WE DID IT AGAIN!! Johnny J Jones and I have been nominated in the 2013 Carolina Music Awards for Video of the year with “Ninjas in DURM”! and I also have been nominated for Hip Hop Male Artist of the Year!! and its ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!!!!
Now is the final stage!! Again with ONLY YOUR HELP we can bring BOTH of these awards BACK TO DURM!
Please submit your vote(s) at http://carolinamusicawards.com/cma/vote before JULY 6TH.
Here are some of my suggestions:
“Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”
― Abraham Lincoln
I bet you’re all wondering what’s up with the title of this blog post…?
Funny story… Ya see, what had happen was… (famous quote from every man, woman and child that got caught)
I may be making it out to sound worse than what it really is but I’m a writer so bear with me, I like telling stories! As some of you may know, we (Johnny J Jones and I) recently shot my new music video “Ninjas in DURM”, and we went everywhere around the bull! From the Cornwallis PJs to the YMCA American Tobacco Basketball Courts. From the gritty train tracks to the beautiful downtown area. Over HWY 147 (Durham Freeway) and even on the one way street of Market. We tried to capture everything that is DURM along with all of its amazing inhabitants.
On St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th, we started filming the very last sequence of the music video where we were to have a HUGE dance number. We invited a few friends. And DURM showed out in true form! Costumes were assembled, make up was applied, hula hoops where twirling and of course Wool E Bull showed up.
With Lilly’s Pizza in our bellies and Triangle Brew in our veins we pushed through several takes in the cold and dank weather and created, what I believe, to be the biggest “staged” dance number in DURM (please comment if I’m wrong). It was a complete success!
The Real Laww’s Ninjas in DURM Video shoot at the CCB Plaza – Photo by Dare Fela
The Real Laww’s Ninjas in DURM Video shoot at the CCB Plaza – Photo by Dare Fela
The Real Laww’s Ninjas in DURM Video shoot at the CCB Plaza – Photo by Dare Fela
The Real Laww’s Ninjas in DURM Video shoot at the CCB Plaza – Photo by Dare Fela
We wrapped up shooting the following week, completed editing, pressed it up and had a Video Premier party at The Carrack on April 16th. Despite a few technical difficulties with sound (Thanks Rosean for fixing that) we managed to premier the video. After the credits rolled and the lights came on, it was followed by a resounding round of applause! It was released on youtube later that evening, gaining 1300+ views within the first few hours! Another complete success!
The Real Laww Ninjas in DURM Video Premier – Photo by Beth Mandel with Triangle.com
The Real Laww Ninjas in DURM Video Premier – Photo by Beth Mandel with Triangle.com
The Real Laww Ninjas in DURM Video Premier – Photo by Beth Mandel with Triangle.com
The Real Laww Ninjas in DURM Video Premier – Photo by Beth Mandel with Triangle.com
The Real Laww Ninjas in DURM Video Premier – Photo by Beth Mandel with Triangle.com
The Real Laww Ninjas in DURM Video Premier – Photo by Beth Mandel with Triangle.com
The very next day, early in the morning, I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. I answered. On the other end was the Durham Bulls Ball club. We exchanged pleasantries, they told me that they were in LOVE with the video but politely asked me to take it down. I was, at first, in shock, “I’m sorry, but why?”. Then they explained it to me, and after reviewing the video what we didn’t realize while filming was that we accidentally captured someone mimicking smacking Wool E Bull on the tail… literally. And Wool E Bull, one of the primary representatives of Durham, should be represented with the utmost respect. You wouldn’t go on Sesame St bend Big Bird over and commence to twerkin’ it. So that same respect is deserved by Durham’s Mascot. It was a complete fail!
And for this I apologize to Wool E Bull. My goal is to make Hip Hop music that is respected, it may not always be accepted, and thats fine, but it will be respected. And I did not show you (Wool E) that same respect and I sincerely apologize. I’m trying to represent DURM in the most positive way imaginable, some of my rhymes maybe dark and gritty at times but for the most part there is a meaning and light in between the lines. I hope you can accept my apology.
So below is the revised version of “Ninjas in DURM” [Official Music Video] ft Wool E Bull (tail-smacking-free of course) and ALL of DURM! Thank you for reading this far and I hope you continue to enjoy and share the video!! My conscience is at ease… Phew!!
We have entered the video to be nominated in the 2013 Carolina Music Awards for Video of the Year. Please Help Out by going to “CarolinaMusicAwards.com/cma/nominate” to get this video to be in the running as one of the nominees. Lets bring these awards back to DURM… again!
Just another typical day walking the streets of DURM…
After a LONG and GRUELING 2 weeks we finially got the “ISSUE” (long story) resolved with the music video! HORRAY!
Thank you so much for being patient with us and sorry for any inconvenience and pain and torment that this may have caused.
So please Enjoy and feel free to share with your friends.
So Apple Juice Kid and Pierce Freelon are traveling the world setting up studios for the communities of various countries. Teaching kids how to set up, maintain, produce, mix and engineer music.
This week, while in Panama, the Beat Making Lab crew proposed a challenge to create a “Trap Beat” using a sample of an accordion, played by a 13 year old kid named Martin.
My friend, DJ Shahzad and I accepted this challenge, and here is what we created the same night we found out about this challenge… Enjoy!!
So much Love in DURM! Big Love and Huge HUGS to everyone who made their way out to the CCB Plaza (big bronze bull statute) that cold cold Day in support of the “Ninjas in DURM” music video.
