Music Is Life Podcast

     It's been one helluva week for me already, and thankfully, Crackle Kapone came through to ease things over with a brand new interview and some surprising news with his new project release coming this Friday the 13th of January, 2023!  We talked about his upcoming tour for this spring and summer and potentially his coming out to San Jose, and Los Angeles, California! I bet that's a great show to see, and I guaranteed I'd show if he comes out this way, especially since he and I have been social media friends for nearly a decade, give or take a few. 

 Today, I had a long-awaited discussion with my long-term friend and ally, Rekh Khet-Sa, who comes straight from Memphis, Tennessee! I had been hoping to finally catch up with my busy friend for a while now, and I'm glad I did! Rekh (also known by close friends and family as Eric) is a significant player in the tech business and has helped many companies move their web servers to better platforms, solved many technical dilemmas, and  has also been a thought leader when it comes to all things magical, speaking the literal form of the term, "magic." Not the pull a rabbit out of your hat type of magic but envision the 93 Current, Yemaya, Orisha, Ifa, Palo, Vodoun, and other forms of literally magical workings. I am blessed to have great allies within the metaphysical and spiritual communities, and I regard Rekh Khet-Sa as one of the most formidable ones!  

  This afternoon, he and I discussed the power of manifestation and how your thoughts can create your reality. As I stated, "If you want a better life, think better thoughts."  He relayed to me the debacle of how we must also consider the importance of vibrating at a higher frequency and letting things that are no longer relevant go. I agree wholeheartedly! 

  We discussed our beloved pet family as both of us are cat lovers. I mentioned my most prized of my family, "Baby" and "Chris," and how they both got their monikers, "Baby," who is a lovely black cat, was named after hip hop artists Da Baby and Lil Baby, and "Chris" who went on his first of probably many strolls through the neighborhood the other week and created a bit of chaos around these Clearlake, CA parts was named after no different than, Chris King of Snotty Nose Mafia and Snotty Nose Records. These two feline fellas are black male cats, my favorites in the cat kingdom! 

 I was happy to talk about ideas regarding transhumanism, Zoltan Istvan, Ray Kurzweil, futurism, and our possibilities for future timelines. He engaged with me on the thought of multiplicity and parallel universes! This was one fun conversation for me and right up my alley regarding ideas that I love to explore. I asked him where he saw himself in the year 2035, and was happy to give my vision of whereabouts come the future date of December 31st, 2035! You'll have to tune in to this epic episode to find out where! 

 Today, I had the pleasure of talking with a phenomenally professional young man, Eli Tart, and discovering some of his latest thoughts and happenings. Tart hails from the #TwoSix, Fayetteville, NC, area and started his musical career DJing. He is currently enrolled at the Los Angeles Film School in California to obtain a Bachelor's degree in Music Production. We discussed his ideas on the recent PNB Rock incident and gained great insight from listening. We also discussed the art of storytelling, which has played a significant role in rap and hip-hop music since the onset. Eli filled me in o what he's artistically pursuing within his stratosphere, or what I like to dub "cipher."  

  I see a lot forthcoming from this young man and, undoubtedly, wish him the best in his career moves. He's the interviewee I enjoy discussing on the podcast, and I think many could take a page from his playbook regarding taking your career seriously. I appreciate those who take the time to ensure that they're presenting themselves professionally, as you can see and hear his eloquent and concise statements in this interview. This podcast episode is an interview he can also add to his work portfolio. 

     Yesterday, I had the honor of catching up with a brilliant artist from Fayetteville, North Carolina, who goes by the name PHOCUS. We discussed his motivation and inspiration, and he updated us on his latest videos, the work of videographers, OSO TALENTED, and Aaron Baez of AlphaEyeFilms. I am impressed with the visuals produced by these two and went a step further in promoting the crew of artists by mentioning them on my social media platform. These guys are some of the best in the 'Ville! Fayetteville, NC that is - you know, Two Six, Fayettenam! Annntt!! 

 You'll also find their information at the end of these show notes! 

         I had an excellent, eye-opening discussion with Crackle Kapone this afternoon to talk with him about his latest single, "The Crow." Oddly enough, after our discussion, I recalled seeing a crow here in Clearlake, California, returning home from a shopping excursion. Later on, I asked Crackle Kapone what it meant. He replied, "To me, it's someone watching me." The single and the incident on seeing that blackbird reminds me of a movie that played special significance to me, "The Crow," starring the now deceased Brandon Lee. Lee will always be remembered as one of my favorite actors of all time, and oddly enough, I find some strength in the bird as if it were a personal animal totem. From my understanding, a smaller bird, the hummingbird, is my animal totem.  

   I'm excited about the new album release from Kapone. also, I surely will be posting and on the lookout for new material and more opportunities to catch up with one of my favorite local artists from my native area of North Carolina and Virginia. Crackle Kapone hails from Harnett County, North Carolina, and plans on touring some countries where his music is loved, namely, Germany, Australia, and Canada, to name a few. I can't wait to hear he's in the land down under! That will be an exciting musical period to add to the history books. Maybe he'll even throw a shrimp on the barbie for us; we can only hope! 

 When asked how Crackle sees himself in the next five years and his present and long-term goals, he explained how he has already been working on a five-year plan, I'm happy to say. From my perspective, Kapone has what it takes to make it through mainly because he has a business mindset that is long term and he maintains a somber outlook, realistic yet optimistic. He plans to continue working on more singles, expand YesSER Entertainment, keep up the good energy that's been emitting from the business for years, ensure that the artists under the entertainment group are properly promoted, and remain lucrative, with potentially becoming a multi-million dollar company by 2027. I personally wish nothing but the best for YesSER Entertainment, as I know they're a sincere, genuine, and hardworking group. Their work ethic and consistency speak for themselves loudly, if I might add. I've been impressed lately with the turnaround in new singles and albums. We'll see the new album, "The Chinese Restaurant Is Closed On Mondays," here soon! 

Let's give a round of honest applause to another successful single release and a much-deserved high five on completing the new album. I'm ecstatic and hopeful! I also promise to get some YesSER Ent. merch for myself soon. You too can grab your own on the YesSER Entertainment website: https://yesserent.net

"A true producer isn't just a beat maker; One needs to be able to create hits in all aspects of music to earn that title."

-Bo Diesel

Here's a long-overdue interview with one of my long-term supporters who has held me down since my first days of online broadcasting and WordPress blogging, Bo Diesel.  Over ten years of networking, we've seen each other go through changes and much growth,  as I've been seeing him rising from the streets of Fayetteville, North Carolina, to becoming an even more epic star in producing and engineering hip hop and rap music out of Atlanta, Georgia.  I can genuinely say that I am proud of seeing him fulfill his dreams of being one of the heavy hitters in the southern rap genre.  

 Bo Diesel and I discussed his new release, "Man Down," which will be out this Friday, April 1st, 2022. You'll be able to find his music on the usual platforms such as Spotify. Bo Diesel has been a force to reckon with when it comes to music production and has produced singles such as "Mr. WestSide" by Young Rich, "Feel Like The Man" by Young Foreign. 

Finally, I was able to chat with Delta N9ne, and he shared his thoughts with me about his music, living authentically, the sad demise of Chris Cornell, and his stint on American Idol. I expressed my hopes of helping him and others to expand their horizons through my platform and podcast here at Music Is Life and how we both can win by helping one another broaden our audiences. He uses many tools such as Abelton live 9 suite, Acoustica, Audacity, Audioscore ultimate, Cakewalk sonar x3, Circle, Dbpoweramp, Finale 2014, Fl studio 11, Magix, Native instruments, Nuendo 5, Pro tools 10, Reaper, Reason, Sony- acid, forge pro, spectra laters pro, Studio one 2, Waves, and  Proteus 8 professional. 

You can find his work by these links:

    I'm happy to present a gifted reader, writer, artist, and maker of jewelry, Diana Rivera - Gonzalez. You can find her on TikTok and Instagram
@badtoymural, where she has a lot to share with a vast, eclectic audience. I admire her work and dedication especially being she has been facing health issues, such as Fibromyalgia. Anyone who decides to keep on after facing obstacles and challenges is my friend! I am looking forward to hearing more from her as time progresses, as she is a wonderfully gifted writer spiritually-minded individual. You may want to check out her work as well on the following platforms:

  Venturing further into my acquisition of familiarity and knowledge of artistry and musical genius, I luckily shared thoughts with an eclectic artist from Paris, France, today, Thomas Lyn. I gained a more profound affection towards the craftwork, subculture, and music during this interview as Thomas and I discussed his humble, artistic beginnings; I expressed my enthusiasm towards originality when I asked about some of the words of advice he'd present to a new artist just starting on an adventure in creating song and melody within the witch house genre. I agree with his idea of not copying anyone else's formula of orchestrating and composing melody and harmony. I have never been one to rip from another's work unless it was in paying homage to my favorites by singing cover songs and having remix songs made in tribute to my most loved songs from other artists.  

 Thomas Lyn unabashedly admits to coming into music not knowing how to write songs or play an instrument. In contrast, many musicians like myself had experience from our youth with piano and guitar lessons, writing songs and poetry for loved ones, and high school love interests. I opened up about my protectiveness towards my "babies" as I dubbed the music and art I have created over the decades. 

    I described how music has always been the most healing place of peace I have found in life. I talked about the joy and happiness I receive from creation, singing, and engagement within the musical community. We shared the similarity of slowly releasing our artworks after years past initially creating these pieces. Thomas told me it was five years for him to remove one of his past bodies of work, so it might be safe to say that Thomas takes his time when creating and releasing music to an audience. You could sum that up to the artist's love of perfecting his musical handiwork, which isn't a stranger to your host here. There is a sense of ethereal, otherworldliness in discovering songs and creative written artistry, just as finding a precious love from years ago and rediscovering the beauty and wonderment all over again given some time apart.

Fortunately, I again spoke with a long-term friend and musician, Invoke Often, about his creative process and personal journey towards creation in the witch house musical genre and community. I'm happy that we were both able to schedule a time to wrap up our discussion, which was interrupted during the first half of the podcast unexpectedly. This time, Invoke Often discusses with me some of his insights into the creative artistic design of his work with creating music and videos for the witch house genre of music he is known for on SoundCloud and within the Facebook (Metaverse) community of music creators.  

   Invoke Often discusses with me his upcoming release, "Nature Is A Broken Thing," which I am looking forward to hearing as I am sure many others who are fond of his individual are as well. I'll keep you all updated on the release date as it becomes available. I plan to have Invoke Often back to interview after the official release to see what he has to share about ideas and progression within the musical community. 

  I gathered some neat thoughts from hearing what he shared on videography and some of his favorite visual artists and their methods of creating art, film, aesthetics, and music. 

 It's always a pleasure to sit down and talk with someone within the Witch House community, and luckily, I have had some of the best since the onset of this podcast. I appreciate the glibness of each and everyone who has indulged me in a conversation! 

 I'm always looking out for what's new in the creative and technological world, and fortunately, I was able to land a top-notch interview with Audrey Rea Ohlinger of NF Beats So Official to talk about what's new within the NFT sphere. I became acquainted with the world of NFTs when I decided to take a leap of faith and purchase Tory Lanez's album entitled, "When It's Dark." Lanez teamed up with the E - NFT platform to release the album. I didn't hesitate to go with the idea as I found it sound and aligned with my love for future creative technologies.  

Secondly, my introduction continued with the artist Trippie Redd's NFT "Trippie Headz," in which I eagerly joined the Discord channel and began frequenting to learn more about NFTs. I made a lot of good connections within that community and am happy to say that these two artists truly inspired me to venture into investing my money, time, and energy into NFTs.  

I was able to sit down and have the beginning of a most profound and exciting chat with one of my most inspiring friends tonight to talk about his creative process with music, magic, and words. We discussed his process and how some of the works from Thomas Karlsson and Kenneth Grant helped him develop the name of his creative projects. 

"Music that is magic," Justin deemed it moments ago while discussing the process after our short chat. This is part of our journey towards discovering his spiritual and creative technique. I found the discussion to be of utmost relevance and quite similar to my own in many aspects. I appreciate the elements he mentioned in the process, such as using water as a tool to open portals and his partaking in cannabis, which I indulge in occasionally. 

He says: "It's very effective music if you want to get in a trance state or altered state of consciousness on just account of the sounds. 

I want music influenced by the Qlipoth that engenders an in-betweenness in reality.

It's quite seldom that I explicitly try for a subliminal or a coding. Mainly, the music carries a charge from the entities that assisted me in its recording. The deal has sort of always stood, spirits, come here, help and guide me, attach whatever message or meaning you wish to the music. it does put things tho in a context that actual sales are largely immaterial to me, if people are feeling the energy and spreading the work then that's more valuable than money. 

As Austin Osman Spare's haunted paintings and Kenneth Grants haunted grimoire, the ideal is that I leave behind a body of haunting music that shifts the way for me to get back here and for other things." 

I look forward to the continuation of this magical conversation! 

You can find his work at the following internet hyperdimensional spaces: 

I'm excited to present you all with an interview I've been anticipating for some time now. I'm thankful that I had the opportunity to sit down with this talented, soulful songwriter and vocalist, David A. Sosa. David is one of my new favorites. I can proudly say that I resonate with many different levels, from our shared love of classic R & B sounds such as Anita Baker, New Edition, Levert, Whitney Houston, and many others. I am happy to say that David shared some of his insights on his songwriting process, his feelings on live performances, his newest releases, and what we can look forward to seeing in the near future from Sosa! 

He eloquently describes the joy and exhilaration of performing live for an audience. I synchronized with his ideas and felt blessed to share a few minutes with the beautiful voiced New York-based singer. His voice rings clear as a bell as he brings out the vibes he has reached while singing in front of a crowd and the happiness shared with others who love music as much as he does! 

Be sure to indulge in watching the delectable song, "Laugh," written by David on YouTube. You won't regret it! 

"Laugh," David Sosa - https://youtu.be/7K3PEd6dScE

This Thursday evening, I was able to sit down with YesSER Entertainment's Crackle Kapone. He discussed his newly released album with me, a little on his future tour dates, cryptocurrency, the stock market, Co-VID 19, traveling plans, his excitement about performing live events, transhumanism, the nuclear power plant he lives close to to, and more.

I've been a fan of Crackle Kapone for several years now. Although we haven't talked too much over the years, I've always been more than happy to support his artistic and musical projects, album releases, and live performances. The last time, Kapone and I talked extensively was in October 2020 when I wrote an article about the artist for "Music Is Life."  I am thankful I finally spoke to him after several years away from podcasting. Since I'm now back at doing something I grew to love in the early 2010s, I mentioned to him how I would love to continue to reach out to him for updates and have him back again if he'd indulge us.

Thankfully, I was able to catch up with Jay Doster of McColl, SC, and find out what he's been doing in regards to rap and hip hop since 2018 - 2019. I became familiar with Jay from listening to the local rap group, 215 Muzik, and Coon EZ, who worked extensively with Jay on several well-loved singles, such as "Stick To Da Code" and namely, one mixtape he and Coon EZ finished in one night.  Coon EZ was well known for his strong work ethic, as were other members of 215 Muzik such as Marcus De Mayo Oxendine, Feedback, and Pick.  Other well-known rappers from McColl, SC such as Chris Poe graced the albums of 215 Muzik.  

  Jay talks to me about how honesty and transparency are vital to him, and how he doesn't want to be typecasted as other rappers who rap a life they don't live. I agree with the young talented artist, who prides himself on being a man of honor, morals, values, and principles. There's a lot to be said for a young man who doesn't sell out to make the scene, especially in lieu of more widely known rappers such as Tekashi 69 deciding to live differently. 

  I look forward to seeing what Jay Doster brings to the rap game in the near future. Until then, you can hear his music on several YouTube videos. 

Luckily, I had the opportunity to talk with Sam Morningstvr this past week. He gave me his take on the musical genre of witch house, the aesthetics of the electro-occult music scene, his artistic process, and advice for newcomer musicians. Get acquainted with the gothic house music genre of Witch House with this 3rd installment of Witch House artists this week. I'm one of the lucky ones who somehow was given a chance to speak extensively with three charming Witch House musicians. Keep tuning in for more shortly! 

I caught up with Slowflood the other day and he and I chatted about Witch House and how he got started within the genre. He shares his advice for upcoming, new artists who are looking to break into music.  Slowflood mixes dark, electronic music with his local rap "scene" in order to create a delectable groove of melodies any aficionado would love.  Houston, Texas has a lot of talent, and here's another name to add to the extensive list! 

In my second episode, I discuss the musical genre, Witch House with XMortal's Stephen Balentine, out of  Austin, Texas. We sat down to discuss his beginnings in this eclectic, underground world of music. Balentine's work can be found on a plethora of platforms such as SoundCloud, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter as well as Spotify!