I Wish My Brother George Was Here

G & Me, early '07

My homie George went out west last summer to partake of the milk of Alberta's flowing teet. Aside from being a talented and creative illustrator, he's a true humanitarian and a person I'm extremely lucky to have as a friend. I'm kind of just dropping this as a tribute post to him, to say whassup. We grew up together, got in trouble together, hosted radio together and have had many, many laughs.


In terms of hip hop, George got me back into to rap music at a good time. After a childhood infatuation with hip hop, I spent most of my teenage years just not identifying with much of it. Some of mine and Geo's earliest common ground in terms of music were Public Enemy, Beastie Boys and Led Zep, but we definitely diverged at some point. I loved Ice T and he loved Del. I loved DK, he loved Goldie. Neither of us ever loved Tag Team, to our credit.

One time in CEGEP, at a typically toxin-fueled Tuesday night house party at a friend's, Geo played me Splattitorium and Runnin' from The Pharcyde, and I started to take his advice on hip hop fairly seriously around that point.

Check out this wicked link I got off his blog, all kinds of info about this famous drum sample as it pertains to the Golden Ratio. That's the kind of dope shit this man has running through his head most of the time.


I'm taking this opportunity to list a number of things G has put me on to. I'd go so far as to say that Geo has helped shape who I am and what I take out and put into the world. That's what good friends do, it's to be hoped. If it weren't for him I'd probably be a roadie for GrimSkunk or something.


In no particular order, here's a bunch of random shit G has gotten me into over the years:

Steel Pulse
Philip K. Dick
Black Star
House
Wendy's v. other fast food chains
Def Jux
Ralph Steadman
The (original) OfficeThe Internet
Coca Cola Zero
Trailer Park Boys
R.Crumb
Jay Electronica
Blu & Exile
Nilufar


Much love man. Get back here soon.