Street Pupusas #1 - interpreting pics taken from my travels

Upon many a walk, travels and adventures, I'd bump into things that grab at me in a unique way. So, i want to share some of these. I really don't know what 'genre' this is, if it's a social critique, a joke, a waste of time... but there are social-isms related to these pics and they did affect me. Plus I chose them because they touch upon norms, contexts, and constructs of society and culture in their own and special way.. This is the first installment of many, so here you go!

Came upon this in Silver Spring... its just total badass and doubles up as how Afrika HAS been self defense in a spiritual way for many peoples here... there are too many meanings and interpretations to list at the moment, but I'll let you figure it out.

Ok, this was funny as they are trying to lookout for folks who use wheelchairs, yet they are called handicapped... yes yes.. I know the sign must've been there for years when it was socially acceptable... but thats the point. The sentiment is still there, the names have changed. Yet the value fo the name is dramatically different, leaving a legacy of irony behind. This was in Jim's Cheesesteaks in South Street, Philadelphia, PA

WHEAT'N BOULEVARD REPRESENT REPRESENT!! This place has joined my neighborhood of spiritual homes alongside Adams Morgan, Philadelphia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Miami, and London

I had a brief fascination with the conversations amongst the art, punk, no wave, and hip hop scenes in the early 80's New York... somehow Fab 5 Freddy has risen as the luminary catalyst. So, this appeared in the background of a scene in Style Wars where "Zoro" was taken by Fab 5 to the uptown art scene party, and I came upon it at the Hirshorn in DC... a very early prediction of the soon to be manifested relationship of Hip Hop with mainstream and predominantly white culture

This is posted because this dude just... doesn't... give... a... fuck!! Much respect! I really respect folks who are living ghosts and just do themselves without a sense of care for the norms of the day.. This is very different from other 'tribes' such as goths, punks, hip-hoppers, ravers, bohemians, and hipsters who claim to be free from social norms, but they themselves carry norms and qualifiers for inclusion. This is in South Street, Philadelphia, PA

As an east-coast Latino/Salvadoran/Guatemalan/Gringo/American I was really happy to see this at a local grocery store in DC. Progress has been made when multiple Latinidades are presented in their glory as a food aisle.

2562 - Unbalance LP

Sublows, organ bass synths, dirty samples, wonderful arrangements... this is exactly what i need for Dubstep. Very intelligent music that I think surpasses "Aeriel". It reminds me of Goldie, Photek, A Guy Called Gerald, 4Hero, and Burial where a diverse range of techniques and arrangements are used within a sound palate, giving the album cohesion and unity. Above is just one of the many examples of this great piece of work.

John Coltrane - "Naima"

This is my Day 1, the first and only song that really matters. Things come and go, trends change, but Naima is the one that never goes away. Big bang right here, nonstop. I just look forward to having a daughter for the simple fact I can name her after this song.

Tw mr rsns Hprdb s d sht

Me gusta este funk-step

Will we always love the 80’s? - Youth culture, MP3’s and generational shifts

B-Boy - 80's

UMM... yes!

Each generation of American youth culture has looked upon the previous rebel generation for that inspiration. Punkers looked back at the 50’s, Hippies looked at the Beats, B-boys looked back at Funk, and so forth. Now we have a generation of kids looking back at the 80’s and becoming inspirited by MJ, dance movies, bright clothes, and electro styles. Those eras of inspiration felt worlds apart, yet attainable. It felt like we opened a Pandora’s box that our older generation totally forgot as they have became the stiff and stuffed shirts that we wanted to rebel against. We felt devious!

The Skinny Jeans massive - 2009

But have we slowed this natural selection down to a crawl? I’m wondering if the accessibility of music due to the internet and MP3’s, plus the lack of any new significantly different storage formats since digital music, has made it easier for 18-20 year olds to connect with earlier music and culture? Furthermore, with the leveling off of musical format (the MP3) are we at a plateau where youngers can look deeper and further and access a wider range of sound and sources in ways we never could before, thus leveling off generational shifts?

Black Panther Party - 60's

Public Enemy - 89'

In my day, my house had an eight-track, a record player, a tape deck with a radio… and a CD player, requiring crate digging and some learning to navigate and pull music. The musical jump from Rock and Soul to Hip Hop felt significant where instrumentals and source material became easily choppable on turnbables, people stopped singing and started rhyming, and kids started buying turntables instead of guitars. As we’re reaching 2010, the CD has been in most homes for a while, and the only big difference in storage is that digital music is downloadable versus just being confined to CD’s. Musically, what new genre has emerged in American music since Hip Hop? It’s been 30 years since its birth and any other music to emerge have been hybrids or variations of older formulas. And when supposedly progressive Soul music is prefaced with the word ‘neo’, is that really progress? But maybe I’m just talking like an old fart.

Acid Test Party - early 60's

Rave - 1990's

The other thing about digital and MP3’s is that all sounds have now become electronic, choppable, and we now live in a world where the complete is now mosaic. Back in the day, to make a sample took time and equipment. You can now sample using iTunes. The music industry now complains that ‘we can’t sell entire albums anymore’ and the ‘era of the artist album is dead’. Now you see club nights that tell of DJ’s spinning mashups and programs like Serato and Abelton allow you to mix just about any track of any BPM smoothly and effectively.

Elvis Presley as the Greaser - 1950's

Joey Ramone as the Punk - 1970's

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for change. Purists that say software is killing true Hip Hop can bite one. I also think this leveling of music and the giant accessibility can spawn a diverse range of expressions and music that will be hyper enjoyable. Mind you, people still play guitars and drums. But now I can download some Edith Pilaf, Gregorian Chant, and some Spiritual field songs and use them on my latest Dubstep tune. What do you think?

Madonna - 80's

Lady GaGa - 2009

"Sexy Office Party Music" - aka - my Pantheon of classic R&B

Its in your best interest right now to turn off your office lights, turn up ur speakers, and let the computer monitor's glow warm you to these smooth sounds. Cause its the Quiet "Sexy Office Party" Storm [insert thunder sound here]!

Actually, this post is for me to share with you who I rate as the greatest voices in R&B... yeah a few could be up here... but this is by far my ultimate very best picks according to "Juice-Scan"... so there you go... and if you don't like it make a blog ;-P

... and obviously, there is a girl related to all this...

Kool Moe Dee v. Busy Bee... and the veil

Its just way to cool to come across these two pieces of tape from 81. Before listening, my image of Busy Bee was in Style Wars, and Kool Moe Dee was in cheesy rap tunes where he was acting too hard for his own good. But now I get a chance to see them in their natural element knocking each other over.

In comparison to their media appearances these clips show them with the energy and fury that I knew early 80's Hip Hop had but never got to see, alongside the breaks and DJ'ing that were pushed forward later on. But for all you connoisseurs, you know that the first presentations of Hip Hop hid the breaks, the real raps, and the curse words and anger for commercial crossover. So its mad refreshing to see this.

Whats even cooler is going back before this to old school Zulu Nation tapes and checkign out Jazzy Jay and Bambaattaa right when the genre was in its germination stage and closely connected to Reggae soundsystem culture.

BTW... Kool Moe Dee MURDERED Busy Bee!!