Author: DJ GodsOwn

So a couple of years ago, I saw a video from Dr. Amin at Amin Clinic, which is a well known psychiatry clinic. Dr. Amin is world renowned for his knowledge on the human psychiatric status and the treatment of different psychiatric issues. In the video I saw, he was talking about how he feels that Flaming Hot Cheetos can/might agitate people with the beginnings of or current psychiatric issues. He was saying how the food messes with people’s mental state and can tilt their brain’s chemistry in a way that effects it negatively. Go look up the video on YouTube to see the details.

I let that video go in one ear and out the other, but lately I’ve been eating Flaming Hots out of the vending machine at work as a last resort snack. I notice that the next day I’m a lot angrier in traffic and dealing with certain things at work. I am a firm believer now that Flaming Hots put you into a negative mind/mood space and can lead people, if consumed regularly, to do things in a moment of passion that they would normally never do.

I’m not surprised then that this is often one of the major snacks consumed in the black community. It’s sold at corner liquor stores and bodegas in many black neighborhoods, and I’d say that we are a huge consumer of that particular snack item over any other race of people. With that said, it makes me wonder if the effect they have on the mind is not intended and being purposefully put into the food. I hope it’s an unfortunate accident an something that wasn’t done deliberately to undermine an entire race of people.

If you have a child, I would suggest you don’t allow them to eat that snack on too much of a regular basis. I remember when they first came out and were sold at the corner store in my neighborhood in Chicago. I bought a bag for $.25 and I ate them on the way to school. Shortly after that, I threw the entire bag up in the principal’s office when I went in there to deliver something to the principal from the teacher. I remember the entire floor being red, me offering to clean it up, and them sending me home after that. I think I was like 7 or 8 years old at the time.

I definitely think it’s not a good food item, and even though it’s very tasty (I’m sure plenty of taste testing guaranteed that), it’s not worth the negative effect it has on your mood, mind, and body. Consider eating some strawberries, grapes, or mandarin oranges instead of something like Flaming Hots. It makes you wonder how other candy and chips effects your state of being. Anyway, til next time, take care of yourselves….. and each other. badadadaaaaaa badabap baaaaaa. (Jerry Springer theme)

What’s up party people? So todays blog post is just a PSA about the importance of mixing and mastering your music. If you’re going to make beats on a MPC or SP or whatever DAW/device you choose to use, you need to learn how to mix your music. The difference between a good beat and a great beat can be how well it’s mixed. I’ve been guilty of putting out music that sonically is very low par, but that’s because I didn’t really know what I was doing with the mixing part. How to place elements within the stereo soundstage and things of that nature.

The way I’m working on that is by doing my due diligence to read and learn how to mix/master my music. I bought a book called “The Mixing Engineer’s handbook” and it has already greatly improved my mixing and I’m only halfway through the book. I’m learning what Limiter’s and compressors do. I’m learning about the left/right stereo sound field and how you should place elements within that soundstage so they don’t “crowd” each other. It’s really fun and it’s added a whole new element to my music making. I’ve been working on the same beat for some days now, but sonically it has to be the best work I’ve ever done. I can’t wait until I’m finished with it and I can put it on my Distrokid and/or Bandcamp site.

Anything you want to learn, I think it’s good to pick up a book or two about the subject that’s highly reviewed and read to learn. You don’t have to necessarily take notes and highlight things in the book as you go, but just digesting the information, processing it, then applying it to your skill or hobby can help you make great strides in improving. If you want to jot notes and highlight, by all means, go for it, but it’s not required if you have the type of brain that is good at retaining visual information.

I’m very happy I’ve discovered the magic of mixing, because it’s given me a whole new insight into the plugins and tools on my MPC Key 61, as well as something greater to strive for with my beatmaking. I’m enjoying the journey, and once I get to a certain point, I’m going to talk about it more on my Youtube page. I want to share the knowledge with people and bring them up to speed on how to do things correctly when it comes to making good music. I’ve said this plenty of times on this blog, but music is something that keeps me going. When I’m at work having to do things I don’t necessarily want to just to earn a paycheck, it’s the thought of getting home, seeing my wife, her making me a cup of coffee, and me messing around on my MPC Key 61 or DJ setup that keeps me going. I look forward to the music experience each day, and I’m grateful to GOD that it exists.

People like to say that satan is the “father of music”, but GOD created everything including satan. Music is a gift from out father GOD to us and it’s something meant to keep us engaged, entertained, and to bring happiness to us. It’s unfortunate the dark road the music industry has gone down, but hopefully some day that will change and you won’t have to sell your soul just to share your music with a wide audience. With sites like Distrokid and social media, you really don’t have to do that now. Hopefully soon the satanic imagery, and death/murder/mayhem that is being perpetuated in the music nowadays will fall away and we’ll find our good musical talent again. Anyways, be blessed, have a good hump day tomorrow, and enjoy some tunes. L8r!

My favorite thing is to wake up early in the AM and make some coffee with some honey in it. I work on my MPC and SP 404 mk2 and make music. It keeps me from spending extra money and I have all the equipment I could possibly need for a while I hope. There are rumors of a new MPC being on the horizon, but I’m content with my MPC Key 61 and the MPC 3 OS. It’s a lot of fun to use and you can do pretty much anything possible musically.

I’d like to see them improve the Stems functionality of the standalone MPC, as well as knock out some of the annoying little bugs that crop up when using the device. If they could improve the stems algorithm, there would be absolutely no reason to ever use the MPC 3 desktop software, which they just recently released. The standalone stems is still a bit iffy, and all they need to do is improve the algorithm for it. Even if it took longer to process, I’m sure MPC heads would be happier if it did a better job separating the different elements on the music you feed into it.

If there is a new MPC coming out, it would have to really be amazing to pique my interest at all. If it doesn’t have a keyboard attached to it, I probably wouldn’t want to partake. The MPC Key 61, to me, is the best modern MPC ever made. I’m behind on my payments for it, but I’ll catch up soon enough. I always do. It’s funny how expensive it’s gotten to live these days. Wages are not going up, but the cost of rent, food, gas, water, etc is steadily creeping higher and higher. I spent $30 today on some hot links, eggs, butter, and bread.

It’s absurd how much it costs to go grocery shopping these days. I don’t know what the powers that be are doing, but they are making a huge mistake in terms of the happiness level of the people. We’ve all tried to cope with this for a long while now, and it continues to get worse and worse. People aren’t being paid enough and things are too expensive. It’s not right and its not fair. A nation is only as good as its lowest people and if you look at Skid Row in Los Angeles, or Kensington, PA, you’ll see that this nation is pretty low as it stands.

I’ll keep on making my music and scraping by though. When the people are ready to revolt, I’ll be right there with them to protest and fight back. Even if I do find a job making more money, I know that there are those out there that are not as skilled job wise, and they deserve to live a decent life as well. People are content with their 6 figure incomes and don’t think about the people who serve them in the grocery stores, the restaurants, and other services they receive benefit from. What good is this society if those people can’t keep a roof over there heads and feel content about what they get up to go do every day? Anyways, til next time…

So I’m kind of in a confused place as to whether or not I should sell my Roland GAIA 1. Since I got my MPC Key 61, it really doesn’t get much use. The Key 61 has so many synthesizer plugins for it that sound absolutely amazing, including ones from Native Instruments with NI’s latest collab with Akai Professional. I love my Key 61 and it’s the best MPC ever made in my humble opinion. I’ve had the MPC One vanilla, the Live 2, and the Key 61 blows them both out of the water. You get 4GB of RAM for plugin loads just like the MPC X SE but for much less than the X.

The synthesizer and keys plugins for the Key 61 sound amazing and have a lot of tweaking that you can do to the sound to make it uniquely your own. They each include a ton of “patches” that sound great but serve as a great starting point to start crafting your own sound from them. With that said, that’s the issue. What’s the point of me keeping the Roland GAIA, when the Key 61 can do pretty much everything it can and then some. The GAIA is amazing. I love the keybed on it and it sounds great.

When I bought my GAIA 1, it came with a USB with some extra patches that were crafted by Sweetwater.com’s staff. Those patches are great as well and really opened my eyes to what was capable with the GAIA. It’s a legend of a synthesizer and was my first synth. The only other one I have is the miniature Roland S-1 Tweak Synthesizer which is also cool, but nowhere near as powerful as the Roland GAIA.

I could use the cash right now too, but I would hate to look back and regret letting go of the Roland GAIA especially since it’s been replaced by the GAIA 2 and is getting harder to find. As I write this, I think I’ve made the decision to go ahead and keep it. It’s an amazing first synthesizer and sounds incredible. There’s so many features including FX, Arpeggiator, and a great I/O set. The GAIA may not get used much lately due to the Key 61 being the center of my studio right now, but maybe I should change that. I need to start making beats where I can incorporate the GAIA more like House or EDM.

I like making House music the few attempts I’ve made at it, and I think I could find a way to utilize the GAIA when making that type of genre. The GAIA 1 wasn’t cheap, and with what Guitar Center would probably be willing to give me for it, it would be a rip-off. I don’t like selling on Ebay because they rip you off with their fees and nonsense just to sell on their site. I’ll keep the GAIA, and as long as it stays functioning I’ll have it in my studio.

It’s a highly sought after synthesizer and I’m very lucky to be an owner of one. I still have the manual for it which is pretty substantial. They don’t really make manuals like that for equipment anymore, like with my MPC Key 61. I have to defer to the MPC Bible to really get into the nitty gritty of the device and the MPC OS. The GAIA manual is thick and shows you the ins and outs of the device all without having to pay extra to get the info you need to really get down with the unit.

Hopefully, in the future I’ll have the money to buy other synthesizers to add to my studio and have a bigger studio to put them in. I love collecting equipment, and the only thing keeping me from doing it more often is a lack of funds. I’m looking for a better paying job though, where I can have a higher hourly wage and earn more on each paycheck, even if I miss a day for whatever reason. I need to make at least $10 per hour more from what I’m making now to really be able to pay bills and support my wife and mines hobbies. Anyway, I’m keeping the GAIA and I definitely recommend you check one out if you get the chance to. It’s an amazing unit and well worthy of the title of legend.

So I bought the Teenage Engineering KO II when it first came out. I got lucky and I didn’t get one of the ones with a bunk fader, however, mine did conk out after about 3 weeks of use so I returned it back to Guitar Center. I did think it was a dope device, so I recently went ahead and got one from an online shop with a payment plan. I got it a couple of weeks ago and it’s definitely a tight little device. I’ve made a couple of beats on it already and it’s a lot of fun to use.

I really love the tactile feedback of the pads. They remind me of my Razer mechanical keyboard. They are click clacky and make a lot of noise, which I like. The beats I’ve made sound good and were easy to get in to play with. You can sample into it, even though it’s only a 64MB sampler. That is plenty, and a lot of the greatest hip hop of all time was made on samplers with that or even less memory. I think this one is a keeper, as I believe TE has worked out all the kinks in the quality control with this device.

As I get more proficient with using it, I’m going to post some more videos on my Youtube channel related to it. Whenever I have made a video regarding the KO II, it always gets a decent amount of views. I think a lot of people are interested and fascinated by the device. It’s definitely unique. It doesn’t look anything like a MPC or a 404. It’s slim-line and fluff free. There’s a lot of bells and whistles and TE really made it so you can get a lot done on the device with different shortcut keys and some menu diving.

Would I recommend this to someone to pick up? For sure! If you like making beats and want to get something thats a ton of fun to work on and comes in at a great price, the KO II is definitely a good pickup. You can sample, chop, lay down FX, and it has all the I/O you could need to start making some dope music. You can definitely record full songs on here, although if you want to add vocals I’d suggest bouncing to a DAW or something. If you’re into making instrumentals like me though, this thing is definitely a keeper!

We are living through an unprecedented era of societal upheaval, where the very foundations of a dignified life are eroding beneath our feet. The cost of living has not merely risen; it has skyrocketed, transforming vibrant cities like Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles into exclusive enclaves. Renting a basic apartment or owning a home has become an impossible dream for the majority, a cruel joke played on those striving for stability. Even the most fundamental necessity, food, now carries a prohibitive price tag. A single trip to the grocery store can drain $80-$100 from your wallet, leaving you with barely enough to sustain daily meals and snacks. This isn’t just an inconvenience; it’s an unacceptable crisis, and we must demand to know why it is being allowed to persist.

Adding insult to injury, policies like the tariffs imposed by the current administration have relentlessly driven up the cost of goods that are integral to the lives and passions of working-class people. Computer components, gaming systems, music equipment, audio gear—these aren’t luxuries; they are tools for creativity, connection, and escape. Yet, their prices have been artificially inflated, placing them further out of reach. This systematic burden on our wallets is not fair, and it is a stark reminder that the current system prioritizes profit over people. The time has come for us to rise, en masse, and revolt against these deliberate economic injustices.

Beyond the economic stranglehold, unsettling phenomena are emerging, raising profound questions about the very air we breathe and the water that sustains us. Reports of blue and purple rain falling from the skies in Texas and other regions are not mere anomalies; they are disturbing revelations. What unknown chemicals are being introduced into our atmosphere to cause such unnatural occurrences? Is this water safe for our skin, for the crops that feed us, or for those who rely on collected rainwater for their households? We cannot afford to scroll past these alarming signs. We must collectively awaken from our digital trance and demand: “What the hell is truly going on?!”

The core of this crisis lies in a system where many American companies refuse to pay a living wage, trapping countless individuals in a perpetual cycle of financial struggle. Earning $100,000 a year as an individual or even a couple is no longer a guarantee of security; it often means living paycheck to paycheck, forced into shared living arrangements just to survive. This is not right. This is not sustainable. This is a moral failing that demands immediate and radical change. While some may thrive in this distorted reality, a vast multitude suffers at the bottom of the totem pole, desperate for relief. The engine of this broken machine is fueled by the insatiable greed of the rich and powerful. WE NEED A FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE, AND WE NEED IT NOW!

So I just wanted to provide a life update. I’ve lost 5 lbs so far on my weight loss journey of 2 weeks. It’s definitely not easy and I see why a lot of people don’t undertake it. It takes a lot of effort, patience, and time to see things through to completion. However, I’ve always said that people who play video games should get into fitness. If you like to play games where you gain levels and build stats and things like that, working out is a lot like that. All they need to do is shift that determination to something that will genuinely help them in their life and they’d be good. I’m going to keep at it and do what I need to do to get to my goal.

I’m looking to sell my Rane 70 DJ mixer. Tonight I’m going to package it up and take pictures to post it online and sell it. I’m going to ask for $990, which I think is a great price for a mint condition 70 with Innofader in it and a Decksaver. Hopefully someone will buy it from me because I could use the money right now. Anyway, I’m looking to just keep my DJM-S11 and hopefully Rane or Pioneer releases a new Serato DVS Battle mixer soon and I can get that. The S11 is fire, but it’s missing a lot of the stems features that the DJ controllers have been getting as of late.

I’ve decided I need to make more money. I’ll look for a better paying job, but if that doesn’t pan out, I’ll have to do a side hustle of some type. I was hoping my Youtube channel could provide that, but the channel is growing too slowly, plus I don’t have the motivation or time to put up a lot of content. I’ll make a push to maybe record DJ sets and post it online, because the one time I did that it got a lot of views. I need to get to 1k subscribers though so my videos can be monetized. There’s a ton of people with similar content so it’s hard to really stand out.

The better thing would be to get a higher paying job in IT, but these companies don’t appreciate you as an employee. Especially if you don’t “play the game”. I’ve seen a ton of videos about introverted black people saying they have a hard time in corporate America, to the point where they got out of it and found traction with their Youtube channel or some other entrepreneurial pursuit. I keep telling my wife that she should sell her art on Etsy, but she won’t listen. She should also start a Youtube channel about planning, crafting, etc, but she doesn’t want to. I told her she doesn’t have to use a webcam and can just talk and show her hands like a lot of the women who do that do, but she’s just not interested. It’s too bad too, she has a great energy and she’d do well with it I think.

I’m waiting for AI to “takeover” like they keep telling us it will. Good, let AI sit in bumper to bumper traffic every day and deal with goofy arse people commuting to and from work! I know, I know… be grateful they said… you’re very fortunate they said… pfft. Listen, if you know like I know, there are people out there who are living the life of Riley because they hit it big on Bitcoin or scammed someone out of an idea or money. I for one am tired of being a wage slave and something needs to change soon. I’m not saying I’m going to go postal, but it may be time to revolt in this country… at least the people who aren’t content with being wage slaves can.

And it’s not like if I didn’t work and could still eat and keep a roof over my head I would be sleeping all day. I’d devote my time to music, working out, and reading books more often…anyways, til next time reader, I’ll see you in the next one!

So I’ve started going back to the gym. I used to go back in the day and I stopped for a while. I kinda go off and on, but I want to be more consistent with it moving forward. It feels really good to get in a good workout and exercise your body like that. Lifting weights is good for both males and females. Opening a window, sliding a patio door open, carrying your groceries in the house. You’ll see a benefit in every day things by lifting weights.

The older we get the harder it can be to get into shape, but I think a lot of people don’t keep their diet proper where it needs to be. They eat fast food, junk food, and then wonder why they can’t lose weight. Losing weight is all about burning more calories each day than you consume. You burn calories sitting at your computer and working. Something like that would be a slow caloric burn, but its still there.

I want to keep my body moving by exercising at home utilizing the VR headset and doing other things like pushups, crunches, and working with my weights I have at home. Going to the gym just gives you access to better equipment and things you can train on your body. It’s 6:43am here right now and the gym opens at 7am. I’m about to head over there. Here’s to a great workout! Peace, love, and light to you reader. L8r!

So I realized a week ago that I’m getting a bit too heavy. I need to lose weight. I’ve decided I’m going to use my VR headset in my journey of fitness and getting into better shape. I play Beat Saber and march in place while I swing at the blocks. It’s a good workout, and I think that if I stick with it, I’ll drop some pounds in no time. I also need to watch what I’m eating and eat better. Also, you gotta make sure you get sleep because your body adds and removes fat when you’re sleeping believe it or not.

How we gain and lose weight is really an amazing phenomena. You gain it all of a sudden and lose it all of a sudden. Lack of exercise and bad eating will definitely lead to a weight gain that seems to come out of nowhere. You definitely need to watch that and keep an exercise routine going throughout your life. It’s the reason so many people get pot bellies and love handles as they get older. With the rigors of work and home life, it can be hard to fit in an exercise routine.

I suggest getting a VR headset and playing a game like Beat Saber or anything else that requires a lot of movement. Moving your body will keep it fit and ensure that your muscles have stamina, as well as your heart and lungs. Being stagnant and immobile is not good and will quickly lead to health issues. Keep a routine going, and if you can’t afford something like a Meta Quest VR headset, just hit the pavement and walk. Walking is great exercise. I lost a weight before the start of COVID when my job had a weight loss competition. All I did was walk and eat healthier and the weight came falling off. I also lifted weights. I gained it all back after COVID jumped off and I stopped going out and walking as much.

I wish you the best as we traverse through this crazy reality called life. It’s full of disappointments, failures, betrayals, and hardships. But there’s also some joy, happiness, and fun to be had within it. Make getting in shape a priority so you’re ready to deal with the challenges of life, and enjoy the good parts. Peace, love and light, and I’ll catch you in the next one. L8r!

So my Ryzen 5 CPU was overheating and I tried to clean it off. I had a liquid cooler on it which seemed to be malfunctioning. In the process of trying to get everything off the motherboard, the CPU pins bent so I had to purchase another CPU. The one I had in there was a 6 core processor, and I replaced it with a Ryzen 7 5800XT processor which is 8 cores with 4 “virtual” cores for a total of 12. I can tell the PC is moving a lot faster now and it’s pretty cool.

Another upgrade I did was I found a 3070ti on sale on NewEgg for $400. They allowed you to do a payment plan on it, so I went ahead and purchased it. I’m upgrading from a 1070ti which was crazy outdated at this point. So now I have an 8 (12) core processor, 24GB of RAM, and a 3070ti in my gaming desktop. It’s a nice machine and plays any game I throw at it with ease.

I’ve also done 3D Mark on it which is a benchmarking application and it scores pretty decently. I’d like to upgrade to 32 or 64GB of RAM just because RAM is so cheap these days. I added a 1TB m2 drive in the second m2 slot on my ASUS ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING motherboard. I use that drive only for PC games which is nice.

I have a huge backlog of games to flip so I’ll be busy with it for a while. I’ve also started taking a course on Unreal Engine/C++ coding on Coursera.com. I think coding would be a good career change for me and I’d enjoy it very much. I’m tired of IT and the politics and things that go along with it. I’m sure there’s that in any field, but I’d rather work solo with me and my code. Time will tell if I can find the time to practice coding between music production, djing, gaming, lifting weights, etc.

I just have to manage my time a lot better than I currently do. I need to stop watching Twitch and Youtube so much, or at the very least do something else at the same time I’m listening to the video on either of those services. I’ll get er done. L8r.