[video]
From a convo with Mikal kHill, we both talked about how great this poem was:
“So You Want To Be A Writer” By Bukowski
if it doesn’t come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don’t do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don’t do it.
if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don’t do it.
if you’re doing it for money or
fame,
don’t do it.
if you’re doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don’t do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don’t do it.
if it’s hard work just thinking about doing it,
don’t do it.
if you’re trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.
if you have to wait for it to roar out of
you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.
if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you’re not ready.
don’t be like so many writers,
don’t be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don’t be dull and boring and
pretentious, don’t be consumed with self-
love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don’t add to that.
don’t do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don’t do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don’t do it.
when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.
there is no other way.
and there never was.
“Don’t ever forget that you’re a citizen of this world, and there are things you can do to lift the human spirit, things that are easy, things that are free, things that you can do every day. Civility, respect, kindness, character. You’re too good for schadenfreude, you’re too good for gossip and snark, you’re too good for intolerance—and since you’re walking into the middle of a presidential election, it’s worth mentioning that you’re too good to think people who disagree with you are your enemy.” — -Aaron Sorkin, Syracuse Commencement May 2012 (link)
AND NOW THERE IS THIS. (via maurice)
[video]
Adam WarRock: Adam WarRock "Dan Harmon" -
MP3 download (link)
Hook:
Sometimes I feel like Dan Harmon in this game
Cuz money over genius ain’t uncommon in this game
You either get the ratings or they give you the boot
And it’s business as usual for the industry suitsverse 1
I spent a decade making music in oblivion
And…
I do little hour writing sessions when I don’t have anything else to do. So I did that today, and it made this. So if you want to hear what is ostensibly a diss track against Sony, then listen.
It was what was on my mind. What can you do.
Adam WarRock: New single "WIZZYWIG" is now available.... -
In promotion of Ed Piskor’s new graphic novel from Top Shelf Comics, I did a song (w/ beats by Mikal kHill). That song was featured in the trailer for the book, that was featured on sites like BoingBoing. Watch that video here!
You can download that song for free. If you would…
My youngest fan? 3 years old, and knew my songs. Came out to see me in Baltimore, MD. Thanks Nicholas!
And then sometimes, a 3 year old kid who knows your music makes you remember that maybe things are pretty awesome….
…you walk into a cafe, and it’s blasting “Get Outta My Dreams (Get Into My Car),” and you say to yourself, y’know? Things just might be okay.
I’ve been kinda depressed about music, lately. And I am going to talk about it, for a little bit. Excuse me if it gets maudlin.
I have been personally witnessing this weird confluence of enthusiasm and shittiness. Which isn’t to say that I’ve been witnessing an enthusiasm in “shitty” music. I think that’s where we need to begin the conversation, there’s no such thing as shitty music. There’s music that you don’t enjoy, or music that you don’t agree with, or musicians that you don’t support. But nothing’s objectively “shitty.” So please don’t mistake my qualification for a judgment on the quality of anyone’s method of expression.
What I mean is this: we live in an era where enthusiasm is in abundance, and people can sample, consume, and outright steal all kinds of music, from all sources. Do you remember how hard it was back in the day to get a video game soundtrack CD? Or how much import singles used to cost, just so we could listen to “Yellow Ledbetter.” Access is completely open now, and with that, we have a huge pool of people enjoying music at a fairly high rate. People can find the music that speaks to them, easily share it with others, people can be a part of the ongoing discussion and evolution of the specific music they love.
And I see a lot of shittiness from people who are in control of that music. “Shittiness” can mean several things, so let me define it. I see a lot of musicians who are disrespectful to their audience, who squeeze every penny they can out of an audience that will audibly tell them that they have to save money to buy their newest album, because they want to support. I see people making lazy music, and placing it in the stream and watching people fish it out, because that’s the place they usually fish. I see people acting in misogynistic, homophobic, offensive ways, and feeding that shit into a culture that supposedly espouses positivity and acceptance. I see a dark place, lately. Maybe it’s always been that way.
I don’t mean to lob criticisms at “nerdcore.” This isn’t one of those posts, because I feel these problems are endemic to hip hop, and in a lot of ways (as my friend Jesse puts it), endemic to our societal culture, period. And we allow it to happen, because there’s no alternative outlets, because the same people keep fooling us, because we’re lazy. We allow journalistic outlets and websites and pundits to say “this is this subgenre, this isn’t.” We let ourselves be classified into subgenres and categories because it’s easier to stand in a preordained circle drawn on the ground, simply because defining ourselves as different would not only be more work, but would possibly be seen as a negative by those around us built of a similar makeup and countenance. Again, this isn’t me hurling lightning bolts down from the mountain: I DO IT TOO. But this mindset and perspective is the same perspective that feeds hatred and negativity in trolls and haters, who basically say to you: “No one will like your thing outside of this small circle.” Who tell others, “Don’t like this thing, because it’s not for you.” And so that enthusiasm gets pointed into the same collected places, where the same people continue to thrive because they once did something notable. And that enthusiasm, that light dies a little, because it doesn’t feel like it used to. You think it’s you, you think it’s old age, you think it’s life. But it’s not. It’s us. It’s them. It’s the creators who you should hold responsible, who you should demand greatness from every time, and if they don’t give it to you, then they don’t get that light shined upon them with the same kind of fervor next time they sell you snake oil.
I make music, because it makes me happy. Don’t get me wrong, the fact that it makes any of you happy moves me to tears, it’s touching and amazing in so many ways, and I will never forget that for the rest of my life. But ultimately, I make music because it makes me happy. I make hip hop, because I truly believe in this culture. I once saw a culture that taught me to question authority, that taught me to respect others and build up my own knowledge and definition of self. It taught me to speak out, to be political, to love, to accept, to stand up for myself. I saw a generation of emcees who spoke to me, and even more emcees who made music that I loved because it made me happy, it was fun, it was dope. Despite what others will tell you, there is a culture of hip hop that is not misogynistic, homophobic, or offensive in cultural ways. Sure, it’s shrinking, but it’s there, and it always has been there, since the 70s.
And it’s important to note that I don’t mean misogyny in music, in lyrics. I mean in personal statements, in personal beliefs, actions. There’s space for misogyny and offensiveness in music, just as there was in fiction, or poetry, or any kind of art. There’s a reason for a racist in All in the Family, there’s a reason we can laugh at these things, and why stand up comedians get to say “faggot” but why it’s unacceptable in other settings. Art is expression, and sometimes, expression is angry, is offensive, is inappropriate. i mean how you conduct yourself, and how you see the world. We all fail, and act like pigs, and assholes, and say the wrong things from time to time. But I, and many of my friends, can at least strive to be better. To not call someone a “faggot” and not to act inappropriately to women. There’s a much larger conversation here, but suffice to say, I hear that and see that more than I’d like in the subgenre, genre, culture and even friend groups that I frequent.
All of this makes me feel distant from it. It makes me feel cold, and it makes me feel awful. It makes me want to step away, and make music in a vacuum, to not associate myself with anyone except the few people I can count on, and listen to the very few musicians who have never let me down over the years. It makes me not believe in music, quite like I used to back in the day, when I see shitty people succeed, when I see people who are my peers act in horrible ways, and when I see people try to slice up a pie, and dole out the pieces to segregated groups, because that’s. just. how. it. is.
What’s the solution? The solution is to surround yourself with positive people, to try and make good music and art. But the most important part is this… to just believe. To believe that people are good, that people will not allow shittiness to win, and that maybe, through conducting myself in a fashion and showing you those who do the same, we can change our little corner of the culture one at a time.
I’ll never, ever make music that I don’t believe in, that I don’t believe has a purpose. I’ll never make music that my heart isn’t in. You may not always like it, you might hate it, whatever. But I have to believe in something, and I choose to believe in this.
You shouldn’t expect less than that, in fact, you should expect so much more from people who try to sell you a bill of goods. You should hold them to a standard of quality, of decency, of respectability, and hope that the cream, both in quality of art and in person, rise to the top.
I have no delusions that this will actually ever, ever happen. Too many stupid, ignorant people with too much money will always be in power. But I believe it still can. It’s just been a bit harder these days.
