History

While doing some much needed cleaning, I came across a Ticketmaster envelope. Thought nothing of it and was about to throw it away until I felt something inside. No lie, when I opened it up, I saw a bright light and heard a choral in the background. Inside were...ticket stubs, stubs I thought I lost but now found.

Here are some of my prized stubs (starting top clockwise):

1) Okayplayer Tour (Winter Mini-Tour with Def Jux and Pete Rock & CL Smooth)
This was a cool little tour and the Roots are my favorite group to see live. If you haven't seen them live, you're missing out, especially if you love live music. The Def Jux crew was okay, but nothing really to write home about. However I was amped to see Pete Rock & CL Smooth rock (no pun intended), being that I never saw them perform live. Also with the supposed riff, this was something that had to be seen. Was not disappointed, just seeing CL get live to some of their classic hits was enough for me.

Another thing I remembered was seeing it with Fredara, who later told me it was a date haha. If only I had known...(Rain check?) . It was also funny how she spent some of her time looking for some place to charge her phone during the Def Jux portion of the show.

2) Prince (Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Show)
A reminder for those new, which is probably most of you, I am a die hard Prince fan. He's the reason why I lost interest in playing classical music, much to the chagrin of my Russian piano teacher. The reason...man, that's for another post. Let's just say he's a major influence of mine, no matter that he's releasing, in my opinion, sub-par material now.

Anyway this was my very first Prince show...ever. Remember a friend of mine kept looking at me. Asked her why and her reply was "I wanted to see if you were going to cry." Thanks...but I ain't crying over no man (well not one living, I did when Dilla died). I did, however, get excited when I saw the brown and black guitar (the one used during Computer Blues). Yes he did wear heels that lit up when he walked haha. Yes some of his fans are out there (a mother yelled at her daughter to not drop the flowers she brought for Prince). Yes I didn't get home until 3am and had to go to work the next day. Would I do it again? Cmon now...

3) Okayplayer Tour (2000)
I remember showing up late for this one haha, but the energy was awesome. I believe on the bill was The Roots, dead prez, Flo Brown, Jaguar Wright, and I think Jill Scott. The second leg in Nov is the one I remember the most, mainly because I was with my ex during the blissful times haha (also remember yelling at a white chick who stepped on her coat. "That's kinda sexy"---ex)

4) A Tribe Called Quest (Farewell Tour)
To say Tribe was a part of my life would be an understatement. Their albums were the soundtracks to whatever phase I was in my life from high school to mid/late twenties. So going to this heartbreaking show was a must.

Usually I would go with my brothers, but they couldn't make it so I went solo. Great show and I remember trying to get them to do Lyrics to Go haha. Fondest memory was seeing Slum Village (complete with Dilla) for the first time. Crowd wasn't really feeling them until they did "I Don't Know". Remember a group of dudes singing along after relating; guess they had a homie they didn't know why they messed with haha.

5) De La Soul (Tramps)
De La Soul also falls into the same category as Tribe as far as being an influence. They showed us that you can be different and still get love (kind of like the Nerd/Geek Era we're going through now). Another great show. If you hear Tribe, De La, or the Roots are coming to your town, buy tickets immediately!

This is also the show that was recorded as well as Posdnuos showing up late due to the birth of his son, I believe. This was also the show where afterwards I called my ex in England, which is a long story I rather not get into. I will say the question I asked her was...stupid.

6) What Is Jazz Festival (Roots, Vernon Reid, Erykah Badu)
Besides seeing them at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, this was my very first Roots concert (wow!). Interestingly enough I can't remember what songs they did or how the show was. I do remember being amazed at Vernon Reid's set, which was also my first time seeing him live. However the main draw was a young unknown singer who had New York on their ears when she released a song called "On and On". I believe this was her first show ever in NY. Headwrap, offering table, incense, yep. Remember the last song on the Love Below where Dre talks about the show he met Erykah at? This was it.

7) Black Lily (Last BL Show at Wetlands)
Almost every Sunday from 1999 to 2001, I used to go to Wetlands to see the lovely ladies of Black Lily perform. It was a showcase for Jazzfatnastees, Jaguar Wright, and 3-7000-9 with a female first open mic. Always a wonderful way to end the weekend to see the ladies get their shine. Also in attendance was Fishbone, who perfomed earlier the night. Wanted to say something to Angelo but fear over took me.

Usually after Black Lily, we would walk with our New Jersey friends to the PATH station at the World Trade. For some reason, maybe due to spent energy, we decided against that and took regular transit. The following Tuesday, the towers and the station were no more...


So yeah, those are why they are my prized possession. Have to find a way to preserve them better...

Cheeba

Man, do I love this song. Bilal, please come out with a new album. We need you, sunn!
(produced by Nottz)


Cheeba feat. Bilal from Plug Research on Vimeo.

Crash

LPs : Flood :: MP3s : Crash

I'm still in mourning for my 500gig external hard drive that died in 2008 (or what I like to call it, The Crash of 2008). It was probably karma that took my precious mp3s away*, for what I have no clue. What I do know is that I lost some great tunes I've been collecting for over eight years, most which I can't find again**. Like what you ask? Let me run down a list of some I could remember:

• various Prince bootlegs like Charade and Livesexy
• various Dilla beat tapes including the original Ruff Draft and Jaylib unreleased instrumentals
• some VonPea and Donwill solo tracks before they became Tanya Morgan
• some Dilla samples that were nicely complied
• some songs my friend in Akron made before she became a pastor
• instrumental of Little Brother's "Nic's Groove" as well as various LB and Nicolay tracks that were on #thatsite
• A DJ Jamad mix I used to play almost weekly
• A Brown Sugar Era D'Angelo song maybe only three people have
• A Nujabes album (RIP)
• the Samurai Champloo albums
• some japanese jazz albums
• various samples I used/wanted to use

Just typing those make me tear up. It's especially hard when you hear random people mention songs, you go to your music folder (or drive), and you get this.

I know various DJs who look down on mp3s and while I agree there is a warmth not felt through digital formats, mp3 collectors have more in common with their vinyl counterparts than both sides would admit. Both look for that one perfect tune. Both have a secret stash. Both can tell you a story about a particular acquisition. Most importantly, both love music.

But the one main commonality is how painful the lost of a music collection is, which goes back to the first sentence of this blog. In my hearts of heart, I still think Beats, Rhymes, and Life suffered when Q-Tip's wax collection got destroyed in a flood (or was that a fire)***. I remember reading that RZA got flooded THREE TIMES. I'm pretty sure at one point most of my favorite producers got hit with this causality.

With the advent of digitizing music and Serato/Scratch, vinyl collectors at least have a back up plan, but what about the mp3 collectors such as myself? What hard copy do we have of files we have a history/memory with? Easy answer would be to back up your files, but even that is not fool proof. I guess in time someone *coughGooglecough* will come up with a way to archive mp3s, especially with digital downloads are becoming more and more common.

Until then, here is a 40oz to pour for the mp3s that are no longer here. We miss you.

1Luv2U,
Prov!?

To Have & To Hold - Taster Tape from Jony Lyle on Vimeo.

*If you believe in stuff like that
**Actually I could, but that would be way too time (and money) consuming
***Remember this was around the time Tip was in his "hood" phase, making tracks like "Gangsta Bitch" (RIP Apache), Tiger's "Who Planned This", and Mobb Deep's "Give Up The Goods". Straight bangers