Tonight I went to the Living Word Festival put on by the good people of Youthspeaks SF with my homegirl Steph. During intermission I head toward the floor to say wassup to Adrool and Alan. We chat for a little bit and suddenly this guy with a hella loud mullet comes up to say wassup to the A-team. HOLY SHIT KIDS!!! IT'S BEAU SIA!!! This dude is probably my most favorite poet out. The style and energy he brings to the stage with his pieces are mindblowing. And here he is, standing right in front of me. At this point, I'm hella on some fanboy status type shit. Adriel sees me hanging with my mouth open and goes "Hey Beau, this is my homie Jon." Beau says wassup, asking if I'm a writer too and shit. I just hella babble, not really thinking about what I'm saying. I probably made a hella dumb impression cause I was hella awed to conduct a decent conversation with the man.
I left the encounter hella cheesing. Thanks Adriel.
Steph and I were hella talking about how we want to get back into writing again. I've been surrounded by all these amazing artists recently. Last week we peeped the 8th Wonder reunion show and their latest cd, "The W8nder Years" (FERREAL YA'LL SHOULD PEEP!), has been on constant rotation in the discman. That longing to write again intensified even more tonight at the show. Beau was telling me about the story behind one of his poems. If yr familiar with his work, it was his poem about love. (As big of a fan that I am, I don't even know titles. HAH!) The words of the poem came out hella naturally, but the process took a several months. I think that's where I'm at right now. This sabbatical from writing is actually me just sponging up the world to create a new piece. Let's see what happens.
One of the dopest lines heard tonight:
"Empathy is not a substitute for experience." - The homegirl Joellene
Music
Speaking of the discman, I've been having trouble with it recently. I think something is messed up with the headphone jack because whenever it gets moved around, the part of the sound cuts out, and yr left with the secondary vocals/instruments. It's bugging me because I've had this cd player for awhile now, (as seen from its battlescars/taped up battery port) and I'd hate to part with it. I mean, I can operate this shit with my eyes closed. But I might have to buy a new one in the near future. =/
On rotation:
"Rebel Soul Music" - Martin Luther
This CD is starting to grow on me. I wasn't too impressed with it at first, but am starting to enjoy it more with every listen.
"the w8nder years" - 8th Wonder Crew
Just a dopedopedope CD. My favorite part would have to be the version of Golda Supanova's "Blackbird". I've heard the acoustic version she did, but the full band version is nuts.
"The Beautiful Struggle" - Talib Kweli
This album was definitely a disappointment. I don't know, maybe it'll take a few more listens, but I'm really not impressed with Mr. Greene's third LP. Hopefully he comes back with the fire on the forthcoming Blackstar album.
"The Diary of Alicia Keys" - Alicia Keys
I think I was just listening to this cd because Paula had it on the "Currently listening to:" field on her xanga.
On the MP3 tip, D'Angelo's "Everybody Loves Sunshine" has been playing nonstop. This is a song that is part of the legendary "Voodoo Sessions". Prior to the recording of the D's "Voodoo" album, D'Angelo and ?uestlove would jam to find out what works and what doesn't. ?uest on the drums and D on the keys and vocals. The result is hot shit.
I'm looking forward to the Mos Def album coming out on tuesday. I've listened to the album already, and while it's a step down from "Black on Both Sides", there's still a few tracks that I think are hella dope. A part of me is gonna buy the cd purely out of respect for the artist.
School
School has been kicking my ass. That is all.
Finish Him...FRIENDSHIP!
I've been rocking this hemp bracelet that Nhuanh gave me when I visited the 831 last weekend. I've been wearing it everyday to somewhat serve as a reminder of all the beautiful people I've met and experienced down in Santa Cruz. Thank you folks. Good times, good times.
1:51 AM
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Sunday, October 03, 2004
defending it protecting it and holding it down.
gangsta lovin it closely
keep on passing it around...
6:27 PM
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Friday, October 01, 2004
alone in santa cruz - the ataris
it is good to be back. it's such a beautiful thing seeing all these faces and vibing with people again. i sincerely do miss it here. but someone said something today that hella killed it for me. thanks. it's just that i value everyone here so much and am grateful for everyone's presence that an inconsiderate little remark like that hella hurts. you don't know who you are and you prolly never will. but don't worry, it's not like i'll never see you again. i don't ever wanna take shit for granted. someone please smack me if i do. other than that, i'm hella glad i'm here. i spent some time alone on campus just reflecting on the way things were in my life right now. i needed to. it was beautiful.
i finally escaped the bubble, but i'm trying so desperately to get back in.
5:28 PM
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one day it'll all make sense jonathan
3.22.84
sacto/santacruz/sf
