First of all, we all need to pray for all of the millions of effected people in the Gulf region that have been affected by the two massive hurricanes. The past month has really shown me how ultimately great God is. I've seen how he can allow and direct things that are completely out of man's control. AND, I also can't help but think how disappionted and "fed up" with man He must be. Is he trying to send us a message? Is he giving us some blatent signs? Maybe . . . maybe not, depending on how you look at it. All I know is that I feel highly convicted to draw closer to Him and the current situation makes me really re-analyze myself and my relationship with Him. I'm asking that if you are in or near one of the effected areas by the two storms, please send us some of your pictures and stories so we can share them with others here and at Beatmart.com. Send your pictures to: wrgopodcast@gmail.com God bless.

Today was day one of the ATF band camp. Things jumped off with lunch and then a "debriefing" of what to expect. We explained to the fellas that this is the make or break type rehearsal for the spring Aquire the Fire dates. Things are going at a frantic pace but very smoothly. PettiDee is taking the bull by the horns and has stepped up to the leadership role. We ended the "debriefing" time with a prayer from our own personal pastor Rev. Pee Wee Callins. The picture to the right is of a portion of our prayer circle. Please be in prayer as we trudge toward our goal coming thursday afternoon at 7:00. Hope all's well. B's up!

This is a personal update that I thought I might bring to you as I sit here in my comfortable chair, watching my big television, in my air conditioned home. I find myself feeling sad for the victims of Katrina, mad at the knuckle-heads that are thugs and looters, and perturbed at the "race" issue that's being addressed. At any rate, the one thing that constantly stays on my mind is "what in the heck am I doing in the big scope of things?" At this time, and after being in a third world country, what we do as a creative company really makes me question how important things are. It makes me realize just how miniscule I, as a singular person, really am. I also realize just how huge and immense God and his wrath can be. I feel He's trying to wake us as Americans up to our hedonistic ways of individualism. If you read this, please examine yourself and ask yourself why do I do what I do. What's my motivation? What can I do to change for the better and truly pursue Christ? Also consider helping in the aid effort for the victims of Katrina. I agree with Rev. Franklin Graham when he says, "if every church in the south excepted 5-10 families from the Katrina disaster, we could hugely knock out a ton of this humanitarian problem". . . . think about it. Please God, continue to bless your children and don't let us go. God bless you guys, and please donate to the relief effort.

Today was just an average lazy Sunday. Nothing spectacular really went on today. We went to church this morning and listened to Dr. Kinney . . . Aaron Kinney's (with the Titans) dad. He was absolutely awesome! He's the dean at Virginia Union Theological Seminary. Just an amazing speaker. I'm just laying around the house, bored out of my mind because there's no football games on television. This week will be an extremely busy one with meetings, tracks for Dkun Frost, and recording vocals with Fresh Digress. I'm going to bring you guys a podcast sometime this week. Look for a special 3D cast. That's my early 90's Atlantic Records days. I'm going to play you guys some of those old songs so you guys can put me on blast. Hope everyone had a good and restful weekend. Also, check out www.myspace.com/beatmart. This is actually MY page. The other page is run my Average Joe. Sign up . . . I need the friends! :-) B's up!

Okay, I know! It's been a while since I updated or recorded a podcast. I promise, I'm going to bring you guys a recorded podcast very soon. I'm still on somewhat of a "high" from being on the Peru trip. That was truly a life changing experience that has changed my perspective on a lot of things in my life. In some respects, I feel like I'm in a "transition" phase in my life. Therefore, I've haven't (admittedly) had WRGO high on my priority list. That, I plan to change back to the way it was, and I apologize to those of you who are dedicated lookers and listeners. I'll get this thing back on track very soon and back to the once (sometimes twice) a week podcast. Things are moving swiftly around Beatmart land. There's a ton of stuff going on that I'm excited to be able to share with you soon. The picture is of me on our bus in Pucallpa, Peru. Troy took the picture. B's up!

Greetings from the Amazon! I´m currently in our hotel in Pucallpa, Peru in the middle of the Amazon rain forrest. Being here is extremely "eye opening"! The poverty level is like one that I´ve never seen, yet the people are happy, grateful, and hospitable. It really makes me realize how fortunate we are as people living in America. We´re having a great time here, and I´m positive that I´m receiving more from this than I´m giving. God has opened my eyes to some things that has never really hit me before while living inside my little box. I miss home and I miss my somewhat regular daily routine, but God has me here for a reason and to grow me in Him. It´s great to see what God is doing in other parts of the world with other people. We as Americans have things too good! It´s actually astonishing to realize. For example, even as I type this blog update, I´m sitting at a dial-up old ancient computer. There´s no such thing as "wi-fi" down here. It´s literally like stepping back in time about 20 years. In fact, the average income per year for a man in Peru is $2500! That´s an eye-opener! The one thing that I can urge you to do after you read this is, appreciate what you have in your life. There are so many out there with far less in every way. The photo is of me and Pastor Daniel from a church in La Perla, outside of Pucallpa, Peru. We're just clowning around and having fun. He is an extremely happy man despite the fact that he makes less than $2500 per year! That really puts things in perspective!

Yesterday and today were standard business days with meetings, strategies, etc. We had a marketing meeting with myself, Troy, and Adrian. It went well with a lot of really solid ideas across the board. We also had a conference call with Chris MC from Fresh Digress. Yes, it was very long winded in fine Chris MC form. We covered a lot of territory in that respect as well. At any rate, it was a productive week and I hope you guys all have a great weekend. Myself and Troy are gearing up to leave for Peru this coming wednesday, so keep us in your prayers. The picture is of Adrian during our marketing meeting. B's up!

Today was a day of relationship building. Kevin Wiggins aka Dkun Frost, came into town on friday night with his wife Jennifer. The whole reason for Dkun coming into town was to meet and build with the "Beatmart crew." He came into town on friday night, went to dinner and relax with his wife away from the kids, and then get ready to meet up with the crew on saturday. Saturday came and myself, Troy, and SonofMack met up with Dkun for lunch. We then all jumped into my car and we showed them around the downtown area, specifically where the Titans play and practice (Dkun's a big football fan). After our $0.25 tour of our beloved Nashville, we then went south to LabEast to start the recording process. There's a reason behind all of this relation building and recording that we'll get into sometime next week. Stay tuned to the podcast for upcoming info and/or some possible interviews. Always something going on in Beatmart land. B's up!

Today was a preparation day for our (mine & Troy's) trip to Peru. We had to trek down to the Vanderbilt Travel Clinic to get 4 required shots that are necessary for our entrance into the country to meet up with the Food for the Hungry organization. I freakin' hate getting shots because I'm allergic to pain. :-) Anyway, it's official! We're headed down to Peru on a mission trip and we're expecting some amazing things to happen. It's going to be great! On another note, we did some recording this morning with a female vocalist named Doreena Williamson. She's my pastor's wife and she is an amazing singer which you'll find out soon enough. She sang on both the Japhia Life record and the Fresh Digress record. They both sound great. The picture is a shot of downtown Lima Peru where we'll be staying part of the time. Speak to you guys soon. B's up!

Okay y'all, I know! I haven't had a podcast in a while now. However, there's very good reason for that. The internal computer system to my mixer in my studio just went on the fritz! I've been down for close to a week now and I went and had to purchase another one. Dropping $800 on a whim is not my idea of fun. But, . . . what do you do? I have to continue working and I definitely NEED a mixer to able to work. Therefore now that things are "semi" up and running again, I'll be bringing another podcast within the next day or two (probably after sunday since the swim meet will be over by then). Sorry for the delay and thanks for your patience. I'll be back on track real soon. In fact, just to catch up, I'm literally sitting at the swim meet now as I write this blog. I found out that the meet, with all their computers, has wireless access. So I just tapped into their network and I'm off and running. Holler at y'all in audible form real soon. B's up!

Today was an extremely productive day in the life of Beatmart. Myself and Troy had a meeting with Terry Hemmings and Robert Beeson from Provident Music Distribution. Without being able to say too much, the meeting went extremely well and suffice it to say there may be a future in the works. After another meeting afterward along with lunch, myself and Troy took the afternoon off and went and played 18 holes of golf. It was certainly something that was wanted and, more importantly, needed! I'll leave it up to you guys to figure out who ended up winning the round. As y'all know, Troy and me are very competitive so there was a difinite winner and loser. Anyway, it was great fun and therapeutic to say the least. The picture to the right is of the Fresh Digress guys and the Beatmod crew during a lunch break at the photo shoot. B's up!

Sorry for neglecting to update the blog page on a normal regular basis. Things are just now getting back to a semi-normal pace (if there is such a thing). I'm currently wraping up the mastering for the Rob Hodge record, finishing the mix on the Japhia Life record, and finishing the mastering on the Songs of Hymn record. Needless to say, I'll still be on my horse for this whole week and into next week. I'm also still in the studio trying to tweak the Fresh Digress record, all while having to take business meetings with certain necessary "higher-ups". At any rate, things are moving at a rapid pace, so that's a good thing. Keep us in your prayers and be on the lookout for something special toward the end of the month. Also, be looking for some more news and updated style podcasts in the next few days. Send questions and comments in to wrgopodcast@gmail.com. The picture is of engineer/mixer Steve Lotz with Chris MC from Fresh Digress. Keep bangin' and B's up!

Today is Independence Day, 2005! I can't believe how time flies. It seemed like just yesterday that I was in college playing basketball in Miami, FL. That was over 16 years ago! Man how time flies. Anyway, I just wanted to update the blog to wish everyone a happy and safe fourth of July. We're currently gearing up for the Fresh Digress fellas to be in town starting tomorrow. Be checking back here and at beatmart.com for daily updates and pictures to what's going on in and out of the studio. We're doing some extensive recording and at the end of the week, we'll be having another photo shoot with the guys. We'll also be having the Big E in town, so things are rather crazy in Beatmart-land. I'm ready to take a sabbatical! :-) Hope all is well with all of you and with the secret society members that I haven't spoken to in a while . . . you know who you are! Happy 4th and B's up!

I'm currently sitting at my kitchen table, by myself on my laptop. It's about 10:45 on sunday morning and myself and the rest of the crew is about to leave to go to downtown Nashville for the last day of a three day swim meet. My girls are extremely good swimmers and they are in a year round "swim school" that has trained olympic swimmers. I'm not saying that they are olympic swimmers, but they're in this program that grooms those athletes. Anyway, these meets are very long and very arduous! They've done well up to this point, so I imagine they'll continue down that path. At any rate, it's quiet in the kitchen so I had time to do some thinking, reflecting and listening. So, I went over to Sonofmack's blog page and listened to his podcast where he's interviewing Dkun Frost. If you guys haven't checked out his podcast . . . you should! It's really entertaining and informative. Plus, the sound quality is pleasantly high. If you're not familiar with his podcast site, it's http://remixingbeatmart.libsyn.com. Trust me, it's worth it! Also, be looking for new swag sometime this week in the Beatmart store at beatmart.com. The picture is of my twin girls at the swim meet . . . OH, the joy! B's up!

Okay guys, It's 11:10 pm and I'm thoroughly BEAT from the past days' activities. I want to do something a bit different here. I met a huge supporter of Beatmart today that we invited to come down and be a part of the shoot and to help gather content for you guys. I asked him to summarize his thoughts of the day, not knowing what I would get. It was so moving to me, that I wanted to share it with you. Here it is, from Ky-Ill. "WOOOOO! B's up! The catch phrase so often used by those who rep the the B. Well, today there was an all new meaning brought to B's up. B really was UP today in Nashville, TN. After a 6 1/2 hour drive, I arrived in the great city. From the moment I arrived till the moment I went to bed, Beatmart was moving and so was GOD. Upon arriving, I jumped out of my vehicle and jumped into Troy Collins' vehicle. We then went to this gully COUNTRY restaurant! I sat around the table with Todd Collins, Troy Collins, Rob Hodge, Japhia Life, Pettidee, Sonofmack, Eddie, and 2 other guys that I don't remember their names. They will have to forgive me for that. So we ate, A LOT! I mean this place was so COUNTRY that we had to pass the food around the table. It was a soul food place, but anyway. We rolled out from the restaurant holding an extra 10 lbs. and headed off to do some photo shooting with Rob, Japhia, and Petti! So we shoot these shots and I get to know Japhia, Rob, and Petti a lot better in this happening and actually get to see these guys away from the pictures. This was when GOD really started moving in on me. My exchanges with Rob were almost as if he was like a big brother. Punching and pushing each other, just joking around, being boys I suppose. It was really cool, to feel like a part of the fam directly after meeting these guys. So we moved on throughout the day and we hit up this one area with a huge blue wall in the hood. I'm talkin' the ghetto! I mean as soon as we rolled up, people started looking at us and we actually walked up to this corner to get this picture of the guys by this phone and what not. So all these people start rolling up asking who we are and what's going on and this is where you see the minister in all these guys unleash. Rob, Japhia, and Petti just start ministering to these people, showing them love, telling them about their ministry and what they do, etc. I mean, I was moved spiritually, I had to take a minute to praise GOD for the opportunity to observe what was going on and be apart of it. So, it was cool to get to see these guys actually living out what I hear in their music. I got to cop a sneak peak of all of their upcoming albums, and I have to tell you, despite anything I may have said. . . ALL three of them are coming with heat and you definitely want them bangin' out of your trunk! Ok, this goes out to all you cats wondering what Todd and Troy are like in person? Well, they are ordained ministers of GOD, whether they know it or not. I was ministered to by these guys in more ways than they know today. I got to actually watch Todd in the works of some stuff with Japhia Life and just how open and willing Todd is to work with people is amazing.. Troy is probably one of the most encouraging guys I know, I'm actually chilling at his house tonight and I met him about 10 hours ago. That alone means a lot to me, but I'm going to wrap this up. Today was a great day and I was glad to be apart of it and hopefully there will be many more to come. Beatmart is a great ministry, GOD had definitely put His hand on it.. Today, June 20th, 2005 I can truly say B's UP and understand it entirely!" Ky-ill

Today was ANOTHER meeting-type day! It seems I'm having entirely too many of these. I've GOT to be in the studio in order for our label to have any chance of surviving! At any rate, I got up very early this morning to go to my bible study at 6:30. I was up till about 2-ish. Therefore, I'm extremely tired right now. After the bible study, myself and Troy had a meeting dealing with the Songs of December record (our Christmas "product" record done by me and Big E). That went well, then I went to my next meeting with Steve Lotz. He's the guy that does most of my mixes for my records. He's done a ton of stuff and he's got a great ear . . . plus, he's just a good friend. So, we had lunch then came back to my studio to do some work on some of the studio gear to keep it updated and current. In the spirit of the meeting that I had this morning that dealt with a "Big E involved project," I figured I'd post a picture of my man sitting behind his desk at Nike doing his "corporate" thing. Don't get it twisted, there's a reason why the "E-man" is a very powerful man at the #1 marketing company on the planet . . . he freakin' knows what he's doing when it comes to marketing! B's up! p.s. Be on the lookout for the Philadelphia Philosophers to be in "Cashville!" Japhia Life & Rob Hodge arrive on saturday for their photo shoots. More info on the way!

The weekend's here and I'm ready for the rest! Big E, out in Portland, has issued a challenge or contest of sorts. He's supplying me with a track to post here so that you guys can download it and make it into a full-fledged song. You guys will then, upon being finished, send it back to me to judge at wrgopodcast@gmail.com. The winner will then receive some Nike gear direct from Big E himself. As soon as he supplies me with the track, I'll post it here for everyone to download. Speaking of Nike gear, the picture is of custom made canvas Air Force One's for the 2004 Final Four. These were specifically made for the "Nike" teams' players and coaches that were in the Final Four. Hope all's well with everyone and y'all look for a new podcast (a for real one) sometime this weekend . . . hopefully. B's up!

Hopefully, this is just about the end of an extremely busy week of meetings and positioning for Beatmart. A lot of things are happeing aroung beatmart land and, Lord willing, some (if not all of them) will come to fruition. Today was another "meeting" day with our web people on "big picture" type issues regarding the website. There's a lot of great things in store and on the way at beatmart.com. I think you guys will really be diggin' what's to come. Such as, us loading up the e-store with merchandise and other goodies to purchase. . . including beats from the beatmart vault for purchase! That's just the tip of the iceberg. I'm also going to get a "for real" podcast, hopefully by the end of the weekend so be on the lookout. I'll put up some songs, answer some questions, and talk about some issues. The sneaker in the picture is the rare Air Force 1 Premium snake skins. Thanks for listening and stay tuned in. B's up!

Okay, okay! I know . . . it's been a while since I podcasted another show. I promise I'll get a new one out in the next day or two. It's just that things with the label are moving so quickly, that it's hard for myself and Troy to keep up with everything. But trust me, there's a LOT of potentially big things that are in the works that I can't legally speak about until things are finalized! Of course, you guys will be the first to know. One thing i CAN say is that, within the next 7-10 days there will be new merchandise on the website that you guys can choose from. There'll be a sweatshirt hoodie, t-shirt, hat, and all of the other assorted merch items that include 3 other shirts in different styles. So keep checking beatmart.com to get your exclusive Beatmart gear! Also, if you haven't signed up for the street teams, phone text messages for updates, or the message board, you can also do that at beatmart.com. So go check out the site and surf around and stay a while. I don't think you'll be disappointed. As for the picture; it's Dkun Frost and his son after a performance at the Underground 101. I posted Dkun up here because there's some big things about to pop off for him, so stay tuned here and you'll be the first to know. B's up!

Back at home . . . finally! It was a long but productive week in Portland, OR. Apologies go out to Soul Plasma. I was going to hook up with Soul, but the schedule in the studio didn't end up working out. Sorry about that Soul! The hymns record is now finished and ready to go to mix and mastering. Mix starts later this week as I get tracks ready to go for he Fresh Digress record and I also have to finish 3-4 more tracks for the much anticipated Japhia Life record that will FINALLY be coming out on Beatmart. Go to Beatmart.com! The new site is up and running quite nicely. There's still some tweaks left to fix, but over all, it's going rather smoothly. If you haven't been to the site, go and check it out and stay a while. We feel confident that you'll really dig it. Let us know what you think. PLUS, send in your pictures to wrgopodcast@gmail.com and you could possibily get yours posted. . . yours are coming Dkun! The picture is of a rare pare of limited edition Nike Dunk SB's that I brought back from my trip to P-town. Props go to my main man Big E for the love! Check out the pink limited edition box. Y'all don't know nothin' bout that! B's up!

Aiight y'all, beatmart.com is about to launch in the next 24-48 hours. I urge all of you to go and re-sign up on the message board, street teams, etc. We need your help to deliver traffic and keep things flowing. It's going to be bigger and better so let us know what you think. For those of you helping out with being a moderator, you should have received an e-mail from Troy Collins regarding info and responsibilities. This next year is going to be a big year, so get ready for the ride. It'll be stressful but I'm in it for the long haul and I'm keeping focused on the "pot of gold" at the end of the rainbow. Myself and Big E are still working on the hymns record and things are going well. The record is sounding extremely good! I'll keep you posted as to the completion of it and how & where you can hear it. The picture is of me on the phone (doing what I do well) while still working. B's up!

Right now at this time, I'm sitting in the back of LabWest on this LONG comfortable couch sitting and thinking about what I'm going to bring you guys. Big E is in the captain's chair tweaking an arrangement of Amazing Grace on the piano. He's in his element right now, loving life! He's constantly turning looking for approval as if he's not sure of his abilities. The thing is, he's more than qualified and certainly doesn't need me to tell him what to play. For those of you who like chill-out type of music that's a laid back type of trip-hop, this would be a record you would enjoy. It's relaxing "headphone" music of songs that most of grew up on. . . church hymns. Trust me, it's unlike any way that you've heard hymns interpreted before. Things are going quite well in the P-town up in the northwest. Hope all is well and everyone had a great Memorial Day. The picture is of my man Big E at the keyboard doing his thing. B's up!

New Beatmart Recordings artist Pee Wee Callins participated in The Third Annual Youth Life Learning Center Golf Classic at the the Springhouse Golf Club in Nashville, Tenn. on May 13. Callins served as a celebrity golfer and later performed "Keep Hope Alive" - a song from his debut solo album, Street Soul, which released April 19 - at the dinner/awards ceremony that evening. The golf classic raised $92,000 for The Youth Life Learning Center, an after school program for children in the inner-city whose mission is to create a door of opportunity for children living in insecure environments, founded by retired Washington Redskins cornerback Darrell Green. The proceeds will aid in opening additional centers throughout the Nashville area. YLLC presently has two locations operating in East and West Nashville. On antoher note, thanks for the feedback from the last podcast. Keep it coming. Particularly about the Beat Summit. B's up!

Today was a monumental day in Beatmart's short history. Today, thanks to our marketing guru Adrian Santos, we secured the Beatmart stage on the Shout Fest Tour starting in late August. We will have all of our entire roster on this tour. That includes Bobby, Pee Wee, DJ Morph, Fresh Digress, AND possibily Rob Hodge. Look for the tour coming to a city near you. We've also got some big tour plans in the works starting this September as well. Be on the lookout for that announcement here and on Beatmart.com. On that note, I just got finished looking at the beta version of the new website and it's coming along quite nicely. I hope you guys enjoy it and let me know what you think. The picture is of DJ Morphiziz doing his live set out on tour.

Sorry for not getting antoher audio podcast up. I've been swamped with meetings today, and I've got another one still to go. I'm finalizing the new merchandise look and feel at a late meeting this afternoon. I'll let you guys check it out when we have the actual layout look. The new merch will be on the new website. Hopefully, it will be up when the website launches on June 1st. That's the target date so be in prayer that everything goes smoothly and stays to date. As for the picture today; that was a "mandated" request by one of our secret society members. It was a picture taken at an NBA game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Portland Trailblazers. It's a little better than the one from yesterday where me and Joey look like freakin' pie-faces! B's up!

First of all, I'm just going to tell you up front that I'm putting myself AND one of my best friends Joey Elwood out there for you guys to take shots at. So with that said, you guys can't say anything that already hasn't been laughed about concerning this picture. This picture was taken in 1995 at our old studio when we were working on the Erace Project. Oh, those were the days! I can honestly say that Joey has gotten uglier and I've gotten MUCH prettier! I think the secret society would agree. :-) With that said, let the jokes begin! B's up!

In addition to continuously working on getting stuff together for this hymns record and trudging along with Fresh Digress, it looks as though I may be doing some cuts on the new George Huff record. He's the tall happy black guy singer on last years American Idol. He's doing a record on Word Records and they've contacted me about doing some songs for that record. . . we'll see how it goes. He's already got Rodney Jerkins on the record, so it's already got quite a line-up. I'm writing for it now, so hopefully we'll get the legistics worked out. Also, I had a lunch meeting with one of my best buddies of almost 15 years. His name is Mike McGlaflin. I've known Mike since my days when I was an artist on Atlantic Records when we both lived up in New York City. Once me, Joey, & Toby started Gotee, we hired Mike away from working at MTV to come to work for us at Gotee. He did and is now head of publishing for Gotee Music. He's a great guy and a great friend and has been around and in the music industry for many many years. Here's a picture of him today when we were at lunch. B's up!

Hope everyone's having a great weekend. God bless you guys and a special shout out to the secret society. Keep your head up. We're going to square this thing away. The picture is of my boys from the northwest, the Destiny Lab Crew. Thanks for sending in the picture guys. Nice pose. B's up!

Alright y'all. Just wanted to drop you guys a line to say have a great weekend and thanks for all you guys' prayers of late. I had a meeting with Troy today at lunch time and I explained to him the scenario. He seemed to be as touched about the situation as I have been. I'll get another podcast up sometime early next week, but in the meantime I'll continue to update this weekend and keep posting up different pictures. Keep sending them in. I'm getting 'em and I'm going to exploit them! :-) This picture is close to my heart. It's a shot of LabWest out in Portland, OR. Eric and I basically designed it to be a replica if LabEast. Thus the name. B's up!

First off, let me start by saying a very heartfelt thank you for all the comments and prayers that you guys have been sending in. I'm hugely humbled and it never ceases to amaze me at how, and through whom, God speaks. Thank you so much for you guys' support out there. And a special thanks goes personally to Same Old Jake. You know what I'm talking about so thank you tons! Now, with that out of the way, we had our sales conference presentation where we presented the BOS vol. 2 to the national retailers. Troy made the presentation in a radio program format. Kind of like the old days where you could stand and watch the dee jays while they were on the air. It was done extremely well and with a ton of class (just like Troy always does it). The record was well received by the retailers and they seemed to really enjoy the song clips of the songs that were played. Now hopefully, the record will sell through and it will be well received by YOU the consumer. You guys help us out and tell your friends to go to the stores on June 14th and support the "B!" We need as much help as we can get to keep this ship afloat! You guys are the warriors in the trenches and I certainly recognize and acknowledge that . . . so thank you! Thanks goes to M-Lotto for sending in his picture! He certainly doesn't look like I had made him out to be in my mind. He's much better looking in the picture! I had made him out to be this Frankenstien on crack with a peg leg type look! :-) B's up!

Okay I have to admit, I was going to do a podcast today because the questions, both text and audio, are really mounting up. However, the truth is I just didn't feel up to it. Things are a bit weird around here right now in the Beatmart world. I can't really explain why; it just is. I feel like Satan is trying to move in and take over. On a serious note, I covet you guys' prayers for the leadership of Beatmart, it's stability, and its future. The side note is, I'll have another podcast up maybe tomorrow or thursday, so be on the lookout. Today was a relatively bland workday. The major event of the day was a lunch meeting and I had to get instrumentals together of Pee Wee's and Bobby's record for television and film. We've had some requests so when that industry calls, you come running! I figured I had to post a picture, so I just threw up this one. I'm not that narcissustic, so forgive me. B's up!

It's Monday night and today was the first day back to work and getting back into the "swing" of things. I talked to KJ today and learned that he has just started his own podcast from the road. He usually keeps it very short, between 8-12 minutes long. It's cool and informative. I listened to them all today. You guys should include his show in your subscription. I think you'll really dig it. If you'd like to check it out, go to: http://kj52.libsyn.com or subscribe to the RSS at http://kj52.libsyn.com/rss. A special shout out goes to Rico from Fresh Digress. I've been told that he's addicted to the podcast, so I want to say hi and thanks for listening. Which reminds me, look out for the FD record, it's going to be different and HOT! We get started on that record in early June, so be praying that it goes smoothly. The picture is another shot, by request, of my studio LabEast. Holler!

It's Sunday and I'm back home recouperating from traveling back home . . . seems kinda pointless, right? Anyway, the trip was phenomenal and I can't wait to get back out there. Now, I just have to find a reason. Maybe it'll be the Jordan camp in august. At any rate, I'm back to the grind again. I've got to finish up a record in which I have to fly out to Portland, OR sometime around the end of the month, then I start on the Fresh Digress record. That one should be a pretty interesting and fun one. Those guys are clowns in the worst way. They remind me a bit of John Reuben only with good songs (mental note: Talk to John about not being so "artistic." He would sell more records!) FD's record will be great, trust me! I'm not quite sure about when the release will be because we haven't put it in the schedule yet, but I'll keep you guys updated with that info plus clips, pictures, and such. Look out for another "regular" podcast sometime this week where I answer questions and play some music and all. Lastly, thought you guys might like to see the picture of the Paris Hotel Eifel Tower where we stayed. We went to the top of that thing. It's bananas! I'll holler.

Thanks for all the questions and comments from the last podcast about Big E. He's going to love the comments when he gets a chance to see them. Last night we had a great dinner at a "high priced" Italian resturant called Al Dente' located between the Paris and Bally's hotels. We ate dinner with 2 hall of fame coaches, Billy Tubbs (formerly from University of Oklahoma) and coach Jim Boeheim from Syracuse University, and then the young and great head coach from Gonzaga University named Mark Few. They're all amazing guys, but I really hit it off with Mark. He's the son of a minister and is obviously heavily entrenched in basketball, which made us have a lot in common. He's also close in age to me and Big E, so we really hit it off. Attached is a picture of myself and Big E after our dinner. Again, thanks for the audio questions and comments . . . especially you Mr. Ky-ill. You're crazy!

It's tuesday night at around 7:00 pm and I'm currently at the public library waiting for my twins to get done with swim practice. This is where I usually go on tuesday or thursday when I take them to late practice. It's nice because I can work on my laptop and collect my thoughts in silence. Plus the best part is, there's no industry people or "artist types" that ever frequent the library. THAT's why I go! Anyway, I'm currently preparing to leave for a short vacation in which I desperately need to just get away from the "work rut." It'll be fun and relaxing for sure. I hope to bring you guys a special treat podcast from my vacation spot. If I can pull it off, it should be pretty fun. My day was filled with meetings and such. One of which I helped design some new Beatmart merchandise that includes; two shirts, a hat, and a sweatshirt. Be looking for those to be available at festivals and on-line. I also spoke to a "secret society" member today, and he gave me some info that was extremely useful, and even more, meant a lot to me. Thank you so much for that. You guys will benefit from this info in the near future. That's all for now. The picture is of one of my "axes" in the studio. B's up!

Today is Sunday and I'm just relaxing at home pretty much doing nothing. In actuality, I'm pretty bored which is something that I've needed for a while. So since nothing is on t.v., I decided to update the blog page. I'm actually sitting here listening to the Adam Curry podcast called "The Daily Source Code." It happens to be one of my favorites along with the "MacCast." Anyway as you can see, it's a "do nothing day." On a different note, the "secret society" needs to look for something in your mailbox this week. This is a small something from me because of what you mean to me. Hope you like it. Lastly, highly looking forward to my "mini-vacation" coming next week. I'll try and get you guys a podcast sometime next week while I'm gone . . . we'll see. The picture is of a shot of my studio in which you can see three of my six (yes 6!) computers. Talk to you guys next week. B's up!

Yes, it's true! I'm done with the mixtape and I've gotta say that it's much better than the last one. And for you grumbling fans that didn't like all the "hollerin'" over the tracks, we took care of that as well. DJ Morphiziz did an outstanding job on the record and went above and beyond the call of duty to get it finished on time. In essence, he and I both stayed up for 36 hours straight without sleep until it got finished. It is now mixed, mastered, and assembled and ready for manufacturing. Praise God! My deepest apologies go out to Rocklyn, C-Luk, K-Drama, & M-Lotto. I want to publicly apologize for the mistake I made on your part. You guys know what I'm talking about, and I'm personally going to take care of you and you will also be guaranteed a spot on next years record. Lastly to those that are in the "secret society," thanks for being my eyes, ears, & mostly my heart out there. You can be expecting a special cd (in your mailbox) of cuts that are close to my heart that I've never released, and don't ever intend to. And for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, if you have to ask - you're not supposed to know. :-) B's up!

As I sit here tired as heck at 11:00 am on tuesday, I'm checking the last of the mixes for the mixtape. I'm consciously wondering if I'm so beat that I'm not hearing things properly. But then again, I always wonder if my ears decieve me. At any rate, forgive me for not updating the page or a podcast lately. I promise, after thursday, I'll be more prompt at keeping things updated. Look for a new podcast after thursday. Then next week (a week from tomorrow), I go out of town for a short vacation. I may even do a podcast on location. Trust me, it'll be a cool spot. Plus on top of that, I'll be with my best friend Big E so you know it'll be relaxing, fun, and probably filled with some Nike swag (y'all don't hate, just keep your sneakers clean). Keep hittin' me with questions. I love it! Special thanks goes out to the dedicated listeners who are always looking for a new episode. You guys are the ones that keep this thing going. The picture is of myself and Big E after a show backstage at Spirit West Coast. They call him Big E because he's pushing 6'7". He's a big boy!

Okay, as per you guys' request, here's a list of the artist lineup and song titles of the mixtape. Something Wonderful ft. Shabach & Pee Wee Callins- Brr! It’s Cold ft. Fresh Digress- Hands Up ft. Big Sonny & Riff-Raff- Hungry ft. Bobby Bishop- He’s Gonna Work It Out ft. 1Way- Stick Up ft. Same Old Jake- Get With That ft. Antioch Alumni- Help Me ft. Kaboose , Motion Plus, & Juma- Shake It Up ft. Bobby Bishop, M-Lotto, C-Luk, Rocklyn, K-Drama- Who Keeps It ft. Urban D. & Saint Man- 5 Fingers ft. Soul Plasma- Ain’t Nothin’ Like ft. J. Silas- Come On ft. Redeemed Thought & Eddie Nigma- Do It Like This ft. Infinity- Get Up, Get Down ft. Frontlynaz- God Body Music ft. Rob Hodge- I Don’t Care ft. CZ- Light ft. Dkun Frost- Love Jones ft. Shun Di- Volumen ft. Ill Day, Bobby Bishop, Meccanism, & Guilloman- So Amazing ft. R. Swift- Zion ft. Zion- Mindset ft. Mouthpiece

As you can tell by the title of this blog, it's saturday around lunch time. I'm extremely tired and can't seem to get enough sleep due to staying up late and waking up early. The responsibilities of this mixtape, at times, are daunting. I'm not only having to oversee production and mix, but I'm having to do all of the administration stuff as well. Things like all of the publishing info, album credits, whitesheets for distribution so that mechanicals can be properly dispursed, etc. Anyway, in the end it's going to be hot and all worth it. Hopefully, you guys will enjoy it. On a different note, thanks for all of the questions and songs that you guys are sending in. I love the audio questions! Keep those coming! Alright y'all, I think I'm going to go lay down and watch the NFL draft. The picture is of J.J. Redick nailing a jumper in the ACC tournament. Our seats were directly behind Coach K thanks to him, Big E, and Nike!

Well, it's now 12:28am on thursday morning & it seems I'm nowhere close to being able to go to bed. I'm in administration "hell" with putting the bow on the Best of the Submissions Volume II. Almost all of the vocals are in and accounted for and the songs are put together and ready for mix and for what Morph is going to do to them. I can say this; this mixtape will be much better than the last one by virtue of the songs alone. The songs on this record far exceed the last one, so I hope you guys enjoy it. Let me know either way. Forgive my tardiness on bringing another podcast. I was going to do one tonight, but I've just been too bogged down. I'm going to try and get one tomorrow (which is actually today) so be on the lookout. The response has been amazing! It's far exceeded my early expectations, and thanks for the audio questions. I've gotten quite a few and am going to do my best to answer all of them. Keep 'em coming. It really helps me to know what you guys are thinking, so I hope in some way it helps you too. The above picture is of my MPC60 and SP1200. I figured I'd post up a picture to let you guys see, since I've been working on them for some of the songs on the upcoming mixtape. Look for a new cast soon. B's up!

Today was tuesday which, in the music biz, means a release day. Today's release was a big one for us at Beatmart. Pee Wee Callins' record released today, and already there are some major chains in Florida that have sold out (i.e. Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.). Needless to say, it's been a busy two days. I'm in diligent scramble mode to get the submissions record done. That's what I worked on all day, other than have a lunch meeting about something that could be huge a year from this coming July. You guys be on the lookout. We're thinking about starting an annual Hip Hop/Urban music summit conference in Miami, Florida. How many of you guys would/could be able to pay the fee and come down? We're trying to figure out on paper how much it would take financially and what the interest would be. Trust me, we've got some amazingly cool things in the works for this 4 day event. Let me know your thoughts. Lastly, I talked to a guy tonight that I'm thinking about signing. Can't really say his name yet, but he's based out of the Seattle/Portland area . . . just to give you a hint. Keep the questions comin'! wrgopodcast@gmail.com. The picture is a taste of some of the MANY sneakers that I've managed to collect. Enjoy!

It's friday . . . finally! Woke up this morning at 7:30 am and took Pee Wee to the airport. He had to get back to Florida to prepare for his record release party on Saturday night. Pee Wee had a great week of networking, performing, and interviewing with radio, retail, & other media outlets. Anyway, he got off safely and I went back home for a while to rest, then got to work in the studio on a song for the submissions record. It was a song done by the Ziklag boys out of Atlanta. It's going to be a good song, but they sent me files that were all over the place so I had to convert the files into something I can work with. When it's all said and done, it'll be hot. Overall, a quite relaxing type day . . . which is something I desperately needed. The picture is of me talking to Plastic of Sphere of Hip Hop.com. It was taken by DJ Allstar. Nice guys. Look for a new podcast sometime this weekend. I'm itching to do another one.

It's thursday morning around 11:00 am and finally, all the festivities are over! The Dove awards are over and so are the various after parties. To say the least, your boy is tired! Especially since I had to wake up at 7:30 am to be at my youngest daughter's school play. It was tough because me & Pee Wee Callins got in last night around 3:00 am. Whew! It was a whirlwind. I'm getting too old for this "young man's" game! :-) Congrats to Toby Mac and Grits for winning the Dove in their respective category. Those are my boys. Today is a rather light day. I'm in the studio with Pee Wee doing some vocals for the Submissions record and vocals for the website and radio. It'll be rather laid back, which is what we both need. Shout out to my man KJ, Flynn, Lil I Rocc, John Wells (from Cross Movement), and DJ Official. It was cool getting to hang out with you guys for a bit. Y'all holler at me when you can. WELLS!, I still want to hook up with y'all and do a cut on your next joint! The pic is of my man Bobby B. and Flynn at the Global Cafe' on Broadway in Nashville. Look for a new WRGO podcast tomorrow. B's up!

Today was the last day of the "shake and grin" aspect of GMA. The last thing left are the Dove awards themselves. That's tonight and, even though I'm up for 5 awards, I'm not going. This will be the 4th straight year of me not being there. The overall week was really good though. I met a lot of great artists and emcees for the first time. Got to hang out with good friends (Toby, Lisa Kimmey, Bobby Bishop, Flynn Atkins, Big E, Mike McGlaflin, and more) and fellowship. It was cool. The artist highlights were meeting Coco Jones, Shabach, K-Drama, talked to Viktory, and countless others! It was great spending quality time with Pee Wee and Bobby and the Beatmart staff. Overall, good week. Hit me at wrgopodcast@gmail.com if you have any questions about what went down this week. The picture is of Toby and his bass player at the Tobymac show. It was hot!

Yesterday was crazy! We had a GMA luncheon for the Beatmart family, publicity, marketing, artists, lawyers, etc. It turned out 30 plus people, and what a humbling experience. It's amazing to see all those people that contribute to the advancement of Beatmart all in one room. It was unbelievable! Then I went down to the "Pass the Mic" showcase where Pee Wee and Bobby performed. They performed great and it was good to see all of the indie emcees out there. I talked to K-Drama, Urban D, Nickels, Cash Hollista, DJ Form, Othello, and MANY more. Pee Wee even called up my 12 year old twin girls to sing with him on "Sunshine," the song they sang with him on his record. The picture I posted with this blog is of Bobby and Ill Day performing. Sorry for the quality. It's from my phone. Lastly, we (me, Big E, my twins, Bobby, Ill Day, DJ Morph, & KJ) all went over to the Hilton where KJ52 performed. The night got over around 1:00 am. It was a long day!

Today was a "business" day. Not very productive in the way of creativity. Had some meetings in the morning then met with my man, Michael Ripoll. He's the cat that plays and writes on many songs with me. He's an extremely talented dude. I turned him on to podcasting and he really took to it. . . we'll see. Still gathering material and questions for the next podcast. Send questions, comments, and mp3's to: wrgopodcast@gmail.com

I'm continually working on getting to the end of the making of the Best of the Submissions mixtape. Worked on a song that featured Kaboose & Motion Plus and another song that featured Urban D. It's slowly but surely coming together nicely. I had a meeting with my friend PJ Heimermann, a publishing administrator. It looks as though he's going to take over my whole personal song catalog and administrate it. It's gotten way too out of hand for me to take care of. I've got too many songs in the system. It's time to hand over Jones Fercury Music and get some help in admin. Send me your questions or feedback in text or mp3 form to: wrgopodcast@gmail.com