The site is going great, and once I can evolve it a stage or two, I may indeed return to occasional posting as Manny the non-BirthplaceMag.com creator. There are many things I like to opine on, that don’t have anything to do with New York area hip hop, so I will eventually reclaim this space for that.

Plus, I do have a couple of remix projects I’m going to embark on shortly. So, I may live here again.

In the meantime, understand that I am having a great time finding new talent, some bubbling quite hot under the ground, and in some cases, as the video in the story I am linking to shows, I can find some amazing moments that are VERY New York, and VERY hip hop, and in those moments, I am VERY excited about what BirthplaceMag.com is becoming.

Join me over there. I miss you.

When a 50 Year Old Panhandler Jumps Into The Cipher, Lord Have Mercy… THAT Is New York Hip Hop

I have not done music, remixes, etc. in quite some time.

Instead, I have re-focused my energies on Birthplace Magazine, www.BirthplaceMag.com, what I hope will soon be known as THE online source of New York-area hip-hop news, views and all other things.

Check out the original ‘manny-festo’ by reading “Re-Birthplace: Documenting New York’s (Hopeful) Hip-Hop Resurgence”

Check out the BirthplaceMag.com site overall, participate, send us suggestions, love mail, hate mail, etc.

If you are an artist, organization, or entity in any way involved with hip-hop and are in-or-around the New York City area, hit up Birthplace Magazine at info@BirthplaceMag.com.

As always, thanks for your support.

Two quick notes, I wanted to state for the record, just because I have been missing my hip-hop state of mind lately..

1st.
50 Cent is really quite a genius. After defining the mixtape genre, moving on to conquer actual record sales, and being one of the largest entities in music, not just hip-hop, this guy drops this Sincerely Yours mixtape that is really kind of genius. I mean, content/lyrics completely non-withstanding (although he spits rather decently on it, I say), the concept is brilliant. String together all the summer BBQ flavored hits that everybody and their mama (especially their mamas) know, spit a lil’ here and there, and give it away for free. Flex plays the sh*t out of it, mad heads playing it in the yard, on the block, etc., and even the folks who are not entirely 50-fans (like wifey), can’t really complain or turn it off, because by the time 50 is done with his 16 or 32, you are jamming! Just a really cool concept, and I have to give it to the guy.

2nd.
I was at Big Ced’s weekly Industry Cosign party a couple of weeks ago (shout to Ced! Cool cat.), and Ralph McDaniels was there. I didn’t get the chance to meet him, I didn’t stay that long, but I just thought of how many DVD magazines have cropped up in the last couple of years and thought damn, this dude is the Godfather of these things. I always got a little extra respect for someone who did something first, especially so long before it became the “thing” to do, so my hat again goes off to Ralph McDaniels, the O.G. King of “Man In The Street” Hip-Hop.

That’s all for now. Thanks for tuning in. Hope to come back soon. As always, working on a couple things up my sleeve.

COP MY LATEST MIXTAPE: The Producer: The Best of Manny Faces – Free as always, www.mannyfaces.com

So, what happened was, Usher’s new song Love In This Club, was produced by Polow Da Don. But it turns out, Polow Da Don essentially made the track using preset loops in Apple’s GarageBand software, which comes free with a Mac computer [seen @ Miss Info]. Well, this interests me of course, and as usual, I see things in at least 3 ways.

1. As a “struggling” or “up-and-coming’ producer
This crackerjack-ass no-talent-having, gets 50Gs for doing not much more than <click>, <drag>, <export>, [OK to continue]? No, it is NOT OK to continue Goddammit! I been crate digging, DJing, sampling on cheap ass reverb machines rigged to loop, spent car insurance money on records and Ensoniq keyboard memory chips, listed to hours and hours of albums over and over, looking for JUST the right loop.. Turned my back on good weed and better ass cuz I wasn’t done with this track I was working… Played baselines, piano twinkling, day in, day out, up until 4am on the regular with full time jobs and baby mama drama to turn out to be a pretty damn decent producer/remixer, but who is still not making a dime, while this guy essentially takes his textbook, photocopies chapter 12, hands it to his teacher as an essay, and gets a fucking A!!

2. As a sampling up-and-coming producer
OK, so the argument is, how is this different from me (or Kanye, or Pete Rock, or countless other successful and talented producers in Hip-Hop’s history), sampling loops, adding some drums, and calling it a beat. Lord knows I’m still milking good response and radio play from my Bartender remix, which unashamedly samples George Benson note for note. Well, it is kinda the same. Sort of. I mean, I consider myself a connissour of good music. I sample from records I own (yes, vinyl), or mp3s I download. I filter out so many songs, my ear listens for loops, they are not handed to me. OK so the Give Me The Night loop didn’t take DJ Premier-like audio genius or skillful chopping, but still… I’ve come across royalty-free Loops/Beats CDs here and there, and I would never in my life use any of them. No matter how hot it was. I’m sorry, I just wouldn’t. But there are those producers, who might be very musically talented, who would say the same of me and my sampling. While I just can’t bring myself to say that Polow’s extremely uninspiring method of selecting music and creating tracks is nearly close to being equal in creativity to doing what I, or many other talented sampling-based producers do, to really call him out on it, would verge on hypocrisy.

3. As a listener
Well, I do like the song. I kinda thought Usher was gonna remain fallen off, but I think this is a good look. Personally, I have to say dig the joint. I bounce in the car a little like a fool when it comes on and I sing the hook sitting at my desk at the day-job. I guess at the end of the day, that’s what really matters.

No matter who, or what, made the music.

February 3
I share a birthday with my Hunni. While this makes it unlikely I’ll ever get a surprise party, it does make for a fun time of year when we co-party, and occasionally, have a co-party. This was such a year. On the way home from BJs, I hear Funk Flex blasting off on a SICK remix of Sounds of Silence. Dope. Stopped me in my tracks! “Now this,” I said to myself, “is some issh I would /could/should have done.” Man it was good. Hard hitting drums, little bassline here and there, dropouts, buildups.. Well done! (I still don’t know who did it, and I looked, and I never look, but repect due.) So now, in the back of my mind, I now have a new wheel turning. Gotta find me a similarly styled old school, non-R&B-per-se joint, and get my Manny Faces on! I thought briefly about what song would be good to work, but nothing came to mind. So, like a billion other things, I filed it away for future reference.

February 11
Me, Hunni and the Faces youngens go to Wendy’s for dinner, and are devouring dollar menu items, filled with tasty glee. Fast-food muzak is playing, though muted, over the restaurant speakers, as always. There, softly wafting to my ears, is a classic rock song that we all pretty much have heard. I stop chewing, right side of my brain wrenching control from the left (or whatever area controls eating). I turned to Hunni, who probably didn’t care much, and said, “I should work that!”… She nodded “Ok.. Whatever.” So I turned to the kids, who probably cared even less, and said “I’m going to work that!”… They nodded, “Ok… Whatever. Can we get ice cream?” I didn’t mind. I had made my Babe Ruthian prediction, pointing to the music bleachers, proclaiming my intent. I was going to hit an audible home run. You’ll see.

February 11 – Later
Crap! I have schoolwork to do. (This online go-back-to-college-thing is hard!) But the juices were flowing. The heat, was not. It was cold. Very fitting for the song. (I also grasp the logo-irony that I was inspired in Wendy’s). I feverishly worked the ‘first round’. (There are usually 3-4 before I get close to being done). A couple of off-the-top choices of drums, sounds, etc., worked out great! That is a nice omen when that happens, as opposed to trying out 32488 different things before something clicks. You start to lose the vibe. Bartender remix was like that. The first beat in the vault I tried, ended up being the winner. Love when that happens. This process was more complex, had to chop up the song a lot, since it was originally live, the tempo varies, and I had to sync it all nice so it would work alongside more rigid drum programming. There’s more, but that is either a) boring, or b) production secrets. But by 2:30am or so, I had a rough draft. And oh what a great idea for a verse to throw it!! This just might be kinda sorta hot.

February 12
I started listening over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over. As I always do. Listening for imperfections, different arrangement options, levels, etc. Oh how I liked how the verse comes in. I was sweating myself kinda hard. This is gonna be a good one.

February 12 – Later
Back at the lab, I snuck in a little touching up between homework and reading. I really worked this one fast. Careful not to sacrifice quality, but I had to get back to schoolwork or I’ll be in deep educational debt doo-doo. I saved a mixdown and dished it to a couple of confidants. They would tell me how it sounds, and be honest about it.

February 13
Feedback started coming in. Couple things. I took note, plus had a couple of my own tweaks in mind. During the work day, I go to the back, and my co-worker has classic rock playing through Sirius. Guess what song is on? This is definitely an omen (because of course, my remixes are part of an ongoing divine intervention…. Don’t worry. That was sarcastic. But I did think it was a very very cool coincidence). I can’t wait to get home to finish it!!!

February 13 – Later
Back at the lab again. Man if it weren’t for a “real job” I’d get things done much quicker. Anyway, made the final tweaks, listened another 235 times, and threw together an email blast. No time to lose. It was Thursday, I don’t like sending out stuff on the weekend and the urge to get it out and hear what people think was strong. Around 10pm, e-blast-off! Back to reading U.S. History and Physics, and waiting for the feedback to start trickling in.

February 14
Feedback is 99.9% great!!! I love it when a non-plan comes together!

And now, if you haven’t already come across it:

The Mamas and the Papas (featuring Tupac) – California Dreaming (Manny Faces Remix)

Click here for non-Tupac version.

Hope you enjoy! Let me know.

See, hip-hop in 2007 is not the hip-hop that was in 1990. In the 90’s, it was easy to blame hip-hop music and subculture for the woes of the inner city. In actuality, it was probably crack-cocaine and IT’S subcultute that had the most impact on the African-American youth of our nation. But since hip-hop music was closely associated with that youth, it was too easy for the uneducated and ignorant politicians, newsmen, parents and racists, to blur the lines between the youth intricately involved in the crack epidemic, and those who just relayed the messages over a funky, James Brown-sampled, beat.

Enter 2007 and the tragedy that is/was Sean Tayor. (For the record, it does not matter what the circumstancs were behind this heinous act, it is a tragedy in every sense of the word. But the issue I am addressing is that of Mr. Whitlock and his blaming of hip-hop. The issue is that in 1990, he would have been wrong. In 2007, I truly hate to say this, but he is right.)

It is not that hip-hop itself is to blame however. This is the tricky part. As many of those reading this know, I am a producer, remixer, and part-time lyricist. I have been a hip-hopper since the 80s. I will not apologize for the fact that I now, in my ….. um.. late 20s/early 30s (roundabout, sheesh.. shutup!), continue to make beats, mix songs, and write rhymes. It is in my consciousness and will never leave my soul. I am a product of my looped-funk-and-R&B-over-hard-12-bit-drum-sounds roots and will be that until I die. But in 1990, hip-hop was a product of the culture of the youth. Today, it IS the culture of the youth. And in becoming so, is no longer what hip-hop originally was, or was intended to be.

When I see on YouTube, young white children in ballet class, “Supermanning” that proverbial hoe, there is no question that life has completely swallowed up art, and now, spits it back out as a cartoonish mockery of itself. Hip-hop has lost the exclusivity which made it so eccentric in the beginning. It is probably like the elite nightclubs or celebrity hot-spots of NY or LA. They begin, much more secretive, reclusive, hard-to-get-into. But once word gets out that a “celebrity-of-the-day” frequents the joint, the ‘regular people’ find their way down. By then, the star/starlet has moved on, eager to avoid having to mingle with the peons, and all of a sudden the hot-spot of the stars, ends up being just the lukewarm-spot of the wannabes.

So, when Mr. Whitlock blames ‘hip-hop’ for the problems of the youth, on the surface, it sounds like a back-in-the-day attack, when the uninformed critics would criticize hip-hop, because it sounded different, and sounded mean, and looked menacing, and was unknown. And the hip-hop fanatics and defenders are so used to being attacked for their beliefs, that we raise up when even the slightest suggestion is made that hip-hop (and by default this mean rap-music) is to blame for any ill. But actually, Mr. Whitlock is not swayed by any emotional attachment to hip-hop culture. He is not distracted by a love for the music that he met when he was 10 years old, and what he loved most was that she had so much soul. No, he is saying ‘hip-hop’… But he means ‘youth’. No longer is hip-hop a piece of the culture of youth. The culture of youth, is now simply called ‘hip-hop’.

So, I cannot attack the statement, “The ‘keepin’ it real’ mantra of hip hop is in direct defiance to evolution”, until I can accurately determine how the writer chooses to define hip-hop. If he is mindlessly equating black youth, crime, violence and hip-hop in one big melting pot of tragic circumstances, then no, I will not support his theories. But he seems smart enough on the surface to not fall into that trap, and instead, realizes that hip-hop today is not hip-hop of old, and that today, black, white, hispanic, asian and practically any race, creed or ethnicity that is young follows a twisted, perverted and different culture than the hip-hop purists would claim as their own. And unfortunately the culture of today’s youth does indeed draw from the roots of hip-hop, but the overall culture of today’s youth is that twisted, cartoonish hip-hop-ish mashup that was created when mainstream USA dug their claws into Golden Era hip-hop. The result has been an increase in buffoonery and self-denigration. A blind adoption of the original tenets of hip-hop, without the understanding or experience necessary to appreciate, understand and relate to them. An adaptation of hip-hop by mainstream popular culture that has become the culture of the popular mainstream.

In essence, the violence that fell on Sean Taylor was not due to hip-hop as I, or the authors of the comments of the aforementioned blog would define it. It was more likely the result of the twisted, mutated evolution of youthful society. A society which, across racial and economic boards, has cherry-picked the most extreme and egregious characteristics that hip-hop as a culture, and through its music in the past, has to offer, and followed with pseudo-religious abandon.

So Mr. Whitlock, while wrong, is kinda right. Defenders of hip-hop, defend out of habit, and defend because their defense of African-Americans particularly, is reflex, and for good reason. But today, hip-hop doesn’t equal hip-hop anymore. Realistically, this morphed version of hip-hop is now simply ‘popular culture’. And that popular culture could, by itself, be what is to blame for Sean Taylor’s tragic end. Hip-hop, at it’s core, was a form of expression. A vibe. A way of life that existed to give a voice to the voiceless. Not to give guns to the gunless. A reporting of the reality. Not the reality itself. What is called hip-hop today, is not the hip-hop we hold dear to our hearts. It is the radical Islam of hip-hop. A force that does not reflect the hip-hop that true hip-hoppers believe in. And therefore, many of us denounce today’s hip-hop, today’s popular culture, and any and all factors that could have contributed to the violence that Sean Taylor, or the thousands of young people today must endure, that are done in the name of hip-hop.

It is simply cultural heresy. Hip-hop, as Nas and I once knew it, is indeed dead. Perhaps, and hopefully, it is setting the stage for a rebirth. If so, long live hip-hop. If not, good, ’cause they ruined it anyway.

[From Damian via MySpace note]

Wow…

That’s all I can say right now, man. Your revisions and recreations of familiar songs are so refreshing to my ears. The ears of a hip hop fan that yearn to hear something new and exciting. You are definitely the most original artist I’ve come across in a long time and for that I’m grateful to you for what you do. Thank you for creating moods in rhythm that motivate me to listen more than a handful of times.

Peace. Love. Respect.

Damian

Jeez. Damian, thanks. You’ve made a starting-out-not-so-great day, a lot better already for me. I appreciate the appreciation!

“In Reference to Manny Faces, Its All Good, Homie Stated his Oppinion everyone has a right to. He Took it personal, I never heard his remix, I know Salamm Remi, well, He’s also been ask to do the remix by AK’s A&R. Alot of his oppinion was assumptions. If anyone want to attack me for my statements so be it, But It wasn’t that deep. Remixes helps Promote the record, reguardless the original writers gets the publishing. I aint mad at anyone givin their own interpretation of the song, But there are non DJ’s and Producers who will F*%k up a song, and scream out “this is the official remix” and get it played on the radio in their region by themselves or a DJ friend. which can be misleading. If it hot its hot, if it aint it aint. No Need for yall to attack Manny either. Yall will be fighting millions on the net, who have negative comments about people or who are looking to take things negative from what we say. Thats what makes the world go ’round. You have to know what you dont like to know what you like sometimes. Ask me what i feel and I’ll tell you , you won’t have to assume. – Krucial”

Krucial -

Fair enough. No disrepect was really ever intended (believe me, I’d like few things more than to be at the level you all are at, and again, I am a huge fan of Alicia and you and the entire camp and your achievements). I personally have never added “official” to any of my reworkings, and I guess it was also the reaction by some of the blog supporters to your comments that caused me to take notice. Because there are surely those who do perpetrate to be more official than others, but I don’t want the public to look down on what I do, which I pretty much do simply because people tend to like it, just because there are those who are less than honorable. Your comments seemed to diminish all of us who do this sort of thing, and I thought you were unfairly casting a pretty wide net. I’m sure that many in the industry frown upon those of us who do this sort of thing, but haven’t ‘made it’ yet, like myself, so I felt it important to state my view. No disrepect Krucial, I appreciate the clarification as well as the response, albeit indirect, and I continue to tip my hat to you and your crew. Again, though I wasn’t feeling this particular remix (and again, I even feel that my own was not my best work), I am a huge fan of the majority of the Krucial/Keys catalog, and continue to wish you all nothing but the best.

-Manny Faces

Last night, I heard a bit of a reggae remix of Alicia Keys’ No One, on Hot-97 in New York. Since unofficial remixes like my own seem to get played in nearly every city in the USA except here, I figured it was the real deal official remix. Plus, the vocals were different; it wasn’t simply a new-beat+acapella remix like the ones I do. So this morning, I checked the KrucialKeys blog, and there it was: Alicia Keys featuring Damian Marley – No One (Official Reggae Remix).

Let’s get this part out of the way. I thought I put out a cool version of No One, though hardly complex or spectacular. Some of my other works are definitely better. However, with the entire Alicia Keys machine behind them, including her singing new vocals, and the addition of Damien Marley, they put out a cool version too. Now, I am very humble, would be the first to admit being thoroughly outdone, and this is certainly not a contest, but the official remix isn’t really killing it to me. And this is not a competitive-producer-I-made-my-own-remix-so-I-am-biased answer, it’s my honest opinion. I thought, for instance, that the reggae remix to You Don’t Know My Name was GREAT, and I could not have done as good a job myself. So for the record, I am not particularly feeling the official remix. But that is not my point here.

My real interest piqued in reading some of the congratulatory and animated comments from the KrucialKeys blog readers. It is so nice to have people comment positively on your work, I myself get it very often through email, MySpace comments, etc. So I know that the KrucialKeys enterprise finds great enjoyment from their blog. What I found noteworthy however, is a couple of Krucial’s replies, such as: “Dont worry Marisol, I feel the same [Marisol didn't love the remix either, but she says she doesn't like remixes in general, saying 'why mess with a good thing?'], but theres a thousand fake remixes out there, so we had to put ours in the game.” Ah, so there were so many other versions, they decided, “we had better put out something official, to silence all these wannabes!” Well, not quite. Kruicial then states, somewhat contradictorily, “the reggae remix was always planned its just that everybody beat us to it, but we had it in the archieves. Thanks to technology everyone trys to benefit off your art without your blessing, sometimes out of love, sometimes just to get some of your shine. Its out of hand really, but what can you do?”

Well, these statements made me wonder about some things. And this is NOT to start a fight with the Keys camp, I ADORE Alicia Keys and greatly respect what they are accomplishing there. But, since I am one of those ‘fake’ remixers, I do have some thoughts.

Ever since acapellas have been released on vinyl, DJs have been ‘blending’ the vocals from one track alongside the instrumental of another. Nowadays, even when no acapella exists, DJs run songs simultaneously as mash-ups. The technology of today’s home studios does allow folks like me to actually create custom tracks to blend those acapellas with, and internet technology provides an outlet to be able to distribute them globally. But don’t these same technologies allow labels and artists to extend their reach the same way? Ads on highly viewed sites like MySpace or AOL, Electronic Media Kits, interactive websites, enhanced CDs, all have been used by countless artists, including the Keys camp. So to bemoan the benefits that technology brings to the bedroom producer or DJ, while ironically doing so on a blog, a component born directly from the technology spoken of, is somewhat hypocritical. If we took away the technology that allows all of this, DJs would go back to making blends or mashups that get heard only at parties or on radio, limiting the potential of distracting the general audience from the official version. But, then there would be no internet to promote to millions, no leaking of the video to YouTube, no sending of email blasts and no selling music through iTunes. No, those prehistoric days are gone forever and the technology is here to stay. But realistically, it is the overall state of music business affairs that is holding artists back from fully capitalizing on their musical works, not a bunch of C-list producers and unknown DJs.

More to my point, an unofficial remix doesn’t tend to do very well unless it’s very good, or the creator is very lucky. So, let’s analyze a few unofficial remixes of No One that are floating around. The one with Cassidy gets noticed because of his name, the Junior Reid one gets noticed because people will know it’s a reggae remix, know the name, and want to hear how it was flipped, since many people like the R&B/Reggae sound. My Manny Faces remix might get noticed, at least by radio DJs and bloggers and industry folk, who know that I am responsible for the T-Pain Bartender remix that has been all over US radio stations the last few months, including major markets like Atlanta.

Now, in reading Krucial’s comments, it appears as if he is suggesting that somehow, these unofficial producers are all trying to “benefit off of their art”, and that this practice is “out of hand”. But what, exactly, is out of hand? It is true that if I remix a well known song by a well known artist I might attract more listeners, but how does this really allow me benefit off of their art? Remember, the final product has to be good to be even taken seriously. I stand the same chance of using the recognition factor of a well-known song, attaching my own horrible beat to it, and instead completely destroying my chances to be taken seriously.

My guess is that major artists and producers probably wouldn’t mind that so much. In fact, such wretched creations would not receive the viral treatment that good sounding remixes do, and would never reach these artists in the first place. Personally, I have done about 25 remixes, gotten placements on dozens of mixtapes, been played in clubs worldwide, probably had more radio spins than any unsigned producer anywhere, had 1.5 million remixes downloaded, received countless emails from the public as well as music business and radio entities, gotten kudos from artists who have heard my version of their songs (i.e., Akon personally called me and Mary J. Blige tried to find out who I was, T-Pain gave me props, etc.), and yet, I remain ‘undiscovered’, not making a dime doing any of this yet. So for me, despite these factors, there is no benefitting being done.

With this resume that I am building, I have to believe that I create remixes that are more consistently well regarded than the countless other ‘fake’ remixes out there, or else I wouldn’t receive the notice or kudos that I do. But even while gaining this recognition and reputation, one can’t possibly believe that I have in any way diminished the ability of T-Pain or Mary or Timbaland to sell records because I have done remixes of their music that some people like. I don’t view what I am doing as me trying to take anyone’s shine, at least no more than when a DJ blends the acapella of one song alongside the beat of another. Just because I record my own custom blend, and send it out in an email, doesn’t mean that people have to open it, listen to it, or like it. But either way, I’m certainly not trying to take anyone’s shine, I’m simply trying to establish my own.

So then, do I do it for the love? Well, no, not entirely. Now, personally, I do love what I do, and enjoy it without receiving any form of financial compensation, and while I hope for eventual opportunities to get paid for what I do, I will continue it regardless, as I enjoy pleasing those who enjoy what I do. Just because I’m not remixing a song by Alicia Keys specifically out of respect and admiration for Alicia Keys, doesn’t mean that I don’t HAVE respect and admiration for Alicia Keys or her producer.

So maybe then, I should have gotten their “blessing” first. I wonder if I had approached them, or found a way to contact them, or placed a comment in the blog, and said “Hey there, I’d like to remix Alicia’s song, is that ok with you?” what would they have said? “Sure, thank you for asking.”? Or more likely, “Unauthorized reproduction of copywritten material is prohibited and will be dealt with severe consequences (you fake remixer you)!” In fact, I suppose the chance exists that my writing about this could invite a cease and desist letter, blocking my remix from being downloaded anymore. Maybe even Issac Hayes himself will come after me!

Regardless, to say that I require an artist’s ‘blessing’ is absurd. Does the girl singing No One on YouTube require their blessing too? How about the karaoke singer in the bar? Or the cover band in the club? Should Danger Mouse have requested the blessings of the Beatles and Jay-Z before he created The Grey Album? I mean, that artistic effort is essentially what catapulted him to be able to bring us Gnarls Barkly, a universally enjoyed musical phenomenon; I don’t recall hearing Jay-Z or Paul McCartney complaining that he only made it big by trying to get some of their shine.

Look, maybe I’m just being overly defensive, like when I used to defend sampling to my old-school Jazz & Blues loving father. But to have someone like Krucial speak so flippantly of producers and DJs like myself who are just trying to experiment a little, or even to those who ARE trying to eat off of this music thing and are just looking for any way they can to stand out, I think is very unbecoming.

Besides, I believe he gave away his true feelings when he said, “the reggae remix was always planned its just that everybody beat us to it, but we had it in the archieves”. No, I don’t think that ‘everybody’ beat them to a reggae remix. Just Saalam Remi, who produced the one with Junior Reid and who is certainly no amateur.

It just maybe, possibly, potentially, hypothetically, almost seems like Krucial is pissed because Remi’s remix has been getting a lot of run, and just maybe, possibly, potentially, hypothetically, sounds better than his does.

But what do I know? I’m just a fake remixer.

So then, what is this blog for? Well, here are three possibilities:

1. I have an illusion of grandeur.
Somehow, I am really starting to believe my self-hype. That I am loved, respected and followed by legions (or at least semi-legions) of fan, worldwide, who want nothing more than to get into the mind of Manny Faces. Follow my emerging career much like my father, (who is a retired Sociology professor but has always been a repressed radio jock), fondly remembers his college days when he was following the-largely-unknown B.B. King, even interviewing the blues man and predicting his subsequent breakthrough and ascension into musical history. Certainly I receive emails and MySpace messages from people who genuinely seem to dig what I do, enjoy the personality I put into and behind the remixes, and marketing, and photoshopped images. These folks just actually might be interested in a little behind-the-scenes look at what could be the blossoming of a successful and wealthy music producer, or might end up being a woulda-coulda-shoulda-been who eventually fades off into the twilight of his production career, leaving behind a final blog posting, electronically signaling his departure from the pursuit of happiness that has been a companion of his throughout his adolescent and adult life. This blog could even be considered an e-reality show, that exists to entertain people for no other reason than it provides a serial look at segments of the life and times of a stranger, one who does something somewhat interesting, one who could end up being someone other than who he is to his family and friends co-workers. One who might actually end up living up to his illusion of grandeur.

2. This is self-medication.
The fact is, I don’t have a lot of friends. There is Hunni of course, but she, especially now, is busy, as she takes on the admirable task of achieving her Master’s Degree. There are a couple of homies I grew up with, but neither are in the area, and thus, our communications have become seasonal at best. There are work buddies from the last job or 2, who I IM a lot, stroll by to see during lunch, and always promise to go to whatever party/event/happy hour they continue to invite me to, but I never do. No, I am a focused man, focused on my day job, my family, and my Manny Faces persona. But I am a complex dude, (even if it is entirely possible that I create my own complexities) who has dealt with, and continue to deal with, a lot of harsh and stressful… stuff! And perhaps, falling deeper into the role of Manny Faces, sharing more of me/him than just the marketing angle and email blasts, gives me a chance to sneak in some “non-Manny” feelings. Just to get them off my e-chest. Even if no one cares. Even if there is no one reading. This is my journal, it let’s me vent, even if I rarely do, but it’s there if I need it. But I’m not exactly into the idea, so I pepper in a lot of Manny stuff and sprinkles of non-Manny stuff, just so I don’t feel foolish because essentially, I have a fancy diary. As in, “This is lame. A diary. I might as well color my computer pink, and put Hello Kitty stickers all over it.) No, this gets to be called a ‘blog’ and since it’s all abut Manny Faces, it’s simply a calculated marketing ploy to enhance my web presence n a way that will attract attention to my musical abilities and blah, blah, blah. Well, this is probably partly true, may even have been the impetus for starting it up in the first place. But maybe it is also a weird form of therapy. I believe the word is catharsis. And for me, because of all the stuff, it might just be helpful. Necessary even. As long as I don’t overdose.

3. I am not going to make it in music.
So, while I have what might be considered a somewhat decent career in the real world (I have health insurance. Isn’t it weird how THAT is becoming a new plateau that only the very gainfully employed is able to achieve these days? With leases and high-interest car loans, anyone can drive a Benz now, but damn, ‘You got health, yo?? You must be gettin’ paaaiiid!’) Anyway, this day-job life I lead is essentially business management. While I never actually completed college (I went for about two.. or three… minutes), I’ve worked long enough and am lucky/blessed/ambitious/intelligent enough to have been able to learn a thing or three and be able to apply it to a managerial job in graphic design and marketing firms, which is where I reside during the daylight hours. But I would give it all up for the right production deal, or even a similar position in the entertainment industry that I enjoy so much. However, the odds are against me on both counts, and the likelihood is that I will not be Manny Faces for much longer. That Manny will retreat into the nether reaches of my mind, relegated to the same mental Old-Thoughts Home where my imaginary friends (oddly, a man named Man, a dog named Dog, a dragon named Dragon… I was apparently much less creative as a kid.. When I relayed this information to my workmates recently, and during the subsequent laughter, I made the mistake of saying, “Well, what can I tell you.. But we all hung out, like a gang”… to which Jason says, “What was the gang’s name? Gang?” HA. Funny Jason. Damn you, but funny.) Anyway, I digress. The point here is that the other other thing I like to do, and have had minor, but promising success with, is writing. My previous employment found me at a newspaper, where I was managing graphic artists, but had the ability to, more than occasionally, write articles for the paper. I was even co-columnist of a very blog-like lifestyle column. I enjoyed it, I seemed to be good at it, and the aforementioned college professor father, who is likely the most intelligent and wisest man I know, has always praised and pushed me as a writer. So, my thinking is, while now I am able to write for pleasure, I can shake the rust off a little bit, fine-tune my writing skills, and perhaps seek an opportunity or two to build on this ability that I have, that I seem to enjoy. That way, if the day comes when I have been beaten down one too many times from the cruel blows dealt by the juggernaut that is Being A Struggling Artist, I may actually have an outlet where the creative side of me will have something to fall back on. To balance having finally fallen flat on my face.

Well, whatever reason, or more likely, combination of reasons, has led me here, here is where I am. Nice to know that you are here with me, for whatever reason of your own. Unless it is because you are trying to learn all you can about me, so you can stalk me, and I’ll have an accident near your house in the woods, and you’ll nurse me back to health but you’ll tie me up and sledgehammer my ankles so I can’t leave and make me write a book. Then, not so much.

Hm. That reminds me:

4. Because I simply have no life.
It IS Friday night after all. <sigh> Well, such is the life of a pseudo, almost-famous, but-not-really, narcissistic, lonely, complex, confused, music-producing, manager, father, with no friends, a distracted lover and nowhere to be tonight but Blogville.

Welcome to my world.