#☆ﾟ post hailey verse ↳ here's to never growing up ◝

[futureinourhands]

Tag Dump 2/4 - Verses

[g2slade]

Looking Back on a Broken Family

2012 was a rough year to put it mildly. Just in 2012, I got divorced for the second time, found out my wife and older brother had a relationship behind my back, fell out with my best friend, had my car repossessed, got laid off from my job of five years, and once again had to deal with my family being broken up.

On thing that helped me hold it together that year was music. Probably my deepest song ever was written that year. It was called Broken Family, and it pretty perfectly illustrated how I felt at the time. Prior to 2012 I was already dealing with seeing my kids only during weekends and holidays due to my first divorce. Going through it again and not having Laila Abigail at home everyday was just another trip through hell for me, as far as I was concerned. 

I found myself sad about my children not being around, angry at my own family, betrayed by another wife and disillusioned with relationships or pretty much any kind. (Personal / Professional / Familial) My outlet was alcohol and music. 

I’ve since found myself with the greatest woman I’ve ever met. Jess came into my life and showed me how a wife should treat a husband, how a mom should treat her kids and basically how a human should treat other humans. She definitely unlocked a kinder and calmer natured person in myself. I am 100% a better person for having her in my life.

I wanted to post the lyrics to this song to paint a picture of how awful it is to break up a family and remind anyone struggling to find a reason to work through their own relationship problems that giving up comes with a cost, and even though my life is better now than ever before, it doesn’t always work out that way for others, and you may in fact be in the right relationship for you, just going through hard times at the moment. 

Breaking up and being without your family every day is not glamorous, fun or any other positive outcome. 

I also wanted to post this out there so my kids, who are all older now and can look back on this song with the proper perspective and understand how much I really loved them and struggled to live a life without them by my side each day.

I hope you enjoy the lyrics. There’s a song to go along with it, but it’s the lyrics, not the song that I’m wanting to draw attention to at this point.

“Broken Family”  by George Slade (2012)

“You think you got it rough cause you’re heartbroken?

I have my heart broken every other weekend,

When I have to send my kids back to their mom again,

Same feelings, same thing, starts up again,

And it doesn’t really get worse,

But every single time feels just like the first,

That’s my blood, I can’t get used to it,

A shitty way to live, but I gotta live through it,

Day after day, year after year,

Drink after drink, Beer after beer,

Keep it inside, hold back the tears,

Nights are alone, I wish you were here,

I don’t believe in much, but I believe in you,

You’re a part of me, and I’m a part of you,

And we’re in this together, at least we should be,

Instead we gotta live in broken up family,

Women come and go, in and out of the blue,

They can be replaced, I can’t replace you,

My heart’s four pieces, one for each of of you,

But every time you leave I feel spit up and chewed,

I hope you never have to ever feel like I do,

When I’m with you  I’m in heaven, but the opposite’s true,

Everytime I watch you leave, even though I might smile,

Just to have you back forever, I would walk the green mile,

And suffer through a death, just to come back to life,

Just for the chance to kiss you on the head every night,

Tuck you into bed, and tell you it’s alright,

Sweet dreams and don’t let the bed bugs bite,

Wake you in the morning just to cook you all breakfast,

Before you go to school; That’s a beautiful necklace,

I’d say to my daughter, I’d hug on my son,

But that’s just a dream; What my life’s become,

Maybe I could have done better as a man,

Sorry if you think that I didn’t try hard,

Days and nights and weeks were a struggle,

Sorry if you feel I didn’t do my part,

I don’t know what to say now, lookin’ back,

Me and your mother were ridin’ two separate tracks,

I was good with the kids, bad with the wife,

Maybe I’m immature, maybe that’s life,

I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to say,

Where did it all go wrong, I wonder this everyday,

I know that sounds cheesy, but man this ain’t easy,

All four of you kids, I just want you here with me,

I get it every now and then, but it’s not enough,

But I’m proud of the way all of you are growing up,

Mileena with her grades, Sean with his attitude,

Hailey with a killer smile, Laila Abigail too,

I only count to 4 when I’m counting my blessings,

Everything else in life is just window dressing,

And window treatments, my heart’s like cement,

I guess there’s some things I just can’t prevent,

Hope you can’t see it, the pain that I go through,

So don’t turn around, just say goodbye and I love you,

I’ll see you next time, and no I can’t wait,

But I ain’t got no choice, Trapped like an inmate,

If you’re home with your kids, know it’s a blessing,

I learned it the hard way, a horrible lesson,

So you got it easy, just listen to my words,

Learn from my mistakes, listen to my verse,

Hope you can’t see it, the pain that I go through,

So don’t turn around, just say goodbye and I love you,

I’ll see you next time, and no I can’t wait,

But I ain’t got no choice, Trapped like an inmate,”

[getyourgossip0-blog]

Cincinnati music group Triiibe blends Hip Hop, acts of service and a DIY ethos to create its own brand of 'artivism'

New Post has been published on https://getyourgossip.xyz/cincinnati-music-group-triiibe-blends-hip-hop-acts-of-service-and-a-diy-ethos-to-create-its-own-brand-of-artivism/

Cincinnati music group Triiibe blends Hip Hop, acts of service and a DIY ethos to create its own brand of 'artivism'

Left to Right: Siri Imani, Pxvce and Aziza LovePhoto: Hailey Bollinger

How many people do we have out here who garden?” asks Siri Imani, eliciting a chorus of woos from the sizzling mass of Northsiders brave enough to stand in Hoffner Park’s unshaded edge on the Fourth of July.

A shirtless man dressed as Beaker from The Muppet Show takes the opportunity to lift his cylindrical headwear and wipe the sweat from his brow.

Immediately following the neighborhood’s Independence Day parade, Triiibe’s opening set at the annual Northside Rock & Roll carnival attracts a mixed bag of locals — costumed folks wandering in from their floats, parents and their wildly dancing children, fans who mouth the lyrics — all of whom have prioritized soaking up Neo-Soul grooves over shielding themselves from the dangerous heatwave frying the city.

Fortunately, the trio is willing to deliver. Backed by a live band, Imani, Pxvce (government name CJ Houston) and Aziza Love (Alexis Thompson) exchange verses about everything from growing their own vegetables to the experience of oneness, interjecting ad-libs in the spaces in between. Comprised of noodly guitar riffs, crystalline keyboard pads and a hefty rhythm section, the music stretches out comfortably into roomy dimensions to leave space for the emcees to prophesy.

“We don’t need nobody’s help…Green thumb growing; garden still potent.”

Triiibe’s Fourth of July celebration isn’t so much a celebration of American independence as it is an affirmation of individual freedom. In the interval between songs, the collective invites their audience to think introspectively, teaching the virtues of living off the land and taking time to meditate.

“Triiibe: True Representation of Intellectual Individuals Invoking Black Excellence,” Imani says, as the spaced-out melody of the band’s currently unrelease single “A Wrinkle In Time” creeps into the background. “We want to be a positive representation of urban culture.”

And then the beat drops.

This positive representation doesn’t end in the lyrics. Triiibe is equally dedicated to art and activism, churning out new music when they’re not serving the community. Outside of the studio, the members of Triiibe help cultivate a community garden in Avondale, mentor students enrolled in Cincinnati Public Schools and organize a monthly free Potluck for the People at downtown’s Piatt Park, which serves those experiencing homelessness.

“The music and art go hand in hand,” says Pxvce. “Artivism’s what we call it. We’ve realized what the world is starting to come to and we want to be the solution to the problem.”

Triiibe Viiibes

For a band that has yet to drop an album, Triiibe has established a prolific presence in Cincinnati’s Hip Hop scene. Over the past year, they’ve maintained a busy schedule of DIY shows and single releases, finding time to contribute three guest appearances to Bootsy Collins’ 15th studio album, World Wide Funk: a collaboration that bridged two generations of Cincinnati natives.

After stumbling upon a Facebook Live stream of a Triiibe home recording session, Collins invited the group to his studio in Nashville to help finish a song he was working on at the time. Impressed with the finished product, he asked the band back for two more sessions, producing a handful of new verses.

At that time, the group was known as the Blvck Seeds, a quartet that included visual artist Jessi Jumanji, whose Afrofuturist collages depict a post-human convergence of humanity, nature and machines.

When Jumanji accepted an opportunity to move to Los Angeles, the group changed their name to Triiibe in January, out of respect to the bond they’d created. Once the four are reunited, they plan to play as the Blvck Seeds once again. TriiibePhoto: Hailey Bollinger

The band first met at The Mockbee, where they were all booked for the same show.

“We really gravitated toward each other and started having jam sessions at my house,” Pxvce says. “That’s when it just started to click. When we started to perform, we had a chemistry that was something that I haven’t experienced. There were a few times that we did things where I don’t know if they’ve ever been done. So, we know there’s a magic between us.”

Each member’s particular role in the group can be difficult to suss out, given Triiibe’s penchant for call-and-response vocals and their adaptive show setup. Generally, though, Imani assumes the role of resident rhymester, shouldering the bulk of the band’s lyrical content while Love belts soaring, glossolaliatic hooks and the occasional verse. Pxvce creates most of the beats from scratch, dropping DJ mixes between sets.

In recent months, fans have enjoyed a bumper crop of new recorded material, released in anticipation of the band’s debut record — III AM WHAT III AM — due Oct. 10. In July alone, they’ve revealed the album’s first single, “Gossip,” in the form of a music video, alongside a pair of “shemixes”— socially conscious rewrites of popular Trap songs that allow Imani and Love to spread new messages on familiar beats.

Thus far, they’ve dropped Imani’s own take on “Plug Walk,” Rich the Kid’s vibey breakout hit, exchanging the original track’s flex-heavy hedonism for an examination of an artist’s social responsibilities. During live sets, Love has taken to performing a stylistically complex cover of A$AP Ferg’s “Mattress,” detailing her connections to the Northside neighborhood and the spiritual realm atop distorted, speaker-knocking production.

[WATCH: Siri Imani’s “Plug Walk” shemix]

“When Aziza and I came up with the shemixes, we just wanted to take male-dominated songs and switch them up,” Imani says. “We felt like their content was something that we could honestly trump. We chose about seven and started remixing them. We did the ‘Plug Walk’ video at Findlay Park, which was a spot that we hit often and we know the people there. But everything that you hear in the lyrics of the song, you can look at the park and see the culture being cultivated in that space.”

In the meantime, Triiibe’s still putting the finishing touches on their album with help from local Indie Rock outfit Jess Lamb & The Factory at the Harrison Skydeck studio.

“For me, the album is a declaration of the hard work we’ve put in to understanding ourselves,” Love says. “It’s amazing how you can come to that understanding through being with other people. The members of Triiibe are like reflections of me — an opportunity to help me look at myself and look at the music I’m creating effortlessly now that I’m with other people.”

Love says that Imani’s often the group’s songwriting catalyst, penning new verses to Pxvce’s production, then herding the members into the studio to flesh out the idea. Though Imani’s adept at seamlessly knitting her ideas and flows into beats, she’s actually the newest to music out of the group.

Growing up, she was surrounded by poetry. Her mother, Jennie Wright, was an active member of the Raw Poets Society in the late ’90s and early ’00s and encouraged Imani to take up the craft at a young age.

“I think the first time I performed, I was 5,” Imani says. “And, it was, like, goofy. Just words together. But ever since then, I’ve kept writing poetry. I’m newer to Rap, but it’s really interesting to me. I’d never done it until I got around Triiibe. But, I still have huge dedication to poetry — I want to mainstream it. It has to become a genre where kids are growing up, like, ‘I want to do poetry.’ I’ve been looking at the Chicago scene for ways to do that. Malcolm London, Chance the Rapper, Noname, and all of them.”

Pxvce and Love, on the other hand, have been making music for a good portion of their lives. Influenced by both Gucci Mane and Arrested Development, Pxvce’s instrumental creations chop mystical Funk samples to the flutter of drum machine hi-hats. Love’s roots are folkier, giving a rawer, more visceral contribution to the group.

“If you ask my mom, I sang myself to sleep when I was born,” Love says. “I was in church choir when I was young, and that turned into elementary school choir. I stopped choir later on and went to instrumental music throughout high school and college, but I kept singing outside of a structure. I did my first solo shows when I was about 17, and I’ve been rolling ever since.”

Triiibe Proviiides

“Does everybody have trays? Paper?” asks LaTrese Green. Two plastic trays filled with soil are at her side as she walks a diverse circle of twentysomethings through the process of transplanting seeds for the fall harvest. She traces five vertical lines on the surface of the soil to sow seeds in each container, and her audience of seven follows suit.

It’s a weekly ritual for Green and her fellow gardeners, who make the trek to Avondale on Saturday mornings to help give life to a once-vacant lot sandwiched between houses on Beldare Avenue. Alongside Triiibe, she’s nurtured the seeds of friendship at the Hilltop Community Garden, attracting regulars and newcomers alike over the past year and a half.

Green, a health educator and civic garden coordinator, hopes the garden will become a “demo site,” promoting plant-based foods and self-sufficiency.

“You know how Triiibe as a collective is all about positivity?” she asks. “They’re who I was able to get this land through, basically. I’m in partnership with the Civic Garden Center (of Greater Cincinnati), and the zoo owns the land.”

Signs of progress: new pear and apple trees sprout around a rainbow-colored shed, built and spray-painted by volunteers. There’s an herb garden that Green hopes to use for “make one, take one” tea parties.

“This is a playground,” she says. “I want schools and community programming to come on out and visit throughout the school year.” Pxvce at work in the community gardenPhoto: Ty Wesselkamper

Meanwhile, Pxvce works the soil in a more sun-drenched plot, digging to the steady drone of a lawnmower. Triiibe’s dedication to service makes them tough to catch all at once — while Pxvce gardens, Love focuses on running her weekly “Soulstice” meditation/yoga classes at the Hive in Northside and Imani spreads her passion for poetry to a younger generation via partnerships with Cincinnati Public Schools and OTR-based arts organization Elementz.

And that’s just a single day’s work for the band. Triiibe’s Facebook events calendar reveals just how invested in Cincinnati they really are. They host a book club at the Public Library’s main branch on the first Monday of each month, organize a weekly fitness run on Sunday mornings and help serve at the aforementioned monthly Potluck for the People — the next of which takes place July 29.

The Potluck made headlines in June, when the Cincinnati Parks Department billed Triiibe $450 for a special use permit and retroactively charged one of the organizers’ mothers another $450 for the preceding month. The free event had been running regularly since January.

[MORE: Should this group have to pay to feed people who are homeless in a Cincinnati park?]

The group says that the event’s purpose is not only to provide nourishment to Cincinnati’s homeless population, but also to bring light to all attendees. The organizers give out free haircuts, clothes and provide opportunities to make art.

“After serious conversation between Triiibe, Cincinnati Peace Movement, Cincinnati Parks and United Way, we were able to come to an agreement that the policy should be changed,” Love says. “For the betterment of all the city. So now the policy stands that anyone providing a free service at Piatt Park can have the opportunity to have the fee waived.”

It’s important to the group that they stay busy, spreading themselves throughout the community as much as possible. Pxvce says that through Triiibe’s activism, he wants to prove that it doesn’t take experience to serve — just the will to help out.

“That’s why it’s so DIY,” he says. “We went through Civic Garden Center to learn about gardening, but this is our first year with our own land. We’re experimenting as we go.”

Triiibe’s Triiibe

“When we say Triiibe, we’re inviting you into our hearts and our community,” says Love, enveloped by the red glow of Northside bar and music venue The Comet’s neon signage.

Anyone who’s seen the band live knows the call and response between the performers and audience that follows.

“Triiibe!”

“…Triiibe!”

“Triiibe!”

“…Triiibe!”

“Tr-aye-aye-aye-be!”

“…Tr-aye-aye-aye-be!”

With a sampler basket of nachos cradled in his left arm, Pxvce lowers the volume of his Soul-inflected Cardi B remix as Love introduces the lineup for Triiibe’s Friday the 13th celebration in July: “Blvck Magic.”

Punctuated by more intimate versions of Triiibe’s usual live setlist, the show features performances by Brooklynn Rae, whose whispery solo tunes recall Frankie Cosmos or Nick Drake; Blasé, who adds a sinister flair to her R&B/Funk output with the help of her technically impressive backing band; and Love herself, whose set stretched to 2 a.m., drawing sleepy showgoers from their drinks and baskets of chips to the small arc of chairs scattered around the performers. The band is as passionate about hyping up their friends as they are when performing their own material. There’s even a short open mic session between acts, with content ranging from freestyles to spoken-word poetry sessions.

“We just know really good people,” Imani says. “Everybody around me has some type of crazy talent. I mean, I don’t think it’s possible for somebody to not have talent, but recently all my friends have just been showing them out. They put a lot of work into what you see on stage. People ask me, ‘How do you meet these people?’ I met them as friends! They grew into the people you see now.”

It’s seeing Cincinnati’s Hip Hop scene blossom that Triiibe says gives them the energy to press on. First and foremost, they work hard to put their city on the map.

“We might get big, who knows?” Imani says. “But what I really want is to see something beautiful happen here in Cincinnati. We want to open a school that teaches all of the arts what you can do with a business. Things it took us years to find out.”

She adds that although Triiibe may not be the best rappers, artists or even people in the world, those people are out there. If her trio shows those people that they, too, can start making DIY artwork, they’ll have succeeded.

And, the band wants to go on tour soon after III AM WHO III AM drops. That is, once they’ve found folks to take care of garden while they’re gone. And keep the Soulstice classes running. And make sure the potluck happens each month.

Through their continued outreach, Triiibe hopes to be the role models they wish they’d had when they were kids.

“I can clearly see changes happening every day,” Imani says. “Once we get it together on one harmonious level, Cincinnati is going to be just like Chicago; just like Atlanta; just like LA. It already is. It’s just a hidden magic.”

For more information on Triiibe and upcoming events, visit facebook.com/TRIIIBEworldwide.

[starbcrn-kids]

For @unscrxpted​ - Shipwrecked! [Team Communications] Starring S’Chn T’Gai James

As soon as the pod opens, James lets Momo hop out on her own and sits up, carefully getting himself out. “Oww. My legs seriously fell asleep in minutes there. Fantastic.”

He gathers the supplies from the pod, pulling on the standard-issue jacket from his survival gear. “Okay. Now then. Let’s try to call for other crew. If that doesn’t work, get my bearings and we head north. Sound good to you, Momo?”

But he looks out beyond the trees... and sees the Orville falling from the sky, and it breaks him, just a bit. “...or, we could head for the ship and see if I can get real communications running.”

He looks up, hearing the beep of another Kelvin pod that’s been opened. “Hey! Over here!”

[starbcrn-kids]

For @unscrxpted​ - Shipwrecked! [Team Welcome to Literal Hell] Starring Ginger Kirk & Doug Karidian

Ginger’s put together pretty quickly and easily, all things considered, but she looks around at the structures around, the desolate appearances, trying to get her bearings.

No. No no no no--

She turns as another pod hits the ground, and in a moment, Doug pops out of it. He looks around wearily, seeing her and climbing out, getting his supplies. “Is it...?”

“One way to find out for sure.” She walks over to the building, doubting very much that the technology still works, but trying anyways.

A screen pops up on the window. And the face looking back at her... the name on the display...

Ginger turns around and throws up. Because she’s looking at Governor Kodos. Also known to some as Anton Karidian... Doug’s grandfather. Or to others, such as her dad... as Kodos the Executioner.

Doug sighs, trying to take deep breaths, turning as another pod lands with them.

[starbcrn-kids]

For @unscrxpted​ - Shipwrecked! Starring and guest starring all muses from the USS Orville

“All I know is, Ginger, Eddie, and I will feel a lot better when we’re out of this area of space," Nova is saying to Sam. “I mean, I know there’s nothing down there, and we’re not going there, and there’s no reason to go down there anyways, but it’s... unnerving, being so close to it.”

She looks up at a familiar sound from the transporter room and then an all too common alarm. “Oh, incoming. Call Lily for me, will ya?” She smiles at him sweetly as she heads to follow up on it.

[starbcrn-kids]

For @unscrxpted​ - Shipwrecked! [Team Kiddos] Starring all children of Orville crew muses + Lara Bashir!

As soon as Lara’s pod hits the ground, she practically has to kick the thing open while the computer tries to deliver a full report on the planet. Class M, okay, yeah, that’s all that matters.

She starts getting supplies from the pod as provided, looking around, hearing other pods. “Kids! Kids!”

Victoria looks up from where she and Grace are helping Grayson out of his pod. “Over here, Ms. Bashir!”

Lara finishes gathering things and runs over with the phaser from her own escape pod drawn... just in case. She starts on a headcount quickly, checking them off... “Eretria, where’s Eretria?”

[starbcrn-kids]

For @unscrxpted​ - Shipwrecked! [Team Docs] Starring Iris Kirk

When her pod opens, Iris forces herself to push herself up and out of it. She groans slightly. “You two don’t make eet easy, you know zat, right?”

She asks it rhetorically down at her stomach, but she makes note of her accent and tries to bring it back in check. “Dr. Finn? Dr. Tayen?”

[starbcrn-kids]

For @unscrxpted​ - Shipwrecked! [Team Keep It Together] Starring Hannah McCoy

Hannah gasps when her pod opens, sitting up, still clutching her emergency supplies to her chest and trying to calm herself down.

Tight spaces. That pod had been... uncomfortably closed up. She didn’t like it. She tries to breathe, tries to pull herself together... shaking badly, crying, gasping softly for air.

She looks up at a rustle, freezing... relaxing when Bortus clears the brush. “Oh. Thank god, it’s only you.”

“Dr. McCoy, are you hurt?”

“No, no, I just... I had to catch my breath.” She shakily tries to pull herself out of the pod.

“That is good. We must find the others,” he states simply, going to help her.

Hannah nods. “Good thing there’s contingencies for that. You guys got the right Federation crewmembers for the job.”

[starbcrn-kids]

For @unscrxpted​ - Shipwrecked! [Team Oh Fuck What’s That Down There?] Starring Lily Scott & Will Riker-Troi II

Lily grumbles under her breath as she gets out of her pod, shrugging on the survival jacket and getting things together. She looks over and sees Will and Audrey, good, at least they’re okay.

She pulls her communicator. “Scott to Orville crew, come in Orville crew.”

No answer. She starts to switch to another channel.

[starbcrn-kids]

For @unscrxpted​ - Shipwrecked! [Team Well We’re Fucked] Starring all Orville muses who haven’t been mentioned in previous Shipwrecked threads except Angie McCoy

Dakota wrenches her arm away from the strange being holding it and runs to join the rest of her crew. After their pods were captured, they’d been escorted into a pen together. This was all sounding somewhat familiar...

But there’s no time for that now. She looks around her crew, trying to see who was here. She relaxes only slightly when she sees Ed. “Captain!”

He’s making a headcount, too. He notices her and nods.

Dakota nods back and continues looking around at the others.

[starbcrn-kids]

Open! Starring Mirila Kozak

“When’s the last time the woman who seemed to be deadset on drinking her weight in the bar wanted to talk about her feelings?”

[starbcrn-kids]

Open Starter! Starring Dahlia

“So... this is a space station?” Dahlia wrinkles her nose. “Sorry. My friends kind of left me here like I’m not from the early 1980s and I’ll be fine on my own and I am... lost.”

[starbcrn-kids]

@unscrxpted​ from x

Grayson smiles and rolls his eyes at Brynn’s comment, shrugging and shaking his head. “Whatever. Yeah.” He absentmindedly pets the cat for a moment, looking back at James and nodding again.

James nods and clears his throat. “Means you’ve got a few more sisters to meet.”

“So I was hearing,” Grayson nods. “Sorta. I didn’t get much out of her about them.”

James raises an eyebrow and laughs. “C’mon, class should be getting out, you’ll love the twins.”

[starbcrn-kids]

@unscrxpted​​ from x

James smiles softly as he looks back at the kids... his, kids. Shaking his head, he sighs a bit, looking back in to check in on everyone, pausing and chuckling. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

Grayson groans, sitting up slowly, still chuckling a bit but taking deep breaths, trying to settle himself and get back on track. “What, what is it?”

Dahlia smiles a bit, looking satisfied in this situation, in its outcome.

[starbcrn-kids]

@unscrxpted​, Emala said to Axel: "If it makes you feel any better, i know exactly how you’re feeling right now."

Axel sighs and looks at her blankly, still sitting back in his cell. “That is impressive, Emala, given I do not understand exactly how I am feeling right now. That is how this seems to work.”