IT'S TEAM PKT, NOW WATCH US WORK!!!!

Okay people, 2011 is here so everybody was talking' bout resolutions and what not. Me myself, I'm not really into resolutions- I'm more about reconciliations. I think true resolve comes at its own pace, not because the calender is rolling over. With that said, I ain't really gotta tell y'all about all these crazy new ideas and plans because we're already halfway through January and my movement is speaking for itself. This isn't my first post of the new year because I've been slacking, it's my first post because I've been hella busy!

Let's start with what Team PKT is calling the 1st major step of our careers for the new year- the My Adidas 2K11 venture. If you haven't heard yet, I teamed up with rap icon Devin The Dude & Go DJ Mankind to contribute something back to hip hop that's about both growth & homage. With all respects due to Run DMC and the late great Jam Master Jay, we decided to return to the true roots of hip hop by revamping what we all know gave rappers the "original swag". The My Adidas 2K11 project is the southern version of the original Run DMC classic paying tribute to both the brand and the icons themselves. Produced by none other than Mike B. & backed by both Go DJ Mankind and Teresa at SF2 fashions, Migration Music is now in cahoots with the Adidas shoe company........had to pause to let that sink in! lol We are fortunate to be a part of the legendary Sneaker Summit on the 23rd where the song will be debuted and a pair of Adidas autographed by Devin & myself will be given away. This whole venture and opportunity is still surreal to me so I don't really know what all I'm supposed to tell you!
Secondly, I'm excited about my 1st Executive Producer project entitled "TEXANS & TITANS" by Lion From The Lake out of Nashville, TN. He and his label entrusted my musical knowledge enough to allow me & Team PKT to handle this project in its entirety and the end result is nothing short of phenomenal! Besides myself, the project has guest appearances from Young Buck, Papa Reu, Lil Keke and more! I'm very excited about my future career as a result of this opportunity and I know that Migration Music & Team PKT will be a force to reckon with for quite some time.
And last but definitely not least, I've completed the Cab Coolerway Project mixtape and THE TEXAS RENAISSANCE is locked and loaded! This is going to be a great year for my entire conglomerate & I promise respect will be given because we've worked hard to earn it! So shout out to T. Flowers, Cool Rob, Mike B & the Houston Track Bangers, Nikki the "Promo Princess", Go DJ Mankind, Teresa & SF2, Sama'an & Alice Ashrawi, my wife Lakeisha Green aka Mrs. PKT, all 5 of my beautiful children (Jalen, Aniyah, Londen, Kyndall & Brayden) and any and everyone who supports, believes in or is affiliated with Team PKT!!!

There Is No Substitute

Okay, I was sitting by myself after rocking the stage & shaking hands with the fans when I was approached by a younger upcoming artist who at the time had no idea of my age- not that I'm old or anything! lol Anyway, as it happens so often, he kindly gave me my props & asked me for any words of wisdom that could help him become successful and I proceeded to say "it's all about your grind" when I was rudely interrupted by his own response- "All I do is grind!" Then he began to tell me about how he makes his own beats, has his own studio and promotes his own music so I was ready to really chop it up with him until the conversation turned into this- (Me)"So what kind of equipment you producing with & how proficient is your engineer with ProTools?" (Him)Well I make all my beats on Fruity Loops you feel me, & I got the mic set up in my closet. I don't need no engineer though, I record right on my computer with Reasons." All I could say was "Keep grinding homey, something will pop off if you just keep doing what you do. When in my head all I could think about is what happened to the love for the music & the passion for the art?
Maybe it's just me, but I remember when I started rapping you had to have a passion for it because everything was so inaccessible passion was the only thing that could drive you to jump through loops to pursue your dream. There was a time when all the artists were good because you had to go through sooooo much to do music people just wouldn't allow you to waste your time if you weren't any good. I laugh at these young cats now who think being able to sit in your room with no real knowledge for producing, engineering or even emceeing is grinding because they did a project. Man, I'm from the era when good producers were far & in between and studios (especially in-house) were so few they were like urban myths! Dudes were willing to spend money because they were serious about their craft & the cats they were paying were experts in their field. Hell, we were passionate because even after we finally found a producer, searched for the studio (that usually ended up being on the other side of town), recorded a song or two and had our cassettes pressed(yeah I said it, cassettes!!!!), we knew that was just the beginning! Artists- I take that back- rappers nowadays lack passion because they don't have to have respect for the game. The days of having to actually get off your ass and promote your music via talent shows, open mics and on the spot recitals to prove to the cat you're trying to sell your product to that you're nice are over.
Now don't get me wrong, I am by no means knocking the new kids hustle or feeling like they don't deserve to get any bread. I just think they're too disrespectful considering they act as if they really believe some of us great artists didn't make it because we weren't good enough. It's kind of like a black person who grew up during the segregation era feels after they've done sit-ins and lost family & friends to the ways of the times just to survive and see a young black person step on the bus & go straight to the back without even wanting to sit in the front. Things are so much easier now that hip hop is no longer an art, it's just a hustle. We looked up to artists back in the day because we knew how much work it would take to be where they were. Now, teenagers can become more famous overnight than a pioneer who put in 15 plus years of blood, sweat & tears.
I guess what I'm really trying to say is don't just reap your benefits without understanding what was sown. The least you can do if you're going to prosper from another man's work is pay homage or take some time to appreciate the hard work that has made your work easy. When you hear pioneers saying hip hop is dead, they don't necessarily mean music wise, they mean movement wise. There was a certain energy that hip hop had that can only come through interaction. Now because of the gift and the curse known as the internet people can collaborate with artists around the world and never leave home let alone meet face to face. Once you take the vibe out of the creative process you end up losing the positive energy and more importantly the comradery of being on the same level which shows in the music. It's no secret, there is a scientific mantra to the art that has been taken away by modern technology. The digital world is like Pillsbury crescent rolls but the old ways are like Big Mamma's homemade biscuits- although it's good, there just isn't any substitute. So before any of you young guys think about conversing with me about the game, be sure you can at least tell me what an ADAT is!!!.....(Old school cats, do you remember when you worked with them cheap studio cats who didn't wanna buy the dats & used to have you bring the Super VHS tapes instead!!! lol Man I quit!)