POPPIN’ ON TV Music Video Premier: A 3-Event Series

November 13th, 2008

poppin-party-nyc

What’s Good True 2 Lifers!

We are finally ready to premier the music video we shot for Poppin’ On TV.

After alot of time and tedious efforts, we got the final cut back from director Omar Derby and the video is FIRE! We would like to invite all our family, friends, fans, listeners, followers, haters, lovers, stalkers, pets, doctors, democrats, republicans, to celebrate the release with us.

We will be splitting up the premier of the video into a 3 part series (as you can probably see in the top banner).

First Part:
NYC Release Party - Tuesday, Nov. 25th - 420 Bar and Lounge, 80th & Amsterdam, NYC

Second Part:
HARTFORD Release Party - Wednesday, Nov. 26th - Life Ultra lounge, 81 Asylum St, Hartford, CT

Third Part:
World Premier - Black Friday, Nov. 28th - We will be uploading the video to this site and youtube. So check back here for more details

Here is the teaser one more ‘gain:

And here is the behind the scenes footage in case you missed that too.

So yo, the video is FRESH, FUN and QUALITY and we expect the release party to be no different. Joining True 2 Life Music in celebration will be the video producers, crew, cast and models in the video as well as our industry counterparts and people of interest. So you’ll be able to enjoy some good music and networking.

The event will be non-formal, stop by after-work, after-school, after-sex, after-dinner, etc…come as you are (c) Nirvana.

Peace New York City, see you Tuesday.

-’cise boogie

ps: We will post the CT Premier flyer next. CT…see you Wednesday the 26th!


Beats?! PT. 4

November 12th, 2008

We’re still going in the stash for some production to share. This round, the beats are a lil more dark and/or soulful. Definitely some Dilla influence here…so comm sense, elzhi, etc… holla at ya boys.

 
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email us if your trying to get some production…

-cise boogie

THUG RAPPERS CAN’T COME NEAR IT

November 10th, 2008

alsharp

Okay, so some friends of mine were joking around with me cause during election night I was using Obama to drive traffic to our website.

Guilty as charged.

Don’t get me wrong though.. I respect everything that night stands for, but it’s a recession… and brothas gotta eat. Anyway, I came across on hiphopdx.com:

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Rev. Al Shaprton, a frequent critic of Hip Hop believes that the Obama victory will “force” Hip Hop artists to behave better. Sharpton predicts that the Obama administration will force a decline in the more violent and misogynistic elements of the culture. “You can’t be using the ‘b’ word, the ‘n’ word, the ‘h’ word when you have Barack Obama redefining overnight the image that black people want to have,” Sharpton says. “Here’s the greatest political victory in the history of black America, and the thug rappers can’t come near it. They will have to change or become irrelevant.”

=====================================

Now, my personal convictions and beliefs often clash with those of our community’s popular black “leaders”. And yeah, I’m a lil’ tough on Sharpton, Messy Jesse and their cohorts, but I gotta speak my mind on this one.

He says: “Here’s the greatest political victory in the history of black America, and the thug rappers can’t come near it.”

What is that even supposed to mean?

Does he really think anyone is holding Trick Daddy and Noreaga’s successes in the same light as Obama’s?
(no shots @ Trick & NORE, but I’m sayin….)

Does he really think the Obama victory is gonna force rappers to “behave” better??? Like all of a sudden rappers won’t curse?

Chill son, you wildin’.

The only thing that’ll make people “behave” is home training and/or money. If us rappers (who use the B/N/H words) truly see financial repercussions for our word choices, I can see us stopping. Maybe not me, though. Partially because I barely use curse words and limit my uses of the n-word in raps anyway, and partially because I don’t want to give up who I am as an artist by thinking too much and not expressing myself as naturally as possible.

I’m not gonna lie.. I, too, shake my head sometimes at potty mouth emcees… but often vulgarity helps get your point across. Like is there any way to express the feeling behind “Fuck Don Imus” without using the F-word? I don’t think so… but anyway, Al seems to be leveraging Obama-mania to further his own political agendas. Not a surprise, though…

Just seems like an attempt to jump on the bandwagon, all this after not REALLY supporting Barack and saying he was “grandstanding on front of white people” when Obama claimed it would be wrong to resort to violence after the Sean Bell verdict. http://www.nypost.com/seven/04292008/news/regionalnews/sharpton_raps_obama_108577.htm

If urging people not to riot is grandstanding, Al must be the grandfather of grandstanding. Wouldn’t MLK say the same thing??? Dude is akin’ more and more like Rollo Goodlove from The Boondocks.

I understand the rampant negativity in hip-hop can get pretty bad sometimes, but let’s work on fixing our communities forreal rather than just blaming it on gangsta rap. That whole thing is getting quite old…

- WORDS!

ps - I respect the “leaders” of our community and everything they have done and sacrificed for black people…. forreal… I do.

alsharp

We’ve Got Work To Do

November 5th, 2008

first-family

Whats good? It’s K.Words here.

Since last night, things have changed for me. I don’t get followed around in stores anymore. My blood pressure has dropped significantly. Cops no longer pull me over. My credit situation is so dope that creditors that I owe don’t even call, they just erase my debts.

chimage

Sike!

But forreal, it does feel good to be black right now. Last night I was at the homie Keith’s Obama party and I couldn’t help but be slightly weirded out about the whole thing. A little negative. I dunno. It was surreal, but I think I have issues living in the moment and just enjoying something. Especially things that I really care about. (it’s not that I care about politics, just that I love black people and want to see them succeed in everything. Any black contestant on reality or game shows are my favorites off rip. Like remember the Jenkins/Watkins/Jones families on Family Feud? I used to OD cheer for them… but i digress…)

It’s like with music… with every accolade and achievement True 2 Life Music reaches, I still don’t feel satisfied. I find ways to make our show that much better, I learn how to mix drums that much crisper, or I think about all the work that still needs to be done. I would never just feel like “I’m good” or “my work is done” just because I reached some milestone in my career. That’s some complacent shit right there. Hard work and love for my culture [hiphop and black] is just part of me..

The same feeling goes for black people/America when it comes to this election. Obama won. That’s great. But now, people need to carry over that same passion and energy to the way we live our everyday lives. We need to understand that Obama’s job is to improve and lead AMERICA as a whole and that won’t always necessarily be reflected in our communities. IT IS STILL ON US TO IMPROVE OUR SITUATION.

So yeah, like ‘Cise was saying in the post before, it’s time to work. We just lived history. For those of us who were not around during the Civil Rights Movement, this is the single most defining moment for black people in America. We need to delve further into politics because right now, they’re gonna realize that our voices must be heard, and our concerns must be considered. As Obama represents a shift in the way American politics is looked at, it’s about time the same is done about the leadership in our own community. Let’s shift things for the better. For the future.

And oh yeah… cut off DEEZ NUTS, Jesse.

Pause.

- K. “We Can” Words

My President Is Black!

November 5th, 2008

blackpresident

Greetings True 2 Lifers and American Peoples,

We were ready to embrace change, we voted and we made it history…

Obama 2008!!

…now lets get to WORK.

- ‘Cisington

obama picture

BEATS?! PT. 3

November 4th, 2008

…MORE BEATS THAT WE PRODUCED…GET AT US, IF YOU WANT SOME PRODUCTION.

 
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T-1 Day to ObamaNation

November 3rd, 2008

hopefully…

So, a few weeks ago, I was meeting with Omar Derby (the director for the Poppin’ On TV video, coming soon) going over one of the edits of the video. (coming soon, forreal y’all). This guy (Nat Beal) next to me asked if I would watch his video and give my reaction. Check it out.. then let us know…
What’s your reaction? Tomorrow’s the big day.

- K.Words

ps: we will be putting on a small non-formal post election event…details to come

True 2 Life Music on Halloween

October 31st, 2008

many full moons ago…

(concise as 2pac, rah rza as bloody rag, k.words as biggie)
t2lxhalloween

also some vintage true 2 life earcandy for the trick or treaters…

 
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Obama for America!

October 29th, 2008

hope

Filthy put us on to some exclusives this morning…a collection of photography of the Obama campaign. The photos were taken by Scout Tufankjian and posted on her website. There was some really dope shots in there. I had to thief some of them and post to our blog just because. Hopefully she (Scout is a female photographer based in Brooklyn!) sees her credit and doesn’t try to send Polaris after us.

Anyways…there are only 6 days until election day! I’m anxious just thinking that the face of this country can be changed in less than a week. We HAVE to elect that man Obama! These images are definitely moving enough to give you hope that Obama has the power to unite this country and bring change we need.

as always…stay true,
‘Cisington

obama1

obama2

barack3

True 2 Life & Lupe Fiasco Performance at Loyola College

October 28th, 2008