HOSTEL TERRITORY IN BROOKLYN
I’ve been living with my girlfriend in a hostel in Brooklyn for the month of January. We’ve been sharing a kitchen and bathroom with a bunch of other people and it reminds me of college. I got in trouble for leaving a pan in the sink last night, complete with an angry note. How else are you supposed to soak the gunk off? Needless to say, we’re ready to leave. We’re relocating to a different and more permanent apartment tomorrow.
After we move I’m going to Cape Cod with Flash Fire to do more work on “Lars Attacks!”. We are finishing up the album artwork for the Oglio release of “21 Concepts (But a Hit Ain’t One)”, a CD that will be in stores in America (including three brand new songs, one with Beefy). More news on that soon. Also, I’m signing Weerd Science to Horris Records to help spread the word about his new amazing album “Sick Kids”. We’ve just confirmed our May UK tour dates, mc chris and Akira the Don will be joining us for a three week journey starting May 10th.
I’ve been going into the Universal recording studio in Manhattan to finish up a bunch of collaborations for a bevy of other rappers’ albums. It’s been fun writing for other projects, getting to tap into new rhythms and styles. I did a verse for Kosha Dillz (on a track with Homeboy Sandman) and another for a young Ohio rapper named Nick Brophy (on a track with YTCracker). I’m also in the midst of a song about Flowers for Algernon with Random. He and I are talking about doing some more literary songs.
I just finished reading a book called Teachings of the Buddha, a collection of stories that talk about impermanence and compassion compiled by a Buddhist monk named Jack Kornfield. Studying Buddhism helps me get through a lot, especially when I get anxious about deadlines and overextending myself. It reminds me to slow down and be present.
When I can, I like to spend a lot of my time reading these days. I disappear into the coffee shops around New York and find freedom in books and magazines. It’s nice to unplug and not stare at a computer or iPhone screen for once. I caught up on my back issues of Rolling Stone so now I know all about Eminem’s recovery from addiction and Nicki Minaj‘s beef with Lil’ Kim. One of the recent issues had a list of the 50 best singles of 2010, I downloaded each from http://beemp3.com and have been listening to them on repeat on the subway. There’s a lot of stuff I missed last year! My favorites are “the Ghost Inside” by Broken Bells, “We Used to Wait” by Arcade Fire, “the Diamond Church Street Choir” by the Gaslight Anthem and “the Trip to Pirate’s Cove” by Tom Petty.
I also read another great book called “Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music” by Greg Kot. It’s basically a people’s history of downloading with specific chapters on various artists successes with media media economics. There’s a funny quote about Ghostface Killah saying he has thousands and thousands of Myspace friends but only a percentage of them bought his album. “I got my firstweek SoundScan and I didn’t appreciate that shit, you feel me?”
Someone responded that just because you have someone as social network friend, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll come to your house to help move furniture . “People don’t really buy music these days FYI,” the person added.
As artists, we’re lucky people support our music enough to the point where we can make a living off of it. It’s a beautiful thing to wake up everyday with artistic dreams that need fulfilling. You feel me, right Ghostface?
With peace and gratitude,
MC Lars
Greenpoint, Brooklyn 1-31-11
glad to hear about closely-forthcoming Lars releases. Also glad to hear that you seem to be enjoying yourself.
I still need to read that old Dave Kusek book, let alone this one.
he might have had 100,000 + fans on myspace but if he is promoting his album on MySpace who the f is going to check their MySpace account for an update to go buy a CD? he needs to get on Quora and he needs to update his Qwiki this is web 3.0 and he is still on dialup. foo.
UK tour dates! yessssssss! Hope to see you in Newcastle Lars!
Other than hostel living in Brooklyn, how are you liking NYC as opposed to Carmel? Oakland? Berkeley? Paly?
I feel ya. I’m almost done with Moby Dick, a great book. Tons of great free public domain ebooks at gutenberg.org.
As for Ghost-face Killah, maybe it’s his fanbase or how they perceive him. Take Jonathan Coulton for instance: despite licensing his music with creative commons, he has a fanbase who is willing to pay him for his music because they realize that if they don’t do that, JoCo will have to get a day job again! Maybe Ghostface’s fans don’t do that or take him for granted. Maybe it’s the fact he’s on a label. Who knows?
All I can say is that if music I like is offered for money, I pay for it (unless the same source also offers it for free). I support artists.
I’ve stayed in hostels thoughout America and in the UK & Scotland & it was a great experience. I was working for 3 months in London while I was staying at a hostel there and my favourite hostel stay ever was at the Polynesian Hostel in Waikiki, Hawaii which had organized tours of the island for little or no money & many of the people from there I still keep in touch with. I also stayed at a hostel in Manhattan my first month of living New York, even after I started working, which basically was a cubicle with enough room for luggage & a bed. Definitely was the cheapest way to live initially while i was still living on Australian dollars!
Hey Lars!! I just want to make a comment on the last little bit of your blog about downloading music. I will admit that if there is just one song I want by an artists I will download that one song. I will also admit if there is a band I enjoy their music, but the real life attitude of the person is douchy (e.g. Bon Jovi) I will not pay for thier music either. People I respect, however, I will pay for their music every time, and I am pretty eclectic with my tastes. Beatles, The Used, The Aquabats, and your fantastic music. All bought and paid for. I wonder all the time if this makes me a bad consumer. I shall check out this book to see if it is so.
“As artists, we’re lucky people support our music enough to the point where we can make a living off of it. It’s a beautiful thing to wake up every day with artistic dreams that need fulfilling.”
I happily agree with you, MC Lars, with much compassion. Living life to the fullest is truly about loving creatively so that the most eccentric dreams, however forbidden, are realized in a society like ours in which everything has been inhumanely prescribed.
It’s a splendid feeling to wake up refreshed every morning knowing that you have never, ever been alone. Thanks for giving me the courage to play myself. I love green tea as much as I love “hip-hop”.
As a mediæval witch, I buy tangible copies of my favorite CDs, most of which are seldom heard of. The physical ones that are worthy of buying are those with well-designed CD booklets. True “music” listeners appreciate thoughtful artworks. The 0.99/track of digital, mainstream “music” marketing gotta be a joke.
Do I have to pay for the air I am breathing right now? Should we pay for nature?
Knowledge should be “free” just like the idea of “free music” should be promoted. MC Lars is our Socrates. In this sense music holds amazing power to teach and change the world.
I buy the hard copies of all the books in the world that I love. I love to pay for books that I read even when a free, electronic version is available. This is a personal preference
.
All of a sudden I find myself humming to the melody of Reading in Bed by the Canadian Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton!
I have to support him (even if I don’t want to
) because his music keeps me alive.
We will have to practice mindfulness together, MC Lars. I’ve always loved Zen Buddhism. I will borrow the Jack Kornfield title from the library so that I can take a peek at your serene mind.
MC Lars,
Thanks for posting the Ghostface Killah video.
I’ve been watching some of his other videos on YouTube. Most of them are stabbingly lachrymose
. Check out this 5-minute one in which he talks about the history of Hip-Hop, along with the struggles and dilemmas faced by him as a true Hip-Hop artist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evzgwkUnycU&feature=player_embedded#
Here is my summary and transcription to capture the main points Ghostface made in the above RealTalkNY video on the History of Hip Hop.
Ghostface is comparing the old school hip-hop legends such as himself, KRS-One, and De La Soul to the popular, self-proclaimed “hip-hop” kids nowadays. In Ghostface’s opinion, the latter don’t know anything about the history of hip hop nor do they feel anything about the music they are making and performing. Ghostface is very concerned about what the future holds for the truly talented hip-hop artists.
Ghostface comments, “Hip Hop has definitely changed. It’s not the same anymore. I don’t think it changed for the best…A lot of these new artists don’t know the history…making music…seems like it’s not from the heart…it don’t have no feeling to it. Has no soul to it…No no nothing. Their beats are even stale…so it’s like coming up with simple, simple, simple, simple, simple s***… there’s a lot of simple-minded people out there…that’s why they listen to it…they don’t know how to move the crowd…”
heyy!! great site. looking forward to your upcoming post.
Props on the Warped Tour?! WTF Lars, nicely done. And Big Ups on the on the Buddhism. I feel that. Everyday myself.
Sell some 4x T-shirts man and I’ll show ya off.