This is HILARIOUS to me!!! I disappeared for a second, now I'm back! April is here, Spring has sprung, let the good time and good vibes roll!
Here on the Report, I talk about topics related to not only music, but politics, health, well being, comedy, you name it. But, sometimes, for some people, information is tough to digest. Many people want to believe their lives is something it's not, and they don't preferably like their bubble busted, well, no one does, but for sake of argument, they are convinced things have never been better in the world and don't see what all the fuss is about. Then to contrast this group, you have others that will believe anything you tell them...blindly. And then, go off half cocked spouting off these "facts" as if they done the empirical research themselves, but under investigation, these so-called "facts" are easily refuted. Now on the other side, you have those who see things that aren't there, these are the classic "conspiracy theorists", not to be confused with the broad label used against people who actually have a legitimate issue, complaint or what have you. These are the REAL conspiracy theorists, the ones who believe Jackie O shot JFK in the back of the head or Paul McCartney died and was replaced...then you have informed, in the know type people who offer compelling arguments and evidence against official narratives. This group is respected and understood by a small minority of people and is usually murdered or killed in some type of "freak" accident.
Not to go on a religious tangent, but Yeshua/Issa's (Jesus) message was against everything the so-called religious "leaders" believed to be true, and they had him killed for it. He spoke out against them, he didn't huddle with the masses in ignorance, he spoke of the alternative, the Way. When he saw the money changers in the temple, he didn't just casually walk by and not do anything..he busted up their operation, and they didn't like that too much. America was founded and created through revolutions and challenging the established "narratives" of their day. Now, it was actually founded on the death and extermination of the Indigenous peoples that already inhabited it, but that's another story. There would be no America if there was a group of people who decided to live how THEY wanted to live and not have someone tell them how to. Again, a small minority of people, just like a small minority followed Yeshua/Issa. Truth tellers are famously shunned, ridiculed, mocked, and degraded in any manner possible to bring them and their message down. While I believe many people possess a modicum of common sense, the sad reality is, many people are sleepwalking sheep. There ARE people that still think for themselves and have not lost or forgot their humanity, but many are replicants of a manufactured image. An image projected by a corporation telling you how to look, act, eat, live and so on.
I am an individual of above average intelligence, not because I'm smart, but because I've realized there are two, sometimes three sides to a story. I am what you call a "scrutinist".... there...I said it. I know the word doesn't exist, but neither does many of the manufactured events that happen in our modern world. Now, there are real RESULTS, but that is because the events have been set in place for the result to manifest itself. Many people simply do not believe that governmental agencies in our country would conspire against their own population, it's completely out of bounds to fathom. "It would be all over the news if that were to happen!" one would say. Totally ignorant of the fact that many corporations OWN the TV networks, so whatever they want to be on the news, will BE the news. Whomever is their friend, will be made into a kings & queens, their enemies, modern day boogie men, terrorists, conspiracy theorists, anti-Semites, kooks, nuts, and the list goes on. There is a psychology behind it all. You have to understand conditioning and human nature to see the pattern. When someone speaks the truth and it can't be refuted, they are usually labeled by one of these monikers. It is to divert the focus TO the person and OFF the subject at hand, and many not aware of this tactic, falls right into it, having to defend themselves, instead of staying on topic. People that do this, know they're doing it...it's the only way to fight truth with an unskilled opponent, psychologically. We, as human, are sophisticatingly simple. We are creatures of habit, of comforts....we only get violent when either of those are interfered with, and who wouldn't? I get mad if I get woke up when I'm not ready to get up, so for something as simple as that, imagine something existential, like life, limb, home, food, and you get the picture.
I say all this to say, the socio-political-religious topics I share my thoughts on, some people could get offended. I offer to you who find my thoughts offensive, challenge my facts. If you can do that before getting into the pre-programmed, name calling, righteous indignation-mode, you might see that you've been deceived too. That's why to me the 1st Matrix was one of the most important movies to me, not for the fantasy, but how it can be extrapolated against the backdrop of what WE call "life" or "living". People "living" in an holographic "artificial" world, unaware that they're even in it or would comprehend it if you broke it down to 'em. And if you did, as Morpheus says, "they wouldn't even want to leave". But, there are those few (again, there's that small minority) that realize things aren't what they seem, and they find a way to extricate themselves from the situation and warn others, after all, remember Paul Revere? The Europeans extricated themselves here, and Paul warned when the "British were coming", just like the city of Zion against the robots. If you were to tell a local "Matrixian" (I know, that's a good one! xD) that robots ran things and they, as a human, were made solely as a power source and when they died, they were fed to the newborns, and nothing around them actually existed, they would have you committed to the nearest mental institution , yet that's EXACTLY what it was...as crazy as it sounded. I'm using a movie to illustrate a literal circumstance we are all in. Things are not what they appear to be in this country right now. We are being deliberately diverted away from all things that make us distinctly human, such as thinking for ourselves, or even being CAPABLE of critical thought. Do people think if they don't think about it or pretend it doesn't exist, it will just go away?
It will actually get worse, because there are some people counting on you thinking that way. People we categorically are supposed to trust (police, doctors, lawyers, judges, politicians, etc.) are some of the most corrupted individuals on this planet. There are many that are aware of their position, and operate within the law, and basic human respect. The others act as if they breathed life into your nostrils and you owe them an obeisance of some sort. We are all humans, and humans were not meant to be masters of other humans, because it will always turn despotic. Look at the Pharaohs and the slaves, Caesar, Pol Pot, Stalin, Lenin, the list goes on. We are autonomous individuals, but some have given their sovereignty over to a created, fictional entity for them to be governed by.
I don't have any problems exposing those who are plotting our downfall, that's the same as closing my window if I hear someone on the street being assaulted, just because I don't want to be involved. What kind of human being am I if I didn't have any compassion for that person being attacked, it very well may be a mugger actually getting his just desserts, but I owe it to the situation to do SOMETHING. That's why when people witness car accidents, they get out to help the injured party...it's the HUMAN thing to do. I touch the topics I do, because they intrigue me, also, I care about the human condition, I don't know why I do, but I do.
Many things have been put in our paths to deter us from knowing the actual situation we all find ourselves in, and we're IN it because, we stopped talking and educating ourselves. Instead we started listening to Rupert Murdoch (google what he owns..he IS the news...he also owns the copyright to the New International Version of the Bible...now put THAT together) and we started listening to fake experts & talking heads on TV..this is the most advanced generation in modern time, yet we still can't realize we're ALL being played against each other. From religion (if there's only one God, why SO MANY religions? Man.) to race relations (there is actually only ONE race. Human.) Just like a dog has many breeds, they are all STILL canines. There are small slivers of people who want division of people, and they convince other weak minded people to adopt their agenda. This is like the kings of the earth "giving" their power to the beast. You give an idea life by acting out its tenets. There would be no war if you couldn't convince anyone to fight it. Think about that. Most modern wars have been fought over natural resources and hegemony, not freedom, democracy, and any other "feel good" adjective you can muster. Entire populations have been under attack, children killed, intellectuals killed, the artisans killed, all for the sake of controlling oil, gold, diamonds, poppy seeds, whatever. The story is all the same. The Civil War (how about THAT for an oxymoron) was fought because the South wanted to secede from the North, and this was the North saying "I don't think so"...is THAT freedom? Doesn't sound like it to me.
Anyway, I just wanted to say, I understand WHY people don't want to hear the truth...it is often unpleasant, disheartening, and world-shattering. It doesn't stop it from being the truth, tho. We are being sold out to new millennium sideshow carnival barkers forcing doom, gloom, death, and destruction down our throats. Have you ever stopped to think why all the hit shows like CSI are centered around death? Of course you haven't, it's your FAVORITE show! WHY is it your favorite show??! They make it look cool, with the effects, music, and storyline. Death is now sexy. It's called "de-sensitizing" look at video games now, same thing. As I said, we are complicated beings, yet painfully simple and predictive. We have behaviors that can be modified, shaped, influenced, or controlled. Have you ever seen two sports fans argue to the point of fighting over their respective teams? EVEN THOUGH NEITHER PERSON ACTUALLY PLAYS ON THE TEAM OR CONTROLS THE PLAYERS?! It intrigues me, though I'm not a big fan of any type, personally. That's like getting mad you can't stop the sun from rising, you can't do anything about it, why fret? These are clues into human behavior, and I'm a firm believer that TV is the worst thing you could have in your house besides a microwave over. It is like a silent hypnotherapist sitting in the corner of your house, delivering a "Matrix"-type illusion in your mind, artificially creating a reality that doesn't exist, yet WE make it real. That's why many people can't talk about religion or politics, they have been so thoroughly programmed, any conflicting information or opinions are ridiculed immediately, without actually "knowing" if what they're saying is completely right OR wrong, as most humans just want to hear what makes them comfortable, they'll believe the fork ran away with the spoon. Just like the whole "world is flat" thing, that is, until someone actually proved it wrong. But all those who "believed" it was flat, NEVER ventured to find out if it was or not, they just "believed" someone's word on it.
So, just know what appears on The Report comes from a combination of knowledge, concern, research, and overall, love. There's no way I would even write what I do, if I didn't. All the ones who gave their lives came from this same position, it was a selfless act...what could be more patriotic than that? But, I'm patriotic in the sense of humanity, rather than geographic boundaries. Boundaries changes, different inhabitants come and go...the truth never changes.
This term is thrown about like a sharp knife at a willing assistant at a circus show. It's usually used as a smear tactic to anyone critical of Israeli policies. Before we go further, let's clear the air and look at what a Semite and Jew actually are..
The term Semite means a member of any of various ancient and modern Semitic-speaking peoples originating in southwestern Asia, including Akkadians, Canaanites, Phoenicians, Hebrews, Arabs, and Ethiopian Semites. It was proposed at first to refer to the languages related to Hebrew by Ludwig Schlözer, in Eichhorn's "Repertorium", vol. VIII (Leipzig, 1781), p. 161. Through Eichhorn the name then came into general usage (cf. his "Einleitung in das Alte Testament" (Leipzig, 1787), I, p. 45). In his "Gesch. der neuen Sprachenkunde", pt. I (Göttingen, 1807) it had already become a fixed technical term.[1]
The word "Semitic" is an adjective derived from Shem, one of the three sons of Noah in the Bible (Genesis 5.32, 6.10, 10.21), or more precisely from the Greek derivative of that name, namely Σημ (Sēm); the noun form referring to a person is Semite.
The term "anti-Semitic" (or "anti-Semite") usually refers to Jews only. It was coined in 1879 by German journalist Wilhelm Marr in a pamphlet called, "The Victory of Germandom over Jewry".
Ok, now we know that Semites include Arabs and Ethiopians. So does that mean, anti-Semitic means to be AGAINST Arabs and Ethiopians too? How did this term end up being used to label anyone critical of Jewish actions? Who are Jews? What makes one a Jew? Some people will tell you they are a "race", some will tell you it is a faith or way of life that you must convert to, others will say it's a nation. Most of people who claim to be Jews today are Eastern European in origin, yet they claim to be descended from Hebrew patriarch, Abraham. The history of the founding of the state of Israel, is a story only half told...and that half isn't told precisely. Benjamin Freedman was a successful Jewish businessman born in 1890. He was part of the inner circle of players that secured Palestine from the British after WW2. He made a speech back in 1961, that detailed the most literate, concise, and comprehensive plans of the Zionists and their plans to declare an economic boycott against Germany and secure themselves the country of Palestine as a homeland for the Jews. Clicking on his name will direct you to the mp3 of the speech, the running time is 40 minutes. The actual time is more like 1:30, but I only have this. There's also a transcript posted that contains the Q & A after his speech, and he answered questions from the audience and gave the clearest description of the term "Jew"....
"Judea was a province of the Roman Empire. Now, a person who lived in Judea was known as a Judean, and in Latin it was Judaeus; in Greek it was Judaius. Those are the two words, in Greek and Latin, for a Judean. Now, in Latin and Greek there is no such letter as 'j', and the first syllable of Judaeus and Judaius starts 'ghu'. Now, when the Bible was written, it was first written in Greek, Latin, Panantic, Syriac, Aramaic... all those languages. Never Was the word Jew in any of them because the word didn't exist. Judea was the country, and the people were Judeans, and Jesus was referred to only as a Judean. I've seen those early... the earliest scripts available.
In 1345, a man by the name of Wycliffe in England thought that it was time to translate the Bible into English. There was no English edition of the Bible because who the Devil could read ? It was only the educated church people who could read Latin and Greek, Syriac, Aramaic and the other languages. Anyhow, Wycliffe translated the Bible into English. And he did. But in it, he had to look around for some words for Judaeas and Judaius. There was no English word because Judea had passed out of existence. There was no Judea. People had long ago forgotten that. So in the first translation he used the word, in referring to Jesus, as 'gyu', "jew". At the time, there was no printing press.
Now, between 1345 and the 17th century, when the press came into use, that word passed through so many changes... I have them all here. If you want I can read them to you. I will. That word 'gyu' which was in the Wycliffe Bible became. . . first it was ' gyu ', then ' giu ', then ' iu ' (because the ' i ' in Latin is pronounced like the ' j '. Julius Caesar is ' Iul ' because there is no 'j' in Latin) then ' iuw ', then ' ieuu ', then ' ieuy ', then ' iwe ', then ' iow ', then ' iewe ', all in Bibles as time went on. Then ' ieue ', then ' iue ', then ' ive ', and then ' ivw ', and finally in the 18th century... ' jew '. Jew.
All the corrupt and contracted forms for Judaius, and Judaeas in Latin. Now, there was no such thing as 'Jew', and any theologian -- I've lectured in maybe 20 of the most prominent theological seminaries in this country, and two in Europe -- there was no such word as Jew. There only was Judea, and Jesus was a Judean and the first English use of a word in an English bible to describe him was 'gyu' -- Jew. A contracted and shortened form of Judaeus, just the same as we call a laboratory a 'lab', and gasoline 'gas'... a tendency to short up. [A few words are missing here] But [a few words are missing here] in England there were no public schools; people didn't know how to read; it looked like a scrambled alphabet so they made a short word out of it. Now for a theologian to say that you can't harm the Jews, is just ridiculous. I'd like to know where in the scriptures it says that. I'd like to know the text.
Look at what happened to Germany for touching Jews. What would you, as a citizen of the United States, do to people who did to you what the so-called Jews -- the Pollacks and Litvaks and Litzianers -- they weren't Jews, as I just explained to you. They were Eastern Europeans who'd been converted to Talmudism. There was no such thing as Judaism. Judaism was a name given in recent years to this religion known in Bible history as Torah [inaudible]. No Jew or no educated person ever heard of Judaism. It didn't exist. They pulled it out of the air... a meaningless word. Just like 'anti-Semitic'. The Arab is a Semite. And the Christians talk about people who don't like Jews as anti-Semites, and they call all the Arabs anti-Semites. The only Semites in the world are the Arabs. There isn't one Jew who's a Semite. They're all Turkothean Mongoloids. The Eastern European Jews. So, they brainwashed the public."
And Benjamin Freedman was Jewish. Setting it straight down the line. This brings me to the documentary. It's made by an Israeli filmaker, Yoah Shamir, and it's shot and made from a non-biased position, and it's an honest look into what is known as anti-Semitism. The director travels to Jerusalem, Russia, Kiev, Poland, NYC & Chicago and looks for understanding on this subject. Notice that the people I'm using are Jewish themselves, so it's not like I'm biased. This is an honest look at themselves. The relevance of this today is, many of the policymakers, media moguls, bankers, government officials, and politicians are "Jewish"...and Talmudist Jews at that, if you haven't read up on the Talmud, check this out...they are COMPLETELY opposed as what a TRUE Jew believes and lives, they are more commonly and appropriately known as Zionists. And just to clarify, there are Jews who follow the Torah (1st five books of the Bible) and they are vehemently opposed to Zionism, so not all Jews are the same. Many are law abiding, hard working, devoted people who recognize what's going on in Israel towards the Palestinians, isn't kosher, so don't think I'm not aware of the distinctions. I am.
They exert incredible influence/pressure in the U.S. government and in many countries around the world. Who controls the Federal Reserve? Ben Bernake..Jewish. Who was in charge of the DHS (Homeland Security) of the U.S? Michael Chertoff, Jewish, whose consulting firm represents the companies who make the body scanner for U.S. airports. And on another, not so surprising note, the scanners were ordered BEFORE the "incident" (12/25 "bomber" was a staged event to scare airports into buying their machines) Treason, anyone?? Who's Obama's Chief of Staff? Rahm Emanuel, Jewish... his pops helped kill Palestinians as part of the Irgun, a militant Zionist group/militia responsible for the bombing of the King David Hotel and the massacre at Deir Yassin. And this guy's SON is in charge of who gets to work for the President of the United States. And his brother Ari, was the inspiration for the character of the same name on HBO'S Entourage. Even the person who politically advises Obama is, yup you guessed it...Jewish. David Axelrod. Checkmate, anyone??
I wonder when the last time Jews visited the museum for Slavery? Oh yeah, there isn't one, but there's Holocaust Museums all over the world. Slavery wasn't a Holocaust? What about a memorial for the 30-50 million Chinese deaths attributed to Mao, or the Bolshevik Revolution (which was Jewish instigated) in Russia where there was 20 million dead so Communism could be born. Those weren't Holocausts? The biggest Holocaust of all was the extermination of the so-called American Indian. That was a REAL Holocaust, they lost their languages, cultures, identities, land, everything. That wasn't a Holocaust? Russians, Chinese, Africans and so-called Indians (I say that because Columbus thought he was India, and named the natives, Indians) don't try to force their sufferings down the throats of the world, and they lost FAR more many innocent people, those weren't soldiers and fighter, you know. And everyone in the camps wasn't Jewish either.
According to "Jewish Agency for Israel", there are 5.3M Jews in America. That's about 3%-4% of the population...yet they hold ALL the major positions of media, banking, real estate (Larry Silverstein, too, is Jewish...he owned the World Trade Center)...are these coincidences? No, my friend they are not. These are PLANS...there are more Hispanics, Asians, & African Americans in the U.S., yet they don't hold a single percent of influence in America. We would take notice if it happened to be that Mexicans owned the U.S. banking structure, media, and politics or if Arabs did. But for some reason, when you bring this up, the term anti-Semite gets thrown at you, hence, the documentary.
And for the record, this term means NOTHING unless you have a political career or if you haven't understood for yourself what a ridiculous sounding statement it is when you know the facts. Looking at all the anti-Arab, anti-Muslim sentiment going on in the U.S, although none of us can count the last time ANY Arab did ANYTHING to us, these opinions many in the U.S have been conditioned to believe, would classify as a textbook definition of being anti-Semitic. Israel is the size of Lake Michigan, they get $3 billion a year from the U.S. (that works out to about $500 per person or $7 million per DAY!!) The Palestinians get $0. The U.S. increases the aid every year by $150 million, so next time Joe Taxpayer want to whine about illegal immigrants and taking his "taxpayers dollars", look at where your money is REALLY going to there buddy!
Yet we, as a nation, are worried about Arabs, yet fail to see America has been hijacked. Many of the businesses (Starbucks, Timberland, Google, Facebook, you name it, all owned by Jews, well, I should say, so-called Jews)...this isn't alarming to you? Look at what they believe (Talmud), listen at what Ben Freedman told you they did to Germany, look at your TV, all your favorite programs, Family Guy creator (atheist), Bill Maher (atheist), South Park (Trey is Jewish, but agnostic), TV/Radio personalities (John Stewart, Chelsie Handler, Howard Stern, Geraldo Rivera, Wolf Blitzer, and many, many more. I won't even get into the actors and musicians...I think you get the idea. Look at what our country is becoming. We are being systematically led through a maze by an unseen force, well, dammit, it's unseen no longer.
It's a classic diversionary trick, they make you think someone else is your enemy, while they go though your pockets. You wonder what's happening to America? It's been overran by Talmudist who believe Jesus is being "boiled in hell in hot excrement"..and those are not my words, those are words from their Talmud. Jesus called them out in the Bible in Revelation 3:7-9 KJV & in Revelation 2:8-9 KJV. They were the "money changers" that were spoke about in the New Testament in the first four books. So you can see where their disdain for Jesus, or Issa, comes from. So if they're against Jesus, that would make them an anti-Christs, right?
If you believe in Jesus, if you believe in God, and you believe in His word, look around you, you've been hypnotized with reality shows that aren't real, singers who can't sing, actors who act like they're acting, useless knowledge, a focus on materialism and sex, a breakdown of family structures, genders switching roles, and just plain apathy. More importantly, they've blinded us to their plan by hiding behind a coordinated shell game of name calling, ostrasizing, and harassment to deter those from bring their plan to light, because they know, once people begin to see what's going on, it's not gonna look so good.
I have no issue with no person, group, or ethnicity, other than ones who try to mislead me, poison my mind, body, and soul, destroy my family and try to turn me away from my God. You are a clear enemy to humanity and civilization as a whole. Jesus, Muhammad, and all the prophets warned their many followers about you and your deeds. A tree can only bear the fruit it's designed to, An orange tree can't make apples. You follow Satan, who is the master deceiver, Arabs call him al-Dajjal. Your goal is to get me to acquiesce to YOUR will, and turn my back to God. You would rather put liquor and fast women in my path than to show me how to get closer to God and benefit my fellow man.
You relish the fact that most people care about sports than care about innocent men, women, and children being killed worldwide. Instead of eating to live, you manufacture toxins as preservatives and genetically modify our foods, when we should all grow our own food anyway like we used to. There's no food shortage, God gave us everything we need, built in, on this planet. From aloe plants for burns to pineapples and vegetables, it was already here. That's why they have seeds...to reproduce infinitely. The corporations are the one who disrupted the balance...all for a profit. I don't trust you, believe you, or hear you. Your strategies are beginning to become transparent, I believe and trust in the Almighty God, and you cannot beat Him, and you KNOW it, that's why you want to take as many of us with you as you can, just to spite God...
I will do all that is within my power to save who I can from your wicked, diabolical, not so well thought out plan...it's like you planned how to rob a bank without planning the escape. Your fate is sealed, you will be judged like everyone and everything else. You WILL have to give account of your deeds, actions, and intentions. Atheists believe just because they don't believe in God that they won't be judged...Satan has fooled you good, the fire awaits your soul. Don't fall for this deception, I have no hate in my heart for no one, the only thing in my heart is love, love for my fellow man, for creation, for God. We were all given common sense, but we're being manipulated, deceived, lied to, and led astray....wake up people, your everlasting soul is at stake, and no matter what you believe, God will have the final say. Don't think you are that high up that you won't have to answer to Him, everything you do and say is being recorded. Your motivations are being questioned, your intentions, assessed. What will be your excuse?
When it comes to Dilla, it's not too many words I can say, I just resort to shaking my head and trying to find the words to fit the feeling I can't seem to conjure. He wasn't a description, he was a feeling. What he did for hip-hop music and music in general was indescribable. Just ask anybody who's familiar with his music...and watch their reactions. He touched so many of us anonymously, many didn't know who he was, although, they were very familiar with his music. Most people knew him from his work with Common, but many of Hip-Hop's classics were produced by him. I connected with Dilla, unbeknownst to me, on Tribe's "Beats, Rhymes, & Life" album. While I was a Tribe fan from "Low End Theory", I had no idea that these beats I was loving so much, while still in the ATCQ framework, were being produced by Dilla. Now that I go back and listen to them, it's as apparent as Dolly Parton's titties, but I didn't know that then. Songs like "Word Play", "The Jam", and have Dilla's fingerprint all over them.
My first big opportunity in the music business came as a chance to do a remix for The Pharcyde for a song called "Return of the B-Boy". I knew them from "Passing Me By" and "Otha Fish", but jumped at the chance. This was right before the release of the 2nd album which featured a new producer named Jay Dee. After my situation fell thru (L.A. was hit by a huge earthquake, and after the chaos & dust settled, the A&R wasn't at the label anymore) I hear this new song, "Runnin". I'm like "Wow, that's how I want my drums!" The Stan Getz sample was classic enough, but me being a drum fanatic, I was paying attention to the drum pattern. "Who is this guy?", I remembered asking myself. The sample contains all the percussion already, but it's not easy to program a beat over, trust me. Dilla pulled it off in top form, but I still wasn't aware of his genius. That was my first run in with Mr. Dilla.
The next I heard about Dilla, I was in Busta Rhymes room at the Impact Music Conference in Nashville in '99 and he was letting everyone who was there listen to songs from his upcoming "Anarchy" album. Busta tells us he doesn't know which songs are gonna make it to the final cut, but proceeds to put the tape in and go thru each song. Many of the songs actually made it, but as he playing the tape, this one beat comes on. Instant screwface. The beat was so ill, I told you, I'm a sucker for drums, and these drums slapped you up like you stole something from them, I ask Buss, "Who produced that joint?" He says "This cat from Detroit named Jay Dee". Turns out that beats I heard were "Live It Up" and "Show Me What You Got" off Busta's Anarchy album. Now I'm paying attention, I gotta find out who this guy is. On a side note, another one of those sick ass beats I heard was produced by a young Scott Storch, which ended up appearing on the album as "Bladow". But, I digress.
All of these songs I was in love with had one common denominator. J. Dilla. As I became more aware of him, the more I felt a connectedness to his sound. "This is what my drums are supposed to sound like", I'd say. Even though I sample, I play keys too, so I utilized them both to achieve my sound. But, Dilla chopped his samples more than Benihana and made use of filters, FX, and his main contribution to Hip-Hop, his drum programming skills. His rhythm existed juuuust outside the pocket, but other drum elements in the sequence would be on a stiff 4/4. He'd chop breakbeats, that's how he kept that analog sound to his drums, he didn't use digital drum machines. But, how he used swing and quantization, was in-credible! After it was all done and said, everything was always in the pocket, sometimes the pocket was looser than others, but it always stayed in, no matter how off it felt.
By this time, I knew his sound before even knowing who produced it. Janet Jackson, De La Soul, Erykah Badu, whoever it was, as soon as I heard those off kilter drums and that bassline, yup....that Dilla. Then I got Slum Village's album Vol.2...let's just say, I haven't been the same since. It was sonically one of the best masterpieces I'd ever heard. Mecca & The Soul Brother's still up there, but I drowned out all the raps and got closer to the beats. This was groundbreaking material, there wasn't ONE sample I heard on there that ANYBODY used...not one. You gotta understand, I'm looking at it from a producer's standpoint, not as a consumer or lyricist, but a purely organic one. It's like he was a prototype, it's like God only made one of him to show producers what they could be, if they really tried. Then came Common's album. While the world was finally being exposed to his music on a more mainstream level, I laughed to myself, because I knew who he was, and I was clowning everyone for being so late. I took pride it telling people about his body of work, with many of the reactions being, "He did that?" Yup, he did, and you had no clue. We've been enjoying his work and didn't even know his name or what he looked like. Nowadays, you hear about the producer before you hear who rhyming on the track. Man, what I would've gave to hear him make a beat.
His passing had a profound effect on me. All kinds of existential, contemplative thoughts came into my head. Life and death questions, the purpose of life questions, things like that. I mean, how could he be gone? He had so much to offer, so much to give. It seems all visionaries leave earth seemingly too soon, and Dilla's no exception. Not to sound cold, but dammit, Keith Richard is still alive?! It's like our truly gifted are taken so we can see the genius in them, and strive to better ourselves. But, how do drug addicted, leather faced, incoherent asshats, live to be 90, while a man in the prime of his life, with a gift still unparalleled, get taken away before 35...Only God knows these answers, and I trust his judgment, after all, He gave Dilla to us, didn't He? I had these same questions when my good friend Static Major died after a botched procedure in the hospital. Static wrote all of Aaliyah's 1# songs, Ginuwine, Pretty Ricky, Truth Hurts, and was responsible for Lil Wayne's #1 smash, "Lollipop" which got him a posthumous Grammy. I will have a post dedicated to him as well. As I listen to Dilla's music, I think to what music would be with him here. In the era of skinny jeans, singers who can't sing, producers that produce nothing but regurgitated vomit and prostitutes passing themselves off divas, and to top it off, a repeat of 80's New Wave fashion all over again (I lived thru that weird time, let's keep it there, mm-kay?) will the industry ever get back to real music?..In my opinion, Hip-Hop died on February 13, 2006.
The most hurtful thing about his whole legacy is how his estate is being handled after his death. Dilla took out loans to help finance his hospital bills and was in a mountain of debt when he died. His mom suffers from Lupus as well, she lost the house and lives in the projects, under enormous pressure mounting from Dilla's hospitalization bills. She get no money from her own son's body of work. His children are being supported by Social Security and the people that are making money from pimping Dilla's death for profit, have a special place in Hell reserved for them. I know there are those that do help, but others, have effectively blocked his family out from the business dealings and issues of his estate. If you really, really respect and admire Dilla, help out his mother and his children. Find a way to get in touch with Ms. Yancey personally and see how you can help, don't go thru an organization or charity, do it directly, if possible. Let's honor him by taking care of his mom, after all, she has Lupus too. James Yancey, your purpose here was for a reason, one we listen to daily. For those you inspire, for those you influence, you gave a gift not many of us are able to give. The gift of reaching a happy place in people thru your music. People from around the world, regardless of ethnicity, age, background, or affiliation. There are a handful of people on Earth granted with a gift such as that, and it's true for me that J. Dilla saved my life. He influenced me in a way that can't be gauged with any instrument. He exposed me to techniques and methods I'm still deciphering today. Producing music has kept me from running the streets, getting caught up with chickenheads, and going in and out of jail. Your music freed me, kept me intrigued, made me scratch my head, and made me jump outta my chair. We will always miss you Dilla, but God allowed your vibrations to continue to exist as music, so you're only gone in the physical sense, but your essence remains, and I'm thankful to have it. Thank you Dilla, for saving my life, and may you rest in peace brother...
RUNNIN - Dilla's drums patterns was totally unpredictable & unorthodox. This was Dilla's 1st offering to the world...
NAG CHAMPA- Joints like this is when Dilla's in that "riding music" vibe, this appeared on Common's album. Beats like this go on infinite repeat...
DIME PIECE- To me, this was one of Dilla's most creative beats. I liked The Shining, but when THIS joint came on, it completely left me speechless...
PLAYERS- These have got to be the hardest drums ever for a Hip-Hop beat. Dilla's trademark "just off a bit" drums kills the sick ass sample he uses. You'd have to hear where he got this sample from to appreciate his genius...
FUNKY FOR YOU- Another of those joints where you KNOW Dilla was in a "happy place" when he made it. He had an ability to make R&B-type joints that had an edge on it so sharp, it could cut air...the drums are, as usual, pure screwface...
FLYYYY-This beat has "hypnotic" written all over it...in my opinion, many of Dilla's beats didn't need NO LYRICS over 'em...they stood on their own
DESTINY- Dilla's beats MAKE you nod your head, period. You can't sit still and listen to his beats.
**BIG UP TO MY HOMIE JON ZARO FOR PUTTING ME ONTO FLYING LOTUS, SHOWING ME YOU CAN TEACH AND OLD DOG NEW TRICKS!! IT DOESN'T MATTER YOUR AGE BRO, AS LONG AS YOU GOT IT.....
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Pete Rock - The Chocolate Boy Wonder
Posted by Hustle Simmons / Category: pete rock mecca soul brother cl smooth producer soul jazz hip-hop legendary
What Pete Rock is to me is nothing less than a messiah, of sorts. As a music producer myself, technique is everything. Music will always be music, but how YOU play it, shows YOUR fingerprint, and how YOU can manipulate the established set of notes. Just like Tribe, Pete Rock's crates reflected a collection of rare and obsure jazz, soul, funk and experimental records. Not your mom and dad's regular collection of records, more like your mom and dad's, mom & dad. Artists and groups like Cannonball Adderley, Black Heat, Milt Jackson, The Crusaders, Alice Coltrane, and countless others, they were forgot about by newer generations, but they possessed the mood, the feel, and the atmosphere for alot of Pete's treats.
I remember hearing "Reminisce" for the first time...those horns, incredible, the filtering technique, epic. This was 91-92, and NOTHING in hip-hop sounded like Pete Rock. I can remember sitting in my dorm room, dumbstruck, as I listened to it over and over and over. "How can he find SO many open basslines and samples like that?!" This is before I learned about low pass and high pass filtering, mind you. "Where is he getting these samples????!!!" or "How did he do that?!?!" I was like a babbling idiot, I couldn't comprehend how he made it work. Usually, in the world of sampling back then, there were only so many records they were sampling. James Brown, Zapp, Parliment/Funkadelic records used to get sampled so much, if you sampled from them, you got clowned. Funky Drummer was like AutoTune...EVERYBODY was using it!
Originality was the rule back then, if you bit someone's style, you was WACK, period..."be yourself, get off my jock", is what we'd used to say. But Pete, like Tribe, went back past the recognizable albums and artists of the 70's, and went back further, drawing from the well of some of music's most incredible, but largely unheard of albums and artists. I personally have all of the sources of Pete's samples, and I usually backtrack and look up records on the instrumentalist for those albums, as jazz albums were rarely groups, more like, different independent artists who played together for certain albums, or were hired by a producer to illustrate his ideas. And what I found was nothing short of astounding...you would be AMAZED how much incredible music is out here...Pete knew it, and made music history with it. His ear is amazing, his ability to catch samples where he did, and how he used them, was beyond imagination. Listen to Tom Scott's "Today", then listen to "T.R.O.Y"...and what you will have witnessed, is pure genius. I still shake my head, "How does he do it?" I know all the tricks, tips, and techniques, but he still stumps me from time to time.
His use of spatial dynamics, during the mixes, was paramount. Jamie at Greene Street Studio, kept Pete's sound ahead of the game. Pete's characteristic horns were his fingerprint. He was so skillful and precise in his manipulation of them. Mind you, he took different records of various tempos, song keys, genres, and notes, and made them work together...harmoniously!! His use of panning, instrument FX, echos, and reverb made his mixes stand out more than anything during that time. I met him in Atlanta in '92 and shook his hand. I felt like one of those people on late night TV, when you see a "minister" touching someone then they fall out, that was me, but on the inside. "I just met Pete Rock" I remember saying over and over.
He brought his brand of production to the game. Those are type of producers I respect, not ones who sound like the next guy, but ones who make you screw your face up and be like, "who's that?"...I would have my head between two speakers because headphone couldn't get loud enough, and I wanted to hear everything!
I am proud to count Pete as an influence, here are some Pete's joints that shaped me...I wouldn't be the bad ass I am today, if it wasn't for him. Thanks Pete.
THEY REMINISCE OVER YOU - The most best produced hip-hop beat ever. I have the Tom Scott record this came from, and I still don't know how he turned it into what he did...incredible..Heavy D backup dancer Trouble (T-Roy) was killed in Indianapolis on tour in a accident. I personally got to see his last show, the night before he died, the tour stopped in my hometown, Heavy, Eddie F & T-Roy & G-Wiz, were all baldheaded, Tupac was on that tour too as a backup dancer with Digital Underground.
MECCA & THE SOUL BROTHER - This is genius at work...listen at the mix...GAWD!!
SOUL BROTHER #1 - Intros, Bridges, Outros, are you kidding me?!! These were unheard of in Hip-Hop...the sheer number of samples on this ONE song staggers the imagination on the simple fact that they do not CLASH!
FOR PETE'S SAKE - His attention to detail was unparalleled on this one. This track was pure murder, plain and simple. Listen to his sample placement, everything is deliberate and intentional. On each 8 bar verse, he COMPLETELY switches the color of the beat on the 5th & 6th bar, then brings it back to it's original groove..I mean, who does that?!?!
ONE IN A MILLION - I picked this one strictly off the sickness of the sample. I found this one skimming thru some old records I bought, and as soon as the sample played, I was like OOHHHH SHHHHIT!! It was Brother Jack McDuff, the name of the song, Electric Surfboard. You would've thought I found the Hope Diamond how I reacted!
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Hearing ATCQ for the first time, was like a revelatory experience. They were TOTALLY off the beaten path, there was no groups that sounded like them. The Low End Theory album was the next infusion of inspiration from a musical standpoint, as it made me, as a producer, seek to find where they were finding these records they were sampling from...these were the albums that your PARENTS parents had..as I was a crate digger, I came across many of these original gems, as I got older, my collection grew, and it was a great time finding them, but there's nothing like that feeling of finding a wide open, unheard of sample, just begging to be used IMMEDIATELY!!! Like my man, Sh'mello, who produced Busta Rhymes, "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See", he found a sample NOBODY touched and made a BANGER!! Although Tribe's whole body of work is outstanding, I'm adding these because this was Tribe before Dilla. So here are a couple of Tribe Called Quest songs that changed my life...
EXCURSIONS - When I 1st played my new Low End Theory CD, I couldn't get past this one song!! It was on repeat for a whole month before I even listened to the rest of the album...This is an Art Blakey sample with one of the HARDEST break beats in existence, and notice, Tribe had the breaks NO ONE had...whatever their source of records were (some say they were Q-Tip's pops collection), they were definitely expert in their use of them. I had that much more respect for Tribe because, they introduced my most favorite producer into the world, as he was initiating the beats or producing many of ATCQ albums, even though nobody knew it. His name was J-Dilla, I will have post on him later...
BUTTER - One the hardest, smoothest joints in Hip-Hop. This was their forte, obscure samples, and cracking break beats! I used to listen to this album extensively through headphones, analyzing every nuance of it. Here's was another banger!!!
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This has inspired to post all the music and artist who shaped, your truly's music career. Whether it was inspiration, healthy competition, these guys always pushed me forward, they were visionaries, simple as that. I actually have almost every sample used in hip-hop, and to hear how they manipulated and assimilated it into their own abilities and ear, it made me have that much more respect for them. Not like Puff taking songs everyone knows, these guys were digging finding artists like Brother Jazz McDuff, Ohio Players, Billy Squire, and many off-the-beaten-path albums & artists from the 60's and 70's.
Pete Rock was one such innovator. With his use of obscure samples, and his ability to turn it into something completely different, made him a legend, his mixing approach with filtering, paramixing, and sample placement, still has him ahead of many producers out here (I dont even count these jerks currently)...I used to sit in my dorm room and litsten to this album like my life depended on it..how he kept using the Long Red breakbeat in almost every song, but he made it WORK!! My first inductee...Mantronix...the man responsible for inspiring me to be a producer. His mastery of the TR-808 in the mid-80's was unheard of (don't know what a TR-808 is? It's the drum machine you hear in every song made by a Southern rap artist Lil Jon, Gucci Mane, and many others. Beastie Boy's "Licenced to Ill" drums was made with an 808, it was the facilitator of the big "bass sound" outta Miami (Thanks to Uncle Luke & The 2 Live Crew)
Mind you, these beats were from the mid 80's...
MUSIC MADNESS - Peep his technique at layering drum programming OVER the Headhunters breakbeat sample, his experimentation with velocities, dynamics, quantinization, and cutting edge technologies of his time..he was a wunderkind..
GET STUPID FRESH - Off his 1st album..simple, excellent drum programming with use of just a beat, pure, uncut hip-hop...Mannie Fresh worships this dude
WHO IS IT - One of my all-time favorite Mantronix tracks..this was futuristic for its time...I love Marley Marl, Herby LoveBug and others but, Mantronix was the best, hands down
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