Life and Times of Me

NAP series Heart Attack

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Mon, 07 May 2012 19:26:00 +0000

This is a part of the NAP series, but instead of critiquing albums, let’s do this in baby steps, shall we.

There are some songs that need to be discussed; not because they are good or bad songs, but merely because an artist or a song has been receiving so much heat. In this case, Trey Songz has been on a tear for the last couple of years. He has toured with Jay-Z, he’s even toured off the strength of a mixtape. He’s been taking the risk of doing mixtapes, and it has paid off for him. Think about all of the current mainstream male R&B artists, there may be only five of them. R&B isn’t rap, it takes more time to create a good product for the masses, and somehow Trey has been able to prove that the hard work does pay off. Probably even more amazing is the consistency and how quickly his product is made. Whether you yourself like it or not, obviously his label (Atlantic) loves it since the music keeps churning out.

Recently, Trey released a new single called “Heart Attack”, which is the first single from his upcoming summer album Chapter Five. Of course the summer is a big time for Hip Hop and R&B artists: the weather is hot which leads to beaches and very little clothes being worn. So I expect a lot of this album, especially since the last two albums have escalated Trey to the upper echelon of the current R&B scene.

Now as far as the song goes; if you can get past the first 10 seconds, you will be okay. It’s a throwback 8-bit sound. I played the Harlem Globetrotters NES video game a little too much (maybe I’m showing my age a bit), but some of the cheers began with that same type of sound. After the first 10 seconds, you see that this is a catchy little pop song about the pain of love. After so much material about sex, in the beginning (after the 10 seconds of 8-bit sound) he says "turn the lights on" which can be taken as saying "it's time to see the truth".

It’s not like the subject is original at all. In fact R&B singers in general talk or sing about three subjects: sex, how good love feels, and heartbreak. The first challenge with R&B singers who stay on these subjects is how to make it sound fresh. Trey does a decent job with this by staying away from the ad-libs that I’ve come to know him for. He’s a bit more mature and is able to take this topic seriously (we’ll see if the maturity part continues). There's something kind of cool with the phrasing of falling "in too deep and you can't think about giving it up" even though once you think about it, it's really sad this is a description of a dysfunctional relationship. The second challenge with singers who talk about heartbreak/loss of love/dysfunctional relationships is to not make it an angry and slowly paced song, or as I prefer to say a slow burn of a song.

At the same time, the song is not perfect, but it’s a nice teaser for what will be an interesting summer for Trey. Let’s see if he can exceed his last two efforts. Both albums, Ready and Passion, Pain & Pleasure were both certified gold, but were at times falling back on “booty calling clichés” (USA Today) and “steady mackin’ over slow airbrushed jams” (Rolling Stone). But as I said earlier, the summer is all about beaches and scantily clad people; those things only lead to steady mackin’ and booty calls. You know I'm right.

Take a NAP

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 17:14:00 +0000

So I've decided to critique albums.

And with this, I've come to the conclusion that no album is perfect, and neither is every review. But I will give my honest opinion of each album I write about. It may be an old album, it may be a new one, but I want to give you my point of view. The type of guy that woke up at 9:30am to make baked ziti just so he can eat some for dinner.

So I guess why you really were thinking about breakfast, I was making my dinner.

But I'm also eating the ziti for lunch too, so nevermind?

But I'm just a regular dude from the South that currently lives in New York...and most of the time, I crave to go back to the South.

So every once in a while, sit back and enjoy this stuff I'm presenting to you. Unofficially this will be a part of the No Album is Perfect series, also known as NAP. Inspired by people that want and need to take naps, frankly I've been trying to nap, but have been unable to. So this will be my nap, in a manner of speaking.

So the blog is Life and Times of Me, the album review is No Album is Perfect, also known as NAP. So check out the official first entry in the series about Lil Wayne's Tha Carter IV, an album far from perfect; and the second entry reviewing J. Cole's Cole World: The Sideline Story.

Back on the Sideline Mr. Cole: my issue with J. Cole's debut album

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:48:00 +0000

September 27 was a great day for North Carolina. Phonte (formerly of Little Brother and currently of Grammy nominated group The Foreign Exchange), Grammy award winning producer 9th Wonder (also formerly of Little Brother), and J. Cole all released albums on this day.

Even though Phonte and 9th have a strong following, they are still considered indie hip hop artists. J. Cole has been warming up ever since he signed onto Jay-Z's Roc Nation. Cole has been gaining exposure with his successful string of mixtapes and guest spots on albums (Jay's Blueprint 3 and Reflection Eternal's Revolutions Per Minute for example).

You would think that having Jay-Z as a mentor would pretty much set you up for ultimate success, but take a look back at the people Jay had on his team before. Kanye West is the only exception because he's tried to be his own man from the jump and had such a following as a producer. The others have either fallen off the planet (Memphis Bleek) or can't stay out of jail (Beanie Sigel).

Cole is a very good lyricist. His mixtapes have garnered a lot of attention. He has some of the same storytelling ability Jay-Z has. Cole makes okay songs good, really good, so there shouldn't be any problems with his album, right?

Wrong.

The album itself is good, but it could have been better. The problem is that the album sounds like his mixtapes, particularly more like Friday Night Lights, which isn't bad; but this tells me that Friday Night Lights should have been the debut album.

Think about it. Friday Night Lights did more than show promise. It showed us that he was ready, but he stayed on the shelf for a few months trying to build buzz when he was already at his peak. This album release was simply ill-timed.

There are songs on this album that we have heard for years in rap time. The song with Drake was on FNL, and there's a version without Drake floating around for years in literal time. There are old concepts that have been reincarnated again, see 'Dollar & A Dream III' and 'Lights Please'.

These are songs that are good, but it's basically old material and I would have expected some artistic growth from him. The album is basically another mixtape. I think the new mixtape era has ruined albums now. Mixtapes are sounding more like albums with original beats, and albums are sounding more like mixtapes with disjointed tracks that don't fit a concept.

What are the actual singles from this album? There's 'Can't Get Enough' and 'Mr Nice Watch'. I heard about all of these at about the same time, and that's just a bad move because then we hear these during the same hour the radio isn't playing commercials.

The fact that this album is a mainstream rap album and is backed by Roc Nation (for now, and that's depending on rumors about Cole being dropped) means that the album will at least go to the number one Billboard spot for at least one week. But an album that goes number one isn't the best album around, look at Tha Carter IV as a prime example.

J. Cole is ferocious on the mic and is another example of Southern MCs having more skill than some are willing to believe. But I think the way the album is crafted with its unoriginal thoughts makes it not a great album. It's good, because of Cole's skill level. If the rumor of J. Cole being dropped is true, I would like a label to pick him up and put a proper push behind him. A proper push and new material can work wonders.

You Suck at Life if you Like Tha Carter IV...sorry, but you do.

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:40:00 +0000

I'm not going to dismiss anyone's "fandom" if you will, but I'm going to tell you why I think Tha Carter IV is a garbage album.

Now while I think the album is garbage, I'm not going to totally bash Wayne based on the fact that he has done something rappers don't do: sell a million in one week on consecutive rap albums (note: Rebirth was a rock album, We Are Young Money was a group album, and I Am Not A Human Being was more like the EP before the album...and he was in prison at the time). Wayne has been hustling to get out as much material as possible, and his hard work has succeeded in a way that even better rappers/artists haven't. Wayne has gone as far as to make basically a brand that audiences will buy no matter how much the product sucks. The proof is in the fact that his last album efforts, whether it's a group or rock album, have surpassed the expectations of the industry.

Honestly Wayne has been grinding for years so he has shown us something that artists say, but don't really do to the extreme as Wayne has. That being the following statement probably said most eloquently by New Jersey rapper 8th W1 (Pronounced eighth one) "you gotta grind like your wack."

Wayne presents to us the fourth installment of Tha Carter series. As the record has shown in the past, this album would have been preceded by another Dedication mixtape. This did not happen for whatever the reason; maybe because he was locked up or what he said about mixtape DJs, I don't know and I won't dare take a guess.

Now before we get into Tha Carter IV and why your taste in rap music sucks if you love this album, let's think back on the albums that led to this album:

Tha Carter: Wayne was one of the sparks out of Cash Money, and after the failure of Lights Out and 500 Degreez (compared to the numbers he made out of Tha Block is Hot), Wayne started to take this whole rap game seriously. Production by Mannie Fresh was a big part of Weezy's album because Mannie could always make a great beat. Don't think that the producer doesn't make a difference, especially when it's Mannie; the house beat maker for Cash Money, the guy that knew Wayne's strengths and weaknesses.

Tha Carter II. Wayne's whole style begins to change. He starts to develop and use more of a vocabulary...now whether that was because of ghostwriters...well that remains to be seen. But lyrically we do see a change in Wayne. Around this time leading up to the next album, Weezy is featured on just about everybody's album in some way. You couldn't go anywhere without hearing a song featuring Wayne. All of this leads up to...

Tha Carter III. A million sales in a week. Tha Carter III was an explosion in some ways, but we also notice that Wayne is subject to follow trends instead of set them. He was in the position to do so, and Tha Carter III was going to sell no matter what, because he built that following from the mixtape world and by being on everybody's song. But take a close listen, doesn't he begin to sound as if he knows he doesn't have to try as hard?

Ah, not trying hard. The first step in some people's failure. But what is considered failure? Tha Carter IV isn't a commercial failure by any means. It did what it was supposed to do, sell. But is it an artistic failure? I am not the judge of that but I remember a time when the "Weezy F Baby and the F stands for" line wasn't as overused as it is now. I thought we heard more than enough but Wayne seems to disagree.

I remember when Wayne would at least rap about a subject for a whole verse. This happens to be very disjointed rap, and not in a conceptual way. It's also sad when the best song on the album doesn't even have Wayne on it. ('Interlude')

How are you going to let people kill you like that? You are not even on the song? It's your album, every song is supposed to be yours!

Rick Ross gets people hype just by saying "uh" to the 'John' beat and that's the highlight of the song in the first 12 seconds, something is wrong here.

Words of advice: Wayne...stop singing. You are one of the few people that sound worse than present day Whitney Houston...and I heard her live. Crack is wack Whitney, remember that. (check the mumblings from 'Abortion' and 'How To Love')

This may be something that only I caught, but it's been annoying me for years. I'm tired of hearing the lighter before the songs.

But there's a lot of terrible lines in this album. "tote my tools like mechanics, mechanisms" (President Carter); and "when it Waynes it pours" (How to Hate) happen to be two of the worst lines I've ever heard.

Wayne takes time to diss Jay-Z by threatening to kidnap and old Beyonce for ransom (It's Good). Little does he know that there are legions of women and gay men that would prevent this from happening. Dissing Jay is stupid because he might address it, he might not because he's bigger than that.

The Outro is the second best song, because Wayne isn't on it. With that said, somebody give Shyne a lozenge, some tea, or something for his throat. Sounds like needs to sound like the biggest (in physical size) rapper in the game. First it was Biggie, now it's Rick Ross.

There are 3 bonus tracks, but after listening to 15 garbage tracks, I couldn't stand the thought of listening to any more. My brain just couldn't take it.

Anyway the two best songs on the album don't feature Wayne at all. Doesn't that say enough for you? The production quality is...okay. Wayne ruins every good thing in this album, but at the same time, it sold a million copies in a week. What does that say about everyone that bought a copy (the album did leak before it's release too)? I've deleted the leaked copy from my hard drive. I don't want this, and you shouldn't either.

If you like or even love this album, let me know so I can make fun of you.

For more reasons, click here!

My affinity for the South

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:38:00 +0000

So, I'm going to give it to you. My thoughts on music...at least the music I've been listening to.

Lately I've been listening to a lot of rap. I mean with the release of the extravagant, gold plated, too expensive for me to even understand half the references album that is Watch The Throne by Kanye West and Jay-Z (or is it Jay-Z and Kanye West?) and the expectations of other Hip Hop albums, I can't help but to listen to the stuff.

But specifically, I've been listening to a lot of Southern Hip Hop. I love it. There's nothing else like it. It's like what Phonte Coleman (formerly of Little Brother and now The Foreign Exchange) said a few years ago:

A lot of people blame the South for dumbing down music. The South has some of the most open-minded, and some of the most versatile emcees because in the South we grew up listening to everything...The South has some of the most intelligent, thoughtful, and well respected n***as in Hip Hop and the music reflects that.

The thing is, the more and more I listen to the South, the more I agree with that statement. It is true that I say this as a Southerner that lives in New York, the birthplace of it all. A lot of the stuff I hear that is New York Hip Hop, I don't feel it the way I feel the South. I'm not talking about skill and lyrical prowess because God knows that I can't rap. But I'm referring more to content and subject matter. It's been a while since I heard a New York album that seemed relevant to the people, and not just a certain niche of people (because there are more poor people than the disgustingly rich and wealthy).

To me, Hip Hop is about what seemingly poor, disenfranchised people did with what they had. Making a dollar out of a dime and a nickel, turning water into wine (blasphemous perhaps?), creating a culture out of turntables, a microphone, spray paint, and mere thoughts is what Hip Hop is about to me. It is the quintessential American dream, the story of the come up.

We've seen this story over and over again in our fellow rappers. I understand that Jay-Z has been the one that we identify and place on a pedestal. He grew up in Marcy and is now worth half a billion dollars. We never thought that rap could do that. Probably the most amazing part of all of that is that he is the farthest thing from what we currently are, but yet identify and try to relate with him because of what his life was 20+ years ago. He has proven his power to stay in our minds for such a long time, but think about it, most of his potent rhymes talk about his opulence. He's literally living what broke rappers rhyme and dream about.

Dream about. That's why we identify so much with him. He is what we aspire to be in some way shape or form.

But what about what we are right now? The people that are still on the come up, not the ones that already came up over ten years ago. That is where the South comes in. You have a lot of guys down there that talk about what is now. It's more than money talk, it's about not being another naive individual glorifying greed and encouraging racism. It's about standing up for a cause. It's about being a G. Southern emcees come from a long line of Gs. By G we don't necessarily mean a gangster, I mean a guy that stands for a cause and will defend that cause.

Gs might talk about money, but they really shine when they talk about what's really on their heart and mind. We still have some Gs in the South, and they are rap descendants of UGK Scarface and others. Guys who may have never gone mainstream, but always got love from the mainstream because they never bowed down for a label to restrict what they had to say in order to make money.

Lately, I've been listening to Killer Mike's Pl3dge and what I love about this album is that it's so real. It speaks to people. He speaks about real subjects and asks questions that people were afraid to ask. Questions like "Why didn't we hear anything from Oprah, Bill Cosby, and President Obama when Oscar Grant was murdered?" and "Why did Eddie Long plea out in his case?"

Killer Mike does challenge us and motivate us to be better people in his own way. I was angry after hearing some songs, but it was that good anger that makes us want to go out and do something about it.

That is what Gs do. They make us angry enough to do something about what's wrong with the world.

Killer Mike isn't the only rapper that motivates. Any of y'all ever heard of Big K.R.I.T.? This guy pretty much has a whole state on his back right now, still trying to come up. His lyrical content is bananas from what I've heard so far. K.R.I.T.'s music thus far has stirred my soul. It has been refreshing.

I like K.R.I.T.'s flare and homage for the old school (8ball and MJG, UGK, others) and the fact that his lyrics are relevant to the people. Not only are they relevant, but they are good. The problem with making things that are relevant is that some people try way too hard and end up producing a product that is relevant, but not any good or simply below par.

We have a lot of people all over the place making good music, but I'm simply saying that I have an affinity for the South right now. I grew up listening to everything, I was the guy in Jasper, Alabama that listened to a lot of New York Hip Hop as well as West Coast, Midwest, and of course the South. Before the South blew up, it was a melting pot, or a pot of gumbo that needed to simmer for a while.

A lot of stuff that has been heard in the past, the mainstream stuff was only a small sample of what the South has to offer and some New York emcees came down and embraced it. Kweli did a song with Gucci...but we don't speak too much about that. Jay-Z not only brought UGK onto Big Pimpin, but he also used one of Bun B's lines in 99 Problems.

I like New York Hip Hop, a lot, but I just don't relate to the "King of New York" Jay-Z, or "Mayor" Diddy. I just don't have that much money to relate to them. Maybe one day I will, but not now. I still identify with the King of the South, the Underground King, and King Kong and all of those other guys down in the South (if you've ever listened to Re-Akshon, you know what I'm talking about).

The culture of the South is beautiful. Sometimes there's nothing more relaxing that driving your car listening to music, whether you drive slow or fast, there's nothing like it. The music of the South is geared for that. I am not a big fan of wearing earbuds all the time or in the subway, sometimes you just got to blast it while riding. If you don't identify with that, you should think about coming to the South. I know some guys that will change your mind and you will love it.

by the way, this is only part 1.

The Lame Sports World

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 21:30:00 +0000

For the past week or so, sports fans have been inundated with events such as the Women's World Cup, The British Open, and MLB's All-Star Game. I have news for a lot of people.

We don't really care.

There are two lockouts going on at this moment.

"But baseball is America's pasttime..."

Don't give me that ish. Baseball is past its time.

"But the World Cup is once every four years..."

And you'll hate soccer next week after we're done analyzing every moment of it.

Even with all of that, this is the slowest time of the year in sports. I remember the day after the All-Star Game, there was nothing to talk about...not a thing.

Well, there was one (out of a grand total of two) thing to talk about, and we've been talking about it for over 120 days. The NFL lockout. You can hate if you want, but it seems pretty obvious to me that football is America's number one sport. We have turned 20 weeks of actual playing into a year long media event. We talk about it all the time. The draft was a big deal. As the lockout comes to a close (hopefully this week), we will talk about free agency and begin to don our jerseys again and Hank Williams Jr will begin to prepare his voice to yell out those words we can't wait to hear:

"Are you ready for some football?"

Yes Hank, we are ready for some football.

Football is exciting, it's action-packed and dangerous. Things that we as Americans love. So we need this lockout to end soon. There's been a lot of evil that we call crime (oh Ray Lewis) that's been going on since the lockout started...all by NFL players, so we need them to come on back to the field. And that's just the players, what will happen if we don't have a season.

"There's nothing else to do Sal" Classic words from Ray Lewis.

But anyway, we are in a boring sports state right now. ESPN is gearing up to show poker, and that is my tipping point. I can't watch poker...I don't even play poker. There is nothing exciting, there is nothing YouTube worthy in poker. There just isn't.

Speaking of YouTube worthy things, the other thing (number two of two) that we can be talking about is the NBA lockout. We're about 20 days into that, and there's absolutely no sign of that ending soon. We may miss part of the season, if not the whole season. I honestly think that we won't see much improvement on this lockout situation because the two sides are so far apart. It's come to the point now that some players will play in other countries until the lockout ends.

And with that said, the commish, David Stern will have his dream of globalizing the game of basketball bite him in the arse. I don't really know what else to say about this lockout situation because I have absolutely no faith in this being worked out anytime soon. It's all about money and there isn't a surplus of it, like the NFL has. The NBA just laid off over a hundred workers and the owners want a system placed in order to save them from themselves, but they've already set such a precedent that it would be hard to reverse their steps.

In other words, how are you going to overpay over-hyped players one year, then expect everyone else to be okay with not being paid as much?

Anyway, I'm done with this.

Stay tuned though.

The Man that Ruined Everything

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:34:00 +0000

It's been a long, long time. I'll talk a bit about what's going on in a later post. But I've decided to do something special. I received a link to an old video from a friend of mine and I won't say any more...yet. First watch the video.

Now let's get into it, shall we.
Dang, 1988 was a good year for Al B. Sure!. Wait a minute why does his name end with an exclamation mark? That just isn't cool. But anyway, Al B Sure! was the last of the cool light-skinned brothers. He is the reason why people of my complexion have fought many years to get back in style. Legit, light-skinned brothers everywhere had to deal with this guy messing up the game for all of us. Sure, every now and then a light-skinned guy will drift through the cracks, Shemar Moore, but Al B Sure! (damn exclamation) is the reason why brothers of my hue are still trying to be cool.

After seeing the video of "Nite and Day" the only hit of his that I remember, bear in mind that I was six when this came out, I am reminded of the reasons why he didn't have much success after his album In Effect Mode

First of all, and this will be the only time that I mention this because some people are quite sensitive to subjects like hair. You see the unibrow? That's all I'll say about that.

I am currently viewing the video again, but on mute at this very moment and there are some interesting things that I have found while doing so.

Homie likes to raise both his hands in the air. It ain't even like he's waving them like he just don't care either. It's a sharp move, but it's a move that I don't understand. It simply doesn't look cool. You know what, I'm going to be totally honest about this. If I weren't a better man, I would ask "Why this n***a's hands in the air? I think he's praising god or something. I still don't understand. Was that something the video director requested, or did Al come up with that one on his own? I want to know."

I feel that we all need to know.

Another thing: You see those faces he's making? I was once told as a child in church, that you're not really singing until you make an ugly face. If that is true, Albert (his mama named him Albert, I'ma call him Albert) is singing his mind, heart, and soul out. You can tell by that falsetto. But those are just some of the ugliest faces I have ever seen. Ugly faces coming from a man who was supposedly a heart throb.

It's not hard for a guy to go home with a pretty young thing at his side. In Albert's case, he simply had use that blistering falsetto and say the words "Ah, can you feel it, baby". But at the same time, ladies, if you did go home with him, imagine those ugly sex faces since his singing face is ugly. I'm just saying.

I'm pretty much done with the video, I could go on and on about his clothes and that borderline nappy fade he rocking, but I'll just let those be. This was the beginning of the end for the light-skinned brother, I'm pretty sure of it. Since then, we have been climbing our way back into at least a wanted position. We don't necessarily want a position of prominence, if it comes that's cool, but we at least would like to be wanted.

Because of this simping (combination of the words sissy and pimping) song, no light skinned brother had a chance. Light-skinned brothers before him have failed to make a reasonable comeback even. Think about it. I saw DeBarge last year at the BET Awards, and for that one night light-skinned brothers were celebrating. but where is he now? Name another light-skinned brother that has fallen into obscurity. They are not making a comeback. Al B Sure! released an album a couple of years ago. I remember it well. He performed at Joes' Pub at The Public Theater. The album was released and all of a sudden, what was to be a great comeback became just another futile attempt of a light-skinned simp trying to get back in good graces with his fans and his family. His son even went on the radio and dissed his own father that very week. He never had a chance, and to be honest with you I wouldn't give him a chance. Because he would just mess it up for people of my complexion...again.

Al B Sure! the man that ruined the game for us all.

The Alphabet Project aka Alphabet Soup

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 17:42:00 +0000

Two weeks ago I decided to do something a little crazy, something that is challenging.

As some of you may know, I have a varied taste in music. I'm a bit of a hip hop head, and yet I listen to many, many different genres. I thank my family for giving me a varied taste in music. I have an appreciation for classics and the one hit wonders.

Which leads me to this: I decided to listen to every complete album on my iPod...in alphabetical order.

Crazy? Maybe. Challenging? Definitely.

What I failed to understand is the fact that I own a lot of music; but I wanted to do this for a particular reason, and that reason is that I want to be one of those people that can honestly say that I've been through everything that I own. You know there are some people that have a lot of books, but haven't read through them all. That's a bit of a waste in my opinion.

I also want to know what good music I actually have. I think that may be the most important reason. I've thought about possibly deleting some of the crap I have (once I find it), but I still haven't made a decision on that.

So two weeks ago I started this project. The only rule is that I listen to these albums in alphabetical order, whether it's on the subway, or at home or wherever (a project like this can't have too many restrictions...only one). It began with an album called "A.W.O.L" by AZ. It turns out that the last album filed under A is also by AZ entitled "Aziatic". I just completed the A's today and have moved on to B.

If I were to judge myself based on the complete albums under the A category, I would hate myself simply because there's not a lot of diversity among artists. Under A, here are not only two albums by AZ, but there are two by Outkast and k-os. There are also three albums by De La Soul.

Here's a collage of some of the artists and albums.

I think this project will be fun and will probably last a long time based on the fact that it took two weeks to get through A. Think about it, even in Wheel of Fortune the letter A isn't among the list of given letters in the bonus round (it's R-S-T-L-N-E). So honestly I have a lot of work in store. I do believe this will take many months to get through, if not years.

Wish me luck.

Mesmerized At My Eyes

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 20:16:00 +0000

If you notice on the blog page, is a picture of my eyes. I think it's a little creepy, but there is a method to my madness. There are too many people that claim to be men that wear shades all the time. I've decided to just be a man, since people tell me that I'm all grown up and stuff. I think the important thing about being a man is allowing someone to actually look in your eyes.

I'm just trying to let you know that I'm not playing games. I'm serious about myself and what I do. I may crack jokes, but I am not a joke and what I do is not a joke. So look into a real man's eyes once in a while. I'm not down for the shucking and jiving. I'm not tap dancing for anybody. You won't see me indoors with a pair of shades. I'm not playing.

Now that I got that out of the way, let's try to have some fun. I might drop another entry today...who knows?

Gone Too Long

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 18:54:00 +0000

Alright, it's been way too long and I pretty much forgot that I even had a blog. But I'm back and if you wish to punish me in some way, well, you may as well try. But I'm strong, so I can take it.

I guess you can say that I'm back on my creative vibe. I needed some time to recharge. I was tired and worn out, physically and mentally. There are some things that I really want to do this year, and I plan on doing it; but it's difficult to do when you are too exhausted to do so.

So I guess you can consider this a reminder, or a warning (depending on how you view me) that I'm back.

Mr Holland's Yeezy's Opus

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 20:54:00 +0000

I've been listening to Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy for well over a month it seems, and I've been wanting to review this album in a way that's a little different compared to all of the other people and publications that have done so. I believe that Christmas happens to be the day in which the thoughts and the words have finally come together.

My initial issue with Kanye throughout the past year and some months is that his personal life has overshadowed his own music. To put it bluntly, he got the big head, then praised the Hennessey. When I say big head, I don't mean simply cocky and arrogant, because he was that on his first album. Mr. West reached a level of arrogance that's never been reached by 99 percent of us. As a rapper/producer, we really expect you to make music, that's it. Anything else is too much and though we may appreciate/like a little of it, eventually it becomes tiring and Taylor Swift ends up hosting SNL shortly after with decent material. At this point, the music doesn't even matter because you've turned into a clown in many ways. The best thing that happened to Kanye was him "disappearing" for a while. It was good for him and it was good for the music.

As far as music goes, I have high expectations from Kanye. I expect a great product. I've expected it from him since College Dropout. He's always been a great hip hop producer, and his lyrical ability has gotten better with ever album. I was disappointed by his 808s & Heartbreak album, but that was for different reasons. I thought autotune was overused and cowardly in many ways. But that's my opinion. Dare I say, it was still a good album, I just expected more.

There are specific things that help Kanye when it's time to make an album. He has a great attention to detail and he's blunt. Those two things are characteristics that I hope he never loses.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is Kanye's best effort to date. Rolling Stone calls it the album of the year. Kanye is a perfectionist that tries to out-do himself. In his mind, he's his own competition. Musically, the album is beautiful. It breaks the rules on what a hip hop album can be. Once you think "Runaway" is over, it just keeps going. I believe that the last 3 minutes is just Yeezy attempting to exorcise his demons. There are many examples of this in which he chooses to do this only musically ("All Of The Lights Interlude", "Blame Game"). Kanye is a constant rule breaker, and in that sense he is an artist. He has the gall to push the envelope to a point that we think we won't like it, but we wind up loving it.

Kanye's lyrical ability has definitely progressed. It's still not the best, but every now and then he'll use his wit and humor to come up with a line that will leave the stank look on your face. (Dare I say) his childlike creativity, mixed with his honesty is a combination that will keep him relevant as an emcee. Lyrically, he's been able to express a sense of humility and explain why he is the way he is. What we have here in this album is a man who has broken himself down and has built himself back up. This album is almost the polar opposite of the last. 808s dealt with loss and musically was minimal compared to confidence and boom of Fantasy.

There are a couple of things that I do not like about the album. "Monster" is an explosive ensemble track but Kanye doesn't really stand out on the song. The cardinal rule on collaborations is that if it's going to be solely on your album, you have to stand out (remember I said he is a rule breaker). Don't let any one out-do you. Kanye got out-did by Nicki Minaj...and not barely, she pretty much made that song (I think she really is a monster). In "So Appalled" we hear RZA for like 30 seconds and it's not worthwhile or beneficial to the song...it's just a little bit of extra frosting to a cake that has enough without it.

All in all, this is a great album that should be considered a front runner for Rap Album of the Year for the 2012 Grammys. Possibly an Album of the Year nomination as well.

This album has forced me to ask myself a question: Can he get much higher? Any higher would be scary, because then we'll be talking about transcending music and his ego may think he already has, but in seriousness, his ego might not be prepared for that.

I Just Want This to be Special

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 01:27:00 +0000

"...and pure power don't power trip" --Mos Def

from "Just Begun" by Reflection Eternal feat. Jay Electronica, J. Cole, Mos Def from the Revolutions Per Minute album

So I've been running a little bit...doing my training thing and all, and I feel pretty good right now. I'm not sore today...granted I should be running right now but it's dark outside. This is only my first week running and I'm only running about 3 miles right now. Three miles at this point is starting to feel good. By the weekend, I'll go up to 4-5. Let's keep in mind that this half marathon isn't until April, so I have plenty of time, right?

I've been thinking a lot about this challenge in my life, and I want to do it right. I want something to keep me honest throughout this, so I've been thinking about running for a particular charity; you know, something that is near and dear to my heart. I do also realize that I don't know what the future brings...maybe I'll get another job that puts me away from New York during the weekend of the marathon...but my training will continue and if I can make it to the city, I will run.

I will run to the very best of my ability.

But anyway, today (Dec 1, 2010) was an interesting day to say the least. Where shall I begin? The fire alarm went off before our first show started. Luckily it was a fire drill...but my question is this: Who holds a fire drill when there are visitors at your school? I don't mean just the six of us, but the hundreds of kids that took a bus to see a show. Because of that (and the fact that we were waiting for another bus of kids) we started like 50 minutes late. I was approached to juggle for the kids that were waiting so patiently, and I almost did it. Good thing I didn't do it, because by the time I would have started, the fire alarm would have gone off.

Everyday is a new opportunity for me to correct all of the mistakes I made the day before. I believe in making the effort to do the "perfect show". I know there's probably no such thing as a perfect show, but I want things to run smoothly without any hiccups. I know that things happen, cues are sometimes dropped or whatever, but just making the effort means a lot to me. A lot of what has happened so far has been a giant hiccup. I do believe that most of us are trying really, really hard to prevent it and there is only so much that we can do. Everybody is accountable for their own actions...which means more importantly that everyone is responsible for their own stupidity.

My very first theater job in New York was as a deck hand for an Off-Broadway show on 42nd Street. I remember the first preview, the PSM told everyone on headset that "it's okay to make a mistake...as long as you learn from it." I apply that to my life and this tour especially, I think I may have even said it. But it seems like one particular person doesn't ever seem to learn from their mistakes...

...or he/she (see how I'm protecting this person) just chooses not to learn anything.

That's what I'm so frustrated about. I don't expect the same mistake to happen multiple times...that's just stupid. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result.

I think I'm just going to take this person to the side and get him/her to work on correcting his/her mistakes. I'm at the point where if I don't, I may snap and the last thing we need is me snapping....or anyone else for that matter, because we all have tried so hard to make everything work in a fluid, seamless way. We've been able to do the impossible and difficult, but it's about time for this to not be impossible. No more break downs, or anything.

*now listening to "Stakes is High" by De La Soul from the Stakes Is High album*

Run For It, Run For It, Run!

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 02:11:00 +0000

*somber note, just found out Leslie Neilsen died. Young people, do yourselves a favor and watch Airplane*

Thanksgiving has came and gone by now. I ate a lot with my family for the first time in a while. I think it was my first Thanksgiving with them in about 2 years. Being with my family made me realize even more that change happens. Here are some of the changes that happened while I was away from home (about 11 months):

the driveway has been paved

new furniture

new carpet

new stove

my parents eat turkey bacon/sausage (once ate the whole pig if available)

With that said, I believe that it's time for me to go through a change. With that said, I've decided to take my talents to South Beach...no, but seriously I've been inspired.

Inspired to do what?

Well, two cast-mates ran a half marathon on Thanksgiving day which involved a lot of training. I've always thought about doing something like that, and now I feel so inspired to do so. I am now training to run a half marathon. Today I ran 5.22 kilometers...I guess that's not bad for the first day of training. This half marathon will take place in April so I have plenty of time to do this, right?

I think this will be a great challenge for me. I can say that I've done something amazing before I turn 30 (I have well over a year before that happens). So hopefully, some entries will be about my running. I've never ran for distance, I've ran for like 45min before so once I start calculating distance, I will be amazed.

Deuces.

Making Magic Happen

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 16:40:00 +0000

*now playing: "The Emperor's Soundtrack" from Lupe Fiasco's Food and Liquor*

I typically listen to music while writing a blog, so a lot of the time I just want to let you in on what's happening inside my head while I give you some insight on what's happening in my life.

I hope that didn't sound stupid or pretentious.

Anyway, life has been crazy lately. For those of you who have read the last entry entitled Drama Queens and Divas, I have a Rule #3. This rule pertains to those who live and/or work with people that you may have just met.

Rule #3 is DON'T BE GROSS

I understand that being gross can be a little vague, but please allow me to explain a bit, through a series of guidelines:

(1) chewing with your mouth open and making strange sounds while doing so is gross

(2) everyone has a particular odor, but there is no need for everyone in the room to smell your odor while you are nowhere near the party.

(3) if you want to be nice and courteous and all that, it might be considered okay to not flush at night, as long as you are the first person awake and will flush before the others find out. to put it shortly, "it's okay to not flush as long as you don't forget to flush."

The flushing guideline may cause a bit of an uproar, so please exercise this at your own discretion. If you think it's wise to flush immediately, please do so.

I do feel like a rule is discovered every week, so there might be a Rule 5 next week. Rule #4 is to observe rules 1 - 3.

Anyway, to get away from this rule stuff, let's go through the past week. We had a rough week and although it's the Sunday before Thanksgiving break, it looks like we are all still not fully recovered. We did about 14 shows, and 1 space in particular was very special (special not being positive or negative). I believe it was early in the week (it honestly feels like a month ago), but we had to do a load-in in the rain. Doing a load-in really sucks in the rain, but on top of that, the space was tiny, without a ramp, and it didn't really have the power we needed in order to use our lights. We somehow did the impossible.

I'm reminded of this moment many years ago it seems, in which the director of a particular show I once did wasn't happy with our rehearsal. She said "You guys just hop up there and expect magic to happen for you. Well I got a little surprise for you, there is no magic. Now repeat after me, there is no magic."

Us: "There is no magic!"

Director: "Unless I make it happen."

Us: "Unless I make it happen!"

I can honestly say that for this particular rainy day when it seemed like the absolute worse is going to happen, we made something out of nothing, we made magic happen for a few hundred kids that day. They may never realize or understand, but they will probably never forget. I am proud of my cast. It seems like things are impossible, but we manage to pull it off without the last second miracle, we just keep chopping at the tree until it falls for us.

*now listening to "Pills" by Lupe Fiasco From the MTV My Block: Chicago album, I guess it's a Lupe Fiasco day. A few select lyrics, "but righteousness is a father teaching his kids that's better than wealth is the respecting of self"*

Divas and Drama Queens

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 17:49:00 +0000

*listening to Cee Lo Green's new album The Lady Killer*

It's been a long, long time, and I've contemplated many entries. I even have a couple of unfinished drafts, I don't know why I haven't finished, but this one I actually plan on finishing.

A lot has been going on since September as I'm sure a lot has been happening in your world, but please let me go first. If you've been following my via twitter, you know that there's been some trials and tribulations throughout this tour of Jack & the Beanstalk. Out of the six people I started out the tour with, two of them have been replaced. I guess the next paragraph or so is my means of washing my hands of them. After this entry, I will not mention them again in this blog or even while I am on tour. I will not use their names, not because they are innocent, but because I simply have that right and I still consider myself to be a decent human being.

First, there was one who did get fired. I honestly believe that he/she wasn't ready to tour. He/she wasn't mentally prepared to handle life on the road. When it comes to touring, we all know that you have a life outside of this company, seriously you flew over a thousand miles to a land you have only heard of on television, newspapers, etc. Of course you are going to miss your residence and your native home (because not all are the same). Or course it's going to be a little difficult. But with that said, try to experience life (life is beautiful) as it is and have a good time. Don't let your homesickness affect the morale of everyone else, because low morale leads to terrible performance on the stage and off. There's no need to be disrespectful to the South. The South provided he/she with a job that he/she thought he/she wanted. Don't offend those around and don't be a drama queen.

The last five words are words for everyone, consider it to be a rule.

Rule #1 DON'T BE A DRAMA QUEEN
Drama queens are bad. They crave attention and try to get by any means necessary, even if it's complaining of being sick five minutes into a museum trip, resulting in taking the drama queen back home, only to have sick drama queen vomit for a while, and then show up out of the blue for dinner and complaining of the next course of action only to be driven home. Nobody likes a drama queen, not even other drama queens because they steal focus and take attention from their own acts of drama queen-ness.

If Rule #1 is about not being a drama queen. Rule #2 is all about divas. For the most part, nobody really likes a diva, but a diva has a redeeming quality and that quality is that they are at least good at what they do. If you are not good at what you do, then you can't be a diva.

Rule #2 IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE A DIVA, AT LEAST BE GOOD AT YOUR JOB
Think of all the divas you have ever heard of, they are phenomenally great at their job. Being good or great gives you the license to be a terrible human being (doesn't mean you have to take the license), because although we won't like you as a person, we will respect your talent and ability.

Now in the grand scheme of things, drama queens and divas are made for each other. Divas just suck and drama queens draws attention so we won't see the flaws of the diva. So we'll play with this thought for a minute. Drama queens get fired, divas quit.

Our diva that quit wasn't good at his/her job. Or at least made it look like he/she wasn't any good. Divas threaten to quit every other day it seems. If he/she doesn't have it their way, expect something to be thrown in your direction with the phrase "I quit!" only for the person to come back five to ten minutes later and resume working without any apology. Divas also do weird stuff like send messages regarding how non work related communication will be cut off, but break their own word less than a day later. The problem with divas is that at some point they will quit once all other parties have caught on to the antics. Actually quitting will catch everyone by surprise (because it will happen via text messages that end in "lol" or a press conference, either way you won't believe it) and it will force everyone else to come together in a way that has never happened before. So somehow, the diva actually quitting can result in great things. Who woulda thunk it?

*oh, by the the way now listening to J. Cole's Friday Night Lights mixtape*

So after dealing with divas and drama queens, I think that this tour has gone fairly well. There is a core of people that are very cool and I would like to actually hang out with these people after tour. That's how cool they are. We've been to interesting places and have seen interesting people and things. Some schools are just very cool; our last school had a Cultural Arts day, there were interesting artists from the area. It's honestly great to expose kids to so many things in such a cool way.

Anyway, as I bring this to a close, recognize the divas and drama queens in your life and profession, you might be surprise at who they are.

The Tiger that should Reveal his True Stripes

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 17:55:00 +0000

Every week on ESPN it seems like there's a story on Tiger Woods. Mainly because there's a golf tournament going on, whether he plays in it or not, the question remains to be "when if ever will he win again?"

Maybe Tiger wasn't cut out to be the greatest golfer ever. Maybe Tiger was the one to revitalize golf and the golf fan. I'm not the one to really claim that.

But what should Tiger do about his lackluster playing? Should he go back to his old swing coach Butch Harmon? Should he handle all of his issues off the course first, then come back to golf with a clear, focused mind?

No. No to all of those questions. This is what Tiger should do and maybe it's because I know too many people that enjoy doing this, but Tiger should get a makeover.

Tiger should play up the villain role (I noticed that he's growing a goatee). He should be as bad as he wants to be. Change his wardrobe, stop wearing red on Sundays. Sometimes the best thing you can do is revel in your bad boy image. Kobe did it a bit--just enough, mind you--to get some of his endorsements back. He got some ink, developed a personality. He actually became more human.

Tiger, we know how sorry you are/were. But now, we don't know who the real Tiger is.

Tiger Woods should show us that he's human...and not just on the golf course, because frankly we don't care about the human on the golf course, we want the perfect machine on the course and the human in public.

To the Class of 2000

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 15:30:00 +0000

Dear Class of 2000,

I haven't seen many of you since graduation, and unfortunately, I will not be seeing any one of you that may attend the reunion. But I hope everyone is doing well. Allow me the time to take a few moments to at least brief you what my life has been so far, you know the "chit-chat version" that I would have given if I were to attend the reunion.

"I currently live in New York--well I sort of live in New York. I moved up there about three years ago and after a year and a half, I was offered a touring job with a children's theater company. I spent a year and a half doing the show, we toured elementary schools and it was a lot of fun juggling, breakdancing, and just being silly for kids...hopefully, and I think they did, the kids learned something about the message we delivered. We talked about healthy diet and exercise, and to be honest with you, I had a lot of fun doing it and I even learned a few things.

Oh yeah, after high school, I went to the University of Montevallo (I always say the University of Montevallo) and majored in theater. I picked up a lot of skills and altogether, college was fun. Probably some of the best years of my life...but not all, because those have yet to come. After college, I went back to Jasper because I realized that I had no money. I worked at Ryan's for like two years while still pursuing any theater opportunities that were out there. I worked for Birmingham Children's as an actor, and even worked with Jasper Children's Theatre teaching and directing, and soon after that, developed a summer program called Run! with Liz Ross, all in Jasper. We basically encouraged teens to start developing their ideas, we gave them an outlet. I felt like, as a teen, I had some pretty good ideas but never felt like I had an outlet to workshop those ideas and whatnot, you know?

Life's been a crazy ride...and it's only been 10 years. Wow, sometimes it's hard to believe. So much has happened, I've done so much I feel. We all have changed so much...some more than others, but I feel like a kid still. I'm enjoying my second childhood I guess. We're all at a point where we can do what we want, because we're grown now. Granted, we all have responsibilities, but we can prioritize much better now than 10 years ago. I mean, I've been an intern, a stage manager/carpenter/technician, an actor, juggler, stilt walker...actually, I'll be an acting-stilt walker in September. But anyway, life has been beautiful. There's been a lot of hardships, we all have had them, but we're here right now--that's what's up...it's what's awesome about us right now. We're here enjoying life. I'm trying to live mine to the fullest and destroy the box that I lived in for so many years of my life. I think living in New York and touring made me realize that. New York is ever a grind...you gotta hustle. There is no grind like the "New York I'm an actor" grind. I get up, look for work, eat breakfast, do some type of workout, look for more work, go to an audition or two, go to a class, get home, eat dinner, look for more work, sleep. That's mostly everyday. It doesn't stop, but I feel lucky to do that. It's all good."

I do feel like it's all good. I'm enjoying life and I hope you all are doing the same. Maybe I'll see you at the next one...or in a random point in life. We all have facebook (that may be a gross overstatement), hit me up sometime, even if it's just to say hi.

Later days Class of 2000,
C

mcbang!!!!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 21:26:00 +0000

what up world! it's been a while since i've hit y'all up with anything. i know somebody is thirsty for something right now; and well, i've been a thirsty for at least giving you something.

so both of our thirsts are/will be quenched.

know that i've been back in new york for a little over two weeks. not a lot has really happened professionally, but some things have and the wheels are turning. i'm getting ready to make a few moves and get myself out there. i feel really positive about the whole thing...like more than ever before. like back in the day when i knew that i was the ish, but didn't feel good about being the ish. now i'm comfortable in my own skin...i can safely amp myself as the ish. i'm badder than ever...believe that!

within my first couple of days, i landed two auditions and got new headshots taken. after that, i got an offer to work a juggling gig. the gig was...fun, definitely not what i expected, but it was fun. i never thought that i would be juggling shirtless while wearing a pair of tights (it's really a long story that i will have to get into later).

it really feels good to be in the city. hanging out with friends i haven't seen in a while did some good for my soul. plus it's good to see so many montevallo people do more than just get by with their jobs. we are all thirsty for theater related things, and some of us are making our own opportunities. dare i say, i'm proud (tear rolls down the eye).

i tried to do the vegetarian thing. i was actually doing pretty good for the most part. then i realized something: i have a problem. i can't turn down free food, no matter what i say that i don't eat. i just can't turn it down. i can't really say that it's a problem, but it's the result of growing up the way i did, and working for free as an intern.
i went back to meat in probably the worst ways imaginable. i was invited to have hot dogs for dinner, i suggested chili should be there as well. a couple of days later (july 4), i had vienna sausages just to see if i could do it. later that night i had something known in some circles as the McGangBang. this sandwich is basically two sandwiches, made by placing a whole mcchicken sandwich (bun and all) in the middle of a double cheeseburger.

think it's nasty don't you? surprisingly, it wasn't. it was quite good, much better than the double down from kfc. i have no idea what the nutritional information may be, but then again i don't want to know.

for more about the mcgangbang....hit the jump.

all in all, new york has been good. i gotta remember to hit you up with more entries.

a few jumbled things

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 01:17:00 +0000

check this out

hope you enjoy...it's just a little something that i've been really wanting to do. you can call it an artistic choice if you want to.

now, i can say that tour is over, but i still have one more show to do on the 19th.

presenting, the final version (thus far) of my map.

as some of you may remember, the purple represents states that i have juggled in, whether it was in a performance or just an effort to draw attention to myself (some people have even offered me money for the few minutes I may have juggled). the orange represents the states that i have been in/through (coincidentally, i have also been pulled over in these states as well). as you can see, i've been in most of the united states. it's been a fun ride so far.

anyway, like i said before, the tour is over. i'm way exhausted and i feel fortunate to be able to sleep/rest for a week until my last FP show. this one will be my last, i've turned down the opportunity to go on a fourth tour. with the tour being over, i have a chance to catch up on life, even though i am in hatfield for the rest of the week. there will be some pictures that i will have online, whether it's on facebook, or on this very blog. i'm very excited to share what has happened to me this spring/summer.

with the summer upon us, it's also a time for me to get back in the game. and this time, i'm hitting the boards very hard. fresh headshots are a must, and it's time to get back to auditioning, so i need to review monologues and songs (at least i think i'm going to get back to singing some). i have a gigantic plan in order to make all aspects of my life work out for the best. and really, i feel very positive about this. my life will be changing a lot in the near future.

even if things don't work the way i really want them to, they will work out in some positive way. "gotta keep trying, no matter how long that (expletive deleted) take" (c)alicia keys

i got plenty of stories that i will definitely tell, but you know i got to leak it out slowly, not just give it all to you at once. so stay tuned folks!

whatchu know about da (Dirty) South??

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Sat, 29 May 2010 20:36:00 +0000

first of all, i'm going to give y'all the laink to this.

now since that is done, welcome back to a special lowercase edition of this blog. it ain't just lowercase today though, we're going back to my roots, the south. more specifically, the Dirty South. that's right shawty, this right here is a Dirty South edition.

first of all, for those who don't really know what on earth i'm talking about, i'm talking about hip hop music below the mason dixon line, more specifically, tennessee, georgia, florida, louisiana, texas. these states at some point were the gatekeepers of southern hip hop. here we, and i in particular learned about music period. i'm probably mostly influenced by the south. it's where i get my southern drawl from, my slang and my overall style.

every year vh1 holds an event they like to call hip hop honors in which they honor certain acts, events, movies that have furthered the imprint of hip hop into the consciousness of our society. this year, vh1 and fab 5 freddy (probably one of the most credible voices in hip hop) have decided to have a Dirty South edition in which they intend to honor the likes of Luke, Jermaine Dupri, Organized Noise, Master P, and more.

my first thought of doing a Dirty South edition was "finally!!! it took too long to do this." but then i saw who they decided to honor, and now i think, "hol' up, dis right here might turn into freaknik" and the last thing that we need is to see freaknik on television. for those of you who have no idea as to what freaknik is...look it up.

i do have a couple of beefs with this whole thing. first of all, it will more than likely be filmed in new york city. i love new york and all, but since that was hip hop's birthplace, new yorkers don't are typically purists regarding hip hop. if it ain't from new york, then it ain't real hip hop. and the problem with that is there was a point in which new york dropped the hip hop torch. the west coast had it for a minute and because of a bi-coastal feud, they dropped the torch too. all while these two coasts were holding the torch and beefing with each other, the Dirty South was stewing like gumbo. and gumbo has to stew for a while, just so all of those flavors can mingle until it's perfect. remember when Outkast came out and kept dropping hits that sounded like they were two years ahead of everybody else? that type of gumbo is "slap your mama good", and that's the type of gumbo i'm talking about.

what were these flavors that i speak of? well since southern radio wasn't necessarily in the forefront of anything, we listened to everything...east coast, west coast, funk, rock, gospel, boom bap, literally everything. and that is evident in the music. don't think about what you hear today in 2010, because most of what we hear today is scraping the bottom of the pot. there's another pot stewing, but it ain't perfect just yet.

now, Jermaine Dupri. personally, he is not my favorite, but i have to respect him. he brought forth the first platinum selling femcee in Da Brat. for a minute he had his own movement. it was like he was the mayor of the ATL. he made his own version of new jack swing in the remixes of Dru Hill's "in my bed". So So Def was a relatively strong label back then, based on the strength of him, Da Brat, Jagged Edge, and a child named Lil Bow Wow. we may laugh at them all now, but they were strong in the 90s

Organized Noize: if it wasn't for Organized Noize, we probably wouldn't have heard of Outkast or Goodie Mob until 5 years later. that's all that needs to be said, but keep in mind that they produced records for TLC...another ATL based group. also, two words...Dungeon Family.

Luke: Luke is arguably the most controversial figure in the Dirty South. 2 Live Crew was as bad as they wanna be and they won a court battle based on first amendment rights. so even if Luke and 2 Live Crew isn't important as far as hip hop is concerned, they are most important when it comes to the judicial branch of the government. Luke will always have respect in florida.

Master P: Master P is obviously not a great lyricist, but he brought forth the hustle and drive and because of that he doesn't have to do anything ever again. He has made so much money and was able to improve his image in the process. Not bad for a brother from the Calliope projects.

i do think J Prince of Rap-A-Lot Records will be honored as well. if it wasn't for the Prince, i don't know if the city of houston would have ever came together. there may not have ever a DJ Screw and a Screwed Up Clik...Rap-A-Lot honestly never got the type of credit is has deserved.

Scarface has a beef with the Dirty South honor, because it feels disrespectful. it's not just a region to him, it's all hip hop nonetheless. i do agree with him, it is all hip hop. Scarface is one of those cats who have transcended the Dirty South, he was the president of Def Jam South. the Geto Boys has a mainstream hit before a lot of these others acts were hot, and Scarface himself is special as an emcee, he was/is feared and yet he can probably emote better than most rappers to this day. not many of the old gatekeepers have done that. naturally i would love to see Outkast, Goodie Mob, 8ball & MJG, the original lineups of the Hypnotize Minds Camp, No Limit, and Cash Money...but not all will be honored ever, unfortunately.

i see a bit where Scarface is coming from (click here for his words regarding the matter). for a long time, the South has been disrespected, because we live a little slow, maybe talk a little slower, but we don't miss anything. i don't know if Dirty South is even applicable anymore now that i think about it. it was always a good way to draw attention from the rest of the world, but there are children, grandchildren, and grandparents down here...i'm not even sure if Cool Breeze understood what he meant when he coined the phrase on Goodie Mob's "dirty south" from the Soul Food album.

personally what i want people to understand about the South (and what vh1 should talk about regarding the South) is that the South is what kept hip hop going in the time of a battle. Jay-Z has a line in a freestyle that says "see Martin, see Malcolm. see Biggie, see Pac, see success in its outcome..." i know that in the freestyle, he's referring to himself as success in its outcome. i would rather say that success was the south. in a time that we were experiencing this coastal feud, the south was coming up. i think that listening to Goodie Mob's debut Soul Food was kind of like an early eulogy, that also told us what the future was going to hold for us. during the height of this event that could have killed a genre of music, the south was on the rise with Outkast, Goodie Mob, even No Limit Records (remember that Snopp Dogg even signed on to No Limit in 97). whether you want to call it the Dirty South of not, just simply recognize the place that the South holds in hip hop.

now i leave you with a quote from one of my favorite rapper/singers in the South, North Carolina's own Phonte from Little Brother and The Foreign Exchange.

...a lot of people blame the south for dumbing down music, or whatever but the thing is out of the south you have some of the most open-minded and some of the most versatile emcees, because in the south we grew up listening to everything. so you know, i just really want people to focus on the music you know, and not really focus so much on what these labels and radio and tv stations be trying to feed y'all or what they think the south is supposed to be. the south is some of the most intelligent, well spoken, and thoughtful n***a's in hip hop and the music reflects that...

Daggering 101?

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Wed, 26 May 2010 18:07:00 +0000

I am scared of using a ladder with my pants around my ankles...

Here's the music video that inspired the "craze"...well a link to it. Here!

Vocal Rest

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Sat, 22 May 2010 05:00:00 +0000

First of all, I hope you all like the picture that's with the title of the blog. I kind of do.

But anyway, I'm currently in Carpinteria, CA. The sun is fun (haha, that's a rhyme). I love it when the sun hits me in the face, and it really hits you in the face (in the most beautiful way) in California, especially when you are in walking distance of the Pacific Ocean.

Fresh out of Vegas, we had a 9 show week. We haven't even had a 9 show week since April I think. With that said, my body is not tired, but my voice is. It's so tired that I had to put myself on vocal rest. For those of you who don't know...use the clue (rest). It literally hurts when I speak right now and I sound more like a frog at this moment.

Being on vocal rest sucks! There are many reasons why. In my case, I'm working with two other people...and I have to communicate with them somehow. Miming just doesn't cut it, and sending text messages to someone less than four feet from you is stupid. Another reason (the biggest reason) is that you hear so much stupid stuff come from people mouths, and I personally wish I could correct them. When I say stupid stuff, I don't merely mean someone saying that the "sky is red". People can be really ignorant at times (mainly when making generalizations...well lookie there, that was a generalization in itself) and the one time that I want to help them, I can't.

I do think that a lot of us are on some type of "vocal rest" when it comes to not correcting someone's ignorance or stupidity. We all here someone say something that we may consider stupid, ignorant, or downright dumb and many times we'll just let them be stupid. Some of us (a select few of us) have no patience for stupid and confront what we heard...which can sometimes result to conflict. But conflict is something that we need to embrace at times...especially when enlightening someone. When it's all said and done, we've done a part in helping the human race.

I'm not going to go down the mushy path of helping the human race, be nice, and blah, blah, blah...I'm just merely saying why do we have to be silent in times that silence may be the worst thing possible. When something stupid/ignorant is said it sits in a barrel and begins to churn until you have a belief that is clearly wrong. Before you know it, we've waited just too damn (there's no other way to put it) long and now we have to pull out all the stops and call the fire department for what was just a small flame from a match.

I hope that makes sense.

But anyway, I was inspired the other day courtesy of a wonderful writer that I follow on twitter. She quoted Malcolm X and I will do the same.

“Usually when people are sad, they don't do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change.” --Malcolm X

When we hear something stupid/ignorant/downright dumb, perhaps we all should be quick to correct, but not in a condescending way. Stupidity and ignorance is something that should make all of us angry, but not in a violent way, but simply in a way that we can talk to our misguided brother or sister and bring about that change that everybody talks about. Even if there is no true correction, we have an open line of communication, which is something that we often miss out on anyway.

Personally, ignorance is something that makes me angry. And the thing is, I deal with it almost every day and I haven't done anything about it. Why on Earth did it take the day in which I can't talk for me to want to say something?

Why do I feel like I'm preaching? Weird, I know. But that's all for today's sermon, I suppose.

another state map...oh c'mon now!

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Thu, 20 May 2010 01:32:00 +0000

Aight (translation: Alright) everyone. I have this map up showing you all about the states that I've juggled in. Keep in mind, I haven't "performed" in all of these states. I've only juggled which means that if I were to make a stop somewhere, anywhere, I would juggle outside. Most of these states I have performed in.

Now comes the question: Well, were all have you been? I haven't really been much of anywhere else in the U.S. I've driven through most of the country and that's been enough for me. In fact, I've only been to two other states, and it just so happens that I was driving at the time and was pulled over in both states. Luckily, I got off with a verbal warning in both states.

I do think that when we take our dive back to Massachusetts from California, I will have the joy to visit a couple of more states (Kansas and Colorado respectively). Anyway, enough with me yapping, here's the map.

Legend
purple: state I've juggled in
orange: state I've visited/been through

Juggling States

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Sat, 08 May 2010 03:40:00 +0000

I would like to present to you a map. This is not just any map; it's a map that shows you all of the states that I have juggled in. It turns out that I failed to juggle in a couple of states that I've been through, but it's not easy trying to juggle in every state.

I've juggled in almost every state East of the Mississippi River, I am only lacking Wisconsin and Vermont. As far as west of the Mississippi goes,I still have a lot of work to do...and let's not even mention Hawaii and Alaska. Anyway...pretty cool, huh?

Def Jam Vendetta: Shyne vs 50 Cent

noreply@blogger.com (c.mchree) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 02:11:00 +0000