"it's A New York Shame" ; a native's Hip Hop Anthem.

I wanted write a song from my heart that really said exactly what I feel about the place I come from. Born in Spanish Harlem and raised in the Bronx, I've watched the cityscape change from the 60's to the present day. Some of the memories & experiences were good. This song is not about them.

This song is about all the embarrassments, hidden pockets of urban blight, absurd scandals and annoyances that only a Homeboy or Homegirl from the hoods of New Yawk could relate to.

A downtempo, Old School pulsing rhythm, with trippy guitar lines frame a strong hook which sets up a First verse that I can say I am proud of.



The new EP release, "Respect The Playlist", produced by myself and brilliant composer PHILLIP GELBACH is now available on iTunes/Apple Music.

"Booma" : An ode to post-911 baby boomers

"Booma" was intended to be a Hip Hop response to 911 and the new challenges facing the next generation of baby "Booma's". ("Even the rat got to hand over the cheese to the fat cat"...)

Russian Classical pianist/hip hop producer PHILIP GELBACH created the hypnotic, descending vibraphone line and the dark & spooky string pads.

The addition of Digitelle's laid-back female lead and Massi Funkdredd's twisted wordplay was crucial for the song's vibe and made a perfect blend to sprinkle on a relaxed, Jazzy groove.

We shot the "BOOMA" music video in Times Square in 2004. Sadly, the video has been lost.

BOOMA
Lyrics by James Avatar

Intro
I'm OK and you're OK
and I thought I heard a rumor in the year 2K
that every dog will have his day 
so I might as well party now

Chorus

Booma Booma
Velcro future
sticking to the plan like ya mass consumer
life is like a knife and sometimes it cut through ya
demystify the word 'cause what you heard is just a rumor

Booma Booma 
Teflon future
slide by the hard times can't stick to ya
same old same the game won by the loser 
love is just a drug are you the dealer or the user?

Avatar verse
I need a cold glass of lemonade 
cause hell is hot in the shade 
under the collar when you holla for the dollar
bills got you ill
candy flip chill pill no cheap thrills sweating like swine on the grill
so scary learn a whole new vocabulary still cracking the word safe in you dictionary dollar bill ya'll and no sense so you pull the caper
or maybe sling the weight and turn the trees into paper either way you understand that you need a plan now you realize that you forgot that all you got the skin in your hand
now who the man for supply and demand?
you bust your lip tripping on the privileges of membership
swipe the stripe bold like Ali in manila
interest rates creeping up like thriller pinstripe hype play or get played selling the bonds that Fred Sanford liked to trade
do the masquerade and escapade you know so well, is it bear shit or bullshit (you can tell by the smell) recession got you guessin where the cheddar at
even the rat got to hand over the cheese to the fat cat.

Chorus

Booma Booma
Velcro future
sticking to the plan of the mass consumer
life is like a knife and sometimes it cut through ya
demystify the word 'cause what you heard is just a rooma

Booma Booma 
Teflon future
slide by the hard time can't stick to ya
same old same the game won by the losa 
love is just a drug are you the dealer or the user?

Digitelle verse
I need a hot cup of cocoa
ain't even tryin to be a down low CEO
no strain to maintain a portfolio
that puts a hole up in your soul like a cheerio
I'd rather pass you the mic so you could let go
you need to flow and maybe outgrow the status quo
or maybe even take your nose off the grindstone,
when you shoot money in your veins you get the Dow Jones stocks stringing you along like a yo-yo
you running from the shadow of a falling domino
yo is that really how it go? no but really tho,
maybe the changes that you undergo
come from where the cream flow.

Massi verse
You see occasionally the dread attempts to blaze the beats straight wild and crazily like Midwest high school hazing speed and stun you momentarily

continuously spitting rhymes with clarity the very topic wise and time disparaging but mostly true,

and to inform the ghetto youth on how the world revolves, you think you bust a gat and problem solved but yo my man you must evolve to reach a higher plane speak peace and maintain if you intend for all our peeps to gain.

I feel your pain cause I be right there witch you struggling mad job juggling to keep the money bubbling

I'm try to manifest the righteous
roll with the hype cats
just to get the right touch.

Bridge

I'm OK and you're OK
and I thought I heard a rumor in the year 2K
that every dog will have his day 
so I might as well party now

Damn!
Look at me!...
Blah blah blah...
Yakety yak

©2002,2005 ®2014ceomusic

"Change The Mindset"- video mashup tribute to revolution

A cinema "mash-up" of some of my favorite films. Also a tribute to the spirit of revolution and fighting back against the evils that men do.

Written in the spring of 1983 and recorded on Christmas '08.

Artfully remixed by video editing wiz CINEMIXER.


CHANGE THE MINDSET
 Masses of unhappyness and smiles of darkness around you
The state of hate in the love you make around you
People hide out of pride cause they're unsatisfied around you
What do you do? what do you do?

I think you need to Change The Mindset, Change The Mindset
Che Guuvara you must never forget, when you change
Change The Mindset, Change The Mindset
Life is just fine when you change the mind

The screams in your dreams from the fear of the scene around you
Pain in the brain / the pleasure you gain around you
When you'r chained and bound, birds sing without sound around you
That's my point of view Now brother, what'cha gonna do?

I think you need to Change The Mindset, Change The Mindset
Malcolm X you must never forget, when you change
Change The Mindset, Change The Mindset
It's just just fine when you change the mind

Change The Mindset, Change The Mindset
Mahatma Gandhi you must never forget, when you change,
Change The Mindset, Change The Mindset
Life is just fine when you change the mind

I think you need to change your mind, one time

"DEADMONKEY" - A salute to the Darwin Awards

Are you are bothered by publicly rude cellphone talkers, texting drivers, unnecessary pop stars and political charlatans? Then perhaps you can take solace in the fact that there is an honor awarded to seriously stupid people who kill themselves in stupid ways, making the world a better place for the rest of us.

The song "DEADMONKEY" is funky R n' B salute to THE DARWIN AWARDS: a tongue-in-cheek honor that recognizes individuals who have contributed to human evolution by self-selecting themselves out of the gene pool via death or sterilization, due to their own (unnecessarily foolish) actions. 

The stories in the lyrics are based on true life accounts of Darwin Award "winners". Written by James Avatar

DEAD MONKEY

Salute to THE DARWIN AWARDS

Jazztronic/Hip hop - 90 BPM

HOOK

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, fight for banana

Boom Boom Dead Monkey

Boom Boom Dead Monkey

VERSE1:

once upon a time there was a monkey named JOE

tried to rob a bank three times in a ROW

tried once more to do the very same STUNT

didn't see the cop car parked in the FRONT

once upon a time there was a monkey named Kay, put a

bomb in a letter and mailed it AWAY

when it came back, he said “what’s that THANG?”

opened up the letter and the monkey went BANG

Chorus

Boom Boom Dead Monkey, Tougher than leather

Boom Boom Dead Monkey, Not 2 clever

Boom Boom Dead Monkey,  cookie gonna crumble

You can see another one stumble in the  jungle

BREAK

MONKEY: “Yo, I gots yo banana, baby

GIRL: “But you’s a DEAD MONKEY!”

MONKEY: “Yo, I gots yo banana, baby

GIRL:  “But you’s a DEAD MONKEY!”

MONKEY:“Yo, I gots yo banana, baby

GIRL:  “But you’s a DEAD MONKEY!” - Keep yo banana, yo Banana ain’t funky!”

VERSE 2:

once upon a time there was a monkey named LANCE

tried to steal a lobster, in his PANTS

Monkey in pain, monkey hit the floor

and now the monkey’s name is ELEANOR

once upon a time there was a monkey named HANK

tried to clean out his gasoline TANK

couldn't see a thing, too dark INSIDE

Lit a hot match and the monkey got FRIED

Boom Boom Dead Monkey, Hustle for banana

Boom Boom Dead Monkey, Fight for banana

Boom Boom Dead Monkey  ready to rumble

In come another one, there goes the jungle

Boom Boom Dead Monkey, Tougher than leather

Boom Boom Dead Monkey, Not 2 clever

Boom Boom Dead Monkey,  cookie gonna crumble

You can see another one stumble in the  jungle

Repeat HOOK TO end

Occupy song #1: "As The Whole World Watches"

October 2011

As the Occupy Wall Street movement began, it was very hard for me to sit in a modest rental in Louisiana and watch the events unfold in New York City. After all, I was born in Spanish Harlem, raised in a project near Yankee Stadium, went to high school in Westchester, danced the Hustle at Studio 54 and squatted in an abandoned East Village tenement shortly before the riot in Tompkins Square Park. 

NYC is in my DNA.

Seems like my life has been peppered with historic New York moments that helps me remember the amazing grit & character the city once possessed. Before the Apple got shined, I remember the beauty of it's wormy core.

Having been part of many marches, community actions and awesome benefit concerts, a motion stirred inside me to take a sabbatical from my job as a barker on Bourbon Street and return to the state my birthplace, seeking creative/artistic involvement in what was quickly becoming a global phenom of change and social revolution.

Occupy-Inspired EP from FILTER KINGZ

With the help of my co-producer/whizkid Phillip Gelbach and NY indie producer Todd Carter, I am very proud to be a part of a collection of songs inspired by the Occupy Movement that form an EP for the European Electronica group FILTER KINGZ called "$ongs Of Change". These songs will also be included in my forthcoming solo CD " Adventures In The New recession".

This song, "As The Whole World Watches", is one possible explanation about "Why they occupy", as seen through the eyes of someone who (finally) gets it. 

These lyrics are framed in a downtempo Hip Hop / R n' B groove layered with honky-tonk upright piano licks and psychedelic guitar textures.

Enjoy,

James Avatar
•••••••••••••

As The Whole World Watches
By James Avatar & The Blacklist

Music By Todd Carter, James Avatar &Tim Curtis

Lyrics by James Avatar

Produced by Todd Carter & Filter Kingz

Guitar by Tim Curtis

From the forthcoming "$ongs Of change" EP by Filter Kingz

And the forthcoming " Adventures In The New Recession" CD by James Avatar

•••••••••••••••••••••••••

•••••••••••••••••••••••••

And the whole world watches..

Take a look outside your window, see the people holding signs
It's a brand new situation, It's a sign of these changing times
People tired of politicking, on the banks they can't rely
People talking about walkin’ the walk & this is why they occupy

All the ones on the left seem lazy, all the ones on the right seem crazy
In the middle they speak riddles and none of them can see eye-to-eye
Raise for the one percent  got higher, one o' them ninety-nine  got fired
Got no money - not so funny and this is why they occupy

1ST CHORUS
Mama told me something and it stuck in my brain she said ; "Don't just stand there-do something!"
I read a sign in a subway train it said ; "if you see something-say something."

People talkin’ bout got no house, couldn't pay the bank so they had to fly
People talkin'’ bout got no job, twenty years deep, gotta say goodbye
People talkin' bout got no teachers, now they march in the street with preachers
and in case you wonder why this is why they occupy

People talkin' bout livin' in fear, and drowning in their tears
Now after all these years you can hear the people cry
They will diversify on common sense they will rely
it's time to unify and this is why they occupy

2ND CHORUS
If you wonder why / they all decide to occupy
Don't shake your head from side to side
It's just a different sacrifice, they call themselves "The 99"

If you wonder why / they all decide to occupy
They're mad as hell, sick & tired
No longer blind inside their eyes, They call themselves "The 99"

And the whole world watches..
The whole world watches. (X2)

Instrument solo

1ST CHORUS

2ND CHORUS; REPEAT TO END

MCN: CPJS0-X0KUW-A5GWL

© copyright 2012-10-27 20:12:30 - All Rights Reserved