suicidal thoughts

works been kicking my ass. it's not that i have been working extremely hard or long hours lately. i've definitely put in many more hours in a week on other projects. it's just that this project is REALLY annoying ... mostly due to the fact that my manager does not keep me in the loop, or at least not until it's too late, and then i end up having to scramble to get things done. our clients have been here twice since i've returned from canada, and both times i felt we wasted their time (at least partially).

most of my friends are going to be leaving san diego soon. i have few as it is; i don't want to give up the ones i do have. there's still some hope that one or two will stay in the area.

... and here's the kicker.
i received confirmation from multiple sources last night that dynamite is going to stop playing hip hop (or at least not as much). my bartender adrian said it was a long story but the change may only be temporary. one of the dj crew guys ali said they were trying to even out the guy girl ratio. dj profile (with whom i talked to the longest) said they're trying to change up the clientele. too many girls were complaining about being groped. etc etc.

none of that makes sense to me.

too many girls getting groped ... i think that has little to do with the music. it has more to do with the clientele, and if they want to change that, so be it ... but changing the music is not the answer. be stricter at the door. raise drink prices and cover.

and switching the music isn't going to help the girl guy ratio. maybe it was a little better last night than it normally is ... but there was less of everyone. there was probably a third less people than they normally have. hopefully the owner will realize he's losing money and switch things back. both adrian and profile said the change may be temporary, but when i closed out my tab last (after only one drink!) i felt like it was good bye.

i'm now in search of a dynamite replacement. i have a couple places in mind that may be good candidates, but they won't be same ...

=(

instead of flow for flow, let's go show for show

on friday, i saw the blastmaster krs-one live. kid capri and the grand wizard theodore also showed up. though krs is well passed his prime, he still came live with it. the guy was very energetic and animated on stage, yet still delivering crisp flows. he even had local b-boys and b-girls breaking on stage next to him while he flowed.

and for those of you that don't know, krs-one is one of THE most influential rappers EVER. it was a very good show. he went through some classics, such as south bronx, the bridge is over, mc's act like they don't know, and i'm still #1. i'm glad i was able to see this legend.

up next: the upstarts (group with some of the dynamite djs) on the 17th and the roots on feb 12.

too close

as you all know, dynamite keeps me sane (if you didn't know that, WHO ARE YOU?!?) ...

you can only imagine the feelings of anxiety i had when i heard rumors from my dynamite friend j that they were going to end their hip hop nights there ... something about too many girls getting groped. i'm not really sure what that has to do with hip hop. i was dreading going last night because of the chance that the rumors were true.

when i got there last night, they were in the middle of nice funk set. i wasn't surprised because they often get funky there (even did a james brown tribute set a week ago that i missed), but still ... it's not hip hop. i was filled with relief when i heard ohmega watts' mind power come on ... followed by mos def's brown sugar and erykah badu's love of my life. they still didn't play as much hip hop as they normally do ... but i was more than happy that there was any at all.

that was too close ... i'm still a little wary ... keep your fingers crossed for me.

liberation

with all the money that's ruling the music business these days, it's refreshing to see some artists making music for the sake of making music ... or at least, for the fans. in any case, you rarely see artists giving away their creations for free ... and when they do, it's not often quality work.

but here's a change. download liberation, the new collaboration album (9 FREE songs) between talib kweli and madlib, here. mine's still downloading, which means i can't comment on how good the stuff is, but kweli and madlib are two of the best doing it right about now. unfortunately, as far as i know, the album is only free for the rest of today (friday). get to it!