TheWolvesDen

Math Principles of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate

2013-09-29T19:37:00.000-04:00

I am laying on my bed on a Friday night avoiding sonic booms from this giant bird creature (Qurupeco). Every time I get close to it I have to make sure that my blades are properly sharpened such that when I am able to reach it after it attempts to blow me away with its gust that my blades can actually penetrate its hide. After the gust , the Qurupeco spreads its wings and its throat nearly triples in size as it bellows a screech that halts me in my steps. Next thing I see is a magenta and purple dinosaur (Great Jaggi) running from another size of the field I am in. So while I am trying to attack the Qurupeco, this Great Jaggi attacks me taking and I change my attention.

Didn't see this coming

I have to watch for how it tilts its head, as that indicates he is either going to swing his tail or head in my direction. It yells loudly and its children come to attack me once it sends off this signal. I have lost sight of the Quruperco now and this battle is now about preventing this Great Jaggi from interrupting the original hunt. I notice that every time it yells it stays stagnant, that means I can attack with the the sharpened blades, unleashing my combo. Once it does that, I have to evade its attacks and wait for it to expose itself once again. Or I can be bold and try to get behind it to unleash any attacks. My patience is rewarded and I become able to carve this monster. I pick up its great frill and its hide. Both of which I need in order to improve the dual blades I have from the in-town smith. I spend the next few minutes trying to find the Qureperco I was trying to find the bird.

I start running out of time , as there is only a 50 minute time limit. I run through a couple of different zones and I finally see it again. However my impatience causes me not value the details. So while I saw that he was lighting a spark with his claws, I was too busy trying to apply damage and I get burned when he jumps at me with his claws. I then realize that my sword has become dull, and I can't afford to apply whetstone back to my sword as I leave myself open for another attack. I would have to hide, I can't hide though, the time is passing by. I decide to try to reapply, and I get burned once again and I die. My character re-spawns from the beginning of the level, maybe I can catch up back to this beast. However the time rings and I have to find time again to start over this quest.

So I just detailed what a Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate battle looks like, how does this even apply to Math at all? Well ask yourself if that experience, even in failure was rewarding? Yes. I clearly enjoyed all of this, and was thoroughly engaged to the end. However thats an emotional award, what about the lessons I gained from that experience? Well I became aware that the Great Jaggi is paired with the Qurepeco. I learned that I wasted too much time in that battle when I could have been on the Qurepeco. I realized that certain things the bird did lead to me being attacked. I described that the sparking of its claws leads to a burning attack. I realized that I need to watch for how my swords are sharpened as I can't attack unless they are at their peak. I even got some valuable hide and frills* that can allow me to upgrade my weapon, so maybe I can upgrade my weapon so that when I do this quest again I am more prepared.

All those things are aspects of what a great Math lesson is. Its not all about necessarily being able to conquer the battle (the objectives) of the class time limit, its about maximizing the experience in the classroom. Our classrooms need to replicate this. We can provide a student with this larger math question (Qurupeco) . However once they start trying to unpack that question they end up with a meaningful smaller but challenging question (Great Jaggi). This something that they need to sort out before even going back to the main question, in this naturally occurring subquestion (just like the Great Jaggi naturally appeared) there are major benefits to be had. The students are able to identify conceptual links between this and the main objective. They can spend their time facing the sub objective and it's intricacies (the children). And once they 'beat' that, they end up with some meaningful conceptual understanding of the material (the spoils of it' hide and frill). They at the end of the class, regardless of wether or not they answered the big question , are upgraded mentally.

Dig the new armor?

They can go back to the larger task at hand and run out of time because of the impatience. There are seeds that demonstrate they recognize patterns but can't really meaningfully respond. However the failure of answering the question now is a badge of honor. In the sense they had a battle, a riveting experience. They have some new armor and when faced tomorrow with the main question, if the sub questions come, they will slay it quickly now and focus attention back on the major question. This is what is the satisfying hunt in Monster Hunter sounds like , and if we can provide these experiences for mathematical conceptual understanding they will feel rewarded.

Summary

Monster Hunter's Math Principles

Bigger problems like bigger monsters are all the more engaging
Like the Qurupeco and Great Jaggi, think of creating problems that have multiple concepts attatched that will have students have to build one certain set of skills to get to the other
Each part of a battle has some items that can be used to better the player, likewise the actual things we have students do in class actually have to be of benefit to them for the larger picture
Monster Hunter players expect to lose once in a while, allow students to embrace that, as long as they gain valuable lessons such that they can go back again .
Emphasize for students to look for patterns and create questions where they have to immerse themselves in that, Monster Hunter's battling system is only engaging because it rewards players who watch what the monster does and tries to figure out what he or she will do when the monster does these things.
Other games like Monster Hunter which have a emphasis on collecting material and upgrading can easily fail by having people engaged in non dynamic battles, whereas teachers can mess up by the provision non dynamic questions .
Most Monster Hunter Players will suggest that playing the game co-operatively is a need (I have the 3ds version so thats not happening soon), but we know that having students work together is a key part of meaningful learning.

Real Math is messy, its rough, there is a lot collecting of knowledge to be done and failures throughout. We have to make the failures worth enduring. Monster Hunter is a game that when you fail but that you fail, you get a lot out of it when you do. It makes the moment when you beat the monster ten times more rewarding. Math is the same.

*Although in the game you don't get to keep them if you fail the quest

***

Shout outs: Jodecideon

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe

Interview: CJ The Genesis

2013-08-08T00:20:00.001-04:00

Me and CJ's talk on Salvation a few months ago covering the sampling of Cary Rae Jepsen, the Altlanta influence, happy trap music & his next project.

Download Salvation: Here
CJ The Genesis Twitter: Here
CJ The Genesis Facebook: Here

***

Shout outs: CJ The Genesis

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe

Interview: The Day Dream Sound

2013-05-15T20:15:00.004-04:00

Been a long time coming to chat with this dude

I finally sat down with The Day Dream Sound and we talked about his new Instrumental album, The DayDream Sound 2: The Passage to Alkebulan.

Stream and cop the album if it intrigues you here:

http://thedaydreamsound.bandcamp.com/album/the-daydream-sound-i

His twitter is: https://twitter.com/TDSAlkebulan
His facebook is: https://www.facebook.com/tds.drums

***

Shout outs: TheDayDream Sound

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe

Mathematics and Banking Education

2013-04-02T17:27:00.001-04:00

Today I have to give sincere props to both my mother and Dr. Bridges. Engaging in a conversation with both enlightened some of my developing impressions and concerns with Paulo Friere's Pedagogy of the Oppressed. I am currently in the midst of reading his description of 'Banking Education'. The definition hit me twice over; in the context of both counter cultural art and math education. I will wait to unpack the idea of counter cultural art once my friend finishes his project, but I can definitely speak to my current life project in examining math education.
Reflecting upon that experience under new notions of actual understanding, the ability to look for patterns and make connections that I did intuitively is significant in the process of being a mathematician. My peers didn't get that intuitively. The way we were being taught limited their ability to succeed, and if they did succeed it was by means of the ability just to do a task. They weren't being supported (nor was I) to cognitively reflect on any possible connections to the things we were doing in the classrooms. The students were not being encouraged to be mathematical. The focus was being right by following prescribed steps(something I am trying to shake to this day).
I have been under hunches since last semester that essentially believes the style mathematics has been taught to me growing up was oppressive. That inherently the way in which we did mathematics is not built for those who aren't a art of a certain ilk to succeed (I realize I am making a big assumption here and in a further post I will try to unpack what I mean, for now take it on surface value). This has been rooted in the idea of effective pedagogy, however upon reading Friere, the definition of Banking Education gives me space and I guess room to make sense of the hunches I have been having over the last 6 months. For those who don't know Banking Education is the following:
The characteristics of banking education including being mechanic. This detail allows me to link this to my history with Mathematics. I mentioned that I was learning math by artificial 100 question ritual. Thats mechanic by default. The skill and drill notion of mathematics is so popular that I feel anyone reading this can relate. In fact the idea of my boss at a past job was that the math proficiency just happened by doing. However subscribing to that theory suggests meaningful education occurs via mechanistic means of education, which is whole heartedly wrong. Although I am just trying to get my mind around what Paulo Friere has to say his view on education which suggests that if a 'Banking Education' is occurring , then students are being oppressed.
To end this post and thought lightly, we talk about STEM as being a means of liberating students of dark backgrounds but is it possible that the alleged future of the world, the way it is being taught, is a means of actually trapping them? That the alleged most important means of education that can free a student, as it is described in the mainstream, has qualities that are determined to oppress the students who need it the most?

Based on my math experiences in Jamaica I have walked away feeling that math classes reinforces primitive techniques. The techniques I grew up with were skill and drill oriented. I remember doing 100 questions for home work when studying algebra to get the hang of it. I wouldn't necessarily speak against that experience as I was able to develop a certain eye for patterns . However those pattern searching eyes were something I just developed internally on my own trying to get the right answer, where as my friends didn't. Instead they just felt swamped, feeling that mathematics had no purpose. It was weird, each of my peers found something they flourished in and there was stiff competition to be what we called 'gurus' amongst each other for certain subjects. I remember my friends Christopher and Courtney fighting to be History gurus. Math was nothing like that. It was a lonely island among my immediate peers, it was just me. My friends identity and perception of competency was in the subjects they tried to be gurus in, its interesting that I was alone amongst them who tried to do that with math.

"Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor. Instead of communicating , the teacher issues communiques and makes deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize and repeat " ( Friere 1970, pg. 53)

Could it?

***

Shout outs: Dr.Bridges, Mom

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe

Kanye's Dark Fantasy About Education

2012-09-03T17:16:00.000-04:00

What does Kanye have to say about the education system as we currently know it? I am not sure exactly, but I take cues of inspiration from listening to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy's opening. Which seems to allude that we as teachers are losing grip of the students, and that the problem is that we think we are able to gain the students attention. I believe this 'Dark Fantasy' is the sad reality of affairs we live in today as teachers. I will break down a few of Kanye's verses in this song that suggest this.

Nicki Minaj opens that :
You might think you've peeked the sceneYou haven't, the real one's far too meanThe watered down one, the one you knowWas made up centuries ago

When we think about this, Nicki begins to suggest that the reality that we are living in is fake. We are ignorant to what really is. We are invited to take the red pill and dive deeper into whats happening. I believe that it can't hurt to see what these stars have to say. We don't have to agree but we ought to listen, because quite frankly if their popularity means anything, our students are listening.

I fantasized 'bout this back in ChicagoMercy, mercy me, that MurcielagoThat's me, the first year that I blowHow you say broke in Spanish? Me no hablo

What I presume here we are witnessing is the idea of success from a person who was fed up for the education system as we know it (obvious from listening to College Drop-Out). What is the very first treasures of success we witness? We hear about his car and the feeling of not being broke. Now if we think about this, students are hearing this and many who listen obviously empathize and agree with this sentiment. We as teachers need to pay attention that our students will be asking the obvious question at times, how will *insert class* make me money? So we as a teacher have to decide how our classrooms will respond. Are we going to respond by teaching towards a job?

Me drown sorrow in that DiabloMe found bravery in my bravadoDJs need to listen to the modelsYou ain't got no fucking Yeezy in Serrato?(You ain't got no Yeezy, nigga?)

If we do teach toward a job, this trivializes most of the efforts and lofty ideas in the classroom. It becomes an effort to just do what is told. However this isn't satistfying.As Mr.Wests points out in the treasures , the money, there is something hollow(creating pseudo-bravery, partying with models etc), he has drown it in something.

Look like a fat booty Celine DionSex is on fire, I'm the king of Leona LewisBeyond the truestHey, teacher, teacher, tell me how do you respond to students

Here Mr.West clearly suggests that he is still trying to drown out the hollowness of the life (in this case with sex). Then he poses the question of how are you going to respond to the students like him? Do you want your students to end up with this mindset as well? He does a great job of suggesting the responsibility is ours. I ultimately belive that he is suggesting that our teaching method has to leave the student fulfilled.

And refresh the page and restart the memory?Respark the soul and rebuild the energy?We stopped the ignorance, we killed the enemiesSorry for the night demons that still visit me
Here he gives characteristics of this fulfilled student. The students memory of the material is alert. There is a soul behind the subject and there is a certain energy at work. Lastly and most importantly, the ignorance that the student had, vanishes.

The more and more I hear this song , I think about the type of ways we teach. I believe that it is most likely that Kanye was taught primarily with drills in mind. His teachers were either teaching mundanley towards a job(when we think about how trivial the money becomes in this song) or just teaching for the sake of teaching ( as we have to take into consideration on the College Dropout where he mentions the best students working for Cheesecake factory). The classroom has to be more than these two things. We as teachers need to be deliberate in our goal. And this goal has to leave the student fulfilled. Otherwise we have the following issue:

At the mall, there was a seanceJust kids, no parentsThen the sky filled with heronsI saw the devil in a Chrysler LeBaron
And the hell, it wouldn't spare usAnd the fires did declare usBut after that, took pills, kissed an heiressAnd woke up back in Paris

Where our students will continue to empathize with Mr.West, and we as teachers will be blind to the disinterest in our students(no parents were there). However we are still thinking that our current ways of teaching are enough. The students will be empty in one way or another (money or the lack of a job) and they will be consumed ultimately by material posessions.
Thankfully the song ends with this just being a vision. However visions can become reality. Lets figure out how to fulfill students in our classroom before the Dark Fantasy becomes real.

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe
***
Shout outs: Mr.West, Dr.Ellington

It's All Mathematics !

2012-06-24T22:08:00.000-04:00

So back in 2007 two years after a discussion in 2005, yours truly made a flight with the family to the island of Manhattan, aiming to capitalize on the opportunity of living in America, much less New York. I had to battle through 12th grade here, eyes set on going on to become some form of Mathematician. I got through and due to financial difficulty, opportunity and the blessing of the CUNY system I remained in the city fighting to become a mathematician. Fast-forward to now the dream is different upon graduating as a Math major from the CUNY system.

While battling through the last five years the secondary interest I had developed to my primary interest. In Jamaica I heard Kanye's Jesus Walks. I visited America a twice before I moved here. Picking up College Dropout one time, and Rhymefest's Blue Collar the second time. Looking back with my infatuation with both albums, I am not surprised at all that upon moving here that Hip-Hop music would become my primary recreational interest.

Here we had a student pursuing Math, notoriously known to destroy students , much less black students hopes of being interested in any Science field. Taking classes with Dr. Lewis about Social Inequality in Hip-Hop, I was becoming very familiar with seeing Hip-Hop being used in the classrooms to discuss the social world. I was beginning to see how Hip-Hop doesn't have to be estranged from my academic priorities. However I was still confused to as how my interest in Math could be fused with Hip-Hop.

Until this point even Hip-Hop emcees who I believe to have profound lyrics didn't make much Mathematic references. Hell even Mos Def's Mathematics was a song that used mathematics to enlighten social issues instead of really looking at how Hip-Hop could be looked at mathematically. Thats not a knock on the song but I continued to feel that the academic part of my life would forever be separated from my biggest interest. That was until I until I made a reform in my own academic pursuit.

Ironically throughout my college career I was hell bent on being a theoretical Mathematician even though all my grades indicated I could have been a stellar applied Mathematician. However all my extra-curricular experiences throughout college involved teaching. Teaching was something I was always interested ever since I became interested in Math at the age 14 in Jamaica. I kind of tried to avoid it because I was convinced that there was more to the degree. However at 20 I figured out that even though there is much more I could do with the degree, at the bottom of my heart teaching Math is what I really wanted to do. I had did these teaching experiences all ignoring the desire to hone in on it.
Making the change really has opened me up to how Hip-Hop can now enter the sphere of academica. I have always looked at Hip-Hop as means of learning, exposing and challenging my mind.

"Now if you take a glass of water then add two cubes of ice

you should see the cup's water level slightly rise, right?

You need to watch what I'ma show you (Watch this)

You need to look closely at what I'ma show you

(Listen to this right here)

If you remove every living animal out of the seathen wouldn't the world's ocean water level decrease?This means the planet wasn't three-quarters water " - Canibus

You often take pieces like this and rebuild and asses your own understanding. However that doesn't mean there hasn't been moments where you hear lines and you feel like it is utterly wrong, is stupid and worthless. Thats what makes Hip-Hop great entertainment and an interest for me. I learn from it, I go to it with my own world view and walk out with understanding different perspectives and I am free to call it out for not having things that I want and believe. It was by far an example of free-learning in my own life and it was done out of desire. I could have stopped after the first few albums I heard. I went on my own quest to listen and hear, understand and enjoy.

I realize I want a classroom similar to that as I approached Hip-Hop. And this is why I am so glad God has reminded me for my interest in teaching. Hip-Hop is a means by which I started to naturally learn. I didn't go enjoy Hip-Hop without a world view. However that worldview has changed and my relationship with Hip-Hop has too. I want my students to be engaged in the same way with mathematics. I want them to come with their knowledge and understandings to the subject. I want them to wrestle with their ideas, see the ideas of the classroom and come naturally to conclusions and truths about the Math. I think a classroom that encourages this, will allow for students to be heavily interested in math, incite curiosity, so that they can start thinking about their entire lives and what parts of math are involved. So that they may say "it's all mathematics".

***

Shout outs: TBA

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe

Most Prized Musical Posession?

2012-05-03T00:59:00.003-04:00

All of us have some sort of intimate relationship with music. As a result we all have some physical thing that really gets across our love for an artist, music genre or just musical moment. So I asked my peers, what are their favorite musical possessions?

Here is what they had to say:

For me? These are my precious

When I first answered this I thought about Remy Shand album but I realized these mean more to me. These were given to me by my brother for my 20th birthday. The reason I appreciate them is that I remember going into his room and seeing them and wanting to listen to them but at the time I couldn't or more so he wouldn't let me. Years later I got my own copy of Train of Thought but he gave me his copy, and I now have things that I have always wanted to hear from his collection.

***

Shout outs: TSD

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe

Best Rainy Day Music?

2012-04-10T21:19:00.001-04:00


Best type of rain

I usually think that the rain is a bit annoying. But in spring I expect it but I can't lie walking in pouring rain while bumping music is really relieving. Rainy days usually lead to a droopy day but the music captures that and puts you at ease. I expect a couple of these type of moments soon this spring. So what is your favorite music for a rainy day? Here is what my peers said:

For me? My hands down favourite rainy day song is

Nothing describes the relieving feeling that can be found in music and in the rain better than that.

***

Shout outs: StarChasers

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe

Do You See Yourself in the Music You like?

2012-04-03T21:29:00.003-04:00

Music is particularly interesting because it is something that you can relate to. The lines then become anthems and thoughts that you go about battling life with. So do you see yourself in the music you like? Here is what my peers had to say:

It seems unanimously that people clearly see themselves in music. I think the hardest part of my relationship with music was embracing music that were polar opposites of my thoughts. However I began to like song that I didn't begin to agree with. I started seeing other views. But nothing is better than having a song you love because it captures thoughts and ideas in a way you couldn't put any better yourself.

***

Shout outs:New Rochelle

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe

Hip-Hop's Sisters

2012-03-30T14:25:00.003-04:00

Not talking about the rap group though

I have been thinking about how hip-hop tends to relate to women this entire woman's history month. I felt that the biggest conclusion I made this month is that hip-hop tends to approach women who aren't mothers as possible romantic partners. I then thought about a Charles Hamilton line "A woman you don't look at with a lustful eye but a trustful eye", I would think that a sister would perfectly fit this need in the rappers life. So I decided to look at two songs that mentions the relationship between a rapper and his sister and see what hip-hop says to their sisters. I want to look at Kendrick Lamars' Keisha's Song and Rhymefest's Sister speaking about or to their sisters in different ways.

Kendericks song is a rather odd choice to invesitgate brother sister relationships. However as the song concludes "My little sister eleven, I looked her right in the face,The day that I wrote this song, set her down and pressed play". Which indicates that this one of the types of songs he hopes to make an impact on his sister , and that the point of the songs is something he wants his sister to get and walk away with to remember. Its pretty interesting and cool that we have here an older brother trying to teach his sister a life lesson. What is the lesson he wants to communicate though?

Keisha's song follows the life of a prostitute at the age of seventeen. Kenderick mentions having sex to give money for her pimp who she perceives as a father. Highlighting that the most important male figure in her life is one who uses her for his own financial gain. He follows up the second verse with mentioning the destruction of her temple and even using it to persuade other male authority figures(in this case police) to ignore how she is exploiting herself. The third verse concludes with her questioning is she can escape how she is bounded by sex , she thinks the idea is silly. Kendrick then reveals that the prostitutes' mother allowed her boy friend to molest her.

It is clear that the primary reason that Kendrick lets his sister listen to this is that he is afraid she could become like her. However the interesting thing to take into consideration is that throughout the song we saw an absence or perversion o of male figures throughout the prostitute's life. Having Kendrick clearly take an interest and hope she doesn't become like that shows that she already has a dependable male support group. Throughout we have failure of male figures in the woman's life. Which makes me wonder, why play this for your sister in this song. Why play it for the victim? It seems like the men are at more fault. Maybe he should have played it for his little brother.

Rhymefest's Sister is more of an appropriate song by which we could look at the relationship between sisters and brothers. Albeit it the term sister was used loosely for the first verse. The second verse is clearly more towards his sister. However like Kendrick's song we have an issue here talking about issues of sex but it takes it further and talks about issues of motherhood.

The first verse has Ryhmefest speaking to a woman he clearly had romantic interest in but she broke down to him and started talking about her issues. She mentioned issues about being pregnant and not knowing who the father is and her mom being a widow before she was born. Its rather interesting that both artists already seem to recognize the lack of a father figure being somewhat responsible for the pain in the woman life.

The second verse deals with Ryhmefest talking about his sister being addicted to drugs. He ended up bearing the responsibility and taking in her children. The child asks a tough question about his mother loving drugs over him. Ryhmefests' response? Beginning to cry. Its clear that he is heart broken about who his sister has become. I think this makes the song more interesting as I mentioned about Kendrick's Keisha's song it seems although unintentionally he ended up making a song which should be given to men as they are to blame for who the woman in their lives become. However here we have that even with a brother who is clearly involved in the sisters life that the woman can still become tough and head down hard life roads. Unlike where I felt that Kendrick almost did a blame the victim move Ryhmefest clearly just realizes that the issues about his relationship with his sister to be more complex.

It seems that these both songs concerning sisters,show that rappers care and are concerned for the sisters based on the types of mothers they may become as well as worrying that they become prostitutes, or pretty much abuse sex in anyway. It seems appropriate that while rappers look as women who aren't mothers as possible romantic partners that they themselves are worried about the type of romantic partners and mothers their sisters could become.
***

Shout outs:Ms.Arce

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe

What are albums and songs that inspire you to take responsibility?

2012-03-27T22:15:00.000-04:00

Music is not often a thing that exists individually away from our lives. Often we need music to satisfy emotional needs. Often one of the easiest things to go to music for is to inspire you to do the things in your life you need to. So I polled people on what they listen to when they need that push.

The song I go to most? These days it's Lupe Fiasco's Just Might Be Okay.

"Then he leaves the house that love built that
HUD renovated that section 8 pays for
Well lets pray for em
Let the beat play for em
Put his struggles on display for em
Cause he gotta go and face the drama
With a different face from the one that he use to face his momma"

This is a young mans mantra as he prepares to go out on his own

***

Shout outs: Everybody

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe

God Is A Woman in Hip-Hop

2012-03-21T18:08:00.000-04:00

Kreadid's awesome work. Check out more Here

Once in a while you hear someone claim that they believe God is a woman. Those times in hip-hop drastically decrease. Being a male dominated culture and having 5%er influence, we either hear about an all knowing male God or men themselves as God. Women are often used as a metaphor many other things in Hip-Hop. As well as Hip-Hop being perceived as derogatory to women its interesting to consider the few times that God is explicit regarded as a woman and what do they communicate about men's perspective of what a female god would be for
them.

The two songs I want to look at are "God Interlude" and "Conversations with God" by Andre 3000 and Charles Hamilton respectively.

Andre 3000 - God Interlude

Charles Hamilton - Conversations with God

If we look at Andre 3000's God Interlude is a conversation with God. He expected god to be a man , "damn your a girl". Under that pretense he seems to push forward himself as good possible partner. For the purposes of The Love Below its appropriate. What is interesting is that he excuses himself about getting head. Stating that this female omniscience being would understand. Depending on how you spin it , either this female god is playing the role of a close female friend or a motherly figure.

If she is just a close friend it seems appropriate. But if we take into consideration that god is often a person looking out for you and someone you depend on and knows you intimately and is appropriate to judge, its interesting that painting this female god, we have Andre sidestep any form of judgement. As if she recognizes men's issues with not wanting to cheat but caving .

He then begs God for a 'sweet bitch' and states that his standards aren't as high. In response we get Andre's response that god catered to his whims. Is that he necessarily believes that in general god caters to him or is it the premise that female god caters to him? A friend would cater to him most likely but a close female friend wouldn't necessarily do so . She would state it like it is, why does he believe that a female God wouldn't? What does that imply?

So in Andre's song we have a god being a woman such that she caters to his needs, and is presented in a duality of either being a woman or close female friend. Charles Hamilton instead blatantly saying 'Our Mother' and approaching his female god as a divine. And unlike Andre's which is a monologue , Charles instead has a dialogue.

Charles first question is how to address god. 'Miss, can I call you Miss?' And she responds to him implying that she is always there to listen " You don't need a phone to reach me". This works with the concept that a god is omniscient as is always there. So although Charles is extremely informal with his god, we receive an acknowledgement of divinity and some reverence. She says that she was watching him from a far and that the wind is her presence.

Whats interesting is that first verse establishes a relationship between he and god. This however sets up for verse two. In between we have this female god stating that she loves her more and and displaying that this god has Charles interest at heart. Thus allowing for whatever Charles Hamilton asks next there is expectation and belief that she will do so for him and understandingly so.

Charles asks if women get mad when he talks about the his past. Its interesting that after establishing a relationship between them the first thing he goes to discuss is relationships. It seems like that even though he established her divinity , he only cares to talk to her about relationships. Is it that even a female divine being can't be removed from love? He does all this while using god as a tool to validate his masculinity "your far from a boy to me".

It seems that there is an inherent relationship between being female and discussing sexuality and that a relationship with a divine being cannot even escape this. Charles song is interesting as the purpose and the point of his female god is uncertain. Although he has a second verse highlighting thoughts about relationships. The first and third verse solely existing to talk about relationship. Andre on te other hand uses his female god to talk about relationships as was the point of the The Love Below album.

What do you guys think of these songs and how they present a female god? Are there other songs I missed? Did I get it wrong?

***

Shout outs: kreadid, mom, God

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe

Organized System of Listening to Music?

2012-03-20T00:43:00.000-04:00

Try to keep it nice and organized

So question for music fans, how ordered are you when it comes to listening to music, do you have listening plan and organize your feelings on a song/album and rationalize why you like or dislike it?

These are some responses I got

People don't seem to have a planned system. I neither myself. I would love to have one but life is too hectic and I often choose songs for an emotional need. How about you? Do you have everything down to a science?

***

Shout outs: Star Chaser Central

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe

Hip-Hop As A Stimulus to Engage Students Who are Bored in School?

2012-02-12T21:30:00.005-05:00

Bought Long Live the Kane sat down and learned every word of it
Sneakin my walkman in the homeroom playin it - Phonte

Often the narrative we get in interesting Hip-Hop songs is that the often opted for their interest in music instead of focusing on school. We get these narratives and lines from underground artist and mainstream alike.

Obviously it's not that artists ignore studies but Hip-Hop is just more intriguing sometimes. Phonte obviously met Big Pooh and 9th Wonder at North Carolina University. 9th Wonder now participates at Duke University looking at the history of sampling etc. Hip-Hop has been used in many different tertiary organizations to be inspected and discussed. The University of Madison even has history with organizations like Urban Word in NYC to promote those who find their strength in spoken word, a brother of Hip-Hop and try to provide them with scholarships.

However the thing pointed out in the video is whether or not Hip-Hop can be used in high schools to build interest in issues of economics and politics etc and motivate disengaged students to re-engage with not just school but society as a whole. I think that it is plausible, I still hold College Dropout to a certain level personally because it opened my ideas to what music can talk about and is one of the first blocks that challenged me to think about the world in which I participate in today. I wonder if that can be used responsibly in classrooms today? What do you think? What would you use to stimulate thoughtful discussion?

Video was orignally saw here NewBlackMan: Harnessing Hip Hop To Teach Students: Gloria Ladson-Billings on CNN

***

Shout outs: New Blackman

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe

PiBR: Interview with Dumi Lewis

2011-12-25T23:18:00.000-05:00

Dumi Lewis and TheWolvesDen

I was thoroughly blessed to sit and talk with Professor Dumi Lewis from City College of New York. Incase you aren't familiar with him , he currently partakes in research on educational inequality and race oriented public policy. He has been featured in the Detroit Free Press Fox News,Keep Hope Alive Radio with Jesse Jackson and Newsweek.com he came in and talk about his thoughts on education as well as the class he is teaching in Spring 2012, Social Inequality in Hip-Hop. I am confident that I want to be like him as I grow older as he has very thoughtful insights into both.

***

Shout outs: Professor Lewis

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe

Interview: Milo

2011-12-12T20:14:00.000-05:00

The beginning of good things to come

Recently the internet has raised eyebrows and appreciating the quirkiness of Milo's solo debut Mixtape : I Wish My Brother Rob Was Here. After letting the project settle and drive many other bloggers crazy, Milo gave me benefit of hearing his thoughts behind this project.

TheWolvesDen : Your project has been released for a few months, what are your thoughts, in hindsight?

The man himself

Milo: In hindsight, I'm very lucky anyone liked it at all. I recorded the tape in my bedroom with some gear I got over summer and had no idea how to use. The quality is rubbish, but so many sites and folks supported it and took it serious regardless of that fact. I'm eternally indebted to those folks who looked passed that aspect of the aesthetic, and saw the little nuggets of weirdness passing as lyricism and latched onto those instead. I'm working on a new project, "Milo takes Baths." This one I've been putting infinitely more care and time into to create a more cohesive, structured, quality piece.

TWD: The title is clearly from Del Funk the Homosapien, could you talk about that album as it relates to yours?

Milo: Del the Funkee Homosapien has a massive influence on my development as a human being. When I was in 8th grade I wrote him a letter to the address on the back of the "Both Sides of the Brain" CD. He never responded, but yeah, I owe a lot of my unabashedness to Del. He was writing songs about guys who smell bad, and friends who won't ever get off your couch-- all of that had a serious impact on me. His album title is talking about George Clinton, mine is talking about my dear friend Rob Espinosa. When Rob drowned, I wrote a piece about how much he meant to me and named it that... then I began working on the tape and it seemed natural to also co-op the name for that, too. It was my way of paying homage to both dudes and their influence on me as a human being primarily, and secondarily as a rap-guy or whatever we're called.

TWD: Listening to your mixtape, I thought you were a much more milder Das Racist, what do you think of that type of comparison?

Milo: I love Das Racist. My first mixtape ever I emailed to Himanshu Suri, and much like Del he never wrote back. I emailed them this one, too. Heh. I wouldn't say we rhyme in a similar vein though. Those cats have an agenda, it seems, and while it is thoroughly guised-- it's there. I admire them for that, and I think what they are doing is relevant. What I am doing is less so. I'm struggling to find Good, and Truth and whatnot through boom baps because I'm a lonely brown weirdo. There's a quality of pseudo-philosophy to my jams, or maybe not pseudo-philosophy but music with a philosophical tint. That's why I made the song DAVID FOSTER WALLACE. He was a philosopher who wrote books. Gene Roddenberry is a philosopher who makes TV shows. I want to be a philosopher who writes songs.

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://miloraps.bandcamp.com/track/super-happy-sunshine-fun-club-ft-safari-al"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Super Happy Sunshine Fun Club ft. Safari Al by Milo&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

TWD: On Super Happy Sunshine Fun Club ft. Safari Al, you talk parody the hip-hop duos and highlight the homo-erotic undertones of these types of relationships in hip-hop, could you talk little about the concept of the song?

Milo: It hurts my feelings that hip hop is a genre so oriented to hurting other people's feelings. So I asked my very close friend, Alexander (Safari Al) to help me on a song where we basically make fun of that whole thing. Making fun of those make funners. Oh boy. By the way, Safari Al is dropping a tape around Christmas time called 'Hermitage Academy.' It's going to be tremendous and if you don't download it then I know you're the type of person who would snitch Frodo out at the Prancing Pony. You may stalk him here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Safari-Al-Journeyman-Hip-hopper/255000707855415

TWD: Would you agree with a statement that you have a humble braddocio, on one side of the album we hear vulnerability " I'm trying hard not to add to your suffering" and then we get a boast like “ that’s why these other rappers can’t fuck with me”?. How do you balance between the two on wax?

Milo: I'm not so sure it's a braggadocio. I am trying to be honest. With that comes a lot of self-scrutiny and analyzing but because of it I know myself a little bit better than most 19 year olds, my faults as well as triumphs. That materializes in songs a bit, especially when I'm a bit more moody and I see that some young man is touring living the dream and I'm condemned to a night of Cicero translations. You know?

TWD: With lines like “I dropped out to be a Kid Cudi imposter” you point out the peoples idolization of rappers, you are the awkward hero on your tape, would you like to elaborate on this view?

Milo: Why do we make heroes out of people who clearly have no right being our heroes? Not to say musicians or athletes are not good people, but it bums me out that the mail-person who brings you Christmas packages and Amazon orders never gets a high-5, or that the bus driver who has to be terrified of a group of adolescents who storm her bus is never applauded in public. There are really glorious, amazing people all around us and we take the easy route out when we give away our hopes and dreams to people who don't *really* care about us. I'm not so much the awkward hero as I am a dude who is sad that my baby sister idolizes Hannah Montana and not the waitress who brought us our delicious pancakes. Some of that is natural though. I don't know. I'm an asshole when it comes to thinking about things that probably don't matter.

TWD: I really want to give you accolades for the perfect description of forum life, could you talk a bit on how that affected your music? And which forums you still view?

Milo: Yes! I grew up an only child until I was 13 or 14. I lived with only my Pop and he worked a lot, so I had to sort of create friends. In the 1980s I certainly would have become a deranged axe murderer, but with the advent of the internet I became heavy on a litany of forums. That culture is one I miss so much today. Meeting other weirdos, uploading your room / outfit or whatever, flirting with all 5 of the cutie girls who are on the forum, planning meet-ups that never actually happen... all of that made loneliness seem more human and natural. It gave me a place to fit in, even when I had no place to fit in. So Nicholas J, my good pal who fills out the triumvirate of Wisconsin rap people that is Safari Al, Nicholas J and I, is also heavy on a few forums. I wrote the first 2 verses, showed him and he cooked up his absolutely mind-bogglingly perfect verse AND the chorus. He, too, has a tape coming out around Christmas time that is probably going to be the best release of 2011. Hover around his space online at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nicholas-J/189834594383991

TWD: How do you feel to have accolades by reviewers like Anthony Fantano?

Milo: Anthony Fantano is Radagast the Brown to me. Especially because I've been a fan of his for a very long time. To have a video review by the man, and an amazingly great one at that, is an honor. To get write ups on Forbes and interview requests is just bizarre. I'm basically unknown at my college campus, and I go to my classes and I talk to no one and I come back to my house with my roommates and every day a new, glorious blog has a nice thing to say about my mixtape and it feels surreal. It's humbling and terrifying at the same time. I feel obligated to try to make sure people recognize the role nerdier folks play in hip hop, and when I get message from cats all over the world telling me the role "I wish my brother Rob was here." plays for them in their day-to-day life I literally just cry. Like a big vagina, I sit at my desk and cry and think of what a blessing this is. Hopefully I don't ruin it.

TWD: Is there anything you would like to say to your fans?

Milo: Thank you very much for this interview. It's been beyond dope. Uhm, shout outs to Abel for taking the time to decode my weird raps on RapGenius, that's a genuinely good dude right there. Rodrigo, a young lad from Califas who heard the tunes and volunteered to draft up cool owl pictures for stickers, Thatcher for sending me heaps of beats, Ron from Baltimore for being a ganxta. These are all people I met online due to this tape who let me feel less odd and more normal. There are a lot more however who send me messages, and I try my hardest to respond to all of them. It's a blessing to have such an interactive base of folks. Thank you hell of.

Thanks a bunch Marcus! You're the bestets.

Follow him here:

www.miloraps.com
www.facebook.com/modestmilo
www.twitter.com/yomilo

***

Shout outs: Milo & Friends

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe

PiBR: SciFi Gaming and Anime Club @ CCNY

2011-11-26T16:22:00.001-05:00

SGA at PiBR

Had the great opportunity to sit down with the SGA for them to talk about NYAF this year, and whether or not it has learned from the slump encountered in 2010 from the merger with comic-con.

More Here

***

Shout outs: Gino, Leon

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe

PiBR: Interview with Esther Figueroa

2011-11-13T16:34:00.001-05:00

Recently I had the opportunity to watch a hard hitting documentary about the false image about tourism in Jamaica. I was even more blessed to have Esther Figueroa creator of Jamaica for Sale sit down with me. Here is what she said.

Esther Figueroa & TheWolvesDen

***

Shout outs: Esther Figuero, Herbert Seignoret

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe

Praverb The Wyse: Professional Hobbyist

2011-11-06T00:26:00.003-04:00

Check out his amazing site

Finally had time to sit down with the project The Hobbyist. I couldn't have listened to this at a better time , hitting me as I look into grad school where Praverb talks about being at that point in life where you juggle responsibilities looking towards the future while trying to develop even further. If that even remotely sounds like your life, listen to this project. Here is what he has to say about the project:

Professional Hobbyist is a ten track journey that examines a man who is a blue collar man by day and an emcee by night. The project highlights the struggles associated with vocation, educational goals, personal life and a time consuming hobby. I make it perfectly clear that I would rather make a living as an emcee as opposed to completing a Masters in Business Administration. The album features production from This Is Tomorrow, Manu Beats, LX-Beats, Skipless, Muneshine and more. BrainStormers crew mate, Dj Grazzhoppa, adds scratch hooks on three of the ten tracks including the title track. The project also boasts a feature from long time collaborator Don Streat.

&lt;p&gt;&amp;lt;a href="http://praverbthewyse.bandcamp.com/album/professional-hobbyist"&amp;gt;Professional Hobbyist by Praverb the Wyse&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt; ***

Shout outs: Praverb Tha Wyse

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe

Interview: Promise

2011-11-05T17:18:00.000-04:00

Promise

Promise a Canadian emcee recently signed to Duck Down Records has been building a very good stream of music for the last few years. He recently released Awakening his second LP and continues to make a dent in Hip-Hop music with his catalog of work. Collaborating with artists from Royce Da 5'9, Elzhi and Shad K, he has been building a strong reputation among his peers that his fans are already aware of. Recently Promise had the time to answer a few of my questions about Awakening and other things.

TheWolvesDen: Awakening is nearly 6 months old, what are your thoughts on it in hindsight?

Purchase Here

Promise: An amazing piece of art, very happy with how it came together. But I can't wait to complete my next masterpiece, the gift and the curse of an artist. Awakening is still brand new to 96% of the world including people in Canada.

TWD: Clearly displaying the gospel, how do you think your relationship with God changed in the making of this album?

Promise:I purpose to get closer to God everyday of my life. And I've matured quite a bit over the last few years.

TWD: Everyone Knows seems like the spiritual successor to the song Could Have Been on the album More than Music , stories about those suffering elsewhere seems to hit your heart, would you like to talk about the content a bit more?

Promise: I just like to shed light on situations I believe we as a people/nation can help change.

TWD: A song like Clark Kent seems to embody you, care to explain why you prefer the authentic Clark Kent lifestyle instead of trying to be Superman like many other rappers?

Promise: I never really understood the bravado factor of Hip-Hop much. Its a waste of time. If I can write better songs, be a bigger change in the world, I don't gotta say how much better than a lot of these guys I am...you'll know it [laughs]. I always feel like if you have to tell us you're something, you're probably not.

TWD: For your projects it seems you found a sound that may not neccesarily popular, but sounds classic, do you ever want to switch your sound? When it comes to your music do you ever want to switch the style so more people hear more of the gospel?

Promise: Never. I could care less what's "hot" right now. [laughs] Phonte said it best "good music will always be in fashion" (no pun intended).

TWD: Back in 08 you worked with Shad K for Shy Guys, can fans expect another great collaboration between you two? How is it to see how much ground he has covered since that collaboration?

Promise: I have about 7 songs with Shad, waiting on his greenlight! He's a beast, I'm always inspired by him.

TWD: I remember discovering your music with Kanye West presents Promise mixtapes, can we expect more in that series? Or even an a proper collab...?

Classic Mixtape Series

Promise: You can definitely expect more good music from me, I try to stay fresh as possible so ressurecting an old thing might not happen. A collaboration from me and 'Ye in 2012? You gotta ask him about that.

TWD: What is your goal with music now?

Promise: To change lives.

TWD: What is next for you?

Promise: Constructing a masterpiece to be unveilled in the coming year if its finished , plus a bunch of side projects, its gonna be real fun.

TWD: Is there anything you would like to share anything with your fans?

Promise: follow me on twitter @ipromisemusic and never compromise for what's "hot" classic will always be in fashion.

***

Shout outs: Promise

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe

Interview: Uncanny

2011-08-24T15:18:00.001-04:00

Interview with producer Uncanny maker of class projects such as the Wonderful Tunes series.

TheWolvesDen: You released Samurai Soul Volume Two in July, how do you look back at that piece?

Uncanny: Looking back I felt it was a solid and successful project. Samurai Soul Volume Two continued the theme and tone I established with the first volume.

TWD:In Samurai Soul Volume Two, what was your goal?

U: The goal was to release an instrumental album which creates an enjoyable listening experience. This is what I hope to achieve with all my projects, present, past, and future.

TWD:Which songs were particularly difficult in crafting?

U: I wouldn't say any particular song was very difficult. My music creation process is pretty easy going.

TWD:What aspects of Samurai, and Japanese imagery did you try to incorporate into this project?

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://uncannymusic.bandcamp.com/track/regenerate"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Regenerate by Uncanny&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

U: I've always been fascinated with Japanese culture. I've researched the Bushido code that samurai follow and try to incorporate that same honor and discipline to music creation as well as my daily life.

TWD:You seem heavily influenced in art, are all the album covers your designs?

U: Yeah, I'm a huge art fan. I scour the internet in search of great and inspiring art pieces. I major in graphic design and I do in fact design my album covers. Hopefully people don't think they suck[laughs].

TWD:You seem to enjoy releasing albums in pairs; ie. The Wonderful Tunes Series and the Walk on The Moon Series, is there a reason for that? And do you consider the ideal listening experience to listen to them in sequence, or does each project stand on its own to you?

U:I personally did not want to release instrumental albums of random beats so I developed some themes that would allow me to put together projects that would meet my expectations. I don't necessary think releasing albums the way I do actually makes for a better listening experience but I prefer to be a bit more organized. I think collectively each series is a great listen but I also believe that each album can definitely be enjoyed solo as a standalone work of art.

TWD:How would you describe your own music?

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://uncannymusic.bandcamp.com/track/one-day"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;One Day by Uncanny&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

U: I would call my music honest. I've always made the type of beats I personally like to listen to. I don't cater to a particular audience or try to copy what is most popular at the moment to be more successful. I would describe my music as soulful, not just because I tend to sample soul records but because I like to think the sounds appeal to the listener's soul. Different beats have different moods and vibes. I hope when someone listens to my work that it makes them feel something and that they receive a message.

TWD:You seem to have build a fan-base through Flow Worthy and other beat tape sites, how does it feel to have that type of reverence through the niche market sites?

U: It's great, I appreciate all exposure I can get. I'm gracious to everyone that has taken time out of their lives to give my music a chance, whether they download the whole catalog or have merely listened to on beat by accident. I make the type of beats I like to hear as I've mentioned earlier but to be able to share that with others and have them enjoy work is a great feeling. I am very thankful for the blogs that have posted my work and I am honored to be on those websites.

TWD:Is there anything you want to share with your fan-base?

U: First and foremost, thank you for reaching out for this interview. Answering these great questions has been fun and definitely made me think a bit. [laughs]. I want thank everyone that listens for the support. Thank you to everyone that posts and shares my music, whether it's on blogs, twitter, facebook, myspace(anyone still use that?) or anywhere else. I want to tell everyone to stay tuned... I have Samurai Soul vol 3 dropping September, also You Should Love Me vol 2 and Soul Stories vol 2 dropping in 2012. I have a few emcee/producer albums coming out: ,Love Swish with Josh Swish(available now), Soul Music with Rapko, Reality Bites with Jae Forever and I Soul'd Out with Bang. I'm in a production duo entitled Soul Tree and we are working on a follow up to our first instrumental album "Branching Off' that should out in the winter.

***

Shout outs: Uncanny

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe

Meanwhile at 365

2011-08-16T14:24:00.003-04:00

Well damn, thats kinda a big deal

Click the picture to see what he had to say.

***

Shout outs: Charles,Arthur,Paul Cook

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe

My Partnership with 365 Albums A Year

2011-06-30T18:12:00.004-04:00

Solo album in September - Phonte

Couplets about punching Charles Hamilton in the face - Danny Swain

When I am not here, I am helping out my friend at 365 Albums A Year. Pictures are links to each interview. Check them out!

***

Shout outs: Charles and Artur

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe

Interview : Justus Clarke

2011-06-17T21:50:00.002-04:00

Interview with R&B artist Justus Clarke

TheWolvesDen: Having spent a lot of time with your project[Living It], I can say that you seem to be bringing influences not from the soul era, but the 90's R&B era. How accurate is this description? What sound were you trying to capture?

Justus Clarke: Very accurate, 90's R&B era is probably one of my favorite R&B periods. I was trying to capture this sound, a little of the 80's (Prince, Janet Jackson) and with the 90's (Teddy Riley, Mary J. Blige, e.t.c). Everything you hear on the album is everything that I was growing up with from the time i was born to the time i was around 13-15 years old.

TWD:This project clearly focus' on relationships, is this all inspired by the same girl? Is there a connection between this project on how you specifically view love?

JC: [laughs] Alright, not even going to lie, half the record is about one girl (LovelyLady, Livin' It, Runnin', some of BitterSweet & Brandywine). Few people know who she actually is, but I doubt she's even heard the record yet. Other songs were just what I thought of "love", telling stories and what not.

TWD:What was your intended goal with this project?

Livin It which was released March this year

JC:The album was really supposed to be released when I was around 13, but my voice was changing and I was sitting on loads of material, so I just waited, kept writing and then recorded when I was 14 and 15. Me being ambitious, I was just trying to prove wrong anybody who said that my music wouldn't catch on and gain a fanbase.

TWD:On this project on songs like Running there is a clear alteration on your voice. It's almost as if you wanted to present yourself as a one man band. Where it feels like we have different lead singers depending on the song. Was that the idea?

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://justusclarke.bandcamp.com/track/runnin"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Runnin' by Justus Clarke&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>

JC:Runnin' was supposed to be in another key. The background vocals were actually supposed to be pitched/altered, but i when I pitched up the music, it sounded better than the other pitch, so I kept it.

TWD:What was your favorite thing about this project? What do you wish you could have changed on it?

JC: Completing the mixing was probably my favorite. Actually siting there and listening to 2-3 years of work was "Bittersweet". Only thing I would've changed about it was the synth volume on Beat You To It [laughs], other than that, nothing.

TWD:It is unusual to see a full fledged singer and self producer. What are the challenges in balancing those two perspectives on a song? Where maybe your production is more interesting than your lyrics or vice versa?

JC:Wow, never thought about it like that before [laughs], I've been doing this for 10 years now (singing, producing, writing). It was never really an issue as long as it was something that I wanted to sing on. Lyrically, I either let the production tell me what's going on, or I'll just write whatever I'm feeling. At the end of the day, I have to like everything about it, so I guess that's the balance.

TWD:As a one man band, how do you go about producing?

JC:I always have music in my head, so I will just record what's in my head. Garage Band is the only program I use for now, I might switch up programs, but I don't really see the need to right now.

TWD:If you had a 30 second pitch for your album? What would you say?

JC:I would probably tell them, "If you're looking for some fresh R&B nostalgia, there's no reason Livin It shouldn't appeal to you."

Download Here : Livin It

***

Shout outs: Justus Clarke

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe

Interview : CJ The Genesis

2011-05-28T13:45:00.003-04:00

Interview with non other than CJ The Genesis.

TheWolvesDen:It’s been almost a year since the release of Feng Shui; how do you look back at that project?

CJ the Genesis: I have been working on Impulse since last January. However with the hard drive situation, I had to restart. Feng Shui was a lot of stuff that I had for Impulse originally. A lot of stuff was going to be on Impulse, like Over Love, two verses were gonna be on Impulse. However the hard drive stuff happened and I just wanted to get on Nujabes beats. Actually that whole project the Nujabes project was made on impulse. This made me want to choose the title Impulse more. At first it didn’t have a title I just wanted to work on music. I was ustream chilling and one of my friends was like “You should rap on a Nuajbes beat, I think it will sound sick”. I got Battle Cry, and I was like just freestyling to it on camera and I was like you are right, I should do that. I was going through I-tunes and was like ‘I should make a whole project on Nujabes beats that would be really tight’. I did that really quickly in two or three weeks since the lyrics were already done. It was really easy for me, plus it was stuff I was going through right then, it was really quick. Look at me just getting to the question. I look back on it, I think it was really cool that I got more listeners. With every tape I try to reach out for more listeners. A lot of people say I rap on more synthy beats, not enough of the smooth organic stuff, so when I did that project I think I reached out to a lot of them . I know one friend of mine was like “I didn’t even know you could rap on beats like that but you did a good job you know.” I think it was a success it made me grow as an artist and do stuff I don’t usually do. I liked that project.

TWD: You described Feng Shui to be originated around the Impulse era, what do you intend take from Feng Shui into Impulse?

CJ: Well like I was saying on KTT, Impulse is going to be more personal. A lot of my stuff is usually personal but mixed in with braggadocio songs. This is going to be really personal, but there will be some braggadocio songs on there. There will be little bits for the people who like punchlines to be like ‘yeah’. It’s a lot easier to write about the stuff as it’s going on. Usually I keep the feelings in my head a write about it then go back to it later. Feng Shui taught me that I should write it right then and there , even if the lyrics are bad even if I am rambling, or free verse I can go back and get the feeling from it. I took that into Impulse; take my time trying to find that feeling. Some songs are dark and some are happy like Exceed Your Expectations and I am trying to get that feeling. So when people hear it they get the feeling. They know what I am feeling when I making that song, they can understand what I am saying, which goes along with the beats. With Feng Shui I wanted to work on my rapping and convey feeling with Nujabes beats, whic already have feeling in them. So I wanted to make my beats so that they have certain feelings and bring out certain emotions . Looking online, studying , see how people react to certain words and certain statements. Making sure my lyrics can match up to that, so when people listen to Impulse they will be like ‘shit, that’s real’ you know. That’s how I integrated Feng Shui into Impulse.

TWD: On Exceed Your Expectations you worked with Khari Malik, very refreshing voice, what other type of collaborations can we expect on Impulse?

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://cjthegenesis.bandcamp.com/track/exceed-your-expectations-ft-khari-malik"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Exceed Your Expectations (ft. Khari Malik) by CJ The Genesis&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>

CJ: I have about 6 collabs. It’s not overloaded like a Rick Ross album. The intro will have a singer on it, its gonna be really tight. That’s all I can say about it. I wrote the stuff too, I just made them sing it. It will be really cool. I have more rappers on it, two songs such as Beginning to Forever. I have my friends Niccofeem$ta , The Rezon and Brandyn Jaye, those are the people I did Hopping Over Fences with. Everyone loved it. It did great in our area. I took that team and we came up with another track and we are recording it this Easter weekend since everyone will be home. You know I got M-Trey on there. You know when M-Trey and I do tracks it’s just a wrap.

TWD: You have a bit of a cult following from Arizona track you did with M-Trey

CJ: [laughs] I am drinking tea right now. This is awesome. You know the Arizona thing, me and M-Trey made drinking Arizona cool. Maybe, maybe not. Maybe I am just gassing myself but who cares its funny to me. No BS features. I kept it all in house, made music with who I knew personally. A lot of people were saying “you should save up some money and get a big name artist on it so they will listen to it.” I am like that’s true and cool but I don’t want to force a song just to get an artist on there, I wanna keep my friends on there. If something happens with this project, which I believe it will, then we can all succeed. I don’t wanna ride off someone else’s success. That has never been me. I don’t like asking for anything. My features are just in house friends who I know will do the damn thing.

TWD: What exactly is your goal with Impulse?

CJ: Good question. [laughs] I feel with school and all this stuff, I am not saying it’s gonna get me out of school or get me signed. I just want to get to the point where I am known, where I could be signed and I can do shows on the weekend. So people will be like wow and this is really good. Listen to my old stuff and say that this kid is really good. I just want respect from everybody. I feel like Impulse is everything I learned from over the years. I was talking about this with my friend yesterday about this. I was saying that in high school people always gave me shit for being in the house all the time working on music. Sometimes I regret I didn’t get to do want I wanted to do. I didn’t mess with girls and go out to parties, be social the teenage movie high school life. I sit now and think if I didn’t stay up all night and work, all those nights made me as good as I am now. All that hard work is about to pay off. I feel like I got good enough, I didn’t touch the drugs and stuff. I feel like everything leads up to now. I feel with school and stuff, I just can’t deal with that anymore. This is going to change it. I wouldn’t mind doing school so much if I could do my own thing. I don’t have time to both at the same time all the time, I gotta rush. I gotta skip class in the morning to work on beats. I don’t like doing that, especially with my parent’s money on the line. The goal of this is to put me on the level, where people know me, where people are willing to see more. So when I put out my next thing they will be waiting for more. To be like “can he top impulse”. I want people to see me as their best friend music, to feel better about themselves. I just want that respect, take me to the next level and push me further.

TWD: Ever since your BMF video we haven’t seen much of your visual presence. Can we expect to we see more videos of you.

CJ: Ahh, man it’s funny you ask that. I am not sure if you saw me on twitter yesterday. But I was really pissed off. There is gonna be more visual presence from me in the near future. It’s gonna be cool and awesome. So yesterday, me and Khari, we were about to do the video for Exceed for Expectations yesterday. That video is long over do. I wanna do the video for Who Knows, the idea is gonna need a lot of stuff, that won’t come until I get a lot of money. I am just gonna spoil the Exceed Your Expectations video. It was gonna be on the roof of this building of a parking lot, it had an awesome view of around the area. Really cool, we were up there taking shots, making sure everything was cool. I swear to you, we start and we are filming, Khari is signing and I am doing the verse. Mid verse, all of a sudden a freaking white pickup truck is driving up there and on the side is the police badge. It was security; they came and said ‘you guys can’t do this up here.’ They were telling us to get off. I have been taken off there by security 2 times before when I was scouting for that place. It’s not that I didn’t expect it but we didn’t expect it so soon, right as we were getting into it. It was only gonna be an hour or two. The sun was perfect, everything was perfect. It pissed me off, I wanted to fight the lady. I look back at the shots, it was perfect. If you look on twitter, you will see some screen shots of it. I look at it today and shake my head and become upset. As far as the third single, I am doing a video to that, just release that as a video and put a mp3 to the youtube video of that. So people can download that and be like “ wow what is this”. It is a short song. The next vid will be a teaser video, revealing a little more about what Impulse has to offer. The third single is braggadocios, the best punchline song I have ever written. In that teaser video, I will announce the date of Impulse. It will be out soon. As for Exceed your Expectation video we can’t shoot for another two weeks. Be on the look out for the videos. Watch for my video tantrums on twitter.

TWD: Ever since Yea I Am A Nerd. You haven’t said any more game references or beats. Is it that have you become les nerdy.

CJ: [laughs] It’s not that I am less nerdy. When Yea I Am A Nerd came out, my 4th project, I hated the whole “CJ is a video game rapper.” However I had 3 projects that sounded completely different than that. I am not saying that I don’t like sampling video games, I still do. Yea I Am A Nerd 2 is definitely possible. I know on Impulse there is not thing that stands out. There will be anime samples on there , if you catch those you will be like that “this is tight too”. Yea I am a Nerd 2 would be both videogames and anime. I thought about making a videogame production album. I made videogame beats. I just don’t want to be categorized as the video game rapper. I just want to be CJ. Rap on Preemo beats, Nujabes beats and video game beats I made myself. I just wanna be tight. I strayed so I can grow. I know people like the video game beats. I know I got a lot of fans from Yea I Am A Nerd but those fans enjoyed Feng Shui. I hope those fans are sticking with me. I been studying, Masado Nakamura, Koji Kondo and Nobou Uematsu. I have been listening to the Zelda OST, the Super Mario OST and all the Final Fantasy stuff in my free time when I am doing home work. Just listening to how they did it, I am trying to play the songs on my key board to understand the chord progression. To understand the theory of it all, just to see how they did this. I do this with a lot of songs whether it is Koji Kong or Pharell, I play the keys on my keyboard tryna understand how did they get that key to that key and how did you come up with this chord and that cord. And it came out so good. I want to figure out how to make music like that. I don’t like sampling all the time. I use to hate sampling. Now I do it because it is fun. I wanna be able to create on my own. Impulse is a good mixture of original beats and samples, but I wanna be able to do this all on my own. I just been studying the theory of all this stuff. If you really look into it, all the instruments, the panning, the voluming, the live sounds, how are you doing this? This is insane. It makes me want to progress even more. I listen to a bunch of stuff to see if I can make stuff like that. I tried to remake NERD and Pharrel songs, just for fun. Remake videogame music so I can see the theory behind it . Cause even when I was dong Yea I Am A Ned, the song One More Chance when I played the keys [sings] I had to learn it and see what he did, I loved learning the progression. It was awesome man. I am trying to create my own type of anthems. Everyone talks about what they have to say about Nintendo, Microsoft, Everyone knows the [sings Mario theme]. You all know that, regardless if you played it. The music is gonna remain whether you like the game or not. Whether or not you like Impulse, the music will stay in your head. Cause the music is pretty cool and catchy. I guess I am trying to progress.

TWD:The KTT fan site would like to know how do you feel about the death of the CJ shrug?

CJ:Oh my God. Don’t even get me started on that.[laughs] Shawn everyone on KTT, I’mma keep it clean. DIE okay. That’s messed up, you all did me wrong. I was there on KTT from the start. The CJ shrug made me wanna stay more. I was already at the point where I shouldn’t be on the site too much anymore. But when KTT came out with the CJ shrug I was like I have to stay now. They officially paid homage to me. Jesus man, I was really upset with that tweet saying that the CJ shrug is gone. The sonic shrug came up, and I like you guys serious? Really? Some were like bring the CJ shrug back. Others were like “I didn’t use the CJ shrug”. You don’t even know the meaning of the CJ shrug, why or when I do it. It’s funny when I do it in real life, when some don’t know about it and others are like “hahah he just did the CJ shrug”. It’s annoying but it is whatever. I still love KTT, Christian and all of them. They all know I love them. It’s all love.

TWD: Where can people learn more about CJ?

CJ: Follow me at twitter. That’s where the stuff outside the music comes out, I curse, do ignorant stuff and funny stuff. You see my twitpics, it’s just me living life. The goofy stuff we do on a regular basis. There is also tinyurl , which will take you to my like page. My myspace…. Naa. Bandcamp and tell them to like my fb page so I can look cool to all of my high school friends.

TWD: Last words for your fans?

CJ: I love chicken. [laughs] Impulse is tight. I appreciate the …, I wouldn’t say few, well I will cause it makes you seem more special, the few who have been there since day one. I can’t even explain on how good that makes me feel about myself. If you saw that rant on tumblr, I eff up on my luck with women and school. Music is the only thing that makes me feel alive, it makes me feel like I am not a failure. People actually like it. People will say that “this changed my life.” I am like really, are you serious? Little old me who can’t understand this accounting equation means, I dropped statistics here. I go through; you know all this other BS and feel so discouraged. But when I open up my computer, open that recording program and I play those beats and people really like it. It makes me feel better about myself. I really appreciate you guys. If I ever get famous, you are gonna get backstage passes we are all gonna meet. I wanna meet all you guys. We will take a picture. I want to make your day. I love you all so much, for real. Keep holding me down. Impulse will give you more of a reason to brag about me.

***

Shout outs: Mr.Jones

Peace, Love, Unity, God Bless and Keep Safe