The Angel Blog | No Gravity… |
Firmly ensconced in finishing the album… This week DJ Drez dropped in to add cuts ‘n flava to a couple of tracks. We always have such a laugh working together, exchanging techie, geeky tips, talkin’ yoga and other practices for staying sane in the membrane – and on this occasion texting a happy birthday message to Ab Rude. Here’s a peak into this session…
The film struck such a chord with the UK’s youth in ‘06 when it was first released, but it’s only just getting a U.S. release this month and it will be fresh to an American audience. There is still much nostalgia for the film in the UK, with both “WEST 10 LDN” airing this year by the same production team of director, Menhaj Huda and writer, Noel Clarke (myself included as composer) and the film’s sequel, “AdULTHOOD”, which built on “KiDULTHOOD’s” success and took it into the top 10 UK box office for a month this past summer…
So with renewed excitement about the film, I revisited the opening theme and looked for a way to bring it up front and in your face for ‘08. This time it doesn’t need to sit behind dialogue, setting the tone for the film, it can just stand loud and proud… When I was in the process of writing and recording the score for the film, I was working in LA, uploading quicktime movies for the director, Menhaj Huda to download and check out while he was in London. After an initial batch of cues I had a good feel for Huds’ (Menhaj Huda’s) sensibilities and when I sent him the quicktime movie with the original theme, I could hear the excitement in his voice as he said “I can’t wait to open my film with this piece of music”. Well, now – rewind and come again… with a fresh take.
Yesterday morning as I read that Proposition 8 had passed, it already got me questioning the vastness of the perceived shift in consciousness that I hoped was real… All of a sudden I realize that I have taken my own tolerance for granted… racism and prejudice are still pervasive and it blows my mind. With every step forward there are still reminders that we have a long way to go… and this doesn’t negate the monumental hurdle we have just surmounted and how healing Obama’s presidency can be for our country. It’s just a sobering reminder that we need to drop the concept of ‘us’ and ‘them’ and keep on evolving as humans.
I’ve never felt the need to speak publicly about my political leanings… Besides, when we’re not in the middle of an election, Americans don’t usually discuss politics on a daily basis, at least not like my European friends do. It’s a cultural thing…
But yesterday was like no other day in my life… and the enormity of this perceived massive shift in American consciousness was not only inspiring, it instilled such a sense of calm and a genuine feeling of oneness that I felt compelled to express it in this blog. I’ve never thought of Obama as a “black” candidate. I wasn’t oblivious to the haters, but that didn’t have any meaning for me… I saw an eloquent man; thoughtful, intelligent, precise, a poised speaker, someone, who we could depend on to make important and rational decisions on behalf of our ailing country and someone we could proudly call our leader, if elected. As I watched the crowds listening to Obama’s speech last night it hit me really hard that the all of the people (both leaders and civilians) who spent years struggling and fighting for suffrage and civil rights in this country have just received the ultimate validation with this victory… and I’m so moved by this and so grateful that this has happened in my lifetime.
To know that we will finally be represented in the global community by a man of this caliber, after years of a leadership filled with incompetence, denial and lies is a huge relief to me. Clearly I’m not alone as friends from all over the world have been calling and writing to send impassioned congratulations… it’s just incredible.