got the shop back open. a slick little satellite outpost in downtown music city. the homie myles called it "post-civ" and i rather like that epaulette. book a 30 minute appointment to dig through the vinyl and cassette collection of one of the illest MCs breathing today.
we will meet at Morning Ritual cafe and take a short stroll over to my shop. let me know if you need the plug, i can get any album ever.
the artist who wishes to eat needs some game about them. an iridescent fog of mystery is going to be a boon in paying the bills on time. what is a hustler but someone in whom the mind has developed deep callous from exquisite daydreaming? it takes patience to simmer to flavor and most young apprentices get their lights cut off.
****let it be noted, there is absolutely nothing wrong in working a traditional job or having steady employment. there is no shame to be had in earning a wage selling your labor beyond the guilt inherent in the loss of dignity we all experience to gain the benefits of being in society together.
for whatever reason, whenever one endeavors on the topic of hustle it seems to ruffle the feathers of at least one 9-to-5'r. this is not necessary. all matters of the game or the hustle apply equally to you at your place of employment. however there are some, who must forge ahead on a separate path. being that the author treads that left handed route, it is the one that will be expounded upon today, tomorrow and forevermore from this work shop, from these soulfolks, from that ruby yacht. amen. ****
the artist must develop a bloodlust for action and a hypersensitive compass for momentum. each touch needs to enchant. from the antenna, to you, to the instrument, to the tabula, to the people. magic all the way down like how there were turtles. when the pressure mounts, that place when the duties and responsibilities come out, that discipline becomes best friend and the intensity of your inner monologue matters. you have to find a way.
a wise scholar of the arts once said, "to be official, you must be beneficial." and all who heard it were enlightened.
when the artist has mastered this conduct despite ups, downs and turnarounds, they will experience a bullet proof resolve that allows internal channels to remain open and communicative despite impending material or physical turmoil. this sort of thing is necessary to art and the evidence of your humanity. our duty to thee Truth remains.
it is the duty of the wealthy to stimulate mankind and humanity by funding the arts and connecting the creatively minded. it is part of the hustle to defrost this temperament in the audience and remind them of their commitments beyond the object and the product. simply keeping people alive who can connect to Source is in your favor.
fearful rhetoric does not compose the vocabulary of the hustler and by extension the artist, who is eating, today. it cannot. the belly's grumble is a rhythm to be freestyled to. you must find a way.
to that end, i'm back pitching verses to the public. a handful of opportunities for my sword to be of use to you, please do consider.
on aug. 12th, 2025 we launched an auction house that sold one vinyl copy of OUTSTANDING UNDERSTANDING per day with a 1$ minimum and a BUY NOW option for $1000 for 143 days.
as of now, all copies have been sold and attended to, shipped and are en route.
i approached this system for selling OUTSTANDING UNDERSTANDING, in part, because of the ever-raging debate about music's value. in an effort to earn a living from my work, i have been someone who has been accused of pricing vinyl "outrageously" or in disagreement with market trend. curious about where the audience would price this album, i thought to engage a method that would allow such expression. after all, art is dialogue.
i am an independent artist who makes work, facilitates its exposure and sale, packs and ships works, eats off the earnings. i do not have an interest in running a company, i am interested in making art. so my doing any of this is only ever in service of creating something new, tomorrow. this is why i do not prioritize product albeit i must live off of it, for now. i am trying to traffic good ideas more than anything.
seeking to be transparent, ruby yacht & soulfolks think tank are publishing our auction sales report. it includes the prices at which each copy was sold, how many bids, and which username won. there were several auctions that failed to result in a sale due to the winner's credit card not processing. the very first auction ended when a kind listener purchased the album with the BUY NOW button.
you will note on the report that the average price for OUTSTANDING UNDERSTANDING across 143 attempted auctions and not including the outlier "BUY NOW" purchase is 98.40$. i have received considerable correspondence concerning the possibility of outright purchasing this album as some have felt the auction was inaccessible.
i hear you.
and have made 77 copies available on our webstore for the price of 98.40$.
if you have read to this point, use promo code LESSONLEARNED to receive 30% off.
the Night Green Side of It is undoubtedly a rap album. however, to truly understand it, one must approach the album as if it were blues. first, because the mc who wrote it is now a bluesman and secondly because the themes, aims, auto didacticisms, left turns and tunings are all learned from and an extension of the blues d/b/a rap.
in an effort to better make cents, we present the Blues Side of the Night Green Side of It.
gallis pole - leadbelly
this is a tragicomic number that no astrologer could pen. leadbelly laments the homies coming to chuckle at his public execution. they taunt him, "we just come by to see you hanging from that gallow's pole." not one you soon forget.
hobo blues - john lee hooker
a commanding, charismatic riddler with a slow trot and a chilled boogie. behind the curtain, the wizard stuttered and came across shy. the first spell a budding conjurer would learn is to toss shadows against the wall. "the next time i start hoboin', i'mma have my baby by my side." amen brother.
pushin' my luck - robert belfour
three hours west of my house was a wolf man, roaming and devouring as he pleased. this document here presents the aforementioned in his natural habitat, pushin' his luck. the hypnotism involved in this joint affects all parties participating, use caution.
flying airplane blues - blind boy fuller
a beautiful bit of surrealist aspirational poetry infused with primordial bop gun mannerisms. the kind of pickup artist who lands airplanes. the blind boy could see this song was a hit and stole the mechanics and melodies from memphis minnie's "me and my chauffeur blues". a scoundrel and a hounddog, makes it all the sweeter to hear him pine for his love.
in the army of the Lord - Rev. Robert Wilkins
this man sings like candied yams steeped and sweetened in maple and sugar about his war clothes, his sword and shield, his lack of an apprehension for death and you cannot help but be gathered, be taken into, be shown something new about old convictions. try to remember a few things you hold close and will never relinquish.
judge harsh blues - furry lewis
better run and get three, a hundred dollars won't do. that western tennessee gravitation pull is again too strong for mortal hearts, eyes, wombs. there's a thunder without light show. furry lewis remains possessive of his ultimate betrayer. a plum fool.
as long as you get it done - guy davis
cut ya if you stand and shoot ya if you run. some cats come ready for war. it don't matter how you do it, just long as you get it done. up from the fluffy killing fields and hard times tiled floors, soaring a friendlier sky with a haggard voice.
all night long - skip james
you can find me riding in the woods somewhere mama...
skin game blues - peg leg howell
a how-to manual on making it through this evil cracker world as a natural born easeman who ain't got to work. occasionally your sunday clothes will be in pawn. the tour de force will deliver tours in France soon enough but there's work still to do along the 6 string freeway.
It seems every five years the necessary reagents are gathered, the requisite rituals are actualized and a reliable tailwind persists in pushing the ruby yacht to port. From the center most chambers, in the belly of that noble vessel, we would do well to find two, brand new and ancient scientists of zen at work. Doused in the obsidian of meditation, steering this beleaguered and hulking craft from the cabin of the inner mind’s eye, a control panel lit with neon sonnets.
They weren’t aware until its completion but it had obviously been a trilogy. Much more will than skill. The initial busybodying so the flies don’t come. Of course, evenings were spent pouring over the purple moonlight pages. We have heard the day speak, we have felt the sun’s unrelenting, wide eyed takes. We gather now to listen to the night green side of it. To wit, to let the shadow spit. Black magic is compounded. Suppose the blues were bentonic but the jazz was bebop and the raps were free. They didn’t bend notes so much as slide on ‘em. Salt is white. Seasoned salt is orange and has a first name. This knowledge becomes vital at the crossroads where titles are passwords. Don't look back.
Kenny Segal is an impractical joker. The unassuming assassin is known in celebrated, educated parabolas for being the ambassador of festive at the junction of peril and head nod. Reliable innovator of bass frequencies and cartographer of sonic maps. He manages a new zodiac on this particular spin of the samsaric cycle. Where does one travel after leaving hell? Kenny Segal knows.
The poetic responsibilities are helmed by R.A.P. Ferreira. His ear is indigo now. The ink remains verdant but the sun is setting. We are in the twilight of someone’s idol, remembering how to rap with a hammer. The ruby yacht is a battle ship with a law library. Back to that old chestnut, the rapper is a magician. Perhaps something more sinister applies to tricks? It’s after the end of the world. Don't you know that yet?
The night green side of it makes promises, keeps them. Creates hurdles, leaps them. The mumbo jumbo continues to pool out of the yellow back radio, even after it broke down. All the proof we need that the ruby yacht is eternal.
because i insist on being involved in every level of my art's production and handling, i have tried to scale upward my operation to the best of my ability and have ordered, in the past, quantities like some 2000 of an album to facilitate retail possibility. as is the norm, i have engaged in internet commerce and somewhat struggled to deal with customer service and shipping blunders. most of this stuff i take on the chin, i have no training and no investors, no safety net but also no regulator and no boss. life is good.
because i have done all this work i have, in the past, insisted on pricing my work at a premium. this has been bemoaned by some and i do not want anyone to feel me callous. so, i thought to create the soulfolks auction house.
there are 142 days remaining in the year, 143 when we launched this project to the public. i will be auctioning off one copy of OUTSTANDING UNDERSTANDING on vinyl every day until 2026.
back on that lonesome trail yet again. joined by my homie BLAX. from the atlantic northeast all the way down to the panhandle of that florida. come catch us readin from the spell book.
APRIL 2025 R.A.P. FERREIRA & BLAX THE SITUATIONS & SPECTACLE TOUR
4/9 - Portland, ME @ SPACE (tickets) 4/11 - Burlington, VT @ Light Club Lamp Shop (tickets) 4/12 - Boston, MA @ the Lilypad (tickets) 4/13 - Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere Space Zone One (tickets) 4/14 - Washington, DC @ Songbyrd (tickets) 4/15 - Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie (tickets) 4/16 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Smiling Moose (tickets) 4/17 - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern (tickets) 4/18 - Cincinnati, OH @ Madison Live (tickets) 4/19 - Chicago, IL @ Gman Tavern (tickets) 4/20 - Iowa City, IA @ Gabe's (tickets) 4/21 - Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon (tickets) 4/23 - Indianapolis, IN @ Hoosier Dome (tickets) 4/24 - Nashville, TN @ Drkmttr (tickets) 4/26 - Orlando, FL @ Conduit (tickets) 4/28 - Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506 (tickets) 4/29 - Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor (tickets)
