back from Florida

back from FLA..the love and hate blog.

I saw the things I love and hate about the south all in one short trip.

man oh man... where do I begin?

I guess at the beginning.

We stayed at the plush Grosvenor (if anyone knows how to pronounce that, let me know) Hotel in Lake Buena Vista, and the place was lovely...pools, karaoke, basketball courts a Wii..yup, a Wii... and a $10 a night activity fee to pay for it.

But we were right down the street from Downtown Disney, so we went there first. Had a great time, and saw a spectacular improv comedy show which gave me some great ideas... I'll get to those later.



first of all, the love was there. I played at Tim and Terry's for Nerdapalooza SE in Gainesville, FL (go Gators!)

and it was totally amazing. That campus is really impressive.
great crowd, great atmosphere (a little hot), and great times.

This was when the improv ideas came back. Back in the day, when me and Ohene were rhyme partners, during every one of our sets, O would end it off with a crazy freestyle session..all impromptu, off the head rhymes. He'd ask everyone in the crowd to pull something out of their
, and he'd incorporate it in his rhymes. So, after seeing the un-sketched sketch comedy show, I decided to alter my set at the last minute and take a page from the book of O.

This was the first time I had done it, and it worked very well..got a great reaction, and it was huge fun. We got it on tape, hopefully it'll get upped soon.
More improv fun--at the end of the night, myself, Zealous1 and Shinobi kicked a few freestyles over some sick beats, even creating an on the fly song with hook. I hope somebody got that on film!

Next day we hit up Disney World thanks to the free tickets from the timeshare presentation we went to the day before (These folks just don't know how to take NO for an answer!!) little piece of advice--if they say its a 2 hr presentation, expect 3.5.
pretty good time at Disney, I only wanted to go on one ride.


Space Mountain.

a ride that I'd heard sooooo much about since I was a kid...but had never gotten on.

Wait time.... 60 minutes.

but what the heck, right, this is the ride I've been waiting for!

20 minutes into the wait, something happened.

Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, please bear with us, we're having some technical difficulties...we apologize to those of you on the ride at this time, please remain seated...

..on the ride??? stuck?? Awwwww Nawww! so eventually they shut the ride down and got everyone out of there. We came back 2 hours later and it was still down.

Oh well..maybe next time.

Who am I kidding, I ain't going back there again...unless I have kids.


And now.....for the hate. As I was coming back from an errand on Sunday night, I got pulled over by a police officer who SAID I ran a stop sign. Did I? I don't think so... we all do those California stops* every once in a while, right? right???

*FYI: ..>..>

a.	california stop
	AKA the california rolling stop The act of not completely stopping at a stop sign or a right hand turn, but rather 'rolling' through it by slowing down some. *sees stop sign* *looks for cops* *sees none* *makes a california stop* *hears sirens* says 'D'oh!'

well let me set the scene...smalltown area, after midnight, on a small road, not even a 4 way stop...totally secluded area.

or so I thought.

"Gotcha!" -Dave Chappelle

Anyway, the scene couldve been much worse, because I was driving a rental car...and when she asked for the papers, I checked the glove box....

they weren't there.

I checked the floor, the back...

nothing.

uh-oh.

I Texted Ida (sidebar--is it 'texted' or text'd?), and she tells me she doesn't have them either...

this could be bad.

now I have to convince this small-town beat cop who's dying to make her quota who just pulled over a young man with an out of state license that I didn't steal this car.

Well, luckily it worked, due to the Mega-Charm (c)* I managed to get out of this little jam with only a ticket....


for $122.50!

I almost cussed, and I don't cuss.

Again, I hate to pull the race card, but us brothers know of something called DWB: and that doesn't mean Doctors with Businesses or Donuts with Black Coffee...

it means Driving While Black.

Now DWB might be a myth, or a fabric of the vivid imagination of African American conspiracy theorists all over the world, but this is what the 'experts' say:

DWB: a word play on the name of a real U.S. crime, driving while intoxicated. The phrase implies that a motorist may be pulled over by a police officer simply because he or she is black, and then questioned, searched, and/or charged with a trivial offense. This concept stems from a long history of racism in the United States, United Kingdom, and other countries. The term refers to racial profiling, which is said to be used by police and other law enforcement officials.

see also: "walking while Black," "learning while Brown," Flying while Muslim," and "Speaking while Blonde." (I didn't make these up...well I did make up the last one.)

Anyway, the rest of the trip went very well, I auctioned the only existing Mega Ran shirt off this weekend (so if you see it on eBay, don't buy it! ), which was symbolic, because it's the last show on the specified Mega Ran Tour. I don't plan to do any specific Mega Ran dates after this, as I'm ready to grow up get to work on the next project.

What is the next project?

Stay tuned....

The pros and cons go like this:

Pros:
1- The Grosvenor, especially the jacuzzi
2- The Tim and Terry's crowd
3- The comedy show @ Downtown Disney
4- Quality time

Cons:
1- cops
2- cops
3- cops
4- humidity

have a spectacular evening. pics coming soon....


*Mega-Charm is a registered trademark of RandomBeats. any unauthorized use is prohibited.

What are folks saying about "Mega Ran?"

anyway, here are a few opinions about Random's Mega Ran album that are floating around the 'Net and media these days...all in one place for the lazy folks...


Above all, Random rises to the occasion by making an album that is both clever and effortless. Despite its lofty ambitions, the album's intent never overshadows the simple fact that the music is dope...anyone who ever kept a log of their continue codes is sure to geek out to what amounts to one of the most creative releases this year.
-Okayplayer.com, Aug 2007 (4/5)

Not only an interesting concept, Mega Ran is also an enjoyable trip down memory lane for many.
-Exclaim Magazine, July 2007

The bottom line is that Random manages to keep his hip-hop credentials in tact even while marrying underground battle raps to video game tracks.
-Rap Reviews, July 2007 (7/10)

In the past 20 years, Mega Man never sounded this good.
-Game Music 4 All, June 2007

Old school Blue Bomber fans are gonna hear these classic themes and flip.
-Scarlett (Capcom USA), July 2007

I guess the only question to ask now is..

Why don't you have it???



Oh...you didn't know how to get it?

Okay, I gotcha.





Or






choose your adventure!!

Cop that soon.. we are VERY CLOSE to my 'limited quantities' number, so I suspect these won't be around very long. get 2, and leave one in the plastic.


soon, you'll wake up, and the whole Mega Ran thing will have been a dream.




now if you'll excuse me, Madden is calling. I just got my first win, and that was luck. I need some practice........




PS- and don't worry, I plan on working on the Biggie video...I'm serious! soon as SOMEONE brings the videocamera over...lol

I'll post that footage fo'sho.

'Til next time, keep shining.

-Ran


PPS--this is hilarious! if you get a moment...peep it.
gives new meaning to "Karate Kid." Dude should get an Oscar.

Part 1.
http://www.b3ta.com/links/Child_Beater

Part 2.
http://www.break.com/rushhour3/man-vs-kids-part2.html

Back from Cali

What up everybody. Ya boy Ran is back from his California leg of the Mega Ran tour with some STORIIIIIIIES to tell! Where do I begin??


(disclaimer--this is a long blog. grab something to eat or drink, get a comfortable seat, and read.)



Well first I'd like to say that the pictures from this little excursion will be posted very soon. theres a lot of them...

Okay, so last week I was saying this would be the longest weekend of my life..so here's why.

I had to go to school for orientation/teacher traning..Then after that, drive to San Diego for my first show at the House Of Blues.

This show was with The Megas , who guest with me on the "Boss Battle: Metalman" song on "MEGA RAN."

also on the bill was Quarter-Circle Jab (yeah, a slow fireball if you're into Street Fighter), and they rocked it as well.

The Megas also called me back up to perform "MetalMan" with them live, and that was awesome (don't worry, we got video).

I got into San Diego with about 30 minutes before showtime.

and no matter where we went, parking was always a major issue, so I don't need to mention that anymore.


The show went well at the HOB, until a gentleman that worked there decided to speak to me on the side and ask me to 'tone down the language,'

because I was 'offending some of the guests.'

Well as we all know, I'm a pottymouth, so I wasn't having that!

no, not really. I tried to tell him as matter-of-factly as I could that they obviously weren't listening if they thought they heard inappropriate language from me.

and he's like "not even the N-word?" he said it as if he pulled the Trump card on me.

"no, not even the N-word, buddy."

"oh...Okay."

Now I'm not one to throw the race card around *reaches in pocket* but I know how these cats think...he sees a brother up there rappin...and assumes he's gonna hear those words.

anyway.. I was gonna leave after my set, but I'm glad I didn't, because I would've missed QCJ, and a lot of fans who wound up buying CDs and signing the mailing list.

So, after that, we run right over to the San Diego Sports Club for another show.

This show was more of an opportunity to meet and build with so many of the folks I've chatted with online for so long....Maja, IllGill, Zealous1,

and the man, YTCracker.

I'm not ashamed to admit that if I had never heard YTCracker's NERDRAP ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM in 2005, then Mega Ran wouldn't exist.



So I feel like he fathered that album and didn't even know it..it was a real pleasure to meet and build with him...and he even knew my Gov't name.. he does his research. That's the 1 difference between nerdcore fans and 'underground hip hop' fans and showgoers;

Nerdcore cats actually do some research.. folks were asking me about being a teacher, and about "Fundamentals," and RAHM Nation, and all types of stuff.

I usually have to introduce other crowds to who I am at other shows.


Anyway, I got there late (my bad fellas), but I still got on and had to cut my set short.

it was the first time I had performed "BubbleMan," a song I was afraid to do without a hypeman, because of the ridiculous breath control needed for it.

I heard someone say a while ago that you shouldn't record a song that you can't perform live the same way....

well I didn't listen.

But it went well. after a lot of practice, I learned how and when to breathe, and it worked.


That night, after performing twice in a night, I also made history.

DN3 had the audacity to challenge me in Street Fighter II, and I had to do him in in a 3 round battle. I had Ken, he had Guile. after repeated attempts to cheese me,

The Spin Kick prevailed.

So, i decided to take my undefeated record and retire...


forever.

DN3 tries to blame it on the Xbox controller (how come losers can't just lose?)
so I'm 1-0, unbeaten.

End of the longest day of my recent memory.

Wake up time: 7:00AM
Bedtime: 3:30AM


Saturday begins with a trip to a local Thai food spot... great great food!

Then we made the trek to Comic Con, at the San Diego Convention Center.


It was like Halloween and Christmas at the same time in there...


people in costumes and toys...everywhere you could see.

However, in a huge place like that, there's bound to be confusion.

See, Seth, who works for Capcom, and has been such a great sport with all the Mega Ran stuff,

sent me an email with his phone number on it, and told me to contact him when I got there and he'd bring the ID badges out.

He sent this email to my GMAIL account.

Before I left..I checked my email...my Yahoo account.

Whoops.


So DN3 (who was also a good sport in all this) lugs his turntable setup down a good few blocks to the Con,

and the guards send us to the wrong gate to check in...

not once, not twice... fee times a mady (if you remember old SNL, you'll get that)

so at this point, everyone's pissed off, and we just wanna get in. I found out that the buzzword around the Con was

"Exhibitor" (noun) a person who provides an exhibit for a display etc
Example: He is one of the exhibitors at the flower show.

once I learned that, they let me go wherever I wanted to...

I get my passes..and DN3's pass isn't in his name, but another name...

Rich Flyer.

you really couldn't make up a funnier name than that. so for the remainder of the trip, DN3 was Rich Flyer.

I still think he should use that as one of those AKA's.

But anyway....

when we finally get into the spot, it's crazy.. Capcom's booth is set up like a big wrestling ring...

Great time at the Con, once we finally got settled...saw some celebrities there;

-Andre 3000,
-Kevin Bacon (a fellow Philly-ite)
-Sgt. Slaughter
-LeVar Burton (Reading Rainbow, Roots...Star Trek!!!!)

um...and I'm sure I saw some others, just don't remember.

what sucked for me was that I didn't get a whole lot of time to actually walk around and see the booths

because I made a promise to myself that I wasn't gonna leave the autograph table until I signed and sold them all...or got kicked out for the next guy :)

so I did finally get to sell them all and explore, so I got some great pictures..again..will be uploaded ASAP.

Thanks to everyone who attended Comic Con and copped a CD!

OH-- and if you were there and have one of the flyers of all the daily events (yellow), I need a copy of one for my scrapbook!!! it's got my name on it :-P

seriously, mail it to me..contact me.




the rest of that day we just chilled out and recovered..hit up a nice Mediteranean spot, the Med Grill, and I had some great salmon.
Sidebar- San Diego is a BEAUTIFUL city! oh man... it's gorgeous. I really want to move there. ok, getting back--

DN3 rolled out the next day, which meant for the next 2 shows, in LA, I was on my own.

Before we left San Diego, we went to Imperial Beach (the most Southwesterly City in the US--literally a stones throw from Mey-hee-co) for a sandcastle competition. That was really interesting to see. they had some really cool sandcastles. there I had a funnel cake for the first time in almost a decade, and this thing was HUGE. (got pics)

We hit the road towards Tinseltown, and learned something about Mapquest and Los Angeles County:

Never pay attention to the estimated travel time.

you can almost always either a) triple it, or add an hour to it, which ever is greater.

example.. 22mins Mapquest= 66 mins real time.

I hear people talk about LA traffic, but seriously, it's no joke. I did some LA driving last year, but I really didnt remember it being this bad..

I mean, it doesn't matter what time of day, there's guaranteed to be some point of your drive which you're sitting still.

So that night, I had an event at Room 5, Elevation West with special guest DJ, DJ Houseshoes. if you don't know Shoes, all you need to know is that he was the DJ for the late great J Dilla.

Shoes is mad cool..a cocky dude...but he got skills...hey. It ain't braggin if you can back it up.

After the show, he was a little more concerned with a little Elevation of his own if ya know what I mean...

but I'll leave that alone..

but we chatted and he definitely was a nice dude.

I did my thang on stage, of course I had to do something for Dilla, so I broke out my rendition of "Shoomp" and that got the place going (again, we got video).

I also ran in to veteran MC and Stones Throw recording artist Percee P at the show, who was really supportive as well, we chatted for a good half hour about the business, and LA Hip-Hop culture...my grind, his grind...everything.
I gave him a few tickets to my show on Tuesday, and he came through and showed love.

Oh yeah and a quick plug, his album "Perseverance" drops in September.

After the show I spent a lot of time afterwards speaking to the event goers, mainly getting information on how to travel in LA without getting caught in traffic.

no dice on that. But, I did get directions to Roscoe's.

so the next day, Monday, we hit up Roscoe's for lunch, and we had (you guessed it) Chicken and Waffles.
Delicious.

So we drove around the Hollywood Hills next, just to see how the locals were living. We ran into some new houses they were building on the hills, and talked to a realtor who let us walk around inside the crib. Sick, Sick SICK! it was a 3 story built into the hill, only selling for 2.15 mil...not bad..



after that we hit Hollywood Blvd and decided to go on one of those stars' homes' tours. and that was actually fun! we saw Paris's crib (complete with paparazzi outside), Halle's crib (and the liquor store she hit), Babyface (who lives next door to Al Pacino)...um....Keanu Reeves, Tobey Maguire, Dr. Phil and some other folks's spots... most impressive was the dude who founded Guess, whose front yard is loaded with about 15 Ferarri's that he never drives.

man if i had that much money.... I don't really know what I'd have in my front yard..maybe an alligator pit.

Also that same day, the Rush Hour 3 premiere was going on, and although I didn't see anyone, I'm sure Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan were inside the Chinese Theater, right across from where we were.
..ucket.com/albums/i261/random2g/rushhour.jpg">

While we were waiting we got tickets to attend a taping of "Deal or No Deal" the next day, so I thought that would be pretty cool, so the next day's activities were planned.

Tuesday morning, we hit Culver City for the taping... and we picked the right show! This was a special NFL edition (its gonna air Sept 19th, I think I got some good camera time LOL), and it featured some retired players..some of the GREATEST players to ever play (Jerry Rice, Marcus Allen, Marshall Faulk) some very very good players (Eric Dickerson, Rod Woodson, Terrell Davis) and a few guys who started in the league (Kordell Stewart and Wayne Chrebet)

no Eagles, but it was all good. sorry NO PHOTOS of that.

don't know if you guys have ever been a part of a TV taping, but it's the most tedious thing ever. they make you applaud on cue, they make you laugh on cue, say "aww" on cue and if you don't do it right, they make you do it all over again.
so that was fun, but after 4 hours, it was really annoying.

some lucky schmoe (not me obviously) in the audience won a 2008 Denali! can you believe it?

I won't give away what happens in the show, but I can say that this was the most exciting episode of the show I've ever seen..then again its the only time I've ever seen it from beginning to end.... but when you watch it....you tell me.... cause I think there was something fishy about the whole show....

now with half the day gone, there wasnt much else to do...so we decided to visit Universal Studios' CityWalk, and that was nice... Man, one thing I really will miss about being in Southern California is the weather..it was sooooo perfect!

Next was the Knitting Factory event, which was pretty...interesting. Much love to the artists who came through, because there were a few no-shows. I got rid of all my Mega Ran CDs, and that to me always constitutes a successful night. Of course, Percee was up in the spot, along with folks from all over the country who I got a chance to build with.

We left early this morning to avoid traffic (yeah right), and got back to Phoenix sometime this afternoon, wrapping up the Summer portion of the Mega Ran Tour.

whew...that was a mouthful.. and yet I'm certain I forgot something.


So to anyone I met this weekend, thanks so much for your support! YOU made this possible :)

I get calls from the homies back home and they're like "You did it, man!"

Nah, I haven't done anything.....yet.



oh yeah:

Highlights:
rocking with The Megas at the HOB
Comic Con--wow
selling out of CDs
the crowd at the Sports Club singing along to "Grow Up"
Meeting Marcus Allen and Terrell Davis
Percee P showing up at the 2nd show
2 words...Rich Flyer.



Lowlights:
the runaround @ the Comic Con gates
weirdos on Hollywood Blvd...
traffic, traffic, traffic
DN3 leaving early (missed all the fun!)
clapping on cue..constantly







Oh and real quick, I'd like to say a prayer for the families of those injured or killed in the Minneapolis bridge collapse today... take a moment out of your busy day and say a word or two...cause you never know.

-Ran out.

The longest weekend of my life

first...the video.





This Friday, San Diego, CA.

8:00pm

House of Blues, San Diego:

The Megas, Random and Quarter Circle Jab

FREE!


Also at the same time..

Bossfight and NerdyMag's "The Next Level" at the SD sports club...

YTC, Zealous1, Super Barrio Bros, Maja, IllGill and a bunch more..

and Random.


so while I'm at The HOB, my clone will be at the SDSC...or maybe the other way around.


nah, not really. I go on first (8:15) at the HOB, and I'll be at the Sports Club right afterwards...hopefully I can stick around to perform "Metalman" with The Megas, but I don't know...

one things for sure, should be a great night in San Diego.


Double dipping has never been this fun.
But the madness doesnt end there...cause then it's off to Comic-Con, for a 1-hour (!) set on Saturday.

Then an interview Saturday night, then off to LA.
in LA- Shows on Sunday, and Tuesday.

This will mark the single most times I've performed in a 4 day span in my life..I'm used to 1, maybe 2 shows in a week...but this is wild! but I welcome the challenge.

Hey...it's the grind.

gotta love it.
_________________









Random presents
"Mega Ran."
http://kunaki.com/sales.asp?PID=PX00T4AIJB

Join the Club.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/megaran

Interview with Capcom

I usually don't blog this much, but what can I say, there are some good things happening these days.

1st- peep the Mega Ran Intro Vid:


Hot on the heels of my last interview comes a great new interview with Scarlett of Capcom USA. if you don't know who Capcom is, they're the great folks responsible for some of the most memorable games of all time...


Street Fighter (Ha-dou-ken!)


Resident Evil...remember the big ol' Playstation game boxes, sheesh!

and my favorite...

Mega Man.

well, here it is!!

Hey Everyone it's almost time for Comic Con! And that being said, I HAVE to tell you about one of the coolest things we're going to have at the Capcom booth: a celebration of Mega Man's 20th Anniversary with a live performance by rapper Random (aka: Random Beats) performing his latest creation, Mega Ran!

"So what's Mega Ran?" I hear you ask. And I answer: only the coolest Mega Man music you've ever heard! Seriously, no joke. He took classic Mega Man themes and turned them into kick-butt tracks, complete with lyrics following Mega Man's adventures or in the words of someone like Mega Man. Old school Blue Bomber fans are gonna hear these classic themes and flip.

..

I was able to interview Random (or as the kids that he teaches know him, Raheem Jarbo), so you'll get a chance to meet the man before you see the magic live at Comic Con.

Scarlett: Where are you from?

Random: I'm from Philadelphia, born and raised. cue the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" music Just under a year ago, I decided to uproot and move to Phoenix for a teaching position, so here I am.

..

S:What made you decide to do this album?

R:As a huge videogame fan, and being a "random" guy, I one day was reading a website about Mega Man, and realized that 2007 made the 20th year anniversary of Mega Man's release, and went online searching for some of the old theme songs to hear them. Somewhere along the way I got a crazy idea to sample a tune and do one song about Mega Man. Then I had such a hard time picking a song, so "Mega Ran" was born!

S:When did you first play Mega Man and which game was it? 5th grade?

R:I don't want to show my age, but I may have to (laughs). Yeah, I believe it was the 4th or 5th grade when I played Mega Man for the first time. I had a subscription to Nintendo Power magazine, and Mega Man 2 was a cover story one issue, and it made me so excited about the game, that I went back and begged my mom to buy the first Mega Man. That was the most challenging game that I remember playing in those days, and so I was hooked. I even made up and drew my own Mega Man bosses in my sketch books in those days.....

read the rest here....and you know the drill, come on back and comment

Back West.

I had a GREAT time back east last week, and thanks to all of you who called, kept me company, or emailed me suggestions of stuff to do.

I'm a little jetlagged so I can't go into all of the high and lowlights of the trip, but here are a few:

I visited Yale University's campus (New Haven, CT) and I was blown away. a lot of history there...great food, nice people, and a lot of Hip-Hop fans....who are also broke college kids. Say what you want about the Ivy League, but they know how to get down.

I also met a lot of great folks, students, professors and teachers, who i hope to stay in contact with.

I took a trip to New York City and saw Raheem Devaughn at BB King's. Dude works hard...for the ladies. I could do without all the de-shirting, but I gotta admit, he's a great performer.


I came back last night and went right back to work.. dig it, got off the plane at 11:30 and performed at the Hidden House (great crowd BTW!) and sold a bunch of CDs and met more good peoples. Great to know that Hip-Hop lives, even out here in the desert.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need a nap.

Oh yeah, I haven't given out any free music in a while, so here goes,
Random- "Never Be The Same" Get it Here.
produced by DN3
foreword by Craig G (if you don't know, then you REALLY should do some research).

Get it Here.

enjoy it.


And if you've heard MEGA RAN , tell me your favorite cut so I can put it up on the player.


One last thing:

Are you going on a summer vacation? Did you go anywhere? I'm curious, so do share.

holla.

iThink iWon't get an iPhone

Why I'm not getting an iPhone.
Current mood: curious
Category: Web, HTML, Tech

its slick.
its sleek.
it's black.
its sexy.

NO, not me! the iPhone.

As the biggest techno-geek I know, I for one salivated when I saw the first video demos of the spiffy new iPhone. However, as an iPod and Sidekick owner, why on earth would I need this phone???

Here are just a few reasons I found.

At a glance, the device looks fantastic, features sound fun, and there's no doubt this phone is the "it" phone this year. But realistically, would you pay $500-$600 for any other phone? Like many of you, I'm still debating whether to buy an iPhone or not, so I found a list of reasons, and I'll give you my take on each.

* Price/Storage: Probably the biggest reason to wait is the price.The iPhone will retail in stores for $500 (4GB) and $600 (8GB) — AND you still have to sign a new two-year agreement. Don't expect this phone to replace your iPod either. The top-of-the-line $600, 8GB iPhone only holds 2,000 songs, and only a handful of videos and full-length movies. I also don't understand why you have to buy the iPhone at full price, and still sign a two-year contract. You could easily get a comparable phone actually running on a 3G network like a Treo 750 for $199 with a two-year contract, or an 80GB video iPod for almost half the price.

*iThink........right!!! in a year it'll be 1/2 the price. and what are the monthly charges? plus fees?? only 2000 songs? I live and breathe music! Nah. keep reading...

* Plans: What's really bothering me about this is AT&T is playing into all this hype too, forgetting about its customers. I called AT&T today to find out more details about switching carriers, and the rep was clueless. Come on guys, we needed pricing details about a month before the phone went on sale so we could estimate costs. Why is the company being so secretive? We know the phone is launching on Friday, and we know what it does. So why did it wait so long to reveal service plans? At least now we know getting an iPhone isn't going to be cheap. Chris Null outlined the cost of each service plan, the cheapest plan being $60/mo for 450 minutes. He says that in two years, you'll end up paying close to $2,000 for service alone. Plus there is that $36 activation fee, and a two-year contract on top of that. Those who already have an AT&T account can expect to pay an additional $20-$30 for the "iPhone plan" which includes Visual Voicemail, 200 SMS text messages, and unlimited data since there is no voice-only plan. And if you think you can get the iPhone to use without service, think again. Apple's web site says a two-year agreement is required for iPhone activation including iPod features.

*iThink........I already get unlimited text, internet and data on the Sidekick.. who cares about watching a dog on a skateboard on youtube on my phone??

* Network: Surprisingly, the iPhone does not run on a third-generation (3G) network, instead it runs on the slower EDGE network. Forbes thinks Apple opted for the slower network because AT&T's EDGE coverage spans across 13,000 cities and towns nationwide, compared with only 165 major U.S metro areas that have 3G coverage. It also brings up another excellent point. Since 3G devices are interchangeable between faster and slower networks, why did Apple still choose EDGE? Other AT&T smartphones like Samsung's BlackJack and Treo 750 run on 3G, and for what I understand AT&T is slowing moving away from EDGE. So perhaps a second- or third-generation iPhone will have 3G capability. And while the iPhone may have Wi-Fi capabilities, realistically, looking for a hotspot when you're out can be a challenge, unless you pay an extra $10 for T-Mobile access at Starbucks.

**iThink........this is the hardest one, because out here in AZ, my network sucks with T-Mobile. I don't know if I'm on the 3G, or the ZeroG out here, cause my signal sucks.

* First Generation: A geek's rule of thumb is to never get a first generation gadget. Apple is one of the few companies that revamps its products at such a quick pace, that in this case, they actually make it quite bearable to wait for the second revision. Look at all the improvements they've made on iPods and MacBooks. It may seem like waiting for a new iPhone will be an eternity, but I bet it'll be a matter of months before we see a better, faster version.

**iThink........ absolutely. the line to get it will be just as long as the line to return it. glitches are an absolute given.

* Long Lines: I love technology as much as the next guy, but no gadget is worth standing in line days in advance for, not even the iPhone. People have already started to line up, and some are even betting real money that someone will get trampled. I would add getting shot at, beaten, mugged, and possibly being hospitalized to the list.

**iThink........ I aint tryin to get shot over a phone!! and if i got robbed for my shiny new $600 phone, I think i'd sit right on the curb outside of the mall and cry.

On top of all the above reasons, there's still some doubts about about the lack of keyboard, inability to sync with corporate internal email systems, and battery life. So lets get this straight. We're expected to pay for an overpriced phone, an expensive service plan, sign a new two-year contract, and still wait in line hoping to get one? No thanks.

**iThink........ i've grown so accustomed to the QWERTY keyboard on the Sidekick, I dont think I can go back to texting the old way. Granted, it makes from better road-texting (which I DON'T DO...um yeah..and neither should you...shame on you), but still....you might be looking at the next ..

N-Gage. Remember that? exactly.


iThink iPods and Phones are meant to be separate. what happens when the phone rings, does the music just shut off? then resume when the call stops? too many questions.

Bottom line is, you don't need the iPhone...

But I think you knew that.

so in closing...if you get one, let me know so i can come over and play with it.


-Ran


PS:


Cop that Mega Ran, and help Ran get to L.A.!
iThink that's a good move. peace.

Mega Ran's Blog, 6.26

well, I gotta say, I didnt think it would happen

700 downloads in just a week's time. Thanks so much for the support!

and now its over...


but don't worry folks, you can STILL get the Mega Ran album if you missed it.

Just not from me.

I know its out there, so now it's time for you fans to show your faces and let someone hear it if they don't have it yet.

Don't forget if you have the bootleg version....then you're missing 3 songs, and exclusive artwork! and you're lame! :) well not really.

order it here while you can.
I'm only selling 100 of them, then that's it.

in other news..

just got the details from Capcom about my role in this year's COMIC CON event, and I'll be rocking for a solid hour, on the afternoon of Saturday, July 28th in San Diego.


Now if you know the album, The Mega Ran album itself isnt even an hour long, but don't worry, I'll rock some of my faves from "The Call," and even some surprises.


I've never been to SD before, so I'm looking forward to catching up with Shamu at SeaWorld, among other things.

California Here I come!

Mega Ran available NOW.

Here ya go guys and dolls... enjoy.


this is the DOWNLOAD VERSION, missing 3 tracks that can be found on the full length, with add'l artwork.


do me a favor and please read the 'please read' inside........



http://www.zshare.net/download/23333994e1a065/

Rate the album at IGN!
http://readerreviews.ign.com/rrobj/music/index/906079


holler!



RANDOM
"Mega Ran"
RandomBeats Music/ RAHM Nation Recordings, LLC
June 19, 2007
http://www.rahmnation.org
http://www.myspace.com/random215

AUDIO: "Grow Up" and "Final Battle" feat. Loose can be found in the Mega Ran Yahoo! Group.


Hip-Hop artist, producer and educator Random is set to release his newest project, the much talked-about "Mega Ran" on June 19. The humorous album is more of a side project, and a vast departure from Random's previous effort, the critically acclaimed "The Call," released in February 2006.

The "Mega Ran" concept is simple: Take the unforgettable 8-bit tunes of the classic video game series "Mega Man," sample them, and lay original rhymes on top, interweaving the Mega Man storyline and characters. With today's cutting edge hip-hop production techniques, Random and producers DN3, Samik, Domingo (Big Pun, KRS-ONE) turn these tunes into completely new headnod-inducing creations. The album has garnered attention from various media outlets, including IGN Music, Rawkus Records, Underground Hip-Hop.com, and even CBS News.

On "Mega Ran," the talented wordsmith brings his production skills to the forefront, producing 8 of the 15 tracks. Although Random is quick to point out that this is not his next studio album, "Mega Ran" continues to uphold the tradition of recent RAHM Nation releases, with slick production and sequencing by RAHM Nation in house producer and engineer DN3 behind the boards.

"Mega Ran" can best be compared to the work of MF Doom and Danger Mouse on their 2005 "Danger Doom" album, which went gold and was considered a huge underground and commercial success. "I even thought about wearing a big blue helmet at shows, but that'd be a little too much...plus my head's too big," Random says.

The first single, "Grow Up," has become a huge hit for Random, achieving close to 2000 plays and 300 downloads in just two weeks time. Fans were surprised by its alternative-rock feel, but impressed by its sharp, witty lyricism and undeniably catchy chorus.

Since his debut release "Fundamentals" in 2005, Random has burst to the top of Philadelphia's crowded underground hip-hop scene to become a fan favorite. His distinctive delivery, everyman persona and constant hard work has earned him credibility and respect from the city's toughest critics. OkayPlayer stated "This is an emcee who immediately proves his credibility with a nice voice and nicer flow." Gian Fiero, of the Muse's Muse, said of "The Call," "Over the years I've reviewed some good and some great Rap projects, but none have been as significant as this one."

As a teacher, Random prides himself on music that can be understood and related to by all walks of life, and that can be proudly introduced in a classroom setting. In addition to public schools all over America, "The Call" is being utilized in college coursework at Penn State, Temple, Virginia Tech and several other universities.

Random recently announced The Mega Ran Tour, on which he will hit cities from coast to coast, including a stop at this year's Comic-Con Festival in San Diego, CA before returning to Phoenix to begin the fall semester teaching at an area middle school.

Notes:

2007 marks the 20-year anniversary of the birth of the Mega Man franchise. The first Mega Man game released in December 1987 on the NES, and was praised for its colorful graphics and intuitive gameplay mechanics. more info is at www.capcom.com

Collaborators on the project include RAHM Nation producer DN3 (The Call, Rapademics), Domingo (Big Pun, KRS-ONE), videogame rock band The Megas, nerdrap sensation YTCracker, Problem Child, Samik (G-Unit and Ruff Ryders producer), and many more.
“Mega Ran” will release on June 19th, 2007 and will be a free download at www.randomsblogs.blogspot.com, www.myspace.com/random215, and www.rahmnation.org.

A CD version of the album with 3 bonus tracks and additional artwork will be available for purchase at midnight Eastern on June 19. Members of the Yahoo! Group get access to purchase links and free downloads days earlier.

Mega Ran Album releases Tuesday 6.19.07

RANDOM
"Mega Ran"
RandomBeats Music/ RAHM Nation Recordings, LLC
June 19, 2007
http://www.rahmnation.org
http://www.myspace.com/random215

AUDIO: "Grow Up" and "Final Battle" feat. Loose can be found in the Mega Ran Yahoo! Group.


Hip-Hop artist, producer and educator Random is set to release his newest project, the much talked-about "Mega Ran" on June 19. The humorous album is more of a side project, and a vast departure from Random's previous effort, the critically acclaimed "The Call," released in February 2006.

The "Mega Ran" concept is simple: Take the unforgettable 8-bit tunes of the classic video game series "Mega Man," sample them, and lay original rhymes on top, interweaving the Mega Man storyline and characters. With today's cutting edge hip-hop production techniques, Random and producers DN3, Samik, Domingo (Big Pun, KRS-ONE) turn these tunes into completely new headnod-inducing creations. The album has garnered attention from various media outlets, including IGN Music, Rawkus Records, Underground Hip-Hop.com, and even CBS News.

On "Mega Ran," the talented wordsmith brings his production skills to the forefront, producing 8 of the 15 tracks. Although Random is quick to point out that this is not his next studio album, "Mega Ran" continues to uphold the tradition of recent RAHM Nation releases, with slick production and sequencing by RAHM Nation in house producer and engineer DN3 behind the boards.

"Mega Ran" can best be compared to the work of MF Doom and Danger Mouse on their 2005 "Danger Doom" album, which went gold and was considered a huge underground and commercial success. "I even thought about wearing a big blue helmet at shows, but that'd be a little too much...plus my head's too big," Random says.

The first single, "Grow Up," has become a huge hit for Random, achieving close to 2000 plays and 300 downloads in just two weeks time. Fans were surprised by its alternative-rock feel, but impressed by its sharp, witty lyricism and undeniably catchy chorus.

Since his debut release "Fundamentals" in 2005, Random has burst to the top of Philadelphia's crowded underground hip-hop scene to become a fan favorite. His distinctive delivery, everyman persona and constant hard work has earned him credibility and respect from the city's toughest critics. OkayPlayer stated "This is an emcee who immediately proves his credibility with a nice voice and nicer flow." Gian Fiero, of the Muse's Muse, said of "The Call," "Over the years I've reviewed some good and some great Rap projects, but none have been as significant as this one."

As a teacher, Random prides himself on music that can be understood and related to by all walks of life, and that can be proudly introduced in a classroom setting. In addition to public schools all over America, "The Call" is being utilized in college coursework at Penn State, Temple, Virginia Tech and several other universities.

Random recently announced The Mega Ran Tour, on which he will hit cities from coast to coast, including a stop at this year's Comic-Con Festival in San Diego, CA before returning to Phoenix to begin the fall semester teaching at an area middle school.

Notes:

2007 marks the 20-year anniversary of the birth of the Mega Man franchise. The first Mega Man game released in December 1987 on the NES, and was praised for its colorful graphics and intuitive gameplay mechanics. more info is at www.capcom.com

Collaborators on the project include RAHM Nation producer DN3 (The Call, Rapademics), Domingo (Big Pun, KRS-ONE), videogame rock band The Megas, nerdrap sensation YTCracker, Problem Child, Samik (G-Unit and Ruff Ryders producer), and many more.

“Mega Ran” will release on June 19^th, 2007 and will be a free download at www.randomsblogs.blogspot.com, www.myspace.com/random215, and www.rahmnation.org.

A CD version of the album with 3 bonus tracks and additional artwork will be available for purchase at midnight Eastern on June 19. Members of the Yahoo! Group get access to purchase links and free downloads days earlier.

Random Beats' Fast Break

*the title is derived from an old NES game, "Magic Johnson's Fast Break.*


tomorrow comes the time to Break the Fast.

I was really missing my eggs.

but yeah, thanks to all of you who offered your words of encouragement, and all of you who said "couldn't be me, you got that, dog!"

I think I needed it, and its really helped me to get my head, heart and soul in place.

Meanwhile, in other news, I noticed that the news of my new release is traveling quite quickly..ah, the internet...one minute it can totally make you lose faith in all humankind , next minute, its a blessing. but if you're keeping score, they've profiled it on Complex Magazine's site, IGN Music and many more... let's keep it coming!

I've done a couple of interviews about the project that should be surfacing soon, be on the lookout. I'm not gonna blog about an interview, I save these for REAL news, like this...

This weekend, with me all in Mega Man mode, I decided to try to find the Mega Man Anniversary Collection for Xbox, cause I really wanted to play it. eBay had a ton, but I'm on punishment from using eBay (I got a little addicted and cancelled my account)...plus I didnt wanna wait for it. So I decide to search on GameStop's site. They say that there's one store in a 30 mile radius with the game. so I race to the place, cause they close at 9 (it's 8:25 when I found out).

I get to the door at 9:01, and I call, and plead and beg, like a crackhead who just needs that free hit...

to no avail. "I'm sorry, we open at 10AM."

"Man, I need Mega Man NOW! you expect me to drive all the way back here at 10AM with gas being over $3.00 a gallon?

I must be a fool!"

So, at 10AM, I drive all the way back there with gas being over $3.00 a gallon.

I must be a fool.

But, I got my Mega Man.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a date with Dr. Wily.

oh, I haven't given out a free track in a while, so here goes....
in the spirit of crackhead-like feenin:'

Ultimate High (2007 exclusive) Produced by Markus
check him out, he got heat. myspace.com/markusmusick

this is monumental, because its the first and last time I'll ever mention MySpace in a song.

Have a great week.
-Ran

and the MEGA RAN tour is booking now!!!! get at myself or info@rahmnation.org to book the man.

Mega Ran, it's official.

Hip-Hop artist, producer and educator Random is preparing his latest release, the theme project “Mega Ran.” This album will contain samples of music from the Capcom Mega Man video games from the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) console, and is the first project of its kind from a Hip-Hop artist.

“I just wanted to do something different, so far away from what I had done in the past. Mega Man was my favorite game series ever, and I’ve always loved the music, I still hum it to this day. I decided to step into the Mega Man character. It’s pretty funny, silly, and entertaining, but it’s good music. Fans of the videogame series will enjoy it.”

2007 marks the 20-year anniversary of the birth of the Mega Man franchise. The first Mega Man game released in December 1987 on the NES, and was praised for its colorful graphics and intuitive gameplay mechanics. Mega Man has quite the following, and Random knows he can’t let the fans down.

“It’s gonna be a wild ride...The music on it is really diverse. Fans of every musical genre will be able to vibe with it...Hip-Hop, Rock, Reggae, you name it.” Collaborators on the project include RAHM Nation producer DN3 (The Call, Rapademics), Domingo (Big Pun, KRS-ONE), videogame rock band The Megas, nerdrap sensation YTCracker, Problem Child, Samik (G-Unit and Ruff Ryders producer), and many more.

“Mega Ran” will release on June 19^th, 2007 and will be a free download at www.randomsblogs.blogspot.com, www.myspace.com/bigran215, and www.rahmnation.org. Thinking outside the box isn’t new to Random, who is also an innovative middle school teacher in Phoenix. He released his last album, “The Call,” on RAHM Nation Recordings in 2006 to critical acclaim, selling over 8000 copies and being named one of the best of the year by several sources. It was followed up by “The Call: The ReMixTape,” featuring remixes and new tracks. More info can be found at www.rahmnation.org.

The MEGA RAN tour is also shaping up, this is what it's looking like so far...

Jun 1 2007 Studeo Tad Phoenix, Arizona

Jun 8 2007 LIVE Interview w/theawfulshow.com

Jun 19 2007 Release date

Jun 23 2007 The Underground Phila, PA

Jun 28 2007 Swifts Mesa, Arizona

Jun 29 2007 Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona

Jul 26 2007 SD Sports Club San Diego, California

Jul 31 2007 Knitting Factory Los Angeles, California

Aug 25 2007 Tim and Terry's Gainesville, Florida

Sep 22 2007 Humboldt State University Arcata, California

Sep 23 2007 Humboldt State University Arcata, California

I'm fasting this week.

Fresh off "the crossroads," I've now decided that it's best for me to fast this week to clear my head. I don't know if its a midlife crisis or what, but I'm at the point where I really need to clear my head, as well as cleanse my soul. I have some very important decisions to make in the coming weeks, and I think I need to be right mentally and spiritually before I make them. so, the fast begins....

I really could use your thoughts and prayers right now to help me through this, cause if there's one thing I love, it's food

I'm approximately 7 hours in, so far so good..just been drinking water and running to the bathroom between classes.

so Imma be strong, but I can't do it alone.

I leave you with some words on why folks fast. Peace!

In a spiritual setting the emphasis is often on the denial of the self and the carnal desires to allow us to become more sensitive to God. Food is man's greatest carnal impulse. Many believe that sex is the strongest fleshly drive, but it is not. We may think ego is the strongest of the fleshly impulses, but it is not. From the day we are born, the desire for food reigns dominant.

As newborn infants we first seek the love, comfort and warmth of our mothers, then we cry for food. The sex drive does not develop until the onset of puberty, our teenage years. Sex is the last drive to arrive and the first one to leave. The food drive is present from the beginning to the end, it never leaves, it never disappears. The latest U.S. government study shows that over 60% of all Americans are overweight.

We eat too much. Gluttony, the lack of discipline of the appetite, causes us to look old prematurely, to feel old before we get old and to suffer many different diseases.

All the major killer diseases of today, heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, kidney failure, prematurely kill the majority of Americans and their sources are traceable to our lifestyles and diets. Science has found that it's just as important that we don't overeat, as it is that we eat properly.

Let me repeat that - studies have found that it's as important that we not eat to excess, as it is that we eat properly.

Fasting allows us to gain control of the appetite. When you can develop the discipline to fast, you automatically develop the discipline not to overeat. When you can control your strongest carnal appetite (the desire for food), you can then gain control of the other carnal appetites.

There are many different spiritual reasons why people or groups fast. Sometimes it is to show unity for a cause such as a fast against war, or injustice, or a host of other social ills. Fasting in a group allows you to achieve something that you would never achieve on your own. You can draw on the strength, the determination, the support, and the prayers of the group. Some fast at preset intervals, once per week, once per month, one month per year, etc. Some fast when the social or spiritual need arises. Some fast because the minister said so.

There are many different reasons to fast.

It is important to remember when you fast for spiritual reasons:

FASTING DOES NOT CHANGE GOD!
FASTING CHANGES YOU!

numb3rs, by Ran

some numbers for you to digest...


10 more weeks until the release of my next album. (there is a clue included in this blog somewhere)

8 more weeks of school.

8 days until the end of the NBA Season.

7 days until the release of Year Zero by Nine Inch Nails.

also, 7 days til April 17, the last day to file your taxes.

6 days until 145 years to the day that Abraham Lincoln signed an act abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia.

5 number of spam comments I get on average per day. I DON'T CARE who's spying on me, I DON'T want your free iPhone, and I DON'T CARE about your show that's 1000000000000000000000000000000 miles away, and you're darn right SIZE MATTERS!

4 albums in my rotation right now: Che Grand's Fixtape, K-Os' Atlantis, Redman's Red Gone Wild, and some cuts from my new jawn.

3 GB. the size of my iPod Nano. What was I thinking?? this can't even hold 1/4 of the songs I have on my computer... selling on Craigslist as we speak.

2 weeks suspension recieved by Don Imus after racist and sexist comments on Rutgers' female basketball team. (about a lifetime short if you ask me)

1 day since a new mode was added to online play in GEARS OF WAR-- Annex!! (Halo Players--it's like Crazy King of the Hill.). sweet!

0- Executions in AZ since 2000, until next week:
Now 50, Robert Comer was convicted in 1988 of killing a fellow Apache Lake camper during a 1987 crime spree during which he also raped another camper after tying up her boyfriend. Besides the first-degree murder and armed robbery conviction for the shooting death of Larry Pritchard, Comer also was convicted in Maricopa County Superior Court of sexual assault, armed robbery, kidnapping and aggravated assault for the attacks on the female camper and her boyfriend.


and in the spirit of numbers, here's an oldie but goodie for you to digest while you wait for the newness...


Numbers Game- Random featuring JonBap (2005)

Thanks for playing!!

What is SNOCAP??

I'm not even 100% sure, but now my tracks from "The Call" are on it. check the link out:



bear in mind though, that there's some other band named Random out there... and right now, their music is in my Snocap player... you'll know which ones arent me, cause they stink! ha.. joke... love you guys.


peace.

The life of a teacher/MC

well, I must say I'm about at the peak of frustration with my job, but the only thing holding me together is music. I'm working on this new project, pretty dope I might add, meeting some great folks out here in Phoenix, but the job, as I feared, is not quite all its cracked up to be. I know I came here for a reason, and now I'm realizing that it might not be to teach. But who knows...still early in the game (I've been here 7 mos now), but I didnt think it'd be this rough still.


I miss Philly...except when I read about the 100+ murders going on out there. I'll be back in June.

Back to writing.

My new album

I got it! my next album! for a long time I had no clue what my next project would be, and I didn't want to rush or force anything. It had to feel right. It had to BE right.

Well, it's right.

I'm pretty tightlipped about my next project for a few reasons, mainly because I just want it to be a surprise. I'll probably drop a few clues here and there in future blogs. but what I CAN share is:

a) it's going to release in June.

b) it's a theme project, dedicated to a HUGELY influential event that occured exactly 20 years ago that changed my life.

and c) it's going to be a FREE Download. free for all!!

so, sit tight and bear with me!

more details to come........

Ran, the Rapping....Coach?

The fun just doesn't stop. I don't know how, but I managed to convince my school's athletic coordinator to let me coach 8th grade basketball. This should be fun! now I KNOW they make a "Coaching for Dummies" book, don't they? All I remember from my last coach was "Shut up! I Run this!" and that was middle school. This will be the experience to top em all. Watch out now!!

but seriously, if anyone's got any tips on coaching to offer me, I'm all ears. I don't want y'all reading about me going Bobby Knight on anybody's kid.

(look him up on wikipedia.org, they got everything)

One of my students...shot.

Today I heard that one of my students was shot over the break.

a 12-year old boy. Shot. While PLAYING SOCCER.

in PHOENIX, not Philly.

As much as we talk about kids not doing right and being worse than ever, this kid was doing the right thing, and his father was there watching him.

Some fool decided to ride by the soccer field and let off a few shots.

They hit a 12-year old boy in the shoulder and jaw.

Thank God he's recovering well.


This is kinda crazy to me, because I'm thinking I escaped all the crime and madness of Philly out here. Just goes to show, stuff happens EVERYWHERE. I know y'all aren't as naive as me, and don't need something like this to wake y'all up...

but just in case.

This stuff has got to stop.

"The Making of THE CALL" parts 1 and 2. (from myspace 10-10)

The Making of "The Call"
Current mood: pleased
Category: Music

one of my favorite sections in The Source (When I used to read it) was the part where they'd get an artist to break down their album, track by track, and explain the concept, a cute story behind it, or whatever. So I always said I would do that. This'll take a while because there's 20 tracks on "The Call," so I'll do 3 or 4 each time I have the time to do it... so here we go!

Introduction prod by Random and DN3
I wanted an intro with a rap in it. I knew that from the beginning. I was thinking about Common's intro for "One Day It'll All Make Sense" (was that the intro or track 2?), so I wanted to sum up the album in one shot. First time I recorded it, I recorded it on a totally different track, much slower. Then one day, DN3 played me a joint called "Satisfaction," and I needed that. My only gripe was that it didn't have a bassline. a reviewer said it was worthy of being a full song, it was so hot (so for the remixtape, it'll have a bassline and an additional verse, pleasing him and myself at the same time...that's "Satisfaction"). The beginning 8 bars are from a beat I made in like 2003, the sample is from "Travelin' Man," and it says "Just Call," so I thought it would fit. I found a poem online called "Heed The Call," written by a guy (so sorry I forgot your name!!) and I contacted him about reciting it on the album and he was excited. I thought Oh!Mega had the perfect voice to get across the message of the poem, heeding the call.

The Opening Movement (Focused) prod. DN3
They always say (and I dont know who "they" are) that somewhere near the beginning of the album, you should have a track that hits the listener, makes them want to bob their head..a track stating who you are... all of the greats, from KRS to Rakim to Redman to Jay-Z do it. This was that track for me. Everytime I go to DN3's house I say "So wassup?" and he knows what that means: break out the beats. So he said, "I just finished this joint." and WOW! I was on it instantly. I had 1 1/2 verses written to a 'skill joint' as we call them (a rap not really about anything, just braggadocio), but didn't have a beat in mind. I spit them over that track and it was a match made in heaven. This was recorded about mid-'05, and I say in the song "'05, RAHM Nation brought the thirst back," and planned on updating it....Unfortunately, not long after recording this track, DN3 suffered what we refer to as "The Great Crash of '05." He lost a most of his files on his hard drive, including beats, and about 55% of "The Call." The Opening Movement's master files were gone. DN3 was considering quitting music altogether.
I wasn't having that!
All we had was an MP3 of it, and that's what went on the album. DN3 put it in some mastering software program, jazzed it up... and voila!

Raze The Bar prod Samik
This is my favorite story to tell. I met Samik when I was engineering at a studio outside of Philly, his studio was right across the way. this was about in 2002 or so. we heard eachother's beats, and a mutual respect was formed. I didn't know it then, but Samik's a pretty well connected cat. I didn't see him again till about 2004 at a club, and he passed me a demo cd of some of his artists. Nice stuff. So when 2005 hit and I began working on "The Call" I knew that I would call Samik for a banger. luckily his phone number was on the CD. I didn't know how to begin the conversation, I mean, "Hey, you probably don't remember me, but I'd like a beat" might not have worked well. I don't remember what was said to be honest, but I remember him asking me to come out to his crib to listen to some tracks. Let me set the scene.
It was a SUPER rainy day. his house is literally an hour from me, and I even had to get on the highway to get there. (come to think of it, it always rains when I go to his house....sign?) It's pouring, my old '89 Blazer (RIP) is struggling. I get lost. I get lost again. Finally we meet at a mutual location and I follow him for what seems like 30 more minutes. we get to the crib, and not long after, it stops raining. figures. I'm totally soaked. We get in and exchange ideas. he makes a drumbeat, I'm feeling it. I get hungry, so I make a run to Wendy's. I get some nuggets. I come back, and the track that we now know as "Raze The Bar" is done! amazed, I sit down and the lyrics just fly out of me. bam, 3 verses and a hook done in what seemed like 20 minutes. Still amazed, we lay the track down.
Then when I left Samik's crib, it started pouring again. I got lost, and my car runs out of gas right next to a gas station. What a day. What a song! The "Sick and Tireds" I do on the 3rd verse was an old idea from a song I had in about '99 called (surprise) "Sick and Tired." unfortunately, some of the things I said back then were still true today so I didnt have to change too much. and no, I wasn't dissing 50 Cent.

Still Ain't Good Enough prod Fingaz

Fingaz has been a good friend to me for quite some time. We kept each other focused with the music thing, through thick and thin. We'd encourage each other. I'd play him my newest beat CD, and he'd say "I gotta step my game up!" I'd do the same. He showed me how to use the MPC, so when I got my own, a few things came back to me from those lessons. Fingaz had been giving me CD's for weeks, and I had almost had the entire album mapped out, and there was no Fingaz beat on the itinerary. Then he gave me a CD with not one, but 2 heat rocks that I HAD to have. They were both supposed to make the album, one being "Still Ain't Good Enough" and the other being an early version of "Luminesence" that was to feature Baron of Red Clay (Baron, we gonna release that one day!) Anyway, the concept came to me immediately. The beat hit so hard, and had a bit of a bounce to it, so cats would be bobbin their head, and not even realize I was telling them something serious. I started the verse off super-fast, to grab the listener as well. I was pretty much speaking my mind on political affairs, and this wasn't long after Katrina, so they weren't gonna be positive. I mentioned Kanye's remark (the line goes "I ain't mad about Kanye's comments, I'm more mad they call Kanye conscious"). The reviewer at hiphoplinguistics.com made that verse a Quote of the Month, so I'm proud of that. I've heard it's ruffled some feathers, but it's cool. It's all true to me. The last verse is especially personal to me, as an educator. I spoke from the mind of the child that I'm trying to reach, who could care less about school, because he knew at a young age that the system is screwed up. ironically, this is my students' favorite song. When we play Uno, they'll say "You Still Ain't Good Enough" as their way of talking trash. and a remix is coming....

Tainted Love Part 1
I decided on the concept for this song while at Jury Duty. I was sitting in the waiting room, just waiting. I remember clearly, because I never write in pencil, and the super-tight security took everything from me before I came in to serve. so I had a pad with no pen, but they gave us these tiny, nubby pencils with no eraser. so it's the only song in my notebook that isn't written in pen. Every relationship has its ups and downs, so I look at them in stages. This is stage one, the honeymoon stage, aka the "First Month Front." I think we all know it well. This song is pretty lovey dovey, and most of my 'hard' homies skip this one on the album, even though it's only 1:30 long. The original was lost in "The Great Crash," but it was a cinch to rerecord, and we switched the beat at the last moment.

Motivate prod by me, add'l vocals Hope McDowell
This was the first and last song we recorded for the album. I took it for granted because I had recorded it earlier that year as soon as I finished "Fundamentals." However, the sound quality wasn't great, but Hope's vocals blew me away. Hope and I had recorded stuff together on the low level, but this was her first time in a major studio and she didn't dissapoint. 3 days before our deadline, I brought Hope into the new studio and we rerecorded the joint. Hope was sick with the flu, and drank tea inbetween recordings (Thanks Shorty!), but got it done like a soldier. I still think the original (bad quality) version is better, but the world will never know. Hope is extremely talented, with an amazing vocal range. I hope (no pun intended) to work with her again, but it may be tough on the long distance tip. To me, this song isn't a love song, but most think it is. It's more of a letter to those who keep me going in life, who stick by me. one of the few RandomBeats you'll hear on The Call.

The Art of War feat Ohene, prod Def Entertainment
I say it so much, that I get tired of hearing it. Ohene is the tightest lyricist and greatest mind in Hip-Hop. Its because of him that I even attempted this song. The beat is done in a different time signature than the normal song, it's a 3:4 time instead of a 4:4 time (think waltz). If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't feel bad...most producers or emcees have no clue what this is, and look puzzled when they hear of this being done in Hip Hop. Ohene was the first emcee I'd ever heard do this, so I had to have him on the track. The track is just so mean, and O commands your attention from the first 2 words. "What's Good?" it's crazy. His flow on the track is IN-SANE. I think I did OK, but honestly I rewind the track after his verse a lot. Part of the reason I made it so short was to hit em and be out. Its become a bit of an unofficial RAHM Nation trademark to rhyme in 3:4 time, started by Rapademics. I had plans to make an Art Of War series, with each part discussing another chapter of the book, but the Tainted Love series was already underway, I thought it might be confusing to have 2-3-part series' on 1 album. maybe the next one will...sidebar: We've tried to remix this one, and no producer knows how to do it!! Def Entertainment, where are thou??

If I Wait featuring Hasan Salaam and Majesty prod DN3
This is another one that I knew what I was gonna do and how, before I laid it down. I met Hasan and Majesty during a New York trip with the Grassroots Artist MovEment (GAME). I also met Immortal Technique, Red Clay, Ravage, and a bunch of other super creative, positive minds. We all met up and rode a bus to Albany for a show, freestyling and listening to eachothers beats the whole way. This trip changed my outlook on music FOREVER. Seeing this many revolutionary minds on one bus let me know that Hip-Hop wasn't dead. I was totally inspired and came back to Philly and got working on "Archetype", and all the while laying the foundation for "The Call." Prior to this I was recording music that wasn't me: it was watered down, it was commercial, it was forced. It was on this trip that I found my identity as an MC. No one around me at that time was doing revolutionary music, so I found myself doing "What They Do" as the Roots put it. But to be surrounded by 30-40 people who were all about the music, that affected me.
Anyway, the song is saying that I can't wait another minute to fight for change, to speak up, because it might be too late. Ohene told me he reverts to the last bar of my verse "You can't say nobody ever told you the truth" all the time when referring to his music. When it's all said and done, everybody will be able to look back to some point in their lives, when they heard the truth...did they choose to accept it or reject it? The beat is another banger by DN3, and many folks say this is the best song on the album.

On The Grind prod Ohene, add'l vocals Nasheda Shockley
This is my soul right here, probably my favorite track. 2 years back, I was working on a song for a mixtape I never released, and one of the bars of that, "Momma told me I was wastin' my time, all that did was make me stay on the grind," became the hook of this song. It's the truest thing I ever said. My mom doesn't support me doing music AT ALL, I don't even think she's listened to my album. She's always encouraged education, because its one thing that can't be taken away from you. It's hard to convince her that I don't make music to be rich and famous, that I'm not chasing some unrealistic dream, I'm just doing it because I love it, and people have told me I'm pretty good at it. I have a message in the music that I think needs to be heard. I go off on a few tangents, but bring it right back home by the end. Its about the constant hustle of an indie artist: the love, the hate, the phonyness, the struggle. I'm still on the grind.

Tainted Love part 2
2Faced Beats is a producer from the UK. He's from the 9th Wonder school of beatmaking, which is cool. He makes real soulful pieces with big drums. This was totally perfect for TL2, in fact, I think I wrote part 2 before any other part..this is my favorite stage of the relationship, where things are in full swing, but something's not right.. she's got some bad habits that are starting to annoy you, this is getting out of control, we better fall back and evaluate this before it gets worse. Another beat that a lot of folks tell me is the highlight of the album.

Don't Let Me Die feat Hezekiah, prod Problem Child
This was PC's first production that I had ever rapped on. The original beat that I (and Hez) wrote to was also Problem Child's, but he lost the files for that beat, plus he thought the sample could get us in some trouble, so he didn't feel comfortable with using it on the project. I met Hez in kind of a weird way, Lefty and I were recording with Mike Lowe (did most of OC's "Smoke and Mirrors" and some work with CL Smooth) and Hez was there before we got there, listening to my beat that was blasting out of the stereo, bobbing his head. "That's you?" he asked. He had introduced himself, but honestly, I hadn't put 2 and 2 together that he was THAT Hezekiah, that had worked with The Roots, Jaguar, Musiq...pretty much any Neo Soul that came out of Philly. Anyway, I gave him a beat cd with all of my final beats on them, and he heard PC's track and called me with a hook the same day. It was hot, so we got to work. Honestly, I like the original track better on it, but PC worked really hard and made a lot of things happen to make that track fit the song well. He put a weird effect on it, which made the song sound like it was live in a smoky jazz club...different, but I liked it. He even got a real bass and harmonica player to lay down riffs on the track. I think Problem Child has the skills to be the future of Hip-Hop. His beats are really on another level.

Prayer prod by me, keys by Ohene
They (and again, I don't know who they are) say that the producer is the person who lays the idea down, so that's why I get production credit for this one. I just asked O to give me something to speak my piece on. This prayer was adapted from one that I read and recited, so I thought that it would fit well. Plus I needed something slow to lead into the next cut....

Blackout prod by Peru
I met Peru through my lil' homie Chizz, and he had some heat. He apparently is in some litigation war trying to prove that some cat who produced a track for Marques Houston stole his beat, so I wish him luck with that. He let me hear some tracks and he had a good 2 or 3 that I really liked. He was cool enough to pass them off, and he was particularly excited about the beat for "Blackout." I think he named it "Luda." Probably like me he names the track based on who he could hear on it. It was straight club, uptempo. I usually think of either the hook or the first few bars to a beat as soon as I hear it if I like it. I thought of both. I had the hook and the first 4 bars in my head from that moment. I laid that track down for "Archetype" in about '03. I was almost done "The Call" and Ohene asked me, "What's up with that 'BlackOut jawn?? You gotta put it on there!" Now looking back, he probably only said that cause I shouted him out on it ("I ain't heard nothin hot since Rapademics dropped"). everyone that hears it says "I could hear that on the radio today," and that was the point. I wanted something that would catch the ear of the ClearChannel generation, and still allow me to keep my identity. I still end off every set with it, and it still gets the club hype.

Push prod by Problem Child
Again, PC came through with a smash. This is probably my second favorite cut, and probably should've been the 2nd single. I heard it and wrote instantly. PC is such a perfectionist, he sent me 10000 remixes for the track when I told him I wanted to use it. But I'm stuck in my ways when it comes to music, and I wanted it as is. He even sent me a version with a verse in it, trying to weasel his way onto the album :) nah, I'm just kidding, but I had to stick with the original. I had a funky idea for the 3rd verse, something that hadn't been done before: to use a saxophone AS the 3rd verse. I met Frank Machos on myspace, and he was down for the cause. Strangely enough, I had met him before at my Fundamentals release party, but didn't know it. There were a lot of strange coincidences that made this album come together, that's what makes it so special. Samik (prod of "Raze The Bar") says this is the best beat on the album, it just might be.


Salvation feat Wordsworth, prod DN3
This was the absolute hardest song I've ever recorded. The song took about 2 months to complete. DN3 flipped the Commodores "Zoom" track, one of my favorite songs of all time. once I heard it, I was sure I wanted to use it. I also was sure that I wanted Wordsworth on the song. I had just gotten finished listening to his Mirror Music album and I was so impressed, it was so honest, so vivid, pretty much something like what I wanted to create. i decided to call up his management and get it in motion, and this was way before the song was created. all I had was a 1:30 snippet of the beat. I sent it to Words and he wrote his verse, recorded and sent it back the very next day. Dude's about his business. I didn't have verse, or hook the 1st at that time. I knew I needed a male singer for the track, so I auditioned about 5 singers for the hook, and none worked out, till I came across 2 guys, Nadir from Detroit, and Ron Damian from Havertown, PA. I liked what they both did so I used parts of both of their vocals to create the hook, then I wrote the verses. I rewrote my verses about 3 times, real rap. I was kinda shook sharing track space with Words, he's a super-tight lyricist. Neither Words, myself, Nadir or Ron were in the same room when anything was recorded, so it was up to DN3 to mix everything and make it sound good, not an easy task.He must've told me 50 times, "This ain't gonna work, man." It was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. Then we finished it, and it sounds darn good, I think. This is another of my favorites, mainly because of the effort it took to make it happen. My man JonBap told me that the verses on "Salvation" were my best on the album, and I respect his opinion a lot.