FISTFULAYEN

20? 20?! 18 was an “adult” but still a teenager. But damn, kid, now you’re not even a teenager anymore. You’re heading straight into grown-up category. It’s kinda heartbreaking but joyous at the same time.

On this whole “I’m an adult now” thing, don’t rush, ya hear? Yes you’re a certified lab rat who does research I have to concentrate very hard to even have a cursory understanding of. Yes you are general manager of an FM radio station. Yes you live on your own 300 nights a year. No, you’re not a kid. But you’re not a grown up, either.

Regardless of the rad MIT brilliance of the above summer project you are still YOUNG. Enjoy every minute of it. You’re only half-way through college and even if it doesn’t seem like it now trust me you’ll look back and see this part of life for the utopia it is. Make the most of every second of your last two years. Concentrate on learning not grades and soak up all of the different PEOPLE around you. Make the most of even the most insufferable of your peers, learn all you can about human kind, figure out what makes them tick. Most importantly, enjoy the few keepers you find and think about all YOU have to offer THEM. You will draw upon these peers for the rest of your life and together you will inherit this planet, believe it or not. Plot and dream big about the world you will create together. Scheme not on how much money it’s going to make you (leave that to the folks up the street) but on how you can make life better for more people on earth. Enrich yourselves then share, plz.

But be sure to enjoy today while you’re doing it. See live music. Spend time outdoors. Pet the animals, smell the roses, look before you flush, etc. Live.

Most of all, thanks for being my co-conspirator for the past 20 years. Good news (for me, I hope for you, too): we’re not even half-way done. Let’s blow this shit up. Thanks for being you. You. Are. The. Best.

Anyone else have advice for Zoe age 20? Leave it in the comments below!

Tearfully,
papa

I’ve been listening to John Grant’s (formerly of The Czars) “Queen of Denmark” repeatedly for the past week and it’s the best thing I’ve heard so far this year. If you like great songs delivered beautifully, the sound of heartbreak from someone with a smile on their face, and those albums which sound different on every listen and your favorite song jumps from one to another, just grab this record no questions asked, put on headphones and enjoy.

The story, which I gleaned from the 5-star Mojo review which turned me on to the record, is of an album that may not have happened without the kindness of friends. When John Grant met Midlake they were on different trajectories: Grant’s Czars were imploding, he was falling deeper into depression and drug addiction, and by the sounds of the record going through a nasty breakup while Midlake were gaining momentum and had the world waiting on their next record. Midlake took him home to Denton, TX, were the backing band for “Queen of Denmark” and helped mix the record to what it is today after two failed mix attempts by others.

If you dig it half as much as I do it’s worth your time. Enjoy.

ian

Happy 4th everyone. I hope you’re avoiding that party in the USA song today.

Here are some patriotic M.C.s I’d recommend instead:

Be careful out there.

ian

I’ve been to Coachella, Bonnaroo, and now Electric Daisy Carnival this year. There’s only one thing left to conquer:

The above video is long but keep watching. It gets even better as it goes on.

I have so many questions.

– Girls go to this?
– Does it require one security guard per attendee to keep the deaths below 10?
– Who is Sugar whatever and what’s up with that skirt?
– Is it possible to get enough Faygo to make this event happen?
– How is possible I’ve never heard of a SINGLE group on their label apart from ICP?
– WTF is Cube thinking? Scarface?!
– This is a good look for Coolio and Vanilla Ice, though.
– The Dayton Family?! That’s my shit. I gotta be honest.
– Paradime is Kid Rock’s DJ. I kinda like him, too.
– Why do I not have Get Busy Committee playing at this?
– They’re letting these people in helicopters?
– “DUDES ON STILTS”
– Rowdy Roddy Piper is a comedian?
– Do you need a jester hat to participate in the rap battle?
– “Magicians and hypnotists walking around that bitch…”
– Butterbean?!
– “Seminars”?

When Jeff Jarvis is talking about moving from a mass market to a mass of niches he is most certainly talking about this event.

NINJA PLEASE

ian

As you probably already know, I’m co-managing a band called Get Busy Committee. GBC is Ryu from Styles of Beyond/Fort Minor (and many know him as the voice of Crystal Method’s “Name of The Game”), Apathy of Demigodz/Army of The Pharoahs, and super-producer Scoop Deville. Since I started writing these blog posts you’ve heard more from Scoop Deville than you probably realized, he produced Snoop Dogg’s “I Wanna Rock” as well as Fat Joe’s “Ha Ha” and has bangers coming — look for new Scoop-produced tracks from Busta Rhymes and a bunch of others this summer and fall.

There’s been a TON going on with Get Busy Committee the last couple of months – the SXSW shows were amazing (thanks to everyone who supported!), we made our goal with the platinum 12″, this Beatminerz track is hot, the group has so many new tracks done they’re trying to decide if they’re doing a new EP or a new album this summer, etc. To be honest between my day/evening/weekends job, helping GBC, having a three year-old, a nineteen year-old, a wife, and taking care of myself with an occasional run or trip to the skate park I haven’t had any free time to blog. Sorry about that.

But I wanted to crank a quick post out tonight to let you know about this TOUR OF LA we have going on right now and encourage you to come check out Get Busy Committee at The Viper Room on Wednesday, May 12th. It’s our first real show in Los Angeles and we’d the hometown support would mean a lot to us. Please buy a $10 ticket here and come on through. If you’re so inclined, come have dinner with us before the show. Details here.

For those of you who have already gotten behind the band, I thank you. As I’ve said from the beginning I know the album isn’t for everyone but for those of us who grew up on NWA and Beastie Boys it’s a pretty easy call. There *is* more to it than just rhymes, though, I love the record because it’s got *songs*, not the “one beat, one chorus, three verses” rut hip hop has fallen in to. Yeah there are samples but actually the majority of the tracks on the record don’t have ANY samples — there’s a pretty diverse selection of beats on here, something for everyone.

But there’s also a live show now. Apathy and Ryu have done countless shows over the past 15 years in front of hundreds of thousands of people. Scoop’s a natural. DJ Cheapshot is a pro (in fact he has a weekend gig for the summer DJ’ing for New Kids On The Block — I know that sounds like a joke but it’s a fact). They spent a ton of time pulling videos together for each and every song for the show and have a full video DJ set up a la Mike Relm (actually very special thanks to Mike Relm for helping us get the bugs worked out).

Watch the video below. In 8 minutes you get a sense of what I love about the show: great music, good fun, moving a crowd, not taking itself too seriously, entertaining video production, and under it all they’re skilled MCs who have the confidence and swagger of those who have been in the game a long time. From Apathy’s acapella mic check to that cat in the video (that cat is CHILLIN!) to the little bits of Missy Elliott, Eazy, BBD, and BDP, to Ryu taking a shot he was handed from the audience, I love that clip. It was fun as hell to be there even though I’m bored by most hip hop shows at this point and I’ve already seen GBC five times in the past two months.

Come see for yourself. Wednesday. At The Viper Room. Dinner before if you’re into it. See you there.

Come early, King Fantastic is opening. This King Fantastic record is incredible. Be sure to grab all his weekly remixes between now and the album release over at TheKingFantastic.com. This week’s was a cover of Ice-T’s “Colors”. Hell yeah.

Hollyrock Jam Session from King Fantastic on Vimeo.

ian