Today I got to check out Temper Trap and catch Sweet Disposition"". Love that damn song. Shout out to Whiz for putting me up on game waaaaaay back.
I also had a chance to get down with Amp Live in promotion for his upcoming album "Murder at the Discotech" out June 15th. If you forgot, I'm featured on the lead off single, "Gary Is A Robot".
This is the lead single from Amp Live's upcoming album on Om Records. I've been hearing a lot of great feedback about the video since it dropped. Glad folks are enjoying it.
I remember running around back in '98 as a teen, chasing down anything that had to do with hip-hop; Telegraph Ave in Berkeley, Hip-Hop, in the Park, KPFA and even La Pena Cultural Center. Wherever I could get a fix of the four elements, I was there, hahaha... During that time, Zion I was on the come up, doing HELLA local shows in promotion for their project Mind Over Matter.
There were two gigs that stand out in memory. One was at one of the pier's in SF for some nonprofit youth event. I remember being there with my Youth Radio family, watching Zion I perform when somehow, I ended up with a mic in my hand rapping along side Whiz with Amp Live manning the decks on some open mic steez. Back then, Amp Live used to rock live with an Ensoniq EPS. I was always intrigued by that. Its funny that just yesterday I was performing with him at Outside Lands.
The second time was at La Pena in Berkeley. I'll never forget how crackin' it was with high school students. When they dropped "Inner Light" I went crazy... Back then it was some crazy shit; A group in the Bay rappin' over Drum n' Bass influenced beats. That stuck with me. And I still have the cassette single...
Last year I had the "chance" to go to the opening night of San Francisco's Outside Land's Festival.
I got to will call and to my surprise, there were TWO tickets... no just the one I was counting on. As I walked away from will call, a sudden impulse of greed struck me. I ran into my homie who couldn't get in... I sold him the extra ticket. I then thought about the amount I could make on my remaining ticket. The Dark Side overwhelmed me and *poof*... the other ticket had been sold. As I walked away, unsure of my decision to take money over music, I suddenly became sure.
I WAS AN IDIOT.
The whole reason I came was to see a group I had never seen before.
A group I had been a fan of for over 10 years at that point.
A group that doesn't get out this way much.
A group that had purple lights flooding the night sky over Golden Gate Park as they performed my favorites off of OK Computer... Yes. I sold out on RADIOHEAD.
I still feel bad about it because I have yet to catch them live. Still.
So here it is again. Outside Lands has come back around, and although its Radiohead-less, I'm going to make sure I'm there. Mainly because I'm performing with Amp LIve for a couple shows.
It's rare that the sun moon and stars align in favor of Oakland's nightlife, BUT it happens this FRIDAY! If you haven't been to Downtown Oakland, you might not know that there has been a whole new crop of bars popping up, as well as the historic Fox Theater , making the blocks around the corner from Oaksterdam the new East Bay destination.
As if that wasn't enough, its going to be First Friday, which means Oakland's monthly Art Murmur is going down, like a pre-party for the show...
