J. Cole Interview with Angie Martinez Power 105.1

"we got a bunch of people in america doing somethin' that don't need to be done, just to make money.  it's like you're doing something that's not needed.  you're providing a service to the world that's not needed.  you're makin' food that doesn't help, it actually hurts us, that food is killin' us, but it makes money.  that television show is hurtin' us, but it makes money.  this music is killin' us, it's rotten us, but it makes money.  that's the system we live in.  that goes for any industry--you can look at and go, 'that's not helpin' the world,' but it's making money so it's helping somebody..."

RZA Sees Being Vegan as 'A Better Tomorrow'

Waddap Ya'll feat. Chop | Dillon

Interview with DJ Cavem

Native Guns - Work It

Dr. A. Breeze Harper aka "Sistah Vegan" at Middlebury College

"By Any Sweets Necessary" by Luke Tailor {The Bigger Picture}

"I Speak For The People" - Donte Clark & Deandre Evans {The Bigger Picture}

Carper feat. Frejtag (Nei269) - TABU (prod. Bucio) TELEDYSK

Chokeules - 40-Year-Old Vegan

Vegan Hip Hop Movement Interview with Frank John James

BROTHER EARTH (with Boots Riley and Josh Healey)

Food Revolution: The Weight of the Nation "Fast Food" - @TahirJahi

Neither Man Nor Beast: Patriarchy, Speciesism & Deconstructing Oppressions

Akala on Veganism

J-Live - Top Of The Food Chain (Feat. Rome Supreme & Ekundayo)

"so i’m eatin’ to live so i never eat at popeye’s”  ekundayo 

Sonoma County VegFest 2014 featuring Kevin Tillman of the Vegan Hip Hop Movement

Sole and DJ Pain 1- Old Gods Ain't Dead feat. Sean from Andrew Jackson J...

Coming July 22: "Are You Loving It?"

Asher Roth - Outside

"Fruits and veggies, two scoops of blessing

Food is the truth oops a new lesson

Learn from it's your stomach, if your bumming

It's probably cuz the food ain't from the earth cousin

Work's something that you should enjoy usually boy

But now it's amazing if you was employed

So, keep it moving find the things in the foil

And boo the oil, what's important is the soil

No more murder, keep it fertile, jump the hurdles"

N.Y.C. aka Never Yet Contested-Wake Up

Mark it Place | Solillaquists of Sound

"I saw the small print answer that may cause cancer. I saw the government give cheese to break-dancers.”



"I know the game had better stop before we run out of crops. half of the food you eat now yo, it’s made from props."

  Solillaquists of Sound

Finding Points of Unity: Darius Mirshahi Gets Us Ready for the Peoples’ Social Forum | Animal Voices

Finding Points of Unity: Darius Mirshahi Gets Us Ready for the Peoples’ Social Forum | Animal Voices

Hip Hop & Food Justice by Kevin Tillman (Vegan Hip Hop Movement) & Keith Tucker (Pursuit of a Green Planet)

Hip Hop & Food Justice from Burning Hearts Media on Vimeo.

Hip Hop & Food Justice by Kevin Tillman & Keith Tucker

Resistance Ecology Conference 2014
Portland, Oregon

Rafael Casal: Quit Treating Life Like We're Just Driving Through from Omega Institute

Rafael Casal: Quit Treating Life Like We're Just Driving Through from Omega Institute on Vimeo.

Green Juice - Tone The Juicer (feat. Sour Sprout) from Anthony McDermott

Green Juice - Tone The Juicer (feat. Sour Sprout) from Anthony McDermott on Vimeo.

Sole Performs 'Baghdad Shake' & 'Hey Liberals' | Breaking the Stage

Dead Prez - Be Healthy + LYRICS

"I don't eat no meat, no dairy, no sweets only ripe vegetables, fresh fruit and whole wheat I'm from the old school, my household smell like soul food, bro curried felafel, barbecued tofu"

s.k.i.p. of nonsense records-chicken little

vegan hip hop interview with neila

C-Rayz Walz - BLVCK LIKE BURT REYNOLDS (Prod. by 9th Wonder)

"Listen to the rhyme, listen to the beat..It's cool,
I had to fight cause I brought hummus to school,
I was vegetarian, then in 2000 shit became cool,
I'm like what the fuck they can't stop me,
I had to fuck people up to eat my broccoli,
Now everybody wants a motherfucking salad"

Sicknature - Behind The Backdrop (OFFICIAL VERSION) w/ Lyrics

"Addictive food creates a fast food chain reaction
Trapped in a shell, where diseased reason sadly prevails
The least promoted food happens to be the least bad for your health
Flush it down with aspartame in a big cup and a poisoned smoothie"

Snowgoons ft Q-Unique - Fast Food Nation (Official Version) Black Snow 2

"Welcome to hip hop, let me take your order

With a side order of lies, lead your children to the slaughter

You can super size and feel like you're on a winning team

But careful with the calories, you won't fit into your skinny jeans

No nutritional value, rap is like fast food

Like diarrhea through your system when it pass through

As real as he feel for all the gats he peeled

The label will only sign him for a toy and a Happy Meal

Tune into the radio's artificial ingredients

A heartless issue with godless fiends and deviants

Frying up the french fries become a part of the franchise

Every man lies for a chance at the grand prize"

Watoto From The Nile - Life Giving Energy Hosted by Dj Wah-heed // Free Mixtape @ DatPiff.com

Watoto From The Nile - Life Giving Energy Hosted by Dj Wah-heed // Free Mixtape @ DatPiff.com

NO GMO by IV the Polymath

What Ever Happened to Hip Hop from Sonali Aggarwal

What Ever Happened to Hip Hop from Sonali Aggarwal on Vimeo.

A-Alikes - They Wanna Murder Me (Music Video)

“they wanna murder me dawg, matter of fact if you black they wanna murder us all, exterminate us systematically, if they ain’t killin’ us quick well then they feedin’ us shit that kill us gradually.” 

A-Alikes Whole Life Feat M1 of dead Prez

"I stay prepared for the worse, I been depressed since my momma died, they call it cancer me i call it homicide, and now I'm traumatized scarred for life”

Diabolic, Calligraphist - GMO

The Produce Section, An award -winning environmental HipHop curriculum.

The Produce Section, An award -winning environmental HipHop curriculum. (indiegogo)

LET IT GROW - (DJ CAVEM REMIX) feat- BOOTIE BROWN OF THE PHARCYDE

Rap Sessions-Hip Hop & Race Urbana College... Sept 2009 w/ Oliver Wang &...

"G's Up Hoes Down": Black Masculinity, Veganism, and Ethical Consumption...

Interview: RZA talks Man with the Iron Fists - Chicago Tribune

Interview: RZA talks Man with the Iron Fists - Chicago Tribune

excerpt of the above (hyperlinked) interview:

Luis: When did you become a vegetarian?

RZA: I became a vegetarian in 1995. I had some fried chicken and my teeth hit the bone. My mind said, “Dead bird, dead bird.” It didn’t feel right, so I stopped. I kept eating fish until one day in 1997 the chef brought my ginger fried snapper with the head still on it. I looked in his eyes and he looked in my eyes and I said, “You know what, kid? I don’t need this in my life.”

Luis: I’m no expert on vegetarian restaurants, so I wasn’t sure if you’d like this one.

RZA: When I was doing the color corrections for “The Man with the Iron Fists,” at Sony (Pictures Studios) in Culver City (Calif.), I had lunch at the Native Foods there every day. I know the menu by heart. You hit the jackpot.

RE3CO - THESE R THE TIMES (OFFICIAL VIDEO)

Interview with...Jamie Fallon/ IV the Polymath » Whole Lifestyle

Interview with...Jamie Fallon » Whole Lifestyle

BROWN RICE & BROCCOLI (VIDEO) feat- GOING GREEN LIVING BLING @IETEF

DJ Cavem-G's up Hoes down

My Letter to Hip Hop [short film] Bridgette Gray

Capitalism, veganism and the animal industrial complex | rabble.ca

Capitalism, veganism and the animal industrial complex | rabble.ca



"We're supposed to feel differently about the animals in our homes than we do about the dead ones on our plates. Sure, we might feel sad about it, but they're only animals, after all. While Internet cat videos proliferate, so does the obsession with bacon-flavoured everything. This bizarre paradox acts as a kind of ideological grease that keeps the system running."

Pharoahe Monch "W.A.R." Feat. Immortal Technique, Vernon Reid

"they wanna turn the globe into a prison

and being sick is better than being dead
cause when you sick and in bed, you're indebted to meds
cloned chickens walking around without heads
the food is contaminated, the water got lead in it
population control, make the babies sick
rfid chips
are you for 86
this is a war against consciousness
controlling your soul
sort of a psychological dictatorship
and we are on the front lines
guilty as charged if intellect is a crime"

Phaoroahe Monch - The Jungle

"Power to the people unite with one plan
I used to write about green eggs and ham
'Til I found out the Food and Drug Administration was a scam
Now we steam vegetables, brown, forget the white rice
My life is all I have, studying zeitgeist
Lyrics bang now and again, sing like the Chi-Lites
It's my right to use my power to shine my light
To function, you know the function
Yo, Pharoahe Monch, what's your motherfucking function?
I go to Queens for queens, I eat organic in Brooklyn
Swing on a vine over the swine and keep 'em shook"

Chuck D on Corplantations, Booty & Thug Television and Fighting the Power

Known Universe - Self Titled

truth universal-food fight

Harris-Perry on Michael Vick on Maddow show Dec 29 2010

related article:  http://www.thenation.com/blog/157372/michael-vick-racial-history-and-animal-rights

Seth P. Brundel & V8-Mata De Cacao

"...despite what you were taught to believe, slavery has not been abolished, arm yourself and defend freedom." v8

michael franti on veganism

Push Button Objects & V8-Transmito.00174

HiCLAS! - Come To The Light

"sick of parodies, this generation is a scary place/
music world steady fell from grace, substance base gone without a trace/
there's no gain in that it's all fruitless, now on i'm too ruthless/
cause i see the light in positivity and negativity is so useless/
i ignite the flame and watch it burning down, relieve the kings i'mma take they crowns/
promote the love like daps and pounds, this that new age disengaging sound/
so be free, from the glorification of materials/
infectious bacterial, corruption from the imperial/
media mis-users, fuck that i gotta feed my mind/
healthy eats then guide the streets and other peeps from that bacon swine/
its time for change gotta use our brains and rearrange the world today/
keep it positive and keep it peaceful, keep the growth alive and never stray away/"  hiclas

The Color of a Movement: Animal Rights and Racism (DxE Open Meeting)

vegan hip hop movement representation at this SOLID event!

Tricia Rose-Hip Hop Futures

)

The White Supremacist Infiltration of Rap Music | Black Agenda Report

The White Supremacist Infiltration of Rap Music | Black Agenda Report



"While the Klan media suppresses songs like: 'Malcolm, Garvey, Huey' by Dead Prez, they promote songs like 'Birthday Song' by 2 Chainz featuring Kanye West.


One song ('Malcolm, Garvey, Huey') has lyrics like this: 'I live, I die, I organize, everything I do - revolutionize, I build what's good for the whole damn hood, Study G's like these, really think you should, I study Malcolm Garvey Huey, Malcolm Garvey Huey.'


The other song ('Birthday Song') has lyrics like this: 'When I die, bury me inside the jewelry store When I die, bury me inside the Truey store True to my religion, two of everything I'm too different So when I die, bury me next to 2 bitches.'"

M-1 Talks New Dead Prez Album and Gun Control: ‘We Do Have A Right to Protect Ourselves’

M-1 Talks New Dead Prez Album and Gun Control: ‘We Do Have A Right to Protect Ourselves’



"You brought up “Dirty White Girl,” which has become the most controversial track on the album, and not just because it gives a winking nod to synth-new-wave club music. There’s a line that goes, “Lady liberty wanna get with me, but that bitch ain’t never mean shit to me…” And you use phrases like jungle fever, but in a nod to the evils of cocaine, cigarettes, and even drinking milk. What inspired you to write this song and did you know it would cause such uproar?"



"One thing that’s not new to dead prez is expressing our consciousness about the environment we live in. We’ve always talked about the traps that we face everyday. We’ve made songs like “Window To My Soul” about addiction. Me and stic have talked about our own health battles and challenges. We’ve seen family members go through [substance abuse]. We figure out ways to make it a priority in our community. I commend my partner stic because he has taken that into a specialized campaign into itself. Really, the manifesto behind what created “Dirty White Girl” is our every day lives. We talk about how long it’s been since stic smoked weed or how long it’s been since we’ve both become vegans. A song like that makes sense."

ProfessorD.us - Everything's Political (feat M-1 of Dead Prez)

"just because i'm vegan when i'm eatin' i ain't down with peta” m-1 of dead prez

Yungun - City Breaks

"So one day I’m a move to where the booze is cheap
Where you don’t get poisoned by the food that you eat
To where you stop work in the afternoon to sleep
I refuse to be another sheep in the flock
I got a higher purpose
I might find it writin’ verses
‘Cos if you don’t create nothin’
Then your life is worthless"  

Dead Prez - Globalization

Boogie Down Productions - T'cha - T'cha

"I represent the Bronx, but I am a New Yorker,

all vegeterian, never eat pork or

chicken in a battle yes my brain starts clickin”

SFSM (Sna Francisco Street Music) - Golden Child

It’s All Love With Myka 9 | The Kitchen Mix

It’s All Love With Myka 9 | The Kitchen Mix (repost)

TKM: Well, you obviously played a role in that project. I think “Mood Food” was the name of the piece you collaborated on. Can you talk about your relationship with food, and specifically how it relates to the creation of your music?

M9: Food, more than just a fuel, calorically speaking – it inspires me because if I eat the right amount of food and right…Ayurvedically speaking, you know I get that energy and then sometimes, like when I eat heavier foods I don’t want to work on music…so, yeah.

TKM: Oh, Ayurvedic huh? Word.

TKM: Well, I know you travel quite a bit, can you talk about food culture in America and how it compares to food culture in other places?

M9: Well, American food I’m used to. And other places, like, you know in the U.K. I don’t really like the meat and stuff…that much, uh…off and on I’m vegetarian. I was vegetarian for like 10 years. And then, I’m flexible now. Um…when I was in Amsterdam I had some Indonesian food that was really good. I was in Japan a couple months ago, I like their food. I steer clear of stuff that’s really gamey and stuff that’s a little bit out of what my pallet’s used to. I have to admit, um…I love Ethiopian food…and Indian food.

TKM: So, you’re really able to appreciate food from cultures outside of the U.S.?

M9: Yeah…

TKM: Are you good at cooking? Do you cook? You get down in the kitchen?

M9: I’m actually pretty good. I season to taste when I cook. And sometimes I use the same seasonings in almost everything that I cook. I end up using a lot of Creole-Cajun seasonings. And um…yeah.

TKM: Is there a recipe you’d like to share, or a dish that you make really well?

M9: I got a good vegetarian spaghetti that I make. And it’s beautiful because I make the vegetarian pasta taste like meat. Yeah…vegetarian pasta – spaghetti.

TKM: Alright, thanks I appreciate your time. We’re gonna hafta try our hand at making our own vegetarian pasta…gluten-free of course.

M9: It’s all love.

Infinito 2017 | The Kitchen Mix

Infinito 2017 | The Kitchen Mix (repost)

1. How does food relate to the creation of your music (and your work on canvas)?

"Food has nothing to do with my music; my music is mainly centered on the African Diaspora. I think food in general is for “health” and survival, nothing more."

2. How would you rate your kitchen skills and are you comfortable in the kitchen?

"My cooking skills are pretty good I cook as a need and what’s needed to nourish my
body. I’m not worldly or materialistic so it’s not anything that excites me. I’m
pretty good in the kitchen for what I use it for."

3. I’m impressed by the quantity of visual art and music that you are able to put out and still maintain a high degree of quality and social integrity, where does the inspiration come from? Talk about work ethic and discipline. Advice?

"My work ethic comes from me being self driven and motivated. I give respect to my Mother and Grandmother for being so driven in their own work ethic. So I’d say my main family members are a motivation to me."

4. If I were to categorize your music by a region (ex. – Chicago Hip Hop, Southern Underground, Midwest) what would it be and talk about the food of the place that you claim.

"My creativity is based exclusively from the South Side Chicago and the entire African Diaspora worldwide and any of the Indigenous regions of the earth. My creativity is black / Nubian inside and out and full of culture and content."

 5. I’m a Nacrobats fan. Have continued to follow many of the members as they ventured off on their own paths. Can you talk about that experience and creating music within that collective?

"What do I say, I’ve made over 25 albums (tapes, CD and Vinyl) prior to any knowledge
of Nacrobats. I have made over 120 more projects during and prior to the connection. I have to admit that Nacrobats for me was just a very minute part of my music life. The connection to the Nacrobats crew for me is mainly like a partial collaboration for a small period of time. The only person in Nacrobats I have any connection with after 2004 is Thaione Davis. I mainly do all my work for Infinito 2017, Marcellous Lovelace and Joe Left Hand Records."

6. If you could artistically or musically collaborate with any artist, who would that be? Why?

"I’d work with Stevie Wonder because he seems to know what feels good in music
making as far as I’m concerned. I’d like to work with De La Soul, Madlib, Bob Power, The Roots, Sun Ra and someone like Norman Conners because they all know how to make vocals warm and the music nice and tight. Just to name a few."

7. Does spirituality play a role in your artistic creations? Explain.

"No, I’m not involved in any outer body operation with my creativity. It’s all a self
motivated process. I wake up and breathe, life alone drives me to create. Life is a gift so I will not waste it."

 8. What are your thoughts on food culture in America? Regionally?

"I think food culture in America is extremely poor and many people eat to feed an emotional need be it the lack of sex, money and opportunity. Based on my theory, America on a whole is completely materialistic and loaded with folk who drown themselves in waste matter and gluttony. The sad part about the underprivileged parts of the cities like the South Side of Chicago where I’m from is there aren’t many healthy options or diversified food choices, people are improperly trained to destroy themselves through diet, education, and social health on a daily basis."

9. If you could have anybody (past, present, famous, family…) make you a meal who would it be and what would you like? Why?

"Someone who knows how to make a hearty and healthy vegetarian / vegan meal? I went to a place in Brooklyn, New York once that had some good tasting, vegetarian, meatless food."

10. Is there a recipe you would like to share with our readers or share with us to possibly try and feature?

"Veggie Tacos
Get you some vegetables any kind, possibly some ground tofu or veggie burgers. Red
Beans, rice. Some Taco Shells, any kind you like. Get you some lettuce, spinach etc.. Some seasoning, I use milk free taco seasoning for taste.
Cook all the peppers, onions, veggie burgers into large skillet until it’s all
grounded similar to the look of traditional Taco Meat. Mix in seasoning, etc …
Place in taco shells and eat. Hot Sauce and or Salsa etc as needed. (I’m not the type of person who wants anyone to know too much personally about me if they are not my immediate family)."

11. If I were to describe myself using food I might say: spicy, organic gottta-have-that-crunch, grass-fed, not too sweet, home cooked and satisfying meal
What would you say? How would you describe yourself?

"Sustainable, I’d say I’m something that lasts through all things."

12. Comment on the following – True or False: You are what you eat.

True, don’t eat pork or allow yourself to be fed diabetes based, high blood pressure junk. That’s just me… Oh don’t drink alcohol or intake any type of drugs. Man Up …

www.infinito2017.com
www.marcellouslovelace.com
www.twitter.com/infinito2017
www.facebook.com/infinito2017
www.facebook.com/marcellouslovelaceart

A Conversation with the Great Pharoahe Monch | The Kitchen Mix

A Conversation with the Great Pharoahe Monch | The Kitchen Mix (repost)

“This rhyme, will remain in the minds of my foes forever in infamy
The epitome of lyrical epiphanies
Skillfully placed poems and carefully planned symphonies” – Pharoahe Monch

TKM: Pharoahe, let’s talk about food.

PHAROAHE MONCH: Let’s do it.

TKM: Alright, most important question – how does food relate to the creation of your music?

PM: It’s everything, man. Being a chronic asthmatic I realized that diet plays a big part in the reaction I have to food. So, it’s a big part of the change I’ve had to make in my life. So it’s everything to me right now.

TKM: What do you mean “a big part of the change?”

PM: I try to eat a lot cleaner.

TKM: You mean in terms of where the food you eat is coming from?

PM: I eat a lot cleaner in the terms of the way that food is cooked.

[Pharoahe speaks on his asthma a bit in this D-Nice interview]

TKM: OK, so you’re attentive to ingredients that are put into what you’re consuming?

PM: I stay away from processed food and stuff that has wrapping on it.

TKM: Ah, so you have a good understanding about the differences between real food and chemical-laden, preservative filled edibles.

PM: Yeah. I Try and eat more natural and as organic as possible.

TKM: You trying to gravitate to anything in particular? Any specific foods?

PM: For me, being asthmatic, one of the more simpler things that’s very key is water.

TKM: Yeah, I read that the majority of the people we see walking around us are suffering from ailments that are directly related to a lack of water. Asthma was one of the things mentioned.

PM: I try and drink tons and tons and tons of water. Water. Water, water, water.

L.I.F.E.Long – It All Starts Inside | The Kitchen Mix

L.I.F.E.Long – It All Starts Inside | The Kitchen Mix (repost)

“Never no stopping me
L.I.F.E.L.O.N.G. Veteran all-city
From NY to Italy” -L.I.F.E.Long

TKM: How would you say food relates to the creation of your music?

L: I think food definitely relates to the creation of not just my music but my life as a whole. I mean, you are what you eat! Anything that you intake comes out of you and our spirit and mind absorbs what we put in our bodies, negative or positive. That is why I try my best to eat as healthy as I can, watching what I eat and also eating certain things in moderation.

TKM: What are your thoughts on food choices and healthy eating?

L: I’m a vegetarian! I’ve been one since the year 2000. Although, I do eat some fish and dairy. I’m all into healthy eating. Like I said before, you are what you eat!

TKM: What types of food are you trying to gravitate towards and what are you trying to avoid?

L: I, myself, am gravitating to more and more raw foods. Trying to juice more and eat raw veggies, fruits, etc. The preservatives and chemicals that are in most foods are really harmful. You got to be careful! And as a vegetarian we got to watch the soy intake. Soy is big business. Not all of it, I’m hearing, is good. Although it’s a great meat substitute and in a lot of vegetarian and vegan diets. I’m also trying to avoid dairy, although cheese is like one of my addictions, and also cutting back on a lot of fish. Like, I’m not a big bottom feeder eater (shell fish). Talapia was a fish I loved but I’m hearing a lot of negative things about that fish so I cut that out recently, too! Of course sugar, too – really trying to cut down on the sugar intake. Although, I have a sweet tooth. I love junk food too, which isn’t good for me AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

TKM: Can you share a recipe with us?

L: “Rasta Pasta”

Ingredients:

Pasta (any of your favorite brands)
Vegetables (any of your choice)
Red Pepper
Green Pepper
Onion
Tomato Sauce (marinara, white, whatever you prefer, you can also add tofu or ground soya)
Vegetable Oil
Sauce pan
2 nice sized pots – one to boil veggies one to boil pasta (choose accordingly to your serving amount)

Boil water (I like to add oil & seasonings in the water while its boiling garlic, salt, pepper etc.)
When water boils, add pasta.
Boil veggies
Warm sauce (add green peppers,red peppers,onion)
After pasta and veggies boil
Drain Pasta
Drain veggies
Chop up veggies
Add to cooked pasta
Or you can add to sauce
Add seasonings, etc.
Add sauce or you can serve sauce separate with added veggies
Stir pot with veggies, pasta and sauce. You could also put grated cheese on top, which gives it a nice kick.

There you go. Depending on your serving size, add more or less veggies. This is a quick, on-the-go, lazy bachelor kind of meal…

TKM: Alright, looks like we’ll be having “Rasta Pasta” this weekend. Thanks for that. Let’s switch it up a bit and talk about music. What have been your greatest accomplishments thus far and what projects are you most proud of?

L: I definitely would say my greatest accomplishment was being able to visit other countries throughout the world and see the response from the fans! For example, my last overseas trip was to Belgrade, Serbia. I didn’t know too much about the country and it was very humbling to have people know who I was and say they appreciate what I have done. I’m not sure which project I’m most proud of? I treat all my projects like my babies! I love all my solo releases. Haha. Each project I put out was a struggle and learning experience of its own! It’s amazing how people who are not artists don’t understand the real behind the scene grind it takes to put out a project. The sweat, tears, money, conflicts with relationships, etc. This artist life is no joke!! But I am amped off the project I completed with emcee “Masai Bey.” We finished a project called “Auxiliary Arms,” the lp is called Guardians of the Gate Part 1. CD’s will be released thru my record label Cocoonmovements soon! But the digital release has been floating around for a few months now. Loving all my new work with the Cocoonmovements camp, my caterpillars! Our mixtape we got promoting the label is real beastly! The compilation is pretty sick, too!

TKM: Dope. So, why don’t we wrap up with you sharing with us any projects you’re currently working on or things to look forward to in the future?

L: Trying to finish up a project with A Serbian producer named “Kiza.” Also, another project with U.K. producer Bunty Beats. Maybe another solo LP with different producers, who knows. Haha. These days I’m mainly just working on getting my label out there. I have a record label calledcocoonmovements. I released a few projects so far. Currently, an artist by the name of “Syntax” has a project out called Dialog’a'Rhythmic. Just been promoting that. Got a mixtape coming soon to promote the artists on the label – I’m on it as well. We also have another artist, Elohem Star, who will drop his LP in 2014 and then you will hear a compilation from the label. A lot of stuff coming in the future! Stay tuned people and eat good!

Syntax On Food and Frequencies | The Kitchen Mix

Syntax On Food and Frequencies | The Kitchen Mix (repost)

“Everything is energy and energy has a vibration. People, animals, plants, trees, dirt, crystals….it’s all just atoms and molecules moving around on a real small scale. The vibration is the frequency and the frequency is important.”

TKM: If you were writing your own Wikipedia page, what would you say about yourself?

S: Grew up in a small town in upstate NY. Loved hip hop from an early age. Got into punk later on. Recorded some jokey rap songs in high school. Went away to nerd school and got an engineering degree. Freestyled a lot there with my boy Dox, it was like a religion to us. Met DJ Afar and Man Danno in Syracuse and started a crew called Syntone. Put out a couple albums. Moved to Brooklyn for a job. Didn’t know anyone so started making a lot of beats. Met L.I.F.E. Long and Elohem Star and we started a label/collective called Cocoon Movements. Put out a solo record called “Dialog’a'rhythmic.” Currently working on 2 new solo records, the Elohem Star “LW2AC” album, the Cocoon Movements compilation and various side projects. The Cocoon Movements and Dub Ekoms presents “Stages of the Pupa Mixtape” mixed by DJ Afar is dropping very soon.

TKM: How would you say food relates to the creation of your music?

S: Food is the fuel and the cleaner the fuel the better the output. Beyond that there’s a communal aspect to it as well. The homie, Elohem Star, is always cooking up some serious treats for us while we’re writing and recording. Sometimes he cooks up this curry potatoes, Trinidadian bakes and pineapple chutney meal. No playing around and it’s great sustenance to keep the session going.

TKM: Damn, that sounds good! Gonna hafta have to talk to him next, it sounds like. Can you speak on your move toward a vegetarian diet?

S: Well, what sparked the whole thing was a video I saw around Thanksgiving time in 2001. It was one of those exposing slaughterhouse type videos and it totally disgusted me. I ate my Thanksgiving turkey that year and that was the last piece of meat or fish that I’ve eaten since. I just couldn’t get over the fact that the stuff I was eating was a part of this awful life cycle. I have no moral objection to consuming another living thing for survival but a pile of chickens that spent their life with little to no movement and suffered the fate of an electrocution conveyer belt death ride seems just about the farthest thing from a natural process as possible. A lot of the food production industry is on an ill dystopian tip. The land suffers, the small farmers suffer, the consumers suffer, so who is getting the benefit of this type of factory farming? I don’t want to put something with that energy in my body.

TKM: Yo, I can feel you on that. So, do you subscribe to the idea that what we consume carries with it certain energies and vibrations?

S: Everything is energy and energy has a vibration. People, animals, plants, trees, dirt, crystals….it’s all just atoms and molecules moving around on a real small scale. The vibration is the frequency and the frequency is important. Some frequencies are low, dense and dark and some are high and light. My explanation might change depending on who I’m talking to. To some it’s literal and others metaphorical but there’s no single correct interpretation. Some people are more sensitive to energy and vibrations than others. Meditation is one of the best ways to get in tune with it.

TKM: I think we could talk on that topic from every direction possible. Instead, why don’t you tell us what types of foods are you trying to gravitate towards and what are you trying to stay away from?

S: Extra virgin olive oil is basically coursing through my veins. I also use a whole bulb of garlic by default in just about any hot dish I’m cooking. I like greek yogurt, the one with all the fat in it. Butter is great for cooking and in my opinion not as bad as it would be made out to be. I eat a lot of eggs for protein, organic and cage free when it’s not a bodega egg sammie on the go. Any leafy greens in abundance, big salads with good cheeses (raw when possible). Also lots of beans like chickpeas, black beans, kidney beans. Quinoa or brown rice to go with stir fries. I try to stay away from any bleached grains so it’s all whole wheat pastas and breads. That bleached stuff is essentially just sugar once it’s broken down by the body. I try to avoid sugar/high fructose corn syrup, iodized salts, soy (though every now and then I go for some non-gmo tofu or tempeh), vegetable oils and pretty much any highly processed foods. When I’m feeling like a baller I cop the organic fruits/vegetables but it can get pricey and it’s not always possible.

TKM: Yeah, those organics put a huge dent in our wallets. So, you get around in the kitchen pretty good? How would you rate your skills?

S: I know my way around the kitchen. I’m not real flashy with it but I can drop some gems here and there. I usually make simple stuff, stir fries and veggie pastas. I make some bangin’ French bread pizza. Ma dukes passed down a marinara sauce recipe and I adapted it into a pizza sauce. I can rock some hummus and tabouleh but I struggle with falafel. If anyone has a good trick for keeping’em together get at me, I’ve tried to pull it off mad times and I always end up with a pan full of fried bits.

TKM: Yeah, I have a good friend that makes the perfect falafel…but he never shares the recipe. Ha. Well, if you could make a meal for anybody, who would it be? And if you could have anyone make a meal for you, who would it be?

S: I’d make a meal for David Lynch. Would have to be something hearty. I think I’d have Doom cook me a meal, would be dope to watch his cooking process.

TKM: One of our missions is to educate people on food and food choices. What do you think are the biggest obstacles in the Standard American Diet?

TKM: Money, without a doubt. If that $3 whole cooked chicken they sell at Wal-Mart was local, organic and free-range, I’m pretty sure people would cop that instead but unfortunately that’s not the case and we need to buy what we can afford, especially those that have an entire family to feed. Processed foods are cheap and quick/easy to prepare so they win out a lot of the time. There’s also a lack of knowledge about what these things are doing nutritionally/energetically to us, and if this knowledge was more widespread we may see some better choices being made which could force a change in how all of this stuff works, economically. A paradigm shift? I read a great book awhile back called The Ethics of What We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter by Peter Singer and Jim Mason. It really goes into this stuff in detail and follows some typical consumers from the food they buy, why they buy it and then they trace it back to where it comes from.

TKM: Will keep an eye out for that. Thanks. Can you share a recipe with us?

S: Hummus Recipe

1 big (28 oz) can of chickpeas
4 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons water
1-2 cloves of garlic depending on how big they are and how much you like garlic
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 roasted red pepper (optional)

Chop the garlic clove(s) into smaller pieces so they blend up better, then dump everything in a food processor or blender. Blend for awhile until it’s really smooth. Stop the food processor, take a spatula and scrape the edges and shit and work that back into the middle then blend a little bit longer. Sometimes the edges catch little chunks of garlic and chickpeas and this is no bueno.

Then spoon it out into a bowl, cover that shit in extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle some paprika on top. Voila!

TKM: Oh, it’s on! I’ll end with this…True or False: You are what you eat…

S: True! Food is consumable energy and that energy becomes a part of you.

Blueprint for a Plant-Based Diet | The Kitchen Mix

Blueprint for a Plant-Based Diet | The Kitchen Mix (repost)

“You have to go through the process of retraining your mind and tongue to love the taste of natural things”

TKM: How does food relate to the creation of your music?

B: For me, the music I create is just an expression of my personal life and my environment. If my personal life and environment are out of balance then everything I create will be out of balance. Conversely, when my life is healthy and balanced, my music is healthy and balanced. Food plays a major part of that. It’s the one thing we control every day that has the most impact on our lives. The times when I had the worst eating habits and lifestyle were the times when my music was the most inconsistent. I was eating like a complete jackass and had a really tough time gaining momentum and finishing the projects I started. It’s hard to do something with consistency when you don’t have the proper energy and demeanor. A person who eats bad is always complaining about headaches, stomach viruses, and not having enough energy. Before I got my diet together, I was eating things that put my body on a roller coaster and were detrimental to my long-term health. I’ve seen a huge change in my productivity since I’ve got my diet right. As a result, I get so much more music done.

TKM: Do you get around in the kitchen pretty well? How would you rate your kitchen skills?

B: Honestly, I don’t think I’m a good cook at all. But at the same time, I don’t think anybody needs to be a good cook if they’re on a plant-based diet simply because pretty much all natural things go together. My creativity in the kitchen is really high, so I always come up with really great simple dishes, but I’m not sure I would consider myself a good cook. I’d give myself a 5 in the traditional sense of cooking, but maybe a 7.5 in terms of preparing plant-based meals.

TKM: What types of foods are you trying to gravitate towards and what are you trying to stay away from?

B: The biggest change in my diet has been that I’ve adopted a plant-based diet for the most part, so I rarely eat meat anymore. I do have one day every few weeks where I might have a really small amount of meat, but outside of that I’m pretty much plant-based. I try to stay away from refined sugar as well, so I only drink water; no soft drinks, candy, or anything like that. I also threw away all of my canned foods and boxed foods as well. No more of that for me.

TKM: When did you start to incorporate a raw diet into your lifestyle and how did that come about?

B: I didn’t start really experimenting with it until around 2011. The change was sparked by my decision to stop drinking in 2010. Once I took alcohol out of my life, I was forced to evaluate everything about my lifestyle, which included my diet. I was sober, but was still drinking a ton of soda and eating dumb stuff all the time; pretty much the same Western diet as everybody else. Around 2011, I started to conduct some experiments on myself with raw food and started seeing how big of a difference it made in my health. When I started embracing raw food, I started seeing huge changes like my skin clearing up, the hair on my goatee stopped getting grey, and my energy went through the roof. I started sitting down every day and making a conscious effort to get familiar with fruits and vegetables in a way that I never did before. I would sit down at the table in the mornings and just slice up different vegetables and fruit, tasting and combining things. I was trying to learn to taste again because eating a highly sugary and salty diet had ruined my taste palette. At the same time I was going through these experiments, I had some family members get sick. I felt that I had to gain a better understanding of diet to help them with their sickness, so I dove deeper and deeper into it.

TKM: How does tour life affect the type of lifestyle you’re trying to maintain at home?

B: Well, it used to affect me really negatively, but not as much anymore. In the past, I would gain momentum by eating right and taking care of myself at home and then lose momentum because I wasn’t able to maintain it on the road. Last year, I decided to start bringing cooking equipment with me on the road so that I could prepare my food anywhere. Since I’ve been doing that it’s been so much easier to maintain my lifestyle and diet. I make it a priority to prepare my own meals as often as possible. It’s created a situation where I feel really healthy even when I’m on the road and I have more energy to accommodate the rigorous tour schedule.

TKM: Do you have a recipe that you could share with us (so we can make it and share with our readers)?

B: Sure. I’ve got a cool breakfast thing I came up with the other day that people can eat instead of cereal:

- Four pieces of okra (sliced into 1/4 inch slices)

- Half Cup of unsalted sunflower seeds

- Half a cup of raisins

- Half of a banana (sliced into 1/4 inch slices)

Mix in small bowl, adding bananas and sunflower seeds last. Jump-starts your day without consuming dairy or high sugar cereal.

TKM: Do you have a favorite raw food chef? Is there a certain raw food protocol that that subscribe to?

B: Unfortunately, I don’t really know much about the raw food scene or any of the chefs out there. I try not to get too dogmatic in my plant based approach because access is always an issue. Sometimes you don’t have access to everything you want and have to make the best decision based on what you have.

TKM: Are there any downsides to eating raw? (example – holidays, kids, accessibility)

B: I think the biggest challenge for people that change their diet like that is learning how to communicate it to your family and friends in a way that isn’t condescending or snobbish. I realized that one of the reasons I never looked into it before was because I found that the people around me who did it before me seemed to use it as a way to either put other people down or to boost themselves up–never to help others. My reason for adopting it was to be healthier myself and help my friends and family who suffer from degenerative diseases related to dietary choices, so my motivation is a little bit different. I want to help and be an inspiration to the people in my life, so my biggest challenge is trying to approach that in a way that’s sensitive and informative, but doesn’t alienate them.

TKM: If you could make a meal for anyone, who would it be? And if you could have anyone make you a meal would it be?

B: At this point, I’d be happy if my family let me prepare a Thanksgiving dinner. That probably seems like such a small thing, but it would mean a lot to me.

TKM: What are some of the most essential ingredients/grocery items that you would recommend to someone starting to get into a raw food diet? Is there any advice you would give to that person?

B: My advice to them would be to first learn how to taste again: go to the produce section of the grocery store and make it a habit to buy three or four things that you’ve never eaten raw. Then take some time to taste them raw, without anything added to them. Obviously that wouldn’t necessarily work with things that need to be cooked like green beans or corn, but it’s great for things like mushrooms, onions, carrots, and okra, etc. The goal is to regain your taste for natural things that don’t have salt and sugar added to them. Most people know what orange soda or a box of orange juice from a box tastes like, but haven’t had a real orange in years. As a result, they have no idea what an actual orange tastes like anymore. If they did know what an orange really tasted like, they would know that something is clearly wrong with the orange juice they’re being sold–unless they see it squeezed in front of them. You have to go through the process of retraining your mind and tongue to love the taste of natural things, or you’ll never get anywhere with it.

TKM: Are there any specific kitchen tools/equipment that you would recommend?

B: A Foreman Grill, a rice cooker with a steamer, and a cutting board is all you really need to get started. Anything I don’t eat raw is thrown on the Foreman Grill or steamed.

TKM: True or False: You are what you eat.

B: Emphatically true! Food can heal you, or it can kill you.

TKM: What upcoming projects do you have on the horizon?

B: I’ve got a book coming out in January called “What A Night” that’s about the worst shows of my touring career and a new EP coming out this spring called “Respect the Architect.” I should be touring this spring as well in the United States, for those that wanna check me out.

Being Inspired with Stic.man from Dead Prez | The Kitchen Mix

Being Inspired with Stic.man from Dead Prez | The Kitchen Mix (repost)

“RGB fit club prescription;
Knowledge, exercise and nutrition
Get exercise and stay consistent
New tradition ancient wisdom” -Stic.man

TKM: How did you get started with RBG Fit Club? What jump started that movement?

S: RBG Fit club was a way for me to extend the inspiration from the communication (The Workout album), spread the message that wellness is wealth. It’s like an online platform similar to Livestrong – but with Hip Hop culture, Hip Hop language, Hip Hop perspective at the core of it. It’s just an extension of my lifestyle for the last fifteen plus years.

They say that leadership is about initiative. The movement is making those moves. As we think about a lot of the political issues within our communities and the things people are active about – being active is activism and there is no movement without the people moving. Health is kind of a big deal.

TKM: Where are you with food right now and how have people responded to the movement?

S: Currently, I’m all plant-based – not all raw but probably about 50%. What I’ve learned is that enzymes are key to energy and health and healing. So, I try to make sure that at each meal something I’m eating is raw. But otherwise, we just try to do organic whole plant-based fruits and vegetables. I’m doing a 14 week program proving that a skinny guy can gain muscle on a plant-based diet and also still be a long distance runner. So, I’m the guinea pig. I’m running ten miles, training 3 days a week in the gym. No supplements. No powders. No vitamins or anything like that. Just whole foods. My goal is to get to 20 pounds of muscle. I’ve gained 7 in 3 weeks.

I’ve been world-touring, seeing people have good feedback in terms of their own personal lives – people who stopped smoking cigarettes, started running, people meditating more often. It seems like people of all backgrounds – whatever race, different classes, in the hood, business folks, whatever. People are relating to the message of health that you can custom fit to you. I believe fitness should fit, or else why call it “fit?”

TKM: Do you have a spiritual component to your regimen?

S: Well yeah. The way I address spirituality is – your spirituality is your experiences, it is taking care of your health on all the different levels, it’s your relationship with other people, it’s your ability to relax, it’s what services we offer in the community, it’s your gratitude, it’s your attitude – it’s not one thing like push-ups. It’s a combination of living your life. For me, meditation helps me remember that and helps me stay balanced.
Someone said that beings – what we do is not always what we are but what we are can empower what we do, who we are. That’s the distinction. Because people will say I’m a librarian, or I’m a rapper, or I’m an engineer or I’m a hustler, baby – but is that what you are or is that what you do? Because when you tap into what you are, I think that’s your spirit. It’s behind everything you do.

TKM: What else drives you and can you share a recipe with us?

S: I’m a student of interesting things – things that catch my interest. I’m always studying music, arranging and [learning] how to be effective in communicating. I don’t want to limit what I do to language but I believe that people have their own power and it’s about tapping in to make those synapses connect. And once they do – I don’t believe people need you to tell them what to do or people need some kind of an intermediary between them and the spirit. I feel like people can be empowered from within with the right motivation and inspiration. I think that’s really important work and that’s a large part of what I do. I produce music, I have a publishing company…always trying to communicate.

**Peep the audio for the ill guacamole recipe (Guacavelli)**

TKM: What projects are you currently working on and where are you finding your inspiration these days?

S: I’m currently producing The Workout Volume 2. I’m about 9 songs in right now and going for 14. I’ve been working with some other artists, a guy named Martin Luther. We just worked on some stuff for a Jimi Hendrix documentary. There’s a film that I did the score for not too long ago directed byByron Hurt. It’s called Soul Food Junkies. I did an original 8 song score for that. I did the title track with my boy, Martin Luther, among others.

That’s my daily thing – to find inspiration. It’s part of my daily ritual when washing dishes, to listen to motivational speakers. I’ve found that that takes the sting out of washing dishes. I listen to a lot of audio books when I’m on my long distance runs – Power of Habit is amazing, Power of Self-Discipline is amazing. Music-wise I listen to everything from John Coltrane, Jay-Z, Little Dragon, Rollins Band, everything.

TKM: Can you talk about discipline?

S: I look at it like – you can make a recipe for your success. You can say, I want to exercise my body in fun ways, challenging ways, ways that I can see progress. I want to be stronger, I want to be more flexible, I want to have more endurance, more energy. I can make a plan for that. I want to meditate more often so I can manage stress and free my creativity. Instead of waking up the first hour and worrying about this, stressing about that – when I first wake up I drink water and listen to a speech that’s motivating. You can do those kind of things and what happens is you start to control your experience and program yourself as if you were your own trainer. You’re taking that role and you realize that when you don’t take that proactive role, you take what the day brings you.

But then there’s that other satisfaction. I can satisfy my worries, I can satisfy my anxieties and my nerves and my stress about my health through doing these positive things – exercise, etc. So there’s two satisfactions – the instant gratification and the peace of mind that I’ll be okay. It’s all one energy!

**Listen for more insights and bits of wisdom**

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