Guess who's bizack?

My Tumblr has been down for about a day or so, an absence that has forced me to return briefly to the Bruce and Carrie's son. Pardon my brief hiatus, ya'll. I've been having a ton of fun on the other platform, and neglected to let folks know where I've been. For those interested, my Tumblr can be found at : joshuabrandonbennett.tumblr.com

In other news, due to a brief bout with insomnia I was up at about 6AM this morning watching the above video. Say whatever you like about Dr. Dyson, the brother is hands-down one of the greatest orators of our generation. He's definitely in my top 3. Dr. West has been my favorite speaker for a while now, but moments like this give my favorite Cornel speeches a run for their money.

They're both Princeton guys, too. One as a former student, another as a current professor. Just thought I would throw that in there :-)

Boosted mine on a gloomy day

Utter hilarity. Has to be top 5 renditions of the Dougie I have ever seen. Get em John Weezy.

Back at it!

The Black Ivy from Street Etiquette on Vimeo.

Dag, son! I really haven't posted anything in multiple weeks. My bad, ya'll. I'm working on multiple ideas at the moment, and have neglected the blog something crazy. That being said, one of the products of my off-blog business is a newfound relationship with the brilliant folks over at Street Etiquette (which you can find via brief Google Search). Josh and Travis are two of the most humble, creative cats in the game, and it was truly a pleasure to have some time to build with them recently. We currently have a potential project in the works, so be sure to be on the lookout for a major collaboration in the future. In the meantime, be sure to check out one of their recent projects, "The Black Ivy." Crisp visuals. Brilliant concept. Classic Street Etiquette.

Wonderful things on the horizon, ya'll! God is moving, as always, and I'm just honored to be his servant, friend, and son. Please keep me in prayer moving forward. Be encouraged!

Ms. Monique Purcell going hard in the paint for Jesus

Between Colossians 3 and Malachi 6, this morning's Devotional really helped me to gain some new perspective on my new life (interesting that that's the first phrase that came to mind given where my head is right now) here overseas. I have been worrying a lot about money lately, and in the past 24 hours God has made some major moves to help ease the worry I had inside. Far too often, I am ready and willing to meditate on God's love, on his forgiveness, but frequently forget about His sovereignty. Him being Lord of my life means just that, that everything within the scope of my senses belongs to Him. It's like 1 John 4:18 says:

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."

Fear has no place in my heart anymore. Whether its fear related to this Master's thesis, to my career as an artist, or to my finances. My life is not my own. It's time to focus on showing the people around me Christ's indomitable love, rather than exerting time and energy looking frantically for ways to store up treasure on Earth. Got to remember the source. I'm definitely still on the grind, but am now doing so with God's guidance. I'm driven by purpose, not by fame.Not by fear, but by love.

The clip above is featuring an artist that will, if all goes according to plan, be featured in my PhD dissertation. Her name is Monique Purcell, and her voice is out of this world. The sister's anointing is clear, and I sincerely hope that this clip blesses ya'll the way it blessed me yesterday and this morning.

Beautiful simplicity.

Every time I watch this video, I still get surprised by the ending. Before i leave the UK, I am definitely trying to see Francis and the Lights live. One of the dopest frontmen in the game, hands down. Btw, much more introspective posts are on deck. They may in fact come out as poems. Just wanted to be sure I hit ya'll with this video first, as it's one of my favorites. Stay tuned!

Need to step my love game up...

As of been late, I've been doing my best fight against the way I used to imagine, talk about, and show love. In the video above, Sho Baraka makes it clear that he and I are on the same page. This brother said, "If you're a player...grow up." Powerful stuff. Enjoy!

My first music review ever!

One of my closest friends and favorite beatmakers, Hayling Price is truly a Renaissance Man par excellence. He hit me up the other day to listen to his (sort of) new beat tape, and to say that I was thoroughly refreshed is an understatement. Sometimes we forget to celebrate nuance and delicacy in the world of hip-hop instrumentals. Often preferring the boom of the bass to the humble hum of the keys, we fail to remember that there must always be room for groove music, tunes to relax and reflect to. Hayling's corpus of work forces us to re-imagine sonic boundaries, to unlock our palates in preparation for something new. Keys Open Doors indeed. Go get em, Hayles!

Here are some words from the man himself:

I've played the keys all my life- was classically trained by a Juilliard professor growing up in New York, played in a hip-hop soul band in Philly, and currently produce for emcees and vocalists from my home in DC. Although I know how to sample I've usually relied on my skills on the keys to guide my production. This time, instead of composing my own stuff I chose to take a different approach.

I wanted to challenge myself to find chord changes instead of make them, so I went back to some of the musicians (Ahmad Jamal, Herbie Hancock, Thelonious Monk et al.) who have been the most influential on me and hip-hop at large. You can hear this on the intro track, which includes commentary from jazz greats and original tunes that have been immortalized by hip-hop classics. On the rest of the album, I looped and chopped up jazz piano samples up on the MPC and came up with the finished product that is KeysOpenDoors. Enjoy.