I Promise, I'm Good [The Black Tape]

I Promise, I'm Good

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I Promise, I'm Good {Experience Now}

ALT KITS

Designed by Dax, inspired by his goal to run the London Marathon.

Designed by Nelvan Nazara. Inspired by American traditional tattooing.

Winter is coming,

I create the best when the weather is cold and crisp. Fall/Winter weather is a cheat code.

I got a secret tape I wrote back in the winter of 2021 and left some breadcrumbs throughout the years. The inspiration behind the tape was tapping into a different light source. I've known Dax, forever. We used to ride the bus to our football games in high school, and bump Drake's Comeback Season and deep cut records by Lil' Wayne, and mix it up with some RnB and downtempo songs before we stepped on the field.

Years, later I would ride in Dax's mustang and we would be playing records by Drake, Rick Ross, and just eclectic songs with those Justice League type beats. Dax used to always tell me, "Bro, you get on these types of beats no one is touching you."

Dax used to tell me, "Bro, you get on these types of beats no one is touching you."

In the midst of working on a tape with solely AYNT production titled, “Daydreams and Nightmares," Dax's idea popped into my head. I started writing separate material that was more melodic and anecdotal, beat driven so to speak. In my down time from writing for Daydreams and Nightmares, I started gravitating towards Justice League type beats and sitting in the pocket with my flow. I took a more stream of consciousness approach with my subject matter.

As I talked to AYNT about it, he expressed having a similar writing process where he works on something else to take his mind off his magnum opus and it helps him stay creative, stay writing, and pretty much fine tune his skills for the project he really wanted to perfect.

When working on this tape, the flows and rhythms came naturally. Dax was right, the fly high art sounding beats were a good pairing for my style.

Remind you, while working on Daydreams x Nightmares I was in prime form. I was studying Aesop Rock, KA, and R.A.P. Ferreira f.k.a Milo. Also, Wu-Tang: The American Saga was in the background of my creative space at all times. I was focused on the technical aspect and I was writing, memorizing, and transcribing my work.

A day or so after an excursion with AYNT and Holla in Central Florida, I recorded about ten songs for I Promise, I'm Good. The songs were all recorded in one sitting, about ninety minutes of work.

My style has been a lot like spraying a wall with graffiti, I have to see it on the wall before I can make sense of the painting or story I am trying to convey. What I will forever remember about these recordings is how much fun it was to be in the booth. I was freestyling a lot of my second verses and even leaving gaps in some of my verses to leave room for improvisation; if I knew the end rhyme within a two or four bar set up, and the theme, I could wing it until I got to the next written rhyme. This took me back to a time when I was in Just-This Crew and I was in my bag.

My style has been a lot like spraying a wall with graffiti, I have to see it on the wall before I can make sense of the painting or story I am trying to convey.

On this tape, I wanted to tell more than just my present story. I revisited the past and distant future at times, like usual, but this time around I also mingled with anecdotes from the POV of my friends. In Floor Seat Flows II some of the perspective is from Dax's POV and how he stayed solid in times where a lot of people would've jumped on social media and bragged about how much they did for the city.

I Promise, I'm Good

EXPERIENCE NOW

Though I Promise, I'm Good has been a more organic, impromptu, at times for better or worse jazz experience.... Daydreams x Nightmares has been very structured. Though, I've had less edits and have trusted my gut with my first writtens and most times than not my first takes.

What am I working on now

Daydreams x Nightmares 😶‍🌫️ x 😱

Circa 2021. The writing came easy on this one. Very autobiographical, but also vicariously living through personal anecdotes of those closest to me. This feels like a Retro tape.

"I Promise, I'm Good is the follow up to South Beach and a placement holder before Daydreams x Nightmares. A bit gloomy in instrumentation and more anecdotal than its predecessor, the audience is given a good balance of nostalgia, principles, apsirations, and creative industry and societal gripes. The essence of the tape is listeners are not left in one space for too long. Polished slow flows dictate majority of the first half of I Promise, I'm Good, while tracks like Six Degrees of Separation, Emotional Intelligence, and Kyotos On, Still Need Healing captivate the audience with more rambuctious cadences and a medley of subject matter that finds it way back to its themes/song titles. For listeners who enjoy lyricists on grandiose sounding beats this tape is for you." - Critics

I Promise, I'm Good

-MCMXX

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Tape Notes

Paso Robles (Produced by The Noise Emporium)

Floor Seat Flows II (Produced by The Noise Emporium)

Muse (Prod. by Beats by Kimpe)

On Road (Prod. by Skeyez)

After Hov (Produced by The Noise Emporium

Legacy (Prod. by PilotKid)

Six Degrees of Separation (Prod. by Skeyez)

Ocean Views (Prod. by AWSME J)

Emotional Intelligence (Prod. by 8 Bars)

Kyotos On, Still Need Healing (Produced by The Noise Emporium)

Club E11even (Prod. by DillyGotitBumping)

1-800 Lucky (Prod. by Skeyez)

I Promise, I'm Good (Prod. by Nine-Ease)

Wassup (Prod. by S.O.B. Production)

Earth & Water (Produced by The Noise Emporium)

Mount Rushmore (Prod. by BeatSmith)

S.O.L.O (Produced by The Noise Emporium)

Back Home (Prod. by T. Coop)

Ocean Views II (Prod. by Skeyez)

No More Poets (Prod. by Skeyez)

Another One (Prod. by Nixon)

Something about the Fall

SOMETHING ABOUT THE FALL

Something about the fall. I wanted to release something as a time capsule to good weather and energy before I Promise, I'm Good. Thank you for continuing to go on this journey with me.

SOMETHING ABOUT THE FALL

T. Coop sent us Do You Even Know and Back Home back in May and we laced them rather quickly. Because of contributions from both Coop x ANT these are some of my favorite songs Ive been a part of.

I felt Back Home fit the mood of I Promise, I'm Good perfectly so this is definitely a preview to some of the sounds you are about to hear on the next tape. No More Poets was a writing exercise I composed while I was navigating between I Promise, I'm Good and Daydreams x Nightmares. The beat sounds like champagne poetry and I was in a pocket where I was writing great material to looped no drums beats (Westside Gunn Type).

As I'm writing this I'm really taking in the fall. Sometimes the fall and spring feel more like a, "New Beginning," than it does on January 1st. Those of you that checked out the pre-pack last year, or listened to some songs ahead of schedule I appreciate you. Thanks for articulating how some of the songs have connected with you. Time to get 1% better, it's Something about the Fall.

SOMETHING ABOUT THE FALL

01. DO YOU EVEN KNOW (FEAT. T. COOP & AYNT)

02 BACK HOME (FEAT. T. COOP & AYNT)

03 SOMETHING ABOUT THE FALL (REMIX) (FEAT. RETRO1920)

04 NO MORE POETS (BLUE TAPE COMING SOON)

Tape notes:

01 CHOPPED BY T. COOP

02 CHOPPED BY T. COOP

03 PROD. BY AYNT

04 PROD. BY SKEYEZ

Can I tell you something, baby

Hope it don't throw you off?

Love arrangements on November

it's Something about the fall - AYNT (Do You Even Know)

Safe travels,

- MCMXX

WEEKLY MEDITATION 2: A Meditation on Unplugging

M.02.23

The YouTube algorithm is too good. For the last month or so, Youtube has recommended the above YouTube channel and a digging in the crates type of experience on My Analog Journal.

Wagner spoke to my peers and I directly in his featured segment on a day with a street photographer. He talked about the importance of unplugging. When I was in college, I unplugged so much people would physically check in on me to see if I was okay. I would also miss out on great experiences with friends who were near my dorm room, in between breaks from classes, because they could not reach me. What I learned from unplugging was my initial 90's upbringing helped me not rely on experiences solely online and it was still pertinent to my daily routine.

Since COVID, I've sustained an unhealthy balance of living and living on the internet. This is based on my standards. Online shopping, scrolling, YouTube rabbit holes, and delving more deeply into learning mediums, than I do creating in those spaces.

Though I am rarely on social media, and I don't have any alerts on my phone for text messages, etc... I want to have a better relationship with my phone, as Wagner stated.

Last week, I used my phone seldomly and was at using my phone five times a day. I did not include any times where I texted my wife or family with responses that were immediate, in my opinion, when it comes to family communication.

When I think back to healthy relationships I have obtained with technology I revert back to a few things - blogs, my Apple Watch, my Echo, and my laptop.

90% of my laptop use is for creating - write scripts and books, record music, mix vocals/production, edit photos, and edit videos. I have a better relationship with my laptop than I do my phone.

I have this dream of getting rid of my phone for good and just using my Apple Watch. What keeps me in this matrix loophole is the fact that my phone has a very reliable and convenient GPS. Also, most of the blog posts that I write are through the Wix app, on my phone. I also draft scripts on my phone using the Scrivener app.

Reliable and convenient are two words I would use to define my phone dependency. At the highest of my priority list is productivity, but I don't feel productive with my phone in hand unless I am blogging or trading creative notes with my peers.

I would also like to add the word inspiration to the relationship I have with my phone. Recently, my groomsmen have created a productive space in our group chat where we text or send pictures first thing in the morning whenever we have entered our training spaces. My peers are helping me get there. This was one thing I had on my bucket list and subconsciously we all came together to make this a tangible thing - continuing to build on our long term relationship and holding each other accountable for our physical and mental health.

This year, I want to use my phone twice a day, outside of my communication with my wife and famiy. My first use, morning check in with my close friends, and creatives about physical and mental health, our routine, and our mood. Second, a check in before I go to bed (if needed) for any follow ups to any collaborative projects with my peers. In addition, a diary reflection in my phone of to do's, progress, epiphanies and ambitions in life and my creative space.

I find myself doing a lot of research on my phone too - mixing videos, places to visit, etc... This eventually turns into a whole rabbit hole of unnecessary phone use - twitter trends, insta bookmarks on mixing, hiphopdx scrolls, the works. I guess this year will be more about inspiration from my inner circle, and using my Apple Watch to text if needed, and keeping my hands away from distractions.

I guess this year will be more about inspiration from my inner circle, and using my Apple Watch to text if needed, and keeping my hands away from distractions.

I want to use my hands for inspiration, and action. If I use my hands recreationally, example an ocassional cigar, I want my mind to be able to wander outside of a screen.

A lot of growth can come from this simple action. I feel I suffer from brain fog when my hands get used to doing boring stuff. My hands haven't cooked in a while or picked up a book consistently. My hands have been scrolling and purchasing, and saving and downloading and this is making my hands and my mind... mindless. I catch myself double checking how to spell things, or looking for confirmation on google for things I already know. Almost like a child, asking my phone for permission to do things or confirm things, like we would with our parents or guardians.

I used to write and memorize lines and be able to articulate an idea on the same day, now I type things amd forget them and have to go back and read it. I don't know if full out notepads is the way to combat my creative relatonship with my phone. When I go hiking on weekends or on a long walk on rest days I can use that time to think and process. My goal is to find a balance so that my ideas aren't only coming from a phone or being stored in a phone, my mind also is involved and I am becoming more mindful.

Here's to getting 1% better everyday. Here's to more intimacy with our thoughts and our actions. Here's to death of infinite scrolls.

Here's to not using our phones around people we are sharing experiences with, especially around our kids. If we see kids becoming addicted to technology, how can we correct it if it's in our hand just as much as them?

Like Shay J used to tell me, we look down on our phones so much... when's the last time we looked up for inspiration? Looked at the sky for inspiration or nature? Here's to looking straight ahead or more upwards then we look downward.

1.11.22

-MCMXX