Pure Positivity

If I ever have a chance to make a change I will, and I ain't laying down my soul for gold or any forms of bills.  Johnson&Jonson, also known as Blu and Mainframe, team up and terrorize a 1969 cutty classic, "See and Don't See" by Marie Queenie Lyons. The original is a terribly depressing tale of a philandering fellow who shatters a love that once was. While the remake is not necessarily as harsh it still wreaks of that same pungent musk. Blu is a rappers rapper; he exudes confidence, maintains breath control, utilizes wit, and admonishes anything resembling radio. He's dope. The guy flows with a new age style while never forgetting the fundamentals. Call me crazy but he's the Billy Preston of rap. The sixth beetle if you will, and unlike his predecessor, capable of creating something from nothing. Johnson&Jonson - The Only Way Cut off the lights close the door Step on in Check it out The only way To make it out this jungle is to juggle jo...

And metropolis is falling on top of us, banks and the bibles are closed so we're prophetless Lyrics: Lushlife - Gymnopedie 1.2 ft. Shad Shad Growing up words I was just another young brother in the suburbs I discovered that I loved words As a teenager in the 90's Green pager Nautica jacket need a long screen saver Had the nervous slang down pat Boomerang sound track playing in my room Playing hoops laying down tracks Swore I would get to the point 3 albums later I'm like biggie Singing to fans give me one more chance Forgive me I want to get it right or get busy My record gets spins and in turn I get dizzy You know the drill spinning trying to dig deep Just past 6 feet touch that mystery I misread the signs and I find myself lost But I only know I was lost when I find myself When I can see I wonder why I blind myself I know I just forget to remind myself This is rap for the Rap's fans DeRozan on a break over breaks This is that jam Photo...

Mighty Mos Def said it best, "Why does one straw break the camels back? Here's the secret, the million other straws underneath it." In the culture of Hip-Hop there is a paradigm shift going down. While Lil Wayne experiences seizures (probably from excessive codeine usage) and Nicky Minaj trots around like a trollop not fit for the slums of Kandahar, legitimate artists are emerging. They're shining lights on the fact that excessive materialism, drug use, violence, persecution, and sexism are not productive parts of society. Emcees are getting features on their albums from influential people like Dr. Cornell West (Brother Ali) and Maya Angelou (Kendrick Lamar). They're are openly rapping about the disgusting hate towards homosexuality (Murs & Macklemore). Even the catholic church and their rampant cover up of pedophilia isn't safe (Lupe Fiasco). The cherry on this sundae is the fact that all these artists have recently topped ...

Bodies decorated with tattoos and chains trying to put armor between you and pain. How many hip-hop artists can rip a Jake One beat, smash mics with Freeway, make Carson Daily a legit fan, and get Dr. Cornell West to close out a track? Brother Ali just dropped one hell of an uplifting album. While others whine about the country railing down the road to perdition, Brother Ali brings a sense of realism to the table. We are a country founded on the fundamentals of lifting oneself up by ones bootstraps, but what happens when those bootstraps are weathered? That's the premise of the album. What to do when you're bootstraps can't afford another tug... Lyrics: Brother Ali - Only Life I Know It's my life Yeah the only one that I'll ever know Feeling extra low Please let me go Oh... Lord... No... It's my life Yeah the only one that I'll ever know And it stress me so God bless my soul Oh... Lord... No... Whether it's the projects or tr...

I'm making shit you relate to, worry and celebrate to, that make you wanna  do better than just make do. Shortly after dropping my mixtape and album of the year Oddisee decides to give me one more remarkable treat. It's a confection sweet like stevia; all natural and guilt free. His flow parallels a calm creek quickly shifting to white water rapids only to ease up to that perfect portrait. It's an unprecedented balance of camel cool minus the naive bravado. With Oddisee you always know you're going to get a quality track destined to be stuck on repeat. Lyrics: Oddisee - From Largo With Love Representing from Largo It's Odd yo Hey yo Keep going I'm back at it like I ain't just drop a classic I think talent is habitual a habit I contract it With residuals to match it I'm a cactus in the desert So when other start to perish I flourish where it's difficult Weird to imagine my ?Awankin? to mash shit I do my best between the power and ...

If I was gay I would think Hip-Hop hates me When will people understand that there is  no such thing as normal. Different is what makes humanity so incredibly awesome. Discrimination is just so deeply rooted in the US that it will take a significant amount of time for things to fast forward in a direction of nobility. Our tenure as white men has been pretty raw: We've pillaged the Natives, enslaved African Americans, turned Chinese into indentured servants, refused to give women the right to vote, created Jim Crow laws, put Japanese in internment camps, ostracized Muslims; and then when we look at this hindsight a rather foul feeling overwhelms the senses. It's troubling that with all we've been through we continue to make the same mistake. Gay used to mean high spirited and now it's used as an insult. What the fuck is going on? In 1982 Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five released The Message which...

Sometimes you got these problems on your mind. And people will tell your sorrow, you'll be fine. But I don't believe that, you see that's a way of being lazy. If you want it got to get it, if confronted and you quit it, then you're nothing but a victim in a system that we living but forgiven if you want to start again. If you follow this blog in any way, shape, or form you'll notice that Oddisee has really been on my radar as of late. After dropping Odd Renditions he busted out his first official album People Hear What They See . Each track has it's own provocative, and even more so than that, proactive stance that keeps me yearning for more. Oddisee's cavalier D.C. style puts things perfectly into perspective. I love the quote I have listed above and feel it really represents what it takes to succeed. In fact the whole track elaborates on the fundamentals of ambition and what led this amazing artist to where he is today. Lyrics: Oddisee - Let it Go I ...