Coming Down the Line

Today is yet again a new day.  Too many things to write about and time has once again punched me in the face and knocked me out.  However, I am here now and I am writing.

Too many things are going on at The Way of MK Headquarters.  It's like a bee hive over here with all the buzzing and working on the goal that needs to be achieved.

Mongkok is getting hot these days.  Summer is in full blast and a typhoon is brewing in the South China Sea and looks to smack us right in the forehead. 

Bring it I say.  Too many times there has been high typhoon signals and really they aren't that bad.  A little bit of damage on some signs and some flooding around town.  Not that I don't mind getting days off of work and things like that, but they are that bad.

The surreal sound of the city during one of these T8's or T10's is something to capture on film or really remember the sound, smell and feel of the streets when everything is closed, except for 7-11.  Dark clouds cover the city like a blanket and gusts of wind whip around corners and throw the cockroaches through the air.  It really is something to witness.

With all of this, Mongkok is the place to be.  Aside from 7-11 being open, you can always find some Cha Chan Tang (local restaurant) open to get some food.  I usually stock up a bit beforehand and ALWAYS hit up the local VCD shop to get a few flicks to keep me company.

Tomorrow will be no different.  Providing that it really does come during a time when I need to be somewhere and that somewhere cancels due to a T8 or higher signal.  Often, it looks like it's going to come straight for us and then turns and takes it destruction elsewhere.  Damn Mother Nature!

If it does hit, I will go out and capture some of Mongkok's views under the shroud of dark cloud coverage.

The finish line of one race is near and the start of another is about to begin.   

The Way of MK

9 Years of the MK

Wow-- It's been 9 years of living in Mongkok. I moved to this lovely little village on August 8th 2002 and it has changed a bit, but more importantly, I have changed a lot.

Mongkok is still the shopping and eating capital of Hong Kong in my eyes. All transport to every major area of Hong Kong can be found in Mongkok. No matter what it is that you're looking to buy, you can most likely find it in Mongkok. Food -- forget about it -- there are restaurants on top of restaurants on top of restaurants.. Night life fun, now depending on what type of fun you're looking to find, Mongkok has just about everything covered. I think there is still a disco just off Shanghai street behind the CLP building, but I will have to check on that. KOK is everywhere in the MK and bars are also in every corner of MK. Cafe's --haha- too many if you ask me but you're not asking..

Maybe your thinking why is it that I love Mongkok so much?? It is or has been rated as the most densely populated residential area in the world. So, needless to say it is a bit crowded. There are buses, taxi's, cars and minibuses everywhere, so needless to say the air quality is not a reason to move into the area but more of a reason to move out. It also has the highest crime rates of all the districts of Hong Kong and is notoriously known for crime and Triad activity. So --- Why?

I think it's a combination of all of the above mentioned components of what make Mongkok Mongkok. At anytime of the day or night you can hit the streets and find what you're looking for. If you worked and lived in Mongkok, you really would have little reason to leave the area unless forced too.

How well do you know Mongkok?? Most people have very little knowledge of where to go in MK for the things that they are looking for.. Most people come and go and stay on the same streets and window shop at the same stores time and time again. But you really need to delve into Mongkok and start going into random buildings that have some businesses in them. You would be surprised to find off the wall book shops, music shops, obscure cafe's, music rooms that are extremely cheap or even free if you go in an chat a bit and the list goes on and on. Everyone wants to do business in Mongkok simply because of the number of people that come to the district that people work off the volume equals success equation. Sometimes that works and sometimes people open in too obscure of places and have little funds or resources to get the word out about their business. So, the next time you're in MK, try to just go into a building that you've not been in before and start at the top floor and walk your way down to each floor. You will be surprised as to what you will find.

I guess that's it for now.. I know that I have written the following words before and I have all the right intentions at the time, but sometimes time just isn't on my side. But here it goes again...... I will try to keep a regular writing habit on this here site and really crack some good words and pics of Mongkok and my adventures in and out of MK... The future and past does have some great opportunities and stories. I just need to convert them from my handwritten journal to this digital format..

So, Peace for now--

The Way of MK

SADE

She is back... I have waited soooo long for her to drop another gem on the world. And there are some real Sade gems on the simple 10 track hit. I am a child of the 80's and while music was speaking to me at a very young age in the 70's, 1984 stands out in my mind of memories the most. I guess it's because maybe my conscience started to come into its own then.. So, Smooth Operator was a major cut of '84. Sade hit the scene hard that year and music was just finishing the transition from the 70's, so all kinds of groups were coming out with all kinds of distinct sounds and rhythm's. She really hit at the right time for everyone to embrace her sound and her look. Then in '85 she dropped Diamond Life to really put herself into the mix for good as both albums sold millions and millions of copies. Remember people used to go to the store and actually use money to buy albums and cassettes. From there she gave the world even more with Stronger Than Pride in '88 which also was a hit from the gate. Now, here are 3 albums that she and her band put out that were consistent and straight up solid cuts through and through. And from there what does Sade do?? She drops another gem in Love Deluxe in '92. So now, here is an entire generation that was pre-teen when she first dropped and are now in their sexual prowess days and she goes and drops an album like that.. It, like the others, continued to sell millions upon millions of copies. People when hearing a Sade song on the radio would reminisce about that person that they were dating at such in such time and so forth. She really locked down the love grooves of the 80's and 90's in so many ways.
Now, Soldier of Love is out and without me even needing to check, I am willing to bet that it's at the top of the charts worldwide. Sade is 52 years old now and looks basically the same as she did in 1984. Her voice hasn't withered and she hasn't gained 75 pounds in the 10 years since her last gem. Thank you Sade for you being you..
The Way of MK's top cuts from Soldier of Love are (in no particular order):
The Moon and the Sky
Soldier of Love
Morning Bird (short and sweet)
Long Hard Road
In Another Time
The Safest Place


The Way of MK

CNY

The time is now--- CNY is here and will kick off on February 14th. It's a great holiday and cultural event in Hong Kong and especially MK.. We at the Way of MK are getting things right as well. Everyone has to clean their houses before the new year starts.. You don't want to leave any dirt (negativity) in the house for the new year.. Could be some bad dirt-- Could just be that feeling that you get when you wake up knowing that the whole house is clean. On the street -- MK is loaded more so than ever for the lead up of the holiday.. Stores open a bit earlier and stay open later than the normal 3am.. Red everywhere and people walking through the streets carrying flowers.. Another aspect of the CNY is the flower or mini-orange trees.. Another play on the feeling and psychology of when you wake up on that first day of the lunar new year. You now have a whole clean house feeling topped with the feeling of fresh flowers and a new life/energy welcoming you to the new year... Then you gotta get your positive expressions by the door or around the house. Things that say enter and exit in peace, the new year will bring you happiness, the new year will bring you wealth, the new year will bring you health and the list goes on and on.. So now your waking up with a clean house feeling, a flower power energy and now to top it off, you throw in some positive expressions around the house to pump you up... But wait..... there's more....When it all kicks off.... All you have to do is say some positive expression to people and they hand you money.. Real money.. Now if your married, then you need to give money to people that say these positive expression to you.... But if someone is older than you, you can also get some of that loot.. So nooooww, you're waking up with: whole house clean feeling
flower power (positive energy from a living object)
positive expression's on your walls
chances to give and receive money (always feels good
to give)
How can you not like that action? But wait.....there's more... You're off work for at least 3 days. This year 4 because of the Saturday.. Now, there are lots of people who work for companies that close for upwards of a month AND often bosses get a bit generous with loot for the employees... Can it get any better? If you like to gamble a bit, there's more Mahjohng (MJ) going on in this city for 3 days then there are.....I don't what to compare it to but there's a lot and often for a lot of people it will be the only days out of the whole year that they would play... We here at the Way of MK like some MJ action from time to time... This holiday offers a lot of history and culture. It wasn't created with the commercial aspect motivating it, though there are ways to capitalize off of it. CNY has so much of a purity to it that you can't help but to like/love it. Lion Dancing going on all over the place and people feeling good..
Gung Hei Faat Choi from the Way of MK

Backstage

Alright-- I'm backstage right now getting ready to get out on stage and hit'em hard. It's been a minute since I've gotten out there but it's time to get it on. Back here doing my push-ups and pull-ups Bronx Bartendaz style.. I'm due-- I've been putting it together-- Get Ready

The Way of MK

MC Yan

MC Yan--- Just to give a bit of info on this man. MC Yan was the front man of the now disbanded LMF. A great group that rocked the scene in HK for pretty much all of the 90's. As I said in my previous post, LMF was really ahead of their time and HK people couldn't feel them. If they were to come out now, they would be welcomed with open arms. MC Yan never stopped Hip Hop from coming out of him even after the group split. He is with out a doubt Hong Kong's father of Hip Hop. I have put a link to one of the videos with Yan on here so that you can see a bit of what he is about. It's about the art and your heart!!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEAVER LOWELL THE LIVING LEGEND!!



The Way of MK

Hong Kong Hip Hop

Okay-- Now this is whats up. This is a reason why I wanted to finally set up a blog. I want to be able to help the emerging Hong Kong Hip Hop scene. When I moved to Hong Kong in August 02', I opened a record and clothing shop called Hip Hop USA-Hong Kong. It was in Chic Castle in Mongkok of course and did very well from day one. In many ways there wasn't a shop like it in all of Hong Kong. The records went like crazy and the clothing was going as well. Really the only reason for the closure of the shop was due to a clash of differences with my partner.

At any rate--- the big thing at that time was the very small scene wanted to take in everything that was coming out. You have to remember that Hong Kong was a British Colony for 99 years. And for music --- the Brits brought house and trance music to the joint. So Hong Kong has never had a Hip Hop scene to speak of. A pioneering group called LMF hit the scene in the early-90's but were ahead of their time. They were Hong Kong's only Hip Hop voice. But Hong Kong people weren't ready for them. And because they weren't ready ------- the group disbanded and fans were left in a city with only house, trance and Canto-pop......well, all right and some Canto-Opera!!

Back to when I had arrived in 02'---- The scene was weak-- I was spinning at lots of venues in HK, but would leave every spot disappointed every time. I would spin down right classic Hip Hop cutts and the GP wouldn't do anything but look at me with ?marks going through their minds. I had on many occasions been asked to put on some Britney Spears or other just as satisfying singer or group on a declared Hip Hop night... How do you expect me to feel with someone climbs up to the DJ booth and request that?? It was hard -- and for that I stopped spinning in clubs in HK. I was so disappointed and decided to let HK learn for itself and it has learned a lot in my absence. And there is still soooo much to learn and now some unlearn!!!

Hong Kong is now starting to get some Rap groups out there. I think with Jin spending more time here in the city, he will raise the bar a bit. And then there are now groups like 24Herbs, Left, Masta MIC, Justice League, Fama (with MC Yan) and some others. They are now somewhat the pioneers of Hong Kong Rap music. Their skill may not be on that of the level that we are used to hearing from the states but they are getting it together. I think the there are 2 elements that are lacking in the HK scene. Number 1 is the lyrical skills. I mean you can't just go Canto and you can't just go English or Mandarin. For Hong Kong to excel --- you need to blend the two or three together --- It would be something that only Hong Kong had and could easily transcend across borders. Number 2 is conscience lyrics. HK people have different struggles than those in the States or Europe. Write about something that has some substance and a message.

This to me is the way to break it down--- Hong Kong is now like a surfer getting ready to drop in on a massive wave. It will come down to the cats that can stay standing and fighting that will be on top 5,10,15 years from now.. HK cats need to stop thinking about a contract to make $ and instead focus on the art and culture of Hip Hop. Find that Hip Hop soul that is laying and waiting here in HK. Cultivate the skill and put it out there.... Make the music from the heart, not because you think you will make cream and become famous.....

The Way of MK