Heidi Barton Stink/A Charming Gut in the City Pages

Lily Troia wrote up a great interview for The City Page's Gimme Noise blog with my girl Heidi Barton Stink about her work as an artist/activist and the new album I just produced for her (and am soooo proud of). It's thoughtful and honest and I get a nice shout out. It's good to be in the City Pages, check it out HERE.

Heidi's album, "A Charming Gut", is the closest thing to a new album from me in a while. I did all the music and rap on it a few times . I'm genuinely honored to be a part of this project. It's great. Make sure to hit up iTunes, Amazon, other music sites, or Heidi's bandcamp page to listen to/download/share the album.

If you're feeling any of the material, please feel free to like it on Facebook, tweet it on Twitter and talk to your friends about it. All of your support is sooo very much appreciated!

Thanks and Love,

SEE

Under Water Journey to the Sun

What can I say? It's epic...

I produced this (made the music, for those of you who might not know) a few years back with some assistance from homie and associate itchie fingers back in Chicago. I released it as "A Star is Born" on my two volume beat tape, "Breaks in The Clouds". The rest is magic...starring my God Daughter.

If you like this instrumental, and are interested in hearing more of this lovely, all-instrumental project, it's available for download at my bandcamp page  as well as from Tru Ruts, where it was originally released.

As always, feel free to share this on th enet and in real life, or just talk about my work with your friends.

My sincerest thanks for checking me out.

SEE

New Album - Heidi Barton Stink, A Charming Gut produced by your friendly neighborhood SEE MORE PERSPECTIVE

It's here folks!

Heidi and I have been working on this fine album for over a year and it's finally finished!






We've dropped two singles: "Won't Let Ya Slide", featuring Guante and my self on the rap verses as well as Dameun Strange on some funked out keys, and "Consent Song", a heavy BoomBap masterpiece about communication and responsible sexuality.

Here's a way to frame what you'll hear:

Heidi Barton Stink's first full-length release strays far from conventional Hip Hop fare, yet offers a sense of tradition. "A Charming Gut" features a framework of rich vinyl-based production by SEE MORE PERSPECTIVE with a boom-bap-era flavor and traditionalist forward momentum. The content of Heidi's poignant & masterfully dense lyrics are rooted in story telling, the most fundamental element of rap, yet push further both creatively and emotionally than most MCs are willing to go. Addressing topics as diverse as the construction of gender, chosen family, colonialism, rape culture, revolution, mental health, suicide and the power of hope, The album might sit a little heavy, but also celebrates the bitter-sweet, and reminds us of the transformative power of art. “A Charming Gut” is gritty, sharp, heartfelt and just straight-up knocks in your sound system.

SO...we've celebrated the release of the album at Hell's Kitchen with Heidi (of course), Guante, Desdamona, Ganzo Bean and myself. Heidi shared a bunch of the new songs and everyone killed it.

We've made the album available for your listening and purchasing pleasure.

NOW IT'S ON YOU. Please show your love and support of our sweet, sweet music, dedication, thoughts and faces. Please contact us if you're interested in a hard copy and feel free to post and repost any info or songs from the album.

I know you'll do the right thing.

Thanks and Love!

A dream about a show about an artist

I had a dream where I was performing under low, soft light on a proscenium stage with stadium seating full of people.

I don't play bass. (However, I'll be damned if I won't use one and create something beautiful, so don't take me off the list of people to give your old, unused stand up bass to). Anyway, I don't play bass.

In this dream though? Killin' it.

Like you couldn't imagine...getting more and more involved, creating more and more intense music, doing things that have not been done. Beads of sweat reflecting light as they splash onto the instrument below me, over which I crouch and stretch like an ecstatic lover, plucking the strings of this bass like the very fabric of the universe itself. Seriously. Incredible. And the more I got into it, the more people left.

Yep. Here I was, pouring my soul into this instrument, transcending music, offering the performance of a lifetime and the deeper I got into the performance, the more people were leaving.

Heart break.

Finally, there I was at the end of my performance. Alone...or maybe there were a few people there.

So what is this? Is it that I feel like I'm giving everything I have, just to see it it bounce off of the masses? Is it that strange, unexplainable and unshakeable feeling of the outcast; even at my own shows?

Maybe it's Accepting that the music I've chosen to make is not what the popular market demands...Maybe my music isn't for this generation...

I know that it's certainly not because it's not any good.

At any rate, I know that if my music, my art, my life are of use to even a small fraction of the population, it's for them, and that it has it's place.

I know people stop doing what they love because they don't end up on the covers of magazines or paid millions of dollars. I have only this to say about that: If you don't believe in why you do what you do, and don't make every attempt at making it the highest form of expression that you possibly can, then stop. If you do, then don't stop, make it work. Even if your audience hasn't been born yet.

Seven ways to stop being an asshole on Cinco de Mayo.

...the second in the series of "ways to stop being an asshole".  This piece addresses the Dos and Don'ts of celebrating Cinco de Mayo. With these simple steps, I think you can also glean an an understanding of how to approach other cultural holidays in America as well.

DON'T:

1. Mistake Cinco de Mayo as Mexican Independence Day.
2. Argue with people who inform you that Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day. You're wrong and you look really really silly arguing with someone about it. na-a-ah...
3. Wear a sombrero or fake mustache. Even if you're of mexican descent, it could send the wrong message: that we are caricatures. Even if you're the f****** POPE (yes he did, and it wasn't even Cinco de Mayo).
4. Speak broken, messed up Spanish to people working at Mexican restaurants...they'll put up with it out of patience and a vested interest in making a good tip, not because they think it's cool that you're practicing on them (it's obnoxious, especially when you're drunk).
5. Be the expert on Mexican tradition because you went there over spring break one time...you're experience is valid, but it never makes you an expert on any subject (even if you out do everyone in the room by having lived there for a year, or a semester). Culture is larger than a college class or singular experience, it's an amalgamation of history, multitudes of shared experience and the nuance of family heritage across generations.

DO:

1. Know what you're celebrating. Learn the history and cultural relevance of Cinco de Mayo. It's actually a really cool and inspiring story.
2. Enjoy Mexican food, drink and entertainment without making a joke out of it, after you've learned about what it is you're actually celebrating.

Cinco de Mayo isn't a novel Holiday, it's not a joke. It's not "Mexican Day". It's not a day to enjoy Mexican culture while simultaneously degrading it. There's a real story behind it. There's a reason why it's celebrated. If you go out, ask yourself what it is that you intend on celebrating and why you are celebrating. Learn the history and answer those questions...THEN we can kick back and have a margarita, with respect to the holiday and the culture it comes from.

Warning Shot from Heidi Barton Stink's upcoming 'A Charming Gut'

So here we are, at the cusp of an incredible release: Heidi Barton Stink's debut full length release, 'A Charming Gut, Produced by SEE MORE PERSPECTIVE'. We are so proud of it. It's gorgeous. It's rugged. It's razorsharp, funky, and on point! I've gotta say, it might be the best thing either of us has produced to date. This is the warning shot. Get Ready. Pre-order the album here.

"Radical-trans-activist-queer-liberation-MC Heidi Barton Stink's full-length debut album, "A Charming Gut," will be released on May 15, 2012. This track, featuring See More Perspective (who also produced the entire album) and Guante, serves as an appetizer. An anthem for people who give a f***, "Won't Let Ya Slide" foreshadows the tone and content of the upcoming LP: funky, funny and heartfelt. Download the track for free, and watch out for more previews, videos and promo for "A Charming Gut" coming soon!"

EDIT: Here's another single to wet your appetite.

The release party is coming up, check out the details here and rsvp to let us know how much cake to bring.

An hour or so at school

Arrived at the school with the cool morning wind
Hot coffee and parking spaces
a nearly finished madlib
that last random word, expertly placed

Welcome, peace
Think and wonder
Imagine Laugh and ask

We talk about the possibilities and connecting the dots
The stars could be constellations of your choosing
If you can just...make it so
The bell rings as if to put her statement in bold letters

She gets it

and we break like the dj dropped the beat
Footsteps flood like the echoes of youth in the city

Ask, wonder Critique and reshape

The Hallway fades
And Dj Day blends in a voice

His situation
Her's too
And their's is in every school

They're edging him out
cornering him through the door
"you want me to leave, you're just trying to take the easy way out"

 And they do...and they are.