Singular Motion

You ever listen to your ipod and start singing out loud like you thought you were alone and you start trying to hit the awkward notes and your face does that typical R&B or Pop squinch similar to the face you do when you're on the toilet.. and then you open your eyes and realise you're in public?

That happened to me this morning, luckily for those who listened, my voice isnt half bad (not that it counts for anything when Rihanna and Lumidee have music deals) . But I digress, it was classic Neo-Soul joints that had got me in this Tyrese-esque moment, more notably Musiq Soulchild albums......queue the turn of the track above.

Although Musiq's Whereareyougoing (Still trying to figure out whats up with the lack of space bar use in his titles) centres around retrospective thinking and wanting to get his girlfriend back, it's the underlying message in the chorus that caught my attention today. "If you can't have the one you love, where are you going in your life?"

Can you be happy and content being single for the rest of your life?

Meh...I dunno. Generation and Evolution is obviously driven by reproduction amongst many things so we are designed for relations..some sort of connection with the opposite sex. But there are those who seem to be satisfied with being alone; those who post "Single" on their facebook status and throw a fit when enquiring minds wonder.

I've always been under the impression that nobody truly wants to be single for a long period of time. The cold winters and fiery summers must stir up some type of feeling even in the most stubborn of people (it has to explain why exs and old flings had me receiving more phonecalls than a jobcentre receptionist this winter)

To be content and to be happy are two different things and though I'm not gonna be ignorant in thinking a single person cant be both, it's highly unlikely. You can be happy with being single, maybe after being in a long relationship or seeing the difficulties that can come from it but to be content with being alone for the rest of your life by choice...hmm Im not so sure.

What's your perspective?

"No fate is worse than a life without a love"

Spreading The Love

Couple blog and article posts that have entertained or educated me over the past week. Enjoy!!

Very Smart Brothas - Three Underrated Relationship Benchmarks

Pbleepd - Top 30 Voices of the Decade

Christiana Rants - Happy New Year

Saffirm - 5 Ways To Start Doing Instead of Dreaming in 2010

Clutch Mag - How To Be A Player

Adam WestBrook - Innovation

"Anyone who tries to make a distinction between education and entertainment doesn't know the first thing about either"

M is for.....

The 1st of January always provides an immediate concoction of promises, expectations, hopes and dreams from all of us in the attempt to make sense and use of a new beginning.

Our resolutions and restorations are created as a long term guide, helping us to replace the mistakes, regrets, misconceptions and/or setbacks of previous experiences with new focus. But what is focus without structure?

We're all victims of not following our resolutions throughout the year, as the journey towards contentment and happiness is hardly linear. However we use that as an excuse sometimes and end up back to square one and already planning for the next year. I believe alot of that is down to emphasis on long term planning as supposed to short steps

"When it comes to getting things done, we need fewer architects and more bricklayers" - Colleen C. Barrett

In every goal or target we wish to achieve and accomplish there are always STEPS provided. It's necessary for us to plan these steps before we think about the resulting success. I've started the year concetrating on the 4 M's that will take me to my year goal.

M is for Motivation..

In theory the result, success and/or goal accomplishment should be motivation enough however our journey towards this is always interrupted and we can lack focus afterwards. Its important that we gain small bits of inspiration whether it be something you see, read or hear. Whenever I lack motivation I like to watch the video clip below, it's a real uplifter and helps me to enjoy my craft aswell as re-establish the reason I started my work in the first place.

M is for Milestones..

Set yourself small targets to get yourself to the main target. This in turn gives your focus structure and you are always working towards what you want to achieve. I've proceeded in writing down things I need to do on a weekly basis on paper, however little they may be. This stretches from my work with Pbleepd to my daily prayer; organisation leads to productivity

M is for Mentor..

What is (insert concept here) if you have nobody to share it with?

Speaking to my older brother last week I realised how important it is to have somebody to talk to every now and again about life. We all have friends and family members we talk to but who do you single out as a mentor figure? It's imperative that we have someone to help guide us on our projects and keep us on the straight and narrow; constructive criticism and feedback are as worthy as appraisal and one word positives such as "good" and "yes".

M is for Movement..

"If Opportunity doesnt knock, build a door"

Every industry and facet of life is filled with people who grasp at opportunities. Are you one them? We must align ourselves with those who are willing to do what they can to achieve their goals as well as staying true to themselves. Dont be stagnant, if you want something done then take the steps to do them and dont wait for things to happen. Keep it moving, or someone else will take what you "thought" belonged to you.

Happy New Year to all my readers, followers and silent observers. Make 2010 another one to remember.

Stay Blessed

Broadband

WQST Radio Presents Melanie Fiona Meets The Illadeplphonics

Questlove & Melanie Fiona

What do you get when you mix one of the greatest drummers and musically educated minds with one of the best and sexiest modern voices of my time???....A mixtape. Im looking forward to hearing what these two have to offer on "The Bridge". I just downloaded it via Melanie Fiona's twitter. Im expecting good results after seeing this video. Click on the link below to download the mixtape.

DOWNLOAD HERE

"A painter paints a picture on a canvas but a musician paints their picture on silence"

"I Just Wanna Be, I Just Wanna Be Successful"

Thought I had an idea of what my house would look like until I saw this. Just when humility had taken over Im now back in the black hole of cliched ideologies. Success is a defying definition.

Ok let me paint the picture....

16,400 square feet, Eight bedrooms suites, Nine bathrooms, Six reception rooms, A cinema, Beauty salon. Gym with pool, Elevator service and underground parking.

... Cue this amazing London home designed by Anil and Marisa Varma.

I've seen a few mansions in London but nothing quite like this, give me a couple years.

"The home is the bottom line of life, the anvil upon which attitudes and convictions are hammered. It is the single most influential force in our earthly existence. No price tag can adequately reflect uts value. No gauge can measure its unltimate influence for good or ill. It is at home, among family members that we come to terms with circumstances. It is here life makes up its mind."

Hey!! Where did all the black sitcoms go?....Revisited

Last year at this exact same time I wrote an article about the decrease in black sitcoms (right here) and spoke about how they were hanging on to a thread with only The Game and Everybody Hates Chris as the portioned genre's sole representatives. A year on and as of today US & UK have NO black sitcoms left. Stateside, The CW Channel announced that The Game would not be renewed for a fourth season nor will Everybody Hates Chris for a fifth one leaving the country with only re-runs and the occasional reality shows. How did it get to this?



What happened to the plethora of writers/creators that made such great shows as Girlfriends, My Wife & Kids or One on One.....nothing. So why no shows? The networks will tell you lack of viewers which would be true in the result of any cancellation of any sitcom but it's a little bit deeper than that. I'm gonna try and steer clear from the racism route but you have to pay attention to how TV execs minds work when it comes to ethnic representation. In the US there are 5 networks that gather the most viewers of sitcoms...CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox and CW. The first four I would class as primary networks as people watch everything on those channels where as CW would be a secondary network. When shows such as the Fresh Prince were at their peak they were being shown in the primary networks, which solidified more viewers and a bigger fan base. Fast forward to now and all the "ethnic" related comedies are being put on secondary networks; CW is a great network but with it's programming only marketed towards a certain target group it will always fall short especially if airing sitcoms up against other sitcom competitors on other channels.


Hilarious sitcoms such as Two & a Half Men & Scrubs are given even more chances to flourish because they're on primary networks. Its time for TV execs to stop putting black sitcoms in a box and actually air them to a wide range of viewers. UK's situation is even worse with Trouble (the only channel that showed more than two black sitcoms, re-runs or not) being taken off Sky leaving us with ANTM all day. We haven't seen a UK sitcom in 6 years and that was The Crouches (nothing to be proud of). I cant help but think the failure of The Crouches has made TV networks in the UK cautious and unwilling to risk another one.

So is this the last we've seen of a black sitcom anywhere period?

Click on the seasons to see The Game - Season 2 | Season 3

"All television is educational television. The question is, what is it teaching?"

Gear Grinders (As Inspired By VSB & Greggie)

Since I didnt join the "25 things you dont know about me" hype I thought I'd follow in the footsteps of VSB and Greggie and might aswell let you know what pretty much annoys me or Grinds My Gears.


What Grinds My Gears, Part 1, Take 1, Marker....Action!

1. When people say "Life is short", come on now what exactly is longer? Life moves at a fast pace but it aint short. It aint short when you're waiting for your payslip and you're only in the first week of the month is it?..thats what I thought

2. Skinny Jeans on dudes...yeah that aint remotely cool, I dont wanna see the outline of a guy's crotch. I know that stuff must be cutting blood circulation everywhere below the waist

3. Bluetooth Headsets: I didnt know people still rocked these until last week when I saw a cool guy, doing a cool guy walk, in his cool guy clothes, wearing a cool guy hat and talking the cool guy talk. By cool I mean moron

4. Girls who dont eat, why? thats like part of the trinity of human lifestyle..you eat, you Number 2 and you sleep!

5. The Train person: There's always that one person on the train on your way to work who either smells, talks too loud, plays stupid ass music on their phone or coughs and sneezes outward...no mouth/tissue cover up or nothing....The Swine Flu extortionist

6. I cant stand girls who whore themselves in the entertainment circuit. We all want success but earn it respectfully and with hard work, if you havent got the talent go on Big Brother

7. When girls say they'll pay as a test!! Why do that? Get a guy all curious until he says "no Im paying" and she's like "good"......Say you'll pay for me again and see what happens; I'll have your wallet crying

8. People that talk the talk but neeeever walk the walk this ranges from those "2000 and mine" peeps to people like Arsene Wenger and Ricky Hatton

9. Over-Twitterers: This doesn't refer to people who put up alot of twitter updates, it refers to people who put up alot of twitter updates about random crap. "just woke up, morning twitterers" "just put butter on my bread because I like butter" "my bread tasted good, because of the butter I like" "Have you ever wondered why butter is yellow?".........KILL YOURSELF!

10. Summers coming so expect muscle bound dudes with really tight tops. Listen we all like to look big but for the love of eyes please recognise that size "small" is for small people

11. Middle-aged people in clubs is not working for me Im sorry. I understand that they like to feel young and enjoy the music but I dont think Im ready to share a floor with one of Jesus' classmates

12. I dont like people with bad breath and they dont know it. Im a really nice person and used to hint at whether someone wanted a chewing gum but sometimes you just gotta throw it in their mouth, works wonders

13. Polo shirts should never be worn with the collar up! I've noticed that it's a common style...it's also poorthetic.

14. The stanky leg, I do not endorse this dance move in any way. It is ridiculous, where do they get this stuff from seriously!?

15. Dry Music Video concepts are beginning to annoy me. Alot of work goes into making a video but you wouldnt guess from some of the stuff on TV. Directors need to be more creative or innovative. If not how about this for a crazy idea, follow the story the song depicts!

16. White cars: There's nothing wrong with these actually, my friend's gotta nice white car. But lets be honest if you're gonna be driving a white car on a regular basis it aint gonna stay crispy clean very long. Why buy it?

17. Follow Fashion is slyly annoying especially when it's pandemic fashion. Ed Hardy and Lyle & Scott must die

18. Im in a train station making my way home, I hear echoes of great music wave across the tiled walls, as I get to the escalator I see a man playing an instrument for money. I hold change in my hand look at him but carry on walking, why? because homeless people aren't meant to have such instruments and be well dressed and this dude is. Nonsense!

19. If I havent offered you my food, that means I dont want you to have ANY of my food. "Can I have some fo...NO!

20. UK Television. Has anyone in the history of life stared at a car for 5 seconds knowing it's going to knock them over even though they have time to move out the way? Yes...in Eastenders

"What annoyances are more painful than those of which we cannot complain?"

Nice Guys Finish Second To Last

....well Im assuming nice guys come before Serial Killers, if not then I can only think the female demographic are simply put, mental!

I feel like asking the questions rather than answering them this week. The old cliche about nice guys finishing last will forever be a hackneyed phrase because 8 times out of 10 it's true. There's a future desire for the nice guy but a current need for the not so nice guy instilled in many the mind of a female. Some, not all claim the nice guy lacks the "X Factor"...what does the X stand for?

Who knows! but the not so great guys are definitely getting the long end of the stick. Im yet to know where this social "commandment" truly stems from seeing as the population of girls who choose the not so nice guys is vast let alone the female population full stop. So Ladies and Gents I ask you, do females prefer the Eric Benets, the Chris Browns or the Jeremy Kyle/Maury characters of this world or is there just a short supply of nice guys?

"It's nice to be important but more important to be nice"

Just A Friend

Guy Says: How long have we been talking now?
Girl Says: 6 hours
Guy Says: No...I mean wow... but I meant how long have we known each other?
Girl Says: a few months
Guy Says: feels like years
Girl Says: I know right? you're probably one of the few people let alone guys that I feel comfortable talking to
Guy Says: same Akward silence
Girl and Guy Says: So.....oh
Girl Says: You first
Guy Says: Ok, Lets say hypothetically speaking we were together and...
Girl Laughs
Guy Says: Why you laughing?
Girl Says: Haha I dunno, Me and you together just sounds weird, you're like a brother to me

Echoes ring through the guys head: "a brother to me"...."a brother to me"...."a brother to me"

I can think of only two more instances where a girl could tell a guy something that pretty much shatters his world. Its a hard pill to swallow and an even harder zone to get out of. The moment a girl brings the terminology "brother" or "friend" in a situation where a guy's trying to be with her, he has to concede defeat whether he wants to believe it or not.

Imagine an olympic stadium represents the girl's thoughts, the girl is a gold medal and the guy is a 400metre hurdler who has reached the final; he has "trained" all his life for this moment and now he's up for the prize against other worthy opponents (random dudes after her). The race begins and he's off, jumping hurdle after hurdle with consumate ease. He jumps over the nerves hurdle, jumps over the sense of humour hurdle, jumps over the ambition hurdle, then it gets a little tense and it hits between the 200 & 300metre mark. At this point it's his perserverance thats pushing him as he knows the last 100 metres beckons; he jumps over the likes and dislikes hurdles, jumps over the ex hurdles, clatters the "how many" hurdles but still manages to stay on his feet. He now reaches the final stretch, he's in the lead and is on the verge of claiming everything he's worked hard for. All of a sudden as he gets to the last few hurdles and there's a change in logistics, he's losing abit of breath, has he trained too hard? Now he's relying on just his adrenalin as his opponents are catching up. He's still in the lead and believes he can do it but the next hurdle has a different look to it, it seems jumpable from afar but as he gets closer there is something more solidified about this hurdle...ah yes, this is the friendship/brother hurdle. He skips across the track towards the hurdle and jumps but his front leg gets caught in the hurdle and he falls to the ground. Time moves in slow motion as he sees his opponents run and jump OVER the friendship/brother past him towards the finish line. He gets up but he knows it's too late, for as much as he is the crowd favourite he cannot claim the prize....pissed!

No guy I know likes when someone they're after hits them with the "like a friend/brother" tag. It's a mental and physical drain to a guy's system as he has spent quality time getting to know the girl and vice-versa; the mental gap has already been bridged and the physical was there from the get go so he's now feenin for her. What happens now?

As any guy would do they try to retrace their steps as to where it all went wrong. Was it when he told her his weaknesses? Did he play one too many of her favourite slow jams in the background? Was he procrastinating in asking her out? Did he play the good samaritan and spend maybe one minute/hour too long talking about her ex? Who knows!! What he does know is that he now has to sit there with the shattered memories of what could have been....for what awaits him could be more devastating than ever; her calling him to speak about OTHER guys and asking for advice. And like a good friend he is and has been to her he gives her the advice she needs to hear knowing fully well he should be that guy.

She thanks him and even coins the phrase I love you but he knows its a "friend" thing. All that's left to do now is cry like a little school girl.

There is no moral or solution to this story because frankly it can happen to the best of us but at least it answers the question on whether girls and guys can be friends....yes, yes they can, hahaha.

"Love is blind, friendship closes it's eyes"

Acquired Knowledge

Here's a couple of recent blog posts from a few blogs I follow that have been in an interesting read over the past week since I've been back online. Enjoy!

"When You Know Better, You Do Better"

5 Signs They Aren't Good Enough For You

The Wrong Time Seems Like The Right Time, Right Before The Wrong Time

Red Light

Christiana and Pac-Man Lessons

"There are more writers of blogs right now than there are readers, so that's clearly a vanity phenomenon" -Highlarious!

Are We Nosy?

So we've got social networking sites, reality TV shows, advanced google mapping and that girl who stares across the road when you're leaving your house making you that much more paranoid about what she's planning...no? maybe thats just me.

Either way the first three modes of "entertainment" have got me wondering whether there's a sudden burst of subtle voyeurism in the minds of it's users. You take Facebook for instance and disect what it's used for...the benefits are obvious, catching up with friends, networking, contacting people when you havent got minutes/credit (good times), sharing files etc but then what happens in between that? Fortunately for Mark Zuckerberg however and unfortunately for us Facebook can become addictive and you find yourself roaming for friends out of bordeom checking up on their photos, relationship statuses, eavesdropping on their conversations with a mutual friend or with a randomer, or your on the receiving end of an unwanted add/message from someone who's seen a photo of you in their school friend's twice removed cousin's facebook rave...you know the one where you're in a photo with your three friends holding a champagne glass in those new sharp megapixel cameras.... or maybe you're that person who adds them lol.

Social networks have kinda taken two directions. The first direction is the original purpose and the second is straight voyeurism/nosiness/"inner" behaviour. Its not our faults I guess, these mediums are just designed to make us be the receiver or the trigger of such behaviour. Take Twitter for another example, it is again great for networking, communication and promotion but from another perspective it's just an ever updating list of statuses about what everybody's up to...nosy!! I have fallen for the trap a couple of times since being on twitter but it's hard not to since thats all it is, you have to "follow" each other to make sense of it all so essentially it's a networking stalker starter kit. It's the closest you'll get to speaking to certain celebs/superstars so I guess thats ok....yep nothing more fun than making friends with famous people who dont talk back.

Then there's the reality TV shows which are beginning to wipe out original programming (still kinda pissed about Trouble TV getting locked off, re-runs or not). I used to wonder why there wasn't any innovative programmes on TV til I realised that viewers just dont watch it. No ad revenue for TV networks means bankruptcy and so they venture into the world of "reality" and make shows where viewers can participate. The public love eavesdropping, its what the word "public" is based on, trust me. As for the google map innovation, well it doesnt take a genius to know what that may lead to. All in all I cant help but think media mediums have helped illustrate a fact that we all have known at the back of our minds, we are nosy!!!

"The things most people want to know about are usually none of their business. It's a 50/50 on whether they can make it their business with positive outcome"

"Face"book Drama

"Mehhh I hate the new home page?" "Waaah what happened to my old facebook?" "Argh! why do they keep changing it?" I've been hearing these statements all day in a failed attempt by friends to cheer me up through conversation (ARGH MAN UTD!!). Seems as though everyone hates the new face of facebook and it's kinda funny because no matter how much y'all complain about it you will STILL go on it everyday and it will NEVER change. Just embrace the annoyance yet benefit that is facebook and expect the unexpected because unfortunately for multi-million to billion dollar businesses they mistake growth for change and dont understand the term "if it aint broke dont fix it". Im 4 months into my facebook hiatus but have decided to make a comeback in the near future when business is running...maybe. I say maybe because it's such a potent and popular site but man it's annoying as Julian Smith has pointed out below.

Jay-Z's Lyrics

Undoubtedly one of the best (maybe thee best) lyricists to ever touch a mic, Jay-Z has been a man on a mission ever since he first broke on to the scene commercially with the album Reasonable Doubt. Now an entrepreneur, Sean Carter's growth + maturity = experience has given him awareness and wisdom and he is now able to translate that learnt knowledge into great lyrics off the mic too.

While browsing BET's website I came across Lowkey's blog; he had a post on Jay-Z's feature in American magazine BEST LIFE. It strayed away from Hip-Hop for a second and focused on the man himself, I was inspired and equally respectful of his "6 Principles To Living The Best Life". Not that I needed the encouragement to think positive but I will definitely use them as a constant reminder for me to carry on what Im doing. These are essentially principles and guides that every single person should use especially in this current climate. What do you think?...

Sean Carter's 6 Principles To Living The Best Life

1. Be Your Own Biggest Fan…

“Believe in whatever it is you’re doing. If you don’t believe it, no one else will.”

2. Take Control, Then Let It Go…

“Work really hard and apply yourself in a way that when the job is done, you can look in the mirror and say, ‘I’ve exhausted all possibilities. I’ve done everything to make this right’. After that, let it go: It’s out of your control.”

3. Focus On The Process, Not The Result…..

“People get consumed by the trappings of success. They forget the reason they wanted to do what they wanted to do in the first place. Whether you have zero money or a million dollars, it doesn’t change who you are. Keep yourself inspired.”

4. Never Act On Your Fears…

“Card players have a saying: ‘Play the cards, not the money’. If your hand is good, it doesn’t matter if there’s $2 on the table or $2,000. You determine your outcome. Don’t make decisions based on the fear. People can be jealous of you and bait you, but you can be mature and handle the situation.”

5. Use Money The Right Way...

“For some people money can be a burden and lead to bad decisions. But money should make you comfortable so that you don’t have to compromise yourself or do anything just for money. It should give you the freedom to do what you love.”

6.Don’t Stop Growing…..

“Growth doesn’t stop when you’ve become successful. That’s when it starts.”

Well said Sean....well said

"Needs are great, but your possibilities are greater"

A Dependent Ghanaian celebrates Ghana Independence

52 years on and we all still celebrate like we won the lottery, it's a proud day. Whereas I wont be raving it up with friends and family this year I will be depending on my fellow Ghanaians to keep it cool. Too often I've heard nonsense about gunshots and beef at ghanaian independence raves (ahem Stratford); I dont condone it any sense of the word but it especially makes no sense to me for people to be involved in it on an occassion when we are celebrating history, present and future. Just chill, eat some fufu and light soup.....maybe ease it down with some water or Supermalt (that s*** is nasty). Its easily forgotten what Ghanaian independence is all about because the first thing we think about is "What rave are you going to?"....and I've done that many a year. Nonetheless I hope everybody is "reppin'" their country today, I know I am. I have cloth on today in the office.....no seriously I do...

Shout out to my Ghanaian sisters Shanti & Short'n'Sweet.

"To be truly and really independent is to support ourselves by our own extertions"

North London Stand Up!

There's always a period in modern music where the geographical aspect plays a major part in a genre. If we look a few years back Hip-Hop was dominated by the influence of New York rappers and lifestyle in the states (LL, Jay-Z, Big L, Nas, Busta Rhymes, Wu-Tang etc) while R'n'B had Atlanta crooners and songstresses lighting up the charts. In the UK, South and East London bred the more popular faces of UK Garage and later on Grime (Heartless Crew, So Solid, Wiley, Kano, Lethal B etc). Now we fast forward to the latter stages of the "noughties" decade and the southern influence is more than apparent in Hip-Hop stateside but UK Hip-Hop and Grime is more spread out. However it seems from recent exposure that North London is breeding a new force of talent AND artistry.

Now Im not gonna pretend that Im the biggest fan of Grime/UK Hip-Hop but I appreciate talent when I see it and over the past year or so I've seen alot of progress in both genres especially from the North side of London. In my opinion North has the best UK rapper in Sway, fair do's he hasn't reached his peak just yet but thats even more testiment to his talent and he has a flow not emulated anywhere in the UK. There's been a lot of talk about him retiring early but fingers crossed Akon can make a bigger star out of him because the potential is there.

Chipmunk is doing alot in the scene right now and after winning best newcomer at the Mobos Im hoping he can push on; Im biased when it comes to him mainly because he went to the school of my sixth-form and is part of my cousin's music label but at 18 he's definitely gonna be on top when he reaches his lyrical peak. Wretch 32 is another beast and deserves big props. Lyrically he's nearly untouchable in London and you can see his influences have given his delivery a much needed boost. His last mixtape was dope, get to know.

Scorcher, Northstar, G, Marvell, Ram and a host of others along with the R'n'B influences of the likes of Lemar, Ny and Keisha White are beginning to push North London to the forefront of the underground/mainstream music scene. Now I know other Londoners will have something to say about it (especially East) but Im gonna go ahead and be biased/controversial and say North London may not have the most amount of musically talented artists in the capital but they have the best.....Hmm then again East are doing alot too. Ok I'll get back to you on that statement.

"Magnified. Undeniable. Sustained. Intense. Contagious.....thats MUSIC"

A Valentine's Compilation

February 14th to me is just a saturday but I wont shy away from the fact that it's a special day for the ladies. It's that fake holiday with a positive message where men show their more sensitive side and women lap up the presents, love and commitment showed to them by a signifcant other. Yes Valentines Day is here to stay and even as a singleton we're just as much affected by this event as couples. According to cards and text messages I have 7 secret admirers (altogether now "woooo") which I take on with the humility and modesty of Kanye West...kidding . Only problem is that they're secret admirers so how do I exactly act on it when I dont know where they came from? I call the numbers but no response; its a fun game...for now. Didnt we stop that at the teeange stage? Nonetheless I won't be taking "Miss Right" out this weekend as I have a birthday to attend (hopefully one that will include a string of singletons). My friend asked me to make a playlist for them, which only means they want something that will guarantee them action so I went through my collection and came up with three lists, burned them to CDs and sent them to his address. They're alright. The First Playlist is below. What do you think?

PS: - I endorse AND promote safe sex and if you decide to add these on your own playlist you WILL guarantee yourself action, so use protection!!!

Aaliyah - Come Over

112 - Sweet Love


Ginuwine - So Anxious


Adina Howard - ButtNaked


Floetry - Say Yes


Floetry - Getting Late


R.Kelly - Seems Like You're Ready


Silk - Meeting In My Bedroom


H-Town - Knockin the Boots


Jodeci - My Heart Belongs to You


Faith Evans - Soon As I Get Home


SWV - All Night Long


Joe - All The Things


R.Kelly - Sex Me


Tank - I Deservee


Ne-Yo - Say It


Tweet - My Place


Ghetto Romeo & Sassey - I Just Wanna Kiss You


R.Kelly - The Greatest Sex

J Dilla - Greatest Producer

Press Play

Quincy Jones, Babyface, The Neptunes, Dr Dre, DJ Premier, Bryan Michael Cox, Tim & Bob are all up there amongst my favourite producers of all time but with the exception of Timbaland no other producer has made a big impression on me as much as J "Jay Dee" Dilla. JD's influence on the rise of Neo-Soul in mid 90's was defining and understated; he worked with the finest in Hip-Hop and traced the genre all the way to it's roots to bring out the heart and soul. He was your favourite producer's favourite producer, he was just that good.

Raging from Detroit the rapper/producer was responsible for the forming of underrated hip-hop group Slum Village and worked in a production supergroup called The Ummah with two members of A Tribe Called Quest and later on Raphael Saadiq. What I enjoyed most about his production was the simplicity of it. Not many can pull off a beat with simple patterns but make it speak a thousand words without an artist even singing/rapping over it. This was more or less the reason why so many conscious artists were able to work with him as the beat acted as a guide to their patterns of thought.

"Sometimes, fixation can be a good thing and sometimes it can be bad. There'd be days when I wouldn't eat at all, because I'd be in the basement working all day" - J Dilla

The list of classic productions is endless, I cant even go through all of them but check here for his discography. My playlist on the right hand side sports a large percentage of J.Dilla's work and no doubt I will add more in fture. Q-Tip, Slum Village, The Roots, Erykah Badu, Common, De la Soul and Pharcyde to name a few are some of the name's he worked with and it was only after his untimely death in 2006 on this day that people began to realise his influence in music. Sometimes I wish he was able to take himself more mainstream just for the world to understand how great a producer he was, then again his behind the secnes and underground status is what made him a special entity in the first place. I salute J Dilla as one of the, if not thee greatest producer of all time.

"Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend"

Mish-Mash #3

I'm just gonna jump straight into it, Chris Brown is a wasteman!! I decided to wait until there was confirmation of the full incident and it has now come to my attention that not only did Chris Brown assault Rihanna and turn himself in but he assaulted her with a deadly weapon! (which is yet to be confirmed). I dont care whether the girl gave him Herpes, told him he aint shit, said she's sleeping with someone else or she disrespected him in any kinda way you should NEVER!!! put your hands on a woman. You can shake her but dont hit her. I've lost tons of respect for him and the fact that he himself had to experience that same type of behaviour when he was younger makes this somehow worse. I blame Money and Fame getting into his head but there should be no excuses. Anyway here's a crappy TMZ video of Chris Brown being booked into custody.

Award Season

The Grammies was probably something I shouldn't of stayed up for. It was ok but nothing spectacular but they did a good job filling in the spaces where Chris Brown and Rihanna were meant to perform. Lil Wayne and Coldplay picked up a few gongs as expected but I was baffled to see Jennifer Hudson pick up the best r'n'b album. I mean I know she's had a bad year and all but regardless there were others more deserved of it (Jazmine Sullivan), but I wont dwell on it because her voice is fire! A couple of decent performances including the "Swagger Like Us" Performance which can be seen by clicking here.

Congrats to Estelle for winning a grammy along with other UK artists including Duffy, Coldplay and Adele. Looks like UK music is finally showing forward movement. Speaking of UK and forward movement, congrats to Noel Clarke for winning the rising star award at the BAFTAS. Now hopefully young writers, directors and producers can get more exposure. I'll be there, fingers crossed!

• Pbleepd Radio is coming.....End of the month!!!
• 50 Cent/Rick Ross & Bow Wow/Souljah Boy beef is stupid but still funny!
• Made a playlist for Valentine's day, are you ready to downlaod it?
  

Gonna go listen to the Friday Foxxhole Radio recording

Be Easy

Broadband

Should I Pay Seven Pounds To watch Seven Pounds?

I dont know what it is about this film but Seven Pounds has got people going crazy....literally writing blogs, notes, diary entries about the movie. I thought it was raining outside my local cinema when I saw all the wet patches on the floor but according to a frequent bystander that was the tears of all the viewers that had stumbled across the movie. Whoa! Am I missing something? Every girl I speak to it's the same old question.

Girl: Oh My God Have you seen Seven Pounds?
Broadband: Nope
Girl: OMG, OMG, OMG
Broadband: Calm down he's my god too
Girl: I cried at the end, it was so emotional. I dare you not to cry

Im a big Will Smith fan, he's definitely an aspiring and influential character in my books but even I couldn't defend his last two movies. I wasnt feeling Hancock or I Am Legend so I was cautious about seeing this movie but it's got people bugging. Even guys are getting all emotional about it, grown ass men just taking Kleenex Ltd away from recession and into double figures. So Im gonna see it this Saturday and see what the hype is. I've got a right mind to go with my friends so I can catch them slipping on camera crying. I cant get emotional to that extent through movies. I even laughed at the end of Titanic, I mean come on they could of swapped turns rowing each other along the sea..no? The closest I ever came to tears was watching A Time To Kill, that closing speech got to me for a slight second.

So Im gonna watch it this weekend and see what all the fuss is about, this better be good!!! and I will not cry...(on purpose).

Son Of A F****** Orange!

Argh! I woke up this morning thinking I had another day off and I look out my window to see that the roads are clear for transportation to commerce. Son of a F****** Orange! I was hoping and praying TFL and National Rail could give me the news I needed but nope, trains are running with minor delays so I'm up and awake to get ready for work. Gotta take the Bus and Three Trains today ("conveniently" the ones that are working) I aint happy!

Updates on my week long vegetarian expedition coming later on today. And I know some of you are waiting on part 18 and 19, they'll be up tonight as a sunday post, so scroll down in the late evening for that. Just heard that despite Surrey being -8 degrees, some kids still have to go to primary school there (just like yesterday)...now that headteacher is a son of a F****** orange! It's too cold for this, Im not in the mood, gonna be sporting the unfriendly frown all day listening to straight hip-hop, volumes turned up!!

Be Easy

Broadband

"The best remedy for anger is delay"