Go to the Knitting Factory NY site. The Stet show is Listed!!!!

I wonder if anyones agrees that the only genuine progress in Hip-Hop in a decade or more are DJ skills?

Busted eardrums are the worst!!!

So its set!! Stetsasonic @ The Knitting Factory (NYC) October25th!!!

www.myspace.com/sk

So does it make me a fink that I'm NOT a Jay-Z fan? Don't get me wrong, I respect his success, but I don't think he's said anything different since Reasonable doubt. Hmmm just me I guess.

So I skipped the LL show to go to a soul event at the Grounds Coffee Shop. Ozara Ode' was the featured performer. Brilliant. I'm so glad I went. Me & soul music....we got a thing goin' on.

So I'm going to see LL here in Atlanta tonight (same venue I saw Nas & Talib 2 weeks ago). Although he's my favorite, I wanna see if he's still relevant in 2008.

So there's some Stet shows coming up, I'm "sorta" excited. I don't wanna pretend to be young, but I wanna kick ass. Keep you posted.....

So maybe I'm late, but now I'm getting a little used to the myspace thing. My page is pretty ok, I wonder if I'm gonna keep it up. In addition to that, there are rumors about a shutdown. For now, check out my page!!!!
myspace.com/stetsasonic.

Heard a Rakim record today. You f*ggots couldn't catch him after the resurrection!

This week we mourn the passing of one of my dear brothers, Lumumba "Professor X" Carson. I like to say I brought Lumumba into the business. I remember those days in Brownsville he wouldn't let up on calling me 'til I answered. I remember him holding down Stet before he put out his first record. I remember puttiing his name in my records. In the last of his years, we strayed apart like friends sometimes do. We talked but not often, although our words were always kind and thoughtful. I'm gonna miss my friend, who I claim made "The Blackest Record Ever". X-Clan tossed Stet, BDP, PE, and the Stop The Violence Movement in ONE record. LUMUMBA! To the crossroads! And then...............

While in Vegas the past week, I ran into some Hip-Hop legends. Melle Mel, Cool Herc, Sha-Rock, Grandmaster Caz, & Busy Bee. They were promoting a clothing line with their images and stuff. Funny how displaced we all seem sometimes. I do think the tribute payed to rockers like the Stones should be payed to Mel & Herc on our side. How we get to that point is the real question.

For some reason, I'm gonna keep a clear eye on rap/rock relations this week.

I did an intro to an album for a group I manage yesterday. Full-on, Daddy-O voice and all. It was so much fun, and the mic was so dope. Being on the mic, there's no other feeling like it. Wow.

Backround vocals in rap. Really an oxymoron. Its something that only happened due to recorded music. The thought of doubling your own vocals is really a sell-out mechanism.

Rap is outta control. That old EPMD song got me thinking, after hearing about a member of Busta Rhymes crew getting shot to death. What is it that now makes this music form seemingly a magnet for violence? I personally don't think its the music per se, but the present attitude of young people in the entertainment (mostly music) business. You would think, after a direct onslaught of everything from payola to police brutality, things wouldn't be so violent internally. Hip-Hop has a stomach virus.

So I'm trying to decipher how to digest this rapper "beef". The Camron' joint, the new 50 joint, etc. The real question for me is, are these guys that good, or is the public too good to them? Just note: not a lot of research being done by fans nowadays.

It would be interesting to ask the general public, if they think Hip-Hop is in a state of emergency. Some years ago it was common talk. It seemed to change when the big soundscan numbers started.

Two things about working again. One, its good to be doing it again. There's nothing like the certainy of steady pay. Two, and a big two is the surprise of fatigue. I've been keeping fairly long hours to get adjusted, and although waking hasn't been difficult, I have been beat. I know a good deal of it is mental, listening and positioning music all day, and I'll balance it out eventually. For now I just work.