Justice > Death

Interestingly enough I came across this article in the BBC, about a guy who confessed to a murder belieiving he was on his death bed. Now that he’s getting better that confession looks a bit hasty, which is a good thing for those who believe in justice.

A US man who thought he was dying and confessed to having killed a neighbour in 1977 has been charged with murder after making a recovery, US media say.

James Brewer could now face the death penalty over the unsolved killing in Tennessee 32 years ago, reports say.

Convinced he was dying after a stroke, Mr Brewer reportedly admitted to police he shot dead 20-year-old Jimmy Carroll.

The 58-year-old, who had fled Tennessee after the killing, was arrested after his condition improved, reports say.

“He wanted to cleanse his soul, because he thought he was going to the great beyond,” said police detective Tony Grasso, who interviewed Mr Brewer in an Oklahoma hospital, The Oklahoman website reported.

Fail. Although I guess it’s somewhat positive that a.) the killer’s confession adds finality to what I’m sure had to be an agonizing ordeal for the victim’s family, and b.) there was change, even if it took a stroke to get him there.

Hopefully he continues to turn his life around to the best of his ability in jail.

Here’s the whole article:

‘Deathbed confession’ man charged

Octane – Leave Me Alone (Video)

Most of those within the Michigan Hip-Hop scene know him as Octane, some of us know him as Ro, but whatever you know him as you know that the Burn Rubber Co-Owner does his thing on the mic. When partnered up with my fellow Detroit spitter Illite, the duo provides one of the more energetic stage shows you’ll find in the midwest. I personally liken them to Michigan’s own Method Man and Redman, complete with the similar stage diving antics at a live show. (judging from my attempt at the very last Respiration, I can stand to learn from them)

Below is the full video of Octane’s newest single “Leave Me Alone,” directed by Gerard Victor of Hoodtography Detroit, coming off his debut album scheduled to drop some time in 2009.

(Shouts to MoS of MichiganHipHop.com for the assist)

Jansport J Free Beat Competition

It’s funny how small the world is. Jansport J, an extremely talented up and coming from the west coast, is producing a whole  EP Ballads for Ballers, Love Songs For Losers for the homie P.H.I.L.T.H.Y. The funny thing is, I initially knew Jansport’s homie PCO, another emcee, before I met him and they used to be members of the same rap crew. Amazing.

Since then I’ve become a lot more familliar with his work, and he has a really nice soul sound reminiscent of a 9th Wonder or a Khrysis. Recently he put forth the opportunity to record a track over his a beat he demonstrated the creation of on Youtube. He’s accepting submissions for those tracks and the artist(s) with the song of the highest quality will recieve another free beat from him plus extras. Here’s a link to the competition in full detail, plus videos of the sample he flipped and the beat making process.

Jansport J Free Beat Competition

P.H.I.L.T.H.Y. Birthday Bash @ The Basement (3-26-09)

My BLAT! Pack homie P.H.I.L.T.H.Y. turns 24 next weekend so to bring in his newest year of grinding on this earth there will be a really dope show at The Basement in Downtown Lansing. Yours truly will be hosting the show, and my brother from another Rodney James will be holding it down on the 1’s and 2’s. Performers will include Ann Arbor’s Tree City, East Lansing’s own Yellokake, plus a lot of other great artists rocking the stage in celebration. Details are as follows.

March 26th @ the Basement
414 E. Michigan Ave.
Lansing, MI
9pm – 2am

(All Ages!!!!!)
$5 Suggested Donation

Bullet feat. Donny Goines – Fortune Teller

Bullet’s been the homie ever since he came to Lansing for a show during the summer. It’s amazing how every city has it’s own artists who think and act just like you, and I’ve always felt the more down-to-earth an artist is, the easier it is to relate to their music.

His latest track Fortune Teller is a nice account of what he’s had to deal coming from Chicago and trying to make hip-hop click. The beat is pretty sick and both emcees rip it  (although Donny Goines might not neccessarily agree judging from a conversation with Bullet over Facebook) so I’ll give this the JYoung stamp of approval.

Bullet feat. Donny Goines – Fortune Teller

(thanks to nahright.com for the link)

R.I.P. Weusi Olusola

Weusi Olusola’s story is pretty encouraging and inspirational. He survived a drive-by shooting at the age of 16 and lived a life after the fact that really embodied the sense of what community activism should be within the inner city. His anti-gun and anti-gang efforts really struck a chord with citizens throughout Southeast Michigan, and even though I never met him I can sense that we would’ve had a lot in common if given the chance to converse with one another. His passing at the age of 38 is definitely a cause for sadness — that one’s time can be so limited underneath the sun — but overall it should serve as a reminder that most of our community’s biggest inspirations we’re all relatively young. Weusi, much like MLK, Malcolm X, and a slew of others both during and post-Civil Rights, did the bulk of their work in their 20s and 30s. I challenge anyone in my age bracket (18-28) to read the two Free Press peaces I’ve included and get involved in the community as positively as they can.

“Pioneer for Peace Dies One Week After Life Celebration”

“A Life’s Goal Will Matter After Death”

The Long Wait is Over

One of the downsides to blogging is that when your schedule gets a bit hectic, you tend to slack off on posting. The week before was Spring Break and this past week was just as tiring, as we’re gearing up to make a lot of moves in the next few months as artists.

Did a lot of this over the last two weeks. My Spring Break '09 will forever be immortalized as "Tour De Couch"

^ That really sums it up. But all in all the last couple weeks have been really dope. Here are some key points

• The homie Rideout came back home to chill with the rest of the BLAT! Pack for Spring Break, and it was fun hanging with a lot of the Respiration crew after all these months.
• P.H.I.L.T.H.Y. and I both finished our respective EPs over break. Then I announced the new title for my EP on Impact 89FM titled Jahshua 1:6, a reference to the passage “Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them,” as well as a double meaning for 1 project, six songs. P’s joint is a collaborative effort with Cali-bred producer Jansport J called Ballads for Ballers, Love Songs For Losers that I’m heavily co-signing and also making an appearance on
• Spring Break was about as lively as East Lansing can be without 97% of the MSU population in town, and mostly consisted of bar hopping and hitting The Post while the best DJ in the city spins a nasty mix of vintage hip-hop and Top 40 (Which is what music needs…a balance)
• The post Spring Break week wasn’t chill either, between work and grinding I hardly got any sleep. Tuesday was St. Patties Day which meant a fair amount of drinking, but responsibly since I do have a job and a car. Harper’s, a club we used to rock out during the summer was on jump for most of the day and so my R&B group Young, Sexy, and Conscious was required to make an appearance.
• Irish Car Bombs are fun.
  

  Great show.

• Friday was a really dope night as well. We opened for the homie One Be Lo at Rubble’s in Mt. Pleasant, who’s without a doubt one of the best emcees in hip-hop period, not just Michigan. What’s crazy is everytime we do one of these type of shows I always tend to get a bit nervous, but the crowd was amongst the best I’ve ever performed for. Upon arrival a guy told us that he drug six friends out just to hear some good hip-hop and that he’d give me $20 if we rocked it. Naturally…I was $20 richer by the end of the night. It’s atmospheres like that remind me that a crowd isn’t about quantity, but quality rather. I told them that if I could do a show with 100 of them every day I’d die a happy man and I meant it. Below are a couple pics: (excuse the quality, im not very handy with my blackberry camera yet)

apparently me and P were "Sinners"

another live Performance of "Black Nationalists" done to perfection

P.H.I.L.T.H.Y. Article in The Milwaukee Decider (2-18-09)

The homie P.H.I.L.T.H.Y., one of the senior members of The BLAT! Pack, and the cat most responsible for grooming me as a performer through my introduction to the local scene here in Lansing, rocked a dope show down in Milwaukee a couple weeks ago. I was on the bill as well, and the night was pretty dope in general. Linking up with more Midwest brethren is always a good things, and I’d like to shout out my dude Haz Solo for making that all possible.

Anyway, I’ve included a link to a small article written about P for the show, and also included is a clip of him performing his song Celebrate of his most recent release, Save Us All (which is available on iTunes right now).

P.H.I.L.T.H.Y. article x Milwaukee Decider

Track of the Day (3-9-09): Othello – “Peripheral Drift”

The age old adage that “You don’t what you got till it’s gone” really applies for the Michigan State/Lansing/East Lansing ever since the homie Othello’s departure back to his west coast roots this past summer. While it’s often said that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, it really takes a strong emcee to cultivate a flourishing hip-hop scene, and for a few years the area definitely had Othello as an MVP of sorts. A well-rounded lyricist who’s just as dope a performer as he is on wax, and always approachable for not just business but pollyin’ in general. 

That being said one of his best works is Alive at the Assembly Line which he released in 2006 to critical acclaim both within and outside of the state. As a Cultural Vibe favorite I used to bump this all the time when I was host, particually Silhouette, a noted favorite of his fans. Peripheral Drift is just as nasty though, and I’ve always enjoyed the marriage of hip-hop and jazz sounds. (Hence why Illmatic was so effective to me at an early age) Along the same vein of the De La Soul and J Dilla masterpiece Stakes is High, Peripheral Drift is just as much about the instrumentation found in the actual track as it is the lyricsm accompanied by it. Check it out below.

Othello – Peripheral Drift

VS Stylez – Joe Budden diss

For those not familliar with the situation here, my homeboy VS Stylez from Harlem allegedly paid Joe Budden 2K for a verse he never recieved. Joe’s been pretty ambivalent about the whole thing, not really giving it much of a response, which seems odd to me. If you know for a fact you haven’t stolen something from someone you can usually squash the rumors from day one, and although I understand an artist doesn’t have each waking minute of their day to deflect all gossip aimed their way I’d also say that as an artist such an allegation would be a priority of mine to dead off top. You can lose fans like that, and at the stage Joey jump-off is at, turning away even 1 or 2 isn’t a good luck.

That’s just my point of view though. Peep the youtube video, first is an interview followed by the audio diss.