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Short Notes: Fire and Rain

by Jose on July 12, 2009 · 3 comments

in life

Orange NYC Sky, June 26th, 2009

Orange NYC Sky, June 26th, 2009

A few notes:

  • This weather’s been so absurd lately, hasn’t it? I’ve bought more umbrellas in the past month than I’ve had to my entire life. It’s a rather heated meeting between fire and rain …
  • Speaking of which, I know everyone wants to know what I’ve been listening to non-stop for the last couple of months. Without further adieu:
    • Babyface’s “Playlist,” which includes “Fire and Rain,” “Time In A Bottle,” and “Shower The People.” (Didn’t know I was into folk, right?)
    • Jaydiohead and OJayZis. They’re exactly what they sound like (Jay-Z + Radiohead and Jay-Z + Oasis, respectively. Plus, they’re free.)
    • U2, “Even Better Than The Real Thing”
    • The Jacksons, “Destiny”
    • The Beatles, “For No One”
    • Oasis, “Champagne Supernova”
  • Last week was the first week I went over 700 views of this blog. Thanks to all of you who left insightful and profound comments in the last few posts. Sometimes I lose confidence in the depth and breadth that people can express themselves on the web, as too many of us leave a selected few to express our thoughts and actions for us, but then I get comments like I got last week, and I’m re-inspired.
  • One last thought: the mere fact that I thought about something makes it a possibility, no matter how small. I mean it.

Jose, who chooses to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard …

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Who’s Gonna Cover Your Vibes, XXLs, and Sources?

by Jose on July 6, 2009 · 4 comments

in life

Jay-Z Vibe Cover

Jay-Z Vibe Cover

Recently, Vibe Magazine closed its doors, at least in print form. For those who never ventured into black publication, Vibe Magazine was a Black-based magazine started by Quincy Jones last decade. The ostensible vision of the pub was to highlight Black culture, but with a bit of a White lens. It mainly featured R&B and hip-hop acts while also dipping into some rock and dance artists from time to time. While the racial aspect of the magazine’s foreclosure has been done almost to death in blogs and other chat venues, I consider this turn of events truly irking.

Here’s why: growing up (and growing up literate), hip-hop and R&B magazines kept me abreast of all that happened in the hip-hop community in ways I wasn’t really allowed to explore in my youth. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to go to my favorite artists’ concerts because I couldn’t really afford to. I was also very limited in my exposure to rappers until high school when I found out the Roc-A-Fella Records offices  (the former home to artists like Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel, and Memphis Bleek) were a block away from my high school. I still have high stacks of magazines from the Source, Blaze, Vibe, and XXL that I’ve kept over the years.

Comparable to the way we used to be fascinated by time capsules, these publications represented everything that was hot and cold during my lifetime. While not everything resonated with me (Cash Money articles, here’s looking at you), I found myself taking whole days out just reading the latest cover with DMX or Eminem on the cover, and wanted to collect every cover Jay-Z or Roc-a-Fella ever appeared on. And forget about Biggie and 2Pac covers; they never got old to me. Every little detail was important to me, from the producers and managers to how one rapper’s style differed from the other and the creation of that rappers’ music.

Those publications brought a certain amount of access to the artists I obviously couldn’t get anywhere else. Plus, the writers who’d bring those stories didn’t have their names all over the piece, but brought a certain style, grit, and fluidity to their pieces that parachuted us into their subject matter that made me want to become a writer secretly. And I guess without these publications, we don’t get the opportunity to see that type of writing in full bloom. In the digital world, people often say that sohh.com and sandrarose.com will replace the need for the aforementioned publications, and in a way, I see that as a valid point. On the other hand, though, I have yet to see the caliber of writing like we’ll see in those publications. Many of the bits we see look more like AP pieces or, in other cases, just crap.

And that leads me to the present situation. Where do all the writers that have followed the Raquel Cepedas, Toures, and Dream Hamptons of the world go? The ones who want to be the Edward Murrow, William Lloyd Garrison, or Bob Woodwards of their time? It’s a really shaky time for those who want to take that profession as their full-time position, and make those of us with day jobs, like me, wonder what becomes of those in the writing profession. Where do the future stories about our favorite mainstream and underground artists come from? Where do the good, in-depth stories come from?

No way am I saying it’s Armaggedon for the business of journalism / investigative writing is dead. There must be change for people to keep up with the new demands on information. Yet, I strongly feel that the pickings will be much slimmer, and the panorama of memories and experiences with the writing may become more limited. And a small part of me feels like we’ll have to settle for the obscure quip. That is, if the newer blood doesn’t get a chance to start. For urban youth, Vibe was a good place to start, much like Spin, The Daily News, or Ebony would be a good place to start for burgeoning writers in that niche.

What do you guys think?

Jose, who wants to re-read his old magazines now …

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Oops, He’s Sorry, He Lied: He’s Number 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5

by Jose on July 3, 2009 · 7 comments

in life

Michael Jackson RIP by RJ Matson

Michael Jackson RIP by RJ Matson

Someone asked me recently if I talked to my kids about Michael Jackson and the impact he had on me and people of my generation. I told the person, “No, we had things to do. I hadn’t seen them very much over the last week, so I just wanted that time to let them know we’re cool.” While hanging out with them, I realized that they really did grow up with a love for MJ in a strange way, especially since so much of their current music is influenced by Michael. People who’ve ever listened through an entire album of bachata will notice that someone’ll play a quick MJ riff just to establish their American cultural relevance. Every so often, a pop diva will take a revamped break beat from a dope MJ song and make it even doper … but make us miss MJ that much more. Yet, there’s still this lingering feeling from them that, because he was an accused child molester or because he was accused of not being Black enough in the annals of the Grand Annals of the Ubiquitous Black Tribunal, kids shouldn’t have any reverence for him whatsoever.

To accentuate that point, someone on Twitter said (to paraphrase), “A real n***a doesn’t have MJ as their profile pic or background.” Again, I’m not posting this random Twitterer as the Great Leader or even a Representative in this fake court, but I guess if MJ is not really Black, we should truly question what Blackness means. Is it definable by some tenets that no one really has a true grasp on? Let’s think about that together, huh?

1) Is the music Black enough? Well, MJ  has done a lot of work with different rappers, underground and mainstream. Plus, as far as R&B, he innovated and renovated at will with just the sound of his falsetto. The rest of these real n****s have a few good punchlines, and maybe a video, but don’t go beyond that creatively. They don’t push limits; they stay well within them.

2) MJ had his gimmicks; the crotch grab, the shmon, the tight clothing, the monkey, the jheri curl … For every reinvention he had for himself, he had a gimmick or 5 for it. Yet, he also had a few things everyone bit off him, like the red jacket, the piano / Mickey Mouse shirts, the moonwalk (which he borrowed from a Vegas show, no less), and a patent for the technology that let him lean past his center of balance in the video “Smooth Criminal.” No, really. These real n****s have a list of gimmicks like using the n-word just to rhyme. Not to mention the baggy clothes, the big chain, the ice grill … wait, is any of that really innovative? Really? I guess real n****s aren’t innovative.

3) MJ gave millions to funds for humanitarian efforts in the continent of Africa and also gave money for the United Negro College Fund, and not just in the thousands, but in the millions. He’ll freely transform into a Black Panther at the end of Black or White, tell KKK members he’s not scared of them, cite “Mama se mama sah mama ku sah” when others wouldn’t dare use African references in their music, and frequently have Black women as his counterpart in romantic songs and videos. (“Liberian Girl” and “Remember The Time” come to mind immediately). Real n****s on the other hand make videos that perpetuate the light-skinned vs. dark-skinned ideals of beauty prominent in so many rap videos, that would be a book in and of itself. And real n****s donate money to political parties that directly oppose their music … just so they’ll get left alone. MJ wasn’t Black enough I guess.

4) MJ supposedly touched kids (even when there’s irrefutable evidence towards the contrary) so I guess he had to be hung for that, right? A real n***a wouldn’t need to settle out of court or deliver messages through TV interviews just to justify his own success. He would just need to make a club record that sounds exactly like the last few ones, and then ghostwrite a few more that sound just like those, and make the other people he settles his lawsuits with vow to keep their mouths shut so they can’t testify at the next one. Or even just issue a blanket apology for having underage girls on stage. It’s no dirt on their shoulder. A real n***a just does NOT care.

Much like the rest of us who’ve written about him extensively and are absolute fans of his work, I can’t make any excuses for some of his more eccentric behaviors. He didn’t live in the same world we lived in, and the more money he made, the stranger he became. Yet, when I see my kids, the same ones who rock beads and crosses, listen to the bland repetitive music real n****s make, and yet have this subtle appreciation for this legend, I know Michael Jackson’s legacy as a musician and performer wasn’t in vain.

Michael Jackson’s Blackness comes in the form of how many Blacks he’s inspired. Even the real n****s.

Jose, who laughs at cats who call him a plagiarist …

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Letter: Man In The Mirror

by Jose on June 25, 2009 · 7 comments

in life

Michael Jackson's Moonwalker

Michael Jackson's Moonwalker

Dear Michael Jackson,

First, let me say that I’m deeply saddened by your death. Your passing ranks up there in the moments where people had to remember where they were standing when they heard the news. On a day when a fellow 70’s-80’s icon in Farrah Fawcett died and so did Ed McMahon, the news of you dying seems to have washed away most news about Middle East and Asian conflict, the NBA Draft, and second-to-last day of school for NYC students. And deservedly so. You were a legend of immense proportions and even with your less favorable traits you still managed to inspire, mystify, and amaze so many of us who only wished they could maximize their potential.

You were often this caricature of yourself, and the older we got, the more your public persona became a caricature of the last image we caught from scenes all over the world. Even still, the music always kept hitting us hard. You already had #1 hits back in your childhood with your brothers as part of the Jackson 5, and as you grew older, to make up for that missing childhood, you pushed the limits of your stardom. For a good two decades or so, you captured our imagination and had the nerve to call yourself the King of Pop, busting through the doors of MTV when they wouldn’t play your videos (they apologized by stealing the whole theme of your greatest contribution to dance).

Personally, Michael, you’re easily one of the greatest musicians ever. I still remember the Moonwalker video and wishing I could lean really hard to my side in a primped white suit, blasting guns into my enemies in slo-mo, or walking through the world made of clay and manipulating my shape however I pleased just to get myself through life. Or how about the time you went into space and spent $10 million to collaborate with your sister on a song where you tell the media off once more? And remember when you scared every person aged 17 and under but had such a fly rhythm you made us all wanna wear red jackets, tight jeans, and cat eyes? Remember when you gave Blacks a social consciousness song  or two every album just to let them know you were still down, plastic surgery and all?

Isn’t that what you were all about, though? While on the one hand, your musical genius is almost universally unquestioned, the personal sacrifices you made to reach that pinnacle (some from you, some from your family) almost made it not worth it. It’s almost as if to say, “You mean, to be like this Mike, I gotta do THAT?!” While many have tried to replicate your successes, or sample from the tree you planted, they fail in ways only true fans comprehend. There’ll never be another Mike, on any end and all ends of the spectrum.

What’s most striking about you Michael, more than anything else, is the reverence people have for you as a legend and man. Your dominance was unmatched, and as the media and others in the general public made you into a leper and a circus creature all at once, you still managed to touch the hearts of so many of us who grew up idolizing you. With every child case, your fans surrendered their innermost wounds and exposed them in some sort of catharsis, forming a crowd of the judges versus the pardoners.

You indeed were the man in the mirror, making us take a hard look at ourselves, attempting to answer those questions by looking backwards and moving forwards at once …

Jose, who’s remembering the time …

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Play The Soloist

by Jose on April 27, 2009 · 2 comments

in life

<i>The Soloist</i>

The Soloist

When your voice finds you, it doesn’t matter how you express it: your signature’s all over it.

I write this because, after seeing The Soloist, a movie about a Los Angeles-based writer who finds a homeless cellist / prodigy and a must-watch for any writer I know, I’ve given tons of thought about where to take the writing “thing.” Not to spoil the movie (as it is a biopic of sorts), we have the contemplative Steve Lopez, a man committed to a beautiful but dispassionate view of the world and a raw and soulful writing style that garners him success, fans, and everything except a positive relationship. On the other hand, we have Nathaniel Ayers, who also has an excellent talent with his violin (and later on, we find out, he started with the cello).

Superficially different from the writer, but distinctly similar in that they’re both looking to get out a message carried deep within them, and trying to battle themselves just for the chance to reach that higher ground. After the movie ended, I found myself inspired and in the throws of the same feeling that seems to connect all writers / poets /  musicians / artists as a whole. We draw upon some force within us and draw out the very best of us to express some message or say something truly inspiring. We go to great lengths within our person to make some of our greatest pieces happen.

Personally, I know some of my best pieces came after 2-3-4-5 hours of reading around and looking at research, and reaching into the bottomless pit of my mind to clean thoughts out. Yeah, it got that deep at times. I look back at the revelatory nature of them, and wonder whether others can understand the madness it takes to be that kind of writer, but people’s loyalty to the work indicates a more positive reaction. If I can even elicit a fraction of the care I put into my most prized work, I’ve done my job.

And that’s where the musician and the writer really find their common ground. We can concern ourselves less with the works that garner our mainstream / commercial successes and focus on the works that influence the conversations we have, then we’re truly artists in that respect. Whereas conversation is the bridge from one to one or even one to some, art is the bridge between the one and the many.

Whether you’re writing or you’re playing, your voice carries.

Jose, who wonders how you express your voice …

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Now on Blogcritics.com: Got Biggie?

by Jose on March 10, 2009 · 2 comments

in life

Biggie, the King

Biggie, the King

Dead and Alive: Why Biggie Deserves to Still Be In Your Top Five
I proffer 5 reasons why Biggie should be in everyone’s top 5 greatest MCs, dead or alive.

Holla back.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Even Pac and Big Wished for Better Dayz …

by Jose on March 9, 2009 · 2 comments

in life

Biggie and 2Pac

Biggie and 2Pac

I wrote this sometime in October 2008, but for whatever reason, people who I sent this to never actually published it. Some of the stuff I wrote in the original blog I’ve edited to fit my more informed views now, but the message remains the same. Please read and discuss below. Also, for more Biggie goodness today, read here for a posthumous letter from the BIG man himself, courtesy of yours truly.

12 years ago, hip-hop and the music world in general still strongly felt the eeriness that all the tough talk on record between Notorious BIG and 2Pac came to a head so quickly, resulting in as-of-yet 2 unsolved murders and, secretly, a slew of other related deaths, firings, back-room deals, and posthumous fortunes for anyone willing to emulate their styles, even if just for the sake of commemoration. Murals, movies, album after album after album, and yet, I don’t think society’s learned from the lessons left behind by our legendary wordsmiths.

Anyone who’s ever taken a brief look at contemporary Black history knows that these schisms have existed for every generation: WEB Dubois vs. Booker T. Washington, Martin Luther King vs. Malcolm X, and 2Pac vs. Biggie. On the surface, they all had ideological differences, and often it led to their believers getting into serious scuffles. In 2Pac and Biggie’s case, it wasn’t just about who slept with whose wife or even East vs. West Coast, but whose lyrics were more relevant. 2Pac may not have had the lyrical wizardry that Biggie did, but for what he lacked in acrobatics and maleability, he more than made up for in depth and topic coverage. Every dude out now replicates Biggie’s image: new social class but still very hood.

I guess the reason I’m writing this now is that I wish we would have seen Biggie and Pac alive now. I still get chills listening to Pac in “I Ain’t Mad At You” (that third verse was definitely about BIG). I still get irked when I see people on Twitter emulating the rappers’ images, but ignoring that the conflict preceded such an ugly period of a once joyous and uplifting form of music for people of my generation. As we mourned, hip-hop somewhat returned to its roots, celebratory and happy to a fault even.

Even with all that celebration, we forgot to reflect more profoundly on the catalysts for said celebrations. We still have a few unsolved murders (Jam Master Jay comes to mind immediately), and an accompanying No-Snitch movement, even where we keep mum about our hood heroes’ murders. We’re willing to “rep” them on record but won’t say a thing even anonymously. Conspiracy theories (and theorists, including myself) abound. 13 year olders refer to people who disapprove of their (often misguided actions) as haters. Everyone remembers riding or dying but can’t remember that the rapper who called for changes during those desperate times in the 90s. Everyone can site the greatest of a Brooklyn king’s party lyrics but only vaguely remember his suicidal tendencies and the pathos that drove him to success.

I’m not one to put words in any of these legends’ mouths (though I’m known to have the spirit move me), but would we really see them beefing still? Many indications show that they certainly had a rift in real life, but no one wanted to see anyone really die. Christopher Wallace and Tupac Amaru Shakur were young men just navigating their way through a tumultous (and often instigating) music industry with enough people in their ear telling them all sorts of nonsense about who they should go hurt to get their respects up.

And I sit here, 12 years after Biggie’s death, knowing that these two men by now may have reached their true potential, not just as rappers but as human beings. They had to have wished for better dayz …

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The JLV’s Top 5 Greatest vs. Top 5 Favorite MCs of All Time

by Jose on January 22, 2009 · 17 comments

in life

Hip-Hop MC

Hip-Hop MC

On Facebook, I came across a slight problem that most hip-hop heads come across whenever a major hip-hop event happens (i.e. the release of Notorious, the movie): how do we qualify our short-list of greatest MCs and favorite MCs? I put up my thoughts to the masses and got a good 30+ responses, ranging from super-duper-stars to underground All-Stars. I tried my best to hold my lip about the topic because it’s rather controversial, but unlike the 90s when things got hostile, it’s now become a rather fun conversation where we all get to share our favorite moments in hip hop.

“Yo, son, you remember when Illmatic dropped?”

“I still can’t decide between the Wop and the Smurf!”

or how about,

“There’s no doubt Hip-Hop as we know it was born in the South-South BRONX!”

But by and large, this is the best conversation anyone can ever bring up. It’s usually the rambling you hear before or during a cipher, or the conversations we hear at roundtables somewhere in corporate offices with magazine editors. With that said, I naturally have to contribute my own lists. You’re all gonna look at me crazy, but I don’t care much.

Criteria: Much like Blaze’s ill-fated top 50 MCs of all time, I use the thought that “Greatest” MC includes cultural impact, lyricism, records (critical and popular success), and influence. Now that we have that rubric down, check my steez:

rakim2

Rakim

Top 5 Greatest:

1. Rakim
2. 2Pac
3. Jay-Z
4. Biggie
5. KRS-One

1) That was a tough pill to swallow. #1 will always be #1 to me, strictly because of his ability to take rap lyricism light years above where it was. It was no longer simple a-b-a-b: with Rakim on the mic, the rhyme could have been placed anywhere in the lyric, and yet, it was always perfectly placed. He had commercial success, had songs for the party and for the purist, ate every MC he came across with one line, and he paved the way for at least a third of the MCs out there. And even when he could really lyrically embarrass his contemporaries, he never overdid it, and that’s where his magic lies.

2) 2Pac gets HUGE points now for still being alive even when he’s no longer alive. When you rank on lists that include John Lennon and Elvis Presley, you deserve it. Lyrically, he was alright, but what he actually said and how he was one of the most sincere rappers, if not the most sincere, clearly put him above and beyond.

3) Jay-Z’s been the most consistent rapper of the last decade, and his longevity surpasses LL’s because LL hasn’t been relevant since 2003 … maybe. Despite a large portion of his lyrics being borrowed from other sources (and I use the word nicely), we also know that, without them, as he so thoroughly explains in “What More Can I Say?”, he’d still be better than 1/2 of the MCs out there. Plus, he didn’t get with the trends: he stayed one step in front of them and made them every step of the way. Oh yeah, and there’s also the fact that his christening of the South with his “Ha (remix)” with Juvenile and “Big Pimpin’” with UGK turned a lot of the East’s eyes towards our Southern brethren.

4) Biggie may have ranked higher when he was alive, but unfortunately, his untimely passing cut off his potential that much more. I don’t rank on potential; I rank on action, and Biggie doesn’t pass that litmus test. He may still have a huge following all across the nation, but like I said, he doesn’t have enough material for him to go any higher, no matter how much emotion we want to go with.

5) KRS-One, while not my in my favorite list, had a tremendous impact on Hip-Hop. He was its evangelist, and also its symbol: bombastic, witty, contradictory, rugged, snarky, awesome, and super-lyrical. Woo!

But then there’s this funny little list for my Favorite, and while 4 out of 5 of these men on this list occupy my Favorites list (sorry, KRS), I also have a couple more that I have some emotional / hip-hop attachment towards:

A Reasonable Favorites List

Ghostface Killah, On Stage

Ghostface Killah, On Stage

1. Talib Kweli
2. Ghostface Killah
3. Eminem
4. Kanye West
5. Common

honorable mentions:

6. Redman, 7. Joe Budden, 8. Andre 3000

I know that list sounds like a Who’s Who of “underground to mainstream love”, but honestly, these are my favorites. I lean heavily on these gentlemen for most of my rap music. I have Kanye’s, Eminem’s and Talib’s whole discographies at this point, and am working towards the other gentlemen’s discographies, too. I’ll have to get into each and all of these men at some point, but suffice it to say that when we talk about the greatest, I don’t think any of these men crack the top 10. Honestly. At least not yet.

Jose, who wonders how many haters I’ll have to add to my list after this barnburner …

p.s. – My favorite femcee is Lauryn Hill. Yep. That felt good to say. Favorite group? A Tribe Called Quest.

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Short Notes: Vale La Pena (It’s Worth The Sorrow)

by Jose on July 20, 2008 · 3 comments

in life

Juan Luis Guerra

1. I just love writing. I really do. No, no long reflections or juxtapositions. Just needed to get that out there. Lately, I’ve thought about what how happy writing makes me, even when my own writing here has become a subject of contention in different areas. My musings about life, love, and the pursuit of peace keep me more focused than ever on all the projects I’ve undertaken. I often wonder whether my various forms of expression is a source of conflict for some because of what I’m saying or because of how I present it.

I got to thinking about that because of this last post by Clay Burell that resonated with me a bit. Yes, it’s about the edublogosphere and how people care too much about stats and rankings, but it can be applied across the board. At some point after looking through my Google Reader, I thought about setting priorities and making sure this writing stayed in the column of “Things I Love To Do” rather than “Things That Keep Me Visible.” Yes, it serves both purposes; as an artist, I have to keep myself visible and a viable candidate for all sorts of projects, and much of my writing is dedicated to some sort of advocacy, and I recognize that. But it’s also my love, and when I lose the latter, I’d rather not have it for either.

2. I saw Juan Luis Guerra y La 440 on Friday (for those not familiar with this world-famous artist, get schooled here). For any Dominican-American, his concerts are only eclipsed in scale by a visit from the Pope, I kid you not. His merengue / bachata music resonates with so many people from across Latin America, and here in the States. When I heard the concert was at Madison Square Garden, I nearly flipped in my chair, immediately broke out the credit card, and bought 4 tickets at 100$ a pop.

At first, my thought was, “Do I really have the money for this typa thing? Am I not already going to the Chuck Mangione concert on Thursday? Didn’t I just get back from Dominican Republic? Don’t I have bills like no other?”

That lasted maybe 30 seconds. Then reason took over.

And rather than tell you right now why Juan Luis Guerra is so important to me, I’ve decided to dedicate a week’s worth of posts to him, because one post is just not enough. While I could be more concerned about who’s dating who and developments that may not resonate into the next year, I’ve decided to take an alternate route and educate you on one of the most important artists (and maybe even men) in Latin American history.

jose, who’s blasting Juan Luis Guerra songs all week …

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Feels So Good

by Jose on July 17, 2008 · 5 comments

in life

Jose Vilson with Chuck Mangione

Humble.

That’s the one word I would use for 2-time Grammy winning jazz artist, Chuck Mangione. He’s made the theme song for millions (no, really, he was commissioned to make the 1980 Winter Olympics song, “Give It All You Got,” instant classic), and has made (I’m guessing here) tons of money in the process. When he first came into the jazz club, he had a host escort him and his wife to their own dressing room. His dressing room had a gilded sign with his name in black and his band had a separate room from him. I was already a little nervous going in thinking I wouldn’t get to meet the man who made 2/5ths of the instrumentals I constantly have on rotation (in order: “Summer Madness” by Kool and the Gang, “Feels So Good” by him, “Give It All You Got” by him, “Victory (Instrumental)” by Puffy feat. Biggie and Busta Rhymes, and “I Can’t Help It” by Grover Washington Jr.).

Yet, after performing for almost 2 hours, his awaiting fans were led upstairs near his dressing room. The rest of the band members walked by, and we gave them props, a couple of enthusiasts asking for autographs from them. Other than that, the crowd that clogged the staircase heavily anticipated him. People from all over the world, people who brought his “Feels So Good” album cover encased in a glass frame, people who knew him from his humble beginnings in Rochester, NY and lived across the street from him, and people who always loved that “one tune” and loved the artist attached to it. This would be enough to make any artist into a diva. Not so with this man.

As soon as I shook his hand, I knew I was meeting someone who never lost his sense of self. He had a soft handshake, and he’s probably a good 5′5″ … with platform shoes. When he breaks out his instrument, he’s taller than the rest of us on stage. And what’s more, he actually wanted to sign autographs and take pictures with us. I’m sure he’s heard and seen it all when it comes to fans, but he was utterly patient, even with him being a little tired. Those of us who deem ourselves popular have a lot to learn from that example, in the blogosphere and real life as well.

jose, who will see Juan Luis Guerra and Alejandro Fernandez tomorrow at Madison Square Garden …

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