All About The ‘Moments’ (Summer Grind Issue 2012)

Canadian poet Henry Drummond once said this: “You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.” To me this means the truest moments we can find in this life are those where we work in labors of absolute love. Maybe that’s why I put so much love in everything that I write. Love makes everything better, from words to food. I guess in a lot of ways music is the best of both of those worlds.

Why?

Good music is made of words that come from the love of a craft or the love of what you’re doing. And just like good food, good music feeds the soul until it cannot take another bite.

Aptly enough I recently listened to a mixtape by indie rapper Mani Coolin (@ManiCoolin) called For The Moments. As with what I have just said, he has the love throughout this one.

I started with the first track “Before The Moments”. The sweet sounds of the piano offset the drums well and it’s done in such a way that neither overpowers the other in importance. The song plays to me as if it’s the story of a young rapper growing into the man he will be or rather hopes to be one day soon. As a young man looking towards the same I can relate.

I listened on from here, nodding my head in that way you do when you hear good hip-hop. I stop on “Ride Out” and feel myself get lost. I cannot help but think about the movie TRON when I hear the beat. Mani’s flow on this one is arrogant, cool, and catchy as hell here. The refrain of “Ride out…” doesn’t hurt either.

Immediately after I was finished nodding my head violently I come across “Peace Of Mind”, which slips me the slow groove and allows all of me to calm down considerably. The synth influenced beat swells and invades me just right. This along with Mani’s voice keeps me cooling on the easy like Sunday evening tip.

Life is moments, a combination of good ones and bad ones. Paying bills or a death in the family is one of the bad moments. Good sex, love from the family, these are the good things.

I can now add listening to Mani Coolin’s For The Moments to the good list.



Courtesy of Lucius Black for Royalty Magazine