This took forever but was well worth the effort.  I busted out the minute rice and, once my fingers started bumping already-placed rice, snagged the tweezers to get this sucker done.  After shooting about 1100 photos, I dumped them to my computer then started lining up and cutting down all the files.  Each image was originally five seconds long and got cut down to a fraction of its former self.  I believe there are 15 frames per second.  I had an earlier version, showed Jenn and she told me what I knew but was hoping to ignore-I was only halfway done.  This effort marks the first time I've had a project spanning more than a day, but it was a (mostly) fun process.  Now that I've been squinting at a computer screen and clicking a mouse until my finger's sore, it's about time to unleash this sucker and get some exercise (or maybe just clean the house).  Anyway, "tic tac toe" is an Adrien75-produced song from Music with Friends 5, an EP you can download for free at http://www.obeseamerica.com

Enough blabber, here's the video:



Lyrics:

Going to hell in a hand basket with a casket of jewels
Fashion and fools? Surpass them with a passionate tool
Matter of fact these raps slap tracks and massacre troops
It’s like cats make tracks and never practice them through
Man, I do this for the head nods and that tap of your shoe
Give me the finish line and I’ll snap it in 2
What’s happening dude is nothing but miraculous groove
That I inhabit, sticking and moving from flax to the loom
Contaminate with gamma rays and make it rapid and smooth
And my biggest critic is the last to approve
And unless I rock shows, there isn’t cash in it duke
I dropped my pen on the floor and it splashed with a boom
The last of the few smashing up a passenger too
Too busy having fun to heed screeds babbling doom
Rose colored glass half full in a lavender room
Tossing a few asides to leave all the fragile consumed
And that’s true

Tactile tic tac toe
Rap and flip lactose
Tackling the tracks dope
Half will win and that’s so
Typical, and that’s the way it has to be
So pass the key…and that’s to me

You dig that? I’m a fan of the same.
Remember Raekwons tarantula chain?
I kick raps that ramble and maim, the man is a train
Wreck set to trample parades with mandibles crazed
From analyst ways to stampedes the stamp of approval is gained
Turning it to a brand abandon all of the claims
Living day to day while you’re balling away
You’ll get a stomach ache from eating all of cake
And all that takes is time and moderation like Satchel
Lest the world becomes reason for the Paxil
Closing in walls, all frozen grim maws clenched
Arguing far through it start doing top tens
Giving them a soft serve, nerves misplaced
Tournament interns burn the stakes
Turning away enough to make Saint Peter’s rack and pinion pivot
Imminent beginning to finish spin it all within a minute

Tactile tic tac toe
Rap and flip lactose
Tackling the tracks dope
Half will win and that’s so
Typical, And that’s the way it has to be
So pass the key…and that’s to me

I’m not a candidate for polling holding candlesticks verboten
Hoping glamour is a potent potion, amorous and chosen
Open hands and get a token, never know it just might work
Instead of looking of the product, man I’m check the price first
And rectify verse until the words fit properly
Recording takes with a verb flipped sloppily
One of the benefits of having a studio at home
Is that you can’t hear my mistakes when I roam
Each song’s generation has different tweaks
Varied approaches to visiting beats
if it’s wintertime, then I’m delivering heat
And if it’s dinner, I’m in a different street
So listen to each and make your own call on the song
It is dope, or fresh, or wack, or something soft for your mom
I’m Sankofa, happily hopping along to the drums
The dinosaur rapping with a fossil, his tongue
And that’s one.

This past Friday, I went to Cinema Tech with my wife and caught Black Dynamite. The movie was hilarious and the score was impeccable. I was between laughter and wanting to rap over half of the scenes. I got home, woke up the next day and cobbled together some of the score, wrote the lyrics and made this track. The flick is dope and, if it's in your town, check it out.






Man I can’t believe they went and shot him down
Now it’s time for payback, who’s the mack that taught him how
Other than flashbacks, shedding tears is not allowed
Guy from the agency trying to bait me crazily, why?
Maybe it’s lies, but I got my license to kill back
Going through doctor wu on kung fu island with the ill smack
Orphanage babies tapping arms for fresh veins to stick
Fine with turning tricks, but the drug game is sick
Satisfying five woman at once with my sheet music
My mother left me a need to protect that’s deep rooted
Tears disappear and reappear on their faces
Is it the wink, the smile, or maybe just a combination?
I’m scheming how to shut down their evil plots
Anaconda malt liquor poisoning the people, lost
I need to stop thinking and start finding my cohorts
And commence to kicking nun chuck ass with no remorse

I stay in peak form for the forty minute chase scenes
I’ve run through so many maybe even Nadine
I won’t hesitate to snuff a donut with a view to kill
Anything to keep the lady safe, see my mood is ill
Get a bullet wound and give the nurse another check up
Leaving the doctor flustered, must imagine what the best does
My six shooter’s chamber is a bottomless pit
The gift that keeps on giving, with an ominous click
Then the gunpowder burns and the cannon explodes
I’ve got a calm disposition but my hands are of stone
Stuffed bear for a gun rack it’s reading the news
Needing a favor?  Better be righteous, cause it’s easy to lose
Parachuting from choppers shot down by secret services
Getting closer to the man, I can hear his serpent hiss
I’m one step away from avenging my brother’s death
And I swear those responsible will never breathe another breath

..

Every now and then, I make some rap songs and compile them in downloadable EPs. This is the latest in my Music with Friends series and, barring "digitalis", my most lighthearted volume. Consider this something to remind you about summer when fall is turning into a premature winter. I hope you dig it and spread the word. 


1: digitalis (prod. Ebro)
2: what better reason (prod. Geno)
3: tic tac toe (prod. adrien75)
4: let it be stated (prod. adriend75)
5: riding on (prod. Manic Depressive)

http://www.obeseamerica.com/MWF5.rar <-- the download link

If you dig it, tell a friend or thirty.



PS-the file is compressed using winrar, a free and easily obtainable program

As a bonus. I posted an article in December's issue of Fort Wayne Magazine below.  Thanks to Michele DeVinney and Bryan (photog).

A while back, a Canadian asked me if I'd any acapellas sitting around.  I replied in the affirmative and supplied him with the vocals to a song I'd sent off to a Japanese producer by the name of Masashi.  Now the acapella is reborn as a new song, downloadable at the below link.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A new remix album is on deck for Hand’Solo Records, with Calgary, Alberta producer The Dirty Sample remixing a great selection of songs from rappers in Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Japan. In order to celebrate the upcoming (summer) release of Joshua’s Dreamixes, Hand’Solo Records and The Dirty Sample (through his Work Turkey label and production company) is offering up this little promo album, Beauty & Poison, as a free download. It features 18 remixes that are 100% completely different from those found on Joshua’s Dreamixes.

Here’s the tracklisting:

1. Beauty and Poison intro
2. Born Again – Alter One (cuts by Cadilakid)
3. End Smartly – Wordburglar
4. Get Ripped & Try Dying – Max Prime (cuts by DJ Bizkid)
5. Think About These Things – Ill Seer ft Mandy Martens
6. The Blood Letting – Lexington + Whatevski (cuts by Shazbot)
7. The Dirtiest Sons of Bitches – NWO (cuts by Cadilakid)
8. Keeping It Real – Bobby Drake (cuts by Cadilakid)
9. Fresh! – Deezuz (cuts by Metawon)
10. Talk to the Hand (Solo) – More Or Les (cuts by DJ Wakcutt)
11. Captain Hipster – Id Obelus
12. Cocoon Into Nature – Selfhelp
13. Just A Ride – Xczircles
14. Hip Hop Head – Rhythmicru (cuts by Petey Punch)
15. Ropeladder – Nomar Slevik
16. The Uninvited Guest – Sankofa
17. Wookie Boots – Toolshed
18. Going Out On A Highnote – Addvice featuring Cadence Weapon, Touch, Stray, Chris Plus & Chazmo (cuts by Dorc)

Download Beauty & Poison here: http://www.handsolorecords.com/a-v-club

Brenn and I were asked to fill in last minute at a show.  Of course we didn't rehearse and it was a blast.  Anderson took video of the performance, which is good because the only part of the show that wasn't freestyled was the Snow Princess bit.



There's a LOT more on youtube.

I just ordered a batch of new shirts:  new logo, Gildan Ultra blend.  $10 direct/$15 shipped (in the US).

If you want dibs, let me know.

Youth

dark chocolate:  S
sport grey:  M, L
tan:  M
azalea:  XS, M
natural:  M
red:  L

Adult

navy:  S
sport grey:  S, XL
dark chocolate:  S, L
NC blue:  S, XL
red:  S, XL
royal:  S
TX orange:  S, M
tan:  S, L

Zachary Boyd Smith submitted a dope article, which got replaced by generic garbage.  Here is the uncensored article in full form:

In what has got to be the complete antithesis of Michael Israel’s live
art touring stage show that visited the Scottish Rite Auditorium a
little over a year ago, the performers and visual artists of Ratlab: An
Experiment In Live Art are a troupe least likely to appeal to a mass
audience. This is a compliment. Whereas Israel’s show consisted of
flinging fistfuls of paint at an oversized canvas to the tune of Jock
Jams Vol. 2 to produce, admittedly, impressive images the likes of Jimi
Hendrix and Muhammad Ali, the Ratlab participants take their art with a
side of outcast. The mixture of graffiti artists, a rapper, a
cartoonist, a spoken word practitioner, and a foul-mouthed one-man band
is a little more volatile and dangerous than painting a portrait of Ali
to “Pump Up The Jams.”

       Ratlab: An Experiment In Live Art
is a mixed media production bringing together some of the area’s finest
“on the outskirts” artists, both audible and visual, to create art live
on stage and for a good cause. The pairings of graffiti artist Mike
Shifflett and rapper Sankofa, artist Josh Angel and one-man band
Poopdeflex, and cartoonist Matt McClure and tale spinner John Commorato
Jr. will each have a one hour set to intertwine their various artistic
outputs. The social experiment will be taking place in the Tiger Room
at Calhoun Street Soups, Salads, & Spirits from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
on Saturday, April 4. All attendees will be granted free admission to
the Brass Rail for the after party and a performance by Chicago’s Mike
Maimone & The Mutts with locals The Orange Opera and Definitely
Gary. The event will cost only $2 to attend with proceeds from the door
and from a silent auction of donated art, gear from RISE skate shop,
and the pieces created by the visual artists that night going to the
Boys & Girls Club of Fort Wayne. 

       Ratlab curator,
and registered beard owner, Josef Zimmerman, the man all at once behind
the scenes and the face of the project, explains the choice of
charitable contribution thusly, “I just try to keep everything local
and I want to try and support as many things as I can within the
community. When it comes to community-wide organizations, it was one of
the first one’s that popped into my head. A lot of people I know rely
on the Boy & Girls for help for their children and everything I’d
heard has always been positive.”
       
       Zimmerman,
along with silent partner and staff photographer Daniel “Dongo”
Dienelt, carefully handpicked the performers from the immediate area.
“I found the artists and then asked them who they wanted to work with.
I didn’t want to go all milk and orange juice on it and pair up someone
with their polar opposite,” he says of the eventual pairings. “There
were people from out of town that were interested in the project. I
don’t ever condemn anybody for moving away to go do anything, but it’s
like, ‘Oh, I’m moving to New York because that’s where the scene is.’
Well, great for jumping on that bandwagon, but with a city that’s so
malleable like Fort Wayne you can start something if you want to. Don’t
go where somebody has already started something because you’ll be swept
up there,” he admits.

       “And working as a waiter,” adds Sankofa, soberly.

 
     Of the performers, Sankofa is probably the most high profile. “I
rap. I‘ve rapped for a long time, long enough that I’m too old to rap.
But I still do it anyway,” he says of his origins. The one-time Whatzup
Battle of the Bands runner-up has been busy with his series of free
recording projects as of late, only set back by a crashed hard drive
that erased months of work.  “I have fun with music and I give it away
for free because it’s cheap and it beats pressing CDs.” Though, Sankofa
is not used to the generous set time allotted him for Ratlab. “I’m
performing for an hour, which will be my record longest set.”

 
     Paired with Sankofa is graffiti artist and aerosol wizard, Mike
Shifflett. Graffiti can be a polarizing art form, but Shifflett knows
the “rules.” “I was taught early on where was acceptable to work and
where wasn’t, like Zesto’s,” he says of the unfortunate tagging he sees
all over town. “My work is considered graffiti art, but I like to
incorporate realism into the graffiti art, which pretty much a European
thing. It doesn’t go along with a lot of traditional hip-hop artists
who like to keep it New York based or strictly bombing, illegal style,
which I don’t mind. I have other elements I like to include into the
graffiti.” Be assured, the room will be well ventilated for Shifflett’s
set. “I have something planned, but it will probably change,” he says
of his hour on stage.

       A seemingly ever-present force of
art in Fort Wayne, John Commorato Jr. will be performing one, two,
maybe three spoken word pieces for Ratlab. He isn’t quite sure. “I’ll
maybe perform a second or third piece, depending,” he says. Right now
he is focused on his main piece entitled, Barry Bender: Adventures In
Doppleganging. He says of Bender, “It’s a low calorie narrative, not
much filler.” Commorato is really happy to be involved with a project
like this, ““I’m looking forward to working with Josef and Dongo on a
mixed media project like this. I’ve got a great relationship with Dongo
and I always wanted to work with Josef.”

       Partnering with
Commorato’s spoken word will be cartoonist/illustrator Matt McClure.
Though his style uses a lot of hard lines, he doesn’t wan to be
pigeonholed as just a cartoonist. “My work is, for lack of a better
term, cartoony,” he says, “Its cartoony with a narrative based in
alternative dark realism with a lot of whimsy. I try to incorporate a
lot of different things into the medium of illustration.” McClure seems
to be the most excited member of Ratlab, “I was curious to see who
Josef would bring together. I think all of us feel as, somewhat,
outsiders in this community of fine artists.” Of the event itself he
adds, ““I spent a lot of time in college at this coffee shop just
riffing these comic journals. This almost improv style is going to be
fun to go back and do it just on the spot.”

       “Only with everybody watching,” adds Zimmerman, as a friendly warning.

 
     The other elusive pairing of one-man dirty bluesman Scott
“Poopdeflex” Snyder  (out on tour with Left Lane Cruiser at the time of
this writing) and artist extraordinaire Josh Angel might be the most
intriguing grouping of the event. If memory serves correctly, Snyder
has never had to play a set longer than a half an hour and his
cantankerous Poopdeflex alter-ego might find that hour set time as a
chance to chide everyone in the room, like Don Rickles if Don Rickles
were Dick Van Dyke’s character from Mary Poppins. There’s no telling
what his stage partner might cook up, Angel is probably the most
rounded artist of the lot. Will he do a live tattoo session? Paint an
amazing portrait of an audience member? Will he also work with aerosol
like Shifflett? When reached for comment, Angel simply says, “I’m Josh
Angel. I do art.” It will probably be a little more complicated than
that.

       An event this diverse and benefiting the community
would be a terrible thing to miss out on. Pushing the boundaries of
what a “show” can be is an experiment, an art project, in itself, so
attendees should feel as though they are a part of something bigger
than just an audience. Ringleader Zimmerman concludes, “I’m trying to
do something different, trying to bring people that might know
Sankofa’s work, but not Mike’s or Josh’s, out to experience different
things. I don’t know if it’ll mix well. Who’s going to show, who’s not
going to show, but I think it’ll be very fun.”

Got this via myspace today, thought you might get an incredulous chuckle from it...

We are looking for opening Acts for soulja Boy @ Indiana
University For Lil 500

Body:


Opening Act Spotlight
Soulja Boy Live at Indiana university Tailgate Fields Friday April 24, 2009 Lil 500 Weekend

The
opening acts are essential to the show, as they are opening up the
entire show. Therefore, they have the first interaction with the crowd
and give them a brief perception of what the show is all about. With
that being said, we expect nothing less from our opening acts when it
comes to scheduling of the show and their involvement with the show. In
order for opening acts to be admitted the night of the show, there are
two (2) requirements that must be met.
1. A demo of a CD, MP3, or any other source containing the content that will be performed at the show (Show Disc)
2.
The disc must be submitted no later than April 10th, 2009, when we must
make a final decision pertaining to the opening acts.
3. All
payments must be made final no later than April 1, 2009, either by
money transfer, western union, cashiers check, money order, or
preferably cash. (To make promotional flyers)
There are three (3) total packages and they are as follows:

Platinum Package: $2,000.00 USD

-This will be the opening act that will perform right before Soulja Boy is set to perform.
-This is a 20 minute slot that will be the most important as they will set the tone for the headliner.
-There
is only one Platinum Package slot available, the first performer or
group with payment will get the Platinum Package slot.
-4 Cast Magazine full page advertisements free for 2 months. 4Castmagazine. com
-The Real Underground DVD magazine interview
-This group or performance will also get the exclusive right to make a flier with them and Soulja Boy.
-This group will also receive four (4) tickets to the event.

Gold Package: $1,500.00 USD

-This is a 20 minute slot available for any group or performer looking to opening the Soulja Boy concert.
-4 Cast Magazine full page advertisements free for 2 months. 4Castmagazine. com
-The Real Underground DVD magazine interview
-This group will also receive two (2) tickets to the event.

Silver Package: $1,000.00 USD

-This is a 10 minute slot available for any group or performer looking to opening the Soulja Boy concert.
-4 Cast Magazine full page advertisements free for 2 months. 4Castmagazine. com
-The Real Underground DVD magazine interview
-This group will also receive two (2) tickets to the event.



We
expect the opening acts to be ON-TIME during sound check and any other
scheduling duties to make sure that the show time runs as planned.
These are the most important issues when it comes to opening acts, they
must be on time and have a vested interest in the show.

For more information on the history of the Little 500, please visit www. iusf. indiana. edu where all information pertaining to history and sponsors are available.

All artist(s) that plan on opening for the Artist show will be allowed all of the amenities as follows:
• Opening for Soulja Boy, which includes performing in front of over 4,500 people.
• Logo, website, and company name on over 20,000 flyers.
•
Sponsor corner on television advertisement. This will also include
logo, website, and company name on the television commercial each time
that it runs.
• Only people allowed to attend the event at no
admission are the artist that will be performing. Only the total # of
performers putting on a physical performance will be allowed in without
payment. Anyone else will be mandated to pay general admission prices.
• Exclusive interview with The Real Underground DVD Magazine.
•
All opening acts will also receive an add in the 4Cast Magazine which
is a monthly publication based primarily out of Indianapolis. The
magazine has a distribution of over 20,000 readers on a monthly basis.

SERIOUS INQUIRY ONLY!!!!

DeWayne Boyd
317-755-8916
317-490-9022
souljaboy812@yahoo.com
www. RealAboutEnt. Net

http://rapreviews.com/archive/2009_03_musicwithfriends4.html


Sankofa :: Music With Friends Vol. 4 :: Obese America
as reviewed by Patrick Taylor

This is the fourth installment of Sankofa's free "Music With Friends"
series, and his sixth free EP in a year if you include "Imaginary Wars"
and "Bowl of Politics." In Vol. 4, Sankofa reconnects with Purify, who
provided some beats on Vol. 1. The start it off with the raucous
"Invisible Guns," which takes on the phony gangstas so prominent in hip
hop. Over a wailing guitar and horns, Sankofa raps:


"We don’t need wack rap cause the radio already plays it

Too many base it on a fantasy amazement

Gullible audiences, even saw the same flicks

And yet claim that every lie you state is sacred

Is that your CD skipping or the actual song?

The art of repetition has a tactical bond"

Sankofa's trademark rapid-fire flow and clever, intricate rhymes
are on full display here. For those of you not familiar with the Fort
Wayne, Indiana rapper, he has the gruff, stentorian flow similiar to
Aesop Rock, and a penchant for unusual references and metaphors, like
"I’m Shel Silverstein by the way of Bill Danforth/ looking like a man
from a cancer ward," from "Birkencrocs." On "Iowa to Indiana," he
explains "that's the name of the game here, I remain weird/ wth the
same ears that hear things a little different." Sankofa is like a
Midwestern, sober MF DOOM, in that he meshes his serious criticisms of
the world and the music industry in a web of tricky wordplay and crazy
one-liners.

The beats are solid throughout, and Purify mixes rock and jazz with
boom-bap. The best tracks on the EP are the banging "Rapping Force,"
featuring RhymeWise trading verses with Sankofa, and the more subdued
"Piece of Paper," a rap about sobriety. At six tracks, "Music With
Friends Vol. 4" is the perfect length, long enough to give you a taste,
but free of the filler of the average free mixtape. Sankofa focuses on
quality over quantity and delivers. Best of all it is a no-money-down,
zero-risk proposition. Go to Obese America and download it now, and buy
some of his merch while you're at it.


Music Vibes: 8 of 10
Lyric Vibes: 8 of 10
TOTAL Vibes: 8 of 10