#(my b-day is in july so I guess I'm blessed~)

[steamishot]

heat wave

this past week was pretty socially busy. on tuesday, S came over to work out. i felt better about the whole moving thing after chatting with her, like i got her blessing to move and confirmation that we'll keep in touch/visit each other. i hope we will still remain close but she seems to be getting busier and busier as she takes on more private practice clients. shortly after this, R and her friend randomly asked if they could come up to use our restroom since they were in the area. i said sure and we got to chat for a bit LOL.

that same night, i met up with A, S, and LW for a comedy show. it was a bit awkward because A was the most excited about coming out (an excuse to get away from mommy duties during the weeknight) and everyone else was kinda meh. we initially planned to meet at 7, but ended up meeting around 7:45pm, right before the start of the show. it was actually nice to all meet up again, despite my nerves. felt like a full circle, since this group was my initial friend group in NYC.

on juneteenth wednesday, i invited new friend LG over to my place for lunch. i made miso mushroom spaghetti and we hung out for about two hours just chatting. we then walked over to the ceramics studio where i practiced for a bit before heading back home. i was pretty tired from the socializing and walking in the extreme heat. the studio was also more full than usual, i'm guessing due to the holiday and people wanting free AC.

i've been intentionally missing my sunday classes, and basically going into the studio on my own time. i prefer practicing when the room is emptier (not full like it usually is when class is in session). i'm socially awkward and i feel like my teacher doesn't like me or gravitate towards me. she's pretty hands off in general, but being there and kinda ignored in comparison to the other students makes me feel like it's not worth going. i officially signed up for another (and last) ceramics semester in brooklyn. it'll keep me occupied for july and aug before heading off to switzerland and moving back.

there has been a heat wave this past week or so. i've been lazy to move about, and been avoiding going out in the day time in general. it's kinda the reverse of the dead cold winters.

work: i don't know how i feel about the new girl A who is taking over my old position. it's been about a month now and she hasn't been much help and has still been working on trainings/gaining access. she also doesn't seem very eager to help out (in comparison to other new employees i've seen). we had a brief chat a few weeks ago on the phone, and i saved her number. this week, i texted her about something work related and included my name. her response was "i'm sorry, who is this?" *facepalm*

friends: this is pretty sad, but i was unfriended by B last week. it's the first time in my life that a "close friend" has ever done something like this. there has been drama surrounding her and her two sisters since her bachelorette and wedding last fall. because one of her sisters moved to NYC and the other one has visited, i would sometimes bring them up in conversation with B (i.e. i saw R/T recently for X, Y, Z). i wasn't sure if their fight was something temporary and they would eventually make up, but B emphasized that she wants to keep her sisters at a distance and asked that i stop mentioning them in conversation.

most importantly, i ended up breaking B's trust. she confided in me about her pregnancy and asked me not to tell anyone. i had kept it a secret until weeks after she told her parents. i had assumed that once the parents knew, it wouldn't be a secret within the family. and i assumed wrong, because me bringing it up to her sister R stirred up a lot of drama 😢. now, she probably sees me as siding with her sisters and it's easier to cut me off. just earlier this year, she also cut off her maid of honor/best friend for other reasons. i'm sorry for breaking her trust and wish her well.

leisure: matt went to jury duty 4x this week and they have been more or less ~6 hour days! it's so much better for quality time than the 12 hour days in a very stressful environment. we were finally able to chat more about the move, play overcooked 2 most nights (it's so fun!), watched some presumed innocent, and have ample sleep. last night, we attended our first concert together: odesza at MSG. it was a bit too loud and flashy for my taste but i enjoyed the experience more so as a one and done type of thing. it was the closest experience we've had to clubbing/partying out here.

logistics: tesla seems to have really bad customer service for such a huge company. it felt impossible for me to get in touch with anyone via phone, and they're not very responsive via the app or text. ugh. still trying to figure out the pick up thing. apartment searching has been tough, lol. we were considering just doing the easy thing and transferring to a different apartment within our current network, but the prices in pasadena are pretty outrageous. TBD.

[alice-chan-chan]

[westakoasta]

Joe Dub - WCI, 2005

Alright, tell us about your childhood in SF, the records that had an impact on you..

Growin up in "the city" was cool... It's one of the most diverse and open minded cities in the States. A lot of pride... Not just for the city itself but for culture as well. Music and art is not only embraced, it's encouraged. I started off singin in a choir and playin the trumpet. Plus my Mom would paint so I'd get in home art lessons. But I was hella into sports also. I played baseball from like 5 or 6 years old through high school. I was a raw ass in fielder... But couldn't really hit too well though... Haha! But yeah I had a typical childhood I guess. Gettin into trouble... Girls... Yunno that kinda shit. It wasn't really until like 85 that I started rhymin. It was more some fuck around shit we'd do in the schoolyard at lunchtime. Just freestyle shit.. Braggin and baggin.. Recorded some shit just for fun... I still got those tapes.. Fucking funny stuff man.

Around 86 or so I remember listening to KPOO (local hip-hop radio station in the bay) when they had dj's like... KK... Marcus Clemens and Dan the Automator. One night I remember they played Eric B and Rakim "Check out my Melody," Mixmaster Gee "The Manipulator" (check artist), BDP "My 9mm Goes Bang" and Just Ice "Latoya" in succession. I recorded that show still have that tape in fact. Anyways, once the show ended at that moment I knew I wanted to do this shit seriously. The beats moved me but I was more trying to rap then. It wasn't till 90 or 91 when I into making beats.

As far as records that inspired me rapwise? I was a fan of all of the old stuff. Flash, Kurtis Blow, Spoonie G, but it was the progressive shit that had me buggin. Anything that Kurtis Mantronik did... Just Ice (dopest mc of all time imo)... T LA Rock... All that... Schooly D was like a surrogate father to me as a child. Quite the role model!!!  Hahahahah!

Let's talk about the Westcoast Workforce. How did y'all came along together, the records/ tracks you did collectively... Everything. I once read about a reformation with you, Sub, Radioinactive, Xinxo, Liferex and Omid.. Is that true?

Well the Workforce was around before I was put on. It was Xinxo, Sub, AntiMC, Radio, Premonition, Memorex, Rhetoric and some other folks. It wasn't until 99 when I was at the B-boy Summit that I met Sub and AntiMC. We traded tapes and that was that. That was like February or March. Then in July of 99 P-minus hits me up and is like "Radio and Antimc are in town and trying to get at you" gave me the number. I called em... Chopped it up for a good second but we never got a chance to hang out then. In September, Deeskee, Maleko and I rolled down to LA to kick it at the Shapeshifter house in Westwood where Rob One (RIP), Exist, Bleek and Dr. Lewd lived. We left SF at about 5 AM and got in at 10 PM. Pull up to the house and Rob is sitting outside car full of records, sayin "cool you guys are here... Let's go." He had a gig and was waitin on us. So we go to the show... And i'm outside smokin and sub walks up and he's like what's up, you wanna be down with the Workforce? That was pretty much it. Megabusive, Liferexall and them got down right after that. As for getting back together, me, Xinxo, Radio, Subtitle, and Rexall, got together and talked about it when I was in LA in 2004. Some of the old names came up, but due to differences and conflictin schedules we left it at that. Omid and Premonition were included as well. But with everyone doing solo shit right now, it's just a name we claim, no albums or tours will be coming anytime soon. Me and Xinxo joke that we are the Workforce. But all of us still work together... Still hang out and what not... The timing is just off right now. I'm trying to get a Workforce song on my album... We'll see!

You probably have one of the most prolific discography in the bay, tones of collaborations and obscure groups... What were the most important ones  to you? Also there's this one called The Citadel, which was supposed to be you, Sub, Liferexall and Megabusive.. Does this one only ever existed?

I've been blessed to work with the people I have! My favorite one would have to be with the folks I know the most. Friends... Not just MC's doin songs together... People. Cuz there's no chemistry there. It's not just like "Hey let's do a song to do a song". It's because you know the person and you know they'd fit the mood of the song, whatever it may be. Some shit is fuck around and some is serious with money involved, but either way if it's the homies... It's fun! The folks I like workin with are like... All the Workforce, Deeskee, the Shapes, Khule, Topic, Tommy V, and the list goes on. It's laid back and relaxed when we work. Bustin jokes... Talkin story... That's what I like. Like me and 2Mex did this song when he was in Hawaii... Some quick shit... He's talking about his trip to Hawaii... I was talking about mine to LA. It's probably won't ever come out... But those are the best collabs when you do it for fun.

Citadel? HAHAHA. How'd you hear about that? Yeah we did that at Sub's mom's house in Mid City. Me, Megabusive, Subtitle, and Life were kickin it hard. We all made beats and rapped so Sub had the idea let's each make a 2 beats and do songs in like a week. But the only way Sub would let me rap on it was if I styled hard....HAHAHA! See he saw me freestyle once and I was stylin it up... Haha... Blowed style. But that's another story... So yeah we did that shit... Came out tight. But it was just for fun... Wait so you have a copy? Cuz I don't. I think Sub is the only one with it.

You moved recently to Hawaï... Tell us about it, how's life out there, differences with California, the hip hop scene, if it's a good place for cratedigging... Anything.

Life in Hawaii is slow. A far cry from the pace of the rest of the States. Everybody out here does things at their own speed. Where as in Cali everythings done on a schedule. I pretty much work between the two... Though it's tough sometimes. It's a small island so the scene is smaller than I'm used to. There's some good talent and the fans support. I don't get out that much though so I can't speak on it too much. Yeah man there's a few dope spots for diggin out here. I left a lot of my records back in Cali and I have like 5,000 here in Hawaii. Most of which I got here, some common shit, some rare shit, but theres a lot of come ups, not many people out here are lookin for the kind of stuff I am. So I always find something worth while. Plus, the prices are cheap... No record is ever over $20... Almost everything is under $5... I'm kind of spoiled with that!

Do you have a job besides hip hop?

Nah, I haven't had a 9 to 5 in about 3 or 4 years. Music hasn't been great to be but it's been good enough. I just sell beats and work on music all day. Hit the beach and drink myself to sleep.

You got an album with Ellay Khule called In A World Of My Own that will be released soon... Can you tell us about it? And also, what about this 8′’ vinyl released by Anti-Party? I'm curious to see what a 8" looks like?

It's actually called "In My Own World". The album came about through a mutual friend of Khule and I. He told Khule to check out my beats and I've always been a fan of Khule since I can remember so I was obviously down. At first I'd send him beats in the mail... Then he wrote the songs... Then I flew out to LA to lay the beats and vocals down.... I prefer doing music in person not long distance. It helps the chemistry. But yeah, I didn't want to give him elaborate beats... I wanted his vocals to be the focus... There's something for every Khule fan on the album... There's some hard Rifleman shit... Some Ellay Khule aggressive styling... And some real heart felt personal shit... This album is probably the most complete project i've worked on to date... Me and Khule have talked about doin another project together so this definately won't a one shot deal... As for the 8′’... It's a collection of about 5 or 6 songs off my old "Noise Pollution" tape... Yeah DJ Plankton from Anti-Party really wanted to release the whole album on vinyl but... I'm about moving forward... Plus the sound quality on that tape really wouldn't cut in on vinyl... So we agreed to bust a limited run of 8"'s with some of the songs off Noise Pollution instead... It should be coming out in july... Very limited though... I heard something like under 100 are being pressed...

What's your opinion on the evolution of the underground scene?

Umm I mean... Damn... Haha... It's weird... I'm kinda removed from the Cali scene being out here in Hawaii... But... I’ll say this... The way the scene used to be... Everyone knew their place... You had the MCs/ DJs/ producers/ B-Boys... The vendors... Promoters... And the fans. And who you were was cool. Everyone respected it... Now with all the advancements with technology and free programs for computers... I'd have to honestly say that 70-75% of the people in the scene are MC's or producers now... Now i'm not saying that people shouldn't be allowed their voice... But... Go through the proper channels... Pay dues... Hustle... No one has to hustle anymore... We used to take the last 100 bucks we had... Go get tapes made... Have about 20 bucks left... Spend that on gas and roll to LA... Just to slang tapes at shows...n Ad to tap into a different region... Get our shit out there... Sleep in cars... On couches whatever... We'd sell about 50 tapes or so in a weekend for 5 bones... And come back home broke... But to us the trips were always a success... Now... Everyones got a website with a store... It's so easy now... You don't have to leave your house and you can move 1000 units no sweat... I'd have to sum it up by saying that there's less passion nowadays... I really don't want to go any deeper into this.... Haha.

How do you see yourself at 50? And do you project yourself in the future as a rapper, I mean, do you have plans of doing something else?

At 50?.... If i make it that far... I'll still be making music....if i'm rappin still it'll probably just be for myself....but i'll still be producing...i'm a proud drop out...so....i don't think i'll ever rock a career or a 9 to 5 for that matter again....but if my life changes drastically by then....i can say i'll always have music....

What are you listening to right now... and your all time 5 favorite lps..?

Right now....i'm listening to ellay khule-califormula...alot of mandrill.....gong....totally insane....young ed....alot of my beats(not because i'm an ego maniac...but because i'm kinda forced to listen to them as i make them)....and all the myspace mc's who want me to "check out their tracks".......all time 5?......shit.....here i mean.....i'll just give you 5 incredible albums i'm listening to now.....utfo-lethal earth wind and fire-greatest hits...sade-love deluxe......cid-harder they come.....just ice-back to the old school

What about your future releases? do you plan to have some other artists on Asita?

For me i got my new album "pooretry" almost completed...that should be coming out in like sept/oct of this year....the pain killers album...which is me and my homegirl topic...that's gonna be out on beyond space ent....not really sure of the date there....but that one's bangin....we got beats from...sach...deeskee...liferexall...matth...meaty ogre...alex75 and many many more.....like i said before....the khule album is pretty much done...we're just waiting for califormula to drop....before we release it.....yeah there's gonna be alot of other folks comin out on asita....once i finish my album...i'm going to start a project with nocando....he's a younger cat coming out of blowed and his crew customer service...he's got some specific shit he wants to do so i'm making sure i'm free of all commitments before i start on that....plus an asita/la2thebay beat series....the first installment i believe will be myself...deeskee...liferexall and sach....just all instrumentals...some old some new....we'll be puttin out new ones like twice a year...featuring all the producers in the family....and i'm currently trying to do a couple projects with some other folks but so far it's just talk.....

Thanks a lot for the interview.. any last words?

I guess just thanks to all the supporters world wide....from hawaii to europe....and of course one love to all my family....blood/friends/musicians.....the people i do this for... be easy.

Interview conducted by Pseudzero for West Coast Indies, 2005.

[bydinh]

I want to come off anon but I'm so shy. >///

oml so cute.;; mmmmefioarm this is really hard for me tbh but i’ll try my best to answer off the top of my head. since you said it doesn’t matter what group i’m going to guess that you’re only interested in groups (+bands because day6 will obviously be on here).another me by kim sunggyu (infinite)when i was writing a lot the songs on this album inspired me a lot. there’s so full of emotion and sunggyu is a real talented singer! every song is gorgeous! just like sunggyu!and july by heizei would die for this woman.blockbuster by block bi’m honestly ready to fight anyone that trashes this album.newton’s apple by nelli listen to this more than i listen to my mom. and i listen to my momma.noir by b.a.pit’s a really solid album, honestly. not even being biased–it’s just a really good album. i genuinely love every song on it with all my heart. a good album when you’re feeling emo imo.one shot by b.a.pstill one of my favorites to this day.separation anxiety by nell(see above for nell)sunrise by day6i don’t remember the last time i’ve played an album for so long without breaking the loop lmao. it’s a really good album for rainy weather, driving fast on the highway, nighttime, anytime, yea.welcome back by ikon (+m.u.p on the half album)a good album. v good.genjou destruction by spyairanything by spyair. spyair is almost as high as b.a.p in my heart.feel ‘em by btobi rarely like every song on a btob album but feel ‘em is soOoOoO goOD.color by news (let me live)makes me cry. i can sing every one of these songs 100% without missing a word despite not having listened to it in like 3920482304 years. that’s how much i love this album.not albums but very important to me (aka the songs that make me emo):4:44 am by bang yongguk (b.a.p)makes me cry (an important song)yamazaki by bang yongguk (b.a.p)no-title by zelo (b.a.p)makes me cry (just remember that junhong was 16 when he started following his dream and this will make you rage cry)blessing by zelo (b.a.p)missing you by 2ne1một nhà by da labgoing home by #gunmakes me cry. a lot.if i die tomorrow by beenzinoif i die tomorrow by ilhoon (btob)this is a cover of beenzino’s but it’s also like completely different lmao. it reminds me of 4:44am&no-title in that it sheds a lot of light on how difficult it can be being in the entertainment business.take care of me by swingsmakes me cry really hard.take care of you by giriboyalso makes me cry really hard. reply piece to swings kind of.