“new york, new york” featured on DJ Peter Parker x coast2coastmixtapes
CLICK ON EITHER COVER ABOVE TO DOWNLOAD THE MIXTAPE
“New York, New York” featured on DJBooth.net
http://www.djbooth.net/index/tracks/review/esso-new-york-new-york/
ESSO – New York New York [CDQ/MP3]
So here it is, the first leak from my new project The Anti-Socialite dropping on April 26th: “New York, New York.” Yes, I know it’s not your traditional “let’s all get together and tell the rest of the world how great New York is” record, but thats not what I wanted it to be. New York is different things to different people. Some people want to be defined as strictly New Yorkers, and some people understand exactly what being a New Yorker is.
New York is something that I can never escape no matter how far away I am at any given moment in time. But I wanted to show people that I want to portray a different side of New York than they’re used to seeing. Too often I feel like Hip-Hop has one vision of what New York looks like and I wanted to show the New York that inspires me, but also the New York that makes me feel the need to get away sometimes. I hope you enjoy it, but more than enjoy it, I hope you understand it…
DOWNLOAD: ESSO – New York, New York (prod. Rena1ssance) | Mediafire
Slackin on my Blogging + The NY, NY video…
Damn I said I was gonna write an entry every day and I damn sure haven’t lived up to that. That’s on me. I been goin through some computer issues over the last few months which have finally been solved so I don’t have an excuse anymore. Thanks for honoring the excuse that I never made though, I appreciate it in advance.
As I’m writing this I’m sitting here with my Director Puma of The Program, LLC working on the first video from my new project The Anti-Socialite. This video was kinda accidental in how it came to be. It was actually the unplanned seed of another idea that I had for a web series I wanted to shoot. What started as one good idea is actually now gonna end up as 2 pieces that each owe something to each other. I started out wanting to take people on a tour of New York and some of the spots that I think are the illest in the city. Really iconic shit. What can I say, I’ve probably watched Woody Allen’s Manhattan about 4 times in the last 2 months…that intro’s still stuck in my head.
So we set out to start shooting these locations and capturing these really larger than life images that started to look like more than just a tour of the city. On the 3rd day of locations (yea we shot every single piece of footage you’ll see in the video) Puma told me we should shoot some performance shots for this song on the project called “New York, New York” [obviously I was the genius that didn't make the initial connection]. We shot the footage literally the day before I left for Austin and SXSW.
Fast forward about a week and a half and now we’re sitting here at Puma’s editing console and the video is starting to take shape and I’m sitting here kinda in awe. I’ve never sat in on the editing of one of my videos before and watching the process and how it all comes together is pretty crazy. I’ll sprinkle some of the images in here after but I had to write this while it was actually happening around me…
E
ESSO x BRM Magazine #SXSW showcase
BRM’s Emerging Artists Showcase – SXSW Style
Tuesday, 23 March 2010 14:49
On the sunniest day in Austin this past week, BRM threw a rooftop party with artists from a variety of genres. Revelers were treated to performances by Outernational, Jovi Rockwell, Bisco Smith, Pomegranates, Phantogram, Lovvers, Still Time, an impromptu solo set by Esso, and a diverse soundtrack to the day courtesy of DJ Lokash. Special thanks to our sponsors Ambiguous, Zoptopz and OrigAudio, and everyone who came out in support.
#ESSxSW
(started writing this after leaving 6th st. on Saturday)
First of all its 5:22am and I’m not really tired so I’m gonna attempt it. Don’t judge me for grammar on this one. Thanks in advance…LOL
Thank You’s (trying to do this from memory so forgive me)
First and foremost to the Y&I Team (Tory and Anabelle) and Martin y’all definitely held me down and I appreciate it more than you know. Besides the still as yet unfound Digital Camera everything ran pretty much as smoothly as could be expected. What a difference a year makes huh?
To IB, Chris, Jeanette, The Bamaz & the Houston side of things… ALREADY!
To all the artists and folks that I ran into:
DJ RTC from RubyHornet and the session engineer at Closed Sessions (his name escapes me right now), Last Rights, Dave & Rikers at Beyond Race Magazine, Crosby & Miz Metro & Hip Hop Howl, TC & David D from TheSmokingSection, Shake and Meka from 2dopeboyz, Eskay, Dominique from Leaders of the New Cool and Hollywood East, Ashley Outrageous, Shanell (#welldamn), Killer Mike, Chip The Ripper, Wiz Khalifa, Curren$y, Fashawn, XV, Stalley, El Prez, Sean Falyon, Shawn Chrys, Tiron, Diz Gibran, Curtains, Curtis Santiago, Buff1 (who I havent run into since we battled randomly in College), Steve-O from GFC, Cherry Pop, of course the New York side of things (we were pretty heavy this year): Game Rebellion, Donny Goines, Mickey Factz, Emilio Rojas, Skyzoo, Nina B, Gordon Voidwell, CL, Alice, Neil & everyone at Digiwaxx, DJ Harry Chronic for rocking with me for a couple extra shows (heard Torae was in Austin but I didnt run into him), Dara & Billy from SubCon (I rocked the Navy Blue & Cranberry Y&I’s ALL WEEK), Rocksmith Tokyo, Vince from IM King. I definitely need to thank my phone charger for being with me for almost every minute that I wasn’t in the house or hotel room, and flash drives and serato for making show CD’s almost completely obsolete…
I know I left a lot of people out, but as we speak I’m in Houston working on a project with my twin IB3 so for now this is gonna have to do…
For anyone I left out, blame it on mental exhaustion and not my heart
E
Last Rights x SXSW Preview #1
Shouts to Dre Films
ESSO x SXSW x HoneyMag.com
The good folks over at Honey Magazine asked me to write about my experiences at this years South by Southwest Music Festival and of course I accepted. Check HoneyMag.com over the next week for the entries. Shouts to Shanel, Erika, Nicole and the rest of the Honey staff
(and yeah I couldn’t resist the opportunity to use the Nicki Minaj screenshot LOL)
ENTRIES:
Another ESSO x Puma classic coming real soon…
I’ve been working with my director Puma on some content pieces and videos for The Anti-Socialite before I head down to Austin on Tuesday for SXSW. Wanted to take a second and share some of the images that we’ve captured so far. Hopefully you enjoy. One of the things that I really want to do with this project and everything associated with it is start to change the way that people look at New York artists. Images are one of the most powerful weapons we as artists have. Each location has a specific significance which will be explained very soon. Welcome to The Anti-Socialite‘s New York.
Digiwaxx Presents: The BLAST Live @SXSW
I’ll be performing live on Thursday March 18th, if you’re gonna be in Austin come check it out. Shouts to CL and the whole Digiwaxx Staff!
Harlem (Uptown) & Devil’s Horns [Freestyles]
First single from the project is dropping next week. Since the project is 99 percent original music I went in on some industry beats along the way…the first 2 are over Drake’s “Uptown” and Beyonce’s Halo
DOWNLOAD: ESSO – (Harlem) Uptown | Mediafire
DOWNLOAD: ESSO – Devil’s Horns | Mediafire
The Anti-Socialite drops 4/12 official announcement coming next week
ESSO is blogging every day leading up to the project release at
www.TheESSOexperience.com
images of the day…
So this is something I’m gonna start doing as a part of The Experiment. Every once in a while I’ll just throw up some images that I shot. Today’s are from running around the city shooting “The Anti-Socialite’s Guide to New York City” which you’ll be hearing about pretty soon…should give you a little idea of what to expect
Hit the jump for the rest of the shots: (more…)
Separation Anxiety & The Anti-Socialite
Separation Anxiety (via Wikipedia)
Separation anxiety occurs as babies begin to understand their own selfhood—or understand that they are a separate person from their primary caregiver. At the same time, the concept of object permanence emerges—which is when children learn that something still exists when it is not seen or heard.
I’ve actually been done recording for The Anti-Socialite for over a month now. Now comes the odd process of having a complete body of work on my iPod that very few other people have heard yet. A month from now (April 12th) I won’t have to worry about these things because my work will be out there for your interpretation. Until then, I listen to it over and over again critiquing and obsessing over what I think is the most complete project that I’ve ever put together musically.
There’s a certain satisfaction that I get playing the project for people for the first time, because I know how well-rounded it is. I’ve noticed that I get to a certain point of the project when I play it and then people get a little bit comfortable in what they’re expecting and at that exact moment the feel changes. I want The Anti-Socialite to reflect the range of emotions that we deal with on a daily basis. From waking up and taking an honest look in the mirror, to looking in that same mirror later in the day getting dressed to go out and feeling like a million bucks. I know what I understand this body of work to be, but what does that mean when it actually hits your ears?
So therein comes the Separation Anxiety. Now that the project is complete its pretty much like I’m watching my firstborn in the nursery. As we start to develop the visual aspects of the project, now I’m starting to see the baby grow a little bit and take on a personality of its own. And in that way, this project and everything around it has taken on a life of its own which is pretty different than any other project I’ve ever made. The Anti-Socialite is way more than just music to me. It’s a state of mind, a state of being, a true way of life. Just like any other way of life there are ups and downs, wins and losses, advantages and drawbacks. Anyone can relate to those things. I hope you feel the same way when you hear it.
Another Great New Yorker: Jean Michel Basquiat (Day 5)
So I have about 15 minutes to get today’s entry in and as I was patrolling NahRight I found this. Woody Allen was this afternoon’s inspiration…tonight’s inspiration comes in the form of one of my favorite artists: Jean Michel Basquiat.
BONUS: Basquiat x Warhol interview from the 80′s
Slipped up already…
So 3 days in and I already missed a day…LOL I had a little bit of running around to do yesterday, so I didnt have a chance to write yesterday but I’m gonna write about yesterday in the next entry. For this one, I want to share with you something that I found a few days ago that I thought was really ill. It’s odd to see people who we’ve known to be famous pretty much our whole lives when they were on the brink of their stardom or success. This video is one of those rare chances to see one of New York’s real visionaries at that exact point in his life. Enjoy this documentary/interview of Woody Allen in 1967 and let me know what you think about it
What do I have in common with the guy that makes my Cheesesteaks?
On first glance we probably have nothing in common. He’s in his 50′s most likely (I’m guessing from the grey hairs) and I’m in my 20′s. He’s behind the counter and I’m in front of it. But as I walked away from the corner store earlier today with my fix in hand I started to think about it and it kinda struck me how many things we actually do have in common.
Now to most of you, it would probably be a stretch to say that the sandwich dude at the bodega is an artist. You’ve obviously never copped a cheesesteak from Fulton & Putnam in BK. The first time I went in there, we spoke briefly while he was making the sandwich. Me being the connoisseur of fine Cheesesteaks that I think that I am, I attempted to order my regular…Provolone, Onions, lettuce tomato, mayonnaise and hot sauce. There was no provolone. He told me that he makes his steaks with mozzarella. What happened next is probably the reason that I’m even writing this entry.
As he was working, he told me exactly how he had come to his current recipe. He started out before the store even had steaks by making the sandwiches with Roast Beef. As he went along, eventually the store caught on and started buying the steak meat. From that point on he started a trial and error process of adding different things to the sandwich to try and bring out some different flavors. From flavoring the meat to the garnishes until he got to the point that he’s at today with a formula that I assume has been working for some time.
How does this relate to me? Well musically, I pretty much started out with the equivalent of the Roast Beef in his first sandwiches. I started out recording in my bedroom, trying different ideas, working on different aspects of my writing. Eventually I got to the point where I released my first mixtape, which might as well be the jump from roast beef to steak. I was finally at least working with the same tools as everyone else. After the first mixtape, from that point until now, I’ve been in the same trial and error process as he was while he was perfecting his recipe. If something works, keep it and figure out how to add on to it to enrich the flavor. If something doesn’t work, let it go. In other words, I’ve had to find my own recipe.
The other similarity that we share is that we’re both creators. He’s a culinary creator, and I create music. In much the same way that I feel sometimes like people don’t always understand certain decisions that I might make, he felt the same need to explain to me exactly how he came to his current recipe. That way, he won my trust that the sandwich that I was about to eat for the first time was well thought out and everything that was in there was there for a specific reason. In much the same way, I think The Anti-Socialite is very deliberate in its decisions. As I explain the idea to people and they begin to hear the songs, they start to understand that everything is exactly where it is for a reason. To address a question or a feeling or a thought.
So what do I have in common with the guy that makes my Cheesesteaks? Philosophically- almost everything.
Day #2 of “The Experiment”
So in a little bit over a month I’ll be putting out what I think is probably the most imprtant project of my life: The Anti-Socialite. I don’t mean to overstate the importance of this project, but when it comes down to it, every artist should feel like everything they greenlight to the public is the most important shit they’ve ever done. I’ve gone through a pretty serious look in the mirror while writing the project, and I feel its more personal and representative of me as an individual than anything else I’ve ever done.
Along with that statement comes the other side though, the dark side if you will. We as artists (at our best) bear our hearts, souls, thoughts and words with the masses. Once they reach your ears, the interpretation of that piece of work is completely that of the listener. My perspective on the music stops as soon as you download it and it immediately becomes whatever you take from it. With that said I really hope people take the time to listen to what I have to say and also the way that I choose to say it. I’m not exaggerating by saying that this album could have gone in absolutely ANY direction whatsoever after Off The Wall. Ask yourself as you listen this question: “Why did he choose to approach it the way he did?”
And now I have to take a second away from my own stardom (can you sense my sarcasm) to sit with my family and watch my Mom on National television. And y’all think I’m a star…hahahha
She made me do it…
So a friend of mine challenged me to document this part of my life that I’m going through right now. I like to call it Purgatory, but fuck it, that’s just the way my sense of humor works. In all reality everyday is an adventure that could start or end anywhere. There’s a certain freedom to being an artist, and I try and enjoy the fact that this is what I’ve chosen to do with my life. I have friends that followed a more straight line in their lives and in the odd way that I can’t understand how they can be happy that way, I’m sure they wonder to themselves how I live the life I do.
Anyway, before I start getting too philosophical in the first installment of this little experiment, I need to leave a couple thoughts for the next one. I’m gonna try and write something here every day for the rest of the time between now and when The Anti-Socialite drops. Should be pretty interesting. Might explain a few things that you’ll find on the project also. Depends on how well this works out I guess, eh? Catch me if you can.
Happy Birthday to TheESSOexperience.com
A year ago I started this site not really knowing what the hell I was getting into, and a year later I probably still haven’t completely figured it out. But even if I haven’t figured it out I’m at least working on it. Hope you dig the new layout, honestly I was getting kinda tired of looking at the old one myself…so I know anyone that frequents the site was probably just as tired of it.
There’s a lot goin on in March, SXSW is coming up and The Anti-Socialite is in the final stages of being completed. 2009 was good to me, hopefully 2010 is even better. Welcome to The Experience.
