Neighbors Insurance Crusade

The beginning of 2013 saw the city of Chicago author several stories of pain and mindless violence. This year, it seems there are many citizens out there that want to help co-write an alternate, more positive ending for the Windy City.

Let me introduce you to DeMario Trent and the Neighbors Insurance Crusade. DeMario is on a mission to help make sure 10,000 children and young adults in Chicago (particularly in African-American communities) are covered under life insurance policies by the end of 2014. His ultimate goal is to see this number reach 100,000 by 2020

Daily Throwback: Erykah Badu - Bag Lady

The Shuffle God seems to subliminally still be on his New Year's kick with this classic from Mrs. 3000, Mrs. Sense, Mrs. Electronica, Mrs. Badu. Leave that 2013 baggage behind, and create new 2014 fresh baggage. Just playing...you're welcome.

Album Stream: Del The Funky Homosapien - Iller Than Most

Earlier Del dropped a new single, 10 Paces. Now he just said f*ck it, and released the whole album. Here's what 1/3 of Deltron 3030 had to say about the pleasant surprise:

In the words of Billy Ray Valentine, "Merry New Year!" You're welcome.

5th Annual Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Fest

You don't have to wait until summer in order to enjoy a good ol' fashioned Chicago music festival. The fest season starts next week when the 5th Annual Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Fest kicks off at the Concord Music Hall.

I know what you're thinking, "what the hell do you know about bluegrass music!?!?" Not much, but I'm sure many of you reading don't either, so this is the perfect opportunity for all of us to get familiar with this forever evolving genre.

Many people associate the term "bluegrass" as being a younger sibling to country and western music, and while that statement might hold some merit to it, country is only a small fraction of what influences can be heard in today's bluegrass. If you listen closely you will hear traditional sounds from many European countries (Ireland, England, and Scotland to name a few), a sprinkle of of folk music, and even a splash of jazz.

Daily Throwback: Jay Z - Girls, Girls, Girls

The Shuffle God wishes everyone a happy new year by giving you all the gift of Hov. This gem was a stand out on Jay's legendary The Blueprint album. I loved this album and this song. I remember not having a job and being broke at the time the album was released (September 11th, 2001...the album Bin Laden couldn't stop) and contemplating just running up in Wal-Mart and strong arming a copy. Now that's a fan.

The only thing that disappointed me about this song was that Biz Markie, Slick Rick, and Q-Tip were all featured on the hook, so I always envisioned a remix with them all having verses that never happened. Wishful thinking I guess. The song is still great. Till this day, I will still blurt out "Jigga man, why you treat me like animuhl?" for no particular reason. You're welcome.

December Misses

With all the holiday hub-bub and end of the year lists, it looks like I might have missed the opportunity to hit you with some new music.  There was a lot that I missed...a lot. Some heavy hitters put in work to end 2013 right.

Most of these songs could have been featured in their own post, but I was just too damn lazy to keep up. For those of you that think you are in complete understanding of my musical preferences, don't hate me for my number one song (I know River won't). It was the most anticipated song of the season, and it just about lived up to all its expectations (the hook could have been better, but that's just how it goes sometimes). You're welcome.

New Year...New Name...New Game

Happy New Year everybody! Many of you may already know that I am not one for making New Year's resolutions, so please believe that what has taken place is in no way some fake ass promise to you or myself to be better. I mean let's face it, I'm as good as it gets, so the only promise I can make is to give you more. I've had this plan in motion for while, it's just a coincidence the name change happened on January 1st, so suck it

When I started Conscious Residue, it was mainly just release therapy for myself, but the more I wrote, the more curious I grew as to what this could evolve to. I was able to provide a space for other creative and like-minded individuals to express their thoughts on various subjects and contribute great content (Dustine, Tim, and Jeff), and two others who claim they will eventually write something for the blog (I'm not going to name any names, but for argument's sake, let's just call them Allycia and DeMario). With these new partnerships, CR was able to get over 12,000 unique views in 2013.


I know what you're thinking, "12,000!?!?! That ain't shit! I seen a kitten wearing a bow-tie and tube socks on YouTube get 12 million views in 2 days." To that I say blow me. I think 12,000 views is not bad for a medium (the Internet) that is geared towards a partially illiterate audience and having a strict marketing budget of posting on Facebook. My goal is to at least double that in 2014.

Which brings me to the name change, #Culture. Even though I love the name Conscious Residue, it just didn't have that ring to it like major online media brands Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, or Grantland do. Let's face it, Conscious Residue sounds like an album title from a pretentious jazz artist or a new strand of marijuana some hippy in Montana cultivated.

Yes, technically the name #Culture dumbs it down, but it still gets our point across. In Twitter terms, the hashtag (#) means trending or the current hot topic. Not only will we showcase trending topics, but I hope to have #Culture itself trending in 2014.

We will still rant about dumb pop-culture nonsense, hit you with the standards (Week Sauce, The A.D.D. Report, Daily Throwbacks, etc...), and give you a few new things (WacGyver Podcast and live event reviews). Who knows, we might be able to get Jeff Donovan to complete his 31 Horror Movies in 31 Days reviews list...wishful thinking.

I'm excited about the work I plan to put into this blog this year, and hopefully one or two of you will enjoy the outcome. For the first time this year...you're welcome.