:::Mr.Fresha'Than'Yo'Average:::

It's been a long time, I shouldn't have left you!

2009-07-22T00:02:00.000-07:00

Damn it's been a long minute since i was last on this....where do i begin? I guess just in general, life has been pretty overwhelming and amazingly blessed over the past few months....as i had last posted back in february, we released our 1st mixtape entitled 'This should've been a album" and to be quite honest....i still can't believe everything that's happened from that one release! From opening up for Talib Kweli in March to creating a different type of hip hop show than what most people are used to all the way up to doing accoustic shows and full band shows!

Which now takes us to June, where we found out that The Boombox Saints were submitted into a nationwide urban music competition organized by UMAC (Urban Music Association of Canada) and Nettwerk Music Group, which was called Urban Xposure, the same competition where Drake and Isis of Thunderheist were discovered. Nationwide there were 150 submissions in the urban music genre (hip hop, rap, r&b and spoken word)..that list was cut down to a top 20, where boombox was the only group out of 7 submissions from British Columbia to make the Top 20. That list was cut down to a top 10, which we made it into! We had to fly out to Toronto to perform as a part of a showcase...mind you we were the only group from the west coast in the top 10 not to mention the only Asian act! The odds were pretty crazy, but we just did what we do on stage and awaited the results. The top 3 selections of the competition win a minimum 30 city tour sponsored by UMAC and Nettwerk and get an opportunity to get a digital singles distribution deal....*drumroll*.....The Boombox Saints got 2nd place in the nation!

All in all, everythings been happening so fast that it hasn't fully hit me just yet! Oh and we ended up getting the digital singles distribution deal with Nettwerk!! The nationwide tour begins in september until mid october...spanning from Victoria to Halifax! So it is gonna be an amazing experience for sure!

Look out baby, we're comin' to a city near you!!!!

Don't know how to approach it

2009-02-21T01:55:00.000-08:00

Our Boombox Mixtape entitled"This should've been an album" is finally available and being currently distributed! I'm so proud to finally have a product out, so proud of the team and family that helped to make this happen and put it all together! Get ready world, the box boys are about to take flight! It's been an unfortunate thing to not have my parents support when it came to doing the whole music thing, and i'm talkin' about years of arguing my point and so on. All it took for them to shift their opinions and give an open ear to it all was a final copy of the CD and a radio interview! Really was an emotional point in time to see them finally have belief in their sons' chosen interest. One day they were playing it on the living room stereo, next day they wanted me to play it when i was drivin' around helpin' em' run errands...you can only imagine how it felt.

To stay on the music side, I just found out the other day that The Boombox Saints will be opening, along with Narai Dawn & Jeff Spec, for TALIB KWELI!!!! To this very moment i really can't explain how i'm feelin' about it...since the release of our mixtape, everythings felt sooo surreal...so mark it down on your calendars boys & girls, Monday March 23 @ Gossip Night Club, The Boombox Saints will be opening for TALIB KWELI! VANCITY STAND UP!

Early Fiyah

2008-12-02T10:57:00.001-08:00

Busta Rhymes F/ T-Pain - Blown

Happy Birthday & Happy Friday!

2008-11-28T09:54:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Shout Out: 2 my boi Rowe, Rowe..iSwear 2Gahd...and BabyFresh Jhanice who ain't so baby no mo'....Hope you enjoy your birthdays fam! God Bless!

One thing I forgot to mention in my previous post...I just learned that adding shots of tabasco sauce to your beer takes away the bitter after taste of beer! Go figure! It's not recommended for everyone...but for anyone who doesn't mind a lil' spicy zing or caesars...then its worth the try. LOL!

So I was goin' through my iPod and landed on Cam'rons 'Confessions of Fire' album...went through it and forgot how money his debut was! That album is 10 years old now?!? WTF?!! Aside from the released bangers..theres one particular song that is worth the listen...so peep it and enjoy! "Cam'ron: D Rugs" (Shouts to Curtis Mayfield for the inspiration of the hook)

~Friday Fiyah~

The Curve - Is It Over

Brisco F/ Lloyd - You

Brisco F/ Flo Rida & Weezy - Just Know That

Common F/ Cee-Lo - Make My Day

Get on that red magic!

2008-11-25T01:59:00.000-08:00

..Happy Monday! Things are quiet on the music front today...except for this fiyah!

Lil' Wayne Featuring The Game: Red Magic

Allow me to re-intro-blog-my-ish..HUGGYFRESH...

2008-11-24T01:37:00.000-08:00

Woooow, November 24th...you can't be serious?! A) it's been that long since i've blogged? Talk about slackin'! and B) It's exactly a month til' Christmas?! DaaaagY'all! What's been keepin' me busy? Hmm...well first off...to everyone (yes, all 5 or 6 of y'all) who stops by to peep my blog, unless you haven't seen the lil' teaser clip that was blogged prior to this one...The Boombox Mixtape is approachin' completion! Recordings are done, now all thats left is the mixing and mastering! Now don't get it twisted..we haven't halted the momentum, just make sure you keep it locked cuz we keeps it movin' son!

There's all this commotion about "it bein' too cold, blah blah blah", to be perfectly honest..i actually fancy the chill! My only problem would be the rain and / or snow...don't mind the snow at all, just don't wanna drive in it (cuz of everyone else in this city who can't hold their own on the mildly slippery roads!) What can you do, seasons change then you gotta deal with it so that's what i'm gon' have to do! Make sure you keep it locked for future video blog Boombox Mixtape teaser clips not to mention a healthy dose of your hip hop and r&b updates...God Bless Y'all!

mariah carey - right to dream

johnta austin - 17 minutes

james fauntleroy - zatira

the dream - rockin' that thang

johnta austin - defensive

bobby valentino - i don't need

ne-yo - over my head

2008-11-21T01:34:00.001-08:00

Ladies & gentlemen, boys & girls...it gives me great honor to announce that The Boombox Mixtape is nearing its completion. We haven't been updatin' our blog with much relevance to our work in the studio....until now. This is the first of many future video blogs that we'll be keepin' everyone updated on! Now please bare with me as this is actually a first for myself. But for what it's worth, i'm hoping you'll enjoy! So keep on the look out, early '09...

House of Windo & Almighty Present:

BOOMBOX - The Mixtape

...HOLLA!

...:::DAILY JOINTZ

2008-10-07T23:28:00.000-07:00

Boyz 2 Men: Back To The Future

Sophia Fresh F/ Kanye West: What It Is

Shareefa F/ Lil Wayne: My Life (The Game Cover)

Lee Carr: Lost It All

50 Cent: Get Up (Produced By Swizz Beatz)

Juelz, Wayne & Chubbie: Leanin' Low

My Personal Musical Inspirations

2008-10-05T05:29:00.000-07:00

So I opted to chill from the scene and stay in for a 2nd straight night as part of my hibernation deal, or so i'm claimin' haha. So what can I possibly do on a weekend evenin' aside from just sleep? Just as this blog title states, get musically inspired. As most friends know, i'm a member of The Boombox Saints and we're currently working on our first mixtape which is nearing completion and ready for release late '08, so i'm excited for that. I've always had a tendency to ponder a scenario where someone would ask me what artists I idolize and get inspired from. That list grows at a rapid rate but some of the earlier ones are as follows based on lyricism, originality, style and delivery: The New York Giants of course in my mind- Christopher Wallace, Sean Carter & Nasir Jones in addition to AZ, Raekwon, Meth, Deck, Capadonna, Camp Lo, Memphis Bleek, Sheek Louch, Lord Have Mercy (formerly of Flipmode), Tha Dogg Pound (durin' the death row era), Early snoop, Choclair (from the days of 'what it takes' & ride, and damn near most if not all of Kardinal (right from 'On wit da show') just to name a few. As of late i've gotten inspiration from tons of avenues like Luda, T.I., Lupe, Twista, 'Ye, Common, Banks, Game, Rick Ross just to name a few as far as commercial artists go, but i've gotten inspired more-so from artist that I find through the mixtape circuit like Wale, Kid Cudi, Gemstones, Cory Gunz and more notably Mickey Factz. The talent that's circulating right now is incredible, so much that it not only inspires me but motivates me to add a different aspect of my delivery style. Because of the numerous outlets via the internet, artists now spread their buzz a lot faster. Which adds to the anticipation of completing The Boombox Mixtape. I came across a couple artists that gave me that "hype" feelin' which is what sparked me to blog @ 4:45am haha..go figure. The first artist is yet another chicago native (chi-emcees = guaranteed quality) who goes by the name of The Boy iLLinois (Click on the link for more info). Track selection, flow and style are all undoubtedly sick, which is why I definitely suggest downloading his mixtape titled 'Inhale Pt.1State Representative'. The 2nd artist is, surprise surprise, another native from the 'go who goes by the name of Hollywood Holt (Click on the link to peep his site). There's a link on his site where you can download his mixtape as well, definitely a good listen and worth the hard drive space!

I was also watching a clip of Jay-Z's 'Reasonable Doubt' documentary and got inspired off that. In a nutshell, Hov disects tracks off his classic lp and just got a reminder of how much of genius the self proclaimed 'God Emcee' is. His word play is bananas, definitely somethin' to study and appreciate! Some facts that came up in that documentary that jumped out at me were that he was 26-27 when he made reasonable doubt, DAMN! So its never too late to master your craft! Secondly, Irv Gotti was Jiggas DJ?! Yeah the same Irv Gotti who went into the Def Jam offices and demanded a label of his own and declared that he would take over the Def Jam label. Well, he didn't take over the house that Russel built but became the CEO of the conglomerate that was home to artists like, Ja Rule, Ashanti & Lloyd known as Murder Inc. Give respect where it's due. Rocafella y'all!

~Daily Joints~ **Note*** You'll get forwarded to a link page..select the ZSHARE option =o)

Q. Parker (of 112): 31 Days

Q. Parker (of 112): Queen of Mine

Miguel: Go (Shout to Richie Mcfly for the heads up)

RL (of Next): Gangsta (Omarion Demo)

Drake: Man of the year

~*~*~*~*~HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY TO MY DAD, WISHING YOU ALL THE BEST IN GODS BLESSINGS~*~*~*~*~

My "Catch-Up Week" & The Innovative Mike Relm

2008-09-30T00:39:00.001-07:00

Ahhh Monday, so we meet again! Back on the 5 day grind, even better when its a scorchin' hot & beautiful day (clearly i'm bein' sarcastic!) I guess it's only fair after havin' the week that was! Caught up with a very close friend of mine after not seein' her for close to 2 months! Currently in the process of havin' that statistic change...It was my first taste of Kamei Royale Sushi, and the verdict: Absolutely amazing, in my opinion of course! My week continued as I caught up with one of my bestfriends and had a little downtown adventure, went for a few beers and had a lil' throwback fun by playing counterstrike at a nearby internet cafe hahaha. Come friday, i was anxiously awaitin' 10pm to roll around to check out my fellow boombox familia member, Mr. Almighty himself..Paulskratch open up with a DJ set for the amazing Mike Relm. For anyone who doesn't have the slightest clue of who this guy is, you my friend have been livin' under a rock thats for damn sho'! Aside from a couple sucker fights breakin' out and a guy tryin' to crowd surf unfortunately without havin' anyone catch him haha, the show was certified ILLY-Son!

...::This clip doesn't do the the show any justice by any fraction! But its just to give you somewhat of an idea!:::...

Later that evening, Box Studio's held an after hours with the 1st Love Family where I came to a conclusion. Don't, I repeat, Don't come to an after hours already intoxicated beyond what you think you can handle cuz in the end, you become the highlight of the party or an unofficial Almighty model! The rest of the weekend came and went as per usualle....but in closing I came to another conclusion. Well more of a statement and a readjustment of my train of thought...one word: OVERHAUL....in every possible aspect. We'll see how that works out for me.

I'll end things with some new music...hope y'all enjoy. Final Words: "...You can't wifey that..." -anonymous

Kid Sister F/ David Banner: Family Reunion

Termanology: Fly Away

T.I. F/ T-Pain: Propaine

Rico Love: Using Me (Mario Demo)

Rico Love: Congratulations (Young Steff Demo)

Cherish: Bump Like Some Speakers (Prod.By Timbaland)

Israel: Killing Me

Claude Kelly: Only One Night

Ashanti: All That I Need

Justin Garner: Open Heart

-Funny how some foundations crumble under the most ridiculous circumstances, funny how you can feel one way about something one day, and completely different about it the next because your mind tries to play itself...funny....

Slackin' On My Bloggin'...My Apologies...

2008-09-18T03:40:00.000-07:00

..::Thursday, September 18, 2008:

In this edition of the "Mr.Fresha.Than.Yo.Average" Blog, I figured i'd mix things up a bit and use more of this blogspot as a medium to keep friends & family updated in the life & times of yours truly since i've started to make an attempt to hibernate from the scene that is =op.

The Journal of H.Fresh:

Hmmm...where to start. To be quite honest witch'ya, this whole idea was easier said than done as far as mixin' up my personal agenda with my musical interests. Well I gotta start somewhere, so here it goes. I've always been pretty fond of reality t.v. that revolve around musical personalities, that bein' said, i've spent the last week or so catchin' up on episodes of 'From G's To Gents' and 'Runs House'...i'm still questionin' what percentage of these shows are fixated or scripted, not that it matters cuz either way it's still entertainin'. On a side note, Vanessa Simmons is up pretty high on my 'Gahdamn-List'...GAHDAMN, I think i love h.e.r. haha!

Had a pretty chill weekend, officially felt the 3rd wheel effect, got a good buzz, went out only once this weekend which was @ plush & a bit of lola's crib. Come sunday, it was all about the block party, well, the entire hour and a bit that I was there. Keys & krates were hot to def! If you don't know about these guys, watch the f*ck out!

Finished my days off with some good sessh times that included a one night stand @ V.V Boutique haha, Marble slab and 20 min shiatsu massage haha, to tell you the truth I feel kinda recharged! Mission Accomplished!

Boombox mixtape update, we're almost done, almost! I'll keep y'all posted with that. Currently workin' on podcast and show concepts amongst other things. Anxiously waitin' to present our first product and i can assure y'all, you won't be disappointed! Keepin' with the music, I MISSED OUT on the Common / N.E.R.D. show! CHOKED! Well, whatever, can't see em' all!

I should probably get to bed seein' that its 3:28am haha, so i'll leave y'all with some music to satisfy em' eargasms...Enjoy! HuggyFreshness & I'm Out.

Yall Don't Know (Prod.By.Alchemist): ATM (CoryGunz/SmokeDZA/Numbers)

Swagger Like Us RMX: MickeyFactz Feat: ATM (CoryGunz/SmokeDZA/Numbers)

Chopped & Screwed: T-Pain Feat: Ludacris

If You Leave: Musiq Soulchild Feat: Mary J Blige

Top Of The World: T.I. Feat Ludacris & B.O.B.

Get cozy, comfy and relax your mind...to some good ol' R&B (...continued from the previous post)

2008-09-11T03:21:00.000-07:00

...:::Thursday, September 11th, 2008

Did I at any point during my day even come close to picturin' what i'd be doin from 1am to 3am this evenin'? Not a chance, not-a-chance! First off I had to work all day, which meant me missing out on the Janet concert! I can admit that with some concerts that I miss out on, i'm usually cool with not gettin' a chance to catch an artist...but damn that! I missed Janet! Hopefully i'll get a second go round to redeem myself on that! To compensate if at all possible? Well, spendin' a couple hours goin' slow jam for slow jam with someone who's got a great feel for r&b...a great feel!

So I guess this post is just a continuation or a branch off of my post from the night before. Goose bumps all the way through...songs from next, aaron hall, babyface, faith evans, total to Rome, Inoj, Mint Condition, Public Announcement and the list goes on! No Joke, definitely a feel good moment...i'd have to honestly say it didn't compensate for missing out on the Janet show, but it definitely felt like it did, and then some! I'll leave you with a few of the highlighted songs that stuck out in a big way...btw, Thank you ma! You definitely know ur stuff, pho sho!

Do yourself a favor and click on the following links and just listen!

Milestone

Mint Condition

Tamia

HuggyHeffnah' - The R&B refresha'!

2008-09-10T02:30:00.000-07:00

...:::Wednesday, September 10th, 2008

In my personal opinion, r&b music was at its best during the 80's to mid 90's and for the longest time the quality of music not to mention artists were starting to slowly deteriorate that genre of music. How? I noticed the integrity and subject matter of the music no longer had the rhythm and blues substance and began to adopt the hip hop image and lifestyle and applied it into the music. You have artists rockin' crazy chains, flossin' iced out rolies and singin' about whips & bitches or what not, degrading not only their image, but the whole fact that r&b was mainly about relationships, females and/or males (depending on gender of the artist, you know what i mean), expressing ones self to another whether it be joy, sadness, confusion or any emotional state. You have r&b singers talkin' about how big their rims were yadi yadi yada so on and so forth...even r&b beef would cook up! I remember thinkin' to myself when i'd hear about that like "you can't be serious!" As of late however, i'd say within' the past 4 years or so..real r&b has started to make a strong comeback where new and up & coming artists have replenished the genre and started takin' it to a new level.

Now I know everyones entitled to their own opinion, and i'm not saying there weren't any r&b artists or songs that were comin' out that didn't maintain the integrity that the past did, not at all! It was a significant amount though, again in my opinion. You have tons of canadian artists, notably Glen Lewis, Divine Brown and Jully Black just to name a few who still have that special soulful r&b feel to their music. Not to mention international artists like Craig David, Justin Timberlake, Joe, Mario, and Ne-yo who give off that same feel. Speakin' of Ne-yo, his upcoming album entitled 'year of the gentleman' is definitely gonna be an album to look out for! Numerous blogs have already started to leak out some of the albums material and from those tracks alone, i'm that much more excited to hear the album in its entirety. A couple of artists who've caught my interest are Robin Thicke and Karina Pasian, particularly 2 songs caught my attention.

First would be 'The sweetest love' by Robin thicke and 'Slow motion' by Karina Pasian. Both are piano driven songs of which I have a strong appreciation for. So for your listening pleasure...here are a few links to the songs that i'm sure most will enjoy! Who knew.. HuggyFresh had an ear for some wholesome r&b? Don't get it twisted now, i'm not claiming a guru title by any stretch since this is all in my personal opinion. So for the hopeless romantic side of me, i figured that Huggy Heffnah' only seemed fitting Hahaha ;o)

Robin Thicke: The Sweetest Love

Karina Pasian: Slow Motion

Joe Featuring Mario: Last Sip

Summer's Exit...Let The Layer Season Begin!

2008-09-08T02:07:00.000-07:00

...:::Monday, September 08, 2008:

It's about 2:10am monday mornin', the official inauguration of my first blog posting! I know, I know, a popular trend that everyone got into a year, possibly two or even 3 or more years ago and i'm just getting into it now. Better late than never as I usually tend to suggest, obviously not always a good thing but for this occasion i'm sure an exemption can be made.

Now let's get down to business! Most people tend to officially end their summers on the last day of August, Labour Day, or in most cases..whenever classes are back in session for the fall semester. In my case, for someone who hasn't lived by a school calendar for about 4 years now, I usually don't feel summers over until scarves and hoodies need to be broken out just to enjoy a sunny day. This time around however it feels way more different than summers past. For one, the weather has been an issue where vancity got exposed to an extended rainy season that took over most of June and slowly leaked into july which was when we finally got a long streak of sunny, hot and scorchin' days..you know, how summer's supposed to feel! Well that weather abnormality started to come back durin' late august where the days would still be hot, but once night fell it'd be cold as a mutha'!

Although its not the weather that marks the end of my summer, but a concert, that puts the official stamp to the end of MY summer! Quite fitting since I pretty much began my summer with a concert in early June which was the Kanye West "Glow In The Dark Tour" with special guests Lupe Fiasco and N.E.R.D. Presentation and artist wise, probably the most amazing concert i've ever attended. Well here we are in the first week of September and i'm officially rephrasing and proclaiming the best concert i've ever been to...*DRUM ROLL* "..and the award goes to...ROCK THE BELLS TOUR held @ The Gorge in Washington! I know I know, the 5 hour drive, to some 6, sounds like quite the commitment to drive just to see a concert but no, this wasn't just any concert..don't get it twisted, this was THE concert! First off, if anyones ever been to the gorge, then this definitely does not apply to you...for those who have no clue well then, you really, really don't have a damn near clue!

The venue alone is absolutely breath taking, pictures can't possibly do justice for the description but for what its worth, here's an idea <==

2nd'ly, the line-up was insane! There were 2 stages, the one shown in the image was the main stage where I got to see De La Soul, the reunion of The Pharcyde, Supernatural, The mighty mos def, The amazin Nasir Jones and Legendary, A Tribe Called Quest! We got to the venue at about 2:30p.m. and caught a bit of the blue scholars, a local hip-hop group from washington who were pretty ill in my opinion! Gotta show love & respect to where it's due! To see all four members of the Pharcyde all together on one stage was definitely a sight to see, definitely a feel good moment for hip-hop fans! Mos did his thing, I honestly was expecting a little more energy from his set, but i'll take what I can get! Nas, Nas, Nas....after peepin' his set last summer @ summer jam which showcases mainly commercial artists which in turn explains the type of hip hop fans that attend, I was expecting a more energetic performance seein' as rock the bells was more of a 'heads' show than summer jam. The verdict: Nas' set, absolute murder! The mans swag is second to none on stage although I still have yet to catch a show with T.I, Jay-Z or Weezy on stage! Which brings us to the final act: A Tribe Called Quest, 3 letters, one expression...OMG! During Nas' set, I caught the show sittin' down cuz I wasn't feelin' too good from all the alcohol mixed with bein' over exposed to the heat...but when Tribe got their set goin'...I stood right up and weathered the storm! The illest show i've ever been to, it's almost a shame to attend whoevers show I plan on attendin' next hahah, i'm playin'...maybe.

All in all, that show made it official...my summer is officially doneskee for another year. Cold weather = a shirt or two, a hoody or sweater, and a jacket, in other words; Let the layer season begin! (2:55am) -HF