Facebook fam! Wishing you all a prosperous and healthy 2015! I just wanna put you all on to two of the things that Im bringing to life this year, and something else thats in development. (Note: Long-ass post ahead!) Since the days of chillin with my feet up on the window sills of my 2nd grade classroom of P.S. 309 (big shoutout to Mrs. Wagner, Ms. Weintraub and them) with some of you, Ive been enthralled with most forms of visual art and its creation. My interest in the arts have steadily grown throughout the years, so in late 2013, I co-founded ARTMATIX (artmatics). This is a site with a similar premise to Juxtapoz magazine but with more style and OOMPH. Its purpose is to shine light on upcoming artists worldwide in a fresh new way, as well as document various scenes and events. Thisll be up and running this year.. More on this in March! (Shoutout all ARTMATIX collaborators and contributors). If you know me, you know Im also a very musical person. I can remember being 6-7 years old on the living room carpet listening to everything from Scandinavian folk flute music to Kenny Rogers style country records to Hip-Hop (all vinyl that I still have to this day). When I bought a bass guitar, the very first thing I tried to learn was the lines to classic dancehall/roots riddims that i spent my early teens wilding out to. Being of West Indian heritage, I was actually and literally EMBARRASSED that it was so difficult to find instructions online on how to play tunes that was considered classic, not to mention information about the early and developmental periods of the music in general. I decided to remedy this by teaming up with friends and family that are hardcore reggae/dub enthusiasts to create RIDDIMIST. A site thatll will serve as part reggae database/catalog, part magazine documenting reggae, roots, dub and dancehall music and culture from the 60s - 90s, and part music instructional site. Im excited that our RIDDIMIST kickstarter fundraiser campaign goes live in February! Stay tuned! These two projects are in-progress, but also in the development phase is the MOMENTUM YOUTH ORGANIZATION. I sometimes wonder how much great things the world misses out on when talents go undeveloped or ambition burns out. Seeing young children with nothing to do, or just outside surrounded by the wrong element is a disturbing thing to me, as wasting time should no longer be an option in this day in age, especially among my lower income people. MYO is a program for inner city kids to not only get tutored in their day-to-day school subjects but to also learn to build and create using computer technology. Children and teens can learn the basics of web, software and app development, as well as participate in music, art (and hopefully sport) programs. What were actually working on NOW is sponsorship by companies that we give so much of our own resources to (Apple, Google, cable/phone services, etc). I figure if theyre so eager to sell us their product, and willing to go as far as to open 3-4 stores in a 5 block radius (in the case of At&t, Sprint, Verizon, Boost, T-Mobile, etc), then they should come back and help us teach the people to use that same technology to benefit themselves rather than just staying passive consumers and victims of marketing hype.. which helps to perpetually keep them disadvantaged position. MYO wants to help the youth think differently. We hope to get the program going within the next two years, its been a lot of work but if just one life is turned around or is even just enhanced by the MYO, everything will have been well worth it. Peace! Oh.. wait. I also have a monthly PODCAST debuting February 2015, where I give my take and speak with entertaining about social issues and current events. On the first episode I give more details about ARTMATIX and MYO as well as speak on the whole NYPD situation of recent months and the Charlie Hebdo incident. Ill announce details within about 2 weeks. PEACE.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 20:17:09 +0000
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