K'naan Somali Hip Hop Artist

K'naan spent his childhood doing what he could to survive during the Somali civil war in the early 90's. Such experiences heavily influenced his music. K'naan later moved to Harlem, then to Canada, escaping the war on the last commercial flight to leave Somalia. Undoubtedly, he has a tremendous sense of purpose and is not shy about reflecting it in his music. The proud African speaks of war, poverty, the rich cultural resilience of his people, spoken of in the song "Smile", which brings the message, "smile while your bleeding". In other words, the African way is to find happiness in your existence and wear a smile no matter how painful life is. No doubt, with the brutality and violence these people endure daily, it amounts smiling while your literally bleeding.

K'naan released his debut, "The Dusty Foot Philosopher" One of my personal favorite albums. He speaks of the meaning behind the title, "The Dusty Foot Philosopher" refers to one of his fallen brothers who earned that name from living a life of poverty, but living in a dignified way, having no access to education but being aware of the solar system, having a rich sense of history and culture, being deep with wisdom and poetry.

K'naan also isn't impressed by the so called hardcore rappers who brag about gun play and the hard life in the US ghetto, as he reflects in the song "What's Hardcore".

I think K'naan's music has something in it for everyone. Check his albums out on i-tunes.

NYC Ghetto's, Bronx to Brooklyn, The Forgotten Corners New York

People have a certain fascination with the ghettos of New York. I have tons of photography that I took over time. These are all recent photos, just a few of thousands of shots I took. Believe it or not this is a massive improvement since the 70's and 80's.

L.Vijalanti "Heroes"

This one remixed by myself, L.Vijalanti, for my E.P. Fusing Hip Hop and Drum N Bass in a unique way. This song takes a deep, inward look at our humanity. Do you turn the other cheek when you see injustice on your own doorstep?

Lupe Fiasco's album release pushed back again.

After his single "I'm Beaming" was leaked to the public prematurley, Lupe has delayed the release of his latest album. It's not clear when the public can expect to the superstar's newest music, but he had this to say:

"I was plotting on doing the follow-up to that," Lupe said. "Simply because [Enemy of the State] was short. And I felt like it was space to do another one. I was gonna do another one called Friend to the People, but I started to get wind that people had songs they shouldn't have had. I was like, 'This is just gonna open the floodgates if I come out with another record. I know these dudes are threatening to leak records and do crazy stuff.' Sometimes I feel there may be too much Lupe music out there — whether it be old stuff or new stuff or freestyles. I don't want to have a ton of music sitting out. I made the decision to fall back from it and really focus on the climb. We were a couple of weeks away from doing that."

We can only hope that eager fans will soon get what they've been patiently waiting for. The game needs you Lupe!!!

A NEW YORK SPIN ON UK GRIME

This is one of my latest Grime tracks... For those of you who don't know, "Grime" is a musical style, originating in the UK with roots in UK Garage, Hip Hop, Jungle and Dancehall. Being Pioneered by the likes of Heartless crew, So Solid Crew, Roll Deep and Dizzy Rascal, Grime has emerged as something of the voice of the disenfranchised, UK youth culture. Possibly one of the first to bring this style to New York, I'm not really trying to promote it or create a sub-genre of New York grime. I just think this is what a lot of my music naturally sounds like, being that I was heavily influenced by UK music during my years living out there. What makes my music unique is that I reflect on life experiences in New York and have heavy rap and Dubstep influences fused into the style of grime I produce.

Drunken Tiger, Korea's best rapper?

One of the most original and innovative artists to take the stage, he's a legend in Korea. His music is powerful and a breath of fresh air in the rap game. Having lived in LA at the age of 12, he witnessed the LA riots and experienced the racial tension first hand. With an aim of inspiring unity, his music breaks down many cultural barriers. Drunken Tiger is as controversial as he is passionate. Many anti establishment and sexual themes are common in his music. I chose to put him in this blog as I'm a big fan and consider him very relevant to hip hop and world culture. So I leave you with "Monster"

THE PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM (Intrologue: "Mind Control, Energy Harvesting & The Grand Central Terminal")

This video follows the subliminal symbolism we encounter which is designed to control our minds. Many techniques of behavioral modification exist to keep us in our slot. Our system depends on these methods of social control to to exist. The ignorance of the masses keeps this culture of wage slaves running the machine while the ruling elite cash in on production profit and expand their reaches of power worldwide. This video goes into specific symbolism that subliminally alters our consciousness in attempt to hold us in that particular cube shaped mind set.