Tag: ATCQ

What A Good Look. Kim Goodlook Seabrook

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It is said that laughter is good for the soul, so when I was invited to a comedy show to hear a Spoken Word Artist, I thought, hmmm this will be different. I had know idea how different…

The Black National Theatre of Harlem housed What To Do Ent. comedy show hosted by JC Best in conjunction with comedians OC the Bus Driver and Kenny Woo.

The opening act was a Spoken Word artist by the name of Kim Goodlook Seabrook. Seabrook is a Bronx native Spoken Word artist and radio personality. You can find her weekly on one of  New York City’s budding internet radio stations, I AXIS Radio. With her show Keepin’ it 100 with Kim and Della.

As the night got on its way and following her introduction from JC Best, Kim seemed to float out onto the stage, very poised and confident. She immediately surveyed the crowd and attached with the audience. Kim performed three pieces that night, Cocaine, A Woman’s Identity and Got Dam. The three pieces were very different in content but the same in rawness and reality.

The first piece, cocaine, as u would guest was creative writing about the opioid drug. It spoke of how it seems to be your friend in a time of despair however, just like all fairweather friends it let’s you down in the end. The twist and metephores GoodLook used was so vivid, at one time I literally felt chills as she performed. The second piece was dedicated to all woman kind. Kim relayed the message of don’t lose yourself being a wife, a mother an employee or whatever capacity it is you’re in day to day. The message was always remember to keep your identity as a woman first.
Ms.Seabrook did not forget about the men who was in attendance, she delivered a bold piece titled Got Damn, which focused on the struggle of the Black Man. Seabrook spewed so many truths and nuances about being a Black Man in America it received a standing ovation when it was over. This piece touched on nagging baby mothers, police harassment and much more, not to give too much away, this piece touches and goes into the depths of trying to survive in Amerikkka as a Black Man. Got Damn!
Once Kim bowed out from her performance, there were murmurs in the audience of wows and she’s deep along with she was a show all by herself. Sitting in the audience and to hear and see people’s genuine reaction to her tells a truth I couldn’t make up. Kim Goodlook Seabrook is a force to be reckoned with in the spoken word realm. Her sensual voice her command of tje stage and her piuse and cadence is unmatched. She is a humble person who exudes great energy. I recommend everyone see her live performance, you will not be disappointed. Until you get a chance to hear her live, listen to her pieces on SoundCloud…

Written by Sugarhill Sky.
*No funds were given or services bartered for this write up.
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The Abstract Poetic: The Legacy of Q-Tip

This man’s contribution in hip hop is what makes him the legend that he is today. Started off in a group, went solo, also DJ’s, produces, act and has a pen game and voice that’s easily recognizable when you hear it. Definitely someone whose one of a kind and shares the same zodiac as me. Someone whose a huge influence to me both personally and creatively, he also told me to my face that he liked my style, and I could never forget that. He goes by name Q-Tip aka The Abstract Poetic. The story of Q-Tip begins back in the 70’s when he was a child living in St. Albans, Queens and met his would be close friend, almost brothers and group mate named Malik Taylor aka Phife Dawg. Together these two were peanut butter and jelly, ketchup and mustard, they’re one of hip hop’s greatest duos together on the mic. Fast forward to 1985, Q-Tip gets his name and it represents “on the Queens tip.” At this time, he also had another name as a solo artist named MC Love Child and would occasionally team up with high school friend and DJ, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and together they were a rapper and DJ duo. They made demo tapes along with Phife, he was known as Crush Connection but the group, later on known as the group we all know and love today as A Tribe Called Quest, was fully complete when Jarobi joined and Phife only joined because of Jarobi. They got their name in 1988 when the Jungle Brothers gave them their name. The Jungle Brothers is another legendary hip hop group who also attended the same high school. The guys signed a demo deal with Geffen Records and created a 5 song demo that was later included on their debut album the year. Before their debut album released, Q-Tip appears on 2 songs on the Jungle Brothers debut album called “Black Is Black” and “The Promo.” The group signs with Jive Records and on April 10th, 1990, also Q-Tip’s 20th birthday, “People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm” was released. The album was a very youthful, friendly and uplifting but dope. Frontman Q-Tip being heard on most of the songs. We didn’t start to see the real lyrical side of the group until 1991’s “The Low End Theory.” This is album is my favorite Tribe album because majority of my favorite songs from the group are on this album, “Midnight Marauders” was the perfect album though. No skips, it was a banger from start to finish. “Beats, Rhymes and Life” had a more laid back vibe and it introduced the sounds of the late great J Dilla. It also introduced is to Q-Tip’s cousin Consequence. Definitely gotta get used to him when listening to that album. “The Love Movement” isn’t an album I’m crazy about but it’s ironic that the word “love” is in it’s title but it was the beginning of the end for the group but they reunited in 2006 and recently released their latest album “We Got It From Here, Thank You 4 Your Service” 5 months ago. It’s an incredible album I heard only twice. I like to wait until the hype slows down a bit to enjoy things. Gotta find the right time to without everybody throwing out their opinions while you’re still getting used to it. Outside of the group, Q-Tip had a dope solo career on his own. He’s appeared on other’s people’s projects to write, produce and collaborate on songs. He created The Ummah, a production team with Ali Shaheed and J Dilla, he acted in Poetic Justice only in the beginning of the movie, and on “Prison Song” along with Fat Joe and Mary J. Blige, he was featured of Janet Jackson’s “Got Til It’s Gone” on her 1997 “The Velvet Rope” album, he produced “One Love” for Nas on his “Illmatic” album, Mobb Deep’s “Give Up the Goods” and the list goes on. Can’t forget to mention his solo music. With singles like “Vivrant Thing”, “Breathe and Stop”, “Gettin’ Up”, “Move”, “Life Is Better”, just to name a few. His solo stuff is nothing like Tribe’s and that to me is make Q-Tip great at what he does. Finding your own identity when it comes to your solo stuff and not it reminding the fans of the group you were in. Same energy and voice but a different vibe completely. Recently, he hosts his own radio show on Apple Music’s Beats 1 station, which is called “Abstract Radio.” His goal with the show is not to keep up with what’s trending but instead find ways to bridge the gaps into one and celebrate good music altogether. With so much that he has accomplished, Q-Tip is easily one of hip hop’s greatest of all time for being part of a group that introduced Jazz sounds samples in hip hop. His incredible creativity and style is timeless and it’ll always be celebrated. They don’t call him The Abstract for nothing.

A Dedication to Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor: My Letter to Phife

Dear Phife,

As I write you this letter, I’ll be as strong as I can. There’s no other way for me to express how much love I have for you and the Tribe. It all started 2 years ago. Now, I grew up on hip hop, and that includes you guys Tribe too. Y’all music was always dope to me but I became an overnight fan 2 years ago. I was at home on my laptop, on Tumblr just scrolling through my dashboard, reblogging stuff for my blog and it was a picture of you guys, including Jarobi that popped up. Black and white, standing side by side. I reblogged the pic of y’all and said to myself how long it’s been since I’ve actually heard y’all music. It was that moment that started everything for me. I immediately started listening to y’all albums all the way through for the first time and something in me sparked up this feeling I never got before. I even heard your joint “Ventilation: Da LP” and loved it too. After hearing y’all albums all the way through, I found myself watching y’all music videos, researching and looking y’all up, watching interviews, saving photos on my laptop and then I saw the documentary. It was the best shit I’ve ever seen but at the same time, it hurt me to see you and Tip beefing like that. That I don’t feel comfortable with seeing or hearing about. Besides the drama y’all two had, I found myself a die hard fan overnight. Everything about you guys was absolutely moving and inspiring to me. As a hip hop fan whose a singer, I wish to have the same elements in y’all music in mine someday. Y’all taught me politics, self righteousness, being proud of who I am, all at the same time, never changing who I was to be something I’m not and that’s why I love Tribe so much. Fast forward to July 18th, 2015. This was the day I finally got to meet you guys. I found out on Instagram maybe a day or two before and I was so amped and hyped to meet you guys. That was the same day my little cousin was having a birthday party but I missed it because I stood on that line waiting to meet y’all. I remember wearing a purple bucket hat, white t-shirt with a purple one underneath, my ripped Levi Jeans and Grape 5 Air Jordans. I didn’t have anything on me but $15 so I couldn’t buy any merchandise, which was a blow to me but when I finally met you guys, I was excited, scared, stuck, frozen, amazed, there was a rush in my stomach and my heart was beating super fast. Q-Tip told me he liked my style, I’ll never forget that, Jarobi was kinda like he didn’t want to be there but he was cool too, then I met you and told you how hilarious you are on Instagram and you said to me “Thanks my man.” I shook Ali Shaheed’s hand and you guys signed my poster. After that, I returned back to the Bronx with this smile on my face. It felt like I just went through an enlightenment. I had a totally different feeling from that day. Now this is the part of the letter that’s gonna be really hard for me dawg but I gotta tell you how it affected me. The day you left us, it was the same day as my cousin’s 23rd birthday and three days before my 22nd. It was around 10 at night. Someone posted a link in one of the hip hop groups I’m in on Facebook saying that you past. I was confused and automatically got angry. I was angry because I remember years ago, someone spread a rumor that you already did and you appeared on an interview like “Here I am!” waving with this smile on your face in a joking way like you always do. I saw the link was from DJ Chuck Chillout’s Twitter account so I hit the hashtag “RIP Phife Dawg” and my heart started racing. I only saw but 30 posts and I just brushed it off because I was sure you were still here. I went to sleep and ended up popping back up around 5 in the morning. When I pop up out of my sleep, something isn’t right. I grabbed my phone and saw that I got a text message from a friend of mine and the text said in these exact words, “Hey Clone, did you hear about Phife? He died” this was when I knew it was for real. I went to Instagram and immediately, my whole entire feed was flooded with you. I was stuck, confused, hurt, angry, upset, this wasn’t supposed to happen yo. On the morning of March 23rd, I had a dentist appointment that day. Right before I left my house, I finally cried, I finally broke down yo. Me and you just met 8 months before that, you were so cool and down to earth, I felt like a family member was taken from me. I cried for about an hour thinking about you and the rest of Tribe. I was thinking about life, about hip hop and the state that it’s in, all of these things came to my head because you were no longer with us. The entire day, I just remember everything being so slow. Time had stopped but the world kept going. My head was spinning and I was in a slump. That had to be the longest day of my life. 2 days before my birthday which made it even worse. A month later, there was a memorial for you in St. Albans. I skipped classes just to be there for you, I had to be. Right after my math class I left school, hopped on the train at 149th Street-Grand Concourse and was on my way to your hood. It’s a long ass ride to get out there but it was worth it. I met other fans, including my bro Shenron, Ralph McDaniels was out there, I missed the part where they handed out free shirts with your name on it and it was raining and so cold but it was worth it. I don’t think I could’ve been able to handle myself if I didn’t go. The next morning, this dude I went to high school with saw me in the papers honoring you. It made me feel like I was this poster guy for you, for Tribe. It was my name, my picture, your picture underneath it and it said I was honoring YOU. So much love I was receiving from my hip hop peers. I was a proud fan of you dawg, nah fuck that, I AM a proud fan of you. Now, lately, you guys have been on top of the world again and it’s amazing. We Tribe fans always wanted a new album from y’all and y’all did that for us. It was hard but at the same time exciting to hear your voice again. The album is amazing and “We the People” is fucking amazing too. I read about you and Tip being on good terms throughout he making of the album, I knew you guys were. I was hoping you two were. I love y’all brotherhood, we needed y’all back in hip hop again, we needed to see that, to feel that, to know that. Just last week, I went to the pop up shop. I didn’t get the shirt I originally wanted but it was worth it. I just wish the people who worked at the shop wasn’t so selfish to be the ones wearing all the merchandise and tell us fans there’s no more stuff. That pissed me off yo but I’m happy I got something. I’m gonna wear it forever, as well as my custom made t-shirt that my guy Curtis made for me. Yesterday, we finally celebrated the street naming after you. I missed the part where they finally showed the sign but I had to be there once again for you. So much love and good energy was out there for you. I seen your wife too, she’s so strong and beautiful too. I heard about your mom being there too, she’s also so strong and beautiful too. Jarobi was right in front of me but I was too scared to ask for a picture. I froze up. I went back home mad about that but then I remembered the time I met y’all last year. Yo Phife, this letter is to tell you how much I miss you and love you, how much the fans, your family and hip hop misses you. It don’t have to be your birthday, a Tribe Tuesday, a Tribe album anniversary for me to represent, I’m always representing. People remind me everyday how much I put on for hip hop culture and I think about you automatically. When my time comes when I’m in the game best believe you’ll be honored in the best way possible in my own way. I do it everyday but still. Man, Happy Birthday Phife. I love you and miss you again. Rest in beats King. It’s Tribe 4 ever and it’s always you 4 ever! You on point Phife? You always were!