people shrink as they do from that
of sustained and consecutive thought.
It is the hardest work in the world.”
Wallace D. Wattles
When I first discovered the concept of a “godhead”, it felt like deja vu. I mean the whole idea seemed so strangely familiar to me that it baffled me. I even grew angry that all my education and learning had never revealed this truth to me. I hated all the adults who I thought knew this truth but conspired to keep it from me. For a while, I became very rebellious in giving up the world as I knew it to learn more about this “godhead”.
What is this “godhead” you ask? Well imagine if every decision you ever made in your life was the best and most efficient decision you could make. Imagine having the power to decide the best course of action to take and then doing so, no matter what situation you find yourself in life. For me, the “godhead” represents that creative force. The creative power we all posses and shape our world with is the “godhead”. We use it whether we’re aware of it or not. As we all know for now anyhow, everything we create as human beings is a product of thought. EVERYTHING!
It’s funny to me how we spend very little effort as a whole studying this fact about ourselves. For me, this is the singular most important pursuit of my life: to understand how I work as a human being. The only tool I have powerful enough to even attempt such a thing is thought, the mother creator. It’s been quite a journey, though I have a feeling I’m just scratching the surface.
I’ve been ridiculed, chastised, insulted and damn near ostracized by many I know and have known for my fanciful pursuits. I have been on this path for over a decade, neglecting everything else “a responsible adult” should consider important. For me, I’m more important than anything I could want or hope to achieve in life. Like I always say in rebuttal, “I can’t enjoy any of that without me”.
My goal is to transform myself at the very core of thought. I really believe that nothing happens to us that we don’t allow. What I mean is life happens, but that’s not what affects us. It’s how we respond to the happening that either makes us laugh or cry. Theoretically, knowing this should give us greater control over how we pilot our lives. But when you’re on autopilot and sleeping, you don’t see yourself headed into the storm that you created. It’s takes effort to keep reminding yourself of this fact and as Mr. Wattles rightly stated, “… it is the hardest work in the world”.
Sometimes you’re up, and other times you’re down. Personally I’m not a big fan of the swings. So I believe in maintaining a certain balance that renders one unmovable by the swings. Sometimes, we forget and need some kind of a reminder. Today was one of those such days for me.
Thankfully, I was able to catch my self slip into the downswing, thinking thoughts I know very well to be harmful. I decided to work on some music to clear my mind. I came across a poem/rhyme (you can find it after my rant) I’d written to remind me to remain motivated at all times.
Reading it made me remember to reaffirm my belief in myself. Sometimes you have to say it out loud so your outside ears hear it.
Here’s the poem/rhyme:
Unbreakable McCoy
I’m gettin’ pummeled
Still I give it my all
My vision tunnels
When my back’s to the wall
I smile through it all
Still refusing to fall
Poze is totally narly
So hard to alarm me
Demeanor is charming
I keep the snakes all dancing
And the chicks all asking
How you stay so handsome?
I tell them I’m lucky
So no stress can touch me
No really I’m lucky
I’ve got angels to back me
Call me Charlie McCoy
Hot shot McCoy
Lucky Logan’s on point
Sharp dart McCoy
Another breed of boy
Can’t read him he’s coy
So that’s the reason
I believe in Logan P. McCoy
A fews days ago, I did my first interview in years for a blog called Whoneedsagenre.com. I have reposted the article here in it’s entirety. Check it out.
————————————————————————————————————————————————-
I had the pleasure of sitting down with Lucky Logan for an interview. We discussed “Reincarnation of Cool,” which is out now on iTunes, his place in Hip Hop, life without a dad, and the Illuminati (at least I tried to lol). I have to say, very thoughtful guy that Lucky Logan!
Enjoy!
Who Needs a Genre: Hello Lucky Logan! Before I get into the questions, I just want to thank you for taking the time out of your busy day for this interview. Also, congrats on the album, its DOPE! The production is AMAZING! It’s very different and I want to thank you for being different as well. If I hear another hip hop song about “swag” or blowing down pounds of weed, I may denounce the art form lol.
Lucky Logan: Thank you! I appreciate your kind words.
Who Needs a Genre: Seriously though, what inspires you to rap the way you do? Hip hop these days seems to be based on either shock value or pure materialism. Look at Lil B with his “I’m Gay” album, its obvious he was going the shock value route. What keeps you away from the gimmicks? I’m starting to think that Lil Wayne wearing those leggings at the VMA’s was a great example of a gimmick to get album sales as opposed to an artist being truly himself.
Lucky Logan: To be very honest with you, I think hip hop has always been the way it is. The only difference today is mainstream attention is on just one kind of hip hop. In the golden days of hip hop, there was more diversity in the different styles of hip hop you heard on the radio for example. The different niches of hip hop had a more level playing field than today. When the business of hip hop realized that it could be more lucrative selling what we see today, diversity was killed. Those niches still exist, but on the fringes of mainstream attention. So to answer your question, I’m inspired to create art that I feel truly expresses me. A constituent of the hip hop generation, my medium happens to be rhythm and poetry, so my goal is to use the medium to the best of my creative abilities. I have to admit, I’ve done what might be considered gimmicks in my tenure as an artist, but as I mature in my art, I realize more and more that I really don’t need them as long as I remain honest and truly express who I think I am. There was a time in my life when I was very critical and judgmental of other artists, but as I mature as a person and an artist, I see more how fruitless and unbeneficial it is. I literally get nothing from it. So I have adopted this habit of learning something new from every expression I come across. I also understand that there is enough room in life for any and all expressions. I may not be a fan of a certain expression but I consider it a waste of my time to judge it. After all this capacity of expression is what makes us sentient beings.
Who Needs a Genre: On the title track, “Reincarnation of Cool” you define “cool” as being “how you see yourself…when you value life, you can know your rights, then you know your worth.” Can you explain this a little, what do you mean by “know your rights?” What brought you to this idea of cool? Often times in hip hop we see negative things as being “cool.”
Lucky Logan: ROC is a song I wrote for myself as a reminder, an affirmation. For a long time my friends told me I was a poet and not a rapper, but I kept insisting that I was a rapper. That really made me question what the difference was, thus questioning who I was. Then I started to realize that it was their acceptance of my art that I wanted. Hence, the gimmicks I mentioned before. I’d change my work attempting to please them, which seldom worked because what they liked wasn’t always what I liked. Over time, I came to accept the fact that I am a poet. I got to know myself even more through observation of my own expressions. I see what I do as art now and am after the purest expression of me. What I am is what I want to be, and I’m cool with that. Being yourself at all times and against all odds is cool.
Who Needs a Genre: I have to admit Logan, your album has thrown me into a world of thought. On “Sun of Man” I assume you are speaking of the sun. But the title “Sun Of Man” is very similar to the Christian idea of Jesus being the “Son Of Man.” What are you trying to say? What’s the connection, if any?
Lucky Logan: Thank you! The song is really about unconditional love. It’s about how we as humans can be so ungrateful as to take life for granted yet never really avail ourselves of its offerings. As ungrateful as we are, we are still given life, if that is not unconditional love, what is? The Sun Of Man is that thing within us giving us life. It is that thing inside the seed that makes it a tree. That thing has been there and always will be. Humor me, imagine if your child didn’t acknowledge you as existing, how hard would it be to keep loving him/her as if the love was reciprocated? The Sun Of Man seems to have no difficulty in this department, whether we acknowledge it or not, it still works on our behalf. Humans are still here and trees still grow. That’s unconditional love.
WNAG: One of my favorite songs on the album is “Calculated Fury.” It shows a more aggressive side of you. You seem like a pretty calm and introspective guy, what brought this side out? “My mind is faster than your bullet is, now matter how full your clipper is, listen, your clitoris.” I love that line.
LL: We all have an aggressive side to us whether we admit it or not. There is a time for peace and a time for war. There is a time for anger and a time for calm. This is the duality of life. The idea is to maintain equilibrium, remaining internally balanced through the peaks and dips of life. “Calculated Fury” represents essentially the mastering of anger as opposed to being mastered by anger.
WNAG: I too grew up with no father, for a long time I was angry at him. I feel like a lot of black men, men in general, have to deal with insecurities as a result of not having a proper male role model in the home. But you forgive your dad on “Forgive and Forget.” You said, “forgiving you I read is forgiving myself.” I paused the song at that point to think. What does that mean? Why do you have to forgive yourself? What did you do wrong? Your dad left you! You didn’t leave him.
LL: I’ve learned that emotions can really affect rational thought. What I mean is you’re right he wasn’t around not me. Let’s call that hurt number 1, which was painful enough. Being angry only makes me not feel good and leads to self destructive behavior, which is hurt number two. Hurt one, I had nothing to do with, that’s like an accident it happens. Like my man Drew says, put an H on your chest and handle it. Hurt number 2 now, I can do something about. The only way to not be angry is to forgive him, which is what I read. Forgiving him prevents hurt number 2 from growing and kills it while automatically pacifyies hurt number one. But in the throes of emotion, thinking goes out of the window and we hurt ourselves even more. Ending that vicious cycle for myself is what that songs represents.
WNAG: You don’t have too many features on the album, 1 singer, 1 female speaking the hook, and only 1 other rapper appears on the album. Don’t like sharing the stage? What made you decide to make this album mainly you?
LL: For years, I hid behind a lot of features and things of the sort. I really wasn’t as confident in my work as I am now. This album actually made me realize that. This is another phase of my development as an artist. To be able to express myself honestly without hiding was the objective in crafting Reincarnation Of Cool. There are still some reservations but they’ll get worked out on future projects as I get better acquainted with my audience.
WNAG: In your bio you write about a blogger telling you that your “music was too deep for Hip Hop” after which you curtly responded “so learn how to swim.” LOL I love that! Where does Lucky Logan fit in today’s world of hip hop?
LL: You know what’s funny, I don’t. Lucky Logan is in a class by himself.
WNAG: This has nothing to do with the album, but I’m just curious as to what you think about Lupe Fiasco’s efforts to “enlighten” people on the government. Did you hear how he called Obama a terrorist? Also, what do you think of the Illuminati in hip hop?
LL: Like I said earlier, we all have our expressions. Yes I heard it. There was a time when I would have criticized him. Not anymore. In fact, his voice has helped me gain confidence in expression of my point of view. If he can say what he’s saying as unabashedly and passionately as he is, I ask myself why can’t I be just as passionate in my expression? About your last question, to be honest with you I really don’t think about it.
WNAG: Are you familiar with Kellee Maize? I had the pleasure of interviewing her, she is a female MC who reminds me of you. You both have a very spiritual vibe. I asked her what her thoughts were on 2012, many people believe the world will end, I think that’s a very illogical belief. But what are your thoughts?
LL: Funny, believe it or not I read her interview on your blog (whoneedsagenre.com). She seems like a really cool person. Really, you think so? I see what you mean. To be honest, I don’t think about that either.
WNAG: Who does Lucky Logan listen to? Whats in your ipod?
LL: Me, I listen to all kinds of music, don’t forget I am also a producer. Lately I’ve been checking out Lana Del Rey. She’s really talented. For the most part I listen to a lot of music from Accapellas to Zydeco. I have three streaming services I subscribe to.
Once again, thank you for taking the time to sit and answer these questions. It was very informative, you’re definitely an artist to watch out for!
For More on Lucky Logan, visit his OFFICIAL WEBSITE
It seems to me, the music business has come to focus solely on fast food music, in an attempt to reap a fatter bottom line. Consumers aren’t stupid, they know the difference between haute cuisine and fast food. Asking them to pay haute cuisine prices for a burger, fries and a soda is a slap in the face. Their revolt came in the form of theft, leading to the creation and propagation of technology to facilitate this process. The industry not sensitive to the real issue, fought back aggressively thereby further straining this already frail relationship. Now in an attempt to solve the problem, the industry looks to technology as the ultimate savior, plotting day and night to figure out how to captivate human hearts and minds. That’s what music is supposed to do right? Sorry to say folks, analytics and widgets won’t fix this troubled marriage. Until you fix it, you might be looking at a messy divorce.
The real bottom line is music is just as essential to our well being as food is. Eating is an experience, just as listening to music is. Once upon a time, all we had was home cooking. With the advent of technology, we now have “TV dinners”. There’s no doubt that “TV dinners” are convenient and quick, but would you pass up the opportunity for your favorite home cooked meal for a “TV dinner”?. The point I’m making is, the sheer quality of a good home cooked meal makes it valuable. The value in a fresh good home cooked meal, will far outweigh the value of the best frozen “TV dinner” on the market. Don’t get me wrong, you can sustain yourself on either home cooking or “TV dinners” for a very long time. The latter however, doesn’t offer the same sensory experience or nutritional value as the former.
The industry’s job historically has been to nurture good artists, grooming them into great artists who would grow and develop with their respective audiences, losing and gaining some along the way. It’s this relationship between artist and audience that was fostered by the labels. For this, the audiences gladly compensated the artists first and then the labels for bridging this gap. However, with the advent of the hit record and the corporatization of the labels, this practice was sacrificed for the sake of meeting quarterly projections. These days what the labels do would be akin to the NBA recruiting a bunch of high school kids, not training (to save money) and then sending them out to play. How many tickets do you think they’d sell? That’s exactly what the music business has done. Without any real loyalties being established between artists and consumers, consumers just blow in the wind.
Business is about human interaction. Music is the universal language. The music business, one would think would be the most adept at understanding human beings and the dynamics of human interaction, or at least make the attempt to do so. Just knowing the target demographic as a cold calculated number as opposed to a group of living breathing human beings dictates how one treats said demographic. Understanding the needs of the consumer and serving that need well is the basis of a successful business. How well the need is served determines how successful a business becomes. Engaging consumers in meaningful conversations and listening is vital to building a relationship. Servicing the consumer as needed strengthens the relationship. The more this cycle is completed successfully, the stronger the relationship. Brand loyalty soon follows, after which, your audience become brand evangelists.
The question should then be, how do we use technology to foster stronger relationships? How do we use technology to enhance the music listening experience? What new technology will actually enhance the experience and interaction with music? Music should be at the forefront of the conversation, not the means of delivery and how to monetize it.
Passion and Necessity are the parents of invention. All the great music and the tools we have today for making music are a result of the passionate individuals who have shared a common love for music itself and were thus, compelled by the need to improve and share the experience of music. Developing a sincere love for music again, not the bottom line, but the music itself will save the industry.
My mother always tells me, “all things are subject to change”. There are many ways to look at that statement. Over the years, I’ve noticed that my interpretation of this very simple phrase has had many incarnations. I’m sure what it means to me now will change again. Perhaps!
Thought is the great instigator of change, whether conscious or unconscious. Thought comes before action and as such all actions can be controlled through thought. Like all skills, thought control requires commitment and consistent practice to achieve great command.
The point I am making is that, things really change to fit our perceptions of them. Our changing perspectives are the real agents of change in the world. Case in point, you meet someone, you think you hate ‘em. Somehow you get to know them and then become friends. Did they change, or did you change your perspective on them. Or both? This is perspective adjustment.
Another example, you’ve always been skinny. You are tired of being skinny so you decide to change your self image. You start lifting weights. You’re body responds and you start to look more and more muscular like you envisioned yourself. Had your self image not changed from skinny to muscular within yourself, would you have bothered even lifting a finger? This is perspective adjustment.
I’m starting to realize that perspective adjustment is a lifestyle choice that fosters emotional and mental fitness just as physical exercise does the body. A never-ending process like working out, it should ideally never end as long as one is alive. Fitness is not an end but a process and must be maintained and improved upon. As you change, your goals change and so on and so forth. “All things are subject to change”.
Think about it!
Starting out a sketch and ending up a shirt, this video depicts the talent of a very prolific French visual artist by the name of Lexus Franck Icepik. This is the second shirt he’s done and indeed this gentleman is truly gifted.
Logan P. McCoy – Power Of Suggestion (2004)
Lucky&Sdaerd – The Underground Album (2004)
The album that never was… or might become, who knows!
This is the first song I am posting from the forthcoming 888. It’s called “Tyrone’s Letter”. Enjoy!
I just found this track two days ago on one of my old hard drives. In keeping with my purging process, I thought it fitting to bring this track to light. Perhaps six years old or older, it speaks to the global phenomenon that Hip Hop has become. An Italian MC, I met Marya Mc through a mutual friend by the name of Farid G. We did this track, which completely got buried. Consider this a resurrection.
Logan P. McCoy – Original Sketch By Orin-Rodrick Perry
I get on the southbound number six train at 59th street today to head back to Brooklyn. It’s about 1:31 am on the 11th day of July, 2011. The train is littered with a handful of passengers, some dozing off, while others wearing the worn look of the day’s toil patiently wait for their designated stops. As I join the few straphangers to take a seat, I see a familiar face animated and jubilantly sharing his creative talent with those around him.
Making my way towards him to formally greet him, I see what has the riders so excited. Apparently, Orin with a sketch pad and a marker in hand is doing random rough sketches of the people on the train. The man I sit next to shows me the piece Orin had sketched of him just a few minutes earlier. Bearing such a striking resemblance to the man, I am amazed at his ability. As I greet him, he motions me to take the empty seat across from him and soon after begins moving his marker across the pad with awe inspiring frantic speed. By the time we reach 42nd street which is two stops away, Orin hands me the sketch above.
Orin, thank you. I do appreciate the gift.
