J.A.M.E.S. WATTS | THE GAME NEEDS J.A.M.E.S

Don’t know how many people have actually seen this — somewhat of a mission statement for this year.

Enjoy.

So yeah, I know I promised the followup to last weekend’s post about the recent Michigan trip, but somewhere between then and now I found myself separated from my current residence pretty much every day all day, and as result far from my photo stash. No photos, no post.

However, I’ve made the triumphant return to my own bedroom today, and I dug in the crates to bring you more of what the “Wolverine State” had to offer. The second day of the excursion had Young Jamison performing on the University of Michigan campus for the annual Vanguards block party/festival presented by F.O.K.U.S., a student based organization. Usually, this even is held outdoors on The Diag, which I figure is the central point on the U of M grounds, and fortunately for Gist and I, it wasn’t nearly as cold as last year’s show (for which we stood outside for hours in what felt like subzero temperatures). Aside from the two of us, a great band by the name of Belikos played, not to mention a few student performers.

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Today I had a conversation with someone (not a stranger, mind you) who had seen my music videos for the first time at some point last week. He told me that he was impressed with the quality & composition of the videos, but that he was concerned with some of the imagery in “1996″, particularly the scene where I flashed a faux pistol in front of the camera.

I went on to explain that it was something that should have probably been edited for mass consumption, as I felt it was somewhat relevant to have the gun in the video; at the same time I didn’t believe that censoring that scene would have been the worst thing in the world either, as I know that my audience is partially made up of young people who are influenced by such imagery.

That, however, wasn’t the end of this issue during my day today.

Honestly, I wrestled with my feelings about the scene, and the video on the whole for the last couple of hours; I thought about WHY the gun was even in the video, and it made logical sense, but I felt very exposed and vulnerable in the knowledge that something that I once saw as insignificant could have affected someone in a negative way. It also made me realize, firsthand, the power that artists have through the messages we put out in our work. As I write this, I’m on the fence about it all.

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Here’s a blog entry about a flyer that I made to promote this blog. Somewhat of an infinite loop, no? :\ Maybe not…

Good, bad, or ugly? (Yes, J.A.M.E.S. does a bit of that, too. Rhymes/Beats/Design. The new paradigm for the 21st century MC!)

P.S. - I must acknowledge the Jooks The World x The Council collab that popped off last night uptown; Happy B-Day love this weekend to King Luis, Mr. “Let’s Bring New York Back” & John Shotti.

P.S.S. - Shouts to StuntinOnProse; just found out that they had some good things to say about my latest.

In case you were unaware, I gladly hopped a jetplane out to the Motor City (Detroit!) earlier this month; the reason? My mans DJ Teddy Ruck-Spin & them booked urr boi for not one, not two, but THREE shows in the great town of Ann Arbor.

For those not familiar with Ann Arbor (b.k.a. “The Ace Deuce”), it’s the place that the University of Michigan’s Wolverines call home. I was fortunate enough to take in the sights and sounds that took me back to my days as a college boy, aside from experiencing all the things that come part and parcel with being a superstar rapper, right? Riiiight.

Good thing for me, though, I wasn’t basking in the flashing lights alone; my homie Gist (a.k.a. the Essence? Or is that dead?) from the borough of Queens was also slated to perform over what would be a five-day (!) weekend of nonstop action (which consequently lead to a couple weeks of a nonstop battle with the flu…go figure); people have been asking for pictures, so I finally took the time to sit down and iron this thing out.

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