CAN WE SMILE?

INTRO

Ayo!

Blessings,

Thank you for checkin in. I really appreciate it.

Finally got a scanner. Shoutout to my guy Edgar for the alley.

We are mastering this on August 19th, the day The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill released to the world.

Being from Jersey, that's a blessing all on its own. 

I wrote this on August 17th. Ironically, it's the same day Yo! MTV Raps got off air, 31 years ago.

I feel like these SMILES can give you the same glimpse into culture just from words and a pic.

This one is like a freestyle, like their first episode.

Just not live, but published a couple days later.

I've been recruitin smiles like Ludacris over the years and gettin them in flow to share.

What was written to open this up was definitely spur of the moment. so DONT NICK ME FOR IT.

I'll properly introduce what this whole thing is later.

let's just start from scratch and get to it.

DEADASS, CAN WE SMILE?

Pardon my language. I'm home, in Chilltown, Jersey City.

As I was pulling up to the baseball field to write this,

I'm driving past my cousin's old crib, basically mine too, on the late night.

Right when I hit the corner, a cop is checking a young one's pockets.

No lights on. One cop. But still, even one cop feels like a posse sometimes.

Just seeing the car in the rearview gets ya heart shaking like THE WHOLE STATE OF NEW YORK when the Knicks won!

But that same presence of the boys in blue, Black, or whatever color with the badge of "protect and serve" is still in existence and hasn't evolved since we stragged these blocks growing up.

I have homies that are members of the organization now, and I know their heart. But that doesn't change the presence that's associated with that badge.

It's always love, but still, it's the reality.

I wasn't supposed to go there to kick this off.

But this is what's happening while I'm still living in my dream.

Can't run from what's in front of you, even if your faith is strong.

Ight, back to regular scheduled programming.

Can we SMILE?

That's a real question.

Can we find joy in seeing more in life experiences, through everything that's going on in this infinite but finite time called life?

And I think we can.

These smiles you’re experiencing are a witness to it.

Because all we need is us coming together.

Even if music, sports, fashion, or wellness is the door in.

We are still together.

Just like New York this summer, it's wild that the last time the Knicks won was in 1973, and it took them 53 years to finally do it again.

You have to have some unwavering faith to see more in all those life experiences of losing.

After this win I don't think they are ever going to stop partying.

Besides that, and as I hope we all know now, 1973 is the same year Hip Hop started partying in the Bronx. 

But the funny thing is, it's also the year George Steinbrenner bought the Yankees,

the dynasty I would grow to admire was born.

plus, they kept the party going in the '70s and '90s.

Shoutout to the Bronx.

You can never front on their influence on the world.

Anywhere you go, you will run into a Yankee hat, without the person even knowin’ the name of one player on the team.

And everyone is experiencing Hip Hop in their lives one way or another.

One started with $8.8 million, and the other for $25.

And both were forged with love while the city was burning.

Now the city is blooming, they are both worth more than a billion separately.

But they are still thirsty for what’s next.

Where do they go?

Do they still love it? 

does the party continue?

Okay, but back to the real question.

Can we SMILE?

More specifically, fifty-three years since Hip Hop started, can we still smile?

All they needed from the beginning, while navigating their personal trials and their city literally burning and cops wildin,

was their taste, a turntable, records, and the people to chill out and party.

From there, we are now living in a global culture that we have been manipulated to think is simply "pop or trap culture,"

when really, Hip Hop is the case study for so many of the influential people, products, and experiences that we consume today. 

It's the spirit behind our creative innovation, influence, and freedom.

These smiles represent that joy of being just us in culture every day,

seeing more in life experiences through sharing our authentic raw truth and being our individual selves.

The way the culture is supposed to be lived.

Doing our own thing.

Competing to be the best.

Cultivating.

Sharing with our community. 

Pushing one culture forward with all the best artists and creatives.

But there is no Hip Hop without the people coming together to share a common joy through our united taste and art.

Without that, there are no smiles.

OUTRO

But that's not what this is.

This is,

Just Us In Culture Everyday Seeing More In Life Experiences,

Discovering the joy,

Sharing the art,

Breaking bread,

and Playing in culture.

Hip Hop is our Juice,

To Just Sip & SMILE together, 

Forever,

and the party continues,

with love.

Therefore Just Sip & Smile, 

Your first sample.

One Love,

D.J.

PS: the answer to the question?

You see us smilin, right.

Below are some extra SMILES to close out.

Stay blessed.