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
Tag: life
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
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
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
Get Down On It: What Else I’m Up To, 11/23/2023 Edition
What are you doing with all of this semi-free holiday time? If you need some YouTube or podcasts, I have some self-promotional fun for you - links at the bottom: “Hold My Beer” Breaking News #9. It’s primary season (and the season lasts a full year, so yeah). As the crazy gets crazier, or goes … Continue reading Get Down On It: What Else I’m Up To, 11/23/2023 Edition
Show A Little Gratitude (Tracy Chapman Edition)
Tracy Chapman won her first CMA this year. It only took 35 years. And a Luke Combs cover of her song, “Fast Car.” Gratitude. Grateful for the recognition. Graceful during the long lags between receiving any. Tracy Chapman knows a thing (or 35) about gratitude. In 1988, when “Fast Car” was released as the first … Continue reading Show A Little Gratitude (Tracy Chapman Edition)
Even Kobe Was Never Jordan
Kobe was never Jordan. Because Kobe was Kobe. And Jordan was Jordan. We can compare the two. But a person is only ever themselves. It carries further. Lola Mure made the comment, “Even if you did the same trainings, spent the same hours and had the same philosophy as Michael Jordan, you’d never be him. … Continue reading Even Kobe Was Never Jordan
Selling Mirrors Vs. Offering Reflections
“A flower is just a weed with a marketing budget.” Rory Sutherland, paraphrased, but certainly in “Alchemy” too “However you frame yourself as an artist, the frame is too small.” Rick Rubin, via “The Creative Act” “I had to forget selling mirrors and focus on offering reflections.” Matt Zeigler, via “The Rick Rubin Of Advice: … Continue reading Selling Mirrors Vs. Offering Reflections