THE LENNY BRISCOE II REPORT

 WHERE DOES ART COME FROM by ANTHONY MEINDL We’re creatures of habit. We seek routine and safety. That’s why creating art is a mysterious process for everyone. Mysterious. Mystery occurs outside of our safety zones – in the unknown. We’re taught from an early age that the unknown is a scary and unsafe place to be. It’s unfamiliar. It involves risk. So we do everything we can to prevent going there. Even though going there is exactly where we need to go as artists. Deep down we all crave it. Desire it. The thrill-seeker. The adventurer. The painter. The poet. The actor. The writer – All know that any expansion and growth in life, all discoveries, all creative victories have only occurred by stepping out into the darkness, out into that which is unfamiliar. Look at your own life. Anything that you’ve accomplished that has been meaningful or significant or fulfilling has required that you first step into that which is foreign. The unwritten page. The blank canvas. Th

   In an era where Macklemore and Lil' B and Future (what kind of a name is that anyway?) are hogging the Hip-Hop spotlight, it comes as a bit of fresh air to moonwalk down memory lane and dig from the vaults, a classic unconventional paragraph by one of the best to do it - none other than Jay Z.     A decade plus ago, Jay-Z(now Jay Z, without the need for a hyphen) signed on Brownsville's favourite veterans M.O.P (i.e. Mashed Out Posse not Monkeys On Parole) on to the ROC.     Just Blaze, who still had his dreadlocks then, was on fire and had dropped a blazing instrumental for "You Don't Know" on the classic BLUEPRINT. Jay Z killed that beat but perhaps, feeling there was more he could do with it, recycled it for The BLUEPRINT II - The Gift and The Curse.   The "Big Homie" invited Billy Danze and old Lil' Fame to be on the record.  The song was their first outing as members of the ROC-A-FELLA team and it came as no surprise that they went ha