things done change

Wow, I definitley haven't been keeping up with this as I promised myself I would......

Where to begin, the new Violative Cause cd "The World Is Ours" is back from the pressing plant and it looks amazing! It hits stores next week and will be available online for purchasing... We start touring in January locally and then will hit up a few spots in the US and eastern canada before we had back to europe... Because we ended up having some time this month Violative Cause is back in the studio! we're working on a special little project that I'll reveal more about in the next few weeks ... should be dope. I'm still steadily working on my project/release under Boombokkz Records in Austria... Music is sounding dope, I also have about 4 other side projects im planning on releasing in 2008 on top of touring non stop. It's going to be a busy year....

I got some new tunes up, you can check them at http://www.myspace.com/lennydiko... I really rarely leave my pad, and it just so happens that I have a home studio ... so I'm always working on songs.. I think I've recorded just over 300 in the past 3 years... Most of which will never be released, some of which never were bounced out of studio... but writing is a great release and sometimes I'll write 4 or 5 songs in a night and then maybe record 3 of them and if I'm lucky and happy with the results bounce out one to my ipod. (for all you non heads -- bounce out basically means to make an mp3).

On the other side of my life, I'm beginning to realize that I'm getting old... I'm 24 this year, 25 in a few months, then 26, then 27, then 45...... I think doing hip hop has allowed me to stay young in the sense that in reality I have no more obligations or responsibilities than that of most teenagers. I am loyal to my friends, fans and family... that's it... Basically I'm writing my way through life.. Sometimes I think I should have focused more on writing, not in the sense of being able to write songs, I know I'm gifted at that, but just at writing in general.... I should have started a novel or something... I have picked back up my screenplay that I started writing in 2002 ... I'm not sure if I'm going to finish it but I'd really like to. I don't know if I'll follow through and try to push it to publishers but I definitley would like to get it done... Sometimes I think I want to do so much that I forget exactly what I need to do to get things done...

I talked to my grandparents not long ago on my mothers side... I'll choose not to reveal too much about my nana's battle with cancer but something I started thinking about was the fact that they have been together atleast 55-60 years .... And still care about each other just as much as they did probably at the beginning. My gramps still probably wakes up at 6 am every morning at brings my nana tea and toast, and he still probably gets frustrated with her when she can't remember someone's name mid sentence .... Its pure. Its cool... in my books anyways.. In fact on both sides of my family my grandparents share these characteristics.

That got me thinking about family, and realizing how widespread of a family I have.. even though as close as we seemed to all be when we were younger we hardly see each other anymore. My cousin finished up his run with the military recently, and now lives in the same small town that both his parents (My aunt and uncle) and my grandparents (mentioned above) live in... that's good for them... And my cousin's sons who halirious kids from what I remember. Especially the younger one... My 18 year old cousin has moved out on her own.... I haven't seen her since she was probably 11 or 12... Another cousin is now a police officer and is married with two beautiful children.... My other side of the family seems to be a bit younger, I am the oldest of the "kids" and they are all seeming to catch up and/or surpass me with school and their lives! Which is great for them.... I think both of my bloodlines are filled with exceptional people, some completely opposite... My family consists of, convicted felons, police officers, artists, teachers, military, mechanics, rural-type (not redneck, but definitley know how to operate a tractor!), city folk, some who work regular jobs 9-5 style, and others who own and manage independent businesses...

I don't think theres one person in my family I wouldn't trust my life with on both sides...

Theres definitely issues but at the end I definitley believe that my family is filled with good people.

Wow, I'm really getting into this now hahaha...

Outside of my family I probably have 5 or 6 close friends... that I consider family... I made a point not to mention names up in here so I'll stick with it but they definitley know who they are... They were there long before I put it out there that I wrote/recorded hip hop, they were around when I was walkin around drunk with a pepsi box on my head :). I've started to realized that these people, and my family are the most important thing in life... They are the reason we struggle, and have ups and downs... In the end, you are who you surround yourself with, and your life is directly impacted by those who influence it.

My sister has become one of my best friends in the past few years... Which is funny because when we were growing up we pretty much hated each other to the point where we would beat the shit out of each other over the smallest things... Funny how that works. She's doing great these days, has a great career and seems to be surrounding herself with good people.

I'm going to leave this with something positive about myself because I don't really think I've done enough of it in this "blog". And it comes back to music ofcourse... So far I have definitley exceeded my expectations of where I'm at and things just keep moving and getting busier for the good. I never thought that I would have gone on the road with a member of the group that created "Steal My Sunshine" and played plenty of shows with him, I never in a million years would have figured I would have been making music with Moka Only , who's group Swollen Members probably put me on to alternative hip hop back in the early 2000's... I never in a BILLION years would have though tthat I would have toured some of europe on music and would be going back regularly!! Things are going good... just getting more mature about it I guess. lastly... I can't lie some of the girls I've "mingled" with the past few years definitley would not have crossed my path had it not been for this music thang... and that pretty much makes it worth while hahaha.

anyways.
diko out!