It is truly a blessing in being an independent artist; this is true for both the supporters and the artists themselves. For me this bodes well due in large part that I can release unpredictably and when every the spirit moves me to do so. Every once in a while it gets to a point where as artists we can be ebullient with creativity and the best way to relieve the pressure to establish room for more creativity is to release when you can. Well this is true for me at least, so if I am unique in this (which I am sure I am not) its okay, but I know that the universe produces a pair in minimum for all things...whatever!
Today, being one of those days to release some of that boiling over creativity; I have decided to let you have a few of the latest Emet Production creations all wrapped in a single EP. This comes at a time where I am just getting settled here in my new home, Japan, and a really exciting time in creativity. Having just witnessed the launch of my first "soul" collaboration being released and widely enjoyed, thanks Rachel Walker, but also some other recent collaborations have been very fluent in their inspirational power for the future. I am highly excited about the near future, and I hope that you will gain some inkling of the same energy as you take in this small token of appreciation from me.
This short EP serves as the prolusion to a much later project from Emet Productions dubbed "Subsurface: Verbal Jazz Vol. II". The EP contains three full preview-tracks from this project and another project titled "What Is Love"; each containing a message that will provoke thoughts and emotional actions (not reaction). Enjoy!
Also, visit CDBaby for Rachel Walker's latest single 'Falling" which features "What Is Love: Part 5"
The hardest thing to do with "life," is to live it, especially if you're Lost Inside False Expectations; however, living becomes a much more meaningful experience when you do more than just exist. Living is an expression of love to the Almighty for the mercy bestowed upon us. Let go of the inconsequential things and find your purpose beyond the "you".
There was a time when poetry was about the revolution, about uplifting the minds the oppressed; it spewed struggle and justice to the injustices committed. Even with its radical tempo, it was not without its respectable love poetry; I mean it was even the most outspoken revolutionist who paid homage to the strength of any people...our women. Before there was this taste for the hyper-sexualized contents, that men spoke to the souls of our women as heard in this beautiful poem...
Each and every thing has its own rightful place in this universe; to see something as wrong is to see it in its right place, but only from where you stand. Though your position in which you stand is limited by your understanding of the positioning of things in the universe. The Creator has divinely ordered all things to include the smallest grain of sand beneath our feet, thus he is the orchestrator of all that is. There is no right or wrong, but only what and how we understand the positioning of things. Except by the belief in things that are not seen, yet not heard; what else do we base our convictions upon other than understanding. Faith is love and love knows no wrong, rather sees all things as right.
I personally don't like to publicly endorse any tech product, particularly since I see technological advances as a digression of human interactivity; however, I do believe that some technological advances can aid us in ways never before given that any technology is used properly and responsibly. The responsibility is extended across all facets of technology, but I am mostly focussed on consumer tech.
Every once in a while there is a piece of hardware that gets introduced to the public that gets caught in the hype of popularism that it's contextual potential is dismissed as just apart of the general fad. However, it is in the hype that I discovered that for me, one of the most productive pieces of hardware to hit the market recently is the iPad. I know that there are many who do not indulge in the appleisms, but for artists and creative people, this is one piece of hardware to reconsider. Not to get I to a persuasive tone, because by no means am I engaged to prompt you to go out and sink your wallet into on of these devices, but rather to share my own experience since I have own this device.
To begin with, I am reading almost twice as much as I used to, with a few hundred books available at my disposal for referencing and enjoyment. I have been able to write more, but that's just a comfort thing, because I've always carried something as low tech as paper and pencil to capture my thoughts. However, I am recording more poetry, and with some of the music apps available it has become a useful device to capture instant creativity. This device has allowed, in some way, a bit more freedom for me to untether from the desk to write and draw on the go from anywhere easily.
In more of a simpler mind I say, who needs it?! We have survived all these years without it, right? So instead of me sitting at a letter table, sharpening my pencil, and writing out this note; I am sitting beside the Yokohama Bay, enjoying the sun rays all while listening to my favorite jazz musician from this technological advanced device.
Been taking the past week of silence to continue with the prolusion of "Amandla", for those who are unfamiliar with what that is, it's my upcoming collection of selected poems over the past four-years in a quest for understanding. I didn't realize that the prolusion would conjure so much, but it is all coming to what needs to happen. It is now getting close to the time that I will be seeking a publisher for this collection of work, but in between that time I will be sending out some read-aheads for inputs and feedback...more on that if you are interested.
Today began with a ponder as I took my first drive into Japans roadways, and it was like riding a bike; the thought was that sometimes we have to let go of all that we learn to see the world in a different light. Like the road ways, the steering console is on the opposite side, but opposite of what? Why is it the opposite and not my western habits the opposite? Nonetheless, it was absolutely sweet to realize despite my apprehensions, I was ready to engage in driving on the other side of the road. What have we to do in being better than we have always been, do more than we have before, do we keep traveling the road that we have always traveled or do we open our minds beyond the limitations we imposed on ourselves as a creature comfort. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing so magnificent in being able to drive on the "wrong-side" of the road, especially since most of us have been practicing this for many years and calling it the "right-side"; that's a discussion for another day. Its the cogitation that is more of a significance to me.
Listening to the sounds of "Visions" from Marion Brown and Stevie Wonder has further pushed my thinking in thinking beyond the daily concerns of self-indulgences; this really put me in the right place as I imagined the visions in my mind. In our visions we have to separate the real from the imagined, just as we do in the tangible existence or do we? What do we allow our reality to be entangled with, have we lived out our realities and focus more on the inconsequential of days gone by?
Stopped for an ode poem from Griot Kalamu Ya Salaam, he leaves so much to gleam in his poem "I Want To Talk About You," in this poem he speaks of a time long past, but ever so present, of revolution and struggle that have passed on like the changing from autumn to winter; frozen in a state of disbelief. A past filled with the atrocities and injustices, soldiers and activism. A poem that mixes well with "Visions"...
This is my testimony, I hope it does something for you.
Mandika Gibbs
"Art is revolutionary; you either get down with it or sit on down..."
