"...Heaven sent, heavenly scent that later crippled me..."

I've only really gotten really personal with this blog once, at the beginning when I spoke on President Obama's victory back in November. That's because I wanted to keep this place as a space about what interested me, and things that I thought people would want to get put up on, particularly with the music.

Lately, though, I hadn't been listening to too much on my own, just for personal enjoyment and I thought it was because I just wasn't finding a lot worth listening to, but a conversation with a good friend of mine made me see things differently. Considering how much inspiration I get from music in writing, I started to realize that I'd been avoiding getting too deeply consumed with listening to music because I was afraid of what it would bring out of me.

I've been writing a lot of poetry lately, some of it for RPG supplemental material but a fair amount for myself as well, and music has played a large role in the output. In the past few weeks Blu and Exile have caused me to, for better or worse, reexamine some parts of my life that I thought I'd left well behind. Rather than blather on about the specifics, I'll let the tunes and the poems speak for themselves.

I do not want her to smile for only me.
A smile is the soul’s searchlight.
A beacon for the weary
To find a moment’s assuredness
In the middle of stormy seas
Or simply a confirmation
During a seemingly solitary journey
That a traveler is not alone.
Her smile is not mine to own.
It is a mobius strip of radiance
Where the beauty she gives the world
And the beauty the world gives to her coalesce.
It is impossible for a mortal
To hold such a phenomenon in his hands,
And only an evil man would try.
I would only hope,
That when she smiles
Whatever she holds from me,
In her heart
Is part of what’s shining out.


Exile - Love Line

Atrium
Ventricle
And all other associated parts
Spread out in front of me
In thin slices
On a platter of silver.
One by one,
I take each piece
Into my mouth
Letting each one settle
And melt across my tongue
Before moving on
To the next.
The textures vary
From piece to piece.
Some are buttery
And smooth like silk
As they dissipate.
Others require
Great gnashing
Of teeth and jaw
To process.
All in an effort
To bring together
These parts
One final time.
For when the stomach’s work
Is done
And they are all gone
There will be nothing left
But sleep
And dreams
Of the repast’s
More humble origins.


Blu - Amnesia

Bonus: Courtesy of Fresh Selects Blu coasts over the instrumental for "Love Line" and leaves me fiendin' for a follow up to Below The Heavens.

Blu vs. Exile - LoveLine(s),DedicatedToLastFe’vrier

Thursday Throwback: I'm Still Livin'

But apparently this blog isn't. Even with almost none of my fanbase (aka: People that know a friend of mine and got badgered into following) left, I'm gonna try and get this thing back on its feet. What better way to do it than highlight some dopeness from one of the people who made me start this thing in the first place. Jim Mahfood's one of my favorite artist and writers, so I was honored to meet him at Wondercon a few years back. We talked about music, since I was always a big fan of how he integrated it into his work, Hip Hop in particular. Just before I broke out, I told him I'd send him the info for a blog based on my old radio show as soon as I'd gotten my shit together and put it together. After I got about a week's worth of posts in the bank I dropped a line to him, and he hit me back with a thank you. I'm still not sure how much of this spot he's actually read, but after getting the notification that he'd joined my woefully neglected Twitter feed I couldn't help but have the same feeling I did that afternoon at the 'Con: Jim Mahfood's a cool motherfucker.

In honor of the aforementioned fothermucker, and seeing as how it's Thursday, I'm posting up one of Mahfood's mixtapes, liberated at his man Plex Lowery's blog. It's a dope mix of old-school Hip Hop and funk joints that is just right for chilling at the crib, or riding around with on a lazy afternoon.

Click here to read up on the tape and listen to the stream.

Edit: Here's a Mediafire link to the mix, and the tape cover. Food One Mix CD Vol. 1

Also, Jim, if you're reading this, thanks for the convo and the sketch. Really made my day.