"The Fall Breeze Is Coming, No More Summer Humid..."

(Taken myself during the week of my Freshman Orientation last summer)

It has been a busy week. Reason being I have not posted anything new in almost a week. This week has been made up putting some touches on beats for V.I.S.I.O.N.S (all the beats are done! Now, it's a 15 track jump off), and packing to move back to college. As I am typing this, I currently broadcasting live and direct from my new dorm from Marymount College and bumpin Justin Timberlake... lol!!! School does not begin until August 27, but the reason why I'm here so early is I'm a part of the S.O.S. Orientation crew and I gotta help the new incoming freshman get settled in properly, ya dig?

The last two days have been funny has hell. From the moment I stepped back on to the housing dorms, it seemed like the drama fest began, and my school IS FULL OF THAT SHIT!!! I don't wanna go into details (because there are other people involved and I don't spread rumors, ya dig?), but one of these stories involved my house already be occupied, some students from Korea, and a computer monitor... LMAO!!! I don't feel like typing out the whole story right now, but if you wanna know, just holla. Believe me, it was some funny shit.

There are some other some other funny details that I found about about this upcoming school year I cannot talk about just yet, but will in future entry. I know is this year is going to be eventful in various ways. I'm already in grind mode... bump what you heard, The Legendary General is back!!! LOL!!!

As packed up the other day, I started to think about what happened the around this time last year the day before I moved out. Peep the Scenario: for those of you who are just getting to know myself and my company, Honor Flow Productions, last year we released our first full L.P entitled "Fall 2 Greatness." The title was thought up by Key, in his thinking was this was not just any Fall, but THE FALL. The fall of new beginning and the new life we about to make ourselves. This L.P started as just a mixtape but over the course of a six month period (from June 2006-December 2006), after numerous changes and additions, it became the first original work from H.F.P. At this point in time, H.F.P. was only four members: Key, my best friend Anthony, my step-father's, best friend's son, D, who is a singer, and myself. Many other members of the crew had left had they left town for college. I met Buddha, A.D, Terry, and Paul all at college and they did not jump on the record until the last 2 and 1/2 months of recording.

At this point, the album was 12 tracks and I though was almost done. But time was running close, and Key and I wanted to get everything recorded before we moved out for college. But time went by, compilations arose, and as it would turn out, we would only have one day to write AND record the remaining 8 songs. And really, we did not have a full day, because Key at first could not get up to my crib. Thank God Stephen offered to give him a ride (I still owe you for that one dawg). It was around 11:30 in the morning by the time he arrived at my house. Mind you, except for one, all of the beats were done, the concepts for these records were already thought out, and Ant and D's vocals had aready been recorded over a period of that month when they came to visit me. For Key and I, it was now just a matter of execution.

Key and I would end up finishing all eight songs that day. Funny this is, only 3 of those songs recorded that day the final 19 track album. As a matter of fact, only 5 joints from the orignial 12 track demo made the final cut; 2 of those later I re-recorded the vocals and D's solo track "Why I Can't (Be The One For You)", I ended up redoing the beat and removing my 16 bar rap after the bridge. Many of these demos had been laying on my hard drive and only listened to by myself for my own personal amusement, until now.

I thought this would be fun to post those eight songs Key and I recorded that day and give a brief liner note on each track. Some of these tracks are the original demos, some of these are the album versions because I do not have the demo versions anymore. So, with out further ado, let me take you back to that hot August day in my room...

1) Fall 2 Greatness (Original Demo)


Key and I had recorded a version of this song with the same lyrics about a week before over this 9th Wonder instrumental I found online. But neither of us did not liked the finish product. It was that same week I had decide to do more original production on F2G and less "mixtape style" songs with us rapping over all artist's beats. A title track to any album is important because it is supposed to define the what the album is about. This song is that, as it reflect Key and I putting a close on our high school lives and saying hello to manhood. This why the beat has such a dramatic feel to it and has always reminded me of a scene in a movie where the hero is racing to the finish line and he or she finds that inner strength to finish; hince the military sounding drum pattern and synth bell loops. This was the first song we recorded that day, and I actually did get my verse in the first take. Nice was to start the day. This song remains one Key's favorites.

2) Vibin


I remember writing the first verse of this song while riding the D.C Metro Subway. I was in D.C while there for the NAACP Act-So competition. For some reason that trip, I was listening to "Bring It On" by Jay-Z on repeat. So the the song's instrumental, provided by NY's boom-bap king, DJ Premier, was stick in my head as I wrote this rhyme. So when I went home, and tried to make a beat for this song, I wanted to create my own Preemo boom-bap sounding beat... close but no cigar.

3)On My Mind


The "Females Are Complicated" joint. The first verse was me talking about my previous relationship from that past school year (FYI, I just found out this week she getting married), while Key's verses found him talking about his then girlfriend at time, Tarasha, with D providing the hook. I remember being stuck while trying to write my last 12 bars of the 3rd verse and puting on The Roots' "Complexity" for inspiration. This why my last 12 bars has a Black Thought-est feel to it. Plus the line of "like J. Clark rise above it" was a nod to a teammate of Key and I's on our High School track team. He actually won the California state championship in high jump this year and will be attending UCLA this fall on a full scholarship.

4) Move Around


My attempt at a Hypty beat... LMAO!!!! This beat was actually produced by D and myself. Since he is from San Jose, he wanted to make a tribute to his beloved Bay Area. He also begged me to let him rap of this. So this is why he is rapping at the beginning of the song. The "Hey Hey Heys" in the back was recorded in my bathroom at about 3 in the morning by D and I to avoid waking anyone up. Unfortunately, I still ended up waking up my sister out of a cold sleep. Although I still love the storyteling feel to the song, this shit make me wonder what I was thinking in even contemplating leaving this on the album. Thank you Ant for talking some sense into me on this one, lol!!!

5) Last Stand


Next to "Summer Madness," this was my favorite "mixtape" style joint we have done. All you Blackstar fantatics may recognize this as the Pete Rock Remix to "Respiration." The concept was I wanted all the orignial H.F.P members to come together for one more song before everyone went to college. Problem was two them had a fall out the night of graduation at the party they threw and could not stand being near each other anymore (they still have not talked to each other to this day). That is why I had to rap on the third verse. That was not planned at first. I even addressed this on the verse if you listen closely. Another reason I love this song was because this was of my favorite verses from Ant. The "I don't lean with it, I don't rock with it/I just step on my board, I just grind with it," line makes us laugh to this day. Shit, I have tears in my ears right now while type this from laughing about it now!!! What makes it even more funny was when the line came with it, Ant and I thought it would be great to put some snaps in the back to give it an "authentic" snap music feel. The other thing I love about this verse was my scratching at the end. The line was taken from Eminem joint "Encore." The line "Let's rally, hands up for the grand finally" couldn't has spoke truer. This was going to be the closing track.

6) 2 Many Rappers


This is how Key and I felt fell about Hip-Hop last summer, and honestly, we still feel like this. I'm sure many of you have heard a song before and go "How in the hell did (Fill in a Wack MC's name here) get signed?" This is what Key and I were touching on in this song. For the song's intro, I was trying to find a wack song playing on the radio to play through the mic and then do my little "goin' off" moment of how wack it was. For some old reason, that day, the radio was not playing any wack songs. At the time, Key and I were hungry as hell and could not think of a wack song to play. If you know Key as well as I do, you know he starts acting real goofy he does not get something in his stomach. This is when the golden moment struck. I could not stand D4L's "Laffy Taffy," (and to this day I still can't even listen to even 5 Seconds of that song!). I thought those niggas should be arrested if they ever touch a mic again. And Key, at his goofyness highest, out the blue, started to sing the hook to Laffy Taffy. That's when the idea hit. I went in the booth and started to vocally mimic the synth loop from the song, then I told Key to go in the booth and start singing "Laffy Taffy." Once my sister came in and added Fabo's "Candy Girl" line, it was a rap, lol!!! This is the actual album version.

7) 1,2,3


This song contains another favorite verse of my mine from Ant. This beat reminded me of crusing down the Vence Boardwalk on a Skateboard or a Bike (or a Razor Scooter that day in that case, lol). This song contains the H.F.P term, "50 Skittles." This is play off what Jay-Z said at the beginning of the remix of Missy Elliot's "One Minute Man," "50 Grand I get this in one take!!!" Shit, we don't have 50 Grand to throw around like Hov. However, we can afford the big movie size bag of skittles for $2.00, lol!!! So we would say "50 Skittles I get this in one take," instead of 50 grand. The thing makes me crunge about this song is, so the album could fit on the 80 Minute CD, had to cut down Key's show stealing verse, which was too long. Actually, that is the album version and the second time I had to cut the verse down, because he rewrote his verse and re-recorded. But it was STILL to long! You can hear his verse actually cut off at the end. Sorry dawg.

8) Comin' To The Stage


This track was made in not the 11th hour, but in the 11th minute. This was the one beat that was not made before that day. I made this beat in 30 minutes, right before Key had to leave. It is very minimalistic, but that why it bangs so much. I remember Key in front of the microphone, shuffing about 3 pages of raps while delilvering this. At the part when he says "I'm gonna change up the flow," that him shuffing paper. He rips this beat apart!! He was a little mad when I ended up taking this off the album. Maybe one of these days we'll revamp this joint and go at it again.

9) On The Verge (Intro)


This was the orignial intro to the album. This was recorded actually a week before the eight track jam session. It was a continuation of our conversation intro from the "Summer Madness Vol. 1" mixtape. This was just us choppin it up. No script or anything, this was just Key and I pressing record and talking about what is going on in our lives at time. Some of the inside jokes you would only get if you heard the S.M Vol. 1 intro would be first, the phone always ringing during our conversation, two, the term "Seductive Sweat," which is is a term that is used between the homies and I describing how a girl looks sexy sweating, while dancing in the club (fellas you know what I'm talking about right?), and three, my dreams of meeting different celebrities (after taking Psychology last semester, I can only guess it reflects my inner ambitions, as dreams can do for people). The last part was us talking about Ant and I going to a club the week before and madness that went down. Key didn't want to go with us that night because he did not want to do something that he might regret (he was with Tarasha at time). He made a wise decision... LOL!!!!

I hope all of you have enjoyed this little walk down H.F.P. memory lane. I really enjoyed writing this and revisiting these tracks. This was the beginning of what you know now. So when you hear V.I.S.I.O.N.S, you will understand how all this started, and see how far we have come.

And on that note... I'm Out.