I Heart My Polo Lifestyle

So my wife just recently found out about a blog/website called Planet Awesome Kid dedicated to displaying children with great fashion sense… In other words “cool kids”. So my wife thought it would be fun to submit our 3 year old daughter’s photo.

(Click On Tutu Above To View Another Photo)

Needless to say she made the cut thus proving what I’ve been saying since 1992:

“You can’t go wrong with Ralph!”

By the way, Planet Awesome Kid is hooked up with Global Action For Children, an amazing charity in which Angelina Jolie is the honorary chair. Take a peek at their website to learn more & see how you could be a part of the movement. They also have a huge charity/benefit kids party coming up on March 20th at Milk Studios¹. It’s invite only and 100% of the proceeds are going towards Global Action For Children. It’ll be a fashion-heavy event. Check it out.

Notes:

1. I wonder if cookies will be served. *wokka, wokka, WOKKA*

Shouts:

• Krista for finding out & submitting our little girl’s picture. Oh yeah & for TAKING THE PHOTO you Momtographer you.
• Sherlen Archibald for putting Krista up on game. Oh & for HELPING TO MAKE ME POPULAR!
• Chloë Yoshe (The ‘Model’) & her penchant for ballerina tutus & (combat) boots.
• Julia Samersova Adler for having a really cool site & turning our little offsprings to marketable fashionistas. (Did I say “marketable”? I swear I’m not a ’stage mom’).

Post Script: Luca… You’re next!

88-Keys:

Uh, yeah! My name is 88-Keys & that’s the name you’ll see on the manifest on Oceanic Flight 815. We’ve been Lost for a few weeks now. I don’t think anybody’s coming for us. Man… I remember this like it was yesterday; When I lost my bag on day one.

1st Verse:

I woke up from a concussion
With sand on my feet
No futher discussion
I’m a son of a beach

Where’s my briefcase?
It was in reach
I gotta drill these people
Just like a prez before he gets impeached

Let me go straight to the liar & pack rat
Scratch that
Take it to the man
With the desire for that hatch

Locke – Don’t give me that
Philosophical crap
I know is gonna spew
From you esophagus track

Just tell me where my box is
Before I let everybody know
You couldn’t use your limbs
Where your sock is

Save it!
I’ll just ask Sawyer
Now let’s face it
He’ll say he didn’t take it

So now I gotta go to Kate
To sweet talk Sawyer
Just to get my briefcase
For a kiss like cheap dates

Sawyer doesn’t have it
Nobody said they grabbed it
Now they’re all acting like
I’m chasing down a white rabbit like Jack did

Chorus:

My bag got lost
So now I’m looking for it
My bag wasn’t found
I got tooken for it – Lost
Have you see it
Anywhere around here? – Lost
Tell me if you see it
When the ground clears

I’m not taking orders from Jack
Like I’m his soldier
I don’t trust Katie
As far as my arms could throw her
Expect the unexpected
When they do drop bombs so
YouMightWantToConsiderHikingBoots.com

2nd Verse:

Gotta investigate this matter further
This madam that I never heard of
Using words
So absurd to

Me & everybody else
Except for Shannon
Distress calls
Who got balls like cannon?

To tell me where my briefcase is
How ’bout you Michael?
You know us brothers gotta
Stick together

I tried to play the race card
But my plan faultered
The only one he’s cares about
His lil’ man Walter

That’s the kid
Who could
Make reality
Alter

I ain’t messing with him
So I slid
Back to Shannon
Just to see if I could find Sayid

And he’s over there
Talking to Boone
Let me see if I could get closer
And get the scoop like a spoon

I heard him say,
“Stay the Hell away from my sister!”
Mr. Overprotective brother
Not only does he lover her but he used to kiss her… Under the covers

Chorus:

My bag got lost
So now I’m looking for it
My bag wasn’t found
I got tooken for it – Lost
Have you see it
Anywhere around here? – Lost
Tell me if you see it
When the ground clears

I’m not taking orders from Jack
Like I’m his soldier
I don’t trust Katie
As far as my arms could throw her
Expect the unexpected
When they do drop bombs so
YouMightWantToConsiderHikingBoots.com

3rd Verse:

Now I searched all over the island
For my stuff
Man it’s rough
When these dead bodies are piled in

There’s only so much
That Jack can do
With polar bears running through the forrest
Attacking you

Now let’s not forget Claire
She needs the prenatal
Care – Make the wrong move
And Charlie makes it fatal?

I’m not really here for friends
Just my bag
I don’t care about you, your drugs
Or Drive Shaft

Now why did Sun laugh
If she only speaks Korean?
There’s something she ain’t telling
There’s something Jin ain’t seeing

She making ginseng
Just to poison human beings
And everybody on the cave & beach
Disagreeing

I should’ve asked Hurley
Early
‘Cause he took a head count
He knows everybody on the island

I described my baggage
He said he knows who had it
Now we gotta figure out
Why Ethan’s name wasn’t added to the manifest

Chorus:

My bag got lost
So now I’m looking for it
My bag wasn’t found
I got tooken for it – Lost
Have you see it
Anywhere around here? – Lost
Tell me if you see it
When the ground clears

I’m not taking orders from Jack
Like I’m his soldier
I don’t trust Katie
As far as my arms could throw her
Expect the unexpected
When they do drop bombs so
YouMightWantToConsiderHikingBoots.com

Shouts:

Needlz – for producing this crazy beat. The beats he gave to me to get this song done are C-R-A-Z-Y!!! If I was a grimy dude, I’d probably put out another 88-Keys album… Entirely produced by Needlz (whether he’d like it or not). (Don’t laugh! You’d be surprised how often that happens with songs). *smh*

Irko (The Audio Nutrionist) – for blessing me, once again, with an awesome mix. He knocked this out in the matter of minutes practically. Needlz’ tracks are heavily layered so you could just imagine what Irko had to go thru to get this sounding proper. (“What’cha say Hammer? Proper!” – Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest -)

This is my wife, not to be confused with the widely used term “wifey” (I actually put a rock on her finger a few years ago.) She’s the inspiration to a lot of work & effort I put into each sample I come across, each rhyme I try to outdo myself on & each snare n’ kick chop in my musical productions. I’m making this post because I just love looking at her.

Okay that’s all. Carry on people!

Oh & I’d like to dedicate this song to my wife. This pretty much sums it all up:

Common – The Light (J. Dilla Remix) ft. Erykah Badu

Shouts:

• Krista. Again, the answer to the question you just emailed me: “Hells to the muthaf*ckin’ yeah shawty!”
• Adrienne Gray thanks for building a ton of awesome ideas & opportunities with my wife. Let’s see how you both spend your first million. (This should be… interesting.)

Post Script: The storyline in The Death of Adam has absolutely nothing to do with my wife so don’t go trying to ‘read between the lines’. Although I’m sure she (as well as myself & countless of others [you] could still manage to somehow relate in one way or another).

Remember back when I mentioned that I met this really dope alt-rock group who I loved & was going to work with them shortly after we met? I believe I had to recant that & correct my post; I was actually going to be featured alongside the lead singer/songwriter of that group (Christopher Chu of The Morning Benders) on a project produced by 2 of the funniest, craziest & most talented producers to step into the game right now. I’ve only had email & Twitter correspondences with these guys & I already know they’re live as Hell… Oh & crazy. Come to think of it, I believe we all been on video iChat with each other once or twice.

Charlie “Skin” Duff & Paavo “Bones” Steinkamp make up this production duo known as Skin & Bones. With this song in particular, they came up with a track that I found “oddly” familiar. It was the ‘feel’ of the track which brought feelings of nostalgia to me. They brought back that R&B sound from the earlier ’90s which I hadn’t heard since the early ’90s. You remember when groups like Sky, Hi-Five & H-Town were out? Those male R&B groups who all dressed alike then you’d get mad at your girlfriend because she had cut out the photos of that one light-skinned/curly headed singer from the group from her Black Beat, Ebony & Jet magazines & hung them up all over her wall? The Elgin Lumpkin lookin’-*ss-n*ggas. Uh… Yeah… THAT sound. I have to be honest here as I was a bit ‘thrown off’ by the track initially. I was like, “Man… This sounds like some ol’ 1990s sh*t that I wouldn’t listen to UNLESS I was at a house party trying to rub up on something.” All of course before the reggae came on which was then my right of passage to fully dry hump a girl. C’mon now, don’t act like I was the only one doing this back then. Some of you STILL do this; probably fake-freaked off last weekend.

Needless to say, initially, I was a bit aprehensive on making up a rap for this beat. It wasn’t until I played this beat for my manager where he took one listen & loved the beat. I was like, “Really?!?? But this sounds like some ’90s R&B joint.” It turned out that was exactly why he liked the track: Because it sounds very authentic. Once he pointed that out, I heard & felt exactly what he meant. I wound up liking this track a lot… Then I went “in” on it. Please forgive me for having to catch up to speed to where you (Skin & Bones) were with the production. This song is dope!

Fun Fact:

I actually perform this song during my set. You’d have to come to one of my shows to see how it all goes down though. It’s always a crowd pleaser. Trust!

Wait ’til you heard this song though. I did my thing; Chris & Bernie definitely kill it as well as only they could. This song is a bit of an unexpected mix of talent but we come together perfectly to form VOLTRON. You guys are going to have to cop the song to get the full listen. iTunes baby!

(Click On Cover Art Above To Listen & Show Your Support… You Cheapskates!)

88-Keys:

No pretending
We’re not for games
Our love’s in a crisis
Like the stock exchange¹

We got a lot to gain
With this love
So you shouldn’t dismiss
Like pocket change

To a millionaire²
So let’s get this clear
Like the grade
On a rock with names³

I got fame
But it’s not the same
As having you in my corner
Like time out⁴

And when you’re
Off punishment
I guess
You’re not loving it

Now I gotta backtrack
To where we went wrong
When it felt so right
We were velcro tight

I was with a 10
But I didn’t have the heart
Or the smarts
So I guess this Tin Man played the part

The Scarecrow⁵ type
And there’s no nights
When I’m not thinking of you
I really want to love you

Let’s not focus
On what I can’t do
Let’s focus
On romance & candles

I want to love you
Like you love “it”
With no replicas
Or duplicates

I put the emphasis
On the wrong syllable⁶
Because I’m liable
To look you up & then slob you

Down
Unless you want to be a tease
Or you want to stay low key
By saying, “No ‘Keys” n’

Maybe I should
Book us a suite at The Seasons⁷
For reasons
You & I both believe in

Chorus:

88-Keys:

Now tell me is this love or what

Girl I think we’re there
If my words ain’t enough
And this ring is too much
Then we could pinky swear

And we’ll it at that
No applied pressure
No extreme measures
Just notes inside dressers

When you get up in the morning
To get dressed – You get blessed
With a little note
Then you get fresh⁸… Yep!

You start blushing
Turning red like the Russian flag
Then you start huffin’
Like your head’s in a duffle bag

And now you went
And got your body tense
I feel you
Like Spidey sense – Tingle⁹

Like Heidi/Spence’
Let’s act like we ain’t single¹⁰
And do this love thing
Like we’ve been vibin’ since

The days of our youth
When I was in the Bronx
You gotta love it
Like Ashley Wentz¹¹

You weren’t around
Like absent kids who faked having the flu
When I was dying
From abstinence

Now it’s time for us
To catch up on old times
Until we’re old timers
Dealing with Alzheimer’s

I want to love you
Like you love all diamonds¹²
Unless there’s conflict
Like Paula called Simon¹³ out

You know what I’m
Rhyming ’bout
You’re my American Idol
Other’s bombing out

Now here’s your golden ticket¹⁴
To come over & kick it
Now you’re finding out
I’m nice n’ signing out – Peace!

Notes:

1. If you don’t know that our country is going through economically tough times (to say the very least)… then you must be in the RIGHT country. Trade places? Never!
2. Millionaires do not carry pocket change (or so I was told). I think they’re allergic.
3. Diamonds anyone?
4. Unless you have children of your own or watch Super Nanny, this reference wouldn’t make any sense to the you. Now I place YOU on ‘time out’… Now GO to the corner & think about my clever line!
5. Think: Wizard of Oz.
6. A classic line said by Mike Meyers in the movie .
7. The Four Seasons Hotel. That one was for the etremely slow.
8. She’s finding out that “There’s Pleasure In It“… On her own. *blush* Egads!
9. Spider Man would get a tingling feeling whenever something dangerous was about to pop off. His catch phrase was, “My spider senses are tingling.” Spidey was a nickname some of his archenemies referred to him by.
10. There was a lot of media speculation as to whether Spencer Pratt & Heidi Montag were in really in love with each other or if they were rather in love with ‘the camera’. They eventually got married (for real). Egg on the media’s face.
11. Ashley Simpson, who married Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy, gave birth to their son: Bronx Mowgli Wentz. Gotta love it like a mother’s love for her child right? *booyah* This line makes WAY more sense to you now doesn’t it?
12. Because “diamonds are a girl’s b.f.f.”
13. Conflict diamonds from Sierra Leone.
14. Think: American Idol
15. Again… Think: American Idol

Shouts:

• Skin & Bones for considering me for this incredibly produced song & project. You guys are a pair wild onions for real.
• Patrick Brown for expediting the check & keeping those on Twitter updated with my goings ons.
• Chris Chu for being dope as Hell. The hip hop community really need to check for you & I plan on doing all that I can to make that happen.
• Bernie Worrell for providing the extra funkiness to this batch of “Lemonade”.

Post Script: By the way, this is Bernie Worrell from PARLIAMENT-FUNKADELIC! Heard of that group? I’ll make another blog post on that living legend soon. Stay tuned mi gente. Peace!

I know I said I wouldn’t post another ‘beat making’ video EVER but this is a little different. I’m just taking you on a little trip to the past which was filled with fun times.¹ On the Fresh Rhymes & Videotape Tour bus I brought my trusty (& never rusty… but sometimes ‘crusty’) Akai MPC 3000 (named “Raw Dawg”)

with me to try & get it pop’n on the ’studio’ in our tour bus. In this video I made a quick chop I did while on the bus with a record I purchased while in Tempe, AZ.

We all actually wound up having way more fun than planned so none of us really got it pop’n in our ‘make-shift studio’ on the tour bus. Sad face here: ___

Notes:

1. Fresh Rhymes and Videotape Tour. More on this soon ladies & gentlemen. The events on this tour were TOO comical. I had fun with all of my peoples on tour: Dilated Peoples, Aceyalone, The Alchemist & DJ SynCity.

Shouts:

• Evidence. Thanks for reminding me this morning that I had this video. Now I could delete it from my MacBook Pro’s hard drive to make room for iTunes 9. *yippeeeee*
• Raw Dawg. You’ve been my trusty steed for the past 15 years+. Thanks for keeping me pizzaid! I’ll always love you.
• Peter Bittenbender for convincing me to lug Raw Dawg out on the tour with me (without a case). Yes… I’m a dummy. *fail*

As promised… (About a year ago), the rest of the video¹ of me creating the beat for “Deal Breakers” my favorite beat chop from my first (& only for now) mixtape Adam’s Case Files. This song features Mr. Bentley. He MURDERED this beat in a style I dubbed ‘The Ascot Flow’. I came up with that name that night. Anybody care to hear more of the Fonz & myself work together just say the word. You could personally hit him up on Twitter here: Mr. Fonzworth Bentley. Let him know. Make demands. Make his Twitter time out from an overload of your requests of me & him getting back in the lab. He’s ill… Trust me! Just listen…

This is a rarity for me; I can’t believe I’m doing this but I’m actually going to give you people the sample information & you’re not even paying me for this song nor are you the a&r for my project.² So here it is. The ONLY reason I’m doing this is so you could see (or hear rather) that I’m no slouch when it comes to the chopsuey of a sample. Many thorough diggers would instantly recognize this album because it contains the ever so popular “Gangster Boogie” song on it. That sample is STILL fresh as Hell ’til this day. *whew* The song that I chopped up is entitled:

“Don’t Be Gone“

By the way, I absolutely hate these ‘yo I’m an ill producer, peep my chop game son-son’ videos. That’s actually the reason why I never followed thru & posted the long lost parts to these videos. Okay, “hate” is such a strong word but you know what… It fits. No stabs to ALL of the other producers who make such videos but I’ve pretty much had it. To me, watching such videos nowadays is like trying to sit through a YouTube beat boxing video. If I still had my ‘locks I’d probably pull ‘em out. I’d rather watch cup stacking. *pause*

(That Steven Purugganan kid is pretty amazing!)

This part tres was just me putting the finishing touches on the beat. Nothing too crazy though to be honest. Either way I hope you all enjoyed this post. Please post comments/feedback here as this is the only place I reply to them all. Thanks for checking me out. Peace!

Notes:

1. Part 1 can be found on my official YouTube channel. Feel free to watch some other videos I’ve posted on there, share them & post comments. Thanks.
2. That’s a music industry reference/joke because, 9 times out of 10, music producers who sample MUST turn in all the sample info for clearance.

Shouts:

• Mr. Bentley for coming up with some ill raps for my mixtape & allowing me to actually produce you as opposed to just emailing you a beat. See how magic happens when two dope artists are actually working together?
• Chicago Gangsters for just being plain ol’ funky. Me likes. Thanks again.

Post Script:

• @ :10 in Part 3… Um… *pause*
• Also, REALLY listen to what the sample is saying then listen to what Mr. Bentley’s saying. This would might give you a whole other level of appreciation for this beat/song. It kind of flew over a lot of peoples’ heads ’til I fully explained it in detail. It’s kind of Illmatic. Peace!

The day was July 17^th 2007. It was my first Father’s Day (& Kanye’s first “Godfather’s Day”). He’s in town so he gives me a call & decides to pick my wife & I up to head out to our friends Al & Aesha’s house out in NJ. Correction: FAR OUT in New Jersey. It was maybe like an hour ½ trip out to their place. We get there only to be joined by our boy J. SaKiya (professional speaker/thinker & co-author of Thank You & You’re Welcome). He too is a father so we all (Al, SaKiya, myself & Kanye) are all celebrating [god]fatherhood together like how family are supposed to. Good times indeed. I just wish my manager Daniel (who shares godfather duties to my [now] daughter[s] with Kanye) was there to partake in the festivities of this day. We all had a great time.

So, anybody who knows Kanye, knows that he’s very much into playing group games; his favorite game is Tabu. He actually put me onto that game because he always used to shut down the fact that I was trying to get a good Monopoly game jumped off. We used to play it back in the days & it would literally last for hours. Like no kidding. We all once played a 5 hours game of Monopoly at Daniel’s place one night a long time ago. I think Kanye won too. BiyOtch! Anyway, as a warm up (or pre-game) to Taboo, Kanye came up with this rhyming game.

The participants were: ‘Ye (the big head), Alexis (his ex), SaKiya (the mouth), SaKiya’s ex (his better half), Aesha (the model hostess), Azure (Al’s daughter), my wife Krista (the creamy filling) & myself (the Oreo shell).

Not certain if you’ll play this entire video but, to me, it’s quite entertaining. The banter is what makes this humorous. Hopefully you could make out all of that was said here. I recorded this with a small Sony DSC-T9 digital camera. I didn’t have a tripod, a boom mic or those mini-microphones which clip to your collar & clip onto your belt. In other words, this was not professionally recorded at all. I just did it for fun. Well, I hope you enjoy this “clip”. Oh & guess who wins the RHYMING game with one of the participants being Kanye West (a.k.a. one of the the greatest rappers/rhymers of our time). *jeez* No fair!

Shouts:

• My wife Krista for making it possible for me to have a Father’s Day. I cannot thank you enough… Oh & ‘You’re Welcome’.
• J. SaKiya Sandifer for your input on thought provoking conversations the crew has when we all get together. We can’t just snap on each other all the time.
• Al Branch & Aesha DeVore Branch thanks for opening your home to us that day… Wit’cho big-*ss house!
• Kanye, dude… You can’t shut me down. Thought’chu knew foo’! Oh & what’s good with some Monopoly the next time you & Amber stay in The Rotten Apple?

Post Script: Peep how ‘Ye tries to shut me down on almost all of my turns yet I still prevail. *booyah*

So hey, did any of you know that the official single was out? Oh no? You didn’t? Well neither did I (up until a couple of days ago). Included in the single package is… Well, just click on the art work to the right & you’ll find out what’s included on here. Look at all the fresh music you’ll get for just under $4 so

don’t be cheap! Hey, the official remix alone (produced by ______ ) is worth that much if not more. Nah but seriously, I’m going to put you all to the test here. So, you say you f*cks with my music aye? Let’s see you put me up on the iTunes charts & make a difference. All iPhone/iTouch users chime in. Any of you with iTunes accounts cop this single THEN post a review with your social networking screen name so I’ll know for sure you’ve copped this. A lot of fugaziness has been kicked to me these past few months; it’s now time to separate the real from the fake. Please rate n’ review my music after you’ve made your purchase. Don’t just hit me on iChat/AIM, Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, etc. saying, “Yo I bought your sh*t! I support real hip hop.” Show me homies.

Note: The only way to post a review on iTunes is after you’ve made the PURCHASE. Let’s see where this goes now shall we? Enjoy!

Aight… Love, Peace & Punani Happiness!

88-Keys of Locksmith Music, Inc.

Oh yeah & again, click the art work to be redirected to spending that $.99… or $3.99.

Shouts:

• Chuck Brody for coming thru to the video shoot & providing the rock out with your cock out vibe… Without actually whippin’ out your *censored*… Because that wouldn’t have been cool.
• Electric Pete for coaching me thru recording my vocals for this song. “Think Sting!”
• Johnny Rodeo thanks for singing the original lead in the song; You do however know you’re on the remix don’tcha? (You weren’t going to get let off the hook thateasy dude.
• Kanye West for believing in me & making the suggestion that I sing the lead m’damnself. I don’t think I sound so bad. Now as far as my LIVE performances goes… Well… *shrugs*
• Peter Bittenbender thanks for putting this out but see? I told you this was supposed to be the first single.
• Yoram Benz thanks for helping me bring my concept to life. I wish we had just a little more time to freak the video out even more with those ideas you, Daniel & I were tossing around.
• The Morning Benders, Tanya Morgan & Izza Kizza for coming thru & making your cameos. Fun times indeed my friends.

You can’t really tell by looking at this photo but living (jazz) legend Gary Bartz is a fellow ‘Lo head. Just thought I’d share this fun fact with you guys. Peace!

Shouts:

• To my photographer wife Krista. Although she didn’t use her expensive-ass camera, she still did a Hell of a job… with my iPhone. Thanks babe.
• Gary Bartz thanks for being a ‘Lo Head & one Hell of a musician. The first time we met was at B.B. Kings on 42^nd Street in NY at The Roots’ party. You rocked. Word… Props due!

Post Script: Click on photo for further commentary. If you didn’t know this about my blog by now… Shame on you! *smh*