12:20 am, September 18th, 2009
I'm sitting here on a couch in Dubai, trying to picture what it would be like to step foot in Palestine. I'm excited yet very nervous. I don't know what to expect. I mean in the past, I've seen documentaries, watched the news, heard stories and it made my blood boil.
It resulted in me being very emotional and I either was inspired to write a song or take it to the streets in shape of a rally or demonstration, which in some instances resulted in being arrested or held by police.
But I have matured and grown as an individual. I have realized my strengths and weaknesses, but I've never faced a situation on ground zero.
I don't know what to expect and I don't know how I will react. I hope my response will be based more on mind rather than heart. I know my biggest strength is my biggest weakness which is my passion.
I just hope my passion doesn't blind me.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
YOUNG VAUGHN'S NEW SCHOOL COOL
YO wut up people,
Been a while huh? Well I want you guys to check out Young Vaughn's "The New School Cool" produced fully by my main man and partner in crime, Swerte. You can download the album here for free:
http://www.zshare.net/download/634966224018616b/
Also check out his video "LOSER!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIVfrK-6-v4
Let me know what y'all think!!!
PEACE
Been a while huh? Well I want you guys to check out Young Vaughn's "The New School Cool" produced fully by my main man and partner in crime, Swerte. You can download the album here for free:
http://www.zshare.net/download/634966224018616b/
Also check out his video "LOSER!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIVfrK-6-v4
Let me know what y'all think!!!
PEACE
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Swerte & Jabbar of THE RECIPE in The National Newspaper
Check out this article done by Ana Seaman about Swerte, myself and the Recipe...I actually like this article because it's the most accurate one done to date...I've come to learn that media loves to add their own spices 98% of the time in terms of quotables...
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090626/NATIONAL/706259839/1010
Check it out people
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090626/NATIONAL/706259839/1010
Check it out people
Monday, June 22, 2009
Motivation vs. Hunger (Part II) - Inspiration
So after a couple of debates with some people about the whole motivation vs. hunger thing (and I’m kinda glad we talked about it), I wanted to bring up another important element and how it affects the first two which is Inspiration. This is the fire that lights up every human, whether it’s in music, painting, pottery, sculpting, writing, acting, directing movies, loving whatever it is. I mean Inspiration is a very crucial element in my opinion, and it has a direct affect on both motivation and hunger.
You may ask how? Well, it’s really very simple. See inspiration triggers emotions or provokes thought within an individual and the energy it creates is delivered into either motivation or hunger. So who cares which outlet it pours into? If inspiration fuels motivation then it’s a short term boost where as if it feeds hunger, it’ll have a longer lasting effect. Very philosophical, I know, don’t ask.
Inspiration is that crucial external element needed when you cannot find a trigger. Everyone has different goals in life and therefore are inspired by different things. Inspiration also brings the elements of motivation and hunger to a much closer alignment. Essentially they become eerily similar to some extent. Let me explain my theory on how inspiration affects the two though.
Inspiration comes from an external event and or action, which triggers a certain emotion within a person. Once this emotion is triggered, depending on the velocity it’ll either fuel motivation or hunger. Now, sometimes people are inspired however they may not act upon that emotion, which essentially it trickles down into the subconscious part of your hunger and it starts to build. The more a person is inspired and doesn’t act upon it, the more it builds up in your subconscious, and then gradually, one day a person will blow up.
I can testify to this myself. This IS essentially what started my rapping career. After 17 years of watching my people continuously get oppressed, slaughtered and occupied, I had a build up of not revenge or anger, but resentment that innocents were getting killed and nobody was saying anything. So that inspiration of 17 years fed my hunger which exploded into motivation to write a song called Talia. This song is about a little Palestinian girl’s life that had lost everything due to the illegal occupation. Anyhow, so this is my explanation of how untapped inspiration feeds into hunger which directly correlates with motivation.
Now when you get inspired and you automatically act upon it, that inspiration trickles to motivation. I can’t think of a good example, but let’s say a girl is in an abusive relationship with a guy. She knows it’s wrong and knows that she’s got to get out of it, but she fears that she can’t due to her dude’s abusive nature. She’ll bump into somebody who tells her an inspirational story which is similar to hers and how we she got out of it. This story can do one of two things. It can either inspire her to be motivated and get out of the relationshit she’s in right now, or she will listen to it, wish she could do the same, which essentially sits in her subconscious – hunger.
Now, here’s the thing: if inspiration motivates you to do something about a concept you are relatively fresh to or uneducated about, then it will be short-lived. If you see a movie like “Trade” which is about human/sex trade and what not, you maybe motivated to make sure that doesn’t happen in your neighborhood. You may become active about it, but it will be short lived if you don’t have the proper foundation and or knowledge about the issue. That’s why, whenever I watch a documentary or a mind-gripping movie I tend to do research and see if it’s a topic I can potentially feel passionate about. It’s never too late to develop and or adopt a passion; no matter how old you are (that’s the tip of the day for you).
Many will argue the above paragraph and say that sometimes they are inspired to act upon something right away. I will not argue against that, however if your motivation is fueled from hunger, which is fueled from inspiring moments that have occurred over a period of time, your actions and your “explosion” will be much more deep rooted. Therefore you will constantly do whatever it is you are doing, be it music, activism, nymphomania, etc.
Let’s face it, deep-rooted actions such as fighting a revolution, boycotting a product, voluntary vegetarians, or psycho girls trying to get revenge on their ex, although you might fail, you will most probably continue to pursue that goal because it affects you from the heart and its something you strongly believe in. It’s part of you. Now for all the ladies out there that want to get revenge on your ex…Really? Just be the bigger person (maybe that was a bad example…ha)
At the end of the day, inspiration comes in different shapes, forms and velocities. I believe the best way to absorb inspiration, although it’s very hard to channel because it has an emotional impact on us, is study it properly. Whether you act upon your inspiration immediately or you leave it dormant in your soul, if you truly believe in it, you can maximize the potential of inspiration.
You may ask how? Well, it’s really very simple. See inspiration triggers emotions or provokes thought within an individual and the energy it creates is delivered into either motivation or hunger. So who cares which outlet it pours into? If inspiration fuels motivation then it’s a short term boost where as if it feeds hunger, it’ll have a longer lasting effect. Very philosophical, I know, don’t ask.
Inspiration is that crucial external element needed when you cannot find a trigger. Everyone has different goals in life and therefore are inspired by different things. Inspiration also brings the elements of motivation and hunger to a much closer alignment. Essentially they become eerily similar to some extent. Let me explain my theory on how inspiration affects the two though.
Inspiration comes from an external event and or action, which triggers a certain emotion within a person. Once this emotion is triggered, depending on the velocity it’ll either fuel motivation or hunger. Now, sometimes people are inspired however they may not act upon that emotion, which essentially it trickles down into the subconscious part of your hunger and it starts to build. The more a person is inspired and doesn’t act upon it, the more it builds up in your subconscious, and then gradually, one day a person will blow up.
I can testify to this myself. This IS essentially what started my rapping career. After 17 years of watching my people continuously get oppressed, slaughtered and occupied, I had a build up of not revenge or anger, but resentment that innocents were getting killed and nobody was saying anything. So that inspiration of 17 years fed my hunger which exploded into motivation to write a song called Talia. This song is about a little Palestinian girl’s life that had lost everything due to the illegal occupation. Anyhow, so this is my explanation of how untapped inspiration feeds into hunger which directly correlates with motivation.
Now when you get inspired and you automatically act upon it, that inspiration trickles to motivation. I can’t think of a good example, but let’s say a girl is in an abusive relationship with a guy. She knows it’s wrong and knows that she’s got to get out of it, but she fears that she can’t due to her dude’s abusive nature. She’ll bump into somebody who tells her an inspirational story which is similar to hers and how we she got out of it. This story can do one of two things. It can either inspire her to be motivated and get out of the relationshit she’s in right now, or she will listen to it, wish she could do the same, which essentially sits in her subconscious – hunger.
Now, here’s the thing: if inspiration motivates you to do something about a concept you are relatively fresh to or uneducated about, then it will be short-lived. If you see a movie like “Trade” which is about human/sex trade and what not, you maybe motivated to make sure that doesn’t happen in your neighborhood. You may become active about it, but it will be short lived if you don’t have the proper foundation and or knowledge about the issue. That’s why, whenever I watch a documentary or a mind-gripping movie I tend to do research and see if it’s a topic I can potentially feel passionate about. It’s never too late to develop and or adopt a passion; no matter how old you are (that’s the tip of the day for you).
Many will argue the above paragraph and say that sometimes they are inspired to act upon something right away. I will not argue against that, however if your motivation is fueled from hunger, which is fueled from inspiring moments that have occurred over a period of time, your actions and your “explosion” will be much more deep rooted. Therefore you will constantly do whatever it is you are doing, be it music, activism, nymphomania, etc.
Let’s face it, deep-rooted actions such as fighting a revolution, boycotting a product, voluntary vegetarians, or psycho girls trying to get revenge on their ex, although you might fail, you will most probably continue to pursue that goal because it affects you from the heart and its something you strongly believe in. It’s part of you. Now for all the ladies out there that want to get revenge on your ex…Really? Just be the bigger person (maybe that was a bad example…ha)
At the end of the day, inspiration comes in different shapes, forms and velocities. I believe the best way to absorb inspiration, although it’s very hard to channel because it has an emotional impact on us, is study it properly. Whether you act upon your inspiration immediately or you leave it dormant in your soul, if you truly believe in it, you can maximize the potential of inspiration.
Swerte's New Track - "Piece by Piece"
Wut up people,
Told you I was gonna be active on this muffucka..
My main man Swerte, co-founder/producer/chef/maestro of the Recipe, just dropped an ill ass track called "Piece by Piece". Make sure you guys check it out:
http://www.myspace.com/swertemc
Also, make sure you join his facebook fan page:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/swerte/21029397719?ref=ts
Show love and support for my dude people!!
PEACE
Told you I was gonna be active on this muffucka..
My main man Swerte, co-founder/producer/chef/maestro of the Recipe, just dropped an ill ass track called "Piece by Piece". Make sure you guys check it out:
http://www.myspace.com/swertemc
Also, make sure you join his facebook fan page:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/swerte/21029397719?ref=ts
Show love and support for my dude people!!
PEACE
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Motivation vs. Hunger?
Where to start…
I’ve been feeling very unproductive lately. I haven’t been spending as much time in my studio since my power converter blew. Now that I’m done recording the Recipe and it’s in the mixing and mastering stage (God bless Swerte and Milton), I should be getting back on track recording other acts and producing for other artists and myself. But for some reason, there is no real motivation to go in there and grind something out. I’m hungry for it, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes if you’re not comfortable in an environment, no matter how hungry you are, you can’t force things. I never force things anymore, cuz I know if I do, it’ll be as whack as shit.
There’s like a certain zone you gotta hit in order to come up with shit. Inspiration is tough to have in a place like Dubai. So I was just wondering to myself Friday morning as the sun was coming up, I’m hungry to make beats, write tracks etc. but I’m not motivated. Brought it up to some friends, and well, they told me motivation gets you hungry, while others said hunger gets you motivated. If I HAD to agree with either it would have to be the latter “hunger gets you motivated.” I believe they are two interlinked concepts with different triggers.
When I am motivated to do something, I will continue to push, pursue and be persistent in my chase of a particular goal. However motivation is something based on morale. If my morale is high, then my motivated actions can be seen by anyone observing the situation. If I hit a road block (which believe me, I sometimes feel that I’m in the West Bank constantly hittin these damned IDF checkpoints) it slowly eats at a brother’s motivation. Where as hunger, is a desire, it’s a feeling I feel in my stomach (no pun intended). I think it’s even more emotional. For example:
I own the first season of Scrubs, and I watch the entire thing, I enjoy it and all. So at this point I have developed a hunger for season 2 and become motivated to obtain the second season. I try to download it, however I can’t get my hands on the entire season, or my internet connection is so whack that eventually my motivation starts to die after so many failed attempts. With time, my hunger will die to watch that second season and that’s the end of the story. (Props to E-lizzle for the discussion)
Now my hunger to make music is unquestionable. When I make a hot beat, I start dancing around like Carlton from Fresh Prince and shit…but the question is where the hell is the motivation supposed to come from? Now the problem is no matter how strong your hunger is, it has no control over your motivation; cuz motivation is something that is developed through a series of fortunate events, such as people giving you props, getting public/media/peer recognition, a song or a show is a great success, etc. Now hit enough road blocks and that balance of positives and negatives will be tilted into the red zone (negative) – at which point you become de-motivated. Become de-motivated long enough, and your hunger will start to diminish.
Ha, now I’m not invincible or bulletproof or immortal. But I know my hunger is, because it is triggered from something completely not related to music. My hunger in music sprouts from a completely different cause, even though not all my music is about that cause. So now that I’ve identified the trigger for hunger in my music, how do I figure out my trigger for motivation? I’ve come to the conclusion that this is something that I have to force. Lyrics I can never force; those letters and words put together, come naturally from a source that I don’t even know and at weird times (in the club, in the bathroom, in bed, in the car – wherever). But making beats is an art that I have to actively pursue. I love beatmaking. The feeling of making a hot beat is indescribable. It’s like an orgasm on a completely different level, or a sober high that exceeds any intoxicated one. So this is where the forcing has to come through.
From now on, I have promised myself to make at least one beat a week. It’s a very fair challenge to me, considering I haven’t even been spending one day a week in the studio. I figure this will trigger some shit in my head and will get the motivation train rolling again. Eventually I’ll raise the bar, and start making two beats a week. I mean there have been days where I’ve made 3 beats a day. So that is what I think could be the remedy and trigger to get the motivation back up. I don’t even know if that shit will work, but what the hell, it’s worth a shot…So the questions I have are these:
Does Hunger drive motivation or is it the other way around? Can the death of motivation gradually kill your hunger? What triggers motivation – is it really positive indicators that show you’ve been goin in the right direction?
Lemme know what u think…sorry bout the philosophical shit…but just been in a weird place lately…
I’ve been feeling very unproductive lately. I haven’t been spending as much time in my studio since my power converter blew. Now that I’m done recording the Recipe and it’s in the mixing and mastering stage (God bless Swerte and Milton), I should be getting back on track recording other acts and producing for other artists and myself. But for some reason, there is no real motivation to go in there and grind something out. I’m hungry for it, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes if you’re not comfortable in an environment, no matter how hungry you are, you can’t force things. I never force things anymore, cuz I know if I do, it’ll be as whack as shit.
There’s like a certain zone you gotta hit in order to come up with shit. Inspiration is tough to have in a place like Dubai. So I was just wondering to myself Friday morning as the sun was coming up, I’m hungry to make beats, write tracks etc. but I’m not motivated. Brought it up to some friends, and well, they told me motivation gets you hungry, while others said hunger gets you motivated. If I HAD to agree with either it would have to be the latter “hunger gets you motivated.” I believe they are two interlinked concepts with different triggers.
When I am motivated to do something, I will continue to push, pursue and be persistent in my chase of a particular goal. However motivation is something based on morale. If my morale is high, then my motivated actions can be seen by anyone observing the situation. If I hit a road block (which believe me, I sometimes feel that I’m in the West Bank constantly hittin these damned IDF checkpoints) it slowly eats at a brother’s motivation. Where as hunger, is a desire, it’s a feeling I feel in my stomach (no pun intended). I think it’s even more emotional. For example:
I own the first season of Scrubs, and I watch the entire thing, I enjoy it and all. So at this point I have developed a hunger for season 2 and become motivated to obtain the second season. I try to download it, however I can’t get my hands on the entire season, or my internet connection is so whack that eventually my motivation starts to die after so many failed attempts. With time, my hunger will die to watch that second season and that’s the end of the story. (Props to E-lizzle for the discussion)
Now my hunger to make music is unquestionable. When I make a hot beat, I start dancing around like Carlton from Fresh Prince and shit…but the question is where the hell is the motivation supposed to come from? Now the problem is no matter how strong your hunger is, it has no control over your motivation; cuz motivation is something that is developed through a series of fortunate events, such as people giving you props, getting public/media/peer recognition, a song or a show is a great success, etc. Now hit enough road blocks and that balance of positives and negatives will be tilted into the red zone (negative) – at which point you become de-motivated. Become de-motivated long enough, and your hunger will start to diminish.
Ha, now I’m not invincible or bulletproof or immortal. But I know my hunger is, because it is triggered from something completely not related to music. My hunger in music sprouts from a completely different cause, even though not all my music is about that cause. So now that I’ve identified the trigger for hunger in my music, how do I figure out my trigger for motivation? I’ve come to the conclusion that this is something that I have to force. Lyrics I can never force; those letters and words put together, come naturally from a source that I don’t even know and at weird times (in the club, in the bathroom, in bed, in the car – wherever). But making beats is an art that I have to actively pursue. I love beatmaking. The feeling of making a hot beat is indescribable. It’s like an orgasm on a completely different level, or a sober high that exceeds any intoxicated one. So this is where the forcing has to come through.
From now on, I have promised myself to make at least one beat a week. It’s a very fair challenge to me, considering I haven’t even been spending one day a week in the studio. I figure this will trigger some shit in my head and will get the motivation train rolling again. Eventually I’ll raise the bar, and start making two beats a week. I mean there have been days where I’ve made 3 beats a day. So that is what I think could be the remedy and trigger to get the motivation back up. I don’t even know if that shit will work, but what the hell, it’s worth a shot…So the questions I have are these:
Does Hunger drive motivation or is it the other way around? Can the death of motivation gradually kill your hunger? What triggers motivation – is it really positive indicators that show you’ve been goin in the right direction?
Lemme know what u think…sorry bout the philosophical shit…but just been in a weird place lately…
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