bhyphen

My friend Justin's brother wrote this.

This is my brother's tribute to Meuwl...



When I was still in high school (maybe 16 years old), I was sitting around on a boring summer day with some friends. I don’t remember exactly who was there, but I am sure at least Adam Searls and Tim Dover were there. We were bored and probably doing something stupid and listening to music in Searls’ basement. Something about the music made me ask who it was that was rapping. Searls told me that it was this guy named Sam who lived down the street and I couldn’t help but think “there is no way that this guy is from West Virginia, let alone South Charleston” He told me he called himself Meuwl. (Country Meuwl the first time I heard about him.)

There was something about the way it sounded, even though it was a rough recording, there was still this unexplainable star quality to the beat and the lyrics, a drawing power. I heard one song, and I was hooked. Time passed, as time has been known to do, and the legend of Meuwl grew (At least in my head it did). My head was filled with stories of he did this or he said that and I had heard so many of his demos and rough CDs without ever meeting him that I believed he surely only existed in myth. Eventually, I became good friends with John, Meuwl’s younger brother. Through John, I eventually met Meuwl.

You know how some people say, “The man is never a good as myth,” or something like that. Well, in this case those people are wrong. None of the stories I heard did him justice. From the instant I met him, I liked him. Charismatic and funny don’t even begin to describe Meuwl’s personality. It was like he was so full of life he radiated it and by just being around him some of that life would escape into you. These first few times I met him were in passing. Crashing at his house when I went to Morgantown with John, once. Passing him in the kitchen of his mom’s house in South Charleston. Random encounters, that only helped to build the legend in my head.

Over the years, Meuwl’s name, to me, became synonymous with the West Virginia music scene. If a friend came to visit or I met a new person, they had to go to a Meuwl and B-Rude show. If I knew someone appreciated good music, then they had to hear the Rabble Rousers. There simply wasn’t anything like them around, and definitely nobody as talented. The legend in my head kept expanding. He became synonymous with music.

It wasn’t until years later that I actually became friends with Meuwl. I don’t know why, but I was surprised to discover how much depth he had. One of the only friends I have had that would wax philosophy or some abstract point of life with a beer in his hand. He wasn’t above the inane, as one might think, but that is part of what made him so fun to be around (Robot butt love springs to mind, if you don’t get it don’t worry it isn’t as bad as it sounds). While he might have had a little attention span at some points, when Meuwl talked to a person he made them feel like they were the only person in the room. He was a personality that couldn’t be denied, and it was impossible not to love him. His legend growing evermore. Even after knowing him for a few years, I still had this childlike hero-image of him floating around in my head.

Meuwl died, on Thursday, November 5th, 2009. When I was told, I remember thinking to myself, “This can’t be true. This has to be a joke or something.” The shock of his death, left me blank, stunned. The strangest thing was that the only thing I could think of was a line from the old Don McLean song “American Pie.” I thought, “This is the day the music died.” I didn’t think it was possible. He had seemed invincible to me. Charleston suddenly seemed like a very bitter and silent city. But it was true. While I am still having trouble believing he is gone, a part of me realizes that while the man might be gone, his legend will continue.

Those of us still here will never forget him. He was one of the most talented people I have ever met, and the world surely lost one of its stars yesterday, leaving the sky just a little more barren. But we can always remember what he did while he was here. We can remember how he made us smile, or laugh or how he got groups of metal heads to bounce to some rap. We can always carry the song of his life in our hearts. A person like Meuwl can never truly be gone, because he left such an impact on so many people. Our only jobs now are to learn to live again, and to strive to be as happy as he would want us to be.

Found out this evening that my good friend Sam "Meuwl" Harshbarger passed away. Not only was he one of the greatest MC's in West Virginia history, he was a great person that brightened the world with his presence. A class act. You'll be truly missed my friend.

I decided to start another Behind The Music entry, except with video instead of all the typing this time. I'll be posting them as I produce them.

If anyone thinks the videos of rapping at drive-thrus are awesome, DON'T DO IT. You will be arrested because rapping your order is a threatening action.

The first one is a collaboration I did for my homie Profit Money's album where we abuse auto-tune to the fullest. The second one is another one of those remixes I keep doing, this time of 3OH!3's hit single "Don't Trust Me".

</div></div>
Auto-Tune That (Feat. B Hyphen) - Profit Money</div>

</div></div>
Dont Trust Me (Death Before Dishonor Remix) (Feat. B Hyphen) - 3OH!3</div>

Finally, Victory Jumpoff Radio has come back to the internets! This time I dedicate a whole episode to the Roc-A-Fella Records Dynasty (from 1998 to 2005) minus any songs that were contained on a Jay-Z album! Take a trip down memory lane as I unearth some of the Roc's best work and not necessarily the singles. This is only Volume 1, so expect future installments and your feedback will be greatly appreciated. Here's to the Roc!

Young Gunz - $$$ Girlz (Feat. Juelz Santana)
Memphis Bleek - My Mind Right (Feat. Ja Rule)
Beanie Sigel - Playa (Feat. Amil & Jay-Z)
Kanye West - Keep The Receipt (Feat. Dirt McGirt)
Freeway - Full Effect (Feat. Young Gunz)
*****
Memphis Bleek - Murda Murda (Feat. Jay-Z & Beanie Sigel)
Diplomats - I'm Ready
Young Gunz - Grown Man (Remix) (Feat. Kanye West & John Legend)
Kanye West - Improvise
*****
Beanie Sigel - Nothing Like It
Peedi Crakk -One For Peedi (Feat. Freeway, Young Chris & Beanie Sigel)
Jay-Z - Crew Love (Feat. Memphis Bleek & Beanie Sigel)
Cam'ron - Come Home With Me (Feat. Juelz Santana & Jim Jones)
Dame Dash - Champions (Feat. Kanye West, Young Chris, Beanie Sigel, Cam'ron & Twista)
Cam'ron - Live My Life (Leave Me Alone)
Kanye West - Out The Game (Feat. Consequence & John Legend)
Kanye West - School Spirit
Cam'ron - Get 'Em Girls
Freeway - Hear The Song
*****
Cam'ron - The ROC (Just Fire) (Feat. Memphis Bleek & Beanie Sigel)


Victory Jumpoff Radio - Show #3: Roc-A-Fella Edition Volume 1

I love all the "This Is SportsCenter" commercials but this one gets me everytime.

http://ma.bhyphen.com/

· Gambit #17, by David Brashear
"The Gathering Storm"

· New X-Men #2, by J.D. Mathis
"What the Teachers Don't Know" Part Two

· Uncanny X-Men #4, by Tony Thornley
"Coming Home"

· X-Factor #3, by Brent Lambert
"May I Introduce the President" Part Three

· X-Force #8, by Brent Lambert
"The Pirate Crew" Part One

http://ma.bhyphen.com/

Starting off with Gambit: Remy is left home alone, so what does any good member of the Thieve's Guild do when left unsupervised with an itch to hit The Big Easy? Why steal things, of course. But as Remy will learn unsupervised doesn't necessarily mean unwatched as he sneaks about the town. And on the other side of town the two most powerful figures of the two Guilds sit down and discuss the future of their tattered groups.

Over in New X-Men the students of the Xavier Institute for Highter Learning are restless after stumbling upon a drug ring around campus that gives the users superpowers. Instilled with a duty to protect his fellow students Thomas Sheppard pulls together a team to operate under the noses of their supervisors...but how successful can they be when their supervisors are amongst the most powerful telepaths on the planet and one of those telepaths is a soldier who's used to seeing through sneaky tactics?

Meanwhile in Uncanny X-Men the Russian leader of the new Kremlin Defense Force, Colonel Vazhin, drops a colossal bomb on the X-Men when he reveals that an X-Man thought long dead is actually alive and mindlessly roaming the Russian wilderness. But the X-Men aren't the only group on the hunt to claim the legendary X-Man as Weapon X races against the heroes to get to him first.

Pietro grows fanatical in his desire to hunt down and capture Exodus in X-Factor as he jockeys for position and power to ensure that Genosha remains safe and stable by creating the first steps of his plan that will result in the creation of The Genosha Compact. What is this Genosha Compact? Well, it's a question that Emma Frost wants answered at any means necessary, and Pietro's actions to seeing this come to fruition may put him at odds right off the bat with Polaris and the brand new X-Factor!

And finally in X-Force the team experiences a quiet moment...okay, maybe not as what began as a game of skill between Pipeline and Abyss leads to a full on smackdown between two of the most dominant and opinionated women on the team. Havok and Emma verbally play a tug of war over the control of the secret team, Madrox, Shatterstar and Blind Faith share a disagreement of words and other forces outside of their walls align against them as Ahab and the Hounds come crashing down upon them. And the reason behind Emma and Alex's problems, the Genegineer continues his freakish experiments.

I have now included on the front page of MA the showcase spot for the Fifty States Initiative. Just like our sister site DCA with JLU and DCI, we are cross promoting with Altered Visions and FSI to help spread the word of the great work being done across the community. You'll also see the 3 titles we're showcasing for the site that cover content MA currently doesn't have or explore a direction and characters we're currently not.

So, go read some fanfic!!

This is way more awesome than it ought to be.

Features an interview with Roc Nation artist J. Cole. Again we are joined by Miss CJ and a good thing too as our panel was coming up short this week. Check out previous episodes at http://www.livestream.com/soundviziontv or catch us live every Tuesday night at 7 PM at that same link.

So, go read some fanfic!!

Features interviews with Shon Thrilla and Bobby Stamps. Special guest panelist CJ, Check out previous episodes at http://www.livestream.com/soundviziontv or catch us live every Tuesday night at 7 PM at that same link.

I few months ago, I submitted music for a segment on Angela Yee's morning show called Don't Quit Your Day Job. Angela's show is broadcast by Sirius Satellite Radio's Shade 45. I heard back a few weeks ago and they told me I would be on at 10 AM this morning.

Call comes in, get put on hold for about 15 minutes, talk to Angela (who's as nice as she sounds on the radio), then she plays "Wait N See (Magic)". The beat gets mad props since it's a Best Kept Secret beat and technically an unfinished Wale song and the callers don't down my lyrics too much. They just suggested I go harder on the beat (guess my voice is too light).

The next song was going to be "No Sleep Till Tucson". Now when I sent the original email I included these two songs. But I was asked for two more songs when I was contacted and I purposely left out "No Sleep...". They used the original email. lol. I knew it was going to be bad. Here's my rundown from Twitter:







Start from the last picture and scroll up and it will make sense. lol.. But I didn't do too bad even with the bad song selection. Hopefully there was some people out there who actually did like the songs. And with a bit of luck, this wan't be my last time on Shade 45.

Here's my post over on TeamYee.tv. Hopefully I'll see some comments.

I'm starting a fantasy basketball league. I don't know who may be interested but I figured I throw this out there. Just let me know your email and I can invite you.

</div>
I recorded this in late 2006 when I couldn't decide what project I wanted to work on next. While "J's And Nikes" ultimately didn't make the cut for The Mind's Mixtape volume Three, it's still one of my favorite songs. I might have to break it out and perform a verse next time I have a show. This is actually the second version, recorded on my good mic, but I was a little tipsy and I think it shows at points. But it's still a winner in my book. This song was originally by Fat Joe under the name "Safe 2 Say (The Incredible)". Produced by Just Blaze if you want to check that out.

I also just got a haircut. Why not?

Download "J's And Nikes".

Soundvizion TV is a new live webcast I'm a part of every Tuesday at 7 pm. The panel features myself, Johnathan McCumber, Angel Cannon, Stephanie Hill, Leighann Sainato, DJ Strizy, and is moderated by DJ Monstalung. I suppose you could call us a variety show with the major focus being on music. You can catch the show at http://www.livestream.com/soundviziontv and I'll be posting the episodes as we complete them. I'm also looking into more live streaming possibilities in the future so hopefully you'll see me dabbling in this a bit more.