The Groove

Thump thump thud thud...drum and bass.

In music these progressions make the difference between smooth and bounce that we call the "groove."

I like to say that Nigerians understand the groove. They do. Davido's "Gobe" and Iyanya's "Kukere" are two recent examples. You find from time to time South Africa surprises us. Mafikizolo and "Tchelete" definitely gave us groove.

You see for me the groove is felt the hardest in those creations that cause your feet to tap even when you don't mean for them to and bob your head or even just give up on the decorum and just get up and dance.

My best friend goes nuts in the car driving from work. We can't stop and let him free himself but trust and believe, when the groove gets him nothing can hold his joy. And that's the beautiful thing about music. The way it inspires movement, feeling, sympathy, joy, irresistibly demanding from us our innate instincts and reactions.

Music will tell the truth for you when your words can't. It spreads messages without the use of bundles or long articulation in wordy sentences that nobody particularly reads till the end.

And one of my musical grandparents says it best when he says we need it for absolutely everything. There can be no party, no wedding, no funeral, no news broadcast, no movie, no restaurant ambience without music. It colors every aspect of our lives and our expression.

I heard a speech a short while ago as Lionel Richie accepted his Lifetime Achievement Award in which he implored artists to never ever stop being authentic. Authenticity is what made it possible for there to be so many genres and influences and nuances in this art we hold so dear. As a fledgling musician the opportunity and privilege to do what I love and to learn and grow in excellence every single day is a blessing that can not ever be explained or taken for granted.

So as I make my transition from the borderline into what is termed "gospel" music I am grateful for the freedom of expression that allows me to tell stories in this voice of mine and have all of you hear it underneath the amazing groove I have created. I am not learning a genre. I am creating my own. I have many influences and many shades and I am excited to share all I have learnt in the past two years.

I have to thank my band. As we jump onto this ride I hope you know I am grateful for you and for the groove. You have no idea how many things you have saved me from. 7 months to go. Let's do it like only we can for the first time of many!

To all my fans and everyone that has supported me from every single day one that I have shared with each of you, thankyou. I really am doing this for all of you and for the groove.

Peace, Love & Beautiful Music,

M.M

Here's the link to "Wonderful", think of me as you tap those feet!

http://old.hulkshare.com/mobile/index.php#userPublic.php

Aftershock

There is a reason I am this me.

Many will describe me based on what they see. Medium height, not light but not dark skinned. Medium weight, not fat and not skinny. Big eyes. Very expressive eyes. Smallish feet and long fingers. Pretty toes.  Ordinary looking behind. Very black hair. Big ears...the list of physical attributes endless and not particularly memorable except for the eyes. No the eyes seem to be a big deal.

Very few people will tell you that I am clumsy or that I bite my nails when I am nervous and strain my eyes continuously because I am short sighted but absolutely hate that I have to squint. Very few people will tell you that I place one foot on top of the other when I cook or that I have two left feet and never dance. Very few people will tell you that I have different acents for different intonations and have a very wide vocabulary that I very rarely use. Except in my poems.

Very few people will tell you that I am a really bad liar and a huge crier and O have an extremely short fuse. Only one person will tell you that when I cry my bottom lip gets the shakes and a little dimple appears that nobody else knows is there.

Even fewer people can accurately describe who I really AM. And that's okay.

In the search for inner peace, serenity, clarity and balance I have learnt a few things about life. For one thing, nothing is ever what it seems. The truth is always just that. And sometimes it hides in plain sight. And who I really am is MY truth and nobody else's business.

Trust is a fragile thing. And it doesn't take much to break it. Sometimes even in doing good one finds they have crossed lines they never should have and trust is left broken.

Loyalty cannot be bought. You choose who you are loyal to. And that choice doesn't always have to be logical. Loyalty is a heart thing. Because when your back is against the wall the choice to be loyal will depend on how hard your heart beats as you stare down the barrel of that gun.

In love it is best to take everything one moment at a time. What you see right now will not be the same tomorrow. Emotions change overnight. Cherish the good moments, collect the memories and don't exaggerate the bad ones...magnify the good and accept and forgive the bad...it will save you time and trouble and even if it ends, the hurt will be different. The good will remain intact. Its only what you CHOOSE to make important that IS important.

Family is everything. Through the ups and downs your family will keep you going. And its not only blood that determines who family is. Half the time when the chips are down the blood will be watered down.

Plans are just plans. Your life and your destiny are already mapped out. The end result depends on your choices. Not on your plans. Sometimes those choices work for those plans and those plans are mapped out on the right path so they work. But other times it happens that plans go awry and you have to stop, drop and roll or regroup and rebuild. When that happens, don't give up. Keep going and keep believing. The difference between the man who gave up and the man that made it was the courage and the faith to believe in just 'one more try'...

Wisdom has nothing to do with age. Folly is the same. A woman should be discreet. The woman who shouts about her husband's long johns in the town square forgets that she is the one who is meant to wash them. Your secrets only reflect badly on YOU in the end.

I have seen and heard a lot of things in the past 24 hours that have made me rethink the people in my life and who they really are and the weirdness of life. But at the end of the day one thing is for sure, the only one who can decide who I am, what I do and what I believe in is me. And that's all that really matters in the end.

(This post is for Ashley Gibbs and for my one.)

#TitaniumSolid #Kilimanjaro #LoveOverEverything

J. Bird.

My Predicament

I am in Love.

Its a weakness. A weak point. A thorn in my flesh. Because you see, you can use it against me.

But I am in Love.

Solidly, shamelessly,  destructively in love. In spite of myself and regardless of what my innate wisdom dictates. And you know what? I am done fighting it.

I have rationalised the sensible decision of weaning myself from this destructive influence. I have sensationalised the glamor of the emptiness that would remain if I were to succeed in this stupid endeavor and I have come up empty. Because when push comes to shove one will always choose the happier option.

See clarity I often say, is extremely underrated. Sometimes all it takes is a moment of silence.  Of aloneness and personal honesty and in that moment the courage to look yourself in the face and accept what really is and agree to live with it.

I am no martyr.

The delicious chill that runs down my spine when finger brushes cheek or lip brushes nape of neck or hand cups face or eyes meet is no blood draining sacrifice. I have no real complaints. I walked in with my eyes wide open. Heart closed shut. How was I to know he was on some kind of mission?

I am in Love.

So deeply in love that it scares. I don't forget anything. At all. And its all I can think about. I have always been so good at following rules. But I shiver and shake and call when I am not supposed to and its sickening and pathetic and real. I am soft. Putty in his hands. Manipulating me into submission and then I hate myself for it.

Because it is a weakness. I should not tell all. Or tell the truth. Or face up to my shortcomings. He should never see me sweat. Or hear me catch my breath. Or feel me respond.  And it isn't even sexual. Its this warmth. This unique oneness. This rightness. It feels like Home.

I am in Love.

This is no declaration.  Nobody cares. This is an admission of guilt to myself. See the smart thing to do is run. But I have had all the time in the world to do that and he is still stuck here. With me. Addictions are straightforward.  You know they are no good for you but they disassemble the togetherness of your biology to foster a fatal dependence in order to maintain functionality.

This that I am dealing with, it has nothing to do with my blood. So it should be easy right. Tonight I had a conversation with myself in the mirror. And she laughed at my postulating pretentious fantasies of Freedom. Because Freedom is what I need. To be able to be selfish and uncaring and see, hear and feel nothing. But instead, here I am still flinching when his shoulder gets caught in a weird position as he puts his jacket back on. Foolish me.

I am in Love.

Deeply and hopelessly in love. And maybe its time I let that be. Because its okay. I am not losing that much anyway...just my entire mind....

#TitaniumSolid #Kilimanjaro

M.M