#the r&j vibes were too strong to ignore

[suzy-queued]

Galladrabbles: Shakespeare

Nothing like waiting until the eleventh hour to sneak this @galladrabbles in! Thank you for the prompt, @flamingbluepanda.

Previously, in The Lord and the Footman, Ian went to Meadowbrook Manor to face Viviette and Mickey. He got sidetracked with a little breakfast ...

---

Ian fled the manor with coffee cake crumbs still dusting his upper lip. He made it to the door of the carriage house.

Mickey – celestial, bewitching Mickey – polished a bronze bridle. His hand froze.

They stared, the space between them infinite.

“Mickey, I –”

The footman tossed his rag and closed the distance. He met Ian with fiery force. Lips collided. Arms embraced. Hearts yearned. Souls intertwined.

Mickey paused. “Should we…”

Had Ian breathed before this moment? Had his heart loved 'til now? “Give me my sin again.” He resumed his devouring.

They’d talk eventually. For now, only Mickey’s lips mattered.

[brittle-doughie]

Infinity and Beyond - Looking Into The Sweet Signals from Space Update!

We’re finding the imposters among us with this one!

The aim of this concept is to have it be a multi-update deal akin to the Dragons storyline with how they say “like the dragon series, we’re diving into a story set in a rich, expansive universe”. This peaked my interest, I’d love to see what they have in store! I know there are some folks who like or don’t like the Dragons story, so I wonder what you all think of this!

Meet Astronaut Cookie! She’s cute, has an ice cream sandwich satellite for a pet, even has a cat cookie motif with her costume? What more could you want! Yeah, her skill might be a bit too reminiscent of Cyborg’s (who also got a skin after 84 years lol), but I’m willing to look past that.

Alright, I’m kind of vibing with the setting already, cookies are probably toothpaste, wonder if they clean your teeth when eaten. How does one “escape” or even fortify against a blackhole? The event itself sounds similar to the Sugar Maze event to me…in a way somehow. Wait, why is Stollen Cookie here?Also Planet H A M B O R G A R

I’m now getting Star Wars: Rogue One flashbacks. Just like Cyborg, it’s been 84 years since he got attention, so I’m happy to see he got a cool skin to deck himself out with!

The Surprise Bears. They can either go well or go very poorly, still means I don’t have to run over and over again for the god damn legendary ingredients. However, I do hope the challenges aren’t meant to be a cap in any way, since that already drags it down when you were able to AFK for hours beforehand, even if it sucked. Team Fight getting a gem boost might give me more incentive to play.

(Gmod flatline sound effect plays)

The Deal with Legendaries is canceled, y’all /j. I can’t keep up with their pace, bro. I’m over here trying to write it from time to time and they already have another one on the way, I’m dead. Xylitol Nova himself is getting flak for having a supposedly dull design unworthy of the rarity, I’m already seeing it in the QRTs on Twitter lol. For me, I’ll wait until I cast judgment, he has a pretty cool skin though…

———————————————————————

(Astronaut Cookie looked all around her new setting, seeing the city’s sleek, clean, futuristic design she hasn’t seen much of back on Earthbread. The cookies here didn’t look all that different too, save for their ingredients being possibly toothpaste in some capacity. She was caught staring at this one cookie in particular, she observed them inspecting the shield and instructing the robots to different spots close to the barrier, Xylitol Nova Cookie chuckled at her once he noticed.)

Xylitol Nova Cookie: Ah, I see you’ve taken an interest in one of my cookies. That would be Xylitol Y/N Cookie, they’re in charge of making sure the barrier is in peak performance, they’ve been hard at work ever since we’ve seen reports of the blackhole.

(Xylitol Nova walked over to them as Astronaut followed. Meanwhile, you were instructing both cookies and robots alike on the status of the barrier, making sure that no fault in any way was detected. Until the voice of someone very familiar to you called your name..)

Xylitol Nova Cookie: Hello, Xylitol Y/N Cookie. How are you doing?

(You greeted Xylitol Nova in return and proceeded to ramble on about the barrier. You did your best at trying to speak to him, but couldn’t ignore that cookie next to him staring at you. It also looked like Xylitol Nova wasn’t taking your analysis seriously with that smile of his, something that bothered you to no end!)

Xylitol Nova Cookie: How routine of you, Xylitol Y/N Cookie. Always thinking about the barrier when we haven’t had any issues in the past couple rotations. We have a guest here today and I’d like for you to meet her-

(You couldn’t, you had to inspect the rest of the barrier-when Xylitol Nova Cookie suddenly hugged you from behind with a strong grip, a scene that made Astronaut Cookie feel…envious. You complained and grumbled as you try fruitlessly to free yourself)

Xylitol Nova Cookie: Xylitol Y/N Cookie. You are taking a break from now until further notice, I’d hate to use my authority on you, but this is for your own good. Feel free to interact with your fellow cookies, come and see me in my residence, or even introduce yourself to our guest here~! (I’d prefer you pick the second option in my opinion)

(You continued to struggle until it felt tighter to move, you looked to your front to see Astronaut Cookie hugging you from the front, her head resting on your chest. You swear she’s…shaking a little bit?)

Xylitol Nova Cookie: What do you know? Even our visitor is agreeing with me, she appears to have taken a liking to you too.

(…Who was this?)

[occupyvenus]

The tinfoil is strong with this one

Guys, I’m super hyped about all the trailers and with season 7 being so close, I have to tell you one thing: I have my hopes up for Jonsa. Maybe I shouldn’t, but that’s just how it is. I know I shouldn’t burden you with this, but I guess, that’s who I am now. The cracy shipper-lady who’s 99,9999999% certain her ship will be canon and drags everyone into the hell that his high expectations.

Anyway, I went back to the infamous original outline from 1993 one more time and I think I’ve made some ~ fun observations ~ that play into the recent fuckplot-euphoria and might be quite interesting - or at least amusing - to read.  

In the spirit of full disclosure, I want you to know that coming up with this post looked something like this:

You’ve been warned. But if you’re down with that, put your tinfoils on and please, do continue under the cut. 

First things first. I will put the relevant parts of the outline below, but you can read the original here or a transcript that someone posted to reddit here. If you haven’t read it before - spoiler alert, I guess?  

So here are the three paragraphs relevant to my “jonsa-theorey”:

Each of the contending families will learn it has a member of dubious loyalty in its midst. Sansa Stark, wed to Joffrey Baratheon, will bear him a son, the heir to the throne, and when the crunch comes she will choose her husband over her parents and siblings, a choice she will later bitterly rue. Tyrion Lannister, meanwhile, will befriend both Sansa and her sister Arya, while growing more and more disenchanted with his own family

....

Jon Snow, the bastard, will remain in the far north. He will mature into a ranger of great daring, and ultimately will succeed his uncle as the commander of the Night’s Watch. When Winterfell burns, Catelyn Stark will be forced to run north with her son Bran and her daughter Arya. Hounded by Lannister riders, they will seek refuge at the Wall, but the men of the Night’s Watch give up their families when they take the black, and Jon and Benjen will not be able to help, to Jon’s anguish. It will lead to a bitter estrangement between Jon and Bran. Arya will be more forgiving … until she realises, with terror, that she has fallen in love with Jon, who is not only her half-brother but a man of the Night’s Watch, sworn to celibacy. Their passion will continue to torment Jon and Arya throughout the trilogy, until the secret of Jon’s true parentage is finally revealed in the last book.

...

Tyrion Lannister will continue to travel, to plot, and to play the game of thrones, finally removing his nephew Joffrey in disgust at the boy king’s brutality. Jaime Lannister will follow Joffrey on the throne of the Seven Kingdoms, by the simple expedient of killing everyone ahead of him in the line of succession and blaming his brother Tyrion for the murders. Exiled, Tyrion will change sides, making common cause with the surviving Starks to bring his brother down, and falling helplessly in love with Arya Stark while he’s at it. His passion is, alas, unreciprocated, but no less intense for that, and it will lead to a deadly rivalry between Tyrion and Jon Snow. 

All read up? Good. Here it goes: 

GRRM initially intended Jon/Arya/Tyrion to mirror Rhaegar/Lyanna/Robert and later changed his mind to have Jon/Sansa/(LF) mirror Ned/Catelyn/(LF). 

No, WAIT! Before you roll your eyes and call me crazy in the comments, I ask you to do one thing: keep an open mind and read until the end. It will all make sense somehow. THEN you can roll your eyes and call me crazy in the comments. 

First of all, like all good conspiracy theories we need to make some general assumptions before we get started: 

While the story we all love / obsess over strayed far from GRRM’s original vision, he did incorporate most of the outlines story beats into the official series. The details changed a lot, yes, but one can find some sort of counterpart in the official story for everything grrm writes about in the original outline. Except for one thing: the tormented incest love triangle. More on that later.

We don’t get any clear descriptions of the outline!characters, but I’m going to assume that their “base personalitys” were the same. GRRM doesn’t really go into the physical appearance or personality of his characters but I assume, you would still recognize outline!Ned as official!Ned, outline!Arya as official!Arya etc. The one big exception is outline!Jaime who gives me general official!Cersei-vibes. 

GRRM’s love for “parallels over parallels and history repeating itself” has been around since 1993. 

[...] until the secret of Jon’s true parentage is finally revealed [...] leads me to the conclusion that R+L=J was already a thing at this point. What leads me to the conclusion Robert’s rebellion was a thing as well. 

The important pairings will be the same in Game Of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire. = Combining hints from the books and the show is a-okay. 

I would say these five assumptions aren’t too cocky? I wouldn’t bet my dogs life on it, but I feel pretty confident about them. 

The main reason I even consider canon!Jonrya or canon!Jonsa at all is the fact that GRRM had the idea in the first place. I would have never thought of a snow on stark romance, if it wasn’t for that. The fact that the creator himself entertained that possibility elevates both pairings above the status of complete crackships. Jonrya more so than Jonsa, but “they think they’re siblings. That would never happen.” simply isn’t a valid argument in this case. You can’t call something a crackship if the writer himself wanted it to be canon at one point. That is a leap in logic I just don’t understand and I will fight you on this. 

But back to the issue at hand: As I said above you can find similarities between all events described in the outline and things happening in the official series. But, I honestly can’t think of anything that even comes close to the tormented incest love triangle. Don’t you think that’s at least a little bit suspicious? GRRM tries to keep all his initial ideas in his story somehow, except for the plot he mentions in two paragraphs? A plot involving three of the original five key players? Is it really so crazy to think it just hasn’t happened yet? 

I know that so much has changed since 1993, but I would argue the jon/halfsister-turned-cousin relationship wasn’t dropped completely but changed from Jon/Arya to Jon/Sansa. 

If we combine what we now know about the rebellion in canon and compare it to the original Jon/Arya/Tyrion situation there are some striking parallels between their relationship and Rhaegar/Lyanna/Robert.

If we go back to assumption numero duo, Arya representing Lyanna makes a lot of sense. There are so many posts, essays and articles on the parallels between those two that I’ll just ask you to look them up yourself. (yes, I am that lazy)

Jon representing Rhaegar isn’t that hard to understand either, since, you know, he is his son. There are also some great pieces on their similarities in personality out there. Go look it up on the internet. He is forbidden from pursuing Arya because of a vow (Nights watch for jon/ marriage to Elia for Rhaegar) and his unwilligness to aid in a rebellion against the Iron Throne “will lead to a bitter estrangement between Jon (Rhaegar) and Bran (Ned)”. The attraction to an assumed sister could just be a hint at his targ-ness. 

But Tyrion = Robert ? On the first look this is absolutely non-sensical. In official canon their characters don’t have much in common. Not in looks and not in personality. Except for women and drinking, maybe. In order to make this work I will have to do a very terrible thing and break with my second assumption. Tyrion being a dwarf isn’t mentioned in the original outline, so maybe GRRM had the idea later. I looked for interviews with grrm that might disprove this, but couldn’t find any. Tyrion laying siege to winterfell and burning it to the ground suggests a bigger involvement in house lannister’s military affairs, taking him a bit closer into “robert 2.0″ territory.  Tyrion “finally removing his nephew Joffrey in disgust at the boy king’s brutality”  and “ making common cause with the surviving Starks to bring his brother down” could mirror Robert’s rebellion as well. The Targaryens and Baratheons were close allies, bound by blood, and Tyrion is fighting in a rebellion against his own blood.  Finally throw in his ,alas unreciprocated, but no less intense passion for Arya(Lyanna) that will lead to a deadly rivalry between Tyrion(Robert) and Jon Snow(Rhaegar) and Jon/Arya/Tyrion == Rhaegar/Lyanna/Robert doesn’t seem to implausible after all. Having the important love triangle fashioned after the most famous one of the series would fall in line with grrm’s love for “history repeating itself”. 

But all of that changed when GRRM realized that Jon wasn’t Rhaegar 2.0, he was Ned reborn. He probably had the stark look from the beginning and characters mentioned “how is mother left little of herself in him” to make jon being ned’s bastard believable. Maybe that changed grrm’s dedication to make him rhaegar reincarnated. I suspect that Bran was supposed to mirror Ned, giving his mance rayder plot to Jon could also hint at him taking the Ned-persona. 

Because of that Sansa(Cat) became Jons(Neds) new final love interest. Changing Arya’s resemblace to Lyanna wasn’t really necessary, she simply became Jon’s “sister”. If we parallel, we parallel hard folks. 

Sansa betraying the starks in an almost unforgivable way was off the table, her big betrayel (marrying joffrey, having his son, choosing her husband) became a little betrayel (running to cersei because of childish ignorance) instead. Littlefinger was invented to be the member of dubious loyalty in the starks midst. Even though Ned fucked up pretty nicely by himself, having his good nature and trust in other people be his “downfall” is quite important to his story. 

Catelyn’s, Arya’s and Bran’s plot to seek refuge at the wall with Jon was given to Sansa on the show and if you buy into the “girl in the grey clock being sansa”-theory, something similar could happen in the books as well. That’s where the Jon/Arya romance was supposed to start. Bran intended to find Jon, but changed is mind and went straight beyond the wall instead. 

GRRM established the Cat/LF unreciprocated love history to squeeze a “love triangle” into the Ned/Cat relationship and BAMM welcome back in the present. The super angsty amazing Jon/Sansa/LF fuckplot (s6, s7 ~hopefully~ ) fashioned after Ned/Cat/LF fashioned after Jon/Arya/Tyrion fashioned after Raeghar/Lyanna/Robert. 

So what does this all mean? That Jonsa will be canon 100%? That I have a mental connection to grrm’s brain? That lizard people control the government and 9/11 was an inside-job? That I need to get a job? That I need to get a life?

Well my friend, that’s up for you to decide. But jokes are on you, I have both a job and a life and everyone know’s the illuminati are in control ;)  Btw Sum 41 “In too deep” is the recommended soundtrack for reading this.

[gwisingegooli]

so overall summary of my bars experience yesterday

+ repeat stuff from chat

so michaels friends r like hella white white

we came late from another dinner w de anza degen friends. dee, w ills mom, invited us and it was so we could congratulate each other?? like say one nice thing about each other. i think its also bc people were transferring or entering school so she wanted to celebrate that but it was a little awkward sometimes cause its kind of an awkward activity. michael had something to say about everyone. it was like oh god LOL when michael had to be like “well actually im not going to ucsb lolol” but everyone was cool about it

i think j u - stin is…….. so……….. like…… the things he does sometimes is just like… can you stop…….. hes a homie but he can be really self unaware and esp w like compliments… he doesnt know how to give or receive compliments. everything he said was like accidentally passive aggressive or like also rude while complimenting. i was like inwardly cringing so hard when he was telling w -i -ll that he was glad he came out of his shell bc when he first met him he was an angsty teenager who like didnt talk to anybody… and wil l was kinda like um wut and instead of justin even noticing that he wasnt giving a good compliment he like repeated the rude things he said to try to clarify them several times LOL and it was like how do i make this end… that was prob the most awkward “compliment” but he kept doing that in genera throughout the dinner

also in general i think w that group im not good at getting group attention so sometimes ill get ignored when i talk or like interrupted/someone will talk over me. and its not intentional and i dont mind but it can get kinda frustrating like HEY HELLO how do i butt into the conversation

i really like d ee, w il ls mom though. she is truly mom goals and a good role model LOL shes like smoked a bowl w us and says she trusts us w will and thats why she lets us stay super late at their house. and she def buys us way too much food 😭 moms r too good for this world

anyways so we went to meet mich aels friends to go the bars p late in downtown campbell. the area is so o o o o o white white people. hardcore reminded me of ithaca w the culture (dancing, people, outfits, vibe) the first bar was kind of a club, w hella loud music and shit. people were goin DOWN on the dance floor but i was jus like whoo

i was way too fuckin shy to dance or anything esp w michaels friends. i think i got ignored a little bit bc michaels friends werent rly good w introducing us to the other people, especially me -_-

it was jus kinda like talking and hangin out, forming different groups all the time

one girl s h a -nnon talked to me for like a straight coupla minutes about her tattoo and i was just glad i was having like a normal social experience so i was just like “oh wow!” and “thats so cool” and “i feel it” and “yeah for sure”

we moved bars and in line there was another girl who talked to me about like her toxic friend and her crazy sister and not being able to take shrooms. she seemed like she had a lot of shit going on all the time but she sort of just rolled her eyes at everything and i kinda liked her LOL

the other bar was a lot quieter and people could talk to each other. raymo-nd opened up about some intense shit he went through esp post breakup, his job, some life advice

mic hael caught up a lil bit w his los gatos friends who i got to meet after he talked about them so much! he like left me for a lil bit to go get drinks for them and they were like lowkey very uninterested in me esp since their other friends came so i kinda dipped to be w michael

afterwards we went to ta - ylors house. he had the cutest cat, misty. a ping pong ball fell and she started playing w it 💕💕

and also like saratoga boys r proactive and productive. r a-ymond was hungry af so he just started cooking immediately and some girl helped/flirted w him but i was so impressed. he cooked like 50 potatickers and then some orange chicken for everyone which was hella nice. and then he did the dishes later w ta -ylor. and near the end of the night ta-ylor and ra-y mond and maybe some other people just started cleaning up and i was like yis i love this. and i cleaned up after myself. that left a really strong positive impression on me.

michael and i also did a line of coke but coke is kind of whatever for me. it feels kinda like milder coffee w an emphasis on the restless. im down to keep trying some and maybe do a lot more than just one line and see if i like it a third time LOL

its not like all of the convos i had wasnt interesting but since i didnt rly have anything i wanted to talk about, i had a boyfriend, and im asian i felt like i diidnt rly have any input and couldnt rly take iniaitive in engaging people LOL

like what the fuck would i even talk about???? do you watch anime?? do you go to raves???? is my outfit weird???

i just hate feeling that uninteresting and like i left no impression and i especially didnt want to seem like the timid awkward asian girl -_- i think i was like fine and a normal person overall but ive never……… been that before in a group. like a normal quiet person. LOL

its not like it was bad, although sometimes there were boring lulls, and overall it was a good night but it wasnt exactly my crowd so it wasnt a lot of fun

i think if we had been there for pregaming it wouldve been a lot of fun bc i just like games :D i think we’re going again tonight and i think i can like try to look better, be less tired, dress more white, and overall feel more confident and do a lil better

[meganambers]

It is said that Dallas hip-hop has always played in the shadows of Houston’s more popular hip-hop scene, but for Dallas rapper SHIIK, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Born Dominique Deshun Harris, the 26-year-old rapper recently released his latest project, “Kartoonz & Hood Movies” in April and as he prepares for the birth of his new son, he sat down with me and shared his musical influences, his plans for 2018 and why he feels the current music scene is “like Sheep as long as its ignorant“.

Who do you credit as the influence behind your music?

My influences in music have a very wide range. I was raised under 6 Brothers & Sisters so my music taste is wise beyond my years. Not in any specific order but, my Pops, He used to be a DJ when he got out the military and kept us on everything since birth from the 50’s to the early 2000’s. Because of my old man, I am never out of tune at any function no matter the age. I can vibe with anyone on anything cause of my dad.

My mother is a major influence on me, she’s from Louisiana and has an ear and voice for music. But beyond that, she is the real reason I started rapping. It may have been around my 18th birthday and was having trouble understanding a few things and controlling my frustrations; so she bought me a [writing] pad and told me started writing and from there she planted a seed that helped me grow into the artist I am today. My Brother Damien, who is also a rapper, showed me early on how to be a lyricist and paint pictures in my music. My wife Dionna I write the best music when we have our growing pains, and she keeps me motivated to stick to my music and never change up!

  What hip-hop albums would you consider pivotal to your career?

Man, That is tough. I grew up on it all, but ones that really made an imprint on me as a kid had to be; Dr. Dre’s Chronic Album, Geto Boys’ My Mind Playing Tricks On Me, Chamillionaire’s Mix Tape Messiah, LL Cool J’s Bad Album, Lil Wayne’s Carter 1-3,

Kanye West’s Graduation, Wiz Khalifa’s Kush & Orange Juice, Kid Cudi’s Man On The Moon, Big Sean’s Finally Famous 3, and so many more. I could go all day, but this is just a few albums that really had a major impact on me coming up! But I like pretty much everything, I am from the south so like all of SUC ( Srewed Up Click) music I was raised on all the of the 3rd music. I’m going just say [Houston] as an album too, from the 90s to the early 2000s I kept them on repeat every day. When I was coming up I couldn’t you the name of some albums, people use to “bootlegs” of a lot of my fave artist albums and I could never go off what the seller marked it as I just knew one of my favorite artists has some new soul out and I need it!

  When did you write your first song and what was it about?

Shoot, I started rapping at 9 years old and back then it was all just a lot of long verses, no context, hook or anything just a paper with “Babylon” type verses. (Laugh) So technically I started rapping in August of 2017 and It was after a real break up with my wife, Dionna. I had just moved back to Dallas from Alpine, Tx ( Shout out Alpine & Sul Ross State, Those my people) and we had a really bad break up. It seemed like there was no coming back from it. Everything around me stopped making sense, my basketball career had become stagnated and to be honest I was looking for love in all the wrong places. On top of that, I was also coming out of a group I was in called “2 Doms R Better Than 1”, but that’s another story. So it just seemed like nothing was working, and the entire time I kept trying to hide my love and ability in music. But as more situations hit me, the better the lyrics in my head were and then one day I couldn’t hide it anymore. I sat down threw on R.Kelly’s “When a Woman’s Fed Up,” rolled a few packs of Blue Optimos and came up with the track, “VICTIM”. 

  Who do you see yourself working with as an artist and producer?

Out the gate I have to say, Lyfe Jennings, Miguel, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Kevin Gates, Erykah Badu, India Arie, Wiz [Khalifa], Curren$y, Mo3, Yella Beezy, & Post Malone are some of the artists would love to collab with. However, I can’t leave out Chris Brown, K Camp or Drake. As for producers, I would have to say The Dream, Metro Booming, Sledgron, Skee Beats, Zaytoven, T-Pain, No ID, and Kanye West. I would lose my absolute mind in the dojo with these guys. Just to hear some of the knowledge and stories of how this industry can make and break you is a privilege in itself. 

  Tell me about your latest project, “Kartoonz & Hood Movies”, and what inspired it?

My latest release project “Kartoonz & Hood Movies”, was released on April 20th. This tape is one for everyday things we see and have to deal with. I am a proper 90’s baby, I was raised on good classic movies about us like, “Colors”, “Menace II Society”, “Boyz N Da Hood”, “Juice,” etc., and by looking at this list and reading my title “Hood Movies” you can see a lot of these are blockbusters and far from “Hood or Low Budget” Movies. I was iterating to the subject and content of those movies about being from the “hood”. It also shows how your circumstance isn’t always forever, it can always be better and as “Man Of your Word” stand on what you believe in! The “Kartoonz” part is self-explanatory, unlike nowadays coming up our cartoons back then had a message every episode, showed you how you can be an everyday hero and believe in you. Little things like that, so that had a major impact on what raised me. “Kartoonz & Hood Movies” is just that giving you who I am in eighteen songs. Just taking you back to the good old days without all the “B**ches & H*es”. But real music! The producers for this one varied from B. Young, Kil’Lab Music, Fly Boi_DBone, RealNDaFields, Jia Beats and Mingo Gomez.  I wanted to work with a solid foundation of producers that work just as hard in the craft like me. 

Well, as of right now, I am currently in the works of releasing three tapes at the end of July. “Summer Of 65‘” produced By Lu.B Music, “91 Made Me” by produced By YB Beats and “Digital Dope” produced by Mingo Gomez. Each tape has its own producer. The three tapes are collaboration tapes between me and my producers with all original beats that they make themselves. I have no set release dates but they all will be available by the end of July 2018 on all digital platforms. 

  How important is the idea of connecting with other musicians to you? And how do you believe someone should utilize their connects? 

Networking is the key to everything, cause, unfortunately, you can be GREAT at something and never get a chance. But to know someone that knows someone who can pull strings and make life for you a walk in the park or take you to the next level is great. Utilizing the connections is crucial and lucrative in becoming someone in the industry. You have to keep that connection alive. Most people will get a number and never use it or wait until they need something. NO NO NO! You hit them on the regular and see if you can help them or even just ask how things are going. Connections can take you around the world twice, without spending a dime. Just gotta know how to maneuver.

  How would you describe your writing process?

I am a machine! I never stop writing and my process is unorthodox, spontaneous and just downright SMOKING FIRE! I am into writing as far as poems, plans or notes so writing isn’t the hard part, but what I found difficult was learning how to control my thoughts, how to make them tell a story and stay on beat.. can be absolutely BRUTAL! But I am a workhorse, and once my heart is made up, in my mind I am unstoppable. I BECAME A MONSTER.  Now my process consists of creating the hook and making a song. I also use Instagram as an open gym for practice.

  What is your thought about the current state of the Hip-hop game?

It’s absolute bullshit for those that would enjoy my kind of music. If you aren’t talking about guns, jewelry, women, drugs, and ignorant stuff, your music gets pushed away or skipped. I ain’t knocking any of those artists out there that rap about it, that’s them, it’s what they know and I support it. But I can’t cap that to catch a wave or make a fan. I was raised around real gangsters, and I was brought up as a gentleman. In my line of business, those lyrics are for the FEDS and people you don’t need knowing your business, and besides, I want to rap about me, life, love, memories and occasionally weed. But today’s music scene is like “Sheep,” as long as it’s ignorant and they see someone else liking it they will all run to it. But that’s all the way gravy, it’s a process and the longer the drive, the longer the run will be. I’m quiet, patient and supportive. Hating will get you nowhere.

  What would you like for the readers to know about you?

I’m human, I can only give it to you how I see it and believe it. I’m old school and really laid back. I was raised a winner and I’ am a man before ANYTHING. My music is me standing in front of a mirror revealing me just as much as its reflecting. 

  What advice would you give to young musicians in the game?

Enjoy being unknown, because as soon as you become hot, they [record label execs] will be quick to label you with a style, or a sound without fully given you a chance to blossom and be versatile. BE YOURSELF IN YOUR MUSIC because as soon as you lose who you are, your music will become typical. Going unnoticed doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t or won’t make it. Timing is everything, just stay ready, keep working and believe that your days are coming. FUCK THE OPINIONS OF OTHERS. YOU ARE HARDER TO IGNORE WHEN YOU DONT ASK FOR PERMISSION. 

  What are your plans as a musician for 2018?

Since I am still a new artist I want to make that a strong point of my path to being signed. I plan on building a HUGE catalog of QUALITY MUSIC towards potential radio singles, visuals and eventually put a real album together before the end of 2018. I also plan on making the Freshman XXL list by the summer, having a 1000 youtube subscribers, and at least 2 Hit singles. I want a lot but I’ve learned pace & patience can take you far if you really want it! So I’m deep in the process and enjoying the ups and downs of the learning process to make it in this industry. My son will also be born Sept 12, 2018, so I am really enjoying that next step of my life. I’m excited! He’s gonna be a Jr! Our Little Baby Shiik, well his mom calls him Biscuit, make sure I add that or she liable to punch me. (Laughs) To sum it up really create a wave, and open doors for my family, my team, and I to exceed expectations in life while we can! 

Make sure to follow SHIIK on his Instagram and Twitter and Soundcloud for more updates.

Datpiff (The Thooka Tape)

Datpiff: (KartoonzNHoodMovies)

Google Play: bit.ly/GooglePlayB-Rhye

Up-And-Coming Artist: SHIIK It is said that Dallas hip-hop has always played in the shadows of Houston’s more popular hip-hop scene, but for Dallas rapper SHIIK, that couldn't be further from the truth.

[meganambers]

It is said that Dallas hip-hop has always played in the shadows of Houston’s more popular hip-hop scene, but for Dallas rapper SHIIK, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Born Dominique Deshun Harris, the 26-year-old rapper recently released his latest project, “Kartoonz & Hood Movies” in April and as he prepares for the birth of his new son, he sat down with me and shared his musical influences, his plans for 2018 and why he feels the current music scene is “like Sheep as long as its ignorant“.

Who do you credit as the influence behind your music?

My influences in music have a very wide range. I was raised under 6 Brothers & Sisters so my music taste is wise beyond my years. Not in any specific order but, my Pops, He used to be a DJ when he got out the military and kept us on everything since birth from the 50’s to the early 2000’s. Because of my old man, I am never out of tune at any function no matter the age. I can vibe with anyone on anything cause of my dad.

My mother is a major influence on me, she’s from Louisiana and has an ear and voice for music. But beyond that, she is the real reason I started rapping. It may have been around my 18th birthday and was having trouble understanding a few things and controlling my frustrations; so she bought me a [writing] pad and told me started writing and from there she planted a seed that helped me grow into the artist I am today. My Brother Damien, who is also a rapper, showed me early on how to be a lyricist and paint pictures in my music. My wife Dionna I write the best music when we have our growing pains, and she keeps me motivated to stick to my music and never change up!

  What hip-hop albums would you consider pivotal to your career?

Man, That is tough. I grew up on it all, but ones that really made an imprint on me as a kid had to be; Dr. Dre’s Chronic Album, Geto Boys’ My Mind Playing Tricks On Me, Chamillionaire’s Mix Tape Messiah, LL Cool J’s Bad Album, Lil Wayne’s Carter 1-3,

Kanye West’s Graduation, Wiz Khalifa’s Kush & Orange Juice, Kid Cudi’s Man On The Moon, Big Sean’s Finally Famous 3, and so many more. I could go all day, but this is just a few albums that really had a major impact on me coming up! But I like pretty much everything, I am from the south so like all of SUC ( Srewed Up Click) music I was raised on all the of the 3rd music. I’m going just say [Houston] as an album too, from the 90s to the early 2000s I kept them on repeat every day. When I was coming up I couldn’t you the name of some albums, people use to “bootlegs” of a lot of my fave artist albums and I could never go off what the seller marked it as I just knew one of my favorite artists has some new soul out and I need it!

  When did you write your first song and what was it about?

Shoot, I started rapping at 9 years old and back then it was all just a lot of long verses, no context, hook or anything just a paper with “Babylon” type verses. (Laugh) So technically I started rapping in August of 2017 and It was after a real break up with my wife, Dionna. I had just moved back to Dallas from Alpine, Tx ( Shout out Alpine & Sul Ross State, Those my people) and we had a really bad break up. It seemed like there was no coming back from it. Everything around me stopped making sense, my basketball career had become stagnated and to be honest I was looking for love in all the wrong places. On top of that, I was also coming out of a group I was in called “2 Doms R Better Than 1”, but that’s another story. So it just seemed like nothing was working, and the entire time I kept trying to hide my love and ability in music. But as more situations hit me, the better the lyrics in my head were and then one day I couldn’t hide it anymore. I sat down threw on R.Kelly’s “When a Woman’s Fed Up,” rolled a few packs of Blue Optimos and came up with the track, “VICTIM”. 

  Who do you see yourself working with as an artist and producer?

Out the gate I have to say, Lyfe Jennings, Miguel, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Kevin Gates, Erykah Badu, India Arie, Wiz [Khalifa], Curren$y, Mo3, Yella Beezy, & Post Malone are some of the artists would love to collab with. However, I can’t leave out Chris Brown, K Camp or Drake. As for producers, I would have to say The Dream, Metro Booming, Sledgron, Skee Beats, Zaytoven, T-Pain, No ID, and Kanye West. I would lose my absolute mind in the dojo with these guys. Just to hear some of the knowledge and stories of how this industry can make and break you is a privilege in itself. 

  Tell me about your latest project, “Kartoonz & Hood Movies”, and what inspired it?

My latest release project “Kartoonz & Hood Movies”, was released on April 20th. This tape is one for everyday things we see and have to deal with. I am a proper 90’s baby, I was raised on good classic movies about us like, “Colors”, “Menace II Society”, “Boyz N Da Hood”, “Juice,” etc., and by looking at this list and reading my title “Hood Movies” you can see a lot of these are blockbusters and far from “Hood or Low Budget” Movies. I was iterating to the subject and content of those movies about being from the “hood”. It also shows how your circumstance isn’t always forever, it can always be better and as “Man Of your Word” stand on what you believe in! The “Kartoonz” part is self-explanatory, unlike nowadays coming up our cartoons back then had a message every episode, showed you how you can be an everyday hero and believe in you. Little things like that, so that had a major impact on what raised me. “Kartoonz & Hood Movies” is just that giving you who I am in eighteen songs. Just taking you back to the good old days without all the “B**ches & H*es”. But real music! The producers for this one varied from B. Young, Kil’Lab Music, Fly Boi_DBone, RealNDaFields, Jia Beats and Mingo Gomez.  I wanted to work with a solid foundation of producers that work just as hard in the craft like me. 

Well, as of right now, I am currently in the works of releasing three tapes at the end of July. “Summer Of 65‘” produced By Lu.B Music, “91 Made Me” by produced By YB Beats and “Digital Dope” produced by Mingo Gomez. Each tape has its own producer. The three tapes are collaboration tapes between me and my producers with all original beats that they make themselves. I have no set release dates but they all will be available by the end of July 2018 on all digital platforms. 

  How important is the idea of connecting with other musicians to you? And how do you believe someone should utilize their connects? 

Networking is the key to everything, cause, unfortunately, you can be GREAT at something and never get a chance. But to know someone that knows someone who can pull strings and make life for you a walk in the park or take you to the next level is great. Utilizing the connections is crucial and lucrative in becoming someone in the industry. You have to keep that connection alive. Most people will get a number and never use it or wait until they need something. NO NO NO! You hit them on the regular and see if you can help them or even just ask how things are going. Connections can take you around the world twice, without spending a dime. Just gotta know how to maneuver.

  How would you describe your writing process?

I am a machine! I never stop writing and my process is unorthodox, spontaneous and just downright SMOKING FIRE! I am into writing as far as poems, plans or notes so writing isn’t the hard part, but what I found difficult was learning how to control my thoughts, how to make them tell a story and stay on beat.. can be absolutely BRUTAL! But I am a workhorse, and once my heart is made up, in my mind I am unstoppable. I BECAME A MONSTER.  Now my process consists of creating the hook and making a song. I also use Instagram as an open gym for practice.

  What is your thought about the current state of the Hip-hop game?

It’s absolute bullshit for those that would enjoy my kind of music. If you aren’t talking about guns, jewelry, women, drugs, and ignorant stuff, your music gets pushed away or skipped. I ain’t knocking any of those artists out there that rap about it, that’s them, it’s what they know and I support it. But I can’t cap that to catch a wave or make a fan. I was raised around real gangsters, and I was brought up as a gentleman. In my line of business, those lyrics are for the FEDS and people you don’t need knowing your business, and besides, I want to rap about me, life, love, memories and occasionally weed. But today’s music scene is like “Sheep,” as long as it’s ignorant and they see someone else liking it they will all run to it. But that’s all the way gravy, it’s a process and the longer the drive, the longer the run will be. I’m quiet, patient and supportive. Hating will get you nowhere.

  What would you like for the readers to know about you?

I’m human, I can only give it to you how I see it and believe it. I’m old school and really laid back. I was raised a winner and I’ am a man before ANYTHING. My music is me standing in front of a mirror revealing me just as much as its reflecting. 

  What advice would you give to young musicians in the game?

Enjoy being unknown, because as soon as you become hot, they [record label execs] will be quick to label you with a style, or a sound without fully given you a chance to blossom and be versatile. BE YOURSELF IN YOUR MUSIC because as soon as you lose who you are, your music will become typical. Going unnoticed doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t or won’t make it. Timing is everything, just stay ready, keep working and believe that your days are coming. FUCK THE OPINIONS OF OTHERS. YOU ARE HARDER TO IGNORE WHEN YOU DONT ASK FOR PERMISSION. 

  What are your plans as a musician for 2018?

Since I am still a new artist I want to make that a strong point of my path to being signed. I plan on building a HUGE catalog of QUALITY MUSIC towards potential radio singles, visuals and eventually put a real album together before the end of 2018. I also plan on making the Freshman XXL list by the summer, having a 1000 youtube subscribers, and at least 2 Hit singles. I want a lot but I’ve learned pace & patience can take you far if you really want it! So I’m deep in the process and enjoying the ups and downs of the learning process to make it in this industry. My son will also be born Sept 12, 2018, so I am really enjoying that next step of my life. I’m excited! He’s gonna be a Jr! Our Little Baby Shiik, well his mom calls him Biscuit, make sure I add that or she liable to punch me. (Laughs) To sum it up really create a wave, and open doors for my family, my team, and I to exceed expectations in life while we can! 

Make sure to follow SHIIK on his Instagram and Twitter and Soundcloud for more updates.

Datpiff (The Thooka Tape)

Datpiff: (KartoonzNHoodMovies)

Google Play: bit.ly/GooglePlayB-Rhye

Up-And-Coming Artist: SHIIK It is said that Dallas hip-hop has always played in the shadows of Houston’s more popular hip-hop scene, but for Dallas rapper SHIIK, that couldn't be further from the truth.