Rough, Weak
It’s been a trying week or so. Nothing life threatening or changing, I’ve just had a lot piled on me at once. Some of it is work related, some of it is plain old emotional baggage, some if it is just the weight of added responsibility and lack of energy and time. But when we get stressed and worn down, it’s hard to keep perspective, isn’t it? We let things carry much more weight than they should, focusing on what we lack over what we already have and are blessed with. And I guess that’s the ever-going battle of our human nature…
In high school, with my freshly pressed driver’s license in hand, I set out for a drive. Back then gas was well under 2 bucks, so the leisure was far less costly. I had a destination but wasn’t quite sure what route to take. This was before GPS and smartphones – if I really wanted to get guidance I’d have to look it up on mapquest and print it out. But anyway, I took a wrong turn and had no idea where I was going. But rather than turn around, I pressed on and just let the road take me where it would, and trust I’d get there somehow. It was kind of stressful having no idea where I was or where I was headed, and there was a strong possibility I was wasting an enormous amount of time. However, it ended up being a beautiful winding country road, where a gradual hill leads to a clearing that provides a skyline view of the area and eventually, I found myself in a neighboring city amongst familiarity once again, allowing me to get to my intended endpoint. Things worked out after all.
New Music Video: “Belladonna”
I have a tendency to work on music and kind of sit on it for a while before finishing and releasing it. It’s a bad habit but it comes with the territory with music being more of a hobby than a career. Sometimes I’ll have something sitting around for years before I share it with anyone else – and usually there are various reasons behind it.
Well, “Belladonna” is kinda like that. I wrote the song a little while ago but didn’t get around to recording it until recently. I think I avoided it because initially the lyrics were just too emotionally charged for me and I wasn’t quite sure how to handle everything – it was still too raw and unrefined. But after I finally completed tracking it, I realized I liked the song and felt a strong enough of a connection to want to do a music video for it.
I’ve never done a music video before. So this is a first for me. But feel free to be as harsh or as lenient in your feedback as you see fit. This song, like most of my work, is more for my sake than yours anyway – I guess I’m selfish like that, haha. Though on a side note, I pretty much wore every item of clothing that I own for the shoot.
Oh and the beat is borrowed from one of my tried and true favorites, Atmosphere. The original song is called “My Notes”.
So without further ado, I present “Belladonna”. And yes, I know, it’s kinda emo like your umma’s sister. I get the feels sometimes too, ok? But there is a bonus ending so stick around for that. And lastly, the GT & Friends project is still on it’s way. It’s just perpetually delayed, like Dre’s Detox.
That New New (Ton)
So here I am learning to cast aside all of my desires
-“All of Me”, Tim Be Told
Sunset & Baccarats
First things first, click play on the song below. It adds context (and a touch of class, if I do say so myself) to the post.
It always puzzles me how a smell can transport us to another place and time, evoking strong memories and situations from days past. Occasionally, music will do the same for me and it’s always kind of startling and bizarre to experience. This occurred for me today while fishing by the bay. I was listening to Pandora and George Winston’s piano arrangement of Pachabel’s “Canon” came on. Suddenly I felt my heart and mind instantly transported to the summer of 2004.
That season and year was a transformative phase for me. A large part of that was due to the time I spent volunteering at a urban children’s ministry in DC called Little Lights. The days were long, the experience was trying, and we were hit with an endless stream of tough, humbling moments and the accompanying undeserved Grace that would lift us up again.
Why I Support Kollaboration
As some of you may already be aware, I’ve been given the opportunity to judge at this weekend’s Kollaboration DC 4. If you’re in the DMV area, I highly encourage you to come out and see what it’s all about.
And I’m not just saying this because I’m a judge – I’ve been an avid fan and supporter of Kollaboration since it started out in LA over a decade ago. I take a few minutes to explain why this is so, and provide my candid thoughts on Kollaboration as a whole in the following clip that I made for a-Tunes.net.
It’s not perfect, by any means. And it will have to learn to adapt over the years. But I fully support Kollaboration because for over a decade, it’s taken art and entertainment, and made it tangibly and validly meaningful for the talent, audience, and communities alike.
Gifted Thought 