I’m still here...let’s chill this weekend!!!
Current mood: busy

Ok, I know....I feel your pain 

Gas is 4.20

You've already spent that "stimulus" check.The one that's supposed to get you over the hump.

And...that bonus just didn't quite make it, after Bears Stearns 3rd Quarters earnings report


A brotha knows the struggle, so I figured if I'm going to do my thing..let me make it CHEAP! Yeah I said it....C-H-E-A-P. Two shows this weekend, and it will cost you a grand total of FIVE BUCKS! Not five per show, FIVE TOTAL. Peep the info below. I can't do better then this y'all. Dope live music, fresh video debuts, and international talent!!! Come on, I better see some faces in the house for this!?!?! (please...???)


  

9:44 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

To my Grandfather...
Current mood: Reflective
Category: Reflective Life

Two years ago to the day my Grandfather passed. He was a very proud, stoic man, He lived a full life, and I miss him...

Pulled up by his bootstraps
No net to collapse in
Back when making something from nothing meant something
And they could take it from you for no reason at all
He was tall dark and handsome moved north for expansion
And had a hand in getting my family off on the right foot
A patriarch with no mansion, just a project tenanment
which turned into a house on Keer Ave.
A place where I partially grew up in
It was weekends and summers with grandma
Out on her street in the heat
her cook and cleaning clothes-Him with a hose
Cleaning the car and watering vegetables
Even with cement and brick a city thick with car and gun smoke
it never choked the southern in’em
They dont make men like him anymore
Stoic, strong, long were his days with no complaint
Pain was just something you deal with
It doesn’t stop you from living
From giving whatever you had at that moment
Funny how he could never sit still
I know where I get it from now
A rake and a cowboy hat in our backyards on holidays
He felt the most at home in doing
A lone ranger pursuing, He endured ....
On the porch- a rolled cigarette, a Beer
Miller High life...
I’d sit at his feet and watch TV....
Sometimes when he sat still...
My woman knows where I get it from now...
He was a worker, a striver, Father to Son to Grandson
Pass down a legacy to move forward
I personally only know one black couple who have owned buildings
My grandparents. From humble beginnings grew strength
From their sacrifice I gained opportunity
When I saw him in January, nothing had changed
He still couldn’t sit still...and more was said with his smile
And his eyes then his speech
When I got up to leave I hugged him and said I love you
He respond..."Aight Then"
That was his way....I knew
Good Bye Granddaddy

In Memory of Charlie Lee
4/13/1931-5/16/2006

12:10 PM - 2 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Before he gets out of office...let’s bring him to justice
Current mood: busy
Category: Music

Friends of the Hired, Both Sides of the Surface had us rocking on their latest broadcast alongside such luminaries as Open Thought and Aesop Rock. "Arrest the President" made it to Radio BSOTS and you can download the show HERE. (right click the "HERE" to dl it to your desktop)

It wouldn't hurt either to shoot the brotha an email and remind him how much you love hearing my music on his show...(maybe soon we can get an impose interview out of it...we can dream can't we???)

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Peace Connecticut!
Current mood: triumphant
Category: Music

So another mission in the books, as myself and the HomeBoy Sandman rocked the spot at the Underground CoffeeHouse on the Trinity College campus. We were a part of the "Wake up to Hip Hop" show that was a part of the campus wide celebration for National Woman’s Day. Needless to say, it was dope, I’m going to give you guys a little recap.

First off the players: On this trip we brought in the HomeBoy Sandman representing Queens, who is a beast on the mic.



The Incomparable DJ Kava...


DJ Sosa....


And of course...The Hired Gunsky...(as I was dubbed by Mr. Homeboy..). Dont worry about the scowl, its the "shit is real" face. Every emcee needs to have one.


We’ll meet Eric in a minute, he came up on the strength to rep and help with the driving cause it was crazy getting to Hartford. Traffic was horrendus, and the weather was on some straight biblical flood steez...I mean sheets of rain. We’re troopers though so we kept it moving. Now one of the things about rocking on the road is nourishment. Between Homeboy, Kava and myself we all were in varying stages of non-meat eating...but depending on where you go, (read: anywhere pretty much outside of New York City or most major cities) you get limited to things like this:



Now anyone that knows me, knows I’m usually down for a slice...but I mean...the quality of Pizza drops significantly. What can you do though....



^^^^^By the way that’s Eric (Peace Connecticut!)So with one rest stop, we got to Trinity College with time to spare before we had to do sound check. Zee Santiago from the Temple of Hip Hop brought us out, and it was great to build with him. I met him last year on this same campus during the International Hip Hop Festival. A very focused and devoted brotha who knows what time it is, and is a talented emcee in his own right. Now being the big time rap stars that we are, as well as closet nerds, intellectuals..there is only one thing we could do to pass the time....SCRABBLE!!



(That’s Zee  with the doo rag...note the deep concentration of Eric as he plots his next triple letter word score. Killing it!)After a few intense rounds of Scrabble we started heading over to the Coffee House, and were pleasantly surprised by seeing several of these all over campus:



It always good to show up to an event, and see that the promoter actually went out and "promoted"...(that dont happen too hard in NYC...I digress..). The Underground CoffeeHouse definitely had that college vibe. We did the soundcheck which of course meant the freestyle warm up:



We’re into the show now, and the lineup was Mind Evolution, The Quirks, Troubador, Zee, Homeboy Sandman, Myself and Princess of Controversy. The local acts were all amazing, and again...this is what happens when actual promotion happens:



Besides us there were many talented women that got up and did there thing.



Needless to say it was a special night, shouts to Chris Woodrum for video taping the show, I will hopefully putting up parts of our performance once I get the footage. As well shouts to Sarah Gardiner of the Temple of Hip Hop, as she interviewed me for the school’s paper. Trinity has some really progressive things going down on their campus in the way of Hip Hop and Social Awareness. We were honored to be a part. We also ran into this dude:



That’s Self Suffice, Hip Hop activist, former "Manhattanite" and local legend.It had been a minute since we got a chance to build, and we continued our session up at Wesleyan University. Wesleyan is twenty minutes down the road, and we were fortunate to get a chance to rock on Dope Dave’s radio show another underground legend in CT:


At this point in the evening, it was somewhere between 2:30 am and 3:00 and we were lounging: ..



We got it poppin though...



Not to mention WESU 88.1 reps the real shit...

So cats were hurt up, it was about four in the morning affter the session and peeps were down for the count.



Kava even looks cool half asleep....



Eric is DONE....

I had to sneak to the back to check the crates before I got outta there.



The trip was dope, we got to represent on the mic, live, on air and get up with some cool peoples. Once again,...Peace to Zee, The Temple of Hip Hop, Trinity College, Dope Dave and Self Suffice. Most importantly..PEACE CONNECTICUT!

1:17 PM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Its a Blessing..
Current mood: accomplished
Category: Life

To be able to take a breath every morning. To be healthy and disease free, and to have anyone in your life that gives a damn. It truly is. I'm feeling very fortunate right now and its because I'm continuing to live a dream. My life is hip hop, it is my voice, my comfort, the one thing that means almost as much as life itself. it is who I am, and finally I've put myself in a position for it to literally be my life. All of the stress and struggles dealing with BS jobs, and working towards nothing..those days for the foreseeable are gone...

And I'm blessed...

I know I already was, even if foolishly I didn't acknowledge it usually. But now, with under thirty minutes left to my old life, and the new one already begun...I just felt the need to acknowledge how beautiful this all is. When I came to Brooklyn, NY the only thing I wanted to do was figure out how I could wake up and go to sleep, thinking, eating and breathing this music. I am right there. It feels good. Real good.

Currently listening : Legendary Music Vol. 1 By The Living Legends Release date: 08 August, 2006

4:25 PM - 4 Comments - 5 Kudos - Add Comment

TONIGHT 10PM HG on the radio..Soulogistics Radio Getcha Joint Spun!
Current mood: excited
Category: Music

10pm Y'ALL Tune in!

www.whapradio.com



TONIGHT! one of my tracks from the upcoming release "The People's Verses" called "Gone is the Thrill" (featuring Preacherman-Carterficial on production) will be on Soul Logistics Radio Show GETCHA JOINT SPUN®. It airs both Friday and Saturday 9pm-12pm @ WHAP Radio. Please hit up the hotline if you are online! 804-452-4999. Or hit Doug up and let him know you are feeling Hired Gun (devans@soullogistics.com). This is big as Fresh Roots music is trying to push out to new markets and get heard! It is only a quick phone call or email to let them know what I already know from the support you've all given me to this point. Y'all feel me =). Thank you!

11:48 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Hired Gun is rockin on your RRRAAYYYYDDDDDOOHHHH
Current mood: excited
Category: Music

If your radio is in Virgina...

BUT.. on the real this Friday and Saturday, February 1st and 2nd one of my tracks from the upcoming release "The People's Verses" called "Gone is the Thrill" (featuring Preacherman-Carterficial on production) will be on Soul Logistics Radio Show GETCHA JOINT SPUN®. It airs both Friday and Saturday 9pm-12pm @ WHAP Radio

www.whapradio.com. Please hit up the hotline if you are online! 804-452-4999. Or hit Doug up and let him know you are feeling Hired Gun (devans@soullogistics.com). This is big as Fresh Roots music is trying to push out to new markets and get heard! It is only a quick phone call or email to let them know what I already know from the support you've all given me to this point. Y'all feel me =). Thank you!

7:20 AM - 3 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

E-S to da P: Frequency Activism steady bloggin...
Category: Music

8:40 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

My interview at Hip Hop Informant
Category: Music

Hired Gun, Shooting through the streets of NY

 

Hired Gun is a Jersey born emcee representing the borough of Brooklyn since 2000. An educator, writer, emcee and event organizer, Hired Gun is a man who wears many hats within this hip hop culture. Gun is a co-founder of Say Word Entertainment, a New York based Hip Hop event company, and one third of the group 3rd Party. He also works as a solo artist, and is a after school mentor/teaching artist for UrbanArtBeat (www.urbanartbeat.org). Gun is a child of the golden era, and his socio-political commentary, dense lyricism and high energy performance are a reflection of that.   

One of the most versatile lyricists you'll ever see he also is a member of the Black Opz Drum n Bass massif. Hired Gun has performed all over the country doing both hip hop and drum bass as far west as Minnesota, as north as Vermont and as south as Virginia. Hired Gun has been blessed to share the stage with such legends as the Last Poets, Fat Lip of the Pharcyde, Rob Swift, and Slick Rick. If you're in need of music with meaning, high energy, and positivity...and you can find him (which isn't hard) maybe you can book..the Hired Gun.

 

HipHopInformant: What made u get involved with Hip Hop?

Hired Gun: The Stop the Violence Movement. Growing up in New Jersey the only direct exposure I had to the music was the radio, video music box (peace to Uncle Ralph!) and visiting my family in Newark, New Jersey. The first song I ever heard was "Self Destruction" and the  song just resonated with me. It was cool, it was saying something, it just made me want to find out more about the music. From there, I found Big Daddy Kane, Gangstarr, Jungle Brothers, Kool G. Rap, Redman, Kid n Play, Rakim and it was on.

 

HipHopInformant: How long have you been involved in the industry?

 

Hired Gun: That's a great question. In terms of the mainstream, I have yet to, and probably never will. I've been independently releasing music, performing/touring and receiving mainstream press for the past three or four years (two albums, "Separation of Powers" and "Pressed for Time" with my group 3rd Party have been reviewed by the national magazine URB.).

 

HipHopInformant: Tell me more about your work as a mentor?

Hired Gun: I am a part of a great team of teaching artist/mentors for a program Urban Art Beat (www.urbanartbeat.org) It is an after school program designed to instill confidence in youth, help them find their voice and expression through hip hop, while also giving them practical foundation in english literature,language and usage. Through creative writing we're able to supplement their academics in the classroom, get them to have fun and also believe in themselves. We are based in the South Bronx and have a sister program (The Mic Academy) in Queens. Its really the best thing I do in my life. Working with young people is amazing, they are so full of energy and potential. To be around that is inspiring in itself.

 

HipHopInformant: Do you try and present a positive image in your songs rather than an image of  violence, sex and drugs which are so commonly associated with rappers and Hip Hop today?

Hired Gun: I truly dont believe its a conscious thing that I do. I come from an era where "keeping it real" meant literally to speak from the heart, to speak the truth. You talk about what you live, who you are, where you are. That's it. I'm a grown man, whose not afraid of my education, whose proud to be black, and have a woman I love. To live is to struggle, and everyone has something different. I just tell you mine, and hope you relate. As Brother J once said on Seeds of Evolution (his solo debut in 1996) "I refuse to get caught up in a positive and negative game". I just do me, I let others decide what that is.

 

HipHopInformant: You were on Donny Goine’s Do It For Hip Hop remix, how was that, working with those artists?

Hired Gun: Nuff respect to Donny, one of the true heads in this crazy game. I  honestly cant speak to working with all the artist, as in this age of technology rare is it that you go into a studio with everyone on a song, but...I can say that working with Donny in the capacity we have thus far has been beautiful. He has a vision, he has talent, and real recognizes real. A good dude. I hope to work with him more and wish him the best.

 

HipHopInformant: Are there any artists that inspire or influence you?

Hired Gun: Too many to name. The Last Poets, Gil Scot Heron, The Native Tongues, Aceyalone, Kane..so many...

HipHopInformant: How was it, working with Hip Hop legends such as Slick Rick?

 

Hired Gun: It was a pleasure to share the stage with a legend. We both performed at the Minneapolis Kids hip hop festival with a lot of other regional talent and legends. It was a great weekend.

 

HipHopInformant: Your music has meaning. What message does your music spread?

Hired Gun: Thank you. I think the message my music spreads is to question your world. Question your government, question your ideologies, question yourself. That is the only way to grow and change. Never be stagnant. I think for most this is a dated term but if there is such a thing as "Pro-Black", I think that is also something that you'll find in my music. By default, being an artistic black man, in this climate, one who is unafraid to speak his mind...that is a message in itself, feel me? Also I think I challenge people to look beyond conventions, to be different...dont go with the flow.

 

HipHopInformant: Do you think that the industry needs to change? If so, why?

Hired Gun:The industry is changing by itself. Their needs to be more balance, more inclusiveness in the sounds, and images it upholds and pushes. I dont worry about the "industry" too much, I'm an artist, I make music...I let it speak for itself, and those that feel it, gravitate towards it. Many doors have opened for me, without the help of "the industry". It is a machine that has become antiquated and is collapsing under its own weight. Their needs to be a better vision on how to run a business that supports and cultivates artists. It has to do a better job in those areas.

 

HipHopInformant: Finally how did your name, Hired Gun come about?

 

Hired Gun: Before I had this name, I was trying to come up with a definition of what I was as an emcee. I've done some experimental theatre work, some choreography, as well performing with live bands, and Jungle emcee/toasting. I felt that I was sort of a "mercenary", being contracted out to do various types of job, from there it just manifested as a "hired gun"..cept I usually get contracted to the lowest bidder. ha!

http://www.myspace.com/freeradicalz

www.urbanartbeat.org

Currently listening : RZA as Bobby Digital in Stereo By RZA Release date: 24 November, 1998

6:34 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Hear Here-U.S. is Gangsta hits the podblast
Current mood: accomplished
Category: Music

Peace to the Cbrocker Show episode 3. Im on towards the end. Check it out. Hit'em up and let you know you're feeling the Gun...

CBrocker Show episode 3

Secondly, I want to again thanks all that came out to the Ohword Stand Up! showcase back in December. I actually began building with one of the artist, Donny Goines who put me on a mixtape remix of a song off his album, Do it for hip hop remix (click on the link to download it) featuring,Dame Grease, Bigga Threat Farrah Burns, mickey factz, remo da raptstar, R.E.U.B. Apinks, Cabal, Jon Hope, Dominique Larrue, Hired Gun, and A.C. Also have you checked the Hip Hop in Strange Places Album by the Frequency Activism? You can also download individually using my TunePak.

Now on with the shows!







Come celebrate the New Year with me at my first concert of the year. I'll be performing with some really dope cats at the release party for the graphic novel  "Shooting War". It's all about the state of affairs in 2011 related to the war in Iraq. It is sick!!!! Very Politically driven stuff. If that's your bag, you need to be there!  Peep it out atShooting War Graphic Novel
It all takes place on Friday January 18th
At Vox Pop
1022 Cortelyou Road Brooklyn, NY 11218
Q Train to Cortelyou Road, walk out the station to the left three blocks to Stratford Road. It's right on the corner.


Performances by:   
Tah Phrum Duh Bush
Hired Gun  
Super King Armor  
Tranquill  
And surprise guests Yuengling specials all night long.    
Only $8 bucks! Or free with purchase of the Graphic Novel Shooting War

Next tuesday the progam I'm affiliated with Urban Art Beat is having our annual Kids show at the Bruckner Bar and Grill. Its FREE. Show starts at 5pm.   


-Hired Gun aka H. Rap Gunn
http://www.reverbnation.com/hiredgun

Currently listening : Ascension By Pep Love Release date: 24 July, 2001

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