Hidden Soul Gem

New lessons in appreciating the unappreciated: Nikko Gray. I have my homepage set to thisisrealmusic.com, one of my favorite spots for good Hip-Hop, Soul and Urban Alternative. When I ran across this artist, I recognized the name from some jawns she did with AFTA-1 called "Chemical Reaction" and also a dope remake of Aaliyah's "4 Page Letter." This LOVE SEEN . EP blew me away, very soulful and expressive, her voice carries the weight of true poetry. A playlink for other curious minds...Your thoughts?

The DNA of Music

One of my BIGGEST (latest) projects, is my "Sample Collection." I have been three main sources, Wikipedia, whosampled.com, and my musically-inclined dad, to unearthing the history of music I love from artists such as Erykah Badu, Common, Talib Kweli, Little Brother, Slum Village, Kanye West, Blacksheep and A Tribe Called Quest. In my last relationship, my ex-boyfriend loved music, specifically Neo-Soul and Hip-Hop, just as much as I did. He turned me on to Nujabes, Foreign Exchange, 9th Wonder, J Dilla, Nicolay, Tanya Morgan, etc. He opened my ears moreso to the musicality of the listening experience mostly through his love for instrumentals. It's not just about lyrics, it turns out. There's a reason why we are attracted to certain sounds, similar to the way we are attracted to certain foods. That's why they call it a music taste. Now I only wonder why my generation cannot seem to appreciate music we now consider old-school especially when so many of the artists we enjoy sample that generation. It also turns out that I am not actually in love with Neo-Soul and Hip Hop, I am in love with Soul and Jazz period, Johnny Hammond and other artists I had never heard of prior to this time-consuming project. The role that the actual composition plays in what pleases our ears. In otherwords, what do we vibe to? Granted, my ex started this project first, although I'm not sure how far along he is with it. I had already started a small gathering of GOOD music, but besides school and work, my summer has been significantly consumed by my involvement in breaking down music to the white meat, to the seventies and sixties from which my dad comes. My recent discoveries include a 1976 cut of bass guitarist Jaco Pastorius' "Portrait of Tracy" and Soul Mann & The Brother's "Bumpy's Lament" from a "Shaft" remake album. Feast your ears!

Sampled in SWV's "Rain" and Chingy's "Pullin Me Back"

Sampled in Erykah Badu's "Bag Lady" and Dr. Dre's "Xxplosive"

A Real Piece of Work In Progress

I have published two different poetry chapbooks, Spilled Milk and Heartroots and am currently putting together a small book of odes called Things I Used to Love and a Senior project that won't be complete until two years from now that will either be a nonfiction or a fiction novel, and another chapbook, currently untitled (a real literary no-no in the land of all things planned out efficiently). Another small selfish point of this blog is to organize myself in putting together a thorough and complete manuscript while at the same time coming up with different ideas for how to approach these separate projects in a timely manner. Sometimes I have to remind myself why it is that I write, what story I am telling, and (more importantly if it's my own story) what kind of story do I need it to be. So far I find blogging comforting. My thought process is a natural disaster because I can never quite get it to flow until its written down and I have time to piece them together into something that doesn't sound like rambling. Not that rambling is a bad thing; it's human nature. I find that even our President stumbles over his words. It's a wonderful thing, being human, constantly getting from one place to another in jagged lines because as Mayaeni ("mah-yay-knee") an artist I am currently obsessed with says, "the wrong way is the right direction someday if you pay attention. You'll wake up in the right place, 'cause the wrong way was the right direction."

a poem (or more accurately, a journal entry with line breaks and metaphors)

As a poet (or more accurately, an overly-enthusiastic English student with an inability to write normal sentences without comparing things and adding adjectives), I am constantly looking for new ways to express myself. Thought I'd post a poem or excerpt every now and then.

flirting with modern art

the first words are easiest.
a crush develops out of silent seconds
between wave of peace & emotional rushover
like Sunday service.
in fever like blind pianist, fingers want
to graze silk throat
swaying like penbrush dipped sweet
rich river-thick oil— a pain
to live by, sweep,
& wrap themselves in secret
braid around your knuckles. want
to map the geography with lips.
want to be embedded
at the hill of your chin, rough
in needles,
curved and caved in dimple. want
twenty-four hour you,
candid, human.
want even the bitter shoulders
you may or may not turn towards me.
want to understand strokes
by curve and layer.
want seven days & name tattoo
in scribbled asian, and carved initials
into oakwood
with tooth and nail so it lasts.
want time,
before & since,
the anchors, deep sea, voices
swimming through muddy brooks like
a filter, and untangle.
want to kiss back the knots of
your morning breath and keep cool air
inside elbows, crossed wrists. want
to touch palms unbroken. want to
stare unblinking for several
uninterrupted hours.
want bitter
wandering eyes
dragged along middle chest desert
like wildfire in hunger. want
longing
before too many hearts snap
& fascination wears off.

pretty fly for a white guy

This is a pretty dope cover of The Carpenters' "Close to You" on the talkbox by producer Daniel Riera. A good soulful cover of this song is long overdue. I'm still waiting for an intense Neo-Soul version of "Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes and "Iris" by the Goo-Goo Dolls.

The "INNER UNIVERSE" of Natalia Gallimore

This aspiring photographer is a highschool friend of mine who is currently interning. It seems like every month she is sharpening and strengthening her skills. An old art teacher of mine used to say that great artists have "a good eye" which I used to think meant that they were good at drawing something line for line. I later realized she was talking about the way they capture the quality of something, giving it the kind of perception most people couldn't see had it not been brought to their attention. I truly admire her work, especially her portraits. I know it is only the beginning. Here are some photos from the shoot that she took and designed. Enjoy!

first post (or more accurately, "the beginning of a beautiful friendship?")

Hi, guys! Welcome to my blogspot. So this is what people (enthusiasts) do. I figured it was time for a correct outlet, besides my enormous (and semi-ridiculous) collection of journals and diaries, that are rarely ever maintained. And I am very excited. The title was a struggle. I wasn't sure what to call this new blog of mine really. A title is a summary. It's single-handedly the most important part of a piece of work. I started off simple, "Monique's Poetry Blog." A direct victim of the backspace button. This blog is doomed to be more than poetry. Then I thought about a photoshoot I recently did with a very photography-enthusiastic friend, Natalia Gallimore, whose Nikon does more justice for me than the bathroom mirror. The colors and the way shapes were blending inspired me to want to write. After all, this is what writing is all about, dramatizing our senses and undressing the world, plant by face by building by emotion. I wrote in an essay once, bragging that I knew "the secret of why God is so detail-oriented." Imagine, art and life, becoming so interchangeable they are a universe to themselves. She named the shoot "Inner Universe" despite my extreme efforts to persuade her toward a more funky "Alicia in Wonderland." She's the creative director. She captures a place and feeling in images the way I describe them with words. It's eerie, this world of artists living indefinately and undeniably aware of each other. But that isn't necessarily a tragedy. Our egos are not to be entangled. Elsewise we will become as numb and as normal as the rest. Art and Life, "and" being a reasonable separator. In music, one plays a "rest" or a "pause" on purpose. In poetry, we have "caesuras" for a similar meaningful silence. Sometimes, things need to be quieted in order to be fully captured. Art (and) Life, are they as completely interchangeable as they seem? They are what this blog is about (or perhaps more accurately, where I stand between them).