about $70 million. Now Universal has recouped all of the costs on the film at the box office, currently breaking records everywhere, but the problem still stands, how much of that went into reforestation efforts or atleast any environmental projects. As far as I can tell nothing. They do speak about supporting a campaign to restore some forest, but as far as my searching found, it was with additional support from the audience, not from actual ticket sales. it even took a campaign from concerned students from Brookline, MA to get universal to add some environmental content to the movie website.

The destruction this movie has caused to a book I care dearly about has caused me to write this article. I have not been a very vocal environmentalist in my music, for whatever reason, but in my life I have tried to make it known that I care and want to help in whatever way possible. If you go to see the film with your children, or on your own, please take a moment to read the original book and realize why this movie version is wrong. The Lorax stood for conservation and being content, not the mass consumption of unnecessary goods and waste of the world.

This is my bicycle (please don’t steal it), It has been my only form of transportation since November of last year. That was the time my car died and I just couldn’t afford to fix it anymore. I was scared to death of not owning a vehicle, considering I had owned a car in some form or another since I was 16. I came from Fall River, which doesn’t have a good form of public transportation and anything of worth to visit, so as a teenager you have to drive somewhere else. I just wasn’t sure I would last without a car, I mean what would I do for touring and shows?!?!?! I decided to test myself on this one and see if I could go a year.

I love my bicycle, I don’t think I can stress that enough now. I went the full year without buying another car. I don’t mean to tell you that I could afford another car, in all honesty, I was/am dead broke from being in school and not having a solid paying job (shout outs to all the servers out there). I just figured I would invest in a bicycle and see what happens, so I sold my car for scrap metal and with that money bought a bicycle from Bikes Not Bombs (great org, check out the site). After that it was all love, I rode the bike till snow was too heavy on the roads, I know some hardcore cyclists will judge me for that but my tires, even on my mountain bike can’t handle the snow we had that year. I just took buses when I had to and rode when I could.

My family still doesn’t understand why I don’t own a car, I get calls everyday from my mother and vavo (my Portuguese grandma) asking me if I want a car, or when I will get a car, or why I keep riding my bicycle everywhere and how I should stop doing that. My friends back in Fall River don’t really get it either, I can’t say I blame them. I used to have the same thought that if I got rid of my car, I would never be able to get around, which is completely false. so how do I get out of town?

I use the commuter rail whenever possible, and actually I wish they would acquire more rail tracks so I could visit my family and friends back home. I currently take the commuter rail to providence and than hitch a ride. Now I am not saying that cars are bad and everyone should ditch them and ride a bicycle, though that would be awesome I can’t see it happening anytime soon. I just feel the world is congested enough with smog, pollution, and the like that comes from cars, that if we all rode a bicycle to get to the local spots (say within 7 miles) everyone would feel better for it, health wise and within the community. I even have a bike gang of my own that I started with friends (whats up @Ksdiesel and @Lchayner) called Circular Logic (get it?!!?!) we have fun and ride together.

Biking is cost effective (ie no real operating cost), good for the environment (no carbon emissions), and good for your body (no need for a gym when you ride everyday), its just a nice way to live. winter is rough though. My parents are starting to come around to the idea that I don’t want a car, it only took a year.

here is to another year without a car and with alot more fun. Bike Gang 4 life.

(I am the one on the right, my friend @ksdiesel is on the left)

Some random thoughts that I feel you might like to know about

I have a few shows coming up in the Boston/New England area:

I am opening for Sims, Cecil Otter, and Lazerbeak (all of Doomtree) next friday October 7th at O’briens pub in Allston/Boston, Ma ; For tickets click here for the FB event page: Here 21+

I am also playing in New Bedford , Ma @ The New Wave Cafe on October 21st: FB Event page here 21+

I am also playing Worcester on October 28th @ the 97d Gallery with good people; FB event page here all ages

It’s been a real long time since I have done more than a show a month, I want to see some familiar faces at these venues, please make an effort to show up.

I’ve been listening to a ton of the new Astronautalis album, the recent video he released is super dope and the song features Tegan from Tegan and Sara. I think you would all enjoy giving it a shot.

I’ve been looking to get some new songs done and hopefully premiere them soon at some shows, I got a few T-shirt designs I am working on and will have them as well.

My friend Trak Masta Tom just dropped his latest album featuring me on a song, you can hear the track here and buy/download the album here.

My mentor Brzowski recently released an album of epic proportion. you need to go give it a listen here.

My great friend Jesse Dangerously is running a campaign to get his latest release Humble And Brilliant on vinyl, the album is a favorite of mine and I hope you can all check out this Canadian kickstarter page thing and throw him some money.

At this very moment I should be doing my Japanese homework, but instead I am surfing the net looking for crap that is not school related. oh well. see you all soon. -Joshhw

PS if you have a tumblr, follow mine: longlivehw.tumblr.com

PPS I posted some new photos from my last photo shoot. check them out on FB and comment. I’d love to think they are good.

Over the last few years I have grown to this idea that less is more, that the downsizing of my space and clutter is good for myself, and my environment. I used to be obsessed with collecting whatever I could get my hands on, but lately I am selling my possessions off and living with what I need. I’ve learned quite a bit about myself during this process.

If you have been inside my room you would have found shelves of dvds, a sizeable amount of floor space taken by comic books and a ton of clothing just strewn around the room. I would have receipts, random pieces of paper that I wrote a song on that will probably never see the light of day, but I digress.

I read awhile back about this idea of Minimalism. the idea of clearing your life of whatever you do not deem necessary, and then making what you deem necessary, to be the best choice among the options presented to you. I started donating my clothes to goodwill about 1 year ago after I realized that most of my closet doesn’t see the outside world, while going through my closet it became hard to toss out objects I had held onto for years (my first atmosphere shirt?!!?!? but what if I learn to sew again and fix the holes!! I can’t throw it out!), but once I gave it some thought, I had to let it go, these objects are just that, and my memories are within me, not within the clothing, comics, objects, etc.

Since then I have ruthlessly given away my DVD collection and have decided that when I print out my next album, it will be on recycled paper, and with post consumer goods (look that up if you don’t know what it means, its important to your future). I know this sounds kinda crazy but my life has become better for it. I have more money since I don’t spend frivolously on objects I will never see again. I am not saying everyone should do this, but consider the amount of stuff you have in your house, now tell me what you use on a daily basis. how much of that stuff do you really need? you would be surprised how many objects get neglected.

Tell me what you think, am I crazy or am I mad?

This is my friend Kenn. he is one of the biggest supporters of the Boston local rap scene that I know about, I am almost willing to bet that if you have been to a show in the last 2 years around Boston, you have seen/spoke to/met Kenn. He has been trying to help everyone in the area for quite sometime and that’s why he recently started a charity with a mutual friend (Katrina) called Starving Raptors. But lets start at the beginning of my relationship with Kenn.

My first twitter fight:

My first interaction with Kenn was not a good one. I was opening up for Eyedea And Abilities/Themselves at the Middle East in Cambridge. I was introduced by Ricky Mortis as Cage (some background on this: Ricky had previously gotten into a fight with Cage while he was hosting a Cage show in Boston), now Ricky had let me know that he was going to fuck with me prior to introducing me on stage that night, I told him to go ahead because I am friends with Ricky and support his ideas when it comes to rap events, I have always found him humorous. So he goes on stage and tells the audience that he has made up with Cage and that he is here to personally introduce him that night. The crowd roars and out comes me. I thought this bit was funny but apparently that night Kenn was in the crowd, and started to dislike me the minute that happen. Now the show goes well for me, I feel the love from the crowd and I am completely unaware that someone out there has twitter and is telling Cage all about how terrible I am. I later find this out from Emoh.

If you know me you will know that I am pretty saavy with a computer and have a habit of scouring the net for details relating to me, now Kenn had added Emoh on twitter but never added me, this is how Emoh noticed that Kenn disliked me, which I think Emoh enjoyed. I decided to check out his feed from the previous night, turns out he really hated me, now the grown up thing to do would have been to brush it off and let it go, but I am not that type of guy. I decided to start tweeting at him (also apologies to the people who hate twitter, I am obsessed). This lead to a back and forth about how terrible I am.

I just needed to find out who this guy was in real life, I somehow found his actual facebook page and searched his music interests and minus some metal bands, we had the exact same rap tastes, this only depressed me more and more as I thought about it, essentially this man was the person my music should have connected with, but for some reason it didnt, this only depressed me.

The Cage Show:

Months had past since the first ever twitter argument for me (which actually happened quite a bit since then) by then I was performing with The Scribblenauts (the dopest group I was ever apart of, the album is on some other shit) and I had the opportunity to open for Cage. I was deathly afriad that Cage was going to hate me and tell his fans to hate our music but that didn’t end up happening (sidenote: I am super paranoid that people hate me). While the show was going down, I had floating in my head that Kenn would be there considering how much of a Cage fan he is. I got to meet him after the show and it turns out we impressed him. I was so glad to turn it around finally and make the only person I know that actually hated me, like me.

Starving Raptors:

After that, me and Kenn became good friends, and he actually became one of my biggest supporters, so much so that I call him when I have a new song or verse to share. He has since become entrenched in the local hip hop scene. So much so that he noticed where the scene lacked, that being booking solid shows and promotion. He followed this up with his first big endeavor which is called Starving Raptors. It started out when He met this woman named Katrina who wanted to help out the scene as well, her father had also died from Cancer and wanted to somehow bring everyone together for a cancer benefit that would show the world that rappers have feelings and no matter where you are from, you have felt the sting of cancer. This event is going down in NH on August 12th! at Fury’s Publick House. also with this event an exclusive cd featuring Ceschi, Myself, Defcon, Outwrite, Gray Sky Appeal, Ordeal, Recaall, Madness2012, Virtue and many more! here are some clips from the album:

My Verse:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Recaall:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ordeal:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Subtext:

Click here to view the embedded video.

This album can be only funded by your help. please consider donating and joining us for the show August 12th.

New Old album coming out, new tracks with good friends, BBQ’s in the sun and lots of personal time. This summer is shaping up to be the best one yet. read on for my rambling and a look at a new track.

I usually hate summer, not the actual weather (mostly) but the situations that occur during the summer. You see my relationships usually flounder right before may hits, I guess women like a stable relationship for the winter and want to be free during the summer. This actually stopped happening for me last year, I dated a wonderful girl who stuck it out during the whole summer and we had a great time, but I am skipping the point. This summer has been the best for me.

First off I have been actually out riding my bicycle everywhere I can think of and have decided that I am going to skip the T for the first few months of fall and ride to school. I have become obsessed with riding my bike and going green. I check out so many ways to save the earth on a daily basis by reading sites like good.is and treehugger.com. I walk around boston now just scoping out the bicycles in the area. I long for the day I can afford a sick looking bike. I highly recommend that you get a bike and ditch the car. I used to think I could never live without my car, but nature and summer have shown me that its not something I ever need again, I’ll probably buy a vehicle when a good all electric car comes around (or if nissan decided to sp0nsor me with a leaf!). I’ve become so engrossed that I am planning a trip to Portland, Oregon (Bicycle mecca!).

So my writing has shifted quite a bit recently, If you know me personally I have been talking about switching up my style for quite sometime now. I have wanted to write more technical verses, more intricate rhymes and I have slowly been accomplishing that. The first song to see that light will appear on my friend Trak Masta Tom‘s new album. here is the song in question:

I was very proud to do that song given the circumstances, You see Tom was a fan of my music from back in the day. He reached out to me on my recent tour and wanted to play his hometown with me (which I was happy about) and it turned out he is real dope and a good human being. He asked me to do a song with him and I was more then happy to, I even had to step my rapping game up to match his ability. This is one of my happier verses. I hope you enjoy(ed) it.

I got shows coming up!

July 19th in cambridge

July 25th in Boston

check the shows page for more information.

I know it hasn’t been too long since I last updated this site but I needed to tell you that I am still alive. I have been trying to enjoy life to the fullest during this last week and I wanted to share with you some good times and some inspiring moments I had this week.

NYC/BROOKLYN!

I have been seeing this wonderful woman for a small amount of time now and had a conversation about going to NYC together since I am always down for whatever and she hasn’t been enough. I got some shifts at work covered and it was on like donkey kong. I started looking into hotels and asked around twitter for some good choices and my friend PogoParker (AKA #NiceGuyTim) came through with a studio bedroom (the very one he records these awesome songs in). Tim happens to live in a very nice area of Brooklyn, Green Point to be exact and every time I have visited him (which were too few times) I have fell in love with his spanish/polish neighborhood. He showed us some good Mexican food and a serious record store (totally unorganized, probably a diggers dream). Thanks Tim for everything!

We had decided that we both wanted to goto the Museum Of Modern Art (MOMA) and see some exhibits. I had been there once before with a previous girlfriend and decided this was a solid idea since I enjoyed the time I had spent there previously. We went through the exhibits haphazardly, not truly having a direction, but this one exhibit caught my eye.  it was called “I Am Still Alive: Politics and Everyday Life in Contemporary Drawing” the main articles that kept my attention were these postcards from a Japanese artist named On Kawara. The point of these postcards were to let people he cared about know that he is safe and indeed still alive. The message moved me, I mean it just resounded within me. I have felt for the last 2 years of my music and personal life that many have forgotten about me, that some fans, friends, family, etc have possibly considered me dead to the world around them and rightfully so. I have had barely a social life in the last couple of years (especially the last one) and have been extremely distant from my friends. My music has almost come to a slow halt considering my last solo effort came out almost 2 years ago. So it started echoing in my head…I am still alive… I just need to show my friends that they matter to me, and that I am still continuing this #raplife. Another exhibit that stuck out were some South Africa paintings that were done during the apartheid era. This was a time in South Africa where racial segregation was an accepted occurrence and art was held down because of it, some of the pieces that were shown are from the period and are seeing the light of day for the first time, here are some I enjoyed:

The raw emotion that I felt when staring at these paintings was incredible. I know some of this might sound pretentious, but I really enjoy art of all kinds (even abstract expressionism apparently). check out these exhibits before they disappear.

While I was out in BK I had to give my friend Molly Burkett a call! I had yet to visit her in Brooklyn and I decided one fateful morning at 2am that the time was right. I turned out to be the backseat to the excursion that would occur that night, My girlfriend and her bonded over their love of Jewelry and suede products.

Truth is I didn’t belong at this fabric party. but I nonetheless enjoyed petting her quiet cat while they took photos of each other wearing jewerly, I would post a photo of it, but I am sure its not a good idea. I must mention what occurred next made the trip super memorable and by that I mean we got a sketchy cab ride. I want to preface this with: I don’t take cabs anywhere, If I am not on my bicycle then I take the subway. If that is not available I find a friend for a ride, but regardless I don’t like the idea of spending money for transportation when I can walk. Well it was a long night and we opted to order a car (which apparently is slang for a cab out in BK, whatever) and what pulled up outside of the precinct we were standing near (yes precinct as in cops and such) was a black unmarked car which beeped and supposedly was a cab. long story short: the man didn’t speak english, didn’t know where he was going and didn’t have a fare meter. We ended up asking him to let us out and we huffed it the rest of the way. it cost us $13 bucks for our lives that night. totally worth it.

some other highlights from the trip were seeing Avenue Q for the 2nd time (I like theater, go figure), which is a raunchy play with puppets…seriously watch this clip and you will understand. The play was great and even better cause I had row 3 seats dead center. The one bagel I got to eat out there was amazing! for some reason blueberry cream cheese just does not exist outside of NYC, I have searched forever and even issued a challenge to friends to find me some. If you know anything about me, you would understand that I love to eat bagels, so much so that people are starting to tell me that I look Jewish. I don’t see it.

Also this past tuesday I opened up for Brown Bag Allstars at the Middle East upstairs. this crew has been killing the battle scene (AKA Soul Khan) and tracks lately (Check out Koncept). It was an honor to ride the bus home from NYC and rock a show with family (AKA Virtue, Emoh, Seveer) and I got to rock a sweet Rocko’s Modern Life shirt (courtesy of my girlfriend, that shirt in the photo above). The show was decent for me on a personal level, but I felt like I lost a few people towards the end. I have no idea if anyone else on the show felt it,but I loved each of them.

It is literally 3am in Watertown while I write this post and I want to let you know I just recently put up a song I did awhile back in March. I waited possibly too long to put this free track out, but I would love your opinion on it.

Hello out there, I hope you didn’t forget about me.  I have been stupid busy with school since last we spoke. now the summer is upon me and I have some shows coming up I want to update you on first:

June 14th @ The Middle East Upstairs, 472 mass ave, cambridge, ma – I am opening for one of the dopest crews out of NYC, The Brown Bag Allstars (Soul Khan, Koncept, ETC), I am also performing with my good friends Virtue, and Seveer. This show is not one to be missed and I will be selling tickets for it so please email me or purchase one online.

June 18th @ The Space, Portland, ME – I am playing my good friend Brzowski’s CD release show. I cannot tell you how heavily I am influenced by Big Brzo. I would love it if you came to this show and supported one of the biggest supporters of me. buy tickets here

now on to some personal bullshit you may not care about (aka my actual life)

November, 2010: This was the month life went to pieces…actually it was just the month I decided (aka being broke) to get rid of my car. I have never gone very long without having a vehicle. I am originally from Fall River, where if you do not have a car, you do not go anywhere. I have always wanted to get rid of my car, but my touring, music, life (I thought) depended on it. its been over 8 months without a car and I am happy about it.

I have always wanted to be just a cyclist (aka bicycle rider) since the days of my early anime watching, sitting up and watching an episode of Golden Boy (do not judge me anime fans) and thinking it would be sweet to be just a cyclist/pedestrian.  The transition was rough at first but over time I learned to deal with the issues, that being getting up on time to leave my house.

I toured in march: I really should have updated all this shit much early and as I am writing this, its hard to think of all the cool things I saw when I went on the road with Shane Hall and Jesse Dangerously. I was actually quite depressed due to some relationship fighting back at home (but there is no need to jump into those details) and due to the fact that my social life up until this tour was a mess (I wrote a song or two about it). I trudged through and had some of the best times on the road with some amazing people. Here are a few of the videos I created while out there.

Shane Hall diffuses a drunk:

This was a good time watching Shane control the situation, we were in Pittsburgh at 2am at this diner that only opens after midnight. its run by a really cool punk rock crew. shouts to StillBorn Identity for all the help that night.

While I was on the road, I was trying to apply for a scholarship and needed help expanding on my essay. Me, Shane and Ryan (From the North Decade) worked on it and created this. Turns out I couldn’t send the essay because I could not find a fax machine. but this essay is being sent next year.

– This video is my favorite from the trip. we ended up in Cleveland and had nowhere to play due to the venue we booked closing, luckily Chris Parks came through and allowed us to host up on his couch and live stream. someday I will put those videos up. This was the highlight of the tour for me. I wish I had documented the tour more. Chris has some great footage of us all performing are songs in a different way. I will post it up very soon.

Also I need to give a huge shout out to NiceGuyTim (AKA PogoPark): this man made the first leg of the tour the most fun times ever. I have never felt so close to someone I had never met previously. He is dope.

There are plenty more times that we had out there but Shane Hall wrote probably the best tour entry and quite frankly I cannot top it.