Everything Dope Is

I’m up early. Deep in thought about life and whatever it is I am currently living. There is a job posting sitting pretty on the site for the design consulting firm I’ve been temping with off and on for the past 7 months that would be perfect for me. And am more than qualified for. There is the latter to reach out to the peeps on the recruiting team and let them know my interest. I’ve already made…

Like and the Petty I am.

I haven’t written in a while. Having been on planes for the past month, traveling from London to Spain, all the way back to Chicago, a sistas been racking up heavy mileage both literally and in love. Well. Like. I have so many stories to tell. Experiences that need to be shared. A few blog posts that got deleted because my heart was getting in the way, and mind was fucking over matter. I’ve tried…

Black, Shoot, Kill: A Haiku

Let the Lion out. There is rage there in his eyes. Please someone save me.   ~Tamesha Danyelle Price      

The Movement & My Soul

1:53pm. I’m sitting here posted up somewhere in a corner tucked away in Oakland’s downtown hip cafe, Farley’s East, sipping on the world’s strongest Chai Tea, while my eyes hover of the latest issue of Inc. Magazine. To say I just wanted to chill, would be anything but truth, though my reasons for coming here were to simply plan and research careers and possible relocations, in which I’ve been…

A Black Culture in Mourning (Op-Ed Article for the Eastbay Express on Black Lives Matter)

Dear America, Perhaps you may have forgotten my permission to exist within the grips of your unfavorable realm of democracy that has dissolved into ashes of black bodies beaming from caskets, engraved in the soil in which we once were told to stand proudly on. Today, I am trying to align my right mind with reason and find any piece of remembrance in which I was supposed to believe in your…

Why I’m Not Trying to Hear #alllivesmatter… And You Will Deal

I woke up this morning in a state of had enough, followed by headaches of emotional overloads that were triggered by the many tears I shed yesterday as news struck about yet another black man, Alton Sterling, killed at the hands of white police officers who felt it necessary to strip another black man from his home. Hours later, another black man, Philando Castile, was riddled with bullets as he…

Words for Malik A.K.A. Phife Dawg

After learning about the death of Phife Dawg, 1/3 and the heart and soul of A Tribe Called Quest through a new favorite DJ of mines Instagram page, I was left shocked, stuck, saddened, and in utter disbelief as the news settled somewhere inside of my membrane unwillingly. All I could think was “Damn, not Phife.” Not after I celebrated Native Tongues at a Tribute/Appreciation party just 2 weeks…

Because KING is Singing my Heart.

Friend: “You don’t know KING?”  Me: “No.” Friend: “Of all people, I would’ve thought you would know who they are…” Me: “I know. I’m late.” I’ve been caught up in KING lately. Searching adamantly on Itunes. YouTube. Amazon. Amoeba. Any outlet where I can get my melodic fix from these ladies. I’ve been incorporating them into gym sessions. Instagram Feeds. Facebook updates. And all while being…

Because You Didn’t Touch My Soul.

It’s hard to explain to most people why I’m single. It’s even harder to give reason as to why I broke up with my boyfriend: A 6’4, 300 pound unapologetically nice, giving, Christian, purpose driven man from Flint, Michigan by way of DC. But let me explain. I didn’t break up with him because he didn’t know Dilla. I didn’t break up with him because he’d never be able to recite nor decipher “The…

I found myself caught up in hiphop tunes last night, going down my Itunes playlist of classic joints from Black Milk, Little Brother, and LL Cool J, before catching soul shaking palpitations to the sultry, SWV reminiscent dopeness that is KING. I’m back here again. There is an urge to do something random, and I’ve been trying to surpress this urge quite adamantly. I’ve had pep talks with my soul,…

Just gonna leave this song here. For the first time I heard it back in college. For 06.’ For when I used to love Lupe like peanut butter and milk chocolate. For being reminded of this song’s greatness 2 weeks ago during a hiphop debate with a certain head. And for all my gym workouts that go ignorantly because this track is just that crazy. Thank you Lupe. `…

The Night I Previewed Kanye West’s “The Life of Pablo”

“Name one genius that ain’t crazy…” I sat watching Kanye’s “The Life of Pablo” or “T.L.O.P.” album release party and Yeezy Season 3 Fashion show at Madison Square Garden the other night for over an hour thanks to the good people at Ambrosia For Heads via live stream. We need not mention this was during the new episode of ‘Scandal'(which has been on hiatus for almost 2 months now), and had to be…

February 10, 2006. Ten years ago, we lost one of the dopest souls to ever roam the earth. J. Dilla.   The man who brought life back to beat making and instrumentals, and personified a sound that could never be typecasted or fabricated. Dude was just that ill. I fell in love with Dilla a year later after his death at a tribute party celebrating his life in LA. Baatin was there. Various heads were…

It’s time like this I miss spiking my Chai Tea with Whiskey. When thoughts would just succumb to abrupt inebriations and spiritual highs of the A.M. I’ve been trying to find my way lately. Wondering. Wandering. Researching. Listening. Being silent. Trying to make sense of the last past 3 months as if an explanation is supposed to come easy. Partially I feel entitled to retain its unapologetic…