“How much we sell of it, completely irrelevant
This is for the love and the battle of the elements“

~Luv What We Do, The CounterParts Crew

All my life, I’ve gravitated towards artists–musicians, photographers, writers, you name it. For me, the biggest draw, turn on, has always been creativity. Creators. People who create. The act of creation is a powerful thing, and I’ve always found it most unfortunate how underappreciated true creativity is in our society. Artists put so much of their heart and soul into their craft. Expressing, unearthing, uplifting. They are committed to living fully and passionately, and inspiring others to do the same. We often struggle, and we often starve, but we are the dreamers and creators and the world needs us!

Well, as most of my art folk can attest, it doesn’t necessarily pay to live outside the box. Along with being underappreciated, we are often undercompensated. But any true artist will also attest that, we don’t do this for the money. We do this because we have to. We were given a gift that was meant to be shared, and I give the utmost props to folks out there doin’ the damn thing.

As I said before, my life is littered with artists, and over time I’ve collected quite a crew, a community if you will. Since I’m a firm believer in Artists Supporting Other Artists, I want to take this opportunity to show some Indie Love to those I know, love, and admire who are doing their damndest to live the dream 🙂 I appreciate all you do and all you are.

To support my old skool slug homies Tino and Braelen, I recently downloaded the debut CD from their group The CounterParts Crew. If you love hip-hop, especially stuff coming out of the Cali, you MUST pick-up this CD!!! It is EXCELLENT. I mean, really, really excellent. Intelligent, honest, and powerful stuff. Their song “Luv What We Do” has become the unofficial TPC theme song-they captured the essence of the hustle perfectly…

The Crew also does their part to give back, and one of their songs is on a compilation “Got Kidney” (Available on Bandcamp) in support of Organ Donor Awareness. That’s what I’m talking about–making the world a better place, one song at a time 🙂

Speaking of making the world a better place, that brings me to my dear friend Hyim. I’ve been a fan since his humble beginnings waaaaay back in the day, and have watched him evolve to a truly accomplished musician, songwriter, producer, and composer.

Hyim’s music is all about positivity, consciousness, and spiritual upliftment. A remarkable songrwiter, Hyim’s style “swings between sunny mento rhythms, spiraling Cuban son, urgent hip-hop manifestos, and pensive balladry.” Hyim is on his third (!) album now, and his latest release, “Sex in the Morning” is just as hot and provocative as the title implies. (Check out the video for his song “Elation” for a sample). It’s definitely my “driving up the coast with the wind in my hair” CD. I always find his live shows immensely enjoyable, and I’ve been to a grip of them! 🙂

I also have to give a shout-out to Mr. Free, another dope, dope artist that is pumping lots of positivity back into the world. Mr. Free is now on his second release, “Writes of Passage” which is also available on ITunes. I own both his CD and I love them–once again, it’s nice to see conscious hip hop making a comeback 🙂

(All of them are on facebook, so if you are too, check’em out and become a fan – CounterParts Crew, Hyim, Mr. Free )

Last but not least, I gotta shout out my brother from another mother, DC. Immensely talented, with music in his blood, his star is on the rise. Definitely check out “Feelin’ Lovely” on his myspace page. (that’s my jam!) DC’s fittin’ to put FC on the map, don’t sleep!!!

Next time you’re in the market for some new music, consider showin’ some Indie Love. 🙂 There is a ton of great stuff out there that isn’t necessarily being played on the radio or MTV (though it should be!) One Love Fam!