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Lately, I’ve been very disappointed in a lot of new music.  Of course there are lots of new tracks out there that I’ve been playing, but not many full albums.  Between my homies I’m known as being especially critical of music, especially Hip Hop.  Perhaps it’s because I was so spoiled from 92-98 with so much great Golden Era stuff available right on the radio and on television.  Or that I could get 3 nights in a row on a weekend and tape underground tracks that were creative, completely out the box and boundary pushing.  But hey, who knows?  All I know is, I have standards, and dammit, I won’t lower them!  I guess that’s why I’m mainly bumping old stuff.

So my homies asked what stuff excites me these days.  The question wasn’t just music centered, but being the music nerd I am, that’s what I focused on.  So I went to iTunes to see what my most played songs are.  So, I’d like to share with you the songs I have played the most according to iTunes.

The numbers on each track are how many times I’ve played it.

Yes, I have apparently played 1 song 1,728 times.

But tell me it’s not dope though!

Enjoy!-   What I Be Bumpin

Here are the titles, least to most…

Georgia Anne Muldrow - FOnkrocker

Dorrough- Trunk Bang

The Foreign Exchange- All or Nothing/Coming Home to You

Heiroglyphics - You Never Knew

Swizz Beats- Everyday

DJ Quik- Flow For Sale

EPMD- Can't Hear Nothin But the Music

Steve Arrington - Nobody Can Be You

Steve Arrington - You Meet My Approval

Backbone- Hit & Run

M.E.R.C.U.R.Y. (That's me!)- I Got Bills

Heiroglyphics - Phesto D

80 Blocks from Tiffany's (Camp Lo/Pete Rock) - Mic Check

Hieroglyphics - Tajai

Sean Garret, Tyga, & Gucci Mane- She Geeked

Georgia Anne Muldrow- Pad Kontrol

80 Blocks from Tiffany's (Camp Lo/Pete Rock) - The Promo 

Hieroglyphics - Oakland Blackouts

Georgia Anne Muldrow- Simple Advice

80 Blocks from Tiffany's (Camp Lo/Pete Rock)- Jimmy Page

M.E.R.C.U.R.Y - Run-On

80 Blocks from Tiffany's (Camp Lo/Pete Rock)- Santana

As we wrap up this interview with Iron finger, we get to see how this trio works as a team, with Bryan as their lead singer and leader.  Andy and David really trust Bryan’s work as a songwriter and add to the vision of the overall sound.  Bryan’s musical insight and seemingly genius skill on the piano makes him a complete force for others to recognize.

During the middle of the interview, some other guys stopped by their rehearsal space to check out the piano they had in their studio.  I believe they were going to sell it.  David had Bryan demonstrate the sound on the piano.  As far as I can tell, what he played was completely improvised and wasn’t any other song.  He just took to it and played with ease but it was a solo that you could have recorded for an album and it would have blown people away.  I’m convinced if Bryan was alive during the Hard Bop era, he would have been one of the greatest jazz pianists.  The thing is, he can play with that kind of skill with almost any genre!  The keys are truly a part of him.  Moreover you get to see what he feels his responsibility is as a songwriter to use his gifts as a means for insight for all the listeners to peek into their own lives, other peoples lives, and to remember what is most important in this world.

Part 2:  The Centerpiece

- The genius of Bryan

- Bryan’s solo

- What goes into the writing

- Words of advice

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Well it’s that time again.  The BET Awards came on to celebrate the biggest and brightest of Black entertainment.

Now normally you’d think this would be a post where I roast the entire award show as a travesty.  For the past few years now the BET Awards…well…actually every awards show on BET, has been seen as somewhat of a joke.  They rarely get very good hosts, the scripted material for the presenters is sometimes embarrassing, and the overall production doesn’t seem very well put together.  People gather on Twitter to come up with their best roasts of the entertainment as well as people’s outfits.

Well, I have to say this year it seems like someone over at BET really stepped their game up.

THIS WAS THE MOST ENTERTAINING BET AWARDS I HAVE SEEN IN YEARS!

But unfortunately, there were some things that I was unhappy with to say the least.   And when I say unhappy, I mean “Is this real life?!” type disappointment.

But let’s talk about the good stuff first.

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Iron Finger is a rare breed of Rock music.  Musicians that play their own instruments and do all their own writing and singing.  Today we have a lot of artists that let all the electronics do the work.  These guys create everything by hand and by heart.

I heard Iron Finger’s music through Bryan’s girlfriend.  It didn’t take me long to tell that these guys were the real deal.  You can even hear in recorded music when a band can really play.  They take solos.  They have chord changes and different structure that keeps your attention.  They don’t just replay the song live like the recording.  Every time they play the song it’s different.  I sat in and shot some of their rehearsal before I interviewed them.  They play so easily in rehearsal, but with your eyes closed you’d think they were all the way up to level 10.  Well, I’ve seen the perform live since this.  This rehearsal was at about a 7.  When they get to 10, it’s an experience worth telling your friends about.

Part 1- Never-ending

- Who is Iron Finger?

- All the instruments

- Influences

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Earlier this year I was watching a documentary on a writer named Fran Lebowitz.  Fascinating film.  I highly recommend it.  At one point Lebowitz is speaking on a 2 person panel.  Her, and Toni Morrison.   At one point she addresses the audience and says:

By the way…When Toni said “Write the book you want to read.”, she didn’t mean everyone.

As Lebowitz speaks further, she says that this idea of self esteem has morphed into something much larger, where people think they can do anything well.

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