2.29.2004
starlog date: 2/29/04
back at the lab from the 9:30 Club/Living Color set
miscellaneous musings...

-William Calhoun is my favorite rock drummer since Bonzo. all o' y'all who don't know who Bonzo is, step off- this section of the post ain't for you. WC is so muscular on the stomp that you tend to sleep on the way he freaks the ride. he got beef with the drums like our man Biscuit...

-me and bushhead ed were yakkety yakkin about the BaduVoodoo... just imagine the vast rhyme potential from the fruit of her loins; she has a son with Andre 3000, rumour has it that her latest johnny appleseed is none other than THE DOC!!! somebody needs to hook her up with pharoah monche ASAP so she can field a trio of genetic super MCs...
-miscellaneous flux is gonna be at the velvet lounge on sunday. that's where you oughta be...
-fejac. don't be embarrassed- that's what's supposed to happen when properly motivated...
-everytime i have a pack of starburst fruit chews, i run into imani. the universe is strange like that...
-anybody who needs a good real estate agent, check out my homegirl loren williams at loren.williams@PrudentialCarruthers.com
-THIS IS OFFICIALLY "WEUSI BARAKA WEEK". come out and vibe with my man this tuesday at the blue room in adams morgan for the djinji brown set...
-LITTLE BROTHER@ The Black Cat on Monday Night
-STORM THE UNPREDICTABLE@ The Black Cat on Monday Night
-POEM-CEES hosting@ The Black Cat on Monday Night
and...
uhhhhh...
i forget what else.
oh well
easy,
the penguin
naturalaw-dp - 2:39 AM
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2.26.2004
dj styyyyyyluuuuuuus...
he don't promote hissselffffffffff...
i say
i said
DJ STYYYYYYYYLUUUUUSSSSSSS...
he don't promote hisssellffffff...
but y'all still come to hear him spinnnnnnn...
even though he looks like an ELFFFFFFFFFFFFFF...
come on out this friday night and see the Kat's Korner Show at Mango's (2017 14th St. NW), feat. Darien, K'alyn, and none other than POEM-CEES' own DJ STYLUS!!!
Deets:
Kat's Korner & DJ Stylus "SYNERGY" are back for another sweat session at
Mango's (2017 14th St. NW)
Doors at 8:00, show at 8:30
$7 before 10, $10 after 10
http://www.lilsoso-productions.com/lspevents.html
CAAAAN YOUUUUUUUU DIG IIIIT!!!!!!!!!!
ps. this message brought to you by the Council of Retired Pimps Who Chortle At Your Feeble Efforts To Hold It Down
naturalaw-dp - 6:09 PM
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2.23.2004
fiendishly brilliant: NBA watches from Jacob the Jeweler
see, who is most likely to peel off a wad of greenbacks for a Jacob watch?
-a trendy person with lots of cash.
where does one find trendy people with lots of cash?
-in the sports/entertainment/fashion industry
aren't sports/entertainment/fashion folk already up on jacob?
-yup, especially rappers
don't athletes tend to wanna be like rappers?
-yup, especially hoopsters
don't rappers tend to wanna act like athletes?
-yup, especially hoopsters
doesn't this create a vicious demand for this watch amongst copycats with egregious disposable income, similar to the Mitchell & Ness throwback phenomenon?
-yeeeah baby, now you're puttin' it together...
who gets paid?
-David Stern/The NBA
what's so brilliant about this scheme?
-those salaries that the NBA is paying out are coming right back into the company cuz the league has figured out how to get YOU, the NBA Nouveau Riche to cough up egregious amounts of cash for trinkets that are very very UN-likely to appreciate in value.
examples?
-oooooh...
-aaaaaaaahhh...
-Lawdhavemercy!!! (pun intended)
...so what have we learned?
introducing POEM-CEES "NBA-LICENSED" CDs & MP3s -$345 per disc, 2 FOR $900, 3 FOR $2000!!!
-cd doubles as a platinum medallion; comes with a jewel-encrusted cd wallet and gold colored cellophane wrapping JUST LIKE CRISTAL CHAMPAGNE!!!
...dawg, trust me- you gotta have this before your boys beat ya to it...
ps. don't sleep- when i hit the big $core i will excess with the best, but in my own way. in anticipation of such, i am reserving "The Penguin" as my nomme de plume- you have been forewarned...
naturalaw-dp - 7:28 PM
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2.19.2004
I’m such a sarcastic asshole:
jawn: man. everybody is outside
rhomeslice: i'm sure
jawn: i can't wait for this to be the norm
rhomeslice: all the walking I do nowadays, I can enjoy it a lot
jawn: why you doing so much walking?
rhomeslice: car is totalled
jawn: totalled? oh man what happened?
rhomeslice: car crash
jawn: ahhh....the usual culprit
rhomeslice: actually, my car got stomped on by a wayward AT-AT
rhomeslice: that's not a usual culprit
jawn: what's an at-at?
rhomeslice: except when I'm driving on the ice planet Hoth, which I do from time to time for fun
rhomeslice: since I had really good all-wheel drive
Stylus - 1:40 PM
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2.17.2004
see, the odds are odd
-but the work is workin'...
FRIDAY:
wake up. head out to the job.
work. pretend to work. actually work.
hustle outta there at 4:30
head to The Warehouse Next Door for the SHOWSHOWSHOW
-Sol y Soul put this one together;
Psalmayene 24 and POEM-CEES, together for the first time. now, i'ma handle the pronunciation issue while simultaneously giving props to my man:

(old flick- remove dreads & facial hair for the 2004 look...)
His name rhymes with Call-My-Immy, and you should know that "Psalm- Eye- Any Twenty Four" is the Gregory Hines of hip hop. Those who recall my G-Hines eulogy will understand what i mean, but for now lets just say that this actor/dancer/singer/writer is excelling at every phase, as well as being just plain ol' good folks. His one man play is called "Free JuJuBee Brown" and it is transcendant work- IMO it is the defining piece of the burgeoning "hip hop theater" movement.
...and what were WE there for? hmmm- after watching Psalm literally transform into the physical embodiment of hip hop, maybe we were better suited to sweep up the debris from his stage wreckage. BUT, the good people wanted a double feature... so we kept it simple and did what any POEM-CEE would do: tell uncommon stories about our common experiences.
apparently, it was enough to complete the evening. folks jetted with the PARANOIA cd in hand, and we jetted to El Tamarindo with Thembi Duncan, aka "the accomplice". aaah yes- chips, salsa, my boys and a sista who looks waaaay better than my boys. a fitting end to the last day of the work week.
Cats like us make moves for certain
when the last thing
that we see's a sure bet
-never let 'em see ya, let 'em see ya sweat...
SATURDAY:
woke up early, ran errands, revised the set, was mad late to soundcheck only to be outdone by PIC! and rhome who were maaaaaaaad late to soundcheck. not a problem, right? after all, it's night #2 and we're old pros at this theater thing now, right? WRONG!!!
i won't get into the details (other than to apologize to the lovely older woman in the second row who i may have offended with a random freestyle recovery in the first song), but i will mention the following:
-stage lighting exposes an alarming amount of unintentional spittle.
-rhome with no monitors= deer in headlights
-"cheatin" is a great song to do on Valentine's Day
-watching psalm's whole set damn near made me cry
-Quique, Hilary, Yael, Ruth, Andy, Sol y Soul & Spoken Resistance are making life on Earth better for you...
aaaah yes- show over, lights on, jati taking flicks... wait a sec- is that...?
BASSEY!!!
now, of course she missed the show- but ain't nuthin' like a timely arrival for the most important part of the night:
-food: pakistani carry out style, featuring chicken, lamb, lentils, rice, greens...
-drinks: jagermeister. yup, i was having a '93 flashback
-participants: me/dp, jali d, imani, and bassey.
-activities: chomp, munch, muse, reflect, laugh, smile, listen, nude harlem-shake contest
-lies: uh...the "nude harlem shake contest" part
all in all, a tremendous experience.
when it's hard to go
i'm hard to stop
gonna work this master plan 'til i drop
and join my old friends
and my family...
SUNDAY:
this post is way too long.
enter palm pilot "to do" list mode:
-3:00am, me & jali-d bid imani & bassey adieu
-8:00am, rise from the dead
-10:00am, get with Priest Da Nomad to help him move
-10:30am 'til 8:00pm, we lift heavy objects.
-you ain't hear me: 10:30am 'til 8:00pm, WE LIFT HEAVY OBJECTS!!!
-8:30pm, we bounce back to DC; Priest hits the Lincoln Theater for a couple mo' hours of work, while i hit up H.E.R. at Kili's Cafe for Beat Society
-9:30pm 'til 11:45, i chill with [see * below]
-1:30am, me & the 'fresh off of work' Priest bounce from the spot with Storm the Unpredictable
-2:30am, crash... cuz come 7am, it's monday again.
and now?
i'm 'bout to put this blog entry to bed
if ya made it this far- congrats
and thanks for reading
I'm strivin'- baby, that's my legacy
*Abby, Laura, Bassey, Melani, Imani and Bassey's cousin. also Unknown, OddIsee, Bushhead Ed, Troy, John, Steve, W. Ellington, RBI, Dumi, Big Jessica, Wiz, Kyle Murdock, Mike from Organized Theory, Mark Powers, Donna, and the other folks i'm spacin' on cuz of my sleep deprived state...
naturalaw-dp - 1:23 AM
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2.9.2004
The DPJ Chronicles Vol. 2
Oh ya! - Season #4 was taped this week up in New York & I was the sole DC representative – cat’s up there were still talking about POEM-CEES last appearance
on the show. I feel good about our chances of getting back on there as a duo, but for now, I’ve gotta mash solo.
Here’s to being treated like you & your art are valuable.
Do I want to fly or take the train?
Hmmm I guess I’ll take Amtrak this time it’s SO much more relaxing.
Oh…theres my driver “I love to see a white man standing outside in the
rain holding a sign that says “Black Picasso” that’s so dope.
Yes my good man take me to the Edison Hotel please. I’ll be staying for 2 days
All expenses paid courtesy of my rich uncle Rush.
I came prepared to fight Bassey in the street in front of the Supper Club
for her flagrant lack of phone call return, but I never found her. The closest I
got to her was a postcard her street team was handing out. Wish I had a street team.
Kamillah Forbes was a tornado of energy – she never stayed still for more than
a minute before pchooo she was off somewhere. I was supposed to hang with GRFX but he caught the cooties somewhere between DC & Brooklyn & didn’t make it out.
I got to see KRS & Doug E. Fresh rock, which was a treat. I had
just missed Floetry I was told, but the lineup for the up coming shows was off
the page. Common, Ntozake Shange, Ruby Dee, Black Thought, Talib Kweli,
Reg. E. Gaines, MC Lyte, Tracy Morgan, your Mom, they were all there.
*Dead Prez were the special guests on my particular show (I’m starting to think that it’s my destiny to only open up for them forever).
*I saw this dope cat named Butterfly Soul who you’ve gotta see to believe (yeah he’s gay but don’t sleep this cat will rip you a new one - lyrically, though, lyrically...)
* Mayda de Vaille the former national slam champ still talks shit like a contender - you gotta love it
*Helena D. Lewis got so hyped I swear she had a Janet Jackson moment in her halter top. Someone remind me to get TiVo.
* Mos Def worried aloud several times that his job was going to be given to Ja Rule.
*Now, Def Poetry audiences usually are pretty savvy & sophisticated, but this is the 4th season…the smarts are thinning out a little bit. The low point of the show was a poet who seriously made back to back references to Erykah Badu’s “3 dollars & 6 dimes”, “three hundred sixty degrees”,”do your math” & “cipher complete” and the crowd actually went “AHHHHHHH”…..like he just dropped a jewel.
Anyway ya boy (me, not Mos Def) got pretty busy – I performed “Letta to the Edita”
Which I’ve been doing a lot lately, and “Half Woman Half Amazing” aka the Intern
Piece. I step off stage & who is there to greet me but Ani DiFranco! I was so shocked I think I drooled on her shoulder when she hugged me. Russell & producer Stan Lathan also expressed their approval, which is good for the kid.
I’ve learned my lesson from slamming at nats never party TOO hard the night before you perform, otherwise you spend most of the day trying to recuperate instead of practicing. With the job finished, it’s time to ACT A FOOL, so the rest of the night was sacrificed to the spirits of the Hotel Bar. Me, Weusi, Buddy Wakefield, Roger Bonair Agard, Rives, Helena, Bonafide, Minnesota & a few other yamps all drank till Buddy Love showed up then me & Weusi quickly knocked him in the head and dragged him back to his room.
*note* as I was writing this, Ms. Bassey Ikpi called me, so it’s all love again… return the ninjas the hit is cancelled - apparently the sis has just been plain tuckered out from being dragged all over the planet doing (Tony Award Winning!) Def Poetry on Broadway - foreshadowing of things to come for us, perhaps?
Thank you for coming, God bless you and goodnight. (come on, I had to say it)
Pic!
blackpicasso - 5:48 AM
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2.4.2004