Derik's Corner

This has nothing to do with lashing at all. The fact that you found this is weird actually, since it’s not really on the website. Which means you’re especially cool.

 

This page is simply my random thoughts about random shit. I’m not a blogger, don’t want to be, but I was thinking: “I’ve got a website, why not put some random shit there?”

 

I'm just going to randomly put shit here from time to time, so if you're bored you can see the random thoughts of me.

 

J.I.D.

First off, let me talk about J.I.D. This dude is a beast. I listened to his first album about 4 times straight through from beginning to end. I think it was on a flight to Darwin to do some training. It’s a 4-5 hour flight so it was perfect to get a decent album listen. By the end of the 4th time, I still didn’t fully understand his album. Sure, I liked his songs, I understood each track, but the project as a whole? I was left needing to keep listening. In my opinion, that’s true artistry. Each track is so complex. His messages sometimes contradict each other, but he’s always got a message. He’s from Atlanta, so his dirty south roots are showing, but his obvious intelligence shines through as a highlight.

 

He’s rapping fast, he’s singing, he’s rapping slow, he just does it all. I felt like he’s taking me on a ride somewhere in his mind and his desire for the future. When was the last time a rapper actually made you think beyond “Ooooh that was a dope line!”?

 

I watched his clip for “Never”. Now this song caught me by surprise. There’s a dramatic beat change halfway through the song, and it’s fucking dope. But the film clip is him running from the police. It’s all black and white. He ends up running home and having dinner, then it’s in colour. But like really warm colours. The imagery was something next level. Like family is beautiful and the cops in America are dicks. That’s another discussion for later.

 

K, so his next album came out Dicaprio 2. Holy fuck. He took everything that made The Never Story great and doubled it. Starts off strong and ends even stronger. J Cole on “Off Deez”… god damn. Both his albums have been on heavy rotation for months now and it doesn’t get old. Anyway, not sure if you guys are into hip hop, but this isn’t some Migos shit talking about skrrrt, lambo, drip. It’s real lyricism and art that has a steep learning curve…

I'll tell anyone who will listen about this guy, cuz he's going to be sitting next to the greats like Kendrick, Pac, Cole, KRS, Mos Def, Em. I'm waiting to see where he goes next. His next project can't come soon enough.

 

Childhood memories

So a while back I decided to do something really, really stupid: I watched one of my favourite TV shows from when I was little. Might be one of the most idiotic things I've ever done. For all you younger cats you might not have had the pleasure(?) of watching the smurfs. I'm talking old school Smurfs with Papa, Brainy, Smurfette and Gargamel. Not that new shit they made a movie about. Didn't watch it. I'm talking the original with drama, suspense, life lessons and morals being portrayed in life-like brilliance and funny, often satirical views of modern life. Or so I remembered.

 

That shit was straight trash.

 

WTF was I thinking as a kid? It was soooo good! I watched it as an adult and I was cringing the whole time. I was fearful for my sanity. The cheesiest, most trite show ever created. It completely ruined whatever good memories I had from my early life. 

 

To whoever is actually reading this, a word of advice: Leave the past in the past. Be happy with the memory and don't go back there unless absolutely necessary. Your past joys could be your present misery. And slightly unrelated: your actually cringeworthy moments aren't as bad as you think they were. Most people probably didn't even notice that one time your skirt was tucked into your undies for the 30 seconds it took you to notice. Hell, your crush Carlos was probably thinking about it late at night anyway, so win-win.

 

Cliches

So there I am at Christchurch Airport and I’ve just checked my bags. I head outside for a vape and I smell something. I'm like wtf is that? Then I see all these trees. They’re dropping flowers like a drug dealer running from the cops. But the smell. So I stopped and smelled them. Like dead in my tracks I just stopped and smelled the flowers. Not like a passing sniff, but I took it in. There’s a lot of nuance in a flower. It’s not just pretty, but there’s a depth to it if you really savour it. And I did. It felt nice.

 

That got me to thinking about cliches. “Stop and smell the roses” They are cliches for a reason. But I think they’re only cliches if they are used as a cliche. “Actions speak louder than words”, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” etc etc. After I stopped and smelled the flowers it got me thinking about the other ones. By and large these sayings are pretty true. You all know that person that talks a good game but when it comes down to it they rarely follow through. Or that time you were with that one douchebag who did that thing that totally wrecked you for months. Thought you’d never recover from it. Eventually you did though and you never got involved with that type of asshat ever again. Now you’ve got a partner you adore (when he keeps his side of the room clean) and a couple beautiful kids running around. We learn from those bad experiences and if we’re smart, we don’t repeat the same mistakes.

 

So for me it was to stop and smell the roses, or in my case Magnolias (or whatever they are, I'm not a bloody flower expert). Life gets crazy busy. It’s like always 53 things that need to be done, just so we can get the other 72 things going. At times we need to stop and take stock of why we do what we do. Life is meant to be lived. If you work work work like Rihanna, then why are we working? Sure we take our yearly or every other yearly vacation for a couple of weeks, but is that enough? Why don’t we just stop and openly admire the beauty that is all around us? What about taking 15 minutes at lunch, and instead of checking out all the InstaHoes and getting mad jelly, look around the environment and get interested in the little things. How does your microwave actually work? Ever Wikipedia random shit like that? What about looking around at your lounge and admire the way you put it together. Don’t look at it and see how you can improve it for a change, but look at it as art you’ve already created. Look at the picture your kid drew for you at kindy. And really look at it. Sure when they gave it to you, you looked at it, gave your kid lots of praise and a big kiss, but did you really look at it? Did you see what he/she saw when they made it?

 

Put on some classical song like Beethoven or Mozart or Aretha Franklin (lol) and really listen to it. There’s texture and emotion and something more than just notes played through and instrument. Can you hear it?

 

I think taking those 3 minutes to openly admire the beautiful things of the world makes life worth living.

 

Music

I haven't updated this in a minute. Not many people know this page exists still. I put a little counter at the bottom so everyone can actually see how many visitors have come to this page. Probably some of you have checked it multiple times to see if there's anything new here. So I'm guessing maybe 50 individual people have actually been here. I wonder how many have even read everything I've typed? Anyway, like I've said, it's just a little place for me to vent, and ramble on to the ether. 

Interestingly enough, that very first thing I wrote about J.I.D. was more important than just an artist I like. It was an inspiration, that got me into action. Most people probably don't know that I do music. I've been writing music or poetry since I was 7 or 8. There was a period from 2005-2006 where I was making music 3 times a week. I ended up with about 30 songs recorded. Ever since, I'd get a little inkling of inspiration, scribble a few words, then forget about it.

Art is a weird thing. Artists can be some of the weirdest people out there. It can be a very sensitive subject for people. It is for me. It only took a couple little comments, a couple little looks and I stopped making music. I think because I want my music to be meaningful, it's even more sensitive. So with a few comments, and other life factors stepping in, I stopped making music. I'd pick up my old shit every once in a while and listen, get depressed about not doing it anymore and do something else.

What I mean about meaningful music is that if I'm just making songs about sippin lean, fucking hoes and turning up, then I probably wouldn't care if some people were talking shit. But I like to touch on world issues, morality, sticky situations and solutions to modern problems. It's also not just straightforward concepts. I like to write poetry. Things you have to listen to several times to unpack the different meanings in that one line. Like an example from a song I'm working on with Ali. Here's the full lyric:

Opposites attract

You’re either a pussy or a dick

We're fucked either way so they take the pain away

Now we’re numb and entertained

"Opposites attract" is pretty straightforward, but then combine that with "you're either a pussy or dick". Meaning that quite literally, you have a penis or a vagina. Meaning male or female. Then the meaning that you can either be overbearing and a jerk, or a total pushover and the victim of others. On the next line, "we're fucked either way". Obviously pussy and a dick, but then the idea that if you are the extreme of either, that's bad. There needs to be a blend of the 2 traits. "So they take the pain away". That's drugs and alcohol...but the next line "Now we're numb and entertained". That's social media, TV and things like that. All keeping us numb from our problems and not interested in life. 

That's the kind of music I like to make. In the matter of maybe 3 seconds and 4 lines, I outlined how I see the problems of life. I'm quite proud of that if I'm honest. My music isn't for everyone, it's not for people that put it on in the background while their focus is on something else. It's not for people who just like to get drunk and turn up at the club. It's for people that put it on in their car and listen to the words. For people who just want to hear a point of view, wether they agree or not.

So then I hear J.I.D. I see how he's doing stuff. I hear Kendrick doing his thing and making a name for himself and that type of music. Then I've matured a lot and come into my own as a man. So I try some shit. I got given a beat by my cousin. I write something to it. My style had completely changed. Lyrically I'm the same (well maybe a bit better), but stylistically, it's a dramatic change. I'm not flowing straight down the middle. My cadence switches, my tone changes up, volumes get varied, and the emotion shines through.

Then I go on Youtube and find some random instrumentals and start writing. It feels good. I go to the studio to get a few recorded. My process is to write, record it on my own, listen to it repeatedly, then go the studio. Then I listen to that over and over to develop the sound and record it again so it's polished. Unfortunately, I was on a roll with recording songs, then the Rona hit and can't get back into the studio. But I'm still writing. I've got about 8 songs right now that I want to release once I get them professionally recorded. I'll promote it on the main website when it's done. But I thought for now maybe I'll put a couple of the songs here if you want to listen. 

Major disclaimer: these songs are not finished at all. One of them I didn't pre record, the other couldn't actually get mixed properly, and I'm not on beat in places etc etc. But you can get a flavour of what I'm going to release...

 Dreaming

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