Every time I read or hear someone insinuate that "hip-hop is dead" (or on its last leg, at least), I chuckle inside. Why? Because typically people are mentally referring (sometimes intentionally, sometimes not) to that point in history from which some of their favorite hip-hop joints originated, whenever that might have been. The inference seems to be that the stuff being made now isn't as good or as creative as it was back in the day.

From time to time, I've found myself thinking the same way—that the hip-hop music created from the late 80s to the late 90s is some of the best stuff ever made. For me, cats like Pete Rock and CL Smooth, KRS-One, Mos Def & Talib Kweli, Common, Public Enemy, and The Roots defined hip hop, and still to this day exert a strong influence on both my music and my musical tastes.

But nothing ever stays the same, does it? EVERYTHING changes and grows. For instance, the things that mattered most to me, the stuff that I was passionate about when I was 20 has evolved and is different now that I'm older, have a wife, kids, a mortgage, and car payments. The singular focus is no longer on trying to get paid (though I'm not obviating the need for cash in my day to day existence), but on doing what I do to help make the world a brighter, better place for the people I'm fortunate enough to get to share it with.

So, how does this happen? How do I help to make things different than they are now? It's simple—I've got to fully embrace the fact that life has purpose, and in order to be up to the task of fulfilling that purpose, I MUST change—from the inside out!

As I was writing this, I've realized that "change" is a theme that has reared its head quite often in my music over the last few years—long before it became a popular campaign slogan. Don’t believe me? Peep It ain't the Shadow from my Calm Before the Storm LP)!

So yeah, that's what's up with me right now. REACT TO ME PEOPLE! Hit me up! Send me tracks, quotes, interesting book titles to check, recipes, gas money, whatever!