This album is dedicated to all my people in São Paulo, Brazil (and all of Brazil in general). I have been blown away by the love and support Brazil has shown me. I watch and notice who gives me love and credit for my work. Thank you. I hope to visit and perform in Brazil in the near future.
I want to tell you a bit about this project, track by track. “No other ones” describes my current thoughts about my place in the game, and how there is nobody else doing what I’m doing. The beat sounds like flying. I dig it. I already had this track ready to go before I began the project.
“A lil reminder”: This was the first track considered for the album after I had finished recording Brutal. Just a bit of bragging. I tried a rap in a higher voice for a different texture. The beat reminds me of something that would’ve been on my Doctor Do Much album. I played kalimba on the hook.
“SP featuring Jon Rogers”: This is one of the final tracks recorded for the project. I came up with this freaky beat and sent it to Jon, in Columbus, to jump on. We both took a more “freestyle” approach to the raps, just vibing. I originally played cuica on the outro, but then I felt it was overkill so I axed it for the final mix.
“Jamalude”: is an excerpt from a little freestyle jam I did a while back. I thought it fit well here.
“Emcee mode”: More bragging, I rap over a weird syncopated type of beat. I slowed down the tempo slightly a couple times throughout the song to see if any of my beat nerds would notice. Hope y’all notice the atcq reference in the 2nd verse!
“The dew in it”: This one was created last fall. I’ve been waiting to find a project that it would fit on. I did a re-edit and I think it works perfectly. To my beat nerds — y’all know where the drums are from. Hope y’all liked how I freaked them and the vocal sample.
For my hiphop historians, “Breezy”: Just as the title suggests, a little interlude that makes me think of palm trees swaying in the breeze along a quiet, sandy beach in a bay, somewhere.
“Listen to this:” As the hook and lyrics suggest, I wrote this on a Friday night when I was feeling restless. As soon as I made the beat, I knew what direction to go in: moody and brooding.
“Don’t don’t stop stop”: This one is all about the beat, for me. A lot of toying with the guitar samples to get them to sound discordant and wavy. Beat heads: y’all recognize the vocal sample? I mangled her voice good, LOL! I should really get a lot more credit on the beats and textures. Damn.
“Kareem loves you”: If I didn’t love y’all, I would not even bother making grooves like this. This track is for the heads that REALLY get it. Something to make the funk-face to.
‘Pictures’: This jam is another moody, reflective piece where I’m just looking back. Originally, my man illa-J was featured on this, he was rapping about literally fucking the beat. Like, he was having sex with the drums. Haha! Wild shit! LOL. It was dope, but didn’t fit the vibe of the song’s direction. I DO, however, have the original version. So, maybe one day I will throw it out there for giggles. illa is the man, though. More on the way soon.
Torchlight Commission, Word up!
“Jon’s groove”: Jon Rogers hit me with some beats recently. I’m going to do a whole project on his beats soon. I used one of his beats as a short “joint” for this album, because it totally fit the vibe. Jon is the man, another Torchlight Commission member.
“Humpin”: A nice little interlude I came up with, trying to capture a tropical vibe. I played a little bit of guitar on this one, just for extra texture. Yum yum!
“Rocksteady featuring Jon Rogers”: More tropical vibes and lyrics dealing with old and current relations, memories, both fictional and non-fictional, just vibing out. I love Jon’s rap style, it is so laid back, yet matter-of-fact. The beat sounds like clouds melting.
“Don’t get much cooler”: This one was a quickie for sure. I think I made this one just for something to do one evening. It wasn’t intended for this project, originally, but every time I do a new album I find a couple random tracks that fit. This one was done in late January.
“Baysider”: A swift little interlude that feels like a warm afternoon looking out onto a bay of blue water. Vibes for the soul.
“One one”: This is just some whimsical shit written for people that have lost and learned how to keep going. Keep your eyes on the silver linings. Feel it.
“This spring”: It is pretty self explanatory. I was just feeling optimistic, spring does that for some of us. To me, this song was kind of like and unofficial continuation of “Dun it again” from my old Mount Unpleasant project from the late 90s. It sort of felt like that vibe.
Anyhow, there ya go. Now, I leave it up to y’all to find your own interpretations and feelings from these songs. Remember, every album is intended to be digested as a whole portrait from start to finish. One love. Next month is an instrumental project recorded on four track analog. Stay tuned! #12AlbumsFor2016
-Moka
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