Thirty-eight weeks into 2010. This A.M. Soleil, Retrospectively project is only one blog a week, but putting down something meaningful each week in addition all the new stuff I’m working on definitely keeps me on my toes. The fall equinox already has me reflecting on 2010 like its December 31st.
SOULAJU will perform our last show of 2010 at the Boulder Theater on Oct. 1st. Bill includes us, The Reminders, and Les Nubians. People still needing tix can pick those up here: http://bouldertheater.com/event_detail.php?id=1319. We have a few video shoots coming up and some big youth advocacy events/projects in October, then SOULAJU goes on hiatus until February 2011.
During this hiatus, I’ll be getting back into my solo element. DJ Icewater will be putting out a 45’ single that features my vocals. I have some long-awaited collabs lined up with Denver and Albuquerque emcees and producers.
This necessary shift takes me back to the October 2008.
Video edited by Adrian H. Molina. Filmed by Molina and Amy J. Iwasaki in Bahia, Brazil (Aug 2010).
“Timeless” by SOULAJU w/ DJ Icewater, released on the debut full-length album SOULAJU, March 23rd, 2010.
A.M. Soleil, Retrospectively is a 52-week blog series in 2010, tracing back five years of independent music by Molina.
Time in Brazil
Aju and I had an opportunity to spend 3 weeks in Brazil this summer. Aju danced at Escola de Danca for two weeks with American and Brazillian dancers, studying Brazilian cultural traditions, Afro-Brazilian dance, Candomblé rites and the Orixás.
For me, the trip was a break from the pounding of time that I feel in my life, my work, my existence here in the states. My only goal was to shoot some video footage for a possible DIY music video. Otherwise, I was on my own time. No laptop, no cell phone, no schedule, no to-do lists.
“A Reflection of Hip-Hop” appeared on Representin’ 4 Life EP by Adrian H. Molina aka Mo Brown (2007), CHiTT Productions
I’ve been using this acapella piece as a crowd pleaser since 2005. I spit the rhyme for the first time at an open mic night at Coal Creek Coffee House in Laramie, WY. I recorded this track in 2006 with Will Ross of CHiTT Productions. We recorded in my bedroom, turned the room upside down and inside out: makeshift studio, mattresses pushed up against the windows and the walls. Borrowed mic, laptop setup, homemade pop filter.
We were very meticulous about the details. Everything had to be right. Unplugged the refrigerator and the other appliances in the kitchen even though they were all the way down the hall. We didn’t want the reverberation of the machines’ lull fuckin’ with our energy or our soundwaves. We paused when trucks drove by and scrapped the takes when we felt that minor noises outside might cloud the sound quality of the recording.
Reflections of the Sun Pt. 3 (Son Como Sangre) appears on the album Sacred Paths by Asia Jazz Project featuring Molina Soleil & Aju (2009)
Jazz meets Latin Reggae meets sultry Spanish vocals and spoken word poetry on the third Reflection of the Sun, highlighting Aju’s multi-faceted abilities as an vocalist, as well as Asia’s diverse sound.
Asia Fajardo-Wright is an avant-garde saxophonist and composer who leads Asia Jazz Project, plays in the Latin-Reggae band Mono Verde, and writes and produces original cultural and musical productions.
Sacred Paths – Soulaju’s 2009 collaboration with Asia – is very theme-oriented and theatric in its musicality. My hope is that Sacred Paths leads to some experimental modern dance productions in coming years. I would like to see a director/choreographer take Sacred Paths to another level, adding physical movement to these compositions.
Reflections of the Sun Pt. 2 (Life Rituals) appears on the album Sacred Paths by Asia Jazz Project featuring Molina Soleil & Aju (2009)
Listening to Aju’s Life Rituals Reflection I am reminded of the importance of rituals, personally, socially, and culturally. Not so much the Mannequin/mundane rituals of day-to-day life, but the spiritual rituals, love rituals, appreciation of moments that echo the circular and spiraling nature of this life.
Reflections of the Sun Pt. 1 (Solar Flare) appears on the album Sacred Paths by Asia Jazz Project featuring Molina Soleil & Aju (2009)
During weeks 32 – 34 of A.M. Soleil, Retrospectively, I get to write about and reflect on pieces that I did not write or record. Reflections of the Sun parts 1, 2 and 3 were written by Aju, recorded with Asia Jazz Project. These Reflections reflect, compliment, and contextualize my Letters to the Moon.
The Letters to the Moon and Reflections of the Sun explore the cosmic dance between the sun and the moon. This relationship has been revered and celebrated cross-culturally throughout human history. Life on Earth could not exist without the sun or the moon and the solar balance they create on the planet.
“Skydreamer” by Adrian H. Molina w/ Mannequin Rituals featuring Helen Chanthongthip, Up Before the Sunrise, released by CHiTT Productions (2008)
Skydreamer is the opening track off Up Before the Sunrise, my first full-length album. It was a dream. I had been writing rhymes for 10 years, constantly envisioning what my first album might look like. What would it sound like? What would I say if I had one chance, one album, to say something to the world?
I started writing material for Up Before the Sunrise during the summer of 2006. I had been through a lot during the years prior. In 2005 I left the life I was living. It was a life that wasn’t mine. It was beating me down, slowly murdering me, and it probably would have killed me, mentally and spiritually, if not physically. I faced my demons, handled my business, then tested out my wings.
This is one of two tracks SOULAJU released with DJ Ceiba for “My America”, a benefit compilation for Papers the movie, released July 4th, 2009. The other SOULAJU/CEIBA collaboration is “Believe It”.
Sending love out to Brotha Sean aka DJ Ceiba, who recently became a father. Ceiba is a Harlem-based drummer, DJ, and producer. He puts together jarring, head-nodding beats, fusing Reggae, Latin, and Hip-Hop influences. Ceiba flirts with some samples but relies mostly on his own musicianship.
Switchin’ up the vibe and pulse. Recent weekly Retrospectives explored the lighter side of my work. A.M. Soleil, Retrospectively now moves back into harder-hitting territory.
Everyone’s heard the song “Gettin’ Mine.” Every rapper’s got a Gettin’ Mine track. The world is in a Gettin’ Mine state of mind. This is my version of Gettin’ Mine.
I was in Brooklyn when DJ Icewater sent this beat. This was before Aju and I were SOULAJU, before we decided to make an album together. It was a winter day in January 2009. I had the track on loop in my headphones, staring at the thick snowflakes falling outside Aju’s apartment window in Bedstuy.
No doubt about it, this was a love song…
Updated sometime in 2011
Love comes and goes but it always remains the same, true to its essence: Love. We’re always looking, wanting, hoping, wishing, praying… for that one true love. Some of us find it, some of us do not. For some of us, there isn’t meant to be just one. Some people come into our lives to help us prepare for the one.
It’s a tricky game, not supposed to be a game, but so often a game, even when no one is getting played. The game of life. Love is.
Love is… a beautiful song, to be remembered always….
A music video was supposed to come out of this. I spent a lot of time, energy, and money trying to make this happen. DJ Icewater flew out to Denver from NYC. We went through the whole shoot… dope ass footage… but months passed and shit fell through on the editing end. A disaster. A mess of egos and bad business. Unintended complications on the part of some. Toxic intentions on the part of others. Ultimately not meant to be.
There was never supposed to be a visual. But the song lives on.
This was one of the people’s favorites. “Love Is, Molina that’s the jam!” I was often told back in the Soulaju days.
