Reset Button

I don't know how many old heads still remember the gaming system known as Nintendo, but there was a button that cats hated to have to press, because usually the only time this button would be pushed is when things got completely out of control or the game happened to freeze and no further progress could be made.

In the game called Life, I just pushed the reset button.

Though I'm feeling a way about having to make such a drastic decision, I have no regrets, misgivings, or second thoughts for taking such an action.

I wish that me and Her could have made it work, but the truth of the matter is that work still needs to be done on the work-in-progress that is Omar Sharif Arthur.
I'm on a track to completely rebuild my life from the ground up, which is crazy considering all of the sacrifices I've made since my Daughter blessed me with her presence. But relationships come and go, life goes on, and the war continues.

With that said, I burned the field that I toiled on in hopes of harvesting great rewards, and now I'm replanting....reassessing....rebuilding.

The good book tells us that the race goes not to swift nor the strong, but to those who endure, and I literally just had a Red Bull and Vodka, lol.

So now with my newfound wings, I'm flying...not to a set destination, but wherever the winds of destiny happen to carry me.

Happy Trails,

O

The Reset Button

Ahem,

Taking a break from the dramedy that is my life to post a quick blog. All things considered I've been better than some, and worse than others, so no complaints.

Finished YLRN3 so I'll be posting either individual tracks or the whole shebang up here for my imaginary fanbase to listen to. Self-deprecating humor aside, it's actually pretty good shit (Hi, Haters).

Other than that, still in GA (though I'm on tale of two cities status with my work/home situation), still getting my Daddy learning curve on (mini-me is on the verge of walking now!!!), and still perfecting the project that is Omar Sharif Arthur (26 years and counting...).

Just caught a second wind, so hopefully things should be turning around and settling into a more stable and positive situation, but with my luck...who knows.

"Game+Hustle...that means fuck ya..."

Catch up niccas,

O

Tweet, tweet, tweet...

Oh yeah...I tweet now.
www.twitter.com/ofeez

Bird's the word,

O.

All in a day's work...

Ahem,

Fun weekend...drove to Columbia, chillaxed with D.I.G. and Dtune (the triangle offense strikes again), recorded 20 songs, AND drove back to ATLanta...and that was all on Saturday.

But.....back to life, back to reality...which means job-hunting, diaper-changing, dinner-cooking, dish-washing, and basic family-manning.

Even took Mini-Me to the pool today to get her swim on...see?


All in a day's work...someone tell Cris Abrego to holla at me! (I'm sure someone will make some sense of that)

Living the dream,

O.

Pulse Check...

I am still alive and well...
Shit has been mad hectic, particularly as a result of this fucked economy, but all things considered I am counting my blessings:

Young Journee Gabrielle is 8 months, healthy, and soon-to-be walking.
Thanks to support from family the probation situation has been resolved and is now over.
Job situation is relatively stable as of today (I'm not gonna hold my breath on it, though).
And God Willing, I will begin recording Y'all Losing Right Now Vol. 3 this weekend, as I take some time to head back to SC get some ME time outside of the hustle and bustle of life in Metro Atlanta.

So all in all, the glass is still half-empty, but I'm content.
Some people don't even have the glass anymore...

Cheers,

O

Back to the Future...

Guess who's back in the A?

Moved back to Atl last weekend and have been getting settled in.

So far, I am extemely happy to be back.
I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing my daughter everyday, and being with my woman has improved our relationship immensely.

The sacrifice?
No more running the streets, clubbing crazy-like, and drinking like a fish.
Surprisingly, I'm not bothered by this in the slightest.

I always thought that being a father and mate would be too boring for me to ever handle.

Now that I'm in that space, I can say that the thrills I receive from waking up to my woman, and tucking my daughter in on the daily far surpass the mindless bullshit I was enveloped in for far too long.

Time to put away childish things.

Say goodbye to the bad guy,

O

Back to the Future...

Hello World,

The most sporadic blogger is here, and I'm here to report that I am on the verge of two life changes: one unexpected but HUGE, one anticipated but DOPE.

Both should be wrapped up in time for Cupid's day, so suffice to say moves will be made in roughly a week (Lord's Will).

So to those who talk with Omar or those who rock with OFeez, stay tuned...

Take that, take that...

O

Attention:

To whom it may concern:

I am now working on my new mixtape:

Y'all Losing Right Now Vol. 2

For those who haven't heard the first joint I'll be posting that soon.

Support local artists dammit!

I got a kid to feed...lol.

I'm focused man, tell Shawn Holla at me mannnn!

Still the best rapper in SC! (tru!)

Che-che-check out my melody,

O

Allow me to reintroduce myself...

A new year!
2008 was irony defined.

Uneventfully eventful.
Joyfully sorrow.
Unsatisfyingly content.
Progressively backwards. Gratifyingly insatiable.
I'm sure you get the point...

I had a baby girl.
I dealt with legal issues.
I made the best music of my life.
I got divorced.
I lost a great job.
I got another great job. I brought sexy back.
I was confronted with my ugly ways.

With all of the ups and downs that I experienced last year I'm approaching this new year with a new attitude.

Newfound focus.
Newfound confidence.
Newfound priorities.
Newfound love.

Most people approach a new 365 with a solitary resolution.
But for me, 2009 is all about the 'Re':

The Re-Up,
The Rebirth,
The Rekindling,
The Reintroduction.

I guess I got my swagger back,

O

New Mixtape On The Way...

Knocked out 14 songs over the weekend. Got some more mixing and tweaking to do, but should have 40+ mins of real rap out before the summer's over.

Y'all Losing Right Now Volume 1.

Omie's Home,

O

"Bitter" Vindication?

Barack Obama April 12, 2008:
"But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there’s not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of these small towns...the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them...so it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

NASHVILLE, Tennessee July 27, 2008:

A man who opened fire inside a church, killing two people with a shotgun hidden in a guitar case, was frustrated at being unable to find a job and blamed liberals and gays, police said on Monday.

"It appears that what brought him to this horrible event was his lack of being able to obtain a job, his frustration over that, and his stated hatred of the liberal movement," Knoxville Police Chief Sterling Owen told reporters of Sunday's incident at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church.

I'm not saying...I'm just saying,

O

My Current Mood...

Happy.
no need for excuses,
no urge for complaints,
no wanton desire to graze on greener pastures.
Simply full of complete contentment,
Simply Full,
simply...
Happy.

Down For The Count

There has been a very interesting turn of events concerning the results of the New Hampshire Primary, where Presidential Candidate Hilary Clinton defied the odds and beat Senator Barack Obama. Congressman Dennis Kucinich has requested a statewide recount of the election results, and is calling for a manual count of all of the ballots cast in the Primary.

The reason for this request is multi-fold: Polling data taken prior to the primary projected a sizable victory for Obama prior to the actual voting, and exit polls (which are traditionally representative of the actual results) also favored Obama. In fact, of all the candidates on the Democratic side, the only candidate whose actual results differed significantly from the exit poll data was Hilary Clinton, who pulled in 9% more support than exit polls indicated.

Also, a preliminary examination of the results by the Election Defense Alliance, a non-profit organization that works to uphold the validity and fairness of American elections, has raised some questions regarding the consistency and uniformity of the results in NH. While all of the votes were cast on paper ballots, a mixture of hand counting and optical scanning using Diebold machines were used to tally the results. It appears that the validity of the voting results obtained using the optical scanning may have been either skewed or misreported in Clinton's favor.

Bruce O'Dell, who is responsible for data analysis at the E.D.A., had this to say about their findings:

Theron Horton and I have confirmed that based on the official results on the New Hampshire Secretary of State web site, there is a remarkable relationship between Obama and Clinton votes, when you look at votes tabulated by op-scan versus votes tabulated by hand:

Clinton Optical scan 52.95%
Obama Optical scan 47.05%

Clinton Hand-counted 47.05%
Obama Hand-counted 52.95%

The percentages appear to be swapped. This seems highly unusual.

Here's another interesting tidbit that the data points out, of all the candidates, the ONLY person who gained support when comparing the optical scans against the hand counted ballots was....
Hilary Clinton. Hmmm...

In any event, Kucinich has already put up the money necessary to start the recount, so we'll see how things develop in the next few days/weeks. Things should get pretty interesting in the Granite State.

I'm not saying I'm just saying,
O

Cry Me A Winner...

I thought that it was an accepted fact of life that there is NO crying in Politics. However, in the New Hampshire Primary, a presupposed Obama victory was transformed into a slim Clinton win in the Granite State. Words cannot accurately define the way that I felt as I watched the poll results come in that night, and saw the effect that a near emotional breakdown could have on some portions of the American populace.

I won't argue on whether or not the show of emotion by Hilary was contrived, but the fact that the effect of people seeing a Presidential candidate on the verge of tears manifested itself in a substantial level of support at the voting booth is one of the reasons why I am beginning to lose faith in the American people, as well as this "Democracy" that we all are a part of. While I accept that the emotional component of humanity should always be accepted as a part of life, the fact that a sizable percentage of women in NH shifted towards Hilary following her emotional episode is laughable, pathetic, and a sign of the times.

For the record, I'm not sexist, chauvinistic, or the type of guy that feels that crying is a sign of weakness. But, the fact that within a 24-hour period, a candidate with an average lead in the polls of about 8 points would end up losing by 3 points, mainly due to a reactive influx of women voters in response to an emotional outburst, is just crazy to me.

Politics as Usual,
O

Working Sabbatical

I know I haven't updated the ole blog here in awhile, and I'll blame it on my job. Also, I've been feeling hugely uninspired in the past few weeks, which is crazy considering all of the major events that have gone on. I'll get right.

For now:
uninspired

adjective
1. having no intellectual or emotional or spiritual excitement;

Tell Me When To Go,
OSharif82

Tough Guy

bang,
OSharif82

Ed Bradley Remembered...

Ed Bradley, best known for his work on CBS' 60 Minutes, died on November 09, 2006 of Leukemia at the age of 65. A consummate professional, Bradley was a trailblazer in the field of journalism, characterized by his engaging personality, investigative approach, and of course, his earring. For decades, Bradley was a notable and prominent African-American journalist who served as an inspiration to many, including myself.

During the course of his career, Bradley won a number of awards, including 19 Emmy awards (Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 2003), a Peabody award, a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism award, and a Lifetime Achievement award from the National Association of Black Journalists. Bradley covered many controversial, influential, and historic events worldwide, ranging from the Vietnam War to the Columbine shooting.

He will truly be missed.


R.I.P.
OSharif82

Drinking the Koolaid...

"I wear a mean, dark pair of shades...and you can't see my eyes, unless my head is bent..."
-Jim Jones "We Fly High"

Around many a schoolyard, college campus, work place, or shopping mall, you are very likely to hear the word, "Ballin" yelled out at any given moment. You can blame this guy, Jim Jones, for that epidemic, courtesy of his hit single "We Fly High". And I have to admit, even I have begun to drink the Kool-Aid, and have been infected with Tourette syndrome of the Ballin variety.


Some people may remember that another Jim Jones (who happened to wear a mean, dark pair of shades as well) also had people drinking Kool-Aid in his day. 914 members of Jones' Peoples Temple cult committed mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana at the behest of Mr. Jones.

And although the modern-day Jim Jones is developing a cult-like following, his movement isn't likely to result in death (except of hip-hop, depending on who you ask). In my opinion, Jones has breathed life into the rap game, in resurrecting the New York rap scene on a national stage, and by his all-out challenge to the "CEO of Hip-Hop", Jay-Z.

And similar to the Jigga man's ability to set trends, Jim Jones has left a mark with his "Ballin" chant, in a "Giant" way.



no lie, you know it,
OSharif82

One Nation?

Looks like Bush is developing a bit of a headache. There's a good chance that Dubya could be experiencing a 2-year migraine, now that control of both the House and Senate are in the hands of the Democrats. For the first time since 1994, the Legislative branch of our fair, Federal government will be dominated by a Left-wing perspective, which should provide more of a balance to the agenda of our Commander-In-Chief.

Was the midterm election a referendum on President Bush? For the most part, yes. A president with an approval rating in the 30's isn't going to do much in terms of exciting the Party base. A high body count in the third year of a war that people are increasingly becoming sick of isn't going to help either.

But, was Tuesday a nationwide ringing endorsement of a liberal shift in our social conscious? No. People voted for change, and courtesy of a Two-Party system, the Elephants and Donkeys traded spaces in Washington.

And although new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is looking forward to "working in a confidence-building way with the president," I'm sure there will be quite a few political conflicts in the future.


An early casualty in this political war is Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld "resigned" (which in Washington means fired) and will be replaced with another guy with ties to Bush Sr., Robert Gates. So, only time will tell if Rumsfeld's resignation will result in big policy changes in Iraq.


So in spite of the momentous Congress Party shift, some questions still remain.
Are our voices as American citizens going to be heard better with a Democratic Congress?
Will there be more of a focus on the issues that are relevant to the middle-class and the working-class?
Will partisanship and party politics create gridlock in Washington, or will the President and Congress be able to acheive compromise on common goals?

show me what you got baby,
OSharif82

Numbers Don't Lie

Has anyone noticed that cats with huge singles, that get lots of radio and video airplay are not seeing a translation into solid record sales?

Young Dro's "Shoulder Lean" was a smash this year, yet he's only sold about 271,000 copies of his album, The Best Thang Smokin.

Sammie had a R&B hit, "My Girl" feat Sean Paul, yet he's only sold about 33,000 copies of his new joint.

Jibbs' hit (a song I personally hate, but alot of people love) "Chain Hang Low" sold over a million ringtones, but the kid has only sold 47,000 records.

Even customary heavy hitters are not moving units like they have in the past. Numbers for Ludacris (Release Therapy - 596,763), Diddy (Press Play - 230,912), and Outkast (Idlewild - 430,553) are WAY below the typical sales these artists have pulled in their career.

How will a hit-driven, Internet-dominated music business evolve, and how will that adaptation affect us fans? Will record labels begin to focus more on singles, to capitalize on the popularity of downloading one or two songs from an artist, as opposed to buying their album? Or will it force artists to make solid albums, instead of focusing on catchy trends or regional sounds to make hits?

Don't forget, Lupe Fiasco made a great album and has only sold 175,000 copies of his CD, while Yung Joc has sold almost 800,000 records, mainly on the strength of his single, "It's Goin Down."

I'm interested to see how this winter's lineup of artists will fare, in terms of actual CD sales.
The Game, Clipse, Snoop, Ghostface, Young Jeezy, Nas, and Jay-Z will all be dropping albums during November and December. Let's see how the 4th Quarter plays out.

game time,
OSharif82