On Saturday, Upstate Hip Hop Duo Greek and Dj G-Rock Hosted the 2014 Get Green Event in the South Bronx, along with Hot 97. The Get Green Event is a celebration of Environment and Culture of the Bronx; This is the 7th year of the event, which places an emphasis doing your part to make our environment safe. The Get Green event featured over 30 community based organization who shared valuable information on the environment, climate change, and how we could join to make a difference. Participants converted the engine of a former school bus to run on used vegetable oil, making it a clean-energy vehicle. Green Mountain Energy, which was present at the event, donated $12,000 to help put solar panels on the bus. Organizers say the event brings people in the community together and keeps kids out of trouble. Greek states: "To me there is no better feeling then being on a stage and rocking a crowd!! You add the importance of the event to our world and it becomes even more special. I knew as a kid growing up what I wanted to do and I thank god for the opportunities so far that he's blessed me with to showcase my talent and live out my dreams and know the value of giving back to the community
Interesting. But we always knew it anyway. I really think that this is sad and that the more we allow it to happen the more acceptable it becomes. We need to start creating our own art and then this wouldn't be.
Have you ever heard a song and all of a sudden you feel like all of your dreams are about to come true? 'Like, damn I need to sit down right now and write, edit, paint, because this is about to happen! I feel it!' If you haven't felt that way, then you probably haven't heard underground sensation, Sony Life. & If you don't know who Sony Life is, then you're probably leading a really, incredibly sad life and you need some Sony in It. Real talk.
For those of you who need some excitement in your lives, let me introduce you to the hottest up and coming rapper, photographer, and video producer out right now. Sony Life is a 21 year old, knockout representing the incredibly under-represented upstate NY and doing it very well.
Endowed with positive vision and ambitious lyrics, Sony's music is both captivating and very easy to listen to.
Even though Sony has talent with the camera; producing some of the best videography to come out of the 845 area, Sony's first passion is music. "It's all I can think about. My music is fun, but I'm real serious about it. People are listening to me, I'm not just doing this for myself anymore."
Sony praises his older brother D.E. for influencing him and sparking his interest in music,"When I was little he would come up with these raps that nobody really believed were his, everyone would be like, 'nah you stole that from somebody, get outta here', because they would be so official, it was like, 'this has to be stolen [from a major label artist].' When I found out that these raps were really coming from him, it made me feel like I could do it too."
And he certainly does it well, with hits like 'EROS remix' Sony Life lets his words loose so fluidly that you will end up wondering why he isn't signed to a major label and being played on New York radio. Although New York has yet to pick up on the talent of Mr. New York himself, Sony has been burning the waves in Atlanta and was a summer favorite with his hit 'Go Get it remix' ft. D.E., a video he also produces.
Check it out here:
Sony Life cites the movie '8 mile' as having influenced him to take rap a step further, "When that movie came out, I was living in Waterbury, CT and I remember everybody thought they could rap. Well it was me and another kid, who was my best friend at the time, neither one of us had the courage to rap, but we had these other kids who we would coach and direct, making them have rap battles."
Sony says that while it was the movie that made him consider rap as a career and helped him to form a friendship with his then best friend; it was the experience that came after that bond was built, that made him become serious about rap as a life choice.
"It wasn't too long after that, that we were running in gym and he just collapsed and I knew it was over. Like, I had a connection with him and even though everyone thought it was fine, I knew that it wasn't.I knew that I lost my best friend. That was the first time that I wrote a real rhyme and from there music just took off. People listened to that one song that I wrote and were like, 'You know you've got some talent here.' I don't remember the actual rap, but I'm pretty sure it was mostly words that actually rhymed, but in any case that's how many rappers start (with bubble gum rhymes)."
But the name Sony Life came long after his original rap brought him local appreciation. His name is a simple yet definitive example of his creativity; Sony breaks down to be So N.Y., Life adds on to the meaning of the montage. Sony says that he came up with it while lying in bed and watching T.V., we all know the corporate giant SONY which produces electronics, but Sony Life saw more than that. "After I broke it down,I felt like, yes! I can run with this and make it mine, and so I did, and it was actually a bigger movement than I thought it was going to be. I'm taken seriously and even though [my name] came from something so simple, I take it seriously." Adding to it, Sony says, "I've moved a lot, but New York is me, I connect more with this place, than with any other places I've ever lived."
Sony, whose real name is Sayeed Merced manages to stay humble even as his fame gathers, he says that his family, namely his mother and daughter anchors him. In his words, his stage presence; Sony Life, is like a magic trick,
"Sayeed is the real me, Sony is the illusion. When you look into my eyes, you will see Sayeed; what my mother and God made, but Sony is what I and the world makes up." Sony is the alter ego to this 21 year olds life.
"Sony is my positive energy manifested into music"
When asked how much of the hype created by his alter ego Sony replied with this,
"Well, not much of what I do as Sony is hype, everything that I speak of is real, you'll never catch me speaking out of character and saying something crazy like 'I want to blow up the world or I'll grab a weed whacker and chop somebodies head off. No, I rap about real things that happen in my life. The only hype I can say, that I may create is in my videos, I create videos that I want to be watched, so of course I used popular imagery."
The confidence in himself and his work is priceless, when asked if he thinks he will do well, Sony simply, but assertively, replies, "Yes."
Sony considers doing any kind of work with Jay-z the identifier to making it, "Jay's a man that you should admire, no matter what anyone has to say about him. There's a picture of him in Forbes magazine standing next to Warren Buffet, one of the most influential men in the world. If that's not making it then, I don't know what is. This and the fact that he still manages to stay relevant even though he'd been out for so long. He's never finished, he's still evolving."
Sony says that he is learning to take his time and build imagery with his words and passion, a task that he's learning by listening to old school artists such as Billy Paul, "Just the way that they deliver a line, it could be the most simple thing to say in the world, but when they deliver it, it has you like 'Damn! What was he feeling, when he came up with that?'
"My music is whimsical, you'll always have a reason to connect with it, I'm never just talk, I always have a reason to be on the mic. I mean, there are times when I'm like, 'pop bottles, let's do what every body else does' because you have to give a little of that. But if you look me me up, then you'll find my songs are different. I'll give you feeling and you'll sense that I'm trying to touch the feeling and give it to you."
And Sony certainly proves to be much more than a one track mind, Sony shows the diversity he speaks about with tracks like 'This way' 'I love it remix' 'Raining between her legs' and 'Outta sight', all which have different focuses and emotion, but are all delivered with a fiery passion that Sony has crafted well over the years.
So what inspires an artist as creative as Sony? "As an artist and person my 4 year old daughter inspires me the most. Her name is Zakyra, she's just the cutest little thing in the world. I've been through a lot things, it hasn't been this glamorous image that people probably see, but it's like once she came along, it was like a head start some people buckle under that kind of pressure, but it was like, that's what me and mines needed. It's what I needed for me to get serious. It's what drives me to continue my music."
Currently, Sony is in the works of producing videos for his own music and has just completed a tour in Atlanta. Rapping since he was 12 and doing photography and videography for just a few year and Sony is already being sponsored by the likes of B&H photography. His latest video M.O.E. features Aaron Jhaye and Doccc Johnson, is yet to be released, but if it's anywhere as fanciful as the lyrics, then we're definitely dealing with a hit. Idk about you, but I'm pretty excited to know what Sony has up his sleeve with this one!
by Carlisa Williams
New York has a new rising R&B star and his name is Gaetano. Gaetano is a 24 year old, master of emotions. His first EP is entitled 'Fade Away' and came in the middle of a long summer, which brought with it only one or two R&B bangers that evoked even the slightest bit of passion in the listeners. Yet with his EP, Gaetano certainly resparked my interest in R&B again.
While most R&B singers seem to be afraid of straying from the stereotypical standard of money, luxary and sex, Gaetano displays emotional range on this awe evoking EP.
The voice of this Bronx native will certainly captivate you,Gaetano manages to mix grown man with a boyish falsetto. 'Fade Away' exemplifies grown people music and is a definite choice for some time spent alone with your significant other. A master of expression, Gaetano also hits us with lyrical content of songs like 'Road to Nowhere' where he gives poetic light to the young and hopeless love affair, singing;
'That hole didn't matter in the sunshine, drops are falling faster and it's about time, we left this bed and took that step, towards the road, if we're going to be soaked, we might as well be walking in the open;
On the road to nowhere, time is on our side.
On the road to nowhere, we'll find a compromise.
We'll try and we'll try until at last we realize, we're on a road to nowhere.'
Perfectly pitched and defined, Gaetano will certainly have us on memory lane, where we will go back to highschool or our first love affair which will live forever, thanks to his lovely tribute.
On one of the more susceptible tracks of the EP the falsetto-ist displays his talent with the word and exudes emotion all over the track 'Speak with my Guitar'. In this self written and immaculatly produced track,which happens to be the one of the artists favorites, Gaetano displays a surreal vulnerability compared to the hardened lyrics of the second song, a breakup song appropriately named, 'Terrible Truth', where he comically admonishes both himself and the woman 'I'm a liar a cheater, a sinner, and I'm fake, you're a hater, a deciever, and a diva by mistake!'
Albeit a bit harsh, Gaetano manages to detail emotion without getting too explicit with his lyrical content.
The talent displayed by the 24 year old on this album is enough to make any young lady swoon and any man jealous. Gaetano; along with co writing most of the tracks on this EP, also has a hand in the production of most of the tracks on it.
On the nostalgic track 'Rewind' Gaetano displays his talent in the violin with a short solo of himself playing the instrument. 'Rewind' is a song which he not only produced entirely by himself, but also wrote himself.This leaves the imagination dancing in wonderment, asking what else can he do? Well as his bandcamp site is sure to proclaim, all guitar heard on this EP is played by the artist himself, Gaetano also plays the bass, drums and piano.
The EP is topped with the vocally enchanting 'Cheers to us' the only song not written or co-written by Gaetano himself. The song is a soft ode to love, a far cry from the supremely nasty and sexy track 'stilletos x black dress' which gives an explicit and imaginative yet far from vulgar depiction, of what the Italian falsetto-ist imagines to be a sexy night, Gaetano continues with his unabashedly brasen lyrics,
'Cut right to the chase have you ever been kissed below the waist?'
leading into even more provactive lyrics, 'I've got a face and you've always got a place to sit.'
My last post was aimed at introducing this public to the dangers of GMO products.
Now I present to you a video found on Naturlcuresnotmedicine.com, one of my suggested links. The following video shows the extreme lengths that the government allows GMO companies to go to hide the dangers of GMO products.
Why You Don't Know What You Are
By Carlisa Williams
You are what you eat, but do you know what you are? No. Nobody does, unless you're a scientist working for an bio-engineering company and have studied chemistry as well as physics and math. If the U.S. food markets continues to regulate its selections the way it does not, then pretty soon, it will be necessary for a person to have a masters degree in bio chemistry in order to truly know what they're eating.
I remember hearing a rumor back in the early 2000's that there was no real corn left in the world anymore, that it was all fake. 'That sounds stupid!' is how I responded. How could there not be any real corn left in the world, if the shelves are filled with it everyday?
GMO. Genetically Modified Organisms. This is a term coined by the European food and drug administration. GMO foods are so far altered from their origin that they are not even considered to be foods, by them.
GMO products are made to look, smell, and taste like the real thing, but are not. GMO brand foods are 'edited' from the seed and grown in labs using non conventional methods of production. Food like Tomatoes, Bananas, Spinach, even meats are capable of being turned into a GMO product. These foods are traditionally grown in a garden or on a farm without human intervention aside from watering and pruning, but GMO foods are made in the lab. According to best selling author Robyn O'brien, foreign protein cells are emplanted into the natural seed and the genetic properties of said seed is forever changed.
Whatever change the scientist wants to make is then produced a few weeks later. The GMO seed is mostly changed in order to produce a higher yield at a faster rate, but physical genetic properties, such as color and size can also be changed, but are often not.
Take the carrot, hardly anyone know that the carrot used to be a purple astringent tasting vegetable with orange flesh, until it was changed by scientists in the 1930's to produce a sweeter tasting product. (Read about the fun side affects of GMO carrots)Animals are even altered to produce more meat. GMO's are justified with the claim that the global food supply is lessening and the human conception rate is increasing, but how well will that do us all if the foods we are consuming are also killing us and causing more disease than health?
Aside the fact that you're eating someone's lab experiment, a horrible fact about GMOs are that they are currently on the market unlabeled and there is no governing force willing to stop it. Of course there is the FDA- the governing who is supposed to stop it, but back in 1991 the regulations that were placed on GMO foods were deregulated as means of making money, by then President Bush.
The worst thing about the deregulation of GMO product, is that the food is not required to be tested for safe consumption, even though according to the FDA's very own site; 'Bioengineered foods and food ingredients (including food additives) must adhere to the same standards of safety under the Act that apply to their conventional counterparts.This means that these products must be as safe as the traditional foods in the market.'
But how can safety be ensured if a food that is purposely being altered is not being tested for said safety? So if this is true, then how is it even remotely possible for the FDA to still be in tact? There is literally no job to do, if testing foods for consumptive safety is not a mandatory part of the process.
An even worse fact about GMO foods is that it has been found in several studies that GMO foods can potentially cause allergies, ailments and illnesses, such as autism, ADHD, cancer and many many more harmful side effects. Many point out the fact that with these illnesses caused by the very thing necessary to keep us alive, also keep 'doctors' and pharmaceutical companies very wealthy.
The connections within the industries of food, pharma, and government is astounding to a benighted woman like myself, who enjoys food alot. It makes one nauseous to think that the government could purposely be allowing it's citizens to become ill and closer to death, all for the sake of money/economy/ world power. The fact that in order to continue selling to other countries, the government makes these companies comply with foriegn law and remove harmful additives, is sickening to say the least.
But, the loose morals of the Government is a different topic to focus on. As for right now, even though it truly should be the other way around, I can only suggest staying away from foods that are not clearly labeled to be GMO free and educating yourself and anyone that you can on the hidden dangers lingering in their foods.
Find more information at Allergykids.org
'The unhealthy truth' by Robyn O'Brien http://www.naturalcuresnotmedicine.com/2013/09/800-scientists-demand-end-to-GMOs.html
Join Occupy Monsanto on facebook. Another rally is coming up scheduled to take place on October 12th. http://www.organicconsumers.org/gefood/countrieswithbans.cfm
Lists the countries where GMOs have been banned.
Hey what's up people, sorry it's been awhile since we got together, but were back, and we have a whole lot of new music and artist to talk about. Today we received a mixtape in our inbox from one of Upstate NY's up and coming unsigned artist, the Big Bad Baragon. Now, I must admit, I've only heard bit's and pieces of some of his freestyles, and did catch the young artist when he was on BET's 106 and Park Freestyle Friday segment a while back, but that was the extent of my interaction with him and his music. We are facebook friends so we have on occasion shot the shit on what we think of today's artist and their music, and both agree there is a huge void in the hip hop game right now. We reached to Big Bad Baragon for our "Who's Hot In The 845" as he debuts his first mixtape "Another Man's Treasure" Which by the way should have the streets taking notice. You can download it here --->http://www.bigbadbaragon.com
Q.Tell
us about who you are & What you do?
A.
I’m Big Bad Baragon, but you can call me Heavy Pendergrass for this
interview. I rap, I produce, I express myself using music. My most
recent collection of expressions are available
at www.bigbadbaragon.com
Q:
Describe your Music in 5 words
A.
Funky, Entertaining, Inspiring, Authentic,Art
Q.Please
give your Fans 3 Fun Facts About you
a.
I don’t smoke anything, or drink, which is rare for rappers. My
favorite musician is Stevie Wonder. I have a bit of a weight problem.
Q.
What makes your Voice Stand Out from other Artists?
A.
My voice specifically? I guess that whenever women hear it they begin
to perspire, other than that I don’t know.
Q.
Do you Write Your Own Material?
A.
Of course!
Q:
What are your Current projects that you are working on?
A.
We’re still pushing my debut mixtape, “Another Mans Treasure:
Sextape Vol.1”. We’re working on videos and getting that out
there. I’m working with Jean Paul Viteri on his new project, as
well as my own funk album and an album with DJ Husky.
Q:
Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
A.
In bed with Masiela Lusha or Asa Akira or whoever may end up being my
wife. Also I’ll be a bit further in my career, hopefully.
Q:
Where do you get your inspiration from?
A.
My family and wanting to make them proud, that’s the drive. The
content comes from life, like every love song on the mixtape is about
a specific girl that I know personally. As far as music, my largest
inspiration comes from dudes like Biggie, Ghostface, Big Daddy Kane,
LL Cool J, Kanye West, dudes who were able to balance a commercially
and critically successful career. As far as influences, that list
would be just a bit different.
Q:
If you had to choose and Industry artist Fan base who would it be?
Why?
A:
Can’t say. I want my own unique fan base.
Q:
What Artist that's out now is your style, or in your lane?
A .
I have too many dimensions to really say, I’d have to let someone
tell me who they think is in my lane.
Q:
Who would you rather listen to R&B or Hip Hop Music?
A.
Old school hip hop over modern day R&B.
Q:What
Artist do you listen to?
A.
Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Ghostface Killah, Kool G Rap, Wu Tang
Clan, Biggie, I just got into “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye
& “Straight Out the Jungle” by the Jungle Brothers so they’re
getting a lot of love from me, too.
Q:Who
influences your music?
A.
Kool G Rap, Biggie, Big Daddy Kane, the RZA, Dj Premier, Stevie
Wonder, Biz Markie, The Wu Tang Clan, a lot of people.
Q:
Please describe your fashion style in 5 words?
A.
I’m a passionate rhymer not a fashion designer!
Q:
How can people Contact you & Collaborate with you?
A.
They can contact me via my website, or the normal way, on Twitter!
@BigBadBaragon
