Saturday, February 21, 2009

ORIGINALITY

It never ceases to amaze me how many fake or unreal people exist in the artistic world, or the world in general for that matter. Lately I've noticed that instead of people marketing who they are, they choose to infiltrate the worlds of other artists or creative beings and try to sale their story as their own. Art is very individual, as is any God given gift or talent, and when someone tries to dilute your gift by stealing, borrowing, plagiarizing or whatever you want to call it, they are committing a very strong offense. What people don't realize is that charma, vibrations & energy are as real and as tangible as anything and by dishonestly taking from someone else's art, ideas, writings, music, marketing etc... you create bad energy and no matter what, you will not be successful because when people finally realize who you are, and THE TRUTH always comes to the light, and they will flee from you. So the best thing to be is yourself. It is OK to study other people or concepts that you admire, as they say "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" but don't steal or try to pass it off as your creation. The world deserves YOUR best. So be true to you and be as original as you can. For when it is all said and done, all you have beyond money and accolades is your own ORIGINALITY.

BE TRUE & LIVE HONESTLY

THE TRUTH

(c) 2009-2010 Airtight Records, Inc.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Cause & Effect

Everything in life has a beginning and an end. The end is, in most cases, determined by the beginning. In all of our lives we have had good and bad relationships and/or experiences and most of the time we will pass judgment on a situation or person without fully examining what made them who they are. Now this in no way justifies ignorance or deception but it just gives us a little insight in how to better deal with these situations. How many times have you been in a relationship where you spend more time dealing with someone's past hangups than building a solid foundation for your present space. Each of us has baggage because none of us comes from a perfect background, but if we understand that for every effect there is a cause. If a woman was not raised to respect and love herself, she will always search for validation in others. Now this cause usually ends up with that woman choosing the wrong man which in turn perpetuates a series of bad decisions that will go on until she decides to deal with the initial cause which is her not loving herself. By the same token, if a man was not taught how to be responsible and respectful he then goes on to make bad decisions. He may even be blessed with the right woman but if he never learned how to treat a woman or how to be a real man he will only destroy anything and anyone he comes in contact with. And let us not forget all of the cultural things we have to deal with. African Americans in particular still suffer from the "Wille Lynch Syndrome" which has us programed for failure in every aspect of our being especially in relationships. The first step to recovering is to at least recognize it for what it is, BRAINWASHING. When we see it we can begin to change it. So where do you stand in the cycle? It's all truly cause & effect but we must understand that we are in control of what and who we are. We may not have come from the best but we can all create new causes to get to our desired effects.


(c) 2009-2010 Airtight Records, Inc.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

K.I.S.S.

I have been a musician for over 20 years and I count myself blessed to have had the chance to be mentored by some of the best musicians in the world. One of the most important things they taught me then and it still applies every time I pick up the sticks or sit down in a studio to produce is to "Keep It Simple Stupid". I come in contact with so many musicians that feel like the more notes you play the better you are, but this couldn't further from the truth. The sign of a truly great artist ,in whatever discipline, is knowing how to use space and understanding less is more. Most immature artists' feel the need to make the music or art form conform to their limited; self-centered point of view instead of realizing that as musicians we must serve the music before it can serve us. Let me explain.When you are on a gig or session, whatever you play must first of all serve the music, song or composition not your ego. There is always a process and the first step in that process is ascertaining what is being featured? What is the most important thing in the arrangement i.e. lead instrument or vocalist? What is the subject matter? What is the tone of that subject matter? Only after asking these questions and many others can you truly know what to play or more importantly what not to play. When you approach every performance from this point of view, it creates a great charmic environment. Most people refer to it as the zone, the pocket, the sweet spot or the pfunk. Whatever you call it, once you get it you always want to find it again and again and the only way to get there is by understanding that music is a shared process. In order for musicians to truly play together as a unit, you must understand that everyone has a certain role to play at a certain time and all you have to do is play your position.That means if your position only calls for the simplest input then that is your role and you must adhere to it. Only then does the whole unit benefit and only then can true art be created because you are not serving your ego but the music. This is really a simple concept because even in life everything is simple we just choose to make it complicated by playing too many notes, saying too many words or over thinking instead of choosing just the right notes, listening before we speak and just trusting in the peace that we know to be the Creator. So just remember it is all a process so just Keep It Simple Stupid!


(c) 2009-2010 Airtight Records, Inc.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Success?

I would like to say hello to all creative, self-motivated, artistically inclined and visionary people. Have you ever noticed how hard it is to focus on just one thing? It's almost as if being creative is both a blessing and a curse. We are blessed with so many inspiring ideas at once that it can sometimes be overwhelming. The truth be told, I think that most of us lack the follow through needed to fully complete anything. Don't get offended. Let me explain. Every idea has three phases...creation, nurturing and realization. As creative people, we never have a problem with the first, it's the last two that get us. The nurturing phase can sometimes be frightening because it forces us to truly evaluate and critique our creation i.e. self examination and this can be a hard process so most of us get to a certain point and decide to jump to another exciting creation without fully realizing the previous one. This in most case leaves us running in circles, you know being busy but never really getting anything done. The real fact is that success is frightening. I know this seems contradictory but it's true. Most of us have dreams or ideas that we never really believe can or will happen so we subconsciously sabotage our on successes by not focusing and following through. So we must decide what we really want and move out to truly manifest success in every creation.


(c) 2009-2010 Airtight Records, Inc.