dilemmas of integrity

so it comes that it's the season of credit threatening shopping encouraged by retailers & popular media. being that i have a store it may seem sensible to promote it more this time of year.

emphasis on seem...

i am areligious (not to be confused w/atheist or agnostic) & additionally do not support the idea that cats need to perpetuate these economically detrimental behaviors for the sake of fostering social interaction. IMHO there are better/more constructive ways for us to commune as huebeins.

so, will i promote the MEDIAfeast?

of course i will, but not because of any seasonal motivations. the store is open 24/7/365 & i will continue to stock it as long as Amazon Associates facilitates.

on that tip, here are some LP's i personally recommend copping on the hip hop side of things.

Rosco P Coldchain - Almost Famous

Apollo Brown & OC - Trophies

Large Professor - Professor @ Large

DJ Premier & Bumpy Knuckles - KoleXXXion (Deluxe Version)

Sean Price - Mic Tyson (Bonus Track Version)

Evitan - Speed Of Life

Rasheed Chappell - Future Before Nostalgia

these links are to the digital versions. it's getting to the point where some LP's are not being made available physical, so i'm going to begin listing the digitals. the physicals can ususally be located by links on the digital pages at amazon.

remember, your patronage of the MEDIAfeast &/or your use of it as a portal to Amazon serves to support independent/indie media. any & all support is greatly appreciated.

THINK4SELF & GET URS!

PEACE

...be calm...

watuknobout #gRINDoNdAILY

waup & watsgood!

this year has been a MIE (Missing In Experience/Earth) year for the blog. personal finance & business finance are not yet separate for this operation & self. this means that there are things that i'd like to do & likely need to be doing that do not get done.

i'll continue to chalk this up as being part of the territory of an independent creator.

there is no day job, kinda like there's no such thing as an overnight success story.

creators are not generally "discovered" 1 day whilst wandering about the planet. cats work, struggle, study, suffer, persist, etc. until a change in path is created/occurs. very often this type of change can take years. some people don't do to well w/the time between creation of vision & the physical realization of said vision.

i've had & continue to have my struggles w/this part of being an active creator. it can lead to some really dark places if your mind is not pointed in + directions.

a lot of cats just quit. sometimes psychological quitting develops into physical quitting. the 2 combined can lead to some unhealthy actions/behaviors. mayhaps this is why creatives are often considered to be throwed, shot out, crazy, eccentric, whatever. it can seem easier to acquiesce to the wishes of those who tend to be far less adventurous in thought. it's easy to be safe & just follow along. i figure easy feeds the boredom of life.

life isn't supposed to be easy...

the overall goal of the Refinery is to foster creative collective activities. it's a direct reflection of my creator self. although i continue to work on the solo tip, my creative goal has always been to work & vibe w/other creatives.

creators keep huebeins moving forward. some better than others. if more of us worked to build stronger creative collectives, imagine how much we could change...

THINK CREATE + CHANGE

PEACE
...be calm...

the wandering #VINYLaddict

waup & watsgood!

as the title indicates, this post is about the lifelong passion for LP's, 45's, & 12" vinyl. specifically 3y3 found a new spot whilst roaming about Illapelph on some other business. i actually found the spot last November or so when it had a Manu Dibango album i'd like to get hands on. i took too damn long to go back, but all is well!

i returned a few weeks ago & did not get what i came for, but as is often the case w/me & vinyl, i still came up on some choice pieces that were not yet in the stacks.

peep flavas...

my jazz stacks have always been quite minimal. that's likely to change as the budget allows during the rest of the journey. my preference is for funk & soul, but certain cats still knock for me on the jazz side regardless. as far as i recall this is my 1st Coltrane piece on vinyl.

2 of the previous pieces are no brainers & the 3rd came from digital diggin'/study. this last piece just happened to be sitting out when i came back to the store the next day to cop what i had seen the day previous. an overall nice grip considering the Manu Dibango was looooooooong gone!

unlike some cats, having a digital collection will NEVER suffice for the physical media. i gotta have vinyl & these CD's when i just can't get the vinyl. i'm not mad a digital audio, but i still like to touch my media. call me an old head. it's wateva...

LOL!

when/if you get the time check this cat & his spot out around 6th & Girard:

Borderline Records (story from Philadelphia Weekly[2011])

the prices are very reasonable & the quality of the vinyl is solid for the prices IMHO.

GET URS!

PEACE

...be calm...

what is creative progress?

DAMN!

it's been another long minute or few. there are a number of posts still in draft mode. this blog is far from being done though. to those of you who are checking for it, keep on checking. this process of building & growing the Refinery is watitis. it definitely represents the concept of ABB (aLWAYS bE bUILDING).

the last 12 months or so have been technologically challenging. when gear breaks or fails it usually gets replaced. when the vittles are short, the gear becomes tertiary at best. cats have to make do w/what is readily available. i can't be mad at that. IMHO(bservation) this is the epitome of hip hop.

since both the desktop & the laptop have been mega done all this time, i've had to resort to various other means to keep operations up & running. the Kindle has played a major role. mobile web use has its limitations, but it also has its benefits. through necessity i've learned to make use of new resources. adaptation is so necessary for progress.

1 of the most + benefits from having limited access to the tech used by the Refinery for it's regular operations has been my writing & creating a bit more than i would have otherwise. the next part of the process is to make moves w/some of this material. what does that mean?

we shall see...

BLAM!

PEACE
...be calm...

#THEORIES of #RELATIVITY...

if you've never heard a particular piece &/or collection of music, it is still new to your ear when it's 1st heard. the actual date of release to the public is quite irrelevant. this is a difficult concept to get across to any demographic that has been taught that only the latest releases are listener relevant.

what difference does the date make?

this dynamic presents a great deal of difficulty for the creative that relys on grassroots interest/support. once payola has been removed from the marketing equation, what are the legitimate means of generating a market for the works of a creator?

there seems to be quite a few people who will encourage a creator to alter their intended message to increase its marketability. what happens when the message is altered to the extent that it no longer accomplishes the creator's communicative goal? why make such a compromise at the expense of creative integrity?

some ideas &/or creations require a longer period of time to grow an audience. it is unreasonable to expect every project in a particular genre to generate the exact same market response as those that have preceded it. the expression of each creator in its essence is unique. the marketing of each creation ought to be approached w/a similar mentality.

what the general public perceives as creative expression from media creators is rarely received w/o some kind of intermediary tampering. this interference is often presented by those who are creatively deficient, but for whatever reason are able to make a financial contribution to the creative process.

ARTaintFREE

#DFINEFUNK01

waup & watsgood huebeins!

it's been a few of months. cats gotta live, cats gotta eat, cats gotta create!

i'm sitting on quite a bit over here in terms of what to put up on the blog. the Refinery (tumblr) posts have been the primary outlet since the last post here. obviously this doesn't include the twitter feeds (@dfingas & @dfinery). a whole lot of shit has happened, but that's life now isn't it?

this post is a reflection of the overall mission of the operation that is the Refinery:

CREATION = ART = MUSIC = LIFE

i feel at this phase of operations it is very important to make it abundantly clear that this is NOT a hip hop blog. just 'cause i'm a hip hop head doesn't mean that this blog's content will be isolated to the culture. i don't feel there is any reason for confusion on this tip, but just in case, BLAM:

THIS BLOG IS AN EXPRESSION OF CREATIVE INTELLECTUAL CULTURE & A DOCUMENTATION OF THE JOURNEY ON A MISSION TO QUITE LITERALLY SAVE THE WORLD W/ART, CULTURE, & MUSIC.

that said, this blog is not about me as a creator. it is about building a creative community on a global scale. if you can dig that, then get up w/the vibes & let's make this shit happen. if this is beyond your comprehension for whatever reason, do watitdo & enjoy from the sidelines if you must.

so, to make the title of this post a reality here's watsinthecreatorsear at the moment:

Hamilton Bohannon - Bohannon

Rick James - Bustin' Out Of L Seven

B.T. Express - Do It ('til You're Satisfied)

Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes - Expansions

The Isley Brothers - Go For Your Guns

Booker T. & The MG's - Green Onions

Tony Allen - Homecooking

Roy Ayers Ubiquity - Lifeline

Bar-Kays - Money Talks

Bob James - One

Faze-O - Riding High

Herb Alpert - Rise

Lakeside - Rough Riders

Funkadelic - Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On

Bootsy's Rubber Band - Stretchin' Out In Bootsy's Rubber Band

Isaac Hayes - Tough Guys*

Marvin Gaye - Trouble Man

The Trammps - Where The Happy People Go

remember if there are links to media then they're more likely than not links to the Mediafeast (DFinery's store), Amazon, eBay, MusicStack, or some other spot where you can cop the flava in question. at the least the link will take you to album info/details at Discogs, all music guide, &/or Wikipedia.

support watudig & GET URS!

PEACE
...be calm...

*THIS LINK IS TO A DOUBLE LP OF TRUCK TURNER & TOUGH GUYS!