Seventeen.....

pic by Ibe Soliman

You think you ready for what’s behind these doors? Nigga you think you could take that shit? This aint door #16 bruh. I hope u know that. You need some time to think about what youre about to do or you good? Oh you good nigga huh? Aint no good nigga shit back there tho….hope you know that again. Let me ask u something……what u doing round these parts anyway? What u had a bad night? What you mad about something? Oh they aint kick your ball over the fence, so now u think u ready to play in the big park…..with the big boys huh. I gotta tell ya, there's more wolves than boys tho. Teeth tear through flesh like it aint even there. But u ready tho…..hold on right there. I’ll be right back to let you in.

Artist Shine.....Jesse Boykins III

I wanna shed some light on a good artist friend of mine.  His name is Jesse Boykins III.  Soul singer from Miami, now living in Brooklyn.  I have featured some of his work on here before, but here are some new treats for ya…..

Interview by Tone

JESSE BOYKINS III PART ONE from TONE on Vimeo.

Uggs to Hugs – Kel Spencer feat JB3

Click on the link below to catch up on Jb3's remix to his latest album.....The Beauty Created
Jesse Boykins III

100....shot by Ibe

In the words of Ibe....Another moving day, another video!!  This one is titled 100!!  Shout out to Ibe, Capri, Meezy, ...Chris Faust and Jay.



100 from Ibe on Vimeo.

This Old Man........

So this old man was walking. Each step was inch by inch......it bothered me at first. He was directly in front of me with having no space on either side of him for me to pass. A few seconds or so later enough room had emerged and I was able to pass him. Although I was relieved to have passed the man, I felt this drowning emotion as I passed him. I immediately felt a sense of guilt, and quickly thought for something I could offer in exchange for normality. "Excuse me sir"...... He didn't mumble anything, he did not raise his head, in fact it was as if he hadn't even acknowledged my presence. I proceeded on my way, only to look back every 3 or 4 steps till I reached the corner where I was turning. I looked back once more. This time the man looked up at me. We locked eyes for what it seems like almost a minute. He didn't speak a word, but I know if he would of.....if he would of, he would have said...... Children of my brothers and sisters treat us as if we are unfamiliar. Yet we are family. Destined by greatness, granted the freewill to join in unison to create greatness. How have the eyes of plenty gone without this vision? I heard your distaste with me, not because of anything you said. Your existence told me all. But I don't blame you, so you can let down that cross you bare. Continue on with your life's journey, our paths are more similar than they appear today. Remember there is only one finish line.

And after he would have said that.......I would have replied......FUCK OFF!!! OLD MAN!!!!!

Where the fuck do they sell hard hats at.......

shot by Curtis Reese

They want you to man up.  Gotta show growth in this world.  What are you becoming if u haven't learned anything?  And its fuck the cool minority too. You know the ones that became your new majority.  You gotta surpass them niggas too.  Them niggas be cool in their own situations and that aint got nothing to do with you.  It aint even pressure if you think about it.  Cause the shit seem so easy every time u read about it.  With these blogs n twitter you can't tell me nothing.  I already see what it is.  When niggas said u gotta make ya own lane.  They did not mention u gotta find a location. map it out. break ground. actually create a paved road. then add the dam lines.  I gotta admit I came outside with a metrocard n found myself in the middle of nowhere.  A million things to do yet I ask myself what I'm gonna do now.  Life doesn't give time outs for its questions. So here I am.  I never made a skelzie board before but I think I'm gonna give this road thing a try.  Now…..where the fuck do they sell hard hats at…?

They Shooting....

dope photo by Elizabeth Allen - EMA Photography

I just had to grab my bag and run. It was definitely one of those moments where you hear about a room full of black folks running at the sight of a few others with no questions being asked, except we wasn't in a room. We were outside chilling in the middle of the projects talking about working out. Ironically our talk was put to the test faster than we had anticipated. The sound of "Yo they coming! They coming!" was more than enough motivation to spark that evening sprint. It didn't matter who "they" was, nor did it even matter who was saying it. From the glimpse that I had seen and from the start of brisk movement around me, I knew what this was. Unfortunately this wasn't my first time in this situation. And yes I am grateful for this knowledge, as there was no hesitation in my movements.

Upon hearing the warning screams and glancing over to where they were coming from, I seen the person doing the yelling and I also seen the guys running behind him. I turned back to grab my bag of laundry and proceeded to take off with the rest of my cohorts with each of us scattering off into different directions. I choose to run straight under the building path, across the street, and into building 8. A few others arrived at building 8 from different locations, as the word had quickly spread that "they" were coming". Things died down and I walked over to a "safe zone" where I'd seen others began to regroup. As I mentioned before, this was not my first time and definitely wasn't the first for others who was around me. We kinda joked about it for a lil......that’s how we deal with a lot of our issues. Try and make the best of out the situation.

I got the low-down on what happened and it was the typical case of rival beef. They had seen one guy from my way and chased him back with guns drawn. No one was hurt this time, and this will definitely decrease my in the middle of the projects chilling, but for so many others this was just another 7:30 pm on a Monday night. The story stays the same minus the details. There should be a town hall meeting or something, but then again.......they shooting.