Lenny Diko

Dubgee For Mayor (Of Vancouver)

2011-10-31T12:45:00.001-07:00

So I've decided to log back into the ol' Blogspot account to speak on this... Many who know me (particularly through social media or my immediate circle) know three things about me:
1) I am a hip hop artist (i will make music all of my life, but my touring days are long over)
2) I am an entreprenuer
3) I am a VERY politically charged person and almost all of my views are right sided.

I'm going to keep my personal information on this post brief, because the point of this is not to detail myself or promote myself in any way. I'm often asked why I am "right wing" as most artists, and most of my friends even are extreme leftists (liberals). It's simple really, I believe that we all have choices and options, and we all have the choice to work hard and better our lives. I believe that the government should be limited and it's sole purpose should be to protect us (through providing roads, international and domestic security and enforcing LAW. (don't get it twisted, I'm not some cop loving emo tree hugger, I just know and understand the reality and purpose.

Anyways, on to my friend (fellow hip hopper) DUBGEE who is currently running for Mayor in Vancouver.

We occassionaly have gotten into debates on some pretty fundamental differences in politics, usually via facebook or something similar. The basics of those debates is that I generally come from a fiscal, limited, conservative mindset while DubGee often looks at things from the opposite political mindset. We do however agree on a lot of things...

People quite often think that I come across as uncaring, and as a "fox news watching ego maniac who hates the poor" and thats totally incorrect. I actually myself lived in low income housing as a child in Langley BC. Very low income, probably worse than a lot of the majority of east van (excluding the downtown eastside). My mindset comes from the fact that I watched my mother and father both work multiple jobs to get us out of that hell hole rather than relying on the government. I don't want to slam my parents, because it really wasn't their fault; but we were the type of family that had to leave the oven on in the winter to heat the house. (electric cheaper than gas I guess).

I will NEVER FULLY support any government agenda that doesnt preach self reliance and independence. I have absolutely no faith in the welfare system and am completely against it.

I believe that people on welfare should be FORCED off of the system. ALl of the resources and money put into welfare should be forcing people to take care of themselves. The "take care of me, im entitled" mentality is bullshit and it needs to stop! (no.rant.)

I urge everyone to take a look at DubGEE's blog to see his political agenda... First I'm going to explain some issues I have with it, but then explain why, YES, I am supporting and endorsing DubGee for his candicacy and also hoping that he continues with politics and works his way into our system and implements some serious change.

Issues I have explained:

1. Complete ban on Tasers by the Vancouver Police Department
I am not PRO police and I am not PRO police brutality or abuse but I am also NOT for taking away their right to enforce law. In society right now a well rounded, good cop can get SPIT on by a 15 year old kid and do absolutely nothing about it because of our liberal policies and judicial system.
MY SUGGESTION: Start punishing these cops who abuse their power... NO ONE should be abusing their power. If you PUNISH them, it will stop. People who become police officers should be good citizens and not want to abuse anyone anyways. We need people to fear police, it prevents theft and many other crimes, but we need them to be good people.

2. Re-evaluate our Liquor laws and improve them to at least allow liquor in movie theatresThis could have a LOT of costs involved... You would be completely changing a business... Though they might see it as a bonus, you would be changing the requirements of someone who works at a movie theatre and also policing. You cannot hide from the fact that with liquor comes crime and aggression. It's human nature. Quite often movie theatres are places families go to on the weekends... I'd suggest a referendum from citizens and the corporations involved. Let's hear from the people what they want.

3. Limit the price of gasoline in Vancouver to a percent of the cost per barrel I don't believe this is possible. I think the direction that should be taken here is to limit the % of TAXES that can be applied to gasoline. Even before the recession and the american governments explanation of why gas prices shot up we (vancouver) have ALWAYS paid so much more for gas. Do the conversions, its fact :)

4. Reduce the salaries of the mayor, city councillors directly or indirectly (By indirectly I mean that the salary will stay the same but a portion would have to be donated to a cause.)I am all for your passion to donate and assist the poor, but I really think that a lot of our savings goals should be put towards lowering our taxes. Put a portion of everything saved into the pot that can bring down our taxes.

5. Taxing Corporate fast food (not small business) I personally stopped eating fast food (headed down a very distructive path ahahah) but I am never a fan of targetting any specific sector of the private market. Taxing these corporations could result in lay offs and cuts. The reality is that the PURPOSE of a corporation is to turn profit, if there was no profit there would be no business. Take more from their profit, they will take more from their employees to make up for it.

6. Halt the construction of “Fare Gates” at Skytrain Stations I haven't looked into this enough, my opinion is that the amount of people robbing translink is a good excuse for them to continue raising fair rates. Something needs to be done here to prevent that.

Now, all that being said... there are SO many MORE pieces of DubGee's platform that are amazing! Transparent City Hall meetings!!! As long as costs are low (which they obviously would be so that this doesnt cost tax payers more money) this is just one of many parts of Dub's platform that I support. (make sure you check out his page and read the rest).

But, really here is the main reason why I am endorsing DubGee... We need serious CHANGE. The boomers need to start taking us seriously and know that we are worried. We are worried about future and our children's future. We are intelligent, and we have grown up in a rapidly changing era that forced us to become insanely dynamic individuals. I seriously hope that DubGee continues his persuit of politics, and if not elected maybe forms or starts a new party. Something that sees the best of both worlds (left and right). Something that focuses on lowering taxes and more importantly properly implementing our tax dollars.

Some things I'd like to see DubGee add to his political agenda:
1) Tolling on bridges (I know that this is more of a provincial issue, if someone sparks something at any level it will do us all good - it is complete BS that we have to pay to drive on roads that our taxes already paid for)
2) Needle Exchanges and Pipe exchanges - I dont feel this is the answer anymore. We need to be strict, if we are going to invest our tax payers money into these things we need to see results. I personally want to see the amount of people using go down. They have a choice that they need to make. Its not our burden to take on for the rest of our lives... Let's help them change and help them better themselves.

If I could go back 10 years and change some of the things I've done and been a part of I might knowing that I could have been involved in politics. but unfortunately that is not an option for me, so I will forever be a critic and political activist :)

Good luck Dub Gee. May the force be with ya homie!

Finally, a new CD!

2011-03-23T23:20:00.001-07:00

whats up people, to be honest I'm tired as shit...but I figured I'd keep the posting going on here as I'm hoping to start using this a lot more. I got about 3 18 hour days coming up so won't be online much to post new stuff --- but I will say this! I have been working on a new album with my boy Jonas (Ephekz) and it's sounding amazing! Some really dope collabos as well! I got a couple beats from my homie KevWest as well.... I'll post more soon!

New Promo Video

2011-03-20T01:13:00.001-07:00

BLOGSPOT IM BACK BABY

2011-03-19T18:52:00.000-07:00

whassssup peoples!

It's been a minute, actually its been 1576800 minutes according to an online year to minute converter... But I am back, I figured I'm all over the internet (youtube,facebook,twitter,lennydiko.com, etc..) I'd set up a new "blog" home for myself... and kinda bring everything together in this wonderful world of "cloud" technology we live in. Expect a lot of political rants, bullshit, music, and movie talk when you come here... Anyways listen to my song I just uploaded to reverbnation over there on the right, follow me on twitter or find me on facebook:lenny diko. I'm working all weekend, pretty much 40 hours of work in 2 days so I'm gonna spend 2 of my free hours watching that new 50 cent movie "Twelve"... I'll probably have a review soon.

respect
deeks

What a first few months

2008-03-23T21:45:00.000-07:00

Well,

It's been a minute (or few months) since I've posted on here..... Whats up? Well my grandmother passed away on the 2nd Of January... That made music, and pretty much life in general completely off of the norm. The more I think about it the more I realize how close her and I were, and how close she was with all of her grandchildren actually. I pretty much spent every summer with her and my grandpa until I was about 12 years old... And we always stayed close after that. I don't want to go too deep into this, but it definitely effected me, and I truly miss her. It's weird when someone passes, it always takes so long to fully sink in that you will never speak to them again, never hear their voice or see a smile... Anyways, It's been a few months and the family is starting to function again.

Music wise, lots of great things have been happening! We are about to finalize an overseas deal that I will speak more about later in time, our album is currently being digitally distributed on all the big sites! (itunes, amazon.com, best buy, etc..) So if you got a few bucks and you downloaded our album illegally, go buy an mp3 or two! Support artists!

I'm gonna post more this week I think... I like the whole idea of blogging...

diko

keep it rollin' rollin' rollin'

2008-02-06T11:48:00.000-08:00

Well things have been rollin along pretty smoothly!!! Early January we headed out to Apex Ski Resort with the entourage to play a show at the Gunbarrell Saloon... Luckily for us DJ Con was in the building and was able to tend to the crowds desire to hear nothing but ACDC and Guns N Roses..... great times though.. Got lots of promo done for the new album... Then we had our cd release party at the Cellar, downtown vancouver which was a huge success and in all honesty definitley needed to get the group motivated again! Thanks to everyone who came out and purchased the album, the feedback has been great so far! After the cd release party was a show out in Mission with our fam (bobby & DJ Con) which was great as well! We had to trek out on Saturday during that snow storm which made for an eventfull night.. But the show was great.. Big ups to Gemineye, the ground breakers and ofcourse our homeboy the filthy varmint for killin it on the mic as well that night... Next up show wise are a couple all ages events in and around Vancouver and then out to the Okanagan to perform in Vernon & Kelowna before we hit up europe again... Then its back to the studio for our 4th release which is going to be even bigger!

The new cd "Violative Cause - The World Is Ours" is selling great and the feedback has been just as.... It's available for purchase in Vancouver at Dipt, Beatstreet and Zulu Records... There will be a few more stores added to that list in the next couple months and it will also eventually be available on Itunes for purchase & Download... We just put up another song from the album that we recorded with Riddlore from Project Blowed. You can check that out @ www.myspace.com/violativecause ....

I got a couple projects I'm working on right now, some music with Filthy Varmint, Moka Only & my family in Austria Boombokkz Recordz, Digga Mindz and Def Ill.... Should all be released digitally this year and pressed with distribution next.

On a personal note... I've been relaxing the past couple weeks as we're taking a small break from the shows for about a month to enjoy some time with our families and such... That's one thing about being in a group that has definitley taken some adjusting... We pretty much started Violative Cause in late 2005 and since then we are in studio together (im talking a small room here too) for atleast 5-6 months at a time, then we travel together for weeks at a time to do shows... Sometimes we definitley feel some tension when we are pushing each other's buttons... So it's definitley necessairy to spend some time away from the music family and with your blood family every once in awhile... Been chilling with the sister a lot in my spare time and getting out with some old friends drinking like its 2002! Ive been thinking about all the dope people I've met on the road and through music the past few years, whether it was someone I made music with in Vancouver or California... Or a fan/friend in Mattsee Austria (there was this one chick we met there who looked just like jessica alba .... probably the hottest woman I've seen in my life)..

Anyways, I'm looking forward to some dope shows over the next couple months and then getting back into studio with DJ Redworm, Lex and newest member of Violative Cause, DJ Con to pump out a dope 4th LP for yall....

Till next time
stay up
- lenny

2008 is here!

2008-01-01T12:08:00.000-08:00

Well,

2008 is here!

I'm gonna post a new blog when im not goin on 2/5 hours of sleep!

things done change

2007-12-14T15:28:00.001-08:00

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!

The World Is Ours

2007-10-27T23:11:00.000-07:00

So I just heard the full mastered version of the new Violative Cause record "The World Is Ours", and wholey shiiiiiiiiiit StunT Man did an incredible job! This album is big.. we added DJ redworm to the mix and he produced the entire album, it has tons of live instrumentation and a few really dope features that I fetl brought our music to the next level. We got a track on there with our extended family down in cali, the Live Manikins, and collabos with DC (fam from san jose) and Riddlore from Project Blowed. This cd is like 18 tracks long.... Definitley a long listen, but every track is different and it really has everything on it. We are definitley moving towards a new northwest coast sound and I dont really think anyone around this area comes close to this type of hip hop.

We aren't trying to be the next lyrical prophets, but at the same time we arent saying nothing. We have a lot to say... I just got word, this album is going to be in stores on itunes and much more by December First 2007. We are going to hold off on touring as we are planning on recording album #3 in december and then touring all of 2008 to support both albums.

respect!!!!

dope thursday night

2007-10-25T23:01:00.000-07:00

wow, this will be short as im runnin on about 3 hours of sleep.

We just performed a couple tracks out in Mission, BC with DJ Con (props to the whole team out there always treatin us proper) .. anyways we performed at Heritage Park Secondary school and the crowd was hype. A lot of youngin's screamin.... Gave out a bunch of our first cd, met some coo peeps... Then on the way home, me, keefor, lex and redworm hit up a strip club for a few beers... talked some business, came home im now drinkin some diet pepsi and checkin out TI's sentence on googleish..

word up!

Wow what a couple years

2007-10-21T23:49:00.000-07:00

Wow, seriously though. I figured writing one of these would be a good experience and frankly, its one of those "everybody is doing it" situations.... Why not allow the world into my personal life, thoughts, experiences and ideas?

I'm going to sum up the past couple years really quickly and from now on I will update this blog regularly so all of you can check in on my touring and plain old life...

2002 - 2004. I recorded a lot of music. Most of which was not very good at all and lacked serious production +mixing and overall goodness. Lots of singing though... drunk singing, which was fun.

2005 was a dull year. I started doing shows and released my first pressed cd "Five To Nine" that i recorded between 2002 and 2005. The cd was an experience, it sucked though. Basically had no recording experiences, no mixing experience, and all the words I wanted to say minus the skill to properly present it. At the end of 2005 I recorded "My Hip Hop" though featuring Lex and that was probably my first real hip hop song that got any recognition. I based that as my starting point.

2006 was incredibly busy music wise... I started a group project called "livin large" with chilliwack rapper Logical (the project was released but eventually haulted due to, shit I dont even know why) We toured around vancouver, and Vancouver island. Highlight of that tour was probably the strip-hop show in nanaimo. I won't go into details, but lets just say an island-crack-head visited our hotel suite and definitley provided some entertaining.. (no not what your thinking she was old enough to be our grandmother!) I also spent a majority of the summer of 2006 performing alongside Moka Only and eventually recorded a track with him. that was definitley a great experience. 2006 was my busiest year of promoting shows as well. Business was picking up. At the end of 2006 Lex and I started our group "Violative Cause".

2007, I stopped promoting and started focusing on my music and career within music. We released the first Violative Cause cd "Just Movement". We filmed a few indy music videos and toured BC and evnetually over to eastern europe. I got a indy dealio set up with the homies in Vienna, Austria "Boombokkz Recordz" to release a solo Lenny Diko album sometime in 2008 in europe.. Ive been working on it the past few months its really going to be an amazing record. We also just finished the new Violative Cause cd "The World Is Ours" and are about to start touring again... Violative Cause's business picked up, We started working with an agent "BigNote Music Inc", an a&r manager "Abaca Entertainment", and some serious management. We also acquired our full on producer DJ Redworm who has been a friend for a few years now... We're just about to release the cd, tour a bit and then hit the studio to record our third album... Then its off to europe for a couple months on tour...

Anyways my fingers are hurtin like a biatch... I'm gonna top this ish now. Enjoy that read keep checking back! The next update should be later this week after we play out at a highschool Thursday night. Nothin like getting paid to rock a set in front of 500 screaming 16 year olds!

peace and respects
lenny

this is it

2007-03-16T12:39:00.000-07:00

i always done wanted one of these things....