http://cleverelements.net/featuredartistmunchini.cfm Sat, 07 May 2011 03:30:00 GMT http://bandzoogle.com http://cleverelements.net/featuredartistmunchini.cfm?feature=776476&postid=954975 So here we are in 2011 and President Obama has just facilitated the completion of one of the most significant military operations in U.S. History (perhaps even World History). Within the past few weeks he has had to answer questions about if he is really a natural-born citizen of the United States. Caving into pressure (which I disagree with), he produced his birth certificate. Does Donald Trump think Hillary Clinton would have overlooked President Obama's fraudulent citizenship when they were butting heads in competition for the democratic nomination? I'm guessing she is quite a bit smarter than Trump and would also have the political connections to find the proof if President Obama is indeed a fraud. So Trump's next move was to adamantly state President Obama was not competent enough as a student to attain the academic achievements and accolades he earned. This is the same Trump that has filed bankruptcy at least twice in order to "stay out of the red" in his business endeavors. I am not old enough to remember but just a few presidents but I'm willing to bet there we no prior ones that had to endure such treatment. The lesson to be learned here is that even as one of the most powerful men in the world, a black man can and often will be treated like a second-class citizen. Yes President Obama is only half African-American which is the even scarier part (imagine if he had darker skin...oh well he probably would have never gotten elected anyway then). Earlier today, I read that some people feel the reason President Obama was so successful in the mission with Bin Laden is because former President George W Bush did most of the groundwork in getting the military intelligence needed to find Bin Laden. And many of those people are likely the same ones who blame the country's economic and employment situation on President Obama. Okay, so let's see....President Obama inherited the good works and military planning of former President Bush but did not inherit the mess of an economy we have? Riiiiiiiight.           I hear many people often mention that African-Americans play the race card way too much. To me, that is just a smokescreen and undoubtedly an easy way to avoid healthy and meaningful dialogue about a topic that even today, still makes people cringe despite racism still being so prevalent. I completely agree that people have the right to disagree and disapprove of anyone who holds a public office or otherwise. However, when people fabricate stories and apply stereotypes while making no valid argument for their thoughts and comments, one is left to translate and the translation is often "you people are all the same and don't belong." I am not one who will ever rejoice in the death of any person whether good or evil as that is not part of my faith but I must take the time to say THANK YOU PRESIDENT OBAMA AND THANK YOU TO THE GREATEST MILITARY ON EARTH!!!  I'm out...one!           I hear many people often mention that African-Americans play the race card way too much. To me, that is just a smokescreen and undoubtedly an easy way to avoid healthy and meaningful dialogue about a topic that even today, still makes people cringe despite racism still being so prevalent. I completely agree that people have the right to disagree and disapprove of anyone who holds a public office or otherwise. However, when people fabricate stories and apply stereotypes while making no valid argument for their thoughts and comments, one is left to translate and the translation is often "you people are all the same and don't belong." I am not one who will ever rejoice in the death of any person whether good or evil as that is not part of my faith but I must take the time to say THANK YOU PRESIDENT OBAMA AND THANK YOU TO THE GREATEST MILITARY ON EARTH!!!  I'm out...one!
]]> Sat, 07 May 2011 03:30:00 GMT 426C5057B8F715850B9D11514CAFE871 http://cleverelements.net/featuredartistmunchini.cfm?feature=776476&postid=471948 It's been a good minute since I Iast posted. Through all the illness, networking, and recording, it seemed as if I would never get "The Watermark" finished. The recording part is always the easiest but still not so easy when illness strikes again. My passion for this is stronger than the pain I endure so I plan to keep grinding. It's real hard trying to coordinate all the pieces of a project, especially the mixing, mastering, and copyrights. Much love goes out to the folks in Los Angeles who helped complete the mixing and mastering portion of the project. There are also so many nasty producers out here in the streets that no one knows about. That goes for emcees also, especially back home in North Cak. I'm just grateful the internet provides a place for us to shine in the underground without begging for a deal. I put my passion in all the work I do and my respect for the artform of hip hop music will not be compromised by a desire to get approval from certain people. This runs through my veins and ever since my clique began doing one-take recordings on karoaoke machines, I've been addicted to this music. I truly feel sorry for those who do this without a passion for it. Whether I have one fan, or one million fans, I will do what I do with honor and respect for this culture with you in mind. You may be the one fan who needs it most. As I always say, I consider myself a fan before an artist and I hope that shows through. My music may not be what you expect when you hear that I live in ATL, but that's how I like it. This is a powerful vehicle we are driving and we can choose to either take people on a real journey, or drive them around in circles. I hope you enjoy the EP. The album "Be Water" will be even doper. I'm out...e-z. God bless, Munchini
God bless,
Munchini
]]> Thu, 30 Sep 2010 22:35:00 GMT 7E16059A2177C0464F5C3BD1698ECD23 http://cleverelements.net/featuredartistmunchini.cfm?feature=776476&postid=51271 It's been a minute since my last post so I figured I'd go ahead and blog about something that although amusing, is still bugging me. Why are there so many fake rappers nowadays? It's getting on my nerves. I'm not knocking anyone's hustle, but come on y'all. How is it that a kat who was working on recording a track in my studio, with lyrics all about him pushing a Hummer to and from his mansion, actually had the balls to ask me if I could come pick him up and bring him here? Why? Because he didn't have the gas money yet and didn't get paid until the following week. This is getting ridiculous. People need to stop basing their esteem on material things they wish they had. Like I said, it is amusing and to an extent comical, but really sad in the grand scheme of things. We as people, and specifically as young minorities cannot keep begging for acceptance by presenting an image of someone we only wish we could be. The quote "It's better to be hated for who I am than loved for who I'm not" is a motto we should all follow. I don't push a Hummer and have no desire to....or a Bentley or Rolls Royce (but if anybody has one for the low, holla at me...lol)  My point is, you gotta love you for you. I love me some me, with $1 or $5,000 in my pocket. Not from an arrogant standpoint, but from a humanistic and self-valued standpoint. There is only a small handful of rappers out there who may actually fly past you in the Lamborghini they rap about (Jeezy sped past me on the highway in his like I was sitting still...lol). The others are living rap paycheck to paycheck. There is still some real music out there but this Hollywood acting needs to cease. This hip-hop started in the hearts, and not the pockets of artists. It will continue to live there for those of us who know better. Peace to all the real MCs out there. As for you other rappers, I'll nominate you for an Oscar. It's the least I can do. Be e-z... Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:45:00 GMT E120A1C09C4A2874F0B72276FA3A21CB http://cleverelements.net/featuredartistmunchini.cfm?feature=776476&postid=46412 By request, I am taking a few minutes to go ahead and post my first ever blog. It feels good to be losing my blog virginity today and I'm glad my first time is with someone special, myself...lol On the serious side though, I send my condolences to those affected by the deaths of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. Their respective art forms will indeed allow them to live on in the eyes, ears, and hearts of their beholders. I grew up listening to Michael Jackson and my moonwalk was nasty. Grandma wouldn't allow us to listen to anything non-gospel in her house (not to say that we didn't do it anyway with the headphones) but I spent so much time there with my cousins, we ended up falling in love with music anyway. I remember us saving the cardboard from the boxes of powdered milk and cheese (my hood folks know what I'm talking about) and taping them together to make our breakdancing platform which we would hide in the backyard. In between rap songs would be a Michael Jackson joint or two and we would have our contests in the driveway, moonwalking and head-spinning the day away with a high-pitched yell somewhere in between. We would always have a lookout who would yell "Grandma and Papa coming" when their car was spotted coming up the street. The next day we'd be back at it again and this continued for quite some time. Looking back through my innocent-child eyes I never imagined that Michael, and myself would become adults and face the problems of the world every day. Although he was much older than I, he seemed younger to me than he really was. What irony it is that as he grew older, he fought even harder to experience the childhood that I was blessed enough to have, despite my family's financial struggles. I know he loved being an icon, but in some strange way we could all tell that he would have given anything to go down to the basketball court and ball with the fellas. Or maybe, be able to approach someone and initiate the conversation for a change. Or perhaps have someone say "I don't know who you are but you are welcome here anytime. What's your name?" which is a line I'm not sure he ever heard, having to be suspicious of everyone because they recognized him instantly. I'm in love with music partly because of him and although I spit 16 bar verses in the form of rap, I still owe him respect for being his own person in doing his music. We as people always seem to take pride in becoming the first to know the most recent gossip, as long as it doesn't involve us. MJ was the subject of countless stories which resulted in us passing our "holier than thou" judgments we are so very proficient at. None of us knew him and it's easy to say that he "had it all" and had no reason to be sad. Sometimes having it all can also mean having nothing. Strange huh? In a way, I'm happy for him now because hopefully he is at peace and getting the chance to be a kid again. Don't be surprised if there are heavy storms this weekend as Michael may be up there getting his moonwalk on...lol  Be e-z y'all.... -Munchini Be e-z y'all....

-Munchini

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