Whaddup my people,

As I was only able to do the Midwestern leg of the Clipped Wings Tour the last show I appeared on was last night in Milwaukee.  I am writing this from my friends apartment in Chicago taking a day of rest here before I head back home to Detroit.  Yeah, I know it’s not a far drive back but I’m lazy and like to take my time.  lol.  As I’ve done more specific tour diaries in the past and will probably bore you with the minute details of the road in the future I will opt out of doing so this time around.  For one I was only on the road a short while to really get into the debauchery that I’m usually known for, and I feel it far better that I discuss how I’m feeling instead of specific events.  It might come off as random and scatter-brained but here goes nothing.

For one the road is a rough place for artists like us that are still out here starving.  We are kind of caught in a catch 22 in the fact that we don’t have a ton of fans throughout the country so it’s difficult to tour, but we have to hit the road in order to build a fan base so there’s really no choice in the matter.  There are no tour buses (honda element), no hotel rooms (although I was able to talk my way into a $25 room one of the nights), there’s not always showers, there’s not always people at the shows, there’s no fancy technical and personal riders sent out so that means there are definitely no bottles of champagne popped.  There’s us, our tour mates, and the artists and people we have built connections with before.  The goal and what ultimately determines if a tour is a success are the new connections we are able to build in each city.

Gone are the days in which artists can breeze into a city, chill backstage, hit the stage, and then dip.  When we are touching down in a city we want to know what the scene is like.   I’m trying to talk to everyone I can to acquire the info, and to share my experience with them inside and outside of music (I still pretend like there’s still a difference).  Gone are the days where artists can even stand behind a merch table.  After I leave the stage the first thing I’m going for is my box of merch and I am talking to everyone personally in the venue.  After I have tried to sell everyone in the building then I go for the email list and I offer them a free download as a thanks for them signing up.  I wait till after we go on stage so the audience has a chance to hear what they’re supporting but next tour I think I’m gonna go in swinging for my career.  There were a few times when the crowd was lost before we got on stage and those were definite missed opportunities.

Still I am not seeing artists do the method I mentioned above enough which is probably one of the reasons I have no problem sharing.  The playbook is nothing without execution after all.  On the other hand, I want to give myself more credit than that.  I want my peers to succeed in this game and I do believe there is a place for us all, but everybody has to put in work.  The only people that really think music is so competitive are the ones that expect something for nothing.  And yes, although making music is important in this game, this is NOTHING.  It’s what you do with that music and your plan to get it to the people, and furthermore your application of that plan that will get you to where you want to go.  Your personal opinion of your own music in relation to others is also NOTHING.  Opinions are like assholes and most people usually ARE.  I’m not thinking about why these whack musicians are successful.  I’m thinking about how they are successful and if there are any strategies I need to co-opt.

When I hit the road I expect nothing.  To every single person that put us up in their homes, fed us, let us shower  THANK YOU.  Although some of you I have known for a long time you didn’t have to do that so I am forever appreciative.  To everybody that put us on a show giving us a path to build a fan base in your city  THANK YOU.  Although there were high’s and low’s in attendance we saw the promotional efforts put in and my new motto is if you give us 3 shows in a city we will build your hip hop scene for you if you don’t already have one (those ego’s can get a bit crazy. i got a few).  To all my friends that came out to the shows along the way THANK YOU.  I know some of yall don’t even listen to Hip Hop but I’m thankful you’ll lend an ear to me and my musical peers when we fall through town.  To the sites such as Fusicology, La Famiglia, Potholes in My Blog, and Detroitrap (if I’m missing anyone forgive the mind) THANK YOU for shining light on what we’re doing.

To my brothers in United States of Mind, thank you.  As I am not able to continue with the tour it is you guys that are spreading the USM name and getting our music out to a larger audience person by person.

To sum up everything touring is rough business.  Nothing is given and everything is hard to earn.  I didn’t even bring up the ego’s. lol.  We’re all crazy deranged artists so of course we’re gonna but heads from time to time. Sometimes the day in and day out can be like walking on eggshells. You want to be mindful of other peoples thoughts, opinions, and schedules without getting yours stepped on.  This is also an impossibility but we do our best in this respect. lol.  Taking all this into account I can logically only come to one conclusion:  I WOULDN’T CHANGE A THING.

This is exactly what I signed up for and what a beautiful struggle it has come to be.  The small victories, the big mistakes, the huge shows, the off nights, the getting wasted no matter what happens. lol.  That’s what it is.  Can’t wait to fully process this experience (which will take at least a week mind you) so the next time I hit the road (hopefully touring my new project with Eddie Logix entitled “Progress Report”) I can do it bigger and better.  That’s right folks.  Next time around I’m going for the couch as opposed to accepting the floor.  Until the next time I’m in your city folks.

-d

So I was aimlessly wandering around the internet as I normally do and decided to stop home for a minute at http://unitedstatesofmind.bandcamp.com/ and all I see is album covers.  Sometimes I forget that we really do put in a lot of work at USM to get this music out to the people.  Then I click the link and remember that we made most of our back catalog free as we just want you guys to hear it.  Below are the album covers and click whatever one you like to jump to the site and download.  Click em all.  Tell your friends to do the same.  I believe all of them (With the exception of Zo and Asylum 7′s “Overdue Process” and my release “Live @ The Get Up”) are free and soon enough “Live @ The Get Up” will be as well because I made it for the heads wanting to give you guys a little something different than your average.  Anyways, it is my hope you enjoy and check for the new shit when it drops.  Check 1, check 2, check it out.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUQNR-D3J4o

I usually write all my own ish, but the homie A. Biggs over at the USM blog (www.usmdetroit.com) took the words right out of my mouth so I figured I’d just copy and paste his words over here.

So here we are mid april 2010
Yes USM is gonna try to make that big leap into USM being a career move & not just a cool hobby type thing we do around Detroit
& when I say TRY I mean we ARE gonna make that big leap…

USM & PPF HOUSE PRESENT….CLIPPED WINGS: NORTH AMERICAN TOUR

(cuz we aint flyin… were drivin…. ya dig?)

YEAH MY BABIES TOUR TIME!!!!

So me being CEO it is my job to make sure the USM veneer is polished & shiny all the time…
we look cool we do cool shows we make cool music we put out cool product yadda yadda yadda…
& believe me these guys that I work with make my job oh so much easier

well im gonna give you THE REAL….
Not everything is cool all the time.
This tour shit we are GOING IN
like by the skin of our teeth GOING IN
Sleeping in a mini van GOING IN
showering at truck stops GOING IN
Like leaving with $500 gas money GOING IN
oh holy shit did he just say how much money we are working with??
YES!
I try not to ask people for help because I like the satisfaction of knowing I got up off my ass & made something happen for myself
So here we go…..
USM Fans, Friends & Fam WE NEED YOUR HELP

These are the EASY & NEW WAYS TO HELP
1. All NEW All ORIGINAL tracks….USM SAMPLER VOL.4!

listen to em
you feel em enough buy em it goes straight in the gas tank
& we need that

2. USM w/ KILLAH PRIEST! WEDNESDAY APRIL 21st

if you were out here for halloween than you already know
we know it’s a wednesday and that sucks and $10 is steep for our people and that sucks but…..
THIS WILL BE OUR LAST SHOW IN DETROIT before we leave
if you come out you will be helping us in a MAJOR way
send us off in style PLEASE

if none of the above suits your fancy

Suggest our fanpage on Facebook
Share our Website
give our FREE DOWNLOADS to your friends
if you know people in any of the areas that we are traveling HIT THEM UP!… tell them to come on out & rock wit us!
Cause part of the REAL is yeah we do have our promo & shit tight….
but we are only so many & limited
Take me for example other than doing this USM stuff I bust my balls in a kitchen making food 40 hours a week… every week
now Im not crying about it….. Im proud to work hard but I (along with the rest of my crew) have the same 24 hours in a day you do
& can only do SO MUCH
YOU GUYS can help us put this thing over the top

To anybody who has ever came to one of our shows, paid cover, bought a t-shirt, bought a CD, took a flyer from my goofy ass, commented on a song on facebook, put up a youtube video of us doing the damn thang…WE APPRECIATE THAT SHIT….more than you will ever know
real heads we LOVE you…you are the reason we LIVE
You have all helped get us to this point
LET’S PUT IT OVER THE TOP!

if not for us than the D
if not for us than for HIP HOP period

Im not gonna front like alot of other cats round these parts
even though i have PRIDE I will not let that silly pride be a detriment to my crew
IM ASKING FOR HELP

PEACE & THANKS
Aaron Biggs

if you’re just tuning in to the blog you might not know but the group I have the privilege of being a part of, United States of Mind, has released our debut album “Kill The Bullshit” as a free download.

As nobody really reads this blog thankfully our good friends at our favorite site www.potholesinmyblog.com put it up for their readership to peruse over.  Jump to their site to check out what they have to say by clicking on their logo at the end of this post.  Happy Holidays if I don’t blog out for the rest of the week.  All I want for Christmas is your eyes and ears so thanks for lending them to me from time to time.  Until next time.

dig it

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSpJtvxifCI

click the album cover to jump to download site

Whaddup my people,

About a year after it’s initial release we have decided to put our debut album up for free download. Why you ask? I’m sure there are some very good reasons.   Here are a few I can think of.

1) Everybody seems to be doing it these days

2) We put a subliminal message in the download to make you murder every other rapper alive.  Even the dope ones.  (of course we hate whack rappers but we also hate rappers more successful than us)

3) At the end of the day we just want you to hear what we’re doing over here.  The money and acknowledgment from our peers is nice and all, but it begins and ends with you.  We do this to express ourselves and whether you like it or not, we’re satisfied if you’ve just given it a listen so you can make an informed decision.  We don’t have any crazy kind of marketing machine or budget or cool friends that make us popular so a free download is our best way to mainline our music directly to the people.

If you like what you hear all we ask is that we let your people know that we’re out here and making music.  Please copy this link and spread it around -- http://unitedstatesofmind.bandcamp.com/album/kill-the-bullsh-t and when I  say spread it around I mean hit your blog, hit your twitter, hit your facebook, hit your friends facebook, hit your myspace (do we still use this), and if you run a site feel free to post it.  That’s about all I gotta say about it.  Fuck it actually -- if you hate it let us know too cause that’s valid.  Just feel something.  I feel like music has been watered down for so long people have become numb to it and it’s suddenly taken on the form of soilent green or something.  It’s like peeps aren’t even hungry for Hip Hop like they used to be.  Well I say “Kill That Bullshit”.  We cooked something up last year that I feel is gourmet so eat the fuck up and break bread with your fam.  Until next time.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sABdE0tIMuY

word to Alex P. Keaton

Yes yes yall, ya don’t stop, USM crew rock on.

What is up my peoples and most importantly what’s good?  I write this from the confines of beautiful AJ’s cafe in the heart of downtown ferndale after enjoying a delicious vegan philly steak and cheese sandwich.  As I’m about to be off to work at The Bosco I figured I’d spare a few minutes and hip you to the happening on December 26th.

The flyer pretty much says it all in terms of the performances except for the fact that DJ Benny Ben will be spinning.  If you need credentials on Benny Ben and you’re from the Detroit area I’m gonna need your credentials first before we even have a discussion on the matter.  Moving along….

The point I was getting at that the flyer can only touch on the family aspect of this bill and the mutual respect and admiration between the acts listed on the bill.  I’ll start with Detroit CYDI.

Can You Dig It? (that's what the CYDI stands for if you haven't figured it out yet)

As I’m often sleepwalking through life (not in the way of these brainwashed masses but you get the point) I only really woke up to CYDI about a year ago first meeting them individually as people and then getting hip to their music through my man Hubert Sawyers site (www.fryinginvein.com where you can go for things that you don’t know about yet, but will swear you’ve been up on when it blows up).  Regardless, they are amazing people (that goes for them and their extended fam -- whaddup Stryfe, Notion, Marc Byrd and the million other cats i’m sure i’m forgetting) and the music is eclectic varying style but never really ceases the smooth.  Speaking of smooth, Buttermade Records will be in the building (the imprint that released “Turn Up The Smooth” by Stoopz n Breeze) as Blake Eerie and Hugh Whitaker release their much anticipated project “The Lateef EP”.

I had the opportunity to preview some tracks off this project at a listening party earlier this month and from what I’ve heard this joint is crazy.  Keeping up with the crazy themes each track on this CD directly coincides production wise with tracks from Yusef Lateefs Detroit project (eat your heart out Danger Mouse).  I’ve known both these gentleman through many years and beers so I can’t wait to have a copy of this in my hand.  However, the Family Ties vibe extends beyond the groups performing which is why I tried to keep these descriptions as brief as possible.  As usual it starts and ends with YOU.

We wanted to do a show around Christmas time for all the friends and fam we got that will be coming from out of town.  The music is always important but for me personally on this go round it is ultimately secondary.  The performances will be short and sweet so really I’m just looking to chill with all you people who helped make me the person I am (some for the worse. lol. you know who you are but come out anyways and lets reflect on how we haven’t changed a bit.)  Trust if you’re reading this you are definitely in that friends and fam category (i’m not big enough to have anything but) so come out and lets share a joke or two and a brew.  If that doesn’t get you teary eyed enough I got the clincher.  aaaaaaaaand ACTION -

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iliLnQmaEOA