Hip-Hop Quotable Wednesdays – The Firm (Nature) feat Noreaga – “I’m Leaving”

Tags

AZ, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, Brooklyn, Capone-N-Noreaga, Cormega, Dr. Dre, Foxy Brown, Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop Music, Hip-Hop Quotable, Hip-Hop Quotable Wednesdays, I'm Leaving, Inga DeCarlo Fung Marchand, Jermain Baxter, Key Yemaya Walker, LeFrak City, Mafioso rap, Nas, Nasir Bin Olu Dara Jones, Nasty Nas, Nature, New York, New York City, Noreaga, Noriega, Queens, Queensbridge, Rap, Rapper, Supergroup, The Firm, Trackmasters, UNC Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Victor Santiago Jr.

A Blue Lines era song, referenced briefly in the manuscript.

[Noreaga]
yo, Nori know this, and Nori know that
but Nori know gat (why)
cause Nori buck dat
Iraq’ll make you famous
throwing gang signs like it’s sign language
distinguish us from the others
kidnap your baby mothers
bringing drama to the deep covers
salute g, bust you down like a lucie
Jose probably lay with a gold uzi
crunk Italy, Africa and Sicily
n—az acting sissy see
pointing guns and missing me
([Nas:] “Yo son, it’s on son”)
hey yo there’s beef in the hood again
n—az came with hoods again
thinking that it woulda been
saw us, from what we first did
when we did
now we twist another wig, a mother lose another kid
but it’s beef now, keep it short
real brief now
strike vigorous, no intentions of missing it
they sent the message, or example, whatever
set it up man on man
only to score we apply the plan
quickly explain why you ran in this dark land
we lay you down in the sand
on the lines like the internet
many would come if you would pose off
against my set, there ain’t a n—a yet
smoke so much, n—az say I need nicarette
you say bogie but you used to say cigarette
nine-oh, a new religion, a new beginning

Blue Lines Blog – Coachella Lineup 2014 Released

Tags

A$AP Ferg, Adventure Club, Aeroplane, AFI, Alesso, Aloe Blacc, AlunaGeorge, Anna Lunoe, Anthony Green, Anti-Flag, Arcade Fire, Art Department, ATL, Atlanta, Austra, Bad Manners, Banks, Bastille, Beady Eye, Bear Hands, BECK, Bicep, BIG GIGANTIC, Blood Orange, Blue Lines Blog, Bo Ningen, Bombay Bicycle Club, Bombino, Bonobo, Broken Bells, Bryan Ferry, Cage The Elephant, Cajmere, California, Calvin Harris, Capital Cities, Caravan Palace, Carbon Airways, Carnage, Chance the Rapper, Chromeo, Chvrches, City And Colour, Classixx, Coachella, Coachella 2014, Coachella Lineup 2014 Released, Crosses, Damian Lazarus, Darkside, daughter, Davide Squillace, Deorro, Dillon Francis, Disclosure, Dixon, DJ Falcon, Drowners, Duck Sauce, Duke Dumont, Dum Dum Girls, Ellie Goulding, Empire of the Sun, Factory Floor, Fatboy Slim, Fishbone, Flatbush Zombies, Flight Facilities, Flosstradamus, Flume, Foster the People, Foxygen, Frank Turner, Friends, Future Islands, Gabba Gabba Heys, Galantis, Gareth Emery, Girl Talk, GOAT, Graveyard, Grouplove, GTA, Guy Gerber, Haim, Happy, Headhunterz, Holy Ghost!, Hot Since 82, Indio, J. Roddy Walston & The Business, Jagwar Ma, James Vincent McMorrow, Jhene Aiko, John Beaver, John Newman, Kate Nash, Key Yemaya Walker, KiD CuDi, Krewella, Lana Del Rey, Laura Mvula, Laurent Garnier, Lee Burridge, Little Dragon, Lorde, Maceo Plex, MAKJ, Mako, Martin Garrix, MGMT, Michael Brun, Mogwai, Motörhead, MS MR, Muse, Nas, Neko Case, Netsky, Neutral Milk Hotel, Nicole Moudaber, Nina Kraviz, OutKast, Pet Shop Boys, Pharrell, Pharrell Williams, Poolside, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Queens of the Stone Age, Ratking, Replacements, RL Grime, Rudimental, Saints Of Valory, Scuba, Shlohmo, Shlomo, Showtek, Skrillex, Sleigh Bells, Solange, Solomun, STRFKR, Superchunk, Surfer Blood, Syd Arthur, Temples, The 1975, the Afghan Whigs, The Bots, The Cult, the Dismemberment Plan, The Glitch Mob, The Head and the Heart, the Internet, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, the Knife, The Magician, The Martinez Brothers, The Naked And Famous, The Preatures, The Replacements, The Toy Dolls, Tiga, Title Fight, TJR, Tom Odell, Trombone Shorty, Ty Segall, Unlocking The Truth, UZ, Warpaint, Washed Out, Waxahatchee, White Lies, Woodkid, Wye Oak, Young & Sick, Zedd, ZZ Ward

The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.

Hip-Hop Quotable Wednesdays – Noreaga feat Nas – “Body In The Trunk”

Tags

1998, actor, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, Body in the Trunk, Capone-N-Noreaga, CNN, Criteria Studios, Dame Grease, East Coast Hip-Hop, Electric Lady Studios, Florida, gangsta rap, hardcore hip hop, Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop Quotable, Hip-Hop Quotable Wednesdays, Key Yemaya Walker, Miami, music, Nas, Nasir Bin Olu Dara Jones, Nasty Nas, New York, New York City, Noreaga, P.A.P.I., Penalty Records, Queens, Queensbridge, Rapper, reggaeton, sampler, U.S., United States, Victor Santiago Jr., Vocals

[Verse 1]
[Noreaga]
Got out the mall yo
This weeded cat rockin a fade
In my face askin can he see the grenade
I woulda let him see it
The way he came across yo I said nah, beat it
Steph told me buck him
When I reacted Will said chill f–k him
Yo it’ a small world ya know that we’ll see him again
He said f–k you
I said what, repeat it again

[Nas]
Chill son you’e weeded again
Slow down god you’re speedin again
Face lookin like you’re fiendin for Hen
Who that wit you, hide the gat yo n—a come here
You got a pistol that must mean you slingin again

[Noreaga]
Hey yo f–k it yo, I bucked him son
Cause he was on some stupid s–t
Thinking he the real thing
When he was just a duplicate
Saying that he hate our clique
Hate our s–t
Hate the Firm album and the CNN clique
He said he hate you and wish you ain’t have a six
He had coliseum jewelry no Tito tricks

Text Tuesdays – The Yeezus Tour – Blue Lines Blog Review

Tags

808 & Heartbreak, 88-Keys, Ackee Juice Rockers, All Of The Lights, Alone, Andrew "Pop" Wansel, Anthony Kilhoffer, Arca, Article, Atlanta, Ben Bronfman, Benji B, Black Skinhead, Blood on the Leaves, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, Blue Lines Blog Review, Bon Iver, Boogz & Tapez, Bound 2, Brodinski, Can't Tell Me Nothing, Carlos Broady, Che Pope, Chicago, Chief Keef, Clique, Coachella, Coachella Festival, Coachella Valley, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Cold, Coldest Winter, College Dropout, Cruel Summer, Cruel Summer (GOOD Music album), Daft Punk, Dan Black, Def Jam, Diamonds from Sierra Leone, Director, Dom Solo, DONDA, Donda West, Edgar Allen Poe, entrepreneur, Eric Danchick, Evian Christ, fashion designer, Flashing Lights, Georgia, Gesaffelstein, Glow In The Dark Tour, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, GOOD, Good Life, GOOD Music label, Graduation, Guilt Trip, Heartless, Hip-Hop, Hit-Boy, Hold My Liquor, Hudson Mohawke, I Am a God, I Don't Like, I'm In It, Illinois, Illmind, Instagram, iPhone, iPhone 5, iPhone Post, Jack Donoghue, Jeff Bhasker, Jesus Walks, Justin Vernon, Kanye Omari West, Kanye West, Ken Lewis, Kendrick Lamar, Key Yemaya Walker, keyboards, Late Registration, Lifted, Lost in The World, Lunice, Lupe Fiasco, Mannie Fresh, Mano, Mercy, Mike Dean, Mike Will, Mountain, Mufasa, music, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, N.E.R.D., Nas, New Slaves, Nine Inch Nails, No ID, Noah Goldstein, On Sight, percussion, Philips Arena, Power, Rapper, record producer, Rick Rubin, Rihanna, Roc-A-Fella, Runaway, S1, sampler, Send It Up, Sham Joseph, Singer-songwriter, Stronger, synthesizer, Text Tuesdays, The Lion King, The Twilite Tone, The Yeezus Tour, Through the Wire, Tommy Brown, Travi$ Scott, Travis Scott, U.S., United States, Very GOOD Beats, Vocals, Yeezus, Young Chop

“…As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Then- in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life- was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still…”
Excerpt from “Alone” by Edgar Allen Poe.

A top the mountain.

Atlanta – December, 2013

A mountain, a mask, and a fashion of playing to an audience while hiding behind something…

In one of the strangest performances that I have witnessed since Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s opening for Nine Inch Nails, Chicago artist, Kanye West returned to the city of his birth with The Yeezus Tour in support of the aforementioned 2013 album. Poised to present his first solo tour in 5 years (previously touring with his Glow In The Dark Tour featuring Rihanna, N.E.R.D., Lupe Fiasco, and Nas) with opening act Kendrick Lamar.

An elaborately choreographed presentation spanning Kanye’s College Dropout, Late Registration, with some focus on Graduation, but, to my liking, taking the majority of the direction from Yeezus, and 808 & Heartbreak and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy with preceded it, the tour arrived amid the inordinate press that has been known to follow Kanye since 2007. Recent remarks, and blowups have litter current media with talking points regarding the Chicago artist have also followed with the “Talk My Shit,” interludes that now litter dates of his tour.

Ye in action.

The performance intelligently began with Yeezus content, with Yeezy perched atop a mountain with a moon like video board that tempered the climate of the show, whether creating a moon effect, displaying weather, or giving a close up of the performance. Though Kanye, tends to project a larger than life persona, the use of four ornate masks, he plays a high energy show, allowing a separation between he and his audience. Kanye conceals himself for 85% – 90% of the performance. The anonymous and uniform theme is extended to the female dancers and male extras who are covered in full bodysuits, allowing all attention to be focused on the act, Kanye himself.

Morning Traffic Jam Playlist (8/28/13)

Tags

8/28/13, All Gone, Arctic Monkeys, Atlanta, BBC, Beyonce, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, Bowery, Disappointed, Do I Wanna Know?, Everlasting Arms, F*ckwithmeyouknowigotit, Fabian Almazan, Fall Back, Girls, Gotye, Grimes, Hearts a Mess, How To Destroy Angels, iPhone, iPhone 5, iPhone Post, Jay-Z, John Legend, Just A Kiss, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, Kaskade, Key Yemaya Walker, KiD CuDi, Killer Sin, Lady Antebellum, Lana Del Rey, Local Natives, London Grammar, Metal & Dust, Morning Traffic Jam Playlist, music, My Violent Heart (Pirate Robot Midget), Nas, Nine Inch Nails, Nuetron Wireless Crystal, Oblivion, Pharell, Playlist, Random, Rick Ross, Shawn Carter, Shawn Corey Carter, Swimming, The Archer, The Beginning, The Hour, The Vicarious Life, This Rhythm, Tiderays, Too Late, Too Short, trent reznor, Valerie June, Vampire Weekend, Volcano Choir, Who Gon Stop Me, Young & Beautiful (PatrickReza Remix), ZOLA JESUS

1) Arctic Monkeys – “Do I Wanna Know”
2) Nine Inch Nails – “My Violent Heart (Pirate Robot Midget)”
3) Zola Jesus – “Fall Back”
4) Grimes – “Oblivion”
5) Kaskade – “This Rhythm”
6) Kid Cudi feat Too Short – “Girls,” Lana Del Rey – “Young & Beautiful (PatrickReza Remix)”
7) Swimming – “Nuetron Wireless Crystal”
8) Volcano Choir – “Tiderays”
9) Valerie June – “The Hour”
10) Killer Sin – “The Archer”
11) Fabian Almazan – “The Vicarious Life”
12) Local Natives – “Bowery”
13) Jay-Z – “F*ckwithmeyouknowigotit”
14) Gotye – “Hearts a Mess”
15) John Legend – “The Beginning”
16) How To Destroy Angels – “Too Late, All Gone”
17) Lady Antebellum – “Just A Kiss”
18) Jay-Z/Kanye – “Who Gon Stop Me”
19) London Grammar – “Metal & Dust”
20) Vampire Weekend – “Everlasting Arms”
21) Nine Inch Nails – “Disappointed”
22) Jay-Z feat Nas, Pharell, Justin Timberlake & Beyonce – “BBC”

The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.

Blue Lines Blog – Questions for the Author of Blue Lines Part III (Finale)

Tags

Atlanta, Author, Azul Lewis, Beauty (Remix), Black, Blue, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, California, Capitol, Chapel Hill, Chris Carter, college, Common, Common Sense, Creative Writing, De La Soul, Dru Hill, East Coast, Education, Eric Serra, Final Goodbye, Fox Mulder, Fred Durst, Freeworld Records, Gate E, Georgia Dome, Georgia Tech, Gerald Milson, Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop Music, iPad, iPad Post, Job, Joi, Kaleidoscope, Kelis, Key Yemaya Walker, Keypsiia, Keypsiia Yemaya Walker, Limp Bizkit, Love, Lysette, Lysette Titi, manuscript, Memoirs Of A Geisha, Missing You, Monica, Moscone Center, music, Naima, Nas, New York, North Carolina, Notorious B.I.G, Outside, Pearl Jam, Protagonist, Questions, Renee Turner, Sacramento, San Francisco, Sister Souljah, Staind, Starbucks, The Fifth Element, The Pendulum Vibe, The Professional, The The Eyes of A Man Born to Life, The X-Files, UNC Chapel Hill, University, University of North Carolina at Chapel

In recent readings, I read Sister Souljah’s The Coldest Winter Ever, and chose to answer the questions she offerered at the close of her novel. Over the coming weeks, I will offer my answers to her questions (some tailored to address my manuscript) in respect to work, Blue Lines. These questions were answered some time ago, earlier this year. I am providing them in that form.

1. Why did you choose to focus on your book subject?
2. Is Blue Lines a true story?
3. How did you write the story so authentically?
4. Did you, and if so, why did you decide to include yourself as a character?
5. Where we’re you when you first started writing Blue Lines?
6. Which character did you create first?
7. How did you write the manuscript, what method?
8. Why aren’t all of your characters Black?
9. What were you trying to achieve with the novel Blue Lines?
10. Will there be a sequel novel?

8. Why aren’t all of your characters Black?

Blue Lines Blog – Questions for the Author of Blue Lines Part II

Tags

Aaron Lewis, Arthur Golden, Atlanta, Author, Azul Lewis, Beauty (Remix), Black, Blue, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, California, Capitol, Chapel Hill, Chris Carter, college, Common, Common Sense, Creative Writing, De La Soul, Dru Hill, East Coast, Education, Eric Serra, Fox Mulder, Fred Durst, Freeworld Records, Gate E, Georgia Dome, Georgia Tech, Gerald Milson, Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop Music, In A Sentimental Mood, iPad, iPad Post, Jay-Z, Job, John Coltrane, Joi, Joi Gilliam, Kaleidoscope, Kelis, Key Yemaya Walker, Keypsiia, Keypsiia Yemaya Walker, Limp Bizkit, Love, Lysette, Lysette Titi, manuscript, Memoirs Of A Geisha, Missing You, Monica, Moscone Center, music, Naima, Nas, New York, North Carolina, Notorious B.I.G, Outside, Pearl Jam, Protagonist, Questions, Renee Turner, Sacramento, San Francisco, Sister Souljah, Staind, Starbucks, The Fifth Element, The Pendulum Vibe, The Professional, The X-Files, UNC Chapel Hill, University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Wu-Tang Clan, X-Files, Young Sad & Blue

In recent readings, I read Sister Souljah’s The Coldest Winter Ever, and chose to answer the questions she offerered at the close of her novel. Over the coming weeks, I will offer my answers to her questions (some tailored to address my manuscript) in respect to work, Blue Lines. These questions were answered some time ago, earlier this year. I am providing them in that form.

1. Why did you choose to focus on your book subject?
2. Is Blue Lines a true story?
3. How did you write the story so authentically?
4. Did you, and if so, why did you decide to include yourself as a character?
5. Where we’re you when you first started writing Blue Lines?
6. Which character did you create first?
7. How did you write the manuscript, what method?
8. Why aren’t all of your characters Black?
9. What were you trying to achieve with the novel Blue Lines?
10. Will there be a sequel novel?

6. Which character did you create first?

Blue Lines Blog – Questions for the Author of Blue Lines Part I

Tags

A Tribe Called Quest, Arthur Golden, Atlanta, Author, Azul Lewis, Blue, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, California, Capitol, Chapel Hill, college, Common, Common Sense, Creative Writing, De La Soul, East Coast, Education, Gate E, Georgia Dome, Georgia Tech, Gerald Milson, Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop Music, iPad, iPad Post, Jay-Z, Job, Key Yemaya Walker, Keypsiia, Keypsiia Yemaya Walker, Love, manuscript, Memoirs Of A Geisha, music, Nas, New York, Notorious B.I.G, Protagonist, Questions, Renee Turner, Sacramento, San Francisco, Sister Souljah, Starbucks, UNC Chapel Hill, University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Wu-Tang Clan

In recent readings, I read Sister Souljah’s The Coldest Winter Ever, and chose to answer the questions she offerered at the close of her novel. Over the coming weeks, I will offer my answers to her questions (some tailored to address my manuscript) in respect to work, Blue Lines. These questions were answered some time ago, earlier this year. I am providing them in that form.

1. Why did you choose to focus on your book subject?
2. Is Blue Lines a true story?
3. How did you write the story so authentically?
4. Did you, and if so, why did you decide to include yourself as a character?
5. Where we’re you when you first started writing Blue Lines?
6. Which character did you create first?
7. How did you write the manuscript, what method?
8. Why aren’t all of your characters Black?
9. What were you trying to achieve with the novel Blue Lines?
10. Will there be a sequel novel?

1. Why did you choose to focus on your book subject?

Around 1995-96 I had wanted to write a work that centered on Hip-Hop music, a love for Hip-Hop and wanted to build that as the backdrop with a love story between a young aspiring artist and the woman he sought and loved, using them as the metaphor of the larger underlying story. With the time periods music ranging from the current Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, Nas and Common, and echoing back to the Golden Age of A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, and post artists like Wu-Tang Clan, I wanted to you h the 90’s elements in relation to the story’s timeframe. Over the next few years, I developed only five pages of sparse content with space to fill in a story. Honestly, I did not “feel” or have a connection that compelled me to write. Though I wanted to write a book and loved Hip-Hop culture. I wanted to create a valid and quality narrative that would speak to readers beyond a specific genre and target audience. I wanted a well written project that conveyed a universal story.

Hip-Hop Quotable Wednesdays – Nas feat Jay-Z – “Black Republican”

Tags

2006, actor, Black Republican, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, Brooklyn, C. Coppala, City of Prague Philharmonic, Columbia, Crown Heights, Def Jam, Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop Is Dead, Hip-Hop Quotable Wednesdays, Jay-Z, Key Yemaya Walker, keyboard, L. Lewis, L.E.S., Marcia Religiosa, music, N. Jones, Nas, Nasir Bin Olu Dara Jones, Nasir Jones, Nasty Nas, New York, Queens, Queensbridge, Rapper, S. Carter, sampler, Sean Carter, Shawn Corey Carter, The Jones Experience, U.S., Vocals, W. Coleman, Wyldfyer

I know you can feel the magic baby
Turn the mother**** lights down
Esco whuttup?
I mean, it’s what you expected ain’t it?
Let’s go
Turn the music up and the headphones
Yeah, that’s perfect You got to take your time make a **** wait on this mother****
You make **** mad and **** like
**** usually start rappin’ after 4-bars **** go in
Let’s start dancin’ in this mother****
Yeah, we just come outta nowhere

(Nas and Jay-Z together)
I Feel Like A …..

[Jay-Z]
black republican, money I got coming in
cant turn my back on the hood I got love for them
Cant claim my act has been good, too much thug in him
I’ll probably end up back in the hood like f**k it then
rumblin’ over the oven, we was like brothers then
though u was nothin other than the son of my mothers friend
we had nothin then, who would have thought the love would end
I suppose that happens to all good things
never known it was the same song that all hoods sing
thought it was all wood grain, all good brain
we wouldn’t bicker like the other fools, talk good game
never imagine all the disaster that one good brang
could bring, should blame the game and I could
its kill or be killed, how could I refrain
jealousy evil and pride and this brings
its all to a head like a coin, cha-ching
the root of evil strikes again
this could sting, now the team got beef between the post and the point
this put the ring at jeopardy

Hook by Jay Z

I feel like… Black republican, money I got coming in
cant turn my back on the hood I got love for them
Cant claim my act has been good, too much thug in him
I’ll probably end back in the hood like f**k it then

Hip-Hop Quotable Wednesdays – AZ feat Nas – “Mo Money…”

Tags

2005, AZ, Catskills, Cormega, Cry Together, Doe Or Die, DR Period, Foxy Brown, Hip-Hop Quotable Wednesdays, Mo Money Mo Murder (Homicide), Nas, Nas Escobar, Nasty Nas, Nature, October, Queensbridge, Sosa, The Firm, The O’Jays

Nas:
Yo, in a mahogany, black scenery
That was lightin and rain drops
I’m tied up in the basement cocaine spot, like Bangkok
I’m blindfold
Vietnam type mind control this torture
His accent sounds like the rarest culture
Askin me, my atrophy stabbin me gradually
Says his attribute, what’s satanic, masonic, ironic
I felt reminded of my fast life ventures
And winters
Blinded til the flashlight enters

AZ:
Yo dun, before the sun set
Call connect get all the tech’s
I’m vexed, this n—a stall for sex
He lost respect, lets off his neck
My caliber
Got me thinkin on a higher algebra
See me I’m just as foul as ya, but you ain’t got no style in ya
I’m into bigger cheddar
G’s and betta, armarettas
Armani sweaters, plus these crabs could never dead us