J.O.K.E. – Being Normal Again… (The Re-Introduction of Charles Hamilton)
K1ng Eljay - I’ve rode with him this far, I might as well keep riding, lol.
I’ve been following Charles Hamilton since the drunken freestyle/cipher was featured on allhiphop.com between him, The Game, and Kanye West. For some reason, the cat looked homeless (no offense, but he did) but I was interested.
So you know me… I did my research. Found the November 10th video, and fell in love with homie’s music. To top it off, his favorite game icon is mine too?
WORD??? We Sonic fans???
So then I downloaded a mixtape he did, dropped an opinion piece on it (first ever for hiphopstateofmind.com) and reviewed the mixtape “Sonic the Hamilton” (here) and I basically said that C.H. was nice, but he had to come more and more correct if he’s to be representing the Sonic franchise like that.
Although technically, his CD for Rihanna failed, it still produced some great and interesting songs/instrumentals, and is still worth listening to.
I reps for Sonic. Keep in mind I had a custom Sidekick Slide with Sonic graffiti… It was sick… But enough about me and Sonic.
A whirlwind of things happened next. His blog took off, he began releasing mixtapes as if he breathed them. In no particular order, he formed (and severed) partnerships in the industry, dropped some EPIC freestyles on DJ Green Lantern’s radio show, got featured in XXL, dropped one of the dopest mixtapes EVER (The Pink Lavalamp), and teamed up several times with controversy to get mentioned for all of the wrong reasons, .
Whether it was ciphering with a fan, or getting rocked by an (ex?) girlfriend, or having the right idea with the wrong methods to do it (J. Dilla situation), it got crazy to just BE a Charles Hamilton fan…so I can imagine how insane it became for him to be IN it.
And then when his album was supposed to drop…he disappeared completely. If it wasn’t for random sightings here and there from me and Rhymestyle, we might’ve half thought C.H. was dead…
From June until Thanksgiving, I officially heard nothing As a fan and as a hip-hop head, it made me sad sometimes. At times, I’d catch myself re-adding Charles Hamilton songs to my iPod and Zune because I loved homie’s music. “The Pink Lavalamp” is still on my iPod. It has never left since the day I first heard it.
The vibes I get from C.H.’s music for me personally are the same vibes I got when I first heard T.I. I was blessed to hear T.I. before he blew up. Right at the beginning, me and my sister put a star by his name and watched him CLOSELY. We both knew it was something there that was special, and that was solidified on my mind when “Trap Muzik” was released.
Go and listen to the song “No More Talk” from T.I. and tell me he wasn’t spot on with everything he said.
Anyway, that’s the vibe I get with C.H. I feel like there’s something there that sets him apart from other people MUSICALLY, and because of that I want him to succeed. I want to see him do well. He’s way too talented to just see him fall to the “wayside”. So when I heard he deleted his blog and that he’s coming back…
My first reaction was to smile. I’m excited about it, and it’s about time. So…
Here’s to the reintroduction of Charles Hamilton. I hope it’s a good one this time. I hope that the music can finally speak as loud as his actions used to. I honestly hope that the mixtape drops and he surprises some people. I hope that things go back to being normal again…
And by normal, I mean getting music consistently from one of my favorite “new” artists to watch. Maybe not every two days like old times, because that was overwhelming…but not in the span of every 6 months either.
I’m rooting for you Charles… even though I still personally think that pink A-hat you had on was lame…
Yes, THIS HAT. The one pictured above these words. LOL.
But do your thing man. We’re watching.
The Normalcy Project. Coming soon.
Later.
King Eljay
~~~
(Note: BY THE WAY… I just went and read the reviews and links I posted. I’ve come a long way in my writings… Just saying. lol)
