Love, Peace & Hip Hop

The Japanese culture struck me by storm.  I was overwhelmed by the politeness of the people, the history of the land of Okinawa and their unique customs.  I was intrigued by Japanese beliefs and the symbols that represented some of these beliefs such as the dragon and phoenix.  I wanted my whole right torso covered and wanted to accomplish this by going with the historic creature; the powerful dragon.  Hands down; this has to be my most painful tattoo! I’m a fairly slim guy with little meat to protect my fragile ribs and this is where I felt most of the pain.  I almost barfed while getting this tattoo because it hurt so much.  I began to sweat profusely and caught myself praying for it to be over.  I just about swore to myself and wife that this would be my last tattoo; no more but like most who enjoy getting tattoos; that lie didn’t last long, LOL.

Not long after I was back in the seat getting the other half of my torso done with the phoenix.  I wanted to show the  symbolization of both sides and have them do battle on my body.  Maybe my greatest art to date.  Somehow I felt this wasn’t enough and asked my tattoo artist to add contrast birds at random.  Came out dope; what’s next…

To me quotes are like pictures.  A picture can mean a thousand words and a simple one line quote can mean something more deeper.  Th quote written on my back in Arabic “God is the most graceful, merciful and oft-forgiven.  Taken straight from the Koran; it represents my passion for the creator. I’m not a Muslim; hence the different beliefs in symbols tatted on my body but this saying hit a nerve with me and equally relates to the way I feel.

On my left forearm is a scripture written on a decaying wall. With the character from the Courvoisier brandy at the bottom of the wall.  The scripture goes to say “Life will get you sympathy but sweat will bring you change”. This goes to say that you can sit and complain and weep over hard times but actually doing something about it and hard work, determination and perseverance are the things that will bring success.The character is said to be Napoleon Bonaparte who always carried his favorite drink with him in his jacket.

Across my upper chest lies the phrase “Post Proelia Praemia” which is defined as “After the battles comes the rewards”.  Again a phrase that defines what I believe in and reminds me to keep on pushing in life no matter the obstacles.  Hard work pays off!

I started to enjoy symbols that represent an aspect of life and writings in different languages that briefly explained themselves. Next to the left collar-bone lay the Asian character representing struggle.  It’s actually one of the same tattoos Allen Iverson has and thought it would fit well with my body art.  On the right side collar-bone is the Eye of Horus.  The Egyptian symbol representing the third eye and a serpent.  Enlightenment and being aware of your goals and surroundings were my viewpoints for this tat.

One of my most painful tats are the two Japanese characters tatted on my ring and middle finger.  One means love which as placed on my ring finger and other means hate (middle finger). Hope you all understand the meaning of placing the tats on these certain fingers Together I like to say the tats mean “there’s a thin line between love and hate” when both are close together but the line of the original separation of the fingers is the “thin line”.

The Ohm/Aum and Yin Yang both are in the pits of my arm between the bicep and forearm.  I really enjoy and try to live the meaning of these two symbols; meditation, purity and equal balance of life.  The Yin Yang are two feathers intermingled with one being darker than the other.  My life line symbol meant much more than a squiggly line.  It actually told my life story thus far.  At the beginning we are all pure, simple non eventful; so we are somewhat flat-lined.  Then life happens as we grow and mature; we rise and fall so then the life line begins to oscillate.  At a time I struck a low point in my life and figured life may be too hard to sustain and this is represented by another flat line.  I grew wiser and found myself and life started to happen again with the life line oscillating. At the end, the life line flat lines once again to represent death in which we must all face one day.

I’ve always been in love with the Universe and how our birth signs influence who we are and why we may do the things we do.  I’m an Aquarius in the way I live, socialize and think.  This lead me to get the tattoo of Aquarius; the water barrier.

For the Love of music and Hip Hop; the clef note tatted on my left hand and semi sleeve of notes were tatted on my right forearm.  I can’t explain how much music has influenced my daily existence and these are just small examples to express my appreciation for the art.

Jane, my mother meant the world to me. Therefore a new tattoo representing her and her struggle to cancer was justified.  I didn’t want a cross or praying hands along with her name and dates so I went with the cancer ribbon and her middle name “Jane”.  Plain and simple but means so much more to me.

It all started in “99″  H.S. and an era of finding oneself had me feeling both adventurous and rebellious and a fresh tat was the perfect way to express myself.  I always felt like an outcast but knew I was more intelligent and had more to offer than people expected.  Therefore I wanted a tat that would express this feeling and the “Only God Can Judge Me” phrase was my first ink job.  The phrase was is accompanied with two eyes with blood as the tears to symbolize more than remorse and hurt but a deeper set of pain. This tat set the stage for more artwork and to eventually tell my life story on my body.

Later I wanted to get in-tuned with my Islamic background by picking two phrases written in Arabic that represented the way I felt at the time; “To Overcome” and “To Repent”. These two sayings are positioned at the top and below a tattoo of a fallen angel.  The Angel is displayed with futuristic wings derived from the comic book character Archangel and hands that are restrained with shackles.  people ask, “why an angel in shackles?” This was my way to portray and show that no one is perfect; even someone thought to be on the same side as God can still sin, face obstacles and make mistakes!

The H.N.I.C. tat stands for Highest. Noble. Infamous. Comrade.  or maybe not, LOL. This work was done in G.A. along with the Fallen Angel tat.  On top of the acronym lays a crown with the letters N.Y. embedded in the middle. NY has always been and will forever be dear to my heart. It’s my birthplace and has laid the foundation for my character and personality due to struggle and just plain city life.  My love for NY is also displayed in a tat placed a little above the heart.  At this point I felt home sick so I got some ink of a heart-broken torn in pieces and stitched back together to show how I felt about being away from my home town.

Hello world! Here’s the full rundown: It all started with a nice sunny day in Germany in which I decided to take advantage of and complete some much needed lawn grooming. The wife still bouncing around 9 months pregnant and due any day decided she wanted to help out. I can’t believe this; the young lady is due any day and still moving like she’s not even prego. I insisted that she take a chill pill and get some rest but her insistence was stronger than mine.  I finally gave in and decided that she could sit out there with me on a stool and just gather the twigs I cut off. Later in the night around 11 p.m. we decided to call it a night and get some rest. Suddenly the wife started to have contractions. This was nothing new besides the fact they were stronger and more consistent than ever (about 7-8 minutes apart).

I never got a minute of shut-eye and now more nervous than ever.

Bags packed: Check

Food: Check

Misc: Check

Sanity intact: Oops

One call to Labor and Delivery and they denied the request to come in and stated to continue timing the contractions and wait. Once they become 3-5 minutes apart then we can be emitted. Man! the waiting game…. A little over an hour more that changed and the contractions were now 5 minutes apart and unbearable. Off we go and here we come!

The wife lay on the hospital bed battling each contraction and all I could do is watch and try to be as helpful as possible. Water works!!! Ok, now we’re talking. Let’s get this show started.

I’m ready; Doc and nurses are ready and the wife is ready; at least I think so.  There for 12 hours and 4 hours of pushing and out comes a full head of hair like a pimpette. Nevaeh Amara is here; The wife is relieved and the staff gets a pat on the back for another job well done.  So thankful; so grateful.

BACK DATED: Feb 2011

There has been no sign of the wife wavering to normal standards or stereotypes of pregnancy. Where’s the wobble when she walks; where’s the misery I heard she would encounter; or how about the fatigue that suppose to go along with many other things? Things being so great now make me wonder if they will become horrible later so Lord willing things will go well. We have just flew across and arrived in a different country; my wife’s home country Germany.  Yes its freezing but we are ever more excited to be here and looking forward to the future and arrival of Nevaeh.

Life is beautiful and I feel so blessed to share every moment with my little girl; the drug that I’ll thieve and kill for.  It’s a cool, fulfilling and funny experience at the same time. I’m learning about parenthood with each passing minute and always excited to see her do or learn something new. Today she was able to experience her first true bathing since leaving the hospital and she loved every minute of it.  Her Grandmother’s touch reminded me of how my mother handled me and she cared for my needs and cries. The bath also made me wonder if my little princess’ facial expressions and motions resembled my own when I was an infant or did she get the personality from her mother.  Well Nevaeh has my looks so what else can I ask for

P.O.E.M.

Fresh off the plane from China!! The album “In The Moment” has arrived. It’s been crazy and people have been showing me mad love which I greatly appreciate. You know what to do if you would like a copy of your own.  This is my hobby; something I do for fun and for the love of music. With that being said; I am not looking to make a profit from this project and this has been the same for any of my previous projects. I am trying to encourage people to give back in some way. Not to me but to society, the youth and the world. Let’s heal through music and give back! It doesn’t have to be money; your support in any way is welcomed.  You can start by clicking on the oxfamamerica link on my page and donating a small fee. Read up on the foundation and see what they are about to see for yourself what your contribution can do.  Leave me an email or comment with your confirmation code and I will send you unreleased tracks for your listening. Again, thanks for all the love, support and constructive criticism. Keep rocking and doing you and never hesitate to get at me to work on a track.  Ichi

In The Moment Link: http://soundcloud.com/p-o-e-m/sets/in-the-moment/

Love, Peace and Hip-Hop

I’m going to start off by saying Beijing has been one of the most unsanitary place and contains some of the most rudely people I’ve visited and met thus far but at the same time full of culture/history, extreme artifacts/monuments with great tasting and inexpensive food.  “Shop till you drop” maybe the theme for  most foreigners traveling here but for me it was a time to enjoy the sites I’ve anticipated in my wishes for such a long time.  The Radegast Hotel has been the most woeful hotel I’ve stayed in to date. The services were top-notch and the hostess were very pleasant which also stood true for our tour guide named Apple who spoke perfect english and really told me the ins and outs of Chinese culture and stereotypes.  I actually felt like a star being in Beijing; not because I’m conceded or well ahead of myself but the people themselves actually made me feel this way.  Beijing seems to be a tourist location for people all throughout China and the rest of Asia and very little Black people settled or roamed there.  Too often people would stare as I walked by; as I stood in the subway car or even at a restaurant. To take it further; others would actually ask to take a photo with me. It was a nuisance at first but I quickly became accustomed to it and played along.  The wife became quite annoyed by the stares and aggressive nature of the locals but I insisted her to switch her mentality to NY mode and everything will be all good, LOL.

Duck dishes are everywhere and of course I had to indulge in the opportunity. Not because it was a “must to do” thing being in China but I actually like duck and I was eager to take advantage of how inexpensive the food was.  live scorpions were also on the menu and yes! this is a place where you can gain 15 lbs in one week! I have a goal to travel and visit the ancient and/or modern world wonders and the Great Wall was at the top of the list. I’ve visited the largest ferris wheel in the world located in Singapore but it’s nothing compared to the magnitude and history of the Great Wall. There is no way to travel even half the wall but this is not needed to experience the hike and catch more than a glimpse of the work that went into such a task.  Besides the Great Wall were many ruins, shrines, castles and parks to visit that’s guaranteed to astound you. Also, the jade factory where the Olympic medals were made is located here and I was excited to have a chance to visit the actual place and even purchase authentic jade.  I have to say, Beijing was a great voyage! Although the smog and traffic jams were unbearable at times; I was still able to navigate the subway like a real New Yorker (of course the real navigator was the wife) and enjoy what Beijing had to offer.