Living Unkommon

One of the most interesting movements in the fashion world has been Unkommon Kolor.   Started in 2008, the label has emerged as a highly touted brand.  If you're never heard of them, become informed now.  Shouts go out to Jeremy Biggers and everyone else at UNKO.  The world is full of normalcy, and I appreciate your fresh approach.

Check out these fresh pics featuring tons of UNKO gear from their blog:  X-MAS In Denton


Not only am I expecting great things from this company, looking forward to copping some of there stuff in the near future.

Stay fly!

Marcus Jamison, the Rare Poet

I Will Not Lose: Sore Losing 101

I love creative people who are trying to accomplish something positive, which is why I love Sore Losers.  These guys are on their grind, trying to become successful in everything that they do, whether producing, directing, rapping, or whatever.  Maybe if we all adopted the mindset that "I don't want to lose", more people would become trend-setters, instead of simply waiting to follow the trend.




To get a better understanding of the men behind the music, check out this post on Duckie's blog:  Honestly.. I ♥ These Guys!

Here's to finding a way to win.

Marcus Jamison, the Rare Poet

Theme Song of the Day, Dec. 27, 2010

Kanye West --- Dark Fantasy (instrumental)

I chose this particular version of the song as my theme song of the day, because as we approach the end of the year, I find myself thinking "What's the next level for me to move to?"

So today, I've been asking myself, can I get much higher?

Since I believe the answer is a definite yes, I look for ways to make that positive climb.

Here's to growth.

Marcus Jamison, the Rare Poet

Proletariat Bronze

Jason Bayani, Jaylee Aldee, and Mesej One are three of the Bay Area's most celebrated spoken word artists, with each of them winning Grand Slam champion in the area.  Together, they form Proletariat Bronze, a group whose works are embedded in working class, day-to-day, struggles to simply live.

This piece right here, moves me, because it was derived from my favorite work by Gwendolyn Brooks.






Marcus Jamison, the Rare Poet

A Poem I Started Working On

Don't know if I'm going to add more to this or not...but I loved the poem it was inspired by.

Uncontrolled Feasting

inspired by Feeding Ground by Terri Moraj Newsome

we have all grown accustomed to feeding

we have licked these places

we have licked them clean

some of us still taste the shame across fingers

some of us

are still trying to be redeemed

can’t look beyond those powdered bones

can’t look through those emptied eyes

can’t look along those distant smiles

without seeing me, lingering in the distance

struggling to see how to set me free

to be more than

cum dripping down gripping thighs

died moral deaths, suicide victim

trying to resuscitate something that killed inside

killed insides, taking them with me

a bruise of heart, a squeeze of soul

took way too much pleasure in knowing

my tongue roamed

in places where the sun never goes

I drank them up

let them spill from me

greedily soaking up their attention

there’s a shame in barely remembering a name

but recalling how her limbs always fell into

positions

that no amount of scrubbing

can clean you from

curve upon curve, fold upon fold

guilt is the stories that go untold

replayed in a mind

that still tries to fight relishing

scents from

the sheets it had to wash clean

the taste lingers

and some of us

have grown too accustomed to feeding

Musical Ink: Red Hot Chili Peppers "Otherside"

sing us poetic songs,
mesmerizing us with your lyrics,
let us trace the length of your melody,
locating the musical ink....





Red Hot Chili Peppers ---- Otherside


For a group whose lyrics always tend to spill out poetry, comes this stirring rendition, first published on 1999's Californication.  I love the power of word repetition, as demonstrated by this song.


the lyrics:

Otherside

How long, how long will I slide
Separate my side
I don't, I don't believe it's bad
Slittin' my throat it's all I ever

I heard your voice through a photograph
I thought it up and brought up the past
Once you've know, you can never go back
I've got to take it on the other side

Centuries are what it meant to me
A cemetery where I marry the sea
Stranger things could never change my mind
I've got to take it on the other side

Take it on the other side
Take it on the other side
Take it on
Take it on

How long, how long will I slide
Separate my side
I don't, I don't believe it's bad
Slittin' my throat it's all I ever

Pour my life into a paper cup
The ashtrays full and I'm spillin' my guts
She wants to know am I still a slut?
I've got to take it on the other side

The scarlet starlet and she's in my bed
A candidate for a soul mate bled
Push the trigger and pull the thread
I've got to take it on the other side

Take it on the other side
Take it on
Take it on

How long, how long will I slide
Separate my side
I don't, I don't believe it's bad
Slittin' my throat it's all I ever

Turn me on take me for a hard ride
Burn me out leave me on the other side
I yell and tell it that it's not a friend
I tear it down, I tear it down and then it's born again

How long, how long will I slide
Separate my side
I don't, I don't believe it's bad
Slittin' my throat it's all I ever

I don't, I don't believe it's bad
Slittin' my throat it's all I ever

--------

I don't believe it's bad, at all.

Marcus Jamison, the Rare Poet

Musical Ink: Jimi Hendrix "Castles Made Of Sand"

sing us poetic songs, 
mesmerizing us with your lyrics,
let us trace the length of your melody,
locating the musical ink....

Quick note:  This is something new I've started.  I'm understanding that my love of both poetry and music is not coincidental.  I've spoken to many musicians and poets alike, and there is a kinship in both arts.  The flow of some of the best poems dances like a bass line in head.  The lyrics of some of the best songs read like stanzas on a page.

The poetic nature of music is undeniable.  This is a look into that nature.

A classic example of what I call "musical ink" (those songs that feel like poems put to music and sung) would be "Castles Made of Sand", by Jimi Hendrix.




The Jimi Hendrix Experience --- Castles Made Of Sand

This song was recorded on the 1967 album, Axis: Bold as Love, which was the groups second hit album.  According to one account with his younger brother, Jimi apparently revealed that this song was about their family.

The lyrics:

Castles Made of Sand


Down the street you can hear her scream you're a disgrace
As she slams the door in his drunken face
And now he stands outside
And all the neighbors start to gossip and drool


He cries oh, girl you must be mad,
What happened to the sweet love you and me had?
Against the door he leans and starts a scene,
And his tears fall and burn the garden green

And so castles made of sand fall in the sea, eventually

A little Indian brave who before he was ten,
Played war games in the woods with his Indian friends
And he built a dream that when he grew up
He would be a fearless warrior Indian Chief


Many moons past and more the dream grew strong until
Tomorrow he would sing his first war song and fight his first battle
But something went wrong, surprise attack killed him in his sleep that night

And so castles made of sand melts into the sea, eventually

There was a young girl, who's heart was a frown
cause she was crippled for life,
And she couldn't speak a sound
And she wished and prayed she could stop living,
So she decided to die


She drew her wheelchair to the edge of the shore
And to her legs she smiled you wont hurt me no more
But then a sight she'd never seen made her jump and say
Look a golden winged ship is passing my way

And it really didn't have to stop, it just kept on going...

And so castles made of sand slips into the sea, eventually


----------

Such visual lyrics.

Marcus Jamison, The Rare Poet