Survei Hip Hop

I know, it sounds like some sort of nerdy liscense-plate frame but it's true. The funny part is that it isn't even really a blog! What I did was I hacked the blogger format to create a webpage for my Hip Hop event known as Hip Hop Hunger. I put a lot into the design of that site but not a lot of writing, and this blog, however, is the opposite: a lot of writing and not a lot of design, yet. But it's the writing that really counts.

As an artist and blogger, I am thankful for this publicity, but it's too bad I don't have any music samples of my rapping for y'all to listen to! Well, I'll give what I can, and that is my excitement. I'm excited about my future as a rapper and I am definitely a beginner but I'm learning and taking it a step at a time. Each time I reach a milestone I'm going to "document" it here for me to look back on, and if that peaks anyone's interest well I hope somehow God could use these words on a screen two feet in front of you to affect us positively.

I recently bought a new instrumental, this would be my second from d.C. from SoulplusMind. I'm thankful for it because I want to perform a rap to it soon at the Hip Hop Hunger event at my school (http://hiphophunger.blogspot.com/). I'm looking forward to it. At first I wasn't sure if I was going to do something at the event, but I figured since I've been working hard on putting it together I might as well have some fun at it and bust at least one rap!

So now I have two song/instrumental combinations and my goal is to have at least four within three months so that I can then perform a set. In six months I want to have 8 song/instrumental combinations and then I'll be praying and thinking about if I should make an 8-song EP or wait and build my name up a little and do a full album. This would be my first release but until then I'm just taking it one step at a time as God leads.

I haven't laid down any serious recorded tracks but I want to perform anyway man! That way I'll have some practice and have the songs down before going into a studio where time is often money that I don't have :)

by the way, you can check out d.C. from SoulPlusMind at http://www.soulplusmind.com/. He's definitely got beats with unique sounds and he's cool to work with.

On Saturday I did my first public performance of a written rap. It was a lot of fun! I was nervous but I remembered the lyrics and I was able to deliver all the words. The rapping itself had complicated parts and I was glad that the audience got into it. The name of the event was the Beatnik Cafe and it was definitely like a cafe, so the Hip Hop song I did was a change of pace from acoustic music. The first person to perform, a guitar player and singer, was very good and I expect to see him get famous in the future. There were lots of amazing student musicians and poetry readers and the host of it was Shawn Laramie who is a friend of mine and a very good stand-up comedian.

When none of the four stand-up comedians showed up to the event, Shawn improvised and made a joke that there must be a comedian plague going around and that he could be the next to get taken out by it! That was the most fun I've had this school year so far, and I definitely want to get a set of four songs with music together so that I can perform a whole set.

I did my first beat purchase ever. I guess it's a little Christmas present to myself. I plan to rap to it at a talent show event coming up at my school.

In the past few months, I've gone through 50 random name ideas, seriously considered around seven and actually went by three. It was a "process" but now I believe that I have a name I'll stick with. I had a name that sounded too similar to another rapper's name, so I knew I was going to change it, and when I wanted to communicate through myspace and create a soundclick (to try it), picking a name was something that I absolutely had to do, unless I wanted to be stuck staring at the "Create a Username: " page.

Survei is the one that it came down to. It's a bit out-of-the-ordinary, which is what I was going for, it feels deep, and it has a meaning. What it means is that I am constantly looking ahead and asking questions, figuring things out and learning new things from people. Also on really good days, it means I served it up, (but don't tell that to anyone or I might find myself between a tough rap battle and hard place.) I take advice and learn from other people.

Keep it movin

Survei