It all started on Saturday, June 6th. I woke up tired as hell from a late night extravaganza. So, at this point I was already cranky & light years beyond pissed. Not for any particular reason, I was just in that fucked up kind of mood ... sometimes they can't be stopped, no matter how hard you try to cheer yourself up.
Anyway, I also had to get ready for my Big Apple trip in New York City. Now, I've been there a good, I'd say, trillion times, but each time I go I get extremely excited, but @ the same time have no interest in doing the planning that goes along with it. And on this occasion, I just wasn't feeling the journey. I preferred working on some new beats now that 'Ghetto Whispers' is out & I have some work to do on little variations of the record we're gonna be releasing. So, for once, going to NYC was a burden. BUT, I promised my girl, Fabiana, that I would take her since she loves the city's culture. And I love going there with her when we do take the trip, but this record has been on my mind for SO long. So, I had to get to Covington some how.
However, in a short-changing kinda way, I sucked it up. The two of us got ready & headed to Weehawken where we took The Waterway Ferry into mid-town Manhattan, I think. The weather was nice & I did start to enjoy myself, but I just couldn't get the music out of my head. So, after a brief visit to the City, I convinced Fabiana to leave with me back home. (We did hit up this great Italian restaurant before we left, which was spectacular baby! All I had was bread, but it was awesome! And Fabiana's food looked really good).
After we, well, she ate, we took the ferry back into New Jersey & drove the long drive all the way back to Pennsylvania. I don't live deep in PA, like Hype does, in fact I'm 3 minutes from the PA/NJ border. The traffic made it a little unbearable, but shit happens.
As soon as we got to the apartment I packed up EVERYTHING I needed; my MPC, computer, way too many T-shirts, guitar picks, CDs, etc. etc. You know the deal.
At this time there was nothing left to do but take the 3 hour drive to Covington so that Hype & I can start practicing our set & get these shows going. We know we have a good thing going for us & the chemistry is there ... so the shows are gonna be tight. Plus, it's not like we haven't performed together in the past.
The drive wasn't half bad. I bumped some Madlib instrumentals from his newest Beat Konducta series & smoked a shitload of cigarettes. I had the windows down & I was taking in the scenery. I love that part about driving to Hype's. Great view. Time flew by & I didn't even think to make any stops ... maybe once to piss, can't remember though.
Before I knew it, I made it to Covington. It really is a nice town ... jack shit to do there, but it's beautiful & a great excuse to make some bangin' hip hop. After a few mile's, I pulled up to Hype's house. We did our usual greeting, pounds, a few jokes & a slew of cigarettes. I love the initial bullshitting & joking with Hype, especially after a long drive up north. After some goofing off, we started planning out the weekend's practice routine.
We decided that Saturday night was gonna be the chill night. I had gotten there late because of the trip to the City earlier that day. So, we kicked back & puffed a bit. Such good weed! Got me high off the famous rocker we all seem to own. We reminisced a lot, which is nothing new, and started going over our set list for our summer shows. We took a trip down to WNBT 104.5 The Buzz for a quick radio interview with DJ Stretch. It was fun times. Then, we bounced. The night went on ...we did a little of this, a little of that, a little more weed ... like I said, just kicked it. Then, we passed out ... hard.
For 2 musicians that went to bed mad late, we woke up relatively early Sunday morning. Must of been the excitement for the practice. We tossed on some threads, shuffled our greasy hair, sipped some joe (at least Hype did, he loves them beans), & sucked down a few good morning cancer sticks out on the front porch.
Hype's brother, Tom (who happens to run The Commune & is our 'manager' of sorts), stopped by shortly after. He was on his way out to some event he was attending, so we only shot the shit for a few. He did, however, drop off the keys to his house so Hype & I could practice our set in his new recording studio/practice space. It's still in production, but it's looking great & will be the official headquarters of The Commune ... as well as the studio.
Long story long, we set everything up ghetto style; Casio keyboards, my MPC, some microphones & our great speakers run thru a piece of shit mixing board which kind of watered down the sound we could have achieved ... but, you gotta work with what you got. Plus, for a first REAL practice, things went pretty damn good. I'm convinced that once we get everything in perfect order, our shows are gonna be something you're gonna wanna be a part of. Speaker-funk-punk-hop ma'fuggas!
After practicing throughout the afternoon, it was time for me to head back Southeast ... 3 hours, here I come. Hype & I packed up the equipment & headed back to his place. I threw all my shit in the trunk & was all set. Except, for one very important thing ... the farewell blunt. So, that's what we did. It was a great way to end a weekend of beats, blunts, tomfoolery & mics.
I left Covington @ around 7ish PM. Nothing crazy happened on the ride home. I did meet some interesting characters @ some gas stations, but other than that I just smoked my cigs & bumped J Dilla's 'The Shining'.
Once I arrived home, the depression that had temporary passed had slightly returned. But, I was happy that we got things done & things are finally moving for the Wine Thieves.
Be easy, Party
(Side note: Hype & I are compiling another 'Sex & Co.' demo, sorta like a Volume 2. But, a little different. More details to come in the next blog, but it's gonna be tight ... so stay tuned.)
Fuck robots.
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