JONNY EMPIRE "THE KID"

July 9, 2021 Tim C.

Who is Jonny Empire? A couple of years ago I couldn’t have answered that question because I didn’t know him. Last year, I met Jonny through a website called PlaylistPush where aspiring artists like Jonny Empire can pay for their songs to be heard by playlisters like myself. In the good ole days, musicians would be heard by local/national DJ’s playing their songs on the radio. If you got big enough, you could get your song on rotation on MTV or BET. But in order to get this radio/tv play, you needed to be signed to a record label who had an A&R who would fight to get you play. And sometimes pay to get you play through a process called payola. But nowadays, radio and TV is a thing of the past as the majority of music fans hear their new songs from the DSP’s like Spotify, Apple Music, etc.

KENDRICK LAMAR - SECTION.80

July 2, 2021 Tim C.

Kendrick had all kinds of buzz around him but still hadn’t hit the mainstream yet. But I was trying to get him heard. For anybody I knew or encountered who was a hip hop head, I wouldn’t stop talking about Kendrick. And then on July 2nd, 2011 he dropped his mixtape Section.80 and the rest was history. This mixtape was all that me and the homies (what up Stro, Lito, and Alan!) would bump on our long drive to work. There were so many dope tracks on this project. Within a week we already knew our favorite verses and our carpool trips into the office turned into Section.80 performances because that’s about all that we cared about the summer of 2011.

EVIDENCE - UNLEARNING VOL. 1

June 22, 2021 Tim C.

I always wondered if I’d ever grow out of my love for rap music but little did I know that ears would just evolve over time. While I may not be seeking the same vibes I was back in the day, I’m still forever on the hunt for dope sh*t. But there still are those few veteran emcees that I will always peep when they drop something. Off the top, I can think of that list as Royce, Roc Marci, MURS, Elzhi, Blu, Phonte, and last but not least, Evidence.

FIVESPACE RECORD STORE

June 12, 2021 Tim C.

I really miss the days when I could go to Tower Records and spend 2 hours in their record store digging in the crates. Sometimes I had enough for a CD or a cassette tape and other times I just went there to browse and look at the front and back of albums. I would sit on the ground and read magazines, put their headphones on to listen to new releases and just kill time in the place I loved most.

ANDRE THE GIANT HAS A POSSE

May 19, 2021 Tim C.

Today would have been Andre the Giant’s 75th birthday. In celebration of his big birthday, I asked the card artist LunchMade to create a piece that tied in our love of old school wrasslin’ along with some Obey elements as the two go hand-in-hand. What came out of all of this is great. A solid front and back which picks up different elements and solid layering along the way. I supplied LunchMade with the concept and he ran with the rest. If you did this kind of 1/1 art, this card is currently up on eBay for the next week. I have a good feeling that this is going to do really well. The card art movement is real y’all. Lots of dope artists flexing some of their cool ideas to create that fire. I’ll ask my bro who all of the card art legends are so he can provide a list for all of you to follow. In the meantime, I’m gonna go back to staring at this fresh Andre card!

MY MIND'S PLAYING TRICKS ON ME

April 15, 2021 Tim C.

Shout out to the Geto Boys for the classic track, “Mind Playing Tricks on Me”

I’ve had many ups and downs mentally for as long as I could remember. When I was younger they weren’t something I shared because it just wasn’t a common conversation amongst friends and family. These struggles have brought a lot of self-doubt into my thinking and have made me worry about anything and everything. Then, they’ve also left me depressed, paranoid, and super emotional at times. Along with that, I’m hyper-sensitive and have an anxiety disorder that has kept me on a mental roller coaster for the past 5 - 10 years of my life.

RAZOR RAMON - SAY HELLO TO THE BAD GUY

April 10, 2021 Tim C.

While some of my favorite wrestlers of all-time include Ric Flair, Ravishing Rick Rude, Sabu, Rob Van Dam, Owen Hart, The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase, and Chris Benoit; Razor Ramon is right at the top of the list. The swag was next level and he had one of the best finishers of all time, The Razor’s Edge.

BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD

March 8, 2021 Tim C.

Beavis and Butt-Head originally came out when I was in 7th grade back in 1993. The first episode debuted on MTV on March 8th, 1993 and I was already watching a lot of shows on MTV at that time so of course I was going to check out this new animated show. 1993 was also the year that I got into Metallica so to see Beavis rockin’ the shirt resonated with me. It aired at the 7pm time slot which meant right after dinner for our household. My mom would be washing dishes in the kitchen, my dad would be off to their bedroom to watch TV and I would be watching Beavis and Butt-Head in the living room. My hand on the remote ready to change the channel if my parents were nearby because Beavis and Butt-Head were labeled as a bad influence in the media.

DD172 - 24 HOUR KARATE SCHOOL

February 9, 2021 Tim C.

Back in 2009, Dame Dash started an art collective known as DD172 which brought together a lot of dope rappers and producers. Ski Beatz was behind a lot of the beats on the releases from rappers like Curren$y, Mos Def, Murs, and more. There was some good music that came out of DD172 that I wanted to shine some light on. I also wanted to go back to detail how Ski Beatz and Dame Dash linked up back in the day.

STRICTLY BUSINESS AND YOUNG BLACK BROTHA RECORDS

January 10, 2021 Tim C.

In the late 80’s and through the 90’s there was a producer in California who was right behind Dr. Dre in quality of beats. While Dre was holding down Compton, Khayree was producing and starting record labels up in Vallejo, CA. He founded Strictly Business Records and Young Black Brotha Records which brought the world artists like Mac Dre, Mac Mall, Ray Luv, Young Lay, and Dubee aka Sugawolf. In this story I was through a brief history of both Strictly Business Records and Young Black Brotha Records.

MF DOOM - OPERATION DOOMSDAY

January 2, 2021 Tim C.

Rap fans from all around the world were crushed to hear about the passing of rap great MF Doom. He was a mysterious emcee and producer who had been putting in work since the early 90’s as Zev Love X in the hip hop group, KMD. His brother and bandmate Subroc was tragically killed in 1993 while KMD was prepping their 2nd album. Later that week, KMD and Zev Love X got dropped from their record label. After disappearing for a few years, Zev started popping back up on the scene as masked rapper named MF Doom. Doom, real name Daniel Dumile, then took the rap world by storm through classic albums, Operation Doomsday, Madvillainy, and MM.. Food. Doom stayed relevant in rap for just about 30 years which is remarkable. This is my ode to one of my favorite rappers of all time, the great MF Doom.

THE PURPLE TAPE

August 1, 2020 Tim C.

My homie Rick texted me last night and I honestly had no idea. Could “The Purple Tape” really be 25 years old today? You’re telling me it’s been 25 years since Raekwon dropped Only Built 4 Cuban Linx? Okay, if I didn’t know now I sure do now… I am old. It’s alright though… I’m good with being an old head because those mid90s Wu vibes are just as fresh today as they were back then.

CLAIREMONT ROOTS

June 29, 2020 Tim C.

A story about Clairemont going all the way back to the mid-late 60’s here in sunny San Diego, CA. Dedicated to Clairemont’s own, Bryan Makinson…

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA

June 14, 2020 Tim C.

Oakland holds a special place in my heart going back to the 80’s through the rap music of Too Short and Bay Area athletes like Mark McGuire, Rickey Henderson, Jose Canseco, Chris Mullen, Tim Hardaway, and Mitch Richmond. The Bay Area always seemed cool to me so I wore A’s gear like I was from Oakland. This story is an ode to Oakland through music and sports.

BLACK LIVES MATTER

June 3, 2020 Tim C.

Do you know somebody who is racist? Can you have a good conversation with them without it getting violent? It’s these types of interactions that can help change things. It’s 1-on-1 interactions where we can start to see change. And it’s super tough! I know! But if we don’t change who we are as a country I fear for our future. I fear for our children growing up the same way that I did. I don’t want my baby boy to grow up in a world full of hate. And if these words can help us take a step in the right direction I will keep writing. I will keep talking… I will do all that I can do. And maybe this will push you to do seek out what you can do. And I don’t even know the right thing to do! If my message is all wrong, let me know! Let’s have a discussion. Let’s grow as human beings.

THE LIVING LEGENDS - PART 1

May 21, 2020 Tim C.

A story about a group of high school kids from San Diego in the late 90’s who connected through the music of the Cali hip hop group, the Living Legends. One friend bought an underground tape from a local record store and from there the music of the Legends spread like wildfire through hallways, classrooms, and different schools in San Diego. What remains is a group of friends who are still connected through hip hop culture more than 20 years later. It is all due to the music and movement of the Living Legends.

BASEBALL CARDS ARE BACK

May 8, 2020 Tim C.

Now I’m not the only one who has gotten back into sports card collecting. The business itself is the best it’s been in over 2 decades which is eye opening. And it’s not just baseball card fans. Investors are getting in. Sneakerheads are getting in. Opportunists are getting in. This is all just creating more and more buzz. And to know that Gary Vaynerchuck can help push this forward even more is amazing. Gary Vee always talks about his start in baseball cards. Gary is a huge collector. I think he is a marketing genius and is one of the best marketers in the world. Now the baseball card buzz has him help pushing it forward?! Boom! I think baseball cards are here to stay and I am loving every moment of this wave!

SLANGIN' CANDY

April 16, 2020 Tim C.

While we were only 12 or 13, we wanted to make money so we can buy shiny things like baseball cards, comic books, or maybe even a nudie mag. We had graduated from stealing chromed out shiners (tire valve caps) off of expensive cars for our BMX bikes and were now trying to see that cash money.

WHAT COACHELLA MEANS TO ME

April 9, 2020 Tim C.

This weekend was supposed to be Coachella and while I had zero plans to actually attend, I would have been streaming several performances right on my couch as I do every year. Some of my friends still go to Coachella but a lot of us have shifted over to Couchella where we either watch together at a homie’s house or just text each other from the confines of our own home during certain performances.

NUTHIN' BUT A G THANG

March 17, 2020 Tim C.

A summation of the West Coast Rap scene back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Starring Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, MC Ren, Ice Cube, Snoop, Daz, Kurupt, Warren G, Nate Dogg, The Lady of Rage and more.