Yo if anyone’s out there, it’s been a while, and a lot has changed. Life can really bring you from here to there and back and make you wonder how the hell we even got here. It’s always times like this do i ever come back to “dying” media and air out my mind because I feel like another shift is in the air. I was just reminiscing with my best friend, Ngia, that too bad Myspace was gone and took a lot of our childhood out with it. There were years of art and “life” on that site, just as much as on this site. It’s crazy years ago thinking that was the beginnings of an internet media and we were there for it at the time. Also crazy thinking of all the times spent on AIM has come and gone. And if all that has came up and left, what else will to? What else stays behind? What should we intentionally bookmark to make sure we leave something behind? ----And when it’s all said and done, does it even exist? The internet exists in binary code yet we hold so much weight in our world. It’s truly crazy to wrap my mind around it because we still very much have experiences in this world that doesn’t really exist. So what about the world that does exist? How are our lives right now huh? There are moments in the barbershop where folks just dive into their phones because they’re tuned into that world. Into some digital screen ya know? I’m not baggin on it right now.. But I’m saying it’s truly manifested its presence in our world, you wouldn’t be reading this right now if you weren’t tuned in. This internet world has manifested itself so deeply into our societies that we’re hyper conscious about it. Over stimulated with so much media from all over the world at such a fast pace. Everything really can exist everywhere all at the same time. I’m speaking for myself right here, but I’ve enjoyed my many detours away and trying to grasp on to whatever I have left, here in the real world. After close to a decade away from making any serious art, I ended up taking a life changing shroom trip a year after finishing barber college and unexpectedly got back into art. I also chalked myself up as a has been, and I believed myself to being a barber because I felt like that was the life I chose and I had to let everything else go. Young Rich, there was so much for you to learn. There’s a lifetime’s worth of lessons waiting for you. Coming back into my art forms and finding myself and my identity through it all has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my adult life. But this world of mine, where does it exist? It has always lived in the corner of my old mobile home. It has always lived in my small room where from my corner I’ve always drawn out and painted since I was a kid. It has always lived in this corner of my world, where the music has always played. I’ve went my entire life in this corner and brought it with me to the rest of the world I’ve seen. From constant practice here at my desk for years I’ve always had my art and it was always my outlet. All of a sudden in another world, I have to ask this question right now... IF AN ARTIST PAINTS A MASTERPIECE AND DIDN’T BOTHER TO POST IT, DID IT EXIST? Call me selfish all you want but I would rather horde my art away and keep it to myself than let the other world decide shit for me. I’ve always felt like this world we live in acts like everything has to be commodified and side hustles should be made. This is coming from a hustler, but some things are just more sacred than that and goes deeper than the money. I want to share my art but for my own sake. I want to share my life but my way. I didn’t work on these skills to change the world. I didn’t work on these skills to change yooouurr world. I hate labels and I just want to paint all over them. I felt like sharing my art world with the internet made folks think they knew me or think they knew what I wanted to do with it. It made folks think that I could maybe make something for them, because of course I caaan... but nobody ever asked if I even want to. Talk to someone who actually wants to do that shit. I became even more selfish. I kept things to myself and kept working. It made me feel at home when it’s all mine. Once again, life can bring you from here to there and wonder how the hell we got here... I’m ready to share that world again. This time, more intimately than ever before. I want to create stuff for me, for me soo harrd that if you cared, it would be for you. I don’t want to make any compromises just because of “marketing” or “networking”. I lowkey don’t give a fuck about that. Not being a hater of the world and how this game is played today. I’m just not a promotor of any kind. I’m a creator of all kinds. Let me do my thang, I’ll let the world do its thang and things will pan out the way they do. These past 10 years have been a full cypher around with these experiences and only now do I feel like the Richmond I was always supposed to be is ready to manifest. The Jack of All Trades is ready to Master them All. Shouts out tumblr. Always been the place for me to air this piece out back when I didn’t know shit about how to use my words. I’m thankful for my old lives that got me here. It’s time to bring all these worlds together. Constantly leaving behind old lives and picking up new names. This is the Cutty Flamenko era. It’s time to go out there and build a ship worth seeing the world. SUPER!
