Friday, October 22, 2010

Lately..



Lately I have had the strangest feeling. (yes, stevie)... no I mean lately I've been on this strange awesome tip. a jazz, french, hip-hop, SOUL (reallll gritty soul), and tea...tip. It's pretty awesome. I love it.


I just found this video... reminds me of how much I loved Saturday morning cartoons, and late nights of watching shows like dragon ball Z, Naruto, Boy meets world, old school batman and superman on teletoon after 11 pm. on fridays, and wake up to the sound of my little cousin playing Zelda. ...I felt nostalgic. ..thought it was awesome.

Life of a Lover exclusive BLU verse from Theophilus London on Vimeo.



Oh and I just found out that Aloe Blacc is coming to Toronto in 2 weeks... but he`s coming on a tuesday. And me being the epic nerd, and low income that I am, lol.. I'm not going. ...the only thing I DO know.. is that I'm going to get his album as soon as I can. I found this video, of him and a bunch of people in a café in Paris, just randomnly chillin' and performing. Thought it was awesome! ... :D

Aloe Blacc | I Need A Dollar | A Take Away Show - Part 1 from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.



... I want to go to Paris. ...Really really bad. lol
...
On another tip, I saw this short photography film...

DARK SIDE OF THE LENS from Astray Films on Vimeo.



This re-affirms 3 things. 1) I need to learn how to swim asap lol... 2) I want to travel 3) Beauty is everywhere!.. at least I try to find it everywhere. Maybe I have selective eyesight?


... I find Fall to be beautiful, and one of the best seasons out of the 4. I'm not one to love the cold. But I remember being in awe watching the colours of the leaves of the trees that passed past my window on my way to Ottawa a few weeks ago. I remember wanting to take a picture.

Voyage Immobile // Hocus Pocus by Élodie Rama

AAAHHH I love Hocus Pocus!!! ... I can't believe they've been around since the 90s! but I glad I found them. and now I want every single one of their albums, and everything they've ever done. 2 days ago I found out they performed on stage with J. Medeiros, and the procussions and Ben L'Oncle Soul. ...YES! ALL on ONE stage. ... so yes. I need to go to France.

Midnight Sun feat. Élodie Rama (Jeremy Sole's Moonstomp Remix) by Élodie Rama

J'suis dans le procesus d'écrire up p'tit quelque chose de spoken word en français... mais on vera comment ça s'passe. C'est très propable que ça soit un epic fail. Mais au moin j'essaye. :)


...
Bon bref, c'est la première fois que j'décide de dire un p'tit quelque chose en français dans ce blog étrange... Ça s'peut que c'est à cause du cours de Français que j'ai décidé de suivre ce semestre. Donc, we'll see how long this lasts lol.



Timbre Étrange...non?

Saturday, October 16, 2010

First things first...



When I came back from CFSW2010, I wanted to write a poem to present myself to the world,And I didn’t know where to begin. My parents named me Yasmine [pronounced as: *yasss*mean*]. Arabic and Persian of origin, Meaning: Jasmine flower. In my first class on my first day of school, when I didn't know how to speak english, in grade 7, as my teacher was doing attendance, when she got to my name she couldn't pronounce the "S" sound in yasssmean .. and kept saying yaz*meen*, and I tried to correct her several times. (by several I really mean 6 plus times)... but she just couldn't quit, so I settled for Yaz*min' and held a light grudge for a few years, ... [but I digress]. So people started calling me Yazmin' ...One day my cousin called me "Yaz"... and then somehow... it just stuck.



I was born in the land that hosted revolutions, inspired the world, and sparked change and revolutions throughout the world:... Ayiti ... (Haiti)
Though I don’t consider myself to be a revolutionary ...in the traditional sense of the word. Because I’m not very loud.
I find myself to be awkward a good chunk of the times, because I tend to either have alot of things on my mind...
Like English, French and Creole infused with my life story are all fighting to express the thoughts that spark inside my head.
And like any war, socio-political pressures... thousands are left dead.
Innocent thoughts are murdered before reaching my synapses, their home...my head.
And I am left to morn this loss...
So I’m left Quiet... baffled.. and lost in translation.


hocus pocus-equilibre by space escape

Today I tried to start writting again, and all I got was this post.
... I tried to start and I got different starts. I started to scribble and write about transitioning... then stopped. Then I tried writting about something deeper. ..then I stopped... cuz it wasn't good enough.. but it's a start.

Le Portrait // Hocus Pocus ft Elodie Rama by Élodie Rama

Today I wanted to write something epic. I realized the other day that it's been a year since I started this blog. And so... it is... I decided that God willing I have time, I'm going to share a few secrets with the world, in a series of posts to come...let's just say it's a way for me to pain outloud like my heroes... and be honest with myself.

I got a good name. (Shad) ...There was a jasmine tree in my house in Haiti. And the beauty of it was that you could only smell it at night. ...maybe that's why I'm not a morning person lol. ..*shrug*. .. Beyond the fact that my names means a tree, and that according to google it is attributed to "pretty, gentle and free-spirited people"... I'm trying to find purpose in my existence... I think my name was given to me justfully. I want to bring justice to my exhistence. I want to make my parent's struggle worth it. I want my sleepless nigts, and all the tears that shed for me to be here... to be worth the fall.

I want to live a life worth living, because my blessings have already told me it's worth fighting for. I want God to smile when he narrates my story. I don't want to live for myself because I think my purpose and my utter existence is beyond just me. ...beyond just.us. I want to see the world.... My heroes have the heart to loose the life they want to live..

So this post serves as a note-to-self. ...First things first. My name is Yasmine...(note to self: justice.just is. just be. just.love)...
and you are?...

Spoken Word.



This week was interesting. I did alot of va-et-vien to Ottawa, Toronto, Gatineau and back and forth. Some of which could’ve been avoided had I listened to my intuition. But I didn’t. So the mistake was made... and I ran with it. I was sooo happy to see my friends. I was happy to share the space where ideas would be shared. I remember thinking that if this is a space where ideas and frustrations are being shared. This is like, and underground G-20, Where everyone is repping their story. and their struggle. It was like a summit where verbal therapy and politics intersected. Weaving the fabric forming the tapestry of their life's strangest fruit.
And poetry lovers ate it, digested it, and snapped, booed and awwww-ed after each bite. (sidebar: I often question the purpose of slams and spoken word, as much as I love it, but the subject of the politics of slamming is one for another post)



Once again, I found myself being in the background observing everything.
I appreciated their humility, after they left the mic they blessed. I looked at them in awe, they have no idea how much they stirred my mind. I will admit that some of the pieces I heard were delivered at a speed that was beyond me, so at some point I didn’t know how to react, and felt somehow obliged to snap or “huuummm” with everyone else. Lol... I remember thinking to myself ... “pfft... chhyyeaah, I totally got that wordplay” *shifting-eyes*... .... (NOT)...I appreciate and love spoken word, but sometimes the delivery was either worded with too much intensity, or the content too intricate for me to decipher, so I would be lost. Even though the judging was kinda off a few times, other times, I kinda sympathized with some of the judges. Had I been in their shoes, and been lost but still appreciated it, I would give them off-scores. ... I guess that's the nature of Slamming I guess.



I found myself in the spaces of different teams. Some of which I knew about, others I didn’t. Alot of the times, I felt extremely uncomfortable, because I am not a poet... but somehow I also felt welcomed.

I think one of the coolest parts of sharing the space of these people was the variety of approaches, they all took at it. Some took it more seriously than others. Some seemed to have their game-faces on lock, and it wouldn’t not be removed the WHOLE TIME, others still had their game faces when it game to show-time, but were still very laidback about it. Others developed unknown allergies, prior to stepping on stage.Some of them smoke a joint before/after the show, and just rolled with it. ...I watched. ...lol ..it was interesting.



I appreciated Montreal's Powerful french pieces. I found it refreshing, it was the 1st time I ever heard spoken word being done in French. I think I'm going to start writing using more french. I appreciated Edmonton's humble, underdog hustle. They came haaarrrdd. I appreciated the camaraderie among all the teams. It was all LOVE.

After the show, I somehow walked into this spontaneous thing, where one of the poets was just playing around with a guitar, and another poet decided to jump in and speak her peace. Her voice was so smooth. Her words were profound and real. I could've slept right then and there, it was like a lullaby. lol
...it was cool to be part of it somehow... and say nothing.



I fell in love at a poetry slam... ;)

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

FE - Authenticity



So Foreign Exchange's Authenticity is officially out!! ... I'm writing this now as a means to consoling myself for missing out on going to CFSW (Canadian festival of Spoken Word), and doing some work right now... :-/ .. to celebrate the awesomeness of one of my favourite duos in the world here's a 3 part youtube video to explain FE and their story.

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


... As an aside, Right now I'm listening to Jason Mraz, Justin Nozuka and Jack Johnson, Maroon 5, a little bit of Taylor Swift (because of my little sister lol)... I like to switch it up once in a while.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Maybe my alter-ego is an emcee




Rose Garden (remix)
Oh snap Bee. it's Shad featuring Von Pea ... gasp if you will it also features DonWill....OOOOOHHHHH... (it rhymed!! lol)
*yes I consciously tried to make it rhyme and thought it was cool*

Shad: "Rose Garden" (Remix) f. Von Pea & Donwill (Prefix Premiere) by prefixmag
*high five for awesomeness*

On another note. What's this? Chiddy Bang produced by Tip?? ... When I saw this track, I thought he was going to be spitting a verse on it, but I was wrong but then on my 2nd listen I realized that he was singing on the hook... it's interesting.

Chiddy Bang featuring Q-Tip - Here We Go by Hypetrak

Maybe my alterego is an emcee. lol..
And I spit hot fire like dylan on chapelle's skit... Seriously, I've been on this thought for some time now, and I thought I'd share it. I lack the ability to be witty or to deliver punch lines in real life, or to breakdance to save my life but in my head, there are no limits. I own it, and that is all. I'm Marsha from Floetry mixed with Lauryn, and I have a wicked life. And NOBODY, and I really mean NOBODY can't tell me different. I can win battle ciphers, like Jin and or eminem, and I get respect from all my peers lol... I can pop and lock, and moonwalk like....... (hand wiggle) ... chhyyeeaaah.
I have no haters. just... lovers. cchhhyyyeeeaaahhh 'son...

pfft you thought Sasha fierce was cool.
...
sigh... yes, I'm pretty cool in my head.

lol
OOOH check this...

TheTemptations feat. Amaze - My Girl [Phaze_5 Re-Rub] by PhaZe_5

Who's bad???
*b-girl stance*
...*brings back the crip walk*

Friday, October 1, 2010

French Soul



my ipod as been soaking in a beautiful soulful french tracks. Freddy Soul and his afiliate Ben L'Oncle Soul, stole my heart. For 1 their Franglais (use french and english in their tracks) and they're SOUL.

Mes couleurs 'soul hip hop jazz vol.1' by Freddysoul




... yeah, I bet you wish you spoke french
BOOOH-YAAAA suckaaaaaas!!!

On another tip, here's an awesome video I found. Quadron covering Micheal Jacksons’ “Baby Be Mine"... I love the 'circa-feel' of the video.



On another Soul tip, I recently heard Bilal's cover of Bob Marley's "Is this Love"... which I loved ... then I heard Corinne Bailey's version and I exploded.



Ohh and for some reason reason I decided to go back and re-visit a lot of my favorite LB tracks in my itunes library, and realized how amazing they really are! ... I Heart Phonte!! ...& Big Pooh (LittleBrother) & Nicolay (ForeignExchange) ... here's a Gem I found:

Keelay and Zaire - Alright With Me f/ Phonte from Little Brother and D-Minor from Quality Control Marketing LLC on Vimeo.

Shoot me something...



just found this series of k-swiss video shoots featuring some well-known and or lesser known street-style famous faces. thought they were done really well... Check it ... for some of the videos I don't see the link with k-swiss shoes? lol.. is it an american thing? I don't get it... Though I remember my high school fad of wanting to have a pair of k-swiss, ... I really couldn't care less to be frank. But thought the way the videos were shot to be kinda cool :)

Jake Davis Test Shots: Michelle Sellers from Jake Davis on Vimeo.





Jake Davis Test Shots: Joshua Kissi from Jake Davis on Vimeo.



Jake Davis Test Shots: Katharine Elkington from Jake Davis on Vimeo.



These videos make me wish I had a camera & time to do this.

Jake Davis Test Shots: Tassel Moccasin from Jake Davis on Vimeo.



....
And I found this one video about a dude talking about his relationship with his barber. Since I always hear stories about women and their hairdressers, thought it was interesting ...

'Round About Midnight With Josh Peskowitz from Jake Davis on Vimeo.



There also this video. From the Street Etiquette crew - The use of spoken word over & the meshing of Aretha Franklin's "Young Gifted & Black" is kinda cool. (the slight feel of 'elitism' is a bit annoying though... but ... *shrug*.)

The Black Ivy from Street Etiquette on Vimeo.


... k that's it for now..
Back to work.

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