It is with great urgency that I write you this letter.  In a little under 48 hours time I fly to San Francisco to visit the homie 5 ill of United States of Mind.  He is pictured here.

somebodies seen Saturday Night Fever one too many times

However, as I looked in my accounts I realize that I am not going to have enough money for recreational activities on this vacation (you know like sightseeing, riding the trolleys, hookers, blow, seeing concerts, dining, more blow, recording time, and bike rentals).  Of course, I could’ve managed my money better by doing less blow and hookers in detroit (there’s no trolley rides here) but it is what it is.  I also shouldn’t have given 50% of my life savings to a midget financial accountant named Dallas (never trust people named after cities) but we are where we are.

Anyways, I will be tending bar at The Bosco this Wednesday (December 2nd)  for our weekly night “Barely Legal Wednesdays” (Yes you read that right….don’t judge us).

i feel like this is not helping my cause

I urge one and all to come out and drink in abundance and tip well.  Let me be honest here.  I actually don’t care if you drink at all as long as you tip well, but my bosses will like you more if you spend some dough. Just kidding in that completely serious sort of way.  In addition to my winning personality and award winning service, DJ Erv will be your soul providah for the evening (that means he provides the soul) and it will also be the lovely Ms. Jackie Barnes’s birthday celebration so come out and say hey to her as well, but most importantly give me money.

If you can’t make it to The Bosco on Wednesday it’s okay.  You can just western union it straight to San Francisco.  Hey if I make enough money on Wednesday I will even share some of the hookers and blow with 5 ill (not necessarily in that order and of course in addition to the trolley rides and sight seeing).  Just because we’re starving artists it doesn’t mean we can’t ball outta control sometimes (actually I think it means exactly that but I’m trying to be the exception to the rule here people.)  If not for me….do it for the hookers.

and lets not forget about….

Oh and I almost forgot.  Before anyone gets all up in arms about this blog and takes this seriously (except for the money part of course) reeeelaaaax.

since I’ve just learned to actually post footage to my blog i figure i’d throw some content from my youtube channel so you can see how i do it visually in addition to my typing skills (or lack thereof depending on opinion).  anyways, here we go.

Clip 1:  Footage from Live @ The Get Up

-This was the show that facilitated my project “Live @ The Get Up”.  I love the live show as you guys know, but the CD is missing the visual aspect so here is some footage from that.  Although I made the Live CD just because I wanted to do a Live CD but look out for some more annoying promotion on it soon and I may try to enlist you in annoying some more people.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKUtjr1CsB4

Clip 2: Change The Name in Bloomington

-This clip is the last show we did for the Sweat Equity Tour earlier in the year.  Although the quality of the sound isn’t that good in this clip i love the energy that comes across between me and the crowd at this show.  There is something about the last show after you’ve done a string of them.  You know you’ll get a break so you don’t have to protect your voice and don’t have to worry how you’ll physically feel the next day.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLNzArQ_Hi0

Clip 3: Freestylin’ on The Way to New Orleans

-I’m poppin’ in this clip just to let you cats know that I can go off the top of the head if need be. lol.  shouts to Apollo Brown because that’s a beat off of his Make Do project which is the shit.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FPr8O4fMrI

Clip 4: Cheryl droppin’ some Knowledge

-I’m droppin this clip because I think Cheryl is one of the most interesting people I have come across in my travels.  I think if I was more popular as a blogger/rapper/person people would view this clip spread it around and then Cheryl will blow up. Lets make it happen.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XbA5VwVcVA

whaddup people,

Yeah, I’m feeling pretty good so I’m gonna hit you with 2 updates in one day.  This ones a bit easy as the homie DJ Graffiti hit me with an email the other day alerting me to a mini-mix he did for the homie Ro Spit.  If you’ve been hiding under a rock the past week or so you might not know that Ro Spit has just released an album for free download at www.RoSpit.com.

Anyways, I’ve known both of these gentlemen for quite some time and they are both killin’ it in their respective fields – they even occasionally cross over into each others fields as Ro started out as a DJ for the Subterraneous crew and I’ve heard Graf spit some bars on the classic Bling Free mixtape series.  I’m also trying to spread word on this because it’s always dope when two camps get together to prop each other up.  Cats really don’t know how us artists in Detroit/Ann Arbor/Lansing really connect so projects like this serve that purpose.  Skip that crab in a bucket shit.  There is strength in numbers here so best believe they’re both winning with this move. Anyways, to make this short and sweet I’ll just copy the important parts of the email Graffiti sent me and you guys check out the links and spread the word.

What’s up D.Allie?

I’m blasting out a short mix that I just did featuring songs by one of Detroit’s most up and coming emcees, Ro Spit.  All the songs in my mix feature Ro Spit solo on the mic over beats from producers from the A-Side camp (Lab Techs: 14KT, Vaughan T & Forekast, and one from Astronote).  The songs are all taken from “The Oh S#!t Project” that was released yesterday for free download on www.RoSpit.com.  Feel free to post my mini-mix and/or a link to the entire project. The Oh S#!t project isn’t an official A-Side release, but Ro Spit is definitely family!

My mini-mix (direct link hosted on my mediafire account):
http://www.mediafire.com/?zjn2ztyjmn1

The entire Oh S#!t Project & more info about Ro Spit is available at:
http://www.RoSpit.com

The Oh S#!t Project Cover
http://www.asideworldwide.com/images/1013.jpg

a rose to all my moms out there.

Whaddup People,

I’m writing this from a hotel in minnesota right now watching the Laker’s game.  The Laker’s have obviously underestimated their opponent so I figured to hell with the game and I might as well put down something random on the blog.  Well here it goes…

I’m in Minnesota this week visiting my Grandmother.  It’s actually a coincidence that it’s mother’s day weekend (it really just happened to be a weekend where my mother, father, and me could make the drive – my sister flew in from New York).  My Grandma was in the hospital a few weeks ago (don’t worry – she seems to be fine now) so we’ve really been meaning to make the trip since then.  Also a local cat on the Hip Hop scene passed earlier in the week (Eric aka N. fury aka Luhdisshit aka one eyed guy) so it definitely lit a fire under me to see people when you can.  The phrase that has been passing through my mind all week is, “They’ll bring flowers to your funeral, but they won’t bring you soup when you’re sick”.  I wanna say I came across that phrase in the one-man-show Roger Guenevier Smith did on Huey Newton (classic material so cop that if you can), but that’s neither here nor there.

Although I’m here in Minnesota now, I haven’t been here in a few years, and in some part I’m here now because my Grandma was in the hospital not too long ago.  Although she’s alright now, she is getting older so I did feel an immediacy to see her.   As I used to get here once every year or two, it seems that life gets in the way of me doing things like this.  I always got a show to do, a shift to work, a song to write, something to plan, or at least I have to feel the pressure of not doing these things if I’m not.  However, there will always be something else to do so this weekend has made me think a lot about priorities and how they should guide my decisions.

So I guess I’m constantly wondering where the balance lies.  Of course I gotta make my way in this world the best way I can, but I have to make time for my family and friends, and this is probably more for me than it is for them.  They give me my strength at the end of the day.  I often think that’s why I have stayed in Detroit up till this point.  I enjoy being able to have lunch with my dad, and having dinner with both parents on sundays.  Although a lot of my friends have left Detroit and I miss them, there’s many that have stayed and many more I have made.  That being said I do want to figure out how to travel a little more and pop in on my extended friends and fam.  But enough with the theory…

The weekend has been very relaxing for the most part.  Of course my family has the normal disfunctions (lol) but we’re pretty comfortable in the disfunction as of now.  My grandma still looks great.  My Uncle and Aunt have 2 beautiful daughters that are 11 and 12 respectively.  I even got to get a little music in my system.  I checked out a hip hop band by the name of Parallax.  I actually met these brothas when I was on the Sweat Equity Tour in Austin for SXSW.  I didn’t get to see them play down there, but they killed it up here in Minnesota.  And we were definitely on Lake Minnetonka for the performance (peace to the homie Prince).  Also as a special treat my uncle is a bass player and I got to see him and his band practice (my hip hop peeps don’t always believe this but you can do music after 50. lol).  Music really does run in the family.  I gotta run but I’ll probably do blogs on each of these wonderful acts soon with all the necessary links and all that.

Anyways, not sure where this post is going, but that’s why it’s a random thought (that’s D. Allie language for “read at your own risk”).  However, I think I can sum it up with this.  We often take things for granted, and Joni Mitchell says, “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”.  As I am often guilty of that, I’d like to say that today is not that day, and I know what I have in my Grandma, my mother, and all my friends and family.

PS – I can’t let a mother’s day blog go without discussing my mother.  Words cannot really describe my love for her.  I love the relationship we share, I cherish the conversations we have, and it’s funny but I think she takes care of me more now than she did when I was a kid.  I think she wanted me to figure it out for myself, but she has always been a safety net for me.  I always thought I got my smarts and music from my Dad (who is my best friend), and in regards to my mother I always feel I got my social skills from her and an ablility to party (there was a long time where she could drink me under the table. lol. I’ve had to train by working at a bar for 4 years to get the edge).  They say that daughters always marry men who remind them of their father, and with that being said I would be honored to find a women that compared to my mother.  Although, that’s probably why I have so many troubles with women.  lol. I am truly a sucker for a strong beautiful woman.  I believe my man Fluent said it best when he wrote, “thank God for pretty woman with opinions”.  As always, I could go on and on, but I should better just end this and actually spend some more time with my mother on this day so I’ll leave with this.   Through the ups and downs and all arounds, my mother has always remained a lady in the best sense of the word and I love her for that.  Happy Mother’s Day To All.

made to be broken.

hey all,

Didn’t really have any music to discuss today so i thought that i’d pump out all the mixed feelings that I go through on Valentine’s day.  In my entire life I’ve only been in a relationship through one valentine’s day so mostly this holiday reminds me of how horrible my relationships have been with women through the years.  Of course it takes two to tango, but as I am the common denominator in all of my failed relationships I’d rather take a look at myself and see where i go wrong from there.

I’ve always thought a big obstacle in my trouble with women has been the music.  Of course it is a full time job but there is no clocking out.  It is my true love and humans usually play second fiddle to it (and we all know how much a lady loves being your second priority).  After my last relationship I decided I was going to be single for a couple years to figure myself out.  Well it’s a year and a half and I’m probably more lost than when I started that particular journey.  However, it’s not like I spent them celibate and alone.

When I made the decision I wanted to be single that’s more me saying I didn’t want a commitment.  I was more upfront about this with some than others (I know…racking up the karma points).  In this time I saw some ladies for various periods of time and of course they all had the same result (there are men that think relationships work and there are men that think they don’t….they are both usually right – i stole the sentiment of that phrase from somewhere).  Me being unable to commit and wanting to see other people will eventually make any relationship die out.  Am I selfish.  Maybe.

However, I did connect with someone that made me realize how stupid it was to put time limits on singledom.  I felt like I could stay down for this one, but it seems as if she thought of me differently.  To her credit I’m not sure if I really gave her any reason to view me differently.  I’m not neccesarily the most open person and feeling friendly kind of guy.

So this brings me to now.  I still am having trouble getting this one out of my head, but I am still moving forward with dating others.  Every lady I have the pleasure of spending time with brings out a different side of me which I like but unfortunatley polygamy is not the move (i’m not against it…i just don’t have that type of time. lol).  Times like valentine’s day make me want to pull some grandiose gesture and make a play for the one that dissed me.  However, do I just hold a flame for her because she dissed me or are my feelings genuine?  If I succeed, do we find out that it doesn’t work later, and then I just wasted our time?  Am I being fair to others I spend time with if I still do think about this girl, or is it proper that I just get on with my shit?

I would like to believe in love but I am quick to play the cynic.  Half the time I’m just thinking it’s my ego getting off on it and not my soul.  I’m definitely scared of being alone, and i like being comfortable with someone.  However, I am also young and I always feel i can trade up ( i know how bad that sounds).  The point is I am really a mess and few people really know how insecure and ridiculous I am (I guess those people love me because they keep my secret. lol)

Anyways, this is in the random thoughts section because I am just writing the first things that pop into my head on this fine day we call Valentine’s Day.  Sound off if you’re reading and let me know i’m not the only one who’s unlucky in love.  Or leave me to believe it’s only me.  The situation doesn’t change much either way and it’s not really hip hop to discuss feelings. lol. kinda. Until next time….

One Love,

hopefully it'll come back together.