Shabach - Profile

Quite frankly, I had forgotten that I had done this piece. I stumbled upon it while looking for another piece to upload. I actually had to read the article over again to remember (albeit vaguely). But just in reading it, I did enjoy the piece. Hopefully you will also.

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Posted in: FEED,magazine articles,music,profiles,Shabach

Review - Southern Gospeltality

This was the first release by Southern Gospeltality. It was a compilation and it had some relatively hot tracks on there. Though I wasn't (and still am not) a fan of dirty south hip hop, I found myself mildly impressed with the samplings on this CD.

The best track in my opinion was Whatchagonnado which fused together east coast, midwest, and dirty south rap styles. My favorite was the east coast style but the others were done just as well.

The went on to put out a bank of CDs which were nominal. I was never a big fan of any of the solo artists but again, I'm not a fan of dirty south.

If memory serves me correctly, 7 Ball was clueless about this release which gave me a definite ins to do the piece. This is the issue where the Knowdaverbs piece I did showed up also.

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Posted in: music,review,southern gospeltality

Letter - Computer Music

This little piece was a pleasant surprise as I had not really expected this to be printed. It was on a topic I happen to be passionate about where I think many a producer and composer seem to get off the tracks when in comes to music creation.

Nevertheless, the editors at Computer Music though that it merited a spot on their Letters page.

Some may question the validity of getting published via a letters page. I think it says something about a writer who can string words together and get published without so much as a query. It truly does show that when you have enthusiasm about a topic that it will show through your writing and others will pick up on it.

Mind you, I'd already been published extensively before this but it was nice to know that I got myself one more. I look at is as good publicity.

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Posted in: music,opnion

Review - Sonik Boom Of Love

Why lie? This is one of my favorite albums in my music collection. It was one of those rare goodies that was released on a small label that just rocked the house.

Alexander East a.k.a. Sonik Boom Of Love, went on to do other singles that ended up on various mix CDs. On in particular was DJ Collette's In The Sun. If you can find a copy of this, grab it if you're into some real deep funk house music.

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Posted in: 7 Ball,music,review,sonik boom of love

7 Ball Feature - Gospel Gangstas

This was a feature story that I did for the now defunct 7 Ball Magazine. It was a piece on the Gospel Gangstas just as they had released their third album I can See Clearly Now.

I can say this however: after this album, they just didn't have the edge in their music that they had when they first came out. Actually, I would say this is the beginning of the of the decline.

I enjoyed doing this piece as I got a chance to actually interview them.

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Posted in: 7 Ball,features,Gospel Gangstas,magazine articles,music

The Dance Report

This was a fun article to write. It was basically an info article breaking down the different genres of dance music to the Christian music industry.

I was a radio DJ at a Christian radio station for about seven years. The radio program I had, Zero Gravity, showcased some of the best Christian hip hop and dance music, the music that particular market wasn't too keen on. They're pretty much behind the times when it comes to that. Still are to this day. It's one of the reasons why I felt it was time to go after such a long stretch.

The guy in the picture right there is Scott Blackwell. Used to be real popular back in the day in some clubs in New York. Know him personally. He started a couple of music companies. One was MYX Records and the other was N-Soul. The whole story behind how the new owner, Phillip Kim, acquired N-Soul is....not good. Maybe one day I'll do a full fledged article about that at my other blog Stop The Musick which is still under construction so no sneak peaks for anyone as of yet.

I remember when I wrote the article, the editor was very vague on what he wanted in it. Since you had most of the kids in the CCM market listening to either rock, wannabe-but-not-quite-pop, and adult contemporary because that's what they're parents were listening to, I decided to do a straightforward article that would be a very basic introduction to dance music. When he got the article, I remember him saying, "Well...it wasn't exactly what I was looking for." He thought all the kids knew the genres but I had to convince him that that simply wasn't the case. After I sold him on that idea, he decided to print it and voila, feature story.

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Posted in: 7 Ball,features,magazine articles,music

Profile - Knowdaverbs

As I seek to expand my horizons this year by forming my own freelance copywriting business, I find myself going through all those articles, reviews, and stories I've written over the years. All this does is reinforce a few things for me:

1. I'm getting older.
2. I write an awful lot meaning this is something I probably should have pursued quite a while back.
3. I'm older this year.
4. I'm finding more joy in reading and writing than in watching television.
5. Did I mention I was getting older?
6. This will take discipline and organization, something us writers are known not to be particularly good at. I'm blessed to be an exception to that rule.

This next diddy is an article I did with a rap artist that calls himself Knowdaverbs which changed to Verbs few years later and where it stands at the moment. I've met him personally and he's a real likable dude. I so like interviews.

So as I continue to build this online portfolio of my past work, I'm reminded that...well..man... I'm getting older.

Click on the article. Float your cursor over the bottom right hand corner and you'll get an icon that you can click on to get a full view. God bless and enjoy.

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Posted in: articles,music,Release