whip them jah jah.....yeah!

did you know that sept. 11th also marked the anniversary of peter tosh's death????
another great individual slain but forgotten by many...just remembering one jamiaca's fyah talents.
i wonder if peter, bob and dennis were alive would the state of music be as we know it?



Ashe
give thanks for all


for as long as i can remember music has had an lasting impression on me. i can remember days in the back of my parents ride-my dad would pop in an old stylistics tape or some marvin gaye. i'm in the backseat thinking "i wish he'd turn this stupid music off.." just being a spoiled brat about the whole thing. over time i would still find myself chillin in the back seat on my way from school-or on my way back from grandma's house and dad would pop in sade, kool and the gang or sam cooke. and what do you know my ass was singing along "don't know much bout history, dont much bi-ology, don't know much about the science book-don't know much bout the french i took".....funny thing is i didn't want my dad to know how much i began to LOVE the music he played. so there would be days when my borther and i were home alone. before you knew it i was firing up the turntable on the component set(that's what my folk called it then) playing my dad's Breakwater album. then i moved on to minnie riperton and god is my witness i fell in love with melodies. i always had this certain connection with minnie. i'm not sure if it were the picture of her on her perfect angel album cover with the ice cream cone. it was indeed her angelic voice. sad part was me finding out i'd never get to see her alive.

one pivitol event in my life was april 4th-the day marvin gaye was killed. i will never forget the pain that i felt after just becoming so familiar with sexual healing...lol! the song that is....i knew that music suffered a great loss! funny how i could sense how great this man was and his gift of song. this was my foundation that my father unconsciously laid out for me. that is our(my father and i) connection-music. all these years i owed my music obsession to my father because he was the first to open my eyes musically. he is part of the reason why im an artist. self realization for ya!

this brings me to my point of today's music. seems as if the loss's we've suffered on a more artistic level changed things in the world. whether it was john lennon, bob marley. peter tosh, marvin gaye. phyliss hyman, nina simone, tupac, B.I.G., or barry white you have to admit that artistry has seemingly dwindled down to fancy clothes, money and hoes. which has me re-thinking my artistic approach. no more on the surface/love anthem/songwriting for me. this is not 1995-2001 when i once belonged to an r&b group. i feel the need to create long lasting themes such as minnie did. this is where i look to for inspiration. because by god they were the truth! and i miss all the greats that's been taken away from us all:

oh yeah when is sly stone gonna ever get the fuckin props he deserves dammit!!!

Ashe