My First All Vinyl Set List

Classic Soul Sessions

DJing is my next logical step in Hip Hop, and I’ve been checking out thrift spots, flea markets, and local clearance at record stores and I’ve found some gems, to me at least.  I am pretty swift with Serato, but in honor of vinyl and the way Hip Hop was originally presented, with two turntables and vinyl, I compiled my first all vinyl set.  I look forward to playing this outside, where people won’t ask for requests but trust the DJ, and the music.  I’ll make this mix available soon on SoundCloud.  Here’s the official track listing…

1. Jammin’ – Stevie Wonder
2. Hot Blues and Pants- James Brown
3. Monorail- The JB’s
4. California My Way- Willie Hutch
5. Getaway- Earth Wind and Fire
6. Ecstasy- Barry White
7. Fever- Roy Ayers
8. Enjoy Yourself- Jackson Five
9. Pleasure Principle- Janet Jackson
10. What Cha Gonna Do- Chaka Khan
11. Come Together- Brothers Johnson
12. Funky Situation- The Commodor’s
13. I Get High- Aretha Franklin
14. Think Twice- Erykah Badu
15. I Want You- Marvin Gaye
16. Fire- Ohio Players
17. Keep On Truckin- Eddie Kendricks
18. Superfly- Curtis Mayfield
19. Harvest For The World- The Isley Brothers
20. Do It My Way- Bobby Womack

Today, I went to Ocean Beach.  I’d been there years and years ago, but this time was different, and so cool.  The weather, 70.  I love it when I can leave my house and not wear a jacket, but just have on a hoodie and be comfortable.  I took Muni today, and it was efficient, quiet, and colorful with all the different folks out and about.  I always trip when I’m in this part of San Francisco because I’m never there.  It feels like a totally different place, a different city beyond the city.  It’s like Powell Street is one San Francisco, and riding along Judah is another.  I don’t know what it is, but when I want to get away from Oakland, tha Town, the farther I can go in San Francisco, the better.  Stern Grove is another Sunday escape that I’m looking forward to this Summer.  Back to the water.  The Pacific Ocean.  The largest ocean in the world.  Where a tsunami wave from Japan traveled all the way to the California shores.   As I made my salutations to the water, I just sat and watched as the waves came in, and the water moved back.  I marveled at the vastness of space, covered in water.  I thought about God.  I thought about how man is trying to ruin the waters with oil spills and everything, and how man really is arrogant to think that it’s more powerful than the earth.  There’s something about being around water that really puts me in a meditative space.  It’s always in motion.  It never rests.  Ebb and Flow.  Then it’s like all of my life’s troubles, everything that I’m worried about, unresolved issues, lingering bs that needed to be buried, was all laid out on the sand, and the water came and washed it away.  I didn’t realize that 3 hours had passed, and I hadn’t moved.  I was still.  I felt at peace.  The sound of the waves was like music.  The people on the beach were all silent to me, like they were just rocks on the beach, and I was all alone.

I left refreshed.  Clear.  Cool. And I attribute it to the coolness of water.  For less than $10, I was able to go to the biggest ocean in the world, and find peace.  Also, more strength because peace, like the waves, can be choppy, pressured, and disturbed.   Being at the ocean today reminded me that everything that is happening in this moment is supposed to be, and I found happiness in that today.  The water made me laugh.  It made me trip on how I think my issues are big, but looking at the biggest ocean in the world, it put them in their proper scope.  Small, insignificant, and ultimately things I can handle.   Then, I went about my day, made it back home safe, and when I arrived, kicked off my shoes, and thanked the sand that stuck in my shoes for coming to my home, making its presence, and serving as a cool reminder of a good day.

If you don’t know the name, please google it and get up to speed about this horrendous tragedy.  If you’ve signed petitions, let your voice be heard, held our kids a little closer, checked on loved ones, are outraged that, as of this writing, the person in question is not at least locked up and answering questions, and are ready to roll our sleeves up for justice again, salute.  I am Trayvon Martin.  I didn’t know him, but because I am a Black Man, I am him.  Because I have two sons 17 and 19, they are him too.  We all live in America, a place where Black Life continually and historically is looked upon as expendable, criminalized, and not worthy of simple things like peace, and a walk to the store.  I am Travyon Martin.  Why?  Because, like him, I walk to the store, unarmed, and have people watch me, clutch purses, cops stopping and shining lights, surveillance in stores, with money in my pocket, and constantly feel the pressure even tougher (even in a sunny progressive place) of being a Black Man in this country.  I am here with two thoughts.  One, should I just start looking for safer countries to live in?  Do I bounce?  Understanding that just off who I am, the way I look, the way I dress, and yes I wear hoodies too as a grown man, that I could get killed, by a rentacop, the police, or even other brothers that look like me.  I mean it’s a stone cold reality of being an American, understanding the history of this place, and then have to lace up shoes and step out into this world as a Black Man.  The other thought is do I stay and fight?  Do I teach my youth I’m working with what injustice means and why it’s necessary to speak up and speak out, to be safe and aware, to prepare them how to deal with what is happening in this world? Do I applaud my sons when they speak out in their hometown, do I applaud my students for being able to talk about similar feelings as the last moments of Trayvon’s life, where you are being harassed by crazy strangers who have stereotyped you?  I am Trayvon Martin.  I could be Oscar Grant’s brother because, like him, I was unarmed.  I can’t help but to see the correlation, and I’m sure there are thousands of others.  I am Trayvon Martin.

The answer to these thoughts are a little of both of YES.   Yes, dual citizenship is the next level of life and is a matter of my personal security.  Simply put, on an African American Presidents’ watch, as a Black Man, I still feel unsafe in this country and have to continue to build a natural extra layer of skin just to be able to exist here.  It’s doubly felt because I have two sons.  They are Trayvon Martin.

On the other side, like Jasiri X, I have to use my voice to say something.  In truth, I’ve been saying it and my catalog speaks to that fact, but more than music, I want to teach better, write better, continue to show my best self, in the face of possible real death.  It’s freeing to say to the negative forces of the world, I’m still here, walking up my block, in a so called safe neighborhood, a Black Man, and you can’t kill all of us.  We will fight.  We will push, and we will claim our existence here as Black Men.  I am Trayvon Martin, and I have ancestors in the soil here. Their sweat and labor serve as the power that jump started this country.   America is my home too, and I’m not going to let someone in the mindset of Zimm…(I won’t even give him ink in my blog) run me off.

The truth is, there are a lot of people, armed, in this country, right now, with the same idea and attitude as this dude Zimm…  Listen to the 911 tapes, listen to his disdain, hear his matter of fact-ness that Trayvon had to be up to something, and worthy to be killed.  The truth is that alot of people, in this country, feel that way.  The lady of justice is still wearing a blindfold, because how can this person, not be locked up right now.  Man, I jaywalked the other day in front of a cop, and he looked like he wanted to give me 5 to 10, but a person kills someone else, and it takes all this push just for something to happen.  Mr. President, thank you for saying if you had a son he’d look like Trayvon.  Thank you for acknowledging his parents, and saying this is a tragedy.  Now I ask, please help from the executive level to protect all the Trayvon Martin’s of the world.

I am Trayvon Martin, and i know what it feels like, and after hearing about this, I had to say something.  Swift and right justice.  That’s part of it, but it does not bring back a life.  We have to not just make the name Trayvon Martin, and too many others names to just become symbols and forget that a human being is gone.  Our humanity is going right along with it if not only something is done about this horrendous tragedy, but the truth be told about this place we call America, and something be done about it.  For once and for all.  I remember hearing our president talk about Healthcare, and how for decades they tried to solve the problem, and now was the time.  Well, if now is not the time to help Black People in terms of their safety and security from these madmen, then it will never be.

As Black Men, we already know, protect ourselves, and add another layer of skin because another Black Male died, and it didn’t have to be.  While I’m at it, let me say this, when someone outside of our race kills someone within our race, the petitions are out, people are up in arms, social media is popping… But when it’s us killing us, we are silent.  Let us not be hypocritical and make sure as Black People we are not just asking for justice for the oppressed and murdered like Trayvon Martin and numerous of others, but we want total and complete peace.  I am Trayvon Martin and this are my true words.   Peace

http://jahiandthelife.bandcamp.com

I’d visited MoAD once before, and wanted to check it out again, especially to see the signature by Marcus Garvey from his Black Star Line venture.  Also, I thought this would be a good place to talk storytelling, given that Africa is the birthplace of telling stories as a means to transfer knowledge from one generation to another.  Kristin from the KQED. Education Department was funny, witty, and facilitated in a way that opened people up, shared how we can access various resources to use in the classroom, and build our stories.  I especially thought the teacher resources on the SFMOMA site, especially the story of Kerry James Marshall’s work in the Atrium, was revealing in how you can use images, with no explanation, to tell a deeper story than what’s on the surface.

Although a tour of MoAD set off a heated discussion about movement by African people prior to the Trans Atlantic slave trade, the role of the docents in sharing their opinions and possibly shortsighted facts about some of the collections, even in that there was a rich narrative.  The collections on the third floor, and the wall of photos at MoAD offered all of us a chance to see how we can use images to tell stories, and how to use this methodology to engage our youth in our respective positions.

Overall, the experience was good because I was able to hear some of the perspectives of other educators in the room, and saw there are more resources in the MoAD library that could be helpful.  Kristin took good care of us, kept us on task, and fed us great.  I’d do it again, but wished it was like a one day intensive instead of being spread out over time.  Thanks KQED and here’s a link to what I finally produced.  I used my top 10 musical influences and created a narrative in I Movie using quotes from the artists.  I am starting this with my students this week to create their own.

http://vimeo.com/37098725  Click This Link.

http://vimeo.com/37090226

I play Wednesday at Berkeley City College, and I have some new players.  Just a sneak peek, and I will have full credits and footage for the show later this week.  Today felt good and looking forward to Wednesday.  Thought I would share this out, and if you are around in Berkeley around lunch time on Wednesday, stop through.  We’ll be in The Atrium.

Peace

I coined the term Soulhop in 2006 to represent what my music is.  James Brown is a solid stone in the house of Hip Hop, and I thought it was only right that I pay respect to Hip Hop by including this in my set.  IT FELT GREAT! and a personal highlight of the night.

Thanks to everyone who came to two nights of good Hip Hop, during the week, in San Francisco.  You all rock, and special thanks to DJ Edaboss for providing the cuts. Stay tuned.  There’s more to come.

If you want to see more videos visit:

www.youtube.com/JAHIMUSIC

It is my pleasure to welcome you to Jahi and The Life’s blog for music happenings, new releases, concert reflections, photos, and videos of our new movement.  We are starting from scratch, which is a good place to begin to build upon our collective musical talents, experiences, and history individually to develop a collective consciousness, rooted first in the music.  The goal of our band is simple, to create good music, record it, and give 100% when we play live.   From a Hip Hop perspective, the lyricism is full of wholesome ingredients, and from a live music perspective, the grooves are fluid, solid, and rich.

In the upcoming segments, we’ll be introducing ourselves even more to you so you can hopefully connect to our message, our music, and our style.  We do not believe in just building a fan base of people so they can come to our shows, throw their hands up, and yell our names.  What we are looking to do is connect with an intelligent audience of people mature, grown, eclectic tastes, and interested in connecting with a band who treats the listener with respect.  We want you to grow because of our music, and we want you to appreciate what we create and share.  Our policy is quality over quantity.

Stay tuned.