swingstateofmind

 I feel very lucky.

I realize the amount of freedom and access I had was truly a blessing for a writer.

The platform Robert Duffy built is somewhat unprecedented in Columbus. In many ways through his network wizardry —-both human and digital—Duffy created a national media presence for Columbus music and Columbus-based writers that had not existed before.

Never in my life would I would I imagine being quoted in legendary graffiti artist Rammellzee’s obit in the New York Times. As a young graffiti writer , I remember reading about Rammellzee in IGT and listening to him rap in Style Wars and Wild Style. His concept as letters as weapons, and the performance artist aspect of a graffiti writer always stuck with me.  Please allow me to use the graffiti reference to explain my context when I came to donewaiting. I had been a graffiti artist for over a decade. I was a successful Hip Hop promoter.I was the Hip Hop buyer at a record store, and a free-lance writer in the local alt-weeklies.

Duffy asked me to be part of donewaiting shortly after my friend , and local Hip Hop icon Daymon Dodson died. Robert Duffy came to me as a friend, and also as a strong advocate for my voice to exist. I don’t think either one of us really knew what exactly we were getting into.

I approached blogging with a complete naivety to the fact that anyone would actually read me. I knew that donewaiting had an audience but I assumed that people don’t really care what some dood thinks.

They were there for show listings.

But just as graffiti has a way bigger audience than most art because it’s open traffic to all, donewaiting gave me greater exposure than I ever imagined.

I was just talking about what my friends and I were doing. I just happened to be in proximity of The Black Keys, RJD2, Blueprint, The Columbus Lo-fi movement, J-Rawls, Vile Gash, Get Right 614, Scott Niemett, PBJ, IOK and BSA. I know that sounds like name-drops but I really didn’t realize what I was in the middle of.

Duffy gave me a place to write about the lives of Daymon Dodson , DJ Przm, and Camu Tao when Columbus, Ohio’s Hip Hop community was taken some major hits.

This brings me to my notorious typos. At the time I viewed Internet writing as a performative art akin 70’s feminist writers. One could say I was a white male appropriating feminist writing techniques to cover black music. That wouldn’t be accurate but I am just trying to give you an idea where my head was at.

I sought to entertain, annoy and engage. So if I left a typo it was something of the moment; a flaw in the performance.

 Also, I arrogantly viewed a lot of bloggers as nerds that needed to go outside. So I had a rule  where I refused to have the Internet at my house or even a computer.

 In 2013, typos don’t come off as mischief. Everyone is on the internet. So a typo just looks like you are an old-person that does not know how to use technology.