Kanye’s Barking Dog Background from Black Skinhead on SNL

I first got into Kanye West in 2005 with the release of Late Registration. There is a Grammy winning track on that album called Diamonds from Sierra Leone. It was originally a solo recording for Kanye but Jay-Z extended the track with his own verse and it was included as the final track as a “remix” of the original. I thought the remix was great and Jay-Z crushed it. I became a fan of Kanye West.

I had been really into Bonnaroo at that time of my life. I was running a Dave Matthews Band fan site at the time and used it to get press credentials for the festival. I shared some amazing memories and built relationships at Bonnaroo. I wrote reviews of the festival and set up interviews with the likes of Grace Potter and Sharon Jones.

In 2008, Kanye was scheduled to perform the main stage at Bonnaroo and I defended him to my pals, insisting he was worth listening to. Then he rescheduled his performance and arrived late to that. Ultimately he really blew the performance, only to later condemn Bonnaroo.

I contrasted Kanye’s performance with then rising Lupe Fiasco’s set in The Other Tent as a difference of appreciation for the festival. As a long-time attendee, I had never witnessed such a lack of professionalism from an artist at Bonnaroo. Kanye has had a lot of problems in public, yet I had given him a pass. But this was too much, I stopped listening.

And then he dropped My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The demonstration of artistry on that album re-wired my senses, allowing his music to cover for his public mistakes. I still listen to that album.

Rumors have been swirling about a June release titled Yeezus and what guests might appear. Naturally, I’m pretty interested. Here’s what I’m seeing:

Last week he did a surprise appearance at the Adult Swim Upfront event last week that included a rant. This past weekend projected a video debuting “New Slave” in 66 locations worldwide and performed New Slave and Black Skinhead as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live.

Both tracks have interpretations posted on RapGenius, which are worth a look.

I’m watching and waiting for the release. Kanye may be the most talented and complicated artists I’ve followed to-date. I’m watching this album closely, and will try to update this post as it develops.

They did an interview with CNBC on the book and at one point it focused on Illicit networks. In the book it reads, “The real challenge will be a combination of virtual currency with anonymous networks that hide the physical location of services.”

Jared Cohen’s comment in the interview is that illicit networks are two trillion dollar industry, and adds that a new virtual currency complicates the global challenge.  He argues that although it could serve to empower criminals that leverage new technology, there is also new potential for mistakes that foil crime.

Eric Schmidt is asked directly, will big businesses decide to accept Bitcoin or other forms of virtual currencies. Schmidt’s response is: “Bitcoin is a technological tour de force. What I don’t know is ultimately whether it is going to be legal.”

Fascinating.

Are you planning to travel internationally and want to unlock your iPhone? This post explains steps related to unlocking an iPhone 4S using the United States carrier, Verizon. It may also work for Android phones on the service, but my experience is with the iPhone. The process takes between 10 and 20 minutes to complete. Be sure to read the “Once you arrive” steps so you are able to finish the process.

Before you get started
You should be aware of restrictions Verizon puts on device unlocks. Some but not all of this was covered in a Venturebeat article.

1. Your account must be in good standing. i.e. you can not owe them money.
2. They say that your account must have been in good standing for at least 6 months, but I do not believe they enforce this rule.
3. You may only unlock one device per phone number every 10 months.

Unlock your iPhone with Verizon

1. While still in the United States, dial *611 from your iPhone.
2. When you are asked what you want, say, “Unlock my Phone.” The system will recognize the request.
3. You will be asked for youraccount password. This is a 4-6 digit pin.
4. You will be transferred to a general operator who does not know what your request is. Tell them you are traveling internationally and need to unlock your phone. They will probably ask you where you are going, you do not need to tell them. They will explain 1-3 from “Before you get started” above. After verifying the requirements,  they will transfer you to a division of the Verizon billing department.
5. You will be asked for your name and phone number. This person will then perform the operation to unlock your phone. They will then try to upsell you some accessories for plugging into the wall.

Once you arrive

1. You will need a micro-sim for an iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and iPhone 5. These are not always available. A good tech shop should be able to cut a SIM card down to micro sim size. Here’s a page that describes how to do itwith a die cutter.
2. The first time you turn on the phone, it will say the SIM is not recognized and that it will not work with the phone. You must connect your iPhone to your computer and do a sync. You apparently can do this over wifi sync or by syncing with the 30 pin / Lightning connector.  From then on, the new SIM should work.

I hope this helped you free your iPhone or Android device from the clutches of your carrier. Please feel free to post in the comments if this worked for you or if you have questions or suggestions on how to improve this guide!

Zach goes by the pseudonym “Shigeto,” which is both his middle name and the first name of his grandfather. This bit of background and more is covered in his profile at Ghostly International. Ghostly is a Michigan-based record label that also works with emerging electronica artists like Com Truise, Mux Mool and Phantogram.

Shigeto released Lineage, a mini-LP, around this time last year which covers jazz, hip-hop and funk in eight songs.  Here’s a link to stream the first track from the album online.

Prefix Magazine did an interview with Shigeto this past June. They asked him about a variety of things including the impact technology and greater accessibility are having on making music today. For example, if everyone can make and release music, what will become of music quality? In Zach’s response he broadened the impact to cover creativity overall:

“But all creativity — whether it be fine art, or graphic design, or music — the bar is going to be raised. We’re going to start creating art in ways we never thought imaginable. Interactive things, like creating sounds that we could never fathom. The good stuff is going to be mind-blowing because of the technology we have.”

-Zach Saginaw

I think he’s right. The bar is going to be raised on creatives everywhere and the results will be astounding.

Another fun part of the Prefix interview is where he tells a story of his plane’s engines exploding 10,000 feet over Budapest:

“The cabin filled with black smoke, all the lights went off. I looked outside — it was a propeller plane — and I saw the propellers slow down, then stop at fucking 10,000 feet in the air. Everyone started screaming, the flight attendants freaked out. Everyone said we’re going to die. The plane started to go down, and at that moment I thought it was over. I had a calming, movie-like sensation where everything around me became quiet and white.”

Needless to say, the plane made it done safely. Read the whole story and get to know Zach more in Interview: Shigeto.

I take discoveries of new artists as small gifts and hope that this entry taught you a bit more about an artist who is working on something great. I’ll be following Zach’s work and hope you will too.

I write about music and technology regularly on my twitter feed, @jetsetter.

This has kept me away from updating my personal blog here.

I write the Gliph company blog and remain active on Twitter @jetsetter.

rob

The Gathering is a community event that takes place in national forest land around the 4th of July each year. The idea is that every person on the planet should love each other as members of a giant family. People work together to build temporary infrastructure that supports a community of 5-15,000 people for about a week.

People unfamiliar with the Gathering often describe it as some kind of hippie event. There is some truth to this, as the hippie subculture of the 1960s had an emphasis on peace and love. The Gathering also got its start in 1972, and culminates in a prayer for peace. However, I get the sense that people view a “hippie” today as tuned-out idealists of yesterday rather than active and engaged proponents of love and peace.

So why do people attend Gathering, and what are they doing in the forest?

The Washington State National Gathering in 2011 was my first time with the Rainbow Family of Living Light.  My sense is that it takes years of attending Gathering to fully appreciate and understand its purpose.

At this point, my impression is that the Gathering is proposing change to the world through its own vision of humanity’s potential. Most people go to the Gathering to participate in a group of people who want to realize change.

The people who attend Gathering build structures and pathways that serve as community spaces. They use and support outdoor kitchens made of logs. They build and maintain sanitization buckets and access to live and filtered ground water. They gather for workshops such as nature appreciation and leadership. They play instruments and sing together.

Most importantly: they think differently as a result of these experiences.

I spend a lot of time thinking about, talking about and creating technology.  I do so in the context of an extremely modernized environment in the United States. I forget how basic living can be when ground down to its core. Rainbow Gathering offers a glimpse of what this can be.

For me, Rainbow Gathering serves as a reminder that is an portion of Western society that feels a real potential for universal love between people.  This belief is unquestionably counter-culture.

A common line of discussion at Rainbow Gathering is how the movement at Gathering can be evangelized in the real world, which is commonly referred to as “Babylon.” For myself, it will come as an opportunity to improve myself through my behavior toward and thoughts about others.

I believe that Occupy Wall Street movement represents what can happen when concepts of the Gathering are projected onto modernity. Through my own observations, and a growing body of evidence I’ve collected, I feel more strongly than ever that Rainbow Gathering and Occupy Wall Street are interconnected.

I loved attending the 2012 nationals.  I had planned on attending since leaving the Washington State Gathering.  Particularly amazing about the experience was that I was joined by my sister Hannah.  Before we left, we talked about what it meant to work at Seed Camp (the two weeks leading up to Gathering). Perhaps, I’ll participate at this level next year.

I’d welcome contact from other folks in the Rainbow family or people interested who have questions. Feel free to use the comment form below or contact me at my email: rob at banagale dot com.  For a more journalistic impression of Rainbow Gathering and photos, you may enjoy this page.

We are in the depths of the worst economic slump in the past 80 years, and for many this makes the already difficult task of  business building even harder.  Entrepreneurs need to be reminded that they are in the good company of other determined people, that there is a reason they do what they do, and turning a sharp ear to hip hop is a great way to fulfill that.

Many successful hip hop performers come from difficult socio-economic backgrounds.  Broken families, poverty and exposure to criminal conduct are recurring themes.  In rhyming about the trials and tribulations of the hustle, rappers often share their own history of determination.

Part of credibility in the Hip Hop hustle is rising from these extremely difficult circumstances where the odds of success are far longer than the typical entrepreneur.  Those champions of hip hop who actually make it often turn their lyrical and musical focus towards their own journey.

Speaking of Difficult Circumstances

Belmont University entrepreneurship professor Jeff Cornwall recently published an article detailing  four steps to beating the recession blues.   While I agree with a number of Cornwall’s points his reference to the  Serenity Prayer and overall tone of the entry can’t help but strike something of a somber and discouraging note.

Music has the power to motivate and educate so to supplement Cornwalls’ four steps, I present four two (see endnote) recent hip hop songs that can serve as an inspiration to any entrepreneur who is struggling to make it.  The songs are presented in order of increasing adult language and content.

Inspirational Hip Hop song #1: The Roots (featuring John Legend): “The Fire” (iTunes)

The Roots get much respect for me on their ninth studio release, How I Got Over. Besides including a track with a Joanna Newsom sample, they included this incredible tune titled “The Fire.” Okay Player has released several photo stills from Filipino director Rik Cordero’s (wikipedia, twitter) recently completed WW2-inspired music video for this song.

The chorus alone is enough to put “The FIre” on the list, sung with heart by R&B vocalist and songwriter John Legend, it explains:

There’s something in your heart,

and its in your eyes

It’s the fire, inside you

Let it burn

You don’t say good luck

You say don’t give up

It’s the fire, inside you

Endnote: This blog post was originally written July 1th, 2010.  I never finished it, but wanted to publish it anyway.  A year late is better than never.