.......as of now

I just feel like typing.. Been writin my ass of recently and I'm ready to submit some lyrics to BMI... at the moment I've been writin a lot of r&b songs.. I never pictured myself fuckin with r&b and never thought I would move towards that form of music.. I can't classify the sound as just r&b 'cause that's just a box... it's more like soul/ neo-soul.. currently I'm making a few tracks to go along with the vibe but I'm keeping my ears open in search of those who can lay down a melody to some of my shit. music is music and I love what I do no matter what form it is.. ideas keep flowin freely so I'm gonna take it and run.. my computer is still dead so Im gonna keep writing my ass off for now.. when I get back into beats I think I'm gonna fuck with some electronica, trip hop and some experimental shit... u know I gotta put my spin to this shit so look out for that.. also Im getting better at the bass guitar so I'm gonna lay some live bass on more of my tracks.. It's funny 'cause I waited til now to start fuckin with instruments while all yall privilaged asses had them since day one.. to those who missed the point, I stayed with samplers & digital equipment.... well, enough of this shit, I'm about to get back to penning some shit. just keepin yall informed....... ya digg

.......some bullshit

I havent posted in a while... I havent made beats in a while.. why??? my computer is officially dead.. this shit is killing me because I have so many ideas building up.. ever since I switched to computer programs I've been hooked to that format... I want to go back to my old set up but I've grown so familiar to the way I bang out beats nowdays I can't help but go crazy.. this shit is serious now because ideaas are flowing like the nile and I cant lay shit down like I want to... some people say I should just go to the studio and lay shit down.... I know you are reading this and I say this to you: FUCK YOU IGNORANT ASSHOLES TELLING ME TO STOP COMPLAINING AND GO TO THE STUDIO. U KNOW IM UNEMPLOYED YET YOU TELL ME TO SPEND MONEY TO GO TO THE STUDIO JUST TO LAY DOWN BEATS.. ARE YOU PAYING FOR THIS SHIT.. HELL NO SO KEEP YOUR 2 CENTS IN YOUR POCKETS (I'm not being mean.. honestly.. we're still cool)

so far so good.. I'll be patient enough to wait it out till I get the home studio up and running.. to keep myself from going psycho I've been writing alot.. some that know me well know that I picked my mic up again.. that was my love before I got into beats.... I realized that things happen for the strangest reasons and it's always a must to go back to your roots... the other day I thought back to the moment when I had my first set up.. That shit was crazy because I came from an era where u had to improvise if you dont have it.. what do yall know about using a set of headphones as a mic.. huh.. yall protools and instant mc's or producers are scratchin ya heads right now like "WTF".. I had no way to track out shit.. just used my infinate black mind to take what I had and use the best of my abilities.. no MPC no sound modules no digital recorders.... just a 2 sampling keyboards, 2 tapedecks, a walkman, and a record player... thats right record player no turn tables.... a fuckin record player.. but used it to the best of my abilities... home made cords from radioshack saved my life.. even tho I didn't have multi track recording I was able to sync up all that I had to bang out beats..... some time after I fucked up the headphones I got kinda smart and stole a mic from the church my mom made me go to... god dammit I said it.. I stole a mic from church.... collection plate money as well.. fuck it... but the mics came in handy after I brought some mic chords.. without a mic stand I got creative and hung the mic from my ceiling using duct tape... shit worked like magic and I made my first few recordings... the quality sounded like shit but I was able to do what I had to... all that rambling on about the past lead me to this point.. I learned to appreciate what I have and learned to appreciate my mind for stepping beyond the limits and making it possible to express myself further.. I appreciate making music just to make music... it's the little things that bring me back to where I need to be... even tho I'm as hell that I cant record right now I can't complain... it's giving me a time to reflect and write more..... so I'm gonna stop typing on this sidekick and crack open this book of rhymes... no beats till I get a new computer... until then yall be good and check out the joints on my myspace page.. www.myspace.com/elementalsoundproductions .. let me know what u think....... ya digg

.......ressurrection of the MPC

ok... the second biggest lie I've told myself was ending the life of my MPC... despite the fucked up screen I decided to bring my MPC back to life... in my post called "the un-orthodox-producer" I went on to say that Im no longer using it since I've been recording via programs... thats the biggest bunch of bullshit ever... me getting rid of my MPC is like a vagabond throwing away a winning lottery ticket... so Im proud to say that my MPC is once more functioning in the Elemental Sound equipment pool... I plan on getting the screen fixed as well as the buttons... last night was some bullshit.. after I posted my last blog I found myself in the middle of sampling some keys until I went to load some keys I chopped back in 2000.. both the shift and f6 button are completely fucked...... oh well, back in the days we found ways to change channels with a pair of pliers (for those who were know about TV's without remote controls- damn right Im old school with it) instead of going crazy I decided to improvise and use a toothpick... creative huh?? anyways, just letting you know that the MPC is back in the midst................ fuck typing Im ready to get started chopping some shit like suey... ya digg

.....pain + music = the best shit I ever made

ok.. ok... I tried fighting with my self about a few things recently.. we all have moments of inner conflict that would lead to drastic changes.. at the moment Im numb to the bullshit that surrounds me in my life.. from time to time I find the urge to just pull the plug on all of this shit Im into, from the music, artwork to the various writings, podcasts, books etc... sometimes I feel too consumed in all that I do to the point that I feel like Im about to fall apart.. sometimes I think this shit aint healthy for me... you'll know what Im talking about if you read my insomniac post............... sleep pattern is still fucked up and it's taking its toll on me and the way Im thinking.. the only thing that kept me sane all along was my pad and pen.. if it wasnt for music I would have been the fucked up individual that I was many moons ago.. now I sit here in a dark room trying to type as the blunt ash fall on my white tee; trying not to think of pain.... bullshit.. those thoughts are outweighing every thought I can muster... aint that some bullshit.. I wake up in a fucked up mood and all I need is time to sort shit out.. sometimes I dont get that time, sometimes I do... PAIN!!! is it pain that I put myself through, I doubt it... for almost 20 years I've kept thoughts and feeling bottled up and I guess thats where the headaches come into play........ these headaches have gotten worse over the years to the point those same headaches turn to music.. as I've always said music is therapy, but now I come to realize that it's now a curse as well as a gift..... each emotion is like a chord, some on beat and some off key... where can I find harmony in the melodies of life? where can I turn when there's nowhere to go???? I wake up in the middle of the night either angry, depressed, afraid, excited or overjoyed... each feeling fucks with my head even the good.... so I break out my rhyme book and let the words flow... sometimes I feel rage when I write, trying not to explode, I continue writing... writing with hopes to ease this pain... that shit aint happening especially when all I am at war with myself and all I want to do is be at peace.... I dont cry anymore... each track on my beats are a tear drop of frustration, joy or pain fallen in order to clear my conscience... only then I realize my mistakes of the past.. so in order to write my wrongs I write a song..... I once told myslef I was going to stop spittin, that was the biggest lie I ever told myself.. as long at there's pain there will be music... when I combine them both I have the best shit I ever made...... until Im at it again....... ya digg

.......point of inspiration

in this day and time a weekend get away is more than a quick vacation.. Every now and then I get up and go no matter of what it is that I feel.... my brain is jumbled and thought become tangled by the minute... so I said fuck it.. no rhyme books, no beats, no ipod..... nothing but time to sort thoughts and ideas....... now when I get home I have a lot of samples to chop up.......ya digg

.......music is therapy

not too may songs these days touches ones soul like the music of the past.... is it the blame of song writers lacking soul or did the music itself lose its soul... listen to your average line-up and tell me what songs touches you.... don't get me wrong everyone has different tastes but when it comes to being force fed soulless music the only thing touched is the wrong chord.. In comparison to music of now creativity is the key to success.. today much of that creativity is used only to build an image, neglecting the real purpose.... good music.... support real music and help breathe soul in a lifeless form of music....... ya digg

.......oh no

one think that fuck with my head is mc's who wanna be mc's but they mc.. everybody can pick up a mic but in the end we realize it's not meant for everybody.... ok kids, it may seem cool to rap and do your thing but do some fuckin homework.... im going to call that type of rapper millenium kids and these millenium kids need to know where this thing called hip hop came from and where it's going.... still there are those who think they go it when they don't... this shit isn't for everybody so if you fit into the category take 10 steps back and wake the fuck up....... ya digg

.......stop spending and start saving

when it comes to recording software and sound files, who actually pays?? not me!!!
I'm not beat to pay prices for software, especially when I can get them for free.... welcome to the information age where everything can be found within a click of a mouse... digg this, certain companies offer free trial downloads or demo versions of their product... 5 out of 10 are suckers and purchase the full programs, spending hundreds to thousands of dollars in total... hell no not me!!! if you surf the net I suggest that you find a site dedicated to serial cracks and registration codes... the odds are you'll find a site containing malware, spyware and more trojans than your average playa, but on the flip side there's actually sites that's safe... I'm not listing them in the blog... can't give out too many secrets....lol
the next best place to find sounds and recording software are blogs, forums and message boards... suprisingly, you'll find hundreds of users who frequent hip-hop, general talk, & porn message boards posting rapidshare links to the newest versions of recording programs currently on the market... again, I'm not sharing links so I advise you to start Cyber Diggin.. here you can access so many sound files as well as recording programs...... so before you decide to drop cash on the latest protools package, read this blog... that money can be spent on the mBox and the rest goes to pocket....... ya digg

.......the un-orthodox producer

every producer has a certain way they go about their pre-production set up. there are those who keep it rather uniform and by the books, as well as ones who keep it totally unorthodox. I am one of those..... peep this.. my home recodring set up is not the best or the worst, but it provides me, by any means, an outlet to bang out whatever the fuck I want to.. alot of yall deal with firewire and connections of the likes but i dont fuck with it right now.. I'll give you a view of what i work with presently.......

majority of the sound I fuck with thru midi comes from E-MU's Planet Phatt, Orbit, Mo'Phatt, & Korg's TR-Rack... I had these for a while and I find myself not using them much other than for weird sounds and different FX.... to me sound modules got played out between 2001-2003. with different recording and mixing programs on the rise, I slowly gravitated towoards the recording software... shit doesnt compare to the hardware, but I took everything I knew from the hardware era and applied that to this digital software era.. so right now lets have a moment of silence in rememberance of my MPC... lol

*******

this thing right here is what i call a "multi-tasking, mutha fucka".... digg, the sounds alone can add any type of style to any basic drum pattern.. along with hip-hop beats, i can fuck with this keyboard heavy on an R&B track or some experimental shit... the only thing connected via midi are the sound modules & keyboard only...... i play keys accuratly so I end up recodring them into the computer and chop it... I'll explain more about that shit later

*******

this shit is self explanitory... the thing is, I usuaslly record riffs and basslines into the computer and chop them..... along with the guitars I find many ways to creat sounds.... for instance, empty liquor bottles filled with beans and 2 dimes, or pennies can make a nice rattle sound as well as a shaker.... once recorded into the computer Im good.. all I have to do is tweek each recorded sound.......

*******

the mixer and 12 channel digital recorder arent really used for its original purpose... digg this, every sound is recorded by analogue.... the channels on the mixer are assigned fot the sound moduals, bass & electric guitars, drum machine, mic/pre-amp, and microKorg........... heres the tricky part.. the mixers output is connected directly into the computers line-in and the computers line-out goes to the digital recorder which is connected to the cd burner.. all sounds are recorded directly into the computer using Cool Edit Pro 2.0... I've learded to turn Cool Edit into my own sampler... not only sampling from MP3's, but sampling whatever I decide to play myself... no matter if it's keys, the bass or just beat boxing every tweek made sounds better when originally recorded analogue.......

*******

no pre-production spot is complete with out a few crates to digg thru... Im a Cyber Digga, but I'll always be a crate digga.. if you dont know what I mean peep the earlier blogs about diggin..... this shit is serious!!!! support vinyl and keep the heaters in the collection

at the end of the day Im satisfied with what I have... at some points Im not, but I know this: it's not what you're fuckin with that counts, but how you fuck with it....... ya digg

insomnia pt. 2

Months past and still haven't slept right. the more I they to rest, the more ideas flow.. ok, here's the update: computer caught a virus leading me to stop pre-production for a hott minute. fucked up part about it was the fact I couldn't get a chance to send out the new shit for copyrights. when shit get poppin there's always something set out to fuck it up. so I humble myself and ask the question once more.. "Is it worth it?"

I say YES INDEED

.......Mr. Head pt.1

read it and weep

I dont need to make up a dance to go along with my shit.. ok!!!!!!

insomniac

what the fuck is sleep??

for the last 2 months i totally lost touch with the definition of sleep.. banged out about 124 tracks since february, still have to mix down 40.. coffee chased with 151 is now my best friend. as of now my sleep pattern is off wack.. i used to take it down early, now days Im up 24/7.. whats fucked up i finally had time for some good sleep but i woke up with so many ideas.. that shit kils me sometime because something in my brain triggers me to wake up anytime i feel the slightest spark of creative energy... maybe i'll rest tonight, maybe not

health professionals say we need up to 8 hours of sleep... well that 8 hours was rationed out since mid february.. oh well

i got beats to work on so I'll type more later.. ya digg

.......after the show

the show turned out aight. I was 4th in the line-up and i was ready, until the 3rd act.. the dj called me over to his table and notified me that my tracks wouldnt load up.. all i can say to myself was "aint that a bitch"

panic mode, hell no.. as always i had to improvise.. good thing i had a few more tracks with me.. what fucked me up was the fact that the instrumental was faster than the music intended for the song. at the end of the day i couldnt complain because i did my thing.. a few people in the crowd knew that wasnt the music for the song the rest never even could guess i had to wing it.. next time im bringing a back-up show tape.

for the most, everybody enjoyed themselves and the music.. i noticed maddd talent on that stage (unc built that shit from scratch.. nukka).. by the time i did my second set the liquor kicked in.. honestly, i think i skipped passed the 1st verse and went straight to the hook then second verse.. once again the cameras were on me.. i'll post the footage when i get a chance.. i'll also post pics of the show also.. im out.. gotta work on this music.. ya digg

.......the show

once again it's on.. just found out this morning that im booked to fill in the open slot for saturdays show.. since i've been behind the boards i havent found time to perform my material.. usually i would turn down a show; just like i've turned down the previous offers.. something in my mind said fuck it, do it. im up to my neck in last minute preparations and im tired as hell.. i havent worked on much music this week since im going thru some shit.. dont worrym im turing it all into songs pretty soon... i'll keep you updated on the showtime and location so you can show support

how it all began....... a crate diggas story (part 2)

20 years ago this very day marked the start of a legacy.. by this time i've already grown out of the sk-1 keyboard and I was plottin on my pops sk-200. looking back i never realized exactly what i was getting myself into; until now. with 88' just beginning, i've began to dig into my parents record pile even when they warned my not to touch the records... those who know me well are aware of the ass whoopin i got for scratching the hell out of MJ's Thriller album.

every day after school i would come home, watch Video Music Box and then get to the beats.. i used to sneak a pile of records into my room, grab the cords out of my toy chest and hook the turntable to the sk-200.. the first record i've ever sampled was a joint from some disney record.. the jungle book to be exact. the drums were kinda weak on the sk so i snatched the bass and snare from this Bloodstone record... being that the sk-200 only holds 4 samples i only was able to chop 2 samples for the rhythm.. then i got smart. with 2 tape decks, i recorded the drums with the samples on 1, and added more samples on the other.. took me hours to sync them both together... sheer fuckin genious

as the years went on i took a liking to music other than hip hop.. listing to artists like The Stylistics, Ohio Players, The Persuaders, Temptations and Bloodstone gave me more of an ear for sampling.. without a dollar to my name i began saving lunch money in order to buy records.. i remember one day going to Vogal's in easteick. old dude behind the counter was shocked to see an 11 year old asking for cuts like The Spinners and Delfonics.

fast forwarding to my teen years..... this was a time i was kinda deep into my record collection.. after weeding out all the records in my moms collection, I began buying more for myself.. now i was exposed to the ills of amerikkkas society and i did it for a purpose.. still with no money in my pockets i took a job as look out boy in order to support my habit.. i think i was worse than the fiends because i worked to build my record collection. after shit fell apart i was about 56 records deep of my own plus the 30 something records i jacked from moms. not only was i sampling, i was listening and diggin the vibes of generations before me.. the 90's introduced somthing new to my ears.... jazz. still I listened to the classic soul joints but it was cuts from the likes of McCoy Tyner and Donald Byrd that filled my ears... that shit was straight fire. i remember days at my nigga Rob's house diggin thru his pops collection listening to shit like The Heath Brothers, Coltrain and Billie Holiday. not knowing if it was the combination of the instruments or just the spontaneity of jazz itself that drew into this artform, i was hooked. by this time I no longer had the sk-200 and I was making beats with my cousin Ryan. a few weeks into 95 i took a long walk, not knowing that i was soon to come across a pile of records that was thrown out a few blocks away.. that shit made my day. the fucked up part is that it was a rainy day and i made 2 trips back and forth just for 2 crates of records.. 2 fuckin crates, hell yes it was worth it. time past and i began to find more crates that were thrown out within the hood.

in retrospect, all the shit i went thru with records were ridiculous but it was worth the trouble, time and effort.. i gained and lost alot of my collection over the course of those many years.. from vinyl crackin to niggas jackin my stash, i found time to replace what was once lost.. the worst thing to do is to let another crate digga borrow records. in the end i cant complain because i am the same way.. about 1/4 of my collection was jacked from other diggas like myself.. too many records to keep up with, i began to say fuck it and move on.... between 2005- 2007 i've spent close to $4000 on records alone.. out of that 4G's i spent about $1000 on 3 classic jazz albums at an auction... damn right i will out bid u nukkas if it's worth it... those are collectors originals, autographed in mint condition still in the original cellophane rapper... not sampling those...thats a no no. this day in time I look at my collection and say damn, because 20 years ago i wouldnt have realized that i would not only sample from these records, but they will become my listening pleasure as well... as long as there are crate diggas vinyl will never become extinct... yall CD and MP3 muthafuckas need to take note.. there's alot of history in diggin and this is my story.......ya digg

ok, ok

DONT ASK STUPID QUESTIONS

(ask stupid questions and receive stupid answers)

I've been asked alot of questions about the cover to the up coming mixtape.. like Hov, people asked a million and 1 questions, but i dont have a million and one answers

alot of yall my be aware of the symbolism expressed in the artwork. to the slow ones all i have to say is this: dont ask

to those that have, i will answer them all collectivly... starting now

the cover

the storm represents the turbulant times i've been thru. everybody have a story of the shit they been thru in life. we all been thru ups and downs however, i've been thru alot.. actually i put myself thru alot of un-neccessary shit to the point i felt like it was a storm of wrath... the storm also represents the dawn of a new day.. after rain must come sunshine.

the crosses represents my rejection of religion as a form of mind control.. like it or not it is indeed a form of mind control that is unseen to the human eye. we all have to believe in something but i'd rather rely on fact rather than blind faith.. alot of church folk may be offended by my choice to represent truth opposed to being brain-washed.. so if you are offended,fuck you.. read a book and free your mind.. that cross also represent the oppression we faced when generations before us saw them burning on our lawns... those who burned the crosses knew of the fear which the act brought.. that fear pushed those closer to who they thought was GOD, not knowing we controlled our own destiny. I never strayed away from truth, just moved further from lies. to answer your question, it is not in any way a representation of the anti-christ or any other organization affliated with it's teachings.

the graveyard

this is a representation of death as well as life.. majority of amerikkka is walking zombies; mentally dead with no clue of their own existance.. in this day in time we as black people lost up to 7 generations. on a grand scale that shows there is no future. if you believe in christ, the text stated was risen from the dead. we must rise up from the oppression that we aree facing.. as time goes on we bury ourselfs, as a whole, into our own graves.. we do this by being commodities. we are no longer human when we become nothing more than merchants and consumers.. the shit that bothers me is the fact that we continute to make ourselves slaves and bow down to the master.. here in amerikkka there is only one religion and that religion is finance.. the only belief is economy and the only GOD served is the dollar bill... if it wasnt so that blasphemous remark wouldnt be written on the back of the dollar bills and the coins that we toss into the wishing well to make things better... wake up from that dead state and be free

the title

the title speaks for itself. Im back from the helli put myself thru.. the wise ones say that heaven is what u make of it and hell is what u go thru to get to that heaven... at one point in our lives we have to face those inner demons that harm our soul.. Im not gonna preach to you about shit... honestly, thats not my job.