By the time I first heard Mos Def’s Black on Both Sides I was not just deep in Black Star and Mos' many amazing guest spots, but I was a reggae and soul-loving teenager too - steeped in Aretha Franklin and Gregory Isaacs. It all came together when “Ms. Fat Booty” came on. A love … Continue reading Sunday Music: Mos Def And Fat Booty Love
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Podcast Of The Week: Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) On Music, Life, And His Career
Yassin Bey, aka Mos Def, has a short Audible audiobook titled, “A Dynamic Career in Communications.” The music and stories are fantastic. Especially if you’re a fan. But he’s got some quotes. This one on in particular, hit me hard. He was talking about church as a sacred and safe space in his childhood. He … Continue reading Podcast Of The Week: Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) On Music, Life, And His Career
A Permanent Marker Marketing Lesson
Learn rules so you can learn how to break them. Sometimes you can use another category to make your own statement. Everybody knows the stain removal ads. The ones where you see a "before and after" picture of a stain on a shirt. Look at this and keep track of your logic. Note how the … Continue reading A Permanent Marker Marketing Lesson
GZA On A&R, Labels, And – Art
The connection between making art and the business of selling it has fascinated me my entire life. It’s an exchange for value. Kind of intangible. Kind of so tangible you can’t even put words on it so much as feel it. Yes, there’s product you can buy. But in the end, consumption is pure experience. … Continue reading GZA On A&R, Labels, And – Art
Who’s Your A&R? (Dante Ross Edition)
In the music business, A&R stands for “artists and repertoire.” Think of an A&R as the touchpoint between the artist’s side of making music and the label’s side of selling it. Maybe the most important A&R of my lifetime has been Dante Ross. You can go read his credits if you don’t know his name. … Continue reading Who’s Your A&R? (Dante Ross Edition)
Del Before Dre (Themes And Trends With Dante Ross)
Del the Funky Homosapien’s first album is called I Wish My Brother George Was Here. The George in the title is (at least indirectly) a reference to George Clinton.* The album itself is brimming with Parliament samples, and if you figured it came after Dr. Dre’s The Chronic because of it’s sonic similarities, I’d understand … Continue reading Del Before Dre (Themes And Trends With Dante Ross)
Environment ALWAYS Drives Experience (Airline Food Edition)
The environment plays a major role in how you think, feel, and behave. So much so - you can’t really separate an experience from the immersive setting in which you had it. Being aware of the environment/experience link can be a superpower. I realize how normatively obvious that sounds. But it gets abnormally weird too, … Continue reading Environment ALWAYS Drives Experience (Airline Food Edition)
Sunday Music: Personal Journalist / Sage Francis
It didn’t age well. And that’s ok. It’s still got merits. I have a series of Sage Francis quotes and references I repeat to myself regularly 20 years on. I’m not a college kid in a pre-social media era crafting AIM away messages anymore. All those bizarre curiosities have moved through and beyond subreddits by … Continue reading Sunday Music: Personal Journalist / Sage Francis
Podcast Of The Week: Brendan Frazier’s 100th Episode
Brendan Frazier’s podcast, The Human Side of Money, recently hit its 100th episode. Clap with me. Maybe tell him we’re clapping for him too - this is a serious accomplishment. While it’s mostly focused on people in the financial advising industry, his human-centric focus makes it much more broadly accessible. And anybody who does something … Continue reading Podcast Of The Week: Brendan Frazier’s 100th Episode
Culture Emerges From Creators, Communicators, Collaborators
Culture emerges from: Creators, who come up with ideas, Communicators, who spread the ideas, and Collaborators, who work with the ideas. Good and bad alike. Yeah, it ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. As you may have noticed. Communities contain cultures. They form collections of these ideas. What’s been created, communicated, and collaborated on. So if … Continue reading Culture Emerges From Creators, Communicators, Collaborators